I’ve Been So Lax
I’ve been so incredibly busy I have had no time to update my blog, so for all two readers hinging on the next comment, I apologize in advance for not keeping you up to date. Just trying to keep my head above water as best I can. So let’s see if I can narrow life down into a few short blurbs.
Gaming
Yes, indeed, I’ve been playing a lot of games for work, and a few for fun in those small moments I can make time. I played Assassin’s Creed again, this time on the PC, and I returned to the 360 version as well for the fun of it. I’m confused by the achievements, though: there is no way I haven’t performed 50 counterkills, yet the achievement stays locked. Darnit! Will I ever find every flag? Unlikely. I’ve also been returning to several games I never finished. I played through Prey on the PC, but never finished the 360 version, so that is almost complete. King Kong has made its way back in. And Two Worlds, for all its technical shortcomings, intrigues me.
Yeah, Two Worlds, which was on sale at Target for $19.95. It’s the poor man’s Oblivion, but you know–it’s got a terrific RPG core surrounded by absolute nonsense. Awful visual performance, terrible collision detection, broken quest waypoints, a bad minimap, unresponsive controls, rotten voice acting, and bad dialogue (I hope I never hear the word “mayhaps” spoken out lout, ever, ever again). Yet it’s addicting and interesting for reasons that are hard to put a finger on. I think it’s that the game itself is good–and the technology that brings it to us is terrible. We don’t use the word “polish” in GameSpot reviews, but that’s exactly what Two Worlds lacks.
Oh, and I am finishing up Silent Hill 0rigins on the PS2, though I already played it on the PSP. For the love of God, don’t be cutesy with your game names, developers and publishers. skate., Driv3r, 0rigins… just… just… stop it. Time to move past the cliches.
Frustrations
Yeah, things in the office are tough, though I like to hope that there is light at the end of this tunnel. All this behind-the-scenes mumbo jumbo isn’t my strong suit. I left behind corporate shit so I could write about games. Sadly, all that corporate shit is what makes the company a company. For now, I just play and write, and do a lot of it. But there’s still some overhanging discomfort in that place, and I hope it disappears soon, or that Luigi sucks it up in his vacuum. I feel like it is surrounding me a lot of the time right now and I am trying to shake it, but it’s almost impossible. Do you ever get that black cloud that hangs over your head, all the time? I have that. Where are the Care Bears when you need them?
It’s hard to hold on, but I keep doing it. I love GameSpot. I moved thousands of miles to be there. But when you see so much negativity aimed at you because your name is attached to this thing–this word, this entity, this website, this pile of code–it’s tough. I am grateful to Justin Calvert, Ricardo Torres, Aaron Thomas, Shaun McInnis, Chris Watters, Lark Anderson, and all the other people that help ease the burden. But I miss Jeff, Alex, Ryan, and even Frank Provo, who I don’t even really know but churned out excellent work and was a rock of consistency.
What I can’t do is make everything like “the good old days.” All I can do is try to make the right here and right now the future “good old days.” And you know, for all the slights, and the work, and the cloud, and the anxiety, I hope that I am part of something future users will think of that way. Otherwise, I am wearing pig masks for nothing.
What I’m Listening To
Gil Shaham playing the Barber and Korngold Violin Concerti
What I’m Watching
Various shows via Hulu, found at www.hulu.com. They’ve got a lot of streaming bugs to work out, but when this thing is finally up and running at full speed, it will be the future of TV. Really. I am not just trying to be cliche.
What I’m Eating
Thai food. I am addicted to basil.
Who Contacted Me
Two old coworkers: Mike Gonzalez and Rob Smock. Mike is an awesome guy and needed to know if he could use me as a job reference. Mike is hilarious–totally inappropriate, completely secure, and funny as shit. He has a story about a lima bean that I simply can’t reprint but that is possibly the funniest thing I have ever, ever, ever heard. Perhaps someday, when I am drunk, I will tell you that story. We actually had a sort of game to see who could gross each other out more with descriptions of gross sexual acts (him telling straight ones, me telling gay ones), though he would always win, since nothing fazes him.
Rob was my officemate, and also a high class guy. We got addicted to www.amiright.com, which is a repository of misheard song lyrics. I got an email from him reminding me of our favorites. Our all-time best is a line from Everything But The Girl’s “Miss You,” which includes the line “And I miss you, like the deserts miss the rain.” The lyric was misheard as “Tiramisu, as the dessert’s quiche Lorraine.” Classic.
So to end this entry, some reprints from our favorite collection of misheard lyrics, all interpretations of “Invisible Touch” by Genesis. This isn’t even close to the full list.
It has been too long! I’m glad to hear that someone is sticking it out at the G-Spot, for a while I thought it would just be Riccardo sitting there all alone…
I admit that after the ‘downfall’ and mass-exodus I stopped visiting. It was just too much bullshit… But it seems like the few of you who stayed are dedicated to making things right again, and for that I am thankful.
Lima Beans? Grossness.
The thing that pissed me off about GameSpot right now is that I just got suspended AGAIN! Apparently, posting news of a Xbox 360 controller that is a clear rip-off of Wii-mote in the Wii boards warrants a 2 day suspension. The thing that pisses me off even more is that I was posting a blog and I accidentally posted it twice because of a stupid glitch and now since I’m suspended, I can’t go back and delete one. Arrggg!!
So, I guess what I’m trying to say is “Hey Kevin, think you could pull some strings and lift this suspension?” Or at the very, very least delete one of those blogs. Pretty, pretty, pleeassse…*puppy dog eyes*
But, anyway, hang in there for GameSpot. It’s probably very rough there right now. But you guys can get through it. At least, Josh Larson got fired. We can be happy about that, right?
That pig mask comment was hilarious. I’m curious why you think Silent Hill Origins is cutesy, though. I can see how it’s not very original at all, but I don’t know if I’d go with cliched. To me, cliched brings to mind things like Driv3r or anything with a Z.
Also, in regards to the GameSpot office atmosphere and how the site is (or will be) perceived, I think you guys have gone above and beyond what I expected in terms of transparency. I think the Under Review blog is a great idea and I’m really looking forward to it. I imagine it’ll have posts like Alex’s Phantom Hourglass blogs or your DMC, Lost Odyssey, and Crisis Core stuff.
Brian, in SH 0rigins, “0rigins” is spelled with a zero rather than the letter “O.” And I say again, enough with “clever” naming conventions. Replacing a letter with a number is SO 1990s.
hulu.com is awesome. You can even watch Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann in its entirety there, which is clearly the greatest thing ever to happen to the internet.
The word “polish” isn’t used in GS reviews? That strikes me as odd. Is there a similar ban on use of the word “sausage”? LAMLAM!
I do have a black cloud that follows me around sometimes, just like in cartoons. Sorry you’ve been seeing some of yours lately. Hang tough, Kevin, and keep on doing what you do.
And for the record, I actually DO have an invisible top shelf.
Ohh. Then yeah, I’d put that right up there with using a Z instead of an S. Although, I still think Nintendo’s naming convention of game + system is even more played out. They reached new levels of ridiculousness with Super Mario 64 DS – a Mario game with THREE system names in there. I think it was originally called Super Mario 64×4 to indicate that there were four playable characters. Still ridiculous, but not as bad as what they ended up with.
For what it’s worth (and at the risk of sounding like an obsessed stalker), you are pretty much the reason I keep coming back to GameSpot, Kevin. Your consistently high quality, insightful reviews have done much to fill the void left in the wake of the departures. I’ve actually been a huge fan of yours for a while – I would saunter over to IGO just to hunt down your reviews, because I always felt your recommendations were trustworthy. The transparency you’ve shown in your GS blog posts has also done a lot in regaining my trust for the site. I’m sure you guys will make it out of this rough period, and in my eyes at least, you will have been the one most responsible for the re-establishment of GameSpot as a trustworthy review source.
I’m glad that someone is addressing the overall sensitive, and edgy nature at GameSpot with some plain old fashioned honesty. I wanted to make a point that GameSpot has crossed the river Rubicon with this whole situation. But I’m hopeful that GS can pick up the pieces and move forward.
If you look at GameSpot’s history, there are numerous line-up changes so there is hope for the future. The way to do this is get a bunch of new faces with experience and potential. Alex, Rich, Brad, were all interns and became editors. GS can bring in people and have them do something great for GS just like the past editors and staff did.
I don’t think the GameSpot staff as a whole and individually gets NEARLY enough thanks for being strong. I agree, the hate can and is strong. I can’t relate personally but being in your position, the hate is personal, and that hurts.
It’s good to know that your work is appreciated by someone I guess.
http://www.assassinscreed-maps.com/Maps.htm
A little help re the Great Flag Hunt of 1191?
As for the office woes, keep on keepin’ on if you can. I don’t think anyone with a brain believes that you and the rest of the editorial staff are to blame for GS’ recent problems. That said, this is the internet we’re talking about, so I appreciate there must be plenty of people lacking brains who feel the need to express their well thought-out and tactfully phrased displeasure to you.
Seriously, the Under Review blog and general thrust towards more transparency is only going to be helpful for everyone involved. GS will get back on its feet, and you’ll be able to get back to playing video games for a living.
I canr eally tell that something is not right behind the scenes at Gamespot. Somehow this aura spreads to the frontpage and to the shows from gamespots. Even tho nobody really SHOWS it, you can feel it for miles.