something blogy this way comes

Ah, to blog, to sleep, perchance to dream. Not entirely sure what I'm doing with all this; but it strikes me as a fun opportunity. I do not intend to post completely anonymously; I'll add a gamerpic if I can figure out whatever quirk of the website is causing it to resist my attempts to do so. In the meantime, life marches forward, and so to the pressing issues of the day. I'll admit, I haven't attempted anything of this nature since my younger years. Once, upon a time, I too, wanted to break into "games journalism"; I spent some time writing in some various capacities. It's nothing I'm proud of, rest assured they were all junky websites nobody had ever heard of, and those t-shirts are now adorning the drawer of my dresser that I use mostly for dust-cloths. My point is, writing, like any other skill takes time to develop, and I have let it atrophy. If a reader never graces this blog, then let it at least serve that purpose. My first comment should have to be on the chorus of resounding "meh"; coming out of E3 this year. It shouldn't surprise anyone really. Let's just say it right upfront that the 3-ring circus of yesteryear could certainly not pretend to any real kind of virtue, but why downsize? Heck, let's not kid ourselves, circuses were FUN, anybody remember fun? I have to think that the gradual elimination of E3 is merely a thinly veiled corporate attempt to cut costs. What I really never understood is why they never really understood the real value of E3. It may be that E3 was formed to generate publicity, so why only invite "journalists"? We'd pay to see it, at least once, it's Disneyworld for gamers. So open it to the public and SELL TICKETS. Let exhibitors sell games and accessories at the booths. Believe you me, they would. Host more then one E3. Host six a year in various cities. In a curious combination of life and watered down irony - Shadowrun continues to dominate my interest. It really is a very good example of solid design crippled by poor design decisions. In an interesting twist, the developers are staging a contest to determine fans to engage them in a match. (http://forums.shadowrun.com/forums/103760/ShowThread.aspx#103760) Say what you will, I admire that kind of grass roots developer spirit that's willing to sit down and play with the fans. Whether they're doing it to foster a sense of community or only to generate publicity - doesn't really matter. When such gifts are scarce, I don't care what's wrong with it's teeth, if someone gives you one, you don't look in it's mouth until later Last, and certainly least. http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/11/unreal-tournament-iii-timed-exclusive-... (Sigh). The UT franchise is apparently a console exclusive now. True, they at least admit to the existence of the PC version, but can't be troubled to release it until the year following the playstation version. Mark my words, the franchise pretty much just jumped the shark. I've suspected for some time now that they've only been putting prettier clothes on ths same emporer. In walks Sony, next thing you know we have some sort of vaguely faust-exclusivity deal. Something is really wrong with the business.