My Mind is Goo

So I just finished Bioshock Infinite…and…well you read the title, that says it all. I’m still trying to figure out what I experienced. I played the original Bioshock, and while I applauded its philosophical storyline, I felt it was lacking in certain areas. It was good, but not fantastic. Bioshock Infinite though…is fucking fantastic. Yes,…

John Stevenson

April 5, 2013

3–4 minutes

bioshock, game story, story elements

So I just finished Bioshock Infinite…and…well you read the title, that says it all.

I’m still trying to figure out what I experienced. I played the original Bioshock, and while I applauded its philosophical storyline, I felt it was lacking in certain areas. It was good, but not fantastic.

Bioshock Infinite though…is fucking fantastic.

Yes, I don’t drop F-bombs lightly, but this one totally deserves it. I wasn’t expecting the game to have such a complex and mature storyline, nor did I expect such compelling characters or mind-bending themes. While I have some minor issues with the finale of the game, overall I was incredibly impressed and I think this might be my second favorite video game story ever (it’ll take a lot to knock Spec Ops: The Line off the top of my list though). Originally when you all requested that I review the game, I told you you could expect a write up sometime today or tomorrow. Apparently I lied, I didn’t know I was lying at the time though. This game’s narrative is so dense that I’ll need a few days just to sort through it all, and I’ll probably do a second playthrough to make sure I didn’t miss any of the more subtle story elements. So you can expect it sometime next week.

Once I manage to my brain back between my ears. — Once I manage to get my brain back between my ears.

While I’m here though, I’d like to ask for some help. As much as it pains me to admit it, I’m not really making much money as a freelance writer and my attempts at finding other employment have also been unsuccessful (and have been for quite some years). Paying for the games and movies I’ve been asked to review has been a bit taxing on my bank account, I’m not out on the streets or anything, but the more I spend on games the less money I have to pay off student loan and credit-card debts.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not trying to sound like Scrooge complaining how you’re costing me money, and this isn’t an attempt at content blackmail; I’ll continue reviewing movies and games that you guys request regardless of how this goes. Really, all I’m asking is that if you can spare a few dollars to help off-set the costs of buying those games and movies, then that would be great. To that end I’ve set up a GoFundMe account which you can find here:

http://www.gofundme.com/Writersblock

$200.00 is the optimal amount, enough to buy about three video games with some money left over for movie tickets, but even just $5.00 to help blunt the cost would be great. And if I get 5.00 from all 100 or so of my faithful readers, I’ll be set for almost three years. I need to buy a new gaming computer, since my rig recently died; I got it back in 2007 so I’m not really surprised, but it means that PC game reviews won’t be able to be completed unfortunately. I’m not expecting to get that much money, but I thought I’d throw that out there.

And to any of my readers that are filthy stinking rich, if I get enough money I can just give up my attempts at finding a day job all together and dedicate myself entirely to writing.

I really hope no one feels obligated to give money, if everyone out there is just as poor as I am then it’s all good. Even if I never make a cent off this blog, I’ll be so much richer for having written it and incredibly grateful to you all for reading it.

I’ll see you all next week with my story review of Bioshock Infinite and a look back at the Alien-prequel Prometheus.

8 responses to “My Mind is Goo”

Andreas Lang

April 6, 2013 at 3:55 am

Just chipped in a few bucks 😉
Besides, there actually is a way to get games cheaper. And i dont mean softwarepiracy 😀
Im using this store frequently: http://www.gamekeystore.net/store/
Sometimes you need to use VPN to russia in order to activate your key on steam, but you really only need it to activate the game on your steam acc.But it works and you pay around 50% less in average ^^ They mostly offer AAA titles, but ususally, indie games arent that expensive anyway 😀

If you want to get yourself a new rig or repair the old one, i might be able to give you a few tips what hardware to chose, im pretty much of a nerd on that point 😀 So, what are your plans, an entirely new rig, or a quickfix for the old one? 😀 which components were damaged btw?

Reply
1. jmstevenson
  
  April 9, 2013 at 11:24 pm
  
  Thanks for the donation Andreas!
  
  Reply
2. jmstevenson
  
  April 9, 2013 at 11:54 pm
  
  I’ve never heard of that one, I’ll have to check it out. I’ve actually been pretty lucky so far, Spec Ops the Line, Asuras Wrath and The Walking Dead were all relatively cheap. I normally don’t buy games new, but because I wanted to write something on BioShock infinite while it was new. Hopefully get some more readers from it like my Mass Effect 3 post did.
  
  As for the computer, I’m pretty sure it must be the motherboard or something. I would get random lockups like there was a harddrive or memory issue, but I’d also get occasional graphical errors and artifacts. The day it finally died the screen started flashing bright blue. So I dunno. I got it back in 2007 so it had a long life, and its been struggling to play many of the most recent games so its definitely time for a replacement.
  
  Reply
3. Andreas Lang
  
  April 10, 2013 at 5:56 am
  
  Hm, okay, so the question is, are you planning on an entirely new rig or do you want to replace damaged components?
  
  However, if you should set up the hardware config yourself, one thing to stress is: Buy a GOOD power supply. You know, my old rigs also tended to burn through after a while, giving me artifacts and stuff you describe. It was in this time that i used a cheap power supply which was used in my first pc i bought (2001). However, 2006 i had to upgrade my power supply because modern GPUs needed more power, i bought an ENERMAX 600W back in the day, which im about to replace in 2014 when im upgrading for Star Citizen ^^ (which is going to cost me lots of money i guess) xD
  
  So, although you have a limited budget, if you are aiming to set up your config yourself, go for a good power supply, something like that:
  
  This is actually a very strong one and since you arent aiming for high end components, im sure one with less power will be sufficient.
  For example this one: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Enthusiast-Certified-Compatible-platforms/dp/B004LB5AZY/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
  
  These power supplies exist in three series: AX, HX and TX. TX has the lowest prices but is less efficient and also likely to be built with materials of less quality, although this is of course still high standard! If you will you can dig through those descriptions ^^
  
  Believe me, this investment will pay out the most in the end. Of course you need money for CPU, Mainboard, Graphics and RAM, but this stuff is going to work more stable and live longer if your power supply delivers it well tuned currents. It may sound nitpicky, and it somehow is, but when it comes to the durability and perfomance of high-tech, you have to be nitpicky ^^ I guess thats why german engineers are so good xD A very nitpicky folk it is, sometimes ^^
  
  Reply
Andreas Lang

April 10, 2013 at 5:58 am

I see the 750W version costs the same 😀 but maybe you found out yourself already ^^

Reply
Alex

May 22, 2013 at 12:29 pm

At very first, whenever your set eyes through them, you’ll think the pieces have been given the a great deal tumbled look out of nowhere. Additionally focus in the counter tops keep away after floor tile and also acquire granite or replica rock. also, generally there tend to be reports of the skills lack happening countrywide with qualified tilers retiring faster than apprenticeships enrolling.

Reply
ctimasterworks.com

June 3, 2013 at 3:08 am

while les lunettes de soleil de Rayon-Interdiction are a inclus la partie
d’en un typique cost de autour de 100 et souvent beaucoup bon marché passé en ligne détaillants Se spécialisant la partie d’en.
Which j’ai fait mon devoir pour partager avec vous ce particulier bon arrange qui pouvoir essaie être a trouvé just en ligne, donc l’apprécier avant il je plus tard Il pouvoir sent stupide pour passer un Ce particulier offer.

Reply
1. jmstevenson
  
  June 7, 2013 at 1:20 pm
  
  I’m afraid I don’t speak french!
  
  Reply