Time to review the First season of Darker Than Black. Yes, there is a second going on right now, and I'll review that separately later
Darker than Black is an oddly titled little scifi show that delves into a very bizzarre world. A world where stuff has gone awry. Really, a good analog for how awry would be it's a Japanese take on Roadside Picnic/S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl, sorta. There's differences, but the mechanics of it all are similar enough . It's a bizzarre,depressing world where two giant anomalies appear in the world, one in South America(Heaven's Gate), one in Tokyo(Hell's Gate). When these anomalies appeared, much like in Roadside picnic, Odd things started to happen. The sky changed forever, a bizarre radiation emitted from the center of these anomalies, and seemingly at random, people were given supernatural powers at the cost of their conscience and their sense of emotion. These people, known as contractors are rapidly snapped up by governments all over the world and.. ah hell I'm not going to write down the entire bloody preface. You've got enough of the background story there, and it gets delved into during the show.
Anyway, the show's plot follows on particular power-owner (called contractors in the canon), Hei, also known as BK-301. Following him, and his exploits, you begin to uncover the bigger picture about what's really going on in the world, and more importantly, what's going on inside him.
I must admit this show isn't a very uplifting show. If you're wanting something light, this isn't it. You'll get a lighthearted joke now and then, but that's it. It's both deep and philosophical, and could easily give Shirow Masamune a run for his money. That being said, it's also very action oriented and in this regard, it delivers in spades. I'm rather amazed at the depth and diversity thats portrayed in just 26 episodes of 21 minutes each, and how very little the story grates when it switches between tracks. The shows canon just flows, and it's a great ride to be on.
The artwork, all done by Bones, is pretty delicious. The backgrounds and settings are mostly hand painted and full of detail. The character designs are well planned and executed, a real grounding in reality is felt about them, and it's not at all inconsistant across the entirety of the art.Short story, the art is great.
Sound in the show is excellent, showing excellent Foley mixing all over the joint. Voice acting is well cast, and all the voice actors seem into their roles enough that the tone is believable(NB, can't speak for the English dub, haven't heard it yet). The music, particularly the OP and ED tunes are all excellently chosen and mastered in. Particularly good choice getting Abingdon Boys School to throw a tune in, it really helps add to the show overall.
If I were forced at gunpoint to choose a negative point, I'd probably make a comment about point a gun at me being extreme, and then I'd say probably some of the humorous bits felt a bit forced and jarring, completely at odds with the rest of the show, but that's Japanese humor for you.
Overall though, Great watch. I'd reccommend this to anyon e with a.. I'd recommend this to anyone. It's that good.
Interesting point - I largely missed this show when it was actively airing due to the massive amounts of coverage Gurren Lagann and Spice and Wolf ( the shows that were airing directly opposite it in timeslots) were getting. DtB sort of faded into the background and relinquished itself to being a sleeper hit.
I though this review'd be longer, apparently it's not. Note to self- re-acquaint myself with the oxford dictionary.
Toadie, out.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Serious Gaming, and the Box art that inspired
Gather round internetlings of the weird and wacky varieties, lemme tell you a story about how I became a hardcore Tactical Shooter fan.
It all began in the heady days of... the late 90s, back when DirectX versions could be counted on one hand, and I was a wee lad in the land of penniless dreams.
At one point in time there was a Computer store in my home suburb, a little place called Doors Multimedia (Did anyone see what they did there?) used to be THE place to hang out in my neighborhood or suburb, and were a nerd. Truly the dog's bollocks they were, at least for a few years (my formative computing years anyway). They stocked EVERYTHING, and they even had Playstation, N64 and Dreamcast demo booths. Keen-as. Amongst the stock though, was probably the most varied collection of PC games I've come across yet. They literally stocked everything. from stuff that ran on 486s to stuff that needed the then-top-of-the-line Pentium Processors and 3DFX technologies. All kinds of genres, all kinds of awesome.
Gallery is here
Enjoy
Toadie, out.
It all began in the heady days of... the late 90s, back when DirectX versions could be counted on one hand, and I was a wee lad in the land of penniless dreams.
At one point in time there was a Computer store in my home suburb, a little place called Doors Multimedia (Did anyone see what they did there?) used to be THE place to hang out in my neighborhood or suburb, and were a nerd. Truly the dog's bollocks they were, at least for a few years (my formative computing years anyway). They stocked EVERYTHING, and they even had Playstation, N64 and Dreamcast demo booths. Keen-as. Amongst the stock though, was probably the most varied collection of PC games I've come across yet. They literally stocked everything. from stuff that ran on 486s to stuff that needed the then-top-of-the-line Pentium Processors and 3DFX technologies. All kinds of genres, all kinds of awesome.
I used to literally spend hours after school and late night shopping nights (the ones where we didn't go into Midland) hanging around that place, gawking and handling all the AWESOME boxes. Now there were some truly awesome looking boxes for PC games, I'm not kidding. Evocative, visceral, sometimes purely just shiny. It was like candy land for me, feasting my eyes over the fronts and backs over games I could never afford or play on my 286, but that was fine, because all I needed was the boxes to let me imagine the games when I left. Some of the most notable ones, the ones that I never forget, were the covers specifically of The Doom Collection (including Final Doom), The East-vs-West Pack (Duke3D and Shadow Warrior), The Duke Nukem Kill-a-ton collection (which was the AWESOME shiny bronze box that screamed BUY ME FOR LIFE AND PUT ME NEXT TO YOUR CRICKET TROPHY), And the Box for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.
Now the first 3 obviously I loved for they beautiful hand painted art, slick graphic design thrown in to boot, and iconic imagery. The last one baffled me for a long time though, I never understood at all why I liked it.
Linked Below is the box as I first saw it. Imagine it on a box of A4-ish size, a bit bigger.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Now though i understand it. It was Striking, and needed very very little trickery to achieve that. Just a photo, cropped and tinted, and BOLD text. It certainly didn't stop and take it's breath after that either, the entire box was pure thrilling class act. A fold out front, with similar styled designs on the inside,complete with the game's distinct (at the time) photo-realistic imagery, by cripes it's a gripping thing to behold. This WAS the Techno-thriller novel amongst the teen drama novellas, in almost every sense. Even making Flight Sims like Apache vs Havoc or Falcon 4.0 (which actually came with a 800 page Cut down Falcon Operations Manual) ook like weedy boxes.
I never did pick up the game, and year after year I skirted past boxes with Tom Clancy, and vivid Tacsim and Milsim boxes of one variety or another. Another set of boxes that never failed to draw my eyes were the Delta force games by Novalogic. Using similar aesthetics, again, simple design that just wanted me to buy and play them.
It wasn't until I was was well into my teens, and consequently, WITH money, that I did start purchasing these games (by first going back and getting the ones I missed). By now, my taste in games had matured significant, and I was beginning to savor for something more than just running around corridors blasting crap. This was a time when I started to get REALLY into deeper shooters, so games like Rainbow Six were fine now (and perpetuating my long-begrudging deep-held fascination with the 20th century, and now it's military aspects, to my own detraction at school).
So, after picking up the Main games in the series-es I loved ( Rainbow Six 1/2/Raven Shield, etc ) I was piqued to learn that another Rainbow Six game was in the works, and by all early reports was going to be an even more intense and deeper game. HOORAH, I thought. Then Lockdown came out, and between and my old chum Jim Lad, we were quite... disappointed. Even the Cover art (liked below) was a let down. I mean sure it was still striking, but nowhere to the extent the early boxes, or even the Raven Shield art. dismal Gameplay aside, the game's promotional material and box-art was a complete mess. Linking it below for you all to behold.
You can see that someone along the line here was slowly trying to change art style not only of the promo and box stuff, but the way the art ingame was done, moving away from the pure photorealism standpoint and towards a "styled" look. And from there, you can actually WATCH the art and tactical elements of the game fall off as the series continues forward.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six:Vegas
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six:Vegas 2
As I said, styled look. I'm not saying it's bad, but it certainly isn't the clearcut striking images I idolized before I had money to do anything about it. I guess it's a bit disappointing that Rainbow Six will likely be forgotten to the gaming world in it's original form, and remembered as the glitzy modern-day-styled Gears of War that Vegas 1 and 2 are.
Not to me though, these boxes evoked me to be come a real tac shooter nut, and there are hundreds around the world that likely had similar experiences. Tactical shooter fans are small in numbers, but high in their passion for their particular game style.
I think thats what ultimately made me want to do For Hire. I wanted to do a tactical shooter because I think sadly that the Tactical Shooter is about to go way of the tradition adventure game, but I wanted to give it a proper roaring swansong. Something to really stick up there on the wall and knock Vegas 1 and 2 off everyone's recollections.
Anyway, Here's to the boxart that dragged me covertly into the shadows and scintillated my imagination. You will be remembered.
PS:If you are like me, and have a link to the tacshooter genre as much as I do, and feel you could contribute something, anything to the FH project, feel free to drop me a line, because I really will take nearly all the help I can get at the moment(toadie2k AT gmail DOT com).
AS AN ADDED BONUS, I put up a small album of the art, just so you can have a peruse and see the transitions it went through, and which exact point the Main developers switched from Red Storm to Ubisoft Montreal.
Gallery is here
Enjoy
Toadie, out.
PS: apologies for the loooong silence, been writing this on and off for like 3 months. Usual Rantnoise resuming ASAP.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Priorities - Addendum
In the last few days Robert Bowling at last came out from underneath Europe, assumingly in some sort of underground Reichstag bunker that filters his ability to respond to queries for all sides regarding the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 to confirm on several fronts a shopping list of PC-related queries.
So, here's the shopping list for what is now being called by some "Black Sunday" -
Modern Warfare 2 will not be using a client-server relationship with a populated server list based off a master server for it's multiplayer handling. Instead, Infinity Ward has built a matchmaking system that shotguns on Steam, dubbed IWNet. So instead of your usual relationship between gamers and GSPs/ISPSs, you will now be running all multiplayer entirely through ad-hoc networks, mastered through IWnet.
There is no plans for dedicated servers. Period. You can already see where this is going.
IWNet will be using Steam for Anti-cheat protection (which is good, because punkbuster sucked), Matchmaking which will essentially lock you into games with similarly ranked players(presumably to prevent griefing).
Servers will be able to be privatised and password protected with some degree of customisation.
In a two-parts Modding for MW2 and custom content is out for the meanwhile, and so is competitive gaming.
Now, before I go on a tirade about why I won't be putting money down for this game EVEN more than I was before, I'd jsut like to also put on the balance that there are positives to matchmaking. For example, it's great for playing with a bunch of friends you already know without all that setting up business. What it's not great for is all the reasons this is making PC gamers worldwide angry (Amazon is reporting losing 2000 PC pre-orders in the 24 hours since this broke).
Let's start off with the bottom end first-
Competitive Gaming. yes, I hate the snot-nosed arse pounders, but whatever chance of competitive leagueshad of starting for this game has now essentially slimmed. Particularly without dedicated server support, setting up CG events will be somewhat stymied by forcing the hosters to have X amount of individual dedicated machines running the game WITH THE MACHINES ACTUALLY IN THE GAME will be troublesome. Yeah you can pretty much kissthat goodbye. Scrims and stuff probably will be less affected, but the real hardcore stff for MW2, probably gone. Enjoy that
Custom Content. Robert Bowling said that there's no information on a Mod dev kit as of yet, and was reluctant to confirm yes or no. However, the silence leaves two things up in the air - whether there will BE custom content support at all, and if nothing is said between now and immediate post launch the likelihood of it being so decreasing.
Onwards- Bandwidth.
Bandwidth is going to be a real deal-breaker for a system that ONLY supports ad-hoc matchmaking. Do I even need to say it? Home ISP connections are by and large quite small and will severly limit the performance of the game, as well as the largest reasonable server capacity. This is of course assuming that the pipe is completely open and not being shared with other suers (which it rarely is).
Latency.
I do not know of ONE ad-hoc system that has reliably correlated latency users. There is always an outliers. There's been no word from IW whether there will be localised or even continentalised IWnet servers, so I do not hold high hopes for the system, as the further you get from the central server, generally the less accurate latency matching you will get... and if the matchmaking has to come from the US... We're on the other side of the world here in Australia, it's going to be attrocious (it already is through Xbox Live according to some people).
Now, I'm a big fan of dedicated servers. They're there like public arenas. They don't move around, and generally are designed to cope with internet traffic. They're ideal in the PC world, because you can just open a game, go to your favourite server, and jump straight in.
I'm also not opposed to matchmaking, as I've mentioned briefly before. However, matchmaking is far from the ideal solution for PC gaming. In fact, relying on it solely is detrimental to the multiplayer experience. The above two key logistical issues are a start. No dedicated servers means that you may potentially be stuck in high latency games just because whoever started the game decided he'd open up a torrent in the background(or his housemate, whatever). Dedicated sservers give a baseline reliability and connectivity for a game, and without them, large-scale multiplayer games aren't possible.They ease the burden on machines with low specs or slow internet to keep the game running smooth, and as such make the game enjoyable for everyone.
Point is, yeah, have matchmaking, but keep Dedicated Support. It works great for Left4Dead, which in my books is doing matchmaking more or less ON the nail.
Further food for thought- This matchmaking system is cutting into the running of an actual 3rd tier business - Game Service Providers (people who run and rent servers as a means of profit). This will no doubt cause them some headaches. THE number one game of this year (so says the media), and THEY are going to have a hard time trying to be part of it. It's not like L4D or even Blizzard's battlenet, where they actually HOST games even though there is a matchmaking system, this is completely designed to run around them.
MY biggest concern is this is a continuation of a worrying trend that would circumvent PCs are a viable gaming platform (for major publishing companies outside Valve... Indy pubs and devs will ALWAYS run stronger on PC).. to what end?
So to summarise-
• IWnet servers will host multiplayer
• DLC will be a charged item for PC
• No dedicated servers
• Matchmaking system used to play with similarly ranked players
• VAC instead of PB
• Semi-capable password servers
• Semi-capable ad-hoc servers
• Competitive play is dead
• MW2 mods would not be possible
• Steam integration - (how far not mentioned)
• Potential bandwidth and latency nightmare
• The beginning of the end- HAS IW shot themselves in the foot?
Hold your receipts people.
Further Reading/listening-
http://bashandslash.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=746&Itemid=69
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/10/new-modern-warfare-matchmaking-service-will-definitely-reshape-pc-community/#more-362322
So, here's the shopping list for what is now being called by some "Black Sunday" -
Modern Warfare 2 will not be using a client-server relationship with a populated server list based off a master server for it's multiplayer handling. Instead, Infinity Ward has built a matchmaking system that shotguns on Steam, dubbed IWNet. So instead of your usual relationship between gamers and GSPs/ISPSs, you will now be running all multiplayer entirely through ad-hoc networks, mastered through IWnet.
There is no plans for dedicated servers. Period. You can already see where this is going.
IWNet will be using Steam for Anti-cheat protection (which is good, because punkbuster sucked), Matchmaking which will essentially lock you into games with similarly ranked players(presumably to prevent griefing).
Servers will be able to be privatised and password protected with some degree of customisation.
In a two-parts Modding for MW2 and custom content is out for the meanwhile, and so is competitive gaming.
Now, before I go on a tirade about why I won't be putting money down for this game EVEN more than I was before, I'd jsut like to also put on the balance that there are positives to matchmaking. For example, it's great for playing with a bunch of friends you already know without all that setting up business. What it's not great for is all the reasons this is making PC gamers worldwide angry (Amazon is reporting losing 2000 PC pre-orders in the 24 hours since this broke).
Let's start off with the bottom end first-
Competitive Gaming. yes, I hate the snot-nosed arse pounders, but whatever chance of competitive leagueshad of starting for this game has now essentially slimmed. Particularly without dedicated server support, setting up CG events will be somewhat stymied by forcing the hosters to have X amount of individual dedicated machines running the game WITH THE MACHINES ACTUALLY IN THE GAME will be troublesome. Yeah you can pretty much kissthat goodbye. Scrims and stuff probably will be less affected, but the real hardcore stff for MW2, probably gone. Enjoy that
Custom Content. Robert Bowling said that there's no information on a Mod dev kit as of yet, and was reluctant to confirm yes or no. However, the silence leaves two things up in the air - whether there will BE custom content support at all, and if nothing is said between now and immediate post launch the likelihood of it being so decreasing.
Onwards- Bandwidth.
Bandwidth is going to be a real deal-breaker for a system that ONLY supports ad-hoc matchmaking. Do I even need to say it? Home ISP connections are by and large quite small and will severly limit the performance of the game, as well as the largest reasonable server capacity. This is of course assuming that the pipe is completely open and not being shared with other suers (which it rarely is).
Latency.
I do not know of ONE ad-hoc system that has reliably correlated latency users. There is always an outliers. There's been no word from IW whether there will be localised or even continentalised IWnet servers, so I do not hold high hopes for the system, as the further you get from the central server, generally the less accurate latency matching you will get... and if the matchmaking has to come from the US... We're on the other side of the world here in Australia, it's going to be attrocious (it already is through Xbox Live according to some people).
Now, I'm a big fan of dedicated servers. They're there like public arenas. They don't move around, and generally are designed to cope with internet traffic. They're ideal in the PC world, because you can just open a game, go to your favourite server, and jump straight in.
I'm also not opposed to matchmaking, as I've mentioned briefly before. However, matchmaking is far from the ideal solution for PC gaming. In fact, relying on it solely is detrimental to the multiplayer experience. The above two key logistical issues are a start. No dedicated servers means that you may potentially be stuck in high latency games just because whoever started the game decided he'd open up a torrent in the background(or his housemate, whatever). Dedicated sservers give a baseline reliability and connectivity for a game, and without them, large-scale multiplayer games aren't possible.They ease the burden on machines with low specs or slow internet to keep the game running smooth, and as such make the game enjoyable for everyone.
Point is, yeah, have matchmaking, but keep Dedicated Support. It works great for Left4Dead, which in my books is doing matchmaking more or less ON the nail.
Further food for thought- This matchmaking system is cutting into the running of an actual 3rd tier business - Game Service Providers (people who run and rent servers as a means of profit). This will no doubt cause them some headaches. THE number one game of this year (so says the media), and THEY are going to have a hard time trying to be part of it. It's not like L4D or even Blizzard's battlenet, where they actually HOST games even though there is a matchmaking system, this is completely designed to run around them.
MY biggest concern is this is a continuation of a worrying trend that would circumvent PCs are a viable gaming platform (for major publishing companies outside Valve... Indy pubs and devs will ALWAYS run stronger on PC).. to what end?
So to summarise-
• IWnet servers will host multiplayer
• DLC will be a charged item for PC
• No dedicated servers
• Matchmaking system used to play with similarly ranked players
• VAC instead of PB
• Semi-capable password servers
• Semi-capable ad-hoc servers
• Competitive play is dead
• MW2 mods would not be possible
• Steam integration - (how far not mentioned)
• Potential bandwidth and latency nightmare
• The beginning of the end- HAS IW shot themselves in the foot?
Hold your receipts people.
Further Reading/listening-
http://bashandslash.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=746&Itemid=69
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/10/new-modern-warfare-matchmaking-service-will-definitely-reshape-pc-community/#more-362322
Friday, October 2, 2009
Priorities
Okay so I'm going to do a hard sell here, and I'm going to ask you only one thing coming out of this - Do not under any circumstance purchase Modern Warfare 2.
Why, you may ask?
Allow me to elaborate in words of the queens english.
Argument the First- Bobby Kotick == prick.
I'm not sure how in the loop you are, but surely may have heard of this man who goes by the name of Bobby Kotick. He runs Activision these days, previously owning a boxing firm of some sort I believe. Anyhoo, past irregardless for the moment, he rose to power in Activision in a bloodless coup of stockholders sometime in the last 18 months.
In the last few months, he's been making a lot of negative noise. A WHOLE lot of it, in fact. Most of it is harmless stuff regarding his displeasure with the PS3 as a platform, bla bla bla too expensive, usual gripes. However, Early in September he make a pretty bizzare conference presentation to the Deutsche Bank Securities Group, which all in all has me incensed. To paraphrase and take all the good bits, addressing as I go.
"expect many of our products to be playable independent of a console,"
When asked about an untethered Guitar Hero. In principle, this isn't such a bad idea, however it's at best anther console which you'll have to fork out for, and at worst those stupid throw-away 8-in-1 LCD Gamin-and-watch-style deals ( You know, whole package games complete with hardware... except these'd have to be running stuff that can at least do pixel shaders, so they'd be expensive as shit, or using OnLive). Either way, it's trying to split your market away from everyone else's, which is probably not going to work in this case.
There was a section where he talked about how his friends in movies were quick to point out the bad mouth control and animation in COD:World at War (No shit, they syncing in that game was pretty bad).The executive said game makers just haven't reached a point yet where the mouth movement and facial animation of game characters is good enough to establish a compelling emotional attachment from the player. In many different ways this is untrue. There are plenty of games where emotional attachment to ingame characters or objects, and they didn't even need mouths to prompt it(Portal), and even when there are mouths involved, there are plenty of games out there that have excellent mouth animation and posing(Half-life2 for starters), just none of them I can think of were Activision games. OH, COD4 had some great mouth animation when they were scripted sequence closets.
".... And I think the goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought in to Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."
Argument the Second - Better games coming out if you're into semi-realistic FPSes, and don't care about the story.
You heard me correctly- there ARE better games out there coming out if you're not counting the Singleplayer experience. Say hello to Battlefield Bad Company 2 - a game that on many levels supercedes MW2.
For a start, let's have a look at the base multiplayer- It's Built off the Bad Company MP model, which in itself is built off Battlefield2, which is built of etc etc. The concept and the classes are all well defined and work. The gameplay modes work reasonably well, and the whole package just works. You'll find yourself a home in this game no matter what kind of player you are.
The Graphics- well, they're both pretty good, but the fact that BFBC2 scale to MUCH larger maps and gamplay, and I'm a personal fan of BC's animation style and effects over MW2's.As a package, they feel jsut that better composed and contiguous regardless of the situation (MW and MW2 have notable problems with player models and explosion effects). BC2 does actually kick MW2's arse for accurate models though. Sorry IW, not even complete remodels that you've done can save you from the blasphemous rear sights.
Sound Effects- No goddamn competion the BC2 has the better sound effects. Proper doppler, AWESOME sound Environmental feedback (reverb indoors, long fallof for outdoors sounds), none of this premix crap(1:1 what's on battlefield to what you're hearing), Best Explosion sounds in a game ever, and most realistic weapon sounds you'll ever hear too.
Gimmicks. Killstreaks? Deathstreaks? Fuck that. Destructible buildings. Fully destructible landscapes. How bout some of that? Fuck yeah. Why would you want anything more?
Seriously-
BFBC2-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQq6NQhXg1Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRlBI6FgMOs
MW2-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4PMRFkx07g&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdPn_6PddLQ
Argument the third - Better games coming out if you're into unrealistic FPSes, and do care about the story.
Contrarywise to the above ,there are also better NON-realistic shooter coming out with more inventive stories than MW2.
Borderlands- it's really worthy of it's own blog spruik, but I'll summarise-
Millions of guns, procedurally generated
semi-procedurally created lifeforms.
Set in a futuristic wasteland on another planet
Interesting characters
Great art style
drop in/out coop
Actual character progression and growth as you play
Think Diablo on FPS steroid
Has a tank chracter that can slam cars
Has a robot in it, which is like Gir on cigarettes.
It's got it's own style,which is more than can be said of MW/Mw2's rip-off-every-movie-we-can-before-the-end-credits style.
Argument the fourth - Deagle Brand Deagles- NOW WITH DUAL WIELD.
I mean in theory I hate Dual Wield. In a game that tries for authenticism, it sticks out like a goddamn sore thumb. Deagles. I Hate deagles for the same reasons. Noone uses them for combat, except hollywood. They have no place in a theatre of war. Combining the Two? FUCK THAT SHIT, IW. FUCK IT WITH A BRICK. You know this is what ALL people who use akimbo are going ot use, and you know that the'll be gold ones, and it will be the epitomy of Fucked up.
You only need to see how much people can own with them in COD4 to see exactly how fucked up it will be with DOUBLE THE DEAGLE.
Argument the fifth - 12 year olds, spawn rape, all that shit
All that went on in COD4 probably returns in CODMW2. This, compounded with overcrowded servers are why you wanna stay the fuck away from CODMW2 until at least like this time next year. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
Argument the sixth - Fuck this shit.
Yeah, pretty much. You're spending AU$100 on a game, that's riddiculous. Remember when games were AU$49.95? considering the length of the game, the enjoyment rate for your dollar is pretty thin these days. Unless you buy like scribblenauts or LittleBigPlanet, or something with a ModKit, anything to give it legs, you are getting a very finite value outa the game. Choose very wisely. MW2's campaign is short, Spec ops mode is 2-player-only and finite to an extent, and the comptetitive MP is just plain spammy. Buy Borderlands instead, you'll get at least 4 times the amount of fun outa it, I promise.
So there we go, I hope this at least makes you think twice about buying IW's next game.
I'm Toadie, I say things so you don't have to.
Why, you may ask?
Allow me to elaborate in words of the queens english.
Argument the First- Bobby Kotick == prick.
I'm not sure how in the loop you are, but surely may have heard of this man who goes by the name of Bobby Kotick. He runs Activision these days, previously owning a boxing firm of some sort I believe. Anyhoo, past irregardless for the moment, he rose to power in Activision in a bloodless coup of stockholders sometime in the last 18 months.
In the last few months, he's been making a lot of negative noise. A WHOLE lot of it, in fact. Most of it is harmless stuff regarding his displeasure with the PS3 as a platform, bla bla bla too expensive, usual gripes. However, Early in September he make a pretty bizzare conference presentation to the Deutsche Bank Securities Group, which all in all has me incensed. To paraphrase and take all the good bits, addressing as I go.
"expect many of our products to be playable independent of a console,"
When asked about an untethered Guitar Hero. In principle, this isn't such a bad idea, however it's at best anther console which you'll have to fork out for, and at worst those stupid throw-away 8-in-1 LCD Gamin-and-watch-style deals ( You know, whole package games complete with hardware... except these'd have to be running stuff that can at least do pixel shaders, so they'd be expensive as shit, or using OnLive). Either way, it's trying to split your market away from everyone else's, which is probably not going to work in this case.
There was a section where he talked about how his friends in movies were quick to point out the bad mouth control and animation in COD:World at War (No shit, they syncing in that game was pretty bad).The executive said game makers just haven't reached a point yet where the mouth movement and facial animation of game characters is good enough to establish a compelling emotional attachment from the player. In many different ways this is untrue. There are plenty of games where emotional attachment to ingame characters or objects, and they didn't even need mouths to prompt it(Portal), and even when there are mouths involved, there are plenty of games out there that have excellent mouth animation and posing(Half-life2 for starters), just none of them I can think of were Activision games. OH, COD4 had some great mouth animation when they were scripted sequence closets.
".... And I think the goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought in to Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."
"I think we definitely have been able to instill the culture, the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we are in today. And so, while generally people talk about the recession, we are pretty good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."
"...You have studio heads who five years ago didn't know the difference between a balance sheet and a bed sheet who are now arguing allocations in our CFO's office pretty regularly,"
So essentially, he's sapping the fun out of making games, and turning it into the packaging industry. Great. As if we needed it. Admittedly, yes being fiscally responsible is pretty important, if you're ruling a bank, and I suppose you've still gotta worry bout th bottom line at Activision, but it shouldn't be DRIVING how you make your product. THAT, is bad game managment. If you're instilling pessimism and fear into your Developers, and making sure they're not enjoying themselves, you can bet your eggbasket that the games they make are noty going to be fun. It's really a symptomatic problem of some publishing deals (ie, game to movie tie-ins), but he's pretty plainly stated there he's got no intention of letting Developers enjoy making games, so don't expect me to buy anything from him. Seriously, I'm on Activision boycott now, and unlike my failed Vegas 2 one, I can actually achieve this quite successfully.
Argument the Second - Better games coming out if you're into semi-realistic FPSes, and don't care about the story.
You heard me correctly- there ARE better games out there coming out if you're not counting the Singleplayer experience. Say hello to Battlefield Bad Company 2 - a game that on many levels supercedes MW2.
For a start, let's have a look at the base multiplayer- It's Built off the Bad Company MP model, which in itself is built off Battlefield2, which is built of etc etc. The concept and the classes are all well defined and work. The gameplay modes work reasonably well, and the whole package just works. You'll find yourself a home in this game no matter what kind of player you are.
The Graphics- well, they're both pretty good, but the fact that BFBC2 scale to MUCH larger maps and gamplay, and I'm a personal fan of BC's animation style and effects over MW2's.As a package, they feel jsut that better composed and contiguous regardless of the situation (MW and MW2 have notable problems with player models and explosion effects). BC2 does actually kick MW2's arse for accurate models though. Sorry IW, not even complete remodels that you've done can save you from the blasphemous rear sights.
Sound Effects- No goddamn competion the BC2 has the better sound effects. Proper doppler, AWESOME sound Environmental feedback (reverb indoors, long fallof for outdoors sounds), none of this premix crap(1:1 what's on battlefield to what you're hearing), Best Explosion sounds in a game ever, and most realistic weapon sounds you'll ever hear too.
Gimmicks. Killstreaks? Deathstreaks? Fuck that. Destructible buildings. Fully destructible landscapes. How bout some of that? Fuck yeah. Why would you want anything more?
Seriously-
BFBC2-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQq6NQhXg1Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRlBI6FgMOs
MW2-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4PMRFkx07g&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdPn_6PddLQ
Argument the third - Better games coming out if you're into unrealistic FPSes, and do care about the story.
Contrarywise to the above ,there are also better NON-realistic shooter coming out with more inventive stories than MW2.
Borderlands- it's really worthy of it's own blog spruik, but I'll summarise-
Millions of guns, procedurally generated
semi-procedurally created lifeforms.
Set in a futuristic wasteland on another planet
Interesting characters
Great art style
drop in/out coop
Actual character progression and growth as you play
Think Diablo on FPS steroid
Has a tank chracter that can slam cars
Has a robot in it, which is like Gir on cigarettes.
It's got it's own style,which is more than can be said of MW/Mw2's rip-off-every-movie-we-can-before-the-end-credits style.
Argument the fourth - Deagle Brand Deagles- NOW WITH DUAL WIELD.
I mean in theory I hate Dual Wield. In a game that tries for authenticism, it sticks out like a goddamn sore thumb. Deagles. I Hate deagles for the same reasons. Noone uses them for combat, except hollywood. They have no place in a theatre of war. Combining the Two? FUCK THAT SHIT, IW. FUCK IT WITH A BRICK. You know this is what ALL people who use akimbo are going ot use, and you know that the'll be gold ones, and it will be the epitomy of Fucked up.
You only need to see how much people can own with them in COD4 to see exactly how fucked up it will be with DOUBLE THE DEAGLE.
Argument the fifth - 12 year olds, spawn rape, all that shit
All that went on in COD4 probably returns in CODMW2. This, compounded with overcrowded servers are why you wanna stay the fuck away from CODMW2 until at least like this time next year. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
Argument the sixth - Fuck this shit.
Yeah, pretty much. You're spending AU$100 on a game, that's riddiculous. Remember when games were AU$49.95? considering the length of the game, the enjoyment rate for your dollar is pretty thin these days. Unless you buy like scribblenauts or LittleBigPlanet, or something with a ModKit, anything to give it legs, you are getting a very finite value outa the game. Choose very wisely. MW2's campaign is short, Spec ops mode is 2-player-only and finite to an extent, and the comptetitive MP is just plain spammy. Buy Borderlands instead, you'll get at least 4 times the amount of fun outa it, I promise.
So there we go, I hope this at least makes you think twice about buying IW's next game.
I'm Toadie, I say things so you don't have to.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Okay so here's the thing about Valve Software.
I mean I don't hate them, nor do I spin madly in love with them, I just co-exist in the same world with them and sometimes we meet for coffee, if that analogy makes any sense.
I think that people both overstate and understate Valve, usually in the same breath.The overstatement is usually a sweeping positive or a sweeping negative, while the understatement is almost always just trying to ignore pitfalls.
Understatement
On one side, Valve are incredibly capable game devs. They've pulled off some of the best games I've played, possibly of all time (HL2: Ep2, Portal, HL1). They really know their shit and it shows in what I've seen from L4D2. They're really hands on with the community, and do support their product literally a decade after people would have bought it full price at a brick and mortar store. They hire high-class talent and produce high class work. However, they're not infallible.
People do treat them as if they are infallible. This is a problem, because they are not, nor are they delivering upon high mighty stone tablets. They are, at the end of the day, some guys in Bellvue Washington, who happen to make polished games and still support the PC platform with a reasonable amount of consistency.
They suffer from what I'd like to call "Game Science Syndrome". This more or less comes down to a game being designed from an initial point to reach a single hypothesis, which is then put to testers, who rigorously hammer, then it's passed back and forth until it's so tight that the hammering has turned the 50 cubic meter marshmallow is now a cube the size of a pinhead and full of glucose. Hence- Game Science. Have a theory, make a test batch, apply to mice, note reactions, modify and reiterate as necessary until it works with minimal flaws, push on public for fifty bucks. This approach is fine, and indeed should be part of all games, but relying on tester feedback and deliberately trying to smooth out the game leads to streamlining, and streamlining isn;t always necessarily GOOD. It has lead to some of my biggest beefs with Valve games cropping up (HL2's boring environments, TF2/TFC's useless class- the HWG, L4D's monotonous gameplay). I should address all these in proper reviews, but they're never going to get reviews, so I'll give a quick cover right now.
HL2's environments, immediately post acquiring the Gravity gun go from interesting adventurous places to be, to dull , gimmick-lined pains in the ass. Okay, let's assume that you're me, not a huge fan of using the gravity gun because of it's sheer gimmick factor. Yes, you'll use it when you HAVE to , but because you're not hunting for props and objects to throw at things constantly, the game goes from a tense run to downright boring. Props are all obviously there for you to punt. Hell, Ravenholm made sure you did by blocking your path with them time and again. It's a real problem especially around the sandtraps, where you must use your gravity gun (again, it's fine because that's the puzzle of that entire level) on everything. There is no other way to solve this level but to play shuffleboard with a door and a rotted boat (yes there are other props, no, get out of my head charles). THere is literally nothing more than this to the level if you don;t want antlions to rape you. You can of course try your best to cross withoutusing the gun, but you will find yourself physically alienated from the solution half way, because there is a gulf of sand wide enough that even if you could glitch it, you'd still probably miss. It's impossible. Then of course completeing this you get gimmick weapon two- the Antlion pheromone pod. Another story altogether. It's clear that Valve want you to play with the gravity gun, but I'm jsut not down with gimmicky tools in games. They're all like "Here, use this." and I'm like "No, I'll stick to trying my skill with the shotgun, thanks.". It reeks of the bad kind of game science, and it really irritates me.
Valve gripe number two - The Useless Class: the Heavy/Heavy Weapons Guy. Seriously, he's goddamn useless. Turns slower thank a tank, has the accuracy of a shower of rain. Sure, he's got 200 health, but he's so slow and his weapon is so useless that he jsut becomes a sponge for someone else to lob over the top of... and Trust me, being the sponge is not fun. Okay a bit ofa backstory. Before TFC, there was Quakeworld Team Fortress, made by a Queenslander in his bedroom. It was massive. Team based class gameplay, 9 classes, a bajillion maps. Yes, the Heavy was one of them, but he was a late addition. By the time he was added, Valve and said queenslander were already in talks for TFC in Half-life 1, so he was needles to say, a bit unbalanced. Minigun? unbalanced? never. TFC came out, and while some classes had become a bit softer, not got the nerf as hard as the poor HW guy.Admittedly, he wasn't as bad as he was in TF2, but he got a noticable step down in power from Quakeworld. TF2 made it worse, with the nerfing continuing, the removal of traps and grenades, and ultimately, becoming on it's own a different experinece altogether separate of it's roots. The HW guy went from being a good base of fire to being compltely and utterly useless. Sure, you could argue that some of the achievement unlocks for the heavy make him a bit more powerful ,but I'll be honest, putting 20 plus hours into a heavy, I've yet to see any of that shit, so fuck it. Again another iterative nerfing project that valve embarked upon.
And finally Left4Dead's boring gameplay. Mechanics directly from CS, step one for a resipe for disaster right there. Left 4 Dead, for me was this *hold down fire* *reload* *hold down fire and run* *wait for everyone * *fire some more**end level* *rinse repeat until last level* *receive rape*. That's it. there is literally nothing more to that game. What's more, the variety of weapons is shocking. Remember what I said about pruning and stuff? Heres where it was cut. Admittedly, any more guns might just be dupes, but they've no issue with it in two. What's more, the entire outside areas of Left4dead feel uninspired and boring for the most part. Especially the starting chapter. That set of levels was so very dull to be a part of. So dull it hurt my view of the rest of the game. L4D2 seems to cope with all this stuff and I'm much more inclined to get that over the wide berth I gave the first one.
So yes, people tend to understate or overlook minor or major downfalls to appease the actually-not-listening Gabe Newell head on their mantle, just because it's Valve.
Then again....
Overstatment
This happens a lot to Valve, because unfortunately, because they do seem to be such a community-focussed team, it makes them open to broad-siders about all sorts.
L4D2 Boycotts, the Anti-Steam movement, PS3 owners, L4D players, Portal addicts, TF2 addicts, CS junkies, CSS junkies. All of them overstate Valve's abilities or importance.. or totally go off the deepend regardless of the reality of the situation.
L4D2 Boycotters are nothing but a bunch of L4D gamers who immediately threw their hands in the air at the announcement of the sequal, not believing that valve could turn over a game in 12 months (thinking that this somehow invalidates their purchase or something), and in a leap of logic think Valve are jsut going to leave them in the lurch.
Anti-Steam people are just idiots. While there are a few bugs with Steam, it's a hell of a lot better than it was in 2004, and it most certainly easier to use and more convenient that maybe 70% of all competive game distribution platforms. Offline Mode may still be buggy to hell, but while I'm online, I've yet to see a problem with steam yet. Their leap of logic is thinking that Steam is somehow the worst concept in game distribution, because it's still better than discs. There, I said it.
PS3 owners who bought the Orange box are the only ones who should feel slighted by valve.. because the port (not actually done by valve) was crap. All other PS3 owners who are now whinging about Valve annoucement that they have no intentions for developing for the PS3. I'm not planning on making games for the PS3. What, you gonna cry 'bout that too?
L4D junkies TF2 addicts and Portal players all share one thing in common- their love for derivative material and memes. They think that no bad can be made of their game, and then have a hissy fit when someone does poke fun or point at a glaring fault. Get over it, they aren't perfect by long shots.
CS and CSS junkies (especially the Pro gamer type) just need to shut up. Valve don't specifically cater games to your tiny niche MLG market, they make games to be PLAYED by as many people as they can. Neither shields, FAMASes or Galils broke the game, AWP and Deagles were already ingame ,so the game was pre-broke.
Finally, I'd jsut like to reiterate, Valve software still support, and are one of the major pillars of, PC gaming. Despite all the back and forth, they're still worth putting money into, because at least they do this much for PC gamers like me. Few developers or publishers even recognise the platform at all these days it seems.
I think that people both overstate and understate Valve, usually in the same breath.The overstatement is usually a sweeping positive or a sweeping negative, while the understatement is almost always just trying to ignore pitfalls.
Understatement
On one side, Valve are incredibly capable game devs. They've pulled off some of the best games I've played, possibly of all time (HL2: Ep2, Portal, HL1). They really know their shit and it shows in what I've seen from L4D2. They're really hands on with the community, and do support their product literally a decade after people would have bought it full price at a brick and mortar store. They hire high-class talent and produce high class work. However, they're not infallible.
People do treat them as if they are infallible. This is a problem, because they are not, nor are they delivering upon high mighty stone tablets. They are, at the end of the day, some guys in Bellvue Washington, who happen to make polished games and still support the PC platform with a reasonable amount of consistency.
They suffer from what I'd like to call "Game Science Syndrome". This more or less comes down to a game being designed from an initial point to reach a single hypothesis, which is then put to testers, who rigorously hammer, then it's passed back and forth until it's so tight that the hammering has turned the 50 cubic meter marshmallow is now a cube the size of a pinhead and full of glucose. Hence- Game Science. Have a theory, make a test batch, apply to mice, note reactions, modify and reiterate as necessary until it works with minimal flaws, push on public for fifty bucks. This approach is fine, and indeed should be part of all games, but relying on tester feedback and deliberately trying to smooth out the game leads to streamlining, and streamlining isn;t always necessarily GOOD. It has lead to some of my biggest beefs with Valve games cropping up (HL2's boring environments, TF2/TFC's useless class- the HWG, L4D's monotonous gameplay). I should address all these in proper reviews, but they're never going to get reviews, so I'll give a quick cover right now.
HL2's environments, immediately post acquiring the Gravity gun go from interesting adventurous places to be, to dull , gimmick-lined pains in the ass. Okay, let's assume that you're me, not a huge fan of using the gravity gun because of it's sheer gimmick factor. Yes, you'll use it when you HAVE to , but because you're not hunting for props and objects to throw at things constantly, the game goes from a tense run to downright boring. Props are all obviously there for you to punt. Hell, Ravenholm made sure you did by blocking your path with them time and again. It's a real problem especially around the sandtraps, where you must use your gravity gun (again, it's fine because that's the puzzle of that entire level) on everything. There is no other way to solve this level but to play shuffleboard with a door and a rotted boat (yes there are other props, no, get out of my head charles). THere is literally nothing more than this to the level if you don;t want antlions to rape you. You can of course try your best to cross withoutusing the gun, but you will find yourself physically alienated from the solution half way, because there is a gulf of sand wide enough that even if you could glitch it, you'd still probably miss. It's impossible. Then of course completeing this you get gimmick weapon two- the Antlion pheromone pod. Another story altogether. It's clear that Valve want you to play with the gravity gun, but I'm jsut not down with gimmicky tools in games. They're all like "Here, use this." and I'm like "No, I'll stick to trying my skill with the shotgun, thanks.". It reeks of the bad kind of game science, and it really irritates me.
Valve gripe number two - The Useless Class: the Heavy/Heavy Weapons Guy. Seriously, he's goddamn useless. Turns slower thank a tank, has the accuracy of a shower of rain. Sure, he's got 200 health, but he's so slow and his weapon is so useless that he jsut becomes a sponge for someone else to lob over the top of... and Trust me, being the sponge is not fun. Okay a bit ofa backstory. Before TFC, there was Quakeworld Team Fortress, made by a Queenslander in his bedroom. It was massive. Team based class gameplay, 9 classes, a bajillion maps. Yes, the Heavy was one of them, but he was a late addition. By the time he was added, Valve and said queenslander were already in talks for TFC in Half-life 1, so he was needles to say, a bit unbalanced. Minigun? unbalanced? never. TFC came out, and while some classes had become a bit softer, not got the nerf as hard as the poor HW guy.Admittedly, he wasn't as bad as he was in TF2, but he got a noticable step down in power from Quakeworld. TF2 made it worse, with the nerfing continuing, the removal of traps and grenades, and ultimately, becoming on it's own a different experinece altogether separate of it's roots. The HW guy went from being a good base of fire to being compltely and utterly useless. Sure, you could argue that some of the achievement unlocks for the heavy make him a bit more powerful ,but I'll be honest, putting 20 plus hours into a heavy, I've yet to see any of that shit, so fuck it. Again another iterative nerfing project that valve embarked upon.
And finally Left4Dead's boring gameplay. Mechanics directly from CS, step one for a resipe for disaster right there. Left 4 Dead, for me was this *hold down fire* *reload* *hold down fire and run* *wait for everyone * *fire some more**end level* *rinse repeat until last level* *receive rape*. That's it. there is literally nothing more to that game. What's more, the variety of weapons is shocking. Remember what I said about pruning and stuff? Heres where it was cut. Admittedly, any more guns might just be dupes, but they've no issue with it in two. What's more, the entire outside areas of Left4dead feel uninspired and boring for the most part. Especially the starting chapter. That set of levels was so very dull to be a part of. So dull it hurt my view of the rest of the game. L4D2 seems to cope with all this stuff and I'm much more inclined to get that over the wide berth I gave the first one.
So yes, people tend to understate or overlook minor or major downfalls to appease the actually-not-listening Gabe Newell head on their mantle, just because it's Valve.
Then again....
Overstatment
This happens a lot to Valve, because unfortunately, because they do seem to be such a community-focussed team, it makes them open to broad-siders about all sorts.
L4D2 Boycotts, the Anti-Steam movement, PS3 owners, L4D players, Portal addicts, TF2 addicts, CS junkies, CSS junkies. All of them overstate Valve's abilities or importance.. or totally go off the deepend regardless of the reality of the situation.
L4D2 Boycotters are nothing but a bunch of L4D gamers who immediately threw their hands in the air at the announcement of the sequal, not believing that valve could turn over a game in 12 months (thinking that this somehow invalidates their purchase or something), and in a leap of logic think Valve are jsut going to leave them in the lurch.
Anti-Steam people are just idiots. While there are a few bugs with Steam, it's a hell of a lot better than it was in 2004, and it most certainly easier to use and more convenient that maybe 70% of all competive game distribution platforms. Offline Mode may still be buggy to hell, but while I'm online, I've yet to see a problem with steam yet. Their leap of logic is thinking that Steam is somehow the worst concept in game distribution, because it's still better than discs. There, I said it.
PS3 owners who bought the Orange box are the only ones who should feel slighted by valve.. because the port (not actually done by valve) was crap. All other PS3 owners who are now whinging about Valve annoucement that they have no intentions for developing for the PS3. I'm not planning on making games for the PS3. What, you gonna cry 'bout that too?
L4D junkies TF2 addicts and Portal players all share one thing in common- their love for derivative material and memes. They think that no bad can be made of their game, and then have a hissy fit when someone does poke fun or point at a glaring fault. Get over it, they aren't perfect by long shots.
CS and CSS junkies (especially the Pro gamer type) just need to shut up. Valve don't specifically cater games to your tiny niche MLG market, they make games to be PLAYED by as many people as they can. Neither shields, FAMASes or Galils broke the game, AWP and Deagles were already ingame ,so the game was pre-broke.
Finally, I'd jsut like to reiterate, Valve software still support, and are one of the major pillars of, PC gaming. Despite all the back and forth, they're still worth putting money into, because at least they do this much for PC gamers like me. Few developers or publishers even recognise the platform at all these days it seems.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Streetlight Manifesto - FUCK YEAH
I don't know what's gotten into me recently, must be all the coffee.
Recently, after watching the latest Hey Ash, I decided to see what it's writer/co-star has to say for himself, being all curious at the wrong time. Here's what I found - we're both very much on the same page about quite a lot of the big mechanical, social and cultural quandaries of gaming. Quad Erat Demonstratum : Games as Art. Say hello to Reverend Anthony Burch. His rants are insightful, and to be honest I can't disagree with him, even with my lack of philosophical sophistication, it still harmonised well with my sensibilities about both morality, and game design.
http://www.destructoid.com/rev-rant-fun-isn-t-enough-142052.phtml
There's a link, I recommend combing through previous rants as well, they're good for the grey matter.
My view on the whole thing is more on less what he says, but in my opinion what's needed is a transition period. I believe we're beginning to see that start to happen, but it's a massive ball to roll so it just needs more behind it. Also, I don't think art and fun have to be mutually exclusive. Especially transitioning, you have to put a mix down of the both, because swaying the masses aren't going to go intellectual overnight.
Now onto the meat and gravy- a Review.
Tonight, I Review my HEAHPONES.
TDK ST-PR400.
They're all wrong. aaaaall wrong. Okay not all wrong, but certainly not worth MONEY for any forseeable market. If you're thinking of buying these, take 70 bucks, and just set fire to it, because this is the effect that these headphones are w
orth. Still, I said I'd review them, not just give insult, I must follow through with a proper criticism of them. Where to start?
Cable/Jack- This I believe is one of the the few things they've done right. It's a proper thick cable, coated with proper rubber of some sort. Gold Tipped Jack, "oxygen-free" cord. And it's Coiled and springy, which is GREAT, they make them seem serious business. This is where the end of the purely fault free material ends.
Supports/Arch/Frame - Flimsy, Cheap feeling.
The actual muff supports swivel 90 degrees forward, supposedly because DJs like having an ear off or something. However, if you're a DJ, surely you like having a solid locking mechanism. The ones on these are Flimsy as all hell, they don't lock forward securely, nor do they lock to the normal position that easily.
The padding on top below the arch, where it rests on your head, usually there's some padding. On this , nothing. What,that little bump with the nylon mesh over the top? that's nothing,and it hurts my scalp if I slick my headphones in the normal way. The rest of the construction is molded plastic and pinning screws, which in my books, ALWAYS results in the headphones having a life of less than 12 months due to breakages, or stripping screws (this is what bad craftsmanship+my mediocre handling of headphones does.
On the plus side, it's clear that the designers actually allowed for boofs like me with BIG heads, because the arch is one of the widest spanning ones I've ever used.This is great for adding a little comfort to the packet.
The Cans themselves/Drivers- 50mm drivers(drivers being the speakers, not device drivers)) with an 20-20000hz response range. This isn't too bad, it actually is a slightly bigger response range than My old Sennheiser HD 202s, however, presentation of the range is at BEST sloppy. Now, these are marketed as "DJ Headphones", which is really odd. You'd expect DJ's would want some level of audio fidelity. Instead, you get nothing. Flat undersupported Bass, flat(seemingly clipped) treble, only the midrange seems to get any SOLID coverage. That isn't fidelity, it's sticking cheap portable radio speakers in headphone covers and calling it a day. It's unacceptably poor listening, particularly with these thing's tendency to ignore the Sound Pressure Level for the pain threshold (which it has NO objection going over if you want to hurt your ears and go deaf). I've heard better from noname brand earbuds, original generation iPod bugs, BUDGET sennheiser buds (coincidentally, they're less than HALF the price of these things).. Hell, even TDK's budget in-ear buds are better hear than these things(and those were cheaper than the sennheiser buds).
Further groans about the drivers, I have to really keep the volume down on these, because if I crank the volume up just a bit above what I've got them on, I get three major driver issues - Rattling, metallic ringing after peaks, and noise over the line. These could be a QC issue, but it could also be a fundamental design flaw (metal on metal bracing without insulation, washer-less fixture (or PLASTIC))
Drivers aside, nice padding, effing huge can widths. Great sound insulation on the padding. eliminates most of all audible noise from the headphones just with the two cans light pressed together.These headphones really are designed for big heads.
All in all,
Pros-
Great for big heads
Coiled cable with good insulation = win.
Plays the SHIT out of midrange and lower treble
Cons-
Unbalanced audio output.
Driver issues
Patchy supports
Feels flimsy
Overpriced
Does not like you
All in all,they're fucking terrible. I mean REALLY terrible. Still better than a set of Audiosonic or whatever EA sell at budget prices, but if you want to take the step up from them, I'd just advise to ignore the hell out of the impressive packaging these have, save the extra 30/50 bucks for Sennheiser or.. well any other brand. Sennheiser are just a good bet in that introductory Audiophile/Amateur Audio Scene price range. Point is, save the extra ducketts, get something better.
Recently, after watching the latest Hey Ash, I decided to see what it's writer/co-star has to say for himself, being all curious at the wrong time. Here's what I found - we're both very much on the same page about quite a lot of the big mechanical, social and cultural quandaries of gaming. Quad Erat Demonstratum : Games as Art. Say hello to Reverend Anthony Burch. His rants are insightful, and to be honest I can't disagree with him, even with my lack of philosophical sophistication, it still harmonised well with my sensibilities about both morality, and game design.
http://www.destructoid.com/rev-rant-fun-isn-t-enough-142052.phtml
There's a link, I recommend combing through previous rants as well, they're good for the grey matter.
My view on the whole thing is more on less what he says, but in my opinion what's needed is a transition period. I believe we're beginning to see that start to happen, but it's a massive ball to roll so it just needs more behind it. Also, I don't think art and fun have to be mutually exclusive. Especially transitioning, you have to put a mix down of the both, because swaying the masses aren't going to go intellectual overnight.
Now onto the meat and gravy- a Review.
Tonight, I Review my HEAHPONES.
TDK ST-PR400.
They're all wrong. aaaaall wrong. Okay not all wrong, but certainly not worth MONEY for any forseeable market. If you're thinking of buying these, take 70 bucks, and just set fire to it, because this is the effect that these headphones are w
orth. Still, I said I'd review them, not just give insult, I must follow through with a proper criticism of them. Where to start?Cable/Jack- This I believe is one of the the few things they've done right. It's a proper thick cable, coated with proper rubber of some sort. Gold Tipped Jack, "oxygen-free" cord. And it's Coiled and springy, which is GREAT, they make them seem serious business. This is where the end of the purely fault free material ends.
Supports/Arch/Frame - Flimsy, Cheap feeling.
The actual muff supports swivel 90 degrees forward, supposedly because DJs like having an ear off or something. However, if you're a DJ, surely you like having a solid locking mechanism. The ones on these are Flimsy as all hell, they don't lock forward securely, nor do they lock to the normal position that easily.
The padding on top below the arch, where it rests on your head, usually there's some padding. On this , nothing. What,that little bump with the nylon mesh over the top? that's nothing,and it hurts my scalp if I slick my headphones in the normal way. The rest of the construction is molded plastic and pinning screws, which in my books, ALWAYS results in the headphones having a life of less than 12 months due to breakages, or stripping screws (this is what bad craftsmanship+my mediocre handling of headphones does.
On the plus side, it's clear that the designers actually allowed for boofs like me with BIG heads, because the arch is one of the widest spanning ones I've ever used.This is great for adding a little comfort to the packet.
The Cans themselves/Drivers- 50mm drivers(drivers being the speakers, not device drivers)) with an 20-20000hz response range. This isn't too bad, it actually is a slightly bigger response range than My old Sennheiser HD 202s, however, presentation of the range is at BEST sloppy. Now, these are marketed as "DJ Headphones", which is really odd. You'd expect DJ's would want some level of audio fidelity. Instead, you get nothing. Flat undersupported Bass, flat(seemingly clipped) treble, only the midrange seems to get any SOLID coverage. That isn't fidelity, it's sticking cheap portable radio speakers in headphone covers and calling it a day. It's unacceptably poor listening, particularly with these thing's tendency to ignore the Sound Pressure Level for the pain threshold (which it has NO objection going over if you want to hurt your ears and go deaf). I've heard better from noname brand earbuds, original generation iPod bugs, BUDGET sennheiser buds (coincidentally, they're less than HALF the price of these things).. Hell, even TDK's budget in-ear buds are better hear than these things(and those were cheaper than the sennheiser buds).
Further groans about the drivers, I have to really keep the volume down on these, because if I crank the volume up just a bit above what I've got them on, I get three major driver issues - Rattling, metallic ringing after peaks, and noise over the line. These could be a QC issue, but it could also be a fundamental design flaw (metal on metal bracing without insulation, washer-less fixture (or PLASTIC))
Drivers aside, nice padding, effing huge can widths. Great sound insulation on the padding. eliminates most of all audible noise from the headphones just with the two cans light pressed together.These headphones really are designed for big heads.
All in all,
Pros-
Great for big heads
Coiled cable with good insulation = win.
Plays the SHIT out of midrange and lower treble
Cons-
Unbalanced audio output.
Driver issues
Patchy supports
Feels flimsy
Overpriced
Does not like you
All in all,they're fucking terrible. I mean REALLY terrible. Still better than a set of Audiosonic or whatever EA sell at budget prices, but if you want to take the step up from them, I'd just advise to ignore the hell out of the impressive packaging these have, save the extra 30/50 bucks for Sennheiser or.. well any other brand. Sennheiser are just a good bet in that introductory Audiophile/Amateur Audio Scene price range. Point is, save the extra ducketts, get something better.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
End of Financial year Anime runout review- Phantom
With the rapid closure of the Financial Year today, I thought I'd close off on something tha'ts stil fresh on my mind and needs to be covered before you all get tootsie rolled by it, and that is Phantom- Requiem of a Phantom. You need to know several things before we get too deep into phantoms' coils :
1) it's penned by the guy who did Noir and Madlax
2) it's animated by the guys who animated Noir and Madlax
3) there are at LEAST two ALI Project in the soundtrack, one is the ending.If you can't stand ALI project, prepare to press the mute button a few times
with those three parental advisory alerts out of the way, let's delve into the cheesburger candy.
The plot premise is fairly straight forward- The main protoagonist wakes up with amnesia in a warehouse and finds himself in a locked room in a warehouse. The door is mysteriously unlocked, and he has to escape. Along the way he is dogged by a teenager in a detail-free white pantomime mask (who has guns and knives and apparently is trying to kill him) and he must survive the attacks and escape. Ultimately he finds a way to trap his attacker and pulls a knife on her, and slices the mask in half revealing.. a FACE! zomg. It turns out that this was all a test by a guy called Scythe Master to see if his survival skills were real ,and is now trained by his attacker (revealed to be someone called Ein) and purt through another warehouse cage fight, where he must learn to kill. After killing some mafia puke, the plot really begins.
It's revealed that Scythe Master works for a shadowy organisation called "Inferno" and Ein and the protagonist (now named Zwei, see what he did there) are now a two person literal vaguerie called "Phantom".
... maybe less straightforward, more intensely convoluted.
AS expected the show does all sorts of assassin things- taking out more mob guys, doing intel work, killing women and children with no mercy and Juno Reactor-ripoff music. This sounds all fine, but I'd just like to say this is wherre my real objections start coming into play. Coming from the guy who wrote Noir, you expect this this stuff, but where as Noir was well paced and took some nice cues of originality, Phantom does not. It lacks pacing and originality at the least. The background art is fine, the character design is passable enough, but there is so little character in the show it's 100% wasted effort.
QED, the cross-episode story of Inferno's toppling of Madison Square and the mafia roup running that place. It spanned two episodes, had dozens of characters both running and arc-centric. Only three characters out of that entire cast were identifiable (not relatable, nobody could relate to any of them,really) - Bitch number one, Bitch's body guard, and the Madison Square Mafia Boss.Every one else was just a John or Jane Doe, a dozen different faced John and Janes. Not even the main leads are fleshed out much at all (until epsode 8 where it's revealed whats really going on with that, so Phantom gets off the hook for them technically).
at 11 episodes long, you half expect them to keep a reasonable pace consitantly, but they don't. You have 1 epsiode of setting up the main leads, 1 of some more setting them up, 6 episodes of filler, and then the endgame begins. I mean whaaaaaaaaaat. They could have EASILY cut out half the filler and still made it watchable length.
Furthering my issues with this show, the bulllet removing scene... you'll know it when you see it.
Seriously, it was only a short mix and match editing witch choice film cuts away from being a hentai scene by suggestion alone. Sadly I can't find a youtube of someone who actually HAS done a mash up.... so I'll do one later. Anyway yeah, it's a real problem.
Also, there'as a subtly implied thread of pedophilia going on with Scythe Master.... I don't know if that was intended or not, but it was just wrong.
Finally the last episode was horribly paced and almost completely decontextualised. Thankyou very much for not making sense at a...
OH CRAP! Sorry guys, apparently I've only got half the series... I will see this through though, but consider this my initial impressions.
It's cardboard bland and badly paced. if this changes, I'll let you know in part 2 of the review.
EDIT - I just got two more episodes.. and found out that after those two, there's still another 15 coming...
here's my thoughts -
Adieu
1) it's penned by the guy who did Noir and Madlax
2) it's animated by the guys who animated Noir and Madlax
3) there are at LEAST two ALI Project in the soundtrack, one is the ending.If you can't stand ALI project, prepare to press the mute button a few times
with those three parental advisory alerts out of the way, let's delve into the cheesburger candy.
The plot premise is fairly straight forward- The main protoagonist wakes up with amnesia in a warehouse and finds himself in a locked room in a warehouse. The door is mysteriously unlocked, and he has to escape. Along the way he is dogged by a teenager in a detail-free white pantomime mask (who has guns and knives and apparently is trying to kill him) and he must survive the attacks and escape. Ultimately he finds a way to trap his attacker and pulls a knife on her, and slices the mask in half revealing.. a FACE! zomg. It turns out that this was all a test by a guy called Scythe Master to see if his survival skills were real ,and is now trained by his attacker (revealed to be someone called Ein) and purt through another warehouse cage fight, where he must learn to kill. After killing some mafia puke, the plot really begins.
It's revealed that Scythe Master works for a shadowy organisation called "Inferno" and Ein and the protagonist (now named Zwei, see what he did there) are now a two person literal vaguerie called "Phantom".
... maybe less straightforward, more intensely convoluted.
AS expected the show does all sorts of assassin things- taking out more mob guys, doing intel work, killing women and children with no mercy and Juno Reactor-ripoff music. This sounds all fine, but I'd just like to say this is wherre my real objections start coming into play. Coming from the guy who wrote Noir, you expect this this stuff, but where as Noir was well paced and took some nice cues of originality, Phantom does not. It lacks pacing and originality at the least. The background art is fine, the character design is passable enough, but there is so little character in the show it's 100% wasted effort.
QED, the cross-episode story of Inferno's toppling of Madison Square and the mafia roup running that place. It spanned two episodes, had dozens of characters both running and arc-centric. Only three characters out of that entire cast were identifiable (not relatable, nobody could relate to any of them,really) - Bitch number one, Bitch's body guard, and the Madison Square Mafia Boss.Every one else was just a John or Jane Doe, a dozen different faced John and Janes. Not even the main leads are fleshed out much at all (until epsode 8 where it's revealed whats really going on with that, so Phantom gets off the hook for them technically).
at 11 episodes long, you half expect them to keep a reasonable pace consitantly, but they don't. You have 1 epsiode of setting up the main leads, 1 of some more setting them up, 6 episodes of filler, and then the endgame begins. I mean whaaaaaaaaaat. They could have EASILY cut out half the filler and still made it watchable length.
Furthering my issues with this show, the bulllet removing scene... you'll know it when you see it.
Seriously, it was only a short mix and match editing witch choice film cuts away from being a hentai scene by suggestion alone. Sadly I can't find a youtube of someone who actually HAS done a mash up.... so I'll do one later. Anyway yeah, it's a real problem.
Also, there'as a subtly implied thread of pedophilia going on with Scythe Master.... I don't know if that was intended or not, but it was just wrong.
Finally the last episode was horribly paced and almost completely decontextualised. Thankyou very much for not making sense at a...
OH CRAP! Sorry guys, apparently I've only got half the series... I will see this through though, but consider this my initial impressions.
It's cardboard bland and badly paced. if this changes, I'll let you know in part 2 of the review.
EDIT - I just got two more episodes.. and found out that after those two, there's still another 15 coming...
here's my thoughts -
Adieu
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A little something I'm working on (note - NOT FINAL)
Original Video - More videos at TinyPic
More stuff coming just around the corner.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
We Can't Be Cool
It's kind of a reoccurring topic with regards to myself, but I can't stand Counter Strike, it's players and it's ability to somehow stay a solvent medium of competitive gaming@. I think the whole game is geared for twitchfuck gamers who obsessively chew through the game so heavily that to win against anyone you must know every small nuance of the game (otherwise you will be reamed in a fashion not unsimilar to having a Hydrochloric enema). Now, where to start ?
Oh yes, let's start with my smallest beefs. The level design is wholly impractical in a real world sense of the word. Even with CS Source's impressively redone maps, you're still stuck maps that are constructed around direct routes and bottlenecks. Now normally, having clearly defined routes is a good thing ,but in my books , having ONLY routes and bottlenecks (no lines for ambush or change of tactic) results in the maps being 100% predictable and linear. Painfully obvious about it as well. This is of course ignoring real-world impracticality, which CS maps all most certainly ARE. There is no sense of purpose to any of them. Thoroughfares that literally hair pain around a building, only to have the middle section drop below and under for NO reason other than for... well I don't know, it's goddamn ridiculous.I'll only concede one map is remotely real-world plausible, and that is CS_office. The rest are just theme mazes in my books (which detracts from the theme of the game)
Next biggest beef - Map scale. It's all wrong. Even with source (which is an improvement), the size of objects directly in relation to players is always off, varying from a bit to OH MY GOD BOXES THE SIZE OF SEATAINERS.
3rd biggest beef - Weapon Models- they're CRAP.No Seriously, not a single CS game has had decently looking or proportioned weapon models. Couple with the hurrrr lower right-corner weapon origins and animation makes every goddamn weapon feel ridiculous.
2nd biggest beef - Game mechanics and systems. They're outright bloody silly (which has lead to such heavy inbuilt and inbred imbalances... in). Starting with the almost arbitrary hit detection system and recoil system attached to weapons, and going through to the absolutely futile and broken weapons balance, it's all frigging wrong. As alluded to the hit detection is trash, it makes players who are occupying an entire crosshair on your screen less of a "you're in my crosshair now you will take some pain" and more of a 50/50 flip coin decision for whether that player is going down or not. usually erring on not (read: crosshairs mean SFA, Accuracy is almost arbitrary to the casual player). Again as inferred previously, recoil in the game is broken. If you can legitimately put a YouTube video video up that shows an exact recoil pattern that can be 100% replicated time and time again, you have officially broken it.
Moving onto the weapon balancing and it's broken ness. Once upon a time, every weapon in a game had a purpose at most of the time throughout all a game. This isn't the case in Counter Strike, because if you're not using the AWP, M4A1, AK47 and Desert Eagle in some sort of cycle, you aren't going to stand a chance against anyone at all. Sub Guns are a laudable effort, and outside of one round in the game ( "the SMG round", the second round in a game) you are not going to fucking touch them. Same goes across for the Shotguns, and the 1 machine gun "Has no use". If CS were thought out at all, there'd still be some use to these weapons in some sense ( personally, I would love to see some sort of purpose returned for CQB fans like me to continue using these weapons, unfortunately it doesn't happen because there is just no motive to get people out of their "favourite weapons"#. Then there's stuff like the AWP, which literally has no counter. THAT, in a multiplayer game is a fucking horrid design flaw. This combined with that whole "fire quickswitch" thing that "AWPers" do, it's intolerably unfair without contention. (and no one uses Auto Snipers for the stigmata they they'd receive from other players)
Now for my Biggest peeve about Counter Strike- the players.
If you're playing on a public server, you are guarantee to find the VERY worst of people's attitudes and egos on display. If you thought /b/ was bad, you ain't seen shit. Then there's incessant voice chat spam, the stoners sitting there with their voice key down while they toke or use their bong, prepubescent twerps and their ear bleeding voices, and all manner of other voicespams.
Then of course you have to deal with that fine level of elitist faggotry that some guys guys parade around with (usually ex-clan guys, or currently IN clan guys just wasting time until.... I dunno.... their order of shithot comes down from clanleader divine or something). These pricks are annoying on their own level because they play the ego card like a motherfucker and when they get pegged down one they scream bloody murder.
Then there are the Private scrimmers and clan guys.. .you know, the competitive guys.. These guys you see on the public open servers sometimes,and usually they pick a side and just REAM. These guys ARE egotistical pricks who not only mean srs fckn bsness ALL the time, but they make sure you know about it.however, unlike the ex-clan guy or the other egodouches, these guys are absolutely ruthless because they know the game better than Valve, Turtle Rock and Gooseman combined do, they know how exactly EVERYTHING goes and because of that, they end up just being serious mindfucks. The funny thing is, you'll pick them out a mile away IRL, because they're all the same. Watch out for these fuckers.
In short, CS is a brain-hemorrhaging experience, and why it's held up as a poster child for anything, is beyond me. There are dozens of games that did things better than it. Tactical Ops (and it's retail cousin in Tac Ops: Assault on Terror) was around at a similar time to CS, and without question it was the superior of the two in gameplay,design, art and function. For a more modern analogy, maybe see Call of Duty 4. Both of these games don't suffer the horrendous issues that Counter Strike suffers and (COD4's own independent success aside), neither replaced it on any level.
@ - I'm of course going to ignore that CS was touted as a tactical shooter. It clearly isn't, it's a twitch shooter of the ilk that quake3 is.
# - For the record, Valve have tried to rectify this once ,with CSS- the Market place. Unfortunately, habitual buying broke the marketplace in under month. last time I looked you would actually GET money money when you bought a TMP ,and the AWP was more expensive than the M249 was on static pricing
Addendum Rant -
I really don't get what every one's problem with COD4's Multiplayer is (by everyone, I of course mean "pro gamers", the same ilk that worship CS no less ) ... Here we have a versatile, robust multiplayer component that pretty much will let you play however you want, the maps are WELL designed and reasonable, and the balancing is fairly solid. Hit detection is MUCH more reliable than Counter Strike (for direct comparison because I just ranted about it), and it even allows for those idiot CS players to player their favourite mode - Bomb Defusal.
Furthermore, I reject the notion that COD4 isn't a fast deathmatch game. It is, and you need much faster reactions in COD4 than you would in a similar CS scenario. If you want a SLOW deathmatch, I challenge you to play Rainbow Six Raven Shield in adversarial mode, it's slow and what's more , all your CS-breed trickery will fucking fail in it. There is no jump, no quickswitching, and it has all sorta of believable cause-and effect systems in motion. Enjoy your slow deathmatch.
Phew, glad to chew that one out. I hate CS and I think COD4, by comparison, is THE shit. People make me angry :p
Don't go away folks because when I return I bring a TREBLE REVIEW. I review a slightly obscure FPS.. and a DRAMA.. AND MASS EFFECT
PS- I hate this keyboard.
Oh yes, let's start with my smallest beefs. The level design is wholly impractical in a real world sense of the word. Even with CS Source's impressively redone maps, you're still stuck maps that are constructed around direct routes and bottlenecks. Now normally, having clearly defined routes is a good thing ,but in my books , having ONLY routes and bottlenecks (no lines for ambush or change of tactic) results in the maps being 100% predictable and linear. Painfully obvious about it as well. This is of course ignoring real-world impracticality, which CS maps all most certainly ARE. There is no sense of purpose to any of them. Thoroughfares that literally hair pain around a building, only to have the middle section drop below and under for NO reason other than for... well I don't know, it's goddamn ridiculous.I'll only concede one map is remotely real-world plausible, and that is CS_office. The rest are just theme mazes in my books (which detracts from the theme of the game)
Next biggest beef - Map scale. It's all wrong. Even with source (which is an improvement), the size of objects directly in relation to players is always off, varying from a bit to OH MY GOD BOXES THE SIZE OF SEATAINERS.
3rd biggest beef - Weapon Models- they're CRAP.No Seriously, not a single CS game has had decently looking or proportioned weapon models. Couple with the hurrrr lower right-corner weapon origins and animation makes every goddamn weapon feel ridiculous.
2nd biggest beef - Game mechanics and systems. They're outright bloody silly (which has lead to such heavy inbuilt and inbred imbalances... in). Starting with the almost arbitrary hit detection system and recoil system attached to weapons, and going through to the absolutely futile and broken weapons balance, it's all frigging wrong. As alluded to the hit detection is trash, it makes players who are occupying an entire crosshair on your screen less of a "you're in my crosshair now you will take some pain" and more of a 50/50 flip coin decision for whether that player is going down or not. usually erring on not (read: crosshairs mean SFA, Accuracy is almost arbitrary to the casual player). Again as inferred previously, recoil in the game is broken. If you can legitimately put a YouTube video video up that shows an exact recoil pattern that can be 100% replicated time and time again, you have officially broken it.
Moving onto the weapon balancing and it's broken ness. Once upon a time, every weapon in a game had a purpose at most of the time throughout all a game. This isn't the case in Counter Strike, because if you're not using the AWP, M4A1, AK47 and Desert Eagle in some sort of cycle, you aren't going to stand a chance against anyone at all. Sub Guns are a laudable effort, and outside of one round in the game ( "the SMG round", the second round in a game) you are not going to fucking touch them. Same goes across for the Shotguns, and the 1 machine gun "Has no use". If CS were thought out at all, there'd still be some use to these weapons in some sense ( personally, I would love to see some sort of purpose returned for CQB fans like me to continue using these weapons, unfortunately it doesn't happen because there is just no motive to get people out of their "favourite weapons"#. Then there's stuff like the AWP, which literally has no counter. THAT, in a multiplayer game is a fucking horrid design flaw. This combined with that whole "fire quickswitch" thing that "AWPers" do, it's intolerably unfair without contention. (and no one uses Auto Snipers for the stigmata they they'd receive from other players)
Now for my Biggest peeve about Counter Strike- the players.
If you're playing on a public server, you are guarantee to find the VERY worst of people's attitudes and egos on display. If you thought /b/ was bad, you ain't seen shit. Then there's incessant voice chat spam, the stoners sitting there with their voice key down while they toke or use their bong, prepubescent twerps and their ear bleeding voices, and all manner of other voicespams.
Then of course you have to deal with that fine level of elitist faggotry that some guys guys parade around with (usually ex-clan guys, or currently IN clan guys just wasting time until.... I dunno.... their order of shithot comes down from clanleader divine or something). These pricks are annoying on their own level because they play the ego card like a motherfucker and when they get pegged down one they scream bloody murder.
Then there are the Private scrimmers and clan guys.. .you know, the competitive guys.. These guys you see on the public open servers sometimes,and usually they pick a side and just REAM. These guys ARE egotistical pricks who not only mean srs fckn bsness ALL the time, but they make sure you know about it.however, unlike the ex-clan guy or the other egodouches, these guys are absolutely ruthless because they know the game better than Valve, Turtle Rock and Gooseman combined do, they know how exactly EVERYTHING goes and because of that, they end up just being serious mindfucks. The funny thing is, you'll pick them out a mile away IRL, because they're all the same. Watch out for these fuckers.
In short, CS is a brain-hemorrhaging experience, and why it's held up as a poster child for anything, is beyond me. There are dozens of games that did things better than it. Tactical Ops (and it's retail cousin in Tac Ops: Assault on Terror) was around at a similar time to CS, and without question it was the superior of the two in gameplay,design, art and function. For a more modern analogy, maybe see Call of Duty 4. Both of these games don't suffer the horrendous issues that Counter Strike suffers and (COD4's own independent success aside), neither replaced it on any level.
@ - I'm of course going to ignore that CS was touted as a tactical shooter. It clearly isn't, it's a twitch shooter of the ilk that quake3 is.
# - For the record, Valve have tried to rectify this once ,with CSS- the Market place. Unfortunately, habitual buying broke the marketplace in under month. last time I looked you would actually GET money money when you bought a TMP ,and the AWP was more expensive than the M249 was on static pricing
Addendum Rant -
I really don't get what every one's problem with COD4's Multiplayer is (by everyone, I of course mean "pro gamers", the same ilk that worship CS no less ) ... Here we have a versatile, robust multiplayer component that pretty much will let you play however you want, the maps are WELL designed and reasonable, and the balancing is fairly solid. Hit detection is MUCH more reliable than Counter Strike (for direct comparison because I just ranted about it), and it even allows for those idiot CS players to player their favourite mode - Bomb Defusal.
Furthermore, I reject the notion that COD4 isn't a fast deathmatch game. It is, and you need much faster reactions in COD4 than you would in a similar CS scenario. If you want a SLOW deathmatch, I challenge you to play Rainbow Six Raven Shield in adversarial mode, it's slow and what's more , all your CS-breed trickery will fucking fail in it. There is no jump, no quickswitching, and it has all sorta of believable cause-and effect systems in motion. Enjoy your slow deathmatch.
Phew, glad to chew that one out. I hate CS and I think COD4, by comparison, is THE shit. People make me angry :p
Don't go away folks because when I return I bring a TREBLE REVIEW. I review a slightly obscure FPS.. and a DRAMA.. AND MASS EFFECT
PS- I hate this keyboard.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Pre-parade
Much apologies for the month-plus without update... what can I say, I'm a bit of an ad-hoc slacker, sometimes I'm slack, sometimes I'm not.. Actually I spose the term is probably something like " multiple personalities disorder where both personalities are more or less the same, but one is me 10 years ago and lazy, and one is me now-busy"
Anyway, to recover from this staleness, I belatedly unveil -
The 2009 Toadie Singles Awareness Day/St Valentines Day Alternative Love Album.
This year's one is titled -
Not your Mother's Valentines Day Album
As a bonus this year, I include legal-length previews in a RAR file for those curious.
So , here comes the Track list-
1) Julianna - Love will light the way
To start the album I've gone with a track from the Haibane Ranmei OST.The track was chosen for not only it's lyrical value, but it's smooth jazz vibe. Ruffled hi-hats and beautiful bass and piano. It's a smooth and classy start to the album
2) Goldfinger - More Today Than Yesterday
A ska cover of a classic love song. It's a great way to ease not only the more senior of us out there into a field of music they'd otherwise shun for being too loud , but to ease the more junior of us into some music history. It's a great track to serenade to as well, so it hits points on all fields.
3) Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine - Are you Gonna be my girl?
Lounge music is so very untrendy and smooth that you can almost hear jet drowning in velour when you play this song... And who of the alternative of us wouldn't mind swooning with your object of affection around a dance hall to the death of Jet?
4) Bonnie Pink - Get in My Hair
Bonnie has this habit of writing, or at the very least performing, in a manner that seems to me to be very close and personal. Rather than singing to a stage or an audience, she feels to sing to herself or to someone right next to her. So really, I could put most any of her songs here and it'd probably feel appropriate.. so here's a good one.
5) Takanashi Yasuharu - (Track 9 from the Seto no Hanayome OST)
Sorry, I can't read moon runes, so that's the best I can give. You know, despite being quite BAD at conveying emotions, Seto no Hanayome (my wife is a Mermaid I think is the official name of the translated version coming to western shores) has some nice music. This particular track is a bit of a romantic interlude that will transition well into....
6) The Aquabats- Monster's Wedding
It's only appropriate that something as gimmicky as Valentines not be taken as fricking sombre important day, and this song is to remind you of this. It's a mix of really campy B-movie horror movie creatures, and love. Remember - this could happen to you .
7) Reel Big Fish - Alternative Baby
Now I know everyone I know doesn't like how much I try to get RBF songs into everything, but I really do think they have songs for every occasion, so I'm including some for Valentines. This song is a real plug of what inspired me to do these albums in the first place. It's a song about some guys at an alternative music concert of some sort, who've fixated their hearts on some girl there. Not wanting to use the cliches or to open themselves full scabbard at her, they're each trying to find a way to convey the point that they are interested in her.
8) Reel Big Fish - Skatanic
Okay okay, getting it out of the way. This song is about another really alternative kind of relationship ,and the confusion that is emotions. Really it is, it's totally not about Obsessive Stalking or anything....
9) Carly Simon - The Spy who loved me
Thank you Broccoli family for ensuring that double entendre was a key point of ALL James Bond flicks at all levels. Sweet Lyrics, and soft piano frame the verses, with some awfully powerful strings during the bridges and choruses, really hammer home a really traditional romantic feel, whilst not being lovey-dovey.
10) Louis Prima & Keely Smith - That Old Black Magic
Why not throw in a classic 50's swing lounge tune to your loved one? This song sorta reflects, in a roundabout way, reflect the way love can throw you off normality completely and absolutely. It's a gripping thing you see, and it'll eat your soul.
11) Wayne Netwon - Danke Schoen
Rather than singing about how love is a constant infinite venture towards some sort of... Mind soul and body singularity for two who are smitten by it's wicked curse, it sings about how sometimes it goes the opposite way, and that isn't necessarily a BAD thing.
12) Round Table featuring Nino - Let me Be with you.
This song is the exact opposite of Danke Schoen. I'd like to emphasise for the point of not wanting to be lynched for hypocrisy, that all loves do not work one single way. Best way to describe this is that it is such a well wrote love song slash into song that I couldn't NOT put it in, and for those couple who are serious Chobits nerds, play this and do that "Chiiiiiiiiiii" thing to one another. You'll either feel very silly, or you'll end up exploding like glass at resonance frequency.
13)UB40 and Chrissie Hyde - I've got you babe
Another cover, but it's got that reggae vibe, which really plays to the benefit of the lyrics. It's a song about how basic love is. Gawd I've gotta stop saying "love", I know... I'll set up a jar and put 50 cents in it every time I use the word. Starting as of top of the list. Crap.
14) The Tea Party - Emerald
Unlike some of the tracks above, The Tea Party really are an alternative band. Headed and Guitared by a man who could give Jim Morison a run for his money, this song is a bit of of a melancholy tale about .. crap *inserts 50c*... with passionate lyrics and performance, it really uses itself as an extra dimension to it's intent. It's like having a well written poem performed with intense passion and perfection.
15) The Darkness - I believe in a thing called love
As the name suggests , it's about a guy who's now lost his head over a girl. I'd try justifying this from some sort of artistic perspective, but the lyrics speak for themselves. Also, let's be honest, it's a great song regardless.
16)David Holmes - Tess
From the Ocean's 11. It wafts opulent admiration, but gives very little warmth. Let's face it, we all know someone who is like this, and know someone after this person. The unachievable dream. Sigh, one can at least pretend.
17 ) Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Ahh nostalgia. It makes everything in the past awesome. It also makes heartbreak harder. Poor Morrison lost a person very close to him, who had brown eyes. He reflects on what was once, and now no longer can be.
18) Dave Dobbyn & Herbs - Slice of Heaven
Dave from New Zealand here ,sings about not how this girl is pretty, or how she smiles or whatever small physical thing binds his heart to her, but how her mere presence and happiness makes him want to stick around her. If it sounds a bit wet, it is, but wet isn't always a bad thing. And Let's face it, this touches on the less physical aspects of .... oh cock *50 c*. If you found someone who everyday was exciting and interesting, wouldn't YOU do everything to keep him/her around? I swear, if I ever find someone who'd maybe one day consider not hating my failures as a human being long enough to sit around and just hold a conversation for a few days with me, I'd find a band, and I'd bloody sing a ska cover of THIS to her.
19) Imogen Heap - Closing In
Imogen sings about a great many things. her first album, i-megaphone, was a scary stare into the void without using the phrase "Death Metal". Speak for Yourself however, seems to be an album from the heart though, and this song in particular is about dissolving the gap between two people. Yesssss, made it without saying that word.
20) Oomph! - Answer Me
For a bit of a change of pace, here's some metal. It's a bit of a cautious stay-or-go tale, whether or not some woman has the nosh to say yes to someone as frighteningly intense as the lead singer from oomph!
21) Gene Pitney - Only love can break a heart
True story, nuff said. Laughter sure as hell doesn't do that much damage.. unless it's coupled with it.
22) Dr Hook - When you're in Love with a beautiful woman
Oh crap, I've added another mainstream oldies song. Rats.
23) The Delgados - Make Your Move
The Delgados is all about a the less optimistic form of romance. That is , the one that got half done and then abandoned. It's about trying to recoup the losses and get the whole thing back together. Then again, the song could be about anything, the delgados are great at being poetically ambiguous.
24) Basement Jaxx - Hot'n'Cold
Another song about mixed signals. I'll be honest, I see alot of THIS particular thing going on, which is a shame. You great pillocks out there sitting on the fence - dive in or get the fuck out.
25) The Delgados - The Weaker Argument Defeats the Stronger
This song is about the lazy heart - the heart the is self-concerned. As indeed the song says - What will our friends say?
26) Electric Light Orchestra - Strange Magic
ELO is always appropriate, no exceptions. Let's be honest, if ... shit *50c*... love was a magic, it sure has some ODD properties.
27) The Doors- Hello, I love You
Ah the doors, they're upfront and honest about their feelings,even if they don't know the target of their affection.
28) Toto - Africa
A song that's quite ambiguous on direct lyrics about.. that thing... but it's quite a good one to serenade to, and on the day of days, serenading is quite important to not letting that romance tank. It is a song about that strong emotion ,but it's quite coy about calling it directly.
29) BoA - Duvet
Duvet is about is a bit of a sad song about love gone unrewarded... cock that's another *50c*.... and how the fallout from the failed attempt at the relationship has left the singer drowning.
30) Imogen Heap - Sweet Religeon
So if religeon is belief and love in a deity, what does a lateral mortal love mean to it?
31) Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville - I Don't Know Much
Probably one of the most soppy love songs ever. Included for those of you who don't have a girl that could appreciate.. say.. Streetlight Manifesto
32) Tripod- Throw your arms around me
A Cover of a song about getting rid of all the baggage of life and enveloping each other in love, shit *50c*, sung by a bunch of clever idiots. Seems to get rid of that pretentiousness about the song, which is good ,because the song was horrid with it.
33) Reel Big Fish feat Rachel Minton (from Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer) - Ask
A cover of a song by The Smiths, it's a song about how the feeling is pretty much second only to friendship.
34) Smashing Pumpkins - Zero
This really is for the alternative heads out there, it's about how when you're in a relationship you yourself matter the least and the other person is EVERYTHING that you need to matter.
35) Streetlight Manifesto - Kristina she don't know I exist
This song's a bit of song about how not putting yourself out there can end up with you getting nothing and your affectioned getting something anyway.
26) The Aquabats - Hot Summer Nights (Won't last forever)
Unlike most of the other songs is about how affection can sometimes leave you blinded to the obvious fact she's not wanting you. fitting way to end a valentines album eh?
And now for a link to the preview file-
for-hire.half-lifecreations.com/Not your Mother's Valentines Day Album (Toadie's compilation 09).rar
Copy paste that into your address bar to recieve 30 megs of 30 sec clips.
Coming VERY soon, I return to review stuff, including something I've been holding for it to finish airing and now it's over.
Anyway, to recover from this staleness, I belatedly unveil -
The 2009 Toadie Singles Awareness Day/St Valentines Day Alternative Love Album.
This year's one is titled -
Not your Mother's Valentines Day Album
As a bonus this year, I include legal-length previews in a RAR file for those curious.
So , here comes the Track list-
1) Julianna - Love will light the way
To start the album I've gone with a track from the Haibane Ranmei OST.The track was chosen for not only it's lyrical value, but it's smooth jazz vibe. Ruffled hi-hats and beautiful bass and piano. It's a smooth and classy start to the album
2) Goldfinger - More Today Than Yesterday
A ska cover of a classic love song. It's a great way to ease not only the more senior of us out there into a field of music they'd otherwise shun for being too loud , but to ease the more junior of us into some music history. It's a great track to serenade to as well, so it hits points on all fields.
3) Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine - Are you Gonna be my girl?
Lounge music is so very untrendy and smooth that you can almost hear jet drowning in velour when you play this song... And who of the alternative of us wouldn't mind swooning with your object of affection around a dance hall to the death of Jet?
4) Bonnie Pink - Get in My Hair
Bonnie has this habit of writing, or at the very least performing, in a manner that seems to me to be very close and personal. Rather than singing to a stage or an audience, she feels to sing to herself or to someone right next to her. So really, I could put most any of her songs here and it'd probably feel appropriate.. so here's a good one.
5) Takanashi Yasuharu - (Track 9 from the Seto no Hanayome OST)
Sorry, I can't read moon runes, so that's the best I can give. You know, despite being quite BAD at conveying emotions, Seto no Hanayome (my wife is a Mermaid I think is the official name of the translated version coming to western shores) has some nice music. This particular track is a bit of a romantic interlude that will transition well into....
6) The Aquabats- Monster's Wedding
It's only appropriate that something as gimmicky as Valentines not be taken as fricking sombre important day, and this song is to remind you of this. It's a mix of really campy B-movie horror movie creatures, and love. Remember - this could happen to you .
7) Reel Big Fish - Alternative Baby
Now I know everyone I know doesn't like how much I try to get RBF songs into everything, but I really do think they have songs for every occasion, so I'm including some for Valentines. This song is a real plug of what inspired me to do these albums in the first place. It's a song about some guys at an alternative music concert of some sort, who've fixated their hearts on some girl there. Not wanting to use the cliches or to open themselves full scabbard at her, they're each trying to find a way to convey the point that they are interested in her.
8) Reel Big Fish - Skatanic
Okay okay, getting it out of the way. This song is about another really alternative kind of relationship ,and the confusion that is emotions. Really it is, it's totally not about Obsessive Stalking or anything....
9) Carly Simon - The Spy who loved me
Thank you Broccoli family for ensuring that double entendre was a key point of ALL James Bond flicks at all levels. Sweet Lyrics, and soft piano frame the verses, with some awfully powerful strings during the bridges and choruses, really hammer home a really traditional romantic feel, whilst not being lovey-dovey.
10) Louis Prima & Keely Smith - That Old Black Magic
Why not throw in a classic 50's swing lounge tune to your loved one? This song sorta reflects, in a roundabout way, reflect the way love can throw you off normality completely and absolutely. It's a gripping thing you see, and it'll eat your soul.
11) Wayne Netwon - Danke Schoen
Rather than singing about how love is a constant infinite venture towards some sort of... Mind soul and body singularity for two who are smitten by it's wicked curse, it sings about how sometimes it goes the opposite way, and that isn't necessarily a BAD thing.
12) Round Table featuring Nino - Let me Be with you.
This song is the exact opposite of Danke Schoen. I'd like to emphasise for the point of not wanting to be lynched for hypocrisy, that all loves do not work one single way. Best way to describe this is that it is such a well wrote love song slash into song that I couldn't NOT put it in, and for those couple who are serious Chobits nerds, play this and do that "Chiiiiiiiiiii" thing to one another. You'll either feel very silly, or you'll end up exploding like glass at resonance frequency.
13)UB40 and Chrissie Hyde - I've got you babe
Another cover, but it's got that reggae vibe, which really plays to the benefit of the lyrics. It's a song about how basic love is. Gawd I've gotta stop saying "love", I know... I'll set up a jar and put 50 cents in it every time I use the word. Starting as of top of the list. Crap.
14) The Tea Party - Emerald
Unlike some of the tracks above, The Tea Party really are an alternative band. Headed and Guitared by a man who could give Jim Morison a run for his money, this song is a bit of of a melancholy tale about .. crap *inserts 50c*... with passionate lyrics and performance, it really uses itself as an extra dimension to it's intent. It's like having a well written poem performed with intense passion and perfection.
15) The Darkness - I believe in a thing called love
As the name suggests , it's about a guy who's now lost his head over a girl. I'd try justifying this from some sort of artistic perspective, but the lyrics speak for themselves. Also, let's be honest, it's a great song regardless.
16)David Holmes - Tess
From the Ocean's 11. It wafts opulent admiration, but gives very little warmth. Let's face it, we all know someone who is like this, and know someone after this person. The unachievable dream. Sigh, one can at least pretend.
17 ) Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Ahh nostalgia. It makes everything in the past awesome. It also makes heartbreak harder. Poor Morrison lost a person very close to him, who had brown eyes. He reflects on what was once, and now no longer can be.
18) Dave Dobbyn & Herbs - Slice of Heaven
Dave from New Zealand here ,sings about not how this girl is pretty, or how she smiles or whatever small physical thing binds his heart to her, but how her mere presence and happiness makes him want to stick around her. If it sounds a bit wet, it is, but wet isn't always a bad thing. And Let's face it, this touches on the less physical aspects of .... oh cock *50 c*. If you found someone who everyday was exciting and interesting, wouldn't YOU do everything to keep him/her around? I swear, if I ever find someone who'd maybe one day consider not hating my failures as a human being long enough to sit around and just hold a conversation for a few days with me, I'd find a band, and I'd bloody sing a ska cover of THIS to her.
19) Imogen Heap - Closing In
Imogen sings about a great many things. her first album, i-megaphone, was a scary stare into the void without using the phrase "Death Metal". Speak for Yourself however, seems to be an album from the heart though, and this song in particular is about dissolving the gap between two people. Yesssss, made it without saying that word.
20) Oomph! - Answer Me
For a bit of a change of pace, here's some metal. It's a bit of a cautious stay-or-go tale, whether or not some woman has the nosh to say yes to someone as frighteningly intense as the lead singer from oomph!
21) Gene Pitney - Only love can break a heart
True story, nuff said. Laughter sure as hell doesn't do that much damage.. unless it's coupled with it.
22) Dr Hook - When you're in Love with a beautiful woman
Oh crap, I've added another mainstream oldies song. Rats.
23) The Delgados - Make Your Move
The Delgados is all about a the less optimistic form of romance. That is , the one that got half done and then abandoned. It's about trying to recoup the losses and get the whole thing back together. Then again, the song could be about anything, the delgados are great at being poetically ambiguous.
24) Basement Jaxx - Hot'n'Cold
Another song about mixed signals. I'll be honest, I see alot of THIS particular thing going on, which is a shame. You great pillocks out there sitting on the fence - dive in or get the fuck out.
25) The Delgados - The Weaker Argument Defeats the Stronger
This song is about the lazy heart - the heart the is self-concerned. As indeed the song says - What will our friends say?
26) Electric Light Orchestra - Strange Magic
ELO is always appropriate, no exceptions. Let's be honest, if ... shit *50c*... love was a magic, it sure has some ODD properties.
27) The Doors- Hello, I love You
Ah the doors, they're upfront and honest about their feelings,even if they don't know the target of their affection.
28) Toto - Africa
A song that's quite ambiguous on direct lyrics about.. that thing... but it's quite a good one to serenade to, and on the day of days, serenading is quite important to not letting that romance tank. It is a song about that strong emotion ,but it's quite coy about calling it directly.
29) BoA - Duvet
Duvet is about is a bit of a sad song about love gone unrewarded... cock that's another *50c*.... and how the fallout from the failed attempt at the relationship has left the singer drowning.
30) Imogen Heap - Sweet Religeon
So if religeon is belief and love in a deity, what does a lateral mortal love mean to it?
31) Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville - I Don't Know Much
Probably one of the most soppy love songs ever. Included for those of you who don't have a girl that could appreciate.. say.. Streetlight Manifesto
32) Tripod- Throw your arms around me
A Cover of a song about getting rid of all the baggage of life and enveloping each other in love, shit *50c*, sung by a bunch of clever idiots. Seems to get rid of that pretentiousness about the song, which is good ,because the song was horrid with it.
33) Reel Big Fish feat Rachel Minton (from Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer) - Ask
A cover of a song by The Smiths, it's a song about how the feeling is pretty much second only to friendship.
34) Smashing Pumpkins - Zero
This really is for the alternative heads out there, it's about how when you're in a relationship you yourself matter the least and the other person is EVERYTHING that you need to matter.
35) Streetlight Manifesto - Kristina she don't know I exist
This song's a bit of song about how not putting yourself out there can end up with you getting nothing and your affectioned getting something anyway.
26) The Aquabats - Hot Summer Nights (Won't last forever)
Unlike most of the other songs is about how affection can sometimes leave you blinded to the obvious fact she's not wanting you. fitting way to end a valentines album eh?
And now for a link to the preview file-
for-hire.half-lifecreations.com/Not your Mother's Valentines Day Album (Toadie's compilation 09).rar
Copy paste that into your address bar to recieve 30 megs of 30 sec clips.
Coming VERY soon, I return to review stuff, including something I've been holding for it to finish airing and now it's over.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
They say it makes the world spin round
Okay enough farcical delusions of grandeur. I'm about as close at I have ever been to to that razor edge between sanity and losing it. No one thing is particular is to blame for it, but the net result is that right now I'm sitting very tetchily this year, and any one small thing could tip me over the precipice. Consider this a warning, I may have less tolerance for shit this year, and patience overall will be probably less. No more passive aggressive tactics- you come at me, I'll come back at you and believe me, with my sheer determination as a glowing red fist you will go down for the count.
Whew, that felt good. Should vent that kind of stuff more often. Must be that preposterone everyone keeps saying all male bodies exert all the time.
Okay, now for another one of those pre-valentine things I do. Like last year I will be doing a recommendable playlist for love without using mainstream or classic or "oldies" to express it it. Think of it it as your Punk-Ska-Metal-AcidJazz Cupid.
On top this small gesture, I am going to offer something tangible to you, the avid, and maybe not so avid readers (who no doubt pick this up through my Facebook or something rather than the original source) .
Ladies and Gentlemen you probably know this already from my periodic bemoaning of the subject, but I'm a Single White Male, a nerdy one with odd tastes, but a single white male none the less. I have pretty much given up on the idea of ever running across what I'd currently consider my ideal match up.I've also given up on specialist dating sites (sites like anonidate have tendency to be FULL OF TRAPS). It really is quite depressing, particularly around this time of year (damn you you Hallmark season getting to me).
So this is why I have opened a challenge to you punters. Your mission consists of three objectives
AU$100. Solid Cash. Unless you or the person you're presenting live outside Australia, in which case it'll be a purchase in Steam to that value. The bonus is an additional AU$50 of that same line of credit.
Now for rules-
EDIT #3: oh and if said person you're interested in entering is curious about what I'm like, may I point to my Facebook profile - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=536634192
Toadie is in his couch, owning ur interwebs
Whew, that felt good. Should vent that kind of stuff more often. Must be that preposterone everyone keeps saying all male bodies exert all the time.
Okay, now for another one of those pre-valentine things I do. Like last year I will be doing a recommendable playlist for love without using mainstream or classic or "oldies" to express it it. Think of it it as your Punk-Ska-Metal-AcidJazz Cupid.
On top this small gesture, I am going to offer something tangible to you, the avid, and maybe not so avid readers (who no doubt pick this up through my Facebook or something rather than the original source) .
Ladies and Gentlemen you probably know this already from my periodic bemoaning of the subject, but I'm a Single White Male, a nerdy one with odd tastes, but a single white male none the less. I have pretty much given up on the idea of ever running across what I'd currently consider my ideal match up.I've also given up on specialist dating sites (sites like anonidate have tendency to be FULL OF TRAPS). It really is quite depressing, particularly around this time of year (damn you you Hallmark season getting to me).
So this is why I have opened a challenge to you punters. Your mission consists of three objectives
- Find someone who meets a below specified criteria
- Contact me on a below specified burn email address with pertinent information
- BONUS ROUND - if it gets around to FRIENDSHIP or dating, you get a bonus.
AU$100. Solid Cash. Unless you or the person you're presenting live outside Australia, in which case it'll be a purchase in Steam to that value. The bonus is an additional AU$50 of that same line of credit.
Now for rules-
- All forwarded peeps must be at least aware are being entered into this.The is no way I am going force this stuff on anyone, so it's gotta be at least approved by them.
- 18+. Common sense there really. Nothing Paedobear may approve of because it is legally frowned upon and I do not want to be on the gigantic scroll of sex offenders.
- All entries into the running must be entered before February 15, 5 AM to the following address - wejustcametopartydown AT gmail DOT com . Message must contain your name, the name of the person you're submitting, a viable contact method to get in touch with them (nothing stupid like AIM or YIM. Email, Skype, MSN, phone, something like), and a reply address if needed.
- No Traps or Trolling. All trolling and fake entries will be ignored, as well as duplicate entries.
- At least enjoys anime (taste in anime need not 100% align with mine)
- Has a sense of humor
- Can Caramelldansen
- I was going to say "has broad taste in music", but what I really meant to say was "doesn't worship Rap or RnB."
- has heard of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or Reel Big Fish (and has no objections to it)
- a bit nerdy. I like my women like I like my z-buffer algorithms - (overally complex with good results)
- EDITED IN - can tolerate my OC-level dedication to game development, my modelling , sound editing, and the likes
- ALSO EDITED IN - isn't neccesarily looking for a home run. Doesn't mind being pampered a little, within bounds.
- eccentricity optional
- physique - not particularly fussed, just not large. I don't want to sound cruel to you lot, but it's not really what I'm into. Glasses a plus, DFC - also plus.
- optional bonus - is an fem/a/non (frequents /a/. Not /b/. They ARE different and no I won't go over it. )
EDIT #3: oh and if said person you're interested in entering is curious about what I'm like, may I point to my Facebook profile - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=536634192
Toadie is in his couch, owning ur interwebs
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
2009 - Year of the Angry Oyster
Unlike most people on the earth, I knew from the outset that 2008 was going t be a mediocre year... and I was not dissappointed. As a token gesture to the year that saw the release of more 3rd person shooters with cover than actual FPS es (further enforcing my hatred for Gears of War and all Space Marines ever), I'd like to hand out a few awards.
The Toadie Awards for Incredible Feats during the year -
The Koolaid Award - award for most over hyped thing of the year
OH YEAH. Inaugural award of mine goes to -
The Dark Knight.
Heath Ledger won Best Actor Posthumously? Fuck that. It was alright. Probably the best BATMAN movie, but it certainly wasn't groundbreaking cinematography or performing. And Fucking Batman needs a throat lozenge. It gave the franchise the venom and vodka induced reboot it needed, much in the same vein as Casino Royale in that respect.
Runners up - Treyarch for the Quantum of Solace Game. You couldn't have told the story of the movie worse if you were not briefed on either of the new Bond movies at all and instead were fed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Also, you guys need to finish the bloody game off.
The EA award - for keeping poor schleps paying for mediocre content year after year.
This year, not going to EA for once. Instead, it's going to THREE nominees -
Blizzard Activision and Treyarch - For Call of Duty World at War. You could have put out an Expansion Pack for the little amount of SP and MP innovation that World at War introduces. Flamethrowers and coop mode + WW2 do not a long lasted game make. At least roll the coop back to COD4 at some point please.
The ZugZug Award -for being 100% predictable in every respect.
Two winners for this award-
Firstly, Blizzard Activision for WoW:Wrath of the Lich King. Delivering EXACTLY what I predicted you would - More WoW, delayed Starcraft 2 ( Warcraft 1 in Space - 2)and more delayed Diablo 3(Diablo 1 Remastered).WoW 3 - Wrath of the Lich King. This time, throw more dots.
Secondly , the US money lenders, for trashing the US economy with sub-prime mortgages. HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE SEEN THAT THEY WERE NOT GOING TO PAY YOU BACK? SERVES YOU RIGHT, NOW YOU ARE BANKRUPT. HAR HAR HAR.
The Ubisoft Award - This award recognises services to the destruction of reliable brands, genres, or franchises.
This year's Winner once again is Ubisoft for making another contribution to the blamange swamp with YET another batch of atrocities to the Tom Clancy name. Good going guys. It was bad enough that you made ONE Vegas Game, you didn't need to make ANOTHER one, and you most certainly didn't need to recycle shit as much as you did. EndWar, despite being a decent strategy game, still makes me tick. You better not screw up HAWX.
The Left for Dead award- award for making something technologically mighty at the expense of everything else.
My last award goes to the outstanding money suckers at Valve for Left4Dead for designing a technically brilliant, and in theory good hooter, that in actuality I find quite boring and short on..stuff.. for the price it is going retail for. Genuinely pleased with the overcharging and hyping there. Way to shaft it.]
So , 2009 is now underway, and with it , comes a tonne of expectations for the year. I myself hold very few. Probably nickel and diming will go up on games, and the price of literally everything will rise again a few more times. Nothing Spectacular I can see on the horizon that tickles my fancy, so I shall see and when I see something I shall let you internoses know.
Because you smell and sniff data, you don't see or hear it. Not on the Internet.
OH, Before I forget and Sign out -
If you missed it in December -
www.svencoop.com - Sven Coop 4 beta is out. I did a tonne of stuff for it, so go check it out. Beware, there are bugs, check the forums for temp fixes.
and Coming soon - a short webcomic that I drew. and For Hire. I'll keep you guys posted.
The Toadie Awards for Incredible Feats during the year -
The Koolaid Award - award for most over hyped thing of the year
OH YEAH. Inaugural award of mine goes to -
The Dark Knight.
Heath Ledger won Best Actor Posthumously? Fuck that. It was alright. Probably the best BATMAN movie, but it certainly wasn't groundbreaking cinematography or performing. And Fucking Batman needs a throat lozenge. It gave the franchise the venom and vodka induced reboot it needed, much in the same vein as Casino Royale in that respect.
Runners up - Treyarch for the Quantum of Solace Game. You couldn't have told the story of the movie worse if you were not briefed on either of the new Bond movies at all and instead were fed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Also, you guys need to finish the bloody game off.
The EA award - for keeping poor schleps paying for mediocre content year after year.
This year, not going to EA for once. Instead, it's going to THREE nominees -
Blizzard Activision and Treyarch - For Call of Duty World at War. You could have put out an Expansion Pack for the little amount of SP and MP innovation that World at War introduces. Flamethrowers and coop mode + WW2 do not a long lasted game make. At least roll the coop back to COD4 at some point please.
The ZugZug Award -for being 100% predictable in every respect.
Two winners for this award-
Firstly, Blizzard Activision for WoW:Wrath of the Lich King. Delivering EXACTLY what I predicted you would - More WoW, delayed Starcraft 2 ( Warcraft 1 in Space - 2)and more delayed Diablo 3(Diablo 1 Remastered).WoW 3 - Wrath of the Lich King. This time, throw more dots.
Secondly , the US money lenders, for trashing the US economy with sub-prime mortgages. HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE SEEN THAT THEY WERE NOT GOING TO PAY YOU BACK? SERVES YOU RIGHT, NOW YOU ARE BANKRUPT. HAR HAR HAR.
The Ubisoft Award - This award recognises services to the destruction of reliable brands, genres, or franchises.
This year's Winner once again is Ubisoft for making another contribution to the blamange swamp with YET another batch of atrocities to the Tom Clancy name. Good going guys. It was bad enough that you made ONE Vegas Game, you didn't need to make ANOTHER one, and you most certainly didn't need to recycle shit as much as you did. EndWar, despite being a decent strategy game, still makes me tick. You better not screw up HAWX.
The Left for Dead award- award for making something technologically mighty at the expense of everything else.
My last award goes to the outstanding money suckers at Valve for Left4Dead for designing a technically brilliant, and in theory good hooter, that in actuality I find quite boring and short on..stuff.. for the price it is going retail for. Genuinely pleased with the overcharging and hyping there. Way to shaft it.]
So , 2009 is now underway, and with it , comes a tonne of expectations for the year. I myself hold very few. Probably nickel and diming will go up on games, and the price of literally everything will rise again a few more times. Nothing Spectacular I can see on the horizon that tickles my fancy, so I shall see and when I see something I shall let you internoses know.
Because you smell and sniff data, you don't see or hear it. Not on the Internet.
OH, Before I forget and Sign out -
If you missed it in December -
www.svencoop.com - Sven Coop 4 beta is out. I did a tonne of stuff for it, so go check it out. Beware, there are bugs, check the forums for temp fixes.
and Coming soon - a short webcomic that I drew. and For Hire. I'll keep you guys posted.
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