H.E_Pennypacker Blog

Can Gaming Help "It Get Better"?

2010-12-18T04:31:00Z

First things first, my name is Zane. As a full disclosure, I am currently in the process of preparing and applying to seminary and discerning a call to ordained ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I currently work in youth ministry and urban mission. For fair warning, how I live my life will cause this blog post to have decidedly (liberal) Protestant Christian influences, but I will do my absolute best to not hammer out a sermon here. I can assure you this won't be some rant, and I hope we can all learn a little bit from this.

The issue of bullying has always struck home with me. When I was in the sixth grade, I was bullied to the point of an attempted suicide. While the focus of my bullying wasn't my sexuality (I'm straight, not that it should matter)., but the effect was all the same. It was at this point when I fell in love with video games. I could finally throw or catch a touchdown pass, save the world, or at least feel like I was good at something in each different game. I joined the forums on GI, and was blessed to find people who ended up investing in my life, and helping me out when I needed it. So to GI I say thanks.

As time passed, I became good at something. My junior year, I was the stroke of the A boat for my Crew team. I could run faster than the kids who used to bully me, had more muscles and got more girls. Except I didn't. I made the major mistake of proclaiming that I didn't think homosexuality was a sin, or that gay people should be expected to un-gay to join a church. This led to a 9 month long, bitter battle between myself and the local Young Life leader. Unfortunately, this was also very public. On top of losing a mentor because of the ordeal, a large amount of emotional stress was added because girls would shoot me down because I was thought to be gay, or because "a real Christian doesn't believe like you". All the added raged was poured directly into an un-holy amount of God of War 2.

The more online games I play, the more I see a need for the gaming industry to do something about the rampant dickishness. Gaming has always offered me away to escape, to be something I am not, when I get down. Most of my gay friends do not play games because of the sustained bigotry on XBL, PSN or PC servers. To them, the reward isn't enough to put up with constant berating of their sexuality. Last year when Infinity Ward used *** in an ad campaign, the gaming community missed a HUGE opportunity. The response from the website and it's editors gave me great hope, but soon the hype died down.

If EA says it gets better, why don't we make it happen? If developers are jumping on board, can we please see some healthy light shed on this subject in games? There has to be away we can MAKE things better, not just say that it will be better. I don't care if it is removing chat from online games all together. No one needs to hear this junk, or have it directed at them in in way shape or form. Gaming as a community has an chance to change the world for good.

I would like to end with another of the "It Gets Better" videos. Bishop Hanson is the head bishop of the ELCA; please know that what he is saying does not mean that you have to be a Christian you get these things, but that he is saying "Because I am a Christian, I believe God does this for everyone".

(Please visit the site to view this media)

I may not be gay, but I can assure it does get better. I hope no matter what happens to you in life that you know that there everything ALWAYS gets better. As always much love from Zane. Signing off.

My Top Ten Games of the 2000's

2009-12-15T01:01:00Z

As I am on the verge of entering my third decade, I look fondly back at some great ten years. I have played a ton of video games in that time, and here are the my favorite ten.

10. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

This game is incredible. It came out at the beginning of my senior year in high school, and it dominated my life. I was hooked the second I set foot on the massive GFS flagship. The game had incredible atmosphere. The Temple of Doom like Bryyo tickled the Jones fan in me, and Skytown is the epitome of Jules Verne. However, the game went to the next level on the GFS Valhalla. A genuinely frightening and incredible level, with all the metroids jumping out of walls. The day it came out, I was late to rowing practice, by like thirty minutes. As captain of the team, this was a terrible infraction, however my coach said nothing other than, "I told you he would be late. Metroid came out today." Getting 100% on this games hardest difficulty is one of my favorite gaming achievements.

9. Jak 3

Jak 3 absolutely blew my mind. Jak and Daxter one was a family favorite, but this one was something else. The second one wasn't my cup of tea. Thankfully in 3, there were not police literally every 3 feet, so it was possible to traverse the worlds in peace. The gigantic wasteland let you drive around and blow up other vehicles Twisted Metal style, and you also got to kill gigantic dinosaurs with machine guns. I know there is a lot of win in that sentence. The best part of the game is the phenomenal platforming. The world is made to be traversed with Jak's double jumps and spinny thing. The Light Jak addition had some awesome time slowing and flight based segements. This game kicks a lot of Dick.

8. Super Mario Galaxy

Completing this game took two semesters of work. In stead of studying, I put my focus on earning the right to play as Luigi. GI lied to you, Luigi is awesome. He's like a high end sports car. He handles and jumps TOO well. Anywho, this game is incredible. Playing this game scored me dates, its so good. Girls would come visit while I was playing, ask to play, two hours later we'd be going out to dinner, and the next night out again. Mario just plain ol' rocks. The platforming is the best in any game ever, and the level designs will never be topped. Jumping planets and flying through space, while some John Williams worthy music is blastin, puts this game at the top of the best games I have ever played.

7. Metroid Fusion

This game will always hold a special place in my heart. I spent countless hours playing this game in the car on the way to the hospital or at the hospital. It was my way of dealing with my aunt's struggle with cancer. The story and gameplay are just so easy to get lost in. This is where my obsession with Samus started. I rip on it pretty hard now, mainly because I can't play this game. Being really good at Super Metroid has killed it for me, but I still absolutely love this game, and how it helped me get through a hard time.

6. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War

When I was in fourth grade, I was crushed that I had to get glasses. This meant my chances at becoming a fighter pilot were ruined. There is a reason it took me until spring of last year to play Super Mario Galaxy. You see, for Christmas 07, I got Ace Combat and Mario. I am in absolute awe of anything with airplanes. This game took over my life. I was fox two-ing like crazy. I made sure to clear every level with the S ranking, on expert. The best part was the ending. It totally rips off Return of the Jedi, but it is oh so satisfying to play a game of chicken with the guy who pwned your military life, as well as the world.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Majora's Mask isn't necessarily my favorite Zelda, but it sure is close. Link's Awakening is my favorite, but any Zelda that is slightly different from the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Ocarina Princess of Wind formula jumps high on the list. My friends and I spent a whole summer trying to get everything in the game. 5 a.m. was seen a great many times while trying to 100% this game. We spent 2 whole weeks trying to get the heart piece for the octorock shooting gallery. I wouldn't trade the time spent trying to beat this game for the world. The nights we spent beating this game are some of my best memories ever.

4. Warcraft 3

When some of my older friends went of to college, we had no clue how to stay in touch. So we bought Warcraft 3 and the expansion. We have played at least 200 hours of this game since we all bought it. One of my favorite memories from this game was at a LAN party we had. We were playing a four person ffa, and the map was nigh empty. To stay alive to build towers, one of us had a caravan of peons running literally all the way across the map to the last gold mine and back. Soon, the other person left standing caught onto this, and sent his blademaster. The blademaster uncloaked, and in a leaping slice off of a hill, ended the caravan, along with his hope for survival. Just mentioning this game brings all kinds of laughs to mind.

4.Super Smash Bros. Brawl

FALCONE.......... PUAWNCH!!!!!! No game has harmed my studies more than this. Last year, my friend would come over to my dorm after class and we would dual until rowing practice. This year, my roommate yells from his bedroom, "ZANE! SMASH! NOW!" I waltz out of my room, awaiting to land a Falcon Punch, a Knee of Death, both to be followed by a taunt of "SHOW ME YOUR MOVES!" It pisses him off so bad.

3. Pokemon Silver

So we all know that this is by far the best Pokemon game. We all were caught up in this craze. This game saved a rowing trip in my junior year. It was the annual ten hour drive to Philadelphia, and the guys and girls had come together on a rare occasion. This occasion was to OD on Pokemon. It turns out that as soon as we got to Philly, the Head of the Schuylkill had been canceled due to rain. So our yearly celebration of being awesome was ruined. NOT! We all had Pokemon. We battled, we traded, and made tea for the whole team in the sink of a hotel bathroom. It was awesome.

2. Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal

Ratchet has never treated me wrong. This is the game I measure all platformers to. Insomniac created the perfect balance between gunplay and platforming. The story is all kinds of hilarious, there are all kinds of different colors and great graphics. Even the sidequests are awesome. The Qwark VidComics are on par with the likes of Mega Man and Metroid, and the missions with the Rangers are a great take on control point missions. The very first thing you do is JUMP OUT OF A SPACE SHIP AND SKYDIVE WHILE NUKES ARE FLYING AT YOU! Every moment of this game is over the top in a very non MW2 good way. My cousin and I were so excited for this game, we got in a car wreck on a snowy night just so we could bail on the Christmas part we were at to play it. Up Your Arsenal is a game that everyone can enjoy. My little brother lol's at the goofiness of Qwark, my mom and dad join me to watch the crazy colors and laugh at the great story. The multiplayer is great too. My friends and I were blowing up lombaxes while the rest of the world was dual wielding, sticky nading and getting owned by the end of Halo 2 (UYA's cover is a total rip on the Chief and the cover of Halo 2)

1. TEAM FORTRESS 2

This may just be my favorite game of all time. I have sunk almost 300 hours into this bad boy, and I have LOVED every single minute of it. It's the best balanced multiplayer of all time. 2fort is the greatest map ever made. It may not be huge, but I'm sure I could write at least 20 pages of strategeries for the map. Every class is just as good as the other. I love how stylized the look of it all is. Every class is vastly different from the other. Feel like being sneaky? Slap on a disguise with the Spy class. In the mood for mindless killing? Flame on with the Pyro, who has a hadoken for a taunt. Guess what? Valve is still in the process of updating this game and adding maps. FOR FREE!!! The wacky sense of humor the game has won me over with such quotes from the Heavy "WHO TOUCHED SASHA! (his minigun", "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH". I also love the pyros "Mmhmmphmmp" to everything. I've made close friendships while playing on my favorite server. My mom makes fun of me for playing this game so much, saying I need to get a life. She doesn't know I don't watch TV or movies while I'm not busy. I play this with my pals. It's way more fun than anything that will ever be on TV, save Seinfeld.

Modern Warfare 2 Does NOT Need to be Gaming's Magnum Opus

2009-11-07T07:13:00Z

As the release of Modern Warfare 2 comes upon us, our beloved industry stands at an important place in its history. This game has pushed countless games out of the holiday window, and is believed to clear $500 million in its first week alone. MW2 potentially can skyrocket gaming out the basements and bonus rooms to the most legit entertainment medium around. However we are not ready for it. Modern Warfare 2 has brought to the surface all of the things in gaming that absolutely have to change in order for our beloved hobby to take the lime light.

We are presenting this game as our Magnum Opus to the rest of society. What will they see? Will the rest of the world be able to see past all the racist bigots that spew obscenities and slurs during multiplayer matches, or will they be able to see past the gunning down of unarmed citizens in an airport? Our game will show the world we hate violence and war but literally *** everything up on the world with rockets and bullets, and even the stuff we put into space! Its not something that can be embraced from kids from 1-92.

But that makes sense to us. Gamers want to be mature. Call of Duty (or any shooter for that matter) makes our metaphorical dicks get bigger, makes us think that we are mature because our graphics are realistic ( = brown?) and we can make things go boom. In our quest to make the rest of the world think we are legit, we have hindered ourselves by being ultra-violent in craft, and douchebags in culture.

***

We all remember that jerk Jack Thompson. He was a real ***. He wanted to remove all violent video games and pretty much be Kyle's mom from South Park. At the same time though, I wish he had succeeded. Our insistence on murder has made us lose sight of what is fun. Think about your favorite movies. I'm sure you have some of those were you say "Oh so and so is so bad ass that move is awesome!". I would bet that the ones that you really hold close to your heart are the ones that put a smile on not just your face, but a smile on the people around you faces as well. I've never been around a person watching Raiders of the Lost Ark that doesn't have a big ass smile on their face after the giant ball chase scene. The same goes for Rocky, Star Wars, Forrest Gump. Those movies touch the very soul of the person in a special way. These movies are just plain fun and enjoyable no matter who watches them.

Very few games are like that. I have fun playing Team Fortress 2 because I am able to chat with my friends, team up, blow *** up, and enjoy a really rich and stylized world. There is this one special person that I know will never let me down. His name is Super Mario. Have you ever asked someone why they thought Mario was so *** fun? You won't get an answer like "Well the game has awesome mechanics" or "Oh the story is phenomenal". Most likely you will get a blank stare and the response of "I don't know. Its Mario."

Even the cover looks like a *** ton of fun.

The hell of it is, COD fans are saying that Mario needs to die! If anything, Mario needs to go toe to toe with Modern Warfare 2 and say "This is what gaming is really about! Its about pure unfiltered fun!" The public is going to scared stiff when they try to join into the current gaming culture. They are gonna hear words that they will want to bathe themselves. THESE PEOPLE ARE BAD MOUTHING MARIO! I know some of you reading this will say "*** mario, hes 4 ***" but the rest of the world stops and daydreams when they hear the words Mario, plumber, Itallian, Mushroom within two sentences of each other.

Look at how we are tearing each other apart over this *** game. Console gamers are trolling PC gamers like crazy. Guess what, PC gamers have a right to be pissed off. First, they raise the price on them, then they don't offer special PC editions, and then the defining factor of PC gaming is removed from the game! All of those was done with a big giant finger pointed in their direction by Infinity Ward. At least with the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott, Valve actually gave enough of a *** about their loyal customers to invite the leaders to play a build. Many gamers don't care about Infinity Ward's bold uses of offensive language in promotional material because they love the words they use, or don't want to be emasculated because in their mind, standing up for *** an pussies makes them either a "***" or a ".***".

You Know... I've Learned something today....

You know, I've learned something today guys; I really love Mario games. Mario is one of the few things that I can consistently rely on to be fun and bring me joy. If Modern Warfare 2 endangers the creation of more games colorful and fun games that lack *** followers, then I hope it comes out and its just like COD4 with new guns.

Adventures in the real world

2009-10-07T21:30:53Z

Hey there GIO, this is the beginning of what I hope to be an on going series of the idiotic things that go on in my life, that are always somehow made better than video games. So let us dive in:

Last night was the most amazing night of my life. What made it so amazing?

A little bit of that, and

A whole hell of a lot of that.

Last night, I was 20 feet away from Muse, and the greatest band ever, U2. To say that this experience was amazing would be an understatement. So much that went into the trip to Atlanta elevated it from epic to best trip ever.

Monday, four of my friends and I saddled up and hit I-75 to the ATL. For the first time ever, I managed to not fall asleep before Chattanooga. This success was definitely all because of Pokemon. I had Silver version, and I picked Cyndaquil, because Nintendo for some reason thinks its a good idea to make the fire breathing monsters the most rare. I guess fire breathers aren't cool like the innumerable water pokemon.

We made it to Atlanta, and by Atlanta, I mean some random ass place ten miles outside of ATL, but for some reason is still considered Atlanta. This was ok because the house was AMAZING. It had a keg cooler, a hot tub, and a king size bed for each of the 5 of us. Epic Win. We had our drinks and chilled in the hot tub. Unfortunately we had to limit our time in the huge beds.

Due to Atlanta traffic, we were forced to get up at seven. While in traffic, my friend Adam postulated that GTA would be unplayable if it accurately portrayed traffic. This set off a conversation of nerdiness that ended up leading crazy Ted Turner video games where you used your mustache to clear the CNN Center from terrorists. We eventually arrived at the Georgia Dome and sat in line. At 9:30 AM, I was in the GA line for the concert. A concert that didn't start until 7.

We were expecting the line to look a little like this:but there were only about 200 people in front of us. Which is still absolutely ridiculous. There were also two types of people there, college students, and crazy 40 year old fans who had shirts like "Bono Changed My Life". One guy near us flew up from Tampa just so he could go GA. He and his wife have tickets for the Tampa show. Not that I blame him from wanting to go, but I'm not devoted enough to fly anywhere if the show is coming to my home town (which it definitely should. 120,000 fans in Neyland would be epic).

The other people in line college students, who like us, were complaining about how much a pain in the ass it is to miss class, and then drive back after the concert. We also spent at least an hour talking about the greatness of PC gaming to some long haired CS nerds from Georgia Tech. It was really great to hear someone else deem offenses "Falcon Punchable" or a nice "OVAR 9000!!!!!!" yell from people I had never met.

The great thing about the line was its location. We were allowed to leave the line to do whatever as long a someone held our spot. All the crazies were more than happy to let us leave, as long as we returned the favor. The Georgia World Congress Center is right next door, and this building is MASSIVE. It also makes you feel under dressed if you are in anything other than a suit. Which I felt was odd, because it is a convention center. After you walked through the building that's big enough for a Fast Travel in Fallout 3, you can find the CNN Center. It wasn't as cool as I had hoped, because when the door opened, I expected to hear Darth Vader tell me "This is CNN...Center."

Once it was time to enter, we were let in 50 at a time. It was of no matter, because the stage is legit. This is from where I was in the Inner Circle:

It was here where we met some pretty cool dudes, who asked us to come chill and play Mario Kart after the concert. We had to decline, unfortunately. We had to be back for class today, and the girls that came down later in the day Tuesday wanted to go out to eat too. Too bad for that guy they are all VERY attractive. Eventually the show started, and I got these ballin pictures to share with you guys.:

Drummer for Muse

Bassist and concert Pianist for Muse

Matt Bellamy and his Keytar

Bono and Larry Mullen, Jr.

The Edge

Adam Clayton during "The Unforgettable Fire". That smoke is partially effect, and partially the guy in front of me. He was hitin the reefer like crazy.

Hey guys

2009-10-02T04:52:59Z

I hope everyone is having a grand time on the new site. My name is Zane, and please feel free to send me a message if you ever need anything. I hope to start a continuing topic within the next few days, with what I hope is some amazing pictures.