Farewell

I just want to say, it's been a blast being in this class. I'm normally not a huge fan of English, but I enjoyed coming to this class every day, and learning all of our books (except Shakespeare, but that's an argument for another day. I'll make this short, but I'm gonna miss this class. My only complaint was us doing the 2 plays back-to-back. I was SO burnt out before we even started Shakespeare, I much rather would have read Kite Runner first. Anyways, good luck everyone!

What I've Learned from Video Games

        I've been meaning to write these thoughts down somewhere, and I thought here is as good a place as any. I, as I'm sure many people in this class, enjoy video games as a hobby. However, I feel like outside of the gaming communities, video games receive a lot of flak for being all violence. Every time someone brings this up now, I get to mention how video games have been added as an art in the Museum of Modern Art. I get to explain how a game tells a story that no TV show or movie could pull off.
        Video games, at least in my opinion, receive most of their flak because people don't understand them. People see a game, and they might just automatically link it with say, call of duty. This is definitely not the case.
       I'll use the game Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3DS as an example. This game is so drastically different from most games, I don't even know if I should call it a game. Anyway, you arrive to a new town, with only a bit of cash in your pockets,to become the new mayor. And then...that's it. The rest is up to you. You choose what to do in your town. You can spend your days going fishing, catching bugs, gardening, talking with your villagers, buying furniture and clothes, improving the town, or just relaxing. The cool thing is, the game plays even when you aren't. Seasons change, shops close, and villagers move in and out even when you are away. The game came out 2 weeks ago, and all my friends and I already have taken different approaches on what to do. That's the beauty of video games. They're a hobby, with something for everyone.
        I love video games, and I feel like if everyone understood that they're a great outlet for anger, sadness, or boredom, the stigma of "video games are evil" would be gone forever.

Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask

WARNING: INCREDIBLY DARK AND DEPRESSING 

        If you've played this game, then you know where I'm going with this. This game is an incredible experience, and it does an amazing job at taking a look at futility and death. A young boy is possessed by an evil mask, which curses the moon to crash into the planet in 3 days. It's up to link to save the world.

        Along your quest, you meet many characters. 2 in particular stood out for me. There is a place you can go called Romani Ranch, which is run by 2 sisters. An older sister, who's about 18, and a younger sister, who's only about 7 or 8. There is a place next door, called the milk bar, where no children are allowed in (basically a club). It serves a drink called Chateau Romani, which is said to be so potent that it can knock a full-grown man out with a single sip. If you talk to the younger sister during day 1 or 2, she complains about how she never gets to try the drink. If you talk to her on the 3rd and final day, however, she exclaims: "Oh boy! My big sis says I can finally try Chateau Romani tonight!". When you leave the ranch that day, the older sister responds: "...see you...tomorrow...", while the younger sister responds with a cheery "See you tomorrow!" The older sister knows they are going to die, so it seems she was going to let the younger sister drink the Chateau Romani so she would remain happy and unaware.

Pretty dark for a game rated E for Everyone huh?

        And this is just one minor example. The whole game is full of things like this, made all the creepier by this thing staring at you the whole time. 

Yeah, that's the moon. 

Have fun.

        This game is great at showing how death is the one true equalizer. The rich, the poor, the young, the old, it's equal to all. Pretty dark themes in this game, but really good ones.

Metro 2033

        So I decided to do this book as my main novel, and it's really blown me away. The book does a FANTASTIC job of showing what humanity resorts to when afraid and faced with extinction.
        The book takes place in the metro system of Moscow, after war has almost completely destroyed the ozone layer and irradiated anything above ground. It tells the story of Artyom, a single soldier who unknowingly almost causes the extinction of the human race, and his struggle to unite and save the metro system. I can't give this book enough praise, it's dark, it's suspenseful, and it's incredibly well-written. A couple ideas I got from the book are:

• Humans are, art heart, an aggressive species.
• Humans will put aside differences to work together when faced with extinction.
• Humans will try to fight and survive, regardless of the situation.

        So, I'd give this book a 9/10. It's a great, dark, "what-if" look at war in our future. My only complaint is that everybody's names, and the names of locations, are SO DIFFICULT to remember, because they are all Russian. Regardless of that, it's an amazing book.

The Rez Sisters - Thoughts?

I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on the play so far. I think it'll be nice for a change of pace, but I think I'll probably mess the names up a few times. So, I'm curious about everyone else's thoughts on the book so far.