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jtbug Blog

Restless, Passage of Time

Having run out of ideas for an interesting blog filled with tasty morsels, I've decided to give any and all lucky profile-viewers a taste of one of my favourite passages from one of my favourite authors. You may question, why post a new blog if you have nothing new to say? No reason, just a passage I've been navel-gazing over for weeks when I am unable to sleep.

"Singleton stood at the door with his face to the light and his back to the darkness. And alone in the dim emptiness of the sleeping forecastle he appeared bigger, colossal, very old; old as Father Time himself, who should have come there into this place as quiet as a sepulchre to contemplate with patient eyes the short victory of sleep, the consoler. Yet he was only a child of time, a lonely relic of a devoured and forgotten generation. He stood, still strong, as ever unthinking; a ready man with a vast empty past and with no future, with his childlike impulses and his man's passions already dead within his tattooed breast. The men who could understand his silence were gone - those men who knew how to exist beyond the pale of life and within sight of eternity."

1000 jt points to anyone who can place the author.

Intercepting Fist

OK, so a friend of mine recently asked me who would win in this rumble: Jean Claude Van Damme V Bruce Lee V Chuck Norris V Steven SeagalV Jackie Chan.

Good question. I'm not sure how three geriatrics, a dead man and a Belgium narcissist would find themselves in a situation where they were all involved in a bout of fisticuffs, but I digress. To ask that is to miss the point.

Now, apart from the fact that they are all terrible actors, I quickly and without hesitation responded, "Bruce Lee, of course." And I stand by this, even after the argument that followed. Considering he is a Van Damme fan (maybe the only one in Australia?) my friend said "Why?"

Easy. Bruce Lee was a legend, whilst the others aren't. There was so much more to Bruce Lee than the ability to kick butt. It was always about more than that with Bruce Lee.

My friend replied, "There was more to Bruce Lee than kicking butt?"

How can people not know this? At first glance, his fights in movies may appear to be nothing more than showy feats of acrobatics and violent takedowns, but Bruce Lee himself was about so much more. Not decent plotlines or award-winning scriptwriting or direction, granted, but something that defies explanation.

Everyone knows who Bruce Lee was. Everyone knows he died young. Everyone knows he made some of the best chop-socky gung-fu films. What fewer people know is that he completed only three Hong Kong films and just one American film while he was alive. Now, how can a guy who is only about kicking butt make such an impact over such a small output? Is it because he was the first to take it to Western audiences? Is it because he had incredible double-Nunchaku skills? No, it's because of one thing: that high pitched, almost girly "Waa-aahh!" noise he made when he kicked someone.

Nobody knows where it came from. Everyone makes a fool of themselves trying to mimic it, but no-one understands it. It's silly, and it shouldn't have to make sense. It was a primal scream from somewhere deep inside the man; an animal growl that signified the coming of the end for his adversary.

I decided to go back through my Bruce Lee DVD collection to decipher what the appeal of Bruce Lee was, and is. Across his five surviving movies (The Big Boss, Fist Of Fury, Way Of The Dragon, Enter The Dragon, Game Of Death) one theme is constant: Revenge. In a few of these films he has sworn off violence (naturally) only to discover that the best way to combat violence is to engage in some violent combat. He had skills to be admired and envied by any martial artist, yes, but what did the general audience see? Sheer power, and sheer passion. And that "Waa-aahh" noise.

Jackie Chan (whose neck is snapped by Lee in Enter The Dragon) came along later as the Hong Kong antidote to Bruce Lee. He was less intense (though his finely choreographed fight scenes are somewhat more polished than any of Lee's were) more comedic and decidedly more charismatic. In fact, Bruce Lee wasn't really charismatic at all. But there was something about him that got across and continues to get across to the audience. I'm still not sure what it is, but his audience definitely sees more than Bruce kicking butt in his movies.

I don't think any of the four other dudes in that rumble would seriously believe they would stand a chance against Bruce Lee. Except for Van Damme, of course.

Underrated Games

We've all played and enjoyed a few, whether we'll admit it or not. For me, I don't understand all the hate levelled at games like Far Cry 2 and Assassin's Creed. Don't get me wrong, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and generally speaking these games were actually well-received. And if we all had the same opinion it would be a boring world etc... But the games we get excited about before they're released and the final game we play can sometimes be two different beasts entirely.

Expectations are high for games like Far Cry 2. Advertisements are shown at the cinema; the gaming media is saturated with two-page ads and so forth. Does it meet expectation? Rarely. And here's why: hype can ruin a gamers enjoyment. It's not necessarily the games fault.

Far Cry 2 is a massive achievement and a vast improvement over the previous games in the series. The graphics are awe-inspiring and some of the best I've ever seen (personally, I'm in love with water graphics and fire effects). Enemy AI is sometimes questionable and gameplay can be a bit repetitive but I'll stop there because this isn't a review. All I'm saying is, I don't think Far Cry 2 is a perfect 10 game (I'll reserve that for my GTA IV review). What I'm saying is, it's underrated because some gamers are blindsided by its flaws which don't really detract from the overall gaming experience.

These games wouldn't have disappointed people nearly as much as they have if it weren't for the hyperbole surrounding their release. But hey, that's how they sell games.

I'm not lashing out at anyone in this blog, I'm simply stating how I see it. And there's other games that don't receive the critical accolades but can still give a gamer a warm fuzzy feeling. And here's where I list a few titles from the past that I felt were underrated. Shellshock 'Nam 67 (a decent historical FPS that barely makes it past 65% in reviews but one that I played through more than once) Tomb Raider Legend (actually a lot more fun than people give it credit for but decidedly too short) Shadow Of Rome (Labelled 'generic' by most, but I revelled in the bloodthirsty gladiator combat and admittedly broken stealth sections) and anyway that's quite enough. Underrated games: I'm sure we all feel there's a few out there that we can't understand why they don't get bigger love. And give a gamer a chance to state his opinion. It might not be the same as yours but it's still just as valid.

Christmas (What An Original Blog Title For This Time Of Year)

Hi. Not really a rant but no other title was available for self-indulgent streams of who-cares?-drivel that is so popular in blogs so I went with it.

Yeah, so it's two days to Saint Nick's day in the sun and sorry to say but Christmas has already come for me this year... 5 days early. On friday I convinced my old man that we should trade in our joint-owned PlayStation 2 for a next-gen console and he relented. He's been getting mad-crazy mileage out of the old V8 Supercars for PS2 but I convinced him X360 would have its fair share of awesome racers (of course I neglected to tell him that Gran Turismo is a PlayStation exclusive, but can you blame me?) (BTW, I'm not a kid but yes I still live with my folks. What? They need the company! :)

So yeah, saturday was the Big Day for me, when I joined the club of Next-Gen owners (I know it's a big club, but still privileged). I also convinced the folks to get me GTA IV as a Xmas gift, which I've been playing like a madman who has taken over the institution, so there won't be much under the tree for me this year. Boo Hoo. :cry:

So, where's the rant?

Nowhere.

It's Christmas.

MY FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE: Die Hard (1988)- John McClane learns the values of giving in a materialistic society and can't find a pair of shoes that fit. Argyle waits in the Limo with a giant teddybear.

MY FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS MUSIC: Anything from the Pearl Jam Fan Club Christmas Singles Catalogue. Preferably Last Kiss, Drifting and Let Me Sleep. Nice. Aww...:D

MY FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS READ: Dickens. This year it's Hard Times. Can't really get into it though because I'm preoccupied by Liberty City. So I also read the Liberty Tree.

MY FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS SAYING: "Oh, Suit You Sir!"

MY FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS SNACK: Toobz. You know they re-released these for my pleasure?;)

MY FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS COMEDY DVD: Carl Barron. "Carol Barn!"

Alright, seeing as nobody's reading this, that'll do.

See ya.

old school games

What exactly is "old school"? What game defines the term?

I myself have gone a bit old-school crazy of late. Are there any like-minded souls out there? You know, when you get sick of hearing about the new game summer line-up, the christmas release schedule and you think, great, more money. Whereas the old games, many of which are still great, and greater still if you haven't discovered them yet, are out there at a cheaper price, and it feels great when you bag a bargain and know you're gonna get hours of gameplay out of it. Granted, it's not always about money - if you have to have Saints Row 2 and Far Cry 2 now, you gotta fork out for these top-shelf games. But money doesn't always buy quality. Just look at all the movie-conversion games doing the rounds -- cynical tie-ins designed to cash in on the storm of promotional hype a movie as bland as the third Pirates of The Carribbean generates.

Does this mean I'm getting old?

Probably. Or more mature. I believe it's more than simple misty-eyed nostalgia; a yearning for the bygone glory days exemplified by sayings such as "When I was your age I was into Mortal Kombat..." I believe I'm somewhere around the average gamer age (18-30), but I could be wrong.

So what's old school for this generation (Gen-X Gen-Y Gen-Strange)? Is it Konami's Frogger? Is it Alex The Kid on Sega Master System? Is it the launch of Tomb Raider on Playstation or more recently, does the term old school now encompass Grand Theft Auto III?

I think it's interesting but some will most likely cringe at this blog.

Whatever, let's crack out those old-school games and see if they really do live up to the fond memories.