I tried to resist. I really did. The demo at PAX was underwhelming, the specifics vague and worrisome. Things had changed so much, I didn't know anything anymore. But now that I've played the PC demo and made it past the "lolwhut," Rush-like space storyline, I can see why Puzzle Quest: Galactrix may indeed spell doom for many of my future hours.
Damn you, Infinite Interactive!! Damn you to hell!!!
1.26.2009
Fallout: A Love/Hate Thang
I think I'm afraid of Fallout 3.
No, not in the sense of "omg there's a fire ant right on the other side of this wall," but more in the sense of its potential as a life- and energy-sucking exercise. Let me explain.
When Fallout dropped in October, I was seriously jazzed. I'd been hearing things about it for months, basically since PAX (where Bethesda had a pretty sweet retro airstream trailer set up to promote the game). I adored the '50s art style and apocalyptic concept so much that I did two things I never do: 1. I bought the game on launch day, and 2. I bought the Collector's Edition. Even as I write this I am watched cheerily by the Vault Boy bobblehead on my desk. So it's fair to say I was excited to dip my feet into the Wasteland.
Except...it's now January, I've had plenty of time to play this thing, and I'm still level 6, I think. I haven't seen DC yet, or even Rivet City. Part of the problem was getting sucked into Left 4 Dead when it came out mid-November. Still, how many holidays and weekends, or small weekday windows, have I had to explore further and further?
Call it the WoW effect. My ex keeps trying to draw me over to the Warcraft dark side, and yet I steadfastly refuse. Why? Because I know that it would steadily destroy my life. A lifelong fascination with fantasy and RPG elements paired with a barrage of quests and phat loot would mean, to me, finally giving up my toehold on life. If I give into a free trial, I may as well take out my own obituary.
Same thing with Fallout. There have been days when I think, "Okay, I'll jump back into it sometime tonight," except an hour doesn't do it, even two hours won't do it.. and there is no jumping, per se. It's a diving, a plunging. Fallout doesn't seem like just a game, it's another world, a world where one can easily get lost. It may also be a world where one doesn't want to progress after a while, just explore, explore, and explore some more. Sure, I spend a lot of time playing other things, but I don't waste hours and hours on those things intentionally. The rules are different in this case.
It's very possible that I'm addicted to games, especially in lieu of other activities normal folk enjoy. I do think it's good to have limits, hence my WoW kibosh. But to shut out Fallout, when so many have acknowledged it as an incredible game, if not GotY for 2008...I guess I have to ask myself, do I want to give myself over, or do I want some semblance of free will?
No, not in the sense of "omg there's a fire ant right on the other side of this wall," but more in the sense of its potential as a life- and energy-sucking exercise. Let me explain.
When Fallout dropped in October, I was seriously jazzed. I'd been hearing things about it for months, basically since PAX (where Bethesda had a pretty sweet retro airstream trailer set up to promote the game). I adored the '50s art style and apocalyptic concept so much that I did two things I never do: 1. I bought the game on launch day, and 2. I bought the Collector's Edition. Even as I write this I am watched cheerily by the Vault Boy bobblehead on my desk. So it's fair to say I was excited to dip my feet into the Wasteland.
Except...it's now January, I've had plenty of time to play this thing, and I'm still level 6, I think. I haven't seen DC yet, or even Rivet City. Part of the problem was getting sucked into Left 4 Dead when it came out mid-November. Still, how many holidays and weekends, or small weekday windows, have I had to explore further and further?
Call it the WoW effect. My ex keeps trying to draw me over to the Warcraft dark side, and yet I steadfastly refuse. Why? Because I know that it would steadily destroy my life. A lifelong fascination with fantasy and RPG elements paired with a barrage of quests and phat loot would mean, to me, finally giving up my toehold on life. If I give into a free trial, I may as well take out my own obituary.
Same thing with Fallout. There have been days when I think, "Okay, I'll jump back into it sometime tonight," except an hour doesn't do it, even two hours won't do it.. and there is no jumping, per se. It's a diving, a plunging. Fallout doesn't seem like just a game, it's another world, a world where one can easily get lost. It may also be a world where one doesn't want to progress after a while, just explore, explore, and explore some more. Sure, I spend a lot of time playing other things, but I don't waste hours and hours on those things intentionally. The rules are different in this case.
It's very possible that I'm addicted to games, especially in lieu of other activities normal folk enjoy. I do think it's good to have limits, hence my WoW kibosh. But to shut out Fallout, when so many have acknowledged it as an incredible game, if not GotY for 2008...I guess I have to ask myself, do I want to give myself over, or do I want some semblance of free will?
1.25.2009
Greetings!
Welcome to my blog. After following sites like Kotaku and Penny Arcade for several years, I wanted my own user-generated content, so to speak. I feel that, for now anyway, I have a unique perspective on the world of gaming, in that I dig all the gore and the violence, yet I have an absence of a few body parts and an excess of a few others.
A little background: I grew up on Atari and Nintendo platformers, as well as the family TI 99/a and DOS text adventures. When I was 15 I saw a demo of Doom at a department store and that was pretty much it. I've been fragging ever since. I usually don't play a lot of games, but when I dig one, I stick to it like glue. Some of my past faves have been Doom 1 & 2, Quake, Quake 3 Arena, Mega Team Fortress for Quakeworld, Soldier of Fortune 2, Urban Terror for Q3A, and Call of Duty 1 & 2. My drugs of choice right now are Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead. I never got into the whole Halo/Gears of War/Resistance games because frankly, I can't play console shooters for shit. C'est la vie. As you can probably tell, I'm not very "girly" per se, but I have my moments (and my makeup).
I plan on using this blog to opinionate, inform and vent. I should be sticking to just gaming, though not necessarily FPSes; I have another blog for daily trivialities. Hopefully I will update frequently, as games are a big part of my life at the moment. We'll see how it goes.
If you're a guy and stumbling across this, stick around, stay awhile, don't be put off by all the purple. (It's the color of royalty, after all.) If you're a girl and stumbling across this, stay even longer, as I haven't crossed paths with nearly enough of you. And please, be civil. I know this is the Internet and all, but my overall wish for this blog is the same as any game: just chill out and play.
A little background: I grew up on Atari and Nintendo platformers, as well as the family TI 99/a and DOS text adventures. When I was 15 I saw a demo of Doom at a department store and that was pretty much it. I've been fragging ever since. I usually don't play a lot of games, but when I dig one, I stick to it like glue. Some of my past faves have been Doom 1 & 2, Quake, Quake 3 Arena, Mega Team Fortress for Quakeworld, Soldier of Fortune 2, Urban Terror for Q3A, and Call of Duty 1 & 2. My drugs of choice right now are Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead. I never got into the whole Halo/Gears of War/Resistance games because frankly, I can't play console shooters for shit. C'est la vie. As you can probably tell, I'm not very "girly" per se, but I have my moments (and my makeup).
I plan on using this blog to opinionate, inform and vent. I should be sticking to just gaming, though not necessarily FPSes; I have another blog for daily trivialities. Hopefully I will update frequently, as games are a big part of my life at the moment. We'll see how it goes.
If you're a guy and stumbling across this, stick around, stay awhile, don't be put off by all the purple. (It's the color of royalty, after all.) If you're a girl and stumbling across this, stay even longer, as I haven't crossed paths with nearly enough of you. And please, be civil. I know this is the Internet and all, but my overall wish for this blog is the same as any game: just chill out and play.
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