State of the Blog 2009, Ramble Edition

At this point it's been approximately twenty-one days since my previous post, which in turn was merely a mention of the four months that had lapsed between the post before that (which, in turn, was hardly a post at all, the latest in a series of what could only be considered glorified tweets).

I am still intent on getting this page, shadow of a real blog though it may be, back on track (or as close to on track as it ever really was) very soon. I have some posts and some ideas for posts and some thoughts on ideas for posts percolating. I am, however, moving on Monday and am the best man at a friend's wedding in the days just before that (and then starting college again almost right after the move and oh yeah, my birthday falls in there somewhere), so I don't know if there'll be any kind of real, honest to goodness content (was there ever?) before next week.

A lot of my ideas don't necessarily have much to do with comics though, and I think once I start writing again it will be a more of a hub of all-purpose nerdiness with some room for general tomfoolery on my part, so I'm thinking about, I dunno, changing the name or something to reflect that.

Anyway, in the meantime, I've started doing that twitter thing that all of the kids are fussing about, so I'm messing around with that (follow me @mrliparota if you're so inclined).

The last entry...

...was approximately four months and eleven days ago.

Obviously, this blog has fallen into a state of disrepair.

I'm hoping to change that.

Aw yeah.

SO THERE.

Image and totally rad announcement courtesy IGN.com.

Wild Theory Corner (Spoilers)

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace will, somehow, be revealed as the offspring of "special" Cylons Saul and Ellen Tigh, making her a Cylon by loophole (but not technically one of the Twelve).

This explains her mysterious death and rebirth (and subsequent discovery of her own charred corpse). Additionally, it serves as a sort of "genetic" explanation as to why her personality is a strange offspring of Saul and Ellen.

Or: Starbuck is a younger model of the "Ellen" line of Cylons.

You heard it here first!

1989 - 2007

Just posted over at Kotaku:

What began as a rumour last month has now escalated into full-blown fact; Ziff Davis have officially sold the 1UP network to competitors Hearst, owners of UGO.com.

Hearst - who more importantly own many of the nation's biggest newspapers along with ownership stakes in ESPN and the History Channel - will however only be taking ownership of the network's online presence.

Which means long-running print magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly won't be along for the ride. This will be the last month the magazine is published, bringing to an end nearly two decades of independent, influential games editorial.

I can't even say how much this bums me out. EGM has always been my favorite gaming publication for one reason or another; when I was younger I liked that it managed to walk a line between "professionalism" and "sophomoric," especially considering that most gaming mags at the time were going for either one or the other (usually the latter). In recent years, especially as my interest in journalism has grown, I'd come to admire them as a source of integrity within the industry.

Which, I think, is the main reason I'm so sad to hear this news. Publishers trying to influence review scores with either veiled threats ("Give Barbie Magic Fun Time an 8 or higher or we pull the ads for all of our games") or flat-out bribery ("Hey, want a free flight to New York City and a stay in an upscale hotel for a few days so you can try out our newest title?") is one of those things that is way too common in the industry but nobody every really talks about - but EGM was different. Editorial policies were put into place that worked to circumvent such back-alley dealings; review scores were changed from numeric to academic, writers previewed games in the magazine's home office whenever possible, and publisher gifts and freebies were refused. In an industry that is often seen as immature and illegitimate, EGM worked hard to show that integrity in journalism means integrity in journalism, whether you're covering a government scandal or Metal Gear Solid 4.

So long, Electronic Gaming Monthly. You will be sorely, sorely missed.

Sushi X for life.

-M

Yes we can.

I hope everyone got out there and did their part today.

My candidate of choice*:


Change we can believe in.

-M

*At least, that's what they tell me.

Thought of the Day - 9/29/2008

I wonder how long it will be until Heroes reveals that, in fact, every character of any consequence is actually in some way related to the Petrellis, revealing Tim Kring's intent on creating a sort of super-powered version of Dynasty.

-M

Adventures in Video Game Retail, Part Two (In a Series)

You know, I recently got promoted at GameStop. You'd think that this would get me more of these stories more often, but surprisingly I've mostly been dealing with relatively normal people (or, at least, weird people who don't really do anything of note).

This one isn't quite as amusing (or appalling) as the last one, but I got a good bit of bemusement out of it. This fella, let's just call him Guy, comes in on September 20 and trades in some Xbox accessory. After he takes his cash he wanders around the store a bit, asking questions here and there. At one point he comes to the counter and the following ensued. Keep in mind that Guy is at least 25 and may or may not have been cracked out of his mind (and also, that this is verbatim):

Guy: So, uh, when does Fable II come out?
Matt: October 21 [Insert mild banter about how ridiculously excited Matt is for the game]
Guy: Uh, how long from now is that?
Matt: [Bewildered stare] Uhm...just about a month, at this point.
Guy: Huh. Cool.
[Exit Guy.]

I just don't get people sometimes.

-M

RickRoll'd!

Some of you may have heard of Spore, a new video game from The Sims creator Will Wright. Spore takes the micro-management of The Sims and expands it to an evolutionary level - the game allows one to manage the evolution of a creature from the single-celled organism to the complex animal, giving the player the ability to customize everything along the way (creatures, buildings, spaceships) and share them with other players.

Naturally, a game featuring evolution in such a way was sure to raise issues with the creationist crowd, and soon after AntiSpore.com sprouted up. The blog (which touts the tagline "Resisting EA's attack on Creationism") attacked Spore for its attempt to assault Christian values and brainwash kids into believing in evolution.

Then came today's post. An excerpt:

...People of science claim that the Earth is the way it is because of millions of years of time and science effecting it. But we are taught and believe that our world is this way and has the aged look because of the flood of Noah. It was the waters covering the Earth on such a grand scale that caused the aging that people of science claim as proof.

But in the Bible we are told in Genesis 6:7 “So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth–men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air–for I am grieved that I have made them.””

But the Bible teaches us that God was not done with man. For we were His creation and He then spoke to Noah in Genesis 8:21-27 after the flood.
“21. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never gonna give you up. 22. “Never gonna let you down.” 23.”Never gonna run around and desert you.” 24. “Never gonna make you cry.” 25. “Never gonna say goodbye.” 26. “Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” 27.”Never truly believe anything you read on the Internet. There will always be cases of Poe’s Law.”

By the by, Poe's Law basically that it's difficult to tell fake fundamentalism from real fundamentalism since they sound equally ridiculous.

The best Rick Roll of all time?

Hell yes.

-M

I would have laughed, if I could have remembered how...

Caught this during the season premiere of The Shield earlier tonight (review for that upcoming, by the way):

Color me skeptical. I was a huge fan of both of the games when they hit on the PC. On the whole the trailer seems to capture the feel of the games (Mila Kunis aside), although I am curious to know if it will stick to the original game's entire story - what with all the secret corporate espionage and what-not - or if it will stay closer to the game's first third, which is more of a hard-boiled cop yarn.

And seriously, what's with those demon things?

-M