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BritGAF |OT5| Superb Birds, Absurd Turds and Disturbed Nerds
- Thread starter Mikeside
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Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Let me just put that through SaltyCunt to English on Google Translate.....
RRRAAAAAAAGGGGEEE!
actually it's more like "boo hoo I can't afford a new console but I can now see through the inherently shallow marketing messages". I really want to be wowed but I don't know what will wow me any more.
can't be bothered with E3 anymore. shitty press conferences that go on too long, that consist mostly of boring sales talk, with the occasional shitty reveal of nothing surprising. Bonus points if they have a trailer for something that already came out (s'up Sony).
Anything worth caring about will be on GAF within seconds anyway.
Anything worth caring about will be on GAF within seconds anyway.
That's how I read your post.
Post of the year
At least I don't have to work on Christmas.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
Triple dropping on a night out.
Yeah yeah, I did look it up but E3 expo seems to be some sort of gamespot slobberfest instead of actual useful information.
E3 was pretty cool pre internet. We didn't have constant news updates, games would actually be revealed there without teasers, you would have to wait for the print press to fill you in on the details, some even bundled discs (VHS even!) with footage.
No leaks, no pre show spoilers, no Dorito ads, it was a simpler time.
No leaks, no pre show spoilers, no Dorito ads, it was a simpler time.
dapperbandit
Banned
More moaning in this thread than you'd hear in a whorehouse.
I am excited and look forward to making a palace of sorts out of pillows and bedding with assorted alcoholic and energy drinks and microwave popcorn and sweets so I can watch the spectacle in ample comfort.
I am excited and look forward to making a palace of sorts out of pillows and bedding with assorted alcoholic and energy drinks and microwave popcorn and sweets so I can watch the spectacle in ample comfort.
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
OK, enough of this manbaby wankery, I have an actual question for you BGAF.
As many of you know, I have a proud heritage as a child of a single parent. I know who my dad is, I just had no contact with him from around age 10 and before then it was maybe twice yearly visit. I've grown up pretty well adjusted about this tbh, have done fairly well for myself, and ideas of paternity cross my mind rarely and when they do it's not distressing, it just IS.
So anyway, my mum comes to me yesterday and tells me I have a grandmother living in the town who would like to meet me. Now, to my knowledge I've never met this lady before. I'm kind of stuck on what to feel/do about this. Let's break this down:
Having survived 31 years without that side of the family, I don't feel a personal need to connect with any of them. In fact, I'm suspicious of their motives - why didn't they give a shit when I was little, and it mattered? More to the point, when I was little and my mum could have used the help? (I'm not discarding the idea that my mum could have told them to go fuck themselves at this time either, she's very independent and sharp).
I've never really been one for family as it is - I don't like feeling obligated to be somewhere and do things with people who are virtual strangers. The thought of it makes me a bit anxious. Not enough to stop me doing things, but it's unpleasant. I have about 5 members of the family who I like and know well enough for them not to feel an imposition. These newbies don't fit in that number.
On the other hand, putting myself into the shoes of an 80 year old woman who's family are to put it politely a bunch of do-nothing fuckups, I can see that finding out your unknown grandson lives down the road would be quite nice. Old people are (for some unknown reason to me, maybe it will come with age) interested in people and family. Maybe it'd be nice to show that that some of her DNA has done alright for itself and isn't an alcoholic or in jail.
On another hand (I am become Man-Spider), a part of me thinks that opening the door to this side of the family that I don't know might lead to eventually crossing paths with the ol' spunk donor himself. And while in my contemplative moments I don't hold much enmity towards him, I don't know if that would be the same if I met him face to face. As I get older (older than he was when he left) I find it harder and harder to understand WHY he was so crap, so disinterested in being a father. Getting older has given me more empathy, sure. But that lets me imagine his carelessness all the more clearly.
tbh, I don't know if I want anything to do with these people at all. But is that being unfair to this as-yet-unnamed grandmother? Does she have a right to see me?
Drama llama, signing off.
As many of you know, I have a proud heritage as a child of a single parent. I know who my dad is, I just had no contact with him from around age 10 and before then it was maybe twice yearly visit. I've grown up pretty well adjusted about this tbh, have done fairly well for myself, and ideas of paternity cross my mind rarely and when they do it's not distressing, it just IS.
So anyway, my mum comes to me yesterday and tells me I have a grandmother living in the town who would like to meet me. Now, to my knowledge I've never met this lady before. I'm kind of stuck on what to feel/do about this. Let's break this down:
Having survived 31 years without that side of the family, I don't feel a personal need to connect with any of them. In fact, I'm suspicious of their motives - why didn't they give a shit when I was little, and it mattered? More to the point, when I was little and my mum could have used the help? (I'm not discarding the idea that my mum could have told them to go fuck themselves at this time either, she's very independent and sharp).
I've never really been one for family as it is - I don't like feeling obligated to be somewhere and do things with people who are virtual strangers. The thought of it makes me a bit anxious. Not enough to stop me doing things, but it's unpleasant. I have about 5 members of the family who I like and know well enough for them not to feel an imposition. These newbies don't fit in that number.
On the other hand, putting myself into the shoes of an 80 year old woman who's family are to put it politely a bunch of do-nothing fuckups, I can see that finding out your unknown grandson lives down the road would be quite nice. Old people are (for some unknown reason to me, maybe it will come with age) interested in people and family. Maybe it'd be nice to show that that some of her DNA has done alright for itself and isn't an alcoholic or in jail.
On another hand (I am become Man-Spider), a part of me thinks that opening the door to this side of the family that I don't know might lead to eventually crossing paths with the ol' spunk donor himself. And while in my contemplative moments I don't hold much enmity towards him, I don't know if that would be the same if I met him face to face. As I get older (older than he was when he left) I find it harder and harder to understand WHY he was so crap, so disinterested in being a father. Getting older has given me more empathy, sure. But that lets me imagine his carelessness all the more clearly.
tbh, I don't know if I want anything to do with these people at all. But is that being unfair to this as-yet-unnamed grandmother? Does she have a right to see me?
Drama llama, signing off.
I can't see any harm in saying hello to an old lady who probably never expected to ever see you TBH, but I'm kind of on the flip side of your situation.
I was adopted at birth with no idea about my parentage other than knowing my mother was pumped and dumped by an Irish sailor, I did try to find out more when I was about 16 but was blocked at every turn by bureaucracy and I eventually gave up frustrated. Then I left the country a bit later and other than getting my DNA analysed last year have pretty much given up on that identity. I would have liked to have met my genetic mother out of curiosity but not out of any real deference to her.
This probably doesn't help, does it?
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Yeah I feel you, curiosity but no real drive to get ANSWERS to QUESTIONS and all that. tbh, being treated to an hour of stories about my dad as a boy doesn't exactly fill me with glee. We are the men that we are, I don't credit family (beyond mum) with much of it. And where I do, it's because I was formed in opposition to them.
ahhh feels. Family's never super easy is it?
Hot Coldman
Banned
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
It's possible to like video games without being into the bullshit pageantry and hype cycle y'know.
But actually it's a good question, Ninj is not good with computer. How did he figure this stuff out??
NinjaBoiX
Member
Jed, I was in a similar predicament with regards to my dearly departed mother.
She requested to see me but my moody teen ego wouldn't let me acquiesce to her request, "fuck you mother, why should I give you another chance? Fucking useless twat". I think I regret not doing so a little now, but not too much. Call me cold, but what the fuck did I need her for? She needed me, and fuck that shit, she had her chance. I don't need my life turned upside down again.
But at the same time, I've heard plenty of stories about estranged offspring and parents meeting and really hitting it off. It happened with Musha and her dad just last month.
So in conclusion, I don't know. Sorry chief!
She requested to see me but my moody teen ego wouldn't let me acquiesce to her request, "fuck you mother, why should I give you another chance? Fucking useless twat". I think I regret not doing so a little now, but not too much. Call me cold, but what the fuck did I need her for? She needed me, and fuck that shit, she had her chance. I don't need my life turned upside down again.
But at the same time, I've heard plenty of stories about estranged offspring and parents meeting and really hitting it off. It happened with Musha and her dad just last month.
So in conclusion, I don't know. Sorry chief!
Hot Coldman
Banned
Hey, I know that, EGX was still fun just to doss about playing random stuff you'd never seen before though. (Granted, I think when we eventually ran into Ninj on the last day, we were in the big boys AAA rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty games bit upstairs which, yeah, probably falls under "bullshit pageantry".)
NinjaBoiX
Member
I used to really like games when I joined. Not so much anymore. I still play them, but standing in a big sweaty room so I can watch muted trailers on TV screens is not my idea of fun.
And screw standing in line for hours to play 10 minutes of a game.
Fone make compute eezy.
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Personally I am quite lazy, being on my feet that long tends to make me super grumpy. The idea of a loud crowded room, standing about makes me feel super tense. I am on team NinjaBox. Boooo conventions!
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
Hot Coldman
Banned
Ha, that Watch_Dogs booth was horseshit, don't know why they even turned up. I managed to avoid waiting it line for over an hour for anything really, the exception being Oculus and Pokemon, one of which was a humongous waste of time (you can probably guess which).
NinjaBoiX
Member
That's the thing though, I thought to myself "hey, even if you can't be bothered to queue to play anything, there'll still be booming music, interesting things to see and loads of fit cosplay girls."
Nah, just a big, musicless room filled with sweaty nerds, overpriced t-shirts and TV's showing muted trailers on repeat.
yay
Haha, pretty much.
Pokeymanz is pants like.
Kinda in the same boat really but I've always been more intrigued about reading and talking about video games instead of playing them (mostly because of time).
PAX is very special in the sense that it's more of a huge gamer meetup with panels and shows rather than just a big exhibition hall filled with booths and screens. Even when I go to exhibition halls there I'm like "most of the demos will be available on XBL or PSN a week or two before launch so why wait in a queue?" I just go around all the stalls within the first hour, see what's on offer, maybe plan to check any out later if the queues aren't super long and enjoy the shows, panels and overall experience. Acrid showed me how fun it is hanging out in the indiebooths and convinced me that it's the only place in an exhibition hall worth spending time in. Queues are never more than 5 mins long, the people at the booths are the developers who show geniune interest in their work and you often get prominent video game industry folk coming in every now and then to see what's up. Really chilled and happy vibe as opposed to the "WAIT IN LINE MAGGOT!" vibe you get at the lines of the big AAA titles.
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
I'm watching a gay comedy, it's pretty much the worst/best film I've ever seen, hilarious mawvie
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
Looking like I won't be able to make the London Meet, guys. Just got offered a gig that I can't really turn down (lead by example etc.). If it falls through (which is a possibility), I shall definitely attend, but as it stands you will have to count me out. Sorry!
NinjaBoiX
Member
Yeah shorty, talking to the devs was quite fun, definitely the most enjoyable aspect for me. And playing some of the indie games with Mike, Musha, Coldman and Quiche.
I just wish they put more on in terms of events. If you weren't willing to queue for a game or go and pay £20 for a shitty t-shirt with some free marketing on the front you were kind of shit out of luck.
I don't think I'm against the idea of conferences in principle, I think I just went to a shit one.
I just wish they put more on in terms of events. If you weren't willing to queue for a game or go and pay £20 for a shitty t-shirt with some free marketing on the front you were kind of shit out of luck.
I don't think I'm against the idea of conferences in principle, I think I just went to a shit one.
Ever the optimist strafer.
CHEEZMO
Obsidian fan
Oh and there is always the basement at Tribeca...
I save that for the second saturday of the month
I don't think she has a right to see you, but it sounds to me like you have a lot of tied-up feelings about this and going to meet her might actually be a good thing. You're old enough to have that defence mechanism if it goes pear-shaped, but it might actually help to move on from some of the things you're experiencing. Also all of the clichés apply, you only have one family, one life and so on, but it's true. It's better to regret something you did than something you didn't do (spot the reference). That's just my take on it though. Don't rush it and keep talking about it and you should be able to come to a decision.
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
I can see both sides of this jed, depends how much you care really, I don't think I would tbbh.. but if you think you might regret it I would try it, just once so you won't feel bad once she's kicked the bucket
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Yeah man sounds good, lemme know when your jet set lifestyle has a gap in it. Bonus, if after friday I will have money
I think you're mostly right, to be fair most of my reticence comes from the part of me that doesn't want to talk to random old folks on a day to day basis generally - growing up a weirdo, I don't have a lot of time for people who won't "get me", and old people while lovely, don't really get the stuff I do. I love my grandad who I grew up around, but the only reason I see him is because he's my grandad and we have history, y'know? Take out the history and all you have is strangers.
re the cliches (I don't know how to do that neat accent, durrr) though - we do only have one family, and I feel like I already have mine. What means more, blood or time?
Def with you on the regret cliche, strong words to live you life by.
Just thought this as well - if I meet with them, it's the first step on a road to 're-connecting' with my dad. But I'm not sure if I want that. Now that I think about it, I think it's because I don't believe he will have the emotional articulation to give me what I would want or need from that meeting. I don't think he knows what his absence meant to a young boy, and all the ways (good and bad) it affected me. And even if I was to explain all these things to him, I'm not entirely sure he would get me. Which brings me back to my point above, I don't have space in my life for people who don't or can't get me.
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
Just watched Mortified on Netflix, it was great. The entries a few participants were reading reminded me of the type of things people in this thread post right now.
In other news, cleaning out my office this weekend led me to finding my old PSP 1000 (phat psp), PS2 and Creative Zen Micro mp3 player. Charged each up to see what still worked and found a few games and UMDs. My PSP still had CFW installed as well as FF7. It's always a treat finding old stuff to play with again.
I also have a bunch of movies that are PAL region locked that I can't play here (USA) except on my computer. I might give those away, if anyone in here wants them let me know, I'll post a list later. Off the top of my head I know the stack includes The Prestige, Darkplace (which I will re-buy for sure), Thirteen, Nightmare Before Xmas, Donnie Darko etc.
In other news, cleaning out my office this weekend led me to finding my old PSP 1000 (phat psp), PS2 and Creative Zen Micro mp3 player. Charged each up to see what still worked and found a few games and UMDs. My PSP still had CFW installed as well as FF7. It's always a treat finding old stuff to play with again.
I also have a bunch of movies that are PAL region locked that I can't play here (USA) except on my computer. I might give those away, if anyone in here wants them let me know, I'll post a list later. Off the top of my head I know the stack includes The Prestige, Darkplace (which I will re-buy for sure), Thirteen, Nightmare Before Xmas, Donnie Darko etc.
Yeah man sounds good, lemme know when your jet set lifestyle has a gap in it. Bonus, if after friday I will have money
I think you're mostly right, to be fair most of my reticence comes from the part of me that doesn't want to talk to random old folks on a day to day basis generally - growing up a weirdo, I don't have a lot of time for people who won't "get me", and old people while lovely, don't really get the stuff I do. I love my grandad who I grew up around, but the only reason I see him is because he's my grandad and we have history, y'know? Take out the history and all you have is strangers.
re the cliches (I don't know how to do that neat accent, durrr) though - we do only have one family, and I feel like I already have mine. What means more, blood or time?
Def with you on the regret cliche, strong words to live you life by.
Just thought this as well - if I meet with them, it's the first step on a road to 're-connecting' with my dad. But I'm not sure if I want that. Now that I think about it, I think it's because I don't believe he will have the emotional articulation to give me what I would want or need from that meeting. I don't think he knows what his absence meant to a young boy, and all the ways (good and bad) it affected me. And even if I was to explain all these things to him, I'm not entirely sure he would get me. Which brings me back to my point above, I don't have space in my life for people who don't or can't get me.
I totally understand this.
Obviously we're very different people, but for me I keep trying to re-connect because even though my dad doesn't have the emotional articulation to be able to ever understand who I am or what I've been through, I still feel an emotional connection and also feel that I want to do everything I can to open that bridge for him. I guess I don't want to ever feel that I could've done something more to make his life a bit easier. Does meeting your gran automatically mean you have to reconnect with your dad? Sometimes speaking to other members of family can help give you insight into how they are as people (not as parents).
Go see her if you want to see her.
I'm the type of person who'll try and meet her for her benefit alone though.
& perhaps thoughts of my own grandmother are colouring the issue; in that she passed away more than a decade ago, and I still miss her.
Hot Coldman
Banned
You're excited, aren't you?
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Yeah I get you, my real nan passed away last year and I'm surprised how much it affected me. But then again, I knew her and she knew me.
Thanks for the words though folks, lots to consider.
thought you were talking about something else then.
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