• 25Oct 09

  So, Digital Downloads eh?

  oh yeah. I went there.

  
  

  The hot topic in the industry lately seems to be 'Digital Downloads' – This is partly spawned from Kelly's post on the topic, but it's something I've wanted to sound off on myself for awhile.

  The short answer is simply this: I can't get behind DD.

  The not short answer is :

  Call me old fashioned, but I prefer having a physical copy of my media, be it game, movie, music or otherwise. EBooks? HA. My inner gamer is not threatened by this idea, I don't see the industry switching entirely to DD anytime soon - they would cut their own business down by a huge amount - I'm clearly not the only one who prefers a physical product, but also most people with anything less than a high speed connection are not going to try to download a massive game over a period of what could be days or even weeks depending.

  Not only that, but what about the ever looming presence of next gen? When we all invariably upgrade to the PS9, Xbox9000 or whatever phallic joke Nintendo comes up with, are we supposed to just forget about all the money we've sunk into our old DDs? Surely they won't maintain those servers for all time, and we will eventually run out of room on whatever console we have, and fairly quickly too if current hd space is any indication. "But V, you amazingly handsome manbeast!" I hear you exclaim, "Surely you don't care about games that you've already played through and beaten (or not beaten) enough to play them again when you have a shiny new Nintenboxstation with TURBO GRAFIX!!"

  Here's the thing, I am a gamer, and like most gamers, my nature is to horde the **** out of my favorite games. The majority of us I'd wager are collectors to one extent or another. The developers know this – How many of you went and found all those damn stars in Mario 64? Or every blast shard in Infamous? I did. I can't help myself. I love that feeling of 100% completion, and I love having a good library to run my fingers across when I'm trying to decide what to play, sooo sexy… but I digress. The point is that I still fire up my NES or my Genesis from time to time - I love those old games, Somewhere in my collection of junk there is a box with an Atari 2600 in it with a modest collection of games. It's where I started, and I enjoy going back there every now and then just to remind myself what it's all about. Particularly when I find myself losing interest in games, it's good for me to go retro for awhile and get a little taste of the old school. There's a huge nostalgic factor with gamers and their games. I still have an old 36" tube in my guest room that's main function is retro gaming. Whether you are reliving the first time you picked up a NES controller and squished a goomba, or arguing with an unsettling amount of passion about spelling her name Aeris or Aerith, we all have games that we think back to and say "yeah that's the good stuff". That said, there is a very high chance that I will feel the same about some of the games I've played through in the last few months. Maybe I'll break out my PS3 to play some Arkham Asylum, just to show some young upstart what games were like before you just downloaded them into your brain. Okay, that's pushing it – but DDs would take all this away from me eventually – As I said in the beginning I'm old fashioned, and I have the preferences to match. I'm sure that 20 years from now none of that will matter to the modern day gamer, but as for me, I'll be the creepy old man with a huge stash of the old school and I'll love every bit of it.

  In the meantime, if they want to offer the OPTION of a DD alongside the pressed disc, then that is perfectly reasonable, it's a great way to distribute independent games, and budget titles… little gems that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day… it just opens up the market that much more, and those that want to deal with it, great. Those that prefer the box have their cake too, or a combination. Everyone wins.

  • Posted Oct 25, 2009 10:01 am GMT
  • Category: Fashion
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• 13Jun 09

  Cable > DSL

  Blog is posting... come back in 3 hours.

  My already infrequent post schedule will become even more sparse and random, the reason for this is that I have told Comcast to kindly go **** themselves. I was paying over 120 bucks a month for digital cable and internet. I had no movie channels at all, and internet by itself with no tv package is about 60 a month. So, I once again find myself without television or internet that would keep my otherwise deviant mind pre-occupied with Family Guy and youtube videos of idiots setting their pants on fire.

  I may chance a foray into the world of Satellite TV when next I decide I can't go another day without channel surfing, I can get ALL their movie and sports packages for like 80 bucks a month. I just have to stick an ugly dish to the side of my condo. However I will *NOT* get DSL. I'm using a DSL connection right now... and I seriously want to strangle a kitten. Sure, it's broadband, (more like dialup2.0)but it's aggravating since I'm so used to cable, the difference is just shocking. This must be how the Jetson's felt when they traveled back in time from the distant year of 2002 to visit the Flintstones. Damn you Hana-Barbera. Who decided that every move a character makes, from blinking to peeking around a corner requires a crappy sound effect? WHO?

  Anyways, I've just about beaten InFamous, I'm holding off on the last mission to get all the damn shards. Suffice to say the game is extremely fun, and I've really enjoyed it for my first PS3 game. When I've finished, I may post something a bit more in depth for no other reason than to take up space on your list for a brief time.

  As an aside, I had been really looking forward to Prototype, and most of the reviews I've read have been positive, except they all come with a 'BUT' and proceed to make a laundry list of technical problems. This makes me hesitant to purchase it, since I've no access to XBL right now, and getting any forthcoming patches, etc. would be impossible.

  I miss my internet. She loved me like no one else could.

  *heart*

  • Posted Jun 13, 2009 10:49 pm GMT
  • Category: General
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• 26May 09

  Aquaman's Lament

  Do you know what sucks? I mean, really, really sucks?

  Not having any superpowers, that's what.

  Oh sure, I have *a* power... I can talk to fish, but honestly, it's hardly "super," and for that matter, how many of you out there have I saved using my telepathic link to seasnails? Show of hands?

  I thought so.

  Don't think I don't know that I am forever relegated to the punchline side of the Superfriends. I see your snarky comments on the internet, and the mocking references in the media. I can get OUT of the water you know. Even the cheapest motels have internet access. (I can't afford swanky caves like SOME superheroes... that prick)

  I notice that pretty much everyone is getting a movie deal now. I was actually approached myself, but it was by that Uwe Boll guy - and even Aquaman has standards folks. Frankly I'm holding out for a part in Harry Potter. I love that fuzzy little wizard! I bet Batman won't ever be in a Harry Potter movie. Maybe Twilight, he's certainly moody enough to be a gay vampire.

  It's not that I hate Batman, or that I'm bitter... I just, you know, wouldn't mind if he died more often. Seriously, that ****** has more money than he knows what to do with, having money basically IS his superpower! He uses it to build these ridiculous, completely impractical gadgets that Rube Goldberg would call complicated, swing around like some kind of emo bat-monkey, and then goes and broods on top of a building... a building he probably owns, yet he can't lend me twenty bucks to get a hot meal and wash my uniform at a Laundromat. Suck it, Bruce. You billionaire jackass.

  Anyway, I was crashing at Robin's pad on Castro Street in San Francisco, which I generally don't like to do... he always finds some reason to touch me in some way, which is profoundly unsettling. I slept over 2 times before I realized he was lying about it being a one bedroom apartment and insisted we share his twin size bed. (He covered the door to the guest room with a full length mirror) You don't know horror until you've been spooned by a 93 pound man in a mask. On the bright side, he has a Playstation 3 which is fun to kill the time while he's off... doing whatever it is he does. (Don't ask, don't tell) On this occasion, I noticed he had a new game, this one is called "inFamous" - I wasn't sure what it was about to be honest, but the box looked neat, so I threw it in and, wow. Just wow. Like I didn't already have enough of a complex about my own lack of impressive powers, especially compared to everyone else and their mom... and dog. (Even Underdog is more impressive than I am, what is THAT all about??) Now there's a videogame character with awesome electro-sparky-magic shooting out of his ass. Are you guys TRYING to make me kill myself with this crap?

  I have to admit though, this game is a lot of fun. Once I got past the fact that I now have that much more competition to overshadow me, I am in control of this digital bastage. As such, I took it upon myself to unleash the evil Aquaman like you've never seen (or cared about) before!

  ...........Except less dolphins and more mayhem.

  • Posted May 26, 2009 10:30 pm GMT
  • Category: Religion
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