Ben Stanton: Gamer, Writer, Programmer, Activist

The Dangers of Splenda

2011-11-22T05:18:00.002-05:00

The first time I had Splenda was in a candy my mother gave me. Now, I was never a fan of artificial sweeteners in the first place, but I was told that this was different.

They were right.

As soon as the candy touched my tongue, I had to spit it out. It felt like I had placed acid on my tongue. Very soon, my stomach started rumbling. Within minutes, I had the worst hour of gas I'd had ever. I shudder to think what might have happened if I'd had the entire candy.

So, for a while, I assumed I was safe from Splenda. If it causes these problems, it's not likely to catch on, right?

Wrong.

Soon I was seeing the Splenda logo everywhere I looked. New diet drinks, sugar free popsicles, basically anything that used to use aspartame.

Then came the real problem.

One day, I was offered a stick of gum. I began chewing said piece, waiting for the flavor to show itself. The flavor turned out to be acid.

Hurriedly, I spit the gum out. I thought it horrible. They were using Splenda in gum now?

I asked to see the package. No, there was no Splenda logo on the package. I checked the ingredients. There it was, 'sucralose', the technical name for Splenda.

It was my worst fear. Splenda was being used without warning. Apparently, too many people are unaware of it's dangers. It may never again be safe to eat or drink anything sweet without checking the ingredients list.

Warn your friends about the dangers of Splenda. The colon you save may be your own.

Status Report

2011-09-09T12:00:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! I've been meaning to update my blog for a while now. In fact, I'm hoping to do it at least semi-regularly.

Computer Woes

To start things off, if you've been following my Twitter account, you may have seen that I was having trouble with my new video card.

My previous one carped out on me (the Video RAM burnt itself out) a while back. I managed to get it working slightly for a few weeks over the summer, but then it stopped working altogether. I had to wait until I had enough money to buy a new Video Card. Once I had the money, I bought this one. It was the best Graphics Card I could find that would fit in a single slot.

Anyway, I get the card, put it in, and it's working fine. I download the latest drivers (because who trusts the the drivers that come with the hardware) and installed them and the CCC. When I rebooted into Windows, after a few minutes, I started seeing red dots on the screen. Moments later, other graphical corruptions manifested themselves. After a while of that, I got the dreaded BSOD. A few restarts, same thing kept happening. I even managed to remove the old driver but to no avail. Nothing bad happened in safe mode and it worked fine if used the "Standard VGA Adapter" driver, but that would hardly be enough for gaming.

At that point, it was time to do some diagnostics to find out if this was truly a software problem (like it seemed) or if I'd gotten a faulty card. I installed an old hard drive of mine and set up a partition (which it now seems was unnecessary) to install Windows onto. With a fresh install and up-to-date drivers, I found none of the graphical errors that occurred my normal portion. That was the good news.

The bad news was, that meant I had to re-install Windows for real. I backed up all my important files, as well as my Steam Installations, onto an external hard drive (turned out to be unnecessary, but still a good thing to do). Then it was time to do a fresh install. Thankfully, I was able to do a clean install without having to worry that I only had an upgrade copy of Windows 7.

So mostly this past week has been spent re-installing all the software I've been missing. So far, I've installed Firefox, Winamp (for music), VLC player (for video), Photoshop (along with the rest of CS4), Steam (along with all the Steam games I had on my previous installation), and Mass Effect 2, which looks even more awesome than I remember, by the way. I still have to re-install MS Office (will be doing that later tonight), Dragon Age 2 and the Sims 3. Oh, and I also got a free copy of Deus Ex with my Graphics Card. I'll be trying that out soon.

The Job Front

In other news, I started a new job. I'm going to be working for event security for IU home games. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. Hopefully this will lead to more gainful employment.

Unfortunately, this comes on the heels of some other news. I will not be attending college this semester. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get IU all the information they needed in time so now I have to re-apply for the Spring Semester. I also can't attend classes at Ivy Tech due to a "Maximum Timeframe" issue. Apparently, if you don't graduate after attempting a certain number of hours, you lose your financial aid. Had I known that ahead of time, I wouldn't have taken so many electives.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Till later!

Hipster to English Dictionary

2011-08-29T16:00:00.001-04:00

Hipster: They used to be good, before they sold out.
English: I don't know what they sound like now because I can't afford their album.

Hipster: I Liked them before they were popular.
English: This is the first I'm hearing of them.

H: I have X ironically.
E: I learned about irony from Alanis Morissette.

H: This look is in right now.
E: These clothes were on clearance at Goodwill.

H: I have a Facebook page ironically.
E: I got a Facebook page before I became this pretentious.

H: I don't have a Facebook page.
E: I don't want you to know I secretly play Farmville,

H: I don't have a MySpace page.
E: I don't know how to delete my MySpace page

H: I don't have a Twitter account.
E: What's Twitter?

Gripes

2011-08-28T21:24:00.004-04:00

As I sit here, waiting for a graphics card for my desktop that may or may not come tomorrow, I've been surfing and have found a few things that really annoy me. If you follow my twitter feed, you may already know them, but I feel like posting them anyway.

Firefox 6 is out already?!?

Seriously? I haven't even updated to 5 yet because Google Toolbar refuses to support anything beyond version 4. Granted, I could probably live without Google Toolbar on my desktop, that is once it starts working again, but it's a real pain to work without it on my laptop.

Protected Tweets

I suppose that's a little misleading. I understand there are people out there who have legitimate reasons for protecting their tweets, among those the potential backlash that could be caused by a current or prospective employer.

No, the problem I have is when people have conversations over twitter and one or more (but not all) of the participants protect their tweets. It's like being in a room with someone who's talking loudly on the phone. Even if what they're saying sounds interesting, it's still annoying because you're only hearing half the conversation. Hell, that's the whole reason I refuse to send any @replies to anyone who protects their tweets.

Ok, I suppose that's all I've got. Still, even if no one winds up reading this, it was nice to vent a little.

The Rupture

2011-05-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

All this talk about the so called "Rapture" that will allegedly happen this week has got me thinking. I've come to a startling realization. I don't think I want to be raptured.

I mean, think about it. Let's say the rapture is real. Lets just say it's going to happen and then you'll be brought up into heaven and be able to do whatever you want when you get there and live in a paradise forever.

Sure, it seems nice, but how long will it be before you don't want it anymore? In a perfect paradise, there will be nothing you can't do, and you don't even have to put any effort into it. There will be no fear. No fear of dying, no fear of injury, no fear of failure.

There will be no challenges to overcome. No challenges means nothing to spark the imagination. Paradise will get boring, only you won't even realize you're bored.

Meanwhile, those of us that get "left behind" will have to suffer through the apocalypse. Sure, it'll be Hell on Earth (literally), but at least we'll be living.

Life is filled with pain and fear. Living is finding a way to cope with the pain and rise above the fear. If you can't do that, then you were never really living in the first place

Mass Effect: Extinction

2011-04-06T01:50:00.002-04:00

I've started a new FanFic called Mass Effect: Extinction. You can read it over on FanFiction.net

Mass Effect: Extinction
Commander Shepard's actions, while done to safeguard the Galaxy, have resulted in Galaxy-wide chaos. Now, with the Reapers closing in, Shepard must unite the Galaxy's waring factions if she has any hope of stopping them.

This story stars a version of the Shepard from my previous FanFic who made a few different choices over the course of ME2. I'll reveal those different choices throughout the course of the story.

Mass Effect 2.5 is going strong. Not as many readers as I'd like, but much more than I expected. I'll be wrapping up Episode 3 this Friday for anyone who wants to read it.

Mass Effect 2.5

2010-09-14T00:00:00.002-04:00

So I had an idea to write some Fan Fiction for Mass Effect. It's essentially how I'm bridging the gap between Mass Effect 2 and 3. It will likely contain references to upcoming bridging DLC that BioWare is coming out with as well as an abbreviated Lair of the Shadow Broker chapter or two. Not a whole lot of focus on Action, but with Drama and Humor galore.

So, without further ado, I present Chapter 1 of:

Mass Effect 2.5

Entry 217

Personal Log, Shepard, Leanna, Commander, Normandy SR-2

We made it back through the Omega 4 Relay. I didn’t expect to be able to say those words. I fully expected my previous entry to be my last. I’m cancelling the letters I’d scheduled to send to Liara, Ash and Anderson. I’m a little relieved too; they all seem a bit too sappy.

Miranda is busy working on her report. I’m not sure what she’s going to do with it now that we’ve left Cerberus. I can barely imagine the strength it must have taken to turn her back on the man who saved her and her sister from her father. She’s a much stronger woman than she gives herself credit for, genetically engineered or not.

In all, everyone seems glad that I destroyed the base. Grunt even thought it was funny. Legion made a comparison between my choice and the one his people made. He says we’re more alike than he realized. What he doesn’t know is that he inspired me to make my decision. If we continue to build our Civilization on the backs of Reaper technology, how are we ever going to stand on our own two feet?

The rest of the crew’s fine. Jack’s being her usual “chipper” self. Mordin’s already moved on to his next project. Hope it’s a cure for Thane. I’m worried that without more exercise, the Kepral's Syndrome will get worse.

I’m afraid Garrus might be minimalizing his accomplishments. He led that second fire team and probably saved Tali’s life. If something were to happen to me, I trust him to be the one to finish what I’ve started.

I still question the wisdom of having a thief living on our ship. I swear, every time I go down there, her “personal collection” has gotten a bit bigger. Jacob’s spending a lot of time with her, but I’m not sure if he likes her, or just considers her a drinking buddy.

I’m glad Samara hasn’t left yet. When she first joined, I got the impression she’d take off immediately after we returned through the Relay (assuming we got back at all). She’s staying on the ship though. She said she can “Continue to follow the code while onboard the Normandy”. I hope she sticks around. She seems lonely.

Tali seems to be holding up well. I wish everyone had her strength. I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to contact the Migrant Fleet since we’ve been back though. She seems to be spending most of her free time around me instead.

I also want to make a Note in the Logs about Zaeed Masani. Zaeed led the Distraction team that bought us the time we needed to make it through in Samara’s biotic bubble. The team made it through alive because Zaeed took every shot the Collectors fired. In the end, it seems his stubbornness wasn’t enough to keep him from death. Regardless of how he lived, Zaeed Masani died a hero. In his honor, I will make sure his ex-partner Vido is brought to justice.

At this point, I’m unsure of what to do next. Part of me wants to warn the Council about what is coming, but I don’t feel like shouting at a bunch of idiots. Plus the way the Turian Rep does that whole air quotes thing just bugs me.

I can’t face Liara right now. She’s on her whole Vengeance kick and I can’t deal with that. I need to feel happy for a while. I just wish things could go back to the way they used to be between us. The feel of her skin against mine. The way we…

Dear god I’ve got to get off this ship. I’m setting a course for Omega. I’m gonna get drunk.

You can read the rest by Clicking Here.

Commander of the Grey

2010-08-11T03:13:00.003-04:00

Well, earlier this night I finished playing Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. I used the character I previously played through Origins with, a Noble Human Warrior named Alisand. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that the base game was better than the Expansion.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad game or anything. I liked the added combat options, and it was a good storyline, but I honestly can't see myself playing it more than one more time. I say one more time because there are still a few things I'd like to see play out differently with another (more evil) character, but that'd be it.

Mass Effect 2

2010-02-01T02:15:00.004-05:00

I never beat a game before online guides started coming out before (that is, after online guides started coming out), but that's exactly what I did last night.

I've spent the last couple months in dire anticipation of Mass Effect 2, the first being a game that blew my mind and showed me just what exactly my computer was capable of. I spent a long time reading forums and watching for developer updates on the game. As soon as I could, I preordered the Collector's Edition. I built the game up in my head as the greatest game I would play (so far anyway).

You know how sometimes, you get so excited about something and when you finally get it, it's not as good as you thought and it lets you down?

This was not one of those times.

Mass Effect 2 was one of the greatest games I played since... well... Mass Effect. The level of detail was amazing (and I'm not talking about graphical detail, though that was pretty good too). Just about any action I took in the first game had some sort of consequence in this one. From the big decisions at the end of the major Missions, to what happened to my #1 fan on the Citadel. Hell, I even saw a guy finally getting his refund after two years of waiting (though he seemed to be at the wrong warehouse). It was such an incredibly immersive experience that it was impossible to play with a Shepard that I didn't create in the first game (and I tried, first with the default, then with someone else's save). I've got two more Shepards to play with, after which I'll have to go back to Mass Effect and churn out a couple more.

Leanna Shepard (2154- )
Still Fighting for the Lost

The Daily Blur, Suplimental

2009-06-08T13:06:00.002-04:00

Project #5: Getting A+ Certified
This is one I keep meaning to do. I really need to take the tests at some point. That means studying the materials I have. I hope to get my certification by the end of the Summer.

The Daily Blur

2009-05-31T01:30:00.004-04:00

I can't believe that May is almost over. Here it is, 3 weeks into the Summer and I haven't even started on anything I was going to do. Well this week I'm changing all that. I'm making a conscious decision right now that I am going to get started on every one of my projects this week.

Project #1: Getting a License
This Summer I will be spending as much time as I can relearning how to drive. To start off, I need to get my permit which means passing the written driving test that I haven't taken in forever. Shouldn't be too bad though. I'm more worried about when I take the actual driving portion of the test. Fortunately, I should have plenty of opportunities to practice driving this Summer.

Project #2: Learning to Draw
So for a while now, I've had this idea for a webcomic. I even made two strips of the comic using pictures made in The Sims 2. Unfortunately, I learned that while getting a computer program to look the way you want is easy, getting it to do what you want is hard. I stopped trying to make comics, but the idea stayed with me.

Recently, I took a class in game design. After a few classes, we suddenly found ourselves without an artist. Unfortunately, none of the remaining class had what could be considered traditional artistic skills. Thankfully, we did have some free sprites we could manipulate into backgrounds and we used simple designs for the creeps and towers.

My Mother is an artist and I have started wonder if I am missing out on something that I in fact can do. These events have made me determined to learn how to draw. Of course, it's not like I could take a class to learn this. What I want to do isn't something that can really be taught. Instead, I intend to teach myself. I will discover my inner artist by starting my webcomic again. This time, it will be hand drawn. I just need to get my hands on some tracing paper and I will start drawing. (I will be penciling and Inking by hand but I'll be using photoshop for colors).

Project #3: Get Back on Track with Weight Watchers
So yeah. I haven't been to a Weight Watchers meeting since May 1st. I gained weight that week and I haven't been able to stick to the plan for more than a day at a time since then, I'm almost sure that I'm back over 200lbs. and I'm afraid that I won't be able to lose it again. I need to start exercising and I need to relearn how to control my cravings. Far too often I've had the desire to eat large amounts of unhealthily prepared meat and followed my urges. I keep sleeping in on scheduled meeting days thinking "I'll go to the next one". Well I need to go now. And I definitely need to start working out again.

Project #4: Games
After all the projects listed above, "playing games" doesn't seem like such a big deal. Well it is to me. I have a number of games that I likely won't have much chance to play once the school year starts back up.

Well, that's all I got for now. Later!
-Ben

Grakus Version 2

2009-05-09T03:02:00.004-04:00

Ok, we've done some work and I think we have a finished project. Check out Grakus on Kongregate! If you don't have an account, sign up for one, and please, please, please, rate it 5 stars!

Grakus

2009-04-27T18:37:00.002-04:00

For the last semester, I've been in a class where we've been building a tower defense game. Check out this current release version at Kongregate.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-03-21T18:39:00.004-04:00

Ok, I got 2 people sending this thing to me on Facebook, so I figure I can't just ignore it. Here goes.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

I feel most comfortable in front of a computer screen
My Life's Goal is to design Video Games for a living
Although I love to play Video Games myself, I'm actually not that good at most of them, with the exception of Puzzle Games and RPGs
I'm 3/4 Irish and 1/4 German, and I don't drink
I've been on a diet for a bit over a year, but After losing 50 pounds, I've found it nearly impossible to stay on it
I've lost two family members due to smoking-related cancer, my Aunt and my Granddad
I recently built a brand new computer for myself, and it costed much less than if I'd bought it pre-assembled
People may sometimes see me as arrogant, but in truth, I'm just not much of a talker; I've gotten better though
I have a bad habit of correcting people's pronunciation of words
While I like my job, I actually enjoyed my job more before I became a Supervisor
I still have my appendix, tonsils, and all 4 wisdom teeth
I met my wife in 2nd grade, and from the 7th grade on, I never had any doubt who I was going to marry
I dropped out of two schools before going to Ivy Tech, now I'm determined to get a degree from there before I move on
I really wish I had the time and money to get back into collecting comics
I cringe when I read something that's over-saturated with netspeak
has always been my lucky number
I'm not a very religious man, but I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, I believe that no one religion could be completely right, and I believe that no one religion is completely wrong; except for [withheld], that scares me.
I've always wanted to go into space
I prefer a mouse and keyboard to a gamepad
I don't believe in the end of the world
I have a tendency to feel other people's pain, which is why I could never be a doctor
I like things as small as they can get, without sacrificing performance
I tend to get along more with women than with men
Earbuds don't stay in my ears
My greatest fear is that I will one day loose my mind

50!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-21T20:34:00.003-04:00

Today, at 12:20pm, I weighed in at 190.6lbs, making my official weight loss 51 pounds! I am incredibly excited about this. In High School I used to weigh around 190lbs and I'm less than a pound away from this. I only have 20.6lbs to go before hitting my weight loss goal. Thanks to all the weight loss, I had to donate most of my jeans, so I bought 3 new pairs. I'm back to a 34 inch waist, but I don't think I'll go down even if I loose more weight. Your waist size can only shrink as much as your pelvis, right?

On the gaming front, I'm actually starting work on designing a Video Game. It's still in the conceptual phase right now, but it's called Spellmasters and it's an RPG. The hook is the combat mechanics. Rather than using typical turn-based combat or the real-time combat newer RPGs are using, Spellmasters uses a card-based combat system similar to Magic: the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh. My plan is to make the first one, which I'm calling Spellmasters 0: Prolouge Dungeon, using Flash and make it (possibly) free on the web. Following that, I hope to use this as a portfolio builder until I can actually make the first complete game in the series (not that S0PD won't be a complete game, it just won't have everything I want in it). I actually don't want the game to stay on PC. I think it would be much better on handhelds like the DS, or PSP (or hell, even the iPhone). This isn't the only concept I'm working on, this is just the only one that feels like one I could acomplish before I actually graduate. I'll be taking a course in Flash next semester so expect my project to finish sometime in the summer.

Oh, and before I forget:
©2008 Benjamin J. Stanton
©2008 Infinity Arcade

Hi Larry Us

2008-10-15T19:01:00.001-04:00

I saw this the other night going through episodes of TDS on my DVR that I had yet to watch. I could not stop laughing. Enjoy:

My thoughts on Internet Slang

2008-09-02T10:44:00.001-04:00

A brb l33t imho. L33t haXXor lol imho wtf irl aybabtu imho irl pwn pwn. L33t imao? S omg. L l33t l aybabtu s imao lol? Bump l? Roflmao roflmao lol. Imao imao wtf. Wtf irl. Wtf bump imao. Imao omg s. Imho brb imao! Lol a imao. Pwn roflmao omg irl aybabtu aybabtu. Wtf lol imao? Imao bump l. L33t l33t wtf bump pwn omg brb roflmao aybabtu! Wtf imao irl. Imho imao l pwn s. Pwn bump l33t bump brb. A pwn. Roflmao imho. S wtf roflmao. Lol aybabtu! Pwn l! HaXXor haXXor. Irl imao pwn a wtf! Wtf imao. A aybabtu pwn s omg. Roflmao s. Wtf l33t. Pwn aybabtu? Aybabtu bump pwn? A irl. S bump wtf a haXXor imho l roflmao imao irl. Imao imho haXXor roflmao irl aybabtu imao haXXor pwn imao imao brb imao s s? Wtf lol l s a roflmao l a irl! A lol irl! S imao omg. Pwn imho pwn. S brb lol. (decode)

Gearing up for Gen Con

2008-08-12T23:24:00.002-04:00

Gen Con, a.k.a. the best four days in gaming, starts in just two days. And for the first time ever, I will be going to the entire thing! Yes, I will be leaving early tomorrow morning for Gen Con.

For those who don't know what Gen Con is, well, instead of just telling you, I'm going to take the easy way and link it to you. So you may be asking, why are you leaving tomorrow if the Convention is Thursday and the place is just over an hour away? That's because I'm volunteering on Wednesday. Wednesday is Trade Day so there's no general admission, but they still needed help. I'll also be volunteering Thursday and Friday mornings. Why am I doing this? Two reasons: one, I actually want to be a part of this Con and not just an observer; two, they're giving me money back on my ticket. It's not the only reason I'm doing this, it's just the reason I'll be able to spend money on something besides a ticket this long weekend.

I'm going to be taking pictures with my digital camera this weekend, and hopefully I'll be able to upload them while I'm at the Con.

Still Alive

2008-04-23T20:06:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since a full update (although I have still been updating the sidebars), but I'm still here. I've just been busy with work and school that I haven't been able to type anything up.

Weight Loss
As of last Friday, I've lost 19 lbs. No small accomplishment for me, especially since I've been having trouble finding the time to work out. Oddly though, I've recently discovered that my appetite has a tendency to decrease when I don't do much. I'm winding up with extra points those days. Still, with the weather getting better lately, I hope to do more long walks outside.

Gaming
I haven't been gaming quite as much as usual, and when I do, it's mostly been PC rather than console. I recently started playing a borrowed copy of RollerCoaster Tycoon. It's pretty fun. I'm considering purchasing RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 as it's 3D and has an actual sandbox mode.

I haven't been playing World of Warcraft as much as I used to lately. That's mostly because my friend (who's currently living in Japan) and I haven't been able to sync up our schedules as much as we'd like to. My Wife and I are going to be making a two-person team however. We're planning on putting these two characters on a Roleplaying Server, so if anyone has a suggestion on which server we two should join, I'd appreciate it. I'm going to be a Paladin and she has yet to decide between a Warrior and a Mage.

That's all I have right now. Catch you later.

Witty Title

2008-04-06T19:58:00.004-04:00

So I'm really excited about our new World of Warcraft Guild. We just got enough gold for our first tab and between me, my alts and my wife, we've practically filled it. Hopefully, actually having a tab will help us keep our members more.

I'm also considering entering the "2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament". The only thing is getting a team together. The obvious choice is to get my wife and my friend (the other co-founder of my guild) to do it. The problem is that I'm not sure my wife will be able to justify the expense, and I'm not sure my friend will be able to do it as she's in Japan right now. The good thing is that if (and that's a big if) we make it to the big tournament, it's in October and my friend should be back in the US by then. Other options include my co-workers (I know some of them play WoW), Guild mates (though I'm not sure who would be good for this) or just teaming up with some random people. Regardless of which route I pick, I have until June to figure it out. Who knows, maybe another option will present itself.

Victory for Sylvanas!

Paternal Issues

2008-03-30T19:00:00.002-04:00

So, out of the clear blue, I got an email from my father the other day. He says he wants to meet with me. Now first of all, I haven't been on fairly good terms with my father for a while now. I will admit, a lot of it is my fault. I had a falling out with my Step-Mother and unfortunately, the rest of my Dad's side of the family got caught in the balance. The last time I saw my father was at my Wedding. The last time I heard from him was an email back in I think December where he said he'd gotten my previous emails but didn't have too much time on the computer. He said he would reply soon. It's now nearing April.

Well of course the first thing I did was send him an email back letting him know when I'd be available and telling him to call me if he could. Now I play the waiting game.

In other news, I now have a Guild on WoW. Click Here to see our Guild Page. Our Armory page isn't working yet. We're on the Trollbane server so if you're on, contact Carvis, my character, or either Nohkomi(My wife), or Miridia(a friend of ours). If none of us are on, try to join using the site.

For the Horde!

So Many Games, So Little Time

2008-03-24T16:55:00.004-04:00

You know, I really hate the fact that I have to work and go to school. If I could cut out work, then I'd be able to take the time I'd normally be working and do my homework. Then I could take the time I'd normally be doing homework, and focus on myself. I guess I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I've got to pass both my classes, keep showing up to work, stick to this diet I'm on, get a job for the Summer (because I won't be getting as much Unemployment as I did last year), and still find time to have a relationship with my family. I don't think I can keep doing the comic right now. I'm going to finish up the arc I'm on and then take a hiatus until the Summer.

Spore!

2008-03-19T21:22:00.003-04:00

No real news post today. I'm very busy with work and school and all. Still, I found this cool Spore video online today. It's not the most recent (a little over a month old), but it's cool looking. I haven't watched it with sound yet, so I'll be doing that tonight. Enjoy!

No real news post today. Real busy with work and school and all. Still, I did find this cool Spore video online. I haven't seen it with sound yet, so that's the first thing I'll do when I get home. Enjoy!

Top 'O the Mornin' to Ye

2008-03-17T17:30:00.001-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Nice day for me, because I'm Irish. Of course I don't drink, so that makes my celebration a little different. Still, I enjoy the day. My wife and I are going to be having some sort of Irish dinner. We have a leg of lamb in the fridge, but we're not sure if there are any points friendly meals we can make with it. We may instead do something with some deli Corned Beef.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but that was mainly due to Spring Break. Starting today I'm back on track. I should have a comic uploaded by Friday.

In game related news, we've decided to keep Mario Party 8. Thankfully, when I selected Keep It, there was a DS game available, which means I'll be able to play my DS some more. I'm expecting Puzzle Quest any day now.

I reached my 10 lb. goal on Friday which means I got to play Bully this weekend. It's a fun game. My only problem with it, and this is a problem I've noticed with Wii Games in general, is that it's a full body game. I mean sure, I could just sit down and play like that, but then I'd just feel like a tool. Suffice it to say, it's not that kind of game you want to relax with after a workout.

I've been playing Bleach: Shattered Blade too. I have to say, it is a fun game. I read some bad reviews about it, but it actually is fun. It's got its own original storyline set after the Save Rukia Arc, but before everyone goes back to the Human World. Episode Mode is really fun, if a little short (at least in comparison to Bleach for the DS). I only have two more episodes to beat. The hardest episode by far has been Hanataro's. Unfortunately, they got his abilities dead-on. His sword actually heals when it cuts. In order to do any damage, you've got to use special attacks, which mainly consist of Hanataro being clumsy and bumping into the enemy. Thankfully, when you fill up his "Bankai Meter" (which, unlike everyone else's, looks like the gauge he normally has on his sword), you can "Bankai" (which is actually his Shikai). During this time, his sword can actually do damage, but it has virtually no reach either. He does, however, have one of the most powerful special moves in the game at this time. Still, it was a challenge.

In other game related news, I just got my first World of Warcraft Character to level 30. His name is Carvis and he's an Undead Warlock on the Trollbane server. Say hi if you get a chance.

Well, I've got to get back to work. Still have a job to do. Later!

Wii Rock

2008-03-05T19:22:00.001-05:00

I picked up Bully: Scholarship Edition for Wii today. I'm not going to play it yet though. It's not like I enjoy buying games that I can't play, but there is a story behind it. I reserved the game when I first bought my Wii, and I decided when I started making weight loss goals that this game would be my reward for loosing 10 lbs. Needless to say I'm still a bit short of this goal, but it was either buy it today, or loose the $5 deposit I put on it. I figured the best compromise would be to buy it now, but not to play it until I reach that goal. So now it's just going to sit there, mocking me.

Speaking of games, I had a few ideas I wanted to get out of my head and this seems like the perfect venue to do it. I want to see Rock Band for the Wii. Not the one that the other consoles have though. I've always felt that the only bad thing about Rock Band was the song list. It's not that I think the songs are bad, it's just that I don't usually listen to those songs. It seems to me like most of the songs (on the disk anyway) are mostly Metal and that's just not appealing to me. Not to mention there are some other ideas I'd like to see. So allow me to present my idea.

Rock Band: Greatest Hits.
[for Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii]
Immerse yourself in the greatest hits done by the greatest bands. Now, not only can you rock like the bands, but you can look like them too. Make your own fantasy band by playing as members of real bands! Make Steven Tyler your lead singer, Carlos Santana your Guitarist, and Ringo Starr your drummer! You can even download other band members and individuals into your game! The game contains songs actually done by the artists you're playing as.

Suggested Band List:
Aerosmith
Kiss
Beatles
Gorillaz
And Many More

Wii Exclusive Features:
Rock Band: Greatest Hits will have several features exclusive to the Wii (as compensation for not starting out with a Wii version). The Rock Band Guitar will be similar in setup to the Guitar Hero version, but with the added Rock Band functionality. It should be compatible with the Guitar Hero controller for the Wii as well. The Drum set will be nearly identical to the Drum Set for other Rock Band games, with the exception of a slot for the Wii Remote to slide in, making it a wireless drum set. Hits will support a USB microphone but there will also be two other methods as well. They can either use a Microphone or Headset that plugs into the back of the Wii Remote, or they can use the Nintendo DS (the DS headset is recommended). Users of the DS will notice that the words also appear on their DS as well as the TV. Wii gamers will also get exclusive characters, the Mario crew. Wii gamers will be able to choose from Mario, Luigi, Princess Daisy, Princess Peach, Wario, Waluigi, Toad, Toadette and of course, Bowser. These characters will be available for all band positions and have their own signature instruments.

Anyway, let me know if my idea strikes a cord with you. (Get it? Strikes a cord? Oh, nevermind)

Later!

Best. Weekend. Ever.

2008-03-03T16:51:00.010-05:00

Oh my God, I had so much fun this weekend. I built a computer. All by myself. The only thing that would have made it better was if it was for me. Instead, I built a computer for my Mother. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the Rig itself, but I do have links to the parts I bought. I used Newegg.com because well, they're the best. I typically rely on Newegg and use Tiger Direct if I find a better deal, but this thing, with shipping, came in under $900.

New Computer:
Case
- hec COMPUCASE Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower
Motherboard
- GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard
Processor
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz Processor
RAM
- Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Power Supply
- mushkin 550250 ATX12V/EPS12V 580W Power Supply
Video Card
- XFX PVT86SYAFG GeForce 8400GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Sound Card
- Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 70SB104000000 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card
Optical Drive
- LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA
Extra Case Fan
- AeroCool TURBINE 3000 120mm Case Fan
Monitor
- Hanns·G HB-191DPB Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
Keyboard/Mouse
- Microsoft S82-00032S Black USB + PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard Mouse Included

I have to be honest, If I could, I would have taken it home with me. But it's OK, because the one I build for myself will be even better.

One thing that irks me though. I sent the Zelda DS game back to GameFly (I just couldn't get into it) and I stuck 3 DS games at the top of the Q, hoping that they'd send me one of them. Instead, they send me one of my Wii games, so Now I'm going to have 2 Wii games out at a time. It's OK though, because my wife and I are seriously considering keeping Mario Party. If we do, I'll make sure I do that at just the right time to get sent a DS game.

Well, that's it for now. See you real soon.

Comic

2008-02-29T23:17:00.006-05:00

My first Webcomic is up over at Ingaged. Go over there and check it out. Don't worry, I'll wait.
....
...
..
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You back yet?

Hey! You're back! What did you think? Keep in mind that it is my first. I figured I'd just start out by introducing the characters. Check back next Friday when I actually try to tell a story.

In other news, I weighed in today. Didn't loose much, just 0.4 lbs. I think I need to get back into working out. I'm going to the gym tomarrow.

Anyway, that's all I have right now. Catch you later.

Sneak Peak

2008-02-27T19:04:00.006-05:00

Hey everyone, I don't have much time, but I thought I'd give everyone a sneak peak at my new comic. Since I don't have much artistic ability, I'm using The Sims 2 for the characters and settings. Here it is:

I plan on updating on Fridays so the first comic should go up in two days. Looking forward to it.

Ben

To Be...

2008-02-25T17:13:00.004-05:00

I've lost 3.8 lbs! Well, as of Friday anyway. Honestly, I'm a little stunned. I mean I haven't been working out as much as I should. I guess the diet really works. This makes for a total weight loss of 6.2 lbs, which means I've hit my first goal of 5 lbs. I rewarded myself for reaching my first goal with a new (for me anyway) game: Fable. I have to say it's pretty fun. So far I've already created 2 characters. One's a nice, compassionate warrior; the other is a greedy, morally ambiguous "Battlemage".

In other news, I'm now an Uncle. My sister-in-law recently had a baby girl. She was born premature, but the doctors say she'll be fine. I'm going up to visit her this Sunday.

I'm also starting a Webcomic. This should be interesting as I'm not a good artist. It's called Ingaged. Look for the first panel sometime this week.

Wait Loss

2008-02-20T20:25:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been a bit since I checked in. As of last Friday I've lost 2.8 pounds and I'm sure I've lost more this week so I'm feeling pretty good. Mentally, anyway. Physically, not so much. I sill have a bad cough that I have yet to get over. Saw my doctor today and she gave me some medicine that I can't get until tomorrow for some reason. Also, I'm starving! It has nothing to do with the diet, it's just that I have nothing I can eat at work. There's a convenience store in the building, but everything in there is really high in points. I've just got 1 1/2 hours before I can get out and get some real food at home.

I sent back Marvel: Ultimate Alliance even though I hadn't played it much yet. There are a few reasons. First off, my TV already has poor brightness and that, combined with the game's dark features, made for a difficult play experience. Also, I discovered that the game's unique play style (using the Wiimote, Nunchuk combo) to be a little difficult. I really think this is a game better suited to a controller.

Speaking of Control Schemes, it looks like Mario Kart Wii is going to be compatible with all forms of Wii controllers, including the GameCube Controller. With Smash Bros. and now Mario Kart using the multi-type controller scheme, it leads me to believe that this is the direction that Wii games are headed, which is fine by me. Of course, they won't get the Classic/GameCube Controller to mimic the pointing abilities of the Wiimote (unless they come up with some sort of Wavebird/Wiimote hybrid), but a lot of other games could make great use of multiple control schemes.

That's all I have time to say for now. I've got to get back to work.

Wacko Jacko

2008-02-17T20:07:00.004-05:00

You know it's guys like this that give Lawyers a bad name. My Grandfather was a lawyer and when he fought against something, it was something worth fighting against. Like the death penalty.

The ECA's Reply

Recovery

2008-02-13T18:44:00.008-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been sick the last couple days. It started Tuesday, but it really hit me hard on Thursday. It seemed to be tonsillitis, but the last few days my lungs hurt like bronchitis. I skipped both classes last week and even had to miss a work meeting (which sucks because I actually like the meetings at my job). Anyway, I'm now back to work and classes (or I would be back to class if my class hadn't been canceled yesterday) and gaming (I couldn't stay on my computer for more than 30 minutes at a time before I nearly passed out).

I am now an official member of Weight Watchers. I joined Friday and so far I've only gone over my daily points limit once, and that was my first day. I've got to say, it's easier than I thought. The big thing I've been doing is not eating out very much, and when I need some kind of quick food, I usually just heat up a Smart Ones meal. Of course since those meals all have a lot of vegetables in them, I've mostly been eating the Italian meals. I've also discovered that, while I'm not normally a fan of artificial sweeteners, the Crystal Light drink mixes are actually pretty good.

In other news, I received Phantom Hourglass from GameFly this weekend. I gave it a shot, but I'm afraid that, being sick, I wasn't able to give it the full attention it deserved. I'm going to try to play more this week and see if I can do better than I did while I was sick. I think I'm going to send Marvel: UA back though. While the game was fun, I think it would benefit more from a traditional controller scheme. I plan on putting my upcoming Tax Rebate Check to the purchase of a 360.

Valentine's Day is coming, and my wife and I will be going to White Castle for our celebration. Yes we're both on Weight Watchers, but since we both have special weekly points, we can save those up for one night of unhealthy food, as long as it's not too often.

Aftermath

2008-02-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

Another week begins, but this week, something different. A large check, the first half of my financial aid, that had been sitting in the bank has now cleared. The next phase begins this week: spending it. Granted much of that money has been spent before I even received it. It's going to pay off bills and such, but after that, a nugget of spending cash remains.

The first expense isn't even on myself. My wife has been needing a new computer ever since the LCD screen on her last laptop broke (and that wasn't covered by the warranty). After much discussion she has decided that, due to the nature of her chosen career she needs a Mac (this also makes me less likely to use it). Also, due to her on-the-go lifestyle, it needs to be a laptop. We'll be getting a MacBook rather than a MacBook Pro for one reason only: Cost. The good thing about this is that the MacBook can run World of Warcraft at a tolerable level. While it may not be quite as good looking as running on my computer (which has it's own dedicated graphics card), her MacBook should get about the same frame rate I do. And if I can live with 15fps, I'm sure she, who is not a hardcore gamer, can too.

In other news, I will be joining Weight Watchers this Friday. I've been steadily getting more and more overweight since high school and it's time I did something about it. I have been working out for the past couple weeks and I've lost weight at about a pound per week, but I feel that I need more than just exercise. Weight Watchers has a support group that can help me keep at it even when I feel like quitting. Also, if I start to eat better, maybe I can start to feel better. I'm less concerned with "being thin" than I am with being and feeling healthy. Besides, I want to throw off the last "Nerd" stereotype that's been following me around forever.

Last but not least, I'd like to bring up an online game that I've been playing recently called NationStates. It's a fun game that lets you play out the running of your own country. The good thing for an Altaholic like me is that there is no limit to the number of "NationStates" that you can have (though you can only have one UN member nation per person). As of now, I have 4 nations that I have created: The Constitutional Monarchy of Stantonation, The Holy Empire of Majikstand, The Allied States of Farfigfalafel, and The United States of Amerisoft.

Well, that's it for now. See you later.

Winter-een-mas: Day Six

2008-01-30T19:11:00.003-05:00

My Winter-een-mas Celebration continued when my friend happened to be online last night. We played World of Warcraft from 2 to 6 am last night. Right now I'm blogging just so I can stay awake at work. Fortunately, my job tends to take care of itself and there's nothing against me blogging as long as I check on everything every 15 minutes.

Tomorrow is Thursday, which means Visual Basic class. I still have to finish my assignment, so I doubt I'll get in any gaming tonight.

Good news is, my wife will soon be getting a MacBook, which is good because unlike her previous laptop, this one will be capable of playing World of Warcraft. This means she and I can finally play together instead of the two of us sharing one account on one computer.

That's all I have to say right now. Catch you later.

Winter-een-mas: Day Five

2008-01-29T22:00:00.001-05:00

My Winter-een-mas plans were slightly derailed this weekend. This was partially because my GameFly game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance didn't come in the mail until yesterday, but mostly because my Internet went down and didn't come back on until yesterday either. So I spent most of my Sunday in the outside world with my Wife. It was a nice change of pace.

Unfortunately, it's back to the weekly grind now. Work, Classes, Exercise. I've got a Visual Basic assignment due this Thursday and a C++ assignment due next Tuesday. Hopefully I'll get some gaming in next Friday, but unfortunately, Winter-een-mas will be over by that time. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

I leave you with this:

Day One

2008-01-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

Well, the first day of Winter-een-mas is drawing to a close. Today I managed to beat Super Paper Mario (Yeah, I skipped Paper Mario 2), and spend a few hours playing World of Warcraft. Now I'm going to sleep, because I've got another day of gaming tomorrow. More updates then.

Hail to the King Baby!

2008-01-25T02:36:00.001-05:00

Winter-een-mas 1
Originally uploaded by scorp_stanton

My First Winter-een-mas Picture. I intend to use the cape and crown for my gaming this weekend.

Happy Winter-een-mas!

2008-01-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is, the first day of Winter-een-mas. For those of you who don't know, Winter-een-mas is the Holiday created by gamers, for gamers. I'd give you an in depth origin of the holiday, but instead I'll just tell you to follow this link.

Needless to say, I'll be spending this holiday playing Video Games. I've only got the first three days off, but I'm going to make it count. Here's my itinerary:

Friday: Finally finish Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door [GC]

Friday night: All night session of WoW with my friend Meredith in Japan.

Saturday: Finally finish Super Paper Mario [GC]

Saturday night: Another all night WoW session (hopefully)

Sunday: Super Mario Galaxy [Wii] & Marvel Ultimate Alliance [Wii]

Happy Winter-een-mas to all, and to all a good game

Review of "Bleach: The Blade of Fate"

2008-01-20T18:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, first off, let me just say that I am a Huge, fan of Bleach, I started by watching the Dub and Adult Swim, then I moved on to the fansubs when I thought that was moving too slow. After reaching a dead-end with the fansubs, I started reading the Scanlations of the Manga. Needless to say, hearing that there were two American released Bleach video games, I was desperate to try them both. Unfortunately, when the games came out, I didn't have the money to buy them.

Enter Gamefly. I'd used Gamefly the previous Summer, but I didn't have a my yet so my selection was limited to GBA, DS, and GC games. Now with the Wii, I had access to even more games.

That aside, I decided to get the Bleach DS game first.

The game follows the Soul Society Arc of Bleach (both Manga and Anime). It includes voice acting from the English dub (by far the best English dub of an Anime I've heard). All the fighting takes place in a 2-D environment on the upper screen.

Plot
As I said earlier, the game follows the Soul Society Arc of Bleach, though if you're looking to just play exactly what happened, you won't be able to do that. Not right away anyway.

The Story Mode starts with Episode 1, which follows Ichigo as he tries to infiltrate Soul Society. Along the way, He'll fight Ganju, Renji, and 12 of the 13 Captains, leading up to a dramatic confrontation with Rukia's Brother, Byakuya Kuchiki. The story is mildly interesting, with some stark departures from the Plot line of the Manga and Anime.

After Episode 1, you can begin unlocking episodes 2-22, each of which focuses on a different character from the series. After completing the first 22 episodes, you unlock episode 23: Soul Reaper Cronicle. This final episode details the events of the entire Soul Society Arc from beginning to end and has you fight as multiple characters.

Graphics
The graphics of the game consist of highly detailed, highly animated, 2-D sprites. I know it seems a little outdated in this world of 3-D, fully-rendered, highly-textured games, but I find it a refreshing change. I've always been a fan of 2-D fighters since the second Mortal Kombat. The backgrounds are well detailed and recognisable for fans of the series.

Sound
First off, let me say that the DS delivers excelent sound. This game is no exception. The game starts off with the 3rd Bleach Anime intro, and it sounds as good as if it's coming off the TV (or in my case, the computer). The rest of the music is not that spectacular, but doesn't get annoying either. The voice acting is Good, but has a tendency to get overpowered by soundeffects.

Gameplay
As I said earlier, this is a 2-D fighter. That's not to say it's by any means conventional. First off, fights can have anywhere from 2-4 players aranged into 2-4 teams. If you have 3 or 4 players, you're not confined to just one stage either. Using the L button, you can shift from the lower stage to the upper stage. In most cases, attacks made in one stage don't effect another, though in some cases, the attacks effect both stages.

The fighting game consists of 3 modes: Story Mode, described above; Arcade mode; and Vs. Mode. Arcade mode consists of a series of 1 on 1 battles, after which you earn a reward based on which character you beat the level with.

Vs. Mode has within it 4 seperate selections. The first is vs. CPU. In this you, the lone Human player, can fight up to 3 Computer controled characters. Computer characters have an AI dificulty rating between 1 and 9, with a default rating of 2. You can select each CPU character as well as organize everyone into up to four teams, allowing for 1 vs. 1, 1 vs. 2, 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, 1 vs. 1 vs. 2, or free for all.

The second and third selections allow for you to play other local DS players. While one is for multicart play, the other allows for Download single-cart play. Others with a DS can download from your DS and play multiplayer, even if they don't have the game themselves. The only drawback to this feature is that it has to re-download every time it switches between the character select screen and the fight, even if all you want to do is replay the match with the same characters.

The third selection allows you to connect to others using the Nintendo WiFi Connection. I attempted to use this, but wasn't able to find anyone to fight.

By far, the most unique thing about this fighting game is how it utilizes the lower screen. Sure, you could spend all your time learning button combinations to moves, but you'd miss out on some of the fun. Bleach: BoF, lowers the learning curve by making all of you Special and Super moves available to you at the push of a button, or more accurately, the touch of a screen. In order to execute a Special or Super move, all you need to do is touch the move on the lower screen. The game will automatically use your most powerfull version of that attack if you're capable of it, and If you can't do the move at all, the move will be grayed out. Of course, it doesn't tell you what that move does. That part you'll have to figure out for yourself.

The second part of the lower screen is the card deck. Before chosing a mode, you can enter deck construction to asign ten cards to up to 5 slots. You have a limited number of cards, but you can put the same cards in different slots. Also, If you don't feel like sorting through the cards, you can select a deck personallized for each character.

The game features 28 characters and you can play every one of them (though only 22 are playable in Story Mode). Certain characters lend themselves more to certain playing styles, but you'll likely play all of them through arcade mode for completion.

In General
This game is probably the best 2-D fighter I've played in quite some time (in fact the only one). The touch screen makes the game easy for both the newbie and experienced player alike.

Rating: 9/10

An Open Letter to Kevin McCullough

2008-01-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: [1/17/2008]It looks like this guy's initial article was pulled by townhall.com. I tried to update the link with a cached version, but all I could get was the first half. Anyway, I think I agree with the guys at Penny Arcade that we're giving this guy too much attention. It might be best to let the issue drop for now.

I read this guy's stuff online, then I realized I had something to say, so I started this Blog. Hopefully it goes somewhere. I sent him an email too:

[An Informed Point-of-view]Re: The "Sex-Box" Race for President/Life Lessons: GAMER Nerds' "Rights" to Lesbo-Alien Sex!

Hello Mr. McCullough,

I read both your article and your Blog post regarding Mass Effect and I found them to be interesting, if misinformed. I understand you've been reading a lot of hate mail because of your opinion, but I was wondering if you've heard a calm, clear-headed, rational-minded person like me argue against your case.

Now when I say argue, I do not mean in a negative context, but rather I intend to present evidence that pokes holes in your arguments. I will start with your article.

First, you mention that it is disgusting that people are able to customize the physical appearance of their main character. Now forgive me if I'm wrong, but people have been creating customized humans for several Millennia. That's what Art is. You mention being able to remove imperfections, but you failed to mention that you could add these things in. It's ok; you haven't played the game; you couldn't have known.

Moving on to the title: "Mass Effect". You seemed to imply that it was a carefully veiled attempt to convince parents that it was a war/virus game instead of an epic Space RPG. Perhaps our values are a bit different, but I would never let my young children play a Video Game as violent as you describe until I'm sure they are aware of the consequences those actions have in real life. I'll spare you from not knowing this in the future, and tell you what the name means. In the game, Mass Effect is another name for Dark Energy. Put plainly, this is very close to the "Force" in George Lucas's Star Wars Franchise. It's ok; you haven't played the game; you couldn't have known.

The rest of your article goes into the 2008 elections and I won't even bother to get into that. Not because I don't care, because I do care about who sits in the White House, but because I believe no good can come from attempting to legislate games. The amount of game-legislation has been going up, but so far, everything that has been challenged has been defeated. Every Judge who has been handed these cases has struck down the laws as unconstitutional. As long as the ESRB continues its job, it will take nothing short of repealing the 1st Amendment to make the legislation hold.

I next refer to your Blog Post. You made a five point list, so I'll comment on each of the five points:

You can't judge a game that takes hours upon hours to play based on a few 60 second clips that people put up on YouTube; however, even based on that footage, I would say that the game is tame in comparison to some PG-13 rated movies that I've seen (Titanic anyone?).

See my above, my third paragraph. I don't think I need to address this again.

To further whittle down your arguments, I'd like to point out that there are a total of Three (3) romantic options for the main character in Mass Effect to pursue, and only two (2) of them are available at any given time. Two of these relationships are 100% Heterosexual. The Female Shepard has a Male character and the Male Shepard has a Female character. Shared between the two is Liara T'Soni, the Blue Alien shown in your YouTube videos. Liara, while possessing a Female form, is not truly female. Her species has only one gender, and generally couples with any gender of another species. That probably seems like too much information to you, but I think an informed opinion is a healthy opinion (though still not necessarily correct).

You made a criticism of the game's "M for Mature" rating, basically saying that it amounts to nothing and does nothing. In this area, you are 100% misinformed. The ratings Early Childhood [EC], Everyone [E], Everyone 10+ [E 10+], Teen [T], Mature [M], and Adults Only [AO], not to mention the Content Descriptors, too numerous to list here, are provided be the Entertainment Software Ratings Board [ESRB] and are the most complete and thorough ratings system ever devised. There is no "depending on your state" involved in this either. I've provided links later on pointing to the rating guide, ESRB partner stores (which are required, per their contract, to be sure that they are not selling M and AO games to people below the ages of 17 & 18 respectively), as well as the Parental Controls settings of all three Current-Gen systems, something that every parent of a gamer should be aware of.

Lastly, you state that you have been challenged to play the game or "...keep your fat mouth shut". Would it surprise you to know that I haven't played the game either? I don't even own an Xbox 360 (yet), but I'm still well versed in what this game is about. Why is that, you ask? It's because I did research. I utilized the internet, the world's largest repository of knowledge, and, weighing content based on its reputability, made an informed judgment.

In Gamer culture, there's a bad tendency to react to criticisms with hostility. While these people are among the most vocal, they do not represent all gamers. I am attempting to present a higher standard with no profanity or attacks, just presenting the facts and conclusions based on those facts.

Truth be told, Video Games are an art form, as much as painting, writing, or making a movie. The thing is that we are the first to create an art form that is affected differently by different people. I wouldn't censor your art, so please don't censor mine.

ESRB Retail Partners:
http://www.esrb.org/retailers/partners.jsp

ESRB Ratings Guide:
http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

Xbox 360 Parental Controls:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/familysettings/console/xbox360/consolefamilysettings.htm

Wii Parental Controls:
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/wii/en_na/settingsParentalControls.jsp

PS3 Parental Controls (the url is way too long to type out)

Video Game Voters Network:
http://www.videogamevoters.org/

Blog Archive

2008-01-01T00:00:00.004-05:00

2008:
January
February
March