Tidbits

I was originally going to post up an entry on something else tonight because I have a lot of things I want to discuss here on the blog but unfortunately there was a commotion outside on the street which saw me lose an hour or so while I dealt with it. So instead, I am posting up a quick Tidbits post to talk about a few things.

1up's Problems - The biggest news to come from this week was the unfortunate demise of America's long-time running magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, or, EGM for short. Losing a magazine that has been running for almost 20 years is a big loss for the gaming industry and shows just how print media is changing. To call it the end of an era would be an understatement which is a big statement coming from me considering that, being Australian, I have never read an issue of the magazine. It makes me wonder about Edge's future, another well respected magazine that has been around for many years and also about Australia's own Hyper magazine. If such a big name magazine in EGM can become defunct, then what is the future of those two magazines going to be? Another unfortunate thing that coincides with EGM's demise is a lot of 1up's staff being let go and no longer having work. I am sure that everyone reading would be aware of the details but basically 1up was purchased by another company and as a result, lay-offs had to occur. When I first heard about this I was quite angry. Seeing all those names and knowing that they no longer were going to write for the site and more importantly, no longer had any jobs at a time when the economy isn't the best was, well, disheartening to say the least. I quickly came to my senses though and realised that there are two sides to every story, so I decided to not form any opinion of the ordeal until I knew more about it and had time to compose my thoughts. I have done that now and I realise that the site being purchased is actually a good thing because it gives it a well injected cash boost. I also realise that the staff who remain at the place are still going to try their best to create decent content for the site. It is unfortunate that all those people lost their jobs and that the site lost both the 1up Podcasts and The 1up Show as well, but I also have no doubt in my mind that their experience and the fact that they were well respected people in the industry will see them land on their feet and find work elsewhere. I of course wish them well in their future endeavors and look forward to reading/watching what they end up doing next. With that said, the loss of these people means that 1up as a website loses a lot of its personality and isn't the 1up that everybody knew and loved anymore. In namesake only, basically. That again is unfortunate, but what is done is done and now all I can say is that I hope that everyone affected - both those who lost their jobs and those who have to deal with the hasty hatred that the site is now receiving, not to mention the fact that they lost the opportunity to work with their friends - all can move on from this and continue to work in the gaming industry and write about the very thing they are passionate about, games. I wish everyone a brighter future and I look forward to seeing it.

Blog Notes - As I mentioned at the top of this post, I have a fair bit of content on the way for this place. I know, I know, I have been very inconsistent with my writing and have in the past mentioned my intentions to do something and then haven't done it, but this time it is different. I couldn't sleep the other morning and eventually found myself thinking about blogging. These thoughts gave me a whole range of subjects to discuss, as well as other content to produce and because I was wide awake I decided to write all of it down. Doing so made me think of more and the end result is a whole host of content to write and motivation to do so. The content begins next week, where I will have posts up every day about a certain subject that I won't reveal until the first post. Next week won't be the only week that I will theme posts around, with a few other weeks dedicated to a particular subject on my mind as well. That plus the continuation of my Always Connected series and quite a few other posts means that I am covered for content for quite some time and therefore can hopefully provide some interesting things for you to read and discuss. Look forward to it because I know I am.

Shout-Out - The last Tidbit for tonight is a quick shout-out to one of my friends who recently started up his own blog. This friend writes for Australian website PALGN so his experience from there should translate into some interesting things to read and I welcome him to the world of blogging. The Ordinary Gamer is only new so there isn't much content to read just yet, but give it a chance anyway. I know I will be.

And so another round of Tidbits is done. Have a good weekend guys and look forward to Monday, when my themed week begins.

Tidbits

Almost a month ago, I wrote the last Tidbits piece detailing my intent to change things around on Raptured Reality, start a secondary blog and indirectly apologising for the lack of content posted here. Fast forward to now and nothing has really happened so I hereby give you permission to call me the laziest sod ever.

Or not, but seriously my time management is absolutely pathetic at the moment and I don't even have a job at the moment! I have about 50 hours worth of various TV shows that I would like to watch, I have spent last night, tonight and probably tomorrow night as well catching up on blogs that I read because I have fallen behind with them. I have a few Podcasts to listen to (thankfully I don't listen to Podcasts much, something I may elaborate on in the future) and because I have spent the last few nights catching up with various blogs, I should probably consider dropping into the only forums I frequent for another visit in the near future too. That doesn't include the many things I want to get done gaming wise either and again I reiterate the point, I don't even have employment.

So why am I finding it so hard to manage everything I want to do? Or is it perhaps that I just want to do too much and am suffering an overload as a result? Maybe I'm just one big entertainment whore and try to consume too much while failing to do something productive like write here?

Like many questions I pose here at this blog, I don't know the answer but damn it I want to fix my problem. I want, no, NEED to find some way to manage everything I want to do (which includes writing here) whilst also dedicating enough time to everything so I ultimately continue to enjoy this content, whatever it is, as much as possible. Reading the blogs over the past few nights has naturally inspired writing here and so I find myself half writing articles with the intent to post them later. Here's hoping I can actually do so for a damn change and form a nice writing routine so that this blog isn't just wasted internet space. Anyway tidbits for this week:

October - Is one hectic month for me. Forget the fact that like twenty different games that I want are coming out or that it is that time of year in the gaming world where everything comes out in time for the Christmas holiday period; Oh no, just in birthdays alone is it a hectic month with at least 15 different birthdays for friends and family. Oh and some guy who calls himself Nismo or something also has his birthday in the month too, but no one cares about that one.

Changes - Again, I plan on changing this blog around slightly to make it work better for me as well as hopefully be more appealing to any readers who happen to, well, read it. I have been planning to do it this week actually after catching up with everything internet that I needed to, so hopefully I can actually do so and get under way.

Well Played - The onslaught of games to play that I referred to in the last Tidbits post is continuing for me as I finish games, start new ones and etc. It won't be stopping any time soon either with all the upcoming gaming goodness in the next few weeks, but really I would prefer to have too much to play then nothing at all so it isn't as bad as I probably make it out to be here. Incoming post about everything I have played recently (instead of a post per game like I was originally intending) is on its way.

Online Gaming - Mixed thought overload has been happening in my brain lately with regards to online play. From annoyance of a certain game to the interest of how professional gaming is progressing and everything in between, online gaming has been on my mind a lot lately. I would claim my intent to write about it all here, but lately every time I make a promise for this place I don't keep it so I will keep quiet for now. ;)

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Seriously though on that last sentence, I really do need to actually do what I say I will rather than not. Anyone know of any time management courses...?

Tidbits

Almost two months since I last posted here. If I could describe that in one word, it would be neglect. Neglect in the sense that I ignored this blog and stopped writing for far too long and regardless of whether it was unintentional or not, it shouldn't have happened. For that I apologise but the good news is that I am back and ready to write again. I actually plan on revitalising this blog a bit but more on that in a moment.

The reason I stopped posting here for a while wasn't anything in particular but more just a combination of little things. My time management (or lack thereof) played a part and I just couldn't find the time to write anything because I was always too busy playing catch up with stuff I wanted to read online, games I wanted to play or shows that I wanted to watch. One show in particular also played a part in the lack of posting, that being The Wire. I was so enthralled and even immersed in that show that I kept on watching its five seasons instead of keeping up to date with gaming news or whatever. An onslaught (if you will) of games also played a part as I went from a phase of not really having anything in particular to play (and as a result, swapping between many games) to a phase of having arguably too much to play at the one time. Again, more on that in a moment but basically the reason for the lack of posting here was because I just couldn't manage myself, my interests and what I wanted to do, very well at all and Raptured Reality suffered as a result. I intend on changing that right now, beginning with the following tidbits:

Changes - As mentioned above, I plan on revitalising this blog a bit. What I mean by that is to give it a slight makeover and change a few things around to hopefully make it more appealing to read. A big part of that is obvious in that I need to start writing regularly and I definitely plan on doing so from now on. I have a fair few things I want to talk about so I'm not short on content at the moment.

Gaming - Also mentioned above, my gaming entered a phase where I had a fair bit to play. From downloadable titles like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 and Braid to catching up on some games I missed from the end of last year like Call of Duty 4, Skate and Assassin's Creed, I had quite a lot of gaming to be done and I am still not finished with these games. I'm fortunate enough to have some nice friends out there who lent me these games which I'm grateful for because if they didn't, chances are I wouldn't have gotten around to playing these games at all.

A Farewell - For the moment Raptured Reality has returned to just being my blog again as various commitments (like living in Japan) has seen the other main contributor, GTPod, have to stop writing here. I thank him and appreciate the work that he did do here though and who knows, maybe he will return in the future.

Back Up - I will probably start a secondary blog soon as an extension of Raptured Reality, this time just focusing on the 360 aspect of my gaming. This basically means anything and everything Achievements although I may include other things as well. As much as I love achievements, they aren't the be all and end all of my gaming thoughts (or progress, for that matter) so they definitely don't need such a strong focus here.

The Future - September sees us heading into the end of year rush of games and while it isn't as exciting this year as it was last year, I have still found myself anticipating a few of the upcoming titles. Much to my surprise some of these titles are games I wasn't expecting to be interested in but as more and more information came about for them, my interest piqued and now they are on my purchasing radar. I'll elaborate on this point soon.

On a separate note, unfortunately I can't play my 360 at the moment as it has randomly decided to stop reading discs. It was rather unexpected because on Saturday night of last weekend, I was playing it fine and it was running perfectly, then on the Sunday night I couldn't play anything. None of my games, DVDs or CDs (burnt or retail) worked and naturally as a result I was disappointed. Most would expect me to be angry, especially considering I had problems with my first 360 at around the same time (August) of last year but I am not angry, just disappointed. Perhaps a bit ridiculous here but I actually would have preferred it if the console had given me the infamous Red Rings of Death because then I would have been able to get the console repaired for free under Microsoft's 3 year extended warranty. Typically, the problem isn't the RROD so I now have to pay for the repairs to this console. Not happy with the idea of paying for the repairs but alas, it must be done and as such I now have a 'downtime' with the 360. I have been playing my older consoles in the meantime though so it hasn't all been bad.

And with that, it's time to articulate my thoughts on some other subjects. I have missed writing here so it is great to be back.

Tidbits

Just a random update on some things that are interesting or exciting me at the moment.

PS3 Trophies - Rumoured for a while, the PS3 is finally seeing a gaming reward system similar to the Achievements found on the 360. Instead of points that add to a Gamerscore, the trophy system sees players unlocking a variety or trophies depending on the achievements they reach in the various games. Trophies will be rewarded at a Bronze, Silver and Gold level with Bronze obviously being for easy stuff and Gold being for the really hard goals. There will also be one Platinum trophy for every game which will be obtained once every other trophy for that game has been acquired. While Sony's loyal fans are shouting from the rooftops and claiming the system to be shitting all over the 360's Achievements, to me they are exactly the same in the sense that they require goals to be met for them to be obtained and that the games' trophy list can be completed (just like scoring 1k in a 360 game, then) if the player is good enough or has put enough time in. I can understand the comments that perhaps the trophy system has a bit more depth than the 360 system, but either way they are both brilliant systems and I look forward to becoming a Trophy whore (just like I'm an Achievement whore now) when I finally get my PS3 in the future. Now if only the Wii would get a similar system as well...

Soul Calibur on Xbox Live Arcade - I'm frustrated that I can't get this when it releases later today due to a lack of points, but the fact that it is coming to the Marketplace is awesome as far as I am concerned. I remember playing it a fair bit at a friend's house and always wanted the game for myself. I was going to buy a Dreamcast for this game but when I finally got the money to, Sega announced that production was to be halted and as such I decided against buying one. I regret that decision a fair bit now, but thankfully for me I can play what is perhaps my favourite Fighting game of all time again. There's just something about the Soul Calibur series that 'ticks' with me and while SC II, SC III and no doubt the upcoming Soul Calibur IV are brilliant titles, the first will always be dear to my heart. Looking forward to grabbing it as soon as I get some MS points.

E3 - The show has lost a lot of importance in recent years and I have to admit that I'm not as excited for it as I would have been, say, 3 years ago (as I prefer shows like DICE now) but I'm still looking forward to seeing what will be announced and shown. While some might think of me as somewhat of a Microsoft fanboy at the moment given the fact I only own a 360 currently and I'm also an Achievement whore, I am actually looking forward to Sony's show this year the most and that is purely because of the possibility of both Heavy Rain and Team ICO's next project being there. I'm really hoping at least one will be there. There's a chance neither will be and if that is the case, I won't really care about Sony's other games such as Resistance 2 and Killzone 2, but until then I hold hope that both games are there. On the Nintendo front, well I'm interested in what they are up to especially since they have been rather quiet. Rumours are going around of course but I'm not paying attention to them and I am happy to wait until the show. It would be nice to see a new IP or two actually. On the MS front, a lot of this year's games are already known about such as Gears 2, Fable 2 and Too Human so I'm not expecting too much from them. It would be awesome to see Alan Wake at the show as I'm really looking forward to that. Oh and after the supposed leaks a few weeks ago, it will be nice to see Forza 3 being announced. I really hope Beyond Good and Evil 2 is there as well.

Geometry Wars 2 announced - Well not on the big news sites but MyGamercard.net have revealed the achievement list for the game and since they are a Microsoft community website, I think it is pretty obvious that it is coming. Which means, I'm REALLY excited about it as I absolutely love Geometry Wars. I still play Retro Evolved regularly, it is still my favourite XBLA game to date and if Geometry Wars: Waves had released on the XBLA, I would have definitely bought it despite having access to it already via PGR4. No doubt it will be announced/shown at E3 in the coming weeks so I look forward to seeing it there and if it releases this year which I think it will, then I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being my Game of the Year this year. Yes, I am that much of a Geo Wars fanboy.

In other news, I am trading with a friend for a while so I will have some new games to play soon. He is getting my copy of Mass Effect while I get his copy of Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty 4, two games that I have wanted for ages. Really looking forward to Assassin's Creed despite the mixed reviews. Also, over the weekend I got my hands on Shivering Isles, the Oblivion expansion pack. Naturally that means I was able to finally finish off the achievements for the game but I also really enjoyed the content so in a way I am kind of disappointed that I'm finished with it now. I'll make an entry on it soon. Speaking of entries, that MGS 2 one is still cooking as is a few others. Right, off to play Geometry Wars and have a fanboy moment thanks to the sequel's announcement.