Moving On

Its been a month since I’ve become single and while things have been progressing better, its painfully slow. There are good days where I’m happy and content, excited with what the future will bring and curious to see what adventures lay before me. Then there are bad days where I’m be shut in from the world, tired and upset with the slightest reminder of her will push me into tears.

I’m working through the pain and the sorrow hoping that every day after the last will be better. Most of the time it is, for I’ve been going out and having fun with my friends and partying a lot. But there is still that feeling in the back of my head, in my chest of that pain and that lose. I’ve posted on here before thanking her for what she has given me for those three years and I still stick by that. I even forgave her for breaking up with me but it doesn’t make things go away instantly.

Something like this which is so profound and was so prevalent in my life cannot be turned off and forgotten in a blink of an eye. From what I’ve been told by others who went through similar experiences (some after 5 year relationships, others after 12 years!) that the pain will never go away but only be dulled as I get used to it. I’ll never forget her and I don’t want to. But at the same time I don’t want to be in pain either.

So I will move on because honestly what other choice is there? I will find someone else and I will fall in love all over again and I will take risks, make mistakes and go through it all over again. But this time around I have more knowledge and experiences to apply and be a better man for a woman out there.

Battlefield 3 Impressions

*Warning: The following contains spoilers for Battlefield 3*

I know DICE is a multiplayer orientated video game developer but I had high hopes for their single player component for Battlefield 3. After playing and enjoying the campaign from Battlefield: Bad Company 2 I expected that they would follow suit with an outing that was equally emotional, with lots of action, good characters and a gripping tail. Granted Bad Company 2 wasn’t the genre defining story and will not win any literary rewards but it made the campaign worth playing through.

Battlefield 3′s single player campaign is nothing more than a glorified tech demo for the Frostbite 2 engine. It is as if EA and DICE created this new technology and instead of asking themselves “What sort of story can we tell with this?” they asked themselves “How can we show this off?”. Like a toddler in the playground with the newest toy, they waved the Frostbite 2 engine around in everyone’s faces but did not really know how to play with it.

Image via Wikipedia

The story itself is typical of modern warfare shooters which really has become none existent or background noise. There is a nuclear weapon, something about middle eastern bad guys, and oh guess what, the Russians are involved! Its too bad the mission design and levels did not reflect this poorly put together story but rather were made to show off. DICE needed to show that there are Tanks in the game, so we get a whole mission about that. Same with Jets, building destruction and one too many close up fist fights.

That is my biggest complaint with the entire single player campaign. What I mean is that you as the player are not really playing but rather watching an interactive cutscene. You’re tasked with killing some bad guys here and there but most of the time you’re following an on screen marker to a destination just 20 feet away, pressing buttons when the game tells you to and watching the explosions and action scenes.

Death to SOPA/PIPA

There has been a lot of talk about SOPA and PIPA lately over the internet, at the school I attend and in public. If anyone does not know what those two things are, a quick google search and you’ll see that they are anti piracy and copyright protection legislature that is being discussed in congress in the U.S.

Originally I wasn’t going to make a post about this. I figured the issue was beat to death and that everyone knew pretty much what was going on and there was no need to be another person added to the list.

I also thought that these two bills would only affect those in the United States.  Obviously I’m wrong on both counts. SOPA and PIPA are important to fight against because they threaten a free internet and our ability to create, share and express ourselves.

Here’s To The Crazy Ones

I recently finished reading the Steve Jobs biography and there is a clear message throughout the book which is summed up as “The journey is the reward”. In other words it is not about the finished final product or if you succeed or fail but rather the reward comes from the journey up until the last point by working with others and seeing what you can accomplish.

Image by The Seg via Flickr

Now applying that motto to the gaming industry and its clear they have it all wrong. Long ago it used to be about the journey but in the last ten years it has been about the end result and money. I can’t blame companies for trying to make money but clearly they are lacking creativity and passion. Games were once crafted with talent, care and over the course of a few years at the very least. The journey was the reward because people came together to make something that truly was extraordinary and fans responded in kind. The end result wasn’t that bad either.

Killing Assassin’s Creed

The Assassin’s Creed series has a good thing going for it. The games can tell a great story with wonderful character development, emotional connections and climaxes, and a dedication to period pieces. The only thing keep it back and hurting the series overall as a whole is the year to year releases. You are probably going to call me crazy I know but good games do not need sequels every single year. This may as well be known as “Call of Duty Syndrome” because it takes what makes a great game worthwhile, runs with it and never changes or lets go.

Image via Wikipedia

Assassin’s Creed is facing the very same health issue. It tells an incredible story over the span of several games which keeps me buying the next sequel but the gameplay mechanics are getting old and worn down.

For those who do not know, Assassin’s Creed is an open world style game in which the player is tasked with a main set of missions, side missions and side “tasks” (no other way to describe them). There are also a string of collectibles to pick up, random world events and a whole lot of Parkour in order to get around quickly.