In the year 2000 Ano Domini, a young man entered university to increase his knowledge. In his time there, he discovered a game from one of his fellow dorm dwellers. A game that would forever imprint itself on his psyche. A game so great that it demanded not just to be played, but mastered. That game was Unreal Tournament.

UT was the first game I ever played for my PC. I never really had a PC that was decent enough to play any worthwhile games. I doubt my previous computers could have handled a lengthy game of pong, let alone a furiously fast-paced FPS like Unreal Tournament. But upon entering an Engineering college, they required me to have a PC that could run programs like Microsoft Word and Excel, and was good for more than playing Solitaire and BattleChess.

So one of my suitemates introduced me to this game, and the six of us played against the other suites on our halls in what was my first experience with online multiplayer gaming. I was completely hooked. Six years later, I still play this game and find it as exciting as the first day. But what does all of this mean?

Well, me being a huge fan of movies, music, and gaming (The Trifecta), I decided I would make an Unreal Tournament movie. I had seen many other movies and was completely surprised by some of the editing. I've seen blockbuster Hollywood movies with crappier editing and effects than some of the frag movies I've watched.

So after experimenting with programs like MovieUnreal, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, VirtualDub, and using my trusty DemoManager and countless tutorials, I began my movie.

Time passed and due to the demands of school, work, and real life I had to halt "production" of my movie and focus on other things. However, I've recently revived the movie and will be releasing it later on this summer. The movie will be released for mass download from a hosted location first, and then posted in segments on GameSpot at a later date.

The footage is all taken from demos of my own gameplay, such as pick up games (pugs), public servers (pubs), league play, and even some European servers. The movie will feature primarily Capture the Flag with epic flag saves, flag runs, and outstanding frags. There will also be miscellaneous sections including frags from DeathMatch, Rocket Arena, and of course, the always popular blooper reel.

Right now I have two completed clips from the movie. The first, included in this blog, is the introductory scene of the movie. The background music featured in this clip is Boy Hits Car - Rebirth. The second clip, found in my Videos section, is a teaser from the Flag Saves section of my video, and is set to the music of Broken Social Scene and Common.

So without further ado or delay, please enjoy the trailer and I will update with the progress of the full movie.

[video=cSFllGSt5b4IsjA]

So apparently the mystery of the Origins of the Levels isn't such a big mystery. Being the newbie that I am, I failed to research sufficiently and today I discovered a thread (Forum Guide: GameSpot Terminology) that gives the lowdown on everything: emblems and how to attain them, levels and what they mean, even forum definitions (which I found to be hilarious).

Upon further investigation, I found answers to some of the other questions I asked in Level 14 - The Origins of "Ring King". There is a thread that details, not specifically, the process of Leveling Up. It gives general guidelines for which activities will help you level up, what upgrades you receive at certain levels, and what bugs you can expect to encounter. There is also a more detailed thread about Emblems, that I believe has more emblems defined than in the Forum Guide, and it also has examples of users with the emblems.

Thanks a lot to everyone who participated in producing these Forum Guides, I found them very informative and even comical at times. I think I'll keep doing the "Origins of" series though, since the guide only gives brief details about the level names and where they came from.

So I was upgraded to Level 14 earlier today, with the designated rank of "Ring King". Not recognizing what the nickname was referring to, I began to ponder and pontificate and do other words synonymous with thinking.

 

Where do these ranking come from? Who decides what each rank will be named? Is there a ceiling for the ranking system? Will I max out at Level 60 like World of Warcraft and essentially beat the game? Will I have defeated GameSpot and reached the end of the internet? While most of these questions cannot be answered by a mere mortal such as myself, I am going to try to answer some of them as best I can.

Ring King is a boxing game for the NES originally released in 1987. Now I know what most of you are thinking, because it's exactly what I was thinking: "There was another boxing game for NES?"

 

 

Image from: www.nesfiles.com

 

Yes, released in the same year as the cl4ssic and unforgettable "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out", Ring King was swept aside while we all fought our way through memorable characters like Glass Joe, King Hippo, and Soda Popinski.

 

Image from: www.klov.com

 

Upon further investigation, I discovered that Ring King is actually a pretty bad game. There is no story line. You can't select your own boxer. The controls are horrible, and overall, the game is just not fun to play. Obviously this game was completely overshadowed by the superior gameplay of Punch-Out, and thus it's no surprise that the game is such an obscure title. So why select it as the ranking nickname for Level 14? Why name it after a bad old-school video game? Who knows? Add it to the list of a billion other questions I can't answer.

 

Personally, I think they make them strange and obscure for our amusement, and for people like me to figure out where they came from and waste twenty minutes posting about it in my blog. Anyways, there you have it: The Origins of "Ring King". Coming soon....whenever I level up that is...Level 15 - The Origins of "Nobunaga's Ambition".

I was checking out Jir11's profile and saw a link to a "Video Game Junkie" test and decided to see where I ranked.

I am 31% Video Game Addict.

I may play video games but they don't rule my life. Good for me. But I should be careful not to fall in the grasp of the loving glow of the TV or monitor.

Take the
Video Game Addict Test
@ FualiDotCom

Thanks again to Jir11 for the link in his blog, and if you want to see how much of a gaming junkie you are, then take the test.

I downloaded and played the Prey demo for PC the other night and I decided I would post my thoughts. The demo includes both a single-player portion and two multiplayer maps. The single-player portion starts at the beginning of the story, introducing us to all of the characters and the basic gameplay, and then allows the player to complete about the first hour of the full game. The multiplayer maps are both deathmatch, but they showcase the new gameplay elements of Prey: the gravity shifts/wall-walking, the portal technology, and Spirit Mode.

The wall-walking is done by finding glowing pathways that start at the floor and move up a wall possibly curving onto the ceiling as well. (Think Ratchet & Clank and the magnetic boots.) Players can engage enemies from above them or beside them by standing on these walkways on the walls or ceilings. There are also gravity buttons in certain areas that shift the gravity to a different direction when shot with a weapon.

The portal technology is pretty interesting. Essentially the portals are doorways to different parts of the map, but they can also change your orientation and even size when passing through them. It will be interesting to see how the game designers incorporated this into the game's puzzles.

Finally, the demo showcases something called "Spirit Mode" where by depressing a button you can leave your body and use your "spirit" to pass through barriers and attack enemies while basically invisible. This is another interesting and innovative gameplay feature that is excellent for the single-player mode, but in my opinion might not work well for multiplayer purposes.

Overall, the single-player portion of Prey seems very rewarding and worth a full play-through. The story is engaging, the graphics are top notch, and the gameplay is fast and entertaining. Be warned though, this game is VERY graphic and includes some scenes that even veterans of the GTA and RE series' might find a bit vulgar. If you don't mind that type of stuff, then Prey is probably for you and I would recommend giving it a shot, just based upon the single player portion.

The verdict is still out, however, on the multiplayer portion of the game. Being an avid online FPS player (mostly Unreal Tournament), I'm very selective when it comes to multiplayer games. The two maps included in the demo feature the diverse gameplay elements well, but the lack of an armor system and some unbalanced weapons seem to mar the otherwise fun gameplay. I would also like to see some different types of multiplayer mods, such as capture the flag.

So I was thinking today about video games and how they've evolved over the years. One thing that always seemed like a perfect pairing to me was video games and music; But that also got me thinking, with the evolution of video games in terms of graphics, multiplayer capabilities, online play, gameplay, etc. has the video game music evolved as well?

I think these days game designers are a bit too quick to use a "Soundtrack" rather than creating their own original music. If you are an oldschool gamer like myself, I'm sure you can recall the memorable sounds of The Legend of Zelda for NES.

Now there was a game that took what little power the 8-bit NES had to offer and made the most of it. The overworld music and dungeon music are completely original, but very catchy and memorable. Even the sound effects themselves were well-done. From the slice of Link's sword to the unforgettable chimes that played whenever you found a new treasure, back then the game designers really immersed you in the atmosphere of the game using the music and the sound effects.

Now don't get me wrong, I love how games like GTA: San Andreas and the EA Sports franchises make great soundtracks for their games; But where are all the original epic scores? Where are the tunes that are so memorable they are permanently embedded on our minds, so that even years later we could hum them from memory?

I know there are SOME games out there that really do take advantage of the power of the new consoles and use some great original music, but I think they are too few and far between. So what are those games? Obviously the Legend of Zelda series has continued its tradition with great original theme music; But are there others? What are the NEW game theme songs that you will always remember?

After a couple hours of grueling gameplay and constant reattempts, I finally completed all of the rampages in the Portland area in Grand Theft Auto III. Finishing these rampages has actually been more difficult than the Portland missions themselves, mostly due to the shear number of enemies I usually had to face. Since I had already completely pissed off the Triads, finishing the rampages against them were especially menacing, because they starting shooting at me before I even started the rampage. Then of course, once I wreaked enough havoc, the cops got involved. Since they only got in my way, I had to ice them too, which caused my wanted level to skyrocket to three and sometimes four stars. However, if you're able to complete the rampage, your wanted level goes back down to zero, so that made it a little easier on me. So I think I've discovered that getting 100% completion in this game is going to be a lot harder than I thought, but it's been fun so far. I only have a few more Unique Jumps and missions to complete, and then it's on to Staunton Island...

I played some more Red Dead Revolver today, and the more I play it, the more fun it seems. I'm getting better and better at aiming and utilizing the powerful "deadeye" bullet-time system. I've also become pretty proficient in the duals, taking on two and even three enemies at a time and still coming out unscathed. As I advance through the game I find that you're able to play as other characters. So far I've played as a dual pistol wielding man named Jack Swift, and a rifle wielding Annie Stoakes. These side missions are rather fun, but playing as Red is by far the most enjoyable. Once again, I can't stress enough the atmosphere of the game. The music is spot on, becoming louder and faster paced during the intense gun battles, then subsiding to a nice background ambiance during the calmer moments of the game. The story is advancing along more briskly now, enough to keep me interested in the outcome. Overall, I think RDR will turn out to be a worthwhile gaming experience, but Rockstar could have done more with the concept/premise. Of course, this leaves hope for the upcoming title GUN to improve where RDR fell flat.

So I started playing the Story Mode in Red Dead Revolver today, and so far, it's rather entertaining. To start off, the game has a great look to it. The cut scenes are mock-ups of old spaghetti westerns complete with the distorted, discolored images, which really gives the game a cool old-school western look. Even the loading screens are well done, which are scenes of Red and other characters showing off their gunslinging skills to a setting sun backdrop. This is a nice touch, especially since the game has a rather large amount of loading times. The sound is another excellent quality to this game. The music is especially fitting, and it often sounds Tarantino-esque to me. The sound effects are also top-knotch, with realistic gunshots and reloading sounds, as well as atmospheric noises such as howling wind and baying coyotes. The voice acting has been excellent thusfar as well. All of this adds up to a very atmospheric game that does a solid job of immersing you in the look and feel of the American frontier.

The gameplay mechanics are pretty intuitive, yet somewhat clunky at times. The game does a good job of using tutorials to introduce a new player to the controls, and allows you to use the tutorials as long as you need to. Aiming is of course done with the analogs and it's fairly easy to be accurate, especially with the active crosshair that changes to red when it's over a potential target. The deadeye mode of the game, which is basically bullet-time, is a nice touch that allows you to pull off some fancy multi-hit shots on your enemies, but I think it could have been done a little bit better. The duals are nice fun touch as well, and I especially like the use of the analog to draw your gun from its holster.

I think the only downside to the story mode of Red Dead Revolver is the linearity. So far I've only been able to explore one town which only has a few interactive stores, such as a Saloon, a Bank, a Tailor, and a Theatre. But beyond purchasing various items or chatting with the people at these locations, there really isn't much to do here except stock up before your next mission. Once you are ready to continue, you simply go to the Sheriff station and he gives you another 'dossier' on a local outlaw who you have to take out.

Rockstar did an excellent job at recreating the atmosphere of the old west, but with magnum opus games like the Grand Theft Auto series under their belt, I expected a much more open-ended game with more side quests and content. Overall, Red Dead Revolver has been a fun game to play, that while difficult at times is definitely entertaining with its attention to detail.

I spent some time tonight playing more GTA III, since I'm attempting to beat the entire game. I've already retrieved 30 of the 33 or so hidden packages, and I've completed about 60% of the missions in Portland. Thusfar though, I've found El Burro's missions to be the most unique, as well as the most difficult. I first had some trouble with the flamethrower mission, in which I had to waste 25 Triads in two and a half minutes.

But by far the most difficult is El Burro's last mission, in which I had to follow a trail of smut magazines in a top heavy van to the guy who stole them. The main problems with this mission are the time limit, which is really short, and the stupid motorists that get in your way. It took me at least seven attempts to finally complete this mission, and believe me, I wanted to strangle some of the drivers who wrecked my good runs, forcing me to start the mission all over again.

One thing I couldn't understand though, according to GameSpot this is the last mission for El Burro, yet when I ride by his phone it is still ringing. When I answered it I found that El Burro was talking to me about the first mission "Turismo" all over again. I think this is a glitch because the blue circle is not there like it was before, but the phone is still ringing. Oh well, at least I've passed that pain in the ass mission. The Ice Cream Truck bomb was hilarious though.