Monday and I have no hangover, that is about the best news. I never quite understood why the Super Bowl is on Sunday. Makes more sense to me that it should be on Saturday. That way you can have Super Hangover Sunday. Maybe they just never thought of it that way. I am sure there is a marketing angle to make money with based on that notion. Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers. He is from a town about 45 minutes south of my current home. I can look forward to local morons going on about how a “home town” boy won big. Even though this isn’t his home town.

I have talked a lot about failing and my issues with it. There is another side to that coin and it involves what you do when failure has occurred. The easiest option I suppose is to quit. According to reliable sources I have always been to stubborn to go that route. I normally chose the option of picking up the pieces and seeing if I can still get something done. Wonderpod episode 50 is a classic example of picked up pieces. It required a lot of editing and double the normal recording session to get that show to the audience. When all was said and done, it is one of my personal favorites. Should of called it the Phoenix episode.

Speaking of Wonderpod, it is time I give you an inside look at part of its origin story. Back in mid 2009 I started thinking about doing a gaming podcast. Video games have always been one of my hobbies and I was starting to notice a lot that was pissing me off. Plus it would give me a chance to talk about all things gaming. One of my main goals was to have no sacred cows. By that I mean there would be no one getting a free pass on the show. Gamers, game industry and the enthusiast press would all be subject to our discussions. There are plenty of site’s which slap around game makers and “journalists” who do stupid things. I always felt that gamers got a free pass to many times for their role in dumb situations. To a point it makes sense, as pissing off your consumer base can be detrimental to making boat loads of cash. Which is why I have no issue with teeing off on my fellow gamers when they are being morons. Which brings us to an interesting article that appeared on File Front a few days ago.

This article covers exactly how I feel about hardcore gamers and I was glad Jim Sterling took the time to write it. He has always written better than I ever will and nails exactly what you hear me bitching about on Wonderpod. Everything in this piece needed to be said and it brings up a couple interesting points for me after reading it. Both points are worth discussing here, even if it pushes me over my self imposed eight hundred word limit. A lot of what Jim talks about in this article shouldn’t be all that surprising. Given human nature it’s almost to be expected.

One of the biggest things humans as a group fear is the unknown. Walking in to a situation where your not comfortable and dealing with new things is always hairy. So it can be easily explained why people stick with the known and familiar. It gives them a lot of comfort, even if the known and familiar isn’t the most ideal situation. In the world of video games the known would be things like COD, Halo, God of War and even Mass Effect. So for gamers to leave that and go out on a shaky limb for games like Enslaved, Majin, MOH, and the soon to be released Home Front can be a difficult proposition. While I will never speak for all gamers, I can speak for myself.

Last year I became very sick of playing the same things over again and began gambling. First was the Medal Of Honor reboot. While the game will never be a 10/10 it had a lot to offer. The single player didn’t rely on the same old group of good guys versus one big doctor evil nemesis. It dropped you into pretty much everyday combat for the Navy Seals and Army Rangers. Made the story seem a bit sluggish and you never felt comfortable. I liked the change of pace and while the multi-player wasn’t ground breaking, Dice added some elements I enjoyed. The second gamble I took last year was Enslaved Odyssey to the West. This one was a bit odd as it was a TV show that got me hooked in to the game. I figured at the very least, I would get to look at interesting scenery inspired by the show Life After People. I got far far more than that and it was my personal GOTY. So now sitting here in early 2011, I have decided to take more chances with games this year. Passing the known and familiar for the chance at something new. There is one more aspect to all this that I know some people are going to use as a counter argument. That would be the cost of games and how that affects your purchases.

I can tell you right now I am one of the more broke gamers you’ll ever meet. I don’t have the option of buying everything I want so I have to budget my selections. I still feel comfortable with going the gambling route even with a limited budget. I have no regrets about the games I took a chance on last year and will continue to do so this year. Sure this attitude may not be for everyone and I understand the reason most people stick with the know and the familiar. Yet I would have been untrue to my very nature to not mention this article and my thoughts on it. Feel free to give me your thoughts or hurl insults at me. There is a nice little box below for you to do so.