Post by Elijah Black on Feb 25, 2014 19:26:16 GMT -5
[It’s a couple of days after Hostile Takeover IV and Elijah Black is taking a couple of days back home in East Lansing before heading north once again for the next show, and he’s sat on his couch under a Che Guevara poster addressing a webcam attached to his laptop]
You know, whilst I don’t like the fact I didn’t get an appearance at Hostile Takeover whilst my compatriot was only on the pre-show, and right now I’ll say that I’m proud of him for picking up a status-enhancing victory, there are times I like to wake up on a Thursday morning without new bruises whilst I feel stiff and sore all over, because if I’m not a happy guy when I wake up in the morning in a lot of discomfort I’m even less happy when I have to check out of the hotel, get to the airport, fly back to Michigan, then jump on a bus back to East Lansing and hopefully be back in time to go to bed. So, yeah, if you stick an autograph book under my nose at any point on that day, it’s likely you’re going to have a hole burned in the middle of your forehead.
So when I get home, there are two things I tend to do: laundry and some well-deserved R&R. I know it’s not the Friday routine you expect from, say, Noah Hanson - but if you hadn’t noticed by now I’m not Noah Hanson.
So, yeah, my Fridays are usually spent here, on my couch, as I have a little time to myself. Have a long lie-in, my morning coffee, then relax with some movies or video games or whatever. Because one of you should’ve noticed this by now…
[Black shows off the “A man chooses, a slave obeys” tattoo on the inside of his left forearm]
…and I’m sure a couple of you get the reference already. If not…have you actually lived under the sea for several years?
[Black gives a quizzical look]
I’m sure a few of you heard the news last week as well, as I did. As with so much in modern America, the mass-produced and heavily-advertised roller coaster is seen as the thing to aim for, rather than the exact opposite of what any self-respecting person wants to achieve.
At first it looked like the creator had sold out, handing over his baby to someone else so he could roll in the royalties as he laid off everyone, or damn near everyone, to have an easy life as his labours get ruined by people churning out an interchangeable game with the name of a franchise that was anything but interchangeable on it. But it turns out this wasn’t the case: instead it was the publisher, who set unrealistic sales targets for their latest and, as it turns out, last game – and I mean seriously unrealistic, and spent the last year looking for an excuse to shut them down for not achieving what they knew wouldn’t be achieved.
And with that, something else that means so much to so many just gets wiped out of existence at the stroke of a pen, and it says a lot how this is just accepted as standard. It wouldn’t if it was one of those dumb, lowest common denominator games that sell a ludicrous amount for a thinly-veiled ad campaign for the military-industrial complex…
[Black gives a wry look to camera]
…I can guarantee if one of those developers was shut down the internet might genuinely fall over…for a day or two, but soon enough they’d be distracted by something interchangeable enough to suit their needs. But when it’s something niche, either getting meddled with in a desperate attempt to attract the mass market whilst turning away the fans that were there from the start, or achieves its aims only to be cut down by some bean counter soon after, what’s sad isn’t the loss of a couple of games, but the fact the game has had its voice taken away.
You know what I hate? I hate how things that don’t treat people like idiots are forever getting the short end of the stick and for no good reason other than the mass market think they’re “geeky” or “boring” despite never actually experiencing what they’re writing off just like the bean counters who think treating people like they’re dumb is the best way to make money – which, even more infuriatingly, people have somehow accepted this notion and actually agree with it. Have some self-respect, people; you’re not all stupid from birth.
[Black’s phone goes, which he answers]
Yeah? You got your flight sorted out? Okay, I’ll pick you up at the airport and we can go over a few things for our match. Team Hanson. Yeah, I know, his uncle wrestles now…or twenty years ago…or something. Alright, catch you then. Bye.
[Black hangs up]
Where was I?
So, yeah, as I was saying it’s art that suffers in the face of commerce every time, yet people let this happen even though things slip through their fingers never to return, it’s a way of life around here and has been for decades, yet it shouldn’t be. Money doesn’t cease to exist, it keeps getting printed and it stays in circulation so there’s no risk of it going away, but so many other things – art, identity, ways of life – they do disappear if not nurtured or allowed to exist without money being allowed to dictate what stays and what goes.
This week it was Irrational Games that were sacrificed to the accountants, the question is who will be next? The real question, though, is why anyone has to be at all. And that is where what started as a rant about Bioshock Infinite turns into a question more people need to ask, because if I catch up with anyone from my old neighbourhood they all have stories of someone’s life being ruined by the almighty dollar, and whilst the people change the story remains the same. It happened to me, it happened to people I know, and it happens to people in other states I don’t know yet I can tell you exactly what they’re going through.
So after going so far off tangent people who skip forward on Youtube will have no idea where A became B, I think I’ll leave it there. I’ve got laundry to finish and the Hanson family to disappoint.
[Black briefly raises a fist before shutting the camera down]
You know, whilst I don’t like the fact I didn’t get an appearance at Hostile Takeover whilst my compatriot was only on the pre-show, and right now I’ll say that I’m proud of him for picking up a status-enhancing victory, there are times I like to wake up on a Thursday morning without new bruises whilst I feel stiff and sore all over, because if I’m not a happy guy when I wake up in the morning in a lot of discomfort I’m even less happy when I have to check out of the hotel, get to the airport, fly back to Michigan, then jump on a bus back to East Lansing and hopefully be back in time to go to bed. So, yeah, if you stick an autograph book under my nose at any point on that day, it’s likely you’re going to have a hole burned in the middle of your forehead.
So when I get home, there are two things I tend to do: laundry and some well-deserved R&R. I know it’s not the Friday routine you expect from, say, Noah Hanson - but if you hadn’t noticed by now I’m not Noah Hanson.
So, yeah, my Fridays are usually spent here, on my couch, as I have a little time to myself. Have a long lie-in, my morning coffee, then relax with some movies or video games or whatever. Because one of you should’ve noticed this by now…
[Black shows off the “A man chooses, a slave obeys” tattoo on the inside of his left forearm]
…and I’m sure a couple of you get the reference already. If not…have you actually lived under the sea for several years?
[Black gives a quizzical look]
I’m sure a few of you heard the news last week as well, as I did. As with so much in modern America, the mass-produced and heavily-advertised roller coaster is seen as the thing to aim for, rather than the exact opposite of what any self-respecting person wants to achieve.
At first it looked like the creator had sold out, handing over his baby to someone else so he could roll in the royalties as he laid off everyone, or damn near everyone, to have an easy life as his labours get ruined by people churning out an interchangeable game with the name of a franchise that was anything but interchangeable on it. But it turns out this wasn’t the case: instead it was the publisher, who set unrealistic sales targets for their latest and, as it turns out, last game – and I mean seriously unrealistic, and spent the last year looking for an excuse to shut them down for not achieving what they knew wouldn’t be achieved.
And with that, something else that means so much to so many just gets wiped out of existence at the stroke of a pen, and it says a lot how this is just accepted as standard. It wouldn’t if it was one of those dumb, lowest common denominator games that sell a ludicrous amount for a thinly-veiled ad campaign for the military-industrial complex…
[Black gives a wry look to camera]
…I can guarantee if one of those developers was shut down the internet might genuinely fall over…for a day or two, but soon enough they’d be distracted by something interchangeable enough to suit their needs. But when it’s something niche, either getting meddled with in a desperate attempt to attract the mass market whilst turning away the fans that were there from the start, or achieves its aims only to be cut down by some bean counter soon after, what’s sad isn’t the loss of a couple of games, but the fact the game has had its voice taken away.
You know what I hate? I hate how things that don’t treat people like idiots are forever getting the short end of the stick and for no good reason other than the mass market think they’re “geeky” or “boring” despite never actually experiencing what they’re writing off just like the bean counters who think treating people like they’re dumb is the best way to make money – which, even more infuriatingly, people have somehow accepted this notion and actually agree with it. Have some self-respect, people; you’re not all stupid from birth.
[Black’s phone goes, which he answers]
Yeah? You got your flight sorted out? Okay, I’ll pick you up at the airport and we can go over a few things for our match. Team Hanson. Yeah, I know, his uncle wrestles now…or twenty years ago…or something. Alright, catch you then. Bye.
[Black hangs up]
Where was I?
So, yeah, as I was saying it’s art that suffers in the face of commerce every time, yet people let this happen even though things slip through their fingers never to return, it’s a way of life around here and has been for decades, yet it shouldn’t be. Money doesn’t cease to exist, it keeps getting printed and it stays in circulation so there’s no risk of it going away, but so many other things – art, identity, ways of life – they do disappear if not nurtured or allowed to exist without money being allowed to dictate what stays and what goes.
This week it was Irrational Games that were sacrificed to the accountants, the question is who will be next? The real question, though, is why anyone has to be at all. And that is where what started as a rant about Bioshock Infinite turns into a question more people need to ask, because if I catch up with anyone from my old neighbourhood they all have stories of someone’s life being ruined by the almighty dollar, and whilst the people change the story remains the same. It happened to me, it happened to people I know, and it happens to people in other states I don’t know yet I can tell you exactly what they’re going through.
So after going so far off tangent people who skip forward on Youtube will have no idea where A became B, I think I’ll leave it there. I’ve got laundry to finish and the Hanson family to disappoint.
[Black briefly raises a fist before shutting the camera down]
