I'm not inside my own mind today... I recently fought the fight, I saved the galaxy. Commander Bryce Sheppard defied the odds, defied what seemed to very well be FATE to unite the galaxy and stop the forces of evil...
Of course, what I'm trying to say is I finally finished Mass Effect 3. There are a lot of emotion's I'm currently feeling so I think it's best to just start at the beginning.
How far back do we really want to go?
Let's go to to 1998.
I would have been 10 or 11, just got my first Sony Playstation. Now I used to take what little money I could scam out of my mother the odd weekend to rent video games at a store called The Jolly Gamesman. Typically I would rent sports games. This time was different, a game jumped out at me in particular.
It was called Final Fantasy VII...
Now I had played Final Fantasy games before, mainly Final Fantasy II for my Super Nintendo. This was a game I really enjoyed so surely the 7th "Final" fantasy would be worth a try as well right?
Little did I know I would be starting an adventure that would go unparalleled in my personal mythos. The tale of Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and AVALANCHE as they take on the evil SHINRA corporation to save the world was one that set a standard that would take decades to even come close to seeing met again by a video game.
Lets fast forward to 2007... My friend Geoff told me about this game called Mass Effect and honestly I should have taken his suggestion with a little more weight than I did. For a long time, Geoff tried to get me into this band you may have heard of called RUSH. I resisted for the longest time but Rush would eventually become one of my top favorite bands.
It was a long time between when Geoff first told me of Mass Effect and when I would actually play it. Years, as a matter of fact. Probably AT LEAST two.
I found Mass Effect for the unstoppable price of twenty dollars at Staples after I moved to Nova Scotia. Starting it out, I wasn't sure what to expect really.
Let me digress momentarily with a little bit of background: I've never really been into science fiction. Other than watching the majority of Star Trek: Voyager in the days when I only had two channels of TV to watch, I hadn't really enjoyed sci-fi outside say, Star Wars. I didn't exactly go out of my way for it either. Coincidentally, BioWare, the developers of Mass Effect, made some very good Star Wars games you may have heard of called The Knights of The Old Republic (As well as the recently released MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic).
For those of you who have never played Mass Effect, I will try to keep these as spoiler free as possible. I WILL discuss plot elements of the games but I will TRY to refrain from ruining any parts of the games that I wouldn't want ruined for myself. IF you wish to remain blissfully ignorant to any of the plot points of MASS EFFECT 1 than please do not read any further. I will let you know when it's safe to read again. Mass Effect takes place in the future, in the 2100's. Now, technology moves very fast in this world. Humans have JUST discovered the technology for faster than light travel which allowed them to explore the universe. In 30 years, Humanity has 'earned a place' among the galactic civilization which houses numerous alien species. This is something that has always made me raise an eyebrow. Humans can barely co-exist with each other and yet we somehow can peacefully co-exist with numerous alien races?
Okay, okay... it's just a video game. Anyway, YOU are Commander Sheppard. As the game begins, you go through a brief character creation process to "personalize" your Sheppard. You start out on The Normandy as it's heading toward a planet called Eden Prime. You soon learn things are not what they seem and before you know it you're on a race across the galaxy to stop a rogue named Saren from enacting his evil plan. Saren has become indoctrinated by a force known as The Reapers, a sentient race that is more or less the purveyors of a destruction cycle of genocide that takes place once a species has reached its apex of evolution. Sheppard, of course, takes exception to this.
OKAY... this is where I stop revealing plot points, you are safe.Now Mass Effect 1 takes a bit of time to get going, there's an epilogue that takes about a half-hour to an hour to complete and then by the time you're actually given free reign to roam the galaxy you have already played for close to two hours. A lot of people I've tried to get into the game seem to have a hard time getting past this early lull in the game but once you get past this you are brought to a whole galaxy to explore.
Mass Effect drew me in hard with its emphasis on the characters. Early on as you meet Garrus, Tali and Wrex, you are introduced to the diversity of life the Mass Effect universe has to offer but you're also introduced to a game that places heavy emphasis on Character Development which directly affects the player experience. You grow yourself attached to these various characters as they aid you through your seemingly impossible journey. These characters and their points of view, racial "quirks" and hatreds toward each other (such as the volatility between the Krogan and everyone, as well as the Quarian and the Geth) help shape a world as complex and unique as the one we live in. This suspension of disbelief is so important in any science fiction or "futuristic" setting. It's the reasons shows like Star Trek and Babylon 5 were so popular.
In the game you make choices that lives depend on, the decisions you make in the game could affect thousands of lives and these choices are not made easily. As Commander Sheppard, you are in the forefront of a battle for the galaxy in Mass Effect and you are thrust into some sticky situations and these situations are not weighed lightly. When most games simply make you a facilitator for an event to happen, Mass Effect is making you as the player, literally and directly impact the game you are playing when so many games just take you on a ride like a roller coaster. When you're drawn into the conflicts of the game, these choices you're forced to make become harder and harder and as a lovely side-effect you are pulled deeper into the game's mesmerizing atmosphere.
When I completed Mass Effect 1, it was mere months before Mass Effect 2 was due to be released. Now that I knew I had something to look forward to that wasn't another Hockey, Baseball or Football game, I was VERY excited. Little did I know what kind of rabbit hole I was crawling in to...
TO BE CONTINUED....
Friday, March 30, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Real Slim Shady
I'm not inside my own mind today...this blog might be kind of corny but I'm trying to make a point with this one I PROMISE!!!
I want to talk about someone important, someone who has broken borders and paved roads with his words and actions. I'm talking about Marshall Mathers, aka, Eminem, aka Slim Shady. Say what you will, Eminem is a polarizing figure of this generation and he is a modern day beacon of freedom of speech.
Personally, Eminem has been kind of important. I remember being in 6th grade, 11 years old. Sitting in the school library, the group of kids I was sitting with was talking about this "M&M" person... naturally being a loser kid, I bluffed my way into the conversation as they were surely as ignorant to this person as I was... maybe not though. I wanted to be "in" you know how it is when you're a dumb kid and that stupid shit matters.
Allow me to digress, my parents didn't bat an eyelash when I got my first Eminem CD... I don't know why. I mean let me really think about it for a moment. One time, I was younger by the way, after I just got Rob Zombie's "Hellbilly Deluxe" as a kid, I remember my father having this conversation with me.
Dad: "Do you really think you should be listening to this?"
Me: "It's just music..."
My father pretty much left it at that. My dad let me and my friend Billy listen to his Dennis Leary, No Cure For Cancer CD when we were like 13-14 "Don't let your mother know I let you listen to this." He said, hehehe. I'm glad he did let me listen to it and let me mention this is probably AFTER I got into Eminem... I mean I'm far from "messed up" but who is really normal these days right? My point is, my parents addressed the issue when it was apparent. I was what, probably 11-12, well before the time I was starting to actually listen to Eminem's music instead of pretending I was.
So The Marshall Marshall Mathers LP came out, and I had to have it, I bought it and I was listening to it. Honestly, I bought it myself, (as a kid, crazy I know) I was buying things for myself at that age though Mom would let me go to the mall as long as I wasn't going alone (and sometimes I could. I was a pretty independent teen) I would get video games on the occasions I had enough money or what have you. The world was a different place in the 90's... I mean kids might be able to buy CD's with graphic language on them but I don't now I'm not 13 anymore.
His lyrics were certainly extreme. Songs about killing the mother of his kid, songs about robbing banks, doing drugs, hell. I don't think that album really has one sorta mellow song... There's one of my personal favorites, Ammityville, which is a blood anthem for Detroit boasting it as Murder Capitol of America (it was again this year if I'm not mistaken...) so yes at this point Eminem was a real wealth of lyrical content
In Grade 8, I was doing homework at a classmate's house, he had Eminem's first "Slim Shady" CD, aka the one I hadn't heard yet. IT was even darker, I could see why he was such a big deal when he first burst onto the scene because some of his music was truly dark. However songs like Role Model and Just Don't Give A Fuck remain personal favorites to this day as well as many other songs from that album. His music wasn't changing me albeit, I was developing my apathy for public school at that age... that's another blog for another time.
Eminem started out as a grotesque beast... something blatant, in your face, something diabolical... it was this pure darkness that almost kind of looks like a metaphor for the late 90's as a whole with how popular violence, sex, etc was on television during that time, Eminem... at least not directly, was a part of something and he didn't know his music was going to grow and last beyond that... He was cashing in on his 15 minutes.
How was I to interpret his music, indeed I was one of the kids he was so often citing as to influencing in his music but I didn't feel like he was portrayed as to making someone my age feel, in fact it was quite the opposite. I always admired Eminem for his ability to just speak his mind and say what he wants. He has used his music to bash George Bush and the US Government, the Media, Parents and Parenting, he's called out other rappers, he's spoken about himself (maybe?) and sure he's written borderline fantasy raps about killing, drug abuse, rape, etc, because he wants to offend you. Anyone who cant see through the Slim Shady facade is the very person he's trying to offend. I've always appreciated and respected Eminem because of his attitude (warped as it may be) toward free speech, it affected me at a young age without even really realizing it and I am better for it today.
It's not like I would go around singing the Eminem lyrics... are you kidding me? I wanted to KEEP listening to it, the last thing I was going to do was let Mom catch me blasting Criminal casually in my bedroom at 14. I think there are metal bands that raise equal eyebrows but Eminem has a reputation, especially back then, the last thing I wanted was Mom taking that CD away. I laugh about it now but if she heard the songs she probably would have questioned me about Eminem at the very least.
Allow me to digress once more... One time I was walking to work (I'm about... 20-21 in this story so fast forward.) I'm walking down passed The Lodge Motel on my way to Boston Pizza, I'm singing Everything Ends by Slipknot about as loud as someone can sing a hate anthem like that. There's a guy on the second level having a smoke, he sees me as walk by singing/butchering the words of this song, I took a look, he was speechless. There was an amusement this gave me, the gratification was something I think is somewhat similar to the feeling Eminem gets out of pissing off the entire world with his lyrical content. That's just me taking a guess... I don't know him. I don't know if I could ever feel comfortable doing something like that, singing along with a Slipknot song that has some of the worst lyrics of any of their songs and proudly boast every word from my voice box... Not without having a little bit of Slim Shady in me, so to speak.
I'm sure Eminem hasn't just affected me. There are too few people that can really speak to my age group, I'm still relatively young, only 24, and I am sure lots of kids are blasting Slim Shady on their iPods behind their parents backs just like I did. How his music affects them is really not up to Eminem, it's up to the values that have been instilled upon the child from their parents and the kids ability to realize that he's just a rapper and the bottom line is he's there to enjoy... if it's wrong to take joy from something like Eminem than I don't want to be right!
This generation especially has too few people we can really look at and say "they are an embodiment of the freedom of speech I like to have." Everywhere you look, its celebrities, drug addicts, murders, bad, bad, bad, negative, negative, negative, there's never anything good in the news anymore unless it's a "recovery" story about some bullshit celebrity or nobody that isn't worth the airtime they're given, that's a different story....
Bottom line, it's people like Eminem that I respect for saying it how it is, for saying what they want to say the way they want to say it, and simply because we can. There are too few people in this world with the courage to do so.
There's a little Slim Shady in all of us... at least so I'm told... until next time.
PEACE.
I want to talk about someone important, someone who has broken borders and paved roads with his words and actions. I'm talking about Marshall Mathers, aka, Eminem, aka Slim Shady. Say what you will, Eminem is a polarizing figure of this generation and he is a modern day beacon of freedom of speech.
Personally, Eminem has been kind of important. I remember being in 6th grade, 11 years old. Sitting in the school library, the group of kids I was sitting with was talking about this "M&M" person... naturally being a loser kid, I bluffed my way into the conversation as they were surely as ignorant to this person as I was... maybe not though. I wanted to be "in" you know how it is when you're a dumb kid and that stupid shit matters.
Allow me to digress, my parents didn't bat an eyelash when I got my first Eminem CD... I don't know why. I mean let me really think about it for a moment. One time, I was younger by the way, after I just got Rob Zombie's "Hellbilly Deluxe" as a kid, I remember my father having this conversation with me.
Dad: "Do you really think you should be listening to this?"
Me: "It's just music..."
My father pretty much left it at that. My dad let me and my friend Billy listen to his Dennis Leary, No Cure For Cancer CD when we were like 13-14 "Don't let your mother know I let you listen to this." He said, hehehe. I'm glad he did let me listen to it and let me mention this is probably AFTER I got into Eminem... I mean I'm far from "messed up" but who is really normal these days right? My point is, my parents addressed the issue when it was apparent. I was what, probably 11-12, well before the time I was starting to actually listen to Eminem's music instead of pretending I was.
So The Marshall Marshall Mathers LP came out, and I had to have it, I bought it and I was listening to it. Honestly, I bought it myself, (as a kid, crazy I know) I was buying things for myself at that age though Mom would let me go to the mall as long as I wasn't going alone (and sometimes I could. I was a pretty independent teen) I would get video games on the occasions I had enough money or what have you. The world was a different place in the 90's... I mean kids might be able to buy CD's with graphic language on them but I don't now I'm not 13 anymore.
His lyrics were certainly extreme. Songs about killing the mother of his kid, songs about robbing banks, doing drugs, hell. I don't think that album really has one sorta mellow song... There's one of my personal favorites, Ammityville, which is a blood anthem for Detroit boasting it as Murder Capitol of America (it was again this year if I'm not mistaken...) so yes at this point Eminem was a real wealth of lyrical content
In Grade 8, I was doing homework at a classmate's house, he had Eminem's first "Slim Shady" CD, aka the one I hadn't heard yet. IT was even darker, I could see why he was such a big deal when he first burst onto the scene because some of his music was truly dark. However songs like Role Model and Just Don't Give A Fuck remain personal favorites to this day as well as many other songs from that album. His music wasn't changing me albeit, I was developing my apathy for public school at that age... that's another blog for another time.
Eminem started out as a grotesque beast... something blatant, in your face, something diabolical... it was this pure darkness that almost kind of looks like a metaphor for the late 90's as a whole with how popular violence, sex, etc was on television during that time, Eminem... at least not directly, was a part of something and he didn't know his music was going to grow and last beyond that... He was cashing in on his 15 minutes.
How was I to interpret his music, indeed I was one of the kids he was so often citing as to influencing in his music but I didn't feel like he was portrayed as to making someone my age feel, in fact it was quite the opposite. I always admired Eminem for his ability to just speak his mind and say what he wants. He has used his music to bash George Bush and the US Government, the Media, Parents and Parenting, he's called out other rappers, he's spoken about himself (maybe?) and sure he's written borderline fantasy raps about killing, drug abuse, rape, etc, because he wants to offend you. Anyone who cant see through the Slim Shady facade is the very person he's trying to offend. I've always appreciated and respected Eminem because of his attitude (warped as it may be) toward free speech, it affected me at a young age without even really realizing it and I am better for it today.
It's not like I would go around singing the Eminem lyrics... are you kidding me? I wanted to KEEP listening to it, the last thing I was going to do was let Mom catch me blasting Criminal casually in my bedroom at 14. I think there are metal bands that raise equal eyebrows but Eminem has a reputation, especially back then, the last thing I wanted was Mom taking that CD away. I laugh about it now but if she heard the songs she probably would have questioned me about Eminem at the very least.
Allow me to digress once more... One time I was walking to work (I'm about... 20-21 in this story so fast forward.) I'm walking down passed The Lodge Motel on my way to Boston Pizza, I'm singing Everything Ends by Slipknot about as loud as someone can sing a hate anthem like that. There's a guy on the second level having a smoke, he sees me as walk by singing/butchering the words of this song, I took a look, he was speechless. There was an amusement this gave me, the gratification was something I think is somewhat similar to the feeling Eminem gets out of pissing off the entire world with his lyrical content. That's just me taking a guess... I don't know him. I don't know if I could ever feel comfortable doing something like that, singing along with a Slipknot song that has some of the worst lyrics of any of their songs and proudly boast every word from my voice box... Not without having a little bit of Slim Shady in me, so to speak.
I'm sure Eminem hasn't just affected me. There are too few people that can really speak to my age group, I'm still relatively young, only 24, and I am sure lots of kids are blasting Slim Shady on their iPods behind their parents backs just like I did. How his music affects them is really not up to Eminem, it's up to the values that have been instilled upon the child from their parents and the kids ability to realize that he's just a rapper and the bottom line is he's there to enjoy... if it's wrong to take joy from something like Eminem than I don't want to be right!
This generation especially has too few people we can really look at and say "they are an embodiment of the freedom of speech I like to have." Everywhere you look, its celebrities, drug addicts, murders, bad, bad, bad, negative, negative, negative, there's never anything good in the news anymore unless it's a "recovery" story about some bullshit celebrity or nobody that isn't worth the airtime they're given, that's a different story....
Bottom line, it's people like Eminem that I respect for saying it how it is, for saying what they want to say the way they want to say it, and simply because we can. There are too few people in this world with the courage to do so.
There's a little Slim Shady in all of us... at least so I'm told... until next time.
PEACE.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
What are The Liberals smokin' ? (Another Political Rant)
I'm not inside my own mind today... I have to be... Liberals had to remind us they were Pro-Pot.
Why did we forget all of a sudden. if Jean Chrétien had his way, we would all be smoking big fatties right now. THEY JOKED ABOUT IT IN THE HOUSE FOR FUCK SAKES! OF course, American Oversight's, ahem, nipped that in the bud pretty quick.
Why would they go out of their way to remind us...
Well lets look at the facts here, facts are facts, I don't need bullshit statistics to sell this to you.
People smoke weed, a lot of people. People you know, people you didn't know do it. It's easy to say "majority" to exaggerate but when it comes to smoking marijuana, the people have spoken in the past and continue to keep tokin' in the privacy of their homes because, well, it's the most comfortable that way. It's not ridiculous for me to say that MOST Canadians would be in favor of legalizing Marijuana, it's a simple fact. A truth. Honest and pure.
Now The Liberals got crushed in the last election, CRUSHED... Like. The NDP Did REALLY good. They didn't win, despite the NDP doing really well, the Conservative Majority, when the dust settled, the Liberals were left gasping, breathing crudely into a 30 year old respirator while the Michael Ignatieff experiment failed thanks to maybe the most brilliant smear campaign in the history of Canadian Politics by the Conservatives.
Now, they're desperate. The Liberals have never been the third wheel in the Canadian political spectrum. The announcement of the liberals being pro-pot, especially at this point and time is essentially meaningless. It's like giving someone with the stomach flu cough medicine... What exactly are your words going to change? The Liberals have no weight to throw around in the House right now, all the Liberals are trying to do at this point and time is sway voters...
WHY?
WHY WASTE YOUR FUCKING EFFORT LIKE THAT?!
Unless you REMIND Canada of your feelings for the wacky tobbacky during the prime period of election, people aren't going to care. I'm not much for flow charts or funny pictures to make my points for me, so lets play the hypothetical scenario game.
In the 2011 Election, approximately 61% of Canadians voted. Of that 61%, only 18.9% of those people voted Liberal... so
61% of Canada, approximately, is 34,278,400 (as of January 1st, 2011 according to Statistics Canada) so that means of that 34,278,400 people... A solid 20 million or so voted leaving a decent 10 million Canadians looking like lazy assholes. OF those 20 million people that voted, not even 20% could muster the confidence to vote Liberal, I blame the Conservative smear campaign. It's a double whammy for both, the liberal decline AND the NDP Surge (you can also give Jack Layton considerable credit for that as well) SO for the 18.9% of people that voted Liberal, that means about 4 million Canadians voted Liberal. This is not a small number by any means, but with two parties getting 70% of the vote, the Liberals were due to be lost in territory they don't know, much less understand: The wasteland of Canadian Politics with the Green Party and the Bloc...
SO.... lets look at the numbers a little further. Compared to the 2008 Election, there was a decline in votes of 7.3% approximately in regard to the percentage of the vote the Liberals had, now that 7.3 percent drop accounted for over 40 seats in the House of Commons and almost 5 million votes. A brilliant attack on Ignatieff left the wind out of the Liberals sails and while Layton was launching a spirited campaign for Prime Minister the Liberal Party might as well flushed themselves down the toilet.
That brings me back to the original point... WHY REMIND Canadians that you're pro-pot? Because the Liberals need to make some NOISE... ANY kind of noise will do for them, those 5 million votes made a HUGE difference.
Compare and contrast with the NDP who saw a vote increase of roughly 4 million voters from 2008 to 2011. Those 4 million voters helped the NDP get an additional 66 seats in the house of commons. Many of those new seats were acquired from Liberal territories.
I'm not going to bother with the Conservatives, all that matters is despite getting LESS THAN 40% of the total vote, they have MAJORITY government. That doesn't make any fucking sense no matter how you look at it.
BACK to the Liberals and their dirty pot smoking ways, and why it's important...
The NDP didn't out and brag it, but their rather more relaxed attitude toward small crime such as marijuana and priorities on the health system and education really won over a lot of voters (these things are staple of most Liberal platforms (among other business related things of course) but people didn't care what the Liberals were trying to do.. What were the Liberals trying to do? Nobody knew, and nobody gave a shit because the TV told them they weren't to trust Ignatieff and that ate that shit up like a five dollar Chinese Lunch smorg.
The NDP offered a more appealing body to vote for, and then the conservatives basically got by on name alone (Oh that and pressure power-plays from Big Oil, that's right...) because a large body of Canadian voters hear "Conservative" and just seem to sub-consciously check the box for whatever reason. I will NOT turn this into another Harper HateStock... fuck it, you tell me Big Oil didn't buy this last election and I will say prove me wrong. This left the Liberals gasping for air in the end and the results show it.
A party who, I think still doesn't have a leader. (A quick fact check tells me: Bob Rae is apparent party leader...) Okay so Bob Rae looks like Ric Flair with the chin of a hockey player but what does he stand for. I know nothing of the guy, haven't heard him say a speech and well I don't go Liberal so what does it matter.
HERE is where it matters. IF the Liberals REALLY embraced their sudden fondness for being pro-pot. They would win Canada. Period. IF they came up with an actual platform to legalize it, use the money revenue for Canada's benefit and they have another 3 fucking years to come up with something so STEP YOUR SHIT UP LIBERALS. IF you WANT Canada, it's right there waiting for you to take it. You just have to show some cajones like ol' Jean did embrace an ideal that could help you win an election.
If they just tack it on for notoriety, they're going to sway, maybe a million votes max. Nothing changes, we stay pro-conservative because there's too many people in the older generations who are confused by the new conservatives and what they represent.
You see, there used to be TWO conservative parties in Canada. Red and Blue. I cant make this shit up! They merged and Stephen Harper became the party leader (the leader of the other Con's was, Peter Mackay, our Minister of Defense. Don't even get me started on him. He's as fucking slimy as Harper and he's done more than enough this last year to prove it. He took his position in government, let Harper take control of the party, maybe it was for the best that way because Peter Mackay is not PM material. EVEN if the entire fucking county here has their head up his ass. He's just as robotic and two-faced as Harper ANYWAY....)
Despite both being branded with the Conservative name, these two parties did exemplify different ideals. You can see why the initial merger was so rocky (and why we had minority government for half a decade) people don't know what Conservatives they are voting for, they just know what they know. They voted Conservative in the past (unless you think about LYING BRIAN MULRONEY.) but ohhh the Liberals have done so much to fuck Canada up, never mind what Mulroney did in his time in office. This older generation votes Conservatives, they're not voting for PC's like Brian Mulroney (the Blue Con's) they are probably thinking Red con's (or Tory's as they were called in those days)
Basically, these conservative voters who have voted conservative simply on the merits of the Tory's, are voting for a party that is basically strictly PC-ideology. It's not what THEY were voting for those years ago but its what they continue to vote for now because of the conservative name.
That's another problem for the Liberals. Embracing marijuana as a PLATFORM to use, not just a token decriminalization and maybe promotion of use in a medicinal capacity since many Canadian doctors seem to shun the idea of medicinal marijuana. (Much like the STATES...) so a Liberal platform to facilitate that for patients that could actually use it would be great for Canadians who could use it. That would encourage voters. Showing that you, the Liberal party, have thought about a LEGITIMATE way to use marijuana to HELP Canada and make money for Canada, then the voters will respond to that. IF you are just using the hype of being 'pro-pot' to get some extra votes, you're going to find yourself at the bottom of the barrel again.
Why did we forget all of a sudden. if Jean Chrétien had his way, we would all be smoking big fatties right now. THEY JOKED ABOUT IT IN THE HOUSE FOR FUCK SAKES! OF course, American Oversight's, ahem, nipped that in the bud pretty quick.
Why would they go out of their way to remind us...
Well lets look at the facts here, facts are facts, I don't need bullshit statistics to sell this to you.
People smoke weed, a lot of people. People you know, people you didn't know do it. It's easy to say "majority" to exaggerate but when it comes to smoking marijuana, the people have spoken in the past and continue to keep tokin' in the privacy of their homes because, well, it's the most comfortable that way. It's not ridiculous for me to say that MOST Canadians would be in favor of legalizing Marijuana, it's a simple fact. A truth. Honest and pure.
Now The Liberals got crushed in the last election, CRUSHED... Like. The NDP Did REALLY good. They didn't win, despite the NDP doing really well, the Conservative Majority, when the dust settled, the Liberals were left gasping, breathing crudely into a 30 year old respirator while the Michael Ignatieff experiment failed thanks to maybe the most brilliant smear campaign in the history of Canadian Politics by the Conservatives.
Now, they're desperate. The Liberals have never been the third wheel in the Canadian political spectrum. The announcement of the liberals being pro-pot, especially at this point and time is essentially meaningless. It's like giving someone with the stomach flu cough medicine... What exactly are your words going to change? The Liberals have no weight to throw around in the House right now, all the Liberals are trying to do at this point and time is sway voters...
WHY?
WHY WASTE YOUR FUCKING EFFORT LIKE THAT?!
Unless you REMIND Canada of your feelings for the wacky tobbacky during the prime period of election, people aren't going to care. I'm not much for flow charts or funny pictures to make my points for me, so lets play the hypothetical scenario game.
In the 2011 Election, approximately 61% of Canadians voted. Of that 61%, only 18.9% of those people voted Liberal... so
61% of Canada, approximately, is 34,278,400 (as of January 1st, 2011 according to Statistics Canada) so that means of that 34,278,400 people... A solid 20 million or so voted leaving a decent 10 million Canadians looking like lazy assholes. OF those 20 million people that voted, not even 20% could muster the confidence to vote Liberal, I blame the Conservative smear campaign. It's a double whammy for both, the liberal decline AND the NDP Surge (you can also give Jack Layton considerable credit for that as well) SO for the 18.9% of people that voted Liberal, that means about 4 million Canadians voted Liberal. This is not a small number by any means, but with two parties getting 70% of the vote, the Liberals were due to be lost in territory they don't know, much less understand: The wasteland of Canadian Politics with the Green Party and the Bloc...
SO.... lets look at the numbers a little further. Compared to the 2008 Election, there was a decline in votes of 7.3% approximately in regard to the percentage of the vote the Liberals had, now that 7.3 percent drop accounted for over 40 seats in the House of Commons and almost 5 million votes. A brilliant attack on Ignatieff left the wind out of the Liberals sails and while Layton was launching a spirited campaign for Prime Minister the Liberal Party might as well flushed themselves down the toilet.
That brings me back to the original point... WHY REMIND Canadians that you're pro-pot? Because the Liberals need to make some NOISE... ANY kind of noise will do for them, those 5 million votes made a HUGE difference.
Compare and contrast with the NDP who saw a vote increase of roughly 4 million voters from 2008 to 2011. Those 4 million voters helped the NDP get an additional 66 seats in the house of commons. Many of those new seats were acquired from Liberal territories.
I'm not going to bother with the Conservatives, all that matters is despite getting LESS THAN 40% of the total vote, they have MAJORITY government. That doesn't make any fucking sense no matter how you look at it.
BACK to the Liberals and their dirty pot smoking ways, and why it's important...
The NDP didn't out and brag it, but their rather more relaxed attitude toward small crime such as marijuana and priorities on the health system and education really won over a lot of voters (these things are staple of most Liberal platforms (among other business related things of course) but people didn't care what the Liberals were trying to do.. What were the Liberals trying to do? Nobody knew, and nobody gave a shit because the TV told them they weren't to trust Ignatieff and that ate that shit up like a five dollar Chinese Lunch smorg.
The NDP offered a more appealing body to vote for, and then the conservatives basically got by on name alone (Oh that and pressure power-plays from Big Oil, that's right...) because a large body of Canadian voters hear "Conservative" and just seem to sub-consciously check the box for whatever reason. I will NOT turn this into another Harper HateStock... fuck it, you tell me Big Oil didn't buy this last election and I will say prove me wrong. This left the Liberals gasping for air in the end and the results show it.
A party who, I think still doesn't have a leader. (A quick fact check tells me: Bob Rae is apparent party leader...) Okay so Bob Rae looks like Ric Flair with the chin of a hockey player but what does he stand for. I know nothing of the guy, haven't heard him say a speech and well I don't go Liberal so what does it matter.
HERE is where it matters. IF the Liberals REALLY embraced their sudden fondness for being pro-pot. They would win Canada. Period. IF they came up with an actual platform to legalize it, use the money revenue for Canada's benefit and they have another 3 fucking years to come up with something so STEP YOUR SHIT UP LIBERALS. IF you WANT Canada, it's right there waiting for you to take it. You just have to show some cajones like ol' Jean did embrace an ideal that could help you win an election.
If they just tack it on for notoriety, they're going to sway, maybe a million votes max. Nothing changes, we stay pro-conservative because there's too many people in the older generations who are confused by the new conservatives and what they represent.
You see, there used to be TWO conservative parties in Canada. Red and Blue. I cant make this shit up! They merged and Stephen Harper became the party leader (the leader of the other Con's was, Peter Mackay, our Minister of Defense. Don't even get me started on him. He's as fucking slimy as Harper and he's done more than enough this last year to prove it. He took his position in government, let Harper take control of the party, maybe it was for the best that way because Peter Mackay is not PM material. EVEN if the entire fucking county here has their head up his ass. He's just as robotic and two-faced as Harper ANYWAY....)
Despite both being branded with the Conservative name, these two parties did exemplify different ideals. You can see why the initial merger was so rocky (and why we had minority government for half a decade) people don't know what Conservatives they are voting for, they just know what they know. They voted Conservative in the past (unless you think about LYING BRIAN MULRONEY.) but ohhh the Liberals have done so much to fuck Canada up, never mind what Mulroney did in his time in office. This older generation votes Conservatives, they're not voting for PC's like Brian Mulroney (the Blue Con's) they are probably thinking Red con's (or Tory's as they were called in those days)
Basically, these conservative voters who have voted conservative simply on the merits of the Tory's, are voting for a party that is basically strictly PC-ideology. It's not what THEY were voting for those years ago but its what they continue to vote for now because of the conservative name.
That's another problem for the Liberals. Embracing marijuana as a PLATFORM to use, not just a token decriminalization and maybe promotion of use in a medicinal capacity since many Canadian doctors seem to shun the idea of medicinal marijuana. (Much like the STATES...) so a Liberal platform to facilitate that for patients that could actually use it would be great for Canadians who could use it. That would encourage voters. Showing that you, the Liberal party, have thought about a LEGITIMATE way to use marijuana to HELP Canada and make money for Canada, then the voters will respond to that. IF you are just using the hype of being 'pro-pot' to get some extra votes, you're going to find yourself at the bottom of the barrel again.
Fear Factor
I'm not inside my own mind today... why is everyone so fucking afraid in this country?
Afraid to walk the streets at night
Afraid to leave their doors unlocked
Afraid to let their children play in the yard unattended
Afraid to confront people
Afraid of pretty much anything you can put to mind. It doesn't make any sense. The thing that boggles my mind isn't really how much people tell me they're afraid but how much media tells me I'm afraid. The News tells me to be fearful, Newspapers write horror stories while, Radio plays this up as well by keeping the people up to date on the latest tragedy. Nobody really seems to question it, lots of people read the newspaper and watch the news and they don't even seem to realize how afraid they really are.
Everyone is afraid, it's a culture of fear that's been created in less than my cognitive 'adult-ish' years so lets say a good decade at least.
The biggest telling tale is current events of my small town. A young girl/woman (19 I believe) was abducted and later (over a month) found murdered. People rallied together to find this girl, you couldn't pass a block of street without seeing her missing persons poster. The hope everyone shared that she could be alive was a real uniting energy the likes of which I have RARELY seen... The town set up this corner of the road where I believe her shoe was found as a kind of memorial. Candles and such all along the side walk. It was kind of cool to see such a sporadic commemoration of good will. Pretty much a couple months passed from the day she went misising before the people were given any kind of answers and even then, knowing what we know. We know this:
- She was murdered. (Around the same time another person was brutally murdered in front of his fucking family, disgusting act. I believe this to be mere coincidence, there are those who do not. That is all I will say on this. Believe what the fuck you want on the matter.)
- She was abducted off the side of the road. She lost a shoe, and it wasn't akin to Cinderella.
- She didn't have her phone because some assshole Cab Driver wouldn't wait for her and her friends as they went to the bar that night.
- She was found, pretty far off from where she was supposedly taken. On farmland, I'm not sure WHERE exactly it is because the knowledge I have of the local area is shit. It was out of town though, that I am sure.
- Her boyfriend was supposed to pick her up at Big Al's, a convenience store quite a ways away from the bar, Doolys, she was at, why couldn't her BF have just picked her up at the bar? THIS was a point of much finger pointing at the boyfriend for some time though I believe he's innocent of the matter, again, lots of chitter chatter of people wanting to believe otherwise.
That's another thing I want to digress on, people LOVE to theorize with open books like this. Holy shit everyone had their two fucking cents about what happened to this poor girl and who did it. ITS STILL LIKE THAT for a lot of people but the hysteria has really died down since she was found and that's something at least...
It scares me how eager people are to play the blame game and make causal accusations based off of pure thought. No basis what so ever other than what they've been told by and read in the media. We all know the Media is such a trustworthy fountain of knowledge so why question it. I think it's a big reason for the fucking coma Canadians seem to be in right now, again, another rant for another time...
Moving along... still, nothing has been really proven to the people. I will not dive into the theories I've heard, aside from the brief tidbits I've touched upon (personally intriguing IDEAS to me.) In a small town you have to believe what you feel and I have the sense there is a lot of bullshit to the whole situation and when you let your mind wander with possibilities, something menial can become sensational and something horrific could become extraordinary in a sense.
What followed after her death was something that disgusted me entirely. The way the local newspaper in particular pushed the story and did so for nearly a week after her being found in farm land decomposed made people crazy. They were scared to walk the streets day or night, there was this whole kind of global maternal instinct to protect young women who looked vulnrible. Not for me, that's ANOTHER rant... but just the general consensus of people adopted this attitude "Oh, you shouldn't be out there by yourself." "You gotta be real careful these days, you don't know who to trust."
That's a doozie right there... "You don't know who to trust."
What the fuck is that. YES YOU DO. YOU FUCKING KNOW what you KNOW.
For fuck sakes, OPEN your eyes and look at the world for what it is and right then you will know what you can fucking trust in this world. Some of the people you KNOW are the only people you can trust in this world. That's why I hate that saying... It makes me so mad when people casually toss that one around like any one of us is a goddamn psycho.
I am so sick and tired of people and the media telling me who I have to fucking trust. I am an adult, I see the world for what it really is and I can trust what I want to trust and DO trust what I want to trust, you can keep your fucking opinion to yourself asshole.
Why does it seem like crime rates are actually down (one of the HUGE arguments against Harper's Megacrime bill) yet all they tell us about is how fucking dangerous the world is. Its not safe anymore despite what the numbers state. It's this meticulous fear factor that they have really been working on in the last decade. You cant talk about walking home at night without someone telling you about how dangerous it is.
Why is that?
Its everywhere, every single one of us is constantly being told that we're not safe, we're not to trust anyone and we're not to feel secure and it's gotten to the point that it's borderline hysteria with our belief. It's complete subconsciousness, a lot of the time people don't even realize they do it. It's kind of scary. There's no real logic to it and there's no critical thinking against it. People don't really even seem to realize it and they just accept that they are scared and they don't really know why.
I don't know if it's this generation of 'depressed' people being given pills that make them docile and complacent with their oh so horrible lives of having a home and wonderful technology and making money instead of like the third world where GENOCIDE is a casual worry in some people's daily activities. Get over your fucking self... okay I am getting distracted again but I don't know if its this docile society, accepting and believing everything THEY ARE TOLD and not chosing to really think about things for themselves.
Maybe things really are worse, maybe I should be afraid, but fuck you. I will not be afraid because you, the television, newspapers or radio told me to be afraid. I will be afraid because I know the world is capable out there and I will be afraid of the things that are actually happening that people don't give a shit about.
Bills and Laws their governments are passing without a thought because of ignorant, complacent zombies. Fearful zombies that will come together whenever they are displeased about cell phone service but when it comes to their fucking standard of living and their civil liberties (liberties is the most apropriate word, because you can take a liberty away from someone. Rights sound too permanent and I don't believe we have rights anymore in this world)
Let the suits decide, fuck what I think right?
Afraid to walk the streets at night
Afraid to leave their doors unlocked
Afraid to let their children play in the yard unattended
Afraid to confront people
Afraid of pretty much anything you can put to mind. It doesn't make any sense. The thing that boggles my mind isn't really how much people tell me they're afraid but how much media tells me I'm afraid. The News tells me to be fearful, Newspapers write horror stories while, Radio plays this up as well by keeping the people up to date on the latest tragedy. Nobody really seems to question it, lots of people read the newspaper and watch the news and they don't even seem to realize how afraid they really are.
Everyone is afraid, it's a culture of fear that's been created in less than my cognitive 'adult-ish' years so lets say a good decade at least.
The biggest telling tale is current events of my small town. A young girl/woman (19 I believe) was abducted and later (over a month) found murdered. People rallied together to find this girl, you couldn't pass a block of street without seeing her missing persons poster. The hope everyone shared that she could be alive was a real uniting energy the likes of which I have RARELY seen... The town set up this corner of the road where I believe her shoe was found as a kind of memorial. Candles and such all along the side walk. It was kind of cool to see such a sporadic commemoration of good will. Pretty much a couple months passed from the day she went misising before the people were given any kind of answers and even then, knowing what we know. We know this:
- She was murdered. (Around the same time another person was brutally murdered in front of his fucking family, disgusting act. I believe this to be mere coincidence, there are those who do not. That is all I will say on this. Believe what the fuck you want on the matter.)
- She was abducted off the side of the road. She lost a shoe, and it wasn't akin to Cinderella.
- She didn't have her phone because some assshole Cab Driver wouldn't wait for her and her friends as they went to the bar that night.
- She was found, pretty far off from where she was supposedly taken. On farmland, I'm not sure WHERE exactly it is because the knowledge I have of the local area is shit. It was out of town though, that I am sure.
- Her boyfriend was supposed to pick her up at Big Al's, a convenience store quite a ways away from the bar, Doolys, she was at, why couldn't her BF have just picked her up at the bar? THIS was a point of much finger pointing at the boyfriend for some time though I believe he's innocent of the matter, again, lots of chitter chatter of people wanting to believe otherwise.
That's another thing I want to digress on, people LOVE to theorize with open books like this. Holy shit everyone had their two fucking cents about what happened to this poor girl and who did it. ITS STILL LIKE THAT for a lot of people but the hysteria has really died down since she was found and that's something at least...
It scares me how eager people are to play the blame game and make causal accusations based off of pure thought. No basis what so ever other than what they've been told by and read in the media. We all know the Media is such a trustworthy fountain of knowledge so why question it. I think it's a big reason for the fucking coma Canadians seem to be in right now, again, another rant for another time...
Moving along... still, nothing has been really proven to the people. I will not dive into the theories I've heard, aside from the brief tidbits I've touched upon (personally intriguing IDEAS to me.) In a small town you have to believe what you feel and I have the sense there is a lot of bullshit to the whole situation and when you let your mind wander with possibilities, something menial can become sensational and something horrific could become extraordinary in a sense.
What followed after her death was something that disgusted me entirely. The way the local newspaper in particular pushed the story and did so for nearly a week after her being found in farm land decomposed made people crazy. They were scared to walk the streets day or night, there was this whole kind of global maternal instinct to protect young women who looked vulnrible. Not for me, that's ANOTHER rant... but just the general consensus of people adopted this attitude "Oh, you shouldn't be out there by yourself." "You gotta be real careful these days, you don't know who to trust."
That's a doozie right there... "You don't know who to trust."
What the fuck is that. YES YOU DO. YOU FUCKING KNOW what you KNOW.
For fuck sakes, OPEN your eyes and look at the world for what it is and right then you will know what you can fucking trust in this world. Some of the people you KNOW are the only people you can trust in this world. That's why I hate that saying... It makes me so mad when people casually toss that one around like any one of us is a goddamn psycho.
I am so sick and tired of people and the media telling me who I have to fucking trust. I am an adult, I see the world for what it really is and I can trust what I want to trust and DO trust what I want to trust, you can keep your fucking opinion to yourself asshole.
Why does it seem like crime rates are actually down (one of the HUGE arguments against Harper's Megacrime bill) yet all they tell us about is how fucking dangerous the world is. Its not safe anymore despite what the numbers state. It's this meticulous fear factor that they have really been working on in the last decade. You cant talk about walking home at night without someone telling you about how dangerous it is.
Why is that?
Its everywhere, every single one of us is constantly being told that we're not safe, we're not to trust anyone and we're not to feel secure and it's gotten to the point that it's borderline hysteria with our belief. It's complete subconsciousness, a lot of the time people don't even realize they do it. It's kind of scary. There's no real logic to it and there's no critical thinking against it. People don't really even seem to realize it and they just accept that they are scared and they don't really know why.
I don't know if it's this generation of 'depressed' people being given pills that make them docile and complacent with their oh so horrible lives of having a home and wonderful technology and making money instead of like the third world where GENOCIDE is a casual worry in some people's daily activities. Get over your fucking self... okay I am getting distracted again but I don't know if its this docile society, accepting and believing everything THEY ARE TOLD and not chosing to really think about things for themselves.
Maybe things really are worse, maybe I should be afraid, but fuck you. I will not be afraid because you, the television, newspapers or radio told me to be afraid. I will be afraid because I know the world is capable out there and I will be afraid of the things that are actually happening that people don't give a shit about.
Bills and Laws their governments are passing without a thought because of ignorant, complacent zombies. Fearful zombies that will come together whenever they are displeased about cell phone service but when it comes to their fucking standard of living and their civil liberties (liberties is the most apropriate word, because you can take a liberty away from someone. Rights sound too permanent and I don't believe we have rights anymore in this world)
Let the suits decide, fuck what I think right?
Thursday, January 5, 2012
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I'm not inside my own mind today... its before 7am. I do not enjoy this time of day, it's very vampire. That and I need coffee.
Happy New Year!
It's 2012, resolutions abound, I'm looking forward to leaving 2011 behind. It's just the way it is. I'm not exactly one to mull about in the past.
I don't have any specific thing to talk about so I'm just going to shoot from the hip here.
Lets start with SOPA: It's kind of a big deal .
Honestly, it was only a matter of time before the suits took an aggressive front against internet piracy. What did you honestly expect was going to happen? The record companies, film / tv producers, game developers, etc, etc, by people's sticky digital fingers. They need to push the bill through before the election, obviously. I wonder how hard the people are really going to try and fight this after the whole Occupy movement has lost a lot of steam?
We live in a world where there is the capability to do this. People can afford the monthly bill to get the internet but they cant afford the cost of a CD, DVD, Video Game, Computer Software, etc, etc, so many things can be pirated these days. It's not as bad (at least I don't think it is) as the Napster days when downloading music was this bizarre taboo. The allure of the cost (none) plus the anonymity of the internet is a cocktail of disaster. It was (and still is) only a matter of time before the powers that be put the clamps down on the internet.
I read a quote somewhere, it said - "The wild west days of the internet are coming to an end." I agree.
There have been arguments that SOPA will change nothing, maybe this is also true. SOPA is just the beginning though. Once those suits (aka, whoever's in charge. I don't think SOPA's as big a priority for Obama as some other things, at least I would hope it fucking isnt... depends who'se voices are wispering in his ears. Okay I sound like a weirdo hah!) take the time to put something together it will get passed and the internet will change.
WHEN that happens? I don't know. SOPA isn't it, but it's the start.
Okay onto something else, Happy New Year!
Yeah I already said that but with 2012 brings new things. The end of things to some of us crazy enough to believe it. The entire notion the world is going to end is ridiculous to me. Remember the doom preached on Y2K. People legitimately lost their shit, fearing what they would do when their precious technology was rendered useless at the stroke of midnight?! Give me a fucking break!
Oh yeah, it's the MAYANS... for fuck sakes!
Okay... so other than that. There's things to look forward to!
The Dark Knight Rises, Mass Effect 3. Okay I love Movies and Video Games but the fact remains that those are just the little things. I'm not going to rant and rave about life. Having a new job just makes everything better and Christmas was perfect so that is the best way to turn the corner into a new year. Maybe Diablo 3 will come out sometime in July that way I can put a few months into it before the world ends?
The sun is starting to come up. I need coffee... maybe breakfast. Until next time,
PEACE!
Happy New Year!
It's 2012, resolutions abound, I'm looking forward to leaving 2011 behind. It's just the way it is. I'm not exactly one to mull about in the past.
I don't have any specific thing to talk about so I'm just going to shoot from the hip here.
Lets start with SOPA: It's kind of a big deal .
Honestly, it was only a matter of time before the suits took an aggressive front against internet piracy. What did you honestly expect was going to happen? The record companies, film / tv producers, game developers, etc, etc, by people's sticky digital fingers. They need to push the bill through before the election, obviously. I wonder how hard the people are really going to try and fight this after the whole Occupy movement has lost a lot of steam?
We live in a world where there is the capability to do this. People can afford the monthly bill to get the internet but they cant afford the cost of a CD, DVD, Video Game, Computer Software, etc, etc, so many things can be pirated these days. It's not as bad (at least I don't think it is) as the Napster days when downloading music was this bizarre taboo. The allure of the cost (none) plus the anonymity of the internet is a cocktail of disaster. It was (and still is) only a matter of time before the powers that be put the clamps down on the internet.
I read a quote somewhere, it said - "The wild west days of the internet are coming to an end." I agree.
There have been arguments that SOPA will change nothing, maybe this is also true. SOPA is just the beginning though. Once those suits (aka, whoever's in charge. I don't think SOPA's as big a priority for Obama as some other things, at least I would hope it fucking isnt... depends who'se voices are wispering in his ears. Okay I sound like a weirdo hah!) take the time to put something together it will get passed and the internet will change.
WHEN that happens? I don't know. SOPA isn't it, but it's the start.
Okay onto something else, Happy New Year!
Yeah I already said that but with 2012 brings new things. The end of things to some of us crazy enough to believe it. The entire notion the world is going to end is ridiculous to me. Remember the doom preached on Y2K. People legitimately lost their shit, fearing what they would do when their precious technology was rendered useless at the stroke of midnight?! Give me a fucking break!
Oh yeah, it's the MAYANS... for fuck sakes!
Okay... so other than that. There's things to look forward to!
The Dark Knight Rises, Mass Effect 3. Okay I love Movies and Video Games but the fact remains that those are just the little things. I'm not going to rant and rave about life. Having a new job just makes everything better and Christmas was perfect so that is the best way to turn the corner into a new year. Maybe Diablo 3 will come out sometime in July that way I can put a few months into it before the world ends?
The sun is starting to come up. I need coffee... maybe breakfast. Until next time,
PEACE!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
NEW! Part Two: Vidyea Gamez!
I'm not inside my own mind today... VIDEO GAMES!
Yeaaah, I've been playing my fair share of Xbox games lately. Certain individuals in my life would even claim that I was "xbox hogging" whatever this audacious term means, I'm not privy to it and I do not respond to it Yes, there have been a lot of new games that have come out, and I've been playing them! So I'll touch base on the games I've been playing and my thoughts on each game.
First and foremost; BATMAN ARKHAM CITY
OH MY GOD!
My inner 5 year old explodes when I even THINK about this game.
It's a masterpiece, and I'm not exaggerating. This is one of the best video games I've ever played and it's earned a spot in my all-time favorites hall of fame. It's probably hands-down, the best superhero video game ever made and it's story mode alone runs at the 10-15 hour mark which is easily two times larger than most video games that are released today. With the side-quests that bumps it up to over 40 hours. There's so much to do and if you cant' do it all?
Once you beat the game, you unlock the "plus" mode. You can play it again, keep your upgrades and the game is more difficult, but all the side-quests and riddler challenges you've completed to this point carry over so you can continue with your plus play through. When I beat the game the first time, I was just over 40% complete, and then my save file corrupted so I had to start over. It's okay with me, I'm taking the time to try and do more extras so that when I have beaten the game maybe I'm over half-complete.
The ironic thing, to me, is that Arkham City isn't just a great Batman game, it's also a great Spider-Man game.
What?
Yeah that's right, I said Spider-Man game. The Catwoman missions are a great vacation, (so to speak) from the Batman portions. Catwoman has her own distinct play style and she has "theif vision" which is similar to the detective vision that Batman has but its not nearly as comprehensive. Her combat is very acrobatic and she can climb up walls, and use her whip to jump from building to building. She's a spidey-sense, and web shooters shy of being BETTER at being Spider-Man, than Spider-Man!
Activision should take note! Pumping out a new, mediocre game every 12-15 months isn't going to help your cause, take the time to build a PROPER Spider-Man game, the one fans have wanted since the Spider-Man 3 debacle and then you will see them come.
That's what Rocksteady has done with Arkham City. They took the time to build a proper sequel, rather than pumping one out ASAP to cash in on the success of Arkham Asylum, they decided to improve upon Arkham Asylum in virtually every single way. The ways of which Asylum outshines its successor City are minimal, and you have to comb the game to find them.
Overall, Arkham City is a triumph, any Batman fan would lose their shit playing this game and for casual gamers who aren't hooked on pointy eared superheroes, this game is too fun to not enjoy it. Worth your time to check it out, TRUST me.
Then we've also got MADDEN NFL 12
I wrote about the Madden Conundrum a few months ago. However, Madden 12 is the real deal. They've overhauled the game in aspects of the game that haven't so much as been looked at by developers in FIVE YEARS like parts of the Franchise mode, such as post-season activities.
Gameplay itself has been overhauled, Madden 12 plays a lot smoother than Madden 11 and the hits are that much more dynamic. You will find yourself wincing at some of the on field contact, that's a service not only to the great details made on the animation but also the audio as well does a great job of capturing that dynamic aspect of Football.
As you would come to expect from any EA Sports title, presentation is top notch. A step up from Madden 11, the team specific introductions are a great touch that seems much more monumental in a game like Madden where there are only 32 teams than compared to the NCAA Football game that has over double that. Prestentation and gameplay aren't the only aspects Madden has improved though.
The game is much more complete than games past, almost every single game mode has received some due attention. Online Play is much more convenient now with the way they've set up their LIVE mode. The Ultimate Team mode is improved, though it's still as erroneous a game mode as it ever was. Be A Superstar mode has been upgraded as well though the bulk of my time is spent playing the Franchise mode there are a lot of other avenues for Madden to take up your time.
Madden 12 is THE most complete Madden that's been produced to date, current generation, or even last gen as well. As we draw closer to the next stage of gaming (the next-next gen) I expect EA Sports to stifle the progression of their titles and take their time (3-4 years) figuring out how to get the most out of the next generation. For now, Madden 12 is a success and although the Curse has hit Peyton Hillis and the Browns hard this year, I won't hold it against the video game!
Part 3 is going to be a movies post but that may have to wait until a later time. We'll see!
Yeaaah, I've been playing my fair share of Xbox games lately. Certain individuals in my life would even claim that I was "xbox hogging" whatever this audacious term means, I'm not privy to it and I do not respond to it Yes, there have been a lot of new games that have come out, and I've been playing them! So I'll touch base on the games I've been playing and my thoughts on each game.
First and foremost; BATMAN ARKHAM CITY
OH MY GOD!
My inner 5 year old explodes when I even THINK about this game.
It's a masterpiece, and I'm not exaggerating. This is one of the best video games I've ever played and it's earned a spot in my all-time favorites hall of fame. It's probably hands-down, the best superhero video game ever made and it's story mode alone runs at the 10-15 hour mark which is easily two times larger than most video games that are released today. With the side-quests that bumps it up to over 40 hours. There's so much to do and if you cant' do it all?
Once you beat the game, you unlock the "plus" mode. You can play it again, keep your upgrades and the game is more difficult, but all the side-quests and riddler challenges you've completed to this point carry over so you can continue with your plus play through. When I beat the game the first time, I was just over 40% complete, and then my save file corrupted so I had to start over. It's okay with me, I'm taking the time to try and do more extras so that when I have beaten the game maybe I'm over half-complete.
The ironic thing, to me, is that Arkham City isn't just a great Batman game, it's also a great Spider-Man game.
What?
Yeah that's right, I said Spider-Man game. The Catwoman missions are a great vacation, (so to speak) from the Batman portions. Catwoman has her own distinct play style and she has "theif vision" which is similar to the detective vision that Batman has but its not nearly as comprehensive. Her combat is very acrobatic and she can climb up walls, and use her whip to jump from building to building. She's a spidey-sense, and web shooters shy of being BETTER at being Spider-Man, than Spider-Man!
Activision should take note! Pumping out a new, mediocre game every 12-15 months isn't going to help your cause, take the time to build a PROPER Spider-Man game, the one fans have wanted since the Spider-Man 3 debacle and then you will see them come.
That's what Rocksteady has done with Arkham City. They took the time to build a proper sequel, rather than pumping one out ASAP to cash in on the success of Arkham Asylum, they decided to improve upon Arkham Asylum in virtually every single way. The ways of which Asylum outshines its successor City are minimal, and you have to comb the game to find them.
Overall, Arkham City is a triumph, any Batman fan would lose their shit playing this game and for casual gamers who aren't hooked on pointy eared superheroes, this game is too fun to not enjoy it. Worth your time to check it out, TRUST me.
Then we've also got MADDEN NFL 12
I wrote about the Madden Conundrum a few months ago. However, Madden 12 is the real deal. They've overhauled the game in aspects of the game that haven't so much as been looked at by developers in FIVE YEARS like parts of the Franchise mode, such as post-season activities.
Gameplay itself has been overhauled, Madden 12 plays a lot smoother than Madden 11 and the hits are that much more dynamic. You will find yourself wincing at some of the on field contact, that's a service not only to the great details made on the animation but also the audio as well does a great job of capturing that dynamic aspect of Football.
As you would come to expect from any EA Sports title, presentation is top notch. A step up from Madden 11, the team specific introductions are a great touch that seems much more monumental in a game like Madden where there are only 32 teams than compared to the NCAA Football game that has over double that. Prestentation and gameplay aren't the only aspects Madden has improved though.
The game is much more complete than games past, almost every single game mode has received some due attention. Online Play is much more convenient now with the way they've set up their LIVE mode. The Ultimate Team mode is improved, though it's still as erroneous a game mode as it ever was. Be A Superstar mode has been upgraded as well though the bulk of my time is spent playing the Franchise mode there are a lot of other avenues for Madden to take up your time.
Madden 12 is THE most complete Madden that's been produced to date, current generation, or even last gen as well. As we draw closer to the next stage of gaming (the next-next gen) I expect EA Sports to stifle the progression of their titles and take their time (3-4 years) figuring out how to get the most out of the next generation. For now, Madden 12 is a success and although the Curse has hit Peyton Hillis and the Browns hard this year, I won't hold it against the video game!
Part 3 is going to be a movies post but that may have to wait until a later time. We'll see!
New! Part One: Bye Bye to The Verge...
I'm not inside my own mind today... It's been a while so lets get caught up! PLENTY To talk about ... I'll probably span this into a couple of entries. We'll see. ANYWAY:
Where to begin, let's start off with I GOT A NEW JOB!!!
Yes, I got my get out of jail free card.
There was a new pizza place that opened up over a month ago now. On a whim, I figured I would try it because I love pizza more than anything. I ask the woman, (who coincidentally also used to work at The Verge (( I will call it "the verge" to avoid drawing attention to what it IS)) as well!) if they're hiring full time. She says yes, boom! I dropped off my resume the next day, and was hired the day after that.
Previous instances where I had tried to find another job were not very fruitful. When I applied for a job at Jungle Jim's to work at their resturant, it took them THREE WEEKS to get back to me and by that time I had already resigned my fate to being an employee of the verge for a while longer (This was about a year ago now.)
So yes, I'm a proud employee of Sam's Original Recipe: Take Out. It's such a welcome change of responsibility. Even though I was sick of pizza places and wanted a change. I was at the point where I'll take anything that isn't a call center. There's this voice in the back of your mind that says you need a change when you're going in to work and you feel like any given day you could snap at any time.
The boss is very easy going and he's great to work for, he's by far my favorite business owner that I've encountered. The Pictou County area is very frustrating to job hunt and this is especially so because of business owners. This is a separate rant in of itself but I'm thankful that I managed to get a job where I don't have to worry about my superiors. All I have to worry about is the job I am doing and that I'm doing it right.
I miss the people, I had made a lot of great friends at The Verge and I miss everyone. There was great fodder in discussion because everyone was so desperate to get their mind off of that place for 15 minutes of their day. I see people on occasion and I still talk to some of my old co-workers from over there so that's good. I miss the people, I don't miss the duties or the bullshit at all.
The Verge had to be the only job I've ever had where you could do your job AS GOOD AS YOU CAN DO IT, and yet, it's not good enough. All you were ever reminded of was, what needed to be done better, what you couldn't do, what you couldn't say, everything was negative reinforcement. There is next to no attempt to boost morale the easiest way they can... WITH A POSITIVE ENVIROMENT!
Now this is virtually impossible to achieve with the structure they have in the project. The standards are the priority, if the site doesn't meet the standards, everyone hears about it. Everyone gets pretty sick of hearing about it because it's just one more thread of bullshit on the bullshit sweater. When you've got over 200 people feeling the same way, it's virtually impossible to keep your head above water in that place. That's why I needed a way out.
So, it's a pay cut, and a loss of hours but for some peace of mind, I'll sling pizza's again :)
Where to begin, let's start off with I GOT A NEW JOB!!!
Yes, I got my get out of jail free card.
There was a new pizza place that opened up over a month ago now. On a whim, I figured I would try it because I love pizza more than anything. I ask the woman, (who coincidentally also used to work at The Verge (( I will call it "the verge" to avoid drawing attention to what it IS)) as well!) if they're hiring full time. She says yes, boom! I dropped off my resume the next day, and was hired the day after that.
Previous instances where I had tried to find another job were not very fruitful. When I applied for a job at Jungle Jim's to work at their resturant, it took them THREE WEEKS to get back to me and by that time I had already resigned my fate to being an employee of the verge for a while longer (This was about a year ago now.)
So yes, I'm a proud employee of Sam's Original Recipe: Take Out. It's such a welcome change of responsibility. Even though I was sick of pizza places and wanted a change. I was at the point where I'll take anything that isn't a call center. There's this voice in the back of your mind that says you need a change when you're going in to work and you feel like any given day you could snap at any time.
The boss is very easy going and he's great to work for, he's by far my favorite business owner that I've encountered. The Pictou County area is very frustrating to job hunt and this is especially so because of business owners. This is a separate rant in of itself but I'm thankful that I managed to get a job where I don't have to worry about my superiors. All I have to worry about is the job I am doing and that I'm doing it right.
I miss the people, I had made a lot of great friends at The Verge and I miss everyone. There was great fodder in discussion because everyone was so desperate to get their mind off of that place for 15 minutes of their day. I see people on occasion and I still talk to some of my old co-workers from over there so that's good. I miss the people, I don't miss the duties or the bullshit at all.
The Verge had to be the only job I've ever had where you could do your job AS GOOD AS YOU CAN DO IT, and yet, it's not good enough. All you were ever reminded of was, what needed to be done better, what you couldn't do, what you couldn't say, everything was negative reinforcement. There is next to no attempt to boost morale the easiest way they can... WITH A POSITIVE ENVIROMENT!
Now this is virtually impossible to achieve with the structure they have in the project. The standards are the priority, if the site doesn't meet the standards, everyone hears about it. Everyone gets pretty sick of hearing about it because it's just one more thread of bullshit on the bullshit sweater. When you've got over 200 people feeling the same way, it's virtually impossible to keep your head above water in that place. That's why I needed a way out.
So, it's a pay cut, and a loss of hours but for some peace of mind, I'll sling pizza's again :)
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