I remember the 80s.

I remember the 90s.

I remember the first time I grasped a videogame controller in my hand was found myself mesmerized by the magic of videogaming.

I remember the age that everyone touted to be "The Golden Age of Gaming", an age where most every single game was fresh, inventive, and broke new ground with a blinding pace... Doom, Wolfenstein, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Mario, you name it... I loved all of them. It seemed to me, as a kid, that golden age would never end...

Then it happened.

After 1998, what we would see in the next few years to come would be, well, something akin to the Dark Ages of our community, our world, our little galaxy. Sony, after winning its first foray into the home console industry, would go on to release a technological powerhouse known as the Playstation 2. Now don't get me wrong. I'm a proud owner of a PS2 and some of my all time favorites are PS2 exclusives. But what exactly happened? In what was known as the infamous fifth to sixth generation gap of gaming, we saw a relatively new industry player come in and elminate the competition. Even with the rise of yet another new player, Microsoft, nothing stopped them, Sony, from maintaing console domination. So where did this lead us, the gamers? The enthusiasts? The electronic hobbyists? What we experienced in that 10 year gap was a drought of sorts - A period plagued by quick cash ins, empty graphic showcases and a plethora of titles that were simply released, well, for the sake of being released. Why? All because a single console that controlled a good 80% of the market was out there. All because developers knew that the huge fanbase would give them a decent rate of return. All because one ruled us all.

Let's look at today.

Today, whether or not we want to admit it, the market is divided far more equally. Even with Sony lagging behind, we can still see with releases like MGS4 how robust their fanbase is, particularly in Asia and Europe. Microsoft, although a decent, albeit slow, player in the last console generation, has established their dominance in the North American and Canadian markets and has laid down one of the largest online communities of online gaming. Then we have Nintendo, who practically lost the last two generations to the previous big 2, who has gotten back up on its feet and charged ahead of the pack, controlling most, if not all gaming markets. What does this mean?

Today, I just read the review of Prince of Persia. Last week, I read the one for Gear of War 2. A few days prior to that, I read Resistance 2's review. Do you see the trend? I believe that with the market firmly divided into three large shares, what we have seen and what we will see in the future is what I'd like to call the second Golden Age of Gaming. Sure, call me what you want, but I firmly, firmly believe that developers have finally been smacked in the head and have finally gotten the message. That in this modern war of sorts, that in this Cold War of Pixels and Polygons, Storylines and Subplots, things will not always stay the same.Fast money, quick cash ins will become harder to sell and harder to market. Fans want what they got when they started gaming. Fans want to feel that love they first felt when playing something as pure and fun as Tetris or Mario. Fans want quality and care in titles. So tell me... What do you think of this golden age of gaming?

Hello, hello, hello... HELLOO!!! My name is Keith, Madman Extraordinaire. Thank you once again for reading my blog... Totally accessible, totally cool, totally great if you want to kill some time and burn some fat... Although the latter would most apply if you're reading this off a laptop while jogging on a treadmill set at 50 kph. Har har. I have recently watched several episodes of THE OFFICE (audience applause.wav) yes and I finally realize what the fuss is all about. Steve Carrell is a comedic genius. No doubt about it. The whole, I'm-yours-middle-management-guy-bossing-everyone-around-while-screwing things up routine never gets old. Well, that is if you're watching it. I think I'd be arrested for murder and sexual assault on a goat if I ever went near this guy in real life. Hehe. Now on to the fun stuff.

Earlier (meaning several blog posts ago, meaning two notches down the scroll bar), we were talking about the history of Geek with Sun Tzu, or ST, one of the greatest minds of all time, and a bona fide geek, if you will. Now today I will be talking about the modern perspective of Geek. If I were to ask you, not just you, but everyone else, what would first come to your mind when I say the word "Geek", what would it be? Well, I have actually done a poll and have gotten the following responses:

Dweeb

n00B

douchebag

(censored)

Virile, manly individual (this one's from someone's mom who's apparently confused with Geek and Hunk)

doofus

nerd

.... and the list follows the trend. Now, why exactly are people so hostile, huh? Well, most people aren't exactly hostile, but then have a tendency to stereotype the negative. When people think Geek, they think socially inept, living in another world, fantasy, spider-man, anime Joe. That, my friends, is not always the case. Geeks, like other members of the community, have their different degrees of geekiness, sorta like apple juice. I mean you got the bottled apple juice that just has to advertise in huge letters "APPPPPLLLLEEEEE JJJJUUUIIIICCCCCEEE" just so people know it's apple juice, even though people think it's just flavoring, sugar and food coloring, then there's the mid grade apple juice, the type that comes in those contoured bottles with pictures of apples and a farmer pickin' them on the cover, as if to assure us that these are made from real apples, which is practically obvious because, unlike the former class, they are actually put in the health food section as opposed to the beverage section and finally, there's the real apple juice with apple chunks left in them that doesn't even require you to know that it's apple juice. It's like some God - given instinct that you just know it's that. Hehe. So anyway, Geeks have different classes. There are those that are simply enthusiasts, those that are buffs, knowledegable and those that are, well, let's just say socially challenged. I for one consider myself a video game enthusiast. I know a lot about it, the companies behind it, the systems available on the market, I play games as a hobby, a past-time, I have thrown in money into the thing, but no, I don't do it all the time. No, I don't keep myself tied down to it. I read a lot about computer hardware, photography, heck, parkour and martial arts... All while (trying) not sacrificing time with friends and family. Geeks have layers and layers have geeks. Thanks for reading. See you next time... Remember. Geeks are apples! Thanks Steve Job!

Good Day to you all... For those of you who missed my first post, you can either scroll up (yeah, it's not like this is TV or anything like that) or if you're too lazy and / or have the attention span of a canary, read on. Last week/day/month (still haven't determined how periodic I'll be doing this), I talked about the definition of "Geek" and gave you hints on the start of the Geek movement. Well, like I mentioned earlier, the great "Sun Tzu" was, as a matter of fact, a bona fide Geek. Like I spoke of earlier, he had this great, fantabulous-ness-ness-astic fascination and gift for the art of war, hence the title of his military treatise, THE ART OF WAR. Seriously, man. It doesn't take a lot of name a good work of art. Put two and two together and you get it. Keep it simple, stupid. Let me tell you, if I had a penny for every single person that took the drawing of a horse, went all "over-reaching" with the title and named it "Destiny on a two bit Hooker", well, I'd have a lot of pennies! Luckily, Sun Tzu, kept it straight and kept it simple. Now... Onward!

Now, Sun Tzu was a real smooth operator, man. This guy was born sometime during the Spring and Autumn Period in China, that would be somewhere around 700 years before the Birth of Christ and before the unification of China under the Qin Emperor (yes, the guy Jet Li tried to Kill in "Hero" and the guy Jet Li will play in "The Mummy 3". Insert endorsement right here). Now what made this honorable guy a bona fide geek, is the fact that he knew everything about war. The strategy, mind games, food requirement, troop morale, everything you could possibly throw at him. This guy could probably watch great conquerors such as Alexander the Great, Caesar and Hitler and go "Pft...Ass." Now there was this one particular incident where he turned a hareem of hot, hot, bootylicious concubines (in modern English, the King's/Emperor's/Ruler's Ho's and **** into fearsome assassin's and fighting machines. What happened? We'll be right back after these messages...

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Welcome back, it is I, Keith, Madman Extraordinaire, discussing the badassnessness that is Sun Tzu. Now this guy, on a challenge from the King of Wu, Sima Qian, was tasked with turning a bunch of Concubines into feared assassins. I can imagine their conversation went like this.

King of Wu: Yo, yo, yo, yo... ST. Heard you got some real sick skillz wid da fighting and ****

Sun Tzu: Yeah... Guess I'm ai't...

KW: Ya gatz sum provin ta do then, bro

ST: Oh yeah?

KW: Yeah... See if you can make em ho's i gat bring em gatz and gun down them playas.

ST: Ait.

KW: You for real, ST.

So what happened? Well, if you Wiki it, which is what I've been doing, if you guys haven't noticed. Well, my good man ST had two driving principles. Rule Number One: if soldiers do not get the general, then blame the general. Rule Number Two: it is the responsibility of the junior officers to carry out what the general commands, despite interference from the outside. Make a long story short, he got them concubines listening after a little pep talk and head slicing. Talk about commitment to his trade, eh? Since he was so good, he was thinking of well, writing all this stuff down. I mean, you can't remember stuff forever, right? So he compiled his kickass plays into the greatest playbook of all time and named it, THE ART OF WAR. That, my friends... Is the story of SUN TZU, the REAL glorious strategist, despite what Jade Empire may say. Boo yah. This is Keith, Madman Extraordinaire... Join me next week/tomorrow/ some other time and I'll be giving you an inside look in the life of Geeks everywhere... Til next time!

FLYING SQUIRREL HOP! BUZZZAH!!!!!!1

Salutations!

It is I, once again, your friendly neighborhood geek - man, Keith! Madman Extraordinaire! (fanfare.wav)

Once again, I find myself writing on the greatest entity known to man other than Beer and the Star Wars extended universe, that's right, I'm blogging!

Today's topic is rather interesting. I will attempt to share my knowledge on the evolution of the modern Geek. In other words, the kind I call my own. But firstly, you (if you're still with me) might be asking yourself... What is "Geek"? Well, if you "wiki" (another Geek term right there, next to "google") it, you'll find that the term "Geek" comes from the German word "Geck" which means "Freak", although the modern word "Geek" was formerly used to describe "a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs", hence the derivation from the German word for "Freak". But today, what does it mean? What is Geek? How did Geek become Chic? What is to become of Geek? We'll have that and many more, right here on Keith: Madman Extraordinaire!

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Welcome back. I'm Keith, Madman Extraordinaire and I'm here talking about all things Geek. Now, how did the modern Geek get to where he's at now? Speaking of which... What does Geek mean today? Geek can range from people who are adept to those are are simply considered an enthusiast or a hobbyist of certain fields, such as photography, computers, video gaming, electronics and the such, although Geeks are generally stereotyped to be "philes" or individuals that have a deeper understanding and knowledge of computers and all things electronic. That isn't entirely true, since a "computer geek" may find himself completely stupified when it comes to, say, AV (Audio Visual) Engineering or High End photography. Although as much as we'd like to lay claim to the fact that we're all around tech guys, truth is we aren't, but that doesn't stop us from expanding our knowledge, know does it, Geek boys?

(hurrah.mp3.wav - error - "Ok, who the hell renamed the sfx with an .mp3? I unticked the option for "Display file extensions" for a reason, people!)

Next up, we have.... The History of Geek! Stick around, don't go away!

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Welcome back. I'm Keith, Madman Extraordinaire and we're all about Geek here on friendster. Now, what how far back does the history of Geek date back to? Well, I could go all the way to the founder of the Geek movement, the honorable "Og" who created fire, but we're really out of time. Next week, we'll be talking about, "Sun Tzu", the author of "The Art of War" (no, not the Wesley Snipes movie, but the treaty on Warfare). Now there's an idea. This guy practically invented the whole doodling genre... But we'll have all that next week... See ya soon, people.

FLYING DRAGON PUNCH! HIYAAAAAA!