Kingnothing2010 : I was born physically disabled and I can relate to dealing with pain chronically on a daily basis. Admittedly a big part of my problem is that I didn’t do what I was supposed to do when I was younger. (I hated, and kind of still do hate the idea of exercising due to the pain I would be in during and afterwards.) It’s something I still resist doing but the older you get, the harder it gets. My disability affects the strength of my legs and my back. So I deal with back pain daily and leg cramps as well. Some days are not as bad as others but there are some days where I really don’t want to get out of bed.

In some ways it doesn’t help that I am a writer and spend a good majority of my time either sitting behind my desk or sitting behind a mini desk on my laptop. I’m not in denial about it though. I know that it starts and ends with me. It’s just a matter of getting it in my mind that I need to do what I have to do in order to be better off. I haven’t totally got to that point yet but what I have started doing in between my writing is I began researching ways of exercising without the pain. One thing that has sparked my interest a little is yoga. I have to do a little more research before I attempt it but from what I have read and heard it does work for people who do it. I’m still on the fence about it but if it takes pain out of the equation and I can get myself in shape then I will be all for it.

The best advice I can give you is to simply research on how to deal with pain. Knowledge is power my friend. I am trying to make up for the mistakes I made when I was a kid. One thing that doing research periodically has done for me is at the very least educate me a little and give me potential alternatives to just doing the standard practice.

Best of luck to you.

Eirinn : My vote is the PS4 but I will be honest when I say I have my reservations about buying it when it comes out. I watched the news conference when they officially announced the console. A lot of what they talked about looked and sounds great, there is no doubt about that. My issue however is the complete (or at least from what I saw) lack of mention with regard to hardware improvements over PS3. Specifically if Sony has adequately addressed the YLOD issue and also the problems last year which caused many hard drives (Including mine) to stop working.

I am of the opinion that the firmware update which caused the hard drive issue was done to boost holiday sales in a struggling economy because they released a newer, slightly more economical, slimmer version of the console just after the hard drive problem occurred.

I have been an avid Sony gamer for almost 20 years now. I love what they have done for gaming but I do believe as a consumer that they owe it to people who are going to shell out hundreds if not thousands of dollars upon the console’s release, not only for the console itself but also for the necessary hardware and, games etc. to make sure that the consoles are built to last.

Better technology doesn’t necessarily mean reliable hardware. As for me, I haven’t been able to play my PS3 since around September of last year. I am intending to buy a new hard drive and install it myself but I am waiting until I can afford to do so. As much as I love gaming on my down days, necessities come first and foremost.

EvilAlu : Oddly enough because I cover a lot of Boxing on the international level and particularly enjoy covering what goes on, on the British and commonwealth levels I have grown to like the presentation in terms of how they cover Boxing over there on television. In terms of the television in the UK beyond sports I have occasionally watched Law and Order UK and use to watch Mr. Bean when I was younger. Mr. Bean may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I think he’s hilarious. I have also seen some of the things on the BBC (What they show on BBC America) and when I run across things on Youtube and such. Hopefully I’ll be able to go to the UK one day. It’s something that’s on my list of things that I eventually want to do.

lijahboy : First please accept my condolences I am sorry for your loss. I know what you’re going through. All of my grandparents have passed on. I was fortunate though that I had a few grandparents that were still around when I entered my twenties. I just try to remember the good times and try to remember the things that they taught me and advice they gave me. It may not seem like it right now but in time things might be a little easier to deal with. The best advice I can give you is to remember the good times and know that he’s watching over you.


You and your family will be in my prayers. God bless.

kage27 : Well one that I miss is the World Series Baseball series that was made by Sega under their Sega Sports division. In regard to sports games the series was revolutionary for it’s time and I feel it doesn’t nearly get the credit it really deserves.

I do wonder sometimes how the series would look today if Sega were still in the console business and not strictly as a game developer. With all the technology that there is today it isn’t hard to envision that the series would at least be in competition with Sony’s MLB series which I consider to be the top series going.

The 2K Sports games are okay and I believe Sega may have been involved in that as well but it just doesn’t have the same feel as what Sony does. I do also miss the EA Sports Triple Play series but somehow they lost the rights to make MLB games. I think it would be interesting to see three developers all with competing titles on the market at once. It use to be that way and besides it gives people an alternative if they don’t like one or the other.

One baseball related series that I grew up on was Bases Loaded. I don’t know why they discontinued that series. There wasn’t any MLB influence or licenses attached to it but the game play again for it’s time was revolutionary.

Those are just some of the series’ that I miss but there are probably more that I could think of.

geeogree : That was a very good match. It would have been a very good match either way but the back story helped build that up even though the promotion (WCW) really didn’t promote it in a typical way for obvious reasons.

In regard to what I said before I stand by it. Wrestling overall was a lot better in the 80’s. Today it’s still good here and there but it’s more or less hit and miss especially considering the price for pay-per-views and such. From what I’ve been hearing once Vince McMahon launches his network the majority of what they do for pay-per-view now will be broadcast there even though they will keep the events available on pay-per-view for those who don’t subscribe to their network. It’s a concept that I think might help turn things around at least in terms of finances for that promotion and such but the main problem is the product overall is stale and what makes it worse is there really isn’t any adequate competition that would make things interesting. Where as in the 80’s and 90’s there were at least two or three different promotions running at once and thus there were alternatives if you didn’t like one product.

As for me I covered the business for almost a decade, about eight years or so. I pretty much saw the writing on the wall in 2001 that it was only a matter of time before the business digressed. It’s not uncommon for any sport/business to go through periods of declining interest but the difference this time around is that at least in the US there is one dominant promotion with no real competition where as before there were options. I haven’t covered the business since 2003 but I still watch regularly. Hopefully one day it’ll get hot again.

BNuge : I couldn’t agree with you more… I can’t tell you how many times I had gotten into arguments, disagreements and such with friends and family over things that in hindsight were frankly stupid and more often than not I’ll think something along the lines of why would we fight over something like that.

Things like that can definitely be ugly. I will be honest I wish that the situation between my brother and I was dealt with years ago. Admittedly, eight years ago we were barely in our twenties, still immature, and hadn’t really wised up yet. It also didn’t help that we were both set in our own ways pretty much. It happens but I wish almost a full decade hadn’t of gone by without us talking.

I am in a way glad that technology wise we were able to talk face to face as opposed to online or on the phone. Call me old school but to me I think it’s better to hash things out with friends face to face. I haven’t talked to him since the conversation we had. I have sent him a few messages, pretty much just saying “Hey, What’s up?” etc. Hopefully I’ll hear back from him soon. I do appreciate though that I was given the chance to hash everything out with him.

I do know that I as I’ve said many times am not perfect and I’ve made my share of mistakes as well. I wouldn’t want anyone to hold a grudge against me for any mistakes I may have made. I could sort of tell that he was a bit nervous about talking or, at least that’s the way it looked like even though I didn’t say “Why are you nervous?” or anything like that. I hope that if he was nervous that by the end of the conversation that he felt relieved about things. As I said as far as I am concern this was too long in coming and although I wish now of days that it didn’t take us almost a decade to talk; sometimes things just happen at the right time and the right circumstances.

I know that he did ask me about who I still talked to from school and the people we grew up with. I don’t know who he talks to now of days but, I was very honest with him. I told him that I am basically an island unto myself for the most part. I do my work (Writing) and although I’m civil with everyone I pretty much don’t go where I’m not wanted. I’m not sure if he was talking to someone who might want to get in contact with me or anything but I just told him that if anyone wants to talk to me, they know where to find me. I guess in a way he and I are in the same boat because I pretty much keep to myself and in some ways don’t know who I’m on good terms with. Basically, I just take things as they come and just do what I need to do etc. I did tell him that he needs to do the same thing. Hopefully he’ll take that advice.

geeogree : Life definitely does tend to take you in different directions. Sometimes it seems like no matter how well you may think that you have things planned out, things can change on you. I know that many years ago I didn’t think that I would end up being a writer as my chosen profession. I also thought that I would be settled down by now. Things do indeed change but sometimes change can be good. In regard to writing I love it and despite the stresses that I’ve had to deal with from time to time it’s something that I have come to really enjoy. I just wish that I was in a position to make steady money off of my work. Hopefully one day I’ll get there.

I also wish that I could have held on to some relationships. Admittedly I wasn’t the best person when I was younger or, at least that’s how I feel about myself and sometimes you don’t make the wisest decisions when you’re younger. Hopefully as time goes by I’ll be able to mend whatever fences that I need to if some of my friends reach out to me. I hope so at least.

GuardianZack : 10:4 Thanks for letting us know. This thread is officially closed.

Destifen : Ahh. Seems a little too high tech for me. I do what I can in regard to hooking stuff up and such but it can be difficult sometimes because I’m disabled. I know there are some that aren’t fans of streaming especially when it comes to sporting events but like I said it makes my job a little easier when things are normal. I wish the Roku had a browser. You can’t have everything I guess but it would give me another option at least. The good thing is a lot of the international cards that I cover are being picked up by Wealth TV here in the states. I pay $10 a year to access Wealth TV via the Roku so I’ve been pleased. I just wish you could record off the Roku. You’d think that you could seeing as it’s a competitor to cable/satellite that you would be able to.

Husker Fan : There are pro’s and con’s to both but one thing that really irritates me is that most standard definition channels now of days are broadcast in letterbox format. It is especially irritating when/if you don’t have High-definition available and you’re watching a live sporting event. Sports were not meant for letterbox. It’s just one man’s opinion.

In regard to HD I prefer it now of days simply because most SD channels are like I said in letterbox format so to be able to watch something in full screen as it should be I tend to go with HD. I just hope that those who make DVR’s will figure out a way to give those who record HD programming more adequate storage. 50 Hr’s of HD recording for now is good but it goes by fast. I end up having to buy blank DVD’s in hundreds just so I can keep my DVR relatively clear. There are also pro’s and con’s between the two when it comes to sound quality but it all boils down to what someone prefers.

I just wish if a channel wants to air something that was not originally shot for HD I.E. movies and or, sports from many years ago before the current HD technology that it would be required to upconvert those programs to HD. The black boarders on each side of the screen while watching something that is on an HD channel but is not upconverted is very irritating.

SpiderMwa : As a writer I say no… I have never thought about entering the genre of screenwriting but I think writers need to be original. I have seen a couple of the recent remakes of popular movies from the 80’s and although I admit that the 80’s were my favorite decade; they just didn’t have the same feel as the originals did. I have heard that they are remaking or are in production of remaking the RoboCop series next.

I may be in the minority here but I love the original series even though the third of the six (There were three direct to video/made for television films released after the third theatrical release) did not have Peter Weller as RoboCop. It just bothers me that there seems to be more of an emphasis on technology, special effects and or, CGI in movies now then there is on the actual stories. I think it’s a case of looking to profit on films that were successful by remaking them and it actually makes those involved in the production and or, writing seem lazy.

One remake that I thoroughly enjoyed was The Longest Yard but I admit that it would have been better had it been a continuation of the first film in some way. It was funny and obviously more modern but it would have been in some ways more compelling to see how some of the characters in the original film had looked many years later along with the current cast etc.

It is just one man’s opinion but as a writer I think it is important to see an emphasis on creativity. Following a script from something that has already been made and making little adjustments to update it more to current culture just seems lazy, uninspiring and, in some ways cheats the consumer.

I hope those who make those decisions on what gets made, remade or adapted in some way will be wise enough to leave the Rocky series alone. It would be a sacrilege if they even attempted to remake that series.

ruesen : I wasn’t directly impacted by what happened but what happened was a tragedy. It’s sad when something like this happens that there is always some group of people who will say it didn’t happen or will say it did happen but not like what you think. I am a conspiracy theorist by nature (I’m a writer) but I do know someone who I have worked with for several years who lost his niece during this shooting. So I don’t buy what the people who say this didn’t happen are saying. There is a difference between a legitimate conspiracy theory and making baseless analogies to create a conspiracy theory as a means of garnering publicity. I think it is the latter here.

supercool22 : Well It’s good to do all of what you said but even if you do everything sometimes you’ll get sick no matter what. What I try to do if I feel myself getting a bug I try to nip it in the bud as best as I can. Sometimes, like I said no matter what you’ll do you’ll get a bug every now and then but by trying to nip it, it will hopefully minimize the effects.

I have had full blown flu's a couple of times it’s not fun. I haven’t really been sick in about eight years. The last time I was sick I was going through problems related to blood pressure. I still deal with some effects of it but beyond allergies and an occasional head cold I haven’t been sick.

One thing you can do is research on natural remedies on certain sicknesses. It might help. Researching is a curious person’s best friend. Knowledge is power my friend.

MinkNyu : As someone who’s been a Sony gamer for many years it would be nice to see but given the problems the site has experienced lately I don’t think it would be a good thing because of server problems and bandwidth usage and such. I’m not too tech savvy in this area but I do know that the bigger the bandwidth can cost more.

I would just enjoy the site and not worry about additions right now but that’s only my opinion.

Totts : I’ve gotten plenty of bad advice. My problem is for the longest time I didn’t want to listen to the people who were actually giving me good advice. I guess one of the worst pieces of advice was when someone who I was working for at the time told me to call the local cable company here (One of the worst cable companies around) and threaten to cancel service so you could get all the sports packages free of charge.

Thankfully this was one of the times when I knew it was ignorant to even consider the idea and when it was possible I just switched my service to satellite. I just found it mildly amusing that this was someone whom was in a position of power suggesting something like that. I laugh about it now but I’m glad I didn’t fall for it and common sense won out on that day. Common sense is something I can’t say I used a lot when I was younger.

zelda2 : 10:4 Thanks for letting us know. This thread is officially closed.

legacyme3 : I think everyone goes through experiences like that at one time or another. I have a couple of things that are working against me, one I am disabled and am limited as to what I can do physically. Two I am a drop out and even though that’s not good I feel that it isn’t exactly ethical to disqualify people just because they didn’t finish high school but that’s me. The other problem is I am a writer. I have worked for years to try and get something solid where I can make a living but it isn’t exactly the easiest profession. I tell people all the time I have come to accept that God gave me the gift to write but at the same time it is one of the most difficult ways to make a living.

Where I live the primary industry is telemarketing and customer service. I’ve tried those jobs if you want to call them that and it just wasn’t for me. It does bother me because I know I have skills despite my setbacks. Hopefully sooner rather than later I’ll get something that will at minimum make things easier on me at least. I pray for it every day. I probably will never make a million dollars but it would be nice to be able to make a decent solid living doing what I’ve been doing for years and hopefully not feel so stressed all the time. It’s frustrating for me as a writer who’s been published worldwide to say after doing this for most of my life I’m still struggling but it’s part of paying dues.

It is frustrating when you know you have skills and can do certain things but for whatever reason can’t get with something solid or, you can’t get a straight answer from someone or a company that you’ve gone to looking for work. I have been there plenty of times.

Hang in there my friend. Best of luck to you.

Sword_Kirby777 : Well that’s obviously a good thing to always keep in mind that you do need to be careful. As someone who made his mistakes I couldn’t agree more that it’s something that people should do more often. As for me I really try to read people now of days to see what their intentions are and such. One thing I heard someone on television say once that I think kind of fits into the discussion and talk of feeling betrayed and such was you may know someone for a really long time and you may be close to them but eventually everyone has some kind of test and that will show what kind of character your friends have.

In other words if you give them a task that is of some importance to you and you put your faith and trust in them, how that person conducts themselves will shed some light on their character. In regard to my brother the task I gave him was extremely important because as I said I had to meet a deadline for a magazine that I was working for at the time. What made it almost like an emergency was it was an international magazine so I was literally working against a time difference and even though I had to have it to them on say a Wednesday because of the time difference I had to get it to them a day and a half before those who lived in the country where the magazine was based had to submit their work so I was extremely stressed at the time.

Looking back on the entire fiasco I should have been more suspicious because we had actually gotten into a bit of an argument over me being cautious and such. I remember him telling me something along the lines of dude you should trust me after all these years, don’t worry I’ll do what you need and I’ll come right back etc.

I did keep tabs on him while he was gone and he did do what he said he would do but the problem was he stole the money from me before he came back and said to me I’ll be back in a little while I have to go pick someone up and I’ll be back etc. He never came back so I made a call and found out what he did with my money and thus caught him red handed where he couldn’t use an excuse. People make light of my tendency to be paranoid and neurotic but that night pretty much validates why I am that way.

I guess you could say that he failed the test. During our conversation last week I didn’t really discuss what happened too much. I basically saw my friend as someone who had been through hell in the years since and even though it hasn’t been easy for me either over the years I was more concerned for my friend than I was about the situation that caused the fallout.

As I said before there are those both friends and family who are questioning why I would even talk to him after what he did. All I can say is I believe in redemption and I needed to hear him out. One thing I could tell during the conversation was that he had grown up a great deal in the time we hadn’t been in contact. What I mean by grown up has nothing to do with chronologically, it has a lot to do with maturity. I by no means judge him because there was a time when I needed to grow up too and thankfully I did.

I would like to think of it as we have been through a lot and have been through hell and back and we have emerged as two men who are in many ways wiser than we were years ago. I can only speak for myself of course but I hope he’s realized the errors of his ways like I did several years ago. We’ll see what happens the only thing I can do is take things one day at a time and take things as they come. He knows though I’m around if he needs me.

You’re very welcome. It means a lot to me that people value what I say. In my line of work I am use to incurring the ire of readers on occasion for things I say. At least I don’t have to worry too much about that here.

It may take time but hopefully your friend will come around. It all matters on whether it’s the right time. When it comes to things like that I put it in God’s hands.

supercool22 : 10:4 Thanks for letting us know will move this to Video Games.

Reibis : Please try to follow the community rules and guidelines. Game reviews have to be at least 100 words long. If you ever have any questions or need any help please let us know.

Kwojiba : I have had similar experiences with some friends either because of a falling out or because things in life just happen and time passes. It isn’t fun to feel like you’ve been forgotten by friends and unfortunately that is something that I have had to deal with periodically. In situations like that now of days I just try to be polite about it but not let it affect what I’m doing now and such.

In regard to my friend, as I said we were as close as brothers so much to the degree that I use to introduce him as a brother pretty much. It hurt for a while that it was something like money that came between us. What made me more angry than I probably should have been was this happened when I needed to make deadline for a magazine (I’m a writer) and I had sent him to the store for a piece of equipment I needed, back in the days when I was still on dial up etc. He did what I asked him to do but he also took money for himself without discussing it with me, that is where the problem was. What made it worse on me was I was dealing with some health issues at the time and it definitely didn’t help my stress level.

It isn’t good to hold on to anger. As I say this I will admit that I am not perfect and the concept of letting things go can be easier said than done sometimes. So, I don’t want to make it seem like I’m saying one thing but, doing another. It’s just human nature I guess that anger rears it’s ugly head and sometimes it’s more difficult to let things go than other times. It all depends on the situation I guess.

It’s good that you and your friend were able to make peace. To be honest I wish that the falling out that I had with my friend lasted only a year and not almost a decade. It really isn’t worth it to let things sit for that long without dealing with it, whether you’re the cause of the problem or not.

We haven’t talked since last week but I’m hoping that it is at least a start toward rebuilding our relationship.

Sword_Kirby777 : It seems as though perhaps there may have been an underlying issue between you and your friend. It certainly seems as though he might have been a little jealous but it’s understandable because when you’re close to someone that you’ve known for a very long time you do get attached and tend to cling to that friendship. One of my problems when I was younger was I trusted too easily and would get attached to friends quickly. It hasn’t changed me really as a person that things for one reason or another changed between me and those friends but it can hurt sometimes. Now of days I am an admitted neurotic and am not quick to trust many.

It reminds me of what my great grandmother use to say all the time. “Love many, Trust few, Always paddle your own canoe…” In all honesty I never really thought too much about that until I started getting older and trying to straighten my life out. It’s funny sometimes how something that seems so simple, cleaver, and in some ways cute and funny can be right on the mark and hit close to home.

I guess the main lesson I learned through my experiences other than that I needed to straighten myself out was that even though some friends might burn you and for whatever reason betray your trust, it isn’t good to let it change you as a person. I won’t sit here and pretend that I know you or your friend but it seems like maybe he might have had a problem with your new friend and not necessarily with you.

It could be that he felt betrayed by you in some way by you associating with your other friend. It does seem kind of grade school like but it does happen in the real world as well. It could be a scenario that he had problems with your other friend for whatever the reason and that because your friends with that person he may have had problems with, that in your friend’s mind might make you guilty by association.

Only he knows the reasons behind why he is giving you a cold shoulder. It is important though to not let it change you. One of my bigger problems was I got burned not only by my friend/sergeant brother but I was also burned by a couple of people I trusted. Over time the accumulative effects of all of that was starting to change my heart and that’s not a good thing.

I have also as I said have made my share of mistakes and have plenty of regrets. I wouldn’t want someone to hold a grudge against me or have any ill will toward me and just knowing that has made it easier for me to at least be open to talking with people who I might have had issues with.

Maybe it just isn’t the right time for your friend to talk things out with you. Like I said before the conversation with my brother pretty much came out of the blue at in the middle of the night no less. Beyond a brief phone conversation several years back and occasional hellos on social media we hadn’t talked or seen each other in almost eight years. I can’t speak for him but there wasn’t any hesitation on my end about talking face to face and it honestly felt like we hadn’t been separated for eight years. It was though one conversation although it was a good conversation I am by no means saying that things are like they were before our falling out. It was however a step in the right direction and he knows I’m there if he needs me or wants to talk. It really did feel like it was the right place and the right time. Hopefully the right time will come for you and your friend. Best of luck to you.