Acid for Blood

The US military is planning to win the hearts of young people in the Middle East by publishing a new comic.

It says that they want someone who is familiar with law enforcement, small unit military operations, and Arab culture and languages. There might be loads of talented artists in the military who'd be willing to be used as a propaganda tool.

I don't know if the Army's squad-based FPS game, America's Army (the Official Video Game of the US Army), did so well in terms actually recruiting people to join. They made a flashy presentation at E3 2004, but really, people who were thinking of joining the Army certainly wouldn't do it based upon how cool a computer game is.

One of my friends, who is serving in the US Army, got a free copy of the game, and he says that it's pretty realistic. As "realistic" as you can get in a computer game, that is. He completely applauded the Army's foray into video games. Of course, he's one of them, so really, what else would he say?

Similarly, I don't think a comic book produced by the military will do much to change the image of America and American culture in the youth of the Middle East. They're waging an uphill battle. I'd be impressed if the comic managed make any impact at all.

Yesterday was a happy day because I found out that my local Barnes & Noble now stocks my favourite games magazine (and quite possibly my favourite magazine, full stop), Edge. I haven't read it in at least three years, so I don't know whether I agree with critics' views that the quality of Edge has gone downhill in the interim. All I know is that no other magazine covers games culture in a mature, journalistic, and critical fashion in the way that Edge does. The same goes for their entire approach to video and computer games journalism. I also trust Edge's games reviews more than almost any other source. I know where $8.00 + tax (£4.00) of my money is going every month from now on!

Sony has been told to pay $90.7m (£48m) in damages and stop selling PlayStation consoles in the United States after losing a patent infringement lawsuit.

Tsk tsk tsk, Sony. Didn't anyone ever tell you that you need to ask permission before using someone else's invention/intellectual property?

Sony are appealing, and apparently whilst the appeal is being heard, the suspension of sales of the consoles and 47 games using the vibration technology does not hold.

A couple years ago, Microsoft settled with Immersion on the same matter out of court. Microsoft, however, own a nearly 10 percent stake in Immersion. According to Guardian GamesBlog, Nintendo also settled out-of-court with Immersion.

My reflexes are shit. God, I'm old. Good game, though. Makes me nostalgic about the Gradius games for the SNES. The fact that Treasure's development team created this is awesome. I love Ikaruga. Of course, this does mean that Gradius V is pretty fucking hard, though I don't think it's as hard as Ikaruga. Five stages in Ikaruga, and I can't even make it past the beginning of Stage 4.

I have no time to play video games. It's horrible. I have too many interests and priorities to be spending them playing games. And yet, I buy loads of them, and the backlog pile continues to rise.

I worked an 8-hour shift today at The G. This is unusual as they generally give me short shifts, even though I am only weekend help. There is a staffing shortage due to an abrupt exodus of warm bodies from the ranks of our employees. The result is that everyone must take more hours.

I put in the employee hold drawer four games: Silent Hill 3, Fatal Frame II, DDR MAX 2, and Final Fantasy X-2. All of them used, except for FFX-2. I'd have held FFX-2 used as well, except the copies we had were in bad condition and lacked instruction manuals. I'm extremely picky about the condition of my games. Perhaps it's a holdover from when I used to collect comic books, but I honestly cannot stand scratched games, bent manuals, and all that shit.

I didn't buy them because I've been spending money on other things lately. I'll just let them simmer in the drawer for a few weeks...

I'm going to have even less time to play games because I finally got a decent full time job. And I work part-time at the weekend. Money is good, but it means less time to spend on my hobbies.

Also, I just started a Dungeons & Dragons game on a forum, so that's eating up my time. Even though it hasn't fully started, I'm sorta buried in character generation. *sigh* And I still haven't talked to the DM this weekend like I said I would.

Oh well.

God, what an annoying site. It is populated with immature people who just want to rack up as many 'Friends' on their list as possible, without a second thought to who they're adding. They also seem to use it as a place to, as one says in the vernacular, "hook-up" with others. And another thing, the site layout and design on 1UP.com is horrendous. It's cluttered and ugly, and it hurts my eyes.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to 1UP.com for one thing -- having a blog, profile, and page somehow got me into an invite-only (for now) forum primarily focused on Metroid and Nintendo games. Rock on. I don't know who Luminoth Man is, but he is pretty cool for inviting a random Metroid fan (that would be me) in. So far, the fourms seem quite cool, as they aren't filled with jack-ass kids who have a lot to say about nothing much. On the contrary, I actually found it difficult to locate idiotic, flame-bait, or troll-like posts, which is a good sign.

Anyway, this is my profile on 1UP.com. I think I'll probably erase all my 1UP.com blog posts and vacate the premises before the end of the month.

Appropos to my previous post, I'm going to transfer (and backdate) some of the blog posts I made on 1UP.com to this Blot*Spot. I'll also turn Comments back on, in case someone sumbles across this site and wants to say something about what I write.

Now, as for my previous posts on this blog... I'll delete them, except for posts that have to do with gaming. Most of them are quite whingey. I first envisioned this site as a place for random commentary about random things, and as a place to rant because I didn't want to burden or annoy my friends, or to whine about things that I simply didn't want to talk about with friends. I suppose I shall just have to keep my whinging to myself, write it elsewhere, or even confide in someone! Novel idea!

I don't have any grand ambition for this site. I'm not kidding myself, thinking that hundred of ickle web denizens will come flocking to read my opinions. I just figure that, since gaming has been a part of my life for so long, I might as well write about various related topics in public. It's also good practice.

Hm... Re-reading my first post on this blog, I think I will make the focus a bit wider than just games. Rather than games, I think I'll also talk about other media, e.g. films, television, books, etc. Yes, precious -- media.

I find it funny that I'm the only one on GameSpot who is Now Playing Yourself!Fitness. I also find it funny that I'm (as of today) one of only six people who own the game, or at least admit to owning it.

Apparently I'm a member of a special gaming forum now, in which you have to prove your 1337-ness by writing 100 words on why they should accept you as a member. Also, you have to be invited in by an existing member of the forum. I was headhunted, though I daresay it might not be that difficult to get in. Anyway, I'll see how it goes, but from my casual browse through the threads, it seems all right. Lots of Metroid fans on there, so it can't be all that bad.

I might make this a blog about gaming. And media? Gaming, films, TV, books, comics, music? Seems broad, but my tastes are broad.

What could I possibly write about? It's not as if my posts to Girl Gamers are filled with scintillating insight. I mostly post interesting links. In the past, I have engaged in intelligent discussion/debate about games culture, particularly regarding gender and gaming, but that topic hasn't come up recently. Maybe I could write about what discussion emerges on Girl Gamers?

I do read a lot of games blogs, and I'm afraid that if I turn Acid for Blood into my personal games blog, it'll just be another spot in the gaming blogosphere, drifting amongst the others. Then again, why do I even need an audience? I could just write shit here, and no one will care. I could also practice tightening up my writing style, as I am the first to admit that I get very wordy.

The obvious thing to write would be games reviews. I suppose I wouldn't know how good I am of a reviewer unless I tried. I've never tried to review a game before.

And, if I do decide to create a games blog, what about moving it from Blogger to a different host, with my own domain name? At the moment I can't pay for domain name registration and hosting fees on top of that. Also, I'm not up on the website programming, so... I'd likely keep it here for a while. Hm... Maybe I could just register a domain name and camp. I know, that would be bad! But...

I was reading up on WordPress, because some games bloggers like Ste Curran, Mak, and ButtonMashing.com use it. It seems like a decent app, and I do like the clean, neat layouts that these particular blogs have. Of course, if I went with WordPress, I'd have to do the whole domain name registration and get a hosting service. This bears more thought.

I will ruminate on these items.

We were hurting for subs and reserves today at the store, so I pre-ordered Killer 7. Having read up on it recently, I'm quite intrigued by the game. Considering the fact that I do tend to like so-called "arty" films, I'm interested in a game that people are calling the very "first video game art film". The concept certainly sounds interesting -- one assassin, multiple personalities, with each personality having a different expertise. Unlike other people with Multiple Personality Disorder, the main character, Harman Smith, physically changes with each shift to a different personality. How handy, because Harman Smith is a 60-year-old wheelchair-bound man. I'm looking forward to it. I hope it turns out to be good. I'm tired of being disappointed when the final release doesn't live up to the hype. Death by Degrees, anyone? Poor Nina. :-(

My copy of ICO arrived in the post yesterday. I have promised myself not to start playing until I've finished Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Of course, starting ICO will just replace MP2's spot on the pile of games. :-/

Also, I'm expecting a copy of Xenogears to arrive at some point, but I've promised to 'save' it. I'm going to play it with one of my friends when she moves to my area. The prospect of starting it, playing it through, then playing it again with her is not something that I look forward to, because it's is a long RPG.

Started, but Not Finished:

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn -- I haven't loaded my save-game in over a year. And I'm not even into Chapter 3 yet. I keep doing side-quests. :-|

Beyond Good and Evil

Golden Sun: The Lost Age -- I think I'm near the end of the game, but it's hard to be inspired to play on my Arctic White GBA. Please, Nintendo, release the Pearl Blue GBA SP in the US! I know, I'm lame, because I do care what colour my GBA SP is. :-P

Katamari Damacy -- I can't pass Make a Star 7!

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time -- I never had an N64, so... Yeah.

The Longest Journey

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Have, but Not Started:

Bloodrayne

Devil May Cry

ICO

Onimusha: Warlords -- I will admit that the main reason I got this game was because the lovely Takeshi Kaneshiro was used for the likeness of the main character. I didn't even know what the game was about till I read the back of the box. Oh noes! My secret is out! In my defence, one of my friends mentioned it a couple of years ago, and she had nice things to say about it.

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny

Xenogears

Have, and Don't Plan on Playing to the end, Really:

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

Final Fantasy VII -- I must be the only one who was utterly bored less than two hours into this game. Luckily, my friend has said she would play the game through, and then call me for the interesting plot developments. Not that I don't already know the big plot twists!

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature

Metal Gear Solid -- For the GBC. I got a little bored, and I think I've been spoiled by 3D gaming. Primitive 2D graphics on the Game Boy Color just doen't hold my interest very well anymore.

Vagrant Story

I really need to stop working at the video game store. I just find more I want to buy, and the pile keeps growing and growing! And let's not even talk about the new games that I'd like to get!

I just thought of something. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is coming out very soon. I still haven't finished Final Fantasy VII. Indeed, the only reasons I got the game were: 1) to finally find out what all the hype about this game is about, and 2) because the trailer for Advent Children looked so good, and I want to see that movie, and since it's a sequel, I couldn't very well see the second part without playing the first.

The prospect of playing FFVII is distasteful at the moment, to be honest. I just got really bored by the gameplay, and overwhelmed by all the menus. Maybe I'm just not used to menu-intensive RPG gameplay. Maybe I'm more of an action/adventure/fighter/shooter kind of gamer. I don't know. I honestly did give FFVII a good shot, but it just utterly failed to captivate me. I'm sure Final Fantasy fan boys and girls will be aghast at this revelation. Newsflash: not everyone is instantly addicted to or even likes Final Fantasy games.

And really, if a cliched, but well-excecuted RPG like Golden Sun held my attention so much so that I was virtually addicted to it till I finished, then why couldn't a game like Final Fantasy VII? Perhaps there will never be an answer to that one. All I know is that I had better find out what exactly happened in Final Fantasy VII, before I see Advent Children.

Maybe it was Final Fantasy VII itself. Maybe I need to try another Final Fantasy game. I hear from my friends that FFX and FFX-2 are pretty good. Though, the main reason I'd be playing FFX-2 would be for the, uh, 'scenery'.

I made some time, and played some Metroid Prime 2 tonight. OMG. Sometimes Metroid can get frustrating. Back-tracking and exploration are integral parts of any Metroid game, but I just want to finish the damn thing. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it's taking forever because I want to get as high an item completion percentage and visor scan percentage as possible, without using a walkthrough or strategy guide. Even if it means that I take forever (speed runs are not my thing).

I've just been sitting on this game forever. I bought it at launch, and played it obsessively for about three months. Then I gradually stopped playing. When I got stuck at Quadraxis, I just back-burnered the game. Actually, I took an extended break from gaming, full stop, so my backlog hasn't shrunk, really. It's actually grown since my hiatus, because work had some good-condition copies of older games I didn't have.

I think I'll gradually make more time for gaming in my evenings. Perhaps an hour or half an hour per night should allow me to do other stuff, and at the same time, hammer away at that pile of games.

Shit. I got outbid on a very good condition, complete copy of Secret of Mana by an eBay sniper. I should have increased my bid before going to bed. I'm so annoyed! They only won by about $6.00 and some change. Son of a bitch!

I don't grasp the importance of the concept of one's 'score' on 1UP.com. Why should I care if someone has more points than me? More to the point, why should I care if I have lots of points?

Perhaps those are stupid questions, as many video games are inherently comepetitive and incorporate a scoring system. They assign you arbitrary numbers based upon the successful completion of tasks in-game. A connection is created between success in the game and the awarding of points. Ergo, more points are more desireable.

I suppose the points on this site are desirable in a social context. More points, more activity, more page views, a more interesting rank, more friends, means that the individual is more popular, more read, possibly more respected, etc. And people tend to look upon popularity positively. As this is a social site, more socialisation or activity is awarded with more points. People then associate a higher score with popularity, thus making more points desireable.

Hm... Well, I'm not entirely sure why I created an account on 1UP.com. I suppose I could use it to make boring posts on what games I'm playing or not playing.

Right now I'm quite daunted by my backlog of games. I really need to start on them, but I'm pretty busy usually. I really should finish the games I've already started, as the backlog will just become increasingly difficult to manage.

I finally got Soul Calibur II (GC) the other day, because it doesn't require a lot of time committment.

After defeating Quadraxis and getting the Light Suit in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, I just sorta put that game on the back burner. The last part of the game is just a treasure hunt to unlock the last area and to get all the items, now that I have the add-ons to my armour. To be honest, searching for stuff in areas that I've already explored is not entirely appealing at the moment, and not for any in-game reasons, either. However, I couldn't call myself a Metroid fan without at the very least completing the game.

I'm not actually that big on getting every single item ever. I'm just happy when I can finish a game, because time to play is increasingly hard to come by. Having said that, I am eventually going to finish Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for the third time through because I just love that game, and the prospect of Eternal Mode is appealing.