Yes ladies and Gentlemen, The King of Fighters 11 is out! In Japan!! No one cares but me!! In all honesty though, I look forward to watching some gameplay videos to see what they've done, and hope that the assholes at Sony don't prevent a U.S. PS2 release of the game (since Sony does in fact try to limit the amount of 2D games on their console, like it is some sort of crippling anathema.)
Half Life: The Lost Coast is out as well, but I don't think it will run too well on my machine. If only Kita were running well, I could get a serious look at it.
Chicago has won the World Series, and no one seems to know it. I've seen some quiet playoff seasons before, but this one was kinda sad. This is also the first time I've made a World Series prediction for a team back in preseason and have it come true. Go luck, since I don't think it was due to my own skills.
And finally, this. I don't know what to make of it. Is it even real?
Friday, October 28, 2005
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
R.I.P.
New York Giants owner Wellington Mara passed away at the age of 89. While I only recently knew of the many great things he did for the league, I have always known just how much he cared about his team, his players, and the fans. I can only hope that in the future the club is run with the same passion that Mara had.
Mr. Mara, your father was the one who "pulled football over New York", but it was you that kept it there for so many great years. Thanks.
Yesterday had some incredibly cold, nasty weather. It somewhat surprised me at first, to see such a sudden change in temperature. Then I looked at my watch, and realized that yes, it certainly was October 25th. Fall is waning, though it went by so fast that I don't think I saw it beginning.
Anyway, despite my love for the summer months, I find something appealing in those afternoons in late fall, where the sky is dark gray with clouds, leaves dot the grass and a strong wind is blowing the rest off of the trees. Not sure why I like this; I guess it evokes something poetic.
Gamers love to make fun of the Spike TV gaming awards, but this year even casual gamers can get in on the fun. Look at these nominations, and tell me how many of those titles are actaully out on shelves. Even better, you might like to know that some may not even be out by the time the show airs in November. Say it with me now: Payola baby.
Lastly, the NES turns 20 this year. Happy birthday buddy; like many a gamer, I wouldnt' have found my hobby if it wasnt' for you. Next year I'll buy you a drink when you turn 21.
Mr. Mara, your father was the one who "pulled football over New York", but it was you that kept it there for so many great years. Thanks.
Yesterday had some incredibly cold, nasty weather. It somewhat surprised me at first, to see such a sudden change in temperature. Then I looked at my watch, and realized that yes, it certainly was October 25th. Fall is waning, though it went by so fast that I don't think I saw it beginning.
Anyway, despite my love for the summer months, I find something appealing in those afternoons in late fall, where the sky is dark gray with clouds, leaves dot the grass and a strong wind is blowing the rest off of the trees. Not sure why I like this; I guess it evokes something poetic.
Gamers love to make fun of the Spike TV gaming awards, but this year even casual gamers can get in on the fun. Look at these nominations, and tell me how many of those titles are actaully out on shelves. Even better, you might like to know that some may not even be out by the time the show airs in November. Say it with me now: Payola baby.
Lastly, the NES turns 20 this year. Happy birthday buddy; like many a gamer, I wouldnt' have found my hobby if it wasnt' for you. Next year I'll buy you a drink when you turn 21.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Phew
Busy day today. We had people from ABET come to evaluate the computer science department (meaning asking students lots of questions), and I had to do some running around to get permission for a math class next spring. This is my first chance to sit down today, though after this post, my time sitting will also be time studying for an exam. Yes, it certainly is the start of a new week....
Anyway, I saw this news piece, and was reminded of how much I miss Calvin and Hobbes. Easily one of the most intelligent, funny, and sincere comics of our time. I didn't realize just how young Waterson is - I always thought the strip ended because he was simply too old, though I can understand his wanting to quit while he was ahead. With the current state of comics these days, it is one of the few that will be remembered in a positive light.
I started Shadow of the Colossus last night, though I only beat the first Colossi. More impressions as I get farther into it, but for now, I know this: I don't know if I can ever go back to collecting stupid coins or doodads in platformers or adventure games. Unless it is a Mario game, for he is the Godfather.
Anyway, I saw this news piece, and was reminded of how much I miss Calvin and Hobbes. Easily one of the most intelligent, funny, and sincere comics of our time. I didn't realize just how young Waterson is - I always thought the strip ended because he was simply too old, though I can understand his wanting to quit while he was ahead. With the current state of comics these days, it is one of the few that will be remembered in a positive light.
I started Shadow of the Colossus last night, though I only beat the first Colossi. More impressions as I get farther into it, but for now, I know this: I don't know if I can ever go back to collecting stupid coins or doodads in platformers or adventure games. Unless it is a Mario game, for he is the Godfather.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Done....
For a long time now, my list of top 5 favorite games ever has looked like this
1. Soul Calibur
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Half Life Duology
4. Deus Ex
5. The Fallout Duology
After tonight, however, there's been a change.
1. Soul Calibur
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Half Life Duology
4. Deus Ex
5. Ico
Yeah, it was that good.
1. Soul Calibur
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Half Life Duology
4. Deus Ex
5. The Fallout Duology
After tonight, however, there's been a change.
1. Soul Calibur
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Half Life Duology
4. Deus Ex
5. Ico
Yeah, it was that good.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Business
So I went to mall today to take care of some business and buy some things I needed/wanted. Unfortunately I realized that most of said things cost far more than I expected them to, and thus I refrained from purchase (I'll just make do as always). I did get a new phone however, since my old one's screen has been dead for quite some time. Its simple little guy, nothing flashy, but that's all I really need. I had to get a new contract as well, but I was intending to do so anyway; my original plan was under my parent's name, which meant I wasn't authorized to make any changes to it or utilize any upgrades. This will be much easier in the future.
I also made the mistake of walking into Power Gamer, a local owned game store full of games both old and new, import and domestic. I like to support this business as much as I can, and so I often buy stuff from them even if I can get the same thing at EB (which usually dosen't happen, since the stuff I get at PG is often on the obscure end of the spectrum.) Anyway, they were the only store in the area to have a particular, brand new game I've been pining for, and it was only $40 versus the standard $50. Thus, being the consumer whore that I am, I walked out with a copy of Shadow of the Colossus. I don't regret my choice; anything made by the people behind Ico is worth looking at (and I haven't even finished Ico: that's how good it is), and from what I'm hearing, word of mouth is rapidly spreading, and the title is selling out in a lot of populated areas. If it becomes one of those rare gems that no one can find after a year, I'll be even happier with my choice.
An old co-worker of mine from Wal-Mart, who also happens to be a good friend, has had a chance to try out the Xbox 360 demo kiosk they just got. His initial reactions are not too positive. The two demos they had were for King Kong and Kameo, and while they played well enough, he said that both games sported a terrible amount of jaggies nad graphical glitches. I'll have to see it myself before I pass any sort of judgement, but if this is true let's hope that these are simply early builds being presented and that this is not foreshadowing of the upcoming launch. Right now the pessimist inside is saying that the latter could be the case; reports on a lot of multiplatform ports (like American Wasteland and Madden '06) are saying that the 360 adds little if any graphical upgrades. If that's the case, then we may have a next generation launch that doesn't really usher in the next generation. And if that's the case, then a lot of people may end up waiting for the Playstation 3's release to get their first taste of the future. We'll see come November....
I also made the mistake of walking into Power Gamer, a local owned game store full of games both old and new, import and domestic. I like to support this business as much as I can, and so I often buy stuff from them even if I can get the same thing at EB (which usually dosen't happen, since the stuff I get at PG is often on the obscure end of the spectrum.) Anyway, they were the only store in the area to have a particular, brand new game I've been pining for, and it was only $40 versus the standard $50. Thus, being the consumer whore that I am, I walked out with a copy of Shadow of the Colossus. I don't regret my choice; anything made by the people behind Ico is worth looking at (and I haven't even finished Ico: that's how good it is), and from what I'm hearing, word of mouth is rapidly spreading, and the title is selling out in a lot of populated areas. If it becomes one of those rare gems that no one can find after a year, I'll be even happier with my choice.
An old co-worker of mine from Wal-Mart, who also happens to be a good friend, has had a chance to try out the Xbox 360 demo kiosk they just got. His initial reactions are not too positive. The two demos they had were for King Kong and Kameo, and while they played well enough, he said that both games sported a terrible amount of jaggies nad graphical glitches. I'll have to see it myself before I pass any sort of judgement, but if this is true let's hope that these are simply early builds being presented and that this is not foreshadowing of the upcoming launch. Right now the pessimist inside is saying that the latter could be the case; reports on a lot of multiplatform ports (like American Wasteland and Madden '06) are saying that the 360 adds little if any graphical upgrades. If that's the case, then we may have a next generation launch that doesn't really usher in the next generation. And if that's the case, then a lot of people may end up waiting for the Playstation 3's release to get their first taste of the future. We'll see come November....
Thursday, October 20, 2005
THAW ing it up
So the reviews for Tony Hawk's American Wasteland are out, and the general consensus seems to be "the series is getting old, but this is still better than the two Underground games that preceded it." For one, this makes me feel better, since I had a bad feeling about the Underground duology and thus never played them. However, I also wonder why, if American Wasteland is so much better, both Undergrounds scored in the upper 9.0 range on most every review site. This isn't the first time I've seen reviews mention dissapointment with an old game that received fabulous scores. Perhaps we should haev a month waiting period so the hype cools down and games can be rated for what they're worth. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it also seems to be the only way.
I just read an article in USA Today about how the gender gap in colleges is continuing to grow, with women becoming the clear majority on college campuses. I won't go too far into my views on gender equality, but I will say that a generation of poorly educated and unprepared men would be harmful for everyone. Whether it be today or 100 years ago, it seems that the world can only give attention to one gender. Does it really have to be that way?
I just read an article in USA Today about how the gender gap in colleges is continuing to grow, with women becoming the clear majority on college campuses. I won't go too far into my views on gender equality, but I will say that a generation of poorly educated and unprepared men would be harmful for everyone. Whether it be today or 100 years ago, it seems that the world can only give attention to one gender. Does it really have to be that way?
DQ 8
So yeah, when I said update on Dragon Quest 8 that night, I meant Wed. night. Actually, I just got real busy and never had a chance to do it. So let us begin now, shall we?
Simply put, Dragon Quest VIII represents what the RPG genre should have been during the PS2 generation. No crazy FMV's to worry about, no agnsty teens and convoluted plots. Its just classic RPG gameplay with the option for some interesting customizations (looks like Enix borrowed a few good ideas from American RPGs). It is also a simple but enjoyable story that tries to entertain rather than confuse.
What is most important however, is the gameworld. Traditional RPG overworlds are strange, pseudo representations of the continent you're traveling. You cross small patches of forest and plains, get into a random battle (which is rendered completely differently), and your character model is the size of a town. This was acceptable back in the days of the NES, but in modern times it would be nice to actaully explore the world. You can do that in DQ 8. Its kinda like an MMO; if you see a path, you can walk it. See a forest, and you can actually go through it (with all the trees and whatnot rendered in full). Have you ever seen an anime where the characters are traversing some random lush countryside, getting into random adventures? DQ 8 is the closest thing to that in the game world, and it's just great. It seems you'll spend as much time exploring as your will completing quests.
Then there is the attention to detail. The cell shaded, Akira Toriyama designed characters look great, and everywhere you visit is full of detail, be it the random plates and cups in the bar or the erratic patches of moss growing in a cave. These little details immerse the player into the world, rather than making them guess what makes one area different than another. The whole game feels natural.
Oh, and the voices; all crazy European accents. Its all well done, and very different than what gamers are used to.
So yes everyone, I am excited about a game from Square Enix. I think I might preorder it. I guess that's because this one is coming from the Enix side rather than the cancer that Square has become. If you can get your hands on the demo I highly reccomend it, and if you can't, you'll just have to wait until the end of November to buy it.
I don't have a picture to link to right now, but see if you can find a picture of the Xbox 360 power supply. Thing is almost as big as a Gamecube. Not a huge deal if it all just goes behind the entertainment set, but now I wonder: can it be used as a backup generator?
Simply put, Dragon Quest VIII represents what the RPG genre should have been during the PS2 generation. No crazy FMV's to worry about, no agnsty teens and convoluted plots. Its just classic RPG gameplay with the option for some interesting customizations (looks like Enix borrowed a few good ideas from American RPGs). It is also a simple but enjoyable story that tries to entertain rather than confuse.
What is most important however, is the gameworld. Traditional RPG overworlds are strange, pseudo representations of the continent you're traveling. You cross small patches of forest and plains, get into a random battle (which is rendered completely differently), and your character model is the size of a town. This was acceptable back in the days of the NES, but in modern times it would be nice to actaully explore the world. You can do that in DQ 8. Its kinda like an MMO; if you see a path, you can walk it. See a forest, and you can actually go through it (with all the trees and whatnot rendered in full). Have you ever seen an anime where the characters are traversing some random lush countryside, getting into random adventures? DQ 8 is the closest thing to that in the game world, and it's just great. It seems you'll spend as much time exploring as your will completing quests.
Then there is the attention to detail. The cell shaded, Akira Toriyama designed characters look great, and everywhere you visit is full of detail, be it the random plates and cups in the bar or the erratic patches of moss growing in a cave. These little details immerse the player into the world, rather than making them guess what makes one area different than another. The whole game feels natural.
Oh, and the voices; all crazy European accents. Its all well done, and very different than what gamers are used to.
So yes everyone, I am excited about a game from Square Enix. I think I might preorder it. I guess that's because this one is coming from the Enix side rather than the cancer that Square has become. If you can get your hands on the demo I highly reccomend it, and if you can't, you'll just have to wait until the end of November to buy it.
I don't have a picture to link to right now, but see if you can find a picture of the Xbox 360 power supply. Thing is almost as big as a Gamecube. Not a huge deal if it all just goes behind the entertainment set, but now I wonder: can it be used as a backup generator?
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Neogtiations Finished
Well actually, there were no negotiations to be had at all in ending my AIM strike. The week simply ended, and now I'm back on. I must say, however, that it went surprisingly well. Whether I engaged in homework, gaming or simple socializing with other people in the dorm, I was able to focus my complete attention on it, instead of worrying about a message window booting me from a game, or people being offended by my absence. In all honesty I'd like to continue to it, but alas, there are still certain people that I like to stay in some contact with, and until they realize that phone and email are perfectly feasible forms of communication, the instant messenger will stay on.
I was bugged by someone I know to give my impressions on the Opera web browser. I've used it long enough now that I think I can do such a thing.
First, the good. The browser has most of the wonderful features found in Firefox, such as tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking and the google searchbar. However, there are a couple of ways in which Opera trounces the Fox. For one, the browser will save any pages you were looking at when you exit it so that you can go back to them again when you re-open it. If I'm not mistaken, Firefox requires a plugin for this feature; at the very least it doesn't enable it as a default option like Opera does The browser also features a great deal of options dealing with securty, appearance and saved information. You don't have to play with any of it, but its nice to have the choice regardless. Personally, I found that Opera's best feature is that it loads any and all new windows in a tab. The whole point of using tabs is to condense the entire browsing experience into one window, and Opera seems to understand that a bit better than Mozilla. Opera also has a cool feature called mouse gestures, which allows you to move back and forward by moving the mouse rather than clicking anything, but I'm afraid old habits die hard and I never really used the feature. Still, it is there for those who are curious.
Unfortunatley, what flaws Opera does have happen to be pretty killer. The worst is that many pages don't load correctly. I know Firefox has this problem as well with many IE specific sites, but it seems to be a much less frequent occurance. Also, Opera's inccorect rendering will often cripple whatever it is you are looking at. If I search for something on Gamefaqs, the best matches (aka the thing/s you're looking for) are cut off and cannot be clicked. When going to Gamespy, you often cannot click through the big promo ads it often has; they just get constantly reloaded again and again. These are just two examples I can think of, but I have certainly ran into more.
Secondly, it doesn't seem that Opera supports any plugins at all. Most of the time, Firefox plugins happen to be silly fluff that is more distracting than anything, but I have found quite a few useful ones, and it would be nice to see such adaptability in Opera.
So, will I decide to stick with Opera permanently? I'm afraid not. I'll be keeping it on my harddrive for sure; it seems to be more lightweight than Firefox, so I can keep it open while playing a game and not have to fear about wasting memory. But overall it seems Firefox edges it out, so long as you routinely delete saved page information so it doesn't load at a snail's pace (like it did for me :( ).
I'm now in the middle of two new games, on complete opposite sides of the gaming spectrum (though I like them both very much). The first is Doom 3, which, while archaic in its gameplay, is so full of good zombie busting action that I can't help but have a lot of fun with it. Many pretentious, pseudo-intellectual type gamers have scoffed at it, but to them I say that anime hair and angsty storytelling does not a good game make. There's nothing wrong with watching a good action film, and I believe the same applies to gaming as well.
I'm also working through Ico, and I must admit that all of the good words and praise it has received is well deserved. It is a captivating and magnificent work, and I can see why it is often considered a piece of art by its fans. I can't really describe why this it is so great, other than saying that Ico is in many ways the gaming equivalent of an arthouse film, minus the crazy abstract concepts that no one can understand. But more on that when I finish the game. I'm actually somewhat glad that Ico is rather short, becasue it means I can go out and rent this sometime in the very near future.
Tonight there may be another post, but unless you're a 2d Fighting game dieahrd it probably won't be worth reading.
I was bugged by someone I know to give my impressions on the Opera web browser. I've used it long enough now that I think I can do such a thing.
First, the good. The browser has most of the wonderful features found in Firefox, such as tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking and the google searchbar. However, there are a couple of ways in which Opera trounces the Fox. For one, the browser will save any pages you were looking at when you exit it so that you can go back to them again when you re-open it. If I'm not mistaken, Firefox requires a plugin for this feature; at the very least it doesn't enable it as a default option like Opera does The browser also features a great deal of options dealing with securty, appearance and saved information. You don't have to play with any of it, but its nice to have the choice regardless. Personally, I found that Opera's best feature is that it loads any and all new windows in a tab. The whole point of using tabs is to condense the entire browsing experience into one window, and Opera seems to understand that a bit better than Mozilla. Opera also has a cool feature called mouse gestures, which allows you to move back and forward by moving the mouse rather than clicking anything, but I'm afraid old habits die hard and I never really used the feature. Still, it is there for those who are curious.
Unfortunatley, what flaws Opera does have happen to be pretty killer. The worst is that many pages don't load correctly. I know Firefox has this problem as well with many IE specific sites, but it seems to be a much less frequent occurance. Also, Opera's inccorect rendering will often cripple whatever it is you are looking at. If I search for something on Gamefaqs, the best matches (aka the thing/s you're looking for) are cut off and cannot be clicked. When going to Gamespy, you often cannot click through the big promo ads it often has; they just get constantly reloaded again and again. These are just two examples I can think of, but I have certainly ran into more.
Secondly, it doesn't seem that Opera supports any plugins at all. Most of the time, Firefox plugins happen to be silly fluff that is more distracting than anything, but I have found quite a few useful ones, and it would be nice to see such adaptability in Opera.
So, will I decide to stick with Opera permanently? I'm afraid not. I'll be keeping it on my harddrive for sure; it seems to be more lightweight than Firefox, so I can keep it open while playing a game and not have to fear about wasting memory. But overall it seems Firefox edges it out, so long as you routinely delete saved page information so it doesn't load at a snail's pace (like it did for me :( ).
I'm now in the middle of two new games, on complete opposite sides of the gaming spectrum (though I like them both very much). The first is Doom 3, which, while archaic in its gameplay, is so full of good zombie busting action that I can't help but have a lot of fun with it. Many pretentious, pseudo-intellectual type gamers have scoffed at it, but to them I say that anime hair and angsty storytelling does not a good game make. There's nothing wrong with watching a good action film, and I believe the same applies to gaming as well.
I'm also working through Ico, and I must admit that all of the good words and praise it has received is well deserved. It is a captivating and magnificent work, and I can see why it is often considered a piece of art by its fans. I can't really describe why this it is so great, other than saying that Ico is in many ways the gaming equivalent of an arthouse film, minus the crazy abstract concepts that no one can understand. But more on that when I finish the game. I'm actually somewhat glad that Ico is rather short, becasue it means I can go out and rent this sometime in the very near future.
Tonight there may be another post, but unless you're a 2d Fighting game dieahrd it probably won't be worth reading.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Beyond Blog and Evil
So the AIM Strike contniues, and so far its been interesting. I certainly seem to focus a lot more on my work and/or leisure, though I am sure quite a few people are wondering where I am (though since all those people are on campus they can easily find me or call me if they choose).
I don't know how one gets the credentials for becoming an analyst, but considering what has come out of their mouths recently I'm willing to bet that even Loyola's business majors would be over qualified. First they predict the Nintendo Revolution won't push past a million units after a year (even if it doens't catch on, the Nintendo fanbase can rack up a million in 12 months...), and now they reportthis. It's not like PC gaming has never been declared dead before, I just don't see how they can keep saying it when history proves them wrong time and again.
Tonight I finished Beyond Good and Evil (the game, not the book). Expect a review soon. In terms of quality, I'd rank it as better than average, but not on the levels of Zelda or Metroid in the action/adventure genre. Yet it got me thinking about a lot of things, far more than a lot of games lately.
The next title I'll be taking a crack at is the ps2 cult classic Ico. This is a rather interesting time to be playing this game, as its spiritual successor Shadow of the Colossus is almost ready for release.
That reminds me; there's a lot of good stuff coming out. Other than Shadow, there is the Gamecube Fire Emblem, Serious Sam 2, Call of Duty 2, and yes, Soul Calibur 3. Good thing I finally have a Blockbuster video close by, though some of these may end up being purchases. I hope some checks start rolling in from work...
So it seems that UNICEF has made a commercial in which the Smurfs get carpet bombed to death. You can find it online if you look hard enough (the link I saw it through seems to be dead now). I don't know what to think of it: they're trying to make a point, but the events in the ad happen so fast that it didn't really phase me, and I used to love the Smurfs as a kid. In fact, I think I actually laughed at the ad because of the cheesy special effects it used. And thus, the anti-Goldwater ad with the girl in field and the nuke is still my vote for most shocking ad I've seen.
This weekend is my school's fall "break", aka a three day weekend. That means that half the campus will be heading home, even though home is 5 or more hours away. I've never seen why so many people do this just because there's one more day off. At most it nets you an extra half day when you throw in traveling. Then again, if you don't have classes on Monday, or just skip them, then the break becomes much more significant. As for me, I'll be spending it catching up on as much work as I can. I'm on a roll so far with my grades, and I can't let it stop.
I don't know how one gets the credentials for becoming an analyst, but considering what has come out of their mouths recently I'm willing to bet that even Loyola's business majors would be over qualified. First they predict the Nintendo Revolution won't push past a million units after a year (even if it doens't catch on, the Nintendo fanbase can rack up a million in 12 months...), and now they reportthis. It's not like PC gaming has never been declared dead before, I just don't see how they can keep saying it when history proves them wrong time and again.
Tonight I finished Beyond Good and Evil (the game, not the book). Expect a review soon. In terms of quality, I'd rank it as better than average, but not on the levels of Zelda or Metroid in the action/adventure genre. Yet it got me thinking about a lot of things, far more than a lot of games lately.
The next title I'll be taking a crack at is the ps2 cult classic Ico. This is a rather interesting time to be playing this game, as its spiritual successor Shadow of the Colossus is almost ready for release.
That reminds me; there's a lot of good stuff coming out. Other than Shadow, there is the Gamecube Fire Emblem, Serious Sam 2, Call of Duty 2, and yes, Soul Calibur 3. Good thing I finally have a Blockbuster video close by, though some of these may end up being purchases. I hope some checks start rolling in from work...
So it seems that UNICEF has made a commercial in which the Smurfs get carpet bombed to death. You can find it online if you look hard enough (the link I saw it through seems to be dead now). I don't know what to think of it: they're trying to make a point, but the events in the ad happen so fast that it didn't really phase me, and I used to love the Smurfs as a kid. In fact, I think I actually laughed at the ad because of the cheesy special effects it used. And thus, the anti-Goldwater ad with the girl in field and the nuke is still my vote for most shocking ad I've seen.
This weekend is my school's fall "break", aka a three day weekend. That means that half the campus will be heading home, even though home is 5 or more hours away. I've never seen why so many people do this just because there's one more day off. At most it nets you an extra half day when you throw in traveling. Then again, if you don't have classes on Monday, or just skip them, then the break becomes much more significant. As for me, I'll be spending it catching up on as much work as I can. I'm on a roll so far with my grades, and I can't let it stop.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Bad AIM
So as of today I am starting a little experiment. For the rest of this week I will not be logging on to AOL Instant Messenger. At all. I am going to see how such a change affets my work and study habits.
There are a lot of reasons as to why I'm doing this. I feel that I often spend too much time just checking to see whether people are online or not. If I get into a conversation with someone, it lead into conversations with many, and then I often find myself losing huge amounts of time that I should have spent working on something else.
Also, I am getting sick of how serious people take AIM. Instant Messaging, by its very nature, is stream of consciousness (and if you actually take time to carefully think out your messages, I think you're using the wrong form of communication). People will mess up on AIM, it just happens, yet the person on the other end always takes it so darn personally no matter what it is (and by saying this, I'm in no way excluding myself from being guilty of it). I'm tired of being chastised because I forgot an away message... if I dont' respond, I'm not there. I don't see how that is hard to deduce. I'm tired of being told to update my profile. Something that only excepts a few hundred letters is not something I'm going to utilize to describe myself.
Despite all that I've said, I'm not going to be leaving instant messaging completely for the week, just AIM. If you want to get in touch with me, you're going to have to use Google Talk(contact taidan19), a program which I prefer to AIM due to being far simpler, cleaner and lighter. and if you need a Gmail address to use Gtalk, I can take care of that too.
There are a lot of reasons as to why I'm doing this. I feel that I often spend too much time just checking to see whether people are online or not. If I get into a conversation with someone, it lead into conversations with many, and then I often find myself losing huge amounts of time that I should have spent working on something else.
Also, I am getting sick of how serious people take AIM. Instant Messaging, by its very nature, is stream of consciousness (and if you actually take time to carefully think out your messages, I think you're using the wrong form of communication). People will mess up on AIM, it just happens, yet the person on the other end always takes it so darn personally no matter what it is (and by saying this, I'm in no way excluding myself from being guilty of it). I'm tired of being chastised because I forgot an away message... if I dont' respond, I'm not there. I don't see how that is hard to deduce. I'm tired of being told to update my profile. Something that only excepts a few hundred letters is not something I'm going to utilize to describe myself.
Despite all that I've said, I'm not going to be leaving instant messaging completely for the week, just AIM. If you want to get in touch with me, you're going to have to use Google Talk(contact taidan19), a program which I prefer to AIM due to being far simpler, cleaner and lighter. and if you need a Gmail address to use Gtalk, I can take care of that too.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Random House
It's a boring night at work, so I decided to kill time by whipping up a post containing various random tidbits I've been wanting to write about, but couldn't think of a common thread to tie them all together.
-I believe I have found irrefutable proof that IGN cannot be trusted for reviews. Remember Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood? The IGN review says a lot of things I agree with (I've linked to the last page since all you need to see is the Closing Comments section). For instance, the reviewer felt that the game hasn't improved enough over the original to warrant a full fledged sequel less than a year later, and even declared that he got bored with the it. Yes bored.
So he gives it an 8.2. How can any game that makes you bored warrant a score of "Great"? I won't accuse their writers of being payed off, but somebody there needs to grow some balls and have the guts to give hyped-up/popular games a score below 7 if they deserve it. Otherwise I simply can't trust them.
Won't even go into the horrible quality of the review's writing. Let's just say that it looks like something I would write, meaning incredibly amateur.
- I finally got to see Dead or Alive Volleyball in action this weekend. The game is nothing more than a virtual pet simulator where the pets are replaced with women. You buy them gifts and try not to hurt their feelings, then you take pictures of them sitting on the beach and falling into a pool. Oh, and there's volleyball there too, though it seems to require all of two braincells to operate.
A sad, degrading "game" for both genders. Why do people continue to defend it? Just admit that you're a horny male who wanted some interactive soft core porn? Its not that hard to say.
- I lost disc 2 to Final Fantasy 8. I don't know how I lost just one disc, or where it could be, but there you have it. My brother says its god telling me to stop trying to beat a game that I don't even enjoy.
-Red Sox are out of the playoffs, but this time I don't really care. The White Sox got a lot of crap for their somewhat poor performance at the end of the season, but by sweeping Boston they have reminded me of why they were the best team in baseball for most of the season.
Interestingly enough, and old friend of mine who attends school at Brown told me that compared to last fall, the excitement level of Boston fans was at an all time low even before the first game of the playoffs. Apparently all the bandwagoners didn't come back, and the diehards were just a little too cocky about their team. Take it from a Mets fan guys: always stick with your team, and never underestimate anyone or any situation. Otherwise fate will come and kick you in the face
-They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but what happens when a webcomic artist rips himself off? Is he flattering himself? Or is he simply an architect by trade who really doesn't know how to write? Though if we are to listen to the MT fans the answer is neither: the truth is the comic is equivalent to Shakespeare...
-Now that I have you laughing, here's another dinger: J Allard of Microsoft thinks that no one loses by not having a harddrive as a standard component of the Xbox 360. I guess two of your most popular games, Halo and Knights of the Old Republic, didn't use the Xbox harddrive for caching textures and other things. Oh wait, they did. I guess that's a bad thing to have eh J?
-Over at Battle.net they had some sort of teaser during the weekend. It turns out it was for nothing but a site redesign. Sorry fans, but no Starcraft 2 announcement for you. Don't forget: Blizzard hates you unless you play Warcraft.
And that's it. Thanks for getting to the end. And if you cheated to get here, good job on being clever.
P.S.- Blogger just enabled a new feature that requires commenters to enter a string of words for verification. I just enabled the feature in order to eliminate those stupid spam bots. Guess they were reading my mind.
-I believe I have found irrefutable proof that IGN cannot be trusted for reviews. Remember Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood? The IGN review says a lot of things I agree with (I've linked to the last page since all you need to see is the Closing Comments section). For instance, the reviewer felt that the game hasn't improved enough over the original to warrant a full fledged sequel less than a year later, and even declared that he got bored with the it. Yes bored.
So he gives it an 8.2. How can any game that makes you bored warrant a score of "Great"? I won't accuse their writers of being payed off, but somebody there needs to grow some balls and have the guts to give hyped-up/popular games a score below 7 if they deserve it. Otherwise I simply can't trust them.
Won't even go into the horrible quality of the review's writing. Let's just say that it looks like something I would write, meaning incredibly amateur.
- I finally got to see Dead or Alive Volleyball in action this weekend. The game is nothing more than a virtual pet simulator where the pets are replaced with women. You buy them gifts and try not to hurt their feelings, then you take pictures of them sitting on the beach and falling into a pool. Oh, and there's volleyball there too, though it seems to require all of two braincells to operate.
A sad, degrading "game" for both genders. Why do people continue to defend it? Just admit that you're a horny male who wanted some interactive soft core porn? Its not that hard to say.
- I lost disc 2 to Final Fantasy 8. I don't know how I lost just one disc, or where it could be, but there you have it. My brother says its god telling me to stop trying to beat a game that I don't even enjoy.
-Red Sox are out of the playoffs, but this time I don't really care. The White Sox got a lot of crap for their somewhat poor performance at the end of the season, but by sweeping Boston they have reminded me of why they were the best team in baseball for most of the season.
Interestingly enough, and old friend of mine who attends school at Brown told me that compared to last fall, the excitement level of Boston fans was at an all time low even before the first game of the playoffs. Apparently all the bandwagoners didn't come back, and the diehards were just a little too cocky about their team. Take it from a Mets fan guys: always stick with your team, and never underestimate anyone or any situation. Otherwise fate will come and kick you in the face
-They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but what happens when a webcomic artist rips himself off? Is he flattering himself? Or is he simply an architect by trade who really doesn't know how to write? Though if we are to listen to the MT fans the answer is neither: the truth is the comic is equivalent to Shakespeare...
-Now that I have you laughing, here's another dinger: J Allard of Microsoft thinks that no one loses by not having a harddrive as a standard component of the Xbox 360. I guess two of your most popular games, Halo and Knights of the Old Republic, didn't use the Xbox harddrive for caching textures and other things. Oh wait, they did. I guess that's a bad thing to have eh J?
-Over at Battle.net they had some sort of teaser during the weekend. It turns out it was for nothing but a site redesign. Sorry fans, but no Starcraft 2 announcement for you. Don't forget: Blizzard hates you unless you play Warcraft.
And that's it. Thanks for getting to the end. And if you cheated to get here, good job on being clever.
P.S.- Blogger just enabled a new feature that requires commenters to enter a string of words for verification. I just enabled the feature in order to eliminate those stupid spam bots. Guess they were reading my mind.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Fresh links
I have some nice links that I thought you might like. Enjoy:
Lindsay Lohan crashes her car not becasue of chasing photographers, but because she just can't drive. And I almost felt sorry for the stupid spoiled whore (thanks South Park).
A burmese python in the Florida Everglades tries to eat an alligator. I don't know what to say about this. Its kinda cool, kinda scary (imagine what this could do to the swamp's ecosystem), but very interesting.
EA is playing fair and paying their artists big bucks for their lost overtime wages. Looks like that lawsuit finally scared them enough to go ahead do what they should have done in the first place. My only question now is are they going to do the same for the programmers?
It seems Google really does want to kick Microsoft's ass. They're devoloping a toolbar that will let users access OpenOffice (the open source word processor that can read MS Word .doc files among other things) right from the web. I like it. While I don't use OpenOffice too much due to it sometimes running very slow, I do believe that it is as good a program as MS Office for the things I do. Let's see if Google will actually get it out of beta however.
Lindsay Lohan crashes her car not becasue of chasing photographers, but because she just can't drive. And I almost felt sorry for the stupid spoiled whore (thanks South Park).
A burmese python in the Florida Everglades tries to eat an alligator. I don't know what to say about this. Its kinda cool, kinda scary (imagine what this could do to the swamp's ecosystem), but very interesting.
EA is playing fair and paying their artists big bucks for their lost overtime wages. Looks like that lawsuit finally scared them enough to go ahead do what they should have done in the first place. My only question now is are they going to do the same for the programmers?
It seems Google really does want to kick Microsoft's ass. They're devoloping a toolbar that will let users access OpenOffice (the open source word processor that can read MS Word .doc files among other things) right from the web. I like it. While I don't use OpenOffice too much due to it sometimes running very slow, I do believe that it is as good a program as MS Office for the things I do. Let's see if Google will actually get it out of beta however.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Sloppy music
I like thisarticle, as it gives a better look into just how much modern music can (and often is) electronically modified. I rarely ever enjoy a song on top 40 radio these days, not because of any drive to be 'non-conformist' or rebellious, but becuase it seems to me that nearly every voice out there (especially female artists) sounds too damn similar. Throw in melodies that sound 100% synthesized and you have music that seems to have one robotic soul.
I guess that is where live music comes into play, though live doesn't always equal better (ex: a live Dave Matthews concert seems to always devolve into random jam sessions where they play glorified scales. But that's just me). It's also interesting that now popular kinda-sorta-indie Death Cab for Cutie is against electronic tomfoolery. I guess they're too awesome for that? I can't say for sure (having not listened to them).
I gave blood yesterday, something I've done every college semester. I was glad to see that there seemed to be regular business coming into the drive; giving blood is such a simple thing to do, yet it helps out the community far more than a lot of other things (I really, really want to make a comment on Relay for Life here, but I will abstain.)
I was asked by someone lately if I was at all affected by my break-up. I guess that anyone reading this web log would think that I couldn't care less, so cold have I approached it. The truth is that I do care about it, a lot. But I have always had a policy to not get too personal with this or anything else I write on the 'net, and I will continue to stick with that. Its not an issue of privacy at hand, it is simply my own perspective on journal writing. When I read Megatokyo, I'm there only for the comic and information pertaining to it. I have no interest in what is going on in the daily life of Fred Gallagher, yet I often have to wade through this in order to read any comic related news. On the same token, I don't think most internet denizens want to know about the problems I may have. I'm grateful for every single person who takes some time out of their day to sit down and read something I have to say. Asking them to be my therapist/shoulder to cry on just seems a little much, even if they were willing to do so. So I may mention it in passing, then deal with whatever it is on my own. It's a bit different than the standard blog/livejournal/whatever that is out there, but I have a tendency to do that.
I guess that is where live music comes into play, though live doesn't always equal better (ex: a live Dave Matthews concert seems to always devolve into random jam sessions where they play glorified scales. But that's just me). It's also interesting that now popular kinda-sorta-indie Death Cab for Cutie is against electronic tomfoolery. I guess they're too awesome for that? I can't say for sure (having not listened to them).
I gave blood yesterday, something I've done every college semester. I was glad to see that there seemed to be regular business coming into the drive; giving blood is such a simple thing to do, yet it helps out the community far more than a lot of other things (I really, really want to make a comment on Relay for Life here, but I will abstain.)
I was asked by someone lately if I was at all affected by my break-up. I guess that anyone reading this web log would think that I couldn't care less, so cold have I approached it. The truth is that I do care about it, a lot. But I have always had a policy to not get too personal with this or anything else I write on the 'net, and I will continue to stick with that. Its not an issue of privacy at hand, it is simply my own perspective on journal writing. When I read Megatokyo, I'm there only for the comic and information pertaining to it. I have no interest in what is going on in the daily life of Fred Gallagher, yet I often have to wade through this in order to read any comic related news. On the same token, I don't think most internet denizens want to know about the problems I may have. I'm grateful for every single person who takes some time out of their day to sit down and read something I have to say. Asking them to be my therapist/shoulder to cry on just seems a little much, even if they were willing to do so. So I may mention it in passing, then deal with whatever it is on my own. It's a bit different than the standard blog/livejournal/whatever that is out there, but I have a tendency to do that.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Gamesplode'
What the hell did they do to Gamespot? The massive gaming media site has just gone through another redesign, and once again I dissaprove. For one, it is far too.. narrow. Maybe it is the high resolution my monitor runs on, but everything seems to be crammed into one long and slim vertical column. It takes quite a lot of scrolling just to get to the bottom of the page.
Also, it takes disorganization to the next level. Everything seems cluttered and happenstance, and most of the items on the main page don't seem to have any worth to them. Let's see, we have a section for "latest and greatest", right above the section for "featured previews", which are of course for other latest and greatest games. We have "new releases" and "new tech"... then "most recent updates", and a random string of screenshots. What if you just want to read something? A review or a feature? Good luck.
I rarely ever went to Gamespot for anything other than their news ticker (which I always checked through Gamefaqs anyways), but this doesn't give me any reason to change my habits. In fact, I might not even do that much now that their news section has been messed up (clicking a link doesn't actually take you to the article in question, but instead to the main news hub so you can search for it... fun).
To continue this rant, I am getting a little tired of all the gaming sites trying cram as much useless junk onto each page as possible. Every game released or in development has a vault of screens, videos, repetitive previews and developer diaries that no one reads. You can know everything about a game before you even get your grubby paws on it! But if you're looking for actual writing, maybe a review or an opinion piece, good luck; it is there, but you'll probably have to dig through scores of links for video content featuring shy and awkward editors trying to do TV.
Then you have the constant push to display the opinions of the "community", AKA the slathering fanboys who will give a game a zero score simply because it isn't on their favorite system. I can do an entire post on this tripe, so I'll stop it there.
In other news, everyone who has played Dead or Alive 3 may agree that the game plays nearly identical to its predecessor, which itself had some problems to sort out. Yet the game looked like a dream and was filled with beautiful babes, and as a result became a showpiece for the Xbox system and a million seller. It was at the right place at the right time I guess.
With DOA 4 Team Ninja doesn't have the same luxury. It looks grand, but not enough to really make people's heads spin. What are they going to do to continue the series' arguably undeserved popularity? Put a Halo character into the game. Who it is we don't know, but if putting Link into Soul Calibur 2 is any indication, this alone will make the game a smash hit. Now if only the gameplay is worked on a little bit more.
Also, it takes disorganization to the next level. Everything seems cluttered and happenstance, and most of the items on the main page don't seem to have any worth to them. Let's see, we have a section for "latest and greatest", right above the section for "featured previews", which are of course for other latest and greatest games. We have "new releases" and "new tech"... then "most recent updates", and a random string of screenshots. What if you just want to read something? A review or a feature? Good luck.
I rarely ever went to Gamespot for anything other than their news ticker (which I always checked through Gamefaqs anyways), but this doesn't give me any reason to change my habits. In fact, I might not even do that much now that their news section has been messed up (clicking a link doesn't actually take you to the article in question, but instead to the main news hub so you can search for it... fun).
To continue this rant, I am getting a little tired of all the gaming sites trying cram as much useless junk onto each page as possible. Every game released or in development has a vault of screens, videos, repetitive previews and developer diaries that no one reads. You can know everything about a game before you even get your grubby paws on it! But if you're looking for actual writing, maybe a review or an opinion piece, good luck; it is there, but you'll probably have to dig through scores of links for video content featuring shy and awkward editors trying to do TV.
Then you have the constant push to display the opinions of the "community", AKA the slathering fanboys who will give a game a zero score simply because it isn't on their favorite system. I can do an entire post on this tripe, so I'll stop it there.
In other news, everyone who has played Dead or Alive 3 may agree that the game plays nearly identical to its predecessor, which itself had some problems to sort out. Yet the game looked like a dream and was filled with beautiful babes, and as a result became a showpiece for the Xbox system and a million seller. It was at the right place at the right time I guess.
With DOA 4 Team Ninja doesn't have the same luxury. It looks grand, but not enough to really make people's heads spin. What are they going to do to continue the series' arguably undeserved popularity? Put a Halo character into the game. Who it is we don't know, but if putting Link into Soul Calibur 2 is any indication, this alone will make the game a smash hit. Now if only the gameplay is worked on a little bit more.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Back
I can't believe it has been almost a week since my last post. Last week was light in homework, and yet it still went by quickly and very much wore me out. I guess its because I managed to take care of a lot of non-class work that I wanted to do on time rather than leave to the last minute. Perhaps I can continue to stay ahead of myself through the week rather than getting things done by the skin of my teeth.
Family weekend just ended at the college, and it was nice to see the folks. We went down to Annapolis, which is much nicer than I thought it was. This was also y the first weekend this semester that I've just said screw it and had some fun. I may have to do it again sometime soon.
Looks like the Giants won today, and in a big way. We need those kinds of numbers from our offense if we are going to stay in the hunt.
Finally, it seems that I am now officially single, though there's not much to talk about. Its over and I'll certainly survive. As much as we all like to think that it was meant to be, sometimes you have to clear out your head and see if it really is.
Family weekend just ended at the college, and it was nice to see the folks. We went down to Annapolis, which is much nicer than I thought it was. This was also y the first weekend this semester that I've just said screw it and had some fun. I may have to do it again sometime soon.
Looks like the Giants won today, and in a big way. We need those kinds of numbers from our offense if we are going to stay in the hunt.
Finally, it seems that I am now officially single, though there's not much to talk about. Its over and I'll certainly survive. As much as we all like to think that it was meant to be, sometimes you have to clear out your head and see if it really is.
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