Random Blog Entry (k3nshi)

Well I said I'd blog today, but I cant really think of what to blog about. Sure I could do what I was going to do and tell you about how I cant be bothered with games at the moment and how I cant even be bothered to buy the latest stuff, but I suppose I'd sound like Edge in the Truly Miserable Era. Instead I was going to post about how watching BSG makes me want to play Homeworld 2, but on my Mac, which is annoying as I have the PC version but not the stupidly expensive Mac version. And no I dont want to buy the same game twice. But thats pretty boring also (although I would have snuck in a mention of how much better looking the HOT BLONDE cylon is compared to Grace Park just to annoy Meh). I almost posted a gratuitous picture of the HOT BLONDE cylon in this blog post but then I realised I couldn't be bothered.

I had mini-pizzas (or 'baby pizzas' as I am told they are really called) for dinner. They're nice but really I wanted 1 more than I had. No my diet is not going well in 2006. Nor is my exercise regime. On the positive side my cough seems to have gone. I'll nuke it some more just to be sure though - it does a mean Lazarus impression.

After a period of neglect my Bonsai tree is looking better than it has for a while. Mr Miyagi would be proud. Actually I probably need to trim it and stuff. Afterwards I will catch flies with chopsticks, paint a fence and singlehandedly take out the hardest (and cheatingest) bastard in the All Valley Karate Championships. "Go Johnny! Finish him!!!". Yeah right - he'll walk straight into a cunning Crane Kick. This all reminds me that I want to watch Karate Kid again. And Ghostbusters also.

Other than that I am fine, thanks. How are you?

Trapped in Falken's Maze (k3nshi)

I finally got round to re-watching Wargames on DVD last night. Talk about a blast from the past. This film was a huge influence on me. I remember when I first saw it how amazed I was by some of the concepts depicted in the film: the internet, multiplayer online games, speech synthesis, artificial intelligence - and all of this available to a 17 year old kid (Matthew Broderick). Almost unthinkable stuff at the time!

Wargames wasn't the only influence of course, I grew up watching things like: Knight Rider, Automan, Airwolf and Tron. All of them impressed upon me the amazing possibilities that computer technology could enable.

Some of my favourite scenes in Wargames revolve around how the main character, David (Broderick) manages to hack into the military computer system he wants to play games on. The actual scene where you see David's many attempts to find a way into the system is the best depiction of hacking I've ever seen in a film, and a real credit to the director. Trying to depict a very cerebral, tedious and yet compulsive process in the cinematic form certainly isn't easy. Similar scenes in Swordfish and other films are a complete joke.

But before David can even begin to hack the military system, he needs to turn to some of his older, more experienced friends for help. David doesn't know where to start in the process of hacking the military system, but one of the nerds certainly does:

"The first game on the list - go right through's Falken's Maze!"

This leads David onto an obsessive path of discovery as tries to learn how to bend the system to his will. I guess I know how he feels.

It's coming.... (k3nshi)

"Then, at the flick of a switch, Minor turns the simulation over from his new Cell processor to a dual-processor Apple Power Mac G5, and the scenery freezes. The G5 almost audibly groans under the burden, though it's no slouch. In fact, it's currently the top of the line for PCs. But Cell is something different entirely. It's a bet on what consumers will do with data and how best to suit microprocessors to the task—and it's really, really fast."

An article for techies only. But the possibilities of sheer raw computation power > possibilities of a gimmicky control system.

Virtua Fighter 4EVAH (k3nshi)

Akira from VF5
Originally uploaded by Kenshi.

The VF series has the unfortunate and unwarranted reputation of being "hardcore" and impenetrable. The truth is: VF is an amazing game, not a lifestyle choice.

Its all pretty simple. You have your moves and throws, a basic blocking system (high block, low block), and various counters.

The reason VF differs from other fighters is the way all of this has been implemented. The simplest techniques often work best in VF. Forward + Punch is often all you need to take out some flashy bastard who wants to do some convoluted throw sequence on you.

This results in a game with far more strategic depth than any other beat em up. It's not about how many flash moves you know, it's about how you fight your fight. Can you pick the right strategy and tactics to take out your opponent? Can you adapt your style to beat opponents with varying techniques and styles of their own?

So if you are curious about a legendary game series but have been put off by the nerdcore, I suggest you look beyond that tragi-comedy scene.

VF is made up of simple constituent parts: 1 stick + 3 buttons. Lots of moves, none of which is the special move that lets you beat any opponent. The complexity arises from the depth of options that this system of control gives you.

Roll on VF5. Hopefully there will be some new, saner players along with the usual nerdcore fanatics.

2005 Review (Anonymous)

A tad late as we are now in 2006, but hey, it's been a strange couple of days...

2005 for me was a year of change. Started the year in France (good) stuck in a dead-end job (bad) that was dulling my brain and depressing me. April was the turning point. Found out my project was canned and that I would be returning to the UK. Even better I had the option of taking an excellent redundancy package.

So I did. And now I've started a company and things look good. Insane amount of work, no pay and less than perfect work conditions, but exciting. Exciting, scary, interesting and unknown.

Other stuff? Well May brought news of a new addition to the family. Only 2 months to go now. The last few days have been a bit worrying with Janet getting premature contractions, but everything seems to be settling down and Samuel should be with us in early March.

April also introduced the DS to the spanx gaming stable and it's the only thing I've really bought any games for since. Music wise? Nada Surf, M83, The New Pornographers, The Band, Yeah Yeah Yeah's and Ben Folds have featured heavily (yes, I know they're not all 2005 releases, but they've been my soundtrack). Films? I honestly can't think of one that's blown me away this year. Games? Mario Kart, Kirby, Animal Crossing and Wario Ware on the DS. Most others were disappointing (RE4) or just plain crap (Pro Evo 5)

So 2005, I salute you. The year I finally made a change. 2006 is going to be fucking ACE!