So we didn't do a year-end podcast. We were busy celebrating and drinking with friends and family. So we smush our 2006 wrap-up with our 2007 predictions, neither of which is as in-depth as our professional friends, but both of which are chock-full of Tony!
Download episode 31.
MrCHUP0N Blog
Blu-DVD - Unity or Bust, PS3 in Trouble? :roll:
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
As some of you may already know, the HD-DVD / Blu-Ray "war" may be soon irrelevant. Take this little packet of data from The New York Times, Jayson-Blair-free of course:
"An electronics company and a movie studio independently rolled out plans on Thursday to bridge the divide between rival high-definition DVD formats with products that would combine two sets of standards.
Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N) said it will unveil a new high-definition disc that would hold recordings in the rival HD DVD and Blu-ray formats in separate layers."
The technology was announced as being researched a few months back, but it looks like this thing is finally going to see the light of day at CES. Of course, this will prompt another debate about the relevance of the Playstation 3 during our podcast this weekend. (I know I owe you folks episodes 28, 29 and 30. They're coming very soon. Sorry!) In fact, the_antipode and Tony started the e-mail conversation.
The lot of us have been harsh on Sony over the life of the podcast. All of us just happen to find Sony's strategy annoying. So it was no surprise when the first reaction out of Tony was,
"I have no idea if this even will affect Sony, but, they did halt production for the PS3 to ONLY include the Bloke-ray. That just solidifies my position on this [no censor bypass!] system."
the_antipode's quick response was:
"Uh oh SONY... PS3 is about to be worth LESS, in my opinion."
Eh. I'm not entirely sure.
Of course, both sides of the argument are valid, but as much as I'm not a fan of Sony's tactics, I can't say that they're in any big trouble. Not by a longshot. After all, just because I happen to prefer Microsoft and Nintendo offerings at this current moment doesn't mean that the market feels the same way. (To say otherwise would be, uh, what's the word - fanboyism?) But let's first start off with the disc format situation alone.
We only need to look at the price points of standalone players. Blu-Ray players debuted at $999 - a healthy $400 more expensive than the high-end Playstation 3 model. Both machines play Blu-Ray at the 1080p spec. From what I'm hearing, critics also think that the Playstation 3 is quite a capable Blu-Ray player that outputs very clean image quality and doesn't lead to anywhere near as much scowling and sneering as the Playstation 2's DVD capabilities did when compared to standalone players.
True, HD-DVD drives debuted at $499. However, these drives did not output 1080p. The HD-DVD spec is certainly capable of 1080p, but I'm sure that any 1080p standalone HD-DVD player would be more expensive than its $499 cousin. In addition, how much would a HD-DVD and Blu-Ray combo player cost? I couldn't imagine a full-featured one debuting for less than $999. Further, whatever manufacturing process will let Blu-Ray players drop in price would prove advantageous for Playstation 3 manufacturing as well. Then again, I shouldn't assume that Sony would just drop the price from $599 just because the laser diode became easier to manufacture. The company is losing barnyards of cash on the thing as it is.
My other contention is that ... Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360 comes on three discs. No, I don't mind multiple discs. No, I don't think they're a problem. And no, I don't like the insistence on thinking that 1080p pre-rendered cinematics make games better and that they should keep using them even though gameplay-engine (gears) cinematics (of) look (war) fantastic as it is.
But the truth is, developers are making cinematics. As long as they're making cinematics, they'll need disc space. As long as they'll need disc space, they'll appreciate the roomy interior and smooth leather seating of the Blu-Ray format. By the way, I'm not sure how the hell Insomniac needed to use 20 gigabytes of disc space on Resistance: Fall of Man, but it did. Then again, Ridge Racer 7 used like three kilobytes... go figure. This isn't so much a groundbreaking argument for Blu-Ray as much as it is just evidence that at some point, it will be beneficial to have as much space as the discs are offering.
The bottom line after all of this is that it's all about the games. I know I just plastered a big fat headline on my site that said: "Virtua Fighter 5 Stun-Palms Xbox 360, PS3 Loses Exclusive". In hindsight, perhaps that was spin that I didn't need to put in there. I guess I was just so surprised and shocked that it happened that the exclusivity uproar was all I could think of.
But let's put it this way - Hideo Kojima still insists that Metal Gear Solid 4 is exclusive. There has been no announcement revealing the death of Devil May Cry 4 exclusivity. Dragon Quest IX may be DS bound, but Final Fantasy XIII still belongs to the Playstation 3. Finally, I wonder if people have lost sight of the fact that the Playstation 3 has already outsold the Xbox 360 in Japan. I'm not saying that this is anyone's death knell or guarantee of victory, but it says something nonetheless.
Let's imagine a magical scenario where Sony loses all of its exclusives to platform-agnosticism. Sony Computer Entertainment is improving day by day. You wouldn't have gotten me to praise what I thought was a half-hearted hackjob of a development house a couple of years ago, but God of War rammed a huge helping of crow down my esophagus. So did Shadow of the Colossus, despite my "only" scoring it a 7.5 ("7.5 - Good!" Say it in the voice that the guy on the Gamespot Video Review outro does). And lest we forget - who's Polyphony Digital's big daddy? That's right, Sony.
Truth is, as commoditized as the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 may become (at least with respects to each other), first parties and legacy will still count for a lot. Sony can't take Microsoft Game Studios away from Microsoft, and Microsoft can't take Sony Computer Entertainment away from Sony. Hell, it's the same reason why I've played more Gamecube games than Playstation 2 and Xbox games combined - first party offerings.
Plus, you've got the Sony Store. Everyone hooted and hollered when the Virtual Console was announced, but who can forget the thrill of putting in Final Fantasy VII for the first time? Granted, the process to get these games from the store into your hands involves a Playstation 3, a Playstation Portable, an AC adapter, USB cord and about 90 minutes of patience (or a Rubik's Cube, whichever). At least it's there, though, I guess; the point is, Sony's got a library that you can't find anywhere else.
Wow, I suppose I veered off of the "Dual-Format disc affecting Sony" thing. That means I'm thirsty. Chupouts.
"An electronics company and a movie studio independently rolled out plans on Thursday to bridge the divide between rival high-definition DVD formats with products that would combine two sets of standards.
Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N) said it will unveil a new high-definition disc that would hold recordings in the rival HD DVD and Blu-ray formats in separate layers."
The technology was announced as being researched a few months back, but it looks like this thing is finally going to see the light of day at CES. Of course, this will prompt another debate about the relevance of the Playstation 3 during our podcast this weekend. (I know I owe you folks episodes 28, 29 and 30. They're coming very soon. Sorry!) In fact, the_antipode and Tony started the e-mail conversation.
The lot of us have been harsh on Sony over the life of the podcast. All of us just happen to find Sony's strategy annoying. So it was no surprise when the first reaction out of Tony was,
"I have no idea if this even will affect Sony, but, they did halt production for the PS3 to ONLY include the Bloke-ray. That just solidifies my position on this [no censor bypass!] system."
the_antipode's quick response was:
"Uh oh SONY... PS3 is about to be worth LESS, in my opinion."
Eh. I'm not entirely sure.
Of course, both sides of the argument are valid, but as much as I'm not a fan of Sony's tactics, I can't say that they're in any big trouble. Not by a longshot. After all, just because I happen to prefer Microsoft and Nintendo offerings at this current moment doesn't mean that the market feels the same way. (To say otherwise would be, uh, what's the word - fanboyism?) But let's first start off with the disc format situation alone.
We only need to look at the price points of standalone players. Blu-Ray players debuted at $999 - a healthy $400 more expensive than the high-end Playstation 3 model. Both machines play Blu-Ray at the 1080p spec. From what I'm hearing, critics also think that the Playstation 3 is quite a capable Blu-Ray player that outputs very clean image quality and doesn't lead to anywhere near as much scowling and sneering as the Playstation 2's DVD capabilities did when compared to standalone players.
True, HD-DVD drives debuted at $499. However, these drives did not output 1080p. The HD-DVD spec is certainly capable of 1080p, but I'm sure that any 1080p standalone HD-DVD player would be more expensive than its $499 cousin. In addition, how much would a HD-DVD and Blu-Ray combo player cost? I couldn't imagine a full-featured one debuting for less than $999. Further, whatever manufacturing process will let Blu-Ray players drop in price would prove advantageous for Playstation 3 manufacturing as well. Then again, I shouldn't assume that Sony would just drop the price from $599 just because the laser diode became easier to manufacture. The company is losing barnyards of cash on the thing as it is.
My other contention is that ... Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360 comes on three discs. No, I don't mind multiple discs. No, I don't think they're a problem. And no, I don't like the insistence on thinking that 1080p pre-rendered cinematics make games better and that they should keep using them even though gameplay-engine (gears) cinematics (of) look (war) fantastic as it is.
But the truth is, developers are making cinematics. As long as they're making cinematics, they'll need disc space. As long as they'll need disc space, they'll appreciate the roomy interior and smooth leather seating of the Blu-Ray format. By the way, I'm not sure how the hell Insomniac needed to use 20 gigabytes of disc space on Resistance: Fall of Man, but it did. Then again, Ridge Racer 7 used like three kilobytes... go figure. This isn't so much a groundbreaking argument for Blu-Ray as much as it is just evidence that at some point, it will be beneficial to have as much space as the discs are offering.
The bottom line after all of this is that it's all about the games. I know I just plastered a big fat headline on my site that said: "Virtua Fighter 5 Stun-Palms Xbox 360, PS3 Loses Exclusive". In hindsight, perhaps that was spin that I didn't need to put in there. I guess I was just so surprised and shocked that it happened that the exclusivity uproar was all I could think of.
But let's put it this way - Hideo Kojima still insists that Metal Gear Solid 4 is exclusive. There has been no announcement revealing the death of Devil May Cry 4 exclusivity. Dragon Quest IX may be DS bound, but Final Fantasy XIII still belongs to the Playstation 3. Finally, I wonder if people have lost sight of the fact that the Playstation 3 has already outsold the Xbox 360 in Japan. I'm not saying that this is anyone's death knell or guarantee of victory, but it says something nonetheless.
Let's imagine a magical scenario where Sony loses all of its exclusives to platform-agnosticism. Sony Computer Entertainment is improving day by day. You wouldn't have gotten me to praise what I thought was a half-hearted hackjob of a development house a couple of years ago, but God of War rammed a huge helping of crow down my esophagus. So did Shadow of the Colossus, despite my "only" scoring it a 7.5 ("7.5 - Good!" Say it in the voice that the guy on the Gamespot Video Review outro does). And lest we forget - who's Polyphony Digital's big daddy? That's right, Sony.
Truth is, as commoditized as the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 may become (at least with respects to each other), first parties and legacy will still count for a lot. Sony can't take Microsoft Game Studios away from Microsoft, and Microsoft can't take Sony Computer Entertainment away from Sony. Hell, it's the same reason why I've played more Gamecube games than Playstation 2 and Xbox games combined - first party offerings.
Plus, you've got the Sony Store. Everyone hooted and hollered when the Virtual Console was announced, but who can forget the thrill of putting in Final Fantasy VII for the first time? Granted, the process to get these games from the store into your hands involves a Playstation 3, a Playstation Portable, an AC adapter, USB cord and about 90 minutes of patience (or a Rubik's Cube, whichever). At least it's there, though, I guess; the point is, Sony's got a library that you can't find anywhere else.
Wow, I suppose I veered off of the "Dual-Format disc affecting Sony" thing. That means I'm thirsty. Chupouts.
World of Warcraft: Life at Level 60
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
w00t, as it were - the_antipode has bestowed upon us the second instalment of "Life at Level 60", his World of Warcraft column over at Trigames.
He begins:
World of Warcraft has been pretty boring for the time being; bouncing in and out of guilds became tiring and going at things solo hasn't been very entertaining. At the least, my friends recently left the guild Thrêat (resulting in its dissolution) and created a new guild labeled Chosen that does a good amount of 20-player raid instances. They've also created an alliance between other guilds on the server to tackle any of the available raid instances called the Zuluhed Raid Team. Since I'm rarely around when they do raid, things are still quite boring for me. I've been using my alternate character (a level 60 Tauren Druid named Ixil) more often, and have been running dungeons such as Scholomance and Upper Blackrock Spire often to gear him up. He was transferred a while ago from another PvP server Kalecgos and was very poorly equipped. I'm still working on getting him geared up to be a good hybrid (but mostly damage based) character, so whenever I can, i'm scouring dungeons to get better armor.
[more... you need more!]
Now, I'm probably one of the only people in the world who hasn't, doesn't, and won't play World of Warcraft. That means the rest of you'se should drop by and leave him some email comments at the mailbag - posthaste. SUPREMELY posthaste. So post that it's... oh I'll shut up.
He begins:
World of Warcraft has been pretty boring for the time being; bouncing in and out of guilds became tiring and going at things solo hasn't been very entertaining. At the least, my friends recently left the guild Thrêat (resulting in its dissolution) and created a new guild labeled Chosen that does a good amount of 20-player raid instances. They've also created an alliance between other guilds on the server to tackle any of the available raid instances called the Zuluhed Raid Team. Since I'm rarely around when they do raid, things are still quite boring for me. I've been using my alternate character (a level 60 Tauren Druid named Ixil) more often, and have been running dungeons such as Scholomance and Upper Blackrock Spire often to gear him up. He was transferred a while ago from another PvP server Kalecgos and was very poorly equipped. I'm still working on getting him geared up to be a good hybrid (but mostly damage based) character, so whenever I can, i'm scouring dungeons to get better armor.
[more... you need more!]
Now, I'm probably one of the only people in the world who hasn't, doesn't, and won't play World of Warcraft. That means the rest of you'se should drop by and leave him some email comments at the mailbag - posthaste. SUPREMELY posthaste. So post that it's... oh I'll shut up.
Ain't no Thing but a Chicken Wing - Welcome 2007
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
The unofficial hiatus, of sorts, is over. When the holidays rang in, I spent much less time at Der Computen than I thought I would. I also spent much less time alone playing games than I thought I would and instead hanging out with friends and family, with most of the games being played with said friends.
In short, I still haven't finished Ocarina of Time.
BUT!
I got the Biggoron's Sword and I'm in the middle of the Shadow Temple right now. The last thing that happened before I bit the dust was get zapped by the rotating laser eye guy before I could bomb that door to the north of it. Now that I've blogged this, I won't forget what I was doing when I boot up the game again tonight.
I received the Princess of a Twilight variety, however, as a Christmas gift from my friend Matt. (Mrs. Matt taunted me as I tried to guess what it was, telling me it was for the 360 in hopes of throwing me off. In the end, I just ended up not guessing.) It was of the Wiimote variety as opposed to the Cube controller variety, so my vow to purchase and play the Gamecube version has been shattered. Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Matt. (What? How could I not open it? And yes, I'm quite aware I haven't finished Ocarina. See above.)
I must say, while I don't like the "waggle" control better than I do traditional controls for swordfighting, I still like it as much. To me, it's not better, but it's not worse; it's simply different and refreshing. Aiming the slingshot, though, is leaps and bounds better than nudging a kludgy ol' analog stick. The first three hours of this game (I haven't yet entered the first real dungeon with the monkeys showing off their butts) had me mesmerized. Everyone says it's a grind, and though I can certainly see why, I was loving it. I've resigned to put it away, however, until I finally finish Ocarina.
Wii Sports was also played, with Matt, the_antipode and The Cop (known as Cris by name, but calling him The Cop is cooler because it infers he gets to brandish his gun). Having not played Wii Sports with a full four players before, I was unaware of just how much fun this game could be. I still think it's tech-demoish, and I'm still mad that boxing is somewhat broken, but if I can consistently get more people to come over and play I think this game will have more legs than I assumed it would. I do a training session almost every day that I'm home as it is (current age: 26).
The Trigames.NET Podcast crew also had a Game Night session this past friday. the_antipode, Tony and myself gathered at Ethan's place in Brooklyn with his girlfriend's little brother and we gamed pretty much from 8:30pm 'til 5am. Again there was the Wii Sports, a little Guitar Hero 2 action, and some Marvel vs. Capcom 2 revisiting. Let me restate how much I hate the Dreamcast's D-pad.
Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, so far, is unfortunately somewhat of a disappointment. I played some during both game sessions. I don't yet own the game myself, so I can't speak for the single player and the minigames that I *didn't* play, but Monkey Golf is broken. B-R-O-W-K-N I say. Monkey Hovercraft is irritating. Monkey War - the first-person shooter minigame - is slow and mind-numbing. Red Light Green Light is frustrating because your monkey seems to twitch even if you hold the controllers deathly still. I tried putting the 'chuk and Wiimote down on the floor, and it worked - but I suppose one might consider that cheating. Who knows. The gems are Monkey Target, Hammer Throw and Homerun Derby - mostly because they work right and are quick shots. I'm still holding out hope, because I'm always a sucker for Monkey Target of any flavor and as I said I have yet to try the single player. I'll badger the_antipode to bring it over again.
Now some housekeeping. I've got to rev up the New Releases for Trigames again. I'm going to take the DS part of that list and start regularly updating the 100% DS Union with that information, since I've been a terrible leader thus far (thanks officers, especially Seigun and DiDi, for keeping it afloat). I've got to finally finalize and post episodes 28 through 30 of the Trigames.NET podcast, and I've got to start the Trigames PR engine again and start hunting down more publishers' PR firms to get that flow of information cracking. Hopefully as I check the Trigames inbox later today, there will be a burning pile of 2K and Sega information for me.
Stay tuned for more nonsense from me. I've got to put up a new music quiz for you folks soon, too.
In short, I still haven't finished Ocarina of Time.
BUT!
I got the Biggoron's Sword and I'm in the middle of the Shadow Temple right now. The last thing that happened before I bit the dust was get zapped by the rotating laser eye guy before I could bomb that door to the north of it. Now that I've blogged this, I won't forget what I was doing when I boot up the game again tonight.
I received the Princess of a Twilight variety, however, as a Christmas gift from my friend Matt. (Mrs. Matt taunted me as I tried to guess what it was, telling me it was for the 360 in hopes of throwing me off. In the end, I just ended up not guessing.) It was of the Wiimote variety as opposed to the Cube controller variety, so my vow to purchase and play the Gamecube version has been shattered. Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Matt. (What? How could I not open it? And yes, I'm quite aware I haven't finished Ocarina. See above.)
I must say, while I don't like the "waggle" control better than I do traditional controls for swordfighting, I still like it as much. To me, it's not better, but it's not worse; it's simply different and refreshing. Aiming the slingshot, though, is leaps and bounds better than nudging a kludgy ol' analog stick. The first three hours of this game (I haven't yet entered the first real dungeon with the monkeys showing off their butts) had me mesmerized. Everyone says it's a grind, and though I can certainly see why, I was loving it. I've resigned to put it away, however, until I finally finish Ocarina.
Wii Sports was also played, with Matt, the_antipode and The Cop (known as Cris by name, but calling him The Cop is cooler because it infers he gets to brandish his gun). Having not played Wii Sports with a full four players before, I was unaware of just how much fun this game could be. I still think it's tech-demoish, and I'm still mad that boxing is somewhat broken, but if I can consistently get more people to come over and play I think this game will have more legs than I assumed it would. I do a training session almost every day that I'm home as it is (current age: 26).
The Trigames.NET Podcast crew also had a Game Night session this past friday. the_antipode, Tony and myself gathered at Ethan's place in Brooklyn with his girlfriend's little brother and we gamed pretty much from 8:30pm 'til 5am. Again there was the Wii Sports, a little Guitar Hero 2 action, and some Marvel vs. Capcom 2 revisiting. Let me restate how much I hate the Dreamcast's D-pad.
Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, so far, is unfortunately somewhat of a disappointment. I played some during both game sessions. I don't yet own the game myself, so I can't speak for the single player and the minigames that I *didn't* play, but Monkey Golf is broken. B-R-O-W-K-N I say. Monkey Hovercraft is irritating. Monkey War - the first-person shooter minigame - is slow and mind-numbing. Red Light Green Light is frustrating because your monkey seems to twitch even if you hold the controllers deathly still. I tried putting the 'chuk and Wiimote down on the floor, and it worked - but I suppose one might consider that cheating. Who knows. The gems are Monkey Target, Hammer Throw and Homerun Derby - mostly because they work right and are quick shots. I'm still holding out hope, because I'm always a sucker for Monkey Target of any flavor and as I said I have yet to try the single player. I'll badger the_antipode to bring it over again.
Now some housekeeping. I've got to rev up the New Releases for Trigames again. I'm going to take the DS part of that list and start regularly updating the 100% DS Union with that information, since I've been a terrible leader thus far (thanks officers, especially Seigun and DiDi, for keeping it afloat). I've got to finally finalize and post episodes 28 through 30 of the Trigames.NET podcast, and I've got to start the Trigames PR engine again and start hunting down more publishers' PR firms to get that flow of information cracking. Hopefully as I check the Trigames inbox later today, there will be a burning pile of 2K and Sega information for me.
Stay tuned for more nonsense from me. I've got to put up a new music quiz for you folks soon, too.
Konami Kuiz Answers
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
Here are the Konami Kuiz answers - if you're looking for Guess That NES answers, see the post below :)
1) Contra (NES) - level 3. A classic.
2) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX) - opening, when playing as Richter
3) Axelay (SNES) - level 2, the first side-scrolling stage.
4) Castlevania IV (SNES) - one of the later levels; at that point the game becomes an indiscernible blur of action for me.
5) Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine-CD) - Also one of the later levels; I'm at a loss for exact numbers.
1) Contra (NES) - level 3. A classic.
2) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX) - opening, when playing as Richter
3) Axelay (SNES) - level 2, the first side-scrolling stage.
4) Castlevania IV (SNES) - one of the later levels; at that point the game becomes an indiscernible blur of action for me.
5) Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine-CD) - Also one of the later levels; I'm at a loss for exact numbers.
Game Music Quiz #2: Konami Kuiz! (and Answers to Guess that NES)
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
I've decided to just pile it on while you're waiting for the answers to Guess That NES.
[video=I3E7kjP-5bgEvDPY]
Oh look! Guess That NES answers RIGHT HERE:
1 Super Mario Bros. 3 - I believe you first hear it in World 1-2
2 Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - in the mansion
3 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - the title screen
4 Double Dragon II: The Revenge - the 5th level, in the forest
5 Dragon Quest IV - world map (or a variation on the world map)
6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project - Stage 4, when Manhattan is lifted off the ground (I think)
7 Mega Man III - this is the first stage of Dr. Wily's castle
8 Kid Icarus - the music that first plays right when you get into the action after the title screen
9 Crystalis - the first overworld theme
10 Little Nemo the Dream Master - the first stage
[video=I3E7kjP-5bgEvDPY]
Oh look! Guess That NES answers RIGHT HERE:
1 Super Mario Bros. 3 - I believe you first hear it in World 1-2
2 Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - in the mansion
3 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - the title screen
4 Double Dragon II: The Revenge - the 5th level, in the forest
5 Dragon Quest IV - world map (or a variation on the world map)
6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project - Stage 4, when Manhattan is lifted off the ground (I think)
7 Mega Man III - this is the first stage of Dr. Wily's castle
8 Kid Icarus - the music that first plays right when you get into the action after the title screen
9 Crystalis - the first overworld theme
10 Little Nemo the Dream Master - the first stage
Guess That NES Game Music; Need Contest Feedback
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
If you just want to skip ahead to guessing games, scroll down. Otherwise, I'd appreciate some suggestions here. I'm rethinking this whole music trivia structure. A lot of the songs I picked are probably considered obscure by many - that's what makes it fun, but it also won't be that fun for anyone to come out of a round with like no correct guesses. Does anybody have an issue with the game list? Are there any games which you want me to scratch off? Or, are you all up to the challenge of just randomly guessing? I'm in the process of sifting through my collection for music from more mainstream and/or NES games. I know there's not much of an Xbox contingent here (Morrowind, Halo and Oblivion notwithstanding) but I just don't have too many Xbox-centric soundtracks.
Also, do you want this to be somewhat elimination tournamenty thingy? Or should I just post a song a day and have people guess every day, just or kicks? Like I said there is no prize, unless you REALLY want those finger puppets, and making it a tournament-style dealie would be sorta annoying to maintain. With competition you need privacy, so I'd have to have you all PM me your guesses instead of just dropping a nice comment in the blog (otherwise other contestants could piggy back off of your guesses), which would be stupid annoying for you all and me.
Those who have already wanted to participate in this "contest", do you mind me making it a casual, every day or every-other-day thing, or do you want to be cutthroat and beat others into submission with glorious high scores? :)
Oh, and as a treat to whet appetites: here's a clip (you can download from there, or watch it stream below) of music from 10 NES games, in 20-second chunks. Guess those games! Leave answers in the comments! (And yes, I'm aware I misspelled "quickly" as "qiuckly". Dammit...)
[video=InE6wTSo5bgEvTPX]
Also, do you want this to be somewhat elimination tournamenty thingy? Or should I just post a song a day and have people guess every day, just or kicks? Like I said there is no prize, unless you REALLY want those finger puppets, and making it a tournament-style dealie would be sorta annoying to maintain. With competition you need privacy, so I'd have to have you all PM me your guesses instead of just dropping a nice comment in the blog (otherwise other contestants could piggy back off of your guesses), which would be stupid annoying for you all and me.
Those who have already wanted to participate in this "contest", do you mind me making it a casual, every day or every-other-day thing, or do you want to be cutthroat and beat others into submission with glorious high scores? :)
Oh, and as a treat to whet appetites: here's a clip (you can download from there, or watch it stream below) of music from 10 NES games, in 20-second chunks. Guess those games! Leave answers in the comments! (And yes, I'm aware I misspelled "quickly" as "qiuckly". Dammit...)
[video=InE6wTSo5bgEvTPX]
Updated - Vidja Game Music Trivia - I need suggestions and contestants!
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
While I can't do much during work, I'm still somewhat bored with my day grind. Thushenceforthwith, how about a music trivia contest? I'll cycle through my Gigabeat player and pick out some of the videogame music I have sitting there. I don't think I have any NES music in there, which is a shame; maybe I'll get lucky, who knows.
Through the next five days I'll post a new set of 10 songs (each clip will only be a few seconds of the song), each set getting progressively harder. Or should I do it every two days? You let me know. Each day, I drop the bottom third or half of the list of contestants or whatever based on total points scored that round. Easy songs = 1 point, mediums = 2, hards = 3 and obscures = 4 points. Maybe if it's a game in a series and you can guess the series but NOT the game, you get half the points for that particular song.
This scoring system might prove to be unbalanced, but there's no prize, so whatever, man... whatever!
Here's what I'm thinking. You name the game the song is from. That's it - no need to name the song. Just the game. The format would be below. Again, the winner gets nothing but a pat on the back; this is all in good fun. Or hey, maybe the winner gets my finger puppet schwag from Funde Razor? I dunno.
Round 1
Easy x 6
Medium x 4
Round 2
Easy x 5
Medium x 3
Hard x 2
Round 3
Easy x 4
Medium x 3
Hard x 2
Obscure x 1
Round 4
Easy x 2
Medium x 3
Hard x 3
Obscure x 2
Round 5
Medium x 1
Hard x 5
Obscure x 4
Now, the difficulty levels don't always correspond to the games themselves but rather the songs. Unless the game itself is already obscure, of course. For example, in a game like Castlevania IV, there might be some random song that isn't instantly recognizable. Just so you don't get thrown off such that you think you have to know weird games to do well. (Though it would help!)
Here's the game list:
ActRaiser
Actraiser 2
Axelay
Beyond Good and Evil
Dracula X
Castlevania IV
Chrono Cross
Chrono Trigger
Deus Ex
Diablo II
Eternal Darkness
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
FZero
God of War
Halo
Ikaruga
Katamari Damacy
Metal Gear Solid
Metroid Prime
Morrowind
Myst
Oblivion
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
Radiant Silvergun
Ridge Racers
Shadow of the Colossus
Sim City 3000
Soul Calibur II
Super Mario World
Super Smash Bros (Ice Climber can count too)
The Longest Journey
Unreal
Xenosaga
Now, some of these games may be used twice. Some songs are mainstays throughout series - so if you name any game in the series that use the song, then you get full points. Be aware that for some series, multiple games may use the same song BUT NOT ALL! ;) I need those contestants! I realize this is far from an all-encompassing game list, and I apologize for that. Also, I may just hide the pre-determined easy/hard/medium setup because one might assume that an obscure game will have an obscure song and pick the name of a game which you had no clue existed. In masking it, hopefully I'll trip you up.
Through the next five days I'll post a new set of 10 songs (each clip will only be a few seconds of the song), each set getting progressively harder. Or should I do it every two days? You let me know. Each day, I drop the bottom third or half of the list of contestants or whatever based on total points scored that round. Easy songs = 1 point, mediums = 2, hards = 3 and obscures = 4 points. Maybe if it's a game in a series and you can guess the series but NOT the game, you get half the points for that particular song.
This scoring system might prove to be unbalanced, but there's no prize, so whatever, man... whatever!
Here's what I'm thinking. You name the game the song is from. That's it - no need to name the song. Just the game. The format would be below. Again, the winner gets nothing but a pat on the back; this is all in good fun. Or hey, maybe the winner gets my finger puppet schwag from Funde Razor? I dunno.
Round 1
Easy x 6
Medium x 4
Round 2
Easy x 5
Medium x 3
Hard x 2
Round 3
Easy x 4
Medium x 3
Hard x 2
Obscure x 1
Round 4
Easy x 2
Medium x 3
Hard x 3
Obscure x 2
Round 5
Medium x 1
Hard x 5
Obscure x 4
Now, the difficulty levels don't always correspond to the games themselves but rather the songs. Unless the game itself is already obscure, of course. For example, in a game like Castlevania IV, there might be some random song that isn't instantly recognizable. Just so you don't get thrown off such that you think you have to know weird games to do well. (Though it would help!)
Here's the game list:
ActRaiser
Actraiser 2
Axelay
Beyond Good and Evil
Dracula X
Castlevania IV
Chrono Cross
Chrono Trigger
Deus Ex
Diablo II
Eternal Darkness
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
FZero
God of War
Halo
Ikaruga
Katamari Damacy
Metal Gear Solid
Metroid Prime
Morrowind
Myst
Oblivion
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
Radiant Silvergun
Ridge Racers
Shadow of the Colossus
Sim City 3000
Soul Calibur II
Super Mario World
Super Smash Bros (Ice Climber can count too)
The Longest Journey
Unreal
Xenosaga
Now, some of these games may be used twice. Some songs are mainstays throughout series - so if you name any game in the series that use the song, then you get full points. Be aware that for some series, multiple games may use the same song BUT NOT ALL! ;) I need those contestants! I realize this is far from an all-encompassing game list, and I apologize for that. Also, I may just hide the pre-determined easy/hard/medium setup because one might assume that an obscure game will have an obscure song and pick the name of a game which you had no clue existed. In masking it, hopefully I'll trip you up.
Call of Dutii 3 - Teh Finish0rs
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
Finally done. Review here.
The long and the short of it? The shooting works really well. 80% of the minigames and non-shooting mechanics don't. Driving is way too sensitive. Planting a bomb isn't sensitive enough. Grappling against a Nazi for your rifle isn't explained clearly enough by the in-game icons. (Hint: you gotta keep the analog stick and buttons facing your chest; Aaron Thomas recommends that you just drum the two controllers up and down too, so you can try that, but I didn't have much success). The two mechanics - aiming a mortar and rowing - that DO work really, really well? They happen once or twice each in the entire game. Blech. It's also missing ANY sort of multiplayer.
Finally, for some reason it looks like Treyarch hasn't been able to make a single player campaign that packs the same "oomph" as Infinity Ward's first two original efforts. However, it's still fun and very hair-raising at times. Let me just say that I hope Infinity Ward is working on the PC version, yeah?
Honestly, the shooting worked so well that I still think it was worth playing, but only for a rental. Definitely try it just for the shooting action. It works that nicely (glares angrily in Red Steel's direction). But make sure you rent, or get on deep discount.
The long and the short of it? The shooting works really well. 80% of the minigames and non-shooting mechanics don't. Driving is way too sensitive. Planting a bomb isn't sensitive enough. Grappling against a Nazi for your rifle isn't explained clearly enough by the in-game icons. (Hint: you gotta keep the analog stick and buttons facing your chest; Aaron Thomas recommends that you just drum the two controllers up and down too, so you can try that, but I didn't have much success). The two mechanics - aiming a mortar and rowing - that DO work really, really well? They happen once or twice each in the entire game. Blech. It's also missing ANY sort of multiplayer.
Finally, for some reason it looks like Treyarch hasn't been able to make a single player campaign that packs the same "oomph" as Infinity Ward's first two original efforts. However, it's still fun and very hair-raising at times. Let me just say that I hope Infinity Ward is working on the PC version, yeah?
Honestly, the shooting worked so well that I still think it was worth playing, but only for a rental. Definitely try it just for the shooting action. It works that nicely (glares angrily in Red Steel's direction). But make sure you rent, or get on deep discount.
Rest in Peace, James Kim
by MrCHUP0N on Comments
I'll tell you the truth - I didn't even know James Kim went missing. I don't really "seek out" his articles like I do those of Gamespot editors, and even though I can easily put a face to his name, I'm not going to say "OMG I'm his hugest fan!!!!11"
However, as someone who's read his work and enjoyed his commentary, it stings to hear of his passing. He went out courageously, though, trudging out in horrible freezing conditions to get help for his roadside-stranded family. There will be a noticeable hole when I go to look for MP3 reviews on CNET, for sure. It's funny that I feel sad about people I don't even know, but I do.
Rest in peace James, and all the best to your family.
However, as someone who's read his work and enjoyed his commentary, it stings to hear of his passing. He went out courageously, though, trudging out in horrible freezing conditions to get help for his roadside-stranded family. There will be a noticeable hole when I go to look for MP3 reviews on CNET, for sure. It's funny that I feel sad about people I don't even know, but I do.
Rest in peace James, and all the best to your family.
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