TSer Sekret Santa: The Sekret Strikes Back!

(The preceding is the actual box from which the names were drawn. Unfortunately, I cannot say no animals were harmed in the drawing of names and subsequent photography, because Chibi got super-high off the fumes from my black magic marker!)

Okay! So, assignments are out as of last night, and everyone should have their Santee by now. This post will be a constant work-in-progress while we update wishlists, gifts received, etc, so make sure you check back as necessary! Now, as for the rules to this thing...
Deadlines:

• Signing up/sending me your mailing info: Saturday, November 14th
• Preferred mailing date (especially international mail): Tuesday, December 1st
• Absolute mailing date: Friday, December 18th

If you mail your gift later rather than sooner, please consider an expedited shipping method. Yes, it costs a little more, but it also helps to make sure your giftee receives their gift before Christmas Eve, and no one wants to be the douchebag that completely drops the ball. NOTE: Even if you choose to wait until Christmas to open your gift--which is not required, I just know some people in my old Sekret Santas liked to do so--PLEASE at least post that you've received your gift when it comes in the mail! This way, I can mark your sender off as not-an-asshole and all around awesome Santa!

Pretty simple, right? As for prices of gifts, use your best judgement, with $15-30 as a general range. Find something super-awesome for a little more? If you can afford it, go for it. A little less? Just make sure it really fits your giftee perfectly. In general, though, have fun.

..Just to make things as painless as possible for your Santa, though, try to email me or post to the comments a sort of a general wishlist for you that I can update this main post with. If you want games within the price range, please include what systems you have for inclusion in the list as well. A few of you have already emailed me this, and if so I'll update the post with your info later. Otherwise, or if you want to update the info you've already sent, go ahead in the next day or two and either post or send me your list, and I'll update this main page and link back to it again!

The Master List (also wishlists and interests, as they are available):
@MaoChan - Amazon Wishlist
@Chelseabot - My amazon wishlist is kind of useless, but I'll update it and my ThinkGeek. Let's see... I game mostly on the 360 and DS currently, though I also have a Wii, PS2, PC (well, a Mac that runs windows, heh.) I'm defnitely a lover of old school Nintendo (mario baddies, metriod, zelda). I love zombies, some japanse stuff, general cute nerdiness; Oh, and I'm a women's large in t-shirts, and love geek apparel (even if I own too much of it.) Hmm, also to add, I recently got a "new" classic NES after mine (and all the games) disappeared, so I'm rebuilding the collection (the field is wide open there - I only have the first Zelda and Mario).
And my desk at work is kind of unloved and could use some goofy office supplies or stuff to put on it. (link coming for those wishlists)
@DaNerdPAX - Amazon Wishlist; also, owns a 360, Wii, DS, PSP, Gaming PC, & plays 3.5 D&D.
@Luneowl - gaming, reading (SF, fantasy, mystery, some horror), crafts (origami, knitting), science kits (robotics, terrariums, aquariums, electronics), plants (little hydroponic kits), kites, anime (Fullmetal Alchemist, RahXePhon, Hayao Miyazaki), general Japanese things, steampunk, candles, lights (especially the geekier kinds like Thinkgeek stocks), and computers; ThinkGeek wishlist; ...I do have an XBL account if you'd like to gift me points (gamertag: Luneowl) and any gift certificates are welcome; oh - and Cthulhu stuff, natch.
@Winyder - Zombie related stuff (especially things related to L4D/L4D2), curosities of a non-pornographic nature (Rieff has this covered), a signed picture of Angela Landsbury. Really, if you've followed me for a while, you know I like beer, gaming related stuff, and general trivia.
@johnhummel - Just... scroll down to comments. Or, Amazon Wishlist. To John's Santa: Sorry I gave you a "difficult" one, but I think you can handle it. :p
@chibi_tzar - I like thinkgeek, pretty lights, cute/squishy/nerdy maybe evil, and fucking tribbles; but really anything random would be awesome :P but here's my list from TG just in case
@stankerbell - Amazon and ThinkGeek wishlists; systems owned: 360, ps3, ps2, wii, and ds.
@tehnakki - ThinkGeek Wishlist; as you may not know from following my twitter, I really like pokemans (specifically ampharos and croagunk) and I really like sg1. Make of that what you will :)
@timdisaster
@captaintapole - Amazon wishlist; also! Gelaskins would be cool: PSP 3000 series, Blackberry 8830, and iPod Classic (120Gig); I'm not a big fan of books--more of the mee-mee-mee-meeps kind of thing. Two points for knowing the reference! ^_^
@tajah - Amazon wishlist; gift cards
@cwknight
@samcconnell - Amazon wishlist and ThinkGeek wishlist; I love anything related to Star Trek, classic video game franchises (Mario, Sonic, Street Fighter, etc). I have an Xbox 360, a Wii, and I also use Steam. Also pretty much anything uniquely Japanese.
@lokiale - I like pretty much anything. That doesn't help... um... I love books. I love books that other people love so if you have a favorite you wish to share please do. I love anything by Diana Wynne Jones (I own the chrestomanci and howl series). I love anything nerdy. I like old school pc games and getting them to work and anything Lovecraft related. There ya go. Hopefully that helps?
@astyanx - Amazon wishlist; I like books, games, writing, and comics; book genres: classic, fantasy, feminist, political; I mostly game on my PC, which is an older Dell/XP so I'm not up to spec for some of the newer games.
@rockman53 - Anything cool from sites like thinkgeek is fine, and I also made a (very) small list on Amazon
@stevenpaulr - Amazon wishlist; Systems owned: 360, Wii, DS; plays 4e D&D.
@brennacedria - ThinkGeek wishlist; Amazon wishlist; nifty stuff for Josephine; gift cards to almost everywhere, Final Fantasy swag of any kind, etc. Systems owned: 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS2, Sega Genesis, SNES

Happy Holidays!

What's old is new?

Okay, so as much as I neglect my Wii, I adore Nintendo, but damn some weird things have come out of the mouths of that company's employees. Here's Iwata regarding the new super-sized version of the DSi (LL? XL? who the hell knows!)

...new play style where those who are surrounding the game player can also join in one way or the other to the game play. (Joystiq, http://is.gd/4J81q)

Holy shit, you mean like back when we played games on a console hooked up to a TV, and with friends that were in the same room at the same time?!?!?! This is as revolutionary (hur hur, lookit the pun!) as when the GameBoy Player came out, the first time I realized I was old:

Kid in store: But, Mom, you can play your GameBoy games on the TV where everyone else can see them! You've never been able to do that before!
Me: *twitching and sprouting a few gray hairs, wondering if this kid was even born when the Super GameBoy was out*

What was even worse was that the mom was the generic non-gamer-type, so she didn't know better and let her son continue to believe his twisted version of Game History.

Hm... "Game History" should be a course in universities. I'm sure there's already some version of it in schools with game design programs, but it should be an elective for any undergrad, IMO. We need to get to work on this.

Guest Post: On Digital Distribution

The following was written by Dana Charter. I haven't yet formed an opinion based on this specific post, but I do see the good and the bad in a fully digital format for entertainment.

The digital age of console gaming is being given birth right before our very eyes, whether you want it or not. Don't believe me? You will have none of it? Then listen up, and prepare yourself now.

Microsoft has always stated that the Xbox 360 will be part of the digital media center in your living room. They have made no secret of it. In fact, they have excelled at pushing the boundaries of what is expected.

First was the video marketplace, allowing the downloading and renting of movies through your Xbox 360. Then came the Netflix streaming for Xbox Live Gold members, with over 1 million account holders streaming to their Xbox 360’s. Now add on to this the Sky TV that is available in the UK and the integration of the Zune Marketplace. Can you see where this is going?

How about Pay Per View concerts and sporting events, broadcast over your Xbox 360? And chatting with friends all over the United States about the latest UFC match while you watch it happen? Or watching a concert together on it? What about some type of NFL Sunday ticket on your Xbox 360, allowing you to watch what game you want, with your friends? That is where I believe it is going.

What about the networks having their shows available for On Demand watching? Would IPTV be enough for you to pay more for your Xbox Live account? What about Hulu on your Xbox? The rumors have been flying that both Hulu is going to start charging, and that Xbox Live Gold is going to increase to $100. In my opinion, I believe that there will be new tier introduced. Something inline to an Xbox Live Platinum, that would cost more but include some premier services, such as Hulu, or access to media that would not be available to others, such as the ability to watch PPV’s. Basically, the introduction of IPTV to the Xbox 360.

But we ARE talking about a gaming console here, so what does this have to do with games? While I believe that Microsoft has made dramatic inroads to having the Xbox 360 be part of your media center, I also believe that they have been taking the same steps to have the games you play done the same way. Even right now, I can buy complete games online, and have them downloaded to my console. I can download additional content. I can download arcade games.

I can hear you screaming already though, “I want to have my physical media.” Of course you do. You want to feel that new, clean plastic in your hands. You want that paper manual in your hands to flip through. Well, be prepared to give all that up, because soon you won’t have any of those things to hold on to. In the future, you will pre-purchase your game, and download the game to your console, while patiently waiting for the release date for the game to activate and for you to play.

Instead, you will either purchase the game directly from your console, or purchase the code for the game from your favorite retailer. Enter the code into your console, the download happens, and the game is yours to play. Everything is already in place for something like this to take place. They are already selling codes through retailers such as Amazon, and it would not take much more to print those codes onto a redemption card, and get those to the retailers. And the cost to print these cards is much less, along with the cost of shipping and storage of the cards. These are all costs that will save the publishers money.

But what about lending games to friends, and reselling them? Gone. Does either of those things do anything for the companies that make the games? Of course not. These things only help the consumer, and only increase the cost to the companies that make the games. Gone are having to print manuals, box art, press discs, package the games, ship, and store them. Gone is the needed store space to hold all these discs.

But who wants to download a game at full price, only to have it suck, and no ability to resell the game? This is where MS has tested the waters with Fable II. The first chapter is available for download on Xbox Live for free. The remaining episodes will be available for purchase later. This DOES benefit the consumer. Imagine being able to download the first episode of a game for free, or even $10. If you like it, you download the rest for $8-$10 and keep playing it. If you don’t, you aren’t out the full amount of the game. And if the DLC or episodes comes up lacking, then you don’t have to purchase the rest of the episodes. If a company doesn’t put out meaningful episodes to the game, then people stop buying it, and it dies off.

This model also allows Microsoft to offer rentals of games, bringing in yet another revenue strain for the company.

“But GameStop will never carry a console if that console won’t allow for trading in the games.” GameStop will have to come up with a new business model if it wishes to survive another 10 years in the business, because the business is about to change. Netflix already sees the changes coming, which is why they have had the big push to move the majority of their library online for streaming. Netflix has seen that the future involves digital distribution, and are working on that, and GameStop must get on board, or face losing out to the likes of Amazon and Wal-Mart for all of our gaming needs.

Yes, Microsoft will have to offer new and larger hard drives in order for this all to play out, but remember, they are laying the ground work for the future. And convincing people to buy digital downloads could be a chore, but not impossible. Offer the game as a playable digital download a week or weekend before it is available at stores. Offer a special download or price if they buy a digital version. Entice them. Then Microsoft will be able to show that digital downloads are working, as more and more people are buying them, and eventually allow them to phase out most of the disc based games.

Now this is just my thoughts on the matter, and most of this came about through a conversation that started on Twitter. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the direction that our consoles take in the future, and now, neither should you.

Slightly Overwhelmed

For the most part, this post is just an effort to get some things off my chest that have been stressing me pretty badly for a little while now. I'm sorry in advance for any pity parties or otherwise "downer" behavior to come from this post.

• School: Things are coming right to the wire with my school work, and my currently-scheduled last day of any class, ever is November 11th. Well, technically the 12th at 5:59 a.m. since that's when the school servers switch to the next day and officially close out the term. I'm doing fairly well in my capstone course, which is basically how-to-find-a-job assignments. PHP is killing me, though, and not for the assignments themselves. I honestly think my lappy is trying to sabotage me, because things that work one moment fail miserably the next--even without changes to the script itself or anything else in the configuration. Dreamweaver seems to be the biggest pain in the ass for this, so I'm about to start over all of my assignments and just write them manually in Notepad. In either case, I have just under three weeks to figure everything else.
• Meniere's: The stress from school and everything else is probably what's aggravating this more than usual, but regardless. Between the vertigo, the nausea, the ringing, the on-again-off-again hearing problems and the side effects from the medicines to reduce all of the above, it's been nearly impossible to be at 100% lately. I finally got sick of treating the symptoms only and went to an ENT this week, and while he feels that Meniere's is probably the right diagnosis, the only way to be sure is to rule out other problems. So now I'm scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday to be certain there's not some sort of tumor. (If it were some sort of tumor, it'd likely be an "acoustic neuroma" which is non-cancerous, so while troublesome it's not ZOMGSERIOUS.) Tumors aren't likely, though, so I just need to work on getting down to a no-caffiene, low-to-no-sodium diet and take some new daily medicines that I was given to prevent symptoms, rather than treat them once they start.
• Brian's kidneys: This is my newest stress for this month. Back in April Brian had two surgeries to get rid of all the stones in his right kidney, and they went amazingly well--it was the best clean-out surgery he'd had in years, and he recovered faster than normal. Well, having such a good spring has bitten him in the ass, because after his CT scan yesterday, both kidneys are completely full again--in less than six months. It normally takes two years to get to this point between surgeries. He's going to call his doctor today to try and schedule a small procedure for late next month--I begged him to wait until after the 11th--and then do a fuller clean-out after New Year.

Anyway, sorry for being a bit dramatic today. My nerves have just been super-tight for the past day or so, and it seems like every little thing has wound them up higher. :/ Thanks for listening, if you finished this entire post. <3

I think secretly, every cat is Party Cat

@Luneowl sent me this link this morning, and with the possible exception of Chibi, I think every cat has the potential to channel the evil cuteness that is Party Cat.

Party Cat

Twitter Shitter Sekrit Santas

Unofficial Rules:

• Must be a member of the PAX Twitter Shitters, even if (like me) you didn't make it to PAX 09.
• Must not be an asshole.
• Must be willing to keep to deadlines established for signups, mailing gift, etc

Other than that... I don't have any rules yet. Tentative deadlines:

• Signing up/sending me your mailing info: Saturday, November 14th
• Preferred mailing date (especially international mail): Tuesday, December 1st
• Absolute mailing date: Friday, December 18th

Email, @ reply or DM me on Twitter, or post to the comments here at any time to sign up. Even if you don't email me your sign-up, leave me your email address so that I can arrange for getting your Santa all your information when assignments go out on November 15th. Also, if you participated in the 2008 TSer Sekrit Santa, try to send me who you bought for and who you received a gift from, and I'll try to avoid repeats!

(Yes, it's still a *little* early considering the tentative deadlines I'm posting, but since I've got class between now and November 11th, this should keep me from getting overwhelmed with too much going on at once.)

Current Gadget Wishlist (Hint hint, Brian)

First off: Brian will probably never see this, unless either Winyder tells him about it at some point or if whatever plan he currently has for Christmas falls through and he starts hunting through for places online that I've mentioned things. Nonetheless, I'm making this list so I can keep track of things myself. Not a single item on this list is needed; it's just because I'm a gadget slut and like new toys. Also, this is just the order that I'm thinking of things, not an order-of-importance.

1. camcorder - If I get one, I want to get it before leaving for Florida in December, so that I can get videos at Disney World. After that trip, this will go back to the bottom of any priority list that may or may not exist. I don't want anything fancy; just something that has decent storage (internal or external) and that can handle my shaky hands.
2. new iPod - This is actually something that I DO NOT WANT but I might not have a choice in the matter. My current one, a 5th gen iPod Video, is having multiple errors a week now, and considering it's over 3 years old, it's an old man in the world of iPods. I don't know which model to replace it with when the time comes, but this is a not-until-we-have-to purchase because as I've said a few times, I heart my iPod.
3. new DS - Okay, for such a gadget slut, there's actually a LOT I don't want, but I've used the hell out of my original models and they are coming near needing replacements. My current DS Lite works fine most of the time, but I'm coming up to the problem of about 3 times per month it refuses to recognize any of my game cards. I've tried cleaning the contacts, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. In either case, I never leave the DS card slot or the GBA slot empty, so it shouldn't be getting dirty. Does anyone know what the lifespan is on a DS Lite, anyway? I haven't looked it up, but probably should. Mine was purchased within 3-4 months of the DS Lite's release. I'll probably go with a DSi when my current DS does die, but only if I can get better colors than what's currently out.
4. some sort of netbook - I don't even have an idea what brand, stats, or anything. I just think they're cute, and easier to take on vacation than my entire laptop.
   

Hm... I can't think of anything else at the moment. Will have to update later if I think of more that I "just have to have" which means, of course, that I really don't need it but it's pretty and shiny and I want it anyway. ^_~