Perhaps the title is a little inappropriate, but oh well. This story of a Boxer who came home to find a stranger raping his 8-year old son and proceeded to punch him to death would make for great Ethic-classes debates.
It's hard to pass judgement on a case like this, well not for the all-knowing coach-potatoes of the Internets, but for rational people. If you read some of the comments in the post I linked, you'll find people calling him a hero, asking to not only be declared innocent but also that he should be given a medal.
I'm not going to indulge in this too much. My position is quite clear. The man did the right thing in trying to protect his son and himself from a stranger that had invaded their house and was raping his son. The last bit is italicized so we don't forget what we're talking about here. You can't ask for more from anyone, really. The need to defend yourself and your family comes as an instinct.
The fact that the rapist died, even after just three punches, is unfortunate. But it's also the father's fault. I'm not saying he should have restrained himself, nobody knows how they'd react in a similar situation. And those saying that they'd remain calm and not lash out, those are the ones that would probably go batshit insane and rip the guy to pieces. Why? Because those are the ones who really don't know themselves. Always keep an eye out for those.
But I'm deviating from the actual point. Killing somebody is never a good thing, even if it's an accident. Yet that's where special conditions come in. It can be viewed as self-defense, hell, if it's not self-defense to try and repel a stranger that has invaded your home, I don't know what the fuck else could be viewed as such. Temporary insanity could also be a case here. Think of the situation; it's hardly one in which you'd try to rationally consider the situation and the eventual consequences. To me, it sounded like the guy started seeing red and went all out.
So is he a hero? For trying to save his son, yes. For killing a man, no. I wouldn't never call him a cold-blooded murderer either though. If I were a judge, I'd personally declare him guilty but make the fine something along the lines of 12 months of community work. Hey, there's a reason why I'm not a judge, 'kay?
I'd say it's one of those cases that classify as an exception, and one that makes studying law so interesting, as well as making a deep conversation piece, mostly but not only in, well, Ethics classes.
And on other news, apparently Mitt Romney has dropped out of the race, sharing the fate of the Dildo Johnson of old.
"So you do it both ways?" Sublime, once again. And Wilson is awesome.
Friday, February 8
Wednesday, February 6
"Taken" teaser
I bought Gears of War on Monday (slightly used, but only for 30 euros!) so I've been spending most of the last 30 hours or so on it. This game is pure awesome, even though this is my third playthrough I'm having loads of fun. Probably the only game in recent years I don't mind playing again and again, because it has that special sort of quality that games like Doom, Goldeneye and Halo did. I haven't found the word for it yet.
Anyway, I just came across this trailer for the upcoming movie Taken, which looks pretty badass. Has quite a few good actors in it, I'm a Liam Neeson fanboi, though Maggie Grace kind of sucks, and it's directed by the same French dude that did District 13. The latter is one of the best action films of the decade, do yourself a favor and look for it if you haven't seen it, it's worth the trouble. The teaser is here:
House actually liked somebody? Mind-blowing.
Anyway, I just came across this trailer for the upcoming movie Taken, which looks pretty badass. Has quite a few good actors in it, I'm a Liam Neeson fanboi, though Maggie Grace kind of sucks, and it's directed by the same French dude that did District 13. The latter is one of the best action films of the decade, do yourself a favor and look for it if you haven't seen it, it's worth the trouble. The teaser is here:
House actually liked somebody? Mind-blowing.
Saturday, February 2
Rez. Play this game, damnit
Rez is a game with a shaky history. In its first appearance, it was one of the last games for the ill-fated Sega Dreamcast, it never even made it to the States, though it did come out in Japan and a European version presumably existed, yet I never saw it. Not in a legal form, anyway. *cough*
Suffice to say, by the time Rez came out on the Dreamcast, November '01, people had already moved on to the Playstation 2 so sales were terrible.
At that time, Sega had already begun developing titles, though quite a lot of them were little more than half-assed ports of existing Dreamcast games, which were already showing their age. Not so with Rez, as the game was a perfect port and it was never the most technically advanced game as far as pushing polygons is concerned.
However, due to the bad reputation of said Dreamcast ports but mostly to the fact that as a game, Rez is completely bonkers, critical and commercial reception was mediocre at best, so its sales suffered on the PS2 as well.
I'm especially bitter at the critics it received, because the amount of bullshit I read from reviewers of the time that just did not get it was staggering. I recall one review from a British PS2 mag concerning the music, inarguably the most important feature of the game, saying, and I quote, "The music is nice, but samey - 7 out of 10."
What the fuck does that even mean? "Samey music" - as if music has any obligations to change tempo every two seconds. Hell, if anything, a continuous, even monotonous tempo often adds to the appeal of a certain theme. The fact that the music in Rez is anything but "samey" isn't even worth mentioning against such a terrible argument. On a side note, I harbor an irrational hatred of the word samey.
It's also worth noting that it was a trend amongst PS2 mags at the time to give ports of Dreamcast games less-than-stellar reviews, for no other reason than being games that originally came from an "inferior" console. Good times indeed.
Now that the game has been re-released as part of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade network, however, critics are all of a sudden acknowledging Rez as a "modern classic" and "worthy of its cult hit status" and giving it one "10 out of 10" review after another. Quite funny to see, if a bit embarassing.
So what's the big deal about Rez anyway? After several paragraphs of incoherent ranting, it's about time I get to that. The problem is, Rez is one of those things you can't really describe with words. Hell, the first time you see it you still probably won't understand what's going on.
Jeff Minter said it best when he described the game as "Panzer Dragoon with its rave pants on." Because that's what Rez is, basically. The gameplay itself is pretty simple and formulaic, you're constantly moving forward in a typical "on rails" fashion, you shoot at enemies, collect power-ups you use to shoot at even more enemies, and you kill bosses that take up half the screen.
There's also a storyline somewhere in the game, and it deals with... something, but it's far too trippy and abstract for me to ever make heads or tails of it.
But this is one of those games where it's not about the gameplay nor the story, not on their own at least. It's all about the aesthetics of the game. Or rather, how each one ties with the other seamlessly. It has to do with the way everything around you vibrates to the tune of the trance music in the background and its beat. A beat you control by shooting at the enemies on your screen. Furthermore, deciding which enemy to target and kill first is also a nearly-subconscious decision based on the way it moves and the sound triggered when you first target it.
What's that last sentence even about, you're asking? It's all about synesthesia. I could try to explain what's going on, but I think I'll just leave it to the game's creator, Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his recent 1up interview. You may have to scroll down a bit to find the interview, but the whole article is worth reading, actually.
I understand that the above might not be making much sense, trust me when it's damn hard to explain Rez with words. I believe the best way to describe the game is the following: Rez is one trippy experience. Because it's an experience, first and foremost.
Now that the game has at last managed to convince reviewers about its uniqueness and its incredible quality, hopefully so will the players finally realize that Rez is worth buying and playing. You can buy it from the Xbox Live Marketplace for a mere 800 Microsoft Points. Even though I already own a PS2 copy, I'm probably buying it again once I'm able to actually buy MS points (long story, has to do with Greece sucking and being a Banana republic.) Partly as a statement and partly because I've retired my PS2.
In closing, seeing as describing the game can be hard with words, and since a picture is more or less worth a thousand words, here's a collection of pictures in the form of a video. Do keep in mind that actually playing Rez is far more different than simply seeing it.
Suffice to say, by the time Rez came out on the Dreamcast, November '01, people had already moved on to the Playstation 2 so sales were terrible.
At that time, Sega had already begun developing titles, though quite a lot of them were little more than half-assed ports of existing Dreamcast games, which were already showing their age. Not so with Rez, as the game was a perfect port and it was never the most technically advanced game as far as pushing polygons is concerned.
However, due to the bad reputation of said Dreamcast ports but mostly to the fact that as a game, Rez is completely bonkers, critical and commercial reception was mediocre at best, so its sales suffered on the PS2 as well.
I'm especially bitter at the critics it received, because the amount of bullshit I read from reviewers of the time that just did not get it was staggering. I recall one review from a British PS2 mag concerning the music, inarguably the most important feature of the game, saying, and I quote, "The music is nice, but samey - 7 out of 10."
What the fuck does that even mean? "Samey music" - as if music has any obligations to change tempo every two seconds. Hell, if anything, a continuous, even monotonous tempo often adds to the appeal of a certain theme. The fact that the music in Rez is anything but "samey" isn't even worth mentioning against such a terrible argument. On a side note, I harbor an irrational hatred of the word samey.
It's also worth noting that it was a trend amongst PS2 mags at the time to give ports of Dreamcast games less-than-stellar reviews, for no other reason than being games that originally came from an "inferior" console. Good times indeed.
Now that the game has been re-released as part of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade network, however, critics are all of a sudden acknowledging Rez as a "modern classic" and "worthy of its cult hit status" and giving it one "10 out of 10" review after another. Quite funny to see, if a bit embarassing.
So what's the big deal about Rez anyway? After several paragraphs of incoherent ranting, it's about time I get to that. The problem is, Rez is one of those things you can't really describe with words. Hell, the first time you see it you still probably won't understand what's going on.
Jeff Minter said it best when he described the game as "Panzer Dragoon with its rave pants on." Because that's what Rez is, basically. The gameplay itself is pretty simple and formulaic, you're constantly moving forward in a typical "on rails" fashion, you shoot at enemies, collect power-ups you use to shoot at even more enemies, and you kill bosses that take up half the screen.
There's also a storyline somewhere in the game, and it deals with... something, but it's far too trippy and abstract for me to ever make heads or tails of it.
But this is one of those games where it's not about the gameplay nor the story, not on their own at least. It's all about the aesthetics of the game. Or rather, how each one ties with the other seamlessly. It has to do with the way everything around you vibrates to the tune of the trance music in the background and its beat. A beat you control by shooting at the enemies on your screen. Furthermore, deciding which enemy to target and kill first is also a nearly-subconscious decision based on the way it moves and the sound triggered when you first target it.
What's that last sentence even about, you're asking? It's all about synesthesia. I could try to explain what's going on, but I think I'll just leave it to the game's creator, Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his recent 1up interview. You may have to scroll down a bit to find the interview, but the whole article is worth reading, actually.
I understand that the above might not be making much sense, trust me when it's damn hard to explain Rez with words. I believe the best way to describe the game is the following: Rez is one trippy experience. Because it's an experience, first and foremost.
Now that the game has at last managed to convince reviewers about its uniqueness and its incredible quality, hopefully so will the players finally realize that Rez is worth buying and playing. You can buy it from the Xbox Live Marketplace for a mere 800 Microsoft Points. Even though I already own a PS2 copy, I'm probably buying it again once I'm able to actually buy MS points (long story, has to do with Greece sucking and being a Banana republic.) Partly as a statement and partly because I've retired my PS2.
In closing, seeing as describing the game can be hard with words, and since a picture is more or less worth a thousand words, here's a collection of pictures in the form of a video. Do keep in mind that actually playing Rez is far more different than simply seeing it.
Friday, February 1
Get your money for nothing and your Brain Training for free
The pun in today's post title is... ridiculously bad. I make no apologies for that, however.
At any rate, I'm a big fan of Nintendo's DS game, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training. Yes, that name is quite a mouthful. Not only because it introduced me to the madness that is Sudoku puzzles, but also because it's damn fun.
Both this game and its sequel have been a rousing success worldwide, reportedly 17 million games have been sold so far, netting a total of approximately 14.6 million Euros. This has helped the DS establish itself firmly as the most successful gaming console of the current generation, as well as introducing more people to gaming, especially to people who traditionally snubbed videogames.
There's a lot of talk going around on how this game has started the trend of targeting "casual gamers" with projects such as this one. If anything the DS's library would indicate that the people that have bought the console are mostly interested in quick puzzle/party games rather than conversions of big-name projects from home consoles.
A little sidenote here, but if there's one term that's being used in the gaming industry that I abhor is the term "casual gamer" (the other one would be "hardcore gamer.") There's too many definitions on what constitutes a casual gamer, and seemingly everyone has a different opinion on the matter. But that's besides the point, I may get back to this one day.
In any case, there's a lot of criticism going around about these games, and how they're how they're a bit of a sham and don't really make you actually smarter or make you remember the name of your second big love interest in life. Well, how to put this... they're, y'know, games.
Nobody would like these games if they were as strict as a professional test, not if they played them while trying to relax, anyway. But as all games, Brain Training and More Brain Training have the ability to both entertain you and make you just a tiny bit smarter. Or make you think/calculate more quickly, give you a new method to use when trying to remember things, something.
More legitimate concerns have to do with the fact that it's easy to cheat in this games. For example if you think that the correct answer in a math puzzle is either 1 or 2, you can write a number that could resemble either one, and the game will fill in the blanks and take your answer as correct every time. That's the part where the limitations of it being a game come in. But hey, nothing's perfect. And why would you cheat in such a game, you ask? If you're looking for a more elaborate answer than "because you can," you're in for a disappointment.
Anyway, at this point I'd like to return to the title of this post. The gaming site Eurogamer (one of the better ones of its kind) posted an article earlier about Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, the doctor who gives his name and his testing methods to the game. What's of interest in the article is the fact that while these games have made tremendous profit so far, the good doctor hasn't gotten a single penny of it. And that's his choice.
He does have an annual salary of more than 66,000 Euros, but as we all know, there's one thing about money. You can never have enough of it. Except for this guy, apparently. He could choose to become filthy rich, and pay whatever consequences come with that, but he preferred to focus on his work and research.
I find that really admirable. Knowing when to stop is never easy, especially when it comes to money. I guess it comes with being really friggin' smart and all.
At any rate, I'm a big fan of Nintendo's DS game, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training. Yes, that name is quite a mouthful. Not only because it introduced me to the madness that is Sudoku puzzles, but also because it's damn fun.
Both this game and its sequel have been a rousing success worldwide, reportedly 17 million games have been sold so far, netting a total of approximately 14.6 million Euros. This has helped the DS establish itself firmly as the most successful gaming console of the current generation, as well as introducing more people to gaming, especially to people who traditionally snubbed videogames.
There's a lot of talk going around on how this game has started the trend of targeting "casual gamers" with projects such as this one. If anything the DS's library would indicate that the people that have bought the console are mostly interested in quick puzzle/party games rather than conversions of big-name projects from home consoles.
A little sidenote here, but if there's one term that's being used in the gaming industry that I abhor is the term "casual gamer" (the other one would be "hardcore gamer.") There's too many definitions on what constitutes a casual gamer, and seemingly everyone has a different opinion on the matter. But that's besides the point, I may get back to this one day.
In any case, there's a lot of criticism going around about these games, and how they're how they're a bit of a sham and don't really make you actually smarter or make you remember the name of your second big love interest in life. Well, how to put this... they're, y'know, games.
Nobody would like these games if they were as strict as a professional test, not if they played them while trying to relax, anyway. But as all games, Brain Training and More Brain Training have the ability to both entertain you and make you just a tiny bit smarter. Or make you think/calculate more quickly, give you a new method to use when trying to remember things, something.
More legitimate concerns have to do with the fact that it's easy to cheat in this games. For example if you think that the correct answer in a math puzzle is either 1 or 2, you can write a number that could resemble either one, and the game will fill in the blanks and take your answer as correct every time. That's the part where the limitations of it being a game come in. But hey, nothing's perfect. And why would you cheat in such a game, you ask? If you're looking for a more elaborate answer than "because you can," you're in for a disappointment.
Anyway, at this point I'd like to return to the title of this post. The gaming site Eurogamer (one of the better ones of its kind) posted an article earlier about Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, the doctor who gives his name and his testing methods to the game. What's of interest in the article is the fact that while these games have made tremendous profit so far, the good doctor hasn't gotten a single penny of it. And that's his choice.
He does have an annual salary of more than 66,000 Euros, but as we all know, there's one thing about money. You can never have enough of it. Except for this guy, apparently. He could choose to become filthy rich, and pay whatever consequences come with that, but he preferred to focus on his work and research.
I find that really admirable. Knowing when to stop is never easy, especially when it comes to money. I guess it comes with being really friggin' smart and all.
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