Over the past few days, I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Street Fighter IV: Volt’s online multiplayer. I’ve been doing so because I want to unlock Akuma, which can be done either by playing 100 online matches or beat the game with all 18 characters. On paper, 100 online matches is easier to complete than 144 matches against the computer. Boy, was I wrong.
Personal
Haters Gonna Hate: The Worst of My XBOX Live Message Inbox
It is unfortunately, a fairly well-known fact that the online video game community is not the most pleasant place in the world. Especially in the competitive gaming space, where there are no shortage of people spewing hateful epithets from their mouths, or sending over colourfully-worded text messages to others about others’ in-game behaviour.
During the last few weeks of playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I’ve received an abnormally large amount of hate messages; way more than I ever did playing Street Fighter. I don’t play Marvel to infuriate others, but for whatever reason, the player base seems to either really hate me, or are just a talkative bunch.
I thought I’d share some of the messages I’ve received with you just for kicks (and to expose some of these jerks who really should behave themselves). As much as I’d like to expose their gamertags, I have censored those (and any coarse language) out of respect to the message senders and to my readers. Anyway, here’s a taste of some of the worst messages I’ve received through XBOX Live of late.
Will You Ever Grow Out of Video Games?
A few months ago, my dad came down to the basement as I was playing a video game. I don’t remember which game, but I guess that’s irrelevant to the story. He said something that kind of struck a chord with me. “Are you ever gonna give this up?”
Once upon a time, video games used to be a kids-only deal. My dad used to be into games during the Atari/golden era of arcades, but he pretty much dropped games because that’s what adults did at the time. I’m well into my 20s, but I haven’t let the medium go and don’t plan on doing so any time soon. He’s still confused as to why I haven’t given up this ‘kiddie thing’.
Off-Topic: Bring The Beat Back
Long before the Internet knew me as a video game blogger, I made music. I was an aspiring hip-hop music producer. I wanted to be the next Dr. Dre, Timbaland or Kanye West. During my run, I made hundreds of hours of music. Some of that music ended up on Soundclick and MySpace, which were heard by thousands of people. I even managed to make a few fans in the process. However, most of my work (and the stories that go with them) never left my bedroom studio.
Out of fear that my work will ultimately go to waste if it’s never heard, I began archiving my music on Bring the Beat Back.
Snap Judgments: Microsoft and Sony’s 2011 E3 Press Conferences
Having just wrapped up watching the E3 2011 Sony press event, I though I’d share some quick thoughts on what I saw of Sony and Microsoft’s press events. I won’t speak too much on the specifics, as other major gaming sites will do a much better job of discussing the specifics. However, I wanted to share my general opinions on what I saw today.
In Third Person’s Reader Trends: May 2011 Edition
It’s usually that time of the month when I’d write about In Third Person’s top 5 posts for the month. I don’t want to do that anymore, because I don’t think it told that interesting of a story. I don’t think it benefits anyone when I write about the same 5 or 6 top posts every month that just so happen to be Google aggregate favourites (I’m looking at you, Gaming’s Definitive Moustaches).
Instead, I thought I’d do something more interesting with the numbers. Let me know if you enjoy this format better!
Pick-Up Post: Blockbuster Liquidation Madness
Across Canada, 146 Blockbuster locations are preparing to close their doors, which accounts for about 1/3 of all Blockbuster locations across the country. It’s a sad day for over a thousand people who will be losing their jobs and many of its customers who still want their movies and games on physical media. Canada will still have Blockbuster locations after this, but the future for those left is foggy at best.
The short-term good news is, all of these stores affected are liquidating their products at deep discounts. On the first day of the sales, my girlfriend and I went to her local Blockbuster that was shutting down and bought a ton of stuff. She bought Epic Mickey and a bunch of movies. I had upwards of 15 games in my hands during that trip, but I narrowed it down to 7 by the time I hit the register. Check out what I bought by clicking through to the rest of this post!
The 2012 Goal for In Third Person
In Third Person has come a long way from its humble roots as my pet project that was lucky to get 10 hits a day. While it’s still very much a pet project, the site is fortunate enough to reach an audience of thousands of visitors a month. Ever since the WordPress front page promo, thousands of visitors every month manage to find their way to my little slice of the internet. To say that this was all part of the plan would be a lie. I’m still surprised to see the number of views my posts get and the number of great conversations I have with readers in the comments.
Instead of simply riding the tides to wherever it takes me, I’d like to set a 2012 goal for In Third Person.
In Third Person Quick Hits: May 17 2011 Edition
Hello, friends!
There’s a lot of gaming-related stuff I want to talk about, but not enough time to write it all down into well thought-out and extended posts. Instead of falling behind the times, I thought I’d try and tackle the stuff I wanted to talk about in small, concise chunks.
If this format works out and is something you’d like to see more of, I’ll try it again. Hope you enjoy!
Eyes and Ears-On: Video Games Live 2011
My first experience with Video Games Live was magical. At the time, the concert series had just started its first tour, and the idea of having an orchestra perform video game music was quite new. I’ll never forget all of the awesome moments from that first show, from the amazing renditions of video game music I grew up with, to the energy of the fully-engaged crowd, to the fun my brother and I had playing Mario Kart DS with dozens of audience members during the intermission. I told myself that I would always come back for more when the show was in town.
Though I’ve missed at least one show in my area since, I made sure to carve out time in my calendar for Video Games Live this year, which was just a few days ago. There to enjoy it with me were my brother, who was anxious to experience Video Games Live again, and my girlfriend Steff, who had never been to a Video Games Live show before. Was Video Games Live 2011 able to replicate (or improve on) the magic that brought all of us there on this particular evening?
In Third Person 