Pixel Death

good time to be a PS3 and PSP owner...

2008-01-06T23:16:00.001-06:00

Sure am glad I jumped on the PSP and PS3 train when I did. Some cool news has arisen lately...

Warner Studios just went Blu-ray exclusive. As of June 1, 2008 they will not longer release movies on the HD-DVD format.
New Line Cinema is following in Warner's footsteps, also announcing that it will be going Blu-ray exclusive. No time line has been given on their withdrawal from HD-DVD.
HD-DVD canceled their CES press conference. I wonder why? :)
PSP is getting GPS via a GPD receiver attachment. It's been out in Japan for a while, and is coming stateside soon. All maps stored on a UMD disc, with updates downloaded to memory stick.
PSP is getting Skype. Supposedly this will only be available on the new Slim PSP, but something tells me this is false, and just Sony trying to promote the new models.
Target is rumored to be going Blu-ray exclusive too as well. This slipped during a Philips press conference, but then was quickly denied by that guy as well as Target. Hmm...
CELLIUS, a joint venture between SCEJ (Sony's Japan game studios) and Namco Bandai, had it's logos etc. trademarked and officially filed recently. There could be some announcements on the games soon. Most likely at Gamer's Day or possibly GDC.
PS3 sold around 1.2 million units since Black Friday worldwide. Bringing the total penetration to around 8 million units or so. They should be close to their 11 million goal by the end of April with the help of March game releases.
PS3 has outsold the Xbox 360 to a 5:1 ratio in Japan since Black Friday. No big surprises, but at the same time Japan's been going through a weird rut with Wii, so hopefully JRPG's coming out in the next handful of months over there will boost it even more.
FarCry 2 was announced for PS3 and 360, on top of it's primary PC version. This literally confirms that the CryEngine2 technology is possibly on PS3/360 now. They have no excuses to not release Crysis on these consoles now...
BREAKING: As I set this blog post up I noticed that Epic has released the UT3 mod tools update to allow mods to be cooked for the PS3. The PS3 can now import any mod for UT3 (that's been 'cooked') except for those that require additional sounds to be added.(something about a proprietary audio decoder...) Epic released the update, but has yet to announce it.

Sony's Gamer's Day event is coming in the next few months or so. As is Game Developer's Conference. Both events usually have really good showings for Sony, who likes these types of events more than E3 or end of the year type deals like Tokyo Game Show. Can't wait to see what's around the corner. I'll use the ole' blog here to keep you PlayStation-haters informed! ;)

<3

xmas 07

2007-12-27T19:58:00.000-06:00

I got some cool thangs for xmas. I don't really know what to say other than yeah, I got some awesome stuff! So here goes...

I'm going to go ahead and declare the best for FIRST.

1. Line6 Pod XT

One of the most useful guitar recording tools around....EVER. It basically SIMULATES different popular/famous amps digitally, and even lets you choose what amp, all of it's settings, what cabinet, how big the cabinet is, what speakers are in it, and what kind of microphone is in front of it. Not only that, but I can add effects akin to stomp pedals in real life, and even set up an EQ and a noise gate to cut out the nasty signal noise. This thing is insane awesome, and im going to further roll out my new musical project soon thanks to this little red bean. :) (more info on this later!)

2. Norelco Electric Shaver

"Ehh so what Alex. It's not like you need it!" Sure, guy that still hangs with his grandma on a daily basis, but when I DO shave I fucking hate it. Have you seen my hideous adam's apple? Think that thing is easy to shave around with a straight blade? It isn't. Far from it. Notice the cuts? Well you probably haven't, as I actually haven't been shaving my neck very much due to the frequent cuts. The new shaver should help. I still think I will hang onto some fuzz on my neck, but every now and then when I actually SHAVE SHAVE I'll be covered.

3. Diesel Cologne

Girls don't really like me, so the least I could do is smell good when im around them. My sis got it for me since she works at Dillards in Beaumont. I would say that I hope it works, but I haven't really been digging the current lady scene. Oh well. I guess I can rest assured that the elevator at work will be left smelling nifty when I exit.

4. Metroid Prime 3 for Wii

Haven't played any Metroid games since the SNES days. Supposedly this one is among the best, if not better than the Gamecube Metroids. Dad got it for me, and im going to play the crap out of it!

5. The Road Warrior & 2001: A Space Odyssey on Blu-Ray Disc

Two of my all time favorite movies. Got the HD Blu-Ray versions, and this weekend I plan on sitting around with my new beer mugs, some golden delicious beverages, and watching these with friends hopefully.(or enemies?) If anyone would like to join me, out of town or not, let me know. I'd be happy to have you and I have two futons in the living room to sleep on.(Although one is broken, and stuck in couch mode till we fix it.)

6. Munnies. What did I do with these munnies? ROCK BAND

I went to Target as soon as I got to Houston and bought the last copy of Rock Band with the drums/mic/guitar packaged in. A really cool game. Singing is actually FUN and I HATE SINGING. Drums are pretty cool, and it seems to be good at teaching coordination. Guitar is so so, but mainly because I hate the guitar it comes with. The buttons click too hard, the strum bar doesn't click AT ALL and is way too hard to press, and when I tilt the guitar upward to initiate the bonus points deal it doesn't detect me. Instead it randomly decides that I tilted the guitar, even if im sitting down........yeah..... ANYWAY. Other than that the game is great. Hopefully they release a patch to allow Guitar Hero 3 guitars, so I can go buy that and use it's guitar instead. But yeah, overall pretty damn fun. Can't wait for my next partay!

7. Bud Lite Beer Set

How thoughtful of Jennifer, knowing im quite fond of beer. Came with 5 or 6 beer glasses, coasters, and an ice bucket. Next BBQ this thang is gettin' WORN OUT. Hopefully she'll have a few wimme?

8. Bad Cat Calendar

A calendar from Jamie with various photos of cats getting into mischief. I don't have anything on my cube walls yet to display, so this is going up there ASAP as soon as I can get one of the cork board attachments for the cube wall.

9. Phantasy Star Online for Gamecube

Kris told me it's an awesome co-op game and I tend to believe him. Why? Because a lot of games he introduced me to blew my mind. As soon as we get an extra GC controller we're totally killing some booshes and playing this hardcore.

10. Inflatable Workout Ball

I don't have a bench with which to do bench presses off of, so Jamie got me one of those exercise balls that you can use as a bench. I'll be breaking this thing in tomorrow. I would have today but im worn out from my.....interesting vacation.

11. Brak Show Vol.2

I've been meaning to buy this forever but never had the cash when at Target. Jamie put this issue to rest.

(delayed post due to work intensity. my "bad".)

Catching Up

2007-12-14T13:07:00.000-06:00

So it's been a while has it not? August was my last real entry, so yeah... anyway. A lot has gone down, and up, since then so how about a quickie?

In (to the best of my knowledge)chronological order:

-Got a slight raise. Not much, but enough to where I can at least not be drowned by bills etc. (More on that situation later.) I'm supposedly required to take on more duties or something because of this, although my conversation with my boss was that I felt I wasn't getting compensated enough for what I was already doing for the company. I will need to discuss this again with him sometime, as my proposed and NEEDED number was rejected.(haggled)

-Decided that me and Jamie needed to part ways. I have on and off had feelings of doubt about our relationship for the last year or so, and I felt that it was wrong of me to continue to be with her and not be honest about my desire to leave. Talked to her about it one day and to my relief, got the exact same sentiment from her. We need to be our own.....selves.... for a while. She hasn't really gone out and dated around as I have and it's selfish of me to restrain her from doing so. So we decided to just finish our lease we had just renewed, get separate beds, and continue life as normal until September 08 when we move out. Not sure what im going to do then, but that's another story...

-Met a really awesome person.... tried to keep things casual and on a 'just whatever' basis... guess it didn't work and we got too close? I feel like I was doing a decent job of steering things back toward casual territory, but by that time the damage had apparently been done. So yeah... still have all my fingers and toes though!

-Got a car....yeah, that's right. Me getting a new car. Crazy huh? Black 08 Yaris '3 door'(hatchback). My dad talked to some dealership in Beaumont and they got me down to like $307 a month with 6 year warranty and my dad's even got my insurance covered for 6 months. pretty awesome. I'm really happy with it, although I haven't really had any chances to break it in yet. (Gas mileage is awesome btw)

Other than those HIGHLIGHTS I've pretty much been cruising through 9-to-5 life and trying to make time for gaming. Nothing going on in the 'romance'(laughable) area, so I guess I'm allowed to be a geek now? Ehh, whatever. Started working out every other day, which is cool I guess. I don't really think I look any different, but my main concern is strength anyway. I don't want to get crushed by a simple task like moving a box to a different room, or opening a pickle jar.

Let's see what else.... ummm... having a party tonight? Big Lebowski themed. Wii/PS3 bowling, White Russians, and the movie playing. Good times. Hopefully I'll get to hang out with some out-of-town friends over the next few weeks or so. I'm taking a few extra days off for vacation this year, so that should help.

I should be posting some more here from now on, but not sure what. I'll do my best to keep this from being a diary or something though. ;)

Until then...

Totally Awesome Sweet Alabama Liquid Snake

2007-12-13T15:46:00.000-06:00

Reviving the ole' blog here. Too busy to get on here over the last few months or so, and a lot has happened between then and now so........ time for updates? Festive sex drippings?

That phrase will get stuck in your head for a while. I'm soooo not sorry.

Festive Sex Drippings*

Anyway, I will let you all know when I have time to give ya'll 'teh skinny' on what's been going down!

Anyway, here is the *current me* in case you have forgotten:

<3

Progress Report

2007-07-05T08:50:00.000-06:00

So, not quite finished yet getting my Compiz Fusion install setup, but I WILL say that Gavin(pbutta) has been EXTREMELY helpful in helping me troubleshoot any problems I have had. So, I thought I might go ahead and list my problems and how we fixed them....or at least some of them.

Compiz Fusion not running properly:
-Turns out I had somehow installed an old version. Update Manager would not let me update/upgrade it, nor could we in terminal. We eventually went to the package manager, searched for "compiz", checked all that came up, and hit apply. It updated them all like magic.

Missing title bars and emerald theme:
-Turns out this was partially a command I wasn't using properly and partially because Compiz Fusion wasn't running. Once I typed in a little alt-f2 thing and fixed Compiz it worked like a charm, and the emerald theme was present in all it's glory.

Overall impressions of what I have running so far:
My windows are wobbly! :) I am able to manage my virtual desktops much better now, all of the 3D aspects, the animations, the effects, EVERYTHING- running EXTREMELY smooth and effortlessly by my machine.

Here are my specs in case I did not mention in the previous post:
AMD Athlon64 3200+(first generation....very old core)
Gigabyte AMD64 K8 motherboard of some sort(no dual channel mode for ram) with AGP 8x
GeForce 7600GS 512mb DDR2 AGP 8x graphics card(runs pretty much like a 6800 128mb)
1gb (2 x 512mb) DDR400 ODZ Gold ram
Windows XP Pro x64 on 120gb WD 7200rpm drive
Wubi installed on XP drive in a 15gb boot file
Ubuntu 7.04 i386 Alternate installed through Wubi into 15gb boot file

The Wubi website mentions that since Ubuntu is actually running "through" Windows that it may not perform top notch and may experience some slowdowns. I actually STOPPED experiencing slow downs(mainly when opening apps) once I installed Compiz Fusion properly. Everything I have installed works just as smoothly as pbutta's video, and just completely blows anything I have seen OS X or Vista do out of the water. I love the window shuffling on Vista, but it's the only thing I wish Compiz Fusion would do......so get to it guys! :)

Overall im really impressed and excited. I will be tweaking my install and fixing some more problems in the next several days, and after that I will take screenshots, make a video perhaps, and then let you guys see how it all turned out.

For those who are unsure of what I am trying to "accomplish" at this point, I am basically aiming to mimic the setup that pbutta has in his video, and then customize and tweak it to my own liking. Perhaps I will use different background, icons, dock, and panels? Who knows. I am a Linux noob, so this is a natural learning process. I can already say that Ubuntu is just as easy, if not easier to use than XP, so hopefully I can get everything running so well that the only thing I will need is more apps!

Stay tuned........!!

Compiz Fusion and the Switch to Ubuntu

2007-06-26T13:48:00.001-06:00

I have been inspired. I have been tickled with a magical video on YouTube showing me the splendors of:

-Efficient window management
-Clean, hardware-driven GUI(graphical user interface)
-Useful tools beyond cheap gimmicks, bells, and whistles

Compiz and Beryl(window management apps for Linux) are merging to create "Compiz Fusion" and the video was a brief preview of what to expect from the package.

Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Fbk52Mk1w

Basically you can manipulate windows, applications, virtual desktops, and perform various graphical nuances that allow you to work better, easier, and more efficiently through these small features that some may think are just pretty effects. Why do I think they help productivity and make computer use more efficient and easier to use?

-Multiple Desktops: This tool has been available for a while on Linux and Windows, but is still worth mentioning. How would you like to have your web browsers on one desktop, music player and instant messenger on another, and your photo editor all on separate "virtual desktops" that you can flip to on the fly with one computer monitor? It not only helps separate work from play, but also allows you to keep things tidy, and help offset some of the strain your computer goes through having to render all those apps it's got stacked up on one another.

-Cube Rotation: A different way to visualize the multiple desktop concept. Same as before, but this way a different desktop is on a different side of a 3D cube generated on your screen. Not much use being a cube, but some prefer this over the standard way to view their desktops.

-Scaling: Ever have so many apps in use at once that you find yourself clicking through each to figure out what's what? With the scaling feature you can automatically "shrink" down all of these windows/apps so that you can see them all spread out on your desktop at once. Then grabbing the one your were looking for is just a simple click away.

-Ring Switching: Just another way to sift through multiple apps/windows running at the same time. Puts them in a nifty little loop you can cycle through. Vista users should be comfortable with this as it's really the same concept as the card shuffle feature.

-Focus Edge Dodge: This feature actually is just an interesting little animation to make working less boring. It doesn't actually offer any usefulness other than the stylish switching between windows. Instead of POPPING onto the screen when you click a window out of focus, all of the other windows actually shuffle around it, and move out of it's way as it comes to the foreground. A cool effect that if all else makes using Ubuntu more entertaining.

-Zoom Desktop: Got lots of cash and have been eying that 30inch wide screen Dell monitor? Don't worry about the small text when using the monitor in full resolution- the zoom tool allows you to zoom into the area you are having trouble seeing, and pan around. This is an important feature to graphic designers and similar jobs, as having a lot of room on your screen at once is more valuable than being able to read text.

-And plenty other features: This package has a lot going for it to spice up your Ubuntu installation and make productivity a lot less stressful and easy to manage. If all else, you will at least have a super slick Linux installation you can make your Mac buddies jealous with!

I will be experimenting with this package soon and updating this space with a progress report. I want to thank pbutta for the video and tutorial he sent me from http://puttabutta.blogspot.com/ , and hopefully everything will be going smoothly.

If you have any specific questions about the package or want me to test any features out while going through these plugins then please comment me here and I will try to answer in my next update.

back from the dead

2007-05-10T07:32:00.000-06:00

Long time, no post. Right? Funny how the last post I made was regarding my PS3 right? Coincidence, or maybe I have been just too busy playing the damn thing to post?

A bit of both really. There's actually been TOO MUCH on my mind for me to make any posts on here. Either there's been a lot of crap going down in the gaming industry, and my Moderator duties on PS3 Forums have kept me quite busy and venting most of my opinions and gripes there.

Anywho, yes, I have been playing my PS3 furiously. Oblivion has pretty much been haunting my dreams because of how much I play it. Tonight will be the night I download and play Calling All Cars and due to lack of interest in playing YET ANOTHER game of Wii-fucking-sports on my Wii, it has been collecting dust lately.

Oh yeah, I got a Wii. Didn't post about it here did I? Late February me and Jamie went to a Target at 8:30am and picked up a Wii. Grabbed Wii Play because it came with an extra Wiimote, an extra nunchuck attachment, and Warioware. Wii Sports was fun but got tiring, and made me sore. Warioware was cool but once you unlock all the levels it's not to awesome anymore. Wii Play is hardly playable, but for $10($50 game with free $40 Wiimote) it's not that bad of a deal. Don't really play it unless we're super bored.

All of those games eventually grew old very fast, so we picked up Rayman Raving Rabbids. Cool game, again, but lost it's charm quickly. I found myself always going back to the PS3, and Jamie also started to lose interest. Now we only really play it when a bunch of people are over, and if me and Kris feel like playing a Sega Genesis game.

So yeah.....Wii lost it's charm. As much as I like the little machine and all I believe the same thing will happen to it that the N64 and Gamecube did. Awesome at first but quickly fading out. As of right now though, it's really just a $250 game: wii sports.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Digital Graphic Novels: Comics Evolved

2007-01-22T14:17:00.000-06:00

It seems like every time I walk past the comic or magazine area of a grocery store, book store, or games shop there's a new super hero or comic on display that looks just as indecipherable as anything else that would be hanging on a local comic book shop. Typically a muscular man or woman flying into the air, legs together, hands gripped into fists, glowing with some generic "super power", some unoriginal icon type logo on their chest and/or ammo belts, and the same old stipulations as to what their power is, how they got it, what their weakness is, and why they are doing what they're doing. WASH - RINSE - REPEAT.

Who are they making these comic books for? Kids, teens, and semi-adults seeking episodic, graphic-oriented alternatives to books? It sure doesn't seem that way. In fact, it seems more like these comics are being made for the creators themselves, and for all of the aging, old, comic fanatics of yesteryear that have yet to move onto a new medium. The potential for profit by aiming these comics at the YOUNGER audience is huge, but they insist on ignoring it, and continuing to poop out the same crap over and over onto tons of wasted tree slices(paper) for a buck-fifty.

This is ridonkulous.

Where's the innovation? Where are the new ideas? The modern takes on old ideas? No? No future settings? Dark themes? Sci-fi adventures? No. Still the same old flying super heroes with generic powers and forgettable names. The same old dying comic book heroes that either don't seem to die or have passed their costume down to a younger, and even more forgettable, heir to the task of being (something stupendous)man!

There is an audience out there that seeks change. That seeks dark themes, sci-fi action, undead and horror based creativity, and all out craziness that the fogey comic book industry doesn't seem to "get". Why do they keep ignoring this calling? Is it because they can't write this sort of stuff, can't get their heads around it, or could it be because the medium itself, the $1.50 comic book, has outlived itself?

Artists have been creating and releasing digital, computer-based, graphic novels on something called the "internet" for years. Quickly laying out story boards, rendering art in photoshop, and releasing on their websites without any risk of publishing or financial woes. This gives them immense freedom. No need to fit the "episode" of their story into X amount of pages, or be worth X amount of dollars. They can span their offerings across multiple pages, archive each of the releases, or even release "bites" of their story on a day by day basis if they choose.

The genres and art styles of these online gems have a huge range such as sci-fi, horror, romance, cartoon, kids, teen drama, action, and even small bits of college humor. This not only ensures a great selection, but allows them to be easily access by this miracle known as the "internet". Sure, some will go to certain lengths to provide sign-up/login functionality and charge for their releases, but for every one of those you find on the net, there are 10 other artists that release for free. Besides, many of these pay sites offer higher quality images, longer stories, and occasionally extras to accompany the novel such as music downloads. You get what you pay for.

There will be a day when comic books dry up and have been over run by the unstoppable juggernaut that is the web. There will also be a time when the little tikes of today are tomorrow's artists and dreamers. So let us immerse them in the wonderful world of digital graphic novels as an alternative to comics or kiddie magazines. Even nickelodeon and many of the crap shows on cartoon network(daytime) should be replaced with this new medium as often as possible.

So, what is the point of my whole rambling? Comic books will eventually be as dead as their ideas currently are. The new future of artistic creativity in the graphic novel realm is online distribution- much like everything else. It offers superior quality, creativity, selection, and overall benefit to the readers. If you want to support comic books, and remain firm on your love for them, then that's fine. But it is definitely certain that paper-based comic books will eventually be phased out and replaced by online methods, and the more people that make the jump to online the better. One day you won't even be able to read the latest Spiderman without going online to the Marvel website and signing up.

So what's it gonna be? Killing trees for a $1.50 worth of ink and paper or going online and future-proofing your mind?

PS3 <3

2007-01-19T09:53:00.000-06:00

Thursday, January 18, 2007, I bought a PS3. I couldn't take it any longer. Dreaming of having one sitting under my tv and enjoying all of it's splendors eventually ate away at me. I succumbed to the desire for fantastical HD entertainment. Am I ashamed though? Certainly not.

I have a PS3. Wow. I can finally say that. It makes me feel so warm and jiggle-boocious inside that I would like to share with you dear readers my journey from opening the box to turning it on. It was super neato!

Time to make way for the new guy. That means the cable box has to step down....

There he is. Sparkles, my PS3.

There was a small puncture in the box, but no harm done.

Yes. That is of course the wonderful 60gb label to the left.

Well packaged and smelling of fresh electronics.(I believe I have a fetish for this)

Contents: Manuals, SIXAXIS, ethernet cable, AV cable, AC cable, and USB cable for controller.
(Unfortunately no Talladega Nights Blu-Ray movie was included.)

If this was a child birth this would probably be the part where I remove placenta, cut the cord and spank it's ass!

Can't get enough of that fresh smell...

I have no shame whatsoever.

Too shiny to use the flash...

The front panel with USB and card slots + back panel with I/O ports.

I win.

As you can see it's a dust magnet, but only visible in photos with flash. No fingerprints or dust is visible with the naked eye normally, unless around extreme lighting.

At first I thought it was too wide to fit with the cable box but they do, in fact, both fit. The only problem is that if both are plugged into the power strip my tv freaks out- regardless of weather or not the PS3 and/or cable box are powered on. Guess I have to unplug cable box to play PS3, but why waste energy?

I was able to connect my PS2's Component cables to the PS3, and everything else was a snap.

EXTREMELY light weight. I love the new triggers though, as well as the wireless range. The analog sticks also have a much better "dead zone" so it's easier to play shooters.

I have a PS3. Yes, yes I do.

Let's pick up the controller and power it up shall we?

Tater eagerly anticipates what will happen as Gizmo hides in fear.

OH......MY.......CRAB-APPLES....

I turned it on, named my PS3 "Sparkles"(required to name it), created my login, synchronized my controller, configured my settings, and enjoyed fantastical HD goodness until nearly 11pm last night. I tried to go through as many features as possible and test out as much stuff before bedtime, so let's go over what I did so you can see what all the PS3 actually does before deciding you would like one too:

Setup my net connection via the PS3's Wifi - super easy!
Registered my online username "OrganicShadow".
Selected an avatar and added my buddies from PS3Forums.com
Set my PS3's display size to 720p. Other options were 480i/480p/720p/1080i/1080p.
Inserted Jamie's new "OK GO" cd and imported album info before ripping to the hard drive.
Listened to the "OK GO" songs in it's own folder placed under "music".
Listened to music and watched the crazy visualization while eating with Jamie.
Went to the PlayStation Store and downloaded GripShift, BlastFactor, and Resistance demos.
Also downloaded the trailer for the game Warhawk as well as the movie 300.
Played the HD trailers I downloaded and created 15-second preview icons for them.
Connected Jamie's camera to the PS3 and imported the photos.
Viewed the photos in a slideshow with various awesome display modes.
Got the PS3 to play music from the music folder in the background during slideshow. This will be a really cool thing to have going on in the background during get-togethers.
Connected my PS2's EyeToy and Logitech USB Headset and tested them in the system settings: both worked flawlessly.
Tried to import an .avi video file from Jamie's camera to the PS3 but it did not detect it. No worries, will try again today with a USB drive, and possibly with different formats.
Played the GripShift demo: 7/10 rating with a few levels. Good for when im bored.
Played the BlastFactor demo: 8.5/10 rating, but only 3 levels. I NEED MORE!!!
Played the Resistance: Fall of Man demo: absolutely kicked my ass....9.5/10 rating. This game is the utmost reason to buy a PS3. The screenshots and videos online don't do this game's graphics and smoothness any justice at all. Please find someone with a PS3, go to their house, and pleasure your mind with this wonderful treat.
Turned it off and went to bed.

Cannot wait to go back home and try to beat the R:FOM demo! I also want to try importing stuff from my USB drive as well as ripping some more CD's. I think that Resistance will be my first game, followed my Full Auto 2 and then Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. I also would like to get an HDMI cable because the bottom of the screen is a bit cut off for some reason, and the digital connection may help fix this issue. An extra SIXAXIS is also needed, as I would really like some friends to come over and play with me split screen.

I am so insanely excited about being a new PS3 owner, and I don't even have any games yet! Keep watching this space and continue to watch as my new "lifestyle" progresses.

Thank you for reading my PS3 day post!

Game Manual Typos and You

2007-01-12T18:35:00.000-06:00

There MUST be some fussy employee at every video game company that insists that he wants a part in the development of each and every project. He/she doesn't have a degree, he/she doesn't have any development skills, and he/she certainly has a job that nobody else wants to do, thus putting those in charge in a pickle: they must let this person "participate" in making their game.

*sigh*

What could we allow this person to do? Certainly not help with asset creation and/or management, seeing as it is one of the biggest parts of creating games. Nor should they direct any art, do any storyboarding, write any dialogs, engineer sound effects and music, or provide any vocal talent. What will he/she do?

Throw together the game manual text.

Although the art, layout, and instructions for the manual have already been created, it should be but a simple task of organizing these in the order that the table of contents specifies, and hitting the ctrl + s on the Quark document, right?

Wrong. Apparently.

Throughout my video gaming days growing up from a wee NES player to a near PS3-owner, I can say that I have seen a hefty share of typos, mistakes, and out right negligence in a variety of game manuals from different companies and publishers. Why does this happen? Who lets these people take care of these jobs? Does anyone proof them? Guess not.

Some may argue that nobody reads the manuals, or most people can figure out how to play based on the first level of a game where the tutorial is, or even picking it up from a friend who already owns the game. But it still stands that the manuals are there, and they are being read by someone, and they are apart of the publishers' budgets. I read them. And if I hadn't have used my good ole' context clues skills I acquired from grade school then I would have been in quite the sticky situation in Digital Devil Saga, where I am supposed to know which part of the hud is my health, and which part is my Macca(money).

Thankfully underneath this part of the manual it indicated where my MP bar is located, and I put 2 and 2 together to create the number of the beast. Are others out there this smart? Seeing as some people even find button-mashers too complicated and difficult I see no reason why there are people out there vulnerable to blunders like these.

[piratevoice]So it be a lesson to all you gamers out there! Be lookin' out fer them typos and mistakes in the game manuals, and be writin' them publishers letters about 'em![/piratevoice]