So I woke up early today and turned on the television only to realize that it was a day without a game. I hadn't checked the schedule ahead of time and didn't notice the two day break period in tournament play. I was all ready for the quarterfinals yet was left with a feeling of emptiness... well not emptiness but confusion about what to do. For just over two weeks it's been soccer every single day without a break. Sometimes up to four games in a single day. Today was... oddly quiet. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself with no games to watch.
Unfortunately I was also feeling nauseous to my stomach. Was it due to the hole in my soul that was missing the constant blaring of vuvuzelas? Probably. Anyway I was monstrously unprepared with what to do with all that time. I kind of floated around and never got going. Is this how life will be after the end of the World Cup and Argentina are crowned champions?! No. No it won't be. Most likely time will simply stand still for four years and I'll be 30 and watching the cup from the stands of a stadium in Fortaleza or Sao Paolo or Rio de Janiero. I'll watch England bomb, Germany cruise to the semis only to be beaten down, vuvuzela horns be replaced by Brazilian craziness, and everyone bitching about the refs. It's inevitable.
Today I want to talk a bit about one of my recent discoveries. Not really a my discovery but something that was pointed out to me. That is the Angry Video Game Nerd. If you are a fan of gaming, especially classic gaming, then you should really go watch the entire series. I was shown my first AVGN video back in January and was hooked from the first video. The theme of the videos is The Nerd, performing as a character, ranting on about terrible old video games. Usually they are NES games, but Genesis, Atari and Super Nintendo make the cut too. This is relevant to me since those were the popular consoles when I was growing up and I know many of the games he's talking about. His reviews are, simply put, hilarious. His character is as described. He's angry at crappy video games and goes on loud tirades about the failings of old games. His video series is essential to any true gamer. Updates are less frequent lately but he can't be faulted. It's free entertainment so we really can't demand constant updates. Even so there is plenty of content to entertain a person for hours. I hammered out every single video in a two day stretch back in January. He will make you look at games in a new light and demand more from developers so I highly recommend you go check every video out.
After watching AVGN I was, as everybody likely was, tempted to start my own video game vlog series (starring Nigel). I gave up, as everybody likely did, when I realized I'd never be as awesome as JamesNintendoNerd. Plus how could I ever write a theme song half as catchy as his? He had a degree in video production or some shit, I have a degree in journalistic writing. Theoretically I should be able to do something like that, but of course I won't. I started writing some of the stuff up but quit when I realized I have zero follow through (much to my own chagrin). Anybody know where I can find some documentation that will help me learn to use video editing programs? Or anyone want to help me with such a task?
Anyway I'm on another classic gaming kick lately since I've run out of current gen games to play. In particular I'm picking up a few 16-bit RPGs to give another play, some of which I haven't touched in 15 years. Secret of Mana was a game I last played in 4th grade and I've decided to play again. In gave me the idea to do classic game reviews or maybe start up a blog with posts specifically for classic gaming reviews. That'd be a good place to post the videos if I ever end up doing them. Such a blog is decidedly in the maybe pile. If I have the time and motivation and readership then it's possible. Plus if these old games really fire me up while I'm playing them it would be more motivation to do a project like that.
Tomorrow provides no World Cup either so I'll have to come up with something else. Games start back up on Friday with Brazil vs Netherlands and Ghana vs Uruguay. Both promise to be exciting games. Brazil vs Netherlands is a powerhouse showdown. Ghana vs Uruguay is the last game featuring any underdogs (well, I guess Paraguay is an underdog. But I hate them.) so we have somebody to cheer to an unexpected win. Go Ghana!
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