Woops. Looks like we forgot to actually post the story that won our contest. It's witty, it's poignant, it's true. Sorry about that Steve Kielce from New Jersey. Better late than never, eh?

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Every day I show up to work at the same time and follow the same routine. And every day, regardless of the weather, the farm behind my job is always watering the fields. Snow, hail, rain, or shine, the sprinklers are going off. I first thought that they were broken, but after 15 years of the same thing, I became suspicious. One evening when I was leaving work particularly late, I heard a moaning coming from nearby. As I peered through the mist to the field in the distance, I saw mounds of dirt starting to move. I looked closer and realized that zombies were rising out of the ground. That's when I realize that the farmer wasn't watering the fields of grass or wheat, but of zombies! I bolted to my car, which thankfully started on the first try, unlike some of those typical zombie movies, and I sped out of the parking lot. The next day I read in the paper of a strange disturbance that the neighbors were complaining about the night before and of a loud rustling. As I put the paper down, I promised myself that I would be the only one to really know what happened that night... no comments

As we transition from our old site to this new one, we've decided to bring along some of our favorite posts as well. Enjoy our trip down memory lane.

For a very short time I worked in a white tablecloth restaurant that could be called "fine dining". It was known for its high quality dry-aged beef and took special pride in the wine pairings. For anyone who's not familiar with it, the goal of pairing is to find the right wine for the right steak. E.g.-- Cabernet Sauvignon ages well in oak and often has a sweet, smokey taste. This flavor goes perfectly with red meat but not so much with poultry of fish (which are usually paired with a white wine).

Why is this important? The idea of pairing is that by combining two ingredients the attributes of each will compliment the other and turn a plate of food in to a one of a king meal. Let's see how this applies to video games.

A few months back I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. At about that same time I also dove back in to the Capital Wastes with the new DLC for Fallout 3. I was halfway through this bleak, depressing book when I loaded up my old save and-- The Pitt never looked so full of despair. It was like I'd been playing the game with blinders on up until that point. As much as I love playing Fallout, my mind can drift when I play it (specially during the long treks to those un-quicktravelable locations). At the same time, whenever I let my mind wander - in traffic, at work - it was always The Road that I thought about.

We've all read a sad story, or a tense chapter and felt affected after we put the book down-- it's the same as playing too much Tetris and seeing falling blocks everywhere. Perfect example; pull an all-nighter with Left 4 Dead, then read some of World War Z and tell me if the next day you don't absent-mindedly examine your workplace for prospective safe houses. A good book will refuse to let you keep your mind off the story after you close the cover, and a good game will refuse to let you take your eyes off the screen while you play it. The Road had put me in the headspace of characters in a post-apocalyptic world. By doing that it gave more of an impact to playing Fallout. I guess I started taking the game a little more seriously.

After that I turned the difficulty up a little to make it feel like there was more risk to my actions. I started playing it smarter, like the Father character in the Road. I checked 360 degrees every few paces conserving as much ammunition as I could and bypassing every enemy that didn't detect me. Instead of seeing Fallout from the perspective of "I can do anything to anyone and just reload the game", I saw it closer to "anything can happen to me, I should be careful".



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At the time of this writing, I've read about 25% of Warren Ellis' written works, and Black Summer is probably my favorite. This seven-issue series, first published in 2007, tells an intricate tale of a disbanded group of superheroes. In the opening moments of the story, the most powerful of the heroes assassinates the US President and most of his cabinet, and then immediately goes on camera (still wearing the President's blood) and tells America what he's done, why he's done it, and what he hopes America will do about it.

It's a startling and exciting start to a series that never lets up on the action. In seven short issues we're given the entire backstory of these former heroes (echoing Watchmen while still remaining fresh) and it kept me interested all the way to the end. I love the idea of diving into a superhero story and not needing to know any of their backstories beforehand - this is one of the reasons I tend to stay away from the typical DC/Marvel superhero comics, they're too entrenched in a history I only vaguely know. Black Summer succeeds in keeping us all up to speed at the same time, and keeping the story contained in one thought-provoking series. Although it won't go down in history as a great work of art (or a deep social commentary), it's still a must-read. no comments

As we transition from our old site to this new one, we've decided to bring along some of our favorite posts as well. Enjoy our trip down memory lane.

Since this is a blog by nerds for nerds, I thought I would have our first "My Faves" post concerning books (without pictures) to be about sci-fi books. I'm not a very big sci-fi fan, so my collection falls more under the mainstream, social-commentary sort of novels:

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Batman: The Long Halloween is a 13-issue series first published in 1996 and 1997. Like Batman: Hush, this whodunit story arch features a large number of Batman villains and was penned by the same guy, Jeph Loeb. The story itself takes place early in Batman's career, and was the basis for everybody's second-favorite Batman film, The Dark Knight (we all know that Batman Forever was the best Batman movie ever...right?).

The comic introduces a mysterious new villain, called "Holiday", that kills members of Gotham City's mob every holiday. The series has all sorts of twists and turns, and every issue ends on a high note. Of course, there are some elements that seem tacked on (Batman/Catwoman's relationship, the inclusion of some unnecessary Batman villains), but as a whole the 13 issues flow really well.



The art style is done well, although it's beginning to show its age. Until reading up on the comic, I thought it had been drawn in the late 1980s, not 1996-1997. Batman is portrayed as a dark and unwavering character, unlike some of his later comics. I like that I didn't have to deal with Batman's inner turmoil too much and that the comic focused on what I was most interested in - the mystery of the villain "Holiday".

All in all, there's a reason that this series is considered one of the best Batman stories; it's immaculately thought out, and is both deep and rewarding. What's best is that it's a somewhat familiar story thanks to The Dark Knight but it's also new enough that it doesn't ruin this reading experience. no comments

Down is a four-issue series written by Warren Ellis that was released in 2005-2006. It follows an undercover cop who is sent to infiltrate a gang that is headed by another undercover cop who went rogue.

Besides the gratuitous neck-punching you see above, there is a whole lot of violence to be had in this short series. If you're into exploding body parts this is the comic book for you. Unfortunately, anyone else looking for something more substantial may be a little disappointed. I like that this comic only lasted one sitting, but its short scope betrays its overall lack of depth and necessity. In the end, it felt like reading an illustrated script to a bad cop movie, that was overwrought with tried-and-true cliches. I'd say give this one a miss. no comments

Our first user-submitted post comes from reader Levi Juhl. His favorite food is pizza and he enjoys long walks on short piers. Click here to submit your own post!

Trying to get a bunch of strangers to work as a team in a video game must be one of the hardest things for a game designer to pull off. Especially when you’re talking about FPS games, which often cast you in the role of a super-soldier destined to save the galaxy against impossible odds. That kind of setting trains you to go for the glory when you take your game online. Players try for the most kills or most flags caps, often oblivious to the fact that they’ve now got other people playing with them.

Valve has ingeniously devised a way to coax teamwork out of even the most ardent do-it-yourselfers by dropping you in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and eliminating all objectives save one: survive. Running off on your own is as sure a way to commit FPS suicide as jumping off a high ledge or shooting a rocket launcher at your feet. In Left 4 Dead 2, you will get pinned, puked on, and swarmed, and if you want to keep playing, you’ll need to rely on someone else to cover you. It’s an effective and fresh game dynamic that goes along perfectly with the series’ zombie-movie setting.

The key to this game’s success is in its balance. Towards the end of my time with the original Left 4 Dead, all four of the survivors were routinely making it to the safe room nine times out of ten. You could get yourself out of most situations by backing up against a wall, bunching up, and waiting out a few waves of common infected. If the Special Infected were going to win, it required Swiss-watch-precision timing and usually a healthy dose of luck.

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Several months ago, I started reading comic books. Being a newcomer to the medium, I asked a friend to give me a list of quality graphic novels, and he basically told me to start with anything written by Warren Ellis. So for the past six months I've been reading Warren Ellis sporadically, soaking in the good and the bad, and now I'm here to spread the word.

A good introductory read is the three-issue Tokyo Storm Warning, written in 2003. It is set in a modern-day alternate reality where we classy Americans dropped our first A-bomb on Tokyo during World War II because we found out they were developing their own nuclear weapon program. Ever since then, gigantic monsters have been appearing to tear what's left of Tokyo to pieces. Even more mysteriously, these giant robots/mechs also appear that people can control to defend Tokyo against these monsters.

What makes Tokyo Storm Warning work as a quick read is the brevity and intensity of the story. The plot follows an American who comes to Tokyo to pilot one of these mechs, and seeing this strange, new Tokyo through her eyes really sets the pace for the rest of the story. The story isn't wholly fleshed out, which leaves the rest up to the reader's imagination; but this isn't done in a way that makes me feel like it's a copout. In the end, it's a 30-minute read that delivers exactly what it should - an entertaining, flashy, but well-paced adventure. no comments