Artificially Flavored

Moved to Tumblr!

2009-04-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

Decided to give this ol' blog a kick in the ass and start it anew over at Tumblr. Hoping to keep it more current and such, but no promises!

http://artiflav.tumblr.com/

Something old, something new

2009-02-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

It's been a stupidly long time since I've updated this, but I rarely get the compulsion and I'm just not sitting on my hands enough these days to warrant knocking out regular blog posts. I suppose that means I have lots more to blog about here, but meh, if you want to keep up with my day-to-day workflow, you can follow me on Twitter. I use it sort of obsessively.

Anyway, lots has changed since I last talked about work on here. As you've likely heard (either being someone interested in games writing or a person who actually knows me), UGO purchased 1UP.com early last month, shuttering Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine and laying off something like three-quarters of the staff, many of which I'd worked with in some respect. I'd written for 1UP for more than a year and a half at that point, starting in news and doing a lot of preview work, but most recently doing a heavy amount of reviews for the site. I'm surprised I didn't mention it on here (sorry, holiday rush kept me busy), but the final issue of EGM ended up being my first -- I reviewed the latest Destroy All Humans game for that issue. I also wrote something for the next issue, but it was sadly never published. Word was that it'd be posted online at some point, but as far as I know, that just hasn't happened. It had always been my dream to write for EGM, and after a few missed chances, it finally happened -- though to have it be the last-ever printed issue was certainly bittersweet.

I'm not going to get too deep into it, as it's been more than a month and a half at this point, but it hit me like a hammer when everything went down. Rumors of EGM closing had been swirling for some time, but to see so much of the staff let go and the prospect of a new owner -- it not only made me worry for my friends, but also for my security as a freelancer. It seemed initially that there would likely still be opportunities for me to write for 1UP, but more than a month passed before anything concrete came up. Luckily, Matt pinged me last week to review Noby Noby Boy for PlayStation Network, which is a pretty big release (for the PSN) -- I was surprised he didn't review it himself (since he did their week-long look at it in December), but I think my review turned out well and it's received a lot of thumbs, so I'm pleased.

Review: Noby Noby Boy (PSN)
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3172948&p=37

Not sure when I'll have my next opportunity to work on something over there, but I'm sure it'll come at some point. Anyway, with EGM closing and 1UP becoming a question mark, I started to worry a bit last month. Things had been relatively rock-steady for just over a year, but the economy was starting to shake things up in an unfortunate manner. In November, one of my print outlets alerted me that it no longer had a freelance budget for the immediate future, and just a few weeks ago, the website I'd been doing most of my work for in the last couple months had its own freelance budget cut down a bit. Luckily, I've still been getting a lot of good work from them (which is very greatly appreciated), but assignments aren't always as readily available as they had been.

So I started brainstorming to see how I could fill in the potential gaps. For starters, I decided to significantly increase my blogging gig at What They Play -- I'd previously been doing about 6-8 posts per week, but have recently been doing about 15-20. Blogging/news writing isn't necessarily my favorite thing to do, but it's easy to fit around other work and it's a much less time consuming affair than when I was doing news for 1UP. That has paid off significantly already, but I also started looking around for new places to write for. I decided to hit up The Escapist about doing occasional reviews and they were really receptive, so I did my first review for Magic Ball (PSN) earlier this month and have another in the works.

Review: Magic Ball (PSN)
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/5749-Review-Magic-Ball

I've also been talking to a gadget-oriented website about potentially doing some game coverage and possible iPhone app/gadget articles, but nothing's certain at this point and it may or may not work out. A couple of really positive things have happened work-wise in '09 for me, though -- I've been doing a lot of work for Nintendo Power recently, with four Community articles and 2 reviews since the beginning of the year, with two more Community pieces in the works at the moment. It's really my only recurring print gig at the moment, and I'm really happy that I've seemingly become the go-to guy for the Community section, and that they're starting to use me for reviews as well.

And very unexpectedly, I got an e-mail from my old editor at GamesRadar last month -- they'd lost their freelance budget last June, and I hadn't really expected them to get it back anytime soon considering the economic woes. But lo and behold, it happened and he contacted me straightaway. I wrote a big feature for them (going up tomorrow, I'm told) as well as a review for X-Blades, and just agreed to do three more reviews over the next couple weeks. If this holds up, it'll essentially replace the gap that 1UP/EGM left as my primary review outlet, and I always really enjoyed writing for GR (and my buddy Eric), so it's just an exciting turn of events for me.

Review: X-Blades (360)
http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/x-blades/review/x-blades/a-2009021315549678044/g-200804251215309029

I saw a bit of dip in the amount of available work last month, but by upping my efforts and finding new outlets (or having old ones spring back to life), February looks to potentially be my biggest month to date (at least one of the top ones). I feel a little overworked sometimes, but as a freelancer in these times, I really can't complain. And won't. Back to the grind!

(P.S. Wow, that's a long post. Will probably be the biggest you'll get for a year or more. Savor it?)

2008 Music

2008-12-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

Just put together my 2008 albums and singles/EPs lists. It wasn't a great year for music for me, reasons being: some of my most anticipated albums (Death Cab, Jack's Mannequin) fell short of my expectations, and it was my busiest year ever ever ever, so I didn't have nearly as much time to investigate new music or give a lot of time to albums that didn't seem to have a lot of upside for me. That said, there were several albums and singles I enjoyed, so I still put together lists.

I should really be able to put together a year-end games list, but I spent so much time working on review games and such this year that I really didn't have a chance to play many of the AAA releases that I feel would be necessary to put together a competent list. I'm going to hit some of those games in the next couple weeks, but by the time I get through the games I want to play, we'll be into 2009 and it won't mean much anyway. However, I'm happy to provide a list of some of the games I really enjoyed this year: PixelJunk Monsters, Burnout Paradise, World of Goo, Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, LittleBigPlanet, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, Mario Kart Wii, Peggle Nights, and Patapon. Games I still need to complete/play include Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto IV, Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Mirror's Edge, Prince of Persia, LocoRoco 2 (import) and numerous others, so you can understand why I'm hesitant to put a definitive list out there.

Anywho, here's the musics:

Albums:
1. Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead
2. Fall Out Boy - Folie a Deux
3. Ryan Adams - Cardinology
4. Copeland - You Are My Sunshine
5. The Hush Sound - Goodbye Blues
6. Mates of State - Re-arrange Us
7. Jack's Mannequin - The Glass Passenger
8. The Killers - Day & Age
9. Lydia - Illuminate
10. The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Ridgemont High
11. Ace Enders and a Million Different People - The Secret Wars
12. We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery
13. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
14. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
15. Ben Folds - Way to Normal
16. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
17. Chris Walla - Field Manual
18. Conor Oberst - Self-titled
19. N.E.R.D. - Seeing Sounds
20. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak

Singles:
1. Jack's Mannequin - The Resolution
2. Fall Out Boy - Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet
3. Copeland - On the Safest Ledge
4. Phantom Planet - Do the Panic
5. Ryan Adams - Fix It
6. Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care
7. Adele - Chasing Pavements
8. Ne-Yo - Closer
9. We Are Scientists - After Hours
10. Panic at the Disco - Nine in the Afternoon
11. The Killers - Spaceman
12. The Academy Is... - About a Girl
13. Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart
14. Kanye West - Heartless
15. Be Your Own Pet - Get Damaged EP
16. The Killers - Human
17. Fall Out Boy - Beat It (ft. John Mayer)
18. Straylight Run - Un Mas Dos EP
19. Kanye West - Love Lockdown
20. Paramore - That's What You Get
21. MGMT - Time to Pretend
22. Weezer - Pork and Beans
23. Usher - Love in This Club
24. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
25. Estelle - American Boy (ft. Kanye West)

Last two years of music picks, for reference.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I post all the time on my Twitter now.

Green Pixels

2008-11-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

No status update other than I'm busy as hell and that's a-okay.

But I have some exciting news: As of this week, I'm freelancing for Green Pixels, the new site from IGN/Fox that focuses on a more mainstream gaming audience with feature-heavy content. I'll be doing several reviews and other articles over the next couple weeks (and hopefully well beyond), and my first went up this afternoon. Check it out:

http://www.greenpixels.com/articles/features/1804/Great-Game-Deal-Bargain-Barrage

Because I'm a Bum

2008-10-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well, no -- it's because I'm busy and have more pressing matters, but indeed, I haven't been updating this or any other blog with any frequency. I'm knee-deep in a ton of work right now, so I'm not going to go on and on and on about life or writing except that I'm very happy and very busy at the moment. I do, however, want to draw some attention to an article I did last week over at 1UP:

Fable 2 Developer Feature
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3170263&p=4

I did a phone interview with industry luminary Peter Molyneux about a month back and once we finally got the follow-up questions done with the supporting team members, I was able to put together this 2500-word monster. I think it turned out really well and my editors were very pleased. I expected a bit more of a reaction to it, due to Molyneux talking about Fable 2 DLC and how they want to expand that universe with potential web/XNA stuff, but it didn't really pop up in as many places as I'd hoped. Ah well -- it's still a solid read if you're into the man and his games.

Anywho, back to work.

New Outlets

2008-07-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that I'd started working on articles for a pair of new print outlets, but didn't want to spill the beans until the first pieces were submitted and ready to rock. Now that such things have occurred, check this out:

http://oxmonline.com/article/reviews/xbox-live-arcade/g-l/geometry-wars-retro-evolved-2

That's my first review for the Official Xbox Magazine, which will appear in the October 2008 issue of the magazine. I'm completely thrilled to writing for another print outlet, especially one as established and well-known as this one, and I'm already at work on my next article for them.

I don't have a link for the other one (they don't have an online presence), but I've also started writing for Nintendo Power, which means -- yes -- I'm writing for all three official U.S. console/handheld magazines. My first article is for the Community section of the October 2008 magazine, and I'm currently working on another Community article for the November issue. Check 'em out!

Needless to say, things are going incredibly well professionally right now. Since coming back from E3, I've been working constantly putting together pieces for these and other outlets, and there are no signs of slowing down. I'm also happy to say that I'll start blogging for What They Play any day now, and that I'll be wrapping up my news stint at 1UP at the end of next week. Luckily, I'm still doing a lot of review work for 1UP and anticipate doing more preview stuff for them in the near future, but slicing news from my schedule will allow me a lot more freedom in how I spend my days, and hopefully afford me a bit more free time while not affecting my income flow.

Might be another outlet added to the fray in the near future, but I have no details. One of my editors recommended me to someone who is launching a new project at one of the top gaming sites (that I don't already write for), so we'll see if the opportunity presents itself and I'll update if anything happens.

Everything is Alright

2008-07-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

I've fallen into a lazy cycle of updating this thing, but I've had many good reasons for it. Here's the latest:

- I moved to Chicago (from the burbs) and got a place with my girlfriend. So far, so awesome.

- I attended E3 this week in Los Angeles and did a ton of work for 1UP during my days there. I paid for the whole trip, but between the 1UP work and what looks to be a bit of follow-up work for What They Play, I think I'll have doubled my investment (which was significant to begin with), so it was a very worthwhile trip. In fact, it was the best business trip I've ever been on -- probably because I wasn't at anyone else's whims. Also, I'm more experienced, more confident, and just generally more comfortable traversing unfamiliar terrain. Also, I got to meet and interact with several more of the 1UP editors I work with via e-mail/IM, so that's always a big plus.

- Within the last two weeks, I've found work at two more major print outlets. I hesitate to really talk about anything in public before I see the work in print, so I won't go on too much about it just yet. But these are very significant boosts to my career, and will allow me some additional leverage in changing up my typical schedule a bit in the coming months, perhaps dropping some of the simpler, daily work to focus more on bigger assignments. Also, I got an Xbox 360 debug a couple weeks back, which helped me score one of those print gigs and will allow me to do additional, more compelling work for my current outlets.

So basically, things are fantastic in all regards.

Reappear, Disappear

2008-05-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since my last update, so here's the quick version:

- Last month was slow; this month's been a lot better, though it's been a bit of a grind at times. Been doing a lot of reviews for 1UP -- five so far this month, with another in the works. I'd only done three total for them prior to this month, so that's a big shift. I'm still seeking to do more preview stuff, so hopefully the recurring format idea I pitched will go through and get rolling soon. I submitted a spread for the August issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine today (nothing for the July ish, sadly), am getting more review work at GamesRadar after a quiet period, and am doing write-ups for What They Play when I can. Essentially, it's been a review-heavy month, which is fine, but certainly time-consuming. Hoping to work in more travel/event coverage and preview stuff soon, as variety is key.

- I fell in love with a girl. It's kind of great. And when I say "kind of great," I mean it's fantastic/unreal/world-beating/amazing. That's about all I'm sharing on my writing blog, but yeah, downright spectacular so far.

- I don't know what's up with E3 yet. I didn't receive an invite, so I e-mailed the ESA and found out that I'd been invited via a contributory position I held at a website last year, but apparently said invitation cannot be transferred over. Currently, that puts me in limbo, but there's still two months to go and I'm starting to fish for a fresh invitation. Pretty ridiculous, but that's the sitch as it stands.

- I'm way backed up on actually playing games, since the combination of writing full-time and seeing my lady as much as possible means legitimate free time is at a premium. I'm not complaining, since those are the most important things to me by far, but I'm still looking to find a bit more me time. PixelJunk Monsters Encore and Grand Theft Auto IV top my underappreciated list, and I'd like to play LostWinds, Echochrome, and Boom Blox. I'm also craving Skate and a bit of Rock Band.

So yeah, things are awesome.

Fell Off the Map. Kinda.

2008-04-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I updated this thing, and for that, I apologize. It wasn't really intentional -- just a combination of being constantly busy, traveling a bit, being sick off and on (mostly on) for several weeks, and trying to figure some things out.

I'm happy to say that things are incredibly well right now, both personally and professionally. I'm not going to do a point-by-point analysis of the last two months, but I've essentially been working as steadily as I've been able to all year, I'm emerging from my random sicknesses, and generally feeling pretty good about most everything. March was an odd month -- I felt kind of hazy for most of the month, and couldn't determine if it was a physical ailment (I had a sinus infection), some sort of physiological thing, or some kind of deep-seeded issue I needed to figure out. Ultimately? No clue. But I'm mostly feeling better and have resolved to overlook the small annoyances and get back to quality living. Someone awesome entered my life very recently, as well, which certainly has improved my mood and vigilance to stay positive.

So I've been keepin' on, doing what I can for my various outlets. The week before last, I produced nearly nine pages of content for the June issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, so look out for that if you can -- it'll be my fourth issue in a row of freelancing for the mag, and they were really pleased with what I just did, so barring unforeseen whatever I'll hopefully continue to contribute on a regular basis. Since then, I haven't had as much to do overall, simply because the first half of April is so dead for new releases. Luckily, that'll turn around soon enough, and there's always something I can do to keep me working, but I'm missing a bit of the usual variety. Ah well -- such is the life of a freelancer.

PTOM March: 2008 PS3 Game Planner

2008-02-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

Just received the March issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, and a quick look at the Contributing Editors listing reveals I had some hand in this issue. What is it?

The 2008 PS3 Game Planner -- the result of that crazy weekend project I worked on a few weeks back. When submitted, it was a monstrous Excel document; a listing of games, release dates, publishers, developers, and a short summary of each (along with a larger write-up for six prominent titles).

On paper, it looks amazing. Eight full pages of content, largely unchanged from what I submitted. It's a fantastic feeling to see yourself in print, and I'm definitely savoring this today. Probably grab a couple more issues whenever I see 'em next. Major props to the editors that transformed all that text into something far more compelling on paper. I'll buy you a drink whenever I get a chance to meet you guys.

Of course, as noted in my last entry, I have a pair of reviews going in the April issue, and we'll see what happens after that!

Elsewhere: I covered an MLB 08: The Show event last week for 1UP. I snapped a couple pictures and recorded a couple of interviews for the next episode of The Sports Anomaly podcast. Still working on a written preview, but that'll be up sometime in the near future. Good times and such.

Triple Shot

2008-01-25T00:26:00.000-08:00

Did a trio of big articles for 1UP in the last week -- just wanted to call some attention to them.

Preview: Patapon (PSP): An interview-based, behind-the-scenes preview of Sony's curious little rhythm/action/strategy hybrid.

Review: Nitrobike (Wii): My first review for 1UP (hoorah!) -- call it Excite Truck with half the wheels and half the reasons to even bother with it.

Preview: Twisted Metal: Head-On: ETE (PS2): I interviewed David Jaffe last week! This is the transcript -- some pretty interesting responses in here.

Also: I'm doing some editing/posting for the 1UP news dept. now, which I believe makes me an Associate Editor... but that's largely inconsequential since I'm still freelance.

Plus, I'm doing a pair of reviews for the April issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, with the possibility of more work during the current issue cycle. Very excited about this; still waiting for the review builds though!

Still a few days left, but I've had an insane month. There was a pie-in-the-sky amount I thought I might approach if everything clicked into place, and now it looks like I'm going to top it by at least 10%. There's just been no slowdown this month, and with four outlets feeding me various opportunities, I can keep up this rate for the forseeable future. That's brilliant.

Better Than Ever

2008-01-11T22:17:00.001-08:00

It's been months since I posted any kind of legitimate status update as to what I'm up to these days (professionally), so you might be surprised to hear what/how I'm doing.

- Last weekend, I picked up an unexpected feature project for PlayStation: The Official Magazine. I was offered the assignment at 3am on Saturday, pumped in a solid 16 hours of work over the next day and a half, and turned it in late Sunday night. Pretty awesome. Not only is it my first print work, but they were really happy with it and I'm now in the loop for additional assignments. Anyway, don't want to talk too much about it yet because of the lead times of print -- my work is slated to be in the March issue, which hits stores this time next month.

- Before Christmas, I started writing for What They Play, a website started by a couple of former 1UP Network vets (including John Davison) to help parents with gaming decisions. It's a great step sideways for me, and another way to fill the gaps in my schedule with small assignments that often intersect with other things I'm doing. I've already done about a dozen game profiles for them, and have pitched a few feature ideas and hope to start on one soon. Oh, and I'm covering the four SingStar PS2 games for them in the coming days -- how can you pass that up?

So I'm working really steady these days. In fact, the amount I've earned in the last seven days is equal to about 2/3rds of what I made in the entire month of December -- which had been my biggest month to date. Needless to say, I'll be crushing that total for the month. And I can honestly say I'm a full-time freelancer, not just in amount of daily work but also compensation. It feels fantastic to finally be at this point.

And I'm planning to move to San Francisco by the end of March. I haven't made any significant strides towards finding roommates or whatnot, but I'm dead set on getting out there in the next two months or so. I know I'll be open to better opportunities in the Bay Area, and it's important to me to be a part of this industry -- in person. Plus, I missed out on a significant opportunity this week solely because of my location, though missing it left me open to do the PlayStation: TOM gig (so it's more or less a win-win).

But yeah, that's where I'm at. Pretty incredible.

2007: Music

2007-12-31T18:00:00.001-08:00

I'm great, thanks for asking! I should probably post about what I'm doing these days, which is exciting, fulfilling, and (collectively) nicely compensated, but this post is about my top music picks of 2007. I prepared album and singles lists for a poll earlier this month, and thought I'd repost 'em here, along with my lists from last year (which never made their way to this blog).

2007 Albums:

1. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
3. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
4. Feist - The Reminder
5. Straylight Run - The Needles, The Space
6. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
7. Motion City Sondtrack - Even if it Kills Me
8. The Starting Line - Direction
9. Kanye West - Graduation
10. Bishop Allen - The Broken String
11. Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower
12. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
13. Ash - Twilight of the Innocents
14. Matthew Good - Hospital Music
15. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
16. David Ford - Songs for the Road
17. The Rocket Summer - Do You Feel?
18. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
19. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
20. Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers

2007 Singles:

1. Spoon - The Underdog
2. Kanye West - Stronger
3. Fall Out Boy - This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race
4. Kanye West - Flashing Lights (ft. Dwele)
5. Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
6. The Shins - Phantom Limb
7. Ash - You Can't Have it All
8. Bright Eyes - Four Winds
9. The Rocket Summer - So Much Love
10. Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino
11. Brand New - Jesus Christ
12. Say Anything - Baby Girl, I'm a Blur
13. LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
14. Mark Ronson - Oh My God (ft. Lily Allen)
15. Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder
16. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Catch You
17. The Killers - Read My Mind
18. Modest Mouse - Dashboard
19. The Starting Line - Island
20. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothing
21. Coconut Records - West Coast
22. Fall Out Boy - The Take Over, The Break's Over
23. My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words
24. Feist - My Moon, My Man
25. Kanye West - Good Life (ft. T-Pain)
26. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
27. Fall Out Boy - I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)
28. Ash - Polaris
29. Fall Out Boy - Thnks fr th Mmrs
30. Lupe Fiasco - Superstar
31. Charlotte Hatherley - Behave
32. Manic Street Preachers - Your Love Alone is Not Enough (ft. Nina Persson)
33. The Color Fred - If I Surrender
34. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
35. Mark Ronson - Stop Me (ft. Daniel Merriweather)

A quick look at the lists probably reveals me to be a Spoon fanboy, which really isn't true -- I started listening to the band about 10 weeks ago, spurred by the brilliant "Underdog" video/single, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga proved to be one of the most complete and polished records I've heard in ages. Say Anything pretty much had the year locked up, but when it came time to do the list, I had to give it to Spoon. My revised list may change in a few months, but that's what I've got for now.

As far as singles go, I dropped the ball on a couple things (but opted not to revise the initial list). First, Jay-Z's "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)" would've ranked high on the list if I'd heard it more than once prior to voting, but I never got around to giving American Gangster a solid listen. It's an excellent single -- my bad, Hova. Also, the Paramore singles -- especially "crushcrushcrush" -- deserve a mention, even if the album doesn't deliver start to finish. Finally, "Thnks fr the Mmrs" should've been the second-highest-ranked Fall Out Boy single. Kinda forgot how bouncy the choruses are when I was putting it together. Ah well.

In summation, 2006 >>>>> 2007 for music, but I'm very hopeful for 2008. For reference, here's last year's lists:

2006 Albums:

1. Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
2. The Format - Dog Problems
3. Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now
4. Copeland - Eat, Sleep, Repeat
5. The Killers - Sam's Town
6. The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes
7. The Early November - The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path
8. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
9. Mates of State - Bring it Back
10. Saves the Day - Sound the Alarm
11. John Mayer - Continuum
12. Gatsby's American Dream - Self-titled
13. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
14. We Are Scientists - In Love and Squalor
15. Bic Runga - Birds
16. The Hush Sound - Like Vines
17. Be Your Own Pet - Self-titled
18. Forgive Durden - Wonderland
19. David Ford - I Sincerely Apologize for All the Trouble I've Caused
20. Moneen - The Red Tree
21. Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor
22. Matchbook Romance - Voices
23. Gil Mantera's Party Dream - Bloodsongs
24. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
25. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
26. Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child
27. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
28. Ben Kweller - Self-titled
29. Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors
30. Girl Talk - Night Ripper

2006 Singles:

1. The Killers - When You Were Young
2. The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
3. Taking Back Sunday – MakeDamnSure
4. My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
5. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
6. Lupe Fiasco - I Gotcha
7. Justin Timberlake - My Love (ft. T.I.)
8. T.I. - What You Know
9. The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me
10. Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
11. Regina Spektor - Fidelity
12. Be Your Own Pet - Adventure
13. Incubus - Anna-Molly
14. Brand New - Sowing Season (Yeah)
15. The All-American Rejects - Move Along
16. Hellogoodbye – Here (In Your Arms)
17. Lupe Fiasco – Kick Push
18. Clipse – Wamp Wamp (What it Do)
19. Beyonce - Check on It
20. Cobra Starship - Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)
21. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
22. Matchbook Romance – Monsters
23. Lady Sovereign – Love Me or Hate Me
24. Omarion – Ice Box
25. Justin Timberlake – SexyBack
26. The Pipettes – Judy
27. Teddy Geiger - For You I Will (Confidence)
28. Lily Allen – LDN
29. Muse – Knights of Cydonia
30. Yellowcard – Rough Landing, Holly

2007: Games list to follow... at some point. Maybe tomorrow? Meh, no clue.

...said Andrew Hayward, freelance video game reviewer.

2007-11-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

I've seen and done some strange and unexpected things in my time as a writer, but this was still a bit odd to me:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Rock Band video game hits Atlanta"

"'I think Rock Band is what the hard-core gamers are more excited about,' said Andrew Hayward, a freelance video game reviewer. 'It does bring so much more into the fold.'"

I don't know that the second line is verbatim (I'm more of a "It brings" kind of guy), but indeed, I was interviewed by another journalist for a story. He contacted me last week about it after seeing my drum-based preview for 1UP from a few months back, and we spoke on the phone briefly about Rock Band and Guitar Hero III. And I'm from the Chicago area, so it's not even a local thing. Kind of odd, but anyway, something else to toss in the ol' memory bank.

Speaking of Rock Band -- the store I reserved it at isn't doing a midnight launch (WTF), but the one 20 minutes from there is; luckily, my friend reserved it at the second store, so I believe we'll be jamming shortly. And then I'll pick up mine in the a.m. and drum until my arms bleed. Yes, bleed. It seems plausible.

Event Coverage and Etc.

2007-10-26T00:50:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to the last post:

1UP:

Preview - Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice
Preview - Assassin's Creed
Preview - Bionic Commando
Preview - Commando 3
Preview - Devil May Cry 4
Preview - Naruto: Rise of a Ninja
Preview - The Office
Preview - Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Preview - We Love Golf

GamesRadar:

Review - Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party

Needless to say, it was a busy couple of weeks. The last few days have been mightily dull by comparison, but I'm expecting/hoping for a major turnaround next week.

Intensity in Two Cities

2007-10-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

The last week has been kind of ridiculous. It feels like I'm on a whole other plane of existence compared to where I was seven days ago.

On Friday, I finally landed my first review assignment at Games Radar. Regular readers (anyone?) will remember me talking about being added to a freelance rotation at a prominent site in May -- yeah, that was Games Radar. But their budget had been nonexistent all summer, and with the new fiscal year beginning this week, there's all sorts of work now.

Anyway, I grabbed Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire, played it all weekend, and submitted my review Monday. It just went up today (click the above link) and is essentially intact, minus light changes here and there and the removal of a couple specific references. Glad to have the work, but it may be a while before I can take another assignment.

Why? Because 1UP is sending me out on event coverage -- international event coverage, to boot. I'm not sure how much I can disclose, but next week, I'm heading up to Montreal for a night to spend significant hands-on time with one of the biggest fall releases. The article will be up next Friday, so look for that. And then the week after, I'm going to London (!) for a big event, which will probably drown me in articles to write in a very short amount of time. As much as 10-hour plane rides melt my brain at the mere thought, it's a massive opportunity and something I'm really looking forward to.

The next two weeks will be a blur. Feel free to call me afterwards to see if I'm still alive and well.

Keep it Quick

2007-09-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Things are well. I'm working out, eating better, sleeping better. All in all, living better, it seems. Keeping myself busy, as usual, doing daily updates, working on a potentially awesome news feature, and putting together as many previews as they'll allow me to. The latest is for Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360), which went up on Friday. It's really more of a Q&A than a standard preview, but it has a lot of quality info and is worth a read if you're looking forward to the game.

Additionally, we just launched a weekly column of mine today -- On the DLC Tip. It's a roundup of all the console downloadable content from the last week that's supposed to go up on the weekend (it went up early Monday, but still). It takes a few hours to assemble, but luckily, the reaction has been all positive from readers thus far. We'll be adding some PC coverage in the next iteration, and hopefully people will continue to find it useful (and hopefully even more people in total).

Yeah, that's about it. Skate is thankfully excellent, though definitely quite challenging. I'll pick up Halo 3 next week, but I'm not a series junkie. Luckily, Phil located some video summaries of the first two titles, so I'll assuredly watch those before I dive into the threequel.

C'mon Hoodie Weather

2007-09-04T23:31:00.000-07:00

I realize I've been pretty infrequent with my updates, and... that's probably not going to change anytime soon. I actually update my 1UP blog quite a bit more often, though it's not always very focused. Or interesting. Or popular.

Since the last update, my drum-focused Rock Band preview went up (and was kicked up to the top of the page again), and I'm working on at least a couple more previews, as well as starting my first news features. As mentioned in the last update, I went out to Santa Monica/Ontario to preview a couple games, and along the way I finally took advantage of the open bar, suffered through a miniature earthquake, and damn near missed my flight back home. Anyway, here are the previews:

Preview: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Preview: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike

I was offered a trip to San Francisco this week (I'd actually be out there right now if I'd accepted), but I decided against it. It was an EA event, and I've already seen most of their holiday lineup, plus... I'm going to the Cubs game today. Shazam.

And... I'm boring myself with work talk. I've actually had quite a bit more free time in the last couple weeks, yet I'm finally making hot dollars. Hoorah!

Two Years of French in High School

2007-08-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

My first preview for 1UP just popped up on the site and I am totally pumped about it. I've done a heap of previews for WorthPlaying and upwards of 150 news stories for 1UP, but this one means a lot to me. And not just because it's on a big site -- I proposed this idea, conceptualizing it from scratch and drawing up a set of questions for Level-5 and SCEA to answer. Once it came back (last week), I wrote this preview and am really pleased with how it turned out. Check it out:

1UP Preview - Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)

Also, I'm headed to California on Wednesday to cover a pair of events in Santa Monica and Ontario (not Canada). Wasn't planning on doing much travel after E3, but it's two nights and two articles, so it seemed worth my time. I've seen (and written about) both titles already, but they should be showing off quite a bit more this time around. It's all embargoed for a couple weeks, so... we'll talk later. Looking forward to it, though.

EDIT: So yeah... it's the top story over at 1UP right now. Not gloating; just excited. It's such a minor step in the grand scheme of things, but right now, it's pretty great. It really means a lot that they have such faith in the article. I'm already starting to prep on a third article for them; second should hit next Tuesday.

The Words to Keep the Birds Humming

2007-07-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

Things keep happening so rapidly.

I stop updating for five weeks, and in the meantime, I've spent nine nights in California covering the E3 Media & Business Summit, as well as several pre-E3 events. It's exciting stuff, and I definitely enjoy the travel, but it has absolutely dominated my life for the last few months, so I'm cutting back significantly now that the majority of events are finished. I have far too many better opportunities to explore.

My work at 1UP is progressing quite nicely. I'm still doing daily news updates (E3 got in the way last week, though), and soon I'll be moving into news features and preview articles. Absolutely pumped for that. Plus, I'm damn near broke, so... actually having time to devote to paid work sounds really fantastic to me.

And it will allow me to pursue other freelance opportunities, as well. I've been on the freelance rotation at one of the other large sites for several weeks, but have yet to take an assignment (some were quickly nabbed, some I didn't have time for). Also, while I did not get the job I interviewed for, I was told that they would likely be looking for freelancers next month. So while I'd rather be fully employed, I may be able to work for several large sites in a freelance capacity.

That's about it for now. I'm busy all the time, but progressing forward, especially now that I'm making time to explore these opportunities that have popped up in recent months. It's a grind, but it's been exciting.

And with that, I'm going to the Cubs game. Rain be damned.

Quick Bits

2007-06-09T15:17:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick update on the crazy happenings of my life:

- I interviewed for a full-time position yesterday (over the phone). This is the same position I interviewed for back in February; I saw that they had another opening, so I contacted the EIC that I interviewed with previously. He got back to me right away, and we did the interview yesterday. I think it went extremely well, and I'm very, very excited about the possibility of having a full-time gig before E3. I should find out around Friday, and I may be seeing the EIC at one or more of the events I'm covering next week.

- The Santa Monica event on Thursday went well enough. I can't talk about what I played until Tuesday afternoon, but I'm putting together a trio of previews based on what I saw. I wrote one last night and just finished compiling my notes for the second -- will write that shortly. The third is the largest, so I may work on my notes tonight and then write it tomorrow evening. I woke up early on Thursday and walked down to the ocean; there were a lot of hobos on the beach. Not the worst place in the world to be homeless.

- On Monday, I'm heading to Oakland to start a wacky, five-night adventure of event coverage in California. On Tuesday, I'll be covering Microsoft and Namco Bandai events in San Francisco, then I'm flying to LAX on Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon is the Activision pre-E3 event in Santa Monica. On Thursday, I head to Los Angeles for an Electronic Arts event, then Friday contains between two and four events in Santa Monica. I don't even know. It looks like I'm coming home on Saturday afternoon. I don't know about the other events yet, but everything at the Activision event is embargoed for nearly a month. It makes you wonder why there's even a pre-E3 to begin with, but nobody really seems to know what the hell's going on with E3 this year, so I'll just roll with it.

More updates when they're available, folks.

May Recap

2007-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

May was, by far, my busiest, most prolific, and most successful month to date. I started the month by wrapping up my coverage of Capcom Gamers Day and the Sierra Spring Event (as well as a couple of reviews), then flew out to San Diego to cover Sony's Gamers Day event (which I'm wrapping up this weekend), and then finished the month by joining the news team at 1UP, where I am currently a News Contributor.

I wrote two dozen articles for WorthPlaying and over a dozen news stories for 1UP (most within the last week) during the month. Because I may doing 3-5 news stories per weekday for 1UP, I won't be linking to all of them here (just check out the 1UP News link atop the blog), but here are the links to all of my WorthPlaying articles:

WorthPlaying:
Preview: The BIGS (PS3/360)
Preview: Carcassonne (360)
Preview: Devil May Cry 4 (Multi)
Preview: Empire Earth III (PC)
Preview: God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)
Preview: Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Preview: High Velocity Bowling (PS3)
Preview: Jeanne d'Arc (PSP)
Preview: John Woo Presents Stranglehold (Multi)
Preview: Mega Man Star Force (DS)
Preview: Mega Man ZX Advent (DS)
Preview: Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (PSP)
Preview: PAIN (PS3)
Preview: PaRappa the Rapper (PSP)
Preview: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike (PSP)
Preview: SWAT: Target Liberty (PSP)
Preview: Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (PSP)
Preview: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
Preview: World in Conflict (PC)
Preview: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)
Review: Burnout Dominator (PS2)
Review: Guitar Hero II (360)
Review: Spider-Man 3 (360)
Feature: Editorial Spotlight - May 2007

That's my final Editorial Spotlight, by the way. With the addition of the 1UP gig, I'm refocusing my WorthPlaying work on preview/event coverage, and I didn't think that the feature represented the best use of my time. That, and I didn't get the impression that anyone was reading it (as it was barely promoted). Pick a reason.

While June is unlikely to hold as many preview/review articles, it will be absolutely packed with busy days. I'll write more about it in a later post, but it looks like I'm spending six nights on the road over the next two weeks, and I've been added to the freelance rotation at another major gaming site. I'll update again this weekend if I have time.

1UP'd My Career

2007-05-25T15:47:00.001-07:00

As of this morning, I am now a News Contributor for 1UP, the online gaming community that also serves as the portal for Electronic Gaming Monthly and Games for Windows. I've been a member of the site for over a year, but now I write for it. This is a big deal.

I've been working my way up in the industry now for some time, but this is my first paying gig, not to mention the largest publication (by far) that I've had the opportunity to write for. It's kind of like a part-time job; I work the morning "shift" on weekdays and I work with a crew of other writers to get up all the news. I'm not typically a morning person, but I've actually been looking for something to force me to wake up at a particular time each day, so this is helpful.

Here are the first two stories that I wrote today:

Halo 2 for PC Delayed by 'Partial Nudity'
The Sims to Become Feature Film

I probably won't post links to all of my news stories, as I may be doing 15+ a week once I get familiar with the system and up my speed a bit. Also potentially on the horizon is some freelance work (likely reviews) at a couple of websites. One of the guys I met at Gamers Day got back to me today and said he thought my samples were "pretty good" and had passed them on to his boss. He suggested that I would probably hear back about it next week, so I'm eagerly anticipating that. Between the 1UP gig and a bit of freelance work, I could be doing pretty alright for myself. Not enough to live on, but certainly enough to start saving some cash for when I am eventually on my own.

However, the addition of the 1UP gig means the near-elimination of my work at Bits Bytes Pixels & Sprites, just a month after I started there. They've been really great to me, and all three of the guys (Dan, Kevin, and Jim) were extremely supportive when they heard the news, so I'm quite glad to not be parting on a bad note. I'm not leaving entirely; I'll still be listed as a contributor, but I won't be doing a whole lot. It'll be nice to have an additional, less-mainstream outlet for when/if I have something to say that just doesn't fit elsewhere.

Sony's Gamers Day was pretty cool, though it was super busy since I was the only person from WorthPlaying at the event. I've written nine previews so far (been slowed a bit by some family stuff) and probably have four or five left until I've covered what I can cover. I met some very solid dudes while I was out there and also attended the Padres game on Tuesday evening. I was hanging with a couple of other guys and we left after the 11th inning. Naturally, Griffey Jr. lead off the 12th with the game-winning homer. Ah well. I wasn't too invested in Padres/Reds, but I love baseball, so it was a worthwhile experience.

On the horizon -- many events! In a week and a half, I'll be flying out to Santa Monica to check out the Transformers movie game. I was actually supposed to see The Pipettes at Empty Bottle in Chicago on the day I come back, but nobody else could cover the event, so I'm going. It's not a bad trade-off by any means, but I was looking forward to the show. One week later, I'll be flying back to Santa Monica to attend Activision's pre-E3 event, where they'll probably have the usual suspects (Call of Duty 4, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, etc). I dig both series, so "the usual" is fine with me.

And finally, I was invited to the E3 Media and Business Summit in July! It's in Santa Monica (jeez, I'm going to be sick of the place), and though my invitation is not tied to any particular publication, I will more than likely be attending for WorthPlaying (unless there's a big career change in the next two months).

Also, you'll notice a style/layout/attitude change here. I wanted something a bit more professional sounding/looking, so I stretched out the full name again and swapped templates to something cleaner and easier to read. That doesn't mean I'll update more often, though!

San Diego

2007-05-08T02:55:00.000-07:00

Which, I'm told, is German for "a whale's vagina."

I'm headed there on Monday to cover some kind of Sony event, though it hasn't been made clear what will be shown or when I'll be working. I fly out Monday around noon and land in San Diego at about 2pm (PST). I chose an earlier flight, so I should have a couple hours to get situated and somewhat comfortable before some gathering on Monday evening. Will probably be busy for much of the day on Tuesday, and then I've got things until 3pm on Wednesday. Catching a flight around 7pm, and I won't be back until nearly 1am (CST). I would have seen about just getting a flight on Thursday, but a member of my immediate family is having surgery on Thursday and I wanted to be back for that.

Anyway, I have just one preview left to finish from the last trip, and I'm winding down on a review copy of Burnout Dominator (PS2). I'll probably start playing Spider-Man 3 (360) tomorrow, with the hopes of finishing it before I leave for San Diego, but I suppose that all depends on how much time I have later in the week. Shouldn't be an issue.

I'm thinking about jumping on the BBPS Podcast in the near future, if they'll have me. I've never been a big fan of podcasts, but I like what I heard of last week's show (where they showed me a lot of love), and I think it comes with the territory as a new staff blogger. So I'm down.

What's Your Definition of "Review"?

2007-05-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

What I wrote here is essentially the same as what I later wrote for Bits Bytes Pixels & Sprites, so just go ahead and read the definitive version there.

April Recap

2007-04-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy month.

WorthPlaying:
Preview: Crash of the Titans (Multi)
Preview: Cube (PSP)
Preview: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC/360/PS3)
Preview: F.E.A.R. (PS3)
Preview: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (PC)
Preview: Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition (Wii)
Preview: Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)
Preview: Rocketmen: Axis of Evil (360/PS3)
Preview: Scarface: The World is Yours (Wii)
Preview: Spider-Man 3 (360/PS3)
Preview: Spider-Man 3 (Wii/DS)
Preview: Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (360/PS3)
Preview: TimeShift (PC/360)
Review: QuickSpot (DS)
Feature: Editorial Spotlight - April 2007

Static Multimedia:
Review: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (PSP)

Sixteen articles; only two reviews!

Needless to say, April represented quite a change of pace for me. The month started shortly after I returned from my first business trip, and as such, my first articles were coverage from those events (Spidey 3 & Quake Wars). And just over a week into the month, I was back in California, this time in the Bay Area for four nights to cover a pair of large events (Capcom Gamers Day and the Sierra Spring Event). Between the two, I saw a ton of titles, and I had to write a preview for nearly all of them. Of those articles listed above, a dozen of those previews are based on what I saw at those events (including the late March ones). I still have eight more previews to do. Man.

But regardless of the workload, I'm quite happy to be attending events, getting out there, and meeting new people in the industry. Contrary to previous speculation, I will not be attending events next week, though I may be lined up to cover something the week after. More on that as it comes.

My first day of blogging at Bits Bytes Pixels & Sprites went well; I made two posts and interacted with people in the comments for other posts. Posting rights were initially withheld in case I had any difficulties, but I earned them by the end of the day via the pair of (apparently) well-constructed blog posts, so... I'm a blogger! It's cool, and definitely different than sitting down to write some big review or feature. I'm looking forward to blogging on a daily-ish basis, and I hope that I can contribute to the ongoing success of the site.

I may have a couple of other writing opportunities developing in the near future, so I'll post if anything is happening. Though I'm anxious to get back on the road and cover some events, I'm also looking forward to savoring some time with my consoles (once I finish this mound of previews). I'm hoping to get my hands on review copies of Spider-Man 3 and Command & Conquer 3 in the next week and a half... here's hoping.

The BBPS

2007-04-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

Good news -- starting Monday (or perhaps tomorrow night), I'll be blogging for Bits Bytes Pixels & Sprites, a gaming blog that is currently ranked in the top 100k in the Alexa Power Rankings. This in no way affects my work at WorthPlaying, though it almost certainly signals the end of my time at Static Multimedia. I had only contributed a few articles for Static since the beginning of the year, and I told my editor that I'd be done if I found another gig or started taking on some freelance work.

Anyway, I'm excited to start blogging. Writing news and blogging is one aspect of my writing that I have not been able to explore in some time, so I'm glad to have found a site that wants me and will allow me to have a public stage with which to spread more of my work. I will most likely be blogging on an almost-daily basis, so I'll be sure to add a link to the top of the page once my posts start going up.

In other news, there may be another extensive Bay Area trip in the works for the week after next. Nothing is confirmed yet, and it may ultimately go to another writer, but my name is in the mix and I'm pushing hard for it. By that time, I'll have finished all my articles from the last trip, and I'm definitely itching to get back out there.

In Summation

2007-04-20T23:15:00.000-07:00

I meant to update while I was in California, but I was either too busy or too tired.

I then meant to update when I got back, but I was either writing or watching baseball.

And now it's a week later, so... alright, let's do this quickly. It was a very good, very busy trip. I flew into Oakland on Monday, where I was crashing with my editors. On Monday night, we took the BART into San Francisco and went to a Sierra gathering, where they showed footage of TimeShift and the lead producer dropped a considerable amount of f-bombs (so much so that people were talking about it the next day -- amusing).

On Tuesday, I headed back downtown (alone) to attend the Sierra Spring Event, where I played (or watched someone play) eight new games, a couple of which I can't really talk about yet (even though both were announced in the last couple days, apparently ahead of schedule). I feel very comfortable interacting with the developers and producers, even with titles that I'm not really knowledgeable about. Even though these people make the games, they're still gamers -- and they're intelligent gamers, so I'm completely comfortable and able to talk freely and ask questions without feeling weird about it.

Wednesday was going to be my off-day, and I planned on writing at least two previews, as well as catch up my notes. I had the morning and afternoon, thankfully, and I was able to write the TimeShift preview. However, later in the afternoon, Rainier told me that I'd be heading downtown to check out a couple arcade games at some bar. I thought he was completely full of shit, so I didn't get clean or anything. But he wasn't, and I had to quickly get ready and grab the BART and then take a cab to the bar. It wasn't really something I -had- to go to, but it was pretty much just an excuse for the various games writers covering these events to have free drinks and check out a couple arcade games from Namco Bandai. I don't really drink much these days, but I had a good time.

On Thursday, I headed back downtown for Capcom Gamers Day, which was a very large event. Unlike the Sierra Spring Event, where it was one-on-one sessions with the developers/producers, Gamers Day featured a three-hour presentation from the Capcom bigwigs and producers (like Keiji Inafune), and then we were let loose on the games (such as Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Treasure Island Z). We were all given a free copy of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law - Season One on DVD, as Capcom is apparently working on a game version of the show. I'm always down for swag.

And then I flew back on Friday. Since then, I've been writing everyday... finished five previews for WP and a review (probably my last) for Static. I probably have another ten previews left to write, so... it's going to be a long week-plus. But it's been a worthwhile experience, and I know that this kind of coverage will be a big help the next time a full-time position opens up.

I really want to be out there, but I can't afford it until I'm employed.

A Question of Integrity?

2007-04-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

At the Quake Wars event last week, I was expecting a 1-on-1 interview opportunity with a member of the development staff, but it didn't go quite as planned. Instead, another writer and I were picked to do a group interview with Kevin Cloud, co-owner of id Software and lead developer of the game. Since we were both asking questions, it didn't seem like I would be able to transcribe the conversation and post it as a Q&A, considering that some of the content wasn't mine. No biggie -- I ended up using the interview as much-needed background information for my preview.

But the other guy didn't. He also didn't have any kind of voice recorder.

So it came as a surprise when his version of the Q&A went up last night. I recorded the entire conversation onto a digital voice recorder, so I know how long it went, and exactly what was said. Because this writer took only written notes, his version of the interview is much, much shorter than the real thing. The quotes are not correct. My questions are included. I see so many things that are wrong about this situation. It's not that he misrepresented what Cloud was saying, but he certainly misquoted him, even if not intentionally.

I don't suspect any intended malice in this situation, but it seems unprofessional and it definitely smacks of sloppiness. If you're going to post a Q&A based on a real conversation, be sure to record the conversation. The fact that half of the questions were mine doesn't help matters. Though I think the writer has been covering events like this for longer than I have, he is still in college (with a journalism minor). Perhaps they haven't discussed things like this before, but it seems pretty obvious.

Anyway. I was pretty baffled by this last night, but it doesn't seem like there's really anything I can do about it. I'm not going to raise a stink or expose the writer; he seemed like a good kid and like I said, it just feels like sloppy reporting. If anything, it revealed to me that I probably would not want to write for that website. I obtained contact information from him before I headed home, and the website may receive more traffic than WP, but I'm not looking to write for a publication that posts incomplete/incorrect content.

Though, technically, they've already posted my content. ;)

Should've Stayed

2007-04-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

Hardly home for half a week and I've already got plans to head back to California. Almost immediately.

I'll be heading out to Oakland on Monday and covering events in the Bay Area for WorthPlaying until Friday. And I'll be crashing at my editors' place, so that should be interesting. Looks like I'll be covering large events for Capcom and Vivendi, with perhaps a publisher visit on the off day. Or an Oakland A's game.

(I'm secretly pulling for the A's game.)

Oops. I'll actually be heading up to Wisconsin this weekend to catch a Cubs/Brewers game in Milwaukee on Sunday, so I'll be away from home for almost a solid week. Man, I'm going to be busy. Before I head up to Wisconsin, I need to start (and finish) my Spidey 3 coverage, and I'd like to finish my Puzzle Quest review for Static. Seems doable. I'm heading up on Friday, so I've got three full days ahead in which to finish things up and start preparing for California -- again.

BTW, my Quake Wars coverage just went up. It's... big.

March Recap

2007-04-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

Let's check out the March goods.

WorthPlaying:
Review: MotorStorm (PS3)
Review: Dance Dance Revolution Universe (360)
Review: Def Jam: Icon (360)
Review: Major League Baseball 2K7 (360)
Review: SSX Blur (Wii)
Review: MVP 07 NCAA Baseball (PS2)
Preview: Tank Beat (DS)
Preview: The Fast and the Furious (PSP)
Feature: Spotlight - March 2007

Looks like that's everything. I didn't do quite as much as last month, but there are certainly reasons for that. I did a couple of much longer games (MLB and MVP) and didn't have any Q&As this month. Also, with the lead-up to the trip, I didn't have as much going on. Still, I'll have a ton of articles going up in April. I did not have anything for Static last month, but I've got something in the works right now that may be my final article for them (assuming I find some freelance work soon).

I went through some writer's block about mid-way through the month that was baffling and a bit of a struggle. I'm not sure what caused it or what cured it, but the last few articles have come a lot easier, thankfully. The April spotlight turned out rather well, and the Quake Wars preview I'm currently working on may be one of my most complete pieces to date, certainly on the preview end.

Success

2007-04-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

My first business trip feels like a complete success. I'm still working on the coverage, but what I've written so far has been pretty sharp. More important than the quality of the coverage is the quality of the experience and my ability to do some networking in the process.

I arrived at LAX shortly after 7pm, and after getting my luggage and taking a cab to the hotel, I figured I'd be late to dinner, but I was pretty much just in time. Took a cab to the restaurant, had a nice Italian dinner, and though I was too late to sit at the big table with most of the other writers, I was at a nearby table with a couple other latecomers and had some good conversation. Retired to the hotel room and thankfully found the WiFi to be competent -- and more importantly, free.

Woke up early on Wednesday morning. At 9am, we converged downstairs in one of the conference rooms at the Doubletree in Santa Monica for the Enemy Territory: Quake Wars event. I can't go into much detail at this point, but we played about four hours of the game and I interviewed one of the co-owners of id Software. I was hoping for a one-on-one interview to transcribe for the site, but it was with another writer, so it has just served as (very helpful) background information on the preview. That should go up tomorrow night, so look for that if you're interested.

I'd gotten the contact information of one of the guys I spoke with the night before, so I hit him up on AIM after the event. We had a few hours to kill before dinner, so we walked a few blocks to a classy outdoor mall area called the Third Street Promenade. Dinner was at an authentic Mexican restaurant, which meant lots of complicated dishes that I had no interest in. Better than the meal was where I sat -- right next to one of the higher-ups at one of the top Xbox-specific gaming sites. It wasn't intentional (I hadn't met him yet), but after we got to talking, I expressed an interest in freelance work and he said they could really use someone.

Thursday was a quick day. Woke up early, checked out, then we met in the lobby and headed over to Activision HQ to check out Spider-Man 3. Again, I can't say much (coverage starts going up on Thursday), but it was a short visit (under two hours). After that, it was off to the airport and back to Chicago. I got the contact information of a third writer from a larger website, so I'm going to be pursuing possible freelance opportunities with these contacts that I made. I've already started the process with the first two, and if those don't work out, I'll check with the third. I'm not looking to leave WP, but I need some paid work as soon as possible. My savings are drying up and student loan payments start in June.

Yeah, so it was a great trip all around. Travel wasn't bad, the hotel was excellent, and everyone was really nice, from the developers to the other writers. I'm hoping for more trips in the near future, but until then, I'll be finishing up this coverage, starting new assignments, and seeking out freelance opportunities wherever possible.

Once in a Lifetime?

2007-03-22T02:19:00.000-07:00

Last night, I saw my favorite band perform my favorite album of all time, in full. And in order.

I had seen Brand New five times prior, and had heard all of those songs live (some five times each), but never in "album form." It's an interesting sensation. They started off with four songs from Your Favorite Weapon, their 2001 debut that features more of a pop-punk feel. After that, they hit all eleven tracks of Deja Entendu, the aforementioned favorite album of the all time (evar). After that, they still had time for seven tracks from their new album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me.

As much as I love Deja, I'm really hoping that this is their way of "retiring" the emphasis on old material. I'd really prefer to hear the newer stuff live, since that's the stuff I've been obsessing over for the last few months. In particular, I was saddened to not hear "The Archer's Bows are Broken" and "Not the Sun," though they thankfully played "Millstone" (which had not been on previous set lists).

Anyway, great show; at 22 tracks, it was significantly longer than any previous performance I had seen of theirs, and it will likely be the last time I hear such a personally well-regarded album played in full. On top of that, Jesse came out and did "Cotton Crush" with Kevin Devine, which is pretty much a Brand New track, but not quite. There were several group jams among the three performers (Manchester Orchestra manned the initial opening slot), and Jesse was a part of each one.

After the show, the kids waited around for almost ten minutes, hoping for an encore. I'd never seen anything like it. The band members appeared on the upper balcony, bowing and thanking everyone. I had to wonder if it was a first for them, as well.

California Love

2007-03-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

Going on my first business trip, kids. I'll be heading out to Los Angeles in two weeks to attend a pair of Activision events for upcoming titles. Not entirely sure about the travel dates yet, but the events are on the 28th and 29th. I'll be checking out Spider-Man 3 and Quake Wars: Enemy Territory for various platforms. I'm uh, psyched out of my mind right now, and really looking forward to it. For all the work I've done from my basement, it's something like this that'll really validate me as being a working member of the industry, at least in my mind. Anyway, that'll be amazing.

Currently working on MotorStorm (PS3) and Major League Baseball 2K7 (Xbox 360) for review; both are pretty great. Doing a conference call for The Fast and the Furious (PSP) on Wednesday. I did a call for the PS2 version for Static last fall, but this one is for WorthPlaying. The last one resulted in a pretty solid article, so we'll see what's what with this one. I'm also playing God of War (as the sequel hits stores tomorrow), and will be playing around with Spider-Man 2 (GC) in the near future in preparation for the trip.

Nothing new on the job front. I haven't seen any full-time positions pop up since the IGN thing didn't work out, and the (paid) freelance gigs I've applied for haven't yet panned out. If any of you see openings at major gaming sites, or any gaming/tech/entertainment blogs, please let me know via comment or IM. I'm mainly looking for a full-time position in games writing, but am willing to consider any other freelance or part-time positions in the meantime. Thanks, all.

February Recap

2007-03-03T01:29:00.000-08:00

Hey all. Here's everything that went up in February:

WorthPlaying:
Review: Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3)
Review: Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PSP)
Review: Capcom Puzzle World (PSP)
Review: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Wii)
Review: Open Season (Wii)
Review: Frontman Wireless Guitar Controller (PS2)
Preview: Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PSP)
Preview: Trioncube (DS)
Q&A: Eddy Cramm of Sony (MLB 07: The Show)
Q&A: Jay Gordon of Aspyr (Made Man)
Q&A: Nick Channon of EA UK (Burnout Dominator)
Feature: Editorial Spotlight - February 2007

Static Multimedia:
Review: Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Review: Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (PS3)

Wait, 14 articles posted in 28 days? Jesus.

Already two articles posted on WP this month, with a third likely up tomorrow. I'm devoting a lot of hours to this now, be it playing the games, writing about them, or talking on the phone to developers. I'm really hoping to add live event coverage in there as soon as possible, but that's up to my editors to decide.

Anyway, the good: the Virtua Fighter 5 and Ratchet & Clank reviews came out really well, as did the Q&A's for MLB 07: The Show and Made Man. The Editorial Spotlight is a new monthly feature I'm doing at WorthPlaying, which I'm pretty happy with. It lets me ramble on a bit about the month's biggest games, though I'm not sure how many people have actually seen it. I hadn't really planned on doing much writing for Static Multimedia, but I'm pleased with those reviews as well. They're much smaller than the ones I do for WP, and I think my prose reads well in short form. I probably won't do another for at least a couple of weeks, but I definitely intend to keep doing 'em occasionally. (Oh, and the bad: check out the responses on the Burnout Revenge Q&A. Yikes.)

Currently, I'm working on SSX Blur (Wii), Dance Dance Revolution Universe (Xbox 360), and Major League Baseball 2K7 (Xbox 360). My intention was to work on the first two and then cycle MLB in when I finished one, but I ended up playing it for two hours tonight. Oops...

Aside from that, I've applied for a couple of freelance gigs, but have yet to hear anything back. That's really the drag of all this; not hearing back when you apply for something or e-mail an inquiry. Anyway, I'm keeping (really) busy and exploring all potential opportunities to get where I want to be in a timely manner.

First Time -- Not a Charm

2007-02-10T03:08:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd do a quick update.

I didn't get the IGN job. I'm disappointed, but I understand, especially after the EIC gave me an explanation. Someone more qualified came along, and I certainly can't argue with that. I appreciate him telling me and giving me the information I was looking for. It will only help me with the next one.

There will be other opportunities, but I could vividly see myself out in California, escaping this hellish winter and starting a new adventure. Instead, I'll need to take the next couple days to recharge my batteries and get back to the regular grind. Here's hoping it's not for too long.

2007 Power Rankings

2007-02-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

Hey hey. At least a couple of you out there seem to be interested in what I dig in the realms of gaming and music, so I thought I'd do occasional updates to let you know what's grabbed me so far this year. I'm not sure if future updates will follow any kind of schedule, but here's what I recommend thus far for 2007:

Music:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Games:

1.

2.

3.

The Great Catch-Up

2007-02-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the extreme lack of updates lately. Here's a quick run-down of what's been happening over the last few weeks.

- I had a phone interview with IGN on Thursday. I'm hesitant to go into details at this point, but it seemed to go well, and I am supposed to hear back by the end of the week. I am very hopeful, but know that there are probably several others in the running as well. At the very least, it means that my stuff is good enough to be noticed by a professional publication, which is certainly a confidence boost.

- I also applied to several other publications, though not for any specific jobs. I applied for the IGN position early in the month and just heard back last week. The other publications did not have any listed openings, but I sent along my resume and cover letter and will keep tabs on their listings. I just applied for the other ones about a week ago, so it could be some time before I hear anything, should they have an opening.

- I left my position as the Games Editor of Static Multimedia at the end of December (though I was still finishing things up in January). Initially, it was thought that I would continue to contribute regularly throughout the site, but I doubt I'll be doing much from now on. There's been a lack of active communication on the part of their editors (except Eric, my recommended replacement), so I have lessened my role significantly. It seems more worthwhile at this point to concentrate on my work elsewhere.

- Should the IGN opportunity not work out, I will be seeking out additional freelance/contributor opportunities elsewhere to supplement my work at WorthPlaying. I contacted one place about a freelance spot and will increase the search if I don't find a full-time gig in the near future.

- On that note, WorthPlaying may have me cover some live events (perhaps in California) for them in the future, should I still be around. I would really rather be living out there and working in a full-time capacity, but if that doesn't happen, getting some experience at press events will be a fantastic opportunity. WP have been really fantastic to me, and have been absolutely invaluable in preparing me for the next step.

- I'm currently working on a preview of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters for PSP, with a review to follow. I got it on Friday and actually finished it last night... but I'm playing through it again. I kind of wish I'd written the preview before finishing the game, but it was somewhat brief and I was really into it. Ah well. Excellent game. I'm also reviewing the Nyko Frontman Wireless Guitar controller for the PlayStation 2. I've used it extensively over the last few days, and it truly is just as sharp as the official wired controllers... but the $60 tag is hard to swallow.

- Oh, and: What is DejaARTIFLAV? I'm not even sure yet. I intended to use it as a place for me to do a bit more free-form games writing, but I haven't kept up with it. At this point, I'm not sure what I'll do with it, if anything. It'll all depend on how things work out with the above opportunities.

January Recap

2007-02-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

Here's the collection of articles published in January that I wrote or compiled:

WorthPlaying:
Review: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (360)
Review: Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII (PS3)
Review: Full Auto 2: Battlelines (PS3)
Review: Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
Review: Ridge Racer 7 (PS3)
Review: GT Pro Series (Wii)
Review: Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (Wii)
Review: Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol (PS2)

Static Multimedia:
Review: Metal Slug Anthology (Wii)
Feature: Top 10 Games of 2006

The reviews of Resistance: Fall of Man, Ridge Racer 7, and Lost Planet: Extreme Condition are the highlights of the month. Those may also be the longest of my reviews this month, but I also think they're the most complete and fully realized. In fact, I've been using those as my writing samples when applying to jobs, so those are the go-to links. Also, the Top 10 feature at Static is pretty solid, and a nice way to go out. I wrote the introduction and a few of the blurbs on that.

December Recap

2007-01-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

This is a little later than I planned, but here's the archive of December's published articles. I've been pretty busy with reviews and such over the past few days, so I haven't put a lot of thought into the ol' ARTIFLAV. I definitely plan on picking things up in the near future, and I also intend to post my famous (?) year-end lists that so many of you (?) get all worked up about. I should probably also update my recent happenings, as happenings are... well, they're happening.

WorthPlaying:
Review: Elebits (Wii)
Review: Excite Truck (Wii)
Review: Super Swing Golf (Wii)
Review: Dave Mirra BMX Challenge (PSP)
Review: Lumines II (PSP)
Review: Asphalt 2: Urban GT (DS)
Review: Tomb Raider: Legend (DS)
Q&A: Rob Sandberg of Point of View (The Shield)

Static Multimedia:
Review: Viva Pinata (Xbox 360)
Review: Disko Polycarbonate Case for iPod
Review: Griffin BlueTrip LE for iPod
Feature: Advance Look - December 2006
Feature: Have it Your Way on Xbox

Highlights? Any of the game reviews are fine. I've been told that my feature about the Burger King games ("Have it Your Way on Xbox") made someone want to buy 'em, so that seems like an enthusiastic recommendation if I've ever heard one.

Alumni

2006-12-21T23:13:00.000-08:00

Oh hey, I graduated from college on Sunday. That's awesome.

Sorry, just keeping it brief for now. I'm going to enjoy the holidays and then figure out what the next steps are. I'm going to start sending out resumes and cover letters and such in January -- at least that's the plan. I have no interest in spending several months "pondering my future." I already know what I want in it, and I think I'm at a point (or damn near close to it) where I can make that happen.

But I'm still working on improving my work as much as I can; I wrote a review today that I thought came together pretty well. And I may be starting a blog with a fellow Lewis graduate in the very near future. Though this is technically a blog, it's really more of a portfolio for my writing and my progress in that regard. This new project will be more like an all-encompassing entertainment blog. I'll reveal more as it comes to fruition.

My Final Piece of College Journalism

2006-12-04T01:47:00.000-08:00

Developing a Major, Developing a Game
by: Andrew Hayward

Video games have long been maligned as “child’s play,” but that term is neither correct in a literal sense nor particularly indicative of how grand the modern gaming market is.

According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average gamer today is 33 years old, and has been playing games for 12 years. Perhaps more shocking is that the total combined sales of video game software, hardware, and accessories topped $10.5 billion in 2005, with $7 billion of that coming from software sales alone.

Chicago has never been considered a hot spot for the game development community, but as video games continue to surge in popularity, the area has played host to several development studios in recent years. EA Chicago, Midway Studios, and High Voltage Software are just three of the developers who call the area home; though the numbers are likely to rise as the development community continues to explore locales outside of the west coast.

As the industry expands, who will provide the manpower to help these development teams turn a $50 million project into a critical and commercial success? If Dr. Ray Klump, assistant professor of Computer Science, has his way, it will be Lewis University.

“It is meant to be an interdisciplinary effort between Computer Science, English, Music, and Art,” said Klump, referring to the proposed video game design major. Currently in the early stages of planning, the major would pool the resources of the aforementioned departments to create a total game-design package. At the end of the four-year program, participating students would likely be expected to produce a finished, playable game, which would be developed in a team with other students.

“On the Computer Science side, obviously, you would have to have programming skills,” remarked Klump. Students would make use of the C++ programming language and learn how to program graphics, audio, and network capabilities into a piece of software, as well as use assembly language to optimize the code.

The Art department would likely assist with the visual design areas of the major, such as learning how to create models in both 2D and 3D, develop scenery and backgrounds, and perhaps learn about motion capture technology and its application to the animation of characters and models. On the audio front, the Music department would be tasked with teaching students how to create appropriate sound effects, as well as compose “intriguing background scores” that, according to Klump, would “subtly enhance the action.”

Dr. Buzz Pounds, assistant professor of English, offered some insight as to how his department would contribute to the proposed major: “The English department will assist by offering courses in technical writing, but also by possibly offering courses involving storyboarding [and] flavor text, in addition to possible literature courses in mythology, fantasy, and/or graphic novels.” Klump hoped that such training would allow would-be writers to “create a skeleton of a story that is still very engaging, and provide that to the game designers.”

Klump claims that several Lewis students have already expressed interest in such a major, and that the members of Prometheon, the interdisciplinary computer club, have already attempted to create a game. “Students are always mindful that it is always in your best interests to go ahead and create a game,” said Klump, noting the potential benefits on a resume and with employers. “The reality is that when they’re working 15-to-30 hours a week on the side, and they’ve got the normal class work, they don’t really have the time.”

However, just as students on a standard Computer Science track may have difficulty creating a game in their spare time, Klump and his fellow professors have been unable to fully develop the intended major, due to their other responsibilities at Lewis. Presenting a proposed major to the powers that be requires a significant amount of work, and the day-to-day tasks that come with being a faculty member make it difficult to iron out all of the details, especially since representatives of multiple departments are involved in the process.

Klump said that a “fairly weighty document” is required – one in which all aspects of the proposed major are explored, starting with the courses that would be required. While some new classes would be necessary for (and specific to) the major, Klump believes that many existing courses can “be tweaked a little bit” to address the topic of game design. Additionally, the document must include a fair amount of market research, including target demographics and an estimate of expenditures.

“We haven’t been able to do any of that kind of legwork yet because we’ve been too busy,” Klump said. “It’s disappointing to me because I really want to get this thing going, because I think it could be extremely popular and very beneficial from an academic standpoint, too. But we haven’t been able to move in that direction yet.”

One sticking point in the discussions has been on how to offer the major. “My own personal view is that it would be quite good to have a central major with four separate tracks,” said Klump. “So you share a common core of courses, and then depending on your emphasis, you would specialize in that particular track.” Klump further noted that the faculty members had yet to flesh everything out, and that a game design minor was also a possibility. “There are lots of options,” he said. “It’s still very open.”

When asked for a tentative starting point for the proposed major, Klump thought that the fall 2008 semester was a realistic target. “[It] gives us a year and a half to get everything ready,” he said. “If we could actually get a nice, decent proposal done by next fall, then that would definitely put us in a position to do a fall 2008 launch.”

However, Klump cautioned that nothing is certain at this point in time: “There’s a several step process that you have to go through to get things approved,” he noted. “Who knows whether it would even be approved? That’s an open question too.”

Despite the uncertainty, Klump is excited about the possibility of bringing game design to Lewis University, and believes that such a major would benefit the community and follow the tenets of the Signum Fidei mission values.

“I think that it’s a good opportunity to try to do something interdisciplinary that is also real-world as the same time, and can play to a variety of people’s strengths,” said Klump. “One of our mission values is ‘association,’ and this allows us to do association in the classroom on kind of a grand scale, and celebrate each other’s and use each other’s talents to create something very creative and entertaining.”

November Recap

2006-12-02T12:16:00.000-08:00

Oh man, I did a lot last month.

WorthPlaying:
Review: Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (Wii)
Review: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Wii)
Review: Call of Duty 3 (360)
Review: Tony Hawk's Project 8 (360)
Review: Need for Speed: Carbon (360)
Review: Bully (PS2)
Review: Gunpey (PSP)
Review: Gitaroo Man Lives! (PSP)
Review: Power Stone Collection (PSP)
Q&A: Pete Hines of Bethesda (Rogue Warrior)

Static Multimedia:
Q&A: Stephen Randall of Playboy Magazine
Feature: J.J. Redick on College Hoops 2K7
Feature: Advance Look - November 2006
Review: Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (360)
Review: Test Drive Unlimited (360)
Review: Naruto: Ninja Council 2 (GBA)

Though I did the lion's share of my work for WorthPlaying this month (and will likely continue to do so), if you only want to read a couple of the articles, please check out the Q&A with Stephen Randall of Playboy Magazine and the feature about the conference call I did with J.J. Redick (of the Orlando Magic) for College Hoops 2K7.

Insanity

2006-11-13T03:43:00.000-08:00

It's going to be a crazy eleven days.

Monday - Being given the departmental award for Fall 2006 at school
Wed-Fri(?) - My MacBook may arrive!
Thursday - Say Anything & Forgive Durden @ Metro
Friday - PlayStation 3 launches (not getting one)
Sunday - Wii launches (definitely getting one!)
Tuesday - Brand New's "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me"
Wednesday - Jack's Mannequin, Panic! at the Disco @ UIC Pavillion
Thursday - Thanksgiving

Toss in three class periods, a whole lot of gaming, and a whole lot of writing into that mix. It's all coming down at once. I'm going be exhausted from all this entertainment...

Incoming!

2006-11-09T02:50:00.000-08:00

(That's, uh, not me. I ordered a MacBook!)

Public Affairs Reporting (#3)

2006-11-08T02:59:00.000-08:00

LAN24 Party a Success
by: Andrew Hayward

Stepping foot into room 136 of the Harold E. White Aviation Center on the night of Saturday, October 21^st revealed not a single active light – only glow. The glow of two-dozen computer monitors, the glow of projectors and backlit screens, and the glow of handheld devices of all sorts.

While an optometrist might have taken issue with the lighting (or lack thereof), the students and their companions attending the LAN24 party at Lewis University seemed to have no problem with the situation. The LAN (local area network) party was not the first to be held by Prometheon, a computer science and creative arts club, but was easily the largest to date, playing host to fifty paying individuals during its twenty-plus hours of operation.

LAN parties typically have gamers bring in their own computers to a central location, connecting them via a local area network to compete against one another in a number of popular games. However, as the line between console and PC gaming has dissipated in recent years, a LAN party has become more of a catch-all event that presents a number of entertainment choices to attendees.

Holding a LAN party was an easy choice for Prometheon, as it served as both a social event and a fundraiser. “It’s not like we’re going to hold a dance or something like that,” claimed Dr. Ray Klump, faculty advisor to the group. “It’s really the natural kind of social activity for this group.”

Prometheon formed in early 2005 as a way for like-minded students to congregate and work on projects, regardless of their majors. Though largely populated by Computer Science majors, the group also features Biology and Aviation Maintenance students, among others. Though the group had held several smaller events in the last year and a half, the LAN24 party was intended to top them all – and required a change of venue in the process.

“This is our first one that’s in this building, because before, we were always in S120 and S121 in the Science Building,” said Chris Conmy, treasurer of Prometheon. In fact, power issues forced the group to move their latest LAN party to the Harold E. White Aviation Center, as it was one of the only buildings on campus with enough juice to maintain power for all of the computers, console systems, and other related devices in use.

With the aim to create a bigger and better event, the group decided to hold a twenty-four hour overnight party, thus explaining the LAN24 moniker. Club members showed up around 11:00am on Saturday, October 21^st, with registration beginning thirty minutes thereafter. Lewis students were required to show their student IDs, while non-students had to leave their drivers licenses as a safety deposit. As the event was not run by Lewis faculty, the group would have been held responsible for any damage done to school property.

To circumvent this issue, attendees were forced to sign a waiver, holding each person responsible for his or her actions. No alcohol was allowed at the event, and all attendees were given an orange wristband, which allowed them to come and go during the course of the party. A flexible registration fee allowed attendees the ability to customize their experience. Gamers who brought along their computers were charged a ten-dollar entry fee, while those who came for the console games and non-PC-related activities were charged just five dollars.

A tentative schedule was introduced, splitting the twenty-four hour period into four-hour segments like “console tournaments” and “real-time strategy games,” but there were many on-going activities throughout much of the event. A PlayStation 2 system running fan-favorite “Guitar Hero” was setup on a projector, allowing attendees to live out their rock and roll fantasies on a guitar-shaped plastic controller.

The large, backlit screen in the room was used for Nintendo GameCube games, such as “Soul Calibur II” and “Super Smash Bros. Melee.” A twenty-four person tournament was held for “Smash Bros.” on Saturday evening, with the eventual winner taking home a forty-dollar prize. Tabletop and board games were also present at the event, and movies and Japanese anime were shown during the late hours. A separate room with another backlit screen played host to a Japanese import PlayStation 2 system, allowing gamers to play “Pop’n Music 8” or one of the “Dance Dance Revolution” titles.

Of course, the computers received plenty of attention. Gamers were sighted playing “Battlefield 2142,” “The Sims 2,” and “Star Wars: Empire at War.” Real-time strategy favorite “Warcraft III” was played in an impromptu tournament, albeit one without a cash prize. Some of the most popular multiplayer titles on the market are Mature-rated first-person shooters, and games like “Prey,” “Quake III Arena,” and “F.E.A.R.” had gamers battling for virtual supremacy. However, not everyone had high praise for an event that featured violent games.

In the weeks leading up to the event, at least one unidentified faculty member questioned the intentions of an event that featured violent videogames. According to Dr. Klump, “there was some concern raised by some people about the nature of this event, because some people view videogames as promoting violence and aggressive behavior.” The faculty member alerted Student Services, who then asked the group for some clarification about the nature of the party and what it would entail.

“The faculty member tried to couch it in science, which is wonderful. We need to be aware of the research,” said Dr. Klump. “I just know that for this particular group of students, I don’t see anything but positives.”

Rather than choose sides, the group took it as an opportunity to reflect on the subject and try to understand the opposing point of view. “We have a board, a discussion board, and I raised the topic in an effort to try to get people to debate it and think it through,” said Dr. Klump. “Those who responded have responded very thoughtfully, and that’s good – that’s what we need to do. A healthy debate is good.”

Dorian Jarrette, publicity chair for Prometheon, affirmed the positive outlook. “I think it’s great that a faculty member voiced [his or her] opinion,” he said, further noting that “the university has never had a problem with us. The administration has never tried to stop us.” Jarrette later stated that “the club does not promote violence,” and that it is a “social base where any student of any major can come and have fun while working on technical hobbies.”

While there may have been some debate over the nature of the event, one thing that seems certain is the success of the event. Though it ended just shy of the twenty-four hour mark (around 10:00am on Sunday), the LAN24 party drew fifty attendees, including seventeen non-students and a handful of faculty/staff participants. “Prometheon's previous events were fun, but they could not even come close to the level of excitement that LAN24 created,” said Jarrette. “I foresee the LAN Parties becoming an attraction for all members of the Lewis community.”

Dr. Klump also considers the LAN parties to be a positive for all Lewis students: “What I see this kind of event doing is building a sense of community. [Computer Science] majors and majors from other disciplines are getting along and making friendships like we haven’t seen in a long time. This kind of community activity is a really good thing.”

Not only did the event affect the hearts and minds of the participants, but a portion of the proceeds raised by the entry fees and baked goods sold during the event will be donated to University Ministry. The group has done this with past events, and Jarrette noted the need to give back to those who make the LAN parties possible: “We figured if the university is going to be cool with us and help us out in promoting the event, we should give something back.”

The remaining funds will be used to further current and upcoming Prometheon projects. Next semester, the group plans to create an original computer game based on the “Half-Life 2” game engine. Prometheon recently purchased three LEGO Mindstorm kits, and the group members are currently working on programming the robots to do a variety of tasks, including the ability to sense motion. Other tasks for the group include painting an arcade machine that they assembled last semester, as well as creating a permanent setup to be used for future LAN parties.

The next Prometheon LAN party is tentatively set for late December, following finals week. Information about the club can be found by searching for “Prometheon” on the Lewis University website, and details about the next party should be posted in the weeks prior to the next event. Though the next party may not be as extravagant as the LAN24 event, Jarrette believes it will provide another opportunity to bring people together.

“Many of today's youth communicate through electronic media more frequently than through the classic, natural lines of communication,” he said. “The LAN party is a way for young people of today to combine their love of electronic media with the classic sense of human contact.”

(The final printed version got chopped down a bit near the end, so I'm posting my original version. I think it's better in long-form, but then again, I wrote it that way.)

October Recap

2006-11-06T00:10:00.000-08:00

Here's everything of mine that went up during October:

WorthPlaying:
Review: Okami (PS2)
Review: Mega Man ZX (DS)
Review: DDR SuperNOVA (PS2)
Review: God Hand (PS2)
Preview: ATV Offroad Fury Pro (PSP)

Static Multimedia:
Q&A: Justin Sadowski of BoundlessPlanet
Preview: Flushed Away (PS2)
Feature: Advance Look - October 2006
Feature: Griffin's Fall Case Lineup
Review: Mercury Meltdown (PSP)
Review: Clubhouse Games (DS)
Review: Stick It (DVD)

Three New Articles

2006-11-05T20:12:00.000-08:00

I'll do my October summary post here in the next day or so, but Mike just posted three of my articles today at Static Multimedia, and I wanted to make a post so that all could be seen. Only two fit at the top of the screen, so... here's all three.

Q&A: Stephen Randall of Playboy
Feature: Advance Look - November 2006
Film Review: The Wizard (1989) DVD

I managed to pre-purchase a PlayStation 3 from bestbuy.com last night, so... this month is going to be so insanely busy for me. I'm trying to get all of my school stuff out of the way in the next two weeks, as well as finish up any games I get before the 17th.

Cue and Eh

2006-10-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

I've been prepping a few interviews lately, both for Static and WorthPlaying. One of the major things that is keeping me at Static for the time being is the ability to write about things other than videogames. While gaming is still my primary focus, I want to have published work in other areas should I need to bide my time as a local stringer or freelancer while I attempt to set up a career.

I just finished putting together questions for a Q&A with Stephen Randall, deputy editor of Playboy magazine. This is a very cool opportunity for me, and it was offered to me by Mike. It'll be my first contribution for the Print section of Static, meaning that I will have written for every section. Playboy is putting out their third book in "The Playboy Interviews" series of books, so I am essentially conducting an interview about interviews. I thought my questions came out extremely well; when I have time to think about and prepare questions, I usually come up with something solid.

Last weekend, I put together a series of questions about Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) for a Q&A with someone from Capcom, and I was really excited about how it would turn out. Sadly, the article has been shelved for some time, as Capcom has "gone dark" for a while, meaning they've locked the press out of coverage for that title for the time being. I'm bummed; it was good stuff, and a big name title, too.

My next project for WorthPlaying is the first of a three-part series of interviews about Rogue Warrior, a new first-person shooter for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that was just announced by Bethesda. The first part will be a basic Q&A with their PR rep, while the second (later on) will be with one of the developers. The final part will be an interview with the author of the book the game is based on (he's also a consultant on the game).

I don't know a heap about the game (but I've got fact sheets!), but it'll be an interesting project. I'm hoping to get the questions churned out soon so we can have one of the first interviews out there. However, I don't know if I'll be around for all three parts. My intention is to stay with WP until I find a full-time career, and who knows when that will be. The game ships late next year, so I may not finish all three parts in my time with the site.

Italian Gaming Project

2006-10-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

As you may have read, I went to Italy in July/August with my mother and a bunch of people from school. It was a long, arduous trip, but I made a few friends in the process and can't look back at it as an entirely negative experience. Mostly negative, sure.

Anyway, I had to add one credit to my schedule this semester as part of the obligation for the trip, and we were supposed to come up with a paper and a presentation. However, I had my wisdom teeth removed just before the date of the presentations, so I had to bail (apparently very few people showed anyway). As a make-up, I opted to present my paper in the form of a website, which I set up via another blog here on Blogger:

http://itagames.blogspot.com

I won't be making any further updates to it -- it is the finished product. I put it all together this morning, and just went back through and corrected the many spelling issues... I didn't get much sleep last night. Anyway, check it out and drop me a line if you want.

Be Cool, Stay in School

2006-10-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

I posted my second article for Public Affairs Reporting below. The trend of writing about my (former best) friends continues, though it certainly ends here. It's tough for me to write about people I have known for ages, yet both articles turned out well. I got a 92 on the first one and a 95 on this one. Rey thought it worked better without the first three paragraphs, but it will apparently be run near-verbatim. Despite that, he still scrawled things like "You're a great writer, Andrew" on my hard copy.

To top that off, I'm being honored by the communications department at some point before I graduate. Apparently the top student in each department's graduating class is chosen and awarded a plaque and either a medal or cords (to be worn at graduation) and honored at a ceremony. I was chosen for the December graduating class. And yes, I asked if I'm the only person graduating (I'm not). So, that's cool. It's surprising, really.

Obviously, Dave knows who I am, as I've had him for like eight classes, and I've had Rey for three now, but I never saw myself as a standout in the department. Even when my writing has been great, I never made the extra effort to do things outside of class or be a leader or anything. To be commemorated for coasting through college is... just icing on the cake, really. If I have to give a speech, I promise I'll say "I defeated college."

I've been given a special assignment for my third article for Public Affairs Reporting, which is greatly appreciated, as I would have had to pick some heinous topic otherwise (like student drinking, or STDs... something miserable that I don't care about). The gaming club on campus is having a 24-hour LAN party this weekend, and I will be both covering the event and talking about the introduction of the game design major in the near future. I interviewed the professor who leads the group last year for another subject, so I have some background on it. Should be interesting; definitely up my alley.

Public Affairs Reporting (#2)

2006-10-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Dropout Not a Synonym for Failure
by: Andrew Hayward

Four years is an extensive period of time when considering the development of a young person. Sure, most incoming college freshmen are fully-formed physical adults, but how many maintain the same mindset, behaviors, or interests after that four-to-six year experience comes to a close?

There is no way to guarantee success as a college student, much less control other variables. There are a number of questions typically thought to be most common in determining one’s ability to graduate with a degree. Can you maintain your grades at a high level? Can you pay your bills, academic or otherwise? Will you be healthy enough to attend class and finish your work?

For some, those questions are less important than the ones dealing with emotion and interest. Will I still care about my intended major in a few years? Does attending class and furthering my education make me happy? Do I need a college degree to do what I want with my life? Both sets of questions are important, but to some, the pursuit of happiness, immediate or long-term, handily trumps the need to prove one’s worth with a handshake and a paper degree.

Though you may recognize a lot of familiar faces from your freshman year, the national graduation rate shows that a significant amount of students are not sticking around long enough to earn a degree. An Associated Press article published last November stated that just 54 percent of students who started at a four-year college in 1997 had a degree within six years.

Similar data obtained from the Lewis University website places this schools own graduation rate at 48.96 percent during the same time period. The most recent college ranking data from The Princeton Review places the six-year graduation rate for the school slightly higher, at 50 percent (with just 26 percent of incoming freshmen graduating within four years).

Mary DeGraw, associate vice president and dean of retention at Lewis University, has seen students depart for a number of reasons during her tenure at the school. “The students I meet with that are leaving the university usually have plans to continue their education elsewhere,” she said. Among the most common reasons for leaving are financial setbacks, health issues, or lack of preparedness.

“We do see students leaving who change their career interests [and] some that are only going to school to satisfy their parents,” DeGraw claims, later stating that some “leave to go to work because they are offered an opportunity to make some good money and feel they cannot refuse.”

Sam McKnight, a former student at Lewis University, cites a number of reasons for his own departure. McKnight, 22, started in the fall semester of 2002 as a computer graphic design major. His college experience lasted eight semesters, spanning nearly four years until he dropped out this year following the spring semester. McKnight admits to having lost interest in his major over time, but he also felt like the potential end result of his college career did not match up with what he wanted to do.

“There was little to no encouragement to do anything other than marketing with graphic design, and I didn't want anything to do with marketing,” McKnight said, “I wanted to make art.” Despite this, he does not place blame, noting that “the art faculty was really encouraging when it came to being creative.”

McKnight also feels like the lack of a personal support base deteriorated his desire to attend class. Though he went to high school in nearby Plainfield, McKnight spent much of his youth near Grand Rapids, Michigan. After his freshman year in college, McKnight’s family moved back to Michigan, settling in Cedar Springs. McKnight initially moved into a dorm room on-campus, praising the experience as one he was “very happy to be a part of.”

After a year, he moved into an apartment, the first of three he would occupy during his final two years at Lewis. Between the struggle to find stable roommates and the lack of regular familial contact, McKnight began skipping class on a regular basis and was not making much progress towards his degree. “My parents are a huge support tool for me, and having them live two states away kind of lowered my eagerness to go to class.”

Eight semesters into his college experience, Sam McKnight could have had a degree in hand. Instead, he is living in Michigan with his parents and working thirty or more hours a week as a senior game advisor for the GameStop retail chain. More importantly, he is pleased with his decision. “I'm very happy with where I'm at and the possibilities I have in front of me.” McKnight hopes to move up the management ladder at GameStop, and is interested in becoming a store manager at some point.

McKnight is still undecided on whether he will finish his college degree, though if he did, it would be with a different major. He has considered obtaining an associate’s degree in business to enhance his abilities in the workplace, especially with his interest in eventually being promoted to a store manager position.

McKnight may not have all the answers at this point, but he has a realistic idea of how he wants to live his life: “I hope to lead a life where I can be comfortable and not have to live paycheck to paycheck. It might take me a little while to get there but I'm willing to put my all into it.” McKnight intends to move out on his own early next year and work towards self-sufficiency in the wake of bills leftover from his time spent at Lewis.

His story is not unique; if trends continue, roughly half of the incoming freshmen at Lewis this year will not have a degree within six years. Even if college becomes more affordable (which in turn may make young lives more manageable), a massively increased graduation rate cannot be expected. Not everyone is built for the long-term college experience, and many need to figure that out via personal experience. While a college degree can be a helpful tool, it cannot be considered a necessary key to a happy existence.

Fresh

2006-10-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated in a while, but I don't expect this to be a trend. Static switched servers last week and I didn't have access to my work e-mail for a few days... so I took a vacation of sorts. How did I spend my free time? I watched a shitload of TV.

I watched all of The Office season two last week, and nearly all of Veronica Mars season two over the weekend. I'm also caught up on the new episodes of both series, and I started watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Friday Night Lights. Scrubs season four came out on DVD yesterday, so I've watched seven episodes of that so far, and I watched a couple of episodes of The O.C. season two in anticipation of the DVD release of season three in two weeks.

It was probably a reaction to the nearly two weeks spent only playing Okami, so it was a worthwhile trade-off. But I can't chill, because I have a stack of things to do. I'm working on these games this week:

God Hand arrives tomorrow, and has had wildly mixed reviews so far (3.0 from IGN, 8.0 from 1UP and GameSpot). It's from the guys who did Okami, so I wanted to give it a whirl. I'm about ready to review DDR: Supernova; should be a solid review. It has the best soundtrack of any American DDR release to date. I'm liking Saints Row, but it's not something I'm going to bust my ass to finish. I may just work on it bit by bit for a few weeks and deliver something in November. I've already played a couple of hours, but I don't feel compelled to finish it quickly. THQ sent it to us over a month after its release, and while appreciated, I don't see the need to rush it publication.

I also need to deliver a review of Contact for DS next week, so I am slowly plugging away at that. I tried to find someone else to take it, but I've pretty much stuck myself with it. I don't typically play a lot of RPGs, but this one seemed different, like it would be hilarious and therefore worth my time. So far, it's not particularly funny or interesting, but I'm not very deep into it. D3Publisher of America sent me a preview copy of their upcoming movie-based game Flushed Away for PS2, so I played through the demo levels yesterday and wrote up a preview for Static. That should be going up shortly as a feature. Pretty solid game from what I played.

I've got some things to finish for school, and while I'm not the type to "freak out" over stress, I do tend to think about my obligations a bit much. I just need to finish them and get 'em out of the way and off my mind.

Oh yeah, and I'm getting a loaner Zune from Microsoft at some point so I can write up something for Static. Asked last night and found out today, but have no clue when I'll get it. The list is apparently long, so it could be some time after the thing launches. Ah well.

September Recap, October Preview

2006-10-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

Since I've only got the space for two links at the top of the page, I thought I'd do a monthly recap in case you missed anything of mine you wanted to check out. I didn't do as much writing for Static this month, but I did more for WorthPlaying. Anyway, here's everything of mine that went up in September:

Static Multimedia:

Feature: .hack//G.U. Full of Secrets
Feature: Naruto Back for Round Two
Feature: Advance Look - Sept. 2006
Review: Rule of Rose (PS2)
Review: Tekken: Dark Resurrection (PSP)
Review: Griffin MediaConnect Cable for iPod

WorthPlaying:

Review: Pac-Man World Rally (PS2)
Review: LocoRoco (PSP)
Review: Juiced: Eliminator (PSP)
Review: Barnyard (GC)
Preview: WTF (PSP)

I've written three things lately that have yet to go up. My review of Okami for WorthPlaying is probably the best game review I've done to date. It's 1800+ words; pretty ridiculous, but I'm proud of it. Maybe that will go up tonight. I just wrote a review of the DVD release of Stick It for Static, which should go up soon. It's only the third film review I've written this year, but I thought it turned out rather well. Also, the story I posted a few days ago for my Public Affairs Reporting class may end up in an issue of The Flyer, so we'll see about that. I almost never write about "real-life" things, and it took me a while to get through...

But those three articles, all written in the last few days, seem to represent the best of what I've done lately. Naturally, it seems best to assume that your latest work is your best, and that you're always moving forward... but I really feel like I'm stepping up my game. As I gain a greater command of vocabulary and best practices in the industry, I feel like my work is improving steadily. Anyway, those articles should go up in the near future, and I'll link 'em when they're up. Otherwise, I'm working on Mega Man ZX and Contact for DS, the DVD release of The Wizard, and the October edition of the Advance Look feature.

Top Five of the First Seventy-Five (%)

2006-09-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

With the last quarter of the year around the corner, I thought I'd update with my latest Top Five Games of the year thus far. With so many games releasing in the next three months, I didn't want anything to be left out. I've dropped any ports or re-releases from previous years, as I will do with my final list this year. I didn't do it with my half-year list, but there weren't as many choices at the time.

(Without labels for your confusion -- figure it out!)

Public Affairs Reporting

2006-09-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

The Complicated Life
by: Andrew Hayward

The average full-time college student has more than his/her fair share of pressures to deal with. Between attending class, doing homework, paying bills, and working part-time (or full-time) jobs, it can all be a bit overwhelming. But what of those who do not have the luxury of being average? What happens when a life-threatening disease is thrown into the mix?

Scott Taylor of Shorewood has dealt with diabetes in his life for nearly a decade. Though initially able to manage it without major complications, the fragility of his aging body has led to complications as a young adult. As an off-and-on student at Joliet Junior College, Taylor, 22, has struggled to maintain his health at a level that will allow him to attend class and move on to the next level. Many of the things that we take for granted – such as eating freely and drinking alcohol – are the same things that may lead to an extended stay in the hospital for someone with Scott’s condition.

Born in Bolingbrook, Taylor and his family moved to Plainfield in 1994, where they remained through the duration of Scott’s public education. In early 1997, he noticed an increase in his liquid consumption, which leads to a simultaneous upswing in urination. To top it off, Scott was rapidly losing weight, and was no longer the heavy-set child he once was. With three telltale signs, his grandmother recommended he see a doctor about the possibility of juvenile diabetes.

Sure enough, he was diagnosed with Type One diabetes, the version of the disease noted for its emergence in adolescents. Type One diabetes is an autoimmune disease that weakens the body’s ability to produce insulin, a hormone necessary for human life to exist. To counteract this deficiency, insulin must be ingested, often through multiple daily shots. For the first couple of years, it was relatively simple to maintain a decent diet and regular injections, though he began to struggle with it in high school.

Scott was diagnosed with clinical depression before the age of sixteen, though he continued to feel the consequences despite being medicated for the disorder. His diabetes care level dropped significantly, causing the occasional hospital visit. In addition, the lack of care made it difficult for him to remember events from that era. “High school to me is mentally nonexistent,” he now claims. As Scott entered his senior year, he would often sleep all day, skipping school at will. Living by the rules was “too slow,” and attending class was no longer a priority.

By late 2001, Scott was in a position in which he would likely be kicked out of high school for excessive truancy. Instead of allowing that to happen, he gladly took the initiative and dropped out, content at the time to spend his days driving around and hanging out with friends. Despite leaving, it was not his intention to do so without some recognition of his time spent in the hallways of Plainfield High School. In 2002, he took the General Educational Development (GED) test and received the equivalent to a high school diploma.

When that summer came to a close, Scott enrolled in classes at Joliet Junior College. He went without a major for some time, as the choice to attend college was based more out of necessity than a great desire. Without school or a full-time job, he would be without health insurance, something he relies on to a greater extent than most of his peers. Though he struggled to maintain interest for a handful of semesters, he began to genuinely enjoy some of the topics he was learning about, and was working towards choosing a major to pursue.

As fate would have it, he began to develop complications late last year. Following a night of heavy partying, he began to vomit and then passed out for several hours. The vomiting continued the next day, and he was rushed to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet. He spent several days in the intensive care unit, and tests showed him to be suffering from gastroparesis and hypertension, or high blood pressure. Gastroparesis is a disorder that causes food to sit in the stomach undigested, which leads to it being rejected.

The combination of his existing diabetes with these new disorders makes a delicate situation even more difficult. Scott has been hospitalized a half-dozen times since the beginning of the year, with the most recent stay lasting nearly two weeks. When his gastroparesis acts up, he is unable to stop the vomiting and must be hospitalized. Additionally, he has had some issues adjusting to his new insulin pump, though he calls it “the thing that changed [his] life.” So long as the pump is attached, it removes the necessity to take external shots, allowing him to focus on the medications he takes for his hypertension.

“Because of my poor management, I set myself up for failure,” Scott admits. “I really only learn from my mistakes, I guess. I don’t foresee them. As much as I try to be proactive, I am definitely reactive.”

When told that his words do not paint him as a sympathetic character, Scott appears unfazed: “I’m not going to sugarcoat it.” Though his friends are graduating from college in the near future, he claims not to feel rushed, and still plans on pursuing a degree. Still, his future is full of uncertainty. He will no longer be covered by his parents’ insurance after his birthday in March, but has not put a lot of thought into what he plans to do afterwards. “I am willing to do whatever I have to do to stay alive,” he states.

He recently declared a Criminal Justice major, and hopes to transfer to Southern Illinois University after obtaining his Associate’s Degree at Joliet Junior College. As someone who rebelled against the rules and standards as a young adult, it is surprising to hear that his ultimate goal is to become a judge. “I’ve debated [against] laws my entire life,” he claims, “I might as well master the whole deal.” It brings to mind the film SLC Punk, in which the misfit main character ultimately intends to get his law degree, deciding that you can achieve more within the system than outside of it.

With the abundance of recent hospital stays, certainly the possibility of death is one that has to cross his mind: “I respect it. I accept that it’s always a possibility. So yes, I think about it a lot, but not in what I would consider a negative way. It doesn’t hinder me.” It may be heady stuff for someone his age, but he does not allow it to bother him: “If I don’t wake up tomorrow, so be it. I don’t look forward to death, but if it happens, it happens.”

Scott chalks up a lot of his school-related failures to a lack of interest, but displays a surprising new zeal towards his intended career path. “If I were to make a difference in the world right now,” he says, “my positive contribution would be to provide for the field of law.” Though this semester has been lost due to his two-week hospital stay, he remains hopeful, and is no longer on medication for depression. “I’d like to think I did some positive things in the last few years without being on it,” he declares.

Scott knows that he has been dealt a bad hand, remarking that rules “have been forced on [him].” Despite this, he has resolved to do whatever is necessary to keep moving forward. “I like to think that no matter how dark or bad things can get,” he reveals, “I’d find the inner strength to get through it.” Diabetes may break his body down over time, but it shall not take away his desire to achieve.

FutureWords/AndyWrites

2006-09-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

G'damn, Okami is beautiful. Screenshots do it little justice; in motion, it resembles anime, like a smooth hybrid of Princess Mononoke and The Hakkenden. I'm coming up on 20 hours of play, and I think I still have quite a ways to go. I promised a review on Thursday -- hopefully I don't have to fudge that.

I'm going to do some other types of reviews for Static to fill out my portfolio a bit, and these look to be the first DVDs I'll be reviewing. The Wizard was a rite of passage for gamers back in 1989... but I was five and still a year or two away from my first Game Boy. I've never seen it, so this will be an amusing experience. And it has Jenny Lewis! Stick It is likely another trashy teen flick in the vein of Bring it On, which I probably enjoyed too much when I was 16. I can think of worse ways to spend an hour and a half. I'd like to contribute in some way to the Print section before I graduate, so that I will have written for all five sections at some point.

I was sent a pre-release American version of Contact for the DS. It ships on October 17th, so I still have some time before I need to get it done. I'll probably start it once I finish Mega Man ZX, which I'll get back into once I finish Okami. I may also put together a preview/interview feature for Static, but I'm unsure at this point. I told Rusty I could set him up with a Contact interview, but I may need to rescind that so I can do a larger feature with the preview incorporated. Eh, I'll figure it out in a week or two.

C'mon...

2006-09-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

I just submitted my essay response for the mtvU/Billboard contest. Apparently, this third question is the final one, which is kind of a bummer, but it also removes the obligation, which is a plus. I was wondering if they'd still have me submitting to the "Student Voice" contest after graduating in December. I feel really good about this essay -- granted, I felt really good about the last one as well, and it was not chosen. I had previously wondered if they were looking for something specific from our answers; not particularly the best entry, but maybe the one with the expected answer. I hate to sound bitter, but it's a nagging suspicion. Anyway, I'm really hoping this final one works out and I get published in Billboard. If not, it'll still make for a great resume entry, and hopefully I'll finally get that free subscription they promised several months ago...

I told Mike that I intended to do fewer reviews until the PS3/Wii onslaught and he had no issue with it. Our product list has gotten very skinny in the last week, thanks to the addition of several new writers in the last month. I think we've got seven or eight Games writers other than myself, so I'll focus largely on features and working with those guys for the next two months or so. I'll still do some reviews, though likely not as many. I'll do more reviews for WorthPlaying, for sure. Also, I volunteered to do occasional DVD/Book reviews for Static, as to expand my portfolio a bit. I'll be able to choose what I want to review, so I'll just pick the stuff I actually want. Win-win.

The wisdom teeth removal went really well, despite being a "difficult" procedure. One of my molars apparently was curved back in, and the doctor (who does a ton of these) was shocked that I didn't have to take the vicodin. I'm shocked as well; I haven't had a lot of pain, just a bit of discomfort. Still, doc says I should take a couple of days off to relax, so I will be skipping class and the Italy meeting on Monday. I may also skip my morning class on Tuesday if I feel like it. This provides a great opportunity for me to make a dent in Okami, which arrived this afternoon. It's supposedly 40 hours long, and I promised a review for 9/27 in order to get it (so I wouldn't have to spend $40 on it). If I can be 10 hours deep by the end of the day Monday, I should be on good pace to finish it in time.

Gadgetry

2006-09-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Zune is interesting -- and there are a few things I like about it (customizable backgrounds, usertags, better video support [I presume]), but it seems a bit clunky, which is okay for a first start. I just doubt it has what it takes to top the iPod this late into the game. Microsoft should have unleashed this two years ago. Also, launching only with a 30GB model is not going to appeal to the hardcore user who wants everything on one unit. I've got 45GB of media on my 60GB iPod video, and am intensely jealous of the new 80GB model that is cheaper than the one I bought eleven months ago. I'm way more in awe of the new iPod Nano models, though. I doubt I'd buy one, but I would lovingly accept it as a gift.

This looks to be my next major purchase, unless I wait until after the mid-November system launch blitz. My parents are currently offering to pay for half as my graduation present, though I think they may volunteer more if I wait a bit for some of their bigger bills to pass. Currently, I'd had to pay about $700+, but I'd like to get that down closer to $500. No, I don't need a laptop, and I don't need a Mac, but I'd really like a Mac, and I'd much prefer it to be a laptop. The MacBooks are affordable and beautiful, and will come in handy when traveling.

Launching two days after the PlayStation 3 is a mistake, but I'm fine with the price and the pack-in. I'll be spending $1000 on game systems between November 17-19. Disgusting. I hope they delay the PS3.

The Hotness

2006-09-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

Here are the next games I'll be reviewing for WorthPlaying:

I'm psyched. I had reserved a copy of Okami at EB Games, but now I'll be saving $40. On top of that, these are the first steady games that WP have gotten from Capcom in ages. As Judy said, I'll be the ambassador, therefore I need to make them long and detailed. It's a challenge I'm willing to accept. WorthPlaying has a much larger audience than Static, so as long as I continue to work for both, I'll probably be looking to do more reviews for WP than Static. This is an odd situation, as I am paid by Static to run the Games section.

However, Mike said (when promoting me) that he saw me moving to more of a management position in time, and I intend to fulfil that notion. I'll still review games, but I'm going to be a bit pickier about what I review. So long as we have enough writers, I'd rather dole out the stuff to others and do more written work for WorthPlaying.

I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed on Friday, so I'm going to be all sorts of fucked up this weekend. I'm in a rush to finish stuff by then. I'm going to write my LocoRoco review in a bit, and then hopefully come up with the questions for the BoundlessPlanet interview. Tomorrow, I need to write my essay for the mtvU contest and take a conference call about the new .hack game. I may also try to review Pac-Man World Rally if I have enough time to work on it. I need to write a paper about the Italy trip for Monday, but I think I'll put that off until Sunday. It doesn't matter if it sucks; just needs to get done.

For Reference

2006-09-13T00:13:00.000-07:00

Finally. Age twenty-two, and nearly five years into the pursuit of my Journalism degree... I own the:

With luck, it will never be used. But at least I have an AP Stylebook.

WTF!

2006-09-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

A little prize for handling the WTF (PSP) preview, it seems.

I guess I should download a real image editing program. On that note, I guess I should probably stop taking shitty pictures with my phone. Oh well, laziness wins that argument.

I'm feeling swamped right now. Like, end of the semester swamped. And it's not like I have a ridiculous heap of stuff to do; it has more to do with the fact that I'm having my wisdom teeth removed on Friday. I've never had any kind of surgery before, and I'm expecting a hazy weekend in which I won't be able to do anything. So, by Thursday, I need to answer the next mtvU/Billboard essay question, write my essay for the Italy trip meeting on Monday, write a story for a Monday class, review at least one game, and come up with questions for an interview I'm conducting with a developer (via e-mail). It's do-able, but I'll have to crack down on it here in the next two days if I plan to accomplish it all.

Reason to Love My Job #290128

2006-09-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

Griffin sent me a big box of iPod accessories to review. Mwaha.

Word

2006-09-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

I just submitted my review for Tekken: Dark Resurrection on PSP. When published, it will be my 50th game review that I've put out there, with all but one of those coming in the last six months. And to think, I wasn't doing a damn thing with writing a year ago. Just plugging away at that degree assuming I'd be all set when I graduated. But now I feel like I know my writing skills much better, and I will have a pretty sweet heap of work accumulated when I'm sending out resumes three months from now. That number doesn't include all of the feature articles I've done for Static, and the contributions I've made to the Gear, Music, and Movies sections as well.

Otherwise, I'm working on Rule of Rose. It ships next Tuesday, so I need to finish it up by then. Shouldn't be a problem, but it's been kind of a boring experience so far. I'm still playing Dead Rising, despite finishing and reviewing it weeks ago. There are so many ways to play through the game that I don't see myself completely tiring of it for quite some time. I'm expecting a review copy of LocoRoco for PSP to come my way soon (for WP), and I've got Bomberman: Act Zero for Xbox 360 coming soon for Static (oh joy). I don't know what else -- it's kind of a crapshoot when it comes to requesting games. Some are sent, some aren't... you deal. Griffin are supposed to be sending me a bunch of iPod accessories to review, and Microsoft said they'd send me the Xbox Live Vision Camera once they get more in. It's about time that we get some content for the Gear section of Static.

I need some hot new records to leak. I've been spending my time listening to The Smiths, Rilo Kiley, and everything Ben Gibbard. Which are all great, but c'mon... bring me back to 2006, already.

Not Fucking Around

2006-09-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

I saw more than my fair share of retail gaming goodies during my years at GameStop, but this is my first goodies package as a member of the press. And it's amazing! A Star Fox Command vomit bag and two baggies of peanuts emblazoned with the logo. Too bad the game fell a bit short of the quality of the promo goods. Luckily, it's not so bad that the vomit bag becomes necessary.

EDIT (9/5): eToychest took some significantly nicer pictures of their Star Fox swag, so check those out if interested. My low-res shot comes courtesy of my wondrous cell phone.

Revised Top 5 of 2005

2006-09-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

See, I'm already posting more.

I can't make a "final" determination of what my favorite albums of 2005 are because:

A. I still find out about albums from last year that I missed out on
B. The longevity of an album is exceedingly tough to determine on short notice
C. My tastes expand constantly

But I've been thinking about this for a while, and these are the albums from last year that I still listen to a regular basis. These are the albums that I love. Luckily, the top three is largely unchanged, though I swapped the 2nd and 3rd ranked albums. Those two are so close, it's hard to say which I enjoy more. They appeal to wholly different sides of me, but both are brilliant. My appreciation for the Death Cab album has only increased since late last year, so I had to give it the edge this time. Jack's Mannequin is still my #1... I can't imagine placing anything above it from last year. It meant a lot to me last year, and I still listen to it on a regular basis. I will hopefully be seeing them in November, which will just validate the pick entirely. Or destroy it.

As for the bottom two, those are new picks. On my original top five, it was Panic! at the Disco and The Rocket Summer as my fourth and fifth picks, respectively. Well, I burned out completely on P!atD, and The Rocket Summer completely fell off of my radar. Both are still enjoyable albums, but neither hung around long enough to be an ultimate favorite of mine. Surprisingly, the Fall Out Boy disc (which had ranked #10) somehow shot up my list and became a real favorite of mine. It's weird to me because sometimes success and overexposure can kill a record for me, but this is quite the opposite. As for my #5, it was listed as a Runner-Up in the original list, but I speculated that it could become a Top 10 pick with time (since I had just started listening to it). I do believe it has. Maria Taylor writes (and sings) some of the most emotive tracks I've heard from anyone, and I find most of the songs to be rather irresistable. She played a handful of great new tracks when I saw her this past Spring, so that will be one of the many, many albums I'm eagerly anticipating in 2007.

Garish

2006-09-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

So, I made a pretty obvious change to the look of the site. I refuse to put in the amount of effort it would take to custom design a page for myself (I haven't done anything significant with HTML in -years-), so I've switched between the various pre-designed templates. I like this one now, and maybe I'll stick with it. I love that garish orange feel.

Also, I want to make this more of a central hub than it has been. When I wasn't writing as much, I'd post things on here more regularly and engage in comment convos, but I haven't been keeping up lately. So, I'll see what I can do. I definitely want to keep you guys updated on my current interests, so I'll try to keep that updated. Also, I'll see if I can put up links to my recent articles for those of you who don't check my AIM profile or my 1Up page.

Because I Never Talk About Music Anymore

2006-08-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

Ten Hot Discs of 2006:

1. The Format - Dog Problems
2. Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now
3. The Early November - The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path
4. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
5. Saves the Day - Sound the Alarm
6. Be Your Own Pet - Self-titled
7. Mates of State - Bring it Back
8. Bic Runga - Birds (UK)
9. Gatsby's American Dream - Self-titled
10. The Hush Sound - Like Vines

Some Neato Runners-Up:

Dasboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer
Forgive Durden - Wonderland
Moneen - The Red Tree
The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes (UK)
We Are Scientists - With Love and Squalor

HEY! IT'S ONLY AUGUST!

Fuck, I know. Back off! I should've done a half-year list, but didn't because I wasn't ready to make decisions. But this is where I'm at now, on August 22nd. This could change tomorrow. Muse could go back to three (I'm too amped on EarlyNov right now). Be Your Own Pet could fall further (mm, short-lived fun). Check back in January!

How about that Brand New?

Yeah, really. Interscope has "penciled in" October 10th according to the almighty Jason Tate. Based on the demos, the live songs, the rumors, the hunches... this could actually live up to the hype. And holy shit, what if it does? Album of the year? The last three years? The decade? I have a tough decision to make, naturally -- do I download this when it leaks? It really depends on how early it leaks. If it's several weeks, I don't see a choice in the matter. I'll just have jackass friends going "HOLY SHIT IT'S AMAZING" or "MEH," either of which would send me into a tailspin. But if it's a few days, maybe I can wait. Probably not.

Anything else, jackass?

Actually, yeah. I am in love with that new Killers track, so I am way psyched to hear the new record. The new Decemberists record sounds pretty great, too. But I definitely am interested in the forthcoming records from (in order of potential release): John Mayer, This Providence, Justin Timberlake, New Found Glory, Spitalfield, The Blood Brothers, Cobra Starship, Sparta, Bright Eyes, My Chemical Romance, Incubus, and Copeland. And certainly, there will be surprises along the way (The Pipettes, anyone? Amazing!), so that's just the list of what I know about.

It really comes down to this:

Brand New = Amazing; 2006 = Amazing
Brand New = Fine; 2006 = Okay
Brand New = Junk; 2006 = ARRGGHHHH

Augusto

2006-08-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am so uninterested in returning to school in a week. Fuck. My tenth semester, what a joke. Yet my GPA is at its highest peak and I will graduate in December, undoubtedly with honors. It's not like the semester will be difficult or even terribly time-consuming: I'll only be in a classroom for six hours a week, tops. And I don't attend class with great regularity, so that number will probably average out to about 4/wk. I'm just ready to be done.

Things are fine otherwise. In fact, things are really coming together on Static. I've recruited three more writers in the last two weeks, bringing the total of Games writers (including me) to seven. We could probably use one or two more, so inquire if you're good with the games and the words. On Wednesday, I conducted a two-hour AIM interview with Zach Meston of Atlus USA, which went incredibly well. That should be posted... soon (it's done, but Mike takes his sweet time doing updates sometimes). I also did an e-mail interview with someone from Tomy (publisher of the Naruto games) and got those answers back. Then today, I did a conference call with Namco Bandai about their new Fast and the Furious games, and I was able to ask some very good questions. During the first conference call (One Piece), I was a bit nervous, but this time was no sweat. I've become a lot better at interviewing and asking the smart questions.

GET HERE NOW DECEMBER!

J-O-B?

2006-08-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

I just applied for a freelance gig with UGO. I saw the listing on their jobs page and decided to go for it. Typed out a few paragraphs, attached a handful of links, and we'll see what happens. If offered the job, I'd probably have to do much less for WorthPlaying. I really like writing for them, but UGO is not only paid, but a much bigger site. It'll be more helpful for me when I'm looking for a job, and hell, it could turn into a full-time job after I graduate and can relocate. This is going to be an arduous wait.

I've got all sorts of stuff going on for Static. I've got interviews with Atlus and D3Pub in the works, and I'll be sitting in on a conference call with Namco Bandai tomorrow afternoon. Speaking of... I finally found the contact I needed at Namco Bandai and arranged for Static to be put on their product list. I'm being sent something today already. Badass.

I really earn my Static paycheck. I'd ask for a raise if I thought they could afford it.

Current Happenings

2006-07-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd drop a quick update along with the re-posted archive. The newest additions are reviews for Naruto: Ultimate Ninja and Jaws Unleashed for PS2, reviews of Field Commander and Tomb Raider: Legend for PSP, and a feature about the Chicago gaming development industry called "Eye on Chicago Gaming." It's not super in-depth, but it wasn't meant to be -- it's merely a primer to some of the highlights of the local industry, which I hope to embellish upon with future interviews and feature articles.

I'm leaving for Italy next Monday, but that doesn't mean I'm spending this week relaxing... quite the contrary. I have a shitload of stuff to get done.

- Review of Chromehounds (360) for WorthPlaying
- Review of LotR: Battle for Middle-Earth II (360) for WorthPlaying
- Review of Prey (360) for Static Multimedia
- Review of Big Brain Academy (DS) for Static Multimedia (maybe)
- Completion of half-year wrap-up feature for Static
- Pirates of the Caribbean (PS2) interview
- Advance Look - August 2006 feature for Static
- Mobile Burn - August 2006 column for Static
- The usual PR junk and working with writers

I also forgot to mention that I've been named the Games Editor of Static... which doesn't mean much, really, but it's a nicer title and it gives me control over the section so that it's success will mean much more for me when I'm looking for a career in six months. But yeah, big list... I'm almost done with Chromehounds, and I'm about a quarter of the way through LotR:BfMEII. I'm about that far in Prey as well, but that's a shorter game. I just started Big Brain Academy... it's pretty much the same as Brain Age, so I should be able to whip up the review before I go.

The half-year feature has three of the Games writers (including me) picking a favorite for the year so far and writing about 200 words on it, then listing up to four others. Not terribly inspired or phenomenally interesting, but it'll do for now. I had hoped to get more writers in on it, but not everyone was on board... and one of the lists I got was so phenomenally bullshitted that I had to tell the writer she wouldn't be working for the Games section anymore (not just for that, but it was the final straw). Mike's all about +++ content, but I'm all about quality content, and I'm not posting junk when it falls on me. I can't stand behind that kind of work.

The Pirates interview is something I'm proud about... I definitely want to do several interviews in the coming months, and I was able to arrange one with a developer from Seven Studios, who just made the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow game for PlayStation 2 (I gave it two stars -- review should be posted today). I sent off the questions via e-mail and have yet to recieve them back... really hoping those come through before I leave. As for the other stuff, I'm preparing the articles I usually write for the beginning of the month so that they can be posted while I'm gone.

Any questions?

Complete 2006 Archive

2006-07-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

MTVyou

2006-07-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

So, I apparently lost round two of the mtvU thing. Congrats to Natalia, who I've chatted with a bit and seems quite awesome.

I can't help but feel like they're looking for something specific each time, perhaps the answer they expect to find. But alas, there can only be one winner each time, and they've been exceedingly lackadaisical about contacting us and letting us know why an essay has won or lost. I was so pumped about this thing when it started, yet it's really fallen off my radar. I feel like the stuff I'm doing for WP and Static are far more likely to help me get the job I want post-grad. Besides, I've yet to see an issue of my free year of Billboard magazine, and they haven't contacted me about the "virtual mentorship" (which I really am not looking forward to, anyway).

That said, I'd still like to win one of these rounds and get pub'd in Billboard. With my luck, the next question will be sent when I'm in Italy and I'll be disqualified for good.

Static Interactive

2006-06-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Check this out, it's fucking rad:

Static Interactive Vol. 1

Mike has been really slow about doing updates during the past week or so, but he said he was working a lot of things, potentially surprising. I'd say so. Along with a new header (which is much nicer), we now have Static Interactive. I don't know the details, but I deduce that it is a flash magazine of sorts, collecting some of our work from all sections of the site with great photography and style, along with a handful of advertisements.

I'm floored. Sometimes I wonder if the site looks too plain, and then this... this is grand. I've asked Mike to tell me all about it, and hopefully he does. I want to know what the plan is. Anyway, check it out. The Games pages have excerpts of my Nintendo DS Lite feature, as well as my review of New Super Mario Bros.

I see a lot of potential in this.

Futures

2006-06-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

My sleep schedule has been majorly fucked lately, and since I try to get to sleep earlier than I can, I usually roll out of bed and waste time on the internet instead of doing something productive with the time. Tonight (this morning), it has been looking up jobs and apartments across the country.

Will I be able to find a writing career in gaming after I graduate? Is it too much to ask that I quickly find a job with a major publication? Some of the jobs I looked up are asking for two years writing for a publication -- one even specified two years in print. Well, shit. I feel like I'm making a lot of opportunities for myself -- at this level -- but will that be enough? I just hate to think I'll be sticking around here for more than a few months after graduation. Not that I hate it around here, but at that point, I will have suffered through five years of college... I'm ready for the big time.

Maybe it won't be California. Game Informer is in Minneapolis... working up there would be much, much cheaper... and then maybe I can consider Cali in a few years. I think about these things all the time, yet there's nothing I can do at this point. Once I graduate in December, I can start applying for writing jobs. Until then, I'm held captive by college and Romeoville.

I've sent out 30+ requests to publishers over the past three days. I'm anticipating an onslaught of responses in the morning. Glorious.

A Moral Quandary

2006-06-18T00:38:00.000-07:00

I really want a MacBook.

Does that make me a bad person?

It's not that I don't like PCs anymore.

They're just so average.

Been there, done that.

But a portable Macintosh?

That's awesome in a box.

PR

2006-06-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

On Sunday night and Monday morning, I started sending out hella press contact requests to publishers and saw a really great response. Over the last two days, I've been replying and following things up... anyway, I'll let the games speak for themselves. Here are the games that will be sent to us (Static Multimedia):

Cars (DS)
Cars (GBA)
Cars (PS2)
Cars (PSP)
Darwinia (PC)
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (PC)
Field Commander (PSP)
Freedom Wings (DS)
Harvest Moon (DS)
Harvest Moon: Magical Melody (GC)
Legend of the River King (PS2)
Moscow to Berlin (PC)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Legend of Jack Sparrow (PS2)
Secrets of Da Vinci (PC)
SpellForce 2 (PC)
Untold Legends: The Warrior's Code (PSP)

So awesome. Some of those will be delegated to other staffers. About the four copies of Cars... I'm not sure how that came about. I asked for a console and a handheld version and they overnighted four copies to me. I'm going to do a full review of the PS2 version and a feature article comparing/contrasting the handheld ones. I'll also be doing Field Commander and Pirates of the Caribbean, and probably Harvest Moon and Freedom Wings for DS. I'll pass the PC games and some of the others on to other staffers.

Recent Articles, Updates

2006-06-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

I will generally only post major updates on here; I do smaller updates several times a week on my 1Up Blog. Anyway, I've spent the last ten days doing the usual. I did go up to Wisconsin for a couple days to relax and take in a Brewers game, but I also worked on handheld games during that time, which resulted in a couple of reviews written last week. I also finished and reviewed two games for WorthPlaying, and am working on Hitman: Blood Money for 360. Here are my recent updates:

Review: The Da Vinci Code (PS2)
Review: New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Review: Brain Age (DS)
Feature: Advance Look - June 2006
Feature: Nintendo DS Lite
Column: Mobile Burn (June 2006)

Review: Rogue Trooper (PS2)
Review: Frogger: Helmet Chaos (PSP)
Review: Rampage: Total Destruction (PS2)

Currently I'm also working on Daxter for PSP, and Steambot Chronicles and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for PS2. This week, I will recieve review copies of Rockstar Games Table Tennis for Xbox 360, Magnetica for DS, Naruto for GameCube, and Naruto for GBA. I'll also make another games request from WP, but I'm going to wait a couple of days on that. I've got enough to do that I don't need to just take anything... will wait to see if something I want pops up in the next couple of days. I'd like to get ahold of Point Blank for DS and Cars for PS2. We'll see.

DS Lite; Games

2006-06-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got a DS Lite system today. I got four hours of sleep and woke up at 9:15am to drive to Sears in Joliet. They said the systems weren't in, but I think they were bluffing. So I drove up to the Aurora location, which had eight units before close yesterday. The guy in line in front of me got the last one; he had ordered it from Sears.com and did an in-store-pickup... apparently, that's the only way to get it. So, I sped home and ordered one from Sears.com from the Joliet location and picked it up within an hour. Amazing. I read online that other people who had ordered it from Sears were screwed over and told they had to wait ten days, but I somehow lucked out. Determination!

It's a beautiful system. Most of the issues I had with the original system have been resolved. It's smaller, sleeker, and simply feels better in your hands (much lighter, too). The screens are brighter, though the touch screen still has that fuzzy look to it (expected). The stylus is bigger, yet still fits in the system when not in use. And there's a port cover for the GBA port, which makes the thing much more comfortable on your fingers. I still think the face buttons are too small, but they're better than on the original DS. Basically, this is a better, more functional version of the DS, and should be owned for sure. New Super Mario Bros. is glorious; I just finished the first world. Brain Age is amusing; my brain age is 50! I was especially glad to get the system today because I'm going up to Wisconsin tomorrow for the weekend. Portable gaming is my friend...

So, games. Worked some magic today, and Atlus agreed to send me Steambot Chronicles and Metal Saga for PS2. Additionally, D3Publisher of America put me on the list for upcoming review copies, and will get back to me about sending the Naruto games that released this Spring (all above for Static). Finally, I sent a request for the next review games for WorthPlaying, and I asked for Hitman: Blood Money for Xbox 360 and Rogue Trooper for PS2. Judy just confirmed that I'm getting them. I almost asked for games last night... so glad I waited.

It Gets Better!

2006-05-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

Of course it does. I'm looking around on WorthPlaying and see the link for MetaCritic, which is a well-known site that gives an average score for all types of media based on reviews from magazines, websites, etc. Then it hits me; if MetaCritic is on WorthPlaying, then WorthPlaying is on MetaCritic. That means I'm on MetaCritic. And I am! What a thrill for me, seriously. Man, I've gotta say... they're good at picking out quotes. Most of these are the big quotes from my reviews. Check it out:

Over the Hedge - GameCube
"One line in the game struck me as particularly amusing: One of the animals sarcastically asks, 'What's more fun than doing something over and over again?' I had to write it down, as it perfectly described my own attitude towards the title."

MX vs. ATV: On the Edge - PSP
"Aside from those pesky loading times, the game does a very admirable job of translating the console experience to a handheld system."

Tourist Trophy - PlayStation 2
"A well-made game, but one that lacks any kind of excitement for the casual gamer or non-enthusiast. As much as I love racing games, I had trouble mustering up any kind of genuine enthusiasm for this title."

Go! Sudoku - PSP
"The only real benefit I could find for buying a Sudoku game on the PSP is the ability to wirelessly download additional puzzles, free of charge."

Look at me, quoting myself. I don't post these kinds of things out of cockiness; rather, it's pure enthusiasm and excitement. I am truly thrilled by my own little advancements in the field. When I signed up to write for WorthPlaying, I don't think I realized how big it really is. I'm writing for them as much as possible. They want one review a week, but I'm on pace to do six a month. If I weren't working for Static, I could probably do more, but I definitely want to keep both jobs. While WP is currently a bigger opportunity, Static allows me to do more things in my own style, and could really become something while I'm there.

I can't wait until they pick a quote for my yet-to-be-posted review for Rampage: Total Destruction on PlayStation 2. I hope they pick this one: "Alright, here goes. Rampage: Total Destruction is a terrible game!"

Google Me

2006-05-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

It's 4am and I'm not asleep yet, so I was wasting time on the net. I searched for the name of someone who writes for Static and was surprised to see that he also writes for the New York Times and other major publications. Impressive.

I searched for myself for the hell of it, and four links on the first page were mine. Impressive!

The Awe-Inspiring Archive

2006-05-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

It seemed necessary to have a central place to put all of my published stories. I've seperated them by category, and will update this every other week or so.

Current as of July 16th.

Games - Reviews (360)

Burnout Revenge
Fight Night Round 3
Full Auto
Hitman: Blood Money
Rockstar Games Table Tennis
Tomb Raider: Legend
X-Men: The Official Game

Games - Reviews (PS2)

Cars
The Da Vinci Code
Driver: Parallel Lines
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Guitar Hero
Jaws Unleashed
Kingdom Hearts II
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja
Rampage: Total Destruction
Rogue Trooper
Sonic Riders
Tourist Trophy

Games - Reviews (PSP)

Daxter
Field Commander
Frogger: Helmet Chaos
Go! Sudoku
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X
Metal Gear Acid 2
MX vs. ATV: On the Edge
SSX On Tour
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Tomb Raider: Legend

Games - Reviews (DS)

Brain Age
Magnetica
Naruto: Ninja Council (GBA)
New Super Mario Bros.
Point Blank DS

Games - Reviews (GC)

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Naruto: Clash of Ninja
Over the Hedge

Games - Features

Advance Look - April 2006
Advance Look - May 2006
Advance Look - June 2006
Advance Look - July 2006
Battle of the Handhelds
Best Games of 2005
Best Way to Spend a Rainy Day
Cars on the Go
E3: Condensed
Eye on Chicago Gaming
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
Nintendo DS Lite
Summer Movie Games
Xbox 360 Buyer's Guide
Xbox 360 Buyer's Guide (Flyer)
Xbox Live's E3 Extravaganza

Music

Concert: Fall Out Boy - Chicago, IL
Concert: Mates of State/Maria Taylor - Chicago, IL
Concert: Muse - Chicago, IL
Feature: Best of 2005 Wrap-Up
Feature: My Chemical Romance
Feature: Straylight Run
Review: Yellowcard - Lights and Sounds

Film/TV

Feature: The Films That Oscar Forgot
Feature: O.C. Delivers More Than Drama
Review: Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (UMD)
Review: Transporter 2 (UMD)

Gear/Gadgets

Column: Mobile Burn (June 2006)
Column: Mobile Burn (July 2006)
Feature: The iGeneration - What to Do...
Review: PodsPlus Aluminum Case
Review: Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit

eZine Links

Static Interactive Vol. 1 (Games)

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

2006-05-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the caps, but I'm pumped up right now. As you may know, I agreed last week to become a paid staff member of Static Multimedia, and one of my duties is to contact game publishers to obtain review copies of games. I sent out maybe a dozen e-mails and had only recieved two replies to date: Majesco said they couldn't do anything for us at this time, and the Nintendo rep is still setting things up and hasn't given me an answer.

Just checked my Static e-mail, and Mike said that a game arrived for me today. 2K games sent me The Da Vinci Code for PlayStation 2! Success! Now, I hear the game isn't so hot, but the fact that I was able to come through and get us a game in my first week of work is just incredible. I was feeling bummed and like I wasn't making any progress, but man... awesome.

Wrote a review of SSX On Tour for PSP today for Static; should be up later tonight. Also, Mike said he picked up Daxter for PSP for me to review. I should see that and DVC later this week.

Progress

2006-05-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

I finished Over the Hedge and wrote the review for WorthPlaying today. I really want Static Multimedia to be successful, especially since they're paying me and I'm doing the bulk of the games writing, but WorthPlaying is already big and well-known. I find myself speeding to get my reviews done for them quickly because I know they'll be seen by more people, and I know the site is willing to send me more games to review when I need them.

With Static, I am the one in charge of getting the games sent to us... granted, I've held that position for less than a week, but I haven't had luck yet. And the readership isn't too hot, so that doesn't help me out. Game Rankings wouldn't add us, which was kind of a bummer. Oh well. Gotta keep plugging away and something will come of it. We really need to get a regular flow of product, then we can add extra writers. Until then, it looks to be me and whatever I can acquire or purchase.

Status Update

2006-05-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

By next weekend, I hope to complete reviews of Driver: Parallel Lines (PS2) and SSX On Tour (PSP) for Static, as well as Over the Hedge (GC) for WorthPlaying. I probably need to come up with one more feature article for Static, too.

As usual, I did even better than predicted last semester. Ended up with a 3.76 for the semester, pushing my cumulative average past 3.5. Pumped!

It looks like I'll be doing about sixteen articles a month between Static and WorthPlaying, which seems insane, but should be do-able. And I don't have to work retail, so I'm happy. The prospect of having over 100 articles up by graduation is very real, and will be helpful when I'm seeking out a career after Christmas.

Latest Articles

2006-05-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

Will post a status update of sorts tomorrow if I remember. For now, here are this week's articles. It looks like I'll be doing an average of four articles per week from now on, so there will be much to read. Enjoy.

Review: X-Men: The Official Game (360)
Review: PodsPlus Aluminum Case
Review: Tourist Trophy (PS2)
Feature: Xbox Live's E3 Extravaganza
Concert: Fall Out Boy - Chicago, IL
Feature: E3: Condensed

If you only read one, check out the Tourist Trophy review. I'm really proud of how it turned out, and it's my first article posted on WorthPlaying. To have my review affect the average percentage of a game at Game Rankings seems like a pretty big deal to me. Can't say I've hit the big time, but I'm making serious strides. If I continue this pace through graduation, I should have no problem finding the career I want.

Goodbye Flyer

2006-05-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

I still may see an article or two posted in the Flyer this fall (because of my writing class), but generally, my days of writing for the school paper are done. Which is fine with me. This semester has been fine, but for the most part, it hasn't been a great paper during my time at Lewis. That said, I have posted the link to my most recent story below, and also dug up a handful of stories I wrote back in 2004. Pretty cool.

The Best Way to Spend a Rainy Day

Straylight Run - A Band You Should Know
"Three Cheers" for My Chemical Romance
Muse Dominate the Metro
The O.C. Delivers More Than Just Drama
What's Old is New Again with "Twin Snakes"

Update on Everything

2006-05-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

This past week has been insane. Luckily, school is done. I haven't gotten all of my grades yet, but it looks like I've somehow pulled off a 3.7 or so for the semester, which should put my cumulative at just over 3.5. Glorious. I got an A for my Journalism Practicum and a B+ in Ethics (amazing) already, and I'm expecting an A in Feature Writing, an A-/B+ in Horror Film, and a B for my one-credit Making Movies seminar. I've been coasting for the last three or four years. I win at college. One semester left, and it will be amazingly easy. Aiming for straight-A's.

Also, big news: I quit GameStop. For the third (and final) time. I gave my two weeks notice and will finish out next week (though I'm hoping to give my hours away for next Saturday). With the recent management changes, it seemed like the right time to cut loose. Just in time to enjoy my summer, too. I have plenty of money saved up and can make it through the summer without a job until my student loans come through in the fall. However... when I got home on Wednesday, I e-mailed Mike from Static Multimedia and mentioned that I'd have more free time this summer. He e-mailed me back with an offer of sorts to work on the site in a more involved role. Of course I'm interested; regardless of what it will pay (I haven't heard back from him yet), it's a job I can do from home, and it's valuable experience. Will update when I've got all the details.

I've been blazing through the review copies that I currently am in possession of. I wrote the review of Go! Sudoku for WorthPlaying already; sent that off yesterday. It hasn't gone up yet, but I know that they're busy with E3. Should know soon what the next games I'll get will be. I moved onto Tourist Trophy last night, and played a bit more of it today. I'm hoping to review that on Monday or Tuesday. I also started Driver: Parallel Lines for Static, but that should take me into late next week, maybe longer. I have no clue how long it is.

New Articles, Incoming Review Materials

2006-05-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

Feature - Advance Look: May 2006
Review - Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (UMD)

WorthPlaying is sending me Tourist Trophy (PS2) and Go Sudoku (PSP), assumedly this week sometime. I'm pumped about having a regular selection of games to review, especially since I don't have to buy them. Not only does it save me money, but it gives me games I might not buy otherwise, which should lead to both good and bad reviews. Looking forward to it. They want a review a week, so I should be getting games on an average of once a week.

Also, Static Multimedia is looking to get me Driver: Parallel Lines (PS2) for review, and they're working on setting up an interview with one of the developers of Test Drive Unlimited. They want me to do some interviews, and I think it would be really good for my portfolio. So I'm all about it. Will update with details when I have 'em.

WorthPlaying, College, Summer

2006-05-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

I've agreed to write reviews for WorthPlaying. I don't think it's the best looking site out there, but it's huge and apparently well-known. My reviews will be listed on Game Rankings and counted towards the total percentage. I'm supposed to be sent a list of games to choose from, which I'm eagerly anticipating. I'm honestly hoping to regularly review junk games. Not that I really want to play bad games, but I'm sure as hell not going to buy them. They mentioned occasionally "taking one for the team" and reviewing supposedly bad games, and I told them I'd rather review a bad game for a console instead of a great game for the PC. Computer gaming isn't my thing, and I don't want it to be. So I'd rather focus on console reviews, and hopefully I can do that. Will post again when I figure out which games I'm initially getting for review.

I had my last regular day of the semester today, and I have no actual finals next week. I do have to write two papers, though, and show up during the final period to present one of them. After four and half years, I've lost all interest in college. Today, in Ethics, I left an hour early to go get a haircut. I was just sitting there, bored out of my mind, and thought that getting my hair cut would be a better use of my time. It's sad. Thirteen credit hours in the fall and I'm done for good. What makes my final semester bearable is a total lack of gen-ed classes. Done! Two journalism classes, an internship, (hopefully) an independent study, and a 1-credit-hour assignment for my Italy trip. Should be alright.

Despite my indifference and lack of interest, my GPA has risen for (I think) four consecutive semesters, and has the potential to rise again. I'm currently sitting at a 3.47. Best case scenario for this semester is likely a 3.6; worst case is probably a 3.2. I really never know until I get my grades. Last semester, I thought I would be in the lower 3's and I ended up with almost a 3.9. Total insanity. I don't really care too much about grades; I just always do well enough with minimum effort. Though I'd definitely like to keep that (rounded up) 3.5 through graduation.

I've been excessively lazy in regards to planning my summer lately, so I have no internship lined up initially. And I may end my career at GameStop in the near future (we got a new manager, so we'll see), so setting up an internship soon is again a priority. Even if I don't get one set up until the fall, I still have plenty in savings, plus the little I make from writing and eBay sales. Toss in forthcoming student loans for the fall and a couple of credit cards, and I can make it for several months without working. But I'd rather stay at GameStop until I move or take on a serious writing gig.

So, this summer, I intend on writing a lot. WorthPlaying will hopefully provide me with a steady stream of games to review, and Static can hopefully dig up some more. It sounds pretty good to me, actually. Then I shall be heading to Italy in late July. I plan on bringing several newer portable games with me, and then I'll unleash some reviews when I get back to the homeland. Classy plans, indeed.

Review: Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)

2006-05-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Listen up: I have a great idea for a new video game. It will be set in a world based upon the animated works of an American institution; perhaps the most influential and powerful entertainment force of the last eighty years. In that world, I want to place characters from the most popular Japanese role-playing series of all time. Despite the cutesy nature of the environments, I want to develop a serious narrative with themes of friendship, loss, and betrayal. To top it off, I plan to sell nearly five million copies worldwide.

Sound ridiculous? I thought so too, but the 2002 release of Kingdom Hearts for the PlayStation 2 clearly proved me wrong. It managed to merge the worlds of the Disney animated films with characters from the Final Fantasy series to create a solid, compelling gameplay experience. Word-of-mouth eventually trounced the initial confusion, making it a massive hit all over the globe. Gaming’s obsession with sequels guaranteed a direct follow-up in time, resulting in the recent release of Kingdom Hearts II.

Despite critical and popular acclaim, Kingdom Hearts was not without flaws. A glitchy camera system and uninspired combat marred the gameplay, while some of the Disney-themed worlds were woefully outclassed by others. Denying the urge to release a modified version of the original, Square Enix has addressed nearly every issue of the original, making Kingdom Hearts II a game that delivers on all fronts: story, gameplay, and unrivaled presentation.

Kingdom Hearts II picks up shortly after the original, with lead character Sora still searching for his missing friends, Riku and Kairi. His companions, Donald Duck and Goofy, are still in the service of King Mickey, who has disappeared on a covert mission. The three set out once again, traveling across fifteen varied worlds. Nearly a dozen are pulled from Disney films of the last two decades, most notably Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. However, some are pulled from less notable Disney films, such as Mulan and Hercules.

What makes Kingdom Hearts II a hit is the way that the original characters are merged with the various Disney worlds. Each film-inspired world has its own design rules, and the game never strays too far outside of the original work. For example, when adventuring in The Pride Lands (from The Lion King), Sora takes on the form of a lion, yet he still bears a visual resemblance to his human form. The costumes and character designs in each stage never seem out of place, and your command menu even changes to match the overall feel of the area.

Though some worlds of the worlds were in the original (albeit in different forms), it is with the new environments that Kingdom Hearts II truly impresses. Live-action films are finally recognized by the series, with areas based on Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron. Fans will be impressed by the visual re-creations of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, though sound-a-likes provide voice-overs. Of the new worlds based on animated films, Timeless River has to be the best. Based on Steamboat Willie, a 1928 short that was among Mickey Mouse’s first, the world is displayed entirely in black and white, with the sound of an old movie projector in the background. Presentation is clearly king in this game.

While Kingdom Hearts II is truly an epic experience, it often feels like more of an interactive movie than a full-fledged video game. The game can be completed in thirty hours, though there are several hours of additional quests available. Of those thirty hours, I estimate that ten of them were spent watching in-game cinematics. This is decidedly more than in other role-playing epics, even Xenosaga and Final Fantasy X. I do not personally see it as an issue, as the storyline is compelling and interesting, but some will long for a more open experience.

Compounding this is the fact that the game is rarely challenging. It took a full twenty-four hours of play for me to die in battle, though a couple of the final bosses require a bit of skill and patience to defeat. For those in need of a bit more, switch to “Proud Mode,” a more difficult version of the game. Additionally, you can opt to spend your time seeking out materials for enhanced weapons, or level your characters up to fight the infamous boss of Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth.

Though Kingdom Hearts II features characters from the Final Fantasy series, it does not feature the same type of gameplay. Instead, Kingdom Hearts II is primarily an action game with role-playing elements. You still have to contend with hit points and magic spells, but you actually control Sora and make him hack and slash at his enemies. As your characters level up, they pick up new abilities that you can choose to equip. This leads to spectacularly long combo moves, which will be necessary to defeat later enemies.

Like other recent sequels (Resident Evil 4, Tomb Raider: Legend), Kingdom Hearts II adds reaction commands, which prompt the player to hit a certain button in a short amount of time to initiate an action. Nailing the commands is necessary when facing many of the boss characters. Also new is the Drive Gauge, which fills up over time and allows Sora to transform and unleash special moves when filled. They may be minor changes, but they add mightily to the basic gameplay mechanics of the original.

Visually, the game is among the top titles on the PlayStation 2. While other games strive for visual realism, Kingdom Hearts II aims for a vivid, cartoonish world in which fantastic things are possible. It succeeds mightily, with spectacular, detailed graphics that make great use of the game’s engine. Even while facing one-thousand enemies, the game ran smoothly and without issue. The PlayStation 2 should not be capable of such feats, but Square Enix has managed to squeeze every ounce of life out of the five-year-old system.

A cinematic game like this lives or dies by the quality of its voice over work, and Kingdom Hearts II comes through in spades. Many top games may employ the use of a dozen voice actors, but Kingdom Hearts II features nearly one-hundred! Among those included are several big-name actors, such as Christopher Lee, James Woods, Mena Suvari, and Zach Braff. Haley Joel Osment returns to voice Sora, and both the character and the voice have aged over the last four years, ensuring a strong, consistent match. Over the course of the game, I only noticed a handful of parts in which the acting could be improved. It truly sets a new standard for games of this length.

As with most games released by Square Enix, the original soundtrack is both extensive and well done. Nearly ninety tracks were compiled for the game, many drawn from or inspired by the original movie soundtracks. As with the visuals, the songs are never out of place in the respective worlds; consistency is key in the Kingdom Hearts universe. As with the first game, the theme song (“Passion”) was written and performed by Utada Hikaru, a major Japanese pop star (the English version, “Sanctuary,” takes its place in the game).

It can be easy to dismiss the Kingdom Hearts games due to their reliance on the Disney universe. But like the best Disney films, Kingdom Hearts II can be enjoyed on multiple levels. For example; while I’m amused by the content and visual references, I was often moved by the storyline and character interactions. The game is meant to be enjoyed by all ages, and even this jaded college student found it to be a genuine experience throughout.

Though the Kingdom Hearts series has little in common with Grand Theft Auto on the surface, I found an interesting parallel between the two franchises. Both are successful because of the immense amount of available content, as well as the strong execution of that content. All too often, games based on popular licenses are merely dumbed-down versions of their cinematic selves. Kingdom Hearts II proves that licensed games can carry emotional heft, while providing a cinematic experience that does not rely heavily on adult themes.

Grade: A

Battle of the Handhelds

2006-04-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

Got a new feature up over at Static:

Feature: Battle of the Handhelds

This the second version of the article, actually. I needed to write a travel article for my Feature Writing class, so I first wrote it as a travel guide to handheld gaming. I reworked it into a standard comparison feature for Static, and that's what you see above. The second version is much better anyway, so I won't bother posting the first.

I'm making great progress on Kingdom Hearts II. I may be able to beat it on Saturday rather than Sunday; either way, expect a review by Monday. Everywhere. It's going to Static, the Flyer, my 1Up page, and here. I might even print out a few copies and tape them to your front doors.

New Articles Posted

2006-04-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

My new review is up at Static Multimedia:

Review: Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (PSP)

I've really been aiming to shorten some of my reviews lately, for two reasons. First, I don't want to write a sprawling, 1000+ word review each time I finish a game (especially when some reviews on that site are shy of 300 words). And second, many publications don't run large reviews. I've always seen it as tougher to write a short review, because you have to be very concise and only print the most important aspects. That said, 650 words is still a bit long. What I may do is write two reviews for some games; one of my standard length, and the other more like a blurb. We'll see.

Syphon Filter was pretty solid. Great graphics, decent gameplay, so-so controls. Very cinematic, which is unexpected on the PSP. I forgot to talk about the sound, but it's quite good. I'd give it a B- grade if I were posting it here (but as I mentioned before, if a site pays me or gives me the review materials, I'll just post the link).

Also, the online version of The Flyer just put up my article about Oscar films on DVD. The title got changed, but it should be the same article I posted a few weeks back. Figured I'd post the link, though.

The Flyer - The Films That Oscar Forgot

Billboard Essay Up

2006-04-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

My first Billboard essay is up on mtvU.com. Check the link on the right side of the page if you'd like to read it. I just read the winning essay, and I can totally see why it would be picked. It's much more direct and to-the-point than mine was, and it's well-written. I don't agree with all of the points in his second paragraph, but I was impressed by the first half. Most of the other essays are pretty solid too. Natalia's was interesting, Megan's was formal but sharp, and Benjamin's... well, he makes decent points, but I'm not a fan of the writing style.

When I wrote my essay, I figured it would be trite to just say "Music marketing is wrong because..." and just list off reasons. So I opted to tackle it in an indirect fashion, which may have hurt me in the end. Or maybe it's just not what they wanted. Or maybe they thought it sucked. I'm not too concerned. I should hopefully hear some feedback via the "virtual mentorship" Belle talked about. Next essay should be soon, I figure.

Billboard Update

2006-04-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Got the call from New York today. My first essay wasn't chosen to be published in Billboard Magazine.

As great as it would have been to have the initial essay published, it's really not a big deal. My essay was well-written, but I approached the subject from a less-direct viewpoint, so that may have negatively impacted me. It will be put up on mtvU this week, though.

Luckily, they're planning on doing this monthly for the summer, so I'll have multiple chances to get in. Also, I've been informed that it will be a "virtual mentorship program," which means that Billboard editors will read over our essays and give us writing tips. I've really been needing that kind of feedback lately, especially from people who have already been through this. I'll drop an update when I hear anything new.

Taking Back Sunday

2006-04-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

First impressions of the new Taking Back Sunday album, Louder Now: SO GROOD.

"The result is a mammoth rock beast of an album, the kind that makes you want to tape your iPod to your body so you're free to jump around like an epilectic ape." - Kerrang (5/5 review)

Absolutely agreed. This is the intensity, and it's definitely more of a rock album than they've made in the past. Totally recommended. "Miami," "Spin," and "My Blue Heaven" are the current standout tracks.

Review: Tomb Raider: Legend (Xbox 360)

2006-04-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Lara Croft is a joke to most gamers. Once the busty babe of our collective dreams, Croft was exploited and overused in almost-yearly sequels, each worse than the last. The final straw was 2003’s Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, a game so woefully bad and buggy that it seemed to have been shipped before completion. Facing financial and critical ruin, publisher Eidos entrusted the future of the franchise to Crystal Dynamics, a developer with its own history of so-so games. What could possibly come from this union?

The answer is Tomb Raider: Legend, the first great Tomb Raider game in over eight years. A fresh start is exactly what this series needed, away from the shoddy sequels and action movies it was once associated with. Legend finds Lara croft raiding tombs yet again, in an all-new adventure that includes flashbacks to her youth. Young Lara was involved in a plane crash, which was then followed by a supernatural artifact swallowing up her mother. Traumatized and a bit curious, modern-day Lara uses her family’s immense wealth to find out just what happened and why.

In a shocking turn of events, Lara Croft is not the star of Tomb Raider: Legend; in fact, the true star is the gameplay; specifically the platform and exploration elements. I had a blast climbing, jumping, and flipping through the huge, cleverly designed environments. Typically, the franchise has been known for requiring pinpoint accuracy with every leap, but Legend offers a more forgiving experience. Even if a missed jump leads to a painful death, there are plenty of automatic checkpoints, meaning you generally won’t lose more than a minute of gameplay. This encourages players to explore without fear, leading to a much more enjoyable experience.

Puzzle solving is second-most important aspect of the game, and it also shines. As Lara, gamers must move objects and follow clues to progress forward. One constant in many of these puzzles is the use of the magnetic grappling hook, which is activated with the X button. The hook proves vitally important in all aspects of the game, especially movement. Another neat segment of the game seems inspired by Resident Evil 4; during some cut scenes, you’ll be prompted to press a specific button or move the analog stick in a particular direction. If you succeed, the scene continues. If not, Lara dies and you do it again. Don’t be deceived; keep your controller in hand at all times!

What doesn’t work is the gunplay, which is a necessary evil in a game like this. If I had my way, Lara would be a pacifist, using her dual pistols only to bust up environmental hazards. Unfortunately, such is not the case, as there are often several random baddies to combat (usually all at once). Lara also has grenades at her disposal, as well as the ability to pick up discarded weapons from her opponents. Aiming is a nightmare from nearly any distance, and you’ll have to get off about ten to fifteen shots for a kill with your pistols. Motorcycle segments serve as breaks in the action, but typically include shooting at Jeeps and bikes, which is only marginally better than shooting at dudes and tigers.

Tomb Raider: Legend on the Xbox 360 is one sharp looking game. Aside from some last-gen looking models, the high-resolution environments are incredibly detailed, featuring some of the best lighting and shadows of any game. The visual style reminds me heavily of Perfect Dark Zero, which had neat texturing that was often a bit too shiny. Overall, I’m very impressed by the graphics; some of the views really are breathtaking. Unfortunately, this gussied-up port comes at a cost, as frame-rate issues are frequently evident. It never affects gameplay, but you have to wonder if an additional week or two of development could have eliminated these issues.

The audio in the game is quite stellar, from the voice work to the dynamic soundtrack. Lara’s sharp wit is well served by her British accent, with dialogue that surprisingly isn’t cringe-worthy. Zip and Alister assist Lara via her headset, providing her with useful tips and background information about the environments. The interaction between the three characters is essential to the plot, and certainly worth paying attention to. Legend features a dynamic soundtrack that picks up during tense situations, which is helpful when approaching an area packed with enemies.

For all that Tomb Raider: Legend offers, what it doesn’t offer is a lengthy adventure. With just eight missions, the game can be completed in less than seven hours. While this does not kill the game, it might make you consider a rental in place of a purchase. Players can also explore Croft Manor for hidden secrets, as well as replay completed levels for extra achievement points. When all is said and done, the game still feels too short, and would have been greatly benefited by the inclusion of at least two additional missions.

Despite the length of the game, Tomb Raider: Legend is still highly recommended. Crystal Dynamics has done the impossible by making Tomb Raider an exciting and relevant franchise again. It may not be groundbreaking, but the combination of exploration and puzzle-solving makes for a wondrous time. If they can improve the combat and frame-rate issues, the next game could be truly incredible. I’m truly excited for the next Tomb Raider game… I haven’t been able to say that for almost a decade.

Grade: B

Review: Sonic Riders (PS2)

2006-04-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

For fifteen years, Sonic the Hedgehog has been a little blue blur on millions of televisions worldwide. Being blessed with supernatural speed, Sega’s mascot should be perfectly suited for a racing game. Certainly more so than an overweight Italian plumber with a history of mushroom abuse. After the rightfully ignored Sonic R for Sega Saturn, everyone’s favorite hedgehog is racing again in Sonic Riders. While it may be a smart business move, what we get is a mess of a game, overcomplicated to the point that it fails to be enjoyable.

Sonic Riders finds our hero riding Extreme Gear (a.k.a. a hoverboard) to once again thwart Eggman and his nefarious plans. The storyline is almost nonsensical, dealing with Chaos Emeralds and the Babylon Rogues. Worry not; there won’t be a test on it. In fact, the story serves only to connect the races, of which there are only six in the initial adventure. A second story mode is unlocked upon completion of the first, assuming you can get that far.

Where Sonic Riders fails is in the racing, which is what the entire game revolves around. Controlling your character is an exercise in futility, in which you never feel like you have any say in the outcome. Pushing forward on the analog stick may move you forward, but there’s so much more to deal with during the race. You’ll have to pick up rings, fill up an air meter, do tricks, fight your opponents, ride turbulence, and still try to finish in first. It’s a disaster.

Mascot racers benefit from being simplistic; the Mario Kart series is easy to play, but tough to master. Sonic Riders, on the other hand, is difficult from the start, making this a tough purchase for the target market: children and mainstream gamers. That isn’t to say that it was a poor idea; in fact, there are some potentially strong components to Sonic Riders. The idea of riding the “turbulence” of your opponents has serious potential, and the ability to buy new Gears with your collected rings gives the game added replay value.

The game has the requisite split-screen multiplayer mode, as well as an unlockable mission mode. An online mode would have benefited the game, though not enough to warrant a purchase. Hidden characters will compel hardcore fans to keep playing, but most will be turned off by the difficult and unrewarding gameplay. With a price tag of $40, I cannot recommend this game to anyone. Even if the core mechanics were solid, there is not enough content to satisfy.

At fifteen, Sonic finds himself in the midst of a crisis. Since entering the era of 3D gaming, he has only starred in one great title (Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast), while Nintendo continues to successfully crank out Mario titles year after year. Sonic Riders doesn’t improve his situation one bit, leaving fans with little hope that their favorite speedy mammal will one day make a comeback.

Grade: D

Static Multimedia - Sonic Riders (PS2) Review

Review: Metal Gear Acid 2 (PSP)

2006-04-14T00:29:00.000-07:00

More often than not, a title with shoddy gameplay may use a solid story as a crutch; the recent release of 24: The Game for PlayStation 2 is a shining example. The uninspired gameplay fails to impress, but the narrative makes it worth playing. Rarely do you see a game that can stand on its own without a strong storyline, especially in the action/strategy genre. Metal Gear Acid 2 for the PSP is the rare exception, building upon the original release to offer an excellent portable experience.

If you’re lost, let me recap the history of the series for you. Metal Gear Acid was originally released alongside the PlayStation Portable last spring, offering an original experience set within the Metal Gear universe. Rather than an espionage/action game (like the Metal Gear Solid series), Acid was a card-based strategy-role-playing-game. Don’t let the dashes (or the mention of cards) scare you; it was a strong release that maintained the spirit of the Metal Gear, while deviating significantly from the gameplay the franchise has been known for.

Metal Gear Acid 2 is more of the same, and while it is a better game, it is not bigger in all respects. While the first game offered a 30-hour adventure, the story mode of Acid 2 will take most gamers only 15-20 hours. I see this as a distinct positive, as the game never becomes stale, and the available levels offer a variety of interesting scenarios. For example, in one stage, you’re progressing down an underground train tunnel, and you must avoid a train that comes down at a certain interval.

Acid 2 puts you in control of Solid Snake yet again, this time befallen by amnesia. Captured by the United States government upon re-entry in the country, he is enlisted to carry out a mission in return for his freedom. As expected from a Metal Gear game, not everything goes to plan, and Snake finds himself working for another man who promises to fill him in on his forgotten past. Honestly, the storyline is pretty generic and forgettable, but you won’t mind. The beef of Acid 2 is in the gameplay.

Card-based combat is the name of the game, and you’ll be constructing a deck from over 500 cards inspired by the previous Metal Gear games. The construction of your deck is integral to your success in each stage; sometimes you’ll need more ration cards (for healing), while other times you may need sniper rifles to get the job done. Some weapon cards are for one-time use, though many must be equipped. In addition to these are status cards that can affect either your character or the enemy.

With so many cards available, it is not surprising that many have shunned this series. Those who played the original game have a serious leg-up over newcomers; not only will you have a better understanding of the gameplay, but you can transfer over one of your best cards from your completed save file of the first game. In addition, you’ll be given a small percentage of the points you earned in the original, which will allow you to buy new cards, as well as upgrade the ones you already have.

I haven’t played a collectable card game in a decade, and I have not enjoyed any other card-based games I’ve played (such as Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories). On top of that, I do not have much patience for slow or frustrating games. Yet somehow, I love the gameplay in Metal Gear Acid 2. It’s strategic enough to require some brain power, yet you can play through it without knowing what each and every number means. Acid 2 also simplifies movement, as many actions are no longer controlled by cards. It makes for a more user-friendly experience.

Metal Gear Acid 2 isn’t a terribly difficult game, though I definitely had the advantage of playing through the original. I went through the first ten hours without dying, and only found one of the missions to be particularly frustrating. One thing to note is the enormity of the final boss battle. It took me nearly ninety minutes to defeat the final boss with two characters and a wide selection of powerful weapons. The other bosses in the game do not pose quite the same challenge, but they make for interesting diversions between the stages.

Visually, the game has been overhauled significantly. Instead of bland, grey environments, the cel-shaded graphics explode with vibrant yellows and oranges. It may seem odd for a military-themed game, but it works well and keeps you interested. Rough edges pop up occasionally, but the game is overall enhanced by the visual style. The audio is pretty standard, though a lack of voice-overs makes for a less cinematic feel than the Metal Gear Solid series.

Outside of the main quest, there are many other ways to bide your time in Acid 2. Arena Mode lets you duke it out with popular bosses from the Metal Gear Solid series (including Vamp and Liquid Snake), while wireless multiplayer is likely a blast (if you can find anyone nearby to play against). Also, you can re-play any completed stages with new objectives if you’re looking to find more cards. Acid 2 can also connect with Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the PlayStation 2, which allows you to transfer photos from Subsistence onto your PSP to view with the Solid Eye attachment.

The Solid Eye is packaged with Acid 2, and is little more than a cheap pair of 3D glasses. Sure, they work, but it is little more than a gimmick. You’ll unlock CG movies from the Metal Gear Solid games in the story mode, which you can then view in 3D with the glasses. You can also play through the entire game in 3D, but it is not recommended. The glasses are never required for any part of the game, so their use is more for amusement than anything else.

A year has passed since the launch of the PSP in North America, and only now are solid games being released at a decent clip. Metal Gear Acid 2 refines the original title and offers up an enhanced gaming experience. The game mixes adult themes (violence, sexuality) with gameplay mechanics (card collecting) typically geared towards a younger audience. While this may explain why it has not found a large audience, the combination works and has resulted in one of the best games for the PSP.

Grade: B+

Static Multimedia - Metal Gear Acid 2 (PSP) Review

Various Updates

2006-04-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Static Multimedia is sending me some more review materials soon. I'll be seeing Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror for PSP (which has been well-reviewed) and Ong-Bak on UMD. Getting free games/movies is cool, but the best part for me is being able to review things that I wouldn't normally purchase. It allows me to have a more objective opinion, and it exposes me to games that I may not like. I rarely buy a game on a whim, so it's unlikely that anything I buy will get a low score if I review it.

I'm almost done with Metal Gear Acid 2 for PSP, so I'll be reviewing that soon. I'm facing Metal Gear right now, but I'm not sure if it's the final boss or if there's another after it. Pretty great game, I'm leaning towards a B+ score at this point. I plan on playing a bit of Major League Baseball 2K6 and MLB06: The Show today, with the intention of writing an article on baseball gaming for The Flyer (and maybe Static). Unfortunately, the 360 version of 2K6 has a fatal error that causes it to crash the system, so the fate of the article depends on how much playtime I can actually get in. And I've gotta bring back MLB06 tomorrow, so I need to do all the research tonight. Otherwise, the article shall be aborted.

I'm expecting a call from mtvU today. I e-mailed them last night about the status of the competition, and Belle replied saying I should get a call this afternoon. Haven't gotten one yet, though. I'll e-mail her again this weekend if nothing is heard.