Join the Dark Side

Should I continue writing in this blog? I was watching The Glasshouse and apparently some research was done, and it seems that people who keep diaries are more likely to have *ahem* problems. A blog is kind of like a diary, and I don't want to be any more problems than I have now. Diaries lead to anxiety, anxiety leads to fear, fear leads to anger, anger leads to the dark side. The dark side, is where you build a Death Star and shoot Ewoks for kicks.

I got a psychometric test this afternoon. It's for the ATO Cadetship Program. I have absolutely no idea what it will be, I'm speaking about both the program and the test. As long as I don't appear to be a lunatic in the test, I should be fine... Oh boy, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

Midnight ramblings

That's right, my book of memories is literally full! About 10 sides left, reserved for a few people. But I am simply amazed that I managed to get it full, I mean at that stage when I was thinking of getting people to write in a book, I thought there wouldn't be enough people who knew me well enough to write significant amounts. Looks like I was wrong, again. So thank you, everyone, you truly are great friends.

Exam preparation means lots of time spent on the computer chatting or playing games. Guildwars is having another quicky open beta, so that will suck up some time of mine. Can't decide on what character to make... maybe I'll try a warrior/necro for that added vamparic damage. And November 9 is the most important date during the TEE, because it's Calculus, and the release of HALO 2!!!!! Must resist playing that... (goes crazy)

I just learnt that I won a Sharp Gx15 camera phone! Joy! Now that's something for nothing. Hehehe

End of School...

Wow! School is officially over (with the exception of final assemblies and exams)!!! Finally, a whiff of freedom. Sadly I'm going to miss everyone. Sure, I haven't been a part of most people's lives, being the master of stealth and all, but it just saddens me.

I had in my mind a whole load of crap to write about on today, but it just disappeared. Cool, my birthday is 2 months from this day! Laser Corps anyone?

violent videogames...heh

I am the perfect candidate for a study on violent videogames. The media wants a violent/mentally deranged person so that they can say "Oi parents! Your kids are going to screwed after playing trash like this!" And no, I am not against violent videogames. I do admit that as a result of violent videogames, I have developed a violent mind, a fair knowledge of army squad tactics, assassin techniques, firearms and so on. There is more to that though, thanks to literature, as violent videogames are not all about "killing people" as an 8 year old test subject said.

The way they tested this theory that violent videogames influence violent behaviour is ridiculous. Firstly they chose 8 year old boys as the test subject. These kids are immature and know shit all about what they are doing. It's obvious that what they see on the screen will affect their minds. However, in news reports where violence has occured with videogames being blamed, the suspect is a teen around the age of 15. Now, they are given a choice of games to choose from, the best selling violent games, and those crappy ones based on movies where the programmer whips up the code whilst sitting on the toilet. Obviously the kids are attracted to the quality BLAUfest games.(BLAU being the iconic soundeffect of a nice chunky gun or explosion)

Next, the interviewer asks the kids about the game they are playing. Being a literature student, and a gamer who treats videogames as a genre of ART(literature is also an art), I know there is more to a game than what you see(most of the time). The perfect examples are Halo and GTA3. The kids say that in Halo "you HAVE to kill these aliens". Now, that is true. Especially in the Library level on legendary, you are pitted against wave after wave of freaky zombie like mutations known as the Flood. However, Halo has a lot more behind it than just killing things. There is cliched plot containing standard sci fi themes and religious connotations. Delving into it is equally fun as blasting your way through entire armies of Covenant forces and pop corn Flood. I won't bother mentioning the nice little details that makes up the story to it, John 117, FoeHammer, religious war, existentialism, our origins etc.

"I like killing people because you get money. Uh, because they are dead!" I was laughing when I heard the kid say that. This is referring to GTA3, the game that caused an uproar amongst those concerned conservatist people. Well, an 8 year old's vocabulary and understanding ain't too flash...it's obvious that they will come to a nutshell conclusion like this. If I was to say something about GTA3, it would be more along the lines of, "You can't kill innocent civilians in reality without serious repurcussions, thats why in virtual reality it's so fun and stress relieving! Plus you can take their belongings as they won't be needing it anymore *evil laugh* Anyway, you're a criminal in this game, so you gotta act like one!"

I don't know if you can consider a game like Fable or KOTOR a violent videogame, but seriously, if you hand this to an 8 year old boy, once he learns how to play it he will come out a better person. RPGs (not the bloody Square FF series (I only liked Chrono Trigger and Seiken Denetsu)) deal with moral issues. Me being me, I am always torn when it comes to actions regarding good and evilness. I am in no way EVIL, but I am not a goody goody Jedi either. Characteristics such as prioritising on saving your arse over others and a little greed are considered evil, while selfless acts that leave you poor as a bum but rich in feeling good about yourself(does not improve your situation in the game) are considered good. Yeah, I would like to see those psychologists try out quality RPGs on kids and say "Videogames make kids moral"

Since my modem is still held hostage and most of my violent videogames are online based, you must excuse me whilst I go commit some violent actions. Just joking. I am fully aware that shooting someone in real life just so that you can re-enact something you saw in a movie or game, IS STUPID.

My mind is still mushy so in a nutshell, little kids should not touch violent MA15+ videogames- it screws up their minds. However, if you explain to them about what they are doing in the game, it can make them a better person. And if you are psychotic like me, you are entertained until you the next volume of manga is released on bit torrent.

Save the Hostages!

My modem is being held hostage! Kids, don't try to prove people wrong that you don't need to stress out for exams. Well, I proved them wrong. I did not freak myself out and took it easy. My results were not fantastic, but even if I did freak out and study like a nut til I collapse from an overworked mind, the gain wouldn't have been much. And no, my results are not a wake up call yet. Well, literature is a bit disturbing with an overall mark of 51%, just a pass! That's a little too close for comfort. Actually, I think taking things easy and not touching a piece of work is a form of stress. I am denying the fact that I need to work on my studies, and instead I'm just downloading translated manga, chatting and trawling forums, not to mention fitting in some gaming. Since my mind is not saying that I'm suffering, guess what happens? My mum comes along and takes my modem hostage! ADSL users take the internet for granted.

This is supposed to be for my good. But how am I supposed to benefit if I can't get my reccomended daily intake of humourous web comics and chatting?(the former keeps me sane) If I am going to "waste time", I might as well do it on something that is good. Instead, I took a nice afternoon nap, and I am pretty sure that I will end up staring at a blank wall during the time that I would normally be online. You want economics? This is an underutilisation of resources! There is structural unemployment here. Bleargh. My mind has turned into goop. I can't even write logically anymore. How is essay practice going to help me if I can't even write an essay?

Anyways, everything is going to seem unreasonable in the few weeks to come. Please refrain from picking up your weapon of choice and going on a violent rampage. Right now I'm typing this up offline in the event that I can use my modem during the small window of time I get to say hi to it.

First Post

YAY FIRST POST!!!!


Right, this is a blog and not the comments section of a review to something. I decided to make a blog, thanks to you Cynthia... I just need to come up with a better title than that latin phrase thing which I think means: burning inside with anger. But it sounds fancy don't u reckon?

Just to say in advance, I hope this blog does not turn out to be a diary for public viewing, but rather a means for me to express my opinions on stuff.