['til the sky falls down]

Sometimes I ask myself, 'honest to god, how many hours did you spend sobbing while playing Skyward Sword?' After brief consideration, I tend to answer 'MANY HOURS.'  

Yes, I did in fact play The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I'll admit, initially it wasn't something I even expected myself to do, and I definitely didn't expect to ever have the desire to crush its entirety into a metaphorical ball and violently consume it. Obviously it's a relatively anomalous love for someone whose favorite games are the excessively violent, M-rated graphical marvels of the gaming industry. 

Like many gamers, I have a profound unconditional love for Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. However, the memory of the appalling Wind Waker and the essentially 'fan service' Twilight Princess had me moderately concerned about Skyward Sword. Yet what had me most troubled was its slightly repulsive art style. Partially cell-shaded and pastel-colored visuals in standard definition do not tickle my fancy whatsoever. 

And then the prospect of Link and Zelda having a romantic relationship was revealed. Dear god, that is something I have waited 12 fucking years for. By all means, I cannot ignore my inner fangirl that dominates every fiber of my being. So despite my disinterest in many aspects of the title, I concluded that I simply had to play this shit. 

And holy fuck, was I ever blown away by how unexpectedly amazing this game was. The compelling story, the flawless controls, the solid cinematics, the accompanying tidal wave of emotion. I can safely say, Skyward Sword has forever changed the Zelda series. It was so good that I didn't even mind the graphics. Yeah, I fuckin' said it. 

But honestly, I've never gotten so emotional while playing a game in my life. Not only was Skyward Sword's story incredibly meaningful to the entire Zelda series as a whole, but it was also momentous on a personal level. Even when I was young, I would always wish Link had some kind of intimate motivation to save Zelda: something to make these characters seem even remotely human. And finally here we are. Thanks to Skyward Sword, the Legend of Zelda has entered the age of modern video game storytelling and gives you real character development and brilliantly alive characters.

Just that in itself made me fall in love with this game. To say the least, I found it enrapturing that Link's relationship with Zelda was the very core of Skyward Sword; that was truly some deep shit. I came to the point where I genuinely cared that Link cared about Zelda; I continually found myself wanting Link to succeed for the sole purpose of being reunited with Zelda, because realistically, that's all that seemed to matter to him. 

I will never ever forget the cinematic in the Sealed Temple where Link is reunited with Zelda for the first time. Link's reaction and Zelda's dialogue was so unexpected, coupled with the return Zelda's Lullaby. It was so fucking beautiful and astounding I was in tears. And I swear my heart shattered in a million pieces when I saw the line 'I'm still your Zelda.'  

Throughout the rest of my playthrough, I was candidly at a loss of words for how stunningly moving Skyward Sword was. Maybe that's why its ending came as such a turbulently disappointing blow to me. Utter perfection splintered by a failure to simply follow through with what it started; the negligence to ignore the cruciality of taking a remarkable story full circle. There was Link and Zelda side by side, with no embrace of any sort, no semblance of the previous desperation to be together once again. Why Link and Zelda's intense affection for one another seemed to dissolve in the ending cinematic, I will never understand. And why Zelda never told Link what she meant to tell him after the Goddess Ceremony, I will never know. And that torments me every waking moment of my life.
Nintendo, what have you done?


-velocitti

[things fall apart]

Everybody loved Deus Ex Human Revolution. But I'm gonna be honest; in the end, I didn't think it was that great. Yeah, it was a damn good game, I'll give it that.. I just can't shake the overwhelming feeling that something critical was missing.

Flaws aside, Deus Ex Human Revolution had phenomenal art direction and simply stunning visual execution. The augmented characters seriously looked tight as fuck, while nearly all the environments were absolutely breath-taking. Hinged to its powerfully distinguishing style, excellent gameplay, and intriguing story, this titled looked to be one for the books. But then something went wrong...

My disappointment primarily spawned from how close this game was to being the real fucking deal and then narrowly missing that target. Frankly, Deus Ex just fell short for me in one particular area: character development. This is an essential property to any decent RPG. It was as though none of the characters actually mattered in the end. Jensen didn't have closure with anyone; not even Megan. I was too engrossed in the their relationship to be OK with its very existence dissolving into nothing without comment, especially after it drives much of the plot. Like, what kind of shit is that? Eidos Montreal, you needed to take that shit full circle, yo. Seriously.

Alright, maybe you're thinking 'why the hell are you so butt hurt about that!?' You know, just think about it this way... A great memorable game with a critical flaw is much more tragic than a shitty game being shitty. It's like your brand new S-Class having a big old scratch as opposed to your already banged-up 85' Civic having that same scratch: the former is fucking catastrophic; the latter is not.

But essentially that's just me. Psychologically believable characters and their relationships can virtually make or break a game in my opinion. It makes any title so much more emotionally engaging, and honestly, what gamer doesn't love feeling inwardly connected to such an unparalleled art form and story-telling medium? Exactly.

-velocitti

[keep calm and carry on]

You know what really grinds my gears? Pussy bitches stealing my artwork. Seriously, fuck that shit. Uhh, for example, 'Kendall Shepard' over on Twitter copied my N7 controller design and tweeted it to Bioware, claiming it as his own. I mean, his attempt looked like shit of course, but really, what a fucking loser.. But I guess that's the internet for you.

On a relevant note, I never realized how many people recognized my controllers online. I did some investigating earlier and discovered that they were featured on technabob, connect.in, Planet Gears of War, acoolgadget, Play, rtvclan and several other blogs. It also showed up on Tumblr and was reblogged by around 50 people. THIS is definitely my favorite.

Oh, anddd my ME2 mod was mentioned by bs angel on her site. Tight as fuuuck.

Alright, I'm done.

-velocitti

[let's do this]

The Gears 3 beta is over. And I am really disappoint about that.

To be honest, at first I was floored by how radically different it felt from the first two games. But it wasn't soon after that I absolutely loved it. I assume that was partially the case because my KD was more than 1.0 higher than in Gears 2. But it was also wayy more fun, firstly because you didn't have to worry about who had the faster internet connection and who had host. Less laggy is always good. And the new range of gorgeous executions was the fucking shit. Like the locusts' arm tearing? Legit as fuckkk.

To clarify, Gears 2 has definitely been my favorite multiplayer game since it came out. So I was relieved as hell that the Gears 3 beta grew on me, because I don't think any other game can ever replace my love for Gears matchmaking. Yeah, it tends to be full of fucked-up issues, but the intensity and chaos of it is realistically unprecedented. On a side note, I found that the camera placement in Gears 2 is set lower and closer to the character while rushing and rolling, which makes a drastic difference with how fast-paced the multiplayer feels.

Although I immensely enjoyed the beta, I would have to say a few things need to be fixed. For example, how over-powered the sawed-off shotgun is. It was a welcome addition, but that weapon's horizontal range was just too ridiculous. I'd also like to see the firepower of the bultok pistol increased. And other players should be able to see all the ribbons you've accumulated.

Anyway, I can't wait to see how this game turns out. But I already know, it's gonna be the fucking shit. So hard.

-velocitti

[deal with it]

Ever wonder how many consecutive weeks of your life you've wasted on Xbox Live? I fucking do.

Not that the answer would change the way I feel about time-consuming gaming, but I definitely think that'd be a pretty terrifying interesting statistic to see. However, Microsoft provides no such information, as far as I've ever been able to find. Those assholes..

So I'm going to have to find out myself. I assume most Xbox Live members recently received one of these new generalized account statements via email.

This is nice. Now I can see that I'm unnecessarily paying twice as much as I should be and that I wasted nearly an eighth of January in front of my Xbox. Alright.

I'm going to say this was a moderately active month. Active enough to sufficiently get my game on, but clearly not as progressive as those accumulative summer nights of logging hours into the morning. However, taking exam months into account, there's some adversely significant down time in a year as well.

Conclusively, I think I can suggest a 65 hour monthly average is a somewhat safe approximation. If this is the case, that means I have logged around 2730 hours on my operative Xbox Live account. That is quite a bit; thousands of hours well wasted. Then again, is there really a better way to spend four continuous months?

-velocitti

[ascension reloaded]

So Mass Effect Retribution... /spoilers ahead

...I feel like I shouldn't be disappointed with the ending, because I definitely saw the whole Grayson-death thing coming. But it was still a real boner killer. It genuinely seems like I'm gonna have to write some kind of smutty Grayson x Kahlee fan fic just to feel content with the whole situation. Then again, just because I want everything to involve sex it doesn't mean I should expect it.

...Despite my own desire for perversion, it was actually a pretty decent book. Compelling plot and excellently written. Maan, those Reapers were all up in there. Plus it's Mass Effect, so that almost automatically makes it the shit.

...On a parallel note, I honestly don't think I'd say Cerberus is nearly as heinous as everyone makes them out to be. They take action in the face of inconvenient realities; there's nothing unnecessary about that. And, as validated in the ME3 debut trailer, clearly they had an acceptable reason to be concerned. I mean, Earth is getting its shit fucked and Reapers are just flying around all over the fucking galaxy, and the Council is still gonna be like "Those ain't Reapers. You trippin', bitch."

Seriously. Fuck the Council.

-velocitti

[the tip of the iceberg]

I'm not exactly a 'holiday spirit' kind of person, but I have to agree that this time of the year is the shit. Primarily because I don't have to be on that goddamn college campus every day. I'll admit, I like university way more than I liked high school, but if it was up to me, I'd spend my time doing shit I want to do. Like art. And playing Gears online until 5am.

And now I can temporarily do whatever I want, whenever I want, wherever the fuck I please. Mm, just thinking about it makes me want to go rule-34 Fallout New Vegas. Haah, honestly though, this break is delicious. Especially after getting a 4.0 at Purdue. Yeah, a 4.0.

Lol, nah, that's not really what I'm so fucking pleased about. See, I got this cool new toy a few days ago, and I'm kinda in love with it atm. Even fits perfectly with my workstation.

Yeah, that's an Intuos4. Probably the second most badass tablet ever; a substantial upgrade from my Intuos3. It's perfect. If you want to be a digital artist but don't want to invest in a 1.5 grand tablet, this is the way to go. Also, thanks to this break, I finally did some art. It's HERE.

-uhh, velocitti.

[moar deadmau5 n stuff]

.....I really don't know why I have an obsession with deadmau5. Some of his newer music is mildly genius, I'll give him that. But he looks like a meth addict walking around with a cartoon mouse head on. So, I--I'm just not even sure why I would get all hot and bothered over that. Music isn't even my thing; I don't think I've ever fangirled over a musician or band before. Consequently I don't know why I'm slightly in love with Joel Zimmerman.
.....Anyway, like two weeks ago, he had a show at Congress in Chicago. In an attempt to exhaust such a problem obsession, I attended. I will admit, it did indeed satisfy my craving for mau5. Almost.
.....Seriously, it was fucking awesome though. Like, if you're a fan of deadmau5 even at all, go to one of his shows. That mau5cube and LED mau5head are from another fucking galaxy. Yes, THAT legit. I mean, I didn't go inebriated, but I feel like if I had, that shit would've changed my life. Haha.
.....Continuing, you will never believe the GA spot on the floor I landed. Out of the thousands of people that were there, I got a spot at nearly the center of the front rail--so basically like ten feet away from all the performers. Along with Zimmerman, there was Bookah Shade and Skrillex. Despite the fact that I was standing in a gross sweaty crowd all night, it was a pretty good memorable time.
.....Okay, yes, I'm going to complain. The theater was ancient, had terrible acoustics, and employs the douchiest security guards that could possibly exist. AND I fucking hate being in crowds with people I don't know getting too close for comfort. I also do not like having to stand in the same spot for six hours. Otherwise, it would have been amazing.
.....But, admittedly, it was totally worth it BECAUSE, guess what? I met deadmau5 and Skrillex. YEAH. Got a picture with Skrillex outside the theater and managed to get deadmau5 to sign my tit shirt. The latter was orgasm applicable. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo with Zimmerman because of those damn security guards. I was soo fucking bummed out. Ughh, one day it will happen!!
.....Meanwhile, it was kinda like...

Awwh, yeahhh. ♥

-velocitti