Have a Drink Online

Courtesy of Javis Ray. Check out Legacy-Control.com

I don't always get drunk on Saturday nights; but when I do, I play Xbox.

Unfortunately, I'm not a savant that goes from average player to Drunken Master. In fact, the last time I played "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" whilst under the influence, I ended up trying to repair a shed instead of a tank.

You'd have to ask my friends whether or not I'm particularly obnoxious while drinking and playing… but I like to think I'm not a complete jerk. I'm normally a very self-conscious drunk, often apologizing for my poor performance (that's what she said). If anything, my stupor makes the conversations with my Xbox Live buddies all the more amusing.

Social Gaming

After scoping out the Mass Effect 3 news, I decided to sit through EA’s E3 conference, waiting for my Battlefield 3 fix. The almost endless onslaught of sports game news quickly made me regret that decision. Through all of the promises that these games will be the best in the series (isn’t that kind of expected?), they didn’t really get my attention until they debuted The Sims Social.

And not in a good way. More of a ‘why would you go and do a thing like that’ way. Watching it made me kind of sad for humanity. Essentially it enables Facebook users to act out their awkward social life in The Sims (you know, what we did before Facebook, anyway). I'm not sure which I'm more upset by: that it actually exists, or that people will probably use it. The Facebook chat exchange of "where can I find a man like that?" responded to with "The Sims Social, girl! And if you can't find him, build him!" is all the more disturbing. Please don't clap, E3 audience! You're only encouraging them!

Write It Like You Stole It

Browsing the front page of the local newspaper today (that’s right, a twenty-something reading a dying media), I came across something I hate to see in the news: video games. Below the main headline read “Brothers Played ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ Drank Before Officer Was Killed”.

The article is a follow-up to the recent shooting death of an area public safety officer. It presents updated information regarding the shooter (who was also killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound) and the circumstances leading up to the crime. The same article is available at Mlive.com here.