Southern Bits

Funny, I’ve been getting a lot of spam comments lately. How the hell did they find out about this blog, on the first place?!

Anyway, I find some fun from spam sometimes, be it on e-mails, comments or whatever. It’s interesting to observe the traps they set for the poor spammed person sometimes…like this sentence I got form a comment I’ve just deleted:

“Why have you deleted my post? It was very helpful information and i guarantee atleast one person found it helpful unlike the rest of the comments on this web site.”

I am SURE that this kinda shit appeals to some bloggers out there (in fact, the rest of the post was about some tool to increase traffic). It’s not my case, so to the spam bin it went. Nonetheless, you gotta appreciate the effort!

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll be back to the VG topic soon. See ya, folks!

It’s funny how cultural and regional differences can affect the way you see something. When I started to really dig into the videogame culture and learn more about the industry’s history, I was shocked to know that the 2600 port of Pac-Man wa such a flop – and is, to this day, hated by many.

Yeah, I know..it DOES suck compared to the arcade. I admit that. But that weird, “cubed” Pac-Man running around on that squared blue labirynth, making weird noises,  is a memory cherished by many, many brazilians – even those who aren’t into videogames anymore.

You see, arcades were never that common around here as they are up north – and, therefore, very few people got to know the original Pac-Man. The first time videogames had a huge impact on our culture was with the 2600 – and I suspect that no other system was ever that present since then. And so, to us, the VCS version IS Pac-Man – and maybe, for that reason, we can see more easily that all the fun of the game’s premise is there, untouched, behind that sloppy, flickery conversion. Playing Pac-man on the Atari is fun for me, even today – and I can’t wait to finally get the goddamn cart, once I get my Dactar fixed.

“Oh, joy!!”

I guess that’s it for now. I really enjoy having this blog, although I didn’t get to really work on it. Today, I considered taking it out of my DP signature…but I didn’t have the guts. So it’s staying. I hope someone out there likes it. I do!

yeah, I know, I haven’t uptaded this blog in weeks. And I seemed so thrilled about it, huh?

Well, I still am. But things got tough around here, and I’ll have to wait til I move out. So, if there’s anyone out there actually interested in this, I ask you to wait. I’m planning an article about brazilian piracy issues, and another one on the Megavision, the cooles Genny clone ever, in my humble opinion.

See ya soon, fellas.

Cool. Awesome. This is actually the realization of something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time now.

Ever since I started to really get into DP (Digital Press, dammit!), and saw all the curiosity about how are things down here when it comes to gaming, I had this idea on the back of my head: writing a blog about my experiences as being a brazilian gamer since god-only-knows-when.  So, you can imagine my surprise when I came across this whole Digital Press Blog thing.

Well, I guess I can start this whole project with a simple statement: being a gamer in Brazil sucks. Hard. All the piracy issues, the over-the-top importing taxes and the lack of specialized stores or support from most companies – added to the overall feeble presence of videogames in brazilian culture – make it a drag to game around here. Still, most of us addicts manage to play on, one way or another. And, at least for me, it’s been worth all the hassle.

My intention here is to  cover some of that hassle,  since the old days of trading VCS carts with my huge bunch of cousins back in the 80’s to today’s dilemma of choosing between finally getting a wii or investing on other small things, like parenthood and marriage. And, between all this, sharing some info about the wonderfully weird world of Brazilian gaming – a place where famiclones are sold as computers, original games are non-existant, the ps2 is the leading platform although Sony doesn’t give a damn about the market and you can still get a brand new Mega Drive on any store – as long as you’re willing to pay a shitload of money for it.

Well, that’s it. I really really hope I can keep up with this blog. And I hope all the (two or three) people who decide to actually read these blurbs  actually enjoy it – and, off course, forgive my constant typing and grammar fuckups. Yes, that would be nice of you.

See you all soon.