Despondent Correspondence

When life gives you lemons

Slit its throat

Hold it down and make it choke

On the seeds of the apple tree

In the sky

Inhale

Exhale

Buried and dead

Exhumed the remains

To see what's left

Not much he says

But more than enough

Every bride knows

A party isn't a party

Until the going gets tough

Rough

and

Tumble

Water over the bridge

Given six months

But it took years to live

The swine swallowed the stones

And the sand clammed up

Clash and clatter of knives

Has the spoons giving up

If only the strong survive

What am I doing here

In the end

No one's left alive

I guess that's nice to hear

Slay the Dragon JS Game (Rough Demo)

Windows Phone 8

I got a new phone and as you can probably guess by the title of this post, it's a Windows Phone 8.

I went with Nokia Lumia 920 for a couple of reasons: First, I recently got a Google Nexus 7 and found myself using it more than my phone (an HTC Inspire) and thought that now might be the time to try something different. Also, for $99 the Lumia 920 is pimped out.

The display is a beast, the camera takes the most amazing pictures I've ever seen a phone take, and the touch input is responsive and accurate. Not to mention that the screen doesn't seem to scratch (I haven't put a protector on yet) and fingerprints don't show up since the screen is easy to clean. I went with the high gloss white finish and it seems pretty resilient, I haven't noticed any scratches or other marks on it.

One of the biggest selling points for me though was the 32GB internal storage, since all the WP8 devices I looked at didn't have expandability via SD cards. On the software front there isn't nearly as many apps on the Windows Phone as on the App Store or Google Play but it seems like there are more everyday. Nokia offers some sweet apps like the several camera filters, accessible in app, that make taking panorama pictures or getting the perfect picture of everyone smiling very easy. There is also the Nokia CityScape that lets you pick a category of what you're looking for, i.e. food or entertainment, then point your phone around and it will show you markers with the name and distance of nearby locations.

Some things that might make some users explore all their options are the lack of apps so far, the physical size of the phone (it is big, though that's one thing I love about it), and the poor battery life. My fully charged battery doesn't last more than 12 hours with intermittent use or much longer than 3.5 with constant use. And yes, I did turn down all the display settings, etc. to try and extend the battery time.

All in all I love this phone and I love the work Microsoft has put in to getting my Xbox 360, Windows 8 PC, and Windows Phone 8 into working together. I would easily recommend WP8 to anyone who doesn't like the iPhone and wants a more structured experience than Android offers. As for me, I love them all and have a device for each one. This blog entry was written on my WP8 Nokia Lumia 920 using WPBlogger.

Stroppy Yoshifett

I drew this picture of Yoshifett being stroppy.

Listen To This #6 | GoozerNation

I have a subscription to eMusic, which means that I pay $20 a month and get 3 to 5 full CDs depending on the artists. This setup isn't for everyone but it works well for me because $20 a month on music is worth it and if it means I get more than 2 CDs for that much money I'm super pumped. eMusic also tends to have lesser known, less popular and eccentric sounding bands for cheaper than the mainstream artists, which is perfect for what I like to listen to. This is all a lead up to the fact that the artists in today's Listen To This are my purchases from last month. Get your headphones ready.

Oh man, who is going to be featured in this month's article?! You need to know and I need to tell you.

The Witcher 2 - 40% Off | GoozerNation

The Witcher 2: Assassin's of Kings was well received both critically (87 on metacritic) and commercially; selling nearly half a million copies in the first week. It's now on sale

And where can you get it for 40% off? Find out.

Supermarket Management Review (Android)

Over the last couple months I've noticed a new type of game emerging almost exclusively on the smartphone market. These games focus on management skills and the ability to strategically queue up actions to maximize profits and customer satisfaction. My first taste of this was with Airport Mania and soon after that came Pretty Pet Salon and then Delicious. While these game aren't as deep as console offerings they do manage to spice up gameplay and really satisfy my desire for fresh content on mobile platforms. The latest game in this genre is Supermarket Management.

Read all about it here.

Extra Life 2011

Because this cause is so great I'm actually going to post the whole article here but you should still head over to GoozerNation to check it (and click on the donation and join links) and all our other awesome articles out. Thanks.

It's that time of year again to register for Extra Life. What's Extra Life? Well, Extra Life is an opportunity to raise money for children's hospitals by playing video games.

That's right, it's time to play video games to help sick kids get better. But how is that possible, you ask? It's similar to a Relay for Life or any other marathon that raises money for charity. Only a little bit better because the marathon involves playing video games for 24 hours straight instead of running. Sign up here and start collecting donations from friends, family, and complete strangers on the street. Then at 8 a.m. on October 15th it's time to play games for 24 hours (if that date doesn't work for you, you can always do it on a day that does).

Extra Life is a wonderful program put together by the guys over at Sarcasatic Gamer and 100% of the proceeds are donated to the Children's Miracle Network. In fact, the money you raise goes to the CMN Hospital of your choice. Click here learn more about Extra Life. And if you're feeling super awesome, donate to me or join the GN team and help us reach our goal.

10% Off Pre-Order of Rock of Ages on Steam

Steam is taking pre-orders for Atlus' new game, Rock of Ages. If you pre-order now you will receive 10% off.

When does it come out and how much will it cost? Find out here, and watch the trailer too.

Back Again

It's been a long time since I've posted. I'm going to try and be better about that. You're going to notice my article archive has been updated to include all the GoozerNation articles I've written but not posted here. Also be on the lookout for a little redesign coming soon. Hopefully you'll like it.

Gaming on the Cheap - gog.com | GoozerNation

I'm one of those budget conscious gamers that generally waits a few months before buying new games. There are a few ways around this: Goozex, of course, is my first choice (using points instead of cash is very pleasing to my wallet), Amazon often has great deals for pre-orders or recently released games, Steam is always awesome and pretty cheap, Best Buy will have some good deals too (last month I got Oblivion, Duke Nukem, and Child of Eden for $80), but GOG.com is where I go when I want classic PC games for dirt cheap.

Find out which series is on sale here.

Guitar Hero 5 Mobile: Free on Amazon App Store | GoozerNation

Guitar Hero has always been a franchise with a lot of buzz surrounding it. It was the first rhythm based game series to really draw mainstream attention with its super solid first two entries, though it eventually became a magnet for more negative attention and the prototype for the Activision "milk games dry and toss them" business model.

Is this another instance of overusing the tried and true franchise? Check out my impression.

Looking Back for the Future | GoozerNation

Every year there's a cry from the gaming community for more original IPs. Generally, I am among the throng of vocal gamers hoping for something more inspired than, "run from point A to point B while shooting everything that moves," but every few years there are some sequels that get me more excited than any original IP could. This year a couple of games are really getting me pumped up: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

Haven't played them? Looking for some nostalgia? Read on.

Colosseum for Android Announcement and Screenshots | GoozerNation

Gamevil is on a roll lately. Games like Zenonia 3 and Baseball Superstars II being released for free on the Android Marketplace (and being great games) have really bolstered their reputation in my mind. Colosseum has now found it's way to the Android platform and it looks ready to sink it's claws into the mobile (phone) gaming crowd.

What's Colosseum all about? I'm glad you asked. Find out here.

Baseball Superstars II Free for Android | GoozerNation

I've mentioned before that Baseball Superstars on Android is my favorite Gamevil series of games. I don't even enjoy baseball but something about this arcadey simulation hits the sweet spot for me. And now Gamevil has just released BS II on the Market for free and it really shines.

What's so great about it? Let me tell you.

Catherine Demo First Impressions

The GoozerNation crew tackles the Catherine demo and tries to make sense of it all...

That's right, three different contributors in one review. Have a look.

What makes FPSs Fun? | GoozerNation

Competitive multiplayer used to hold very little value to me as a gamer. I was always much more interested in the single player experience and RPGs were the best providers of that. As the technology of each new console generation moves forward other genres better embrace the grandiose storylines and complex characters that RPGs made popular. There were, and definitely are now, genre bending games like Deus Ex that really sunk their hooks into me. But the biggest impact I've seen are the level up mechanics implemented in competitive fragfests. This has given me a reason to be excited about playing First Person Shooters but also makes me wonder what makes them so fun.

Want to know what I discovered? Of course you do.

Amazon App of the Day: 180 Ultra | GoozerNation

Today's free Amazon App is 180 Ultra and it plays like a mix of Bust-a-Move and Bejeweled.

Is that a good thing? Could be, let's find out.

Amazon App of the Day: Age of Zombies | GoozerNation

HalfBrick Studios Age of Zombies is free today on the Amazon Appstore. If you haven't played it elsewhere yet then all you need to know is that this time-traveling romp of a twinstick shooter is an excellent game and well worth the free download.

Never heard of Age of Zombies? Find out more about it and why the Android version is the best version.

Listen To This #5 | GoozerNation

Taking Back Sunday was the focal point of the last installment of Listen To This and if you read it then you know that I was super excited to see them live. What I didn't mention was how excited I was to see the other bands as well. This edition highlights those bands as well as the brand new self-titled TBS album that wasn't available for recommendation last article.

Read about the other bands.