Limbo

For all the resources that are available to developers today, sometimes the simple approach is the most effective.  Limbo is a stark game that takes place in a dark and foreboding world.  You can't see the details of the horrors that you encounter, and perhaps that's for the best.  The music is minimal and only appears at the most critical of moments, which increases its effectiveness.  The game is isn't horribly complicated, with the puzzles ranging from diabolical to trickily unfair.

The comparisons to Braid are obvious, as both are "artsy" platformers on XBox Live Arcade.  A more appropriate comparison would be to the little known game of eversion.  Both games are platformers, and both are evil to their core.  Both games possess a delightful wickedness that is found in both their theme, atmosphere and gameplay.

Play this game, but don't do what I just did and play it in the dark, right before bed, with an electrical storm outside.  Maybe some Lucky Star will help abate the inevitable gothic nightmares that I'll be dreaming tonight.

Comic-Con Teases and Post #100

It's that time of year again, and time to get excited about the movies and media that we can expect in the coming year.  Yes, Green Lantern is on it's way as is Thor and Captain America., but there are several other projects that I'm really looking forward to.  Here are some selected pics and blurbs about what I'm talking about:

The Walking Dead


First up is the Frank Darabont-helmed TV adaptation of Robert Kirkland's graphic (and I mean GRAPHIC) novel, The Walking Dead.  Sure zombies might be so 2008, but between this series and the long-delayed World War Z movie about to start production, the shambling undead genre is about to get some serious cred.  When I first heard about the TV series and it the comic it's based off of, I was intrigued.  As a happenstance, I got the first volume of the graphic novel as a Secret Santa gift, and was hooked.  This is one of the best comics I've ever read, and I am excited to see it realized as a live-action series.

Avatar: The Legend of Korra

No, there are no fucking Na'vi, Home Trees, or unobtainium in this series.  What we are looking at is the first image from the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender.  The new series follows the adventures of a new Avatar, 70 years after the first show left off.  I absolutely loved A:TLA, and cannot wait to see where the story goes from here.  Look for this in 2011!

Tron Legacy

Finally, we have another look at the upcoming Tron Legacy.  I purposefully have been trying to avoid finding out what happens in this movie, but the trailers are just too pretty to be ignored.  Although Inception was great, the best movie of the year just might hit in December.
As a side note for those half-a-dozen readers that have stuck with me for these last couple of years, I want to say that I truly appreciate your visits here.  I don't get a lot of feedback on what I write on this site, but when I stop updating I tend to hear about it from people that I care about.  The new Tuesday / Friday post schedule has been hard at times, but it's very rewarding to see what can be done if I stick to it.  Thanks, come back soon, and tell a friend.  <3

Random Thoughts #9

• First off, here's my spoiler-laden review for Inception!  If you've not seen it yet, you really do owe it to yourself to see it this weekend!

• Tonight on Late Nite JengaJam, it's a super podcasting mash-up, as Joe and John from The Javaheads call in and hang out.  We'll be talking about life, liberty and the pursuit of poutine, along with the upcoming RvBTO awesomeness.

• Speaking of RvBTO, that happens in just over a week!  Once again I'll be trekking into the untamed wilds of Canada with my friends on a weekend moose-hunt.  Canada and its capital of Toronto are savage lands, but the natives are friendly if not sophisticated.  :P

• Finally, I've been hard at work on the next Awesome On Its Own video for Lady Gaga's Telephone.  I'm very close to being finished, and hope to have it completed by this weekend!  After that, I really don't know what I'm going to do with myself.  Maybe catching up with True Blood would be a good place to start!

Midnight Movie Review - Inception

I'll post the spoiler-filled geek-out video on Tuesday. For now, here are my thoughts on Inception, minutes after the midnight screening up in OKC.

The Tower of Druaga

I've got a confession to make. I initially hated the first episode of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". For those unfamiliar with this brilliant series, it's simply one of the finest animations ever made, and I nearly let it get away. All because the first episode is so extremely off-putting. The initial episode of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00", is an extremely challenging introduction to the series, so much so that I didn't start watching the rest of the series until almost a year after I'd first seen "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00". For some reason, I gave the series a second shot, and it soon became one of my favorites.

"The Tower of Druaga" isn't as good as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", but it's still very good. At first glance, I have every reason to love this series. A well-animated series about fantasy adventurers on a quest for a mystic treasure on the top of a tower filled with monsters? "SIGN ME UP!", I said. After watching the first episode, I very nearly gave up on this series too. Just like "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", "The Tower of Druaga" starts with an episode that was so over-the-top, it totally ruined my first impression of the show. The next few episodes didn't help either, as the series was very slow to start up. It didn't help that the main character wasn't really all that interesting, as this is an important trait in any story. After seemingly having everything that I would enjoy, "The Tower of Druaga" nearly fell flat for me.

It wasn't until the 5th episode that the series finally hit its stride. The main character finally started to grow, as did the other characters around him. The story started ramping up immediately after that, and before I knew it I was done with the short 12 episode first season, known as "The Aegis of Uruk". Thankfully, the story didn't end there, as I plowed through the equally succinct 12 episode second season, "The Sword of Uruk".  Later on, I found out why I found the first episode to be so off-putting for me.  "The Tower of Druaga" is actually based on a very old video game, and the first episode is actually a parody of that video game.  Looking back, this allows me to look at that first episode in a new light and actually have some appreciation for it.

In the end, "The Tower of Druaga" is a great all-around anime. The humor is carefully balanced with the more serious moments, and there's plenty of action to be had through the entire run of the show. I can't recommend it enough for fans of not only anime, but also to fans of fantasy games and novels.

Random Thoughts #8

• I just finished both seasons of The Tower of Druaga. Very cool, and I'll have more in-depth thoughts next week!
  
• Today was also a big day on the PAX front for Late Nite JengaJam. We've just gotten word that we've been approved to receive media passes for PAX Prime 2010. What does this mean? First off, our passes are free. Also, there are special media-only events that we'll be able to go to. We're still trying to figure out how to best take advantage of this opportunity, but count on lots of interviews and maybe even a special live show. We'll see!
  
• Well, The Last Airbender may have been a bust, but I'm looking forward to Predators this weekend, and Inception next week!
  
• I picked up Borderlands on Steam. I haven't gotten to play much, but I get the feeling I missed a bunch of exposition by running the opening without my headphones. Oh well, you just shoot stuff and make them dead, right?
  
• Must not think about the sweet STI Trojan in 9mm that I shot last week. Must not think about the sweet STI Trojan in 9mm that I shot last week. Must not…
  
• Moving on, this whole dog and pony show featuring LeBron James has been absurd. ESPN started this crap 3 years ago right after the Spurs kicked the ever-loving shit out of the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Since then, it's been "WHERE'S LEBRON GOING TO GO?!?!?!" practically every night on Sportscenter. "Hey assholes", I would tell the indifferent TV set, "LeBron's got a team. Let's not talk this up while he's still a Cavalier!". This always came off as very rude to the fans that had been rooting for their hometown hero for 7 years. I'd never thought ill of LeBron, and always thought it was cool that he got to play professional ball in his home state. As for the talk of free agency, the NBA itself was more than happy to play along with this shameful display. Sadly, a lot of people bought into the hype, and it finally came to a head last night as James joined Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat. Echoing a comment I made on Facebook, the whole thing has been utterly disrespectful to the Cleveland fans. Sure, this is probably the best shot at a championship than he's ever had or will ever have again. However, it's not fair to Cleveland to not only be flippant about the decision to stay or go, but to help feed the media hype that's constantly reminding Cavs fans about what they might lose. LeBron has come off like a twat, and it seems to me that he could learn a thing or two from OKC's own Kevin Durant, who handled his contract talks with poise and dignity. Also, I can't wait for the Spurs or the Thunder to walk into Miami and whip the Heat's ass. I hope that LeBron James is remembered as the greatest player to never win a title. That's a petty thought to have, especially considering that D. Wade's already been to the top, and Bosh is a talent like few others. As long as Miami can actually fill out the team with the proper supporting players, they will be a force to be reckoned with. I instead choose to be spiteful for no good reason, and hope that he fails again to rise to the top.
  

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

I'm huge fan of anime, although I seem to go through varying phases of pickiness. Sometimes I'm all about the zany romantic comedy series, and other times I want the action-packed mecha battle-fests. About five years ago, I saw the first Fullmetal Alchemist series, and loved it. The heroes, the villains, the notions of life, death, and magic, all were perfectly suited to my tastes at the time. 




I was aware of the manga upon which the anime was based, but it wasn't until much later that I learned of the extreme differences between the manga and the animated series. At first, I was annoyed. Several of the characters that had developed over the course of the anime were killed very early in the anime, particularly the homunculi Lust and Greed. The motivations and sometimes the very identities of the protagonists and antagonists were very different or even changed completely. I refused to let these changes get in the way of my fond memories of the series, and I stopped following the manga for some time. I later learned that the changes to the anime from the manga were necessary, as the anime was finished long before the manga was. The liberties taken in the anime had to be done, since there was no end for the manga in sight. I was alright with this, and was content to ignore the manga.




All this changed last year when Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood premiered. At first, I was offended. "What was wrong with the first series?!?", I wondered. I was perturbed that this anime was being remade so quickly, and I failed to see what a new series could possibly bring. Like a sucker and despite myself, I started watching the new series, largely thanks to its free availability on hulu. At first, I didn't notice much of a difference. There's an extra fight with some exposition, and one of the enemies is almost immediately revealed. Other than that Brotherhood, like the series before it, starts in much the same way as the manga so there aren't that many liberties to be taken. 




After a few more episodes, the differences between the first anime and the new Brotherhood series begin to become more apparent. New characters were introduced to me, and I soon learned that Brotherhood was actually following the manga very closely. It made little sense why this series stay so faithful to the manga when the last series didn't, until something finally occurred to me. The creators of the manga had the end of their story figured finally figured out. Now that they had the ending for the manga, they could produce a anime series that follows the manga almost exactly, and actually have them both end it in the same way. 




After more episodes, I began to realize that the plot, especially the plans and machinations of the "Final Boss" were much more grand and epic than the first series. The origins of the villainous homunculi made much more sense and every character, including all of the new additions from the manga, were much more fleshed out. 

The series is now over, both in manga and anime form.  It was an awe-inspiring journey, and although I'm huge fan of the characters and setting and am sad to see them all go, I'm glad that the complete story was told.  I encourage you to check it out on hulu while it's still free.




I liked the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime quite a lot. I liked Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood even more. Everything about the new series is bigger and better, and while I'll always have fond memories of my first exposure to the Fullmetal Alchemist universe, the first series has been completely and utterly outdone.  Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is simply awesome, from beginning to end and is nearly peerless.

Gratuitous Space Battles

We're living in a strange time for video games. The days of going to the store to get your video game fix are long over, so that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm referring to is the battle for your downloadable gaming dollar. I've mentioned in some previous posts that the games and downloadable content on XBox Live have skirted the line between worth and not worth my money for the amount of entertainment that you actually get. As I write this, I have still not gotten either of the two $15 map packs for Modern Warfare 2, and it's looking more and more likely that I simply may not. 

On the other side of the spectrum, we have the much maligned Steam. What started as means by which to get Valve games conveniently has turned into one of the largest providers of PC games out there. These days there are few games that aren't available from Steam, from casual games like Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, to the hardest of core games like the before-mentioned Modern Warfare 2 and Dragon Age. Every day it seems that Steam not only has more games available, but they also have a constant list of items for sale. Want Deus Ex and all its expansions? That'll be about $20. All of the id games? That'll run you around $35. Older games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or BioShock? That's $5 or less. One of my friends suggested that they're simply assigning a small reasonable value to an item, like an old game, that's basically worthless. Maybe so, but it is nice to be able to pick up an old title and re-live some video game nostalgia.
So these days we have the premium services on two ends of the price spectrum. Is one "better" than the other? Is it "good" to have cheap games at your fingertips, or "bad" to charge $30 for a few maps or $2 for one song on Rock Band? It's a tough questions, and while I hate to sound like I'm taking a cop-out, I have to believe that the answer is up to the gamer. Cheap games are good, but the nostalgia can fade really fast. It's also stupid to pay for half the game again just to get a few multiplayer maps. $5 is fine, $10 is pushing it, and $15 for maps is out of the question. On the other hand, services like XBox Live and especially Steam are giving smaller game publishers an opportunity to get their game out to the masses. Games like Braid and Gratuitous Space Battles are neat gaming gems that would've never gotten to me had it not been for XBox Live or Steam.






So it's obvious that I like Gratuitous Space Battles. It's really cool, and perfectly fits my style of gaming right now. I don't need to set aside an hour or two in order to play through a campaign or series of missions. The battles, while part of a bigger war, are fairly discrete and it's very easy to sit down, play a battle or two, then move on to something else. GSB is not an Real-Time Strategy game so after you assign your ships, give your orders, and hit Fight you can sit back and watch the action unfold. The battle commences on a 2-D map, but the effects, backgrounds, and ships are rendered beautifully. If that wasn't enough, there's also the ability to design your own ships and download new races and campaigns.






Gratuitous Space Battles is currently on sale for $10 and this is a great price. The normal $20 cost is just a little too high for this one, so I'd recommend picking up while it's on sale. It's great fun, and a good value. Also lots of stuff blows up real nice, so that's a big plus.