Another visit to the mail bag, which for some reason features a lot of actual things. It also shows that press releases will go out to just about anybody these days.
A Love Letter to DOOM
I am always a fan of people who tackle gaming topics in actual printed book form. Being over a certain age, getting somebody to publish that sort of thing lends legitimacy to the whole genre, even if it isn’t likely to make any best seller’s list. So I was interested to see a press release for DOOM: SCARYDARKFAST.
DOOM: SCARYDARKFAST
According to the press release, this 200 page book covers the creation of DOOM, how it impacted the industry, pushed online multiplayer and modding, and spawned many imitators. The book jacket quote:
This book is a love letter to DOOM and its various creators, written by a highly educated and devoted scholar and player. The book offers a well-grounded sense of the game and does an excellent job working its way through a range of topics: from the software company to the graphics engine to the story to the sound to the final game.”
—Katherine Whitlock, California State University-Chico
Never having actually played DOOM (I was working on Mac OS at the time, so Bungie’s Marathon kicks off first person shooters for me) and not being a particularly dedicated shooter fan, some of this will no doubt be lost on me, but it is nice to see it getting recorded somewhere.
D-Link Router for Gamers
D-Link sent me a press release for their new router for gamers.
Available in August
This one interests me because we have to share a rather small pipe to the internet at our house and the tools available for apportioning out bandwidth seem to be to be rather primitive. Looking at the we page for the router, it looks like they are headed in the right direction. And, frankly, things like Quality of Service shouldn’t be rocket science at this point. I am not going to run out and pre-order one, but I will look for reviews to see if it actually works as described.
FitDesk for the Happy Family
FitDesk is a company that sells equipment that allows you to use your electronics while you exercise. A noble calling, or at least one with some merit. I recall a story from a few of years back about a guy who bolted his laptop to a treadmill and spent all his World of Warcraft time walking. He lost weight and got into shape while raiding. So I have nothing snarky to say about the idea really, except that the picture they attached to the press release they sent me is a bit… odd.
Just like no family ever
The thought process that lead to this would be interesting to map. Put dad in the chair. Have him smiling, happy that his son is getting exercise. Hand him a laptop to show he is tech savvy. Give him a smiling trophy wife about his son’s age. Have those two gaze fondly at the son while he plays his game completely undisturbed by this attention. And no sweating! We don’t need to remind people that exercise makes they moist and smelly.
Life in the world of advertisements.
LEGO Middle-earth Rolls On
And the people at LEGO continue to send me pictures of their latest and greatest stuff, like this Tower of Orthanc set.
LEGO Saruman
Unfortunately, the age of LEGO seems to be pretty much over at our house. My daughter is in the pre-teen stage and becomes quickly bored when forced to do things like assembling LEGO kits with dad. Time marches on. Now we’re worried about paying for college.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
That *is* an odd picture. The father is relaxing in his work clothes. Trophy Mom is posing unnaturally in her Mrs. Cleaver dress (modern version). Junior is far too well-complected and attractive to be playing WoW. And that chair is hideous.
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He has a headset on. That’s why he doesn’t notice anything odd. At least, that’s how it works at my house.
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Trophy wife appears to be showing disturbing signs of demonic possession. And is that some kind of bomb under the table to her left?
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You didn’t miss much with Doom. Its main claim to fame is that it was the last FPS of the era prior to PCs being able to do good FPS action. It made it clear that something big was going to happen soon, but it was basically impossible to enjoy if you were currently playing really good 2D games.
It did make something of a splash on the PC because it was a medium-sized fish in a very, very tiny pond. So every PC gamer of that era will rave about it. But really, being impressive to the PC gamers of that era is hardly an achievement.
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In my humble opinion, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake were game changers. Just amazing.
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Shut your whore mouth Carson! (Marathon was the far superior game, but Doom for its time was also pretty great)
Trophy wife has a little bit of Stacy Kibbler (sp?) to her. Would do.
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Thankfully I long ago paid for all the college I will ever need, have no children to save money for, and no spouse to look at me disapprovingly for spending money on my hobbies. So I’m perfectly able to spend $200 on a LEGO set and enjoy the hell out of the damn thing. Now I just need to find a place to put a suitably foreboding black tower.
@bhagpuss Looks like shopping bags. Because in ad land if a woman is at home it is because she has just returned from a full 5 hour long shopping excursion.
Also, I notice that there’s a water bottle on the table there. This raises two questions: Firstly, why hasn’t the swine put a coaster under the damn thing and secondly why would you go through the effort to attach a desk to exercise equipment but then fail to leave off a cup holder?
Damn that is a creepy picture though. Especially the predatory look on the trophy wife.
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