Happy Back to the Future Day!

When I was eight years old, my parents took me and my sister to the theater to see Back to the Future. I loved it so much, and I was extremely excited to see its sequels when they came out.

Now it's October 21, 2015, the day that Marty McFly goes into the future. Of course the future imagined in the 80's isn't what came to pass. We don't have flying cars or hoverboards. We do have small computers that fit in our pockets that let us argue with people all over the world and look at pictures of cats.

My own future isn't quite what I had planned. Back in 1985, I wanted to become a teacher. I wanted to be married with several children. I'm sure I thought that I would still be living in Michigan as well.

Of course, like the movie, my future didn't turn out they way I thought it would. I would be a horrible teacher, so I work in tech support and am an aspiring author. I am married, but one child is enough for us.

But I still love the Back to the Future trilogy a lot. Doc Brown tells Jennifer and Marty at the end of the third movie that the future is what you make of it. Here's hoping for good futures for all of us!

Back to the Future: The Game Review

Image: http://www.telltalegames.com/backtothefuture/

I was eight years old when the first Back to the Future movie came out and I remember going to the theater to see it. I loved it and I still love the whole trilogy to this day. So I was excited when I heard about Back to the Future: The Game which is by Telltale Games.

I had heard about the episodes of this game that had been released for the computer but I never opted to play them. But I was glad when I heard that all five episodes were going to be bundled into one game for the PS3 and Wii consoles. The version of the game that I played was for the Wii.

The gameplay in this game is a bit simple. You are basically pointing and clicking on people and objects to reach the goal for the various level. There are some puzzles but they are fairly simple. There is a ‘hints’ button that will help you if you get stuck and I honestly used that a lot because it make it easier to get through the levels and not just have Marty run around aimlessly.

I think the strength of this game is with the voice actors and the story. Christopher Lloyd did the voice for Doc. Michael J. Fox wasn’t available to voice Marty, but the voice actor who did, AJ LoCascio, did such a good job of sounding like Michael J. Fox that it was hard to tell the difference.

The story was really interesting too. I really did feel like I was playing through a whole new set of Back to the Future movies. The game took me two days, which was about 15 hours, to play. I had a hard time stopping because I wanted to know what happened next.

The only issue I had was that with the WiiMote, because it was hard to click on some things. Especially if it was in a part of the story that I had to click something at a certain time. I would eventually get it but it would take me several tries.

All in all, Back to the Future: The Game is a pretty interesting game if you are a fan of the Back to the Future series. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a point and click game where you get to star as Marty McFly. This game is currently available for both the Nintendo Wii and the Playstation 3 as well as for PC/Mac computers.

Note: I received a copy of this game for review purposes.

Back to the Future: The Game Review

                Image: http://www.telltalegames.com/bttf

I was eight years old when the first Back to the Future movie came out and I remember going to the theater to see it. I loved it and I still love the whole trilogy to this day. So I was excited when I heard about Back to the Future: The Game which is by Telltale Games.

I had heard about the episodes of this game that had been released for the computer but I never opted to play them. But I was glad when I heard that all five episodes were going to be bundled into one game for the PS3 and Wii consoles. The version of the game that I played was for the Wii.

The gameplay in this game is a bit simple. You are basically pointing and clicking on people and objects to reach the goal for the various level. There are some puzzles but they are fairly simple. There is a ‘hints’ button that will help you if you get stuck and I honestly used that a lot because it make it easier to get through the levels and not just have Marty run around aimlessly.

I think the strength of this game is with the voice actors and the story. Christopher Lloyd did the voice for Doc. Michael J. Fox wasn't available to voice Marty, but the voice actor who did, AJ LoCascio, did such a good job of sounding like Michael J. Fox that it was hard to tell the difference.

The story was really interesting too. I really did feel like I was playing through a whole new set of Back to the Future movies. The game took me two days, which was about 15 hours, to play. I had a hard time stopping because I wanted to know what happened next.

The only issue I had was that with the WiiMote, because it was hard to click on some things. Especially if it was in a part of the story that I had to click something at a certain time. I would eventually get it but it would take me several tries.

All in all, Back to the Future: The Game is a pretty interesting game if you are a fan of the Back to the Future series. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a point and click game where you get to star as Marty McFly. This game is currently available for both the Nintendo Wii and the Playstation 3 as well as for PC/Mac computers.

Note: I received a copy of this game for review purposes.

Please Don't Scream

Image: Wikipedia.com

I've worked in customer support type jobs for years and had to deal with angry people. I've been in that position myself where I’m upset with company and it’s no fun. I do wish people could keep their composure and not scream.

Customer service isn't for the faint of heart. Most of the time you are dealing with people who are pissed for some reason. One of my first customer service jobs was for a company who took people’s pictures and made them into throws. These were very popular around Christmas time as presents.

There was a deadline to get your order in to get it before Christmas, but some people ordered after or an issue happened that caused their throw not to arrive by December 24^th. One time, it was because of a massive storm that shut down a whole town including the mail service. People were still really upset.

I found working that job that I had a knack for dealing with the issues, calming people down and not getting upset for being cussed out. One girl that started at the same time had a lot of issues with being upset when a customer got angry and yelled. She only lasted a couple of weeks before she quit.

Even though I’m in tech support now, it’s still pretty similar. I try to help the customer the best that I can with their internet issues. Like with customer service, the customers can get very angry as well as start screaming and cussing.

I understand that people get upset but I dislike it when they take it out on me. It still doesn't bother me too badly but I just find it rude. I’m a living, breathing person who doesn't need to be screamed at no matter how upset a customer is. It also tends to give me a migraine. One customer kept getting shriller and shriller as she screamed. My head ached badly after that call.

One time, I was on the other end of the call. I was getting packet loss on my line which was causing my internet to be all goofy. I called my ISP and I got a tech that obviously didn't care about doing anything to help me. It made me angry, but I was pretty calm and just demanded a supervisor.  The supervisor was much more helpful and was able to resolve my issue.

If you get angry and feel the need to scream at a customer service rep or tech support, please refrain from screaming. I know that it can be frustrating but the person on the other end is just that – a person.