Hijinks Inc.

Author: Fred Smith

  • I got mentioned on 1UP Yours

    Well, my question did anyway.

    Once a month 1up.com’s 1Up Yours podcast runs a segment called 4 Minute Warning. A couple days before the podcast is recorded Garnett Lee starts a thread on the 1Up boards and allows users to submit questions. Out of the dozens of questions submitted, a handful are selected and given four minutes a piece to be dissected and discussed by the 1Up Yours crew.

    Lucky me, my question got read.

    I asked why the iPhone was continually equated with mainstream handhelds like the DS and PSP. The 1UP crew agreed that the iPhone has sold a crapload of hardware, and when some really good games were released that would mature as a gaming system.

    My opinion still stands. Steve jobs doesn’t care about gaming, and Apple won’t invest any serious effort into making the iPhone a gaming platform until a third party developer makes a game that not only sells like crazy, but performs in a way that shows the iPhone can do things the PSP and DS can’t do.

    If I get crazy motivated I’ll post a transcript of my question and their answers. Stay tuned.

  • Trying Twitter for the first time

    I never got into the microblogging craze when it first started, in fact I didn’t even know what Twitter was until I heard someone talking about the latest Twitter wannabe. After hearing my favorite podcast hosts talk about all the Twittering they did, I decided to give it a try. So far I’m pretty neutral to the whole concept. I can see how it’d be fun if all my friends did it, but Twittering to myself is pretty lame. Aaron, did you ever get an account and keep it?


    • Life is bigger then you

      Tonight I attended a cancer fundraiser called ‘Relay for Life’. It was held at the local collage and minor league baseball park. From 7 PM to 7 AM hundreds of people affected by cancer walked, talked, laughed, and cried; sharing memories as they traversed the candle lit path around the field.

      Each candle was housed in a white paper bag with the name of a cancer victim or survivor on it. Some had inspirational phrases and pictures of the person, others just said “Mom”, or “Grandpa”. There were hundreds upon hundreds of these luminaries, and the feeling of walking past them was profoundly moving. Every point of light represented someones parent, sibling, spouse, or friend. And for every bag that said “In support of”, or “Survivor”, there were 3 more that said “In memory of”, or “In honor of”. Someone had put a sign out in left field. It simply said, “Hope.”

      Walking along this path illuminated by the countless memorials to battles won and lost, it made me consider how small my perspective of life really is. I’ve had relatives die to cancer, but no one really close to me. Standing there I was surrounded by hundreds of reminders that life is so much bigger then what I experience every day. Life is a precious commodity that we–especially collage students like myself–so easily take for granted. And yet at an event where there is so much loss, and should be so much sorrow, hope still burns bright in the hearts of all the husbands and wives, sisters and brothers, moms and dads, and grandpas and grandmas.

      Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.

    • E3

      Between reading liveblogs from Kotaku and listening to coverage from 1up I’ve gotten the distinct impression that E3 was…lacking this year. Between Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony the only huge announcements were FFXII for 360 and…that’s about it. Harmonix hosted a concert at the historic Orphium Theatre featuring the elderly classic rock band, The Who. Evidently it was amazing, even though the band wasn’t sure what video game they were supposed to be promoting.

      There was a few things that interested me personally, namely in the handheld market. The big surprise announcement for the DS was Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. I’m not sure how that’ll work unless its 2D, although they are working on a new engine for it. I don’t I think the DS has the power to handle a full 3D GTA, but maybe they will surprise me. Beyond that, Nintendo announced nothing exciting. No New Super Mario Bros 2, nothing we didn’t know about before. Chrono Trigger is coming though, so I can’t get upset.

      The PSP has a couple of new titles that look cool. Insomniac Studio’s Resistance franchise is coming to the PSP Spring 2009. Dubbed ‘Resistance: Retribution’, it departs from the footsteps of Nathen Hale and play as James Grayson, a quiet hero in search of a cure for the alien virus that’s turned most of the world into Chimera (think ‘I Am Legend’ style monsters). I never played the first Resistance, but I’ve heard great things.

      Also, Patapon 2.

      Pata pata pata PON … PON pon pata pon.

    • Sure is quiet around here

      Man, July hit and Hijinks died. While Aaron has an excuse (he’s trying hard to hospitalize himself with his new scooter), I really don’t. My problem hasn’t been a lack of content to write about, but more of a lack of interest in the content thats available. Apple’s App Store launched recently with a plethora of new games and software for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The aspiring developers found within the confines of Installer.app have been busy too, but I haven’t taken the time to actually play around with any of the new stuff.

      Its times like this that convince me I couldn’t make it as a serious video game writer; I really enjoy games…with the caveat that they are actually enjoyable to play. No offense to the nice and I’m sure well meaning indie developers, but 90% of it isn’t stuff that’s enjoyable to play. Enjoyable to make fun of maybe, but even that gets old after a while.

      Complaining aside, I promise to get some actual content going here in the near future. E3 is in full swing, with all the major press conferences in the past 24 hours. Final Fantasy XIII is coming to 360, Wii gets a voice chat periphial, and Sony announced God of War 3 and a handful of 1st party PSP games. Yay for the handheld market!