themblan's blog

I have been watching a lot of old American Idol videos recently. Simon Cowell is certainly entertaining, but most of the time, his criticism is pointless because he completely discourages people from pursuing their dreams without any constructive criticism. He only offers constructive criticism to people that are already good. If someone cannot sing very well, he basically drives them to the point of tears. People love to sing. It makes them happy, and it's true that not everyone can make a living off of singing, but singing may lead to other opportunities. People shouldn't just drop everything they're doing and just do something else. Maybe they can do other things that are related to music. Maybe they can sing for fun. It's sad that people's aptitude in something gets judged by how much money they could make by doing that thing. If you love to sing, it doesn't matter what others think. Just sing. Maybe you don't have to sing for the world. Sing for you

Sony has dominated three out of the four generations of home-consoles it has been a part of. The original PlayStation dominated the Nintendo 64 because of its less-expensive and larger-capacity CDs; and easier development-process. PlayStation 2 is still the best-selling dedicated videogame-platform ever created at 155 million sold. Although Nintendo improved things with their Gamecube, it wasn't enough, especially as Microsoft entered the fray and took some market-share that could have belonged to Nintendo. Nintendo's Wii technically took its generation with 101 million, but gamers did not use it as their primary gaming-device. The Xbox 360 won the hearts of gamers with 84 million sold, but PlayStation 3 caught up after a slow start, and wasn't far off, with 80 million. Wii U failed, in part, because Nintendo marketed it towards gamers, and gamers had, for the most part, ignored the Wii. PlayStation 4 did all the right things at the right times. There was a big undergroun

My natural disposition is being a positive optimist and my sister is a negative pessimist. She wasn't always that way. I think that her failures in life contributed to the development of her pessimism as a defense-mechanism to combat disappointment. I do not think that dependence on that defense-mechanism is an optimal way to live. A lot of pessimists, unironically, criticize positive or optimistic people, as if it's smarter to be critical and pessimistic all the time. Not only is being positive or optimistic not bad nor stupid, it is the best way to live. Think for one second, on a subjective level. Isn't it nicer to see the good in everything rather than the bad? When you look for and find the good in everything, you also naturally do the same for yourself, which makes you feel good. I'm not saying that you should have nonsensical hopes and dreams. Being a positive optimist is believing in a better world, not simply because you want it to be better, but you beli

After deciding I didn't need to torture myself with not buying games for a year, I decided to buy Enter the Gungeon on Thursday. Then, on Sunday, I decided to buy Doom for Nintendo Switch as well. I didn't fully realize this beforehand, but Doom is a very fast-paced first-person shooter, meaning that it is best played with a keyboard and mouse. Playing with a controller was a nightmare, and I reduced the game's difficulty to its minimum. I still think you can play slow-paced FPSes like Alien Isolation with a controller. I realized, after playing Doom on NS, that I like the game, but I'd rather play the game on PC with a keyboard and mouse, and so I purchased the game on Steam. It is downloading as I write this. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was another game I wanted to buy from the moment it came out. With my resolution abolished, I purchased it. I played the game for an hour or so. So far, it is heavy on dialogue and tutorials. I believe that, after a while, this game wil

Enter the Gungeon finally came out for NS on December 14th. It's one of the few indie games I have been looking forward to, so I decided to renege my resolution to forgo buying games until next year. It's more difficult than I expected. Binding of Isaac is easier to get through a run. I struggled mightily and finally got to the third level, but I haven't been able to pass it. It's not a simple twin-stick shooter because you need to tap or hold a button to fire, rather than just holding the analog stick in a direction for automatic fire. You also have to reload for most weapons. I don't dislike this mechanic. It is different, adds depth, and challenge to the game. The biggest problem I have is dodging bullets. I almost always dodge-roll too late. Still, this is one addictive game. I swear to myself that I will play better on the next run, and sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't. I guess that's what a roguelike is. The randomness of the rooms and the e

I saw a thumbnail on YouTube from someone who bought Gear.Club Unlimited for Nintendo Switch. This year has been an unusually strong year for simulation-racing games, but I am sure that he didn't buy Forza 7, Project Cars 2, nor Gran Turismo Sport. Instead, he bought the vastly inferior Gear.Club Unlimited just because it's for a Nintendo-system. That's so silly. I know he has a PS4, so that excuse goes out the window. Fanchildism isn't worth it. You miss out on so many games. This year's E3 was the breaking-point for me where I decided to eschew fanchildism. There were so many great games I wanted to play that were skipping NS. I had to eschew my hope that Nintendo would ever become the multiplatform powerhouse that I knew it could become if they wanted to. Even if NS was getting every multiplatform game, it still wouldn't get the exclusives for PS4 and XB1, so I decided that enough was enough. Enough of the silliness. Let us enjoy all games from all compan

Detroit: Become Human is the latest videogame to be attacked by mainstream society. There's a scene with child-abuse in the game, and of course, ignoramuses who don't play videogames are going nuts. There's this misconception that videogames are always interactive, and are always virtual reality. This couldn't be further from the truth, especially in the case of David Cage's games from Quantic Dream. His games are the complete opposite of interactive or virtual reality. They are barely-interactive movies created with real-time graphics. They are more like the old FMV-games from the Sega CD. The graphics may look real, but the interactions had therein are far from real. In fact, reading a book or watching a movie feels more real because with a book, you are actually actively using your brain to interpret words into thoughts, while in movies, there is a narrative flow that feels more real. In a Quantic Dream game, 1) animations are stiff and unimme

What is the final step on the path of a gamer? It might seem antithetical, but it's the fact and realization that you don't need games at all to make you happy. At the very least, you don't need to keep buying new games to keep you happy. A real gamer can play the same game in a multitude of ways, being creative and creating challenges for himself or herself. Games have always been a tool for the stimulation of happiness. In time, we have become addicted to them, and relied upon them for happiness. This is not the ultimate goal of the gamer. We are people, first and foremost, and so games don't define us. Consoles don't define us. Videogame-companies don't define us. We define ourselves, and one element of our own self-identification is in the games we love and play, and not the other way around. Some people may view people who play Nintendo-games, for example, as overgrown adult-children, but this is not true, nor fair. Some people may stereotype all X

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Is that really true? Of course not. In fact, the words may be more powerful than those sticks and stones, which is why I believe that comedy does more harm than good in this world. Personally, I don't use comedy these days. I don't listen to nor watch somebody else to make me laugh, just so that I feel a little better inside for one second. I don't rely on comedy like a crutch anymore, but there are a lot of people that still do. That's why it's a big industry. Comedy is produced just like any other product. Comedy, when done correctly, can be a great tool, but when abused, can be more harmful than straight-up bigotry. Comedy is like murder in cold blood. When murder is done in hot blood, or with a passion and a purpose, it is more understandable, whether it's pure anger, self-defense, hunger, or whatever else. When comedians casually toss out jokes out there, especially thos

Why do people hate Nintendo? What did they ever do to deserve the hate? Is it because they think Nintendo is destroying the gaming-industry? A lot of people want the industry to be a certain way, and when there are companies like Nintendo doing things totally differently, these people feel like it's dividing the industry. They feel like the industry should move forward with one singular goal. These people feel threatened, because they believe in a finite world. They believe this world has a finite number of gamers, money, developers, and publishers. Driving people away from what they consider "real videogames" is a threat to the existence of these "real videogames." Is it because they're family-friendly? There is a big difference between companies that solely cater to children. Nintendo tries to please everyone at the same time, which might be a mistake. By trying to please everyone, you may, inadvertently, please nobody. Is it because their hardware i

Diablo II I did not fully appreciate Diablo II until I dove into its deep and addictive loot-system. There is something called "Magic Find," and it increases your chances of finding rare items. Just going on Meph Runs (killing a boss called Mephisto) took up a lot of my time. I amassed a large collection of items and kept them in "Mule" characters and separate accounts. Before the 1.10 patch, this game had great gameplay. If you clicked on an enemy to attack, your character would go up to it and attack. After the patch, it played more like an MMORPG. Your character would sometimes be really far away from the enemy, and miss attacks. Play any patch before 1.10. World of Warcraft It is kind of unfair to list an MMORPG as a favorite game because it has years of content added to the game. It is still, however, one of my favorite games of all time. It was my second MMORPG. My first was Star Wars Galaxies, which I only played because m

Let's do something fun. Let's list my favorite games of all time. This will be in no particular order, but I will only do five today, and five tomorrow. Super Mario World The first Super Mario Bros. had a more realistic approach to physics, which was cool in its own right, but it was hard to control. You needed momentum to make longer jumps, and you could slide off platforms if you were going too fast and didn't compensate enough or quickly enough by holding the opposite direction on the d-pad. Super Mario World made the physics far easier to control, and thus, made it more fun. Super Mario World also introduced the dual-exit system. On levels that were marked by a red dot, there were two exits to the level instead of one. It was so fun exploring the levels, looking for secrets, and eventually the exits. Using the new Cape and Yoshi, there were so many things you could do. The amount of freedom and experimentation possible was unheard-of and took videogames to an

I don't understand the logic behind advertisers pulling away from YouTube because of controversial videos. The point of advertising is exposing your product to as many people as possible so that more people give you money. It doesn't matter where the advertisement is, nor who is looking at it. The point is making money. By pulling ads, you are decreasing the exposure your products get. Think about all the types of people that watch an American football-game. Some may be wholesome men and families, but some of them are probably alcoholics, pedophiles, and even murderers. Does that mean you should stop advertising your product on Monday Night Football? Of course not. Before, you had companies pulling ads from controversial videos, but now you have companies pulling ads from videos because of their comments-sections? How does that make any sense? The only reason that those disgusting comments exist is because there is a comments-section. What if people could comment d

I wonder how much of a game's budget is actually marketing, how much the marketing pays off, and how much a game would sell without, very little, or free marketing. It's sad how much brainwashing, I mean marketing, a publisher has to do to sell AAA games these days. Look at Super Mario Odyssey. They had to create a song that is not very good and dance like idiots to sell the game. Then take a look at PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. There was absolutely no marketing - just word of mouth, and it sold millions. Of course, it was cheaper than a full-price game, but it's just remarkable how a game can sell millions on reputation alone. Imagine if Nintendo allowed this kind of viral, grassroots, gamer-driven, "free marketing" to occur on YouTube and Twitch. Imagine if they weren't so stupid. They wouldn't have to spend millions to market a game and they could sell just as much, or even more.

Before and after the Nintendo Switch was revealed, a lot of people that liked the concept of a hybrid liked to ask, "What's the point in having another PS4-like system?" The reason they said that is because 1) they already had PS4s, and 2) they liked the concept of NS. What if someone didn't have a PS4, Xbox One, or powerful PC? What if he or she didn't like the concept of a hybrid that wasn't truly portable nor powerful enough to have games ported to it easily? It's okay to be like everyone else sometimes. Proponents of NS throw around the notion that being the same as or copying others is deplorable. Oh really? Then why don't you apply the same logic to Sony or Microsoft? They copy Nintendo all the time. Why does Nintendo, and Nintendo alone, have to have the burden of being different? That is unjust and discriminatory. You like to keep Nintendo in a little box that you have constructed in your mind. You think Nintendo has to be this wacky toy-co

That fanchildism is stupid is self-evident and of common sense, but it needs to be iterated over and over again. It's dumb how Nintendo-fanchildren and fanchildren in general are more interested in a company's success than their own enjoyment. Someone posted a video about a rumor about Pokemon Switch and how it could change the world and be this awesome game. The catch is that I know that he will never play the game. He only cares about the game because Pokemon sells a lot of copies. This should not be our focus in life: a company that we have no financial stake in. Be a man. Think of ourselves for once, not some company that doesn't give a damn about us. I need to conscientiously eschew fanchildism every day; acting like a fanchild is a bad habit. From a logical standpoint, I need to realize that Nintendo doesn't give a damn about me or else they would have made a powerful console that would have blown Xbox One X out of the water easily and be less

Proponents of physical games will give you BS-answers when you ask them why they like physical games over digital ones. They spout off the same answers that proponents of guns and the Republican party do. "I feel like I own the games." "You don't really own the games if you have the digital version." They talk about the rights of the consumers and blah blah blah. What they really mean is that they want to be able to sell them later. They are collectors first, and gamers second. Why do people really prefer physical games? The fetishization of physical media (materialism).   We all live in the third dimension, and there are both ugly and wonderful things about living in a physical reality. There are some beautiful boxes and cases of videogames out there. Having a beautiful box or case to behold and cherish certainly beats having nothing but an icon in a home-menu on your system. The shadow-side to the overappreciation of our physical reality is hoarding. W

Bethesda and Panic Button are fantastic. I thank them for bringing Doom to Nintendo Switch. As a longtime Nintendo-fan, however, it feels like a dream only half-fulfilled. I'm not someone that nitpicks graphics. I see video-footage of Doom, and it looks great. The main thing that turns me off is the price of $60. I'm not saying it's a right or wrong price. As a Nintendo-fan, I want to get Doom on NS, even though I can get it on my PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, but the thing that is most greatly deterring me is the price. I wanted to get this game from the time it came out but I had other excuses like being distracted and having a backlog of games. When I saw that it was coming to NS, I decided to wait for it. As long as the price is higher on NS, I will continue to wait. My full dream is for Nintendo-systems to get multiplatform games on time, at the same price; and for them to be completely on par with, or better than the other versions from the standpoints or both gr

EA pulled lootboxes from Star Wars Battlefront 2 to the celebration of gamers around the world, but who really pulled the strings? Gamers will proclaim that their incessant whining directly caused action to be taken, but is this the truth? There are rumors that Disney, the owners of the Star Wars IP, mandated EA to pull lootboxes because of the bad publicity they were causing the IP ahead of the release of the impending new movie. Now this makes much more sense. EA doesn't give a damn about gamers. It's true that the vocal minority of superfans indirectly caused the removal of lootboxes. They were the catalyst, but not the direct cause, and if Disney didn't care about the bad publicity, EA wouldn't have done a damn thing. Gamers, get over yourselves. The only power you still have is your collective money as a whole. If you didn't want lootboxes, you shouldn't have bought the game in the first place. Complaining after you buy something is meaningless, espe

Everyone has a different story, but one I hear a lot is that when they were kids, they got games on birthdays and Christmas, and other than that, they had to rent games from the video-rental store. My story is very different. I got an NES during the holiday-season on 1988 when I was 6 years old. It wasn't on Christmas-morning. I remember my father setting up the NES in the bedroom my parents, sister, and I all shared, with Super Mario Bros. + Duck Hunt. The NES was never presented to me or my sister like it was ours, or a gift for us, nor was my father interested in playing it. He just hooked it up and barely played it. I just stood there watching him emotionlessly. It's kind of sad if you think about all the videos of kids receiving their new consoles on Christmases and being overjoyed. I never got games on birthdays or Christmases until I was older, because 1) I never asked for them, and 2) my parents didn't like games nor wanted me to play them, which contradicted wi

Foreword Recently, I played through Tales of Phantasia on the original PlayStation. It's been a long time coming. I first discovered the game after DeJap Translations translated the original Super Famicom game. I did play a little bit of that ROM, but stopped shortly into it. There was someone named Frogacuda on a gaming-forum I used to frequent (Cloudchaser, Xengen, Xengamers). He evangelized about the remake on PlayStation. I bought a copy on soft.himeya.com (they don't exist anymore). At the time, there was no English translation. In fact, I had never heard of translations for PlayStation-games - only for Super Famicom games and earlier. Fortunately, people were working behind the scenes in the deep, dark dungeons of the internet, and it was finally translated: the definitive version of Tales of Phantasia could be played in English. At the time, I couldn't play the translated version on a disc playing on real PlayStation-hardware, so I used the emulator called ePSXe

There is this pervasive thought, especially in USA, that bigger is better, but I think bigger is worse. This is a response to Nadia Oxford on USGamer about how Xenoblade Chronicles 2 puts fans back where they belong: on the shoulders of giants . I always found the premise of being on a giant to be gimmicky and uninspired. Running out of ideas? Let's just make everything bigger. World of Warcraft suffers from this as well. Everything in that game is too big, from the mobs, dungeons, and even to the NPCs. It irks me when NPCs of the same race are twice my size. This is a problem in most games, especially RPGs. In Final Fantasy VI, for example, the sprites of your playable characters are stout and cute in comparison to the enemies you fight. Even an enemy that was a human and had a sprite that was the same size as your own, magically transforms and doubles in size in battle. I love games that respect proportion and don't use size as a gimmick to inspire awe. Remember when in

Spammy YouTube-Channels I highly dislike it when a YouTube-Channel spams your subscription-box with multiple videos in a row. Spread it out. I know that this type of channel is more interested in getting random views from random people, rather than their subscribers. In that case, I will simply unsubscribe. I don't want to, but the wanton disregard for their subscribers really pisses me off. Addiction to Hope & the Future Some people are addicted to hope and the future, and the euphoric feelings that these concepts bring. It is fun to look forward to games in the future, fun to imagine how good they can be. The problem is that when most games get released, they don't actualize their full potential and end up being disappointments. They may be "unfinished," and rushed to meet a deadline, or highly unpolished and full of bugs. A lot of games start off fun, but get boring and repetitive later on. What happens when a game gets boring? Most people quit. P

I've been burned so much in the past. It's amazing how I have never borrowed anything from anyone, but people have borrowed so much from me, and they have hardly ever returned the things they borrowed back to me. They just know, subconsciously, that I am a generous person, and they take advantage of that. It's kind of pointless now, but if I could go back in time and talk to my younger self, I would tell him to not lend anyone anything. Let us list the things I have never had returned back to me. Countless pens and pencils in school Bushido Blade 2 for PlayStation Either a Steven Curtis Chapman or Jars of Clay CD Super Mario Advance for Game Boy Advance A bunch of below-average SNES-games and so much more For me, personally, I have too much pride and desire to own something for myself, to borrow anything from anyone. I don't understand why people borrow things from other people. I also further don't understand why they don't return the things they bo

I have not played Sonic Forces, but I desire to one day. The general consensus, however, is that it is not a great game, which is a disappointment considering the hype surrounding the game. It was first revealed at the 25th Sonic Anniversary event in San Diego Comic Con on July 22nd, 2016 to much fanfare. People went crazy for the game. I thought it was more exciting than the other game they revealed: Sonic Mania. Fast-forward a year later, and the fortunes were reversed - Sonic Mania was very well-received and Sonic Forces was not. I feel like Sonic Team, the developers of Sonic Forces, are subconsciously fed-up with developing Sonic-games. Creative people don't want to make the same game over and over again, but since Sonic-games sell so well, the higher-ups feel like there's no choice but to keep churning them out. There was not a single exclusive Sonic-game on Sega Saturn. Instead, Sonic Team created other games like Nights and Burning Rangers. Many people felt like if

This week, EA bought Respawn Entertainment, the developer of Titanfall and Titanfall 2. Apparently Nexon put in a bid for the company as well, but EA had the right of first refusal and could match Nexon's offer; EA eventually outbid Nexon. I believe that Nintendo should have been in the talks. They also missed out on the chance to buy Crytek UK in 2014. Crytek UK, formerly known as Free Radical Design, are experts in crafting first-person shooters, a genre that Nintendo-systems are sorely lacking in. In recent years, Nintendo has had good working relationships with other companies in Japan. Bandai Namco developed Smash 4, Game Arts developed Smash Brawl, Nintendo has worked with Koei Tecmo on Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors; Sega's Amusement Vision developed F-Zero GX and AX; Namco developed Star Fox Assault, among many other examples. They are reaching out, people are responding, and they are making money together. It's a win-win situation. I understand the di

Sometimes I think I'm insane. I have a very good gaming-PC with an Intel i7-6700 and nVidia GTX 1070, a PS4 Pro, and a standard Xbox One, but I want to play Doom on NS. Does that make any sense? I don't really care that much about portability. Doom (2016) is the kind of game that I desperately wanted on Wii U. Maybe that part of me still lives and wants to experience it for himself. Nintendo-fans are dreamers. We believe in a better world. We are always hoping that things will be better in the world of gaming. Maybe we want Nintendo to be dominant once again so that we can relive our childhoods when Nintendo was dominant. Like Miyamoto himself, we are children at heart, whether we are 5 or 95. We believe in a world where a Nintendo-platform will have all of Nintendo's new games, as well as all multiplatform, AAA, third-party games. I must admit that my faith is all but gone, especially after E3. I still care, deep down, but it hurts too much to actively care like I use

I don't have that same fire with Switch that I did with Wii U. I was in love with Wii U. I had a steady income for the first time ever, and so I bought a lot of games for it; and played many hours on it. I don't have that same passion with NS. I did spend an inordinate amount of money during Wii U's lifespan. I bought two 3DSes, two Wii Us, more amiibo than I'm proud of, some physical games, and many more digital games. Perhaps I simply do not want to spend the kind of money again, on NS, like I did with Wii U. There is also, however, the matter of ports. Ports must be two generations removed for them to be tolerable. A port of a Super Mario World was fine on Game Boy Advance because the two versions were sandwiched by Nintendo 64. Full remakes can be one generation apart. Resident Evil on PlayStation was remade the following generation, but it was such a substantial leap that it was very welcome. There were too many ports from Wii U to NS early on. I felt burned. I

If you haven't read why 2002 was the best year for Nintendo-fans because of the awesome Gamecube, go read it now . Now it is time for the Game Boy Advance to shine. In 2002, Nintendo was still foolishly dividing their fanbase into two camps: one for portables, and one for home-consoles. Of course, there was overlap between the two, and their "connectivity" gimmick between Gamecube and Game Boy Advance was designed to aid that goal, but GBA sold 81 million while GC sold 21 million. The strategy did not work. 2002 saw the release of the e-Reader, which functioned a lot like amiibo on NFC-readers do today. You could scan a card in and get extra little content: physical DLC, which is much worse than digital DLC. There were a lot of great games ported from the Super Nintendo like Breath of Fire II, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, and Earthworm Jim 2. It was not a bad thing, however, because the Super Nintendo was two generations removed fr

Many people with short-term memories are saying that 2017 may be Nintendo's best year ever. I beg to differ. Back in 2002, Nintendo-fans were treated to the best year of all time. It was filled with new installments in legendary franchises, great third-party support, and all these games featured state-of-the-art graphics, whereas Nintendo Switch's games do not. In this blog-post, I will cover the Gamecube. We're not even covering Game Boy Advance today; that's how great 2002 was. Tune in tomorrow for Game Boy Advance. On January 13th, 2002 we got the third and final installment of the NBA Courtside series: NBA Courtside 2002. Why is this significant? This is significant because it harkens back to a time when Nintendo tried to cater to more markets than just mindless Nintendo-fanchildren, and took it upon themselves to fund such games. Nintendo purchased a minority-stake in the developer: Left Field Productions, and in turn, Left Field produced the aforementioned NBA C

On March 5th, 2017, you found out why I didn't like Super Mario Odyssey , and today you will find out why I still don't like Super Mario Odyssey. Thanks to USGamer, one of the costumes from Super Mario Odyssey was spoiled. I was angry for a second for having the game spoiled, but was glad because it helped me realize one of the key reasons why I don't like Super Mario Odyssey: I don't like the way Mario looks in this game. Mario is too expressive in this game. When I first saw him dancing next to a boombox in one of the trailers, I cringed so hard: Look at him opening and closing his mouth. It looks bad. Are his expressions too realistic? Is he ugly? He is not cute, cool, or badass. The costume (that USGamer spoiled for me) fixed this issue, and actually made me want to purchase the game. Visual and aural aesthetics can make or break a game for people. Some people like Sonic CD only because of the music. There is no question that its gameplay and level-design i

Don't ever craft Health Kits Don't ever craft Health Kits, especially in Grounded. In Grounded, you are two or one hit from death all the time, whether you have full health or not, so it's a waste to craft a Health Kit for just one or two hits. Instead, if you are full on Alcohol and Rags, craft a Molotov Cocktail. Play through the game on an easier difficulty-level first Play through the game on the easier difficulty-levels first so that you learn where enemies spawn, and their travel-paths. You don't get Listen Mode, so this will be very important. Ignore items that are hard to reach As a gamer that likes to check all the nooks and crannies for items, you might be tempted to get as many items as possible, but if you're in a place full of Clickers, just stealth past them. Take the easy way out. Take advantage of AI teammates If you're in a battle-scenario where AI is helping you, take advantage of them. Their damage-output is

I see it all the time. Fanchildren of all types are happy when a game that they are looking forward to gets a high review-score, even though they haven't even played the game yet. Review-scores don't mean anything. Just because a game gets a 10 doesn't mean you will like it. In fact, you may like a game that gets a 7 more than a game that gets a 10, so it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to care about high review-scores. Use your own judgment. Know your own tastes. You are not part of whatever company developed or published the game that got a high review-score, so why does it make you happy? By becoming happy about it, you are just being a foolish fanchild. To borrow a term from Blackbond, a fanchild is nothing more than a "corporate slave." Fanchildren do the work that advertising agencies and PR people are supposed to do, without getting paid. That's what a slave is: someone who works for somebody else without getting paid. Stop being a slave. If

NeoGAF imploded recently, and is effectively dead. A lot of people cried, but many people rejoiced. I was one of those that rejoiced. Sure, NeoGAF had a lot of awesome people there. There were people that dedicated their lives to making beautifully detailed posts about single games, people with deep technical knowledge and experience, people with inside-information, and developers that could directly communicate with gamers. That's where the good things ended. To even become a member of NeoGAF, you had to be "approved" and use an e-mail address that wasn't free. I understand not wanting massive amounts of people signing up, or multiple accounts by single individuals. Ironically, however, making NeoGAF an exclusive club made the appeal to join the forums far greater, and thus attracted massive amounts of people to them. I am not an opponent of being "approved," but I am an opponent of the caustic moderation that happens there. Once you get approved, you a

Gran Turismo Sport has been getting a lot of backlash. Some of it is warranted, and some of it is not. The ones doing the backlashing are probably hardcore Gran Turismo fans who are disappointed that it isn't like the other games in the series. Fortunately, I am not one of those people. The only other Gran Turismo game I owned was the original back on the PlayStation. I played it for a little bit, but I stopped because I couldn't get the A-International license. I achieved my dream of getting a Mitsubishi Eclipse, drove it around a little, but the gameplay wasn't very fun, so I quit. The game had 140 cars, and back then, it seemed like an unfathomably large amount. Ever since then, Polyphony Digital has been upping the car-count from game to game, and other developers like Turn 10 Studios with their Forza-games have been copying them. Would Forza exist without Gran Turismo? No. My point is, "Don't knock the original innovators for not doing the same thing they