Came across this pretty innovative game at Shacknews chat thread, which is showcased in this year's GDC. Do not let the initial seconds of the clip fool you; it may look like another 2D platform game like Mario, but watch on, I assure you it's much more interesting than it seemed at first.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Shackers Pilot
A few shackers over at Shacknews made a video, dubbed the Shackers Pilot episode, which covers gaming and Shacknews related stuffs. Do check out the video, which is very well made (and hilarious too), and then head here to give your comments and feedback about the episode. Personally I can't wait for the second episode :)
Thursday, February 14, 2008
SIMply unbearable
EA had recently hooked up with a singer by the name of Natasha Bedingfield to release her latest hit song, Pocketful of Sunshine, for the soundtrack of The Sims 2. Pretty common, you might say, until you learn that the song was "translated" into *gasp* Simlish for the soundtrack. The end result? Something that's so bad that a Shacknews staff held a mini contest (no prize sorry) to see who can last the longest watching the video. It doesn't really help when the original song is already quite mediocre to start with, to be honest.
Simlish (clip 1) and original (clip 2) version of Pocketful of Sunshine. Which one is worst? You decide.
Simlish (clip 1) and original (clip 2) version of Pocketful of Sunshine. Which one is worst? You decide.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Remo has left the building
It's been some time since I last visited the Shacknews chat thread, partly due to schoolwork and partly due to the festive holidays. And imagine my surprise when I found out Chris Remo, who was until recently the EIC of Shacknews has stepped down and left the Shack.
Although I had not visited the chat thread, I still frequented Shacknews, and I can safely say there was no news on the front page regarding his departure. I had only noticed something wasn't usual when some of the posts of the Shackers seemed to have suggested Chris was fired/had left. After a brief search, I managed to locate the thread by Steve Gibson announcing Chris' depature. At the time of announcement, some of the Shackers had still thought Steve was joking. Alas, the news was real; the Shack Team url no longer listed Chris as part of the editorial staff.
It truly is saddening to see Chris leaving Shacknews, for I really enjoyed both his articles and his hosting of Shackcast, Shacknews' official podcast. I can't seem to find any indication of Chris' intention to leave the team in the recent weeks; the latest Shackcast episode seemed pretty usual, with everyone cracking jokes and stuffs. Coupled with the timing of the recent scandal, some Shackers suspected Chris was actually gerstmann'd, however, I am 100% confident in Shacknews' integrity and firmly believe this isn't the reason why Chris had left, or was fired. No doubt something seems fishy given the way Chris had left Shacknews, but I am inclined to believe even if Chris was forced to leave, it's due to other reasons, perhaps clashes with the rest of the Shack Team, and not because of advertisers' pressure or such. And judging from the lack of news of Chris' departure in other major gaming news site, I am confident that it is just another normal stepping down.
Anyway, just wanna wish Chris the best of luck. Thanks for your contribution to Shacknews, and I hope you still drop by the chat thread often to make a post or two. You may have left the Shack Team, but I'm sure everyone will still welcome you with open arms.
Although I had not visited the chat thread, I still frequented Shacknews, and I can safely say there was no news on the front page regarding his departure. I had only noticed something wasn't usual when some of the posts of the Shackers seemed to have suggested Chris was fired/had left. After a brief search, I managed to locate the thread by Steve Gibson announcing Chris' depature. At the time of announcement, some of the Shackers had still thought Steve was joking. Alas, the news was real; the Shack Team url no longer listed Chris as part of the editorial staff.
It truly is saddening to see Chris leaving Shacknews, for I really enjoyed both his articles and his hosting of Shackcast, Shacknews' official podcast. I can't seem to find any indication of Chris' intention to leave the team in the recent weeks; the latest Shackcast episode seemed pretty usual, with everyone cracking jokes and stuffs. Coupled with the timing of the recent scandal, some Shackers suspected Chris was actually gerstmann'd, however, I am 100% confident in Shacknews' integrity and firmly believe this isn't the reason why Chris had left, or was fired. No doubt something seems fishy given the way Chris had left Shacknews, but I am inclined to believe even if Chris was forced to leave, it's due to other reasons, perhaps clashes with the rest of the Shack Team, and not because of advertisers' pressure or such. And judging from the lack of news of Chris' departure in other major gaming news site, I am confident that it is just another normal stepping down.
Anyway, just wanna wish Chris the best of luck. Thanks for your contribution to Shacknews, and I hope you still drop by the chat thread often to make a post or two. You may have left the Shack Team, but I'm sure everyone will still welcome you with open arms.
Monday, February 11, 2008
The Forgotten Realms
First of all, a happy lunar new year to all of you!
During the festive holidays, I suddenly had the urge to give Neverwinter Nights one more go -- I've bought the game years ago and never got past the first chapter of the game. Reason being that I just can't seem to appreciate and comprehend the D&D mechanics behind the game. I have to be honest, games that focus heavily on stats allocation (e.g most of the D&D games like Baldur's Gate and NWN) are way too complicated for me. However, the recent RPG drought has made me decided to dig out my NWN discs and reinstall it into my computer. This time round, I'm prepared. Before starting the game, I went around the net scouring for information, FAQs and guides for the game, and hence, my paladin was created. After plowing through waves and waves of enemies, I've finally made it through chapter 1, and am now proceeding on with chapter 2. Quite satisfied with my progress so far; hopefully, my interest for the game can last until completion -- I have a bad habit for not completing my games (the latest victim being Vampire Bloodlines).
Pimp my toon.
I kid you not - the name of that armor's is Rainbow Armor.
During the festive holidays, I suddenly had the urge to give Neverwinter Nights one more go -- I've bought the game years ago and never got past the first chapter of the game. Reason being that I just can't seem to appreciate and comprehend the D&D mechanics behind the game. I have to be honest, games that focus heavily on stats allocation (e.g most of the D&D games like Baldur's Gate and NWN) are way too complicated for me. However, the recent RPG drought has made me decided to dig out my NWN discs and reinstall it into my computer. This time round, I'm prepared. Before starting the game, I went around the net scouring for information, FAQs and guides for the game, and hence, my paladin was created. After plowing through waves and waves of enemies, I've finally made it through chapter 1, and am now proceeding on with chapter 2. Quite satisfied with my progress so far; hopefully, my interest for the game can last until completion -- I have a bad habit for not completing my games (the latest victim being Vampire Bloodlines).
Pimp my toon.
I kid you not - the name of that armor's is Rainbow Armor.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Upcoming games
The second half of last year was helluva ride; for the gamers, at least. The gaming community had experienced a sudden influx of quality games, such as Bioshock, The Orange Box, Crysis and Call of Duty which went on to share many of the game magazines/websites' Game of the Year awards among themselves. Shooters fans weren't the only ones to be pampered with such excellent releases, RPG and RTS fans also got their fair share of games -- The Witcher emerged as sort of a black horse, garnering positive reviews; expansion packs for Supreme Commander (Forged Alliance) and Company of Heroes (Opposing Fronts), together with completely IP (World in Conflict) ensured that hardcore strategy fans would be kept busy for the time being.
And those mentioned were just the PC games. Console-wise, the community saw the release of the hotly anticipated Halo 3 for the 360 (I'll never understand why people like the Halo series; games like Half Life 2 easily own Halo hands down), Super Mario Galaxy(Wii) and even the Playstation 3 got its fair share of surprise (Uncharted). All in all, 2007, especially the second half of it, was pure gaming goodness.
Which brings many of us to worry: 2007 had such a good lineup of games, would 2008 end up paling in comparison? Personally, I feel that 2007 was a fantastic gaming year, and I pretty much doubt 2008 would repeat the feat in terms of the magnitude of greatness. However, that doesn't mean I am negative about this year. In fact, some of the games I'm looking forward to are due to be released this, that is if they are not delayed at the last minute.
The first game on my radar would be the long awaited Grand Theft Auto IV, which is due in April. The release of GTA IV, and together with Metal Gear Solid 4 (which is also supposed to be out by this year) will more or less prompt me to get a Playstation 3 and rekindle my love with console gaming once again. For the PC gamers, fret not, as Spore is also rumored to be due by this year, and then there's the WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, for all you hardcore MMORPG players out there to look forward to. And as of this time, the latest Smash Bros for the Wii is already out in Japan, and the game is selling like hotcakes over there. Then there is the upcoming C&C 3 expansion and the just-released Sins of a Solar Empire for the RTS fans. As for the shooters fans, well, you had an overdosage of gaming goodness last year, I'm sure you won't mind if the next few months seem a bit barren for you guys, eh? Anyway, Valve's releasing new maps and gameplay for Team Fortress 2 pretty soon, so I guess you can get preoccupied by that while waiting for the next great shooter.
Well I guess that pretty much sums the post for now, I'll be adding and editing the post now and then to add a few more games which I've missed out at the time of writing this post. Till then, cya.
And those mentioned were just the PC games. Console-wise, the community saw the release of the hotly anticipated Halo 3 for the 360 (I'll never understand why people like the Halo series; games like Half Life 2 easily own Halo hands down), Super Mario Galaxy(Wii) and even the Playstation 3 got its fair share of surprise (Uncharted). All in all, 2007, especially the second half of it, was pure gaming goodness.
Which brings many of us to worry: 2007 had such a good lineup of games, would 2008 end up paling in comparison? Personally, I feel that 2007 was a fantastic gaming year, and I pretty much doubt 2008 would repeat the feat in terms of the magnitude of greatness. However, that doesn't mean I am negative about this year. In fact, some of the games I'm looking forward to are due to be released this, that is if they are not delayed at the last minute.
The first game on my radar would be the long awaited Grand Theft Auto IV, which is due in April. The release of GTA IV, and together with Metal Gear Solid 4 (which is also supposed to be out by this year) will more or less prompt me to get a Playstation 3 and rekindle my love with console gaming once again. For the PC gamers, fret not, as Spore is also rumored to be due by this year, and then there's the WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, for all you hardcore MMORPG players out there to look forward to. And as of this time, the latest Smash Bros for the Wii is already out in Japan, and the game is selling like hotcakes over there. Then there is the upcoming C&C 3 expansion and the just-released Sins of a Solar Empire for the RTS fans. As for the shooters fans, well, you had an overdosage of gaming goodness last year, I'm sure you won't mind if the next few months seem a bit barren for you guys, eh? Anyway, Valve's releasing new maps and gameplay for Team Fortress 2 pretty soon, so I guess you can get preoccupied by that while waiting for the next great shooter.
Well I guess that pretty much sums the post for now, I'll be adding and editing the post now and then to add a few more games which I've missed out at the time of writing this post. Till then, cya.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Mass Sexeffect
Mass Effect has been cooking up some controversies lately, when FOX (read: faux) news did a coverage on the game, with regards to the "sex scenes" found in the game (watch the report here). The report featured a "psychology specialist" by the name of Cooper Lawrence, who warned viewers of the "game's vicious, child corrupting qualities" even though she herself had yet to play the game.
And oh boy, can you imagine the backlash by the gaming community after her ignorant comments was broadcast on the TV which subsequently found its way around the Internet. Her book, The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace with Your Inner Overachiever, received an overwhelming 440+ reviews, majority of which were negative, causing her book to average a 1 star out of a total of 5. Unfortunately, Amazon has deleted most of the reviews and now it's cut down to 20+, but the rating of the book is still at 1.5 stars. A particularly interesting review mentioned the following:
"I'm also quite disappointed that Mrs. Lawrence would use sex appeal (the cover) to sell her book. Whether she realizes it or not there are a lot of kids in book stores today that will see this and get the wrong impression."
I found myself chuckling when I read that comment, as it was direct counter back at Cooper for the baseless nonsense she spouted out during the FOX coverage. There were other interesting reviews like "I didn't read the book but I could see this book sucks" which were, sadly, removed by Amazon. Ah, are you enjoying the irony, Cooper?
Seems like the backlash had achieved its objective, as Cooper made an apology yesterday, and said that after trying out the game, she realized the game wasn't so bad as she had claimed. Too bad though, the damage has been done, and Mrs. Lawrence has officially joined the ranks of Kevin McCullough in every gamers' handbook. Good luck selling that book of yours, Mrs. Lawrence. Next time think with your brains before opening your mouth.
And oh boy, can you imagine the backlash by the gaming community after her ignorant comments was broadcast on the TV which subsequently found its way around the Internet. Her book, The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace with Your Inner Overachiever, received an overwhelming 440+ reviews, majority of which were negative, causing her book to average a 1 star out of a total of 5. Unfortunately, Amazon has deleted most of the reviews and now it's cut down to 20+, but the rating of the book is still at 1.5 stars. A particularly interesting review mentioned the following:
"I'm also quite disappointed that Mrs. Lawrence would use sex appeal (the cover) to sell her book. Whether she realizes it or not there are a lot of kids in book stores today that will see this and get the wrong impression."
I found myself chuckling when I read that comment, as it was direct counter back at Cooper for the baseless nonsense she spouted out during the FOX coverage. There were other interesting reviews like "I didn't read the book but I could see this book sucks" which were, sadly, removed by Amazon. Ah, are you enjoying the irony, Cooper?
Seems like the backlash had achieved its objective, as Cooper made an apology yesterday, and said that after trying out the game, she realized the game wasn't so bad as she had claimed. Too bad though, the damage has been done, and Mrs. Lawrence has officially joined the ranks of Kevin McCullough in every gamers' handbook. Good luck selling that book of yours, Mrs. Lawrence. Next time think with your brains before opening your mouth.
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