Sunday, March 8, 2009

In which I blog again.

Yeah yeah yeah. I know. I know I know I know. I KNOW. So get off my back already, willya!? I've been busy! Actually, maybe I haven't. If you must blame anything, blame Twitter. I hopped on that particular bandwagon only reluctantly, partly because it just seemed so dumb to me, but darn if there isn't something easily appealing about it, especially because it requires so little commitment. And the 140 word character limit means there can be a little creativity involved. But I worry about it in regards to how it will affect blogging habits. Not just mine, which suck in any case, but even those who are more committed to blogging.If you are randomly scattering tweets out into the world all day, doesn't that lessen your desire/need to sit down and actually compose a more thoughtful blog? I'm just asking.

In any event, I'm here now. Though I don't have much to say since I've twittered it all already. JUST KIDDING. I actually don't have a "topic" this time, other than the desire to say "HAI GUYZ!" and to share a few random thoughts with you. As usual, a few long, epic blog posts still remain only in my head, like my treatise on why Los Lobos is the Great American Rock Band, as well as a confessional on why I can't live without my motorcycle. Maybe some other time.

Meanwhile:
1) Battlestar Galactica: Other than the 2-part mutiny episodes, I can't get behind this season at all. I'm sorry. I'm trying. It's been made worse by going back and watching the initial miniseries with The Wife (who I'm not allowed to call a Cylon anymore, which probably means she is one). I think at some point the writers just thought they needed to say something more "important" or "profound" than was really worth bothering with, at the expense of providing us with good TV drama and thrills. Man is its own worst enemy: ORLY? The characters are all over the map, the pacing is WAY off from episode to episode, with simply no forward thrust on the narrative. The fact that there's only a few hours left is stunning given how stilted and lackluster and unsuspenseful the last few have been. Final verdict: BAH.

2) Haven't seen Watchmen yet. I am not expecting great things and will be happy if it doesn't blow. Still, the worst movie in the world won't diminish how amazing the graphic novel is. And it's great to see it on the book bestseller chart after all these years.

3) My job continues to kick my ass. In a good way. The things I didn't know about game development could fill, err, I dunno, a bus terminal. I bet if I was twittering I could have come up with a better word there. It still doesn't change how I would have approached my press job though.

4) The Incredibad album is hilarious and well worth the $2 I paid on Amazon's daily MP3 deal. I was worried that it wouldn't hold up without the videos, but, yes, it does. Can't remember the last time I bought a "comedy" album. It doesn't hurt that the songs are, mostly, ridiculously catchy. Good stuff. Andy Samberg man crush confirmed.

5) Empire: Total War has been downloading off Steam for three days now. That plus reports that there are some serious stability issues has already taken the wind out of my sails for this game.

6) Which is too bad, since I seriously need another game to get me to stop playing WoW all the time. My addiction is as bad as ever, as proven by my World Explorer achievement, which means absolutely nothing other than that I need to stop. Actually, the endgame stuff has been fun (second Naxx run today-whoooo!), but, on the other hand, I'm finding myself, at level 80, getting bored already. Which I know is not a new problem for anyone. Today I finally got going on a Death Knight instead. Having been in the beta, I know how great these opening quest chains are, but, once these are over and I'm back in the "main game"? Ugh. Not sure I can do it again. (But watch me do it anyway.)

7) And, finally, yes, there are podcast rumors out there. They might very well be true. Who knows, though. Those guys are a bunch of fuggin' flakes.

53 comments:

Ian Jacobson said...

oh man, please let there be a new podcast! i miss the brodeo.

Stephen said...

Twitter. The new Wow.


I visited a REAL store and bought Empire TW. Finally got it installed (15GB HDD space!!!) after a technical bout with Steam. For the record, Steam is highly overrated and can be quite a nuisance. I prefer Impulse. But that's for another topic on a rainy/snowy day.

Played a bit of the first tutorial until I got lost in the rather simplistic controls. For some reason I couldn't control my troops to fire and they all died a horrible death. Exited the game and went back to Dead Space for a while.

gakon said...

I ended up the same way with WoW. I have a healing Druid; hit 80 sometime in January, did heroics and some raids (I'd recommend you try out Vault of Archavon and Sartharion if you haven't yet - super-easy one-boss radis), and then just kind of fell off. The process of gearing up couldn't sustain my interest, and soloing with a Resto build is pain incarnate.

And NOW, my brother and friend started playing their characters again, and want me back on the bandwagon. It's like, dangit, I happily kicked that habit a month ago!

Rhody said...

I think any subject that someone doesn't have more than 140 characters worth of words to say about doesn't deserve to be blogged about anyway.

Joril said...

HAI JEFF!

Bad timing on my behalf, I'm off to bed.
Podcast sounds good, if it happens or not. I can listen to any hypothetical banter in my mind.
How about we pit you against Jessica Alba again?

Anonymous said...

Watchmen was good. Not great, but I think it's the best to be expected out of a big budget film. JEH's performance as Rorschach is amazing.

By the way, I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS PODCAST

Ken in Irvine said...

I am a big fan of the Total War series, but have only downloaded the demo on Steam so far.

Despite the fact that it seems to crash more often than not, I cannot stop playing the naval battle mission. That is just too much fun.

I suggest you put it to the side until they can iron out all the bugs. Then, it should kick some serious ass.

Mr. Gamer said...

Saw Shawn tweeted about a superstar show of you, him, N'gai, Luke and Bobito. Sounds like the best Lost podcast ever.

John Rivett said...

I think if there were to be a new podcast, it should be in the mold of the Ricky Gervais podcast, only using Bobito sans glasses in the Karl Pilkington role..

Anonymous said...

Jeff, I saw the size of the ETW download and drove straight to Best Buy. So far, I've heard far more issues with Steam's handling of the game than the game itself.

But let me put some wind back in those Total War sails: this is Creative Assembly's best game since the first Medieval. The AI has given me a run for my money in several battles, and demolished me in a good number of them. The strategic level of the game has also been improved enormously, to the point where I think comparisons between it and Civilization IV are quite apt. This game has a dizzying array of options.

All of this is to say nothing of the incredible battlefields. Sending a tide of grenadiers and musketmen to assault an enemy position, cannonballs criss-crossing overhead, airbursts showering your troops with shrapnel, drummers pounding away... it's like a Bernard Cornwell novel in the best sense.

Oh, one other thing (and sorry if this is not the appropriate channel): my girlfriend was accepted to Berkeley's grad program and we might be moving out there. I would be very grateful if you could offer some insight on what the area is like, and the pluses and minuses of living there right now. We're a little intimidated, both being from small-ish Midwestern towns. Odd request, I know, but I know nobody who lives out there and grad schools don't seem to quite know what to make of a couple. The other option on the table is Boston. Either way, we're in for a huge change.

SilentG said...

I've been happily WoW free since about 3 days after the lich king expansion came out, even though at the time I thought nothing could have been worse (my account got hacked) I think that guy did me a favor. I've been focusing on graduating, exercising again, and my desire to play consoles has been refueled(wow i've missed A LOT) My suggestion is to get out while you still can. Once you get in the habit of farming raid instances and waiting for the next batch of content to hit, you'll be TOO far gone. Days will pass and you won't even notice. DON'T DO IT. but annyywayyyy. PLEASE PUT OUT A NEW PODCAST. even if other are flaky, you're the seasoned vet, grab the reigns or whatever and get them to stay onboard. PLLLZZZZ POR FAVOR

Anonymous said...

WoW end game content is a joke now. You should play PvP.

Anonymous said...

Jeff, you sound like a reverse-grandmother.

Instead of bitching about how seldom we come to visit, you're whining about not providing us with enough opportunities to do so!

As for WoW, the achievements opened up a whole new aspect of the game for me. But my advice to any who wants to start down that path, pick only ONE toon on which to focus achievments... and I recommend a mage. While it's nice to have plate going back and soloing Ony or other former "endgame dungeons", having the ability to do massive AoE combined with the ability to port just about anywhere in the world whenever you need to makes achievement whoring tolerable.

Anonymous said...

Please do another podcast Jeff. you're the funny one from the brodeo.

Cornelius T. Fish said...

The podcasting world was devastated by your departure, can we dream of your return? Do we dare.

Alex said...

"If you are randomly scattering tweets out into the world all day, doesn't that lessen your desire/need to sit down and actually compose a more thoughtful blog?"

Dude, I hate to play angry old man but didn't we just have this conversation a few years ago re: blogging as the death of informed, thoughful writing?

If blogging killed writing and Twitter kills blogging then what trumps Twitter? Guttural shouts, monosyllabic grunts? Guess I can roll with that.

BRODEO!

Anonymous said...

I picked up Empire: Total War from EB Games just yesterday.

I went in with eight of my 360 titles (because I recently bought an Alienware core i7, and now only want to play PC games) and the guys at EB gave me... get this... $260 worth of in-store credit. Ka-ching, baby!

For Fallout 3, Fable 2, and Far Cry 2 I got back almost as much as I originally paid for each title - it's like I played those games for free, almost.

It was a sweet deal, so I picked up GTA 4, FEAR 2, Empire Total War, STALKER CLEAR SKY, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, and the PC version of Mass Effect.

I'll probably get around to playing Empire sometime this summer. (Did you know that Empire, right now, is the highest reviewed game of the past 12 months? Metacritic lists Empire as having a combined score of 94%, which is even higher than Fallout 3. Pretty amazing.)

But right now I'm just enthralled with GTA 4. This game looks ten times better on the PC than it does on the 360 - I set the anisitropic filtering to 16, and the game became shockingly clear. While driving around the Hove Beach area, at dusk, I almost thought I was dreaming. I've been out of the PC loop for a while now, but I had no idea that PC games could look that good.

Anyhow, don't give up on your Empire download, Green. The critics are saying that Empire is the best of the Total War series. (I'm a bit surprised that you're downloading this title, though - me, I like to take a game manual to bed with me... which pisses the chicks off, let me tell you... but, hey, they can have me after I've finished reading about the various factions in the game.)

The Goose.

Peter Fall said...

Podcast Please!

Jailem said...

You know Jeff in your pre-twitter days, when you didn't blog for a week, I would worry, is Jeff okay, has he forgotten us, is he working too hard. But it was fine, you would eventually make another post and all was well with the world. But now that you've started to twitter it even better, cause you can do a weekly blog post, and if I ever wonder what's up with Jeff, I just go to your twitter and I can see.
And Jeff the whole "Oh Woe is me I haven't blogged in so long" thing is getting a bit old, but do what you must.

Kevin Elgar said...

Go in to Watchmen expecting the graphic novel translated (in the language sense) into a movie; it captures a lot of what was great, some is lost, and others as a fan you won't even notice went wrong.

The music, I found particularly amazing, which is weird because I'm far too young to relate completely with it (though you sir are not haha!).

J T 0 N said...

Actually BRODEO is a polysyllabic shout. But I'll add a second, if I may.

PODCAST! (Unintelligible gibberish following)

I would quite enjoy anything that would come from those rumors and it would be more interesting if it were not videogame related. I mean, there are only so many podcast related to video games before one can find the whole process a bit grating on the ears. Just one more would make one want to quit on all of them.

Unless you're doing a "theoretic postulation on gaming culture and history" podcast. Very hipster-chic right now. Get on the bandwagon.

JSD said...

Alex said:

If blogging killed writing and Twitter kills blogging then what trumps Twitter? Guttural shouts, monosyllabic grunts? Guess I can roll with that.

Actually, I think podcasting kills twitter for something with even less thought put in...

Anonymous said...

Podcast would be so awesome, I'm relistening to all of the old brodeos still

Anonymous said...

Podcaaaaaast! Woooooo! *shows tits*

Anonymous said...

Forget apologizing for being late with your blog. It's a fact that 64% of all blogs posts begin with an apology. Don't be one of those schlubs. Whenever you blog, expect us to be grateful.

Tim said...

Totally agree about Battlestar Galactica. I should have stopped watching after the 2nd or 3rd season. This season is terrible. I actually found myself laughing at some of the scenery-chewing from normally great Adama and Roslin.

The show's creators are just pooping on everything that has come before (George Lucas Syndrome?). I mean, really... SHE was the final Cylon??? Come on! Talk about anti-climactic. Gosh how I loathe this season!!!

Can't remember a show that was so good but fell so far. It is truly ruining my original appreciate of the first few seasons.

Anonymous said...

Jeremy Steven Dreyer said...

Actually, I think podcasting kills twitter for something with even less thought put in...

Assuming you're not joking, you're listening to the wrong podcasts. Sure, many of them are just a bunch of guys talking about nothing, often at the same time. But there are some incredibly intelligent, well-constructed podcasts out there, clearly with much thought put in - see This American Life, most of NPR's shows, and Robert Ashley's A Life Well Wasted. When done well, podcasting can be the best of radio journalism, only without the commercials.

And with that said, Jeff, you've gotta talk those guys into doing the show. I said it to Shawn on twitter and I'll say it again, it's been too long since we've heard you, Shawn, and Robert on the same show.

Anonymous said...

Here's what concerns me about BSG. They're going to wrap up ALL those dangling plot threads in just 2 final episodes?

The Cylon War...
Kara Thrace...
Hera...
The Opera House...
Gaius Baltar's Caprica Six visions...
What happened to Earth...
oh yeah, that whole finding a home thing...

...REALLY?

Totally agree on WoW. I have Empire TW, Call of Duty 4, Spore, LOTRO, and about a dozen other games I want to play or replay spread out over a laptop, desktop and 360....and I'm heading back to WoW.

At some point, Alec Baldwin will show up at my house and scoop up my brains with a melon baller.

Eduardo Rebouças said...

I'm a bit with you on the whole Battlestar thing. It's a bit off putting sometimes... like last weekend, Adama just going Pollock and crying. Kinda sad.

As for WoW, I've been at 80 for a couple of months now, and I'm getting really bored as well. Naxx has given all that it would for me mostly... read your twitter on it, though, congrats on the drops there!

Anonymous said...

I really do miss the old podcast. It was one of my most anticipated shows each week.

On a side note, I co-host a WoW Blogger podcast, and while your blog isn't "about" WoW, you are a wow player and blogger. It would be awesome to have you on the show at some point. We do an interview each week with a different blogger.

Twisted Nether Blogcast

John Rivett said...

We understand why you don't update this blog very often, your a busy man. Just remember we'll hate you forever if you don't...

Anonymous said...

I heard that BSG will end off with another 3 hour mini-serie special.

On Watchmen, I'm only now reading the book and so far I can say that the movie stays very respectful to the source material.

The movie itself is very well done, but I've heard many people complain who were expecting another Dark Knight, but this is so good for being so different. And it is the first movie that I have seen in a very long time that has really earned its no under 18 rating.

And Rorschach is AMAZING!

Ralph said...

Jeff, I'm super excited about this potential new podcast! I'd even pay for it (shhh)

Anonymous said...

Good sweet Jesus, look at the buzz that's being generated even by the mere mention of a podcast rumor... why can't people get that excited about text?

Ya know, in days of old, English people, spread out across the world, would wait, dying in anticipation, of the mail ship's arrival - because onboard the mail ship was, of course, the mail, and in the mail was the latest chapter of whatever story Charles Dickens was working on at the time (he used to have his stories serialized in the newspapers, meaning that every second week or so you'd get to read a new segment of the story).

Those were the days, boy. If you were a writer back then, then you had respect. (And you got paid well too.)

Had Chuck Dickens been born in our time I am convinced that he would have remained unpublished.

E.M. Forster would've gone unpublished too, as would've Jane Austen, and Joseph Conrad... all the big names, really.

(I'm not saying I wouldn't want to hear another podcast... because I would... but Greenspeak... and other blogs like it... are also a hell of a lot of fun to read... and occasionally informative. I like it, in particular, when the blogger unintentionally writes about the seemingly trivialities of his or her life. It's the little stuff that's often the most fascinating - such as the agonizing decision one must make when deciding which motorbike to buy, or the way one's colleague at work has been discourteous and has not stopped to hold the door open for one... and how people react to that... man up, Jeff, god damn you.)

Anonymous said...

Having a new podcast with all those guys would be great. I really hope those guys will be able to create such a wonderful, new and interesting podcast.

Rick said...

Need a new game? World in Conflict: Soviet Assault is to be released tomorrow. I downloaded the demo last week (the game was released Oct 2007), and I was hooked. I've done Total War series, and I thought I had a good handle on RTS. WiC is a whole 'nuther animal.

Unknown said...

Twitter rocks, which surprises me as I normally hate people.
As for the new podcast rumour I will sacrifice many beers to the gods so that it will be true, I really miss the brodeo.
Instead of Empire TW I just bought Dawn of War 2 instead and I'm loving it, I wish I was a Space Marine.

Anonymous said...

I am personally enjoying this half of season 4 of battlestar, so I have to disagree with you about BSG. However, I do see where you are coming from. There are many plot lines to tie up and so few hours remaining.

The prospects of brodeo 2.0 is simply the best podcasting I've heard in a while It wasn't the same after you and Shawn left in the fall. Plus, if you leave 30 seconds of silence interspersed throughout the podcast it will seem that Ryan Scott is back with you guys.

Grubber said...

Amen to the Battlestar stuff. I was hoping the mutiny was going to succeed just so that they would kill off all the emo characters, but instead, two of my favorite characters got the axe.

Here's hoping they all die in the end.

Grubber said...

And by the way, let me guess:

A special appearance on the Geekbox podcast?

Level Up said...

Podcasts?! Don't you dare pull on my heart strings Mr. Green! You sir, ARE the lord of the rings!

John Rivett said...

New podcast = Black Dragon returns!

Heard it here first

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeff, love the blog but please, please get on a podcast. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the state of PC gaming and where you think it'll go. Thanks!

Michael Kenyon said...

Jeff, you gotta stick with Empire. I've spent the last 4 days playing it with every free moment (and some moments that shouldn't have been free) I've had. It's an amazing game, and a great step forward in the series.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever taken Eggbertt to the Barber?

Anonymous said...

Hey! How about some Lost insights?

Brian said...

I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point, I just expected BSG to suck...and then it got better. On a per episode basis, this season sucks. But, there have been echoes of greatness. I thought the 2/28 episode (Kara with ghost dad) was very good. I can't remember the details, but I remember thinking "this is good". And I always tell myself while watching: this is Battlestar Galactica - with circa 2008 cgi and effects. I remember in the mid 90's daydreaming of such a thing. **And it's been on for over five years.** I treat every episode as a gift from nerd heaven and try to enjoy it.

Get back in the game Jeff. Get back on that mic. We need you.

Brian said...

And f U2 for playing the Somerville Theater tomorrow night - for four stupid songs. There go my Watchmen plans.

Unknown said...

RE: BSG
I agree with you Jeff. I feel they're giving us nothing but oatmeal in our meatloaf of a show. Give us some damn meat again!
Oh... and don't let the finale suck...

Brian said...

I remember the part of the piano episode I liked - the part where he played the first notes of the theme from the original series - the very first notes of BSG on a tv screen (Kara said it was the 5th movement of so and so's symphony or something). And he said that when he's stumped, he always comes back to that, which obviously is RDM saying that about the original series. Very cool.

Anonymous said...

Jeff, have you tried Age of Conan? It's the MMO I've subscribed to the longest, and I've tried 6 or 7. What sets AoC apart is its amazing graphics, plus the fact that it's rated M means the player base is 18+ and largely more mature than other games. Why not give WoW a break for a month and give it a whirl while it still exists?

RJC said...

The Lonely Island are great, Jeff. They've always been. Not just Andy, but Akiva and Jorma.

Just check out their older stuff at
http://old.thelonelyisland.com/

People need to understand that they have been around for a while now, way before Andy Samberg joined SNL.

Check out MY PANTS! and The 'BU...

Anonymous said...

Pretty interesting site you've got here. Thank you for it. I like such themes and everything that is connected to them. I definitely want to read more soon.