My New Years resolution

2010 was an interesting year for me. I went from struggling college student with no direction to a games journalist known for being professional, but also for being a bit of a dick. It's not often that your life shifts like this, but I sort of stumbled upon everything. It's sort of like falling into a random building to find that you've entered a really good party. Only problem is that said party has a few jerks inside it.

However, one thing that I think can happen during the holidays is that your perspective can change. I'm not a big fan of really going too in-depth about the goings-on in my family, but what I will say is that my family made me see a few things. Fact of the matter is that I have a niece, two nephews, and another niece on the way. All of them either do look up to me, or will. The question that I have to ask myself is this: "Am I setting the right example for them?"

At the moment, the answer is a really big question mark. I'm a good journalist. I write well, I speak well, I'm well educated, and I'm intelligent. That's quite a few advantages. However, I did the one thing that I swore I would never do in my life. I let the things that separate me from other people consume my mind. Don't get me wrong, I think that there are huge problems within games journalism, and I truly believe that if we amplify everything, we hear nothing.

Thing is, it's not right for me to hold what makes me good at my job over other people. So, in essence, I'm done caring about what other people do or say when it comes to journalism, because I don't think that what they do or say matters. I think that what matters is who people trust, and I think that my methods make me trustworthy. When I wake up in the morning, or go to sleep at night, I don't need to be thinking about what others are doing. I need to focus on being the best that I can be.

So, my New Years Resolution is to take the question mark away from my head. I'm no longer going to let a bad attitude sour my skills or my ability to contribute to the games industry as a journalist. My focus this year is simply being the best I can be for whatever site that I work for. It's the attitude of a freelancer, and that's what I am. I don't worry about the website. That's for the heads to worry about. I worry about what work I'm putting forward. Well, that and if they're paying me or not.

So, with that said, Happy New Years, everyone. I plan to make the most of my 2011, and I hope you do too.

Vlog 12/17/10 - VGA Wrap Up and Games Journalism talk

I Enjoy Murdering People

I've killed a lot of people in my lifetime. I've killed a lot of people, and may God strike me down if I didn't have fun every single second of it. I've also killed a variety of people. You see, I don't discriminate. I'm an equal opportunity genocidal maniac. In fact, what's really cool is that I've killed everyone with just about any means of killing them. I've used assault rifles, machetes, piano wire, pistols, chainsaws, my bare hands, cars, trucks, motorcycles, and I even did it with this big fucking gun that shot out a massive ball of green plasma. I've also gone under tons of aliases, like Minion, Mario, Snake, Lucas Kane, and several others.

Oh, wait. You thought I was talking about actual people, didn't you? Nope, I'm talking about video games.

You see, the reason I'm writing this blog is because it seems like the idea of fun is now beneath other critics. Oddly enough, these are the types of assholes that will put up a post that mentions something about a woman and ejaculate, but when a game like Splatterhouse or Conker's Bad Fur Day is brought up in conversation, all of a sudden that type of thing is beneath them. Now, maybe everyone got offended by Splatterhouse's review guide and are just sensitive people (see: pussies) but why are we forgetting our roots?

That root is fun. Every single gamer out there has murdered everything in their path at least once. In fact, we've all done it in at least one way that made us feel a little bit dirty afterward. As high brow as I come off when talking about a game like Dragon Age or Red Dead Redemption, you know for a fact that at one point or another, I've boned Leiliana in the former, and tied someone who tried to kill me after a poker game to railroad tracks in the latter.

Does this make me a bad person? Of course not. I'm just someone who likes to be entertained, and when something generally entertaining crosses my path, I try to make the most of it. Heck, even when something sucks, there's ways to enjoy yourself with it. For example: on my birthday, I had a lovely lady over for supper (as in real food, and get your mind out of the gutter) and we watched a couple horrible movies in Johnny Mnemonic and Doom. You know what? We had fun, and those movies sucked. That's why we had fun though. The movies are so bad you just have to laugh.

This is my overall problem with some game critics. Many of them have forgotten what fun is. Dragon Age 2 wants to save time and put me into the combat as soon as possible, and people already hate it? In what backwards society does that make any sense? Is there someone out there that wants to have to navigate a labyrinth before being able to enter an arena to see a boxing match?! NO! What the hell is wrong with you?

Listen, I love that gaming as a medium is maturing big time. I love games like GTA IV, Silent Hill 2, and their ilk, but I don't want high art constantly. The thing that the movie crowd has on us game critics is they've learned to appreciate all kinds of entertainment. I love really good movies like Citizen Kane and Gladiator, but I can't watch them all the time, and if that's all that was released, I would go batty. Variety is something that should be embraced by gamers. Fun is what got us here, and fun should never be forgotten.

Also, fun does often mean murder in the case of video games.

-Micah C

Video Review - Splatterhouse

The Year in Review - Micah C's Game Awards

You know, I've had this blog for quite a long time, and since I'm a fairly well known gaming journalist at this point, I wanted to take the journalist hat off for a moment, throw on the fan hat, and give some year-end awards to certain video games and things oriented around video games. Now, keep in mind that these games are only video games I played, so please bear with me if I miss something.

The Negatives

The Stuffed Bra Award for most unnecessary padding.

The Winner - Final Fantasy XIII

Why it won the award - To be quite honest, I haven't played a game that has been this drawn out since the Xenosaga series. I do not know why this game takes so long to get started, and when it gets started, why it's plagued with horrible storytelling and half-assed attempts at character development. I know that JRPG's are usually long winded, but come the hell on! Not to mention, if I hear Operation NORA ever again in my life, I may be arrested for murder.

The Newborn Kitten Award for weakest attempt at a game.

The Winner - Medal of Honor

Why it won the award - I don't think I need to explain it that much, so I'll just sum it up fast. No story, no characterization, player doesn't care, buy Battlefield: Bad Company instead.

The Napoleon Complex Award for worst attempt at getting revenge on a publisher

The Winner - Jim Sterling for his review of Kane and Lynch 2

Why he won the award - Never in my life have I seen a more thinly veiled attempt to stick it to a publisher "on behalf of all gamers" than Jimmy's review of Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days. Sorry, but even mentioning Gertsmanngate in the opening of your review gives away your intention. It's like you painted "I'm trying to be anti corporate!" on your jacket in blazing green letters, and thought nobody would notice. It may have worked if Jeff G were homeless and his kids starved or something, but last I checked he's doing pretty well. Not to mention it didn't affect sales of the game. It sold over a million copies.

The Shrunken Udder Award for most pointlessly milked franchise

The Winner - God of War 3

Why it won the award - God of War should have ended with the original game. If it needed a sequel, it would have ended in a way that you could do one without it feeling stupid. Well, the team behind God of War 3 reminds me of a parapalegic trying to walk, despite his nervous system being dead. All God of War 3 does is flop around on the floor, failing to make any sort of impact, and just embarassing itself. Keep in note that both The Force Unleashed 2 and Bioshock 2 came out this year, and I'm giving the award to God of War 3 HANDILY.

The Thales Leites Flopping Award for gaming issue that wasn't really an issue.

The Winner - Review Guides from Publishers

Why it won the award - Well, if you can't tell by the name of the title, it's because I don't give two shits about review guides. Let me elaborate though. Evidently some people gave two shits about the fact that publishers sometimes send us reviewers guides for our reviews. Are they telling us how to do our jobs? Yeah, pretty much. Why would they do this? Because some reviewers are fucking idiots. "Splatterhouse is just gore and violence." Oh, I'm sorry, were you expecting a game called Splatterhouse to be about kittens and ponies, you fucking pussy? I'm sorry, but if you're missing the point like a fucking champ over and over again, I'd not only be sending you a guide of how to review my product, but I'd be hiring a tutor so you can learn how to do your fucking job.

The Positives

Best RPG - Mass Effect 2

Why it wins the award - Truthfully, most of the other RPG offerings to come out this year simply weren't as strong. Not only was Mass Effect 2 a really well written game that was fun to play, but it was ridiculously well polished, and keeps players coming back for more. It's one of Bioware's best RPG's to date, but really does a great job of making a 3rd person shooter/RPG hybrid without upsetting either side of the fence.

Best FPS - Aliens vs Predator

Why it wins the award - In reality, there really weren't a lot of strong offerings from the genre this year. Bioshock 2 wasn't a bad game, but it didn't really have a reason to exist. Call of Duty: Black Ops was an enjoyable experience, but it was a little hampered because it still relied too much on multiplayer to really sell the game to people (though it had a very strong story). Aliens vs Predator is by no means the strongest FPS that I've played in my life, but it was lots of fun, and had a solid balance between the multiplayer and single player portions of the game. It's not very often that we see a weak year from the FPS genre, but this was one of them.

Best Downloadable Game - Shank

Why it wins the award - It's an incredibly well detailed, fun beat-em-up that relies a lot on player skill and thought to get through the game. It also had a simple, yet well written, story that wasn't hard to follow, and had a lot of inventive portions to it. I just wish the boss fights were a little bit better.

Best Action Game - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Why it wins the award - Truthfully, I didn't expect a reboot of my favorite franchise of all time to be this damn good. The storyline was well written, but didn't overwhelm the player. The game was long, but very well paced. The boss fights were epic and challenging, but never overwhelming. The level design was linear, but completely capable of immersing you in the situation. The combat was tight and a much needed improvement in the genre, but wasn't hard to learn. Truthfully, I think that Lords of Shadow is the second best game of the year, next to.....

Game of the Year - Red Dead Redemption

Why it wins the award - Though I feel like 2010 was overall a weak year for the game industry in its ability to produce solid titles, I also feel like Red Dead Redemption is one of the greatest games of all time. Not only that, but I feel like it's the best open world game ever made, even nudging out GTAIV for that position. It's a beautifully written game with a strong story, it has great multiplayer, and offers a sandbox that has a lot to do for those who like to faff about, but never insults the player with a purpose. I honestly feel like this is the one game that every gamer should own, just like how I feel every movie lover should own at least one Ridley Scott film.

So, those are my awards for the year. Keep in mind that these are all in fun, and aren't to be taken seriously. They aren't the official Blistered Thumbs awards either. Just my personal picks. Should you be offended for my awards, take one of these, and call me in the morning.

Revisiting my Reviews - Dragon Age: Origins

Though I've given up my video series for now, there's been a couple things on my mind. First is that I'm considering bringing back A Piece of History. Second is that I wanted to essentially go back over my video reviews, and talk about what made them fun.

First off, I really regret the whole Marcus the Cynic/M dynamic I had. It really didn't work very well. On the other hand, the opening to this episode was epic as all hell. Another thing that you'll notice is how clear the audio is here in comparison to some of my more recent videos. That's because I was actually using my camera as an audio in rather than my microphone. I need a headset, bad.

Another thing that made this review tough was the constant shuffling I had to do with the footage. It's not difficult to capture console footage, but I had to rummage through my numerous save files to really find games that took place at different points of the storyline. Even so, I don't think I got any footage from Orzammar or the Verillian forest in there. Most of it is from the start and end of the game. Word to the wise - Don't make the same mistake.

My biggest regret about this review? I barely touched on the origin stories. I focused way too much on similarities to past Bioware titles, and I really wish that I could go back and do it again. C'est la vie, I guess. What I don't regret is putting a heavy focus on the choices you have to make in the game, and how deep they are. Too many people brush that off about Bioware games, but I think that it's something that needs to be said.

All in all, I think that I did a solid review of the game here, and I do think it's a really good RPG. In fact, I think that it probably has the strongest role playing element of any RPG thus far in this generation. Despite the fact that Dragon Age 2 may be getting simplified, I'm still a little jazzed for the title. Granted, I can turn that switch off the minute the game enters my hands.

-Micah C

More random thoughts on random stuff

So, I woke up this morning with a killer headache that has just now faded. However, I have a routine when I wake up with a headache and down some ibuprofen to try and get rid of it. What I do is play a playlist on my Zune software of instrumentals, put an ice pack on the sore part of my head, and rest for an hour or two. Thing about doing this is that you're conscious for the entire time while listening to thought provoking music. So, now that my head has stopped aching and I can start picking out subjects to talk about coherently, I've got some good stuff to share.

Let's Talk Sex - I was watching a video review this morning about the film Love and Other Drugs, and the critic made the mistake of telling me that sex was the glue that holds relationships together. I'm sorry, but WHAT?! Are you retarded? Okay, that was a little bit much, but what I will say about that particular critic is that he couldn't be more wrong if he said two plus two equaled cheese. Before I continue, let me say that the difference between this critic and I is probably the fact that I've actually been in a couple relationships. Sex is awesome. In fact, it's probably my favorite thing on earth next to video games and pizza. In fact, just about every time I get really happy I want to bone a woman's brains out. There's a fun story that goes along with that, but I don't want to get sidetracked. Point is that sex is awesome. However, it's not the glue that holds relationships together. What holds relationships together is emotional investment. Can sex affect that? Yes, but my marriage had a very healthy sex life involved in it. I'm divorced. Do the math. Emotions will always be the deciding factor. Love and sex are a beautiful mixture, but you can have one without the other.

Forgive and Forget - A couple weeks ago I had an interesting conversation with one of my best friends. We were talking about one of my biggest fears: The idea of my ex-wife trying to get back into my life. Now, my friend and I are like brothers, but he and his wife still have marginal contact with my ex via Facebook, and there was a time where I was considering moving to his area. Though I made him swear to me that he would never try to get me back in contact with her, he asked me a question that dropped like a bomb. "Have your forgiven and forgotten what happened?" My answer was "Forgiven, yes. Forgotten, no." After that, he told me that he hadn't forgotten either. Afterwards, I realized to myself that I should never forget what she did to me, and that comes to my lesson learned. Forgiveness is beautiful because it allows us to shed ourselves of the bonds of our past. Forgetfulness is idiotic, because it means that we have learned nothing. Never be hesitant to let go of the past things that hurt you, but should someone from the past come back, never forget what happened.

Popular =/= Bad - I've always found it funny that gamers who consider themselves "enlightened" refuse to give a popular video game that's actually good a chance. Case in point is the game I most recently reviewed, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Now, if there is any one person skeptical about the Call of Duty franchise, and modern war shooters in general, it is me. Honestly, this is the first time that I've been genuinely surprised at how good one of these games can get, and I think the 8/10 that I gave it was justified. It's a good game. Is it Half-Life 2 good? God no. It's still good. However, the comment section was riddled with people who seemed to just comment without reading my article, claiming the game was bad. Now, guys, I love you but I know what you're doing. You haven't played the game. You're claiming it's bad just because it's popular, and that's silly. I know that douchebags you went to high school with probably play it too, but why should that curb your enjoyment of games? What if I let that affect the fact that other people out there in life enjoy sex and pizza as well? I'd be freaking miserable. Popular things can be good. Just look at Metallica.

Well, I think that's all I've got. I hope you guys had a good Thanksgiving. Hopefully this week my new lady friend will get in touch with me, and I can take her out on a date or something. I also am hitting the quarter century mark in seven days, so I'm kinda excited about that. Well, next on the table for me is a pinball review, and I'll be getting a review copy of Splatterhouse in as well, so I'm looking forward to it. As usual, leave your comments in the proper place. See you guys later.

- Micah C