Blarg

Gawwwwwd. Feel like I'm in a bit of a rut lately. Like, creatively. Don't really feel depressed or anything, but I just haven't been doing any drawing or writing lately, and any ideas that I've thought about for writing, I haven't really liked too much. I dunno. Also feel like I've just been sucking at everything lately, like games and whatnot. Kinda weird. Maybe I can take this time to catch up on some reading I've been meaning to do, like starting reading A Game of Thrones and a sci-fi book I got, Leviathan Wakes. Maybe doing some of that will help me get inspired and get out of the rut. Hopefully!

Anyways, I guess I can talk a bit about some stuff that's happened this week. One of the most prominent things in the games area of things was a bunch of announcements/clarifications about the Xbox One. People seem to be pretty pissed off about them, but I really don't see what the big deal is. Like, the thing about the Xbox having to connect to the internet every twenty four hours in order to play games. I guess that's kind of weird, especially for single-player games. But...is it a problem? I guess some people would have legitimate complaints about that, but personally my internet is always up, so...my Xbox would be connected every time I use it anyway. And I feel like that would be the case for most other people, too.

Then people are complaining about the fact that you can't share the disc-games with friends. Well, you can, but only once. Again, I guess I can see how that might be a problem for people that trade games a lot, but think about this. Steam games can't be shared at all, and that platform is pretty well-received and successful. It's the same kind of thing, really. Actually it's better, because anyone in your family can play any of the games on your list. That's pretty cool. And then people are also complaining about not being able to trade in games or buy used games. Personally I don't mind...I prefer to keep my games and support the developers rather than retailers.

What else...oh yeah, people are also moaning about the Kinect camera always being on. That one I can agree with, but if you're worried about it...maybe just put a towel over it? Unplug it when it's not in use? Turn it around to face the wall? I mean, these aren't genius ideas, people. And the main thing is, if you don't like it...here's an idea, don't buy it. I understand that people want Microsoft to hear their opinions, but I feel like all these negative comments are really doing are making people who are actually excited about the Xbox One feel bad. It's like people need other people to feel the same way they do just so they feel validated. I dunno, there's obviously nothing anyone can do to stop people from saying things on the internet, but all the complaining and negativity from the 'community' just really grate on me.

Well, enough about that, let's get on to some more positive stuff. The Last of Us came out this week, and it's been getting amazing reviews. That's great for the industry, but bad for me, because I don't have a PS3! There are few times that I have lamented that fact, but this is one of them. I'm also sad because Beyond: Two Souls also looks really good but will be PS3 only when it comes out. I don't actually have anything against the PS3, I just don't want to spend so much money on it. There's buying the console, then buying all the games for it that I missed...it really adds up! I dunno, maybe if the price on PS3s goes down with the coming of next-gen consoles I'll cave and get one, but it would still feel weird buying a console at the end of its generation.

Another small point about The Last of Us, that was pointed out by a guy I was watching on Twitch.tv, was that it's getting great reviews, but no one seems to be complaining about the violence. It is definitely a very violent game, as we have seen in trailers and screenshots, but that doesn't seem to be affecting the reviews. Like it did in, say, BioShock Infinite! The guy was saying that the two games are very similar in the area of story and violence, so he thought it would be hypocritical if people complained about the violence in Infinite and not in The Last of Us. I thought that was pretty funny and definitely agreed, so it'll be interesting to see if anything like that surfaces in the next week or two.

Another neat thing this week was that I read a comic called Daytripper on the recommendation of my friend Sarah. It's a story about a writer who's trying to find his place in the world. Kinda struck home for me. Each issue centres on an important moment in his life, and focuses on how it changes him for the better or worse. I don't want to talk too much more about it so as to not spoil anything, but I absolutely loved this book. The writing was really good, the story was thought-provoking and really affecting, and the art is really nice too. Definitely recommend this book to any comic fans who are looking for a good, solid story.

Finally, if you read my previous post talking about the game Remember Me, you'd know that I had kind of mixed feelings about it. After reading the reviews, the consensus seemed to be that the story and world were really amazing, but the gameplay (mostly the combat and platforming) were pretty mediocre. Funny that, eh? BUT, I still decided to pick it up anyway. I thought it might be good to support the game, since if they are able to work on a sequel, the gameplay might be able to be improved. And also I got it for 25% off from greenmangaming.com, so that was a plus. I haven't played it yet since I'm waiting on a PC-friendly controller I bought to get delivered. But once I get into it, I will likely make a blog post on my thoughts.

So, I guess that's it for today. Now off to try to find something to do.