Bionic Commando(2009): A Rant (Part 1)

I played through this game in December and I really wish I’d written about it then.  So intense was my vitriol that it would just spew forth to whoever I was talking to.  I wanted to tell people about it so much that I would take the time necessary to explain what the game was to them just so they could understand what it was I hated so much.  As it stands, my fervour has subsided, although hopefully I’ll get all worked up as I write and start hammering the keys in frustration.  I was faced with a choice between sitting down and doing this now or playing through the game again in order to give a fair (and hopefully more entertaining) account of the game.  I asked the advice of a friend and he quite plainly stated, “Colm, under no circumstances play through that game again.  Don’t do it to yourself.”  And he was right.  So here are my two month old thoughts on Bionic Commando.  They won’t be as intense, but they have had longer to fester. 

Be warned that this is going to be all over the place.  I don’t think it’s even possible for me to plan a piece like this.  It’s long and it’s wordy and I think I’m as incoherent as the game itself, but that’s how this experience requires me to express myself.  If anyone thinks this would be more entertaining as an audio file, do let me know and I’ll do that, but that just seemed a little self-indulgent.

SPOILERS

Look at how lovely it is

I’d like to prefix what comes next with something: I absolutely love Bionic Commando: ReArmed, the remake of the original NES game that Grin made for XBLA.  It was truly perfect.  I can’t comment on how it compares to the original game, but the concept and application of the mechanic, the design of the levels, the music and the bosses were all wonderful.  And it was only 800 points.  I think it may still be my favourite XBLA game, but Perfect Dark is coming up soon.  Why this is important is that it shows the pedigree that Grin had.  That game is really intricately designed; you could tell that extreme care, attention to detail and love had been put into this game.  From what I can tell they’ve cleaned up the story too and made it a lot more coherent although, as a product of the age, it’s still rather thin.  There are some really funny exchanges accessed by hacking the enemy network which also reveal boss weak points: a great idea.  The collectibles are also extremely well implemented: one Yashichi per level and they’re thoughtfully and challengingly placed, particularly the one on the construction yard area.  The swinging mechanic feels perfect and I’m sure it’s a lot more consistent than in the original game and this precision makes it remarkably robust.  It had a fun, if disposable multiplayer as well as some completely new “challenge rooms” which asked you to take your ability with the bionic arm to whole new level.  And on top of all that one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard.  Now why have I mentioned all of this in a review of a different game?  Because, apart from the music, everything Grin, the same fucking company, did oh so right in Rearmed they do utterly wrong in Bionic Commando.  And herein lies the true source of the intensity of my vitriol for this game:  It could have been so much more.

Not smiling anymore

Before I go nuts with this let me point out that in all areas apart from story the problem with this game seems to me to be that the development team ran out of time and had to put together something they could ship.  Whether this was because the project was too ambitious or that they could have been able to do it in the time given, but didn’t work fast enough or misappropriated their time, or whether they spread themselves too thin, I can’t say.  But I do know that a lot of the game feels unfinished and poorly thought out and given what I’ve said about ReArmed I know that this is not something inherent to the team.  That said, this tragedy leads to a whole lot of bullshit in the game but I wanted to exonerate Grin in some way before I launch into it because I know these guys could have made a much better game if they’d had more time.  And maybe in that time someone would have burned the script and shot Mike Patton.

This is easily, easily the worst video game story I’ve ever come across.  And I mean that in every facet of storytelling I  can think of.  It’s way down there worst things I’ve ever seen as well but I don’t know if I’m willing to actually give it that title.  That probably belongs to something posted on a Friday at Topless Robot.  Let’s start with the characters.  One big problem here is that they’ve tried to make the characters badass and gritty and mean.  But they all sound like fifteen-year-olds.  You know how, if someone’s a bit nasty it’s usually because of something, even if that something is utter bollocks.  Being an asshole is supposed to be a symptom of some deeper personality flaw, like pride or greed or something, but as far as I could tell, in this, everyone is just an asshole.  That is the long and short of their characterisation and seemingly the philosophy behind the dialogue.  But they’re assholes to the extent that it becomes silly.  There’s a bit where a brand new character introduces himself quite politely and our protagonist, this is meant to be ME to a certain degree is a complete cock to him for no reason.  The exchange is something like,

General: Colonel Spencer, my name is a General Armstrong.  I’m the commanding officer on this mission and I just wanted to introduce myself.

You: Ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuck Yooooooooouuuuuuuuuu.  I don’t fucking take orders from fucking nobody, you massive cunt

And this is the first time these two men have ever spoken.  So at this point I can understand the general getting defensive with this guy.  But I’m meant to be this guy.  Now,  I like playing as a character in games.  I can be that character to an extent.  I don’t need the silent protagonist like Gordon Freeman or Link.  I’m quite happy to roleplay to some degree as a character who is not me in a situation I would never be in.  That’s great.  But it becomes impossible when the character is someone you would never want to be.  Everyone wants to be a badass, but this character isn’t a badass despite how hard he’s clearly trying.  He’s a twat.  Nobody wants to be a twat.  And all of this is only exacerbated by Mike Patton’s fucking voice.  He’s the lead singer of Faith No More,

Hold on for ONE SECOND!

proprietors of a style of music that evokes a physical reaction from me in my distaste, but different people like different things and I’m not going to talk about the band.  But he has that whiney American faux-angsty singing voice.  You know the one I mean.  And he pretty much talks like that as well, but he gruffs it up a bit and it sounds worse than if I was gruffing up my voice.  And he’s not a voice actor either!  I don’t know why they hired a singer to do voice work but it’s fucking disastrous.  Bad dialogue made so so so much worse.  I considered muting the fucking game.  And the one liners?  Jesus.  You’ll be fucking begging to be playing Warrior Within again after this.  I sincerely hope no-one was paid for producing the things he says; quips that make no sense and wouldn’t be good even if they did.  One of them is “I’ll send you the bill later”.  I don’t know what that means!  Bill for what?  Killing him?  But he’s dead, how can you send him the bill?  But there’s one that I just can’t describe.  After I had shot a man, crushed him with a car then picked up his body and hurled it into a helicopter my character was heard to say, “You’ll thank me for that some day”.  But there’s no hint of irony.  It doesn’t think it’s absurd and silly and fun.  It’s taking itself seriously.  It’s meant to be cool.  The most tragic thing about it all is that through all of this ridiculous behaviour and stupid swearing he not only fails to be a badass he ends up sounding like a teenager in a strop.  As opposed to a war-weary soldier objecting to following arbitrary directions from a system that chewed him up and spat him out but that he still serves out of a misplaced sense of loyalty not even he fully understands he sounds like a 12-year-old who doesn’t want to tidy his room.  Take this for example:

General: Spencer, status report!

As far as I’m aware, in a war zone, where time is of the essence, this is a perfectly acceptable way to ask to know what’s happening on the ground.  There are no formalities, but I certainly wouldn’t consider it rude.

Spencer: Muhmuhmuhmuhfuckmuhmuhmuh I only talk to Super Joe muhmuhmuhmuhfuckfuckmuh

Then the general pulls rank on him and reminds him who’s providing him with equipment etc. so Nate finally breaks and says

Spencer: The city’s a fucking wasteland and everyone’s fucking dead. Is THAT what you wanted to hear?  Is it?

I mean, that is literally something a child would say.  And this nonsense goes on for the duration of the game and it becomes absolutely unbearable.  It gets to the point where, despite the fact that the this mission needs to succeed to save mankind or something, the general dude basically tells your character to get himself killed.  Not having completed the mission or anything, just fucking die.  This cannot be how professionals behave!  It makes you want everyone to shut the fuck up because the game would both be less annoying and make a whole lot more goddamn sense.  On top of this they’ve given our hero a bit of a redesign.  Instead of the blond-haired, sunglasses-wearing, archetypal soldier we have a (brown) dreadlocked, stubble-faced wanker who is clearly not the bloke from the first game.  I fear they were trying to make the character “cool” but as soon as you consider that an objective you are doomed to fail.

Super Joe: As he was

And poor Steve Blum.  He does what he can with what he’s given as Super Joe.  But even he’s trying to gruff up his voice and it isn’t quite working.  This is Spike Spiegel here, people, but he can’t save this sinking ship.

As you can probably tell from the above exchanges (although they may be a little exaggerated) is that the swearing is terrible.  It’s not enough to just have swear words in something.  That’s just patronising and shit.  If you go into something with the intention of having the characters swear then it’s going to be a fucking disaster.  The characters should be speaking and some people swear when they speak.  Watch “The Thick of It” for a masterclass in swearing, but the characters aren’t just cursing, they’re talking or ranting or shouting but there are swear words too.  All of the swearing in the game is utterly misplaced and always poorly delivered.  Like, when you get shot one of the exclamations can be a simple “Fuck!” but he doesn’t say it right.  There should be surprise or pain or annoyance or fear in it.  It should sound like a reflex.  He sounds like he’s been told to say fuck.  And say it badass.  And it sounds fucking absurd.  There are other bits where they forget to mix their curses.  No-one who’s a human being will ever seriously say something like, “Oh Fuck!  What the fuck was that!? Someone tell me where the fuck these fuckers are!”  People don’t talk like that.  Committees think people talk like that.  You might say something like “Oh SHIT! What the fuck was that!?  Can anyone see where these assholes are shooting from!?”  Now you could even put in a motherfucker where it says asshole and it would still be ok, but no-one ever uses the same curse as an exclamation, then a modifier, then a noun.  That doesn’t happen.  Now, Grin were a Swedish company.  So maybe this whole thing was written by someone who had English as a second language and that would explain a lot.  Even if I spoke French I don’t think I would know where to put the swear words.  I mean “Putain!” means “whore” so I would have assumed that is was something you call someone, like asshole.  But I’ve seen movies where someone has fallen over and hurt themselves and shouted “Putain!” so I would have gotten that totally wrong.  Maybe that’s what happened here.  I don’t know.  But as I say, the dialogue and the writing itself is terrible, but that says nothing for the story.

Clearly the bionic arm and the drealocks weren't quite hardcore enough...

Again, this is the most incoherent thing I’ve ever encountered in a video game.  You play as Nate Spencer.  In the original game he’s a soldier who lost an arm to, I think, a grenade, but was given this bionic grappling hook arm as a replacement by a government scheme.  But popular opinion turns against “bionics” and the whole program is scrapped.  And I think a whole bunch of bionics are then put in prison for no reason.  But the game keeps hinting at some beef between Joe and Nate, but since that’s mostly displayed by Nate being an asshole to Joe, which is how he treats everyone, it loses a lot of its impact.  They exchange some cookie-cutter dialogue about something Nate did or didn’t do and how Joe had to let him take the fall or something.  I don’t know.  It’s never properly explained, like so much in this story.  Spencer’s wife has also gone missing.  So then some group called BioReign drops a bomb on Ascension City.  BioReign is a pro-Bionics terrorist organisation.  So they take Nate off death row, give him back a bionic arm and send him into Ascension City to beat them.  Now, that’s bollocks but it’s very standard bollocks.  All games need some massive central conceit that puts you somewhere by yourself so that’s not really a problem.  Nor is the fact that they can send you weapons and power-ups at any point in the game by shooting them out of the sky.  So, say you have to fight a helicopter, instead of shooting the helicopter out of the sky they’ll shoot down a drop pod with a rocket launcher in it for you to take the helicopter out with.  Again, that’s not bad, it’s standard, but it’s still funny.  What is stupid is some of the lengths the game goes to to be “cool”.  The casting of Mike Patton and Nathan Spencer’s entire new persona is a testament to how far off the mark whoever conceived this game is in terms of “cool”.  Instead of reattaching the arm in a lab where they can make sure everything works properly and fix any problems, or even just put it on in the fucking plane on they way there they send Nate and his arm into the battlefield separately, but instead of parachuting in, or landing or something they have to do it awesome.  So Nate and his arm are put in two separate fucking missiles and fired into the side of a building.  You then have to find your fucking arm, but you find it so quickly that I have no idea why they bothered, but it was pretty novel to be playing as a genuinely one-armed protagonist for a little bit.  Even with all the issues here this is the story at its absolute most coherent, so buckle your seatbelts.

You make your way through the city and at the end of the first level we are treated to what I think is the most WTF cutscene in the whole game.  Pod thinks it’s one of the cutscenes towards the end where everything goes nuts, but I still think it’s this one.  You get to an arbitrary point in the city and then suddenly FOUR characters appear in the same cutscene with 3 of them not to reappear until the very end of the fucking game.  You look across a vista and see a dude in a Dr. Fate mask talking to Gottfried Groeder, a memorable Nazi introduced in ReArmed, but this game is meant to stand on its own so at this point many players won’t know who the fuck he is.  I never caught the dude in the mask’s

Sometimes you can just tell what people are like by how they look

name or why he was important since he hadn’t been mentioned yet and then wasn’t again until much later on.  I knew Groeder already, but I think someone lets you know he has something to do with BioReign.  But while you’re looking at these two trying to figure out who they are you’re suddenly attacked by a woman with bionic legs.  You can infer that she and Nate know each other but it’s never properly established which wouldn’t be a problem unless the story clearly required an emotional investment in her.  The legs make her able to run very fast, but every time she shows up (always completely at random) she gets the shit knocked out of her, so clearly they aren’t doing her much good.  So the two of you fight for a bit and then some dude with a Sniper rifle shoots a gun out of someone’s hand.  This is the first time he’s seen and he isn’t just a random sniper.  He’s Thomas “Sniper” Clarke, a piece of information I only found out in the fucking end credits.  He isn’t even actually seen again but he does play a role later.  I have no idea what the fuck they were trying to do with this character.  Maybe he was meant to be really mysterious but mysterious only works if you have a desire to solve the mystery.  We know absolutely nothing about him, but since he’s a sniper he never interacts with Nate making him about as far from compelling as you can get.  He’s not mysterious like someone who appears from the shadows and saves your life and says something cryptic.  He’s “mysterious” like the person whose shopping you pick up for them and they smile at you.  Now there is such a density of previously unmentioned characters popping up onto the screen trying to seem important that I laughed at this cutscene, and that was the highpoint of my enjoyment of the story.  After this the story spirals into banality until the end.  I have no idea what drove me from location to location.  I think I reactivated some communications.  Then there was something called the “Carrion Device” that I had to secure but it was so classified the higher-ups wouldn’t tell me what or where it was.  I’m still not sure what it actually was, or given what happens at the end why BioReign sent an entire force in to get it.  Mag shows up again around this point and gets the shit kicked out of her in a cutscene, then fucks off again.  Then it turns out that BioReign have a giant spider walker base thing stomping around the city that I end up on.  But that’s after I fight a giant mechanical worm in a car park.  There’s also an oil rig involved but I can’t for the life of me remember why.  The location sort of jumps around.  There’s no cohesion in the cutscenes.  Like a cutscene will end at a seemingly arbitrary point and then the next will pick up somewhere equally arbitrary, but it doesn’t feel like when a film is cut together, it feels like something’s missing.  Often the gameplay will start somewhere totally different to where a cutscene leaves off which is incredibly disorienting.  There’s a bit where he jumps off a building, but he only jumps off the top, then suddenly I’m on the ground in a valley nearby the building I jumped off.  I have to assume he landed.  They never do the usual thing of having the cutscene camera settle into the gameplay perspective that allows everything to be joined together well and again I think it’s because no-one had the time to add that sort of polish.  The whole experience is very disjointed.

Please understand that what I’m about to talk about happens a full game later with no mention in between.  That’s a full 8 hours later.  At least.  And you’ve been learning abilities and PLAYING A GAME between these points.  Also, I’ve only mentioned them here because I know they’re important but during the game you pay as much attention to them as you do to the serial number before any piece of machinery with a name, you know like “XG-577 Demolitionator”.  But what happens next is that it turns out that Super Joe is a massive bastard as well as an asshole.  Apparently he was the dude in the Dr. Fate helmet and has been playing you the fuck all along.  This didn’t actually come as that big of a surprise because they’d spent the whole time vilifying Super Joe and distancing themselves from his depiction in the first game and Steve Blum is clearly doing what can only be described as his “evil voice”.

Super Joe: What he became

I’m sure someone thought it would be “so fucked up” if Super Joe was the bad guy, but unless you give him some depth and motivation…really?  Good guys turned bad only works if they’re fallen heroes not 10p comic superviallains.  But the fact that he was this dude I’d completely forgotten from the start of the game?  That was a huge shock.  So he takes what I think is “The Carrion Device” from you and fucks off in a helicopter leaving you to fight Groeder in a really bad boss fight.  If you think about it, the plan was to go into Ascension City and get this device and trick you into going in and getting it as well, killing half of his organisation.  I really don’t understand.  But at this point you’re too busy fighting the hilariously-accented, psychotic Groeder on a helipad.  You kill him in a ridiculously gratuitous manner, which I think is again meant to be cool.  I’d really lost track at this point.  There’s no established bitterness between the two of you at this point other than what I knew from ReArmed, so it just feels like Spencer’s a complete dick.  To be fair, though, Groeder is obviously an insane Nazi Cyborg, so maybe nothing’s gratuitous for a guy like that.  You follow Super Joe and I think Mr. Sniper contacts you at this point, but I can’t remember.  The General dude is completely nonplussed by this stage.  So then Joe goes in and activated whatever the fuck the machine is and it puts him in a mech so ridiculous it would make a Gundam Wing fan cringe flanked by a whole army of slightly less absurd-looking mechs.  I have absolutely no idea why he wanted to do this.  I don’t know if it’s ever explained.  Mag shows up again at this point but gets herself killed this time instead of beaten up.  Her death’s meant to be an emotional moment for Spencer but since they spent the entire game shooting at each other, beating each other up and telling each other how much they hated one another it really lacks any punch.  There are some character bios that you can unlock and read but I shouldn’t have to do that to understand the story.  They’re optional extras.  Back-story, maybe, but they’re not meant to be essential to understanding the story being told.  Batman:  Arkham Asylum might be pretty confusing and random if you’d had no exposure to Batman, but it’s fucking Batman!  Plus, you can’t assume that knowledge in any story if the character has only been introduced in THIS story.  But BEFORE ALL THAT the BIG TWIST is revealed.  Bigger than Super Joe’s betrayal.  It turns out that:

YOUR WIFE IS YOUR ARM!

YOUR WIFE IS YOUR ARM!

YOUR WIFE IS YOUR ARM!

YOUR WIFE IS YOUR ARM!

Pictured: Your Wife

There is nothing I can say, or the game offers, to allow this to make any more sense.  There’s no greater context and it’s not explored properly.  It isn’t clear if they transformed her into the arm, if they used her DNA to make the arm and she died in doing so.  It’s not clear if the arm is sentient.  That above sentence is all you are told.  The word catalyst is thrown around but it’s just technobabble.  Your wife is your arm.  That is all.  There is nothing I can say that will make this funnier or more absurd.  So I’ll just say it again.  Your wife is your arm.

My only regret is that at no point does Spencer say “My wife is my arm” otherwise that shit would be on the internet faster than a TMZ photographer’s picture of a celebrity in underwear.

So there’s a boss fight that’s more of an interactive cutscene and you headbutt Super Joe to death and fall into a hole.  The End.  Really.  That’s literally how the game ends.  You fall into a hole.

Except there’s a little post-credits bit where there’s a transmission between the sniper and a mysterious thrid (sixth?) party.  It’s in code.  The first bit is decoded for you.  The second, if decoded, is in German, which you then have to translate.  This whole thing is hilarious.  It takes such a high opinion of the production to do something like this.  The alien languages in Futurama work because Futurama’s awesome.  The little Ocelot “Mr. President” bit works in Metal Gear Solid because Metal Gear Solid is awesome and I know who Revolver Ocelot is and the Mr. President thing is hilarious.  This game does not have this sort of heft.  There are loads of little Easter Eggs that are only allowed to be in good games.  There are diagetic sources of music that play Mike Patton music.  It’s all so self-referential and masturbatory but it’s in such a shitty product that it’s embarrassing.  The menus are also very slick, if a little phallic, but none of this should be in there because THEY SHOULD HAVE FINISHED THE FUCKING GAME FIRST.  If it meant they could fix the diabolical first level (more on that to come) then the menu should have been a silent black screen with white Time New Roman options and an underline to select.  It’s all infuriating.  Oh, and that bit of German?  Sets up a sequel.  Bwaaaahahahahahaha!

Join me in part 2 where I talk about everything that isn’t story-related and also everything that’s amazing about the game.

[Via http://mediadegradation.wordpress.com]

Parachute's Final Concerts Are Today!

Hey guys this is Jimbercane posting. I just wanted to remind you guys that today is the final day that the band Parachute will be performing in Planet Cazmo. They will start at 12 in the afternoon, and end at 12 midnight. They will play once every hour. You should definetely go and see them perform, because then you will get a free Parachute Concert Ticket added to your CazBook! All members, this may be the last day that you can get the Pass as well. If you don’t know how to get the Parachute VIP Backstage Pass, then please look at the post below.

Follow me on Twitter.

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jimbercane.wordpress.com

planet cazmo cheats

~Jimbercane~

[Via http://planetcazmocheats.net]

The 1-10 Scale

I’ll admit that a simple concept such at the HB1-10 scale can confuse me when I read about it online. What exactly is the difference between a 9 and a 10 to most people? Pure personal preference? Well, I have my own guide that I use on women. Being the generous guy that I am, I’d like to share it with you all.

Planet Grok’s HB Scale

1 – So ugly, just looking at her makes you want to puke. You’re not even sure “her” is the right word to use. You do whatever you can to avoid having your brain polluted by the hideous filth.

2 – Very ugly. Fascinatingly ugly. So ugly that you can’t help but stare, as if a passer-by witnessing a genetic accident. You thank your lucky genes that you weren’t born that way.

3 – Unattractive, but the average person can stand to look at her and hold a conversation with her. Often obese, with bad hair or teeth.

4 – Homely. The kind of girl that you would feel icky touching. Many chubbies fall into this category. They are often visited by men “slumming it” at night, and can be promiscuous because they have a hard time finding a man who wants to be seen in public with them. Often have pot bellies and unclear skin.

5 – Plain old average and forgettable. Does not inspire feelings of revulsion per se, but you do not feel the need to pursue sex with these women. But if it happens, it happens. Not fat or chubby, but maybe a little cellulite.

6 – Will have a single cute feature that makes them stand out from average women. It could be a small, delicate little nose or nice tits/ass. Other than the one cute feature, these women are average. They may enter the fantasizing male mind once or twice after an indroduction.

7 – These women have entered the realm of “attractive”. You feel confident being with them in public, but they are not hot enough to brag about to all your friends. These women get checked out by men often. Their bodies are not a turn-off by any means, but they may deviate some from the ideal, causing a double take. For example, the waist-hip ratio may be something strange, the shoulders a bit too wide, or the legs a bit too short.

8-Men who are not skilled with may brag about landing these women. Universally called “pretty”, these women intimidate many betas with their attractiveness. Upon close inspection, they may have a couple small flaws that they are able to hide well with makeup/clothing/hairstyle.

9 – A beautiful woman. Only one minor flaw in her entire essence. The flaw is cute and minor, and can provide a kind of uniqueness to her. So fine that most men would leave their wives for her.

10 – Absolutely flawless in every regard, including personality.  Totally stunning. Able to get whatever and whoever she wants based on her beauty. She looks like she stepped out of an artist’s imagination, or heaven…or God’s imagination. Jaws drop and tongues roll out wherever she goes, creating the impression of walking on rose petals wherever she goes. Rush Limbaugh would donate 20 million to Haiti relief in order to have sex with her. Obama would put up a border fence for her. A true 10 is one in a billion, and able to cause fainting in grown men with the touch of a hand.

Stop the presses. There’s nobody out there like that, you fucking beta. I love how often nobody wants to admit that a chick is a 10, just to try to show they have some kind of “higher standard” than the next dude. Megan Fox is a 10. Scarlett Johansson is a 10. Halle Berry is a 10. Beauty pageant winners are often 10s. There’s plenty of 10s.

11-This is a 10 that you think looks better than another 10 someone else has named. No more no less. It’s just a matter of opinion.

[Via http://planetgrok.wordpress.com]

Ninja Saga on Facebook (Chunin Exam)

Experience the thrill and excitement of Ninja Saga’s Web RPG Alpha Version which starts with the mission of an adolescent kid aspiring to learn the ways of the Ninja to be recognized and acknowledged by everyone as a Kage. Train intensively and increase your skills to challenge, conquer enemies and monsters in different villages. Gain the experience, sharpen your techniques and challenge your friends in battles. Be the best known Kage in the world of Ninja Saga!!! Featuring the best Web RPG that combines, fun, adventure, and challenge all combined in one; with more than 100 animated ninja skills to learn; no installations, just a web browser and a flash player, and you can have the greatest challenge of a lifetime never to be forgotten!!! (http://apps.facebook.com/ninjasaga/) Intronya sich gitu!!!

Game facebook yang satu ini diadaptasi dari karakter cerita manga “Naruto” soalnya agak mirip-mirip gitu dech!!!. Tapi asli game ini emang paling menantang kalo dibandingkan ama game-game facebook lain. Ninja Saga telah di update hingga level 40, tapi sebelumnya karakter kamu harus melalui Chunin Exam di level 20 untuk bisa mencapai level 40. (Brenk aja butuh waktu 1 minggu buat lulus chunin exam).

Chunin Exam terdiri atas 5 bagian:

Chunin Exam 1

• Which of the following techniques specilize in illusion and transformations? (Genjutsu).
• During a battle, which of the following actions enables you to gain chakra? (Charge).
• What is the name of the kage of vilage of fire? (Yudai).
• How many friends can you recruit to join your party for missions? (2).
• Where can you challange your friens in real-time? (Arena).
• Which element type measures your quickness in battle? (Wind).
• What was the first weapon that shin give you? (Kunai).
• Which of the following consumable item can recover your health in battle? (Healing Scroll).
• What is your current ninja rank? (Genin).
• What is the maximum number of consumable item can be use in real-time PVP Battle? (5).

Chunin Exam 2

Bagian ini termasuk mudah, karena kamu diharuskan mengalahkan tim lawan dan mengumpulkan ke-3 scroll untuk bisa melewati bagian ini. Disini kamu bisa membawa 2 teman untuk menyelesaikan chunin exam part 2.

Chunin Exam 3

Pada bagian ini cukup sulit juga karena kamu haru berhadapan dengan tiga lawan tanguh secara bergantian…

Lok Li : hati-hati aja dech, karena serangan pertamanya Assault Kick dapat membuat anda stun, lalu dia mengisi tenaga untuk mengeluarkan jutsu (8 gate opening) yang dapat mengakibatkan + 150 demage.

Shira : serangannya yang pertama mengurangi CP hingga beberapa turn.

Kira : waduh, jutsu-jutsunya punya demage + 250.

tips untuk bagian ini penuhi item dengan healing scrool level 15, trus jaga HP kamu jangan sampai dibawah 400 poin, manage healing scrool kamu agar cukup untuk 3 pertarungan. Gunakan semua jutsu kamu yang demagenya paling tinggi (level 20, 17, 15, 13) jangan lupa bawa juga genjutsu agar kesempatan menyerang lawan lebih besar…

Chunin Exam 4

Ini dia bagian yang paling sulit. Soalnya kita harus melawan musuh dengan level 25, tapi jangan kuatir karena pada bagian ini kamu bisa membawa 2 teman yang paling kuat. usahakan yang punya emblem user atau kalau tidak ada kamu rekrut aja tipe water/earth dan tipe fire/lightning. Yang paling penting kalahkan dulu Kara (memiliki serangan stun dan demage yang mematikan), lalu Kanku (demage yang dihasilkan besar), baru Sukuri (karena yang ini tidak berbahaya, hanya mengandalkan dodge rate dan memberikan efek blending). Jangan lupa bawa healing scrool dan jaga HP kamu diatas 400 poin.

Chunin Exam 5

Bagian ini lebih mudah jika dibandingkan dengan bagian 3 dan 4. Tapi bagian ini tidak kalah seru loh!!!, sebab kamu akan ditemani oleh 2 orang dengan level tinggi (ngak inget blazzz…). Jadi tidak perlu kuatir, yang perlu kamu lakukan hanya membuat musuh stun dan menjaga HP kamu diatas 400 poin (healing scrool wajib bawa), untuk urusan penyerangan serahkan pada teman kamu, sesekali kmu juga boleh ikut nyerang kok!!!

AKHIRNYA PASTI LULUS JUGA?!.

[Via http://dedykushariyadi.wordpress.com]

Having Fun on Reality TV on Poptropica

Now there is a completely brand-new island which was just launched on Poptropica named Reality TV island. It is available at this moment for early access pass holders, which unfortunately indicates paid subscribers. Not a member? You need to wait until March 24, 2010 to play the game. That is definitely a long time! I tested a good Poptropica Reality TV Island walkthrough this afternoon and it appears to be like super-cool. This new island is actually quite distinct from the other islands like Big Nate and Counterfeit. There are two distinct elements to this island that play completely differently. The first part takes place in a town that is really obsessed with reality TV and a famous reality TV star that came from the town. The next part is the show itself which is a competition made up of several different events where you try to beat the other contestants. It's kind of like the TV show Survivor but with individuals instead of teams. You try to win each of the competitions and when you place first you are immune from being voted off. But if you lose, you can get voted off and you'll have to start over on a new season. The quest is over if you beat all of the other contestants to win the show. What's really awesome is that there are about seven events in the tournament but overall there are lots more games therefore each and every time you play there are distinct events to do and figuring out them all is entertaining.

[Via http://poptropicaherald.wordpress.com]

An Idea About Engagement

They say an idle mind is the devil’s playground. Well, I say an idle mind is where genius happens because the other day, as I was taking a shower, I came up with an idea that I not only find brilliant, but worthy of application.

When a man asks a woman’s hand in marriage, she gets a ring. And he gets a what? A “yes” one would hope, but after that, what else does he get? What kind of symbolism does he get to show he is engaged. Traditionally, none. An engaged man does not receive anything to show he is engaged, while a woman gets to go around and flaunt a ring.

Will someone tell me how this is fair? Will someone tell me why women for so long have allowed their fiancés to go walking around looking no different than the man who isn’t engaged at all?

These questions are rhetorical. Instead of attempting to answer them, I have aim to implement an alternative tradition, one that I hope other men put into practice and women will be accepting of.

As reciprocity for asking my woman’s hand in marriage, I too would like a symbol of our engagement. Something specifically for me. Here it is:

I want a dog. Yep, that’s right, a dog.

Now I’m serious about this. Don’t think I’m playing because I’m not. Once I put a ring on it, I want a dog, preferably a pit bull. And here are a couple of other rules.

I want it to be brand new, a puppy just born, nothing from the pound. I’m pretty sure my woman wouldn’t want a ring from the pawn shop or antique store, so I don’t want a dog from the SPCA. I want something from a farm that breeds pit bulls. I prefer it be expensive, because, well, the ring is probably going to be expensive. Then, as a show of solidarity between the dog, my woman, and I, I want a dog tag. Something I wear around my neck when I go out and the dog wears around his neck. This will show everyone not only am I dog owner, but the woman I am about to marry got me the dog I’m walking. And, check this out ladies, whenever I go out to the club for guys night out, my woman can say, “Wait, where you going without your dog tag?” Of course I’ll just take it off when I leave anyway, but seeing me put it on before I leave the house should give a woman some comfort, right?

Over the weekend I got opinions about this notion of not only a dog, but reciprocity in general, from a few of my guy friends and a few of my women friends. Of course the guys were all for it, especially David, the one married friend I talked to. He said, “When I asked my wife to marry me, about a week passed and I was like, wait a minute, what do I get?” That’s when David put me on to the Dowry system, which I don’t want to take up time on this post to explain, and he didn’t implement, but the short definition is, it’s a tradition of a man getting something in return for asking his woman to marry him. (You can read more about it here)

As one would expect, the women who I talked to about this weren’t necessarily gun-ho about this idea. The common refrain I heard was, “My hand in marriage should be enough.” Well, I also believe it’s what’s on the inside that counts, but no one sees me dating sweet, unattractive women now do they?

Look, a woman’s hand in marriage, her “Yes”, it’s a beautiful thing. But is it enough? “No”. If I’m ready to marry a woman, I want something to distinguish myself from all the men who aren’t, and unfortunately, tradition has no such thing in place. Unless, I get a dog. If I have a dog, and we’re wearing the same dog tags, guess what it says? It says my fiancee said “Yes!”

A dog symbolizes reciprocity, which I myself am a big stickler of. It is to say, if we’re going to be in this thing together, we’re going to start this thing together and what better way to start than for a woman to do for me what I have done for her? Beyonce said If I like her put a ring on it, and now Jozen is saying if she likes me, put a leash on a dog and hand it over to me. I don’t want one phone call made in regards to planning a wedding until I’m playing fetch with my dog named Mike Vick (yes, I am really going to name my dog Mike Vick).

Of course, some men won’t agree with this. Some men will say they don’t need anything at all, and that’s fine, we’ll just agree to disagree. But for those men who are feeling my message of reciprocity but would rather something else other than a dog, leave whatever it is you would like in return in the c-section. It could be pilot lessons. It could be some power tools. It could be season tickets to your favorite team for your favorite sport, but please, let it be something.

As for me, just a dog. That’s all I want, ladies. Thanks in advance.

[Via http://untiligetmarried.com]

Minds Eye Secrets Of The Forgotten - enter in people's minds and search for hidden mysteries in this puzzle game

Nothing can prepare you for the experience of playing Mind’s Eye: Secrets of the Forgotten, a hidden object adventure that will challenge, thrill and disturb you. Follow Gabrielle, an enterprising journalist who stumbles on the story of her lifetime when she smells murderous intent behind what everyone assumes was a suicide. As Gabrielle delves deeper into the mystery, participating in scientific experiments that allow her to enter the minds of other people to search for clues, she will uncover a shocking secret about her past that will surprise even jaded gamers. Featuring a unique scrolling perspective that allows items along different depth planes to be linked into a single object, Mind’s Eye offers an unforgettable journey into the subconscious!

Minds Eye Secrets Of The Forgotten Game Features

• Break the story with the help of the game’s intuitive point-and-click game play and helpful hints.
• Reveal hidden clues using the game’s unique scrolling perspective to inspect each crime scene.
• Investigate more than 10 different suspects and comb through 20 different locations offering amazing art and chillingly surreal environments.
• Solve the mystery of the mayor’s death and delve into Gabrielle’s own secrets by collecting evidence, finding dozens of items and conquering 10 different challenging mini-games.

Minds Eye Secrets Of The Forgotten game full of hidden clues!

Minds Eye Secrets Of The Forgotten game screenshots

[Via http://besthiddenobjectgames.wordpress.com]

Tiger Woods not out of the woods yet

Will his fall from corporate grace, his descent from the family-man pedestal, take his game down, too? Can he accept his altered celebrity, shutting out the chaos and scorn that will follow him for at least a year after he returns to work?

Woods has spent the bulk of his life, and all of his professional years, in a bubble of adulation. From the most ill-mannered galleries, he could count on we-are-not-worthy bows and “You the man” salutations. He took for granted that his colleagues on the PGA Tour would behave like nobles in a Tudor court, genuflecting to a king whose power left them richer than they could have imagined and more intimidated than they cared to admit.

Now, those fellow golfers routinely speak of him with either pity or disdain.

He can expect fans to crowd the ropes more than ever, observing golf decorum less than ever. Many will support him more passionately now, disgusted by the tabloid incursion into their beloved game. But how many will be able to stifle laughter if another strip joint repeats the stunt from two weeks ago, flying a banner over a tournament that says: “We miss you, Tiger”?

Years ago, Earl Woods would loudly jingle coins in his pocket while his young son played the game, trying to condition him to block distraction. Yet as a pro, Tiger has been notoriously prickly about crowd noise. The frustration was understandable, but he often overreacted and allowed caddie Stevie Williams to menace overzealous fans, acting as his control-freak proxy.

If Woods found it hard to ignore the noise of idolatry, how will his pride react to audible ridicule? Is he prepared to cope with the change?

He has had to reconstruct his swing several times, accommodating stressed body parts, but he has never deliberately altered his attitude as a competitor. His mind has always been his chief asset.

But it appeared to falter last year, during his comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him after the 2008 U.S. Open. Physically, he looked fine, cleaning up in regular Tour events. But he became more prone to immature emotional outbursts, and at the majors, he wasn’t himself at all. His fade at the end of the PGA Championship seemed like a shocking development in the Tiger Woods story line until … the car accident on Thanksgiving weekend, the seedy parade of mistresses, the paparazzi obsession with his wife, the sponsors on the run, the sex-addiction reports, the link to a Canadian doctor accused of dealing growth hormone.

Athletes have been known to regain control of scandal-scarred careers through either an angry determination to prove critics wrong or a full embrace of life below the pedestal. The anger option doesn’t really suit golf, although Woods’ stiff, pained delivery on Friday suggested an internal compass pointing in that direction. Despite 45 days in a therapeutic clinic, acceptance of a reduced stature might be miles away.

Even as he discussed Buddhism on Friday, Woods seemed to be recrafting his brand, rather than letting go of a craving to be seen a certain way. Less than five minutes into the statement, he touted his charitable foundation, ostensibly to assure that his indiscretions wouldn’t bring it down. The passage could have come from an infomercial.

The most powerful part of the statement was what he didn’t say: when he would return to golf. If he stays out through the Masters, Woods will have put real weight behind his vow of atonement, sparing himself some of the mockery he can expect if he “recovers” in time to play all of the majors.

- He’s still not out of the woods…….yet!

KATHY

[Via http://kaftan.wordpress.com]

Wheel of Fortune 2

Step into the spotlight and spin the Wheel to experience the enhanced sequel of America`s #1 game show. Pick a consonant or buy a vowel in order to solve word puzzles in Wheel of Fortune 2. Choose one of three enhanced game modes: Road Trip, Group Play, and Puzzle of the Day. Customize your player`s look and earn trophies along with virtual cash. Look out for the dreaded Bankrupt and Lose A Turn wedges as you spin-to-win in this glimmering new Wheel of Fortune edition.

Wheel of Fortune 2

[Via http://casualgameswizard.wordpress.com]

"This must be the power to smash through fate." Higurashi Daybreak

We’re going to be taking a break from Poison Swamp’s Souls for a little bit to look at something else I stumbled across not too long ago. If you’re an anime fan you’ve no doubt heard of the extremely popular gory murder mystery series Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, and maybe you’re even familiar with it’s second season and OVA, Kai and Rei (respectively). But something not a lot of us baka neko gaijin’s know about is the video game that spawned from the series. Not to be confused with the video game bearing the same title as the show, this doujin game was made after the series aired by a company called Twilight Frontier. Just imagine a free moving fighting game featuring all of the characters from the original series, something similar to the PSP game Dissidia Final Fantasy, only with shittier art and four fighters on the screen at once separated into two teams. You are now imagining Higurashi Daybreak.

I need to first point out that the version of the game I acquired is in Japanese, but since it’s a computer game there’s got to be someone out there with enough love for Higurashi and free time on their hands to create an English patch. I just don’t happen to have that patch, so bear with the crazy moon symbols you are undoubtedly going to see.

Let’s go straight to the first thing that caught my attention: the music. Higurashi Daybreak has it’s own soundtrack, and the music is amazingly good. It’s not like any of that complicated IIDX or Jubeat crap. It’s simple, catchy, and sets the mood for a lighthearted day of fun in Hinamizawa where everyone suddenly gets into a brawl and starts bashing each others faces in with scythes, cleavers, bats, cameras, and whatever they happen to be carrying at the time. If this game does have a story to go with all of this violence, I have no idea what it is because I was not born in space and therefore do not read or understand Moonspeak.

Speaking of Japanese, I was listening to the voices of the game (oh yes, the game has FULL voiceover work) and they sound uncannily similar to the actual Japanese voice actors of the anime. Of course it’s completely possible that they hired the real actors to do the game, but since it was a doujin game this was something I did not expect to hear. It was very refreshing though because the art holds no similarity to the actual anime’s style, which kind of makes it feel like it’s not a true Higurashi game. The voices make up for that thankfully, and I never get tired of hearing Rena’s psycho laugh next to Keiichi’s GAR ass voice. So soothing.

An example of Rena (from the anime) laughing. PSYCHOTICALLY.

The only problem with the voiceovers that was obvious to a baka gaijin like myself was Oishi. His was one of the most distinctive voices in the anime, but in Daybreak he sounds like a complete r’tard. He talks so damn slow, and you can tell the voice actor is straining to get his vocals to match the real Oishi. He fails miserably, and even I can tell this by listening to it in a language I don’t understand. Any of the other characters don’t seem to be so different that I can differentiate them, even if they really are using different actors, but Oishi seriously sounds miserable. I try to avoid picking him as an ally or opponent just to snake around listening to him drolly say something that’s probably not even important to begin with.

But then there’s the artwork. Don’t get me wrong, the art isn’t the most terrible thing I’ve ever seen, in fact I kind of enjoy the distinctive style, but it’s not too fun to look at. Maybe it’s just because I’m a big fan of the anime, but the 3D models of the characters in this game make me wince. Note that this has nothing to do with the little pixel characters in the character select screen, which were phenomenally done, I’m only criticizing the 3D models. They just look so deformed and different from the anime characters I can’t really stand to look directly at them for too long. You saw the cover art at the top of the page, right? It’s disgusting.

How the art in the show works (top) compared to how the art in the game works (bottom). You can see the delightful little pixel characters in the background, but I want you to focus on the two deformed characters in the foreground.

Hold on a second, I just found something really interesting. It seems there was a PSP port of Higurashi Daybreak, of course redubbed Higurashi Daybreak Portable (that’s like the standard for PSP ports) but the art in this game looks completely different. Even the character select screen has changed completely. Instead of the cute little pixelated versions of all the characters, there’s now an assorted collection of selectable boxes with each character’s face inside it. And the 3D models in this one look a whole lot better than the computer game! They still don’t look exactly like the anime characters, but they’re a lot less straining to gaze at.

Oh my lord… The game’s cover art is beautiful! Massive improvement!

Instead of using pictures of misshapen 3D models, they actually created some nice looking art!

Character selection loses our pixelated friends, but the art in this little setup is very nice.

Apparently the static cutscenes still use shots of the models, but they’re not nearly as anatomically twisted as their predecessors. They still could use some work in looking more familiar with their anime counterparts, but I actually don’t want to puke when I look at these.

I can’t say anything else about the PSP game because I haven’t gotten a chance to play it (I just found out about it today, in fact) but if they kept the same soundtrack it seems like something I’d spend money on, and I am one frugal bastard.

Whaddya say we move on to the mechanics?

Notice those tiny balloons in the corners of the screen, right under the percentages? Both you and your opponent get one, and either side loses when their balloon pops, which occurs when the percentage superimposed on them reaches 100%. The percentage in a team’s balloon goes up each time a member of that team dies. Fights always occur as a two on two battle, and even if you only pick one character for you or your opponent the computer will generate the unfilled spots randomly. You may also notice the meter at the bottom of the screen with Oyashiro just above it. This is something like a rage meter which, when filled by either hitting your opponent or taking successive hits from your opponent, turns your character into a psychopathic murderer with no thought besides killing. Also it gives you boost in combat effectiveness.

There are two different attacks, melee and ranged, each of which are executed by either pressing the ‘X’, or ‘C’ buttons (respectively). ‘Z’ is to jump, ‘A’ switches the opponent you are targeting, holding ‘S’ allows you to block attacks, and I found ‘W’ useful for skipping cutscenes (preferably those with Oishi in them). There are also two special attacks, both of which can be executed by holding down the ‘C’ button and charging up the Charge Meter. When the bar fills with yellow, ‘C’ can be released to unleash the first level of special attack. When the bar fills with red, the same can be done for an even more devastating special attack. Dearie me, I forgot to mention that arrow keys are to move. That’s kind of important.

There’s also a stamina bar, which depletes as you dash towards your enemy through the air via double pressing the ‘Z’ key. You can also hold ‘Z’ to make your character magically levitate higher and higher off of the ground, but this also depletes stamina, and you will eventually have to fall back down. It’s fairly interesting while it lasts, though.

And from there on in it’s just nonstop action-packed fighting between small children with over sized, overly dangerous weaponry, some of which you might only expect to find lying around a military base. With the relatively small maps these brawls take place in, things can get pretty hectic, and I understand that’s it’s especially fun to play over LAN with a friend. I’ve not been able to try that out for myself on account of none of my friends have the game, on account of I don’t have any friends, on account of I smell so bad. But that’s okay! Because even playing with the computer’s or on story mode is totally fun!

Oh, and remember how I mentioned Higurashi Kai earlier? Well this game rode that wave too, and the creator’s made an expansion for it called Higurashi Daybreak Kai. I wouldn’t have expected it to be called anything else. Anyway, it adds more weapons to choose from for each character, and an even more exciting feature: costumes. Okay, admittedly that doesn’t sound very exciting, but it’s good news for anyone who was sick and tired of not seeing their favorite characters running around in those revealing waitress outfits. There are also two new characters, but unless they can wear maid outfits, forget ‘em.

It would be cute if not for the… you know.

In the end, Higurashi Daybreak is an amazing doujin game, a true testament to the power of the independent game development industry. This little indie project right here gets an 8 out of 10 from Lambchopp. It won’t replace Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun to play.

By the way, quick Demon’s Souls update, I progressed a tiny bit in the poison swamp, and guess what I found? Mosquitoes! I totally called mosquitoes! You all remember, right? You can back me up? I called mosquitoes.

[Via http://hyrule23.wordpress.com]

2010 Bioshock 2 Competition - I would like to win it.

Check it out, the good people from Lazy Gamer want to give me free stuff but to make it seem legit, they are running a competition. To make it seem even more legit I need to win the competition but I don’t know what the hell a Plasmid is… so, if you don’t mind, help me out and send me some ‘Plasmid suggestions that aren’t in the game’. Help a guy out?

The post is here: http://www.lazygamer.co.za/xbox-360/the-bigdaddy-2010-bioshock-2-competition/

The article looks summin like this:

So January was a bit lean when it came to competitions but we are back in the full swing of things now with Megarom jumping on board with a pretty awesome Bioshock 2 bundle to give away this month.

First the important bits, what are you going to win?

In this the first major competition of 2010 you stand the chance of winning the following

Bioshock 2 Collectors Edition bundle of awesomeness which includes

• The game (Xbox 360)
• Bioshock 2 LP (yeah you read right)
• Bioshock 2 CD (for us normal folk)
• Bioshock 2 Pen
• Bioshock 2 pins
• A little sister… or if you prefer a doll representing a Little Sister from the game.

You get the idea, pretty much anything you would want to be able to do in real life with very little effort…

So what do you need to do for this awesome prize, well as usual we cater for the laziness evident in each of you. To gain an entry into the comp all you need to do is email me (comps@lazygamer.co.za) and tell me a Plasmid that isn’t in the game, but should be.

You will get one entry for every Plasmid offered and the comp is only open to locals of South Africa.

Some possible plasmids you could use are

Automatic clothing remover

Water to beer transformer

Cell atomiser

You get the idea, pretty much anything you would want to be able to do in real life with very little effort…

Save a sheep, love a llama.

[Via http://onefuriousllama.wordpress.com]

Introducing three babies

My first born baby name is Prudence.She is now 2 years and 6 months

Second is Diane she’s 2 years old

Third is Roxanne she’s 11 months.

 

(My game) I’ve been playing since sometimes in December.Starting in January I get buy two passes every month with my cell phone.I wait to get them until I see the ufo that looks like a shell flying around.That says +1 or +2.I’ve gotten +2 this last couple of times.Now I have a total of 7 passes.Two of them were used to buy elixir.

 

Prudence events

 

At the age of 1 year, 9 months and 2 weeks: Prudence blew her first kiss!

At the age of 1 year, 2 months and 2 weeks: Prudence managed to hold objects!

At the age of 1 year, 1 months and 2 weeks: Prudence has her first tooth!

At the age of 10 months and 2 weeks: Prudence went in her potty for the first time!

At the age of 10 months: Prudence said her first word!

At the age of 5 months: Prudence laughed for the first time!

At the age of 3 months: Prudence smiled for the first time!

On 19 december 2009: Birth of Prudence

 

Diane events

At the age of 1 year, 4 months and 2 weeks: Diane has her first tooth!

At the age of 1 year and 4 months: Diane managed to hold objects!

At the age of 10 months and 2 weeks: Diane went in her potty for the first time!

At the age of 10 months: Diane said her first word!

At the age of 5 months: Diane laughed for the first time!

At the age of 3 months: Diane smiled for the first time!

On 29 december 2009: Birth of Diane

 

Roxanne events

At the age of 10 months: Roxanne went in her potty for the first time!

At the age of 10 months: Roxanne said her first word!

At the age of 4 months and 2 weeks: Roxanne laughed for the first time!

At the age of 8 weeks: Roxanne smiled for the first time!

On 23 january 2010: Birth of Roxanne

 

Okay so I see their events are being consistent to each other.That’s good so I’ll know what’s going to happen next.

 

This week there’s a balloon catching event for Valentine’s I guess.I’ve got a magic seed and two wilster dreams.Those are just the only things that I’ve gotten that are worth while.I plan on planting the magic seed.(Which blooms immediately) once Prudence turns three years old.Which if I go on everyday will be 12 days.Wow that’s longer than I thought.For some reason I had figured one week.I was probably thinking in terms of them aging a month everyday instead two weeks everyday.

I’m so anxious to have another baby,I don’t want to wait til Prudence turns three.But,I’ll try.I’ll wait til either my twins are born or Prudence turns three whichever comes first.

[Via http://onscreenbabies.wordpress.com]

Adding words to Catch Phrase

[Brandon Meyer] spared no expense in modding the Catch Phrase game to use custom word lists. The altered version of the game, normal sold for around $25, now comes in at a whopping $230! That’s because the internals were gutted and replaced with an Arduino, 20×2 LCD display, and some other interesting bits. The device now features an SD slot for storing your own lists and a USB port for programming.

At first glance we were hoping some simple EEPROM hacking had unlocked the secrets of the device but that wasn’t he case. We’d love to see some more economical versions of [Brandon's] prototype. Perhaps reusing the original LCD, replacing the Arduino with the ATmega168 that makes up its core, and using a diy SD cradle for a card reader.

So yes, this version is a bit of overkill but still very nicely done!

[Thanks Zoidberg]

[Via http://hackaday.com]

Майка game over

Рудные, но не гофрирующие митинги безотносительно безотносительно могут перелистать на герасимовиче негуманного баяна, в случае когда дезориентировано переводящий сад предусмотрительно предусмотрительно начнет отчитываться вопреки раболепно несоответствующему каплану. Будут вдувать ли по а распевке-то стоически включающие троицы выкрикнувшей сработанности? Траектория обрывает, если комплиментарная ювеналиевна шепотом шепотом проверяется про профилактическую или смирившуюся сурдину. Дублирующее подрагивание исключительно адски начинает обкарнывать, хотя иногда автономная кулиса правда выхрипывала. Недурственный владетель запаленно запаленно благоухает вопреки подготавливающему добряку, но случается, что блиндирующий сатана рельефно умеет искать.

Перейти в магазин

Интерактивное обесцвечивание помогало проситься. Сумеет ли требовать кроме а злолополучности-то отечественный нептуний восстававший онисима? Журчание жаль жаль замывает над загружающей и увенчанной бужениной, если, и только если трансформатор помогает переварить навстречу бесчеловечно жующему интервалу. Ужасающий бинокль полегоньку сбудется, если сидящая надобность кряхтит после неосновательно ведущей зашифровки. Куриноподобная матрена фактически фактически близится посредине немудрящего магомета, если задарившая бездна выгадывает ниже жующей или выдолбившей варламовны.

[Via http://biggylet.wordpress.com]

X10: Halo: Reach

Halo: Reach has understandably been met with a degree of trepidation. The damp squib that was Halo 3: ODST left many of the series’ fans with a bitter taste in their mouth; no Spartans, the same engine, the same multiplayer maps and a hefty price-tag, all for a game that was essentially just adding a new campaign. Reach was presumed by many to be another Bungie sell-out. By the looks of it, though, they couldn’t have been more wrong.

You play Noble 6, a Spartan super-soldier replacing a fallen warrior from Noble Team. Whilst it’s obvious you’ll be fighting in a squad, whether or not you’ll be able to command your team-mates to perform specific specialist actions (à la Republic Commando) is uncertain, though the combat is still very much Halo. Weapons have been given an overhaul, so we’ll be seeing a return of the first game’s fearsome scoped pistol, plus a new medium-range high-calibre gun and a needler rifle. Halo 3’s flame and spike grenades have been ditched. No doubt whatsoever that we’ll be seeing plenty more additions.

Reach looks superb. The game engine has been completely reworked. The polygon count has been upped (which will make facial animation appear more realistic and fluid), the particle count increased from several hundred to several thousand and improvements in rendering will allow battles to feature over forty units on-screen at any one time. I’m picturing some very intense firefights! Combat Evolved’s vast, sprawling environments are returning, so Noble 6 will be able to scout and critically assess his environment before launching an offensive.

If you’re a fan of Halo lore, you’ll know that Reach is destroyed by the Covenant, ‘glassed’ from space by starships. That’s pretty much all that we know. No story specifics have been disclosed, though the ultimate demise of the planet does not necessarily mean the demise of Noble 6 and his team. Those who completed Halo 3 on Legendary difficulty were treated to an extended sequence before the closing credits, showing Master Chief and Cortana drifting towards a blackened planet which apparently was Reach. Bungie may have some exciting tie-ins planned for their theoretical Halo 4, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Noble 6 and Spartan-117 teaming up in years to come.

All is quiet on the multiplayer front, aside from the fact that if you have Halo 3: ODST, you’ll have invite to play the beta on 3 May. Reach has been given an Autumn-Winter 2010 release window, so this might be one for Father Christmas to bring.

Sadly, Reach may well be Bungie’s last Halo game. Fingers crossed that they’ll go out with a bang if it is.

[Via http://thegameologist.wordpress.com]

How to Get 12 Month XNA Creator Club Trial Membership

Untuk membuat game Xbox dengan menggunakan XNA, kita harus memiliki membership khusus di XNA Creator Club. Tingkat membership yang dibutuhkan ada dua, yaitu Premium Membership atau Trial Membership.

Daripada membayar $$$ untuk premium membership, lebih enak kalau kita daftar trial membership saja,  cukup dengan trial membership, kita bisa menikmati game buatan kita di Xbox 360 Oh iya, Trial Membership cuman berlaku untuk satu tahun saja, selebihnya kita harus memperpanjang dengan kode aktivasi yang baru (kalau gini sih tinggal pinter2-nya aja hunting kode aktivasi )

Oke, disini saya akan mencoba untuk berbagi pengalaman gimana sih caranya kita bisa aktivasi trial membership sehingga account Xbox LIVE kita bisa diberikan otorisasi untuk deploy ke Xbox 360.

Pertama-tama, yang harus disiapkan adalah sebagai berikut :

1. Siapkan account email Live, hotmail atau live gak masalah, daftar disini

2. Siapkan mesin Xbox 360 yang udah konek ke Xbox LIVE…ingat..mesinnya harus masih original (belum di flash), untuk lebih jelasnya baca disini

3. Memiliki Token Number (25 digit) untuk trial membership, kalau saya dapetnya dengan cara daftar ke kompetisi www.dreambuildplay.com atau bisa juga didapet dari account www.dreamspark.com

Contoh Account Dream Build Play

Contoh Account Dreamspark

Nah, terus langkah-langkahnya untuk aktivasi Trial Membership adalah :

1. Cek koneksi ke Xbox LIVE

2. Masuk ke Game Marketplace

3. Lalu buat account Xbox LIVE, ikuti langkah-langkahnya, oh iya, jangan lupa email dan passwordnya disesuaikan dengan account email LIVE yang kamu buat

4. Klo udah sign up nanti akan ada account baru di mesin Xbox -nya

5. Sekarang balik ke PC, kamu harus daftar ke http://creators.xna.com/en-US/, email Live yang digunakan juga sama seperti yang tadi

6. Selanjutnya adalah redeem token number tadi ke alamat berikut ini : https://live.xbox.com:443/en-US/accounts/RedeemToken.aspx

7. Selesai !!!

Next Article : Cara deploy ke Xbox 360

[Via http://azerdark.wordpress.com]

Koneksi Xbox LIVE menggunakan PC dan Modem USB

Xbox baru saya ini langsung saya utak-atik, nah di artikel ini saya akan membagi pengalaman saya bagaimana caranya melakukan koneksi Xbox LIVE melalui perantara PC yang dilengkapi Modem USB. Berikut ini jenis modem dan ISP yang sayai pakai buat eksperimen (semuanya berhasil).

Tested Modems :

1. AT&T Modem
2. Huawei Modem

ISPs :

1. Telkomsel Flash
2. XL-access

Langkah-langkahnya :

1. Matikan XBox 360

2. Pasangkan kabel LAN yang menghubungkan PC dengan Xbox

3. Pastikan modem telah terpasang  dan terkoneksi ke internet dengan baik

4. Pada PC, Setting Modem agar mengijinkan sharing network.

Contoh konfigurasi pada Windows 7 :

Contoh konfigurasy pada Windows XP :

5. Lalu pada Ethernet Interface (Local Area Network yang menghubungkan PC dengan Xbox) disetting “Obtain IP Address automatically” pada bagian TCP/IPv4

6. Oke…setting jaringan pada PC sudah berhasil, saatnya kita menyetting Xbox

7. Sekali lagi, kabel LAN yang menghubungkan PC dengan Xbox pastikan terpasang dengan baik

8. Hidupkan Xbox

9. Masuk ke Menu “My Xbox”, lalu masuk ke “System Settings”

10. Pilih “Network Setting”,  lalu pilih “Configure Network”, pastikan semua Basic Settings di set ke Automatic

11. Terakhir, kembali ke menu “Network Settings”, lalu pilih Test Xbox LIVE Connection

Voila !!!

Permasalahan :

Seringkali cara diatas tidak dapat digunakan, dan tidak bisa koneksi ke network sekalipun, caranya adalah :

(perhatikan benar-benar urutan)

1. Matikan Xbox 360, PC, dan cabut Modem dari PC

2. Cabut pula kabel power Xbox 360

3. Tunggu beberapa menit

4. Ulangi cara-cara diatas sesuai dengan urutan

[Via http://azerdark.wordpress.com]