The Enemy Does Not Sleep

Granted, while "World" is a Christian magazine and is thus biased (who isn't?), it still reports the news itself accurately. So I was both pleased and depressed to open an issue of it today and read this:

Author Christopher Hitchens, who wrote the best-selling God Is Not Great, was a bit startled during a Feb. 28 panel discussion he moderated in New York for the opening of Brett Morgen's documentary film Chicago 10. Among notable journalists who gathered to discuss the Vietnam-era film, Suchin Pak (MTV news) observed that young people are not as passionately anti-war now as their counterparts were over Vietnam. Key cultural difference between 1968 and 2008: "Our audience is more religious and conservative than we assume," she said. "I really hate to hear that the young are becoming more Christian," a startled Hitchens replied. "If that's true, that's the worst news of the night!"

Now, opposed to Hitchens, I'm extremely pleased at any hint that today's youth is becoming more Christian... But I'm always deeply saddened to hear about people like this, who hate religion so much. It's one thing to disagree with the teachings of Christ... It's quite another to wage war on God. My heart goes out for Christopher Hitchens, but this, of course, makes him another potential adversary for me in the literary world (provided things go as planned on my end).

Interestingly, it looks like his own brother, Peter Hitchens, is a believer, and also something of a public figure. Christopher said, "The real difference between Peter and myself is the belief in the supernatural. I'm a materialist and he attributes his presence here to a divine plan. I can't stand anyone who believes in God, who invokes the divinity or who is a person of faith."

So he can't stand his own relatives... Shame...

Fine Fantasies

Note that the title of this entry is not "Finest Fantasies", as I want to keep that available in case I decide to make a blog/column saying, "Final Fantasy VI is the best, yo! And the rest are ordered as thus!"

Anyway, the dorms here tend to be blissfully quiet on weekends (I suppose the other residents are out having lives), and I've spent the better part of my waking hours thus far playing the two newest handheld Final Fantasy titles (released mere weeks apart): Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates on the DS, and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on the PSP.





Crisis Core is the (very) long awaited sequel to Final Fantasy VII. I'm sure it'll be a better sellar than Ring of Rates, and - strictly speaking - is a better game. I confess, I was actually somewhat suprised at the quality level on this title. After all, another "Final Fantasy VII Compilation" addition, Dirge of Cerberus, wasn't exactly stellar, and there was a lot to live up to. But Crisis Core is easily one of my favorite PSP games to date, and one of the first to make me really "love" the little handheld system. From it's Final Fantasy VII-ish battle system (though I guess it's more like a 3D battle system from the "Tales" games) to the high quality cut-scenes with great voice acting to the great story, there's a lot to love here so far.



Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates was a game that the Easter Bunny decided to bless my basket with before heading back to school, and it, too can be very addictive. While the storyline is really nothing at all compared to the brilliance of Crisis Core, it's still got a lot of charm, as well as some voice acting here and there that - while not stellar - adds something to the experience. Apparently the game is even more fun with a friend or three, but as I don't know anyone else with the game I haven't been able to try the multiplayer out. Oh well, it's a lot of fun solo too.



Anyway, it's time to take a break from goofing off and get some work done. I've gotta write the rest of "The Awakening" (which I think is going well), write a myth (the myth of Tirvain and the Talebearers, if you're a lucky reader of my novel), write a short paper, read some of a book, and find a place to live for next semester.



I think I might read some of "The Dark is Rising" first, though... And maybe tune into the Nick Choice Awards tonight, just for kicks.

'Super Smash Bros. Brawl' delivers - La Vida

'Super Smash Bros. Brawl' delivers - La Vida

Sonic Boom

So... Stuff is leaking out about Sonic Unleashed. The leaked images and rumored premise are just as iffy as ever these days (if not moreso), but the video? The video seems to show a "2.5D" experience with crisp, 3D visuals but oh-so-classic 2D Sonic gamplay that's just about the speed and going through crazy courses... And if that's what it is, than that's the best idea Sonic Team has had in the past decade... Shame the fans had it long before they did. Well, unless Sonic Rush on the DS counts.

I just have to keep muttering to myself, "Don't get excited about a Sonic game... Don't get excited about a Sonic game..." If anybody will find a way to let me down, it's Sonic Team. Last year's (or was it '06's?) "Sonic the Hedgehog" on the 360 and PS3 still has an awful taste in my mouth.

On the other hand, Sonic and the Secret Rings on the Wii was alright, and as crazy as it is, playing as Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl really has me itching to see my old hero back on top of the world. Please, Sega... Do something right this time.

Oh, Little Town of Sheridan...

I just realized... It's 3:20 AM on Easter morning, and I just now finished a short story revolving around witchcraft. How's that for weird timing?

The Witch of Sheridan Peak is finally (semi-)done. Now I've gotta type it up, send it to a select few readers, wake up in the morning, spend time with family, hope I have comments on how to fix the surely awful ending, revise it, and hopefully get a copy worthy of submission for publication done by tomorrow night.

I don't know if I'll ever write an entire short story by hand again... Though I'm kinda glad that I can now say I did.

Next? Get ready for an Awakening.

Happy Easter, everybody! Go out and hunt eggs, eat candy, and marvel at the fact that a guy rose himself from the dead... I mean, have you tried that? I'm sure it's tough. Probably a trick that will only be seen that once. Good thing we can still read about it.

'Lost' makes acceptable transition to video game platform - La Vida

'Lost' makes acceptable transition to video game platform - La Vida

Maybe not the headline I would have chosen... It's "acceptable" so long as you're paying no more than $6 or $7 to play it. Especially if you're into Achievement Points. All 1,000 are achieved rather easily.

I rented it for free... Which is a pretty great price.

Random

I dunno why the feed for my last entry never seemed to update RSS-wise (never uploaded to Facebook or anything), but I suck at Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Xbox Live Arcade) online.

Yeah, I know those things aren't related.

Or ARE they?

More later. Maybe on Lost: Via Domus, maybe on my frustration at having a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl while my Wii is back home... There's all KINDS of topics I could talk about!

Gary Gygax on Gaming and Faith

My G2G buddy Ransom showed me this article today, and I found it extremely interesting.

If you're around my age, you very likely remember a time when your parents approached you and said, "Do you play Dungeons & Dragons?!? Because that game is evil! It teaches you witchcraft, tells you to worship Satan, and is driving kids to suicide!"

At the time I took their word for it. At a first glance of the books and things for the game, you could easily see where some of this was coming from. The cover of a D&D rulebook has never exactly - to my knowledge - had happy little children and unicorns on its cover.

Later on, I discovered that, much like Harry Potter, this was all really just a false alarm. The game wasn't really kids material, but it was pretty darn innocent considering what people had been saying about it. In fact, I saw it as a potentially great tool for excercising your imagination. I mentioned this briefly in my tribute to Gary Gygax in the Daily Toreador (the post below this one). A whole lot of fantasy authors actually played D&D. I don't think that's a coincidence.

Anyway, I found it extremely interesting to read/hear/see that not only was Gary Gygax (co-creator of D&D if you're just tuning in) was not only a pretty swell guy, but he was also a Christian.

"I was reticent to say the fact, you know, that I was a Christian," Gygax says in a video embedded in the article I linked to above, "mainly because I was afraid that I would give Christianity a bad name because I did D&D. So I did, I kept my mouth shut. But I just decided no, I’m not going to do that any more."

And I guess it never really got out, though I did hear some people mention, "You know, I think he was a Christian. Or a Mormon or something..." when he passed away. I think it was pretty smart/considerate of him to keep that close to his chest in an effort to help the Christian image. We have more than enough Christians (and "Christians") giving us a bad name as it is. +3 respect to Gygax! Though sorry, man, but I don't think you were really descended from Goliath. Neat story though!

Anyway, I find it extremely interesting that some of the things that, in the past, Christians have vehemently opposed - such as Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia (this was back when they first released), Dungeons & Dragons, and Harry Potter - have turned out to have come from Christians themselves. That doesn't immediately make them good, of course, but it's so ironic/sad that most of us can't actually look into something before burning it at the stake...

...while at the same time, the strong opposition to them creates controversy, and it's the controversy that, in part, made these things popular. Funny how God works. I have a feeling the Talebearer Trilogy (and other works I produce, especially early in my career) may very well be met with the same kind of controversy.

Sounds good to me.

Rolling on: Fantasy tabletop co-creator laid to rest - Opinions

Rolling on: Fantasy tabletop co-creator laid to rest - Opinions

R.I.P. Gary Gygax

Game Developers Conference goes to San Francisco - La Vida

Game Developers Conference goes to San Francisco - La Vida

Hint: If you read the previous GDC coverage I posted here, much of this article will be familiar to you.