relate

Gaming nirvanna has arrived

I'm typing this post while sitting on my deck, on my hammock, on my brand spanking new laptop. Our Dell XPS arrived today with much fanfare. Funny thing was that I was not the most excited about it. At about 11:50 PM last night, my fiance was saying to me, "Do you know what tomorrow is?" I was like, "Uhm.....Monday??" And finally after more teasing she blurted out, "The laptop is coming tomorrow!!!!!"

So the machine arrived, and we excitedly took it out of the box, and I was surprised that it actually wasn't as heavy as it looked. Most folks said this thing was huge (which the form factor actually is quite big), but it didn't weigh much more than our old Compaq laptop. The power brick is just that...a BRICK. It's huge and heavy. At least Dell gave us a free uber backpack to lug this thing around. I think I'm gonna take it with me when I go to Edmonton on Wednesday...just so I can play City of Heroes at the airport while waiting for the plane. How cool is that? I'm such a geek.

I'll make you an offer you can't refuse

Ok, let me get this off my chest. I must blog more. I must blog more. I must blog more. There, I feel better!

Summertime is usually a time when gaming is pretty stagnant. Not much usually is coming out until the inevitable "fall season" of gaming goodness. Well, right now I have at least two great games that I'm eager to play more -- Full Spectrum Warrior for Xbox and Thief 3 for PC. Why am I not playing them more? Three little words -- City of Heroes.

That game really has a hold on me (sing it with me)! City of Heroes has some Sopranos-like hold on me that keeps pulling me back in. I know, I probably can never leave and spend time with another game. There's just so much about the game that I like, and it keeps making me come back:

• Heroic - It really makes you feel like a superhero. Cool powers, and lots of them - must make "even" level for new power...
• Story - For those who bother to read the story arcs, they truly are great fun. I really get into finishing off certain story arcs, and moving on to something new. IMHO, they are much better done than most fantasy-themed MMOs.
• Developers - Cryptic actually listens to their players. What a concept! They listen, respond on the forums, and actually implement changes that are needed. Not in a knee-jerk way either. Revolutionary!
• Fun - The game is just plain fun to play. No timesinks. No unnecessary busy work. Just fun and great combat. Some have compared the "style" to Diablo.

So as you can see, I'm hopelessly addicted, and I'm sure many others of you are too. Leave me a comment if you're a City of Heroes player and have a similar addiction. Just remember, you can never leave the Family!

(Check out a little movie I put together - The Family - 17 mb zipped WMV file.)

Edited 6/23/04 - Now linked to FilePlanet download

Will this help me blog more efficiently?

Uhm, the answer is probably no, but it sure as hell can't hurt, can it?

I took the plunge and bought a true gaming laptop. After a lot of research, and much price haggling, we settled on the Dell XPS laptop. This baby has a 3.4 Ghz HT Intel processor, 1 gig of RAM, 80 gig HD, 802.1g WiFi, an extra battery and most of all -- an upgradeable video card! This comes with an ATI 9700 128 MB card, but they allow one free upgrade, and even install it for free!

We're really excited about this, because my fiance and I are real hardcore gamers. We'll definitely get use out of this, even as a primary gaming machine. Oh yeah...and I'll be able to blog better on it...yeah, that's it!

Time Magazine acknowledges the power of the blog

In a recent Time Magazine article called Meet Joe Blog (groan), blogs, and really what many categorize as fan sites, are finally getting the recognition that they deserve.

Over the past five years, blogs have gone from an obscure and, frankly, somewhat nerdy fad to a genuine alternative to mainstream news outlets, a shadow media empire that is rivaling networks and newspapers in power and influence. Which raises the question: Who are these folks anyway? And what exactly are they doing to the established pantheon of American media?

In the article they mention more mainstream fan-type sites such as Slashdot, but also key on some very niche blogs and how they have become a big hit with readers. Are the Time's and Newsweek's of the world worried? I think they should be!

Welcome to relate

Welcome to my new blog! Through my work, I've been following blogs for a number of years, but have never really taken the plunge and created one myself. I thought about creating a truly personal one, but instead thought that would be boring for most folks, aside from maybe my mother.

So after talking to a colleague who created his first blog this morning, I thought what the heck, and hence relate was hatched.

While I decided that the subject matter should relate to things I do as part of my work (I'm a PR professional who specializes in building buzz, community and online PR for games), I also wanted to focus on aspects of the gaming industry that interest me. My fiance and I talked about how it seems that everything we do in PR really revolves around relationships. Relationships with publishers and developers; and especially relationships with webmasters, bloggers and the general community. So we came up with the catchy name of relate for the blog.

My fiance and I will post from time-to-time about our experiences and musings as they relate (groan) to online PR, the games community and general buzz/viral marketing. We more than welcome your comments, suggestions and general feedback. Hope you enjoy!