Lupos Explains

Bonus Round 402 and the Jason Rubin controversy.

2010-03-01T11:26:00.001-08:00

This video here is the video which I'm referring to.

The controversy in question is contained in the second part of the show. Jason Rubin refers to the idea of charging gamers per object or feature similar to Farmville on Facebook. He cites the financial success of Farmville in getting bored mothers and teenage girls to purchase features for their otherwise free game. He puts forward the idea that gamers could pay $30 for a free play game initially and then pay extra for all of the rest of the features such as weapons, stages, levels, characters, etc. In theory this seems to function much like modern DLC, except DLC is created to prolong the experience of a game, whilst this idea is made almost solely to nickel and dime the people who actually care about playing a full game, aka the Maple Story method.

I hate to harp on the whole casuals vs. hardcore thing, but the audience for Farmville is very different than the audience for, say, Modern Warfare 2. Farmville's audience is willing to pay for those apps because, well, they really don't know any better. Let's be honest; Farmville is a desperately shallow game where every action is performed not in the interest of reaching an end game, or for fighting towards the end for some culmination of an experience, or to flex their intellectual muscles against a worthy opponent, or even to simply blow off steam by blowing off limbs. They play to occupy their time; they play because they would be bored otherwise. These aren't real games, and charging people more over the long run in the hopes of "getting people to play new IP's" or giving them the opportunity to "have the same experience for less money" is patently ridiculous. It's called Gamefly, it's for renting games. $10 a month for what will boil down to about 2 games a month when shipping and play time are factored in. $5 a game and you don't have to make dozens of micro transactions to unlock the full game.

Bottom line is, if they began doing to games what this panel was suggesting then you would start seeing a decrease in sales of games rather than an increase which is what they were trying to say. After all, why would you continue to buy an incomplete product? Would you buy a blender that you have to buy the extra functions for separately?

Many Reviews and a special word.

2010-02-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

Fable 2- Finally got to play this game. I traded in a PS3 copy of Bioshock which I happened to have and paid an $8 difference. For $8, I loved it. Had I paid the original $60 for this, I would have been pissed off. Let's start by saying that Fable 2 has one of the best first hours in any game, ever. The bleak winter streets which the protagonist and their sister endure is both loaded with a sense of character, beautiful art direction, and a sort of emotional weight. The story actually does pull you in with the death of your sister, the attempt on your life, and the resurrection of the Heros' Guild, which if you remember the end of the 1st game like I do, you will recognize... somewhat. The game sort of falls apart from there. Sure, it is fun but the whole system is very shallow. Sword combat is centered around mashing 1 button or mixing it up by holding 1 button, ranged weapons are kinda fun to use, but in the end break down to pressing Y in different ways over and over again, and while magic is fun to use it kind of destroys everything in the game in one hit towards the end when you have all of your levels charged. Seriously, your character will be fucking everything up by the time you reach the end. This is only helped by the very limited number of levels you can gain in each stat. In the original Fable, you had to plan out your character as you would not get enough experience to level every stat to its maximum level. There were about 4 seperate stats in each area with something like 8 to 10 levels for each stat. You had to construct a character. In Fable 2, every character will essentially be the same by the end of the game, as everyone will by fully leveled in everything. Now, there are some challenging enemies at the end of the game such as the highwaymen, spire guards, spire officers, spire shards (seeing a trend here, aren't ya?), and fucking zombie BERSERKERS!!! Yet, the challenge is meaningless as you can't die. Yep, that's right, you can't die! You don't even go back to the beginning of the area like in Silent Hill Shattered Memories, or even go to a fucking respawn spot like in the original Bioshock for Christ's sake! You just spring up like you just had a quick power nap and you're back to swinging and killing. Where's the fucking challenge!!! I know that old 8 and 16 bit games were ridiculously hard in order to arbitrarily extend their length, and I'm not saying that we have to go back to that era of gaming, but can't we have our challenge back!?
Now, onto the whole morality system in Fable 2; it's fucking stupid. Plain and simple. You can either be cartoonishly evil or a saint with a halo over your head. Unlike in Mass Effect where your moral choices are often more ambiguous and reflect a method of solving a problem, or in Fallout 3 where you are encouraged to try to walk your own path between the two extremes in order to avoid, you know, bounty hunters, Fable 2 asks you whether you would like to slaughter a town for Satan, or protect it's temple for God. Why can't I Mediate the two sides? Why can't I ask them to bid on me? I can just ignore the quest, but if I do that the game kind of looks at me like I'm misssing something important here! A quest that occurs later on in the game has you either saving your children or not saving your children. Why can't I just hire someone else to save them? The moral choice system seems to just be asking you what you want to look like. You can be an angel (Good and pure), a vampire looking thing (Evil and pure), a hellspawn demon (Evil and Corrupt, and might I say the coolest looking one), or a... thing with like yellow eyes I think (Good and Corrupt). You can tell they didn't put much thought into that last one. The moral system just affects your character cosmetically, and frankly, being evil and having your path cleared of Molyneix's (or however the hell you spell his name) fucktarded citizens of Albion who the player is supposed to really "connect with" is better than being good and having them swarm and block your path because they all "love" you so much. The last choice of the game is so stupid that my brain actually hurts thinking about it. I'm going to spoil it, so if you care skip far ahead. You are given the choice between resurrecting all the people who died at the Spire, resurrecting your family (who cares) and your dog (yays!), and getting a million dollars which really isn't all that much in the game. About enough to buy Castle Fairfax and fuck off! You need the dog to do the remaining missions in the game; without him the game pretty much ends unless you really just want to hang around and watch the fucktarded citizens crowd you. I would never resurrect the people who died in the Spire because I fear that the resurrected citizens would crowd my path even more! I would never pick the money because I can easily make it by not playing the game for a few weeks (yes, you benefit by not playing Fable 2; take that anyway you wish). So the only good choice seems obvious. There's the problem there; only one of the "moral" choices provides any sort of benefit for the player. In other "moral choice" based games the player will receive some sort of benefit either way, in Fable 2 only one choice really benefits the gameplay while the other 2 only serve the stupid fucking morality system!
In conclusion, a shit load of hype does not make this game worth $60. Certainly I am happy with my $8 purchase, but with shallow gameplay, surprisingly low replay value for an RPG, and some rather poor design choices I say that Fable 2 is a visually arresting failure not unlike Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

Modern Warfare 2- It's pretty good. Not really worthy of the hype that's been pushed onto it, but few games are. The multiplayer works pretty damn well, but suffers from the same problem that all games on Xbox Live do; the Xbox Live userbase. All online services have their problems, but there is just something particularly irritating about XBL. Maybe it's simply how obnoxious the many 12 year olds are. Is it really so beyond current technological capabilities to develop a matchmaking system which syncs up appropriate age groups as well as skill groups? I would be willing to give Microsoft my age information, Social Security number, anything in order to be able to not have to put up with an obnoxious 11 year old call me a stupid ni**er over the microphone again. JESUS CHRIST THAT'S ANNOYING (I even had to break out the all caps to put that across)! Anyway, the story is rather goofy on the American side, while being unforgivably awesome when we are with the multinational spec ops. In the end, it's a good game with some awesome multiplayer if you can put up with XBL's userbase.

Bioshock 2- Okay, so I'm not actually finished with this, but I have to talk about a few things. 1. I have to agree with most people in saying that this is simply not as good as the original game. Though it has all the right elements, and the character models have been successfully updated, the game is still inferior to Bioshock simply because it borrows far too liberally from its predecessor. The story itself feels like a simple retread of Bioshock and Lamb feels like the Communist fill in for the Objectivist Ryan. It's not bad at all, it is still a great game but it simply doesn't feel as original as the first game did. 2. The option to turn off the Vita-chambers was a really great move! It greatly increases the difficulty of the game and helps it feel less like, oh I don't know, Fable 2! 3. I really don't know if it was a good idea to make the protagonist a Big Daddy. The Big Daddys are supposed to be these insurmountable foes; making the protagonist one must result in either, a. destroying the continuity by making the Big Daddy a weaker specimin or b. making the game a shit ton easier. Thankfully for challenges sake they went with a., but a. still messes with the story continuity. I understand why they did this, but I just don't feel it was a truly great decision.

I feel like I'm starting to get old. Modern games are starting to get far too easy. There are some challenges here and there, don't get me wrong, but I just feel that on the whole I'm beating these things way to fast. Bioshock 2 with the vita-chambers turned off, Mass Effect 1, and Fallout 3 all provided a challenge, but other games such as Fable 2 had me going until near the end of the game without dying once.

Also, I want to say something about what I've seen regarding Mass Effect 2; I don't like it. I really liked the whole beautiful world with darkness seething in its underbelly; it felt real. With Mass Effect 2 it seems that the beautiful part of the world was thrown out so we could make the game more EXTREME! The chick with the tattoos? Really, she is scummy looking and seems to embody everything that is wrong with video game representations of women. "How do we portray a character that is mentally damaged and anti-social?" "Well, we could load her up with tattoos to make her seem hardcore, shave her head because it makes the prison she was held in look extreme and harsh, have her dress in strips because that's like so awesome, and make her uber powerful and uncontrollable!" Christ just kill me now. I understand that they wanted to make the second chapter darker, but the first chapter was fucking dark enough! Especially the "Council dies" ending! Also, honestly how could Cerberus be more of a God damn threat to the universe than the Reavers?! Ooooo, they can make colonies dissappear without a trace; one Reaper could blow an entire planet to oblivion and level an entire fleet on its own! Please inform me how there could conceivably be greater threat to the universe than the Reapers? This is something that I've wanted to write about for a long time, but I have just neglected to write it. Now, granted I haven't played it yet, these are just my problems and concerns based on what I've seen so far. I've just checked the wiki, and apparently Garrus and Tali come back (two of my favorite characters WHOOT!), also it seems that 2 Reapers are the main villains. I guess that puts to rest my villain concerns, but it still raises a few WTF's in regards to what Bioware was saying about the Reapers being a lesser threat compared to the threat that will be unfurled in Mass Effect 2. Aidios Mio! Guess I'll just have to wait to play.

Update: I meant Collectors when I said Cerberus. My bad.
Update: I just saw Legion, and I have to admit that his presence may make up for the general annoyance I feel from Jack. He seriously kicks ass!
Update: I sent Bioshock 2 back without finishing it. That tells you how much it failed to pull me in. The game is just becoming repetitive. I don't feel it mixes up the gameplay, and I saw Rapture enough in the original game. At this point I'd rather just move on to Mass Effect 2.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, and Left 4 Dead 2. A Horror game medley

2010-01-04T00:00:00.001-08:00

SH:SM= It might not be saying much, but story wise this is easily the best Silent Hill since number 3. The reveal at the end of the game was a MASSIVE shock to me and the characters you meet along the way have, for once in a long while, an actual symbolic importance. This is a radical change when compared to Homecoming's cast of forgettable figures and Origin's "well they were in the first game" cast. The graphics are also surprisingly good for a Wii game and I actually haven't played a game with a frame-rate this high on any system. Aside from the slight slow-down during door opening sequences, the frame-rate is beautiful. Also, I love the little switches in the environment based upon your psychological profile. The Kaufman sequences are one of a kind and simply amazing. The chase sequences are loaded with tension and exciting.

Now for the problems. The WiiMote can stop sensing turns during chase sequences which has many times found me coated with enemies, and dead within moments. Also, though I don't have a true problem with the whole getting lost in the labyrinths during the Otherworld sequences, they are repetitive despite the game being short. This is mostly due to the fact that there is not much to do but run, toss off the raw shocks, light a flare, knock down obstacles or hide. Maybe they can add some limited capacity for fighting back like knocking back or stunning enemies in the next game. Also, can we be given the ability to sneak around enemies next time? Little changes like these help mix up gameplay as you usually just run with the lockers and such doing little to help and flares simply being like a star shield in Mario or Sonic. Hiding is useless as the raw shocks always find you anyway. Harry can't hide until they all go away, as the enemies stay in the room which makes running useless.

Though the changing forms of the enemies was neat, I didn't really get to look for an extended time at them which makes the enemy design changes rather useless. I can't slow up and look at them, so why change their forms? Not having enemies outside of Otherworld kills any tension for most of the game. Not to mention that the ice Otherworld was not as good as it could have been. It looked more like a regular freezer locker than the sick tundra I would have expected from an icy otherworld. The old Otherworld needed to be changed because it had become cliche, I know, but the ice Otherworld was just not frightening. Find something else! The game's pace needs to slow down and more needs to be added to the Otherworld. It felt rather barren and plain in Shattered Memories. Change it!

Lastly, the puzzles really need to be made more complex. I'm not retarded Climax!!! Opening a lock is not a fucking challenge for me! Don't go all fucking stereotypical Wii game on me! There were no good puzzles in the game, and the mementos were interesting symbolically but otherwise useless. I must say that I liked the Cell phone feature, so I would keep that.

Overall, very good but very flawed. I'm hoping to see an improvement next game. This one was a little too much like Indigo Prophecy in its execution, minus QTE's. Thank Christ for that!

RE:DC= Not a whole lot to say here. Really nice twist on the Light gun game with allowing the upgrading of the infinite hand-gun. The only problem there is that once you fully upgrade the handgun you don't really need any other weapons in two of the three sections. Steve Burnside and Alfred Ashford both greatly benefitted from the new voice-acting. Annette Burkin, however, got a character change not unlike Dahlia Gillespie in the Silent Hill movie, and just as iresome. Just as Dahlia was needlessly made the good mother, Annette became sane and helped Leon and Claire. You know, like in the game when she... shot... Leon... and... assumed... Claire... was... a... spy..... Oh fuck it! Annette still shoots Leon, but then she apologizes and helps him, even warning him against Ada. Ada is introduced with a scene that feels like a rip-off of Alice in the RE movies (AHHHHHHHH!!!) and Irons is given 1 line of dialogue (and it's not the epic "EVERYONE'S GOING TO DIE") and Ben doesn't even get that. He just gets some scribbles on the fucking wall!

I liked the Operation Javier segment, but felt that, like Umbrella's end in UC that it should have just been its own RE game. The CV segment was the best segment of the game, and unlike RE2 it was hardly diminished by being cut down to its major points. The problem was that RE2 didn't have a single, continuous story unlike CV, and the segment in CV that they cut (Chris on Rockfort Island) really wasn't all that important. That section just contained the Wesker story, and that mother fucker got practically all of Umbrella Chronicles so I say no big loss. Steve was actually a likable character and Alfred Ashford revealed himself as the superior villain to Alexia, despite her super powers. It just proves that having powers does not make one a superior villain (looking at you Wesker, Krauser, and Saddler).

I actually thought that the Operation Javier segment touched upon the greatest threat that Umbrella could pose, that is selling their BOW's to dictators who would have no qualms about using them. Though Javier is not fully developed, he's still miles ahead of fucking Sergei from Umbrella Chronicles as well as James Fucking Markus from 0. True, he's no William and Annette Birkin, Nikolai, Alfred Ashford, or Ramon Salazar but had he actually been given a full game who knows. I would have liked to have a full game where Hilda chased me the way Mr. X, G, Nemesis, and Lisa Trevor did but it is probably too late for that. Krauser is fleshed out a bit, and his solo missions featuring his commentary track actually provide a bit of depth regarding his character, including his fear of death and his anxiety regarding being a weak pawn in the US government's plans. You can see why he joined Wesker and infected himself with the Las Plagas. You can also understand his jealousy of Leon.

Conclusion= a fun light gun game but these original stories in the chronicles games really need to be made into actual Resident Evil games. Both concepts (Operation Javier and Umbrella's End) were superior to RE5, but I digress.

Left 4 Dead 2= I haven't been able to play multiplayer yet, but the single player is superior to the original. Ellis is my new favorite VG character, if only for his stories. I hope that one day I get to hear the end of one. I love this freaking game! Case closed!

Best games of the decade! imo

2010-01-03T23:35:00.000-08:00

Fallout 3- Best RPG and open world game. Amazingly renders a post apocalyptic world.

Silent Hill 2- The only game made, ever that I would consider close to being art. Brilliantly fleshed out characters, striking visual and auditory design, and frightening enemies make this the best horror game of the decade.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic- Bioware's first console RPG and the best Star Wars game ever made.

Left 4 Dead 2 (just edges out the original)- Puts you into the middle of a zombie outbreak like no other game ever could before it.

Resident Evil Remake- Took the original game and somehow managed to make it better. The 2nd best Resident Evil after 2 and 2nd best horror game after Silent Hill 2. It also is the best Resident Evil of the decade just edging out Code Veronica and 4 in my opinion.

Sid Meier's Pirates- Steeped in historical knowledge that it utilizes as a background mythology; this is easily the best PC game of the decade. Even better than Civilization 4 and Age of Empires 3.

Rachet and Clank: Going Commando- Easily the best platformer of the decade. Insomniac created this duo after dropping Spyro the Dragon. An awesome mix of Sci-fi related humor in the Futurama vein, a very tight platforming formula, and an imaginative mix of weapons. Going Commando was, I feel, the best entry on the PS2. I can't say anything about the PS3 games, as I haven't gotten to play them. However, they do look great.

Portal- Short, sickly funny, and difficult. What more can you ask of from this short yet creative little oddity from 2007?

Half-Life 2- Valve truly delivered this decade, and Gordon Freeman's second game (along with the additional chapters) was one of the best shooters of the decade. All I can say is Gravity Gun!

Disappointments of the decade-

Resident Evil 5- Not really bad as a game. It simply copied RE4, added in a gimmicky "potnah" so they could say the game wasn't racist, and failed to deliver on any of their promises involving sunlight-induced hallucinations and the need to find shade from time to time to survive. It also gave Chris steroids. Lastly, it ended the old series in an extraordinarily unsatisfactory way, in Africa no less for no real meaning. Like him or not, the post Raccoon City phase of the series was nothing without Albert Wesker. The final "battle" between him, Chris and Sheva feels underwhelming; certainly not the epic showdown myself and I'm sure many other fans were expecting.

Silent Hill: Homecoming- Gee, let's take a series that is famous for its subtle, ambiguous scares and lonely, morally gray protagonists and make an 18 hour gory, profanity ridden love letter to that shitty Gans movie. Kill me now, please.

Dead Space- Yes it was one of the most gruesome games I have ever seen. It was also visually redundant and featured a "hero" completely devoid of any personality who spoke maybe 5 lines of dialogue throughout the games, not including screams. The enemies were kinda boring looking and the ruined, bloody spaceship stops being scary after you see it the 500th time. Every room looked almost exactly the same=lazy!

Halo 3- I'm on the opposite side of the fence regarding this game. Nothing really stood out. The single player campaign is alright, but nothing really stood out to me. The multiplayer is okay, but then again I'm not all that into deathmatches and such, and I felt that Team Fortress 2 was much better with those. I guess I'm just too much of a Valve fan. In the end, I was not impressed with it and I don't feel that it deserved the fanfare it received.

Doom 3- See Dead Space.

God of War II- Not bad, but it just seemed like a re-tread of the original. Maybe that's okay for some gamers, but I want something else from a sequel. See also, Resident Evil 5.

Final Fantasy X- Winner of gayest attire in all of gaming and most broken mini-games of the decade.

Resident Evil 0- Most pointless entry in the series featuring the most pointless character in the series coughcoughBillyCohencoughcough.
Did we really need to know Bravo Team found another freaking mansion after getting on a train? I always assumed that they spent those hours in the Spencer estate. We found all of their bodies there anyway! Also, why did we have to create Billy Cohen knowing he would play no further role in the RE series? It's bad enough we have poor Carlos Oliveira running around in RE limbo, did we have to give him company? Following ReMake I assumed Rebecca stuck to Richard but I guess I'm a fucking idiot!

Didn't get to play but wanted to-
Infamous
Ratchet & Clank: Future
Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)
Fable 2

Games I could care less for-
Metal Gear Solid 3 and 4
Halo ODST
Call of Duty past 2
Uncharted
Killzone 2

Honorable Mentions for best games-
Super Mario Galaxy
Silent Hill 3
Resident Evils Code Veronica and 4
Bioshock
Batman: Arkham Asylum

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

2009-07-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

There’s good things about it, and there’s bad.

The Bad: I’ve already been reading about the motion controls taking several goes to finally respond during the flight sections. This is not good at all, and a serious detriment to the game if it isn’t fixed by October. One of the most long running and pervasive complaints about 3rd party Wii games is that the controls are often unresponsive and gimmicky. The last thing that Climax wants to do on its first Wii outing is prove this an immutable law.
I also am a tad skeptical concerning the enemy design. The only enemies we’ve seen so far are these burn victims. that are chasing Harry. They don’t seem to be as imaginative as what was made for SH2, but they could be worse. They could all be Colin from the SH movie (CURSE YOU GANS!).
The Tundra otherworld is an interesting concept on the whole, and I’d really like to get a look at some other interpretations of the otherworld, as was hinted at in SH2. I don’t know if anyone remembers, but the otherworld in SH2 was not the one in SH1 and 3. It was moldy and damp rather than fusty, bloody, and occasionally fiery. I think that the decision is a good one that could conjure some Thingesque atmosphere, but I feel it’s being poorly executed.
The "tundra world Seems to just feature some solid, clear ice walls, a few ice spires, and some blue outlines on the doors. Fail. I want a massive blizzard, shrouded bodies trapped in the unforgiving ice, murky ice that I can’t see through with more harsh surfaces, the always surreal sight of blood spilled on the snow, and shadows and objects creating eerie shapes, fooling us into thinking that they’re monsters ready to spot us and give chase. Make a truly horrifying Tundra, not some way to show off the distortion abilities of the Wii’s "graphics engine." Designing a game to show off the Wii’s graphics engine is like putting fine silk sheets on the beds of a cheap roach motel. If they wanted to show off a graphics engine, then they should have gone with the PS360 batch of consoles.
Which brings me to the final possible bad point; the game looks like the PG-13 version of Silent Hill so far. Seriously, it feels like the game has been severely toned down in order to appeal to a "broader base." Need I say anything more about that aspect?

The Good: The reboot (which is what they actually are saying when they use the word "reimagining") of the series was a good choice. Frankly, after playing SH:H, it saddened me how much the Christophe Gans film had come to define the visual style of the series. Gans’s complete inability to utilize subtlety had completely turned the series into a Hellraiser knockoff. Not to mention the whole section at the end of the game was seriously channeling Hostel. The last thing I want in my SH game is an Eli Roth reference. What’s next, one of the enemies is going to be a flesh eating virus that consumes all the main... you get my point. Taking the series back to the root concept, a horror game inspired by the works of Lovecraft and King, was a desperately needed step. I like the more psychological thriller/ghost story direction they’re taking the series in, and it actually feels more mature for the first time in a long time.
The psychology aspect of the game’s engine, no matter how little it ends up affecting the main story in the end, is a good touch that reminds me a lot about what we learned in SH2 regarding the nature of the town and otherworld. This was referenced in SH3, but nothing was ever really done with it, and the otherworld in SH4 really never seemed very interesting past the first stage. The otherworld in Origins was just a copy of the otherworld from the Alessa/Heather/Cheryl story and brought nothing new to the table, and Homecoming revealed to us that despite the fact that everyone was viewing a different otherworld... everyone was really not viewing a different otherworld....?! This new mechanic should prove a nice addition.
The running mechanics actually look quite visceral and seem to truly give an accurate simulation of true flight and terror. I especially loved the moment where Harry knocks a locker down in an attempt to cut off the monsters’ pursuit. It felt so real and exciting. It reminds me that this is what Climax wanted to do with Origins, but couldn’t because in the SH universe at the time they had to make Travis a fighter to maintain consistency yada, yada, yada.
Lastly, the Half-life style of puzzles where manipulation of the world and some common sense is all that will be needed to get past puzzles is quite promising. Though I love the puzzles in SH1 and 2, the puzzles in 3 had become just fucking weird in its attempt to outdo the puzzles in 2, and this caused the developers so much stress that by 5 they had simply abandoned puzzles altogether. Origins brought back the puzzles, but after 3 games worth of cryptic riddles, there was little challenge to be found in Origins cognitive aspect, and Homecoming committed the greatest sin of all by adding a fucking sliding puzzle (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!). What’s next for SH, a rubic’s cube? The direction of utilizing puzzles that have solutions demanding the player to manipulate the environment is a breath of fresh air for the series.

Overall there’s enough to make an argument either way at this point. My one problem right now is that Climax is sooo confident in their product right now that the major flaw of the unresponsive controls may go unattended to, and we all know that a broken control system equals a broken game. It doesn’t matter how good everything else is. The game is up (it’s a pun, get it?). So as of this moment, I’m personally looking forward to seeing it, but I’m not going to be all that excited about it. I’m more excited about Alan Wake right now.

Philly Parade!*^$&#%^@%!!!

2008-11-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

Best Fucking Day Ever!!! This was a once in a lifetime experience! The fucking city was going insane! I couldn't believe Broad Street; people were hanging off the street lights, dancing on the roofs, banging and climbing on the cars in the street! My friend and I were almost crushed between emergency vehicles, and then we were almost run over by a tow truck! Breaking through police barriers, walking over a sea of beer cans, watching port-a-potties being tipped over with people still in them, pushing through massive crowds of people, and watching the events from inside the Lincoln Center!!! It was absolutely fucking awesome!!! Fucking Badical!!! Truly amazing!!! I feel sorry if you lived in the area and couldn't make it; a few of my friends couldn't get off from work and were unable to go! The only event I could liken it to was when the Soxs won the series a few years ago! I hope Chicago gets a win soon, because if they do I'm driving to Illinois just to see the celebration!

Some extended time with Mario Galaxy

2008-10-26T00:11:00.000-07:00

I'm absolutely floored by this fucking game! The physics and level design are absolutely mind boggling, and the controls are rather intuitive for a Wii game. I first played this game for a little while back last Christmas at my cousin's house. I'm the first to admit that I wasn't all that impressed with it at first. I felt that the controls often worked against you, and that the camera angles were nausea inducing. Yet, almost a year later I got to playing around with it on my roommates Wii. I've had a complete change of heart; the game is a fucking work of art, and really did desrve the game of the year award for 2007! Don't get me wrong, I still think that Bioshock and Mass Effect were just as good, but in their own ways. Bioshock was the Mario Galaxy of FPS's, offering some of the most well-designed and breath-taking environments in a game, ever. Meanwhile, Mass Effect had likely the most immersive story ever put into a game, and also involved running around the universe kicking serious ass!
Now, don't think I've softened up on the Wii; I'm still not a big fan. It's just that this time, Shigeru Miyamoto was in top form!

I've found a new favorite blog

2008-10-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure we've all heard one of the now nightly reports on the worsening obesity "crisis" in the United States. I'm wondering if anyone else has watched these and began to grow skeptical with all the hoopla? If you have, then have I got the blog for you!

This is just one of the many articles on the website that works daily to wake people up to the truth about this supposed crisis that is affecting us all. According to the nightly news, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE HERE!!!

Here's a very disturbing article about something that's going on in the UK right now.

It reminds me of something my buddy JV over at Spaceworlder said back in January about what's going on with the relationship between government and peoples' daily lives. This is all scary, and I have a feeling that this is only the beginning. Anyone else getting that pre-eugenics feeling???

Ghosts and Goblins is a pain in the ass!!!

2008-10-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

I've downloaded that game on Gametap, and I can tell you that the game is simply ball-bustingly difficult! From the moment you begin it tries to anally rape you with it's fucking enemies appearing everywhere and traps coming out of nowhere. The very first level took me about an hour to finally complete! Now, maybe it's because I havn't played a platformer in ages, but the game just kicks my ass!

Rankin and Bass: Mad Monster Party!!!

2008-10-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

Why was this movie not shown every Halloween like all of the Christmas specials? This is probably the most awesome thing I have seen in my life; a cult film by Rankin & Bass starring Boris Karloff as Victor Frankenstein and Phylis Diller as The Bride of Frankenstein! It contains all of the classic Universal monsters, even including The Hunchback and Dr. Jekyll. It was written and designed by the original creators of Mad Magazine (hence the film doesn't feel as heartfelt as the other R&B classics, but uses more gallows humor). It's awesome, and I find it sad that this, and for that matter Peter Cottontail, are not shown on T.V. every season like Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and The Little Drummer Boy. I really wish it was. You can catch the movie here...

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

The guys putting up more each day, so just watch for it daily if you wanna see the whole thing.

Nostalgia Critic's Top 11 Animated shows.

2008-10-04T15:09:00.000-07:00

Basically, I would agree with this list, but if it were mine I would swap G. I. Joe and TMNT out and add in Alladin and Men in Black. Both of these shows could have been cash-in shows of their respective movies, but like Ghostbusters did they went the full nine-yards. Both shows built a respectable mythos (Alladin using near-eastern and mediterranean folklore and imagery, Men in Black using the comics), and developed their characters further than was possible in the film. I know that I still try my best to catch Alladin when it comes on Toon Disney every once in a while. I would also switch out Transformers (because that was also before my time) and probably add in Darkwing Duck. Why? Because, in my mind, it was pretty much Batman in the Duck Tales universe; couldn't be beat. It also had an array of awesome villains like Megavolt, Bushroot, Steelbeak, and Negaduck. So yeah, that's what I'd do.

Top 5 Horror games of all time

2008-10-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

I know that I havn't made one of these in ages, but in light of the season and the release of Silent Hill: Homecoming and the upcoming Dead Space I figured it would be appropriate. This list is not about series of games, nor is it about scary moments in games in general. It is simply about the games that traditionally fall under the umbrella of "Survival/Horror."

5. Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube, Playstation 2, PC, Wii)
This is a series that really needs no introduction, and this particular entry makes it onto the list for it's revolutionary take on Horror games. Traditionally, horror games tended to involve a lone hero with severely limited ammo and supplies facing off against a few scattered enemies in closed spaces. They also involved solving a series of puzzles that ranged from the painfully easy to the aneurysm producing. Resident Evil 4 was designed in order to produce a far different experience; something that many had been asking for after the much maligned RE0 came out. Capcom decided to design a game where the player was given all the ammo and supplies that they could want, but also added more enemies than they could ever hope to handle. Players couldn't avoid fights like they used to, as the enemies were smarter and made a habit of pursuing the player wherever they went. A camera was placed just over the shoulder of the protagonist, which gave the player a less disorienting experience when it came to the often ridiculed "tank controls" so prevalent in horror games. The old system of aiming involved just holding down the "aim" button and moving left, right, up, or down. It rarely made a difference, as the character usually just fired at the enemy's chest anyway. RE4 dropped that for a more precise aiming system that involved a laser sight and the ability to target specific body parts and do damage to such. Shoot a weapon out of their hadn, take out their legs so they fall on their ass, or just decapitate them completely. The boss fights also took an interesting turn, as you no longer just ran around and fired away at the enemy. You now had to target specific areas, develop strategies, and press certain buttons at specific times in order to avoid major damage or even sudden death. All in all, the series is better off now that RE4 has changed up its playstyle.

4. Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360)
What would happen if you threw Streets of Rage, Silent Hill, and CSI into a blender. Few games are as capable of creating such horrifyingly tense moments as Condemned was; it's rusted, broken backdrop, it's filthy hobo from hell enemies, and it's interesting take on melee combat in a first-person game all worked to create a unique experience. Condemned was a fantastic launch title for the 360, and if you have a 360 without this game you should probably consider picking it up. You could likely get it used for under $20 at this point. The game featured a visceral, hyper realistic art style, gritty atmosphere reminescent of films like "End of Days," and some truly frightening scenes. This one scene that takes place in an abandoned school... it will just stay with me. It's cheap, it's fun, it's worth every penny.

3. Resident Evil: Remake (Gamecube)
Before RE4 smashed the old mold for horror games, Capcom perfected it with their remake of the game that kicked off the whole genre. Even though it was "Alone in the Dark" which started the survival horror genre, it was Resident Evil that brought it into the mainstream. However, the graphics system for the original game is so dated that it's not remotely scary anymore. Realizing this, Capcom decided to remake it with the latest technology, and add in things that the team wanted to place into the game in the first place. One of the best additions to the game was the "Crimson Head;" a form that the stock zombie took after the player traveled through the room it was killed in one too many times. This enemy was faster, stronger, and more frightening than it's more familiar counterpart. The only was that their presence could be averted was if the player manged to blow the zombie head off while fighting it, burn it with kerosene after downing it, or allow the zombie to continue to live in it's current form. The player didn't have the freedom to burn every zombie's corpse, either. This was due to the fact that kerosene was very limited; the player had to decide which halls were most likely to be passed through again and burn the zombies in those rooms so as to avoid any possible "Crimson Head" encounters. The game was also no slouch when it came to atmosphere, either. Thanks to the power of the Gamecube, the lighting effects were some of the best to ever appear in a game. Swinging lanterns and burning candles helped put the player on edge when they entered an area for the first time, not knowing what to expect when they rounded a corner.

2. Bioshock (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC)
I have yet to purchase this game, but I did rent it a while back. Don't take that the wrong way, I loved this game! It was frightening, intense, haunting, and engrossing. The story follows a lone man who's plane crashes into the mid-Atlantic. He notices a tower standing out in the middle of nowhere; seeing it as his only hope for survival, he swims to it and goes inside. He enters, and finds himself on an elevator to a lost civilization. The game educes from the player a sense of sadness and despair in a way few games can ever hope to; at times, the enemies' lost humanity breaks forth in these sad scenes of men crying for safety, lost hymnals croning in the dark from those begging for salvation, and women wailing in pain for the loss of their children or lovers. The enemies are frighteningly human, and yet they are not. In their quest for their individual desires they tossed out what made them human; they became somthing else. As frightening as the splicers can be, you also feel a horrible sense of sympathy for them; you feel that they may have once been good people. It's that sense of tragedy that truly makes effective horror; making someone jump is one thing and it's very easy to do, leaving someone emotionally drained is something else altogether. The horrible crying that the little sisters do after the player kills a Big Daddy is another example of using horror to tug at a player's heart. 2K understood what it was doing with this game; this and Mass Effect were the reasons that I bought my 360.

And now...
1. Silent Hill 3 (Playstation 2, PC)
This is a tough choice, because I had to choose between this and Silent Hill 2. Still, whe it came to the raw scare factor, Silent Hill 3 is head and shoulders above Silent Hill 2. It shares with the other games in the series, as well as the second game on this list, a great appreciation for story telling. The game also was loaded with some of the best "haunted house" moments in all of gaming. The bleeding walls in Brookhaven Hospital and the Church, the disembodied scream in the store room, the knocking from the inside of empty stalls, the empty wheelchair in the hallway beyond the glass in the Department Building, and countless other scenes which just make the player question if they heard or saw what they thought. The story and the themes will also haunt the player, dealing the with issues such as vengeance, misplaced altruism, and reluctant motherhood. The enemy design for the game is also the best in the entire series, containing plenty of nasty demons to haunt your dreams with their cries and the sickly sound of their movement. Silent Hill 3, I feel, also has the best villain to ever appear in a video game. Claudia Wolf is more complex than the vast majority of movie villains. Her motives for getting Heather to remember her past life are deeply human, tragic, and believable when placed against the backdrop of her personality and past. Her abusive father, her alienation due to her faith, and her loss of her one friend in the world at a young age all lead her to make some bad decisions. The other three major characters in the game are also well thought out and feature great backstories that enable the player to gain a better understanding of who they are.

Homecoming reviews part 1

2008-09-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

OXM has provided the nadir when it come to the reviews of the game so far, because the others have been pretty good. Here's GCHD's review which gave it an 85%, here's Ugo.com's which gave it an A+, and 1up's review which gave it a solid B. The reviews have certainly picked up, and it seems that the game is worth the money. The major problems seem to be the straight forward story and the Combat system which is good but has room for improvement. It seems that if Double Helix fixes the flaws in this game in their next entry, then we could be looking at the next Team Silent.

Fuck!!!

2008-09-29T19:56:00.000-07:00

The first review of Homecoming that managed to slip out was awful; a paltry 6.5! This is not good, as the game releases tomorrow and I have yet to see another fucking review (as with movies, this is usually not a good sign). It looks like Homecoming is another Alone in the Dark. Still, not to worry; there are three promising Horror titles for the 360 on the horizon. First, of course, is Dead Space! The story is fucking tight, the visuals are amazing, and the gameplay mechanics are awesome. Then there's Alan Wake, which is finally set to debut in '09. Remedy took their time with this project, and from what I've been hearing this game is going to be great. It borrows a lot from Silent Hill with the alternate reality and nightmare imagery, but it also does a lot of things all it's own. I can't wait to see how the "light as a weapon" dynamics turn out. Lastly, there's Resident Evil 5; I really feel that the trailer says enough. Just one question, was that a Fucking El Gigante!? Overall, if Homecoming is as lame as this first review seems to fortell, then I'm waiting to put my money towards Dead Space. I'll get Homecoming next year when I can find it for $25-30 used. I'm not gonna waste my money on a new copy if this has turned out to be a sou crushing "fail!" If it is, I have one bit of advice for Konami; GIVE SILENT HILL BACK TO CLIMAX STUDIOS!!!

I'm never taking two upper level History courses at the same time again!

2008-09-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

As is, by next week I have to finish reading two books that I haven't even begun yet. I then have to write a mock research proposal for one, and then a professional review for the other one. I also have a 10-12 page paper due in each class at the end of the semester! Fuck!!! Combine that with the portfolio I have to do for TLC 1, and this is pissing me off!

I just thought about something...

2008-09-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have never even seen a Silent Hill game before, and I've been ranting about them for the past two or three days. So I decided to provide you with this; it's a Gametrailers retrospective of the series 1-4. It's a couple years old, so it doesn't have either Origins or 5 yet, but it is still a great recap of the original series and what it was all about. Enjoy!

I've been listening to these songs recently while surfing the web...

2008-09-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

This series easily has some of the best music ever composed for a game. You would hardly believe, upon listening to these tracks, that they were written for Video Games. Yamaoka is a freakin' musical virtuoso. Listening to these songs, one feels their consciousness drift away into their own inner-world.

Breeze in the Monochrome Night- My personal favorite of these tracks, from Silent Hill 3. The complexity and beauty of the song just takes me away.

Blow Back- Easily the single best song from Silent Hill: Origins, which may have been the best in the series in terms of music. It actually managed to beat out 2 and 3 in my opinion, and it was worth playing the game just to hear the music.

O. R. T- Another track from Origins, and this is the opening song that's played in the background while Travis is pursuing the Astral Projection of Alessa down the road. I love the lyrics, they seem to convey Travis's tragedy perfectly.

Waverer- This one's from Silent Hill 4, and I mainly am attracted to it's bizarre sound. This is like something that you'd expect to be playing in a bizarre dream.

Maternal Heart- The beat to this Silent Hill 3 song is just fantastic, and it's really what keeps you listening, even after the ambient noises drift in and take over. The scene that fit with this music is really quite legendary in the Silent Hill mythos; the famous "They look like monsters to you?" 'sneer' "Oh, don't worry... it's just a joke."

Rain of Brass Petals- Another great track from Silent Hill 3. Mind you, these are all songs from moments of dialogue between the characters, none of these are the "scary" tracks, as those can just get difficult to listen to without the accompanying gameplay. Akira really goes all out in them.

Never Forgive me, Never Forget me- I know, most of these are from Silent Hill 3, but I'm remembering just how great the soundtrack of that game really was. This track was from the scene where Heather and Douglas lay the body of her murdered father out on his bed and drape his cover over him. I remember the scene at the end of the game when you step into the one room in nowhere that is fashined like Heather's father's room back at their apartment. You notice that the bed is completely soaked with blood, the body of her father is gone, and a trail of bloody footsteps lead back out the door. This is one of the most deeply disturbing images in the series in my opinion. Heather's mind, now fully under the influence of Alessa, is imagining that her father, "who once told her that he can't be killed because he's the strongest man in the world," has just gotten up off of his deathbed and walked away to god knows where. The signifigance, and rationality, of this scene can only, truly be apreciated in light of the mythos of the entire series.

Overdose Delusion- One of the end credits songs for Silent Hill 2, the other entry of the series that's famous for it's music.

Promise- This is probably the most famous track in the series. Once again, it is from Silent Hill 2, and it plays during a famous scene in the series. In this moment, James walks into a room which features a massive mirror which covers an entire wall of the room. Angela, another character lost in the town while looking for someone long dead, is holding a large kitchen knife in her hand, possible contemplating suicide. This scene, in my mind, defines her whole character and tragedy in my mind and is one of the most powerful scenes in the series.

Piannissimo Epilogue- This is the music that plays at the end screen of the second game, which as you all know shows how you did on your playthrough. I really just like the sound of it, I believe it has an ephemeral quality to it, like waking in the morning from a horrible nightmare to find that everything is as it was when you went to bed.

Null Moon- Another famous track, which plays during James's meeting with the mysterious woman, Maria. Listening to the music, one feels lonliness, a loss of who they are, and the feeling that they are pursuing a lost cause. This is THE definitive scene of the entire game; the introduction of James to his dream woman, his alternate version of Mary.

Forest Trail- Here's one of the darker tracks which plays during James's descent into the town of Silent Hill during the second entry of the series. Listening to the music, you can almost feel the danger, like the music itself is telling you to just turn the game off and leave while you still can. Take James back to his car, drive him away, tell him Mary didn't send him a letter from beyond the grave, and get him a Big Mac or something.

Fermata in Mistic Air- I love this piece, it's so sad; almost as if it Yamaoka were evoking Mozart's Requiem while composing it. This is the music that plays whilst James is carrying the limp, diseased corpse of Maria to the Cemetary in the Labyrinthe. It is certainly the scene that is most filled with symbolism in the game. The graves of Walter Sullivan and other murderers, the empty plots that bear the names of James, Eddie, and Angela; the three sinners whom the town has sentenced to damnation.

A World of Madness- The abstract nature of this Silent Hill 2 piece is just completely alluring to me. It allows one to drift away from their very body, entering a new world of theory and concept. I've got to admit, I use this music to study and brainstorm for my papers.

Ashes and Ghosts- The battle music of Westside Apartment Complex from Silent Hill 2. The music has a primitive sound to it which emulates the tension of the scene as James defends his life with a mere 2x4 with a nail in it. I also enjoy the ghostly end, which causes one to wonder what else is hiding in the dark mists. The low growl toys with the player's head, causing them to believe something more sinister lies just around the bend in this building, and those who have played know that something does lie dormant in the dark corners of James's waking nightmare.

Tear's of- A haunting track from the original entry of the series. It seems to evoke both the pitfalls of Harry's journey and the pain and suffering of Alessa's existence in her current state.

Until Death- The music that play's when Harry is first attacked by the bird demon in the first Silent Hill. Again, Yamaoka used an extremly minimalist sound that was supposed to highlight Harry's one objective, rescue his daughter from this living hell.

Silent Hill- Ah, the main theme of the series. It conjures memories in my mind of the first time that I played the game. I was twelve then, and nothing before had scared me more than this. It still remains on my top ten list of scariest games of all time. The opening, like that of Silent Hill: Origins, evokes a sort of "Lost Highway" feel. It also reminds one of "Twin Peaks," one of the largest influences for the game.

Not Tommorow- The sad music, and the scene that accompanied it in the first game, evoke a feeling of melancholy when heard. This was the piece that played as Lisa revealed to Harry that she was merely another lost soul, now another monster in Alessa's world of pain. Harry's complete rejection of her led to a terribly tragic scene where Harry locked her into the room that they were speaking in, leaving her to her fate of pain and torment.

Heaven Give me Say- The ghostly sounds of Alchamilla Hospital leave one with a feeling of uneasiness. The player can almost feel the lonliness of Alessa's pain present in this piece. The hairs on the player's body stand on edge as they plunge deeper into her subconscious, seeking a way out.

Wrong is Right- A track from Silent Hill: Origins that gives one the feeling of being caught up in events that are beyond one's control. One can feel Travis's disatisfaction with the answers he is recieving from the people that he meets; has everyone gone mad!?!

A Wicked End- The primitive drums convey a soul that is lost in the early stages of it's life in this Origin's track. Travis's tragedy has left him a man with no past, as the pain of the circumstances surrounding his parent's death has caused him to block it all out in order to retain some sense of sanity.

Snowblind- Travis is led from one set of mysteries to another by Alessa, who is intent on using him as her familiar in the world of her own creation. He travels from one bastion of memories to another, seeking the artifacts of both of their pasts in hopes of stopping the birth of the town's dark god from coming about.

Shot Down in Flames- Another great song from Silent Hill: Origins that seems to describe both Travis and Alessa, dealing with their feelings of being misunderstood and isolated from the rest of the world due to their differences.

This became much longer than I originally intended, but it's worth it. The music of the Silent Hill series is just that great. I hope that you enjoyed this musical journey into the town of the damned.

My thoughts on the still long off 5th installment of Resident Evil

2008-09-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Though the series hasn't set my imagination ablaze the way that Silent Hill has, I still really love the Resident Evil series. From it's sin against nature enemies, to it's awesome sci-fi atmosphere, Resident Evil never fails to impress me in some way, shape, or form. I just wanted to take a moment to tell the "fans" who lament the radical change the series made with the fourth entry to get over themselves. Resident Evil, and for that matter unfortunately Silent Hill, was dying due to gameplay that was archaic; a reflection of the 32-bit era of gaming. It still utilized pre-rendered graphics (with the exception of Code: Veronica) and the infamous tank controls in it's core design.
The scripted "boo" moments had lost their impact by the third installment, and even though the Remake of the original utilized the concept of atmosphere first perfected by Silent Hill, it still featured more of the same gameplay. The sudden camera changes would often become a pain in the ass, and I'm sorry but it's not scary to watch your character fire at an enemy that is off screen. It's just annoying. Still, the remake had a very dark, gothic design which helped make it really frightening and effective as a horror game. The music was good, the character designs were phenomenal, and the pre-rendered graphics do look as great as the current console generation's 3D graphics. The problem is that, because the backgrounds were pre-rendered, you couldn't really look around at them and apreciate them.
This all changed with the now legendary fourth installment, the game that marked Leon S. Kennedy's triumphant return to action (and no, I'm not counting Gaiden as an entry so forget it!). The atmosphere was amazingly dark and gloomy, creating an overwhelming sense of dread, the awesome "Bond-like" villains really acted as effective foils to the Secret Agent Man, and the intelligence of the enemies often forced one to be more on their toes than previous installments (especially during the opening). After seeing the carnage of allowing the chainsaw wielding maniac Dr. Salvador near you, you would from then on come to dread the distant sound of the revving chainsaw. You knew that if he got close to you, it was all over. Because of this, you're heart raced faster than it ever had.
The tank controls were not scrapped like they were in SIlent Hill, but instead the game was designed with a camera system that justified the controls existence. The over the shoulder camera is quickly becoming a staple of action games, including Gears of War. The game was amazing in every category, so why are some self-proclaimed fans mad? Well, one reason is the same reason some Silent Hill fans are reacting with such vitriol to Silent Hill: Homecoming; it's different. Not only that, it attracted a whole slew of people who had never played any game in the series before. Suddenly, a fan-base (not unlike Silent Hill's, in fact they ususally attracted the same people) that had always seen themselves as a sort of elite group was completely buried under the weight of armies of the "Great Unwashed."
How could this happen? Who are all of these people asking questions about what happened in the earlier entries in the series? Beat it Noobs!
I guess my point is, grow up! Resident Evil 5 looks like it's going to become one of the best games of the decade, so lighten up already, accept the fact that the old series is over and a thing of the past, and give that new fan of the series a great big hug already!

HA!!!

2008-09-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

Lookie here!

As if he had just read what I said about the series; legendary composer, Akira Yamaoka, says in this interview the exact same thing I said about the influences of the series and how it's only natural for Americans to work on Silent Hill! Suck it nerds!!!

Now, if only I could find the article where he said that he's not interested in doing any Wii games because the system is "not for serious gamers."

My thoughts on the Silent Hill series in anticipation of Part 5 which comes out at the end of the month

2008-09-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

Much has been made of Silent Hill: Homecoming; some view it's release with joy and excitement, ready, willing and eager to re-enter the town that is home to the lost and the damned, whilst others look upon it with equal parts scorn and hesitation. They fear that the new gameplay style will destroy the series that they know and love, and feel great angst over the fact that it has been developed by an American team.
For those of you who don't know, Silent Hill debuted in early 1999 on the Sony Playstation and was meant to be Konami's answer to Capcom's wildly popular Resident Evil; a series which at the time was already on it's third installment. The creators saw what was done in Resident Evil, took note, and decided that they wanted to go an entirely different route. Gone were the Zombies, military garbs, and sci-fi atmosphere and in came something brand new. Team Silent, the name of the developing team of the first four entries of the series, wanted to create something based more in the realm of myth, philosophy, the occult, and psychology; they wanted to create something that wouldn't just cause you to jump, but would fill you with a true sense of dread. So, they took a rather basic concept, man looks for daughter in a ghost town, a heavy dose of atmosphere, at the time the most ever attempted in a game, and a rather unique little concept, plunge the player into pitch-black and give them a simple flash-light to show the way. They topped this off with some of the most bizzare creature designs one had ever seen in a game, rivaling Splatterhouse in all it's 16-bit glory!
From the moment the player stepped onto the snowy, foggy streets of Silent Hill with Harry, the protagonist, they were transported into another world. They wondered along with Harry what was going on here? They would lead Harry up the street, chasing after the faint figure of what both believed was his daughter, Cheryl. As they rounded the corner they stepped into a twisting alley littered with unidentifiable cadavers; they would wonder along with Harry what exactly it was that they were staring at. As they moved deeper into the alley, the light disappeared from the world and the player became trapped in the dark nightmare of a stranger; a stranger who who was, themself, locked in a state of pain, agony.
One may notice that there is a flaw in the thinking of many of the fans that immedietly push away Silent Hill: Homecoming (or five, if you prefer). They will often say that the Americans can't make the game in any way original because it's just beyond their capacity; Americans couldn't make Silent Hill, only the Japanese can. They forget that a good deal of American sources were the inspiration for the series and it's world. Jacob's Ladder was the prime inspiration for the series and it's concept of a character lost in an alternate reality. Then you have the works of Stephen King (particularly the novel Desperation) and H.P. Lovecraft (the stories of ancient cults and gods affecting the current world) which impated many parts of the story and it's development over the course of the now five games. Let us not forget that the scenes involving Lisa in the first game feel directly ripped out of Twin Peaks. So, on that note I must say that fears about the game for that reason are rather irrational.
As per the gameplay, well, I don't see anything which seems to rip one out of the world of Silent Hill.
Anyway, I really just want to say that the series is in my opinion the greatest example of effective storytelling in all of gaming. That's right Metal Gear Solid, fuck you and your wierd super soldier, ninja, monkey, vampire clones who have issues. No series has been able to maintain a story that is more fun to talk about than even playing the game; it is quite unique in it's own right. The countless layers that can be peeled away and examined in the game's story are absolutely daunting. Any fan of the series remembers the first time that you read a plot analysis for one of the games or stepped into a forum and read the long trails of discussions that people were having about the setting, the characters, the signifigance of certain notes found in the game, and the meaning of objects located in the misty world and how they changed in the other world. Yet, the most fascinating aspect of the game's and the aforementioned analysis of them was the monsters. Why did these creatures, or ghosts as I prefer, take on the forms that they did? What kind of torment, trauma, or illness did the characters bring in to the town to feed the spirits? These are the kinds of questions one finds themselves asking when playing these games. Certainly, other games have caught up with Silent Hill in regards to depth of story, Bioshock, Assasin's Creed, Condemned, and Mass Effect all come to mind, but none of them can quite compare with with the misty, empty streets of that northeastern resort town (another Stephen King influence).
Combing back over the series, I can't think of any of the five games that I truly disliked, and I would say that that's because each game really said something about life. Harry's quest to find the daughter who never knew that she was adopted and was really the manifestation of a tortured soul trying to escape her world of pain, James's journey to search for his dead wife and his epiphany in regards to the true nature of her death, Heather's mission of vengeance and her acceptance of who she really is, Henry's scramble for an escape from his lonely existence in his apartment, and Travis's hunt for the flauros and the lost pieces of his memory all tell amazing stories than can transcend even the worst voice-acting (as the first entry of the series can attest to). These tales are all personal on a certain level, and the supporting characters also bear great depth and purpose which fleshes out the universe more. Then you have what each of the games say thematically. Silent Hill one and three discuss the nature of vengeance, the dark side of faith, and the importance of love. Wheras, Silent Hill two touches upon what murder does to the perpetrators, how powerful a drug denial is, and whether any of us can find forgiveness for our sins, while four demonstrated the dual nature of altruism, what the loneliness of modern life does to an individual, and the power and resonance of a single act of kindness and how it can save the world. Lastly, you have Origins which shows us that we need to let go of our trauma, that doing the right thing can lead us down a dificult and treacherous road but that it must be done, and that all of us are damaged in some way or another.
So, I come to the end of this little piece, and I express my admiration for the entire series of Silent Hill. Whether it be it's atmosphere, it's haunting music, or it's simply amazing storytelling the series has always been top notch in my opinion and truly deserves to be considered the king of horror games.

Some games I played recently

2007-12-31T11:19:00.000-08:00

Bioshock= This was the game I bought the 360 for in the first place, and I was not disappointed. Outstanding visuals, immersive gameplay, and a mind-bending story with actual deep themes. The story is actually trying to say something, though I'm not sure I 100% agree with everything it says. Still, to play a game with a story that actually makes you consider some of your own philosophical beliefs is a complete mind-fuck. I hope to see a sequel or something better from this team in the near future.
Naruto: Rise of Ninja= Consider this, this game actually got me to watch the show. Yeah, all the other games based on the show that I played with my cousins sort of bored me to an extent. The fighting engine would often utilize a Super Smash Brothers layout for the contrl scheme, and all the characters played the same. Yet, a western team went and created a game based off of a Japanese product and improved upon it, immensly. The actual fighting game only sports 11 characters initially: Naruto: Sasuke: Sakura (only girl): Rock Lee: Neji: Kiba: Kakashi: Gaara: Haku: Zabuza: and for the first time ever, Orochimaru (the main villain, and this is the first time he's a playable character). Now, this isn't many, but each of these characters actually features a little variety in their play style. Naruto and Rock are close quarters fighters who fly in and unleash constant combos at break-neck speed, while Neji, Kiba, Zabuza and Kakashi are hard hitters who make a few strikes, knock the characters back, and perform a special attack to make quick work of them. Then you have Haku, Sakura, and Sasuke who are more fit for jumping in, delivering a few quick hits, and jumping back out of harm's way, which can prove to be a death wish for characters like Gaara, who likes to keep the enemy beyond arms length, or Orochimaru, who is all about zapping behind an unsuspecting target and beating them senseless. To add to this, Ubisoft is offering extra content through Xbox live, such as new characters (Shikamaru is the only one I know of right now) and the Japanese language track. I'm not even going to talk about the story mode, because enough has already been said in other reviews. It's certainly not a perfect game, but it's a lot of fun, and it stands far above the mountain of Japanese made cash-ins that have plagued the world since the show first came out.

Sorry that I havn't gotten the second part up yet...

2007-12-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

It's finals week and I've been so damn busy. The thing just takes so long to write and I've just not been willing to take care of it.

More tommorrow...

2007-12-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

coming tommorrow: Top Game Moments 5-1
A long time ago, a game rocked,
rivals battle in an awesome montage,
The Great war is fought again,
an old mascot at his prime,
and an elf dude takes us on the greatest adventure of all time!
Plus, some honorable mentions. Games that came really close to receiving a cigar, but only picked up some chewing tobacco.

The Best Game Moments of all time (in my oppinion)!

2007-12-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

You know that you have your own list stashed away somewhere within that grey matter. Since I love lists so much, I'm going to lay this one out. Know that this was actually a very hard list to make, because there were many moments that I just had to leave out. It was tough, but I think I have the best list I could conceive...

10) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Opening Stage (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, PC) / I figured I'd start out light. The Return of the King is, hands down, the best movie-game of all time. No other game was able to capture the feel of the films they were based upon the way that this game did. From the opening stage where Gandalf rides onto the fields before Helm's Deep, littered with the bodies of fallen Uruk and Rohirrim. The air is filled with the dust of the earth and the battlefield is illuminated by the haunting, orange glow of the dawn. Gandalf is immediately surrounded by the hulking, ape-like figures of the Uruks. He is forced to parry their blows continuously while he searches for an opening in their offense. After dispatching several of the fiends, he is beckoned to the top wall by Legolas who, along with a handful of Rohirrim archers, is busy trying to hold off a swarm of Uruk who are speeding his way with their weapons drawn. The White Wizard hastily climbs the siege ladder, narrowly avoiding a flaming projectile that completely destroys it. He makes quick work of the ensuing horde with his staff. Without giving Gandalf the chance to breathe, Legolas hurries down to the lower level upon a grappling hook that was launched the previous night. Gandalf follows Legolas after felling another group of enemies. On the ground, Gandalf joins up with Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn to fight through the mass of foes that still continue to fight on. After spotting a wagon full of explosives being dragged into their stronghold, Aragorn and Gandalf rush to the Uruks' still-functioning siege equipment. Firing a balista into the wagon, the explosives ignite and take out a good many Uruks in one final blow. So, that's how your first mission ends.

9) Silent Hill; Other-world Midwich Elementary Transformation (Playstation) / After gathering the two medals that fit into the sockets at the side of the Midwich Elementary School Clock Tower, Harry proceeds through the now open door. From outside, Harry could hear an eerie grinding noise that sounded less mechanical and more biological. Fear nearly overwhelmed Harry, causing him to hesitate. However, his resolve to find his daughter quickly brought him back to his senses. Harry knows that he must find Cheryl and bring her home, for he is her father and that's what he's there for. Inside the tower is a ladder, but it does not go up as one would logically assume. No, it goes down, into a deep, black hole. Harry knows that he has no choice in the matter, for his intuition is screaming out to him that this is the way to go to find Cheryl. He climbs the ladder, into the dark abyss below. At the bottom is a long, graffiti covered hall. The path ahead, lit only by his flash light, gives way to nothing but a litter strewn path into more dark enigma. Puzzlingly, an air raid siren can be heard from deep within the depths of this concrete warren, blasting away at the silence of the shade therein. Harry proceeds down the hall, only his footsteps and the maddening sound of the siren could be heard during this ordeal. After a minute of walking, Harry comes to the end of the tunnel, which gives way to a ladder that is nearly identical to the one he has just come from. Confused, he cautiously proceeds up the ladder, winding up on an identical platform, connected to an identical door. As Harry opens this door, he enters the mirror world of our own. A world that reflects the twisted nature of the evil in this world.

8)Mario 64; First experience with fully 3D control (Nintendo 64) / Up until Mario 64 introduced the control stick, 3D games were controlled by simple directional pads. This was an example of an old technology being used in tandem with new ones. I really don't have an actual narrative to go along with the entry the way I did with the previous two, and that is because this entry does not deal with a moment within the gameplay, but a moment in gaming history. It just fit to me.

7)Resident Evil 4; Salazar vs. Leon (Gamecube, PS2, PC) / Leon rushes through the door, barely concerned for his own safety anymore. He has his mission, and he intends to carry out no matter what the cost is. After all, if he is not willing to throw away his life to protect this girl, then what the hell is he there for? He stumbles out upon the walk-way, as that wormy Spaniard, who has been trying with all his power to put an end to Leon in the most horrible ways, sneers at him. He mockingly shrieks to Leon that Ashley has already been taken away to his master's island, a wicked smirk appears upon his face. The little tyrant knows something that Leon doesn't, and he is aware of it. Leon puts one foot forward and his hand on his gun; he is ready for anything. Previously the monster has thrown carnivorous insect men, vicious dogs, blinded beserkers, living suits of armor, his monstrous reptilian guard, hordes of zealots, and countless traps in his way. Yet despite this, Leon had survived. He understood that his foe was desperate and might reveal his trump card. Leon's intuition told him that Salazar was still hiding it, just beneath the surface. The tiny castellan spread out his arms and was absorbed into s massive plant that became animated, seemingly, at his command. A great, flesh-eating vine surfaced from the base as Salazar bloomed from a pod on top of the wall-encompassing being. Somehow, betraying the fact that Leon had seen far too much during his life, he was not surprised. Leon withdrew his magnum and fired into the flesh of the vine, causing no damage. Salazar openly mocked his competitor as he swung another, slightly smaller vine at Leon. The agent was struck and dropped to the floor. He got up and quickly focused his barrel upon the pod that housed Salazar, but this proved to be fruitless. Salazar commented on the futility of his opponent's situation, as the largest vine began to pull back and open its mouth, revealing row upon row of twisted teeth. The agent swiftly dove to the ground below, narrowly avoiding a gruesome death. The floor was populated by countless plaga, scuttling about like children awaiting their feeding time. They all begin to lunge for Leon, who quickly unloads a round of his 9mm into the ensuing swarm. Leon dashes for the ladder. He pulls himself up, nearly forgetting about the demon that inhabits the top floor of this hell-house. Another tentacle is thrown Leon's way. He ducks under it this time, and instinctively fires a magnum round into the eye of the feeding tentacle. It goes limp, and Salazar blooms again, revealing himself in order to see for himself what had just happened. Leon doesn't hesitate; he fires his last magnum round into the chest of the corrupted castellan. Salazar lets out one final wail of pain as he and his plant wilt into the stone floor below. All in a day's work.

Silent Hill 2; Eddy vs. James (PS2, Xbox, PC) / James runs down the foggy, red hall. His heart is pounding with anticipation. It's not everyday that your only hope out of a dark labyrinth is a path located under your own grave. There is no sound, save for that of James's own footsteps on the concrete floor. A door at the end of the hall stands out as the only blue object around. However, this isn't the warm, soothing blue one usually comes across. This is a pale, deathly blue more familiar to a morgue, or meat locker. James's heart tells him that this is the only way out, so he grabs onto the freezing latch, and opens the door. Inside is a massacre, bodies are strewn all over the freezer, and in the middle stands Eddie. He's holding his gun, limply at the side. James is in complete shock at the the whole scene, and even more so at the perpetrator. Eddie looks up and begins to speak to James; from his speech it is clear that he has lost his mind. He keeps rambling on about how everyone was always mocking him, how they all laughed at him. He justifies his murders by saying that these people got what was coming to them. As he watches Eddie, James can clearly see that the color of the killer's face is changing. It is taking on a bizarre green pigment, almost like Eddie is already dead. James tries to tell Eddie that what he did was wrong, but Eddie quickly turns on him and tries to put his new found killer instinct to good use. He tries to aim his revolver at James, but his manic state of mind prevents him from getting a clear shot at him. James instinctively aims back at Eddie and puts a round in his shoulder. Eddie quickly flees to the safety of the next room, while James is left wondering what to do. I would write more, but I really don't want to spoil this one.

That's all I can write for now. I'll put the top 5 up tomorrow or the next day. Later...

A response to Jedite's rant on Fanboys...

2007-11-26T21:24:00.001-08:00

Yeah, I know, 4 posts today! I'm on a roll though! Anyway, last week made a quick rant about on Youtube and I thought that I'd make a quick response...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKjHQdLm2BY ( I wanted to post the vid but I wasn't able to)

First, let me say kudos for not going the cop-out route of just saying "all the consoles are good, so everyone chill out." You actually made arguments to support your position. Now, I do have to say that opening with a "No true Scotsman" fallacy was a bad move. Saying that fanboys are not true gamers isn't really going to convince anyone on that side to quit it man, it's just gonna get them more pissed off. You know these guys are like monkeys, they'll just start flinging excrement all over the place when they get mad.
Next, I do agree with you to an extent, no regular gamer should be asking for any system to fail because of the company who makes it. However, you have got to realize, some people may want a system to fail because they would see its success as having the potential to take gaming in the wrong direction. For instance, some may want the 360 to fail because they believe its continued success will result in a future Microsoft takeover of the industry with the console equivalent of windows being made the world standard. Others may wish the PS3 to fail as it represents the apex of specs determining console success and the belief that graphics should come before anything else. Still others wish the Wii to fail because they see it as the beginning of an age of appealing to the lowest common denominator in gaming, similar to the toilet humor comedy of film and the reality TV show on television. If someone truly believes that only a single console represents the direction they want gaming to go in (and this generation seems to represent that more than any previous one), than they have an obligation to root for one system, and hope the system that represents what they see as the wrong direction fails.
Now, if a console fails, it does not necessarily mean that no one will take its place. After all, after Sega collapsed, Microsoft arrived to take up the mantle of 3rd competitor. Back in the days of the 16-bit era, only two consoles were competing. Sure, there were many more, but no one really remembers the Turbo-Grafx or the Neo-Geo (outside of the arcade that is). At the end of the 8-bit era Nintendo was in control of a relative monopoly, and the gaming industry continued to grow and grow. If, say, Sony were to back out of consoles at the end of this generation, do you really believe that no one else would leap into their spot? How long would it be before Apple decided to make an iSystem, or Capcom, EA, or Ubisoft go first party and take all their IPs with them? As it is right now, with 3 equally competitive systems, the market is crowded. There is no more room for another system, and there have to be plenty of companies ready to jump into the increasingly more lucrative business of gaming.
Also, about what you mentioned about console exclusives; if a company were to fail, all of its viable exclusives would disperse with the teams who made them and would easily find work with another console. Say Microsoft fails, within a matter of weeks Epic would be bought up by another company or sign a deal with another console. Microsoft Game Works would also still be making games for the PC, and would likely begin making some games for the Wii, PS3, and whatever other console that jumps in to take Microsoft's place. If Sony were to stop making consoles, Insomniac and Naughty Dog would have no trouble finding work (hell, they're two of the best game studios around today along with Bioware, Epic, Bethesda, and Pandemic). Same with Nintendo if it were to go 3rd party, do you really believe that they would not continue to publish they're extremely profitable IPs?
In conclusion, you made a good rant, despite the fact that I didn't agree whole-heartedly. I do understand how you feel about console fanboys, but I must say that not all people who wish a console would fail are fanboys. I love your Vg Q and A's Jedite, so keep up with them man. Hope you read this man!
Joe

Some brief film reviews by me...

2007-11-26T20:43:00.001-08:00

I made these on Facebook movies not long ago, and I think I'll periodically stick some of them here as more people are likely to see them here...

Rope
Review: This movie is wrongly labeled as a thirller, but the truth is that it is actually the smartest black comedy of all time!
5/5

Blazing Saddles
Review: Easily one of the funniest films of all time! It is truly stunning how Mel Brooks uses bigoted language to turn rascism into one of the funniest subjects you can put on film!
5/5

Evil Dead 2
Review: I love it, but it may not be everyone's favorite. Raimi and Campbell, in my oppinion, pull off one of the funniest films of all time. However, the problem with the film is that it might not appeal to everyone. The horror parts are sometimes so pure that they can over-power the comedy for some people. This film is, admittedly, very off-beat. The original Evil Dead is far more frightening, and The Army of Darkness is funnier. This leaves Evil Dead II in an awkward position in-between. Though the movie is genuinly funny, it can be rather violent which could turn some people off. Still, for what it's worth, the film is great!
4/5

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King
Review: One of my all-time favorites!!! The movie actually manages to capture ancient war with more accuracy than other, more factual films like Kingdom of Heaven. Every shot drips with its own mood thanks to the digital grading that Weta employed. Viggo Mortenson feels like the true king of men, Elijah Wood is the reluctant savior of the world, Sean Astin actually became the caring and dutiful partner who saves the ring-bearer in his final, desperate hour of need, Ian McKellen oozes with knowledge and wisdom, and Andy Serkis has completely lost his mind. There isn't a single poor performance in the film! I couldn't give this movie a higher rating than 5, but I wish I could!
100/5

Titanic
Way over rated!! I just never saw what was supposed to be so appealing about this film. I mean, the design was excellent, but that's all I really liked about it. The love story felt far too sappy. the characters other than Jack & Rose felt rather underdeveloped, and the whole movie was just topped off with a coup de grace that I saw coming from a mile away.
2/5

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
How about we don't seek it and say we did!!! Anyway, I took my younger brothers to see this and they enjoyed it. However, they're 12 and 11, I'm not!!! The movie is derivative, predictable, and dull in every sense of the word. The only good part is that I got to see Ian McShane again since I can't see him in Deadwood anymore. Oh Swearagen, where are you!!!!
1/5

Superman Returns
If Richard Donner's original 2 Superman films were the introduction of the character, Bryan Singer is the man who delves deep and tries to figure out what it all means. Singer does a great job on his first outing, giving the formerly stale Man of Steel a hint of humanity. There is also the parallels to the Christ of the Gnostic gospels which give everyone a little food for thought. This film and Peter Jackson's King Kong suffered from the same problem, both were ticketed as rote big budget action films, and both turned out to actually be character driven dramas about makor American cultural icons. Also like Jackson's King Kong, the film is loaded with aritstic and musical beauty. The music takes many cues from John Williams's original score, and the artistic style loads up on 1940's-50's art-deco. So, give it a shot, and remember that it's not an action film, it's a character drama.
5/5

10 Best Film Villains of all Time (in my oppinion)

2007-11-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

I was thinking to myself the other day about my all time favorite movie villains of all time. You know you've compiled you're own list before but never actually told anyone. So, I think I'll show mine to get the ball rolling here.

10. Saruman/ Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy)
You know, you just can't beat Christopher Lee as a villain. He has a certain air of cunning and sophistication, not to mention that booming voice. Saruman was probably the best villain in the whole LOTR trilogy because of Lee's performance which seemed like Hitler-light. Just remembering him in the 2nd film speaking to the field of 10,000 Uruks before Helms Deep still gives me a bit of a chill. He also has the best Death scene of all the guys on this list, if you haven't seen the Extended Edition of the ROTK I order you to GO GET IT NOW!!!

9. Captain Barbossa/ Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean)
I had no real problem with Davy Jones, but he just wasn't on screen enough to fill Barbossa's boots. Barbossa was sharp, cunning, and extremely witty. His first exchange with Elizabeth outside of Port Royal proved to you two things...
1. Hey, this may be a pretty cool movie.
2. Hey, this dude is Boss!
"I am disinclined to acquiesce your request."

8. Dr. Rene Belloq/ Paul Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Belloq isn't truly evil, hell he's not really that bad. He makes this list because he is like the dark version of Indy. He is curious to a fault, proud, resourceful, intelligent. We are introduced to him as he rips an idol Indy nearly died for right out of his hand at arrow point. Let's also add that he allies himself with the Nazis for personal gain and tries to steal Indy's girl. He never finds anything wrong with this either, Jackass! He of course has the second coolest death when his head explodes in a classic, strangely gruesome for a PG-13 movie ending.

7.Freddy Krueger/ Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street series)
Few of the 80's slashers are actually memorable for any reason other than they had so many god damn movies. Do you really think people will remember Jason Vorhees in another 20 years? Was Micheal Myers any good past the original Halloween? The only one of these guys who had a personality and a feature that set them apart like the old Universal Studios Monsters was good ol' Freddy! His ability to pursue people in the dream world makes this monster believably unstoppable. Every time he comes back, you understand why. He's an immortal Dream Demon, and he's very creative too. He's also the only slasher who will openly mock you while he hunts you down!

6. Norman Bates/ Anthony Perkins (Psycho)
"Mother? Oh, Mother Blood!!!" Classic lines from a man with split personalities. Come on, you can't say after seeing this fucker pop out wearing women's' clothing you weren't shocked! This guy is still effective today the way he was in the 60's. Hitchcock created the most demented movie villain of all time. That final shot of him looking up during his "Mother's" voice over and grinning is Scary! Norman was pure Movie Magic!

5. Darth Vader/ James Earl Jones: David Prowse (Star Wars Trilogy)
Is there really anything to say? I think we all know why he's here. You may ask why he's so low though, and all I can say to that is... Damn Prequel Trilogy!!!

4. Hans Gruber/ Alan Rickman (Die Hard)
Die Hard was the last and best of the 80's slam-bang action films. One of the reasons was Bruce Willis as John McClain, and the other was Alan Rickman's infamous Hans Gruber. Hans of course was an infamous terror meister who took 30 hostages and killed 2 in the pursuit of some extra cash. To think that he poses as a Euro trash terrorist and makes ridiculous demands in the pursuit of $$$. Not to mention the great scene where he ventures out looking for McClain, poses as a hostage who slipped away, all in order to find out who John was and why he was there. He then slips away after an awesome fire fight, leaving John picking glass out of his feet.

3. Lex Luthor/ Gene Hackman: Kevin Spacey (Superman Series)
How can one man do so much damage in a world that is defended by an active God?! Who is the Great?!? Why, only Lex Luthor! The Greatest Criminal Mind on Earth!!! Lex has put the earth in Jeopardy not once, but three times! He is the greatest antagonist to a Superhero there could be, I don't care what you say! A mortal man with no powers other than his own wit managed to bring Superman to the brink of death, what more could you want! He has also been played by two of the coolest actors in American film, Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey. I can't wait to see more of Spacey in the next Superman come '09, what will he do next?

2. Matthew Harrison Brady/ Frederic March (Inherit the Wind)
"Give me that old time religion" starts off one of the best Courtroom dramas of all time. A lot of you may be asking what "Inherit the Wind" was, all I can say is it's based on the Scopes-Monkey trial. Look, watch Brady go through his arguments and see if you don't here the "Intelligent" Design lobby today. Why Brady? Because he is an excellent speaker, and for a courtroom drama that means a lot. He is also not so much evil as he is misguided and stubborn. Frederic March was great in this, but if you can't find this one then rent the 1999 version with George C. Scott! You won't be disappointed.

1. Jim Taylor/ Edward Arnold (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
I LOVE THIS FILM! Jimmy Stewart is an outstanding actor, and so is Claude Rains. But what made this movie was it's ruthless business man villain. Jim is quite brutal, he will do whatever he has to in order to keep order in his state and keep the people on his side. That includes paying the cops to shut down rally in favor of Jeff Smith's filibuster, and even having his hired goons hurt the children who are running Smith's campaign. All of his actions lead up to one of the most moving endings in history. Frank Capra was a genius, see this film. I guarantee you will hate Jim Taylor as much as I do.

Please, read and respond.

An interesting development in true gaming revolution...

2007-11-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

http://kotaku.com/gaming/bioware/ea-want-mass-effect-dialogue-system-for-other-titles-317568.php

Admittedly, I don't keep up on gaming news the way I should, so pardon me that this news is almost a month old. I didn't know what to think about EA acquiring Bioware, and I know that many gamers are reticent to support the company who brought us Madden XXXX, a yearly update that still manages to sell a million fucking copies every fall. However, after reading this, I can't help but smile at the idea of Bioware's system of dynamic, interactive story-telling being adapted for more games. This is something that should have been done a long time ago, but has sadly fell by the wayside to make way for the melodramatic crap that makes it into any of Square's recent titles and the entire MGS series. Being able to choose how your character behaves and speaks, and having that effect the course of the story is the epitome of Virtual Reality. I have been saying this since Knights of the Old Republic, through Morrowind and Jade Empire, and into Oblivion and now Mass Effect. So while Nintendo releases a crummy controller attached to a Gamecube and calls it revolutionary, Electronic Arts will be busy taking cues from some true revolutionaries! Let's hope that EA goes through with these plans and that it's not all just talk.

Best Console RPG's of all time (in my oppinion)

2007-11-25T21:07:00.000-08:00

Because I don't have much else to do with the little free time I have, I sit around thinking. I was just pondering what I believe have been the best RPG's of all time. Why? Because I'm a complete Nerd!!! So, without further ado, my top 5 RPG's of all time...

5. Star Ocean: The Second Story (Playstation 1) : You know, back in the late 90's most J-RPG's were straight, old-school, turn-based romps with Anime characters pretending to be European Knights and Druids. If you remember those games on the Playstation and the Saturn, please raise your hand now. There was an exception to this, and it was Star Ocean! Yes, 3 was just okay, but the Second one was a revolutionary console RPG. It allowed you to move around the battle screen in real time while the computer controlled the other 3 characters based on your commands. The game was, at times, quite viscous to the player, featuring bosses with HP levels well into the upper hundred thousands! One optional boss named Isciella Queen had 5,000,000 HP and could travel at a seemingly ludicrous speed!!! She could also kill some characters with a single hit, even if they had 9999 HP! My point is, the game was revolutionary, challenging, and fun. It's rather hard to track down nowadays, but if you can find it, you will not be disappointed.

4. Suikoden II (Playstation 1) : Yeah I know, another obscure J-RPG, but I can't help it. Suikoden II was the early, high water mark of the series. This one makes it mostly for it's outstanding story. It revolved around two boys who are drafted into the army of the Kingdom of Highland. Late one night the camp is raided and they are set off on a journey together to find a way home. The first of the four acts ends with the one boy, by the name of Jowy, assassinating a key political figure in the opposing side's capital. As you can tell, it has been a loong time since I've played this one, so bear with me. The story unravels with the two boys, childhood friends, leading opposing armies against one another in a show down of literary scale. Looking back upon it, you would have thought the story came out of an ancient epic! The sad thing is that it's probably the hardest game on this list to track down. The last time I looked, they were going for around $120 on Ebay.

3. Final Fantasy III/VI (Super Nintendo, Playstation, Gameboy Advance) : To hell with VII Square, re-make Final Fantasy VI! It's truly amazing how fun this game is so many years after it's release in 1993! Cool story, interesting characters, great battles, it has the lot! You can find this one rather easy, so go knave, find it!!!

2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox, PC) : This was the game I wanted an Xbox for, and I was not disappointed in the least when I picked it up! It was the first Western RPG I ever played, and since then I havn't looked at J-RPG's with the same fondness since! Creating a player and being able to change the gaming experience based on my actions proved to be amazing! Bioware created this masterpiece, and I might have to update this list when their next work of art, Mass Effect, comes out this fall! You gotta give a lot of credit to a group who managed to create a Star Wars game that didn't suck, but they were the first. Go get it!

1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) : Wow. So many choices, so much to do. I, really can't explain what this experience is like to you. This is the type of game that causes you to give up your social life. I, a Nordic, Nightblade who was born under the sign of The Warrior (See how fun creating a character is!), bid you to go buy this game, for it is boss!!!

Agree? Disagree? Do tell. What's your top five?

Console War!

2007-11-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

Hello y'all and welcome to my blog!
So, I've been watching these current consoles, and I've decided I wanted to say something about each of them.
PS3- This is the current underdog, and the reason is rather apparent. I've been a Sony guy for two generations now. I bought the PS1 and the PS2, as well as a ton of games for them. I loved Crash Bandicoot when it was made by Naughty Dog. I loved the Final Fantasy games, Ratchet & Clank, and God of War. I even bought that bore-fest Killzone (Halo-killer, yeah okay! Call us when you can color the enviroments something other than gray!). I loved SOCOM, I played it a lot. The Resident Evil and Silent Hill series are among my favorites. God, I'm gonna have a lot of fond memories of my PS2.
However, Sony went too far this time. $5-600 for a single console! Are you shitting me Sony!!! You don't even have any good exclusives, just a bunch of games that you can also get on the far cheaper 360. That's the other major problem, aside from the price, Sony doesn't have any good 1st party games or even regular console exclusives. Their only good exclusive to date is Resistance, though there are some recent additions this holiday season that warrant more than a look.
Even after watching both E3 and the TGS, I can't really spot many exclusives that would really make me want to buy the system. That's not good, because this generation seems to be rapidly moving away from Sony.
Now, not all is doom and gloom. The PS3 now has Heavenly Sword, Drake's Fortune, and the next Ratchet & Clank which could help this floundering giant float. However, I'm not sure it's going to be enough to pull the majority of Hardcore gamers from the 360. So, Sony could just end up like Sega and SNK this generation if it doesn't pull some fancy moves out of its magic bag.
Wii- Oh, it's just so much fun! Great fun, until a week passes by. Then you realize exactly how lame this thing is. It's extremely underpowered for one thing, and this is a serious problem. No level of Snerd love can change that fact.
A system with less power is not going to be able to render as vast a world as a more powerful one. The Wii could never run Elder Scrolls IV. Hell, I don't think it could run Elder Scrolls III!
The controller also gets old fast. It's really not as great as it was made up to be. The whole thing feels so gimmicky and lame. I keep wishing for some depth as I'm playing, but it never comes. Take Wii sports for instance; whether it's the fact that the game does all the work for you like in tennis or that the controls register the same move whether you make a full swing or just flick the remote like in the baseball game, the game babies you from beginning to end!
There is absolutely no skill involved in the play, and that's great for children or people who have never picked up a controller before. However, it's just terrible for people who actually treat gaming as a full-fledged hobby and want to be able to explore on their own and grow throughout the game.
The whole system is just completely over-rated in every aspect. The reason this thing even flew off the shelves in the first place is because the PS3 was too expensive and the 360 was dealing with the Red Ring of Death. When the media saw this, they latched onto it because they thought it was going to be the next big thing. So they hyped it up and made it a fad. The Wii has become an over-priced Furby! Yeah, I said it! The Wii sucks! The main reason it's doing so well is due to media hype! I swear to god, the next person I come across who repeats to me this now tired line that "the Wii is bringing the fun back to gaming" is getting punched in the fucking face! I mean it, there will be blood!
Hey, if you are actually considering buying this thing, I want you to think of this word when you see that box being placed in your hands, Powerglove. Maybe this one will work too, iToy. Revolution my aching ass, Tiger Electronics has been making these games for 4 fucking years now! You know the commercials.
Xbox 360- I guess Microsoft's biggest problem was the Red Ring of Death. This was the biggest factor in the 360 getting a score of 3 1/2 stars on Amazon. The whole incident poisoned the relationship between Gates and a good portion of the gaming community, and he's going to spend the rest of this generation making up for this. Another irritating problem with this system is the extremly loud fucking noise it makes when it's playing certain games! Christ, I just want to play Dead Rising without fearing that my 360 is going to blow up the damn house!
Aside from this, the 360 delivers where Nintendo claimed it was going to, and that's fun! The 360 is going to have the best games of all the consoles far into the foreseeable future, and that's a good reason to get this one over the others.
Plus, you get total connectivity to any device with a USB port, the whole customizable soundtracks option, and Xbox Live, the best online service around today! Not to mention the achievement system is actually pretty damn cool! So yeah, go with the 360! Of course, that's just my oppinion, I could be wrong...