January 21, 2009
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1.21/2009
Yesterday, I watched the entire Inauguration from eight o'clock in the morning to one o'clock in the afternoon from my bed. Seeing him officially being sworn in didn't really do much for me. His winning the presidential race was a more powerful, emotional moment. For me, it symbolized changing values in the United States. It contradicted my entire notion of how racist I thought it was. This, in contrast was one of those trivial moments for me. It was something I experienced just to be able to say that I saw it, I knew where I was when it happened, and that I could discuss the events with other people. I didn't need to see him get sworn in because he was already the president of the United States to me.
Yawn.
I got back to playing Metal Gear Solid 4 this week and it hit me... when did the Metal Gear Solid franchise begin to seriously blur the line between realism and fantasy? The first Metal Gear Solid had bits and pieces of fantasy in the form of Psycho Mantis, but the rest of the game seemed relatively reasonable. Every boss and every plot twist seemed plausible. Metal Gear Solid 4, on the other hand, seems to enjoy straddling the line between that which is realistic and that which is surreal. Here's an example: Raiden, a character who was once weak, pathetic, and human, in every sense of the word, has been transformed into some kind of cybernetic God. In one scene, he can be seen tossing two mechs around by wires attached to his feet.
I'm not saying that the game isn't amazing in terms of gameplay, believe me, it is... But, I think Hideo Kojima needs to think about continuity of realism in his games. However, maybe my opinion of the realism will change when I know how the game concludes.
I might come back to this when the game ends.
Just figured out how to route the audio from my tv to my speakers. Earlier, I went to Radio Shack to talk to guys on how to rig this system up. They told me that I'd have to use an audio-hub, which is essentially an audio switching device. However, only two audio sources would be able to be plugged in at a time. That's a problem for me because I have at least four different audio inputs: The Xbox 360, the PS3, the Wii (should I ever decide to play it again), and the TV. Therefore, the hub was out of the question. Secondly, even if they had a hub available that could accommodate all of my needs, I'm far too lazy to press a button each time I have to switch the audio source. I needed to find another way.
On the way home, my mind found a solution... although it would require time and a small bit of money: I had to buy to buy three Y-adapters and a three-way female adapter. Saddened, I debated buying the Y-adapters before a second thought hit me and I decided to check my tv. If my tv had an audio output, then if I plugged all of my systems into the tv, then I would be able to access all of the audio on my external speakers by switching the inputs on the tv. I found the laziest and best solution.
There's so much you can learn by just experimenting with technology.
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