Post title

Well folks, I'm still here, apparently. Here's a great interview with the cast of Rogue One that I somehow missed last year.

Well, that was a lot of fun, wasn't it? I'm also looking forward to the new King Kong movie. I loved Peter Jackson's rendition, even though most people didn't. I was kind of obsessed with that movie when I was younger, I saw it 3 times in theaters, and more after. Here's the trailer for the new one, with an all-star cast including Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, and Tom Hiddleston:

King Kong trailer that I couldn't embed for some reason

Ok, that's it then, see ya

Hang a minute

Oh yeah and that third Hobbit film kind of sucked but I still have a crush on Evangeline Lilly.

edit: Oh right why I got on here in the first place (other than avoiding responsibilities) it's the 110th (-100 years) anniversary of this blog. Holy crap. A decade. Wow. I was a kid when this started. Now I'm not. One of my friends has a kid, another soon will. Strange times. I seriously hope you all find truth and joy in your lives. Godspeed.

p.s. Also, I know everyone's told you, but watch Stranger Things.

p.p.s. Love more

p.p.p.s. do that thing you want to do

p.p.p.p.s. be kind

p.p.p.p.p.s. read more books (I know I should)

Wow

So here we are again. I've, somehow, missed another entire year on this skeletal corpse of a blog. I suppose the lesson I should learn from this, we all should learn, is just how fleeting time is and how quickly it will turn us all into skeletal corpses and we really shouldn't wait around because things like 2016 could happen and then the world will actually be in a little bit of trouble and possibly some big trouble, which of course it always was, but now it is to us as well and that's different.

Oh, and a couple of Star Wars films came out, too, that was nice. They were both nice. So that was interesting.

Here's something I made earlier this morning (I haven't slept yet) in MS Paint with only one erase stroke:

This may or may not serve as the crest for this bleeding hole where once was an internet site. The items are, left to right, top to bottom, a severed left hand, a bunch of ripe bananas, a bell pepper, and a cartwheel. On the left is a bear who is standing on a box to get the helmeted person and on the right is one of those skinny lion-dragons medieval folk were all so fond of. Thank you all for watching, and please, do something important, because I sure didn't.

Movies

So I've seen some of the movies that have been coming out in the last several months. Some, but not all the ones I'd like to see. I still haven't seen the third Hobbit film, which is possibly the one I wanted to see the most, but oh well.

I did see Interstellar. That was amazing. The soundtrack was really well done, different from what Hans Zimmer had done before, but fit the film excellently. If you are a fan of science-fiction, or Christopher Nolan, please go see this movie. Nolan is my favorite director, and SF is probably my favorite genre, so to see the two finally united was wonderful.

I also saw Fury. Initially when I first heard about it coming out, I thought "we don't need another WW2 movie, besides, it's probably just Brad Pitt doing the thing from Inglorious Basterds." I was wrong. Pitt's character was quite different, and he did a great job. In fact, all of the acting was great, including what was probably Shia LaBeouf's best work on screen to date. Don't let the fact that he's in it turn you off from this film. I'm no WW2 history expert, but I've heard they paid a lot of attention to historical accuracy in this film. It certainly felt real, and I would agree with the quote on the box that it was "the best war film since Saving Private Ryan." But I don't want to over-hype it, either. It's kind of a smaller scale than that film, taking place after D-Day in the final days of the war. I won't say anything else, as I like to know as little about a movie as possible going into it. I usually try to avoid seeing trailers these days for that reason, but it also means that seeing movies is more of a gamble, so I see fewer films than I used to.

Gone Girl lived up to the hype, in my opinion. I didn't read the book, but the film was excellent. I didn't see a trailer, I just knew that it was directed by David Fincher and that was enough for me. You could definitely feel the Zodiac vibe at times, since it involved police investigation. Again, I won't say any more as especially this film is one you want to be surprised by. Try to avoid any spoilers! Don't even read the back of the box! Features great performances by two actors far out of their genre: Neil Patrick Harris, and surprisingly, Tyler Perry.

In February, I saw Kingsman. I wasn't really interested in this one at all based on the trailer I had happened to see, as it sort of felt like a college-aged Spy Kids. However, my roommates were going out to see it, and I figured, "why not." It ended up being a lot different than I expected. It was definitely rated R, which from the trailer I had guessed it was maybe PG-13. It was somewhat gratuitous, in fact, and reminded me of both of the Kick-Ass films. It turns out, Kingsman was directed by Matthew Vaughn, the director of the first Kick-Ass. Anyway, it ended up being a mostly pleasant surprise. The film took some unexpected turns, and had some pretty crazy fight scenes. It was fun to see Samuel L. Jackson in a different sort of role (comedic villain), and Mark Hamill on screen for the first time in who knows how long in a minor role.

Last night, I saw Nightcrawler, which I had been wanting to watch for a while. I ended up not liking it quite as much as I thought I would, but I believe that is down to two factors: I expected a lot going in, and the protagonist wasn't that likeable. That aside, it was still a very well-made film, and covered a niche subject that isn't often done (the life of an independent news cameraman, bending the rules to increase profitability). It's definitely a good film with some good performances, and I give it bonus points for its uniquness. Features an avant-garde-retroish soundtrack by James Newton Howard that complements and clashes with the subject matter in interesting ways.

That's about it for now.

Sayings

Dare I? Dare I compose another post? I somehow missed the entire years of 2013 and 2014. I kind of wish I slipped one right in at the end there, right before January. But alas, I had forgotten about this blog yet again. Well, this won't be long, but I thought I'd say something.

Farcry 3 turned out great, as we all know. I enjoyed it, but still haven't beaten the story yet. Mass Effect 3's ending was a trainwreck, apparently. I still loved the game, the ending less so, but I think it was better than 2. The first ME game is probably still my favorite.

Destiny has also received a lot of mixed press. I like it a lot, but I agree that the story makes no sense, the missions are repetitive, and the end-game loot grind is literally punishing, especially with The Dark Below. Why that doesn't bother me is I haven't even finished the story, I prefer the Crucible, Destiny's version of Halo Matchmaking. That is a barrel of monkeys, fun monkeys. And I'm only level 25 because I play so casually that I may never get into that final grind for exotics. Though of course I do want some. It did take me this long just to finally get a rare sniper rifle, even though all the rest of my weapons and armor have been rare for a few levels, just because the loot algorithms or whatchamacallits (that's actually a word?!) are so bad that early on in the game you could decode an engram and actually just get two items of a lower rarity than the engram you turned in, or so I heard. I wasn't paying that much attention. I've been busy with work and boring adult things. Like writing my book (which isn't boring or adult). All that said, with the level advantages supposedly nullified in the Crucible, any advantage given by loot is probably surmountable by having an edge in skill, teamwork, and a little luck. Unfortunately, I am almost always severely lacking in all three categories. Regardless, it remains fun.

I got The Long Dark for Christmas from a wonderful friend. It's an indie survival game on Steam in Early Access (wow a lot has changed since I last posted). In it, you do not fight zombies or other people, but wolves, the cold, and hunger. So far, it is extremely enjoyable. I barely survived one wolf attack, with 14% health and decreasing as I was bleeding out. I limped back into the house I had just proudly stamped out of after having successfully cooked myself a warm breakfast, sat by the fire which was still burning, and bandaged myself and applied antiseptic. I also drank some water as I was thirsty. Unfortunately, I had my inventory categorized by weight, and clicked on "non-potable water" by accident, since the potable kind was usually on top. I contracted dysentery immediately. Luckily, I had picked up some antibiotics (this was day 4), and I had to drink a half gallon of clean water, and sleep for ten hours. After that debacle, I focused on regrouping, repairing clothing, etc. in a nearby gas station I had found. I also found a hatchet hiding under some barrels or something (finally). The next in-game morning, I stepped outside, flare equipped to scare off any wolves, and saw a car not 20 feet from a new house. I saw no wolves, got in the car, searched it, and got out. Between the car and the house, I got killed by a wolf. It was extremely frustrating and I can't wait until I play it again.

Since I last posted I probably also played Dark Souls. I didn't get very far at all, and they have a sequel now, but that was very good as well.

Well, it's 3 am, and I have work tomorrow. Who knows if it will be another 2 or 3 years before I post again? I shudder to think what may happen by then.

Farewell faithful spambots and accidental human visitors, and, what was it I used to say? Oh yeah. Beware the pink mist. Or something. Read Penny Arcade. Watch Interstellar. Play The Long Dark. Go on a hike. See old friends. Eat something delicious. Do something new and uncomfortable. If you're an artist, don't wait for inspiration. Just do it. If you're not an artist, ask yourself why. If it's a lack of talent, know that talent is largely a word used by people too lazy to put in the time to become talented. I know because I'm lazy. But it's worth the effort. Make time. You can. Birds.

Mass Effect 3, Love Letter

So, here's my biannual post, if anyone still reads this rotting wooden shack of a blog. Wow, the post composition window is clinically minimalist. A little unsettling. Not a joke, every time I post this interface is a little different. That's what I get.

Well, I went to the Hollywood launch party for Mass Effect 3, met Casey Hudson and the VO team, as well as Tobuscus and Harley Morenstein of EpicMealTime, who both happened to be there. It was pretty cool, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Probably around 200 people were there, maybe more. West Hollywood looked super sketch, and because of the smog you couldn't even see two blocks down the road.

I've been so busy I've only just recently gotten around to playing the game itself. I know, I know. But it's amazing. I'm about 22 hours in, and it just may be the best of all three. The story is grand and gives you a real sense of trying to defend an entire galaxy. The scale and stakes are large and high. The characters are written so well you really get attached to them. Your choices feel as though they really do have consequences, much more so than in previous games. Almost every single choice you make in the game has pros and cons for each side you take. I can't wait to finish it.

Well, something else that is really cool is this movie a friend of mine is writing, called "Love Letter". Here's the synopsis: "THE STORY: Garrett's got a case of writer’s block.  It turns out writing the perfect suicide note is not as easy as you might think.  And it’s even harder when you're writing it for an ex-girlfriend you’ve got tied up in your garage who, even though she totally deserves what she’s getting, unfairly refuses to sign the letter.  Things get more awkward when Garrett accidentally takes the pizza guy and the pizza guy’s sweaty girlfriend hostage after they stubbornly refuse to die from the poison he slips in their drinks. The situation goes from bad to….well...more bad as Barry, the landlord, gets put out that hostages are being held at his property.  It sucks, but Garrett may just have to kill everyone."

I would love it if anyone reading this would at least share their kickstarter page, and hopefully donate what you can to them: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1423478098/love-letter-feature-film

I have confidence that this movie will be worth it. Well, that's all I got guys! 

Farcry 3

Grrg. I want to start a new blog, but every time I do, I post one post and leave the blog to die. I can't even remember some of the blogs I've started, and so I have scattered them across the great ocean of the internet, each one a ship with only one passenger, and no captain. Lost forever. So I'm here again, with some more thoughts on what has always been the vague theme of this particular blog: video game opinion.

I saw an ad for Farcry 3. I did not search it out, but in fact it came to me, rather rudely, in front of a Mass Effect 3 trailer that I did intentionally look up. But I humored it and watched the whole two and a half some minutes, as I greatly enjoyed its direct predecessor in spite of its flaws, which were occasionally quite frustrating. Seeing another sidebar ad, now, I have assembled a vibe that Ubisoft is putting out with their marketing campaign for the game; a sort of more realistic and therefore darker Borderlands vibe. I think it was the weird colors and the crazed characters and blatant disregard for human life displayed in the trailer combined with the sarcastic slogan "relax and unwind with us" on the ad. However, it somehow feels worn out. I like how Farcry 2 played it straight. No humor. And the trailer dropped one too many f-bombs, as if they were trying to be edgy. Which they most certainly will. But excessive language and violence doesn't cut it anymore, you actually have to try. Borderlands nailed the Borderlands vibe in 2008 (I think), and as an aside, I absolutely loved the Borderlands 2 trailer. Way to go, Gearbox. And having personally spoken with Randy Pitchford and co. at a couple of PAXes, I can testify that they genuinely seem like good people who care about their games, and more importantly, their gamers; this I found out when I was one of the few hundred to receive a free copy of Borderlands 2 at PAX Prime 2011.

But back to Farcry 3. Even though they are trying a bit too hard with their marketing, if the gameplay improves (that's the key word) upon FC2, then I will most likely get this game. FC2 certainly was a lot of fun, I dumped a little over 50 hours into it somehow (more than I put into Mass Effect 2 :O [which I liked better]), but there was something about the openness of the world that made me not care too much about the almost immediately respawning guard posts and the cars and guns that would break down after just a few hours' use. Do something better, Ubisoft! I don't know what, that's why I'm not a game designer.

Rimming the sky

I'm tired and can't sleep so I remembered about this place and thought I'd say that Skyrim is amazing. Buy it now.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Would you like to play a game? (recommendations for new gamers)

If anyone is bored and is looking for a game to play (a.k.a. people who aren't playing Reach or Black Ops), here are some good ones, organized by platform. They are mostly old games.

PC:
Civilization, any of them (try II if you haven't)
Dawn Of War: Dark Crusade (Great RTS, especially for fans of 40k)
WarGames (doesn't have a whole lot to do with the movie, it's a pretty old game, but a good RTS)

Xbox:
Republic Commando (A solid Star Wars Squad based shooter with good in-game dialogue)
Knights of the Old Republic (If you've played it, play it again)
Crimson Skies (Probably a bit dated now, but it's got great airplane combat with upgrades)
Ultimate Alliance 1 (better than 2) is a little cheesy, a little buggy, but somehow captures the fun of putting all your favorite superheroes in a team and upgrading their many abilities far better than the second one. The in-game graphics are aging, but the cutscenes are pretty amazing for original Xbox. And you get more powers in this one, as well as items you can pick up and equip.

Gamecube:
Metriod Prime (I actually haven't played these, but I will when I get a system that can)
Jedi Knight II

360:
I can't really recommend any games here that haven't already been lathered in press. That said, Reach does live up to the hype. Haven't tried Black Ops yet. However, if you missed it, Mass Effect 1 is a must play. The graphics still hold up after 3 years. The gameplay is occasionally buggy, and the menus can get annoying, but it still earns a 9.5/10 in my book despite all that. The game is so good, you will completely forget its minor flaws. It's that great.
If you like Wolverine, and haven't played the "Origins" game yet, let me just say this: There are about 100 different ways to kill dudes, the combat is true-to-character, and it's about 12 hrs. long. It may not be for everyone, but I played through twice, once on medium, and once on hard after unlocking it for beating the game. Plus, the QTEs, for the most part (save a couple mini-bosses) are pretty cool, not too common to be annoying, and occasionally jaw-dropping.
Flaws: Story is meh, but I actually liked it better than the movie's story (both are still wrong). The occasional graphical glitch (largely forgivable, especially considering it's a movie game), as well as the rare glitch where you get stuck outside of a level. That only happened once, but it did cost me an achievement.
I think I already reviewed that game when it came out. Oh well, there it is again.

PS3:
Haven't played anything on this yet.

Wii:
Umm... anything first party, almost nothing third party. You should know that by now if you have one.

So, this is essentially a list of games you may have missed over the last 10-20 years that I didn't (mostly), and you should play.

Also, if you're new to gaming, here's a list of recommended titles to start with, depending on the genre that interests you.

Shooter: Halo 1 (combat evolved). Why: because it's not too complex, it has an easy setting, but it has controls and gameplay that will prep you for any modern shooter.

RTS: Age Of Empires (1 or 2). Why: It's got all the key components of an RTS, but not overwhelming on easy. Plus, it's great.

RPG: Um... I don't recommend jumping right into an RPG if you're new to gaming. Start with Halo, then move to Mass Effect, because the RPG element there is pretty light, but enough to prep someone for a deeper RPG after that. Or if you're eager, you could just skip straight into Mass Effect 2, but you'd miss some story from 1, and the RPG element is so light there, that you might not even get a taste of it. (traditional RPGs, of course. The story element is heavy like rain).
Alternative: play a text-based RPG, if you like reading.

That's about it for now.

It's a... whatever, it's a post.

Just wanted to post. I'm still playing Super Metroid, I think I'm close to getting the final suit upgrade. That game is harder than Reach on Heroic, which is hard by 2010 standards, but it was apparently not too hard by 1994 standards. Anyway.

Umm... Check this out? It's good. I promise.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Stemage?blend=2&ob=1

Edit: the post before this one was post #123.

LEGITIMATE

....I bought Super Metroid the other day. The actual cartridge, from 1994, and have been playing it on the SNES. The difficulty is such that I can no longer think of too many other things than playing the game while I'm playing it.
I suppose I should let you know I've never played this game before (!).
But it is AMAZING, I love all aspects of it. The music, art, level design, and sheer amount of upgrades are great. It is just so deep for a game of its era, especially of that genre. This game is easily the equal of Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario World, games I have spent a solid amount of time in. It is chillingly mysterious and so full of variety in the levels. The idea is that you are on one contiguous area the whole time instead of levels that you progress to and cannot go back. I have only put a couple hours into it, but I would go so far as to call it the pinnacle of side-scrolling games on the SNES.

I implore you to check it out.

Also, if you're interested you've probably heard, but The Hobbit has been greenlit, it will be directed by Peter "the man" Jackson, and will be released in two parts, Dec. 2012 and Dec. 2013, I believe. I guess pre-production actually began in '08 or '09, and they have had all the script, concept art, and sets pretty much hammered out for some time. What held it up were several lawsuits against New Line by Peter Jackson and the Tolkein Estate. I'm not sure I like the movie being split up into two parts, because they will have to make the second one "better" and the easiest way to do that is to not make the first one as good, and it seems like one continuous story to me.

That's about that.

If Blogger has automatic spam detection, then I have laser eyes

But enough of that.

I saw the movie "Memento" recently, and it was crazy. And good. But not crazy good, because then we would have to put it in our mouths.

Also, I played Spider-man Shattered Dimensions. I only got about 34%, but it's pretty fun. All four Spider-mans have a slightly different play style. Ultimate has the tendrils and rage mode, Noir has to stick (no pun intended) to the shadows to survive and perform stealth takedowns, and 2099 moves really fast and has a slo-mo power that slows enemies down. And Amazing, is just classic.
The game has some pretty funny parts, too, it's never too long between chuckles or laughs. Decent third person action with a good amount of upgrades. The tactics, from what I saw, are fairly varied. One level you are fighting sand creatures, and have to throw water barrels into them before you can inflict damage. Also on the same level, Sandman turns into a huge tornado, and you have to webzip between flying debris. Pretty epic boss fight.

If you are a Spider-man fan, you have to try it. If you like third person action games, give it a shot, it's different. If you don't like these types of games, well, you may not like it.

overwhelmed valid lolly! confirmation us now

That is a quote from one of our more prolific commenters. Please ignore the spambots, I left my can-opener somewhere inaccessible.

The Twilighter Zone does not endorse any of these link spammers, disregard their attempts to convince you to have a lolly good time confirming them at sea.

Also, you should be ashamed of yourself if you haven't heard of Penny Arcade. I went to PAX (twice), their expo, and it was the awesomes. Here is their link again: Penny Arcade

Read their material, witness it. Avail yourself of the mind-chocolate it contains.

Beware the mist.

Do it

Listen to this: WWW.metroidmetal.com

Also: http://metroidmetal.bandcamp.com/album/varia-suite

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2

Ahem...

So, I kinda forgot about this blog. I mean, I knew I had it, at some point, but didn't think about it until now. I thought "I wish I had a blog...". And so I do.

A lot has happened since I started this thing, so just to keep my dignity, I will state that this blog was started before I even heard of that "Twilight" crap. It might have even been before the books came out, but it was at least long before the movies.

The name was inspired by "The Twilight Zone". It's an old tv show, most kids these days would probably think vampires first (however I haven't seen the show as it ran decades before I was born).

Anyway, recommendation here, http://soundcloud.com/alainjohannes/sets/spark.

That's the first solo album by Alain Johannes, touring guitarist of Them Crooked Vultures, and creative member of so many other projects. Listen free. Buy on the 5th if you like. Whatever.

I've only seen probably 5 new movies or so since I last posted here. I liked Inception. And Kick-Ass. And Shutter Island. In that order. Well, I liked Inception the best.

Halo: Reach is awesome (!!), but would be more awesome if I could play it online. Internet situation prevents me.

Also, I have to wake up today. I should sleep.

Happy Late New Year

Really late. Speaking of which, I should go to bed. Just thought I'd post. Also, Mass Effect 2 is amazing, I'm playing the first one again, and I bought the soundtrack from the first. $9.99 gets you all 37 songs. Not shabby. What are the origins of that word, shabby? Shab? Does it mean shab-like? I'll let you chew on it.

Broken Record... Best Record

Here I am saying it again... Them Crooked Vultures is the best band alongside Foo Fighters. I'm listening to the album as we type/read for free on their website. Hit the link under my oh so cleverly titled blog title. Apologies to any readers I may have had for forcing you to do nothing but follow my gamerscore progression for a couple months. This music will make it up. Even if I took your cookie it would make it up. Here, take it: Them Crooked Vultures.

Long time no type

Well, here's another post. I have to spread the word about the ridiculousness of someone getting arrested for not using Twitter. Yep. Here's the link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10403864-71.html?tag=mncol;posts
And, some dude married a video game character. I had to pause and think about that one for a while after i typed it. Umm... here's the link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10404956-235.html
Aaand, people think games have too many war crimes. Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10404450-17.html
What's next? PETA wants to ban Mario games because you step on turtles?

Yeah, I know they're all from the same site, but from what I can tell, it's a good site.
But seriously, you've got wars, famine, natural disasters, the highest unemployment in 26 years, and then... this. NOW, I know the world is ending. Not when 9/11 happened, not when the recession hit, but NOW. This is off the charts of stupidity. People are so stupid. You may know a stupid person; nay, you may even be one. It's a simple fix. The cure... just don't be stupid. I used to be stupid, but then I stopped. Right around the time I started this blog, in fact... almost 3 years ago. I kicked the stupid habit! See, when you're stupid, you don't know. You gotta have someone tell you. So here you go, I'm saving your life. YOU MAY BE STUPID. IF YOU ARE, DON'T BE.

Now that all that's out of the way, it's music recommendation time. Here are some of the best albums of all time:
There Is Nothing Left To Lose - Foo Fighters
Songs For The Deaf - Queens of the Stone Age
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures

Now all of these have one thing in common; can you guess? Whoever does wins a bunch of web points (and by bunch I mean bunch).

Go!

I have a theory...

That Microsoft sucks at making consoles that don't break.

Infinite Shelled Things

And now for something entirely different. Halo 3: ODST has been almost fully unveiled, look for it on September 22. The hype hammer is just about in full swing.

Check here for info: http://www.bungie.net/Projects/ODST/default.aspx.

Also, check out Them Crooked Vultures, the best thing ever. It's a band, with Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones. http://www.themcrookedvultures.com.