Hey all. So, it's been kind of a rough week or two over this way. My friend passed away, he took his own life.

I made a little video blog to voice some thoughts I've had knocking around. Be warned, there's some frank talk about feelings, death, life, suicide, and my history with friend Monte. If you are sensitive about any of these topics, maybe avoid this video.

Having said that, there are also race cars.

Here's a link to help out the family, if you would like to do that. http://www.gofundme.com/b856q4

It sucks to lose anyone, let alone a friend you've shared the better part of your life with. And suicide is something that still has incredible stigma attached to it. That's why I'm sharing this here, I guess. Plus, my July grief naturally gravitates me towards Giant Bomb.

Anyway, thanks all.

Just lately there have been a few thoughts about offensive, or potentially offensive material in games here on GB.

You see the typical arguments on both sides. But I'm kinda weirded out by all the "I don't get offended because I'm not a child" statements.

Children don't get offended, they'll watch anything. It's the place of the protective, or sometimes the over-protective, parent to step in and shield a child from seeing something the parent doesn't want them to see.

I don't think not getting offended makes you any more of an adult. In fact, I think that's actually telling of a childish POV.

They were a dollar. They're mustard yellow. And they're spectacular.

Guys, I did it. This feels like a new chapter in my life.

Cool things can and do happen with Giant Bomb.

I've been friends with @bkimball for a while, I knew him as a local creative here in Utah. But it was only last month, when Ryan passed, that either of us realized we were both GB members. GB members, and deep in it.

Obviously it was a terrible way to find out we had this thing in common. But if there's an upshot, its that it was also helpful to have someone in real life to, you know, mourn with, without giving a list of caveats to. Silver linings.

Anyway, Brady is moving onwards and upwards in life, with a great job in a new city, and he decided to help make room for that life by gifting me with a ton of his classic games and systems.

A shit-ton [metric].

I made a little mailbag-esque video about it, and took some pictures. But really, I'm overwhelmed by Brady's generosity and general bad-assery, and would like to suggest that everyone send him well-wishes, as well as check out his hip hop endeavors here.

Gallery

Here's the full list of systems and games:

Systems:

NES

Genesis

SNES / Super Game Boy

Dreamcast

Games:

NES- The Legend of Zelda, Ninja Gaiden

Genesis- Mutant League Football, X-Men

SNES- Uniracers (!!), Jurassic Park, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, Contra 3, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, NHL Stanley Cup, Donkey Kong Country, Jungle Strike, NBA Live '95, NBA Jam T.E., Mega Man X, Super Return of the Jedi, Earthworm Jim 2

N64- Goldeneye 007, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Quake 2, Perfect Dark

PS1- Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Colony Wars: Vengeance, Carnage Heart, Bushido Blade, Final Fantasy Origins, Final Fantasy IX, Gran Turismo 2, Vagrant Story, Mega Man X6, Vigilante 8, WWF War Zone, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Time Crisis, Sheep, Silhouette Mirage, Grandia, NO ONE CAN STOP MR. DOMINO!

Dreamcast- Virtua Tennis, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

-----------------------

Oh, speaking of cool shit happening with Giant Bomb, I met @rorie. Motherfucker is affable!

Not quite ready.

Well, I've gone and done it. I've finished Mass Effect 3, despite my, and society's, misgivings.

And it was the right call. I finished it, and the conclusion wasn't so bad, so long as you weren't wanting to analyze its feasibility. Since I wasn't wanting that, it felt just fine. I know that what I saw was not at all what the vast majority of players experienced a year ago. I had all the context of the DLC, plus the comedown of good feelings from the The Citadel DLC stuff. This helped immensely.

But I even fucked up the ending sequences, and still managed to feel good at the end. I was streaming, and someone suggested that there was a hidden fourth ending that I could choose. So naturally I shot the sky-child in the face, heard the demonic "SO BE IT...", and got the 'fuck-you' ending from Bioware, apparently the one ending added after the fact.

I didn't reset in time, and had to redo the Citadel sequence, but this time, I fucked up the Illusive Man conversation, and got laid out by the guy because I didn't want to go renegade (paragons white knighting this sucka, sucka).

But finally, I got to the choices again, and made the choice that it felt like my Shepard would make, the green choice. And it was fine. Synths and organics cum ba ya'd. The stargazer spoke to his child. And since I didn't put one thought into the feasibility of things working out the way they did, i got my mindless satisfaction from seeing Joker outrun the Mass Effect.

And ultimately, that's what this whole project of mine, finishing these games, is all about. Mindless investigation into my mindless investments. Mindless dividends are about the best I expect.

I may have also become incredibly bitter and cynical about what these games can be. But as long as I'm mindless about it, it doesn't sting so very bad.

BioShock next.

EDIT: I went ahead and uploaded the gameplay video to youtube. It's here if you're interested, but here is about where the ending stuff kicks off.

Maybe some fights aren't worth finishing.

I have been enjoying Mass Effect 3, a lot. Way more than I thought I would, based on all the chatter last year around its release. The reaper-pacman stuff hasn't been a big deal for me, same with the stalker sidequests. The combat feels fun, more fun than I remember Mass Effect 2 being, and I've enjoyed going online to get the readiness level up.

I've just finished the Citadel DLC, and enjoyed it immensely. I've done what has to be most of the stuff in the game... I've resolved all the multigame plot threads I've ever cared even slightly about.

And so now, I have the ending coming. And, I'm thinking that maybe I don't want to see it.

I know the whole point of this project was to finish games. But its about finishing games I stopped due to entropy or time constraints. What if I allow myself to make the decision NOT to finish this fight, and instead, just linger on this high note that I'm feeling about the game and the series right now?

I'm going to sleep on it. But I think I might be moving on.

Finishing the Fight update #1 -- Mass Effect 3 w/DLC

I'm some portion of the way through Mass Effect 3, and its been interesting. I kind of can't believe how far I was led astray by the chatter surrounding the game this past year. To the point: I really like Mass Effect 3.

I don't know how far I am, really. If I were to guess, I'd say somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3. I just finished the Quarian arc. But my green bar is most of the way full, and the only major race I haven't really recruited is probably the Asari, and I think I just got pointed in their direction.

The sidequest/scanning stuff is kind of strange, but its not the big problem that I feel like I was led to believe. It is a little cognodiso, but not in this big gamebreaking kind of way. For the most part, I feel like its a better mechanical alternative to the scanning in ME2, which in my mind's eye took up endless hours of puttering about the universe.

SPOILER -- I would much rather have had Legion join up again, instead of Tali. Maybe I'm just bitter for never having closed the deal with Tali in 2, something that was the result of a rogue dialogue choice, along with a reckless saving policy.

I've tiptoed into the multiplayer. I don't know how much of it I have to do, but I'm pleasantly surprised to see that there are still low level games going on pretty frequently. Its not the wasteland I imagined I would have to deal with. And... its kinda fun.

I'm hoping to finish up this weekend. I'd like to pick a more straightforward game to finish up next. Maybe Saint's Row The Third, or Rage. Something that's not so sprawling. I'd go with Analogue: A Hate Story, but I'm already reading too much text as it is. Sidenote: When I do that one, it'll be the most boring livestream in the short history of livestreams.

Anyway, if you'd like to follow my playthroughs, follow me on twitch. It's www.twitch.tv/indieslaw, though www.indieslaw.com redirects there for the moment.

The end is nigh. New consoles are coming. So, to borrow a phrase from Mr. Davis, it's time to put a bow on this generation.

I plan to stream like a mad man this year, trying to finish all these significant and not-so-significant games. I'm "freelance" at the moment, so it's a good time to do it. This list is my attempt to plan out what the queue is going to be.

Most of these are like a "Load your last save" situation. I'm halfway through, or more, most of these games.

So here goes

Ignore the title.

I've been using the Smartglass app on iOS all night tonight, to navigate through media apps, and finally a DVD. I'm liking it, but its not saving me much time. Pulling out the phone/iPad and opening the app takes about as long as finding/grabbing the controller and turning it on. I dunno, I like some of the quick remote shortcuts on the app. More functional than using a controller... but probably not moreso than a remote control that works with the xbox. But I don't have one of those, and this is working fine.

I'll probably continue using it. The only thing I had to consciously work my mind around was the direction moved when you swipe. It doesn't have that natural, opposite movement that most swipes have. Its more like a button press. Swiping right moves to the right one square, rather than scrolling around. Its not a problem, but it's also not how most things on iOS operate. But since ultimately its meant to control the xbox, writing this entire paragraph about the issue was completely out of proportion to the amount of thought it took to adjust.

#impressions