Moving on…

Love gaming. But I’ve been in a gaming lull lately. Seems I miss my friends a lot of times or am working when they’re on. Been doing PC gaming a lot more lately. My biggest frustration with L4D2 on the PC has been shitty team mates.

So it all got me thinking. About a lot of things actually.

First, I think I’m going to start making my own music for my videos. There’s some interesting and shitty legislation you can read about here. Basically, I could go to jail for doing my videos by using other people’s music. So could your kids for posting videos of a Justin Bieber concert. Retarded? Oh yeah. It’s dumb as hell.

So that’s been part of my motivation to start making my own music.

The other part is here:

 

Amazing video. Well edited. Simple, yet perfect. I’ve been dicking around with effects lately, but this video has reminded me that good editing and music are all you really need. The music in particular is what really resonates with me and got me motivated to make my own.

Anyhoo, these gaming lulls come from time to time and I just sit back and wonder what the hell I’m doing. Gaming is a great escape, but I need more hobbies. Especially hobbies that are more productive. Been getting into exercise more. Planning on putting out a few short stories. All in all, pretty excited. Just need to start making the time commitments for these other endeavors.

Writing in particular is interesting. It comes and goes. The urge. Been slowly researching what you need to do to publish stuff. I’d love to write some stories on the side. It seems doing eBooks is the easier route, but until or if I do it, couldn’t tell ya. Anyhoo, that’s about it. Enjoying time with the (soon-to-be) wifey and look forward to getting hitched and the honeymoon. Need some time to get away.

Anyhoo, real excited about everything. I need a change, and a good one! I still hold that coming up here was the best decision I ever made. Upset some people about that. But if you had really taken the time to know me, you’d understand why I went and what’s up. Where I was, there was nothing and I was going nowhere. Where I am. Well, the doors are all around me. If you don’t understand that, well, that’s your own damn problem.

So adieu. Pushing forward my friends. May your path lead you to happiness as mine has. Look forward to what’s ahead!

Tap on the breaks…

So I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that I’ve been gaming way too much. Some of that is due to stress. Nursing sucks. You can’t understand it unless you’re doing it. But there’s a reason there’s a nursing shortage people.

Dad once said that you can have a fucked up home life or a fucked up work life. He said he’d choose the latter any day. I agree.

Anyhoo, I’m with one of the most amazing, loving women I’ve ever been blessed to know. I’m so lucky that she wants to marry me.

It’s taken me a long time to get here. Anyone who knows me knows that at my heart, I’ve always been a true gamer. But I’ve also known that games don’t add any real value. Sure, they improve your hand-eye coordination and to me, are one of the most engrossing mediums of storytelling out there. But like anything, there’s a balance. At the end of the day, you see that you’ve logged in 24 hours into a game, or even hundreds of hours. Was it worth it? Sure, you may have a new rank, armor, or a shiny new gun. But it’s just stuff. Life, and the people in it are what really matters.

I can openly admit that for me, gaming is an addiction. That’s why I’ve strayed away from games like World of Warcraft. I’ve at least got some sense!

I can’t explain it, but at times, gaming is a compulsion. It’s a need. I want that release. And if I don’t get it, I get wound up. But I don’t need to be playing like I have been. I’m writing this more for myself than anything. There’s nothing wrong with gaming. There really isn’t. I’ve been up and down with it, sometimes only playing once a week, sometimes hours on end every day. But lately, it’s been too much. Kara hasn’t said anything of the sorts to me, but I just know they way I’ve been playing lately is unhealthy. When the fam’s home, I need to engage more. To be there for them.

My poor dog, Zoey, the test run for being a father is the best example of how I’ve failed. I just haven’t given the dog enough attention.

So gaming, you’re there, always have been and will be. But I gotta tap on the brakes a little. There’s more important things.

Making better choices with your money…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve recently moved to North Carolina. One of the few bad parts of the move has been a fairly decent cut-back in my base pay.

Recently, I cancelled my pre-orders of Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm. With the latter title, I decided it’s just not something I want to shell sixty bucks on, even if it does have the Gears 3 beta. Furthermore, I’ll be playing Gears 3 next fall. So does it really matter if I play it now?

The answer is no.

With Dead Space 2, I hadn’t yet beaten the original. While the first game was good, I think its sequel will be excellent and really expands on what the first one established, both in art, character development, and story. While I don’t know this for certain 100%, I think my assumptions are well grounded.

Today I saw Dead Space 2 on Amazon for $40. While I haven’t purchased the game yet (I’m waiting on a better deal), I imagine I’ll be picking it up sometime in the next few months. To quote my brother, the beauty of good game is that they’ll always be there. Whether you play it at launch or a few years later doesn’t matter. A good friend of mine just recently picked up Mass Effect 2. While he did purchase it for PS3, the game’s been out for a year. And included all the DLC released so far!

A few good games that I intend to pick up at amazing prices are Assassin’s Creed 2 ($30) and Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition ($30-$40), which includes all the game’s DLC.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten pickier with my gaming purchases. In high school, it seemed I’d get any game, even ones I knew would be garbage. Eventually, I slid over to purchasing a few triple-A titles each year.  Now however, my spending habits have tightened even further. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The games will be there.

Halo: Reach

I’m excited about this game. Granted, I’ve been excited about every Halo game since the original. And aside from the original and ODST, I’ve been disappointed with every subsequent installment. I’m holding out though… ODST was a darker, grittier take on the Halo universe. Considering the fact that Reach is taking cues from many popular online shooters and incorporating it into the Halo fold excites me. Part of me is leery though… I played the Halo 3 beta and loved it. Loved the Reach Beta too. So who knows?

I think the big test will be the night of launch. I remember playing Halo 3 on launch. I just hated it. I was able to live in denial and think I loved it later, but the truth soon surfaced. Sure, I still enjoy a random game of Halo 3. But overall, it just sucks to me. Something is missing.

Whatever that something is, Reach seemed to recapture that during my time in the Beta. One of the coolest things about the title to me is that your character is persistent across single and multiplayer. You earn credits to unlock new armor variants. You can customize your character and all the small nuances: from the armor color to the armor type. And it all appears in the cutscenes! Furthermore, Reach takes a cue from Mass Effect. You can play as male or female. In cutscenes for single-player, your character’s voice is reflective of the gender you choose. While seemingly subtle, that’s awesome in my book. Aside from Zelda, I’m done with silent protagonists. That was probably the lamest thing about the character you play as in ODST, the Rookie. He was fucking mute. It was lame.

Another thing that griped me about Halo 3 was that graphically it seemed kind of weak. My first thought was, ‘this is next-gen Halo?’ Visually, it wasn’t much better than Halo 2. Sure all the Halo games have been based off the same engine, but Halo 3 just sucked graphically. ODST was a step up. Some of the human characters looked ‘meh.’ That aside, it was a great romp. It restored my faith in a franchise that’s been milked dry. But I feel like Reach and ODST are games Bungie wanted to make. They wanted to end it with Halo 2. But here were are. As they say, “From the beginning, you know the end.”

Practically all the characters, including the one you play as will die in Reach. For those versed in Halo lore, Reach was humanity’s crown jewel of its colonies. And the conglomeration of alien races known as the Covenant glassed the entire planet.

But we like those stories. Fatalistic, yet full of hope and bravery.

Welcome to Reach.

Recovery…

I’m not big into rap, but one of my friends got me into Eminem a while back. Well, Eminem’s newest album, Recovery, is nothing short of awesome. A lot of the beats stick with ya, and most of the songs have uplifting lyrics. It’s like reading this journal but putting it into music. I love when artists really give us a piece of themselves through their music. Eminem certainly did it here. He talks about the loss of a good friend, his battle with drug addiction, and how he’s looking towards the future. I’m not a hard-core Eminem fan, but I love this album. It’s raw, full of emotion, and has some great songs. Overall, I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars. Even if you’re not a rap fan, I’d recommend you check it out. It may surprise you.  

Back in the saddle…

Hey all, back from vacation. Went to Myrtle Beach for a week with the lady and her family. Had a total blast. Got a little bit of a tan to this pasty white ass.

Been working on a Red Dead Redemption video montage. Hopefully have that out in a few weeks. Also hope to beat the game before Halo: Reach comes down and sucks up my attention. Been playing some Trine and Starcraft 2 on the PC side of things. Expect more on those games soon.

All in all, things have been great. Moved up to North Carolina with the lady about two months back. I couldn’t say things have been easy, but they’ve been by no means hard. We live in a small rural town that constantly surprises me. Basically… times are a-changing, and for the good.

Work-wise, I may be able to get into starting PICC lines. The hospital I work at trains nurses to do that. The management seems pretty hyped about our interest, so hopefully we’ll get that going.

And that’s basically it. Figured it’d be good to give the few who take their time to read my journal a quick update.

I’ll be going to Tennessee to visit the parents this weekend, then after that, it’s back to work. Once I get back, I’ll pop up a movie review and/or a video review for your viewing pleasure.

’till then!

-ty

Alien swarm…

Enjoy the video review!