3DS Pricing Insanity

The recent release of Nintendo’s newest handheld, the 3DS, has me questioning its expensive price tag. Priced out at $249.99, the 3DS runs roughly $110 more than the original DS did when it was first launched. In a time when home consoles start at $249.99, I find it hard to justify spending so much on a portable gaming system. What makes the 3DS so special besides the 3D? What sets the 3DS apart from Nintendo’s failed Virtual Boy?

I loved this game!

The games are what will ultimately set the 3DS apart. Besides Wario Land, the Virtual Boy didn’t have much going for it. So far, I haven’t seen any games that have me clamoring for the new system. Have you?

Being Purposeful

Everyday, I mentally compile a grand list of things I want to accomplish over the lunch hour:

  • Work on web design
  • Read a few chapters of a book
  • Play a video game
  • Write a blog post
  • Etc.

Lately, almost without fail, I have been finding myself on the couch lost in various televised distractions. For example, yesterday I found myself laughing with Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. Good times indeed! Now, I know that there is nothing wrong with occasionally vegging out; nothing wrong with de-stressing for an hour. Sometimes I really need to escape whatever reality has served me for the day. What bugs me though are the feelings of guilt that end up hitting me as I settle back in at work. “I could have accomplished so much if I had only…”

I think what I am getting at is that I am not being purposeful with my time. Granted, an hour lunch period isn’t very long to do much. Still, I know that I could be more purposeful by dedicating myself to something specific each day. Just a thought.

New Direction, Shifting Gears

Ever since 2003, JohnnyBGamer has been all about creating a place where Christianity and video games collide. Starting out as a website designed by my friend Scotto, JBG soon shifted from being a self-hosted site to a WordPress blog. Tried as I might, the site has never really caught on like I wanted it to. This has lead me to recently ask friends and family for both their opinion and advice: Do I continue with JohnnyBGamer?

Looks like a joystick! (2008 Bugatti Veyron)

A few weeks ago, I got into a good IM conversation with a friend. He told me that perhaps I should use JBG as sort of a personal site dedicated to my writing. A one-stop shop for all your Bryan needs, so to speak. So I thought it over. I ended up realizing that there is a lot of pressure and work trying to create/ write for, what is in its essence, a fictional business. So I pulled the trigger and decided that it was time to just write for myself and not JohnnyBGamer.

What does this mean for anyone who has stuck around through the years? Not too much. Instead of some fictional brand you get me, Bryan. I’ve been here the whole time…

Costume Quest: The Demo

This is how blurry the text reads on my TV. Is this normal?

Yesterday, I had the chance to finally sit down and play through the Costume Quest demo (PS3). First off, I loved everything about this game! The storyline was hilarious and the art direction, with the big expressive eyes, reminds me of one of my favorite games, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Overall the demo showcased the imaginative worlds and humor developer Double Fine is known for. If it wasn’t for the blurry text on my TV (I need to upgrade), I would buy the game.

The Library

After reading George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, I found myself wanting to check out other works of modern fantasy. Brandon Sanderson, the author who took over for Robert Jordan on his The Wheel of Time series, wrote a book last year entitled, The Way of Kings. This particular book, priced out at $12.99 (e-book price), was too expensive for me to justify buying as a digital copy–I won’t do it!–. Remembering that there is something called a library, a place where books are free, I quickly made a visit of acquisition. Upon check out, I learned that I hadn’t checked anything out since 2007. One could have called this trip quite overdue.

The Way of Kings is a massive tome clocking in somewhere near a 1000 pages. Hardbound, the book is heavy and hard to situate when reading in bed at night. Now I have to confess that my Nook has made me forget what it is like to have to wrangle a 1000 page book. Weight and size have no meaning in the digital form. I could be reading a 2000 page book on my Nook and never know the difference. This is where the e-reader and the e-book shine. The other thing I had forgotten is how nice it is to have the Nook save my place every night. Bookmarks have always failed me with physical books. Somehow, someway, the bookmark always ends up falling out. Utter frustration ensues.

So how is The Way of Kings so far? At this point, a few hundred pages in, I am enjoying it immensely. Unlike Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series, Sanderson has not seen the need, thus far, to throw-in gratuitous amounts of sex and language. Brandon Sanderson is slowly restoring my faith in modern fantasy.

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