Violent Video Games

A lot of news outlets are claiming that violent behavior is influenced by violent video games. Well, I’m here to tell you they are absolutely right. Here are a few cases of my violent outbursts after playing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

Case 1: While driving to work, some asshole cut me off on the highway right before my exit. Instead of nonviolently flipping my middle finger and verbally expressing a few expletives like a normal person, I pulled in to the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts, ordered some coffee and pretended to get the wrong order just so I can yell at the poor, innocent cashier to vent my frustration. Then I promptly paid for my drink, threw it in the garbage on my way out, and drove to work late.

Case 2: So I was occupying this one arcade at Dave & Busters when suddenly, nature called. I walked to the bathroom to empty my bladder and returned to my spot, only to see that it was a taken by some girl. This enraged me so much that I walked back into the men’s room, wrapped my head in toilet paper, and stomped into the women’s bathroom to rip all the toilet seats off inside each stall. Oh, I put those seats down, alright: down on the ground. Then I shunpo’d over to the Fruit Ninja machine to chop up some fruits.

Case 3: The other day, I was in one of the stores inside the mall looking to buy a new sweater when one of the employees approached me to offer assistance. I told him I was fine but he kept insisting that I be helped. At the peak of my ire, I finally agreed that I was indeed in need of assistance so I told him to fetch me three different sweaters scattered throughout the highest racks in the store. He retrieved the step ladder, acquired all three sweaters and once I had them in my possession, I asked him if there were any other step ladders in the store. He gave me a puzzled look before replying with, “No, this is the only one we have.” Upon hearing this, I smashed the ladder to pieces and told him I changed my mind about the sweaters.

Is there no end to this madness? How many ladders must be destroyed before we stop this cycle of violence?

‹^› (': ' ) ‹^›

Just A Thought: 1st Man Of Steel Trailer

1:00 into this trailer and you'll see what I mean. At first, I thought it was really cool to portray Superman's flight as something akin to a fighter jet. But after watching the trailer for the 2nd time, I thought this particular scene was a bit off.

First of all, I am no expert on what Superman can and can't do so the following is mostly conjecture. I do, however, remember watching Superman: The Animated Series as a kid on weekdays after school and what I remember of his power over speed is that he has little to no rate of acceleration. He's in one spot one second and in another spot the next. My guess is that to human eyes, this displacement would look like he's teleporting but in reality, he's just moving so fast that it merely seems that way. The cartoon illustrates this as a very brief red and blue blur on the screen; enough to let the audiences know that he is actually moving through the air and not using some magic trick. I thought that was cool.

So as I mentioned, he has no rate of acceleration, or at least, not at a level that is discernible by human eyes. I believe it is safe to say that Superman can travel in and out of supersonic speeds at will, considering he wouldn't be able to save a lot of crashing planes (planes are always crashing around Metropolis, you would think air traffic control would set up a no-fly perimeter) if he has to struggle to surpass commercial jets' speeds. So my question is: If his rate of acceleration is greater than 0-768 mph in less than a second, wouldn't he have broken the sound barrier on the ground, as he took off?

My only conclusion, then, to explain this mystery is that those sonic booms you hear and the vapor trail he leaves behind isn't him breaking the sound barrier. It's plain, simple, Kryptonian flatulence.

‹^› (': ' ) ‹^›

Diablo 3 - Keep It Going

You guys might be tired of reading my posts about Diablo 3 but I'm not tired of writing about it so too bad. After playing patch 1.0.5 for a little over a week now, I can safely say that Diablo 3 is definitely on the right track.

1.0.3 was the baby steps. Its biggest role was to start undoing the existing mechanics (as well as few changes added on with previous patches) that made the game horribly frustrating to play. Allowing ilvl 63 items to drop in Act 1 and Act 2, even at a lower rate, ensured that players had a more realistic chance at progression.

1.0.4 was the jog around the track. Its biggest role was to add another incentive to continue doing the only available end-game content: farming items. The Paragon System is not the ultimate solution but its benefits are a good enough reason for many to continue the item grind. Also, Witch Doctors.

1.0.5 is the parkour sprint through an elaborate obstacle course. Its biggest role was adding end-game content: the Infernal Machine. This is simply Diablo 3's version of Diablo 2's Pandemonium Event, in which you kill specific monsters across various zones to collect three different keys that grant access to uber bosses who drop organs necessary to craft a legendary ring with the potential to roll incredibly powerful properties. Run-on much?

Some might argue the ring isn't worth much outside of its experience boost because the Hellfire proc is worthless. Before my brain explodes from the sheer ignorance of such a notion, consider that the ring is a guaranteed +170 to your main stat and that if it rolls even one damage property (critical hit chance, critical hit damage, or attack speed), it's already better than 99% of the rings you can buy off the Auction House. A good ring is one of the most expensive pieces of gear you'll buy (if you don't find one) and the fact that you can obtain it without farming for weeks or months makes the Hellfire ring a very realistic upgrade for most players. Also, keep in mind that killing a Keywarden with 5 stacks of Nephalem Valor yields similar rewards to killing any elite or champion pack so there's no reason (other than deviating from a set farming routine) not to gather keys during your runs. The only hard part is killing the uber bosses, which isn't even that hard on Monster Power 4 if you have halfway decent gear. Having another competent player join you actually makes it a breeze.

Now all Blizzard needs to add is some PvP, an improved Blacksmith, further skill balancing, and one or two more end-game events and I will be very satisfied with Diablo 3 until the expansion.

‹^› (': ' ) ‹^›