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Wake Up, Publishers and Developers:

impoverishedgeek@gmail.com — 2009-01-02T11:42:09-06:00

Statistically, however, it would make sense that as there are more lower and middle class consumers than there are upper class ones; that more used game buyers are frugal due to necessity rather than conscious choice. ...Members of this group on the older end of this range might have more income, but are more likely to have a mortgage and children, which greatly affects the time and money available for video games. ...Even when they do buy new, they are more likely to trade in some of their older games in order to make the financial impact of such a large purchase less significant. ...Without used games, many players won’t even start playing: lower-income gamers will cease to exist, and may never become middle-or-upper-income new game buyers, effectively limiting their future potential. ... Without the secondary market, people who do not wish to replay a game will be left with piles of junk that will either languish on a shelf or add more plastic to our ever-growing landfills. ...(On a side note: I am fully aware that many gamers are would be happy to see the used game market shut down merely to revel in the fall of GameStop/eBay/etc.

I've Interviewed With Apple for the Last Time

impoverishedgeek@gmail.com — 2010-05-25T01:21:16-05:00

Having worked in “fun” retail before (GameStop), I do understand that every job is still a job, and there would certainly be parts of working for Apple that I wouldn’t like. ... I don’t hold any illusions about the fact that it would be work, it’s just that from what I’ve heard it would be work that I wouldn’t find unbearable and would be decently compensated for. ...This was followed by a puff-piece about why it’s so great to work at an Apple store, which is completely unnecessary when you’ve got a room full of people who own your products and have filled out an application. ...I take issue with one sentence that made me think it was because I wasn’t “hip” enough: “At this time we have chosen to move forward with other candidates that meet the needs of today.” ...I’ve never shopped at an “event” location like the flagship store in New York or the one on Michigan Avenue here in Chicago, but unless their employees are snorting cocaine cut with No-Doz, I can’t imagine they keep that sort of energy going all day, every day. ...I realize that writing this piece is biting the hand I’d hoped would feed me, but that last interview just rubbed me the wrong way, and I think something needs to be said about it.

Yeah, But How About Those Scrambled Eggs: A Review of Heavy Rain

impoverishedgeek@gmail.com — 2010-04-12T22:57:07-05:00

A spiritual successor to Indigo Prophecy(better known as Fahrenheit outside the US), Heavy Rain follows a twisted path between four leads working to solve the riddle of the Origami Killer: a serial killer that kidnaps children and drowns them after holding them captive for four-to-six days. ...Each of the main characters has personal issues that flesh them out: Ethan has already lost one son, Scott is an aging asthmatic that just might not be able to hack it anymore, and Nathan is addicted to a futuristic drug called “triptocaine.” ...Many of the roles were played by French actors performing with American accents, which makes me hope that the next Quantic Dream game puts enough money into the acting budget to hire local actors for each region. ...All of Heavy Rain’s controls are contextual: this means you are always looking at the screen for symbols to indicate how to interact with the characters and environment. ... I played the game on normal difficulty, on a 42” 1080p screen, so I can say with some certainty that it was not a failing on the part of myself or my hardware. ...

Game of the Year 2008: Fallout 3

impoverishedgeek@gmail.com — 2008-12-31T14:01:09-06:00

Having grown weary of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion quite quickly, I was wary to spend more on a similar title from the same developer. ...While both games feature multitudes of side quests to keep you busy, Fallout’s Capital Wasteland is remarkably deeper and more compelling. Gameplay-wise, the addition of guns and the Valult-Tec Assisted Targeting System(V.A.T.S.) makes Fallout infinitely more playable from a first person perspective. ... For players like myself, who do not play first-person shooters with any sort of regularity, V.A.T.S. makes combat more accessible. I did not agree with the multitude of developers who hailed Oblivion as game of the year in 2006, but Fallout 3 is quite deserving of the title. ... Judged as a world, however, the Capital Wasteland is one of the most engrossing places I have visited in all my time playing video games.

25 MPG is not "Fuel Efficient"

impoverishedgeek@gmail.com — 2008-12-28T13:29:34-06:00

Even their marketing departments knew it: Ford advertising ceded that Honda was perceived to be better quality, and ran ads that said otherwise. Rather than being able to promote that they exceed their competitors, Ford proudly stated that they matched them. ...It is acceptance of mediocrity and shines a light on the lack of innovation that has stifled the American auto industry for my entire lifetime. American automakers have been consent to rest on their laurels for nearly thirty years, hemorrhaging money and talent just as much as their SUV’s do fuel. ... It is indicative of the mismanagement and wasteful nature of modern corporate culture: to meet the base expectations of their market, rather than exceed them. ...My 1993 Corolla, rest its soul, got around the same until an accident cut its life short. 25 miles per gallon is old news.