Tag Archives: Video Games

Shivering Isles Might Make Me Buy Oblivion

So, there’s this little game out there called Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which in reality is actually not very little at all. It’s actually gigantic, and very popular. It might have something to do with the weeks of gameplay content, the good storyline, and amazing graphics. But anyway, I haven’t gotten that interested in it since 1. it’s not really my kind of game (medieval fantasy hack&slash RPG), and 2. my computer can’t handle the über graphics.

Well, the second one can’t be changed, since my computer is a laptop, and a mac one at that, but the first one? Well, there’s an expansion pack that’s been recently announced, called The Shivering Isles, and I have to say, it looks like my kind of game. The world is supposed to be the creation of an insane god, hence the outlandish appearance. I think I’d really like this game, and its release might convince me to buy Oblivion.

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Buggy Saint's Row, The Musical

While surfing the net tubes, I came across a very interesting page. I found it on cabel.name, a pretty cool blog in itself, but Cabel’s Buggy Saints Row is probably the coolest thing there.

What the guy did is he bought the game Saint’s Row, hoping for a good game. He got basically a Grand Theft Auto ripoff, filled to the brim with bugs. Really funny bugs. So Cabel got out his video camera and filmed said bugs, then added some extremely well-made music to the collected footage, to make a musical. It features 3 songs: “Where’s my f*cking car?!”, The car door song, and “What is this place?”.

I have to agree with a commenter on there, Cabel does win at the internet.

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Wiiview 2

Well, my friend Cutter just (as in, yesterday) got a Wii, so I got to play it for real. For real meaning no pressure from surrounding con crowd, and correctly set-up sensor bar. The experience was much better.

It could be that I was playing a different game each time, Wii Sports at the con and Warioware at Cutter’s house, but I had way more fun with Warioware. For those of you who haven’t experienced the…(how shall I put this)…unique experience that is Warioware, the game consists of extremely quick minigames (really quick, you have 5-10 seconds to finish each one). The games are very strange, everything from using the wiimote as a fly swatter to squish flies on the screen to a pump handle you have to move up and down to pop a balloon, to a finger you have to use to pick a virtual nose. It’s a very odd-sounding game, but trust me, you have to play it to understand.

There are different “forms” you are taught throughout the game, starting with the remote control form (which is just like holding a TV remote), then gaining umbrella form (holding the wiimote vertically, like an umbrella handle), to many more, such as handlebars, janitor (a broomstick), and the most outlandish being mohawk (where you hold it flat on your head, like a mohawk hairdo). As you learn these forms, more and more minigames involving these forms are unlocked, such as the hula hoop game (where you hold the wiimote at your side in ‘big cheese’ form, and pretend to hula hoop. This cannot be done correctly with any other form, or the guy on-screen doesn’t move. You have to be willing to embarrass yourself to play) or the balloon pumping game (which only works in ‘handlebar’ form, where you hold it like bike handlebars).

All in all, the game is extremely fun, whether you’re playing it yourself or watching others play (since you can laugh at them, despite the fact that you’ll be doing the exact same thing in a few minutes). The wiimote can be a bit unresponsive at times, but its usually just because we don’t have it pointing enough at the sensor bar. Cutter said he’ll figure out the best positioning for the bar, but I think some of it is just an inherent weakness in the Wii, since you’ll always be compelled to point it directly at the TV, or swing it away from the TV all together.

I can easily see the Wii becoming the king of the current generation of consoles.

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How True

I came across this quote on Uru Obsession, and the original poster found it on eBay, I think. The first few lines are so true:

I used to think of myself as immune to addiction. I’ve never been ensnared by alcohol or drugs, never run up huge credit-card balances with compulsive shopping, never smoked — I don’t even gamble. Watching various friends battle their own habits, I’ve occasionally envied them the drama of it all, but mostly I’ve felt a little (well, maybe more than a little) superior.

That was before I found Myst…

I’ve recently realized just how obsessed I am with the Myst series. I really am obsessed. I spend most of my free time on Uru Obsession, I have a massive collection of Myst games and collectible items, I even have two original concept sketches from Myst.

In a discussion I was having with a friend of mine two days ago, I mentioned how much more obsessed with the series I was than him (however, we met on UO, so we both must be pretty obsessed) and he said “yeah, I’m not as obsessed as you are. I get bored the third time through the games”. This made me stop and realize the extent of my obsession.

Am I sorry? Do I wish I wasn’t obsessed/addicted?

Hell no.

collection 1collection 2

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Wiiview

Well, I finally found a playable Wii. I have to say, slightly disappointing. The nunchuck is way too light. The wiimote is too sensitive at times and not sensitive enough at other times. I must say though, once I got used to the weight and the sensitivity (and getting smacked in the arm by the lefty next to me), wii sports tennis was extremely fun. I sucked at it, yes, but that’s to be expected. I also enjoyed being completely rag-dolled in boxing. Since this was at my school’s anime con, we could only do multiplayer games, thus I have nothing to report on Twilight Princess. Oh well. Still, if you didn’t need to point the wiimote at the sensor bar and the nunchuck was a bit heavier, the wii would be basically perfect.

A word on graphical quality. Sure, the Wii is the most underpowered current-gen console, but what it lacks in power it makes up for in fun and innovation. The controls were very intuitive, I must say.

Update: My friend Cutter has informed me that the sensor bar was in fact set up incorrectly at the anime con, so you can disregard my above comments on the sensitivity issues, at least until I try the Wii his way…

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Updated Release Stuff

I’ve updated my various Maj Release galleries, plus I added a Wii gallery, you can check them out here:

And I added more footage for the PS3 and Zune over at Youtube:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGIeNFuRXAo]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v9inTplyxk]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWcIBDvLx7k]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSIy15LjhAA]

Enjoy!

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Wii Release

Today Nintendo released the Wii, their fifth generation video game console, and the final console in the current generation lineup. Best Buy didn’t have one on display (apparently their demo kiosk was broken or something), so I didn’t get to try one out. I did get some photos of the game rack and the Legend Of Zelda: The Twilight Princess box. Oh well, a bit disappointing. Speaking of which, the console’s specs are a tad on the low side, but the $250 price tag looks mighty fine next to the PS3’s $500 minimum.

The Wii’s claim to fame is its revolutionary controller design. It is based (I don’t know why I’m saying this, if you are interested in this you already know this) on a TV remote, but is completely motion-sensitive. There’s a “sensor bar” which is placed on top of your TV, and it can detect where all the Wii controllers (or “Wiimotes”, as they’ve been dubbed) are at once. They also have force feedback and a built-in speaker, which is pretty cool, plus it’s extendable (with extensions like the “nunchuck,” a joystick held in the left hand which is connected by a wire to the wiimote).

Well, I’ll post more (and pix) when I get a chance to play one myself. 🙂 Happy gaming to those of you who got one!

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PlayStation 3 Release

Today, Sony’s third generation video game console was released. And what a beast it is. I went to Best Buy to try it out, and got some pictures and a video.

Let me just say this. Wow. And I mean that totally sincerely. Wow. I expected it to be amazing (well, with a $500 core model and $600 full, it pretty much has to be), but this is ridiculous. The graphical quality is freakin’ amazing. It looks insanely photorealistic. The images it produces on the fly are like images pre-rendered by Pixar or something. I feel like I’m preaching here, but I really believe this stuff.

The new controller design (as in, redesigned l2/r2 buttons) is awesome. I really like the trigger-style buttons. They move much faster and more fluidly.

I took some photos of it at Best Buy, go to this gallery to check ’em out.

And here’s the video I took (pardon the quality, youtube ruins movies…):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb0Ua0TxjWQ]

(check out this photo for an idea of what the footage actually looked like)

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Video Game Decency Act

GamePolitics has a report on Senator Upton’s (A Republican from Michigan) new bill. The Video Game Decency Act, it’s called. The act would make it legal for the FCC to fine game companies which hide content of their games in order to gain a lower ESRB rating.
On the surface, this seems fine. The game companies should accept the ratings their games deserve. However, the reason this bill came about was the Hot Coffee mod for GTA: San Andreas. This mod accessed code that was in the game, but was in no way accessible through playing the game. The new bill would require ESRB to completely play through a game before giving it a rating, which means that it misses the purpose completely. There’s no way to account for every single hack, patch, custom map, and easter egg for every game out there. Take Oblivion, for example. The official gameplay alone is enough to keep a softcore gamer like me busy for at least 3 months, and maybe 2 months for a hardcore gamer. Then there are official hacks and patches for the game which would require more time to test, and unofficial patchs and hacks which would make the game virtually unreleasable due to lack of “proper” testing. I think Nightwing sums it up pretty well in a comment on that article:

It wasn’t hidden material that could be accessed through gameplay.

It was unused code that, by design, was supposed to be not part of the game.

Access to the code was NOT made by official patches or upgrades by the company.

Access to the code was NOT made by official unlockable codes provided within the official software.

Access was provided by non publisher, non developer, non official means.

Access was provided by non company personnel and therefore was a modification of said product that was NOT official intended.

I can think of a number of products whose use could be modified or interpreted to allow the product to be used in a manner that the creating company did not intend for the product.

If said products can be modified or interpreted to be used by some individuals in a manner which -I- feel is “indecent”, can I then demand the company who created the product be fined, at the least, because it’s product COULD be used by other individuals for purposes other than what the company claims the product was intended?

If someone can come up with a way to use a product in a way that was not intended to be used by the maker of the product, can we really hold the maker responsible for how the product is used?

nightwng2000
NW2K Software

I hope this bill doesn’t go through, for the sake of all the gamers out there…

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Galamay 2

Today I’m releasing Galamay Area 2/Version 2. It’s a custom-made age for Uru Complete Chronicles that I’ve been working on for more than 7 months, and I’m finally releasing it. To download it, get the Uru Age Manager and download it from there. For more information about Galamay, visit the Galamay Log (It’s In Character, so might not provide much information). Happy exploring!

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