DarqByte

34 inches? I know what you’re thinking about but no, I’m not talking about that. 34 would be selling myself way short anyway.

The latest chapter in my whole “make myself look and feel better” thing has arrived. I’ve been putting off getting new clothes mainly because I wanted to complete my weight loss first. I didn’t want to have to buy a bunch of clothes in a stopgap fashion. Unfortunately, my last two pairs of jeans bit the dust, so I was forced to replace them. They were Levi’s, and they were built rather well. The only problem was that it was tough to find 38-30s that weren’t below my heels. They weren’t truly 30s so I kept stepping on them and wearing down the bottom of the pant legs. For the record, I really needed 37s, not 38s. They don’t make 37s.

Now I’m in 34s! 34-30s and they aren’t too long. This makes me a very happy person. I’ve lost at least 30 pounds and 3 inches off of my waist. Good stuff. I’ve recently begun making progress again and I anticipate hitting the 175 mark by the end of this month or early February. That would be 35 pounds off since I started nearly a year ago. I think my target is 160, but I won’t really know until I get there.

I recently looked at photos of me when I went to just the mustache, the Robstache. Wow I’ve lost weight since then. I do look better. Still got further to go. Additionally, I’m going to try to start running in the mornings with Pepper (and potentially Laura). I was supposed to start this week, but being excessively tired when my alarm went off put the kabash on things. Hopefully I’ll start tomorrow.

And if I do start tomorrow, wow what a day it will be. Today I start my next semester of MBA courses. In 50 minutes, actually. I’m in Lied Library right now. But because my classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’ve signed up to play soccer on Wednesdays. I was originally waffling on the decision, but Laura’s support for me switching days and the fear of getting really out of shape spurred me to sign up. In any case, tomorrow’s my first Wednesday day of soccer on a new individual coed team, and for some odd reason we have two games tomorrow… What the fuck. Two games? A doubleheader? I’ve done it before, but by choice not by facility scheduling. Running in the morning plus two soccer games in the evening. Wow.

And that’s not the end of it! I told my Thursday soccer team I’d make the games if they were late enough, which is basically 9pm or later. So the 9:10 game this Thursday? Yup, I can make that. And I’m hoping to run on Thursday morning as well. Which would make three runs (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) and three soccer games from Wednesday morning to Friday morning. Wow. See why I think I’ll hit 175 this month?

In other news, I wish I had endless time to do everything I want to do. Not only am I trying to find time to work on OMGN 4, I want to write a memoir about my video game life until, well, now. I think it would be very interesting because I don’t think there’s much of anything like that out now. And I’m a pretty good example of someone who gamed a lot when they were a kid and make the transition to being a responsible (well, at least I think so) adult with a married life and a job and other normal responsibilities.

This brings me to another subject: video games. Specifically, the original Atari joystick. See, my friend Jonathan recently got a tattoo in Elvish from Lord of the Rings. He loves it and I’ve always wanted a tattoo and I’ve always loved video games. I wasn’t 100% set on what tattoo I wanted but I knew I wanted a video game-related one, especially after seeing Anne’s roommate Ed’s “Mario 1up” tattoo he’s got. See, I didn’t want a tattoo that was system- or franchise-specific, I wanted one that represented video games as a whole. Now I know the Atari joystick is still Atari, but it represents so much more than that these days. And I’m asking Jonathan to give me a nice illustration of it so I can verify I indeed want to get it permanently marked on my body.

Laura’s been making sure I really want one, and I do. I am, however, curious to know what you all think of it…

Anyway, that’s it for now. Chat at you all later when I know more about my spring courses and I can let you know if I think I’ll be on track to continue my pursuit of a 4.0.

Unfortunately, OMGN has languished over the last couple years. Really, it’s been in the doldrums since the summer of 2005 when we hit up E3.  That was a fun time, let me tell ya.

I’ve been working on a new database structure and recoding for OMGN over the last 4 months. I still have a long ways to go, but I’m hoping that OMGN4, which is what I’m calling the new system, will work very well. The new codebase is much better and more modern, the database design is also much better and streamlined. And the new design in the works is shaping up nicely so far.

I’m really at a crossroads for what to do with the existing content on the site. I keep flipping back and forth on whether or not I want to retain existing content when migrating to the new site. And if I do retain existing content, what to retain.

See, I’m transitioning OMGN to a more fully-fledged video game information website. No more exclusive focus on small-market games, more professional writing and content management systems, better design, etc. A lot of the stuff in OMGN that exists now is either outdated, not even real video game content or just plain bad. The URLs are all going to change and I’m stripping the new site of a lot of functionality that existed before.

I’m just not sure where to go. There’s some content on the site that I kinda want to retain, such as some of the newer reviews of games, like Shadow Complex. But there’s just so much junk in the old data and issues with old URLs to new URLs and functionality lost, I think the new site might just be brand-new and clean. I’m just not sure what I want to do yet.

Please, this time I want your feedback and ideas.

So I’ve got another irritated video games post to write, in-part as a followup to my post about a certain missions in NFS being difficult. I should also mention Jenner Cauton’s F9 blog, where he rants and raves about video games on a semi-daily basis. There are some good ones in there.

So last night I played some Mario Kart Wii and some more Need For Speed: Undercover. All-in-all, tons of fun, especially MKW. That game is pretty fun and I’m looking forward to unlocking most of the stuff so when party-goers come over we can choose from anything in the game to play.

But today is a day for ranting about video game AI, especially these two racing games. Let’s start with MKW.

Mario Kart has, and probably always will be, a really fun game because it can help level the playing field. The game does a really good job in keeping all of the racers in the game provided that the racers aren’t falling off the track every two seconds. This is good for competitive reasons and to keep the players interested in the game, but it’s not good for people that are truly dominating the game, especially when said player is playing alone.

Whatever do I mean? Well, for example, last night I was dominating the computer AI racers. Just annihilating them. Consistently in first , finished most of the races in first place too. But not all of them.

The items in MKW can really level the playing field. Racers in the back of the pack, by percentage, have a high rate of getting items that can really tip the balance of the race. Turning into Bullet Bill, for example, can get you ahead of half of the pack. Getting the blue shell will annihilate the race leader for a decent amount of time, allowing others to catch up. Red shells are homing shells, etc.

Well, a few times last night I experienced stretches where the computer AI players were throwing the book at me. There was one time in particular that I was surprised I even ended up in first. I had red shells and blue shells galore connecting with me, yet I still ended up in first by about 4-5 seconds. Imagine if I hadn’t had an inordinately large amount of items hit me. Another race I had about a half-lap lead on the AI going into the last lap. I ended 4th and did not totally fuck up during the race.

Overcompensating AI is irritating at times, especially if it can have a drastic impact in the game, much like MKW. But it’s not too bad there because MKW levels the field. It’s easy to get crushed but make a comeback because the very devices that can bring you down from first can put you back there.

Now, NFS is another story… NFS does have some balancing features in the AI, and it’s usually features designed to keep the AI racers somewhat competitive. The game is really pretty easy, but there are times when it’s overboard on how obviously it’s trying to keep the race close or get you into second place.

One thing I’ve noticed about the game is its placement of traffic. Oftentimes, you can see traffic coming up ahead and adjust accordingly. Although the faster you go, the tougher this is, especially around curves and hills… And hills are bitches to get through.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been worried about what’s coming up over the hill. And I can’t tell you how many of those times there was a car waiting for me to smack it dead center because I just absolutely could not see it coming. Or around a bend, for that matter.

And the problem with this? The computer AI acts too well in these situations. Obviously, the AI knows the car is there.  But does the AI take into account that a real driver wouldn’t be able to see the obstacle on the other side? No. Aside from the random factor the game throws in to simulate mistakes, AI racers almost always miss obstacles around curves or over hills.

This wouldn’t be so much of a problem, much like MKW, if mistakes such as these weren’t so crippling. If you’re trying to achieve Domination status for a race, you can’t really make many mistakes. And mistakes like this can absolutely kill your chances for winning certain race types, such as the one where the winning racer is the one that puts 1000 feet between themselves and their singular opponent.

On a side note, I’ve also noticed in NFS that opponent AI is really good at not spinning out. Too good. Countless times have I had encounters with AI racers, hitting from all sides and angles and different formations, and the only car to spin out, should one of us spin out, is me. Irritating.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the blog post title. Firkin is indeed not a word. But I’m making it one. See, the word frickin’ is a “clean” version for the word fucking. I’m taking it one step further, transposing and making it sound more fun, by using firkin. It reads as “fur-kin.” Have fun with that one!

Retro video games almost always had enormously difficult levels in them. Take the original Donkey Kong, for example. Even the early levels in that game were tough. You had to be insanely awesome to reach even, say, the 10th level.

When video games started becoming mainstream, they started getting a little easier. If you’re trying to appeal to a wide audience, then that wide audience needs to eventually be able to beat the game. That isn’t to say the game should be a cakewalk, but it certainly shouldn’t put up a brick wall so tough that only Jonathan Wendel can defeat it.

So since I’ve defeated Fallout 3′s main quest, I’ve been sprinkling in other games. I’ve been mostly playing Dead Space, which is awesome by the way. But I’ve also been playing some Need For Speed: Undercover and Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Tonight I was playing NFS. It’s a fun game, even if it’s not totally deep and whatnot. In the game, you’ll occasionally get “jobs” from another local racer. Basically, the job is to steal a specific car and drop it off at a chop shop. A bit like GTA, actually.

The police force in the game is pretty effective. You can’t lose them easily and at the higher levels, they’re a downright, well, force to be dealt with. If you end up getting the helicopter following you, good luck, because you’ll never lose it. You have to outlast it.

So all this step for, I know you’re expecting it — a car theft while being followed by the top-tier police force with a helicopter. And let’s not stop there, ohh no — you can’t total the car either. If it sustains too much damage, theft over.

I’ve done a couple other thefts in the game so far and they’re really not that bad. One of them had the same mechanics, save for swapping out the helicopter for a timer that you had to beat in getting to the chop shop without police presence.

But this one is, so far, ludicrous. I’m always up for a challenge in the games I play, but this is just too far. The story won’t progress unless you complete the jobs. You can’t unlock better cars and parts without completing the jobs. And here I am, relatively early on in the game, presented with such a big challenge that after about 45-60 minutes of trying, I have to stop and write an irked blog post about it.

Some people lately have been lamenting that games have indeed gotten easier as time has gone on. In some of them, all you really have to do is play long enough to beat it. But basically blocking, let’s say 60%+ of a game’s story because of a ridiculously difficult “job?” Come on. This is stupid. The last thing EA needs is for me to feel ripped off because here’s this $60 game that I can’t play anywhere near all of because of some stupidly difficult challenge early on.

See… Think about it this way. If the difficult challenge is for you to solve some puzzle or something of that nature, that’s ok. At the very least, you could look up the solution online. If the difficult challenge is to perform a set of actions in particular order with good timing or whatnot, that’s alright too. But when the challenge is, say, losing a really good police force AI with a helicopter while not totalling a car… Stupid hard.

EA didn’t play the balancing act well on this one. If I get held up on this one spot too long, I’ll feel really ripped off and may not play the game again, or any other future NFS game…

First, read this article.

Now, on to my arguments for why such a labelling system is a joke and the problems with their proposal here.

1. Violent movies have been linked to increased aggression in the past, yet they bear no warning label.
2. Oftentimes, a person who is already aggressive can be drawn towards violent video games because they already have violent tendencies. Their violent tendencies are not necessarily caused by violence in video games.
3. There is no hard scientific evidence that violent video games increase aggression in the players. As such, putting a warning that there is a link means you’re putting out a health warning on something that scientists don’t even agree upon.

This kind of stuff irks me to no end. I am so endlessly sick of people trying to blame video games for society’s woes. Makes me sick. I watched violent movies and have played violent video games both since I was about 6, and there’s nothing overly violent about me. You just need good parenting, that’s all.

This all probably stems from this case, among others.

Ok, so it’s not actually the new year in Vegas yet, but nonetheless, I’m a bit bored so here’s a Happy New Year!

MTV’s new year broadcast sucked, by the way. Because I’m telling you, when I want to watch a new year broadcast, I know that MTV will provide the best one… Yack.

Fallout 3 has been loads of fun. I’m really getting into it much the same way I got into GTA IV. GTA IV actually had a cathartic ending for me, which is the first time I had a video game with any kind of connection. Movies and books have had that for me for a long time, but finally, a video game came along that really pulled me in.

So yeah, Fallout 3 has been just as enjoyable as GTA IV. Very, very fun. I’ve also gotten in a decent amount of Guitar Hero World Tour and have played some Need For Speed Undercover. Once I wrap up Fallout 3, I’ll move on to Dead Space since it’s a single-player-only game. Once I wrap that one, then Gears of War 2 can start. Joy! Gaming rocks.

I’ve started to learn C# and .NET as well. Just trying to broaden the languages and systems that I know. It’ll come in handy, especially since I would like to be able to make desktop applications for Windows. There are some cool things I’d be able to do if I learned C# and .NET.

Happy New Year!

Man… I really didn’t think I’d walk away from this Christmas as loaded as I am. I’ve seen and heard lately that a lot of retail analysts think the discounts and sales that retailers had this year to combat the weak economy are some of the biggest in over a decade and probably won’t be repeated again for quite some time. Good thing this appears to be the year of my big HD jump.

So just about everybody is aware that I shelled out the money for a nice new HDTV on Black Friday. And what a nice TV it is, let me tell you. Totally satisfied with it. Well, the TV isn’t the only thing that makes the HD experience. Right now, the only thing I’ve got in HD is my Xbox 360, and honestly, it’s totally awesome in 1080p. Just great.

Two things in the entertainment center that need to be upgraded to reach HD status are the DVD player and the satellite system. Well, after some Best Buy gift cards and some Christmas money, I’ll likely be getting a Blu-Ray player in the near future to upgrade the DVD system.

All that’s left there is the satellite system, which shouldn’t be too bad to upgrade to HD, and I want to have it done by the SuperBowl, since Laura wants to have a SuperBowl party and I think the game should just be in HD. That won’t be an expensive upgrade. Probably cheaper than the Blu-Ray upgrade, actually.

That would leave our Nintendo Wii as the lowest-quality video output in our entire entertainment center. Joy! Well, there’s also the issue that I want to upgrade our sound system after all this is done. Our current audio receiver, in the move to the new entertainment center, suffered a broken digital audio port that the 360 plugged into. So now all of the audio is on RCA jacks, and once all of the HD upgrades is complete, I want to try to find a nice audio receiver that supports enough digital audio ports so the 360, satellite and Blu-Ray players can all use digital output. I don’t think the Wii supports digital output.

Anyway, why did I title this post “Christmas Gaming Indeed?” Well, that’s because I never anticipated my video game haul this Christmas. When I put together my Christmas list, it included a lot of big-ticket items, but particularly noteworthy were the video games on the list:

1. Gears of War 2
2. Dead Space
3. Fallout 3
4. Guitar Hero: World Tour
5. Need For Speed Undercover
6. Spore
7. Sonic Unleashed

That was the list when it all began. Spore and Sonic Unleashed eventually fell off of my radar thanks to different issues. So what happened to the other 5?

I got them all.

Holy crap! I just finished GTA IV and that game was a blast, it actually had a cathartic ending, something I’ve never encountered before in a video game. And now I’ve got five new games to play? Holy crap! That’s a nice predicament, not knowing which game to play and wanting to play them all. I’m going to be gaming for quite some time.

I’ve already begun on Fallout 3, because it came in the day before I wrapped up GTA IV. I won that one in a contest. And I’ve already played some NFS Undercover and Guitar Hero, from my Mom (and family) and my sister-in-law Julia, respectively. I got GoW2 from Laura and Dead Space from Mom & family as well. Just haven’t gotten to those yet. And I probably won’t hit those two for awhile longer anyway, because Fallout 3 will likely suck up most of the time that I’d give to those other 2 because it’s a lengthy single-player campaign. Dead Space is as well, and GoW2 has a good single-player campaign coupled with great online play.

Man oh man. I’ll be entertained for quite some time, yes. Merry Christmas!

My Christmas list is too big. And it’s too expensive too.

Awhile back I built a website where you could create a wish list for whatever occasion you wanted to. It’s not bad, but I never ended up with the time or drive to really take it as far as it could have gone. That, and places like Amazon can do it much better if they integrate with their own site.

So I decided to get my 2008 Christmas list up on the site so I could at least record the items I wanted, then to invite people to it so they could see what I wanted. After I added everything I could think of, it occurred to me that my list is… well, it’s way too big.

I’ve got a lot of items on it given the number of people that are likely to buy me a Christmas gift. And not only that, quite a few of the items are expensive. Such as 2 HDTVs that are on the list. Yeah, just a little out of most people’s price ranges.

But in any case, at least I’ve got some things to shoot for. I’ve got 4 Xbox 360 games on the list, but with my 360 sent away for repair work, I can’t use it anyway. — Addendum: I just checked the repair process and it was delivered to my porch today… Last time they required signature. Oh well.

So yeah, if you want to be added my my Christmas list because you’re going to buy me either of the 2 HDTVs, let me know! Haha.

So Laura and I got a Wii Fit the other day… Last week, to be exact. I headed on down to Fry’s to get Julia’s birthday gift, which is season 1 of Gossip Girl (hey, I didn’t decide on the gift; she asked for it by name). I shouldn’t have, but decided to go check out the videog game department, despite knowing what games were already out…

Lo and behold… As I’m getting closer to it, I see some Wii Fit accessories sitting in a palette in the aisle. I start glancing them over seeing that they’ve still got the Yoga mat thing and whatnot. Then it strikes me: is that a Wii Fit in there? Sure enough, there was a stack of Wii Fits inside the shell of accessories.

I immediately called Laura up and told her the news. It was irritating to me that the Wii Fit was finally in stock somewhere and we’ve been in this mode of saving money for a couple months now. Damn the Wii Fit, finally becoming available when we’re trying to be fiscally responsible!

I didn’t pick it up at the time. After getting off the phone with her, I continued to poke around and see what was out. $90 for a Wii Fit, while not necessarily expensive given the hardware involved, was a chunk of change. I was nearly ready to leave the video game department in the state I had found it when Laura texted me that she kinda wanted it. Oy. I picked one up and purchased it, along with Gossip Girl.

So now the Wii Fit is sitting at home. The board itself is propped up against our main living room wall, awaiting use with the game. I’ve only used it twice since getting it a week ago, once the day I got it to test it out and another time.. Saturday, I believe. It’s pretty fun, actually. There are aerobic exercises in there, strength training, yoga, balance training… All sorts of goodies. There are 2-player modes a well, which I’m looking forward to testing out with my lovely wife.

She hasn’t had the chance to use it yet, but I have a feeling that will change tonight. I’ll make her get on the damn thing this evening. I really want to use it much more often, since I want to get into better shape. Believe it or not, it can actually help with that.

In the coming future, I’ll also talk about the dog gate my father and I are building, as well as Halloween — we’re preparing to batten down the hatches this year!