Event Log: 5/30/14 - Financial Woes

I've been cruising along only because I can afford to, but those idyllic days of doing nothing are fast coming to an end. I looked over my budget for the next couple months and things are looking grim. I've got to get my ass into gear, pronto. Can't survive without money, but I'm still riding a wave of apathy. It's gonna be real hard to shake off the dust that's settled in.

Good news though. I finished the rough draft for Chapter 36 of Love Sick. I'll refine and iron out the kinks tomorrow. I cut it shorter than usual for dramatic effect and saved the rest for next chapter. People might think I'm shortchanging them on the content but I see it as an opportunity to make what little there is a lot better. Smaller pieces are easier to manage.

Thanks to a user's avatar, I discovered Houkago Play. It's an interesting manga so far. It does give me a lot of different ideas, and considering Anonymous' request for a RokuNami story, maybe I should consider incorporating elements--namely the super tsundere aspect. I always enjoyed the love/hate mechanics of tsundere. It's really stupid but that's what makes it so entertaining!

Since my interest in stealth games have been piqued by MGS videos, I decided to look into another one called Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. I'm astonished by some of the mechanics because they put modern games to shame. There's a lot of jank for a PSX title but I don't think I've seen a game handle dead body discoveries any better. If an enemy spots a dead body, they'll actually call for back up and move into an irregular patrol route, fundamentally affecting the layout of the level--not to mention, each stage has different presets for enemy type and placement. That's next-level shit right there.

Contrast that with The Last of Us where the enemy stupidly walks over to the dead body and stands there, pondering the existence of life, before you end it for him. Then another enemy spots the bodies and does the same damn thing and it's the same reaction whether it's one corpse or five of them. You'd think the enemies would be more cautious if they saw a mountain of their dead buddies.

One of my favorite things about MGS2 is how layered the Alert system was. If a dead body was discovered, the enemies called for back up and extra soldiers would patrol the area. The system would've been more impressive if patrol routes were dynamically altered too, but I guess that's asking for too much.

I've been watching a lot of Watch Dogs lately and the way dead bodies are handled is similarly atrocious to The Last of Us. They slowly walk over to the corpse spouting lines of confusion in plain sight of your crosshairs. I don't know if it's a failure of AI design or AI programming. I give devs slack since AI is one of the hardest things to program in a game. If they couldn't get it right, they probably settled for a lower level version of their intended vision. But if this was their vision to begin with, then what the hell? Then again, since you can't move dead bodies in the game, I'll chalk it up to developmental limits. Still, I find it sad that games from more than ten years ago can handle this aspect better than games today. That's mind-blowing in a terrible way.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/29/14 - Collage

Today was scatter shot. Even at my most apathetic, I could point to an anchor to base my Event Logs around, but I was all over the place today. The most basic way I could put this...I spent the entire day on my laptop. It was really just a combination of watching YouTube videos and browsing NeoGAF. 

I ran earlier than usual and wish I hadn't. The sun was out in full force. My sweat didn't fully dry until hours later. 

I watched Tetra's Ninja's Let's Play of Metal Gear Rising because of a throwaway comment about Sunny. The story doesn't really advance the Metal Gear Saga in any appreciable way but her cameo was neat, I guess. 

Since it's been a while, I started his series on MGS4. MGS4 is the only MGS that I didn't replay. The per chapter installation turned me off from that prospect pretty quick. I forgot how well directed the cutscenes are in this game. The plot turns dumb but the direction is top notch. It gets me more excited for the Phantom Pain. 

Even without seeing his face, I can tell Tetra Ninja is Asian from his voice. He's got that  accent. I wonder if people can tell from my voice? Everybody always did tell me I had an accent but some people can't even place it. SWhatever my accent is, it sure as hell didn't come from Louisiana.  

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/28/14 - Watching the Watch Dogs

I watched Dans Gaming stream of Watch Dogs being played all the way to the end. The story was decent but I can't agree with the comments lambasting the game's story. I was intrigued enough. I'm mostly ambivalent about video games stories. At worst, I find them inoffensive and rarely do I state a definitive squandering of potential. They are what they are. Most people who state otherwise on the extreme negative end of the spectrum are simple attention whores. Is it impossible to express an opinion without hyperbole these days? Don't shout when we can hear you whisper.

I've seen enough to know that I'll enjoy the game. The one thing I'm worried about are the myriad of ways you can instantly fail a mission. Those are total immersion breakers. At least restarting at checkpoints looks generous enough and relatively pain free.

Man, as much as I want to go out and play this game, I have a huge backlog that's on pause ever since I got into my manga kick. All in due time, I suppose. I've also advanced little in the next chapter of Love Sick. I get distracted too easily.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/27/14 - Watch Dogs

I'm on my weekly walk and I notice more dogs than usual. I swear everybody decided to walk their dogs today, and why not? Because Watch Dogs got released. I crossed my fingers and prayed that the game would turn out well because I like games to be good. Everybody loses if a game turns out bad. Only losers revel in vindication because nothing else in life gives them satisfaction, the sad, pathetic, little wretches.

I started off with Chris Smoove's videos and that set me down the path to oblivion. I watched streams of the game all day on Twitch. I'm definitely intrigued and I'll probably play it some day. I'll be waiting a long time though. Never full price on day one ever again. I've seen the same missions played enough times that I could complete them with my eyes closed at this rate. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm compromising my future experience by watching everything.

I watched Chris Smoove's LP of Tomb Raider and when I finally played it a year later, I did feel deja vu. But there's nothing quite like playing a game for yourself. That's why we play games. At least watching these streams staves off the hype to get something new and shiny in my console right now. Gotta stay economical.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/26/14 - Advance Forth

I'm sure you've noticed that my event log titles sometimes have nothing to do with the actual content of my entries. Truth be told, I just type down the first thing that comes to mind.

Today was lost to the ether. I'm not exactly sure what happened but thanks to a cursory glance at my unaltered browser history, I spent much of the afternoon watching Maximilian's Marvel Vs. Capcom Online Warrior series. He's a model online warrior. When he gets beaten, he extends his gratitude and sees his loss as a learning opportunity. I can never be like that. Tis the nature of my beast.

I read some more Spider-Man and watched a fanedit of Spider-Man 3 subtitled "Redemption." Given the choice between a glorious mess and a sanitized version of said mess, I prefer it in all of its ridiculous glory. At least the theatrical version has a manic energy that offsets the more obvious missteps like shoehorned plot developments. Just goes to show you can get rid of scenes you don't like, but you can't change an entire movie on editing alone.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/25/14 - Marathon Run

I'm zipping along these issues. Hard to believe that I've already read decades worth of stories involving Spider-Man. I can't imagine how a fan from the original days would feel given the explosion in popularity of Marvel.

I'm reminded of why Spider-Man continues to be the most popular Marvel hero. He struggles to be one. He's always getting trolled, always balancing priorities, and always getting the short end of the stick. It's...comical, for lack of a better word. And some of his wisecracks are genuinely funny in a lame kind of way.

I was expecting my friends to go visit this lounge called Mesa but plans didn't pan out. It's Memorial Day weekend--ain't no better time to go out. It's unfortunate we don't get to do things like this more often. I feel like there's a mental block preventing us to just go out. It only takes one to stop us all from going. Bunch of slackers, I swear.

Much of my exposure to Marvel was through the Capcom fighting games. I'm watching YouTube videos and stumbled on Maximilian's Online Warrior series of Marvel Vs. Capcom. I got so many good memories of that game. I  considered buying it on PSN but there's probably nobody left playing.

I recalled an impromptu Marvel Super Heroes tournament back in day at my cousin's house during a party. Bunch of kids huddled in a room and passing the controller around. One of my relatives kept beating everyone. Those were the good old days. Heck, I remember tagging along whenever my brother spent the afternoon at an arcade called Yogi's. Sad how those died out. When you consider the economy of it though, it makes a lot more sense to just buy the game and play it at home. Online competition is just a bonus.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/24/14 - A Comic Kick

Reading Age of Apocalypse led me to Days of Future Past and for the hell of it, I decided to continue my run through the Amazing Spider-Man. I watched the latest movie and man, it's got nothing on the Raimi versions. Spider-Man 2 remains one of the best superhero movies of all time. I feel like I should elaborate more on my day but when I devote all my attention to one task, there's not much more to add aside from eating, showering, and sleeping.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/23/14 - Age of Apocalypse

The entirety of today was devoted in service to the dark lord, Apocalypse. These crossover events must have been a bitch to collect back in the day. You had to buy seven different lines just to get all the perspectives. I've never really read the comics too much but they're all so wordy compared to manga. There's advantages and disadvantages to both but I like that two distinct styles exist. Gives a different flavor to a common medium. Not much to say unless I'm willing to spoiler the storyline, but it'll be intriguing to see how the next X-Men movie shakes out.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/22/14 - The Recycling of Pain

I couldn't shake off the thought to trade in one more game. It's the Metal Gear Solid Essentials Collection. I originally bought it for archival purposes but since I recently bought the HD Collection, they're useless to me now. I never once put any of those discs into my console. It takes up quite a bit of space. With the triple trade in value, I get ten bucks. Not bad. That's basically how much I paid for the HD Collection.

I went to Target and it looked like everything was about to go through, but nope, I got screwed again. I go home. Later in the day, my friend texts me about his successful trade-in. Servers are back up again. Since my brother needs to use my car to go to work, I ask my friend to pick me up. We get there and the damn dude is on break. So we head to another Target and it looks like that guy is on break too! Fortunately, I spoke with a Target employee and he went back to wrangle up the dude. Finally, all this work for ten measly bucks, vindicated.

I get home and I look over my game collection again. I'm heavily debating between trading in Tales of Vesperia and RE6. ToV has great sentimental value for me but it's unlikely I'll ever play it again. RE6, on the other hand, I paid full price for and getting $6 back leaves an awful taste in my mouth. Guess I'll just hold on to both. I'll get at most $20 out of both. Tempting, but the prospect of another dead end day does not sound enticing.

I tried to tidy up my song lyrics. Good thing my brother left for work. I tried singing my lyrics out loud and I can't get a good rhythm on it--not to mention, my voice is atrocious. I wanted to avoid using existing songs and write something that can stand on the strength of itself, even without accompanying music. It's really hard to do.

My struggle delayed my run so by the time I went out, it was almost evening. The clouds hung low but the sun was strong enough to scatter some light. It's a typical cloudy evening. If it weren't for the clouds, it would've been an orange one. The first leg of my run, I go down the middle of the canal. It exposed me to cold winds. My ears went numb. Some dude from way behind just beat me. I've got the endurance but I don't got the speed.

On the second leg, I run along the side of the embankment. The wind isn't as harsh but that's when my body starts to break down. I can really feel the heat and I sweat like crazy. I was thinking about how I skipped my run last week and how the week before that, I couldn't make it all the way. Determined not to be beaten again, I willed my way to the finish line. I had to be fast because I was going to watch Days of Future Past with my friends later that night.

After a quick shower, my friend arrived earlier than expected. I finished my dinner in less than ten minutes. One of our friends, J, is always late. Whenever we go pick him up, he takes ages to get out. We keep joking about it but today, a miracle happened: he wasn't late.

Days of Future Past was great. I think it's the best X-Men movie.

As my friend drove us home, we got to talking about all the other superhero movies. We collectively agreed that Dark Knight Rises was weak. We really slagged off on it, bringing up all the weaknesses, like how Bane turns out to be a puppet and just gets taken out by a cannon blast. A weak end for a villain with such great build up. Then I brought up the point of how this hole is supposed to be this literal hell but it's actually quite nice. Everybody's really supportive of each other when one of them tries to escape. They've got chiropractors and even TV. From the way they described it, I thought they'd be eating each other but it seems pretty kosher down there. We joked that the reason nobody escapes is because they don't want to escape. Place is too nice.

My friend R, the driver, was laughing his ass off and told me that I should record the details of the conversation on my Event Log. You happy, R?

Now I'm on an X-Men kick. Time to read Age of Apocalypse.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/21/14 - The End of Pain

Finally. I was able to trade in my games. Ridiculous how long this nonsense dragged out. The process took a bit longer than I would've liked. The dude took his sweet time scanning my games. Made small talk with him but I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I had the balance on both my gift cards combined into one. With that done, my goal for the day was accomplished.

I got home and read manga all day. I've transitioned into a manga reading mood. If I'm not playing games, then I'm reading manga, and if I'm not doing either, I'm probably watching something. Too bad nobody watches TV on memorial day. That means I'll have to wait an extra week for the next episode of GoT.

At night, I decided to get a jump on the next chapter of Love Sick. It involves writing an original song. Considering I have no background in music, there might not be much difference between my song lyrics and a poem. I just need something that can sorta be sung, rhymes, and effectively communicates Rikku's true intentions.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/20/14 - The Middle of Pain

Come on, Target! You're telling me the servers are down again? That's bullshit and you know it. You can't call me and wake me up and make me to drive over only to hear that the servers went down again. Damn amateurs. Y'all should be embarrassed.

Even though I only lost thirty minutes, I felt like I wasted the whole day. I had to walk off my frustration. I'm not the type to scream when I'm angry. I keep it inside until I'm so outraged, I do something dumb like kick a wall and stub my toe. Never good when anger leads to actual injury. Most of the time, I manage to calm down before I become real stupid. I'm the simmering type though. Dark clouds hang over my head for hours. But once tomorrow comes around, I'm all sunshine and smiles. Gotta have amnesia, like Drew Brees.

I haven't read manga in a while, so I basically did just that. I continued some I've started and checked out a few new ones. I caught up on As the Gods Will. I have great fascination for bizarre death game premises. It reignited the inspiration for my Battle Royale KH crossover idea--not that I'll be writing it anytime soon.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/19/14 - Beginning of Pain

First thing I wanted to do was get rid of my three games: Okami (PS2), Deadly Premonition, and Persona 4 Arena. Sadly, value on Deadly Premonition dropped and I lost five bucks because of it. Not a big deal. Just let me come in and transact this, pronto.

Unfortunately, by the time I arrived, the servers that handled trade ins "went down." Guess I'll just wait for a while. Nope. Ended up waiting until tomorrow which will be titled, the Middling of Pain. Target servers run by monkeys confirmed. It's embarrassing for a big name retailer like Target to fail like this. Ugh, just thinking about it gets my blood boiling, but I'll hold back on the indignant hyperbole. Just barely though.

I'll put on my tinfoil hat and speculate that the servers were intentionally crippled because they were getting mad ripped off by trade ins. They'll put them back up when every game is worth jack squat. The bastards.

At least I was able to link up with my friend Z and we hung out at his place talking about manga, video games, and whatever. Really the first bit of socializing in a long time aside from watching Godzilla with R.

Speaking of movies, I can't wait for Days of Future Past. 93% on RottenTomatoes, that's damn good, although I'm typically weary of movies in the high 90's. They're usually what I call, "overrated." Then again, RT is an aggregate, not an average, so I'm probably looking at those percentages the wrong way.

If anything productive came out today's wasted trip to Target, I was able to write up sections for the next chapter of Love Sick. The next one might be coming out sooner than you'd expect.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/18/14 - Crawling Thunderburst

The present is much more meaningful than the past. If I had written this the night of, there's probably a lot more to remember. 

That's right, I went out to take advantage of Target's Triple Trade-In value deal. I was able to trade in GTAV, The Last of Us, and NBA 2K14 before values bottomed out. The three at a time restriction is bullshit though. And it's the reason why I am in so much suffering RIGHT NOW. 

I went out to Carl's Jr for dinner because the set up at home was weird. It was spring rolls but there weren't enough wraps available and the meat was all fat or I had to use fish and there wasn't any of the sauce I liked so I was pretty much "Screw this, might as well get a hamburger." 

The latest episode of GoT wasn't as surprising mostly because "speculation" ruined it for me. Still, I got chills when I heard "I will be your champion." 

They should make a song out of that.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/17/14 - What Did I Do Again?

Oh crap, I think I've reached the limits of my memory. I can't recall anything from Saturday. Probably something with games and...that's it. I think the heat started to level off but I'm not sure. I know I updated on Friday, so I was probably waiting for reviews to roll in. I guess not much happened at all. Don't remember watching anything new, reading anything new, or playing anything new. Guess it's just another one of those days...

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/16/14 - Just a Reminder

I'm still alive, as evidenced by my latest update of Love Sick. Writing is an unpredictable process. I couldn't write anything for week, then one day, it just starts flowing out. Not so much a matter of inspiration than will.

And I beat Spyro. I didn't just complete it 100%, I completed it 120%. These old school platformers hold up very well. I've got two more sequels waiting for me. Gotta get on it.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/15/14 - Gojira

I've become an overly sentimental movie watcher lately. Anything the mildest bit inspiring or sad makes me water at the corners of my corneas. Even movies that aren't good can have moments that provoke moisture. What can I say? I want to be immersed, inspired, and involved.

This proclivity for tears in no way shape or form interferes with my overall assessment of a movie, but it does demonstrate that I enjoy them on a far more fundamental base level. It's not about how well constructed the plot is or how interesting the characters are or how thought provoking the themes. It's simply a matter of "Is this fun to watch?"

In the end, isn't that the only thing that matters?

Of course not. I admit I enjoy trash more than others do but I am not without limits. It just means I don't look at everything inside and outside of a vacuum. Context is important and allows us to understand why some things are included and why others are omitted. It's all about perspective.

I've learned to attribute my inability to enjoy certain works as a function of me and not as some inherent quality of a work itself. If more people thought like that, opinions wouldn't have to draw so much ire, especially one that goes against the grain.

Therefore, I give Godzilla seven big-ass radioactive lizards out of ten.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/14/14 - Dragon Day

I dub this date as Dragon Day to commemorate the time I devoted to games with dragons in them. I played a lot of D. Dogma (Dragon's Dogma for long). At first, it didn't grab me, but I stuck with it, and I think I'm finally in its grip.

The game reminds me of Oblivion or Skyrim--except in third-person, with good animations and decent combat, and a NPC pawn system. I guess the similarities end with the huge overworld, open-ended quest structure, and the propensity to stack inventories with useless shit.

Since those Bethesda RPG's do nothing for me, those shared qualities irk me here too. For one, I can't stand the generic narrative. The biggest problem with these "create your own character" RPG's is that it forces everybody in the world to react to you in the most generic way possible. My name "Jomatto" doesn't mean shit if everybody calls me "Arisen." My gender, color, or anything doesn't matter in the least. And I look like a mute fool during the cutscenes.

The silent protagonist approach needs to die in a fire. That shit don't work when everybody besides you is fully voiced. I'm also not a fan of the faux middle English where aught's are added where aughts do naught. Is there a reason for everyone to speak like they get a stick up their ass?

I'm tired of swords and bows and high-pitched squeaky goblins and other standard fantasy fare. Although, I was reminded of Lord of the Rings in a good way when fighting goblins and a cyclops atop a caste wall at night. That was a great scene. Between Game of Thrones and countless other fantasy games, the genre's played out.

The day-night cycle, while cool, is aggravating as hell because night is deadly and it means I'm waiting for day 50% of the time. I hate that quests are available early when you're in no shape to actually undertake them. They point to some godforsaken part of the map that's blank and you'll probably die long before you even reach halfway. Quests that depend on time of day means you'll have to use inns often to advance time which means your perishables will perish even faster.

Inventory management is a pain in the ass because it affects your speed if you carry too much stuff. You can distribute items to your pawns but that's just a hassle. I should be concentrating on kicking ass, not messing around in menus.

Honestly, there's a lot of things that annoy me but I must endure. Even in this mess of problems there is redemption: fun.

At night, I decided to put on an oldie but a goodie: Spyro the Dragon. Compared to Crash, it's much more soothing with relaxing glides and gem collection. I'm trying to get 100% on every stage. The level design is something else. It's more about gliding paths and reaching "unreachable" areas rather than the strict timing-based obstacle platforming of Crash. I needed something like this, especially after wasting hours on the same goddamned checkpoint in Dragon's Dogma. It's something light, breezy, and fun.

In the wee hours of morning, my younger brother spotted something crazy on the walls: a huge ass Australian-esque spider. It was obscenely large by household standards. That creature belonged in the wilderness, not a house. It wasn't a daddy long legs, it was a full-bodied hunter. Since it was on his side of the wall, my brother was reluctantly compelled to take it out. He rubberbanded a napkin on the bottom of an empty water bottle and crushed it with all his might. He was totally freaking out because the spider wigged out in its death throes. Talk about a nasty mess of tangled, broken limbs.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/13/14 - Running in the Dark

I got a sense of what it's like to be running for my life tonight. The heat was insane, hovering above 100 degrees for the entire day. This meant my walk had to be delayed until nightfall.

Halfway through my jaunt and it turned to evening, forcing my walk into a run. I was blind as a bat with dark silhouettes flitting past me. Towards the end, I noticed someone behind me and an irrational fear took hold. I convinced myself that this person was a danger and I pushed beyond my normal limits to reach safety. The person took an alternate path and I realized I was in no danger at all, but still, I don't like people running up behind me in the dark on principle.

I finished Back to the Future. That's one game off my list. So far, I've scratched two games off that dollar flash sale. The amount of value I'm getting from that sale is fantastic. I hope I won't be weighted by my rash purchasing decisions. In some ways, I'm holding myself back (in terms of real life) in order to get through all these games.

There was a brief moment when I had no idea of what to do because my internet was gone. Every time there's an outage, I'm reminded of how much I rely on the internet. Shit is a dependency.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/12/14 - Flash In the Fire

What a forgettable day. What the heck happened? I remember playing games and... Well, that's pretty much it. The heat has certainly been kicked up a notch. The vast majority of my time was devoted to straight up melting in my seat. I went through several episodes of Back to the Future and it's been entertaining. It's a great continuation of the movie's storyline.

I caught up on a couple videos by Dasuberpoop. He's a YouTuber that plays BF4. I'm surprised he hasn't upgraded to next-gen, but his commentary gets me rolling. I can sympathize with the myriad ways one can encounter a "bullshit death" in the game. Reminds me of that movie, A Million Ways to Die in the West. Seth, if you want ideas for a sequel, play some BF.

There was a brief moment when I was knee deep in multitasking. I was watching Hannibal, Dasuberpoop's videos, and playing BttF at the same time. I was somehow able to navigate through all of it.

Then I fell asleep, lulled to lala land by LP's of XCOM. Yes, I'm still watching them, but I think more for sleeping material than entertainment.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/11/14 - Happy Mother's Day

To all the mothers, thanks.

Not much to report today. My family threw a KBBQ for the occasion. That was nice. I finished up the last of the Back to the Future trilogy, which I enjoyed more than the second (despite IMDB ratings), and my friend and I proved why Conquest is the best mode in BF4. To cap off the night, I went though a double header for Game of Thrones. Man, that last scene gave me chills.

I also beat Crash! Holy shit, that was probably the hardest game I had to beat in recent memory. I like the troll level right before the final boss. It's just one jump over a gap. Nice sense of humor, Naughty Dog. Seriously, I overcompensate after every jump and walk off into pits every time. I'm just not cut out for this jive.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/10/14 - The Key to Winning

My friend and I have spent extensive time in the new Carrier Assault mode in BF4, and we have arrived at the conclusion that the best way to win is to not play at all. Out of the dozen times we've played Carrier Assault, we only won once. If that's the case, this mode can go to hell. In the end, there's only one mode that matters: Long live Conquest!

And Domination.

Since I started the Back to the Future game, I had no choice but to watch the movies. I managed to squeeze in the first two in my schedule. Their prediction of 2015 is hilariously off the mark, and unless we invent flying cars all of sudden, we can safely assume that all future predictions in movies will continue to be woefully shortsighted.

I caught up on a couple episodes of Hannibal and man, there aren't too many shows with this level of intensity. It's starting to diverge further and further from the books and I genuinely fear for the lives of every character. They're dropping like flies out there.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/9/14 - A Path Anew

I'm almost over XCOM. ChristopherOdd's videos are quickly losing their shine and I'm getting increasingly bored. To put the final nail in the coffin, I started MGS3 HD on my PS3. I forgot how ridiculous this game could be at times. I was totally taken back when Ocelot did his Ocelot call. I just couldn't get over that for the next thirty minutes. Then you got The Fear abducting Sokolov via an assist with goddamned hornets. Hilarious.

Although the 60fps looks great, the game is the same underneath. I appreciate a good framerate but I don't believe it makes gameplay "signficantly" better. Gameplay is gameplay, and the only time framerate impacts it is if goes below a certain threshold. It's neat luxury but not a necessity. Like with every game, I forget about the graphics as soon as I'm playing. All these arguments about graphics are getting wearisome. In the end, who gives a shit? Graphics don't make a game better. It's nice, but not paramount to the experience.

Then I checked out Back to the Future by Telltale. Most of the puzzles you can fumble through by systematically eliminating all your choices. It's kind of brain dead mechanically and a step back compared to all the adventure games that have come out on PC over the years, but Telltale isn't going for that. I can appreciate their emphasis on storytelling over obtuse puzzles. I've never watched the movies (or remember them if I did) so it's interesting to play in this universe.

I'm gonna have to check it out now!

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/8/14 - The Cable Guy

I was awakened by a cable guy in my room. I swear this isn't a set up for a gay porno. I heard rumblings from my brother-in-law that he wanted to switch from cable to DSL since it's been so expensive, but instead, he doubles down by installing receivers on every TV in the house. Way to change your mind, bro. Fine by me. I prefer cable by a long shot. Kinda wish it didn't have to be done so early. Didn't even get a chance to make myself presentable.

I decided to go on my run earlier than usual. I'm not sure I made the right choice. I had more free time afterwards but my body gave out faster. I don't know how to describe it accurately. It was like a rib pang. Maybe I could've endured or maybe not, but I stopped just to be safe.

My friend and I played Battlefield again, but this time, on the new Carrier Assault mode. It's a nice twist on standard Conquest. I'm tired of getting my ass kicked due to lack of map knowledge though. For me, BF4 is slowly becoming BattleRage. I never fail to start cursing up a storm once I'm in a game. Shit's not good for my health.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/7/14 - The Return

My friend made good on his promise for BF4 action and we finally tackled Naval Strike together. It's an interesting mix of maps that are all very Paracel Storm-ish. I hadn't played BF for a month so I was hella rusty. Funny thing? Me and friend were the top two guys on our team. Needless to say, we lost that round by a significant margin. It's not a good look when the top two guys are rusty-ass vets trying to get their legs back. We lost game after game and our only win was the last one we played. At least we ended on a good note. It was a really close game. I'm glad our team pulled through. We made some pretty clutch caps at the end.

More Second Wave LP's. I won't bore you with the details.

Love Sick, however, is making some actual progress. A throwaway transition scene has somehow morphed into a relationship defining moment. I love it when accidents like these happen. They're totally unplanned but occur by the mere collision of two great characters. That's what they mean when they say stories have a life of their own.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/6/14 - Without Direction

Now that I've beaten XCOM, I'm lost as to what to do. I'm replaying it on PC with trainers but it has lost some of its shine yet still has a grip on me. It's like I'm stuck watching a boring loop but I can't turn away just because. It's both infuriating and frustrating. Someone free me from this nightmare!

I had a real good run today. Well, half-run half-walk. Weather is a beautiful thing. Naturally occurring patterns can appear bizarrely handcrafted. So effortless. Clouds, the light, and the wildlife. I'm lucky to live where I live. I get to witness some great scenes.

I'm knee deep in ChristopherOdd's XCOM playthrough. Second Wave throws a nice wrench into the mix. It's interesting to see how he deals with them.

I awoke to an interesting text this morning. My friend has returned from his overseas trip as a married man. Kinda crazy when I think about it. First thing he asks about after being gone for an entire month is if there's any updates for Battlefield. Glad to see he's got his priorities straight.

I set up my PS4 expecting some BF4 action later but he called it an early night. I switched HDMI cables for nothing. Glad to hear he's back though!

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Event Log: 5/5/14 - Spoke Too Soon

I got XCOM: Enemy Within for the PC and played that the whole day. It seems I haven't had enough. I got tired of struggling so I downloaded a trainer and now I'm having more fun than ever with unlimited resources and infinite stats. I miss cheating in games. After all the grief, pain, and suffering this game has put me through, I must drag it through hell and back. I can complete entire missions in one turn. It's absolutely cheese but oh so fun. I don't care. I can do whatever I want!

What the hell did Chris Paul eat for breakfast? That's a slaughter by the Clippers. Thunders are frauds, confirmed. The second round is usually when teams get exposed. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the playoffs shake up.

Still gotta expunge XCOM from my system.

/eventlog

Event Log: 5/4/14 - It Is Done

Beat XCOM!!!

Christ almighty, feels like I've been on working on this forever.I'm all XCOM'ed out. There's nowhere else for me to go but across the finish line. I have to thank PS+ for giving me the opportunity check this game out. It certainly ranks up there as one of my favorites from last generation. I've got my eye on Firaxis for any potential XCOM sequels.

Of course, the first thing I do after beating the game is start up a new one on Ironman Classic. I got my ass kicked. I foresaw myself getting sucked into the vortex. For the sake of my backlog, I deleted the game. I might come back to it someday.

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Event Log: 5/3/14 - Leaps From Steps

I surprised by how far I progressed in the latest chapter of Love Sick during a triple header on TNT. Guess it helps that two of the three games became blowouts by the third quarter, but still, that much basketball was sure to divert my attention. A couple paragraphs doesn't sound like much, but compared to what I've done in the entirety of last week, that's a massive leap. I'm sure my readers would take whatever I can get.

I've finally reached the point of no return in XCOM. If I try to advance any further, the game warns me that there's no coming back. It's time to close the deal...tomorrow.

Event Log: 5/2/14 - Another Scorcher

The heat's starting to affect my brain. It's becoming harder and harder to remember. You know what else is heating up? The NBA playoffs. It's a nice distraction. Perhaps too nice of a distraction. Did any of you catch that game winner by Lillard? Amazing shot. These are probably the most exciting playoffs in a while. Have there been this many game sevens in the first round? It'll be funny if it's all sweeps in the second.

With the heat drain and my lack of motivation, it's become the perfect storm of laziness. I played one mission of XCOM and that was it. These days are blurring together, man. I can't stand it.

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Event Log: 5/1/14 - Too Hot To Move

The heat is killing me. I lack the motivation to do much of anything except stay still. I staggered my jogging time until I was absolutely sure it was cool enough to not melt the instant I stepped outside. On the way back, it was essentially evening. My night vision is terrible so I was literally running blind. Okay, not blind, but blurry.

I saw someone use Mikasa as an avatar on NeoGAF and it reminded me to finish the Attack on Titan anime and catch up on the manga. I'm annoyed by all the internal conflicts. They're on the edge of extinction but they're getting sidetracked by political bullshit. Sounds about right. We are usually our own worst enemy.

Even if aliens were to attack us right now, I doubt the world could unite against them. Damn Argentina. They pulled out of the XCOM project. See if I'll save your ass when the aliens start abducting your population.

My favorite character, without question, is Mikasa. I like a girl who's fit. I find (light) muscles attractive. Her overwhelming (and perhaps obsessive) concern for Eren is a distinctive trait that borders on yandere. I don't know why, but yanderes turn me on--as long as they don't kill anybody.

Under this kind of heat, there's not much doing to do. Just gotta sit back and chill.

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Event Log: 4/30/14 - Living In Wind

I feel like I've sufficiently aired my grievances in other avenues (Tumblr, Twitter, email) about my zombie state of mind stemming from hurricane force winds knocking on my door and preventing sleep so I won't belabor the frustration of being constantly awakened in the morning after staying up all night.

That said, I think I may have leveled up a couple notches in XCOM. I'm starting to pick up strategies and preferred play styles that not only satisfys my low tolerance for failure, but also keeps my reloads to a minimum. Imagine that. Spending more time doing something makes me better at doing it! It's an absurdly basic principle but one easily forgotten by beginners.

It was windy and extremely hot. This entire week has been hell. Summer has arrived early. My motivation wanes with rising temperatures. The hotter it gets, the more I'm sapped. I do feel like I'm nearing the end in XCOM. I captured the highest tier alien and main objective right now is to buff up my Psi soldier. Until then, I'm gonna be slumming it in randomly generated missions.

/eventlog