Two months ago I made a number of decisions that would without question be a strain on my self-control. For my own sake I decided to keep them quiet so that it did not seem like I was trying to preach my beliefs or that I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. 

The actions taken were:

- Deleted my World of Warcraft characters. Removed the account.
- Made a stand to remove all access to various processed / fast foods.
- Promised myself that I would go back to exercising for the first time in years.

Why 2 months?

In most addictive scenarios it can usually take anywhere from 30-60 days for the patient to completely remove any unwanted urges from their mind. This was something I considered when I had set my goal.

Explanation:

Before I get into that I should explain how all of this came up. It was two months ago that I began to work on my college applications. I've been fortunate enough to have the past year off as a way to rethink exactly where it is I want to go in life, so I really didn't want to mess up this opportunity. It was at this time that I began to look at myself and the world around me to figure out where I see myself in the future, and the truth is, I was on a path that could lead nowhere but down. I'd quickly come to the realization that I had hardly taken advantage of the opportunity I had been given. 

So I took some time to myself. I needed to reassess what I was doing with my life and why it mattered in the first place. It was at this moment that I decided to forget the world around me and only pursue the things that I personally believed in. I figured I can't amount for anything unless it's something I can be proud of. It was also at this time that I saw the movie Food, Inc., which definitely struck a cord with me. I was having a hard time believing how cruel an industry could be not only to it's animals, but to it's customers. This frustration immediately became a slap in the face to the realization that most, if not all, of the industries in this economy are only in the pursuit of money. No matter what the cost.

Now, you can ask anyone and they'll tell you that I am the least decisive person they've ever met. For years every idea I had would immediately be backtracked due to regret or I felt something had been missing from the previous experience. However all of those doubts have been completely ignored in the past 2 months. In this time there has not been a single decision that I have doubted, or backtracked on, and that is something I am willing to argue. 

Why does any of this matter?

Well, in order for me to become a better person (both physically and mentally), I needed to rid my mind of any clouded thoughts and assure myself that I knew what I was doing. Even when I didn't. Doing this not only gave me some self-control, but it also increased my confidence. I've spent a lot of time reading about cognitive psychology as a means of changing your entire lifestyle and there is no question that this is exactly what happened in my case. 

So what happened to those 3 things I listed above?

- I have not had the urge to go back to World of Warcraft, or any MMORPG for that matter, in a very long time. I've actually found myself quite removed from spending mass amounts of time on anything other than going outside and actually enjoying myself. 
- I've not touched a single piece of fast food in the 2 months mentioned. This was not quite as easy seeing as I live a few houses down from a Harvey's restaurant. However at this point the sheer thought of touching anything that greasy sends shivers down my spine. There are much cleaner, and safer, ways to eat a good hamburger.
- At the beginning it was difficult to get into the "exercise" thing, but over time it definitely became much easier. I actually really hurt myself in the first few days because I had put more of a toll on my body than it was actually prepared for. But now I am maintaining a solid regiment and can definitely notice a SIGNIFICANT difference in my health and how I look.

Why do I care?

I'm really not sure. To be honest, it would amaze me if a single person made it to the bottom of this page. It just seems like a strong opportunity to prove to people that I'm not just "all talk". There is A LOT going on behind the scenes as I prepare myself to move to Niagara Falls in the next few months. I don't want my life over there to be compromised by the fact that I lack the self-control and confidence required to make my mark on this world.

And with that, I move on to my next venture. Toronto in a few weeks. Niagara in a few months. I can only imagine where it goes from there.    

Having been an avid fan of the God of War series for years I've come to the conclusion that the series has officially peaked, and by peaked I mean with God of War II. We're in an age where simply tacking on new weapons isn't nearly enough to quench that thirst for a complete sequel. So a few weeks ago I finished playing God of War III and, I'll be honest, the game was a pretty great experience (minus the ending). It had everything you would ever want from a full-throttle action game, but at the end I felt like I had been somewhat cheated by my younger teen-angst self. I felt the same way I did after finishing the campaign for Modern Warfare 2. Like I had been funding something that didn't quite make much sense to me. That I was only in it for the aggressive "torture porn" gameplay.
 
Last week I picked up a belated copy of Bayonetta. Having been a VERY big fan of the Devil May Cry series, I figured I would give it a spin. Yes, I bought it on PlayStation 3. But the recently released patch has removed almost all of the issues with that version of the game. And the first thing I noticed was how much the combat made sense to me, as if it was everything I'd been craving from an action game since playing Devil May Cry 4. This is a fresh new IP with a wise team behind it and they delivered, even exceeded, my expectations. Meanwhile Kratos is getting all the glory for doing what God of War II did except without the length or thrilling conclusion. Essentially all the series really has pushing it anymore is the cries of the elitist fanboys who are too jaded to realize when it's time to move on. 
 
Though I haven't yet finished Bayonette (Thanks, FFXIII / Just Cause 2), but I can already call it everything I wanted out of God of War III. I didn't have a direct problem with the game, it just felt like I had been somewhat shortchanged. As if I should be expecting some sort of DLC to come in the future, much like Assassin's Creed 2. However in the case of Ezio I was left with more than my fair share of fun by the time the game had ended. So much that I've yet to even purchase it's DLC.

 Yes. I've been an avid supporter of the downloadable game movement since the beginning. I believe that it is a great way to give gamers a "quick fix" when they may not be willing to pay retail for a game they may not be too excited about. I also believe that it is a great way to help expose some of the smaller or indy studios. It has become obvious that both Microsoft and Sony have found this to be a very strong method of making money, which is why they began adding retail games at a discount as downloadable games. If anything I expect the support for this movement to only get stronger as time goes on, it is even possible that future generation consoles may make DLC a standard and completely rid themselves of retail.
 
Games like Fat Princess and PAIN seem to benefit greatly by being downloadable, but if they were released as retail discs I believe that they would simply be forgotten about. The interesting thing about this is that games like Wipeout HD are being released as downloadable games but have enough content to be considered retail games.
 
Anyways, back on topic, I believe that the idea of having all of my purchases locked to my account makes me feel secure about my purchases. Years ago I bought Psychonauts on Steam and to this day I can go back and replay that great game without worrying about disc scratches or CD keys. That is something that makes the downloadable market worthwhile.

There are still too many cases of people being there who do not need to be there. I may just be a student, but even I know that GameStop/EBGames clerks don't really have any reason to be there. I am also somewhat annoyed with the "ranking" system that people don't generally hear about. Listening to a recent episode of 4PlayerPodcast I had come to realize that Olivia Munn of G4TechTV has no right to cut in line when there are real journalist that have jobs to do.