Fighting games have always been my favorite genre of videogames. One big reason for that is that I win or lose in a very short amount of time. I either raise my hand in victory or fall broken within a matter of minutes. MMORPG games can take years to play, with no clear cut win or loss anywhere in sight on the horizon. But I know whether I’m spearing Shao Kahn into destruction or if he’s obliterating me with his hammer in less than the time it would take you to wait at a fast food drive thru. And yet, time has become my enemy of late. And I’m not happy about that.
I’m very proud of Death Ensemble. Over the last year and a half, I’ve done my best to cultivate a horror site that I would want to read, and for which I love to write. But here’s the thing. There are only 24 hours in a day, and at best, only 31 days in a month. I work 2 full time jobs, basically, and teach online. I barely have time to sleep most nights. Time to write has fallen to the wayside and has found itself buried under a mountain of obligations.
And I can’t cheat time. Except, I can, when I play Mortal Kombat. See, I turn the time off for matches. Instead of losing by default if my health bar is lower than Reptile’s at 90 seconds, I’m guaranteed a real outcome. If only I could do the same for real life. But I can’t. Nobody can. It’s the biggest problem with time: I can’t cheat it, but it cheats us all. My mother’s death a few years back proved that to me.
This probably sounds like a big whine fest. And that’s only because it is. Usually I turn outward in the You Suck columns, but I felt it necessary to turn my view right back on myself this time around. If only because I’m two days over the deadline for last month’s You Suck! and I’d love to say, “But we’ll have two this month!” But I can’t guarantee that. I can’t even guarantee that my Tour Through Hell reviews will pick up steam anytime soon. I’m only one man, and I seem to be the only one interested in writing for DE. And that’s a shame, because you deserve the best in alternative views on horror, and the interesting opinions that accompany them.
I sincerely hope that if you’re reading this, and like coming to DE, that you stick around. Shao Kahn has told me… IT’S OFFICIAL, PHIL! YOU SUCK! I only hope you’ll have the patience to ride these busy months out with me, and that you’ll still be there when I prove him wrong.
-Phil Fasso
