Gameplay Loops

Experiencing Content

Loop-de-loop and pull, and your shoes are looking cool!

Is it spelled gameplay, game play, or game-play?

So I originally planned on making a video about Nioh. Then I beat that game and started Horizon, and then planned on adding another 5 minutes or so. But then I rambled while recording and editing, and it ballooned from 10 to almost 20 minutes and now you have to watch this thing, it’s super long. So enjoy, I go off on a rant about Halo, that was not planned either. I have to write scripts for these, but I can’t find the time.

If you are so inclined, the link for my channel (where you can find other videos in the series) is here. And you can follow me on Twitter here.

Hearts of Stone

Experiencing Content

Not to be confused with Hearthstone, that’s a different thing

Only you can prevent forest fires

I don’t think we give enough credit to CD Projekt for being excellent writers, and so I’m here to do just that. I can’t stop thinking about my 200 hour expedition into The Witcher 3, and although I’m done with it, it left an indelible mark on me, especially with Iris, a woman who thought she was marrying the perfect husband and ended up being a casualty of a deal with the devil gone wrong. Hearts of Stone tackles love, misery, loss, marriage, and consequence, and ends up having some wonderful moments where theme is all over every mission and action. Painting a world that reflects what you feel is one thing, but being trapped inside someone’s art is another, and I simply love the writing here to death. This shit gets me every time:

“I’ll remember you”, says Iris.

“It matters not”, says Olgierd.

Everything she says is poetry, every fucking line; she earns every moment and is one of the most tragic characters in games that I can ever remember. So enough babbling, watch the video.

If you are so inclined, the link for my channel (where you can find other videos in the series) is here. And you can follow me on Twitter here.

E3 2017 Report Card

The Column of All Cosmos

I will try my best to not give the entire show an F.

I refuse to call this game Anthem because that’s my health insurance. This will forever be known as Bioware’s Destiny

I’m on vacation right now, I don’t feel like doing an introduction. You know exactly what kind of article this is, the title says it all. I’m sure you’ve read a million of these already, maybe even written your own, and we’ve all come to a conclusion on the best and worst of E3. The middle might be different based on several factors but honestly who cares. There is no criteria, just read whatever I wrote and go on with your day. Thank you.


PC Gaming Show gets an F

Stop doing press conferences.

EA gets a D-

Stop doing press conferences. You clearly don’t want to do them, you feel obligated to, so just don’t. Nobody is forcing you to. Stream your big fall shooter elsewhere, or don’t bother otherwise. Really, this isn’t an eSports tournament, this is E3. We don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about when you shout-cast a game nobody has played yet. You ruined the Anthem reveal at Microsoft (it looks cool), and outside of A Way Out (also looks cool) you had a waste of a show and should just stop wasting money entirely. Do an EA direct and don’t bring out Andrew Wilson out on stage in a shiny suit any longer. Where the fuck was Amy Henning’s game? Burnout? Skate 4? You’re trash EA.

Bethesda gets a C+

Stop doing press conferences. If you don’t have anything gigantic to announce, i.e. a Fallout or Elder Scrolls, then stay home. Don’t make an audience, both online and in person, sit and watch that 40 minute trailer. It was useless. These were all press releases, and the two “genuine” surprises were not surprising at all because they leaked ahead of time. Like Dishonored 2. You clearly felt the need to keep doing these things, and didn’t have the line-up to do so. Sound familiar? This trend is harrowing, because either these companies are going through the motions at this point, honestly don’t have enough to show, or are intentionally hiding stuff back to make the whole year feel “special”. Go to hell Bethesda. And while you’re at it, fix your review policy because it backfired on Prey whereas it got lucky with Doom. Let Todd Howard break free from his rusty cage, damnit.

Microsoft gets a B-, deserves worse

You stupid idiots. You stupid fucking idiots. You had the perfect opportunity and you blew it. Did you watch that Sony show? It was basically a repeat of last year! They didn’t show anything new! You had the CHANCE to get back in the game, and you blew it. Now Sony is going to flex its muscles all year, cutting the price on their consoles, showing off the awesome games they decided to hold off on at E3 as they dominate Gamescom and Playstation Experience and you’ll have what. What? I’m so ticked off, you have no idea. I own both an Xbox One and PS4 and I love the rivalry, and as much as I adore the flubs Jim Ryan of Sony, and the easy home runs Microsoft hit off those softballs, the show wasn’t enough. It was a very good show, very solid, but not what you needed to do. The Xbox One X is fine, the name is fine, the price is fine. Not spectacular. Sea of Thieves looks sick, Forza 7 looks sick, Crackdown 3…we’ll see. They were not firework explosions. Anthem and Shadow of War and AC Origins all seem like safe bets and will be worthy of buying if you’re into those things. Not a single one is an exclusive. Cuphead got a release date, thank goodness, Ori 2 is real thank goodness, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (which I correctly predicted) is coming as well thank GOODNESS. They will show up on other consoles eventually. This was the time for a knockout punch when Sony seemed on the ropes, and you just jabbed them and then walked away. Failing Microsoft. Sad!

Sony gets a B, deserves worse

You fucking idiots. Y’all real fucking lucky Microsoft didn’t land the uppercut because you can tell Layden was either not committing the big guns to E3 because he didn’t need to, or The Last of Us Part 2 and Death Stranding and Sucker Punch’s new game are just not ready to show. But while that makes their E3 showing the worst one in years, it doesn’t sink them whatsoever. Buy a PS4 and play Horizon or Nioh and have a great time. God of War, sign me up. Detroit? Sure I guess. Spider-man? It is probably a lot of people’s Game of the Show. Uncharted with Chloe? As Rick James once said: “give it to me, baby”. Shadow of the Colossus with better controls? Fuck yeah. Still not sold on Days Gone, and other than that there wasn’t anything of note. It really was a repeat of last year, which is why I’m so lukewarm on Sony this year. But those few games are very impressive, but there was no mind blowing announcements, which is the fucking point of E3, and Sony knew that because they demonstrated it ever since 2013. They’re the kings of reveals, and just didn’t want to waste their ammo this year, which is lame but understandable.


Ubisoft gets an A-

NOW we get to the good stuff, which there is not enough of this year. Ubisoft knew how to put on a conference, and oddly not having a host really helped. They cut down on the amount of AC Origins because they already showed that at Microsoft (see EA? That’s how you do it). They opened the show with Miyamoto making gifs and memes, and that Kingdom Battle game looks nuts, what a fever dream. That should not be real, someone at Ubisoft came up with that playing Mad Libs. South Park got 2 games, which both look very good, there were no Tom Clancy games or Splinter Cell reboot, but that didn’t really hamper anything. Just Dance was very short this year, and had some really hot singer there so I didn’t take a bathroom break, and they ended the show with Far Cry 5 (I’m hype beyond words) and possibly the moment of the show with Michel Ancel crying at BG&E2. What a fucking reveal, what a trailer, what a moment. Ubisoft, that is how you do E3, lead by example and show these other fuckers how to do it right!

Nintendo gets an A, and the title of best show at E3, somehow

I cannot believe they won. They get a flat A, begrudgingly, but the company with the lowest expectations, and the shortest number of games and time spent showing said games, only brought the best. The absolute best. Stunning how short and sweet and simple it all was. Show a video, no fat, all big shit, the best surprises, and then BAM a trailer for Super Mario Odyssey that goes straight into the Treehouse stream for more gameplay. And let me be clear: the moment of E3 might have been Beyond Good and Evil 2, but THEY HAD TWO METROID GAMES. TWO. One was 3D and one was 2D! Are you kidding me? The one-two punch of present and future with Metroid Prime 4 and Cappy the hat on a taxi and a dinosaur, that was just too much to handle. I do not remember the last time my jaw literally dropped watching a trailer, for a game I have already seen! Incredible, Odyssey is my Game of the Show, the Best of E3, and Nintendo just crushed it. I have to buy a Switch now, god fucking damnit Nintendo I don’t have the time or money for this shit, I hate you. Fuck, that game looks so good though.


The bait and switch on this trailer is astonishing, and needs to win an award.

Star Wars Lightsaber Colors, Ranked (Wait, Are We Really Doing This?)

The Column of All Cosmos

I am committed to this bit now, aren’t I?

I owned both of these sabers as a child, I wish I still had them or else I’d be as happy as the Emperor is here in this photo.

Okay listen, I ran out of ideas and E3 is coming up next week and I’m going on vacation watching every second of it, and this was the best I could come up with in short notice. It’s really dumb, I hate doing these joke lists with so few actual items to rank, but here we are. I’m lazy, I’ll be in E3 bliss coming up, this is all you’re getting, deal with it.

Here is where I usually post the criteria, but really there isn’t one. They’re fucking colors. For fictional weapons. For not even all of the movies, and by the way, three of them are unwatchable canon breaking garbage that should be removed from the public record. Except the memes that live online, those are the only nuggets of value that came from those fucking prequels. The memes, and the score. That’s it.

I researched this way too much, and actually learned something along the way. I found a wonderful article from the fine folks at Thought Co. Here is where I got the information from, and I added in some choice quotes from the experts there. Check them out, they seem cool.


7. Dumb Looking White

“Ahsoka Tano was the first character to wield white-bladed sabers (as an adult, on Star Wars Rebels). The story of how she acquired white Kyber crystals has yet to be told.”


Yeah, I can confirm this is dumb looking. It just doesn’t work. I know the crystals inside each saber are colored differently, and that’s how each one gets their color, but a white crystal is just a regular crystal. White Kyber crystals are lame, this just looks weak. Get a shiny silver sword or something with more visual flair; nobody buys a white sports jersey, they get one with color on it! It stands out better. Fuck white.

And speaking of fuck whites, you know what needs to stop? White people who come up with movie conspiracy theories. Stop that. Please. Find another way to goat people into clicking on something. I’ll defend interpretations of art as much as the next guy, but there is some bullshit being rammed down our throats, everyone is trying to force everything to be connected or explained. Come the fuck on, it was neat when the first big one came out about Pixar films being in the same universe, but now it’s gone too far. Do something more productive with your time, like ranking lightsaber colors nevermind let’s move on to the next item on the list.

6. Piss Yellow

“Double-bladed yellow sabers are used exclusively by Jedi Temple Guards.”


Why do they have to be double-bladed? Why did Lucas introduce this to the canon, and now we all have to endure this nonsense for the rest of our lives? Lightsabers were supposed to be the sci-fi version of medieval swords, or Japanese samurai swords, not whatever Darth Maul had. And yellow? Really? Don’t get me wrong, I like that color on things like bananas and Spongebob, but it’s not an intimidating sight for a Jedi or Sith. Sorry, it’s not; it’s like your saber is malfunctioning. Do you remember the explosion the moment we all saw Kylo Ren’s busted ass saber? We spent weeks looking at that frame in the trailer!

While I’m on the subject, I have fucking had it with frame by frame trailer breakdowns looking for easter eggs, because a lot of these movies either end up sucking hard or we just obsess over Rogue One footage missing, because that is how films are made. They get reshot and marketing is not your friend, internet. Trailers are not made by the creative team behind your favorite movies, they are made in an editing bay to trick and deceive you into selling tickets. Also known as giving studios your money. Why have an enthusiast site anymore when Time Magazine is breaking down the Alien Covenant trailer for clues, a former legitimate news entity has been debased to feeding you idiots this trash, because they need those tasty hits yum yum yum and you need to taste the newest footage om nom nom.

5. Samuel L. Jackson’s Purple

“A rarer lightsaber color seen on some Jedi blades. Best known for its use by Mace Windu.”


Sorry Mace Windu defenders; he’s a bad character played by a world-class actor, in a horrible role with awful lines to deliver and no real arc or motivation. Being a ‘good’ Jedi with no other defining features is boring and lazy screenwriting. And while purple is cool on paper, really what happened was Sam Jackson asked George Lucas to have his be purple and Lucas said ‘sure, fuck it’. That’s it. No more further context or backstory behind it, no meaning, nothing interesting. Just a way to shoehorn in a new color for the toy line. Weak.

You also know what’s weak? New social media apps. Stop it, not everything is going to turn into a platform. It’s too late and you missed the window and it’s really not going to happen. Honestly, it’s fun to think that’s a thing, something new and smart that could topple Twitter or Facebook, the giants. Never going to happen. Go start something else….up. Peach? Google Plus? Mastodon? You stole a metal band’s name are you fucking serious with that shit? Your users will dwindle, and you’re going to become a punch line on Twitter soon, a sad meme and then maybe if you’re lucky a trivial pursuit question in 20 years. If myspace couldn’t be revived, and if snapchat’s stock keeps falling thanks to Mark Zuckerberg’s evil plans to rule the world, then you have no chance. Zero. None.

4. Lame Blue

“Probably the most standard color for a Jedi lightsaber. Used by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.”


You guys hear a foghorn? BOOOOOOOOOORRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGG. This is the most generic of all the colors. It’s fine. I could have done without the double blue at the end of Revenge of the Sith, in that duel above the lava. It’s just so overused at this point, and every trailer and poster has it now, but I get it; it’s necessary for the dichotomy going on at the heart of Star Wars. Blue, pshhhhhh.

You know what also makes me blue? Not being able to watch sports on anything but a TV connected to a fucking cable package. Fuck you, TV and telecomm industry! You can suck my dick, you stupid motherfuckers. Put that shit on my phone and tablet and computer for free, with whatever ads you want, I don’t care, but there should be zero difference between a TV in a living room or pizza parlor, and whatever device I paid several hundred dollars for. Air your games on the thing I’m staring at most of the day so I don’t have to notice my co-workers or family or the creeps on my train to work. Nielsen ratings, advertising industrial complex, ESPN, they are all dragging us all down. Shut it down, all of it. Cable, you’re dead, and you don’t even know it. Go to where the people are, the future! You idiots.

3. Black aka the Darksaber from the extended universe

“There is only one “Darksaber,” as it’s known, and it’s an ancient weapon stolen from the Jedi hundreds of years prior to the Clone Wars by the Mandalorians. Making it even more unique than its color, the Darksaber had a flat, curved blade that made its shape resemble a real sword. It eventually came into the possession of Darth Maul during the Clone Wars, but its current whereabouts are unknown.”


This thing is fucking cool and the backstory is awesome, but it can only be done once and not overused or else it loses the coolness. Black is the new black, sorry orange.

You know what I’m not done yet, with these fucking scumbag internet companies, please fuck off. Please go jump off a cliff, whoever runs Time Warner and Verizon and whoever else completely owns our internet service. They don’t ‘provide it’, they hold it hostage, and then sell our browsing history to advertisers and the highest bidder. Asshole monopolies that think they can do whatever the hell they want because we have no other options, which we don’t, and it’s not like this sham of a mess of a mockery of a travesty of a tragedy of a country is going to spend anything on infrastructure any time soon. The speed, the service, the lack of upgrade and options, it’s pathetic and insulting. Internet should be a human right at this point, and South Korea and Europe put us to shame. TO SHAME. The U.S. shouldn’t be a third world country but it’s starting to feel that way, what with the gun deaths from white nationalists and mentally ill who get their hands on guns, and the opioid deaths that go untreated, and the rampant racist and sexist and classism, and the over populated jails to keep the private prison system flush with cash, and the crumbling roads and bridges, AND DOES DETROIT HAVE CLEAN WATER YET? Don’t even get me started on net neutrality! I get charged for going over my data limit while Microsoft forces me to fucking download everything on my Xbox because we live in a digital world, are you kidding me? Colluding, spineless dirtbags, they can eat shit and die.

2. Underrated Return of the Jedi Green

“A secondary Jedi blade color of equal significance to blue. Used by Luke Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Yoda.”


I’ve always been partial to the green saber, just because of the variety it offers. After the first two films, Luke rocked the green saber when he became the ultimate badass, and I’ve always associated green with being a full Jedi master, whereas blue is more of the trainer color. Yoda also cannot use any other color, and that means green is automatically better.

You know what ticks me off? People in the media, who I dearly love and respect, who keep suggesting and predicting that tech devices and consoles should just be called “Xbox” or “Playstation” or “iPhone” and nothing else. Stop it. We get it. It’s dumb and lazy. That shit is confusing and does not work, and is short sighted. Do not put those ideas into people’s heads because you think the Scorpio or PS5 or whatever needs to do that. It doesn’t. Have any of you ever A) bought a fucking iPad and needed help figuring out which one you bought or B) taken a fucking marketing course, come on now, give consumers some more credit for crying out loud. They aren’t ALL stupid mindless zombies. Half the problem with technology now are the ridiculous names companies and start-ups keep coming up with. Oath? Flixr? Beam? Mixer? Saying it is moronic and I hate all of you.

1. The best, Red, obviously

“Evil Force users wield red-bladed weapons because of the synthetic Kyber crystals at their core. Used by Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Darth Sidious, Count Dooku, Inquisitors, and Kylo Ren.”


Of fucking course this is number one, who are we kidding. Other than the fact that it looks the coolest, has the best characters using it, it also has a great reason behind the color. Synthetic Kyber crystals makes so much sense when you consider who the Sith really are, a bunch of degenerates who wish they were good and wise and Jedi quality people. They aren’t, so they banded together because they couldn’t be in the club, made their own shit DIY style, and sought revenge. Kylo Ren’s saber is the best example of storytelling through using a particular weapon, in the same way other character traits can be picked up from the type of weapon they use (Dirty Harry, Captain America, etc.).

…why are there 2 games named Doom, Battlefront and Battlefront 2? There cannot be two Devil May Cries and God of Wars and Twisted Metals. Stop giving reboot movies and games the same fucking title. Be a little more original and creative. “Oh you playing Doom?” “Which one, the old one or the new one?” “What about Smash Bros.?” “Brawl or Melee?” “No, 4.” “Wait, it wasn’t called that, which one is 4?” I’m going to blow my brains out, the SEO alone is enough to scramble them anyways.

But, yeah, red for the win.

E3 2017 Prognostications

Experiencing Content

I foresee…a lot of correct predictions…if you click on this…


We are so close to E3 I can taste it. And it tastes…good. Real good. The yummy, scrumptious, delicious E3 rumors are so addicting, I just had to make this video before we find out all of E3’s secrets the weekend before in hilarious leaks. So check the date of this one, because if I’m right, I don’t want anyone claiming I had inside intel, or stole info after the fact, or any of that shit. Not having it guys. None of it.

If you are so inclined, the link for my channel (where you can find other videos in the series) is here. And you can follow me on Twitter here.