OMGWTFBBQ!??!. (Also a kinda Ninja Gaiden 2 review)

So I just broke a 360 controller, so I figured I would calm down a little, and make a blog post.

The cause of the broken controller? Well, the proximate cause is me chucking it down the hall and kicking it with my steel toe boots.

The ultimate cause is Ninja Gaiden 2. In specific, the bad parts of Ninja Gaiden 2.

Alright, so, backtrack a second.

I loved the original Ninja Gaiden for Xbox. It was hard. Frustrating. Insane. When I finally beat it, I honestly felt proud, like I had accomplished something.

Since then I've played the extensions Team Ninja released (Ninja Gaiden Black. I even had Sigma when I had a PS3).

So, when I got a chance to get NG2, I was all about it.

First, the good, non controller rage parts.
- The combat is silky smooth and fun as ever. Every weapon is fully fleshed out and fun to use.
- The new obliteration moves are very fun. Basically your normal attacks can remove a limb from your enemy. Once that happens, you can get in a wonderfully gory quick finisher. They are gory fun. After a battle the landscape is covered in blood and severed limbs. Fun stuff
- The weapons. Yes I already mentioned them, but they are awesome. The claws are incredibly fast and fun, the new scythe will decimate groups, the new tonfas are great fun (who wants to cut heads off when you can beat them into a bloody pulp with nightsticks!?!)

Now, the bad, rage parts.
-There is ranged combat. It doesnt work very well. Which is fine, unless the game FORCES the shitty system on you all the time.
-Some enemies are just terribly designed and unbalanced. Claw ninjas with exploding shuriken? Sure, I can deal with those, its not easy, but hey, I got it. Guys who fire barrages of unblockable rockets with no reload time who don't take damage from their own rockets, and are accurate across the span of Australia? That's a little shitty.
-Boss fights. Some are so easy you beat it and its like "What? Thats it?". Others are so cheap and unfun it ruins all the fun you might of had getting to them.
Best example: Big armidollo boss. Not too hard to get down, some annoying tricks. However, once he's dead, he explodes. No warning. Just a massive sceen filling explosion that kills you. WTF?



And that's the rub of NG2. Some moments are absolute bliss. When you get a room full of ninjas and get in the groove of the combat, its amazing, fast, fluid, and fun. But then you play the rest of the game, and you break a controller because you died for reasons that are totally out of your control.


So, rent it. Its worth it for the bliss parts. But remember to breathe and count to 10 for the rest of it.

-G

The Rise and Fall of PC Gaming

A few years ago, maybe even as many as ten, my father purchased a subscription to Computer Gaming World magazine. I loved it because at that time, the PC was the only means of video game entertainment available to me. I wasn't allowed to have a console, because my parents thought it would make me lazy, what they didn't know was that I was already lazy. But that's a topic for a different blog. At that time, PC gaming was for the most part, on top of the gaming industry. Graphics, sound, controls, all aspects of the computer gaming experience was superior to the console in every technical respect. But this was even before the generation of the original Playstation. When the Internet was a series of beeps and clicks from an internal speaker somewhere inside your case, and being 'online' with a console was unimaginable. I even got Gordon interested in computer gaming as a whole, which he had never even been introduced to beforehand.

The PC's gaming prowess reached its peak for me sometime between X-wing vs. Tie Fighter and Everquest. Half-Life 1, Team Fortress, Counter Strike, the Dark Forces series, all got major playtime on my computer. Everquest put computer gaming on top, before its inevitable fall, and like many, once i was in the full swing of that game I played nothing else. Then the sixth generation of consoles was here, which according to wikipedia, is the generation of the PlayStation2, the Xbox, and the Gamecube. It was then that consoles were more than just ports of arcade games. The controllers became something different, easier to use and more intuitive, but most importantly of all, the develops really turned their attention to these new consoles. This isn't to say that PC games ceased to be made, but no one was talking about them. PC gaming magazine choices went from numerous to slim, and most gaming technology released for PCs was related to the the MMORPGS that had become the staple of the genre. World of Warcraft is one of the largest grossing games of all time, but it and other Massively Multiplayer games have deadened the market for PC games.

I had discussed doing an article on the fall of PC gaming after a discussion on the slim, and dying choice of PC games to purchase, and being released this year. Amid discussions of developers like Crytek moving on from the PC market to exclusively the console market, the list of PC only developing houses has dwindled to nearly nothing. Instead of building a game for a PC player, they simply port their console version, often times very poorly, to be adapted to a keyboard and mouse interface.

But the PC market won't go away either. My confidence in its market share has been revived. With client programs like Steam and Impulse (in Beta development) allowing for online purchase, and digital download and backup, PC gaming is easier than ever. Steam automatically updates your games when new updates or patches are released, lets you keep up with friends and what they are playing, and even stores stats for games, such as Team Fortress. Impulse is promising all of that and more, and with Stardock's impressive library of software, it goes far beyond just gaming. But client software like this might be the wings on which the PC shall soar. Downloadable Content (DLC) on my 360 is nice, but due the limited space on its drive, as well as the pricey cost to upgrade hard disk space, there is only so much space to be had with all the Rock Band songs taking up all the space. And more and more games for the PlayStation3 are requiring installs onto its hard disk drive as well. They may not be very large, and may increase the games performance, but it also takes up the space that can be used for something else, games, demos, even full length movies. My PC has plenty of space, and with 500 gigabyte drives going for less than 75 dollars, it seems more logical to download new games here, than on the 360. So if this generation of gaming is defined by anything, it should be Hard Drive space, and the PC will always win that fight.

Not to mention, with the cost of the current generation of consoles, and the next round of them slated for 2009-2012, what kind of price point can we expect next time? Upwards of $1000 would seem to be the most logical assumption, especially with the hardware showcase PlayStation3 releasing at $599. My computer, while not top of the line technologically, plays everything I've thrown at it, including Crysis, on high at high resolutions, without any slowdown, ~30 frames per second. I paid $650 for everything in the case. And I will be able to play games released in the next generation or even upgrade for $300 or less. Still way below the guesstimated price point of the next generation console.

So, is PC gaming dead, or dying? No way, I expect to see a resurgence in the PC as a gaming medium in the next few years. It may not be immediate, and it may be a while before the PC is viewed as anything other than "that thing you play WoW on," but it will happen, and I'll be here playing the games when it does.
-j

Grand Theft Auto IV or Holy crap did that just happen!?

Well, I suppose it is time for me to come out of hiding in my deep dark cave called graduate school.

And, what better way to reappear on this column than with some impressions on what is most likely the Big Freaking Deal right now, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 4.

If you don't know about GTA4 at some level, you must not a) watch tv or b) read the Internet. But, in case you've suddenly come down with some bad amnesia, I will refresh your memory.

Grand Theft Auto IV is the sequel to the immensly popular, incredibly well selling, and revolutionary Grand Theft Auto III (which itself spawned two "sequels" or "expansions" or whatever you want to call Vice City and San Andreas)

So, now GTA is back in Liberty City on the next gen, still bringing the same open world criminal gameplay, but refined.

I must admit I was not all that hyped for GTA. I wasn't a large fan of San Andreas or Vice City. The combat felt terrible, the graphics were blocky and not that great, even for a PS2 game at times. And the main characters were unlikeable people who I felt no emotional attachment to.

But, GTA 4 has fixed pretty much all those problems. The combat now has a rudimentary cover system (just like every shooter since Gears of War), the graphics, while not amazing, are much improved, and the story and characters are well written, well acted, and people I care about.

The main advantage in the graphical upgrade this go round isn't amazing textures or high poly models, but the art direction. Liberty City feels like a real place, inhabited by real people. Different areas of the city have a distinct feel.

Your main man Niko doesn't come across as a psychopathic violent criminal. He is much more empathetic and likeable. As a result, I care more about him. I try to avoid arrests or death not only because it takes away money or guns or time, but I care about this guy. I want him to make it through.

Now, its not a perfect game, and if you check other reviews you will set a lot of 10's thrown around. It has issues. The driving is both better and worse. For such an integral part of the game, it seems Rockstar could of found a better camera angle to use when driving. Whenever I take a corner I end up starting at the side of my car and not the 2 police cruisers I'm pointing straight at.

In addition, the driving physics are more realistic. At first this is an issue because it takes some time to get used to the feel of it, before you can pull off any high speed corners or drifts and not spin wildly out of control. Once you become acclimated, it does start to work better.

If you read the blog regularly, first off I love you, and secondly you will no doubt have read Jarrad's impressions and issues. I tend to agree with his issues with the camera and driving, however he makes an issue of the walking speed. I see his point, but it has yet to be a real issue with me. Different strokes for different folks.

So, to wrap up: GTA4=Excellent. Every single aspect of the experience is not perfect, but the entire experience is amazing. Even if you haven't been a big fan of previous GTA games, I recommend at least a rental. If you liked the previous games, go buy it now. You will not regret it.

-G

GTA : IV - First Few Days

Let me start by saying this. The ESRB rating system, while not perfect, should still carry weight. This game is NOT AT ALL for kids. It's subject matter, language, and visual sequences are very adult. It is not even safe to play while kids are present, anywhere within eye or earshot. Please pay attention to the ratings, and enforce them for your kids. This game was intended for adults to play.

I'm guessing by now, most of you that had planned on purchasing and playing GTA4 have already done so, and have formed your own solid opinions about the game. These are mine..

When you first start the game, it leads you through the opening cinematic, which is done on the in game rendering and engine. This isn't a bad engine or anything, for the most part, it looks great for just being around in the city and what-not. But I think for the cinematic aspect of the game, it looks only marginally better than the one in GTA Vice City. This is a minor gripe, and I'm sure doing it the way they did was done to decrease load times, as well as make the best use of the limited space on the DVD for the huge sprawling, living world.

Which brings me to my next point. I used to always complain about GTA that you would never see the police chasing someone else, it seemed as if you were the only person in the whole city they were ever after. But yesterday, as I was running across the street to jack some car or something, I heard an officer yell, "Stop, or I'll shoot." Instinctively, I thought he was yelling at me so I prepared to start sprinting. Then, this random person goes sprinting across the screen in front of me, and a second later this fat cop is chasing after him. I'm intrigued, the world is actually alive? It must be scripted. So I follow. The guy rounds a corner, just as a police car comes flying up the street, and plows right into him. His limp body goes flying past me, just as I try to run out of the way and the cop car plows into me as well.

Speaking of not being able to get out of the way in time, I'm so frustrated with the movement and camera that within my first hour of playing I was almost regretting the purchase. Niko stays in this, leisurely slow walk pace all the time, unless you press the run button, which makes him run at a good pace, or tap for sprint. It not that this is a horrible system, I just don't like it. The game pad is built with a joystick in it. If i just barely press the joystick forward, I should just barely move forward, if I press it all the way, it should be moving faster. Even if without the run button it was just walking, this guy walks funeral procession slow all the time. Which makes it really hard to dodge bullets, try to push the cover button, fire, and move the camera, cause its usually in the exact position you don't want it to be in. This also plagues the driving mechanism of the game, because the camera won't stay in any kind of place that makes sense for driving. If i make a left turn, I'm stuck looking at the left of the car for about 100 yards, before the camera catches up in its slow auto return to center. So, now a car chase, which happens frequently, becomes a 'Can your car survive running into everything to the other side of the city, and keep that other guy on your radar' race. This was NEVER a problem in GTA3 or Vice City. I didn't really like San Andreas much, so I'm unsure about that one.

On the bright side, the driving is more realistic in this one that any other iteration of the series to date. A sports car drives like a sports car, a delivery van drives like a delivery van. The difference is more than just in acceleration speed. This is great, but also makes the game quite a bit harder, as a 3-4 star wanted level becomes very hard to escape if you didn't plan your crime ahead enough to have a good car ready to escape in. This isn't a problem though, just gives a more intense feel to the game. If evading the law is harder, you try to avoid being wanted more. I enjoy that, as the game comes across as trying to be more like the telling of an actual story, instead of a mass murder fest, like the others eventually descended into when the boredom and monotony of the story settled in.

The story in GTA4, so far, is done wonderfully. You feel for the main character, although he is still very ruthless, and you very much hate the people you should hate. Interesting thing in this one is the choice on morality the game sometimes gives you. Sometimes you have the option to kill someone, or let them live. Either of the two choices could, and should have ramifications on the story and the world later, just as they would in real life, and that is potentially exciting, and also very intimidating. I'm keeping save files handy.

I'm not sure if its a problem with my XBOX, or the game, but it seems like I'm having framerate issues, like the game is running at a lower framerate than it should be. Gordon suggested this might be due to the part that my computer was running things at such astronomical FPS, and I had grown accustomed to it. But it doesn't appear that was with other games on the 360. This is minor, as its never been so slow it was unplayable, but its a minor annoyance. Other people have complained about the texture draw, like the Mass Effect problem, but the only time I could replicate that issue was driving an extremely fast car down a long straight stretch of road, and coming over a hill or some other structure where the GPU hadn't been drawing anything previously. But, with a world this open with no loading in between places, some render slowdown has to be expected.

Overall, for the first few days, the game is good. If the story remains as good, or hopefully gets better, I could even play it to its conclusion. The dialogue and motion capture, as well as physics, seem to be very good thus far. Weather effects aren't visually amazing, but affect the world from pedestrians pulling out umbrellas, to causing your car to spin easily when you are reckless. All in all its a good game, I think the mad rush to giving it 10's and such may be a bit overboard though. If you're a Grand Theft Auto junkie, you probably already own the game. If its not your style, or you're new to the genre, you might wanna rent it first.
-j

Cool Product

So, Just browsing around on the internet today, checking the various sites, reading up on the new AMD Phenom processor, and I notice an advertisement. Now, normally you can't get me to click an ad if i had to in order to survive, but this one caught my eye.

Zalman - FPSGUN

My only concern is, it looks kinda petite, and I have massive gorilla fingers. In all the action and use pictures and shots, the user's hand looks as if it fits the controller perfectly, but it also appears to be the hand of a twelve year old.

Now, to just figure out how much they cost, I would love to try something else out other than the mouse, it even looks more comfortable than just normal mouse usage. My wrist wants to be in that kind of position, its just more comfortable. And when you spend this much time using a computer, little amounts of comfort become increasingly hard to find.

I'll let you know how it is if i can find it. Stay tuned.
-j

The Smell of Burning Plastic

Anyone that has used a computer in the past 20 years knows that they are finicky creatures. Hard on the wallet, and sometimes way more trouble than they are worth.

I have conquered the beast.

Any PC gamer worth his salt has wanted to build his own gaming rig at some point or another. Some pass up the opportunity to purchase a system already built, and ready to go, to avoid the hassle of operating system install nightmares, or because they come with a nice combo of monitors and other peripherals.

But it's always there, lurking in the back of your mind. That computer you wanna build. Maybe it's that ridiculously powerful processor you wanna put to the test, or that sweet clear sided case you saw with all the LED's and said, "Hey, I can do that."

I've had the dream for quite a number of years. Since the requirements on EverQuest increased to astronomical amounts of RAM, for its time, to display all the character models. I was running a 350Mhz Pentium 2 at the time, that was the computer my dad had purchased for the family to use. I had added a Voodoo2 3d card, the kind that had to be coupled with a 2d display card to work, and scrounged up enough extra RAM to make it actually run nice. But I wanted more. I wanted faster, bigger, better.

The dream has seen many platforms over the years, from the boom of the AMD chips at the turn of the millennium, to Intel's triumphant return with the advent of the dual core processors. From ATI's charge into the forefront of GPU chips, to nVidia's quiet and resolute steadiness. From DVD readers, to CD burners, to DVD burners, to Blueray burners. And everything in between.

Since this year, my girlfriend and I will be sharing a house, that will also be purchased this year, I thought that before she was down here to tell me no, would be the perfect time to make the dream finally come to life. So I started doing my homework.

Sadly, the end all be all of performance was an unattainable goal, I don't have that much money to blow on a computer, not to mention the current state of the economy, and my current job status, it would be financially irresponsible. And as the son of a lifetime banker, I have had my share of "talks" about financial responsibility. So this computer was going to have to be built on the relative cheap. The rebate check I was receiving, coupled with my actual income tax return, would be more than enough to get me where I wanted to be, performance wise.

The Specs

I went to the site I've trusted for every piece of computer hardware I've ever ordered, TigerDirect. These are the parts I chose.

• Ultra Grid Case - This was not my first choice for a case, but quickly became so. It's design and layout work very well, and the two 120mm fans that are built in are very quiet. The black satin finish is smooth and beautiful, my only regret it my budget didn't have any room in it for parts that light up, but there is always the future.
• nVidia 680i LT Motherboard - I picked the XFX version of this board because, instead of the heatpipes running across it to the chipsets on the board, it just has two built in fans. This may not displace heat as well as the pipes, but the pipes are known for getting in the way more often than not and the added heat displacement of the pipes wasn't necessary for me, because I didn't plan on overclocking, at least not initially. The 680i LT itself was chosen for its 1333mhz front side bus, thus working at full capacity with the processor I had picked out..
• Intel E6550 Dual Core Processor - This processor packs the biggest punch in the smallest size. It's performance is rated equal to a 3.0 ghz dual core, with the 1066mhz front side bus. It's lower price tag was attractive as well as its user reviews. And I can tell you first hand, this chip is way fast.
• nVidia 9600 GT Video Card - Again, I chose XFX for my card, for two reasons. It matched the maker of the motherboard, so I would imagine it would be more inclined to work correctly, and the last three video cards I've owned were XFX, and they have definitely stood up to the test of time. The 9600 chipset was picked because it performed at almost twice the speed of the 8600gt chipset, my first choice, and was only about $20 more.
• oCz Dual Channel DDR2 SLI Ready Memory - I picked DDR2 over DDR3 because of price / performance ratio. DDR3 just hasn't proven to be enough of a difference over 2 to warrant the price increase. SLI ready, as the rest of the unit, allows me to add a second Video Card in the future, to ensure my PC can run Crysis 2.
  

The other parts were just personal preference, although I did pick a SATA DVD burner and a SATA hard disk for increased speed. I highly recommend a modular power supply because it cuts down on cable clutter inside the case. My motherboard, case, and power supply came together in a bare-bone kit, which kept the price lower, and offered me a 700w power supply so I have plenty of room to expand in the future.

It had been a while since my last assemble. Since the new technology was AGP and DDR. So, I was a bit out of sorts on some things, but it's more or less like putting together a big puzzle, things can only go in one place, and only go in one way.

First Impression

So, everything is put together, installed, and running. I downloaded a demo of Crysis, since it seems to be the benchmark everyone knows, as well as my first PC game purchase that wasn't a MMORPG in two years, or better, Sins of a Solar Empire.

First up was the online version of the 3d Mark test. My older computer had ran this and scored about 1200, so I had expected a score around 5-6k. The test came back about 9,500 - 9,800. I figured this couldn't be right, so I ran it again, thinking maybe somehow Mozilla Firefox had fudged it up. Exact same result.

Then, I installed Sins. This game is not the graphical monster that Crysis is, there is not nearly that much detail anywhere on it. But the sheer scale of the game is what ups its resource usage. I conquered an entire galaxy of planets, with each system having a fleet of ships in it, with no slowdown, at all. It ran so smoothly I was convinced my old computer would run it. The disk took itself out of the old comp's drive, laughed at me, and climbed back into the box.

I wasn't convinced. Crysis time. 1200x1024 res, which is the most my monitor can handle sadly, and settings on high. 55-60 fps through the whole demo. And believe me when I say I tried to slow it down. It ran beautifully. The detail in this game is truly something to behold, and you should all experience it if you can.

Last test, 3dMark '06. First two tests ran beautifully, the CPU tests however, were obviously a strain on the processor, and the last two tests again ran amazingly. This told me the real performer in this box was the GPU. Total score of 9776. Which was just 300 points shy of the "common system" they have listed, whose processor and GPU cost about $300-$400 more total than my setup.

All in all, I am extremely pleased. It looks good, runs good, and has renewed my confidence in the do-it-yourself market for PC's. Possibly even igniting a desire to start building machines on the side, custom specs, for people who are wanting the bang of a good machine, without the equal bang on the wallet. We'll see how that goes though, but for now, I'll see you in TF2.

-j

ZA raids every night this week!

World of Warcraft, my contempt of thee is great. So, you can obviously look at the date on this post, and the date on the last post made, or the last post I made, and notice that there has been a considerable lapse of contribution for quite some time. There is one simple word to explain all of this,

RAIDING

Leading a guild in WoW (World of Warcraft, for the one person out there that hasn't played it) was one of the most rewarding and worst decisions of my entire life. Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed the game, as evident by the amount of time I spent doing it. I'll spare you the gritty details, as I'm sure anyone that's played any MMORPG since EverQuest, has already experienced many times over. But the game does something to people, it changes them, makes them slaves to its design. I quit Everquest so long ago, because at a certain point, the only advancement that could be gained came very slowly, at the expense of whole days, weekends, or evenings. The initial draw and attraction to WoW was its free form style, ability to solo, and just general easy play style. I started on the advice of Gordon, much in the same way I started playing EverQuest, and began playing. I switched servers a lot, factions, and characters trying to find that niche I so desperately was looking for to consume the next year of my life. I got numerous friends interested, and they passed the word along to some of their friends, and so on and so forth until a small gaming army of us emerged. But I still wasn't hooked, play time was sporadic, and I was still very much a lowbie. A year ago, in March, my brother and I created a guild. It was a throwback and an homage to people I played with long ago, in my EverQuest days. We grew and progressed, lost and gained members. I found my wonderful girlfriend, who lived 800 miles away, and that became an additional draw to the World of Warcraft. Many hours a week were spent online, doing things for the good of the guild, enjoying the company of friends, all progressing toward a common goal. Then it happened.

I started us raiding. We were a small guild, mostly clumps of real life friends, brought together by this that or the other. Things were great, we raided Karazhan under my leadership, and in five weeks time had managed to kill every boss contained therein. It was time to start moving forward.

But the demands on my time, as well as a few of my other closest friends were becoming to strenuous. Some very outspoken members of the guild, who were very close friends of mine, and people I got involved in the game, wanted to start raiding more, more nights a week, more time during the week. For some of us, these demands were impossible, but we tried anyways. Speaking only for myself, my average sleep per night was down to about four hours, and my job was suffering. My attitude waned because of lack of sleep, I became short tempered and easy to anger because I felt as though it was all my fault.

I decided to take a two week vacation. The raids were planned, and their leaders were already set. Even some leadership members had suggested I take a break. I actually had a good reason to take some time off too, the first week was spent studying for a test I was required to take to get an interview at the employer I was trying to get hired by, and the second week was to be spent with my girlfriend, as she came in from out of town for her spring break. By the end of the first week, some people who had previously been good friends of mine, started their same old song and dance. Bad-mouthing me, trying to tear the guild apart from the inside. I always knew they would do it again, I just didn't expect it so soon.

It's hurtful to be betrayed by your friends, for any reason. But when it's for loot in a video game, that's just despicable. The sad part is, the game does this to everyone. Such emphasis is placed on the value of gear, and the need to be better than everyone else, that even family members can come to blows over something so trivial as a few lines of code, and a different appearance on a virtual avatar. I decided that night, when I received the fourth phone call about my so called friends bashing of me, my brother, my girlfriend, and generally anyone else that was associated with me, that I was done with World of Warcraft forever. The people that play the game, in the general sense, are the kind of people that make all games online un-fun, at some point or another.

I've been clean for two months now. Do I miss it, sometimes, yes I miss the game. But I think that has more to do with it being the primary source of interaction between me and my girlfriend for so long, that once it was gone, we didn't know how to behave to each other. We sit around a lot, and we remember good times we had on there together, and wish we still played. But I always remember what it does to people, and I boot up Warcraft 3, or Half-Life 2, or City of Heroes sometimes, get my friends and my girlfriend on vent, and play games for the reason they were meant to be played. Not to show everyone how much better you are than them, but to have fun with each other, forget the stresses of the daily grind, and relax into something where the consequences are just passed time.

-j