What my blog focuses on has been touched upon by some previously written blogs, but I'm going to give you detail on why enacting these changes is a good idea.

So let's start of with the title of this blog. Some of you may be wondering why I have a picture of what the old front page Cblog sidebar looked like. Well the reason is because the first time one of my blogs made it onto the sidebar I got so excited that I took a screencap and stored the picture on my computer. It was such an amazing feeling knowing that my blog had been handpicked by the community, and that it had received so many faps that it was being displayed on the front page of the website. It was like a miniature spotlight had been shined on me. In my opinion this was better than being front paged. Because when you got front paged your blog was in the spotlight for only one day, but when it was on the Cblog sidebar you were on display for about a week.

What the Cblog sidebar essentially did was if you wrote a particularly well written blog it's shelf life was increased, and it was showcased in front of the entire website. 95% of the time when a blog deserved to be on the sidebar it happened, the community is pretty good at choosing what to fap. You can't front page every good blog, but with the Cblog sidebar it gives everyone a chance to shine.

With the Cblogs once your blog hits the second page it's pretty much dead comment and fap wise, so the extended shelf life was a great incentive to make sure you wrote a good blog. Not only that, but the extended shelf life was essential for certain blogs. When Debatoid first started people usually kept voting until the day it ended, now people usually only vote for the first few days, I missed out on voting on a few because I forgot to come back and comment. I usually like to sit on it a few days before I cast a vote. Another example would be how Stephanie K was hosting a CyberShark Week in honor of Hamza.

She got some pretty good participation, but since the blog went for the entire week participation dropped in the last couple of days. Mainly because in order to see the updates you had to have bookmarked the page and remembered to return to it.



The Cblog sidebar was taken down in early May, and well it's still actually here, but it's different. Now it's being shared with promoted stories, and forums. This raises a few problems. The first is that by default it's on promoted stories, and well they've already had their time to shine. The second is that the pictures outstretch the box only letting one or two blogs be seen (as demonstrated above), and the third is that now it's everyone's blogs not just the ones that got voted up. So when we got spam it shows on the front page. Granted it is kind of funny seeing blogs about Shemale husbands on the front page, it doesn't reflect well on the site, and that spam is taking up what use to be the community blog highlight area. I like the idea's of Cblogs, promoted blogs, and Forums being on the main page, I just think they should be seperated because all the attention is on promoted blogs now.




I took a screen cap of this because I thought it was funny having a spambot agree with someone that spamming sucks while they were spamming research papers.

The removal of the sidebar has also resulted in less outside activity. The Cblogs use to be a mix of regulars and main pagers stopping by and leaving their input. Now it's mainly just regulars, and most of us have jobs and/or school so the CBlogs aren't filled with as much life as usual. It's difficult to read every blog when it comes out that's why having the increased shelf life was a blessing. You could post a comment four days after the blog was written and they're would still be activity. Now if you don't get to it within the first two day it's like arriving late to a party where everyone's already left or passed out.


An example on how the Cblog sidebar use to bring in people

Issues with The new Bloggers Wanted Essay Response



I want to say that I love these bloggers wanted paintings with Mr. Destructoid, more of those please.I have some issues with these new weekly musings. My first issue is that a week is not enough time for many of us that have to deal with school and/or work. It usually takes me about a week to churn out a blog, a few days of brain storming, a few days of writing and some editing. There's been a few instances where I wanted to write something for Bloggers Wanted, but I didn't have the time. For instance I'm primarily a handheld gamer and I wanted to write something for the portables musing, but that week I was getting ready for another semester of college and had planned to spend the weekend at a cabin. Now that I've started college I have very little time for writing. This weekend I have to get ready for a test, read a few lengthy chapters, and write a paper. Right now I'm scrambling to write this blog and posting it on the deadline because I wanted to voice my concern over these site changes.

If I had a month to write musings I would have a better chance at participating like I have in the past. With a month the deadline doesn't pressure me, because I could just type a few things here and there in my free time.

My second issue with Bloggers wanted is I think that guaranteeing that a blog gets promoted everyday is a bad move. Before when a blog was promoted it stood out more it was a combination of being a well written story, and being lucky to have been selected to be front paged. Now that a certain number of blogs are guaranteed to be front paged it feels less spontaneous and more like an obligation. That special feeling I use to get when I saw a fellow Cblogger's well written blog get promoted isn't really there anymore. Now I kind of expect it, and if it doesn't happen I feel like it was an oversight. I haven't seen anything terrible been promoted, but some of them were just okay. I use to read every promoted blog and enjoyed all of them immensely, now I only read them sometimes.



Also since there is so much of an emphasis on promoting Bloggers Wanted blogs I haven't seen many non-musing blogs promoted like in the past.

My third issue with bloggers wanted is that it creates a carrot and stick effect, before getting a blog promoted seemed like a privilege now it seems like a right. This approach is discouraging. People seem to be writing more to get front paged that just writing for the sake of sharing your thoughts with others. Here's an excerpt from a past Dtoid article it talked about how achievments affect gamers, the same theory applies here.

“For example, one study had two different groups of kids tasked with drawing pictures. One group was rewarded with candy, one group wasn't. The next day, the kids were asked to draw pictures again; the kids who received the candy didn't draw anything, and the kids who hadn't received anything kept drawing pictures. Another experiment had three groups of college students tasked with solving some logic puzzles in a room filled with magazines and TV and other distracting stuff. One group was asked to try and solve the puzzle, and was given praise. One group was paid money after attempting the puzzle. The control group was given nothing but the puzzle. When the researchers left the room and observed the subjects, the ones who had been praised either verbally or monetarily ignored the puzzle and started reading the magazines, and the control group went back to the puzzle.”

Overall I have many little things that I can nitpick about (I'm very good at that) and if you want to hear more I'll be glad to share. I've been wanting to write this post for a long time, but I didn't want to come off as ungrateful or demanding. I imagine that Niero and everyone involved with Dtoid has their hands tied, what with all four modern method sites going through drastic changes right now. The way I imagine the situation is Niero sitting in his undewear in a dark room with the glow of the computer monitor across his face, and then Hamza walks in.

Hamza: Niero you haven't slept or eaten in 6 days, you need to get some rest.

Niero: No, I need to... Dtoid is having issues with the crashing, and tomopop has a lot of spam. Just give me a few more hours and let me just fix...

Hamza: You've been saying that for the past 6 days

*Chad walks into the room*

Chad: Niero we love you, please get some rest, we're all worried about you. Come on give me a hug

*Chad slowly approaches Niero arms stretched forward*

Hamza: NOW

*Hamza pins Niero to the ground and Chad takes out a bottle of chloroform, pours some on a rag, and rubs it all over Niero's face.*

Chad: I'm sorry buddy, but you need some rest

Hamza: I'm a mutha fuckin shark !!

Chad: Hey Hamza this chloroform isn't going to hurt him, right?

Hamza: Oh crap, I should have read the label first. Wait a minute who cares? I'm a mutha fuckin shark !!

Chad: I'm a mutha fuckin dolphin !!

I went off on a tangent there, anyways Niero and everyone who is in charge of site changes if you are reading this please consider my two suggestions. The cblogs have become a different place ever since these changes happened. The activity and atmosphere isn't as vibrant as it was months prior to these changes (though this place is still awesome). Please change the main page Cblog sidebar to the way it was before (as shown in the header image) it was perfect that way. I would have never gotten involved in the Cblogs if that sidebar hadn't existed, that means I wouldn't have become a community member, and I wouldn't have met all these great people. Please consider changing bloggers wanted back to Monthly Musings, to give us more time to write. Thanks for your consideration... and by the way I forgot to mention that I have hostages. Six marshmallow men and five pretzel people if you do not meet my list of demands I will be forced to.....eat them. Oh the humanity!

Twenty-Five years ago today the original Metroid was released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan. This would be the introduction to a beloved video game series very near and dear to many gamers hearts. I haven't seen much coverage on this today so I've decided to compose a blog to commemorate this milestone in Samus's history.

My first experience with Metroid was when my brother's friend brought over Prime. I was instantly hooked, the start up screen was amazing it was a close up of some organic matter (presumably a Metroid), and then the menu theme begins to play, which is one of my favorite songs of all time. I started the game and was instantly immersed into the dark ambient universe. I was thrust into a mysterious planet without being given any explanation of what was going on, I entered the facilities and saw the corpses of space pirates littering the floors, I pursued further to face off against the Parasite Queen and then I died. Rules being that when you died you have to switch the controller I then passed it to my brother's friend who took over from that point on. I had never experience anything like that before. The atmosphere it was just so unique.I just kind of stared at the T.V. screen in awe as my brother's friend proceeded to play.

When Christmas came later that year I asked my sister for a copy of Metroid Fusion. I didn't really know anything about the game, I just knew that it had the name Metroid and was hoping that would compensate for my inability to play Metroid Prime because I didn't have a gamecube. Whenever I'm asked what my favorite game of all time is I always reply Metroid Fusion, that game -- I love it to tears. Truthfully I can't pin down just one game that is special to me, because there are far too many, but It was Metroid Fusion that showed me that games could be more than just fun, and for that the game is very precious to me. I was twelve at the time and up until that point I was playing video games just for the game play. It never really occurred to me that video games could be more. I had played games that took place in space before, but Metroid Fusion was the first one that truly felt like I was in outer space. Years passed and I had quickly started to gobble up everything Metroid that I could find, it wasn't until 2009 that I got my hands on a copy of Metroid Prime Trilogy.

Now that I had experienced 2D Metroid at it's finest I finally made the plunge to 3D that many had made 7 years earlier. I loved it. The game is brilliant. It took everything that made previous Metroid titles great, and expanded upon them making the universe even more immersive. The way that narrative unfolds is nothing short of genius. Instead of the story being revealed through traditional cut scenes, you have to piece it together yourself from stolen reports, journals from the deceased, and database hacking. This is what propelled the game into being a highly psychological journey. No other game has managed to envelop me in the same way the original Metroid Prime has. The wonderful atmosphere that this game has is one of beauty, fear, wonder, and uncertainty.

Metroid is my favorite video game series of all time, which is not something I say lightly. Out of the over 200 games I've played in my lifetime (yes I've counted) no other game series has captivated me the same way that Metroid has. I've since beaten every single Metroid game except Return of Samus (which I will remedy once it hits the 3DS eShop) and Corruption (which I've been putting off because it's the last major Metroid game I haven't played yet and I'm sad to not have anything else to look forward to). A mix of iconic music, unrivaled atmosphere, fantastic art direction, inventive exploration aspects and so much more is what makes this series special to millions. Thank you for the amazing twenty-five years let's hope to make it an even fifty.

E3 is just a few days away, and the excitement is just piling up. I'm a Nintendo fanboy so this is an especially important time of year for me. Out of the Big three Nintendo is the most tight lipped. Sony is never able to keep anything secret, and them and Microsoft are more generous at sprinkling their announcements around the year. Not Nintendo though, they make an all out concentrated attack. If you're a Nintendo fanboy or fangirl E3 2010 was an avalanche of awesome, the perfect wet dream. I wish Nintendo was better at spreading their announcements throughout the year, but I can't deny that it makes for a spectacular E3.

What I'm most excited about are the happy surprises, every year a few unexpected games pop up and quickly skyrocket to the top of my do want list. Naturally since I don't know about these surprises yet I can't talk about them, so what I'm most looking forward to is a firm North American release date for some games.

I Just Want Localizations Really



I know most people are hoping for localizations of the Last Story, and Xenoblade Chronicles, and I'm about 90% sure they will be localized, and although those do look promising I'm more excited for Earth Seeker, Pandora's Tower,Solatorobo & Night of the Sacrifice. The thing is out of those 4 games I can see all of them being localized and also none of them being localized. I really want to play Night of the Sacrifice, but I don't think it's going to make it over here. I want to be told flat out whether these games are coming or not, if these games aren't coming just tell me so I don't get false hope.

Valkyira Chronicles 3



Confirmed by labrador retriever extraordinar Lady. I never had doubt that this was coming over, but I've been dying to play this. VC1 is one of my favorite games ever, I skipped out on VC2 because I didn't like the characters, and a huge reason for my enjoyment in VC1 was the emotional attachment I had for the characters. I've played the Japanese demo for VC3 so many times that I had to delete it off my memory card in order to get myself to stop playing it. Sega didn't have this on their list of games for E3, but I'm dying for this game to be released. If a North American release date isn't announced at E3 my sanity will begin to trickle away. I'll rip off my clothes, jump out a window, and stab a small child.

Grasshopper's and Platinum's 3DS game,

Suda 51 said he wanted to make a 3DS game I'm hoping we hear more about it at E3. Atsushi Inaba & Hideki Kamiya of Platinum games have expressed interest in the 3DS as well I hope we hear more about it at E3.

Odin Sphere HD

This was rumored on September 2010, yet we've heard nothing. I just want a confirmation or debunk. I've yet to play this, and I've been holding out on a purchase in case there's a PSN release. I'm perfectly fine with purchasing a PS2 version, but if I can play this in HD that would be nice. I just want a confirmation or a debunk that's all.

Original Move Required Games



When I saw the behind the scenes development videos for the Playstation Move my jaw dropped to the floor and shattered into a million pieces, which was then quickly gobbled up by my cat. I don't have a jaw anymore so that's why I have to type everything. Seriously the move tech is all kinds of impressive. Yet the only games that catch my attention are games I already played on my Wii de Blob 2, No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise, House of the Dead: Overkill Extended cut. Those games are nice and all, but I don't want to spend $100+ to buy a peripheral for games I can already play on my Wii, or games that are only move optional. The move is so impressive yet it doesn't have anything that really screams must buy to me. Sorcery looks interesting, but honestly the only thing that makes it interesting is the motion controls if it was designed for the DualShock 3 I wouldn't have even payed attention to it, and when you break down the things they did with it during E3 2010 it didn't do anything that wasn't possible using Wii Motion Plus. Sony has an ace up their sleeve with the Move, they have tech that could create some incredibly deep unique experiences, but they are being timid. If they don't announce some impressive must have games, that use the Move Wand in a way that isn't possible on the Wii, then I think the glowing wand is going to become the newest addition to the graveyard of unappreciated game peripherals, sure it may have sold decently, but it's not getting the proper software support it deserves.

Non-subsidized NGP Games



I like my PSP, but none of my games are first party. The biggest issue with the PSP wasn't the battery life, the awkward analog nub, or the lack of a c-stick. It was subsidizing, and Sony's tepid attitude towards backing up the system with original content. The only two popular original PSP series were Loco Roco & Patapon, which although awesome were low risk budget games that could have ran on a DS or even a GBA. LBP and Mod Nation Racers were greatly inferior to their console brethren, the GOW games were fun, but short and felt distinctly different. Uncharted NGP will be awesome, but it will not be as good as Uncharted 2 & 3, Killzone will run smoothly, and boast impress visuals, but it won't be as good as Killzone 2 & 3. These subsidizing groups are talented, but they are not the same, so these games are missing the extra touch that makes them special. Essentially these subsidiaries are cover bands, they may sound almost identical to the original, but they'll never be as good, because they are living in the shadows of giants. These subsidiaries are talented they should be making their own original games, and the big guys developing games on the PS3 should make original games on the NGP.

Sony to Get Over the Obsession of Making a Portable That Mirrors a Console

The “console experience” has been around since the Gameboy. Portables have been able to replicate consoles for a long time, but that's not why people like them. Portable gaming is a distinctly different flavor, and that's why I prefer portables to consoles. The reason the DS sold so well, and has a huge following was because it was able to do things that were not possible on a Gamecube or Wii. If Sony keeps trying to replicate the current state of consoles, it's just going to keep going in circles and not go anywhere. What's the point in playing a slightly inferior version of a game on a smaller screen when I can play a better version on a nice big television? I'm not sure where Sony stands on this, signs are showing they could go either way. I just hope they've learned something. I want to buy an NGP, but I need new IP's from first and second party development studios.

Klonoa 3 for 3DS



This won't happen, but a man can dream

Psychonauts 2 and a PSN release of the original



I asked if Double Fine would talk about Psychonauts 2 and kitty cat Beverly said they would. I don't expect it to be announced, but Tim Shaffer has said that he's "ready" to make Psychonauts 2. If they did by some miraculous way get funding I would be infinitely delighted. I would also like a re-release of Psychonauts on PSN or 3DS, I tried playing it again, but I forgot how buggy and laggy the PS2 version was so I wasn't able to enjoy it the same way I use to.

Animal Crossing & Mario Kart 3DS



Mario Kart Wii was a disappointment, the rubber banding AI, and blue shells ruined the game for me ( I get hit 2-4 times with a blue shell per race). I feel like Mario Kart Wii was not completely finished, I had some fun with it, but I was left wanting more, I'm hoping the 3DS iteration fills that cavity. I didn't pick up City Folk because it looked like a lazy rehash of Wild World, and I nearly collected everything in Wild World so it seemed pointless. I'm hoping this new 3DS version has a ton of new features. It doesn't have to be a major overhaul just more stuff to do, and more unique items. Even if this one is a lazy port too I'll take it. Something about wasting hundreds of hours collecting furniture, and hitting the animal residents with nets is really appealing to me.

Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove



This game has been getting so little attention, I'm really excited about it. I love quirky music games, and this is going to be another one to add to the list. The last time we saw this game it was still a DS game. We've seen very little on the 3DS version, and I'm hoping we hear more about this game at E3.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2.5



Hatsune Miku: Project Diva is one of my favorite games ever, I have an unholy addiction to this game. If you're unfamiliar with Miku's music here's some good, tunes. Project Diva is seriously the best music game I've ever played it even has nods to Valkyria Chronicles & Space Channel 5. Crypton Future Media has decided to bring Miku to North America, I think now would be a perfect time to localize Project Diva 2.5. It would be very easy all they need to worry about is the menus. If this stays a JP only game it's not a big deal because the the PSP is region free, but importing games is expensive it would come around to $80 USD with shipping. That's the reason I hadn't boughten Project Diva the 2nd, I was waiting for a price drop.

Also this would make the DLC readily available to us in the U.S. In order to get the two DLC packs for Project Diva 1 in the U.S. You have to jump through all these hoops, make a JP PSN account, buy JP PSN cards which are marked up, and in the end you pay about $30 to $40 per DLC pack. If the price was readjusted for the U.S. It would only be $10 or $15 for pack. If you're going to bring Miku to America do something worthwhile. Release her CDs, figures and games here, we don't want to see her in car commercials, that just pissed everyone off.

On a side note I will not buy an NGP until they announce Project Diva the 3rd.

More XBLA Games on PSN



I'd like to play these on my PS3 Fez, Dust: An Elysian Tail, BattleBlock Theater, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet.

Games Added to the Nintendo Selects Line



Nintendo announced a budget game line and I'd like these game to be added to it Super Paper Mario, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns. Super Paper Mario came out 4 years ago, and I don't want to pay $50 for it.

New Cel-Shaded Game



I'd like to see a reveal of a new cel-shaded game, I am a cel-shaded game whore, and will play almost any game that is cel-shaded. Also I'd finally like to see a good dinosaur game, one where you walk around as a T-Rex and eat people. I remember repeatedly playing the demo to a Jurassic Park game that wasn't very good, but I got to be a dinosaur so I didn't care. Seriously why are there not more dinosaur games? I want a game where you can smash buildings, throw school buses full of screaming children, and glide around on rocket skates, who wouldn't want to play that?

The 3DS has taught me that cats need a bigger presence in video games, I was planning on getting Nintendogs, but when I found out that cats were only a minor feature I decided not to. I realized the reason I really enjoyed playing Find Mii was because I get to stab ghost as a cat, what an amazing Idea. If somebody combined this and made a cel-shaded game where you play both sides of a dinosaur invasion in a town inhabited by cats, that would make for a game that I would never stop playing.

E3 With Destructoid/ E3 With Friends

So last year's E3 was really good, but their was one thing missing for me, and that was people to share my excitement with. My best friend was out of the state and working at the time, so we didn't get to talk about it until a week later. So I had no one to share my excitement with at the time, I've meet quite a few D-toiders who share the same interest in games that I do, so I'm looking forward to squeeing with joy right beside them. Excitement is best shared with friends.

Last Saturday night I beat the game Bully: Scholarship Edition [Wii]. I had actually started the game 3 years ago, but I stopped for 2 reasons one was that I failed a stealth mission 8 times and got irritated [Galloway Away], and the second was that I was attending a "Blue Ribbon School" at the time. It was one of the most difficult high schools in the state (if not the most difficult). I had very little free time because I was swamped with school work, I was experiencing extreme stress because of school, and then the realization hit me that I was using my very little free time to attend a virtual high school. I quickly stopped playing the game, ironically the following year I picked up Persona 3 invested 5 hours into it, and then realized the same thing, that I was playing a school simulator when I school was a major stress inducer. I plan on picking up P3 again and finishing it this year, though I'm currently stressed out from college, so I'm not sure how far I'll get.

Anyways back on topic, After my 3 year absence I decided to pick up my Wii-mote and return to Bullworth Academy. One chapter left and a few hours spread across the next couple of days, and I would see the end of the school year. The game brought back some memories. The torture, and awkwardness of high school, and my time in middle school. This is the story of my year in 6th grade, and how I conquered the schoolyard.

But first some mood music


My years in middle school were a cross between the animated series Recess, and the videogame Bully. In the first quarter of 6th grade the “King” of the school was kicked out for calling the principal a “faget.” He was short, Asian, had a cool hair cut, a silver tongue, intelligent, listened to punk music, and was admired and respected by the majority of the student body. After he was expelled it was a free for all.



After the “King's” discharge his “henchmen” had no guidance or order. The one causing the most trouble was tall, black, and had an athletic build let's call him Derek. In a sense he was my Gary (the antagonist of Bully). Their were rumors that Derek a 6th grader had beaten up an 8th Grader. He was universally disliked, except for his partners in crime, and his one fan girl who sat next to me in my homeroom, she would tell me every class period how amazing Derek was. He was a jerk, he would sneak up behind innocent kids knee them in the back and run off. One day he managed to sneak up behind my two friends and I. He kneed my British friend In the back and pushed him onto a large rock, he then grabbed my best friend from behind, and pushed him into a patch of dirt. The entire time he did this I stood their in shock saying “stop he's a friend” in a robotic repetition. I was ashamed of myself that day for not doing anything, and was mad at the teachers for not helping us, and instead punishing us even though we were the ones being victimized. That day had repeated in my mind many times.

I took down the biggest Bully in school



About two weeks after this happened Derek snuck up behind me while I was playing soccer, and started twisting my arms. At that moment everything started going in slow motion, their was a slight blur in my vision, the vibrant colors of the schoolyard were temporarily replaced by a sepia tone, I heard a loud ring that sounded like I was standing next to a generator although I was in the corner of a soccer field. At that moment it felt as if I had lost control of my body, and was being possessed by something demonic. I elbowed him in the face, and started wailing on him as hard as I could. He tried pulling my shirt over my head, but he didn't manage to get an advantage over me. We had to be torn apart by our classmates, after we were pulled apart, I was greeted by many beaming smiles and a “holy crap he didn't get a single hit on you.”



The teachers then showed up and made us go to the principles office. The entire time he was exclaiming that his arm hurt and that it was broken. I thought he was faking it, but when I saw him the next day he was wearing a cast. In the principals office I was told that I would have a week of in school suspension starting tomorrow, and was instructed to go to my classroom, and finish the day. When I arrived to class and sat in my seat Derek's fan girl started to speak to me.

Her: “Where were you, why are you late to class?”
Me: “I got in a fight”
Her: “With who?”
Me: “Derek”
Her: “Did he beat you up?”
Me: “No, I beat him up”
Her: “You're lying”
Me: “No I'm not ask anybody”



She shrugged and didn't believe me. The next day she started treating me completely different. Before she was a little cold to me, and called me stupid. Now she started flirting with me, and sometimes followed me home from school, on some occasions she would run to catch up with me if I took off without her. She use to spend a lot of time talking about how she really wanted this expensive pair of leather pants. She was a cute girl she had blonde hair and wore glasses, I always disregarded her advances because she was only interested in me because of my new status. 12 years old, and already a gold digger. I didn't give her much attention, but I'll admit it was kinda nice having a girl like me.

After that fight 6th grade was broken down into two factions my half and the second half. My half the civil side and The second half which was unorganized delinquency. I never liked the other half I pulled harmless pranks to make people laugh, they would cause trouble just to cause it, and they thought they were cooler than everyone because they did.

Although I wasn't necessarily “the king of the school” I was known by everyone and was given lots of respect. This is something that's difficult to describe unless you've experienced it, but middle school was it's own little world. I was known across the entire school yard. I spent my days walking around making sure no one was harassing the kids in younger grades, nerds, girls, or picking fights with no reason. The teachers didn't really do anything, whenever they did stop a fight they had a tendency of punishing the victim, and only giving the instigator a slap on the wrist.

I remember when I was in third grade, and my mom still dressed me. I had thick glasses with a gold trim, cork sandals, khaki shorts, and a dress shirt. I was a massive target for the kids in the higher grades, it sucked. I didn't want anyone else to go through that. At that time I was still subject to my brothers daily beatings, every time I fought back he would hit harder, so I learned that it was just best to take it. I couldn't do anything about my own home situation, so it was nice to be able to help kids out at school.



Whenever someone would get picked on I would be immediately notified. I'd show up on the scene, and I'd ready my fist. I had a ring on my middle finger that I made from a hollowed skateboard bearing. Then I would execute my infamous spine punch. I would dig my knuckles into the back of peoples spines, and they would fall to the floor and be paralyzed for the next ten minutes. Luckily it didn't take long for the message to spread that I didn't tolerate bullying, So I was able to focus most of my attention on jokes and pulling pranks.

I did so much stuff I don't even remember most of it. One time I filled a bunch of film canisters with white powder then released it into the air to create a massive white smoke cloud that enveloped most of the school yard, I mooned a teacher during detention, I hugged a cactus, I turned on the sink in the classroom and stuck my face in it during class, I took cheetos out of a garbage can, and gave them to a girl I didn't like, one time during silent reading I screamed "we're all gonna die," If I ever walked past an open classroom door I would start dancing and making faces, and then run off before a teacher caught me.



I also held a lot of events.

Monkey Bar Fights: a bunch of boys hung from the monkey bars and kicked the crap out of each other until someone fell off, sometimes we would get on top of the monkey bars and try to push someone over the edge. This got banned quickly, but we still did it anyways.

Withstand the Bleachers: the bleachers were extremely hot (I live in one of the hottest states in th U.S.) so no one would sit on them, two people would simultaneously put one of their hands on the bleacher, and see who could withstand the longest, when we would finish our hands would be red with silver sparkles that had rubbed of from the bleachers.

School House Roulette: when you got kicked out of a class for being disruptive you were forced to sit in the back of a 5th grade classroom. The desk was one of those large ones that has the sides blocked off. I decided to write “Kevin was here” (yes that's my name, *gasp* you now know my secret identity) on the desk wall. When I get kicked out of class again a few days later I realized more people had wrote that they were at the desk. I then proceeded to erase all the names of the people I didn't like which then started a cycle of people erasing the names of people they didn't like. Every week a teacher would inspect the desk, and everyone who had their name written on the desk would be given detention.

The reason I did this stuff was because I liked seeing other people laugh. Ever since kindergarten I had been referred to as the "funniest kid in school" a title no one was ever able to take from me. I had little regard for my own personal health, I would do anything if it made someone laugh or smile. It just felt good to be noticed, my dad worked two jobs (janitor & apartment maintenance), my mom worked in a rubbermaid factory. The only time I saw my parents was when my dad made me help out at his work, or when we would go to church, and they would pass judgement on every miniscule thing I did. I was an honor roll student for years, but they never payed much attention to what I did on account of their work schedules. The schoolyard was different though, I was king there.

Playing Bully was a trip down memory lane. I can relate to Jimmy Hopkins. I remember the time in high school when I was nothing, and middle school when I was everything, my rise, and my fall. I'm not the kind of person who likes to live in the past, constantly yearning for the time that was, but it was nice being able to relive some of those moments when I picked up the game pad.

I've been an active Dtoid member for about half a year now, but I've never properly introduced myself. So here it is my introduction post. For starters here are some pictures of me.


I named my cat Mike Tyson's Punch-Out or Punch-Out for short

Their is my inner weirdo. The me who use to chew up crayons in middle school to spit them out on the floor making it look like fake vomit (one time when I did this it made someone else actually puke, and then that made someone else puke, it was amazing), the me that makes barking noises in the background when people are on the phone, the me that went onto the side of the road at midnight with a ripped up shirt and pretended to be a zombie for half an hour for no reason, the me that has a tape recorder and has a hobby of discovering and making weird noises. The me that writes cute little stories with chibi figures. This is my optimistic happy side, I can make almost anyone laugh, This part of my personality has a childlike quality, I can be a little girly and love-duby at times. If you ever see me squeeing happiness over a game this is the side of my personality that is currently showing. To sum it up this is my inner-child/feminine side.

Then there is my semi-pessimistic intellectual side. This is the part of my personality that spends an extensive amount of my time doing research. In high school and in college I spent a lot of time studying and documenting the behavior of humans, (similar to the way Jane Goodall did with chimpanzees). The topics of sociology and psychology are endlessly fascinating to me. Through my observations and research I've become very good at empathizing with others and understanding the motivation behind certain human behaviors. This is the side of my personality that has gained a reputation for writing obscenely long comments or "mini-blogs" as I call them (on one occasion I literally wrote a blog in someone's blog ), and dropping logic bombs.



Sometimes I go a little overboard with my comments, here's an example from a conversation I was having with ManWithNoName (cool dude) notice how far back I had to zoom out just to see all of it

I love a good intellectual debate, and thoroughly enjoy sharing my perspective and hearing the perspectives of others. Sometimes I may come off as a condescending ass, but I don't mean to I just like sharing my opinion, and I never claim to be correct all of the time.

I wrote three paragraphs about the other websites I use to frequent, but I've decided to scrap them because it was just a boring pompous rant. Basically I started of with Gamespot, but left because they let a lot of news go unreported and a ton of games go without reviews. I still go back there every so often for nostalgia, but it's pretty crappy. After I left Gamespot I switched to IGN. It was okay there a little sterile, but it wasn't too bad. I was there for three to five years I never created an account I just went there for the news. I chose to neglect the comments because it was a breeding ground for trolls, and nothing stimulating ever really came out of it. When I reflect back on IGN I feel somewhat bitter and angry. I enjoyed my time there, they introduced me to a lot of great games that I might have ignored, but the last year they changed it's not the same place anymore. To me it feels like a betrayal, It's like being in a relationship with a close friend, and then they turn into a different person. I keep going back there like someone in an abusive relationship, it's just so routine it's hard to stop, but I need to quit cause I don't like being there.


Screenshot from CAG that I took from some random users it does a good job at suming up the place

The internet is generally a pessimistic playground. It's society without rules. If you are reading this you know how hateful the internet can be. You post something minor like "this games looks interesting" and you'll get thumbed down, and be bombarded by comments of people telling you that you are not a real gamer because you play an inferior system.

Destructoid is different, we send each other gifts, write each other heartfelt comments, we write fan fiction about each other, holy crap I'm going to be in a videogame. We don't do this cause we have have to, we have no obligation. We do it because we want to. We realize that other users aren't just faceless avatars, but instead are real people with real problems, we'll talk about what games were excited for, musings or empathize with each other when we're going through a tough time.


The current theme on my PS3

This is going to sound to cheesy, but Destructoid has helped restore some of my hope in humanity

This world is a twisted, putrid fucked up place. I'm one of those people who spends too much time reading books, watching documentaries, and reading editorials/articles trying to discover the truth. When you look past the candy-coated bull shit and realize that lots of fucked up things are going on behind the scenes. It's gets so incredibly difficult to get up in the morning, look past all the bullshit and corruption, and find something to smile about. We've become so jaded, wasteful and greedy. It's become somewhat of a rarity to find someone my age who appreciates that they've been given the opportunity to live, and is just happy to be alive.

I'd like to think that for every bad thing that happens, and every vile human in existence, their is someone else doing something good with pure intentions. I don't know if that's true, but this world is a beautiful place, sometimes I get so wrapped up in the negative that I forget that their are many good people, it's just that they do their positive actions in subtlety, while people who commit heinous acts do them loudly. Destructoid helps shine the light on the positive for me. When I see heartfelt comments it reminds me that the reason we've been able to survive as a species is because of our compassion for one another.

I like that this is a site for people who like to play video, not a site to bash people for what video games they like.


Destructoid: No Bullshit, Just Video Games


That's what Destructoid is to me it's a refugee where all these awesome people who were sick of all the hatred and crap they get from other websites found each other and made a cool club, and it's not some elitist we're better than you club. It's a we just just want to play games,make inappropriate jokes, and we love new people club.

People come and go Shit happens,

I'm sure two years ago their was a guy on the Cblogs that was thanking you all immensely, and five years from now their will be some girl pouring her heart out on the keyboard in a post that is nearly identical to this one. Six months ago when I spent most of my time on the main page, and only occasionally lurked the cblogs, it was a different place. I've went back and read some old blogs, and in the comments section I see a bunch of users I don't recognize. Yet when I read their input they are beaming with the things that make this community great, it almost makes me feel like I know them, and I wish I had been around to see what they were like.



All of you who are reading this right now are part of my Dtoid Generation, I don't know what to call it, but it's our special subset in the Dtoid timeline. You old timers who have been with this site for a long time, all of you who started out around the same time I did that gave me someone to relate to when we were figuring out how things worked out around here together, all of you lurkers who keep showing up every week that I look forward to getting to know better............. and touch inappropriately.

This is a part of my life that I will never forget, and will always hold deep nostalgia for (it's sounds weird to say that as it's happening). Right now we are creating memories. They always say that you don't know what you have till it's gone, and that you never show appreciation when you still can. Well I know what I have and it's a great, and I'm showing my appreciation right now.

thank you for giving me a place to express myself
thank you for reading the things I have to say and actually enjoying them
thank you for giving me a place where I can be myself, and not be judged
thank you for your compassion
and thank you for restoring some of my faith in humanity

I came to Destructoid looking for a news source that reported on the types of games I play, and I found something better I found a group of great people that I can call friends......also cocks

Notice the low critics' score, but the high user score

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, is one of the most amazing video games I have ever played, and it was one I nearly missed. From the moment I first saw footage of the game I was enticed. I'm an unemployed college student at the moment which means my gaming budget is very limited, and I make precautions to make sure I don't regret buying a game because once my budget runs out, that it's. Fragile received an overwhelming influx of negative reviews, so I had decided to skip the game. January of this year I received an email price alert that Fragile had dropped down to twenty dollars. I still wanted to play the game, so I decided to take the risk. I wasn't expecting to be wowed, I was expecting a mediocre experience. I thought that I would regret buying the game, and that my money would be better spent elsewhere. I was almost immediately proven wrong.

From the moment I opened the game I knew it was special. It came with a reversible cover, the North American cover on the front and the Japanese cover on the back. The booklet was in full color and was decorated in a unique and appealing manner, it contained some back story and elaborated on character personalities in the bio section. This quality of booklet has become a rarity in modern gaming.



When I started the game up I was greeted by a stunning start up screen that was playing beautiful music, and I was given the option to play the game using the original Japanese voice acting (which greatly improved the game).

Ultimately the bad reviews aided in my enjoyment of the game. When I was playing the game I was expecting the worst, I was expecting a clunky game with awful controls, and a bad story. Since I had already anticipated the bad to an extreme level it cushioned the blow when I reached an area of frustration. Fragile Dreams is actually very polished it's just that some of the design choices the developers made rendered the gameplay to be tedious and boring at times.

I actually enjoyed the controls, the game ran silky smooth, and the combat although bare bones (a single three to five hit attack combo) felt oddly satisfying in a way. I didn't feel the menu to be clunky like many had reported, it could have been better streamlined, but I've experienced far worse. Critics disliked the story, but that was the major draw to me. All of the games issues fall underneath one umbrella, It was a game built on survivor horror mechanics, that was not scary. Survival horror games often have small inventory screens, like this game did. The problem is that you are constantly collecting items so every ten minutes you have to stop what you're doing to readjust your inventory. The game is not scary, you fight the same handful of enemies repeatedly some of which are laughable like pigeons and dogs. I don't want to paint a rosy picture that this game is perfect, some of the negative criticisms are warranted, but sometimes gameplay is not the most important component of a game. Costume Quest is my favorite PSN game, even though the turn-based battle system was very primitive, the overall charm made up for it. From a strictly gameplay perspective Shadow of the Colossus wasn't flawless, the camera became uncontrollable at times, the frame rate would drop severely when too much action was happening on onscreen, timing jumps could become a frustrating and tedious process, but despite its faults many were able to look past it's nuisances and enjoy the game for it was, a beautiful and tragic game with a deeper meaning. I consider this game to be in the same vain, although twenty percent of the game was a chore, the remainder of the game more than made up for it.



Fragile is an accurate title for this game because it's delicate, this is the kind of game that you have to play slowly and savor. In order to fully appreciate the game you have to be able to empathize with the characters. What made this game an experience like no other was the scenery and trinkets Seto picked up along the way. That ranged anywhere between toy cars, dog collars, and wedding rings. Whenever I reached a new area I would thoroughly examine every corner to discover lost items, and read the graffiti and cries for help written on the walls. The items you picked up would reveal a story when opened in front of a fire. These stories are what I consider the main attraction. If you did not search for them then you missed out on what made this game great. The stories varied greatly within each other some were short and comedic while others were long and poetic, each being told from a different perspective of various age groups of not only people, but animals as well. This is where the Japanese voice acting really shined, the actors did a phenomenal job at capturing emotion. If you used the English dub, then you got a different experience. Although the English dub was not awful the actors weren't as convincing with their performances, if I had played the entire game using the English voice actors I would not have been as heavily immersed in Fragile's universe. I think many of the people who disliked the game played it with the dub.

The art direction in this game is stunning. I must have looked at Sai's character model a hundred times, and I never got sick of it. From an artistic standpoint this is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played.




I, like most males have always had difficulty expressing myself emotionally. It has to do with the way I've been socialized to never show weakness, because it's unattractive to the opposite sex, and that would conflict with my human need of romantic companionship. Whenever I've faced extreme emotional pain, I've done my best to mask my battle with adversity. When my girlfriend of four years cheated on me my reaction was a laugh and a shrug, I pushed my true feelings into the deepest crevice of mind hoping that they would dissipate with time. I've been doing my best to reverse these effects of socialization, tears are toxic and they are suppose to be released, holding them back is akin to holding back vomit.



One of the items I had picked up revealed a story, (this might be considered a *mini-spoiler* to some, it's not a part of the main storyline though, and it's possible for someone to beat the game without discovering this story. Skip to the next paragraph if that kind of thing bothers you).

The story was one of a homeless girl who had suffered neglect and abuse with no one to turn to for human comfort. She had come across a corpse in an alley. She recognized the dead body, it was of a wealthy girl she had jealously observed from a distance. She took some twisted enjoyment that this girl who had come from a loving affluent family was now dead, and at the same time felt horrible grief for this person she barely knew. She then proceeded by stripping the clothes from her carcase, so she could impersonate the deceased. The dead girl's mother was terribly sick and was suffering of faulty vision and hearing, so she was able to pull it off successfully. The family servants played along with her act. The entire time that this was happening the homeless girl's internal monologue was narrating the immense guilt, and hatred towards herself that was wrestling with her sanity for committing such a putrid and deceitful act. She wanted to stop herself and confess, but she couldn't bear to have the mother be abandoned by her daughter for a second time. All she wanted was to love someone and have them love her in return.

*mini-spoiler* end

It was at that moment that the game had reached me in a way that no other form of media had managed to do before. I felt a frozen dagger pierce my heart with fiery intensity. I thought about how many people in the world were afflicted with similar emotions and would go to extreme lengths to remedy them. The empathy was overwhelming. I felt a warm tear inch itself out of my right eyelid, and then another from my left. Only a a few came out somewhere between two to six. I handled it the same way Seto did I let my tears finish, I raised my hand and gently used the tip of my knuckle to wipe away the small puddle that had formed, I then sniveled, and lifted my wii-remote, pointed it at the sensor bar, and proceeded onto my next destination.



When I'm playing Uncharted I don't feel like Nathan Drake, When I'm play Galaxy I don't feel like Mario, Instead I feel like some omniscient character that's performing puppetry backstage. When I was playing Fragile I was Seto and Seto was me, our emotions were in tandem. The fear of not knowing what was lurking around the next dark corner, the quite sadness that permeated our hearts that was slowly burrowing itself beneath our skin. The warm comforting glow of the fireplace where we had decided to take a rest. I've felt connections with characters before, I've laughed, been upset, and gotten angry, but I never experienced complex emotions or empathy as deeply before, this game managed to capture the more subtle emotions like loneliness and disappointment.



I'm not trying to sound pretentious, nor am I mad at the reviewers that didn't appreciate the game to the extent that I did. Some people just didn't make the same connection with the game that I did, and I can't fault them for that. I remember watching an interview with Park Chan-Woo (watch: I'm a Cyborg, Old boy & Thirst) and he was asked about one of his films that had been critically panned, he responded by saying that he felt sympathy for that film. He didn't consider it to be bad, he wasn't entirely sure why that particular film was received negatively while many of his other films were praised. He compared the situation to having daughters, two of them got happily married, but the third daughter is stuck in loveless relationship with her husband. Instead of being upset with her your filed with sadness, you spent all that time raising someone beautiful that you were proud of, but she wasn't appreciated like you felt she deserved. You have no regrets with the way she turned out, you just wish someone else would love her the same way you did. That's how I feel about this game. I don't exactly know where everything went wrong. This game has it's fault, but I didn't find them to be anymore extreme then the faults I found in Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, or the PS2 version of Psychoanauts. Gamers as a whole were able to look past these minor blemishes and enjoy these games for the true beauties that they are, why couldn't they with this one?





Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon you were one of the most beautiful, amazing, and touching video games I've ever played. I just wish that more people appreciated you and you wouldn't have to sink into obscurity.




[Lyrics]

As the moonlight casts long shadows,
I take a hold of your hands.

I open a door, searching for a dream
once swallowed by darkness.

Soon the skies will clear, I thought I felt it
pass by in front of my eyes.

Remembering the warmth of your hands
I call your name.
In this uncertain world, you stood firm with me.

The rain murmurs softly
as it soaks the earth.

Lured into a deep slumber
I dreamt of life, a dream I never woke from.

The break of dawn pulls on my hand
taking with it all my memories.

We all speak of love, leaving behind
tales of our struggles, in hopes to be remembered.
Never forgotten.

Soon the skies will clear.
I can see how far it stretches above me.

Remembering the warmth of your hands,
I call your name.
In this uncertain world, you stood firm with me.