how to polish a turd

Day five of the sunless sky, the rain continues... this morning it's subsided to a damp drizzle. It's unusual to go without the sun for this long in the fall. My mood has changed and I'm feeling truly unmotivated today.

Even though I successfully returned Failout: New Lost Wages yesterday, I'm still pissed off about the whole 'gaming industry/marketing machine'. People/gamers have this widespread acceptance that if it is only a game, it is okay to sell you a broken product and then tell you that they're going to fix it.

I know they have to really fix this and make it playable or future sales plummet. But this becomes the movie industry marketing plan at this point. I think the further out that they start showing off/hypeing a polished turd, the more the company is are relying on it's pre-orders to hide the epic fail they will be releasing. Movies are no different. If they start pumping it for a release date 6 months away, 95/100 of the time it's going to be shite.

Release day and the following 3 or 4 days are critical. But does it really matter. No. Because once you buy the product, the company in theory has your money. The risk is all yours at this point. To ensure it works properly, you have to open it. And once you open it, your options for being made whole diminish.

If it works.... awesome... Game On. If it doesn't too bad you opened it therefore you own it. Exchange for the equally defective unopened product, or trade it in for a pittance of the original purchase price.

The problem with Bethesda is trust and a clear lack of deadlines. Saying a patch will be forthcoming in upcoming weeks, is at best, vague. The return clock is usually 14 days on software, which games are, and once you open it... it's yours. Broken or not.

Although it took every shred of my willpower not to open it, it paid off. I got my $91.99 back. A full refund. Good luck to the rest of Betathesda's Beta Testers (aka the customer).

the return of FAILOUT: NEW LOST WAGES

After much hand wringing, over earlier pre Newvemberlutions about my Fallout kood-aid addiction, today I returned my unopened FAILOUT: NEW LOST WAGES Collectors Edition to Best Buy for a full $91.99 refund.

It was hard to leave it unopened... but it was for my own good. I expected this to work, and be a great game, and it may eventually be playable, but I wasn't willing to trust them again. The new game update on Bethesda's forums says "we’ll have something available in the coming weeks. When we have more details, we’ll let you know."

Reads, thanks for the money suckers. I'm not that trusting anymore.

Fuck you Bethesda and your lack of respect for your customers.

Día de los Muertos

Día de los Muertos.

Or for those of you that speak no Spanish, Day of the Dead.

There's a new book out called The Day of the Dead: A Pictorial Archive of Dia de Los Muertos.




Comes with a CD that contains woodcuts by José Guadalupe Posada.


Days since Failout: New Lost Wages release: 14
Days until Failout: New Lost Wages patched: :who knows:
*NEW*
Days until Failout: New Lost Wages returned: 6

Tenga un gran día de los muertos mis amigos.

Note: Newvember will officially start tomorrow!

newvember

So, after all the Halloween trick or treater interruptions and mayhem... I'm slowly OD-ing on the left over chocolate treats and coffee.

But it's okay. I'm going to start a new month. And this NEW month will be called... Newvember.

Newvember (previously known as November) will now be like new years. The post apocalypse of all hallows eve is over and we shall start the freaking out season that precedes (insert your own religious holiday appropriateness here).

In Newvember we will make unrealistic expectations of ourselves for the upcoming 27 days. These will be called Newvemberlutions. I will lose 10 lbs. by aimlessly hunting in a mall to find the perfect gift for someone who will put no thought into my gift by getting me a gift card from a store that has no retail locations east of toronto. I will spend less money on sh!t I don't need to sustain my existence on the planet. I will update my blog every day. I will make more Newvemberlutions that are easily attainable.

Oh wait, first we have to get through tomorrow which is officially Día de los Muertos.

Memo: Newvember officially starts on the third day of the eleventh month, so that we may preserve the Day of the Dead on November 2.