A new self-titled, crowd-funded album was released from one of my favourite groove metal bands and I totally didn't even notice. I've already ordered a copy and am doing my part to make sure they are going to keep making music, because they just fvcking rock. Singles: Soul Eraser Signal Path I love Soul Eraser. The opening riff is fantastic.

I am a little late to this party, on two major fronts. Firstly, I'm aware that it is now 2013, and the END OF THE WORLD never happened. Secondly, I'm naming a game for my 2012 GOTY that I played the majority of in 2013. So, it really could be dismissed on two complete technicalities. But whatever... I received my GOTY 2012 as a Christmas present, and played a little of it before the year turned over to 2013. So it counts. Also, this is one of the first years in a while where I have played a fair number of the games that came out that year. Another plus. Up until a couple days ago, I would have named Dust: An Elysian Tail my 2012 GOTY, for it's impressive visual style, engaging narrative and incredibly well-polished gameplay that hearkens back to a time when Metroivania's required some memorization of the map and game world. Furries or not (not sure what people have against the community, to be quite honest), this is a fantastic game, that plays off of other games (Muramasa and Super Metroid mostly) without seeming like a shameless ripoff. But enough talk about the second best game of 2012. Onto the best. What might it be? Mass Effect 3 perhaps? :lol: Spec Ops: The Line This game is extraordinary, and I find it fascinating how the majority of the critics out there didn't pick up on why it even exists. It wasn't made to compete with other modern military shooters... it is a commentary on them, and how we as gamers interact with them. Extra Credits has a fantastic review on the game, which I would highly recommend watching. It gives lots of points I would never have even considered, that further illustrate why it is such an important game (notice I did not say "great"). Spoilers ahead... Why I loved (hated?) about the game was that it made me feel like a complete douchebag. It made me into the "monster" that we as gamers fight against all the time. No longer can we be considered the "hero" because we are being given choices, and because this is what we have come to expect from games, we make all the ones, as human beings in real life, we wouldn't normally make. Usually the violent ones, that we are required to undertake to forward the progression of the plot, and the attempt to reach our goal. Extra Credits' point about the moral choice sequences having ORGANIC choices, rather than binary, cut-and-dry ones like the rest of the industry sh!ts out on a yearly basis (looking at you ME3), really struck me hard. We have basically two choices in front of us, sometimes one, where we realize that all is essentially hopeless, so we should just get it over with. BUT WAIT, we can actually retain a semblance of humanity! We can make choices that are not evident, and actually try to do something about the predicament we are placed within. This, to me, made me feel even worse, because I thought, by design, the developers were forcing me to make the bad decisions, when in fact, I had the option to try and fix it (cognitive dissonance much?). "We all have a choice" as Konrad said. This, to me, illustrates exactly why games these days are becoming so formulaic and predictable. Nobody wants to step outside the game world for a moment, and truly evaluate WHY we play games. Why do we interact with these virtual worlds? The sense of heroic achievement is a major one. Save the princess, save the world, save something or someone. In Spec Ops, we drop white phosphorus on allied (but rogue) soldiers, and unbeknown to us, a large group of civilians. Innocent fvcking people who never did anything to anybody. If this were any other game, there would be a huge disconnect between the violence and ourselves as observers. But this is Spec Ops. They force you to walk, slowly, through the devastation you wreaked, and witness how much suffering weapons of war can truly cause. To think of how much pain all of those people must have been in, each time a shell was launched... it's a major punch to the gut, and really makes you wonder just how much longer we should tolerate such glorification of violence against soulless automatons representing real groups of people. I am glad that I was able to experience this game, and will likely play it again to actually try out the choice sequences in new ways. And to experience, what, for most, is a totally unfun game. Ironic. Coming from someone who loves fun games. This would have been a really bad year for games for me had these two games not come out.

Apparently, there is a moderator or admin out there who likes being politically correct (afraid of retributive violence from the Muslim community?) and censoring my posts about Islam and Muhammad being a child rapist (which is not only established as fact within the Islamic tradition, but the text it is sourced from, is considered by the vast majority of Muslims to be the word of Allah/God). Muhammad married the six year-old Aisha (since she was too young for vaginal sex, had intercrural sex on their wedding night), and had full intercourse with her at the age of nine (what the tradition calls "consummation"). This is the rape of a child. Whether she "wanted" it or not. Period. In a modern society, the sexual contact with a child under the age of 18 is considered statutory rape, whether consent of the child is given or not. Personally, this is a major point of contention I have with the religion. I find it morally repugnant when a Muslim claims that Muhammad was a morally "good" person, despite committing this act against a child. This is an historical fact claimed to be true by the very people that practice the religion (they justify it by saying "it happened all the time back then" but then they go on to say Muhammad is the "perfect man" and should be the example every modern human being should live like). If whomever is doing this wishes to continue, good, make this site look that much better among the Political Correctness Squad. I'll continue to post these facts in discussions where they are appropriate.

Who in the f*ck was it? I'm pissed. That was MY name, and there is no f*cking way it was randomly generated. Whoever it was (and I know it was someone on Gamespot, it couldn't have been anyone else) is going to feel my wrath.

Since finishing the first three seasons of Modern Family, the GF and I have been looking for a new show to watch. Under suggesting from her brother, we decided to try Breaking Bad. Two episodes later and we are hooked. The show is absolutely brilliant and Bryan Cranston again shows he has incredible acting chops. The first episode was such a ride that I knew I wanted to watch the whole season before it was even half over.

Today I did what I thought was impossible... I beat Ornstein and Smough in Anor Londo, on my third attempt, by myself (Solaire made a good distraction, but he did nothing really). Not only that, I did it with my SL5 Pyromancer. All that stands between me and the Darkwraiths now is the Four Kings (still need to defeat Sif for the ring, but he is a pushover). Imma gonna do it. *grits teeth*

...the most satisfying game I have played, for many, many years. While Demon's Souls introduced me to the formula, Dark Souls brought an atmosphere and lore that I find much more appealing. It is a constant depressive, suffocating atmosphere that keeps pushing you into the ground, but you constantly feel the need to resist and push forwards. Much like what KevinV said in his review, this game is entering my daily, non-gaming thought processes. I constantly think about where I am going to head next, what equipment I need to pick up, or just what stats I'm going to pump up for the next few levels. The gameplay is what I have been waiting for in a third-person action game since... well, forever. It is extremely precise and definitive. No attack is "mashed" (unless panicking, which usually leads to death) and every movement is an extension of myself into the game. I feel truly connected to my avatar, and after longer playing sessions, I can go a couple hours feeling as though I'm carrying around my equipment and being burdened by my armor. I have my main character, Zeviander, playing as, what is essentially, a swordmage (see D&D 4E Forgotten Realms). Strength-based swords (mostly greatswords) backed up by blazing pyromancy. I made a second character on Tuesday, Kalliope, a female pyromancer, and built her especially to play co-op with my friend (since I took my first character WELL out of his league). With her, I am focusing more of smaller strength-based weapons (axes) and even more pyromancy (i.e. a "true" pyromancer, rather than my knight-turned-pyromancer). I just opened the path to Sen's Fortress with Zeviander, and just beat the Gaping Dragon with Kalliope. And I'm already planning new characters... This game is going to consume me for a while. It goes far deeper than Demon's ever did... and I'm willing to consider it the "best game I have played this generation" by many counts.

Seeing a recording of one of their live shows just doesn't compare to actually being there and feeling the body-thumping bass, heat from the pyro and the deafening roar of the audience. There was only 6000 people in attendance, but it sounded like way more. The set list was fantastic (started with Sonne, and played all the great and expected songs) but finished with P*ssy, which isn't exactly great, nor their best offering. But considering it's their #1 single right now, it is to be expected. Wish I could have met them.

Well, the day is almost here! Rammstein comes to my humble little city to play a venue of approximately 20,000 (when they typically do open-air events pushing past 100,000). They certainly aren't my favorite band anymore, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity, even if just for the show! Granted, I am listening to them right now... and despite not being death metal enough for me, they certainly can pummel the senses! *heart* Till's voice Ich liebe Rammstein!

I understand that most genres of extreme metal tend to not have big followings like pop and rock, but metalheads take their music *very* seriously, and I would love a game like Rock Band that covers the development of, and resurgence of modern extreme metal. Double kick pedal drums, shredding guitars and all sorts of unclean, harsh vocals. The set list could feature a single song for each genre and still not cover them all. The diversity is intense, and yet Rock Band sans DLC feels so samey. To be able to play/sing some Vader songs and not require crazy-expensive equipment would be my dream come true. It's such a shame they over-saturated the market with the games... there was so much left to cover.