Yeah, figured that last blog was going to get deleted.

Clean version of last blog: GTAIV is cool.

So is LOTRO. Someone should join in the LOTRO madness!

Last day of classes tomorrow! Summer is here, baby!

I'm sure this will be but a temporary thing, but recently, gaming has lost that edge to me. That "special sauce," if you will. This isn't going to be one of those "games are stupid," kind of rants, where I think that because I feel that there is something better that I should be doing, others should follow suit. People who would say such things are only dilluding themselves into believing that they have not been mismanaging their time and their proirities, and only trying to make themselves feel better by lashing out at others. This isn't my personal case.

My lack of drive to play video games have stemmed from two different sources, both of them interconnected in some fashion. The first being a book: John Adams by David McCullough. If you haven't read the book, I deeply recommend it, and it's one of the reasons my ties to game are temporarily severed. John Adams, for those of you who do not know, was the 2nd President of the United States, and in my view, one of the greatest Americans to live. His honor, integrity and intelligence was a great guide to our country and should be a shining example to posterity of the duty we all have as human beings.

The story of his life shook me from my intellectual slumber. Adams was a man that devoted his life to both his country, but also being well versed in the world. I looked at myself and realized that I was not well read, and I'm pledging the summer to be buried in books in an effort to reverse that unfornature flaw.

Perhaps it's not the games that are at fault; rather, they are just a casuality of me wanting to pick up reading a lot more than I have in the past. Then again, ever since I've been "enlightened" by the want to read more...the realization of the narrow focus of video games starts to set in and saddens me. I had been thinking over the past two weeks of writing an editorial about if video games were nothing more than "action movies" at their core. (At least ones with something that could be construed as a serious attempt at a story, or weren't puzzle/sports/rhythm games)

Before I could write it, I was beat to the punch by Amy Hennig, game director at Naughty Dog. "All stories need to be about conflict in some way, and games need to be as well. In movies the conflict can be internal or interpersonal, and so you have this huge range of possibilities and genres you can draw from. In games, that conflict has to be externalized. You need something you can shoot at, something you can hit. We almost always have to tell action-movie stories...so we're already pushed into a pretty narrow channel at that point.. There are only so many types of things to do," Hennig said, in the May issue of EGM.

Very disheartening for our medium. I think the reason I'm a bit tired of games at the present time is that they are primarily time-suckers; something for you to do when you have nothing better to do. Though, watching a comedy like Van Wilder or something is cut of the same cloth, so don't misconstrue this as some attack on video games, people. Currently, I feel like I do have something to do, and I'm going to pursue it. I love the interactivity of games, but how many tarted up action games can we get before we are fed up and want something that tests our brain on things that matter outside of the constructs of a fantasy land?

I mourn for our hobby if all it is destinted to be is an endless exploration of another fantasy world that is not unlike previous fantasy worlds before it, of machismo and testerone-filled "action-thrillers"...

How would a game tell the story of John Adams without being thrown directly in the trash as a venture that could never be profitable? Perhaps video games aren't the right medium for that or maybe with time, games and the audience will prove its maturity and try to tackle these sorts of issues facing gaming.

I hope this didn't come off as preachy or vain, because that wasn't the intent...Just a stream of consciousness on some things that have been rolling around in my brain the past week or so. Hope you enjoyed reading.

At the risk of going off the deep end of hyperbole, afford me just the one statement upfront: Why are gamers ashamed of their own hobby?

Now that the hyperbole is out of the way, let me more narrowly define and explain that statement. Among the gaming community there is a growing segment of people that fervently want video games to be viewed as an "artistic" medium, on the same level of literature, film and music. In video game message boards across the Internet, debates rage about this topic, and the argument is always made that "if 'we' (gamers) want games to be taken seriously, 'we' must do …" That ellipses could mean anything; that game reviews should be a "critique" instead of a "product review", that journalists should be more hard hitting with their reporting, that games should tackle complex social and moral problems, or that more games should try and evoke a wider range of emotions through its storytelling.

I'd be lying if I didn't fall into the same trap from time to time. Our hobby has been the scapegoat of power-hungry politicians that are more than willing to condemn a medium that they do not understand. We have been marginalized and stereotyped as loners, losers and outcasts that have nothing better to do than to sit in our parent's houses and play video games. I sympathize with the emotional "push-back" that gamers feel when their hobby comes under a seemingly constant barrage of criticism, but it's not the right way to go about it.

I have no problem with the statement that games should tackle more complex social and moral problems, or that games should evoke a wider range of emotions. I have a problem with the people who insist on saying that "we (as an industry) need to do 'this' be taken as seriously as film and literature." Why should games use books or movies as a measuring stick to feel "mainstream" or "accepted? Why have you allowed yourself to be shamed into thinking that games are something to be ashamed of?

In my mind, video games have already established itself as a medium that is independent and unique from the others. It's imperfect, immature and not very intellectually stimulating to be sure, but as BioShock and Okami have shown us, games have that kind of capability. It's for that reason that we shouldn't be bickering about what games must do to be accepted forms of art like film and literature, but instead focus on what the industry can do to make video games more distinct and less like film and literature. Video games do not need to use film or literature as a crutch for what stories they'd like to tell.

The previously mentioned BioShock is a prime example of a story that only a video game could tell so well. It was a tale of discovery, of intrigue, of in a sense; horror. But you got the story as you went along, picking up audio tapes that told the sad tale of Rapture's descent to dystopia. Yet, you also got a deep gameplay experience that featured tons of weapons and magic for you to choose from, a fantastic musical score to take in as you played, as well as some complex moral decisions.

Before people think I'm going off on a tangent on how great of a game BioShock is, let me just bring it back to the central point: Video games are not film, they are not literature, and they are not music. They can be and are much more multi-faceted and complex. And you know what? Not every video game is going to reach the level that I feel BioShock did. But that's fine. Is every book published with the intent of imparting a grand tale on us? Do movies like Crank, Bad Boys, or Beverly Hills Ninja have any real lasting value? Does your average pop song have any deep meaning? So why try and hold games to a higher standard?

Rejoice games for what they are, not for what people think they ought to be. To not do so would be an admission that you feel a sense of remorse for picking up a controller and playing a video game; that you feel that video games are somehow "less" of a medium. What do you have to be ashamed of?

(Re-posted from ZeroContinues.com)

So, five things about me that GS doesn't know, hmm...

5 - I'm considering going to graduate school.

4 - I've never broken a bone.

3 - I can't swim

2 - I'm legally blind in my left eye.

1 - I do a really awesome nude Hulk Hogan impression.

I tag...

Warrior

Jerkelson

The Nerd (You know who you are.)

Agent Smith

So yeah, Vegas 2 is out.

It's fun stuff. Why don't you read the review that I just slaved over for you guys?

/End spam

Odds and Ends:

-I'm tired
-James Logan and the Giant Bombers are going to rock everyone in the COD4 tourney. Go Nerd!
-The site has been going along extremely well. I'd like to give a special shoutout to SkoneLL for being awesome.
-Sonic Unleashed footage looks rad. I don't even like Sonic that much and I want it.
-I don't know what I'm going to play next. Maybe I should get back into Lost Odyssey?
-I'm tired, why am I still typing?
-Scrubs is a really awesome show.
-Speaking of that, I saw Dr. Cox on The Rock. You know, the movie. Not the actor. Because that'd be weird. He was a soldier in that movie. I had it on mute though, so I don't know if he still had his sweet one-liners and general put downs.
-Some dude just went into a CAT scan on TV.

Ok. That's enough for tonight. Thank you, GameSpot.

As you may or may not have seen on Talor's or Mike's blog, we've decided to create our own little gaming website called Zero Continues.

Taken from our introductory blog, this is what we are all about:

"We are a group of three passionate gamers that are dedicated to giving you—the reader—an alternative, independent and honest outlet that you can trust.

Trust isn't something that you are handed. We all know that we must earn it through hard work, dedication and honesty. In the days, weeks, months and (hopefully) years to come, we hope to earn the trust of each and every person that visits this space. To accomplish this goal, we'll need you to help us along the way. Not just by visiting and reading our content—but ensuring that we keep the standards we have set for ourselves; and calling us out when we are not.

We don't want to be just "another" gaming website. We have some neat ideas for where this thing is headed. With your help, we make Zero Continues something we all as gamers can be proud of."

I hope you consider visiting the site to see what we have to offer. We're still in the infant stages of the site and will always be looking at adding new features to make your stay more enjoyable.

While talking to the fellas on the good ol' Skype chatroom, Denis (NeoJedi) pointed to me the Army of Two - GameSpot review.

It's a rare occurrence that I'd be one to complain about a review. And let me be clear before I get into any sort of criticism of the review--I haven't played the game. In fact, my problems with review have nothing to do with what the reviewer, Joe Dodson, had to say about the game itself.

The problem is he didn't talk about the game for a significant portion of the review. Instead, he focused on his personal reservations about the subject matter it dealt with, and punished the game for it.

Look no further than the last sentence in the opening paragraph, which set the tone for the rest of the review. "But the way it broaches and then mishandles such a controversial modern day issue is far from army strong." Read the review for a multitude of other examples.

There are plenty of places to air your grievances about a particular controversial topic. But a product review is not one of them. Now, I could fully understand if a reviewer didn't like the story and said that the story was uninteresting, the voice-actors stunk or the dialogue was substandard. But I don't want to hear that you disagree with the subject matter, that it's insensitive, or that it "mishandles such a controversial modern day issue."

I want to know whether or not the game is good or not. Period. And this review failed so greatly to give me any indication whether or no this game is worth a purchase.

It's a shame to see how far GameSpot has fallen in such a short period of time. A damn shame.

From industry standard prior to the Gerstmann controversy--to...this.

How the mighty have fallen.

In less than 24 hours, a great number of states will be voting in the Democratic primaries and caucuses all across the United States. I don't need to list all of the states, because if there is a primary or caucus happening in your state, you know about it. But what are you going to do about it? Are you going to stay home because it's "not important"?

No sir or ma'am. You're going to vote.

And I'd like to take just a quick second to introduce you to a guy that I think you should cast your ballot for--Barack Obama. I've been active in politics since about 10th grade, but even before that, almost everyone has the feeling that they cannot trust their politicians anymore. They either care only about power or they only care about winning a political battle that will only net them points with the extremists they align themselves with, but at the end of the day, hurts the country.

However, Barack Obama is the first politician I've seen in my lifetime that I've believed in. When he speaks, you feel the power of his words and you know he means what he says. It's a gut feeling that shakes me to my very core, and it's something I never expected to feel. (Especially from a Democratic politician--I was primarily a Republican supporter prior to this election cycle.)

But, he's a person that I feel will challenge our country and make us great again. After 8 years of President Bush, our standing in the world has declined and politics in the United States has only gotten more polarizing and divisive. I believe that Obama will heal both of these wounds.

But don't take my word for it. I'm just one person. I challenge you to listen to one of his speeches, read up on what he is proposing, and not feel moved into action.

So how about it? How does change sound? Do you want to stay on the sidelines? Or say that you were there when a fractured nation healed itself? Change won't happen without your vote.

"What's this?!" Greeno says.

"..."

"Hmm," goes Greeno as he looks at the cartridge.

Greeno gives a thumbs up, as he squishes his ever growing double chin.

The weekend is here.

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Enjoy! Comment! All that fun stuff.