The first thing I thought I when I went to MLGPro.com on my initial visit was "Am I really this big of a nerd?". The answer was a resounding yes.
Now I find myself in a funny situation. I am still playing video games at 26 and I am still screaming at my TV (when my wife isn't home). I still crank up my surround sound in hopes of hearing my next victim try to sneak up on me from my left flank. I am still inviting friends over to talk trash on my headset whenever they come across a pre-pubescent voice talking about Pokemon. I am still a nerdy gamer.
The biggest difference between gamers and people that play video games is this: Gamers play to win and people that play video games play to have fun.
I would be willing to bet most Wii owners are people that play video games. I would also be willing to bet that most Halo 3 and Call of Duty owners that play online are gamers. Don't get me wrong, I have a great time and a lot of fun playing Wii Sports with a group of friends. However, I usually always prefer to play a first person shooter online against other insanely competitive people.
I use to be the kid that would sit in front of his TV and play Mario Brothers 3 and fly over every level in my squirrel/raccoon costume for the hell of it. Basically, more available high speed internet made me into an online gaming addict. I went from Metal Gear Solid to Call of Duty 2 and 4 faster than you can say "56k blows".
Now I am spending most of my free time blasting people away in real time and loving every minute of it. The next step is a true professional league for gamers. MLG would like to think they have a firm grip on the competitive gaming world, but they don't.
I have been working out the kinks on what I believe will be the next step in competitive gaming. The project is not yet finished, but once it starts to come to fruition there will be a changing in the guard once again as MLG and it's broken Minor League system (Gamebattles) comes tumbling down and bows before the brainchild of Outspoknpoet.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Macbook Wheel - I Dare You, Mr. Jobs!
The Macbook Wheel isn't real - but I wish it was. I feel similarly about other stupid things I would enjoy seeing come to fruition just to see the inventor/whack-job fail miserably.
For those of you who haven't seen The Onion's story about 'The Wheel', here is the link.
Every time I hear about Microsoft rolling out a new operating system I get angry. Not because it is usually (always) buggy software waiting to get hacked but because it is just too blatently selfish. When the price of software reaches $500+ (even $50+) most people just look, laugh and go to bit-torrent or their friendly neighborhood pirate (arrgh!).
When it comes to pissing me off beyond Microsoft - Apple is always #1. Not only have they managed to convince nearly every rich suburban white kid that Macbook is the coolest thing since Vanilla Ice but they venture into other realms of stupidity. I can understand Microsoft jacking up prices on poorly designed software and ignorant people buying into 'the next big thing'. However, I can't understand how Apple manages to convince people to buy all their little gadgets and then make them believe that they actually need them.
I love analogies, so here is my analogy of the day.
Microsoft is a used car salesman - You know they are full of shit. You know they will do almost anything to make you buy from them (including making 'fixes' that demolish your car (PC)). You know they are going to make you pay extra for anything that you may have problems with in the future...but you will go ahead and buy the car and try to fix all the problems on your own.
Apple is a snake oil salesman - They tell you their product is perfect. They tell you everything they have is something you need. They tell you they will always be around to give you more snake oil (any new Apple product) that they come up with. They manage to convince you that you need other oils (gadgetry - iPhone, iPod, Macbook Pro, Jaguar, Leopard, Panther, Kitten, Sabretooth, ViBrator, Macbook Wheel...the list goes on). And lets not forget - they all become obsolete, they all eventually break and they are all WAY overpriced.
So, I dare YOU Mr. Jobs - make the Macbook Wheel. Watch your faithful Lemmings walk off a cliff for you. Then I will laugh as I watch you make the biggest mistake since the Pippin.
For those of you who haven't seen The Onion's story about 'The Wheel', here is the link.
Every time I hear about Microsoft rolling out a new operating system I get angry. Not because it is usually (always) buggy software waiting to get hacked but because it is just too blatently selfish. When the price of software reaches $500+ (even $50+) most people just look, laugh and go to bit-torrent or their friendly neighborhood pirate (arrgh!).
When it comes to pissing me off beyond Microsoft - Apple is always #1. Not only have they managed to convince nearly every rich suburban white kid that Macbook is the coolest thing since Vanilla Ice but they venture into other realms of stupidity. I can understand Microsoft jacking up prices on poorly designed software and ignorant people buying into 'the next big thing'. However, I can't understand how Apple manages to convince people to buy all their little gadgets and then make them believe that they actually need them.
I love analogies, so here is my analogy of the day.
Microsoft is a used car salesman - You know they are full of shit. You know they will do almost anything to make you buy from them (including making 'fixes' that demolish your car (PC)). You know they are going to make you pay extra for anything that you may have problems with in the future...but you will go ahead and buy the car and try to fix all the problems on your own.
Apple is a snake oil salesman - They tell you their product is perfect. They tell you everything they have is something you need. They tell you they will always be around to give you more snake oil (any new Apple product) that they come up with. They manage to convince you that you need other oils (gadgetry - iPhone, iPod, Macbook Pro, Jaguar, Leopard, Panther, Kitten, Sabretooth, ViBrator, Macbook Wheel...the list goes on). And lets not forget - they all become obsolete, they all eventually break and they are all WAY overpriced.
So, I dare YOU Mr. Jobs - make the Macbook Wheel. Watch your faithful Lemmings walk off a cliff for you. Then I will laugh as I watch you make the biggest mistake since the Pippin.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
How To Destroy A Camper
You creep around the corner. Trigger finger ready to squeeze a few rounds into a known enemy. The corner slower disappears to the right side of your screen.
BOOM!
You have become the latest victim of the camper. Chances are good that if you have ever played a first person shooter online you have been the perpetrator or victim of this 'strategy'. The process of finding a great camping spot is an imperfect one. Typically it will be in a low traffic spot of a map.
If you find that you are the victim of such map dominance you need to make sure you have communication with your teammates. This also requires a strategy reminiscent of Velociraptors discussed in the movie Jurassic Park.
Make sure you have the location of the camper known to a certainty. Then organize your teammates to come from both sides of the camper. Pull the attention of your opponent towards a focal point out and away from the sides - it also helps to throw frag grenades within his/her view field to distract even more. Then let your teammates destroy the camper and enjoy the spoils of tapping your crouch button repeatedly on the dead foe's face.
BOOM!
You have become the latest victim of the camper. Chances are good that if you have ever played a first person shooter online you have been the perpetrator or victim of this 'strategy'. The process of finding a great camping spot is an imperfect one. Typically it will be in a low traffic spot of a map.
If you find that you are the victim of such map dominance you need to make sure you have communication with your teammates. This also requires a strategy reminiscent of Velociraptors discussed in the movie Jurassic Park.
Make sure you have the location of the camper known to a certainty. Then organize your teammates to come from both sides of the camper. Pull the attention of your opponent towards a focal point out and away from the sides - it also helps to throw frag grenades within his/her view field to distract even more. Then let your teammates destroy the camper and enjoy the spoils of tapping your crouch button repeatedly on the dead foe's face.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Major League Gaming - Pwning Gaming In The Face
After taking part in Gamebattles under the impression that it was possible to gain some type of prestige in gaming I quickly realized that it was, in the words of Memphis Raines "my unicorn". Something that is never truly obtainable. (If you don't get the reference of Nicolas Cage's character to Gone In 60 Seconds, don't worry about it.)
The bottom line is this. In order to make it 'to the top' in gaming you have to devote your life to gaming. I'm not talking about making it your only hobby, I mean - This is all you do...all the time...8-14 hours a day...7 days a week.
To make the issue even worse MLG has a kung-fu grip on the balls of what most gamers consider legit competitive gaming (for money and prizes). So, unless your gamertag is Tsquared or any of the other commercialized gaming gods you are doomed. I say this because these 17-21 year-olds are or have been using the launch-pad of their parents' basement to not have a real job and simply trick every gamer out there that they have a chance to win thousands of dollars playing for the evil corporation MLG.
MLG is more like an evil step-parent for any gamer looking to make it big.
Here is how:
If you are sponsored by Mountain Dew or even a local land fill anything they want to pay you has to go through MLG first... Meaning, before you even see your money MLG will take their cut. Sound fair to you? Me neither.
I think it is about time some enterprising individuals shine a light on this issue and start their own legit league for gamers to come and dominate and take and keep what is rightfully theirs. MLG is nothing more than a profit-off-the-gamer corporation.
Don't be fooled.
The bottom line is this. In order to make it 'to the top' in gaming you have to devote your life to gaming. I'm not talking about making it your only hobby, I mean - This is all you do...all the time...8-14 hours a day...7 days a week.
To make the issue even worse MLG has a kung-fu grip on the balls of what most gamers consider legit competitive gaming (for money and prizes). So, unless your gamertag is Tsquared or any of the other commercialized gaming gods you are doomed. I say this because these 17-21 year-olds are or have been using the launch-pad of their parents' basement to not have a real job and simply trick every gamer out there that they have a chance to win thousands of dollars playing for the evil corporation MLG.
MLG is more like an evil step-parent for any gamer looking to make it big.
Here is how:
If you are sponsored by Mountain Dew or even a local land fill anything they want to pay you has to go through MLG first... Meaning, before you even see your money MLG will take their cut. Sound fair to you? Me neither.
I think it is about time some enterprising individuals shine a light on this issue and start their own legit league for gamers to come and dominate and take and keep what is rightfully theirs. MLG is nothing more than a profit-off-the-gamer corporation.
Don't be fooled.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Online Success Can Doom A Great Gamer
I have become victimized by scrubs online for far too long. After having a 20:1 KDR (Kill Death Ratio) on Call or Duty 4 or getting 15-17 kills on Gears of War 2 I will have people sending me harassing messages and filing complaints because they got beat, fair and square. I now have a 61% Avoid rating on my XBox Live Account and who knows how many complaints.
I really miss the good ole days of honest gamers just having fun. That is long gone with the dawn of competitive gaming and "Leaderboards". If you were to go online and look at the Gears of War 2 Leaderboards you would see an unimaginable amount of games played, kills, etc. It really isn't fair to most people that are really good at a given game when most of the "Top Players" are just playing the game more than everyone else. The ranking system is broken and necessitates those who want to rank up on unimportant leaderboards to cheat their way up; And they do this all because they don't have the time to do it legitimately.
*Rant Over*
I really miss the good ole days of honest gamers just having fun. That is long gone with the dawn of competitive gaming and "Leaderboards". If you were to go online and look at the Gears of War 2 Leaderboards you would see an unimaginable amount of games played, kills, etc. It really isn't fair to most people that are really good at a given game when most of the "Top Players" are just playing the game more than everyone else. The ranking system is broken and necessitates those who want to rank up on unimportant leaderboards to cheat their way up; And they do this all because they don't have the time to do it legitimately.
*Rant Over*
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Avoid Game Torrents
Now that the RIAA has stopped prosecuting (for the most part) and slowed their music downloading witchhunt the MPAA will most likely do something similar.
I by no means want to suggest that you start downloading like crazy. BUT - I want you to know that major gaming studios (Electronic Arts) are tracking IP addresses. It isn't just EA either. I personally know someone that received a warning letter for downloading the PC version of Bioshock from 2K Games.
So, with that said, stay safe and watch what you download.
I by no means want to suggest that you start downloading like crazy. BUT - I want you to know that major gaming studios (Electronic Arts) are tracking IP addresses. It isn't just EA either. I personally know someone that received a warning letter for downloading the PC version of Bioshock from 2K Games.
So, with that said, stay safe and watch what you download.
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