Club Nintendo:

We’re experiencing heavy traffic at the moment, so accessing your account may take a little longer than usual and you may see display issues with your account when logged in. Please note that you’ll have until 6/30/15 to redeem your rewards. Thank you for your patience.

Yesterday, Club Nintendo announced a massive sale in conjunction with the discontinuation of the loyalty program, offering physical goods as well as Wii U, Wii, and 3DS downloadable titles at discounted redemption rates. I have since experienced issues a) accessing the page or b) signing in.

In May 2014, Club Nintendo experienced similar server strain due to heavy traffic generated by the Mario Kart 8 free game offer.

Garena Esports (empahsis my own):

For any events we do, we always want to make sure we are able to have an inclusive environment where no one feels left out, and of course for everybody to enjoy.  On this angle, we believed that allowing more to be eligible to join is obviously the answer and as many of our female teams have expressed — Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered Women members are their friends too.  On the other hand, for any competitions, we seriously look at ensuring there’s a fair level playing field for all participants.  And there are arguments and concerns from other participants who disputes that Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered Women members may probably have some unfair advantage.

I have zero tolerance for the twisted logic/suspicion/assumption that one’s physical traits, let alone sexual orientation, “may probably” provide them “some unfair advantage” in a competition based purely on mental prowess. Unbelievable.

[Via Polygon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdeTku2vhmc

One of my all-time favorite games has been re-released on Steam, iOS, and Android. I spent countless hours with Heroes of Might & Magic III growing up, and during my late-twenties nostalgia trip, had been itching to play again. The HD sheen doesn’t do much more than make the game look like what I remember playing, but I’m thrilled they kept the jagged animations around.

Steam | iOS | Android

[Via The Awesomer]

My phone has become a magic 8-ball of sorts; more 8-ball than magic. It can do phenonominal, unimaginable things but it can’t give me existential answers. No matter how many times I race to it when it vibrates; wake it, hoping to find an at-reply from someone of notoriety; imagine Wordpress telling me my blog “is on fire”; there is never an answer. Nonetheless, my phone is a little black oracle. Today, it showed me some great things: Song Exploder with John Roderick, Marc Maron on The Moment with Brian Koppleman, Andrew Sullivan’s departing post:

How do I say goodbye? How do I walk away from the best daily, hourly, readership a writer could ever have? It’s tough. In fact, it’s brutal. But I know you will understand. Because after all these years, I feel I have come to know you, even as you have come to see me, flaws and all. Some things are worth cherishing precisely because they are finite. Things cannot go on for ever. I learned this in my younger days: it isn’t how long you live that matters. What matters is what you do when you’re alive. And, man, is this place alive.

I started Zero Counts to express my thoughts on the video game industry. Back then, I called it “The State of Gaming”. Shortly after it’s inception, I was quoted on Daring Fireball. Now, not a day goes by that there isn’t an urge to appeal to John Gruber. Every word I write, every passage I compose is critiqued by the “Gruber in my head”. I can’t shake it. Every entry comes with hopeful anticipation that my phone might vibrate with a Twitter notification— Gruber favorited or, better yet, retweeted the associated tweet. Or best case scenario, he linked to my post on Daring Fireball, hopefully leaving an inkling of praise or simply stayed neutral. It would be enough to validate me, at least for a little while longer; until I had built a sustained audience.

This wasn’t the first time this itch came alone. In 2008, my one and only vlog was posted to the front page of CNN.com for my favorite music of the year. (I still agree with my picks.) Maybe I was supposed to be a Youtube music reviewer. If so, I probably missed my opportunity. I never posted another. In 2010, I was cast into IGN’s Community Spotlight for blogging about non-gaming topics on a gaming website. Maybe I was supposed to be a non-gaming gaming blogger. If so, I probably missed my opportunity. Which brings us to the Daring Fireball quote for a piece on Mario Kart 8. Maybe I was supposed to be a games journalist or analyst. I am currently trying to ride that wave.

I’m pissing into the wind; throwing mud at the wall; hoping and praying that I will find exactly what it is that sticks for me. That thing that I can’t go another second without writing. There is an itch for conversation; I can’t help myself from blogging and tweeting throughout the day. And I will continue to piss into the wind and throw mud at the wall. I will look to my phone, listen to an inordinate amount of podcasts, and scrape my Twitter feed for answers. Surely, someone out there knows who I am, but it sure as hell isn’t me.

I’ve never read anything from Andrew Sullivan. For a Political Science major, that appears to be a crime. No doubt an influencial man and writer. The recent news surrounding his departure from blogging has me thinking a lot. If he can give this platform his all for fifteen years, I know I can too. I just hope I find a little something along the way.

Ben C, a friend of mine, shared his band’s new demo with me. I was incredibly impressed. A strong influence from Band of Horses with Grizzly Bear and My Morning Jacket sprinkled about. I especially enjoy “Even When You Don’t Sing”.

On a personal level, Pretty Alright sounds like a combination of Alexander J. Roberts, Team Hate Nelson, and Of The Swaying Sort. Give it a listen.