My 2015 year in review: gaming edition!

Microsoft recently sent me a link to a really cool infographic that breaks down a bunch of my Xbox statistic from the past year. Check it out, and visit the site to generate your own! As always, you can click on the photo to embiggen it.

(Also, note my swanky-ass avatar outfit! Deathstroke the terminator with Wolverine claws? Now THAT'S a killing machine!)

A couple of things to note: the gaming time is measuring all the time the Xbox was on and connected to Xbox Live, so I did not actually spend 37% of the entire year playing games. Really. The "you've been with Xbox since 2007" box refers to when I joined Xbox Live, not when I first got an Xbox. (For the record, that was in February of 2002.)

One thing that surprised me is that I rank in the top 1% worldwide as far as my achievements. I am by no means an achievement hunter, but that rank made a lot more sense once I saw that the average Xbox owner only gained 69 achievements in the past year. It's easy to forget that a very substantial number of game console owners only play a couple of games each year. There are millions of people who buy an Xbox and only buy the new Madden or Call of Duty each year, and pick up a new Halo or GTA when they come out. Gamers who talk about their hobby on the internet tend to forget that we devote a good bit more time to gaming than most, and we don't represent the majority. Seeing these stats really drives that home. Anyway, it was cool of Microsoft to do this, and I enjoyed going over it. Let's hope they continue doing it each year!

Rant Ramblings: Week of 6-21-13

What a week! Wednesday brought the stunning news that Microsoft has done a complete 180 on the mandatory online check-in and the used game restrictions that were recently announced for the upcoming Xbox One console. (Although the internet was quick to claim some sort of victory, we can be pretty damn sure the move is motivated by Microsoft's realization that it would wind up making far less money if it dug in its heels and stuck with the various restrictions. The outcry was loud and violent enough that it was an unmistakable conclusion.)
Personally, I thought the announced policies were restrictive enough that they partly led to my decision to preorder a PS4 rather than an Xbone, but the outcry was taken to rather ridiculous levels. Reddit, in particular, seemed extremely hypocritical; Valve's Steam platform is absolutely adored, and Valve can do no wrong, but when Microsoft tried to implement something very damn close to Steam's system, they were crucified for it. I think the restrictions were a bad idea, but I don't like them on Steam, either. Of course, it must be noted that Steam also brings many positive features to the table along with the drawbacks, and Microsoft was bringing the negative aspects of the service with no evidence that the good stuff would be included with them. People do not like being told how they can buy their games and what they can do with them, and if you're gonna try doing that, you'd damn well better have some great bonuses to make up for that lack of freedom. Microsoft may well have delivered on that, but there was no indication that they would, and they paid the price. Under the circumstances, backing down was far and away the best option.
If you're still undecided about which next-gen console you want, here's a handy graphic with direct comparisons in pretty much every category.

Here is a fun photo gallery chronicling a group of people decorating an old van with Sharpies.

Stephen King did an AMA, so you might wanna check that out.

Finally, I've gotten pretty sick of some of the complaints about Man of Steel, the thoroughly awesome Superman movie that debuted last week. (Maybe you've heard of it.)  No movie is flawless, of course, and I have no issue with people who just didn't dig the movie. However, some of the incessant gripes are downright ridiculous, even by the standard of whining we've come to expect from the internet whenever a comic-based movie is made. Spoilers lie ahead, so highlight the following if you want to keep reading: "Superman DOES NOT KILL" has become the mantra for a great many people in the past week. To them I say, "Oh, is that so?" That looks an awful lot like Superman executing three super-powered criminals to me! Oh, and one of them is General Zod, the very same dude who Superman is forced to kill in Man of Steel! This is from 1988's Superman #22. Not a hoax, not an imaginary story! It also bears mention that the beloved Christopher Reeve version of Superman also killed Zod in Superman 2. I've never heard anyone go apeshit over that, and Superman was far more callous about it, and didn't show a shred of remorse. Look, the movie has its flaws, and not everyone is gonna like it. But c'mon, don't try to bash the movie based on something as spurious as this. People love to claim fictional characters as their own in some way based on their personal ideal of the character-- and surprise, surprise, that nearly always just happens to be the version they first encountered when they were children-- and deem anything that sways from that ideal just plain wrong. If someone doesn't like the movie, that is just fine, but they should at least try to judge the movie on its own merits, without dragging their own personal baggage into it as if the director should have hired them as a consultant for the project. I don't normally get so annoyed about people on the internet disliking something, but I've encountered this several times daily since last Friday, and I had to have my say.

That's it for this week!

Rant Ramblings: Week of 5-24-13

Regular readers probably noticed there was no column last week; I was absorbed in the important work of watching cartoons, and it just plain slipped my mind. (I did warn that this column was "weekly-ish" at its inception, so no griping!) There'll be a couple of topics covered from last week to make up for it, so let's get rollin'!

DC's solicits for August revealed the latest round of cancellations, including such beloved series as Demon Knights, Dial H, Threshold, and Legion of Super-Heroes. DK is the one that really hurts, as it's been one my favorite books since DC's relaunch. It's a book that occupies a pretty unique niche, and it's a damn shame to see it go. Dial H, despite its critical acclaim, is a book that never really won me over. The only time it's been as good as it wants to be is the #0 issue, but I've stuck with it because I can feel how ambitious it is, and that still counts for something in my book. It never really "wows" me, but it's trying oh so hard. I'll be interested in checking out whatever China Melville does next. I've been enjoying Threshold, largely because it shines a spotlight onto a little-seen part of the DCU. I'm not surprised by its cancellation, as it is one of those  books I suspect was always intended to be an eight-issue series, just not announced as such to avoid the lower sales miniseries usually get. I've never been able to get interested in LOSH, so I won't miss it one bit. It's one of those series that DC seems hell-bent on publishing no matter what, so I'm sure it will return in some form before the year is over.
Of course, this opens up more slots for new series. With the all-but-confirmed Villains Month looming in September, we can surely look forward to seeing a few of these new series previewed in the specials focusing on whichever villains are specific to each book. Shazam/Black Adam is virtually a lock at this point, and I'd be surprised if we didn't get a Question series, since the other two members of the "Trinity of Sin" have their own series already. Beyond that, there are a ton of rumors, but nothing too substantial. Whatever happens, it's sure to be interesting.

The Xbox One was revealed Tuesday, and I was watching on Xbox Live. While I think Sony did a better job with their announcement event overall, the Xbox One is much more interesting to me than the PS4. I've never been too enamored of the Kinect, but the newest version of it looks simply amazing. I doubt I'll be able to afford to get the new Xbox when it's released, but hopefully I'll be able to snag one before it's been out too long. Microsoft would have to do something pretty stupid at this point to make me not want one(the rumored used game restriction might do it, but let's face it: all it is right now is a rumor).

An era ended when Green Lantern #20 was released Wednesday, capping off the epic nine-year run of Geoff Johns. I've been there from the beginning(and before, as I'd been buying the GL series for years prior to Rebirth), through all the ups and downs. The quality dipped a bit with the War of the Green Lanterns crossover, and the recent Rise of the Third Army and Wrath of the First Lantern were decidedly weak. For all of that, the entire run has been a hell of a thrill ride, and easily ranks among my all-time favorites. GL #20 is a fantastic sendoff. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give Johns is that his GL run was so good that it took a series featuring a character I absolutely loathe-- Jordan-- and made it one of my favorite books each and every month. It's some damn fine work that can make you love a book that stars a character you hate. I'm looking forward to seeing where the new teams take the books, but they have a hell of an act to follow. (I'm also happy that the excellent Doug Mahnke is joining Johns on Justice League of America, but that's a little off-topic.)

Gillian Anderson did an AMA on Reddit, so go check that out.

In still more comics news, here's a fun interview with Masters of the Universe writer Keith Giffen about the upcoming Masters of the Universe vs. DC Universe series. A standout excerpt:
"I talked to [DC Comics co-publisher Dan] DiDio, he said, "I don't care if you cut off Wonder Woman's head. It's not in continuity." And I said, "Yes." Because I wanted to know how much I could push DC because I wanted to have this very specific scene. I wanted a scene with He-Man and Teela and while He-Man and Batman are talking, Teela is wandering around looking at the glass cases full of Robin suits and at one point she walks up to He-Man and says, "Yeah, we have to get out of here. I think he kills kids." [Laughs] And I was told: "Sure. Put it in."
This book is gonna be so awesome. Giffen's doing good work on the MOTU comics, and you should all give the current series a shot. It's not a big nostalgia wank.

The season finale of Arrow aired last week, and the season definitely ended on a high note. I was cautiously optimistic about this series when it debuted last fall, and it was just okay at first. Thankfully, it improved steadily, and I thoroughly enjoyed most of the season. I never liked Smallville, but this show is honestly better in every way. I'm not down with every creative decision that's been made in the show, but on the whole, it's a good series, and it ended its first season with one of its best episodes. I'm really looking forward to its return.

That'll do it for today; see you Wednesday for another Trash Rant!

Rant Ramblings: Week of 3-1-11

Between finishing my first book, promoting it, working on my follow-up novel, and general life stuff, I've fallen quite a bit behind on my comic reading over the past few months. Sure, there are a handful of comics I always read each month, but by and large, they've been piling up on my tablet. I resolved last week to catch up, and I've done just that! By the time this week's comics went on sale yesterday, I had tackled the 100+ comics that were on my tablet and whittled them down to 8 issues of Groo. (I always keep a few issues of Groo on there, don'tcha know!) I still have a good bit of work to do on my next book, so its likely that I'll fall behind again, but I'll try not to let things get quite so backed up this time. (And speaking of my next book, there should be a big announcement about it soon. Just be patient!)

There is a huge sale on all sorts of games on Xbox Live until Monday, so go check that out if you have one. There've been some good deals, but nothing so far I want but don't already have.

There were pretty huge happenings in yesterday's issue of the always sublime Batman Incorporated, which were very obnoxiously spoiled by an official press release a day earlier. This kinda crap has become increasingly common in recent years. We all understand that this leads to a significant sales bump, but would it kill them to wait until the day the issue is released so that the people who read these books regularly have a chance to read the issue without having it spoiled? Reader rage aside, here's an essay by Grant Morrison that reflects on his seven year run on the Batman books, and here is an interview with Batman and Robin writer Peter Tomasi regarding how the events of yesterday's Batman Inc will affect his book. Be warned that clicking the links above, obviously, will tip you off about what happened.








My nephew recommended the HBO series Life's Too Short to me over the weekend, so I checked it out. It's presented as a reality show about actor Warwick Davis, but he plays himself as an egotistical bastard. Fellow show creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant pop up in each episode, as well. There are plenty of celebrity cameos, and the show is thoroughly hilarious. Here's one of my favorite bits:

Reddit threads of note: I don't give two shits about Nascar, but find it cool that Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson did an AMA earlier this week. We also got one from Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand. This one from a college student who teaches GED courses to prison inmates is pretty interesting. Here's one from someone who works in a chocolate factory!

You can't top getting the inside dope on chocolate, so that'll do it for this week!