So its been a little bit since I sat down and ranted about the daily happenings of my life, which in all truth is more of a personal cleansing process rather than a passive attempt for online attention. Nothing against the masses who adore and fully relish in the experience, I just have a different approach that kind of makes it my own... so no matter how much I come off as jerk even though I'm taking part in the madness, let the little jerk have have his fun :oops:
As for gaming, I've come to a cross road that is very upsetting but some what rejuvenating... the power of trade-ins!!
No doubt, this is nothing new in the world of GameStop, who leads the videogame industry as the number one hot spot to buy and sell videogames and accessories of various kinds. Many gamers across the board will say they are the scum of the earth who do nothing more than rip people off and make mad profit. I say what is the foundation of ANY business trying to make a buck and stay afloat! All finger pointing aside, I use to be an employee of said company, but this was back in the day when they were known as EB Games, or even further back, Electronic Botique.
Those were some good days, and I'm lucky to maintain some decent contacts who are still employed by the evil company that rules all trade-in business of today. Reason why I mention all this trade-in/GameStop nonsense is I've recently come to terms with my obsession for collecting videogames and realized its not that big of a deal.
It may be a terrible comparison, but its very similar to how I felt about playing videogames like Elders Scroll. No matter how pimp I customize my character or duke hime out with gear near impossible to find, who is really gonna see or acknowledge my greatness??? And this is where I stand with my videogame collection that is a little over 400 titles. I may feel nice and tingly about seeing tons of Genesis cases stacked up to human heights, but who really cares... I barely even care. Half those games I may not even have the stomach to go back and pretend to enjoy, which is a crying shame, but its truth I say!!
All those years of thrift store shopping, garage sales, hand me downs, rare finds and pure desperate searching... all for the empty feeling I kind of have now. Not the worst trade off I would say...
In all respect to my collection of games that I do adore and proudly hold in high regard, they are going no where! And I don't mean that in the cynical sour kind of way. I have some pretty kick @ss games that after firing up in my recent late nights, I'm thrilled to say I possess... All the Shining Force games from Sega, tons of 2K sports titles, Secret of Mana, Flashback, Earthworm Jim, Herc's Adventures, Beyond Oasis, Dragon Force, Might & Magic 3, The Horde, hell... even Aladin and Lion King are still top notch games in my eyes.
My overall point is even with so much praise for something I've unknowingly dedicated myself to over the years, there is still a ton of games I could easily live without... starting with my Xbox360 collection :|
My sole reasoning behind ridding myself of unwanted games is not the obvious desire for money or new'er games... its more of a value perspective that I've kind of managed to morph in my favor. Call it as you see fit, but I say anything that cost 60 bucks and lasts me no longer than a weekend needs a reevaluation in the collective. Bottom line!
So after having a few nervous shakes and submitting to this new mind set, I realized this is the best approach for a wore out gamer like myself. I'm far from my 30's and I still have plenty of gaming left in my blood, its just amazing to see how easy it is to let go of something and step away only to see its store/trade value become a fraction of what it cost day one. Even more interesting, I can easily come back to these reduced priced items and scoop up multiples of them for damn near 60 bucks... BRILLIANT!!
Its no real science behind all this madness, and I honestly can't act like this is some poor me sob story... I just have this gut feeling that my older console games will hold true in value longer than my CD based next-gen titles. Call it a wild hunch.
Purple People Eaters per say?!
Another wild hunch is me keeping faith in my Minnesota Vikings football team, even without their core defensive players Kevin and Pat Williams. Seems the NFL has rules against certain supplements and chemicals that could possibly be steroids or products that "mask" the effects of such vile products. I don't fully support the use of steroids, but I can't help but say that if grown men who choose to bash heads for my entertainment and tons of money decide to smoke a little pot or juice up after said bashing activity, I can't really blame'em :roll:
Barely leading their NFC North division (7-5) the Vikings were recently hit with a 4 game suspension on their best defensive line players, the Williams, who are acused of using banned steroid related substances. WOW! Talk about timing... week 14 in the NFL, teams are battling for playoff spots and everyone is hurting in the depth charts simply because of injuries and numerous other reasons.
Looking at their record, you could assume the playoffs are a big stretch for a team who plays sparadically... but I say check out everyone else across the league... the Cowboys suffered a few games because of injuries and such, the Giants constantly fight off-field issues, rookie QB's are carrying broken franchises, and teams who barely made the cut last year are playing decisively this year. Pretty potent stuff!! And more than enough reasoning for me to look forward to this Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions... who are 0-12.
Hopefully my Vikes coordinate properly, because they face a familar teammate; Dante Caulpepper! And if I know the Pep, he's looking forward to sticking it to his old team who let him go because of the same flaws and injuries they will likely try to take full advantage of. And if they don't... I got this wild hunch the Lions could pick up their first victory of the year. Which of course I hope doesn't happen, but at least the Vikes get a great practice team with the lack of 700 pounds on the defense. Best luck to all squads come sunday and I wish the best to everyones coming holidays ;)