Introducing O.E.N Rambles: Hey It Adds More Posts To The Oasis

    Greetings to the interwebs, its the One-Eyed Nerd here again. Now yes this place is looking more like a ghost town because well I might have devoured more then I could chew with the long form blog posts here. This in turn came into the idea of the rambles, more short form posts, that I can type out without overthinking them. Now idea of this blog was that I wanted to post more and grow it to say form a community around it. That was great on paper and if it was the still early 2000s, then it could work. Unfortunately, the landscape has changed for a lack of a better word. I guess most people would go to social media and post whatever idea comes to their head, hit post, then it is already out there for the masses.

    Let’s take for example a small post on a blog vs mainstream social media. Here you make the post, check for spelling and grammar as that matters more. Now yes you do have more control and if you know HTML and CSS, then you can waste a day just with formatting and experimenting alone. Compare that to social media on the other hand. You have a word limit depending on the platform, not counting your freedom is limited as in how your post can look, and you might have to deal with some form of moderation. Now here come a major issue with a blog. You have to work to get it seen.

    Now you be thinking, "But the Internet is what everyone uses nowadays, its filled to the brim, someone will see it." To that I say here is a question for you. Where are the people at exactly? If you said any of the big social media platforms then congratulations because I bet you got here from social media. If you got here by word of mouth, or hell even a damn search engine then I must of hit the big time then.

    To clarify, sure I have my opinions on the modern internet, but that could be it own ramble or technically a rant. It is wild to think just how huge the web is now, but has anyone notice it don't seem to lead to anywhere cool? Sure if you search for say, how to replace a oil pan in a Datsun 380z, you will get Youtube videos or old car forums, but that would make sense, because it is a niche interest. A regular user will get 1,000s of the same damn title of a website headline with tiny changes to set them apart. You know the ones I am talking about, and don't get me started on recipe websites or god forbid gaming news.

    Well that's all folks for tonight and hey for shits and giggles lets play a game. I created a few (totally real) headlines for the top site on the internet, lets see if you been on the web long enough to pick them out. Post the reference and the site down in the comment, I want to see if people can get it. This is the One-Eyed Nerd saying good night and don't take the internet too serious, it not the most accurate depiction of real life. Now here is I Love My Computer from Bad Religion's 2000 album, The New America.

 O.E.N Presents: Click Out That Click Bait.

"Top 10 ways to Boil an egg, You Never Known About Number 5."

"Call of Duty is Doing What? Find Out in The New Teaser For Call of Duty 156."

"Fact Checking the Conspiracy That the X Files is Real."

"Idiocracy Could Happen in Real Life, Here's What to Know."

"Demonic Invasion on Mar's Military Base: It's [ Insert Name Here ]'s Fault."

"Zeon Is The Good Guys: Expert Says."

"The X-Virus is an Biological Weapon (And That's a Good Thing)."

"How to Make a Pig in a Blanket, After you read my Long and Boring Ass life story About my Family Tree and how it Somehow Relates to Making a Pig in a Blanket." 

And much more on Click Out That Click Bait. 

 

The Joys of Arcade Racers

    Greetings to the interwebs its the One-Eyed Nerd here again, and spring is now upon us. Time to get outside, hangout with friends, the family, hit a few thrift stores that hopeful are not overpricing their stuff, and hit an arcade and sit down for a friendly competition at the classics. It is funny to look back on growing up in the 2000s as I got to experience things that I don't think will ever happen again. Set before the second mainstream internet blowup (The Smartphone) and the early rise of the high definition TV, there still was a use for analog and that included hangout spots even at that time included the decaying arcade scene.

     Now during this time, I cut my teeth on machines that now looking back on were some of the top of line during that time. My earliest memory that I can think of with playing an arcade machine is NASCAR Arcade, that was developed by Sega in the 2000s when EA owned the NASCAR license. Now granted I don't remember if it was good or not and I have never seen one in person ever since. Some more I remember was mobile ports back in the 2010s like Namco making Ridge Racer for the phones and Sega porting a faithful port of Crazy Taxi to the small screen.

    Now yes we are talking about mobile games here that were free with ads and DLC to make their money back, but at it’s core they are great games. Go and look at the 100 best selling arcade racing games and you will see the same developers behind them, teams made up of some of the greatest coders, musicians, and artists that made theses teams and to top it off, most of the ideas was them getting creative and not rehashing what has already been done. From Hydro Thunder with boats with rocket engines on the back of them and waterways that make no sense, Project Gotham Racing with real city's that were scanned in real life and an in game radio stations that felt real as you raced around and its gameplay loop that prioritizes driving with style and leading then just having the best race line. Burnout incorporating reckless driving and being a total lunatic on the road to gain boost and take out your opponents was revolutionary, not even mention Road Rage was well a game mode. Daytona USA was the SEGA of Japan’s take on a redneck classic.

    The rabbit hole just keeps on giving and there are years and years of games as well as ones that are still being made to this day. Now there is no way to say everything I want to in one post, it will take going to have each game having their own post. So I will end it here then, as my final word is that the level of creativity and skill to have to make a game that has to be easy for people to play and hard but rewarding to master is impressive, and on top of that creating long lasting legacy’s that are still around. Here to the classics and the newcomers, this is the One-Eyed Nerd saying good night and signing off.