The village priest of Batsureg, after the jump. Don’t look if you would rather come across his ears yourself.
Archive for July 2010
An eBay user, who is either the most delusional person on the internet or an utter genius, is selling his “prized-possession,” a used Nintendo Entertainment System with 42 games and accessories, for $35,000. The reason for the ridiculously exuberant price: He really needs the money. He even has the bills and the credit report to prove it. Here’s an excerpt from his listing:
“I am down on my luck need to pay bills living pay check to pay check. this is my price possession the only thing I can say I own 100%. to some a nes system could mean nothing but to me its priceless. I hate to part with it but i need the money. You might say what a ridiculous price but thats how hard it is for me to part with it. I have 100% feedback. whoever buys it can verify that I really need the money. I can show you my bills and credit report to verify it and I will give proof that the bills got paid. I would like to personally hand over the nes bundle system over to the winner and personally thank him/her if possible. God bless.”
At least the shipping is free…
I don’t really want to get into how wrong I think this guy’s approach to problem solving is. I just wanted to show you that people like this really exist. In all seriousness, if someone buys this thing (and I have a horrible feeling that someone will), I have a used Super Nintendo and a working Earthbound cartridge that will be really hard for me to part with for any less than $50,000.
(eBay listing via GoNintendo)
My three dream jobs, in no particular order:
1. Respected musician
2. Video game journalist
3. World Warrior of Street Fighter
This video, posted by Richard Li on 1up, really makes me want to take number #3 more seriously:
Read more…
I FINALLY HAVE MY CHANCE!
In an attempt to sell more video games to people who don’t read video game blogs all day (idiots…), Kmart will begin using excerpts from community-written reviews to place alongside their games.
How do you get your lovely gamer prose on the esteemed shelves of Kmart, you ask? Firstly, you must be a member of the MyKmart Club for Gentlemen. Then, you are to construct a helpful, unique, and well-written review intended for gamers and non-gamers alike (mostly non-gamers, because the real bad dudes don’t trust you). So people whose creativity and writing chops max out at, “DUDE THIS GAME IS FLAPPING SICK!” need not apply. Oh well, too bad for me.
A good example lies in the photo at the top (click to expand) of this post. It’s a review of Red Dead Redemption written by Josh. What do you mean, you don’t know who Josh is?
More details within the MyKmart link below.
(MyKmart via The Consumerist)
In honor of my new favorite faerie sidekick, Stella (pictured above) from Dragon Quest IX: Sentinals of The Starry Skies, all further instances of the EF word will be replaced with the word “flap.” This decision will also keep the site more family friendly. If Stella can say things like, “What the flap is going on!?” or “Big flapping deal!” and still be rated E (for everyone!) than so can I.
ALSO:
Expect lots of reviews from games released this year to start popping up! More writing = more practice, so I might as well try to keep things semi-current.
AlSO TWICE:
If you are a like-minded (or not) gamer who has stumbled upon this blog and would like to write for gameESC because you can actually write (unlike some people here), send me an email at jimmy [at] gameesc [dot] com or leave a comment below. I’d like some flapping help, please. I’ll be posting more info later in the “about” page on what I feel the main focus of this blog is, but a quick run-down would be: Personal, funny, honest, writing about games and gamer culture. Reviews are cool, too.
So hit me up, dawg.
Yesterday, I picked up Dragon Quest IX: Sentinals of The Starry Skies and it is, in fact, my first Dragon Quest game. So far, it’s been great. I especially love the battles. Being able to set tactics for my party means a lot less jamming on the “A” button, which in turn, makes me a very happy person.
My only gripe, as of yet, is how the game makes me feel so guilty for killing some of the monsters in the first area of the game. Because I’m new to the Dragon Quest series, I’m new to the enemies. So when I’m forced to kill an adorable gumdrop, I’m caught a little off guard.
Jim Sterling of Destructoid wishes they would stop trying so hard. David Jaffee, creator of Twisted Metal and God of War, seems to want them to go away all together. Roger Ebert calls them pathetic. And a whole mess of us adore them and the impact that they have on our beloved medium.
Obviously, I’m talking about art games; video games that (most times) sacrifice elements like “gameplay” or “fun” in order to convey a message (whether obvious or hidden underneath a layer of pixels) or simply just to make you think. While I personally believe that there are titles sitting on the shelves of your local game store, surrounded by the plethora of mindless shooters and sports games, that are wholly deserving of the term “art,” it’s the aforementioned kind that usually receive the classification “art game.” They’re a hot topic amongst game writers and developers, and this brilliant indie game is a result of everyone’s discussion.
The developers, Peanut Gallery, call it a “zen relaxation game that celebrates the simple beauty of the natural world.” Sure. Please go play this game. If you care about the “games as art” debate, you’ll really get a kick out of this. You can download the game or play it in your browser over here:
http://peanutgallerygames.com/blog/games/pond/
While you’re there, poke around the site and check out the game Spectre!
(Spotted while lurking on Anthony Burch’s Twitter.)
Today, after a three-week intersession, I resumed my summer semester at a school that I am attending in New York City. Almost every day of my vacation was spent playing either playing Chrono Trigger on my new DSi or Left 4 Dead 2 until four in the morning because I’m hard like that. The return to getting up at 6:00 AM was jarring, to say the least*. I’m tired. I’m cranky. I despise the world and all that inhabit it. Who would have known that all I needed to get out of this funk was a Flash game, in which I’m able to toss a bicycle-riding father with a child in tow off of a steep hill to watch them explode in a most glorious fashion?
I’m going to digress for a moment:
If there’s one thing that could completely turn me off from a multiplayer shooter, it’s the amount of bullets it takes to kill somebody. Example: In Uncharted 2, why the hell does it take an entire clip of bullets from an assault riffle the take down an old man in a t-shirt? Yes, I understand that Uncharted 2 isn’t trying to be some realistic military-shooter. But when I get behind someone on the enemy team and start spraying bullets into their back, only to have them turn around AS I’M SHOOTING THEM and blow me away with one shotgun blast, I do not like your multiplayer game. No thank you. My friend, who was playing the game with me at the time, told me that I needed to shoot them in the head. Fuck you. No I don’t. That dude is wearing a button-up t-shirt.
We’re going to need more bullets
That’s right. Welcome back. To me. Not you. You were probably never here before, but sometime last year I started this website with lofty dreams of blogging myself to E3. I know, brilliant. I wrote 10-15 posts everyday, did a few reviews, and burnt out after about a month. But now I’m back to writing at a much slower pace, I’m living at home, and discovering all sorts of things about my body. I’m finding out that though the faces have changed, the hassles are just the same.
