Friday, December 25, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
GameCRAWL
So I signed up for GameFly. For all you non-gamers out there, it's like netflix but for videogames. Awesome concept, but I've found it to be a little lacking in execution.
So far, I've received 8 games from gamefly and they've shipped semi-promptly and arrived semi-quickly. These 8 games have all been older titles (Fun but older). Titles that I passed up buying earlier in the year or last year thinking that someday I would get them on the cheap or rent them...as I'm doing now. These games have all been low on my list, with a stack of new releases atop the list. I've had two games in particular at the top of my queue for as long as I've been a member, those two games were Assassin's Creed II and Modern Warfare II. I ended up buying AC II and I'm still waiting to get my hands of MW II. You see, none of the top 5 games in my queue ever ship. So I started putting in games that might be fun, but that I wasn't really interested in. Games like Halo Wars and WET.
When those games arrived, I sighed, feeling as though I've settled. So enough is enough, I deleted all the games I wasn't too thrilled about and left the top 5 creme de la creme.
I returned my last game and it got to GameFly last wednesday. Since then I've been waiting for one my top 5 games to ship. Nothing. I wait. Nothing.
Granted, not all the games are as available as the rest. Everyone wants to play Modern Warfare II, so it has "low" availability. Which means it has a less than 25% chance of shipping. Fine, but.... I have other games in my list with "high" availability or even the oh so falsely labeled "Available Now."
So i waited three days and nothing has shipped. Finally I wrote an email. I was polite. I asked "Where the fuck are my fucking games you puss headed sons-of-whores?"
I get a little intense about my games.
I get this email in return:
Dear Peter,
Our apologies. We have reviewed your account and noted that you currently have only very popular releases in your GameQ. ...[blah...]... Please note the availability statuses on the Web site reflect inventory across all of our shipping centers. While the game may reflect "Available Now” or “High" in your Q, it may only be available in the shipping center that is more distant from your residence. We try to ship games from your primary shipping center to allow you to receive your games faster.
To ensure we ship games in the fairest possible manner, we factor in the length of time that you have been waiting for a game (once a return is received in our facility) and the time the desired available game was placed in your GameQ. ...[blah blah]... We also recommend you add more titles to your GameQ so you do not miss out on receiving games (i.e. don't you want to play viva pinata or Iron Man the game or maybe Halo 2??????).
[blah blah blah]
Sincerely,
The GameFly Team
Email: support@gamefly.com
Online help: http://www.gamefly.com/help
----------------------
I'm going to copy and paste something again for emphasis:
While the game may reflect "Available Now” or “High" in your Q, it may only be available in the shipping center that is more distant from your residence. We try to ship games from your primary shipping center to allow you to receive your games faster.
*ahem* even though the game may reflect AVAILABLE NOW, we're not going to ship it to you. Becaaaaaaause, and this is the great part, we would rather you not have a game at all, than make you wait an extra day or two to get the game.
This is the sound of me blinking in astonishment.
Further-frakking-more...
The top 5 games in my queue have availabilities as follows:
Medium
Low
High
High
Very Low
With these ranks, GameFly associates a probablity of immediate shipping. For Medium games it's 50%-74%, low is 25%-50%, etc... With the percentages given that should mean the probability that 1 of the games ships immediately is... (and here I'm using the most conservative values of their stated percentages, i.e. giving them the benefit of the doubt)
1-.5*.75*.25*.25*.95 = .9777
Given that the ranks stay the same, the probability that I don't get a game for three days is (0.0223)^3 = 0.000011
Something is rotten in the state of Ohio.
So far, I've received 8 games from gamefly and they've shipped semi-promptly and arrived semi-quickly. These 8 games have all been older titles (Fun but older). Titles that I passed up buying earlier in the year or last year thinking that someday I would get them on the cheap or rent them...as I'm doing now. These games have all been low on my list, with a stack of new releases atop the list. I've had two games in particular at the top of my queue for as long as I've been a member, those two games were Assassin's Creed II and Modern Warfare II. I ended up buying AC II and I'm still waiting to get my hands of MW II. You see, none of the top 5 games in my queue ever ship. So I started putting in games that might be fun, but that I wasn't really interested in. Games like Halo Wars and WET.
When those games arrived, I sighed, feeling as though I've settled. So enough is enough, I deleted all the games I wasn't too thrilled about and left the top 5 creme de la creme.
I returned my last game and it got to GameFly last wednesday. Since then I've been waiting for one my top 5 games to ship. Nothing. I wait. Nothing.
Granted, not all the games are as available as the rest. Everyone wants to play Modern Warfare II, so it has "low" availability. Which means it has a less than 25% chance of shipping. Fine, but.... I have other games in my list with "high" availability or even the oh so falsely labeled "Available Now."
So i waited three days and nothing has shipped. Finally I wrote an email. I was polite. I asked "Where the fuck are my fucking games you puss headed sons-of-whores?"
I get a little intense about my games.
I get this email in return:
Dear Peter,
Our apologies. We have reviewed your account and noted that you currently have only very popular releases in your GameQ. ...[blah...]... Please note the availability statuses on the Web site reflect inventory across all of our shipping centers. While the game may reflect "Available Now” or “High" in your Q, it may only be available in the shipping center that is more distant from your residence. We try to ship games from your primary shipping center to allow you to receive your games faster.
To ensure we ship games in the fairest possible manner, we factor in the length of time that you have been waiting for a game (once a return is received in our facility) and the time the desired available game was placed in your GameQ. ...[blah blah]... We also recommend you add more titles to your GameQ so you do not miss out on receiving games (i.e. don't you want to play viva pinata or Iron Man the game or maybe Halo 2??????).
[blah blah blah]
Sincerely,
The GameFly Team
Email: support@gamefly.com
Online help: http://www.gamefly.com/help
----------------------
I'm going to copy and paste something again for emphasis:
While the game may reflect "Available Now” or “High" in your Q, it may only be available in the shipping center that is more distant from your residence. We try to ship games from your primary shipping center to allow you to receive your games faster.
*ahem* even though the game may reflect AVAILABLE NOW, we're not going to ship it to you. Becaaaaaaause, and this is the great part, we would rather you not have a game at all, than make you wait an extra day or two to get the game.
This is the sound of me blinking in astonishment.
Further-frakking-more...
The top 5 games in my queue have availabilities as follows:
Medium
Low
High
High
Very Low
With these ranks, GameFly associates a probablity of immediate shipping. For Medium games it's 50%-74%, low is 25%-50%, etc... With the percentages given that should mean the probability that 1 of the games ships immediately is... (and here I'm using the most conservative values of their stated percentages, i.e. giving them the benefit of the doubt)
1-.5*.75*.25*.25*.95 = .9777
Given that the ranks stay the same, the probability that I don't get a game for three days is (0.0223)^3 = 0.000011
Something is rotten in the state of Ohio.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
come for the abs, stay for the action
Let's get one thing straight, movie adaptations of videogames have thus far been garbage. The king of the genre Uwe Boll, really knows how to such the lifeforce out of a idea and paste its withered corpse on a movie screen. Except for a few notable exceptions in the immediate past, the same has gone the other way. Take a movie, try to turn it into a videogame, and watch as a ten thousand gamers through their controllers into a wall. Notable exceptions are the newest Batman game, the newest Wolverine game, and the game based on the time life classic My Teenage Pregnancy.
However, there is a chance that the Prince of Persia movie could be decent. The trailers look like your stereotypical Jerry Bruckheimer film, i.e. all balls and no brains, but there's something about it that makes my thumbs twitch. Take a look.
Oh shirtless Jake Gylenhall, is there no genre of film you can't master.
I can't wait for the romantic comedy based off of Left4Dead 2. In theaters this Spring.
However, there is a chance that the Prince of Persia movie could be decent. The trailers look like your stereotypical Jerry Bruckheimer film, i.e. all balls and no brains, but there's something about it that makes my thumbs twitch. Take a look.
Oh shirtless Jake Gylenhall, is there no genre of film you can't master.
I can't wait for the romantic comedy based off of Left4Dead 2. In theaters this Spring.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
me vs. my subconscious
An open letter to the girl in my dream:
First of all, let me apologize. By the look on your face, it was clear to me that you were upset when you got splashed. I could tell that a significant amount of water got on your book and it was, perhaps, ruined from the experience. Before I ask what you were doing sitting in the water fountain in the middle of the shopping mall, let me remind you that I did, indeed, get up to locate a towel for you. Just because I got lost on the second story (near banana republic), which, subsequently, turned into a medieval dungeon, doesn't mean I wasn't sincere in the undertaking. Although you said nothing, I am certain that you were displeased by the entire engagement. Had I known someone was sitting under the footbridge that spanned the fountain, I would not have leapt in near that exact spot. I pray that, in hindsight, you find my action irreverent instead of malevolent. If ever I return to your mall, which, as I recall, was almost entirely populated with bipedal lizardfolk, I shall make a point to stay clear of the fountain. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Sprocketplug
First of all, let me apologize. By the look on your face, it was clear to me that you were upset when you got splashed. I could tell that a significant amount of water got on your book and it was, perhaps, ruined from the experience. Before I ask what you were doing sitting in the water fountain in the middle of the shopping mall, let me remind you that I did, indeed, get up to locate a towel for you. Just because I got lost on the second story (near banana republic), which, subsequently, turned into a medieval dungeon, doesn't mean I wasn't sincere in the undertaking. Although you said nothing, I am certain that you were displeased by the entire engagement. Had I known someone was sitting under the footbridge that spanned the fountain, I would not have leapt in near that exact spot. I pray that, in hindsight, you find my action irreverent instead of malevolent. If ever I return to your mall, which, as I recall, was almost entirely populated with bipedal lizardfolk, I shall make a point to stay clear of the fountain. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Sprocketplug
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