Too Old-School/Cheap?

I had a conversation with a co-worker the other day concerning the  Steam Holiday Sale.  I was spreading the Steam-love, telling him some of the great deals I had seen online (specifically Dead Space 2, Avadon, and the GTA Bundle).  He looked amused at my glee (I love spreading cheapness) and replied, "gravy, you're too old school, man."

This surprised me.  "What do you mean?  Most of those games were released this year"

"But they are all played out.  You've talked about both Skyrim and Saint's Row 3.  Why don't you just get one of those?  And Avadon?  A turn-based game?"

This required a bit of thought.  "If I wait I can get them cheaper.  By this time next year Saint's Row 3 at the very least will be $15 on sale, and if Skyrim doesn't some out with an expansion pack it will be too.  Also, back off of Avadon.  If you tried the demo you would see why I like that companies' games."

"So you're just a cheap-ass, then.  You don't want to support a game while it is hot."

"A cheap-ass?  No.  Yes.  Let me explain: I am both old school and a cheap-ass, I don't see the value of jumping into a game at a $59 price point.  That doesn't mean I'm not supporting the game (it's not like I'm buying them used), but I like to put more value on my money."

"What about the multiplayer component you are missing-"

"I don't care about multiplayer.  Get back to work."

I don't care about multiplayer.  I haven't cared since I took advantage of a 48 hour Gold Pass on Xbox Live and was asked nearly continuously if I was a "Nigger", a "Spic", and a "Faggot", all because I was actually competent at the game (which was the original Saint's Row, by the way).  That was enough for me.  Ever since voice chat has become a norm in multiplayer games it I've been turned off by what I've heard.  My coworker doesn't see this, as he is a professional gamer (on the side) and generally only practices and competes on closed servers, so any verbal jocularity he experiences in these environments can be put down to verbal sparring, instead of a hate filled rant because I played better than my opponent for five minutes.  At this statement many would no doubt berate me, saying that this is how things are now, so I need to cheerup or piss off.  I've opted to piss off.

And old school?  Proud of it.  The day I can no longer play a game for the old school content that it offers, be it story, gameplay, controls, or graphics, is the day that I tell the whole gaming world to piss off.

A Sad Time To Be Broke

This past week has seen some of the best sales for digital games in memory.   Period.  Are you an iOS gamer?  Pretty much every game that is worth buying in the Apple App Store (with a few notable exceptions) has seen some sort of discount, from the drop of recent release GTA 3 ($4.99 to $2.99) to the $.99 sales seen at Gameloft and EA.  The real deals, however, are on Steam.  The Steam Holiday Sale is in full swing, and since it has started we have seen some excellent deals that just couldn't be passed up.

Unless you are me.  Sigh.

Well, it's not like I planned on this.  True, I knew exactly when this was happening (I bought a small, yet quite enjoyable gaggle of games last Holiday Sale), so I have no excuse there.  I just ran out of money, I guess.

Sigh.

I think for next year I might just add about $100 to my Steam Wallet (something I didn't know about until recently) so that next year my pity-party won't be as grand.  End of complaining.

This day marks the last day of the Steam Holiday Sale, so if there is anything you want, I suggest you do it.  Vamanos.

GTA 3? Again?

 So I'm not sure how this happened, but I somehow managed to miss the fact that Grand Theft Auto 3 has landed in the App Store.  You know, life was just so less complicated before twenty minutes ago.  Here I was, getting ready to dump Alan Wake into my Xbox, when I noticed that the damn game was $4.99, which is exactly $5 less than Chinatown Wars (and $2 less than Infinity Blade II).  Dammit.  Do I really need this game?  After 3.4 second of deliberation I can confidently say "yes" to that question.  The only real issue is how I am going to explain this to my wife...

What Happened?

Wow.  Needless to say, I've been doing other things.  It started with game purchases on Steam, then escalated with school.  Oh, well.  I've been playing Episodes From Liberty City sporadically, but the game I've been playing more often than most is the Testing New Computers game.  Well, I guess new in the context of this post is a relative term, as I work for a computer remarketing company, so nothing I have access to is new.

Back to games.  While I did play and beat GTAIV, I never played much of Lost and Damned, and nothing of Gay Tony.  So far everything seems good, though I couldn't help but notice that there is a Full Monty about five or six hours into Lost and Damned.  Sure, this is old news at this point (it was released almost three years ago), but when you don't expect it the sudden appearance of a swinging dick is quite shocking.  Also I killed Brian, the butt-sniffing lackey.  While on a mission to kill(?) him I rounded a corner and saw him standing there with arms raised in defense.  I was so trigger happy I gave him about three rounds with my auto-loading shotgun before I could stop my traitor hands.  He looked like he was trying to say something, but now I may never know (I refuse to look anything up about this game until I finish it).

Once I get my new/old rig running >85% I'll likely have more impressions.  Then again, maybe not.  Is Lost and Damned a one trick pony?  Does it have anything more to offer than male nudity and a single choice?  Stay tuned.  Or don't, I don't give a whip.

Second verse...

Hello, hello, welcome to the Gravygamer Blog.  I'm Gravy, and I will be your opinionated and tacky tour guide for the duration of the trip (or as long as I can be bothered).  Since things didn't go over so well back at my original website (getting a job will do that to a website), I thought I would try anew.  Well, anew being a completely subjective word, as this is a template that I didn't even bother changing.  Oh well. 

So, what will this blog be about, you ask?  Videogames (note the spelling) will be the main target, as I am a gamer of the old school, but because I am poor (or monetarily challenged) the target games will most likely not be new, though "retro" games also be on the menu (not just because I'm cheap, but also because I'm old).  Gravy will also be discussed and considered because, duh, my name is Gravy.  Also whatever else tickles my fancy-bone.

Stay tuned, or something.