Some more Camaboise

Our newly-minted monarch has walked into his first conspiracy! Or did Aaron just notice it? The power plant Soup Souper has bequeathed to the people of Camaboise seems like its hiding something within its concrete walls.

In other news, you're getting this early because tomorrow, I'm going whitewater rafting with my fellow Class of 2012 graduates from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM tomorrow. As a bonus, I'm giving you my little Encyclopedia of Camaboise. If you have a Google account, please comment on it if you find any spelling, grammar, or continuity errors.

Monday Update

Okay, I am now getting things on track. There will be a story this week, and it will be as good as I can possibly make it. There will be a State of The Blog on Friday. This I promise. The only way I can think of to get back into the swing of things is to make a concentrated effort every day to do them.

Now for the Monday Question: are there ways that you know of to get out of writers block? Just in case it happens?

Finally, New Story!

Finally, I have a new episode of Aaron's adventures. I am ashamed I took so long to get you so little.

Tuesday Update

These past few weeks were unacceptable, weren't they?  I have lost loyal readers, (at least, I think I have) and rightly so. I did not follow up on content. I did not give what I had specifically said I would. I tried to work around it, but it still wasn't what you wanted.

However, you will get something this week. It may not be exactly what you want, but I hope it is enough. Maybe at some point I will re-evaluate my ability to produce content. Until then, I hope you will still read my stuff.

On Alan Wake

"Blinded by the light!/Revved up like a Deuce,/Another runner in the night"

 Blinded By The Light by Manfred Mann

Alan Wake. For those of you who don't know about it, it is a game about a writer who goes on vacation with his wife to the remote town of Bright Falls. They are only there a few hours before a living darkness kidnaps his wife.  He wakes up a week later in a crashed car, and is quickly set upon by locals possessed by this living darkness.

Let's get the good stuff out of the way. The writing is superb. You want to find out about what is tormenting Bright Falls. You care about the supporting cast, like the comic relief/Alan's sidekick/agent/best friend. You care about the sheriff and sympathize with her desire to protect her town from the darkness. You're charmed by the Anderson brothers, who half-believe that they're the Viking gods Odin and Thor. Despite wanting to punch the FBI Agent, you are curious why he's chasing after Alan, and what he knows. Also, the "light up monsters to kill them" mechanic is really cool, and the graphics (especially the lighting) is amazing.

Now, the bad stuff. And the bad stuff ranges from just weird to manipulative. Throughout the game, everything makes sense. Unt Complete and perfect sense. Then you drown (I guess,) meet a weird double who exudes an air of craziness, and have to get to the cabin by shining your flashlight on weird glowing words.to form objects. To quote the Nostalgia Critic: "What the fuck am I looking at?"

Also, the game's camera and controls are just weird. At random points in the game, you will be looking over Alan's left shoulder, his right shoulder, or you will be centered perfectly. It was just a strange design choice, like the choice of having the dodge button be the same as the sprint button. This caused dodging to be more a matter of chance then anything else.

Another problem is that the game just isn't scary! The story's great, but at no time was I ever truly scared. Their weak attempts at creeping you out with the monsters mumbling were just not creepy. The jump scares just didn't seem to be scary. Okay, maybe I was creeped out one or two times. But they missed every opportunity to actually scare me.

But the opportunities that weren't missed were the attempts to sell things. Remedy used every single skinner box technique to sell you batteries. Seriously, those batteries for you flashlight? Energizer Bunny logo visible on them. Also, some of the TVs play Verizon commercials instead of snippets of story. But you will mind the ending.

The boss fight is anti-climatic. Then Alan writes the end of his story. And it is just an opportunity to sell you fifteen dollar DLC. Then it ends with David Bowie's Space Oddity. No. I am sorry. I was going to buy your DLC. You only had one item of DLC for me to buy. Then you pull this crap on me. I am sorry, but the very least you could have done was end with Manfred Mann.

And people complain about Mass Effect 3's ending.

Scheduling Difficulties

Dear readers: with finals and other shenanigans coming up this and next week, and my recent illness, getting you a new story this week is in question. I will try to finish it this week, but probably not.

However, doing a much-needed renovation of the site won't take too long. Would that be a reasonable goal for this week?

Awsome Comic Movie Team Ups

Everyone loves a good superhero team ups. Just look at the Avengers, and how its already made millions worldwide. It is awesome, by the way, and you should go see it. Unless you hate superheroes. Now, since I have nothing else for you, I will give some ideas for good superhero movie team ups that probably would never happen.

1: Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) vs. The Joker (Heath Ledger)

Now both of these characters are amazing. Nick Fury has an unfair advantage in the sheer awesome department because he's played by Samuel L. Jackson. And Samuel L. Jackson is usually the best part of any movie he's in (sorry, Master Windu.) And then there's Heath. F'ing. Ledger. As the Joker.

Fury: I am going to wipe that smile off your face. You have made me a very, very angry man.

Joker: Really? I thought it was just your name.

2: Batman (Christian Bale) teams up with Wolverine (Mark Harmon)

Now, why did I choose Mark Harmon instead of Hugh Jackman? Well, up until X-Men: First Class, you may have as well called the movies the Wolverine movies. Jackman just seems to have that ego. Whereas Harmon can have a strong character without taking over the scene or entire movie. Just watch NCIS. Also, Batman and Wolverine have very different outlooks. Batman won't even kill the Joker. Wolverine, however, has no problem maiming, killing and even torturing.

Wolverine: Listen, bub, I'm the best at what I do-

Batman: Which is wrong!

Wolverine: -and what I do isn't very nice. But if you want to save those people, you'll have to do it my way.

And that's it.

More Sickness!

Hi everyone. I'm still not feeling my best. I also have loads of work I need to catch up on, so please don't expect much. I may not get you guys your stories this week, but I hope you'll be patient and understanding, especially since we're all lucky I'm in enough shape to write this.

Extra, Extra: Camaboise Gets an Army!

New Camaboise episode: In this, the Camaboise Army is equipped with new weapons, and Aaron is forced to question why he made the army in the first place. Next up, Camaboise will be issuing its first visas and creating new corporations! What's next?

rant

In the meantime, I (the human known as "Adam Sherman") have learned an important lesson all critics should learn: don't judge too harshly! If you do, people will judge you. And you, if you have much human decency, will be ashamed. Or they will find something on you, to mercilessly batter you with. Either way, it will be uncomfortable.

/rant