Red Dead Redemption and New Xbox 360

Ok, so I know I'm a little late in coming to Red Dead, but cut me some slack, I've been saving up and my Xbox has been broken.
This, however, was delightfully rectified when EB Games announced a deal that trading in your old 360 would give you a significant discount on the new sleek, quiet, huge HD Xbox AND a free copy of Red Dead Redemption. My ears burned and I traded in.
My oh my oh my.
First of all, the new plastic smell of the new console was almost like heaven incarnate at this point. The new Xbox, not only sporting a huge 250 GB HD (almost unnecessarily big), but is quiet as a mouse. The new power pack barely makes any noise which makes it sound less like it's going to explode than the old model did.

Alright, so, Red Dead. This game, honest to goodness, is more fun than it has any right to be. I mean, really, it's just GTA on a horse in the Wild West - but for some reason, that makes it BETTER.
The open plains of the beautifully constructed world are astounding and the little addition of people either needing your help of trying to kill you by the side of the road is a cute touch towards the reality of 19th Century West America.
Although the protagonist (hero or villain is your choice) is a fairly opinionless avatar of the stereotypical mysterious stranger with a dark past, he is still enjoyable. His a well-defined character in terms of animation, and his lack of too many opinions kind of allows you to role-play him any way you like - though that could be my Dungeons and Dragons playing twist on a less than well-written character.
The story, however, is quite enrapturing in a strange way. I mean, it's typically Rockstar Games/GTA in that you go to different people for missions whom the previous mission-giver introduces you to, but their stories are more interesting than, "I hate this mob boss, murder him for money". I like the, "I'm a creepy grave robber searching for my lost treasure, let's go find it - this will include a lot of murder and mayhem".
Speaking of murder, the fighting - especially the duel-style Dead Eye feature - is more fun. This could be because you have a foreseeable limit to your ammo and you only really carry max 4 choose-able weapons at a time - my favourite is the Winchester Repeater. It also FEELS like a Western flick, with the grungy hero who's good with a gun and enemies slumping over, falling off roofs, etc.
All in all, a shining review for this game. Mahalo.

Official Verdict: StarCraft 2

Well, well, well. So the date came and went for the release of the much anticipated (for some fans, 12 year wait) StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. And lo and behold were we not disappointed.
While I sure had strong opinions on what Activizzard had done regarding the multiplayer system of the game, the single player mode is better than I hoped - if not slightly easier than I expected.
The story continues the story of the all favourite Jim Raynor four years after the end of Brood War. Kerrigan is mysteriously silent and Arcturus Mengsk is still in control of the Terran Dominion. The fight goes on in it's normal fashion and then Zeratul returns bearing grave news.
StarCraft 2's campaign allows for a varied and interesting form of play, allowing and disallowing certain units and creating intriguing choices for the player - allowing for moments of role play.
Also, while I may complain about the multiplayer system - and the integrated RealID (which was NOT removed) Facebook friend finger - the multiplayer games are fun and really are nostalgic of StarCraft 1. It is most definitely not "an online experience so good you won't want to have a LAN party", but it's fun - which a game this good should be.
Now I just need to wait for the two expansions to see if this praise is at all founded.

The Internet Spoke and Blizzard Listened

Well, it's a small victory, but one nonetheless. According to this article, the Real ID thing for both WoW and the upcoming Starcraft 2 forum launch has been scrapped because of the incredibly negative responses on the internet by fans. They have decided that "now is not the time" for the Real ID system and that in SC2 we will be able to post under our character name.

It's happened - we've been listened to. Now, hopefully, they'll know we mean business and maybe try and change some of the other things that have rubbed us the wrong was as long-time Blizzard fans? Who knows.

On Gaming Again

While StarCraft and Blizzard, etc. are not putting in the elements that made the game awesome that I discussed earlier (LAN, Battle.Net chat, etc.), these geniuses HAVE decided to add an (oh-so-fucking-useful) Facebook application. Yeah, because that's what I want, Facebook on my StarCraft so that I can do...I dunno...NOTHING with it.

Also, they have decided in all their goddamn infinite wisdom to introduce people's REAL NAME alongside blog posts to "try and stop trolling" (that's internet for 'being a dick'). I'm sorry, this won't help, and you will probably only just increase harassment once you give EVERYONE YOU INTERACT WITH ON THE WEB your real name. I just...seriously? I think this argument states it best and I don't think I can out-word her because it really is a well-written article and all her points are valid.

On Protesting

While I admire and approve of the protest as a method of getting your voice heard, whether it be by the government, your employers or the university which you attend, I simply cannot outline enough that you must be prepared.

1. Know what you want out of the protest; know what you want changed, know what you want those who you are angry with to do - a list of demands or a charter is usually helpful.
2. Organize! I know that sounds similar to the previous, but I can't state this enough. Everyone should be on the same page for your reasons and what you want out of it.
3. Don't be an asshole. Violent protests never really got anybody anywhere. Peaceful is not only the way to go physically, but going around calling the people you're dealing with "fucking snakes" or "fucking liars", etc. simply won't help add credence to your cause - it will remove it. Eloquent negotiations are important.
4. Know the laws and regulations which govern the area you're in. If you start throwing around words like "you can't do [blank]" and "we have the right to [blank]", know for a fact that this is the case.

While I feel the only person who is remotely intelligent in this video (among the protestors) is the cameraman, despite his desperate yelling of "don't use brutality!" to hopefully catch something nice on camera, his point of "we have to be civil...we may be angry, but we have to be civil" I think make up for it a little. The asshole in the group can be heard yelling a lot in the background, with cameraman telling him to be quiet repeatedly.

A Little Bit of Random

Michael and I create a reality/sci-fi script over chat:

Michael: "Nick and Louise feel their marriage is deteriorating further. Blah blah blah" Close up on worried faces
me: exactly
[insert incoherent dialogue from boring people]
Michael: "He just doesn't LISTEN to me!"
"No one listens to you, honey. You're like wet carpet."
me: "you ALWAYS say that!"
me: "i know, it's because you're awful"
[aside to camera]
"i fucking hate my life"
Michael: NICK ADVANCES TO THE $20,000 ROUND!!!
MEANWHILE:
Int: Director's office
Lots of flashing lights on a board light up
a TECHNICAL GUY turns around from a board
"We're experiencing record numbers of people disconnecting, Master!"
DIRECTOR: Hrm. Cut all power from the forward shields! Divert it in to the grav stabilisers!
STRAIGHT FOIL TO DIRECTOR GUY: I hate my life.
DIRECTOR: Hack the internet! It's a firesale, everything must go!
HITLER: Mein gott, vhat am I doink here?
me: Int. Mon Cal starship
ACKBAR: Their shields are down, concentrate all fire on the super star destroyer...I mean...director's office
Michael: HITLER: Seriously, zis is a travesty. You people are horrible.
HITLER vomits on DIRECTOR.
me: JEWISH COMEDIAN: And coming from him, that takes a lotta chutspah out of your gumption!
Michael: The SCENE COLLAPSES under BOMBARDMENT from the Mon Cal frigate and TIRED IDEAS.
JEWISH COMEDIAN: Oy!
HITLER: BLEEEUUUURGH
DIRECTOR: Cut the life support! Strangle and choke!
me: ACKBAR: Now who's the trap, bitches!
Michael: COMIC FOIL: I'm already dead.
ACKBAR: Oh hey baby . Sure I'll go on an awesome space-date with you.
THEY DO.
Meanwhile the scene SPIRALS IN TO A PLUGHOLE

me: man, i think we just made the best inernet-fan-movie-thing-of-irony ever
are you thinking what i'm thinking? SHORT FILM
Michael: it's already been shot, produced, and misunderstood by mainstream media
me: damn right
but now we have to make the REMAKE
Michael: dibs on director
I wanna cut my own life support
me: or better yet..some kind of...prequel/sequel...pre-sequel
Michael: you have to do Ackbar all in french though
french ackbar
me: done
Michael: french is romantic so I'm told
me: "C'est un..TRAP!"
Michael: Trappe
me: bam.

Cross-Promotion

Though I mentioned it when I first started this blog, I would like you all to have a look at my other blog, Jordan On the Road. After rereading some of it, I realize some of it is good and some of it is just crazy. It's worthwhile with passages like:

"The animals are out to get me and I'm not even drunk. Pity me, save me, gratify me...for I am the 21st Century Achilles - doing battle with the mind; this century's Foe of Man."

It's not like you can lose! Examine my incredibly brain-tired ramblings for the low, low cost of NOTHING!