Jonathan "Tempest" Phillips

Yeah, you heard me. The question needs to be asked. Most gamers will simply say “pfft, of course not, Its cheaper and just as good”, But all of the game developers would say “Of course it is, Look how much money I loose”. who could possibly be right? They both have valid points, but does one outweigh the other? Soon this may not be an issue that people will worry about. Recently the U.S. Court of Appeals defended and upheld the right for Autodesk (creators of the software products AutoCAD and 3Ds MAX) to stop their customers from selling on a piece of software. In lament terms, The US court stopped somebody from selling on a piece of software that had a licence attached to it.

What does that mean for you and me. Well for me living in the UK, Nothing, But for you possibly living in the US, It means that game developers may soon impose a ban on selling their game second hand. Meaning the days of wondering into a games shop and picking a game up just because its cheap and second hand may be soon be a thing of the past.

I must admit, I have always had a bit of an issue with gamestop and such selling games second hand. My main issue is because they keep 100% of the profit. Let me say that again. 100%. Not a single penny goes to the game developer. When you think of the big name brands, like CoD or Halo, who cares, But some game companies live and die by the small number of sales they get in these stores. In my eyes, a Percentage of the profits made should go back to the game developers. doesn’t have to be huge, just 10-20% would be enough. Previously I has seen a game I have wanted to purchase a game, seen it £5 cheaper second hand, but still bought it brand new. If I buy it brand new, the money goes directly to the game developers, who made the product I am paying for. As it stands, Game shops selling second hand game are simply scalpers and nothing more.

On the other hand. I have bought so many games, because they were cheap and second hand, that has lead me to buying sequels for full price the day the come out. Plus I have never heard a single DVD, Music or Book distributor complain about people buying and selling second hand goods. It just makes all the game companies complaining about it, seem petty and childish. When it comes down to it, They are both in the wrong. It is wrong to take 100% of the profits and keep them for yourself, when all you are doing is providing people with a location to swap games. But it is also wrong to stop consumers from legally purchasing a copy of a game that has already been purchased.

Gamestore owners and Big name developers (I’m looking at you Gamestop and Activision) need to sit down and realise, they are both going to tear each other a part with little reward, UNLESS, they agree to give a percentage of profits to the game devs. Its not hard thing guys. You may have heard of it. Its called compromise.

Many a person has called me a Geek. I take this label and wear it with pride. I am a Geek through and through. but if one were to call me a Nerd. Then you would be sorely mistaken. When I tell this to people they say, “Hey, Tempest, What do you mean, they are the same thing”. No friend, No they are not. They may seem the same on the surface, but they are far from it. Wars have been started between these 2 social rejected groups. Then you add in Dorks and Dweebs and you realise, this topic can get very messy. But don’t worry, I’m here to help. I’ll tell you all about the differences and see if you can fit yourself into one of these categories.

Geeks

Geeks are into the geeky culture and/or electronics. That includes your comic books and Sci-Fi, But also your Iphones and network cables. They are also generally gamers. Be it Table Top Roleplay, Card Gaming or your regular Video gaming. The major difference between A geek and a nerd is that a geek still retains social skills. A geek can talk to your everyday person about everyday things and not feel left out or socially awkward.

• Mating – Geeks would prefere to be with Geeks of the opposite gender, But are very happy to couple up with somebody who has no interest in the geek culture.
• Dress code – Ranging anywhere from Shirt and jeans to baggy pants and T-shirts. But all geeks own at least 1 T-shirt with a Comic Character or humorous quote on it.
• Interests – Comics, Games, None reality based fiction, Power cables, Open source software.
• Pros – Can enjoy being a Geek and live a normal life at the same time. Doesn’t feel the need to give up either
• Cons – Because of the wide interests, it can be hard to find a geek into the exact same stuff as you. Even 2 comic geeks might not get on because one is DC and the other is Marvel.
• Examples – Patton Oswalt, Roy (IT Crowd) and any character in hackers.

Nerds

Nerds too are into the geek culture, But less of the electronics. However, they throw themselves a lot deeper into the fictional universes, knowing all the minor charcters details and having technical information about items that has no basis in reality. Due to this extreme level of integration into fictional universes, Nerds tend to lack the social skills you and I have. They find it hard to converse with anybody who is not a geek, nerd or dork.

• Mating – Nerds don’t have much success with Women. When they do, it is usually with other socially awkward beings. They release all the built up social requirements and then hide themselves away from the world
• Dress code – Long sleeve t-shirt under a short sleeve shirt featuring a picture of there fav TV show
• Interests – Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Fiction universes with large amount of content
• Pros – There is nobody in the world who can speak klingon like this guy.
• Cons – There is nobody in the world who can speak klingon like this guy.
• Examples – Windows (fanboys), Brandon (Galaxyquest)

Dorks

Dorks are very much more into The electronics, Physics and Mathematics. They are the tech support guy you see in the checked shirt and thick rimmed glasses. Think of every employee at Microsoft. They do have problems socially. Not that they can’t speak to people, its just that they don’t understand slang that doesn’t involve an internet meme/serial number.

• Mating – Won’t have the confidence to join in the chase. When in the presence of a woman, won’t read any of the signs and watch the opportunity pass him by.
• Dress code – Tucked in Checked Shirt, Thick glasses, Pocket protector, spotty.
• Interests – The 8bit M4 Serial Bus conductor.
• Pros – Will always have the latest Gadget and will never have technical problems.
• Cons – Will never set foot in a night club, even if they wanted to.
• Examples -Moss (IT Crowd)

Dweebs

A dweeb is a kinda summery of all of the above, they can be a Techi, a Trekie and a Comic Book geek. But what makes a dweeb a dweeb? well they pretend that they don’t like any of the above and try to be a “cool kid”. But its clear to everybody that he is not fooling anybody. dweeb do tend to grow out of it and swing all the way to the geek culture or all the way to normality. Dweebs tend to be rejected by both geeks and “Normies”

• Mating – They don’t. sooner or later they will give up the dweeb phase. until then, they will be flying solo.
• Dress code – casual smart clothing, but worn far to smart and not nearly casual enough.
• Interests – Anything outside of the social Norm, but if you ask them, nothing remotely geeky
• Pros – They are fun to laugh at
• Cons -They may try and be your friend.
• Examples – Sherminator (American Pie) and that twat from “fly for a white guy”

Now I’m not saying that everybody fits nicely into each of these categories. But you will find that 1 of these will be the prime focus of your way of thinking. If you feel you are not any of the above you are “Normal” But if your normal, why are you reading my blog?