CounterStrike Source – Slightly Qualified

First off, how about a high five to a Mr. MikeNGary? Or wait, is it two gentlemen: Mike and Gary? Either way, he/they have put together a pretty awesome, live action Half-Life/Portal dating redux that highlights one of the oddest elements of gaming still around today: mute characters. As a huge Half-Life fan, I have to get my obligatory, “WHERE IS HALF-LIFE 3?”, post out of the way, so there you go Valve. Make it happen. Where were we? Oh yeah, mute video game characters. Gordon Freeman and Chell are two of many, many video game main characters that were programmed without a voice, maybe to save disc space, possibly out of boredom, or maybe just as a proverbial middle finger to all of our imaginations; who knows outside of the developers? I think the starkest example I can think of from my recent gaming memory is Dragon Age: Origins; I usually don’t have an issue with mute main characters, but that was just super weird. I know I’m not alone with that one.

Continue reading “Gordon Freeman and Chell Go on a (Mute) Date”

I have been a gamer since my grandmother bought us an NES for Christmas back in the late 80’s, and it’s been a passionate hobby ever since. Sure I don’t get to play nearly as much as I did when I was a kid growing up (I miss summer break), but that’s life, and I couldn’t be happier right now. That being said, it’s always fun to get a little nostalgic, especially when we’re talking about retro gaming. Now that I’m pursuing my MBA, and taking school seriously (thank you Marine Corps!), it makes me laugh pretty hard at how much gaming took priority over my grades, whether I was in eight grade or a senior in college. Narrowing my list down to the most influentially, GPA-degrading games from my past was hard; my initial brainstorm list totaled 12 pretty prominent games from my school days, so it was pretty tough to pick a Top 5. But enough with the intro; let’s check out the games!

Continue reading “5 Video Games That Destroyed My GPA”