The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

If things went well, my computerbox is running Windows 7 now with no issues.

Man, it’ll be great if things go without issue, right?

Anyway, I’m hoping for the best on that. Wish me luck in the past. In the meantime, while I work on that, you should watch Sky Render’s LP of King’s Quest VII. Because it’s fantastic.

I’ll come back tomorrow and write more stupid shit at you, I promise.

UPPED-DATE: Install went really well! Was told I’d have to fuck around in the registry to get things working, but I didn’t, so that is fantastic. I’m activated and have a legal copy of Windows of my very own! Whoo!
I was also impressed that I kept all my chat logs, e-mail, and, and honestly I wasn’t expecting this, all my Steam installs seem to have, for the most part, carried over fine. That’s a lot of downloading I don’t have to do.

More talk about Windows 7 as I get more acquainted with it.

I saw the baby albino deer driving home monday night.

I guess that’s kind of a big deal? Everyone around here talks like this deer is a huge deal. Especially since the all-grown-up one disappeared, probably to too horrible to think about circumstances. It’s nice to know that life goes on. And has genetic mutations that render fur white.

Granted, it probably isn’t the son of the Albino deer, but probably another deer from the Mom who had the first deer in the first place. But it’s cool, right? Something like that? It’s certainly something I know I will be talking about with my parents for a few days.

And that makes me wonder. Because I don’t really have much else to talk to them about. This is the kind of news they want to hear about. Not about anything I’m actually working on, interested in, or doing. It’s mostly just stuff like that. Stuff that’s completely safe in every way. Stuff that leaves me being a blank slate.

Okay, that’s kind of a harsh way to put it.

But to them, that will probably be my biggest news for awhile. And so now it’s my bloeg news for today. Sorry about that.

Why do I want Persona 3 Portable so much?

Here is a game I have bought twice already, and I really, really, really want to buy a third copy? Why? Is it the portability? Is it because it sparked a long-time love with Shin Megami Tensei? Is it because I can play as a girl?

No, wait, it’s definitely that last one.

Persona 3 and 4 have been about having a character who is a stand-in for you. You build that character up your way, make connections with people your way, and act like yourself. Well, preferably, if you’re playing as you and not min/maxing. That’s part of what makes those games amazing. They took the whole “silent protagonist” idea and pushed it even farther, in an interesting way.

But you always had to be a heterosexual guy.

It’s sort of the same feeling I got the first time I played Harvest Moon. “This game is fantastic, but it’s a shame I can’t be a girl.” It’s a game that involves dating the people you want to date in a significant way, and it’s always a shame when you can’t actually date who you want because the character isn’t actually a stand-in for you.

So yes, I really want to play Persona 3 Portable because I want to play as the Female Main Character.

Maybe I’ll pick it up at some point. I wish I could say I would when it got cheap, but this is an Atlus game. I know I’m making the right financial choice, but it’s really annoying. I wish I didn’t have to make it. I wish I could listen to this track for a million hours while I fight shadows. I wish I had time to play the game to begin with. Yeah.

The other day, Cole came over to watch me play a vidjeo game.

There’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose. I mean, gods, I watch Let’s Plays all the damn time. It’s not like I don’t know that watching other people play games can be entertaining.

At the same time, whenever I do it, it’s always something that just kind of happens. I don’t make plans to go over to someone’s house and watch them play something. It’s just kind of, hey, I show up, they’re playing the game, I’ll just sit down and watch and chat and give advice, etc. Yet, that’s pretty well what Cole did. We didn’t have any ideas, he came over anyway, and that was the first thing he suggested. That I start playing so he could see Crackdown 2.

It was a good time, it was fun, but it was just weird. Not in a bad way. Just in a… different way. Just in a constant reminder that I have always existed in one very particular social group, and that people outside my group do things differently. I get into such ideas all the time. It’s not like I don’t handle them well.

It’s just different. I keep getting into things that are different.

Different things keep happening.

Yeah.

And I’m someone who tends to, for the most part, not like things to be different. Known quantities are nice. But getting out of my bubble is better. Even little stupid things like that is good for me.

Probably.

Freedom is nice, I guess.

It’s a solid idea, anyway. Let’s do the things we want to do! Let’s make our own decisions! It’s a nice thing to attempt to try for. It rarely seems to actually work that way, but hey, one can hope.

And I suppose it was those sorts of ideas that paved the way for this country in which I live, and hey, this isn’t that bad of the place. Sometimes, it’s downright cool. I certainly enjoy living here. There’s plenty of bullshit, too, but that’s to be expected when you have freedom. Freedom is good and bad like that. Freedom is a force to be used for good or evil. It’s a thing.

I haven’t really celebrated the fourth in years. Hell, I’m working today. But I hope everyone else out there has a good time. It is pretty cool that our nation is what it is. That’s worth celebrating. That’s worth a holiday. Happy Sunday, and Happy Fourth. And sorry, any Canadians, that I didn’t make a post on Canadia Day. Your country is cool, too! Surely.

Let’s Play Alert, everyone. If you need something to watch, you should watch this. It’s a Let’s Play of The You Testament.

It’s hard to even describe this thing. Some incredible, full of himself ass decided to make a Bible game, but it’s horrible, and freakish, and Jesus talks about Chakras and is randomized in appearance every time you start the game. I was laughing so hard so late at night I probably kept people awake. I couldn’t stop myself. It was just so fucked up. Everything was so freakish and surreal. And anything that makes me laugh that hard, well, it needs to be shared.

It’s a short LP. Give it a go and hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. It’ll be worth it, trust me.

I got some pretty bad news the other day.

It seems that all mental heath issues are all one illness, even when they aren’t. This is fantastic news. It basically means I’m totally screwed. My insurance won’t continue to pay for my therapy, and I can’t really afford to go every week without it. I’ve been dipping into my savings constantly to cover these costs as is. On top of that, Kohl’s has been having wonderful budgeting issues, which means I haven’t been working enough and earning enough money, either. I can’t afford to keep going and seeing my doctor about my gender identity disorder. I need better health insurance, but I don’t have anywhere to get it from. I feel completely fucked.

Needless to say this upset me greatly. There were tears. It was really frustrating. I’m getting so fucking close. I really am, and then this. Really, really frustrating.

I have plans and schemes. I should be able to afford it better if I go every other week, instead of every week. Hopefully that won’t slow me down… at least not too much. At least then I can keep going. Once school starts up again, and I’m getting paid more, things will go a little better too. I’m also, as I’m writing this, about to leave to go see the doctor, so hopefully she’ll have some ideas as to what I can do to make this work out.

I’m not going to give up. But fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I am tired of this bullshit. I just want to be me.

Everyone was all like, “Man, I hope Kevin Butler shows up at the Sony Press Conference!”

And then he did. And as his little segment went on, and on, and on, and on, everyone realized he’s really only funny in small doses.

And then there was a few more video montages.

That was basically the Sony press conference.

The moment I saw Nintendo’s press conference, I knew Sony was so completely fucked. I simply couldn’t imagine anything they could drop that would beat what Nintendo brought to the table. Even something like a PSP2 just wasn’t going to generate enough excitement. Move certainly wasn’t. I was correct on all accounts.

Sony’s big bombs were a new Twisted Metal and, finally, a release date for Gran Turismo 5. Frankly, I can’t see who would even give a shit about GT5 at this point, it’s been delayed for so long. Just play some Forza already! (She says as if everyone who wants to play car porn games has a 360.) Twisted Metal… I guess that’s cool? But it has such a stupid aesthetic and I certainly have absolutely no love for the franchise, and the demo they gave didn’t really give me any reason to care about it. I guess it made some people happy, but it didn’t really feel like a bomb to me.

About the only new game they showed off that I was like “Hmm, I’d like to play that,” was Sorcery. This is the most generic game ever, using Move, where you’re a wizard and you use your wand controller to cast spells in an active way. That seemed like a ton of fun, at least in short doses. Of course, being a Move title, I don’t know if I’ll ever play it. They announced Move pricing, but it’s just too expensive. Move is accurate, sure, but it just doesn’t bring anything I haven’t seen before to the table, and I don’t trust Sony to bring the kind of games I have to have to it, just I do Nintendo, for example.

Other than that, the press conference had weird missteps. There was a sizzle montage like… every 5 minutes, and they promoted their advertising several times. “Here’s an ad we’re going to be running.” “And we’ll have ads on Coke bottles! Sony Rules!” It was just kind of weird.

I’m sure they’ll continue to have some games on Playstation 3 and PSP that I have to play, but Sony brought nothing to this conference to change the fact that they’re really bottom-tier in both their races at this point. I could do without them if I had to. Of course, I don’t have to, because I’m a crazy gamer and have everything forever, but they simply aren’t a requirement. It’d be nice if Sony would get that changed. Maybe at some point they’ll figure that out.

And that’s all I’m going to say about E3. Aren’t you glad I’m done? Whew.

They announced a new Kirby game.

I mean, I guess they did other stuff too, but damn, THEY ANNOUNCED A NEW KIRBY GAME.
I love Kirby. I am so excited about Kirby’s Epic Yarn. I want to buy four right now. The art style looks fantastic, and I completely trust them to create a Kirby game that’s easy, but fun as fuck. I cannot wait. But I have to. Damn.

But yeah, Nintendo basically knocked it out of the fucking park. They won E3, press-conference-wise. It was a non-stop showing of very strong announcement for the core gamer, as well as some games designed to “convert” casuals to core gaming which could really make it happen. It was good all around.

It was especially impressive to see a sort of return to 2D up on stage. It was probably due to the huge success of New Super Mario Brothers Wii, but between Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns, it’s clear Nintendo is pushing 2D in a huge way. What’s more, these games look pretty damn solid! As mentioned, Kirby looks fun, and DKC Returns looks like a challenging platformer. That’s totally neat.

As a fan of Mario Sports games, I’m kind of displeased with Mario Sports Mix. I mean, I’m sure it’ll be fun, and it certainly is designed to do what they claimed it would, which is convert casuals to more hardcore games. I just need, need a new, fleshed-out Mario Golf. I need it badly.

Also, does anyone actually want a new Goldeneye? That’s right, nobody does. Some people might think they do, but they’re wrong.

Anyway, the most important thing they announced was, of course, the 3DS, which looks AMAZING. That thing has some serious graphical power under the hood, and an analog nub that people are saying is much less shitty than the one on the PSP. What’s more, this is Nintendo, and they’re not going to launch this thing at a high price point. I am all over this, I really am. There is no doubt this is a day one purchase. Even without any real software to back it up yet (They showed a video of a Kid Icarus game, and there’s a bunch of tech demos on the show floor) I want this thing, and they have at least a year to get some games ready to roll for launch, so I’m sure they can make it happen.
Oh, and I guess it does 3D. I don’t care about that? But if it’s as unobtrusive as everyone says, sure, throw it on there. Why not?

Anyway, Nintendo put plenty of things on display to get excited about. But what about Sony? I guess you’ll just have to wait for more ramblings to find out! Dun dun dun!

Because there isn’t enough of them on the internet, here comes my impressions of the big three press conferences at E3.

In Chronological Order, of course. So let’s start with Microsoft.

Microsoft… did okay? Their presentation was very split. They were trying very hard to push Kinect seriously while not making a Nintendo sort of mistake and missing appealing to their core. However, none of it really connected together well. It was almost like two different conferences. Most of their “hardcore” gamer stuff was mostly sequels I knew about and didn’t interest me much. Black Ops? Halo: Reach? Gears 3? I will play these things, but they don’t get me excited. They are known quantities. MGS: Rising was interesting, but I’m also not a rabid MGS fangirl, so I couldn’t get too worked up from that. Was there anything else hardcore? I think that was it? Anything hardcore from Microsoft I’m going to be excited about just wasn’t shown off here.
To their credit, though, I think Kinect could be appealing to the right audience. Game after game that they showed, I went, “Man, my mom would probably really get a kick out of that,” which is what they were trying for. For me, I was especially interested in Dance Central. I trust Harmonix with everything music-related, and I think that game could be obscenely fun. If it’ll be worth the cost of Kinect, though, I have no idea, seeing as they didn’t even announce a price. What the hell? That sort of thing doesn’t bode well for it being affordable enough to have a chance to take off. The problem is that people get the Wii, and people like my parents feel like they “get” the Xbox, and that it isn’t for them. Sometimes I prove them wrong with trivia games, but that’s basically it. The people who bought the Wii probably won’t care about Kinect. It’s going to be a horrible battle to make that work. Not as much of a battle as Sony, but a battle nonetheless.

Then, at the end, there was an Oprah pulled. “Everyone in the room gets a new, redesigned Xbox!” Well, whoop-de-fuck. That was kind of stupid, because everyone at home, including me, just went “What the hell? How is this supposed to get me excited?” Still, at the same time, I realized why they did it hours later when the internet was flooded with unboxings and hands-on impressions of the new system. There was a reason for it. It was just kind of silly. The redesign looks nice, and thank god, they finally built wifi in, but it’s nothing that someone would replace their current system for, unless they simply really, really, really, really, really hate drive noise, and installing games just isn’t enough for them.

In any case, I have no worries about Microsoft. I think they’re still going to continue to win the “hardcore” vote. They simply have the best controller, and the best multiplayer, and even though I don’t give a shit about Black Ops map packs, having those exclusively for awhile is going to net them tons of money and support. They’re doing fine, and I will continue to use their system over the Playstation 3, mostly because of Nerdpoints, but also because that’s where all my friends are. And that will be back.

Stay tuned for more of me boring you with old news about E3 the next two days! Maybe even three, if I think of stuff not press conference related to say! Won’t you be thrilled?