Mass Effect 4: No More Shepard?

I love the Mass Effect games. The day my old PS3 died and I lost my saved games was heartbreaking (maybe I’m being over dramatic there), and it meant I didn’t get round to completing Mass Effect 3 for a while. But I’m playing through it right now, and loving every minute of it, and I decided to see if there is a Mass Effect 4 planned.

And there is. But according to the article I read on Eurogamer, there will be no more Shepard.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. I liked the fact the Shepard I created in the first game could be carried into the next game, and choices I made in the first game could affect things in the third game. I’m a huge fan of the Dragon Age games, but I did find it a bit annoying that the character in the first game wasn’t in the second game, bar being mentioned in cut scenes. I liked the sense of my femShepard growing with each game.

On the other hand, a whole new character could add a new angle of the series, add more depth. I’d like to see the option of playing a species other than human, I liked that in Dragon Age 1 you could play as Human, Elf or Dwarf. As long as a few familiar faces show up in the game, I’m sure I’d be happy starting anew.

But would it be Mass Effect? The article seems to suggest that the new game would be set in the same universe, but with a new title. Guess we just have to wait and see.

It’s Been a Long Summer!

So it’s been a while since I posted here. As anyone who works in the Hospitality business knows, summer is pretty much the busiest time of year, and it certainly has been for us. But it’s September, and the schools have gone back so things have calmed down.

Other than work, not much has happened. Evening shifts have cut my Warcraft raiding down to one night a week, but I have discovered the joys of Animal Crossing: New Leaf on my 3DS. G doesn’t quite get why I’m enjoying a game where I raise money to pay off a home loan, too much like real life for him I think 🙂

There was also a new addition to our growing snake family; a Taiwainese Beauty Snake. This will be the last. Honest!

Wreck it Ralph’s Hidden References

Over the weekend I took a break from The Last of Us to watch a movie. Even at ripe old age of 33 I have to admit I still love a good Disney movie, and I’d been wanting to see Wreck it Ralph for a while, so I finally got round to seeing it. I’d seen all the pictures of famous video game characters who made cameos in the film like Sonic, Ryu, Q-Bert etc, but I was happy to see something else in the back ground that made me squee. Namely this:

On the left of the picture, in all it’s glory it says ‘Aerith Lives’! Simple, but brilliant. Plus someone had written ‘Jenkins’ on the wall so I assume Leeroy is in the arcade somewhere 🙂

But this isn’t the first time I’ve seen cool stuff appearing in Disney movies. In Toy Story 3 Totoro made an appearance.

Now if the Catbus had made an appearance I’d have been well impressed!

My Babies!

I am not the maternal type.  Well, not when it comes to human babies anyway.  I’m childfree and plan to stay that way.  Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against other people choosing to have kids, I just don’t want to, and that’s totally my choice to make.  And yes, my husband is fully aware of this so I’ve not tricked him or lied to him.

(Warning: Pictures of Snakes below the cut!)

The Last Of Us – Thoughts So Far

I picked up The Last of Us this weekend.  I have to admit that I’m not a fan of the Uncharted games which are by the same company, Naughty Dog, so I was a little bit worried The Last of Us would just be a rehash of those games (I know, I know, the Uncharted games are very popular and it’s a travesty I don’t like them, I just haven’t been able to get into them).

Warning:  May be Spoilers ahead!

News Flash… I Dress For Myself, No One Else

As my blog title suggests, and the photos from my wedding show, I am in fact female. However I don’t label myself as a ‘geek girl’ or a ‘girl gamer’ as I don’t feel my gender should come into it. I’m a geek and a gamer who just happens to be a girl (Disclaimer: This is just how I see things, you don’t have to agree with me and I don’t mind if you do use these terms, each to their own). I fail to see what set of chromosomes I have has to do with how well I play games or appreciate my favourite tv shows, books and movies. Sadly, there are some out there who do not agree.

I have a Tumblr account but I only really use it to read my favourite Tumblrs like Escher Girls. This morning, this popped up on my dashboard though and I just can’t keep quiet.

It was originally posted by Concerningmishas over on Tumblr (original post here).

Really? There is so much about this that pisses me off, so I’m going to address each point separately.

1. What’s so wrong about being casual anyway?

I play games for fun (though to hear me yell at the screen when things aren’t going well you could be mistaken in thinking I am really not enjoying myself). I know there are people out there who go to tournaments and earn money through sponsorships and there for make money playing games, but that’s not me. I didn’t realise fitting gaming around my work, social life and other responsibilities was such an awful thing. And those games listed? I didn’t realise they were so disgusting to uber leet people. I personally enjoy World of Warcraft, Resident Evil games and Skyrim, I must be DISGUSTING!!! But seriously, there is nothing wrong with being a casual gamer, just as there is nothing wrong with being hardcore. IF THAT’S WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO BE.

2. Does this apply to guys as well?

Is it only girls that can’t call themselves gamers if they like these games? That’s one of the most annoying bits about this. The OP totally skips over the question about that and resorts to insults. I have a feeling the lady is right. If she had been male it would be a total non issue if she wore tshirts for those games.

3. Does the OP only think girls wear tshirts about thing they know nothing about?

Now I’m going to start this section off by saying that a person can wear a tshirt with whatever the hell they want on it if they think its cool, I don’t give a damn if they know chuff all about they subject matter. But this post kind of implies girls will wear tshirts to look ‘cool’ or ‘edgy’ to get attention, and that I gets my goat. See I’ve seen guys come into the pub wearing tshirts with the Ramones logo on it and yet they couldn’t even name one Ramones song, it just happened these tshirts were in fashion for a while. I’ve talked to guys wearing Batman logo tshirts who have barely even seen one of the movies. But that’s ok right? It’s just girls who can’t do it. Bullshit.

4. I don’t dress for you (or anyone else for that matter)

I love tshirts from the websites Qwertee and Teefury. I spend way too much money on them, and I wear my tshirts with pride. I have tshirts from My Neighbour Totoro, Firefly, Labyrinth, Game of Thrones amongst others, and yes, some are to do with games like Final Fantasy. Now why do I wear these tshirts? Let me see… Is it because I seek approval from people? Hmmmm, nope. Is it because my distinctly non geek of a husband like me wearing them? Nah, that’s not it, I could wear a bin liner and he’d not care as long as it wasn’t a used bin liner. So what. Could the reason be… Oh yeah. Because I LIKE to dress like that. Yep, I dress for myself. I get odd looks from some people, and the occasional “Woah, cool shirt!” but neither of those things matter to me. So the OP can shove right off, I don’t dress to please him, and I don’t care what he thinks about girls who wear gamer tshirts. It’s not his place to tell me what I can and can’t wear.

5. Feminists are ugly and can’t get laid

First of all who says all feminists are ugly? Oh, I know about the stereotype, but really, that’s all it is, a stereotype. Feminists come in all shapes, sizes, and even genders. Obviously some won’t be conventionally pretty because not everyone is, but some will also be drop dead gorgeous. A lot will be somewhere in between because that’s how life is. And the implication she’ll never have sex… What does getting laid have to do with an argument anyway? I can see it now… A heated Facebook discussion can be resolved by the first person to go get their rocks off being declared the winner. Seriously though, if you have to resort to comments like that its usually because you can’t think up a decent response and have to resort to insults and its time you just gave up.

Anyway, I’m a feminist and I’m married, I get laid whenever I want, so it’s definitely not right.

6. Your peers frown upon you wearing gamer tshirts

Really? Because my peers have never said jack shit about it. One of my male friends said that he loves seeing girls in game/anime/comic book etc tshirts because he knows the will be something he can talk to them about. A lot of my male friends when asked don’t care if you are a girl who likes something, it’s amazing the conversations I have had with people when I’m behind the bar and not once have I been disapproved of and told I can’t like something because I’m female. So no, I do not believe my peers frown upon me being me. The OP does and he is pretty much alone in that respect. Maybe he feels threatened, or maybe he feels girls should be in awe of his leet skills, but whatever the reason, I believe he’ll find less people agree with him that he thinks.

I really shouldn’t give people like the OP a moment of my time, but it’s that awkward ‘before work’ time and I have nothing better to do. I know nothing said will change him, and whilst that makes me sad I won’t lose sleep over it because I can just ignore him and give my time to people who like me just the way I am. And there are plenty of those out there, it just seems sometime they are the silent majority.

The Power of Love… My Vaguely Geeky Wedding

Now that I’m back at work and everything has settled down after the wedding I can concentrate on this blog a bit more.  And as my wedding is what has kept me from blogging, I feel that I should do a post about it!

Farewell Matt, Hello…?

This will be a quick entry as I am on my honeymoon and am meant to be doing other things, not blogging. But I can’t keep it in any longer!

Matt Smith leaves Doctor Who in this years Christmas Special, and unless you are dead (or simply not a fan I guess) you’ll know there is a lot of speculation about who will replace him.

I will admit I was sceptical about Matt at first, but he proved to be a wonderful Doctor. Easily as good as David Tennant, and I adored Ten! So I am sad to see Eleven go. I know we have to 50th Anniversary Special to go, but I am gearing myself up for another heartrending regeneration scene (Tens had me sniffling).

So who will replace him? I’ve heard a few names thrown around: Damian Lewis, Idris Elba, Dame Helen Mirren. Who would I like to see? Well, I am not too sure, but I know who I don’t want to see. And sorry if this offends but I REALLY do not want a female Doctor. Somehow to me that would be too big a change, I can’t see it working. Also I’d prefer a lesser known actor to a big name. Damian Lewis and Idris Elba are great actors but with other commitments, and I’d prefer we didn’t have a repeat of when David Tennant went off to do Hamlet and we ended up with four ‘specials’ rather than a series. But you know, I’m easy, I am sure whoever they choose will bring something new and interesting to the role of the Doctor.

Mind you. There always one guy I wanted to see as the Doctor, starting back in the early 2000’s when rumours of a new series started. And yes, he’s aged and doesn’t look quite the same as when I first liked the idea, but I still think he could pull it off:

I think Eddie Izzard would be just great 🙂

One thing I will say though, I’d not be adverse to an older Doctor again. My favourite Doctor is the Fourth, I love the old series, and it does worry me that from now on all future Doctors will be young and good looking. There is more to the Doctor than that.

Next Gen Consoles: The View Point of A Cheapass Country Girl.

I’ve been a console gamer from a very early age. In the early 80’s when I was a very small child my older brother and sister had an Atari 2600, so I started gaming at the tender age of 4. I remember laughing myself silly over the Smurf game my sister like, when you lost a life the Smurf would sit down with a farting noise and the was the funniest thing EVER. I spend hours playing games like Wizard of Wor with friends when I got older. I graduated onto Sega consoles, I never really bothered with Nintendo, something I have to say persists to this day. I owned the original Playstation, and the PS2 and now find myself predominately playing on my PS3, though I do own an Xbox 360 (my fiancé prefers it to play CoD games on).

Now I love my job, but like most Bar Staff I don’t earn much over minimum wage. Working full time I my monthly pay packet isn’t too bad, especially in the summer months, but after paying bills I have a limited amount of income, so I don’t buy brand new games unless its a game I have been really, avidly waiting for. The last game I bought the moment it came out was Aliens: Colonial Marines (and we won’t go into how THAT worked out for me), I usually wait a month or so and pick up a second hand copy. This isn’t a post about how poor Myr is though, I’m not poor, I just like to be sensible with my money.

I will admit I don’t look at the stuff being released about the specs of the XBox One and the PS4, it’s all Greek to me. I’m sure whatever the specs the games I want to play will look great, and that’s all that matters to me. But the prospect of having to download games rather than go to a store and buy a copy bothers me, I won’t lie.

Personally I don’t download games for my PS3. I live on a farm in the middle on nowhere and my connection speed is usually about 3mb, and I doubt I’ll be getting the “Superfast Fiber Optic” broadband BT are advertising any time soon. I bit the bullet a few months ago and bought Ni No Kuni via the Playstation Store and it took nearly 24 hours to get it. When I buy a game I like that as soon as I get home I can pop the disc in my PS3 and be playing it inside of 30 minutes. The prospect of me having to take a whole day to download a game every single time leaves me cold. Yeah, ok, I’m totally not a patient person.

As I mentioned before, I did buy Ni No Kuni digitally when it came out. And this leads me to the second thing that bothers me. I can’t trade in Ni No Kuni now I have finished playing it. All I can do is delete it. There is no trade in money towards the next game I want. And to me, that is something of a big deal. I like getting some of my money back once I’m done with a game. I like picking up games cheap as £50 for a game is a lot of money to me.

And you know what? I like going to my local Game store. I like chatting to the people that work there about games and movies and music (both the Game in Lancaster and in Morecambe play excellent music, barring the time the Lancaster store was playing Backstreet Boys when I was in). I asked an employee a few weeks back what would happen if everything became digital and trade ins were stopped and he was quite frank: Video game shops will shut down, a d he is really worried about it. Locally we’ve already lost HMV, which has left a DVD shaped hole in my life, I don’t want Game to go the same way.

Will it stop me buying a PS4? Probably not. Me not buying one will not change a thing, as I seriously doubt there will be a mass boycott of the PS4 or the Xbox One over these issues. And why lie, as much as I’d like to say “You aren’t getting my money because of this.” I do want to play Dragon Age 3 and Mass Effect 4, and buying a PS4 will be the only way I can.

I know nothing is set it stone, but this is one gamer who is hoping the good old hard copy of games are here to stay and you won’t need a one of code to play them. Digital downloads may be the future, but right now I like being a dinosaur!

Alien: Captain Dallas Jacket Cosplay

For years I have wanted to have a bash at proper cosplay. Since I once shared a house with someone who did it (the wonderful EJ Sephirayne, who was recently featured in Neo magazine) I wanted to give it a go, but a few thing held me back.

First off, I don’t know how to sew. I wouldn’t know where to start making anything. So recently I bought an old sewing machine and once my back is better I’m going to learn how to use it. As for making bits, well my partner has been making bits and pieces restoring militaria for years so he can help me.

Secondly, and nowadays this is the main issue, I’m not a small girl. Until recently I was a UK size 18/20 (US 14/16) and weighed just over 17 stone (about 110kg, or 242lbs). I get married in, omg, two weeks, so in January I went on a diet and started exercising, and I’m down to 15 stone (95kg, or 210lbs), and am a UK size 16 (US 12), I’m 5ft 8 btw. So I’ve done well, but I still have a way to go, ideally I’d like to be a UK size 12 (US 8), but I’ll be happy if I just get to size 14, as even at my slimmest I always had, ummm, a larger chest. Anyway, what I am trying to say is I have seen pretty negative stuff said about larger cosplayers, and I won’t lie, it put me off. But now with my new found confidence that has been developing with my weight loss I’ve decided what the hell. As much as I’d LOVE to Cosplay Batwoman (Kate Kane, you are amazing!) I’m not THAT confident, but I’m going to make a start.