Casual Gamer?

I've had a subscription to Play magazine for just over a year now and I really love it. A few months back (maybe it was longer ago...) the magazine, but mainly the editor, got into a Wii bashing mode. It was actually really interesting what they had to say about it and I also agreed with them a lot a lot of points at first. One thing they said was that thy were tired of all these gimmicky controls and just wanted a normal controller again. I have to say that at some points I feel like this also when I play some games but other games feel great with the Wii's controller.

Now ever since they started bashing the Wii it's only gotten worse with every issue. At first I really didn't care because attacks on the system don't hurt my feelings but after awhile it started turning into a bashing of Casual Gamers.

I don't want to put words in their mouth so I will say that they have never openly come out to say anything bad about casual gamers (that I've noticed), they just seem to associate casual gamers with games that are poorly made or with less popular games.

I didn't really get upset until I read this in the latest February issue "...the limited success of casual games in America still pales in comparison to the continued strength of serious-gamer franchises like Halo, Zelda, and Call of Duty, and even original hardcore titles like Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect and Bioshock." (Play Magazine, Volume Seven Issue Two, page 61, Casey Loe-Editor)

The reason that made me frustrated was because they continually talk bad about games they call Non-Games by saying that they are bringing down the industry and Japan is turning into a place where only Non-Games sell. So since I enjoy games like Tetris Attack, and Phoenix Wright , as apposed to playing Halo or Call of Duty, I can be called a Casual Gamer instead of a Hardcore Gamer.

I can't recall a memory of me ever not having some sort of video game system but ever since the PlayStation made gaming "cool", mainstream games are now the hardcore games and the games that don't fall under the action adventure category are just games for the casual gamer.

Not everyone on the Play staff thinks this way but it makes me sad the the magazine that's supposed to be on the cutting edge of everything has an editor and editor in chief that would classify me as a casual gamer who is bringing down the market.

A Game I Made

I sort of made a game today in game maker. I just took a game that I had to piece together for this class I'm in and put my own stuff over it. Check it out.

L'Etoile de Mer

I know I've been kinda bad about updating this thing frequently but I finally have something to say.

I've wrote some more about Jeffery and am very excited to still see potential in the character. Even though I wrote more, I'd like to wait to post it. I want to have something complete to post. It doesn't have to be a chapter but at least a complete thought and I'm still working one out right now.

I just got a cd in from a group called The Beatniks. It's a pretty cool electronic group formed from the man who did the Earthbound soundtrack and one of the guys who was in Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Well, in the next day or two hopefully I'll be posting that next part of the story.

Light in the Darkness

So school started and I'm actually pretty excited. I'm taking a C++ class and another class where I actually get to make video games. The program we will be using to make games seems to have been given decent reviews all around so it'll be cool.

I went and talked to my creative writing teacher from a few semesters back and now I might be joining the writing club up there. That means I'll get to be an editor for a book they publish yearly with poems and stories meaning I'm that much closer to being able to say I'm published.

I'm still working on Jeffery so hopefully I'll have a next part put up soon and hopefully it'll be longer than the last part.

I've been listening to a lot of Yellow Magic Orchestra and it's been getting me in a good mood for writing.

Shape Shifting Brain Snatcher

I had a dream awhile back that a lot of people with special powers were all being kidnapped and taken to some camp to be experimented on (completely original right?). Well this one group of friends like this got kidnapped and I happened to witness this in my dream.

There are pretty much three main characters who we'll call Ringleader (who is a good guy according to my dream), Shape Shifter(who is also a good guy), and Girl With A Wolf Pet (who is a bad guy and escorting a group of good guys).

All of the friends were on a bus being transported to this camp to be experimented on. The bus reaches the camp, drives through the main gate, and continues on until it finally stops in the middle of a small unpaved field.

Apparently Ringleader is really important because he has a body guard who never leaves his side who is known as Shape Shifter.

Once the bus is stopped Shape Shifter reaches his arm into Ringleaders head through his ear and pulls out his brain. Shape Shifter then jumps out a window on the bus, crawls underneath the bus quickly before anyone can see where he went, and turns into some grass to blend in.

Girl With A Wolf Pet is on the bus watching all of this and, being the bad guy that she is, quickly gets off the bus to make sure Shape Shifter doesn't get away. She sends her Wolf Pet underneath the bus and says something along the lines of "You can do better than that Shape Shifter."

Shape Shifter dashes out from under the bus, transforms his legs into some crazy stuff, and starts jumping away with these enormous bounds. Girl With A Wolf Pet and her Wolf Pet can easily keep up with him by just running somehow so Shape Shifter decides to try a better mode of transportation and turns into a bird. Now Shape Shifter is able to get some distance between him and Girl With A Wolf Pet.

When Shape Shifter can see the edge of the camp and finally thinks he's going to escape some other bad guy with a weird gun shoots a screw driver at Shape shifter and hits him in the face, sending him spiraling to the ground and landing with a loud, lifeless thud.

When Girl With A Wolf Pet, Wolf Pet, and the other bad guy reach the bird body it is bloody, mangled, and dead. They all leave to go back to the bus and continue escorting everyone into the camp.

After they are all gone a wing on Shape Shifter starts to twitch and slowly turns into his original arm and hand (which are blue and goopy looking but I forgot to give a description of anyone at the beginning of the story. Oh well.). The hand reaches around and slowly and painfully pulls the screw driver from his face. Shape Shifter then begins to make his way to the edge of the camp in the bird form again, using the last amounts of strength that he has to stay alive, the whole time while profusely bleeding from his face.

I guess since I left this out, Ringleader was sort of scarecrowy looking but still looks sturdy while wolf girl just looked like the typical hot evil girl. The wolf was about up to her chest when on all fours.






I'm listening to the Earthbound soundtrack right now and it is truly amazing. Keiichi Suzuki, is an extraordinary individual.


Lastly, I hope this post isn't too full of typos or whatever because I'm really sleepy.

Goodnight everyone.

Jeffery's Prologue

This is the prologue to a story that I think I'll be working on for awhile. I don't know how long it will be but I'd like to see where it takes me. Please feel free to criticize the story though I would like it to be constructive. Thanks.

Jeffery had a hard time fitting in with Earth because he was perfect and made out of metals, whereas not many others were. However, one thing Jeffery did have in common with everyone else was that he never asked to be made. His parents had quite a different outlook when creating him than most did; he was made simply to help out around the house.

Jeffery was one of a kind. He could do all sorts of great things. He could wash dishes, fold laundry, cook dinner, solve complex equations, and even recite nearly any story, book, or song you wanted him to (at least the ones with rights that were easy to obtain).

Jeffery also had something else that, at the time, no other like him had, fully functional senses. He could feel the air flow around his cold hard exterior, smell the difference between spring and fall, hurt when he fell, hear the footsteps of every individual person down a busy sidewalk, and see all the different colors of the world.

To try to make others feel more comfortable, Jeffery was given computer parts where a human brain and heart should be, as well as other places. People were supposed to be able to approach Jeffery and talk about their problems, and at these times he was programmed to reach to his “chest” and hold his “heart” and give his most sincere apologies and condolences. He would also offer advice if the person wished it. Furthermore, if you told Jeffery a joke he would grab his “stomach” and give a nice, warm, booming laugh. Or at least he was supposed to.

There was a defect in Jeffery that no one, no matter how hard they tried or how much they were paid, could fix. If you were to approach him and tell him of a passed away wife, or a stubbed toe, or whatever other problem, he would grab his “stomach” and laugh. If you told him a joke he would either make you feel like you offended him or like an ass, for he would just grab his “heart” and apologize. The more clever and funny the joke, the more grotesque the apology would be.

After he was created and finished being programmed his parents tried to sell him to many different people but to no avail, most likely due to the defect. Finally, when his parents were done wasting their time and money on him, they put him away in a large warehouse where he could be forgotten about. Unfortunately, Jeffery, with his feelings, got really lonely.

Eventually Jeffery got tired of being alone and left the warehouse.

Let's see how this goes

A few days ago I got motivated (mainly by my brother) to start posting stories and things I've written on the internet to try to get some feedback. My brother just wanted me to make a blog but I figured that due to my intentions, I'd just find some writing community online and start posting and reading other peoples work.

That didn't go too well mainly because all the sites I found dedicated to creating a nice community of writers were either terribly set up, or felt like a scam because I had to pay $20 a year to be able to post more than a few thing just so (realistically speaking) no one could read them.

So now I'm going back to what my brother told me to do and I'm starting a blog.

I'm hoping to use this for a few different things. I really want to post stories and such for feedback from my friends or whoever else. I'd like to use this place as a dream journal (mainly for inspiration but we'll see how that goes). Lastly, I'll try to talk about just whatever so I can keep in the habit of writing.

I hope it's enjoyable.