GameInformer

Project Stealth engaged. Farewell until March.

- Current interests updated as of 1/11/12 -

If you're not already familiar with Saint's Member Herding, you should be!

Click the image below!

Likewise if you're not familiar with the Indie & Mojo Show, you should be!

Episode 12 includes yours truly, but was still managed to be a pretty good show nonetheless. Ep.12 Part 2 however was just terrible ;P

Fancy yourself a round or two with your fellow GIO members?

Check out the Game Informer Online FragFest group forum!

A group put together for singular purpose of bringing the community together through healthy digital bloodshed.

A special invite to PC Battlefield 3 players, Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 3 and Forza 4 players; official GIO FragFest groups (platoon, clan and club respectively) are up and running! Let me know if you'd like to join!

On that note, if you enjoyed that bit of video please check out my youtube channel! I've got a wide variety of gameplay video available to suit your every need and desire... or something like that ;D Games and games and games!

Front-page Mentions

FragFest Spotlights: FragFest 00 Invitational, FragFest 00 Highlight Reel (and again via BlogHerding), The Future of FragFest, The Return of FragFest, FragFest 02 (twice), FragFest 03 Highlight Reel / 3.1 Invitational, FragFest 3.1 Video Showcase.

Sadly the staff support of the events has tapered off since 3.1 ; /

Saint has given FragFest and myself a lot of love since he got in semi-official with the site for Blog Herding though...

Personal Blogs:Dissecting Black Ops Custom Classes, GIO Let's Play Concept, On the Record: Series Introduction, Call of Duty XP Recap with pics!

Current Interests (1/11/12)

Interests: Feeling Diablo III's release date grow closer, Winter spending-hibernation, 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe specs, MW3 when it works correctly.

Dislikes: 2013 Genesis Coupe front end (why would you take a design cue from the Elantra and apply it to the Genesis!?)  MW3 connectivity discrepancies and FFA spawning.

Current Favorite Games: Diablo 3 beta, Deus Ex: Missing Link, LotR: War in the North, Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim, Forza 4.

Life

The day of my self declared adulthood (over three years ago, when I landed my job), I made a vow to break my trend of spending every free moment gaming and start acting like a real man...

It pulled it off, for a moment. The SoCal young-professional lifestyle... live beyond your means, rob Peter to pay Paul, be sure to wear your best guise, and hopefully somewhere along the way you'll impress another along the same path. As humorous as the whole charade was, it was not long after I began that I came to a profound realization. For all the time, effort and money spent in that artificial pursuit, I felt no different than before. No more accomplished or matured... I would say no better, but every experience is worth something, right?

For now the choice is simple. I derive happiness from a simple existence; a lovely lady, a few close friends, a bunch of electronics and some cats. There are places I wish to go and things I wish to see, but it is not yet the year that journey will begin...

So, for now... here we are again... Back to living and breathing digital entertainment.

Timeline

Present (11/10/11): Contemplating major life changing events...

2011: Best year ever.

Past: The post-grad World of Warcraft abyss*. Eventually being able to quit after landing a career.

Adolescence: Non-schooling, Diablo II and Counterstrike mostly. With a side of Heroes III, Worms Armageddon, Monster Rancher, Champions of Norrath, DDR and a stint of Everquest Online Adventures.

Future: Retire to a life of Diablo III, and never be heard from again.

What you may be thinking

Hey jerk, why do you like to argue so much?: I like a good debate. I'm not one to pick fights or turn a civil dispute nasty, but it seems many times my opinions are perceived as argumentative for the sake of being so. Please, call me out on it if you believe I've stepped out of line.

Hey jerk, which cinema robot is your favorite?: More than machine, or man. More than fusion of the two, don't you agree? (The video is edited down a bit, but you get the idea.) Box, from Logan's Run. Timeless.

Hey jerk, so what do you do besides play video games and be a big jerk?: That's about it, really... besides work... but I've got a pretty cool employer, so it's not a terrible existence.

GA-ASI MQ-1 Predator (Of Modern Warfare fame - among other things)

GA-ASI MQ-9 Reaper (Featured in Modern Warfare 3)

Hey jerk, I bet you have three FOUR beautiful cats... if that is correct, may I please see them?: Alright... but only because you asked so nicely! Listed in reverse-chronological-acquisition order...

Male brown mackerel tabby crazy-hobo-cat:

Cream

Found near apartment complex mail room on a chance visit while doing laundry at 9PM (first and only time doing laundry after 5PM), dangerously malnourished and with an open wound on his hind foot.

Crazy hobo cat turned super sweetheart goof guy

Male brown mackerel tabby manx:

Murciélago (Mercy)

Found (very literally) sitting in the middle of a high-speed/high traffic road during morning commute before sunrise. Lucky lucky boy.

More rabbit than cat; Cabbit

Female tortoise-shell:

Lilith (Lil)

Adopted from local shelter. The epitome of a hot/cold affection... she knows she can play hard to get being so pretty.

[Sphinx monument impression pic with Mem cameo]

Sweet and sour acrobat

Female lilac point siamese mix:

Mem (Mem)

Adopted from local shelter. When I moved cross-country to California for my job, I had to leave my two cats behind in Michigan with family. Although the house I was renting had a no pets policy, about 6-8 months in I caved. Dear sweet Mem was my only companion for a good two years.

[Epic angry drunk kitten picture]

Mama's girl and alpha cat

Have you seen the Razer Onza? Beautiful piece of tech that I would suggest to anyone - check out my in depth review for all the info you could ever want.

MMO Character list (retired/condemned)

Vek Nilash, Horde, Burning Crusade era - Iroe 78 Warr,  Lucide 70 Pal , Vulgrim 70 Hunt, Irios 70 Sha, Guran 70 Dru, Kazik 70 Rge, Archone 67 Mag, Iro 54 Lock, Xelot 52 Pri - The original Seclusion

Arathor, Alliance, Classic era - Guran 60 Warr, Vulgrim 60 Pal, Lucide 56 Hunt, Eyros 60 Rge, Irios 35 Dru, Arkhone 60 Lock, Xelot Pri, Archone 32 Mag.

The only remnant of my EQOA day, heh... those were the good ol' days.

COOL GUY Awards

Trolls, flamers and fanboys... ragers, hypocrites and pseudo intellectuals...

Your actions may be entirely forgotten by most, but I will hold a torch for you for all eternity, commemorating your . . . contributions.

The inaugural COOL GUY Award ceremony was devised after a chain of events unfolded from this story (which details GTA IV as the most expensive to develop game ever) to which I posted the following comment...  "100mil and they couldn't make driving fun..." shortly there after, I received this message on my profile...

xHitman88x - "Just because you suck at driving in GTA 4 doesnt mean it isnt fun for nonNOOBS. Get a life that u dont suck at.(If thats possible)"
Now THAT is a COOL GUY - Thanks for the advice friend! I don't recall making any comments about an inability to play despite the completely wonky and frankly not enjoyable controls, but you totally figured me out. We hope you enjoy your Overly Defensive Fanboy Edition COOL GUY Award. Stay straight edge, cool guy.

/changename xNoun[last two digits of birth year]x

Our second COOL GUY award goes to... xHitman88x again!

xHitman88x - "u look like a $h1Tlicking *** phuk3r. Lose the c0k glasses!"

YOUCH! That stings man. All they had left at the American Dollars H one T licking triple star phuk three R store was C zero K glasses!

And because this retort came a full 15 weeks after receiving your first COOL GUY award, which I'm sure this comment was a response to, I am proud to present you with the "Extremely Delayed Reaction Late 90's AOL Chatroom Troll Edition COOL GUY Award".

Keep up the good work ;D

After many months of low-grade COOL GUY not deserving of any recognition, a wonderful example cropped up and made my day... UlrichFireL0rd - in the ultimate display of coolness - edited out his original posts made in a thread he created... however, this quote was pulled from the original email notification...

"i just got world at war at walmart the other day... i've been playing multiplayer and i notice this super freaking annoying rainbow crap taking up the whole darn screen.. something about some guy guy something stupid from youtube.. and it's always when someone's name in the lobby is flashing rainbow colors.. tonight i was playing and nobody but me was getting killed and one guy was even floating the f*uck around in the sky shooting people... what the heck is going on? why cant i just play a normal match? this sucks balls.. i hate this."

The retailer of choice tells a bit about our character, but the attempt to relay the pertinent information about his problem is most interesting... "something about some guy guy something stupid from youtube" Scholars have studied this incomprehensible jumble of words for hours on end to no avail... and the remainder of the passage is just more of the same nonsense.

So to you mister Ulrich, I present the "So Text-Book It Hurts COOL GUY Award" And to the rest of the community, If you're ever in need of a flamer who fits the bill of "indignant and entitled old-school GI community member, who is easily frustrated and subsequently offended" look no further than the guy with Fire in his name, and a number substituting a letter. But in all fairness, he is said to have copious amounts of sexual intercourse with his female friend (pictured in avatar to affirm the legitimacy) - so that kind of balances out the embarrassingly low general intelligence.

This COOL GUY Award kind of breaks the mold, only in that this comment wasn't directed toward my person. However, the comment was spoken with such absolute certainty and conviction that I felt it only right to keep it for posterity. Below is a direct quote from user "Ed"

"Last year I looked down on pirates. After this Online Pass scam started taking over, I endorse pirating. The reason? Used games do NOT hurt the industry."

Ed, you have shared a lot of outspoken opinions on the site over the months - but you've officially crosses over into COOL GUY territory with that one. Pat yourself on the back... because that's a new level I honestly never thought I would see. From anyone who has ever graduated from grade school at least.

Dishonorable Mentions

Di Nap: A community "favorite" fanboy. His dedication to pandering the same (dare I say, copy and paste) lines aimed against the Call of Duty franchise launched from the Battlefield camp are always good for a laugh... especially when you know he is honestly serious with this stuff. Also, preeetty sure he's a total homophobe. Not quite an award winner yet though...

COOL GUY Lifetime Achievement Award Receivers

Ed - Simply for being who he is... his commitment to non-commitment, double-talk and hypocrisy make for a truly astonishing individual.

BATTLESUIT - Bless his soul, this young man can stick to his guns in the face of an opposing throng... which is where he always seems to find himself.

Chris Larios - He'll fight you bro, 'nuff said. Undeterred by bans, this ultimate specimen of manliness (loves MMA and demands all adults partake in regular swearing) stands tall with his fellow Lifetime winners.

My own personal cool guy award of sorts from mister TurdFurgy to commemorate the achievement of being the first gold member on the site.

Surely you've seen some of his custom avatars around the site, he's got dozens of them now - really nice ones too. Be sure and check out what he has to offer and show your support.

I offer staunch opposition to those who may argue the value or mere validity of the MMO and/or F2P genres/structures

In short, I find the core mechanic of the eternally present "carrot-on-a-stick" to be morally objectionable, and purely exploitative. If you ever see me spitting venom about WoW, any other MMO or any F2P game and you care to carry on a civilized debate on the topic, feel free to message me.

Conversely, I offer wholehearted support for the Online Pass initiative to curtail the sale of used games

This is a gateway topic to a myriad related topics regarding the way gamers choose to allocate their funds. I could see myself getting loud about and possibly getting in trouble over this topic... but if there is any one thing within our industry that has been unfairly demonized, it's this.

There is a lot to be said about being a responsible consumer, but I feel this message from CD Projekt RED co-founder Marcin Iwinski sums up the simplest way to look at it...

"don't be indifferent to piracy. If you see a friend playing an illegal copy of a game--any game--tell your friend that they're undermining the possible success of the developer who created the very game that they are enjoying. Unless you support the developers who make the games you play, unless you pay for those games, we won't be able to produce new excellent titles for you."

This applies to more than just the blantant stealing of piracy. Be a responsible consumer, know where your dollars go before you buy. Thank you.