Wait till the end...
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Monday, November 9, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
A 14-year old's view on the leaked opening footage of Modern Warfare 2
Alright, I am not going to joke or be sarcastic on this subject.
If you DO NOT WANT SPOILERS IN MODERN WARFARE 2, DO NOT READ THIS.
I have been a supporter of non-censorship in violence since young. I am fine with shooting down enemies fighter planes, seeing limbs fly off, 6 men teams wiping out hundreds of enemies of soldiers.
However, the leaked footage of Modern Warfare 2 showing the opening of the game shows something worst. Something morally uneasy.
You massacre innocent civilians.
(last chance, SPOILERS, TURN AWAY IF YOU NEED TO)
I have a kill count of over 4000 in call of duty 4, but I find it alright because that is war. War involves 2 sides shooting at each other. But when you throw civilians- unarmed, innocent people with no chance to retaliate. I am shocked... I mean, you give me a gun, a hell lot of American/ British soldiers and tell me why they should die, fine. I understand the motivations of any Nazi or Japanese- heck, even communists. I can accept the western bloc as the enemy.
However, this video is just jaw dropping. Whenever I watch it, I feel something I never felt before naturally (I did that as "fear" in plays before). My lungs just tighten up- my eyes open wide. My point here is inside, I feel this is wrong. Too damn wrong.
Now, Call of Duty has always been associated with realism, but this is pretty much the first time in any game, I am sure, they let you massacre so many innocent civilians... in first person. I understand running people down in GTA. But for that, you don't really get any thrill. In this, wounded people are struggling to crawl away- it is your task to shoot them.
There is a threshold where violence just becomes too much. Disgusted? No. There is a difference between artistic expression and violence. This are the things the rating system (NC16, M18) has been trying to keep youth like us away from.
If the norm becomes this today, what will happen in 15 years' time? The question is not "Can they do it", but "should they do it".
Call of Duty 4 is my favorite game- And if Modern Warfare's hype kills it like it did on halo 3, the fallout will not be just around gamers. The entire franchise will fall down. I only hope this violence is explained properly in the game.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Game development terms explained
So you don't know what does a few terms mean. Here are the more common terms.
Build- It means the version of the game which is being played or tested. See Alpha or Beta builds
Alpha build-It refers to the first few builds of the game which actually works. When the engine is tested the first few times till it is deemed playable. Usually, this is a top-secret stage of development. No one other then a few testers are allowed to even see it in action. The alpha builds are VERY unstable, glitches and bugs are rampant.
Beta build- Referring to the build which is usually shown at game shows. It is deemed "playable" to public by the developers, however, many things may change by the time it is released. Halo 3's Spartan laser crosshair is a example of a change. Most of the time, the overall game structure is laid out and done, but bugs and glitches are still very common.
Beta test- A demo meant to be distributed among the public. The aim here is to find the bugs and glitches, also to test the game's netcode. Some games like MMOs are meant to be played by hundreds of thousands of players at the same time. The beta test will test how much stress can the netcode handle.
Netcode- Networking code. The programming code used to connect different players on different systems together. A bad netcode will lead to massive lag or crashes as players will have problem connecting to each other. All netcodes are build to purpose. A game like Halo 3: ODST's fireflight has different code with the competitive multiplayer. MMO netcodes are nothing simlilar to RTS netcodes, which requires the minimal lag.
Gold- Refers to the final build of the game which is going to be released. Usually 2-4 weeks before launch, so the disks can be printed.
Polish- How well is the overall presentation? Usually talking about the amounts of bugs/glitches cleaned up after the game is finalized but before going gold. A very polished game will be nearly bug-free, and feels better to play overall. Most AAA titles will be polished to the ground. Unpolished games include battlestations :pacific and most movie games while polished games can be average, like halo wars and mirror's edge.
AAA/AA title- Refers to how much marketing the game recieves and how much manpower is put the game, along with the amount of anticipation there is in the game from the general gaming public.
Usually made by famed developers (eg. Infinity Ward, Bungie, DICE, Naughty Dog)
This is a double edged sword. The more anticipation/marketing, the more people expect it to be excellent. (See halo 3)
Examples:
AAA- halo, Call of duty, fallout 3, Nearly all battlefield games, uncharted, Little Big Planet, Final Fantasy
AA- Command and conquer, battlestations, every other game with a slight amount of anticipation.
Publisher- The company which prints the disks, put up ads, and gives the developer money.
Some publishers are so big they made their own studios.
Also, most developers are owned by a pulisher, like bungie before halo 3, Treyatch, DICE, and Bioware.
Examples include Activision, EA, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega, Namco
I will write more as we go along. Leave a comment at the chatbox to request more terms in future articles.
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Thursday, October 22, 2009
Conpliments vs chance they will email you again (for girls)
Dating site OKCupid examined which words in an opening email to women increased or decreased the chances of a reply. Hilarious and revealing.
-http://70.32.102.55/2009/four-infographic-morsels/
HAHAHAHA. Awesome.
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Ugly 360 controller is a "exclusive"?
In case you missed it, Xbox 360 has teamed up with GameStop to design an exclusive limited edition Wireless Controller that will be available next week. Bundled with a Play & Charge Kit, the controller features a new design which sports black carbon fiber with red accents. This controller will be sold exclusively at GameStop, EB Games and Micromania retailers in the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.
The suggested retail price will be US $69.99, and you can place your pre-order here. I’ve uploaded some high resolution photos of the bundle if you want a closer look.
UGLY. AVOID.
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Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The student council is not a council for students. (Teachers, this is NOT directed at you. Stay out of it.)
I said this once, I will say it a thousand more times if needed. The student council is bullshit.
I been in it, and know what "stuff" they do.
I long compared the school to communism, most of you know. We have the Head which no ones actually knows personally. Seriously, have you ever talked to Bro. Anthony before? Then we have the propaganda ministry. They call it "department of student development". Instead of "comrade" or some stupid propaganda phrase, we have "angels in disguise" and all those crap. Every morning, we get a dose of some random crap which slowly sips into out brain. There is a KGB, and instead of being called "discipline department" or something like that, it is called "Pupil management". Oh, scary.
But my main point is the council. It is not called "Prefectoral board" (as in prefects), but it is proudly called the student council.
A council of students.
Their pledge:
With all due respect, before I blow them to Venus, I did not write this to get them back. No, I wrote this to knock on their heads, saying what a bloody bad job they been doing. To think I actually wanted to use the title to help Calvin shut the class up.
And Calvin, I kind of regretted giving up the nomination by Ganesh to be chairman. You will be vice chair, and Brandon will not get leadership points for doing nothing. Vice chairman? WTF he did? Treasurer? Who the shit is collecting the money?
Back to the council. They are not prefects, although they are meant to. Kaiser does absolutely NOTHING to shut the class up. And half of the councilors I know are teacher's pets.
Come on, EXCO of the council. You once said you are here to "council us" and "represent us". As far as I know, Kaiser is a fucking douche making unfunny jokes at my superior intellectual abilities in the field of computering, not even CARING about his duties in the class. Council us my fucking ass.
Represent? COME ON. From all I saw in the council, you don't represent us. You represent the teachers. You represent the ideal Marist gentlemen which the teachers can use as a showcase. SPEAK UP. Represent us. Help us fight just for abit. Helping us tell Mr Kwok no one is listening can be a start. He can stop making up stories and claiming they are true. Boiling potato, egg and coffee? That don't even make sense!
From what I can tell, the council might as well be called the "Maris Stella Party Planner" (Party blower sound here).
All you do is take care of the special occasion assemblies and camps. The teacher's day assembly is a farce, Mr Councilors. Your attempts to make the teachers do something on stage ended with disaster, not even one came up. After 5 uneventful minutes, a teacher called it off.
I am fed up with the councils. You signed up and got CCA points for it. Now fucking do something with the perks you get.
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Sunday, September 27, 2009
How To Win: Halo 3 ODST firefight
So you beat ODST on Legendary. Big deal. Any baby can do that.
Enter Firefight.
(Insert dramatic Entrance video here)
Firefight goes before the game starts- you need have the right team. Have 4 people that will actually call out for each other, THE MORE YOU TALK, the better. It can be bullshit. I like saying "Bam" whenever I headshot. Its alright. JUST MAKE SURE YOU CALL OUT WHERE THE ENEMY SPAWNS. If your friend is facing the wrong side, you better tell him to TURN THE FUCK AROUND! HURRY! You do not want a team which are silent killers.
Remember, communication is key. Call out what weapons are there to take. Don't leave a fuel rod just sitting there. Get a teammate to pick it up. Hunters or Chieftains? CALL IT OUT. Don't just say it once, update your team. "Hunter down" or "fuel rod down" is helpful. Very helpful. Tell them if there are drones in your spawn base, I quote Saving Private Ryan :"So we are going to leave it here and let it ambush the next platoon which comes over?"
Call out everything- Telling your friends you will be bait for the hammer chief while we assassinate it or a simple "FLANK!" works like magic.
Alright. But you need a plan. Many maps are in 2 parts- left or right, high or low. Thus, split your squad into 2 equal-strength fireteams to hold each entrance. Thats how real life marines work- 2 men teams covering each other, while fireteams watch for other fireteams. And, for god's sake, SEND THE SNIPER ONTO THE TOP LEVEL.
Now, before you fire a shot, know your ammo is limited. Sure your pistol is a rape-killing machine to everything, but you don't have much ammo. Don't waste it on shielded brutes- Keep a plasma pistol in one hand, take out his shield, then boom his head. Its your main slaying weapon. However, REMEMBER- YOUR M6C AMMO IS VERY LIMITED. Whatever you do, make sure you use the automag for nothing but headshotting.
Also, drop the SMG you spawn with somewhere everyone knows. Tell them. If buggers show up, everyone will be rushing there. Trust me. Put a SMG and tell your mates where it is.
Next, scout the map. Know where the weapons are, where the med-kits are, and where the enemy spawns.
Know what skulls are on. If famine, better make every shot count. If catch, better not stand there. If though luck, save your grenades. If tilt, get a plama pistol. Mythic? Plasma pistol+ headshot. Black eye? Save a few grunts or jackals for you to punch.
Remember- The end of every round (5 waves), its a sure you get bosses. Save your fuel rods, grav hammer, grenades, snipers, turrets or anything else to hit the hunters or chieftains.
At the end of a set (3 rounds, 15 waves), there is a bonus round. No, its not bonus. Its more of living hell. LIVING HELL. Why? All skulls will get turned on, including IRON. A near endless charge of grunts will stream at you. Get your Pistol ready... Its gonna be a heck of a wave. If you kill enough grunts while jumping from the catch skull by a thousand grunts?
The announcer said good luck for a reason. If you kill enough grunts and get enough points, you get bonus lives, effectively saving your dead teammates' ass....Or perhaps my ass...
Well, I will be looking into each specific map in the following weeks, so stay tunes.
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