http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php Parody, Satire, Opinion, and Occasional Facts. en Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:14:26 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.sarcasticgamer.com/styles/redcarbon/misc/rss.jpg http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3745 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:33:43 GMT I may be a couple of days late but comedy central airs new south park for england on fridays. I watched the episode mocking the episode and although it's wrong to use the word ***, south park have a damn good point. The word has had a lot of differant meanings but most rightly it was fricken hilarious to see them mock the word and it's meaning espcially the part where kyle states "you don't have to be gay to be a ***"

before everyone like lono begin to insult south park let me point out firstly none of you have ever turned against south park before, secondly i doubt anyone who goes against this even watches it and thirdly the point of the episode was pointing out the younger generation lack of understanding of the word.

Words become lost in context and as south park showed there's so many meanings for the word it's hard to understand what it means, also i think you'll argree, harley bikers are really annoying. They obviously have done this to show people not to make mountins out of molehills and i agree with actually that i was wrong to go against something just becasue of who was on the other side. Too many people use their position of power to co-erce others into going against stuff becasue of "discrimination" i wonder if these so called angels actually support the cause?

I reckon they only do it becasue it gives them a rush knowing the only good they'll do it arguing for others behalf. Your not. Your doing it becasue it makes you feel good not for the right reasons. I was tricked into supporting a "good" cause. If you really care you would simply stop using the word not condem everything that challenges others to being discrimitive, if we excepted the word *** and made children aware of it's meaning instead of pretending these words don't exsist children wouldn't misunderstand these words to begin with. ]]> Timewarp http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3745 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3744 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:22:47 GMT Yea so its my birthday gonna see a movie with my friends and then eat dinner with my family. So WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Yea so its my birthday gonna see a movie with my friends and then eat dinner with my family. So WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOO! ]]> GammaFist http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3744 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3743 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:43:33 GMT So I tried it. It's kinda cool, truth be told, except for one part.

The part where it's a giant ****ing shill to get you to play ODST.

I like the stories, I like the waypoint and achievement tracking, I LOVE the avatar rewards. However, of the 11 rewards, only 1 is obtainable by doing anything other than playing ODST and getting specific achievements.

You get Spark 343 as an avatar prop for signing into Waypoint. The rest are all locked as mentioned above. Really? So for 100% on Halo 3 (Pre-1.1) I get nothing? Nothing at all except self-congratulations? Not one stinkin' avatar award for any of the achievements in your flag-ship title or your meh RTS spin-off?

Evidently not. ]]> Jia Xu http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3743 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3742 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:04:05 GMT So, maybe it's game gliding. I had 15 games on top of the Far Cry 2 they shipped out to me. That's not a horrible thing, I mean, it was in my list and I've yet to play it. So I can't shoot the game down right away. But I would have much rather received Infamous or UC2. They did tell me I'm getting Beatles Rock Band tomorrow though, and that WAS on the top of my list...touche gamefly, touche. It's freakin late and I need to get some sleep before work tomorrow. I'm enjoying the community more and more.

Name this video game quote.

"Photons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic."

I'll post the answer next blog. Far Cry 2 thoughts tomorrow. I intend to get a good couple hours in before work. I know I'm way behind most people on the new games, but I can't afford to buy all these new games! Hopefully gamefly is my temporary option. I'd like to thank Smelly Pirate, DogsDie, Doc, and Rothbart for communicating with me on twitter. Not every day you find a site where the podcasters/writers are open to the community. Working on a structure for a new community podcast, or so I hope.

Till next time.

A Bug and his Blog ]]> bug05 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3742 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3741 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:16:31 GMT Like the title states, how important do you find trophies and achievements when playing a game, would you not buy a game if it didn't contain them? Since the start of the year sony's annoced that all games have to contain them so from now on every single meaningless game has to contain them.

I'm ok with that intill Uno comes with a set and you have to explain that pitifull 1% which actually might be considered an achievement in itself, in fact all terriable games should have a sony/microsfot forced on trophey/achievement which reads "CRAPVIEWER - Actually bothered to play this piece of turd"

Most of the time trophies are used to inspire us to play every part of the game but i find myself put off from playing it knowing i'll have to get 100% or fell bad about myself for being not good enough to get that all powefull platinum, at least MS has the decency to make the whole process rewarding.

Would you buy a game based on it's achievement/trophies list? And why?

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
OPIOUNATED - Actually bothered to read timewarp's blog
WORST MINUTE OF MY LIFE - Didn't enjoy timewarp's blog
TROPHEY UNLOCKED
REALLY?! - Did enjoy timewarp's blog
FANBOY CHILL - Didn't put a fanboyist statement on the comments

Yes even my blog has achievements/trophies ]]> Timewarp http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3741 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3740 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:10:50 GMT When I first heard that they were remaking V for TV again I was excited. After all Battlestar Galactica taught us that a remake of an old sci-fi standard can be great. The only problem with this is that the source material for V is lacking at best. The original series was a little cheesy even by 1980 standards. Yet the acting pedigree in this show is better than any TV fan could hope for. Cast members from many great shows show up here, from Lost to Firefly. Oh and Scott Wolf makes an appearance as a slimy news anchor that sells his soul for a world wide audience with very little prodding. For me personally I was really happy with the appearance of Morris Chestnut. I hope that this series will not fall victim to one classic sci-fi blunder of pushing the strong black character to the background. Sure we have a black president, black head coaches in the NFL, but how many black star ship captains? Lando is the only one that comes to mind.
Anyway. It's an ok start to what could because a great series. As long as they don't focus on the High Schooler's love affair with a cute young Vistor. Anyone who saw the original series knows were that story line ends up. I am glad to see that like the reMake of BSG the main character has been turned from a man to a woman. It worked well there and I hope the same for V. Time will only tell if it works out. ]]> jerame2999 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3740 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3739 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:47:53 GMT Picked this up on a whim, it's fun but extremely repetitive. The padding via the territory missions was a mistake, especially since it feels mandatory unless you want severe aggravation when walking around and you get jumped by entire mobs of enemies.

The AI also feels very cheap during fights. I -am- playing on Hard but it still seems like a bit much to get chain-juggled by the AI so you go from full health to dead and there is nothing you can do about it. I've also been chained by the shotgun reapers, who blast you, then blast you right as you start getting up, resulting in you eventually dying and there being nothing you can do about it.

Those issues aside, the game is fun and the dead drops/blast shard collection quests are well-done, since you get an in-game hint system to help find them. A lot more games should steal that and use it. The powers are decent enough and the story is light-years better than Prototype's in my opinion, though Prototype has way cooler powers.

It's still $55 at gamestop, which is honestly a bit much for a game that gets repetitive so fast (I'm about 20 hours in and kinda burnt out on it already even though I'm only 1/3rd done with the story.) but it's definitely worth renting. ]]> Jia Xu http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3739 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3738 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:42:54 GMT Wondering if you should get Demon's Souls? I'll let two stats speak for me and answer your question.

Play time on one character (Helrato Vorshung, say hi if you see me around): 57:48. That's hours:minutes. On one character. To beat the game once. Without even getting close to everything.

Deaths: 29, though I lost count around 20 so it could be even higher. ]]> Jia Xu http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3738 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3737 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:40:29 GMT The game is terrible. Avoid it. I'll post a review sometime this week going more in depth, but I got it via the trade in special from game stop and three hours later, have it listed for sale on ebay. It's garbage. Save your money. ]]> Jia Xu http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3737 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3736 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:55:49 GMT http://www.computerforum.com/163124-...ml#post1351292

http://www.pugetsystems.com/certified_sys.php?sys_id=15

http://www.buyxg.com/system/XG_Gaming_Elite_2000/

http://www.buyxg.com/cart/showcart.a...detail&ref=add

XG Xion 6000 (NO MONITOR) ]]> bunny roses http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3736 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3735 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:11:07 GMT So that was fun! 24 hours of non interrupted gameplay. Nice. I was able to get a whole lot of gaming in. During the marathon, I started talking to my brother about possibly starting a podcast for the community to listen to. So I'm hereby making the effort to be more vocal on the site in order to have some listeners...actually listen. I'm going to make sure he'll register a name soon and then we'll get this ball rolling! Until then, keep listening to the HDUD, Red, and Blue shows!...Don't know if Pink is still around. Lol. ]]> bug05 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3735 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3734 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:17:53 GMT Yes, I said it.

I was coming from Best Buy after picking up the "Buy 2 Get 1" free deal. I was sitting at a red light with four cars ahead of me when this dipshit put her car into the back of my car. Fortunately, her stupid Toyota Camry more or less bounced off the back of my 300, 30+ mph. No screeching of brakes, no nothing.

Good times.

Meanwhile, two weekends of Extra Life, a weekend of being sick and Halloween with a full boatload of stress of a new job has caused me to fall off of the weight loss train. I was going hard and heavy there for several weeks, but...damnit. Getting old is the suck.

Almost got my platinum in Borderlands, but those last two levels for my guy is dragging the hell out. I'd love to work on one for Demon's Souls, but I looked at the requirements, and phew...dunno. ]]> Shanghai Six http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3734 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3733 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:04:06 GMT *Note: I have not completed this game, however with 220 puzzles to complete i think i can be excused for once* Scribblenauts is a side-scrolling puzzle game where you can solve puzzles using basically anything you can think of. Nothing rude or crude though, Believe me... I tried! The overall concept of the game really piqued my interest and made me buy it. The developers, 5th cell, are no stranger to the DS with their previous games (Drawn to life and Locks Quest) all getting relatively good reviews (apart from Drawn to life Spongebob Squarepants edition. But I’m going to steer well clear of that) I expected an amazing game with it winning Game of the show at E3 this year. You control a character called Maxwell who travels through various lands helping people with their conundrums. At least... That’s what I gathered from it as there is very little story to the game. I really don’t know what you could call this game genre wise, Open world puzzler maybe? There is a massive open world element on the title screen where you can basically ‘summon’ any item you want. Santa with a machine gun fighting against the devil with a chainsaw? You can do that if you really wanted to. Although there is still a limit on how many items you can have on the screen which is a bit of a nuisance but I suppose it is there to keep the game running smoothly. The graphic style is very cutesy. The cell shaded graphics seem to add to the charm of the game, while the detail on the items is fairly accurate. There isn’t that much to say about the graphics other than they do well to capture the game and the backgrounds add to the ‘atmosphere’ of the game. The controls are where this game is seriously hindered. I can see what the developers where trying to do with them, making them easy for everyone to pick up and play the game. But it is just too temperamental and really gets on my nerves. You use the stylus to ‘summon’ and move objects. But you also use it to control your character. The problem with this is that sometimes I’ve wanted to pick up an item. But then Maxwell decided to jump to his doom into lava. The other annoying thing is that there doesn’t seem to be any precision with the controls, if you just want Maxwell to move a tiny bit, you can’t. It seems ridiculous not to map controlling Maxwell to the face buttons. Instead they chose to use the face buttons for camera controls. The camera is a fundamental part of the gameplay, but why they didn’t decide to put the character movement to the directional buttons just seems stupid. Overall this game is REALLY addictive and despite the crappy controls, it is one of those games you have to buy. The puzzles do vary in difficulty and you can get frustrated with some of the puzzles because of the controls but I recommend this game, I give it a 4.5/5 Note: I have not completed this game, however with 220 puzzles to complete i think i can be excused for once


Scribblenauts is a side-scrolling puzzle game where you can solve puzzles using basically anything you can think of. Nothing rude or crude though, Believe me... I tried! The overall concept of the game really piqued my interest and made me buy it. The developers, 5th cell, are no stranger to the DS with their previous games (Drawn to life and Locks Quest) all getting relatively good reviews (apart from Drawn to life Spongebob Squarepants edition. But I’m going to steer well clear of that) I expected an amazing game with it winning Game of the show at E3 this year. You control a character called Maxwell who travels through various lands helping people with their conundrums. At least... That’s what I gathered from it as there is very little story to the game.

I really don’t know what you could call this game genre wise, Open world puzzler maybe? There is a massive open world element on the title screen where you can basically ‘summon’ any item you want. Santa with a machine gun fighting against the devil with a chainsaw? You can do that if you really wanted to. Although there is still a limit on how many items you can have on the screen which is a bit of a nuisance but I suppose it is there to keep the game running smoothly.

The graphic style is very cutesy. The cell shaded graphics seem to add to the charm of the game, while the detail on the items is fairly accurate. There isn’t that much to say about the graphics other than they do well to capture the game and the backgrounds add to the ‘atmosphere’ of the game.

The controls are where this game is seriously hindered. I can see what the developers where trying to do with them, making them easy for everyone to pick up and play the game. But it is just too temperamental and really gets on my nerves. You use the stylus to ‘summon’ and move objects. But you also use it to control your character. The problem with this is that sometimes I’ve wanted to pick up an item. But then Maxwell decided to jump to his doom into lava. The other annoying thing is that there doesn’t seem to be any precision with the controls, if you just want Maxwell to move a tiny bit, you can’t. It seems ridiculous not to map controlling Maxwell to the face buttons. Instead they chose to use the face buttons for camera controls. The camera is a fundamental part of the gameplay, but why they didn’t decide to put the character movement to the directional buttons just seems stupid.


Overall this game is REALLY addictive and despite the crappy controls, it is one of those games you have to buy. The puzzles do vary in difficulty and you can get frustrated with some of the puzzles because of the controls but I recommend this game, I give it a 4.5/5 ]]> bornforthis http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3733 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3732 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:47:02 GMT http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ - Computers 4 cheap http://cgi.ebay.com/Alienware-Aurora-m9700-Silver-Gaming-Laptop-SLI_W0QQitemZ180393085465QQihZ008QQcategoryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ht_2900wt_792 - my alienware baby http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ - Computers 4 cheap
http://cgi.ebay.com/Alienware-Aurora...#ht_2900wt_792 - my alienware baby ]]> bunny roses http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3732 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3731 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:37:44 GMT With my podcast that is coming out podcast (Atomic Blast)witch will have guests, game reviews, and news, opinions, and secret things that you have to find out when you listen. But you will be able to get more info on my written review that will be on the SG blogs. With me almost done with Halo 3 ODST You can expect that review next week. GammaFist With my podcast that is coming out podcast (Atomic Blast)witch will have guests, game reviews, and news, opinions, and secret things that you have to find out when you listen. But you will be able to get more info on my written review that will be on the SG blogs. With me almost done with Halo 3 ODST You can expect that review next week.

GammaFist ]]> GammaFist http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3731 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3730 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:56:06 GMT Wow, blogging. Haven't done this in a while... excuse me if I'm a bit rusty.



Now, I have a question for you to ponder, that I myself have been pondering since FrugalGaming put it into my mind on Twitter about 15 minutes ago.

The Patapon series is a relatively new excursion by SCE Japan, who bought us the Ape Escape and LocoRoco series that I'm sure you'll all be familiar with, as well as Siren: Blood Curse, EchoChrome and the upcoming White Knight Chronicles. So already they have a track record of introducing the world to some pretty awesome handheld and console games. Patapon itself is great, but now, it begs the question. Why is it still only available to the handheld market?

We've seen two brilliant installments to the series so far, both on PSP. The original was unlike anything many gamers had experienced before, especially on handheld consoles, and the second one was a great sequel that continued to keep it fresh. However, I don't know if SCEJ could keep the interest of much of their audience if it doesn't make the jump.

I mentioned LocoRoco, a game that, like Patapon, started life on the PSP. We did, however, see a PSN installment, despite it being primarily nothing more than an interactive screen saver. It was, however, pretty fun and had a fair bit of replay value.

Now, I realise it's not yet 2 years since the first Patapon installment, and just 5 months since Patapon 2, but I think it's only a matter of time until we have it on PS3. I'd be surprised if SCEJ hold off for much longer though; I think it's an opportunity to increase the reception of this game in ways that they'd be missing out on by not doing this.

I'd be extremely taken aback if SCEJ did this and went for an on-disc release; not only do they tend to favour the PSN for console releases nowadays, I really don't think Patapon is the sort of game to warrant a full blu-ray disc. I would call a PSN release much more likely if we do ever see Patapon hitting the PS3.

Seriously, though. SCEJ are missing out on a MASSIVE opportunity available on consoles, what with Six-Axis, easier multiplayer, trophies, DLC... the list goes on. It can't be much longer until we get a PS3 Patapon.

...Can it? ]]> Purple Demon http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3730 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3729 Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:20:50 GMT Left 4 Dead 2 Demo Review By Billy Left 4 Dead 1 was a great game I’ve put weeks of game time yes weeks some days I spent from 8-12 hours playing just it (yes I have no life) and when I heard of Left 4 Dead 2 I was kind of sad mainly because of the new survivors. Now that I’ve had a chance to play it I’m going to say this they are not as good as the ones from the original but they are still good however my two favriots are Nick and Coach. Anyway let’s get too the right part of the review and not this. Game play 10/10 There was nothing wrong with Left 4 Dead’s game play and there’s nothing seresly wrong with this ones the only thing is some melee weapons are tooooooooo powerful but the new special infected (and old ones at that) make some of these totally useless and if you’re playing too tight (believe me this happened to me and my best L4D buddy allot) you will get tons of chargers who is best approached like a tank minus the molly just shoot him till he dies. The game itself is good and the only panic event in the demo you must run and stick together anyone want to speed run this by themselves, no, ok then. Story ??/10 The only thing we know about this demo is that the guy on the boat saved them last chapter so yes that’s all we know right now so no rating Music 8/10 The music carried over from L4D1 would get it the 10/10 however this new style doesn’t really appeal to me and since I’m on the PC version I’ll be modding that. However the new Safe Room music and Start up music I have nothing ageist them heck even the new spawn music for Specials is good the only bit that really anoyns me is the Horde music I liked the old one more. Overall 18/20 (9/10) It is a great demo and I recommend when it is given to the public to PLAY IT!!!! But it will get old quick that’s just because it’s two maps though so keep a hold of your L4D for now. Left 4 Dead 2 Demo Review
By Billy

Left 4 Dead 1 was a great game I’ve put weeks of game time yes weeks some days I spent from 8-12 hours playing just it (yes I have no life) and when I heard of Left 4 Dead 2 I was kind of sad mainly because of the new survivors. Now that I’ve had a chance to play it I’m going to say this they are not as good as the ones from the original but they are still good however my two favriots are Nick and Coach. Anyway let’s get too the right part of the review and not this.
Game play 10/10
There was nothing wrong with Left 4 Dead’s game play and there’s nothing seresly wrong with this ones the only thing is some melee weapons are tooooooooo powerful but the new special infected (and old ones at that) make some of these totally useless and if you’re playing too tight (believe me this happened to me and my best L4D buddy allot) you will get tons of chargers who is best approached like a tank minus the molly just shoot him till he dies. The game itself is good and the only panic event in the demo you must run and stick together anyone want to speed run this by themselves, no, ok then.
Story ??/10
The only thing we know about this demo is that the guy on the boat saved them last chapter so yes that’s all we know right now so no rating
Music 8/10
The music carried over from L4D1 would get it the 10/10 however this new style doesn’t really appeal to me and since I’m on the PC version I’ll be modding that. However the new Safe Room music and Start up music I have nothing ageist them heck even the new spawn music for Specials is good the only bit that really anoyns me is the Horde music I liked the old one more.
Overall 18/20 (9/10)
It is a great demo and I recommend when it is given to the public to PLAY IT!!!! But it will get old quick that’s just because it’s two maps though so keep a hold of your L4D for now. ]]> Billy http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3729 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3728 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:22:49 GMT I've noticed that recently i've had quite a lot of posts to my blog complaining about stuff so i thought i'ld post a more positive one.

This week's PSN update contained two demoes from the new ratchet and clank game a crack in time but the story begins in the seventh generation era of 2001ish, the christmas i got my PS2 and my brother got the very first ratchet and clank game,

At first i passed it off as a kids game but upon further exception it turned out to be an epic title with a hilarious storyline and gameplay much better then the failed jak and dexter. Every release my brother would pretty much ban me from playing the games in fear i would beat him to the end but when i finnaly got to play ratchet and clank i would savour every moment.

Now the franchise has moved to the PS3 and the latest demo is the same but if it wasen't then a crack in time wouldn't be a ratchet and clank game. From what i've played a crack in time is offering fans an amazing experiance with the ability to upgrade guns dramaticly changing the gameplay, don't like normal firing? How about ones that bounce across the room? Or ones that cause the enemies to burst into flames. It's a shame the 360 gamers don't get to enjoy this but if you don't already own a PS3 then forgot uncharted 2, this is the real reason to own a PS3.

Yet again insomniac show why there's countless games for the robot and ferret like duo with the countless amount of imagintive weapons, unique enemies and amazing and breathtaking levels that put mario galaxy to shame. ]]> Timewarp http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3728 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3727 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:08:46 GMT Something i noticed is the PSN very slowly charging for things they didn't used to such as themes. Whatever happened to free themes? they were an awesome thing for people like me lacking a credit card and the ability to refill their PSN account like clockwork and were a welcome edition.

The brand new preminum themes such as LBP's sackboy on the go were ok becasue they required more effort to make and are better so i don't mind paying for them but when a company charges you for what a picture and a few icons you know something has to be wrong.

Even this halloween Elliot Linger European Product manager for the SCEE has annoced halloween costumes for Playstation Home, you'ld think this would have been a freebee seeing as it's halloween and well hardly anyone is going to be wearing them apart from that one day but no it seems that each one of them is around £1.59. So a costume i'll only wear ounce on the store for two days? All the SCEE is doing is coeracing people into buying something by adding a time limit and adding the promise of free stuff. Really elliot? FREE?!

If i go into the burn zombie burn space without this costume i'll...oh wait i have to spend £1.59 to get this "free" stuff, not really free then isn't it? Sony's becoming extremely tight as of late and this seems like just the start so unless you want sony forcing you to pay for every little idea they come up with i would ignore this event completly. Sometimes i wish i could go over to america just to use the SCEA's PS3. ]]> Timewarp http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3727 http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3726 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:29:29 GMT To all my friends at SG-

Happy Halloween! Given the nature of this e-mail, the timing is appropriate. I'm just going to get the bad news out of the way first and follow with the explanation of why. I'm not sure if you figured this out by now, but I believe the time has come for me to bid a fond farewell to Sarcastic Gamer. I love you all, I want to stay in touch and I'll visit when I can, but I just have too many plates spinning on poles or whatever metaphor you want to use for "too freaking busy" right now.

As some of you know, one of my other hobbies involves paranormal investigations, or ghost hunting if you want to use the more common term. It's a rush, it takes you places you never would have gone otherwise, it encourages you to learn all kinds of cool local folklore stories, and in the end my desire is to help people who have gone through experiences they can't explain.

Almost ten years ago, my ex-wife and I moved into our first apartment together. We were the only family living in the four-plex building at the time. About a month after we moved in, stuff got real. Voices in other rooms, when you'd go to see if the TV or a radio was on, they would abruptly stop as you entered the room. Footsteps in the attic moving between our apartment and the one next door (which, as stated, was empty). Misty shapes showing up in photos. A ball of blue light streaking past my head towards a bedroom that was being used as makeshift storage. A 5-lb bottle getting picked up and thrown at me, stopping just short of hitting me. I tried my best to "debunk" everything, and while there were some weird things that happened that I'm not mentioning because I feel I proved them to be normal, there was quite a bit I could not disprove.

I contacted a local investigation group, and while they never did come up to investigate, they instructed me on how to debunk and capture evidence on my own, which started me down the path I'm on today. Since then I've come face-to-face with a full-body apparition, heard a little ghost girl giggle, recorded dozens and dozens of disembodied voices on recording devices, and had many other encounters in my pursuit of understanding. I could write pages on what has happened to me just this month that I couldn't find a plausible explanation for.

I used to think that you had to believe in "the other side" for things to happen, like entities would only spend energy on someone who wasn't going to just dismiss them outright, but I've since learned this is not true. I want to help people having these experiences understand what they're going through and how to deal with it, depending on the situation and their attitude towards it. The past several months I've been spending less time playing games and more time reading up on cases and theories. I now have a group that takes things very seriously, something I've been unable to find in other places I've lived. Oddly enough, we all went to the same high school.

Two members of our group are the brothers-in-law of Grant Wilson, the co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), who's group was already doing great things when they were approached about letting a film crew follow them on their investigations, which is now Ghost Hunters on SyFy channel. If you've never heard of it, check it out on Hulu or SyFy.com. South Park has even parodied them with an episode earlier this month. They grew up in a house that had a lot of odd activity, and after their sister married Grant (years before the TV show) he introduced them to the scientific approach to investigating.

The past several weeks I've been working all day at my day job, then going home at night and spending another 5-8 hours on trying to set up our group's new website. I would give the URL, but it is not public yet.

While that project is nearing a "working" state---we're still adding a ton of content, but it's a usable design---I'm then building out a PHP database and writing another site for a business we're using as a "cash cow" to fund our equipment. From there, I'll be building another huge website that we aim to use as a smörgåsbord of information on all things paranormal. Our goal is to have this major site ready beta-tested and ready for release by August 2010. Since I'm the only PHP developer and experienced writer in the group, you can guess who will be doing 90% or more of that site.

So, in the tradition of Lono and Harley, although I know I won't be as missed, I must take my leave of Sarcastic Gamer to pursue building my own nitch in the world. I'm not going to make a forum thread or write some big "goodbye" post. I just want to quietly bow out, leaving only this blog post in my wake.

I appreciate SG and all it stands for, and I can only hope that I've given back to the SG community as much as I've gotten out it. As I said, I'll still keep checking in and you can always reach me on Facebook. This was not an easy decision for me to make, but I'm hoping that once all three sites are up and running at full strength, I'll have more time to come back.

Love you all, keep up the good work.

-OMG - the OldMarriedGamer, aka Chris. ]]> OMG http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3726