If Destiny isn't for you, that's ok. We understand.

Let's be honest, GOTY awards are never a consensus vote but rather a good choice that offends no one. It would be hard to argue that the changes Bungie has made to Destiny are praiseworthy considering these "quality of life" things should have been there from the beginning. It is a completely fair statement that Activision and Bungie seem to care little about what the average player will pay to enjoy a game marketed as having an epic story and social elements, especially considering how little story is presented to the player in the game.

This makes the following subjective statement stand on nothing more than emotions and unsubstantial evidence; Destiny is my game of the year!

Destiny is not a game for a lot of people! I was shocked when I heard members on message boards and game journalists slam Bungie for putting out those live action trailers a while ago that seemed to not be epic and grandiose. The "does anyone speak space turtle" line was pointed out as "not being in character with what Bungie has marketed this story as". But I was not into Destiny at all until that ad. To have a game for my PS4 that I could potentially be in fireteams and chat with friends about random things and "OMG! HIVE! SHOOT IT DEAD!!!...by the way Cyndi and I are going to Sacramento for the weekend," was exactly what I wanted. The Alpha was further proof that this game was how I will choose to spend my time. I felt that the Cosmodrome and the Moon were the only areas in the game and that nothing else was finished...and I was ok with that. Did Activision market the game as the second coming of game stories, yes they did. Did I care about the story, not at all.

Since when did a community of players care about story in a first person shooter? I know people who play MMOs and skip the story quests entirely, yet people expect an FPS to have an epic story? I remember little of Halo's story and even then it took Bungie until Halo Reach to actually tell an okay story. What were people expecting?

If anything, Destiny is a lesson in how mismanaged expectations corrupted the idea of what the game was in the minds of many people. Destiny is Social Shooter and nothing else.

Social Shooter, what does that mean? It means that Destiny is a game for people who use their consoles as a means to talk to their friends and chat about their day and not really do anything serious. With that being said, what should a person expect from a social shooter? Light story telling that's not intrusive, weapon progression system that allows players to invest time and or money into the experience, and diverse gameplay mechanics that are also not complex. If that's what you are into, then go for it! If not, then I perfectly understand.

Destiny to me, is what Minecraft is to some people. I'll never understand the need to build things and not have an objective or not having zombies to invade my buildings or other players destroying all I hold dear. Destiny to me is like World of Warcraft to some people, I understand the need to get loot, level up, chat with friends, and go on group activities with strangers.

Destiny to me is...just Destiny.

These long stretches of not blogging and then blogging again...I've got to remain on some kind of schedule. Anyway, I've finally gotten the music VST I need to actually make video game music. My first song was to create a Fan made song for a possible Bungie trailer in my head.

Destiny - Captured Royalty

Hope Destiny fans in Giant Bomb enjoy. Come back to us Brad!

As my first premium podcast listen Danswers was great, this was awesome, brought tears to my eyes. You all do not know how important Kalman's answers were to me personally. Best money I've spent in a while. Thank you Danny and...I can't believe I'm saying this...Dan Ryckert. :)

I will come back to Dan in a moment. I am actually writing because I've not been on Giant Bomb in a while. I am actually finally a paying member of the site and to actually have meaningful, impactful content come from "Danswers" of all places...well, that shows me, huh?

Dan Ryckert has suffered the horrible fate of being "Not Ryan". I know a lot of people may not say this but my love for Ryan Davis, and I know "joe nobody" on the internet cannot use the term "love" to a full extent, heavily influenced my reception of Dan, and for that I am sorry. I know now that that behavior was wrong and defiantly not what the great man would want.

So Samantha "Kaldan"'s appearance on Danswers brought to my attention that Dan Ryckert is a genuine person. Underneath the incredibly horrible taste in food and choice of activities lies a unique and wonderful individual who will spend time with a subject that I care about strongly and learn all he can so as to not be ignorant of the topic. Although I may not always like his opinion, I can bring myself to accept it. Thank you "Dirty" Dan Ryckert.

I'm leaving for the Video Games Live Concert in New Orleans tomorrow morning with my roommates! I wanted to get some tracks out before I left. I will post more today if I get them done before I leave.
 
LINCOLN FORCE SOUNDTRACK 
Featuring "War Without a World" by Midnight Brown from their newest Album "Deadly Electric"
 War Without a World by Midnight Brown 
1. Abe's Photograph (War Without a World Fanfare)
2. Time Traveling Duo (Main Menu)
3. War on the Lawn
4. John Wilkes Booth's Brain 
5. Clash with Washington's Monument 
6. Jefferson's Town House 
7. Adams Pickle 
8.  The Underground
... 
You can find "War Without a World" and more of Midnight Brown's work at their Website

What does the community think? Is this a good direction for Zelda music. I would like to know how I can improve this...thanks...

Xbox 360 / HDMI + 3 games + 60 HDD = $299.99

Microsoft Supports the Troops

A Good Conection

How could Microsoft and Apple use their new found power?

Apple and Microsoft have two handhelds out now and both are capable of some kind of portable gaming. The question remains, is a portable-console connection even worth it for either company?

In the past, companies like Nintendo and Sega kept mindshare by having a portable platform to keep their company name on the lips of AA battery addicted children. The tiny GameBoy screens that played 8 bit knock offs of NES games and Sega's Nomad and Game Gear were all the rage in the 80s and 90s. Nintendo eventually carved out a market with fresh new games that were both complex and fun while Sega's expensive machines paved the way for the portable concoles of today, the Nintendo DS and PSP. Each system connected with their respective consoles. Sega allowed players to use their own Genesis carts while Nintendo added console specific functions in the GBA software much later. Nintendo's approach allowed the company to offer a value proposition to owning both the portable and console. Sony rose to take Sega's place in the handheld gaming industry's race for best portable soon after its Sega's Dreamcast was canned; however, like freckled face twins, Microsoft and Apple have placed their quarters down and are also ready to join the fray. 

Apple iphone

Apple has been more covert in their strategy to undermine Sony's position on portable gaming with its motion sensitive controls and sophisticated touch screen. Games like Super Monkey Ball handled well on the platform, better than the Wii version with dedicated motion controls. The only thing that Apple has not addressed is a console connection. What could be done by Apple to assure market-share this year? 

- For starters, 

connect to a console. Understand that being connected to AT&T cannot be Apple's permanent solution to network capability and that Apple will need to connect to some service soon after its contract with AT&T is up. There are many consoles the iphone could attach itself; Xbox, the PS3, Wii, PC / Mac. With Apple's move to the App-store on itunes, the PC / Mac route is the most probable. So Apple will do more this year to make either the Mac or PC the central hub for the iphone (ipod touch). 

-

Making the Mac brand stand out as a separate entity than the PC, allows Apple the flexibility to solidify a base and optimize hardware. Marketing campiegns will ramp up, displaying the iphone and Mac together and associating itunes with the iphone.

-

Closing the development community might be a side effect of conflating the iphone and Mac brands. Ensuring security will be in Apple's best interest. Making sure that the Apps are not harmful programs for the Mac might become the long Certification process Microsoft seems to have. 

Microsoft Zune

-

The Zune hardware must be retooled. Unlike the Xbox 360, the Zune’s ability to play games seems like a fancy work around. The tech demos and candid interviews point to a very recognizable problem, the Zune isn’t meant for gaming. If Microsoft were to make the Zune apart of their winning strategy they would need to relaunch the Zune with updated graphics hardware. They would also need to come up with a distribution method of Zune software, the most obvious choice being Xbox Live Arcade. They would then need to create development tools that took advantage of the new Zune hardware and future Zune/XBLA games would have to be certified and optimized for the Zune and Xbox 360. Doing so would add countless hours onto already pressured development cycles.

- If retooled,

Zune services will flood Xbox Live. This would be an awesome time to own a 360. One feature missing from both the PS3 and Xbox 360 is the ability to download music. Since Microsoft keeps a record of what is downloaded from its servers, Zune/Xbox owners could easily use the 360 as a hub station for the Zune. Songs could also be played from the Zune’s library as well.

-

Live Anywhere would finally exist. Imagine customizing your Avatar on your Zune and scheduling downloads as well using the Zune as a remote 360, streaming video or playing XBLA compatible titles. Developers could add extra content to games to support the Zune or the Zune could be an instant voice messenger (it doesn't take much to turn a speaker into a microphone, you know)

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

Microsoft and Apple have a lot to gain, but not without scrafices. But who knows, maybe Nintendo will ruin everything by announcing a portable Gamecube or the next DS. Let us hope that Microsoft and Apple are not irresponsible with their portable devices by using them to gouge out the eyes of the consumer base with high priced services and useless features. 

It is a strange question to the community, to ask for a method to the madness, when so many people gravitate towards people that respect them and make them feel important. So why really did I join this site? To be blunt it was the staff, the writing, the cool site features and the ability to be at ground zero (so to speak) of a huge movement in gaming culture.

For a while I stood on the sidelines at major sites, none that I will mention here. Their community podcasts and emailed questions usually consisted of content that was marketing focused or within the certain tastes. There were very few sites out there that took the words and thoughts of its user base to heart and partitioned their media to reflect those views. GiantBomb, to me, is the embodiment of the views of its viewership. Game reviews are written by the staff but mostly the rest of the content is provided by the community. The flexibility of the tools to write blogs and news stories transforms a gaming nerd sitting on his couch, reading slanted news, go from "dude, whatever..." to "dude, whatever....I'm updating this article!" The power is within the grasp of the people to drastically change their environment.

Despite what some people may say about the company, I still hold a small candle for them and wish them well with the DSi I will pre-order as soon as I can.