I read a review of Dante's Inferno (the game, not the book), and saw many comparisons to God of War (which it reportedly draws from heavily for gameplay).  What surprised me most was the way so much of the game was described as "calculated to shock you".  Specifically, killing hordes of babies seemed to be what people remember most, after the use of sexualized parts of the body.  It was described as a cheap knock off and terribly derivative.

The fact that it doesn't deliver might be a problem, but being an imitation of the things that went before doesn't necessarily make it bad.  Most of the gaming world draws heavily on what went before it, with (if you're lucky) one or two new little things that makes the game unique.  I did like God of War (which I keep meaning to finish).  Maybe I've been in one too many classes where we're told that all the great works of literature are imitations of each other.

I do think originality does play a significant role, but the major segment where I expected originality from Dante's Inferno was in the world.  I'll have to pick up the game to actually see if it delivers or not, but I'll likely just be able to pick it up cheap and used, thus saving me the exorbitant purchase price.

But since when is killing babies shocking?  I guess long gone are the days where any baby who was deemed weak was culled, and this was praised as a wonderful thing, to manage the population and remove the excess.  Aristotle specifically was concerned about the problems caused when the weak and infirm consumed the majority of the resources, as often happens today.  I guess I just never thought of killing babies (or anyone else) as particularly shocking.

And now I get to the point, which is wondering if I'm really just that jaded, or if the rest of the people around me are that out of touch with reality.  I don't think killing babies is "shocking" in any particular way, although you don't see it much.  I thought it was just because babies are so darned useless/helpless it was hard to work them in as some kind of enemy, not because killing them was shocking.  I guess we learn something new every day.

In other news, I applied for about two dozen jobs this morning.  Hoping to hear back "soon".  Still waiting on word from grad school, but since these jobs were at places I'd be willing to make my career at, I'd skip the school to go straight to work.  I'm tired of being flat broke.