That was something special. Continue reading
Will H.
Let’s Play: Dragon Age Inquisition high dragon kills; Plus, a note on the future
Well, I’ve been gone awhile, huh?
Backlog Adventures has served as my personal “anything that is fit for internet print” space during my misadventures of online games journalism. While that is certainly not going to change, a recent vocation shift in my online writing duties will also force BLA to do some shifting as well.
Also: I killed some dragons. Serious stuff first, however.
Backlog WWE Reviews: Summerslam 2014
For the last decade, Summerslam has been considered the starting point for a long stretch of events and story lines that all lead to Wrestlemania. The best examples that come to mind is last year with Daniel Brian’s World Title win –and subsequent loss– at the 2013 iteration of the WWE summer classic. The problem with this long haul is keeping the audience engaged in the main event. Expecting fans to stay hot in a singular way for up to eight months might be asking too much, given WWE Creative’s predilections for changing their mind on whether a guy is “their guy” on a whim.
Can WWE keep the momentum coming out of Summerslam? Only hindsight will tell. For now, here is what went down on the 17th of August in Los Angeles.
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On Ferguson and the militarization of Middle America
The greatest advice I received in my college days came in the fall of 2009 during the first day of “Psychology in application to law enforcement.” The class was taught by a tenured professor who was a former Athens County district attorney that taught the class once a year.
The first words out of his mouth to the room of forty or so students are words that I believe–now more than ever–should be taken to heart:
“Don’t trust the police. They aren’t your friend.”
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On Robin Williams…
To watch ‘What Dreams May Come’ or not to watch ‘What Dreams May Come’, that is the question–
Whether tis nobler in front of my felines while in my pantaloons to suffer the Slings and Arrows of outrageous sadness, or to take Arms against a sea of conflicted emotions…And to oppose this urge? To fret, to lack sleep–
No more; and by a lack of sleep, to say thus endeth Robin Williams and his heartache and the thousand natural shocks of life that this man succumbed to, would be a consummation of an art and life lived proud but left wishing for better..
To die, to sleep, to sleep perchance to dream. Aye, there’s the rub; For in that lack of sleep, what number of times ‘What Dreams May Come’ is queued for instant streaming.
Goodnight, funnyman.
On why I will never review a free-to-play title again
With the week that was E3 gone and past I find myself with a wealth of article ideas, topics, and conclusions that can all serve as ammunition for my writing. Of course, that in and of itself is a problem as well: When given the choice to do anything I tend to lose the urge to do so at all. In an effort to avoid this sad complacency I thought the best course of action would be smaller reviews of mobile games.
On ‘The act of Not Writing’
Today I would like to talk about writing. To be more specific, I want to talk about not being able to write. Of course, I don’t mean some kind of debilitating infliction by which my hands can no longer move and I am left attempting to train a series of parrots-each with their own keyboard–to respond to an intricate series of whistles and mouth pops that will instruct them on which letters to type on my behalf
That would be absurd. Instead, let’s discuss the sheer inability to will yourself to write down words. Some call it ‘writer’s block.’ I call it a revolving wheel of apathy, personal failure, and extreme paranoia caused by an overactive superiority complex.
I guess that doesn’t fit on a t-tshirt, so let’s just refer to this phenomenon from this point out as The Cycle.
Nintendo’s failure linked to technology, game sales, and indie developers
Nintendo’s recent financial troubles have opened the floodgates for discussion on where the gaming company went wrong. The recent stock price drop and projected decrease in sales numbers are just one of many woes in the wake of the release of the Wii-U. Nintendo’s third-party relationships have failed and a formerly strong user base has been left feeling alienated by a company that seems stuck in the past.
Where did Nintendo go wrong? The lack of first-party titles? Marketing the Wii-U as a family device and failing to show consumers a difference between the new console and the Wii?
Any of these and more are valid criticism. The biggest contributors to the failure of the Wii-U are a poor and misguided use of technology and the internet, the rise and prevalence of game sales changing how consumers view the worth of Nintendo software, and Nintendo’s outright snubbing of an independent game developer community in their own back yard.
On PlayStation Plus, the best value in gaming
Retro City Rampage, Mega Man 9 and 10, NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, Darksiders, Guardians of Middle-Earth, Vanquish, Joe Danger 2: The Movie, Demon’s Souls, Zombie Tycoon 2, Sleeping Dogs, LittleBigPlanet Karting, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Saints Row: The Third, Battlefield 3, Bit. Trip Runner Presents: Runner 2, Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection, Ico, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Shadow of the Colossus, Poker Night at the Inventory, Hotline Miami, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, Binary Domain, Grid 2, Borderlands 2, DmC: Devil May Cry, Bioshock Infinite, Resogun, Don’t Starve, Gravity Rush, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Wipeout 2048, Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, Plants vs. Zombies, Disgaea 3, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend, Rayman Origins, Sine Mora, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, Soul Sacrifice, Sonic & All Stars Racing: Transformed, Urban Trial Freestyle.
If I were to add up the cost of each of these games as they cost today on the PlayStation Network store, the exact total–and I did the math twice–would be $862.13. You may be asking yourself what is so special about this specific list of games. Why the unnecessarily tedious math?
These are the games I have received in the one year and two months that I have been a PlayStation Plus member. The cost of that membership thus far? $85, thanks to a Christmas discount last month on the typically 50 dollar a year subscription. This doesn’t even take into account the discounts I have received on games and DLC.
PlayStation Plus is by far the greatest value in gaming and may very well be why Sony is poised to take back the console gaming crown.
On “my weekend media wrap-up,” Jan. 10-12
I was reminded this past weekend of just how much my taste in media has changed, or at least how I choose to digest said media.
Four years ago I would have told someone asking me my favorite band to be Arcade Fire due to their large sound and bravado. In 2014 I find those same qualities to be the exact reason why I dislike that same band.
If one were to look at my gaming habits four years ago, a trail of big name, AAA titles would be on my shelf. Now you’re more likely to find my Steam library populated with smaller, more meaningful games where I feel like my time I am putting into them is being used in a more constructive manner.
Of course, people change, things change, and nothing stays the same. All of this may be a “Well, duh” statement on my part, but I’m just surprised by how my own tastes have changed right underneath my nose.
Enough quality reflection. Here’s what media I digested over the weekend.
Backlog Adventures 