Laziness

I believe that every individual has the capability to be a hard worker. Laziness is not physiological, it's just a mental affliction. If we all had our own personal therapists, laziness wouldn't exist (although I might be giving therapists too much credit). It's an issue of willpower and whether we have enough of it to overcome our cultural need to do nothing.

Laziness can't be inherent. If we are to believe Darwin, laziness would get you killed. Laziness is a byproduct of modern technology, a once luxury now turned into everyday commodity.

If anything good has come out of laziness, it's the idea of working smarter--not harder.

People have a limited amount of energy each day that they could direct towards thinking or doing. I wouldn't call it an efficient use of resources if you make a guy do a single repetitive task for an entire day. If one engineer thought about it hard enough and built a machine to do the task for him, bravo. He's too lazy to do it himself, but smart enough to build a machine to do it for him. That's efficiency.

That's all I'm really talking about. Doing more with less. Let's not get ourselves bloated with filler and nonsense just because we could afford to. Not all problems can be solved with hard work. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do, is to actually think about it.

Sandpaper

What is the point of sanding? To smooth out the rough edges or to discard layers? If it's the former, sanding is a piece of cake; if it's the latter, sanding is a tedious repetitive task with no end in sight.

Sandpaper is quite an interesting tool. It's not as rough as you'd expect when you put it against your skin (although I would advise against rubbing), but if you wipe it against wood, you can see minute particles being shaved off before your eyes. If you rub it vigorously, you can reach the inner layers of the wood. It's amazing how one piece of paper can turn the moon into a smooth baby's bottom.

Surely there's a sandpaper equivalent for every problem in life?

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America is a decent movie.

That's my one-sentence review. Sure I can elucidate as to why its decent, but most people just want a recommendation of "see" or "not see." My recommendation is "sorta see."

The movie is character driven, and we see how the weak Steve Rogers becomes the awesome Captain America. Most of the actors do their job appropriately. Chris Evans sells his character, awkward around women, but awesome around Nazis (by virtue of punching them in the face). Hayley Atwell is surprisingly competent as Peggy Carter and Tommy Lee Jones does a solid job. My only complaint is Hugo Weaving's unsteady German accent as the Red Skull.

As far as superhero movies go, Captain America errs on the side of grounded. Despite being a supersoldier, Captain America doesn't engage in the special-effects laden hijinks of his modern buddies such as Thor or Ironman. The movie does have an old-school feel where punches are more effective than laser beams (though there's no shortage of that either).

A mix of old school, high tech, and heart, Captain America is a send up of superheroes from the golden age. If you're a fan of superheroes in general, watch it.

Reaching

I have two types of friends. I have the reachers and the reached. People don't have infinite attention spans, so we're forced to focus on a few people. Even though there are persons with hundreds upon hundreds of "friends," realistically, they only deal with ten at most on an intimate level -- or even fewer.

That said, when it comes to setting things up, certain friends have certain contact preferences. The majority of my friends are reached, because they're lazy or self-entitled. How great would it be to just relax and let others ring me up all day long? By default, I have to be a reacher. The only way to get anything done these days is to reach out to others. Somebody has to get the ball rolling.

Backdating

I had the opportunity to post this yesterday but I consciously held back as to demonstrate the wonders of the internet. As it is, I actually did post this yesterday, but you would've never known. Unless you're an internet sleuth of the highest order, there is no way for you to actually know that this is backdated.

I could very well go back into last year and fill out all the empty dates if I wanted to, but there's really no point in doing that. While this is a chance to show off one of the neat features of the internet to be both past, present, and future, there's also another reason I held back. My workspace is infected with flies, and at night, these particular flies are vicious. These insect bites leads to furious inflammation and itchiness. This nonsense actually prevented me from running last week, simply because the discomfort would've been too much to bear. It also means that I'm restricted to operating during the day or morning. Night work is off-limits lest I suffer from another bout of scratching ankles.

F the flies.

Deadlines

I typically queue up my blog posts one day in advance. When I miss it, boy do I miss it. I've been batting 100% so far and haven't missed a single day. Will I start missing out on my daily routine? As evidenced by this post, no, I won't. However, it's hard to come up with material on the spot. Can you imagine trying to come up with something to write about every day? It's funny how at one point, there's not enough time to talk about everything you want, and then the next point, you got absolutely nothing.

The thing about a routine is that the more you do it, the more automatic it becomes. Practice doesn't make perfect, but it makes things a helluva lot easier. It also helps that I've let go of my obsession with substantive posts. I used to think that if you're going to post something, it had to be meaty with a lot of substance. I'm past that. Today's reading demands quick-to-the-point concision. It's better to throw a haymaker than a ton of jabs.

Journalistic Secret Sauce

I can never understand the public's fascination with celebrity progeny. Why would anyone want to see pictures of somebody else's kids? The stories that garner the most traffic are ones that deal with completely trivial issues like Hollywood. I do seem to remember something about a looming crisis about raising the government's debt ceiling, but the front page is telling me to be more concerned about how great this A-lister looks on the red carpet. We wonder why paparazzi's are so vicious when we eat their shit like flies on a hot summer day at the park.

We're just drawn to people. We want to know about others because people are a source of infinite engagement. But do we really need to feed on a steady diet of celebrity gossip? That's why Facebook is so popular. It takes celebrity gossip down to our level. We can entertain ourselves with never-ending news updates from our "friends."

How do you get people to care? What's the secret sauce?

Write about what they know.

Place

You know what I tried today? I decided to do my usual blogging routine -- but with one crucial difference -- I did it outside. There's this conception that artistic types are more withdrawn, as if we all needed personal space, an appropriate and quiet environment to let our creative juices flow.

As a writer, I've read articles about how to solve such niggling issues as a writer's block or finding the right time of day to let loose our creativity. I think it's mostly nonsense but there is some merit to a change of scenery. As of this moment, I am writing in my notebook at Hart Park (this is obviously transcribed then), surrounded by wind, green grass, and warm sunshine. Maybe it's the place or the fact that I jogged out here, but it feels like my brain's loose. It's a lot easier to write down what I'm thinking.

Typing has spoiled me. I forgot how physically tasking it is to simply write with a pencil. Much more time-consuming as well, but it feels better for putting down raw ideas.

The reason I decided t ago outside was to avoid the stereotype of a holed up writer. I wouldn't want to emerge from my cave with pale skin and sunken eyes. Who says you can't be creative outside?

New addition to my routine.

I'm Human

Never knock something until you try it. I never figured myself to be a dancer, but it's not like I've ever put myself in the situation where I could. So color me completely unsurprised when I found out I couldn't, even when sufficiently intoxicated.

Am I human, or am I dancer?

I guess I'm human.

Okay, I lied a little bit. I could dance, but only under extreme circumstances. I have to be really drunk to do it.

Dancing just ain't in me.

Now the reason I bring up dancing is because I was in a club/bar not too long ago. My friend invited me out for a drink with two other buddies. What followed that night was something pretty funny. My friend is also of my ilk, human in every way. Even after having downed 4 or 5 drinks, he still could not muster the strength to dance, not even when one of his buddies hooked him up with two other girls who sandwiched him. His awkward expressions and breathless pleas for help could do nothing to soothe my laughing soul.

I left to get a few more drinks and when I returned, our two buddies were pissed. My friend squandered his chances.

What else can you do when a guy cockblocks himself?

Once you try something and decide for yourself that it ain't worth it, cross it off your list. There's no point in satisfying the whims of friends who promise good times. If it really is fun, then it should be instantaneous. If you have to account for various factors like location, time of day, and crowd, then it's not really worth it since the stars have to align every time.

Knowledge certainly speeds up the alignment process but now you're just getting to the point of too much work and not enough fun.

I think I'll give the dancing thing another shot. When the stars do align, perhaps the dancing beast will unleash. Won't that be quite a sight?

Buried

Buried comes with a novel concept: have an entire movie take place inside a coffin. When I say the entire movie, I really do mean the entire movie. No flashbacks or nothing, just the coffin, the whole time. That doesn't mean our protagonist spends 90 minutes talking to himself in a wooden box. Fortunately, he was buried with a cell phone, and we get to watch him try to call for help (and hitting various dead-ends along the way).

Part of the fun of watching the movie is finding out exactly who this guy is and how he even got there. I won't spoil it since its part of the experience. The movie is effective, and if you have the slightest bit of claustrophobia, this movie might stretch your tolerance to the limit.

The movie is worth a watch, but you might end up with a hollow feeling by the movie's end--a feeling of pointlessness. As most movies go, it's all about the journey, not the end.

Routine

Getting into a routine feels good. It's probably because a routine implies a specified amount of tasks to be accomplished on a daily basis. Completion fills most people with satisfaction. I can understand the appeal of a routine. If everybody unlocked Trophies/Achievements just for doing stuff, more people would actually do stuff. People shouldn't be rewarded for just doing anything though. It has to be something of merit, something productive. You don't want the days to pass by without having anything to show for it. Even if its something as small as writing, art, composition--whatever, as long as it's something, then it's good.

The easy part is coming up with a routine.

The hard part is making sure you keep it.

Positive Reinforcement

Let's not reward mediocrity. Saying "try your best" all the time devalues the word "best." What was once best is now average. This society spends too much time in the extremes. It's either supreme exaltation or total dehumanization. Is there no such thing as gradients? Creating such skewed lines of "good" and "bad" is similar to the hackneyed "morality" systems found in games like Infamous. Such blatant binary configurations of ethics removes all ambiguity, and in a world full of ambiguity, such a doctrine is dangerous. We have children growing up believing themselves as hot stuff or abject failures when they are neither.

All things in moderation. A little perspective goes a long way.

The Bird People in China

In my quest to find more films by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, I stumbled upon a messageboard talking about each user's favorite Miike movie. An oft echoed answer was The Bird People in China. Quite an odd title, considering Miike's filmography. It was a bitch trying to find a copy but when I finally did, I left it to simmer on my hard drive for well over 4 years. I finally watched it just the other day and I am left mildly entertained.

The story revolves around the idea of traveling to new places and exploring exotic locales. It romanticizes the entire idea of travel. Maybe that's why so many of us want to travel, it's a chance to get out our ruts. The impetus for change might just be a change of scenery.

There is something quite compelling about the idea of foreign love. How often have we entertained the possibility that we just might meet our special someone abroad? They say that communication is the basis of all relationships, so how does foreign love work if you can't communicate verbally? There are other forms of communication whether it be sign language, gestures, or some physical expression of love, but it's quite hard to discuss the particulars and complexities of a culture you don't quite understand. Perhaps its the simplicity that intrigues us. There's no need for such prattling things as politics or religion. It's a love based on the irrationality of love.

For some, the foreign and exotic is a thing that repulses, but for others, its a thing that attracts. Just ask the Japanese, they always dig on Americans.

How two people can connect from two completely different worlds is a beautiful thing. I wonder if I someday experience it for myself?

Notepads

I bought myself a stack of notepads last summer in preparation for school. I found myself not using notebooks to their full potential, and the convenience of having a pad of paper in my pocket was much better than lugging around a 8.5x11 inch wad of paper. It was much easier to record random thoughts as well.

It's just too bad that once I got my iPod, my notepads were rendered useless. Not all is lost however, since notepads are still exceedingly useful tools for actual reporting, but when it comes to recording fleeting thoughts, I'd rather use my iPod instead.

Cut Me Down

Why do you build me up buttercup, baby, just to cut me down?

Nothing makes me come down to earth quicker than criticism. It forces me to exercise apropos.

1. Use "like" for nouns. Use "as" for verbs.

2. Check your word placement, and make sure that the subject is known.

3. Don't use ridiculous or insane to mean "a lot."

4. Write appropriate to the situation (formal in formal, cheeky in cheeky).

5. Cut down redundancies. If the paragraph works without it, delete it.

6. Don't make vague assumptions or statements, make everything clear (especially in regards to "it" and "they").

7. Use ACTIVE verbs.

8. Use the correct prepositions.

9. Idiomatic empty expressions should be omitted, and if used, apply appropriate context to qualify and imbue it with meaning.

Day One

Money has sort of killed my gaming habits. Funny thing to say, but let me explain for a moment. Back in the good 'ol days when I didn't have a job or financial aid, I had to save up money just to buy games. When the cash wasn't flowing, I had to pick my games carefully, because I was going to be playing it for a long time. I really enjoyed the heck out of my games back then because I had to, it's not like I could keep acquiring titles at an unsustainable rate.

But I don't really play games like that anymore. My current backlog is 18-long. Maybe it's because I have too many games that I can't decide which one to play first and in what order. I guess getting older does things to your mind, makes what you used to like not so great anymore. I'm not abandoning games, not by a long shot, but it's getting much harder for me to get into them.

I used to buy games Day One. It's always nice being the first kid on the block with the latest toy. Nowadays, not so much. Games I eagerly anticipate I play months after they released, even if it's in my possession for the entire time. Given how fast prices drop, I'm paying a $20 premium just to play before other people. With my time limited as it is, there's no reason to invest so much money when I'm not even taking advantage of the early benefits.

Few games force me to Day One, but when they do, it's usually special. Then again, it goes for anything really. It's not just games, it could be movies, TV shows, or just a special person. When you Day One, you make it count.

Standard Operating Procedure

I wish courtesy was SOP. We live in the kind of world where anything out of the ordinary is extraordinary, especially when it comes to something as small as common courtesy. Whenever someone demonstrates a cordial gesture towards me, I am honestly floored. It just goes to show how rare an act of human generosity truly is. I think our culture is a bit twisted. Often we rail on about the things that annoy us instead of focusing on the things that give us cause to celebrate, and when we do celebrate, it's usually at the expense of someone else.

People should just be nice. Being the better man usually means going against that thorny thing called pride. So what if you're insulted? You're better than that. In a way, being the "better man" is also a form of pride.

Some of us just haven't leveled up our pride that high yet.

Douche By Degrees

There are nice people, and then there are douches. There are douche-lites, and total douches. Everything by degrees. Which one are you?

5th Degree Douche: Douche by Appearance

I'm pretty sure we've all walked down the street and seen some ultra-tan dude with bulging muscles, donning a wife beater, wearing aviator sunglasses, and with enough gel in his hair to erect the Eiffel tower. The first thought that comes to mind: this guy is a douche. Hell, I walk down the UCI campus and think half the dudes there are douches simply because is what they wear. It doesn't matter if they turn out to be swell guys because they are guilty of 5th degree douche, douche by appearance. Other offending articles of clothing include: skinny jeans, too-short t's, beanie's on a hot day, and shirts with self-aggrandizing logos.

4th Degree Douche: Douche by Omission

Ever left a text message on a friend's phone only for him to never answer back? Ever told somebody to hit you up later only for them to never get back to you? Ever called a guy out only for him to ignore you in front of everybody? Ever had a buddy that conveniently "forgot" that he owed you money? That, my friends, is what we call douche by omission. These are the people who are apparently "too busy" to make time for friends. Whether or not it's because they're legitimately busy is of no concern to me, because if I've been trying to set up something for the past couple weeks with little to no sign of any kind of reciprocation, you are a certified 4th degree douche. It's not what you did, it's what you didn't do. I'm looking at you Mr. Pink!

3rd Degree Douche: Douche by Words

I ain't your "bro" "brah," so don't be throwing douche vocabulary at me. 3rd degree douchery is particularly aggravating since they dominate conversations with their banality. They brag, soliloquize about inanity, and make remarkably off-color jokes. They think themselves as center of the universe and must always have the spotlight on themselves. You have people who intentionally adopt controversial stances just to be different, you have the whiners who complain about absolutely everything in life, you have guys seemingly afflicted with Tourette's who cannot express themselves without expletives, and you have the preachy mofo's who wants to change everybody's minds and is always right. If they'd just shut up, the world would be so much better.

2nd Degree Douche: Douche by Action

As bad as it is listening to douchespeak, you could at least tune them out. It's not as easy to avoid 2nd Degree Douchery however. It's a rather large umbrella of actions that includes generally dick moves that screw over other people. Things like cutting in line, cockblocking, cheating, stealing your buddy's girlfriend, saving over your friend's save, team-killing, griefing, kicking puppies, keying cars, knocking over trashcans, pissing on furniture, and everything that should be considered as a crime but isn't. By this metric, 90% of the drivers on the road are 2nd degree douches--which sounds about right.

1st Degree Douche: Douche by Thought

Whence doth all douche derive? From the thought. This is the most dangerous form of douchery. This is why we have laws that make no sense, why our prisons are packed to the brim, why our schools are stretched to capacity, why our tax money is diverted towards meaningless endeavors, and why people don't know any better. This is the douche that you don't know is a douche who could be pulling douche moves behind the scenes. It's like finding out that the pleasant neighbor next-door was really a serial killer all along.

If you think like a douche, you are a douche.

6th Degree Douche: Douche by Association

If you know a douche and are friends with one, then by association, you are also a douche. It behooves you to take anti-douche measure and seek corrective action so that you may no longer be a douche. Let's not live in a society where douchery is encouraged to be free and thriving, we must all make an effort to curtail the epidemic and stamp douchery out of existence once and for all.

All it takes for douchery to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Castelvania has always followed a simple storyline. Dracula is revived and the Belmont clan must go and kill him--until he gets resurrected again anyways. But the latest installment does away with all that and reboots the entire franchise. In conjunction with Kojima Productions, this is MercurySteam's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

You play as Gabriel Belmont, a knight in an order that was founded to fight against the minions of hell. Darkness has covered the lands and Gabriel must find a way to repel the darkness. In his adventure, he comes to learn of a mask that has the power to potentially revive his lost wife. The mask has three pieces, with each piece being held by a "lord of shadow."

Castlevania is certainly in the running for "most epic game" of this year. The first thing you'll notice is how amazing the graphics are. There's impeccable craftsmanship in the environments. The textures are sharp and extremely detailed. The world is immaculate, imaginative, and twisted. The enemy designs are outstanding and the animation overall is superb. The lighting is moody, ambient, and fantastic. If it weren't for the dodgy framerate, Lords of Shadows would easily take the graphics crown on consoles. The presentation overall is extremely polished. The music is amazing, and this combined with the visuals make for some breath-taking scenes.

I'm gushing quite a lot about the presentation, so does that bode well for the actual gameplay? Many of the mechanics are borrowed from other games (most notably from God of War) although the game does throw in a few differentiating wrinkles. There's the standard assortment of light and heavy attacks, blocking and dodge rolls, and jump abilities. By gathering orbs leftover from slain enemies or broken pots, you can upgrade your move sets. An interesting twist is the light and dark mechanic where you can activate powers to enhance your combat abilities. Activating dark powers increases your damage while activating light powers increases your healing. By alternating between the two, as well as dodging, blocking, and parrying, you can make short work of the enemies.

The enemies are plucked from the series' history but with updated 3D designs. Ghouls, goblins, giant spiders, vampires, trolls, and ghost armors are just some of the baddies you'll encounter, each with their own patterns of attacks and nuances to exploit. In between battles, you'll have to solve puzzles and platform in order to advance in the stage.

You'll also have access to subweapons like the classic dagger as well as new ones. You can throw out fairies that distract enemies as you build up combo or shatter special crystals for a one-hit kill summon. The game is challenging, even on normal, and some of the puzzles will have you scratching your heads. Most puzzles involve pushing items around and activating switches through various means.

Castlevania is all about adventure, and Lords of Shadow has that in spades. You'll trek across an incredibly diverse range of environments from rainy forests, frozen lakes, dark swamps, enormous castles, to rocky netherworlds. The campaign is fairly lengthy, taking more than 15 hours to complete.

Lords of Shadow is an even mix between adventure and action. Touchy platforming controls hurts the level navigation a bit and combat isn't as sophisticated or flexible as in other games, but it manages to carve out its own rhythm. Despite the niggling issues, Lords of Shadows is a fine game and puts every other 3D Castlevania to shame.

Yakuza 3

Yakuza 3 (also known as Ryu ga Gotoku, "Like a Dragon") is the latest installment of the Yakuza series. You play as Kiryu Kazuma, an ex-Yakuza badass. The storyline continues right after the end of the second game. Fortunately, for those who have never played the previous games, there is a flashback function for those who wish to catch up on the game's story.

Yakuza 3 is essentially a modern-day action-RPG set in Japan. It contains elements of open-world design and classic beat'em ups. The world is set in the fictional district of Kamurocho, a thriving section of town filled with night clubs, restaurants, and games. You can walk around the city, go into shops, play minigames, but most importantly of all, encounter random thugs who wish to have their asses kicked, courtesy of you. While it may paint a rather dangerous portrait of Japan, it's a lot of fun to encounter foolish thugs as you stroll around the city. It's the equivalent of a "random encounter." When this happens, the game shifts into "battle mode," with bystanders running and forming a spectator circle.

Initially, the game's battle system will feel a little stiff, especially if you're used to fighters. Once you start leveling up your techniques, things start to loosen up and the fights flow a lot better. There are two types of attack, light and heavy. Combos are done with a combination of the two buttons. You can guard, run, and weave out of attacks. As you progress, you'll gain more techniques such as counter moves and parries. The trademark of the series is the "Heat" action. There's a blue bar underneath your health that builds up as you accrue combo hits without taking damage. After filling it up, you can do "Heat" actions, special context-sensitive moves that inflict massive damage. These Heat actions add a lot of spice to the battle and punctuates Kazuma's brutality against unsuspecting fools. Actions include curb stomps, pile drivers, face slams, and other awesome finishers.

The game is separated into chapters, each one containing a story-specific mission and set of sidequests. Sidequests are triggered by being at the right place at the right time. You usually have to play a minigame, conduct a fetchquest, or beat up some thugs. The story missions usually take place outside the main map, where you run through the level and fight a boss.

Like any proper open-world game, there are lots of minigames. You can go into gambling parlors and play mahjong and dice games. In the underground Casino, you can also play classic card games like black jack. There's a battle arena, bowling, the driving range, the batting cage, and even fishing. There's a lot to do in between bashing heads.

Yakuza 3 is a great blend between action and adventuring. It's one of the best exclusives for the PS3. If you feel like taking a trip to Japan but can't afford it, take a romp through Yakuza 3. It's the next best thing.

Lifesum

Nothing can sum up a person's life better than their autobiography, but since most of us don't have the time, patience, talent, or ghost writers to write about our oh-so-thrilling lives, we have the next best thing--our playlists. This ties directly into the old adage, "you are what you eat." There's a reason why "what do you like to listen to?" remains one of the most popular questions to ask when meeting a person for the first time. You are what you listen to.

People are just walking playlists. Some have music you like, and some have music you don't. Even if you don't like their music, you can at least respect it. Some playlists are padded out with filler songs, or have music that are so similar, they all sound the same. Some have an eclectic and incredibly diverse collection. Depending on their mood, people listen to chill, to dance, to reflect, or because it just sounds nice.

Whatever your playlist may be, it reflects your story.

It's your life's soundtrack.

And you know, I'd like to listen to it sometime.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Ever since Utada Hikaru's Simple and Clean embedded itself into the hearts of gamers everywhere, Kingdom Hearts became one of gaming's most popular series. I still remember reading a preview of the game in an old issue of GamePro and thinking to myself, "Final Fantasy and Disney characters together? It might just be crazy enough to work!" Multiple games and millions of copies sold later, my initial thought has been redeemed.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, for the PSP, is the latest entry that takes place before the first KH game. The story revolves around three characters, apprentices, that are trying to become keyblade masters. Despite being a prequel, the story sets up a tantalizing preview to a possible Kingdom Hearts 3 (if it ever gets announced).

Birth by Sleep is the best Kingdom Hearts game yet. If you like the series, you have absolutely no excuse for not having played the best entry in the franchise. Go play it now.

The KH series has one of the most confusing, nonsensical, and convoluted storylines in any medium. Every character is a subvariant of some other character. Trying to make sense of it is futile. For the most part, you just kick back, watch the fireworks, enjoy the voice-acting and fantastically crafted cutscenes, and beat up on monsters with a giant key.

The campaign can be played with three different characters. Terra, the bruiser; Ventus, the speed demon; and Aqua, the magical caster. Their different play styles makes each campaign slightly unique, even though you go through the same locales and meet up at the same end. As most multi-character campaigns go, you have to beat the game with all three to unlock the true ending.

If you've played a KH game, you've played a KH game. The game follows in the steps of its console brethren, where light platforming is mixed in with combat. You visit a world, solve the problem by bashing on monsters, and move on to the next place. Through your adventure, you pick up new moves that you can equip and level up. Techniques can be improved with good ol' fashioned beatings or through a mini-game that relies on dice rolls. Techniques are divided into three categories: movement, combat, and magic.

What makes Birth by Sleep so great is the difficulty balance. It's actually challenging and requires the player to employ their techniques in order to succeed, as opposed to just mashing buttons. This goes a long way in making battles fun, varied, and exciting. The level progression is natural, and the technique system is open to experimentation.

Each campaign will last about 8 hours, leading to a total play run of 25+ hours. There is an arena where you can take on waves of enemies similar to the coliseum in past games. There's also a co-op multiplayer component where you can take on the inversed (the name of Birth by Sleep's enemies) with a buddy.

If you enjoy action-RPG's, Disney, or convoluted storylines, get Birth by Sleep. You won't be disappointed.

Tail-End

There's two types of self-aggrandizement: necessary self-aggrandizement, and insecure self-aggrandizement. The former is simply marketing. Sometimes the only way to stand out in a sea of "me-too's" is to embellish. Everybody does it. The only way to compete is to do it better than everybody else.

But the latter case is simply because of insecurity.

This insecurity manifests itself in different ways, and one of those ways is in an e-mail signature. What is an e-mail signature? It's just text appended to the end of every e-mail you send out. Most people just sign their names and position, but some take the e-mail signature to the extreme.

Is it really necessary to put in a signature that's more than 5 lines?

These are some real-world examples:

(Name)
University of California, Irvine

Political Science, School of Social Science

Urban Studies and Social Ecology, School of Social Ecology

Chief of Staff, Office of the President, ASUCI

Bus Driver, Anteater Express, ASUCI

Student Assistant, CDRF Core/Anderson Lab (iMind)

Mobile: (xxx) xxx-xxxx Email: xxx@uci.edu

-----

(Name)

University of California, Irvine

Political Science, School of Social Science

Literary Journalism, School of Humanities

Public Relations Commissioner, Office of the President, ASUCI

Staff Writer, New University

Mobile: (xxx) xxx-xxxx Email: xxx@uci.edu

-----

(Name)
University of California, Irvine
Literary Journalism, School of Humanities
xxx@uci.edu

New University Staff Writer
3100 Gateway Commons
Media and Communications Director,
Office of the Student Regent
Humanities Gateway 1305
The Vine Assistant Editor,
Office of the President, ASUCI
G244 Student Center

-----

I'm not impressed at all.

Jomatto
Master of Propaganda
Blood Type O
Old Enough to Drink
Asian

Pretty Good Gamer
Not Bad at Writing
In the Greatest Place in the Universe

Better Than You

Protagonist

You are the main character of your own story. Who could be more important than yourself? Sure, there are people important to you, but they're only important because you know them. They're the supporting cast, but you're the lead. When it comes to writing stories, you have to mind your audience--even if you're the only one.

That's why I act as if someone is always watching me. Simple tasks such as taking a seat or opening a door must be done with grace and poise. There is a meta-camera following me, recording my every move and it would be quite ill if I were to present to this camera my uncouth side--though, with repeated practice, I have practically banished all uncouthness from my demeanor.

It doesn't matter what I'm doing, because I always put on my best face.

Bleed Reading

Although I can only speak from personal experience, I'm sure my case is the prototypical case for all classes. When a professor assigns reading, they don't actually assign reading. Sure they give you a number of pages, and if they're feeling generous, they'll actually specify which sections to read, but for the most part, we just get page numbers. A textbook isn't just filled with text, it comes with a bunch of other material from side bars, mini boxes, photos, statistics, graphs, captions, and sample cases. Although it's never explicitly stated that you have to read those, it's implied.

I call that extra reading, "bleed reading." Bleed simply refers to the edges of the page in the printing business. You have to make sure you have a large margin or else the printing machines will cut off parts of your layout. All these tacked-on extras thrive on the margins, away from the meat of the textbook. That's the reason I call it bleed reading.

Common sense dictates that you read it because you know you're going to have to read it anyways. Besides, you never know, you'll probably learn more from bleed reading than from regular reading.

Homefront

Since I'm not feeling productive today, I'm going to keep this review short. Don't worry, this game doesn't warrant a comprehensive or exhaustive review to begin with. In a genre as tired as the first-person shooter, what separates Homefront is the premise, where the United States gets invaded by North Korea. You play as a resistance fighter who tries to change the status quo by accomplishing military-related objectives (destroying critical facilities and blah blah blah). Despite the novel set-up, the gameplay is virtually identical to Call of Duty, but without the flash and spectacle that makes such rote gameplay palatable.

Shoot, get behind cover, throw the occasional grenade, run around with a shotgun, or snipe, blow up explosive barrels, control a turret, ride in a vehicle, and paint a target or two. This one sentence basically covers the whole game. The story is filled with generic characters from a hyperly-aggressive "I-don't-give-a-shit" grunt (eerily similar to Rico from Killzone) to a more compassionate female companion. Your character remains mute and soulless.

I haven't tried the multiplayer so I can't really comment on it.

The single campaign takes only a day to beat, so unless you're really committed to the online component, this is a rental at best. If you still want to shoot Koreans, I recommend Crysis instead.

Artificial Awakening

I can't remember the last time that I've woken up due to natural causes. Every time my eyes open, it's because of some stupid infernal beeping device whether it's a phone or alarm clock. It's a symptom of the fact that I've never had a room to myself. I'm always waking up because of my brother's nonsense--incessant alarms, annoying texts, and persistent ringtones. Can't a man escape from the world for one paltry second?


I already graduated from school, I don't need to be waking up so early.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Following after the heels of God of War 3 comes Ghost of Sparta, a bridge between GoW 1 and GoW 2. The story runs on a thread that was left dangling from the first God of War game, a concept involving Kratos' brother that was seemingly abandoned in further sequels--until now.

After taking the throne as the new god of war, Kratos is haunted by visions of his long lost brother Deimos. As it turns out, Deimos still lives but is trapped in the realm of the dead. Kratos must go and rescue him and kill a god or two along the way. The narrative carries a mythical simplicity where the protagonist must face his inner demons, as well as vicious Greek monsters.

What else can one say about the GoW gameplay template? There's combat, there's platforming, some puzzle-solving, and epic clashes between giant bosses. Ghost of Sparta delivers everything you expect from a GoW game with some wrinkles thrown in for good measure, the biggest of which is the spear and shield (popularized by the 300). It's one of the more satisfying alternate weapons to use in the series' history even if it is a little limited compared to the classic chain blades.

If I'm going to be honest, Ghost of Sparta is a better overall game than God of War 3. Don't get me wrong, the sense of scale from GoW 3 is unmatched, but Ghost of Sparta's design is more balanced and evenly paced. Everything flows together much more naturally. Kratos will traverse many locales from the legendary underwater city of Atlantis (and you will see exactly how it got submerged in the first place) to the realm of the dead. The level progression is seamless and organic in how it unfolds. The puzzles utilize Kratos' new abilities in clever ways. You can throw projectiles with the spears and by holding down the shoulder button, you can give your chains a little extra firepower (necessary to break certain objects).

The enemy encounters have a good mix of enemy types that force you to use all of Kratos' abilities. The game can be challenging, especially on the higher difficulty levels. The game lasts for about 8 hours at most, with skilled players beating the game well under that mark. Aside from some extra challenges, replay value is limited.

If God of War 3 left you hungering for some more Greek violence, Ghost of Sparta is worth a look, especially since it's going be re-released for the PS3 in HD alongside Chains of Olympus. This is one excellent game not to be missed.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Enslaved is the latest game from Ninja Theory, the same developers as Heavenly Sword--which explains the uncanny resemblance between Trip (Enslaved) and Nariko (Heavenly Sword).

Talk about rehashing your own designs. It doesn't help when Heavenly Sword was accused of being a God of War clone, and that Enslaved is based off of the ancient Chinese story of Journey to the West. It's almost as if Ninja Theory doesn't have a single creative bone in their body. Even worse, they're currently developing the new Devil May Cry reboot which has caught a lot of criticism for its questionable aesthetics, the most glaring of which is Dante's redesign.

Fans of Devil May Cry are understandably upset since Dante went from stylish badass to coke-addicted hipster.

It makes me wonder if we'll see another variant of Nariko/Trip in DMC, but I digress. We are here to talk about Enslaved, a third-person action/adventure game where you get to play as Monkey (voiced by Andy Serkis).

As Monkey, you wake up in a cell on a giant flying airship. Trip, a girl who manages to escape, ends up sabotaging the airship and you have to get out before crashing to your death. After flying off on an escape pod, you wake up only to have Trip put a mind control device on your head. This is where the title comes in, "Enslaved." You have to help Trip get back to her hometown or else you'll suffer horrible pain. She promises she'll take the device off once you take her back, but as most adventures with misfits go, the two grow close over the course of their journey.

The game breaks down into two parts: combat and platforming. The developers try their best to blend the two into a coherent whole, and for the most part, they succeed. Each side is a little rough however.

Combat suffers from an unsteady framerate the dips below 30fps on occasion, which doesn't make for the most fluid combat experience. The fighting engine is simple enough, giving the player a slew of options that most can expect from the genre, a combination of dodge rolls, blocks, parries, light, and heavy attacks. Monkey wields a staff that also doubles as a projectile weapon. Each move is upgradeable using orbs that are collected from enemies and the levels. These enhancements to your combat arsenal make it so that you can keep up with the tougher enemies later on.

While not terribly complex, the combat holds an elegant simplicity. Certain attacks can be blocked while others have to be avoided. The game manages to throw a good mix of enemy types at you, forcing you to stay on your toes.

Platforming mixes in elements of Ico where you have to solve environmental puzzles and makes pathways for Trip to follow you. You can also put Trip on your back as you jump and climb around. Trip's technological hacking skills help you navigate through the levels and advance. Platforming apes its mechanics from Uncharted, driven mostly by automatic animation with the press of the "action" button. Context-sensitive commands allow Monkey to lift up heavy objects and interact with the world.

Despite running on the Unreal 3.0 engine, Enslaved is one of the most colorful games in recent memory, painting a rather lush post-apocalyptic world. Broken buildings are covered with vines, vegetation, and greenery. Moss and nature infest the destroyed landscape. As you make your way west, you'll run through the ruins of New York City, jump through Trip's hometown, sail across deserted wastelands, and escape from giant airships. The only caveat, as with most UE3 games, is the lack of anti-aliasing and uneven framerate. The music and voice-acting does its job.

The game will last about 10 hours and replay value is limited with no multiplayer component.

While it isn't the greatest, it's still a journey worth taking if you like action/adventure games. If you feel like bashing robots to death, helping a girl get back home, and solving the mystery behind a post-apocalyptic world, give Enslaved a shot.

The Perfect Transfer

You gotta enjoy the small things in life. It's why I take pleasure in something as small as the "perfect transfer." Going north on the 5, you can exit to Grand by switching lanes to the right. But there are bumps (called Bott's dots) on the road that prevents the transition from being a smooth one.

So what is the perfect transfer? It's being able to switch lanes without hitting any of the bumps. A car has 4 tires and you're moving at least 50mph. It's not an easy task avoiding Bott's dots. I expect to hit one every time I transfer, but when I don't, I smile.

I've only done this about two or three times total, but I was able to pull it off on the night of May 11th.

I think you can imagine what I did to celebrate that night.

Cheers!

Halo Reach

Halo Reach is the latest installment of Bungie's popular long-running sci-fi series. The game takes place before the first Halo, putting you in the middle of a war between the humans and the Covenant. You play as part of a Spartan squad of super-soldiers and complete various objectives critical to winning the war.

The story isn't anything special since it is virtually the same as any other prototypical military shooter that takes place within a large-scale conflict, but at least in this game, you get to go into space! There just aren't many chances for plot or character development when you spend the majority of your time shooting aliens.

The graphics suffer from a curious case of ghosting that's apparent from the very first scene. Although the game has some stellar skies, the entire graphical package is not impressive. Environments look simple, textures are average, special effects are okay, but at least the framerate's solid. The sound does it job with good voice-acting and the weapons pack the appropriate amount of punch. The music is great as always and the overall presentation is polished.

Although it seems like all I have is bad things to say about Halo Reach, I will say this: Halo Reach is one of, if not, the best single-player first-person shooter campaign on consoles. The joy of combat is simply unmatched in any other game. The enemy types, the weapons, and the AI all complement each other creating a unique battlefield that is both dynamic and exciting to navigate. It's been a long time since I've played against enemies that actually move and react to my actions. Enemies run away after you slaughter their comrades. They don't stay in one place, waiting for you to pop them in the head. They actually run for cover, try to flank you, and flush you out with grenades.

The levels are designed with great variation in elevations, structures, and different terrain types to make each encounter exciting. Throw in a mix of vehicle combat (including spaceship dog fighting) and turret sections and you have yourself a campaign that is varied, excellently-paced, and fun.

Bungie always throws everything and the kitchen sink when it comes to options and Reach is no exception. Multiplayer is chock-full of choices from the Forge to its 4-player co-op component.

Halo is Halo. If you're looking for a dynamic single-player campaign and an impressive suite of multiplayer options, just reach for the nearest copy of Halo Reach.

Fillings

A visit to the dentist's office always means pain. That's why dental scenes in movies are so effective. We've all had the experience of getting our tooth pulled out before, so it's easy to relate. It's like watching a man get hit in the balls. Every male cringes collectively at the sight since we could imagine it (and have probably experienced it as well).


After enduring some light traffic, I made it to UCI's health clinic a little earlier than I expected. I parked in Stall 2 of the patient parking area--I still remember because you have to check in or your car gets towed. Although my appointment was for 10:00, my early arrival got me started faster.

The dental assistant handed me plastic goggles to start off with. That gave me pause, since my wisdom teeth removal didn't even require goggles. The dentist, Dr. Wong, decided to kick off the party with a little needle action. It wasn't that bad at all, I just felt a slight sting. Once the anesthesia started taking effect, Dr. Wong put a wood block between my teeth and went to town on me with a drill.

Whoever created anesthesia is god.

I was feeling vibrations in my head. Every once in a while, Dr. Wong would wipe his hands on my bib. I know your name is Wong and all, but that just ain't right.

After drill operations were complete, Dr. Wong and his assistant decided to take a small 10-minute break. Since I didn't go to sleep until 4:00 last night (too much Battlefield Vietnam), I was feeling really sleepy. My stomach was also rumbling, and I regret not eating anything that morning--especially since they always recommend not eating for a couple hours after a visit.

Dr. Wong and his assistant came back to finish the job and filled the gaps with amalgam. By the time everything was done, my white t-shirt was covered with traces of blood. Dexter Morgan would probably be able to tell you exactly how I got them. My face still feeling numb, I bailed out and eagerly await for my next fulfilling visit to the dentist's office.

Running

I ran for the first time since the summer of 2010.

Haven't felt like this in quite a while. The shortness of breath, the throbbing of ankles, the dripping sweat--somehow, despite how terrible it sounds, it actually feels kind of good. Few things can force a man to confront himself, but one of them is definitely running.

It's easy to go through the day and think, "I should probably run," but the task in our mind is more daunting than it really is, so we just forget about it and say, "Nah, maybe next time." I guess this what separates the sporty from the lazy.

The first run is always the hardest. The body's out of shape, there's all sorts of knots and useless fibers in our muscles, so the first run is a cleansing run. The body must be purified of all redundant threads. It's not a particularly pleasant experience since it leaves you sore and aching for days, but it is a necessary one.

It's a constant battle within myself. I have to force myself to keep on running. I throw self-encouragements and draw from my competitive gamer spirit. The mind is willing, but the body is barely capable. It's only when you're gasping for dear life do you gain a little perspective.

Physical exertion is, after all, life's greatest metaphor.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

As massively popular as the Call of Duty series is, it also catches it's fair share of flak. It's no surprise since most popular things always have a small contingent of haters. CoD has become a verb that's used to describe the dumbing down of first-person shooters. The idea of level progression, kill streaks, and arcadey recoil is a symptom of mass-market design, an appeal to the lowest common denominator, and a concerted effort to lower the barrier of entry to all players young and old. But that's a story for another day, because today, we're talking about Black Ops.

If you've played a Modern Warfare, you already know what you're getting into. The template hasn't changed much, other than making things bigger, badder, and more incomprehensible but that's part of the game's charm. The single-player campaign is once again a linear, straightforward, heavily-scripted shooting gallery with moments of spectacle sprinkled in to spice up a mundane and mechanically-repetitive experience.

Enemy AI consists of enemies standing behind cover and shooting at you. If you throw a grenade, they run away. Grenade spam has been considerably lessened from the enemy's side, which at least reduces the amount of cheap deaths you may receive. The level design is basically modeled after a funnel, forcing you to go down linear paths and proceed with a stop and pop style of gameplay. There's no Halo-like ingenuity to the combat system where you can take cover, flank, and otherwise employ real-world battle tactics. It's all rather rote and routine.

The Call of Duty series is always known for its spectacular sequences, and this is Black Ops' one saving grace. The sheer amount of crazy shit that happens on the screen is second to none in the gaming world. An assassination attempt on Fidel Castro, a daring escape from the gulags, and shooting your way out of a Vietnamese POW camp are just some of the wild scenarios you get to play through. It's a roller coaster ride packed to the brim with thrills and slow motion moments of pure carnage.

Black Ops has a decent story that I would say is a combination of Fight Club and the Manchurian Candidate. It's more grounded than its predecessors but doesn't leave too much of a lasting impression.

The multiplayer is vintage Call of Duty multiplayer. It rewards lone-wolf play in virtually all of its modes. The damage model reduces encounters to "whoever sees the other guy first wins." Killstreaks and boosters tack on a nonsensical layer of skill-buffers to lower the gap between plebeians and aristocrats. The zombie mode makes a return with new gamey additions to flesh out the experience.

So which segment of the population do I belong to? Consider me a hater. I actually enjoy CoD's SP campaigns but they're only good for one run. The multiplayer is a wash since the damage model doesn't give me any chance to employ crazy last-ditch tactics like I could in other games such as Battlefield: Bad Company 2. With killstreaks encouraging camping tactics, CoD is just not my cup of tea.

If you're a fan of CoD, you're a fan of CoD. My review won't do anything to change your mind, so have fun and shoot away!

PSN Welcome Back Program Over Extended

Update: Seems like all the bitching about the date actually did something, so the Welcome Back Program is now extended until 9AM PST July 5th. Now you have no excuse if you don't cash in on your free games.

Today, Sony's Welcome Back program, which lets you download several games for free, is now over. The window for downloading was open for a whole month and was supposed to end on July 3rd. When things are worded like that, one would assume that the window would close at 12:00AM July 4th--basically the end of July 3rd. But, the window was closed on July 3rd itself, meaning that those who planned to redeem Welcome Back downloads (like the free month of Playstation Plus) at the very last second are shit out of luck.

Cue the horde of angry gamers directing their rage at Sony for their piss-poor wording of July 3rd.

This is the world's smallest violin playing just for those poor gamers who didn't have the chance to download their free games. I don't think there's a more self-entitled group of consumers than gamers who will whine about every little thing that doesn't go their way, even when it comes to something like free games.

Silent Hill Homecoming

Silent Hill Homecoming is the latest console release in the long-standing Silent Hill franchise. The series is known for its psychological horror, protagonists with horrible pasts, foggy towns, and bizarre fleshy monsters. The horror genre is one of the few that works especially well in a video game format since it involves the player directly. Other than going to Knott's Scary Farm or Six Flag's Fright Fest, horror games are about as close as you can get to experiencing hell.

With the original "Team Silent" no longer in existence, Homecoming was developed with the help of western development studio Double Helix Games. Their influence is immediately recognizable with the new third-person over-the-shoulder camera. The stilted fixed camera angles of the past are gone and in its place is a more user-friendly one. In addition, the main character, Alex, has some nifty moves in his arsenal. Unlike past SH protagonists, Alex can dodge attacks and roll. He can wield a variety of weapons like a knife (which is the best), an axe, or a sledgehammer.

Over course of the game, you'll encounter obstacles that require the use of a specific weapon to get through. Wood planks go down with an axe chop and chains break with a trusty crowbar. A lot of the meandering has been taken out of the game for a more straightforward experience. The puzzles aren't as obtuse as its predecessors, but they still require a fair amount of brain scratching to solve.

The game has an uneven pace. The beginning is rife with healing items but a stretch in the middle is completely barren and artificially hard because of it. The knife, because of its quickness and speed, is the best weapon and renders others tools pretty much useless.

Silent Hill has always been one of the best-looking games, its nightmarish settings are packed with detail, dried blood, and rust. Homecoming, sadly, does not live up to the series' reputation. Aside from some creepy environments, the graphics are just plain bad. Character models are laughable, facial animation has no animation, and the water looks like concrete. The game runs at a steady framerate, but the animation is janky, awkward, and missing a few frames anyways. The noise filter returns but manages to make the game looks distractingly messy rather than add to the ambiance. Fortunately the sound design is still superb, forcing you to jump at the slightest sounds and the music is still vintage Yamaoka. The voice-acting is serviceable.

If you haven't tired of the Silent Hill formula, Homecoming will satisfy your survival horror needs. It's a shame that its a mediocre entry in an otherwise stellar series. Decent and nothing more.

Data Transfer Utility Error

One of the PS3's lesser known features is the ability to transfer data from one PS3 to another. Say your old PS3 breaks and you have to buy a new one. You want to keep all your saves and trophies so your only option is to use the Data Transfer Utility (which can be found in the system settings menu of the PS3). It's a great feature that ensures you won't lose everything in case your PS3 goes kaput, but any feature is a piece of crap if it doesn't work properly--which in this case--is the case.


The physical set-up of the process is annoying. You have to hook up two PS3's to the same TV and then connect the PS3's together using an ethernet cable. Fortunately, since my 36o runs on HDMI, it was simply a matter of swapping out the cable. Unfortunately, the PS3slim and the PS3phat don't use the same power cable, which meant I had to sneak behind some really dusty furniture just to pull out some cords. From that point on, you have to switch between video sources and make sure that each PS3 is on the right menu.

I ran the process for the first time and decided to go out for a run.

I return and its still transferring.

I take a shower.

I go back and there's an error.

I just wasted about an hour.

Time to go look up this "error" online.

As it turns out, a lot of people have been experiencing errors. Apparently the feature is not very stable. People have proposed all sorts of solutions and I tried all of them. I started this entire process at 5:00. By the time I finally got it to work, it was 2:00 in the morning. As you can imagine, the data transfer utility is a worthless feature that I give a grade of "D-" for. It's not an "F" because it eventually worked for me in the end, but the amount of mental stress and irritation that I had to endure is something that Sony can never make up for.

In order to make everything work, I had to delete a massive amount of data (which sort of goes against the idea of transferring in the first place) leaving nothing but Rock Band and Battlefield Bad Company 2 data (because I don't feel like re-downloading patches and DLC for those games). I reconstructed the database for the PS3 four times and deleted two pieces of corrupted data, one of which was hidden in a PS2 virtual memory card. I turned off the internet and media sharing as well.

So after 6 failed tries and about 9 hours of work and research, I finally got all my stuff transferred.

I'm over it.

Portal

Portal was just one part of a massive package that included Half-Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, and Team Fortress 2. Little did people know that Portal was actually the best part of the Orange Box. It's offbeat and quirky humor has already embedded itself into gamer lexicon, popularizing phrases such as "the cake is a lie" and unleashing an onslaught of companion cube related art and comics. What makes the game so great is its refreshing take on the first-person genre.

Portal is first and foremost a puzzle game. Challenges are solved with a gun that shoots portals that are connected to each other. One of the first things that every player does is shoot a portal on the ground, on the ceiling, and then jump in an infinite loop. It's a simple mechanic that the level design takes full advantage of, utilizing concepts such as momentum and inertia to make for some truly mind-bending challenges.

While the meat of the game comes in solving the puzzles, Portal also portrays an excellent narrative. The plot is nothing to write home about, but the main villain GLaDOs is sure to be one of the most memorable characters in recent history. Personable, insane, and charming, GLaDOS is a super-computer AI gone mad. Her quips and comments will put a smile on your face as you try to navigate obstacles designed to kill you. As you go through each stage under the guise of an "experiment," you'll find traces of past test subjects, such as messages etched into the walls that reveal GLaDos' true objective.

With its brilliant blend of first-person puzzle solving and unique narrative, Portal is one of the most exhilarating and innovative experiences in quite a while. So what are you waiting for? Jump in and...fall down forever.

Fleeting

So one day, I went out with Tiger Woods. We ate donuts in a parking lot in the name of art. Suddenly, I drove through some glass and narrowly avoided a plane crash. I ran away from UAV choppers only to find myself in Die Hard the movie.

This was just one instance where I was able to write down what happened in my dream. I don't remember any of it, at all, and I'm usually pretty good at remembering my dreams.

Nothing is as fleeting as our dreams except for maybe our thoughts. It's surprising just how easy it is for us to lose a thought. For a guy like me who pumps out thought after thought, it is quite disconcerting. Can you imagine what's lost in all these thoughts? Innovations, stories, ideas, tools, and revolutions could be lost in one fleeting moment. I bet that if you gathered every last thought, all of life's questions could be answered there.

I have to constantly fight against this loss. I've had to rewrite my stories countless times because I've lost the plot. I suppose that's why we created something called "writing." It's definitely not a natural impulse to record everything that we think. It's an exhausting endeavor with no real point other than to hold on to our brains. But in a world where people often lose their heads, maybe holding on to our brains isn't such a bad thing.

So it's really important to train yourself. Get used to writing down what you're thinking. File it away for future reference, because you'll never know when a stray thought will put you in the right path.

God of War 3

No series is as epic as God of War, a franchise characterized by enormous landscapes, gigantic bosses, and massive scale. The conclusion to Kratos’ story is billed as “the beginning of the end.” Does this myth live up to the legend, or is it a just another fairy tale?

Taking off directly from the end of the second, God of War 3 follows Kratos’ exploits as a vengeful god-killing machine of destruction. The titans are climbing Mt. Olympus, and it’s the start of a full blown war between the titans and the gods. Taking a cue from Greek mythology, Kratos’ tale is a simple yet grand undertaking. The motivation: revenge. But the road itself to the very top twists and turns like the slithery scales of a gorgon.

The set up promises some insane moments, and while it delivers in the beginning, an uneven pace makes the ride a rocky one. Kratos’ characterization remains one-dimensional, driven purely by rage, but the presence of Pandora humanizes him a bit. For the most part, however, Kratos is all about killing things.

The gameplay descends from the mold of the original Devil May Cry, racking combos against enemies, blocking at the right moments, and dodge-rolling out of the harm’s way. Racking up combo hits rewards you with red orbs that can be used to upgrade various weapons and unlock new moves. The basic formula hasn’t changed much, but the flexibility of the combat engine will have you creating all kinds of crazy combos in no time. With the addition of real-time weapon switching (cue giant enemy crab), you can get creative with your killing, switching from the blades in mid-combo to the more powerful Cestus gauntlets. With the split of magic from items, the doors are opened further for more experimentation between Hermes’ rocket boots, the bow and arrow, and other magical spells. The famous QTE finishers return for spectacular finishes to mythical beasts and bosses.

God of War’s true strength has always been its blend of adventure, puzzle, and combat. The game takes you from the top of Mt. Olympus to the pits of Tartarus. Unlike previous entries, much of the scenery will be in dark caverns. The environments aren’t as varied, and the sense of continuity is interrupted with the use of “Hyperion Gates,” teleportation portals to different parts of the game world. The puzzles are not nearly as clever as the earlier games (although the Portal-inspired puzzle gets props), and it seems like combat has seen the most attention. The game is a bit of a let down in this category, which contributes to an uneven pace. It feels as if the game blew its load too early.

Aside from a frustrating giant scorpion boss, all the boss fights are dazzling. While some are mechanically simple, the sheer spectacle is worth the price of admission alone.

GoW3 is an amazing looking game, but it’s not without its flaws. On the upside, the games moves at a smooth framerate higher than 30, which makes for some fluid scenes, but the framerate is not locked, fluctuating between 30 to 60 fps. This results in some disappointing jitter that breaks the advantageous fluidity of 60 fps. On the plus side, the texture work is astounding, and Kratos’ model himself is the best model I have ever seen in a video game. The boss fights are some of the most impressive sequences ever concocted for a game. The use of MLAA creates impeccable image quality. The only flaws are the framerate, uneven texture work, and some bad character models. The game dips into its magic hat to pull off every shader trick available.

The soundtrack is not as distinctive as prior games, but the dramatic Greek chorus lends the proceedings the prerequisite dose of “epic” it needs. In the midst of a fight, it’s easy to get lost in the thunderous thuds of the Cestus against a chimera, hear the screams of harpies, and the sweet suction of orbs. Each battle is a cacophony of screeches, hard impacts, and slices. The voice-acting is appropriate, if off-pitch in some areas, but a cameo by Kevin Sorbo as Hercules renders every minor voice acting mistake moot.

God of War 3, like its protagonist, is a simple game. Bereft of any online or multiplayer option, most of the fun lies in the single-player mode. The first run might go anywhere from 8-12 hours, but its easy to come back for more. The game offers multiple difficulty levels and hidden relics to make replays more fun. There’s also a challenge mode that tests your reflexes and endurance in various settings.

God of War 3 is one of the most dazzling and spectacular experiences you’ll ever have, but it might feel a little bit unsatisfying. It’s a fine game, but not the best of all time like it could’ve been.

Empathy Machine

So often do we pretend to understand others when we really don't. Hell, some people make a living off of pretending to understand others. If there's one thing I learned in my trade, it's to never underestimate the significance of personal experience. It's only when you've walked a mile in a person's shoes can we even begin to wrap our heads around what they could be thinking, feeling, and expecting.

It's the reason why we are so gripped by drama, by media portrayals of really shit situations. Whether or not their reactions are realistic is up to debate, but nonetheless, they are our behavioral models for those situations. I can't possibly imagine losing my loved ones, being betrayed, or otherwise undergo moments of extreme emotional duress, but I could imagine how I would react to it.

Think of a machine that can allow you to directly experience what others experience. I call it an empathy machine, for obvious reasons. It's not exactly a new concept since movies such as The Cell and Inception have explored the possibilities for mind invasion, but the idea itself is compelling. It could quite possibly the most powerful device known to man. How else can you change the mind of bigots, punish criminals, and celebrate humanity with a machine that can connect us all in a way never before seen in history?

You never know, Project Instrumentality might've been a good idea after all.

The funny thing is that we spend our life trying to get others to understand us, but we should first spend some trying to understand others before we get too selfish.