The Disillusioned BYONDer Digest

Thanks to my super generous brother who just bought me an Xbox 360, I finally don't have to be stuck with the crappiness that is the Wii for next-gen gaming.

My brother and I have plugged a lot of time into GTA4 and COD4... anyone else play these online? My gamertag is BenMallahan, so add me to your friends list. If you add me, be sure to let me know what name you go by on BYOND so that I know who you are!

What the hell was with all the hype for Bioshock? Having finally sat down and played through this game, I was incredibly underwhelmed.

To sum it up, it was a ho-hum shooter with an above average storyline and setting. The art style and atmosphere were both great, but certainly don't make up for the unoriginal (even monotonous) gameplay.

Plasmids were dumb. Case in point: Telekinesis. I counted two situations where you had use this ability, and they both came within 20 minutes of finding the power up. Pretty lame considering that you get Telekinesis almost right off the bat, and it's useless throughout most of the game. The only plasmid attack really worth a damn was Lightning, and *maybe* Cyclone Trap in one or two places.

The other semi-rpg elements were shallow and boring. The upgrades never really made me feel that much more powerful. I enjoyed the Camera and taking pictures of enemies for bonuses; but since there are only 7 or 8 different types of enemies in the game, that didn't last long.

As I said before, the story and setting were definitely above average, although the much-touted "morality" aspect of the game was a joke. Either you kill the Little Sisters or you don't. End of story.

Also, what was supposed to be some big critique of Objectivism turned out to be very disappointing. I went in looking forward to the game's take/rational on a failed Utopian society right out of Atlas Shrugged, but instead discovered that Ken Levine doesn't have a very strong grasp on what Objectivism is. This is obvious right off the bat in Andrew Ryan's initial welcoming voice recording when he refers to morality as "petty".

Anyway, if you haven't played this game yet, you aren't missing much. I didn't hate Bioshock, I just feel like all of the hype surrounding it was/is completely unwarranted.

For all of you who enjoyed "The New Adventures of Ben & Jared", I have a bit of good news. Just For Laughs is looking to invest in new web series, and Ben & Jared caught the eye of one of their content editors. They seem pretty interested, and we'll have official word back from the men in suits sometime this week... but in the meantime they've put up Ben & Jared (and some other potential series pilots) on their website and their YouTube channel as kind of a trial run.



So, if you want to show your support and would like to see this series produced, rate/comment on the Ben & Jared pilot on the Just For Laughs site (no membership required). If you're feeling saucy, they've also uploaded the complete pilot (parts 1&2) to their YouTube channel, so go comment/rate that as well!

Finally, another awesome series up for consideration on Just For Laughs is called Wake Up Games. The guys behind the project are freaking talented. If you like their pilot, show them some love too!

Who knows how much weight the audience reaction will carry when they make their decision... but it couldn't hurt!

It's been way too long since I last posted a video on Ben Makes Movies. While there will be more on the way shortly, here is a quick video to get things going.

Has anyone seen (or tried) Chocolate Skittles? Unfortunately, they actually exist. This short video pretty much sums up my initial reaction to trying them.

*Language Warning*

So I’m planning to move down to Los Angeles within the next month or so (I currently live in Spokane, Washington). I’ve realized that pretty much everything I want to pursue career-wise is all centered in LA, and that it’s finally time for me to make the dive. I made about a million day trips down there last year, and I’m pretty confident that I’ll enjoy it.

I came to Spokane for college in 2002, and I ended up staying here for a couple years after graduating to work for a production company in town. I'm currently jobless, but my writing "career" is supplementing my income while I look for the perfect 9-5 job. I've done some research and have already found a ton of exciting opportunities down there, which makes me wonder why I didn't do this sooner! It also looks like there are plenty of awesome teaching jobs available for Becca.

The one thing I'm not looking forward to is packing up all of our stuff and making the move itself... or the fact that we'll likely have to move into an apartment that is half the size for nearly double the cost!