Game Review: The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

Hi everyone. Its been a long time since I posted on here. Life's been very chaotic and busy since my last post but I finally have time to write up another review. Scratch that. That's not really true. I really still don't have time with the sheer amount of great games having been released in the last few months but I feel like I really need to write a review for Skyrim. I have not finished this game by any stretch of the imagination. If anything, I've barely managed to scratch the surface. And that is exactly the problem. Understand this before I begin, I'd rather be writing this review of the game then actually playing it.

Skyrim is one of the huge blockbuster games to come out this year alongside Batman Arkham City, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Assassin's Creed Revelations, etc. Many people are already quite familiar with the Elder Scrolls series and of course will dutifully pick this game up like the sheep they are. But to start, this game is a massive open world action-RPG. You can go anywhere and do anything you want. The graphics are stunning and there are so many playstyles and options available to you from the start. It's truly a breathtaking game that will leave you in awe.

At least, thats what the developers wanted everyone to believe.

This game is developed by Bethesda games, which is known for other superb games such as Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. You might see a trend there. They are all massively open world action-RPG games that let you do whatever you want. But thats probably one of the biggest flaws of these games. Doing whatever you want on paper sounds like a fantastic idea but it ends up falling short. Which would you rather do in an action game: be able to do a triple front flip over an enemy to strike at their back or steal a bunch of wooden plates that are worth 1 gold? Probably the triple front flip. Skyrim is huge, no doubts about that, but just because it is huge doesn't make it better. If you only had one town in a game that you could mess around in, you'd probably get tired of it quickly. Bethesda's answer to that is well, lets make a hundred towns and scatter them all over the map, and we'll make them very far from everything else. Now you are still doing the same monotonous and meaningless stuff you were doing initially in the game, but now just in a larger area. That doesn't really increase fun factor. My biggest complaint with this game (and with all the bethesda games really) is that there is TOO MUCH of nothing to do. From an observer's standpoint, in one town you could very easily find a hundred wooden plates. You can take all of them and sell them for a sheer profit. But they are worth 1 gold. Thats not much profit when everything you slay in the world drops 10-60 gold at a time. Why bother stealing those plates? And I know no one out there is actually taking those. So why are they there? Do they server a purpose? Is there a quest later on that I haven't gotten to yet that asks you to retrieve some number of plates for a quest giver? I highly doubt that. Most of the game world is taken up by useless junk to give the impression of freedom and that the game world is large. I'd rather you conserved that space and added some more core game mechanics.

And that is something that this game does do correctly. The leveling up and skill system is perfect in its execution. You get experience for the skills you actually utilize (if you use destruction magic all the time, that skill will level up more and in turn, grant you more exp to your character level.) When you level up you get to choose whether you would like to increase Health, Stamina, or Magic. From there you also get to choose a perk in any of the skill trees such as making pickpocketing people 20% more likely to succeed. However every perk has a skill level requirement. An example is sneaking. At Sneaking lvl 20 you can choose the perk to make you 20% less likely to be seen when sneaking. Now that perk can be upgraded 5 times all the way to 100%, but if you haven't reached skill lvl 40 you can not get the next level of that perk. The system works really well and is very interesting. The only problem with that is that the system can be taken advantage of to a DRASTIC degree. I'm lvl 37 in the game, almost lvl 38. I have done almost no quests. I just stored up about 2000 gold and went to a particular skill trainer in the town of Whiterun. He trained me in one-handed weapons til I had no money left. I then let him turn around (or in most cases go back to sleep) and then pickpocketed my money back. If the chance of success was low I saved my game and would constantly quit and reload until he didn't notice me stealing from him. One successful steal from him raise my pickpocketing by 2 lvls. It wasn't long into the game before my pickpocketing skill was maxed out. Nifty trick, and it leveled up my character fast (I must've been at least 30 by the time I finished doing that.) The thing about a huge game like this is that there needs to an incentive to explore every facet of the game and to engage in the world around you and I strongly feel like the game fails to do that.

Before you cry fowl, I love RPGs. My favorite game of all time is Chrono Trigger, a classic SNES RPG. I'm no stranger to long games and/or extensive quests and sidequests. But Skyrim takes it to another level to where it just gets repetitive. After you fight your first dragon in the game, which is one of the "great" mechanics, it's no longer an enthralling experience. You see another one, you kill it for its power and loot, and you continue on your way. No big deal. No big deal?! In every other game I've ever played that has included dragons, they are not easy to kill at all. They are usually the toughest opponents in video games and this game kind of bastardizes them. They are no more difficult then a pathetic wolf in the wild. That truly saddens me. Giants in this game have proved to be harder to kill the dragons. When did that happen?

And the biggest gripe of all, is that this game is made by Bethesda, a company more famous for its countless bugs in all their games then for anything else. This game is no exception. There are bugs that make the environment look awful with textures not loading or coming out blurry, bugs that allow you to steal EVERYTHING in a building if you just put a basket or pot on everyone's head (apparently AI can't see through baskets and pots), bugs that can utterly break the game for you. If this was Bethesda's first console game then fine, I understand that you are new to this designing a game for consoles thing. But this is not the case. After 3 games, that are literally the exact same game in terms of game engine and gameplay, you'd think that they'd have figured some of these glitches out and known how to look for them. Nope, not only do they still have glitches, they still have the same damn glitches. Do you understand how ridiculous that is? That is a game designer telling you they don't give a damn if the game is broken. That is sloppy game design and that is something I cannot abide by.

Even though I've bashed this game quite a bit, all in all it is fairly good. But thats only if you can see your way past all the flaws. Me? At this point, with all the games that have been released, I don't have the time to drop 100+ hours in a game with so much random crap in it. I'll finish the game, in terms of completing the main quest, but that is pretty much it. And who knows when that'll be. It took me a couple years to finish Oblivion and Fallout 3 (even though I loved Fallout 3, i waited for all of the dlc to release before I finished it) and I imagine the same will be said for Skyrim. There are too many better offerings out there that aren't glitchy and that have a more focused goal. Skyrim is the ADD child's RPG.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim gets a 70 out of 100

Favorite TV shows - (6-10)

Here we go, a continuation of my favorite TV shows, it would have been wise of me to do it in a better order, but this is me and i always like to keep people guessing, here we go for numbers 10 to 6!

10. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

I was born into a Star Trek family, my parents watched the original series when it was on and made me watch the movies that followed it. As i got older, i would watch the Next Generation and it was the first star trek series i watched. I still consider it to be the best of the best when it comes to the series as a whole. I love every minute of it.

9. Seinfeld (1989)

As with Star Trek, i was born into the world of the show about nothing. This show was funny, and was nothing like anything ive seen before. I cant say anything else about it, but it is good it ended when it did or it could end up like simpsons.

8. Ren and Stimpy (1991)

With many shows of the 90s, there was a bit of controlled gross out humor. I wonder how and why my mother let me watch this show as a kid. I asked her sometime ago, she simply said, she liked it too. Whats not to love about this show, i mean really. It was funny, it was silly, and it was a point of my life when i was discovering amazing shows.

7. Mystery Science Theater 3k (1988)

I started to watch this show in the mid 90s, when i discovered it one saturday morning on the Sci Fi channel. I love the movies in this show and i would always watch it even without the riffs. The characters were likable and funny too. Some of my favorite jokes were from this show.

6. Legends of the Hidden Temple (1993)

Made in the middle of the great game shows of 90s Nick, this show was one of a few shows i always wanted to be on. I dont think it can ever be replicated in the way it was made. If they remade it, ill give it one episode, if it fails, i wont watch it. This would be the test of the lifetime. I cant watch much of 90s tv now, mainly because it reminds me of how old i am, but with this show, i dont care.

Awesome Games in the 21st Century: Okamiden

I got a 3DS.  Damn you, Tenchi.  You have convinced me for the last time!


But god damn it, this game is adorable.  It's the sequel to Okami, which kind of freaks me out a bit seeing that most games like this are not direct sequels.  The gameplay is pretty nice, and with the drawing ability for this system, how can you not make this game for the DS?
Yeah this game is a DS game.  Unfortunately I didn't buy a 3D game right away, but because I was in love with the gameplay and storyline of the first game, I really wanted to see what the sequel had to offer.

One thing that's hilarious is that you get different kids riding on Chibiterasu's back the entire time.  You get attached to one guy, who also fights, then have to immediately get used to another one and complete a dungeon.  Not that bad of an idea, but I was so used to the fact that the first character, the son of Susano, would be there the entire time.  Then some mermaid thinks it's alright to just climb on up and hang around for a while.  Freeloaders...

Story's not that horrible.  Rarely there are mentions of the previous storyline except if you read the history scrolls, but reoccurring characters do show up every now and then or at least get mentioned.  The world map also expands like it has been a while since the last game ended.  New places are discovered along with new areas within some of the familiar lands. 

The battle system is also very different.  Like I said before the different partners also fight but usually at the end of your combo.  You also get graded for how much they fight at the end of the battle mode like it does in the first game.  Your partners also have abilities to walk towards different switches or weird terrain that the puppy Chibiterasu normally can't walk over.  This also comes to play with some different brush techniques made for this game that the original didn't have.  Funny thing is all of the brush gods have kids, too, so you get these cutscenes after constellation drawings of these baby versions of the gods doing something clumsy and stupid.  So far I have run into about two different techniques that are new to the series, and it adds more activity to the drawing modes in the game. 

Overall, without finishing it, I find it engaging but with not as much depth as the original had. Sometimes you'll find yourself flying through the game and other times getting stuck or skipping a few boring cutscenes.  But there are tons of treasures to find and other sidequests to do that could probably give you a break from the linear storyline. 

Three Word Movie Reviews - Real Steel

Occupying Blind Faith

Normally I wouldn't publish a political post because I live in New England, where Conservatives like me are outlawed by the population's general Liberal/Democratic ideas, but I feel that I should let my voice be heard in some sort of forum.

What we have here is a list of demands the occupiers on Wall Street published more than a week ago.  Now let me say, this is the most diverse list of anything I have ever seen.  No specific goals that are centric around each other, but they have clearly been given a lot of thought to start maybe a revolution.

Now being conservative, whenever I see something about rights being pushed, I get nervous not because I don't like them (hell, I'm a minority and I would love to be equal as any other person), but generally this won't cut down racism or sexism in personal minds at all.  I do get that ladies will be able to sue if a problem raises at work or maybe just in public that is offensive to their gender, but I'd say that pushing for rights won't make issues go away so simply.  I do encourage their spirit, but you can't make a balanced world because everyone is human and bias.  Being protected by law is great, but you can't be protected in every aspect.  Life is unfair and should remain that way so we can learn and get something out of our experiences.  But I understand this isn't the angle they are going for, but it will all eventually boil down to this in my eyes.

Free college education.  What the fuck?  I mean yeah college is expensive, but how the good Lord will college be able to pay for all their expenses without charging anything?  How about we just change it to college being more affordable?  Or have some sort of grant rules or scholarships?  But these are business related places, and again, conservative!, people like me usually go for as little government and business relation as possible.

Free borders also concern many especially those who are in fear of population growth that will lead to too many people living in one area and not that many resources to go around.  But the environment friendly demand doesn't really put me off that much either, but my only concern is where are we going to get the money to get started with this?  Although we do have a lot of research done, just obtaining the technology needed is going to dig us into a debt hole again.  However there are some slightly affordable alternative energy systems, but if you think about it solar panels are really expensive and will take about two years to pay off for itself.  Not that affordable for most so what would the cost of bigger projects be?  And because I'm not very informed with healthcare, I'm not going to touch that fire without knowing more.

So all in all there is a reason why this protest is very dangerous especially with demands that seem to go through the roof.  While their main reason of doing this is to stop cooperate greed, some of the demands that have been hung onto the list don't necessarily directly relate to the issue these protestors want to solve.  God bless them for putting themselves out there, but most of these demands are way bigger than what they think.  This might enrage some of you, but I personally think these need to be more specific and not so generalized in order to get anywhere.

Top 5 Favorite TV Shows

Since Doug Walker of tgwtg.com did his personal Top 20 TV shows, i will talk about my top 5 TV shows of all time which i can say i have a personal attachment to. Ill prolly do a vlog about this to go more into detail, but this is my top 5 favorite tv shows, why top 5, because i am not witty enough to do a full top 10.

5. Futurama (1999)

What can i say about this witty and great program. The characters are funny, the stories are funny and everything about them is just fuuny. I know a lot of people would pick Matt Groening's other show "The Simpsons" but with the way that shows been, ill always choose Futurama. I love all the characters, and one of the rare shows i can actually give a damn about them as well. Other shows i just dont care enough to really get into the world it portrays. This is the gem of the show and i hope that they continue on with the new episodes.

4. Home Improvement (1991)

This show features some of the best comedy for its time. Tim Allen as a do it yourself, tv show host and father/husband who constantly screws up and has to seek help from the wise man next door, this show was a great addition to my childhood as i would watch it always. This was an amazing show for a number of reasons, but most of all it teaches a lesson. This show always had conflicts that our never asks for direction stereotype male character has to fix and sometimes he never has the answer for it, so he goes to seek help. Proves that we all need a little help once in a while.

3. The X-Files (1993)

I was a huge fan of extra terrestrials, UFOs, government keeping the existence of these from us as a kid and this show fueled it. This to me was the quintessential show for anyone who was into this. You wanted the main characters to fall in love, you wanted to see them get out of any situation they encountered, they just were that likable. An old nickname of mine comes directly from this show, well, people on the internet called the character this, and seeing that i took it over. Just a fun show to watch.

2. Undergrads (2001)

Oh man, this show was my hopes and dreams of college life. Then i went to a community college and i didnt live at my four year after. This show was me in its purest form. I had a lot of expectations going into college, and i didnt get any of them. But this was a super entertaining show, and i cant say enough about it. It was just that good. Only on for one season, it covered everything i might encounter in college, but never got to. It has a huge fan base and could get a second season if the fans all band together and raise money for the creator so he could make another one. Its up to you fans, get on that!

1. Arrested Development (2003)

Well, this list should be favorite comedies, but this show is just too funny. The characters, situations, everything, it is in my eyes a perfect show. I can not say anything else about this show. Just watch it, give it a shot and enjoy, thats about it. It is a great cast with great writing. Funniest show on TV you didnt watch.

Honorable mentions:

Any of the Nicktoons of the 1990s: Just because i grew up on these shows do not mean they are on my top 5. If i did a top 10, you would see maybe Doug, Ren and Stimpy, and Roccos Modern Life. But they are NOT my favorite shows.

Doctor Who: Surprised? from all the talk ive done about how much i love this show? Well, its a recent show ive gotten into. I got into it late 2010 and ive only been into the show for about less than a year. It wouldnt be fair to put this into top list if i only been a fan for a year, the top 5 are shows i watched all the time over the course of 10-15 years.

Any of the Toonami or Adult Swim shows: i like them but i wouldnt say they are favorites.

thats about it, and as always,

The Duke Abides

Stupidest Ideas in the 21st Century: Game Related Movies

I'm not talking about video game related movies; I'm talking board game related movies.  Battleship huh?  Really?  Are we really going to take a step in that direction?  I mean there are thousands of books that could be made into great movies, but I guess board games are way better.

So yes this is not a lie.  If you haven't heard already (it was all over the Internet news sites), Battleship is going to be a movie.  Great idea, Hollywood.  But honestly even though many are upset over this, we have no idea if this will be a hit or not.  But I swear to God, if I hear "You sunk my battleship!" anywhere in this movie, I'm going to strangle the nearest person sitting next to me. 

But another movie that is also looking as a board game rip off is Real Steel, which many believe to be a version of Rock Em Sock Em Robots.  Now I can sort of see why toy/game movies are starting to become a norm now.  If you think back to the announcement of Transformers, people laughed in Bay's face.  But after just a week of that movie being out, it was a HUGE blockbuster.  And it also spawned to "successful" sequels (successful in quotation marks because some will argue). 

However, Transformers was also a show not just a line of toys made.  These other movies; no television shows at all.  So these game movies...it could be a waste of money.  Or the best idea ever.

But I'd like the differ.

Awesome Games in the 21st Century: Infamous

Damn I am so late in the game here...

But I really want to blog about Infamous.  While this game was released years ago and the sequel has also came out, the game was up for download on Marketplace as a welcome back package.  After not playing this game and playing this game, I have to say that I was really getting into it until the last boss.

I won't go into storyline since I'm pretty sure everyone knows about this game already, but I will go over what I do like about it and what I don't (final boss mostly).

So I love the sandbox aspect of the game.  It's really hard finding a good sandbox these days besides Borderlands and Dead Island (there will be a review for this soon, too).  Most games today are very linear, and it makes you forget about the good old days with optional quests and running around the city healing people.  Well maybe there really aren't a lot of games where you just...heal people, but Infamous really does give you enough sandbox play without being too big.

The powers and upgrades work well; experience isn't exactly given to you neither is it too out of reach.  But while some powers are useful, I haven't really found that much time to charge up that "cannon" power.  Just takes too long.

Now the biggest part that pisses me off: final boss.  Isn't it funny that the rest of this game doesn't have health bars for any boss except this one?!  It takes a long fucking time, too, and I haven't got around to beating it, but patience really gets tested during this fight.  Otherwise I was able to get all the drop deads and finish all of the missions on the first two islands.

Some missions are kinda crazy such as the "tower defense" missions.  I must have died about three times each before I got the hang of it, but other than that, I feel that the missions are well diverse, giving you a break every once in a while, and of course, not that hard to complete although they do get a lot more challenging.

Now what would be so bad ass is if Jason Statham played the role as Cole if this ever becomes a movie.  I was driving somewhere yesterday and thought how awesome it would be if Infamous was made a movie, but unfortunately I feel that the only way if it was successful is if the director will follow the original story line and not screw up by using their "creative plot device skills".  Although there is some room to have these plot devices, but just not in the entirety of it.

Alright pretty much a random blog post but just wanted to get something up here.  We've been a little slow lately with all of our projects.

Over 100

Well Duke pretty much cut the cake by posting our 100th post, and by the way it is almost a year since Your World in Hard Copy was made.  Anyway here are some updates for the future!  Meaning really just...one thing:

AHA!  You see that?  Well that's like two of us from Port 2.  The other guy was just part of this project...

Anyway post-production has started and hopefully will be done pretty soon for Tenchi's first Dragonsoft project Lord of Video Gaming, a short fan film on some super top secret plot lines.  Regardless everyone has worked hard to do this despite some actors with lack of experience (*coughs and points to myself*), but hey.  It was fun.

According to Tenchi he will be posting this project up on Gametrailers eventually when the whole product is done and everyone who worked with this is able to do a full screening of the finished project.  I don't have any clips for you besides pictures in our Flickr Account! 

More information will be updated including links to Dragonsoft's short film.

Rockstar Uproar Festival featuring Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace and Seether review

I had the distinct privilege to attend the 2011 Rockstar Uproar Festival on 9/11/11. I was mainly going so my girlfriend wouldnt kill a friend of hers who kinda forced her into going to it. I agreed to go since i liked a few of the bands playing so it wasnt that much of a bust for me.

The venue is the old Meadows Theater, now named the Comcast Theater. I am never a huge fan of venues that have corporate sponsors like this, but it was nice to be there again. I havnt been there since 2001 when i attended 104 Fest (found this, a video of the band tHrOnE, who were amazing at this show). The place changed slightly from what i can remember, but it was still the Meadows Theater.

The bands other than the main headliners i didnt really care about much, many of them i didnt know about to begin with. Bands like Bullet for my Valentine, Escape the Fate, Sevendust, Black Tide, Art of Dying, Hell or Highwater, made up the lineup of this fest, wasnt overly impressed with their "darkness and damnation" look and heavy guitar distortion rifts many of these hardcore bands are, never was. My girlfriend, as girly as she is, is darker than these guys by a longshot, come on, she went to school for funeral service management.

I was happy to see Seether and Three Days Grace. Was a good show overall. I actually dont remember a lot of Three Days Grace songs other than their singles from 2003 when i first found out about them. Seether i saw back in 2001 at 104 Fest. I got to say, Three Days Grace, gave the better performance of the night. Their energy on stage was second to none. They even attempted to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11/01. They where only interupted by chants of "USA USA!" which to me was incredible.

By my standards, a show can be one of two things, an enjoyable night and a great crowd. While i didnt like the crowd much, i liked the night. I didnt like all the kids who think their all hardcore, but that just might be me being an old man. Overall, it was a good fest, but not the best. I think the band lineup could have been better though. I found it was kinda off being 9/11 and there was a night of bands that had death in their names.

i give the Rockstar Upraor Festival: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Jeff Hardy Returns...Again

Jeff Hardy came back two Thursdays ago on TNA and then appeared this last Thursday on television announcing his request for another chance from the fans.  Question is, will wrestling fans still forgive him?

This isn't the first incident when Hardy was pulled out of his job due to his own personal problems.  While he did have some needed time off before working for TNA for the first time, Hardy was also under two suspensions throughout his career in TNA and the WWE.  Hardy came back from his suspension in 2008-resulting to being pulled from Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania-and announced that he was ready and willing to wrestle again and had a very successful series of events for himself such as winning the WWE title.

He went back to TNA in 2010 during the first live edition on a Monday.  He won the Heavy Weight title and was top card for the greater part of that year.  During Victory Road, Hardy was found in his trailer stoned and still competed in his title match.  While he did only last about a minute, fans and officials were more than just angry with him, and he was let go from his duties.

But now he's back, again.  The drug bust he received from more than a year ago finally went to court, and he received a 10 day sentence, probation, and a fine of $100 k.

He came back announcing how deeply sorry he was for giving up on himself especially at Victory Road, a pay per view fans around the world have ordered and attended.  But now that he is back, fans are questioning whether to give him that extra chance.  While the ending of the taping to TNA this week had a chant in the background saying "one more shot", this fan is wondering if he'll just get burned out again if given another year.

But like it was said in the promo during the beginning of the show, "Jeff Hardy has an opportunity to change this tragedy into a wrestling success story."

What's New in the 21st Century? Neurotically Yours

Web cartoonist Jon Mathers decided to reboot his already popular series (it's been around for years) Neurotically Yours.  So if you're wondering exactly why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev2aTi9sWAE&feature=relmfu.

While the new animation is extremely different, it's pretty much the same stuff.  Another cool thing he has done differently is combine all of his side projects into one thing; which is great for those of you who are 4Y Records fans.

Check it out.

Vlog of Awesome #39: Santorini Greece adventure

August 2011, I traveled half way across the world to fly to Santorini Greece, to see my only sister wedding. This is the story, with some errors in the opening crawl, so dont mind that.

Be on the look out, i have to do a new one, a more serious one for my sister and new brother in law.

No Holds Barred Episode 3

Originality in Movies/Video Games?

Just saw Conan this weekend.  Not bad, not that fantastic.  But oh God...Jason Momoa's ass...

Anyway makes you think about how many original movie ideas there actually are in the world today.  Lately we just been getting remakes, book to movie interpretations, or reboots (same damn movie, better graphics, or in 3D).  I would also give the same idea for video games, too.  A lot of the times there is a reboot of a series, some sequel of a successful older game, or a very similar theme and gameplay.  The only original game I have played recently was probably Infamous.  

But originality isn't fully lost on us.  Books are probably the only entertainment media going on right now that have plenty of original plots along with a few TV series.  But TV series are very interesting because we go through themes; the theme this time are detective, homicide crime solving mysteries.

I would personally love to see more original movies and possibly series spawning from these original movies.  But most importantly I really want to see more original games being made.  Sure I'll go get Devil May Cry and Tomb Raider, but if those are the only games I'm getting excited for, then I'll have to wait a long time to get my hands on them. 

Gimmick is the New Innovation

Greetings Programs. Okay do you want to know what really grinds my gears? It’s the word gimmick. For some reason now every time something new comes around that’s even remotely cool it’s called a gimmick. I’m hearing this word tossed around mostly when it comes to video games and that’s why it’s starting to piss me off more then anything. I’m tired of reviewers saying that they’re worried something is more a gimmick then anything else. It seems like this gimmick revolution came about when the Wii came out with the motion controls. A new controller is not a gimmick. Let’s take a look shall we?

Okay so we go from NES to SNES and low and behold we have a new controller, one of the best controllers I might add, as well as 16-bit graphics. Did anyone say “I hope having four buttons and two shoulder buttons isn’t just a gimmick.” No! They said that’s fricken awesome! No one thought that the Rumble Pack or Dual Shock was a gimmick. So what was so different about the new things back then that they are called innovation and now they are simply called a gimmick?

What it seems like to me mainly is the video game press attacking Nintendo. Yes I do hear the word gimmick thrown out to Sony and Mircosoft on occasion but it seems to really be poor Nintendo that’s getting hit the most. What did they really want the Wii and DS successor to be? New graphics alone are boring. Sorry but Sony and Microsoft are examples of this. When I first got the PS3 the graphics didn’t impress me. They since have gotten better but they were just updated PS2 graphics. Even now with better graphics if you look at the way you play games on a basic PS3 and X-Box 360 (This is minus Move and Kinect) it really hasn’t changed in the last few generations. Game play on the PS3 is identical to the original PSX. The controller hasn’t even changed. X-Box and X-Box 360 are the same other then graphics. BORING!

So to me a gimmick is something that really doesn’t add or change the experience. So for example collector editions (which I do give into by the way) are gimmicks. They are a way to get you to buy the game without really adding to the game play. I mean the Batarang is nice but had I thrown that at my TV I’m sure one or both would have broken. This means the flip side, innovation, adds to the game play or the experience in someway. 3D, whether you like it or not….Hard Copy…ahem…adds to the experience and game play. The crazy tablet controller for the Wii U will add to the experience and if done well can make for one crazy gaming experience.

Overall what I’m trying to say is we really need to stop using the word gimmick when something new happens. If this keeps up then we’ll never get anything new. New is not always bad. The Wii U controller is innovative not gimmicky. The PS Vita is a new way of playing portable games and now just some gimmick to get people to buy there system. The Kinect is…..well just pointless.

End of Line

Awesome Games in the 21st Century: No More Heroes (PS3 and XBox)

Wii had Travis Touchdown for a while, now it's our turn.  Ok to be honest you should know that Sony is my taste of the best so this is really just a quick summary of how the Playstation Move demo went.

The demo consisted of short introduction, long ass tutorial, and the first kill level. 

The controls for the Move system worked out well.  I would highly suggest using this with the two Move controllers instead of using just a regular controller for a secondary because it felt awkward.  It was like having a very easy to use control and having to navigate with something that I had to lay in my lap because it's too tiresome for just one hand.  Yeah yeah sexual joke, but just proves that it was annoying. The only buttons you really need on the regular controller regardless are just whatever is on the left side. (deep breath)  And that's really the best way I can describe this.

Other than that discomfort, there really isn't anything else to complain about.  The controls work well and aren't overly sensitive or not sensitive enough.  Not being used to motion sensing engines, I did find myself waving the controller around way too much in the beginning, but with all the crap I had to do, it pretty much worked out.  Charging up was a little weird, for some reason I had to really jerk that thing off harder than I think humanly possible.

The camera seemed to bug out here and there, but focusing on an enemy really did save the day and a lot of damage.  The final boss, though I understand was a first level, was actually a fun and trying experience.  Granted that I did play on Sweet, I think this would be somewhat challenging if I choose to play the full version, which I'm considering.

I'm sure many will argue that the original version is better, but the combat system is fun, I love the sound effects, the voice acting is fantastic, and overall I think the transition to the Move engine worked out very well.  Along with Catherine, I'm considering getting No More Heroes.  It's a good break from Infamous.

The Secret Origin of The Duke!

Ok, i know what your thinking, what it all means.

Who is The Duke?

Where did he come from?

Does it mean anything?

Well, kinda. The Duke is my alter ego, the voice in my head, a mixture of Duke Nukem, John Wayne, Duke Ellington and could have played football for Duke University. OK, that just makes no sense at all, but some parts are true. Who really is the Duke, and why do i call myself that? Well, its simple really. I didnt get it from John Wayne, or Duke Nukem, listen much to Duke Ellington or follow Duke University football. Back in 1996, my father returns from a Microsoft Convention where he came back with a lot of swag. CD cleaners, a plushie Pentium 2 doll, key chains for the different software companies, then i find this.

This was the comic that inspired my nick name. A comic i dont think anyone really knows about. What is it about this that got my attention all these years ago, what is it about??

Actually i dont know what this comic is about quite frankly. I get the fact that Duke was the mascot of the Java, a computer language developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems in 1995. I guess within the community they had to incorporate some kind of logo which can be used, and thats when Duke was created also to show off what Java is. Java is the whole reason we have motion on the internet. Java is the program that we have to upgrade to see curtain things on the net.

Why did he captivate my imagination into making an alter ego that represents everything i am and not, but this is the reason why i am the Duke, i found this comic to be enjoyible and rather silly at the time. Still to this day i have credited this as the reason why i am the Duke. Today, the Duke is more than just a silly nickname that i came up with for the purpose of internet friends to call me. The Duke is me, i am him, the Duke will always be me.

The Duke abides, since 96

Otakon: More Hyped than Bill Goldberg!!!

In 2007 I went to my first anime convention and it was a blast. The trip was so worth it even though we only went for one day. After that i decided that whatever anime convention I went to it would be a weekend event. Its been a good run of fun and good conventions but that streak ended finally with my recent trip to Otakon. The most hyped up convention if there has ever been one. I've been planning for since 2007 to go check it out because everyone told me that is the convention to go to. You like Katsucon eh? Well you need to go to Otakon then because its bigger and better. Well finally the time had come and the group I went with were all Otakon virgins as well so we were all hyped.

Our trip down was horrid starting off with our friend stepping in dog crap which we all believe now was an omen. Rest stops with some kind of winged insects. Getting super lost in New York City, and getting poured on at the good ol' Vince Lombardi. I believe the gods were trying to warn us to turn back and that rain was their tears of sadness that we didn't heed the warnings. Upon a 8 am arrival and a night of no sleep we were told our room would not be ready till 3 or 4. Fine i get that, then we have to walk 15 minutes in 100 degree weather to get to the con even though we reserved the con hotel. When we finally check in we find out the hotel charges an insurance fee of 25 dollars a night and you will be reimbursed upon departure.

The lines at the convention were probably the main speciality of the con itself because everything had a ridiculous line. The dealers room the first time we went had a 30 minute wait at least. This was by far the biggest dealers room I've encountered yet but every table was just about exactly the same with all the same overpriced items and figures. The entrance to artist alley was an absolute death trap with one stairwell to enter and exit, not a set, not a pair, just ONE stairwell with a man telling you "stay on the left if you fall i'm not responsible and I will tell you that if you get hurt". Another thing was the lack of really no interesting panels at all. Yeah there were voice actors and what not but most of those panels get boring fast with the excess of fanboys and fangirls looking to not ask a real question ever. Maybe if they had some Nerdfit or something there i would've been able to enjoy it more but we will never know.

The straw that broke the camels back this weekend though was leaving the convention. Upon checking out of my hotel I was told that my change back from my deposit would 33 dollars...out of the 50 I was told I would receive back. The excuse given to me was that the extra 17 payed off the rest of my bill. A remaining balance would have been something to tell me before doing it. So out of that 33 i got to keep 13 for food budget for the rest of the day. On top of that we were told we would pay 52 dollars for two days parking friday to saturday and saturday to sunday. Upon checking out from that we are told we have to pay for the rest of sunday as well because we were there longer than three hrs I guess so bye bye aforementioned 52 dollars hello 78. Then it was all traffic and gas and long lines at rest stops and another lost adventure in NYC. Finally the Otakon horror ended around 10:50 when i got home about 3 hrs later than anticipated due to traffic.

The main thing that really just upset me was that I went to Otakon expecting the very best I could get out of a con. I had more fun at anime boston than i did Otakon. At first I thought maybe I didn't enjoy it because it overwhelmed me with its massiveness. But then I realized what really annoyed me was that for a super con it was just like all the rest.

Childless in the 21st Century?

Just read an interesting article on Yahoo.  What do you think of childless businesses?

Many businesses are starting to rethink their customer base.  Have you ever felt embarrassed or just annoyed if you're on a date with someone you really want to impress and a child starts screaming his head off in the booth next to you?  Yeah, it's a lot like that.

Unfortunately, as you can imagine, a few places have been going too far (matter of opinion).  Referenced in the linked article above, a few condos were even considering having some outdoor areas child-free let alone a few movie theaters banning children under 6, but they do have their own designated baby days.  These might sound too harsh for some, but necessary for others. 

Personally I believe this is a good idea, but if it grows into a huge swarm of local businesses having this similar theme, where will the kids go?  While this new generation is having more childless couples commonly, it is giving them enough voices to coax businesses into having childless restaurants, diners, cinemas, and even first class flights.

Because of this trend it is giving some thought to how our population will be in a few years.  We are in a way like Japan; Japan having a population with less children now because of this new generation settling into career fueled lives and having no time for children between their jobs, keeping up their own houses, and even their marriages.  It could lead into a deficit of people in the next generation, which in a way can be good for the economy and environment with less resources being used up.  Some say that with improved birth control and rights for abortion America is having a baby plunge for this reason, too.

While I do approve of some places being baby free, I do think that some other places have a better idea of handling this.  For example one grocery store in the article mentioned that they have their own "child center" for parents to drop off their kids if they really need to shop without them.  I feel that these places need to come back, and I wouldn't be surprised if separate rooms for families and childless customers will be available in the near future.

New Vlog of Awesome intro!

Here it is folks, the all new intro which i call, "Awesome is back"

I will try to get a new vlog out by monday or tuesday next week, i am going to Boston this coming weekend to celebrate a weekend with my soon to be Brother in law and some friends.

Awesome Games in the 21st Century: Catherine

Just played a demo for Catherine, published/developed by Atlus, a company which made games as the popular such as the Persona series.  It was actually a pretty good demo for something I wasn't exactly expecting out of Atlus; definitely a pleasant surprise.  The demo is up in Playstation Store and Marketplace and gives you about two levels and some story behind what the game is really about.  The game is mostly a horror puzzle platformer and deals with a playable character Vincent, who is basically spilt between choosing who he will be with; his long time girlfriend Katherine or a bubbly new interest Catherine (ps they have the same name). 

Like Persona the game format is basically the same; you have times where you have to do some in game role playing to decide Vincent's relationships with other characters depending on what action you choose, leveling up, upgrading, and instead of turn base combat go through nightmare stages that are basically puzzles.  The puzzle works out (as far as the demo goes) with Vincent trying to escape from a large being, which is the cause of why so many young men are dying in their sleep all around the town where Vincent lives.  To escape you have to control Vincent to push blocks around to make stairs up to an escape door.  But it's not that easy.  Everything is timed.  The later you respond, the more levels below you disappear.  Of course the plot is interesting and unique like it most of the Atlus games are, but the gameplay here that doesn't deal with role playing is simple but addictive. 

The graphics change from animation to normal 3D.  With this game compared to the recent Persona sequels, Atlus decided to stick with the popular and unqiue in game graphics and cutscenes so many fans have come to recognize as no other gaming company.  You can really tell it's an Atlus game. 

While the demo doesn't offer that much game play, the trailer at the end will definitely make you very interested.  It did come out very recently and have been getting mixed reviews; some giving this game higher scores than some others.  I suggest downloading the demo, which is available on PS3 and XBox.  But if you are a die hard fan of Atlus and their products, then this is something definitely for you.  Get on that...Jack.

Duke Nukem Forever: How i Learned to Stop Complaining and Enjoy a Good Game!

Well everyone hell has officially froze over but not because Duke Nukem has finally made his return to our gaming consoles but because he kicked the devil in the balls and told him to crank the AC in that mutha. But has the wait actually been worth it? From what I hear from most critics and reviewers the answer is a unanimous NO. Well folks I beg to differ and granted it may not be everyones cup of tea but Duke is just as great as I remember.

A lot of people for starters are complaining that the jokes in the game are really outdated and not funny. The thing is Duke is a bit of a kickback to a great age of action heros like John McClane and The Terminator. He doesn't ask questions or try to reason with the enemy he just shoots first but Duke doesn't need ask later. That is what we loved about Duke back then and it hasn't changed. He is nostalgia for our generation therefore him using jokes from the movie "300" is not a bad thing. The same people complaining are probably sitting at their computers right now on a Duke Nukem Forever soundboard laughing at the playing the same line 20 times over. I just hope it is the one taking a cheap shot at Master Chief ha ha.

Another thing is that I hear is its not that great of a first person shooter which is absolutely ridiculous seeing how it works of the same aspects of an FPS as all the others. Call of Duty, Halo, and Duke Nukem...they both are from the perspective of the main character, they both allow you to carry only up to two weapons at the same time, grenades, and blah blah blah. They are practically identical and its not like the graphics are terrible, they look pretty good all around. For those with the Duke on those wacky home consoles they load times can be a bit tedious. I agree with that but not as hardcore as everyone else, yeah i can get up and go get a drink or something before its done loading but hey i don't consider that an issue. I see it as more of a tiny break.

The last thing is I hear the game is a bit too raunchy but i don't really need to go off on a tangent in this explanation. The game was not deemed that raunchy by the mass populous of gamers who played it back in the 90's. Yes you can pee and throw poop and punch giant monsters in the testicles like it is a punching bag but it was still fun. If you want to jump on a game for being to raunchy and gross jump on postal when they release another one but to be fair Duke is not that bad.

So basically what i have just spent the last 30 mins of time doing is trying to tell you guys who keep riding Duke Nukem to just relax. The main purpose behind games is to take us somewhere else and give us a break from school, work, and real life. Duke does a great job of that and makes people laugh so just take a step off your high horse. Duke has returned from a long hiatus and he is still ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum so just have fun with it and don't be so critical. Just have fun!

No Holds Barred Episode 2 (July 2011)

Topic in this podcast is about CM Punk's expired contract and his new angle with Cena.  Also includes our top five and what to except at Money in the Bank this Sunday.

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

From Otaku to Whovian: a reflection of my geek self

I have been thinking to myself over the last few days since the end of ConnectiCon thinking where the exact point it was when i became less into anime and more into sci fi. I watch kids go around Ctcon in cosplay of their favorite animes, mainly Hetalia and other animes i never heard of. I admit i am not on top of the latest anime sensations or do i really care enough to really get into them at this point, i have my favorites and they might not be known to many people or if they are from the 1980s then some people would. I like many animes prior to 1990 and very few past that point. I like my Lupin the Third, Gundam, Cowboy Bebop to name a few but even my favorites are quickly going the way of the buffalo. I have been getting back into the genre that i have always been a part of for many years even before i was an anime fan, science fiction.

Sci Fi has been there more than most things, growing up, i was a huge trekkie. It was almost impossible not to be a trekkie in my youth as my parents were big into the original series of Star Trek. The first of the ST movies i saw was the Voyage Home, the movie that was not about action but Whales being the secret to humanities survival from an alien probe that apparently makes whale sounds and they have the most boring 5 movie minutes of all time, ITS FUCKING WHALE SONG FOR THIS ENTIRE TIME. But i might be getting diverted from my point here. SF has been a huge part of my life.

Growing up, i read the Alien Vs. Predator novels, watched The Next Generation frequently, and had a vast knowledge of anything space and space exploration. This was my life.

Fast foreword to Otakon 2009. A time of great transition. I joined a few friends in being Colonial Marines from the 1986 movie Aliens. This marked my ultimate transition from being a video game cosplayer, to sci fi cosplayer. 2 years later, Anime Boston 2011, i joined up with Doctor Who fans (or Whovians)as the 10th Doctor. This was my way of saying this is how i want to attend future conventions.

Even now, while at Connecticon, i was dressed up as the Nostalgia Critic, a hero of mine due to my love of the days of old. I hear some know who i was, others did not.

With a number of kids these days thinking they really know the 1990s like i do, they do not. 1990s tv was the reason i know what i know, it stuck with me.

At my age now, i find myself not a geek, i am a Whovian. Even if it is considered to be a part of the Doctor Who fandom, to me it is much more, it represents me as the sci fi fan i am. This is only the beginning of where i can say i found my place in fandoms and interests.

Movies in the 21st Century: Transformers 3

After Paramount fired Megan Fox, everyone was wondering how Transformers 3 will deliver without her.  Many expected this movie to not hold a candle to the first movie like the second one did, but some were also pleasantly surprised.

The story picks up after 2 when Sam is out of college and looking for a job.  He has a new girlfriend he is living with, who is acted by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and suffers through living life as a regular person after saving the world twice.  While Megatron is still out and about, a disturbing secret behind the moon landing came out as soon as the Autobots find evidence of an object that is able to connect a portal bridge that was found in a mission in Russia.  The Autobots go to the moon to find another Prime asleep for years when he should have been sent on a cargo to Cybertron during the war against the Decepticons.

Many big name actors are in this movie compared to previous installments such as John Malkovich and Alan Tudyk.  During the first half of the movie, it was a straight up comedy.  Many of the scenes were brillantly written while some of the humor was just downright odd.  But when the second half rolls around, it turns into a huge bash of robot killing and an apocalyptic Chicago. 

Overall many viewers were not interested in seeing this movie because of the failed expectations of the sequel.  But still sales are going well and so far but the movie has been given average grades.  For those of you who are interested in humor, semi-brainless action, and seeing other reoccuring characters such as Starscream from the original show, this might be in your best interest to see how this ends.  While the ending gave closure, it does leave an opening for another movie to possibly be made.

Nintendo gives its fans the big Wii U

Greetings programs. By this time anyone in the gaming world should have heard about the Wii U the poorly named successor to the Wii. For another poorly named system
see the Playstation Vita. Anyway Nintendo revealed the system during E3 last month and even though there presentation was less then stellar the Wii U does bring in some interesting possibilities that could give Microsoft and Sony a run for there money.

Basically Nintendo focused on the controller of the system more then anything since that seems to be the primary focus of this new system. If you haven't seen this thing yet it looks like a Ipad with controller buttons on it. To me this opens up tons of possibilities but I will get into that in a second. The second coolest thing is that the fact that Wii remotes can also be hooked up to this thing and not just for Wii games but also Wii U games. The example they gave was a golf game where the tablet controller was on the ground and had a ball in sand and someone held the Wii remote as a golf club. Once they swung the Wii remote the ball went from the tablet to the TV. I don't know I think that's cool.

So what can we do with the tablet and the, finally, HD graphics of the Wii U? There are two things both of which are exciting. Number one ever had to share a TV with someone? Here you are gaming and the other person wants to watch TV and then its just a battle where the gamer tends to lose? Well now with the Wii U you can have the best of both worlds since you can stream games to the controller! Now don't get too excited though because there is a limited range so you can't take the game on the go. That would have been the icing on the awesome cake though if you could.

The second thing is image a HUDless TV. No heart counters or magic meters just plan old HD game play. All this information would be on the tablet. For an idea of what this might be like play Ocarina of Time 3D. Its not 100 percent HUDless but its close. The idea of turning the DS into a video game console, which if you look at it is what this is, is one of the best ideas they have come up with. Okay so imagine this, playing Zelda where all the information is on the controller your hearts items, maps all that and you have the tablet on a mini table for quick accesses and use the Wii remote to move him around and swing his sword still. Granted that this a lot but hell I would play a game like that. Not saying they would do that but its just an example. Another examples are hold the tablet up to the TV and using it as a zoom if say you had a sniper rifle. Maybe you're Batman and its a quick accesses to all you gadgets or you racing against cheating scum like Bowser and its your review mirror.

Ultimately I think this might really truly be the first system where programers can really use there imagination since there are countless possibilities. This might also be the first system since the Super Nintendo that 3 parties are excited for. Almost all the big 3 parties are lined up for this thing and we'll see games like Arkham City and Aliens on it. With that said this also could be a problem. Nintendo is going to need exclusives if it doesn't want to be known as the port machine. What is going to make me buy Aliens on the Wii U and not say PS3? That controller is going to make all the different and unless they can some good creative uses out of it they will lose sales to system that A people already have and B are much cheaper. Nintendo already stated that this system will not be cheap so they need a STRONG lunch unlike the WEAK lunch of the 3DS.

As time goes by we will learn more about this thing and will like it or love it when it launches next year. The newest thing seems to be that it will support 3D TVs even though Nintendo itself has no plans for 3D games. Why do this then? Its just another thing to give publishers more options to what they can do. Personally I am quite excited at the possibilities of what this thing can do and much like the Wii I plan on losing a lot of money when this thing launches. This might be one of the most exciting things to happen to video games since 8-bits or the most disastrous thing to happen since the 32X. Need another reason to buy it? Check out the Legend of Zelda tech demo. I warn you though bring some tissues because its just that orgasmic.

End of Line.

Let's Talk ConnectiCon 2011

Ok guys, Port 2 is coming to CTCon in two weeks.  You know where; Hartford, CT.  July 8-10.  We'll be taking pictures and posting them in our Flickr account.  Be prepared to see us on the ConnectiCon forums with more information about our blog and our cosplay/event pictures.

We'll also be in cosplay.  Can you find us?!

Movie Short Takes

Sup folks, i know i havnt been posting a lot, but with my computer problems, thats to be expected, a new computer is in my future if i stop buying ghostbusters gear off my friend.

Regardless, ive seen quite a few movies so far, and so many infact, i have roughly 5 movies in que to do Three Word Reviews on. Rather than try to kill my computer with trying to make some videos, which i will get to one of these days, i will do a short paragraph based on what i liked what i didnt like, and what to look out for in my new segment, Movie Short Takes. It only means ill go into more detail about movies than what i do in the 3WRs.

First up in no particular order:

Xmen First Class
I admit, i couldnt really get into the Xmen movies too much, but i didnt think they sucked. Xmen 3 yeah, i think we all agree about that one that the only redeeming quality was Ellen Page's hotness in that movie. But i went in excited that this could be the reboot that this series needed, unfortunately, it was only a direct prequel to the trilogy. This was what the movies should have been like, none of that story with Rouge in the first one or bringing the Phoenix saga right away, this was awesome. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was a good decision in those, but i am getting away from the topic. I was skeptical about James McAvoy being Professor X from the moment i saw the trailer for the first time. There was one thing that kept me waiting for this movie to come out, the trailer music. That kept me interested. I went and saw this movie, and i was not let down. Truely a great movie.
Three Word Review Sum Up: Best One Yet

Green Lantern
DC comics i have never had a really big interest in, but i do like the Batman movies...ahem...most of them that dont require a Bat credit card. But i went into this one knowing absolutely nothing about the character, going on the mention that its something about rings and grean and stuff. I didnt think much about it but the trailer grabbed me. The visuals were great, the action was lacking but it was overall a good flick, one of those popcorn movies if you will. I still dont know what i feel about Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, wasnt he Deadpool in Wolverine Origins?? Whatever the case, i did enjoy it though. I wonder with Marvel working on the highly anticipated Avengers movie, will DC go for the obvious Justice League movie. Who knows.
Three Word Review Sum Up: Too Much Green

Fast 5
Oh no, not another Fast and Furious Movie. Seems these movies forget about the racing that the first one had and went for a new direction. Not much to say about it other than Dwane Johnson comes in and tries to raise all sorts of hell in Modern Warefare 2...i mean Fast 5. I was not a fan of this movie, and i wish they would just stop, but it seems another movie is on the way.
Three Word Review Sum Up: Just Stop Already

Well, thats it for now, more in the future! Oh, just a personal anouncement, my Vlog has beome a partner with Senpai Magazine!

Awesome Games in the 21st Century: Alice Madness Returns

After all these posts I have been making about one of my most awaited games, I have to say that is satisfies everything I dreamed it would be.

While other game reviewers gave this about a 70% rating, not too bad but not so great, a lot of fans were disappointed because of how much success the original American McGee's Alice was.  Since it's been around a 10 year gap between these two games, many of the fans also suspected them to be completely differently.  Way too much has gone on in programming between now and then so personally I think it's unfair to compare two completely different games.

So I'm just going to cut the bullshit about the negativity hype with Alice Madness Returns and hop right into it.  But because I haven't finished the game yet, it's going to be limited to what I have seen up to the 3rd chapter.

You play in chapters, and one of the oddest things that I haven't experienced in a game yet is that you can restart the chapter any time you want through the pause menu.  That's something that I have never seen before.  You'd think they would have a replay chapters mode, which I'm certain they will once you finish, but again referring to Tomb Raider Anniversary you can replay any level at any time as long as you beat it in a new game save.

As for the story Alice is at a mental hospital for young children and offers to help out around for her sessions with another doctor (another doctor meaning not the first one she's been to).  Because the game starts so abruptly in the story, you have to go through fragments of memories in order to understand how Alice got from the end of the last game to this.

It first starts out with an interesting cardboard cut out artsy cutscene (try saying that fast) of Alice in wonderland and what seems to be a doctor telling her to forget useless memories.  The character design of Alice when you see her at the hospital is not what she looks like in the cover of the game nor the trailers.  She looks sickly, pale, and has raggy unkept hair-what a person who is stuck in a crappy mental house in that time frame is supposed to look like.  The rest of the characters also look  pretty morbid.  You are then able to walk around the housing building and out into the streets for your first game play.  Nothing interesting except for hearing stupid children call Alice out and looking at objects happens.  When you chase around a white cat when you get out of the building, Alice is triggered into cutscenes with different characters, who you are not so familiar with, until she eventually goes into Wonderland. 

You immediately either notice how random the shift was from Alice's real world into Wonderland, but get used to it because it happens a lot this way.  The shifting between the two worlds also indicates when a new chapter starts, and thus you meet new characters.  Madness is a platforming and hack and slash game.  There are plenty of extra content to find and story to go through.  Most of the time you will platforming instead of using the battle system, which is a free form hack and slash with different weapons that can also help you look for other items.  The currency here is teeth, which upgrades your weapons.  Instead of having to manually equip weapons, you are able to use different commands that summons them during battle or just roaming around which comes in handy because you are forced to switch between weapons quite often.  I find this MUCH easier than having to deal with equipping weapons in the first game, which was in game play and using the function keys for PC.

While in the previous game you can summon the Chesire Cat whenever you want, here he comes up during selected times.  When you are prompted to let him show up, it flashes on top of the screen.  He also doesn't appear as much as he did in the original, too, but his advice are as confusing and useless as always.  Still his voice actor is pretty awesome so it's not a complete waste of time.

There is no "Sanity Meter" like there was in the original.  You do have a health meter; a vine of roses.  They are also cut into quarters so each rose is not a full hit point but you get different damage depending on what attack the enemy uses.  There are small roses or big roses laying around in objects that you can break with any of your weapons; same goes for teeth.  They replenish, but the only way to upgrade health is to Paint the Rose Red.  When you enter specific rooms, you are allowed to do some sort of mini game and if you get through it, you paint the rose red.  Once you have done so four times, you have another rose for your health upgrade.

Once you are low on health, you can go into Hysteria, which lets you pretty much be invincible until the timer runs out.  It is necessary to collect roses to replenish health during the time because it only is allowed to happen once you're on your last few hit points. 

As far as platforming, Alice can jump, double jump, and float.  It's a lot like Spyro's

You meet reoccurring characters, some more disturbing than when you met them in the previous game, all so enormously bigger than Alice is.  There is no particular order of meeting them that matches to when you do in the first game. 

One thing that is somewhat puzzling is why Alice looks so different in Wonderland than when she is in the real world.  She also has different outfits during each chapter, which when you finish that chapter you can equip on her any time throughout the game.  It's a lot like just dressing her up than these outfits having any purpose.  They're more like unlockable costumes.

The secrets aren't exactly hard to find in this game.  Shrinking does become very commonly used if you are obsessed with getting every item like I am.  Battling isn't exactly hard either once you have a particular pattern down for each enemy you see.  You have to get very familiar with using all of your weapons quickly, but there are also many ways to take down an enemy the more weapons you get. 

The game offers four difficulty levels, and if you are very good at hack and slash, like God of War 3 God Mode good, then this game won't be a big issue.  Although there are some tricky rooms, the patterns for these enemies are extremely predictable, plus the loading screens tell you what to do.  It's just like Bioshock 2.  So getting stuck is not an option.

Now we'll go into the bigger flaws of this game.  The auto saving is definitely the worst.  Yeah it's one of those games that don't let you manually save at all even when you exit to main screen.  You have to wait until a little icon of a pocket watch is set in the corner, and it sometimes causes the in game to glitch.  I do enjoy auto saving, but if it's a game where it does that not often with too far of checkpoints in between and doesn't let you save regardless, then you better not quit the game before you get to a checkpoints because you'll go back.  Far.  I absolutely hate it when this type of auto saving exists.  And it's also one of those games with only ONE file.  That's right.  You auto save over just one file.  You start a new game, you can't go back.  Unless there is a way to select that through just your saved files under the dashboard or PS main screen, then you're basically screwed.

The voice acting is not the best you'll hear in a game.  For one they are so quiet during the cutscenes compared to the music.  Most of time I have to read the subtitles to even get what they are saying; sometimes they just speak too fast.  As far as the aspect of the acting during the cutscenes, they are pretty rushed and deserve to be slowed down.  You can access the cutscenes in the main screen, which is a God send since I had to look through them a couple of times to "get it".

The game is actually pretty fun despite the mediocre scores it has received.  It's a good length so far, the levels aren't too short or too long, and there is a wide variety of things to do.  I do have to give props for some of the mini games and puzzles except those sliders, I fucking hate those things even when I was a kid.  It is somewhat challenging and the story does compel me to keep going.  One of the main things I was concerned about when this game was announced was how the story was going to resolve if it already did in the first game, but obviously, there is more to Alice than what was already revealed in the original.

Speaking of first game, I'm not sure if you only get this through a pre order, but if you did, the code for the original game is up for download, too!  I'm really excited to see how the engine comes out for the PS3 instead of PC.  And there's only one way to find out.

No Holds Barred Episode 1

Justin and my new wrestling vlog, episode 1 just posted.  Four parts and pretty long.  Here's part one.

Please comment and subscribe to our channel.

Update June 2011

Hey everyone; it's hardcopy.  Again.  Wow.

We have recently went through a few changes that I thought I would like to let you guys know of plus I haven't really done a post in a while.  I was going to wait after E3, but I figured for those of you who read and follow us, it would probably be better to get some buzz flying around.  And for those of you who don't; why not?

We updated Duke's e-mail address, and because he doesn't want to delete his old account for fear that his posts would also get deleted, we're having The Duke's name under contributors still until The 10th Duke, his new account, has enough posts to put on the blog.  So in short he's still him and still abides but just don't get too confused.  EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL.

Justin Peterson's name is also added to our list.  He's going to be our newest contributor and member of Port 2: 21st Century Team and will selectively blog for just Your World in Hard Copy while also doing some vlogging with me-that's right.  Our new vlog is called No HB (No Holds Barred) and it will be about professional wrestling updated every month or so.  We just recorded our first episode and will be putting on our channel at some point during next week hopefully.  It's only going to be audio files unless we change to anything different, but it will always be referenced here and vice versa with this blog site on YouTube.

Tenchi and I are also going to be working on a short film project that will hopefully get off the ground this summer.  It's based on an original script, and once the product is done, we'll tell you when and where to find it.  Be prepared to see some updates here and there.

We also added our blog to Stumble Upon.  If you have never used this website, I think you will be pleasantly surprised and at least entertained for a while.

That's basically all I need to say, and stayed tuned for some E3 updates from our team.  So far there's a lot to talk about such as Nintendo's new product, which is hogging most of the attention.  You...whore...

Adam Vs the Man

Adam vs the Man's mission to basically call out the law on their bullshit.  Down to a T.  Recently over the course of this weekend, his group went down to DC to dance at the Jefferson Memorial.  But because it was "illegal", his group was arrested.

While his group was confronted with a warning, they continued after receiving no answers for their questions concerning arrest and what dancing's legal definition even is (hint: it has none).  During the arrest of a number of dancers, it is in question of this being an example of police brutality/abuse.

After being called out of prison by numerous callers demanding their release, Adam and his group are now inviting people into a public protest against the anti-dancing laws at the memorial, which Adam claims is ironic because his friends were freely expressing themselves in a memorial commemorating a man who has gave us these rights through his writing of the Declaration of Independence.

His protest will be held next Saturday at the Jefferson Memorial.  All are invited to come.

Zack Attacking EVERY Century!

Like him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, buy the T-shirt, and take care, spike your hair.

Zack Ryder first got his big push into the WWE when he was an Edgehead along with Kurt Hawkins.  While Hawkins went into a tag team with Vance Archer on Superstars, Ryder had his own following when he was top dog on ECW before it was turned over to NXT.  Now he's mostly in tag matches with Primo and some singles on Superstars as well.  He also updates his YouTube weekly vlog, Z! True Long Island Story, which is a lot bigger than most of you will think.  As of today, it's 15 episodes in and making him get buzz on like crazy.

While he is now a self proclaimed Internet Champion, Ryder is continuing vlogs and spreading the professional wrestling word all over the web like Morrison and Miz did in their show, the Dirt Sheet.

Many fans have been following him and finding his stuff to be extremely entertaining, and a lot of his co working wrestlers know so, too.  Rumor did spread about John Cena going to the head of the business and asking for Ryder to get the push that he deserves.  And how could he not ask with all that's going on with this guy?  Here's a behind the fan's scene look of why Ryder is hotter than the center of the sun.

Fans can participate in his vlog by posting videos of why they should be Broski of the Week, but most importantly, they participate during aired events.  Have any of you wrestling geeks noticed the explosion of Ryder signs all over pay per views, RAW, and Smackdown?   Zack put it better himself; it's the rise of the Ryder Revolution.

This is probably one of the signs that started it all, and it didn't get unnoticed.  In one of Ryder's vlog episodes, he talked about people going mad about the story behind this sign: "Zack Ryder = Ratings".  Apparently it is rumored that this fan was asked to have his sign taken down, but it didn't stop Ryder's fan base.  It just kept bringing them in.

In his most recent vlog, Ryder shows a bunch of screen shots of his fans holding up Ryder signs.  "Seattle Loves Zack Ryder" was the one that was probably most seen at the latest pay per view, Over the Limit, on television.  And that's one out of six shown.

While his character was somewhat questioned and hated by many fans in the beginning of his heel angle, Ryder's broski swagger and lovable catchphrase "Woo woo woo you know it" has become part of the WWE Universe over time.  While a lot of people complain that he isn't on television as much as he should be, his huge fan base will not give up until the Ryder name is known to every man and woman on earth and he has won as many championships as his YouTube hits.

So while I am here to blog about the small stupid things I find in my favorite spot in pop culture, I am also here as a Ryder fan to spread the word.  Check out his YouTube account and subscribe if you like what you see.  And if you go to any events, throw in a Zack sign.  You won't regret it.