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

Games: Just finished God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP a few minutes ago. It's a short, smooth ride that packs a lot of action and intensity without ever resorting to a lot of filler or tedium. As a result, it can be beaten in about a day, but I'm not complaining… I'd much rather have polished experiences of this caliber than the sort of game that drags its feet and chokes me with busy-work just for the sake of lengthening completion time.

It's a top-notch product with incredible production values and smart design. The developers behind it (Ready at Dawn) are absolute wizards when it comes to programming on the PSP. The game was so good, I would have sworn I was playing a PS2 for most of the adventure. If you're looking for a jawdropper that can really demonstrate what the PSP is capable of, this would absolutely be one to show to a friend.

Besides the fact that it's just a fantastic portable game, I also want to give props to Ready at Dawn for finally doing what Sony’s Santa Monica Studios has been incapable of in the last two GoW games—giving main character Kratos a shred of humanity and actually making me feel something for him and for what he's going through. It wasn't much… I mean, I'm not talking a tearjerker here, but it was something… good show, folks. Recommended.

My review of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is also up at GC, you can check it here. Let the hate mail commence! ; )

Movies: With the recent (and well-deserved) success of Iron Man in theaters, apparently Marvel Comics has just announced a slew of upcoming films. Jamie Kendall in Minnesota sent me the link (thanks!), and coming soon to a theater near you are:

Iron Man 2 (no surprise there), the Avengers, Thor, Captain America, and…. Ant-Man?!?

There’s still plenty of material to mine when it comes to Tony Stark, but the rest of these seem like they might be an uphill battle. Captain America has already bombed at least once that I know of, and the Avengers aren't exactly a team that the majority of America is likely familiar with. Personally, I don't think they have the cachet that the X-Men did, but we’ll see.

As for the others, Thor seems like sort of a bizarre choice. Crippled doctor by day, Norse god by night (or whenever) feels a little outdated conceptually, so I’ll be curious to see what kind of new spin it’ll get. Ant-man… well, last I checked, Marvel had about 48,000,000 *other* heroes who seem like better choices to star in a film, but maybe it’ll be more kid-friendly, or maybe heavier on the Sci-Fi than the heroics to create something like a newer version of Innerspace. (One of the best films, ever. Seriously.)

Anyway, I always knew comics were cool. It’s nice to see the rest of the world catching up.

Just a quickie update tonight… I swore to myself that I would get a few more words down on the page for Behind Infernal Eyes, so I’ll make this fast.

Random: So in the last post about the Comicon, I had a picture of one of the artists wearing a crazy-looking piece of headgear. I snapped the pic on my way out the door just a few minutes before I left the ‘Con, but that person actually left a comment and after a quick Google search I was wishing that I had stopped by her table. Her name is Katy Hargrove, and her blog can be found here.

She’s got some crazy art skills and tons of pictures of her work in addition to a small online store with some of her goods. Stop by her blog and check it out… her pics of octopi are the most adorable things evAr.

Games: Finally finished The Answer from Persona 3: FES. Between this bonus quest and my time spent on the original game (now referred to as The Journey), I clocked a chunk of time coming pretty close to 100 hours. For me, that’s a pretty insane time commitment and something I never would have predicted before starting P3, but I have to say that it was a pretty outstanding RPG and well worth the effort. I plan on shipping in a Second Opinion at GameCritics so look for it soon. In the meantime, if you are even remotely a fan of RPGs, I would absolutely consider Persona 3 a must-play. If you haven’t got your copy yet, what the hell are you waiting for?!?

Movies: The wife and I went to see Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay tonight. I was a huge fan of the first film, and although this one wasn’t quite as airtight as the original, it still had plenty of genuine laughs and bizarre content. Although it’s sort of positioned as a ‘stoner’ comedy, being a marijuana aficionado is absolutely not a requirement to enjoy the film… just don’t be easily offended. There were a number of things in there that would definitely blow conservative minds, and Rob Corddry’s government agent character in particular was absolutely off the hook and over-the-top. Two words: Grape soda. See the movie, and you’ll know what I mean. Recommended!

Comics:

Today was the first day of the Emerald City Comicon, held in the Washington State Trade & Convention Center in the heart of downtown Seattle. I'm not nearly the comics monster that I used to be, but after getting back into them recently, the wife and I thought we'd take a trip down and dip a toe back into the scene.

There were a good mix of elements there, with plenty of toys and other miscellaneous things to buy in addition to the usual tables of back issues and graphic novels on sale.

For anybody into G.I. Joe Back in the day, The U.S.S. Flagg was The holy Grail of anyone's Joe collection. I don't think I knew anyone who even owned it, I just drooled over it in TV commercials. If I remember correctly, the thing cost $100 brand-new and was the most impressive toy anyone could own EXCEPT for Fortress Maximus from the Transformers line. Seeing the Flagg still in the box was a kick in the pants. Although I was tempted to buy it, I didn't. But, what I did get was...


Snout Spout! As a huge Masters of the Universe fan, I had an almost complete collection as a kid until my parents pulled the one of the most colossally jerkfaced moves ever and made me sell them off at a garage sale-- and they kept the money to boot.

Needless to say, I've never quite gotten over the trauma. When MOTU was revived a few years ago with all-new, hyper-detailed sculpts, I was in heaven.... Until they canceled it. Again.

From What I understand, the crazy-talented folks who were doing the sculpting of the toys actually had several models that never went into production, and when the toy line was canceled, they used the sculpts to create statues the same size as what the action figures would have been. Snout Spout here is the first one I've seen in person, so I snapped him up. Maybe it's just the MOTU fan in me talking, but this guy is ten kinds of awesome on my desk.

No idea what's going on at this table, but it freaked me out.

Laid low by his last film's poor performance, the Silver Surfer has been reduced to signing autographs for cash.

Besides Snout Spout and the delicious crepe I had outside, I picked up a handful of back issues I have been looking for and saw a friend I haven't seen in a few years. Good times, good times, and the good times are still rolling... If you're in the Seattle area, the convention is still open tomorrow (Sunday the 11th) and admission is only $15 at the door.

Games: Yes, I'm still playing Persona 3: FES... jeez, quit busting my chops. It shouldn't be much longer until I get to the answer in The Answer.

On a random side note, I finally scored one of the rare-ish PS2 games I’ve been after for a long time, Colosseum: Road to Freedom. I’ve never actually seen it in a store (new or used) but the premise of being a gladiator and trying to buy your way out of slavery through bloody combat intrigued me.

After having it at the top of my GameFly queue for the last several months, they finally sent it, I finally played it, and after a quick run-through, I decided it was worth an overpriced purchase on eBay. I probably won't get to it for a while, but if any of you have any impressions, drop me a line or leave a comment, and I'll be glad to hear them.

Writing: So after receiving a bunch of form-letter rejection slips, I finally got a human response from an agent in L.A. She turned me down politely, but had a few positive comments. Since she was the only person decent enough to actually say something about the book, I followed up and ask if she'd be interested in seeing a rewrite.

Her response was that the book didn't have enough action (keep in mind, she had only received the first 10 pages) and suggested that I write more like Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, or JD Ward. No offense (seriously) to any of those authors, but although they sell a million-billion copies of their work I don't particularly like the kind of books they turn out. I guess I’m sort of glad that I don't write like them since I find it fairly painful to make it through even one paperback of theirs, let alone an entire series of the stuff… I can't imagine changing my style to mimic something so far removed from what I'm going for.

I guess this is how I'm supposed to be writing my book.

The hunt for an agent continues.

Random: The other day, my son and I were having a conversation on the phone and somehow or another, we got on the subject of building him a koi pond. He's really into fish and we were just sort of daydreaming out loud, so I figured it would be the sort of thing he'd jump at. Strangely enough, the first thing out of his mouth was that building a koi pond would be bad for the environment.

We went in circles for a little while as the wife and I explained that there was a very little possibility of a small outdoor pond harming the earth. I think he eventually got it, but it's interesting to note that environmental awareness (on-target or not) was at the forefront of my six-year old’s thinking. Obviously, kids these days are going to grow up with a different reality and will have to deal with issues that people of my generation didn't really think much about.

However, as much as I'm for conserving freshwater and not damaging the natural world, I hope that at some point the people planting these thoughts in my son’s head get around to some larger issues-- let's not talk about how quickly the water runs when he's brushing his teeth, and let's start talking about weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels, industrial pollution, and the problems inherent with global warming and the ozone layer.

Maybe his teacher will cover that next year.

Food: Mouths Full has been updated... get the scoop on our local taco truck here.

The right to die in this country is a hotly contested thing. Honestly though, I don't see why.

If proposed in the context of a person who is fatally ill and with absolutely no hope of recovery, what's so wrong with letting that person choose when and how they want to leave this world?

I was recently with some friends who had a loved one that was on their deathbed. This person about to die had made very clear that they did not want to be resuscitated or kept on life support, had made all the arrangements years before they had fallen ill, and had arranged to donate various organs to medical programs after their death. This person absolutely had a grasp on how they wanted to die, and was very straightforward about doing what they could to prepare.

When this person's time finally came, they fell into a coma that doctors said would persist until they had passed away. The family had gathered to discuss proceedings and say their goodbyes, and after that was done they had all made peace of a sort and were ready to let this person go. The doctors and nurses assured the family that this person would pass quickly once life-support was disconnected, and once the tubes and wires were taken away, the family had one last chance to bid farewell. It couldn't have been arranged better, and everyone was in the right frame of mind and the right emotional state for closure.

Unfortunately, the person on their deathbed didn't die when taken off life support. In fact, they continued to hang on for another day, fluid building in their throat and the sounds of choking filling the room to haunt the family members who had already been through an enormous amount of suffering. The doctors explained that the condition would get slowly worse until this person's brain had swollen to the point that pulmonary functions would cease, and at that point the person would die. Basically, they were leaving this person in a bed and waiting for them to suffocate.

I fail to see how leaving an unconscious body to suffocate due to brain swelling is somehow better or more humane than giving them a large dose of sedatives and letting them go peacefully. Not only would it end things quicker and more painlessly, it would have spared the family the torturous waiting game of watching the person who they loved so much lay in a vegetative state and choke.

When a horse breaks a leg, or when a dog has an inoperable tumor, it's a sad event but no one makes any bones about giving them a shot and 'putting them to sleep'. We say it's humane, and 'the right thing to do'... so how is it that we can extend this grace and concern for suffering to animals, yet we don't think that fellow human beings, people we love and care for, are deserving of the same option?

The person I just described was in a coma, and although they were not able to respond or make decisions for themselves, that had made their wishes quite clear before the situation occurred. What about people who are still conscious and awake, and suffering with fatal diseases that can't be cured? Is it fair and right to force them to endure suffering and incapacity until their bodies simply give out? Shouldn't we give them a legal choice to decide when they choose to stop living, rather than make it some kind of laughable crime if they (or their loved ones, or doctors, or anyone else) assist them in trying to ease their pain?

Politicians and lawmakers can say what they want, but when faced with the reality of having a family member suffering without any 'legal' options to help them, my guess is that they'd see the wisdom and mercy in simply allowing them the right to choose.

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.

Food: Pulled pork sandwiches and pepperoni pizza with hot peppers, pineapple and whole cloves of roasted garlic both rock. Also, the wife and I reviewed a local tapas place... check it here.