“If we sacrifice our values because we’re afraid, we don’t care about those values.”

– Edward Snowden

His full quote (starting from 30:57 in the video): “You shouldn’t change your behaviour, because a government agency somewhere is doing the wrong thing. If we sacrifice our values because we’re afraid, we don’t care about those values.”

Snowden’s quote resonates very deeply with me (not because he shares my name), but because it makes absolute sense. If you allow yourself to be affected by terror, if you change your behaviour because you’re afraid, then the terrorists have already won.

Decay – Left Behind

One of the most memorable and addictive pro wrestling entrance songs in recent memory. The lyrics are perfectly suited to describe Rosemary and Decay, while the overall song manages to maintain the macabre spirit of what Decay is all about.

This is actually the second entrance song for Decay, the first one was borrowed from Marilyn Manson, called “The Nobodies”. According to my friend, TNA could no longer afford to pay royalties to use his song, so they had to create a new theme for Decay.

I like both themes. The first one was catchy, and helped to sell Rosemary and her faction: A group of outcasts shunned by society who turn to darkness to help them win matches. The second theme has a more sinister vibe and stronger guitar riffs, which coincidentally suits Decay in 2017 — they deleted the Hardys from TNA with a vengeance.

Yet another perfect example of how the right entrance theme can make such a huge world of difference in selling a pro wrestler. Just ask Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode.

The rise and fall of Mad Catz | Eurogamer

via Eurogamer: How Mad Catz used up its last life

Anyone who has dabbled in fighting games for the past decade or so, has definitely heard about Mad Catz. They make joysticks for fighting games that are of top quality, used by tournament-level players all over the world.

And then they went bankrupt. All because of several bad decisions by top-level management.

There are some very important lessons to learn here: Diversifying as a company is important, yes, but if you expand too quickly and take risks that make no sense (Mad Catz’s upper management believed that console gaming was going to die back in 2012-13 — a laughable idea now with PS4 and the Nintendo Switch gaining strength), you will plummet back to earth as quickly as your rise.

I’ve never owned a Mad Catz stick, because I was very satisfied with Hori’s products, one of Mad Catz’s main competitors. Still, it’s sad to see another hardware company bite the dust. Only when competition in the market exists, will you see better innovation in technology and development.

Videogame lethargy

Every once in awhile I experience a phenomenon I’d like to call “videogame lethargy” — I sit down in front of my PC or consoles, and get ready to play a game, but then I change my mind and go do something else. The brain wants to play, but the rest of the body is going… nah.

I can probably blame Fire Emblem Fates for this. My absolute determination in completing the game on Lunatic Conquest last month, has sort of left me totally fatigued. I remember I once woke up at 4am in the morning to try and complete Chapter 20 (the one with the drafty winds). By the time I successfully finished it, the clock was already 1pm. NINE freaking hours just to finish one mission.

I still play my mobile games every day, games like Fire Emblem Heroes and Plants vs Zombies Heroes where I can play a few quick matches or so for 20 to 30 minutes. I still play World of Warcraft every day, logging in for about 30 to 45 minutes to finish some world quests. But when I want to play something else, a game that would require longer time investment in one continuous sitting, and especially a game that I want to record and stream (you know, like Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright), my body just starts to rebel. I haven’t even touched my copy of Persona 5, it’s just sitting on my shelf, unopened and unplayed.

Perhaps there’s another reason for my lethargy: I have to practice the violin every day, or at least I’m doing my best to discipline myself to practice every day. That requires a lot of focus, and unfortunately, when it’s time to play a long videogame, my mental focus is already completely used up.

Maybe I should just take a short hiatus from videogaming. I have lots of catching up to do for my pro wrestling viewing and comics anyway.

The strange but artistic science of bartending | Channel NewsAsia

via Channel NewsAsia: Where alcohol meets mad science: Singapore’s exploding cocktail scene

What an interesting article, especially after I blogged about my short but itchy cocktail drinking experience a few days ago. Some bartenders have taken their passion to the fullest extremes, using molecular chemistry and mixology science to craft their drinks.

Apparently, the rooftop bar that I went to on Wednesday night, The Screening Room, is located in a very popular hotspot for cocktail bars: Ann Siang Hill and Ann Siang Road. That area is within walking distance of Chinatown MRT and Telok Ayer MRT, which is not a bad location to have food and drinks.

But again, I am not going to start drinking cocktails regularly from now on. Mainly because of my alcohol intolerance and the price of alcohol in Singapore. Unless Dana Zane exists as a real person, opens a cyberpunk bar in Singapore, and pins me to the floor with a German suplex, I’ll stick with VA-11 Hall-A for now as my videogame escapism for bars and drinking.

Cocktails

One of my favourite videogames last year, VA-11 Hall-A, introduced me to the fascinating world of cocktails and just trying out drinks for fun. So yesterday night, at my company department’s small gathering, I did just that: Try out some cocktails for fun. I tried three, the first one was a vodka cocktail that I have completely forgotten the name — It contained raspberry juice and lemon juice. The second and third ones were the bar’s custom signature cocktail called “Keep the lights on” — It contains sake, more lemon juice, and other ingredients that I can’t recall now because I just woke up and my whole body is itching like crazy.

No, I am not going to start drinking regularly from now on because:

1. Alcohol is still mad expensive in Singapore. For reference, each of my cocktail shots cost like S$19 each. That’s enough to pay for one month’s worth of World of Warcraft subscription. Or two months of New Japan World. Yes, I always compare my monetary purchases in relation to videogames and entertainment. A S$60 game like Fire Emblem Fates can give you 200+ hours of entertainment; three $20 cocktails can be finished in about 30 minutes to one hour, and it leaves you itchy like fuck.

2. Alcohol intolerance is no laughing matter. Do you know what it’s like to be woken up, automatically at 7am with your entire body itching like fuck underneath its skin?

3. Dana Zane is not a real person. ;(

4, I want to live as long as possible and that means abstaining from as much poisonous intake as possible. I would classify alcohol as poison to the body. Because I’m feeling itchy as fuck.

5. Dana Zane is not a real person.

Itchy. Scratchy. Tasty.

Wonder Woman (2017) and the empowerment of just letting ladies kick ass

A couple of weeks ago one of my friends, Mustapusta, suddenly messaged me on Twitter: “I got bored so I decided to watch Kill la Kill for fun. Now I know why you are so obsessed with it.”

Wonder Woman (2017) has just been released in theatres, and after watching it, I feel kind of vindicated with my obsession for KLK. It’s a very simple formula: Just create a powerful female character, and allow them to kick ass. Let them unleash their superpowers, and let them fight alongside (or against) the men. But you must also make them human and relatable. Let them experience the ups and downs of human emotions, let them experience love, anger, and hate, and just let them be who they are: A hero(ine) who rises up and takes action, and who finds a way to triumph against evil.

To be very clear, I am not a feminist. I don’t consider myself one. I am more of a strong believer of equalism: The idea that everyone, regardless of their age, sex, language, race, or religion, should be treated equally and given equal opportunities. If men like Superman, Batman, Jack Sparrow, Nathan Drake, and Terry Bogard can vanquish evil by beating people up, why can’t the girls do the same?

I admit that I entered the theatre with very low expectations, especially after Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. It’s so refreshing to finally see a DC movie that gets it totally right. Moral of the story: Don’t let Zack Snyder direct any superhero movies. He was involved as a producer and writer for Wonder Woman, but the director was Patty Jenkins.

This is why I hated Sucker Punch (another film directed by Snyder), which I have blogged about before. It executed the “warrior women” genre in the completely wrong manner, and tried to sexualise the female characters, another big mistake. Yes, most of Kill la Kill’s female cast were fighting half naked in revealing outfits, but so were the men. See what happens when the stakes are equal for everyone? That’s the amazing power of equalism in entertainment.

I’m eagerly awaiting Marvel’s Captain Marvel movie, which will feature another female superhero protagonist. It’s a wondrously good time (no pun intended) to be a fan of comics, videogames, and just pop culture entertainment in general. I wonder (I’m sorry) how long this Golden Age will last.

FOZZY – Judas (Priest?) in my mind

One of Chris Jericho’s better songs from his band FOZZY. The lyrics are great, and the chorus of “I’m becom… I’m becom… I’m becoming!” lends a huge amount of energy to his performance from start to finish.

I’m not sure if the title of the song is meant to be a reference to Judas Priest, my favourite heavy metal band. It’s the theme song of NXT Takeover: Chicago, and if you watched that event all the way to the end, it’s a very fitting choice.

Minus 417 at Serangoon Nex: The Final Deletion

About two years ago I wrote a very angry post about Minus 417, a shop selling skincare stuff that you should really steer clear from. Not because of their products, but because of their disrespectful sales tactics.

Hero power: The simple appeal of “derring-do” and courage under adversity

I’m several months behind on my Edge magazine reading, and I just came across a really interesting letter by Adam Dutton in page 25 of issue 302 (February 2017):

With 2016 having taken so many of my heroes (David Bowie, Prince, Muhammad Ali, and of course, Paul Daniels) and the real world seemingly going to hell in a handcart, I’m looking for heroism in my games. Yet 2016 hasn’t really given me anything to get excited about. Look at the games that came out this year: To borrow an immortal line from The Stranglers, whatever happened to all the heroes?

The push for agency, empowering the player to define their avatar’s personality through their playstyle, is of course a noble goal. But the consequence is a loss of character overall. Unless Sony gives the Uncharted IP to another studio, we have seen the last of Nathan Drake. Uncharted 4 felt like more than a goodbye to a lovable frontman, or even to a beloved series. Drake and Uncharted are a dying breed: Character-driven, story-first action romps that drip with likable personality.

Much as I have enjoyed this year’s Dishonored 2 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, neither are defined by the personalities of their central characters. They are skill trees in physical form: They have names and faces, yes, but ultimately their personalities are dictated by who the player wants them to be. Neither Watch Dogs 2 nor Mafia III featured protagonists that will grace billboards and game boxes for years to come; they were specific creations for a single story. Both stories were worth telling, and both games I enjoyed. But hardly heroic.

Are videogames too grown up now to indulge the simple fantasy of feats of heroic derring-do? To put it another way: Where is the next Nathan Drake going to come from? I think that, these days, we need him and his kind more than ever before.

I quickly think back to some of the videogames and shows that I’ve really, really enjoyed for the past decade or so (Max Payne 2 / Alan Wake, Uncharted 2, Kill la Kill, NieR:Automata, and now Samurai Jack again), and they all share the same characteristics that Mr Dutton described: They’re stories about likable, relatable characters who are forced to perform acts of heroism. They embark on a journey to achieve their goals, to make sacrifices, but ultimately become stronger through their courage. They find a way to continue fighting against all odds.

It’s a simple, appealing fantasy that everyone enjoys. I even blogged about my personal hero awhile back. I’m sure we all have our own heroes and heroines, fictitious or not, that we admire and worship.

And there’s nothing wrong with injecting a little fantasy into our reality. Sometimes dreams and escapism can teach us far better lessons than the real world.