Avatar was fucking amazing.


That's all.

Today was my day off. I haven't had the time or energy to get excited for the holidays, so this month has been zooming by.

Also, i work at a video game store, so you can imagine how ridiculously busy we are. And the assholes. And the screaming children. But today i let myself watch The Grinch (classic, not Jim Carrey bullshit) and get a little happy.

I deal first-hand with the disgusting amount of consumerism Christmas creates, but there's something about this time of year my job hasn't managed to kill (yet).I've never been spoiled or religious, so there's no jesus or gifts that keep the spirit alive - it's just the little things. I remember reading calvin and hobbes all night, drinking gallons of egg nog (still do today, only this time i add rum ;D), a christmas story, turkey, the day when my family actually STOPS fighting.

So i dunno, it's nice.

Sure, I'm excited for FFXII...Why?






I wanna eat this character up. Tattoos. :O

So we're supposed to have a "just for girls" section at work. UGH. I told my boss i'm going to tear it down if it goes up, because it seriously offends me. The games we have listed for the section look like this:




BULLSHIT.

I hate selling these games in general, nevermind having a whole section devoted to them. I DESPISE gender stereotyping. Seriously, it's almost 2010 and people still think that if girls are going to play games, it's going to be about looking after babies and cooking? And why can't boys play these games? Fuck that.

I don't want young girls seeing that section and thinking that's what they have to play in order to be a girl. I don't want girls to feel weird if Battle of Giant Dinosaurs appeals to them more than Imagine: housewife. Regardless of your gender you can play and like whatever the hell you want.

Thank you, employees of Talize. This is probably my greatest random find of 2009.

Winter always reminds me of how much i enjoy SNUGGLES.

( Here's a (blurry) pic of my game collection )

relatively small, but precious.

I guess i'm kind-of weird for a gamer. I'm very picky, hence the small collection. I have the titles that i stick by and rarely do i venture out and try something new, because when i do, it's not often i actually get into it. (Also new games are $70 a pop :S)

It seems i'm pretty out-of-the-loop with the big hit sellers. November was the big new release month and the only thing i cared about was Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles and Super Mario Bros Wii. I'm not into Call of Duty, Halo, GTA, Assasin's Creed, left 4 dead (well maybe if i had a PC or 360), etc. And it's not because i'm some indie game snob, legitimately I don't enjoy them. I like jrpgs, metal gear, resident evil, street fighter, puzzle games...and well, that's pretty much it. I haven't even liked a Zelda game since Wind Waker, and that was my big thing back in the day.

I guess this is why Darkside Chronicles is one of my games of the year, and yet we've sold maybe 10 copies. :S The reviews on it were generally favorable, but in the shadow of Left 4 Dead 2 it's collecting dust. Maybe that's just my store though... we get a lot of bros and idiots, so maybe other parts of the world have less stupid people and they're buying it.

Oh, and yeah... most people who play Wii regularly are 10. :S

But regardless, It depresses me we don't sell it because it's so damn good! And challenging! And the dialogue is classic Resident Evil CHEESE gold!

Anyway, I'm just ranting. If you have a Wii and you like zombies go buy Darkside Chronicles. Nao.

i've been working 9 hour shifts every day this week. I thought today i was finally going to get a break and get a short shift, but no. I have to leave in about an hour. Next week is more of the same. This will probably continue right up until xmas...which is great for my pocket! But not so much for my body and stress levels. :S I don't have time to do anything.

I've started not caring about being a little snarky to assholes and people who ask STUPID questions.

Here's a scenario from the other night:

Bro: "How much is NHL 10?"
Nat: "69.99"
Bro: "How much is it used?"
Nat: "64.99"
Bro: "Future Shop has it for 39.99"
Nat: *shrug* "Go there then."
*Bro eyes me wickedly, turns around and leaves*

I've never been comfortable with showing a little 'tude at any other job, but at this one you almost need to. The amount of idiots we get is unreal.

I really want people to stop STARING at me from a line. I guess they're assuming that's going to make me go any faster? I don't know. It just bugs me. So does coming up to my counter asking questions when i'm with a customer. How rude is that? Just fuck off and wait!

Man i could rant for hours. Better stop now while I still can. -_-

This is the second time in the past 4 months i've managed to infuriate a man so much he deletes me from all social networking sites and sends me angry, long-winded messages about how i eat dick for breakfast. And I think a third one is in the works already. :S

I need to stop being so spineless and just tell people when i'm not interested. I try to keep everyone happy, but in the end i'm just a douche who's so scared of conflict i'll do almost anything to avoid it.

I always manage to get myself into situations where I feel completely trapped by someone. With this new guy though, i've actually done nothing (not even spent time with him) and he's managed to convince himself i'll be his girlfriend. All he does is come into my work and talk to me. Blah.

I just want everyone to go away and leave me alone with my cat and video games. I know that I suck. I can't be bothered.

LOLOL Super Street Fighter IV'S ESRB rating reads:

Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Rating: Teen

Content descriptors: Alcohol Reference, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Rating summary:

This is an arcade-style fighting game in which players engage in one-on-one combat with a large international cast of human characters. Players mostly kick, punch, and use special abilities (e.g., fireballs, flying moves, and electrical strikes) to drain the opposing player's life meter. Special moves (ultra combos and super combos) are displayed in animated sequences in which characters react to being punched, kicked, or stomped on. Some of the female fighters' outfits are form-fitting and accentuate their breasts and buttocks; before battle, the camera occasionally zooms-out from close-up views of flexed gluteus. One of the fight stages occurs in a distillery with equipment used for brewing and wooden casks labeled "Scotch-Whisky." The expletives "damn" and "hell" can be heard in the dialogue.

Haven't updated in a while! I've been on the move too much. So much has happened in the past few weeks and i feel too tired and lazy to write it all out. It's all good stuff though, trust me.

It's saturday. Finally a day off.
I haven't been gaming or doing much of anything lately because i've been too busy, then too exhausted. Call of Duty has worn me and every EB/Gamestop employee in the world out. I'll never forget launch day, seeing the row of baseball caps extending out the store door all day and never letting up. Horrifying.

I want to catch up on some things, maybe beat valkyria chronicles finally. But it's noon and i can't see myself moving from my bed anytime soon. Uuuggh.

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/11/07/16449

As if we needed more reasons not to shop at walmart!

Last night my friends and i had a few pints and then looked around for a place to go dancing. Sadly, 7 was closed and so was CTO. So, someone lit up a joint and I was stupid took a few puffs. As i sat down and waited for a ride I realized how STRONG the shit he had was. I almost blacked out on my way home. I somehow managed to get myself into my bed, where i immediately passed out. Shoes on, coat, everything. I had a bunch of dreams about selling call of duty (which is what i had done all day) and it was horrifying.

I woke up this morning feeling like a pile of ass.

Now, i'm not by any means a pothead. I've smoked only a handful of times in my life, and it's always in social situations. But man, nothing has ever hit me as bad as that I don't think. Even the time i went "travelin'" at least i recovered soon after. That stuff just slaughtered me. I think i can easily go another loooong time without doing it again. In fact, maybe ever. Pot is overrated. The only perk is that everything tastes AMAZING whilst stoned.

- Don't get H1N1
- Get out and have some fun despite colder weather
- Save some money
- Actually beat Valkyria Chronicles
- Don't get H1N1
- Find someone to play SFIV online with so i can improve

Anthony Burch, editor from Destructoid.com (my gaming site of choice) posted a rant today that I appreciate. It's not perfect, but it's positive, so I wanna spread it around. It's about the unfortunate/underwhelming portrayals of gay characters in video games. He didn't mention any gay female characters, but still, i found it really awesome.

http://www.destructoid.com/rev-rant-gaaaaaaaaaaaaay-154057.phtml&mainnav=

The only out lesbians i can think of in games are Fear Effect 2's Hana and Rain. And very clearly, despite being strong female characters, they were banging to titillate men.



... right down to the "big guns" magazine she's holding there. :S

He mentions Kanji from Persona 4 (♥♥♥) too, and while i would have been very happy and impressed if they told a solid coming out story for him, I was fine with leaving him a little ambiguous. He's a teenage boy, so he's still confused himself.

Also, Naoto was a really interesting character because of her gender issues. Although biologically female, she lives life as a boy. Even after it's revealed that she's a girl, she doesn't change. She's still the "detective prince." and all the girls in school are really into her, so that's awesome.

But yeah, we need more awesome gay characters in games!

ETA: I forgot about Ocelot! No, the entire male cast of Metal Gear Solid! Who could forget Snake and Otacon's epically gay handshake?

If you could erase five characters from any fandom, who would you choose?

1. Annoying side characters from Resident Evil



This includes:
- Ashley Graham
- Steve Burnside
- Ada Wong (in RE2 only, 4 she's awesome)
- Sheva Alomar (she's not that bad character-wise, but i couldn't help thinking about how much i wanted JILL there.)
- Sherry Birkin

Not that these characters even matter because they're all likely one-time game appearances. But yeah, i had to clump them all together instead of listing them individually because Resident Evil just LOVES to include one whining bitch every game. And i hate them all.

2. Kennedy from Buffy



Kennedy is one of the few characters i can think of that i absolutely ABHOR. She's one of the (many) reasons I hate season 7 of Buffy. There was no reason for her to be there, she trivialized Tara's death, and she was just a walking turd of a character.

3. King Varian Wrynn from Warcraft



If you play WoW, even if you're alliance, you should know this guy is a total douche. Hopefully he gets eaten by a dragon or something and Jaina takes place as leader of the alliance, because she rules. This guy is just a sad pair of fucknuts.

4. C.Viper from Street Fighter IV



I had to play through SFIV with C.Viper to unlock Cammy♥, and I just hate her. I hate her ugly hair and stupid glasses and dumb attitude. And figures, i'm actually really good with her. I refuse to play as her though.

5. Johnny Sakaki from MGS4



I remember when he first took off his mask. I thought to myself "Oh shit, this is going to get bad." And then it did. The cutscenes with him and Meryl were some of the most painful moments in the history of gaming. I'm sure Kojima did that on purpose. I understood why they brought Meryl back into 4, and i liked that decision despite how venomous she had become, but the pointless loves story with her and Zack Morris here was just bullshit.