Yesterday was simply put, and despite some bright spots, one of the longest, most agonizing days I’ve had in a long while.
First off, it was one of days in which you realized that everyone’s a fucking idiot, from subways conductors, to receptionists at doctor’s offices, to the folks behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts. With everyone I just wanted to scream in their faces “Okay, you hate your job, and you don’t want to be there, and you don’t want to deal with me, I get it.”
But the subway yesterday was easily the worst its been in a long time, and I hate to go on another tirade about it, but after being stuck in the system all day yesterday for about 4 hours collectively, I think I’m owed a chance to bitch. It’s just so funny, and I believe any NYCer can vouch for this, that missing just one train can totally ruin your entire day.
Whether it was the asshole conductor yesterday morning who just had to give me a Nelson-esque (from the Simpsons, of course) laugh when he saw me just miss the 4 train at Atlantic Avenue which I had dashed to the platform for since I was already late for a doctor’s appointment in the city (something which I had set plenty of time aside for, only to have it whittle away due to schedule arrangements the MTA will make which are arbitrary at best), or MK & I witnessing the jerk-off conductor of the 5 train we had just exited late last night totally rub it into the faces of two women who wanted to get on but which he refused to do so, and with a huge shit eating grin on his face, yesterday was just plain bad to be a straphanger. You know, its quite telling that wherever you go on a train, there’s these constant reminders that you’ll go to jail for 7 years if you lay your hands on a MTA employee. Gee, I wonder why everyone hates them so. And this anger and anxiety which everyone gets from riding the subways just sticks in people, which might be a reason why everyone’s so fucking pissy in the city.
The people who ride the trains are no picnic either. While sitting in the train while it remains idle for no good reason (oh, sorry, schedule adjustments), everyone had to put up with this one woman who was pissed at folks leaving enough room for her to sit down, though the main problem in this situation was that her ass was too big for her to fit. This was the flat bench type seating that is in the newer cars; I recall a friend of mine making a comment about the older style, individual seat design and how it reinforced (like many things in our society) unrealistic social standards in regards to body types. So I guess the move to the bench is better, but now there’s a problem in which some are not able to recognize that there are times when there just ain’t enough room to sit down. I should maybe also mention the reason why I missed my first train in the first place, and which set off an almost domino effect for shittiness for the rest of the day is because the guy ahead of me going down the station could barely move since he too was morbidly obese, but anyway…
As for being late for my doctor’s appointment, its not like it really mattered because even though I was fifteen minutes late, my ended up being forty five minutes behind; I really love how the time in which you are supposed to meet your doctor is more of a loose guestimation than anything else (course, this might be just a New York thing, or just with that particular office). And they wouldn’t even let me see him because I had to pay for some test from way back in February which for whatever reason why insurance company didn’t pick up, so I was forced to pay $80 on the spot or not see my doctor (which was out of the option, I had to see the guy). They promised that once everything was ironed out, I would get a refund, but seriously, when was the last time when health insurance payed back money that was owed in a timely fashion?
That was just doctor visit #1, and with some time to kill before the next one, I went downtown to meet up with Job, to buy his spare copy of King of Fighters 2000/2001 off of him (the guy’s my hook-up when it comes to hard to find PS2 titles… btw, if you’re reading this Job, I started to play Robotic Alchemic Drive this past weekend, and once again, thanks a much for passing that along). We also hung out in Best Buy where I got to watch him hide games in random spots for retrieval later (hey, I do the same thing as well).
Afterwards was doctor visit #2, an allergist, to finally deal with all the sinus/allergy problems that’s been making my life a living (and snot-filled) hell. For those who’ve never been to one, they do this test to see what exactly you’re allergic to; beforehand, I told the guy that the last time I had it done, which was about two years ago, the previous allergist mentioned that she had never seen anyone so allergic to everything, ever. As for the test itself, they prick each arm with all sorts of substances to check for a reaction; they form three columns on each arm, each with ten rows, every single one of them something different. So by the end there’s a total of sixty little marks for both arms which are examined, and like last time, both arms were all puffy and yellow. When the time came to examine my arms, this new allergist responded with…
“You know, sometimes when someone says something, its often an over-reaction. But sometimes, it’s…”
“The truth?”
He mentioned that in his five years or practice, he had never seen anyone with as severe allergies as me. I’m basically allergic to everything, with the exception of two things: cow’s milk and egg whites. Some things he couldn’t determine because my reaction to one type of tree was so bad that the swollen area had spilled over and engulfed all the neighboring test spots. I said he could take pictures if he wanted to, for any medical journals he wished to write, but he declined. When checking my eyes and nose, his only response was “This is bad…”. When he asked what my work environment was like, and I described that when I work at home, in my bedroom, and how my desk is right next to my bedroom window, which overlooks my backyard in Brooklyn, which overlooks grass and all sorts of trees, the guy just laughed. The doctor then noted that I reminded him of that character in Northern Exposure, and suggested that I too pack up and leave for Alaska and work on my great American novel.
For anyone who has seen the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat, remember that scene when Terry Funk is talking with his doctor, who while reviewing the x-rays mentioned that for accounts and purposes, tells his patient that he should be in unbearable amounts of pain right that moment, while Funk has this dumbfounded look on his face? Yeah, well that’s pretty much how I felt that same exact moment.
From what I can gather, the pollen count has been so high, and my sinuses so ravaged, that my defenses had to throw in the towel, hence why I’ve been feeling like absolute crap this season. Hence why, even though I really don’t want to, I now have to be constantly medicated. The allergist said things can be repaired, but it’ll take months, if not years. It appears to be a Herculean task, but this guy seems up to the task, showing the same zest of facing an impossible challenge, like a crippled person determined to climb Mount Everest. So he gave me a metric ton of pills, eye drops, and nose sprays, one of them being this huge thing that is necessary to flush out all the dead blood vessels and assorted crap that’s literally cluttering up my sinus cavities. But the best part was the doctor freaking out about my reaction to shellfish, which is more or less lethal. He couldn’t understand how I could walk around without an emergency adrenaline shot which could save my life if I ever accidently ingested shellfish; my reaction is that I’ve just been very careful up to this point. So he recommended I carry around a Twinject, which I think is sorta cool if only because it looks straight out of James Bond; its like those things that spies use to kill themselves when trapped (and also Solid Snake uses to stay alive in MGS4).
Afterwards I finally went to work and showed off my puffy, malformed arms to all my cowoekrs. Also spoke with Matt Singer who’s over at E3 on the behalf of IFC. Since he’s more movie nerd than game nerd, he needed a rundown of what the hot things at the show were and what to look out for. Then I met up with MK for burritos and then it was movie night. By this point my arms were totally killing me, and fighting off the temptation to scratch them was almost impossible to resist, though thankfully another fine episode of Millennium helped to keep my mind occupied (it wasn’t the Jose Chung episode which I’ve been dying to see again, but the one with the guy who kidnaps, scars, and kills women live online, which was pretty decent). Then there was the feature, which was Buffalo Bill and the Indians by Robert Altman, which was pretty good, though it was no Popeye.
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Since yesterday was such a busy day, I wasn’t able to monitor E3 that closely, and I tried to play catchup last night when I got home, but was too damn tired. But I have poked around just a bit since this morning and…
- Obviously one the biggest news item is Super Smash Bros Brawl which not only looks absolutely gorgeous but the fact that it has characters such as Wario, Pit (Kid Icarus), and Solid Snake from Metal Gear(!). Plus that Nintendog puppy appearance from out of nowhere is like the cutest thing ever. Here’s a pic of Snake with the new suit-less Samus:
It’s pretty amazing that Nintendo has been able to deliver one blockbuster announcement after another; every year, people debate which company “won” E3, and its now clear who’ll be taking that honor this time around. It goes without saying that the addition of Snake is pretty f’n mind-blowing (I can only imagine the reaction in the room once the MGS Code sequence popped up during the trailer) and deserving of the “megaton” moniker (again, GAF in-joke), but I’m actually more excited to see Pit, since now there’s real reason to hope for a full fledge next-gen Kid Icarus game.
- … Especially since I also hear that Duck Hunt is finally getting a sequel. Nintendo also showed off the gun attachment for the system, which pretty much looks exactly like those mock-ups from IGN a long whiles back.
- The latest “meme” at NeoGAF is the “Wii60″ after a Microsoft’s Peter Moore quote about how instead of paying $600 for one console, the PS3, people are going to get two for the same price, theirs and Nintendo’s. And you know, for once, the guy isn’t too far off base this time around.
- And hell, even MS is getting in on the Wii’s gimmick.
- So some folks have been testing out the Virtual Console part of the Wii and one person has mentioned that they are spot on. Regarding Genesis games, it was mentioned that during Sonic 1, there was no slow down, not even when Sonic gets hit and looses a ton of rings!
- There’s a new Phoenix Wright on the way? Yes! I think I read somewhere that it might just be an older GBA game given a DS facelift, but I could honestly care less.
- And the new Trauma Center for the Wii looks hot.
- Remember the cheesy Rayman Wii screenshot, with accompanying pic of the kid and punk chick playing it? Well here’s the trailer of it all in action.
One thing worth pointing out is when I was working at Ubi, I’d say 30% of every internal video I saw had the Pulp Fiction music in it. They just fucking love it. I’m just glad they didn’t try to do the Matrix, leaning back to dodge bullets with the camera panning around thing, which was in I’d say 80% of all the vids back then. Anyway, the game looks pretty promising.
- And I forgot to post this earlier, but check out Lumines for Xbox Live featuring Madonna.
- Plus, check out this supposed portable Xbox prototype:
- So at this point, Sony seems to have totally blown it, big time. Their arrogance was at least understandable when they were on the kings of the hill, but now it would seem that they are set to loose that position. I haven’t had time to watch their big E3 press conference, nor do I have the interest to do so since theirs are always been boring as sin, but now I may have to go back and check out the really awkward demonstration of Warhawk with the new Wii-pped off control scheme. It really says something when the guy who created the game can’t even play it (or so I hear was the case). And the word on the street that any bullshit that Sony has been saying about the dev time for the new controller is bullshit. I would imagine that Sony will, if they haven’t already, claim that its something they’ve been working on for a long time, perhaps before Nintendo first unveiled the Revolution. But the simply truth is that developers only knew of its existence only about a month ago, and one has to only assume that the implementation of gyroscopic controls into Warhawk has been even less time.
I also heard that they demoed a modified version of Gran Turismo 4 with upgraded, HD graphics. That’s great and all, but who seriously gives a shit? Again, the biggest problem with the PS3 is how its basically a tool, and practically nothing else as this point, to push technology, specifically Blue-Ray, that 95% of the buying public doesn’t give a shit about. Again, how do you think regular folks are going to react to hearing that DVDs, which only recently have people began embracing as the new standard media for home entertainment, is all of a sudden “inferior”? And I know a small handful of people at this point who have high-end HD television sets, and almost none of them know about thinks such as 480i, 720i, 720p, 10801, or 1080p. They bought their sets because it just looked cool, period. The adoption rate for high end sets, is far lower than what many wish to believe, and the facts are out there!!! And this perceived techno-saviness is precisely what Sony is banking on, which is going to cost them pretty much everything.
And now they’re doing Microsoft’s shtick of constantly making excuses and justifications. Plus I also hear that the PSP was barely touted by Sony at the show, and its future might already be shaky, unless the third parties can pick up the slack. And can you guess who’s most pissed about all this, especially the $600 price point? Game publishers or course, because its just one less platform to produce games for. Which, when you think about it, is sorta of a blessing in disguise.
But yeah, in the end, game consoles can only become truly successful if the general audience embraces it, and $600 is too much for most hardcore gamers, let alone for the casual crowd. Hence why its doomed to fail… or is it? It’s Sony after-all; historically, no company has been able to retain the #1 spot for more than two generations, but if there’s anyone who has a chance, Sony is the one. A lot of it depends on the press for getting the right information out there. It would be nice if the gaming press could grow a pair of balls and call out Sony, but that’s never going to happen, since they have always loved Sony to death and are more than willing to overlook any flaws (such as those failing to point out that all those vids for the PS3 last year were all bullshit, even though one of the folks behind it was literally screaming to be heard). Also, that’s why Ziff Davis and other places have given their writers blogs, so they can air the truth in an informal “off-the-record” manner without actually hurting business.
As for the traditional press, we all know that they hardly deliver the facts straight (when was the last time anyone saw a story on video games on Fox News 5 that had less than a 85% bullshit factor?). Last night Jeff mentioned that he had heard about the PS3 and its “controller which you move around to move your vehicle onscreen!” and it quietly made me sick inside, that Nintendo is being ripped off without much acknowledgment (aside from whiny gamers on message boards or blog, most people won’t know and don’t care about such trivial matters). Much of it has to do with the incredible Sony hype machine and the incredible amount of trust the Sony name has with consumers. “It’s a Sony!” remember? Also as MK pointed out during dinner last night, regardless of the exorbitant price point, people will not only be blinded by the hype, but deafened by their kids who simply must have the latest, hottest toy, or who wish to compete with their neighbors’ kids.
So yeah, it’s not even an issue of me getting the system begrudgingly, I just flat out refuse to pay so much for a system, even if I can write it off as a business expense. But that doesn’t mean the Xbox 360 all of sudden looks good in my eyes. Truth be told, I’ve barely paid any attention to it; once I heard one of the big key points was how the system or the games or whatever outsold the iPod in the same timeframe during its debut, I turned away (seriously, MS needs to stop sucking off the iPod comparison dick prono). I still believe its a piece of poorly thought out crap. Basically, call me when they stop destroying game discs. Though I will admit, Live Arcade is pretty hot, if only purely from an independent game developer’s perspective…
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Anyway, I guess I should also mention once again that MK, Robin, & I will be in Ohio for SPACE, which will be taking place this upcoming weekend. We’ll be primarily be hanging out with Pat Lewis, whom we’ll also be sharing hotel accommodations with. So if you’re in the area, stop on by and say hello! And buy our books, or course.
