Quick post today, but more robust ones to come later. I will be the first to admit: my creative output for April was…err, lacking, to say the least.
Yes, I Am Very Aware, Thank You.
What makes less sense about my failings in producing more work, directly ties into how excited I was to be invited back to E3 at the beginning of April. While I was thrilled to begin sharing stories and pictures from last years E3 straight away, though my momentum in doing so failed entirely. I can cite sickness as a definite contributor to my struggled creative endeavors, but I feel no less guilty about the whole thing, excuse of no excuse. E3 has been, and in many ways still is Christmas time for gamers. Why my current energy levels are more akin to identity crisis is beyond me.
One possible answer, and one I’ve observed is true about me, is that I seem to have a habit of self-sabotage, so this may not be as surprising as I’m making it out to be.
Indeed, I could be just straight up trying too hard to “find myself”
Happens To The Best Of Us
In any case, this post was not intended to be some odd apology explanation (but is anyways), I was merely bringing attention to an awesome turn of events. The Internet Archive, which has helped to preserve a large swath of old video games for the sake of keeping history alive, has now allowed you to embed DOS games into tweets. I stumbled upon this little nugget of information when my friend Chris Kohler over at Wired, tweeted a story that had a game embedded in the tweet, which was then embedded into the story he tweeted.
What a time to be alive, truly. These dizzying levels of entangled technology, has reached new and delightful heights of self-reference. And I thought I had achieved true technological feats of horror, when I laid out my PS4 profile, which had a Vita screenshot of me playing Zelda on my Xbox One.
Link Was As Shocked As I Was
Maybe not ground breaking news, but extremely cool non the less. I’m not sure if this makes Twitter a viable gaming platform in some regard, or if this strange technological loop hole has signaled a way into emulation legalities…but who cares? It’s damn fun. Check out the Internet Archive if you haven’t already, to get your hands on some sweet old school DOS games, and start tweeting at your friends to finally play the 1989 Activision game, Tongue of the Fatman.
As some of you may remember, my last post involved the excitement I had in being invited back to E3 for the second year running.
And There Was Much Rejoicing.
Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst, and I came down with something shortly after.
Editors Dramatization
Having regained my wits, and possessing a renewed sense of vitality, I was excited to get back to the gaming grind. As I mentioned last week, I look forward to sharing with all of you, a treasure trove of assets and stories from last years E3, something I’ve been meaning to get to since about this moment in time. I never mean to hesitate, but it ends up happening on a continual basis. I can only speculate my constant delays involve how the creative process can be an unpredictable beast; one plagued with narcolepsy, sporadically remaining dormant, only to chaotically awaken at the worst moments.
Creativity Can Be A Very Horrifying Process
I didn’t show up here with an agenda today, aside from an attempt at entertainment (wait for it), as my focus has been rather divided. A lot of people I hear giving recommendations on how to “get shit done”, will suggest being a master of multi-tasking, which I’ve concluded is a load of claptrap. I know it’s probably different for everyone of course, but I find I do some of my “best work” when I’m not thinking about it, merely doing instead of thinking of doing. Apparently, this is referred to as wu wei in Taoism, though I assure you, my own machinations are far from mystical.
Pictured: How I Normally Get My Article Ideas
Dancing naked to Goodbye Horses isn’t the only thing I did while trying to come up with the motivation to start writing today, the list was extensive:
Died in Super Meat Boy a lot-
About Five Minutes Worth Of Gameplay, Here.
Changed clothes-
I Was Feeling 12thy Today
Ate some ice cream- (See Above)
Enjoyed a nip of whiskey-
Listened to the Attack on Titan theme song way too many times-
Foreshadowing is Fun!
Browsed pictures of Panda Bears:
Like This One!
Debated with myself about self-awareness and quality of work-
Walter: Is This Your Article, Pash? The Dude: We Know It’s His Fucking Article, Where’s The Fucking Content You Little Brat!?
I believe all of these things occurred in my own wu wei, but I don’t think being buzzed and imitating Buffalo Bill is what Taoists had in mind when coming up with the concept. However ridiculous this aside may seem, I wanted to stress two points: getting shit done is sometimes an absurd process, and two, if you find your own flow, it’s not about doing one task or doing many tasks, you will simply task, and results will follow.
Or Not
I recently picked up my second replacement 3DS. While I am grateful to get my hands on the device for a third time, I also can’t avoid feeling a little silly I’ve somehow estranged myself from so many at this point. I’m seriously considering surgically grafting this fucking thing to my body, so as to avoid having the device become lost or damaged once again. Some of the longer time readers won’t at all be surprised that the game I’m currently playing is indeed a Zelda game. However, a similar number of you may be surprised I’m not about to do a 17 part retrospective mini-series about Majora’s Mask, and how it relates to both culture and time travel.
Heavy, I Know.
Rest assured, I’m enjoying it thoroughly, and I think the portable remake works just as well as Ocarina of Time did, but I wasn’t really struck with any sort of inspirational lightning bolt for an article this time round. Could be the divided focus I mentioned earlier, as I’ve been playing probably too many games recently, and not really getting stuck on a single one. Which is what I should likely do, as I tend to uncover truths or identify more interesting concepts when I house arrest myself in a virtual reality for a long enough time. I also spread myself too thin, foolishly thinking in a single week, I can halt an apocalypse, reconsider my stance on nuclear deterrents, prevent history from dying, conclude whether or not free will truly exists, keep the high score of Ms.Pacman at a local barcade intact…
My flow is a no go, and those who depend on me are suffering for it.
Is he really not coming this time? Because I’m totally going to push them off this shit.
So yeah. That’s really it. This piece was suppose to be a warm up, and the unfortunate reality is that warm ups aren’t really top shelf dealings, but I had a couple of okay jokes in here so, yeah.
~Pashford
P.S: You know, on second thought, it does feel a bit wrong I’m not excitedly espousing about Zelda, as I’ve done such a good job of it in the past, I think I’ll leave you guys with a poll, on whether or not my next article should be about Zelda. Just click on one of the buttons below and tell me what you think.
POLL: Do you think Pashford should write about Majora’s Mask for his next article?
Yes []
No []
Cheers,
~Pashford
P.P.S: Some of you may be wondering why I named the article “Fat Worm Blows A Sparky”, and the reason for the title is simple. The article title is actually the name of a 1986 ZX Spectrum game that shares the same name, and I believe the experience of playing the game, is as confusing as this article was to write, and read there after.
No, not the actual event, but my invite as a member of the press to E3 itself. I was invited last year, which was quite the ordeal (an amazing one at that), and needless to say, it’s a huge relief to have been invited once again. I’ve been so busy working, enjoying, and celebrating the occasion, I’ve had very little time to produce anything new of value today.
Except For, You Know, This Whole Thing
In any case, I thought I would share my extreme excitement about the event, and all of the hype that is sure to follow. I live blogged and wrote about my experiences last year, and will very much do the same this year. I have plenty of pictures and stories I have yet to share on a mass scale from E3 2014, and am excited to show all of you in the months to follow. I have lots of ambition, tons of ideas, and a ridiculous amount of excitement to speak of, but right now, I have a lot to be thankful for, and thought it would be nice to share it all with you.
What a time to be alive, truly. These dizzying levels of entangled technology, has reached new and delightful heights of self-reference. And I thought I had achieved true technological feats of horror, when I laid out my PS4 profile, which had a Vita screenshot of me playing Zelda on my Xbox One.
Active Time Event 