Oklahoma is lame... Sometimes

Here in the windy confines of Southwest Oklahoma, two things are certain in this time of year.
1) Horrible heat
2) Horrible storms
The last two weeks, No. 1 has been the boss with temperatures reaching 111 and over on many a day, it was hell on the AC but great in the fact that I felt obligated to stay indoors and play a lot of games.
Let's just say that the obligation was more of a excuse, I hate going outside even when it's nice.
Well, starting yesterday No. 2 reared its ugly head and brought down the hammer on our little area.
With some annoying results.
Have you ever felt that you needed to play a game, I mean like really needed to play a game?
You get all excited and race home to play and then when you get there you find out that the power has been out for 30 minutes?
That's what happened to me last night around midnight. I get home from a long day at work, wanting to get in 18 holes of the British Open at Turnberry on the Wii then I step into my house and see that the wife has lit candles.
Sadness crept into my heart as we sat in the dark.
However, it gave me more than enough chance to play the DSi, and Dr. Mario got his fill of me.
I can't wait until Sept. 15, when Scribblenauts hits shelves.
It will be a nice birthday present, an original game with thought and substance.
Well, the power came on around 2 a.m. and the wife and I decided to go to bed instead of booting up a system with the thought that another lightning strike would possibly ruin everything.
So today we woke up and again that anticipation was there. Boy, did I want to play some golf.
Then the power goes out... AGAIN!
However, this time the power is out for just a scant few minutes. Lucky them, I was about to get a case of the ass.
So finally, I was able to get on the course... But more on that in a second.
But in the end, it was just a couple of days in this part of the world. With more foreboding weather creeping in I don't think the systems of our household may get a start again until tomorrow.

Boy I suck at golf

Now to the funny stuff, I suck at golf.
I mean really suck at golf.
Through two rounds of the British Open, I am currently dead last with a 26-over par.
I need to finish 23 under tomorrow just to get out of the cellar.
My drives had a case of the shanks and my reading of the greens was like a blind man groping around in the dark. I just had a horrible day.
At least I can continue playing, unlike most of the field I can't get cut.
Let's hope that my final two rounds can be just a little more respectable.
Or just as bad, cause fail=funny.

An awesome contest

Indie game developers out there! Here's what this blog is about... sometimes.
Here is a link to a site that will allow you to jump out there and get seen.
The Indie Games Challenge
Sure, it's sponsored by Gamestop, who are the Wal-Mart of video games, but it's nice to see that the big dealer supporting the little guy.
Get on there, get your game entered and give me a shout. I'd love to see your idea!
Indie games are such a key component of this industry so we don't have Madden Killzone Halo 245 for Holiday 2012.
But don't take my word for it, here's G4's Adam Sessler, who I look up to as a fellow journalist, making the point oh so eloquently.

Video Game - E3 2009 - Sessler's Soapbox

Keep me posted. Here in the Outlands the little guy is our favorite. Let us know what you are doing out there, and we will get your news and info out there for public consumption.

A little behind on golf

As promised, I was going to play the British Open with the pros on my Wii this week. After two practice rounds yesterday I set myself up to play my first round this afternoon, but found that it was time to head into the day job.
I will work to get in the round when I get home tonight, and will post my results for hopefully two rounds at Turnberry. Expect to see where I stand on the leaderboard, cause that's where I'm going to be looking to all afternoon.

What am I to do now?

Well, being away from the computer on Monday was a good thing in the end.
On Monday, Bethesda announced that the Fallout 3 DLC would not hit the PS3 until September, much later than the late June original release date.
If I were around on Monday, my head would have likely exploded.
Instead, the news broke for me late Tuesday and now I have had a night to sleep on it before getting so upset that I will storm around and complain.
Complain I will, but not here, not as much anyway.
Everyone says that's what I get for running a PS3, but to them I say, "Fudge ya!"
Anyway, there is a silver lining. The PS3 rollout of the content will be different than the XBox version.
Instead of getting Operation: Anchorage first and players like myself having to use a new character to jump right into the mix, PS3 owners will get Broken Steel first.
Broken Steel raises the level cap and allows the game to be played after the original ended.
That is great, cause I want to play as my good character again!
But I will have to wait until September to get my hands on that, so now comes the question as to what to play in the meantime.
Prototype and inFAMOUS are two titles that are really calling to me right now, but being on the cheap for the time being may keep Fallout in the drive until I can get some payola.

Follow me at the British Open

If you don't know who I am, I am a sports journalist for a newspaper in Oklahoma.
With this week being the British Open, I have decided to hit Turnberry with the pros on my Nintendo Wii.
Therefore, the rest of the week I will be posting my scores at the end of my blog entry. Hopefully there will be a leaderboard that will show how well I did against the guys that get paid to stand in the sun.
This will either be very good or very bad. I know that everyone out there wants bad, cause everything is better with fail.
See you tomorrow. Feel free to give me game suggestions in the comments section.

I love the weather... Inside

More than ever, I am enjoying video games.
It's not because I'm getting older and want to stay home. It's not because many of my good friends brought me back into the arena.
It's because it's hot. VERY HOT.
Here in Southwest Oklahoma, the temperature is hitting 114 some days. That may sound like an exaggeration, and at times it is, but when I have to drive to the day job I can't help but look at the bank thermometers and they all read triple-digits every day.
Which then makes me want to head home and pop in a game and just sit back and enjoy the air conditioning, even if it's a little broken right now.
On Monday, my family went to Oklahoma City to the theme park there. While it was fun, it was at its core a bit of a mistake.
I don't ride rides, I don't play carnival games. I love to head to these parks and just kick it with the family for a while then the wife and I will break off on our own and find the arcade. We then spend the rest of the day pumping quarters into arcade machines with utter joy.
However, the theme park in Oklahoma City doesn't have an arcade. Therefore, it was then a somewhat upsetting day as we had to march through the heat without the known joy of arcade fun later.
Oh well, it was still a fun day. We got to eat good carnival foods and I got to spend some time with my wife, something our schedules don't allow much anymore, so overall the day was a success.
We took the Nintendo DSi, but we were so worried about the thing melting (I'm not kidding) that it didn't come out of the bag.
However, when I got home and it was time to hit the hey, the ritual of Dr. Mario Express was on again.
Since we bought the DSi, a very fun portable I will add, Dr. Mario has been the most played game in its lifetime. We have GTA: Chinatown Wars, but since there can only be one save at a time the onus is on the wife to finish her game before I can get into it, and her schooling is keeping her from that.
I will hop on the game and then look up and it's three hours later, which is great when you have a sleep schedule that demands you wake up at noon and you fall asleep at 5 a.m.
We all know Dr. Mario, it's a game as old as time itself, at least game time anyway, but I just wanted to sing its praises cause, frankly, I'm tired and I need to get some rest.
Maybe when the heat breaks there will be something better here to say.
But likely not.