Girl. Gamer. Geek.

1st Edition Risk

2009-11-05T03:53:00.000-08:00

Today, at the second hand store I work at, we got in a 1st edition of the board game Risk. I nabbed that sucker right off the shelf. $10! Jealous much?

Also, anyone want to play Risk?

Hoorah for the New Season of Mad Men!

2009-08-27T05:36:00.000-07:00

Got to catch up the two episodes that are out of this season's Mad Men last night. If you haven't watched this show yet, put it on your Netflix or however you get your televised fix. Tell me you got through an episode without once longing for a cigarette, and I will call your bluff, sir/madam.

Other than that, still riding the unemployment train. I'm really bummed out, because I thought I had a chance with Massively.com. They said they would contact you by the end of the month if they wanted you, /sigh. So disappointed. The pet store job that interviewed me hasn't called me back either o.O

Joining up with FreeMMOGamer.com

2009-07-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

I've decided to join the team of www.freemmogamer.com so I'm changing this site back to being a personal, meandering, rambling blog.

My own site was a good idea, but joining a site that has thousands of readers is a better one ;)

Monato Esprit: First Impressions

2009-07-18T04:54:00.000-07:00

Reality Gap’s new free to play MMO just hit the (imaginary) internet shelves, and I took the chance to give it the good old try. The graphics, as you can see, are in a cute chibi-esque style that I found rather pleasant. Character customization isn’t vast (only one race), but the charm of it is that can pick your horoscope and season, each which gives you different passive bonuses.

From there you go to a newbie island, which you can opt out of if you like. After you learn all the basics, you get to pick a class. There’s not a lot to begin with:

Hwarang—melee offensive
Templar—melee defensive
Mage—ranged offensive
Cleric – healer

I was rather disappointed, because I wanted to be the Sheriff class I read there was, but you must not be able to access that or the Harlequin class until later on. So I went with mage. To be honest, for the amount of time I played, I didn’t find mage to be very fun. I basically cast a nine minute buff and then spammed with magic missile every time it came off cool down. Mayhaps it got more interesting later on…

Despite my un-fascination for mage combat, ME did have something I haven’t seen in an MMO before. You don’t gain back health and mana over time. There are giant crystals (reminiscent of Final Fantasy) placed around the world that you have to go up to in order to heal. I rather liked it, because it altered my gameplay strategy from the norm. It also got rid of the downtime I always experienced as a mage in World of Warcraft.

Leveling up was really simple. Every level you get a skill point which you then can buy a higher rank of a skill (like magic missile). From what I could see there wasn’t even a talent tree, per se, you just unlocked new skills at different levels.

Crafting, referred to as Alchemy, also had a simple set up. You could get materials from monsters and from “decomposing” items (like gear you didn’t want). There didn’t seem to be any restrictions on the amount of crafts you could take up, you just needed to get the recipe, usually via quest.

The non-free part of the game is in the metaTIX points you can purchase. Certain quests could only be undertaken by spending metaTIX points. Rather weird in my opinion. Spend real money to do an in-game boring collection quest in order to get the item? No thankee.

My last note is on the dungeons. Certain characters give you the option to enter a dungeon (some of them you have to spend metaTIX points to enter). From there it’s a maze with rooms of different monsters (and hopefully crystals) until you find the boss. I tried doing a dungeon and got my cute little chibi butt kicked by the boss, so I assume I was supposed to go in a party, or come back at a higher level, or not be a squishy little mage with only one damage spell that has a cool down, take your pick of the preceding.

My final thoughts are that the game is very newbie-friendly and has a pretty simple set-up. Thus it would be ideal for a younger player, or a casual player that doesn’t like the complexity of large scale MMOs. I think my favorite part of the game was the profile pictures that come up when you’re chatting with someone, JRPG style. Sadly, that wasn’t enough to keep me playing.

Battlefield Heroes

2009-06-26T04:26:00.000-07:00

So, Battlefield Heroes is now live to public! It's the standard free, pay-for-perks set-up. What do we care about? How much we can get for free, of course! Just by playing you get VP points to go to the store and spend on weapons and widgits (bandages, etc.) that last for a few or more days, depending on how much you spend. Battlefield Points, the ones you have to buy, get you more of the same kinds (and better kinds) of things, as well as the option to customize the look of your character.

The actual character creation doesn't give you a whole lot of options: skin tone, hair color, hair type, and facial hair. This leads to everyone looking the same (unless you want to pay), but this isn't the kind of game where that's a concern.

There are three classes, gunner (the tank), commando (stealth and sniping), and soldier (the mix) in a capture the flag scenario (Arathi Basin, anyone?). It's fun and the graphics are pleasing, check it out!

Here are some tips:
-Create an account before you try to start up the game.
-Create a hero before you try to start up the game (you can only do this on the webpage outside the game).
-If you're having trouble loading the create a hero screen, update to latest version of Flash

New Direction for the Blog

2009-06-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

Since its inception, my blog has been directionless and meandering, whatever was in my head when I had the desire to post. That worked well for me when I was still in school, but now that I can turn my attention to my projects, I wanted to give my blog some kind of a meaning.

Insulin Funk takes all my editorials and news, and I didn't want to have this blog just for linking to my articles. Thus, free games! The perfect choice for a poor me and a poor economy!

Player's Log: Gun

2009-06-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Being jobless, my gaming has been confined to older games that I've meant to play or finish and games that I can borrow or find cheap at used games stores. I picked up Gun for PS2, remembering a recommendation from a friend several years ago. "It's a little bit like Fable, only a shooter and western." I think the description holds up pretty well. It doesn't offer all the options of Fable, but so far it's definitely worth the $4.99 I paid for it.

According to the save game data, I'm about a quarter of the way through the game. I have to say that so far, I really long for the character and game experience customization I'm used to in games of this sort. Sometimes the missions seem innovative and sometimes they seem rinse, repeat. And I hate mounted combat. Now to be fair, my hatred likely stems from my lack of skill at it, but as the other aspects of the game aren't causing me trouble, I feel safe in saying that it's just to hard to control.

Beyond these grievances, the game is entirely enjoyable. A lot of the missions are just pure fun: saving hookers, protecting stage coaches, keeping bars from being burned down, killing bandits, show downs, all the western necessities are there!

I'd definitely recommend it as a fun game to play in your waiting time, or ought I say recover time?, between the big A-listers.

Galaxy Girl and the New Danger of Sleeping

2009-06-17T07:07:00.001-07:00

So the talk of the JPAG is this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1193384/What-did-expect-Incredible-face-revealed-man-tattooed-girl-56-stars-asked-three.html

My notes:

-I actually think it looks really cool, minus the fact she'll never be able to get a white collar job now.

-There's no way she's not lying. Just a teen trying save her ass from her parents. I have a tattoo and there's NO WAY you would fall asleep during it, unless you're impervious to pain and aren't creeped out by people hovering over your face.

What Middle Earth Means to Us

2009-06-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

So, for most of my life I skipped forewords and introductions to books.

Now, having been through way too many years of film school, I read introductions, I watch DVD extras; suddenly it's important to soak in everything about the art I love. Contextualizing the pieces affects my reading of them. On one hand, maybe that lessens my blind faith, my "willing suspension of disbelief" in art, when I analyze everything, all the time. Yet someone with the desire to create themselves, whether film or text or youtube shorts, must have this multi-layered approach to creative works.

So, back on topic, in all my many many readings of Lord the Rings, I never once read the short, one-page introduction by Peter S. Beagle (author of The Last Unicorn), until yesterday that is. It really struck me and I wanted to share it:

It's been fifteen years at this writing since I first came across THE LORD OF THE RINGS in the stacks at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh. I'd been looking for the book for four years, ever since reading W.H. Auden's review in the New York Times, I think of that time now--and the years after, when the trilogy continued to be hard to find and hard to explain to most friends--with an undeniable nostalgia. It was a barren era for fantasy, among other things, but a good time for cherishing slighted treasures and mysterious passwords. Long before Frodo Lives! began to appear in the New York subways, J.R.R. Tolkien was the magus of my secret knowledge.

I've never thought it an accident that Tolkien's works waited more than ten years to explode into popularity almost overnight. The Sixties were no fouler a decade than the Fifties--they merely reaped the Fifties' foul harvest--but they were the years when millions of people grew aware that the industrial society had become paradoxically unlivable, incalculably immoral, and ultimately deadly. In terms of passwords, the Sixties were the time when the word progress lost its ancient holiness, and escape stopped being comically obscene. The impulse is being called reactionary now, but lovers of Middle-earth want to go there. I would myself, like a shot.

For in the end it is Middle-earth and its dwellers that we love, not Tolkien's considerable gifts in showing it to us. I said once that the world he charts was there long before him, and I still believe it. He is a great enough magician to tap our most common nightmares, daydreams and twilight fancies, but he never invented them either: he found them a place to live, a green alternative to each day's madness here in a poisoned world. We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers and discoverers--thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses. Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.

Peter S. Beagle
Watsonville, California
14 July 1973

ERROR

2009-05-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

Zomg, I'm so sorry. I misspelled Spock in the article I just posted. It's fixed now, but I had to apologize if anyone saw that before I did.

My only defense is that I'm really tired and sleep-deprived and should be doing homework.

I've shamed my ancestors...

New IF article

2009-05-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

"What?!!!" You say, "but you haven't written for IF for forever!"

I know, I know. The school, man, it's got me down. I did tonight, however, skip doing homework for an hour to write a new article.

http://insulinfunk.net/2009/05/12/the-new-mythology/

I'm shooting for an article a week now!

Back to the schoolwerks now, sadly.

I love you, man.

Reading Too Much American Splendor...Style leak to follow...

2009-05-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

So, I was walking my two dogs outside. Well, not really walking them because I was wearing pajamas. I wasn’t taking them for a walk so much as just to the closest piece of grass to do their business. Anyway, so I hear this moan when I’m rounding the corner of my building, but it dies really fast. So I wait for some girl to walk by, maybe she fell and scraped her knee, when the moaning starts up again with a “oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeeeah.” About now I realize some tenants of the neighboring building are HAVING SEX.

Their windows are open so just about anybody standing anywhere in the vicinity can hear it. I look at the building and pretty much everyone else’s windows are open too, so I know they’re hearing it. I thought about yelling something funny and clever and then walking away really fast (before anyone could see me in my pajamas and laugh). Then maybe the girl would be embarrassed (because girls usually are about those kinds of things), and then the guy would say “I bet they’re just jealous that they’re not having awesome sex,” and they would forget about it. But really I wouldn’t be. But I didn’t yell anything, I just went back inside; so I guess that’s the end of it.

Break, Part II

2009-03-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

By the way, I once again guest hosted on the JPAG show:

http://jpag.podomatic.com/entry/2009-03-16T20_26_47-07_00

In Which Marie Takes a Break from Studying to Update her Blog

2009-03-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Funny quote from my textbook (Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues by John R. Weeks) concerning immigration to America:

"They came thinking the streets were paved with gold, but found that the streets weren't paved at all and that they were expected to do the paving."

Ah, how we fat, white Americans hate hard labor. We should just demolish gyms and have rich people pay to stock produce and whatnot.

This said, I'm going to go back to laying on my couch, playing video games and eating greasy delivery--after finals are over, that is o.O

Things I Would Rather Be Doing Than Schoolwork

2009-03-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

1.) Play Lord of the Rings Online.

2.) Write an article for Insulin Funk about what video games could learn from film in their evolution to "art."

3.) Read the Ultimate Fantastic Four or 100 Bullets or Preacher comics I just picked up.

4.) Listen to mixes of all new music made for me while walking my dog.

5.) Play Left 4 Dead.

New Insulin Funk article

2009-02-24T04:46:00.001-08:00

http://insulinfunk.net/2009/02/24/wrath-of-the-fanboy-grrm-in-the-doghouse-refuses-to-give-up-bone/

gotta run, now!

Insulin Funk Email Address

2009-02-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

Hey there! I finally got my Insulin Funk email address set up.

marie.barnes@insulinfunk.net

If you ever have any article ideas, life questions, or you know, just fan mail (^^) related to insulinfunk, you now have a place to send it!

Krod Mandoon!

2009-02-13T12:55:00.001-08:00

I'd say it again, but I already said it on IF:

http://insulinfunk.net/2009/02/13/krod-mandoon-coming-to-comedy-central/

Guest Host on JPAGP

2009-02-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

So, I was extremely tired when I did this:

http://jpag.podomatic.com/

Flash

2009-02-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

Guy: [insert unimportant intro line]

Marie: I can't

Guy: Why not?

Marie: Because you're wearing a North Face fleece and I judge people on appearances.

Luke, I am Your President

2009-02-09T14:42:00.001-08:00

So I had the most amazing thought today. What if Obama became Darth Vader? He was or is the one current symbol of American hope and triumph, and what if he took all that and became an evil emperor--wore a mask and starting killing people with a mere clenching of his fist?

That would be awesomesauce. Can I vote for that?

Chocolate Syrup and Sweaty Chickens

2009-02-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

I found this old short story I wrote for a class my sophomore year in college.

If you're reading this as a facebook import, you may want to just go to my blog toggit.blogspot.com because facebook does weird things to spaces and formatting.

You might find it amusing if you're bored! Here goes:

Chocolate Syrup and Sweaty Chickens

By Marie Barnes

He looked like the protagonist of a Werner Hertzog film, a face unattractive but not unlovable. He trained chickens to dance, shipped them out to various petting zoos and kiddie places across the country. “Eddy’s Dancing Chickens! The Best in Animal Entertainment!” the sides of his transporting truck would announce in garishly bold painted colors as he drove to Wisconsin or Alabama. He was by no means well off, but made enough that when a shirt had gone beyond sew-the-button-back-on repair or too many holes splotched his denim overalls, he could buy a new set. He thought dancing chickens would take off – be the new pet rock or Tamagotchi – even had a patent on the special dance he taught them, just in case it ever did.

Eddy Plavotti had never had a girlfriend, but he figured his time was coming soon. He had a Playboy from ’67 he’d look at sometimes when the chickens and the TV weren’t enough company. His favorite was Veronica from page 18. He’d talk to her and stroke her two-dimensional hair. “Well, Veronica, my darling. One day, when these chickens get big, I’m going to take you to a fancy restaurant. You’ll have to put on some clothes, but I’ll make sure they have valet parking.”

Yes, Eddy didn’t have a glamorous life, but he sure could make a mean chicken salad.

They’d lied to her, those big-time, black-suited assholes. Well, it wasn’t just them, it was everybody in America, every single damn one of them. They’d wooed her with those classy updos and snazzy tailored business suits she saw in movies and television. She’d dreamed of sleek black executive chairs in those offices with huge glass panes overlooking the city. What they hid behind closed doors was the endless cubicle prison cells and hellish fax machines.

“Ah, Ms. Jones,” Boss Green seemed to look down at her from infinite heights. “Here are the spreadsheets for the April and May folders for you to put together after you finish those files.”

She smiled in practiced pleasantry at him as she took the papers from his hand. His name wasn’t really Boss Green of course, but Darla Jones had her own internal way of referring to her two bosses and the assistant manager who thought she was Darla’s boss. There was Boss Green, her supervisor, who was always giving her more work to do, Boss Red, the personnel manager, who always stopped her from doing her work to fix some problem or the other, and Boss Yellow, the secretary, who just delayed everything at annoying intervals.

Fuck. The supplier had double charged again. Darla folded back her sleeves and got ready for another battle with the fax machine.

Eddy was sitting on his faded blue plaid recliner drinking a Coors Lite while watching Ambush Makeover when the big call came. An amusement park in Florida wanted to incorporate his dancing chickens into some new ride they were making, and they had ordered an entire truckful of the wing-flapping strutters. This was very likely Eddy’s big break.

He took a long soak in the tub while he waited for his pair of overalls to go through the washer and dryer. He put on fresh socks and even fished a bottle of perfume out of a box of his deceased grandmother’s things in the attic.

After loading the chickens, whom were all named Ernie, into the truck, he creased his Playboy to page 18 and laid her gently down in the passenger seat. And then he was on the road, straw hat shading his droopy eyes while he chewed on some leftover tobacco he had luckily found stuck to the bottom of the seat.

Darla was sobbing quietly over the fax machine when Boss Yellow walked by with a new bright pink plastic purse.

“Oh honey, isn’t this just the cutest little thing? It’s designer but I got it half off, don’t you know.” She patted it and held it up for Darla to admire.

Darla hated the pinkness of it. She hated the pinkness of everything about Boss Yellow. She hated the hot pink sticky notes Boss Yellow ordered from Office Depot that everyone had to use. She even hated the hot pink frosting on the cakes Boss Yellow brought in when it was another boss’s birthday.

“Oh wow, what a bargain,” she smiled charmingly at Boss Yellow, “and in just your color.”

The next day, Eddy woke leisurely with many yawns and decisions to lie back down for another five minutes. He normally just slept in his truck on the side of the road, but seeing as this was the start of a new era for Eddy, he had treated himself to a Motel 6. And how loved the luxury of it. He almost hadn’t slept on the bed just because it had been so nicely made. He yawned again and reached his arm out and put it around, or rather over, Veronica. “See darling,” he said, “and this is just the beginning.”

That morning Darla was sitting and staring at the computer screen like any normal employee when suddenly, for no discernible reason that anyone at Chococorp could ever tell, she snapped. She grabbed the pepper spray from her purse and ran down the cubicle aisles brandishing it wildly.

“Woah missy. Where’s the fire?” A black-suit grabbed her arm.

Sphhhhphhhh. And he was down.

“Anybody else?!” Darla screamed, and then maced two more for good measure. She ran down the steps and into Boss Yellow’s office.

“Why, Darla, funny you should come--” Darla sent a spray straight between her eyes.

“Take that, bitch!” she grabbed Boss Yellow’s annoyingly pink plastic purse and ran out the doors cackling. Like a gift from God, one of the company’s delivery semis was gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight, “Huxley’s Best Homemade Chocolate Syrup” in maroon on the side. Darla climbed in to find the keys still in the ignition.

“Hey! Hey you! What are you doing?!” a hefty trucker man with a billowing gut and a cap that said “Here, Pussy Pussy” started running toward her from the shade of the building.

“The Apocalypse is at hand, Asshole!” She screeched as she sped away.

Eddy loved driving his truck. He’d chug along the interstate at 50 miles an hour and listen to the Dixie Chicks. “Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide Open Spacccccccccccccccesss!” He liked that part so much that he’d still be singing “aces” long after the Dixie Chicks had moved on to another verse. The day was so bright it was as if the sunlight had condensed into fog and even with sunglasses it was hard to see the road. Eddy had managed to hold out the “s” long enough to be able to start “wide” again with the Dixie Chicks, and he sang blissfully on, unaware of the dark shape approaching at illegal speeds from the right.

Darla was on a pilgrimage. While she was careening through traffic, God had visited her, riding down a sunbeam to perch on the hood of the semi.

“Darlaaa,” he said with a voice that was both powerfully booming and quietly still.

“God, God, I’m here!”

“Darlaaa”

“You said that already.”

“Right. Darlaaa, you are the chosen one. Come to my temple in Phoenix and I will reveal my plan unto you.”

A red convertible bounced off the side of the semi as she watched God float away into the clouds. She giggled madly to herself as she turned onto the onramp of West I-70 and stomped down on the gas.

“I’m a little teacup! Short and—"

CREESCHBOOMSCREEEPOP!

In an amazingly out of body experience, Eddy watched the trucks collide at eight frames per second. It was beautiful. It was terrible. It was performance art. White chickens flew in perfect arcs while chocolate syrup rained and squelched. Eddy felt deeply awed and humbled. And then he pulled himself off the steering wheel.

He opened the door and waded through the chocolate goo. His chickens, his babies, they were dancing in the sunlight. Dancing through the layer of oppressive muck. Dancing as only Eddie had taught them how. Eddie cried. He’d never been prouder in his life.

A blonde woman wearing a business suit splotched in brown was shuddering and laughing, raising what appeared to be a cheap plastic purse over her head. Eddy was going to go over and tell her he thought she might be in shock, when he saw a glossy paper corner sticking out of the chocolate.

“Noooooooooooooo!”

Darla saw the funny dumpy little man lean over and clutch a ruined magazine to his chest. He turned to her, tears casing his scrubby cheeks. “Why? Why Veronica? Why her?”

She waded to his side and touched his flannel covered shoulder softly. “It is God’s will, dumpy little man. Now we must go to Phoenix and worship his wisdom.” She solemnly handed him the pink purse.

Then Darla walked away into the bright new horizon, leaving behind her the muddle of chocolate and dancing chickens and the little man crying on his knees in the mud.

25 Things

2009-02-02T21:23:00.001-08:00

1) I was two when I discovered my superpowers and first saved the world. As you can see, the diaper look started a fashion trend among superhero costuming.

2) From around the age of 7 or so, I begged and begged my parents to buy me a Nintendo. Not believing in violence or indoor recreation, they refused. After obtaining a SNES someone finally just gave us an old Nintendo. For years all I had to play was Super Mario Brothers 1. And I did, for hours a day. I was later given Super Mario Brothers 2 and 3, and Home Alone 2. And that's all I had until receiving a PSone in my teen years.

3) I wasn't completely deprived though, I played computer games all of those years. Our first computer was an IBM with Tetris and Poltergeist. I taught myself Quick Basic with an old manual, after the obligatory "Hello World," my first program was unfortunately called "Tammy Talk." It would hold a complete conversation with you, trying to pick up on key words in your input.

4) For the same reasons of violence, I wasn't allowed to watch TMNT, although that is ALL I wanted to do. This is the perhaps the biggest regret of my young years. One day, I'm going to watch all of it.

5) I watched cartoons well into high school. I think my first television crush was on the silver power ranger.

6) I started working when I was 15; one of my first major purchases was a TV which I kept in my room. Without supervision, I was free to explore network television. I made a point of watching The Simpsons and Will & Grace, just because I wasn't allowed to.

7) I learned most of my vocabulary from reading, so while I generally spell pretty well, my pronunciation is atrocious.

8) I was homeschooled until 4th grade. I was socially awkward for a long time. I used to talk as fast as I think, and it took me a -long- time to learn how to slow down my speech.

9) I was so bad with people, I thought my path in life was to become a second Jane Goodall and study gorillas in Africa.

10) Sometime, in high school, I got more attractive and started dressing better. Then my life changed.

11) I have always, always wanted to play paintball. I still have not had the opportunity.

12) I started reading comics when I was a teen. Lacking guidance, I picked up whatever looked good. Ultimate Spider-Man was the first series I collected. I'll always love it.

13) Cowboy Bebop is the only anime ever. I feel like if I watch it enough, I'll discover the meaning of life (and subbed is the only way to go).

14) If you multiply 14 by 2 and then subtract 3, you get 25. I'm way too lazy to finish this.

JPAG Poem

2009-02-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

I found this while browsing through old .txt notes to myself. Remember after the first time I was guest hosted on the JPAG show, and Wes wrote that poem to me the time after?

Well, I was working on a reply poem, only I never finished it. And now I never will, but I thought I might post its rough form anyway, for what amusement it's worth.

In solitude at his computer desk

He stares at the box entrapping the pixel maiden

To find her is a quest daunting and daring

But his heart leaves him no choice

Into the box he dives

Ahead a web, as wide as worlds

It seeks to entangle, distract, entice

On both sides the sirens call

Nude beauties whose price is too high for their pleasure

But he desires only the girl in the tower

Which thread in this web of lies

leads to love unending?

He grasps the true thread

jumping from post to post across the cosmic chasm

He is accosted by pirates

riding the ocean's torrents

Cracking his vessel to pieces

But lo! He has arrived in a land

where the merest sticks are filled with joy

and pods of heavenly voices are cast from the heavens

spawning yet more pods in kind.

In the middle a tower of many windows and no door.

A window opens, a glimpse of her profile he sees!

But alas! Surrounding the tower,

the lag spikes seek to impale him

But he knows that true love can

never be disconnected

He lashes forth with leather belt

and before this broad band the lag spikes falter

He leaps into a window hanging by a tab

"Here love!" He cries to an empty room.

Instead of his maid, he holds only a book that has her face

What game does she play that is so soon over?

He has no choice

but to restart and continue...

The Hidden Files from Battlestar Galactica

2009-01-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

Dear Dream Journal,

You dirty frackin' traitor. It was you who told Hotdog I fracked half the fleet.

The next cereal bowl is coming for you, dream journal. I can't wait to watch the milk drip from your sodden, ruined pages.

XOXO,

Kara Thrace

In Which Marie Ponders Her Textbook

2009-01-20T18:04:00.000-08:00

From my film text Contemporary World Cinema (27):

"Czech culture is known for its black humour, pessimism and cynicism as well as its interest in fantasy, magic, and surrealism."

Does that sound oxymoron-ic to you? Although I suppose anyone as depressed as a Czech sounds would need some escapist fantasy.

Also, am I secretly a Czech?

I like all of those things, although I'm not depressed. Probably the Asian in me.

Keanu Reeves to play Spike Spiegel

2009-01-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

...and I'm devasted. I love Cowboy Bebop to the degree that I would never want to see it done live 1) because it's perfect the way it is, and 2) they'll never be able to do it well.

And Keanu Reeves--no nO NO!

It hurts in my soul.

The Best Gaming Podcasts of the Net 2008

2008-10-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

All of these podcasts can be subscribed to via Itunes.

Joystiq Podcast
-The hosts Chris Grant, Ludwig Kietzmann, and the infamous (in a small, net popularity way) Justin McElroy, truly make the show. If you want to be entertained as well as informed, this is a good one to listen to. If you like them, hang with the community at JPAG, the Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group on facebook.

1up Radio
-1up Radio actually refers to a host of podcasts put out by the makers of EGM magazine. You can subscribe to them individually or you can subscribe to the 1up Radio on Itunes which will download all the podcasts.

Gamers With Jobs - Conference Call
-I just started listening to this podcast when I was looking for replacements to the GFW and Game Theory podcasts. So far it's winner - casual, but fun.

Blizzcast
-As in everything Blizzard does, this podcast is always much delayed but always a treat! If you're into the Warcraft, Starcraft, or Diablo franchises, this podcast is like candy.

R.I.P. Game Theory

2008-10-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

Sadly, the Game Theory podcast has come to an end.

Quote (from their site): "...we slowly came to the realization that we simply don't have the time anymore (and also, we feel like we've said everything that needed to be said)."

I don't have much to add other than I will miss their insights and speculations.

You can read their goodbye post here:

http://www.gametheoryshow.com/

The 5 Games I'm Most Excited about for Fall (and you should be too)

2008-08-19T01:45:00.001-07:00

In order by release date. I tried to pick trailers or videos that were at least somewhat descriptive and not just cinematic:

1. Spore (PC) Sept. 7

I haven't messed around with the creature creator, although supposedly spore created species now outnumber known real world species. I can't wait to have my creatures blow up your creatures' planet.

E308 Trailer

2. Warhammer Online (PC) Sept. 18

While I originally hailed this as the next big MMO, what I've seen, heard, and awkwardly groped in the night about it on the web has been mostly disappointing as it nears release. I'll give it a shot, but I haven't cancelled my WoW subscription yet.

A Producer's Overview

3. Fallout 3 (PC, 360, PS3) Oct. 7

Some people complain that Fallout 3 is Oblivion with a gun in a futuristic setting. And to that I say, "and what was the problem then?"

Official Trailer (it's too entertaining to miss out on)

4. Little Big Planet (PS3) Oct. 21

Playing and sharing your friends' levels could be endless fun. Oh wait, I mean you can all gather together around your one friend that could afford a ps3 and have endless fun. If you want more than the trailer, youtube the 2007 demonstration.

E308 Trailer

5. Fable II (360) Oct. 21

Fable 2 excites me as is. The co-op option? I'm ecstatic.

Video about Co-op
E3 trailer

Clearance Bin Review: Shadow of Destiny for PS2

2008-07-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

I actually got hooked on this mystery puzzle game by Konami that I got for $5 at Gamestop. The set-up is that you're Eike Kusch (who knows where that name came from o.O), who gets murdered in the opening scene. A demon-looking boy presents you with the digipad, a time traveling device, so you can go back in time to try to prevent your murder. Each chapter opens with you dying in some new way. You have to go back in time to keep it from happening, while looking for clues about your murderer and fulfilling side quests.

While none of the puzzles are really that difficult to figure out (I only died once when I ran out of time while trying out various theories unrelated to the current quest), and there are some pretty lengthy cutscenes, I was spending too much time trying to figure out how all the pieces were going to come together to care. If you don't feel like playing it multiple times for the different endings, I recommend youtube-ing the alternate endings because you learn something new in each one and they mostly all corroborate.

All-in-all, it's more a vehicle for the story and definitely not for everyone (no action), but hey, it cost half the price of a movie ticket today and lasted much longer!

Pros: Interesting story, multiple endings based on your choices, the voice over is entertaining
Cons: Not really challenging, long cut scenes

Nintendo leaves Fan Boy at Altar

2008-07-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

So it’s finally happened. We’ve been waiting for it, we saw it coming, but it still hurts, don’t it? Nintendo finally gave up appearances and just stomped all over their loyal fan base at E3 this week. Their big announcement was Wii Music, proving once and for all that Nintendo can release a game disc in a game box that contains no actual game. This one doesn’t even have novelty value: it’s Rock Band cheaped out and watered down with zero challenge for the nongaming market (google Nintendo E3 to see their demo video).

So where is this target demographic that Nintendo’s announcements were supposed to excite? Well, not at E3, probably because, ummmm, oh yeah, THEY’RE NOT GAMERS (they probably don’t even know what E3 is). Even the most diehard Nintendo fans admitted to being disappointed by Nintendo’s E3 performance. But Nintendo doesn’t really care. They don’t need to. Wii and DS sales are still beating out 360 and PS3 by a long shot. So why don’t we all just lay down our virtual weapons and have a bake sale for the next My Little Pony game?

The Christian Doomtoons Brigade

2008-07-08T03:14:00.000-07:00

Just posted on facebook:

I was doing some internet research for my upcoming dungeons and dragons campaign (yeah yeah, shut up already), and one of the first links on Google was to the site that sells those scare-you-into-Christianity cartoon pamphlets--one about how Dungeons and Dragons inevitably leads you to worship Satan, etc... The cartoon was so ridiculous as to be almost funny, but I started looking at the site and let me say, it's been a while since aggressive Christianity's been able to make my blood boil like this.

What is wrong with these people?! It's like someone stuck an idiot and his sister in a cardboard box and they had ten children who in turn screwed each other and their parents until a century later a deformed race of inbred, cross-eyed, web-toed, severely retarded creatures burst forth from the cardboard box and starting passing out these doomtoons. These are the people that try to beat the demons out of a ten week old baby and burn computer engineers at stake because it's clear that the devil's in that witchbox they keep calling Peeceee.

Good lord! And speaking of him, I thought he was this huggy lovey guy that wanted everyone to go around the circle and say something nice about the person sitting next to them. Since when is he stomping his big omnipotent feet all over the guy in glasses rolling a d20 (that's a die -singular for dice- for you of the less nerd-like persuasion) and drinking the almighty Dew.

Okay, so I know these people are far outnumbered by you much nicer Christians who know how to rofl just a little on the inside. But if you've ever passed out a doomtoon in order to brainwash someone into your evil mutant empire, please remove yourself from my friend's list immediately or I will swamp your page with Batman bumper stickers until you cry for mercy.

XXOO,

*~Marie

P.S. D&D 4th ed. r0xx0rs my s0xx0rs. 'nuff said.