As most of you probably know I picked up the Limited Edition version of Halo: Reach yesterday night. Of course after the initial batch of pictures I took my friends and I jumped into online multiplayer for a couple hours before it was time for bed. I didn't really have any time to really look over the main component of the limited edition: Halsey's journal.
After getting a chance to look at it I can honestly say the extra 20 bucks was well spent. The effort and design put into the journal is nothing short of astounding. Bungie has really outdone themselves this time and I think it's safe to say those who purchased the limited or legendary editions will be extremely pleased.
The journal itself is more like a small book written by Dr. Halsey: a very very important, yet frequently unexpanded, character in the Halo universe. Anyone who has read "The Fall of Reach" will understand what I mean when I say this journal contains some very awesome totally canon information that until now was never truly expanded upon.
Aside from the journal pages themselves, the journal also contains alot of extra printed material from the Halo universe. News clippings, photographs, dossiers, personal letters, and even information on the Spartan Master Chief John-117 and his Mjolinr mk.IV armor.
Oh and there's an iron-on patch, whooo!
So aside from the game being totally awesome (so far) I highly recomend the limited or legendary editions for any person who is hungry for more insight into the Halo storyline!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
C is for 100! C is for Corsair!
Well, this is my 100th post! Yay!
My Corsair is 80! Yay
My old friends are returning to FFXI! Yay!
They're updating XI soon and getting rid of that awful +5 min and persistant buff on COR rolls! Yay!
Seriously I don't know what they were thinking when they did that, it's like they've never even played the job. But enough about them... let's talk more about meeeee!
As I mentioned before I finally hit level 80 last weekend just a few days after my wife did. Abyssea of course. The place is literally like dying and going to EXP heaven. When I finally did ding of course I figured it was time for 3 things.
First is new gun. In the works are the Trial of Magians gun which gives STR and ranged attack, perfect for my COR and my (so far) 6/8 merits in marksmanship.
Second is new armor. Now I'm not all that interested in that new stuff... you know... it's pink... so I'm going to finish my add-ons finally for some great COR tailored gear.
Third is, as unlikely as it sounds, I'm making an iPhone theme based on FFXI. I found this website that does the coding for you as long as you create your own images. So I spent the better part of yesterday in fireworks making some icons. I'll post a link here when I finish it but as of right now I'm not entirely satisfied with it.
Tonight is another Abyssea party in which I hope to get another 10 merits and hopefully some headway on 81 when the cap raises again after the update! Feel sorry for mobs that'll be taking my barrages tonight!
My Corsair is 80! Yay
My old friends are returning to FFXI! Yay!
They're updating XI soon and getting rid of that awful +5 min and persistant buff on COR rolls! Yay!
Seriously I don't know what they were thinking when they did that, it's like they've never even played the job. But enough about them... let's talk more about meeeee!
As I mentioned before I finally hit level 80 last weekend just a few days after my wife did. Abyssea of course. The place is literally like dying and going to EXP heaven. When I finally did ding of course I figured it was time for 3 things.
First is new gun. In the works are the Trial of Magians gun which gives STR and ranged attack, perfect for my COR and my (so far) 6/8 merits in marksmanship.
Second is new armor. Now I'm not all that interested in that new stuff... you know... it's pink... so I'm going to finish my add-ons finally for some great COR tailored gear.
Third is, as unlikely as it sounds, I'm making an iPhone theme based on FFXI. I found this website that does the coding for you as long as you create your own images. So I spent the better part of yesterday in fireworks making some icons. I'll post a link here when I finish it but as of right now I'm not entirely satisfied with it.
Tonight is another Abyssea party in which I hope to get another 10 merits and hopefully some headway on 81 when the cap raises again after the update! Feel sorry for mobs that'll be taking my barrages tonight!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Prodigal Corsair Returns!
well I know it's been awhile and whatnot but I've been on the computer less and less
mostly since it sucks.
but I thought it would be appropriate to mention I'm again playing the game that spawned the idea for this blog. that's right, the crazy corsair of carbuncle is back!
of course in the year sabatical I've taken no one remembers who I am anymore.
don't worry it happened to Joaquin Phoenix too (who? oh, that's right...)
so in the time since my return I know there's been alot of changes.
I know they raised the level cap which is cool I guess but now every damn Mage in the game subs RDM for convert.
there are tons of far less obvious changes that have taken place over the last year. like abassea... no it's not a life threatening health condition, it's some new fangled area you can access after buying a $10 episode.
apparently the leveling there is insane, something akin to 25k exp an hour once you get rolling in a decent party.
that's insane, I mean I don't mean to sound like a geezer or anything but I remember when getting 10k an hour in dunes meant you were the most badass 6 players in the game. that's right, I mentioned the dunes. people used to level there ya know.
now someone get me my oxygen tank, I think I'm getting cranky.
another thing is the economy seemed to calm down. it was the third happiest day of my life to learn that bullets are now alot cheaper than they used to be. most items in fact have gone down greatly in price. things you used to have to sacrifice small animals for well within arms reach, due in part to the level cap increase I'm sure. and on that note the new level 80 equip is mostly rediculously cheap. most of it costs as much as armor at level 30 and it's damn good stuff to boot. what's the catch? it makes you look like a second hand store fasionista as it's all just re-colored level 30 armor models... explains the price...
and of course what return to form would my personal "welcome home to vanad'iel be without death in massive quantities.
ever since I heard they removed the level caps on CoP mission areas I've been eager to finish a few quests and missions I simply didn't have the help for before. one was a quest to pose mannequins. of which I own 8.... what don't hate me because I'm rich. let me tell you, just cause they removed the level cap in the aquaducts doesn't mean that they made the mannequin NM any easier.
pwn'd
by that I meant I was :(
so in my first week back to the game I officially lost a total of 4k experience, hurray, now I really feel like I'm home!
mostly since it sucks.
but I thought it would be appropriate to mention I'm again playing the game that spawned the idea for this blog. that's right, the crazy corsair of carbuncle is back!
of course in the year sabatical I've taken no one remembers who I am anymore.
don't worry it happened to Joaquin Phoenix too (who? oh, that's right...)
so in the time since my return I know there's been alot of changes.
I know they raised the level cap which is cool I guess but now every damn Mage in the game subs RDM for convert.
there are tons of far less obvious changes that have taken place over the last year. like abassea... no it's not a life threatening health condition, it's some new fangled area you can access after buying a $10 episode.
apparently the leveling there is insane, something akin to 25k exp an hour once you get rolling in a decent party.
that's insane, I mean I don't mean to sound like a geezer or anything but I remember when getting 10k an hour in dunes meant you were the most badass 6 players in the game. that's right, I mentioned the dunes. people used to level there ya know.
now someone get me my oxygen tank, I think I'm getting cranky.
another thing is the economy seemed to calm down. it was the third happiest day of my life to learn that bullets are now alot cheaper than they used to be. most items in fact have gone down greatly in price. things you used to have to sacrifice small animals for well within arms reach, due in part to the level cap increase I'm sure. and on that note the new level 80 equip is mostly rediculously cheap. most of it costs as much as armor at level 30 and it's damn good stuff to boot. what's the catch? it makes you look like a second hand store fasionista as it's all just re-colored level 30 armor models... explains the price...
and of course what return to form would my personal "welcome home to vanad'iel be without death in massive quantities.
ever since I heard they removed the level caps on CoP mission areas I've been eager to finish a few quests and missions I simply didn't have the help for before. one was a quest to pose mannequins. of which I own 8.... what don't hate me because I'm rich. let me tell you, just cause they removed the level cap in the aquaducts doesn't mean that they made the mannequin NM any easier.
pwn'd
by that I meant I was :(
so in my first week back to the game I officially lost a total of 4k experience, hurray, now I really feel like I'm home!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
iPeen
Well its finally mine. My awesome wife, brother and friend victor all teamed up to get me my dream phone, the iPhone. Yes, it is awesome. Yes it does everything. It can order food for me, do my homework, it can even walk my dog... ok it can't do that.
Honestly though I love this thing. If you're looking for a phone and you have the means I highly suggest you look into one. Signal is great, apps are great (of course), the camera (although 2 megapixel) is suprisingly awesome, and it can even do wi-fi hotspots.
Now of course my iPhone is probably a bit cooler than most, it has a few apps on it that make it stand out, if you know what I mean.
If you don't, well then frankly I'm not going to tell you haha.
But I will say this, the add ons I have fix most of the things people complain about iPhones. Everything except the battery life, which is pretty bad. Thankfully that can be helped with external battery cases and charge cases.
Best of all, it keeps track of my decks, tokens and life totals in Magic:tG, and frankly that is the most WIN of all time!
Honestly though I love this thing. If you're looking for a phone and you have the means I highly suggest you look into one. Signal is great, apps are great (of course), the camera (although 2 megapixel) is suprisingly awesome, and it can even do wi-fi hotspots.
Now of course my iPhone is probably a bit cooler than most, it has a few apps on it that make it stand out, if you know what I mean.
If you don't, well then frankly I'm not going to tell you haha.
But I will say this, the add ons I have fix most of the things people complain about iPhones. Everything except the battery life, which is pretty bad. Thankfully that can be helped with external battery cases and charge cases.
Best of all, it keeps track of my decks, tokens and life totals in Magic:tG, and frankly that is the most WIN of all time!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
The Price of Fandom
So I was doing a search for Kingdom Hearts pictures yes? You know how I just got that pretty new iPhone? well I was thinking of giving the theme editing a shot so I could make a cool Kingdom Hearts theme since none of the ones I find seem to satisfy my need for one, and in said search I some how came across this.
I know, its pretty much one of the coolest DSi related KH merch to date. (not that there was much to begin with really)
Since I actually have 358/2 days and I think its a pretty cool game I thought to my self: "Self, wouldnt it be cool to have that?"
So I went where any self-respecting buyer of imported merchandise goes... eBay.
And what do I find there but the very item I was looking for at the buy it now price of... $99.00
wtf!
No seriously, wtf?
This thing, no matter how cool could never be sold for more than 20 dollars. I mean if this thing was forged in the fires of Mount Doom I wouldnt pay more than 25 bucks.
But it's not, it's made out of plastic (earth plastic before you ask) and doesn't really afford the DSi more than a 1 maybe 2 foot drop's worth or protection. I know, I already have something like this with Megaman on it.
And while I recognize the fact its out of print I cant understand why in the hell something like this would be worth half as much as the thing its protecting. Hell, with a good deal you can get a DSi for the same damn price as this thing!
Now I consider myself a collector, and I consider myself a fan of Kingdom Hearts as well, but no matter how much of either of those I am I'm simply not paying this much for something cost literally all of 10 cents to make. C'mon people. Plastic is cheap. Hell, so is cotton and ink, so wouldnt it make sense to value them both about the same?
Since I actually have 358/2 days and I think its a pretty cool game I thought to my self: "Self, wouldnt it be cool to have that?"
So I went where any self-respecting buyer of imported merchandise goes... eBay.
And what do I find there but the very item I was looking for at the buy it now price of... $99.00
wtf!
No seriously, wtf?
This thing, no matter how cool could never be sold for more than 20 dollars. I mean if this thing was forged in the fires of Mount Doom I wouldnt pay more than 25 bucks.
But it's not, it's made out of plastic (earth plastic before you ask) and doesn't really afford the DSi more than a 1 maybe 2 foot drop's worth or protection. I know, I already have something like this with Megaman on it.
And while I recognize the fact its out of print I cant understand why in the hell something like this would be worth half as much as the thing its protecting. Hell, with a good deal you can get a DSi for the same damn price as this thing!
Now I consider myself a collector, and I consider myself a fan of Kingdom Hearts as well, but no matter how much of either of those I am I'm simply not paying this much for something cost literally all of 10 cents to make. C'mon people. Plastic is cheap. Hell, so is cotton and ink, so wouldnt it make sense to value them both about the same?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Say it with Zombies...
I downloaded "The Passing" DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 this past saturday and honestly I'm pretty glad I did. This is the first DLC released for L4D2 and in fact I'm surprised it took so long for one to come out.
Timing aside I have to say this is my favorite Left 4 Dead DLC so far. It adds a new 3-act level, a new heavy weapon (the M60), and a new melee weapon (golf club!). I like it because it's quick, easy for when you dont want to play a prolonged campaign or versus match, but it's longer than Crash Course so it feels like its got more substance to it. The enviroments are diverse enough through the levels that it feels longer than its 3 acts while only taking 30-45 minutes to complete. And the climax of the campaign is a very aweseome scavenge run with the survivors from Left 4 Dead helping you!
Also added in the DLC is a new special infected type, the Fallen Survivor. Imagine a survivor who thought he was immune and was sadly mistaken. Apparently people like that become special infected. They have no unique attacks but take more damage to kill than a regular infected and can also retreat before being killed, usually running you to another special infected or zombie horde. Thankfully when you kills these annoying kiters they drop things you might normally find on a survivor like health packs, pills, adrenaline, explosives, or the occasional melee weapon.
Another change to the game the DLC makes are the caches. They're exactly what they sound like, a large case filled with an unlimited supply of things like pistols, pills, molotovs, pipe bombs, or adrenaline shots.Camping by these things can be very advantagous if you need to stop anyways or in case of horde.
And of course if that wasn't enough The Passing adds a new Midnight Riders song!
What you're not sold?
Fine, The Passing DLC also adds a new mode called Mutation. What that is exactly is a constatnly changing special game type. The way it works is every thursday a new blog post will be availible detailing the Mutation that will be availible friday. As an example the Mutation until this friday is Realism Versus, So whenever you click on the Mutation gametype, you'll automatically be taken to a versus match with realism mode enabled. It won't stop there either, the rules can be changed as much or as little as valve decides so I'm curious to see what kind of zany antics they come up with.
All in all The Passing is definatly worth your 7 bucks and adds a total of 250 gamerscore points in case you were interested.
I give The Passing DLC for L4D2 a solid BRAAAIIINNNNSSSS/10
Timing aside I have to say this is my favorite Left 4 Dead DLC so far. It adds a new 3-act level, a new heavy weapon (the M60), and a new melee weapon (golf club!). I like it because it's quick, easy for when you dont want to play a prolonged campaign or versus match, but it's longer than Crash Course so it feels like its got more substance to it. The enviroments are diverse enough through the levels that it feels longer than its 3 acts while only taking 30-45 minutes to complete. And the climax of the campaign is a very aweseome scavenge run with the survivors from Left 4 Dead helping you!
Also added in the DLC is a new special infected type, the Fallen Survivor. Imagine a survivor who thought he was immune and was sadly mistaken. Apparently people like that become special infected. They have no unique attacks but take more damage to kill than a regular infected and can also retreat before being killed, usually running you to another special infected or zombie horde. Thankfully when you kills these annoying kiters they drop things you might normally find on a survivor like health packs, pills, adrenaline, explosives, or the occasional melee weapon.
Another change to the game the DLC makes are the caches. They're exactly what they sound like, a large case filled with an unlimited supply of things like pistols, pills, molotovs, pipe bombs, or adrenaline shots.Camping by these things can be very advantagous if you need to stop anyways or in case of horde.
And of course if that wasn't enough The Passing adds a new Midnight Riders song!
What you're not sold?
Fine, The Passing DLC also adds a new mode called Mutation. What that is exactly is a constatnly changing special game type. The way it works is every thursday a new blog post will be availible detailing the Mutation that will be availible friday. As an example the Mutation until this friday is Realism Versus, So whenever you click on the Mutation gametype, you'll automatically be taken to a versus match with realism mode enabled. It won't stop there either, the rules can be changed as much or as little as valve decides so I'm curious to see what kind of zany antics they come up with.
All in all The Passing is definatly worth your 7 bucks and adds a total of 250 gamerscore points in case you were interested.
I give The Passing DLC for L4D2 a solid BRAAAIIINNNNSSSS/10
Thursday, April 22, 2010
My Pokémans...
Let me show you them...
as of 04/22/2010, 297:17 hours Pokédex is:
Seen: 479
Obtained: 467
once again that aint much more from my last update so I decided to help MYSELF by making this to guide me in my plan to catch 'em all. this is a list of all the Pokémon i'm missing and how i can go about obtaining them! wish me luck, i'll need it!
Update: been doing this for about a month now, and getting closer to at least having seen them all! Arceus comes out on saturday so ill have a chance for at least +1 to seen and obtained then!
Update (11/10): Running out of Pokémon to catch in Platinum entirely! aside from swarms and pal park im going to have to focus on the GBA versions to continue making some sort of progress. Got Arceus last sat too so I took him off the list!
Update (11/13): Beat LeafGreen then transfered over a bunch of the Pokémon i was missing including Mewtwo! gonna breed and raise some of the ones i got to keep fillin in the holes, but by the end of the day, maybe weekend, i will only need 3 more Pokémon to complete the first 150! and since Mew is pretty much guaranteed as long as I spend a buttload of time catching crap Pokémon to throw into my ranch the first 151 will be done soon! now just to work on Emerald Version and catch the legendary Pokémon in that game.... im at the elite 4, but I need to do some raising before I can take them on!
Update (11/20): Beat Emerald version, and transfered over Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza. I seriously underestimated how easy it would be to find and catch Latios or Latias though, not to mention you need to have an e-reader to get both on Emerald... dont think I'll buy one, I think I'll just play the game twice. thankfully everytime I see my Pokédex I get a renewed fervor to complete my Pokédex as i am so close now!
Update (3/8): Downloaded the draco meteor Jirachi and the Picachu colored Pichu in the last week. Gearing up for HG/SS as like... 20 (just counted) can easily be caught from them and transfered to my Platinum game. That'll bring my "Obtained" to 472! after that only 21 remain, 18 of which are possible for me to catch (the other 3 being special event Pokémon, Deoxys, Celebi, and Manaphy). I love it when a plan comes together!
Update (4/16): Most of what I can catch from SS is caught. I have the option to catch a Latios, Moltres and of course Raikou and Entei, and after those are done I will be transfering those, as well as the legendaries and just the normal ones I needed from my SoulSilver game to Platinum!
Update (4/22): finally caught those bastard dogs, bred a couple Totodiles for my Platinum game, and traded the rest of what I caught previously to Platinum. Look how short the list is!!
115 - Kangaskahn - catch
146 - Moltres - catch
151 - Mew - My Pokémon Ranch
230 - Kingdra - evolve
251 - Celebi - ???
335 - Zangoose - trade
380 - Latias - transfer
386 - Deoxys - ???
390 - Chimchar
391 - Monferno
392 - Infernape
431 - Glameow - trade
432 - Purugly - trade
490 - Manaphy - ???
Thankfully the ones crossed out or erased are already done, or obtained. instead of continuing to post over and over ill do this till I can eliminate all of em! go me!
as of 04/22/2010, 297:17 hours Pokédex is:
Seen: 479
Obtained: 467
once again that aint much more from my last update so I decided to help MYSELF by making this to guide me in my plan to catch 'em all. this is a list of all the Pokémon i'm missing and how i can go about obtaining them! wish me luck, i'll need it!
Update: been doing this for about a month now, and getting closer to at least having seen them all! Arceus comes out on saturday so ill have a chance for at least +1 to seen and obtained then!
Update (11/10): Running out of Pokémon to catch in Platinum entirely! aside from swarms and pal park im going to have to focus on the GBA versions to continue making some sort of progress. Got Arceus last sat too so I took him off the list!
Update (11/13): Beat LeafGreen then transfered over a bunch of the Pokémon i was missing including Mewtwo! gonna breed and raise some of the ones i got to keep fillin in the holes, but by the end of the day, maybe weekend, i will only need 3 more Pokémon to complete the first 150! and since Mew is pretty much guaranteed as long as I spend a buttload of time catching crap Pokémon to throw into my ranch the first 151 will be done soon! now just to work on Emerald Version and catch the legendary Pokémon in that game.... im at the elite 4, but I need to do some raising before I can take them on!
Update (11/20): Beat Emerald version, and transfered over Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza. I seriously underestimated how easy it would be to find and catch Latios or Latias though, not to mention you need to have an e-reader to get both on Emerald... dont think I'll buy one, I think I'll just play the game twice. thankfully everytime I see my Pokédex I get a renewed fervor to complete my Pokédex as i am so close now!
Update (3/8): Downloaded the draco meteor Jirachi and the Picachu colored Pichu in the last week. Gearing up for HG/SS as like... 20 (just counted) can easily be caught from them and transfered to my Platinum game. That'll bring my "Obtained" to 472! after that only 21 remain, 18 of which are possible for me to catch (the other 3 being special event Pokémon, Deoxys, Celebi, and Manaphy). I love it when a plan comes together!
Update (4/16): Most of what I can catch from SS is caught. I have the option to catch a Latios, Moltres and of course Raikou and Entei, and after those are done I will be transfering those, as well as the legendaries and just the normal ones I needed from my SoulSilver game to Platinum!
Update (4/22): finally caught those bastard dogs, bred a couple Totodiles for my Platinum game, and traded the rest of what I caught previously to Platinum. Look how short the list is!!
115 - Kangaskahn - catch
146 - Moltres - catch
151 - Mew - My Pokémon Ranch
230 - Kingdra - evolve
251 - Celebi - ???
335 - Zangoose - trade
380 - Latias - transfer
386 - Deoxys - ???
390 - Chimchar
391 - Monferno
392 - Infernape
431 - Glameow - trade
432 - Purugly - trade
490 - Manaphy - ???
Thankfully the ones crossed out or erased are already done, or obtained. instead of continuing to post over and over ill do this till I can eliminate all of em! go me!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Science'd
Wow. Just wow.
George Hutcheson, a guy I've never heard of before takes his interest in Pokémon to a whole new level by writing a small article on the similarities of some species of Pokémon to the real life creatures theyre based around.
Honestly the article is both informative and pretty surprising in the effectiveness of its point: that Pokémon evolutions aren't science fiction but science fact.
And no I'm not a creationist, evolution is real, but Pokémon evolution carries traits that most people think to be impossible.
To sum it up real evolution is the adaptation of a species over thousands or millions of years.
Pokémon evolution is much quicker, taking only days or even hours, and in some cases are even triggered by external sources (i.e. trading, using a special item etc.). Not to mention that in the game unevolved Pokémon can breed at any stage where as creatures who undergo metamorphosis are unable to breed until they reach thier mature, post-metamorphosis state.
Interested in how the game and the scientific world share similarities in regards to the digital world of Pokémon?
Read on here: On the Origin of Species: Wooper by George Hutcheson
George Hutcheson, a guy I've never heard of before takes his interest in Pokémon to a whole new level by writing a small article on the similarities of some species of Pokémon to the real life creatures theyre based around.
Honestly the article is both informative and pretty surprising in the effectiveness of its point: that Pokémon evolutions aren't science fiction but science fact.
And no I'm not a creationist, evolution is real, but Pokémon evolution carries traits that most people think to be impossible.
To sum it up real evolution is the adaptation of a species over thousands or millions of years.
Pokémon evolution is much quicker, taking only days or even hours, and in some cases are even triggered by external sources (i.e. trading, using a special item etc.). Not to mention that in the game unevolved Pokémon can breed at any stage where as creatures who undergo metamorphosis are unable to breed until they reach thier mature, post-metamorphosis state.
Interested in how the game and the scientific world share similarities in regards to the digital world of Pokémon?
Read on here: On the Origin of Species: Wooper by George Hutcheson
Monday, April 19, 2010
KICK-ASS or ASS KICK?
You know I don't even know anymore.
I saw Kick-Ass on sunday and honesly i really liked it. It was only during the credits that i found out it is in fact based on a comic.
So naturally being a fan of the comics i looked it up.
i kinda wish i didn't
the Kick-Ass big screen adaption is almost like the big screen adaption of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. if youve read that then you know what i mean.
So is Kick-Ass based on a comic book?
yes, but not really.
Ya see, this movie fails where so many adaptions fail before it.
they change like ever fucking thing about the comic, then they say "hey thisll make a good movie". then before you know it you hacked and spliced enough times it went from looking like patrick swayze in dirty dancing to patrick swayze in too wong foo.
im going to pretend you didnt just say how much you liked too wong foo and continue.
oh, and fanboys, spoiler alert so if youre gonna whine and bitch about how i ruined the movie for you stop reading now.
First off the comic is a gritty take on why people dont become super heroes in real life. the message: life is not a comic and it just doesnt work.
the movie sends different message. super heroes dont exist in real life cause people didnt try hard enough.
now normally this would be such a bad thing, and the movie starts off much in the same way as the comic but about halfway through it makes a strange deviation.
It becomes some kinda happy go lucky super hero comedy.
Big Dady WAS a retired cop, framed for a crime he didn't commit by a new york drug kingpin. as opposed to a bored accountant who fights crime with his brainwashed daughter.
Kick-Ass DID get the girl and lived hapily ever after, only giving up the costume on her request, rather than getting rejected and his ass kicked by her new boyfriend upon revealing hes not gay to her
Kick-Ass's dad never gets involved with Lucille (who dies in the movie)
while these differences arent many, they completely change the mood and almost the focus of the entire movie. I'm not sure that Millar and Romita jr. have in store for the character in the future (theyve both stated a sequel book is in the works) but you can probably bet it will never be as happy or feel good as this movie turned out to be.
all in all my verdict is simple, if youve read the comic youll probably dislike the movie, if you havent, which im wagering is the category most people fall into, youll probably like it.
i give this movie a Katie Deauxma/10
I saw Kick-Ass on sunday and honesly i really liked it. It was only during the credits that i found out it is in fact based on a comic.
So naturally being a fan of the comics i looked it up.
i kinda wish i didn't
the Kick-Ass big screen adaption is almost like the big screen adaption of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. if youve read that then you know what i mean.
So is Kick-Ass based on a comic book?
yes, but not really.
Ya see, this movie fails where so many adaptions fail before it.
they change like ever fucking thing about the comic, then they say "hey thisll make a good movie". then before you know it you hacked and spliced enough times it went from looking like patrick swayze in dirty dancing to patrick swayze in too wong foo.
im going to pretend you didnt just say how much you liked too wong foo and continue.
oh, and fanboys, spoiler alert so if youre gonna whine and bitch about how i ruined the movie for you stop reading now.
First off the comic is a gritty take on why people dont become super heroes in real life. the message: life is not a comic and it just doesnt work.
the movie sends different message. super heroes dont exist in real life cause people didnt try hard enough.
now normally this would be such a bad thing, and the movie starts off much in the same way as the comic but about halfway through it makes a strange deviation.
It becomes some kinda happy go lucky super hero comedy.
Big Dady WAS a retired cop, framed for a crime he didn't commit by a new york drug kingpin. as opposed to a bored accountant who fights crime with his brainwashed daughter.
Kick-Ass DID get the girl and lived hapily ever after, only giving up the costume on her request, rather than getting rejected and his ass kicked by her new boyfriend upon revealing hes not gay to her
Kick-Ass's dad never gets involved with Lucille (who dies in the movie)
while these differences arent many, they completely change the mood and almost the focus of the entire movie. I'm not sure that Millar and Romita jr. have in store for the character in the future (theyve both stated a sequel book is in the works) but you can probably bet it will never be as happy or feel good as this movie turned out to be.
all in all my verdict is simple, if youve read the comic youll probably dislike the movie, if you havent, which im wagering is the category most people fall into, youll probably like it.
i give this movie a Katie Deauxma/10
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Badges? We Dont Need No Stinking Badges!
Actually we, err- I do. I just finished getting all 16 badges in HG/SS and i'm pretty damn proud of myself.
I've also managed to catch Articuno in the seafoam islands, Suicune, Lugia, Ho-Oh, and ive got Raikou running around with 1 hp!
As for working on my national Pokedex i also got the items to evolve Clamperl into its 2 evolutions, Gorebyss and Huntail so those are 2 more I can cross off. That and i caught a Miltank which i was lacking, and a Misdreavus (who has since been evolved to Mismagius) so thats a total of 8 more to the pokedex i didn't have before SS!
So all i really have waiting for me now in the game is to finish the legendary dog trio, storm Mt. Silver, fight the elite 4 at thier new levels and then hopefully find and beat Red!
And my team?
Well that would be:
"Numot" Dragonite (f) Lv.59, Lax, Inner Focus, Bright Powder
I've also managed to catch Articuno in the seafoam islands, Suicune, Lugia, Ho-Oh, and ive got Raikou running around with 1 hp!
As for working on my national Pokedex i also got the items to evolve Clamperl into its 2 evolutions, Gorebyss and Huntail so those are 2 more I can cross off. That and i caught a Miltank which i was lacking, and a Misdreavus (who has since been evolved to Mismagius) so thats a total of 8 more to the pokedex i didn't have before SS!
So all i really have waiting for me now in the game is to finish the legendary dog trio, storm Mt. Silver, fight the elite 4 at thier new levels and then hopefully find and beat Red!
And my team?
Well that would be:
"Numot" Dragonite (f) Lv.59, Lax, Inner Focus, Bright Powder
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Pulse
- Fly
- Earthquake
"Lorthos" Feraligatr (m) Lv.60, Serious, Torrent, Lum Berry
- Surf
- Ice Fang
- Crunch
- Thrash
"Woe" Mismagius (m) Lv.60, Relaxed, Levitate, Lum Berry
- Shadow Ball
- Psybeam
- Power Gem
- Perish Song
"Rustspore" Ampharos (m) Lv.60, Naive, Static, Magnet
- Charge Beam
- Thunder Punch
- Signal Beam
- Power Gem
"Cracklebur" Flareon (m) Lv.59, Lax, Flash Fire, Charcoal
- Fire Fang
- Bite
- Smog
- Last Resort
"Djinn" Jirachi Lv.60, Serious, Serene Grace, Twisted Spoon
- Wish
- Future Sight
- U-turn
- Draco Meteor
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Phones, Phones, Phones.
Its been sort of a transitionary phase for me in the phones department. my Gravity was messing up severely, (not that it was ever any good) so my bro is trying to get it fixed. in the meantime he lent me his old Samsung Blackjack.
That was actually a little exciting cause its a phone i wanted when it came out.
I have no idea why.
that phone literally does nothing.
Now my friend has a Blackjack II. That phone does something. it actually does somethingS as in plural. its a neat phone. the first is not.
So then last night my mom lends me her old phone, a Samsung Behold. Now that phone is actually pretty cool and it has a great camera (5mega) its touchscreen and it lets me do things like SEARCH MY CONTACTS.
seriously aside from having better reception that Blackjack was worthless.
So i have this Behold nad its a pretty cool guy except for one thing. Its pink and has one of those Amy Brown fairy art skins.
So how bad did i want to ditch the Blackjack?
My sim card is now inside a pink Samsung Behold with an Amy Brown fairy art skin, thats how bad.
So now im dailing from a fruity phone and hoping and praying i get an iPhone soon
Pleeeeeaaasse!
That was actually a little exciting cause its a phone i wanted when it came out.
I have no idea why.
that phone literally does nothing.
Now my friend has a Blackjack II. That phone does something. it actually does somethingS as in plural. its a neat phone. the first is not.
So then last night my mom lends me her old phone, a Samsung Behold. Now that phone is actually pretty cool and it has a great camera (5mega) its touchscreen and it lets me do things like SEARCH MY CONTACTS.
seriously aside from having better reception that Blackjack was worthless.
So i have this Behold nad its a pretty cool guy except for one thing. Its pink and has one of those Amy Brown fairy art skins.
So how bad did i want to ditch the Blackjack?
My sim card is now inside a pink Samsung Behold with an Amy Brown fairy art skin, thats how bad.
So now im dailing from a fruity phone and hoping and praying i get an iPhone soon
Pleeeeeaaasse!
Monday, April 5, 2010
A Mustering of 'Muchness'
Over the weekend i bought the Almost Alice CD which is basically the "music imspired by the motion picture" CD, and not the original soundtrack, which would be all Danny Elfman songs anyways (not at all a bad thing).
Personally i love it. mind you i dont love EVERY song because well, quite frankly compilations are almost always hit or miss, but most of the album is actually quite good.
There are definatly some things you should know about it however before you purchase it if thats what you were thinking about. if you werent thinking that then theres really no need to read this however if you dont i will be sad and you certainly don't want that.
you wouldnt like me when i'm sad.... wait.
songs in the good category are Avril's track "Alice" which is the song that plays in the end credits of the movie, AAR's "The Poison", Owl City's "The Technicolor Phase", Robert Smith (of The Cure)'s "Very Good Advice", 3OH!3's "Follow Me Down", Motion City Soundtrack's "Always Running out of Time", and Valora's "Extreme" (although i have NO idea what it has to do with Alice in Wonderland).
Falling into the cool yet weird category is Franz Ferdinand's "The Lobster Quadrille" which is a musical performance of an actual poem from the book. Also in this category is They Might Be Giant's "" for the same reason. And of course the CD wouldnt be complete without a cover of Grace Slick's (and the rest of Jefferson Airplane) "White Rabbit". The cover version is pretty decent but the original is still better (Don't worry though, this one doesnt have a 7 minute hippie solo at the end)
And now for the bad. Ironically enough the songs i thought i would love, i ended up not liking. go figure. Pete Wentz and Mark Hoppus's "In Transit" leaves much to be desired. Same goes for Wolfmother's "Fall Down a Hole", and Shinedown's "The Name is Alice". As for another of the CD's singles, "Tea Party" by Kerli I give her points for enthusiasm but i didn't like the song much.
The rest of the songs not mentioned are decent at least but not really falling in any of the above categories.
Its not as good as Nightmare Revisted which was literally an awesome CD but i definatly don't regret my purchase.
And a word to the wise, the iTunes version comes with the Danny Elfman main theme as well as the They Might Be Giants song, where as the Hot Topic version comes with 3 extra tracks including the Velora track.
All in all i'd give the CD a Bandersnatch scratch/10!
Personally i love it. mind you i dont love EVERY song because well, quite frankly compilations are almost always hit or miss, but most of the album is actually quite good.
There are definatly some things you should know about it however before you purchase it if thats what you were thinking about. if you werent thinking that then theres really no need to read this however if you dont i will be sad and you certainly don't want that.
you wouldnt like me when i'm sad.... wait.
songs in the good category are Avril's track "Alice" which is the song that plays in the end credits of the movie, AAR's "The Poison", Owl City's "The Technicolor Phase", Robert Smith (of The Cure)'s "Very Good Advice", 3OH!3's "Follow Me Down", Motion City Soundtrack's "Always Running out of Time", and Valora's "Extreme" (although i have NO idea what it has to do with Alice in Wonderland).
Falling into the cool yet weird category is Franz Ferdinand's "The Lobster Quadrille" which is a musical performance of an actual poem from the book. Also in this category is They Might Be Giant's "" for the same reason. And of course the CD wouldnt be complete without a cover of Grace Slick's (and the rest of Jefferson Airplane) "White Rabbit". The cover version is pretty decent but the original is still better (Don't worry though, this one doesnt have a 7 minute hippie solo at the end)
And now for the bad. Ironically enough the songs i thought i would love, i ended up not liking. go figure. Pete Wentz and Mark Hoppus's "In Transit" leaves much to be desired. Same goes for Wolfmother's "Fall Down a Hole", and Shinedown's "The Name is Alice". As for another of the CD's singles, "Tea Party" by Kerli I give her points for enthusiasm but i didn't like the song much.
The rest of the songs not mentioned are decent at least but not really falling in any of the above categories.
Its not as good as Nightmare Revisted which was literally an awesome CD but i definatly don't regret my purchase.
And a word to the wise, the iTunes version comes with the Danny Elfman main theme as well as the They Might Be Giants song, where as the Hot Topic version comes with 3 extra tracks including the Velora track.
All in all i'd give the CD a Bandersnatch scratch/10!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Har-Har-HeartGold!
Ok, i didnt actually get HeatGold, i just thought it would be funny if that was the title. What i did get is SoulSilver:
Now you may be telling yourself, Self, this is just a remake.
i'm here to tell you thats retarded.
Ok yes it is a remake, but its vastly different. the storyline has been beefed up, graphically it takes full advantage of the DS's graphics.
functionaly it takes full advantage of the DS system. you can actually use the touch screen for 99% of the games input. thats basically everything but moving your character.
Its also completly compatible with other generation IV games and you can use the pal park to transfer Pokémon from your generation III games.
It has a full online mode if you have wi-fi access that includes mini-games, trainer battles and other things like doodling and "spinning" (that im pretty sure that has nothing to do with bottles). they even have something called the pokéthalon which if the name is true sounds something akin to pokémon olympics.
and if that wasn't enough to get your blood pumping they have the Pokéwalker.
remember that annoying Pokémon Pikachu tamogatchi thing? its like that but better. it syncs to and from your gamepack directly, earning exp for the pokémon you choose for every step it counts in real life. and just like that older Pikachu one, it converts every 20 steps you take into 1 watt which can be used to buy more routes to walk on, encounter other pokémon in a minigame that can allow you to catch these pokémon and transfer them back to your game, or find hidden items along your route that can also transfer to your game. and when all is said and done take your pokémon from the walker back to your gamepack and choose another to walk with you instead.
if that wasn't enough if you meet someone with a pokéwalker also, you can connect to each other via infared and earn an item to transfer back to your game. from what i understand they can also battle via the pokéwalkers simplified battle system. (much like rock, paper, scissors)
now if you aren't a pokemon fan this probably sounds mediocre to you and i guess theres no helping that. but for anyone who was left hungering for Gold/Silver because of the games incompatibility with newer handhelds and gen III and on games, this is your time to shine.
and the icing on the cake is all the cool interconnectivity between it and Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. Already in my SoulSilver game i have an exclusive pokéwalker route (via Jirachi trade), a SoulSilver special sprite pokémon (via Pikachu-colored Pichu trade), and when i finally make it to the area in the game, my Arceus trade will get me a lvl 1 Palkia, Giratina, or Dialga.
all in all it leads me to spending another gross amoun of time playing another Pokémon game while anxiously awaiting new Generation V
Now you may be telling yourself, Self, this is just a remake.
i'm here to tell you thats retarded.
Ok yes it is a remake, but its vastly different. the storyline has been beefed up, graphically it takes full advantage of the DS's graphics.
functionaly it takes full advantage of the DS system. you can actually use the touch screen for 99% of the games input. thats basically everything but moving your character.
Its also completly compatible with other generation IV games and you can use the pal park to transfer Pokémon from your generation III games.
It has a full online mode if you have wi-fi access that includes mini-games, trainer battles and other things like doodling and "spinning" (that im pretty sure that has nothing to do with bottles). they even have something called the pokéthalon which if the name is true sounds something akin to pokémon olympics.
and if that wasn't enough to get your blood pumping they have the Pokéwalker.
remember that annoying Pokémon Pikachu tamogatchi thing? its like that but better. it syncs to and from your gamepack directly, earning exp for the pokémon you choose for every step it counts in real life. and just like that older Pikachu one, it converts every 20 steps you take into 1 watt which can be used to buy more routes to walk on, encounter other pokémon in a minigame that can allow you to catch these pokémon and transfer them back to your game, or find hidden items along your route that can also transfer to your game. and when all is said and done take your pokémon from the walker back to your gamepack and choose another to walk with you instead.
if that wasn't enough if you meet someone with a pokéwalker also, you can connect to each other via infared and earn an item to transfer back to your game. from what i understand they can also battle via the pokéwalkers simplified battle system. (much like rock, paper, scissors)
now if you aren't a pokemon fan this probably sounds mediocre to you and i guess theres no helping that. but for anyone who was left hungering for Gold/Silver because of the games incompatibility with newer handhelds and gen III and on games, this is your time to shine.
and the icing on the cake is all the cool interconnectivity between it and Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. Already in my SoulSilver game i have an exclusive pokéwalker route (via Jirachi trade), a SoulSilver special sprite pokémon (via Pikachu-colored Pichu trade), and when i finally make it to the area in the game, my Arceus trade will get me a lvl 1 Palkia, Giratina, or Dialga.
all in all it leads me to spending another gross amoun of time playing another Pokémon game while anxiously awaiting new Generation V
Monday, March 8, 2010
HG/SS Bonus Events!
With Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver coming out there are 2 new Pokemon events going on that you should know about.
The first is the Draco Meteor Jirachi. This event is at Gamestop only, so make sure you head there. Jirachi is availble from Feburary 27th-March 13th.
All you have to do is go to Gamestop and turn on your DS and Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum Pokemon game.
From the main menu (where you select your game save, or start new game) go to recieve gift, then to "Via wireless connection".
Jirachi should pop up as a gift right away so if not ask the Gamestop clerk if the station is turned on (it may not be, bastards!).
Then simply recieve gift, start your game, then head to the Pokemart in Jublife city (with at least one slot open in your party!) and viola, you have a level 5 Jirachi that knows an exclusive move, Draco Meteor!
From there, when HG/SS comes out you can transfer this Jirachi to that game (make sure it still knows Draco Meteor!) and you will unlock a special cutscene in the game as well as an exclusive new path on your Pokewalker!
The other promotion is the Pikachu colored Pichu availible via the wi-fi connection so you can do this from anywhere you can connect to the internet via nintendo wi-fi connection. (Be warned although the DSi supports WPA and WPA2 encryption type networks the Pokemon games DO NOT so you will need to find a WEP or unencrypted connection to use)
The Pikachu colored Pichu promotion runs March 5th-March 26th
To get this one simply go to Jublife T.V. in Jublife City and go to the 3rd floor.
Talk to the producer and give him your opinion on T.V. (Say: Everyone Happy)
Then give him your feedback on T.V. (Say: Wi-Fi Connection)
The producer will confirm you're "in the know" and says he will arrange for something for you. SAVE YOUR GAME (important!) then restart.
From the main menu (where you select your game save, or start a new game) go to reviece gift, then to "Via Wi-Fi". (Make sure you are currently configured to whatever access point you're using.)
It might take a few moments but the Pikachu colored Pichu should appear.
Then simply recieve gift, start your game, then head to the Pokemart in Jublife city (with at least one slot open in your party!) and you'll get the shiny level 30 Pichu!
And of course when HG/SS comes out you can trade this Pokemon to that game to unlock a special cutscene in Ilex Forest Shrine in which you befriend the "Spiky-Eared" Pichu, a Pichu with a special design based on the Pokemon movie "Arceus and the Jewel of Life". From there you can catch him as well!
The first is the Draco Meteor Jirachi. This event is at Gamestop only, so make sure you head there. Jirachi is availble from Feburary 27th-March 13th.
All you have to do is go to Gamestop and turn on your DS and Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum Pokemon game.
From the main menu (where you select your game save, or start new game) go to recieve gift, then to "Via wireless connection".
Jirachi should pop up as a gift right away so if not ask the Gamestop clerk if the station is turned on (it may not be, bastards!).
Then simply recieve gift, start your game, then head to the Pokemart in Jublife city (with at least one slot open in your party!) and viola, you have a level 5 Jirachi that knows an exclusive move, Draco Meteor!
From there, when HG/SS comes out you can transfer this Jirachi to that game (make sure it still knows Draco Meteor!) and you will unlock a special cutscene in the game as well as an exclusive new path on your Pokewalker!
The other promotion is the Pikachu colored Pichu availible via the wi-fi connection so you can do this from anywhere you can connect to the internet via nintendo wi-fi connection. (Be warned although the DSi supports WPA and WPA2 encryption type networks the Pokemon games DO NOT so you will need to find a WEP or unencrypted connection to use)
The Pikachu colored Pichu promotion runs March 5th-March 26th
To get this one simply go to Jublife T.V. in Jublife City and go to the 3rd floor.
Talk to the producer and give him your opinion on T.V. (Say: Everyone Happy)
Then give him your feedback on T.V. (Say: Wi-Fi Connection)
The producer will confirm you're "in the know" and says he will arrange for something for you. SAVE YOUR GAME (important!) then restart.
From the main menu (where you select your game save, or start a new game) go to reviece gift, then to "Via Wi-Fi". (Make sure you are currently configured to whatever access point you're using.)
It might take a few moments but the Pikachu colored Pichu should appear.
Then simply recieve gift, start your game, then head to the Pokemart in Jublife city (with at least one slot open in your party!) and you'll get the shiny level 30 Pichu!
And of course when HG/SS comes out you can trade this Pokemon to that game to unlock a special cutscene in Ilex Forest Shrine in which you befriend the "Spiky-Eared" Pichu, a Pichu with a special design based on the Pokemon movie "Arceus and the Jewel of Life". From there you can catch him as well!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Concerning the World of Warcraft TCG
you know card games are a shaky business, its so easy to fail making a new card game. you can have a lack of organized play, bad marketing, hell you can have a bad game period. even just trying to create a player base when other games dominate the market is difficult. that being said, probably my second favorite card game out there is being put on hiatus.
the World of Warcraft TCG, which you may have read me praising for its wealth of gameplay types, great player inscentives, price, and all around good game design is being put on hold for quite literally the dumbest reason ever.
bad press.
seriously out of everything that couldve pulled the game it had to be that?!
now i dont claim to know the whole story but let me explain. I first saw this post on WoW.com (not to be confused with the official site worldofwarcraft.com)
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/17/upper-deck-comments-on-loss-of-wow-tcg-license/
my first reaction whats "AWHHHHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT?"
thats right complete with sideways head turning.
why the hell would Upper Deck do anything like counterfeiting? apparently, at one point they held a liscence for Yu-Gi-Oh, to what extent i don't know but in some capicity. after this liscence was lost, they continued printing cards allegedly and Konami sued them.
well after following the chain of articles the picture began to clear up a bit
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/12/blizzard-wow-tcg-will-come-back-better-than-ever?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_wowinsider
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/12/upper-deck-and-wow-tcg-parting-ways?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_wowinsider
and the even older post (over 92 days old -- thats 3 months!)
http://www.wow.com/2009/11/15/rumors-of-wow-tcgs-demise-greatly-exaggerated?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_wowinsider
after all of this its hard to see how this wasn't comming, but all in all it basically points to several factors, and despite which are true and which aren't, it seems like the WoW TCG was destined to get away from UDE no matter what.
curious about all this i went to the Upper Deck site for the WoW TCG, no mention there of losing the liscence (big surprise), but on the Upper deck main page i did find these:
http://www.upperdeck-international.com/tabid/56/language/en-US/Default.aspx?AnnouncementID=20
http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/ude/en/articles.aspx?aid=7453
I didnt bother checking Konami's site, this confirmed for me all i needed to know. UDE was sued for violating liscencing agreements. is it so hard to believe they might lose contracts because of the negative publicity?
not really.
is it hard to believe they would play the bad ecnomy card to try and save face in light of negative allegations to their comany?
not really.
its also no secret that Blizzard and UDE worked very closely on the WoW TCG, to what extent was the work done who knows, but if it is true that Blizzard has had a majority in the planning and development, maybe they say this as an easy way to bring things in house or to another company of their choice.
at this point anything is possible, but to anyone out there who loved this TCG as much as me, make sure you use any UDE points you have left over, and any unredeemed loot cards. cause theres no telling what will happen to them after march.
im not sure what to make of the crafting redemption issue, i myself was planning on redeeming some just recently, but i guess i have nothing to really lose by sending them in. hopefully theyll be able to honor everything they recieve before a certain date.
there will also probably be a snatch and grab for cards before march, but i think that waiting for sales from either UDE, just before they lose thier liscence or from the distributors they sell what they can of thier stock to before hand. i do expect some good deals for packs and boxes online.
but most of all im keeping my fingers crossed that the game does come back, or that the format of the game doesnt change. Id hate for all my old cards to be useless if they bring the game to a new company and they change it up.
heres to hoping.
the World of Warcraft TCG, which you may have read me praising for its wealth of gameplay types, great player inscentives, price, and all around good game design is being put on hold for quite literally the dumbest reason ever.
bad press.
seriously out of everything that couldve pulled the game it had to be that?!
now i dont claim to know the whole story but let me explain. I first saw this post on WoW.com (not to be confused with the official site worldofwarcraft.com)
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/17/upper-deck-comments-on-loss-of-wow-tcg-license/
my first reaction whats "AWHHHHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT?"
thats right complete with sideways head turning.
why the hell would Upper Deck do anything like counterfeiting? apparently, at one point they held a liscence for Yu-Gi-Oh, to what extent i don't know but in some capicity. after this liscence was lost, they continued printing cards allegedly and Konami sued them.
well after following the chain of articles the picture began to clear up a bit
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/12/blizzard-wow-tcg-will-come-back-better-than-ever?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_wowinsider
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/12/upper-deck-and-wow-tcg-parting-ways?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_wowinsider
and the even older post (over 92 days old -- thats 3 months!)
http://www.wow.com/2009/11/15/rumors-of-wow-tcgs-demise-greatly-exaggerated?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_wowinsider
after all of this its hard to see how this wasn't comming, but all in all it basically points to several factors, and despite which are true and which aren't, it seems like the WoW TCG was destined to get away from UDE no matter what.
curious about all this i went to the Upper Deck site for the WoW TCG, no mention there of losing the liscence (big surprise), but on the Upper deck main page i did find these:
http://www.upperdeck-international.com/tabid/56/language/en-US/Default.aspx?AnnouncementID=20
http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/ude/en/articles.aspx?aid=7453
I didnt bother checking Konami's site, this confirmed for me all i needed to know. UDE was sued for violating liscencing agreements. is it so hard to believe they might lose contracts because of the negative publicity?
not really.
is it hard to believe they would play the bad ecnomy card to try and save face in light of negative allegations to their comany?
not really.
its also no secret that Blizzard and UDE worked very closely on the WoW TCG, to what extent was the work done who knows, but if it is true that Blizzard has had a majority in the planning and development, maybe they say this as an easy way to bring things in house or to another company of their choice.
at this point anything is possible, but to anyone out there who loved this TCG as much as me, make sure you use any UDE points you have left over, and any unredeemed loot cards. cause theres no telling what will happen to them after march.
im not sure what to make of the crafting redemption issue, i myself was planning on redeeming some just recently, but i guess i have nothing to really lose by sending them in. hopefully theyll be able to honor everything they recieve before a certain date.
there will also probably be a snatch and grab for cards before march, but i think that waiting for sales from either UDE, just before they lose thier liscence or from the distributors they sell what they can of thier stock to before hand. i do expect some good deals for packs and boxes online.
but most of all im keeping my fingers crossed that the game does come back, or that the format of the game doesnt change. Id hate for all my old cards to be useless if they bring the game to a new company and they change it up.
heres to hoping.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
James T. Shepard!
and of course as awesome as DA:O is, you know i still had to put it down in favor of (surprise) Bioware's sequal to the awesome game Mass Effect.
cause nothing beats galavanting about the galaxy and screwing alien chicks!
...oh and saving the known galaxy from anihilation
hands down the best thing about the game is you can import your character from the first game.
some people (including me) had trouble importing characters at first but replaying the game from your last save on the first game really quick will fix that (last save is usually an auto save just before fighting Saren's "final form" so its only like 5 mins). but importing your character is so awesome, starting a new character is really kind of a shame. it imports your class and appearance both of which you can alter if you choose too, but most importantly it imports a certain ammount of your characters gained renegade or paragon attributes, and all of your previous games sidequests and backstory info. remember Conrad Verner? oh yeah hes back with a side quest. Reporter on the citadel? prepare to be harrased by her again. Remember the colonists from Feros? you get a side quest after checking up on them! not to mention your character relationships from past games play a role still with extra scenes or unique dialogue lines when you run into those characters again.
the gameplay itself however is alot different from the first. the RPG elements have been scaled down but as much as it sounds like a bad thing its really not. the shooting and action are much more fluid in this game, creating more of a sense of urgency since you dont have to go to the wheel menu ever 5 seconds for a biotic, tech, or weapon power. and while there still are abilities to use, 3 can be mapped to hotkeys for instant use, and some have even been combined (for intance instead of having pistol marksman, carnage, overkill, and assassination, soldiers in mass effect 2 have adrenaline rush, which works for all weapons)
your weapons no longer have to be leveled up individually either, leveling one job specific trait will increase the damage for all the weapons that character can use as well as other things like your renegade and paragon gain rate, health, or biotic and tech powers. this allows for less time contemplating where exactly to put each point but still lets you choose which skills to focus on and which to ignore.
also your weapons are static, no longer can you use an untrained weapon at the cost of your aim and accuracy, you are forced to only have the weapons your character can use period. thankfully each job can have at least 3 weapons including the new heavy weapons, and in some cases the new SMG gun class.
and as much as i loved the Mako im a bit glad to see it go. being the kind of guy i am i tended to explore each and every inch of a planet surface just in case something of real value was laying around. most times there wasnt. but not you drop straight into missions on planets that have them via the new dropship, and for resources (which actually serve a purpose in this game!) can be scanned from orbit and have probes sent to collect them for you, taking less than half the time of a mako tour.
the missions and quests even feel different, the missions are more plentiful, but less long. and considering how i talked about mission length for DA:O im rather pleased about that. you have both a recruitment and a loyalty quest for each character, totalling 18 character related quests, with more side quests availible during missions or from other characters on the normandy, quests are still found while randomly scanning planets, and on occasion from Admiral Hacket or the Illusive Man.
and completely new are renegade and paragon actions... at certain times during normal diologue sequences you will be given the ability to press either the right or left triggers for an awesome actions-speak-louder-than-words moment that changes the course of the conversation. for instance growing tired of listening to a low level eclipse boss give me attitude as to why he wont give me the info i want i literally kicked him through the window of a 50 story building. now he'll have time to think about why he shoulda cooperated with me on the way down! LOL
also new this time around is the Normandy itself, there are now 5 decks, your captain's quarters, the command information center (CIC), crew's quarters, the engineering deck, and the cargo bay. and THANKFULLY its not a 10 minute elevator ride between them. there is however a loading screen but it can go as quickly as 15 seconds if you load the game to and play it from your hard drive.
and the final mission is so totally epic its almost perfect, depending on all the missions you ran pior, your upgrades, and who of your team is loyal to you the mission can go tons of different ways. youre even given choices on who to let handle certain situations. with your choices determing not only the success of the mission, but whether or not your characters live or die.
and theres more love insterests to choose from too. i wonder what Tali looks like under the suit...
*ahem*
and of course the game as lovely as it is cannot escape my criticism :(
one thing i miss is the Mako (wait didnt i just say i liked it being gone? wait for it....) missions (oh!). driving around on certain planets was actually pretty cool, Noveria especially and nothing beats the feeling of driving around in a tank with a kinetic shield. there are obviously no longer any driving missions in this game and i kinda wish there was. now thankfully the rumor mill suggests there will be one coming in a DLC featuring an upgraded Mako but i'll have to cross my fingers and see
and aside from the cliffhanger ending my really only other gripe is the lack of time with Legion. i wont go into details cause itll spoil it for ya, but you get him at the end of the game and you dont really have much time to try him out before the end.
also theres no worthwhile lesbian love intrest! WHHHYYYYYYY? well you can bang Kelly Chambers as a female Shepard but she wont net you the paramour achivement. BLAST!
this game gets a bangin' Tali/10
cause nothing beats galavanting about the galaxy and screwing alien chicks!
...oh and saving the known galaxy from anihilation
hands down the best thing about the game is you can import your character from the first game.
some people (including me) had trouble importing characters at first but replaying the game from your last save on the first game really quick will fix that (last save is usually an auto save just before fighting Saren's "final form" so its only like 5 mins). but importing your character is so awesome, starting a new character is really kind of a shame. it imports your class and appearance both of which you can alter if you choose too, but most importantly it imports a certain ammount of your characters gained renegade or paragon attributes, and all of your previous games sidequests and backstory info. remember Conrad Verner? oh yeah hes back with a side quest. Reporter on the citadel? prepare to be harrased by her again. Remember the colonists from Feros? you get a side quest after checking up on them! not to mention your character relationships from past games play a role still with extra scenes or unique dialogue lines when you run into those characters again.
the gameplay itself however is alot different from the first. the RPG elements have been scaled down but as much as it sounds like a bad thing its really not. the shooting and action are much more fluid in this game, creating more of a sense of urgency since you dont have to go to the wheel menu ever 5 seconds for a biotic, tech, or weapon power. and while there still are abilities to use, 3 can be mapped to hotkeys for instant use, and some have even been combined (for intance instead of having pistol marksman, carnage, overkill, and assassination, soldiers in mass effect 2 have adrenaline rush, which works for all weapons)
your weapons no longer have to be leveled up individually either, leveling one job specific trait will increase the damage for all the weapons that character can use as well as other things like your renegade and paragon gain rate, health, or biotic and tech powers. this allows for less time contemplating where exactly to put each point but still lets you choose which skills to focus on and which to ignore.
also your weapons are static, no longer can you use an untrained weapon at the cost of your aim and accuracy, you are forced to only have the weapons your character can use period. thankfully each job can have at least 3 weapons including the new heavy weapons, and in some cases the new SMG gun class.
and as much as i loved the Mako im a bit glad to see it go. being the kind of guy i am i tended to explore each and every inch of a planet surface just in case something of real value was laying around. most times there wasnt. but not you drop straight into missions on planets that have them via the new dropship, and for resources (which actually serve a purpose in this game!) can be scanned from orbit and have probes sent to collect them for you, taking less than half the time of a mako tour.
the missions and quests even feel different, the missions are more plentiful, but less long. and considering how i talked about mission length for DA:O im rather pleased about that. you have both a recruitment and a loyalty quest for each character, totalling 18 character related quests, with more side quests availible during missions or from other characters on the normandy, quests are still found while randomly scanning planets, and on occasion from Admiral Hacket or the Illusive Man.
and completely new are renegade and paragon actions... at certain times during normal diologue sequences you will be given the ability to press either the right or left triggers for an awesome actions-speak-louder-than-words moment that changes the course of the conversation. for instance growing tired of listening to a low level eclipse boss give me attitude as to why he wont give me the info i want i literally kicked him through the window of a 50 story building. now he'll have time to think about why he shoulda cooperated with me on the way down! LOL
also new this time around is the Normandy itself, there are now 5 decks, your captain's quarters, the command information center (CIC), crew's quarters, the engineering deck, and the cargo bay. and THANKFULLY its not a 10 minute elevator ride between them. there is however a loading screen but it can go as quickly as 15 seconds if you load the game to and play it from your hard drive.
and the final mission is so totally epic its almost perfect, depending on all the missions you ran pior, your upgrades, and who of your team is loyal to you the mission can go tons of different ways. youre even given choices on who to let handle certain situations. with your choices determing not only the success of the mission, but whether or not your characters live or die.
and theres more love insterests to choose from too. i wonder what Tali looks like under the suit...
*ahem*
and of course the game as lovely as it is cannot escape my criticism :(
one thing i miss is the Mako (wait didnt i just say i liked it being gone? wait for it....) missions (oh!). driving around on certain planets was actually pretty cool, Noveria especially and nothing beats the feeling of driving around in a tank with a kinetic shield. there are obviously no longer any driving missions in this game and i kinda wish there was. now thankfully the rumor mill suggests there will be one coming in a DLC featuring an upgraded Mako but i'll have to cross my fingers and see
and aside from the cliffhanger ending my really only other gripe is the lack of time with Legion. i wont go into details cause itll spoil it for ya, but you get him at the end of the game and you dont really have much time to try him out before the end.
also theres no worthwhile lesbian love intrest! WHHHYYYYYYY? well you can bang Kelly Chambers as a female Shepard but she wont net you the paramour achivement. BLAST!
this game gets a bangin' Tali/10
Dragon Age: Outstanding!
I'm alive.
no really, i've just been a hermit...
as usual.
Its been video game time for me since the release of 2 incredibly awesome video games.
first i was derailed by is Dragon Age: Origins.
i have to say, screenshots or trailers for the game didn't really make it look amazing. they focus more on showing a couple short FMV sequences and some gameplay, which normally would be a good thing, but RPGs dont have the same kind of flashy gameplay as other games.
but trust me the game is awesome. you can definatly play it a few times cause the replay value is amazing. each main quest can have at least 2 ways to go through it, sometimes more, with 2 different outcomes which heavily impacts the game's endings.
and with character creation you can pick one of 3 races, each with a choice of backstory, and without that job select up to 2 unique specializations. my rough math says theres 72 different characters possible counting only combonations of race, backstory, job, and combos of 2 specializations. thats not counting choices of gender, positive or negative alignment, different choices made during the main quests, the side characters you choose to join you, or any of the multiple endings you can get.
i'm not good enough at math to figure that out.
if that doesnt impress you maybe the fact that there is a varitable cornicopia of love instrests, tons of sidequests including character specific sidequests given to you by your companions, and some very challenging optional bosses. not to mention theres already 3 DLC already out one of which includes a fully integrated new character. not to mention blood dragon armor for this and Mass Effect 2 if you bought the game (which you should you pirating ninnies)
if that wasnt enough March brings us Dragon Age: Awakening, a full game expansion with 5 new companions, a new main story line, new areas and an all new origin story.
phheeeewwwww... sorry gotta take a breath there. lol
theres only two things i dont like about the game. first its bloody hard sometimes. i really suggest taking the time to completely reprogram certain characters tactics (its a series of cause and effect senarios for the ai to prioritize during battle) to make them more effective. the spirit healer character you can recruit has such a horrible tactics set its a miracle she gets off a single healing spell. that ones got to go. also any tanking character you leave to AI should also be reprogrammed. doing this makes battles go smoother but there still plenty of frustrating "Your journey ends..." screens. in fact, i actually had to lower the difficulty on some fights after dying 10+ in the same situation.
the other thing is the length of some of the main story missions. im not a 15 yr old kid with hours and hours with which to play games anymore, and i like to usually play a quest or a mission straight through before turning it off, so on some of the missions the length was a little much. the mages circle in particular was a little too long for my taste as that one mission can take a couple hours if you let it. so stock up on potions and get all the extra inventory spaces you can, cause thats a doozy. keep in mind the length of the game itself is actually quite good, its really just the length of certain missions that gets a bit tedious.
all in all i love the game and cannot wait to get Awakening. i'm sure ill talk about that plenty when it comes out.
i give this game a solid fuedal lordship/10
no really, i've just been a hermit...
as usual.
Its been video game time for me since the release of 2 incredibly awesome video games.
first i was derailed by is Dragon Age: Origins.
i have to say, screenshots or trailers for the game didn't really make it look amazing. they focus more on showing a couple short FMV sequences and some gameplay, which normally would be a good thing, but RPGs dont have the same kind of flashy gameplay as other games.
but trust me the game is awesome. you can definatly play it a few times cause the replay value is amazing. each main quest can have at least 2 ways to go through it, sometimes more, with 2 different outcomes which heavily impacts the game's endings.
and with character creation you can pick one of 3 races, each with a choice of backstory, and without that job select up to 2 unique specializations. my rough math says theres 72 different characters possible counting only combonations of race, backstory, job, and combos of 2 specializations. thats not counting choices of gender, positive or negative alignment, different choices made during the main quests, the side characters you choose to join you, or any of the multiple endings you can get.
i'm not good enough at math to figure that out.
if that doesnt impress you maybe the fact that there is a varitable cornicopia of love instrests, tons of sidequests including character specific sidequests given to you by your companions, and some very challenging optional bosses. not to mention theres already 3 DLC already out one of which includes a fully integrated new character. not to mention blood dragon armor for this and Mass Effect 2 if you bought the game (which you should you pirating ninnies)
if that wasnt enough March brings us Dragon Age: Awakening, a full game expansion with 5 new companions, a new main story line, new areas and an all new origin story.
phheeeewwwww... sorry gotta take a breath there. lol
theres only two things i dont like about the game. first its bloody hard sometimes. i really suggest taking the time to completely reprogram certain characters tactics (its a series of cause and effect senarios for the ai to prioritize during battle) to make them more effective. the spirit healer character you can recruit has such a horrible tactics set its a miracle she gets off a single healing spell. that ones got to go. also any tanking character you leave to AI should also be reprogrammed. doing this makes battles go smoother but there still plenty of frustrating "Your journey ends..." screens. in fact, i actually had to lower the difficulty on some fights after dying 10+ in the same situation.
the other thing is the length of some of the main story missions. im not a 15 yr old kid with hours and hours with which to play games anymore, and i like to usually play a quest or a mission straight through before turning it off, so on some of the missions the length was a little much. the mages circle in particular was a little too long for my taste as that one mission can take a couple hours if you let it. so stock up on potions and get all the extra inventory spaces you can, cause thats a doozy. keep in mind the length of the game itself is actually quite good, its really just the length of certain missions that gets a bit tedious.
all in all i love the game and cannot wait to get Awakening. i'm sure ill talk about that plenty when it comes out.
i give this game a solid fuedal lordship/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
