...brief post from Dubai, cos my laptop battery is going to die REAL SOON now.
- Days spent in airport due to visa issues: 1
- OMG its been raining. Only 1 sunny day so far. :-(
- Lamborgini's spotted: 2
- BMWs/Mercs/Audis/Lexus: innumerable
To be continued...
[14:30]
[14:30]
[14:32]
Spotted on the tube today: A woman. Playing a (black) Nintendo DS. Didn't find out what game she was playing though.
Screenshot
Flow is the only game I am interested in on PS3 at the moment. It's like the X360 launch all over again (where I was only interested in Geometry Wars). A nice write up on flow is at the WSG.
...on Joystiq.
Interesting to see that Chris Hecker of Indy Game Jam fame got snapped up by Will Wright. So EA snagged a real thought leader (urgh) from the indy game scene.... is a resurgent EA Golden Age forthcoming?
This is some good coverage of the PS3 launch. I like the fact they have some video footage, and are exposing the kind of shambles the launch event was. However I think its pretty fucking sad that the writer laments how "real gamers" werent part of that stupid launch day event, and how that in some way ruined the launch.
Get a grip kids. Its the first day of selling a mass manufactured toy that will be obsolete within 5 years. Wishing that corporates get to have their special marketting PR fests is just sad and pathetic.
So previously I rated God of War. Well I liked it so much I bought it again, and am playing through it right now. It's still damned good, but really... imagine if it had more of a DMC kind of control system.
Roll on God of War 2.
"Marvel Comics is continuing in its bid to steal the word "super-hero" from the public domain and put it in a lock-box to which it will control the key. Marvel and DC comics jointly filed a trademark on the word 'super-hero.' They use this mark to legally harass indie comic companies that make competing comic books"
Read more
Warren Spector has been doing a 4 part series in The Escapist recently. I havent read any of it yet, so have no idea if its any good, but I thought you might like to know that.
Carry on.
"Indeed, for something that doesn't even seem like normal "game," it's weirdly addictive. The math questions had me so frazzled that I emotionally regressed to about age ten. Brain Age also includes a Stroop test, which flashes the names of colors on screen in mismatched ink -- for example, the word "blue" printed in red -- and challenges you to name the color of the ink. As any psychologist will tell you, you can keep a lid on things for the first dozen words, but then your brain turns to jelly."
Read the rest here.
Dofus Arena - a pretty, online tactical game thing. It even has a client for OSX. AMAZING.
Thanks to hub2 for pointing this one out.
Linden Lab, the publisher of the popular virtual world "Second Life," announced Tuesday an $11 million round of funding led by Globespan Capital Partners.
Read the rest here.
"The tech convergence has George Lucas’s gaming and movie divisions working hand-in-glove. R&D honcho Steve Sullivan and project lead Chris Williams explain how it’s working"
Read the rest here.
Well not quite, but the next best thing is Grid Wars.
Some points to note:
class AuthorAttribute : System.Attribute
{
public AuthorAttribute(string name)
{
this.name = name;
}
private string name;
public string Name {
get { return name; }
}
}
Great. I just went to get a cup of tea and what is in the kitchen? A bag of French jam doughnuts.
I will resist....
Malcolm Gladwell, author of the Tipping Point and Blink has a blog.
XOMG
...for OSX Dashboard from Google.
The Blogger widget that lets you blog really easily. AMAZING.
Get it here.
There is something very wrong in an industry where a designer who has produced exactly one game is seen as some sort of revolutionary hero figure. I am talking about Keita Takahashi who produced Katamari Damacy. His disproportionate share of acclaim is covered far better elsewhere. I don't want to talk about that, I want to talk about how to save creativity in gaming.
From the continual bitching of games developers (I've been reading the same shit for about 3 years now), the problem is they don't get the luxury of taking creative risks and this is due to the huge budgets required to make a game, and the subsequent high volume of sales a game must make just to recoup costs.
Nintendo is not the solution
Nintendo are doing some very smart and disruptive things at the moment (although arguably no more so than Sony's EyeToy, Singstar and Buzz products). But platform politics and general business practice mean that Nintendo, or any other platform vendor should not be seen as a long-term solution for the problem of the death of creativity in gaming. Once a business becomes dominant (as Nintendo have been in the past), they have no interest in disrupting the status quo. I'm sure Nintendo's board of Directors would love to take us back to the 1980 where they ruled the gaming world with an Iron Fist and every title published had to be vetted by them and manufactured by them and licensed by them. This is not a Win scenario for gamers or game designers, no matter how much of love you have for the company and/or some of its great products.
So what are some potential long term solutions, to ensure that creativity in games design does not whither and die at the whims and corporate strategies of platform companies. I'll talk about some ideas in the next article.
I'm going to just set out explicitly the fact that each console vendor has a strong interest in tilting the overall direction of gameplay (and what games are seen to be) to further their own cause (sales of their platform). A quick explanation of these biases could be:
Microsoft wants gaming to be about multiplayer, online stuff because they have LIVE and this is clearly the strongest differentiatior in their gaming portfolio. They also have the kind of resources and expertise to do this kind of thing really, really well.
Nintendo want gaming to be about different control mechanisms so they dont have to engage in a hardware battle and can churn out games more quickly and cheaply.
Sony just need to maintain the power and ubiquity of their Playstation brand. More of the same but butter, along with growing the market with things like SingStar, EyeToy and Buzz. They are the least interested party in disrupting the status quo because of course, they rule over the current state of play.
I'm going to be doing a few posts about the games industry for the hell of it, which I am going to prefix with the title "Game Theory". There will be an element of building on previous material, so I'm adding the prefix to make it easy to identify the posts.
So after a long drought I finally made time tonight to do some meditation. Not a particularly "good" session, probably because I had ingested some caffeine (in the form of a cup of chai) not too long before deciding to meditate. Still, the 30 minutes pretty much flew by and I am a bit more chilled.
I'll try and pursue the recommended daily meditations this week (2 sessions of 30 minutes per day). Looks like I will have to give up my nightly chai fix though...
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?
I finally got round to re-watching Wargames
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:
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."The first game on the list - go right through's Falken's Maze!"
"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.
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!
This year has been pretty good overall. I've become even more of a food whore with loads of new recipes added to my repertoire. Actually, I think we have become a right couple of food snobs to be certain.
Ross has ended up getting addicted to WoW which isn't so bad now. I, on the other hand, instead of joining in the nonsense ended up buying a trojan horse in the shape of a gamecube. It made sense really considering that I could get one secondhand for the same price as Wow, the only thing is that once we got that it was "Oh if I'm playing Harvest Moon - Another Wonderful Life, it makes sense since I have the GBA version to get a link cable, as I can also use it for Four Swords and The Wind Waker", then it was "Oh our GBA really is quite dark so it makes sense to get a SP as it has a backlight".
Worse of all was to come however on boxing day when I ended up becoming the proud owner of a Mario Kart Ds Pack complete with King Kong thrown in free which ended up being traded away for Nintendogs - Lab and Friends.
Oh well, roll on 2006 which will be the year of the PS3.
The Kenshi Institute's Year End Awards 2005
Celebrating the sublime and the ridiculous:
After an arduous 2004, 2005 started with a bang: all positive energy and the will for action. And fortunately it didn't fizzle out either. I can look back on 2005 with a certain level of satisfaction, as I finally sorted out a fair few things. Let's break it down:
Physical
I lost some weight, gained some strength. Gym going combined with a disciplined diet paid off at the start of 2005. Things stalled towards the middle of the year, and I face 2006 with the need to find that old focus.
Something new
Running. I've never liked running. Never understood people who claimed to like running. This year I ran the Nike Run London 10K. When I started training, I didn't know if I would be able to do it. By the time the official run was over, not only did I know I could run 10K in a reasonably respectable time but I even got to a point where I can enjoy a good run. Who'd 'ave thunk it?
Something long overdue
I passed my driving test. And then I did my pass plus. At last. Fully licensed to drive. Now I just need to drive more.
Mental
I didn't do as much meditation as I should have. In fact it's something I really need to bring back into my life as I can probably attribute a lot of my positive attitude in 2005 to the meditation I started at the end of 2004.
I did a lot more writing this year than in the past. More blogs, more websites, more stuff (less forum posts though). I think its true when people say "writing helps strengthen your thoughts", if only in that it provides a useful tool for reflection.
Professional
Most of 2005 I spent embroiled in yet more political battles at a former employer, desperately trying to salvage my career. By the time more positive influences came into power at that firm (late in the year), it was too late: I had decided to move onto bigger and far better things. 2005 was the year I finally decided to pursue the dream I've held for a very, very long time: to start a company. It's scary, challenging, lots of work and at the moment I have no income.
Nothing great is easy.
"Maybe their dream isn't big enough,"
2005 ends with some sourness and annoyance. This is a very, very good thing.
At the end of 2005 I have to tolerate small thoughts from the small minds of much, much smaller men who think I should simply follow the status quo and Be Like Them. "Why all the effort? Just Be Like Us. It's Easy."
Roll on 2006. I've got scores to settle.
Thought I'd try and do a review of 2005 and ended up just thinking about my own personal year. Worryingly, not much of note has happened at all. This year's just passed by - I mean, what the FUCK have I been doing? Go to work Monday-Friday, knackered in the evenings. Then go out at the weekend to get wasted and get lucky with some bird every so often. There must be more to existing than this monotonous shite, surely? But then I expect that pretty much sums up everyones life when they're 25.
However, nothing really bad has happened to me this year so I should be thankful for that. I just want to make sure I get back on track in 2006. Try and sort a flat, maybe a new job, and plan a few holidays because holidays are the best thing ever.
Anyway, highlights of the year:
No-one close to me has died this year. That's good.
Going on holiday to America. Wicked country, wicked people. Thought I'd hate the place but I fell in love with it.
Finally finishing all my exams - such a relief.
Er... thats about it.
Roll on 2006! \o/
One year of the hash edge blog. Today.
Some people said it wouldn't last a week, never mind a full year (In YOUR FACE corps).
So today is a CAKE day. You should eat a CAKE to celebrate. I was going to get one and post a picture of it and then eat it, but really I've been eating way too much junk food over the last week or so.
[13:07] corpsicle =(
[13:08] corpsicle anyway, i think im getting the same first impression
about VJ DS that everyone else got
[13:08] corpsicle its just _not quite_ the console version
[13:08] corpsicle but from what ive read theres a lot more puzzles and
stuff making it a bit different but just as good
[13:08] corpsicle lets hope i'll think so too
[13:14] FunkyDad we can always hope :p
[13:14] *Kenshi crosses his fingers
So the current gaming scene hold very, very little interest for me at the moment. The only thing of real interest is Geometry Wars 2. A lot of the appeal is that it looks kind of like a game concept I have had kicking around in my head for a couple of years (in fact I was meant to write it after BlastMonkeys). But looking at the videos for it, make me realise that I'd much rather play the game concept than Geometry Wars 2.
So these thoughts have got me thinking on how cool it would be to write another game. Obviously writing a little game would mean having a target platform, and 3 spring to mind: OSX (cos my main machine is a Mac these days), Xbox 360 Live Arcade or the Nintendo DS. The latter two just seem begging for a small dev team to make some amazing games for them. None of the DS stuff that is out really appeals to me, but I'm pretty sure I could have some fun coming up with something quite cool for it (I almost got round to writing some games for my imate JAM smartphone - it has a touchscreen - at one point).
Of course seeing as I have no time at the moment to do any of these things, its all idle speculation and rambling.
[21:48] Van123 "deep filled mince pies"
[21:48] Van123 "deep filled"
[21:48] Kenshi stop with the food porn
[21:48] Kenshi STOP
[21:48] Van123 they're SO GOOD
The final two of my holy trinity of DS gaming goodness have finally turned up (Phoenix Wright and Animal Crossing). Which to play first?
So yesterday I went out for drinks with some ex-work colleagues. And unusually for me, I decided not to take a bag (usually full of a mix of gym stuff, notebooks, books, gaming hardware) with me. Hell, I would travel light for a change. So naturally I picked up my iPod Shuffle for audio stimulation, and then I figured I'd take the GBA SPastic as well. And The Spastic is all nice and everything but its still a bit too big and bulky. A GBA Micro on the other hand would have easily slipped into my coat pocket and not added any real bulk. Perfect to sneak some gaming action into situations where it would previously not be possible. So, I can see the point of a GBA Micro over a SPastic box. Doesnt mean I am going to pay the extortionate price for one though.
Oh Mobile phone games probably suck before anyone suggests I just play them.
Yes thats right, the "Nintendo hater" is saying Happy Birthday to Mr. Nintendo himself. Look he even has a shrine (click the link fools).
Clearly the man has a touch of games designing genius. Whilst I never have been fond of the Mario aesthetic, there is no denying that fact that the series has encompassed some of the greatest games made. Mario 64 is still untouchable as a 3D platformer, Mario Sunshine failing to get anywhere near its quality. And as for Mario World and the others in the 2D series, in a word: AMAZING.
In fact I am currently playing (on and off), one of my favourite games of this generation: Mario vs Donkey Kong on the spastic box. Whilst I dont think Mr Miyamoto had a hand in this one (actually I have no idea), his influence on this excellent little game is clear. In some ways a bit more limited than its GB forerunner (Donkey Kong), the newer game still features incredibly tightly designed levels and is fantastically playable. In fact it harks back to all the great things of Mario games, and the playability overcomes the retarded and incredibly annoying art direction. Sorry Mr Miyamoto, but the best character you designed was Donkey Kong.
Any way, the guy has created some amazing works and brought pleasure and frustration and delight to countless gimps around the world. And that's quite an achievement. So happy birthday, and I expect a guest editorial post by the end of the week. Do you hear me now?!!!
(* may not be an actual word)
Yes I completed a game the other week. Ubisoft's critically acclaimied commercial flop: Beyond Good and Evil. You could read q's ridiculously sycophantic opinion of the game here or you could just read a review of it from Edge or something. The two are usually interchangeable (more or less).
The game itself is a pretty nice adventure game, the bulk of which consists of some sneaking around action. I actually liked this bit the best and so really enjoyed a lot of the game. The controls put MGS to shame, I might add. The difficulty curve for the most part is pitched on the easy side, and its a nice no-fuss kind of game to play. Its not all sneaking action though, there are some genuine surprises with some sections, which are done to a good standard. Yes thats vague, but any more and were deep into spoiler territory. AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!
Of course it all goes pear shaped on the end of game baddie level. I almost gave up at this point. From a primarily stealth based game, to a lame, stupidly boring boss level. Still the urge to complete the game (I want closure dammit!!!) meant I tried again later and managed to do it. Cue a cutscene or two for a lame ending to the story, and the hint of a sequel that will never be released. Nice.
Oh and I cant leave this blog post without talking about the atmosphere of the game. Qazimod might harp on about the emotional attachment he had to the characters, but you have to remember that he is emotionally stunted to begin with. I mean, he forms emotional bonds to his consoles, so what do you expect? God knows what would happen if he ever saw a Disney film - there would almost certainly be tears. The only game that I would say has had any kind of emotional resonance or impact on me was Ico. And BG&E is no Ico. Not even close.
The art style of BG&E is far too twee for my tastes, as are some of the characters. Its a kid's cartoon basically. There are some nice touches though, and it distinctly has a European flavour to it, which is a Good Thing. Maybe Ubisoft will do some kind of follow up but make Jade darker and give her some attitude (ie turn her into bikinni clad game slut with boobs at least three times bigger). They might sell more than 3 copies that way. Hey it worked for the Prince of Persia...
Yes, I had icecream yesterday. I can now give you the definitive ice-cream rankings:
Waitrose Organic Icecream > Hagen Daas > Ben & Jerry's.
ICECREAMFACTS in YOUR FACE.
I completed Halo 2 on Heroic last night. So much better than playing in normal mode. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Halo 2 in Heroic is a much closer gameplay experience to Halo (on Normal). Halo 2 in Normal mode is just totally boring.
Of course, now I want to play another Halo game. I want Halo 3 >now<.
More research into sleep:
"This process would allow cortical circuits to eliminate noisy synapses and renormalize in order to be ready for the next day," Massimini told LiveScience. The reduced activity might also help explain why performance in various tasks improves after sleep, he said.
Read more
So I received my Oyster card today. A quick google of the term revealed this amazing blog entry. Don't leave home without your tin foil - they could be listening...
I booted up Halo 2 for the first time in ages the other day. It had been so long since I had last played it I still had two map packs and a game update to download. A side-effect of me not playing in such a long time was the fact my Halo 2 LIVE score had been reset to level 1. Rather than being a bad thing, this simply means I get to play a load of games with people who I can actually manage to, on occasion, shoot in the face and kill. This is infinitely more fun than working really hard and still being pwned by some motley collection of acne ridden game hermits.
I went around town at lunchtime on my own today. I've been feeling pretty down recently, just pissed off with certain things and not happy with the way other things are going at the moment.
I was thinking the other day about how much time, money and energy I've wasted on things which in the great scheme of things do not matter one jot and things which do nothing to improve me as a person. Drink, drugs, sluts, clothes, dvds, games and so on. If I see some poor cunt into the street I'd rather spit in his face than give him a few quid to get some food.
Anyway, during my walk around town I went into Boots to get some hairgel and some Mach 3's. On the way out I was stopped by two people, a lad and a girl. I don't know why but I didn't carry on walking like I normally would. They explained to me that they were missionaries and offered to give me a little magazine to read. I said sure, and I was suprised when they didn't ask for any cash. They wished me on my merry way and I went off, back to work.
So with nothing better to do I've read this magazine. Its one of those religious things that try to help you live your life a 'better' way. Lots of the stuff in the magazine struck a chord with what I was thinking about a few days ago. How certain things can please one or more of your five senses, but which won't do anything to ease your mind, nor your soul.
Now I'm a seriously lapsed Catholic, and I'm not about to start up and Bible bash or none of that nonsense, but I reckon if I try and improve spiritually by being less selfish and thinking more of others, maybe (in a selfish way oddly enough) I'll be happier.
I'm going to give it a go anyway.
So they revelaed the controller at last. It sounds like a good idea - no, it sounds like a great idea. The concept video looks amazing. But anyone can knock up an amazing concept video. The proof will be in the games and the actual play experience. Until then, speculation about the merits of the controller are as pointless as the endless speculation of the power of the PS3 and the Xbox 360.
All hands: stay at DefCon 5.
I did my first official training run for the Run London event. Rather than keep posting about this stuff here, I have set up the RunLondon blog to keep all the painful details. Check it out motherbitches!
So I signed up for the Nike Run London 10k run today.
People keep telling me I should find it easy, but I am not so sure. I guess I am really doing it because I see it as a challenge and I hope it will help me refocus on my dieting and excercie regime (hasnt worked so far: tonight I went to see a film - The Island - and then had pizza for dinner... It's been a bad week on the health regime front).
You've all been kept up to date with my inane ramblings over the past few months, nay years, about a certain girl. You know the score - she loves me. She's a crazy one, though - I've lost count of how many times I've had to point this out to her.
So I got my GCSE results last week, and because I'm so cool, I got invited to two parties. Being the hip, swinging youth I am, I went to both. I called the second party to let them know I was on my way, but Weird Girl tried to stop me. She tried to persuade them not to let me come, because she'd feel awkward. That's right, 20 odd people who want me to go, and one who doesn't. The only thing for me to do, would be to head home for the night, to respect her feelings. But that's boring.
About two months ago, she confessed her undying love for me. Yay. But a month ago it got really interesting. She deleted me from her MSN list. Oh noes. Could this be the end of our relationship? This happened because I was a bit of a cock. She sent me email after email telling me how much she loves me. Eventually, I grew tired of reading the same old drivel, and decided to spice up our somewhat dead relationship - Because that's the type of lover I am. I replied to one of her many emails, with a mini Flash 'game' I made. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to open it (ooer), and replied explaining how she isn't scared of being shot down now. It was then I changed my approach. I told her how much I loved her, about how I was a cock because I was covering up my feelings yadda yadda yadda. Then came her reply, along the lines of "that's what I've always wanted to hear. You made me cry." I also slipped in that if she wasn't going out with someone, then I'd be there for her.
We're getting to why she delete me now. She deleted me, because I sent another email, in the same format. "I was a cock, because I was hiding my feelings" becomes "I was a cock, because I don't like you." Five or six well structured paragraphs putting her down. Then I got a reply. A single word reply, in an email. "Thanks." It was then I opened up MSN and said "You're welcome." So, then she deleted me.
Now, a week ago I went to the parties. I didn't speak to her at the second. Not because I had nothing to say, but because I could tell how upset she was. Couple that with her being drunk and in love. My mate gets a text after Weird Girl leaves. I don't get the text, because she doesn't have my number. Get in. It read something like "tell chris stpns its all about the chase." If there's one way to win me over, it's to shorten my name to something rediculous like that. But that got me thinking. The Chase? The chase is better than the catch, apparently, so the next day, I spoke to her on MSN (I didn't delete her). Now, remember, this is after a month of her not speaking to me.
She explained that because I made it impossible for her to 'get' me, she wants me even more. I suppose that's fair enough - Love's a complecated thing. But here's where it starts getting more interesting. I had a haircut, init, so I set it to my display picture on MSN. When I come back, I've got a message from Weird Girl. "WT! did u get ur haircut?" Oh here it is. She deleted me? Probably. But, she started a conversation with me, *and* could see my display picture. You can only do that, and see someone elses picture if they're on you MSN. SO I said that. Turns out she re-added me. For shame. She made such a big deal about not speaking to me, only to re-add me on the only thing I use to communicate with her.
We're coming to the end now, but before I leave, we have another interesting point. She brought up a party I went to a while ago. I say a while, I mean almost a year. I don't know why she chose that party, but she did. She said she was really upset when she found out I met a girl there and had a rather good time with her. I'll leave you with something from my MSN Log.
"ye, i wish it was me, but i cnt change wt happens or wt u feel, or feel like doing
so, u can do wteva u wnt, but i would always be there for u, more or less"
So I have a GameBoy Spastic and a Pretty Shiny Plastic thing. I used to keep one of these devices in my bag for entertainment during my commute to and from work, but eventually stopped packing them when I realised that my time was better spent either reading something worthwhile or sleeping. Of course over the last three days I have found myself wanting to play a game, and searching my bag for a portable gaming device and found myself without the necessary equipment. As of tomorrow, a games machine gets added back to the Essential Equipment List.
Ok, so I didnt have an elaborate taste test set up in an amazing ICECREAM LAB (just imagine it though...), but I can proudly present to you the latest research in the exciting field of icecream science:
Waitrose Organic Icecream > Green & Black's Icecream.
It really is a lot better. Try it.
The "violent videogames cause violence" debate is back in the news again. And, as usual, the moral majority and games industry blame or slippery shoulder respectively. I’m in two minds on this issue - on the one hand I think that censoring or banning violent games is ridiculous scare-mongering on the part of the “anti-gaming” groups. On the other I think that games companies and the majority of gamers are sticking their heads in the sand and need to take a bit more responsibility for their output. Take 2, despite public denial, do want kids to play the likes of GTA and Manhunt because it makes them money. And todays parents are too lazy and irresposible to actively ensure their kids are playing games that are suitable.
The majority of non-gamers I speak to think that these modern ultra-violent games are just retarded fantasies for the socially inept, and I think these games do a lot to damage our pastime in the eyes of those people. My father’s opinion of games is the “it’s just childish zapping little green men and robots… grow up and do something useful” - one I’m sure a lot of you encounter.
The outcome is that nobody wins. Publishers may make short-term profits from blockbusters but are probably limiting long-term market size, kids are exposed to images they really shouldn’t see, and parents continue to be bloody useless.
After a particularly heavy session this weekend, I felt like complete shit on Sunday. And Monday. Chest pains. Sick stomach. That sort of thing. I'm OK today though.
2 of my uncles have died with heart problems before reaching retirement age, so its probably something which runs in the family. Luckily I'm not a smoker, nor do I just sit on my arse every day. However, I do eat an awful lot of crap. And I do drink to excess.
So, I'm giving up the beer for a bit. No doubt I'll miss it. But it'll help me save money. It'll stop me from forgetting what I did the previous night. It'll stop me staying in the house on Saturday afternoons nursing a hangover. And it'll also make me appreciate beer more as more than just a crutch which gets me through another relentless week of 'work-eat-sleep'.
To paraphrase the great Homer J, 'Lemonade will be my beer and feeling good will be my hangover'.
Earlier today me and a friend were in the arcade at London's Trocadero tourist and school kid ghetto. If it is a fair representation of arcades today, then the scene is in a truly dismal state. So many old, or old looking games: Daytona is still there and going strong. Daytona 2 was not being played at all. Spazmania and their ilk were going strong. Everything just seemed uninspired and lacking any appeal.
We spotted a Star Wars Pod Racing arcade game. Two people were playing it, and my friend thought it looked pretty cool. I thought it was a perfect example of where arcades have gone wrong. In an arcade I expect to see games that I would not imagine to be able to play on home hardware. A Star Wars Pod Racing game should have graphics comparable to the films, not to other 3D racing games which can be reasonably reproduced on home consoles. Remember the days you walked into an arcade and could only DREAM of playing those games at home? Thats what is missing - at the Trocadero at least.
Ok the costs... THINK OF THE COSTS of all that mega-hardware and software. I understand. But why not produce arcade hardware around high end PCs and mega gfx cards? This would be a lot better than filling the arcades with aging Model 2 and Model 3 arcade hardware. You could also cut software costs by building on top of APIs like OpenGL and DirectX. Surely this is the only way forward for the arcade industry?
As we all know, a certain forumite has had their porn past exposed on the forum at the moment, and regardless of whether it was right or wrong to make what was public knowledge by virtue of being on the internet, public knowledge by posting it on the forum, what mistakes have you made?
Personally for myself, the biggest one has been getting married at the age of 21, it was so horrid it's put me off the idea for life. What about you?
Konfabulator Now Free:
Plus: An illustrated history of how that came to be. (via Daring Fireball)
The profound realisation of the time/reward ratio of gaming, has made me decide its time to sell a load of games and stuff. Here is what I am considering pimping:
I just completed God of War. I bought it on a whim on Friday. Initial impressions were underwhelming - sure it looked great and very, very slick, but the combat just wasnt clicking for me. Fast forward five hours later. I'm still there playing. It fact this game has consumed my entire weekend, a near unprecedented achievement. Sure it mocked me by somewhere along the line downgrading the difficulty from Hero (normal) to Mortal (easy), but I just shrugged it off. It was just too damned compelling - CANT STOP PLAYING UNTIL I FINISH.
But is it utterly AMAZING? No. Its good, very good but not quite the Ultimate Arcade Adventure I was hoping for. I cant really pin down why it wasnt amazing, it has no discernable faults as it were, it just doesnt have anything that really raises it and the genre to exceptional levels. Its probably the best arcade adventure game of the generation, but not the Perfect Theatre Of Violence I was hoping for. But it is part of my formula for Arcade Adventure Perfection. Pay attention, games designers:
Ultimate Arcade Adventure = fuseAndEnhance(Halo, God of War, Devil May Cry, Ico) + SprinkleOfMagic
Oh and Greek Mythology as a game setting is such a no brainer - I'm surprised we dont see more of it. The Making Of features at the end drop some heavy hints about a sequel for "more powerful hardware". The potential for something awesome is certainly there. Hmm... my weekend appears to be over. Maybe its the perfect swan song for my gaming habit.
PS: Amongst the many, MANY things I should have done today but didnt because I was busy playing God of War, was going for a run. I feel like a complete LAMER now. Games are bad for you: QUIT THE HABIT.
Ahah so i've joined the hash edge band wagon after talking to Mr K3nshi this morning about things :)
I'f i can write longggg posts for my live journal i'm shure i can do something here
Sadly this will be very short as i haven't got *much* to talk about now as i've said alot on my lj and cause im also in work.. i thought i would be more tired though as i went to bed at about 4 ish, woke up at 7, been in the office since 8, so a maximum of 3hrs sleep, but it doubt it was...
Women eh :(
That is all
~ Kammy
"I'll punch as many mans as it takes to get the job done"
After that pleasantness, I can reveal the newest addition to Kenshi HQ: a bonsai tree.
A pepper tree to be precise. I'll post images up on Flickr at some point - I'd do it now but its a bit dark.
Also you lamers, when did this become my personal blog? Blog!
...or rather IT DOESNT.
Considering so much is made of the iPod's "Halo effect" for driving sales of Macs to PC users, you'd think it would be simple to just switch your iPod to your Mac. No such joy here, as I have wasted HOURS trying to get the bloody thing to work. I even got some classic error messages such as "The iPod Disk does not have the correct structure" (hold that comment your pedantic geekspastics - I was using the iPod Updater at the time, before you tell me "No n00b, you need to format the iPod in MAC format!!!!111oneoneonefuckingone") and... brace yourself:
"An unexpected error occurred."
Oh we just hit Windows territory, just when spanx was telling me "at least its not some fucking lame windows error message shit like 'unknown error'. Be thankful Our Glorious and Wise Leader Steve Jobs is too Compassionate for that kind of rubbish - he loves us. I intend to kill a random stranger to receive a phone call from him..." (actual quote).
So now I am going to have to return the iPox (fortunately its under warranty). Ah yes, the warranty service process. You have to fill in a DEFECT REPORT to get your warranty service. Nice. All in all a complete waste of time and another layer of gloss removed from the Apple image. I cant wait for Sony to get a clue and kick Apple's media giant pretentions ass all over the shop. Get to it Stringer.
For the past week I have been trying to recall the name of a domain specific (ie specialized) programming language. Sure I tried smacking up my twin sniff bitches Google and Yahoo with related terms (ok, ok snoopist: "graphical programming language"). This yielded lots of irrelevant links. I tried checking out websites where I was sure I had first heard of said language. Nada.
Of course, I gave up at this point. It wasnt a super critical thing, just something I might have been able to use to knock up some fun designs. With that in mind, I just shrugged it off - walked away the Bigger Man.
This morning I received a number of books, some geeky, some (ok one) not geeky. 10 minutes ago I picked up the book "Best Software Writing 1: Selected and Introduced by Joel Spolsky". Its a nice book, a collection of essays about software (no really, its fun). One of the best things about the book is that most of the essays are short; web article/blog post size because 99% of the content is available for free on the web, in exactly that form (the last 1% being Spolsky's intro to each essay). So I flipped open the book just now, and lo and behold, the essay I flipped to talks about the precisely the graphics language I was looking for and has the URL for it.
AMAZING.
(The card you picked was the Ace of Spades).
lame Lame LAME.
I think I liked about two songs. As for the show, some ok lighting effects and hilarious wrecking the stage (or trying to) antics. Pathetic.
so bored I almost left early/10
Apple computers? Toys.
Linux? Junk.
Real men use super expensive Sun Hardware. Kenshi HQ is fully loaded.
Reap the whirlwind...
I cant be bothered with Nintendo spastic points, but maybe you can. Enjoy:
13H4837RBBDFN
That was from the GBA WarioWare, in case you need to know that too. Talk about an overrated game.
"Homeostasis or homoeostasis is the property of an open system, especially living organisms, to regulate its internal environment so as to maintain a stable condition, by means of multiple dynamic equilibrium adjustments controlled by interrelated regulation mechanisms."
Science. Wcked innit.
The Sequel!
Kenshi and I were chatting about this last night.
Gaming has lost its attraction. It now feels like a waste of time rather than a pastime. A habit rather than a hobby. There are other things now that I find more entertaining. Movies, reading, working, photography, playing. I'm just too *busy* for games.
I suppose it is a cyclical thing. Something in the next-gen will bring me back in to the fold. Amaze me again. But for now... naaaahh
Its been a month (at least) since I've played any game (the last being a brief go on Wipeout Pure on a tube journey). Any motivation to complete RE4 has now disappeared. I rarely pack my PSP in my bag these days. God of War, a game I had previously been desperate to play is out next week, and its no longer a definitie purchase. I might buy it. I might not.
What's led to this gaming malaise?
Perhaps its summer. Perhaps its because I am busy geeking out over my new Mac (Unix innit). Perhaps I'm just too damned busy doing stuff that has a tangible return on the investment of time. Who knows?
Come Friday we'll know if God of War is enough to bring me back to the gaming fold.
Time to get your geek on. Some cool and fun resources about AI in games. Check it:
My friend sent me the link to this torrent, right. So I downloaded it. "Barbie.Fasion.Show.iso.torrent." Yeah, ok, why the Hell not? So I tell him I'll download it the next day. I thought it'd be funny material to watch while drunk or whatever.
It only took an hour to download; only 500MB. Rayn told me about Deamon Tools, so I downloaded that, and installed it. I had no idea why the movie wasn't playing. Did I install it wrong? Did I open it wrong? VLC wouldn't play it, WMP wouldn't play it. So I burnt it to a CD to see if that would make a difference. "No autoplay? What's going on here?"
Of course there's no bloody autoplay, I have autoplay for games turned off. What they Hell? It's a game, not a film. I have no use for a Barbie game! You'd think that'd be it, but nooo. I decide to install it, for shits and giggles. Spanish. The game's in Spanish. Not only do I have a game instead of a film, I have it in a language I can't understand.
All I wanted to do was watch a Barbie Fashion Show.
Experience: 1G
Paper Mario turned up the other day. A game I've been meaning to play for a long time. A simple fun little game. RPG-lite for the kids?
It's... good. Not earth-shattering, but typical Nintendo. Polished, fun, bright and enjoyable. The RPG elements are very simple - this is not WoW (thank the lord) and relies more on button timing to improve "hits" than any stats. The story is inoffensive banal tat, although it is told with a nice touch of humour. The graphics are basic, but the style is wonderful with some lovingly "paper-rendered" models. Everything is crisp and clear, and the game regularly throws seemingly hundreds of characters on screen at a time.
And the game itself is fun. I'm only at the second chapter, and the puzzles are starting to shine, the drive to "do one more section" is there, the controls are nice. It's the perfect antidote to the misery and grime of most modern games. It is a bit childish. it is a bit daft. But it is also fun. Play it, you might like it.
Well, after 7 months in France it seems this good thing is coming to an end. I will be made redundant in the coming weeks and returned to blighty. I will return with a different view about England - living for a prolonged period of time does that. I will also return with a big bag of motivation and desire to achieve something.
Things are looking good. Some ideas that have been banging around for a while are 'coming together' in to something good. I won't need to work for a good while. Summer's almost here. I feel optimistic.
Living in France has been a nice experience, but boy am I looking forward to coming back.
Maybe it is a bit excessive to pretty much download every San Andreas official video on the net and keep them on repeat in VLC as well as listen to the entire game soundtrack on shuffle, not to mention having a group of fansites in their own bookmark, but is anyone else looking forward to San Andreas being released on xbox or pc as much as I am?
I Can Make You Dance from the album "GTA SA Bounce FM" by Zapp
Getting Hicks done:
I’ve finally found the tool I want to use as my collection bucket, and like the geek I am, I feel the need to tell you about it.
Like a lot of people, I’ve been sucked in to the whole Getting Things Done cult, and all cult members need a ‘collection bucket’. The bucket is a place to put ‘open loops’ (all those tasks that are rolling around in your head, bothering the hell of you at times when you can do nothing about it), and into a place where they can be listed, reviewed regularly and actioned. For some this tool is a Hipster PDA, for others it could a PIM application like Entourage.
My dilemma was this – I love the organic ‘analog’ feeling of pencil on notebook, but prefer the ease of editing and reordering that a ‘digital’ application would give me.
Here are some of the solutions I’ve tried:
Sorry spanx, but I really think its going to end up on the PS3.
Makers Lucasfilm Ltd and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) were not available for comment.
Hopefully none of you lot were stupid enough to go trying to download Revenge of the Sith.
_41159839_elvispriscilla3body_pa.jpg
No matter how much plastic surgery you get done, there is always a tell-tale sign of how old you are.
In all of the bluster of E3, the successor to the most beautiful and atmospheric of the last few years has been missed. Shadow of the Colossus is only a few months away, and it looks good. A somewhat intriguing premise pits you against a succession of enormous "colossi" - seemingly these huge mechanical creatures hold something you need to free a loved one. The creatures are entire levels in themselves. Each one a puzzle that must be solved.
It's nice to see that they've stuck with the amazing graphical style from Ico. Ico was SO well realised it actually made you feel warm when you stepped out in to a sunny courtyard. Nothing has come close to Ico in terms of evoking a feeling of truly being somewhere else.
To say I'm looking forward to Shadow of the Colossus is an understatement. I'm really hoping it's finally going to topple Super Mario World from it's "favourite game ever" position. Fingers crossed eh?
Itagaki (big cheese of Tecmo & Team Ninja) in typical fashion, unleashes on his competition in an interview at 1up.com. Slaughtering sacred cows such as Capcom, game difficulty levels suitable for mere mortals and anything resembling competition to his game seems to have achieved the desired affect: games forums full of discussion about Tecmo and their games.
Yeah so MS unveiled the Xbox 360 is some almightily shit MTV spectacular. I gave up after the first part. Of course that bollocks wasnt aimed at anyone with a brain, so I checked out the our colony video instead which I thought was pretty good. I dont understand the Allard hate that seems to be going around, so *shrug*.
Anyway I didnt really pay much attention to the launch as there didnt seem to be any particularly interesting games announced. Then I got wind of Neon, and suddenly the Xbox 360 became interesting. Anyway, lets see what Sony's response is...
Well not quite, but:
"Mizuguchi has explained his rationale behind Rez's development a number of times, and provides the compelling viewpoint on its construction, as the game's primary creator. But a little-known fact is that, despite its Japanese origination, there was at least one Westerner working on Rez, and his story is a fascinating one. Jake Kazdal was the only American to work directly on the game as an animator and designer, and he spoke to Gamasutra about his game development background, as well as his time working on Rez and his experiences as a foreigner working at Sega Japan."
Read the full thing on Gamasutra (registration required. BLATANT).
The Location: The Apple Store, Regent Street.
I wanted to pick up an iPod Shuffle, thinking it would be good for the running I will (honest) start doing regularly (no really). So, obviously I needed some kind of holder for the Shuffle for when I take it running. There were two options: the "sports case" (a flimsy looking plastic sheath on a string) and the arm band holder. The cost of each of these items? £19. Nineteen pounds.
I did a double take. "This is ridiculous," I thought. So I took a quick browse through the shop (lots of shiny things to gawp at), and then for some reason decided, sod it - I'm here now, I'll just buy it. The Reality Distortion Field had won over my reservations. Strike One for Team Apple.
So with the arm band in hand I started to queue up. When I had entered the store it was surprisingly quiet. Unfortunately by the time the RDF had taken hold over me, a sizeable queue had formed. But no worries. This is the Apple flagship store. A queue isnt going to be that much of a problem for these guys. Or so I thought.
When I was younger I worked in retail and did a pretty damned good job, going by the feedback from the owners of the shop and the customers. I understand the basics of retail work. Really, it's not that hard. But I was about to be AMAZED by what I would see in this retailling "mecca".
Firstly, there was an Apple Store employee just idly chatting away with his friend, standing behind the counter area. He even came over to have a quick chat to his other friend who was in the queue behind me. Nice touch. There were about 15-20 people in the queue. Secondly, I was stunned to see that there was no seperation of service for the purchase of big ticket items or even for people returning goods. Everyone was being dealt with by the same 3 manned counters (a couple were unmmaned, clearly Apple Store staff need to chat with their mates, rather than serve customers). "All" I wanted to do was buy a iPod Shuffle and a heinously overpriced bit of plastic, and yet I was having to wait whilst some bint complained about a problem with her iPod mini and a old couple happily chatted to the Apple Spodperson as they bought their printer and new iMac (note to J5: they pack it nicely to make it a doddle to carry). And yet I continued to wait. No urgency from any of the Apple Store staff.
I took the opportunity to survey the people in the queue. Most seemed to be holding small ticket items. All were patiently waiting. Not a sign of disquiet upon a single face. All of the people in the queue were smartly dressed, striking me as affluent and confident. As I surveyed them, I made them out to be the kind of smug motherfuckers who would no doubt throw an absolute fit if they had to wait at any other store or if someone had died in front of them on a tube platform. "Get out of my way you selfish loser, I have to get to work!". And yet, here they were. Looking smug. Waiting patiently. Strangely docile and almost pleased to simply be standing there in The House that Jobs Built.
And this led to reflection on my part. I asked myself: "If I had to wait 10 mins in any other store due to poor organisation, what would I do?". I mentally transposed the situation to Argos. And with that Steve's beautifully constructed RDF shattered. I left the queue, dumped the arm band on the stand of Tiger boxes (no doubt ruining the Feng Shui of the place - this act of "littering" pleased me greatly) as I walked past a security guard. The expression on the faces of The Faithful in the queue screamed: "OMG! Is he mad? Why is he leaving?" as I strutted out the store.
As I walked out, two thoughts crossed my mind:
I went out last night to give thanks for the bank holiday. Whilst out I got chatting to my brothers friend who has the hottest sister in the entire world. So I told him this and he gave me her mobile number.
So I'm wondering what to do. I can't just call her up and say 'I love you and I got your number from your brother, and by the way I'm the_debaser and we used to go to school together remember?' She would be scared.
So I've decided that maybe the best way to approach this situation is to stalk her for a while.
AMAZING. I was incredulous reading the insane rantings of qazimod.
Let's break it down and strike a victory for Free Speech, Open Mindedness and the notion of being able to cope with opinions that differ from your own.
Things open with a bang, the worldview of an insane genius who forgot to do the genius part:
"Fewer things are more welcome to see in an online community than a uniform opinion."
Surely nothing is as boring as the kind of circle jerk that most gaming forums are. For some reason the gaming press and certain gamers are obsessed with establishing a heinous level of Group Think: Ico is good. EA is Evil. Wario Ware is AMAZING. Sony is bad. Nintendo is saving gaming. I'm sure you can all think of many more examples of the correct opinions you are expected to have. Gaming discussion? Forget about it - fall in line with the CORRECT OPINION or STFU. We dont want to hear you if you dont agree. Want to express your opinion? Just "piss off" as qazimod so eloquently puts it.
Fortunately this kind of Games Opinion Fascism hasn't totally taken over. There are some places where people value and actively want to engage in actual discussion - including all those annoying, contrary and often just plain wrong opinions that people want to express. If anything I think hash edge is the pefect example of such a place.
I know that the chances of someone on hash edge agreeing with what I have to say about games is less than 10%. We have people who: like the DS to the point of worshipping it as their new god, think Halo is rubbish ("the controls are broken innit - why can't I invert the x-axis?!" ) or - horrors of horrors - think Nintendo have lost it. And yet we can all disagree with each other and cope with this level of (wrong!) contrary opinion. But that's not the kind of forum or debate qazimod wants. And of course, he's not alone - far from it. Which is precisely the reason why the level of gaming "discussion" is so coarse, so binary and ultimately so banal: "I expect you to hear and accept my Truth. I won't hear your LIES - I'll silence you first!!". Draw your own comparisons to the kind of PATRIOTIC FERVER that takes place in the US.
So here's to hash edge, gaming dissidence and all the crazy ones out there: long may free thought and free speech defy the tyranny of the qazimods of the world.
