Saturday, November 21, 2009
Games Japan Festa: Call it TGS-Lite
The Tokyo Game Show is certainly Japan's largest gaming exhibition, but it's not the only event that's open to the public. Here in Osaka, the eighth annual Games Japan Festa took place last weekend. It may have lacked the bombastic spectacle of TGS but it was free and it was not without its charms.
To be sure, Games Japan Festa is a much smaller gathering with a much different focus. TGS is a business event first and a public event second, and the crowds that show up take gaming seriously. At GJF, there were no press conferences, no giant video screens, no real booths to speak of and I only saw one cosplayer all day.
Instead, GJF kept things simple. Far from the gargantuan excesses of TGS, GJF was housed entirely in a single room roughly the size of a gymnasium. Most games were simply shown on wall-mounted televisions without any statues or spinning lights to dazzle the senses. The room was also much quieter, with no music being broadcast and not a single megaphone in sight.
A large number of the games on display at GJF were already on sale, either here in Japan or overseas (or both). In many cases, the software was not a demo version but was the real deal, monitored by a staff member and reset for each player. I felt bad for the people playing Batman Arkham Asylum who had to walk through the entire prison entrance scene.
Microsoft had the largest installation and was the only exhibitor to recruit booth babes, though the word "booth" doesn't seem appropriate. It very much had the look of the TGS space but it was quite open and spread out with no clear division between it and the neighboring displays. There were a few stand-up demo kiosks around the perimeter but most of the gaming stations came with seats. The Tekken 6 display even included joysticks rather than gamepads.
If there is one word that describes GJF perfectly, it is "casual." The event was well attended but was never crowded, and people lined up to play games but without any of the epic waits that visitors to TGS must endure. The attendees were also much more varied than the typical TGS attendees. I saw plenty of young couples, families with small children, even single women. On the day I attended, a popular radio duo appeared on the stage and the entire room filled with the squeals of their female fans. It was the noisiest the show floor ever got.
From a news standpoint, there wasn't much on display at Games Japan Festa that I hadn't seen before but I found a few curiosities that weren't shown at TGS and wrote about them for Game|Life.
Local developer SNK didn't make the trip to Tokyo this year but they were at last week's event, showing off Metal Slug XX and a new 3D Samurai Shodown game.
I played Umihara Kawase for the first time on the DS. It's kind of like Bionic Commando without all that shooting.
I only played two Western games at the show, Avatar and Left 4 Dead 2. I didn't bother writing anything about the second one because I don't know what else I can say about it. Between my preview at TGS and our discussion on The DoFuss Show I think I've exhausted myself of L4D2 opinions.
The only possible thing I could add is that at the show I played it in Japanese for the first time and it was a mess because everything is subtitled rather than dubbed. This means that when the shit hits the fan and everyone starts shouting, the screen is filled with text. What a waste of visual real estate!
In other news, I just got my first check from Wired today. That means I am now, officially, a professional writer. Feels pretty cool. Now all I have to do is figure out how to deposit it in my US bank account, because Japanese banks don't do checks. But hey, it's still a first step, right? Right.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
To be sure, Games Japan Festa is a much smaller gathering with a much different focus. TGS is a business event first and a public event second, and the crowds that show up take gaming seriously. At GJF, there were no press conferences, no giant video screens, no real booths to speak of and I only saw one cosplayer all day.
Instead, GJF kept things simple. Far from the gargantuan excesses of TGS, GJF was housed entirely in a single room roughly the size of a gymnasium. Most games were simply shown on wall-mounted televisions without any statues or spinning lights to dazzle the senses. The room was also much quieter, with no music being broadcast and not a single megaphone in sight.
A large number of the games on display at GJF were already on sale, either here in Japan or overseas (or both). In many cases, the software was not a demo version but was the real deal, monitored by a staff member and reset for each player. I felt bad for the people playing Batman Arkham Asylum who had to walk through the entire prison entrance scene.
Microsoft had the largest installation and was the only exhibitor to recruit booth babes, though the word "booth" doesn't seem appropriate. It very much had the look of the TGS space but it was quite open and spread out with no clear division between it and the neighboring displays. There were a few stand-up demo kiosks around the perimeter but most of the gaming stations came with seats. The Tekken 6 display even included joysticks rather than gamepads.
If there is one word that describes GJF perfectly, it is "casual." The event was well attended but was never crowded, and people lined up to play games but without any of the epic waits that visitors to TGS must endure. The attendees were also much more varied than the typical TGS attendees. I saw plenty of young couples, families with small children, even single women. On the day I attended, a popular radio duo appeared on the stage and the entire room filled with the squeals of their female fans. It was the noisiest the show floor ever got.
From a news standpoint, there wasn't much on display at Games Japan Festa that I hadn't seen before but I found a few curiosities that weren't shown at TGS and wrote about them for Game|Life.
Local developer SNK didn't make the trip to Tokyo this year but they were at last week's event, showing off Metal Slug XX and a new 3D Samurai Shodown game.
I played Umihara Kawase for the first time on the DS. It's kind of like Bionic Commando without all that shooting.
I only played two Western games at the show, Avatar and Left 4 Dead 2. I didn't bother writing anything about the second one because I don't know what else I can say about it. Between my preview at TGS and our discussion on The DoFuss Show I think I've exhausted myself of L4D2 opinions.
The only possible thing I could add is that at the show I played it in Japanese for the first time and it was a mess because everything is subtitled rather than dubbed. This means that when the shit hits the fan and everyone starts shouting, the screen is filled with text. What a waste of visual real estate!
In other news, I just got my first check from Wired today. That means I am now, officially, a professional writer. Feels pretty cool. Now all I have to do is figure out how to deposit it in my US bank account, because Japanese banks don't do checks. But hey, it's still a first step, right? Right.
Labels: Games Japan Festa, Left4Dead, Osaka, video games, Wired, writing
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Belated Birthday, Timely Podcast
Yesterday was my birthday, and as a present to myself I decided not to spend the last hour or so of the day trying to write something profound about turning 33. Instead, I played Bayonetta* for about an hour and had fun. Honestly, it's been over a week since I played any game simply for the fun of it so I deserved that break. And so far, Bayonetta is lot of fun.
Oh yeah, check out the lovely birthday present I received from my lovely wife:
Speaking of games and fun, I made another appearance on The Dofuss Show, Alex's homemade gaming podcast. Last time we talked about TGS for a couple hours weeks after the show had ended, but this time we are a bit more topical. Here's an overview of what we discussed:
In other news, I am in the process of submitting stories to Wired Game|Life concerning my trip to Games Japan Festa last weekend. I will share any posts once they are approved. In the meantime you might be happy to hear that another one of my English stories was translated into Japanese (check it out). This doesn't mean any extra money for me or anything, but I do get a real kick out of seeing my name (and a photo I took) on Japanese websites. Once WiredVision carries a story, other Japanese sites tend to rehash that story elsewhere, so my name does get around.
I'm really looking forward to this three-day weekend. Mako's parents are going to watch Go for us so we can spend Saturday together as a couple. There's also a gaming party on Monday that sounds like a blast. Alas, I'd trade it all for a trip home for Thanksgiving. Turkey is so hard to find in this country!
*Read that Wikipedia article very carefully by the way...particularly the Pre-Release section! OMG
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Oh yeah, check out the lovely birthday present I received from my lovely wife:
Speaking of games and fun, I made another appearance on The Dofuss Show, Alex's homemade gaming podcast. Last time we talked about TGS for a couple hours weeks after the show had ended, but this time we are a bit more topical. Here's an overview of what we discussed:
- My recent article on Wired Game|Life concerning crane games filled with desserts
- My fondness for Kongregate.com
- Alex's experience (and general distaste with) Sony's PlayFace campaign
- He has finished Bayonetta and Uncharted 2 but is still plodding through Wii shovelware like Ultimate Band
- I like Burnout Paradise even though I hate racing games
- My Left 4 Dead 2 thoughts segue into the news concerning its censorship in Australia
- Neither of us wants to play Modern Warfare 2 but we have some words over its infamous "F.A.G.S." viral video
- Remember my Bitmob piece on grinding? Alex disagrees with me
- Speculation about the future of the DSiLL, with anecdote from Gwyn's blog
- Darren's Old Games: Cybernator is better than you
In other news, I am in the process of submitting stories to Wired Game|Life concerning my trip to Games Japan Festa last weekend. I will share any posts once they are approved. In the meantime you might be happy to hear that another one of my English stories was translated into Japanese (check it out). This doesn't mean any extra money for me or anything, but I do get a real kick out of seeing my name (and a photo I took) on Japanese websites. Once WiredVision carries a story, other Japanese sites tend to rehash that story elsewhere, so my name does get around.
I'm really looking forward to this three-day weekend. Mako's parents are going to watch Go for us so we can spend Saturday together as a couple. There's also a gaming party on Monday that sounds like a blast. Alas, I'd trade it all for a trip home for Thanksgiving. Turkey is so hard to find in this country!
*Read that Wikipedia article very carefully by the way...particularly the Pre-Release section! OMG
Labels: Alex, Bayonetta, family, friends, podcast, The DoFuss Show, video games, Wired, writing
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Week That Was: Teaching, Presenting, & Gaming
Quite a week, that. Three days of teaching (two in my biggest, unfriendliest school) plus two days attending the JET mid-year seminar. It was a nice break from my usual routine and I did enjoy having a chance to go into the city instead of heading out into the countryside. And hey, free calligraphy lesson
This year's seminar was a little different/scarier because I had to deliver a presentation of my own: "Juggling Elementary Schools." I guess I should have seen this coming. After years of complaining that the JET Programme didn't do enough to address the unique issues of elementary schools, it seems I have become the best person to actually talk about those issues. I just wish I had a time machine to go back to 2007 and deliver this workshop to myself because I was still nervous as hell back then.
Funny sidenote: when I was first contacted to deliver this presentation, I was standing on the floor of the Tokyo Game Show back in September. Talk about worlds colliding!
And while we're talking games, I should mention that I went to Games Japan Festa 2009 in Osaka on Saturday. The show lasted two days but to be frank, it was a small show. I will be writing a few things about it for Wired Game|Life but anything that I don't cover there I will report on right here.
And as long as we're on the subject, my story on dessert-dispensing crane games went live on that site late last week. Go on and have a read if you didn't already. For the record I did not win anything in the two separate visits I made but I would absolutely consider going again if I had company, hopefully in the form of someone good at crane games. I want pudding, damn it!
つづく...(Click here to read more)
This year's seminar was a little different/scarier because I had to deliver a presentation of my own: "Juggling Elementary Schools." I guess I should have seen this coming. After years of complaining that the JET Programme didn't do enough to address the unique issues of elementary schools, it seems I have become the best person to actually talk about those issues. I just wish I had a time machine to go back to 2007 and deliver this workshop to myself because I was still nervous as hell back then.
Funny sidenote: when I was first contacted to deliver this presentation, I was standing on the floor of the Tokyo Game Show back in September. Talk about worlds colliding!
And while we're talking games, I should mention that I went to Games Japan Festa 2009 in Osaka on Saturday. The show lasted two days but to be frank, it was a small show. I will be writing a few things about it for Wired Game|Life but anything that I don't cover there I will report on right here.
And as long as we're on the subject, my story on dessert-dispensing crane games went live on that site late last week. Go on and have a read if you didn't already. For the record I did not win anything in the two separate visits I made but I would absolutely consider going again if I had company, hopefully in the form of someone good at crane games. I want pudding, damn it!
Labels: JET, Osaka, teaching, video games, Wired
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Monday, November 09, 2009
For My Sister
Kind of a special day today. Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall came down...on my sister's Nth birthday. Is it silly that both of these anniversaries are battling for my thoughts?
Yes, it is!
I mean, it goes without saying that my sister's birth was the more momentous occasion in my life. I have only vague memories of going to the hospital that day, and I doubt very much that nearly-three-year-old me had any concept of what a new baby meant. Records from that time suggest I didn't take to my new sibling very well, as I began taking out my frustrations on other children at nursery school. I actually became a bully during this time, if you can believe that.
Our relationship had real ups and downs as the years passed. There were times where we found common interests and played games together, but there were also times when I believe we seriously hated one another. It rarely manifested itself physically, but there was a lot of tension in the house by the time we were both in high school. Then again, with my parents' divorce I guess the entire family was quietly tearing itself apart so two kids arguing wasn't really a big deal.
Things improved vastly once the four of us were no longer expected to live in the same house anymore. First it was Mom and Dad that separated, then Salena started college and I moved out shortly after that. I can remember going through a lot of difficult personal issues at that time, but at least fighting with my sister was no longer one of them. It didn't take long for our relationship settle in a very cordial position and I think it's stayed there ever since.
When I look at my son and I see myself (let's face it, he looks just like me) I often wonder what would happen if we had another baby. It's obviously something Mako wants, and I think deep down I want it too. I think back to the bad times my sister and I had, of course, but as nasty as things got that can't overshadow the years of good times, particularly as adults in the last decade or so. Go and his theoretical younger sibling would clash over dumb things like the television remote and who got to sit on the pillow in the backseat of the car, but eventually the two of them would be able to go to the movies together and laugh at their parents' behavior.
Let's face it; a brother or sister is often the only person you can really talk to about your parents. If Salena hadn't been there to commiserate with, I would have needed twice as many psychologists and therapists to discuss all the stuff that went on in my head. In my mind I see myself being a loving and attentive father, but I'm going to make mistakes. When that happens, won't Go need a safety valve, a partner in crime, a comrade-in-arms?
Alright, I've turned this birthday greeting into a tortured look at my own past/horrible vision of Go's future. My point is, my sister means a lot to me despite the fact that we now only see each other once or twice a year, tops. If we never spoke again I'd owe her for the years that she was there for me. I certainly didn't offer much older brotherly advice in the ways of the world; hell, for years she was the one doing everything right and I was the one who needed guidance.
So thank you, Salena, for *cough cough* years of being there for me and nevermind the three or four when we made each other miserable. I know you're in the middle of a lot of stuff right now and I can only hope that my recent happiness has, in some small way, helped you figure out what you want to do next. If yes, I still owe you, but at least I could partially make up for the time when I wasn't much of a brother.
Happy Birthday.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Yes, it is!
I mean, it goes without saying that my sister's birth was the more momentous occasion in my life. I have only vague memories of going to the hospital that day, and I doubt very much that nearly-three-year-old me had any concept of what a new baby meant. Records from that time suggest I didn't take to my new sibling very well, as I began taking out my frustrations on other children at nursery school. I actually became a bully during this time, if you can believe that.
Our relationship had real ups and downs as the years passed. There were times where we found common interests and played games together, but there were also times when I believe we seriously hated one another. It rarely manifested itself physically, but there was a lot of tension in the house by the time we were both in high school. Then again, with my parents' divorce I guess the entire family was quietly tearing itself apart so two kids arguing wasn't really a big deal.
Things improved vastly once the four of us were no longer expected to live in the same house anymore. First it was Mom and Dad that separated, then Salena started college and I moved out shortly after that. I can remember going through a lot of difficult personal issues at that time, but at least fighting with my sister was no longer one of them. It didn't take long for our relationship settle in a very cordial position and I think it's stayed there ever since.
When I look at my son and I see myself (let's face it, he looks just like me) I often wonder what would happen if we had another baby. It's obviously something Mako wants, and I think deep down I want it too. I think back to the bad times my sister and I had, of course, but as nasty as things got that can't overshadow the years of good times, particularly as adults in the last decade or so. Go and his theoretical younger sibling would clash over dumb things like the television remote and who got to sit on the pillow in the backseat of the car, but eventually the two of them would be able to go to the movies together and laugh at their parents' behavior.
Let's face it; a brother or sister is often the only person you can really talk to about your parents. If Salena hadn't been there to commiserate with, I would have needed twice as many psychologists and therapists to discuss all the stuff that went on in my head. In my mind I see myself being a loving and attentive father, but I'm going to make mistakes. When that happens, won't Go need a safety valve, a partner in crime, a comrade-in-arms?
Alright, I've turned this birthday greeting into a tortured look at my own past/horrible vision of Go's future. My point is, my sister means a lot to me despite the fact that we now only see each other once or twice a year, tops. If we never spoke again I'd owe her for the years that she was there for me. I certainly didn't offer much older brotherly advice in the ways of the world; hell, for years she was the one doing everything right and I was the one who needed guidance.
So thank you, Salena, for *cough cough* years of being there for me and nevermind the three or four when we made each other miserable. I know you're in the middle of a lot of stuff right now and I can only hope that my recent happiness has, in some small way, helped you figure out what you want to do next. If yes, I still owe you, but at least I could partially make up for the time when I wasn't much of a brother.
Happy Birthday.
Labels: anniversary, family, fuzzy memories, number one son, predicting the future
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Thursday, November 05, 2009
No Time to Celebrate
It seems that the Yankees have won the World Series, or at least that's what my mobile phone is telling me. I would have loved to see even one of Matsui's hits live on television today, but it just wasn't meant to be. Congratulations are in order, regardless. He might not be a Yankee next year but he can still play baseball so I wish him luck wherever he ends up.
Unless he goes to Boston of course. Fuck Boston.
I wanted to point out a couple of things I've posted over at Bitmob in the past week. First, I wrote a little something concerning how I feel about grinding in role playing games. The piece started off as a sprawling trip through my entire RPG-rich gaming history, but I cut most of that as it was irrelevant to the point I was trying to make. I saved it in a separate file though, as I think I can use it in the future.
In a more self-indulgent piece, I introduced myself to the Bitmob community in what is known as a "Meet the Mob" post. I decided to write mine using a third-person perspective, as if I was a commodity or product for sale. So far it hasn't gotten much attention but it made me laugh.
I've got a very busy week coming up, so I hope to take things easy this weekend. Expect fewer posts as my writing energy will be diverted elsewhere. I promise I'll put something up around my birthday though, if only to remind people of when that actually is (the 18th, thanks for asking).
Speaking of birthdays, I know someone else with a big one in the pipeline. I guess she deserves a mention on here as well...
11/6 UPDATE: The above-mentioned RPG piece got bumped up to the front page of Bitmob today, a rare treat. Then things got really nuts when another reader wrote an entire response article. How awesome is that?
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Unless he goes to Boston of course. Fuck Boston.
I wanted to point out a couple of things I've posted over at Bitmob in the past week. First, I wrote a little something concerning how I feel about grinding in role playing games. The piece started off as a sprawling trip through my entire RPG-rich gaming history, but I cut most of that as it was irrelevant to the point I was trying to make. I saved it in a separate file though, as I think I can use it in the future.
In a more self-indulgent piece, I introduced myself to the Bitmob community in what is known as a "Meet the Mob" post. I decided to write mine using a third-person perspective, as if I was a commodity or product for sale. So far it hasn't gotten much attention but it made me laugh.
I've got a very busy week coming up, so I hope to take things easy this weekend. Expect fewer posts as my writing energy will be diverted elsewhere. I promise I'll put something up around my birthday though, if only to remind people of when that actually is (the 18th, thanks for asking).
Speaking of birthdays, I know someone else with a big one in the pipeline. I guess she deserves a mention on here as well...
11/6 UPDATE: The above-mentioned RPG piece got bumped up to the front page of Bitmob today, a rare treat. Then things got really nuts when another reader wrote an entire response article. How awesome is that?
Labels: baseball, Bitmob, writing, Yankees
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Monday, November 02, 2009
Mister November
I so wish I was watching baseball right now. On the other side of the planet, Game Four of the World Series is taking place but as I write this, I'm stuck sitting in the smallest school in Osaka. I've never wanted a portable television more than I do right now.
Sure, there's the internet, and I have used that to check in with the game from time to time. Last I checked the score was tied at 4 in the eighth. Not bad news but not great news either. I've only got one more chance to see a game live this week and that will be Game 5 on Tuesday (Japan time). If the Yankees win today*, I could potentially see them clinch it tomorrow. Otherwise, no matter who wins it I'll be missing out as Games 6 and 7 will take place before the weekend starts. Sigh.
Beyond the Series itself, one bit of news leaped off the screen and jabbed me in the eye: Derek Jeter won an award. Specifically, the Hank Aaron Award which "recognizes the most outstanding offensive performer in each League." Apparently fans have a say in choosing the recipient, so I guess that's bound to screw up the system, but even Yankee fans should be scratching their heads at this news, perhaps even hanging their heads in embarrassment.
Take a look at that announcement again. There's a brief synopsis of the winners' achievements this year. For Albert Pujols (the NL winner) they note his league-leading on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and home run total. That's good! For Jeter, the strongest thing they can offer is passing Lou Gehrig in career hits. That's not bad but it's completely irrelevant.
Jeter led the league in absolutely nothing this year, other than playing games at shortstop for the New York Yankees which isn't really an offensive category. He had a lot of hits and a decent batting average, but his home runs and RBI totals were remarkably low. Indeed, looking at this list of past Hank Aaron Award winners, his low numbers are second only to...Derek Jeter in 2006.
As professional comedy writer/angry sports fan Ken Tremendous said this morning, Jeter is perhaps the fifth-best hitter on his own team to say nothing of the entire American League. Without even looking it up I'm going to guess that Joe Mauer of the Twins had an outstanding year at the plate (ok, I later looked it up) but since he suffers the dual handicap of (A) playing in Minnesota and (B) not being named Derek Jeter, I guess none of the fans that voted had ever heard of him.
I'm not trying to knock on Jeter as a player; I am a fan of the Yankees and of him personally. When he does good things, I get a giddy feeling that has no rational explanation. There's just something fun about watching him succeed despite having years of success under his belt. It's like rooting for an underdog who is actually comfortably sitting on top of the world.
But why the hell do baseball writers and fans insist on handing him trophy after trophy? I know awards are subjective and sometimes they are not earned but simply received because people feel like it was "his time" or some nonsense. It's like when Martin Scorsese won his first Best Director Oscar for The Departed when he should have won it at least twice before for far better films.
This is Derek Fucking Jeter we're talking about. He's fantastically wealthy and handsome and he plays on the most popular team in the world. He's rolling in acclaim and probably has entire closets full of first-place ribbons and the like. Can't we just stop fawning over him and actually award players who deserve such accolades? Can't we give Joe Mauer a headline in November instead of a guy who's already in the midst of winning a World Series for the fifth fucking time?
*Note: The Yankees did win before I got home and uploaded this post onto the internet, but that still doesn't explain why Derek Jeter won another award. Boo...but yay!
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Sure, there's the internet, and I have used that to check in with the game from time to time. Last I checked the score was tied at 4 in the eighth. Not bad news but not great news either. I've only got one more chance to see a game live this week and that will be Game 5 on Tuesday (Japan time). If the Yankees win today*, I could potentially see them clinch it tomorrow. Otherwise, no matter who wins it I'll be missing out as Games 6 and 7 will take place before the weekend starts. Sigh.
Beyond the Series itself, one bit of news leaped off the screen and jabbed me in the eye: Derek Jeter won an award. Specifically, the Hank Aaron Award which "recognizes the most outstanding offensive performer in each League." Apparently fans have a say in choosing the recipient, so I guess that's bound to screw up the system, but even Yankee fans should be scratching their heads at this news, perhaps even hanging their heads in embarrassment.
Take a look at that announcement again. There's a brief synopsis of the winners' achievements this year. For Albert Pujols (the NL winner) they note his league-leading on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and home run total. That's good! For Jeter, the strongest thing they can offer is passing Lou Gehrig in career hits. That's not bad but it's completely irrelevant.
Jeter led the league in absolutely nothing this year, other than playing games at shortstop for the New York Yankees which isn't really an offensive category. He had a lot of hits and a decent batting average, but his home runs and RBI totals were remarkably low. Indeed, looking at this list of past Hank Aaron Award winners, his low numbers are second only to...Derek Jeter in 2006.
As professional comedy writer/angry sports fan Ken Tremendous said this morning, Jeter is perhaps the fifth-best hitter on his own team to say nothing of the entire American League. Without even looking it up I'm going to guess that Joe Mauer of the Twins had an outstanding year at the plate (ok, I later looked it up) but since he suffers the dual handicap of (A) playing in Minnesota and (B) not being named Derek Jeter, I guess none of the fans that voted had ever heard of him.
I'm not trying to knock on Jeter as a player; I am a fan of the Yankees and of him personally. When he does good things, I get a giddy feeling that has no rational explanation. There's just something fun about watching him succeed despite having years of success under his belt. It's like rooting for an underdog who is actually comfortably sitting on top of the world.
But why the hell do baseball writers and fans insist on handing him trophy after trophy? I know awards are subjective and sometimes they are not earned but simply received because people feel like it was "his time" or some nonsense. It's like when Martin Scorsese won his first Best Director Oscar for The Departed when he should have won it at least twice before for far better films.
This is Derek Fucking Jeter we're talking about. He's fantastically wealthy and handsome and he plays on the most popular team in the world. He's rolling in acclaim and probably has entire closets full of first-place ribbons and the like. Can't we just stop fawning over him and actually award players who deserve such accolades? Can't we give Joe Mauer a headline in November instead of a guy who's already in the midst of winning a World Series for the fifth fucking time?
*Note: The Yankees did win before I got home and uploaded this post onto the internet, but that still doesn't explain why Derek Jeter won another award. Boo...but yay!
Labels: baseball, frustration, predicting the future, Yankees
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Three Cheers
And now a quick look and three things I've written outside the friendly confines of feitclub.com
Over on Bitmob it's Horror Week, so I posted a love letter to one of my favorite scary games, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. It's a game I wish I could play again for Halloween because it is genuinely frightening.
In the rerun department, I posted a slightly-edited version of my Tale of TGS at Bitmob because I believed the story would be of interest to other writers. The only new content is at the end where I offer my own advice on not being gunshy about writing or trying to find work in that field. I'm hardly a shining success story but I am proud of what I accomplished in a relatively short period of time. A little pride, in this case, is a good thing.
This third item was a surprise: Mako plugged my name in Yahoo Japan (not sure why) and she discovered one of my articles in Japanese on the Nikkei Shinbun website. As it turns out, it came from this Japanese Wired portal where someone took my original post about a game for blind people and translated it. That translation then circulated among a number of Japanese news websites as a "culture" item. I think this was the first moment Mako was actually impressed by my work, now that she saw it in Japanese. Having a photo I took included with the piece helped too, although my photo credit is a little more obvious than my writing credit.
Alright, so one new thing plus two old things reworked, one of which was done by a stranger. Still, good news is good, right?
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Over on Bitmob it's Horror Week, so I posted a love letter to one of my favorite scary games, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. It's a game I wish I could play again for Halloween because it is genuinely frightening.
In the rerun department, I posted a slightly-edited version of my Tale of TGS at Bitmob because I believed the story would be of interest to other writers. The only new content is at the end where I offer my own advice on not being gunshy about writing or trying to find work in that field. I'm hardly a shining success story but I am proud of what I accomplished in a relatively short period of time. A little pride, in this case, is a good thing.
This third item was a surprise: Mako plugged my name in Yahoo Japan (not sure why) and she discovered one of my articles in Japanese on the Nikkei Shinbun website. As it turns out, it came from this Japanese Wired portal where someone took my original post about a game for blind people and translated it. That translation then circulated among a number of Japanese news websites as a "culture" item. I think this was the first moment Mako was actually impressed by my work, now that she saw it in Japanese. Having a photo I took included with the piece helped too, although my photo credit is a little more obvious than my writing credit.
Alright, so one new thing plus two old things reworked, one of which was done by a stranger. Still, good news is good, right?
Labels: Bitmob, Eternal Darkness, Japan, TGS, Wired, writing
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
From Rand to The Road
Quick heads-up: I've posted a list of quotations from The Fountainhead which I will be linking to last week's post about the book as a whole. I enjoyed the book a lot and I found myself taking notes as I read, so I decided to type up those quotes which grabbed my attention and share them with you. I'm probably not the first person to put Ayn Rand quotes on the internet but what the hell, right? It's not like this site couldn't use a bit more class.
There's no spoilers, so if you haven't read the book feel free to read the list and consider whether or not it makes the characters and philosophy sound like something worth exploring. Oh, and the Howard Roark quote from page 602 was one I saw on a T-shirt a few weeks back while walking in Umeda. The wearer looked an awful lot like me, actually. I took it as a sign that I needed to finish reading the book.
I think Atlas Shrugged is going to have to wait for at least a month or two. Hopefully I can finish it before BioShock 2 comes out, not that those two things are necessarily going to be connected. In the meantime, I picked up The Road on a semi-whim this weekend after reading this piece about gaming connecting with other media. It was a paperback so it was pretty affordable. Once I got home I looked it up properly and discovered it has an almost hyperbolic-level of praise. It's also been made into a movie that comes out in the US next month, so this is a good time to read it before the internet start plastering spoilers all over the place.
I also still have a cold from the weekend but it should be gone by Halloween. At the very least, my busiest days of the week are behind me.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
There's no spoilers, so if you haven't read the book feel free to read the list and consider whether or not it makes the characters and philosophy sound like something worth exploring. Oh, and the Howard Roark quote from page 602 was one I saw on a T-shirt a few weeks back while walking in Umeda. The wearer looked an awful lot like me, actually. I took it as a sign that I needed to finish reading the book.
I think Atlas Shrugged is going to have to wait for at least a month or two. Hopefully I can finish it before BioShock 2 comes out, not that those two things are necessarily going to be connected. In the meantime, I picked up The Road on a semi-whim this weekend after reading this piece about gaming connecting with other media. It was a paperback so it was pretty affordable. Once I got home I looked it up properly and discovered it has an almost hyperbolic-level of praise. It's also been made into a movie that comes out in the US next month, so this is a good time to read it before the internet start plastering spoilers all over the place.
I also still have a cold from the weekend but it should be gone by Halloween. At the very least, my busiest days of the week are behind me.
Labels: books, The Fountainhead, The Road
つづく...(Click here to read more)
