Storytelling .: Task Eight :.

- Storytelling sto·ry·tell·ing [stawr-ee-tel-ing, stohr-] - noun - the telling or writing of stories. -

To me, and the majority of the gaming population, the most important element of a game is the background story. I can't get serious with a game without a good storyline to keep my imagination oiled. I'm the same with books, movies, and comics (etc) if i'm not impressed with the storyline then I won't go out of my way to finish it or continute watching/reading etc.

I think if the storyline appeals to you, you connect with it on an emotional level. A good example for me would be Final Fantasy 7. Before this game I picked up a game and played through it and although I probably enjoyed it at the time I didn't have any goal, any strive to complete it. Then I borrowed Final Fantasy 7 off a friend and couldn't believe what I was playing! There was story, dialogue by the bucket loads, tonnes of interaction! It was intense! Since that I have played games for their storyline and very little else. I'd sooner play an old SNES classic like Zelda for it's storyline than play a button-bashing beat-em-up on the 360 for its graphics! So...

[Does a strong storyline make a better game?] ...Yes! In my opinion a storyline makes the game. But due to "individuality" a fair few would disagree and say that a game is rated on its graphics/gore/amount of naked models etc. But from my point of view i'd deffinately say a strong storyline makes a better game.

[Do all games have a story - what's the story in Second Life? Or in World of Warcraft? Is Call of Duty a war story?] I think there are stories in these "types" of games but the stories are yours to write. I'll use World of Warcraft as my example (not because I'm an addict >:( but because it's the game I'm most familiar with!). You buy the game and it opens the book with a blank page, you pay the subscription and this gives you the pen/quill & ink and then you yourself write the story. The game is ultimately narrowed so you can't completely write your own storyline but I think i'm right in essence. You have choice over characters, equipment, party members etc and this in turn lets you alter the course of the story! You can follow the goals provided by the Game Developers or you can just have fun hacking down new players, the choice is yours!

The Direction of Art .: Task Se7en :.

First of all i'd like to apologise for the rushed posting of two weekly tasks on the same day and secondly i'd like to apologise for falling behind to the degree that i'm rushing to catch up. In this task i've been asked to look at the Art Director role in a games production team. I guess that the Art Director in a production team is like the manager in a football team. The managers all have good football experience but you don't see them on the pitch. Same applies for Art Directors if my theory is correct. After years of experience in creating game art you let the young guns take over and survey things from the sidelines, using your experience to make sure everything runs smoothly. It's the Art Directors responsibility to ensure the team works together smoothly and efficiently. From the link supplied by Mr. Powell its easy to see that you need to stand out in what you do to be accepted in the Art Director role. Problem Solving skills, Communication, and Timekeeping are all of key importance for the job aswell as an impressive resume/CV and portfolio . . . there was me thinking Game Design would be a nice, non-competetive industry ^_^.

The Art Director in a games art production team is responsible for the young upcoming/wannabe game artists and it's his/her/its job to allocate each member certain jobs in response to each members strengths and weaknesses. For example one member of the team might stand out above the rest in 3d modelling and it would be the Art Director's job to pick up on this and take advantage of his strengths. It would be poor supervising if the concept artist ended up modelling the characters and the modeller was stuck doing market research. Therefore being able to pinpoint people's strengths would be of key importance in order to succeed and create a well-managed productions team.

Art Direction is quite similar in alot of fields such as Gaming, Films, Magazines etc. All are responsible for certain things like the projects art budget, keeping the initial idea, making sure the production team works together etc. Experience in the specific fields are a must and I guess its this that seperates the different types of art directors.

[What qualities do you think you?d need to develop if you want to become an Art Director in the future?] Communication! This quality is a must and it's the thing employee's would be looking for as soon as you walked into the interview. Good communication and leadership are extremely important qualities when it comes to leading and keeping together a production team. You need to be someone the members can come to but you need to ensure they respect you and appreciate that your the production leader. These two elements would need to be developed should I wish to become an Art Director in the future. At the present moment I don't really show any signs of good verbal communication or any leadership qualities but these skills can be developed through university, work experience, and a confident frame of mind.

Gameplay? .: Task Six :.

Gameplay put simply is the way in which the gamer interacts with the elements in a game and the games ability to command the gamer's attention. A game that captures your imagination and attention would be considered to have good gameplay although since we're all unique little flowers opinion and preference plays a heavy role! As they say one man's meat is another man's poison, a game that one person rates highly could be considered to have poor gameplay in another persons eyes. Its an age old argument that applies to pretty much everything in the world. If we were all robots ... boy, then we'd see some results!

Gameplay is an important element in Game Design for me. I wouldn't say I don't care for graphics and sound because that would be a blatant lie, everyone likes good graphics, it makes that gaming world oh-so-realistic. Graphics are nice but not as important as gameplay in my eyes. I like to feel involved with a game and interact with the elements it presents. Preference of Gameplay is never set in stone, I feel that mood can change your preferences easily. One day i'll feel like a god-sim because I want to feel dominating and superior, and the next i'll want to take on the role of a WWII soldier because I want to vent some anger on AI opponents. Personally I think unbeatable gameplay lies on the shoulders of a well-designed MMORPG. ( Here we go again lol >.< ) I've just recently started playing Guild Wars due to the Halls network blocking my precious WoW ports but I think this game has good gameplay and playability. There's something about striving to become better than thousands of other subscribed gamers that just makes me tick!

I would think that Game Design is a long winded process therefore hard to pin-point the "leading lights". I can imagine that a company would do market research into what's hot and what's not, current technical limitations etc and then forward that information onto a design team who would mould and shape that idea and pass it back to the funders who would like or dislike the idea. If anyone should claim the spot light I would say it belongs to the teams Art Director. This figure has the responsibility of channeling everyones ideas into a potentially succesful game. Although this director is the overlooker of the project I would not say it was entirely all his responsibility. The work load of the game would be distributed between the different members of the team and possibly different work teams.

Genre and Gameplay are important factors when designing elements for games. You want the elements to appeal and hold the audiences attention and you want them to relate closely to the game's genre. From experienece I would say that puzzles are a good element to use in action games to break away from the mindless gun blazing titles and add an interesting degree of challenege. A good example of how genre changes certain elements in the game would be to look at Silent Hill. The graphics, mood and gameplay is all based around a high-tension horror genre and everything works together like a well-oiled machine.

The Sharpest Lives are the Deadliest to Lead .: Task Cinq :.

(Five)

Ahh the joys of catching up with my weekly tasks (i.e. i'm an idiot!). This week/task I have been asked to look into New Games Journalism or NGJ if you will. Since i'm catching up with blogs i'll miss out the personal rant and skip straight the task in hand!

New Games Journalism seems like a good occupation, especially for someone who's passionate about games (like moi). Some could argue that the passion is stolen from gaming once you begin writing about it for profession rather than for pure enjoyment. I think there is some justice in this statement but I also think it fuels people's interest and gives them a reason to continue playing and writing. The best journalist tend to be those who display such passion towards the subject that they care not for moral restraints. I don't know why but that really does it for me ... like my Radio presenters and my comedians, the best ones do it for themselves and end up becoming great. Anyway back on topic. Journalism reminds me of blogging ... a very subjective form of blogging.

I can always remember the journalists for a nintendo magazine, can't remember the name for the life of me, because they were very personal in their writing. It seemed like they really enjoyed what they were doing and would share their personal views with the reader. It made me laugh because they would trash-talk the official nintendo magazine as much as they could ... always a good thing.

The Games Journalists must face certain issues or restrictions while writing their reviews. Child friendly magazines are of course going to set language restrictions. But I consider sometimes how far a company will go to make their game look good?! Would they sit back and let bad reviews go through if they want their game to top the charts? I don't think so. Football games come to mind! How can a NGJ possibly give the latest batch of football games their mark of approval when they're EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE FIRST F*%?!^G VERSIONS THAT CAME OUT ON MASTER SYSTEM?!? What's different? Better graphics? A new coloured ball? Less annoying commentary? (Less face it! Going 5 minutes into a game is enough to make you slam the controller into the wall and put the TV on mute!!) No! What I think is that they're slipped a lil' summin extra to praise the game just to see it rise in the charts. Makes me sick, honestly. Don't get me wrong ... I love my football ... (although i'm about ready to go over to London and shout at West Ham Utd ... gotta love em) but the games suck. The gameplay doesn't change, all that changes are the players! Oh god, I really can't get into this otherwise i'll be ranting for days!

As with any job, the only "real" drive to continue is the green. So this begs the question, who pays off the journalists?! Oh yea, yeah! They do it cause they love games! The fact is we're all human ... we only do something if we get something in return! Like they say: give with one hand and take with the other! It's the rules of life! Freelance journalists will most probably sell their works to random magazines that take their fancy or offer them the fattest pile of moneyz! Journalists under the employment of magazines would be under a salary, most likely commission based with the added notes of greedy gaming companies (again, just a hunch) but what about the mad bloggers? Why do they do it? It really does baffle me ... maybe the theory of human workings has been corrupted?

Anyway, that's enough about New Games Journalists, i'm starting to get a headache! Next we go onto Gameplay which i'm quite looking forward to after my football game rant! Mwahahah *cough*. I would end on a catchy quote but they've become a little too mainstream for my liking.

Ukraine 1 - England 0 .: ??????? ?????? ??????? :.

Wow, feels like I haven't blogged in ages! Luckily the desktop is better at remembering my logins than me! In this task i've been asked to look at the current history of gaming. I guess before I delve into the facts of what happened and what changed it would be a good idea to begin mapping out my personal gaming history. I am doing a gaming related course afterall so I guess it makes sense!

Instead of listing every game i've played, how far I got, and how much I like them better than the next person i'm just going to detail the important games that really changed gaming in my life. I just reread that sentance and realised how sad I sound ... *sigh* onwards!

Final Fantasy 7 - very cliche dontcha think?! Everyone loves Final Fantasy. I won't lie to sound like a Squaresoft(/Enix) junkie and say i've been playing Final Fantasy games since they were first ever created! Final Fantasy 7 was the title in the series that I played! I think this may have been the first RPG I played and recognised too! My old friend from primary school, Thomas Reidman I think his name was ... (he got well fat after primary school, I always wonder what went wrong), lent me the game for a whole half a day and I was hooked! I didn't start the game I just played from his save data. He was stuck on the first boss (the idiot kept attacking when its tail was raised) and when I told him I beat the boss first try he demanded the game back! I wasn't too bothered, I was quite impressed with myself but I couldn't believe a game like that exsisted, it was amazing! Strategic battles rather than the ol' button bashers, interactive characters! SPIKEY HAIR!! So not only did Final Fantasy introduce me to the world of RPG gaming it also influenced my hair style and opened the door to Sephiroth related fantasies! (Kidding ... maybe)

Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time - What can I say? Amazing story, amazing characters, amazing damage with the Big Goron Sword that I slaved over for what seemed like forever! The best thing was ... the blade didn't break!! Loved it! Couldn't get my head around fishing though!

Harvest Moon : Back to Nature - I can't remember why I bought it but I can remember that my brother bartered with the shopkeeper to get me the game for a fiver instead of the advertised ?19. Great game, changed the way I looked at farming forever! I actually lived on a farmhouse (up until last year) and it actually introduced me to gardening which I quite enjoy! You have live in the country to fully appreciate it ... watering a pot plant every other day in Leicester just isn't the same.

That's about it for now, when the next gen consoles came out (Ps2 and Gamecube) it all changed but the influencing titles will be revealed later! Stay tuned...

The rate of gaming evolution has been on a steady incline since it began back in Task Two so I find it difficult to lock onto the key points that helped shape and develop what we consider current gaming. I think that from the late 90's gaming has been considered a serious trade and due to this the market has enlarged enormously as companies and developers add to its growth in order to fill their pockets.

[What are the significant developments facing gaming at the beginning of the 21st century?] In my opinion the biggest development that occured around the 21st century was the dramatic increase in graphical quality! Special effects in films were even more special, Disney was making 3d computer-graphic-film-thingys, everything was turning towards the computer. It was now up to the computer game industry to keep ontop of things by reeling of stunning graphics and perfect animation to drop the jaws of gamers everywhere and prove they were the daddies of computer-generated-graphics! People's expectations of games were becoming alot more unique around this era which I think is a development that altered the construction of games. Whereas Crash Bandicoot would please a large chunk of gamers with it's (at that time) good graphics, good gameplay and simple story in the beginning of the 21st century people started to develop an appetitve for better gameplay, touching plots and storyline twists! This put the pressure on game companies that now needed to satisfy the cravings of game junkies everywhere.

[What pressures does the industry face?] Boy oh boy! With the boom in technology it was up to the games companies to keep on top of this scary new technology and turn it into something they could sell! This required constant research and experimentation whilst racing against competetive games companies as they raced to capture the attention of the gaming market. With the gaming markets interests now finely defined it was up to the gaming companies to lock onto a popular genre and shoot. Going for one specific audience was risky considering they shunned other peoples interest but it was a decision that needed to be made. Afterall, making a game that suits everyones tastes is extremely difficult if not impossible. One of the only games that has managed that thus far, in my opinion, is Grand Theft Auto! There's not one single person I know that hates it! Nice one Rock Star!

One way the gaming market is different to what it was back in the eighties is that it is now one of the most competetive trades in business. Gaming companies are always trying to outdo themselves and their competition, utilizing the latest bleeding edge technology and trying to invent the most unique gaming idea possible. With dozens of companies all thinking the same thing it becomes an extremely competetive market. Argh! My brains fried, I really can't think of much more on the subject. I blame Chris Moyles' autobiography! How dare it be that gripping!!

I can't protect you without holding a sword.
I can't embrace you while holding a sword.

The Eighties to the Ninties - Task Three

In my last blog I covered the introduction into gaming and the birth of home entertainment evolution. In this blog I will briefly continue the timeline and pick out the key points in gaming history that helped achieve what we now consider "good gaming".

The eighties ... this age saw the last days of arcade classics mentioned in my previous blog but also saw the arrival of a wave of consoles such as the Commodore 64 and the Spectrum ZX! Although these were milestones in home entertainment I think they took a backseat to hand-held consoles known as LCD Handhelds. The whirlwind craze was triggered by Nintendo who developed their "Game and Watch" line. The Game and Watch consoles were basically one-game handhelds with a simple, mobile and effective layout and an additional alarm and clock system. Nintendo produced 59 Game and Watch titles, including the Donkey Kong we all know and love and other classics such as the Legend of Zelda.

The mid-eighties to the ninties saw the arrival of life-changing consoles and games alike. Consoles such as the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and the Sega Master System were developed and released. In my mind the Nintendo and the Sega systems were arch-rivals! I've always considered Gaming to be a very competitive industry. Back in the mid-eighties it was the NES vs. the Master System, as time went on Nintendo upped the ante and challenged Sonys Playstation with the N64 and then the Playstation 2 with the Gamecube, etc etc. My point is that games production is very much like wrestling ... or not!

Games also played a vital role in the development of modern day gaming. For example Squaresoft dazzled the Japanese gaming culture when they released their roleplaying game; Dragon Quest in 1986 and then continued to please the gaming audience as they released the first Final Fantasy title (modelled after Dragon Quest) in 1987. Games started to branch off into unique genres after the mid-eighties and demanded a lot more input from the gamer lighting the fuse for a world-wide phenomenon as a result. Metal Gear was released on the MSX2 which required the gamer to use an element of espionage to defeat the game. My favourite genre, the "survival horror" genre, saw it's birth as Capcom released Sweet Home in 1989.

The eighties was a key stage in Gaming Development and was the catalyst in becoming one of the most popular forms of home entertainment. In 1988 Nintendo released their first issue of Nintendo Power, one of the first ever gaming magazines, this to me is evidence that gaming was becoming an extremely popular and profitable market. I feel that I have picked out the key points between the eighties and the ninties and this gives you a fairly clear indication of what heights the gaming market was being taken to.

"Cannot we not live in peace" .-Task Two-.

The quote is of course from the legendary "Command and Conquers Generals" and I thought what better way to open up a gaming related topic than to use a funny little quotation that some little rebel worker bellows as you send him to construct A GIANT SCUD LAUNCHER TO RAIN TOXIC DEATH ON YOUR ENEMIES!

Ahh ranting over and that feels great. Hopefully with that release the information to follow should be delivered in a somewhat normal and less agressive manner . . . but maybe not.

I'm sure that at least one time this week one of Mr P's generously supplied links have crashed once or twice. I've been reading through a few people's blogs and it appears different sources consider "what the first game was" differently. One source will reveal that the first game ever designed was in 1946 and was a missile simulation program. Another source will state that the digitalised "naughts and crosses" ( I can never win at naughts and crosses ... many people say I aven't got ze brains ... that hurt me :( ) in early 1950's was the first game to be created. All these sources but who do I believe? Now I was momentarily hood-winked for several weeks when one of my old multimedia lecturers informed me that Tomb Raider was actually the first game ever. Damn him! *shakes fist*

I am kidding with that last part, I never actually believed Tomb Raider was the first video game. I can imagine if I didn't insert this little snippit then i'd get to lessons on Tuesday and Mike and Joel would be standing infront of me pointing at the door I just entered through saying "Just go Matt, just ... go". Truth is I was getting bored of myself typing so I decided to add a little comedy piece ... I'm sure it made no one even smile ... I'll get back to typing

The most realistic would probably be the missile simulator so i'll go into a little bit of detail about that. The CRT (Cathode Ray Tube / Missile Simulator) was rumoured to be designed between 1946 to 1947 by a couple of legends that go by the names of Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. It's scary to think that maybe if the CRT wasn't developed then maybe in some alternative dimension, I wouldn't have World of Warcraft in this era! *shocks* I don't like thinking that, onwards! The patents for this blessed device were filed on January 25th 1947. The CRT used eight vaccum tube and simulated a missile being hurtled towards a target. Adjusting knobs was the only real input the player had with this game but i'm sure, at the time, it was addictive as Warcraft (World of,) although that's extremely hard to imagine...

Thomas: Coming out for a couple down the tavern Estle, me ol' mucka!
Estle: No mate, I need to hit this target a couple more times, this. is. so. addictive!
Thomas: ... ... ...
For legal reasons: this conversation never actually took place! Just so you all know that!

A couple of questions currently occupy my mind while writing this. Wait! Before you scroll down and skip this paragraph ... it relates to the task questions!! Still there? Good! *ahem* It's the year 1946 and the second World War has just ended. So why then did Thomas and Estle decide to release a war-based game as a form of entertainment? Surely after such a horrific war the last thing you want to do is simulate starting another by launching a stinger at some unsuspecting country?! That confuses me, mainly because I don't have an answer for it. "76, thus simulating destruction or explosion of the object which may be represented as an airplane, for example." That was quoted directly from the patent they filed in 1947. "destruction or explosion?!", "which may be represented by an airplane?!?". Oh boy! The media is all over violence in video games corrupting the minds of the innocent! They were raised on video game violence!! Rant over, let's move on!

I've spoken a little too much already so until the next major link in Gaming History I promise to be brief! Between 1947 and 1969 (when the first console was created) games were usually sotred on university mainframes, programmed by bored users in their spare time. Another strange point, the development of computer games came around because programmers were "bored". I think now would be a good time to point out that although I have done my research ( ... >.> ... <.< ) I cannot guarentee that this information is 100% correct ... so don't blame me if I try to feed you a pack of lies.

In 1969 the Magnavox Odyssey was released. A man called Ralph Baer developed the console so he could hook it up to a television set so he could play his favourite bat-and-ball games with extreme graphics. The prototype was bought by Magnavox and sold as the first ever video games console.

It was around this time that the GOLDEN AGE of video games sprang to life. I guess it was kind of like the Golden Age of Comics but with a lot less boring superheroes ... and no comics. Scratch that, it's nothing like the Golden Age of comics. The Golden Age of games saw the arrival of classic arcade games like Computer Space/Spacewar! (hmm... yet another war-based game!), Pacman, Asteroids and Space Invaders. A quote from wiki that makes me laugh relates to Nolan Bushnell who founded Atari. He was attending a demonstration of Magnavox's Odyssey and he played the game, Ping-Pong "but found it uninteresting and unimaginative". After this he went on to create Atari and released arcade classics such as PacMan and Asteroids. Like most "golden ages" in our history this one lost it's flare and the audience began to lose interest around the mid-80's. The end of the golden age seems to be a good point to leave this blog since I think i've talked too much rubbish already.

I'll end it with a quote since I'm weak topeer pressure and I enjoyed my last one! Wait!! I've already quoted! Except it was at the beginning ... Awww well ... I was kinda looking forward to this :(. Second part of the task will arrive shortly!

Wanton Destruction -.Task One.-

Second post in and you've all probably read the title and are now geared up for an exciting, or at the very least interesting, blog. To save disappointment later on I'll tell you now, it isn't ... you'll be bored! Move your cursor up a little bit and click the "close button" or just hit "back" a couple of times because this post is really only for one person... a very special person in my life (for the next three years anyway). Yes he is special because it's up to him whether I pass or fail this course ... scary stoof!

Okay ... Here's the blog I've decided to review for this weeks task. I don't really have any specific reasons for picking this blog but I do love the Chris Moyles so I decided to go with it. I first discovered about the unholy power of the Radio One blogs after listening to the respective station one Sunday whilst at work. I checked into it because, well, I like the way radio presenters speak. Radio presenters are talking all the time and they're shows are something like a blog in audio format. They speak, they spill their thoughts and opinions to an invisible audience and receive feedback through angry phonecalls and threatening texts. The reason I like Chris Moyles is because he really doesn't care about what his audience thinks of him. In theory this should be chaotic, he's not caring for the needs of his audience so technically they should hate him!! But this carefree style works in reverse, the audience love him and worship him like a role-model! Anyway ... yeah ... *exit trance* ... that's the reason I picked this blog.

Well OK ... the blog isn't by Chris Moyles BUT let's face it ... Moyles without Comedy Dave is like Ant without Dec, it just doesn't work! Now ... where did I put those questions?! Hmm ...

[Who's writing, and how do you perceive them to be?] Well I'm assuming, but don't hold me to this, that this blog has been written by the legend that is Comedy Dave! I make this assumption safely because just by reading his entry you can tell its his style of communicating. You can read the words and almost hear them coming out of the radio in his voice. Although this could be a clever ninja technique. Just from reading his blog you can pick out his characteristics, he's funny, he has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour, and above all he's carefree like his partner in crime. I say he's funny because well ... he is! But this goes hand in hand with a higher level of intellect, because to be intentionally funny you need to be smart and sharp. To be intentionally funny you need to think about how you construct everything you say and how everything works, and even though his humour may not appeal to everyone there is no denying that he is somewhat humorous. Its this witty, sarcastic humour that reflects through his blogs and draws me to the conclusion that he is a funny character.

[How often do they write, what do they write about?] Well I won't lie and say they are totally, 100% devoted to blogging but the Radio One team do a pretty good job of keeping the site updated, posts of personal thoughts and slander are posted at least once a week which brings me to the next part of the question, what do they write about? The team cover personal topics but alot of their text seems to cover events that they do for the Radio One show, understandable really, and to fully understand what they're on about in some cases you need to tune in and listen ... which I don't think you can do around Leicester .. :'(

[Does blogging strike you as objective or more personal?] In this case I will say blogging is objective, the main reason being that I have been set a task, an objective in this case, and here I am detailing my answers to asked questions. But my honest opinion is that blogging cannot be totally objective and it cannot be totally personal. Most blogs have an objective, whether it's to talk trash about something on television that's annoyed you or to detail how you've got a crush on a girl in your class and will never be able to swoon her because she's dating the captain of the baseball team. Blogs have objectives!. That is my opinion and I expect people to disagree with me but I cannot see how a blog can not be objective, even if I talk about nothing the post still has some form of objective. A strong input to blogging is personality and feeling, which leads me to assume that you cannot have an objective without personal feeling and thoughts. For example I'm writing this objective blog but my personality and thoughts have a strong influence because I'm using my feelings and thoughts to create answers! Simple? Or not ... ? I've confused myself :(

[How do you see yourself using a blog? Do you feel comfortable writing for an invisible audience for example?] As long as I'm on this course, I'll be blogging :) ... short and sweet but straight to the point. Joking aside, to be honest if it wasn't for the course I'd probably never be blogging. I've never seen the attraction before, people write a diary-like entry and people write what they think about it, big deal. But in cases like mine they are exxxtrreeemeeleey helpful. Writing about what I like, what I hate etc and receiving feedback from my tutors and peers is a sure-fire way to improve my understanding of subjects and the way I perceive things. Does that answer the question? I guess so, but a more straight forward answer would be that I can see myself using blogs to get a collected opinion on a topic that plagues my mind at the time, just so I can get a better and wider understanding on it. I feel more comfortable talking to an invisible audience than real-life people. For example I much prefer talking over MSN than over the phone or face-to-face! Result of too much technology or a sheltered childhood? Who knows?! I don't know why but I prefer it so naturally blogging is going to appeal to me ... try getting me to talk this much in person ^_^

Well everyone's doing it so I'd thought I'd end the blog with a personal touch! A quote!! This one may tie in with my blog title ... but don't tell anyone >.> ... <.< ... >.>

The quotes from an old school game called Sam and Max: Hit the Road. It's an oldie but one of LucasArts finest! This quote in particular made me chuckle!

Max: another confused census taker?
Sam: Actually it was the Commissioner with another idiotic and baffling assignment.
Max: Does it involve wanton destruction?
Sam: We can only hope!