Real Life Troll Takedown (Late to the Party)

Because I'm silly and haven't been checking my Twitter as often in the last couple of weeks, I missed this and had to hear about it from *shudder* the news media. But nevertheless, it's awesome and I wanted to share and show my support for this lady.

Rae Johnston is an editor for TechLife, an Australian tech magazine, and she's a gamer. Well apparently, gents in Australia never got the memo that girls game. She was wearing her Bioshock Infinite t-shirt and given the stink eye by some Troll in a coffee shop. He then accused her (in what I'm sure was a nasty condescending tone) of not having played. So she straight up told him the twist ending of the new Bioshock game.

BOOM!

  I doubt he learned his lesson even though she says she could see in his face that she crushed him. But score a point for the ladies!!! So after this, she's been interviewed and re-blogged and re-tweeted by the likes of Forbes, and  The Mary Sue, and Sir Wil Wheaton.

Go girl! 

I haven't encountered too many Trolls IRL, but I find them much easier to deal with in person than online, despite my social anxiety. I think they can be more vicious online and it's difficult to get them to back down when they are typing away from the safety of their hidey-hole. It's easier to take them down a peg when in public, because they have no where to run to and if you stand your ground, they will either admit defeat or mutter "Psh, whatever" and go sulk in a corner. But then, they'll probably go home and take out their aggression on the internet anyway, so it does feel like we fight a losing battle sometimes. Hopefully someday Trolls and harassment will only be something that happened "back in my day."  Keep fighting the good fight everyone. Just because the other side screams the loudest at times, doesn't mean they are stronger than us.

Memory Lane Monday: Tits & Ass, Blood & Guts, and Rock n' Roll (Some Spoilers)

(Note: Honestly, I was really having a tough time trying to get this review to feel right. I wasn't even sure if I had anything new to say about this game that wasn't already out there. It also didn't help that I was about 6 months late to the party -an eternity in tech and gaming time- but I guess that's a nice thing about my reviews; I'm not beholden to anyone but me. I don't have to feel influenced by anyone. I don't have to write a review for anyone but me. I like to take my time with a game and put my thoughts out there. I've been sitting on this review forever, mostly just out of personal insecurity. I received this game as a Christmas present -just in time for me to miss the Valentine's Day Edition- and completed the main storyline in less than a week. It's a quick play-through, but this review was killing me for some reason. So, sorry it's late if you were looking forward to reading it. But it's here now!)

Lollipop Chainsaw was released for PS3 and XBOX 360 in June of 2012. Me, being the poor-ish and slightly unemployed person that I am did not get a chance to play the game until several months later. Nonetheless, I shall tantalize your eyeballs with my magical words and opinions. You're welcome.

The main storyline of Lollipop Chainsaw follows our young heroine, Juliet. She's your all-American girl: she's spunky, she's clever, she's athletic, she loves lollipops -oh yeah, and she comes from a family of zombie-hunters. We meet Juliet as she is waking up and getting ready for a typical day at San Romero High School where she is also a cheerleader (duh, I said she was all-American) and it also happens to be her birthday, and she's meeting her boyfriend, Nick (he's like, totally on the football team, you guys) in the park so he can give her a birthday present. The day starts out normally enough with Juliet riding her bike to school (she's totes Eco-conscious) when suddenly, there's an outbreak of zombies right in front of her school! OMG you guys!  Thankfully, Juliet is always prepared and has her trusty chainsaw with her in her gym bag, and she's going to give those zombies what for! 

This is seriously the least pervy pic I could find in relation to this game.

During the prologue, you learn the basic mechanics of combat as Juliet chops her way through the school parking lot to get to Nick before he's attacked. Unfortunately, Juliet is too late and Nick is bitten on the wrist right in front of her. As Nick lays dying in Juliet's arms, Juliet casts some special zombie-slayer magic and (in one of the funniest cut-scenes in the game) separates Nick's head from his infected body. Thankfully, the magic worked and Nick has been saved...sort of. He is now only a head. But, he is a living breathing head, and not all gross and zombie-fied, and that's all that matters to Juliet. Together-(ish) Juliet and Nick must fight their way through the school and the rest of the town to stop the ultimate evil from ruining the world.
  
The game-play itself is your traditional hack-and-slash with the addition of several (required) mini-game sections in each stage of the main story line to sort of add variety to all of the aforementioned hacking and slashing.The game has some RPG elements to it in that you can level up Juliet by purchasing permanent power-ups and new attack combos at the Chop2Shop.zom kiosks that are rare, but sprinkled throughout the world. You pay for things by (how else?) killing zombies and collecting the coins that fall out of their decomposing bodies.

I really liked the comic book style of the game design, it makes the blood, gore and violence (and there is a lot) less icky, for lack of a better word, however, I would still not suggest this game for those with weak constitutions. Speaking of weak constitutions, while the violence didn't really gross me out, there is a level of crudeness in the dialogue and some of the situational humor that sometimes crossed the line for me. Most of the unpleasant dialogue comes from the enemies you are fighting and I understand it's supposed to be edgy and written to sort of egg you on in the fights, but at times, I did feel like it was a little gratuitous. I'd rather not list specific examples here as I'd like to keep my blog as tasteful as possible, but let's just say that in playing some of the boss fights in Lollipop Chainsaw, I acquired many new vocabulary words that I am afraid to Google the definitions to, but -with context clues- I'm pretty sure I can figure them out on my own. That all being said, Juliet and Nick have some of the funniest dialogue in the game even when it gets up there on the rude/crude gauge. I definitely have to credit a lot of the funny factor of the Juliet/Nick dialogue to Tara Strong and Michael Rosenbaum because they are hilarious and awesome at what they do.

Video interviews with Tara and Michael here

While Lollipop Chainsaw is as funny and entertaining as a hack-and-slash game can be without feeling repetitive, there are definitely some game-play design flaws that tripped me up. The chainsaw is an awesome weapon with seemingly endless combos to unlock, and the game designers thought outside the box when designing the chainsaw and the upgrades for it. At one point in the game, the chainsaw can be upgraded to the Chainsaw Blaster which is exactly what it sounds like: a chainsaw shotgun combo. The Chainsaw Blaster is useful for dealing with far away enemies and flying (yes flying) zombies, it is also rather unwieldy. I'm the first to admit that FPS are not my strongest suit, but the blaster's aiming is clunky and frustrating to use even if you turn off the auto-aim feature. Also on the topic of clunky and frustrating, the camera angles you can use in the game are obnoxious and without an auto-center option, there were a couple instances of rage-quitting for me simply because I couldn't see what I was doing. Combine that with the suddenness that the cut-scenes often occur, and with how short the game as a whole is (only 6 stages) it feels like the game was rushed. I could forgive the game being so short if a couple of the stages didn't feel so repetitive (stage 2 is borderline boring, and it's the part of the game that garners the "drug reference" warning on the Mature Rating label.)

Doesn't stop people from buying it

The game holds mixed opinions for me as far as quality goes, gathering from various blog posts and articles I read about the game, Lollipop Chainsaw definitely produced some mixed opinions elsewhere. I even read a blog accusing the game of touting itself as female-empowering while being disguised as misogynistic and degrading. While, I can see where this blogger may have reached this conclusion -and they have every right to express that opinion- I have to respectfully completely disagree with them. Is the game sexual? Yes. Is it violent? Yes. But is it misogynistic? I didn't feel so. Misogyny is a word I feel like gets thrown around a lot by people who don't necessarily know the definition of the word. Misogyny, in a nutshell, is the hatred or dislike of women/girls simply because they are female. It can be classified as the objectification of women or the dislike of women simply because they don't conform to certain expectations. So, I have to wonder if people who played this game and still cry misogyny actually played the whole game or if they just completely missed the entire tongue-in-cheek part of the humor. In fact, there is an entire part of the story where Nick accuses Juliet of only treating him like an object or an accessory instead of a person. Helloooo? Am I the only one who got the joke? Maybe.

Accessorized Nick is not amused.

Juliet is a strong sexy female protagonist. Is she overly sexualized in the game? Maybe. It is possible to unlock many "sexier" outfits for Juliet that push the limits of objectification. Remember the Jessica Nigri debacle at PAX East 2012? Her pink "outfit" was one of the unlockable costumes from Lollipop Chainsaw. I didn't know that at the time, and I'm pretty sure no one else did either, especially since the game had yet to be released. I guess my point is, that the game designers designed a sexy character, but she's tough, clever, witty, and caring. She feels like a real person, not a caricature. She has moments of imperfection, and moments when she is vulnerable without coming across as weak. That is something I don't see a lot of in female protagonists in games, and I'd like to see more. Are the skimpy costumes necessary? No. But, if you're a guy/girl who is playing this solely to watch a sexy blond run around in revealing attire, that's cool but I think you're missing the point. I may have just opened up a whole can of worms, but it's out there internet, bring the pain.

Bring it.

So, after that little diatribe, what is my rating? Overall, I really enjoyed the game. It was entertaining.  It has a decent replay value with the online leader boards and trying to unlock all of the unlockables, plus it's great for a quick way to release some aggression after a bad day. Even though some of the game mechanics feel a little clunky and/or sloppy, it's not a bad game, it just feels like the release may have been rushed before getting out all the kinks. I enjoyed playing the game. I would recommend buying it used or renting, but not shelling out $60 for it.

I give the game 3 out of 5 severed Nick heads

Confession: I Have an Addiction



Source

Gamers and nerds tend to be very passionate people, non?  We tend to become obsessed with things that others find a little out of the ordinary. Some of us might also be on the spectrum to varying degrees, which can give reason to our oft obsessive nature, but it doesn't make us any less passionate about what we love. It's because of these passions that border on obsessions that can often cause us to unintentionally alienate ourselves.  But when does passion/obsession get out of control?  When does it dangerously dance on the line that leads into addiction?  Does your passion change the way you interact with the world around you? Does it affect your relationships with others?  Does it consume your thoughts and make it difficult to accomplish simple tasks?  Then you might be an addict.

I may be an addict.  I may have a problem.  


I may be obsessed with The Sims.

Yes. You read that right. The Sims. 
I know I'm not alone in my addiction. I know you other addicts are out there. We are not alone! But, am I alone in playing too much Sims to the point where it colors my brain in my daily activities? Like, am I the only one who starts to picture plumbobs above other people's heads? Or starts humming the game's musical interludes to myself? Or starts zoning out when someone is talking to me and all I hear is Simlish? Or plans out my Sims' day when I'm not even at home playing? Or pictures my own "bladder" bar turning green while I'm peeing? Was that TMI? Maybe. Yes?

Don't you dare type Ctrl+Shift+C: move_object  you perv. (Sims Social)

My Sims obsession started with the original PC game from Maxis (remember them? Me either.) I got Sim Theme Park and my sister got The Sims for Christmas 1999 from our aunt -the original gamer in our family. Note that I did not receive The Sims as my gift (a fact my sister loves to remind me of any time I bring up the game.) For whatever reason, my mom's computer didn't have enough RAM to run the coaster game if Sims was installed. Psh. The 90's.  So, I was frustrated with my game lag, and in a fit of rage one night uninstalled it and decided to play my sister's game. Because I needed to game, you guys.  After the tutorial, I was hooked. I was obsessed. The graphics, the humor, the sandbox style was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I was in love. If someone had picked on me or upset me at school, I could rush home and make a Sim of them and ruin that Sim's life. It was the greatest stress relief ever. If I had a crush on someone, I could make a Sim of them and me and we could be in love and live happily ever after. Not the healthiest of choices, but it could've been worse, right? I became the resident Sims expert in my circle of friends (and by circle, I mean 2) who also played.

I would play into the wee hours of the morning much to my sister's frustration. She wasn't as avid a gamer as I was. She would play for an hour or so and then go do something constructive else. I built families and interwoven story-lines and epic sagas. The Sims was my story-telling masterpiece. Then, all of the expansion packs came out. I don't think I need to tell you that this only fed my obsession.

Yes, I still own these.

When my parents bought me my own laptop for college as my high school graduation present, the very first program I installed on it when they weren't around was The Sims 2 and all of the expansions. Seriously.  Nothing broke my heart more than when my brand new Dell I bought for myself when I was graduating college would crash any time I tried to play The Sims 2. Infuriating. But then there was hope, The Sims 2 was available on Gamecube. Alas, that game was severely inferior to the PC version. But it would have to do, I had to get my fix somehow. Unfortunately, I had to sell my Gamecube for extra cash before I moved out east. Thus, I had to quit Sims cold turkey. And I lived happily ever after.

Until The Sims 3 was released. Oh. My. God. I worked at a steak house as the daytime  hostess for a couple of years in Brooklyn, and the night hostess was just as obsessed with The Sims as I was. So obsessed, she brought her laptop to work and would play it in the coat closet when it was slow. She pre-ordered The Sims 3 and got the awesome plumbob USB flash drive. I imagine it was like a former smoker being exposed to the best cigarettes/cigars ever with the way I salivated over her game. The only thing stopping me from owning my own copy and plunging head-first back into addicts-ville was my piece of shit laptop would not run The Sims 3. Eventually I escaped that evil place of employment and moved on with my life. The yearning to play The Sims again in the back of my mind.

Cut to late summer 2012: I was in my local GameStop poking around and noticed a used copy of The Sims 3 was available on PS3. And at first I was all

 

And then I was like

And then I was asked to purchase something or leave the establishment. I sat on the idea for a couple of weeks knowing full well I could go into full-blown addict mode. Eventually I decided to risk it and made the purchase. It started off normally enough. Only playing for a couple of hours after work and on the weekends.  But since I lost my job, it got really bad really fast.

The point at which Boyfriend felt he needed to give me an intervention came when he discovered me at 6am one morning a couple of weeks ago passed out on the couch, controller in hand and The Sims 3 on pause. I had clearly dozed off while waiting for my file to save. Also, Boyfriend was tired of not being able to play his games when he wanted to. So, intervention time came last week.

In the form of a new 3DS game! If you're a Harvest Moon fan (and you know I am) and you haven't played Harvest Moon: A New Beginning yet. Get. Off. Your. Ass. It's amazing! I will write a full review at a later time. Whenever I can stop playing.

So short-story-long: The Sims 3 addict am I, but the cure? Get me addicted to a new game. Problem solved! 

Epic Boyfriend

It's official: I have the greatest boyfriend ever!

Boyfriend and I are going down to North Carolina with his family for Christmas-at-the-beach. To avoid carrying too much stuff down with us, we exchanged Christmas presents a couple of days early. I got him a nice leather-bound collector's edition of 2 Neil Gaiman books, a new laptop lap-desk, and some other fun odd n' ends. (My presents are a little lame in retrospect.)

Usually Boyfriend gives me jewelry for Christmas which is nice, it makes me feel pretty (and what girl doesn't enjoy feeling pretty?) So, when I saw just a small-ish rectangular box under the tree, I was intrigued. He talked about how cool it was and hinted that it was really nice and that I was going to be surprised; I took that as a challenge to guess what it was. Try as I might, I hadn't a clue what was inside. The box was far too big and heavy to be jewelry, unless he had stolen me the crown jewels, but when would he have had the time to fly across the pond? The tag on the box read, "To my beautiful girl gamer" and it was too big and not the correct shape to be just a PS3 or XBOX game. What was in the box?!

A new XBOX controller for my tiny hands, perhaps? Or a new video game with a rock inside just to throw me off? Or SEVERAL new video games with a rock inside just to throw me off? The possibilities were endless...


The Anniversary Edition Zelda 3DS!!!!

I was completely blown away! I was in a state of shock when I opened the wrapping paper and saw the box. For a moment my brain could not seem to compute what it was. I was that surprised. I believe the exchange between me and my beloved went a little like this:

Me: Is it a 3DS?
Boyfriend: Yeah.
Me: REALLY?!
Boyfriend: Yep.
Me: YOU GOT ME A 3DS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?! (at this point I was squealing at a frequency only dogs could hear)
Boyfriend: Uh-huh.
Me: OMAGOSHTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

We had seen the 3DS debut at Pax East in March and had talked about how it would be fun to have, but we both agreed that we were satisfied with our PS3 and our XBOX360 among our other aging-yet-equally-loved-consoles. So, to say that I was confused and excited at the same time after opening my present is an understatement.

Now we can play video games together without playing together. One of us can play on one of the large consoles while the other plays the 3DS. Togetherness while we each do our own thing is an important part of what makes our relationship so awesome, especially when living in a big city with small living spaces; it's easy to get sick of people all up in your personal atmosphere. But, somehow we never get sick of each other...or at least if he gets sick of me, he's smart enough to never tell me.

I love my Christmas presents from him every year, but this year Boyfriend's gift will go down in the history books of awesome gifts (I don't know how he'll top it next year). Needless to say, he has gained the level of Epic Boyfriend.


Roll your fortitude, bitch!

GameStop Thinks I'm a Big Deal

So, I had a funny and quasi-irritating experience with GameStop and my pre-order of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. I tweeted about it, not angrily or anything, but just to be funny and kind of call them out on their miscommunication. Well, GameStop either thinks I'm a bigger deal than I actually am, or they somehow have the manpower to respond to every tweet that mentions them, because they responded to my tweet with a mention, asking me to take an online survey about "my experience" at their store. I laughed so hard I was in tears. Hooray! I may have just made the jump to minor Internet celebrity-dom (or at least GS thinks I have)

So, no hard feelings, GameStop, I have shopped with you for years, and will continue to patronize your store.