A glimpse into the life (and mind) of The Antiguan Gamer (T.A.G)!!!
Keep up to date with what's going on with THIS gamer as I dish out experiences, info, intel, reviews, updates and what ever else I can!!!
What do you know? 2500 views has snuck up on me and I didn't notice it! You (Mainstay) readers have already guessed what is coming next and if the title didn't give it away (for you new-comers) then, let me categorically state that, this post will be another "THANKS FOR READING" post! (Also, let me state that I have fixed the issue where MY views add to the tally. [Apparently, there is an option in the Settings that I can adjust to have the counter not register my IP address as a view. Technology at its finest!!!] So the count is a bit more accurate now and it reads 2614 views at the time of posting) You, being the observant reader you are, may have noticed that I have switched to a different (More writer-friendly?) posting schedule of 1 post per month. When I first started out, I had A LOT to say and posted a few times (about 3-ish) per month. As I have been at this for close to 2 years now, and as life has become a bit more hectic and time-consuming, the current model suits me just fine. It gives me more time to flesh-out my posts with more of my awesome personality *big goofy smile* and rather unique writing style (That you have all grown to love and adore *does Jedi Mind Trick*) as well as allowing me to say what I want/need to say in a structured and impactful way. (Obviously, great effort goes into each and every post. Even if it doesn't seem that way) [Leave a comment of which posts you feel are the most and least thought out, in your opinion. I'll let you know if you're right or not *suggestive wink*] Anywho, enough rambling! Time to get to the reason we are here!
THE THANKSES!!! (Yes, I did that on purpose)
THANKSES to ALL my readers. The new, the old, the quiet, the bold, the sharers, the shy, the girls and the guys.
THANKSES to my sources. Whether of inspiration, of desperation, of learning, of moaning or of awe.
THANKSES to my lovely wife. For helping with research and toiling through the slog, even though she STILL hasn't read anything on my blog.
THANKSES to the Fighting Game Community. I've been apart of it for a short span of time but it's a group people I'm proud to call mine.
THANKSES to my critics. Happy to say I now have a few, who give it to me straight and spell-check too.
THANKSES to Microsoft Paint. It's the little things you do, that keep me coming back to you.
THANKSES to Daigo and Tokido. (My Street Fighter Role Models) We may not know how, we may not know when but we will make RYU great again.
THANKSES to Beer Battles (and its participants). Good, clean fun and friendly competition. (Except when people get SALTY. It gets better, when people get salty)
I'm glad to have each and every one of you readers along with me for the ride and I hope that you stay with me on this journey (as long as you want to and even after you don't want to)[but you still stay anyway because... Reasons]. To any and every one involved with the blog in any and every way, shape or form. To you I say THANKS, THANKS, 2500 TIMES... THANKS!!!
"Yo T.A.G, what did you get yourself for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?"
NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! NOT A DAMN THING!!!
It sucks that that is the answer that I give to that question but that's the truth and that's that.
So, here I sit browsing the latest deals that normally abound at this time of year and it is with great regret (And slight depression) that I close the window. I don't know why I keep doing this to myself! I know there will be great deals on games and tech and games and electronics and games and I also know (all too well) that I won't be able to afford any of it. I question myself every time.
"Why? Why do you continue to do this to yourself?"
*clicks on another "check out these really cool items you would like" ad knowing full well I'll just hate myself a little bit more after I'm done*
How is it that a guy who goes to work 5 days a week (On a "bad" week) doesn't have money? How can I not be able to afford "the lowest prices of all time"? How come the deals elude me every year?
The answer is simple! I'm an ADULT that's why!!!
Adults have responsibilities. Adults do what needs to be done. Adults sacrifice the things they want for things they need. Adults don't get to buy Videogame consoles and Wide-screen TVs and Laptops and Surround-sound systems. NO! Adults buy food and furniture and pay bills and rent!
Adults make on-time loan payment and monthly Credit Card payments and, on rare occasion, try to save a little bit too! Adults do not splurge on spur of the moment deals. Adults do not indulge in whims of fancy. Adults do not "shop till you drop"! Adults (Sensible, responsible adults) use their limited cash flow for the greater good. Forget the childlike longing for that cool item, ignore the nagging tug on your heart strings, dismiss the self-serving thought of "you deserve it". Be an adult and do the adult thing. (I kick myself repeatedly for EVER wanting to be an adult!)
See that excessively low priced item over there? See that Buy-One-Get-One sticker just beyond that? See ALL the *insert number here*% off tags and the brightly coloured "Sale Sale Sale" stickers? Don't even think about them. You're an adult. Adults think about University tuition fees and Retirement funds and Medication costs. Adults think about keeping the cupboards filled and refrigerator stocked. Adults think about the above mentioned things that they're not supposed to think about but they think about them for their kids, not for themselves. Don't worry about your own happiness, don't rationalize and justify spending your own money on you. Don't even consider that you work your ass off and slave away at a job that you don't always enjoy and you should be able to at least buy something nice for you. Nope! Adulting is all that matters now. Keep a stiff upper lip, put your shoulders to the wheel, suck it up and adult away. Adulthood: Where dreams (And every other cool thing) go(es) to DIE!!!
(At this point in the rant I have just finished checking what Amazon has to offer for Cyber Monday. Not much interested me there but I needed some fuel for the rant fire)
You know what else is going to suck? The fact that this whole chain of events (Me knowing sales are about, me looking at them, me wanting stuff, me looking at my wallet, me lacking money, me wallowing in self-pity, me beating myself up over it) will reoccur in about a month or so. It grinds my gears that I can already predict that I won't be partaking in the joy of giving someone I care about (Namely, me) a gift that they will enjoy. It's sad actually. Down right dismal! it's enough to bring a grown man to tears. Maybe one day I'll be (rich enough?) able to buy the things I want to buy, when I want to buy them and not have to worry about the "necessary" things. Maybe at some point in the future money won't be an issue and I'll have no need to worry about price tags. Maybe, just maybe when I'm a little bit older I'll see something I like, swipe my card and strut out the store with my shopping bag slung over my shoulder (walk a few steps, stop abruptly, turn around, slightly pull my shades down and say "Like A Final Boss" in my best "I'm too cool for school" voice)! *Cash and Carry Achievement... UNLOCKED* But until then, I guess I'm stuck with gritting my teeth as I grin and bear it! Biding my time and penny-pinching as my day draws near. Because one day, some day (while I can still hold a controller, hopefully), I would love to treat myself. *notices another "Last Chance for Amazing Savings" ad, sighs, clicks it and dies a little bit more inside* OK. That's it! I should really quit now! *publishes blog post and turns off PC*
P.S If you feel within your heart of hearts that this inhumane suffering shouldn't continue and want to help this poor, unfortunate soul. Gift ideas include but are not limited to:
Sooo... it's been about 7 months since the release of Street Fighter V and I'm still in the learning phase. Not for lack of trying, mind you! It's just so damn technical and to make matters worse, it's forcing me to re-learn "old school" techniques that I've already over-written with the "new school" techniques, from Ultra Street Fighter IV, that I still haven't quite gotten the hang of yet. (I'm glaring at you FADC and you too, 1 frame link!!! *glaring with every bit of upset-ness I can muster*)
*Realises how often I will be typing Street Fighter* From now on, SF = Street Fighter. I'm lazy, you know this! Ihave been playing SF for many, many years. I originally started playing SF2 in the early 90's (Around 1993)[Damn I'm old]. This was waaaay back, when the Super Nintendo was the best gaming platform in existence. A friend of mine (Most of my gaming stories have this phrase in them for some strange reason and I'm not sure if it's because I have the coolest gamer friends ever or if I just never seem to OWN the cool games *makes mental notes to analyse this for future use*), who just happened to be "Home Alone", had bought the system and game from a relative that owned an arcade and he invited me over to help him enjoy his new toy. He actually invited me over so he could kick my ass and brag to our acquaintances but little did he know that I had already memorized most of the traits needed to be a good SF player and many of the special move inputs as well. *Flashback begins here* A few weeks before his acquisition, I stumbled upon a gaming magazine that had all the tips and tricks needed and, as is customary, I absorbed the information and filed it away for reference or use later on. I used my inside info to win most of our matches especially since I blocked more of his attacks than he did mine (Rule #1 in SF = BLOCK). We played until my fingers were tired, sore, numb, blistered, bloodshot and/or some combination thereof. IT WAS AWESOME!!! *fondly reminisces* About a year or so afterwards, while spending the Summer Vacation with my cousins I started playing Super SF2. At the time, they weren't really my cousins because I was young, knowledgeable and too smart for my own good. They're the children of my God-Mother, so in my (young, knowledgeable and too smart for my own good) mind they were my God-Siblings but they turned out to actually be my cousins since they were the children of my Mom's cousin (My second cousins). Young, knowledgeable and too smart for my own good me completely ignored that fact that my "God-siblings" had another parent (their father) and only considered their maternal relation to myself. *facepalm* SF2 was the latest iteration of the series and included: new characters, new special moves and new opportunities to kick ass and take names. Unfortunately, none of the knowledge I had accrued prior (tips and tricks and special moves included) was any help to me because my cousins could actually play and by play I mean do special moves on command. It was cool that I could recite the inputs used to do Zangief's Spinning Pile Driver or M.Bison's Scissors Kick (It's called DoubleKnee Press now but, as mentioned earlier, I'm OLD and set in my ways) but I wasn't as deft in ACTUALLY doing these things as my cousins were and I got enough losses to totally eliminate my playing of SF for the next few years.
I grew up a bit (both physically and mentally) and re-entered the SF world just around the time SF Alpha 3 and SF EX plus Alpha came out. I visited my local arcade, regularly, after school and even ditched class a few times to get my game on. I worked religiously, practicing how to do all the moves that I had saved in my head. I paid good money just to sit in Training Mode and do Dragon Punches over and over and over until I could do it on demand (albeit I could only do them on the left hand side of the screen. Once I switched sides it was a toss up. Sometimes they came out, other times... not so much). I later added the "half circle" and the "360" motions to my growing repertoire of finger movements (so what if I had to jump in order to do my 360 correctly. At least I could do it now). Eventually I got adept enough to actually pull off Combos, Special Cancels and Super Cancels (for SF EX plus Alpha) and my decision making and strategic skills blossomed as well (No more jumping in all the time). I got to the point where I was relatively good at the game in terms of basics, techniques and knowledge but I still struggled with my executions (getting the inputs right, so what I want to happen can happen e.g. when my opponent jumps in and I want to do a Dragon Punch but sometimes a Fireball come out or even worse, a Super Fireball) and I was also still considered a "One Sided Player". I was LEAGUES better at doing things when my character was on the left side (Player 1). More experienced and/or observant players noticed this flaw and used it to their advantage and my detriment. I tested myself, after all my training, by entering into a SF EX plus Alpha Tournament. I played 2 sets. 1 set was to warm up ( I won all 3 matches) the other set was "for realsies" (I lost 2 to 1). I lost the match because the guy got to me. He started Trash-Talking after he won a match (He lost the first 4) and I let my nerves, my lack of confidence and (mostly) my pride and anger get the better of me. I got frustrated at myself for not winning and then got even more upset at myself for letting him get to me. My frustration began to loop back onto itself and it was all downhill from there. (Internal conversation) "I can't believe I lost to this guy and now he's acting like he's better than me." *prideful anger explodes which leads to errors in strategy and execution* "S#!+... now I'm making mistakes because I'm upset" *gets more upset with myself for making mistakes* "This stupid guy won't shut up and all he did was win a round" *pride takes over AGAIN and now my mind is filled with rage* "Holy S#!+!!! I keep doing crap and he's still trash-talking!!! All he does is jump kick, sweep. Who the hell does that?!" * anger leads to even more errors in judgment* "Jesus H. Christ!!! I lost and now stupid guy is celebrating" *imagines forcing the controller down his throat* (External conversation) "Good match. All the best to you." *shakes hand* (Internal conversation) "Runway, FASSY! You only beat me because you wouldn't shut up!!! I hate your guts!!! Also... you SUCK at SF" (Fassy - a colloquial, derogatory term used in that era. In today's vernacular it could be substituted with Noob or Scrub or Pleb but even those don't quite encompass the level of degradation that fassyconnotes. Runway, fassy! would be considered taking the slur to the nth degree) Needless to say, my defeat made a lasting impression. I remember his name all too well and I have yet to enter another tournament (be it SF or anything of the kind) since. With the invention of T.A.G (The Persona), I have organized, set-up, commentated and judged recent tournaments but to actually enter, participate, contest a position? Nope, nope and nope! *whispers* This may change though as I have my eye on a local tournament that takes place at the end of this month. Wish me luck! *suggestive wink* *Fast-forward to now* I'm still training as I write this. With the launching of SFV I have had to hit the books (and videos). I've developed a more in-depth mindset this time around. I already have the move lists and inputs down so my focus now it to learn the more technical aspects of the game and increase my proficiency in execution, scenario recognition, remaining calm and, most importantly, FUNDAMENTALS. (Yes. I am trying to improve all 4 things at the same time. Why? Because I'm old and time is of the essence)
My Mantra written by Xian (ignore his errors, English is HARD)
My new outlook has changed the way I see the game and it's helped me a lot so far. My FUNDAMENTALS training is complimented by the fact that I have recently switched from Controllers to Fight Sticks. So learning the correct hand positions and button presses (the physical) along with the character spacing and whiff punishes (the mental) should make me a complete package. The advancing is slower than I want it to be though mainly because I don't have too much time to spend practicing/playing but also because I'm now in that awkward place where I can use both devices well enough but I'm not exceptional with either. (I think I may have to quit one [Controllers] to get better in the other [Fight Sticks] and that thought kills me.)[I want to do it ALL] Currently, most of my SF time is spent playing against the regulars at SSG. Of the 10 or so people that play I would place myself in the 6th position. Putting it another way, 5 regulars regularly regulate my wins. That is to say, they kick my ass convincingly! (No need for name calling... They know who they are)[The bastards] The "Feared 5" (F5) would win between 7 (On my best days) to 9 (On my worst) of every 10 matches they play against me. (Yes. "THEY play against ME." It's always them against me. I would be content sitting in my corner and practicing my timing and execution but nooo they always want to pick on poor, defenseless T.A.G so they can stroke their egos and increase their win tallies)[The bastards] There's 1 specific member of F5 (My NEMESIS) that has a penchant for my losses. He is always ready, willing and able to deliver a beating whenever we happen to meet up. His gimmicky and irregular play-style makes battling him a chore, at best, and he also makes it a point to switch characters whenever I finally adjust to him and squeeze out a win. (I know this is a mental attack, on his part, but it still irks me to no end.) I'm getting better at playing him with every bout we have and, eventually, with my continued training efforts, I will be victorious (In more games than he *fingers crossed*). I have also ventured into the online ranking aspects of SFV. A feat which, until recently, would have never even crossed my mind. (You know how I feel about "online" and how I feel about losing. Imaging how I feel about losing online *shudders to think*) I've had a total of 7 online ranked matches with my Ryu. All of which I have won, consecutively (That's a 100% win ratio, in case you were wondering) *proud smile*. My Ryu is number 321481 on the Capcom Fight Network Leaderboards (at the time of writing this) and I plan to take it higher ASAP. I'm still ranked as a Rookie but that's because I haven't acquired enough points to move up the rankings yet. I would have to actually play for that to happen and with my busy schedule, lack of a PS4 and ingrained tendency to avoid losses. I don't get to actually play. Much. (That's not an excuse, it's an explanation *suggestive wink*) To help in the FUNDAMENTALS training, I have also started using my new found secondary character. Urien! (I like playing with him. He fits my play-style and his normal are excellent. Only issue for me is he's a "charge character" and I'm more familiar with "Shotos") Learning a new character helps the process in a few ways. 1. I have to learn everything from scratch. (Not everything everything but you get my point) 2. It helps with my situational awareness. (I have to deal with familiar scenarios in a non-familiar way) 3. I have to preempt and predict a bit more. (Due to his charging aspect)
The journey is an arduous one. Fraught with peril and tribulations (and many many losses). However, it is one that I have chosen to undertake in an effort to make myself better (I'm all about "a better me"). I have my trainers, sparring partners, equipment, motivation material and, at the helm, my desire to improve. These will take me where I want to go and if they don't I'll just find something else that does. Until then, I plan to do my best. Hopefully... "The answer lies in the heart of the battle!" (That's a Ryu quote, FYI!) [You know S#!+ is real when I start quoting video game characters]
I may or may not have mentioned this before but I am, technically, not the only gamer in my household. The other members are not as "Soup" as I am (Soup, in this context, is my local dialect's nomenclature for: an avid gamer/a good player/any and every one who thinks games are cool). Basically, they (My household) are'nt as gung-ho and enthusiastic about games *cough* CASUALS *coughs*... but they do have their personal stints, on occasion.
My family consists of 4 individuals: myself, my lovely wife, our daughter and our son. (I just noticed that I inadvertently listed us in the order of "Most Hardcore Gamer to Least Hardcore Gamer") [and after typing that, I realized it was also in the order of "Head Honcho to... Not Head Honcho"]
My then girlfriend (Adult female companion?), now wife, and I each had our own little hobbies and activities we would do with and without each other. As we became more involved she let on that she loved Super Mario Bros. for the Original NES which she just happened to play on an emulator. She had played a few other games but she wasn't all that into them. If it wasn't MARIO, it wasn't MARIO. (I guess this means we were meant to be from the start. Our coupling was ordained by the universe long before we met. Serendipity, Fate, Destiny. Whatever you want to call it, that's us. *suggestive wink* [My real name is MARIO, incase you didn't know] After we moved in together she enjoyed games a bit more (i.e. she enjoyed that I enjoyed them and would try to enjoy them with/for me). Sometimes we had little tiffs when she decided that the PS3 was getting more attention than she was but that didn't dissuade her. Contrary to her initial inclination she did, eventually, find something (Other than MARIO *suggestive wink*) that she liked. One faithful evening after I asked her to hold my PS3 controller, while I went to the bathroom, she was catatonically enthralled by Persona 3. (Every now and again she asks when the new Persona game is coming out and if she will have to buy a PS4 to play it. Bless her heart! *big goofy smile*) [Of course, I give her my best non-distinct answer, in the hopes that I'm misconstrued and she just buys a PS4 to avoid missing out. Part 6b of Evil Plan #222 *maniacal laugh*]
Our daughter was the second to be smitten with Gameritis (The infection and eventual swelling of the part of a person that causes them to love gaming)! Many, many moons ago I came home from work and noticed my PS3 was not where it should be. I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to my systems. They should be aligned this way, in this position, this distance away from potential disasters and most importantly, free of dust. (Yes, I'm weird like that. No, it's not OCD! *adjusts PS3 slightly, centers controller on system, removes 3 specks of dust*) My PS3 being outside of its assigned area set off warning alarms but I calmly and quietly asked why it was where it was. My lovely wife said she didn't touch it and informed me that she wasn't the only person in the house. This was her subtle way of saying "the kids did it". (This just made it worse for me. I had now moved to DEFCON 2 and total meltdown was imminent) The list of things that could go/have gone wrong instantly doubled in size and my mind raced between "Jesus, Savior. Pilot Me!!!" (Which is a phrase my Mom used to say when she was livid. I now realize that it was her way of warding off the urge to strangle my childhood self after I had done something wrong) and "Why me???" (I had been a good boy, I'm sure I had been a good boy, I tried my best to be a good boy all the time! I'm supposed to have good happen to me, right? Isn't that how it works?). While all of this is going on (The external conversation with my lovely wife and the internal conversation with Jesus Christ) our daughter runs into the room, grabs the controller, turns on the TV and the PS3 and then flatly tells me I will have to play later because she has to complete a stage before bedtime. (She has gone out of her way to buy me a game or 2 since then. She always buys an older, cheaper game that either completely sucks or doesn't interest me at all. Bless her heart! *big goofy smile*) [I don't tell her that the games she buys are crap because I'm hoping as she gets older and wiser she will be a more discerning game-buyer. Also I'm still trying to be a good boy and not be "that guy". Continuous Improvement Section 4 *activate halo*]
The final member of the household (And the gamer train) is our son. He started playing a while back but he was very sneaky about it. He would take my games and play at a friend's house (Which is technically true except his reasons are not as upfront as he implied). This misdirection worked for a while but I found him out eventually. Firstly, he would ask if he could lend said friend a game to play because the friend "doesn't have any games of his own" or "was tired of playing demos" (Our son insisted this was so). So I would give one of my games to our son (One that I didn't mind losing i.e. one our daughter bought) followed by The Speech that always accompanies the borrowing of my games. The speech basically goes something like this: bring it back, bring it back soon, bring it back working. After some time he would always bring them back, as instructed, but he would borrow another using the same excuse. At first he was contented with the games I gave him (Legend of Spyro, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, Naruto: Shippuden) but soon he began:
2. Not asking me for permission when taking said games
3. Taking 2 games at a time
and I began to wonder what was really going on. It all became clear when I went to pick him up from his friend's house one day and after sitting outside for more time than I wanted to I went up to the house to inquire. Through the window, I see our son trying his best to beat Seth. The friend is telling him that I'm outside and our son brushes him off and goes back to the fight. The friend insinuates that I'm no longer in the car but on the porch. Our son doesn't hear a word. The friend lets on that I can actually see our son and have been looking at him for the last 3 or so fights. Our son turns around, looks me in the eye (With a look I'm all to familiar with. It's the old "I need to save the game" look that I used and use on my Mom and lovely wife, respectively), holds up his hand, fingers splayed and trusts it at me. Twice. (The "Give me a few more minutes" gesture, we locally follow the gesture with the phrase "Me a come, jack") He had a few more tries and finally gave up. When he finally got in the car I ask what difficulty he was playing on and he told me Hard Mode. I explained that his play style (Button mashing) wouldn't work on Hard Mode. I then asked why he didn't play at home but he just shrugged. (Apparently, he didn't want to play against me and decided that his friend would be a better sparring partner until he felt comfortable enough to take me on. The "borrowing games and going over by the friend" was a viable excuse to play the games he wanted to play AND get in enough practice to someday beat me. Bless his heart! *big goofy smile*) [The friend was not only a Fighting Game Novice but a Video Game Novice as well. He didn't even know how to connect the PS3 to the TV. Fighting the friend wasn't going to help him in his bouts with me and I'm glad he tried the Hard Mode attempts. Little did he know, I wasn't going to let him win... EVER. Noobs Get Rekt - Gamer's Pride 101 *serious face*]
Fast-forward to present day and things have gone further downhill. My lovely wife has moved on from the PS3 to the Xbox One. She loves Diablo 3. She has a Paragon 30/Level 100 Witch (She calls it that not me. I say Female Wizard. She insists it's a Witch) that specializes in Fire Magic. In the first couple months after Diablo 3's release we were at loggerheads, constantly. It got to the point where we would both get home from work and RUSH to our bedroom. The unspoken rule was, if you got there first you got to play first and the loser was left to wait their turn or do something else while the winner played. She actually tried to trick me and trip me (Literally) a few times so that she could get there before me (This is a prime example of being soup). "Husband, can you get my bag out of the back of the car please?", parking the car so that I'm furthest away from the house, "Be a nice husband and throw this in the garbage for me" and locking my car door "by accident" were just some of the ploys she used against me. I didn't worry about it though. I let her think she had me beat but I mostly had the last laugh. Especially, because I had either hidden the controller beforehand, stashed the game disc back in the case upon leaving home, unplugged the HDTV power cord early that morning or had the HDMI cord in my back pocket. (Me = smart) On days when I either fell for the trick or fell from the trip (Literally) I was relegated to the PS3 and the SDTV where I bided my time playing my older games, contemplating ways to avoid the tricks/trips and plotting my revenge.
Meanwhile, our daughter has blossomed into that age where she just locks herself in her room for days on end. She's either streaming shows, chatting online... or playing ALL the crappy games she's bought for me over the years. She no longer has to be worried about bedtime and plays for hours on end. I still don't know how she can put all those hours into those games. They're horrible! (I chalk it up to either her being really bad at games or her wanting to get her money's worth) She dabbles with a few fighting games now and then, where she makes a conscious effort to only choose female characters. Doesn't matter if she wins or not, she still chooses the girls (Passive feminism I guess). Don't even bother suggesting anything else, she's not hearing it. She also has a penchant for RPGs and Adventure Games (Like myself) and this happens to interfere with my plans (Sometimes) but I have learned to live with it. The cure I have come up with is to secretly play most of the RPGs I have in the seclusion of my room, without her knowledge, and finished them as quickly as possible before she finds out about them. This has gone well so far (Except for 1 time when she started playing Dishonored before I did because our son left it out after returning it from a visit to his friends house) and if at any point this fails, I have a last resort that I'm saving for just such an occasion (I'm telling her mother *serious face*).
Our son has gotten over his fear of playing at home. He plays quite often but only does so when he has a new game to play. He tends to play in long bouts followed by droughts. It ends up being something like this: get new game, play for 12 hours on days 1 - 4, play for 9 hours on day 5, doesn't play for a month (This is where our daughter and I normally fight for game time), play some more, beat the game/get tired of it. His games of choice are any and every fighting game he can get his hands on. He has gone through so many over the years that I have lost track. I venture to say he has, in his short gaming life, played more fighting games than I have in my extensive tenure. (I think he is still trying to find a fighter he can beat me in. Good luck with that though) I must admit, however, I have lost a few games to him. He has won a couple rounds on Street Fighter and he normally wins (The first 2 or 3 games) on Naruto: Shippuden (Button mashers pwn in Naruto). He has put in a lot of work into his practicing and he has come a long way. I still don't consider him having "won" though because if we play sets he starts out with a (few) win(s) but always ends up behind. He (And you) may not agree but I am of the opinion that 1 win isn't really a win. When you win convincingly i.e. 3 sets or the majority of the battles, then you can say that you have beaten me until then... gitgud ya scrub! (Just kidding... about the scrub part anyway)
There is always someone trying their best to get their game on in our house and this (Even though it warms my gamer heart to have a family that loves to game) poses the problem of me finding an opportunity to play. Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE that my lovely wife actually wants to game, I LOVE that our daughter comes to me for help when she can't beat a boss, I LOVE that our son challenges me to a match now and again. Adversely, I DON'T LOVE having to watch my lovely wife run around the map casting random spells because she can't find the exit (top left of the map) while I could be playing Assassin's Creed Syndicate, I DON'T LOVE waiting for our daughter to make the jump she's been attempting for the last 5 minutes that she just can't seem to make but refuses to let me do it for her (Use the double jump) while I could be finishing up my Zealot playthrough of Dead Space 2, I DON'T LOVE watching our son and his friend vigorously press all the buttons on the controller hoping a special move will come out and exclaim how good they are when it just happens to come out then tell me they're ready to beat me (-_-) while I could be pressing specific buttons in the correct order and timing to achieve the combo Daigo did in last tournament. (You see where this is going, right?) I wanna play!!! *in my best whiney voice* I want to play when I want to play and I don't want to have to wait or fight or scheme to do so. It's hard enough having to struggle through work-life, social obligations and parenting (The collective commonly referred to as "adulthood" *shudders*). Not to mention the constant fear of file corruption, CD scratches and power outages (The digital age's trifecta of terror). It's hard on a gamer to deal with all of those and still have to struggle with "Please, please, pleeeaaassseee, let one of the systems be available". It's enough to drive any gamer insane.
All I'm saying is this. When it comes to T.A.G's household... the power struggle is real. (See the opening hashtag at the top of the page)
P.S.
If anyone says ANYTHING that even REMOTELY resembles "you're an adult now, quit playing videogames"... they won't hear anything from me but just know that I will be glaring at them intensely, deducting most of their cool points and placing our friendship in the "Under Scrutiny" section!
4 months and 1 year ago, I challenged the interwebs with the burden of bearing some of my most intimate thoughts, inklings and opinions. I also (cringing at the thought) asked a few choice persons to actually read the afore mentioned and give me feedback. No one gave me the time of day, except for one guy (my harshest critic) who said I was "boring" (The truth was what I was after. Even if it did hurt my ego a little). Now, I can boast that I have transitioned from being "boring" to being "mildly entertaining". Not only have I gotten better (More liked?) but I also received a 2 word critique this time around (Improvements abound). I'm thankful for the honesty and frankness of my critic and look forward to the next evaluation.
T.A.G's blog has made the 2000 views milestone. (It's currently 2039 but I attribute about 20 of those views to myself so essentially... they don't count) This brings with it, as is customary, "The THANKS!!! Speech."
THANKS!!! for the 14 comments left by readers (It's nice to hear from you every so often)
THANKS!!! for the 68 +1s given by readers (It's nice to be shared by you once in a while)
THANKS!!! for the 1 Follower (It's nice to be there for you as often as I can)
THANKS!!! for the 32 views per posts average (It's nice to be read by you every chance I get)
THANKS!!! for the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Mobile and Other viewers (It's nice to know you are 48%, 20%, 11%, 17%, 1% and 3% respectively, of my viewer base)
THANKS!!! for the Windows, Android, Mac, iPhone, Linux and Other viewers (It's nice to know y'all make up 38%, 31%, 18%, 5%, 3% and 5% respectively, of my readers)
THANKS!!! for my Alaskan, American, Antiguan, British, Canadian, Chinese, Cruxian, Danish, French, German, Hawaiian, Indian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Ukrainian readers (It's nice to be seen by so many of you)
THANKS!!! for Twitter, Facebook, Google, Mobot, t.co, kcm, and Foren T.A.G blog referrals (It's nice to be referred by you on occasion)
SPECIAL THANKS!!! for TL;DR and his reviews (It's nice working with you as much as I do)
To any and every one involved with the blog in any and every way, shape or form. THANKS, THANKS, 2000 TIMES... THANKS!!!
(To the Mathematicians who have asked themselves "How does he have 2000+ views with an average of 32 views per post?". My answer is: That is a very good question! I don't get it either. Of course I have a few theories and plausible ideas as to why this is so [Viewing the Home Page adds to the Total without adding to the individual counts, there's some sort of Interactive Term used in the Additive Linear Model, Google has Math that befuddles gamers, I added WAY MORE views than I accounted for, etc.] but a concrete answer eludes me at this time. If I ever discover what sorcery this is I'll be sure to tell you in an update and if you find it before me be sure to let me know too because I tend to lose sleep over these things.)
As long as he keeps writing them, I'll keep posting them and (hopefully) you'll keep reading them.
Here's another TL;DR Review.
Duelyst Review
Duelyst is a digital, free to play collectible card game
(CCG) which uses a unique and clever pixel art style. The game is played on a
5x9 board with each player controlling a General. Each General begins a game
with 2 attack and 25 health with the aim being to reduce each other’s Generals
to 0 health. Players use cards which represent spells and minions to defeat the
opposing General.
Beginning with the art style, Duelyst boards are beautifully
designed with unique background art, light and cool color schemes. Each minion
is also very unique in its pixel design and has its own Neutral, Attack and Death
Animation. This is brought together with a well-designed User Interface
thatgives clear and easily understood
player options.
There are 6 playable factions in Duelyst, the Lyonar,
Songhai, Vertruvian, Abyssian, Magmar and Vanar with each faction containing
two Generals. Each General has a unique Bloodborn
Spell which provides an ability, i.e. giving increased attack or doing an
amount of damage are examples of these spells.
What makes the game interesting and fun is its tactical
nature, decision making is one of the most important aspects of Duelyst. Where
you place and move your minions and how you play spells and use abilities will
determine the outcome of your skirmishes. Building your deck by combing a
faction’s inherent minions and spells along with neutral minions will keep your
interest and have you playing, testing and tweaking for hours.
Cards in Duelyst come in four rarities: Common, Rare, Epic
and Legendary. In many CCGs it is easier to spend real cash to unlock as many Epic
or Legendary cards as you can as they are needed to be competitive, however,
this game makes it easier with a good matchmaking system and the ability to
unlock cards using in game gold which can be generated through the story
quests, daily quests and win streaks at a good pace. Duelyst deck building meta
is still young so the way you create your deck is purely down to your playstyle
and imagination. The game is updated nearly every month with new cards and sometimes
new mechanics to make it diverse and keep it interesting.
I really enjoy playing this game as a casual and found it
easy to pick up but hard to master.
Duelyst gets a strategic 8/10 from me.
Pros:
Easy to pick up Nice Animations No need to sink money into it Unique design
I walk into the arcade, greet the regulars, acknowledge the newbies, take my perfunctory scan of the room and then, I spot her.She's in the corner, just about arms-reach from my favourite spot. (Coincidence... I think not!!!) I try my best to listen to whatever it is this dude is saying to me (making sure to nod in all the right places) but she's my focus right now. I amble over to where she is, making sure no to get too close (don't want to seem too enamoured).As I make my way over I notice another guy next to her. Trying his best at something he, obviously, has no clue about. His efforts fall short of captivating her interests. I know this from his, not-so-subtle, declarations. They display his ignorance, his inexperience and, more so, his annoyance. As things are not going the way he expected.
I insert myself into their interactions and assert my dominance.
"De man a struggle jack?" (Local dialect for "You're struggling aren't you?")
"You tink dem curves yah easy?" ("You think these curves are easy?")
*dude looks at me like I'm crazy*
"Lemme show you wha gwarn boss. De man cyar handle dem curves yah, ya check!" ("This is how its done. You can't handle these curves, obviously!"
I move to stand between both of them, extend my hand and motion for him to hand me the controller. He does so, hesitantly, but does so nonetheless. I re-acquaint myself with the button mapping (which button does what), adjust the distance between the on-screen characters, follow the sequence of prompts and then bask in awe (the dude was awe-struck) as the announcer proclaimed "COMPLETE" (in a high pitched, overly excited, announcer style voice)! I handed him back the controller then strode off. Leaving him with this tidbit of knowledge.
"It's ALL about the curves... the learning curves!"
Now, I'm hoping that most people have gotten this far into the post without calling my wife and making a most grievous mistake. The "she/her" I refer to above is BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, an anime-style fighting game that doesn't get much play in my local arcade or even in my country for that matter. It is very different from the "regular" fighting games (Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat) in more ways than I care to mention but I'll list some anyway. They (anime-fighters) tend to involve a lot more inputs (pressing 4 buttons at the same time, for example) and horrifically lengthy (not to mention damaging) combos. They also have very strict limitations on execution, precision and timing. They don't leave much room for error as the timeframes for inputs, latency and buffering are in the 1/60ths of a second. (You can probably understand why no one at SSG really plays them...)
Some other differences include, but are not limited to:
Air dashing - dashing backward or forward while in the air
Aerial Combos - landing numerous hits on the opponent while in the air
Astral Heat - an "Ultimate attack" that defeats the opponent in one hit, even from full health Barrier Bursts - a counter attack that cancels any attack received or breaks the guard of a blocking opponent Instant Blocking - blocking an attack in such a way that reduces block stun Push Blocking - blocking an attack and pushing the opponent away from you Rapid Cancels - any attack to instantly cancel the character animation frames and resets to the resting position
(Please note, NONE of these things are found in the "regular" fighters)
Below, is some High-Level gameplay, taken from IGN's Youtube, that showcases ALL of the things I mentioned above and more.
To sum it all up, they (anime-fighters) deviate greatly from the way a fighting game "normally" works and they have excessively long learning curves. (Especially when transitioning from a regular fighter to an anime-fighter. You, basically, have to re-learn everything and the new information, more often than not, doesn't mesh well with your habits)
Yes! You're correct! You did just read "long learning curve".
The term "Steep learning curve" actually doesn't denote something being difficult to learn. In fact, it is quiet the opposite. A steep learning curve implies that a lot of infomation/technique/experience is accrued in a very short period of time. This infers that you learn the majority of whatever you're learning very quickly and even after spending more time on it there isn't much to learn afterwards. Simply put, a steep learning curve means something is EASY to learn. (Think about it like this. When playing Super Mario Bros, you learn most of what you need to know in the first few minutes of the game, right? Super Mario Bros is easy, right? You get my point, right?) I can postulate that the acceptance of the term "steep learning curve" being interpreted as "difficult" comes from the fact that people relate the incline of the curve to a "hill to be climbed" and as such they run with the notion of the learning process being a hard task.
However, a long learning curves denotes the learning process is slow, tedious and requires many hours of effort in order to fully grasp the information/technique/experience required. These aspects lend themselves to the learning, in this case, being difficult because as time progresses you will still be learning new things. Everything isn't laid out for you and new information isn't as forthcoming as you expect. This means learning is more laborious i.e. difficult. (Think about it like this. When playing Bloodborne you die numerous times in the first few hours, right? Bloodborne is hard, right? You get my point, right?)
Of course, things like execution, pattern recognition, problem solving, spatial awareness, correlation and memory should be taken into consideration when describing something (videogames) as being easy or hard (what's easy for me may not be for you and vice versa) but as soon as we mention learning curves, all of that gets encompassed into the discussion because... Science! *big goofy smile*
Visual Aid Showing Differences Between Steep and Long Learning Curves
I have, for some time now, thought of anime-fighters as one of the Great Dividers that exists. You know, those special instances that separate the masses into 2 distinct and opposing groups? (The Fors [people who stand with and by their beloved thing, that can do no wrong, till death do them part aka fanboys/loyalists] and The Againsts [people who swear the thing is far worse than death, avoid it like the plague and abhor it to no end aka haters/ingrates]). Anime-fighters are one of those. It's either you like them or you don't, they're great or they're awful, you play them until the disc doesn't work any more or you stick the disc in the incorrect case and hope no one ever finds it. I, being the open-minded, accepting and all around nice guy that I am (*cough* fence-sitter *cough*) don't fall into either of those groups. I am of the opinion that anime-fighters have their place. They inhabit a niche (that has its following) and provides a nice get away from the Shoryukens and Get Over Heres that I'm accustomed to but at the same time they take so much out of me that I only want to visit their wondrous, whimsical world for a time (i.e. until I start to lose too often or until not even my deftly nimble fingers can pull off the button presses needed.)
All games come with a learning curve, some steeper than others (remember, steep = easy *suggestive wink*) and I'm sure you readers have some idea of where you would fall on said curve, were it presented to you. In light of this, let me present T.A.G's depiction of The Gamer's Learning Curve! (Don't tell me you didn't see this coming...) Let me know what you think. Do you agree with my depiction or not? What would you change about it, if anything? And, most importantly, where would you fall on the curve?
I got such great feedback (and he got such a resounding welcome) from the last post, that I decided to do it again! Someone once said "If it's nice, do it twice." So here I go. The second installment of the TL;DR Reviews... Take it away!!! *pushes him to the front of the stage*
The Angels Halo
I'll begin with this important tidbit, I have been playing halo since the first installment however I have never given a shit about the campaign and have never actually played through any of the Halo campaigns so this review has nothing to do with the Halo campaign.
My favorite thing about Halo is the joy of combat against real human beings in Halo's mostly platform filled and boxlike map spaces. Combining fast twitch movement with hand to eye coordination to outplay an opponent is a great joy, topping the accuracy chart and leaderboard brings great satisfaction.
Halo V combines the original idea of futuristic soldiers fighting in shielded armor with all the best parts of the previous games making it the best installment of the franchise I have ever played. My ranking would be Halo V, II, III, I in that order. The addition of the thruster pack as a means of dynamic movement is perfect for the reflexively gifted giving the right amount of challenge in maximizing its utility, ground pound adds a new quirk in quickly dispatching enemies caught unaware and can be used for tactical escapes, sprinting, sliding, smart scope and clambering all allow each player to chain these different abilities together or use them individually to be the most effective killer they can be.
The game feels very fluid and well paced with an excellent matchmaking system which generally pits you against players of equal level. For those that enjoy achievements and being able to boast about the cool stuff they got there are tons of armor and weapon skin unlocks which vary in rarity and form so that you can customize your spartan to your liking.
I recommend this game highly if you love shooters and have a few friends to party up with or even if you love going solo. If you are more the casual non competitive player give the campaign a try and tell me how it is in the comment section. Halo V gets a solid 9/10 for me.
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, gamers of all ages. A member of the #TAGteam has blessed us with his debut. He's going to be a regular feature on the blog so be ready (and show him some gamer love)! I leave you in the capable hands of the resident Reviewer.
*hands the reins over*
Are you a Ghost Recon fan? Did you enjoy Destiny? If the answer to these questions is yes you will probably enjoy this dystopian future rpg shooter, Tom Clancy's The Division. The Division is a loot-grinder where the object is to spend hours killing enemies with slightly more health than the enemies you previously faced to get guns and equipment that slightly increase your stats so you can kill stronger enemies to get more guns and equipment with slightly better stats. The enemies become pretty repetitive during level grind from 1-30, the only deviation really being the enemies with ridiculously long and deceptive range on their flame throwers. This is the usual disappointing gameplay that I've come to expect in recent times where the trailer for a game gives you the idea that a game will be so innovative and interesting but you just get a re-purposed Diablo instead.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm expecting out of a video game at this point. In destiny I expected to explore planets flying my own ship around fighting off enemies and crafting gear and in the division I expected being part of squads each with unique combatants hiding in our secret bases and tactically taking down enemies to gain supplies and gear. Another grinder rpg with everyone getting pretty much the same shit eventually.............yay.
Rating the setting, a bleak, snowy downtown NYC sets the mood only broken by cheesy NPC dialogue and lots and lots of having your character sprint from one destination to the next occasionally stopping to clear annoying enemies who aggro you constantly.
The potentially interesting part of the division so far is the Dark Zone, an area in which high level enemies spawn giving the best drops and players can engage in PvP (which no one does if they actually are farming gear because PKing results in being marked for a horrible and swift death).
Hopefully with a few more patches and added content the game will become more interesting in the long term, but so far I give it a 7/10
