190 Days UP - "And everything you thought was just so important doesn't matter..."

I was a very late bloomer when it came to music. I think before high school, I could only say I knew the works of two artists: Michael Jackson, and Weird Al Yankovic, whom I discovered through his parodies of the late pop singer.

Hmm, I remember him looking fatter here.

Having said this, there was video game music I was absolutely passionate about as a kid. To this day, one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time belongs to Final Fantasy IV (which was Final Fantasy II in the States, at the time I played it), scored by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu, who managed to move my heart with just about every 16 bit digital midi track* he put into that game. From the adrenaline pumping battle music, to the whimsical character songs and victory fanfare, and finally the sorrowful songs that would play whenever tragedy struck your party.

I used to pause the game (assuming the music kept playing) and lay down on my bed just listening to what was probably a 2:00 minute loop of the song over and over again. I did this with a few games - only my super duper personal favorites (one in particular I've mentioned before) that I would have scoured the internet and downloaded at the time, had that been an option. Super Castlevania IV, a few tracks from Street Fighter 2 (random, I know), a lot of stuff from A Link To The Past, and even the final stage in Little Nemo: The Dream Master.

I don't know if it left me with an 'unrefined' taste in music - but heck, even if it did, I don't think most people got to really experience music like I did as a kid. To have this intense, operatic score start to blare right as the party you spent 50+ hours with, traveling and fighting along on a journey prepares to fight this awe encompassing final battle against Zeromus - a demon from another planet (the second moon, to be precise) - is nothing short of mind-blowing.

My greatest accomplishment as a 13 year old.

And honestly, it really can't be compared to say, seeing Billy Joel at the Jones Beach Theater for the first time. I mean, he's great and all*, don't get me wrong. But game music, when done well was just...so much more. These amazing soundtracks shaped the experience as much as (if not moreso) the script, the sprites, and the controller.

Video game music shifted once it became pretty much like real music. And with a few exceptions, sadly it's just not as memorable anymore - though this could just be me finally having some legitimately great music compare it to*. There was just something about being that age at that time, having that level of interest in games/lack of interest in 'real' music that made for the perfect storm of...well, me being a huge geek about this stuff.

-Matt

Currently Playing: Just beat Prince of Persia, and of course they got me to download the epilogue right away (I still don't know how I feel about giving us the cliffhanger ending just to ensure we download the rest of the story), and after owning the Orange Box for nearly two years I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel with Half Life 2 - of course with Parts 1 and 2 still waiting to be touched. After reading a glowing review from Mr. Justin McElroy, I decided to try out the point and click adventure game Ben There, Dan That, and quickly followed that up with a purchase of Time Gentlemen, Please! Dabbled a bit in an enjoyable, discounted N+, and I finally got around to buying (but not quite yet unwrapping) Professor Layton and The Curious Village.

*I may be butchering the terminology - again, late bloomer
*Nothing's the matter, Mr. Joel, I'm sorry I got you started on that tangent
*Obvioulsy I'm referring to Fall Out Boy

180 Days UP - "Keep a calendar this way you will always know..."

I just had one of those rare days where I feel like I barely did anything, but a lot of stuff still got done. Does that make any sense?

In any event, I have some exciting news! I was recently asked to become a blogger for a new gaming website, ampedgaming, all thanks to this blog! I'm extremely thankful for the opportunity, and I like to think of this as the latest sweet reward for my year off back in 2008. Check out the site if you have any interest in gaming news - and/or random silly pictures of me. My posting nickname is RC Jester (like my gamertag). I plan to continue writing in this blog, as I don't think the gaming community is quite ready for updates on my cat, my time at the gym, or an update on my earwax situation (stay tuned for this post, loyal readers).

So - six months back into playing games, and I feel like I've managed to strike a nice balance of being a productive gamer (also known as a slacker) and a productive member of society (also known as an upstanding citizen?). Of course being unemployed for five months certainly helped.

Finally, I was late to the party, but I'm currently having my mind BLOWN by The Wire. I've written in the past about having a great appreciation for great television - one that takes the slow burn approach to its characters, its plot and its themes. I don't think there's ever been a show to do things as well as this show. And I'm only three seasons in! If you like good television, and you consider yourself a fairly patient person (I'll admit it takes a little while to suck you in), then do yourself a favor and check out this show on DVD if you haven't already.

-Matt

Currently Playing: N+ (thank you for the discount, Microsoft), Prince of Persia, and I finally started Patapon this week. All good games, and pretty enjoyable, but I feel like I waiting to hooked on something like I am with the Wire right now. Ah, well - Fall's practically around the corner!

172 Days UP - "Pull over the car, pull over the car, I think I see some sweet squirrel rim..."

I don't remember many of the details of my dream from last night, but I know at some point I was with a friend who had had a bit too much to drink. We were roaming the streets of New York City looking for our car, and when we finally found it my friend drunkenly pulled out his keys and told me to get in. I hesitated and told him he was way too drunk, and when that didn't work, what did I do next? I said to myself: "this seems dangerous, and stupid. I should save my game."

I really need to start keeping a dream journal.

-Matt

170 Days UP - "Time and time again we fall into the depths of who we are, but you can't keep running away from you're trying to find..."

Pardon me while I get a little 'blog-meta' and break the fourth wall here for a second - there are four tabs at the top of the posting page: "Posting," "Setting," "Layout," and "Monetize." Although I've barely pressed the second and third tab, I've actually never pressed the fourth tab at all. Not even just for a curious look. Why? Two reasons: 1) I never thought my blog was popular enough that it was worth putting ads on it, and 2) I have a really really stupid, negative association with that word.

But this doesn't tell me how to make money being a publishing-cards-audio-book-mentor!

Monetizing on something fun and/or creative instantly puts an irrational image in my head of corporate suits, greedy lawyers, and money-grubbing (soon to be) ex-wives all getting involved. I visualize lifelong friendships ending and people's entire value system changing the second money comes into play. And most importantly, I see the end product suffering. Because money is obviously the root of all evil, right?

It's funny to picture generating what will probably amount to $7.43 from Google Adwords on my blog doing any of those things (go on, do it - have a laugh!), but what's even funnier is where all this came from. These images of corruption, of money changing what was once something fun and great into something shitty and uh, sell-outty come from all the TV shows and movies* I watched growing up where a talented band/artist/comedian gets discovered and then, over the course of 25-50 minutes, goes from 'poor but happy' to 'rich, lonely, depressed coke-fiend' who forgot it was supposed to be about the music/art/fart jokes.

The obvious irony here is there were all big productions that were put together by a studio/corporation/rich investor and lots of people were paid to do it. And I would think they can't all be rich, lonely, depressed and addicted to coke, right? And heck, they already proved me wrong with how to attract women (I've mimicked the HELL out of everything Matthew McConaughey has ever done on film for years and yet I am still Kate Hudson-less*!), why would I believe anything else they've ever taught me?

Why aren't women treating me the same as you?!? We have the same first name and everything!

Of course, it's not just the cartoonish portrayal of money in the world of entertainment that keeps me from trying to make money. I'm sure it's also a combination of A) laziness - since being paid to do something means I have to work hard on it, probably maintain some kind of schedule, and a certain level of quality, and B) fear of not being good enough to actually get paid to do what I want. Because hey, as long as its free, no one can really complain, right?

The bottom line is - if I ever hope to get paid to do anything creative, I have to get over all of that. Everyone's dream is to get paid doing something they love, right? And if you're not selling a product, then you're selling yourself. Wait, why does that not sound right?

So...that tab up there...I should totally click on it, right? And hey, if I do, and I totally change and become a big corporate sell-out, with millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of adoring fans, and super models hanging from either arm, you can totally trash me on this very blog. I would encourage you to explicitly state that you knew me "back when it was supposed to be about the video game blogging."

-$$Matt$$

Currently Playing: Just started the Prince of Persia remake, and I'm enjoying that so far. Also dabbling in Bionic Commando: Rearmed, though I just heard about a patch coming out to make some of the frustrating swinging I was doing before a bit easier. Finally, got a chance to try the new Punch-Out!! for the Wii at a friends, and thoroughly enjoyed it (with some not so-frustrating swinging, since I turned the Wiimote sideways! Ba-dum-tish). Gonna have to pick that up at some point - though it may have to be a rental since I got to the final circuit in under 2 hours.

*Not to mention the song "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish. Well ok, now I've mentioned it.
*Or a reasonable fascimile thereof.

151 Days Up - "Listening for the pulse that just might drive these hearts tonight..."

Quick post tonight, boys and girls (and apparently, if everyone's else blog is any kind of evidence, this is how most of my entries are supposed to be?). I just wanted to let you know that thanks to the incontrovertible laws of the universe, I'm officially a TRENDSETTER!

http://ukgameover.blogspot.com/

http://ipause.blogspot.com/

Yup, that's right, once three people have done something new, the first person to have done it is officially the mastermind between the now obviously unstoppable viral force that is giving up video games for a year and blogging about it.

I have to be careful what I do (and subsequently) blog about now, knowing the power I now possess. If I announce that I'm jumping off a bridge tomorrow, it could easily turn into a triple suicide, or a "trifectacide" as some would say. With great power comes great responsibility.

In all honesty though, good luck to Christopher Wright (no posts in 4 months - you fall off the wagon, buddy?) and Melvin Chan, who's even nice enough to thank me at the top of his blog. I'm really flattered and I hope you guys have the same awesome experience I did - which is give up video games, do a bunch of other cool stuff, then come back and totally gorge on them again!

-Matt

146 Days Up - "Is this everything you'd thought it'd be? You waited for religiously..."

Louis C.K. had a great rant/routine he did on (pre-L.A.) Conan a while ago about how spoiled we as a society can be, not at all appreciating the marvels of technology that didn't even exist 100 years ago (and in some cases, within our lifetime) - complaining about delays with our cell phones, or on flights. When in reality we should be in constant amazement at the fact that we are able to contact anyone anywhere at any time, or flying through the sky.

Eh, it's not teleportation, but I guess it'll do for now...

I definitely need to take a step back sometimes and appreciate all the things I wanted as a kid in my video games that I have now. Back in the day I used to put together my own "concept art" for video games I had dreams of one day making. Some of them were really simple, like going "medicine shopping" for sick people (something every youngster dreams of) but even there I envisioned an open world environment, where I had the option to into any (pharmaceutical) store I wanted. And within those stores, every shelf had something I could interact with.

I put the most effort into what was by far my most ambitious game. It was going to be a space adventure I would go on with my friends, not-so subtly titled: "Matt & Friends' Space Adventure."*

Previously unreleased concept art from M&F: SA

I wanted to captain a giant spaceship and fly across the galaxy discovering new worlds, fighting nasty aliens, collecting treasure, and maybe even gettin' it on with a sexy blue alien chick. (Ok, technically I never considered that last part - but in hindsight I total should have) The very idea of playing this game got me more excited than anything else in the world.

This week I realized: I am playing that game.

And yet, while I sit in front of my television completely absorbed in the experience, I find myself being very nitpicky about all of Mass Effect's flaws. All the explorable planets are basically the same, just with a fresh coat of paint. The inventory system is super clunky. There's a ton of dialogue options but they all seem to lead to the same point. There's no question the game is flawed. But at the same time, it's f-ing beautiful, the storyline and characters are (in what I've seen so far) great, there's a ton of customization of your own character, and I'm actually flying around the galaxy going into different solar systems, exploring dozens of different worlds, saving the universe and having a great time doing it. THIS IS AMAZING.

Still, it's a good thing that we're (I'm assuming I'm not alone in my nitpicking) never fully satisfied either. It's important to appreciate the here and now, and how far we've come, but if people like me weren't playing these games today, wondering: "this is fun, but wouldn't it be great if we could do this..." then we probably wouldn't keep setting that bar higher and higher, right? And not just in games, but in everything.

"Hey you, 1960's kid. Put down that guitar - we just perfected music!"

On a tangential note, E3 - the biggest game convention of the year - is wrapping up in L.A. right now, and all kinds of new gaming revelations have come to light. Although I have to admit I was VERY skeptical at first, I came to my senses and have come to be pretty excited about what both Sony and Microsoft are doing with their new motion technology. Because honestly, it was mostly that and sequels, (Mass Effect 2, woo!) and let's be honest, the sequels really aren't pushing the envelope all that much. Here's hoping the technology gets put to good use and some really fun and exciting games come out of it.

Ooh! I'll get the ball rolling with this: What if we got to play around...in Toon Town!??

-Matt

Currently Playing: See my last post. I've still got zombies to hunt, and a galaxy to save! Oh, also I picked up Space Invaders Extreme, though I've barely gotten started with that.


*The latest in a long line of classic Matt & Friends titles. Oh, the adventures we were theoretically going to have!

137 Days UP - "Give me a reason to end this discussion, to break with tradition, to fold and divide..."

I've been somewhat lax in my posting duties for a few weeks - but I hope you'll forgive me because I've been seriously enjoying me some games.

After just about all of these lengthy game playing sessions, there's always that moment where I go "man, where'd all that time go?" and at some point in the past I might have felt a twinge of regret - Hell, my year off from games - the reason this very blog exists - was something of a penance for the many hours passed on my couch/in front of the computer/not reading a book on the train.

Nowadays though, I try my best to set aside the time I can and just enjoy the ride. I realize one day in the near future I probably won't be able to invest the kind of time I do now in this stuff, and I'll look back and miss this NEARLY FOUR MONTH PERIOD OF UNEMPLOYMENT. Thankfully though, I'll be too busy counting all the money in my "Money/Laser Tag Pit" with my Asian lingerie model girlfriend to really be too upset*...

Goodbye Sunday afternoon! Hello Plants Vs. Zombies!

So...having said all of this, you should check out Plants Vs. Zombies and Mass Effect if you like video games. One's a nice casual tower defense game that hooks you in an never lets go, and one is a glorious, epic space RPG that sucks* you in and never lets go. I'll let you figure out which is which. Also, I learned how to play Werewolf (a form of the party game Mafia) this weekend too, which is also a lot of fun if you have a bigger-than-Rock-Band-can-handle size group of people all willing to try something new and fun (and non-electronic, if that's your thing).

Point is: Game Game Game Game Game - because, well, it's one of the few great things out there that they haven't linked to cancer...yet.

-Matt

*That is, until the robot uprising.
*An important distinction.