Why is it that if someone becomes even moderately successful, they suddenly become immune to criticism in the eyes of far too many?

For example, I was once grumbling about a crappy opening band at a metal show, and some bystander told me, “When you put out an album and go on a tour, then you can criticize them.” Or, in the middle of one of my anti-Buffy tirades, I was told that Joss Whedon must’ve done something right, since he’s had multiple television programs, and I do not, so I should shut up.

There’s clearly a case of the straw man argument at work here: I’m criticizing the creator’s work, not their fame. One’s success is not directly determined by the work itself; it’s determined based on the amount of people that enjoy it. Therefore, if you’re not specifically criticizing their success, then claiming immunity based on that is completely irrelevant to the discussion! If I was complaining about their fame, then my detractors would have been correct in calling me out, as I have no experience with being famous. (Nor would I want any!)

The closest I get to complaining about fame and success is when I see people like those idiots on Jersey Shore elevated into the upper echelons of “cool” society. Even then, I’m not complaining that they’re famous; I’m complaining that so many people in this country are so brain-dead that they watch the show and increase its popularity. The cast’s fame is just a side effect of that.

This kind of critical immunity nonsense is right up there with “You shouldn’t criticize the president, because he’s the president.” Legitimate criticism is always welcome, no matter who (or what) the target is.

I’ve noticed that as I get older, I’m having trouble retaining long-term memories of various happenings. This is normal, I’d imagine; I can’t be expected to recall everything that happened during first grade, or every movie night with friends when I was in high school. However, over the past few years, memories from college have begun disappearing, like pieces missing from a jigsaw puzzle. I graduated from college less than a decade ago, so it’s not like we’re talking ancient history here! The fact that I have trouble recalling what were once memorable events is disturbing.

If that wasn’t annoying enough, it gets worse. Aside from forgetting social events and such, my recollection of useful skills is fading. This, also, could be considered normal; if you don’t practice something, you’re naturally going to lose it over time. Still, I’m worried that I’m losing critical life skills. For example, anything above basic math has escaped me. I took years of algebra, trigonometry, pre-cal, and calculus…all gone now. I may not need calculus for my job now, but who knows what the future may hold?

My biggest concern is that I think the process is accelerating faster than normal. It seems like more and more stuff is dropping out of my brain pan with each passing month. People have to remind me of stuff I used to talk about a lot, and I feel like a complete idiot as a result. Cripes, if I’m having this much fun now, imagine what it’ll be like once senility hits in a few decades.

No, I don’t have some inside scoop on one of the most demanded sequels in existence. What I do have is my grumbling about why we need this game now.

I’ll make this clear right off the bat: Mega Man Legends 3 tops the list of my “most wanted games ever.” Yes, I’d even take that over a game that bridges the gap between the original Mega Man series and Mega Man X! The story in Legends was arguably the best out of all of the Mega Man series, but it’s been left without a conclusion.

For the uneducated, I give you a bit of history. Mega Man Legends was released for the PlayStation in 1997 (a year later in the US), and was the second spinoff of the original Mega Man series (the first being Mega Man X). Aside from being the first Mega Man game in 3D, Legends also was radically different than any Mega Man game that had come before it. Gone were the selectable levels, themed bosses, and weapon stealing: in their place, we had a sprawling adventure featuring huge interconnected dungeons, adaptable weapons, and a cast of interesting and eminently likable characters. Even the “bad guys” were awesome!

Instead of being a robot constructed by a benevolent scientist, our hero this time was Mega Man Volnutt, a teenaged treasure hunter exploring the underground ruins on Kattelox Island. Why “Mega Man”? Well, he was found in the ruins as a baby, and named after his adoptive sister Roll’s favorite video game hero. (“Volnutt” is his last name, kids.) Still confused? Play the game, and it’ll all make sense. Suffice it to say that there’s a lot more to Mega Man, his world, and his backstory that it seems.

The ending of Mega Man Legends (don’t worry, I won’t spoil it for you) was a massive cliffhanger, and by design, it made no sense. Fortunately, the sequel Mega Man Legends 2 came out in 2000 to address these plot threads. Unlike most sequels, however, it actually explained everything, and all of the missing pieces and questions fans had fell neatly into place. Of course, that game ended on a cliffhanger as well, but it was more of a “What will happen to our intrepid heroes next?” ending rather than a “GOD DAMN IT WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!” ending.

A spinoff/prequel starring the Bonne family, aptly titled The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, came out between the two main series games in 1999 (again, the US release came a year later). This game mixed overworld action with puzzle solving, as well as some light RPG elements: you could “level up” the lovable Servbots to make them more useful. While it didn’t add much to the story of Mega Man himself, it’s another game where the focus on characters really shines, and it helps explain the Bonne family’s motivations a bit more.

So, we’ve got fantastic characters, a great plot, coupled with a solid game engine…but whatever happened to a third game that could potentially wrap up the entire series? The PlayStation 2 was (and still is) hugely popular, so it would’ve seemed a natural fit for Mega Man Legends 3. But…it never happened. Here we are in the post-PS2 era, and still no sequel! You’d think the Wii or even the DS would be a perfect fit, considering the platforms’ immense popularity…especially in Japan, where Mega Man is practically a national hero!

C’mon, we get copious amounts of violent action games, FPSes in varying shades of brown and gray, and other generic bullshit, but we can’t get one last Legends game?! Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune has admitted in the past that development costs were a big stumbling block against making a new game, and that’s understandable. However, Inafune’s been rising faster up the ranks at Capcom due to hit games like Lost Planet and Dead Rising, and it’s a matter of public record that he still wants to make a Legends 3. He’s definitely got a lot more clout now. Well, get on it, Inafune-sama!

Aside from the creator’s obvious love for the series, there’s another glimmer of hope. Even though it’s been a decade since the last Legends game, Mega Man Volnutt and his pals have still remained popular. There’s been Mega Man action figures, and Roll, Data, Tron Bonne, and the Servbots have been immortalized as various figurines and statues. Tron also made a notable appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, where she did battle in her walking tank, the Gustaff, with her Servbot lackeys providing support. Tron, Mega Man, and others (can’t say who without spoiling things) also appeared in Namco X Capcom. Both Legends games were ported to the PSP in Japan, and more recently, Mega Man Volnutt was a combatant in the fighting game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. A few of the stages in that game even take place on the hangar deck of the Gesellschaft, the Bonne family’s mighty airship. (And yes, there are Servbots!) For someone who hasn’t had his own damned game in a decade, the Mega Man with the funky surname sure has some staying power.

See? The interest is there. The passion is there. And the fans have always been there. So just make the fucking game, already!

(Note: Most model railroaders would never call their hobby a “toy,” and while I certainly agree, I’ve still filed this post under the Toys category, because it just wouldn’t fit in any of the other categories.)

I’ve been involved in the model railroad hobby for about six years now; I didn’t work on my trains or layout that much over the past few years, but I’ve recently jumped back in full throttle. While it’s certainly a enjoyable pastime, model railroading does have its drawbacks. A big one is the matter of space: it’s more fun to build bigger and bigger layouts, but if you live in an apartment (like me!) or other small space, this simply isn’t feasible.

The largest strike that model railroading has against it is the one I’ll be bitching about today: the price. Most hobbies aren’t cheap, but model railroading tends to skyrocket in price very quickly, even for small layouts. It’s obvious from the start that you need to buy a lot of supplies even to construct a small layout, and while most of the items needed are relatively inexpensive (ground foam, paint, adhesives, smaller buildings, et cetera), the two most important parts of the railroad are the real money-burners: the track and the locomotives.

Now, track pieces on average don’t cost a lot of money. But remember…you need a lot of track, even when just getting started! Plus, special pieces like turnouts and crossings ramp up the price considerably. I have a small layout that fits on a drafting table, and my track cost nearly $300!

On to locomotives. A quality diesel locomotive retails for around $100-150. I’ve gotten mine for a lot less on eBay and at model train shows, but even paying half of the manufacturer’s suggest retail price is a lot when you start to add things up. If you like steam engines (who doesn’t?), then your costs just doubled, at the very least. Oh, and if you want Digital Command Control (DCC) for your locomotives…well, that’s an added premium, ranging anywhere from $25 to $200 on top of the original price!

Now you understand why building my layout has taken many years. It’s still not done, and I imagine it’ll take me quite some time to finish it. Fortunately, I enjoy working on little pieces here and there, and my bank account thanks me for it.

I’ve spoken with many veteran modelers, and they’re just as frustrated by the high prices as are newcomers like mysel. Not only does it put a serious dent their wallets (and if they’re retirees, it’s even worse!), but it turns away a lot of people who might’ve otherwise been interested in the hobby!

It doesn’t look like costs are going to level out or drop any time soon, and that’s a damned shame. Plenty of hobbyists have made their frustrations known to the manufacturers, but it just doesn’t seem to have much of an effect.

It always bugs me when I see people shamelessly supporting and defending a favorite creator, actor, or other celebrated personality no matter what they do. For example, if an author writes an excellent book, does that mean that all of his or her other books or works are automatically good, as well? Of course not, yet far too many people subscribe to this dangerous belief. (This blind devotion completely explains the popularity of Joss Whedon.)

This is not to be confused with being excited for future projects by a favorite creator; the difference is recognizing loss of quality when it applies. No creator has a perfect track record; everybody’s human, after all.

I’m a fan of writer J. Michael Straczynski, especially his work on Babylon 5 and Rising Stars, so I was eager to check out his take on Spider-Man in the early 2000s. Well, it started out good…but then it went straight into the shitter. Some JMS fans still praised it as the best thing to the happen to the book; I wonder what was going through their heads, because diehard Spidey fans certainly didn’t agree.

Furthering the comic book example, let’s look at novelist Charlie Huston. He’s written quite a few popular novels; I read one of them (Already Dead), and while I didn’t find it to be awful, I didn’t find it to be great, either. It was just an average urban vampire novel. (And we know how that whole genre has been beaten to death.) Like many other comic book readers, however, I first discovered his work through the relaunch of Moon Knight a few years back. Well, Huston’s novels may be decent…but his comic book work was atrocious. The Moon Knight relaunch read like a crappy Grand Theft Auto clone, focusing on excessive violence and shock value rather than character development or adherence to the source material. Yet, fans of his Moon Knight work automatically praised his novels, and vice versa!

This kind of fanboy loyalism just doesn’t make any sense to me. You’re not bound by law to automatically defend your favorite properties, nor are you required to like the entire breadth of a creator’s work. If they go sour, so what? You gotta take the good with the bad. It happens to everyone and everything. Just ask any Star Wars fan.

Jeez, I even see people defending things they haven’t even seen yet!