Blog Posts

Avatar Rights, The Patch that was the Pub , and Lego Batman, Lego Batman!! - Welcome to the column that is happy to report that we are alive and in one piece (not pieces) known as Dare to Play the Game.

I’m still here. Aren’t you glad? Don’t answer that. After a rather rough two weeks, I hope to return to a fairly normal column with fairly normal jokes and fairly normal news which don’t involve me huddled on the floor with my thumb in my mouth and my body in the fetal position. It’s not a pretty picture and I don’t want to repeat it. The impact after Ike is still a big part of Houston and gas supply is a pain in my arse. I’ve filled up my gas tank as little as possible but then I am back home now and work is roughly 55 miles each way. So outside of biking 10 hours a day thru Houston city traffic (yeah, like that even makes sense), I don’t see how I’m supposed to conserve gas. Move closer to civilization as one of my friends puts it. I’ll have you know that most of civilization as they like to call it didn’t have power for a week or more depending on location. We were out of power for 2 ½ days. I might be living in the boonies folks, but it isn’t out in a field somewhere with a couple of guys in overalls speculating over their corn crop if you catch my drift. It is a nice subdivision and gives me a nice peace of mind away from the hustle bustle of the cubicle world. I might move closer, but I don’t plan to be in the thick of things either.

Ike sucks, Rockband & Guitar Hero tracklist comparison and did I mention I hate hurricanes? - Welcome to the column that is free and there is no need to stand in line for half an hour known as Dare to Play the Game.

There wasn’t a column last week. I know, I’m sorry. I was too busy deciding what to do about Hurricane Ike. I had parts of it written last week time and time again. But I never could complete it because my heart wasn’t into it. My heart still isn’t 100% into it. You can blame it on Ike, or just hurricanes in general. I live in West Columbia, Tx; approximately 30-40 miles from Freeport, Tx. On Wednesday of last week, I evacuated from where I live. I didn’t board up the house because I had lost my pyre-locks and every Home Depot in a 50 mile radius was out of them. No, there was nothing to nail the boards to despite my boards being in great shape. However, I took what was hard to replace and did what I could to make the rest of my belongings safe from a flood situation. I could care less if I lost the carpet (I need a new one anyway), but some of the other stuff including electronics were a lot less favorable if they went under.

Learn by Death, More Fable items on the Web, and Europe becomes the real place for gaming? - Welcome to the column that thinks the more you punish a player, the less likely they are willing to take up bondage as a vocational hobby known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. The Labor Day weekend was full of watching various web pages to determine whether or not Gustav was going to come anywhere near by backyard of Texas. Thankfully, it did not and Louisiana despite damage avoided a tremendous disaster. The fact is that New Orleans could have possibly had another Katrina like disaster. They did not because 1)Gustav was much weaker than Katrina and 2)It did not suffer a direct hit on the levees. The barriers held and New Orleans can live and prosper once again. One has to be worried though that since New Orleans is under sea level (like a soup bowl), can it keep avoiding disaster? Well perhaps, but the team of army engineers need to come up with a real solution and quick. The levees in place would have not held anything above a 3 and history can only be rebuilt so many times before it is just that: history. The rest of the time? It was spent doing usual weekend chores and spending time together. We planned our trip to Ohio (airlines really really suck) and we will be required to stop in Atlanta for a connecting flight to Akron, OH. Atlanta? Seriously? I apologize to the people who actually live in Atlanta but what the heck do I do to deserve this? Maybe if they put a big sign over the archway that says “Welcome to some place that isn’t named Atlanta”, I can just pretend it isn’t one of the worst cities in the US. Well then again, it isn’t Detroit.

Y’s makes it to Virtual Console, Fable Pub Glitch to be patched, and Space Invaders recreating 9/11? - Welcome to the column that thinks bad ideas are fine as long as you take that rental chicken suit to the proper dry cleaners known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. Last Friday, I went to go see the Dark Knight with my girlfriend & one of our mutual best friends. What did I think? It was very awesome, however not as uber-awesome as my girlfriend and the best friend would lead you to believe. First and foremost, Heath Ledger as Joker did steal the show. This is utter fact. That performance alone will get me to buy the SE of the DVD on the first day it is released. However, I think Iron Man was the better movie if I had to pick between the Superhero movies I have seen this summer (with Hulk & Hellboy somewhere beneath those two). That’s because if you strip away Heath, you’re left with a merely decent Batman film. I’m still having trouble wrapping my hands around Christian Bale as Batman. When he’s Bruce Wayne, he seems lost and not really of the playboy image we have come to expect from the billionaire. When he’s Batman, he seems more of a gargoyle (what is with that voice anyway?) than the caped crusader. Furthermore, I had issues with how little the Two-Face villain was used. The special effects on his “face” were fantastic, but in the short period of time we were given to enjoy the coin-flipping lunatic killer wasn’t long enough. Perhaps I am too critical of Batman as I own all the movies (including the one from the 60’s), all of the animated series cartoons (not that newer crap) & even the complete Batman Beyond series. I have in my mind a certain feel for the dark man in the cape and unfortunately for me, the Bale Batman isn’t quite living up to that feat.

Come Get Some Duke Nukem 3d, Wii is prime for Hardcore, and is there really a Hardcore or Casual division? - Welcome to the column that believes birthdays are kinda like the yearly edition of Madden football, you get all excited for release day only to find out nothing has changed from the year before known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I had a birthday on Tuesday. I turned thirty-three. Yes, your favorite video game columnist turned thirty-three. The end is near; okay, okay not really. This year, I didn’t find myself reflecting all that much. I saw myself for the first time in a while looking ahead, looking to new avenues where I can expand my craft. I saw myself getting older, but gaining some grace and momentum. For you see my friends, my life is not destined to be trapped inside a cubicle typing away a column every Wednesday. Well, I wouldn’t mind the column part, it’s the cubicle portion that drives me up the wall. No, no, I’m not going to suddenly bust out and do construction or lay bricks for the rest of my life either. I’m way too accident prone for that scenario. Actually, I need to write and write more. This includes not just columns, not just dvd reviews, not just video game reviews, this includes primarily my spin on fiction. See, I didn’t start my craft with what I do now, I did it with writing good ole fantasy fiction. Give me a rogue, a town, a forest and a dungeon and let me weave my magic of a tale. My favorite three contemporary authors: Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore & Eric Lustbader are indicative of my writing style. From Terry Brooks I get my sense of how to shape a world and make it come alive. From R.A. Salvatore, I get my sense of how to forge a character and make the reader care. From Eric Lustbader, I just get how to create a good steamy sex scene. Hey, gotta make it sizzle babie!

Gaming in the Olympics, Disgaea goes cheap, and the true reason why Final Fantasy is on Xbox 360 - Welcome to the column that is an Olympic gold medalist in Speed Snoring & Sarcasm (and did it with a broken friggin neck!) known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 52/27/??/??. That’s right. Two of my characters this week are currently doing the limbo dance. Talloween & Magkick. Magkick was the recipient of a doomed server from the start while Talloween has been on again / off again because it is very hard to solo a priest. These characters are going to be recreated. Magkick will go off the PVP server and be re-created on my usual Horde place over @ Killrogg. His professions will change from tailoring & skinning to tailoring & leatherworking. (My hunter will do the skinning for him) The priest will be recreated and on the same server. But on a different account with different professions (currently mining & jewelcrafting). This will enable him to play with my girlfriend’s characters and get a reliable buddy to quest & get gear with. My girlfriend will also be creating one or two characters on the new account @ Killrogg so she can go quest with my three characters over there. I’m kinda trying this on a trial basis and we’ll see how it plays out. I’m not deleting my mains (52 Troll Rogue / 27 Blood Elf Hunter) and neither is she (70 Draenei Hunter & a multitude of others). We are just trying out what would happen when we quest together. Let’s hope it goes smoothly.

Death of Sierra, No Yoda vs Vader, and Pre-Owned Sales going extinct? - Welcome to the column that is about to start a rant the size of Barbara Streisand’s nose before the surgery known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 52/27/22/14. Every character this week in Warcraft with the exception of my hunter got some love. My troll rogue marched and hit level 52 with help from the Hinterlands and earned his first useable trinket. My blood elf mage stormed six levels and made his way into the Ghostlands. Even the dwarf priest who had not seen action for at least a month got some good shoulders & found his way questing again in Redridge. I think my major accomplishment this week was what I learned about spellcasters. I hit a point with my mage this week where I died about 5 times in one hour. It was around level 9 ½. No matter where I went, I was clearly overmatched. So again and again I met my WoW maker. Each time, I learned more about the character and then finally I hit 10. Level 10 for a mage is a big deal early on and opens up the playing field. Frost Nova became my new friend and I only died once for the rest of the weekend. I also made the decision right there to go Frost Spec. Yes, I know most mages go fire spec until they hit 70 but have you ever known me to do what everybody else does? Let’s see, Troll Rogue Combat Spec (most go Subtlety from what I’ve seen). A Hunter, Marksmanship build (everybody and their dog goes Beastmastery). The Priest? Discipline Spec (most go Shadow). So, it’s little wonder that a Mage for me would go Frostie. Mmmmm, Wendy’s anyone?

XBLA Summer Time, Gears of War 2 going Backwards & the Bitter Core of Gaming - Welcome to the column that sees summer as a chance to stretch their feet and wiggle their toes as long as it is inside a house with massive amounts of air conditioning known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 51/27/22/8. I started another character, somebody please shoot me. No, I swear it is not Warcraft/Toon ADD. This time, I started a Blood Elf Mage named Magkick on a PVP server. Furthermore, I have the best of intentions. My girlfriend’s brother feels like playing WoW again, so this is mostly his idea. But to join the cause, Sarah, her best friend, my best friend, and myself are making a go of it by starting at the same time on the same server. Others might join as well making for possibly one big party of sorts. It could be an interesting and fun time or eventually end up in a character transfer back to my usual Horde stomping grounds @ the Killrogg server. Either way, I’ve got a mage named Magkick. May the jokes and ganking begin.

Ubisoft Hacks themselves, Warcraft Achievements & Sonic’s got a Sword? - Welcome to the column that slices off their nose to spite their face known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 50/26/22. I finally did my last pvping for my rogue. I worked my way back up to 20 marks and got my blooming blue ring. The rest of the time was spent in dungeons mostly amassing money & items for my hunter to disenchant. I also finished a bunch of quests for dungeons like RFK or ZF that I just didn’t turn in because I thought it would put me over the 49 barrier. In addition, I went back to work on my blacksmithing and I’m 75% done with the initial Weaponsmithing quest. The blood elf hunter on the other hand amassed a couple of levels just killing peasants in Hillsbrad. His skinning is nearly maxed again (over 200) and his enchanting is still on par with his level (135). I have a feeling when he gets to 29, he is going to be a beast on the battlefield (well against the non-twinks anyway). I’m not super gung-ho for getting to 30 and the mount because as far as I’m concerned the mount limit is still 40 metaphorically speaking. I’m sitting back and having fun, trying not to care too much about my characters. Way too many people take the game so seriously and have to have something done as fast as possible. But then what do you do after that? They never really have an answer for that.

Xbox 360 Price Cut, New Wolfenstein & Xbox 360 Hard Drive madness? - Welcome to the column that went to E3, got way too belligerent with the Wii hard drive Booth (and later found out one didn’t exist) and was asked to leave known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 49/24/22. In World of Warcraft News, the patch for 2.4.3 is out as of Tuesday. The real news of course out of the patch is that level 30 characters get mounts, where it used to be that level 40 was the magic number. The cost of the mount training has also decreased, to 35 gold. So the twink bracket that existed at 29 is for most practical purposes is gone, and the 39 twink bracket will actually exist again. I mostly played with my hunter which would explain why he was the only one to gain levels (2) this week. He finished the Ghostlands, took a quick trip to Razorfen Kraul & landed in Tarren Mill to start questing. He should have the 45 gold (35 training + 10 for the actual mount) by the time he hits 30. I just need to skin as much as possible and not dump as much money as I was into my enchanting skill. My enchanting skill is on par with my level (120), but I can always get my 49 rogue to solo anything up to and including Razorfen Kraul to get items to disenchant for mats. Plus, my rogue will be moving past the 49 barrier after this week I would imagine. I’ve pvped enough for the current bracket and he needs to make the first steps so he can start moving towards 60.