I haven't been happy with the direction my blog is going lately, nor have I been particularly inspired (aside from Tuesday's article, which was still kind of rough) so I'm taking a short break from blogging. In the off chance that somebody's actually following this blog on a regular basis, feel free to check back in like a week or something.
TL;DR version:
Go read Tom's blog in the meantime, he has some interesting stuff to say.
Friday, September 26
Tuesday, September 23
[Indie Theorycraft Tuesday] Pick Up Angry Yeti? [Y/N]
Today's post is all about inventory items, and how misused they often are in games. My emphasis will be on indie adventure games, but this also applies to big-budget commercial games. In fact, I think I'll start with an example from Ninja Gaiden 2, which I was playing earlier.
At the second chapter of the game, while inside a fairly tall building with several floors, you encounter a locked door, with no key in sight. A fairly common puzzle so far, right? So you climb a couple more floors, dispatching a few enemies along the way, and personally I was thinking I'd face a mini-boss or somesuch who would be carrying the key. Nope, I had to look for it in a weird looking locked box hidden somewhere in a corner, which Ryu Hayabusa (the game's protagonist) opened with a kick.
Now Ninja Gaiden 2 is a game that's difficult to take seriously, given its dialogs and its obsession with leather and bondage, but that occurrence just baffled me. It's so utterly unrealistic, who hides a card key in a box, in the middle of a building? It reminds me of all those statue-and-gem puzzles in Resident Evil 2, which took place in a Police department. Who the hell designs buildings like that? To make things even better, the card key in question was cracked. I'm hardly an expert on these things, but I'm fairly certain that a cracked card can't be used for its intended purposes. That is, to unlock electronic doors.
.jpg)
However, truth be told, such things aren't a big deal in action games. They only make the player roll his/her eyes for a second and then carry on with the game. On the other hand, in adventure games, where storyline and charactes are the main focus, and the player usually has to pick up every single item on sight and then click it on everything else, poorly-thought out inventory items and related puzzles can really ruin the player's immersion.
An example is needed to better illustrate this point, and I'll pick another commercial game again, before I start discussing indie games. The offender in this case is The Longest Journey, perhaps my favorite game evaaar. During one point of the game, you meet a certain crow called uh... Crow, which later on accompanies you in your travels. How do you make him accompany you? By literally picking him up, that is, using the "Pick Up" function on him, after which we are lead to presume that the heroine of the game fits him in her pockets. A very (unintentionally) absurd moment in an otherwise brilliant game, but I always thought this was due to technological and/or budget-related restraints* anyway.
Sooo... moving on to indie games, then. I'll have to name some names, and before I do that I want to say that I deeply respect anyone and everyone who has ever dedicated a (usually big) part of his everyday time to create an independent game, especially considering that most of them charge nothing for their games. Moreover, there are some problems with design you seemingly can never avoid. That being said, the issue of nonsensical inventory items and their relation to the characters is very evident here.
My first example comes from the first chapter (and seemingly last, since the game appears to have been abandoned) of a game still in development called House of Whispers. The game starts with protagonist Jenni L'Amour visiting her friend Daffy in a local diner. Cue a convenient power shortage, and Jenni finds herself all alone in the darkness, as Daffy is missing. Jenni (and the player) decide it's best to investigate the place to find out what happened to her friend. All is fine so far.
Then, it happens. As you're exploring the near areas, you come across a human heart stored in a fridge. If you decide to interact with the heart, Jenni happily obliges with picking it up.
Wait, what?
It's bad enough that there's no obvious place that Jenni would put the heart while carrying it around (she is not carrying a bag or anything of that sort) the obvious question is why.
Why would anyone, let alone a frightened girl who has just seen her best friend disappear, pick up a human heart in such a nonchalant way**? And what would she ever hope to do with it? From a meta-gaming point of view, I as the player obviously realize that the heart is going to be used in some puzzle at some point in the game, having played so many games with crazy puzzles in the past. But that's exactly when good ol' suspension of disbelief gets thrown out of the window.
Another example comes from a highly acclaimed (and rightly so) game in the indie scene, Prodigal. The game's protagonist, Jacob, is contacted by his brother Mike, who had disappeared two years ago. Jacob decides to find and help him and this journey leads him in a spooky forest, with a very ominous cabin nearby. Once inside the cabin, he finds blood stains all over the place, in such patterns as to imply that something really nasty has happened there.
So what does Mr. Average Joe, all alone in a very unfriendly environment, searching for a brother who is apparently in deep shit, do? What is one of his (and the player's) first actions? To pick up a pair of blood-soaked boots.
Who in their right mind would do such a thing? Hell, who would even go near a pair of bloody boots in some unknown house in the middle of nowhere? I won't even touch the fact that such an object has no apparent use in the game's setting. I would understand picking up an axe for future use at that point, but a pair of boots dripping with blood? That scream you're hearing, that's the suspension of disbelief which just got thrown out of the window again. Poor thing.
Generally speaking, when interacting with my environment in a game, I don't want to think "Oh, apparently there's a puzzle later on that requires this dehydrated piranha! Maybe I'll combine it with this blowtorch and that chewing gum!***" What I want to think is that my character's actions make sense and are in accordance with everything we have seen or at least alluded to about him/her so far in the game.
Naturally, this depends on the context of the game, so while I would expect a former demolitions expert to use TNT to blow up a wall as part of a puzzle, I wouldn't expect a 12-year old to do the same. Unless the 12-year old was some kind of weird prodigee with explosives, called Arzt.
* Then again, maybe I'm grasping.
** Unless they are a doctor of some sort. Or a deranged psycho, I'm not here to judge.
*** Rubber ducky puzzle in TLJ, anyone?
TL;DR version:
Remember, not everything wants to be picked up. Some things are just fine where they are.
Another way of putting it is this rule of thumb: If you wouldn't pick something up in real life, your character had better have a really good reason for doing so. Otherwise, your character won't seem realistic, and your audience might have trouble relating to him/her.
Did you miss these blocks of text? Neither did I.
At the second chapter of the game, while inside a fairly tall building with several floors, you encounter a locked door, with no key in sight. A fairly common puzzle so far, right? So you climb a couple more floors, dispatching a few enemies along the way, and personally I was thinking I'd face a mini-boss or somesuch who would be carrying the key. Nope, I had to look for it in a weird looking locked box hidden somewhere in a corner, which Ryu Hayabusa (the game's protagonist) opened with a kick.
Now Ninja Gaiden 2 is a game that's difficult to take seriously, given its dialogs and its obsession with leather and bondage, but that occurrence just baffled me. It's so utterly unrealistic, who hides a card key in a box, in the middle of a building? It reminds me of all those statue-and-gem puzzles in Resident Evil 2, which took place in a Police department. Who the hell designs buildings like that? To make things even better, the card key in question was cracked. I'm hardly an expert on these things, but I'm fairly certain that a cracked card can't be used for its intended purposes. That is, to unlock electronic doors..jpg)
However, truth be told, such things aren't a big deal in action games. They only make the player roll his/her eyes for a second and then carry on with the game. On the other hand, in adventure games, where storyline and charactes are the main focus, and the player usually has to pick up every single item on sight and then click it on everything else, poorly-thought out inventory items and related puzzles can really ruin the player's immersion.An example is needed to better illustrate this point, and I'll pick another commercial game again, before I start discussing indie games. The offender in this case is The Longest Journey, perhaps my favorite game evaaar. During one point of the game, you meet a certain crow called uh... Crow, which later on accompanies you in your travels. How do you make him accompany you? By literally picking him up, that is, using the "Pick Up" function on him, after which we are lead to presume that the heroine of the game fits him in her pockets. A very (unintentionally) absurd moment in an otherwise brilliant game, but I always thought this was due to technological and/or budget-related restraints* anyway.
Sooo... moving on to indie games, then. I'll have to name some names, and before I do that I want to say that I deeply respect anyone and everyone who has ever dedicated a (usually big) part of his everyday time to create an independent game, especially considering that most of them charge nothing for their games. Moreover, there are some problems with design you seemingly can never avoid. That being said, the issue of nonsensical inventory items and their relation to the characters is very evident here.
My first example comes from the first chapter (and seemingly last, since the game appears to have been abandoned) of a game still in development called House of Whispers. The game starts with protagonist Jenni L'Amour visiting her friend Daffy in a local diner. Cue a convenient power shortage, and Jenni finds herself all alone in the darkness, as Daffy is missing. Jenni (and the player) decide it's best to investigate the place to find out what happened to her friend. All is fine so far.
Then, it happens. As you're exploring the near areas, you come across a human heart stored in a fridge. If you decide to interact with the heart, Jenni happily obliges with picking it up.
Wait, what?
It's bad enough that there's no obvious place that Jenni would put the heart while carrying it around (she is not carrying a bag or anything of that sort) the obvious question is why.
Why would anyone, let alone a frightened girl who has just seen her best friend disappear, pick up a human heart in such a nonchalant way**? And what would she ever hope to do with it? From a meta-gaming point of view, I as the player obviously realize that the heart is going to be used in some puzzle at some point in the game, having played so many games with crazy puzzles in the past. But that's exactly when good ol' suspension of disbelief gets thrown out of the window.Another example comes from a highly acclaimed (and rightly so) game in the indie scene, Prodigal. The game's protagonist, Jacob, is contacted by his brother Mike, who had disappeared two years ago. Jacob decides to find and help him and this journey leads him in a spooky forest, with a very ominous cabin nearby. Once inside the cabin, he finds blood stains all over the place, in such patterns as to imply that something really nasty has happened there.
So what does Mr. Average Joe, all alone in a very unfriendly environment, searching for a brother who is apparently in deep shit, do? What is one of his (and the player's) first actions? To pick up a pair of blood-soaked boots.
Who in their right mind would do such a thing? Hell, who would even go near a pair of bloody boots in some unknown house in the middle of nowhere? I won't even touch the fact that such an object has no apparent use in the game's setting. I would understand picking up an axe for future use at that point, but a pair of boots dripping with blood? That scream you're hearing, that's the suspension of disbelief which just got thrown out of the window again. Poor thing.Generally speaking, when interacting with my environment in a game, I don't want to think "Oh, apparently there's a puzzle later on that requires this dehydrated piranha! Maybe I'll combine it with this blowtorch and that chewing gum!***" What I want to think is that my character's actions make sense and are in accordance with everything we have seen or at least alluded to about him/her so far in the game.
Naturally, this depends on the context of the game, so while I would expect a former demolitions expert to use TNT to blow up a wall as part of a puzzle, I wouldn't expect a 12-year old to do the same. Unless the 12-year old was some kind of weird prodigee with explosives, called Arzt.
* Then again, maybe I'm grasping.** Unless they are a doctor of some sort. Or a deranged psycho, I'm not here to judge.
*** Rubber ducky puzzle in TLJ, anyone?
TL;DR version:
Remember, not everything wants to be picked up. Some things are just fine where they are.
Another way of putting it is this rule of thumb: If you wouldn't pick something up in real life, your character had better have a really good reason for doing so. Otherwise, your character won't seem realistic, and your audience might have trouble relating to him/her.
Did you miss these blocks of text? Neither did I.
Monday, September 22
[Gaming Monday] The Mass Effect post
I've been playing Mass Effect like crazy today and managed to reach the last area of the game, so if there were any startling revelations in the world of gaming, I must have missed them. I doubt there were, but I do believe that Silent Hill: Homecoming was supposed to be released today in the States?*
At any rate, today was a cold, rainy day. In other words, the perfect day for a Roleplaying Game. And Mass Effect is my favorite entry in the genre in a long while. Given that the game is almost a year old, pretty much everyone has already developed his/her opinion on it, so I won't bother praising/criticising it for the same things everybody else has (i.e. graphics/sound/gameworld/storyline Vs. crappy friendly A.I./too much text).
Instead, I'll focus on my favorite part of the game; space exploration. While there have been RPG's that took place in space rather than some parallel universe closely resembling England in the past, none of them did so in such detail. Solar Winds comes close, but the technology of its times (1993!) didn't allow for such niceties. At any rate, Mass Effect gives my inner Star Trek geek to actually go where no (well, a few) person has gone before. There's several clusters of our Milky Way galaxy to be explored, each with its own solar system and respective planets. And each planet is so unique and beautiful in its own way, it's quite awe-inspiring. Driving your space vehicle (called Mako) on an uncharted planet, as you're heading straight into a space storm makes for a pants-wetting good experience, trust me. Wish I had a screenshot of that.
I understand that some people complained about the planets, but from an aesthetics point of view, I could never agree with that**. I will agree that objectives on every planet were pretty much the same 3-4 missions over and over, and that the buildings in said planets suffered from a severe lack of variety, though.
Before I headed into the last areas of the game, I also wrapped up the extra downloadable mission, Bring Down the Sky. It's not wildly different than the rest of the quests and it certainly didn't feel like the 90 minute-long mission it was advertised to be (felt like half of that, really) but it does have an entirely new building which is beautiful, and one awesome and intense fight that takes part in this building. Definitely one of the best fights in the game.
In closing, while Mass Effect is pretty formulaic as far as RPG's go, the added space exploration and amazing aesthetics are enough to make it stand out from the rest of the entries in the genre. Yes, I'm wrapping this up quickly because I want to get back to the game now. Lawsuits at the usual address.
TL;DR version:
While the game is brilliant, they really need to fix the friendly A.I. in the sequel if they don't want to hear the (justified) bitching of players and reviewers alike. If I had a euro for every time my teammates stepped right in front of me as I was about to finish off an enemy and blocked my shot, allowing for the enemy to heal up, I'd have enough money to buy one of those discounted Arcade version Xbox 360's. Suffice to say, that is not hot.
(SPOILERS)
In case anyone is wondering, I boinked*** Liara, perhaps because she's a total dork. And I let Ashley die so I would avoid any relationship drama, because I'm petty and cruel like that.
* A quick search revealed it's coming next week, on the 30th. Oh well.
** Seriously, lay off the crack pipe.
*** Urban Dictionary has a hilarious entry for the verb "boink", check it out.
At any rate, today was a cold, rainy day. In other words, the perfect day for a Roleplaying Game. And Mass Effect is my favorite entry in the genre in a long while. Given that the game is almost a year old, pretty much everyone has already developed his/her opinion on it, so I won't bother praising/criticising it for the same things everybody else has (i.e. graphics/sound/gameworld/storyline Vs. crappy friendly A.I./too much text).
Instead, I'll focus on my favorite part of the game; space exploration. While there have been RPG's that took place in space rather than some parallel universe closely resembling England in the past, none of them did so in such detail. Solar Winds comes close, but the technology of its times (1993!) didn't allow for such niceties. At any rate, Mass Effect gives my inner Star Trek geek to actually go where no (well, a few) person has gone before. There's several clusters of our Milky Way galaxy to be explored, each with its own solar system and respective planets. And each planet is so unique and beautiful in its own way, it's quite awe-inspiring. Driving your space vehicle (called Mako) on an uncharted planet, as you're heading straight into a space storm makes for a pants-wetting good experience, trust me. Wish I had a screenshot of that.
I understand that some people complained about the planets, but from an aesthetics point of view, I could never agree with that**. I will agree that objectives on every planet were pretty much the same 3-4 missions over and over, and that the buildings in said planets suffered from a severe lack of variety, though.
Before I headed into the last areas of the game, I also wrapped up the extra downloadable mission, Bring Down the Sky. It's not wildly different than the rest of the quests and it certainly didn't feel like the 90 minute-long mission it was advertised to be (felt like half of that, really) but it does have an entirely new building which is beautiful, and one awesome and intense fight that takes part in this building. Definitely one of the best fights in the game.
In closing, while Mass Effect is pretty formulaic as far as RPG's go, the added space exploration and amazing aesthetics are enough to make it stand out from the rest of the entries in the genre. Yes, I'm wrapping this up quickly because I want to get back to the game now. Lawsuits at the usual address.
TL;DR version:
While the game is brilliant, they really need to fix the friendly A.I. in the sequel if they don't want to hear the (justified) bitching of players and reviewers alike. If I had a euro for every time my teammates stepped right in front of me as I was about to finish off an enemy and blocked my shot, allowing for the enemy to heal up, I'd have enough money to buy one of those discounted Arcade version Xbox 360's. Suffice to say, that is not hot.
(SPOILERS)
In case anyone is wondering, I boinked*** Liara, perhaps because she's a total dork. And I let Ashley die so I would avoid any relationship drama, because I'm petty and cruel like that.
* A quick search revealed it's coming next week, on the 30th. Oh well.
** Seriously, lay off the crack pipe.
*** Urban Dictionary has a hilarious entry for the verb "boink", check it out.
Sunday, September 21
[Random Sunday]
I have a terrible headache today, so I can't write to save my life. That's what you get when you sleep at 6AM only to be woken up at 9AM by somebody who has the wrong phone number. Fun fun fun.
So here's a really funny video from the Chappelle Show instead of my usual blocks of text:
TL;DR version:
Aspirins, I need aspirins! Give them to me!
So here's a really funny video from the Chappelle Show instead of my usual blocks of text:
TL;DR version:
Aspirins, I need aspirins! Give them to me!
Saturday, September 20
[Movie Saturday] Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes?
So apparently there's another movie based on Sherlock Holmes besides the one starring Borat,* and it's going to be directed by none other than Guy "I'm Madonna's husband!" Richie.
Regarding the actors that are going to play Holmes and Watson, Robert Downey Jr. is pretty much a given as the legendary detective himself, and Jude Law is in talks for the role of Dr. Watson.
Now, as far as I am concerned**, Guy Richie has only made one good movie:
And it was fucking awesome. So awesome in fact, that a couple of years later, Richie understood he'd never make a better movie, and thus decided to remake it with a little extra something (i.e. Brad Pitt) added, and called it Snatch. Audiences, unsurprisingly, fell for it.
Cynicism aside, I'm not entirely convinced that Richie can do justice to the dry, absolutely logical world that Sherlock Holmes lives in. Richie's style is quite different, his world is one of petty criminals who make for adorable losers, and witty one-liners. Of course, this is only by judging what he has done so far, I'd love to be proven wrong as I'm a huge fan of the original novels.
Another thing I'd love to be proven wrong is this feeling in my gut that's telling me that only an Englishman could ever do the role of Holmes justice. Hugh Laurie (A.K.A. Gregory House) is too obvious a choice, but Robert Downey Jr. is a fantastic actor that really does complex roles justice with his performances. So if anyone can pull it off, I think that's him.
Truth be told, it would have worked great
As for any people that will complain about Jude Law, pull your head out of your ass before you suffocate. Watson never played second string in the novels, so it's important to have a charismatic actor for the role. Not to mention that Watson was described as a handsome man, and also that Law is a great actor in his own right, despite his "pretty boy" looks. So get over yourselves.
At any rate, I'd be thankful if the finished movie doesn't end up being like this:
* I like parodies as much as the next guy, but I honestly can't see how this movie is going to be any good.
** I haven't seen RockaRolla yet though, and that's supposed to be a return to form for him. Its name also reminds me of a Judas Priest song.
TL;DR version:
On the bright side, even if both new Sherlock Holmes movies end up sucking, we'll always have the BBC series which is magnificently brilliant:
Regarding the actors that are going to play Holmes and Watson, Robert Downey Jr. is pretty much a given as the legendary detective himself, and Jude Law is in talks for the role of Dr. Watson.
Now, as far as I am concerned**, Guy Richie has only made one good movie:
And it was fucking awesome. So awesome in fact, that a couple of years later, Richie understood he'd never make a better movie, and thus decided to remake it with a little extra something (i.e. Brad Pitt) added, and called it Snatch. Audiences, unsurprisingly, fell for it.Cynicism aside, I'm not entirely convinced that Richie can do justice to the dry, absolutely logical world that Sherlock Holmes lives in. Richie's style is quite different, his world is one of petty criminals who make for adorable losers, and witty one-liners. Of course, this is only by judging what he has done so far, I'd love to be proven wrong as I'm a huge fan of the original novels.
Another thing I'd love to be proven wrong is this feeling in my gut that's telling me that only an Englishman could ever do the role of Holmes justice. Hugh Laurie (A.K.A. Gregory House) is too obvious a choice, but Robert Downey Jr. is a fantastic actor that really does complex roles justice with his performances. So if anyone can pull it off, I think that's him.
Truth be told, it would have worked greatAs for any people that will complain about Jude Law, pull your head out of your ass before you suffocate. Watson never played second string in the novels, so it's important to have a charismatic actor for the role. Not to mention that Watson was described as a handsome man, and also that Law is a great actor in his own right, despite his "pretty boy" looks. So get over yourselves.
At any rate, I'd be thankful if the finished movie doesn't end up being like this:
* I like parodies as much as the next guy, but I honestly can't see how this movie is going to be any good.
** I haven't seen RockaRolla yet though, and that's supposed to be a return to form for him. Its name also reminds me of a Judas Priest song.
TL;DR version:
On the bright side, even if both new Sherlock Holmes movies end up sucking, we'll always have the BBC series which is magnificently brilliant:
Friday, September 19
[Internets Friday] Ahoy, maties
Yes, yes, today is the International Talk Like a Pirate Day holiday (or a parody of such). And yes, this isn't exactly an Internets thing, but most people don't dare to talk like a pirate in a place where other people will see them and memorize their faces. That place? Anywhere but on the Internet.
In recent years, this holiday (of sorts) has started gaining on popularity, World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online even have a special event day for it. Naturally, this holiday (so to speak) is also a perfect excuse for certain people to make money off nonsense, and for cynics to be... well, cynical.
But meh, it's still fun. And who doesn't love pirates?
TL;DR version:
Yarrrrrrrr.
In recent years, this holiday (of sorts) has started gaining on popularity, World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online even have a special event day for it. Naturally, this holiday (so to speak) is also a perfect excuse for certain people to make money off nonsense, and for cynics to be... well, cynical.
But meh, it's still fun. And who doesn't love pirates?
TL;DR version:
Yarrrrrrrr.
Thursday, September 18
[Basketball Thursday] Gilbert Arenas -a seriously unlucky man
Arenas, the 26-year old point guard for the Washington Wizards has been injured yet again, and best case scenario, he'll lose the first month of the new NBA season. This is on top of several other injuries that made him lose the playoffs in the last two seasons, and the majority of the 2007/8 season.
This is a very unfortunate development for Arenas, as teams generally only put up with recurring injuries for so long (especially when you're their most well-paid player) and are often quick to replace players with such tendencies. Hopefully he'll recover fully on time.
TL;DR version:
This sucks. Agent Zero is my favorite NBA player, he deserves better than this.
On an amusing side note, his X360 voice blog suggests he has played more NBA 2K8 than NBA Live 2008, despite being on the cover of the latter. 2K8 is the better game though, so it makes sense that way.
This is a very unfortunate development for Arenas, as teams generally only put up with recurring injuries for so long (especially when you're their most well-paid player) and are often quick to replace players with such tendencies. Hopefully he'll recover fully on time.
TL;DR version:
This sucks. Agent Zero is my favorite NBA player, he deserves better than this.
On an amusing side note, his X360 voice blog suggests he has played more NBA 2K8 than NBA Live 2008, despite being on the cover of the latter. 2K8 is the better game though, so it makes sense that way.
Wednesday, September 17
[Book Wednesday] I Am America
And So Can You!
I finally managed to snag a copy of Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You!) (from the author of I Am America (And So Can You!)) yesterday, after literally months of searching. I knew beforehand that I'd like it of course, as scientists have proven* it's impossible to dislike anything Stephen Colbert does.
While America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction** read more like an actual History/Political Science book filled with jokes that are funny because they are sadly true, I Am America reads more like a memoir of Colbert's character, Stephen Colbert. Which makes sense of course, given that each book is an extension of its respective show. My favorite bits so far are all the side notes and footnotes*** in almost every page, which help extend the jokes and remind me of my favorite TCR segment, The Word.
You can visit the official I Am America site here.
* Probably. I don't keep up with everything, you know.
** Best title ever, by the way.
*** Kind of like this one. Only actually funny.
TL;DR version:
As the book informs you, by buying it you become 25% American. Hell, I'm willing to bet that you've become more American just by reading this post.
I finally managed to snag a copy of Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You!) (from the author of I Am America (And So Can You!)) yesterday, after literally months of searching. I knew beforehand that I'd like it of course, as scientists have proven* it's impossible to dislike anything Stephen Colbert does.
While America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction** read more like an actual History/Political Science book filled with jokes that are funny because they are sadly true, I Am America reads more like a memoir of Colbert's character, Stephen Colbert. Which makes sense of course, given that each book is an extension of its respective show. My favorite bits so far are all the side notes and footnotes*** in almost every page, which help extend the jokes and remind me of my favorite TCR segment, The Word.
You can visit the official I Am America site here.
* Probably. I don't keep up with everything, you know.
** Best title ever, by the way.
*** Kind of like this one. Only actually funny.
TL;DR version:
As the book informs you, by buying it you become 25% American. Hell, I'm willing to bet that you've become more American just by reading this post.
Tuesday, September 16
[Indie Tuesday] The Independent Games Festival
The IGF is exactly what its name so subtly suggests; in other words, as their "About" page mentions it was "established the Independent Games Festival in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers."
This year they're offering as much as almost $50.000 (which is like 20 euros, haw haw*) to the winners, including a $20.000 award for the first place. The deadline for submissions is November 1st, so there's still time if you already have a project you're working on, or you're really damn gifted. For more information, visit this page.
(via IndieGames.com)
* Yeah, I can't do jokes today.
TL;DR version:
I'm having some serious PC problems these days, I promise I'll go back to those huge blocks of texts eventually. Or perhaps I shouldn't.
I also wish I were competent enough to enter the Festival. Oh, well.
This year they're offering as much as almost $50.000 (which is like 20 euros, haw haw*) to the winners, including a $20.000 award for the first place. The deadline for submissions is November 1st, so there's still time if you already have a project you're working on, or you're really damn gifted. For more information, visit this page.
(via IndieGames.com)
* Yeah, I can't do jokes today.
TL;DR version:
I'm having some serious PC problems these days, I promise I'll go back to those huge blocks of texts eventually. Or perhaps I shouldn't.
I also wish I were competent enough to enter the Festival. Oh, well.
Monday, September 15
[RPG Monday] Fable 2
Fable was one of those games that I always wanted to play when I didn't have an Xbox, and one I totally forgot about when I actually bought the console. I only started playing it recently, when I realized that #2 is just around the corner, but it holds up really well.
Obviously, it's not going to dazzle anyone with its graphics, but they are extremely competent for a four-year old game. The animation suffers a bit, but the graphics are really beautiful. I guess that's partly due to the wonderful art direction, which has thankfully carried on to the sequel:
It has become pretty rare to find such a beautiful game nowadays (though Mass Effect keeps surprising me with every other planet I visit) so that's one of the main reasons I'm looking forward to Fable 2. I'm expecting the gameplay to be similar to the first one, with added polish and a few new moves here and there, but nothing world-shattering. Still, when a game looks this good and has this unique fairy tale sort of atmosphere to accompany the visuals, I'm sold.
TL;DR version:
Aside from the visuals and atmosphere, I'm also hoping that Fable 2's online features will make me forget about the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion. Cross yer fingers!
Obviously, it's not going to dazzle anyone with its graphics, but they are extremely competent for a four-year old game. The animation suffers a bit, but the graphics are really beautiful. I guess that's partly due to the wonderful art direction, which has thankfully carried on to the sequel:
It has become pretty rare to find such a beautiful game nowadays (though Mass Effect keeps surprising me with every other planet I visit) so that's one of the main reasons I'm looking forward to Fable 2. I'm expecting the gameplay to be similar to the first one, with added polish and a few new moves here and there, but nothing world-shattering. Still, when a game looks this good and has this unique fairy tale sort of atmosphere to accompany the visuals, I'm sold.
TL;DR version:
Aside from the visuals and atmosphere, I'm also hoping that Fable 2's online features will make me forget about the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion. Cross yer fingers!
Sunday, September 14
[Music Sunday] Alice in Chains
Having the ability to watch MTV again since... I dunno, 2000 or something, has made me reminisce about the times when I was watching Alternative Nation in the mid 90's as a teenager. While I don't expect the Greek version of MTV in '08 to have shows specifically for grunge/alternative/punk rock, it does make for a nice memory.
Also, it has helped me remember all those bands I used to love in the 90's, but kind of lost track of them in the last years. One of them is Alice in Chains, a band I started listening to because I thought that was an interesting name, if a bit S&M-ish. I won't bore you with their history, that's what Wikipedia is for, instead I'll head right to the inevitable video, in this case of a song called Would?
TL;DR version:
PIE.
Also, it has helped me remember all those bands I used to love in the 90's, but kind of lost track of them in the last years. One of them is Alice in Chains, a band I started listening to because I thought that was an interesting name, if a bit S&M-ish. I won't bore you with their history, that's what Wikipedia is for, instead I'll head right to the inevitable video, in this case of a song called Would?
TL;DR version:
PIE.
Saturday, September 13
[TV Saturday] House Season 5 trailer (Spoilers!)
Just a few days remaining until the fifth season of House M.D. begins, and only now did it occur to me that a trailer should be out. Better late than never, I guess.
Season four was probably my favorite one (though it was the first full season I watched, plus I'm totally biased towards Thirteen), and it left quite a few issues to be resolved in the fifth season. Unsurprisingly, this trailer touches upon those, so consider this a spoiler warning. This post will be spoiler-free though, relatively
The trailer itself is good, not as impressive as last year's, but intriguing enough. I'm just worried that they're really going to act on what a character implies at the very end of the trailer, and that's a bad idea. Without saying too much, when a character loses his foil, it's bad both for the character and the storyline. I really hope they don't do it, between this and Grissom leaving CSI, well, ugh! That sucks. You think people would have learned from that time when Duchovny left the X-Files.
Watch the trailer here:
TL;DR version:
Nooooo, Wilson, don't do it!
Season four was probably my favorite one (though it was the first full season I watched, plus I'm totally biased towards Thirteen), and it left quite a few issues to be resolved in the fifth season. Unsurprisingly, this trailer touches upon those, so consider this a spoiler warning. This post will be spoiler-free though, relatively
The trailer itself is good, not as impressive as last year's, but intriguing enough. I'm just worried that they're really going to act on what a character implies at the very end of the trailer, and that's a bad idea. Without saying too much, when a character loses his foil, it's bad both for the character and the storyline. I really hope they don't do it, between this and Grissom leaving CSI, well, ugh! That sucks. You think people would have learned from that time when Duchovny left the X-Files.
Watch the trailer here:
TL;DR version:
Nooooo, Wilson, don't do it!
Friday, September 12
[Internets Friday] What the?
After an entire week during which an apparently omnipotent force just wouldn't allow me to leave my hometown, I finally came back to see my computer's browser(s) outright denying to load any websites whatsoever. Good times. I'm guessing I must have really pissed that omnipotent force off.
At any rate, all seems to be well right now, so as of today the blog officially resumes its daily update schedule. I've been busy with some other projects in the mean time, but more on that in the near future.
In the mean time, here's a video of Darth Vader explaining the Pythagorean Theorem. Seriously. You can't make these things up.
TL;DR version:
Darth Vader and the Pythagorean Theorem. How do you even combine the two?
At any rate, all seems to be well right now, so as of today the blog officially resumes its daily update schedule. I've been busy with some other projects in the mean time, but more on that in the near future.
In the mean time, here's a video of Darth Vader explaining the Pythagorean Theorem. Seriously. You can't make these things up.
TL;DR version:
Darth Vader and the Pythagorean Theorem. How do you even combine the two?
Tuesday, September 2
[Indie Tuesday] A long awaited return
No, not mine. Although that was long overdue, too. But hey, a guy has to have his vacation, even if it's like twice as long than originally planned!
At any rate, this isn't about me. Last week, after literally years and years of waiting, AGD Interactive (formerly Tierra) finally released their third, and most anticipated, remake, Quest for Glory II VGA. I, as I imagine several others did, followed the project closely for years, only to face disappointment every time it was delayed, we're talking about a game that would have been delayed if it had been released in 2004!
Of course, I'm not blaming AGD Interactive about this, they're giving us a game that's completely free and which they created in their spare time out of their goodness of their hearts; to complain would make you a tremendous douchebag. I was just worried that the project would be eventually dropped off, as more important things demanded their attention, as it usually happens.
Thankfully, the game is finally here (visit its release thread on the AGS forums here) and it's glorious. Like the King's Quests remakes that AGD did back in the early 00's, it's completely faithful to the original, while updating it for a more contemporary audience. To be frank, I don't know about you, but I rarely find 16-color EGA graphics aesthetically pleasing anymore.
You can download the game for free at the AGD homepage.
TL;DR version
If you never played QFG2 back in the day, you probably won't stomach it now. Do yourselves a favor and download this VGA-enhanced remake, and enjoy one of Sierra's best adventure games ever (Roberta Williams wasn't even involved, which is an extra plus).
At any rate, this isn't about me. Last week, after literally years and years of waiting, AGD Interactive (formerly Tierra) finally released their third, and most anticipated, remake, Quest for Glory II VGA. I, as I imagine several others did, followed the project closely for years, only to face disappointment every time it was delayed, we're talking about a game that would have been delayed if it had been released in 2004!
Of course, I'm not blaming AGD Interactive about this, they're giving us a game that's completely free and which they created in their spare time out of their goodness of their hearts; to complain would make you a tremendous douchebag. I was just worried that the project would be eventually dropped off, as more important things demanded their attention, as it usually happens.
Thankfully, the game is finally here (visit its release thread on the AGS forums here) and it's glorious. Like the King's Quests remakes that AGD did back in the early 00's, it's completely faithful to the original, while updating it for a more contemporary audience. To be frank, I don't know about you, but I rarely find 16-color EGA graphics aesthetically pleasing anymore.
You can download the game for free at the AGD homepage.
TL;DR version
If you never played QFG2 back in the day, you probably won't stomach it now. Do yourselves a favor and download this VGA-enhanced remake, and enjoy one of Sierra's best adventure games ever (Roberta Williams wasn't even involved, which is an extra plus).
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