Gamestop SUCKS.

Most if not ALL OTHER corporations who make as much money as Gamestop give a tiny bit of money away to help the community.

As bad as Walmart and Sam's Club is they will both donate stuff to the library if I ask.

Best Buy does as well.

Gamestop DOES NOT.

They justify this by saying that they help out the Make a Wish foundation...I would really like to know just how much corporate giving actually goes on there...

As a glorified PAWN SHOP whose business practices promote crime and screw over the consumer I would think they would want to give SOMETHING back to the community.

But NO. They REFUSE to support in any way beside giving to Make a Wish.

That is total BS.

People making 400 K a year are complaining...

Wow.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/getting-by-on-400,000-MSNMoney.aspx

$400,000 and they OWN their own home...

I am paraphrasing Terry Pratchett here...

A rich man buys a nice pair of boots that will last him 5 years. They are expensive but they last.

A poor man buys a crappy pair of boots that will last him 1 year. They are cheap but because of the hard work and long hours they wear out quickly.

The poor man ends up paying MORE money on boots during that 5 years than the rich man.

The kicker is that the poor man will still be wearing shitty boots that leak during all that time.

And the rich bastard spends that time complaining ab0ut how much his nice comfortable boots cost.

...

Someone who makes $400,000 a year has NOTHING to complain about.

It makes me SICK that we are so f'ed up as a society that we allow these people to bitch and moan.

Original Fallout trilogy released.

I somehow missed the news on this.

The original Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics has been released.

It's going for $19.99 in most major retail stores.

Just a note for people like me who totally missed hearing about this until now.

Wow. Ustream actually works.

I am currently watching the artist from Penny Arcade draw stuff live.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/penny-arcade-tv

It's actually pretty cool. I was under the impression that most artists as famous as that just bang out stuff quickly. He is actually quite methodical about it and takes time to draw and re-draw bits that must have not seemed right to him.

I used twitter to find out about this.

http://twitter.com/cwgabriel

Maybe technology isn't all bad.

What?

...

...do naturalists in other countries do stupid shit like this? Or is it just Americans?

It's a friggen' BEAR! Don't hand raise it and invite it to the dinner table...

...this cannot end well.

How does anyone draw in MS paint???

Lately I have been looking at art that people have made in MS paint. As a great fan of minimalist art creators I tried to do the same thing.

I managed to bang this out in about 45 seconds.
It's got the same "everyone looks like a mannequin" feel as my normal pencil doodlings but there is much less control involved. You can whip up stuff quickly though.

However after that I didn't see the damn point of working on it anymore. I mean with a pencil or in photoshop it's just so damn easy to blend and erase stuff.

Paint is a nice program but I can't see trying to use it for drawing. Unless you are trying to impress someone or something.

VGcats takes on "gamers"

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/

Nice.

I saw a very few minutes from that SciFi show and I was bitterly disappointed. It really did look like they found the most most annoying casual gamer stereotypes that exist and taped them.

Scott R. is also correct in noting that the popularization of video games means that there is a dip in quality games. Many of the really good games that come out are not getting the positive attention they should enjoy because they are "too hard" or people "don't get them". (For example please consider the following review of God Hand: "Oh this game is too hard *Whine Whine* it must be a bad game because I suck at playing it and I know nothing about the genre of game that inspired it *Whine Whine* [that statement was taken verbatim from the review])

I think we actually have not gotten to the worst of this situation yet. But hopefully there will be good games released in the future and everyone who enjoys a real gaming experience will be able to get a copy.

Zombie on the lawn

Here's a random video of wolves eating berries.

I knew that foxes and coyotes eat berries (mostly because the coyote crap I always encountered outside my house always had berries in it). I never knew that wolves liked to eat them.

Subnormality does a video game webcomic

Winston Rowntree's interpretation of Laura Croft and Samus Aran meeting.

It's not what you would expect (however, if you have read any of his other stuff you would expect this)

http://www.viruscomix.com/subnormality.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7364921&page=1

I was fired after having my appendix taken out. The doctor told me that I couldn't drive a car for a week and my "boss" who I actually hired (he was immediately promoted by a corporate manager trying to take over the marketing section in the area) demanded that I meet with him. When I told him I couldn't because I had just got surgery and couldn't drive he fired me.

Oh and he gave a bad reference for a job. Even the asshat corporate manager was pissed off at him because of that and apologized to me.

WTF.

New TV's make old games look bad?

http://nfgworld.com/mb/thread/660

Very interesting...

So I had better keep that old TV then.

I knew it. Lobster isn't that great.

http://www.cracked.com/article_17246_when-lobster-was-spam-5-gourmet-foods-that-used-be.html

I knew it. Prisoners revolted against eating lobster because it was like being fed rats!

I never understood why some foods are considered fancy and "good" by most people.

Now I understand. People are just dumb.

We will praise the consumption of a water spider that just a short while back was refused by war prisoners.

It's all perspective.

It all comes down to people's skewed perspective.

At times like this I am glad that I have my own perspective on life.

Why can't we make movies like this in Hollywood?

Hell I would settle for making movie posters like this.

Damn.

http://www.manolith.com/2009/04/16/18-vintage-sci-fi-posters-robots-aliens-monsters

Star Craft 2. Can't wait.

Nice.

That Terran homing missile thing looks way overpowered compared to the exploding zerglings.

It's interesting to note that there was a fan-made mod that created units called "roaches" and now there are official Star Craft 2 units that are named roaches.

...I wonder if that person works for Blizzard now or if they just ripped off the name?

What happened this year according to videogames.

http://kotaku.com/5208979/virtual-reality-the-year-twenty+o+nine-in-video-game-history

One of the better Kotaku articles I have read.

Minerva: Metastasis

Minerva: Metastasis.

If you have Half Life 2...

GET IT!

It is GREAT!

Even though I do not have Internet access at home I was still able to play it in Steam in Offline mode! (I downloaded it from work and carried it in a flash drive home.)

It really reminds me how people made some awesome mods for the original Half Life. (They Hunger, Heart of Evil...ect)

It takes all the traditional elements from Half Life 2 and mixes them up with some very well developed environments.

Plus there is a plot!

Do yourself a favor. Play it.

I know I was still hungry for some Half Life action after beating all the single player stuff in the Orange Box.

I played a huge chunk of it last night and I am not even a quarter of the way through!!!!

And the series is not even done yet!

Did I happen to mention that only ONE PERSON created this fun game?

Amazing.

This is so true.

When girls play video games.

http://www.ellerbisms.com/?p=47

I am playing...

Command and Conquer 3.

VERY action packed. I had no idea how much the gameplay differed from other RTS games.

I really like how you can fly in crack teams of soldiers behind enemy lines. It really changes up the game play.

All in all it's a very fun game so far and very well balanced.


One a side note:

I understand now how Sega tried to blend all that was good in Starcraft and Command and Conquer into one game with Universe at War.

Of course it turned into one bug infested mess.

I really tried to play that game Sega. I downloaded all the patches and EVERYTHING. Nowhere near as good as Command and Conquer 3 though.

Hardest Games???

Oh Game Daily...

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/galleries/top-25-hardest-games-of-all-time/?page=1

I agreed with some of your choices like MDK2.

But I disagree with other choices like Doom. I remember Nightmare difficulty being fun and not one of the "hardest games of all time".

I was also able to beat Portal quite quickly. I think I only died a few times at the end.

Props for including the Metal Slug series in there.

Cadbury Eggs and stuff.

I found out today that the UK's Cadbury Eggs have actual creme in them. All we Americans get is powdered milk. Plus they have better quality chocolate...

They have been making them smaller over the years. Skip to the end of this clip.



I only ate two last year.

It kinda sucks that most of the food produced in America is really lower quality and processed more than in other parts of the world.

Even the seasonal candy!!!

If it wasn't for local growers of produce and meat we wouldn't have anything decent to eat in this country. Cook your own damn food. It's better in every way!

In any case everyone have a Good Friday!

(get it?)

I never understood how the heck it became "good" friday what with all those bible passages where Jesus was screaming "why have you forsaken me" and getting stabbed by spears and stuff (In other versions he seemed much calmer but I attribute this to PR. Personally, if I was being crucified I would vocalize questions about God forsaking me). Yes it's nice that he died for our sins and managed to get out of that cave eventually but calling the day "good" seems sort of callous to the personal agony the guy went through.

But of course we can't call the holiday "The day that we betrayed, ridiculed, tortured and eventually killed Jesus". That would look horrible on a Calendar.

Perhaps it could be "Don't worry he came back on Sunday" Day.

In any case there should be a ruling against the whole "Easter Bunny" thing.

The quaint Germanic pagan theme (which face it originally probably had something to do with how lovely dead sacrificed rabbits taste with herb broth) has really been warped by my fellow Americans into something horrible and gaudy. We just don't need it.

We already have the deal where a guy comes back to life! How much more do you want!!?!??!?!?

We don't need ANOTHER mythological figure giving treats to all the good boys and girls. We have had too many treats in this country as is.

...

Speaking of that I am going to track down a Cadbury Egg.

You know.

Just to test the quality.

Wow. Look at that thing go!

I apologize for that last post. I tend to ramble and forget this is supposed to be a blog on gaming and media stuff.

Check this thing out!



Thatlooks like it could be fun.

Loss of Customer Service.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/04/09/25-things-vanishing-in-america-part-2-customer-service/

Of course you can use the whole "stop being a whiner, that's the way things are" defense of the status quo but I think most people are starting to see how bad things are getting.

One sociology professor at my college once explained it to us this way.

We are being trained to work for the corporations.

In the past we used to have shit done for us by other people.

For example: we are tellers working for our bank dealing with automated machines. We have to do the work. They used to pay people to deposit money and take out money for us. Now we have to do all that work AND they tell us it's more convenient!

First I thought this was BS. After all going through the ATM was easier than going into the bank and waiting for a teller to help me...

...but wait. I remember when I first started depositing money as a high school student at my rural hometown's bank there was no ATM. And I NEVER had to wait because there was always at least 3 tellers working in the bank.

Nowadays I think you would be pretty lucky to see 2 tellers working in a rural branch of a bank.

That's because the banks hired themselves a new employee to do all your banking. YOU. And YOU PAY THEM FOR IT.

...

Recently I went into a Walmart late at night to get a new shower head and a bunch of other stuff. I got my own purchase and walked back to pay. There was NO CASHIER. I had to ring myself out at the self checkout line.

This doesn't seem like a big deal of course.

But just consider it.

I just worked for Walmart as a Cashier and a Bagger.

For free.

A mere ten years ago I could have gotten someone to ring me up and ANOTHER person to bag my purchases.

But the norm has become you working all these little extra jobs for free and not getting any of the benefit.

And if you complain? Well then you are a "whiner" and a "wuss" for not wanting to bag your own purchases and be your own bank teller. People are so influenced by "the way things are" they see NO PROBLEM with the status quo.

This is NOT "the way things are" this is how some asshole trying to generate a little bit more profit for his company decided how things should be...and we all just went along with it.

...

Of course I can come up with a hundred other ways customer service sucks in this country.

And it isn't all big corporations either. The small businesses in this area are mostly being run by some pretty stupid people as well.

All in all I think this country really needs to revamp some shit and generate some more intelligent middle class people. This generation of stupid consumers who go along with everything that is forced upon them and possess such ignorant arrogance is not doing anyone any good. Stop all this oppression of our intellectuals and force the bulk of our population to own up to their shortcomings.

...

I suppose the best you can do is find stores that you like run by people with a half a brain and support them.

Hopefully, with this depression going on stores will be willing to help out people.

Hopefully, with this depression some of the losers will be put in their place and we will emerge stronger and better.

4 gregs

http://www.homestarrunner.com/4gregs.html

God I love this limited animation stuff.

Dear Valve....Sorry

I bitched and complained for years about the internet requirements of Half Life 2.

However, I did not know about a little option on Steam called "Offline Mode".

After you install the game and update it you can fiddle around with some of the settings in Steam to allow you to play all single player games WITHOUT connecting to the internet.

So I was FINALLY able to take my computer into work one day and install the orange box and update all the games.

And now at home I can play Half Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2 and Portal!!!!! Without ever connecting to the internet again!

It was well worth the wait. I just wish I had tried this earlier...

...I also updated Neverwinter Nights 2 while I was at it because it was a pain in the ass to do it the other way.

I am going to get PAID to go to a video game conference!

Yeah! Sponsored by the NYLA!

Hopefully I can learn some cool new ways to promote my video game tournaments and organize them better.

(Maybe I am gonna get some cool swag!)

In any case there are 3 places near there that sell older video game stuff. Can't wait to check that stuff out!

Finally. The State comes to DVD.

The State is coming to DVD.

http://digg.com/d1o4Zx

A lot of the topic humor won't work anymore but there are skits that will carry on.

This was a GREAT show.

It was a skit comedy show that used the talents of a number of people rather than focusing on one person only (like the Chapelle Show ect.).

Just take a look at their intro:


MTV's The State


This is what a Skit comedy show should be like! This is what I wanted when I did my college skit comedy show.

I am very pleased that this is coming to DVD.

Hopefully SOMEONE will take a look at it and figure out that they need to MAKE A NEW SHOW LIKE THIS.

A REAL skit comedy show.

Shopping at smaller stores makes sense...

So I dropped in at the locally owned grocery store for some lunch items today and I got a pleasant surprise.

I got a third of a pound of provolone cheese and the lady at the deli threw in the foot (The last inch or so) of the leftover loaf for free! It was probably the same weight as the cheese I bought.

This was a big deal for me because when I worked at a deli the manager used to make me save all the "feet" for "mixed" subs. (Truly horrible things those were. A good mixed meat sandwich is fine but sometimes the variety of things leftover didn't mix well. One of my fellow employees took fiendish delight in making horrible concoctions including Head Cheese and Prosciutto with low class honey ham and rank American cheese. [no one should ever eat American cheese] I can only feel sympathy for the customer who bit into that mess.)

So yeah. You would NEVER get treatment like that at the corporate grocery stores.

In these times it's the little things that will bring in the customers.

Attention American PC gamers.

New games are coming to your local Big Lots. Includes Painkiller Gold, PENUMBRA and Evidence.

Take a look you might get lucky. Game cost at MOST $6 and at least $4. A good damn deal.

Past finds for me include:

Silent Hill 2
Painkiller Gold
Neverwinter Nights
Evidence
Broken Sword

Misses (I wish I had purchased) include:

Metal Gear Solid 2 Subsitence
Pyschonaughts (I have the PS2 version but I didn't realize at the time that this game was good enough to warrant multiple copies.)

Neat panoramic pic.

http://www.simonhoegsberg.com/we_are_all_gonna_die/slider.html

Cool Picture.

Is there anyone to blame?

Sometimes I feel like the vast majority of American society has been turned into stupid consumers.

Was this really someone's plan?

Did anyone really want this?

We could be doing so much better...

Breaking into stuff. (legally!)

Well here is something interesting.

Well the library shut down today so we could adjust the shelves.

While cataloging old equipment in the basement I found out we had two old broken copy machines. I was told that we were going to sell them for scrap (too broken and old). I noticed that they both still had the money boxes included.

Like this one:

It turned out that the company that we used to go through a few years ago never fixed the machines and didn't do service calls. When we got another company to provide copier service the other company just left the broken copiers with us and gave us ownership papers.

They also never gave us the key to open up the money box.

All these years they just sat there. Since they are going to the scrapyard anyways the custodian tried to open them up and failed. Armed with a prybar and the motto "when in doubt go for the hinges" I manged to open up both of them up. It was so incredibly fun to do this legally.

I found well over $100 of bills and change which will be used for new multi-media cases.

This has been a good day. *pics soon*

A silent black and white movie about vampires made in 2002!!!

I made a crappy black and white vampire movie around the same time. Yet this is the first time I have heard of this film. My decision to use black and white had more to do with effects and mood.

Wow.

It's pretty cool what they did. It makes me sad that I didn't think of making my movie silent except for music. That would have been great!



The dancing is just so weird but it still works somehow.

BTW this is part of the 10 best vampire movies article.

http://www.movieretriever.com/blog/290/the-ten-best-vampire-movies-of-the-modern-era

That's a nice tree.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/madron/466237768/

The final word on I am Legend.

It missed the point...

http://www.cracked.com/article_17141_6-movie-remakes-that-missed-point.html

And this is the last time I am going to complain about that. I have already made my case.

Cracked has already agreed with me once on this.

Damn.

http://buttersafe.com/2009/01/15/last-night/

Fallout 3

Things I have done in Fallout 3:

1. Met a clan of vampires and received a bonus perk that gives me extra health when I drink blood.

2. Made a Goth chick fall in love with me and give me random supplies and health packs.

3. Made a flaming sword out a lawnmower blade, motorcycle handle and a gas tank.

4. Killed a bunch of fire breathing ants.

5. Got implanted with the genetics of a fire breathing ant.

6. Blew up some heavily armed mutants with an explosive housed in a lunch box.

7. Convinced a guy to stop abusing drugs and then stole all his meds.

8. Saved a village from mutants.

9. Stole a ton of stuff from that same village without anyone noticing.

10. Got radiation poisoning (and a mutation), fell off a building, got blown up by a mine, and almost got killed by raiders all in the name of literature!

I love this game.

Wow. Almost complete Resident Evil Overview.

If you did not understand the plot spanning the Resident Evil games here is an excellent overview.

*Sigh*

I suppose this means that I will eventually have to get a new gen console to play RE5...

Random

The average Video game player is 35 years old.

I am 27.

So I don't feel that bad.

But I am getting older and I feel like the industry is leaving me behind. You HAVE to have internet access to play newer games on the PC. I can't really afford the high prices...

I dunno. Maybe if I budget my money a bit more. Stop eating out. (Salad, soup and Stromboli today) Save up a bit. Right now though I cannot afford it.

Well actually I CAN. But I am just so frigging tight fisted sometimes and wasteful other times.

I traded a bunch of old games at Gamestop (scratched double copies) for the limited edition of Fallout 3. What a great game. FUN.

They really captured the mood of the fallout world well.

Minus is great.

Another awesome little webcomic that I never heard about before.

http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus109.html

Good dog.

Read if you have read the Watchmen graphic novel.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3198/gooddog1.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3384/gooddog2.jpg
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9876/gooddog3.jpg
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/4512/gooddog4.jpg
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6013/gooddog5.jpg
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/6066/gooddog6.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2521/gooddog7.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3266/gooddog8.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3277/gooddog9.jpg

Lisa Hannigan - I Don't Know

Lisa Hannigan is pretty awesome.

Here she is singing in a pub.

They buried that vampire with a brick in it's mouth.

Stake through the heart.

Iron Nail through the forehead.

Heads chopped off.

Put in coffin upside-down.

Garlic (and other assorted herbs) in the mouth.

I *thought* I heard of them all.

However I guess people actually put bricks in the mouths of suspected vampires.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126985.200-vampire-discovered-in-mass-grave.html

You learn something new everyday.

Seagulls are such jerks.

God can you imagine?

http://www.kontraband.co.uk/pics/16340/Chavs-Of-The-Sky/

I bet that ice cream costs at LEAST $5 a cone.

Places for Time killing.

http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents?issuenum=20&storynum=4

Dark horse comics on myspace has some good stuff. Achewood and The Goon comics come to mind.

There are currently 21 issues that each have 4 short comics in the archive. Not a bad bit of reading.

System Shock 2. On par with Bioshock? Or above it?

So I beat Bioshock. I was very impressed with the story. I was also intrigued about the origins of the game so I decided to play System Shock 2.

I was in for a real treat.


So I found myself a CD copy of System Shock 2. To my shock (pun) it did not run on my computer even after using a patch. Some sort of video card error. For some reason my older PC running XP did run the game using a patch so I was able to play it.

This game is AWESOME. The gameplay is just great. The story is great. The subplots you discover when you listen to various audio logs are intriguing. The enemies of the game both biological and robotic are full of character. The many voices of the Many are wonderful. The AI of the enemies is OK.

I also installed the Rebirth mod which improves some of the graphics of the in-game characters.


Hands down I feel the gameplay beats out Bioshock. There is no comparison. You don't even get an inventory screen in Bioshock. System Shock 2 is more in depth in every way.

I believe Yahtzee said that Bioshock WAS System Shock dumbed down for console users. He was dead on. That's exactly was it is. Normally I am not much a of a PC chest thumper (except to note that a mouse and keyboard combo is ALWAYS a better control system for a FPS). But in this game the keyboard shortcuts and generally more complex control scheme pretty much demand a keyboard and mouse setup.

The gameplay elements that are duplicated in Bioshock are pale comparisons. The system of needing to recharge your various enhancements is absent. This makes Bioshock a much easier game to play and in my view a little less interesting.

It's a much scarier atmosphere in System Shock 2. You are constantly running low on ammo and energy. Your awesome powers might seem great now but if you are not careful in a scant few minutes they might run out of juice and leave you vulnerable. Your bad-ass shotgun that is mowing down enemies left and right might just degrade and lock up on you at a crucial moment. You need to constantly take care of your stuff. A decision to use something in your inventory or gain a new skill can cost you dearly in the next level. This enviroment of uncertainly and paranoia really draws you into the game.

In Bioshock I was running around looking for fights. The supposeldy bad-ass "Big Daddys" can be taken care of in a number of low cost ways. They aren't even hostile until you attack them! Fighting normal enemies is generally cake. You actuallly look forward to it. I never remember running around Rapture thinking "oh shit oh shit I only have 3 pistol rounds left. I am so toast if I run into a...oh crap." I remember doing that alot in System shock.

There is NEVER a guarantee of useful ammo left behind in either game but you notice it A LOT more in SS2. If you happen to kill a Many who has a few shotgun shells left on him you feel like it's Christmas.

The security and puzzle system is also dumbed down in Bioshock. It's MUCH easier hack cameras in Rapture. And they STAY hacked. In System Shock 2 you only get a few mintues of time to disable the cameras or sneak by. Then the cameras come back on. And instead of a few annoying but easily killed or hacked security bots that come at you in Rapture there is a FLOOD of enemies that come pouring into the whole level looking to destroy your careless ass.

In the SS2 world you have to pick and choose which weapons and powers you are going to keep. You CAN'T be a jake of all trades if you want to live. For example I never developed my mental powers in SS2 because I am too busy powering up my technical and combat skills. Now my mental power is helping to protect my health with the assistance of a implant. In Bioshock you possess the magic gun rack and can carry a huge amount of weapons as well as powers.

Story-wise I think that both games have strong points. Bioshock might actually win out because of the emotional depth of the big reveal. System Shock 2 is more a of slow burn.

Overall if you happen to have an older computer kicking around or if you are a wiz at getting older games to work on a newer computer do yourself a big favor and try System Shock 2.

Snipers.

I hate automated ebay snipers.

I mean WTF?

Raising the price mere SECONDS before the auction ends? Such BS.

I mourn the days when online bidding was a PvP sport where the only tools were the refresh button, basic math skills and your raw nerve...

I ALMOST got caught by one. I still managed to get RE Code Veronica LE for $10.00 though. It looks really cool (red case). I wonder how much it's worth in decent condition?

Kindle.

For tax reasons.

Check out their other stuff. I can't imagine how much time it takes to animate this stuff.

The Line

Nice little statement about personal responsibility.

http://www.viruscomix.com/page474.html

I use FireFox!

For the love of...

I stop using ebay for like YEARS and one of the first times I ever use it again and THIS happens...

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/160010/ebay_auction_tool_web_site_infected_with_malware.html

Thank God for Firefox.

Firefox is AWESOME. And it updates.

10 year old trashes the Dreamcast.

From the good people at UKR.

I am not even going to show the video here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y72MN8B2Mg4

1. Kid is 10.

2. Kid has never owned a Dreamcast.

3. Kid has the verbal skills of a 5 year old.

Wow. During the tournament I met a bunch of younger kids from 14-16 who participated and they all loved the Dreamcast. So not all kids are bad.

OK this Saturday is going to be Classic video game day.

Terry Pratchett Knighted.

Good for him!

He created so many amusing books.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7896865.stm

Crappy Job Market.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/18/news/economy/lousy_job/index.htm?postversion=2009021910

I lied about my college education to be able to get a job in the rural area I was in. And then since the people knew I had *some* college education they never promoted me or paid me more money. Other people with no education who were worse workers than I was got promoted and raised pay.

It's such a crappy job market.

I am SO GLAD I have a state funded job where I am part of a union. From what I can tell unless I mess up big time my job is secure as hell. They had a hard time getting rid of someone who was hated by everyone and pissed off the patrons.

System Shock 2. On par with Bioshock? Or above it?

So I beat Bioshock. I was very impressed with the story. I was also intrigued about the origins of the game so I decided to play System Shock 2.

I was in for a real treat.


So I found myself a CD copy of System Shock 2. To my shock (pun) it did not run on my computer even after using a patch. Some sort of video card error. For some reason my older PC running XP did run the game using a patch so I was able to play it.

This game is AWESOME. The gameplay is just great. The story is great. The subplots you discover when you listen to various audio logs are intriguing. The enemies of the game both biological and robotic are full of character. The many voices of the Many are wonderful. The AI of the enemies is OK.

I also installed the Rebirth mod which improves some of the graphics of the in-game characters.


Hands down I feel the gameplay beats out Bioshock. There is no comparison. You don't even get an inventory screen in Bioshock. System Shock 2 is more in depth in every way.

I believe Yahtzee said that Bioshock WAS System Shock dumbed down for console users. He was dead on. That's exactly was it is. Normally I am not much a of a PC chest thumper (except to note that a mouse and keyboard combo is ALWAYS a better control system for a FPS). But in this game the keyboard shortcuts and generally more complex control scheme pretty much demand a keyboard and mouse setup.

The gameplay elements that are duplicated in Bioshock are pale comparisons. The system of needing to recharge your various enhancements is absent. This makes Bioshock a much easier game to play and in my view a little less interesting.

It's a much scarier atmosphere in System Shock 2. You are constantly running low on ammo and energy. Your awesome powers might seem great now but if you are not careful in a scant few minutes they might run out of juice and leave you vulnerable. Your bad-ass shotgun that is mowing down enemies left and right might just degrade and lock up on you at a crucial moment. You need to constantly take care of your stuff. A decision to use something in your inventory or gain a new skill can cost you dearly in the next level. This enviroment of uncertainly and paranoia really draws you into the game.

In Bioshock I was running around looking for fights. The supposeldy bad-ass "Big Daddys" can be taken care of in a number of low cost ways. They aren't even hostile until you attack them! Fighting normal enemies is generally cake. You actuallly look forward to it. I never remember running around Rapture thinking "oh shit oh shit I only have 3 pistol rounds left. I am so toast if I run into a...oh crap." I remember doing that alot in System shock.

There is NEVER a guarantee of useful ammo left behind in either game but you notice it A LOT more in SS2. If you happen to kill a Many who has a few shotgun shells left on him you feel like it's Christmas.

The security and puzzle system is also dumbed down in Bioshock. It's MUCH easier hack cameras in Rapture. And they STAY hacked. In System Shock 2 you only get a few mintues of time to disable the cameras or sneak by. Then the cameras come back on. And instead of a few annoying but easily killed or hacked security bots that come at you in Rapture there is a FLOOD of enemies that come pouring into the whole level looking to destroy your careless ass.

In the SS2 world you have to pick and choose which weapons and powers you are going to keep. You CAN'T be a jake of all trades if you want to live. For example I never developed my mental powers in SS2 because I am too busy powering up my technical and combat skills. Now my mental power is helping to protect my health with the assistance of a implant. In Bioshock you possess the magic gun rack and can carry a huge amount of weapons as well as powers.

Story-wise I think that both games have strong points. Bioshock might actually win out because of the emotional depth of the big reveal. System Shock 2 is more a of slow burn.

Overall if you happen to have an older computer kicking around or if you are a wiz at getting older games to work on a newer computer do yourself a big favor and try System Shock 2.

Games I want to buy for the PC.

Fallout 3. The Best Buy near me got the limited editions back in...

Stalker Clear Sky. I beat the first game.

Half Life 2 Orange Box. I have no idea if I can update and register using my work connection and then put Steam in Offline Mode at home to play...

It's happening!

http://coolepochcountdown.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_time

Sodas that failed.

For some reason I found this article fascinating.

http://www.gunaxin.com/a-tribute-to-fallen-dead-discontinued-sodas/11115

I actually sold Surge from a concession stand in a softball diamond. (I got the profits off it and the popcorn).

I had a sign that say "The North Countrys Greatest Popcorn." Scott M. changed it to "Greatest Cop Porn" without telling me. That freaking asshole.

...Holy Crap there is actually a website about bringing Surge back! http://savesurge.org/

You have got to be kidding me...

You like Vampires? Hulu has vampires.

www.hulu.com

They have Buffy, Angel (season 1), Forever Knight, and classic movies like Near Dark and the Last Man on Earth.

It's amazing how some people on the Internet are "getting it" now.

With the whole "Internet culture" thing people are looking for a reason to be a good person. Traditional mentalities no longer work. People need a *reason* to be good. They *want* to be good but their entirely selfish upbringing drives them to find a *reason* to be a better person.

Traditional reasons no longer work since we have found out that most moral leaders were actually assholes and the bulk of their followers are stupid sheep. We don't want to be morons and deep down we don't want to be hypocrites either. We are no longer medieval peasants. We have eaten from the tree of knowledge and it has torn away the comforting blanket of ignorance.

So now for many people there doesn't seem to be reason to be a "good person". But deep down we all want to be the good guy. So now what?

So now people are allowing themselves to take a callous look on morality and figure out that it's actually in their best interest to be be a "good person", or at least fake it enough.

Take these two examples (Which both feature stick men. A sign of the times?):

Order of the Stick.

How not to Fail at Life.

Signs of the Depression.

A few signs of the depression I have seen recently.

1. More and more patrons smelling of cheap malt liquor / beer.

There really is a sour odor that goes along with that cheap ass hop. I noticed it as a freshman when my roomate would come home from parties. As I indulged myself I stopped noticing the smell.

Now I don't drink much at all really. And certainly NOT malt liquor. The health risks far outweigh the cheap price. Go drink a good microbrew or Lager or stout.

So the smell wafting from several people is much more noticeable to me. And it seems like there are more of them everyday.

2. Sliders are back in style.

Sliders or very small hamburgers were made popular in the depression era because they were so cheap (5 cents per burger). Of course this item was inexpensive because there was so little meat involved.

Some restaurants like White Castle made themselves famous by providing bags of multiple burgers with toppings.

However, the original depression age sandwich with minimal toppings is making a comeback in modern fast food. A pair or tiny hamburgers can be purchased at Burger King a fast food place for a cheap price.

It's amazing since in the recent past most fast food places strove to serve the largest sandwhiches possible. Even McDonalds ( A corporation that I DO NOT do business with for several reasons) cut down the number of cheese slices in it's $1 double. Honestly that sandwich dollar menu is the only reason they are doing business.

3. Coke unleashes the $1 1.5 liter container.

Considering that most places that sell individual small bottles of soda charge more than $1 for them this "seems" like a bargain. It's not.

See Coke and Pepsi used to sell soda for .99 for a 2 liter bottle. Now they NEVER do.

It's certainly not because putting carbonated water and sugar together got that much more expensive. It's because fewer people are drinking soda since it's pretty much the worst thing you CAN drink.


And of course on top of this all most food producers are putting less food in their packaging. A simple solution to this is to buy ingredients and make your own damn food. You will be healthier and happier. And wealthier.

We need to broaden the "Fair Use" restrictions.

It sucks that nobody can use ANYTHING without worrying about someone suing them. I mean COME ON. This is the Associated Press! WTF! If we deny inspiration to our artists then what the hell is the worth of this country anyways?

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9652OD01&show_article=1

Lucas Arts Posters.

I gotta play some of these on my Dreamcast via ScummVM

http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=195492

Hey Ash Whatca Playing. RE retrospective.

Hey ASh Whatca Playing. Persona 3.



Resident Evil.

New Event: Classic Video Game Day

A new event!

I am going to have a bunch of classic video games at the Library!

Fun Times.

Hmm. Raccoon Meat? I dunno.

"The meat is almost ready to be boiled, except for one thing: Although its head, innards and three paws have been removed, it still has one. That's the law.

"They leave the paw on to prove it's not a cat or a dog," Washington says."

http://sj-online2.sunjournal.com/html/raccoon/index.php?storyid=301761&t=3

Yeah. I can understand eating dog, Squirrel, rabbits and pretty much any other mammal. I come from the back woods. Those animals are all tasty.

But Raccoon? Come on!

Raccoon's are nature's trash pickers. They get TONS of diseases. Any nasty disease that goes through the animal population it's a sure thing that raccoons will get it. And the ones that live near populated areas??? All they eat is TRASH. Do you really want to eat something that is filling up on carcinogenic waste all day? And people complain about what domesticated animals are put through (which is horrible in it's own right I suppose).

This is a "South" thing in the US. Northerners would rather eat something better I suppose. Plenty of tasty deer and bears running around the woods.

I think people eat raccoons down south because they were so dirt cheap during the depression. It just became a tradition.

I mean you cook goat in the manner that they describe in the article and it will come out good. Hell you can cook ANYTHING

For my money I would rather eat something else or do some urban scavenging for food if money was that tight.

MS paint adventures.

A nice time waster.

Lots of jokes that only adventure gamers will get.

http://www.mspaintadventures.com/

Closure.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/01/26/you-need-closure/

There is no end to the mechanics people can create for side scrolling games.

Age of Decadence. Looking GOOD.

THIS is what I am talking about.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/01/21/unknown-pleasures-2009-age-of-decadence/#more-7389

Differing options based on what you role-played!

http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?topic=610.0

I can't wait to see how this turns out.

I am somewhat sick of games like Oblivion that have very few options in this regard. (Though I do enjoy making poisons that have damage, fire damage, burden and paralze effects. That's fun.)

NeverWinter Nights 2 Gold has a glitch

I wish I could play the game but barely an hour into the game I encounter a bug that makes the game unplayable.

SO LAME.

And the game does not have a patch you can download. You have to download the patch through an autopatch system. Which I cannot do since I have no internet at home.

*ARGH!*

How could they release an unplayable game in a GOLD release. At one point in time a gold release meant that the game was solid. The FINAL version.

This is such BS that people in the games industry think EVERYONE has ready access to the Internet...

Richard Garriot still loves his Ultima.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/01/16/richard-garriot-still-loves-his-ultima/

*Sigh*

Then make a single player game!!!!

I was so disappointed way back when Ultima online came out. I was SHOCKED when I found out it had a monthly subscription. Who the hell was going to pay a monthly fee for a game!!!

A game should be something you pay once for and get hours of enjoyment out of!

So yeah "King British" if you want to make another Ultima game then make a proper single player one.

And have a party system!

Not that BS in Pagan and Ultima 9 where you only get to play as the Avatar. Having a bunch of people following you in 1-7 was half the fun dammit.

(And never leave in partial Quests that can never be solved in game! That ghost quest that you couldn't finish drove me freaking INSANE in Ultima 6...)

Interesting Blog.

http://cereblog.org/

It's a "Diablog". Perhaps the first one I have ever read. The two contributors also have some interesting blogs of their own. (look on the left hand side under blogroll)

Interesting reading if you are bored.

Ignorance is an approved state of mind now.

http://www.uniformvelocity.com/2009/01/audacity-to-be-ignorant.html

This article sort of sums up my views on the matter.

Ignorance. People are proud of their ignorance in this country. They revel in it.

I grew up in it in rural America.

Yet it's still hard to explain this situation and how we have gotten to this point.

Which is what the author the above article probably ran into when he didn't provide any specific research to back this up.

I could spend some time coming up with real examples from my own life that I can back up with hard facts but come on...

...I am too busy working at my library trying to help people cure themselves of ignorance to do that right now.

...you know plus it's tax season and everything.

The Dreamcast still alive at Real Life Comics.

Amazing.

The Dreamcast AI is still alive!

Sega will one day rule the market!!!

The new achewood is all about Garage Sales.

Some of this is really true.

I would like to think that I am not one of those weirdos but in reality I probably am.

Well shit last year I got a Japanese PS2 with 50 Japanese PS, PS2 and Saturn games for like nothing!

Spellforce 2 has a game breaking side quest in it.

I normally forgive game designers for some small flaws in games.

But this one is unforgivable.

This is the puzzle. You have 5 keys.

Key 2
Key 9
Key 4
Key 8
Key 5

Here is text from the puzzle.

Red plus Blue multiplied by Green minus Yellow equals 30.

So I thought:

R + B x G - Y = 30

8 + 9 x 2 - 4 = 30

Or

9 + 8 x 2 - 4 = 30

I came up with that in about 5 seconds. But it's not the answer.

The real puzzle is this.

Red + ( Blue x Green) - Yellow = 30.

R+ (B x G) - Y = 30

HOW THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT FROM THE GAME TEXT?

Red plus Blue multiplied by Green minus Yellow equals 30.

WHAT THE HELL!

Plus there is a relatively easy solution to the misinterpreted puzzle.

Stuff like this is very annoying to me.

Paul Robertson's new commerical.

That game would be so cool in real life!

So many changing genres!

Did you catch the Sega Master System reference to paper rock sissors?

Webcomics : Dresden Codak

Give it a shot. It's pretty good in some spots.

http://www.dresdencodak.com/cartoons/dc_031.htm

*sigh*

Science is the new witchcraft.

Since North American governments don't seem to want to promote science anymore many people are starting up their own chemistry and Biochemistry labs.

...then the police arrest you for no reason.

http://io9.com/5119166/teen-with-home-chemistry-lab-arrested-for-meth-bombs#c

It's a friggen' shame.

We all know who the wackos are. They are the ignorant white trash bombmakers who support the conservative movement in the US. The police don't arrest them. They would rather arrest innocent people.

One has to wonder if the boy smelled like Tuna.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/12/20/Cats_keep_lost_boy_warm/UPI-27331229804833/

Another example of viral video promotion

Promo video that I acted in.

Ralph did a promo for his upcoming Independent film.

I played the Historian.

I should have went a different way with it.

Gammy Git Status Confirmed (at least when it comes to Video Games)

So I went to my local Grocery Store the other day and I found they were selling old video games again!

I managed to pick a number of N64 and PS1 games.

Some of the notable titles:

Castlevania SotN

Final Fantasy Tactics

Darkstalkers 3

The price? $2 per game.

Sweet deal.

I hate people.

Somehow people are paying $50 on how to make money. For a program over the Internet...And they are dumb enough to try to use the libraries computer to access it.

Shit. I mean how stupid are people?

The only people who are making money off this deal is the people getting paid $50.

There is no end to the freaking stupidity.

How the hell could anyone reasonable think this is a good idea?

Why the hell don't these people have internet access at home? If they have the $50 to waste on some scheme online how the hell could they not have money to buy their own computer?

It's such a shame the idiot librarian before me took off the timing software off their computers so they can stay on there as long as possible.

So now they have been on that computer for like 4 hours trying to get that thing to work.

Why the hell did the other librarian let them do this? There is no way this was a good idea.

Is this some sort of single access thing? For $50 you should be able to access the information more than once for shits sake. What kind of idiot pays $50 for a single access internet resource????

Evil Water - I knew it!

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16290-evil-water-linked-to-mysterious-drownings.html

Excellent articnle about how Survival horror is gone.

http://www.destructoid.com/how-survival-horror-evolved-itself-into-extinction-114022.phtml

It's really true. RE 4 was an action game.

I dunno. It seems like there really isn't going to be a resurgence of survival horror games in the near future. We live in an age of regenerating life bars and autosave checkpoints. In the comments people were saying that Dead Space is a survival horror game.

Maybe in the future gamers will want a different game experience that emulates the old survival horror style.

New video from the Lonely Island Boys.

Ok, this is getting ridiculous.

The only reason why people watch Saturday Night live is for the digital shorts that these guys write and shoot.

These guys should have their own show.

They do some of the stupidest funny skits EVER.

Their writing is great and they always shoot stuff that is technically sound.

Black Friday Best Buy Ad Misprint. (Or how I landed Comand and Conquer 3 plus expansion for $9.99)

There was a misprint in the Best Buy flyer that had Command and Conquer 3 Plus expansion for $9.99 instead of the Command and Conquer collection.

So I saved $30 when I bought it. Pretty sweet.

I also bought Bioshock and that means I gotta haul in my Computer to work on Mon to register it online.

BlargH!

OK the MightyGodKing blog is pretty good.

He had had some sweet features.

Consider this three part run of book covers.

1

2

3

I love independent animation.

Not funny unless you saw the original Akira and understand why an American remake is a horrible, horrible idea. Just let some people make some original material!!!!

Solo Gamer in a multiplayer world.

This article hit on a few things that I was trying to explain to another gamer the other day.

It's tough to explain. Let me make a comparison.

I remember reading a Sci-Fi short story during middle school were kids from the future find an ancient relic called a "book". They don't understand it. It only reads one way and when you are done reading it still has the same words on the pages. They were used to computer monitors and the constant flow of information. So they figured people must have thrown the books away after reading them.

They didn't understand the value of the book or the act of reading. To read a good book and then be able to read it again in the future is something awesome.

It's sort of the same situation with newer gamers who do not appreciate single player games. Some good games, like a good novel can be enjoyed again. And it's the solitary act of enjoying it that really makes the experience special.

http://www.destructoid.com/being-a-solo-gamer-in-a-multiplayer-world-112138.phtml

Confession. I did read Twilight.

Yes.

And I have no excuse at all.

I am an Adult Services Librarian.

I have no business reading YA books about teenage girls and shiny vampires.

I am no longer taking Young Adult literature classes in graduate school.

*sigh*

But hey. Vampires. I was once told that I shouldn't be reading Anne Rice because they are "for girls". Well screw that. If there are vampires in it I am going to read it or watch it.

All in all the book started out pretty great and captured my attention but quickly became sappy and bland. I am sure most young adults would consider those parts to be terribly interesting but I did not. Then it picked up a bit with bloodshed and running away from psychotic killer vampires who probably just showed up to inform the readers what real badass vampires are all about.

In any case I was grudging entertained by the book. It is interesting to read it as a 27 year old with no more childish ideas about romance and other completely false ideals. I don't think it's going to negatively effect any young person reading it and in fact like the YA book Sweet Blood it might potentially warn them to be a bit suspicious of creepy strangers.

But of course there are always those that will become obsessed over the books and movie. But hey those people would have become obsessed over something, if not this.

It's a trashy romance book.

http://www.digitalpimponline.com/strips.php?start=2&title=movie

Hulu is pretty sweet.

If you are late to the party like me you might not have messed around with Hulu much.

Try it out.

Rather than mess around with insane network websites to watch episodes of missed shows I can simply go to Hulu, ignore a few very short commercials and watch it in full in excellent quality.

I dunno why some people don't seem to like it.

Thanksgiving. Cooking Mama KILLS.

PETA has got a new game up. Cooking Mama Kills.

http://www.peta.org/cooking-mama/index.asp?c=pcmgb08

I wonder why the heck PETA has got to take stabs at holidays?

Shouldn't they just be trying to make people cut down on their everyday intake of meat?

Then again they do have the unreasonable goal of stopping all meat consumption of a society of omnivores. (Our teeth do not support a fully vegetarian lifestyle.)

Blue States VS Red States.

It's amazing how much people down south bitch and moan about "liberal elitists" up north.

Somehow they blame ALL their major problems on the northern states and don't see the connection when they elect people like Bush into office.

I don't know how they can just lump everyone together. I am living proof that there are rural areas and backwoods up here. We are not all city folk.

Just because your states originally based your economy on slaves and cotton is no reason to give up.

Businessmen have TRIED to setup factories down south but nobody stepped up to work.

Shit half the people I graduated college with moved down south because it's so easy for a person with education to get a high paying job down there. I mean come on I could have gotten a job that pays 10 K more if I would have looked around more in the South Carolina area.

Focus on some education and bettering yourself a bit Red States. After we stop wasting billions of dollars on useless wars and start building up new technology in the US we will need people to rebuild on the ruins of old America.

Here is the best bit of Red State hating I found on the web.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/80714812.html


"Dear Red States...

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and
we're taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon,Washington,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We
believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially
to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get Elliot
Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.

We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You
get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states
pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the
Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a
bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and
anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at
once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have
kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no
purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their
children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and
hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our
resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent
of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple
and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of
America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners)
90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most
of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and
condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale,
Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88
percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care
costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the
tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern
Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh,
Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was
actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred
unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say
that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved
in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy b*****ds believe you are people
with higher morals then we lefties.

By the way, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt
weed they grow in Mexico.

Peace out,
Blue States"

World of Goo 90% piracy rate?

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/13/world-of-goo-has-90-piracy-rate/

Wow. That really sucks.

I am not afraid to change my position on issues like DRM if this is how bad it's getting.

This is a $20 game from an indy producer who lowered the DRM and copy protection in order to please the consumers.

Now the pirates have not just bite the hands that feeds they savaged a small company that just wanted to do the right thing.

Shame on you Torrent losers.

I am against DRM that won't allow gamers to play certain single player games without an internet connection or has a max install number. But this is INSANE.

There is a healthy middle ground here people!

Old PSAs

I generally don't go for Cracked articles but this one made me smile.

http://www.cracked.com/article_16767_6-most-unintentionally-hilarious-old-school-psas.html

I totally used a bit from the introduction of "Perversion for Profit" for my second skit comedy DVD.

The prelinger archive has a ton of PSAs like this and old movies like "Reefer Madness". The best part is that you can use the footage in any media project you want for free. Oh I spent many days in college looking over this material.

http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger

I have a CDI player.

That's right.

I managed to score a basic CDi 200 unit from ebay for just $39 with free shipping.

WOW.

I took pics but forgot to transfer them to my flash drive for upload.

The CD tray is very loose and actually slides out of the machine if turned on it's side but besides making a noise like a dying whitetail deer when sliding in and out it seems to work fine.

I tried out Tetris and it ran perfectly.

The CDi remote (which I assume is the original) is powered by 2 AA batteries and is pretty beefy. It's amazing responsive even when not pointed at the CDi. It's got a big clunky thumb stick that is different from any other controller I have ever used. On the main menu bootup screen it acts just like a mouse.

The machine itself seems like it's in excellent condition and it even came with the original manual.

All I need to do now is keep looking for discount software for the system!