"Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"?

Christmas is an interesting time in Canadian society. Canada, like the United States, is officially a Christian country, and as such we get Christmas Day off. Yet it seems that the country is both simultaneously embracing and rejecting this, and it feels very awkward.

I have checked official sources, and the government refers to the upcoming holiday as “Christmas”. Indeed, even my school's calendar regards this time as “Christmas Holidays”. Yet, it seems that administration does not want teachers to use the word “Christmas” or the celebrate the holiday publicly. This is, to put it lightly, odd.

This trend is often said to be rooted in political-correctness. It can be easy to see why that may be. Canada relies largely on immigration, and has many large 'minority groups' which we cannot afford to alienate. When you've got a large percentage of the population that aren't white Christians, it's important to not make them feel unwanted.

Yet at the same time, this doesn't fully hold up. If that were true, the government themselves would change the holiday's name. The administration of the school board would assign a different name to the two weeks off we get. One could easily call it a plethora of other names: Xmas, Winter Holidays, End-Year Celebrations, Giftmas, Pagan Celebrations in the Guise of Christian Ones, Decemberdays...

It's probably important to note that a huge portion of the population celebrates the non-religious aspects of christmas; probably more than those who strictly celebrate the Christian aspects. When one looks at the advertised aspects of the year, symbols such as snow, presents for being good, Santa Clause, reindeer, pagan trees, friendship, and family, are much more common than baby Jesus or the virgin Mary.

Many stores already say “Happy Holidays!” instead of “Merry Christmas!”. The reasoning behind this may be that they don't want to get sued, but that's not entirely true. As the owner of a store, they have every right to say Merry Christmas, as it does not infringe upon any rights to say it. Saying that your local Walmart is not allowed to say Merry Christmas is like saying that the local Christian store isn't allowed to say “god bless you”.

No, the real reason they aren't doing it is to try to avoid alienation. When you've got a huge retail chain servicing millions every day, of multiple backgrounds and religions, you don't want to alienate people. At least if you want to keep profits high, you don't want to.

And that's what the whole “Christmas” issue is really about. Alienation. It's about doing what makes the most people feel okay. If it was about doing the morally right thing, you'd do the same thing, as conscious alienation of people is wrong. That said, the phrase “Merry Christmas” isn't intrinsically aggressive. It doesn't mean “If you are a White Christian have a good year and praise Jesus our saviour, but if you aren't then you deserve to burn in hell for eternity you devil-worshipping heaven”.

That said, it does have obvious Christian overtones. And it's obvious to see why this would bother some people. What “Merry Christmas” means is quite simple: Enjoy this time of year, where light and goodness can be seen in the world. It's about friendship, about family, and about how good can shine through no matter what the situation, if given the time to. It's about charity and wholeness of being, and about happiness and love. Yet it also has that obvious underlying message of “Jesus saved us, so honor him”.

But hey, we have another phrase that means pretty much the same: “Happy Holidays”. And guess what: it doesn't alienate anybody. It's about love and friendship, and the good in the world. And it doesn't have to mention Jesus to do so. It's accessible, and beautiful.

So enjoy these days, have fun, and most of all: Happy Holidays.

My Thoughts on Hulu. Mostly.

So... Hulu. Meh.

It's not that I don't like the idea. I love it in fact. But there's a few problems here. And... I'll get to them in a minute. I'd like to build up to this.

First off, I hate commercials. They're just really annoying. I don't think it would be as bad if it wasn't the same damn commercials over and over again, and all equally as bad. If you didn't have me at the get-go, you certainly don't have me now.

That being said, I understand the economic reasons for ads. It makes sense, sort of, if you think about how the human brain works. It's still annoying as hell, though. And really, when we're talking about streaming video on the web, I think ads are fine. Okay, so maybe I won't pay full attention, or it's annoying, but it's made up for by the fact that I'm getting good content for relatively free.

Except in the case of Hulu, because I'm Canadian. So they won't even stream to us. But we'll get to that later.

I guess one could say that things aren't all bad. A lot of other sites stream to anywhere in the world, and joost still offers video to Canadian viewers, and it's quite good quality. And there's a lot of web-only TV, such as That Guy With the Glasses, which I can watch without being region-locked.

But there's this little, tiny little problem.

See, I'm not one to really stick to one medium of entertainment. And occasionally I like to watch anime. Now recently I haven't watched very many, but one that I really did like was Naruto Shippuden. (Sit back down, I know it isn't that great. It could be a lot worse.) For a while it was using joost as its streaming service, and I was quite content. An episode would come out in Japan, and a week later said episode would be available to watch as a subtitled version on joost.

So what went wrong?

Big buildup, and they suddenly reveal a crazy plot twist. And then say "Oh, sorry, we're using Hulu now!"

So now I can't watch it. And why? Because Hulu is restricted to American viewers. Why?

Well, there's two possibilities. One, the Digital Money-Catching Act (Okay, it's actually Digital Millennium Copyright Act) only applies in the United States, where anything digital is viewed as a service and not a product unless otherwise stated. (So make sure to read the license/copyright details closely before buying a digital American product, readers.) Most other countries still treat things as products, therefor there are jurisdiction issues.

The other possibility is that the ads on Hulu are very American. There would be no real gain for them to open access to outside countries, as those people would have a near-zero percent chance of buying any of the advertised products.

So what's this now? Hulu could be moving from an ad-based to a subscription-based service?

I'm not sure if I should be hopeful or passive. On the one hand, this may mean that subscriptions will be open world-wide, and that we can subscribe to Hulu much like one would subscribe to cable. Hopefully it would be cheaper too. Not to mention that you could watch TV with complete lack of advertisements. In the words of Keanu Reeves: whoa.

Yet on the other, this may change nothing. The DMCA issues may still keep this as an American service, and Hulu may keep up that silly little claim that they're trying to get service to other countries. (They've had that up since the beginning. It likely isn't changing any time soon without a massive change to the system, such as the subscription service.)

I suppose it will be interesting to see how it turns out. In the mean time, I guess I'll have to be content with watching something else. Let me know what you guys think, and what sort of alternatives you guys may have in mind.

Some Rapid-Fire Reviews

Let's go!

True Lies
Funny, entertaining, brilliant performances, excellent direction. Watch it for a good time.

The Abyss
Okay sci-fi. Suspense was good. Why were there aliens? Watch it if you want to see aliens get threatened with nukes and end up be pretty passive.

Forrest Gump
Holy shit. Talk about an emotional roller coaster. Watch it for a great experience.

Syberia
One of my favorite adventure games of all time. Play it with your mother if she likes fantasy in the slightest. I can't stress enough how great this game is. PLAY IT.

Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf
Uh, yes! Get it! I got a tape second-hand with terrible quality audio and it's still a great album!

Galactic Civilizations
This is like that Sid Meier game but with planets and way more addicting. AH. Get it if you like to be addicted to turn-based strategy games.

Weezer - The 8-bit Album by various artsists
I don't really like or dislike Weezer, but this homage is simply fantastic. Get it here if you like alternative music.

-END OF LINE-

Quick Review: The Longest Journey

Geeze, that took forever. That is one game that really lives up to its title. It feels like it too. Anyways, quick review of The Longest Journey.

As a matter of fact: yes.

Genre: 3rd Person Point and Click Adventure

Story: To be honest, I thought it was only okay. It's really grand and sweeping, but the characters seem somewhat inconsistant. The world and lore around it are really neat, and the attention to detail was great. Also, it has a really satisfying ending, though I was surprised that a few things weren't tied off. Not the best adventure game story, but it was decent.

Graphics: Background still look pretty nice, but low-res text and 3d models are annoyingly out of date. And the pre-rendered FMV sequences look really horrible. It's not too bad though, and it certainly isn't eye-straining. It just would be nice if it hadn't aged so badly.

Music: Nice and atmospheric.

Voice acting: It was generally pretty good, but it felt really scripted at times. Most characters were also boring to listen to. Except this talking bird named Crow. He stole the show. Actually, on that note, the ending has him in it as a major character, and I think that was the best choice in the game. When you first meet him he's an inventory object, but his progression is really great and you grow really attached to him. The ending was an excellent nod towards this progression of the character, and felt really great.

This guy right here. He's awesome.

Gameplay: *sigh* I really wanted to enjoy it, but this was honestly painful. This game pretty much represents every bad design decision that is a trope of Adventure Games. Ridiculously overcomplicated MacGyver puzzles? Check. Agonizing walking speed? Check. Fetch quests and running back and forth? Check. Tons of dialogue with a really boring and simple dialogue system? Check. Annoying timed part in which you wrestle with the controls? Check. Honestly, it's terrible. Unless you're a hardcore adventure gamer, you're gonna hate the gameplay.

Puzzles: See comment relating to MacGyver puzzles. Also, I really had to use hints for most of this game. There's no way any sane human could think up half the stuff you have to do.

Length: The first third of the game feels just right, the middle feels too long, yet the ending feels rushed. Overall though, it felt a little too long.

Overall: You know, I really wanted to like this game. I haven't played a good adventure game in a while, so I was hoping this would be one. But I don't think so. It has some good parts, but it has a lot of bad parts. Crow was an amazing character, though even he's not very memorable since he's in such a bland game. Ultimately, I'd say skip it. There's a lot better out there.

Review of Fallout 3 - Part Six: Modout 3

Continuing on from my last post, these are my thoughts on Bethesda's action-rpg, Fallout 3. Er, sort of.

SHADE: Pffff.... god this is boring.
SHADE: ...there's gotta be some way to make this game more interesting.
SHADE: Hm? Mods?
SHADE: *clicks*
SHADE: O_O
SHADE: Shoot.
SHADE: *downloads*
SHADE: *plays*

-THREE WEEKS PASS-

SHADE: ...god this is boring.

To be honest the game kept me entertained
for about a month and introduced me to some neat ideas. (1960's robot designs were really cool.) It at least
deserves props for that. Plus, the modability on
the PC is really neat, and there is a ton of really creative and great
extra content out there. In the end, it doesn't save the game from eventually slipping from my mind, falling into the same stack of brilliant-yet-flawed-games-that-I've-beaten (and will probably not play again for many years), next to titles like Neverwinter Nights and Assassin's Creed. Was it worth 60 dollars? ...ffhhh... is any game? I dunno. If it weren't for the flaws, I'd say Fallout 3 comes damn close.

Just make sure that if you play it, you try out a ton of mods afterwards. That really does help save the game from doom.

In the end: It was fun. It was mindless... but fun. I reccomend that you try it on a console, and if you like it, buy it for PC. If your PC can handle it, that is. And if it can't, don't buy it at all.

And that's all I can say about the game.

-Review End-

- Shade Jackrabbit

Review of Fallout 3 - Part Five: The End?

Continuing on from my last post, these are my thoughts on Bethesda's action-rpg, Fallout 3.

Of course, at the end of every journey, it must come to a close. Well, okay, it could decide not to come to a close and encourage open-world gameplay, but that only works if your world is interesting and there is some sort of appropriate award for doing so. (Learning more about the story, for example, is often a good reward for RPGs. Unfortunately the story in Fallout 3 is too weak for this, as I mentioned in Part Three of my review.) I don't really think Fallout 3 would benefit from an open-world ending, so the rather abrupt and decisive ending didn't really bother me. Still, if you want to be able to continue fighting "the good fight" after the ending, you may want to look into getting the some of the DLC (downloadable content) such as Broken Steel, which apparently lets you play after the ending.

Truly he was the master of the wasteland.

At this point though, I found myself a bit confused. I had finally gotten through the game. It had been a long and hard journey, and I had conquered all odds. But... something was missing.

Sometimes games have the problem that, after you beat them, you just want to keep playing. But at a certain point I found myself not even looking forward to playing Fallout 3. The world was too bland, my skills were too high, and I had to install a mod to allow me to keep levelling up, for I had hit the level barrier way too soon. There just wasn't a challenge. When I beat the game, I felt relief.

Except... I didn't.

I have to admit, shots like this are pretty awe-inspiring when rendered in full 3d.

There was something about the wasteland that called me back. Maybe it was the fact that half the map markers were left un-seen. Maybe it was that I had played the good guy yet in the end I died, leaving a hollow feeling like all my work was for naught. (Speaking of which, in the end you either live or die, and it's pretty much a yes/no choice.) Maybe it was even that I wanted to know more about what was going on.

But it wasn't any of those things. I'll tell you what it really was:

I was bored.

This guy may be having more fun than I was at that point.

When it comes down to it, I think Fallout 3 is quite honestly one thing: Unsatisfying. That's not to say it's bad, as it's quite a bit better than some RPGs (like Dungeon Lords, though that isn't hard), and the gameplay is pretty satisfying, but it's really not much better than playing solitaire for hours on end. There quite simply isn't much thought, and the world isn't very intriguing.

And I think what bugs me the most is that it could be so much better. There are some really bad mistakes that Bethesda made, that really hold the game back from the title of "masterpiece". I really wanted to like the game, and there were a few points (listening to my robot butler tell horrible yet brilliant science jokes, completing the Wasteland Survivor Guide for Moira Brown, taking out a base of raiders or slavers with a sniper-rifle) that were really fun and are even, dare I say, memorable. But most if it is just so bland.

It's too bad really, because I spent a long time on this game, and I'm not sure if it was worth it. On one hand, it pushed the bar and reminded me that "satisfactory", "safe" and "solid" games aren't good enough, and had some really nice moments. On the other, most of it was forgettable, and the ending gives no satisfaction.

I guess to summarize: Gameplay? Pretty good. Story and Dialogue: Passable. Graphics? Both impressive and lacking. Music? Great. Overall? ...er.

...I don't know. I've written five parts about this silly game. It's crazy. The game's not bad, like Dungeon Lords. The game isn't really good, like BioShock. The game's just... mediocre? No, even that isn't right. I don't know what to think, or what to say about the game. It's... solid. The game is very solid. My reccomendation? ...I have no damn clue. Borrow it from a friend? Try it? Hopefully all this helped, cause I still don't really know what to think.

Just... something doesn't feel right. Could this really be... the end?

Images used in this review do not belong to me, nor do their contents. I took none of them myself, but merely found them on Google. I assume no ownership and am using them for referential purposes. If you do not wish them to be used, simply send me an e-mail and I will replace them.

Review of Fallout 3 - Part Four: Graphics, Music, Sound

Continuing on from my last post, these are my thoughts on Bethesda's action-rpg, Fallout 3.

So before I wrap up the review, I still need to talk about the polishings. You know, the eyecandy, the sounds, the music; the stuff that any game that wants to succeed as more than a niche title or wants to hide gameplay flaws must have.

And you know what? This is one of the areas that Fallout 3 really succeeds. ...and fails a tiny little bit. Let's look at the graphics first: They're really good, but when you look closely kinda bad. Let's look at some shots, shall we?

Yeah, this is why the bomb is bad.

The shot certainly looks really good. The sky is overcast and dark, and we can see the wreckage of what used to be a small town, including cars and a house that have been ruined. Off in the distance there's some of those power line things, and let me just tell you: that's not a flat image. Those are 3D objects, and it's pretty damn impressive. Now let's look at another shot.

I'm interested to know how a tire got buried that deep in the ground.

It may not be that seeable here. But look at that rock in the lower-left corner. Anyhthing seem odd about it? Okay, yeah, I shrunk down the image so it's blurred a little. Let me just crop it to show you.

Is this a rock or rubber?

Okay, not so good now, is it? Note that this is with the highest-resolution textures. It's rather disappointing, really. Considering the technical capabilities in this day and age, it would've been nice to have a "super-high" setting for textures, to get more realistic ones. It's not as apparent when wandering the wastelands, but when you get indoors it can be really blatant and a little annoying.

Now don't get me wrong, I think the graphics are pretty good. They looks dank and depressing, and really feel dead. Great for a game taking place in a post-apocalypse wasteland.

Now the music is an area where the game really shines. The game doesn't really have any music, except in certain places where it is added for atmosphere. But most of the time you have to listen to your radio, which is often playing songs from the 50's. Pretty cheery songs too.

Actually, it's an interesting clashing effect, the graphics and the music. You'll have a pretty happy song playing, and you'll be attacking supermutants with your shishkebab. And sometimes it seems to just fit perfectly too, in a twisted sort of way.

And the sound? Well, the sound works. Quite well. Great game to play with headphones.

So overall: Nice eyecandy and earcandy, though the former needs a tad bit more detail.

Oh! And I said at some point that I'd talk about the supermutants, didn't I? Okay, well... they're orcs. Seriously, they're just people that mutated into orcs. But they're pretty deadly.

...I really can't add more. They're just orcs.

Images used in this review do not belong to me, nor do their contents. I took none of them myself, but merely found them on Google. I assume no ownership and am using them for referential purposes. If you do not wish them to be used, simply send me an e-mail and I will replace them.