Ticked off, pissed off and generally annoyed

Sorry if this blog has zip to do with videogames, but there were a couple of things on the internet that make me just hate my fellow man, with a passion. And I'm really not fond of people in general.
Lane Bryant Lingerie add banned by Fox and CBS:
As you may or may not know, Lane Bryant makes clothes for 'larger women', or to put it another way, for women who actually look like normal, healthy women but in this ass-backwards society would be considered 'fat,' I quite honestly find such women very attractive, since, you know, they actually look like women instead of the size 0 bobbleheaded skeletons that are considered attractive nowadays. Lane Bryant did what I consider a very tasteful add of a very pretty 'full-figured' woman trying on different underwear before going on a dinner date. I think they show more skin on 'The Hills' (also full of bobbleheads). Check it: http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/banned-lane-bryant-lingerie-ad?cb=1272024994984&contribution=false
Fox and CBS basically banned this commercial because the model was 'showing too much cleavage'. WTF?
OMG! We can't have little Billy see this much cleavage on television! It will turn him into a raging sex pervert!!
Another excuse is that her breasts are too large. Let me type that again:her breasts are too large. I may be biased, being a straight guy and all, but what is the problem with a pretty girl having too large breasts (that I am sure are real, not fake? ).THIS can't be shown on television, though, oh no.
K'now how I see it? The fuckheads in charge of adverising do not want show happy, full figured woman in cute underwear. Replace the model in the commercial with a skinny bitch with fake boobs and everything would be hunky dorry, right? God forbid girls love their body's, no matter what size they are. And so the discrimination against women look they are supposed to, or even slightly overweight, continues.
I would like to hear comments on this matter. You know where I stand. There was another subject I wanted to rant about (IGN and their list of "Funniest movies of all time.:) I have problems not with the list, but with the morons who commented on the list. Almost all consisted of "Why isn't Dumb and Dumber on the list?" Because it's an insult to comedy, moron. http://movies.ign.com/articles/674/674712p1.html

Two new (ok, technically used) DS games

Y'know, I really hate Nintendo with their "we know what the consumer wants, let's not bother asking them" attitude and yet making barrels of cash from it, and the Wii is a piece of garbage fit only for very young or very ancient people to "play", but damned if I don't like the DS. Granted, there is still too much kiddy garbage "games" floating around for my taste, but I find myself using my shiny silver DS lite quite a lot.


I got two used games from Gamestop yesterday (not gonna pay 30-35 bucks for a new game, can't afford it, but damn I would love to get Dementium II, coming out next week. Oh well.) Those games are Lunar Knights, which came out several years ago and got (warrented) excellent reviews, and Big Mutha Truckers (say what?) which I did not even know there was a DS version of (I have BMT 2 for the XBOX, so I am familiar with the game.) I had not seen those games anywhere else, so I had to snap them up or probably only get them online for ridiculous prices.) Lunar Knights was only 10 bucks, and BMT was only a fiver.

Both are great games. LK is a dungeon crawler/RPG/shooter made by the same guy who did the Metal Gear games (seriously) and is as fun and well done as you would think. BMT is a fun little game with 3D graphics where you drive a truck and make deliveries to make money to improve your truck. It's more fun than it sounds.

Gotta love it when you find games you never expected to find at a good price. Never gets old.

Going for the gore

With the remake/reboot/rethinking of Splatterhouse coming out soon (ok, this September, but it's been in development hell forever)and looking gruesomely awesome in screenshots, and the remake/reboot/rehiring of A Nightmare On Elm Street coming out at the end of the month and looking like it's gonna kick ass, I thought I'd ask the age old question of what youse guys favorite horror videogames are. Not just the ones that almost made you crap your undies, also those that are not necessarily scary but are overflowing with gore and other assorted body parts. I thought I'd mention that I played and loved the original Splatterhouse on the PC Engine and loved it; I'm thinking good thoughts about the new game, and also think the original NOES is a horror classic, although the remake looks pretty sweet. Just so I could, y'know, date myself.

So what are your faves? Remember, not just scares, but could wholesome gory fun. To get the blood flowing, here are some of mine:

Scary:Fatal Frame 2:Crimson Butterfly

Gory and fun:Obscure:The Aftermath

Scary and Gory:Manhunt

So, who wants to put their heads on the chopping block?

The Evil That Men Do

There is a show on television, a very good show, that you may have seen or heard of called Criminal Minds. It deals with a group of CSI profilers who have to get into the minds of criminals, most often murderers, in order to catch them. This show is not just dark in tone; it's pitch black. But that is the nature of the beast, as the bad men are often very sick and twisted. The sad thing is that the show is very true to life, in fact some of the episodes are torn right from current happenings.

Anyone who has played video games for any length of times knows of the forever ongoing debate over whether video game violence causes the player to become violent himself. In 99.9 percent of the many acts of violence carried out every day in the world, video games are not a factor. In the very few cases that playing video games can be factored in, there are other forces at work and violent video games is just one of the reasons a person hurts or kills others.

Myself, I play and enjoy very violent games, yet cannot even think of hurting or killing another living being, animal, or even insect. Yet I find it cathartic to shoot 'people' on the screen, I enjoy it, for the most part. There are two factors that make this so:I am shooting/killing 'bad guys', and those 'bad guys' are basically light on a screen, put there soley to be destroyed. They are bad men who have done bad deeds, and you are the judge, jury, and executioner. I hold this same reasoning for action/horror movies, two genres I enjoy. None of the bloodshed and death is real, it is simply special effects and acting. The dead men get up after the director yells "cut", and wander over to catering to have some lunch.

The thing is, the urge to kill is in all human beings, me included. Most of the human race can supress it, as any civilized person should be able to do. Yet, it is there, or why else would violent video games be so popular. Right now wargames are very popular, which basically boils down to one 'soldier' killing another, for (insert reason). Hundreds of fake men and women die, and it is enjoyable. Unlike real war, there is no real pain, no families losing loved ones. No death.

Make no mistake, I am for violence in games. These games are for adults, not children, and even then, most would be fools to believe that even kids can see the wrongness of killing a REAL human being, as long as they are taught that by parents. Yes, it comes down to parenting, always has. Violence and death is part of life, sadly, and kids should never be coddled against it. If they watch the news, they will learn the world is a dark, frustrating place, and very unfair.

A dark place, yes, but one learns to deal with it. Videogames help. Anger and frustration can be channeled into 'killing' bad guys that are not real. Death is unfair, it can happen to anyone, at any time. Death has no real meaning in videogames, one can magically come back to life and the bad guys never really stay dead.

Videogames are a form of fantasy, of escapism. It can help people deal with the darkness deep in ones soul. It is cathartic. One can shoot apart or tear apart an enemy, and perhaps even feel good about it. No one has died, no real blood is shed.

Society will always have to deal with those who have allowed the darkness to overtake them and allowed them to commit terrible acts, sadly. Shows like Criminal Minds (I will once again re-iterate:this is very good, albeit a very dark series) will continue to show those who have gone down a dark, dark path. Why do they do these men do such bad things? I am always wondering this, appalled and fixated at the same time. My wife especially loves the show. She has a psych degree and might make a good profiler herself.

Maybe some men are born twisted, or grow up that way. I don't know. All of us have that dark seed in us. Some let that grow. Most let it wither and die.

We kill in videogames, knowing it is not real, and acts performed in games will not translate to real life. It is just a game, after all. Just a game.

Isn't it?

The Playstation 2 Is Dead....Long Live The Playstation 2

The Playstation 2 is almost 10 years old. It's not quite dead, but it does have one foot in the grave and toppling forward into the hole. Games are still being made for it, but for all intents and the PS2 is done.

Which makes me sad, because I believe the PS2 is one of the best consoles ever created, with one of the best libraries of any console. As of this point in time, the PS3 (and the XB360) pale in comparison, fancy HD graphics and trophy acheivements notwithstanding. And the Wii is a Playstation 2 with waggle, worse graphics and crap games.

I have had many games systems in the past 30 years, and no console has made me happier to be a gamer. The original Playstation is a great console, but the PS2 is 10 times better. And the games...the great games...I won't bother listing them, you know what they are.

And what disturbs me is Sony's half-assed backwards compatibility with PS2 games (although Microsoft is guilty of this also.) Most likely this is so, eventually, Sony can sell PS2 games on PSN...after they have sold the entire original Playstation library, of course.

I know this blog seems overly negative, and I still have my PS2 and 100+ games to enjoy on it, but the great ride that was the PS2 is over. Like riding a rollercoaster, it was an exciting and awesome ride. Too bad the PS3 is more akin to a merry-go-round.

RIP, Playstation 2. You deserve it