9. Olympia Dukakis
8. Glen Danzig
7. Frankenberry
6. Jello Biafra
5. Han Solo
4. Sid Vicious
3. Wolf Blitzer
2. Baron von Evilstein
1. Beta Ray Bill
Monday, August 31, 2009
Top 10 Coolest Names
10. Gary Gygax
9. Olympia Dukakis
8. Glen Danzig
7. Frankenberry
6. Jello Biafra
5. Han Solo
4. Sid Vicious
3. Wolf Blitzer
2. Baron von Evilstein
1. Beta Ray Bill
9. Olympia Dukakis
8. Glen Danzig
7. Frankenberry
6. Jello Biafra
5. Han Solo
4. Sid Vicious
3. Wolf Blitzer
2. Baron von Evilstein
1. Beta Ray Bill
Friday, August 28, 2009
Top 10 Things I Love About Our New Kitty Gimli
10. He's brave. Lily, one of our older cats, didn't like when Gimli tried to cuddle with his Mommy while she was trying to cuddle with Mommy. She smacked him. Hard. Gave him a meaty, loud THWACK right on the noggin. He just backed up a step, walked right back, sat down, and looked at Lily as if to say "You hit like a girl."
9. He's an outlaw. Look at this picture.
Okay now look at this picture.
Do you see how fucking little he is? That is NOT legal. He is far too little. In fact, I think he's faking his enormous level of little just to appear cuter which, in turn, mires him in more legal difficulties. He is too cute and too little. Because he hates THE MAN.
8. He's named "Gimli"! How fuckin' cool is that?
7. I never have to clean my beard again.
6. He'll never know how close he was to being named "Firelord."
No. Seriously.
5. So far, I'm very clearly his favorite bed.
4. He helped save Middle Earth. And that thing about him suggesting Moria was a total fucking lie perpetrated by THE MAN. He suggested they go under the bureau, then under the bed, then under the bureau, then under the bed, then maybe sneak out for the hall...oh shit back under the bed...
3. If I'm at the computer and he wants to be picked up, he cries for me. Usually, I pick him up. But sometimes I can't, like in the morning when I do my writing exercise where I'm supposed to write three pages without stopping. When I can't pick him up, he stops crying after a while, and when I'm finally done with whatever I'm doing, I look down and see him curled up in a ball at my feet. And it breaks my heart every time.
2. He's made the other cats jealous, which in turns helps us manipulate the other cats. I'm pretty sure both of the cats are getting me Best Buy gift cards for my birthday. Pretty effin' sweet.
1. He helped me beat up Iron Man.
Drunk fuck. (Iron Man, not the kitty)
9. He's an outlaw. Look at this picture.
Okay now look at this picture.
Do you see how fucking little he is? That is NOT legal. He is far too little. In fact, I think he's faking his enormous level of little just to appear cuter which, in turn, mires him in more legal difficulties. He is too cute and too little. Because he hates THE MAN.
8. He's named "Gimli"! How fuckin' cool is that?
7. I never have to clean my beard again.
6. He'll never know how close he was to being named "Firelord."
No. Seriously.
5. So far, I'm very clearly his favorite bed.
4. He helped save Middle Earth. And that thing about him suggesting Moria was a total fucking lie perpetrated by THE MAN. He suggested they go under the bureau, then under the bed, then under the bureau, then under the bed, then maybe sneak out for the hall...oh shit back under the bed...
3. If I'm at the computer and he wants to be picked up, he cries for me. Usually, I pick him up. But sometimes I can't, like in the morning when I do my writing exercise where I'm supposed to write three pages without stopping. When I can't pick him up, he stops crying after a while, and when I'm finally done with whatever I'm doing, I look down and see him curled up in a ball at my feet. And it breaks my heart every time.
2. He's made the other cats jealous, which in turns helps us manipulate the other cats. I'm pretty sure both of the cats are getting me Best Buy gift cards for my birthday. Pretty effin' sweet.
1. He helped me beat up Iron Man.
Drunk fuck. (Iron Man, not the kitty)
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Top 10 Things to Consider When Deciding Whether or Not to Play World of Warcraft
Someone is beckoning a friend of mine towards the mystical world of Azeroth. She still hasn't decided whether or not to take the plunge. I thought I would help.
10. To date, there have been two expansions to the game. Also, like other online games, when you play World of Warcraft you will occasionally need to download patches. World of Warcraft has been around for close to 5 years. So, if you decide to play, you will be installing World of Warcraft, then World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, then World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and finally 5 years worth of patches. The entire process is likely to take around 8 hours. And no, I'm not kidding or exaggerating.
9. Read this, and realize that if you join a WoW guild, you will learn that when I wrote that list, I wasn't joking that much.
8. Dwarves are better than Elves. It's not an opinion. I proved it.
7. You will have to learn a new language. You will need to find a friend or two to translate or you'll be completely fucking lost. And if you don't believe me, then once you ding 40, head to SM Lib but make sure you manage your aoe so your dps isn't so high it aggros over the tank and causes a wipe.
6. If you plan on playing a female character, ask yourself how many private messages you want from players wanting to do things to you only legal in Thailand. If you're not okay with that, play a male character. Or, go ahead and play a female. Just make it either a dwarf or a gnome.
5. People will tell you that playing a Hunter is for newbs, that it takes no skill at all, that hunters are overpowered, and that it's the absolute easiest thing in the game to do.
They're right. Don't be stupid. Play a Hunter. (Here's mine)
4. Eventually, your guildmates will want you to get a program called Ventrilo that facilitates voice chat. It's best to lie and say it won't work on your computer. I guarantee you most of the people in your guild are annoying.
3. Eventually friends are going to want to take you into dungeons. If you want to figure out whether or not you have enough time to do it, ask the person who invited you how long it will take. Multiply their answer by 2. Then add an hour.
2. If you choose to play WoW, you will eventually experience a very important moment.
In WoW, you can adjust your camera view by clicking and holding the left mouse button anywhere on the screen, and then rotating your view by moving the mouse while still holding the button.
One day, you will go looking for videos people made of WoW and posted on YouTube. Maybe someone will tell you about a funny one. Maybe your guild leader will tell you to go check out the video of a boss fight to help you learn your role in the encounter. Or maybe you'll just be curious about one of those dumb ass videos people make of their WoW characters dancing to "Numa Numa."
At some point, you will start clicking on the YouTube screen in an attempt to rotate the camera view, just like in the game. It will take you a couple of seconds to realize that you actually THINK YOU'RE PLAYING THE GAME, even though you're not.
This will bother you. It will be a very blue pill/red pill moment.
You're probably gonna take the red pill. Just so you know.
1. My ex-girlfriend had a rule about WoW. While she would later use it in a sadistic and manipulative manner, it's still a good rule. If you do choose to play WoW, keep it in the back of your head in case you begin to lose yourself in the virtual world of Azeroth.
The rule: "The first time you refuse sex for WoW, it's OVER."
10. To date, there have been two expansions to the game. Also, like other online games, when you play World of Warcraft you will occasionally need to download patches. World of Warcraft has been around for close to 5 years. So, if you decide to play, you will be installing World of Warcraft, then World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, then World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and finally 5 years worth of patches. The entire process is likely to take around 8 hours. And no, I'm not kidding or exaggerating.
9. Read this, and realize that if you join a WoW guild, you will learn that when I wrote that list, I wasn't joking that much.
8. Dwarves are better than Elves. It's not an opinion. I proved it.
7. You will have to learn a new language. You will need to find a friend or two to translate or you'll be completely fucking lost. And if you don't believe me, then once you ding 40, head to SM Lib but make sure you manage your aoe so your dps isn't so high it aggros over the tank and causes a wipe.
6. If you plan on playing a female character, ask yourself how many private messages you want from players wanting to do things to you only legal in Thailand. If you're not okay with that, play a male character. Or, go ahead and play a female. Just make it either a dwarf or a gnome.
5. People will tell you that playing a Hunter is for newbs, that it takes no skill at all, that hunters are overpowered, and that it's the absolute easiest thing in the game to do.
They're right. Don't be stupid. Play a Hunter. (Here's mine)
4. Eventually, your guildmates will want you to get a program called Ventrilo that facilitates voice chat. It's best to lie and say it won't work on your computer. I guarantee you most of the people in your guild are annoying.
3. Eventually friends are going to want to take you into dungeons. If you want to figure out whether or not you have enough time to do it, ask the person who invited you how long it will take. Multiply their answer by 2. Then add an hour.
2. If you choose to play WoW, you will eventually experience a very important moment.
In WoW, you can adjust your camera view by clicking and holding the left mouse button anywhere on the screen, and then rotating your view by moving the mouse while still holding the button.
One day, you will go looking for videos people made of WoW and posted on YouTube. Maybe someone will tell you about a funny one. Maybe your guild leader will tell you to go check out the video of a boss fight to help you learn your role in the encounter. Or maybe you'll just be curious about one of those dumb ass videos people make of their WoW characters dancing to "Numa Numa."
At some point, you will start clicking on the YouTube screen in an attempt to rotate the camera view, just like in the game. It will take you a couple of seconds to realize that you actually THINK YOU'RE PLAYING THE GAME, even though you're not.
This will bother you. It will be a very blue pill/red pill moment.
You're probably gonna take the red pill. Just so you know.
1. My ex-girlfriend had a rule about WoW. While she would later use it in a sadistic and manipulative manner, it's still a good rule. If you do choose to play WoW, keep it in the back of your head in case you begin to lose yourself in the virtual world of Azeroth.
The rule: "The first time you refuse sex for WoW, it's OVER."
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Top 10 Most Memorable Video Games I've Enjoyed
I have video games on the brain.
Which I guess shouldn't be surprising. With both the sneaking suspicion that I may be getting a game console for my birthday and the announcement of the third World of Warcraft expansion, it's proving tough to think about anything that doesn't come with calloused thumbs, carpal tunnel, and the wholesale slaughter of hundreds of make-believe bastards.
So I thought I'd vent a little of that pixelated steam with a bit of nostalgia. Please remember, I'm not claiming to be some kind of video game expert. I am not saying these are the best video games of all time. In fact, as you will see, most hardcore gamers would probably have a thing or two to say with all the genres and platforms I'm mixing together here. These aren't "the best," they're just the ones I remember best.
10. Sonic the Hedgehog
If I remember correctly, my copy of Sonic came with my Sega Genesis.
My memories of the game aren't very clear. I just remember it was something of a landmark because it was the very first console game I ever finished. I think, before then, I never even considered the idea that you were supposed to finish or win video games. You just waited until you died too many times for the video game gods to allow you to continue.
9. Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage
A side-scroller, and not necessarily a very good one, again on Sega Genesis. If memory serves, you play as Spider-Man for a few levels, Venom for a few, Spider-Man for a few, etc. In the final boss fight, you can switch between Spidey and Venom at will.
Like I said, it wasn't all that great. But the reason it rates is because I remember that it was while playing Maximum Carnage that I first had the urges - that I think probably a lot of regular video gamers had - that would later be realized in the form of the MMORPGs like World of Warcraft.
In Maximum Carnage a lot of different Marvel characters appeared. You couldn't control them like you could Spidey and Venom, but you could use them briefly. As the story of the game unfolded, characters like Black Cat, Captain America, and Moebius appeared. And while you couldn't control those characters, with the correct application of buttons, you could have one of them jump out on the screen briefly to kick some quick ass. If you were fighting trash, it would usually put them down for the count, and if you were fighting a boss it might take a nice chunk out of him.
I don't know why, but I remember thinking that it would SO cool if the Spider-Man I was controlling wasn't alone; that it would be awesome if he was in some kind of digital city somewhere on the Internet, and there would be tons of other people playing other super-heroes in that same city.
8. Nobunaga's Ambition
This was just a very cool strategy game. You play the part of a daimyo - a Japanese feudal lord - and your goal is to somehow conquer the rest of Japan, and you face the wills of something like 40 other automated daimyo. You had to micromanage the resources of your land, try to bribe skilled generals away from other daimyo, send your daughters to daimyo to help forge alliances, send ninja to assassinate rival daimyo, prepare for the frequent floods that could decimate your resources, etc. If you were willing to put the time into it, it was awesome.
I think I remember it so well for a few reasons. First, it was simply a challenging, enjoyable game. Second, it was one of the few historically based games I can remember playing that focused on something non-Western. Third and finally, it was the first war strategy game I played - before Civilization, Warcraft II, Starcraft, or Command & Conquer: Red Alert - that demanded strict micromanagement for success.
7. Spider-Man
Obviously, game developers can do things now with superhero games that blow this away, but Activision's early Spider-Man game for the Playstation was the first superhero game I ever played that really felt like it should've felt. Spidey had more range of action than he had ever had in his licensed games. As Spider-Man you could stick to walls, webswing across rooftops and rooms, drown bad guys in webbing, shoot little web pellets at bad guys, web up your fists to add some damage - you could even grab a guy with your web, pull him to you, and crack him across the chin in one quick move. Maybe pretty standard fare for games these days, but at the time it felt like someone had reinvented video games just for good ol' webhead. And if that wasn't enough, the game was narrated by Stan Lee, making it feel like an extended episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
6. Final Fantasy X
It's tough to say much about this, because it will feel redundant when you get a bit further down the list to Final Fantasy VII. But I will say that, at least in part, this game was a close companion during some memorable times. I remember I played it pretty regularly when I moved into the first apartment I ever had on my own - a basement studio piece of shee-ite in downtown Albany. I remember that my TV was too old to play nice with my PS2, so the colors would keep fading in and out while I played.
5. Half-Life
Not the first first-person shooter I ever played (that honor belongs to Wolfenstein 3-D), but the first I ever owned. It would later introduce me to the online madness that was Team Fortress and Counterstrike. It would teach me that, in an online FPS, everything is gay to your opponents. Everything. Getting shot by them is gay. Shooting them is gay. Having sex with a member of the opposite sex? Yep. Still gay.
4. Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
I honestly had no idea what the fuck to make of this thing when my father first gave it to me. It was #4 in a series and I'd never played or even heard of parts 1, 2, or 3. But it was massive and epic and I loved it even though I could A) never survive a single dungeon or B) ever figure out what the fuck I was supposed to be doing.
3. Final Fantasy VII
I remember not only that it was George Carlin, but the exact joke, that first taught me the potential of comedy ("They're thinking about banning toy guns...AND THEY'RE GONNA KEEP THE FUCKIN' REAL ONES!!!"). I remember it was Peter David's writing on The Incredible Hulk that first taught me that comic books could be true art. And I remember it was Final Fantasy VII that taught me the potential of video games.
Back in Tampa, this game made me miss class. And I LIKED class. I had all writing courses for fuck's sake. I wasn't just addicted to this game. I cared about this game. I cared about its characters and its (insanely convoluted) story. It was emotional and uplifting and I never wanted it to end.
The game begins in a city run by a crooked corporation called Shin-Ra. The section that takes place in the city feels like an entire video game. It takes a LONG time. Unless you sit in front of your console for hours and hours and hours at a time, it will probably take you days. Maybe a week. Probably at least a week.
Then you leave the city. And you find out the city is maybe, what...1/10th of the game? Maybe less?
I'm not a macho guy. I will admit to things making me cry. The last story of Lone Wolf and Cub made me cry. To my neverending shame, Moulin Rouge made me cry. Fuck, the end of Bubba Ho-Tep made me cry a little bit.
A video game has never made me cry. But if a video game ever does make me cry, it will be Final Fantasy VII.
Or, if they ever come out with an onion-cutting simulator, maybe that.
2. World of Warcraft
Yeah, this whole list would be a big stinking lie without mentioning World of Warcraft now wouldn't it?
I'm not even sure what to say. I've spent so much time on WoW, and may very well again, I think it deserves its own list.
It's addictive. It's huge. It has a rich, Tolkien-esque history as its foundation. And dwarves are better than everyone else. Yes. EVERYONE.
1. Infocom
Okay, well the final entry here is a stretch for two reasons. First, Infocom was not a game. Infocom was a company that made games. It isn't around anymore. Second, Infocom's games were not, technically speaking, video games for the most part. At least, the Infocom games I'm talking about weren't video games. They were text adventure games.
That's right. Text adventure. No mouse. No joystick. You had to read a description, and tell the computer what to do by typing.
It could be frustrating. It was usually frustrating. You had to become a thesaurus. You could spend days telling the computer exactly what you wanted to do, and even if it was exactly what you were supposed to do, it didn't matter if you didn't use the right word - if say, for example, you told the game you wanted to "leap" but the game only recognized "jump." You would waste weeks going around mazes and either forgetting what direction your character was going in, or alternatively driving yourself insane by keeping track of every single twist and turn you made.
My father introduced me to Infocom by buying me The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which I played long before I ever picked up the book) when I was in junior high. I was only able to finish it by buying the hint book from Infocom. They would send you this little book with hints written in invisible ink. And the booklet came with a highlighter. For every problem, you had to highlight each hint in order to be able to read it. The final hint would simply tell you exactly what to do in order to get past the problem. This way, if you just wanted hints and didn't want the whole thing spelled out for you, you refrained from highlighting everything.
The first Infocom game I finished without a hint book was Witness, a noirish whodunnit, and I practically wanted to throw a fucking party. The next - and the ONLY other I would solve without a hint book - was A Mind Forever Voyaging, which really wasn't a game so much as an interactive novel. There were problems to solve, but to a veteran Infocom player they were obvious. But it was no less enjoyable. In the game, you were a computer fooled into thinking you were a real person, and "awoken" in order to run simulations testing whether or not a radical new plan for the country would bring about a paradise or a disaster. The enjoyment of Voyaging didn't come from puzzle-solving, but simply exploring the rich texture of the worlds the developers created.
There were games I never won. I remember ordering the hint book to the whodunnit Deadline and having my envelope sent back to me with a stamp that indicated the company no longer existed. So Deadline, the desert adventure Infidel and the space thriller Starcross (a game for which I never even received the slightest clue as to what the fuck I was supposed to be doing) all went unsolved. I only finished the dungeon adventures Zork I and Zork II with the hint books. Zork III would remain a mystery. I never even got to buy Beyond Zork or Zork Zero before the company tanked.
I literally taught myself to type on Infocom's games. No bullshit. By the time I finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I could type like I'd been doing data entry for years. Granted, I could only type with my index fingers, but still.
It's possible some of the games are still available online somewhere. I'm pretty sure some of them are. But I've never really bothered because I just don't think I could care as much about them now as I did then, and that makes me just a little sad.
Which I guess shouldn't be surprising. With both the sneaking suspicion that I may be getting a game console for my birthday and the announcement of the third World of Warcraft expansion, it's proving tough to think about anything that doesn't come with calloused thumbs, carpal tunnel, and the wholesale slaughter of hundreds of make-believe bastards.
So I thought I'd vent a little of that pixelated steam with a bit of nostalgia. Please remember, I'm not claiming to be some kind of video game expert. I am not saying these are the best video games of all time. In fact, as you will see, most hardcore gamers would probably have a thing or two to say with all the genres and platforms I'm mixing together here. These aren't "the best," they're just the ones I remember best.
10. Sonic the Hedgehog
If I remember correctly, my copy of Sonic came with my Sega Genesis.
My memories of the game aren't very clear. I just remember it was something of a landmark because it was the very first console game I ever finished. I think, before then, I never even considered the idea that you were supposed to finish or win video games. You just waited until you died too many times for the video game gods to allow you to continue.
9. Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage
A side-scroller, and not necessarily a very good one, again on Sega Genesis. If memory serves, you play as Spider-Man for a few levels, Venom for a few, Spider-Man for a few, etc. In the final boss fight, you can switch between Spidey and Venom at will.
Like I said, it wasn't all that great. But the reason it rates is because I remember that it was while playing Maximum Carnage that I first had the urges - that I think probably a lot of regular video gamers had - that would later be realized in the form of the MMORPGs like World of Warcraft.
In Maximum Carnage a lot of different Marvel characters appeared. You couldn't control them like you could Spidey and Venom, but you could use them briefly. As the story of the game unfolded, characters like Black Cat, Captain America, and Moebius appeared. And while you couldn't control those characters, with the correct application of buttons, you could have one of them jump out on the screen briefly to kick some quick ass. If you were fighting trash, it would usually put them down for the count, and if you were fighting a boss it might take a nice chunk out of him.
I don't know why, but I remember thinking that it would SO cool if the Spider-Man I was controlling wasn't alone; that it would be awesome if he was in some kind of digital city somewhere on the Internet, and there would be tons of other people playing other super-heroes in that same city.
8. Nobunaga's Ambition
This was just a very cool strategy game. You play the part of a daimyo - a Japanese feudal lord - and your goal is to somehow conquer the rest of Japan, and you face the wills of something like 40 other automated daimyo. You had to micromanage the resources of your land, try to bribe skilled generals away from other daimyo, send your daughters to daimyo to help forge alliances, send ninja to assassinate rival daimyo, prepare for the frequent floods that could decimate your resources, etc. If you were willing to put the time into it, it was awesome.
I think I remember it so well for a few reasons. First, it was simply a challenging, enjoyable game. Second, it was one of the few historically based games I can remember playing that focused on something non-Western. Third and finally, it was the first war strategy game I played - before Civilization, Warcraft II, Starcraft, or Command & Conquer: Red Alert - that demanded strict micromanagement for success.
7. Spider-Man
Obviously, game developers can do things now with superhero games that blow this away, but Activision's early Spider-Man game for the Playstation was the first superhero game I ever played that really felt like it should've felt. Spidey had more range of action than he had ever had in his licensed games. As Spider-Man you could stick to walls, webswing across rooftops and rooms, drown bad guys in webbing, shoot little web pellets at bad guys, web up your fists to add some damage - you could even grab a guy with your web, pull him to you, and crack him across the chin in one quick move. Maybe pretty standard fare for games these days, but at the time it felt like someone had reinvented video games just for good ol' webhead. And if that wasn't enough, the game was narrated by Stan Lee, making it feel like an extended episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
6. Final Fantasy X
It's tough to say much about this, because it will feel redundant when you get a bit further down the list to Final Fantasy VII. But I will say that, at least in part, this game was a close companion during some memorable times. I remember I played it pretty regularly when I moved into the first apartment I ever had on my own - a basement studio piece of shee-ite in downtown Albany. I remember that my TV was too old to play nice with my PS2, so the colors would keep fading in and out while I played.
5. Half-Life
Not the first first-person shooter I ever played (that honor belongs to Wolfenstein 3-D), but the first I ever owned. It would later introduce me to the online madness that was Team Fortress and Counterstrike. It would teach me that, in an online FPS, everything is gay to your opponents. Everything. Getting shot by them is gay. Shooting them is gay. Having sex with a member of the opposite sex? Yep. Still gay.
4. Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
I honestly had no idea what the fuck to make of this thing when my father first gave it to me. It was #4 in a series and I'd never played or even heard of parts 1, 2, or 3. But it was massive and epic and I loved it even though I could A) never survive a single dungeon or B) ever figure out what the fuck I was supposed to be doing.
3. Final Fantasy VII
I remember not only that it was George Carlin, but the exact joke, that first taught me the potential of comedy ("They're thinking about banning toy guns...AND THEY'RE GONNA KEEP THE FUCKIN' REAL ONES!!!"). I remember it was Peter David's writing on The Incredible Hulk that first taught me that comic books could be true art. And I remember it was Final Fantasy VII that taught me the potential of video games.
Back in Tampa, this game made me miss class. And I LIKED class. I had all writing courses for fuck's sake. I wasn't just addicted to this game. I cared about this game. I cared about its characters and its (insanely convoluted) story. It was emotional and uplifting and I never wanted it to end.
The game begins in a city run by a crooked corporation called Shin-Ra. The section that takes place in the city feels like an entire video game. It takes a LONG time. Unless you sit in front of your console for hours and hours and hours at a time, it will probably take you days. Maybe a week. Probably at least a week.
Then you leave the city. And you find out the city is maybe, what...1/10th of the game? Maybe less?
I'm not a macho guy. I will admit to things making me cry. The last story of Lone Wolf and Cub made me cry. To my neverending shame, Moulin Rouge made me cry. Fuck, the end of Bubba Ho-Tep made me cry a little bit.
A video game has never made me cry. But if a video game ever does make me cry, it will be Final Fantasy VII.
Or, if they ever come out with an onion-cutting simulator, maybe that.
2. World of Warcraft
Yeah, this whole list would be a big stinking lie without mentioning World of Warcraft now wouldn't it?
I'm not even sure what to say. I've spent so much time on WoW, and may very well again, I think it deserves its own list.
It's addictive. It's huge. It has a rich, Tolkien-esque history as its foundation. And dwarves are better than everyone else. Yes. EVERYONE.
1. Infocom
Okay, well the final entry here is a stretch for two reasons. First, Infocom was not a game. Infocom was a company that made games. It isn't around anymore. Second, Infocom's games were not, technically speaking, video games for the most part. At least, the Infocom games I'm talking about weren't video games. They were text adventure games.
That's right. Text adventure. No mouse. No joystick. You had to read a description, and tell the computer what to do by typing.
It could be frustrating. It was usually frustrating. You had to become a thesaurus. You could spend days telling the computer exactly what you wanted to do, and even if it was exactly what you were supposed to do, it didn't matter if you didn't use the right word - if say, for example, you told the game you wanted to "leap" but the game only recognized "jump." You would waste weeks going around mazes and either forgetting what direction your character was going in, or alternatively driving yourself insane by keeping track of every single twist and turn you made.
My father introduced me to Infocom by buying me The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which I played long before I ever picked up the book) when I was in junior high. I was only able to finish it by buying the hint book from Infocom. They would send you this little book with hints written in invisible ink. And the booklet came with a highlighter. For every problem, you had to highlight each hint in order to be able to read it. The final hint would simply tell you exactly what to do in order to get past the problem. This way, if you just wanted hints and didn't want the whole thing spelled out for you, you refrained from highlighting everything.
The first Infocom game I finished without a hint book was Witness, a noirish whodunnit, and I practically wanted to throw a fucking party. The next - and the ONLY other I would solve without a hint book - was A Mind Forever Voyaging, which really wasn't a game so much as an interactive novel. There were problems to solve, but to a veteran Infocom player they were obvious. But it was no less enjoyable. In the game, you were a computer fooled into thinking you were a real person, and "awoken" in order to run simulations testing whether or not a radical new plan for the country would bring about a paradise or a disaster. The enjoyment of Voyaging didn't come from puzzle-solving, but simply exploring the rich texture of the worlds the developers created.
There were games I never won. I remember ordering the hint book to the whodunnit Deadline and having my envelope sent back to me with a stamp that indicated the company no longer existed. So Deadline, the desert adventure Infidel and the space thriller Starcross (a game for which I never even received the slightest clue as to what the fuck I was supposed to be doing) all went unsolved. I only finished the dungeon adventures Zork I and Zork II with the hint books. Zork III would remain a mystery. I never even got to buy Beyond Zork or Zork Zero before the company tanked.
I literally taught myself to type on Infocom's games. No bullshit. By the time I finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I could type like I'd been doing data entry for years. Granted, I could only type with my index fingers, but still.
It's possible some of the games are still available online somewhere. I'm pretty sure some of them are. But I've never really bothered because I just don't think I could care as much about them now as I did then, and that makes me just a little sad.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Top 10 Completely Fucking Random Things I'm Considering Doing on my Birthday (Next Friday)
10. Using Beatles lyrics in conversations for no discernible reason.
MARYANN: Honey could you do me a favor and clean the litter box?
MICK: I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!!!!!!!!
MARYANN: ...
MICK: ...
MARYANN: I can't believe I moved for you.
MICK: I wanna hold your hand.
9. Choosing to like reggae. Just for a day.
8. Talking to the kids around the apartment complex to find out who the biggest asshole 11-14 year old kid is, stealing his bike, and using it to implicate him in at least two murders.
7. Having a dazzling, furious battle over the web of bridges separating Albany from Rennsselaer with a nigh-unbeatable cadre of lightsaber-wielding ninjas, me and the ninjas locking horns while leapfrogging car roofs, finally ending the battle by using my earth-shattering strength to snap one of the bridges in half, sending commuters and ninjas alike spinning towards the river, flying to the rescue of those commuters who were obeying the traffic laws during the battle, and finally hanging out in the nearest bar with the more attractive surviving commuters.
6. Beating up Iron Man
Drunk fuck.
5. Making a video for "Last Night" by The Strokes using only a Hulk action figure, a Barbie doll, and a toy wheelbarrow.
Just think about it, man. Think about it.
4. Using an Orlando Bloom mask to teach my new kitten Gimli to hate elves.
3. Coming up with a drinking game for the extended Lord of the Rings films, and seeing how long I can survive it.
2. Using Coldplay lyrics in conversations for no discernible reason.
MARYANN: Honey, could you do me a big favor and take out the garbage?
MICK: I used to rule the world.
MARYANN: ...
MICK: ...
MARYANN: Really honey, it's starting to stink.
MICK: We never change, do we?
MARYANN: We never change what?
MICK: No one ever said it'd be easy. No one ever said it would be this hard.
MARYANN: ...
MICK: ...
MARYANN: Funny hearing you of all people talking about things that are HARD.
MICK: ...
MARYAN: ...
MICK: That's cold.
1. Cake. Presents. Sex. Music. Beer. Party. Not in that order.
MARYANN: Honey could you do me a favor and clean the litter box?
MICK: I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!!!!!!!!
MARYANN: ...
MICK: ...
MARYANN: I can't believe I moved for you.
MICK: I wanna hold your hand.
9. Choosing to like reggae. Just for a day.
8. Talking to the kids around the apartment complex to find out who the biggest asshole 11-14 year old kid is, stealing his bike, and using it to implicate him in at least two murders.
7. Having a dazzling, furious battle over the web of bridges separating Albany from Rennsselaer with a nigh-unbeatable cadre of lightsaber-wielding ninjas, me and the ninjas locking horns while leapfrogging car roofs, finally ending the battle by using my earth-shattering strength to snap one of the bridges in half, sending commuters and ninjas alike spinning towards the river, flying to the rescue of those commuters who were obeying the traffic laws during the battle, and finally hanging out in the nearest bar with the more attractive surviving commuters.
6. Beating up Iron Man
Drunk fuck.
5. Making a video for "Last Night" by The Strokes using only a Hulk action figure, a Barbie doll, and a toy wheelbarrow.
Just think about it, man. Think about it.
4. Using an Orlando Bloom mask to teach my new kitten Gimli to hate elves.
3. Coming up with a drinking game for the extended Lord of the Rings films, and seeing how long I can survive it.
2. Using Coldplay lyrics in conversations for no discernible reason.
MARYANN: Honey, could you do me a big favor and take out the garbage?
MICK: I used to rule the world.
MARYANN: ...
MICK: ...
MARYANN: Really honey, it's starting to stink.
MICK: We never change, do we?
MARYANN: We never change what?
MICK: No one ever said it'd be easy. No one ever said it would be this hard.
MARYANN: ...
MICK: ...
MARYANN: Funny hearing you of all people talking about things that are HARD.
MICK: ...
MARYAN: ...
MICK: That's cold.
1. Cake. Presents. Sex. Music. Beer. Party. Not in that order.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Top 10 Things I'm Going to Do on My Vacation (in 5 days)
10. Check out a few local comic shops I haven't been to before like Paragon Comics and Zombie Planet (the latter looks like it's more of a gaming shop than a comic shop, but that's okay).
9. Stop by Earthworld. I feel like I haven't been there in ages.
8. Stop by Aquilonia Comics to tell the guys to buy one of those stupid-big clocks from Flavor Flav so they can figure out it's the 21st century and get a frikkin' website already.
7. Make a dinner or two for my bay-bay.
6. Drive up to the building where I work, walk in, laugh loudly, and walk back out.
5. Beat up Iron Man.
Drunk fuck.
4. Go to some stupid park somewhere and sit by myself and be all like "Ooh, the splendor of fucking nature or whatever."
3. Write a letter to every United States senator. The catch? Each letter has to be different, but each has to begin with a line from a Mr. Bungle song. Like "Everyone I went to high school with is dead," or "It's not funny - my ass is on fire."
2. Go to a couple of those rich asshole towns in Massachusetts with my bay-bay so we can eat overpriced local food and do things that should be nouns, but have become verbs. Like "antiquing" and "summering."
1. Go somewhere like maybe Professor Java's with my laptop and write all day. I've never really done coffee shop writing. Mainly because I don't want to be a douchebag. But if I can get some writing done by being a douchebag, I'll be a douchebag. I won't wear berets or Mao hats or snap instead of clapping. I have my fucking limits. Douchebag.
9. Stop by Earthworld. I feel like I haven't been there in ages.
8. Stop by Aquilonia Comics to tell the guys to buy one of those stupid-big clocks from Flavor Flav so they can figure out it's the 21st century and get a frikkin' website already.
7. Make a dinner or two for my bay-bay.
6. Drive up to the building where I work, walk in, laugh loudly, and walk back out.
5. Beat up Iron Man.
Drunk fuck.
4. Go to some stupid park somewhere and sit by myself and be all like "Ooh, the splendor of fucking nature or whatever."
3. Write a letter to every United States senator. The catch? Each letter has to be different, but each has to begin with a line from a Mr. Bungle song. Like "Everyone I went to high school with is dead," or "It's not funny - my ass is on fire."
2. Go to a couple of those rich asshole towns in Massachusetts with my bay-bay so we can eat overpriced local food and do things that should be nouns, but have become verbs. Like "antiquing" and "summering."
1. Go somewhere like maybe Professor Java's with my laptop and write all day. I've never really done coffee shop writing. Mainly because I don't want to be a douchebag. But if I can get some writing done by being a douchebag, I'll be a douchebag. I won't wear berets or Mao hats or snap instead of clapping. I have my fucking limits. Douchebag.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Top 10 Reasons Why I Have Been A Self (& World) Loathing Curmudgeon...FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!!!!!!!
In the comments section of last Thursday's post, a good friend of mine accidentally revealed a secret about me:
"What, we had about 1000 years of Mick the self (& world) loathing curmudgeon and now this!?"
So now that the cat's out of the bag, I figured I should address the subject and explain to everyone exactly why I have been a self (& world) loathing curmudgeon............FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!
10. Lost a bet on the Battle of Hastings. Been dodging my bookie ever since.
9. Anne Rice got my story wrong. And I told them to get Belushi to play me in the movie. Dumbasses.
8. If you had to live forever and only got laid every 20 years or so, you'd be pissed too.
7. I miss my dinosaur ranch. There was nothing like throwing a saddle on a triceratops and riding into town with Jesus. As long as he was with me we never got stopped for speeding. But he was a firm believer in helmet laws.
6. As an immortal, I've met Jesus, George Washington, William Shakespeare, Confucius, and Abraham Lincoln. And you know what's depressing? They all thought The Fast and the Furious rocked. Can you believe that shit?
5. I missed The Gathering and that Highlander asshole has been calling me a pussy ever since. I mean, what the hell? I was supposed to BELIEVE they scheduled the greatest battle of all time in the fucking '80's? Whatever.
4. After 300 years of searching, after much blood and sweat and toil, after losing God knows how many friends and lovers to my obsession, I finally found Carmen Sandiego. And she is UHHH-UH-GLEE!
3. I suffered from a horrible curse. During the day, the love of my life was transformed into a hawk. And at night she became human and we could finally speak to each other, touch, kiss, and even make love. Unfortunately, at night I was transformed into Rutger Hauer. And she was disappointed with everything I'd done after The Hitcher, so she went down on Ferris Bueller instead.
2. Cleopatra lied to me. The rash never went away.
1. I am the last dragon.
(P.S. Love ya Jen!)
"What, we had about 1000 years of Mick the self (& world) loathing curmudgeon and now this!?"
So now that the cat's out of the bag, I figured I should address the subject and explain to everyone exactly why I have been a self (& world) loathing curmudgeon............FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!
10. Lost a bet on the Battle of Hastings. Been dodging my bookie ever since.
9. Anne Rice got my story wrong. And I told them to get Belushi to play me in the movie. Dumbasses.
8. If you had to live forever and only got laid every 20 years or so, you'd be pissed too.
7. I miss my dinosaur ranch. There was nothing like throwing a saddle on a triceratops and riding into town with Jesus. As long as he was with me we never got stopped for speeding. But he was a firm believer in helmet laws.
6. As an immortal, I've met Jesus, George Washington, William Shakespeare, Confucius, and Abraham Lincoln. And you know what's depressing? They all thought The Fast and the Furious rocked. Can you believe that shit?
5. I missed The Gathering and that Highlander asshole has been calling me a pussy ever since. I mean, what the hell? I was supposed to BELIEVE they scheduled the greatest battle of all time in the fucking '80's? Whatever.
4. After 300 years of searching, after much blood and sweat and toil, after losing God knows how many friends and lovers to my obsession, I finally found Carmen Sandiego. And she is UHHH-UH-GLEE!
3. I suffered from a horrible curse. During the day, the love of my life was transformed into a hawk. And at night she became human and we could finally speak to each other, touch, kiss, and even make love. Unfortunately, at night I was transformed into Rutger Hauer. And she was disappointed with everything I'd done after The Hitcher, so she went down on Ferris Bueller instead.
2. Cleopatra lied to me. The rash never went away.
1. I am the last dragon.
(P.S. Love ya Jen!)
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