Saturday, December 30

To Grandmother’s House We Go

I'm totally ripping the title of this post from a similar post in Tom's blog, but it's the truth. I'm off to visit my grandma and the rest of my family and friends in my hometown, possibly getting a 3-day long headache in the process from all the cold and humidity. Good times.

In other news, Saddam Husein was executed earlier this day. Didn't even make it to 2007, poor bastard. Nothing like killing people in order to show that killing people is bad, eh? And yes, Saddam was a piece of shit, but that doesn't justify it.

Happy new year everyone.

Sunday, December 24

Indie Adventure games, part 1.3a.

Small update to my earlier post, since two new games have been released. Not sure what's with the title, though.

Firstly, a game I mentioned in my previous post about indie adventures, the Blackwell Legacy was released yesterday. Having played the previous incarnation of this game, Bestowers of Eternity, I was really looking forward to it. Between Zelda and Sam & Max, I haven't played a lot yet, but so far I'm loving the low-res graphics and music, and of course the story as well, but I already knew I'd like this part. One thing I wasn't too fond of initially was the voice acting, but it grew on me after a while.

Meanwhile, another commercial AGS game was released, Super Jazz Man, by the creators of the Apprentice games. I hadn't realized it was going to be released so fast when I made my earlier post, so this came as a pleasant surprise. It's a commercial game again, but for only 9 bucks, I snatched it without even thinking about it. It's looking really good so far, but again I haven't had much time to spend with it.

Gotta dash, Die Hard is on! Finally something good on TV.

Friday, December 22

Ruh roh, politics.

I mentioned a while ago that I don't like talking about politics. That's kind of a lie. I like it, but I just tend to avoid it, because I'm not as well informed as I think I should be. I'm weird like that *shrugs*

Anyway, this is going to be one of those times were I discuss politics, since two things have been troubling me for the last couple of days. One of them is kinda serious, the other one not so much. And Pavlos, you're probably not going to like this post, if you ever read it, that is.

As far as the serious topic is concerned, you may have already heard who the "Person of the Year" was according to Time magazine. You. Yes, you. I'll refrain from making any other jokes about it, since it's been done to death already, and I can't beat Jon Stewart in his own game.

Instead, I found something a lot more interesting at the Broken Saints blog (scroll down a bit), which in turn was taken from this blog. Whaddaya know, it's quite possible that the man of the year was actually Venezuelan pres, Hugo Chavez. There's always the chance that 5 Venezuelans and/or Greeks visited the Time site and just pressed F5 on the poll page and we ended up with this result, but that's besides the point, and I'm guessing the people of Time know better than set up an official poll that allows you to vote more than once. Emphasis on the guessing part, however.

No, the point is that Hugo Chavez (not as good a guy as some people would have you think) has become so popular just because he dislikes Bush. Big whoop, everyone with a slightly lower than average IQ is not really fond of him either. And calling him the Devil, classy. Effectively, he's doing what Bush does when he refers to Bin Laden, and yet he criticizes him for his ways. Interesting. *strokes his beard*

Sure, Chavez has done a few good things, I'm not denying that. Even if he did give oil to poor people in NY just to spite the Bush administration, and/or to seem favorable to haters of said administration. And he also intervened when the Argentinian milk company Sancor (2nd biggest in the country) was about to sell the majority of its stocks to an American company the name of which eludes me at the moment. Sancor will have to export milk in powder form to Venezuela for the next 15 years, but hey, at least they'll still be in control of their company.

But to put it in a highly eloquent and articulated way, the dude ain't all that, really. I mean, he's the guy who said during one of he's speeches, "There's God, and after him there's only Chavez." (I may have slightly misquoted this, but that's the gist of what he said.)

Would you feel comfortable with having a guy like this as the leader of your country?

I've never been fond of the "lesser of two evils" concept. In some occasions, you have no real alternative, fair enough. But just because some dude gets on the Republican's nerves, that doesn't make him a hero. He can still be an ass. My enemy's enemy is not necessarily my friend, he may still be my enemy as well.

Man, I wanted to say that for years.

On to the less serious thing. There's this little country to the north of Greece. The natives, and pretty much everyone else in the world, call it Macedonia. Greeks (and possibly Cypriots) call it Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM for short), so people don't confuse it with the ancient Macedonia, home of Alexander the Great, something I strangely agree with. We also just call it Scopja, which is the name of its capital, but that's plain wrong.

Now as I was walking through a local street here in Athens, I saw a map of Greece and its nearby countries in a place that was either a car rental company or a travel agency, I forgets. Everything inside that place, map included, was in English, so I'd say that their target group is tourists.

At any rate, on that map, to the north of Greece you could see the magical land of... PGDM. Be there dragons there? I can't really say. Still, I hear you ask "What's a PGDM?" Well, that's the abbreviation of the Greek translation of "FYROM". With Latin characters. So that neither tourists nor Greeks can understand what it means. If the guy who made that map ever reads this, I have this to say to you:

Good job dude, good job.

Thursday, December 21

Independent Adventure Games part 1.

Being a big fan and something of a... connoisseur when it comes to independent adventure games, I figured I'd make a series of posts where I mention the ones that I've found to be the most interesting. For all of you reading this blog (both of you), be sure to check these ones out if you're looking for a good adventure game to play, you'll probably like them. Plus, most of them are totally free!

Enough with the introductions, on with the games! Firstly, the games that have been already released, in no order:

- The Ben Jordan series. Ben is a young paranormal detective, in a series that draws inspiration from TV shows such the X-Files, and the humor of the old-school point & click adventure classics. The graphics of these games are not the best ones around, but the gameplay is solid, and with five games out so far, there's enough here to keep you busy for a while. For more, check out Thaumaturge's reviews here.

- The Apprentice series. Two parts of a planned trilogy are available so far, and these are definitely among the finest independent games out there. Technically sublime (especially the animation), excellent gameplay with logical puzzles, and an interesting storyline. Seriously, if these games were released back in the early 90's, during the time when Adventure games ruled the sales charts, we would still be talking about them.

- The Shivah. A Rabbinical murder mystery, so it's cool by definition. Unlike the rest of the games here, it's not free. But it's only 5 bucks, and with a really good storyline and dialogs, it's really worth the (low, low) price. I've written a review of the Shivah, so read it if you want to know more about it (yes, self-promotion is kinda lame, sue me if you must.)

- Spooks. Join ghoul girl Mortia as she receives a post peculiar prize at the Carnage-Val... A goldfish that's actually alive. Now she needs to find a way to keep it alive, but that's easier than it sounds, when you're stuck in the Land of the Dead.

Okay, my description sucks ass. Just play this game, trust me. It has charming art and an equally charming storyline, genuinely funny jokes and an "innovative use of color", as the game's creator puts it, and she's right ya know. Download here.

- King's Quest 1, 2 and 3 remakes. 256-color remakes of the oldie goldies from the 80's, with a point & click system instead of the old parser. Part 2 includes new puzzles and story elements, and is generally better than the original in any respect.

- Reactor 9. The most recently released game in this list, with excellent low-res graphics and a more mature story than most independent adventure games.

Now moving on to up and coming games, that will be released... at some point. That's the problem with most independent games, since most of them are mainly a hobby for their creators. For that reason, some of the most promising ones are lost to due to a lack of interest/time from their creators' behalf.

- The Blackwell Legacy. I mentioned this in an earlier post, it's a game from the creator of the Shivah, and it's actually coming out in a few days. Rosangela Blackwell is a young woman who unwillingly becomes a medium, destined to help troubled spirits, while figuring out her family's background. This is going to be a series, released in episodic format, something I'm quite excited about. Again, this will not be a free game, but 15 bucks isn't much to ask. I mean, most of us spend twice that much on an average drinking night out, and then break our toes by kicking garbage cans. Okay, perhaps just me on that last one.

- Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth. Remember Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis? Arguably the best game ever. FoY is something of an unofficial sequel to that game, utilizing such elements from FoA as the same graphics style, a similar fighting system and, of course, Nazi scum. It's been in development forever, but there's a demo available to tide you over until the eventual full release.

- Ben Jordan: Case 6. Judging from the quality of the previous games, this one will be worth playing as well. There's even a trailer available now.

- Fester Mudd & the Curse of the Gold. I just found out about this recently, but it looks really good with low-res graphics worthy of the early 90's games. Not much is known about this game, beyond the fact that the eponymous hero of the game is a poor, lonesome farmer, who suddenly receives a letter from his long lost brother. Judging from what we've seen so far, I'm guessing there will be a lot of old-school fun to be had with this one.

- Diamonds in the Rough. The fact that the game's title is also the title of a song by Johnny Cash should be enough reason for me to play it, but great looking "2.5" graphics, and promises of a unique "thought" system (similar to a usual inventory) and an intriguing storyline make it sound even more promising.

That's all for now, all these games were created/are being created with the Adventure Game Studio, I didn't really do this on purpose, but it's the engine/community I'm most familiar with. In later similar posts I will mention games created with other engines as well.

Wednesday, December 20

Breaking news!

Firstly, Pres. Bush acknowledges what the rest of the world has known for the last three or so years. Not winning in Iraq? Really? Where's my "NO WAI" owl...

Secondly, the full trailer for 300 is out. Or rather, has been out for 600 years, and I just forgot to mention it here. So badass. What's with the fighting Uruk-Hai though?

Thirdly, a question. Why is Michael Bay directing a live-action Transformers movie? Yes, I just found out about this today, this is the breaking news section, keep up. Back to my point; why does god let things like this happen?

And yes, I changed the layout of the blog a bit. I think navigation is better this way.

Another post coming later today (two posts on one day?! Zomg bbqnubsauce roflcakes!!1eleventhirtyeight)

Tuesday, December 19

Concerning Pieces of Heart. All five of them.


Another long gap between posts. Grumble. At least my first (and for the foreseeable future, last) semester as a graduate student is over, so I should have less stuff to freak out about, for now.

So I finally got Zelda like 5 days ago. I also got Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance along with it but I haven't even opened the box yet. I will, eventually, but not before I've finished Zelda. I was thinking of making a thread about Zelda earlier, and update it as I progressed in the game, but I figured I'd rather just play the damn game first.

But anyway, since I'm here, I might as well post some of my early opinions about the game, being 8 hours in the game, so roughly 1/6 through. I've only First of all, the graphics are astounding for a Gamecube game. The animation is slightly disappointing initially, especially when compared to Wind Waker, but it's generally very good, especially during cut-scenes. Link's walking animation still looks weird, however. :/

The music themes are incredible. MIDI, shmidi, who cares, as long as the music is good. A lot of familiar themes make a welcome comeback, and the music in the Twilight areas is just amazing. Moody, eerie, almost scary at times.

Which is what has made the biggest impression on me so far. The Twilight Princess is incredibly gloomy for a Zelda game. There have always been dark elements in the storylines of previous Zelda games, such as the future version of Hyrule in Ocarina of Time, but they had never been so well-presented before. Not just because the graphics are better, the whole game is directed in a very professional, for lack of a better word, way, and it really makes a difference.

The storyline so far is interesting as far as Zelda games go, but nothing spectacular. Which is hardly surprising, Zelda storylines are nice, but never their strongest point. And the dialogs are sometimes cringe-worthy, but hey, it's a videogame about a young man saving the world, what can you do?

Gameplay is classic Zelda fare, with a few twinks here and there such werewolf-Link A.K.A. Gabriel Knight wannabe providing with some really nice touches, like talking to animals and digging holes in the ground for cash and alternative routes around. I've encountered some quite clever puzzles too, which are always welcome.

My only real problem with this game so far is the fact that, like Majora's Mask and the Wind Waker before it, it's lacking the majestic feeling that the Hyrule Field of Ocarina of Time provided. You know, that feeling of amazement you got the first time you left Kakariko (what a name!) village and found a field so vast it just took your breath away. Exaggerating a bit here, but whatever. In TP, Hyrule field (at least the one I've come across so far) is big, but nothing awe-inspiring... Perhaps even smaller than the one in OoT, I should plug my N64 back and check it out. And the starting village is slightly larger than Kakariko village in OoT, which is again disappointing. I'm being a bit anal here, and hopefully the next areas will be more open, but this feeling of having a huge world to explore was my favorite thing about my favorite Zelda game ever (Ocarina of Time, as if you didn't guess), and that was 8 years ago. It's about time I stopped reminiscing about it, and started talking about a new Zelda game that did it better instead. Make it happen Nintendo!

Oh, I'm also playing Sam & Max Situation: Comedy these days, but I can't speak about that yet. Lawlz.

I'm almost glad The Blackwell Legacy got delayed for a week, otherwise I wouldn't know what to play first.

P.S.

For those wondering why I've disappeared from WoW (that still being World of Warcraft), my account expired and I have no interest in renewing it for the time being. Everybody's gotten the "gotta get new gear" fever, only to later realize it's not that easy to get the whole PvP set after all so they just do what the average WoW-player does best: whine about it. Even worse, with the latest patch we got buggy (and old) talents, PvP balance being thrown out the window, and battlegrounds with ridiculous lag (5 seconds on average), it just feels like I'm paying to play a beta. Thanks, but I'll pass.

I'm expecting the early days of the Burning Crusade (the upcoming expansion to WoW) to be exactly the same, if not worse. So unless I get the need to play again because real life friends are playing, for something else besides gear, it will probably be a while before I buy it.

P.P.S.

Was that a... dildo advertisement I just heard on the radio? O.o

Wednesday, December 6

Holy crap it's been long.

Holy crap it's been long. So long I need to say this twice to emphasize it. November's been a weird month, and it went by so fast I coulda sworn I was just hibernating through it.

So after waking from my hibernation, I found out that the Wii has been launched in the States and is about to be launched in Europe as well, and I still don't have the money for it. Le sigh.

On to something more interesting, Will Wright (creator of the Sims) appeared on the Colbert Report last night, of all places. The whole segment was a bit awkward, and he didn't reveal anything interesting about Spore, which kinda sucked. Still not sure what to make of that game. Come to think of it, this bit wasn't all that interesting either. Ah, well.

However, Stephen Colbert did reveal that not only is the actress portraying the Virgin Mary in the Nativity Story pregnant (with a little help from Archangel Michael), she is also giving birth to a boy on the 25th of December. Hey, Stephen said it so you know it's true. And you know what that means. Time to repent, heathens!

Also, two days till Zelda, bitches! Ahem, sorry. But the idea of a new Zelda game after all these years (just 2, if you count Minish Cap as you should) but it's still giving me a total nerdrection.

Now if only my papers would write themselves, as we previously agreed. Hmph.