Dead Again, Are We Mr. Pool?

Holy Crap!

Given that July is my birth month, I was contemplating a break from the blog; however, I stumbled upon this lovely treasure while surfing over at gamesradar (my new favorite place to read about funny video game news):

A DEADPOOL VIDEO GAME

With the exception of Batman's Arkham series and Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, I usually keep my distance from super hero games. So when I read about Deadpool's own game, I was slightly worried. Now Deadpool has made some great appearances in super hero games that I like (X-Men Legends 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance) and others that I've never played. My only hope is that Deadpool retains his signature style and ridiculousness. If the website and trailer are any indication of what is to come, then this is indeed happening...a very good sign. Check out the site and its social media connections. I just started following Wade Wilson on twitter; this probably should have happened a long time ago.

What I'm most excited about Deadpool's foray into the world of video games is his ability (similar to Spider-Man's) to pull a character roster from all across the Marvel universe. He could get all the weird fringe characters and I'd still be happy. Even a little, mini Lego Deadpool level would be sweet. I have a Lego Deadpool minifig. I'm just saying.

With his trusty pistol in one hand and a vial of horse tranquilizer in the other, Lego Deadpool rides a pterodactyl soaring towards adventure and mayhem.

Unfortunately Lego Deadpool is not featured with a Lego pterodactyl. Someday. But the opportunity for more craziness like this is always present whenever Deadpool is around. Such craziness is what I am most anticipating in the Deadpool video game.

Re-Router For Diablo 3

With too few hours into my Diablo 3 witch doctor, I can't really complain about the game yet. Nor can I shower it with praise. I've enjoyed the little time I've spent hucking spider grenades at goatmen. However, one foe as popped up and presented a challenge that I had not suspected. Last night, whilst fighting spiders with spiders, my router melted, ate itself, and then died. In that exact order. Now I can't play Diablo 3. And I need a new router.

I know I could plug straight into my cable modem; however, I used the downtime to revert to Diablo 2 and kick some ass in Kurast. The always online issue has been a hot topic as of late. I don't see Diablo's requirement to always be connected to the Internet as a violation. But it is an annoyance. For instance, if Diablo 3 didn't require an Internet connection, there is no way that I would be running out to replace my router right away. I want to play this game. And I'm enjoying this game. But this is the first time that I've ever owned a game that I don't feel is completely mine.

I hopped over to Diablo 2 for many reasons: I was already in my click-demons-to-death mood, both games are installed on the same machine, it wasn't time to go to sleep, and I didn't have to be connected to the Internet. There are plenty of games that I love to play that do not require an Internet connection. I wish Diablo 3 were one of them; I understand why it is not. But still, if, for whatever reason, I don't have access to the Internet, I will play a game that does not require access to the Internet. Duh, right?

This might be a reason that I don't play or enjoy Diablo 3 as much as other gamers.

Picking up a new router means a trip to the local MicroCenter; it's always fun meandering through the store and checking out new technology. The old Netgear router (may she rest in peace) has been due for an upgrade; I'm pretty sure the thing is about seven years old. Old enough that my Nintendo DS can't connect to it. That should've been the reason to upgrade long ago. Must trade Pokémon.

If the replacement router can instantly connect to my DS, I might drop Diablo and move right back to Soul Silver in trading mode. Setting up the router should be quick and if I can plug and go with ethernet cables, I might be right back into Diablo 3. We'll see.

Or I might go back to Kurast and brain Mephisto. Actually, this sounds like the most fun.

What's the Password?

The new quarters is coming together well. It's not done, that's for sure, but it'll soon be complete. I've been playing Diablo 3 since Saturday night; yeah, I've had a late start because of, you know, moving. All of the Diablo 3 hype has me thinking of the fun times in Diablo 2. And they were good times. I can't really complain about Diablo 3 yet; I'm only a level 13 witch doctor. But I can complain about people complaining about Diablo 3. They suck.

Thanks to Diablo 3, I've been itching to crack open Diablo 2 again, but, I don't think my little netbook could handle Diablo 2 and its expansion pack. Although, it does play Fallout Tactics very well. I might just give it a shot. Recently, my Acer netbook suffered a serious blow, which got me thinking about backing up data. Almost a week later, I lost my 1GB USB flash drive; I have no idea where it is (but I have been packing things up in boxes); I'm hopeful that it'll turn up. Until then, I've initiated a complete password overhaul. That's right, any account of mine that has a password is getting a new password.

I've already changed a couple of them, but I have a whole list to update (and a copy of said list might have been on my missing flash drive). Being the crazy person that I am, I have many, many email address and various accounts tied to each email address. Every time I open a web browser, I feel like someone could be trolling out my passwords.

Password construction has been going all week. I have a couple good ones. The lists tops off around thirty, so I still have some work ahead. Password creation is a tricky subject; I've heard lots of ideas about how to make passwords and more specifically, how to remember passwords. Frequent use tattoos most passwords to my brain; I guess I'm just sharp like that. The ones I don't use often get written down (typed up) and stored where I can easily access them. Unfortunately, when the storage is digital, there's always the risk of corruption, theft, cash, or simply misplacement. So I make my list, print said list, store it in a Resident Evil 2 GameCube game case, and save the original file (usually a text document) in some obscure folder on my hard drive.

Oh crap, now the Internet knows where I hide my passwords.

I am ashamed to admit this, but one of my passwords I've had since high school. It's my favorite one, no doubt. I am going to change it. To honor its memory, I'll drop a visual clue.

Taken 2

So, during my half-hour lunch break, I discovered that "they"
(the infamous they of Hollywood, money-hungry retards) are making a sequel to Taken.

I found this tweet about it. Needless to say, I re-tweeted right away.



Sometimes, micro-blogging is the answer. Thank you, SoVeryAwkward.

That's What I Need: More Doom

Some pretty crazy news has surfaced about a Doom 3 re-release. Openly, I'll admit to being a rabid Disgaea, Fallout, and Resident Evil fan; I'll even quietly admit to playing the Pokémon games and older Final Fantasy games. But the fandom started with a little 3.5 in floppy disk containing the shareware version of Doom.

If I still had that floppy, I would snap a picture for this post, but I don't. I did what we all did back in 3rd grade with that disk. Someone gave it to me. I took it home and installed it. I brought the disk back to school and passed it on to the next kid. That was how sharing software worked back then. To this day, Doom is still one of my favorite games. It still ends up on all of my windows machines. When most people get bored at their computer, they open up solitaire or click through minesweeper. Not me. I open up Doom.

This is not what Doom looks like, but this is my screen capture output. I thought it looked cool anyway; fits the blog color scheme and I'm too lazy to try and fix it.

The original Xbox was a dorm room stable during my college years; we all played Halo and Halo 2, of course. But when Doom 3 made its Xbox debut, I went out and bought my own Xbox console. So I could play Doom 3 and not have to share with all the crazy Halo nuts. The Doom 3 experience was solely single-player for me; I blasted my way through the Mars UAC research facility, going late into cool spring nights with my own Xbox and 19 inch television stashed in my dark bedroom. While playing the game, I wanted to be scared. And, for the most part, I was.

Doom 3 was an excellent experience, but when I want to play Doom, I still turn to the Doom installed on my little netbook. If I'm sitting at my Xbox 360 and I get the Doom itch, I can play the XBLA version of Doom, which I downloaded on a whim when first appeared. I didn't even know it was taken down and put back up until recently. I do prefer the keyboard instead of a game controller when it comes to the original Doom games though.

Like I need excuses to play more Doom, but a graphically enhanced PS3 version with the Resurrection of Evil expansion and new levels. That's more than a good excuse to play more Doom; that's a damn good reason to play more Doom.

Getting Lucky: Hot Dogs and Pokémon

Just because hot dogs only cost ten cents at the ball park doesn't mean you should eat as much as possible. Had the lines not been insane, I probably could have killed myself. Death by hot dog overdose.

Dime-a-dog night is how you get me to go to baseball games. Especially if the tickets are free. Baseball has never interested me. I like throwing a ball around in the back yard; that's fun. But playing the sport. Nope. Actually watching the sport. Hell nope.

I'd take Blernsball over baseball all the time.

Per usual, my mind is wandering and I've completely let go of the leash. This is turning into one of those bad, unfocused posts that goes nowhere and accomplishes nothing. Well, I guess it accomplishes something: I'm having fun writing it. There.

A recent quest is nearing completion (I just got the phone call last night); I have the Gameboy Advance Pokémon Sapphire game waiting for pick-up at a local used game store. When I purchase it, I'll have all five generation three games: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen. I've spent about eighty bucks bringing the bunch together. The plan is to play through them all (of course) and sell them as a set later on. I'll post those details when I get there. I haven't had much luck selling things lately; maybe I'll get lucky with Pokémon.

Have I mentioned I can't play Diablo III? I can't play Diablo III.

New computer components are still in the mail.

Apartment 101

Three years and nine months. That's how long I've been living in Apartment 101; that's a long time for me, considering I moved every summer while I was in undergrad. In the end, it'll be three years and ten months because the lease is up at the end of June. But my new lease at my new place starts sometime in May. So I'll be doubling up on rent for part of May and all of June. Easy for moving. Bad for the budget. So let's take a moment and remember the good times at Apartment 101.

I can't think of any. Kidding.

Apartment 101 housed me at my most productive and my most lazy. I think of John Nash and Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski; spanning one far end of the spectrum to the other and back again. Graduate school, teaching, working for the university, and unemployment (six sweet long months of it). Video games, video editing, and travel preceded job hunting, interviews, and eventually returning to work. I'm not back to John Nash, but I moving in that direction. Thousands, if not millions, of zombies have died by my hands in bowels of Apartment 101.

The Northern Alaska University was founded in Barrow, Alaska thanks to my Apartment 101 roommate and NCAA Football 2007 on the PS2. The NAU Grease Rats football team is still undefeated. However, the NAU Grease Rats synchronized swimming team has a very high mortality rate. University officials are currently investigating this problem. If I want to continue coaching the Grease Rats, I'm going to have to pick up my own copy of the game. Shouldn't be too hard to find.

When I talk about the bowels of Apartment 101, I'm specifically referring to my bedroom. I used to call my bedroom Frostbite Heights because as I moved from apartment to apartment during my undergrad years, I always seemed to occupy a third floor room. The name didn't stick in Apartment 101, because we were basically in the basement of our apartment complex. No complaints here; I always think of basements are really shallow dungeons. The new place is an actual house and I'll be occupying a second floor bedroom (there's no third floor) so I can break out the Frostbite Heights sign again.

In the end, Apartment 101 has been an awesome stop on my journey so far. It will be missed; it will always be remembered.