Amazon Wish List

I got an email from some random dude about putting up an Amazon wish list. Though I have a wish list already (which is primarily made for Christmas stuff) I went ahead an put a button on the side of the site. Now, here's the catch. I'm only putting stuff on there that will help the quality of my work, so there won't be any BS, just so you know.

I'm not really expecting anything, but at the same time, it's there.

V-log 07/25/10

A Piece of History - Castlevania: Bloodlines

The Koku Ninjacast - Lordkat

Click to play

Gamer Issues - Sequelsploitation

Schedule for September and October

I was bored, so I decided to schedule out the first two months of the fall. By the way, I don't own a copy of Dead Space, so if you have one that you're willing to donate on the 360 or PS3 to save me a few bucks, it would be appreciated.


September 4th – Fallout 3

September 11th – Earthworm Jim

September 18th – Dragon Age: Origins

September 25th – Castlevania: Dracula X

October 1st – Half-Life <---------This one will be an homage to "Freeman's Mind."

October 8th – Dead Space

October 15th – How to make a true horror game

October 22nd – Doom

October 29th – Condemned: Criminal Origins

V-Log 7-12-10: I'm not quitting! Plus, Predators talk.

Sincere Apologies

There's a lot of things that I'm simply not a fan of. I'm not a fan of cocky people, I'm not a fan of games journalists who condemn some games for issues that others possess that they've let off the hook, and I'm most certainly not a big fan of having a string of bad days. I don't want to be the type of person who posts every day and breaks down why it sucked, so let me just say this. The high point of my week was an old friend visiting, and he nearly killed the mood by taunting me after I got monkeystomped by Cain Velasquez in UFC Undisputed 2010. Yeah, even a new video game didn't make the week better, and the game kicks ass.

However, that's not why I'm apologizing. I can't predict when a bad week is going to happen. I shouldn't dwell on it too much either. For all I know, Monday could come around and an attractive, nerdy girl from somewhere I wasn't expecting may confess her undying love for me and then we bone each others' brains out right then and there. It's not gonna happen, but you never know. Anyway, I'm apologizing because of my own failure to deliver.

I've been blogging and writing for over a year now. I've been producing videos for six months. In that span of time, I have three blog followers, less than a hundred Youtube subscribers, and if I get a hundred hits on a video on Blip.tv, it's a good week. Needless to say, the Cynic's Corner can be branded as nothing less than a failure. No one cares about Marcus the Cynic. The only feeling toward anything that I have done over the past year that I have received is apathy.

However, this isn't the fault of anyone associated with me. This is my own damn fault. Despite all of the time and effort I've put into my work, I have failed in my job to entertain and be informative. Despite everything that I've done, I cannot succeed, and it's no one's fault but my own. Even though I know for a fact that nobody will read this, I still feel the need to apologize for wasting everyone's time.

When I started this whole thing, my goal was simple: Have something that makes people phone home and tell people about. Have a show that you grab your friends and drag them to the computer to watch. Judging by all evidence up to this point, the verdict is that I simply have nothing to offer, despite how good I am at what I do.

Truthfully, I don't understand what I can do to improve, but I think it's moot at this point. It seems like the whole world around me simply wants nothing knew, and since that's all I can offer, it seems like I have no place. It's like being back in Gym class in High School. Despite what you can do well, everyone assumes that what they have is enough, and nothing else can add to it or improve it.

I can't change the world. I learned that when trying to become a minister. I can only react to the world around me. My reaction is pretty simple. If I can't do anything by the end of August, and I have the GTA4 Character studies done, I think that I'm finished for a while. I'm just sorry that I've been such a disappointment, and I'll do my best to make the rest of July and August something to remember.

Sincerely,

Micah C.

Revisioning the Review

So, after talking with a friend about some issues that I'm having behind the scenes, this week's review won't really be that much of a review. More or less me taking the time to finally introduce the full backstory to Marcus the Cynic, and also getting to discuss a permeating issue with games right now, and since that issue has to do with Bioshock 2 (and the aforementioned game changed my mind about a couple of things), I'll be dusting off the Gamer Issues name.

For a while now, I've wanted to talk about "Sequelsploitation" in the video games industry, and also give the backstory of Marcus the Cynic, and how he has a talking camera, and all of his electronics are sentient. I think this is a good opportunity to do so. So, there's going to be a minor Bioshock 2 review in there, but it's by no means the meat of the video.

Also, there's something else I wanted to announce. Since I'm going to be doing a lengthy character study of the characters of Grand Theft Auto 4 in August, I think that'll be a great point to finally take a bit of a break (of sorts) from making videos. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still going to do vids, but they'll be every other week instead of every week.

Truthfully, I'm a journalist first, and a video producer second, so my writing will always be number one in my life. Also, I hate to say this, but the fact that I'm not receiving any monetary benefit from anything that I do right now is troubling to say the least. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming anyone for this, and the economy sucks, so it's all part of life, but it still sucks.

So, that's pretty much it for now.

-Micah C

Bioshock 2 Review warning

Just something I wanted to throw together to warn anyone who enjoys the show that I won't be including as much game footage in this review as I have in others. Now, I want to simply say that I know the current format of outlining good, bad, and ugly works very well, and I'm keeping that. However, I honestly have put a little TOO much game footage into my last few reviews, and I feel like the end segment of "Final Thoughts" doesn't do enough to give the review enough personality.

So, hopefully this week I can find a happy balance between game footage, and personal touch. Also, this next review should be quite a bit funnier than the last one. Truthfully, it's hard to take a subject like Bioshock 2 and make it funny, so I plan on cramming it full of goofy jokes, and then slapping myself afterwards.

Another thing to mention is that recording game footage is draining. I have to constantly be watching my computer to make sure that frames don't get skipped, and it's like watching a puppy to make sure he/she doesn't piss on the f#*@ing rug. I hope you don't wonder why I'm a cat person now that I've said that.

So, the review will happen this week, so no worries. I've just got to recover from an exhausting Fourth of July weekend, and we'll be back in business.

-Micah C.

EDIT: On another note, I do plan on seeing "Predators" one way or another, and I will be doing a V-Log/Review of it, because I think that movie is going to SUCK.

ADHD - Gears of War 2

Scott Coker is an incompetent moron.

This is something I wanted to share, and didn't want to record. As is obvious, I'm an MMA Entusiast. Today, I was reading Bloodyelbow.com (and if you're an MMA fan, you should too) and came across this little gem:

Scott Coker Suggests Fedor vs Overeem, Winner gets Werdum

And I quote:

"My feeling is maybe Fedor should fight Alistair Overeem and whoever wins that fight gets to fight Fabricio Werdum. I would love to see that fight too, Alistair and Fedor, I would love to see that fight happen."

"Here's the thing, we just saw Fedor fight Werdum; I'm not saying we couldn't do the rematch [Fedor vs. Werdum] first but I'm saying there are a couple options on the table."

"Until we sit down with M-1, we're just talking about different options and that [Fedor vs. Overeem] is one of the options."

Hey, Scott, let me tell you something.

Come closer.

Little closer.

*ahem*

NO IT F&#@ING ISN'T!

This is the exact same bullcrap that you guys pulled with the Overeem/Rogers bout. You're putting a guy who just got smashed into a title fight?! Do you guys just not like Overeem? He's your champion, for God's sake!

Alright, let me breathe a moment, and explain my issues with this.

First, you're letting M-1 Global bully you around. They know that they just lost a bargaining chip with Fedor losing, and are trying to salvage it by putting Fedor in a title shot. Why would you want to let them do that? It's obvious that you're not a huge fan of dealing with M-1, and nobody can blame you for that. Right now, you have the power to make the deals provided Fedor isn't in the top five heavyweights anymore. Take advantage of it.

Second, does your title picture mean jack to you? Let me tell you this right now. When a champion sits cageside to watch a fight between the top two contenders for his title, he wants to fight the winner. Why? Because the winner won the fight. Here's what you're telling Werdum with this statement.

"Hey, Fabricio. Yeah, nice to talk to you. Oh, by the way, you know how you just beat the number one heavyweight in the world? Yeah, you know how you totally deserve a shot at our title? Guess what? You don't get one. Ha ha."

That's not fair to Werdum. Though I don't think he's that great of a fighter (though his BJJ is obviously fantastic), he worked very hard for that victory, and he deserves every single ounce of credit for it, including a title shot.

Finally, what does this tell your stable of fighters? What would happen if someone came into Strikeforce and completely mollywhomped Jay Hieron, and then you gave Hieron a title shot? What you're essentially telling everyone at Strikeforce is that even if you win a fight to become the number one contender, you aren't the number one contender.

I don't honestly know what Coker is thinking here, but the more this crap happens, the more and more Strikeforce is going to lose support from the Indie MMA crowd. Nice job, you incompetent waste of space.