Babbles of a Fan Girl - What I've Learned in the "Real World"

You may have not noticed because I'm so subtle about it, but I haven't been happy with the direction my career has gone post college.  The other day I was scanning through my old blogs, trying to get some inspiration for future articles and I stumbled upon this adorable, little gem as seen here. Could three years really have changed and bittered my perspective on the real world so much?  Since that article I have worked two jobs: one in promotions/marketing and the other in sales/event planning.  And what have I learned?  Well let's dive into that.

I wanted to put a minion here, so I did.

All That Glitters is Not Gold 
It's pretty simple and I don't think this lesson needs much fleshing out.  If a job seems to be too good to be true, it probably is.  Oh! And do NOT, I repeat DO NOT ever work somewhere you appreciated as a child.  Chances are you will run into a place that crushes you image of what you thought that business to be like when you were a child.  It will make you angry and resentful and you will spend a few years wishing you could make it better only to realize it was a ship sinking long before you ever got on it.  It sucks. Speaking of when things suck....

NO! Not THAT!
(PS: NEVER Google "sexy vacuum")

If Your Work Life Suck, Improve Your Personal Life 
After wedding wrapped up I knew I needed to get back into blog writer ASAP.  Why?  Because I needed a task to make me feel fulfilled in the way work never could.  I try to focus on writing, reading, and just enjoying the internet.  I have a dog and a husband that I will spend many a night with cooking dinner and watching shows on the couch.  I have friends (yeah, who would have guessed that!) and I see them often on the weekend. In short, I have a kickass personal life and that helps balance things out.  If you don't feel good about your day job, do yourself a favor and figure out what you need to make your life at home grand.  Which brings me to my next point:

Get A Hobby 
You know how so many cranky, old people below, "GET A JOB!"?  Well I do the same thing with hobbies.  If you are feeling crappy because you come home from a draining job and just stare at the wall, dreading going to work the next day, it's time to get a hobby.  Ask my husband if you need help coming up with an activity to do.  The man collect hobbies like some people collect bobble heads, and he's damn good at every hobby he undertakes.  Do you know why?  Because he treats every hobby with precision and dedication.  The same precision and dedication you would apply to a day job.  If work has you down and feeling like your brain is turning to the green mush from Troll 2, it's time to get passionate about something!

Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

You Probably Won't Make Money from Your Hobbies....and That's Okay!
I used to think that my blog and youtube channel would one day make me famous enough that I wouldn't have to ever do anything but the two for the rest of my life.  That really is my ultimate dream, to make my art for a living.  I often stop and remind myself though that that is a privilege that few people get.  It requires a raw talent, determination, and dash of dumb luck that very few get.  Plus you can't be lazy.  You can't come home from work and just mindlessly type for a few hours and hit "post". It requires turning your hobby from a hobby to a part-time job. Not that there is anything wrong with trying to turn something like this blog into a business, but not at the point that your creation process suffers.  There was a point where I wasn't writing because I thought the topics I wanted to cover weren't "marketable" enough.  And that's just dumb.  I had some people reading and that was more than enough.  It I start worrying about every schmuck that comes here to read I will probably have an aneurism.  So maybe you will manage to make your hobby turn into a business and maybe you won't.  Just don't let your hobbies suffer because you put a paycheck like and asterisk next to it.  Remember why you started that hobby, because you like it, because it keeps you sane, because it's an escape from that pesky job you've been trying not to think about all morning.  So that's what I've learned.  Work can suck, work can shatter your perception on the real world but it can lead you to doing great things.  Just don't let those escapes turn into another job you resent and dread.

Here's to hoping that something good is around the bend!

My inner Disney Princess is still hoping

Tootles!


Xoxo

Babbles of a Fangirl - Why I Might Boycott TMNT

This isn't the first time I've put in my two cent in about Michael Bay's production of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  If you'd like to catch up with my thoughts, visit here

As you might have noticed, I was one of the very few who decided to give Bay a chance after he released the detail that our turtle buddies were going to be, in fact, alien creatures.  And hey, with recent developments, he actually announced there would be NO ALIENS IN HIS MOVIE!  This was a ray of hope amongst so much bad. I called for Bay to give us something encouraging, a spark of hope amongst so much fanboy doubt, but instead he's gave us this.... 

Megan Fox is on track to play April O'Neil in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie....

Get it out now, kiddies

I've really tried my best to collect my thoughts on this subject.  At first I wanted to scream out at the top of my lungs "BAY YOU'VE FINALLY TAKEN THIS TOO FAR!" I wanted to jump up and down, screaming like a little girl about how my childhood was being stabbed in the face, but I soon realized I needed to step back from this anger and identify why I was so upset.

Was I mad that my choice for April was being overlooked?
In all honestly yes.  Let's be honest, there has never been a casting in a modern take on a nerd franchise that was not met with opposition.  

Case and point

....and again

Despite these qualms (in less extreme cases) we have found bliss with many of the movies with love.  Still, are these jeers valid?  To be honest, sometimes not.  I'm not going to be bitter that April was not played by the actress of my choosing because guess what?  I didn't have anyone in mind.   Which leads me to my next theory for why I'm upset.

Was I mad at the choice of Megan Fox?

After thinking about this I decided, not really.  I'm really not familiar enough with Megan Fox's performances to judge her as an actress.  I remember her being the villain in some Lindsey Lohan movie that no one remembers and of course I remember her as being that half naked chick in Transformers.  I soon decided that it really wasn't much to go off of as far as reasons to place hatred go.  Sure I disagree with girls who jump head first into the sex symbol category, but then again, why shouldn't girls be proud of their bodies either?  I guess that bring me to my next internal question.

Was I mad at what hiring Megan Fox was insinuating for what April will become?

Let's face it kiddies, Megan Fox is known best for one thing.  Not for her talent as an actress (though I'm sure opinions on that vary), not for her work as a speaker-- no Megan Fox is know for this....

[Insert all your dirty thoughts here and NOT my comment section]

Is this really what people want April to be?  There are many variations on what April has been throughout the years.  A reporter, a scientist, a girl with the ability to kick butt.  But a sex symbol?

See the difference?

Am I making myself clear yet?  April is supposed to be the every girl.  She was our link as normal people into this fantastical word.  I could connect with her because she was just an average girl with average looks who managed to become something special.  Hollywood is losing focus on making a real connect between a movies characters and their audience.  By making April look so beyond the norm it is making the movie too far fetch and hard to reach.  Granted I understand that a movie about giant turtles in the adolescents is not exactly easy to make relatable, but we have seen them do it before, haven't we?  

I'm sorry, Bay.  I really want to love this movie.  I keep giving you a chance, but can you please make April something real.  We need ground in the real world to help us reach out.  Something familiar to remind us of home.  Thoughts?  Babble is over.

Xoxo

The "Fake Nerd Girl" Debate

Fine...fine....FINE. I am fine-ally going to weigh in on something that has been irking me for sometime now. Yes, I might get rant-y....I might even get preachy, but gosh darn-it something needs to be said about this.

Fake nerd girls.

Now I don't really know where this comes from (or really care for that matter) but I have to say a few things about it. I'm a girl. I'm a girl who identifies herself as being a "nerd". Why? I call myself a nerd because I have often lacked social skills with others because I'm more dedicated to my interests and passions. It wasn't until quite recent that I began coming out of my book fort to discover that there were a lot of like minded people on the internet who I could talk to about this sort of thing without feeling judged. Hence, this blog.

Now there is some talk that there are girls on the internet who are "fake nerds" doing it for attention and what not. Now this strikes a chord with me on two accounts. I don't want any nerd girls out their to feel like they don't belong because they are considered "fake". With that said, I don't like the idea that there are some PEOPLE out their who are using the guise of nerd to either troll or take advantage of a culture that has time and time again gave me a sense of belonging in this world.

I guess what I really take issue with is that anyone would think that I, only any nerdy girl like me would chose to fake being a nerd. Think of it this way. Now a days, it's socially acceptable to be a nerd.  But back when I was younger (I know, it was so long ago) it really wasn't.  I went to a small, private school where I really didn't fit in because I was to busy writing fantasy stories and drawing Lord of the Rings-esque characters in my notebook to bother with Hilary Duff and the like. Still, I kept everything I did very private. I remember when I first really learned about superheroes from a special on the History Channel called Comic Book Superheroes, Unmasked. I suddenly became obsessed with learning everything I could about superheroes, but only within my means because I was too afraid to ask my parents to buy me a comic book. I began watching The Justice League and X-men in secret to learn everything I could about these enchanting characters.  I didn't know the extent of my secrecy until one day in my reading class. My teacher would give us treats for finding vocabulary words used in television shows or books. I had recently heard the word "thwart" on an episode of The Justice League.  I was about to raise my hand to share the word when I realized that by doing so, I would tell the whole class about my love of superheroes.  I kept my hand down, afraid of being even weirder than I already was.  I'm glad to say that I embrace who I was and am now.  That it because the internet is such a free place where someone is bound to judge you, but their are plenty of others (or a faithful few C;) who will be quick to step in and support you.

Now do you think that maybe the sudden influx of nerd girls is coming from the fake that it is now acceptable for girls to declare that they love Star Wars in a world where they once would have automatically ostracized for saying so? I certainly will say that the rise of gamer girls made me want to express my love of video games!  Sure, there will always be people who try to exploit a trend for what ever their reasons, but should we really let a few drops of deception spoil it for all those girls out their who finally have a voice?

I really hope that you will try or will continue to give nerdy girls a chance.  This nerdy girl will surely try to cast a positive impression upon the impressionable being that is the internet.  And I can promise you this, you will NEVER see me posing provocatively with a game controller (sorry if that disappoints a few of you).

Now here's a nerd/gamer girl I aspire to be!

Tootles Darlings!
Xoxo!!!!

Wreck-It Ralph

First off, I've reached over 3000 views! It's amazing how that managed to happen despite my absence. It just goes to show that I have some dedicated fans that never fail to make me smile! Thanks to you all poppets (yeah I'm in one of "those" moods) for sticking with me despite my lazy fingers.

Now....

ON TO WRECK-IT RALPH!

. . . .

I really struggled with what to say for this review because of my mixed personality. From the side of a reviewer I could see some flaws in this film (many steaming from it's trailer that aimed the plot of the movie in a far different direction than where is actually went), but from the view of a fangirl with both a passion for video games and cute, sugary concoctions (I promise I'll elaborate on that later) I was sucked into this game like all of us  zombified gamers have been known to do when a new Diablo game drops (Minus, perhaps the nerd rage at errors).

No disrespect meant, my man.
I freak out when my Amateur Surgeon 2 App does't work on my Iphone  

With all that said, I'm going to try my best to address both of my opinions, both as a reviewer and a gamer in hopes that I can reach some logical conclusion about how this movie ultimately made me feel and what you can expect it to do for you.

Let's start with the flaws of this movie to get all the negative energy out of the way. Well, maybe it's not fair for me to say this is going to be a negative critisim. Perhaps we are looking for the word frustrated. Having watched the trailer for this movie, I though Wreck-it Ralph was going to be about Ralph, a video game villain wanting more out of life (in true Disney fashion) and deciding to go to the game Heroes Duty (Every pun IS intended) and proving he can save the day. (SPOILERS AHEAD) Well that is exactly what this movie does, for about 10 minutes of it's runtime.

No, Ralph quickly overcomes the challenges of Heroes Duty (which really makes me question it's true difficulty for a game advertised to be a Super Meat Boy style grinder....my pun intended) and accidentally ends up in the almost sickeningly sweet racer game, Sugar Rush. It is in this game that we spend the majority of the movie. This is where my conflict comes in. I'm sure plenty of hardcore gamers went to this game expecting a solid tribute to video game nostalgia and were met with wacky worlds of original creation. Don't get me wrong, Sugar Rush certainly gave me the feel of Snowboard Kids if it was dipped in bubblegum and sprinkles. Still, I worried that some of the guys out there would be turned off by it's candy coated sentiment. I honestly would love to hear my male fan base's opinion on this setting choice. Ralph's main companion through the movie is an overly adorable little girl/glitch name Vanellope.

Okay...with all that said....my inner fangirl needs to come out and say this very clearly. This movie isn't perfect. It has a pretty predictable story and we all know exactly how it's going to end, but you know what? I LOVED it. Call me a girly girl if you need, but I adored Sugar Rush and would play it in a heart beat if it was a real game and/or if I had any skills in racer games. I loved Vanellope even when she could be a little annoying with her banter. I genuinely felt for her, a humble little glitch looking to belong, much like Ralph.

I also appreciated the subtle nods to the greats of games. I won't spoil them all for you (But please post all the cameos you noticed!) but it tickled me pink how much love and knowledge of games went into the background of this film. I'm sure that Sugar Rush was the better setting vs. Heroes Duty because parents would find it nonthreatening (less video game violence) and this movie would appeal to girls just as much as it does to boys.

If there is one thing I can really appreciate about this movie is that it could possible turn more girls on to video games. And in a society where more of us girls are slowly working over to the dark side, I couldn't be happier.

So over all, if you are looking to have simple, sugary fun this movie with hug your at your gamer core, if you are looking for a lot of deep substance with a fresh plot or non-stop video game intensity, this movie might not be your cup of tea.

Now for a change of pace, something ridiculously girly/warped to balance me out ^_^

(Would you love me any other way?)

Tootles Darlings!

Xo

Movie Musings - Brave

I'm working on it, Brave, I'm working on it

Where was THIS movie when I was growing-up?!?  Now before you say, "It was there, it was called 'Mulan'" I'd like you to lend me your ears and hang up your weapons.  Before I defend why I loved this movie, I'm going to point out everything I've heard against this movie.

1. It's not a very original story.
2. Pixar has done better

To address the first complaint, yes, this movie does have a more traditional plot.  Without spoiling anything, it has the typical heros quest adventure with a splash of girl power, something we've been seeing a lot from in the latest attempts at princess movies.  But this movie takes a traditional plot line and does it well, a feat that seems to allude movie makers on many an occasion.  It shows a heroes quest of not only a young girl, but of a strong-willed character.

Now as far as the argument that this is not Pixar's best work, I will admit that it is not the best on paper, but that doesn't mean this flick still can't pull at even the crankiest of heart-strings.  It's a movie about breaking tradition and finding your own way, a plot we see in many movies.  Do you know why we see this a lot?  Because it's relatable, especially for girls were the vast majority of our abilities comes from either breaking recent tradition or having ladies of the past do it for us.  It's nice to see a movie with a female lead, named Merida, that isn't trying to get the guy or even save the guy.  Yes, she is living in a world where she needs to get married whether she likes it or not and it does drive her early motivations, but as the story progresses it becomes like any story (with a male lead or not) about a PERSON trying to save the day.  Gender has nothing to do with her motivations, it's just something that gives her different obstacles than that of a male lead.

I've been known for being a movie snob, especially when a movie provides a simple or overdone story, but I've been known to melt this all away for one reason: if the story invokes my emotions.  I suddenly felt like that little girl I once was who dreamed of climbing mountains and fighting monsters.  I could insert myself into this story with ease and become a part of it.  This movie made me feel like I belonged, something many a disney movie didn't succeed at when I was a little hell-raiser. This is a story about a girl and her parents.

I think that's why I loved it so much.

Okay, not too get too personal, but I'm a young lady who knows (semi) what I want out of life.  I've always wanted to be a mother because I grew-up with the kindest, sweetest mom in the world who is ALWAYS there for me.  Do we sometimes have conflict?  Of course!  Do we at times drive each other crazy?  Understatement.  But my mom always  been there for me.  Brave hits me hard because it's really about parents trying to do what they think is best and learning to just let go and let their kids be.  This movie made me feel that struggle that parent go through and how, despite all it's misery, it is worth it to see your kids grow up and be happy.  Overall, this movie is a great tool for parents in developing strong relationships with their children.  It reminded me of how lucky I am to have my parents with all their wisdom and understand it and made me think about how that's exactly the type of parent I want to be. So when people say this is just another princess movie, I guess that's why I get offended.  It's a story about parenting cleverly wearing a princess costume.  Mix in a little girl power amongst some crazy beautiful, Celtic scenery and you make this gal rather happy. Seriously though, this movie is worth it for the visuals alone, the beautiful lessons learned are an added bonus.

So don't go into this movie judging it because it wears a crown, go to it because you are a blank slat, ready to learn.  You will be surprised.

Well, this has gone deeper down the rabbit hole than I intended!  Haha!  I hope you all didn't mind!  Commence throwing only spoons and feathers if you are annoyed.

Tootles!

PS: The crazy little brothers are ADORABLE....and probably what my own demons would look like someday (help me....)

Babbles of a Fangirl - Nerdy Things I Did While on Jury Duty

"What's this?"  The captain noted off of the radar, his cigarette hanging in disbelief out of the corner of this mouth.  He turned in his swivel chair so hard it that he had to plant his feet to the ground with firm smash. The men all raised their heads, ready for panic. He noted how suddenly young all of their faces looked.  
He readjusted his cigarette and sighed. "Men!" He bellowed.  "Braise yourselves!" 
And in that moment they all knew, praying to any of their gods would be futile.   It had returned.  The horror from out of the depths and nothing could stop it.


The Patchwork Nerd had made a new post.


Segway! 


So...uh....that bit up there is my very convoluted way of saying, "I'M BACK!"
Don't question it, okay?  You should expect worse from me by now.  With that said, it is finally time for me to kick things into gear and give you all what you want (or maybe don't want, but you're getting it anyway): here are the nerdy things I did during jury duty!


Caught-up on my Dungeons and Dragons Reading

Anyone who knows me has come to understand that I bring a book with me everywhere.  It's like my security blanket.  Awkward downtime, take out my book!  Waiting for something, take out my book!  Don't have any free-time, at least I have my book, just incase!  Sometime I bring too many books.  I will admit that there a at least 3 books in my backpack right now (Game of Thrones, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Last Unicorn).  I read multiple books at a time because I have a book for every mood.  Although if I don't finish Game of Thrones within the next year, I'm pretty sure my boyfriend will hide all the books I own until I do (he's in for a challenge).  Oh...am I babbling again?

SEGWAY! (<----this might become a regular thing)

What I'm trying to say is that I brought a lot of books with me to jury duty.  One of which was my Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of the Feywild.  It's a lovely book and if you are a fan of D&D it really expands your knowledge of the world while helping you cultivate richer stories.  Go and read it!  If your just a fantasy fan, it will really inspire you and give you great story ideas!  

Knitting

The funny thing about jury duty is that you get a note pad during the court case.  The problem is, you don't get it back when you are done.  You can't take it out of the court room and it becomes evidence once the trial is over.  That means that I had to resist writing and doodling on blank paper.  ME denying blank paper a face.  It hurt a lot.  So when we got our breaks, I was desperate to do something, ANYTHING with my hands.  The problem was that it was too loud to do write anything deep (everyone talked a lot and I need silence to write) and drawing, I have found, always gathers too much attention.  I don't need anyone seeing the crap I draw.  So knitting was the perfect compromise.  It allowed me to be social with others (something I've been practicing) while keeping my hands busy.  I've been working on a scarf for a while now and thanks to my jury services, I'm almost done!

Not to mention it was a great conversation started (I'm trying to leave my corner more)

My Banter with Strangers

Keep reading, this will make sense in a bit

It's odd to think that jury duty, of all things, is the event that makes you realize just how much of a nerd you might be.  When you are in jury duty you are not allowed to discuss the case with anyone, this includes other members of the jury duty.  Now imagine, if you would, getting a break from court while you are on a jury.  For those of you who have never been on a jury what happens is a nice court attendant takes you back to this little room all tucked away from the rest of the court house.  It has two bathrooms and lots of coffee to prevent you from ever wanting to leave.  Now while in this little room, sipping your coffee and staring at the wall you might feel so inclined as to talk to your fellow jurors.  The only problem is that there's an elephant in the room.  A big, fat, stinking elephant that sits on the middle of the table and is catching up on this hobby of playing the spoons while burping the alphabet.  He's right there, and you have to ignore him.  This leads to small talk, lots and lots of small talk.  Sometimes VERY small talk just to keep  you from yelling out about the latest witness you saw.   

Now many of you don't know me personally so I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  I babble. . . A LOT.  I'm usually quiet around people I've never met before, but six days of sitting in a court room will really warm you up to the idea of talking about anything before you have to go back into a room where you can barely move a facial muscle, let alone talk.  The topics of our conversations were pretty normal, ranging from "What do you do?" to "Are you married?" ect...ect...ect...but by the 5th or 6th day people were either connecting with each other and coming up with the perfect thing to say to each other or grasping at straws.  There was one particular gentleman that was grasping for his dear life.  One day we were all sitting.  He wasn't talking (but you could tell he wanted to be) and I was knitting.  I happen to be wearing my dragon necklace that is gold.  The dragon has it's claws wrapped around a bright, blue marble, so it's very distinct.  He pointed to my necklace and said,

"That's a neat necklace."  Bless his soul you could see him trying to have a sense of humor as he said, "Is it a lucky dragon?"

I looked up from my knitting, placing my hands lovingly around the little dragon.  I smiled.  "I'm not sure.  But I wear it to most of my D&D games and it's always helped me not die."

Right away I wanted to smack myself. What did I just say?!?  Crap, he must think I'm crazy! I looked up at him.  He smiled but looked like he didn't know how to reply.  Okay, he only thinks I'm a little crazy.  I quickly went back to my knitting, my fingers flying to make it look like I was very busy.  

That's always been my problem with strangers or new people.  Most people look at me and say or think "Aww....she looks and sounds like she just stepped out of a Victorian Christmas card!  I'm sure she has pleasent things to say!"

And the funny thing is that I usually do, but every-so-often I say that one nerdy thing that makes people either stare blankly at me or think I'm freakin' awesome.  I'm glad to say I've learned to be proud of it and polite when the stares happen.  But I got to admit, that gentleman's face was pretty priceless. 

Well, that's it for now! 

Toodles!

Xoxo 

First Impressions: Batman- Arkham City

To be completely honest I haven’t had much time to delve with extreme dedication into any games. There have been starts here and there, but one must understand that I am working under difficult conditions that being my availability to watch and my gamer’s time to play. Once finals are said and done we will be able to jump back into the portals (HINT HINT) of gaming- I promise!

For now I will do my best to feed you with my initial thoughts of Batman: Arkham City. It pains me to not fully dive down the rabbit hole of this game nonstop-especially after the gaming orgasm (Yes, that is the best way to phrase it!) that was Batman: Arkham Asylum- but I will take what I can get.

I’ve had high expectations for this game for a long time. Then again, I expect anything with the name Batman on it to be nothing less than a god sent, sans anything in the dreaded Schumacher stages :Cringes:. I guess you can say that after Nolan’s Batman franchise was born we Batman fans have been damn near spoiled. We expect everything to be perfect when it features the Dark Knight, and thank god for Arkham Asylum’s sake, this game delivers. But what about this sequel? We have seen more often than not where sequels take a big, dramatic, Disney villain -esque fall in the pits of shit land. It’s a magic place where Batman has nipples on his suit, Secret of Nim rat’s become mad scientists, and it’s okay to make the Rockbitter sing “Born to Be Wild” :stares fondly at gun:. So how does this game hold up?

To answer simply, it’s Batman.

Still confused? You shouldn’t be. It’s BATMAN!

We really need to consider making Batman a verb. It would really help prove my point. Here I’ll try my best

Batman /Batma’n/

Verb (pl. -men)

to both literally and figuratively kick ass to the point of mind-blowing awesome-ness.

It’s a work in progress, but at least I’m trying! Even though I have only begun the game, I promise you it’s a viewing experience like no other. THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD KIDDIES! ABORT THE RIDE NOW!

We start off with Bruce Wayne (yeah that rich guy) making a speech about how Gotham’s alternative to Arkham Asylum, called Arkham City, is about as effective as injecting a patient with fruit punch Koolaid to treat severe blood loss. He means to fix this problem. Not long after saying this he is arrested and taken to the city (I’m sure this will in no way reflect poorly on the Gotham legal system!) where he meets the head doctor and controller of Arkham, Dr. Hugo Strange (With a name like that, we have to be in good hands!). Not to give too much away, Hugo is on to Bruce’s “little secret” and sends the believed to be bumbling billionaire (despite having the freakin body of a juggernaut!) into the city. Not too long after we spring into Batman mode and need to figure out what Strange’s evil plan is amongst putting up with the many characters (AKA: SCREAMING NUT BALLS) that inhabit the city.

As far as watch-ability (Yes, Teacher, I’m SURE that is a word!), this games most of the time plays more like a movie than a game. You can use your radio to tune in on badies private conversations, so even if you’re stuck waiting for your player to finish leveling up some equipment or mastering a new trick, you’ve got plot related dialogue to entertain you. There a old favorites from the original game :cough: Quinn :cough: as well as fresh looks on some old favorites that didn’t show their beautiful, though sometimes disfigured, faces in the first one. You will be entertained by the mystery of it all, as well as how a lot of little stories eventually connect. There new tricks to familiar side quests like the Riddler’s challenges, so you won’t feel like you’re just rinsing and repeating.

If you need to watch someone play a game non-stop for three to eight hours, this one is the ticket. You will be satisfied with the story and not feel like you’re just watching someone button mash bullets through eighty thousand monsters. So get going my peoples to the city! We freaks need to stick together!

An Intro to an Impressionable Young Lady

I feel that some introductions are necessary before we dive in. First off, welcome to Beside the Controller! For those of you new to the site, this is a blog dedicated to a rarely covered view of video games- beside the person playing them. I have been a fan of games my entire life, but have never had a knack for playing them. I’m a naturally uptight person and the pressure of having to make quick decisions and a lack of hand-eye coordination has never made gaming bow well for me! Instead, I actually have more enjoyment watching others play videogames then playing them myself. OH CRAP- LOOK OUT! It’s flashback/story time!

Once upon a time I was a little girl with an older sister who rarely gave up the controller. I was okay with this and contently sat beside her, watching as stories like The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Yoshi’s Island seeped into my impressionable brain. Soon I found myself sitting beside my Father, spewing out all the advice I could gather from the walkthrough manuals we had purchased for our Nintendo 64 games! Fast forward to present day and I still will sit happily beside whoever wants to play. I often have people shoving controllers in my face, certain that I have to be secretly upset to not get my turn. I politely push the controllers aside, pat them on the head, and warn them they forgot to pause and Glados is about to shoot them into deep space (sorry, currently watching a LOT of Portal 2…and though I haven’t seen her do that yet, I wouldn’t be surprised).

So hear is my perspective on the games I love so much! I will have little to say about actual controls and my views on game play may be limited. Being a game-watcher (we’re going to make that word now, spell check!) I focus mainly on storyline and a game’s atmosphere. If a game can make me perch forward on the couch in suspense or hide under a pillow from looming danger, it’s doing a good job!



All in all, I have a lot to say about videogames and I hope to keep you entertained. So sit back, put the controller aside, and let the games roll in!



Now deploying smooth jazz in 3 – 2 – 1 ….GO!