On Robin Williams…

backlogadventures Will H. ,

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

backlogadventures Gaming, Rant, Will H. , , , , , ,

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.

Continue reading →

On ‘The act of Not Writing’

backlogadventures Rant, Uncategorized, Will H. , , , , , ,

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.

Continue reading →

Nintendo’s failure linked to technology, game sales, and indie developers

backlogadventures Gaming, Will H. , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Continue reading →

On PlayStation Plus, the best value in gaming

backlogadventures Gaming, Will H. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Continue reading →

On “my weekend media wrap-up,” Jan. 10-12

backlogadventures Comics, Gaming, Music, Weekend Wrap-Up, Will H. , , , , , , , ,

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.

Continue reading →

On contextual storytelling, Dark Souls, and Don’t Starve

backlogadventures Gaming, Will H. , , , , , , , , , ,

For my darling wife Rachel on her 26th birthday. 

Some things are better left unsaid. Nothing is more true when it comes to the art of storytelling and the ability of a tale to not reveal all of the cards being held. The concept of letting a viewer or reader find their own way through a story or performance, left to their own devices to piece together plot, motive, and context is one of the oldest and most important fundamentals of storytelling.

Video games in the current era are getting in on the act, using the environment, items, actions, and sometimes a lack thereof all three in order to tell a story without telling the story.

Whether it’s a ragged doll in Dark Souls, a wrong turn down a stairwell in Bioshock Infinite, or the discovery of what beard hair and animal manure can do in Don’t Starve, it’s all part of contextual storytelling that allows players to find as much or as little of the details as they want.

Continue reading →

On Will’s “game of the year 2013” list

backlogadventures Gaming, Uncategorized, Will H. , , , , , , , , , , ,


goty

‘Game of the Year’ lists are boring. Trivial. Typical. Droll. Pedestrian.

GOTY lists are best described as the “asshole and opinion” article.

You know: Because everyone has them. Except for some folk out there with an awful handicap, in the case of the former.

My apologies to the colostomy bag community.

That was awkward. Let’s talk about my favorite–and best–video games of 2013.

Continue reading →

On YouTube monetization, creator’s rights, and who exactly is a content creator

backlogadventures Gaming, Uncategorized, Will H. , , , , , , , ,

Image

The saying goes that the pen is mightier than the sword, but what does this mean in the digital age? Who is the sword holder? What if you’re borrowing that sword from someone else? Are they the mighty or is that power purely in the one who swings?

What makes one privy to pen holding?

Continue reading →

Motivation: Alternatively titled, “Nothing witty to see here, keep moving along”

backlogadventures Uncategorized, Will H. , ,

Leave it to the Christmas season to leave your self-worth looking for a metaphorical oven to stick it’s metaphorical head in.

This is not to say that the holiday season always leads to doom and gloom, despite public assumption. Truth be told, suicide is not as high in the month of December as those who make up statistics would have you believe.

Now, Thanksgiving? Whew. There is a time of year to be singing “Bring out yer’ dead!”

I digress.

Continue reading →