Let’s not lose perspective though. I’ve gamed like crazy (as you’ll see below). However with that and the management of the trailer monster that I’ve taken on, I’ve been able to self manage myself without going nuts.

(I’m also trying again to not become a lethargic sack of crap, and last week I started jogging. Yeah, ME.)

My little web comic is starting to take some sort of shape. The more I work on Alfredo Afro the more it just feels right. Ideas hit me at random for blogs and comics and they’re just getting funnier and funnier. I’m also noticing that my blogs receive more attention than the normal bi-weekly comics do, which doesn’t exactly surprise me thanks to whatever experience I built up with Pluh.com‘s reviews and other crap.

These are just fun to create.

Speaking of, I’ve considered “rebooting” pluh.com a few times. It gets traffic thanks to the Daily Dumb over there which I’m determined to make the main (and possibly only) feature of the site. Just thinking about trying something “new” with that site almost sends me into a depression. Anyone I ever bring it up to seems to not care, or their eyes glaze over with copious amounts of foam emerging from their mouth-cannons, and I CAN’T BLAME THEM.

I wouldn’t declare it dead, but I wouldn’t try to “reboot” it either. CPU is doing a great job with the Daily Dumb and I wanna keep that going.

With Alfredo Afro, at least I know if it fails it’s because *I* failed. I’d have nobody else to blame. Did I give it my all for Pluh.com? I can’t say for sure. At least now with AA I know it has a clear purpose and I don’t have to hope that others do stuff without me having to “motivate” them. Heh.

Alright. Enough. Game review time. Don’t get used to this, because 2012 is looking quite a bit more bland than this year.

(I’m STILL playing Skyrim. WOAH.)

Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)

This review sums up how I’m feeling about modern shooters in general, and GOW3 is no exception.

I can’t play this game for more than an hour without getting bored. Seriously. The games looks great, sounds great, was well designed, etc, but… I don’t know. I’m not sure if it’s just me being a picky jerk or if I’m losing my metaphorical cogs. I can definitely tell that many, many months of time, energy, and talent went into this game because it is obviously very well produced.

But like the Call of Duty single-player games (which I’ve never actually finished because I get SO FUCKING BORED), there’s a moment when I have to pause the game and think, “is this really worth my time right now?”

In all the Gears of War games, here’s the general strategy:

1. Take cover
2. Shoot bad guys
3. Go to step 1 if you get injured

The challenge here is to not fall asleep while playing. There were a few awesome, memorable moments where you’d have to use strategy to kill the baddies, such as this one giant creature that you had to aim for the eyes, but it’d vanish and burrow around. At the end of the first Gears, the last boss was a BLAST to fight because he required real strategy.

The dialogue and story are all excellent. I just wish I could fast-forward through the actual gameplay to watch the characters tell the story.

That is bad.

5 out of 10 glowies.

Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)

Ahh, good old Zelda.

This review also sums up how I feel about this game. So what if I referenced another review? YOU SHUT IT.

Now all the positives from a Zelda game are there: Puzzles, swordplay, strategy, visuals – it’s all there. What isn’t there, sadly, is – and I really hate to say this – is real originality. I know, I know – BLASPHEMAWR!

Gametrailers summed it up; this feels like I’m going through the motions.

• Find dungeon
• get thingy
• use thingy to kill boss
• Next dungeon

I know, I know – this is what Zelda is all about. It is fun and I am enjoying it. I just wanna see Link doing something ELSE for once rather than the same ‘ol, same ‘ol.

To compare, it is in my top 5 Zelda games and I’ve played ‘em all.

Definitely snag this if you love yourself some Zelda!

9 out of 10 Vanishing Princesses

That about does it for me. I need to do some sketching and… well, I don’t wanna go and fire myself for incompetence.

Speaking of crap, how about some game reviews?

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

This game, along with a few others, helped me realize how much I’m NOT an elite gamer. Sometimes the “You versus 60 bad guys” thing can become infuriating. One moment I’m blasting 15 different baddies with my AK-47, then out of nowhere 2 guys wielding shotguns flank me and I’m dead, even though I was checking my flanks. On top of that, I can unload TWO CLIPS of AK rounds into just one of those shotgun wielding, armor-wearing guys and they won’t die.

That’s the only problem I had with this game.

Everything else is gaming perfection. My jaw hit the floor several times during this game, especially during the exploding plane scene like you’ve probably seen in the trailers for the game. I didn’t think they’d be able to improve this much over Uncharted 2, but they did, and I had an absolute blast.

My favorite part of these games are the characters. Sully and Drake’s quips were so well written that I could honestly believe that they were real people. Looking forward to that Vita and the Uncharted on there.

9 out of 10 Shotguns in the Face

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

My poor, poor girlfriend. I had planned on this for a while and I gave her plenty of warning.

“Listen up dear. When Skyrim comes out I’m going into a small hermitage. Mmmkay?”

3 days after it’s release and I clocked in thirty-something hours. What’s WRONG with me?

Okay, in my defense, Skyrim is quite the idealistic virtual medieval magic-fantasy world. What’s better is that it’s NOT an MMORORPROPPRPG, which makes me happy. I don’t much care for those, like WoW, which doesn’t end. Skyrim is a happy medium. It’s so vast and huge that it doesn’t seem like you can do everything, but if you played about 300 hours of it you probably COULD do everything. The game CAN end and you don’t have to pay for monthly crap. YES.

I bought the game for the PC only because I wanted to take advantage of mods (which are already coming out) and any other cool stuff that won’t be available for Xbox or PS3. Plus… it’s on my laptop that I can take ANYWHERE. Love that part.

The game looks and sounds almost perfect. Sometimes I end up stopping and gawking at scenery. Voice acting is diverse enough to not bore me to tears like Oblivion. Caves, towers, quests – almost ALL are unique. Dual casting spells is amazing. Bethesda, please remake Morrowind with this engine. PLEASE. I know you won’t… but PLEASE?

Heh.

The shouts are so much fun to use. Being able to shout at someone and watch their body flop away in the distance just never gets old. I would KILL to have that ability in real life.

KILL.

There are some bugs in the game. I came across an annoying one last night, but it doesn’t stop the game from being fun. When I got to a point where I could get married in the game (hey, this hot chick was calling me handsome, what can I do?), we opted to get hitched. When I arrived at the church and it was time to get married, suddenly the dead body of one of my former companions that died appeared by the church entrance and it said that I “Failed to Attend My Own Wedding” or something. Essentially this.

Yeah.

Little things like that creep up, but the game is otherwise a blast. If you like RPG heaven and hate having a life, Skyrim is THE ONES.

(I had some screenshots but they’ve vanished. ARGH)

9.7 out of 10 Lame Skyrimjob Jokes

There was a former bassist from a very famous metal band that I met recently. The dude did several world tours, helped deliver the band he was in to superstardom, and then walked away from it all. Parties, travelling, tour buses, all that stuff – GONE. “How could he do that?” you ask?

I think I understand why.

Getting burnt out can happen to anyone. It almost happened to me right before we recorded “The Digital Appetizer.” I almost stepped back and walked away. I’m obviously very glad I didn’t since we’re making tremendous progress. Sometimes, though, it is tempting. Those late nights where I just want to get away and I can’t, I become tempted. When dramatic nonsense hits the fan, I become tempted. When, as a leader and owner, my decisions get constantly challenged/questioned and I want to punch faces, I become extremely tempted.

Of course, these are things that have to be dealt with. The pros FAR outweigh the cons in the long run.

So what the hell is my problem? I think I just need a break. Luckily in 3 days I’ll be home.

Playing video games. Wonder if I can just let my phone battery die and not touch it for three days? Hmm.

Here are 3 out of the 73 games that are coming out this month that I have to play:

Did all game devs get together and decide to release all their games all at once? NOT NICE.

Of course, SKYRIM is the one I want the most. I preordered it for the PC (Boot Camp in my case) and probably will ignore all other games for a good month. Heh.

I loved Oblivion, but there were several factors about that game that really limited my enjoyability. For starters, there were probably about 10 voice actors for all the different races. Encompass all those voices across hundreds of characters and there’s an issue with monotony.

Worth bitching over? Not at all. The game is a work of art, and it seems with Skyrim they’ve addressed all the little “thingies” that were goofy. So yeah, can’t wait to get my digital hands on that’n.

So we’re finally going out with Mushroomhead this fall which is a nice change of pace for us. Let me rephrase: We’ve been touring for almost six years now and there hasn’t been a real strong opportunity for us to go out. Think about it; how many huge metal bands want to take out a comedy metal band?

Can I iterate?

The problem with being “unique” is that you’re “risky” in the eyes of other bands/promoters/booking agents. Wanna know why we haven’t toured England/Austrailia/WORLD yet? We’re a “risk” in the eyes of the industry because of our comedic undertones. No matter how YOU feel about it, there’s nothing we can do if Huge Metal Band X won’t take us out because they’re not sure about us.

What’s equally as frustrating is from all the ass-busting we do other bands seemingly just waltz into some sort of famous status where they’re swimming in tour buses, fans, and huge touring ops without even trying. Of course, I’m sure there are some bands out there who look at us and go, “Those fucktards sing songs about tacos and testicles and people like it. Screw them.”

I know you’re out there. *finger points at screen*

Hopefully this tour will help show the world that Psychostick can hang with other non-comedic acts and do it well. We can, I assure you.

Okay, enough about that.

I want to play this.

NOW.

Yeah.

So that Alfredo Afro thing I’ve been raving about is finally done. It’s launching on March 1st as some of you already know. Since our last “meeting” I’ve managed to create a really funny blog for it which equates to about NINE comics, and now I’m at the point where I can crank a decent looking comic in a couple of hours or less, depending on the complexity.

Yeah. Here’s a stack of prints that’ll be ready to sell once March 1st hits. That’s right. I’m actually going through with this. Oh, and to the left of those prints are some stickers that’ll be going out to the lucky folks who buy stuff.

11 x 17 and 8.5 x 11. Aren't I just generous?

Am I excited? Yes. Yes I am. I don’t even care if it fails miserably, I’m just happy to be doing this.

How about a couple of game reviews? No? Too bad.

Dead Space 2 (PC, 360, PS3)
What a freakin’ experience this game is. Some of you electronic stalkers of mine might already know that I’m a huge Dead Space fan, and this sequel did not disappoint. It basically took all the great aspects of Dead Space and turned ‘em up. Prior to me purchasing this game I was playing it’s prequel on the hardest difficulty to get warmed up.

This game is TENSE. From the very first scene to the last battle I was rather “white-knuckled.” The only con to Dead Space is that there’s no quick spin-around controls like in Resident Evil 4 and 5, thus the controls get clunky at times. But at least you can WALK AND AIM at the same time, Capcom. Take cue from this game and make us proud, mmkay? Good Capcom.

9.3/10 Severed Limbs

Dragon Quest VI (NDS)
I’m right at the end of this game; far enough to review it.

What can I say? It’s Dragon Quest. Fast, simple, and fun. Utilizing the same engine as the remakes of IV and V, part VI takes the already great visuals from the SNES and overhauls ‘em, adding a ton more personality to the characters and enemies. I absolutely love the animation in these NDS remakes. The musical score is very much improved. I’m glad to be playing an official translation of this game; the fan translation of the Super Famicom game didn’t have a ton of personality, although I am NOT complaining. I was very glad to play it.

My preorder bonus. All of my dreams finally came true now that I have a Plush Slime from Dragon Quest.

Gameplay is great, story is decent (nothing amazing or original), and the class system is highly addictive. Makes me wanna break out Dragon Quest VII for the PSOne and go nuts, but that’s just crazy talk. I don’t have 70 spare hours laying around.

Can’t wait to see what Squeenix does for the 3DS and the PSP2 or whatever the hell it’s called.

9.1/10 Stupid Plush Slimes

Those new Macbook Pros were announced today. To my delight they’ve finally allowed for QUAD-CORE! It’s kind of my Hardcore or Metalcore, but… FOUR! I guess four-core sounds stupid. That’s ONLY if you have the wrong attitude, though.

I’m going to attempt to raise enough cash to get one of these. I told myself, “Mr. Rawrb, sir, if they announce quad-core Macbook Pros, it’ll be time to upgrade.” Not that my computer is dead or anything, bit it’s showing some age. I might have to sell my body to raise enough cash.

Pssh, none of  you could afford me.

I’m gonna skip that whole “I’m gonna try and update more” nonsense. I am gonna try and update more though. I think it’s be— awwh hell.

June 30th was my last internet e-web blog. Now I have to recall of things to talk about. I did some stuff. There was also some stuff I didn’t do. For instance, I did not battle a mutant octopus, but I did go to North Dakota for the first time. Guess which is funner and/or more interesting? Awh hell, you know which. North Dakota.

So I’m going to “review” a few video games. You probably don’t care, but this is my internet text!

Dragon Quest IX (Nintendo DS)

I went and picked me up one of those funky Nintendo DSi XL thingies. This would be the *ahem* third DS I’ve bought. First was that clunky grey DS. Then a nice DS Lite. Why did I buy another one? I don’t rightly know… my impulses kicked in when I saw ‘em on display. “OOoOh, a bigger screen!” Yeah, goddamn Nintendo. Why must they make everything so awesome?

In any case, I also picked up Dragon Quest IX with this newfangled DSi XL. Now if you know me beyond “BEER IS GOOD!” you might know that I’m a huge Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior for a while here in the states) fan. I heard there was dumb multiplayer crap in this one, and the odd-shaped characters looked too kiddie for my taste, but what the hell; let’s see how this one is.

I’m STILL playing it.

If anything, this might be the single best Dragon Quest game to date. If part VIII was the best looking and sounding, IX is the most expansive sequel. The main quest isn’t super long, but all the extra content will take you two to three times as long as the main quest to complete. Matter of fact, once you character reaches level 99, you can… reset him/her to level one again to earn more points.

The side quests are what make this game near perfection for a handheld device. They remind me of quests in Oblivion actually; you run into someone who needs you to perform a task, you go and perform the task, then you return for a reward. Some are easy, some are insane. The sheer magnitude of these quests is pure craziness.

AND let’s not forget the treasure maps. There are something like 4 million possible combinations for treasure maps that lead you down dungeons that can be larger than the last level of the game. I’ve clocked over 140 hours so far and… I still want to keep playing. Perfect for a touring jerk like me or anyone who likes a game with substance. I only don’t like the big-headed character design; everything else is gold and/or Orichulcum.

9.5/10 Questing Tacos.

Metroid: Other M (Wii)

I would consider myself a Metroid guy. The only entry in the Metroid series that I didn’t like was Metroid Prime: Hunters for the DS. Yes – I even liked Metroid II on the Game Boy! What’s wrong with me?

Other M drops that whole silent protagonist thing with a very vocal Samus played by… um… Jessica Martin? Here’s her IMDB. As of this writing, Other M looks to be her first vocal performance. She didn’t do BAD, but there are times when it just sounds like she’s just reading her lines. The same goes for the rest of the cast. I’m going to blame the lazy translation of the game; the dialogue isn’t believable. Yeah yeah, I know – this is a game about a blonde chick in blue spandex that dons on alien armor, shoots plasma, and turns into a ball. How believable can you get? Still though; the dialogue sounds forced and I never once believe that they’re real people.

The actual gameplay, however, is lotsa fun. It feels like a healthy cross between Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. Sure the first person modes feel a little awkward at first, but not long after playing it’ll feel just fine. The method of unlocking abilities is kindof… weird, and 90% of the stuff you come across for the first couple hours you can’t get yet. I do remember that in Metroid games, but they really REALLY make sure you can’t get ‘em ’till Adam goes, “Okay Samus, it’s safe for you to jump higher!”

Uhh yeah, I really enjoyed the game and Team Ninja (who made the Ninja Gaiden games on Xbox; some of my favorite games of all time) did a great job. Nowhere near as good as the best of the Metroid series, but it’s a fun game and I’ll be returning to it again fer sure.

7.8/10 Ridley Sandwiches

Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)

Arguably the most important game of 2010, right? Right?! Well except for those jerks who hate Xbox and Microsoft for no real legitimate reason… heh. *cough* NICK *cough*

There isn’t a Halo in this Halo. There is a Reach though, and you aren’t Chief, Master. You are Noble Six in a team of super soldier Spartans in defense of the planet Reach, and yes, you will lose. It’s a prequel to the first Halo game and isn’t quite based on the Fall of Reach book.

The Deliver Hope trailer for this game had a lot more emotion than the actual game, strangely. The character development in this game isn’t quite up to par, but I’m not exactly sure that’s a BAD thing. These are super soldiers and their emotions are just right for how they handle their extraordinary situations. I did end up liking a couple of the characters, although I think a few more hours of gameplay with them would have made a world of difference.

Single player is really fun like all the previous games, although it doesn’t really diversify. They do introduce new weapons and a new space-flight mission, which is all welcome. After I did finish the single player campaign, I did something I don’t normally do with games: PLAY MULTIPLAYER.

Holy balls. They have a point system similar to Call of Duty where you go up in rank the more you play. Very addictive. When I first hopped in I got my ass handed to me, but I eventually started to suck less. The various modes of gameplay and huge following makes multiplayer all the more fun.

So yes, if you like fun, reach for Halo: Reach. Yes, applaud my pun.

9.8/10 Covenant Cornmuffins

Yes. Games.

Eat.

Couple questions came in, so I SUPPOSE I’ll answer ‘em… with a FIST.

Name: Corey
Subject:  Games
Question: Have you played Darksiders, Bayonetta, Army of Two the 40th day, or any of the newest games out if so whats your opinion on them. Also you must go on your 360 and download the Bad Company 2 demo it is amazing. I am a employ at gamestop so ive played most games that are out and that have been out but id really appreciate any input on some of these games. thanks again. -corey

Dude, can you get me a Wii? Haha. Seriously. Wii. Now. I want to buy and play NES, SNES, and other games. I also want Metroid Prime Trilogy. Want.

Anyway. I haven’t played any of THOSE particular games, but I did finish Assassin’s Creed II recently. That game was top-notch, completely surpassing every single aspect of the first one. I’ve played Arkham Asylum, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Fallout 3, etc etc. I tried the demo out for Bayonetta, but it seemed a bit… hokey? I dunno. Maybe I should try it and accept the ridiculous nature of that game.

Must play Bioshock 2.

Name: jacob
Subject:  2 questions, unrelated
Question: Alright, I know this is a long ago question that I should have asked in 2008ish, but it finally ate at me enough to ask. What happened with mike?  I dont wish to stir the pot in anyway, so if its unanswerable, understood.  Curiosity finally got the better of me, going back and watching the pluh and beer videos.  Gotta understand that i still wear the bright green psychostick shirt from the cd release party at the cajun house.

Secondly, i can kill 2 birds with one stone on this one.  What do you feel is the best way to break into advanced coding practices?  I am trying to get motivated to work on some projects, but i feel ridiculously overwhelmed at what i should know vs what i do know. Im a 3rd year computer sci student at ASU, but i feel like im just a script kiddy.  Any advice on how to break out and start to feel confident in the work you put out?  I know practice makes perfect, but my problem is knowing where to start and what to look for.

Wow. You are an old school ‘stick fan. That shirt was our first shirt design ever. I just tried to dig up the old design but couldn’t find it. Weirdness.

As for Mike – I can’t really divuldge details on why he was let go. That’s super personal for him and it’s not my place to make his departure reasons public, or even just between you and me. You’ll notice most bands don’t make internal stuff external for many reasons, many of them being stupidly dramatic. It’s just not the public’s business to know, and it won’t benefit them in any way TO know. Y’know? So in short, you’ll have to ask him yourself.

Advanced coding practices, huh? I’m not really in a good position to give you advice on that because I’m not an advanced programmer. I can get the job done, but not in the most efficient way. I get better and better every time I build something, so like you said practice, practice, practice.

I highly recommend coming up with an idea for an application. Go crazy with the idea, write down all the logistics of how a person would interact with the application. After that’s done, start building it programmatically. You’ll learn stuff very quickly that way because your mind will switch over to “problem solver,” and in my opinion that’s when our brain is in one of the most intelligent states of being. Before you know it, you’ll be able to crank out top-notch stuff with little effort.

Hope that helps!

Also, for you designers out there, I just completed a new site for a fireworks company out of Nebraska – Midwest Fireworks.

On top of that, here’s a side-by-side comparison of concept sketches and final products, just so you get an idea on how I build stuff.

Psychostick.com: Concept, Final.
Psychostick.com Spash Page: Concept, Final
Evacuate Chicago: Concept. Final

And there you have it. I’d show you lyrics to songs but… you’re not permitted. :]

Psychostick is moving forward with our third Holiday Hate tour. We had a certain band on the tour that we were very excited about, but they ended up dropping off due to management decisions. That’s gotta stink when you aren’t allowed to make your own decisions in your own band. I can see how it’s easy to get into that position, but delegating tasks should be limited to some degree. I know the band wanted to tour with us, and it would’ve been a great move for their careers, but the management wasn’t keen on it because we do things a little differently. Sadface.

I wish we could remove Psychostick from the music business altogether, but still tour with cool bands and sell records. The politics and tactics involved with putting a tour together, keeping everyone happy, and walking away with a profit is absolutely disgusting and obnoxious. It’s sadly a necessary evil… and I really think this is why we’re such a DIY band because we want to keep as much of the evil out of our business as possible. I think we do accomplish this on some level, but the fact that we want to tour with bigger-than-us acts means we have to “play ball.” Oh yeah!

But let’s not be completely negative. The other side of the coin – the fun concerts and amazing records that you get to experience are the results of this necessary evil. So on the surface, things look harmless and are enjoyable, and that’s the important thing.

Heh. Forgive my cynicism.

More to report? Seeing that I’m actually taking time to write something, YES! So quit yo’ jibbah-jabbah.

That’s pretty much my life right now. Yeah. I did start a web hosting business as well over at Pluh.net. Hey, can’t hurt right? I’ll totally host your website. Totally.

Once I’m done recording I’m gonna go visit some family for a while. I gotta take some work with me, but that’s the beauty of being all RAWRB is that I can work from anywhere with an internet connection. Love it. Make some money, built a snowman, kill some ninjas. Whatever.

I also spoilt myself a little. Heh. Rented Star Wars: Force Unleashed and went through Ninja Gaiden II. I’m gonna write me a couple reviews on them here soon and make a feeble attempt to get caught up with the newer generation of consoles. I’m a video game nerd at heart.

That’s all I’ve got for you for now. BWAHA!

I took today off from all this crazy work and played God of War. That’s right – the first one. I missed out on those games up until I picked up the Chains of Prometheus prequen on the PSP and played it throughout the tour. Good game. The first God of War sure has a lot more meat on it’s bones though. I’m really enjoying it. I also watched the bonus DVD that came with God of War II and now have a huge amount of appreciation for what it takes to develop a game of that calibur. Making a CD takes all 5 of us, but they had 70-ish people working on God of War II. Crazy!

Anyway, just chiming in for a second. It’s so very exciting around here huh? YES.