I bought Wii Fit over Ebay. Paid a lot of money, but I've enjoyed it. It's nice to actually do something involving physical activity that actually challenges you. Lifting weights or going out for a run is dull, because there's no real objective. Because there is an objective, because you can try to better yourself constantly, I don't worry about the fact that exercise can become uncomfortable. I just work on each objective. Lately, I have lost some weight, simply by avoiding eating too much. Wii Fit gives me a way to add some light, but noticeable workouts. My weight has always been too high, but I've never really had the time or interest to work incredibly hard at getting it down to where it should be. Wii Fit, by virtue of being a pretty entertaining videogame, seems to be changing that. As long as I continue to watch how much I eat.

The Year of Final Fantasy continues. I haven't fallen behind with the playing so much as I've simply forgotten to keep up to date with my thoughts on each installment. I've written a reflection on Final Fantasy III, am halfway through one on IV, and I still need to record my thoughts on V, VI and XI. There are also some more specific essays that I have in mind. Once my one on IV is complete, I'll start releasing them again. That may be as soon as today.

I went to the library the other day, the main branch downtown, and found a dozen books on game development. About half were on design, and the other half were on programming, and I checked them all out. I've only looked through a few of them so far, but they have seemed solid so far. I'm halfway through a Python game programming book that I checked out of my local library earlier, so I'm going to wrap that up before I start through some of the other programming books. My goal is to get a good sense of each, so I can distinguish between those I should buy, those I should ignore, and those I should hurry up and read so I don't have to buy them. I'm hoping to get going with my XNA book as well, just as soon as I finish off this Python book.

Been trying to pick up the basics of playing the piano on my own. I bought a keyboard, one that's quite functional for learning, for $150. The gap between my understanding of concepts and my actual ability to play is frustrating, but it's still fun to mess around with chords. Likely, I'll be taking formal lessons this year as part of my Music major, but I'd like to lay down a foundation of skills beforehand. Also want to start learning how to play the guitar through some online help, and similarly acquire some rudimentary skills before I take lessons.

I've got a book sitting less than a foot away from this keyboard. My book. The one I wrote last November as part of NaNoWriMo. I would like to think that as a writer, I have an unique ability to see through the worst writing, plotting, characterization and dialogue to the potential within a story. At least, I hope that's what I'm doing. It's called Modern Kind: Gray Book, and is part one of four. Editing it is critical if for no other reason than I need to know what happened in part one before I write part two for NaNoWriMo 2008.

Oh, and I got a part time job at Chuck E. Cheese's. I've concluded two things; I really like children, and I really don't like children's music. It's actually a pleasant atmosphere when there are enough kids to drown out the sound of that mouse's warbling.

Pittsburg. In six games.

I'm going against the grain a bit with this pick, but I think too many people have it set in their minds that the Detroit Red Wings are the greatest organization on earth and that the Pittsburg Penguins are the 83 Oilers... one year shy of winning it all.

The thing is that Detroit hasn't won a Stanley Cup in recent memory, certainly not with Datsyuk and Zetterberg leading the charge, so they're hardly comparable to the 83 Islanders, who were going for their fourth straight cup. And has nobody noticed that Datsyuk and Zetterberg are as new to the pressure of the Finals as Crosby and Malkin are?

It comes down to this; both teams have tremendous depth, defensive ability, and better-than-expected goaltending. They are both teams that are hard to point to and say "there, that's a weakness". But to me, I'd rather take the top three offensive Penguin players in Crosby, Malkin and Hossa, than Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Franzen. And Lidstrom is arguably one of the top three defensemen of all-time, but this year, Gonchar was close and there's enough talent on the back-end for the Penguins not to be seriously out-matched.

The goaltending is what decides it for me. Osgood is a netminder that probably should have been given a bigger role in Detroit; he's been solid, and consistent, which is all Detroit needs from their netminder. But I think Fleury has the edge; not only has he been tested more (the Penguins don't outshoot their opponents as badly as the Wings do), he's also going for his first Cup as a netminder, while Osgood is going for his third. I go with the younger, hungier goalie.

Above all, I think this is the series that may prove that teams are ready to win it all at a younger age. Kids are better taught from the start how to get themselves in better condition, how to handle big pressure games and in general, they just grow up faster. The Penguins are young, but they're the new kind of young--the kind ready to win now.

Penguins in six, and let's hope that this series stretches at least that long; I'm tired of these series without drama.

Did you know that I had had a job offer for a game writing job? It was just a freelance gig, and the games would have been mostly terrible, but it was still an offer to write for money. You have no idea how much that means to me. I've spent years struggling to refine my writing into something that is natural and yet flows out of my unique instincts. I didn't know what I wanted before I discovered that a computer let me write fluently, and I've never really wanted anything else since. There's nothing else that I have done with heart and soul. And videogames have been my novels, my textbooks, my mentors. The way that language could form something so complex and elegant as a videogame captured my imagination in a way that nothing else had. It meant everything to be told by someone that my abilities were worth paying for, that I could be put to work looking at the language of videogames, and deconstructing them with my words.

I wish I could have said yes. But this was an offer for an on-sight freelancer only, which would have meant a move to Southern California. I've got no money, and nobody who could lend me that kind of cash. I have never lived away from home. No passport, never lived, or even visited, the States. I'm stranded in Edmonton.

I'm trying to prepare for being able to move. I'd like to go to Vancouver Film School's Game Design program within a few years. I want to get into residency at my college for the upcoming year. But that requires money, especially when Student Loans sees that your parents live in the same city. So I stare at a summer job posting described as a "Tent Finisher", and wonder if it's something I could last the summer months at.

I'm a writer. Everything else that interests me (videogame design, programming, music) is an extension of my love of language. I'm not sure if I can be someone else, even for the summer months of college, but it seems like I have no choice.

It's odd that after stating that I didn't feel confident in my picks at all last round, I went 4-0, after going 7-1 in the first round. I'm hoping to continue strong the rest of the way, but we'll see how long this lasts.

Detroit versus Dallas:

I'm torn on this series, largely because neither team is my pick to win it all. Dallas has everything you are looking for in a playoff team, including, and especially, a great goaltender who has something to prove, which is a formula for winning if I've ever seen one. Detroit, on the other hand, is a brilliant team that has seemed to exercise its playoff demons, and has continued to roll. Osgood is also an underrated netminder, and is good enough to win it for Detroit. Detroit was my original pick to come out of the west, but it was a pick by default; I didn't like the Sharks, Ducks or anyone from the northwest. Dallas has got my attention with its quadruple overtime win, and I think Turco is going to will this team through. Detroit has yet to face an opponent with outstanding goaltending and comparable firepower, and for that reason, I think they succumb. But I wouldn't be shocked to see Detroit in the final either.

Dallas in seven.

Pittsburg versus Philadelphia:

Is there a series more tailor made for the Penguins? The Flyers take dumb penalties. The Penguins have Crosby, Malkin and Gonchar on their powerplay. The firepower on the Penguins is rolling, and they've got the depth to compare with Philadelphia, not to mention better high-end players. To win this series, they need Biron's play to stay high and Fleury's to drop off--I don't see both of those happening in the same series--and they need to play far more disciplined. I picked Philadelphia largely because I didn't like how the Canadiens looked. They seemed lost without their powerplay going. The Penguins, on the other hand, have lost one game in the playoffs so far. Maybe the Flyers given the Penguins a scare, but the Penguins are ready to win it all, and the Flyers aren't.

Pittsburg in five.

Duke Nukem Forever is not a videogame, but rather, a state of mind. Some would have you believe it is vaporware, a figment of Broussard's imagination. Others say that it is a game, though long in development that shall someday come to fruition. In truth, it is neither. It is, rather, an eternal tribute to the evolving ambition of The Sequel. As gameplay advances through real videogames, so too will the ideal of Duke Nukem. As time passes, its improvements upon its predecessor will become so profound, that they shall stretch past the mortal realm and into the supernatural. Its purity shall never be tainted by an actual release, or an actual cancellation. And when we are on our deathbeds, surrounded by those who we loved in life, we shall grasp the hands of our grandchildren, whisper to them of Duke Nukem Forever and say, "Go. Dream of what it may be." Knowing that as we pass into the next life, that they too shall pass the perfection of the idea of Duke Nukem Forever to their grandchildren, and onwards to every generation afterwards.

Okay, so I'm playing Half-Life, right? I'm digging it. It's a polished, mechanically sound game. I'm not thrilled about all how loose the platforming elements can feel in first person, but generally, it's a tense and staisfying game that feels like playing an action movie.

So I'm to the part of the game where you find out that the army is trying to kill anyone who moves. And suddenly... I'm listening to the following lyrics from a song:

"Your love is better than ice cream"

...Sarah McLachlan's "Ice Cream" was not what I expected to hear in Half-Life. I tried looking up a few walkthroughs, sure that if something this odd was part of the game, someone would have noted it. When I couldn't find it, I began to wonder if I had developed some form of schizophrenia.

...And then I noticed that I had left a CD in the drive. It looks as though it was looking to read a music track off of the Half-Life CD, and mistook the tenth track for it.


It definitely made for an interesting atmosphere. If you've heard the song, you know it's probably not what you think of as "shooting dudes" music. :P

The title is a little deceptive. I'm not giving up games altogether--I doubt I could ever do that, but it's almost that bad.

A few days ago, when I tried to plug in my TV, something funny happened. It automatically turned on without me touching it, automatically turned off, then cut itself off from the power source automatically. It repeated this cyclically, over a span of five to ten seconds, rendering it useless. I tried a different plug for the TV, I tried from a different outlet, nothing. My TV is broken, and with it goes most of my gaming.

Didn't really take it too badly... I've been hoping to upgrade my TV eventually anyway. And I hadn't really spent much time with my PC games, and wanted to get into them... I spent the next couple days playing King's Quest collection, started again with Warcraft III, and was looking at getting back to playing Neverwinter Nights. Overall, it was a nice change of pace from all my console games.

Then this morning, my computer decided to die.

All I'm left with is a couple of portable gaming systems. My entire PC inaccessible. Only a 13 inch SDTV for my console games, which is, as you might imagine, less than ideal.

The real kicker is that I have a final tomorrow, and a paper that I'm supposed to hand in as part of the exam is on that computer. I can't access what I've written. I have to start over from scratch, finish it today, and, of course, study for the test tomorrow.

I understand that life likes to kick you every so often, but I don't particularly care for getting kicked even harder while I'm already down.

My last test is Saturday. Sunday can't come soon enough. Not that there's going to be much for me to do this summer with no TV and no computer.

Second round predictions

Canadiens vs. Flyers: Flyers in six.
Penguins vs. Rangers: Penguins in seven.

Red Wings vs. Avalanche: Red Wings in seven.
Sharks vs. Stars: Stars in six.

I will say I feel mighty less confident in my predictions this round than I did during the first round. I wouldn't be surprised if I went 1-3.

First round predictions (I went 7-1!)

Canadiens vs. Bruins: Canadiens in four.
Penguins vs. Senators: Penguins in six.
Capitals vs. Flyers: Capitals in seven.
Devils vs. Rangers: Rangers in six.


Red Wings vs. Predators: Red Wings in seven.
Wild vs. Avalanche: Avalanche in six.
Sharks vs. Flames: Sharks in four.
Ducks vs. Stars: Stars in six.

For those of you that haven't heard yet, Developer for a Day has returned for its sixth iteration. I'll be participating, as usual, and hope to regain the top ten spot I lost last time. I'd love to win, but last year (when I missed the top ten for the first time) reminded me what a great thing it is to simply be nominated, so that's all I'm going to hope for.

When I entered last year, I entered what was, by far, my favorite concept for a videogame that I've designed thus far. It was actually something that I felt was that didn't compromise solid design or my interactive storytelling ambitions. As far as the design itself, I felt it was the first truly mature design I've produced. But the document itself was flawed. Too much time talking about theory, too vague about certain details, poorly organized... and no examples, despite its unique gameplay design! I wouldn't blame anyone for only having a vague idea of what the game was about after reading the document. And that's what I hope to improve most; to combine the step forward I took last year in design with a step forward in the quality, and brevity, of my document.

What worries me most, is that I haven't really put as much thought into this design as I have into the design of other contests, and I think it has to do with the timing of this contest. I'm used to gearing up for the next D4aD at the end of the year, so when January and February passed with no Developer for a Day... I guess I just didn't think much about my next concept. As a result, I've only got vague ideas so far. Add this to the other projects I'm currently working on and... this one could be tough. However! This time, I refuse to have to slug out a document in the last few days. If I'm going to run around like a headless, radioactive chicken during the last few days, it will be to edit, not to write.

What are my ideas? I want, basically, a combination of Persona 3's overall structure (though not the gameplay elements), to put the family back into the phrase "family game", pull the subject matter from the Pixar school of childlike imagination, and tie it all together with a small-town community vibe. And I'm going for a fusion of traditional gameplay elements and interactive storytelling ideas. I'm not sure how much of this makes the final version of my document, but I think more than any of my other documents, you won't have to change the way you think about videogames to see what's interesting about this one (not much, anyway).

And if nothing else, I think this document may teach me a lot about how to restructure Lucidity, which is in desperate need of both a completed story and a complete document re-write.

EDIT: By the way, the next Year of Final Fantasy write-up should be coming soon. I've got a fair amount to cover in that one, so it's possible that it could be split into two parts.

Whoever the guy was that decided to not put any save points between the two extremely long and difficult final dungeons of Final Fantasy III is human anti-matter. Do not speak with him, for he is everything that is wrong about videogame design. If you employ him, fire him, and demand the salary that you paid him back. All of it.

This also means that despite it being possible to finish Final Fantasy III before the end of the month, I refuse to play it anymore. I do not abide such blatant, unabashed vindictiveness against the player through design. Whoever decided upon this FAILED in every aspect in their role as a designer. Complete and utter garbage. I want to finish every Final Fantasy game this year, but... I think I hold my hatred of abysmal design more dear. It remains to be seen whether or not I finish up the rest of the game later.

The rest of the Year of Final Fantasy will proceed as planned. The next entry will be soon, and will feature my thoughts on Final Fantasy III (which are mostly positive, despite the infinite awfulness of one particular design decision) and Final Fantasy XI, which I need to play a lot more of.