1 Year and Perception

It's been more than a year since I started this - not knowing what i was going to write about and not knowing where this was going.  Yet here we are.  Between my sporadic postings and a year full of video game references and all the people I've met in between.  Lets also not forget plans to make and plans to break.  Hopefully I'll be able to announce something soon - just a matter of getting the details in order. 

On the School front I've been a student again for almost a year and a half.  It does not feel like that period of time.  Honestly the best part about having all my classes online is that i can take a real look at how I'm coming along.  Not just making mental notes and working my way around but actually seeing the progress that I'm making towards my goals.  It's awesome to login into class and see all the classes I've been apart of and all the people I'm made via school. 

Psychology is the new course I'm in now and I'm simply blown away by how much information truly exists on the topic.  Everything from the study of the how we perceive things ( one of my favorites) to how our minds and bodies process information (in which this only solidifies a stronger connection between my C++ studies and the way I think about interactivity).

I'm hoping that this next year will bring more to my life than ever before!  I can't wait to share it with the world!

Computer Applications for Business

So the past 7 weeks has been a ton of exciting and boring and frustrating and dull assignments in my Computer Applications for business class.  This class essentially breakdown the fundamentals of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel and really drills in concept complex and simple in nature.  I thought to myself at the beginning of this class that it would be "a breeze" and "how could i not know what was going on?"

I was wrong.  The beginning of this class was like the beginning of a rollercoaster.  Slow, agonizing even and not fun at all.  Then as the weeks flew by there was this steady incline of pressure.  Ideas flying past you as you reach the apex.  Finally last week happened.  I found myself struggling to get down all the aspects of Excel into this one assignment.  To be fair - I've honestly never used Excel before this class, Word and PowerPoint were at a point in time important to business and idea placement here and there. 

Excel kicked my ass.  Last week and not so much this week.  I won't let it get my lunch money again.  I write this blog post triumphantly and from standing on top of the bully I can clearly see that I haven't truly learned anything - yet. 

This is a quicky today and everyone should realize every once in a while that there is always something else to learn.  Also that anything worth doing is worth taking to time to do right 

Oh and there is this bit of excitement!!!!

Next time - Numbers and Gaming systems!

So many topics....

One of the things I hadn't taken the time to think about is that I would be spending time thinking about what to write about.  Now that i just re-read that sentence 8 times.  Topics seem to be easy and difficult to come across.  From something like your Birthday and recent happenings to very social and professional aspects of life.  I could just talk about this weeks new releases or my thoughts on Space Marine.  I could even talk about the Old Republic and it's mishap.  There is almost too much to talk about.

While all these things are relevant in the last week or so it's all about priorities.  From what I play first to what is even worth my time.  Time is money and there always seems to be a shortage in the gaming industry this time of year.  Sadly video games are not truly treated as a form of entertainment but are subject to the whims of the average toy.  Cramming it all into a small period and hoping for the best when the holiday shoppers come out with large amounts of capital to spend.  The truly frustrating part of this is that even if we take out some of the big releases that we still find ourselves overwhelmed with AAA games.

Here's what I have a problem understanding.  You're telling me that is Call of Duty was released in February that it wouldn't still be a world wide entertainment juggernaut?  Would Battlefield be any less in demand if it was released in August? There is little reason to lump huge titles so close to each other like this.  It seems like the industry is interested in gaining new people and keeping them interested but how can we do that when within weeks a purchase could be null and void by the new item on the market? 

So many people this week had to make a conscious choice of to get either Dark Souls or Rage - not both.    No one who lives an ordinary life has that kind of money and time to invest in getting both.  This isn't an isolated incident either.  Over the next 8 weeks so many people who might've purchased a whole slew of games will only choose a few based on money and time and so many of these titles will be pushed off till post holiday season purchase (when they should come out).

I understand that most companies in the entertainment industry as a whole make most of their money in the holiday season but gaming has grown beyond this and the industry has to make steps not to cannibalize is own business by etching out each other.  Competition is always good - but not when it hurts the sum of what could be. 

The End Of September

So here we are.  Literally at the end of September and more than a whole year with online classes with DeVry.  It's been a full year.  more than i can say about some of the previous years.  I know most people get sentimental at the end of December when the new year is rearing its face but why should i do that?  Shouldn't we take a look back at our own accomplishments a little more often then once a year?  I understand that there is a lot going on for most people, no reason not to celebrate or learn from what we have done.
So everyone lives in there own world this was more apparent to me last night when, with a couple friends had gone through our high school yearbook (campy and cheesy - I know), when our friend who hadn't graduated with us just pointed out how none of these people meant anything to him or mattered.  This struck me a odd - how could he not know that that guy was awesome, or that girl really did have an amazing smile?  This perception just jostled me into realizing that in all the things I've done - its all important.  It's just all important to me.  well it was important.

How can i make it matter to someone else?  how can i explain my point of view, my logic on a situation?  More importantly - why?  why do i want someone to understand me and my experiences? 

No one will understand all of me, or any of us for that matter.  We are all an accumulation of experiences and we all have had different experiences at different times with different perceptions, emotional and physical impacts that change us forever.  Whether we've been through the ringer with a crazy girlfriend or moved a lot as a kid - we are all different. 

Good news is that i don't want anyone to understand all of me.  It would be scary to think that someone could not only have the same thought process but the same emotional reaction to something.   Besides what could you possibly learn from someone who has had the exact same everything as you?  nothing. 

Now while I possibly got you thinking it's time to do some mindless locust eradication.

Which are you?

It's Wednesday and it's really early I'm not quite sure what I hope to accomplish with this blog. I like to think that there is a goal and end product to everything we do but it's almost always more complicated than that. A blog doesn't make any money and if it did it would be highly commercialized and easily accessible. I've come to the concession that only a couple different types of people will read this and with varying degrees of interest.

A close friend who genuinely appreciates my opinions and thoughts.

An acquaintance who could be swayed to care or not.

A total stranger who will form an opinion of me based on what is here.

The biggest reason I started this blog was to chronicle the journey from someone who plays games as a hobby to ideally someone who is creating or helping to create new and exciting gameplay for you.
As I looked back on my journal entries I can say with confidence that this journey doesn't exactly seem like a straight line. Life seems to get in the way. However the best thing is that progress is being made and I definitely know more now about making games than I did a year ago.

While I may not be sharing gameplay ideas or new worlds with you( at the moment) know that I will have something to show you in the future and that may be the greatest thing I can share with you.

My ideas

To augment or not augment.....?

Recently I've managed to put a decent amount of time (actually a lot of time) into Deus Ex: Human Revolution and one of the most paramount aspects of this title almost begs you to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself whether or not you would sacrifice your humanity in order to be augmented.  Now when i say augmented if mean being able to shoot explosives out of your arms or even punch through walls like the Hulk.  Bet you changed your answer from a couple second ago.  Adam Jensen, Our protagonist is the man who wields this crazy amount of power.

So this paradigm vividly reminded me of a gameplay device I used years ago in a DnD campaign.  The basic idea then was that people were getting these psionic gem implants placed in and implanted into their bodies to enhance what they can do like Adam.  In essence I had already used a system that is being used now but modified to fit the futuristic and cyberpunk themes.  I felt empowered that I had done this and went to my various notebooks and ideas jotted down on post-its and index cards (what can i say I'm low tech) to see what other ideas could have new life breathed into them from a twist and some fresh perspective.  I did come across a couple of ideas that made me really think and then i wondered what to do with them.  I updated some thoughts in a new and hopefully organized notebook of inspired ideas and left it at that.

Today I come across this this that semi renews hope and is semi serendipitous at the same time.  It really seems that I just need to take my ideas and start by applying them to what I know and love - Gaming.

The plan is now with my ideas in tow and the knowledge I have is to put them together like peanut butter and jelly. 

Before that happens I think I'll finish Deus Ex first......

What the hell happened?

It seems like forever ago I wanted to make a regular habit of posting my thoughts here.  However i believe that this is the first time in months that I've sat down and typed something out.  One could be making excuses as per why such a thing didn't happen.  While this didn't happen other things did.

"What things?" I can imagine you asking.  Since I set up this monologue this way the things that did happen was

• Re-applying for school loans and hammering out the financial details that bore and frustrate me
• Spending time looking at my current school schedule and pace at which I'll be accomplishing things and it honestly doesn't feel fast enough.
• Spending a good chunk of time at my new store making sure that awesome stays that way
• Reading The Omnivores Dilemma.  I don't like being preached to about how i should morally feel about food.  This book will make you take a really hard look at what you eat and where your food really does originate.
• Doing actual school work - a term paper on Obesity and American Culture (I'll give you a hint - we really don't have one)
• Going to Conference for a week in all this.  Conference is essentially a great time except for the minimum amount of sleep and lack of actual food.
• 3D TV event with Sony at my store
• Sony Training
• Started and Finished Shadows of the Damned

WHAT?!? I played a video game and finished it?! Since i've started working towards my goal of becoming a form of game designer and programmer I've found myself with increasingly less time to actually play games.  Kinda ironic and kinda moronic.  I can't promise consistency with the blog but i can promise that i will be busy and when i do manage to have time to sit and post - That i will have something to say.