I spent some time this past weekend playing New Super Mario Brothers with a couple friends, and it reminded me why I love playing games. With grad school, then working at Peet's Coffee, then trying to find a full time job, and now having a full time job, I just never make the time for it anymore. It also doesn't help that I usually have to play alone with whatever DS games I can get ahold of; but I end up buying those months after everyone else is finished playing them and they're already old news.
But playing New Super Mario brought back a ton of memories for me, back when I still shared a room with my younger brothers and we would play the original on our brand spanking new Nintendo Entertainment System. I remember us trying to play Duck Hunt, but failing miserably because our aim was so bad. We would stand directly in front of the TV screen, holding the plastic gun against the glass, but we still missed all the time. Now that I think about it, I don't even know how that game worked because as far as I recall, there were no motion sensors in that little red and grey plastic gun.
I can remember my dad pulling out his Atari for us, but it was too old and just wouldn't work. I can remember my brothers trash talking me so much I didn't want to play with them anymore. Eventually, my parents gave me my own room, and then they wouldn't even let me play anymore. I remember upgrading to the Sega Genesis and playing Sonic the Hedgehog, then upgrading to the Nintendo 64 and sneaking into the boys' room while they were still at school so I could play some Tetris 3D in peace and quiet.
I remember going to college where every guy on the floor had an X-Box. I actually got to know my college boyfriend from trying to play Halo with him, but then giving up on ever pwning at slayer and playing Fables instead. I remember scoffing at the DS, wondering why anyone would need two screens, then immediately falling in love with it once I actually got my hands on one. I also remember my younger brother bringing his Wii back home with him from college during the Christmas break, and we would stay up until well after midnight trying to beat Paper Mario.
I have innumerable awesome memories playing games. Those memories are why I love going to PAX Prime every year -- 70,000 gamers all in one place for one glorious weekend where we can share in our mutual love of video games. It's not just the nostalgia, but also the sure knowledge that everyone around me is there for the same reason, and I could probably be friends with a good number of them. In fact, I have a bunch of friends I met at PAX who I look forward to seeing every year; and it's actually how I got in touch with my gaming friends of this weekend, who are two of the coolest people I know now.
In summary, even though I don't have the opportunity to play a whole lot, I grew up with games, and I still like to think that I'm a gamer girl. Maybe I'll just settle for semi-gamer girl.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
How I Was Converted to the Kindle
Anyone who knows me knows that I am an avid reader. I majored in English because I love to read. I want to be a writer because I love to read. Nothing makes me happier than sitting down and losing myself in a novel.
So when e-readers started to gain in popularity with Amazon's Kindle and Sony's E-reader, I was incredibly resistant. How could people replace the tactile sensation of reading with a piece of plastic? What about trying to find your favorite passage in a book based on your recollections of where you were reading? How about my shelves and shelves of books that I've read? If I go digital, I won't have the satisfaction of seeing that.
These reasons, as well as the old person in me who hates change, resulted in my complete dismissal of e-readers as a revolutionary device. I wasn't interested, so I couldn't care less about it. Until I went to Seattle last year.
While visiting my aunt, we were wandering around town window shopping when she suggested we go into a local bookstore. As I browsed the shelves, I saw Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver, which I had never read. A big fan of his work, I decided to buy the 900 page tome despite the fact that I was travelling for the next week and it was a massive brick of a book. For the next seven days, it weighed down my bag as I walked around Seattle, but I kept carrying it in case I became bored and wanted to read something.
The thing that convinced me completely was actually holding a Kindle in my hands and seeing how it worked. Since it's only sold online, I never had a chance to see what the Kindle was really like; but a friend of mine owned one and was entirely satisfied with it. Once I saw how easy it is to use, how quickly you can download books, and how compact and convenient it is, I immediately decided to get one of my own.
My Kindle has actually made reading much easier for me. Since I live in the Richmond of San Francisco, there really aren't any bookstores nearby, so buying a new book is difficult. On top of which, I don't have room for more books; my bookshelf is barely large enough for me to keep my favorite volumes on hand (the rest are in storage in Lodi). Now, I can download a new book in seconds from anywhere for as low as $5 sometimes (though the average seems to be $10 right now since I read a lot of recently released material as well). I'll still buy physical copies of books that I'm absolutely in love with, but the Kindle allows for me to download my favorite authors' new work the second it's available. Plus, I can highlight and take notes of passages that I like without the stigma of vandalizing my book; and the Kindle keeps all of these in once easy-to-access file.
It does have downsides, of course. I can't share my library with anyone else, you can't borrow e-books from libraries because of Amazon's stance on DRM or something, and some of the newly released books are as much as $15, which I think is way too much for a digital version since print versions of new books are sold for as little as $20 despite a list price of $40.
Even with those downsides, I absolutely love my Kindle. It's changed the way I read, the way I take in information, and since I have a ton of Amazon credit from various online surveys that I participate in, I have the funds to buy as many books as I want for a while. Anyone else have any thoughts on the e-reader revolution? Feel free to comment!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Maybe We Should Stop the Signal?
So the Internet is buzzing over Nathan Fillion's comment that he would like to buy the rights to Firefly and produce new episodes. While I find it wonderful and awesome that he still has so much love for this show, I wonder whether it's time to let the show go.
Please don't get me wrong. Firefly is one of my favorite television shows of all time. I loved pretty much everything about it, nerded out over it hardcore, and every time I re-watch it, I am always amazed at what a spectacular show it was. The outpouring of fan enthusiasm that resulted in a full-length feature film was nothing short of incredible, and I was just as excited about it as every other Browncoat. I only watch Castle because Nathan Fillion is on it, and I love how the show often makes Firefly references.
I'm inclined to agree with Alexis when she says, "Don't you think you should move on?" While I laughed at Troy's unexpected aside to Abed on Community, I sort of pitied him rather than thought, "Yeah, we need to get Firefly back on the air!" Why did I have that reaction? Because Firefly will probably never get another chance to be what it could have been. The fact that a movie based on a cancelled TV show was even made is a "fucking miracle," to quote Colin Hanks in Nerdist Podcast #61. He goes on for a good five minutes or so on how impossible it is to get anything made in Hollywood, so it really is a miracle that Serenity ever made it off the ground.
Now, I'm going to commit blasphemy against Joss Whedon. If you can't stand to hear a word against him or the Firefly franchise, stop reading now. I'm serious. Spare both me and yourself the burden of your rage and just navigate away to something else. There is plenty of other stuff on the Internet to entertain you.
Still here? Alright, moving right along...
I don't think Serenity was a good movie. Full disclosure: I thoroughly enjoyed it when I saw it in the theaters, and the fangirl in me could hardly contain her glee. I sobbed inconsolably when Wash died, and I actually felt a sense of loss for weeks afterwards. That is how into it I was initially. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up like its TV predecessor. I actually winced while watching it recently. For whatever reason, the story felt forced, the characters a little less engaging, and it was overly sentimental all around as it paid fan service at every turn.
Ultimately, Firefly had its chance to make a comeback with Serenity, and it just didn't work. The worldwide gross income of the movie in theaters came in at $38.8 million, just barely under the total production cost of $39 million--it didn't even make back the money spent to make it. Perhaps you're thinking, "But that's still good! A grassroots effort got the movie made, so that's actually pretty impressive." Well, that's not how movie studios think. Serenity couldn't make any money in theaters, and no number of DVD sales is going to change the fact that it can't support itself. For Pete's sake, the '08 X-Files: I Want to Believe made $68 million worldwide, and it was off the air WAY longer than Firefly was before Serenity.
In any case, I don't think a Firefly reboot would live up to our expectations. In all likelihood, the time has just passed, and Joss Whedon's most recent projects have been less than engaging, in my opinion. Who's to say that he could recreate the magic that was Firefly? If he did manage it, I would be indescribably thrilled, but I won't hold my breath for it. There are too many other fantastic shows, books, games, and movies that deserve our time and effort just as much. Let's just accept it gracefully and take solace in the fact that we did have Firefly for a little while.
"They can't take the sky from me..."
Please don't get me wrong. Firefly is one of my favorite television shows of all time. I loved pretty much everything about it, nerded out over it hardcore, and every time I re-watch it, I am always amazed at what a spectacular show it was. The outpouring of fan enthusiasm that resulted in a full-length feature film was nothing short of incredible, and I was just as excited about it as every other Browncoat. I only watch Castle because Nathan Fillion is on it, and I love how the show often makes Firefly references.
I'm inclined to agree with Alexis when she says, "Don't you think you should move on?" While I laughed at Troy's unexpected aside to Abed on Community, I sort of pitied him rather than thought, "Yeah, we need to get Firefly back on the air!" Why did I have that reaction? Because Firefly will probably never get another chance to be what it could have been. The fact that a movie based on a cancelled TV show was even made is a "fucking miracle," to quote Colin Hanks in Nerdist Podcast #61. He goes on for a good five minutes or so on how impossible it is to get anything made in Hollywood, so it really is a miracle that Serenity ever made it off the ground.
Now, I'm going to commit blasphemy against Joss Whedon. If you can't stand to hear a word against him or the Firefly franchise, stop reading now. I'm serious. Spare both me and yourself the burden of your rage and just navigate away to something else. There is plenty of other stuff on the Internet to entertain you.
Still here? Alright, moving right along...
I don't think Serenity was a good movie. Full disclosure: I thoroughly enjoyed it when I saw it in the theaters, and the fangirl in me could hardly contain her glee. I sobbed inconsolably when Wash died, and I actually felt a sense of loss for weeks afterwards. That is how into it I was initially. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up like its TV predecessor. I actually winced while watching it recently. For whatever reason, the story felt forced, the characters a little less engaging, and it was overly sentimental all around as it paid fan service at every turn.
Ultimately, Firefly had its chance to make a comeback with Serenity, and it just didn't work. The worldwide gross income of the movie in theaters came in at $38.8 million, just barely under the total production cost of $39 million--it didn't even make back the money spent to make it. Perhaps you're thinking, "But that's still good! A grassroots effort got the movie made, so that's actually pretty impressive." Well, that's not how movie studios think. Serenity couldn't make any money in theaters, and no number of DVD sales is going to change the fact that it can't support itself. For Pete's sake, the '08 X-Files: I Want to Believe made $68 million worldwide, and it was off the air WAY longer than Firefly was before Serenity.
In any case, I don't think a Firefly reboot would live up to our expectations. In all likelihood, the time has just passed, and Joss Whedon's most recent projects have been less than engaging, in my opinion. Who's to say that he could recreate the magic that was Firefly? If he did manage it, I would be indescribably thrilled, but I won't hold my breath for it. There are too many other fantastic shows, books, games, and movies that deserve our time and effort just as much. Let's just accept it gracefully and take solace in the fact that we did have Firefly for a little while.
"They can't take the sky from me..."
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Strange Behavior
All week I reminded myself that I had a dentist appointment this afternoon, yet 12:35pm rolled around and I was completely caught off guard by my dentist calling to say that he and his assistant would be out to lunch, but they should be back in time for my 1pm appointment.
Naturally, I was still in my pajamas and not entirely awake due to an over-zealous night of drinking at the Starlight Room and Gold Dust Lounge. I assured my dentist that it was alright, and that I might be a little late myself due to the heavy rain and traffic. Immediately after hanging up, I performed my morning ablutions and threw on some pants. I eschewed changing out of my pajama shirt as I was already wearing a bulky sweatshirt over it; and time was of the essence since it normally takes twenty minutes for me to get to my dentist's office.
Thankfully, I arrived only five minutes after my scheduled appointment, and the rest went swimmingly. However, this is not the strange behavior alluded to in the above title. This is just the prelude.
At the dentist's office, as I was waiting for the Novocain to kick in, I gazed out the window on the street below. I had a good view of the laundromat across the street, and I noticed that a tan-colored sedan was just sitting in the middle of the street. The driver didn't have her signal or hazard lights on. She was just sitting there, blocking traffic. I peered into the cars parked in front of her, but there was no sign of someone getting ready to pull out, which would have explained why she was camping. For a good ten minutes, she just sat there, only moving once to back up her car and then pull forward again for no apparent reason.
Finally, a couple women crossed the street and got into their car, which just so happened to be right in front of our camper's vehicle. They left, and the tan sedan finally pulled in to park. Less than a minute later, the owner of the SUV parked right next to her arrived, got in his car, and left. The woman in the tan sedan responded by backing out of the space she had just parked into and taking the recently vacated spot.
Watching this woman's strange behavior, I couldn't imagine why she would waste so much of her time sitting in her car, waiting for a space, only to immediately back out again just to take the space next to her. On top of which, the SUV's spot was actually a little further away from the laundromat, which was the driver's ultimate destination. I supposed I understand why she would want to wait for a spot right in front since it was raining and she seemed to have a ton of laundry (as evidenced by the fact that she made two trips in and out with one of the laundromat's clothing rack/baskets on wheels), but I really don't get why she would swoop in on the SUV's spot. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I don't know this person. She seems like she would be an insufferable laundry mate.
Naturally, I was still in my pajamas and not entirely awake due to an over-zealous night of drinking at the Starlight Room and Gold Dust Lounge. I assured my dentist that it was alright, and that I might be a little late myself due to the heavy rain and traffic. Immediately after hanging up, I performed my morning ablutions and threw on some pants. I eschewed changing out of my pajama shirt as I was already wearing a bulky sweatshirt over it; and time was of the essence since it normally takes twenty minutes for me to get to my dentist's office.
Thankfully, I arrived only five minutes after my scheduled appointment, and the rest went swimmingly. However, this is not the strange behavior alluded to in the above title. This is just the prelude.
At the dentist's office, as I was waiting for the Novocain to kick in, I gazed out the window on the street below. I had a good view of the laundromat across the street, and I noticed that a tan-colored sedan was just sitting in the middle of the street. The driver didn't have her signal or hazard lights on. She was just sitting there, blocking traffic. I peered into the cars parked in front of her, but there was no sign of someone getting ready to pull out, which would have explained why she was camping. For a good ten minutes, she just sat there, only moving once to back up her car and then pull forward again for no apparent reason.
Finally, a couple women crossed the street and got into their car, which just so happened to be right in front of our camper's vehicle. They left, and the tan sedan finally pulled in to park. Less than a minute later, the owner of the SUV parked right next to her arrived, got in his car, and left. The woman in the tan sedan responded by backing out of the space she had just parked into and taking the recently vacated spot.
Watching this woman's strange behavior, I couldn't imagine why she would waste so much of her time sitting in her car, waiting for a space, only to immediately back out again just to take the space next to her. On top of which, the SUV's spot was actually a little further away from the laundromat, which was the driver's ultimate destination. I supposed I understand why she would want to wait for a spot right in front since it was raining and she seemed to have a ton of laundry (as evidenced by the fact that she made two trips in and out with one of the laundromat's clothing rack/baskets on wheels), but I really don't get why she would swoop in on the SUV's spot. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I don't know this person. She seems like she would be an insufferable laundry mate.
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