Gaming by GlossGreen

Current events are often immortalized in the public eye by numerous methods. On TV, events and individuals are parodied or ridiculed by comedy shows, such as SNL and late night talk shows, and by "news" shows in the vein of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. In newspapers you often see people and events lambasted via the political cartoon medium and the op-ed section. The internet is a great place to find commentary on what's happening today. You have a myriad of choices available from sites like The Onion and Jib Jab to see commentary and have a little fun. And that's not all.

Downloadable content is an interesting proposition for games these days. Having additional game content available for download after a game has been released is a proven way for publishers and developers to add more revenue and value to their products. It is not uncommon these days to get new character skins, expanded or new single player levels, multiplayer maps or new weapons and vehicles for games that you have already played. This is usually good for the game publishers and developers, but it's not always good for you.

Dealing with race relations has been a touchy subject in America for a very long time, and has no signs of becoming a non-issue anytime soon. Anywhere you look now you will see the remnants of ancient prejudices and outdated ideologies. I know that many ideas or programs in use today are based on race or ethnicity are supposed to help a large number of our population. I know that Black History Month was established, just as all the other designated months, to educate all people and cultures about the history of Americans with ancestry of African origins. I know that the NAACP was created to champion minorities that couldn't defend themselves and to better their lives. I know that affirmative action was designed to diversify the workforce and create a better representation of our country in job hirings. But in the end, what these groups or ideas do is to perpetuate the notion that people of different colors should be treated differently, but not what they should be teaching: That no group is either superior or inferior to anyone else.

Black history, while important, is no more vital than any other group's history and should deserve no more than equal recognition. How many people know that Italian Heritage Month is in October? The NAACP working to make lives better for people is a noble cause, but not if that mission promotes "reverse racism", meaning preferential treatment is awarded to minorities based on no more than ethnicity. My view: Racism is racism, reverse or otherwise. Affirmative action is one of those outdated policies that promotes reverse racism by specifically regulating hiring based solely on race. Again, racism is racism. That's how I feel when I see a game like BCFx on the shelves.

BCFx stands for Black College Football: The Experience. I know that the developers and publisher mean well with this game and have no negative intentions. I know that the game was created to celebrate the traditions and culture of HBCU (Historically Black College and University) teams. I also understand that the traditions in some of these institutions go back for over 150 years. What I don't understand is why in this day and age are we still touting our superficial differences instead of looking past them. I prefer to see the character and actions of an individual and form an opinion based on that. I don't find this game offensive, just unnecessary and unenlightened. I think it's time to stop identifying people based on race and focus on what really makes up an individual. And all of what makes us who we are is more than skin deep.

I've been away from my PS3 for far too long. Want to know how I came to that astute observation? Because an 8 year old kid had a better kill ration than me playing a multiplayer match of COD 5. I have been hanging my head in shame since that day. Well, at least since it happened yesterday. OK, so here's what happened. I was at a friend's house celebrating the birthday of one of his kids. The plan for the party was to show up late, give the boy (a kid I've never met before) his give, make the rounds saying hello and that it was nice to meet everyone, then leave -except that's when the PS3 controllers came out. It went something like this:

Buddy: "Have you played Nazi Zombies yet?"
Me: "No, I've heard of it, but I haven't played that yet."
Buddy: "You want to try it?"
Me: "We should be going, I've got to get ready for work tomorrow."
Buddy, handing me a controller: "Come on, it'll be a quick game."
Me, willpower caving: "Maybe just one round. It's been a while since I've played though. I'll probably suck."
Buddy: "We'll play a warm up match then."

At this point I have a controller in my hand as does the buddy. You just can't have a good multiplayer match with just two, so my 14 year old daughter grabs the remaining controller. We start the game and I pretty much am instantly lost on the asylum level. This had the effect of keeping me out of harms way for the first couple of minutes while I get used to the controls. Unfortunately, that first few minutes of practice did me absolutely no good. I spent the next 5 minutes getting killed 11 times and taking out exactly no one else. I even fragged myself once (or twice). The next couple of games went no better. Even the 8 year old jumped in there and kicked my butt.

I could complain about not knowing the maps and being unfamiliar with the controls, but what good would that do? I used to be good at first person shooters, not great, but still pretty good. I used to be able to hold my own, but that was last year. Lesson learned and humbleness restored. Now I have to get back to gaming and have a rematch. That 8 year old won't stand a chance next time.

I just finished Too Human (literally, I just put down the controller and picked up my computer just this minute) and I am not impressed. Good ole Dennis has a lot of hype to answer for. This game is in very sharp contrast to another game I recently played, Fallout 3. Whereas Fallout had interesting characters that are well rounded and have decent dialog, Too Human's Aesir are just a bunch of jerks. Balder was, for lack of a better term, an ass. He was modeled poorly, voiced stiffly and just not an engaging character. What I really want to know is why the development team thought that making their main character as acerbic as possible was good for the game?

For me, story and character are the two main ingredients to make a great game, and this one falls short on both counts. The characters I've already covered, and the story? The story doesn't make a lick of sense. To be honest, I don't know what the point of the whole game was. I know that the Aesir are in charge (self appointed and reviled by the look of things) of protecting the humans, from seemingly rogue elements of themselves. Who, or what, exactly are the Aesir? We find out early on in one of the many lengthy cut scenes that they are actually the Aesir Corporation. So, are they human or not? We have no idea whatsoever. These Aesir do have the annoying habit of refering to themselves as gods? Really? A little high on themselves, aren't they?

Controlling balder is a bit of pain in itself. The left stick controls movement and the right controls attack direction. Did I mention that there is no way to control the camera? No? Well, there isn't, and it allows a lot of cheap shots that will kill you. When I say a lot, I don't mean 5, 10 or even 50 times. In fact, if you put any time into this game at all, you will receive the coveted Valkyrie's Folly achievement (which I got) for dying 100 times during the game. Sounds like an unobtainable number, right? Not when you can't see what you are doing with a character that moves slower than molasses, and even slower when using a weapon. Speaking of the Valkyries, I'm not going to complain about how long it takes to restart after one of my numerous deaths, I actually liked that. It gave me time to write e-mails, check out news on other, better games and update my Twitter feed. Good stuff there. Attacking is a chore made worse by having a sloppy control scheme for attacks mapped to the right stick. I only managed to throw out one or two different types of attacks. What I did do most of the time was pull my guns and stay out of the enemy's range while circling and firing at them. Hey, that strategy works well most of the time. What I also hate is the fact that everyone making games today must have attended the Bungie School of Wave Enemy Design. I swear in one protracted and escruciating level I was fighting the Flood. I hate the Flood.

Graphically, the game looks last gen, and from what I understand, Too Human was conceived as an original Xbox game. Well, it really shows. I can't even say that it's close to the graphical quality of recent PS3 or 360 games, it's just not good. See the pic over there? That's from a cut-scene. Most of the levels are uninspired, plus you've already seen them in a hundred other games. What you'll see are standard hallways and bland corridors for the most part, maybe just a bit taller, but not any more interesting. Speaking about what you've seen before, I swear the Aesir headquarters looks a damn sight like the Gardens from Final Fantasy VIII. No joke, they just have less jagged edges here. One of the attempts the designers made at changing things up was the addition of a cyberspace element in the game. Basically what it ends up being is a bland outdoor environment with a horrible draw distance and a ton of fog. Fog, was that really necessary? The cyberspace element itself is not very interesting. The goal in this computer realm is to interact with it's environment to affect objects in the real world. What this entails is simply pushing the right button to, say, open a gate. Flash to a scene where a door is opened in the real world. And that's about it. Sure, there are things to find in cyberspace, like a ton of rediculously named items and weapons, but you get the point. My question is this. How would pushing a tree over in cyberspace cause a bridge to rise in the real world?

Anyway, the bottom line for this game is simple. The game itself is not horrible, it's just that there are no compelling reasons to play it. The characters are annoying, the visuals are last gen and the play mechanics are frustrating. This game is most definitely a pass.

OK, I've had a chance to replay a significant portion of the game again, and guess what? I realized that I absolutely hate this game. I hate that level design (boring corridor after boring corridor). I hate that none of the characters (save Cortana) have any personalities. But, most of all, I hate the flood (nothing else needed to explain that here).

Let me tell you first that I really did try to like the game. I started out feeling pretty good about it, not great, but good. Then I started to realize a couple of things. First off, the story never pulled me in. Usually I just fall into a good game because the story grabs me and stimulates my imagination, this game just didn't do that. I felt like that each chapter was disjointed from the last. Instead of traveling to a new area you are just kind of dumped off there. Let me explain. First, you start out on the ship. From there you jump into a lifepod and crash land on Halo. OK, can't really do anything about that. Master Chief isn't going to just jump out of the ship and free fall to the planet, right? Next you travel around the Halo (not too bad here) and end up getting picked up in a Pelican. Here's where the problem starts. From now on you are just picked up and dropped off, no actual progression from one area to another is involved. You are just taken from one place to another without any kind of a decent transition. Because of this the story feels kind of pieced together and just doesn't coalesce.

My second problem, the level designs are some of the most boring ones I've ever seen in a game. The ship is incredibly boring and sterile. I know, it's a military space ship, it's supposed to be neat and clean; but the damn thing is in a battle and severely damaged. So why aren't there more scorched walls, objects on fire, caved in walls or even bodies lying around. What, are there like 15 people on this giant ship? Things don't really get better on the ground. The Halo itself is not bad, not great though either. Then there's the buildings. Endless rooms that look like the room I was just in a couple of minutes ago is unforgivable and here's the reason why. This game has no mapping function for the levels, which isn't a bad thing in itself. Here is the bad thing: When every room or corridor or outdoor environment looks identical to what you've seen a couple of minutes ago, that is unforgivable. Frequently, in the buildings, you are attacked from enemies from all different directions. It's easy to get turned around an lose sight of which way you entered the room. You then look around and see a door; that must be where you need to go right? Wrong. Because of the fact that several of the rooms look identical, the only way I was able to tell if I was going the right way was if there were bodies on the ground, the rooms themselves are no help. Very frustrating, and it gets old seeing the same thing again, and again, and again.

I really do understand why this game was successful though. It wasn't about Master Chief. It wasn't about defeating the Covenant. It wasn't anything remotely tied to the (mostly nonexistent) story. It's all about the multiplayer. Nothing beats getting the buds together and having a little battle to see who's best, and there is nothing wrong with that. I just think that the rest of the experience (the campaign mode) isn't up to par.

I think that's enough about this game, I am starting on Halo 2 as soon as I finish this. Buy first one last question: Why don't any of the characters (especially the Covenant) have an ounce of personality in this game?

I said a while back that in commemoration of the release of Halo Wars I was going to go back and play the previous three games in the series. Well, I finally have that damn power transformer so I started this not un-momentous task last night. I'm not going to rush. I'm not going to prejudge (again). I'm going to go through and just try to enjoy the games. After all, millions of people couldn't be wrong, could they? Don't answer that. Moving on.

First impressions (the second time) are good for the first Halo. I'm only a couple of hours in, but I have realized it's a pretty fun game. Kinda ugly looking in parts, but fun none the less. Now before you get all angry at me for calling it ugly, go back and play the ship level. OK, done yet? I don't agree with the level design, it is a bit on the sterile side, and tell me why all the corridors are two rights, two lefts, then repeat? I shouldn't get all fixated on the ship levels anyway. It was only one big tutorial level after all. But, once the action hits the ground on the Halo, things start looking much, much better. Anyway, I am not trying to hate on the game, I still like it and I'm having fun playing it. Again. Now, I have to get back to the game or I'll never finish all four. More useless impressions to come.

Yes, I know I've said this before, but I really mean it this time (for now). Anyway, this is just too much damn work to do every couple of months. Plus, I think the blog looks damn cool this way. I really like the color scheme. What am I talking about? Of course I like the colors, I chose them after all. Anyway, let me know if I did a decent job or if I should stick to my day job. I think I know the answer, but I'll ask anyway. Alright, it's 12:20 am and it's time for bed, but I think I'll stay up for a bit longer. I'm actually ending this post due to a complete lack of witty things to say, kinda like normal. Tchuss.

Edit: OK, I just noticed how many times I used the work damn in there. Now I sound like a damn idiot.

I know, I just changed this blog a little while ago. Well guess what? I got tired of it, it was just way too cluttered for my tastes. Plus, I didn't have the time it takes to update the video and slider features that were there. I really didn't like the layout of the posts either. Now I have a normal looking blog, although I'm trying to eliminate the rest of the brown on it. I don't know if I can be successful with it, the posts are on JPGs, meaning, I'd have to Photoshop the 3 different ones that make up the post background. I don't know if it's worth the trouble. That and my Photoshop skills are pretty lacking. Alright, it's 2:30 in the morning and I have to be up at 8 am. Time to rest my weary head. 'Night all.

OK, so I just got back from vacation and decided to set up my gaming space. I have my 360 (I've actually had it sitting in my locker for the past couple of months) and I have a new 19" HDTV. I even have a dedicated internet connection in my room, ready for Live. But, there is one little problem. The power in my room is 22o volts, not the 110 that my good ole Xbox needs. That was almost a huge d'oh moment. Luckily, I did check the power supply before I plugged everything in. Now I find that all I need is a power transformer.

Because there are some pretty strange things happening with the Wii. OK, we all know the type of games that you can typically find on the Wii. There are plenty of kinda sports type games (no, bowling isn't really a sport). There are plenty of movie and TV tie in games. There are quite a few games that even try to make you smarter. And yes, there are even a couple of violent games there, too. Now here's something I never would have thought I would see. The Wii being decried for having violent games on it.

So, the number one family console in the history of video games is being criticized for having violent games on it, and it's all because of MadWorld. The National Institute on Media and the Family has issued a statement commemorating the game's release.

In the past, the Wii has successfully sold itself as being the gaming console for the entire family and a way to bring family-game nights back into people's living rooms. Unfortunately, Nintendo opened its doors to the violent video game genre. The National Institute on Media and the Family hopes that Nintendo does not lose sight of its initial audience and continues to offer quality, family-friendly games.

I don't know what's going through the minds of these people, but one violent game isn't going to destroy Nintendo's family friendly reputation. Relax people, there are plenty of cutesy casual games on the way still. By the way, about time you throw us real gamers a bone Nintendo. I may just pick up a Wii sooner than I planned.

With Feeling

Way back in August of last year, I wrote about my experiences with the first game in the Halo series. Since then I have played all 3 games, well, 3 of 4 if you count Halo Wars. Speaking of Halo Wars, I do have a copy of it sitting here in my house waiting to be played. And why don't I? I'm playing through F.E.A.R 2 right now and want to hold off on a new game until I get through that one.

Since I'm turning a new leaf (read my last post) in my gaming habits, I think I have a plan with Halo Wars. See, here's the thing. I'm heading back downrange in a few days, and lucky me, I have an Xbox 360 (brand new in the box) waiting for me. I plan to pick up a TV when I get there, something big enough that I can actually see the figures on the screen with, meaning no 13 incher for me. When I get the set-up completed I'll have to have something to play, so I'm going to pull out Halo Wars, right? Nope. I'm going to pull out (pretend that you are hearing a big announcer type voice when you read this, I'm thinking of the scene with Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness when he has to say the magic words as he takes the Necronomicon) Halo: Combat Evolved. Why the first game? Well, as the title of this post may suggest, I may not have been completely...open with the game the first time I played it. Meaning, I may get more out of it the second time I play it. I was pretty harsh with my assessment last time. I blame a lack of caffeine at the time.

Now, after that game, Halo Wars, right? No, next is Halo 2, then Halo 3. See, I'm trying to go back through the story so I have it all fresh in my mind for Halo Wars. But, Halo Wars is a prequel. Why would I need to review the first three games if they happen after the events of the fourth? From what I understand about the game (I haven't read a lot about it yet, wouldn't want to spoil the fun) it does show the evolution of events and actually ties into the other games. This game is considered "canon". Basically, what that means is that Halo Wars is the historic set-up for the other three games. I think it will be interesting to see how the events in Halo Wars tie into the events of the other games and expanded universe (the books and such, and yes, I've read most of the books). I think it will be much more interesting to experience the events of Halo Wars if I have a better working knowledge of what has happened to date, and that will lead to the "oh, so that's why that happened in Halo X" ruminations.

Now after that is all over, and this course of action will take a long investment in time to follow through, I may have another plan for another series. Right now though, I've bitten off a huge gaming bite and hope I don't choke on it.

One thing I've noticed lately is that I really don't spend a lot of time playing through individual games. I spend a number of hours going through them seemingly just working to get to the end. Working. That word should never be used in the same sentence as video games, but that's what I've been thinking lately. I don't have a reason for needing to rush through them, I'm not on a deadline. I don't do reviews here, at least I haven't yet, so what's the hurry? I see two reasons for that. One, today's games seem much too linear for my tastes. Most of the games I've seen these days tend to be of the "complete this mission then go directly to the next one" type. That gets very old very quickly, especially with a game that's just a little short on story. Whatever happened to that great gaming convention of optional side quests? And two, there are just so many good games coming out that I don't want to miss any of them. I feel that I need to get through one so I can get to the four others that I have waiting. And then the next month starts the cycle over again. Oh how I hate having a day job.

There used to be a time when I would only buy one game a month, or even every other month. I used to play games so I could explore every inch of their gaming world. I would try to get every weapon, every rare item, beat every boss, and just spend a lot of time wandering around. Final Fantasy VII was one of my favorite games to try and get everything in. I beat all the Weapons. I collected all the rare items. I even got every optional character in my game. I spent over 140 hours in that world, much longer than any other game I've had before or since, and I loved every minute of it. Later games in the Final Fantasy series (X is really notorious for this), made several of the side quests damn near impossible. How many people actually sat in the Thunder Plains long enough to dodge 200 lightning strikes in a row? Not me, I have a lot of patience, but I'm not a masochist.

The trend with newer games seems to be that if a developer adds an extra coat of graphics paint, they think they can skimp a bit on the content underneath. That trend troubles me. What we are getting is a superficial upgrade at the cost of the core elements of gameplay and enjoyment. I don't care if I can see a character's every hair move in the breeze, or that the water effects look hyper-realistic. That's not why I play games. I play because I want to experience a different reality than the one I'm in now. I know that I seem to be contradicting myself regarding graphics, but here's the thing. I have an imagination, and therefore, do not need graphics to show every detail of every little thing on the screen for me to enjoy a game. And no, I don't hate my life, nor do I want to hide from it, I just want to engage my mind in something other than the norm. To me, graphics are not a consideration on whether to buy a game or not. Don't get me wrong, I do like a good looking game just like the next guy, but I'd rather they skip an extra coat of paint and add a few more hours of side quests instead.

I am hopeful with some of these games coming out in the next few months (or longer in some cases). Of course Final Fantasy XIII and Versus have my attention, as does the latest Star Ocean game. Halo Wars is definitely in the queue, and so are a quite a few games from the recent past. I still haven't spent enough time with LittleBigPlanet, or the Gears of War series. And I cannot forget about Fallout 3 either, especially with the upcoming DLC on the horizon. So I plan to go the slow route, and take my time to really explore and experience a game. I'll eventually catch up on all the games I want to play, even if it takes me a few years to do it.

So what do you think? Are you happy with the way things are trending in the gaming world, or are you as nostalgic about the good old days as I am? Drop me a line, tell me what you believe.

Update-Well, it appears that my wish is granted. There is an excellent article on Wired's Game|Life blog about a hands-on playtime of the Japanese version of Metroid Prime for the Wii. A US release date has not been announced yet, although as the article states, it's "a shoo-in". 11 March 09

That, most assuredly, is the question. As you all know (all 3 of you that have read my blog, wife included), I own a PS3, a 360,a PSP and a DS. What you may not know is that I really do want to pick up a Wii. Why wait? Yes, I know that Wiis have been seen in the wild everywhere and there are a ton of new games announced all the time, shouldn't this be the right time? Maybe, maybe not. In my opinion, I honestly don't think that Nintendo had gamers like me in mind when they designed their latest offering and I've been waiting for something for me, the hardcore gamer. History shows that the Wii has never really been marketed to my demographic, and that's worked for Nintendo up to this point. I do think that Nintendo needs to embrace the core gaming community, which I don't consider the casual gamer to be. But to be fair I do think that Nintendo has been changing its focus lately. Well, they haven't done a 180 away from the casual market, but they are making progress.

Since the introduction of No More Heroes I've been seeing a shift by Nintendo of including more than just the standard kid friendly fare to the Wii line-up. I think it's good that the Wii has been including games that you typically wouldn't think to see on the Nintendo console. February saw the release of a couple of games geared toward more mature and hardcore gamers. Both The House Of The Dead: Overkill and Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop came out last month for the Nintendo Wii and show that mature games do have a place on this console. In the coming months there are several other popular games and series coming to the Wii. Starting with the very unique and interesting MadWorld later this month ,continuing to The Conduit in May and Dead Space: Extraction later this year. It doesn't sound like much in the line-up right now, but there are plenty of rumored or unannounced games coming out in addition to these.

Another announcement that has me excited about the Wii involved the re-releasing of Gamecube games to Nintendo's next gen system. That's cool, right? Yes and no. It's cool that the possibility exists that some of the better last gen games are coming to the Wii with possible graphical updates and motion controls added. Who wouldn't want to see the older Zelda games revamped for this generation? Or maybe have the Metroid Prime series ported over so you can play them all on the Wii? How about seeing (one of my personal favorites) the Rouge Squadron series updated and available today? The bad news is that only a couple of games have been announced for re-release so far and there has not been any news of new titles being added for quite a while, but I'm not concerned. Nintendo has always been slow to adopt changes, so I am going to be patient and hope for the best. At least for now.

Aren't The Only Things That Have Changed

I've been thinking a bit lately on this favorite hobby of mine. I've been thinking about the past. I've been thinking about the present. And I definitely have been thinking about the future. I keep wondering where gaming will be in 5 years, 10 years, even 20 years. Looking back at what I played as a kid, and how I played, is very different from today. Gaming has changed in the past 20 plus years, and I don't know if I like it.

I remember a time when gaming was pure fun. I remember hooking up the Atari 2600 to our 13 inch dial color TV. I remember playing brightly colored games that looked ambiguous but played great. I remember the classics that had me hooked then, and those same games still do today. I still own an Atari 2600 with most of the same games that I had as a kid. I remember playing Zelda on the NES for the first time. I remember Sonic on the Game Gear. I remember Rogue Squadron on the N64. I remember Gran Tourismo on the PS1. I remember Final Fantasy X on the PS2. I also remember only having one console during each of those periods. Then I never had to worry about multiplatform releases, or which console has the best exclusives. I used to read gaming magazines for whichever system I had, Nintendo Power, Computer Gaming Monthly, The Official PlayStation Magazine. I never worried about what the other guy was playing and it was great. But time does change things.

The present we have is one of conflict, half truths (or outright lies) and stolen ideas, all presented with a fresh coat of millions of polygons. I don't know when it happened, but gaming has lost the heart it once had. Just look at the news. Company A states that they have x number of people on their network, although Company B contends that they have Y more people then that. Company C doesn't say anything, they just don't give a damn as long as their console keeps selling. And it keeps on going round and round. It's gotten so bad that I don't know who or what to believe anymore. I may sound a little jaded and cynical, and I am. I am tired of console wars. I am tired of companies pushing out games that are no where near complete and require several updates to be finished. I'm tired of all the hate for no reason. Can't we just be happy that there are three successful consoles on the market, each with many good games. What brought this train of thought on? I think I finally had my buttons pushed once too often with all these damn Killzone 2 VS. Halo Wars articles I've been seeing.

Give me a second to explain this. OK, Killzone has been in the news for many, many years as a potential Halo killer. We've all heard it before, even before the game was finished it was tauted as being the one game, the one FPS, to unseat the king. We all know that the first Killzone didn't exactly meet expectations, but it was far from a bad game. Now, onto today. We have the release of the biggest Real Time Strategy game for the Xbox 360. Coincidentally, it has the Halo name attached to it. This game is putting up good sales numbers, which is great considering the fact that most Halo players wouldn't be interested in a game of this genre. Now I am ready to state my point. In the whole KZ2 VS. Halo Wars thing, I say this. The games are in two completely different genres and have absolutely no basis for competition. Halo Wars is not a FPS and therefore, not a direct competitor to Killzone 2. So why all the comparisons in the press? Answer me that one.

My point is that gaming should be fun. The reason for getting a console or a game should not be based on which company puts out the most outrageous press release. I don't care which console has the bigger install base. I don't care that Game A sold 250,000 more copies then Game B. I only care that the games I buy are fun. I care that a developer fulfills their promise of delivering a completed game as close to perfect as they can. I care that my console will not break down shortly after buying it. I care that I can download demos to see if I like a game before I buy it. I care that I can get as much truthful information about a console or game as I want. Enough with the bullshit. Lets get back to having fun.

Edit: I lied. Here it is, going on three days now, and I'm still making changes. I don't think I'll ever be completely done. 4 Mar 09

It only took me two days to set this new template up. I know its not perfect, but I think it looks a bit better than the old one. I like the color scheme on this one more, and it has a few more interesting features to it. I like the sliding menu under the title where my links are listed. I also like the big glide bar right above the posts. Kinda looks like a real site now doesn't it? I also like the imbedded video on the side. Now all I have to do is keep up with updating on a more frequent basis. As you all know (all 3 of you that actually read my stuff) I am currently on R&R from a deployment in sunny Iraq. Keeping up with my blog, or playing any games for that matter, have been difficult at best. Things should be better when I get back after my 2 weeks are up. I have a 360 waiting for me, I just need the TV to go along with it. I'll also be able to get internet in my room, so hopefully, no more internet cafe. I'll try to keep with my old schedule of updating twice a week, workload permitting of course. I think that about covers it for now. Feel free to let me know what you think of the new look. Did I do a decent job, or do I really need to stick to my day job? Alright, time to play some games.

Since I'm on a little bit of R&R now, I've decided to do something that I've wanted to for quite a while. If you haven't noticed I've changed my blog around a bit. I was never really happy with the way the old template looked, with the exception of my header (thanks Andy). I never realized how much work it actually is to customize an HTML template. I've spent the last couple of hours alone trying to get the header just right, I do think it was worth it though. As it is 3:30 in the morning I'm just going to have to wait to put actual content (see that empty space above the my posts and the empty video box to the right?) until the morning. What the hell am I talking about? I know I won't get up before noon. I've on vacation after all.

OK, so I haven't written here for a very long time, November in fact. I just so happen to have a very good reason for disappointing all my loyal (don't laugh too hard at this) fans. So what if the only people that actually read my stuff happen to be related to me my blood or marriage? Anyway, on to the excuse. See, the title says it all. I am at war. No, it's not the Call Of Duty 4 type of war, but the real thing. I am currently station at FOB (forward operating base) Hammer in Iraq. I know, cool name isn't it? I hate to say though, that this is definitely one of the worst places for a avid gamer to be. Hell, I can't even get Internet here without going to an Internet cafe that the whole post stands in line for. Hopefully that will change soon. As far as gaming goes I'm hurting big time. No 360. No PS3. Not even a Wii. I do have my DS and PSP, but those little things can only get a hardcore gamer so far. Oh, the humanity of it all.

I'm not saying that buying a DS and PSP was a mistake. On the contrary, I'd be a lot worse off without them. I don't actually need an electronic device to keep me entertained, I do read frequently, but they do break the monotony of a place like this. Here's a little something you may not know, gaming is a very popular pastime for deployed military members. During my last deployment to the land of camels and dirt just about my entire team had a PS2 or a computer. We had set up a LAN between our CHUs (container housing units) and had some memorable hours of Counterstrike matches (no, that wasn't all I did during the deployment). I wasn't very good at those matches, after all I was an avid console gamer used to a pad and didn't even have a mouse to use, but we had a great time.

And that is the whole point of gaming. Some people pick up a controller and instantly forget the purpose of these games. Fun. Contrary to popular belief, gaming is not just about increasing your gamerscore or getting as many trophies as possible. And in a place like this, a little fun goes a long way.

I think that covers it for my long overdue update. I look forward to being able to get online soon with my Xbox and have some fun with other gamers. I may not be able to do it this month, but it will happen. 'Til next time.