tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83236653671638154782024-03-05T08:03:39.698-08:00Joe is a GamerAverage Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07261515181294432019noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8323665367163815478.post-9921045820624742612010-05-24T04:39:00.000-07:002010-05-24T04:59:53.294-07:00Joe also likes LOST<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKZOX02GBH8tZjvMBEDP4X9tHb7JNEP7trOgZaO-Oq1IuDmzfRpEmbrBwSy1zCQ_psMU6JPvsNbhN7ncRLi9TSUw2QQYL4Cl7Q1Al7GpYhlA6HQGrhlSPY_tV-EFHOAc4r07yBjWUYA2k/s1600/lostlogo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKZOX02GBH8tZjvMBEDP4X9tHb7JNEP7trOgZaO-Oq1IuDmzfRpEmbrBwSy1zCQ_psMU6JPvsNbhN7ncRLi9TSUw2QQYL4Cl7Q1Al7GpYhlA6HQGrhlSPY_tV-EFHOAc4r07yBjWUYA2k/s320/lostlogo.jpeg" /></a></div>Okay, so I did neglect this blog somewhat. No, a lot. I've now graduated from college and will have time to play some serious catch-up, as I didn't play anything during my blog absence (hence the lack of posts).<br />
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I did write up some thoughts on last night's LOST finale, however. I decided that if I had to justify posting this on a gaming blog, I guess I could always refer back to the "LOST: Via Domus" game, but I'd rather not. Be warned for spoilers, of course.<br />
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People are complaining about what we already knew: the mythology of the island was not going to be addressed and answered in the finale. The producers outright told us this, so I don't know why so many people are docking the finale for that reason. The "Man of Science" and "Man of Faith" analogy works perfectly for the finale. Me? I'm a man of faith. I watched this television show for six seasons not because I thought the Dharma logo looked cool and wanted to know more about it, and not because I wanted to see Richard’s four-toed foot. I watched it tonight for the same reason I did in Season 1: the characters drew me in. The story was about them and their island encounters, not just about the many island mysteries, whether we want to admit it or not. The mysteries pulled us in each week for sure, but for the first three seasons, we all experienced the "flashbacks" that gave these characters a living and breathing place in our minds. Characters died and fans would mourn. Charlie's death in the Season 3 finale "Through the Looking Glass" was one of the saddest, as Charlie left his love Claire and her son Aaron on the beach knowing that he would not return.<br />
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At the end of that episode, the storytelling stepped up a notch. Driving the narrative further in the form of "flashforwards" now, Season Four was one of the most interesting departures from the LOST formula, while still staying true to the show. The writers were successfully able to present a "flashforward" of our favorite characters post-island while using these as the perfect aid for continuing the island-side story. The events told would have been perfectly fine and coherent if they had followed their chronological order, but the structure of the show lends mystery to the character's motives and continuously kept me as a viewer thinking about the events that were taking place in the show instead of viewing at face value. For instance, in the Season 4 finale "There's No Place Like Home," John Locke watches a Dharma instructional video about "time travelling bunnies." Earlier in the season, Ben Linus is eating a rabbit and asks, almost comedically now, "Did [the rabbit] have a number on it?" Small nuances like this give viewers a reason to dust off their earlier LOST seasons on DVD/Blu-ray sooner rather than later, as well as the new context that tonight’s finale will certainly bestow to the show as a whole.<br />
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LOST has always been about the characters, and tonight was no different. Some may have a difficult time accepting the post-mortem reunion of these characters, while some may dispute the semi-religious tone of that reunion. The series was ending tonight. We couldn’t get another cliffhanger due to obvious reasons, but we got the next best thing: a resolution to these character’s stories. I had a feeling that what once was the “alternate reality” was introduced and we began to see characters deceased from seasons ago, that we would see a happy ending like this. The story that LOST set out to tell from the beginning was concluded in the only way it could be. Regardless of the plot devices and unanswered mysteries from over the show’s six seasons, I remained rooted with one simple thought throughout the show’s final hours: these characters are my Constant.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div>Average Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07261515181294432019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8323665367163815478.post-79035312317091900802010-02-18T10:39:00.000-08:002010-05-24T14:13:21.654-07:00Size does matter. And it's not what you'd think!<div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’ve heard a lot of people complain about small televisions for current-gen gaming. Lots of developers have switched to smaller text in favor of high definition resolutions. Others have complained that some televisions give too much peripheral vision and can be daunting. I can see both arguments, and resign that I feel that sometimes, gaming can get too big. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’ve given it some thought recently, and I really enjoyed playing Final Fantasy IX on my PSP. Not only for the fact that it was portable, but I also enjoyed having the smaller screen and being able to choose the distance it was from my face. I own a 50” Sony SXRD television, and after playing some Halo and Mass Effect (along with other games) I’ve determined that I might have an easier time gaming on a smaller screen in my room. I recently purchased an Asus 26” monitor and intend on seeing how games play on it. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My roommates both game in their rooms on their monitors, and it seems to be a worthwhile experience. I have surround sound in my room, so I feel that with that and a good size monitor, the intimate gaming experience can be recreated. “Intimate gaming experience”? Yes. I feel that in our living room filled with couches and a 50” television would stray from being intimate. I feel like I’m in the way if I’m gaming out there. Sound can travel farther, you can’t close the door, it’s not as warm (Vermont winters + defective heat until mid-January can suck). Plus my bed is comfy, and that’s not out in the living room.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’ve decided that I’m going to try my best to post on at least Wednesdays from now on. If I have anything else to say on a non-Wednesday, I’m sure it’ll find its way here somehow. Also, I'm listening to that Bioshock vinyl right now. It's awesome.</span></div></div>Average Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07261515181294432019noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8323665367163815478.post-38592155453741195392010-02-10T18:28:00.000-08:002010-02-18T10:41:05.248-08:00Bioshock, or not to Buyoshock?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zpxmTzBo2oCWcXqcF9TSs3opFSxVseeMiWZFp7joOzOYFtQUDmKDCIllRx5FNACT4hw8KOgPR-f1wDac8kfMXeaDDAbYmDqyfZZuFCffUZh3TCGs5l2r3xfup6lgbENxrK303rlePfaY/s1600-h/b2ce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zpxmTzBo2oCWcXqcF9TSs3opFSxVseeMiWZFp7joOzOYFtQUDmKDCIllRx5FNACT4hw8KOgPR-f1wDac8kfMXeaDDAbYmDqyfZZuFCffUZh3TCGs5l2r3xfup6lgbENxrK303rlePfaY/s400/b2ce.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You see that? Look at that little collector’s set. It’s got the game (obviously), along with a 164 page art book, three posters, the Bioshock 2 orchestral score on a CD, and to top off the collection: the Bioshock orchestral score on a 180-gram vinyl record. Those who know me personally may know of my recent start of a vinyl collection. When this collector’s edition was announced last fall, I knew that this would have my money. Though after I wrote my previous entry, I realized that I would only be doing myself a disservice. I haven’t finished the first Bioshock – the achievements were mostly accounted for on my Xbox 360 gamertag by another player and sad as it is, those little blip noises are fun to get. That tiny incentive, plus seeing the game’s ending, contributed to my failing to play this title. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That vinyl was the only reason I wanted to get my hands on this game right away. Having the eerie, spooky sounds that play during the first game on a record, complete with the pops and fizzes that accompany the media is an awesome thing to have. Recently, it was announced that Final Fantasy XIII would see a portion of its soundtrack released on vinyl in Japan. Also to be limited edition, I’ll probably never find a copy of that. Soundtracks are one thing that I really enjoy in a video game, because the music is fresh and can really tell a story through the music.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqWZ3NrW2QDovkwUF1SFQUQjIqIf62sWvn2lWCd5eW2pX1FHLWyGqYKgguoAJcdUoj-hKvwkBz8lgtl_A-3EWAUkqjs1jxjsDhHQA3EQ_zN5S27EzcGBuaHI9Ua2UEoTLn8ZEHmXEBTIV/s1600-h/vinyl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqWZ3NrW2QDovkwUF1SFQUQjIqIf62sWvn2lWCd5eW2pX1FHLWyGqYKgguoAJcdUoj-hKvwkBz8lgtl_A-3EWAUkqjs1jxjsDhHQA3EQ_zN5S27EzcGBuaHI9Ua2UEoTLn8ZEHmXEBTIV/s400/vinyl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway, one day following Bioshock 2’s release, I decided to check out eBay. And not really to my surprise – people have parted out these collector’s editions and are selling the pieces individually. I was able to luckily find a reasonably-priced auction of the vinyl and got it for $20. Now, no more need to shell out $100 at Gamestop for the set. I can put the $80 that I didn’t spend toward Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III (which is getting a new trailer tomorrow – can’t wait to see what Santa Monica has in store for us), and yes – I’ll probably cave and also get Pokemon Soulsilver. I’m feeling nostalgic and need something to entertain me on my DS.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I fully intend on playing this title in the future. I owe it to myself to finish its predecessor first, and maybe I will get it when it goes down in price. As the final college days go by, I'm seeing where my money is going to have to go, and what expenses I'll have to cut. Gaming is unfortunately one of those cut-able expenses, but I won't be abolishing it. I just need to game (read:purchase) smarter. </span></div>Average Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07261515181294432019noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8323665367163815478.post-27709565076627062972010-01-27T19:55:00.000-08:002010-02-18T10:58:39.931-08:00Hello, world.<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieiseEmCvao4xAFVD9b0nttzn_bAcsPKOmZOdX1uhvf4oYPQHGZtYCnNJfQ7S-nK_gd7U5c4TgmhZGSnKE8YDio50mzMmVzHEHiEI5QYdvVjo9cil8NK3IBwlRxv9CsStteZOd3U37K1KV/s1600-h/anubis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2v_UTDgjUt6OUwc4SwTfazCEnAoauNpPffXXkOMQaAp_iUH4Q9MHcyBws3p3QH2kOTPFPQt863tVeX1jm1a0cNzjs7f8Vpq3Sm3PhRB5WU8cDM_VXo2r3YdjuD_g9DB4nBW-C5v_XS2WF/s1600-h/anubis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2v_UTDgjUt6OUwc4SwTfazCEnAoauNpPffXXkOMQaAp_iUH4Q9MHcyBws3p3QH2kOTPFPQt863tVeX1jm1a0cNzjs7f8Vpq3Sm3PhRB5WU8cDM_VXo2r3YdjuD_g9DB4nBW-C5v_XS2WF/s320/anubis.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My name is Joe. I'm a senior at Champlain College in the Electronic Game Design major. I've decided to begin blogging about my gaming habits. Why? Well, I'd like to use this as a motivational tool. I haven't really had time or motivation to play games when schoolwork has been in the way, and probably won’t have a terrible amount of time until graduation in May. I’ve realized that I have a problem: I have too many games.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Too many games? How is that possible?!” the reader may ask. Well, it’s possible when you’re buying games and letting them sit there to look pretty. Looking pretty isn’t what games are meant for. They’re meant to be played! I need to limit my game buying habits, because I’m definitely not playing as fast as I’m buying. In the long run, I’ve wasting my money as well as my parent’s on games that have been collecting dust. Many of the games I own and haven’t played I could have bought for a fraction of the cost.</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After college began, I saw myself wind down from gaming in the sense of being “hardcore.” I love the games in the Final Fantasy series for their intricate storylines and their length of gameplay, but I can’t sit down to play Dragon Age or Borderlands right now. These games I know are quality titles but I really don’t feel like spending any amount of time in these games. Why? I don’t know. I’d like to play them and they seem cool but part of me is turned off to the concept right now. I’d have to classify myself as a game enthusiast or a casual gamer over being a hardcore gamer at this point in my gaming career.</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I haven’t played my Wii in… really, ever. I haven’t finished any titles on the system, and the lack of quality titles have really led me down that road. Shovelware plagues the system and the few good Nintendo properties that are on the system still don’t entice me. I’ve never played a Zelda game to completion. I briefly played Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess but have not been wowed by anything I’ve seen from any of these titles. Blasphemy you may shout, but I didn’t grow up with a Nintendo 64. It simply hasn’t been a part of my gaming heritage and I’m getting to the point that I’m not really as much a gamer as I thought I was.</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I’ve been playing World of Warcraft recently. At the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS), a speaker classified World of Warcraft as a game that can recognized and played by casual and hardcore gamers alike. People like myself enjoy the leveling and questing, while others will dive right into the PVP and raid for hours on end, with schedules set by their guild that they must abide to. I’m not the latter, that’s for sure. It’s been a fun game to kill some time with, but I’d never give my life to a game like that. Games are meant to be fun, not a chore, and having to plan my day around a video game certainly sounds like a chore. So does playing any online shooter. I’m not talented, nor do I really care to be, in the ways of first person shooters.</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Impulsive buying is a weakness I have, and hope to rectify in the future. I did buy the Rock Band Stage Kit for $30, but that’s a fog machine and strobe light that synchronizes with the music of the game. Granted, I don’t play Rock Band a lot as of late, but it’s a cool accessory and could be fun. If not, I’ll get rid of it. I also picked up a set of two Donkey Kong Bongos and the Gamecube game for a whopping $8. With the bongos, it’s not so much the money, but the physical space that they take up. A lot of the games in my library have aged far too long to have any value for selling. The Darkness was one of the first games I bought for my PS3 and I haven’t put more than 30 minutes into it. I paid $60, but got a $10 Target gift card. Sure, that’s cool and all but I didn’t save $10, I wasted $50. The game is now around $10 used. I’m not going to buy many games in the future until I finish the ones in my possession.</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">More or less, this initial entry is a long-winded plea to myself to have some form of New Year’s resolution for gaming. I need to play the library that I currently own without wasting money on other titles that I won’t play for a while. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands and Dragon Age: Origins are among the most recent of these mistakes and I’m trying to rectify this before they lose their value and I’ve wasted my money again by selling them. I’d like to play these titles, but honestly I have such a queue of titles already that it’d be better to pick them up somewhere down the line when they’re part of the “Platinum Hits” line. I don’t need to get every game I want to play on Day 1… except Final Fantasy XIII and God of War 3. I’ve waited for these titles for far too long, and I’ll be able to get into them right away, thanks to the nostalgia I get from the previous titles.</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Basically, I’d like to use this blog as a means of keeping my brain in the “game” – writing about games that I’ve previously played, am currently playing, or hope to play soon. I don’t expect many followers as I’m doing this mainly for myself rather than page hits. Stay tuned for more, regardless.</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div></span></span>Average Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07261515181294432019noreply@blogger.com5