Up late talking games & writing? You're...

Been away for a few days, kept busy with some late nights and too-early mornings. Gonna play some catch-up here, tho...

Movies: Iron Man is pretty frickin' cool. Went to the first showing today, and walked away absolutely satisfied, and jazzed for the sure-to-come sequel. Robert Downey Jr. was a great fit for what I think of as the classic Tony Stark character from the comics, and the rest of the cast was just as strong. The special effects were great, and the writers really took the time to pencil in the back story and motivation properly before getting to the explosions and heroics. There were a few things I couldn't take here and there, but overall it was the best superhero movie I've seen in a while. It just goes to show that special effects only work when they're laid on top of strong writing and strong performances-- no amount of eye candy and CGI can overcome shoddy material. Recommended.

Games: I never would have believed it, but I finally polished off Persona 3 today. It took me around 70 hours total, an astronomical amount of time in general, and especially so for me since I usually draw the line at around fifteen hours for an average title, and usually no more than forty for the superstars. What's even crazier than me devoting so much time to one game? After wrapping up P3, I went straight into 'The Answer', a second quest that comes on the revamped re-release of Persona 3: FES.

Another 30 hours of the game I just spent 70 on? In this case, Sure! I'm contemplating doing a second opinion for Gamecritics, but whether I do or not, P3 is one of the top RPG's on the PS2, and one of the top RPG's in general from the last few years. Again, Recommended.

Also, my review for Endless Ocean finally hit the main page at GC, you can check it here.

Writing: After a brief hiatus thanks to life and other assorted reasons, and getting back in the saddle for the second in my trilogy, Behind Infernal Eyes, and (fingers crossed) I'll be starting chapter 13 before Monday.

Also, on the topic of agents and publishers-- can I just say that the only thing more annoying than receiving completely generic, mass-produced rejection slips are publishers and agents that don't even bother to respond at all.

Games: The words on everyone's mind today are Grand Theft Auto IV.

This is a big game, quite likely destined to be one of the biggest in history thus far. I hardly think I need to explain why, but for anyone who needs proof, look no further than your nearest newspaper or television newscast.


Like hogs to the trough, uninformed sensationalist media are re-converging on this series not because for what is touted to be the most compelling narrative in GTA history, its detailed approach towards presenting an open-world environment, or the latest innovations in online multiplayer. No, the reasons the media flock to Rockstar’s most famous title are the appearance, deserved or not, of violence and lurid content corrupting the nation's youth and the very likely event that it will set a world’s record in sales.

I could go on for ten thousand words deconstructing and debating the history of GTA, the biased media coverage, game design, morals, values, potential influence of images and play on impressionable minds, and everything in between… but there's no need to even have the discussion.

The only thing that's necessary to say in relation to GTA IV is that it’s an M-rated game.

For people who either don't bother to read or simply don't understand what this labeling means (and that’s at least three quarters of the adults in this country) let me spell it out for you:

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV IS NOT FOR CHILDREN.

To all the ignorant adults, pandering politicians and neglectful parents who rail against the ‘evil’ games industry for turning America’s naïve offspring into Columbine clones and sexual deviants, the answer is simple--

Don't let your kids play this game.

Quite literally, that's all there is to say. The discussion ends here.

Games are like any other form of information or media. Like movies, books, and music, videogames are simply a vehicle to communicate a spectrum of content that spans a range of (say it with me now) ALL AGES, and certain content is simply NOT for kids.

As a parent myself, I make it my responsibility to check into whatever it is that my son is playing, watching, reading (and even eating) to make sure that it's within the guidelines for what my wife and I feel is appropriate for a person his age. I may personally enjoy a double feature of gory horror classics and popcorn on a Friday night or curling up with the latest torrid fantasy romance novel and breaking into a sweat during chapter 4 , but my son’s not going to be partaking of things like this until he’s mature enough to handle them, and responsibly so.

Any parent who buys (or pays for) a copy of GTA IV without doing the research and then complains about their children playing and being ‘influenced’ by the game should first take responsibility for their own actions, and admit that they're not doing the job they should be. I have absolutely no respect or tolerance for people who want the government, the industry, or anyone espousing censorship to raise their kids. If you’re too lazy to check out what’s in the game your kids are playing, then you don’t deserve to have kids. It's a parent's job to monitor what their kids are into-- this is not up for debate.

“But they’ll just play it at a friend’s house”

…So call the friend’s parents, ask questions and have the discussion.

“They’ll just get it and hide it”

Support stores that enforce the ESRB and don’t sell M games to minors, and while you’re looking under the mattress for a sticky copy of Plump Rumps and in shoeboxes for marijuana, take a look-see at what’s on their game shelf or under their bed. Better yet, when their TV set is on and they have controllers in hand, look at what's on the screen.

Granted, it’s not possible to shield children from every conceivable evil that exists in the world, but an interested, involved parent will know when their kids are getting into things they shouldn’t – and even if your kid is a contraband ninja – you should consider yourself to be the strongest, most effective influence in your child’s development. By setting a good example, talking to your kids, and being a part of their life, any possible negative effects from games (as well as TV, movies, books, music, modern art, red meat, and a million other things) will be defrayed by the love and care you show them.

Will I buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV?

Absolutely. I’ll probably enjoy the hell out of it, too.

Will my son be playing it, or be beside me on the couch watching while I am?

Not for another ten or twelve years.

… because it was too loud.


Music: The wife and I went to go see Ben Folds tonight. Playing a small venue down south in Tacoma, we traveled outside our usual stomping grounds to see the witty piano man as he set up shop at a local college campus.

It's been a while since the last time we went to a concert -- Cake playing Portland, I think.


At the time, we were struck by the fact that although we were definitely not the oldest people in attendance, we were in the upper age bracket. At that concert, we hung out in the back and stayed out of the way of all the schmucks getting drunk and making asses of themselves while feeling out the notion that perhaps we had ‘grown out’ of going to small clubs and up-close performances. The appeal of standing-room only and hanging out in a crowd of people who smelled like patchouli was already starting to lose its appeal, and after tonight, that feeling was only reinforced.

For starters, there was no assigned seating at tonight’s Folds show, so we ended up standing in line for about 45 minutes in the rain before the doors opened. Once inside, we were a little dismayed to see that the place was basically a big gymnasium with a stage set up at one end. On the plus side, there did end up being seats on an upper level. On the downside, they were rock-hard bleachers perpendicular to where the music was happening, so not only were our butts sore, our necks were stiff.

We sort of expected the conditions before we got there, but what drove home the fact that perhaps we were no longer cut out for the concert scene was that the music was just TOO DAMN LOUD. And really, this was nothing particular to this specific concert… I've been thinking the music's been consistently too loud at every show I’ve been to for the last couple years. I mean, it's usually loud to the point that the music becomes massively distorted as the speakers strain to put out the amount of wattage being cranked through them, losing all nuance and notework in an overwhelming wave of ear-ringing noise.

As we sat on our bench trying to enjoy the show, we both looked over at each other at about the same time and remarked that the sound quality was shit – and it was. Folds plays a mean piano, yet all we could hear was the drum kit and a pounding bass guitar. We could forget about enjoying his quirky singing, too… we were catching about every fifth word, and that was on the songs that we already knew.

I'm starting to wonder if the sound guys who arrange the tech side of concerts fix things so that the music sounds good to the performers on stage instead of the people who are in the audience. I mean, we see the roadies up there doing endless sound checks on all the instruments and speakers, yet when the music starts going, it always sounds atrocious.

We ended up leaving a few minutes before the show was over so we could get out of the parking lot before the rush started, and as we drove home it seemed to me that we would have been better off buying a couple of Folds’ CDs and a few bottles of sparkling cider… we would have been a lot more comfortable at home, and we would have been able to actually hear the music that we paid for.

Games: Lost Cities was released on Xbox Live this past Wednesday. Described by the friend of that recommended it as a sort of two-player solitaire (which is a very good description, actually) it's a quick game to learn with just a few rules. After spending about 10 minutes on the tutorial and a match against the computer to feel it out, this friend and I were playing against each other and enjoying the friendly competition.

It's been a quiet week here at Lake Wobegone and... Oop, sorry. Wrong show.

Anyway, it's late and there isn't much to say at the moment, so check out the update at Talking With Our Mouths Full and and I'll probably post another few bits before the weekend's over.

In the meantime, file this under "If you love games this much, you need to get out more" department...

I really don't want to see where the ghosts respawn after Pac-Man eats 'em...

While we were taking care of things (see previous post) the family decided that we all needed a break so we headed out to the local theater to take in a picture. There wasn't much to pick from, so we ended up seeing Forbidden Kingdom, a fantasy-lite Kung Fu flick starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

Despite several years of my formative youth spent deep into Hong Kong cinema, I've never been a Jet Li fan at all. Jackie Chan, on the other hand, was The Man for several years running as far as I'm concerned. I was such a fan, I even went out of my way to meet him twice when he came to the states. Nicest guy ever, and Ken Lo (who was with him at the time) was a pleasure as well. I say this to establish the fact that I'm no stranger to films of this sort, or to either of these stars. So how was the movie?

Frickin' terrible.

For starters, the plot was like an anglo HK nerd's wet dream. In a nutshell, a doofy-looking white kid finds a "magic staff" that teleports him into some misty, magical Asian dimension sporting every possible HK reference and cliche from the last, oh, I don't know... forty years or so.

I mean, if the film had been an obivous parody or designed for the 'core HK fan as a sort of Where's Waldo spot-the-nod it might have been passable, but there's not even the slightest hint of tongue-in-cheek going on, which makes watching the insipid quest to learn martial arts, win the heart of the chaste Asian girl, and defeat the Jade Army (yes, it's really called the Jade Army) completely unbearable.

The only people I can see actually enjoying the film are the 12-and-under set thanks to the bloodless combat, silly characters, and pap plotting -- and even under the grip of a Red Vines sugar coma, I doubt the savvier kids will sit through something that would have felt dumbed-down even in the midst of the late '80s/ early '90s kid-movie boom. I mean, 3 Ninjas Kick Back had more edge than this gauzy piece of fractured fairytaling.

This is what we get when we take two of the biggest martial arts stars in the history of the world and put them on film together? I can't even put my disappointment into words.

On a more positive note, I finally wrapped up the Death Note manga series a day or two ago. Many thanks to Nightdreamer for turning me on to the best Japanese comic I've read in years.

There's tons of info online detailing this series, but the gist is that a supernatural entity gives a magical notebook to a high school genius. This book can kill any person whose name is written on its pages, and after criminals start dropping like flies, a super-detective named L is called in to solve the case. After many twists and turns, the book becomes a battle of wits between the boy with the notebook and the detective pursuing him, and the spiraling corkscrew action of the plot is guaranteed to make anyone's head start feeling a little dizzy, in a good way.

Bizarre as it is, I completely recommend this series to anyone looking for something far off the beaten path, as long as you don't mind reading the comic from right to left in Japanese format. If the strain is too much, it's also an anime series currently running at night on Cartoon Network and there's even an upcoming live-action film. (Trailer here.)

If any of you readers out there have more suggestions for quality manga, drop me a line... I'm planning on finally completing the Lone Wolf & Cub series at the moment, but I wouldn't be opposed to getting into something more recent as long as it delivers the goods .

We recently had a death in the family on my wife's side, and we spent the last few days helping take care of the affairs -- cleaning up the apartment formerly occupied by my grandmother-in-law and other mundane tasks.

Most of the people who've died on my side of the family went when I was too young to have much of a part in the proceedings, so this is the first time since becoming an adult that I've been so involved in the aftermath of having a relative pass away, and it's been an interesting experience.

I actually never met this particular relative so I didn't have grief or a sense of loss to deal with, but the impact of this person's death had clear effects on those that did. Most specifically, it highlighted to me that unfinished issues between family members should be resolved while the opportunity still exists, and if the issue can't be resolved, then some sort of acceptance of the circumstances should be reached before death removes all options.

Make peace with others, or at least yourself. Regret is a heavy thing to carry.