A lot of people out there are having an existential crisis. Mabye you're one of them. The world looks dark, crises looming on every front. Things are not rosie, they never have been, but the people who run the system you live under want you to live in a state both depressed and agitated. They bombard your subconscious with news of financial crisis, corruption, perpetual warfare and unrest, at the same time they placate you with cheap entertainment, cheap sex, cheap food, and cheap toys. Cheap in substance but not in price, that is. It's bread and circuses while they rob you of your birth-right and tell you you are doomed without them.
Turn off the goddman TV! Get out of the city or suburbs if you can, if only for a few hours! They are a tomb for the mind and soul. You are a creature of the Earth. Nature is not Other. Mankind is meant to toil, build, and celebrate in the sun, not moulder in a cubicle or behind a counter or in front of a screen. There is no hope for the person who is completely disconnected from the lifestream.
Anyway, video game shit:
Not the most exciting image, but it's my own. And I don't feel like waiting until I continue the game again to post a better one.
Was playing Crysis for a while. I can only do games in short bursts now before I start to feel my chair. Don't know when I'll pick the game back up. I feel this game got slighted in the play department. It plays almost as good as it looked back in 2007, but it got stigmatized as little more than a graphical showcase. It's the true successor to the original FarCry, not the generic open world Ubisoft shit that series became. Of course, this industry being what it is, it only took one sequel before we're in urban corridors instead of expansive tropical settings. Crysis 2 still kind of kicked ass, and CryEngine still rules, and the suit powers were better realized, but the series became another victim of multiplatform concessions and conventional market wisdom.
Anyway, this is one of the best FPS of all time, imo. Reminds me that this genre used to be crack to me. I still want to play Halo 4 some time, but still not ready to fork over dough for a 360.
I liked Crysis. Not my favorite FPS, but a damn good one. Plenty of options available, huge Halo-esque open areas while not being open world (one of my favorite things to have in an FPS). Just wish it didn't go to shit towards the final couple of hours. Before that though, I had a blast.
2 I didn't play much of, but hot damn it was a great game to showcase my PC's power right after I built it.
I'm right there with you about "linear open world." Open world games with a radial map (for lack of a better term) almost always bore me. I bought Red Dead Redemption for cheap the other day with intent to finally make some serious progress (had only ever borrowed or rented it) Terrific game, but when it came down to it, the enthusiasm to go on wasn't there anymore.
Outdoor cubicles, there's a thought.
I volunteer in the forest preserves a few times a month, doing restoration work, setting brush fires. It is my outdoor cubicle in a way.
Cubicles suck. I'll never work in one. Don't care how much I could make.
I liked the stealth suit in Crysis 2. That was fun.
Yeah i watch the sunrise every day. Gotta keep with the lifestream, man.
The suit in the first game feels limited in comparison. You have to move very slowly in stealth mode or you'll drain its energy bar really quickly. Plus, the armor mode doesn't seem as effective.
A friend of mine showed me a Henry Miller quote once where he described the New York City skyline. The buildings were tombs and the people were like the living dead. Your words, "a tomb for the mind and soul" made me think of that. I wish I could find the quote. It must be in his book Tropic of Cancer.
Crysis 2 and 3 were just on sale on Xbox Live the other weekend. I got the first game on a sale a while back but haven't played it yet. I almost got 2 and 3 though, but I want to play 1 first and see how I like it. 2 and 3 were cheap though. I should've just got them.
I'm so glad I moved back out to a small town! I live on a back road with no street lights and very little traffic, my house is in a small field which abuts a large chunk of town-owned woods with all kinds of trails. At night, I can see the stars and the Milky Way, and nights with a full moon are simply amazing. Last night, it was bright enough that I could have read by it. I think after I've caught up with a few more blogs, I'm gonna go strap on my snowshoes and go out and play.
Nice. I live right near Chicago. You can't see shit out here. The night sky is usually a shade of brown from the cloud cover. Occasionally you can see the moon or a few stars. Sunset is as colorful as it gets, and you can't even see that consistently. I bet Iceland or the Antarctic are more stimulating.