Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The First Halloween
The Wife made this. She's done Halloween pictures before, but this was the first time she actually got a chance to do one in a country where it was legitimately celebrated. In Singapore, Halloween is usually just hunting/drinking season. The foreigners use it as an excuse to get hammered, and the slinky Asian girls dress up in borderline inappropriate sultry costumes so they can bag said drunk foreigner and get that relationship/passport to another country.
So this time we waited until evening drew on and then around 7:30ish or so, we wandered up and down the side-streets of our neighborhood. Plenty of Jack O' Lanterns lit up, cobwebs scattered around, and, of course, a lot of kids. It was a bit of faux-nostalgia for the Wife since seeing those kids running in their costumes made her remember all the times growing up in Singapore when she wished she could have done the same, and now it's too late.
Or at least, she thinks it's too late. I told her if she wanted, we could probably hit up a house or two and plead the "She's an immigrant this her first Halloween, please ruin her teeth and give her some candy" clause, but she wouldn't go for it, she was too embarrassed at the thought. Still, it was nice to get out there and see the night play out the way I remembered it. I even saw one kid in a full Spider-Man outfit go whizzing past on his skateboard, and then spectacularly fail to ollie from the road the sidewalk. So much for those arachnid-like reflexes...
In other totally unrelated news, my mania for Rock Band continues as game reviewers with established magazines and websites begin to get their review copies. The guy who runs Kotaku got his kid to pose with the box, emphasizing how huge it is:
And over at WIRED Magazine, they also did the traditional Geek "Unboxing Ceremony" of taking copious photos of the experience, and they have a comparison of the Rock Band box to the Guitar Hero II box for the Xbox 360:
It is a beast of a box. A beast of Rock, but a beast nonetheless. I'm starting to wonder now if something that damn big is going to fit in the overhead luggage compartment of a plane...
The Wife made this. She's done Halloween pictures before, but this was the first time she actually got a chance to do one in a country where it was legitimately celebrated. In Singapore, Halloween is usually just hunting/drinking season. The foreigners use it as an excuse to get hammered, and the slinky Asian girls dress up in borderline inappropriate sultry costumes so they can bag said drunk foreigner and get that relationship/passport to another country.So this time we waited until evening drew on and then around 7:30ish or so, we wandered up and down the side-streets of our neighborhood. Plenty of Jack O' Lanterns lit up, cobwebs scattered around, and, of course, a lot of kids. It was a bit of faux-nostalgia for the Wife since seeing those kids running in their costumes made her remember all the times growing up in Singapore when she wished she could have done the same, and now it's too late.
Or at least, she thinks it's too late. I told her if she wanted, we could probably hit up a house or two and plead the "She's an immigrant this her first Halloween, please ruin her teeth and give her some candy" clause, but she wouldn't go for it, she was too embarrassed at the thought. Still, it was nice to get out there and see the night play out the way I remembered it. I even saw one kid in a full Spider-Man outfit go whizzing past on his skateboard, and then spectacularly fail to ollie from the road the sidewalk. So much for those arachnid-like reflexes...
In other totally unrelated news, my mania for Rock Band continues as game reviewers with established magazines and websites begin to get their review copies. The guy who runs Kotaku got his kid to pose with the box, emphasizing how huge it is:
And over at WIRED Magazine, they also did the traditional Geek "Unboxing Ceremony" of taking copious photos of the experience, and they have a comparison of the Rock Band box to the Guitar Hero II box for the Xbox 360:
It is a beast of a box. A beast of Rock, but a beast nonetheless. I'm starting to wonder now if something that damn big is going to fit in the overhead luggage compartment of a plane...Labels: Culture, Mean Streets Of Toronto, Rock Band
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Another Low Grade Work Day
Finished up a comic script, started on another article for GameAxis. That's about it...
Finished up a comic script, started on another article for GameAxis. That's about it...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Comics, Journalism, Writing
Monday, October 29, 2007
One Of Those Quiet Days
Not much happening except the completion of an article, start of a small script for a short comic strip, and some hope for the Blu-Ray format that Warner Brothers might defect, which, if it were to occur, would pretty much end the format war. Oh and Guitar Hero III is suffering from a large number of defective guitar reports. Karma against Activision for attempting to kill the Soul of Rock continues and I'm shamefully enjoying it.
Not much happening except the completion of an article, start of a small script for a short comic strip, and some hope for the Blu-Ray format that Warner Brothers might defect, which, if it were to occur, would pretty much end the format war. Oh and Guitar Hero III is suffering from a large number of defective guitar reports. Karma against Activision for attempting to kill the Soul of Rock continues and I'm shamefully enjoying it.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Guitar Hero, Journalism, Writing
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Petty Fanboy Post
I admit it. I know I shouldn't be enjoying this or taking any satisfaction from it, but I am. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is proving to be not as polished an affair as previous versions. There's a little voice in my head that is gleefully whooping with joy over the fact that this proves that greed, avarice and an almost total disregard or interest in what you're doing except for the money, is still no substitute for a genuine love of the art. The skaters that are Neversoft have unleashed their game on the masses and so far the results have not been equal to past efforts.
This is not to say that the game won't make millions. It will. There's no doubt in my mind that it will likely be the best-selling game this Christmas when you combine it over all the platforms of PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. But it won't be as good as it could have been.
The game officially went on sale today, actually. Since then, people have been playing it, and obviously the gaming websites and magazines have had it even longer, and the results are finally starting to come in. The game is good, that's not because of the new additions, that's DESPITE them. Essentially, the only thing that keeps Guitar Hero III being fun is all the essential mechanics that were created by Harmonix anyway. All the new stuff retro-fitted onto it have been the negatives in most criticisms.
From a marketing perspective, there's the little problem of bundles. It would seem that Activision failed to inform the public at large that in addition to the new wireless guitar that was going on sale (which they marketed the hell out of), there would also be bundles packing in the old guitar (which they hadn't mentioned at all). This can definitely be blamed on the ignorance of people in too much of a hurry to check their purchase, but stores are now experiencing some returns as a result of people thinking they bought the new guitar (believing it to be the ONLY bundle) only to come home and realize this was the same guitar they already had lying around the house. Good job there, Activision...
An additional problem that falls under marketing is the use of advertising. I don't actually have a problem with this myself, as I think it adds to the flavor of a game in certain ways. When used appropriately. Previous Guitar Hero games have actually had their authenticity enhanced through the presence of actual brand names in the manufacturing of music equipment like DW drums and VHT amplifiers. This makes sense to me. Unfortunately, Activision--perhaps in an attempt to be competitive with their rival--took this to Electronic Arts levels with this latest game, and players can now find themselves performing on a stage courtesy of... Pontiac. And if your playing stinks, then maybe it's time to freshen it up with a manly smellin' custom guitar brought to you by Axe Body Spray, so that your axe can also have the Axe Effect. This is about as subtle as Fight Night Round III where the game would boldly announce, "This round has been brought to you by BURGER KING!"
Over on the actual mechanical end of things... Well, the songlist is the songlist. This is strictly a matter of personal taste and can't be argued. I actually like the songlist a lot. Tons of good stuff here. But one of the biggest mechanical problems seems to be an actual problem of mechanics. It would seem that there are problems with the new guitar that is being released for the game. This is not a big deal for PS2 owners that already have a controller. And it is not a big deal for Xbox 360 owners, who also will likely have an existing guitar. However, for Wii and PS3 owners, this is a VERY big deal. They have no choice but to buy these new, defective guitars simply because they don't have "legacy controllers" from previous versions to fall back on.
The first and most serious problem seems to be the new construction of the controller. As a new feature for "added convenience" Red Octane has made these new guitars so that the neck can actually snap off from the base for easier storage. Unfortunately for some guitars, this has resulted in some cheap coating or adhesive that's been applied to the joints where these two points meet, and this has actually interfered with the connection, making it impossible for the controller to be correctly read by the console. Some workarounds for this by desperate gamers have been to take an exacto knife and carefully scrape away at the contact points of the circuits to clean them up and make the proper connection as intended. Except of course that this kind of action voids your warranty, so you're at risk if you take this course. Others have been having problems with the wireless system reading correctly with their console and there are already angry horror stories on the forums about some people on THEIR THIRD EXCHANGE OF THE DAY with still no luck on getting a functioning controller.
The other problem seems to be one of the buttons. Some people have reported that there seems to be a problem with the green button on the new guitar, in that it doesn't always seem to know that it's been pressed. There are already howls of rage on the Guitar Hero forum (or at least there were until it got shut down as the complaints mounted minute by minute) as people discovered that they were now failing songs as a result of the game telling them they were not pressing the button when they damn well knew they were.
This is also compounded by a problem with Star Power. The new guitars are a little too sensitive in the "tilt" department, and there have been reports of star power being engaged without actually tilting the guitar to a fully vertical position. It seem that there are plenty of angles at which Star Power Is A Go, and that's been interfering with the process of playing for some. Another is a surprise defect in the code of the game itself; lag. Every review of the game from a major website has cited that, regardless of version, when Star Power is kicked in, there's a small chance that the game will actually begin to slow down, as if the sudden application of Star Power was a surprise the game itself wasn't expecting, which can cause the frame rate to drop, throwing it momentarily out of synch with the sound, and causing whatever streak you had going to break. Again, this isn't a big deal for people that aren't serious about the game, for the "score whore" who is concerned getting 5 stars, or just keeping a good multiplier going and capitalizing on the bonus points from a judicious use of Star Power, this is annoying in the extreme.
And then there is the new "boss battle" system and this is the one that is universally getting picked on by everyone. No one seems to like it, particularly at the Hard and Expert levels, because it now takes the skill out of the game, and puts advancement squarely in the realm of luck. The boss battles are mandatory for advancing through the game, there's no way to avoid them. The way they work is much like Tetris, or Puzzle Fighter or any other competitive multi-player game you might have played in the past where players are given "weapons" that can be used to interfere with the progress of the other player. In GHIII, this comes in the form of collecting Star Power and having it converted to a special attack that can do everything from bumping the difficulty up to Expert (if you're not already playing at that level) to initiating a "lefty flip" (that is reversing the order of the buttons so that left handed people can play the guitar "upside down," to "breaking a string" so that a button will no longer work until the whammy bar has been jiggled enough to cancel out the effect. At Hard and Expert level, many are complaining that the final boss has an unfair advantage in that he gets his special attacks before you do, and if you don't get just the right combination of special attacks yourself--which is randomly determined--this is practically a guarantee that you will not win and should simply start again. While I know that there will be a certain competitive mindset that relishes this kind of more traditional "game-y, PvP" experience, I think this pretty much runs counter to the original spirit of the game, and it looks like many people are not liking it.
On top of this, there are problems with the network. This is probably more attributable to "labor pains" since it's the first day the game is out, but people on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 have been having enormous trouble getting online to play against each other. In both cases, it's the same thing; people attempt to connect to the network, get a message indicating that the game is attempting to connect to another player to begin the co-op/versus session, and then a few minutes later the connection just times out.
And of course, there is the "new and improved" hammer on/pull off system, which has made these things easier in one sense. Hammer ons and such are easier to to do now that the timing is less precise, but at the same time, there seems to have been an overall loss in precision generally. Apparently Activision has said that this is a matter that is being looked into and there may be a patch to address it on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. I have no idea if this will hold true for the PS2 version and if it does, what, if anything, PS2 owners can do about since they can't just download a patch to correct the problem.
And finally, there is that little matter of over-complicating songs at the higher levels of difficulty simply because Neversoft couldn't think of any other way to make the songs harder. Most reports agree that the songs at the highest tiers of Hard and Expert are much, MUCH harder than previous games, and that is because the game is asking you to push buttons where there are no notes even being played, and to hit three button chords even though a single note is being played. While no one is going to argue that these will make a song more challenging, you can still make a case for this actually lessening the feel of "playing" the song and merely melting your hands off trying to hit the crazy configurations Neversoft's team (which was hired for the project, since Neversoft didn't have any musicians in their company, they had to outsource to "music experts" to generate the note charts for them) dreamed up in order to challenge players.
As a result of the barrage of complaints coming in to the forums for GHIII the forums were actually shut down for a few hours.
There's a part of me that would like to think that this is simply karma. This is what happens when you take something that began with pure intentions, and try and turn it into a cold, soulless business opportunity with no love for the product, only the profits it can generate.
Of course there's also a part of me that dearly hopes that Rock Band will not be plagued by these same issues when it finally goes on sale. At this point, while I'm quite happy with the prototype peripherals I've gotten a chance to mess with, as GHIII has proven today, there can be quite a bit of variance between carefully constructed prototypes and the final, mass manufactured product. I can only hope that karma works both ways, and if this is the universe trying to punish Neversoft and Activision for trying to kill the spirit of Rock in favor of the lure of Big Money, then that same universe will look kindly on Harmonix for trying to bring the joy of music to the people.
I admit it. I know I shouldn't be enjoying this or taking any satisfaction from it, but I am. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is proving to be not as polished an affair as previous versions. There's a little voice in my head that is gleefully whooping with joy over the fact that this proves that greed, avarice and an almost total disregard or interest in what you're doing except for the money, is still no substitute for a genuine love of the art. The skaters that are Neversoft have unleashed their game on the masses and so far the results have not been equal to past efforts.This is not to say that the game won't make millions. It will. There's no doubt in my mind that it will likely be the best-selling game this Christmas when you combine it over all the platforms of PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. But it won't be as good as it could have been.
The game officially went on sale today, actually. Since then, people have been playing it, and obviously the gaming websites and magazines have had it even longer, and the results are finally starting to come in. The game is good, that's not because of the new additions, that's DESPITE them. Essentially, the only thing that keeps Guitar Hero III being fun is all the essential mechanics that were created by Harmonix anyway. All the new stuff retro-fitted onto it have been the negatives in most criticisms.
From a marketing perspective, there's the little problem of bundles. It would seem that Activision failed to inform the public at large that in addition to the new wireless guitar that was going on sale (which they marketed the hell out of), there would also be bundles packing in the old guitar (which they hadn't mentioned at all). This can definitely be blamed on the ignorance of people in too much of a hurry to check their purchase, but stores are now experiencing some returns as a result of people thinking they bought the new guitar (believing it to be the ONLY bundle) only to come home and realize this was the same guitar they already had lying around the house. Good job there, Activision...
An additional problem that falls under marketing is the use of advertising. I don't actually have a problem with this myself, as I think it adds to the flavor of a game in certain ways. When used appropriately. Previous Guitar Hero games have actually had their authenticity enhanced through the presence of actual brand names in the manufacturing of music equipment like DW drums and VHT amplifiers. This makes sense to me. Unfortunately, Activision--perhaps in an attempt to be competitive with their rival--took this to Electronic Arts levels with this latest game, and players can now find themselves performing on a stage courtesy of... Pontiac. And if your playing stinks, then maybe it's time to freshen it up with a manly smellin' custom guitar brought to you by Axe Body Spray, so that your axe can also have the Axe Effect. This is about as subtle as Fight Night Round III where the game would boldly announce, "This round has been brought to you by BURGER KING!"
Over on the actual mechanical end of things... Well, the songlist is the songlist. This is strictly a matter of personal taste and can't be argued. I actually like the songlist a lot. Tons of good stuff here. But one of the biggest mechanical problems seems to be an actual problem of mechanics. It would seem that there are problems with the new guitar that is being released for the game. This is not a big deal for PS2 owners that already have a controller. And it is not a big deal for Xbox 360 owners, who also will likely have an existing guitar. However, for Wii and PS3 owners, this is a VERY big deal. They have no choice but to buy these new, defective guitars simply because they don't have "legacy controllers" from previous versions to fall back on.
The first and most serious problem seems to be the new construction of the controller. As a new feature for "added convenience" Red Octane has made these new guitars so that the neck can actually snap off from the base for easier storage. Unfortunately for some guitars, this has resulted in some cheap coating or adhesive that's been applied to the joints where these two points meet, and this has actually interfered with the connection, making it impossible for the controller to be correctly read by the console. Some workarounds for this by desperate gamers have been to take an exacto knife and carefully scrape away at the contact points of the circuits to clean them up and make the proper connection as intended. Except of course that this kind of action voids your warranty, so you're at risk if you take this course. Others have been having problems with the wireless system reading correctly with their console and there are already angry horror stories on the forums about some people on THEIR THIRD EXCHANGE OF THE DAY with still no luck on getting a functioning controller.
The other problem seems to be one of the buttons. Some people have reported that there seems to be a problem with the green button on the new guitar, in that it doesn't always seem to know that it's been pressed. There are already howls of rage on the Guitar Hero forum (or at least there were until it got shut down as the complaints mounted minute by minute) as people discovered that they were now failing songs as a result of the game telling them they were not pressing the button when they damn well knew they were.
This is also compounded by a problem with Star Power. The new guitars are a little too sensitive in the "tilt" department, and there have been reports of star power being engaged without actually tilting the guitar to a fully vertical position. It seem that there are plenty of angles at which Star Power Is A Go, and that's been interfering with the process of playing for some. Another is a surprise defect in the code of the game itself; lag. Every review of the game from a major website has cited that, regardless of version, when Star Power is kicked in, there's a small chance that the game will actually begin to slow down, as if the sudden application of Star Power was a surprise the game itself wasn't expecting, which can cause the frame rate to drop, throwing it momentarily out of synch with the sound, and causing whatever streak you had going to break. Again, this isn't a big deal for people that aren't serious about the game, for the "score whore" who is concerned getting 5 stars, or just keeping a good multiplier going and capitalizing on the bonus points from a judicious use of Star Power, this is annoying in the extreme.
And then there is the new "boss battle" system and this is the one that is universally getting picked on by everyone. No one seems to like it, particularly at the Hard and Expert levels, because it now takes the skill out of the game, and puts advancement squarely in the realm of luck. The boss battles are mandatory for advancing through the game, there's no way to avoid them. The way they work is much like Tetris, or Puzzle Fighter or any other competitive multi-player game you might have played in the past where players are given "weapons" that can be used to interfere with the progress of the other player. In GHIII, this comes in the form of collecting Star Power and having it converted to a special attack that can do everything from bumping the difficulty up to Expert (if you're not already playing at that level) to initiating a "lefty flip" (that is reversing the order of the buttons so that left handed people can play the guitar "upside down," to "breaking a string" so that a button will no longer work until the whammy bar has been jiggled enough to cancel out the effect. At Hard and Expert level, many are complaining that the final boss has an unfair advantage in that he gets his special attacks before you do, and if you don't get just the right combination of special attacks yourself--which is randomly determined--this is practically a guarantee that you will not win and should simply start again. While I know that there will be a certain competitive mindset that relishes this kind of more traditional "game-y, PvP" experience, I think this pretty much runs counter to the original spirit of the game, and it looks like many people are not liking it.
On top of this, there are problems with the network. This is probably more attributable to "labor pains" since it's the first day the game is out, but people on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 have been having enormous trouble getting online to play against each other. In both cases, it's the same thing; people attempt to connect to the network, get a message indicating that the game is attempting to connect to another player to begin the co-op/versus session, and then a few minutes later the connection just times out.
And of course, there is the "new and improved" hammer on/pull off system, which has made these things easier in one sense. Hammer ons and such are easier to to do now that the timing is less precise, but at the same time, there seems to have been an overall loss in precision generally. Apparently Activision has said that this is a matter that is being looked into and there may be a patch to address it on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. I have no idea if this will hold true for the PS2 version and if it does, what, if anything, PS2 owners can do about since they can't just download a patch to correct the problem.
And finally, there is that little matter of over-complicating songs at the higher levels of difficulty simply because Neversoft couldn't think of any other way to make the songs harder. Most reports agree that the songs at the highest tiers of Hard and Expert are much, MUCH harder than previous games, and that is because the game is asking you to push buttons where there are no notes even being played, and to hit three button chords even though a single note is being played. While no one is going to argue that these will make a song more challenging, you can still make a case for this actually lessening the feel of "playing" the song and merely melting your hands off trying to hit the crazy configurations Neversoft's team (which was hired for the project, since Neversoft didn't have any musicians in their company, they had to outsource to "music experts" to generate the note charts for them) dreamed up in order to challenge players.
As a result of the barrage of complaints coming in to the forums for GHIII the forums were actually shut down for a few hours.
There's a part of me that would like to think that this is simply karma. This is what happens when you take something that began with pure intentions, and try and turn it into a cold, soulless business opportunity with no love for the product, only the profits it can generate.
Of course there's also a part of me that dearly hopes that Rock Band will not be plagued by these same issues when it finally goes on sale. At this point, while I'm quite happy with the prototype peripherals I've gotten a chance to mess with, as GHIII has proven today, there can be quite a bit of variance between carefully constructed prototypes and the final, mass manufactured product. I can only hope that karma works both ways, and if this is the universe trying to punish Neversoft and Activision for trying to kill the spirit of Rock in favor of the lure of Big Money, then that same universe will look kindly on Harmonix for trying to bring the joy of music to the people.
Labels: Games, Guitar Hero, Music, Rock Band
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Cranky Halloween
Well, I was cranky. The Wife wasn't. This being her first opportunity to attend a legitimate Halloween party she actually got dressed for the occasion, something I stubbornly refused to do. She dressed as a school girl and I went as a slacker.
It was subdued, but still fun. It was a bit of a different crowd, not the usual artsy types we've been running with lately, but all good people, just a little less in common.
Well, I was cranky. The Wife wasn't. This being her first opportunity to attend a legitimate Halloween party she actually got dressed for the occasion, something I stubbornly refused to do. She dressed as a school girl and I went as a slacker.
It was subdued, but still fun. It was a bit of a different crowd, not the usual artsy types we've been running with lately, but all good people, just a little less in common.
Labels: Friends, Mean Streets Of Toronto
Friday, October 26, 2007
More Rock Band Obsessiveness
Just another Friday, entailing a bit of writing on the novel and starting up more articles for GameAxis, 'cause it's that time of the month again. Nothing else to talk about except for the fact that Harmonix has now released the full set of songs that will appear on Rock Band. Without further ado, here they are. As usual, anything not in bold denotes a cover, while anything in bold is an original master track.
Here's the final list for That Other Music Game. Same deal.
Now we're looking at a total of 46 songs, with 20 covers and 26 original master tracks. Also, there's that weird thing there that says co-op encore. This is where you have to start wondering whether or not Neversoft and Activision were on drugs. Co-op encore appears to be exactly what it sounds like; a song that is only playable with someone else. Bizarrely, however, the game has been shipped with co-op quick play strictly ONLINE. Activision/Neversoft somehow figured no one would want to do this with someone at home, and in the wake of the screaming that followed once this news got out, they're working on a patch that gamers can download to their console that will allow for offline co-op. So far this only applies to the Xbox 360, there's no word on whether or not a patch will be available for the PS3, Wii, or even what that state of this is like for the PS2. Well done, Activision, good to see you continue your peerless support of this franchise...
This news has pretty much committed me. Steps are now being taken to ensure Rock Band arrives at the doorstep of the In-Laws.
And just to give That Other Music Game a little coverage, here's a sample of Hit Me With Your Best shot originally by Pat Benatar, with a... how shall I put this... augmented Judy Nails strumming away.
Just another Friday, entailing a bit of writing on the novel and starting up more articles for GameAxis, 'cause it's that time of the month again. Nothing else to talk about except for the fact that Harmonix has now released the full set of songs that will appear on Rock Band. Without further ado, here they are. As usual, anything not in bold denotes a cover, while anything in bold is an original master track.
1960s
- Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"
- Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin'"
- The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again"
- Boston "Foreplay/Long Time"
- Mountain "Mississippi Queen"
- The Police "Next to You"
- David Bowie "Suffragette City"
- Black Sabbath "Paranoid"
- Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
- The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
- Deep Purple "Highway Star"
- KISS "Detroit Rock City"
- Molly Hatchet "Flirtin' With Disaster"
- The Outlaws "Green Grass & High Tides"
- Sweet "Ballroom Blitz"
- Rush "Tom Sawyer"
- Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
- The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
- Faith No More "Epic"
- R.E.M. "Orange Crush"
- Iron Maiden "Run to the Hills"
- Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
- Metallica "Enter Sandman"
- Nirvana "In Bloom"
- Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
- Weezer "Say It Ain't So"
- Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock"
- Radiohead "Creep"
- Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
- Hole "Celebrity Skin"
- Garbage "I Think I'm Paranoid"
- Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"
- The Hives "Main Offender"
- Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow"
- The Strokes "Reptilia"
- Jet "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
- OK Go "Here It Goes Again"
- Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"
- Pixies "Wave of Mutilation"
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California"
- Coheed & Cambria "Welcome Home"
- Fallout Boy "Dead on Arrival"
- The Killers "When You Were Young"
- New Pornographers "Electric Version"
Here's the final list for That Other Music Game. Same deal.
Tier 1:
Foghat - Slow Ride
Poison - Talk Dirty to Me
Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Social Distortion - Story of My Life
Encore: Kiss - Rock and Roll All Nite
Co-op Encore: Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Tier 2:
Mountain - Mississippi Queen
Alice Cooper - School's Out
Cream - Sunshine of Your Life
Heart - Barracuda
Boss: Tom Morello - Guitar Battle
Encore: Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade
Co-op Encore: The Strokes - Reptilia
Tier 3:
The Killers - When You Were Young
AFI - Miss Murder
The Who - The Seeker
Priestess - Lay Down
Encore: Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
Co-op Encore: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Suck My Kiss
Tier 4:
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
The Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
Weezer - My Name Is Jonas
Encore: Pearl Jam - Evenflow
Co-op Encore: Blue Oyster Cult - Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll
Tier 5:
The Dead Kennedy's - Holiday in Cambodia
Scorpions - Rock You Like a Hurricane
Aerosmith - Same Old Song and Dance
ZZ Top - La Grange
Boss: Slash - Guitar Battle
Encore: Guns N Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
Co-op Encore: Bloc Party - Hellicopter
Tier 6:
Santana - Black Magic Woman
Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
White Zombie - Black Sunshine
Tenacious D - The Metal
Encore: Stevie Ray Vaughn - Pride and Joy
Co-op Encore: Matchbook Romance - Monsters
Tier 7:
Slipknot - Before I Forget
Disturbed - Stricken
Queens of the Stone Age - 3's and 7's
Muse - Knights of Cydonia
Encore: Living Colour - Cult of Personality
Tier 8:
Slayer - Raining Blood
Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover
Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
Metallica - One
Boss: Lou - Guitar Battle
Encore: The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Now we're looking at a total of 46 songs, with 20 covers and 26 original master tracks. Also, there's that weird thing there that says co-op encore. This is where you have to start wondering whether or not Neversoft and Activision were on drugs. Co-op encore appears to be exactly what it sounds like; a song that is only playable with someone else. Bizarrely, however, the game has been shipped with co-op quick play strictly ONLINE. Activision/Neversoft somehow figured no one would want to do this with someone at home, and in the wake of the screaming that followed once this news got out, they're working on a patch that gamers can download to their console that will allow for offline co-op. So far this only applies to the Xbox 360, there's no word on whether or not a patch will be available for the PS3, Wii, or even what that state of this is like for the PS2. Well done, Activision, good to see you continue your peerless support of this franchise...
This news has pretty much committed me. Steps are now being taken to ensure Rock Band arrives at the doorstep of the In-Laws.
And just to give That Other Music Game a little coverage, here's a sample of Hit Me With Your Best shot originally by Pat Benatar, with a... how shall I put this... augmented Judy Nails strumming away.
Labels: Guitar Hero, Music, Rock Band
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Random Rock Band Stuff
For people that have played the previous Guitar Hero games and know the synth group Freezepop, here's a surprise. They did a cover of the theme song from Jem. You really don't need to read anymore. And yes, they will be appearing in Rock Band again.
For people that have played the previous Guitar Hero games and know the synth group Freezepop, here's a surprise. They did a cover of the theme song from Jem. You really don't need to read anymore. And yes, they will be appearing in Rock Band again.
Labels: Music, Random Blargh, Rock Band
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Wednesday With Turtles
Aside from a bit of the usual walk around the neighborhood to do some shopping I got this in the mail. I'd been extremely curious about it ever since I saw the trailer, and a lucky day on eBay with seemingly no one interested in the Blu Ray netted me the disc at a surprisingly low price.
So now I have watched TMNT in high-def. Was it a good movie for me? Yes? Did I enjoy it? Yes. Is it as good or better than the best of Old Disney, Miyazaki or Pixar? Not on your life.
Your mileage may vary based on your personal experience with the eponymous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I've heard some off the cuff remarks of "This ain't your father's TMNT" and I find myself strongly disagreeing with that. The thing is, this IS your father's TMNT, what it isn't is your older brother or cousin's TMNT. For most people the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a bright, bouncy, puerile animated series in the 90's with essentially hazard-free adventure, pizza loving cuteness, and now forever grating--at least to me--TMNTism of "Cowabunga." Or, it is a couple of movies that have short martial artists in rubber suits, slowly performing Ninja-ry hi-jinks in their prosthetics while Vanilla Ice enthusiastically encourages them with rap.
The problem here is, the teenage mutant ninja turtles didn't begin in the 90's with an animated series. They began in the 80's with an independent comic book. Life for the turtles began in 1984 as black and white indie comic put out by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and was actually a semi-satirical take on the gritty Frank Miller aesthetic that was already taking over the comics industry (and would help to ruin it to some degree for the next decade) even back then. This was not a story about fun lovin' "turtle dudes" that talked like surfers, loved pizza and occasionally battled with ninjas for fun and... more fun. Riffing off of everything from the origin of Daredevil to Miller's Ronin, these turtles were deadly serious about their duty to kill a villain named the shredder, and when they got into fights, there was plenty of injury amputation and bloodshed. The comic walked a fine line between telling a story of its own and poking fun at some of the conventions of the day, and it became first a cult hit, and then gradually the monstrous merchandising machine that became the cartoons and movies most people think of today.
This was my first experience with the turtles, so I'm one of those curmudgeonly Elder Geek types that grumbles about the popular associations of the turtles with most people today. I remember a group that was actually very capable in combat, agile, serious, and bound by a similar code of honor as the samurai of Japan. They just happened to be reptilian.
This new CG animated film went a long way towards repairing the damage that the other media have inflicted on the series in the last few years. Taking an art design that matches some of the environmental realism of high end CG productions with a character design that is simpler and more Pixar-ish than Final Fantasy, this TMNT movie manages to approach a ratio of about 65% original comic and 45% animated series and movies in tone. The story itself seems to be a sequel from the live action movies, with Shredder already defeated and the turtles themselves having lost some purpose and gone their separate ways. Like the cartoons, they more easily identified by their differently colored masks, and like the cartoons, they can still be seen eating pizza, and Michaelangelo is still the joker of the group, with Donatello being more technologically oriented.
Everything else however seems to be taken from the comic, or as far into the comic as you can go with a PG rating. Raphael is definitely more of a loose cannon "Wolvie/Berserker" type, as he was in the comics. Leonardo is far more serious and concerned with concepts like duty and honor. And of course, there is the action. For the first time, these guys moved the way I had always imagined they would. Athletic, dynamic and dangerous. No other previous attempt has ever accurately rendered the turtles in action, but this one has done it.
The story moves along, and is never dull, though there are some pacing issues, some characterization that could have been developed, and there is never really a truly stand out moment plot/characterwise, though none of it is ever done badly. The story and characters never fall, but they don't exactly soar either. The action however, is extremely well done, and the state of the CG animation and modeling is quite impressive. I think part of this might be that the movie is on Blu Ray, so this gave the film creators the ability to do virtually perfect transfer as they there was no loss of image quality due to attempt to compress it to get it all to fit on a disc. The end result is some of the most detailed animation I've ever seen, with some insane bells and whistles such as the fight between Raphael and Leonardo that takes place in the rain, and you can make out every single raindrop, and see every last one bounce off their shells and heads as they fight.
But probably the most impressive thing to me about this movie (aside from the fact that writer/director Kevin Munroe is an admitted fan of the original comics) is that this is NOT an American production. The animation was actually done by Imagi Studios in Hong Kong, and it makes a VERY impressive statement about what their animation industry is like now. I had thought that the only decent CG animation in the world was currently coming out of either America, or Japan, but if this is any indication of the future, then those guys in Hong Kong are gonna' be one to watch.
Aside from a bit of the usual walk around the neighborhood to do some shopping I got this in the mail. I'd been extremely curious about it ever since I saw the trailer, and a lucky day on eBay with seemingly no one interested in the Blu Ray netted me the disc at a surprisingly low price.So now I have watched TMNT in high-def. Was it a good movie for me? Yes? Did I enjoy it? Yes. Is it as good or better than the best of Old Disney, Miyazaki or Pixar? Not on your life.
Your mileage may vary based on your personal experience with the eponymous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I've heard some off the cuff remarks of "This ain't your father's TMNT" and I find myself strongly disagreeing with that. The thing is, this IS your father's TMNT, what it isn't is your older brother or cousin's TMNT. For most people the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a bright, bouncy, puerile animated series in the 90's with essentially hazard-free adventure, pizza loving cuteness, and now forever grating--at least to me--TMNTism of "Cowabunga." Or, it is a couple of movies that have short martial artists in rubber suits, slowly performing Ninja-ry hi-jinks in their prosthetics while Vanilla Ice enthusiastically encourages them with rap.
The problem here is, the teenage mutant ninja turtles didn't begin in the 90's with an animated series. They began in the 80's with an independent comic book. Life for the turtles began in 1984 as black and white indie comic put out by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and was actually a semi-satirical take on the gritty Frank Miller aesthetic that was already taking over the comics industry (and would help to ruin it to some degree for the next decade) even back then. This was not a story about fun lovin' "turtle dudes" that talked like surfers, loved pizza and occasionally battled with ninjas for fun and... more fun. Riffing off of everything from the origin of Daredevil to Miller's Ronin, these turtles were deadly serious about their duty to kill a villain named the shredder, and when they got into fights, there was plenty of injury amputation and bloodshed. The comic walked a fine line between telling a story of its own and poking fun at some of the conventions of the day, and it became first a cult hit, and then gradually the monstrous merchandising machine that became the cartoons and movies most people think of today.This was my first experience with the turtles, so I'm one of those curmudgeonly Elder Geek types that grumbles about the popular associations of the turtles with most people today. I remember a group that was actually very capable in combat, agile, serious, and bound by a similar code of honor as the samurai of Japan. They just happened to be reptilian.
This new CG animated film went a long way towards repairing the damage that the other media have inflicted on the series in the last few years. Taking an art design that matches some of the environmental realism of high end CG productions with a character design that is simpler and more Pixar-ish than Final Fantasy, this TMNT movie manages to approach a ratio of about 65% original comic and 45% animated series and movies in tone. The story itself seems to be a sequel from the live action movies, with Shredder already defeated and the turtles themselves having lost some purpose and gone their separate ways. Like the cartoons, they more easily identified by their differently colored masks, and like the cartoons, they can still be seen eating pizza, and Michaelangelo is still the joker of the group, with Donatello being more technologically oriented.
Everything else however seems to be taken from the comic, or as far into the comic as you can go with a PG rating. Raphael is definitely more of a loose cannon "Wolvie/Berserker" type, as he was in the comics. Leonardo is far more serious and concerned with concepts like duty and honor. And of course, there is the action. For the first time, these guys moved the way I had always imagined they would. Athletic, dynamic and dangerous. No other previous attempt has ever accurately rendered the turtles in action, but this one has done it.
The story moves along, and is never dull, though there are some pacing issues, some characterization that could have been developed, and there is never really a truly stand out moment plot/characterwise, though none of it is ever done badly. The story and characters never fall, but they don't exactly soar either. The action however, is extremely well done, and the state of the CG animation and modeling is quite impressive. I think part of this might be that the movie is on Blu Ray, so this gave the film creators the ability to do virtually perfect transfer as they there was no loss of image quality due to attempt to compress it to get it all to fit on a disc. The end result is some of the most detailed animation I've ever seen, with some insane bells and whistles such as the fight between Raphael and Leonardo that takes place in the rain, and you can make out every single raindrop, and see every last one bounce off their shells and heads as they fight.
But probably the most impressive thing to me about this movie (aside from the fact that writer/director Kevin Munroe is an admitted fan of the original comics) is that this is NOT an American production. The animation was actually done by Imagi Studios in Hong Kong, and it makes a VERY impressive statement about what their animation industry is like now. I had thought that the only decent CG animation in the world was currently coming out of either America, or Japan, but if this is any indication of the future, then those guys in Hong Kong are gonna' be one to watch.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Day O' Oriental Prints
We're actually getting pretty good at this Waking Up Before Sunset stuff now. But then today was particularly important for the Wife in that there was a gallery she really, REALLY wanted to visit, and they closed at 6:00 pm. The place is called, simply, Stuart Jackson Gallery, and is run by... Stuart Jackson. The reason the Wife wanted to visit was because she started up work on writing a tutorial article for a digital art magazine, with the subject being simulating the look of classic, Japanese woodblock prints. In her research, she found out that this particular gallery actually specialized in in nothing but, and she has a real soft spot in her heart for exactly this kind of art, but had never, ever seen a real one, only pictures in books and on the internet.
So you can imagine the squeals of delight that ensued when she realized that not only was there a gallery in her new home, it was a mere 20 minute stroll away, buried deep in the shissy bowels of Yorkville, past the numerous sushi restaurants and dog grooming services that charged more for a poodle styling than our entire income for 6 months totaled. Stuart Jackson himself ended up being a friendly, very knowledgeable guy who was extremely happy to spend some time with us, showing us the prints, explaining the techniques, the history, the styles and pretty much every other question the Wife had, so she was EXTREMELY happy with the whole experience. Prices on these prints varied from a hundred or so dollars to over ten thousand, depending on things like size, quality, condition and rarity. I have a feeling that we're eventually going to end up with a few of those prints hanging off the wall at some point, but they are admittedly gorgeous, and when you see how much talent and craftsmanship is put into them--and then realize this is a dead art form that even modern Japanese print block experts can't replicate today--it sort of makes it easier to justify the cost of these things. Or maybe I'm just being an illiterate dunderhead, because it somehow is easier for me to see paying money for something that is readily recognizable upon viewing, that shows an immense amount of obvious skill, and is something that is not easily replicated today. As opposed to something that can be done in three minutes by simply throwing paint on a wall and declaring it a bold criticism of today's ennui and post-modern obsessed society, that'll be $65,000 please and thank you for supporting the arts, buh-bye.
On the Rock Band side of things (yes, my anticipation just grows and grows with each passing day), an image has finally been released of the actual, physical box this behemoth game will be released in. You can click on the image to get a bigger look at it. It should probably come as a surprise to NO ONE at this point that I've pretty much caved and decided I can't take a chance on patiently waiting for the Canadian release date, since it could be anywhere from a week to four months later. I'm weak. I need to RAWK. I can admit this. I will be getting the game while visiting the In-Laws in the USA and have made peace with this decision.
We're actually getting pretty good at this Waking Up Before Sunset stuff now. But then today was particularly important for the Wife in that there was a gallery she really, REALLY wanted to visit, and they closed at 6:00 pm. The place is called, simply, Stuart Jackson Gallery, and is run by... Stuart Jackson. The reason the Wife wanted to visit was because she started up work on writing a tutorial article for a digital art magazine, with the subject being simulating the look of classic, Japanese woodblock prints. In her research, she found out that this particular gallery actually specialized in in nothing but, and she has a real soft spot in her heart for exactly this kind of art, but had never, ever seen a real one, only pictures in books and on the internet.
So you can imagine the squeals of delight that ensued when she realized that not only was there a gallery in her new home, it was a mere 20 minute stroll away, buried deep in the shissy bowels of Yorkville, past the numerous sushi restaurants and dog grooming services that charged more for a poodle styling than our entire income for 6 months totaled. Stuart Jackson himself ended up being a friendly, very knowledgeable guy who was extremely happy to spend some time with us, showing us the prints, explaining the techniques, the history, the styles and pretty much every other question the Wife had, so she was EXTREMELY happy with the whole experience. Prices on these prints varied from a hundred or so dollars to over ten thousand, depending on things like size, quality, condition and rarity. I have a feeling that we're eventually going to end up with a few of those prints hanging off the wall at some point, but they are admittedly gorgeous, and when you see how much talent and craftsmanship is put into them--and then realize this is a dead art form that even modern Japanese print block experts can't replicate today--it sort of makes it easier to justify the cost of these things. Or maybe I'm just being an illiterate dunderhead, because it somehow is easier for me to see paying money for something that is readily recognizable upon viewing, that shows an immense amount of obvious skill, and is something that is not easily replicated today. As opposed to something that can be done in three minutes by simply throwing paint on a wall and declaring it a bold criticism of today's ennui and post-modern obsessed society, that'll be $65,000 please and thank you for supporting the arts, buh-bye.
On the Rock Band side of things (yes, my anticipation just grows and grows with each passing day), an image has finally been released of the actual, physical box this behemoth game will be released in. You can click on the image to get a bigger look at it. It should probably come as a surprise to NO ONE at this point that I've pretty much caved and decided I can't take a chance on patiently waiting for the Canadian release date, since it could be anywhere from a week to four months later. I'm weak. I need to RAWK. I can admit this. I will be getting the game while visiting the In-Laws in the USA and have made peace with this decision.Labels: Culture, Mean Streets Of Toronto, Rock Band
Monday, October 22, 2007
Pre-Christmas Shopping
Once again, we were semi-successful in pushing back our waking hours. We're still waking up obscenely late, but at least now when we do, the stores are still open. As a result, the Wife decided it was time to make a trip down to the mall (in this case, Eaton Centre) to beat out the crowds that will be doing some seasonal shopping. On the subway, she decided to kill some time by whipping out her sketchpad and drawing people around her. We happened to be in a car with a Toronto Transit Commission attendant, a big, friendly, smiling black guy, and as soon as he saw what she was up to, he demanded the he be the subject of her portraiture, which she was more than happy to oblige. It's little, random things like that remind me of how much more lively Canada is than Singapore ever was.
In addition to her picking a few more clothes appropriate for the winter, I finally managed to buy a new recharger for my cell phone (it's been dead for the last week, as a result of one of the cats chewing right through the cord), a birthday present for the Best Friend, and a meet up with someone from Singapore. The Wife did the meet specifically because this guy had just been back to Singapore and she had requested he make a run to one the local art supply stores to buy a whole bunch of pencil lead that, for some bizarre reason, is not sold here.
Aside from that the only other thing of concern to me today was a random look through the Rock Band forums and the surprising discovery that on a thread talking about least favorite songs in Rock Band, Courtney Love's Celebrity Skin is #1 with a bullet. I have no idea why the music fans seem to dislike Courtney personally, since this seems to be their main beef with her, not her song, but her song seems to suffer as a result of its association with her, and many are quite unhappy with its inclusion. There was even one poster that went so far as to say, and I quote:
"Boo for people who killed Kurt Cobain."
I obviously haven't been following this much outside of the initial, "Oh, Kurt Cobain killed himself" shock, so maybe there's a chunk to this story that I'm missing. All I know for sure is that I actually like the song, and it's one of the ones I'm actually looking forward to playing the hell out of. I have no intimate knowledge of the aftermath of Kurt Cobain's death and Courtney Love, I only know that it's a catchy song, it's a lot of fun, and whether its guitar or drums, it's gonna' be a hell of a song to play the crap out of.
Once again, we were semi-successful in pushing back our waking hours. We're still waking up obscenely late, but at least now when we do, the stores are still open. As a result, the Wife decided it was time to make a trip down to the mall (in this case, Eaton Centre) to beat out the crowds that will be doing some seasonal shopping. On the subway, she decided to kill some time by whipping out her sketchpad and drawing people around her. We happened to be in a car with a Toronto Transit Commission attendant, a big, friendly, smiling black guy, and as soon as he saw what she was up to, he demanded the he be the subject of her portraiture, which she was more than happy to oblige. It's little, random things like that remind me of how much more lively Canada is than Singapore ever was.
In addition to her picking a few more clothes appropriate for the winter, I finally managed to buy a new recharger for my cell phone (it's been dead for the last week, as a result of one of the cats chewing right through the cord), a birthday present for the Best Friend, and a meet up with someone from Singapore. The Wife did the meet specifically because this guy had just been back to Singapore and she had requested he make a run to one the local art supply stores to buy a whole bunch of pencil lead that, for some bizarre reason, is not sold here.
Aside from that the only other thing of concern to me today was a random look through the Rock Band forums and the surprising discovery that on a thread talking about least favorite songs in Rock Band, Courtney Love's Celebrity Skin is #1 with a bullet. I have no idea why the music fans seem to dislike Courtney personally, since this seems to be their main beef with her, not her song, but her song seems to suffer as a result of its association with her, and many are quite unhappy with its inclusion. There was even one poster that went so far as to say, and I quote:
"Boo for people who killed Kurt Cobain."
I obviously haven't been following this much outside of the initial, "Oh, Kurt Cobain killed himself" shock, so maybe there's a chunk to this story that I'm missing. All I know for sure is that I actually like the song, and it's one of the ones I'm actually looking forward to playing the hell out of. I have no intimate knowledge of the aftermath of Kurt Cobain's death and Courtney Love, I only know that it's a catchy song, it's a lot of fun, and whether its guitar or drums, it's gonna' be a hell of a song to play the crap out of.
Labels: Games, Mean Streets Of Toronto, Random Blargh, Rock Band
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Fighting For Reasonable Wakefulness
Today we took a stand against advancing sleeping hours and actually tried getting up earlier, which was mostly successful. We might even try something similar today 'cause we're Just That Wild N' Crazy.
Once again, writing continues. I finished up an article for IGN which I'll be sending them tomorrow, and sent off my resume to GamePro, who, it turns out, are looking for Freelancers. So I dropped them a line, showed off some links with GameAxis and IGN and will see if they bite. It would be nice to do even MORE game writing, since this will feed my bottomless habit of questing for game knowledge and bitching about games on the internet anyway...
Speaking of games, once again, I continue my love affair with Rock Band. Here's the latest list of songs, with songs in bold being original master tracks.
Today we took a stand against advancing sleeping hours and actually tried getting up earlier, which was mostly successful. We might even try something similar today 'cause we're Just That Wild N' Crazy.
Once again, writing continues. I finished up an article for IGN which I'll be sending them tomorrow, and sent off my resume to GamePro, who, it turns out, are looking for Freelancers. So I dropped them a line, showed off some links with GameAxis and IGN and will see if they bite. It would be nice to do even MORE game writing, since this will feed my bottomless habit of questing for game knowledge and bitching about games on the internet anyway...
Speaking of games, once again, I continue my love affair with Rock Band. Here's the latest list of songs, with songs in bold being original master tracks.
- "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" - Jet
- "Black Hole Sun" - Soundgarden
- "Blitzkrieg Bop" - Ramones
- "Brainpower" - Freezepop
- "Celebrity Skin" - Hole
- "Cherub Rock" - Smashing Pumpkins
- "Creep" - Radiohead
- "Dani California" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
- "Detroit Rock City" - Kiss
- "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - Blue Oyster Cult
- "Enter Sandman" - Metallica
- "Epic" - Faith No More
- "Gimme Shelter" - Rolling Stones
- "Go with the Flow" - Queens of the Stone Age
- "The Hand That Feeds" - Nine Inch Nails
- "Here It Goes Again" - OK Go
- "Highway Star" - Deep Purple
- "I Think I'm Paranoid" - Garbage
- "In Bloom" - Nirvana
- "Learn to Fly" - Foo Fighters
- "Main Offender" - The Hives
- "Maps" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- "Mississippi Queen" - Mountain
- "Orange Crush" - R.E.M.
- "Paranoid" - Black Sabbath
- "Reptilia" - The Strokes
- "Sabotage" - Beastie Boys
- "Say It Ain't So" - Weezer
- "Should I Stay or Should I Go" - The Clash
- "Suffragette City" - David Bowie
- "Tom Sawyer" - Rush
- "Vasoline" - Stone Temple Pilots
- "Wanted Dead or Alive" - Bon Jovi
- "Wave of Mutilation" - Pixies
- "Won't Get Fooled Again" - The Who
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Journalism, Lost In Loveless, Writing
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The Very Dislocated Saturday
Sleeping/Waking hours continue to be nomadic, meaning that days begin now with only a little bit of sunlight left. It's just a quiet day, with a little bit of writing going on anyway.
And, on a totally unrelated note, here's a little medley of tunes from Rock Band. The animation on each of these randomly created musicians is amazing, and the way the lights and the audience go crazy when you really nail the song is one step closer to really making you feel like a God O' Rock. But probably the most amazing thing? It's hard to hear in this YouTube video which has a lower sampling rate for the sound, but the higher res version of this video, downloadable here, shows off one of the COOLEST things about this game; for the Foo Fighters song, "Learning to Fly" when the guitarist nails the song, THE CROWD SINGS ALONG! OH MY GOD, THIS GAME IS SOOOOOO COOOOOOOOL.
I need this game...
Sleeping/Waking hours continue to be nomadic, meaning that days begin now with only a little bit of sunlight left. It's just a quiet day, with a little bit of writing going on anyway.
And, on a totally unrelated note, here's a little medley of tunes from Rock Band. The animation on each of these randomly created musicians is amazing, and the way the lights and the audience go crazy when you really nail the song is one step closer to really making you feel like a God O' Rock. But probably the most amazing thing? It's hard to hear in this YouTube video which has a lower sampling rate for the sound, but the higher res version of this video, downloadable here, shows off one of the COOLEST things about this game; for the Foo Fighters song, "Learning to Fly" when the guitarist nails the song, THE CROWD SINGS ALONG! OH MY GOD, THIS GAME IS SOOOOOO COOOOOOOOL.
I need this game...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Rock Band, Writing
Friday, October 19, 2007
Anniversary Tonkatsu
Today was spent in a remarkably Japanese way. Never mind the fact that we woke up at our usual obscenely late hour that would probably have qualified as morning in Japan anyway, the Wife decided that since we'd been satisfying many of her Asiatic cravings (such as proper Dim Sum) It was now time to do the same for me. Although I don't actually many Asian cuisine cravings, one thing in particular I developed a fondness for in Singapore was a dish known as Tonkatsu Curry, which is essentially breaded, deep fried pork cutlet with rice and some of that unique Japanese curry that does NOT kill my tongue for hours afterwards the way normal Singapore spices do. Back in Singapore, there was a little restaurant in the basement of the big Japanese department store Takashimaya, and they happened to have Tonkatsu Curry as their house specialty, offering it both as a dish with rice and as a sandwich. It was VERY tasty, and I'd obviously not had any of it since coming back to Canada. It turned out that further into the downtown core was a restaurant that had Tonkatsu, and they even offered Japanese curry as a side order, it just never occurred to them that this particular combination was, in fact, an actual dish in Japan. So though they were mighty confused about my wanting both, when we arrived, they did indeed serve it to us. It wasn't as good as the stuff in Singapore, but then you have to make allowances when you eat Asian food in the West.
Other than that, the Japanese theme continued with playing some Gran Turismo Prologue (now that the demo for this game is finally available in Japan; thank you internet, and thank you Sony Playstation Store dummy account) and it's good. And HARD. It would probably help if I had a steering wheel, but we'll worry about some other day.
The only other thing of note is that I finally have an IGN article out that you don't have to be subscribed to IGN Insider in order to read. Whoo hoo, I'm finally in the free, "normal, mainstream content" channel. The article is essentially just my impressions after finally getting a chance to play Rock Band on the Playstation 3, a particular concern for me since I obviously have one, and I wanted to see whether or not the game was going to be butchered on the PS3 the way Guitar Hero III has been (it looks like the Xbox 360 version is the one to get, Neversoft/Activision have pretty much given The Finger to owners of Sony consoles past and present) and it turns out... IT'S NOT! Whoo hoo, Harmonix still has a place of respect and affection in their hearts for Sony consoles, so I was relieved when I tried it... and it didn't suck.
The full article is here.
Today was spent in a remarkably Japanese way. Never mind the fact that we woke up at our usual obscenely late hour that would probably have qualified as morning in Japan anyway, the Wife decided that since we'd been satisfying many of her Asiatic cravings (such as proper Dim Sum) It was now time to do the same for me. Although I don't actually many Asian cuisine cravings, one thing in particular I developed a fondness for in Singapore was a dish known as Tonkatsu Curry, which is essentially breaded, deep fried pork cutlet with rice and some of that unique Japanese curry that does NOT kill my tongue for hours afterwards the way normal Singapore spices do. Back in Singapore, there was a little restaurant in the basement of the big Japanese department store Takashimaya, and they happened to have Tonkatsu Curry as their house specialty, offering it both as a dish with rice and as a sandwich. It was VERY tasty, and I'd obviously not had any of it since coming back to Canada. It turned out that further into the downtown core was a restaurant that had Tonkatsu, and they even offered Japanese curry as a side order, it just never occurred to them that this particular combination was, in fact, an actual dish in Japan. So though they were mighty confused about my wanting both, when we arrived, they did indeed serve it to us. It wasn't as good as the stuff in Singapore, but then you have to make allowances when you eat Asian food in the West.
Other than that, the Japanese theme continued with playing some Gran Turismo Prologue (now that the demo for this game is finally available in Japan; thank you internet, and thank you Sony Playstation Store dummy account) and it's good. And HARD. It would probably help if I had a steering wheel, but we'll worry about some other day.
The only other thing of note is that I finally have an IGN article out that you don't have to be subscribed to IGN Insider in order to read. Whoo hoo, I'm finally in the free, "normal, mainstream content" channel. The article is essentially just my impressions after finally getting a chance to play Rock Band on the Playstation 3, a particular concern for me since I obviously have one, and I wanted to see whether or not the game was going to be butchered on the PS3 the way Guitar Hero III has been (it looks like the Xbox 360 version is the one to get, Neversoft/Activision have pretty much given The Finger to owners of Sony consoles past and present) and it turns out... IT'S NOT! Whoo hoo, Harmonix still has a place of respect and affection in their hearts for Sony consoles, so I was relieved when I tried it... and it didn't suck. The full article is here.
Labels: Games, Gaming Industry, Icky Couple Stuff, Journalism, Rock Band, Writing
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Thursday Of Dullness
A little bit of work, some IGN related e-mailing, and an otherwise quiet day. Don't expect much in the way of a post tomorrow either. It's the Second Anniversary, so it'll be just me and The Wife, being boring and hanging out together. Not like we don't do that all the time anyway, but now with a specific occasion in mind...
A little bit of work, some IGN related e-mailing, and an otherwise quiet day. Don't expect much in the way of a post tomorrow either. It's the Second Anniversary, so it'll be just me and The Wife, being boring and hanging out together. Not like we don't do that all the time anyway, but now with a specific occasion in mind...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Icky Couple Stuff
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Gobble Gobble Mark II
It was not too long ago that the last of the Thanksgiving turkey for Canada's Thanksgiving celebration was finally polished off, and I thought that would be the end of the turkey flavored saturation for the rest of the year. Now, I find I am wrong. What I failed to take into account was that the In-Laws, now celebrating their American Thanksgiving next month, would suddenly invite us down on a trip to Maine to see what their American rural Thanksgiving celebrations will be like. And we have accepted. Meaning there is more turkey in the offing.
I'm actually curious to see what it's like, having never actually had an American Thanksgiving dinner, and having never been to Maine before. However, there is also a potential dilemma in the offing.
It has recently come to my attention from my talks with Harmonix representatives that Rock Band will not, in fact, go on sale in Canada at the same time as it does in the USA. The reason for this is somehow they forgot about the bilingual requirement for Canadian packaging and are now sorting that out, but the end result is, they now have NO estimated date of sale for Canada although they are "shooting for as close as they can get." In addition to this, they refuse to comment on what the price will be in Canada. Although the US version has already been confirmed to ship on November 23rd, at $170 for the full bundle, Harmonix won't comment on whether or not their pricing will take Canada's stronger dollar into account, or simply play it safe and do the usual gouge of pumping up the price For No Damn Good Reason At All Now, as still happens with DVDs and games.
Which leaves me with a situation where I am now perfectly aware of the fact that I will now be in America at the same time that Rock Band goes on sale. I won't be reasonably near a game retailer (the town in the in-laws live in is close the New Brunswick/Maine border and has a population of less than 4000), but thanks to the miracle of mail order, GameStop has an overnight delivery policy which, if you splurge for it, guarantees you get your game on the same day that stores do, provided you are shipping somewhere in the continental USA, which Maine just barely qualifies as.
So now I have to debate risking the possibility of a defective Rock Band set which I might not be able to rectify should that scenario play out, or wait for it to arrive in Canadian stores, which--if the Guitar Hero I fiasco for Canada was anything to go by--could take upwards of five months, as the game went on sale in November 2005, and some places in Canada didn't get it 'till March 2006.
I gots me somes thinkin' ta' do...
It was not too long ago that the last of the Thanksgiving turkey for Canada's Thanksgiving celebration was finally polished off, and I thought that would be the end of the turkey flavored saturation for the rest of the year. Now, I find I am wrong. What I failed to take into account was that the In-Laws, now celebrating their American Thanksgiving next month, would suddenly invite us down on a trip to Maine to see what their American rural Thanksgiving celebrations will be like. And we have accepted. Meaning there is more turkey in the offing.I'm actually curious to see what it's like, having never actually had an American Thanksgiving dinner, and having never been to Maine before. However, there is also a potential dilemma in the offing.
It has recently come to my attention from my talks with Harmonix representatives that Rock Band will not, in fact, go on sale in Canada at the same time as it does in the USA. The reason for this is somehow they forgot about the bilingual requirement for Canadian packaging and are now sorting that out, but the end result is, they now have NO estimated date of sale for Canada although they are "shooting for as close as they can get." In addition to this, they refuse to comment on what the price will be in Canada. Although the US version has already been confirmed to ship on November 23rd, at $170 for the full bundle, Harmonix won't comment on whether or not their pricing will take Canada's stronger dollar into account, or simply play it safe and do the usual gouge of pumping up the price For No Damn Good Reason At All Now, as still happens with DVDs and games.
Which leaves me with a situation where I am now perfectly aware of the fact that I will now be in America at the same time that Rock Band goes on sale. I won't be reasonably near a game retailer (the town in the in-laws live in is close the New Brunswick/Maine border and has a population of less than 4000), but thanks to the miracle of mail order, GameStop has an overnight delivery policy which, if you splurge for it, guarantees you get your game on the same day that stores do, provided you are shipping somewhere in the continental USA, which Maine just barely qualifies as.
So now I have to debate risking the possibility of a defective Rock Band set which I might not be able to rectify should that scenario play out, or wait for it to arrive in Canadian stores, which--if the Guitar Hero I fiasco for Canada was anything to go by--could take upwards of five months, as the game went on sale in November 2005, and some places in Canada didn't get it 'till March 2006.
I gots me somes thinkin' ta' do...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Icky Couple Stuff, Random Blargh, Rock Band
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
More Work
Finished off a GameAxis review, wrote a bit of Lost In Loveless, that's about it...
Finished off a GameAxis review, wrote a bit of Lost In Loveless, that's about it...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Lost In Loveless, Writing
Monday, October 15, 2007
Another Quiet Day
Aside from starting on another IGN article, all that occurred was messing around with a demo for some Japanese horror game (which still managed to creep me out despite the fact that I had no idea what was going on) and bought some donuts. Yup, exciting stuff...
Aside from starting on another IGN article, all that occurred was messing around with a demo for some Japanese horror game (which still managed to creep me out despite the fact that I had no idea what was going on) and bought some donuts. Yup, exciting stuff...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Writing
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sunday At Home
Wrote a bit more of an IGN article, did a bit of shopping, and talked extensively with the Wife about an idea for a new book. But not fiction. This could be interesting, but it's going to take a little more thinking (and begging and pleading a lot of people in the gaming industry) to really take off.
Wrote a bit more of an IGN article, did a bit of shopping, and talked extensively with the Wife about an idea for a new book. But not fiction. This could be interesting, but it's going to take a little more thinking (and begging and pleading a lot of people in the gaming industry) to really take off.
Labels: Gaming Industry, Writing
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Saturday The 13th
Just another quiet--albeit noticeably more chilly outside--Saturday. The Upstairs Neighbor came down to hang out, play a little Skate and decide he wants to come back when he's got several more free hours to play A LOT of Skate, and a little bit of re-watching of Battlestar Galactica (the pilot) occurred, and some writing of the children's novel. Yes, I actually wrote a little of it today. Not saying I'm completely back on track, but I'm going to try to be more regular about it in the weeks to come and at least write my way back to what was lost in the hard drive crash a few months ago.
Also for completely gratuitous reasons, here's a video that only means something to people that have played Final Fantasy X-2 and the Dead or Alive series of fighters. Done by one geek with a lot of time and talent to burn:
Just another quiet--albeit noticeably more chilly outside--Saturday. The Upstairs Neighbor came down to hang out, play a little Skate and decide he wants to come back when he's got several more free hours to play A LOT of Skate, and a little bit of re-watching of Battlestar Galactica (the pilot) occurred, and some writing of the children's novel. Yes, I actually wrote a little of it today. Not saying I'm completely back on track, but I'm going to try to be more regular about it in the weeks to come and at least write my way back to what was lost in the hard drive crash a few months ago.
Also for completely gratuitous reasons, here's a video that only means something to people that have played Final Fantasy X-2 and the Dead or Alive series of fighters. Done by one geek with a lot of time and talent to burn:
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Lost In Loveless, Writing
Friday, October 12, 2007
The Days Of Sandals Are Over
The weather finally cooled down enough that I actually needed to once again don shoes when we ventured out to do a little bit of shopping around the neighborhood. The trees are still mostly green, although a few of them are beginning to show some reds and yellow, so it's gonna' get awful pretty looking here in the next few weeks.
Aside from that, the only other thing of note was that we got a card from The In-Laws wishing us a happy anniversary, which will actually be next week. That kind of floored me for second because these are the kinds of things that I normally associated with having to buy for your stuffy old relatives, and now I pretty much have to admit that as emotionally stunted as my growth is, we could still very well qualify for that description ourselves. Except that I play video games and write articles and comics, and the Wife draws comics and other assorted neat things.
I have also realized, after checking out Amazon, that buying Rock Band from either Amazon.ca or the original Amazon.com is a no-go. For some puzzling reason, the Canadian version of Amazon is only offering the game, not the full bundle with all the peripherals, whereas Amazon proper is currently ignoring the official retail price of $170 and charging $200 for it.
Looks like it's time to place that pre-order with EB Games. Unfortunately, it's doubtful that we'll be able to get the game on the same day as our neighbors in the USA for the simple reason that the Harmonix rep I spoke to at the Sony Holiday Preview Event told me that they were still working out some design/legal problems with the packaging, 'cause they forgot they needed to stick French on there somewhere, and this is slowing down the plans for distribution in Canada as they take this into account. BLEAH.
The weather finally cooled down enough that I actually needed to once again don shoes when we ventured out to do a little bit of shopping around the neighborhood. The trees are still mostly green, although a few of them are beginning to show some reds and yellow, so it's gonna' get awful pretty looking here in the next few weeks.
Aside from that, the only other thing of note was that we got a card from The In-Laws wishing us a happy anniversary, which will actually be next week. That kind of floored me for second because these are the kinds of things that I normally associated with having to buy for your stuffy old relatives, and now I pretty much have to admit that as emotionally stunted as my growth is, we could still very well qualify for that description ourselves. Except that I play video games and write articles and comics, and the Wife draws comics and other assorted neat things.
I have also realized, after checking out Amazon, that buying Rock Band from either Amazon.ca or the original Amazon.com is a no-go. For some puzzling reason, the Canadian version of Amazon is only offering the game, not the full bundle with all the peripherals, whereas Amazon proper is currently ignoring the official retail price of $170 and charging $200 for it.
Looks like it's time to place that pre-order with EB Games. Unfortunately, it's doubtful that we'll be able to get the game on the same day as our neighbors in the USA for the simple reason that the Harmonix rep I spoke to at the Sony Holiday Preview Event told me that they were still working out some design/legal problems with the packaging, 'cause they forgot they needed to stick French on there somewhere, and this is slowing down the plans for distribution in Canada as they take this into account. BLEAH.
Labels: Games, Icky Couple Stuff
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Day With Artists
The Wife met up with an artist she'd interviewed for her new bloggish site, "Illustrophile" which showcases artists she thinks people should paying more attention to. The artist in question, Indonesian Canadian Tessar Lo, ended up inviting us to spend the day with him, meaning first we had lunch with him and another artist, and then spent the evening with him and his artist friends. Unsurprisingly, much artsy stuff was talked about, although I managed to get in a few licks with some extended conversations on comics, anime, videogames and, towards the end, I was forced to put my foot down and take a stand to explain why Battlestar Galactica was, in fact, superior to Star Trek: The Next Generation.
So you see, you can take the geek out of geektown, but you can never take out the geek...
The Wife met up with an artist she'd interviewed for her new bloggish site, "Illustrophile" which showcases artists she thinks people should paying more attention to. The artist in question, Indonesian Canadian Tessar Lo, ended up inviting us to spend the day with him, meaning first we had lunch with him and another artist, and then spent the evening with him and his artist friends. Unsurprisingly, much artsy stuff was talked about, although I managed to get in a few licks with some extended conversations on comics, anime, videogames and, towards the end, I was forced to put my foot down and take a stand to explain why Battlestar Galactica was, in fact, superior to Star Trek: The Next Generation.
So you see, you can take the geek out of geektown, but you can never take out the geek...
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Sony Day
So today we actually got up before noon and managed to navigate to the southeast portion of downtown Toronto to find "The Carlu" an old, deco building from the 30's, that has had its 7th floor--formerly a concert hall--renovated and restored to its former Art Deco glory. Today, however, all the deco was playing host a metric ton of silicon in the form a legion of Playstation 3s, some Playstation 2s and even a few Playstation Portables set up by Sony Canada to show off their wares for the upcoming holidays. Or most of them, anyway, with Assassin's Creed being notably absent despite its upcoming November release. This was a much quieter--and thankfully less accident prone--affair than the Microsoft X '07 event I attended a couple of months earlier. For one thing, this was media only, so since the power didn't short out (as it did at X '07) there was no confusing morass of humanity as gamers who had dreamed for months of playing Halo 3 pushed journalists and camera-men out of their way in their frenzy to get their hands on a controller and drool in opiate-like bliss as they proceeded to shoot people in the head with sniper rifles and then "teabag" them (the 360 multi-player, FPS version of a victory dance, that involves crouching over your opponent's head so that your virtual testicles dangle over his virtual face. This, I am told, is a sign of l33tness in multi-player console gaming, and all the cool people do it. This is also why I don't play multi-player games on consoles.).
Instead there were simply a bunch of media people--almost entirely not from the game press arena--the likes of MTV, and, if you can believe it, Toronto's own Naked News team, though the reporter on hand was heavily clothed. MTV was doing the Completely And Utterly Expected by just "happening" across Rock Band--the game they are publishing in partnership with developer Harmonix and distributor Electronic Arts--and covering the hell out of it as if it was some wonderful, random find. The Naked News team, I think, was surprising the hell out of everyone by simple virtue of the fact that their reporter wasn't actually naked. But this all beside the point, which is THE GAMES.
Rock Band
I can't actually talk too much about this, or at least, my "newsworthy" finds, since that's all been written up for IGN and is now sitting with them. But having played the game (and not gotten kicked off this time! Because I had other games to look at!) a bit more now, I can safely say that it still kills. It may not that magical "first time" experience of Guitar Hero (then again, even GH didn't have that for me since I'd already had a few years under my belt of playing in the arcade) Guitar Freaks in the arcade), but there's still something special about sitting down at those drums, or strapping on the Fender Strat and rocking out the Pixie's Wave of Mutilation. The game is fun, it's really that simple. I can talk about the character creation system, or the upcoming downloadable songs, but it all boils down to indefinable Something that separates a competent game from a great one. This is still shaping up to be my favorite game of the year.
Eye of Judgement
Or, as PennyArcade dubbed it, "The Judgemental Eye" is one of those games I am rapidly beginning to suspect is going to what some call a sleeper hit, and what others call crack cocaine with a light dusting of PCP for flavor. The premise of the game is that you buy it with the whacky new accessory called the Playstation Eye, which is essentially a redressing of the old PS2 Eyetoy, which is essentially a redressing of a webcam. When you set up your camera as your "eye of judgement" you spread out a grid on a cloth map, and start playing a Magic The Gathering style card game, the difference being a) the camera allows you to play online with other people, b) the camera allows you to play against the computer, c) the camera reads the properties of your cards and then, much like the Holochess game in Star Wars: A New Hope, conjures the image of your card's creature right there, on screen, sitting on top of your card, at which point, it proceeds to execute your command and attack the neighboring card with appropriate explosions, oscillating balls of magical energy and all that other pyrotechnical stuff Magic the Gathering card players formerly had to imagine. Despite the fact that I have no interest in card games, I enjoyed this, hell even the Wife enjoyed it, and I can see how this bizarre little product could end up drawing in the Magic the Gathering crowd, who might have formerly ignored the PS3. The fact that this card game was actually dreamed up by Wizards of the Coast, inventors of Magic the Gathering--not to mention the fact that they're repeating past history and already manufacturing "booster packs" of card decks to rake even MORE cash--merely adds to the geek cred of this monstrosity. It will make money, a LOT of money is my current sneaking suspicion.
There are other games as well like Haze--a first person shooter that may do well--and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction which will probably do very well. All in all, an interesting range of games for a system that only recently dropped to US$399, as long as you're willing to sacrifice your backwards compatibility with PS2 games to get it at that price.
So today we actually got up before noon and managed to navigate to the southeast portion of downtown Toronto to find "The Carlu" an old, deco building from the 30's, that has had its 7th floor--formerly a concert hall--renovated and restored to its former Art Deco glory. Today, however, all the deco was playing host a metric ton of silicon in the form a legion of Playstation 3s, some Playstation 2s and even a few Playstation Portables set up by Sony Canada to show off their wares for the upcoming holidays. Or most of them, anyway, with Assassin's Creed being notably absent despite its upcoming November release. This was a much quieter--and thankfully less accident prone--affair than the Microsoft X '07 event I attended a couple of months earlier. For one thing, this was media only, so since the power didn't short out (as it did at X '07) there was no confusing morass of humanity as gamers who had dreamed for months of playing Halo 3 pushed journalists and camera-men out of their way in their frenzy to get their hands on a controller and drool in opiate-like bliss as they proceeded to shoot people in the head with sniper rifles and then "teabag" them (the 360 multi-player, FPS version of a victory dance, that involves crouching over your opponent's head so that your virtual testicles dangle over his virtual face. This, I am told, is a sign of l33tness in multi-player console gaming, and all the cool people do it. This is also why I don't play multi-player games on consoles.).Instead there were simply a bunch of media people--almost entirely not from the game press arena--the likes of MTV, and, if you can believe it, Toronto's own Naked News team, though the reporter on hand was heavily clothed. MTV was doing the Completely And Utterly Expected by just "happening" across Rock Band--the game they are publishing in partnership with developer Harmonix and distributor Electronic Arts--and covering the hell out of it as if it was some wonderful, random find. The Naked News team, I think, was surprising the hell out of everyone by simple virtue of the fact that their reporter wasn't actually naked. But this all beside the point, which is THE GAMES.
Rock Band
I can't actually talk too much about this, or at least, my "newsworthy" finds, since that's all been written up for IGN and is now sitting with them. But having played the game (and not gotten kicked off this time! Because I had other games to look at!) a bit more now, I can safely say that it still kills. It may not that magical "first time" experience of Guitar Hero (then again, even GH didn't have that for me since I'd already had a few years under my belt of playing in the arcade) Guitar Freaks in the arcade), but there's still something special about sitting down at those drums, or strapping on the Fender Strat and rocking out the Pixie's Wave of Mutilation. The game is fun, it's really that simple. I can talk about the character creation system, or the upcoming downloadable songs, but it all boils down to indefinable Something that separates a competent game from a great one. This is still shaping up to be my favorite game of the year. Eye of Judgement
Or, as PennyArcade dubbed it, "The Judgemental Eye" is one of those games I am rapidly beginning to suspect is going to what some call a sleeper hit, and what others call crack cocaine with a light dusting of PCP for flavor. The premise of the game is that you buy it with the whacky new accessory called the Playstation Eye, which is essentially a redressing of the old PS2 Eyetoy, which is essentially a redressing of a webcam. When you set up your camera as your "eye of judgement" you spread out a grid on a cloth map, and start playing a Magic The Gathering style card game, the difference being a) the camera allows you to play online with other people, b) the camera allows you to play against the computer, c) the camera reads the properties of your cards and then, much like the Holochess game in Star Wars: A New Hope, conjures the image of your card's creature right there, on screen, sitting on top of your card, at which point, it proceeds to execute your command and attack the neighboring card with appropriate explosions, oscillating balls of magical energy and all that other pyrotechnical stuff Magic the Gathering card players formerly had to imagine. Despite the fact that I have no interest in card games, I enjoyed this, hell even the Wife enjoyed it, and I can see how this bizarre little product could end up drawing in the Magic the Gathering crowd, who might have formerly ignored the PS3. The fact that this card game was actually dreamed up by Wizards of the Coast, inventors of Magic the Gathering--not to mention the fact that they're repeating past history and already manufacturing "booster packs" of card decks to rake even MORE cash--merely adds to the geek cred of this monstrosity. It will make money, a LOT of money is my current sneaking suspicion. There are other games as well like Haze--a first person shooter that may do well--and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction which will probably do very well. All in all, an interesting range of games for a system that only recently dropped to US$399, as long as you're willing to sacrifice your backwards compatibility with PS2 games to get it at that price.
Labels: Games, Gaming Industry, Journalism
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Ho Hum
A quiet Tuesday, aside from a little bit of shopping and a little bit of writing of a children's comic script, it was a pretty low-key day. The only thing of real note was that I'm still continually amazed by how different Toronto feels when we take a stroll over to the more affluent area known as Yorkville. We did some of our shopping there this afternoon, and every time I set foot in the area, I can smell money. You almost see bills carelessly dropping from the hair of the people walking around.
A quiet Tuesday, aside from a little bit of shopping and a little bit of writing of a children's comic script, it was a pretty low-key day. The only thing of real note was that I'm still continually amazed by how different Toronto feels when we take a stroll over to the more affluent area known as Yorkville. We did some of our shopping there this afternoon, and every time I set foot in the area, I can smell money. You almost see bills carelessly dropping from the hair of the people walking around.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Mean Streets Of Toronto
Monday, October 08, 2007
Gobble Gobble
This was the first time in over a decade that I was actually in Canada to celebrate Thanksgiving day, and for once, there was plenty to be thankful for. We got a gracious invite from The Downstairs Neighbors to join them for their dinner, so it was the first time The Wife actually got to have a sit down with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce and have it be a genuine time and a genuine place to eat all this stuff. It was a bit of an aberration for me in at least one sense; the weather. Here we are, into October, and the old seasonal cycle I had grown up with in Edmonton was totally out of whack. It should have been cold. There should be frost and even the occasional snow-fall by now. Instead, we were outdoors, it was sunny and it was actually 30 degrees.
That aside, it was a quietly satisfying moment for me, because I was, of course, thankful for the cool neighbors that allowed us to share their dinner. But I was also thankful for getting to see The Wife actually experience this holiday, thankful that we were together at all, and thankful that we were now in Canada where somehow, after all this time away, these little holidays that I ignored--like Canada Day, and now Thanksgiving--actually mean quite a bit more to me.
Guess I'm not as jaded and as cynical as I'd like to be these days...
This was the first time in over a decade that I was actually in Canada to celebrate Thanksgiving day, and for once, there was plenty to be thankful for. We got a gracious invite from The Downstairs Neighbors to join them for their dinner, so it was the first time The Wife actually got to have a sit down with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce and have it be a genuine time and a genuine place to eat all this stuff. It was a bit of an aberration for me in at least one sense; the weather. Here we are, into October, and the old seasonal cycle I had grown up with in Edmonton was totally out of whack. It should have been cold. There should be frost and even the occasional snow-fall by now. Instead, we were outdoors, it was sunny and it was actually 30 degrees.
That aside, it was a quietly satisfying moment for me, because I was, of course, thankful for the cool neighbors that allowed us to share their dinner. But I was also thankful for getting to see The Wife actually experience this holiday, thankful that we were together at all, and thankful that we were now in Canada where somehow, after all this time away, these little holidays that I ignored--like Canada Day, and now Thanksgiving--actually mean quite a bit more to me.
Guess I'm not as jaded and as cynical as I'd like to be these days...
Labels: Friends, Icky Couple Stuff, My Life
Sunday, October 07, 2007
I Almost Totally Forgot
That it was Thanksgiving tomorrow. First time in years that the day has had ANY kind of relevance. Wow...
That it was Thanksgiving tomorrow. First time in years that the day has had ANY kind of relevance. Wow...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, My Life
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Saturday At Home
Mostly just kept it quiet and boring. Old Friend showed up, much talking was done, and Skate was finished. It was a fun ride while it lasted, and it's still fun to just go into the fictional town of San Vanelona and just cruise around tricking. It's amazing how much replay value is built into this game...
Mostly just kept it quiet and boring. Old Friend showed up, much talking was done, and Skate was finished. It was a fun ride while it lasted, and it's still fun to just go into the fictional town of San Vanelona and just cruise around tricking. It's amazing how much replay value is built into this game...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Friends, Games
Friday, October 05, 2007
Taking It Easy
Friday was yet another quiet day, with the exception some busy-ness on the freelance front. First, after the interview with Jonathan Mak, creator of Everyday Shooter--and that interview isn't up on IGN just yet, but probably by next week--I got the obligatory heads up from Sony Canada. It's funny how when you say "I'm with IGN," that just blows the doors wide open on access to anything in the game industry. I could really get used to this after all the "I'm with GameAxis," lines which were inevitably replied to with "Game-wha?"
Anyway, the point of this, is the heads up that I was given was an invite--presumably for the media only--to a much bigger Sony Media Day that's going to be held at some swanky, restored concert hall that had its heyday in the 30's deco period, and has been renovated back to its former, pre-WWII glory. Not knowing whether this was going to be a big deal or not, I threw the invite back at IGN and asked them if they'd be interested in once again having a "Canadian correspondent" pick up some slack on their behalf since none of them are crazy enough to live in the Great White North. It turns that they're VERY interested, and so I will be going to this event on Wednesday. However, considering how many games there are on hand, it's going to be a bit busy what with all the questions, playing games (and getting kicked off Rock Band. Again...) and making sure I get all the details, so it's going to be hard for me to do all that and get some pictures. Fortunately, I have already cleared it with Sony Canada and they have allowed me to bring a guest, so The Wife will be attending to gawk at the geekiness, and take pictures since she knows how to use the camera way better than I do. This frees me up to tackle the games and ask questions without worrying about whether I got the shot or not.
Gonna' be an interesting Wednesday. Looking forward to it.
Friday was yet another quiet day, with the exception some busy-ness on the freelance front. First, after the interview with Jonathan Mak, creator of Everyday Shooter--and that interview isn't up on IGN just yet, but probably by next week--I got the obligatory heads up from Sony Canada. It's funny how when you say "I'm with IGN," that just blows the doors wide open on access to anything in the game industry. I could really get used to this after all the "I'm with GameAxis," lines which were inevitably replied to with "Game-wha?"Anyway, the point of this, is the heads up that I was given was an invite--presumably for the media only--to a much bigger Sony Media Day that's going to be held at some swanky, restored concert hall that had its heyday in the 30's deco period, and has been renovated back to its former, pre-WWII glory. Not knowing whether this was going to be a big deal or not, I threw the invite back at IGN and asked them if they'd be interested in once again having a "Canadian correspondent" pick up some slack on their behalf since none of them are crazy enough to live in the Great White North. It turns that they're VERY interested, and so I will be going to this event on Wednesday. However, considering how many games there are on hand, it's going to be a bit busy what with all the questions, playing games (and getting kicked off Rock Band. Again...) and making sure I get all the details, so it's going to be hard for me to do all that and get some pictures. Fortunately, I have already cleared it with Sony Canada and they have allowed me to bring a guest, so The Wife will be attending to gawk at the geekiness, and take pictures since she knows how to use the camera way better than I do. This frees me up to tackle the games and ask questions without worrying about whether I got the shot or not.
Gonna' be an interesting Wednesday. Looking forward to it.
Labels: Gaming Industry, Journalism, Writing
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Nearly Done
Just putting the finishing touches the last of the GameAxis articles for this month. And, of course, now conducting my weekly ritual of checking the Playstation Store online to see what new goodies are available. So far, nothing too hot...
Just putting the finishing touches the last of the GameAxis articles for this month. And, of course, now conducting my weekly ritual of checking the Playstation Store online to see what new goodies are available. So far, nothing too hot...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Journalism, Writing
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Another Dull Day
Wrote a bit of article, did a bit of laundry, played a bit of Skate. Just another day in Toronto...
Wrote a bit of article, did a bit of laundry, played a bit of Skate. Just another day in Toronto...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Another Day At Home
Not much except a run to Bloor, some... uh... vaguely middle-eastern-ish lunch in the form a thing called a Shawarma, that reminds me a lot of the old Donairs I would have in university at "Kathy's Greek Delites" except about 10 times better, and a trip to the used book store which resulted, for a mere $10 in this:
The best line this comic has to be the exchange between Wolverine and The Thing after they've defeated a giant monster.
Thing: Didn't they come up with a cure for your kind?
Wolvie: You got a problem with mutants?
Thing: I meant Canadians.
And that, is just one more example of why Joss Whedon is a genius.
In other news, one of the earliest reviews for the Final Cut of Blade Runner is out and this looks like it's going to be a doozy for high-def owners. Check out this screen capture from the high-def version, go on, click on it, good God, it's amazing how they've cleaned this thing up. I've been waiting soooooo long for a decent transfer of this movie to finally come along, and the wait is finally over.
And now it's time to go back to more article writing...
Not much except a run to Bloor, some... uh... vaguely middle-eastern-ish lunch in the form a thing called a Shawarma, that reminds me a lot of the old Donairs I would have in university at "Kathy's Greek Delites" except about 10 times better, and a trip to the used book store which resulted, for a mere $10 in this:
The best line this comic has to be the exchange between Wolverine and The Thing after they've defeated a giant monster.Thing: Didn't they come up with a cure for your kind?
Wolvie: You got a problem with mutants?
Thing: I meant Canadians.
And that, is just one more example of why Joss Whedon is a genius.
In other news, one of the earliest reviews for the Final Cut of Blade Runner is out and this looks like it's going to be a doozy for high-def owners. Check out this screen capture from the high-def version, go on, click on it, good God, it's amazing how they've cleaned this thing up. I've been waiting soooooo long for a decent transfer of this movie to finally come along, and the wait is finally over.
And now it's time to go back to more article writing...Monday, October 01, 2007
Shorter Days & Lagging Memory
A quiet Monday where all that occurred was rent was paid at the last minute, articles were written at the last minute and Skate was copiously played. Gettin' real hard now, that game is. But MAN is it fun...
A quiet Monday where all that occurred was rent was paid at the last minute, articles were written at the last minute and Skate was copiously played. Gettin' real hard now, that game is. But MAN is it fun...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Writing
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