Greyarch

JAG - Sig Attorney

2012-02-02T19:33:00.000+01:00

So, I'd like to welcome you all to yet another installment of Jumper's Art Gallery. As you can, it's going to be a special one.

I dare say, it's one of the best idea's I've had in a while. Maybe, it'll be one of the best JAG's I've ever written. Absolutely amazing. Speaking of things that are amazing...

Let's get on to the point of the show! Namely. The art.

As you can see, I've put quite a bit of effort in to it. I even started using C4D's in the background. Truly, an amazing thing to use in your sign-

Hey, you big goof. Aren't you forgetting about something?

Oopsie daisy. I forgot. I'm sorry. I'll get right on that.

You'd better.

I don't like that smile one bit. It's scaring me. So, here you are:

There. That wasn't so hard, now was it?

No, no. Not at all. No. God no. Oh please, god no.

Moving on.

Both of these sig/avy sets were created because of a Forum Mafia game currently in the process of starting over at Screwattack.com's forums. A URL to said game can be found here. Like with the mafia game before that, I'm using Apollo Justice GIF images to play the case, and make a case if need be. When getting together these GIFS, I also found his assistant, Trucy, after which I just had to make a set for her as well. Red & Blue. I like em both, I really do.

And here's to hoping that you do as well.

JAG - Mia Fey signature

2012-01-31T12:48:00.001+01:00

Much like my Hilbert signature, this one is inspired by a mafia game as well. This time, it's the one present here. It's a beautiful game, let me tell you that. The reason I went with Mia Fey here is because I am using Mia GIF's in the game itself, to make a point. Though, I'm not on this page, an excellent example of how it goes can be found here. We're doing it for fun, but it really ads to the experience.

The Jimquisition - Piracy, Episode Two

2012-01-30T19:21:00.001+01:00

The Escapist : Jimquisition : Piracy - Trying To Kill It Makes It Stronger

The second installment in Jim Sterling's Jimquisition series concerning piracy. A definite must watch, as he once again provides many good points.

Matthew Broderick's Day Off

2012-01-30T17:07:00.001+01:00

Ferris Bueler's Day Off is about one of the most horrible human beings you could ever imagine. And yet, it's a fun and enjoyable movie, often considered a childhood classic for many. Now, so many years later, Matthew Broderick has a day off.

This 2012 Honda CR-V ad was directed by Tosd Philips (The Hangover movies) for the Superbowl, and features Broderick reenacting several scenes of the movie, only this time as himself.

It's honestly one of the best ads I have ever seen, bringing actual comedy in to the mix. Plus, it's a trip of nostalgic proportions. Though, some of the other actors could have made a return, I'm still happy that this was made.

Source: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=86405

JAG - Gotta sig 'em all

2012-01-29T19:09:00.000+01:00

Since I don't particularly own a Nintendo DS, you might be wondering why I made this set. Or not, considering you had no idea I didn't own a DS. Anyhoo, I recently joined a Pokémon themed Forum Mafia game where I decided to go in there, full on RP'ing.

A Mafia game is a game where you have a Game Master who sets up a story and two teams. One are civilians and the other is Mafia. Each side also has a few individual roles. Mafia is in the minority and is hidden. Civvies need to find the mafia to win. There's also one Psycho. A Mafia goes in a day and a night cycle. During the day, the civvies vote who to eliminate from the game and at night, the psycho kills, the mafia whack and the investigator investigates. After the votes are in, the GM makes a story post.

Players sign up by creating a list of favorites for movies, games, TV shows, books and music. Clues as to who is mafia are taken from these favorites and incorporated in to the story post.

It's a fun game and a lot more complex than that, but you get the picture. Usually we just talk amongst each other. But this time I decided I'd RP a little. I used a sprite of Hilbert here as my "avatar" for my character and wanted to make a set, honoring that Mafia. So, here we are.

JAG - Sigality

2012-01-24T20:03:00.000+01:00

Bi-Han, better known as Sub-Zero, was a Lin Kuei assassin in the Mortal Kombat franchise. The alternate timeline of this character begins with him working for Shang Tsung, to fight Earthrealm warriors in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Finding succes, Bi-Han quickly finds himself facing off against another Lin Kuei named Scorpion, who accuses him of killing his clan. Bi-Han is defeated.

Whilst Scorpion made a deal with Raiden, not to kill Sub-Zero, he found himself accompanied by the sorcerer Quan Chi, who showed him illusions of Sub-Zero leading the charge on his clan. Thus, Scorpion was swayed away from doing the right thing and used a fatal attack on Bi-Han. Before his death, Bi-Han attempted to say that those images weren't him, but to no luck.

Finding this an excellent opportunity, Quan Chi resurrected Bi-Han as the wraith known as Noob Saibot. Noob is now working for Quan Chi.

Later, as Noob was assisting Quan Chi in creating a devestating Soulnado, he was challenged by his younger brother, Kuai Liang. Kuai had taken the name Sub-Zero after his brother's death, but then found himself initiated in the Cyborg Initiative, turning him in to Cyber Sub-Zero. It was during this challenge, that Noob Saibot revealed his identity to his brother and informed him he was unfit to carry the Sub-Zero name. Kuai defeated his brother and tossed him in to the Soulnado, right before it blew up, making his faith unknown to the world.

Noob Saibot uses phantom powers, allowing him to generate a shadow version of himself. He is called Noob, and his shadow is called Saibot. This shadow can be slid over to their enemy at great speed or Saibot can rush over to their opponent and tackle them. Noob can also use his shadow powers to generate portals and launch a phantom ball that can disable their opponent's blocking.

I freaking love this character in Mortal Kombat (2011). Admittedly, I was a bit tough on the game when I was writing my review. Though the game bosses are downright cheating, I've grown good enough to be able to get to Shang Tsung without relying on too many cheap tricks on my part. Much of that is thanks to Noob Saibot.

At first, I wasn't exactly keen on using this character. You see, Debaser, of Debased To This, is a massive Mortal Kombat expert. When people think of Debaser and Mortal Kombat, one of the things people immediately associate him with is Noob Saibot. So, that's why I was kind of reluctant. But it turned out to be for the best.

Whilst not a perfect character, in this installment, Noob has enough tricks up his sleeve to warrant a varying playstyle. His combination attacks are easy to use, his special abilities work perfectly with regular combat and his fatalities are just gory as fuck. I especially like the one where he sinks a character halfway down the ground and shreds him in half so that the character crawls on the ground, quite dying.

Noob might not be as fast as Smoke, but, he is definitely fast enough. Online is still a whole different matter, because that place is filled with spammers and people with lousy connection, but ...

As for the signature and avatar set, I wanted to keep it in the same vein as the Smoke set. Though different in some ways. I think that this is definitely my style of making sigs, as this is one of my best, or perhaps the best, I have ever done.

And, for the name, Revan is a screenname I'm trying out. Might start using it permanently. Though I am still just sampling it.

Tell me what you think of the set and the new name!

The Jimquisition - Piracy, Episode One

2012-01-23T18:30:00.001+01:00

The Escapist : Jimquisition : Piracy Episode One - Copyright

It would appear that our good buddy, Jim Sterling of Destructoid, has gotten an epiphany when it comes to pirates and the overall copyright dealio. In the latest installment of his show, The Jimquisition, Sterling delves deeper in to the matters at hand and tells us how he sees pirates this day and age, alongside his views of the copyright laws. A must see video, if only to broaden your horizon on the subject. Agree with it or not, he does have good points.

"Piracy is one of those issues that will absolutely never die, like the secrets of the Bermuda Triangle of the truth of the Zelda Timeline. Jim Sterling has always had a set view on piracy -- it's not the worst crime in the world, but it's selfish theft nonetheless. However, in the wake of corporate attempts to buy our legal system, he has reexamined the piracy issue and come away with a rather altered stance."

Source: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/5268-Piracy-Episode-One-Copyright

SOPA vs the World - Victories all around

2012-01-20T22:33:00.000+01:00

As an earlier article stated, the ESA supported the highly controversial bill known as SOPA. As the unofficial voice of the gaming industry, the ESA was therefor bombarded by the people of the internet, and of the gaming community, to kindly discontinue their support. And, so you request, you shall receive.

Kotaku, among others, report that they have officially dropped their support. They saw the light and have joined the people on the good side of the force.

Not only that, but Sopa has been shelved indefinitely. Representative Lamar Smith, author of the SOPA bill, came out with this information and had this to say:

"I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy. It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products."

Though these are all tremendous victories, I would like to take note that there are still threats out there. PIPA might be shelved as well, but it is still a viable threat. And, even though SOPA is shelved, the changes that will be made might not be a vast improvement over the original.

Stay vigilant, troopers. The war isn't over yet.

tHop - Resident Evil's 6 and Retribution

2012-01-19T23:16:00.001+01:00

First up we have the ever failing Resident Evil movie franchise. What this trailer does right is give me a reason to go and see this movie. Why, in the name of fuck, is Rain alive? She was DEAD. Quite so, in fact. In Resident Evil, she was zombified and killed by a headshot. No coming back from that, boyo. Oh, and I think we just saw all the action scenes this movie has to offer, if we can relate this to Afterlife's trailer and movie. Though I am definitely hoping this is not the case.

Also, I first went to another tab waiting for the ad to pass but it wasn't an ad ... it was the trailer. Fuck.

Next up we have Resident Evil 6, the next installment in the game franchise. Yeah, color me intrigued. A return to the city is what is making the most giddy about this game. That, and the ability to play as both Leon and Chris. Well, Leon mostly, the true main character of the Resident Evil franchise. He's a bad enough bro to go save the president's daughter, after all.

And what's most fun here is that it seems to be fully embracing the fact that it's an action game, with horror elements mixed in it. No more of this survival-action game bullshit. Or at least, that's what I'm hoping.

I AM HYPE for this game. I really am. Hell, I might even buy it. Also, the fact that this trailer is better than Resident Evil Extinction and Afterlife as a whole is kind of amusing to me.

Mortal Kombat (2011) review

2012-01-18T18:34:00.000+01:00

Mortal Kombat (2011)
Fatality or Friendship

NetherRealm Studios, formerly Midway Games Chicago, is the team behind this magnificent franchise, with Warner Brothers currently publishing the games. Standing behind this franchise are Ed Boon and John Tobias, immortalized by reversing their last names for the character Noob Saibot.
Mortal Kombat is a fighting game franchise, where the story revolves around a fighting tournament, with the faith of the world at stake.

The original story of the franchise makes a return in the 2011 installment. Here, the story of the first three games is revisited, though altered because of a time travel issue. First things first, though. Mortal Kombat is a tournament created by the Elder Gods, where Shao Khan challenges warriors of a particular realm. If the warriors of this realm lose the tournament ten times (with one tournament per generation), then the realm is merged with Outworld. This time, Earthrealm has lost nine times in a row, and it's up to the protector of Earthrealm, Raiden, to select a group of worthy combatants and try and prevent this from happening. However, rules are meant to be broken, and Shao Khan continues to find ways to bypass the main Mortal Kombat rules. This results in him winning. However, before he kills of Raiden, the mighty thundergod sends his memories back in time. In the past, Raiden is warned of the coming events and tries to alter the timeline so that the end of Earthrealm is prevented.
Overall, not a bad story. It's cheesy and epic at the same time, creating just enough changes in the story to keep the seasoned players on the seat of their chairs. Some changes in the Cyborg program, for example, are interesting to say the least. Plus … Johnny Cage. Just … Cage.
As for the sound and graphics, there isn't much to say about em other than the fact that these are absolutely superb. The backdrops are gorgeous, the fighters are detailed and the moves are graphic as all hell. Whilst the sound is absolutely spot on, and equally as graphic during certain things like the X-rays.
Plus, there is also enough content to last a long, long while. Obviously there are ladders, where you fight combatants in increasing difficulty. But there is also a challenge tower, where you take it one ladder at a time, each time having to do something different. One round will have you fighting your opponent with half damage, other times you need to do specific moves, other times you need to hit specific body parts … and so on. And there is also a training grounds and an online feature, which includes a King of the Hill, where you can MST3K the fighters currently playing.

Buuuuuuuuuut, it's the gameplay where it all comes crumbling down.

Let's look at the gameplay at its whole first. You have your standard attacks, your special attacks, your superattacks (X-Rays), block and combo attacks. Seems like standard fighter fare, until you start to look at it more closely.

First, the offline fights. In the beginning, the A.I. Barely does anything at all. In the middle they start to act like proper A.I. … but then it all goes to hell. They start to spam all of their attacks and even start to respond to your button input. You high kick? They sweep. You block high, they sweep. It's a vicious cycle. And then there's certain combatants, like Shao Kahn, that take no damage and dish out triple damage whilst being unstaggerable. Yeah … Plus, the A.I. Is always given preferential treatment. Your blow will be null and void if the A.I. attacks right before, right after or during your blow.

Now, let's talk about the online fights. It's equally as bad the Artificial intelligence in many regards. I've played enough fights to see the pattern in which these fights go. Other players will always: Spam projectiles, spam special attacks and spam combos to the point where you will not be able to do anything. Here are a few things that happened to me during a fight.
I got juggled in to the air with a full healthbar. My controls froze up and I was unable to do anything. The other player simply spent the rest of the match keeping me in the air, never letting me touch the ground.
Another player spammed three attacks constantly. If I did manage to block the attack, he only used another special and then proceeded to spam those three attacks again.
Another player spammed projectiles and special attacks.
Other players can bypass my blocks with any attack, whilst they can perfectly block any of my attack. Like, this one time, the other player never even ducked down. I swept once and he immediately managed to duck and block. An impossible feat unless my character is moving at a snails pace on their end.

In the challenge tower, there is one challenge where you can play Cyrax at double speed. That's how online matches feel. Only they are double as fast. I see impossible things happen from their end. For example, special attacks result in a downtime of a second or two. Recovery, sort to speak. In that time, you cannot launch another special attack, or go in to a combo, because your streak is reset when you use a special. Yet, they can perfectly string specials along without any downtime.

I can understand that there are far better players than myself. They have a better grasp on the controls and on the timing. They will probably be able to string combo's together. But they still can't be able to get passed the controls and the mechanics of the game like these players have. There are rules in place that can not be bypassed, yet I see them broken all the time in online matches. Not to mention social rules of not spamming attacks.

It's a damn shame to see this game be so poor in the gameplay department. Especially after that 150 MB patch. Though, the story is tons of fun, fatalities are a blast and when the gameplay is good, the game is absolutely brilliant.

As it stands …

Design: 9/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Fun factor: 8/10

Gamers vs ESA's support of SOPA

2012-01-18T11:01:00.001+01:00

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/stand-together-the-gaming-community-vs-sopa-and-pipa

The ESA is currently supporting the American bill proposals called the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act. Both SOPA as PIPA are threats to, not only the internet, but also to the economy. Millions of job are on the line here, all over the world. If this bill gets to see the light of day, then this will affect everyone in the world. Not just America.

But, people are making a stand against it. Certain websites, deeply involved with the gaming community, are banding together and are opposing the ESA for their support of these bills. What does this involve? Simple, they're not going to attend E3, unless the ESA stops their support of these bills. E3, if you don't know, is run by the ESA and is a huge part of their income.

Care to help out? Sign this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-esa-petition-and-boycott-e3

Or, if you're involved with the gaming community, do not report on or attend E3. I know I will not be doing my annual blogs, as small a gesture as this may be. Of course, that's only if they do not listen and continue their support for these laws.

JAG - Smoking kills

2012-01-16T20:43:00.000+01:00

Two members of the Lin Keui clan appear at Outworld, hoping to find answers as to why a former member, Bi-Han, died. These two were the younger brother of Bi-Han, the new Sub-Zero, and Smoke. In search for these answers, Smoke was caught off guard by his Lin Keui comrades, supposed to be taken back to the homebase of the Cyborg program. Raiden, however, saw fit to save Smoke from this faith and so he retained his human form.

Smoke is a ninja, using Smoke abilities and Kunai blades to finish off his opponents. He can transport, teleport others and can even turn himself invisible. A very fluent character to use and very powerful if used properly. From the moment I was first handed control of this character in the story of Mortal Kombat 9, I fell in love. It's a very fun character to use and cool to boot. Not only is he fluent in gameplay, but his martial arts technique is the same. Very fluent and a very flowing fighting stance.

As for the signature, I decided to use the Netherrealm as a background for esthetical reasons. I felt like I could do the most with this image, and found the end result to be quite pleasing. I just wished I could have found a better Mortal Kombaty font to go with it, but this is as close as it's going to get.

Also, first time in a long while that I created a Signature/Avatar set, and am very pleased with how it turned out.

JAG - Chill, I got this

2012-01-12T21:21:00.000+01:00

This is the first avatar I made using a render of Sub-Zero of the Mortal Kombat franchise. I took the render, recolored some parts to orange and others to black and white. I rushed some of the parts in it, so I tried again and redid the border. Orange and black was picked because they are the colors of Teh Pwn Shop.

And here we have the retry, with a better recoloring and an upgraded border, this time using the colors of Debased To This for the border, even having the logo of said site in there.

Sub-Zero is a name that now belongs to the younger brother of the original. He is a Cryomancer, an ancient race of people that has the power to create and manipulate ice.

I've always been a fan of people that have this power, like Iceman of the X-men franchise. Sub-Zero is a ... pardon the pun, cool guy. Today, in fact, I downloaded the demo to Mortal Kombat 9 and spent a few matches playing as Sub-Zero, finding it to be absolutely amazing. Ice duplicate, ice beam, ice Fatality (my first fatality ever ... if I have to be honest :( ) ... Magnificent character. I am so going to pick up Mortal Kombat Komplete. Hell, I might just pick up the regular game next month.

JAG - Monkey business

2012-01-11T12:44:00.000+01:00

Chimchar is one of the three starting Pokémon for the new trainers in the Sinnoh Region. It evolves in to a Monferno around its fourteenth level, which then evolves in to Infernape around its thirty-sixth level.

Infernape is a dual-type Pokémon, being of both the fire as the fighting variety. Its body is a primarily a brownish-red color, with sections of white fur on its chest, head and legs, and a large flame burning on its head that never goes out. The tail flame it had as a Monferno has disappeared. Infernape wears two gold chest rings in place of a chest plate. It also has swirl-patterned, gold shoulder pads, knee pads, and wrist bands. The blue and red markings it had on its forehead as a Monferno have now changed to a deep blood-red color. Infernape's scleras are yellow, and its irises are blue. Its hands, toes, and inner ears are also blue. Unlike Chimchar and Monferno, Infernape's head flame never goes out.

Infernape uses a special kind of martial arts that utilizes all four of its limbs. Being the final evolution of its kind, Infernape can learn Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, and Blast Burn.

Infernape is said to have a fiery nature, and is most competitive when it comes to speed. Being powerful fighters, Infernape test their fighting abilities against each other. An Infernape's fighting spirit is determined by the size of the flame on its head. Infernape uses its hands and feet to pull off special combat moves.

Source: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Infernape_%28Pok%C3%A9mon%29

I can just hear the people now! "DUDE, HOW OLD ARE YOU?" ... well, I'm 23. So there. I'm still a fan of the Pokémon franchise, in both game as Anime form. Though, Black and White still has to tide me over. I'm a huge fan of the entire concept, and would love to see an anime with some more mature characters and stakes. Some people have ponies, I have Pokémon. At least I have the advantage of saying I never stopped loving this franchise SINCE I WAS 11.

Anyways, Infernape. This is seriously some Bruce Lee levels of awesome here. I love this Pokémon and I hate the fact that I don't have a DS to use it with on B/W.

For this signature, I decided to use a background from one of the games so that it doesn't take away from the render. Much like how I made the border of the name dark green instead of black. I'm very fond of the end result and think it just might be one of the best signature I have in my collection.

JAG - Ninja Signature poof

2011-12-30T13:30:00.000+01:00

The House of Gohda, currently led by Daimyo Matsunoshin Gohda, has been protected, and continues to be so, by the Azuma Ninja Clan. The Azuma Clan was once ruled by Azuma Shiunsai. During the events of the Burning Dawn War, he let his life and was followed by young Rikimaru, who in the years grew to truly be a Master Ninja

Rikimaru was responsible for ending the Burning Dawn War, by killing the woman leading the organization. After which, he received the great ninja sword:Izayoi.

Years passed and Rikimaru was sent on a mission. There he encountered a man called Onikage, who he previously met as being Suzaku. Onikage was working for the lord of the underworld, Lord Mei-Oh, who he killed. Though not without sacrificing himself afterwards to save his fellow ninja and a member of the Gohda estate.

Rikimaru returned to the realm of the living many years later (actually being trapped in a portal created by Mei-Oh), and found himself facing off against Tenrai, an evil warlock. And also, his former nemesis of Onikage. Both of whom he defeated.

Onikage once again returns many years later, aiming to start a war. He sways Gohda's counselor, Sekiya, to his side and thus manages to kidnap Princess Kiku, Gohda's daughter. At the end, Sekiya is revealed to be Onikage. He forced Rikimaru to lunge his blade through Kiku in order to kill him.

Whilst I count fellow Tenchu character Tatsumaru as being of my favorite characters of all time, I still say that Rikimaru is one badass motherfucker himself. By far the best Ninja in gaming history.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T09:07:00.000+01:00

Happy Holidays to all, and to all a happy day today!

Thank you all for this wonderful year, filled with wonderful comments and many views! I wish you all a great night tonight, filled with joy, laughter and plenty of presents.

JAG - Sig Possible

2011-12-24T09:04:00.000+01:00

Meet Kim, just your average, teenaged girl. Who just so happens to be the best spy in the world. Kim, alongside her best friend, Ron Stoppable, have to traverse the world in order to save it from various supervillains.

I recently watched one or two episodes of the show, and I have to say that I quite enjoyed watching em. I might even watch the rest. It has genuinely well written characters and some nice animation to go along it. It got me inspired to make a signature. So, after finding this incredible piece of fan-art, I got to work. And voila.

tHop - The Hobbit: An unexpected journey

2011-12-21T11:16:00.001+01:00

Well, this is just going to be an adventure like we haven't had since the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's going to be absolutely amazing. No doubt about it, honestly.

tHop - The Dark Knight Rises

2011-12-19T19:49:00.003+01:00

Christopher's Dark Knight came to us at the beginning. It was rocky start, but it managed to take everyone by surprise. The nasty aftertaste from the previous movies was washed away, and hope had returned to our hearts.

A new movie was then made, and it proved to be one of the superhero movies that changed the genre. The Dark Knight was amazing, and deserved to have gotten an Oscar. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

And now ... the Dark Knight Rises yet again, in the last of the Nolan movies.

"Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' "The Dark Knight Rises" is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar(R) winner Christian Bale ("The Fighter") again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar(R) winner Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake. Returning to the main cast, Oscar(R) winner Michael Caine ("The Cider House Rules") plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar(R) winner Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby") reprises the role of Lucius Fox. The screenplay is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on "Batman Begins" and the record-breaking blockbuster "The Dark Knight." The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. The film is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane."

The trailer has been on the net in one form or another for some time now. Unofficial to the single last one. And I, for one, am glad to have waited for the official version that wasn't shot in shittyvision. Once again, the movie promises to deliver on all sides. It offers drama, action, character development and amazing set pieces. All in all, a fantastic movie to look forward to.

Source: http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/12/19/the-dark-knight-rises-official-full-trailer-is-here.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Woman embezzels money for the mafia

2011-12-19T14:01:00.000+01:00

Now, this is definitely not as exiting as I'm making it out to be.

Bettysue Higgings, a 54 year old woman from Gardiner, pleads guilty in court for embezzling 166.000 dollars from her employers. She was an administrative assistant for the Maine Trial Lawyers Association. She forged the name of the company's executive director, Steven Prince, made the cheques payable to her in cash and then forging the acounting records to make that money disapear. She got caught when of the cheques Prince wrote himself bounced.

Now, here's the kicker. She stole that money and used the lion share of it to use for payment in Zynga games such as YoVille and Mafia Wars.

She could spent five whole years in jail because ... well, this isn't the first time she's involved with embezzling money.

And now we wait for some politician to rise up against Facebook and it's offering of violence and criminally enticing games. I don't know about you, but I'm keeping one eye on farmers at all times now.

Source: http://www.kjonline.com/news/Higgins-pleads-guilty-to-embezzling-.html

JAG - Captain DTT Phoenix's the name

2011-12-18T22:06:00.000+01:00

This is Captain Phoenix from the videogame: Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier. Here he is recolored to fit the colors of www.debasedtothis.org.

Another recoloring experiment. This time, I payed a bit more attention to the details and I left the source image in the same size.

Jedi Ninjas.

2011-12-17T21:57:00.000+01:00

It's Jedi Ninjas. I mean, seriously. How frikkin awesome is this? Here's the description from the vid:

"Jedi Ninjas' a Team2X production. Directed by James Mark and Justin Lovell. Concept & produced by James Mark and Yung Lee (GakAttack). Action Designed by and Featuring Team2x. Visual FX by Yung Lee (GakAttack)

Jedi Ninjas was developed as a passion project to recreate the current style of Star Wars action seen in video games into live action. This style often combines elements of Force powers with the use lightsaber combat. As there are no upcoming live action Star Wars movies to this date, this was a project to make many of the fans' dreams into a reality.

Team 2X is a professional martial arts performance consisting of members with experience in Hollywood films and television. With their unique talent in creating mind blowing fight sequences and GakAttack's passion for combining Visual FX with Martial Arts action. Jedi Ninjas became the result of this collaboration.

Team2X's Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/2xtremeVideos

GakAttack's Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/GakAttack

Special thanks to Lucas Arts for creating something so special in a galaxy far far away.

Thanks also goes to IGN for helping figure out what to name this vid and helping it get out there: http://www.youtube.com/ignentertainment"

JAG - Sasuke DTT & TPS

2011-12-16T18:25:00.001+01:00

This is Sasuke Uchiha of the Narutoverse, recolored to www.debasedtothis.com colors (green), and www.tehpwnshop.com colors (orange) giving him the Skull and Clover logo on the headband and clovers on the shirt for one, and the TPS logo on the other, as designed by melrains.deviantart.com

Both of these images are currently being used as avatar, hence the size.

tHop - MS One: Maximum Security

2011-12-14T21:32:00.000+01:00

The Plot: The President's Daughter visits the best maximum security prison in SPAAAAAAAACE. It's a very dark, gritty and depressing place. Now, the shit hits the fan and there's a massive break-out. Now, there is only one man manly enough to take on the task of saving the president's daughter. And that is a wise-cracking badass.

Honestly, it's got cliché written all over it. Catch is, that this time, it has amazing special effects, a John McClane motherfucker as a main hero and Lennie, Fucking, James. This might very well be the ultimate action movie. Like how there are movies parodying the cliché's surrounding action movies, only here they're doing it for real and they're doing it awesomely.

I rike.

JAG - Shikamaru signature

2011-12-14T16:06:00.000+01:00

Ugh, the banner... what a drag...

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception review

2011-12-14T14:43:00.000+01:00

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

A Puddle Jumper review

Without a question of a doubt, Uncharted 2 is one of the best games that the current generation of consoles has to offer. So, obviously, a sequel had to happen. That came in the form of the game I am reviewing now. A game so anticipated, it made some people pee in their pants. But, were their wet pants worth it?

Katherine Marlowe is after the ring that used to belong to sir Francis Drake. Both Nathan Drake as Victory “Sully” Sullivan are on their way to an English pub, where they plan to pawn off the ring to Marlowe's right hand man, Talbot. More than obviously, they hustle the man and follow him back to his lair, where they seek to find clues they need. As it turns out, Drake, Sully and Marlowe share a history.

This history is used as an emotional anchor throughout the story, using it to strengthen our view of the bond between our two heroes. We follow them from one end of the world to the other, where they try to beat Marlowe to the prize. As they discover more about both the prize as Marlowe, everyone starts to wonder if it's all worth it. If it's worth risking their lives. However, Drake is quite adamant to see it through to the end, no matter what the cost.

Unfortunately, the history between Drake and Sullivan is the only thing worth a damn in the entire overall story arch. This time, once again, the main pull for the story comes in the form of the characters, and the stories between them. Although, at the end of the game, this will be more than enough to satisfy your thirst for story.

Naughty Dog itself admitted that they first thought of the Setpieces to use, before binding them together with a story. This weakened the story by miles, making it feel quite uninspired. For example, a large portion of the game is set on a ship graveyard and a cruise liner, that contributes absolutely nothing to the story. Nothing what so ever.

Now, if there are two departments where everything clicks, then it's the sound and graphical departments. Graphically, the game is absolutely stunning. Naughty Dog once again pushes everything to the limit. Jak 3 was the end limit of the Playstation 2, quite literally. Uncharted 3 is the same. It's simply not going to get any better. From the flaming mansion, to the fully rendered ocean, to the vast desert wastelands, it's just not going to look any better than this.

Soundwise, the score for the game is once again sublime in all areas. Not to mention the superb voice acting that, as in previous games, is performed at the same time as the motion capturing.

Boasting about these two departments seem to be a pointless effort these days, as they will always be the best of the best. Naughty Dog has a habit of never settling with anything but the best. However, this time, they did fail somewhat in the following department. The gameplay.

What made the previous installment in the Uncharted franchise such a hit, was the entire package. It had near perfect gameplay and a pace that kept the player energized and in awe, making it extremely difficult to put down the controller.

Unfortunately, this seems to be missing in this installment. Uncharted 3 switches gameplay around, so that melee combat in favored instead of melee. This, so that it accommodates more to the leveldesign.

Previous games in the franchise dealt with a similar design, where the gunplay is switched with platforming sections. Instead of building on that, Naughty Dog decided to focus on this. In Uncharted 3, the player is put in to the same situations as before, only more of it. The flow of the game has changed significantly to its predecessor because of it.

Now, shooting sections are rooms, pretty much, where wave after wave of enemies pour in. All the time they are increasing in difficulty. Not just in the amount of bullets they can soak up before falling down, but also because of their A.I.. Enemies, you see, are programmed to circle around or go in straight for the kill. This is where the hand to hand combat comes in. Sometimes the rooms are much larger in scale, providing you with the option of taking these guys down with stealth. But, that rarely happens as you plan, as there's always one guy that can see you. Then, the alarms go blazing, sending in so many enemies that it's maddening.

On the other hand you have platforming. This is still as solid as it has always been, but there are two additions that stand out. One for the better … one for the worst. First, the better. There are certain platforming sections where you need to climb and shoot at the same time. These are very well done and really get your heart pumping.

For the worst, we have the fact that floors hate Drake. With a burning passion. I have never before seen someone fall down on his face so much. In U2, Drake gets battered up quite nicely in the train level. Imagine that, if you will, all the frigging time. Without relent. Not to mention the fact that he gets tossed out of a plane, smack in the middle of a desert where he wanders around for days, eventually running in to enemies again. And guess what? He's as fit as he's ever been. Bull. Shit.

M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-multiplayer, then. Yeah, I'm not a fan. Not in the slightest. Gameplay is once again simplified to make it easier on the players and everything that was there in Uncharted 2 has been improved. But, it's just not that good. If it was working properly, then maybe it would have been fantastic. It's definitely a large and filled multiplayer, that can and probably will add loads of hours to your playtime, but … I don't know. It has the same problems that Assassin's Creed: Revelations had with its multiplayer. You will feel robbed.

The more you play the multiplayer, the more you start to get a feel for things. Grenades need to be this close for an instakill, players take this much bullets before dropping dead, they need to be this close before you can pull them down / kick them off. And in the end, everything feels so random. Lag is a huge factor in all of this, because sometimes, things just don't make any sense what so ever.

Final Judgement:

Whilst still one of the best games that the PS3 has to offer, it fails in one to many departments to be better than Uncharted 2. Whilst not a candidate for Game of the Year, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is still a game that you have to have played at least once in your life.

8/10

Now, where's that Subway when you need one.

tHop - G.I. Joe: Retaliation

2011-12-13T10:46:00.001+01:00

Those that didn't like to be entertained, hated the first movie. Luckily for us that do know a good movie when we see one, G.I. Joe has come back! G.I. Joe: Revengeance now has a trailer for all to behold.

Plans from the previous movie has been put in effect, as dummy-president now takes charge and disbands the Joe's forcefully, by "eliminating them with extreme prejudice". Sucks to be them. So now, what's left of our elite team is on their own, facing an entire army between them and that phony president. When the matter comes up who they can trust, they call upon the one man that can save any day. I literally shat my pants in glee at this part.

The trailer isn't as bombastic as the trailer for the trailer for the first movie, showing that this movie might be more intense, instead of setpiece heavy. Which is definitely not a bad thing, since the first movie relied a lot on humor and its setpiece moments.

I, for one, am looking forward to this one. Specially now that it looks like the movie has taken a more positive direction.

tHop - Men in Black III

2011-12-12T17:25:00.000+01:00

After two unimaginably unimpressive posters, the trailer for the highly anticipated sequel has finally arrived. I say highly anticipated, but that's just for me. Men in Black was a great movie, but was followed up by a sequel obviously made for the cash. Now, it seems, the MiB is back.

The trailer shows that the movie stays true to the original movie, making Jay a wiseass, but a man of strength. Whilst Kay is ... well, Kay. This time however, Jay must once again go after his partner and bring him back. Only now, it's back from the dead. One day, Jay finds out that Kay has been dead for 40 years. Welp, time to jump through time and find out what killed him. Once back in 1969, Jay is greeted by young looking Agent K, where the trailer ends.

Men in Black II was fast paced. One scene moved straight in to the next, almost never giving us time to breathe or enjoy the moment. It was a rapidfire of jokes and action scenes, making the entire movie feel bland. Having so many things come at us, made it feel like nothing much happened at all, save for some insanely stupid stuff.

This time around, things seem to be, as stated before, going back to basics. Leaning more to the style seen in MiB, MiB III is looking to be a great movie. I definitely have to see this.

The Last of Us trailer is here! + Update

2011-12-11T11:27:00.002+01:00

Get More: GameTrailers.com, The Last of Us - VGA 2011: Exclusive Debut Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Simply amazing. Plus, it's a Naughty Dog game. Apparantly, I think, it's set within the Uncharted universe, making the little girl Nathan and Elena's Daughter (given her name Ellie) and that the old man is Nathan himself. Very interesting indeed.

UPDATE:

The main character is a man named Joel, and his daughter is indeed named Ellie.

The Last of Us is a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character driven tale about a modern plague decimating mankind. Nature encroaches upon civilization, forcing remaining survivors to kill for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States.

Source:

www.naughtydog.com/site/post/834h472kmfs8/

Spike VGA's 2011

2011-12-11T11:06:00.001+01:00

Spike's Videogame Awards are being heralded as being the worst thing to happen to award shows since ... well, ever. Although the Oscars are giving it a run for its money with their usual elitism, the VGA's continue to degrade in quality. Case in point, this year's batch of winners (that were announced in between commercials and trailers, probably.)

Game Of The Year:

Batman: Arkham City

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Winner]

The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Portal 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Really? Skyrim? Agreed, Skyrim is a fantastic game in many ways. It provides a vast world to explore, with loads of history and a fascinating tale. However, ... it's buggy beyond belief and the graphics aren't even all that impressive. People cover it up with "oh, but it's an open world game". To which I reply: It's a Bethesda game. They should have learned by now that having 50% more bugs than an average open world game is not a good thing.

Who should have won? Skyward Sword is fantastic, but still nothing to innovative. Portal 2 is just a longer version of Portal 1 with a few new toys. Uncharted 3 ... was underwhelming at best, not managing to surpass Uncharted 2 in the slightest. So, my vote goes to Batman: Arkham City. It went from closed quarters to open world and went bigger and better in every way.

Studio Of The Year:

Bethesda Game Studios [Winner]

Naughty Dog
Rocksteady
Valve

Bethesda? Really? Lolnope. Again, buggiest game of the year and they're studio of the year? No, it should have gone to Naughty Dog. I like their approach a lot. They start off by thinking of ways to challenge themselves by thinking of the set pieces first. That is how every company should work, honestly. Sure, Uncharted 3 isn't the best game of the year, but you can't say that it wasn't impressive as all hell.

Also, Valve, lol. Next up, Half Life 3 ... with HATS. Lolhalflife3

Character of the Year:

The Joker [Winner]

Nathan Drake
Marcus Fenix
Wheatley

... Agreed.

Best Xbox 360 Game:

Batman: Arkham City [Winner]

Forza Motorsport 4
Gears of War 3
Portal 2

Really? There are only two games in this list that even remotely have a chance of winning. Forza 4 and Gears 3. The other two aren't exclusives, therefore shouldn't be even allowed to be put up. And yet ... here we are.

Best PS3 Game:
Infamous 2
Killzone 3
LittleBigPlanet 2

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception [Winner]

From a technical standpoint, I'm inclined to say that it deserves to be nominated. However, it failed in its execution. The magic that made Uncharted 2 such a success was missing. Now it was more like a Gears of War game. In Gears, you have places where you need to bunker down and places you need to traverse through. Only in Uncharted 3, these places are drawn out by many more minutes. Unfortunately, artificially so when it comes to combat. In Uncharted 2, this all felt like it was flowing. Here it feels like a process. And, above that, the story wasn't even remotely interesting. Save for the characters.

Killzone 3 was basically Killzone 2.5. And LittleBigPlanet 2 was LBP 1 ... but bigger and better. So, at least LBP has a good shot of winning. If it hadn't been for InFamous 2. This game should have won GOTY. Level editor, varied locations, new powers, great characters, awesome new weapon and so much more.

Best Wii Game:

Disney’s Epic Mickey
Kirby’s Return To Dream Land
Lost In Shadow

The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword [Winner]

Agreed...

Best PC Game:

Battlefield 3
Minecraft
The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings

Portal 2 [Winner]

Now here we can say it's at least a fair choice. Wouldn't have been my choice (minecraft), but at least this category had good options all around.

Best Handheld/Mobile Game:
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Infinity Blade

Super Mario 3D Land [Winner]

Jetpack Joyride

Wait, I don't understand ... why is this crammed together in to one category? And where's Ocarina of Time 3D? Or ... nah, I'm not gonna go on a ramble. Let's just say this category is all around BS.

Best Shooter:

Battlefield 3

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [Winner]

Gears of War 3
Rage

Incoming fanboy rage. Also, again, BS category. It should have been split in to FPS and TPS. Also, I would have tied MW3 and BF3 for the simple reason that: MW3 had the best single player and BF3 had the best multiplayer.

Best Action Adventure Game:

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

Batman: Arkham City [Winner]

The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

No opinion.

Best RPG:

Dark Souls
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dragon Age 2

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Winner]

Considering the options ... agreed. With a big massive >_>. Dark Souls is hard as balls, which is artificial difficulty if you ask me. Deus Ex was boooooooooring with shitty boss fights. Dragon Age 2 was ... well, a BioWare game a la recent years. So yeah ... Skyrim. Gz.

Best Multi-Player:

Battlefield 3
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Gears Of War 3

Portal 2 [Winner]

Again, should have been split in to Multiplayer and Co-Op. If that happened, Portal 2 should have won Co-Op. BF3 should have won MP.

Best Individual Sports Game:

Fight Night Champion [Winner]

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters
Top Spin 4
Virtua Tennis 4

No love for dance games? Dance Central 2 should have won, if you ask me. For the rest, no opinion.

Best Team Sports Game:

FIFA Soccer 12

NBA 2K12 [Winner]

NHL 12
MLB ’11: The Show

Best Driving Game:
Dirt 3
Driver: San Francisco

Forza Motorsport 4 [Winner]

Need For Speed: The Run

Best Fighting Game:
The King Of Fighters XIII
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

Mortal Kombat [Winner]

WWE All Stars

No opinion. except for: Gz MK, I guess.

Best Motion Game:

Child Of Eden
Dance Central 2

The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword [Winner]

The Gunstringer

Oh, Hi Dance Central 2. Well, I guess you were nominated somewhere. Well, Skyward Sword wins. Flawless victory.

Get it? Cuz ... MK won last ... shut up.

Best Independent Game:

Bastion

Minecraft [Winner]

Superbrothers: Sword And Sworcery EP
The Binding Of Isaac

Well, this is one way of getting it to win.

Best Adapted Video Game:

Back To The Future: The Game

Batman: Arkham City [Winner]

Captain America: Super Soldier
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

BEST ADAPTATION? Oh, come on. How sad of a category is THIS? And to nominate Captain America? It's a standard knock-off tie-in. For fucks sake.

Best Song In A Game:

Bastion: “Build that Wall (Zia’s Theme)” by Darren Korb [Winner]

Portal 2: “Exile Vilify” by The National
Dragon Age 2: “I’m Not Calling You a Liar” by Florence + the Machine
Bastion: “Setting Sail, Coming Home (End Theme)” by Darren Korb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1jjjosF51k is all I'm going to say.

Best Original Score:

Bastion [Winner]

Batman: Arkham City
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Portal 2

What, no Zel- Original, K. I got it. No opinion.

Best Graphics:

Batman: Arkham City
L.A. Noire
Rage

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception [Winner]

Agreed.

Jesus, how many more categories.

Best Performance By A Human Male:

Portal 2: J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson [Winner]

Batman: Arkham City: Mark Hamill as The Joker
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: Nolan North as Nathan Drake
Portal 2: Stephen Merchant as Wheatley

Nolan North should have been nominated for The Penguin. And Mark Hamill should have won.

Best Performance By A Human Female:

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: Claudia Black as Chloe Frazer

Portal 2: Ellen McLain as GLaDOS [Winner]

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: Emily Rose as Elena Fisher
Batman: Arkham City: Tara Strong as Harley Quinn

Tara Strong should have won. Ellen McLain is a good voice actress, but it's the lines that made her performance memorable. Not the performance itself.

Best Downloadable Game:

Bastion [Winner]

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Stacking
Trenched

Didn't we have this before? Mobile game ... independent ... No? K.

Best DLC:
Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues
Mass Effect 2: Arrival
Mortal Kombat: Freddy Krueger

Portal 2 Peer Review [Winner]

Best DLC ... and you include a simple fucking character. Bite me.

Most Anticipated Game:

BioShock: Infinite
Diablo III
Halo 4

Mass Effect 3 [Winner]

The Last Guardian

Lolnope. Diablo III and BioShock: Infinite are more anticipated than Mass Effect 3.

Gamer God Award

Blizzard Entertainmnt

Should have been a person

Video Game Hall of Fame
The Legend of Zelda

Agreed.

Winners list source: http://www.gamersmint.com/vga-2011-list-of-winners-skyrim-takes-goty-uncharted-3-best-ps3-goty
____________________________________________________

All in all, pretty underwhelming.

JAG - Asuma Sarutobi

2011-12-10T23:01:00.000+01:00

Asuma was born the son of Hiruzen and Biwako Sarutobi, and in later years, would become the uncle of the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru. Around the time of the Nine-Tailed Fox's Attack on Konoha (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), he along with the other young ninjas was also barred by Kurenai Yūhi's father from participating in the defense of the village.

At some point in time, he had a disagreement with his father, and left Konoha to pursue his personal interests. During his absence, he became one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, a group that protected the Land of Fire's daimyō, indicated by the sash on his waist. During this time he developed a strong friendship with the monk Chiriku, who would go on to become the head monk of the Fire Temple. Prior to returning to Konoha to resume active military duty, he accumulated a bounty of 35 million ryō on the black market, something he seemed to be particularly proud of.

Later on, Asuma would be put in charge of Squad 9

Source: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Asuma_Sarutobi

______________________________________

I've been getting back in to Naruto recently, mostly to get some inspiration for a novel I'm writing. Not in the padding department, no. Not that. Not that at all. Just, the world and such. And, again, I find this guy to be the best goddamn ninja of them all. Asuma! Then comes Sasuke, before Shippuuden. And following that is Shikamaru.

Sucks that you can't see the white border around the signature.

DmC: Escape trailer

2011-12-08T21:43:00.000+01:00

Ninja Theory's reboot of the popular franchise has certainly provided us with a wide range of discussions. And the game hasn't even been released yet. Although the game started out rather wonky, Ninja Theory has proven that they do listen to the people. Most noticable in Dante's appearance, which has changed dramatically since his first outing for this latest franchise.

Recently, another gameplay video was released, showcasing more of the setting and the battle mechanics. This trailer showcases a daring escape from an ever more dangerous city, as it itself comes after you. And, it's pretty impressive to say the least.

DmC is set to be released for the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 sometime in 2012

PS3's The Last of us teases

2011-12-08T18:44:00.000+01:00

No gameplay, no concept, no anything except for two teasers (that show nothing) and an images (that show nothing). GET HYPE.

The Last of Us is a PS3 exclusive title ready to be revealed at Spike TV's Game of the Year Awards. It's promising to be the most anticipated title in the entire show, which is kind of against the point. Still, I'm eager to see what it's all going to be about.

Meanwhile, the teaser site, found here, has given us two teasers and a screenshot. Plus, some gifted individuals managed to dig up a second screenshot for all to see.

Let's just see where this goes, shall we!

tHop - The Three Stooges

2011-12-07T20:34:00.001+01:00

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/thethreestooges/

C3 Entertainment and Conundrum Entertainment proudly present a trailer for their latest project, a movie starring the most famous trio of comedy of all time. And by god, does it suck. It doesn't just completely and utterly rape comedy as a whole, it also manages to be entirely devoid of anything laugh worthy. None of the main actors are even remotely capable of delivering the kind of performance needed for these characters. Not to mention the pis poor quality of the jokes themselves. A sexy nun? Lobster to the balls joke?

Absolutely and utterly pathetic. Not worth any more of your time. I feel sorry wasting your time pointing this out.

I am so sorry.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations review

2011-12-07T10:59:00.000+01:00

Assassin's Creed: Revelations review

by Jimmy “PJ” Vermoens

The creed of the assassin's has been unleashed unto the world a few times already. Sometimes it happened with massive success, whilst sometimes it failed to deliver. Now, an era has ended. Whilst Desmond Miles is still our main character, we see an end come to the other characters we have come to love. Specifically, the storylines of both Altaïr ibn La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze are completed. They have nothing more to tell us. But, did this happen in style, or was it a bust?

After the conclusion of the previous game, Desmond finds himself in a coma and put in to the Animus. There he meets up with the infamous Subject 16, who tells him that, in order to save his own mind, he needs to get to know everything that Altaïr and Ezio haven't told him yet. Allow the Animus to separate them properly. And so Desmond is put back in Ezio, who is on a quest to Masyaf. Once there, he finds a library that is tightly locked up, and Templars that are looking to open it. So then it becomes a race to the keys to the library, that mainly takes place in Constantinople.

Along the way, Ezio meets up with a wide variety of interesting characters. Like the city’s head of the Assassins, Yusuf and his love interest, Sophia. It's here that we find a huge improvement in the characters, because they're interesting for once. All we had before was Uncle Mario, and he isn't exactly around this time around.

Each time Ezio comes closer to opening the library in Masyaf, he learns more about what happened to his ancestor, Altaïr. By the end of the game, their faiths will be revealed to you. The most important improvement for me, was that it all felt more coherent. Where as in previous game, much time lapsed between missions, here it all happens in one go. That, and everything happens for a reason in the story.

All in all, a very intriguing story that is extremely helpful in getting you through this game. Alongside the voice acting, which is once again top not in all but one department. Damn it, Ubisoft, DID I DO SOMETHING TO OFFEND YOU, SIR? Those of you that played this game just chuckled. Those of you that haven't … I am so sorry for your impending suffering.

Also, beating the everlasting shit out of beggars and street musicians is still tons of fun. Though I did prefer poisoning them and watching them bellyflop on the ground, flailing their arms and legs around like nuts.

The music of the game seems to be stuck in one mode unfortunately, and that seems to be the epic mode. Previous games had some heart pumping music and also some light hearted pieces, but here it all seems to go away in favor for the “epic” variety.

Graphicswise, the engine is starting to show its age. Everything looks better than it did in the previous games, but there are a lot more glitches and Ezio's lips look a botox accident.

Instead of improving or changing their gameplay system, Ubisoft opted to once again just add more. More! MORE! Everything is basically the same as the previous games. Platforming is still done by going down a predetermined path, sometimes forced to fail because of the camera or because the A.I. Is actively trying to cheat by making it artificially difficult.

Fighting is made a lot more difficult because enemies now attack during unskippable killing animations. It's extremely frustrating to once again have to revert to AC2's style of playing when a system is in place to make fights faster and more fun. Though you are given a few more fun toys like sticky bombs. Yes, Sticky Bombs. I loved those.

To make money, you again have to go around the city and buy every store and landmark in sight. Though now they, again, artificially make it harder by upping your notoriety each time you buy something. Meaning you have to waste time tracking down heralds and then get back to buying stores.

There are a few new additions to gameplay, like the previously mentioned bombs. Which you can gather ingredients for and make yourself. There's also the Hookblade, which allows you to climb faster, reach further and zipline all across Constantinople. The best part of the game, if you ask me.

Also making a return is the city defence minigame where you have to create a brotherhood and send them out on missions. BUT GUESS WHAT? This time, it's a money sink if you don't pay attention. I just went one city at a time and did as many missions as I could before moving on. Never really reading the mission either. I just went GO and that's that. Yeah, I lost lots of money that way. Luckily, getting your brotherhood up to snuff isn't pointless this time. They actually take a part in the ending of the game this time.

And then they added Den Defence. The main reason to get your brotherhood to its maximum. You see, each district has a den. Each Den can belong to either the Templars or the Brotherhood. You have to conquer each district and then put a level 10 assassin in charge of it. Besides giving you additional story missions, these assassin's will also automatically defend these dens when they reach level 15.

The minigame itself is basically a non-functioning version of a strategy game. It sucks. Just, skip it if you can. When you need to go to defend your den … simply let it be conquered and then take it back from the templars, skipping the game.

M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-multiplayer! It's a fantastic experience when you get a chance to actually play it with skilled people. The only mode worth a damn is Assassination, which is pretty much a Free For All situation, making it oh so tense. But, the game is just waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to glitchy and buggy to be any good. There are certain rules in place, like you can avoid getting killed or you escape and whatnot. But, the lag of other players and the bugs make it virtually impossible to enjoy it to its fullest. There's a storyline in place this time, but it isn't worth it. Play it when they fix it.

And judging from Brotherhood, that's never.

Final Judgement

I may have berated the game in this review, but it's still one of the best games currently available for the PS3. It has a great story, fun gameplay and a location that doesn't get tiring, unlike Rome. Missions are very varied as well, and the Roma faction is a welcome change to the Courtesans.

9/10

Plug Tiem - Voletic

2011-12-02T16:44:00.000+01:00

Woe is the internet! Headshot Gaming has fallen ... but, never fear. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Voletic is born. Celebrating the launch of this wonderful, new site, I interviewed one of the leading men behind it, Jordan.

What is Voletic?

Voletic is a geek/gaming culture website focusing on the community side, with also some videos by our home staff to help attract people in, and so we can have our own say on the goings on in the gaming world

Who are the masterminds behind it?

The great thing about Voletic is that everyone has chipped in a little bit with ideas, Shinso has been amazing and coded the whole thing entirely by himself, which is no small feat considering the size of the job, and the fact he is doing it for free. All of the staff have added their ideas in, and we've had long debates about the direction of the site, and thanks to that (Headshot Gaming was really just my design and shinso's work), I think we've created a damn good website.

Why did you decide to make Voletic?

Originally it was to be the next version of Headshot Gaming, however as work continued we realised that we where making something completely different, and that a fresh start would be best.

Where do you want to see Voletic go in the future?

I want it to be a huge user driven community hub, I would love to be able to do contests, giveaways, spotlights and so much more. I really enjoy reading all the random things gamers can write about, and hopefully one day we will have a large amount of bloggers and youtubers using Voletic as their homesite!

_____________________________________________________

Now, please, stop wasting your time reading this blog entry and head on over to Voletic.com, where the action is really at.

DMC Extended Gameplay demo

2011-12-01T19:39:00.000+01:00

Following a previously released video, which I have already discussed here, Capcom's revamp of the DMC franchise gets a new video. Ninja Theory, the developers of the new installment in the franchise, released a video that has managed to impress me fully. It shows some more about the story, a new character and the setting. Because now it seems that Dante's world has two sides. One is the human world, and the other is Limbo, a realm where demons dwell. And the way to Limbo is paved by camera's, it seems, that will drag you there when they spot you in the real world. The cool thing is that, for once, we actually get to see a real world. The city is actually alive, in the human realm. It has people, cars and everything. The gameplay was pretty solid as well, and so was the music being played during the combat.

Solid 8/10 on the hype-o-meter.

Altaïr ibn La-Ahad Signature

2011-11-28T22:41:00.001+01:00

Requiescat in pache, Altaïr ibn La-Ahad. Beloved husband, loving father and wise mentor of the assassins. 

Out  of the known ancestors of Desmond Miles, you were the best. Your story  has been told, your bones have been put to rest. This is a tribute to  you, and everything you have done.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

2011-11-10T11:57:00.001+01:00

Back in 2008, Walden Studios released a movie based on a well known novel written by a grandmaster of concepts, Jules Verne. Journey to the center of the Earth was an adventure movie through and through, being more about the journey itself rather than the story. It was a fun movie and a sequel was definitely wanted.

Enter: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Our young heroes depart from Australia using oceanic flight 815 ... wait, wrong island... Euh, yeah. This movie is about the young hero of previous movie, Sean, who received a radio message from his grandfather. Problem is that his grandfather is most likely stuck on the island that he has been looking for his entire life. The premise of these movies is a what if scenario. Meaning, what if the adventures in Jules Verne's books were actually real? So, what if his Mysterious Island was real as well?

The trailer showcases an adventure much like last time, albeit with only one recurring character. Though I am going to miss Brendan Fraser, I think that Dwayne Johnson will fill those shoes quite nicely. Plus, the loss of Fraser is even compensated some more with Michael Caine!

Returning for the part of Sean is Josh Hutcherson. And playing his love interest is Vanessa Hudgens. She is a part of a father-daughter tour, headed by the father, played by Luis Guzmán. Luis is one of those guys you might have seen in that one movie. For gamers, Luis played Ricardo Diaz in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

It once again looks like a roller-coaster ride from start to finish. Can't wait to see the finished result.

Source: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=84146

JAG - Blue Turtle Power!

2011-11-08T23:12:00.000+01:00

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Leonardo

Leonardo, or Leo for short, was born a regular ol' turtle alongside his three brothers, Raphael, Michaelangelo and Donatello.Nameless at the time, they found themselves inside the sewers of New York, splashed by a green ooze. Taking pity upon them, a rat called Splinter takes them in, touching the ooze in the process.

Soon the five found themselves mutated, as they become more humanoid and more intelligent. Splinter named them after renaissance masters, giving leadership of the four turtles to Leo.

Leo is the most collected of the four, often being a perfect balance of his three other brothers. However, he doesn't really think of himself as a leader, more as an equal. Although, in his behavior, he really is the man that they can rely on. He puts family and friends first, only relaxing when at home with his brothers.

Out of the four, Leo has always been my favorite. Not just because of his kickass blades, but because of his everyman qualities. Kind of like Nathan Drake. Many have a fondness of Raph, because of his badassness. Whilst that's true, I found his attitude to be waaaay overboard. Hence, back to Leo, the calmer Raph, in a sense.

JAG - Drake's Sigception

2011-10-31T17:27:00.000+01:00

Just bought Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and I have to say, it's a fantastic game so far. It inspired me to not only make these two, but I also began writing a whole new story because of it. The end goal is quite different than what U3 is doing, but damned if it doesn't provide some cool ideas.

Too bad the multiplayer isn't up yet. Still, enjoy my art :D

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T11:58:00.000+01:00

It's that time of the year again, where the darkness is filled the most with terrors and nightmares. Where the vampires roam the streets, the zombies haunt the graveyards and the werewolves prowl the forests. Halloween is here, and thus it's the time for fright!

Happy Halloween to all, and to all ... a terrifying night.

JAG - Nightwing

2011-10-26T22:23:00.000+02:00

Richard "Dick" Grayson, age twelve, is the son to John and Mary Grayson. His family was a part of a traveling circus, acting as The Flying Graysons. One day, young Richard overheard mob boss Tony Zucco extort the circus master, who refused the offer. That same night, Richard saw his parents fall to their death.

Millionaire Bruce Wayne took pity on the boy, seeing a kindred soul within him. For Bruce lost his parents to crime as well. One thing lead to another, and Richard ran in to Batman whilst investigating Tony Zucco for revenge. Together they took down Zucco.

It was then that Richard learned Bruce Wayne was in fact the legendary Dark Knight known as Batman. Bruce then made the boy an offer he couldn't refuse. Born was Robin, the Boy Wonder. Robin was chosen as his superhero name, for his mother used to called him her little robin.

Time passed and young master Dick became very well trained in crime-fighting and detective work. However, one day, The Joker caught him off guard and shot him in the shoulder. Bruce fired Richard as his sidekick, who then realized he was grown up. Being 17 years old, he tried to live a normal life. But failed.

Rejoining The Teen Titans, he once again found his self worth. However, Bruce did not like it and told him that if he wanted to continue as a crimefighter, he would have to retire his Robin mantle.

Not knowing what to do, Richard asked Superman what to do. He told him a story of a Kryptonian cast out by his family, just like Richard, who dreamed of a world ruled by Justice. Taking the mantle of defender, the man helped the innocent people of Krypton. His name? Nightwing.

Richard donned that very name, created a new uniform and rejoined the Teen Titans, eventually becoming its leader.

Many years have passed and Bruce Wayne was no more. Batman was dead, and so the battle for the cowl began. But who better to take over than Richard Grayson, the first who had donned the Robin mantle? And so Nightwing was burried, and Batman rose once again.

Flashpoint, a super event in the universe, created a split timeline. Whilst in one universe, Richard Grayson would continue his crime fighting as The Batman, in the new one he was still Nightwing.

At the risk of people thinking I made just another Batman signature, I decided to go with Nightwing. Though I did wanted to do one with Richard as The Batman. Maybe I'll do that one later. Still, I'm particularly fond of this character. Hell, I'm fond of the entire batman universe. It's grown on me a lot lately. I'm even considering wasting money on that there Nightwing DLC of Arkham City.

RDR: UN The Scarlett Lady signature

2011-10-16T11:12:00.000+02:00

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is the fifth DLC pack released for Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption title. It follows John Marston as he treks through the Wild Wild West for a cure against a zombie plague.

Featured in the signature is The Scarlett Lady from Undead Nightmare, a character meant for advertisement purposes. Also featured is a multiplayer, overworld city.

I added a shadow to Scarlett and fiddled around with some artistic renders for the background.

JAG - Catwoman

2011-10-15T15:38:00.003+02:00

Selena Kyle, character within the DC universe, is best known by her alter ego. That is the one of the sensual catburglar: Catwoman, who is usually associated with the Batman franchise. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Catwoman started out as another Supervillain, but has undergone significant character changes throughout the years. Turning her into an anti-hero, prone to slipping back to her burglarizing days from time to time.

When making this signature, I was aiming to create the same feeling I got when watching the render. Namely to create something simple, yet detailed. Hence I put together several effects to create a simple, yet details background render. I'm hoping that this signature will be up to people's tastes, though I'm not quite sure. People seem to dislike simple signatures, for some reason.

Most triumphant Super Mario game

2011-10-13T17:35:00.000+02:00

What's a game without a portal gun? A sucky one, amirite? Well then, the good folk over at stabyourself.net (FYI: Do not take their name seriously.) have a game in the making for you! In the video above you will see a video game in the making that is basically a Super Mario game, only this time with Portal like puzzles, gun included.

It's simply beauuuuuuutiful!

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCEnLGwls20

Marvel's The Avenger trailer

2011-10-11T15:57:00.001+02:00

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/marvel/avengers/

Marvel's Avengers team is a collection of six meta-humans banding together to act like a super-duper police force. Superheroes included are, as seen in their respective movies played by their respective acots, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. Also staring are Black Widow, from Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk. Although Bruce Banner is not played by Eduard Norton. Last member of the team is newcomer Hawkeye, who is basically a Master Archer and Master Martial Artist. Also Nick Fury.

Movie of the decade.

UPDATE: Hitman - 'Run for your life' trailer + Gameplay video

2011-10-10T20:43:00.003+02:00

As you may, or may not, know from one of my earlier Reviews, I particularly dislike the Hitman series. Whilst at the same time I eagerly anticipate the following installments in the hope that maybe, just maybe, they fixed their game. And once again I find myself hoping, as IO has just now released a trailer, supposedly containing actual gameplay footage, or at the very least has CGI portraying how gameplay will be like.

"In a press release forwarded this morning, IO also announced that Hitman Absolution will use Glacier 2, a new engine from IO, and that the game will be "familiar and yet significantly different experience from other Hitman Games," according to Tore Blystad, the game's director."

Source: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1167104p1.html

From the looks of the trailer seen above, I got the distinct impression that the game is emulating such games like Splinter Cell: Conviction. It keeps such staples like the weapons and the taking on of disguises, but it sets it in an environment similar to SC and even Batman: Arkham Asylum.

I, for one, can only applaud that they are taking this route. From earlier installments, we can gather that games haven't yet reached the point where such complicated scenarios can be played out without glitches and faulty programming.

I'll bite. But ... IO, you better not be messing with me!

Edit:

Machinima has released an 16 minute gameplay video of Hitman: Absolution, showcasing that the game is indeed Splinter Cell: Conviction 2. Which, to be honest, isn't exactly a bad thing. Though, it does look a bit scripted.

JAG - Mystique

2011-10-10T19:01:00.000+02:00

This is Mystique, familiar face in Marvel's X-Men universes. Wanted to have another shot at the flag idea, and this is what I came up with.

FemShep Signature

2011-10-08T20:32:00.000+02:00

This is a signature of the Female Shephard that will be the face of the one you will play as without using the customization features. Shephard is a character in the Mass Effect franchise owned by BioWare.

I drew inspiration for this signature from another sig, where they made a flag of sorts out of an image. Very effective, and I wanted to emulate that. The background here is a worked image of the Normandy, whilst the logo used in the center is a worked version of the tehpwnshop.com logo made by Melrains.deviantart.com.

X-men: First Class review

2011-10-08T13:56:00.001+02:00

X-men: First Class

A classy review

This particular franchise hasn't been the same since its second installment. When a new director helmed The Last Stand, it soon became apparently clear that there is little hope for the future of the franchise. In one movie, the entire lore was brutalized so severely, that it would take a magician to salvage it. Then came an Origins movie. Well, that would have worked, if it wasn't such an atrocious movie. As predicted, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was a monumental failure across the board. So, when news came of a Magneto and Professor X origins story, we were all a bit iffy about it.

X-Men: First Class is a 2011 superhero movie, directed by Matthew Vaughn, whose directorial credits include Layer Cake and Kick-Ass. Acting as a prequel to all the live-action movies already made, the movie told the story of how the Brotherhood of Mutants and the X-men began. We follow both Erik Lensherr and Charles Xavier as they find themselves involved in matters that could change the face of the world.

First Class takes the real world event known as the Cuban Missile Crisis and weaves it seamlessly in to the X-men universe. Providing an intriguing, overall story arc that manages to be both realistic as fiction. Unlike The Last Stand or Origins, this movie actually manages to provide tension all throughout the movie, as you are also immediately engaged in the lives of both our two heroes.

What is also done quite brilliantly, is that it starts the mindset of Magneto and the mindset of the humans in a non rushed and very paced manner. When the credits start to roll, you understand what everyone went through to get to the point they are at.

Whilst not all characters are equally as developed, the ones that are feel like actual human beings. Some characters, like Alex Summers and Sean Cassidy, are only in this movie so that there are mutants in the movie X-men movie. This however is greatly compensated by the fantastic development of such characters as Raven Darkholme and Henry McCoy. Sebastian Shaw however ... well, he's a Nazi.

Performancewise, you have your hits, like McAvoy, Fassbender, Bacon and Hoult. And you have your run of the mill performances that actually don't stand out. While actors like Ironside and Platt do their usual performance for short parts.

In the end, this is an X-Men movie. It returns to the level of quality of X2 and takes it one step further in the character development department. This is an Origins story done right, where we see almost all of the characters go through an actual story arc. The actions scenes are spectacular and engaging, always managing to pull you in and never letting you go due to errors or shoddy filming. Plus, we have a story that we actually can care about.

10/10

Farmville: The Movie

2011-10-08T12:44:00.001+02:00

I am not kidding. This might actually happen, at least according to Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen, the guys who wrote Toy Story. They hinted at this during an interview with IGN. What more is there to say than the above image, really?

Source: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113550-Toy-Story-Scribes-Hint-At-Imminent-Farmville-Movie

Stargate SG-1 Review

2011-10-07T17:12:00.000+02:00

Stargate SG-1

A review

In 1994, the world came to see the beginning of a franchise that would last for many more years to come. Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich created a movie that, whilst negatively received, held great potential. It was for this reason, that Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner created a TV-series spin-off named Stargate SG-1. With 10 seasons and over 200 episodes, Stargate SG-1 surpassed The X-files in 2007 as longest running Science Fiction north-American TV series.

The series revolves around the titular artifact known as the Stargate. It's a device created many years ago, with the purpose of transporting humans from one world to the other by means of a wormhole. In the series it is used to fluff out the seasons by delivering us with one off episodes featuring worlds that have a problem of the week. Many of these episodes are definitely a hit, but there are some that are a clear miss.

It's the main story arcs that keep the viewer interested when it comes to the actual plot. It involves an alien, parasitic race known as the Goa'uld that burrow their way in to unwilling hosts and take them over. As good parasites, they have stolen technology at the ready which they use to make their subjects believe that they are Gods. Fighting for them are an alien race known as the Jaffa, humanoid in nature but physiologically quite different due to their dependency on Goa'uld symbioses to survive. Infant symbioses are unable to take over their hosts, so they grow up inside a pouch in the Jaffa's stomach.

Earth finds itself against a war with these creatures, finding they are vastly outmatched in terms of numbers and technology. A fantastic way to keep the plot going and to keep the tension high. Little by little, the main team of Earth, known as SG-1, finds ways and allies to defeat them.

And, when the humans became too strong to keep the Goa'uld a big enough threat, and so on. But never in a way that was unbelievable. And each time these new enemies offered some rather interesting questions. The way they were woven in to the story and were inspired by real life "what if's" was quite brilliant.

The real driving force of the show are its characters. Whilst some aren't as interesting as the other, most of them have or will have stories that will draw you in the most. It's their personal relations and their overal arc that get you sucked in. Teal'c, for example, has shown immense growth in his run in the series and manages to provide some of the strongest stories.

Whilst in the beginning it was Jack O'Neill that provided most of the humor, the writers changed that to pretty much everyone. This became much more apparent with the change from O'Neill to Cameron Mitchell. Also returning was a one off character known as Vala Mal Doran. Even though she is my favorite character of the entire show, she basically represents the change in the characters. It started to be a bit too much about the humor. However, they did fix that with Vala in the end, as you learned more about her.

In the end, Stargate is one of the best sci fi franchises out there. It may have its flaws, but it is definately worth the watch. From the enemies to the character arcs, they are all very compelling and will get you crying on more than one occasion. Never mind making you laugh because, damn. The humor can be excellent, indeed. Especially with Teal'c and the interaction between Vala and Daniel.

Some seasons tend to rely too much on the one off episodes, ruining an otherwise brilliant run. Season 2, for example, is still the best season of Jack O'Neill's run. It was heavy on the goa'uld and low on the pointless one offs. In the later seasons, they helped this along by making the one off episodes a part of the main arc, instead of the usual: Look ma, a stargate adress, let's go there for shits and giggles!

I rate Stargate SG-1 a

8/10

Olivier Trudeau's Stop-Motion Ninja Duel

2011-10-06T15:18:00.000+02:00

Ninja from Olivier Trudeau on Vimeo.

Olivier Trudeau presents a stop-motion video of two ninjas duking it out in an old fashioned duel. All in all a pretty amazing video that showcases everything cool about ninjas. Very impressive stop-motion animation with some nice cinematography. Definitely worth the watch.

Source: http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/10/6/awesome-stop-motion-ninja-duel.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T13:16:00.000+02:00

Born 1955 - Died 2011

Steve Jobs is the man behind many of todays most iconic technological devices, advancements and business ideas. From the mouse you are using next to your keyboard to the phone you hold in your pocket. Steve Jobs was a visionary and a man that was vital in shaping a large portion of the world that we have today. Steve even purchased The Graphics Group, which would later be known under the name of Pixar. It was under him, that Pixas landed a contract with Disney to make the first Toy Story movie, thus beginning the greatest animated movie company ever made.

Excerpts from President Barack Obama's statement

Steve was among the greatest of American innovators — brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it. By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world.

Bill Gates released a statement saying:

I'm truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs' death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work. Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.

Walt Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, had the following to say:

Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an "original," with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Laurene and his children during this difficult time.

Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak said :

People sometimes have goals in life. Steve Jobs exceeded every goal he set himself.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

Rest in peace, Steve.

Syndicate Trailer

2011-09-29T19:01:00.003+02:00

Syndicate Trailer

In 1993, Bullfrog Productions started a series of games that would eventually prove to be cult classics. It's a  series of isometric science fiction computer games. The original installment was playable on the Amiga and PC whilst it's sequel was a game for the PC and the Playstation. 

Taking over the reigns to the franchise is Starbreeze Studios and the publisher Electronic Arts. From the start, the fans were outraged at the fact that they were essentially taking Syndicate on the same path as X-Com, another rebooted franchise. They were going to turn it in to a First Person Shooter. 

Following this trailer however, it's very safe to assume that this isn't going to be a half-baked job. On its own merits, this is by far one of the best trailers I've seen this year. It got the blood pumping, it set up an interesting world and it created an action filled yet dark atmosphere. 

"Set in 2069, Syndicate takes players into a dark, Machiavellian world run without government oversight with many syndicates vying for total dominance of their local market place. With no one to question their intentions or actions, three mega corporations — Eurocorp, Cayman Global, and Aspari — are at the forefront of this brutal war for control of the pivotal American market.
In the world of Syndicate, everything is digitally connected, including the people. Players aren’t limited to the weapons in their hands. Through the DART 6 bio-chip technology implanted in their head, players can slow down time and breach the digital world around them to take down their foes using a variety of upgradable hacking mechanics.
Syndicate’s blend of fast-paced, futuristic, action shooter settings and story combined with innovative chip breach gameplay instantly immerses players in a unique digital world."

One comparison I did make whilst watching this trailer is to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, where augmentation is part of the futuristic setting as well. Although, whilst Deus Ex focusses more on the stealth aspects of the genre (Bossfights not included, obviously. Outsourcing jerks.), this game seems to focus more on the adrenaline producing side, much like Modern Warfare, or more to the setting: Crisis.

Color me intrigued. 

Syndicate is set to be released on 02/21/2012 for the 360, PS3 and the PC.

Source:

Youtube trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewwtznVkSxA

Quotation: http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2011/09/12/syndicate-2012-announced-by-ea-for-xbox-360-ps3-pc.htm

JAG - Neku Sakuraba retry

2011-09-24T15:29:00.001+02:00

Jumper's Art Gallery: Neku Sakuraba retry

Can't keep a good sigger down. After the previous attempt, I, and a few others, felt that it was sub par. Hence, this little retry.

JAG - Neku Sakuraba

2011-09-23T19:05:00.000+02:00

Jumper's Art Gallery - Neku Sakuraba

The following of these two images are a selfmade signature and avatar of Neku Sakuraba, main character of the Nintendo DS videogame: The World Ends with you. I liked the character's design and felt inspired to make this. Not entirely happy with it, but I'm just happy I made something again.

Smallville Finale Thoughts

2011-09-17T22:59:00.001+02:00

Smallville Finale

Thoughts

Warning, the following blog contains spoilers to the Smallville finale. You have been warned.

Smallville, a show that started ten years ago and ended up being one of my most favorite shows for many years. Over the years that passed, the show quickly dropped from that spot, but still remained to be a must watch show. It had its up, it had its downs. But in the end it was an enjoyable show that was both entertaining as time filling.

But then came the finale. Part One was quite brilliantly made and written, always staying the course of setting things up for the second part where everything was going to conclude. Jonathan Kent saw a return to the series, where he and his family shared some beautiful, eye watering moments. The romance between Lois and Clark was pretty much solidified in that part with some romantic moments and brilliantly written scenes. The fight between Clark and Olly turned out to be the best fight in the finale, which ... shouldn't actually have been the case. Since there were still a few enemies to come.

Then came Part Two. Yeah ... Part Two ... Let's just say that it was ... an ending. Let's first talk about what it did right. It had the best two scenes in the entire run of the show. One scene was between Jonathan Kent and Clark, where Jonathan handed him the Superman Costume. Now that actually made me cry.

The other scene was between Lex Luthor and Clark Kent. Their last encounter was absolutely fantastic. If ever there would be a list of top ten villain - hero confrontations, this has to be in it. Lex completely steals the show here, showing that he thinks that by accepting his role as the villain, he can help Clark be the role of the hero. The entire chemistry here gave me goosebumps. Too bad everything that was set up in this scene was pissed upon later on.

There was also the final steps of Clark's journey of understanding who he needs to be and what he has done wrong. The talks he has with his mother and father, the talks with Lois, the talk he has with Jor-El. Good stuff. Very good stuff.

What I also liked were the various music cues, borrowing from the Christopher Reeves movies. This includes the ending scene where Clark rips open his shirt and reveals the shirt. Unfortunately, the power of this scene is once again undercut by something else.

The return of Jimmy Olsen was also a nice and very welcome touch.

Now on to the bad.

First up: The end of the villains. Every villain is defeated in a piss poor manner that makes me want to get the writing staff fired. Darkseid? The main villain of the entire fucking season is defeated by Clark simply FLYING THROUGH HIM. Apokolypse? That ginormous planet that is drawn to the planet by the darkness within mankind? Simply PUSHED THE FUCK AWAY. The darkness within people? Well, apparently seeing Clark push it away helped clear that rash right up. Darkseid's legion? Olly shot them with an arrow and they vanished in smoke. Lex? Well, Tess just sprinkles him with some magic fairy dust, wiping his memories.

Next up: Superman. WHERE THE FUCK WAS HE? Tom Welling, the actor playing Clark, had put in his contract he wasn't going to wear the suit. Fine. But come on! If we're not getting a close-up of his face or an extremely distant shot, we're only seeing blurs of him in the suit. CGI has come a very long way, I'm positive they would have been able to give us at least one money shot. But nooooooooooooo.

I understand that they didn't have much of a budget (made clear by the "let's get Apokolypse away by hitting the rewind button" shtick), but to not have a money shot of Superman? Outrageous! That was supposed to be Clark's finest moment in the entire series. Hell, the name of Superman isn't even mentioned. At all. Well, no, that's not true. Lana Lang says it in the "Previously on Smallville" segment.

This is what ruined the impact of the final scene, where Clark was speeding off to save people, cued by the famous Superman theme. Because I was still expecting that god damned money shot. Instead we get just another fan service moment.

Also, Tess's death. I never really liked or even wanted this character, but her death just bugged me. She gets stabbed by Lex who is saving her from becoming a Luthor? Yeah, it's a nice concept, but it was handled rather poorly.

Ten years of loyally following Smallville, alongside millions of other fans, this is what we get? It's a real damned shame.

DMC Gameplay demo

2011-09-16T13:21:00.001+02:00

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Devil May Cry - TGS 11: Japanese Stage Demo Part 1 (Cam), PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

DMC Gameplay Demo

DMC: Devil May Cry is a Ninja Theory developed reboot of the beloved hack and slash franchise. Garnering much heat after the first trailer was shown, the game was heralded as being the end of DMC. Mainly because they felt that Ninja Theory took what made the main character, Dante, himself, and they tossed it all aside. Dante is a well dressed badass with a giant sword. This new Dante was a shabbily dressed emo who smokes cigarettes. He now also, entirely coincidentally, mind you, looked like the Chief of Design: Tameem Antoniades. This is what enraged the fans of the series the most. Comparisons were even made to the extremely despised character of the Twilight movie series, Edward Cullen. 

Now we have a full gameplay demo as shown in the 2011 Tokyo Game Show. The video showed that Ninja Theory listened to the fans and they changed Dante's appearance. Whilst not significantly, they did add some muscle and changed his facial features to at least resemble a younger version of Dante with shorter, albeit black hair (which has also been given a slight make-over). However, we already know Dante's white hair is making a return in some level, so all is well with the fans in that regard. When it comes to Dante's attire, they now resemble the clothes worn by Nero from Devil May Cry 4, which is a massive improvement as well. All in all, an incredible advancement if you ask me. 

Gameplaywise however, the trailer does show that they haven't gone far beyond the gameplay established in previous installments, which makes me wonder why this reboot was even necessary. Still, that doesn't mean this game could be incredibly fun to play, more so with the old Dante seeping back in to the new one. 

DMC is set to be released sometime in 2012 for the PS3 and the 360. 

Source: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/tgs-11-devil-may/720943

Max Payne 3 trailer

2011-09-14T20:05:00.000+02:00

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Max Payne 3 - Debut Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

The Remedy Entertainment developed, 3d realms produced and Rockstar Games ported franchise returns for its third installment. This time, Rockstar is soly behind the wheels, driving forth this game to success.

Once again we find our hero Max in a Third Person Shooter, this time driven by the Rage and Euphoria engines. Returning to his part is voice actor James McCaffrey, who will now also provide the motion capturing a la Uncharted.

"Leaving the gritty film noir New York City of Max Payne and its sequel behind for a more tropical environment (though still a major city), Max Payne's next game takes him to São Paulo, Brazil. According to the latest Game Informer scans from the magazine's July issue cover story, the "disrepute" Mr. Payne has fallen into can be attributed to 12 "lost years" between the events of the first two Paynes and the upcoming game."

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/13/max-payne-3-details-from-game-informer-hit-the-web

Also included in the game will be a multiplayer mode.

Personally I am quite looking forward to this installment of the franchise. Whilst I found the first two games to be masterpieces in their days, they aged abysmally and I find myself unable to play them due to certain sections of the games. So I'm quite looking forward to playing this third game, that seems to be going a new direction whilst still maintaining that Film Noir vibe.

Developed for Windows, the 360 and the PS3, Max Payne 3 is slated for a release in March of 2012

Step up 4 anncounced

2011-09-10T12:33:00.000+02:00

Officially announced by Summit Entertainment was another sequel to the Step Up franchise. Step Up is a series of dance movies where two worlds collide and where they have to work together for the same cause. With each sequel, the stakes have gone higher, and so has this one. What with the official description reading as follows:

"STEP UP 4 is the next installment in the worldwide smash Step Up franchise, which sets the dancing against the vibrant backdrop of Miami. Emily, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer, but soon falls in love with Sean, a young man who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mobs. The crew, called the MOB, strives to win a contest for a major sponsorship opportunity, but soon Emily's father threatens to develop the MOB's historic neighborhood and displace thousands of people. Emily must band together with Sean and the MOB to turn their performance mobs into protest mobs, and risk losing their dreams to fight for a greater cause."

Whilst the first two Step Up movies remain to be favorites in my DVD collection, the third installment failed to provide me with anything more than the feeling of the creators saying "GIVE US MONIEZ". Unfortunately, the best thing about Step Up 3D was the appearance of the MSA crew from Step Up 2, who were all a sight for sore eyes. The only appealing character of the movie thus far had been Moose, who was part of the MSA crew as well in Step Up 2. Here's to hoping that for once, the sequel curse doesn't strike twice.

Step Up 4 is set to be released on August 10, 2012 and will star Kathryn McCormick, Ryan Guzman and Stephen Boss.

Source - http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=81941

R.I.P. Bubba Smith

2011-08-04T13:39:00.000+02:00

February 28 1945 - August 3 2011

Bubba Smith, well known for his performance as Hightower in the Police Academy series, has passed away of natural causes at the age of 66. Rest in peace, mister Smith, and condolences to your family and friends.

Wait, it's been how long?

2011-07-17T13:39:00.000+02:00

Life can be kinda crazy, can't it? One moment you're admiring your latest piece of work and the next you're wondering where time has gone, since your latest piece of work was a long while ago. A lot has happened in that short time that I haven't written a single thing, and I was left wondering what I've been doing to forget writing content! A lot...

Firstly, there's a new addition to the family that's been keeping me rather busy. Namely, a cat. Named her Lara. It's more of a personal thing, really. I remember back in the good ol' days when I was but a whee lad and I was playing Tomb Raider on my playstation. Well, Tomb Raider II as it was the first game I got for it. The person that recomended me this game was my uncle. And, with him and my mother, we tackled the game together from beginning to end. And, also Tomb Raider III and IV. Now it was my uncle that brought this little black cat to our doorstep, so it seemed appropriate. Thank the gods the cat's a girl.

Anyways, there's also been a lot of other things that have kept me busy like, you know, life. There's been plenty of things happening in the real world here, like a braderie, it's a festival where all the shops put out stalls and there's also a lot of activities for kids and adults alike. And it's a few days sort of thing. There was also an evening market that had me knocked out for a few days. (My weight + Moving slow as fuck for 4 hours kind of does the trick) Next up was a parade and the World Festival of Folklore! Lots and lots of stuff, as you can see. Haven't even touched some of the more, personal things.

Doesn't mean that I've been doing nothing content-wise, though. Not at all. You see, I've been writing a novel. For years now. And, the reason why I haven't been writing other things much is because I was way too wrapped up in finding a decent setting and a decent way of writing. Over the years I've deleted as many pages as I've written, and it's really getting to me. I want to see it finished, damn it!

So, one day you wake up and head on over to your site. You log in, check the feed to see if there was a comment and notice that you've written diddly-squat for a long time. And then you look ahead in to your future and realize that the time is coming that you are going to have even less time on your hands. After sitting there in silence, you suck it up and move on, hoping that one day you'll get off your lazy ass and do something. You can only hope that once you're off your lazy ass, it isn't already too late.

Green Lantern: First Flight review

2011-07-01T17:14:00.000+02:00

Green Lantern: First Flight
Review

In 2009, Warner Brothers released its fifth installment in their DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. The movie, Green Lantern: First Flight, was a direct to DVD animated movie written by Alan Burnett and Michael Allen, whilst being directed by Lauren Montgomery.

Whilst the movie as a whole is in fact an origins story for the Emerald Knight, most of it was already brought forth in another animated movie entitled Justice League: The New Frontier. Because of this, Montgomery admits, they condensed the whole character arc of Jordan overcoming himself to become a hero for the greater good.
This means that there isn’t all that much character development going on for our main character, Hal Jordan. However, this doesn’t mean that the guy stays a blank slate. It keeps the man a mystery whilst still showing us how he really is via his actions and behavior throughout the movie.

The main story of the movie revolves around the conflict that arose because of how Hal Jordan obtained his powers, and how this conflict is used by another party to further their goals in their fight against The Guardians, an immortal race that uses the Green Element to feed the Green Lantern Battery and maintain their group of peacekeepers. Resulting in a final fight that will ring familiar to anyone who knows something about the Green Lantern universe.
Whilst the main villain of the day should be obvious to everyone who can either read the subtitles or hear the audio, the rest of the story is well put together to at least hide what happens throughout. And, after doing some research, there is a plot twist in this movie that should even be a shock to those who are avid fans of the series.
At the end of the day, this isn’t your run of the mill superhero movie, as there are several moments that are pretty damn dark. A few deaths for example are quite graphic in nature and the implied death of many others is just as gruesome.
As stated previously, character arcs aren’t exactly this movie’s greatest strength. Whilst on the other hand, characterization is something that comes quite easily. Many of the more forward Green Lanterns like The Guardians, Kilowog and Sinestro, are given very distinct personalities and are fun to watch whilst on screen. Well, Sinestro maybe not so much.

In regards to the quality of the animation, it’s safe to say that it is definitely up to par with other of DC’s titles such as Superman: Doomsday and many of the Batman movies. The animation could be said to be an upgrade in quality from the Justice League animated series. When the animation really shines is when there are action scenes. These scenes are well animated, directed and will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Setting the bar once again, DC provides a slew of actors and actresses that never seem to fumble the ball and deliver a performance that is solid throughout the line. The biggest star of the bunch is Michael Madsen, a magnificent actor who here plays the role of Kilowog. Whilst the other actors and actresses might be known better by face, that doesn’t mean that they are any less talented.
The music can be both bombastic and epic as smooth and in the background. Not once does the music really stand out because of how present it is or how bad it is. Not that the music was ever bad. It’s just there to enhance the experience, which it does fantastically well.

When you look at this movie when the credits roll by, you can’t help but think that in the end, this was one fantastic movie. What it did, it did right. And what it didn’t do, was barely missed. In the beginning you might think that they might have gone deeper in to Hal Jordan’s origins a bit more, as he seems to be a natural born Lantern from the first second. But, when you look at what might have been cut, you’re glad they cut that part short.

10/10

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!

Bioware Sequels

2011-06-30T14:03:00.000+02:00

Bioware Sequels

The main subject of this blog are two of the leading titles that Bioware currently has to offer. Previous these two games were a pair of games that are, to this day, beloved by many. However, much like time itself, these two franchises moved on as well. Some say for the better. Some say for the worse.

One is a title called Dragon Age II. It’s a Western RPG set in a fantasy world, where Dragons still roam and humans live alongside elves, dwarves and other races. The game was developed by Bioware’s Edmonton studios and published by Electronic Arts for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Windows and Mac OS X.

The other is a game titled Mass Effect 2. Another Western RPG set in space. A space opera with Faster Than Light traveling spaceships and several unique alien races. Once again the game was developed by Bioware and published by Electronic Arts for the PC and the Xbox 360. With a Playstation 3 version that came much, much later.

But first, let’s talk a bit more about the games that came before.

Dragon Age: Origins was a lengthy endeavor that sought to bring the MMORPG feel in to a single player experience. The world in which you traversed was rich in details and, most importantly, in history. Playing through DA:O felt more like you were reading a book in the The Lord Of The Rings series where Tolkien creates this wonderful world where every character, every town, every city and even every nook and cranny has a history so rich that you’d think it was real. Most notably, this first game was known to be brutal in the gameplay department.
Clear from the start was the fact that the first Dragon Age was meant to played on the computer, where one would be playing with a mouse and keyboard. Each fight was a struggle, from beginning to end, as you never really had the chance to level your character and the enemies were all very tough and numerous. This forced you to use your brain and strategize above all else. Made even more difficult with the MMORPG inspired gameplay.
Mass Effect on the other hand was an RPG using Third Person Shooter gameplay. There was wiggle room for exploration, but you never really deviated from the path. Sure, there were hubs scattered about that acted like towns, but these were in between the running and gunning.
Much like Dragon Age, Mass Effect was rich with history and details as well, giving the player ample articles to read on planets, races, ships, weapons and more. And, much like DA as well, the game was a healthy mix of both elements of gameplay as it mixed RPG with TPS quite well.

Then came EA.

Both Dragon Age II as Mass Effect II had a dramatic shift in focus after EA became involved. Whilst the formula for the previous games was focusing on balance, their sequels focused solely on streamlining the experience and minimizing the RPG elements as much as humanly possible without going outside of the “RPG” zone. Because in the end, Dragon Age II is an adventure game and Mass Effect II is a Third Person Shooter.
For Dragon Age II, gameplay was changed so that you barely had to use strategy anymore, save for a few bosses that did have some pretty powerful attacks in their arsenal. But overall, you barely had to pay attention to the other members of your party. Whenever an attempt was made to use strategy, it became abundantly clear that going through enemies had become far, far too easy.
The one thing that did deserve an applause was when they added an attack button. Whilst in the first Dragon Age you had an auto-attack, you now had to continuously push the attack button to create combo’s. A welcome addition that really pulls you in to the fight even more.
Most of the first part of the game, I was able to go through the story without even changing my armor, save for the weapon. That is how easy the game had become. Never mind when you get a healer in your party that whips you back to health in no time during combat.
Mass Effect 2 was given a similar treatment. Whilst you did have to change your tactics to deal with the different kinds of enemies, going through them was still a breeze. In the end you will find yourself going through the motions during combat, as nothing exciting ever really happens. You never really get in to real danger and fights never seem to drag on. All you do is go from one hiding spot to the next, peek out and shoot down everyone who doesn’t have a smile on their face.

What both these games do right however are the conversations. Mind you, I said conversations … not story. Those aren’t worth mentioning. Mass Effect II’s gameplay wasn’t what drove me away from it running and screaming, but it was the severe and utter lack of an interesting story. Dragon Age II had the same faith. No, what drives these two games forward in the narrative compartment are the conversations you have with the various characters that you come across. Much like the history of the races and the cities, their history is what is most interesting. Not to mention the personalities of said characters themselves. DAII for example has a fine selection of traveling companions to select from. Save for captain whiny pants. Your main character has a brother and a sister, twins. Depending on which class you start as, you get one of the two. The brother is a warrior and the sister a mage. But damn it, that brother is one of the most single annoying characters I have ever had the displeasure of traveling with. Made me wish for Navi.

Does that make these two bad games? Not in the slightest. They’re boring, yes, but not bad in the slightest. As a matter of fact, I am willing to go as far as saying that Dragon Age II is a better game than Origins. Still, that doesn’t excuse that this was its end result. For a company as revered as Bioware, we expected these games to be the second coming of Ocarina of Time. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case at all.
Would I recommend purchasing these games? Yes. Dragon Age II is a standalone story that follows the events of Dragon Age: Origins. You really don’t have to have played that one to play this one. And Mass Effect 2 is perfectly follow able as well. Especially on the Playstation 3 where there is a motion comic in the game that explains what happened in ME1 and allows you to choose the way the story unfolded there.
Would I recommend purchasing these at full cost? No.

R.I.P. Peter Falk

2011-06-24T21:01:00.000+02:00

1927 - 2011

Rest in peace

Peter Falk is best known these days for his part playing the legendary police officer: Columbo. He has finally lost the struggle against dementia and Alzheimers, says his adopted daughter, Catherine Falk.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic review

2011-06-23T18:11:00.003+02:00

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
A review

Well, I can save you plenty of trouble and give you a review in two words:

(those would be Me Gusta, for all you living under a rock folk)

In the last quarter of 2010, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic began airing on television. Developed by Lauren Faust, the show was aimed to the demographic of young and female. Little girls, to be more exact. But what followed next, was something that nobody could have predicted. Shortly after the show’s original airing, Cartoon Brew published an essay entitled "The End of the Creator-Driven Era in TV Animation", which criticized the brand-backed show and said that "today networks clearly prefer established properties over original ideas, and dislike dealing with individual artists who have a clear creative vision".
The members of the 4chan message board /co/ got wind of this essay and found it to be a rather questionable essay, thus beginning to watch the show as well. And… well, they warmed up to it. This spread to 4chan’s most infamous board, /b/. From there on out it was completely out of control.
The fandom of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has grown exponentially amongst people of all ages. These fans of the show have started to call themselves “bronies”, a term which can be split up between Bro and Pony.
And, honestly, after watching five episodes … I have to agree that this isn’t just one big massive joke.

The story of Friendship is Magic takes place in the magical Equestria, ruled over by Princess Celestia and her sister. Our main heroine is a young pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle, a bookworm through and through who’s only friend is a baby dragon by the name of Spike. Whilst the first two episodes are a two-parter, the others are stand-alone in nature. It’s in these episodes that we are introduced to our other heroes: the hyperactive fun-lover Pinky Pie, the tomboyish and loyal Rainbow Dash, the kind and shy Fluttershy, the glamorous and generous Rarity and finally the honest and always helping Applejack.
It’s at the end of this two-partner that Twilight is given an assignment of princess to learn more about friendship by staying in Ponytown alongside her friends. From there on the stories are stand-alone, whilst still moving the overarching plot along by an ending narration by Twilight, stating what she has learned about friendship.
Staying true to the nature of these kids shows, each episode has something to teach to the young minds that are watching. Fun is that it doesn’t shove these messages down everyone’s throat, but delivers it with a simple yet funny and heartwarming story.

What I like about this show is how it manages to appeal to all ages like that, using a brand so girlish that the vast majority of boys wouldn’t even touch the toys unless it was to perform “experiments” on them that would result in Mad Scientist level freaks of nature. Many of the jokes used are written quite well and are in fact solid enough to make even adults laugh in enjoyment. Not to mention the slapstick used in the animation that reminds me of cartoons aimed for an older audience.
Now that the topic of animation has come up, I can say that it is very stylized. It uses a lot of colors and tends to go for some very cute imagery, definitely intended for girls of a younger age. But, as a manly man … that is watching My Little Pony, I can safely say that it is very well done. Kinda reminiscent of Batman: The Brave and the bold, in terms of animation.

Ending notes:

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is a children’s cartoon that is enjoyable for all ages. If you’re still prone to turn on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon from time to time, then feel free to give this show a try. And even if you aren’t, check out the first five episodes at the very least.
Parents, don’t be afraid to show this to your kids … no matter which gender they might be.

9/10

Never did I ever think to voluntarily watch episodes of My Little Pony. It was a girl’s show with girly toys and pinkness everywhere. And so, when the entire internet went cuckoo-bananas over this show, I just had to check it out for myself. And as you can see, I don’t regret it in the slightest.

I think I’m a Brony now. My god.

Anon - The Plan begins

2011-06-17T22:28:00.000+02:00

More after the jump

Anon
The Plan begins

What is Anon? Anon stands short for Anonymous. Originating on a message board called 4chan, Anon began as nothing more than a designation for the people that posted a comment without using a registered account. The standard name for these people was "Anonymous" followed by a number. And so they slowly started, like a seed that sprouts in to a plant. People banded together to form a group that would seek justice for those that were wronged or that would bring the lulz wherever it was waranted.
Anonymous is, as their name suggests, anonymous. They have no leaders, no headquarters, no anything. The only way they identify themselves is via a logo, an M.O. and a set of ideals. As previously seen with the Sony attacks, they do not harm consumers.
Once they realized that what they were doing affected innocent people, they backed off. But, that doesn't mean that when there are people waving the Anon flag whilst harming innocent people, they aren't Anon. Therein lies the problem.

"We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."

The video above was posted on June 15th of 2011. Anonymous announced the beginning of their one year plan, simply entitled "The Plan."

This particular video announced the beginning of Phase One of their three phase plan. By the end of this plan, the world as we know it should have drastically changed.

"PHASE 1: Better yourself. Spread the message. Be the message."

A simple, yet very important part of their plan is to enlighten the people of the world. To have them open their eyes and see the system for what it truly is.

"*Educate yourself on the depths of the system, the functions put it place to inhibit true freedom as well as the mechanisms within the system that motivate the masses to subconsciously accept giving up those freedoms. The structures within the system that promote division within the people of the countries of this world and the injustices that are placed upon the people.

*Spread the message. Share this video and the website with everyone you can. Make your own videos, songs, art, graffiti etc... spreading the word that we are here, the movement is taking hold. Expect us.

*Learn ways that will allow you to break free from the system. Start small and implement them in your daily lives. This will be implemented as a focus of Phase 2 as well, escalating what you have learned.

*ANON hackers - begin supporting the movement. This is a calling to all of you for the aid of this movement. Low-priority targets are your engagement. Assist with the movement and spread the message of "The Plan".

The resistance is here.
Expect us."

As it stands, the first part of their plan is in fact a part that I myself stand behind. With the world as it is today, the people are too in the dark of what's really going. We have been living in this system for so long, that the majority of people either blindly go along with it or they don't even realize what's going on. Usually, the only time a change is implemented in the system, is when things make a turn for the worst.

Still, hacking and vandalizing is something I'm not a fan of in the slightest. If it weren't for Anonymous, we wouldn't have LulzSec out there, giving out passwords by the dozen or taking down government websites.

Even though this first part of the plan is admirable, I still get this sneaky suspicion that the excrement has yet to hit the fan. We'll just have to wait five more months to see what happens. It could all just be one big joke, who know?

E3 2011 - Nintendo Conference

2011-06-07T20:46:00.000+02:00

I’d like to start this blog the same way I did the Sony one. Because of some backwards assed logic that I fail to grasp, people seem to think that Nintendo is the big, uncontested winner of E3. Unfortunately for them, that is far from the case. They mostly took the same path as Sony did with their conference. From beginning to end, they littered the conference with business. There was little to no crowd pleasing to be found other than some of the footage. Where Nintendo went wrong though, is that they chose to take what they have, condensed all of the interesting stuff in to one quick video and go on endlessly about PR and things already discussed in E3 2010. They had nothing to show us besides their new “console” and one game everyone seems to be fangasming about, even though it’s the one single solitary game nobody has heard of yet.
No, Sony is the best out of the big three, with Nintendo coming in on a close second.

The Conference was opened with a cool Zelda montage of all the games. Playing is a badass version of the Zelda theme that … wait … yes, it is performed by a live orchestra. And thus, this is badass beyond belief. The video might have been on the long side, but that is perfectly okay with such a powerful song backing it up. Ending the video is a message saying that it was a tribute for the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda.

Myamoto comes on stage to talk about Zelda’s evolution, then moving on to talk about the music in these games. He asked the Orchestra to play some tunes of the game. It sounds very, very good. A very good way to open a conference, even if it did end up going nowhere.
He then said that for the anniversary, Nintendo had prepared a Zelda title for each of their systems. There’s Link’s Awaking as a downloadable game. There’s Ocarina of Time on the 3DS. There’s Four Swords on DSIware, for free. And lastly there’s Skyward Sword for the Wii, which will come with a special, gold Wii-remote for the people who register their copy of the game first.
Following this he talks about how there will be several Symphony Concerts around the world to commemorate the anniversary of the series.
Two soundtracks will also be released. One will be a Ocarina of Time soundtrack whilst the other will be a soundtrack of the Orchestra.
After a quick thank you to all of the Zelda fans, Myamoto splits and leaves us a last music cue.
By the end of this section, I was seriously fed up with it. It lasted way too long for so little announcements. Still, a free game was announced!

Iwata joins the stage, making a speech to build up hype for something. Cockteasingly enough, this resulted in absolutely nothing. Segways in to 3DS video showing new titles will be on it like Starfox, Mario, Kid Icarus and Luigi’s Mansion 2. The last game is the only new game announced so far. And the video was over way too fast.

Reggie Fils-Aime, the American God of Nintendo, comes on stage to show more 3DS titles like Mario Kart, which has a few new features like customizable cars. Star Fox 3DS that uses the D-Pad and Nintendo’s version of the six-axis and on screen videochat. Super Mario 3D, which is a 2.5 D sidescroller with 3D plat forming action as well.
Then comes a Wii title, Kid Icarus Uprising, which is very much like a Kingdom Hearts game. Ending with a teaser of a Kid Icarus Card Game.

In comes a 2 minute video of a slew of 3d party games for the 3DS. There’s a Resident Evil game, a Mario and Sonic game, an Ace Combat game, a Tetris game, a Cave Story game, Resident Evil: Degeneration, Driver: Renegade, Pac-Man, Tekken 3D and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D. Impressive, but the fact that Nintendo is so blasé about it, doesn’t inspire much confidence.

Reggie announces classic Game Boy and console title for Virtual Console. Like a 3D version Exitebike.

And Pokédex 3D is coming! We learn as Reggie seriously is explaining to us what a Pokédex is. Da fuck …

Iwata comes back on stage for the biggest, and only real, revelation of the show. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Nintendo boys have a brand new console, and it’s the Wii U. Or is it? No, it’s a controller! No, it’s a console? WHAT IS IT?
Here’s the skinny that I had to learn AFTER THE CONFERENCE. (Fail): There is a new HD console on the way called the Wii U. It will have Internet and HD gaming. What it will also have is a new controller. This controller is what was shown on the floor. And only this. The console itself was nowhere in sight and confused the fuck out of everyone.
But, in the end, it’s the controller that makes the Wii U interesting. It’s shaped like a Giant Etch-A-sketch shaped PSP that acts as a controller and as an iPad with the screen on the controller itself. It will be able to connect to the console in a way that’s quite unique. You can switch the channel on the TV and get your Wii U console to wirelessly show the image on the screen on the controller.
In the end, it’s a very impressive piece of technology that is the best we’ve seen on any of the conferences so far. With the Vita coming in on a close second.
Also announced is a Smash Brothers title for both the Wii U and the 3DS

Reggie comes back on stage with a Tech Demo for the device. And here is where I noted down that the Wii U had better graphics than the console it’s for. Because NOBODY TOLD US THERE WOULD BE A CONSOLE FOR THE DAMNED THING. They kept on saying that it was a controller and then suddenly say console, but everyone assumed they meant controller. Anyways. The Wii U will also have Super Mario Brothers Mii, a SMB game that will allow you to play as your Nintendo Mii avatar.
Also announced is Lego City Stories for the 3DS and Wii U, which is an open world, action packed title.
And once again we get a magnificent video … in 2 minutes. The second most interesting things of the entire conference are these videos and they’re criminally short. It showed 3rd party Wii U titles. Like: Batman: Arkham City, Darksiders 2, Alien: Colonial Marines, Metro, Ninja Gaiden 3, Ghost Recon Online.

Following this is EA’s Recciitello (THAT WAS THE GUY’S NAME. Sheesh!) who talks about the many possibilities the Wii U has for EA titles.
And then Reggie comes out to finish the show.

See what I meant at the beginning of this blog? This expo is for the investors. And Nintendo has shown 90% old E3 2010 news. Sure, the remaining ten percent is mind blowing, but come on. If all you have to show for a conference this long is 3rd party games and a new console (Both should have been realized years ago) then, I’m sorry. But, no. It’s great that they finally got their act together, but that doesn’t earn them first place.

E3 2011 - Overstrike

2011-06-07T16:52:00.000+02:00

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the team of OverStrike, in their new IP directly from E3! The entire ensemble of this team has this Killzone ragtag team feeling, alongside the usual, top notch humor from Insomniac games. Plus, it has this stylized look to it which will make everything perfect. No realistic bullshit. Fantastic.

E3 2011 - Brothers in Arms: Furious 4

2011-06-07T16:47:00.000+02:00

Looks to me like this is a well made Inglorious Basterds: The Game. This is what it reminded me off when the pitch for this game was given during the conference. And, I like it. It looks like something new, instead of the usual WW2 fare. Yes, we know, it was tragic, but if the Tarantino movie is allowed, then why not this? It looks like loads of fun. Kind of has this Left 4 Dead feel as well.

E3 2011 - Starhawk

2011-06-07T16:42:00.000+02:00

A space cowboy with electric powers, a Space Marine, a Decepticon, a warthog and space battles? Honestly, do I need to say more?

E3 2011 - Uncharted: The Golden Abyss

2011-06-07T16:40:00.000+02:00

What we have here is a handheld game for the Playstation Vita that looks like it could very well have been made in the early Playstation 3 days. More specifically, in the days of Uncharted 1. Because the look of this game reminds of that game, only leaning slightly towards Uncharted 2 engine upgrades. The gameplay looks amazingly interesting as well as you aren't forced to use the touchscreen. But, for what it's worth, the Vita controls do add a lot of fun to the gameplay and they look pretty sleek. Definitely something to look out for.

E3 2011 - Sony Conference

2011-06-07T16:32:00.002+02:00

Now, before I begin this thing, I want to first congratulate Sony on yet another successful conference. It was handled quite beautifully. At its core, E3 is an expo for investors. It was Sony’s job to make a show where they show off what they have in store for the future. And, with this conference, they showed the investors that they are stronger than anyone else in the industry at the moment. Save for Nintendo, who still needs to run their show.
Now, the main complaint from everyone else is that the show was boring. Just consider yourselves lucky that you’re even allowed to watch the show. It isn’t meant for you, geniuses. It’s for the investors and for the press as well. These conferences aren’t meant to be awesome and epic. The truth is that Sony did their best to cater to the regular crowd as well. And for that, I give them the first place. For now. As I said, Nintendo is yet to come.

Sony began the show with a more than five minute long video that showcased almost all of the games that were going to be shown at this conference. It might have lasted a tad too long.

Jack Tretton quickly came on stage. First order of business was a discussion about the infamous PSN outage. He addressed the press first and said “you’re welcome”. He then deeply apologized to the third party developers and said thank you to the game retailers that have stuck with them in their time of need. Lastly, Tretton addressed the consumers themselves, apologizing to them. Following this is a PR filled speech that includes a lot of numbers so that the investors know how Sony is doing. He then announces some new partners. First was Cinema Now. Then came Subway, who is doing something Uncharted related.

Wells and Belastra are welcomes on stage and come on hot with a demo for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Drake’s on a large boat, either a cruise or a yacht. It’s a very expensive looking boat with huge chandeliers and red carpets all around. The typical high class stuff. Accentuating the beauty of the rich interior are the more than impressive graphics, that seem to have been given a polish after Uncharted 2. Which is quite impressive on its own. Outside of the interior of the ship is a huge storm that is raging over the waters. And it too looks amazing.
But, after Drake showed that he was a complete and utter badass, he did blow the hull of the ship wide open. The water coming in did look very unrealistic, causing a bit of an uncanny valley moment. This was followed by a rather impressive scene like in Uncharted 2 where Drake was being chased by a truck. Only here it would be a hallway and a flood. That did look very good.
Wells and Balestra then go on to say that the Uncharted 3 multiplayer will be available, in full, at Subway. Not just a beta, but in full.
To finish, they showed a trailer showing Drake is indeed back alongside Chloe, Elena and Bruce Campbell … I mean Sully. All of them must team up to discover another adventure from Nathan’s famous ancestor.

Tretton returns to introduce Marcus Smith from Insomniac presenting a Resistance 3 demo. After a short, but overall involving, story exposition, Smith begins the demo. It appears that the game is a good looking FPS set in a destroyed world with unique weapons and abilities at his disposal. From what we saw, it’s quite clear that this is a third act game, where the action and the stakes are highest. One thing to note is that the gameplay does look a lot more steadily paced, control wise. Unlike CoD which is more fast paced.

Tretton Strikes Back with a Playstation Move Bundle announcement for Resistance 3, a 3D HD remastering of the God of War collection and a collection with 3D HD versions of both ICO as Shadow of the Colossus.
Following this is the announcement that there will be two new Playstation products to enhance the 3D experience. Which will be a Playstation TV, that will come packed with 3D glasses (which is the second product) and Resistance 3 for only $499. The cool thing here is that the 3D functionality of the TV allows for dual screen experiences. Meaning that there will be no split screen. Each player will be looking at their own, separate screen.

Tretton finishes this talk with a PS Move speech, some numbers again and then introduces Snyder and Boenish from 2K Sports.
The announcement is made that NBA 2K12 is now “On The Move”. Yeah, it looks like it could be good make people move. Since, you know, sports game. But, as of now, it doesn’t look like it will contribute anything at all to the gameplay experience.
Koby Bryant is brought in to demo the game, but he fails to make the move functionality remotely interesting. Yeah, the guy is good with the crowd and he does make a good point that the game itself is solid, but the move functionality remains a bust.

Mayer and Ray are introduced to talk about Medieval Moves: Dead Man’s Chest. It’s a Move game through and through where you control a very cartoony character that is either solid, see-through or invisible depending on what you are doing. It actually looks like a fun game, if it is not on rails like most Kinect games are. We weren’t told anything about it, so I can’t make a judgement on it yet. But, if it isn’t, we have a winner right here, folks.

Tretton returns with some Move Ready Title announcements like Spider-man, Transformers, Little Big Planet 2, 007 and more. This then proceeds in to a trailer for inFamous 2. Which comes out tomorrow from when I’m writing this so yeah. Still. WHOO, ZEKE!
He continues to talk about a unique user generated content experience for the game and then makes the announcement that LBP2 will indeed get a Move upgrade, as we’ve only seen this title as a logo on screen.
Continuing on, Tretton introduces a new title created by the men and women behind the Warhawk game. It’s a run-n-gun Third Person Shooter for which we are now seeing a trailer.
It opens to a badass, modernized cowboy with electric powers, partnered by a Space Marine killing monsters. After which we see a Warthog and a Decepticon Transformer. Followed by an epic space battle. Best game idea ever? Yes.

And Tretton is back, talking about a family friendly franchise that started all the way back in 2002. Following this was a trailer for a game many have been crying out for. Namely: Sly 4, now known as Sly Coopter: Thieves in charge. It was a short trailer that didn’t show much except for some cool CGI.
Next up is Pétursson from CCP with DUST 514, a new Playstation exclusive FPS that got an incredibly generic trailer in SPAAAAAAAACE. It’s also cross-platform able to connect to EVE Online for the PC.

Tretton then segways in to a beautiful, realistic yet stylized Bioshock Infinite trailer. It showcased some great potential with awesome set pieces and familiar, but good gameplay.
Levine then gets on stage to discuss the game some more, telling us a story about how he and his company got the idea to implement the Move. But, quite honestly, this just feels like a Move sales pitch then anything else. Because that’s all we get. Other than the announcement that Bioshock will be getting a Vita game at some point down the line.

Even more news coming from Captain Tretton. The entire Bioshock game will also be exclusively put on the Blu-ray disc of Bioshock Infinite. There’s also a new partnership with THQ for some unique Saint’s Row The Third content exclusive for the PS3 including gamemodes and more. These will also be Move oriented. Another exclusive coming the PS3’s way is a full game and a prequel, PSN game to the new Star Trek game based on the J.J. Abrams made universe. It will be a co-op action adventure game that will also be bundled with a Move Peripheral … a Phaser. Oh, hellz yes.
Early footage is also shown and it showcases a very Dead Space like adventure set in the Star Trek universe by Abrams. Definitely has its look and feel.
Even more exclusive content is revealed with 3 EA offers. SSX is getting Mount Fiji. Need for speed: The run, will be getting a special disc with 70 exclusive cars. And lastly, Battlefield 3 will be getting Battlefield 1943 on the same Blu-Ray Disc.
Honestly, this part right here just blew me away. So much free, exclusive stuff. Amazingly well done. And very effective for reeling in potential investors.

Kazuo Hirai is called on stage. After reminiscing about the 10 year plan they drew out not so many years ago, he tells us that they value the trust and loyalty of their consumers and that they value the trust already shown by their them. This segways in to PSP talk, namely a NGP sales pitch. Though the NGP is now officially named. It’s the Playstation Vista! No, wait, it’s Vita. My bad. Thank god.
In short, the Vita is everything you need in terms of service and hardware. Everything that needed to be improved on the PSP’s end, is in fact improved. Sony will partner with AT&T in North America for provider services and information for the rest of the world will be released shortly. There will also be XBL like cross-game chat. And it also has NEAR, which allows your VITA to communicate with nearby VITA’s. Kind of like the 3DS does.

Rohde is welcomed on stage to talk about the games that Vita has to offer. Awesome name. Sounds like Roadie. Anyhoo, Rohde quickly welcomes two new guys on stage. Garver and Reese talk about Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the Vita.
Holy mother of god, that looks AMAZING. If the PSP had PS2 style graphics, then this one definitely has early PS3 style graphics. My god, this is just amazing. This game looks like Uncharted 1. Even the gameplay looks similar. Except it has extras! Because the Vita has a touchscreen, you can also use this to play the game. This by tapping the fight button during close quarters combat or by tapping ledges for Drake to Jump to, using the six-axis in the device as well. He can also tap on screen to pick up weapons and well, you can also stroke over several ledges so that Drake will auto-jump them.
Honestly? This is definitely the game of the conference.

Rohde is back, announcing a social, action oriented RPG with a top down perspective called Ruin. It’s very close at resembling Diablo. What’s so unique about this game is that it is instantly connectable to the PS3. You can be in mid-stab on the Vita and then instantly switch to the PS3 to continue said stab on your TV.

Next up is Mod Nation Racers that uses the touchscreen, six-axes and backpanel to create the tracks. Very ingenious. Oh, the backpanel is a touch sensitive panel that basically functions as a second touchscreen. Only less fragile. But, MNR. It looks like a fun, family game that might as well have been on the PS3. It is, but you know what I mean. It just looks so FANTASTIC.

Rogde continues saying that all Vita titles will have unique cross-platform abilities to communicate with your PS3. He goes on to mention LBP for Vita, saying it will use all previously mentioned innovations to make it the ultimate LBP experience. It’s LBP2, only with awesome new controls.
And then comes the announcement that Street Fighter X Tekken will come to Vita. Using the same Street Fighter 4 style graphics to create a fast paced and exhilarating CGI Trailer.

On stage we now have Yoshinori Ono from Capcom with his translator. (Thank jesus). He announces that Cole from InFamous will be a playable character.
With some short but sweet gameplay from Cole, it’s quickly established that it will basically be Street Fither 4. Literally. You probably won’t be able to tell the difference. Except for the controls, which will include touchscreen controls.

Rohde is back on stage with thanks to all the developers that are working with them to create such fantastic games. He ends his presentation with a PS Vita games trailer that, once again, lasts just a tad too long. Like in the beginning of the conference.

Hirai returns to the floor announcing that the Wi-Fi only Vita wll cost € + $ 249 - 24,980 Yen. The 3D/Wi-Fi model will cost 299 and 24,980 respectively. For what this console offers, I can safely say that this is a very fair starting price. I can’t see how this won’t sell like hotcakes. Very impressive handheld console.

Tretton then comes back on stage and makes a short summary of why Sony is awesome. After a quick goodbye, the conference ends.

That was the Sony Conference, and I hope that you can now see just why this was a fantastic conference. Just look at what they have offered investors compared to Microsoft, EA or Ubisoft.

E3 2011 - Ubisoft Conference

2011-06-07T12:58:00.002+02:00

After the second came the third. So, without further ado: Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the coverage of the Ubisoft conference of E3 2011.

Opening the event is a single video celebrating 25 years of Ubisoft, showcasing a large variety of some of their best games set to a nice piece of music. Effective way of opening up your conference, if I do say so myself.

Yves Guillemot then comes on stage, giving us the usual introduction loaded with prechewed PR phrases. It’s starting to make me sick to my stomach. Yes, we get it, you’re thankful and whatnot. Just get on with already. Ah, there we go.

Guillemot then welcomes on stage the creator of the legendary Rayman franchise: Michelle. He is there to talk about the next installment in the series, a back to 2D sidescroller game called Rayman: Origins. The demo shown to us shows us that the game is exactly what Rayman used to be. It got crisp, cartoony graphics that are filled with a vast array of colors. The game it itself looks genuinely challenging, instead of artificially, which most games tend to be these days it seems. Looks like this could be a fun game to play.
But, as it is, the demo lasted way too long if you look at it from a conference standpoint. Right when the demo wore out its welcome, it stopped and Michelle announced that there will be up to 4-player co-op.

Hopping on stage next is Priceman, who is apparently better known to the world as Mister Caffeine. Noticeable. Quite so, in fact. Gave a small speech about the 25 years that Ubisoft has been around with some funny lines. This lead in to talking about women gamers and then dick jokes. Classy. Then he goes on to talk about games as an adventure. Games that are deep, rich and let you be someone you’d never be in real life. Like a driver? Oh, wait …

Driver: San Francisco trailer comes up and shows, yet again, that gaming has come far. It has beautiful graphics that intensify the action even more. The trailer was strong and promises a good comeback for the series. I just wish that there was some gameplay involved.

Caffeineboy then continues to talk about the game using his best sales pitch. Okay, boss, what’s next? Priceman hands it over to Hay and Keen for a trailer for a particular FPS called Far Cry 3.
It was a nice atmospheric trailer that really set the mood for the entire game. You’re isolated on an island filled with criminals that are out to get you. It also showed that you are quite the badass and that when things get up close and personal, things can get quite visceral. Once more it showed a game with colors. It was beautiful to behold, honestly. I was gobsmacked. But why is this taking so lo- Oh, gameplay. Well then, let’s see what we have here. Looked solid enough with smooth gameplay, brutal knife action and basic commands. It does have a generic stink to it, which makes the storyline the one chance that this game has of being special. Well, maybe the multiplayer as well, but this is a single player showcasing.

Randy Pitchford is up next, discussing a new Gearbox title in the Brothers in arms franchise. He says that, whilst the BiA franchise is about the player experiencing the brutal war between the alliance and axis forces, this new game will be something completely new. Still set in World War 2, Brothers in Arms now has a cast of four. The Furious Four, to be more precise. Brothers in Arms: The Furious Four, could best be described as: Inglorious Basterds: The Game. With amazingly good graphics. YES.

Caffeineman Prime returns to announce Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, handing it over to Jacob Composs.
For the first time we see some gameplay of this installment. It looks like a solid, squad based shooter. But, disregarding that one aspect, I can’t help but feel that it looks like yet another generic, third person shooter with supersuit soldiers. Luckily, after this, we hear some better news. Ghost Recon Online is coming. It’s a PC game that is Free.Of.Charge.

Yo, Mister Caffeine, knock it off already. Your novelty is wearing off. You don’t see Sony putting Kevin Butler on stage all conference long, right? Sheesh.
Caffeineguy hands it over to Henry.

Henry takes the floor and discusses Raving Rabbids on the Kinect by using the lamest skit I have ever seen. Is it me or do these Ubisoft guys think they are actually being funny? At least Caffeine Wonder was funny … at first. Anyways, Raving Rabbids is a standard Kinect party game. Looks amazingly fun with friends, so pick it up cheap for some lulz.

And Captain Caffeine is back! WHOO! … And for what? To discuss gaming as LIFE. For what game, you ask? Just Dance 3. You know, Michael Pachter said in the preshow that he would shoot himself if Ubisoft was dumb enough to showcase this game. He will be missed.

Tony Key talks about a new guitar game. Oh, great, a new plastic guitar game. Well, who gives a flying fu- Oh, it uses an actual guitar? It’s purpose is to teach you how to play guitar? Rocksmith, you just earned my respect if that is actually the case. DO NOT DISSAPOINT.

Video is then shown that shows people play sports. Yay?

Caffeine … marvel … The Human Caffeine … The Amazing Caffeine … The Caffeine Knight … I’m running low on ideas here, people. Well, Priceman comes back on stage and opens up the floor to Alex and Martin to discuss … Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn.

The trailer we get to see is, as usual in this conference, very impressive on a graphical side. The jump between this one and brotherhood is phenomenal. Ezio looks like a badass too. Looks like an old Italy version of Sam Fisher. Oh, hi, Altaïr. Wait, what? Yup, Ezio sees Altaïr walking around as his troubles soar to new heights.
The demo then begins. Once again we are shown that the graphics of this game are simply phenomenal. But, unfortunately, we quickly get to see that the gameplay hasn’t changed much. In the end, the combat is still just as boring and unsatisfying as it was in the previous installments. A damned shame. Still, there seem to be a few more set pieces in place to make the parcours that more impressive and blood pumpingly awesome.

Priceman comes back and finishes the show. Yibbidy-yibbidy-yip, that’s all folks!

E3 2011 - Day 1 wrap-up

2011-06-07T00:52:00.000+02:00

I've just finished watching the Ubisoft conference and I have taken notes. Expect a full coverage of this tomorrow. I'll also be watching the Sony conference then, as right now it's ten to one AM and I'm exhausted.

This has been a fairly exciting day for me with footage from Tomb Raider and the revelation of the new Insomniac game. There's also a little something in the Ubisoft conference that I am very excited for.

Thank you all for being with me so far and please, enjoy E3!

For continued coverage of E3, go to Gametrailers, IGN or Gamespot.com. Gametrailers.com is currently hosting a live show that covers all conferences with additional footage inbetween during interviews and other related things.

E3 2011 - EA Conference

2011-06-06T23:10:00.000+02:00

The second major conference of E3 was done by the guys of Electronic Arts. This is the coverage of said blog, with commentary from little ol’ me. Enjoy!

It all begins with a trailer shot in live action. News reports from all around the world show us that the Earth is under attack. Ladies and gentlemen, Mass Effect 3.
Casey Hudson joins us on stage to talk about the last installment in the epic franchise. He promises that this will cater to all audiences, from the people who have built their story from minute one and those that are just joining the franchise with that game. Everyone gets a conclusion.
From the looks of things, ME3 will be even more action oriented. It’s officially turned in to Gears of War, only with a fancy dialog system. This will split the fans of the game even further apart than they are today. Some will embrace the changes, but others will look back at ME1 and sigh at how low the franchise has fallen. I’m just hoping that it won’t be a snooze fest for a change.
Following this is a trailer called The Fall of Earth, a trailer hitting it home even more as it shows ME has indeed gone to Earth. Might be exactly what the franchise needed.

Rustello come on and builds up hype for a site called Origin.com. After this he continues in to a new Need for Speed game called The Run. He handed it over to another spokesman, Jason Delong, who announced that for the first time ever, the player will be able to go on foot. Unfortunately it’s a la The Bourne Conspiracy and you’re in for a Quick Time Event of a lifetime! It looks exciting though, but might not be that for playing.

Coming next is Zeshuk, presenting us with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Following a very PR heavy sales pitch speech, we see another CGI trailer that really does nothing at all anymore. We’ve already seen this for several years now. A damned shame.

Wait, what’s this? Beautiful mountains? Snow? A crashed plane? THIS CAN ONLY BE ONE THING! HERE IT CO- Snowboarders? Oh, SSX. Cool beans! I used to play the demo of an old SSX all the time. It’s fun for a few plays, but nothing more. So not even this impressive CGI trailer can convince me it’s anything but meh. But, I think this might be fun for fans.

Peter Moore then comes on stage and continues to talk about SSX for a few more moments. After this he moves in to another sports game, namely Fifa ‘12. My first response was nothing positive. But, as it stands, I’m really, really impressed. After a quick but shoddy beginning by mentioning that they’re running on a new engine, Moore quickly turns the tables by saying that Fifa is changing. New gameplay elements will be introduced that will fundamentally change how you play the game. And not just superficial like previous installments, but changes that will make you play strategically and more. Not only that, but he also announced EA Football Club, which basically does what every installment has done before. It automatically updates your game, on all of your Fifa games on all platforms. THIS, is a game changer of immense magnitude for sports games.

Moving on to Football now. (HA!) An uninspired and boring trailer is followed by the appearance of a couple of American Football Celebs that go in to a way to long hype speech. This is the low point of the show. And luckily it’s over pretty fast.

Rustello is back with a new social networking game, namely a face book game called The Sims Social. He announced it by making fun of Farmville. RESPECT.

Next up is Reckoning. The new spokesman makes high claims that the men behind the game are of the highest ranks of their field as they are highly acclaimed all over the place. Unfortunately, what they showed is nothing more than a generic fantasy RPG with a lot of promise to be more. What we need is a lot more info before we can make an accurate view of the game.

Following this is by far the best game of the conference. It’s a game by Insomniac, an already highly valued developer. The game will be on both the PS3 and the 360. It’s name? OverStrike. Prince introduces us verbally to the characters of the game. By the sound, and look of things, they’re a mishmash of people as seen in Killzone 1, only with differences of course. From the trailer that followed, we can gather that the game has the usual Insomniac humor, but that it’s more realistically looking, and amazing looking as well. It’s also very thrilling to behold, the trailer. In total there are 4 agents in the near future that blow shit the fuck up. Definitely a game to watch.

Lastly we have a demo of Battlefield 3, using it’s astounding new engine, the Frostbite 2 engine. Yes, the graphics are the best I’ve ever seen. No, that doesn’t mean that Battlefield 3 is interesting in the slightest. What they showed is unbelievably underwhelming, though it does get the point across that Frostbite is amazing.

Sidenote: I have no idea how you spell Rustello’s name. I tried googling it, binging it and more. Nada. I’ll correct this in my E3 wrap-up blog or in an update blog.

E3 2011 - Update blog

2011-06-06T21:26:00.000+02:00

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is well underway to be a big hit this year as well. With Microsoft's conference out of the way, there's two more left to go before I need to hit the sack. Meaning that I'll be posting my Sony Conference blog tomorrow.

Right now I already have several blogs online regarding E3, including a coverage of the Microsoft conference.

Stay tuned for more and thanks for reading.

E3 2011 - Microsoft Conference

2011-06-06T20:47:00.000+02:00

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the 2011 E3 Microsoft Conference blog, with a bit of commentary from my end. I hope you will find it to be a pleasant read. Don’t forget to leave a comment with your opinion on what was showcased at said conference.

The conference started with a live demo of the latest installment in the Modern Warfare franchise. This third installments takes place around the world, that find itself locked in to World War 3. We find our squad of heroes underwater at first, heading towards a submarine that is about to launch rockets. It’s their job to stop it, and so they must traverse unseen and board the ship unnoticed.
From the darker, first part of the demo, we quickly move above the surface. There we find that New York is burning, half destroyed because of the ongoing war. With this at our background, we make our way on to the sub and fight towards the control room where we stop the rockets and then flee the scene, ending with one final shot of New York. A very dramatic demo with suspenseful action. This might very well be their best installment yet. Talking about the entire Call of Duty franchise here.

Moving on we hear from an Infinity Ward and a Sledgehammer spokesman, giving the usual PR speech of thanking the fans and whatnot.

Don Mattrick comes on stage and welcomes everyone to the conference, then giving an introductory speech with the usual PR nonsense thrown in for good measure. Luckily he doesn’t stay on for long and hands it over to the next guys.

Newberger and Galagher from Crystal Dynamics come on stage and talk Tomb Raider. Wait, no, showcase a demo? Fantastic news! The entire demo is very reminiscent of the opening to Uncharted 2, minus the flashbacks. Lara is injured and needs to press forward through a large set piece in order for the player to get used to the controls a bit. Clear is that this game looks absolutely amazing from a graphical standpoint. Even Lara looks human! As far as gameplay goes, it also has this Uncharted feel to it, which, truth be told, had a Tomb Raider feel to it. So, the student becomes the master I suppose. In all though, it’s quite obvious that this reboot is more realistic, more personal and way grittier than ever before. Ending it all is a music cue so good that it reminded me of the old school games.

Peter Moore comes on stage to say that EA Sports is now fully supported by Kinect.

Moore called in Ray Muzika to talk about Mass Effect 3, and how it too will be Kinect ready. You’ll be able to voice out the dialogue option you want and you’ll be able to command your team. Only problem is that, whilst it’s supposed to bring the player closer to the characters, I think that it might actually distance them in the dialogue part of the controls. But, for what it was worth, it did showcase Mass Effect 3 and it looked like Mass Effect 2, only prettier. Let’s hope that it doesn’t stay that way.

Next up was a CGI trailer for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. It looked fantastic, like most CGI trailers do. Unfortunately that doesn’t say much about the game itself.
In comes Guillemot, who tells his partner Chris to demo an aspect of the game. It’s called Gunsmith. It uses Kinect and it’s … well, have you ever seen Minority Report where Tom Cruise is messing around with those screens? That’s basically how you can do this. You can fully customize your weapon by turning the weapon, removing a part or all parts and even use voice commands. It looks awesome, honestly.
Also, Guillemot informs us that all Tom Clancy titles will have Kinect Support from now on.

Following this, we learn that Xbox Live will now have Youtube, Bing and Live TV. Also reminding us about that old feature that would allow us to use voice commands. Though the example they gave us made you sound like an idiot. “Kinect, Bing”. Urg.

Blandest trailer ever follows.

Dana White comes on with Xbox Live ESPN UFC news. Shows a trailer.

Phil Spencer comes on and gives a speech, then says that all following titles are 360 exclusives.

AND FINALLY, we’re back to something great. Mind you, there’s a lot of minutes between Ghost Recon and this. So, what’s next? Gears of War 3! Cliffy B, get your sexy ass on stage! *cough*
So, Cliffy invites Ice-T to come on as well and together they play a short demo. Like with CoD, they really upped the ante on this one with better graphics, amazingly awesome set pieces and gigantic bosses. Oh, and more Cole Train. “Speaking scientifically: we need to blow its brains out of its ass.”

We then see a trailer for Ryse, a kinect game that has a fantastic trailer. Gameplay looks absolutely bland, but at least the trailer was good.

And now we have the Halo theme, folks. What could it possibly be? Of course! A trailer for the HD remake of the original game!

Greenwald then comes on stage to showcase Forza 4, using music used already by the Saint’s Row The Third trailer. Smooooooooooth.

When Peter Molyneux was announced next, I laughed. Because, by god, he started his speech exactly like he does every time. By spewing a load of manure at the audience as if they think he is god. He presented to us Fable: The Journey. Another Kinect game, this time in the fable universe and in first person. Absolutely bland. But, as is usual in this conference, it’s accompanied by a fantastic trailer.

Spence is back, this time talking about … Minecraft on Kinect. Ok, this is the first real announcement we’ve had all show. This is huge. I mean, really huge. I haven’t played it myself, but it’s wildly popular and maybe one of the best games of the passed few years. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE NE … xt …
Disneyland Adventures, people. The entirety of Disneyland is put in a game, with each ride being turned in to a Kinect game that is about as generic as it gets. This has to be the greatest waste of money we have seen yet. Not even the horrible kid actors can save its blandness.

THANK GOD, Star Wars is he … Kinect Star Wars? Well … Graphically it looks quite impressive. Just like you would expect a Star Wars game to look like. Unfortunately, the rest falls flat on its face. It’s an on-rails game through and through. Plus, it looks like there’s a massive delay between the action in real life and the action on screen. This looks … again … BLAND!

Following this is a game that instantly becomes ten times more awesome than the Star Wars game, simply because it’s made by the man of legend, Tim Schafer. It’s Sesame Street: Once upon a monster. A game for kids, on the kinect. And it actually looks fun to play if you have a kid.

Captain Sunglasses, Tsunada, comes on stage and talks more about Kinect. It’s Kinect Fun Labs, a hub for all content about it. For example: Kinect Finger Tracking, an app made for porn no doubt, and Object Capture, which let’s you scan object and actually play as them.

More Kinect comes next with the trailer for Kinect Sports 2. With Nicole Makila to talk us through it.

Ok, guys, this is getting nowhere fast. This is long, boring and filled with Kinect, which is by far the last thing anyone wanted to see. OH, great, my computer froze. Rebooting the entire thing now. Waiting. Waiting. OKAY, what did I miss … Dance Central 2? Fuck, did I miss seeing someone completely and utterly embarrass themselves? Fuck … ahwell, at least Dance Central is one of the best franchises that Kinect has to offer.

Ending the conference is an announcement that we’re about to see a trailer that will be the first of a trilogy. A game we’ve all been waiting for. Halo 4. Master Chief awakens to explosions and Cortana’s voice calling out to him. He bursts from his cryo-pod and makes his way to the front of the ship after he saved Cortana. A bigger ship is looming right above them. The trailer ends. This is like the single most disappointing thing of the entire conference. We already knew this was coming. It got leaked. SHOW US SOMETHING AT LEAST. But, nooooooo.

This was the Microsoft conference people. Just barely better than last year. Ba-re-ly. E3 is for investors, I know, but the number one way to pull in investors is to have the backing of the people. And with a weak-sauce conference like that, you are more than likely to lose investors than gain em.

E3 2011 - Saints Row The Third trailer

2011-06-06T18:05:00.000+02:00

Remember how much fun Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was? Yes, it was, wasn't it? I mean, my god! The things you could do, the ludicrous characters and the what in the fuck plot. It was glorious. Whilst Grand Theft Auto went on to more serious routes with GTA IV, a new franchise sprouted in San Andreas's honor. That was Saints Row. A sequel soon came and trumped GTA IV in almost all but the technicals of it all. I mean, you could literally spew shit from your truck at other people. And here we are again! The Third Street Saints are back in action with this sequel to a wildly popular franchise. And I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Judging from this trailer alone, it's safe to say that the developers are still up to their old trick. Hijinks will follow, I guarantee.

E3 2011 - Postal 3 Trailer

2011-06-06T17:58:00.000+02:00

Tags: GameTrailers.com, E3 2011: Exclusive Grindhouse Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Postal is one of the most offensive games to have ever been released. Postal 2 upped the ante even more. Although it did have support from Gary Coleman. Just sayin'.

And now the team behind the madness returns with the third installment to this oh so glorious franchise. I have to say that I find the previous two games to be hilariously offensive, maybe even gloriously so. It's everything that Fox News says gaming is, and then some. And yet ... it's oh so awesome.

Postal Dude is back and promises us more of the same. It looks like the quality of the game is severely lacking in the graphics and sound department, but when you look at it from a grindhouse perspective, they couldn't have chosen a better style.

E3 2011 - Tomb Raider Reboot Trailer

2011-06-06T17:53:00.000+02:00

Tomb Raider is a franchise long thought to be extinct, burried underneath a pile of rubble to be discovered by the new king: Uncharted. Luckily, Crystal Dynamics seems to have pulled themselves together. And now, in colaboration with Square-Enix, CD is creating a game that goes back to Lara's roots. Considering that they have done miracles with Tomb Raider before, I'm certain that this reboot will be a grand return of Lara Croft!

E3 2011

2011-06-06T17:48:00.001+02:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's the season to be jolly! E3 has arrived. And it will be glorious. As usual, this entire event is packed to the rafters with content of all shapes and sizes. I'll try to do my best to give you a few of the things that pop out to me, give you my opinion and move on. With any luck, I'll be able to give you reports on the conferences as well. So, stay tuned!

For those of you who don't know, the E3 expo is an expo for the big gaming companies to showcase their stuff to, mainly, investors. The press is also invited, of course, and it usually involves a slew of fantastic reveals saves for this expo specifically.

JAG: The art and the beautiful

2011-06-05T13:22:00.001+02:00

Jumper's Art Gallery

The Art and the Beautiful

This is a signature of Elliot Reid from the show Scrubs. Not exactly the finest of my signatures, but it was something I felt like making at the time.

This is an avatar that goes along the Sub-Zero signature.

This is a signature of the Mortal Kombat character known as Sub-Zero. I'm using a style I saw used by a fantastic artist known as Jawshy. Decided to try it out once to broaden my artistic horizons

This is a signature of The Blue Beetle, a DC character that has recently come to my attention again. First, a few years ago, via Linkara and his AT4W Blue Beetle tribute, and once again yesterday in his appearance in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. At least, I saw that episode yesterday.

This is a signature made by me for the rebooted version of Tomb Raider, currently in development by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square-Enix.

I'm in love with this game already and all we have at the time of posting is a single trailer.

Formspring up!

2011-05-25T20:02:00.000+02:00

Formspring has a very specific purpose, like Twitter. The point is that you sign up, or not, and ask a user a question that this user might answer. It's a very fun site that allows one to quickly and easily add your friendslist of Facebook, Twitter and more to your follow list on that site.

Ask me anything over here : http://formspring.me/PuddleJumperOne

Lack of updates

2011-05-15T12:46:00.000+02:00

I've hit a bit of a writer's block, truth be told. I know, HOW CAN THIS BE? But, it's true. I've been meaning to write a review on Dragon Age 2 AND Mass Effect 2, but I find it to be extremely difficult. I've been meaning to try it via a different approach.

And, because of this little snag, I just find myself at a full block for anything else. So, until that's resolved ... I do hope it ends soon though.

Hidden Object Games

2011-05-05T23:36:00.003+02:00

PJ reviews
Hidden Object Games

A new genre of games has come on to my radar in the passed few weeks. This genre is that of the Hidden Object variety. Bearing close resemblance to the Point and Click adventures of old, a Hidden Object Adventure has you roaming around a territory, going through a story by solving puzzles and riddles. For most of the puzzles to solve, you come across a large backdrop in which plenty of objects have been placed. You need to find specific items within this heap, which usually results in you finding an item that you need to solve an environmental puzzle, like a key to open a door or a blade to cut a rope.

Bringing forth an excellent example of the genre is the title: Nightfall Mysteries: The Asylum Conspiracy, a game by Big Fish Games. In this game you follow the young Christine as she sets out for the Ashburg Asylum on a remote island. Her journey there serves but a single purpose, and that is to find her lost grandfather. He was a patient there and there has been no word from him. With the Asylum being abandoned, Christine has a good ways to go before she will be able to find him. Unfortunately, the place isn’t quite as abandoned as she was lead to believe. And so the player is sucked in to an Asylum of secrets and horrors.
The game opens up on a dock, where you can search around for something of help or to move on to the next screen. A screen in most of these games is a broad angle of a scenery, in this case the docks, the waters around it and the road up to the asylum. Moving from this screen to the next entails a simple click of the mouse when hovering close to the edge of where you want to go. There are two kinds of things you need to watch out for here. One is a Hidden Object puzzle and the other is a Search puzzle. Searching means nothing more than examining something from close by, which is usually a part of or is an environmental puzzle. The first Hidden Object puzzle is a bulletin board, which is littered with bugs, newspaper articles and various other items including a flag of a country. There’s a list of items on the bottom of your screen that you need to find to finish the puzzle.
And so the game goes on, taking you from one location to the other, propelling you further in to the asylum through means of the story, which is short but sweet.
In the end, the game isn’t that very long. But for what it’s worth, which is only 5 bucks on the site itself, it’s a fun game that should keep you entertained for a little while.

The thing about this game is that the graphics usually are of quite the astonishing quality. More than once you’ll see that graphics on games like these will be far superior to those found on AAA titles of today. That’s because the only graphics are still screens with a bit of animation, but that doesn’t change the fact that they can be quite stunning to look at.
I’ll give you even more by saying that the music in these games match the scale of the graphics and are very fun to listen to.

I’ll be the first to admit that I looked down on Casual games. Not because of what they are, but because of what they are doing to the industry. Everyone is looking to take a piece of the casual pie, which means streamlining games and making them more accessible. And everyone seems to be wanting to make these games as well. Which means a huge load of sub-par shovel ware that is being passed off as a game when in the end, they’re only wasting the time of the developer and the consumer.
There is one uncanny trend with casual games that I surely do not wish to bleed in to the AAA title world. Ever heard of Bejeweled? Yes? Good. No? Where in the hell have you been living? Anyhoo, now go to a random casual games website and tell me just how many Bejeweled clones there are? Riiiiiiiiiight. It’s quite unnerving. And then there’s Zynga, that openly says to the world that they want their developers to steal as much as they can, as long as it means meeting the deadline or making the game fun.

It’s a damned shame that all of this is going on because there really are gems in the casual game business, like Hidden Object games. I really hope that you give these games a chance.
If you want a to try out a game for free, many of these Hidden Object games have free one hour trials. If that’s not your cup of tea, try out Gardens of Time on Facebook. Truth be told, the only game on that place worth a damn. GoT can be found here: http://apps.facebook.com/gardensoftime/

Osama Bin Laden dead

2011-05-02T16:22:00.000+02:00

March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011

Osama Bin Laden dead

In Abbottabad, Pakistan, U.S. forces in co-operation with the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States of America have killed Bin Laden in a covert operation. Along with Bin Laden, three men and women were killed.

Bin Laden was the man in charge of the terrorist organization known as Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda were the ones responsible for the loss of a major, New York Landmark, severe damage to the Pentagon, the destruction of several planes and the killing of thousands of innocent people on September 11'th of 2001.

My thoughts go out to the people left behind in the wake of 9/11 and the wars that were the direct result of this horrible event.

PSN Debacle - Credit Card information up for sale

2011-04-29T18:01:00.000+02:00

PSN Debacle - Credit Card information up for sale

Up until now, it was never clear if any information had actually fallen in to hacker's hand. Sure, there had been a breach, but the information had been encrypted. That has all changed now as the hackers that have committed the crime are now offering them on underground hacker forums.

Possible test runs of this information have already been reported in Australia and Germany, as two individuals noticed charges in the thousands of dollars area on their credit cards.

Kevin Stevens, a security analyst with Trend Micro, had this to tweet:

"The hackers that hacked PSN are selling off the DB. They reportedly have 2.2 million credits cards with CVVs"

This basically means that the hackers could pretty much have taken ... well, everything. From full names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, passwords, dates of birth, credit card numbers, CVV2s ["card verification values," the three-digit security code used to confirm the validity of the card in transactions where the card isn't present] to expiration dates. However, as it stands, Stevens hasn't seen the database for himself and thus can not be certain if all of this has any merit to it.

Amongst the speculations are claims by the hackers themselves that state they had offered Sony the chance to buy back the information, but that they refused to do so. Sony's Patrick Seybold denied this and said that Sony hasn't been offered any such deal.

"To my knowledge there is no truth to the report that Sony was offered an opportunity to purchase the list."

No matter what the outcome of this may be, the mere fact that all of that information is exposed, should be a big enough warning sign to every social networking service like PSN to tighten their security. And to the consumers themselves to be extra careful with their digits.

Source:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109661-Hackers-Offer-PSN-Credit-Cards-For-Sale

PSN Debacle - Hackers shift focus

2011-04-28T13:33:00.000+02:00

PSN Debacle - Hackers shift focus

What happened to the Playstation Network hasn't exactly been flying under the radar. As it turns out, PSN might just as well have been the first success hackers have had after their shift in focus.

Here's the deal, most services that require you to give information regarding your monetary properties, like banking services, need a two-stage authentication. This is making things rather difficult for hackers. Think of it like if the USS Enterprise had two sets of shields. It's not impossible to get past, but it sure makes things a whole hell of a lot more difficult. Because of this, hackers have been targeting social networking services more and more.

Senior lecturer in computing at the Open University and an expert in data protection, Blaine Price, said that these social networking services have to deal with two things in their programming. These are security and accessibility.

"It would be a real pain if every time you want to start up a game you had to scan your thumb, type in 15 digits and pull out a card reader," he added. "[But] any time you're just using a user ID and password, it's going to be a risk."

Much like the BBC gameshow, someone has to be the weakest link. And this is who hackers target. According to David Emm, a senior security researcher for Kaspersky Labs, hackers usually only need to find out one password for individuals, as they often times use the same password for multiple services. Making the individual the weakest link to target.

"The weakest link is always the individual," he said. "Clearly, trying to undermine a bank's security is a lot of effort. Whereas if you go after an individual, it's not going to be noticed, it's going to be easier to do."

Imagine playing World of Warcraft. Constantly you will see people in the chat saying that they are or have been recently hacked. Reason because of this is because they only need a single password and username. WoW is definitely not the most secured game in the world, and things get swiped all the time. Now imagine that PSN is using the same system as WoW. Unfortunately, it isn't just imagination. It's reality.

So all in all, it isn't entirely Sony's fault, per se, that PSN got hacked. Sure, they could have done more, like instigate a two-stage authentication, but that would mean they would hinder their customers. Not one service like PSN is using a two-stage system because that would mean losing existing, but most importantly, potential customers to services that don't.

Source
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109628-PSN-Attack-Shows-New-Focus-for-Hackers-Say-Security-Experts

PSN Debacle - Anon returns

2011-04-28T00:41:00.002+02:00

PSN Debacle - Anon returns

And the news continues to trickle in today. The breach in to the PSN database might not have been by Anonymous, but that doesn't mean that aren't through with Sony just yet.

When StrategyInformer asked an Anonymous member named Kato what lied in store for their future, they stated that they will continue their attack on Sony once the PSN comes back online. Though he did wanted to stress the point that the attack will be on the company, and not PSN itself.

I could see their point of view when they were previously gunning for Sony. Sony vs GeoHot was a grey area when it came to whose side to take. People bought their PS3 with an Other Operating System option, where they could choose to run Linux instead of the PS3 standard OS. After Sony took that away, GeoHot posted the rootkey online that would allow people to continue running their other OS. Many people probably bought a PS3 because of this, so having it taken away from them is bad. Sony's claims that people are merely renting the machine aren't helping the matter much either. With this in mind, I can definitely understand why Anon stepped in to defend GeoHot and the PS3 users. Still, it is Sony's machine and you signed a contract with them. Not to mention that hacking was, and still is, illegal.

However, it's probably because of Anon's involvement that PSN got targeted by this, or these, hackers. PSN was weak because of Anon's assault and so they took advantage of the situation. Because of this, Anon is losing all of the support it used to have. Or at least the majority. I hope they'll see that, if they do attack Sony again, there is no justifying their actions at all.

Source -
http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/12042/anonymous-will-attack-sony-after-psn-comes-back-on

PSN Debacle - Sony hit with class action lawsuit

2011-04-27T23:37:00.002+02:00

PSN Debacle - Sony hit with class action lawsuit

It seems it isn't a slow news day for Sony. Things have been really going downhill for the company. Things started with the lawsuit they filed against the hacker known as GeoHot. They brought upon them the vengeance of online justice seekers: Anonymous. However, once Anonymous saw they were hurting the PSN userbase, they backed off.

After this, the PSN database got breached and a hacker got away with all of the information, credit-card numbers included. Anonymous already came forward stating that AnonOps is not behind this and do not support whoever is behind it. Several American banks have already been informed, making it easier if any legal issues arise.

Now, the Rothken law firm has filed a federal class action lawsuit against Sony. This particular lawsuit is to collect funds to compensate users to change their password and cancel their credit cards.

"Sony’s breach of its customers’ trust is staggering," said Rothken co-counsel J.R. Parker, in a statement. "Sony promised its customers that their information would be kept private. One would think that a large multinational corporation like Sony has strong protective measures in place to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of personal information, including credit card information. Apparently, Sony doesn't."

They filed this complaint on behalf of one Kristopher Johns and, you know, the 75 million people that also have a PSN account. Their reason for this is that they feel Sony was incapable of putting up the proper measurements to protect their database, and that they violated the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

This was something that we all had seen coming. You can't have someone go wrong this massively without there being consequences. Whilst it remains to be seen if Sony truly was negligent, we surely can not deny that this is a necessity. Sony is a giant, they can probably handle it. This will be a good message to Microsoft and Valve to tighten security on their databases, since they are just as much at risk. Truth is, Sony just lost the Russian Roulette on this one.

Source -
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109620-Sony-Hit-With-Class-Action-Lawsuit-Over-PSN-Breach

PSN Debacle - Sony possibly accountable for $24 billion

2011-04-27T22:46:00.000+02:00

PSN Debacle - Sony possibly accountable for $24 billion

Analysts. Love em or hate em, they do tend to paint a general picture quite well. In light of the breach of security, analysts began working with the situation and came up with a rather grave number. If the worst case scenario comes to pass, Sony might be down 24 billion dollars.

A research firm called The Ponemon Institute had studied credit-card hacks before. They then estimated that per breached account, Sony could be paying around 318 dollars. Seeing as PSN has around 22 million members, the numbers add up rather quickly.

Not only this, but Sony could be facing charges from governments all over the world, including a 500.000 pound fine from the U.K.

If you ask me, this is all just the start. PSN isn't the only service of its kind. There's also Steam and XBLA. Both of these are equally as hackable as PSN. Meaning that indie developers might be out of business permanently if those two go down. Right now, indie developers have been missing a week's worth of income. Not to mention the losses they'll have in the future because of the loss of faith in PSN.

Source -

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109611-Credit-Card-Breach-May-Cost-Sony-24-Billion

PSN Debacle - Anon responds

2011-04-27T16:23:00.001+02:00

PSN Debacle - Anon Responds

AnonNews.Org, a website who's purpose lies in its name, posted a press release that states they were not responsible for what happened since they made the press release stating they'd back down. Everything involving the April 22nd Incident is therefore caused by either an outside source or a splinter cell within the Anon community. This Splinter Cell, if they are the cause, is not working under AnonOps (the core operations for everything Anonymous). They state that therefore they have nothing to do with this attack and that (possibly)

"Sony is taking advantage of Anonymous' previous ill-will towards the company to distract users from the fact the outage is actually an internal problem with the companies servers."

Glad to see an official responce coming from Anon. Even if it did ended in a rather uncalled for statement. Nothing in this world is beyond hacking.

Source: http://www.anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=848

The PSN debacle continues

2011-04-27T10:26:00.000+02:00

The PSN debacle continues

Whilst the prospect of potentially having your money being stolen is a bad thing, there is still good news to be found. Though, only barely considerable to be good news.

The Bank of America and Chase have been informed about the breach. Meaning that, if there is something fishy on your accounts, then that will mean a whole lot less legal trouble. Things should go a lot smoother if you have accounts with those two companies. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, news providers from all over the world have already reported on this matter so it is safe to presume that your banks are aware of the situation. If not, simply refer to a news article or report.

Secondly, people who linked their steam account to PSN to play Portal 2 are in the safe. Valve said that steam remained completely safe because of the fact that Steam and PSN are two completely separate entities.

Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut responds to this debacle via a letter to the President of Sony Computer Entertainment of America claiming that said SCEA has known about the breach as early as April 20th.

"When a data breach occurs, it is essential that customers be immediately notified about whether and to what extent their personal and financial information has been compromised. Additionally, PlayStation Network users should be provided with financial data security services, including free access to credit reporting services, for two years, the costs of which should be borne by Sony. Affected individuals should also be provided with sufficient insurance to protect them from the possible financial consequences of identity theft.

I am concerned that PlayStation Network users’ personal and financial information may have been inappropriately accessed by a third party. Compounding this concern is the troubling lack of notification from Sony about the nature of the data breach. Although the breach occurred nearly a week ago, Sony has not notified customers of the intrusion, or provided information that is vital to allowing individuals to protect themselves from identity theft, such as informing users whether their personal or financial information may have been compromised. Nor has Sony specified how it intends to protect these consumers.

PlayStation Network users deserve more complete information on the data breach, as well as the assurance that their personal and financial information will be securely maintained. I appreciate your prompt response on this important issue."

I, for one, am extremely happy to see that the Senator is standing up for the PSN users, instead of doing what I actually expected from a political response. That is to gun for Sony and try to take them down to prove that games, and the gaming world, is evil just to benefit their political career. Unfortunately he is kind of making a too big of a deal out of it. It's not like you'll suddenly see that someone ordered HOT TRANNY'S VOLUME XII twenty times on your account.

Sony in the meantime has made an official response to this letter. On PSBlog, Patrick Seybold, Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Social Media, posted a clarification on a few points.

"There’s a difference in timing between when we identified there was an intrusion and when we learned of consumers’ data being compromised. We learned there was an intrusion April 19th and subsequently shut the services down. We then brought in outside experts to help us learn how the intrusion occurred and to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. It was necessary to conduct several days of forensic analysis, and it took our experts until yesterday to understand the scope of the breach. We then shared that information with our consumers and announced it publicly this afternoon."

Looks like they did everything by the book. Perhaps it was for the benefit of the world that they didn't just outright came out and said that the shit had hit the fan, bigtime. By doing an in-depth investigation beforehand, they not only covered themselves up, but they also gathered up information to make sure that when people started gunning for them, they did it for a good reason.

More news from the disaster front comes from the developer side of things. Indie developers are noting a significant drop in their sales, this not only because of the fact that PSN is down, but because nobody can see their advertisements.

"We're rooting for Sony to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. PSN is one of our primary channels for reaching console game fans, and it does feel as though Sony should compensate customers, if not developers, for the outage." - PopCap representative to a Gamasutra journalist.

Alexey Menshikov, CEO of Kiev-based Beatshapers is hoping that Sony will recompensate the losses that these developers have made because of this debacle. I for one cannot agree more, since it is not their fault.

Source:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109579-Some-Good-News-Surfaces-Regarding-PSN-Catastrophe
http://blumenthal.senate.gov/press/release/index.cfm?id=82698973-255D-4B92-9E18-39E5937C9361
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/26/clarifying-a-few-psn-points/
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109581-PSN-Developers-Discuss-PSN-Disaster
http://www.escapistmagazine.com

PSN account holders beware

2011-04-26T23:09:00.001+02:00

PSN account holders beware

The group of Internet users calling themselves Anonymous started a war against the giant known as Sony. Their reason was Sony's lawsuit against the hacker known as George "GeoHot" Hotz, who is known as the PS3 Jailbreaker. In their war against Sony, Anon caused issues for PSN users around the world. Once news of this was released, Anon officially backed off and sent out apologies to all those that were afflicted. It was their goal to hurt Sony, and not their customers.

Earlier this week, an external intrusion brought Sony to take down PSN once again. Whilst it remained unsure if it was Anon that was responsibly, Sony was unable to fix things and said that PSN was to remain down whilst they investigated the situation.

Now, here is where you need to pay attention. A new status update informs us that the people that got in to PSN didn't just take your PSN ID, no ... they got everything. From everyone. Here's what they had to say on the update:

"Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.

For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well."

In other words, keep a close eye on your personal accounts. A very close eye. And immediately report anything out of the ordinary.

Source:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109568-Sony-Admits-Private-PSN-Info-Has-Been-Stolen-All-Of-It
Status update - http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/26/update-on-playstation-network-and-qriocity/

Rest in peace Elisabeth Sladen

2011-04-19T23:09:00.001+02:00

Elisabeth Claira Heath Sladen, born Februari first of 1948, passed away on April 19th of 2011. Perhaps better known to the world as Sarah Jane Smith, Sladen was the companion to several incarnations of the famous Doctor Who, even returning in the new series for a cameo appearance. Following this appearance, Sladen was given the chance to run her own show, The Sarah Jane Adventures, which was a kids show based in the Doctor Who universe.

She was an excellent actress and will be remembered always as a strong woman. Rest in peace, Elisabeth.

Rampage review

2011-04-17T19:46:00.002+02:00

Uwe Boll’s Rampage
A review

Once upon a time there was a man called Ed Wood. The man was known far and wide as being one of the worst directors in the world. Even today but a few people have managed to surpass his level of suckiness. However, one man is known these days as being the Ed Wood of our time. That man is Uwe Boll.
Over the years he has made himself known to be the one man to set back adaptations for years every time he makes another movie. Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne, House of the Dead and Far Cry are all movies that are despised by many and loved only by those that can see the hilarity in how bad these movies are.
In 2007 however, the man made a movie that didn’t suck. This was “In the name of the King: a Dungeon Siege Tale“. It still showed a lot of the sub-par filmmaking that herr Boll is known for, but it had potential to be great. The movie was good, yeah, but completely and utterly forgettable.
The movie Seed followed and it was back to normal for Uwe, by the looks of things. Luckily this movie was followed up by Postal, the first of his movies that was good and entertaining. It was a great movie because this seemed to be the movie where Uwe Boll realized just he was perceived and then turned it back around. The movie was a parody, really, of his filmmaking. It was loud, offensive and oh so horrible. Yet it was hilarious as all hell and the best movie he had ever made up to that point.

Which brings us to Rampage.

The story of Rampage follows a young man called Bill Williamson. He was an outlaw in the wild west, pursued by a former member of his gang, John Marston. At heart, Bill is a real scumbag who … wait, that’s Red Dead Redemption.
Young Bill is a 23 year old citizen of Tenderville U.S.A. Currently unemployed, Bill is working at a garage to scrape up the money so that he can go back to school. Bill is a man who is being exposed to all the wrong things in the world. His town treats him like trash, his parents are basically stabbing him in the back and through his friend and the internet he is exposed to a world that tells him the world is going under because of overpopulation.
At some point, Bill starts to prepare to do his part in fixing the world. He gathers up weapons and creates a body armor suit to protect him. With that, Bill begins a town wide rampage, sparing nobody in his wake.
In the end, the story is very simple and to the point. There are no major twists, no deep character development and nothing more than the premise. It’s an interpretation of Columbine, only on a much larger scale. Yet, even with the lack of all of that, it still works. It’s a good enough vehicle to keep the movie going and it keeps you interested.
Whilst the overall story is rather lacking, it is presented in a good way. The movie starts with Bill’s last two days before the shooting. During this time we get to see many of the reasons why he wants to do it. In between this we see him live out dreams or fantasies about doing the act through edited in clips. Very effective in setting the mood for later on and very well edited altogether.
Although … the scene in the Bingo Hall was so surreal it almost felt out of place, but the movie would actually have been worse off without it.

Unlike previous movies of Herr Boll, the characters are actually written in a competent manner and the actors don’t look like they are fresh out of Acting 101. Dialog runs along smoothly and feels natural to the ear. Sometimes it’s clear that it still needs work, but in the end the script and the characters could be considered to be the best that Boll has ever created.
Bill’s parents in particular are believable. They aren’t perfect in the slightest, as they kick their son out of their home, breaking an arrangement they had made with him. But they try to do their best and the dialog and script do a fantastic job of doing that.
Yes, there are actors that aren’t exactly grade A material … or grade B for that matter, but they aren’t nearly as bad as many acting performances in previous Boll movies.

As much as it shocks me to say this, but Rampage is a movie I would recommend seeing. Not because it is so bad it’s good like BloodRayne, or horrible but good like Postal, but because it is genuinely a good movie. If you can manage to get passed the Uwe Boll name and the ever so present shaky cam, then you will be able to see a competently made movie.
I’m hoping that with this, we will begin to see a change. Sure, we still have BloodRayne 3 coming along, but these movies are so bad they’re good. With Rampage notched on his belt, I’m hoping he likes how he made it and he makes more movies like it. Who knows, maybe people will start to see the genius he really is. I mean, come on! He couldn’t fly over 30 extras to play hookers so he walks down the street from the set and hires 30 actual hookers.

7/10

Tekken (2010) movie review

2011-04-15T17:29:00.001+02:00

Tekken (2010)
Review

One of the worst videogame to movie adaptations of all time has to be Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li. Everything, from start to finish, is beyond redemption. Most of the characters are barely recognizable from their videogame counter-part, save for their names. One exclusion to this rule was Vega, who died a horrible and undignified death after a one second fight and loads of build-up. The story was bland and uninteresting. The fights were short and very badly edited. And lastly, it was just so boring.
As far as fighting game adaptations go, this movie failed miserably. Other movies like the original Street Fighter movie and Dead or Alive are bad as well, but they are so bad they turn around and become good again.
Ranking highest in these adaptations are movies like Mortal Kombat that take the story, the concept and the characters and just run with it. This is where Tekken ranks for me.

Tekken is situated in a world where corporations have taken over everything. Governments are a thing of the passed, replaced by chairmen and CEO’s. Controlling North America is the Tekken Corporation, seated at the hearth of Tekken City. Right outside of Tekken City is the Tekken City slums, better known as The Anvil. The story of Tekken revolves around a tournament created by the owners of the Tekken Corporation in order to put the masses at ease. In short, a way of control. The Tekken tournament is called The Iron Fist Tournament and it is fought by Tekken “employees” and one man from the outside, the people’s choice. Of course, one has to beat a Tekken approved fighter in order to become the people’s choice, and that is nigh impossible.
If you think I’m writing Tekken a lot, then just wait how much you hear and see it in the movie.
ANYWAYS, on the human side of things, the story is centered around our main character, Jin Kazama. Jin lives in The Anvil with his mother and is a street fighter and a contraband runner. Because of this, Jin is targeted by Tekken’s hunt for insurgents. As it would be, Jin was away from home when the Tekken police force, the Jackhammer’s, came to arrest him, only finding his mother. An order came and his house was blown up, alongside his mother and the Jacks that were inside. And he was there to witness it. Enraged, Jin swore to fight in the tournament, become the champion and kill the man behind Tekken, Heihachi Mishima.
As far as the setting goes, it’s actually pretty cool. Tekken City and The Anvil are pretty much what we have seen in a few other dystopian futures, but it’s actually quite alright as it never feels like a set. Except for the ring, but that’s the whole point of that place, I guess. As far as believability goes, people just need to get over themselves. It’s a movie, fiction, not real. There’s nothing wrong with corporations taking over the world as a story.
On the story end however, things are … well … predictable. You pretty much know everything that is going to happen because this movie has cliché written all over it. From beginning to end, if you except it to happen then it will most likely happen.
Take for instance the death of his mother. There was no way in hell that she wasn’t going to die. She was loving, caring, his martial arts mentor and was telling him not to get involved with Tekken at all. All she needed was a red shirt.
But, for all its flaws, the story is entertaining. Even though it is what it is, the story is fun to follow. It’s fast and entertaining, what more do you need for a popcorn movie?

Let’s talk about some of the fighters now. One thing I can not forgive this movie for is only giving Paul a passing mention and not including King.
Many of the personalities are just plain stock. They really have very little personality other than being what they are, paid for fighters that are either manly men, feminine women or wise retirees. And still that’s not a problem in the slightest, as most of these characters are well portrayed by their actors or actresses. Not Oscar worthy material, but sufficient. Even if some characters aren’t fleshed out at all or don’t get a lot of screen time.
One thing the movie did get right were their outfits. Jin looked like Jin, Yoshimitsu looked like Yoshimitsu, Nina looked like Nina, Eddie looked like Eddie. It was great to see them all there, fully garbed and kicking ass. I particularly enjoyed Eddie’s fight, as Capoeira is a beautiful sport to watch. And I’m betting a lot of you are happy to know that Eddie, that cheating bastard, gets knocked on his ass.
Not one of the fights looks like they do in, let’s say Highlander, where they try to put in the actor sometimes and then replace him with a more skilled fighter in shots that don’t show his face. Like Christopher Lambert in Highlander Endgame versus Adrian Paul. And if they did, it’s barely noticeable.
In the end, the characters and the performances by their actors are just perfect. Nobody stands out as being underdeveloped or overdeveloped, which is a sign of brilliantly done mediocre writing. Just what this movie needed, if you ask me. Everything is geared to get you from fight A to fight B and it’s glorious.

Speaking of actors, there are two familiar faces in the bunch. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played Heihachi. You might remember him from the Mortal Kombat movie. I’ll give you a hint: YOUR SOULLL IS MIINNEEEEEE *overacts like a maniac*.
Funny though, Shang-Tsung runs to Tekken and Liu Kang runs to Street Fighter.
Anyways, Tagaki is actually very controlled in his performance this time and delivers a great performance. Unfortunately he is made to look like Heihachi from the games. With that ridiculous hairdo and all … I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw him.
Another familiar face is Gary Daniels, from old school action movie fame. He plays the not developed character of Brian Fury, cyborgs extraordinaire and impossible fighter to beat of the day.
Interesting to note is that Jon Foo, who played Jin, starred as Ryu in Street Fighter: Legacy, a short fan film. So that makes one MK going SF, one MK going Tekken and one SF going Tekken. KK.

Right, so music and looks are next, right? Well, nothing really notable here. The looks are passable, and as I said, things don’t look overly set like. The music isn’t half that bad either, usually consisting out of the usual barrage of fast paced songs for an action packed thrill ride!

As I said in the beginning, Tekken ranks up there with Mortal Kombat. It’s certainly not a perfect adaptation or a perfect movie. It has its flaws. But it’s easy to look passed them and see just how fun and entertaining it can be. Don’t skip out on it because you listen to those wannabe reviewers on their shitty blogs that think they know what they are talking about. Wait …

7/10

Greyarch

JAG - Sig Attorney

JAG - Mia Fey signature

The Jimquisition - Piracy, Episode Two

Matthew Broderick's Day Off

JAG - Gotta sig 'em all

JAG - Sigality

The Jimquisition - Piracy, Episode One

SOPA vs the World - Victories all around

tHop - Resident Evil's 6 and Retribution

Mortal Kombat (2011) review

Gamers vs ESA's support of SOPA

JAG - Smoking kills

JAG - Chill, I got this

JAG - Monkey business

JAG - Ninja Signature *poof*

Happy Holidays!

JAG - Sig Possible

tHop - The Hobbit: An unexpected journey

tHop - The Dark Knight Rises

Woman embezzels money for the mafia

JAG - Captain DTT Phoenix's the name

Jedi Ninjas.

JAG - Sasuke DTT & TPS

tHop - MS One: Maximum Security

JAG - Shikamaru signature

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception review

tHop - G.I. Joe: Retaliation

tHop - Men in Black III

The Last of Us trailer is here! + Update

Spike VGA's 2011

JAG - Asuma Sarutobi

DmC: Escape trailer

PS3's The Last of us teases

tHop - The Three Stooges

Assassin's Creed: Revelations review

Plug Tiem - Voletic

DMC Extended Gameplay demo

Altaïr ibn La-Ahad Signature

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

JAG - Blue Turtle Power!

JAG - Drake's Sigception

Happy Halloween

JAG - Nightwing

RDR: UN The Scarlett Lady signature

JAG - Catwoman

Most triumphant Super Mario game

Marvel's The Avenger trailer

UPDATE: Hitman - 'Run for your life' trailer + Gameplay video

JAG - Mystique

FemShep Signature

X-men: First Class review

Farmville: The Movie

Stargate SG-1 Review

Olivier Trudeau's Stop-Motion Ninja Duel

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Syndicate Trailer

JAG - Neku Sakuraba retry

JAG - Neku Sakuraba

Smallville Finale Thoughts

DMC Gameplay demo

Max Payne 3 trailer

Step up 4 anncounced

R.I.P. Bubba Smith

Wait, it's been how long?

Green Lantern: First Flight review

Bioware Sequels

R.I.P. Peter Falk

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic review

Anon - The Plan begins

E3 2011 - Nintendo Conference

E3 2011 - Overstrike

E3 2011 - Brothers in Arms: Furious 4

E3 2011 - Starhawk

E3 2011 - Uncharted: The Golden Abyss

E3 2011 - Sony Conference

E3 2011 - Ubisoft Conference

E3 2011 - Day 1 wrap-up

E3 2011 - EA Conference

E3 2011 - Update blog

JAG - Ninja Signature poof