The Stack is not dead...

I'm not going to lie and say I tried. I didn't. Warcraft took away a lot of my video game time there for awhile. I crammed in some Resident Evil 5 for a week or two (there are rants still swimming in my head, that I told Nick I'd post eventually, about that one) but for the most part I stuck to just WoW.

I did however give MGS 4 another shot this past week. It didn't go so well. Since it had been some time from when I last attempted, and I wasn't that far in, I restarted from the beginning. That was a big mistake. Again getting disoriented by the controls, from my own ineptitude, made that intial sequence unbarebly long. Add to that the cutscenes I didn't/don't give two shits about... and it's just a recipe for disaster.


Now, I take full blame going in expecting to hate this game. I had issues with MGS 2, then lost interest in 3 and that left a stink on the series that I can't shake. Eventually, one day I'll give it another go but as far as "the stack" is concerned... Mission Failed.

On a more positive note. I picked up a copy of Mirror's Edge on the PS3 for a decent $30. I pre-started this time. So next week, on schedule hopefully, I will already have something to say about the first 2 chapters.

See you runners on friday.

The Stack: Metal Gear Solid 4

"War has changed." Thanks Snake, I got that the first time you said it. Kojima continues to frustrate me with his overly wordy dialog that spends 15 minutes not saying anything. Admittedly, I didn't get to play much this week at all but what I did play did little to grab me. After a pair of videos that made absolutely no sense to me, I then spent the next hour dying repeatedly as I fought with the controls. This I'm sure is user error and not a flaw in the game itself. I just had a hard time getting the camera controls into a comfortable setup. After that I had little issue with it and actually enjoyed myself quite a bit... when I was playing. My eyes glazed over and I drifted away during the Otacon conversations. I'm currently only as far as the initial Drebin meeting that I fell asleep during. That cutscene could have easily been half as long and gotten the same point across. Anyway, hope to get more game time in this week and I hope I get more incentive to push forward other than because I should.

Modern Retro Gaming?

Who'd have thought that a blog would come with deadlines but I've got a slave driver of a partner here. (I kid Nick... mildly.) This was supposed to be posted well over a week ago. I originally poured much thought and effort into a long rant on the current state of World of Warcraft's end game content. About the difficulty and other various things. The problem is, I'm more conflicted about it than I had imagined. The result was a rambling post that would have magnified my shitty writing skills. Another thing that dawned on me, I don't play WoW exclusively. It has become the staple of my gaming and has consumed more of my free time than anything else lately, but I do play other games. Well, maybe I buy a lot of games.

There is a growing trend in the gaming community of the back log or pile of shame. Many people reading this can probably rattle off several game titles they've purchased but only put minimal, if any, time into. My particular stack is sadly several years in the making. That pile there is not even half the unfinished games I have lying around. Between WoW, my job and my attention spam, I don't complete most games. This is something I plan to rectify. Looking ahead there aren't many games on the horizon that really excite me. So, with little on the way I'm going to try and tackle this pile before it overwhelms me and I'm found dead under a pile of shrink wrapped game boxes.



This blog is going to be the perfect carrot for my stick. I now have a place to vent my opinions, feelings and thoughts on the games I'm playing. The plan is a new post every Friday detailing my progress. Let's hope with a defined goal to write about I can meet these demanding deadlines. First up to the plate?


Yeah that's right, the very polarizing MGS4. "Sons of Liberty" soured me enough that "Snake Eater" sits in my unfinished pile. I got a copy of "Guns of the Patriots" at Gamestop during a "buy 2 used games get 1 free" sale. Perfect fodder for my first attempt at critical commentary. See you in a week.