The Ballad of Broken Dreams and Forgotten Saves

Hear days of yore that came before all known of history,
and learn you well what fate befell a man of misery.
Of broken dreams I'll sing,
and save's remembering.

A lad too young had soon begun a journey wide and great,
though traveled long and growing strong he knew not his own fate.
A black and dire end,
forsaking kin and friend.

The land was doomed, a darkness loomed with curse and magic grim,
our hero bold would not be told this task was not for him.
He rode against the storm,
though verily twas warned.

Twelve beasts of hell with magic fel he battled through and through,
and each in turn his blade would burn and bring death's calling to.
For days he waged his fight,
An epic tale to write.

The world was saved, our hero bathed in glory and in power,
For weeks and years there were no fears but festivals each hour.
Rejoicing round the earth,
the lad of honor worth.

Alas, the boy too filled with joy neglected to record,
and mem'ry blank, his spirit sank, rivers of tears were poured.
He never saved his game,
only himself to blame.

So listen you and know to do one act as you have fun,
Early and soon, not late of moon, enscribe the deeds you've done.
Or suffer as our lad,
Whose destiny twas sad.

Whee

One word: HolyzarquonsingingfishIampsychedbeyondachocolatebunnieslifeexpectancyateaster.

I had some fun with the console last night. Setting it up would have been easier if it wasn't A) 12:30 AM B) terribly exciting and C) mind debilitatingly awesome. It only took half an hour to do, despite my being completely unprepared for any of the extremely simple setup instructions.

In any case, the thing rocks hard. I've barely had an hour's experience with it and I am already extremely happy. I will go straight back to my gamer's paradise box once this post is done.

For your enjoyment I took photos of my experience. Enjoy.

For you? For Wii.

22 hours to go.

For the first time in my life I'll have a video game system at launch. The prospect of one of the most hallowed moments for someone with my hobby is rather exciting, enough that I'm going rather crazy.

I think it's with good reason.

If ever there was a console to be psyched about, at least if you're me, it's the Wii. If you've ever seen me play soccer, play raquetball, play basketball, play badminton or just about anything that involves movement you know I move excessively. I love diving, stretching, and generally looking like a complete idiot.

Many other nerds are oddly self-concious about the whole deal. For a group whose stereotypes usually involve a lack of hygiene or other sense of appearance there have been a fair number of people who are afraid of the Wii because they are afraid of appearing silly.

I like silly.

I will not skip church, my usual awesome after church meal with my grandparents or any other important events over the Wii, but I will lose sleep tommorow night as I bring Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes to all the neat people who camped out for the system. I have a preorder, so I'm safe in the knowledge that I'll walk home tomorrow with a Wii. I just think after standing perhaps a day or more in line these people would like some sugar.

My nerdy shirts will be my primary weekend garb as I count down the hours, the minutes, and finally press my nose against the glass in jubilant anticipation.

Yes, I am fully aware I have become a walking advertisement for Nintendo. This isn't because I've seen every Wii commercial to be found on youtube. This is quite simply because I can already imagine the insanity that will occur when I show the Wii off to my relatives come Christmas. We will all look so very, very silly.

I part for sweet dreams of insanity by presenting you with what has to be one of the more interesting video game commercials in the history of the industry. I love the background music especially. All for one, and Wii for all.

Presentation

I'm going to remind you all how important presentation is. If you do a good job, a crappy idea can become reality. If you do a bad job, the following happens.

This is an actual e-mail I received today concerning an FAQ I wrote. My response is included.

Him:

> You obviously don't know the characters names, now do you? First of all,
> Shaman King's name isn't "Shaman King", it's Yoh Asakura. And second of
> all, the
> "Crying Girl" you're referring to is called Aya Tojo. Then it's not
> "Kasugi",
> it's spelled "Kazuki". And also, the "Death Note Girl" is called Misa
> Amane.
> And the "Girl from the Ice Cream Series" name is Kagura. And the series
> you're
> referring to is called Gin Tama. And the Police woman's name is Reiko. And
> the
> "Guard Breaking Guy" from Rurouni Kenshin's name is Sanosuke. And it's not
> "Yugioh", it's Yugi Muto. Or Yami Yugi. Whichever comes first.
>
> Get your facts straight before posting an FAQ.
>

Me:

I appreciate your clarifications but not your attitude.

I highly recommend you do some research on constructive criticism. The difference between "You should consider putting more effort into getting the names of characters and series correct" and "Get your facts straight before posting" is monumental.

Additionally, those are hardly all of the names I was lacking. If you are going to criticize me in this manner you might want to be more complete in your ridicule. "Whichever comes first" doesn't exactly strike me as "getting your facts straight" either.

In closing, there were many ways you could have written your email that would have presented both you and your message better. As it stands, I find that I have no desire to act on any of the information you presented.

In the future, think about how your tone and grammar will affect the reception of your message.

-Darian


I can't find fault with what he said, save for perhaps "Kazugi". If I remember correctly his name was in Katakana and was most definately a "gi" and not a "ki". His grammar wasn't the best, but he did capitalize and punctuate. However, his attitude was absolutely atrocious. From the get go he let me know that his opinion of my work was complete contempt. This tone was carried by the rest of his email up to the last line, where it reached a climax of condescending character.

I wasn't entirely nice in my response either. Mine sports more of a polite, severe reprimand feel. I stand by my decision to not entirely curb my indignation in that being less forceful might have failed to get my point across. I'm skeptical any manner of response would have an affect, but I did my best regardless.

This is the only negative e-mail I've ever received concerning any work I've posted to the internet. I've received criticisms and suggestions before, but never anything that outright condemned my work. I'm surprised honestly, given the constant lamentations seen on official forums for video games I'd have expected a greater amount of ill-conceived and worded flames.

Maybe I'll get more if I actually get around to making my website.

MrPicassoHead

Artsy people might remember this website. It's been around a while, and years ago I made a couple nifty pictures with it. Today I crafted this during lunch break.

When I return home to my desktop where my other creations are, I'll share them too. For now, enjoy a work spawned by my pining for eastern shores.