Forecast for Washington this weekend...

Pay-per-level Gaming

Has the Long Tail hit console gaming? ("What is Long Tail?")

It seems increasingly possible that niche gamers who still have fond memories of watching a 2-D Sonic roll through strategically-placed, curving hills or rushing Mega Man through a course of robots in construction hats or taking Cecil and Rosa on one last quest against the Four Fiends might be in luck.

A new trend in the gaming industry is selling new adventures of old games on a level-by-level basis. This is seen in the release of WiiWare's Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, in which players return to the world of Baron following the events of Final Fantasy IV. The story revolves around the son of two of the main characters from the original game. The base price of the game is 800 WiiPoints and then the player can purchase additional levels (all which reveal the "what-is-happening-now" for different characters in the original Final Fantasy IV) for 300 WiiPoints each. Square-Enix released a level-per-month and then concluded with the last level in early September 2009.

Review: Fallout 3

Still catching up. This one will be hard to find the negatives because I was overwhelming pleased with this game...

The positive three, the negative two.

Places and Spaces: The Daily Grind

This photo was taken at the "Daily Grind" in Winchester, VA. Some of our closest friends from Florida grew up in Winchester, VA and they took us to the famous local coffee shop in town. They'd never been, despite growing up in the area, so they learned to appreciate it as I did too.

Review: Batman- Arkham Asylum

So I am way behind in terms of doing some reviews of some interesting new media. Part of it was the completion of my thesis. Part of it was the completion of Georgetown. The End of LOST? Bermuda Triangle? Lots of reasons. But this is me catching up. 

The positive three, the negative two.

Places and Spaces: Jared and Julie's House in Durham, NC

My wife and I recently went on a roadtrip of the American South. We stopped and spent the evening with our close friends Julie and Jared. This was taken at their home in Durham, NC.

Places and Spaces: Jazz at the Sculpture Garden

This is my new theme here at the Gopher. As you know, I love stories. And one of the themes of this blog, whether in my media criticism or in my personal reflections, is the story.

In my short story writing, one of the things I've discovered is that sometimes (in the brief amount of space provided in a short story), you find the narrative in a single person, a single act, a single place, a single space. So, in keeping with my new-found, post-graduate freedom, I'm going to document some places and spaces.

This picture was taken at Washington, D.C.'s "Jazz at the Sculpture Garden" on June 4th, 2010. The Berklee World Jazz Nonet band was interesting, but perhaps formulaic. The girl with the saxophone claimed to be Japanese, from Hiroshima. There was also a Palestinian singer, an Israeli guitarist. You get the idea. All their songs had to do with peace. Perhaps a bit convenient. But it was really interesting jazz with occasional Arabic vocal rifts.