A longer introduction: Why this blog is here

So, now, I felt the need to write a post explaining why this blog exists in the first place.

In some ways, it is a remarkably simple answer: I love video games. In other ways, it's a bit more difficult.

In truth, I am just long winded enough to make talking to me about video games in a messageboard tiresome, because you are expected to talk back in that setting. In the case of a blog, I can write as much as I want without the problem of feeling like I am berating someone (when I am really just exercising my normal long winded nature). That's the theory anyway. It may become a bit of a problem when some of my views about video games come to light.

See, I am not as big on Japanese, or "Eastern", video games as many within the online video game community seem to be. And I have a tough time articulating why that is, I just know that it is. For example, I watched the latest Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer (the one from that show they are calling E3 when it isn't really E3) because some of my friends, and most of the people on the internet,, were telling me it was like "the greatest thing EVAR!".... and not only did I not see that, I couldn't even see why they saw that. I watch things like the fight between Raiden and Vamp in that trailer and think the following:

"OK, so the vampire-like, bi-sexual, Romanian guy who was impaled on a cross as a kid, is apparently immortal, and is conveniently named Vamp, and the bishy dude who now looks like a robot and let his girlfriend (who was actually an AI construct in disguise) constantly harass him about remembering what day it was in the midst of a major terrorist attack are fighting like they are trapped in the Matrix."

Needless to say, I was unimpressed. Nor was I impressed with the earlier part of the trailer that had them explaining that Solid Snake's mission is, apparently, to assassinate Liquid Snake..... when what they really mean is they want him to assassinate Liquid Snake's arm that has taken control of Revolver Ocelot.

(By the way, I tried to explain that last part to my younger brother, who used to play video games religiously and was a fan of the Metal Gear Series. Neither of us could describe that set up with Liquid's arm without laughing out loud on the phone.)

I understand that liking the rather convoluted plots of some of these Eastern games is a matter of taste, and I have no real problem with that, as long as people don't try to make other people believe how great they are. That's just unfair and silly. Sadly, though, this happens a lot among video game fans.

Which is really why I wanted to create my own avenue, as it were, for discussing video games. If I were to post on a messageboard the kind of statements that I posted above, I would instantly be barraged with inane comments about how awesome the trailer really was and stupid I was. However, in this blog, I am free to point out a salient point about those above comments, mainly this:

None of what I just said about Metal Gear Solid 4 has anything to do with actually playing the game.

Clearly, I know enough about the series to discuss relevant plot points in it, as I just did, so I have played the games. And that is the only thing about the Metal Gear games that I enjoy anymore. (For the record, I've not enjoyed their plots since the first Metal Gear Solid game). That doesn't mean I don't enjoy the series anymore or that I won't get a Playstation 3 to play Metal Gear Solid 4. It simply means that it's plot has become incessantly ludicrous from where I am sitting.

I just feel that, in this blog setting, I can write that kind of thing more freely without the chatter that comes with a messageboard, which requires a certain back and forth that takes away from the ability to make a point clear.

And that is why this blog exists.