February 25th, 2009: "Twitter is Awesome"

[Citi]

Wil Wheaton is such a great sport isn't he? I've been following him on Twitter pretty much ever since we got this site live enough for me to start using the account and I was astonished to discover how interesting he is. Sure I'm a TNG fan; but there's so much more to the man himself; and through Twitter I've actually corresponded with him. He actually gave me permission to do this. I know; I couldn't believe it either.

My all time favorite Wesley Crusher episode is "Peak Performance" from Season 2. I was stationed in Korea at the time so I didn't actually see it until years later; but it was one of the few episodes in which I felt like Wesley was actually part of the crew and working with them in a constructive and useful manner. In that episode, Wesley fit. He was a piece of the Enterprise and his place seemed natural.

But truth be told I've been a fan of Wil's for a lot longer than TNG. As a huge Stephen King fan "Different Season's" was one of the first novella collections I had ever read by him and "The Body" my favorite story from the book. When I first saw "Stand By Me" I made the connection immediately and I thought Wil was amazing as Gordie Lachance. I still to this day freak out at the thought of leeches on my nads; and that story of the kid puking at the pie eating contest haunts my dreams.

But let's not look at the past, let's look at what he's up to now because the boy who was great has become a fantastically entertaining man. One look at his IMDB page and you can see that this is no longer just Wil Wheaton the actor. He is now Wil Wheaton, Actor, Voice Actor for Cartoons and many popular Video Games (and as an amateur voice actor myself I have a lot of respect for all he's accomplished there) and Writer/Novelist. He is also known for his public speaking on all subjects geeky and or nerdy and has even served as the keynote speaker for the Mecca of all things geek; the Penny Arcade Expo. He has even been on "Criminal Minds"; a show already made awesome by the fact that the great Joel Heyman of Rooster Teeth (who I got to meet for the first time last week) was on it as well.

So if you have a free moment. Stop by Wil's site, read his blog, maybe pick up one of his books. He just put out a new one for a mere $5 via PDF download and he is always entertaining, so that $5 is a real bargain. You can also join his forums there and say hi. He's a really nice guy, he might even say "Hi" back ("Hi" is not guaranteed).

I finally got around to checking out the Mass Effect 2 teaser. It's ok I guess. As a teaser it doesn't really tell us much does it? Shepard is supposedly KIA? I don't buy it; although I don't disagree with the sentiment. The first one was fun and I enjoyed it but the character of Commander Shepard was so thin and undeveloped. I felt like I was playing a robot and frankly he deserves to die simply for that awful glory pose at the end of the game. If my Xbox wasn't a paperweight right now I'd probably pick it up and play it when it comes out though. So I guess that makes me a glutton for punishment. I don't really believe for a minute Shepard is dead though.

I've always had a problem with games that start a character off weak and then through successive resource upgrades make the character stronger. Since the enemies always get stronger too it really seems kind of silly. I guess that's why I prefer FPS to something like Mass Effect which is more of a Third Person Shooter with resource management elements. Like Knights of the Old Republic I tend to play games like this for their stories more than the actual game play.

The enemies in these games are always sub-par AI that border on downright stupid and the aiming and weapon systems usually leave a lot to be desired. The story is really what brings me back to this game type. It really does work in a very compelling way.

Come back on Friday for the end of Chapter 1 of Remedy (and I think the last airline joke I'll be telling for awhile). On Monday we will have a Chapter Break and a new Wallapaper for you. If you like wallpapers and avatars we already have some of that stuff up in our extras section and it is free. Additionally the avatars can all be used on our forums (or other people's forums if you feel so inclined). Have a great day. See you back here in 48.