VB6: Latetards

And The Pendulum Swings Again

Call flip flop all you want, but I'm in love with FFVII: CC again. Well, I should say I fell back in love with it two days after posting my hate post. More to the point, I started to like it again when I gave it a second chance. After mastering the pattern for Ifrit, I was finally able to move on in the game and thankfully, the pendulum that was stuck on the no leveling side finally began to swing in the opposite direction. It was so nice to actually see my character break level 10 and to have my first Materia hit master level. Even though I'm still nowhere the same level as others I know when they were at my location, at least I can survive more then one hit, shich helps me enjoy the game.

Anyway, once things got back on the balance, I have to say that the game is quite amazing. The story is well done, and I love how they sneak in those moments from the previous games and movie to show things from Clouds POV dealing with Zack in brief moments. Though, I must say, I'm very curious where the game is going to go from where I am now. After all that has happened and that the game is still going, its like an all new game presented to me as I'm not sure where things are going. Sure, I still know where they end up, but this journey is started to get really interesting.

Still my favorite moments of the game, outside of the humor they throw in, has to be the story of how Zack and Aerith hook up and fall in love. Yes, I'm a dude and I find the love story that damn good ... so don't sue me.

Regardless of this new found love though, I still find the leveling system very broken. It was a creative idea, but I think it hinders more then it helps. Maybe that was the point, but I shouldn't be punished for actually wanting to make it through the game without doing 'extra' level grinding ... or in the case of FFVII: CC ... long wishes for lucky level gains while level grinding.

Rock Band DLC: Still Alive

A while back I posted on how excited I was that Still Alive was coming to Rock Band, and finally, I was allowed to let that geek side of me take a head first dive into glee. In all honesty, I actually thought that finally getting to play the song in the game wouldn't be able to keep up with the anticipation that has built up since it was announced, but I'm happy to say that the song is one of the best additions to the game so far ... to even exploit this already apparent glee, the song was absolutely free. No, this is not a April Fools post ... April Fools isn't until tomorrow anyways ... the song was absolute free, which is a scary thought when I, willing to say I would have happily paid 160 MS Points for the song.

My real question is since I've been reading that PS3 owners won't get to play the song until much later (the 17th to be more exact) thanks to Sony messing with the PS3 store, is that bit of info true? Or is that the April Fools that Harmonix played on its fan base? It would be a shame if PS3 owners really had to wait that damn long for this song. After all, it would be the perfect April Fools joke for them to say you don't get it, then insure that it gets released a day early on both systems. Guess I'll have to start asking around soon to see if it was released over on PSN or not.

Final Note: Yes, I know that I have a picture of a DS in the upper right corner, a system that doesn't even have Rock Band, but I have a feeling that Still Alive fans will still understand and get it. As for the rest of you ... PLAY PORTAL ALREADY!!!

A Reason Why Forced Forward

It's been a very long time since I last purchased anything from a McDonalds. Literally, not since I was in Jr. High have I actually personally paid for food from the biggest seller of fast food and instant fat ass in the world. Oddly enough, outside of the fact I stopped liking their food all that time ago, around the same time their Chicken McNuggests started to taste like recycled cardboard with grease, I had forgotten how horrible other aspects of the Micky D's experience can be ... until today ... and it has reinforced my belief that I will never eat there ever again.

Don't ask me how or why I decided to grab food at McDonalds, cuz I honestly can't tell you. For whatever, unknown and unholy reason, I left my house with the goal of buying fast food from the one place I thought I would never buy fast food from for the rest of my life. And boy oh boy, I should have remembered those wise words that were born from the mouth of a pimpled faced, retarded, lost in translation, misguided teenager, that was myself.

First off ... can we get some service here? More to the point, service that isn't automated and looks surprisingly a lot like a real human being? I can get a more human reaction out of my shoes. I literally thought the person running the register was the highest of the high tech gadgetry straight out of the Japanese Human Robotics Department. Now granted, I will agree that there are very few jobs that can crush a human soul with such precise execution like working fast food can, but my God, the #1 rule at Micky D's must be, "treat the cashier like the lowest creature on Earth," cuz the poor bastard taking my order sure in the hell acted like he's never been treated like a human being his entire life. Every word out of his mouth was well executed, bored, and spoken in such a way that he had clearly said it way too many times in his life. Something I can say I've done myself.

Working security for 7 years, and working part time at EB Games for 6 months now, I can say that I have said my fair share of 'repeated dialogue' and I know how easily it can be to slip into the 'robotic' approach to it all. Yet, I can still make each person I say good night, morning or can I help you find something today feel like I'm saying it because I really mean it, and I for the most part do, and not like they are just another in a long line of people I'm forced to speak to just because it's my job. Can I at least get the same here? Hell, the people at Carl's Jr can do it, I can even pass jokes back and forth with them, why can't the people at McDonalds?

Secondly, why do I have to wait to get my drink cup? I mean, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on that idea all around. Considering they are Guinness Record Holders of making sure you get your food faster then any other fast food joint in the Universe, why is it that I have to wait until my food is ready to actually get my drink cup? It's not like I'm going to drink it all before you guys are finished microwaving my meat. Sure, its not a huge wait, it is McDonalds after all, but I want my drink so I can prepare my mouth for the fry orgy it's about to have ... don't look at me that way. You know you're into the fry orgy too ... don't even deny it! I mean, I'm so used to getting my drink cup, since I paid for it, I seriously thought the cashier forgot that I ordered an actual Combo, or that McDonalds, in order to make up for some of the money they have lost somewhere, are now making us pay for the drinks separate of the combo itself. Even more crazy is when I asked if I could get my drink cup, the cashier said I would get it when I got my food. When I said under my breath,"strange" I realize I didn't say it under my breath enough since the cashier, in the same robotic voice said, "That's just how it is."

That's just how it is? Is it a fucking rule somewhere in the world of Micky D's? If so, get the red headed stepchild of a clown out here so I can lay down the rules as the old saying goes.

Lastly ... is it too much to ask that I actually GET what I ordered and that they try to prepare it? While I know that drive-thru insanity usually leads to messed up orders, as I once got a Crispy Chicken Sandwich when I ordered a Montabello Mushroom Burger (not a good trade), but walk-ins mishaps are about as rare as a modern case of the Black Plague. So I'm sure you can image my surprise and displeasure when I got home and found that my Double Quarter Pounder w/hot, melted cheeeeeeeeese was actually a regular quarter pounder w/cold, very unmelted cheeeeeeeeese. Did they even cook the meat? Seriously, it was the first thought that came to mind and not that they chair support pounded me out of a extra $1.50 ... or whatever the difference between the two burgers is. After all, I did walk home, and in that time even a luke warm paddy of meat could have melted the cheese just a little. Couldn't it? Even more absurd, it was even put in a double quarter pounder box. Mess ups usually are spotted immediately, unless you ask for extra or lack of something (the exception being onions ... you can catch that mistake pretty easily), because if they gave you the wrong burger, you can see the wrong burger package.

Honestly, I could go on about all of this or even what I did about it, but what really bugs me is ... with service without a smile like this, how in the hell is McDonalds still so popular? Outside of the fact their stuff is about 50 cents cheaper then the other guys, I again experienced the type of love you'd expect out of a situation where a white man was wearing an ad board saying 'I Hate Niggers' magic markered on both sides ... okay, I stole that line from Die Hard, but I think you get the point.

Even more, this location is always busy, so you'd think that they were doing something right ... right? Or is it that the common Micky D's customer is so accustomed to being royally fucked over that they think it's normal? If so, dudes, hit up Burger King or some other place once and a while, please. Hell, even go to a sit down restaurant. You'll be surprised to discover their are places out there that actually serve food that's bigger then a babies fist and actually is served the way you want it.

Granted, for all I know, the location near you is actually run and employed by those that actually do their job, make you feel welcomed and actually give you food that you want and looks appealing, they even let you have your drink, but from what I've seen again after all this time, it's going to take a serious amount of proof on Micky D's part for me to believe they actually care and that the average customer hasn't lost it somehow.

*counts hits*

chit ... I think I lost the last of my reader base ... *sigh*
Will you take a sorry? No ... damn.

ADDED NOTE: if you do eat at McDonalds and love it ... um, okay ... but seriously, try not to take too much offense to what I have said above, unless of course your location is as bad as this one and you still go. IF so, please take offense, you deserve to be slammed.

On Second Thought, It Actually Sucks!

I know that it was just earlier today that I endorsed Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, for the most part, but I'm starting to get tempted to yank my first impressions post and replace it with a new one ... one that expresses my growing anger with the game. As I pointed out in my first impressions, the most crippling factor was the fact you just can't level, unless you get lucky enough to get the DMW to give it to you ... and that is what is currently killing the game for me.

Typically in a RPG, if you face off against a boss and it kicks your ass before you can say, 'hello' to it, you know its time for you to go outside, gain a level or two, then try again. Unfortunately, with the way FFVII:CC is set up, this is impossible, as I'm at a point where I have my choice of either facing the boss or doing the first Shin-ra training mission over and over again. I Literally can't do anything else ... as I can't go anywhere else besides the save point and the boss fight. Why this is a problem is that 1-2 hits from the boss is game over for me, but the training mission never gives me an activated Limit Verge ... aka, I can't level either way. Unable to level, I'm faced with trying to face this boss perfectly, without getting hit, because if I get breathed on wrong, its game over.

Now, I can be stubborn, but after attempting to beat this same boss at least 20 times, and one of those times I easily did well over 20,000 points of damage and he still didn't die ... I've come close to giving up on this game for good. For now, I'm just putting it aside and doing other things, but if this shit keeps up, simply because of a bad programming decision, I can say with all honesty that I will never beat Crisis Core because I'm going to sell the piece of shit.

I honestly hope the rest of you are not having this problem with the game, cuz I'm sick of it and I really want to ring the neck of the person who thought it would be a great idea if you didn't 'earn' your levels, but instead, you have to 'get lucky' to get them.

First Impressions: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

First off, let me state that this isn't going to be another one of those Fanboy reviews of the game. Yes, I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series, and I pretty much own every game, but at the same time I don't think every single Final Fantasy is God's only great gift to mankind ... I actually the opposite sex beats everything else out. Anywho, more to the point, none of the Final Fantasy's are perfect. Even my favorites of the series (IV, VI and XII) have had their flaws, though minor and few, but at least I'm willing to point them out. With that said, I should also point out that I don't think FFVII is the greatest RPG of all time. I hear this all the time by many Final Fantasy fanatics and its sad ... sad to the point I want them to get a life. STOP!! Do not open email client and flame me ... on second thought, please do. I could use even more Comedic Gold for future Video Blog posts ^_^

Anyway, while I personally feel that FFVII is one of the most average of the Final Fantasy crop (great and not so great aspects balance it out equally), it on the other hand does have one very strong advantage over the rest of the games in the series ... and no its not Cloud, Sephiroth or anything you're probably thinking of. Its uniquely special since it has been given the opportunity to express more of its heart then any other Final Fantasy. From Manga's, a movie and a billion and one spin-offs (ok, not that many, but it feels like it), FFVII is in some ways better then the rest as we've been given a chance to explore more aspects of the overall story, and not a single part. Sure, Final Fantasy X had it's girls night out with Final Fantasy X-2 (which I actually enjoyed) and even Final Fantasy XII has had some extended love with Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings on the DS (which I have also greatly enjoyed), but they haven't been given the chance that FFVII has had with it's 11 year history, and it makes me wounder if the love for FFVII would remain as strong and devoted if FFXII (which I believe was a far greater mythology and story then FFVII is even in its current state) was given the same treatment? Honestly, I don't want to see every FF turn into a 30 game and 6 movie saga, but it does make me wonder. Before I lose all of you in a longer version of my ramblings, I'm just pointing out that I'm not a hard-on waving fanboy writing this first impressions. Just another RPG fan that wants another great game to play, regardless if its a Final Fantasy or not ... so onto my first impressions.



Now, I'll start off by saying that I'm currently only 2 hours into the game. So, I've probably only grazed the scope of what I will experience, but I've seen enough to know the following. The game does exactly what I wanted it to do from the beginning ... let me know who the hell Zack is, as well as learn more about the mysterious and awesome Genesis ... who I still can't decide if I like him simply cuz the character is cool or if its the fact it's Gackt. One of the reasons I'm so interested in Zack is not because I harbor repressed homosexual feelings, but because in the course of the FFVII experience, Zack has been shown off a great deal or at least spoken of, but at the same time, we know very little about him. We know from FFVII that he was a SOLDIER 1ST Class, that Cloud kidnapped his identity as well as his sword, Aerith is his sweetheart, and that he died while protecting Cloud. With Advent Children we learned he looked awesome as a CGI character and took the form of a Cloudy Wolf ... a lot. In Last Order, we got to see him actually save Cloud and got to see him die, so to speak, yet again, and got to see him as a serious teacher and caring person, but still in the end, we didn't learn much. So seeing exactly who he was is a nice change of pace. It's also great to see how he went from a wreckless 12 year old (mentally) into someone that could be Cloud's idol. Intertwining into this story, we get to see many others that make up the mythos of Final Fantasy VII, as well as returning characters, like Lazard and Sephiroth. So, when it comes to character development and story, I'm not disappointed at this point.

Graphically, the game looks great and runs smoothly. Everything from facial animation to lighting effects are extremely well done ... but this is something we've come to expect from Squenix when it comes to the FF franchise, where they always do their best to squeeze as much out of the hardware as possible, even if its the DS and Wii.

As for the battle sequences, this is where the good starts to mix with the bad. I actually enjoy the action paced combat system, where I can move at will, roll at will, guard at will, attack at will or even use items and cast spells ... at will (as long as your have the points for these actions, of course), but with this well designed battle system comes the completely unbalanced DMW slot machine system. The Digital Mind Wave (DMW) is a slot real system that continues to spin and stop during the battle sequences. Like a Vegas slot machine, if numbers or character face icons match, special skills, status boosts and attacks occur. This aspect of the game is completely out of your control though, and if you happen to run out of SOLDIER Points, which the real continuously eats up at a rapid rate, it stops spinning, keeping you from using special skills and earning status bonuses. Why it makes this a bit unbalanced is that it controls all of the over the top abilities you have in the game, from summoning to limit breaks (now known as Limit Verges). I have an issue with this as I like having control over where and when I use such skills, so I can have some strategic thought process of my own to add to the game I'm playing, but when it goes off at completely random times, it gives more then its fair share of head scratching moments. Nothing makes you say out loud, "Why?" then when you are one hit away from killing a enemy, the weakest enemy type to be more precise, when the DMW Limit Verges into the super move, Octaslash. A skill you'd normally reserve for boss fights or desperate situations was now just wasted (I say wasted cuz of the cost to me SOLDIER Points) when the skill wasn't even needed.

While all I have stated above sounds like a game breaker, it's not completely worthless. Also, I should state the vast majority of things the DMW rolls are stat boosts, such as limited time gifts of unlimited MP, AP, Immunity to certain things and so on. These can came in very helpful, if they happen to randomly go off when you need them, and makes the DMW not a complete waste of development time. With that said, there is one thing the the DMW does have control over that should be instant pink slip time for the person who created the idea.

Your levels.



To put it simply, you cannot level in Crisis Core until the DMW rolls a 777 with matching character faces. Well, at least that I and my friend has seen up to this point. While its all fine and such in theory, it does work against the gamers, well some of us, because of how random the DMW is. Perfect example is the fact that after 2 hours of play, I still had not gained a single level, even though I gained 2 levels in a row shortly afterwards, while my friend had already gained 7 levels in the same time frame I had gained none, and as of me doing this post, he's already level 20!!! compared to my level 8 (you start at 6) with the same amount of time played, give or take a few minutes. We are both playing on the same difficulty as well, so even though level gain might be affected by that as well, I can't say for sure, but still. Why this becomes an issue is that even if you do not gain levels, it doesn't stop the enemies from becoming stronger as you progress through the game, of course. While my friend faced off against Ifrit and could take 3-4 hits before running out of HP, I was put in the situation where one hit killed me. So while I had to play the fight perfectly or get the game over screen, he could take his time or even mess up and not get in trouble, as the extra hits gave him breathing room to cast cure or even throw a potion down this throat. I dare not think how wild and unbalanced the rest of the game will end up being (on both the easy and hard side) more due to this fact them any other. I think I would have preferred a level grind system (though I really want to see a balanced level system more), because with that I would at least gain levels by killing countless enemies then just pray for a level with each fight.

The other flaw, though I'm still on the fence with this one, is the fact that due to budget constraints, they focused on keeping the core aspects (ones that would fit on one UMD) and chucked the rest that built everything into the better mythos. I know this due to the interviews that can be found here. I really wish that with the budgets of FFXII and FFXIII that they didn't skimp on this one. I would have preferred to get everything instead of dreading a Director's Cut version of the game on the horizon, or a Crisis Core 2 told through the eyes of another character, which is very possible. Also, the extra space would have been great so they could have done voice acting for all the cut scenes and not just random ones here and there.

Regardless of the one glaring and unforgiving flaw in the game, as the size restraints I'm going to be slightly more forgiving on, I've still quite enjoyed it, more due to the character development and how they play of each other. It's just too bad they didn't decide to go with the multiple UMD idea, since I'm sure the game would have benefited from it. Not just from the fan standpoint, but the reviewer stand point as well.



In the end, before you decide to buy the game or not, you must first ask yourself what camp you belong to. PSP gamers are an odd bunch and many fall into one of three categories, even though there are four. The first category are those gamers that will only give a game any love if its different and unique, such as Patapon. Anything else outside of this is a bland, boring and just a poor game, or just something we've seen far too many times before. The Second category are those that must have PS2 quality or else its no good. So while God of War: Chains of Olympus excites them, Beats is just a waste of time and money. The Third category are those who combine the first two. God of War and Patapon both excite them, but Pursuit Force is lame ... cuz it doesn't look as good as a PS2 title and isn't unique enough. As for the forth category, which I am a proud card carrying member of ... I could care less if it looks PS2 worthy or not, if its unique in every way or not ... I just care if I have fun and in the end feel like I spent my money well. Why this makes PSP gamers an odd bunch is that this seems to be rampant on the PSP, but the DS can get away with anything ... almost anything.

With that said, Crisis Core will most likely appeal to everyone but the First category. It does present itself in PS2 quality, but the aspects that attempt to be unique, most unique players only will find just not enough to justify the game, and unfortunately work against it instead of for the experience.

Rock Band DLC: Almost All Of The Feeling Edition

This weeks Rock Band love comes in the shape of a 6 pack of songs by the band Boston. The songs on this pack include: More Then A Feeling, Smokin', Rock and Roll Band, Piece of Mind, Something About You and Hitch A Ride. What should be pointed out about this 6 pack is that now every song, except for one, from their debut self-titled album is now in Rock Band, since it shipped with Foreplay/Long Time already on the disk. With that said, it's hard to understand why Let Me Take You Home Tonight wasn't included in the pack, essentially giving us our first downloadable album for the game, which still has yet to happen.

Hrmmm

Anyway, after playing through the six songs so far, I loved them, though I should point out I have only played them on drums at this point, and have yet to go after the guitar or sing. This kinda surprises me, as Ive been singing a lot lately on the game ... yes, you read that right, and now you know why birds are falling from the sky. Anywho, I found this a must have pack for Rock Band, and I'm sure those who have got fed up with the more modern and thrash music over the past few weeks are welcoming this pack as well, but I'm sure the boards will soon fire up with those that hate it, hate Harmonix and so on, just because they haven't inserted 'band name' yet. Sigh.

VB5: Singles Edition

First off, to really get the gist of where this current video blog comes from, please watch the videos dealing with this person in the past here and here. This way you can understand the history before entering the present.


NOTE: His email said more then I read in the video, but I couldn't help but focus on the one spot.

Pictures of Wisdom: Be-Lated Easter Post

I wanted to originally post this on Easter, but thanks to the fact I worked 18 hours straight, before coming home for 4 hours of sleep before heading right back to work for another 12 hours of work, only to then be bombarded by errands all Monday morning ... I ended up sleeping until 2:30 AM as soon as I got home. I'm sure you can't blame me. So, here it is, very late, but better late then never ... my Easter Sunday Ultimate Peep Show!

Video Blog 4: Neapolitan - With A Dash Of Slur

Okay, here comes a triple threat video pack. I thought about doing one long one on YouTube, which knowing me, would have lasted 30 minutes, so I just did three 5 minute videos instead. The first is dealing with more email reading by my 'speech challenged' mouth. Also, I attempted to do 4 quick movie reviews, which was a mistake. Should have just done them as I watched them ... would have been better. Yet, that's half the fun of doing these things ... learning from your mistakes. Also of note, one of the emails is from my current favorite emailer, the 'non-believer'.

Also of note, the videos are slightly out of focus >.< wish I had caught that before I made them ... grrrr. Oh, how the learning process continues, poorly.

Hypocritical Bitches. Are You One Too?

This is a very interesting thought process that came up within my mind while in a deep conversation online with a various number of people. Ah, the power of video game consoles and the internet! Originally, I was thinking about making this into one of my video posts, but considering I might go on forever with this one, I decided I would probably be better off just typing this one up.

Anyway, during this conversation, people were discussing how the continuing events in life have slowly eroded our Civil Liberties, and with the rise of terrorism in the United States, or at least the fear of it, has lead to the continued loss of simple Civil Liberties we've taken for granted for far too long. The reason for all these talks was the current election process we have been dealing with way longer then anytime in history and how many are getting sick and tired of it, asking in the end, what will really change for the worse if so in so is elected. We never focused on any single person, everyone got ripped and every political party point of view was represented ... so don't think this was a one sided slap fest regularly seen on Fox News, we're actually human.

Back to the point, the primary focus of these losses we talked about centered around personal privacy. If it be the government tapping phone conversations, watching internet traffic closely, the newly proposed watch group to look for terrorists that communicate via online games (WoW was named as a possible target in a news article about two months ago), or one of the many other ideas and actions that have come about as we continue to catch up with the future and new laws on what is allowed and what's not continue to be put up for legislation. Interestingly enough, many understood the concept of us losing these liberties to help fight off those that wish innocence and our way of life harm, but still argued against it and didn't want it to take place, but this is not the hypocritical aspects I'm talking about in my post title.

All of them strongly agreed that their privacy shouldn't be broadcasted to some cubicle in a government office to view and evaluate if they are a good person or not. That what they buy, say, play, what religion they practice, the color of their skin, or do in their daily lives shouldn't be held under scrutiny, unless of course they do something that warrants such a close eye. At that moment, a light bulb screamed above my head as I asked, "how many of you subscribe or regularly read magazines like People, Us, and so on?"

There was literally a full minute pause, I thought I got disconnected.

Finally someone asked, "what does that have to do with this? Did they have a article on it that I missed?" I of course asked again how many people in the group actually subscribed or read them, and the ones that had been the most angry about losing their Civil Liberties of privacy were the same ones that said they either subscribed or regularly read them with the glee of a kid on Christmas opening their most wanted item. I laughed and said, "Kinda odd how you want your privacy, but could care less for others and their personal privacy."

I expected another pause at this point, but instead I heard one of them laugh and say, in his awesome Jersey voice, "PWND!"

While I have no problem with those that can't wait to get their next Us Weekly fix, just to find out that Britney had another break down, Hayden Panettiere went to the beach to get some sun, and that Kirstie Alley purchased Charman for her bathroom, it was that moment in time I really realized how hypocritical most Americans, if not the world can be. Fighting for things we want for ourselves, ignoring the same for others. Granted superstars, politicians and so on are always in the spotlight and should know to not put any skeletons in their closet, but still. We want the dirt on them, but no one better find out you googled 'sandbox teen sex' last week or else.

Because of this the question begs, "are you a hypocritical bitch?"

In reality, as much as we all try to not be, I think all of us have had our moments where we are indeed hypocritical bitches of the worst degree, even if we personally feel otherwise. Yet, in this, we have to ask ourselves, why were be being hypocritical? and can we keep from ever doing it again? I think the answers to these questions is what differentiate us from good and bad people. I say this because I feel I'm a good person, who has done his best not to be a hypocrite, racist and so on, but just because I feel this way doesn't mean that's how I'm always perceived. In the end, I still feel I'm a good person, who strives to be a better person, but the problem is this: how many times will I fall and get back up before I'm no longer viewed as a bad person?

I don't feel that respect and acceptance from the world is needed before you can truly be considered a good person, but it sure in the hell helps.

Rock Band DLC Gives Us Earache

The latest Rock Band pack is called the Earache pack, not just because is angry metal, but because all the bands are under Earache Records. This pack features the insanely fast fret and drum work, as my mom would put it 'noise' of "Blinded By Fear" by At the Gates, "Thrasher" by Evile and "D.O.A." by The Haunted. For those that have been whining for months that nothings been hard enough (sound or difficulty wise) this pack is sure to please. As for me personally, none of the songs really reached out and said grab me, though they are defiantly worth having to learn new tricky sections that will help take on various other songs int he game. Hell, after going at these songs, I actually finally beat Shockwave from last weeks pack on Expert Guitar. So they are defiantly good for something. With that said, I have unfortunately only passed 1 of 3 on expert drums and 2 of 3 on expert guitar. This might take a while to master. i haven't tried to scream along with the lyrics ... yet.

Video Blog 3: Love and Hate Mail + TipperQueen

Yet another camera angle on this one ... still feeling it out.



Kelly aka TipperQueen playing Slash Guitar Battle at a Tournament Final in Royal Palm Beach, Florida


And if that looked too easy


If you still think girls suck at games, and hot girl gamers don't exist, you need to be checked in =P

Blades of Glory, Non-movie Style

The Wil Ferell movie, Blades of Glory, while funny got slammed a lot for the fact it wasn't how figure skating really is. Well, got slammed more for the fact it took what really is and blew it up way out of proportion. Yet, after seeing this, I really question how far off the movie that made fun of figure skating really is from the reality of it all.

Official Indy IV Poster = Sweet!

Video Blog 2: Music Boogaloo

Okay, I found a second subject to attempt to make another video blog to, so we'll see how this works. The lighting was a bit off, for whatever reason, and the music I had on in the background is a bit distracting (making notes here to hopefully improve on the experience), but I was a bit more comfortable talking to a camera the size of my left nut this time. On the other hand, I found myself continually looking at the monitor to see how little time I had left. I really need to set all this up differently so I don't have to turn my head and look. The gibberish below the video is more dealing with what I was talking about, but knew for a fact I didn't have the time to go on about it. My ramblings need more then just 5 minutes.



S0me of the other things I wanted to say about the similarities of MMORPG's and MMOMRG's is that both of them are expandable to give new life to something that could get stale over time. In the case of games like Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft, you get expansion packs every year or two that add new areas, equipment, mobs and so forth, but music games aren't all that different, as they can get new expansions in the area of new songs, like in the case of Rock Band that has had new DLC every week now, expanding the game from 58 songs to 129 songs (126 on PS3) in only three and a half months or so. Fans of Rock Band have also been pushing for the idea of DLC that expands on clothing, instruments and venues, which would be very cool if that happened, but these aspects would have to be released for free so that the online aspects of the game don't get screwed up.

On a final note, I probably need to find either a better location to make my videos (I guess I could always use YouTube) or actually break down and get the Pro version of Photobucket. Maybe I'll just go YouTube since it's free ... we'll see. My real enemy is that I can go on too long about something instead of keeping it simple.

A Twist On The Piano Duet

Best Birthday EV3R!

While waiting for my DLC to show up tonight, I've been web surfing more then usual and came across this pretty amazing video of a kid opening his birthday presents recently. What made it so amazing is how it made me remember how much more surreal and exciting it was to get anything when I was a kid. More to the point, how blown away and lost for words I could get when I got something I wanted above all else. What makes this video all the more interesting is that according to the parents who posted it, their son has had some very rough years, so rough, that he had spent the last few birthdays either extremely sick, injured or even in the hospital due to stupid things kids tend to do, or the fact he loves to play sports ... a little too enthusiastically. Even though he had recently suffered a collar bone injury from playing soccer, his parents were determined to make this birthday special ... and by god they did, even though I have a few words about it after the video.



While the gift truly is amazing, as well as his reaction to the gifts (even loved his sister's reactions), it begs the question of why they bought their clearly underage son a Mature rated game. Granted, for all I know, he's no different then I was as a kid, someone who was told the difference between right and wrong, real and fantasy, and the game will remain what it's meant to be, a fun and entertaining experience and he will simply suffer nothing more then endless hours of fun. Yet, since I wasn't there, I can't really judge one way or another what type of parents they are and what they have taught their children. I know for a fact they love their kids, the video makes that obvious, but sometimes even the most loving parent can miss simple steps or be a complete moron. I see this all the time, or even hear it, such in the case of the mother here in Utah that spoke to the Legislators a few years back about how good of a parent she was, and indeed she was, but ended her speech by saying the dumbest thing, "I bought Grant Theft Auto for my kids before I knew what it was." What, did you think Grand Theft Auto meant growing flowers or something? Or possibly, did you think Rated M for Mature meant it was perfectly fine for 12 year olds?

sigh

In the end, I shouldn't make a big deal out of it all, as he clearly has had some rough years and from his reaction to it all, he clearly deserves something as awesome as this for his birthday. If all of us should be so lucky ^_^

Holy Pathetic Batman

Spotted over at Wil Wheaton's blog how he aced the Atari Quiz at Mental Floss and I decided to give it a go as well and lookie at what happened:

the vintage atari quiz



Score: 100% (9 out of 9)

I don't know if I should cheer or cry. I mean, I haven't played a single old school Atari game since, well, it was new school. Sure, I have played remakes of various titles over the years, such as the recent Space Invaders Extreme, but they are the upgraded versions, not the old ones, so for me to score 100% on this quiz actually shocked me. Shocked me in the sense I actually remember which games looked like what, as they set up the quiz very intelligently by lining up possible game boxes next to a screen shot and you had to decide which game the screen shot actually came from. The trick, all the games they show were virtually identical, save a few differences, so unless you played them, you probably wouldn't know the difference.

In the end, I can't help but thank Wil Wheaton for directing me to another awesome website (its not all about video games btw), and again sending me down memory lane. He's good at that.

Another 20 Questions - Now With More Seriousness

Okay, as sad as it sounds, I've decided to do yet another 20 questions that have been sent to me, but this time, I'm going to answer them with a bit more seriousness then the last one, as clearly some people can't understand humor and take every little thing seriously. You two know who you are. This time around, the questions focus on the last thing I did in many areas. Too bad none of them are really naughty questions, as it would make this questionnaire far more interesting. Anywho, let's see how it goes, shall we:

1) Last Thing You Ate: A Strawberry Starburst
2) The Last Thing You Bought: New work shoes
3) The Last Song You Listed To: Just Can't Get Enough by Depeche Mode
4) Last CD You Bought: Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails
5) Last Movie You Rented: We Own The Night
6) Last Movie Purchased: Saw IV
7) Last Movie You Saw In The Theater: No Country For Old Men
8) Last Time You Were Sick: Friday Night into Saturday morning.
9) Last Time You Went Clubbing: um, 5 years ago ...
10) Last Concert You Went To: BASH'07
11) Last Time You Saw Your Best Friend: Last Wednesday
12) Last Time You Went Out On A Double Date: does hanging out with Chieko and her mother Mayumi at the same time count as a double date? ^_^ if so, Feb 26
13) Last Time You Got Into A Car Accident: um, let's see, at least 3 years ago, if not longer ... moron ran a red light and I t-boned his ass.
14) Last Time You Knowingly Broke The Law And Didn't Care: Saturday morning, I drove 90 mph all the way home ... I just wanted sleep and to feel better damnit!
15) Last Time You Smoked: May 28th .... 1989
16) Last Time You Had Alcohol: three or four weeks ago.
16) Last Time You Had A Really Good Nights Sleep: When I was a baby ... I think.
17) Last Time You Went To Church: August something, 1994
18) Last Time You Took The Lords Name In Vain: Sunday, when God of War: Chains of Olympus was kicking my ass on Hades Challenge 2
19) Last Time You Left The State To Go On Vacation And Where Did You Go: ooo, wow, um .... er ... let's see ... at least 8 years ago and it was a great trip to Las Vegas.
20) Last Time You Got Your Hair Cut: By a beautician ... god, at least 8-9 years ago ... by myself, two months ago.

Rock Band DLC Gives Me A crushcrushcrush!

Well, the new DLC is out and I'm happy to say that yet another one of my top 25 songs makes it into the game, which means I'm going to have to change my list again, even though I haven't done so yet ^_^. Granted, I've only had the list up on my blog for a short time, but I had one going before hand and even though various songs have changed with time, some were removed simply for the fact they had been added to the game. Among them have been Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots, The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars, Move Along by All American Rejects, The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails and El Scorcho by Weezer. Now, here's to hoping that some of the international songs start making it into the game, specifically X Japan, Dir en gray and KMFDM. Granted, the true joy would be seeing Victim Effect make it, as they are a local band, but until then, I've been pretty pleased so far.

As for the actual songs on this weeks DLC;

crushcrushcrush by Paramore (master track and top 25 pick)
Shockwave by Black Tide (master)
Beethoven's C*** by Serj Tankain (master)

Even better, this weeks DLC is on the cheap side with all the songs costing $1 / 80 Microsoft Points, so color me very happy. In many ways, it was actually worth the wait to hear the announcement, as HMXSean posted on Friday that the announcement would come late. On one last note, I'm posting this before the download is available (2 and a half more hours for me and my 360), so I haven't exactly played them yet. Let's see if any of them kick my ass as badly as The Perfect Drug does ... but I doubt any of them will.

EDIT 03-11-08 04:25 A.M.: Well, got to play 2 of the 3 songs as Shockwave is mysteriously still M.I.A. on XBL Marketplace. Considering how slow Microsoft can be at catching ad fixing problems (points at the still continuing saga of RRoD as proof), and the fact that all the HMX kids are most likely in bed and unable to respond to the 3 million posts already showing up on the Forums, I doubt I'll get a chance to see it or play it until later tonight. Oh well, of the three songs I must say it was the lowest on my list, mostly due to the fact that I haven't really heard it before, even though I liked it. Sounded great to play to. Maybe we'll have it show up just in time for the songs to appear on PSN. At least I have crushcrushcrush by Paramore (awesome on drums 5*) and Beethoven's C*** by Serj Tankain (almost kicking my ass 4*) to keep me entertained until then.

Sickness + Fatman + Lateness = Video Anger Management

Yep, here's the new idea ... scary, I know, but I'm going to try it out for a while, or at least two or three times and see how it goes. There are a couple of reasons I'm giving this idea a go; 1) I've seen more and more of the places I like to go starting to use this idea. That's not the reason I'm trying it though. I'm doing it to attempt at making the posts a bit more personal, in a way, as I have seen it become with these other locations. 2) I'm also doing it to help clarify things in some ways. One of the things I have noticed on multiple blogs, including my own, is that I can type up something with a particular mood in mind or even with a specific mindset, and it doesn't always translate well. What's worse, unless people actually hear the words spoken directly into their ear, they tend to miss even obvious pointers. A perfect example from my own blog is the 20 questions post I did very recently. I did my best to insure that everyone knew that I wasn't being 100% serious from the get-go on that one, yet I still received two emails about my 'racist comment'. One that I later went back and edited the post. Not that it was racist, nor am I racist for that matter, but because I realized that in plain text, it could come off wrong. It, of course, did come across as such to those two people, since they somehow completely missed the fact that the rest of the post was written in a jokingly and completely non-serious way.

On the other hand, this new idea has a few issues. For now, all of them will be 5 minutes or less (which is probably a good thing for all of you out there), as that's all the free version of Photobucket gives, so it doesn't give me much time to dilly dally ... as I almost did in this first post. You'll soon see that when I realized I was rapidly approaching the 5 minute mark, I quickly brought the video to an end without my original plan to end it with a Words of Wisdom. Not exactly how I envisioned my first video on going, but that's how it happened. Also, it didn't help that I'm not exactly comfortable with the entire idea yet. Not that I'm embarrassed by showing my face to the world, but more that I'm talking to a camera. Not much you can interact with there, so you'll see me spending lots of time looking everywhere but the camera. I'm sure in time it will get easier, but hopefully I can come across as less of a moron sooner then later. Also, I blinked a lot ... do I really blink that damn much?

I should also add I made this first post after being awake for around 18 hours, still suffering a bit from the sickness mentioned in the video, and because of this, I come across as a slurring retard. Please forgive me this one time ^_^

In a final note, please let me know what you think; if you like it, hate it, want more of it, or no more of it. Use the new poll, my comment section or even the email addy off tot he right to let me know, as I am truly curious about what you think. Future videos, which i hope will be clearer, better produced and with less stupidity, I plan on covering multiple things. If it be video games, movies, music, my life or just random out of nowhere stuff.



One final note, I'm not planning on replacing my text posts with vido posts only. I'm planning on doing a new video once or so a week, maybe more or less depending on how the mood strikes me. Outside that, my site will still have way too many words to stumble through and shake your head at.

Words of Wisdom: Bilingual

"I speak two languages; English and body."

Someone Give This Man A Job In Advertising!

Deadheads, Are Probably Already Rocking

I'm a little behind talking about this weeks Rock Band DLC, so please forgive me. I'm by no means a Deadhead, but this weeks Grateful Dead Pack is a nice package indeed. It contains China Cat Sunflower, Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia, Truckin', Franklin's Tower and I Need A Miracle. One of the aspects I love about this pack is that the drum beats are so damn unique compared to the rest of the Rock Band line-up. Not to say all the songs are the same, but many bands use similar drum beats, so to speak, even if the sound they produce is completely different.

While there are truly unique songs along the drumlist (Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Garbage, REM, Queens of the Stone Age to name a few), I have gotten tired of certain drums beats, just at different speeds. Hell, as much as I enjoyed the Oasis Pack, it is sad that all three drum sections are very similar, with only a scant few touches to differentiate them from each other. This is where the Grateful Dead is a nice change of pace. All six songs have a completely unique drum beats (much like the bands named above), and more to the point, are unique compared to all the other songs in Rock Band as well. I actually had to fight myself from playing the songs the usual way ... which is an extremely welcomed challenge and change.

As for the guitar modes, they are nice too, with a great collection of hammer-on's and pull-offs that have been sorely absent in a good number of the DLC that has been released over the past month, if not longer.

While this 6 song pack might seem pricey to most (160 points/$2 per song, or 800 points/$10 for all 6 in a single pack), I have found it completely worth it. One of the other aspects about playing these songs is that I can't help but get into a very mellow mode while playing them. I even found playing songs after playing these six was a completely different experience, as if I was more clam, collected and in control of my drum sticks. And no, I wasn't high or getting high in the process ;)

Maybe I should play those songs then play Don't Fear The Reaper ... maybe that way I'l finally beat that damn song on expert.

Trying Something New

Starting next week sometime, that is if I'm able to get what I want to get, I'll be trying something new on my blog here. It's nothing revolutionary, as I'm far from the first that has done it, that is if I end up getting to do it, but it should be an interesting experience nonetheless. My reasons for going down this new path is two fold. 1) to get more personal, in a small way, with the viewers of my blog and 2) to help bring clarification to various things I talk about. I'll try to explain these things in more detail with the new idea, when it gets implemented. I will also be putting up a new poll that goes with this experiment, to help discover what others think of the idea and its direction. So, I hope that starting next week I can deliver the experience, so that those of you who come here can express back to me what you think about it.

NIN Unleashes Ghosts I-IV

It's nothing new for me to say that I am a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails. Over the past few months, Trent Reznor has been teasing his fans with this official site with word that their next big secret project was being worked on. From rumors of the actual Year Zero movie, to the second step in the same Year Zero ARG, to other rumors, such as him playing at the Olympics in Hong Kong, it just wouldn't stop. Then, over the weekend, a new blog post came up simply saying, "soon". That is, until March 2nd arrived, when Nine Inch Nails released their new album online at about 5:30 P.M. and quickly discovered that their servers were getting rapped by the legion of fans eager to get their hands on his new work. That new work is called Ghosts I-IV, and while many would consider it a huge departure from his past work, its not that far off from what I expect from him.

I've personally been listening to it a lot lately, really trying to get the feel of it. Amazingly, regardless if I listen to its all in a row (all 36 tracks), or in a random order, it all melds smoothly together, like one extremely long performance in excellence. Which is quite a feat considering none of them are the same. Another aspect is that they are all instrumental, with no lyrics to be found anywhere. While this is nothing new to Trent, as virutally every Halo has had some sort of instrumental piece or another, to have 36 tracks of this type of work is quite a thrill. After all, as much as I love songs like The Perfect Drug, Head Like A Hole, Closer, or even March of the Pigs, songs like La Mer, A Warm Place and The Frail have just as much of a special place in my heart as the rest of his work. Trent is truly an amazing composer, and I can't help but feel that Ghosts I-IV is just another step of him exploring this fact himself. Trent Reznor explains, "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."

More importantly, this new work is easy to get ... at least now it is thanks to the servers being able to handle his fans now ... and a great price. For free, people can download Ghosts I (which contains 9 tracks) so they can try out the new work, to understand if they want to take a deeper plunge or not. For $5, they get to download all 36 tracks, as well as a digital booklet, which is amazing to say the least. There is also a $10 version, which not only nets you the digital download, but also pre-orders you the physical 2-CD copy that will be available April 8th. From here, there are actually a few more delux editions you can choose from as well. The Deluxe Edtion costs $75 and contains Ghosts I-IV in a hardcover fabric slipcase which holds the 2 audio CDs, 1 data DVD with all 36 tracks in multi-track format, and a Blu-ray disc with Ghosts I-IV in high-definition 96/24 stereo and accompanying slideshow. The final version, which I really wanted to get and could have but didn't have the spare cash, is the Ultra-Deluxe Edition that was limited to 2500 copies (already sold out of course), which not only got everything the Deluxe Edition got, but also a vinyl collection of the music, two 48 page books containing photographs that go along with the work taken by Phillip Graybill and Rob Sheridan, as well as a third book containing 2 Giclee art prints of imagery from Ghosts I-IV. This over sized, but hugely wanted package was also numbered and signed by Trent Reznor and went at $300 each.

The most interesting aspect of all this comes in the package of the video they posted on YouTube labeled "30:5" dealing with Ghosts I-IV, which I can't help continues in the footsteps of what he accomplished with the Year Zero ARG ... yet, as of this point, I haven't caught anything in the video outside of the fact that as you watch that really cool machine that plays the piano for him (like a Ghost), that at certain points the lights do make certain images. Granted, those lights correspond to the notes being played, but he did a similar thing by hiding messages in the jump drives that were found at his concerts, which lead to websites and other images that were directly linked to Year Zero. That, or I'm just imagining it as I want a new ARG to go side by side with Ghosts, as the one with Year Zero was simply amazing.

A Piece Of Our Soul Dies

I originally read the news story concerning Gary Gygax shortly after I woke up. More to the point, I read the story over and over across at least a dozen web sites I regularly travel to, as they too carried the story with the same weight of importance. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to say my fill, I couldn't do it until now, a good 6 hours later. To most of you, Gary Gygax is most likely a name that is lost upon you. In fact, millions around the world have participated in his creation, or even one of its many offspring, even if they will never know his name or how important he was to the fact they are having some fun in their lives because of him and his wonderful creation. For those not in the know, Gary Gygax is one of the original creators of Dungeons & Dragons, which was conceived the same year I was born, way back in 1974. What makes it so important, not only did it give birth to a variety of strange, yet cool dice, it was also the birth of Role Playing Games as we know them today.

It's hard to really get across in simple words how important his creation was to me when I first discovered it back in Jr. High, and then later found a good number of friends to play it with during my High School years. Unlike the scare mongering of its time, where supposedly games like D&D turned you into a psychopath, or made you believe you were your character (see Mazes and Monsters staring Tom Hanks for a perfect example of this BS), it was a great way of being social with others at the same time having something called fun ... which clearly is what sacred so many people that didn't understand it at the time, and still don't understand it to this day.

His creation went on to influence many of my favorite video games as well. Games like Final Fantasy, back when it was first born in 1987, clearly took many roots from D&D, particularly in the job class and mage spell cast system. To think that one creation can spawn so much is quite an amazing thing, but its also amazingly sad when those who spawn those ideas pass on. What other gifts could they have given us, if they just had the chance? While living 69 years would make many consider his life a full one, it was still cut far too short. In honor of his memory, I'm sure millions of us wish we could roll that critical 20, but instead, we'll just honor his memory by participating in one of the many inventions he brought to us, directly or indirectly and remember why his work has changed our lives and for the better.

We will sorely miss you Gary, but you will live in forever in the numerous worlds, characters and creations you have helped inspire over the years.