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November Has Come

Featuring MF Doom

I'll Read Your Webcomic If You Read Mine

Daily Polygon:
Proudly Advertising World War III: Revenge of the French

Webcomics.

They're all the rage these days. Even your grandmother has one. However, in my case, it's pretty difficult to find one that I really fall in love with and continue to visit every time they're updated. In fact, there are only four. And trust me, I've tried a lot. I've tried Little Gamers, Consoles, PvP (Congrats to Scott on his Eizner nod, though), 8-Bit Theater, and many others. However, none of them match the hilarity and charm of my "regulars." So, let's list them, eh?

• Penny Arcade: Of course you know Gabe and Tycho. They're possibly the most famous webcomic dudes around. They practically define the field and I'm pretty sure they were the first to make a career out of it. Besides the two main characters, I've always loved Div, Fruit Fucker, and Mr. Period. If you don't read them, you either don't like them (I know it sounds insane, but there are actually people who don't like PA) or you've been living under a rock. If it's the latter, start reading them, damnit!
• Ctrl+Alt+Del: This is probably my favorite webcomic. Dealing with the exploits of roommate gamers Ethan and Lucas, there are countless priceless moments, from the indtroduction of the X-Bot (Ethan's Xbox, which he constructs into a living being) to Scott's occasional line, "Who's Lilah?" For those unaware, Lilah (Ethan's girlfriend) has never had a scene around Scott, Ethan and Lucas's other roommate, who seldomly makes appearances these days. I really wish he was around more often, what with his hilarious quips about Windows and his cult-favorite pet, Ted the Penguin. I don't care if you don't like Tim Buckley's CAD. Read them anyway.
• VG Cats: Scott's a funny guy for two reasons besides his sense of humor. First off, he's Canadian, and I love Canadian folk, they're just quircky people. Secondly, he links to PGC, which puts him up another notch. Besides that, though, he's also an undeniably funny writer with probably the best art in all of webcomics. Give him a read.
• Niego: Now, most of you probably haven't heard about Niego yet. Written by two guys named Jason and Seth, this webcomic has little to do with games at all, and really centers around the daily life of John Niego and his devilishly hilarious school-teacher rommate, Leland. This one's still finding its niche' since it's relatively new (just came out last September), but it's getting a lot better, and because they haven't hit fame yet, Jason and Seth don't mind at all if you want to give them a buzz about something. They're pretty open people, in fact. Give them a read. You may just fall in love with Niego's charm.

And that concludes this entry. Meat is murder, but it's also delicious.

Support My Buddies

Daily Polygon:
Brought To You By The Phrase Who Gives a Fuck

Today's entry will deal with some of my gaming journalist friends who you should all be fans of. I'll save you the time of reading through the dozens that I know, so I'll limit it to the Top 5. Sorry if you're not on the list, you're probably #6. I swear it.

• Josh Wagner: If you don't know who Joshie-boy is, he's the Editor in Chief at N-Insanity, and took over my duties after I left this past January. Muh boy's fiercely talented and will definitely blow your mind when it comes to writing ability. He often goes to by the gamer alias of Frayed, which is what I called him for the most part until we started getting actual by-lines. Anywho, check out his shit. It's uber-awesome.
• David Dolnick: If you like GameSpot, you'll like David. His reviews and their reviews read very similarly, both in length and in talent. In other words, if you like your reviews in-depth, you can't go wrong with the Staff Administrator and PS2 Senior Editor at GameXC. Seriously, read his reviews and tell me he's not talented. I dare you.
• Damon Baker: When I was still new to the reviewing game, I read a lot of the veteran poster reviews at Game Informer. Damon went under the alias of Joachim, and I read his stuff like it was made of gold. When I was crafting my style, he was a major influence. When he really gets going, he's almost untouchable. Currently he works with Josh at N-Insanity.
• Brian Muller: I've never had the pleasure to really work with Brian, but he's a great guy and a spectacular up-and-coming writer. He just loves writing reviews and the passion really shows in his work. What I probably like most about him is that he's constantly trying to learn and gain new resources. He works with David and GameXC as a Senior Editor and my favorite writer at GameXC's Cube section.
  
• The Entire PGC Staff: They're all great and, hopefully, I'll be able to be as talented as they are one day. The reason I'm grouping them all together is that there are really too many to name without adding more spaces to the list.
• Honorable Mentions: Jeremy Wood, Zachary Miller, Alex Jankowski, and John "Egore."

That's all for now. When there's something strange in your neighborhood, fucking move because that shit isn't going anywhere.

The Countdown to E3 Begins

Daily Polygon:
It's Not T.V. It's Crap.

For the record, I love HBO. I just like cracking jokes about things I love. This just in: No more jokes about Sega. Ever. On to the real topic, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is coming, folks. We're less than a month away and this year should be the best yet, with at least two new consoles making an appearance (Nintendo's Revolution hasn't been booked yet), The Legend of Zelda (Playable!), and all of the other things that make May the best gaming month in the whole damn year. And, I'm very pleased to tell you that...

I'm not going.

Oh, trust me, I'd like to attend. Hell, I'd cause some serious bodily harm to just about anyone to go, but unfortunately, I'm bound by a couple things. For one, this event takes place during school. Secondly, and more importantly, I'm barred due to the age minimum, 18. Watch as I drop this here bomb.

I'm 16.

Yeah, so that pretty much squashes my dreams of going for another two years. However, E3 2007 belongs to me. I've got the money situation worked out in advance and since I've got a job at PGC, the ticket is easily acquired. So, in closing, I may not be going this year, but I will eventually, and until then, I'll still be keeping track of it from home.

That's it for now. Remember to be excellent to each other.

Blahg

Daily Polygon:
It's Why Your Wife Left You

Not soon after I had created this blog did I wonder how I'd make it different - how I'd make it so that my page stood out from the thousands of others. Then it occured to me. I'll do this how I damn well feel like it. I'm not here to put on a show like other blog-men. I'm not here to entertain you. I'm here to rant and rave and use profanities. Maybe even a little celebrity bashing. The point is, it was at this point that I realized that this mindset wouldn't work, and that I am here to entertain you. Or am I? I'm still not quite sure.

The point is, gentlemen (I don't include ladies because I'm sure I don't have any female readers, if any readers at all; the point is none of them have vaginas...), that I don't know what the hell I'm going to use this thing for. So I'll use it as an everything rant, game, or journalist-related. Maybe all three at once! Wouldn't that be groovy? Yeah, that's the word I'm looking for. A long-deceased buzzword from a decade when my parents were growing up.

It occurs to me that I should fill a little more space, so I'll move onto one last paragraph-long rant. Here are the Top 5 Reasons Blogs Fail

• No Readership: He sucks and can't keep an audience. Muahaha, another one bites the dust!
• The Author Gets a Sweeter Gig: I've already got one of those... And yet here I am. Weird.
• The Old Switch-Around: That author translates his blogs over to their webcomic or other website (a'la Penny Arcade).
• Lack of Interest: Hey, sometimes people just want to stop.
  

Finally:

• The World Ends: No more computers with which to blog. Oh noez!

And that's my two cents for the night. Party on, Wayne.

Nintendo Teams Up With Broadcom, As Well As A Mini-Rant

Daily Polygon:
Because Sophisticated Content Is Too Good For You

You may have recently heard that Nintendo's wireless functionality on the Revolution will be handled through a partnership with Broadcom. If you don't know what Broadcom is, it deals with wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors. If you're not hip to tech-lingo, this means that they work to provide online connections. For Nintendo, they'll be increasing the WiFi technology's power by 50%, strengthening your connection and enabling you to play people farther away. Imagine a regular online set-up and then giving it steroids. That's the kind of situation we've got here.

So be happy, my young Nintendo friends who dream of doing the online jig all night long with a 34-year old Japanese schoolteacher. Your prayers may soon be answered with the increasingly online-positive Nintendo Co. Ltd. Now all they need to do is let Nintendo of America off its figuritive 5-foot leash and they'll be golden next round. God knows Sony can't last forever, so the next thrown-master might as well be Nintendo. If they add some great third party support and DVD playback, there's no reason why it couldn't be them. Even with the PS3 and Xbox 360's pre-installed user-base, if there's anything I've learned about the game industry it's that it's completely unpredictable. For all we know, Microsoft will wear the crown next round. All fingers are pointing to Sony on that one, but until I see the concrete facts at E3 this year, I'm not putting a lot of faith in Cell technology.

Anyway, this has turned into a rant about the next generation and I'm starting to come off as anti-Sony. I'm not anti-Sony, I'm just a firm supporter in the underdog. If things were the other way around, I'd be hooting for the PS3 nonstop. No, really, it's true. I always support the straggler in the hopes of an upset. I'm just that type of rebel, you see. I even wear a Renegade patch on my badass leather jacket.

That last part's a joke. It's suede.

GameStop Buys Out Electronic Boutique

Daily Polygon:
If Your Unborn Child Could Read, They'd Be a Fan

I'm still playing around with the layout, so don't be surprised if the look changes around a bit. Anyway, on to to day's topic. As you may have heard, GameStop Corp. has acquired the gaming store chain, Electronic Boutique, which is also one of their main competitors. Now, let's examine the oddities of this transaction.

• Electronic Boutique is a large supplier of Electronic Gaming Monthly, a competitor to GameStop's Game Informer. Seeing as how this is a GameStop purchase, I'd say Game Informer will be fine, while EGM's future at the store is still up in the air.

• This means little to no competition on the used/trade-in gaming market for GameStop. Does this mean that the customer will get the shaft since they don't have to worry about losing their following? Time will tell.

• Because of reason one, this is a major thorn in the ass of media distributer Ziff Davis. This isn't really an oddity, but I felt it merited a mention.

With that in mind, one this is abundantly clear: GameStop > EB Games. Eat capitalism, bitch.

Welcome to Daily Polygon

Daily Polygon:
For When You Just Stop Giving a Shit

Hello there, folks and welcome to my little experiment that I call Daily Polygon. It's with this little blog of mine that I'll cover the (hopefully) daily happenings as both a gamer and a gaming jouranlist. I'm not too hip to this web log revolution that's happening the world over, but I found myself not liking Live Journal (something about it struck me the wrong way) and I like having a place to rant now and then, so here we all are. I suppose I'll lay out some basic facts first. My actual name is Karl Castaneda, although I've also gone by pseudonyms like Eric Williams as well as my personal gamer handle, Viewt.

As I stated above, I'm a gaming journalist. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it means that I'm a news-and-reviews junkey in the world of interactive entertainment. I work for a website called Planet GameCube where I'm a Staff Writer. I've been there roughly three months, before which I worked through various ranks at another Nintendo-focused website called N-Insanity.

When it comes to games, I'm all about the Big N (huge surprise, I know). I own all of their systems except the SNES (which died in a tragic accident best told some other time), from the NES to the GameCube to the GBA SP. Currently I'm enjoying Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga on the GBA and Super Smash Bros. Melee on the GameCube. Next generation, though, I'm considering about purchasing an Xbox 360 (there'll be a rant on that some time in the future) in addition to Nintendo's "Revolution."

Now that you've got the basic facts about me and what this webpage is about, let the games begin.