My Dream Game

As gamers, we're all faced with the very real possibility at one point or another that no game will ever be tailor-made for you, that no game will ever have everything you want it to have, mostly because with everything we've played, the variety would simply be too much to code and program.  Or it would face some other sort of limitation, surely, even when we play a game we enjoy, we get certain feelings, "If I could change anything I would..." and then we list off one or a few different things we'd add, take away, or alter to more perfectly fit this image we have in our heads.  It'll never happen, of course, but yet we still dream of this dream game that we could create.

Take a little bit of this game/series, a little bit of that game/series, mash it all together and come up with something fresh that, hopefully won't end up causing people to dredge up the Homage vs. Rip-Off argument ala Darksiders.  Because, of course, if you do it right, your game will only be called (Game)-Like, (All isometric dungeon crawlers are apparently Diablo-like, despite not needing you to click five thousand times to get from Point A to Point B to open a chest), all run-and-gun military shooters are Call of Duty-Like, etc. etc.  Regardless, the genre isn't what's important to the dream game, but rather what you want it to do and want it to have.

Obviously, I've been thinking a lot lately about what my 'dream' game would be, and clearly I don't have the finer details parsed out (for reasons that will become almost immediately clear), I do know, at least, mostly what I want from it, and I want to put that out there, if just to sort of cement it in my mind or maybe even reason it out a little more.

If you know me (which, if you're reading this, you likely do by now), you know that I enjoy the prospects of building and....for a lack of a better word, 'decorating', and often bring it up as something to get excited about.  Indeed, as you'll notice above (and, well, further above), are two very real, existing methods of 'building' in games:  The nearest being the GeoRama system from White Knight Chronicles (cribbed straight from the Dark Cloud games, of course) and the one at the top being Monteriggioni from Assassin's Creed 2, the village that housed the Villa de Auditore, from which you could 'restore' the village building-by-building.  While the GeoRama system is closer to what I enjoy (rather, I'd prefer something more to the Sims where I can actually just design and build, I can make the concession for a wide variety of buildings pre-made or building parts), I do like the 'Hub' part of Assassin's Creed 2's village, and in fact would go so far as to say that that whole experience was my favorite part about the game.

My dream game would give you this location where you (your character, rather, fully customizable of course) lives, surrounded by blank, flat land, ripe for construction.  This is not the only place you go to, but it's the most important, as it's a literal blank slate.  Why it's that way is really of no concern, but it's not some sort of apocalypse, and the land hadn't been populated before and wiped out; there's other towns and cities that you'll be able to visit.  But this one rather large section of the world, large enough to make a city, is just blank, to be shaped however you want.

Not alone, of course, and I'm not even willing to say shaping the land is your main goal, as, honestly despite the inherent "not sure if want" factor Open-World games take on, I would want it to be Open-World.  In a perfect world, perfect dream, it would be about as open as any of The Elder Scrolls games, but well, again we may have to be at least semi-realistic here.  I'd like it if you could take or draw your building elements (buildings, trees, etc.) from the rest of the world, since it would honestly give you a good reason to explore the land.  Not to mention you'll need people to not only build this town/village/citiy/what have you (and upgrade your house), but to live in it as well.  (I would like to imagine you could decide whether you want to hire people to build, or use slave labor 'recruit' monsters to work, ala Rune Factory.

Combat would be relatively simple enough; I don't know if it's because it's what I'm playing now, or if I just prefer it, but Phantasy Star Portable's style (picking up weapons from all sorts of varieties and assigning them to your person, able to switch to any one at any given moment) seems like a perfect fit for what I'd want, since versatility, obviously, is key to the experience.  A nice, wide variety of weapons would be nice, with varying levels of 'unique' design, as one of the many house upgrades would ideally be an armory/trophy room (again, ala Assassin's Creed 2 Villa) so you could show them off to....well, I guess yourself.  Would be rather hard to put something this large-scale on Multi-player, but it would be nice if there was some sort of synch option to 'share' your City.

It's hard to really articulate what I want here, because 1) It's not exactly possible in the form I'm thinking of, since it's honestly, still too grand a scale than what we can handle yet (thus making some of it sound too dreamy and silly) and 2) Because, well, putting out what would be your 'perfect' anything is hard, since wants/desires shift, so what you want today, what's perfect today, might not be tomorrow.  But for my 'dream' game here, Large-Scale is almost an understatement since the goal would be that you could not only design/build/manage your own citiy (populate it however you want, decide the prominent flora/fauna, decorate the houses, etc.) but be able to visit the pre-existing cities in the game and be able to explore them to any degree.

Then, on top of that, everything needs to feel 'alive'.  You'll need sidequests and a story for those who don't really care to build to such a degree that it's the 'fun' part of the game, so that's where your bit of Elder Scrolls games kicks in which means more locales to explore, loot to be found, etc.  It is, in fact, just too much game.  And I don't feel I've even adequately explained what's in my head, but hopefully, I've impressed enough of it, because I'm entering the portion where it's almost seeming redundant now.

Akinator is a Goddamn Wizard (Genie)

If you've ever played Twenty Questions with a friend or a relative to pass the time, or even because, in certain conditions, it's fun, then you can only consider that training versus the evil known as the Akinator.  This thing takes Twenty Questions and turns it not into a challenge, but a goddamn blood sport because it's so good at it.  Rest assured, that smug face of the genie will haunt your dreams should you dare challenge him because, in all likelihood, he will chew you up and spit you out the first few times you try and go up against him.

You go in and think, "Psh, this thing probably doesn't know all that much" and figure on a character from a video game that you're either playing currently or have played recently.  The first ten questions go by with no real incident, all fairly generic questions really.  No way in hell this genie could possibly be able to guess by question twenty that you're thinking of Cole MacGrath from inFamous, right?  I mean, it's a Playstation 3 exclusive game, albeit a popular one, and it hasn't even asked if your character is a super hero.  Question two was just, "Does your character wear shoes?" for crying out loud.  Maybe it'll get closer on, like, question 24 or something, but right now?  Psh.  Not even close.

And then, on question thirteen, Akinator stares into the depths of your soul with the smuggest grin you've ever seen and says, "Does your character produce electricity?"

WHAT.

You have no choice, of course, but to answer "Yes." and then question fourteen just cements it:  "Does your character climb walls?"  ".......yes."

"You were thinking of.....Cole MacGrath!"

Yes, Akinator, thank you.  I was thinking of Cole MacGrath and the fact that you figured that out in thirteen questions has me questioning just about everything I believe in, honestly.  In submitting to the fact that he is, indeed, correct, there is a moment of gloating before you see the "Play Again" button shining like a beacon.  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, Akinator.

This time I bust out the, quote-unquote 'big guns' as I am wont to do, with Caim.  (Who, in general terms of sheer murder levels, could always be considered the big guns, of course.  Unfortunately, this is not a murder scenario.)  All the questions go fairly smoothly, and he even looks a bit frustrated to learn that my character is not blonde and not from the Final Fantasy series.  But as soon as he learns my character has a sister, that smugness is back, and after the twentieth question is done and answered, the image of Caim, sticking his tongue out to show his pact mark, slowly fades into focus on the screen.  Appropriate, really.

This happens again and again, I try Father from Nier, Trogdor (because honestly, that's been, what, six years ago now?  More?), Afro Samurai, over and over again, I try to stump this genie, a task that is not impossible as I've done it before in the past.  But this time....this time, victory eludes me.  But I have to try at least once more.  Unable to think of anything but Valkyria Chronicles for some reason, I make a decision for my next, and final, character.

Marion Seigbahn, possibly the best character from Valkyria Chronicles 2, is likely an easy pick, but she's my favorite, so let's try it anyway.  Defeated at this point, I slog through the questions, figuring he'll pick it up fairly easily and when his first guess at question twenty is Edy Nelson, I go, "well, this shouldn't be much longer".  But, in a strange twist, his line of questioning branches off in such a way that suggests, perhaps, the first twenty questions have been ignored or something.  When the second guess, at question thirty is some character from Trauma Center (the game), I have to wonder just what the hell happened.  Revitalized, I continue all the way to question forty, answering as honestly as possible when it finally comes to the last guess.

Once again, it was close, but no cigar.  Alicia Melchiott is not Marion Siegbahn, Akinantor!  IN YOUR FACE!  After a graceful loss, he bids you to inform him of your character, and as such I did.  No doubt some time in the future this will come back to haunt me and others, but for tonight, I taste victory once again.

And that's what I did tonight instead of anything important.

Too Many Games

 

It's about that time again.  Fall time, that is; when everyone starts staying inside more and more, and as such, game developers release more games to give you more reasons to stay inside.  And I am just....just not ready at all.  I had wanted to start a backloggery for the longest time to get this all sorted, but for a while there, it was unavailable for new registrants while the guy running it updated the servers and dealt with some health issues at the same time.  I imagine he's gotten over them, as a little while ago, I noticed the site was back, but I hadn't ever bothered to register.

Well, at least until about five minutes or so ago.  Off the top of my head, I could think of 18 19 21 22 (would you believe that I've thought of more games this many times during the typing of this post?) games which are shown in my profile I have to finish, and that's without really going and looking at my stack.  That....that is a lot of gaming.  I might change a couple of those to Null (Like PSP2) since I'll likely be playing them for a time longer without really figuring on a 'complete' goal, but for the most part, these are games that I haven't even started, much less put anything resembling completion into.

It's.....it's difficult.  My main issue right now, in all honesty, is my PS3.  I do not trust the thing.  I feel like it's on its last legs for some reason (most of that being that whenever I turn it off after playing Darksiders, it does the three-beep "I was still doing stuff, you jerk" turn off, which, no, it is -not- doing stuff, the light isn't blinking) and honestly, if it breaks, I don't know what the hell I'll do.  I don't really have the cash to shell out for another $170 replacement, much less spend $250 on a brand-new one.  If I had $250 to spend, it'd be in an account labeled "Playstation Vita" anyways.  Given that I've been jerked around by a YLOD already and the bullshit accompanying it, it's not a thing I would like to go through again, and with summer being as hot as it is, I don't want to tempt that fate once more.

Is it any more avoidable by not enjoying my PS3 for the simple pleasure of looking at it and saying "Well, it's not broken at the moment"?  I'm not willing to say it is, really, since I hate not playing it.  And while I've had a few bouts of "Fuck it, come what may", with the fall/holiday crunch coming up, I can't really afford to be that gung-ho.  But on the other hand, I can't exactly afford to just let all these games that I paid for sit unplayed when there's just going to be more coming out that I will buy and, I guess, not play.  Thus, the Sisyphus image above.

I guess the upside is that my list of games I'm looking forward to with any sort of certainty of purchasing is rather short at the moment.  Then again, I haven't done a lot of research.  But I know that I'll have to track down Dynasty Warriors 7:  Xtreme Legends, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, and the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.  Of course, the Zone of the Enders HD Collection is on my radar as well, but it's release seems a little less tangibly close than MGS'.  I'm sure there's plenty of other games that I want, but I'm reasonably sure, out of all the releases coming out relatively soon that these are the ones I 'need'.

And of course, this is neglecting the fact that there are games already out there that I 'need', off the top of my head, Dead Space 2 and Catherine, which I -would- like to purchase and play at least one of those before the end of the year, as my list of games that I've played from 2011 is....well, not up to par, and doing a top ten Games of the Year for 2011 series of posts will be a little difficult if I don't have 10 games from 2011 played!  (I think I'm up to six or seven currently.  Btw, did you know Ghost Trick was released this year?  I didn't, until I started thinking about the games I'd played this year.  I have -no- idea where it's going to place.)

There are worse things to complain about, I suppose.  But still, this is rather unfortunate!  Hopefully with the backloggery and Fall (and with it, colder temperatures) coming, I'll be able to kick my gaming into a higher gear and get through this list.  And now that you have the link, you'll be able to follow along as well!  I guess.  If...y'know, that interests you.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 - How It Compares to the Original

Now, way back when I did a similar article for Rune Factory 3 and Rune Factory 1, I hadn't considered that I would, well, ever do such an article again.  I don't normally try to compare sequels, and when I do, I normally just put the game by its own merits or something, perhaps bring up what the first game did better a few times, but I rarely gauge a game by the game that preceded it.  And I don't know if I can actually make this comparison thing a thing (If I did, I'd certainly do Resistance:  Fall of Man vs. Resistance 2 next), but it's something I've been tossing around lately for PSP1 and 2 for a fairly....well, obvious reason.

A lot of people who have gotten their hands on copies of Valkyria Chronicles 3 mention that, well, it takes a lot of maps, if not all of them, from Valkyria Chronicles 2.  I....find that a little odd, but whatever.  It's only after playing both Phantasy Star Portable games that I realize this is just Sega's thing.  You see, every map in Phantasy Star Portable is present in PSP2, as well as the new maps PSP2 brings to the table.  And....some (I don't know what level this goes to) of Phantasy Star Portable 1's maps came straight from Phantasy Star Universe.  You see, friends, Sega is just...well, basically stealing from themselves.

It's hard to show this off in screenshot form without spending a ton of time looking (ton meaning more than the 10 I just threw out there, obviously), so instead, let me just drop this youtube search results page here and let you decide for yourself.  The mission in question is called "Plains Overlord", was present first in Phantasy Star Universe on PC, PS2 and 360, and remained a staple through Phantasy Star Portable 2.  Through all three versions it's been, for all intents and purposes, the same map.

While I may paint this in a negative light, it's not exactly a bad thing of course....it's just not a good thing either.  After sinking time into Phantasy Star Portable 1, I'm guessing that it has the least maps of all three games, honestly, as I had a little trouble finding a couple maps through that cursory youtubing for a comparison page.  But it does help when you're playing the next game, of course, provided you played Phantasy Star Portable 2 after 1.  Which...I didn't do.  But that does work conversely, of course, as the map knowledge gained from PSP2 helped me through PSP1 as well as teach me a few things about some of the different bosses that appear in both games, but go fairly unexplained in PSP2.

Which, if anything would be one of the (few) strengths the original game holds over the sequel.  While Phantasy Star Portable 1's story is considerably shorter than what the sequel offers, it's also much much more aware of itself and grounded.....more or less.  Without having played Phantasy Star Universe (which as I said before, is direct canon for both PSP1 and 2) I'm still missing out on a little bit of the story, but where Phantasy Star Portable 2 really really hopes you played the original to understand more about the monsters and such that act as bosses, Phantasy Star Portable 1 plows through and explains it anyway.  So in PSP2 where the Dimmagolus was just some giant douchebag monster with bat wings, in PSP1, it's explained and also pointed out that the wings are a giant weakspot which makes it 10x easier to fight.  PSP1's smaller, more contained story also ensures that it keeps a lot of the fluff out, which, PSP2 has a few sections that seem to be only fluff.

Another plus for the original is how it handles the main character.  While it's a...very minor thing, I have grown far too tired of games where your character doesn't have natural dialog, yet talks to everybody.  It's sort of a mutation of the Silent Protagonist trope brought about by the widespread acknowledgement of the Silent Protagonist trope.  Which is entirely too fucking meta.  In PSP1, they are aware of the Silent Protagonist trope and make extensive use of it.  You see, your character in PSP1 is, at times, offered different choices for what to say in certain circumstances.  That (aside from battle grunts) is all your character ever says, which is oftentimes pointed out by the other characters.  And it's always amusing.  This is, of course, pure and simple personal preference, but I enjoy the mental image of my character being, pretty much, an anti-social jerk who just wants to kill monsters.

But the rest of the characters in PSP1 are, ultimately, one of the many downfalls of the game.  While I like the main character and, in general, like the game's story itself, it does not handle the characters well.  The first one you meet, Laia Martinez is your superior and your direct Guardians instructor with whom you take on a mission or two with at the start (and your partner, Vivienne) and then she completely disappears and ceases to be relevant whatsoever.  She's not the only one who does this, of course, and even the characters that are cameos from PSU have bit parts and are then promptly forgotten without so much as a word to why.  It's....well, it's fairly jarring.  PSP2, on the other hand manages to have all the major players be relevant to the end (which, in the case of a few characters is a detriment, actually) without being tossed to the wayside unceremoniously.

In terms of Gameplay, there simply is really no argument:  Phantasy Star Portable 2 is a clear improvement.  The only issues with PSP2 is that you can only carry half the amount of healing items you could in PSP1 (as well as the enemies hit harder.  Of course) and Skills level up in PSP1, whereas you just find higher level disks in PSP2 (which, if I recall correctly, was how techs were handled in PSO anyway, so precedence wins).  I was a little partial to leveling up skills and techniques rather than just stumbling across a level 15 disk but I'll take what I can get if it means I can use all three combo attacks of a special technique at level 1 rather than grinding it to level 30.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 manages to handle the PP (I'm guessing power point) system better and worse all at the same time as well.  In Phantasy Star Portable 1, PP was on each individual weapon which, on the plus side could have meant that it had a ton of PP which means a lot of Special Technique usage (and you don't have to mess around with chains to make it stronger, even) but the downside was that you could find a boss-as-hell weapon with, like, 36 friggin' PP.  Dump stats like that just make the weapon completely undesireable and will likely just put you off from upgrading even if the new weapon has 200 ATK on your current one.  The downside to PSP1's system is that PP doesn't restore when the weapon is equipped, and when it is equipped, it restores really slowly unless you attack normally with it, which will cause it to fill a few points with the hit, rather than a point per three seconds.

Of course, with guns the normal attack is the attack that uses PP.  So once you've used up a gun's PP (and you will) unless you want to stand there for half an hour to let it charge, you're stuck with either A) switching the weapon out, B) stumbling across a Prism Box that lets you buy your PP back for your weapons (A paltry sum, always worth it, and they're usually found before a boss fight), or C) Using a Photon charge, an item that will completely recharge a weapon's PP and is found fairly commonly.  So there's really no reason -not- to use a Photon Charge, aside from the fact that it's, well, annoying.

In Phantasy Star Portable 2, your PP is tied to the character and your techniques just draw from that.  It also restores way faster when you're loitering, so you're not going to sit around for ten minutes waiting for a fully charged PP bar again.  I've noticed that hitting things normally does recharge it a little more as well, but it's hardly as noticeable in PSP2 as it was in PSP1, mainly since it was damn near vital in the first game.  On the downside of this, heavy PP-users are still fairly difficult to use, as when your PP is low, you're -still- just running around waiting for it to refill and there's actually no Photon Charge objects in PSP2.  At least, not that I know of.  Still, it's a lot more manageable in the sequel.

Gameplay is not only what's better about the sequel, but all the other things put into it.  They managed to implement a full online mode through the Playstation Network so you can play with your friends wherever they are (and not use Ad-Hoc Party) but also Commons maps (well, -a- map) that you can actually walk around in to talk to people, get sidequests (also new to PSP2) and shop, versus PSP1's static image maps with important circles.  Bringing over the room management from PSU as well is a nice touch, though most, if not all, of the rooms are straight from PSU.  Still, you all know me, I likes me some decorating in video games.

So after playing both extensively (I have a level 61 character in PSP1, where the level cap is 100 for reference, whereas my Main character in PSP2 is 89 with a max of 200) I feel fairly qualified to speak on them both, and it's easy to say that the sequel is a clear improvement in all areas, or at least the ones that matter. It's always refreshing when that happens, I think, since it speaks well for the way the series can grow as, these days you can usually hope for a 'next one' especially with franchises like Phantasy Star Portable/Universe/Online/etc.  Personally, I'm still looking for PSP3 on Vita.

It would be like heaven.

Not All Absurdity is Good Absurdity

I've made it fairly clear here at various points that I love absurdity.  I live and breathe it and love to see it in games, since that's one of the few forms of media that it's okay to have it in anymore.  (The others mostly consisting of Cartoons)  But, as with all things, there is a line, and absurdity is only good and all when it's done properly.  Now, I'm not saying what brought on this article is bad in the way it chooses to deliver, but it's certainly not on the level with something more recent that's caught my attention.  Just because there's being absurd to be funny and there's absurd....to be weird.  A trailer I saw today for a newly announced Playstation Vita game, called "Frobisher Says", brought this to mind immediately.



Now, like I said, it's not bad, so much as it's out-there enough to be a little off-putting.  Admittedly, british humor has always been very hit and miss for me (and that's what this is, very clearly) so maybe I'm not exactly the best judge.  And while there are a few parts to it that are....approaching endearing, I'm not sure just what to think.  The article that brought the game to my attention said that it appears to be a sort of WarioWare-type game, but I myself have never touched a WarioWare title so I do not know of its ways.  It appears to be a mini-game collection, which I'm fairly.....well, they don't generally interest me.

But on the other hand, it is a Playstation Vita game, and depending on the number of minigames it has, I'm sure to find a few that I like, yeah?  I guess I'll just have to file this one under "Wait and see", since I'm nowhere near prepared to decide on it one way or another.  Besides, I'm sure my Vita will be plenty busy when I get it anyway.  I've been itching to play through Peace Walker again, but I'm deliberately holding off until the Vita to make use of the second stick.  (Since apparently it'll be one of those PSP games that will be able to use it or something)  Not to mention Uncharted:  Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush (If it's a launch-title), and whatever else I end up picking up.  Still waiting for a 'concrete' launch list, of course.

A list that will then be posted to this blog, since I am all about the goddamned Vita.

All Sorts of Vita News....Mmmmm...

I'm sure you guys all know that if there's anything I like, it's news about the Vita, something that I grow more and more excited for every day..  So GamesCom has been quite a thing for me, what with all the things confirmed, announced and shown off for it.  And even though my allergies are making these words crawl through the haze in my head to get here at the moment, I still want to point out the more noteworthy bits of news that we learned about.  (Which are, of course, all of them.)

First up, and arguably the most forgettable of the news, is the fact that there will be downloadable apps for Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Foursquare which is....well, not great news, but pretty good.  I know I use my PSP to check my Twitter and update it, which, well, you all know as well, and while I don't have much use for the other three apps, the fact that they'll be available for download for free is nice.  Note that "Available for Download" is key, since it likely means they won't come pre-loaded on the Vita so you can just pick what you like rather than have a useless Foursquare app staring at you every time you go onto that app page or however this UI is going to pan out with all these apps and buttons.

Seriously, before today, I had never heard of Foursquare.  And this news did prompt me to wiki it which...well, it looks interesting.  It's like a sort of meta-game you play with your friends and/or the entire internet, that lets you log where you go and give you points and awards for visiting the same places again and again or something.  Like I said, it's fairly interesting, but the wiki article does, of course, point out the inherent, er, issues with such a service, and I don't know if those have been addressed or anything properly yet, but while interesting, I doubt I'll be using it, especially since it sounds like Near far outperforms it in terms of prizes for going out of the house.

Secondly, which is....kinda sorta less necessary to know for those of us who just intend to play on the Vita, is the knowledge that Vita Dev Kits are dirt cheap (comparatively speaking).  Where the PS3/PS2 dev kits were/are fairly expensive (The figure shown in the article is "PS2 and PS3 devkits cost €20,000, while PSP ones cost €15,000", but those may be long out-dated numbers.), the Dev Kits for Vita in Europe will start for a paltry 1,900 Euros plus tax.  I don't know the exact exchange rate or anything like that, but four figures seems, all in all, pretty nice, especially when that four figures is on the low-end of it all.  Hopefully this means that it'll never be 'too expensive' to develop on the Vita and as such, we'll never have such a drastic games drought.

Finally and most importantly, was all the wonderful games news that we got, not only updates to games we knew about but also brand-new reveals shown off just recently.  Clearly, we all know that I'm going to show off the trailer for LittleBigPlanet Vita, right?  Right.  This one focuses a lot on the fact that you'll be able to take pictures and inspiration from anywhere you go and shows it off in, well, a pretty good way.




Of course, the end result isn't exactly what was built and would take at least a little while longer of tweaking, but still it's seeming fairly user-friendly.  I imagine the sticks will be what you use for a little more precise work but more methods of input are always good, I say.  Also, that music.

Up next is my second most anticipated game for the Vita at this point, Uncharted:  Golden Abyss.  Finally a trailer that shows off how the game looks in cutscenes and in-game.  Which, unsurprisingly, both look exactly the same.



If I had to pick any one thing out of that that I didn't like, it'd just be the girl's hair; something about it looks slightly off.  But, eh, such is the issue with video game hair, unfortunately.  The rest?  The rest is spectacular.

And while I'm going to be looking forward to Resistance: Burning Skies and Gravity Rush (newly named), the announcement of Escape Plan is something that is fairly interesting, so I thought it would bear reason to show it off.



Maybe it's the music playing (really, how many times has that song been used to show off a game?  Yet it works every time.) or the Clerks font on the in-betweens, or just because the game really shows off some form of character with just what we've seen, but it looks like it'll be a contender for our attentions.

The Perils of Old People and Technology

So, I apologize for not having a post up early tonight.  I really wanted to post about something, especially something Vita related and I might just do that as a "Bonus" post, but for the past three hours, I was assisting my mother in setting up an account and doing a family tree on some website.  For a frame of reference, I started at 9:01 PM exactly, when we went out and turned on her laptop to get her on the site and this and that.  (I'm specifically not mentioning the site out of spite.  For who, I don't know.)  It is now, as of this writing, 12:20 AM, though I came back to the computer.....maybe about ten minutes ago.

First off, this site isn't really that intuitive.  (Maybe that's why I'm not linking, since I don't want to give a negative impression out of frustration)  I mean, sure, as we went on it got easier, but it doesn't work like the commercials/impressions would indicate, in that you can just sort of throw a few facts in and then get half of your extended family.  It just does not work that way and not once did we find a member of the family tree that we didn't already know about.  Hell, we had trouble finding records for one of my mom's siblings, and never did end up finding anything for them just yet.

So, for all those three hours of work, we ended up with a Family Tree that has...four tiers.  Overall, about 15 or so people.  And...that's it.  Those were all just people we knew about, we got absolutely no 'hints' towards other family members or anything like that.  We'll see what happens next time, but I'm not anticipating some grand sweep.  The search parameters used for locating family members seems entirely too wide, as you'll enter one word and end up with something different.  Like, using the example of "John Smith", we could probably end up with "John W Smithe", "Smith Johnson" or anything like that.  It's just not....concrete.

But it's not just simple things like website navigation.  I'm, frankly amazed at the mere thought that folks in elderly homes are able to turn on a Wii, much less play it without instruction (and as such, doubt a scenario is possible), as my mom needed written, step-by-step instructions on how to turn on/off her Wii.  Two years after purchasing it.  It's just.....urgh.

You know when you were in school and the network went down or your classroom's computers were acting weird, and so the teacher sent you off to find the tech dudes, and they always seemed frustrated?  I get that now.  So much so that I could almost go back to the school I went to and just apologize to that dude for all the times I had to go get him to figure out something.  Because I truly understand the sheer hair-ripping rage brought about by these sorts of scenarios.

So yeah.  That is why tonight's post was late.  Apologies, folks.