BEARable.

The Tudors - Review

2011-06-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

When we compare the present life of man on Earth with that time of which we have no knowledge, it seems to me like a swift flight of a single sparrow through a banquet hall on a winter's day. After a few moments of comfort, he vanishes from sight into the wintry world from which he came. Even so, man appears on Earth for a little while, but of what went before this life or what will follow, we know nothing.
- King Henry VIII / The Tudors

I recently finished watching The Tudors and I love it! Now I know that a lot of liberties were taken with history and events, a lot of characters got changed around to make a better drama or some were completely removed from history in order to make the show more accessible. All of that still doesn't change that it's a great show with interesting characters set in world far more dramatic than any soap you may watch today; history is just way more complex and brutal than anything any author can come up with I believe. In my opinion the show shines because they take liberties with history and authenticity; the creators clearly focused on making the characters accessible to a modern audience with our standards/values on how a powerful, young and beautiful King should look like - something the real Henry VIII was considered in his time but by today's standards he would just be considered ugly, fat and probably uncool.

The fact that I only knew very general things of the history behind the show worked great for me because most of the executions and betrayals I did not see coming and it added a sense of dread when you realize that real plotting in these past brutal times was not based on some master plan but rather on a chaotic mess of wills that caused a lot of innocent deaths. I would also recommend anyone to do like me and read Wikipedia while watching the show to get insight into the real history behind the characters; it really feels like a punch in the stomach when you read many of these tragic fates loosing their heads/lives on a whim in a time that makes fictional shows like Game of Thrones look like civilized times. The show is also smart to occasionally be extremely accurate to history by lifting dialogue and poetry from the real people behind these events which adds a sense of depth to the events.

What I love about the show is how by retelling history in a dramatic condensed way the characters naturally become very grey and multi-layered, for example King Henry is a murdering bastard and has the blood of many innocent people on his hands, yet with others he is this loving, funny and charismatic guy that you really like despite his other murdering side. The other thing I really love is a general liking of these kind of stories, when you follow a whole life from youth to old age and seeing what relationships remain (the reason Merlin 1998 ruled), in the end I really ended up feeling sorry for King Henry because so many people were dead and he was this sickly old man; a contrast that hits you when in Season One he is a very young, positive, idealistic, healthy man. Finally I also want to give the show credit for the handling of the Protestant vs Catholic conflict because I ended up sympathies and feeling infuriated with both sides at the same time.

The Tudors really is a show with many flaws (costumes, inaccuracies, dramatic license with supernatural elements etc.) but at the same time the cast has made these characters come to life in a way that it made me feel extremely sad when the show ended. I simply realized that I would miss Henry, Charles Brandon, Mary Tudor and the others and that if anything is a sign of a show that I can recommend. It's a show that starts of slowly (Season One being the weakest) and just keeps getting better and better with each season. Now I hunger for more shows set in this exciting time period but all I'm left with is The Borgias - The Subway of TV shows and that makes me sad beyond words. So if you're looking for an exciting show set in a time filled with intrigue, backstabbing, a lot of sex and some really touching scenes and moments then you should definitely check out The Tudors. I give you my blessing.

Why I'm a PC gamer...

2011-06-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

I'm mainly a PC gamer and damn proud of it, especially now past this E3 and seeing the three major console manufacturers abandon more and more of what I consider core gaming with silly "cinematic" games that play themselves, series with complex gameplay being reduced to simple action games and being called "improved", where immersion is considered using whacky gimmick controllers to look like an idiot while sacrificing gameplay precision, not to mention calling 3D being the next step in graphics when it's running in 560p and 30FPS where as I run most of my PC games in 1080p and 60+FPS with field of view that doesn't look like I'm wearing blinders.

I've come to believe that consoles are silly locked systems that work with some genres but for the general core experience I think that any core game would fit much better on the PC with it's higher graphic fidelity, moddablity that allows you to customize most details of your game, and finally that it's an open system that encourages innovation and has always been known to push the boundaries. I'll point out that countless series that are huge on consoles today had their start on the PC platform, either as series or the developers started there, games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, Bioware, Rockstar, Epic Games the list goes on.

So in today's multiplatfrom climate where sadly the PC doesn't get to be lead platform that often anymore, it still baffles me how many of the best multiplat games end up having the best version on the PC. I can understand that PC lead platform games shine above the rest because of the push in technology the PC represents. However even games that were released in a gimped consolized form on the PC, such as Mass Effect 2 below for example, end up modded and improved with the result being that the console version looks worse than the PC counterpart.

PC version with texture mods:

Default PC/Console version:

However I want to talk about the real PC exclusives or lead platform games with this blog entry - the games that really shine on the PC platform so to say. I want to educate people what PC games look like today and how far ahead they generally tend to be compared to consoles when it comes to tech and graphics. I also want to mention that contrary to common belief you can connect your Xbox/PS3 controller to a PC and your PC to your 50" 1080p HDTV and have most of the console experience at home (if not all) if you have a preference for playing in your sofa; a culture I might add that rapidly seems to be dying on the consoles for which it was created due to the insane push towards gimicky (motion) controllers. So let me demonstrate why the PC blows me away with a few select games and the screenshots I took which of course are all in-game. Enjoy!

Screenshots Powered by GOD Itachi:
Intel Core i5 CPU 750 @ 3,00 GHz
4,00 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz
2x Radeon HD 5850 1 GB @ CrossFire
500 GB HDD by Western Digital 7200RPM
Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate

Crysis:

Metro 2033:

Portal 2:

Empire: Total War:

The Witcher 2:

BioShock Infinite E3 2011 Teaser

2011-06-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

BioShock Infinite is an upcoming first-person shooter video game, and the third game in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games for a 2012 release on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. BioShock Infinite is not a direct sequel or prequel to previous BioShock games, taking place in an earlier period and different setting, though it features similar gameplay concepts and themes. The player controls a former Pinkerton agent, Booker DeWitt, as he attempts to rescue a woman trapped aboard the collapsing air-city Columbia in 1912.

Irrational Games is at E3 and they're demoing their current project BioShock Infinite, which comes out next year. They released this teaser trailer composed entirely from gameplay footage and I must say that this is looking like another masterpiece in progress from Ken Levine - the mind behind the System Shock games. What has me worried watching this is that it seems to good to be true, the amount of freedom and how large the areas appear with the seemingly insane amount of badass moments leaves me worried that this is just too ambitious to actually live up to it's vision. Still I simply adore the art direction which to me is on a different level compared to the dank and dark Rapture from the first BioShock; and then there is nothing more creepy than creepy stuff happening in broad daylight located in a place that looks like an utopian vision of the American Dream and patriotism.

Battlefield 3 - Shooter of the Year

2011-06-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching EA's E3 conference and I am left blown away by the PC version of Battlefield 3 shown. Not only is it the best looking game I've seen to date (Yes, it makes Crysis look old!) but the tech appears to have been used in such a way to further the gameplay. I was also left feeling nostalgic about the time when I played Battlefield 1942 back in the day with huge battles containing 64 players, vehicles and how all of that was extremely impressive back in the day. Now today I got to relive those feelings in seeing Battlefield 3 and the push in technology that it clearly represents. It's something I've been missing for the past year in gaming - seeing technology used to further the experience and immersion. The game looked like a movie during a few select scenes for Christ's sake and I am now praying that my computer will be able to run it at an impressive setting or this might just be the game that will make me upgrade.

It's especially amusing with this presentation because I was watching the Modern Warfare 3 presentation on Microsoft's conference a few hours ago and being struck with how rehashed it appeared and looked almost exactly like the previous games (since 2007!!!). Now I am baffled at how old and silly Modern Warfare looks compared to what I saw of Battlefield 3 - it just appears to be a game from another level or even next generation of gaming. I can only hope Battlefield destroys Modern Warfare's hold on shooters today so we can have a higher level of quality from now on. Still I think that might be hard because it looks like the game will require a beast of a PC to play it on the settings shown at this conference and that kind of narrows down the audience if the console versions don't end up beings just as impressive on their platforms. I will say that today on National Day of Sweden it is appropriate that the Swedish pride developers DICE are really representing and showing that they have joined a select group of elite developers. Cheers!

Frostbite 2 Engine - Features Trailer
"Thunder Run" - Single Player Gameplay Trailer
"Operation Metro" - Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer

Dark Souls E3 Trailer

2011-06-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

New amazing trailer for Dark Souls which is now my most anticipated game of the year after the release of Portal 2, Witcher 2 and the delay of The Last Guardian. Then again we'll see in a few days what E3 has to offer to get me excited. In the meanwhile my excitement for Dark Souls assures me of a bright gaming fall/winter. Thoughts on the trailer are that I like that they seem to be focusing on delivering a more fleshed out dark and melancholy story this time around compared to Demon's Souls, but the main thing that excites me is the atmosphere and the eerie dark fantasy world that the game radiates. I simply love the real-looking functional armors and weapons combined with monsters that look like they've been pulled out of the manga Berserk (read it if you have the Gutts) and the resulting gritty bleak world that this seems to create.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Impressions

2011-05-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

I'm currently playing Witcher 2 even though I really don't have the time since I should be focusing on my studies, still I couldn't help dedicating a few hours this Friday and Saturday to the game. I'm currently in Act I (three acts total) and so far the game has been superb. It's a lot more polished than the first game and the graphics have been insane - and I'm not just talking about graphics but the amount of detail in character models and environments can at times be staggering. It's such an immersive world because of how the graphics are used to push the beautiful artstyle as you can see in the screenshot I took above and I'm not even maxing the game graphically because it's a beast, but I'm still very satisfied in the visual results I've been getting.

Otherwise the story so far has been really interesting and I like how politically loaded it feels, it adds an edge to it because everything feels grey and I find it very hard to decide who to trust and believe in at times. The decisions so far have been few but I'm glad they seem to go the route where I'll have to take the consequences much further into the game. When it comes to the gameplay I feel that the fighting system is greatly improved since the first game but it does feel a bit awkward in the beginning before you get into it. The quests so far have been good and I appreciate that they let you be a badass in even the simplest side quest missions and going on routine monster killing missions can turn into something extra because of the powerful graphics engine - like when I wandered around the forest of Flotsam and night fell and it felt almost like a horror movie running around killing monsters in a forest during the night.

If I have any complaints so far it's that the game is noticeably developed by a small somewhat inexperienced team with not the greatest budget behind them - there are sections that don't quite have the polish that they deserve such as the voice and lip synch, the audio in general could have been better mixed, some clipping issues that can really get annoying in combat when your sword doesn't always connect with enemy, and lots of small annoyances in the design such as not being able to go from inventory to character screen but having to exit back to the game and into a new screen. These small blemishes detract from the game but the greatness that has been achieved here still keeps me glued to further explore this beautiful world and intriguing story.

The Aviator

2011-05-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

I recently re-watched The Aviator by Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes and I can't believe that I've all but forgotten about this pearl of a movie. I find it to be an extremely inspirational movie and Howard Hughes seems like the ultimate kind of crazy guy to tell off all the average naysayers of the world. It also a very funny movie which is gold in the genre we call drama; especially since the movie at times gives me One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vibes because of all the crazy stuff. In fact I like this Scorsese/Leo collaboration a lot more than the recent Shutter Island, mostly because it doesn't rely as much on atmosphere and setting, instead it focuses on telling select parts of an interesting life story. I recommend everyone to check this movie out since I really get the sense that this is an overlooked movie that deserves more attention.

Exquisite Vector Posters

2011-03-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon these Vector Movie Posters by Grzegorz Domaradzks a while back and I've been meaning to share them for a while now since they are absolutely stunning. This man is unbelievably skilled in Illustrator and Photoshop. The results, as you can see for yourselves, are exquisite displays of talent, as well as a profound understanding of the spirit of the different films depicted. My favorites are Blade Runner and Mulholland Drive but these small samples don't do them any justice, so I urge everyone to click the links below and behold these in beautiful high resolution.

+ Vector Movie Posters vol.1
+ Vector Movie Posters vol.2

My Most Anticipated Games 2011

2011-03-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

The current year of 2011 is looking really spectacular for all of us gamers, with so many great games coming out that I probably won't be able to buy half of them, so I thought it would be appropriate to list the ones I absolutely can't wait to get my paws upon. Unlike last time I made a list like this I'm going to keep this list short with the absolute top games I want to try out, this does not mean I'm not interested in playing other great upcoming games left off this short list, games such a Battlefield 3, L.A. Noire, Shogun II: Total War, Batman: Arkham City, Mass Effect 3, Uncharted 3, RAGE etc. All of these games look great in their own way but since I'm an old bored gamer I've left my list exclusive to games which appear to be doing something intriguing and special.

Click images to see trailers.

Team Ico's neverending project is still my most anticipated games and even though the development has been covered in secrecy, every time a new piece of information is presented the game seems to be heading in the right direction. There is not much to say that I haven't said last time I put it on a similar list, but I guess I can repeat some of it. This game looks absolutely magical and reminiscent of the innocent creative experiences only possible in one's childhood. It simply looks unique and unlike any game I have seen attempted, except for other Team Ico games, and I guess that's what gets me so excited. The only worry cloud about this are the reports of trouble in development, but it's not something I really worry about since it's a Team Ico game and while they haven't made many games they also haven't made a bad game yet. I think Fumito Ueda is to gaming what Hayao Miyazaki is for animation and they are both needed in their respective formats, now more than ever since creativity seems attacked from all fronts these days. I think that many years from now when gaming actually becomes accepted as a legitimate artistic format we will talk about these games as the forerunners, rather than most of the big sellers of today's gaming.

Demon's Souls is my favorite game this gen, it was bold and broke most of the rules established in recent years when it comes to games and game design, mainly it's a great example of a game based around a single idea - an uncompromising vision that despite flaws took me on a ride I haven't felt in years when it comes to games. Dark Souls is looking to really earn the title of "spiritual successor" to Demon's Souls, it's looking beautiful but mainly it's looking to expand on things that made Demon's Souls great. The developers have mentioned that the game might be even harder than it's spiritual predecessor, a more open world has been established for greater exploration, and the whole thing just oozes atmosphere and a solid refined dark fantasy world. I'm getting the Deluxe Edition once again on day one if the developers manage to pull a game like this for a second time.

Speaking of role-playing games the sequel to The Witcher is also looking absolutely stunning. I never got into the original game because I had issues running it as well as the world having some juvenile elements such as collecting naked cards and other quirks that I found did a disservice to the otherwise great dark fantasy world. Don't get me wrong however, I do feel sexual content is appropriate in a dark fantasy game but not in the silly form of collecting cards with daring pictures of your conquests. Now with the sequel it seems like the developers are making a game truly built on the strengths of the PC with unbelievable art-direction and graphics that look to make this the best looking role-playing game this coming year. This game as a whole shines brightly in the coming year judging by all the preview material which has only made me more and more excited. I think these guys are close to pushing Bioware off the role-playing throne, and I at least will not be surprised if they succeed judging by how laughable Dragon Age II looks compared to this.

The first Deus Ex from 1999 is among my absolute favorite games of all time. It was a unique mixture of genres in a world filled to the brim with darkness and conspiracy - an unforgettable game many years ahead of its time. This sequel/prequel to the first game is not being developed by the same studio as the first two games; which is a bit concerning I must admit. However everything I've seen from them and this game has helped ease me into actually believing that they might just pull off making a great sequel to one of the best games ever made. I get the distinct feeling that these guys actually get it, they get what Deus Ex is all about, while at the same time bringing the game design up to today's standards. My only fear are the few reports that the game is still buggy, something which I'm really hoping will not be a problem upon time of release.

Another sequel in a year filled with them, however picking on this sequel as unimaginative would be pretty crazy considering all the information that has been shown to date. It looks to take the tech-demo status of the first Portal and actually make a huge and great game from that basic idea. So far this looks to be an actual puzzle game being given a huge budget because the production values shown so far have really appeared to be amazing with the lab test chambers literally being constructed around the player. I expect that I will once again be getting a headache from a game that will make me think too hard with it's often time confusing and extensive puzzles. What worries me about the game is the inclusion of co-op multiplayer gameplay, since I'm not sure puzzle games are a greatest setting for such modes, but as long as it doesn't affect the single player I'll be satisfied.

I guess this is something of a wild card, to be excited about a downloadable small art game but it's being developed by thatgamecompany - the studio which brought us FLOW and Flower. These games were more experiences rather than games and they really made me feel something new which is worth thousands of hours from a normal run of the mill game, at least to a bored gamer like me it is. The trailer for Journey has reassured me that this studio is going to deliver another great experience that I won't soon forget. The world looks more lonesome and melancholy in this game, but beautifully constructed and the idea of exploring it together online with another person is somehow appealing to me - but I guess that last depends on the company you choose to take your journey with. Simply put, this just looks special and unique and I'm looking forward to my journey.

Killzone 3 Single Player - Impressions

2011-03-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

Killzone 2 is among my absolute favorite shooter this entire generation. It had some flaws however, like the minimal mostly uninteresting story, the few glitches here and there - such as hiccups and sometimes really long loading times. On the other hand it remains a fine example of a game being based around a single idea and approaching that idea in an almost perfect manner; the heavy sluggish controls everyone keeps complaining about I considered absolutely brilliant since they did what I think should be done to make first-person shooters on a console relevant - they were slower and slowed down the entire game and as a result we got some really methodic and brutal gameplay that erased the idea of "auto-aim" from a console shooter once and for all. It was a beautiful console game with a great art-direction and it was among the most intense, dark and horrible war experiences since the first Gears of War.

So you could imagine my excitement when I got my hands on Killzone 3 a week ago. I already knew the graphics had been improved but wouldn't impress me as much as last time around because the game is just not as a big of a leap as Killzone 2. I had also seen that the reviews weren't too happy with the story but I didn't pay that much mind since like I said; the previous game didn't exactly win any Writers Guild Awards two years ago. But none of these things disappointed me as much as the so called "gameplay improvements" that had been done to the campaign. I will give them some things which I found had been made better, I liked the slide mechanic, I also really loved the new sounds of guns blasting and some of the locations were exciting visually, but the biggest praise I can give the game is that despite being disappointed in it I ended up having a lot fun during large portions of the game with its basic gameplay.

However the game remains disappointing mainly because it feels like Guerrilla Games lost faith in their own vision - the vision and the world that they so well realized in the second game. I guess my biggest complaint with Killzone 3 is that it feels like a game made by Sony "Suits" and not by the great and passionate developers at Guerrilla Games. It's a game that has listened to all the expert critiques of the world that disliked the previous game, and completely ignored the fanbase of mentioned previous game who loved it and the way it separated from other games in a first-person shooter genre that has become increasing stale lately. We the fans of the second game suddenly got a game that feels more like a sci-fi spin-off Call of Duty game - with faster gameplay and shooting mechanics with auto-aim (on by default), a jumping storyline around different locations, huge set-piece moments every cutscene and a storyline delivered under the serious prolonged impression that it is interesting.

It's basically the definition of a game with an identity crisis and it's really sad that people like me who bought Killzone 2 for the exact reason to avoid twitchy retarded gameplay of a Call of Duty shooter are now being forced to play such a shooter in a Killzone game. I can imagine how the Suits from Sony had a field day with this game because it got put in line to appeal to the Call of Duty mass audience, and many of the other additions feel like pure business decisions made by Sony execs to push the many different hardware projects of theirs - PlayStation Move support, 3D-TV support. I get the distinct feeling that too many chefs were at work behind this game and that the soul of Killzone has been severely harmed by these design decisions. Because we now have a world that feels very inconsistent; the countless on-rain elements (probably for the sake of Move), the fact that Helghan all of a sudden has many different environments, lots of colour and is no longer the industrial hellhole which I learned to love, the fact that the Helghast all of a sudden have the most advanced technology known to man in the blink of an eye when in the previous game they were the sci-fi version of a decaying Soviet Union.

The list can be made long on why this game disappointed me but I think it's sufficient to say that it's just sad that another game was stripped down of the many elements which made it unique and interesting in the first place, and instead we have been delivered another run of the mill shooter with very few things that make it stand out. A big part of me hopes that this experiment fails on the sales front and that Guerrilla Games gets their chance to return to the root of the series with a hellish battlefield gameplay in the future and none of this trendy cinematic hold-your-hand watered down bullshit that's attempting to copy the shitty Hollywood. Oh, and I want to deliver one last complaint, while I loved Uncharted 2 and it was a great game and I can understand why Guerrilla is looking up to their achievement, I still think it's completely inappropriate that a Killzone game sports such a similar main menu theme music as an Uncharted game. It's sad though because the game is still good despite these shortcomings but that only makes it worse somehow; there is just too much lost potential I guess because the game could have been one of the best games this year.

Boardwalk Empire Title Sequence

2010-09-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

The cool opening sequence for Boardwalk Empire - a new time piece crime drama from HBO that chronicles the life of Nucky Thompson, the undisputed ruler of Atlantic City, who was equal parts politician and gangster during the prohibition in the 1920s.

The Last Guardian Official TGS 2010 Trailer

2010-09-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

New trailer for The Last Guardian, from Tokyo Game Show 2010. I'm so damn excited for this game but also so very pissed that it's taking them so long to finish it. I was hoping I'd be playing it this holiday but it looks like I'll have to wait until next year.

Title: The Last Guardian
Genre: Adventure
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: SCE Studio Japan
Release Date: Q4 2011
Exclusively on: PlayStation 3

Mad Men - The Carousel

2010-09-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

Nostalgia – it’s delicate, but potent. . . . ‘Nostalgia’ literally means ‘the pain from an old wound.’ It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a spaceship; it’s a time machine. It goes backwards, forwards. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called the wheel; it’s called the carousel. It let’s us travel the way a child travels – around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know we are loved.

The reason Mad Men is my favorite TV series is mainly because the show is filled with scenes that really stand out; I guess it would be more accurate to call them moments. These moments usually come from nowhere and can make a good episode great in just a few seconds. One pattern that has emerged however as the show has progressed is that every season finale to date has featured one or more of these true Mad Men moments.

"The Wheel" as the season one finale episode is called is still to this date my favorite episode from the show, largely thanks to the scene above. The first season is really special because everything was still new and mysterious, but what I think really set it apart was the sense that the writers were unsure whatever or not they would be coming back for another season, so it really felt like they weren't holding back at all when it came to the story.

So I guess it's natural that season one has many of my favorite episodes from the show and is literally filled with great scenes and moments. None of them are equal to the scene above, in which our protagonist Don Draper pitches a campaign to Kodak for their new line of "wheel projectors" - the projectors ended up being renamed "Kodak Carousel Slide Projectors" and this scene speculates how that could have happened.

Instead of focusing on reinventing "the wheel" in a modern way as Kodak higher-ups suggested, Don decides on a nostalgic pitch where the projector becomes more than just another new piece of modern technology and instead becomes "a time machine". A carousel of memories that takes us on a ride to the different places and moments in our lives. This whole scene is made even more powerful because Don uses his own personal family photos to pitch his campaign to the executives.

Don's blatant longing for his family and the clear ache of separation / isolation that he feels towards them really is heartbreaking and sealed Mad Men as the best drama series on television for me. However this scene is especially poignant to me personally, because now years later I still watch the scene from time to time and I actually feel the emotion that Don Draper must be feeling in it. I've lost some important people in my life these last couple of years and I can feel myself aching to go back again, to that place / time where I knew I was loved.

I have recently noticed this shift in perspective that I have experienced as I've followed the show, more and more I am relating to Don Draper rather than Pete Campbell when I'm watching new as well as old episodes. My life has been turning for the better in these past few years, despite the sad things, and my success actually seems feasible and almost certain at this point. However at the same time I have the distinct feeling that a lot of what was originally me had to be sacrificed to get to this point.

I just hope there is more redemption in my life, compared to the life of Don Draper.

Boardwalk Empire

2010-09-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

I love HBO, or more specifically I love HBO one-hour dramatic television series. In the past I've rested by button eyes on Oz, Rome, Deadwood, The Sopranos and now I'm currently following The Wire (I know, I'm late.) and True Blood. All brilliant TV shows in their own way. Especially The Sopranos, and since then I haven't gotten quite the same fix of a great gritty crime show focusing on a crime perspective of the story.

However it looks like in exactly one week my wish is about to be fulfilled and I've been waiting eagerly since I first heard about it this summer; I'm of course talking of HBO's latest project which really seems to be shaping up to be something extraordinary. Boardwalk Empire is a new original TV series from HBO about 1920s mafia activities in Atlantic City and the reason I'm so stoked is because of the gentlemen involved.

Martin Scorsese has produced and directed the pilot episode of the Boardwalk Empire, and he is expected to continue to be creatively involved in the ongoing production. Add to this script by Terence "The Sopranos" Winter, Steve Buscemi (Fargo) and Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) in leading roles and set design / costume that has cost more than the entire production budget of all four seasons of Dexter - and you have a series that I would not miss for all the honey in the world.

The series begins in 1920, when America is facing major changes. Alcohol Prohibition, The Great War is over, Wall Street is about to boom, a time of social change when women are getting the vote etc. Atlantic City seems to be filled with corruption, murder, beatings, promiscuous women and classy outfits. I think it's going to take a lot for me not to end up loving what appears to be another success heading our way from HBO. Will it become the next Sopranos? We'll just have to wait and see.

Boardwalk Empire Promo #1
Boardwalk Empire Promo #2
Boardwalk Empire Promo #3

Just Do It.

2010-09-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

Nike feat. Oscar Pistorius - Bad Listener.
Nike feat. Oscar Pistorius - This Is How I Fight.

Speaking of great advertising, I've been meaning to blog about one of the best ad-campaigns and slogans of all time for a while now, as you might suspect I'm referring to Nike's "Just Do It." slogan and the general idea in their advertising that come along with it. You can tell that the slogan carries weight from the simple fact that Nike has stuck with it for the past twenty years, and since companies don't run on charity it is a pretty good indicator that it's getting the job done. And why wouldn't it? It's advertising based on pure emotion and actually throws a direct competitive challenge to anyone viewing these ads, which can only be right and appropriate for a company so associated with different sports.

Nike are regularly brilliant at advertising and there are many classic ads over the years that have come from them, they have a smart strategy of repeating their mantra over and over again while at the same time associating their brand with new and hot sports and the different top level athletes found in these sports. The ad above is one of my favorite Nike ads of all time, it has come in a few different versions thought the years. Oscar Pistorius is simply inspirational and epic-looking despite his disability, the fact that the disability is barely acknowledged at all is telling, there is no shred of pity for him anywhere in the ad. However the strength of this ad is not Oscar's great achievements, the strength is that the ad challenges you to strive and be the best that you can be.

Looking at the ad above I instantly get an urge to go running and all excuses of why I shouldn't or silly doubts about why I can't are made to sound ridiculous and petty. And that is why these ads are so effective, they are clean, emotional and they associate with the best within all of us. I'm personally a big fan of positive advertising and Nike have here managed to associate their brand with the one trait humanity can actually be proud of; the ability to overcome. I've grown up with their slogan and their ads, and from personal experience I feel that they have worked on me for I now aspire for the day when I'll own my own quality Nike running shoes. I will associate it with my own success. I can do more and I can do better, and so can all of us. I want to believe in the best of us and not the ugly and the low. Just do it.

House - Season 7

2010-09-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

House season 7 starts in just a few weeks and judging by the promos, the tagline "Love/sick.", as well as the summary for the season opening episode have made me cringe and decide not to tune in. When I started watching House it was probably one of the boldest shows on television and I could never have imagined it would sink to the hotchpotch mess of the past few seasons. Still, I remained a loyal viewer for the sole reason of Hugh Laurie's brilliant portrayal of House, but even that no longer seems to keep me interested. The story lost any idea of going somewhere a long time ago and the writer have sunk to the level of just delivering fan service these days, House as a character has become a caricature of the quirky genius from the early seasons, but the main issue I have with the show is it's terrible attempt at becoming a multi-character drama like Mad Men, with the result reminding me of some bad soap opera. House used to be my favorite show when I first started watching it and it really saddens me to see such a decrease in quality but at the same time I finally feel that now is the time to move on. There are better shows to watch out there and I'm no longer wasting my time for old-times sake.

Mafia II - Impressions

2010-08-31T14:56:00.000-07:00

I finally finished Mafia II a few hours ago and I am left with mixed feelings about it. Mafia II is somehow, surprisingly disappointing, and several steps below from what I expected in terms of quality, despite it's surface polish and sometimes amazing; and cinematic graphics. The main problem I have with the game is that it feels so tightly controlled and I literally felt like I was driving from one piece of the story to the next despite having a whole city to explore. It's strange because Empire Bay is a superbly crafted city and when it's at it's best you really feel the setting of vintage America - the magic allure of a more stylish time in American history. I mean let's be honest here; this is the closest I'll get to playing a game in an era so close to the style of Mad Men.

Still, I was hoping to get more interaction with the city of Empire Bay itself, to socialize with its inhabitants, to be able to enter more houses/apartments in the city and buy them, to do some side jobs outside of the story, to pick up a girl in a bar, buy her a gift, marry her, stuff that gives you the illusion of freedom outside of the otherwise strict story. Instead you get the main story, which is usually top-notch, and all you can do in between the main story missions is change clothes, drink/eat, crush cars for money and rob stores. Empire Bay is great visually and drips with a lot of atmosphere like I mentioned, but it lacks the most important details to make a fully believable picture, and quite frankly often times feels dead and empty despite looking so busy on the surface.

The other big gripe I have with the game is the story. Don't get me wrong, it's a great story in many ways and you really get attached to many of the characters. My problem comes from the fact that the story quality is so uneven and I literally felt many times throughout the game that stuff had been cut and important scenes edited out. I mean there is literally no relation or interaction with Vito's family despite him falling into crime for the sake of settling a family debt. Another example is when Vito early on in the game ends up in prison and when he finally gets out the first thing our protagonist does is to visit his friend Joe and start a new crime adventure. My question at that point was why his sister wasn't mentioned at all. The game simply feels like an initially epic story spanning decades that didn't quite make it due to troubles during a long development and things simply needed to be cut out.

And that doesn't just apply to the story because there are quite a few moments where I'm feeling like I'm playing an unfinished game, like my contacts that are suppose to have jobs for me but throughout the game keep telling me to come back later, like a phone I can pick up but there are no numbers to call, like the cabs and the public transportation that I can't use; all leave me with a sense of playing an unfinished game. It's really sad to see so much wasted potential in what I feel could have been one of the greatest games this gen. However despite all of these issues, I have to say that I had a blast finishing the game, the basic shooting and cover gameplay was satisfying as hell, the setting was amazing with a solid story, and very few things beat wearing a tailored suit with a Tommy Gun in your hands feeling like a totally badass mafioso.

Sony BRAVIA 2010

2010-08-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

BRAVIA NX800 系列 - Monolithic Design Concept
The Design Story: 2010 Sony BRAVIA HDTV

Sony's new BRAVIA HDTVs for 2010 are probably the most stylish televisions around at the moment. You might say that they are ridiculously pristine. The design is clinically clean, fresh and modern, especially on BRAVIA NX800 above with stand. I don't know how well they perform visually but if I had the money and a home to decorate, I'd definitely put one of these as the centerpiece of my living room.

Sony is a strange company, sometimes they make some of the most stylish pieces of home electronic equipment around, other times they seem to have no idea what the hell they're doing on the the design front. This time they nailed it and I can recommend everyone interested in learning about the design of the new TVs to check out the mini documentary above so they can learn about "Tatazumai". I just hope that the next PlayStation from Sony is going to be based around the same ideas when it comes to design.

Happiness...

2010-08-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

"Advertising is based on one thing, happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard on the side of the road that screams reassurance that whatever you are doing is okay. You are okay." -Don Draper

The new season of Mad Men is making me appreciate great advertising once again and the SONY BRAVIA bouncy balls commercial remains one of the most amazing works of advertising in recent memory. It's simply based on the premise of what Don Draper talks about above how advertising is based on happiness, with the addition of magic in this case.

DIRECTOR Nicolai Fuglsig
ADVERTISING AGENCY Fallon fallon.co.uk
MUSIC BY Jose Gonzalez

I need to study...

2010-08-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

But this is making it kind of hard.

Portal 2

2010-08-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

The original Portal might very well be one of the best and most creative puzzle games ever created. It was fresh, original and filled with a whole lot of dark and sarcastic humor. It felt like an indie game despite being made by one of the biggest studios around; Valve. However, despite being a great game in it's own right it did end up feeling like a little side project that Valve decided to throw out there to test their technology, making the game feel a lot like a tech-demo with a lot of soul. The other big problem I had with it was that it was a very short game and I finished it in just under four hours of gameplay. Sure, one can argue that it was priced fairly with four other games in The Orange Box but I would have exchanged all the other games in that box for more Portal.

Valve appears to be in the process of fixing all the things I just complained about with Portal 2. The ambition has really been pulled up a few notches, they are making a full-fledged game this time around, the technology seems to be really impressive with levels being built around you, the art design is awesomely sci-fi, the puzzles that have been shown have made the ones from the first game appear like grade school level, the gameplay and envirmonets are also looking much more diverse compared to the first game, and with the introduction of co-op gameplay this has quickly climbed up in my top five most anticipated games list and is looking out to turn out to be the most ambitious puzzle game that anyone has ever made. Simply put, Portal 2 is looking like a big budget indie game and that is amazing! I really can't wait to get my paws on this game next year.

Mad Men; Main Title.

2010-08-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

"Mad Men" opening sequence created by Imaginary Forces received the 2008 Emmy Award for Outstanding Title Design. AMC commented "We love the graphic Imaginary Forces opener for Mad Men: a mini-story, setting up the larger story that follows. The final frame resolution of that open - the silhouette of the back of Don Draper's head - has become the iconic image of the show: bold, clean, confident, modern, and ultimately enigmatic".

DIRECTORS Mark Gardner & Steve Fuller
STUDIO Imaginary Forces - imaginaryforces.com
MUSIC BY RJD2, "A Beautiful Mine".

The Ideal Man - Don Draper.

2010-08-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

Mad Men season four is going great, the focus on business in pretty much every episode so far is something I appreciated very much. I like that Betty has taken the backseat and the focus has been on my favorite characters, Don, Pete and Joan. Not very surprising after last season's radical redirection of the show, there have been a few episodes which have been different, but unlike the horrid experiment of episode eleven in season two these new different episodes have been solid - mostly because of some brilliant acting. The only thing missing so far this season is one of those rare episodes of absolute sheer brilliance that comes along once or twice per season on this show , I'm of course talking about episodes such as "The Wheel", "5G", "The Grown Ups", "Babylon" etc but I'm sure one of those episodes will come before the season is over, they tend to come towards the end of a season.

Still, coming fresh of from yesterday's episode I did not want this post to be about the show, I wanted a post about the man; Don Draper. Last night's episode was a great episode, for the simple reason that it was one of those episodes that had a true Don Draper moment and where he actually gets to shine and show off his immense talent. The makers of the show love to put the seed of doubt in us by making Don look like a loser once in a while and hint at his upcoming demise - both in his personal and professional life. There is always this sense that Don might become an out of touch dinosaur any episode now, that he will finally snap from all the pressure in his life and that he'll go the route of the opening sequence of the show and jump of a building. However, every single time Don comes around and shows everyone why he's so highly regarded among everyone in the business and why advertising is in his blood.

It has almost become tradition for this show since the first episode to put Don in a situation where the audience is clearly suppose to think that he's finished and then in one scene things change and one of those Don Draper subtle moments ensues where his insight just leaves everyone speechless; both viewer and characters on the show. I often think that Pete Campbell is my spiritual representative among the characters on the show, and like him I live with the hope of one day achieving what Don Draper has; I'm talking the level of respect he gets in his field of work of course. It's pretty strange that my biggest work role model is this damaged, chain smoking, alcoholic, who often times has obvious problems keeping his life together. I guess this is just the kind of character that I can relate to, because I to come from a messed up past and seek redemption through my career. I just hope that one day I'll look as good in a suit as Don Draper does.

Thom Yorke, "Harrowdown Hill".

2010-08-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

DIRECTOR Chel White
STUDIO Bent Image Lab - bentimagelab.com
MUSIC BY Thom Yorke

Inception - Blu-ray, plz?

2010-08-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Like most people who like movies I recently watched and enjoyed Christopher Nolan's Inception and since then I've been a little impatient about the long wait for the blu-ray release of the movie. I expect that it will be arriving around Xmas; which is the silver lining since I can just wish for it from Santa.

The main reason for this impatience is not because it's the best movie of the year so far, nor is it because like the rest of Nolan's films I'm expecting it to get better with each additional viewing, nor is it because I want to complete my Nolan collection. These are all good reasons but for me the main reason is because of the terrible cinema experience I had watching this in my small hometown.

The switching of reels was disastrous with loss of sound and at one point an entire scene disappeared. It couldn't really detract from the film since it was still a great movie but I am starting to think that blu-ray has spoiled me a bit too much. I actually wondered if there was something wrong with my eyes since I found the image a but too blurry; I still don't know if it was the staff not doing their job correctly or if I've just grown too comfortable with an HD resolution when watching movies.

It doesn't help that I have the trailers in HD resolution and love watching them over and over again in their pristine glory. I can already tell (or maybe sense is the right term) that the movie will be one of those reference blu-ray releases just like The Prestige was in the beginning when the format was still young. It's just too bad that I don't have an awesome 60 inch plasma for the awesome visuals and a good surround sound system for the great sound production with the amazing Hans Zimmer score. I guess I'll go back to sulking and waiting for my future copy.

Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 has character.

2010-08-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

The original Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm for the PS3 is surprisingly my favorite fighting game this gen, it was very easy to get into and satisfying to play from the get go, but underneath the very basic gameplay mechanics there was a mine of things you could do to make it so much deeper if you were just a little creative. I can still turn it on to this day and fight a few fights as my favorite character Itachi. I am no longer a fan of Naruto but I still love how these games manage to capture the feel of the anime and actually sometimes look even better. The only real downer of the first game for me was the fact that you had to play the story to unlock characters for the fighting part of the game.

Now I haven't really been that excited about the sequel Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 since the big news in the past trailers seemed to be that it was only set with Shippuden part of the series; a part which I'm in no way a fan of. However this new trailers has really managed to sell the game and I am now really excited. It character lineup really seems to be something special with "over 40" playable characters and the game seems to contain all of my favorites from the series; such as Itachi and Sasori. Not to mention that the presentation seems to have been pulled up a notch as well as a deeper looking gameplay. I am not really a Naruto fan anymore but I'll always be an Itachitard and once again these developers seem to have a good idea on how to do the series and the characters justice. It may not be a day one buy for me but it looks like this will certainly end up in my collection eventually.

Mafia II - An offer I can't refuse.

2010-08-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

I keep replaying the Mafia II Demo and I can hardly wait for the full game which is all set and pre-ordered. I'm lucky it is getting released on the day of my first exam for the upcoming semester so I can reward myself that whole following weekend. This is simply one of those games I am really exited about, not so much because of gameplay, story or graphics, but because of the simple reason that I can become a suited up Don Draper lookalike and drive a Cadillac. There are just not many games set in a classy time/era with a heavy focus on atmosphere, so I get excited whenever there is an exception and I can suit up.

Deus Ex: Metal Gear Mass Effect Solid

2010-08-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is among my most anticipated games at the moment. Looking at the E3 trailer for the thousand time a moment ago it finally hit me why this game seems so appealing to me. It's not really because it is a sequel/prequel to one of my favorite games of all time, it's because the whole design and feel of the game footage we've seen so far reminds me earlie of Mass Effect 2 and Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots. It's almost like the two mentioned games had a child.

Adam Jensen, the hero of Deus Ex, looks a lot like a mixture of Raiden and Vamp from Metal Gear Solid and the game clearly contains mechas which adds another Metal Gear Solid vibe to the game. The city itself and how it is presented gives me strong Mass Effect 2 vibes but with less blue and more orange tones, not to mention the way Jensen holds up a guy in one of the screenshots with his gun and the way he's in looks in cover reminiscent me of my time with Commander Shepherd in Mass Effect.

Personally I think they couldn't have chosen better influences than the original Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect games. I continue to expect great things from one of the most promising games of next year.

Epicure - Icon

2010-02-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

New icon for myself, titled Epicure. Stock courtesy goes to sackcloth and ashes.

Another note to self:

2010-02-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

- The Laughing Heart / Charles Bukowski

Mischief/Otomen - Icon

2010-02-01T04:49:00.000-08:00

mis·chief (mschf)
n.
1. Behavior that causes discomfiture or annoyance in another.
2. An inclination or tendency to play pranks or cause embarrassment.
3. One that causes minor trouble or disturbance: The child was a mischief in school.
4. Damage, destruction, or injury caused by a specific person or thing: The broken window was the mischief of vandals.
5. The state or quality of being mischievous.

Since Sarah is needy and annoying I find myself once again spending more time than I should making her icons, these ones are from a new anime that she's watching called Otomen which is apparently some new romantic comedy anime that's been around for years. I don't know where the hell I got the stock but it looks official. I also don't know which version I prefer so I guess I'll let Sarah bee the judge on that. K bai!

Demon's Souls - Review

2009-12-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

Starting this review off I would like to mention that I'm someone who has never been a fan of Action-RPGs, repetition, and extremely difficult games. So when I finally bought Demon's Souls I thought it would only hold my interest for a short while before I'd give up and move on to my other gaming comfort zones. However I was wrong because the hype and the word of mouth for this game has been so wrong and misleading. Yes, it is an Action-RPG but it is unlike any other Action-RPG I have ever played, yes, it is trial and error but it is also a game that abides by it's own set of rules and rarely ever breaks them, and yes, it can be a challenging and difficult game but that is only before you learn how to play it or if you play it wrong without adapting your strategies to the different situations. It has been called a niche game but that to has been misleading because it is a game for anyone willing to put in the necessary hours to learn its deep gameplay.

I was wrong because the game is simply amazing and manages to transcend the nuisances I usually hate and it got a grip on me that I have not felt from a game since Baldur's Gate 2. The atmosphere that embodies the game world is incredible, this is a dark and bleak world that oppresses you until you basically get a panic attack. The Kingdom of Boletaria is minimalistic and shrouded in mystery and you will only ever get hints at the larger picture going on in the setting, but it is so well crafted that you will literally feel it more than anything else. It is also a game that does not compromise on it's difficulty and while the game can be unforgiving, in the end its challenge is there for a reason and a huge part of what makes the game so great is the sense of progress and reward that comes from actually becoming good at playing it. Not in recent memory has a game created such a sense of loss and accomplishment, and I can't remember the last game that has engrossed me in it's world and setting to this extent.

The narrative in this game is sparse and minimalistic but much like in games such as Half-Life it ends up being brilliant in the way that you get to experience the world and are never allowed to get the full picture, only hints at a larger story. The basic premise is of King Allant who channelled the power of souls. He brought unprecedented prosperity to his Kingdom of Boletaria. That is, until a thick and colourless fog covered the land's outskirts, cutting it off from the outside world. Those who entered the fog never returned. The old King Allant had awoken the Old One, an ancient being that feeds on souls, from its eternal slumber and unleashed soul-craving demons. The ones whom lost their souls also lost their minds. Now the demons grow stronger and more powerful with each soul they devour. The legend was told from man to man; mighty warriors entered the cursed lands and your character is one of them.

The story is pretty straightforward and there isn't really that much of it, but what really makes it brilliant is that this is a fully realized dark fantasy world. The more you talk to the brilliantly voiced characters surrounding you the more you'll find out through rumours, and simply reading the item descriptions can sometime shed a different light onto something. The twenty or so demon bosses found in the game are not really given extensive background stories but a few of them were clearly human which edges the question if all of them were human at some point. There are not many quests here and it is a pretty straightforward game of killing demons but it really excels above that because of the immersion you'll feel during your cleansing of the five unique worlds. When in the prison of Latria you will feel the inhumanity of the prison, when you're fighting one of the demons you will feel hatred for these abominations, and whenever you encounter a new type of monster you will actually fear the unknown. In Demon's Souls you don't get the story told through safe cutscenes, you are simply forced to live the setting.

However the heart of the game is its absolutely brilliant, deep and extensive gameplay. I have spent sixty hours on my first run through the game and I have reached soul-level one hundred with my knight and I can honestly say that I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. This game really does feel like one of those that the more time and patience you put into it the more reward you will ultimately get from it and let me tell you, the reward is insanely satisfying. I've finished my game using only swords and a bow but there is an insane amount of weapons I haven't even tried yet, not to mention the special weapons you can acquire, the different miracles I never bothered to learn and the whole spell system that I still haven't even touched. There is just so much to do here that at times you feel overwhelmed, at the same time you want to further your character because in this game equipment really makes a huge difference to your game.

Then you have your levels and stats, and the currency to all of this are souls which you get by killing and lose by dying. The amazing thing about levels in this unique RPG is that they help out a lot with making the game easier, and trust me you'll need all the help you can get, but they do not remove your responsibility as player, you simply cannot mess around here, and if you live or die is mostly up to how well you have mastered playing the game as well as how good you are at changing your tactics upon encountering a new situation. All of this makes building a character in Demon's Souls very rewarding and unlike other RPGs that I have played where once upon finishing the game you go back and make a new different character I can say that with Demon's Souls I have no such desire. I just spent sixty hours with my knight and now that he's at level one hundred my only desire to replay the game will be with the New Game+ which is apparently much more difficult than when you play the game for the first time.

And the gameplay doesn't stop giving there because I haven't yet even mentioned the amazingly innovative online component to Demon's Souls which pushes the game from Awesome! to Prime. In Demon's Souls if you have an internet connection and PSN Id then your single player world will be connected automatically to other players, what this means in short is that you can leave messages to other player as well as read messages that other players have left, this simple mechanic makes the game so much easier because messages that are helpful get rated up and will stay in the world longer, while unhelpful messages don't get rated up and are gone pretty quickly. You will also occasionally see the ghosts of other players and how they're playing in their worlds and just observing them can warn you of the dangers ahead. Otherwise some ghosts can be summoned by the bloodstains you will find and in these you get to observe how another player met their demise nearby which also helps as a warning system.

When you're in body form you will also be able to summon up to two additional players to your world to help you out and this is what you're encouraged to do if you ever get stuck on a particularly tough demon, and if you ever enter another player's world and help them defeat their demon you will be resurrected from soul form in your world. This co-op feature shattered a prejudice I had for a long time on how co-op should be and how a good co-op could only function with a proper voice chat in place, well Demon's Souls has no voice communication in co-op and it is among the most intense co-op I have experienced in a game. You have gestures at your disposal for communication and this quiet form of co-op only ends up adding to the immersion of the game where there are no interruptions with annoying player voices, instead there are three warriors fighting together in silence. The final aspect of the online component is the notion of invaders, which is basically another player that invades your world, or you invading someone else's, and you fight over each others accumulated souls. In fact one of the Archdemons, a final big boss demon in a world, is actually an invading player and I cannot even begin to explain how getting invaded will get your heart racing.

The presentation in Demon's Souls is not really that impressive from a technically point of view, however the game works around any technical limitations by having a beautiful art direction, and like I mentioned earlier, actually building a believable world. The art design, especially on the twenty or so demons is simply amazing and there were only two of them that I found slightly generic, the rest are probably the best boss battles I have experienced since Shadow of the Colossus. There are of course a few technical hiccups here, mainly with frame rate drops in certain areas, as well as some strange behaviour with ragdolls physics on fallen enemies. However the two big minuses for me were that the targeting system could at times not lock-on properly or lock-on an opponent further back in line that was irrelevant to me, the other big gripe I had was that the enemy AI was extremely underwhelming most of the game and could be exploited for cheaper gameplay. In the end there is really nothing major to complain about with the game and even if you exploit the AI the only loss will be your own.

When it comes to the audio the biggest reward is the soundtrack, it just goes so well with the game in its moodiness and eerie sense of dread. I think almost every major demon in the game has their own song and the music really help you get in the right battle mood. I haven't added game music to my iPod since Lost Odyssey but I have done so once again with Demon's Souls soundtrack that I received with my Deluxe Edition of the game. Tracks like "Return to Slumber", "One Who Craves Souls" and the main theme "Demon's Souls" really stand out. The other great aspect of the audio is the amazing voice work for all the NPC characters and they to help immerse you into the world, when there is basically no lip-sync on the characters in-game and yet you still feel like they're real believable characters you must give credit to the amazing actors that have done the voice work. I am not really an audiophile so for me a great audio in a game is when I am not bothered by anything I hear, and this is the case with Demon's Souls. The metal and swords swinging sounds seemed believable and hearing them was satisfying which for me equals good audio work.

In conclusion, Demon's Souls is dark, immersive, and challenging, it will not compromise and hold your hand but this does not make it as some reviewers have claimed a "niche" game. I'm not a fan of Action-RPGs and I am not a fan of difficulty, but I am completely and utterly in love with Demon's Souls. Yes, it will punish you in the beginning but you must simply get through the steep learning curve and the rewards from this game will be endless. It has stolen sixty hours of my life and will probably steal many more because it's that good. I have sunk myself into a dark world of despair and I've had bad dreams to tell about it, I have punched my paws against my controller in anger at an immeasurable loss and I have screamed with joy while throwing my paws into the air after a long overdue victory. This is not only the finest game I have played this year, it is one of the best games I have ever played. The few technical and design misses are like dust on a brilliant piece of art; they do nothing to impair the sheer brilliance of the piece. This generation I have felt that a few games have gone above the norm and have deserved the honours of Prime, games such as Gear of War, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet have all pushed their respective genres forward as well as gaming in general, and today I give Demon's Souls the same honours.

The Prisoner

2009-12-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

Today I finally got around to watching the first two episode of AMC's recent miniseries titled The Prisoner. It's apparently a remake of a series dating back to the 1960s with the same name. This new series however goes the typical route of a remake in casting supposedly serious actors such as James Caviezel (The Passion, Thin Red Line) and Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings) which turn out to be a good thing since the acting so far has been really rad. The production value of this series seem to be very high and I really like the setting in the desert with the Village looking just a bit too pleasant and familiar to actually be pleasant.

The plot so far has been intentionally confusing in that 6 (James Caviezel) wakes up in the desert where he sees an old man, 93, being shot at and chased. 6 helps the wounded old man to a cave where the old man tells him to "Go to 554." before dying. 6 buries the old man and wanders into the Village where he finds himself grilled over the location of the old man he encountered by the mysterious leader of the Village 2 (Ian McKellen). The rest of the first double episode is spent mainly on 6 trying to escape the Village and find his way back to what he considers the real world while being opposed by 2 who is trying to convince him that his ideas of escape and freedom are delusions of an ill mind.

While I'm not really hooked into this series after merely two episodes I do feel that there is a lot of potential here. The main appeal to me comes from the fact that I'm a huge Kafka fan and I really love sci-fi mystery shows like Lost. The Prisoner really feels like a combination of these two with some 1984 thrown in there for good measure, which results in a cocktail that consists of three things that I appreciate. The most specific thing the show reminds me of is The Castle by Franz Kafka but reversed with the main character trying to get out. I'm not fully hooked yet but I do feel an incentive to continue watching and that's always a good sign.

JOKER by Brian Azzarello

2009-12-01T14:01:00.000-08:00

This comic is number one on my wish list this coming Xmas, so a certain forest troll can start gathering their coins to buy it for me as a gift. *cough* Sarah! *cough* ♥

It was basically a tie between this and The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller but this just ended up peaking my interest more when I found out that the author Brian Azzarello did my favourite short segment in the animated movie Batman: Gotham Knight. His segment titled Working Through Pain was not only the best animated one in my opinion but also had the darkest message about Batman; a theme about pain-management as well as how unhealthy Bruce Wayne's quest for revenge is and how it doesn't come from a healthy and good mental state. It also got a lot of plus points with me due to a wounded Batman, because there is nothing I love more than wounded, gritty and pissed off Batman. In either case I would suggest anyone even remotely interested in the awesomeness of Batman to check out Batman: Gotham Knight.

Still it's not the only appeal of this comic to me, it is also obviously the beautiful art direction by Lee Bermejo that you can observe above. I simply adore the gritty style and how uncomfortable it makes me feel about the Joker just by looking at it. When I was a kid I used to be terrified of the Joker and even recently I found Alan Moore's Joker in The Killing Joke to be scary but this new comic seems to take my unease with the character to a whole new level. I also love the obvious nod to Christopher Nolan's interpretation of the character since it is to date what I consider to be the finest Joker, largely due to the impressive performance by Heath Ledger last year. In short I want this in my Batman collection so I can learn more about my greatest adversary - The Joker.

Demon's Souls - Impressions

2009-11-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

The reason for my absence these past few weeks from this blog has been very simple, I've just had too many great games to play to bother writing anything of relevance. I had great plans of writing some thoughts on the season finale of Mad Men, an Uncharted 2 review as well as reviewing the Pixar movie Up but all of that went down the drain when I got my paws on Dragon Age for the PC; a foolish obsession that cost me about two weeks of my life not to mention that I think it killed a large part of my old PC. I'll try to write more about Dragon Age soonish but knowing how I treat new Bioware games I'll only do that once I've run through it multiple times with different characters.

Well, if that wasn't bad enough I ended up jumping from Dragon Age straight into Demon's Souls and now I'm obsessing over that instead. Since I have no qualms about admitting my loser-level I'll just say it outright that it's gotten so bad that I dreamt about Demon's Souls last night. It's the toughest game I've put my skill against in memory and I think I suck extra hard at it since my progression feels like it's going slower than what it normally should considering the hours put in. However this is probably the most unique, creative and immersive game that I've played this whole year and is my personal surprise hit of the year as well as being one of my personal Game of the Year contenders.

The game has punished me over and over yet I keep on re-trying despite knowing that I'll probably get brutalized all over again. This is one of the most immersive games I have ever played, you really feel the hatred for these abominations that are refereed to as demons and the atmosphere is sometimes so oppressive and tense that I have to take a break from the game to calm my nerves. There is not much narrative at all this far in the game but the few pieces of story that have emerged have been excellent with amazing concept art being shown while a narrator speaks. Still, this game thrives on its rich gameplay mechanics and I think that is the reason it's such a success because as soon as you die you don't get to feel the frustration too long before you're off once again to try to kill some demons and collect their souls.

I started the game and I died alot and it's only now after killing two major demons that I'm starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of this. I stopped reading the strategy guide and just focused on playing like I how I would like to play the game. In short, I got my hands on a two-handed Claymore sword and am going full-retard with what my pal Gatts has taught me about killing demon scum. This philosophy can be summed into; you need BIG swords to kill BIG demons. In many ways this game is the closes I've ever played to a Berserk game because of the general bleakness and darkness found in both. Not only is this dark fantasy game one of the best of this year but I think in years ahead it will be considered one of the hidden gems of this generation.

Mad Men - S03E11 & S03E12

2009-11-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

Mad Men season three is coming to an end next Monday and I still feel that it has been the weakest season so far for the series, it's especially apparent since I re-watched season one two weeks ago and that season is television perfection. I think this shift in quality is mostly due to the more stand alone nature to the episodes this season which made the show feel like it was drifting around without a clear plot for most of the season. I also felt a lack of truly outstanding episodes like The Wheel, Meditations in an Emergency, Babylon and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes which stood out from seasons past as the best god damn television I have ever seen. However I should point out that at least the show has been consistently good despite this and there was no episode that felt truly out of place like in season two when Don went to Los Angeles. Basically this is still the best show on television right now despite having a weaker season than usual and when I think about it I can't really blame the creators for not being able to recreate the sheer perfection of season one.

However today I finally caught up with the show with the latest two episodes that I had missed The Gypsy and the Hobo (S03E11) and The Grown Ups (S03E12). I must say that the show finally seems to be tying up all the small plots throughout the season and is returning to form in an incredible way. Sure this season still had great episodes like Love Among the Ruins (S03E02) and Seven Twenty Three (S03E07) but these latest two episodes leading up to the finale next week have been absolutely superb. In The Gypsy and the Hobo (S03E11) we finally get the confrontation between Don and Betty about his fake identity that we've been waiting for and it was more intense than I could ever have imagined and you could really see the power shift happening in front of your eyes between these two characters. The Grown Ups (S03E12) deals with the death of Kennedy, how shocking it must have been to everyone back then and how it almost marks an end of an era. This horrible event in American history really seems to reflect how Don's manufactured life is crumbling around him, right in front of his eyes. I am now impatiently waiting for the season finale and judging by seasons past it ought to be the best episode of the season.

Note to self:

2009-10-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.

go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.

if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.

do it, do it, do it.
do it.

all the way
all the way.

you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, it's
the only good fight
there is.

- Roll the Dice / Charles Bukowski

Game of the Day: Ico

2009-10-13T03:28:00.000-07:00

I forgot to blog about the fact that I finally got my hands on Ico a few days back mainly because I was too immersed into Prince of Persia as well as being pretty busy studying math so this place kind of fell a few notches on my priority list. However now that Prince of Persia has been completed I actually got around to opening up my brand new expensive copy of Ico and got to play for about thirty minutes. First impressions were that the graphics were much more outdated than say Shadow of the Colossus, but they were not totally horrible. Once I got control over the characters you could feel that this was an old game with an annoying last gen camera and a floaty sense of the character. I was let down initially I must admit and for the first ten minutes I regretted putting out so much money for something that I felt hadn't aged that well.

Then something happened, I met Yorda and the unique Team Ico-vibe instantly set into overdrive. It was absolutely charming to see these two characters interact and I loved that they couldn't understand each other due to Yorda speaking in some mysterious language. It really reminisced of my childhood experience coming to Sweden and still managing to make some friends despite not understanding a word of Swedish. This is where Ico really shines as a game, you really feel the childhood of these two characters, the innocence of only expecting good in another child and yes, it is extremely moving to experience this even at my age. The other thing I noticed was the heavy theme of displacement in the game where you really feel the isolation of this castle and how you're thrown into it with no information or back story to the events. This really made the first ten minutes downright uncomfortable and I think that was the point because it made the meeting with Yorda so much more reassuring and I almost felt myself sigh with relief despite knowing that she would be in the game.

The gameplay mechanic of holding hands with Yorda and guiding her through the level while at the same time protecting her works extremely well and really doesn't feel like an annoying chore, mainly because you actually care about her. Otherwise the gameplay in general seems to be much more of a puzzle-solving game than say Shadow of the Colossus but since I'm in the beginning of the game I haven't actually experienced any hard or annoying puzzles. The basic structure of the game seems to be very simple but what really stood out was the immersion I felt with the setting and the characters despite graphics that can only be called outdated. I think that it's because of the small details, like the menus being kept to a minimum and the simple act of saving is made into something special because you save the game by simply sitting down on a bench with Yorda. In conclusion I'm really looking forward to getting to know this game some more but so far it feels really great and special. I'll be sure to blog some more about it once I finish the game, hopefully soon but it might take some time since I'm quite busy this month.

Prince of Persia Finished!

2009-10-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Finished Prince of Persia today and this time I really went full retard on the game collecting all 1001 light seeds, dying less than a hundred times, doing all the time trials and in general only having two achievements left to do; excluding the ones found in the Epilogue DLC. It actually felt a bit more rewarding finishing the game this time around because I went the extra mile to try to take all the achievements in one run, it basically made the game more of a challenge. The other side effect was that it made the game last a few hours longer than when I just ran though it the first time. However I still managed finish it beneath the twelve hour mark, but it really felt bittersweet towards the end because I knew what was coming and that I'd have to leave these two wonderful characters once again.

Dreading the ending of a game is a bit weird when the ending is your favorite part of the game. I know that many people really don't like the ending of the game because they felt forced into action by the developers but I personally adore the ending because when I play this game I don't play and act like myself, instead I role-play and base my actions on my perception on what The Prince would have done in such a situation. I won't spoil the ending but I find it very sad and I do feel that it is the perfect ending for the game despite being a cliffhanger at heart. The game really feels like a sad love story when all is said and done. I love sad lover stories and I'm already missing The Prince and Elika. Now I can just sit here and hope that there will be a sequel to this amazing overlooked gem of a game despite lackluster sales *spits on Mike*.

Demon's Souls - Sleeper hit of the Year?

2009-10-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to doubt my eye when it comes to judging if a game is going to turn out well or not. Two times now this year I've been convinced something was going to flop hard and both times I've been owned. First I thought inFamous was going to get butchered by the reviewers because it looked so generic and crappy only to see it get scores ranging from AA (8/10) to AAA (9/10) among the critics, so I bought it and had to be reminded that some games are just addictive to play despite looking crappy. Now the ownage returns in form of Demon's Souls a game when I first saw it I felt would be lucky if it got an A (7/10) at all. Then of course the people who got to play the imported Asian version started to speak up for it, but I still felt it could go AA (8/10) highest because it just looked like a generic dungeon crawler after all.

The final bomb that hit me you can watch above, my favorite reviewer - whom I tend to agree with the most - Kevin from GameSpot reviewed Demon's Souls yesterday and gave it a whooping AAA (9/10) status thus making this my biggest surprise hit of the year and a game I clearly must get my hands on. This game is supposedly brutally difficult so I'm still on the fence if I'm man enough to take it on. However I am feeling tempted by the challenge since apparently the difficulty is never cheap and it seems to be extremely rewarding to actually conquer it due to the deep combat mechanics. In retrospect; this game went from one I was never going to play to one I now feel obliged to at least give a decent chance. I guess it's time to buy a truly hardcore game soon and stop hiding behind my casual mask but woe is my wallet this holiday season. Let's just hope that I don't destroy another controller when I get my paws on this game.

Game of the Day: Prince of Persia

2009-10-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

Today, after several weeks of waiting I finally got my GAME Exclusive Steelbook Edition of Prince of Persia for the Xbox360 (unfortunately the PS3 version of the Steelbook were out of stock). Of course I traded in my regular version of the game that I had for the PS3 shortly after ordering this Limited Edition which has resulted in minimal cash loss, it also helped ordering from UK which made it alot cheaper than if I had bought it here in Sweden. Holding this limited edition in my hands now I must say it was worth it. The whole package is black and super-stylish, at least when your remove the protective plastic around it with the out of place ugly Xbox360 green banner on it. The art is blueish and changes with the light, the backside has a smaller art with no stupid info ruining the godly black slickness. Surprisingly there are no extras with this Limited Edition but I don't really mind since I only bought it because I love the steel case and how stylish it looks. My only bonus being that now I can whore achievements from the 360 version of the game as well (SHUT UP, MIKE!!!).

Of course being a huge fanboy of this game I popped it into my Xbox first chance I got to unwind today and I am once again in love with it. The first thing that jumps at you is the amazing and colorful art style with some of the best animations in a game to date. Shortly after I am once again in love with the mostly desolate world, The Prince and my lovely companion Elika who's always there with snappy remarks. The whole game basically oozes charm and magic which completely grips me despite some shortcomings in the gameplay. It's a game that is very simple and doesn't exactly have a complex story but for me these are actually huge pros because I love the minimalism and the never frustrating platforming. It really makes the game more about the experience of admiring the view rather than running right through it and it's absolutely lovely that you have a constant companion throughout the game in Elika because it really makes the whole game about the relationship of these two characters. Sure, there are many clichés but they don't detract from the experience at all in my opinion and only serve to make the game feel like it's going back to basics of storytelling.

When I played this game for the first time about a year ago I wasn't really aware of Team Ico's games but I do remember this game being called a rip-off of their games on the internet. Now after I've played Shadow of the Colossus and know more about Ico I can say that there is some truth to those claims because it really feels like Ubisoft have gone out of their way to create an artistic and minimalistic game such as the two Team Ico games. They of course haven't succeed as well because they clearly didn't take the idea to the fullest, but I personally welcome the effort because it makes this game the closest thing this generation to a Team Ico game with gameplay that clearly has more in common with Ico and a story that reminds me of Shadow of the Colossus. I'm sure that will change once The Last Guardian rolls out next year but for now I am utterly happy climbing around in a beautiful artistic pastel world with my lovely companions The Prince and Elika saving the world together. Sadly I have now written myself into playing the game some more. Bai!

The Unbearable Lightness - Icon

2009-10-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

Made yet another icon for Sarah. This one was founded on the mood I got from the book The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Neither the stock nor the icon are really related to the book per say but when I was working on it I kept thinking of the book and this was the result. I guess I found the same melancholy in both the brilliant stock as well as in the mentioned book. It's strange but I really enjoy working on these feminine icons because of their subtlety; they just feel more fluid and tender somehow compared to the ones I make for myself. Anyways stock courtesy goes to tknk@deviantArt.

Forza 3 Demo - Impressions

2009-10-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

I've had to wait a week extra to get my paws on the Forza 3 demo due to no longer being a Live Gold member which was a major annoyance but now I've finally played the demo with all the cars offered and you can color me impressed. While the game doesn't graphically live up to the bullshots that Turn 10 has been feeding us it still looks absolutely beautiful but mainly it handles spectacularly, I really feel the weight of the cars and the faster I drive the harder it becomes to remain in control. However I should mention that I found the normal difficulty to be way too easy and would suggest anyone to play on hard because for me at least it felt much more natural and not as casualized. While the sense of speed in Forza 3 is no where near insane arcade racers such as Dirt 2 in many ways I found it much better mainly due to the physic on the cars, I also found the speed in Forza to be much more deceiving which urged another layer of caution from me. I should also mention that the audio was no hack either, the engines felt close and like they were roaring while the music was rightfully subdued. All of this was topped with a clean presentation in the menus that felt like they were inspired by Scandinavian design in their sense of cleanliness and accessibility.

In summary I can say that I'm deeply impressed with Forza 3 and it's the best racing game I have tried so far this year. I've never been into simulator racers such as the Forza and Gran Turismo games but Forza 3 really feels like you can adjust it to your level of challenge while still keeping the sense of simulation. I love the look of the game, the feel of it, the beautiful presentation in the menus and mainly the enjoyable gameplay. The whole package just feels like solid AAAE material for the Xbox360 and now I'm only judging the demo without the 400 cars and over a 100 tracks that will be in the full game. I can already see this becoming one of the best games this year with the critics as well as the definitive racing game of the year. In fact I'm so impressed with the demo that I'm considering a day one purchase of the game upon release, something I've never done with a racing game. The only one tiny blemish that I found in the demo was the cockpit view which really felt like a major downgrade after playing the Dirt 2 demo where you could actually look around with the right analog stick, but now I'm nitpicking and losing the plot. If you own a Xbox360 and are even remotely interest in racing games then download this demo because it's probably the best exclusive for the console this year.

Batman: The Killing Joke

2009-10-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've been owning the newly reprinted Deluxe Edition of The Killing Joke for almost a year now, and despite its short length I never got around to picking it up and actually reading it. Well yesterday I finally read it and like anything else I've read from Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell) it's absolutely bat-shit (pun intended!) insane amazing. It's not only the amazing story centered around Batman and Joker, it's also the stunning art-work from Brian Bolland as you can see for yourself, which completely makes this one of my all-time favorite comics that I have ever had the pleasure to read. I've seen some images of the original coloring of the first print of this comic and thank god that Brian Bolland completely re-did the coloring for this hardcover Deluxe Edition. Not only are the colors more subdued and use darker tones but they also manage to be really colorful in all the right places with a composition that is really stark and telling. In short, the presentation is among the best one I've seen in a comic book up until now.

This is the Batman that I love; the pissed off dark knight that you will never even think of laughing at, the one you see in Christopher Nolan's new movies, the one I experienced while playing Batman: Arkham Asylum, the dark lonely and moody avenger Batman with no campy side-kicks like Robin and Batgirl. This is basically the ideal Batman story where violence is not held back, where crime actually feels as horrible, ugly and brutal as it's suppose to. But just focusing on Batman would be unfair in a comic which is clearly centered around the origins of The Joker. However The Joker serves as an unreliable narrator as he admits to his own uncertainty of the single event that made him to what he is, or as he puts it "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" and much like Batman this Joker is also like a definitive Joker interpretation. This is not the nice campy funny Joker of say Adam West's Batman, this Joker is a psychopathic homicidal maniac with no regard for human life and when he's funny it's in a dark hopeless way.

The story is simple, clean and very short but it's a truly masterful telling - largely thanks to Brian Bolland's artwork. However this is clearly Alan Moore at work when it comes to the plot with well-written dialogue, smart usage of themes and events left for interpretation of the reader. The basic premise is that The Joker has escaped from Arkham Asylum and has kidnapped Commissioner Gordon to prove a point to Batman, that point being that anyone having one bad day would go insane as The Joker did. The underlying motive being to illustrate the madness of Batman's mission; dressing up as a bat to fight criminals ("You had a bad day once, am I right?... Why else would you dress up like a flying rat?"). The whole comic feels like a tribute to the conflict of these two characters and Joker's relentless desire to break Batman and have him admit to being just as mad as him while Batman constantly tries to prove to Joker through his actions that he's nothing like him and will never bend on his rules for anything.

Simply put The Killing Joke is an amazing work of fiction and anyone even remotely interested in Batman lore should start here. I'll end this entry with the joke that was started at the beginning of the comic and which The Joker tells completely to Batman at the end: See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum... and one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moon light... stretching away to freedom. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend didn't dare make the leap. Y'see... Y'see, he's afraid of falling. So then, the first guy has an idea... He says "Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!" B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh-says... He says "Wh-what do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was half way across!"

Game of the Day: Flower

2009-09-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

On lazy bad weather days like today when you just can't handle the intensity of most games there is a fine exception. It's titled Flower and can be described as the classic Snake game with the exception that you're drifting through air directing the flower pedals that you accumulated by setting the field in bloom. There are no real threats and the objectives of blooming the field can be done at your leisurely pace so for me personally this game is more like therapy than anything else. As you can see above the game looks absolutely stunning from an art point of view with the bright colors and the beautiful scenery. It's enough to just start the game and see it to feel a bit more positive, especially here in Sweden where the gray days - like today - can really bring you down. This game is the essence of what a downloadable game for $10 should be - a bite sized experience that you can come back to and one you'll never forget.

The Last Guardian - Interview

2009-09-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

New very short interview with Team ICO's Director and Game Designer Fumito Ueda, as well as a new even shorter video of the game. Impressions so far are that I really admire how humble Japanese game developers like Ueda are despite being in the absolute top echelon of game development. Peter Molyneux could really learn a thing from this guy and not keep japing his mouth so much about how everything he does will cause a gaming revolution, but that is for another blog entry. The Last Guardian, yes, despite having about a year left in development the game already looks amazing, the physics and animations look to be the best on any console yet not to mention that the lightning looks absolutely stunning. This doesn't come as a surprise really because I've seen what kind of magic these guys can do with the old hardware of the PS2, I mean Shadow of the Colossus was an incredible technical achievement on the outdated hardware of the PS2. I can only imagine what they'll achieve on the PS3 hardware next year and I wouldn't be surprised if this game might be a future console graphics king.

However the great graphics are still pretty low on my list for why I'm so hyped for this game. I'm mostly interested in the gameplay and how the interaction between the boy and the creature will be like, but it's really hard for me to imagine the gameplay at all. I mean, sure, it looks like an adventure platformer and puzzle solving kind of game but the presence of a huge monster-like creature really sets all conventional expectations ablaze. This newness of experiencing something different is also the reason I've turned into such a Team Ico fanboy. The other thing I noticed in this video is a pattern with all Team Ico games and that pattern is that none of the companions to the protagonists in the games are able to communicate conventionally. In ICO Yorda speaks in an unknown language, in Shadow of the Colossus Wander's only companion is the horse Agro and in the Last Guardian your companion is the imaginary beast. I can only speculate on why but I think it's a way to bring attention to the unspoken bond of trust between these imaginary living beings. This is why I adore these games, they really have the smallest details that you only notice after some examination. The Last Guardian can't come soon enough to my PS3.

Dreaming of Ico

2009-09-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Finished Shadow of the Colossus today and despite only clocking in a total of 8 hours and 59 seconds I feel exhausted, like I've been on long trip. I also feel very happy and I'm glad that the ending was much more upbeat than I expected. I should also give a nod to the soundtrack which really stood out, especially towards the end and it really complemented the mood of the game. But this game is much more than the total playtime you receive or the sum of its parts, it's like an unforgettable experience and I already feel bittersweet about finishing it, like with any great game. It almost feels unfair to call it a game, it's more like minimalistic art contained within a game, I know it sounds pretentious but this is one of those rare times where a game has more in common with a wonderful piece of art. I love how the game leaves alot of things unexplained and forces you to draw your own conclusions on many things. I can only speaking for myself but I found it obvious that the game is a prequel to Ico, though one can only guess how many years separate the events in the two games.

Wander receives his horns for releasing Dormin by defeating the colossi, all for his own selfish desire to return Mono to life, and as one of the characters - Lord Emon - expresses towards the end of the game, his hope is that if Wander survived he might someday be able to atone for his crimes. I can't help but feel that it all ties in with Ico, especially since Ico seems to be a descendant of Wander and a vessel of redemption for Wander and the bloodline. Ico acts selflessly by helping Yorda, protecting her from the shadow-like creatures and putting himself in danger to save her. Wander gains horns for his crimes while I read that Ico loses his horns during the game which is pretty telling of the difference between the two protagonists. Now I'm really excited about getting my hands on Ico, I really want to find out more ties between the two games and the gameplay of holding hands with Yorda to guide her seems like something really special. It's a real shame that these games have turned into rarities these days because they both clearly should be considered modern gaming classics. I consider them as such and that is why my gaming collection will not be complete without them.

House - Season 6

2009-09-22T04:56:00.000-07:00

The new House season is finally underway after a long and excruciating wait. Finally is an understatement because last season's finale was something of a killer with House being put into a mental institution and leaving us viewers with alot of questions on what's going to happened to him. I was really hyped for today's episode simply to find out how House would fit in an insane setting and I could really imagine all kinds of crazy scenarios that he'd put the personal as well as the other patients thought. First impression after watching the new episode "Broken" made me realize how much I had missed the show and the character of House with all his silly quirks and insanity. The episode was really good drama with solid acting like always and it clearly paid some homage to my favorite film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with House being up to all kinds of mischief and fighting any form of authority as always. The episode also scores points for playing No Surprises by Radiohead during the intro.

Still I am left with mixed feelings, mostly due to the fact that this episode barely had any medicine in it and because it was basically a feel-good episode about House coming to terms with himself and trying to reform so he can be "happy". This may not sound as something terrible and sure you'll laugh and feel good while watching the episode but one rule about House since season one has always been "House NEVER changes!" and it is what has made the show so great. Now I'm getting worried that House is going to learn to conform and become more normal which would for me effectively kill the show, I hope the writers know what they're doing. The other big let down of this episode was in that House gets out of the mental institution at the end of the episode and his hallucinations are never properly explained, the way everything is resolved feels very rushed and screams deus ex machina.

They could have done so much more with the House-gone-insane plot with additional episodes but instead we don't even get to see anyone visit House before he's out, no Cuddy, no Cameron, no Team actually visit House during the episode, which I found very strange. House not only gets out in one episode but also gets his medical license back and it seems the next episode will be back to business as usual. I want to believe that House will continue to excel as a show despite losing some of it's edge for the past three seasons but I am left very worried when plots are just brushed past and restored to status quo with not further development. It's especially strange since some of the new characters in this episode were really interesting and it would have been great to see them get fleshed out more with a few more episodes. House used to be my favorite show for so many years but these past few seasons with the new team have made me realize that the top spot belongs to Mad Men for now, unless the writers of House kick it up a notch again or the writers of Mad Men knock it down a notch.

Monkey Island + CryEngine = True!

2009-09-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

I must say that when I heard about this I could never imagine Monkey Island 2 running on Crysis engine in 3D with any good results, in fact I expected it to be a total failure and completely suck out the soul of the Monkey Island games. The modder loneclone has not only proven why PC >>> all when it comes to games, he has also managed to own me and anybody who ever doubted that advanced technology and art could co-exist. When I see what one modder can achieve and how much better it is compared to the official remake of Monkey Island which was done by a professional team of developers, let's just say that I am very impressed with mankind right now; he nailed it. This kind of creativity and will to push the boundaries is surely the best mankind has to offer and I am truly impressed. Not to mention that I am impressed with CryEngine and the diversity I've seen come from that beast of technology, those chaps at Crytek are talented folks.

District 9

2009-09-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

The first thing that comes to mind is that I'm surprised, when I started watching District 9 I didn't quite know what to expect. I knew it was a sci-fi movie with aliens on earth but I was expecting the Hollywood cliché routine with humans owning some evil aliens. Instead I got an exciting ride with superb effects and production values, solid acting and a very fresh take on a sci-fi genre that seems to be losing more and more of it's soul as the production costs have gone up.

The movie starts off with the new and trendy documentary-style of telling the story through interviews and I wasn't really impressed and became worried that the whole movie was going to be done in this now overused style of film-making, but thankfully the interviews end and the movie focuses on Wikus. During the film we get to follow Wikus' transformation from a selfish yuppie to an anti-hero that you can really relate to, largely due to him being such an unlikely action hero.

With Wikus in focus the movie makes one quality leap after another, minute for minute. It's exciting and uncomfortable with obvious references to apartheid. The brilliant decision to set it in Johannesburg South Africa only reinforces these references to racism. It also does wonders to set the movie apart from your usual New York, Washington and L.A. being under alien attack storyline found in many sci-fi movies from Hollywood. The movies is not that subtle with it's themes but they are well thought out and executed.

The greatness of the film comes from the fact that it really plays with your emotions and perceptions on right and wrong, at first felt uneasy how I - like the other humans in the movie - despised the aliens, that they scavenged through garbage and their generally ungrateful animal behavior. Simply put they appeared as oversizes barbaric insects that would be in everyone's interest to put down. I feel righteous anger and instantly side with humanity, I want war to break out and see humanity conquer.

But I hold back because in my head I can see where that path would lead and I see human history repeating itself once again with the only difference being that this time the sacrificed abused minority would not be from our planet. None the less the result would be the same and wrong, so I stop myself and let the film continue. Still I am unable to be sympathetic towards the alien creatures but the sympathy comes with the introduction of the alien Christopher Johnson and his little boy.

The high production values really come to play here and how the filmmakers have managed to make these aliens look intimidating and expressive at the same time, their eyes in particular really show off emotions. You can really see the intelligence behind the eyes and you wonder how the humans could consider them barbaric when they were the ones acting like bullies and animals. The aliens were after all the ones who came here in a hi-tech spaceship and clearly have some advanced technology.

District 9 is one of those films that just keeps on giving and getting better as the story unfolds. The special effects are amazingly believable and there is no toning down with the gore and action here. Wikus is an extremely likable hero who is kind of goofy and stupid but in the end goodhearted. The action and the heart-pounding pace are near perfect except for the uneventful intro. Yeah, there are a few plot-holes but I overlook and forgive them because the rest of the package is so complete and refreshing. It's really been too long since I saw a great sci-fi movie so this film has been long overdue. Check it out!

Manny Calavera Grim Fandango - Icon

2009-09-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

New icon for myself this time and my tribute to the greatest game of all time; Grim Fandango. They don't make adventure games such as this anymore, with as much classic quality, heart and soul. I actually cried at the ending when I played it so many years ago and I'm not that sensitive with such things. I can also recommend anyone to check out the soundtrack since it's amazing. Stock courtesy goes to rmda over a deviantArt.

The Journey Continues...

2009-09-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

My quest to finish Shadow of the Colossus is fully underway and I brought down three more of these huge and majestic creatures today. I must say that I am starting to feel a bit dirty for killing such epic beings for my own selfish reasons. It's especially unnerving since you can visit the ones that you've already defeated and see their silent remains, which tends to bring out the guilt. Also it's sad to see the effects on Wander's body since it's starting to look like his skin is getting paler and more decayed; his price for bringing down these guardians. I'm enjoying the game immensely but I'm getting the dreadful feeling that Wander has willingly and knowingly doomed himself to death in exchange for Mono's life and it seems that this will not be the classic case of hero saving the days and remaining pure while doing so.

In other news I stumbled upon this really cool ad for the game that really nails the whole soul of this epic journey. The winding text along the colossus reads: "Begin here: a weary traveler on the most perilous of journeys. Mile upon mile you've ridden in search of the power to save your one true love. Yet now you find yourself here, standing in the shadow of a beast who will devastate the tiny, insignificant being who dared to disturb his slumber. Unless you arm yourself with the one weapon large enough to slay him. One he cannot see. Nor can you. Yet you must employ it with every move you have the courage to make. The weapon? Your mind. And should you use it wisely, you shall topple a creature whose size is comparable only to your valor. And end here: atop a mountain that cannot be scaled, but must be slain."

Staying in the Shadow of the Colossus

2009-09-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today I started playing Shadow of the Colossus once again after a long break and this time I really feel motivated to actually finish it. I don't know why I keep playing this game in short spurs, because whenever I do play it I think to myself that this is probably one of the best games ever made. Yet, for some reason I've only managed to come half way into the game despite owning it for almost a year now. I guess I really have to be in just the right mood and not let any other distractions come in the way to feel like playing it, but that's no excuse and now I feel like it's time to focus and finish it. It feels like I owe this game a proper play-through because like I mentioned this is pretty much a masterpiece of a game. In general it seems like Team Ico and Fumito Ueda go the extra mile with their creativity in making their games because I've been dying to get my hands on their first game ICO as well which has proven to be more difficult than anticipated - but that is a topic for a future blog entry.

When I think of Team Ico and the mastermind behind them Fumito Ueda and the games they make I get the same feeling I do when I watch an animated film by Miyazaki. Don't get me wrong, they have completely different styles and work on different mediums, but both produce works which focus on depicting the bond between living beings and the mystery in that. When I think about it Shadow of the Colossus is very basic idea for a game but what makes it really stand out is that it feels like it is based on a single idea and that idea has been part of every decision in the making of the game. I think the reason that the game feels so fresh and new to me is because I don't often get to see pure talent let lose in game development without some idiotic "suits" pressuring the developers to add a bunch of half-assed features just so that they can put them on the game box. It's a rare thing to see a game crafted around a single idea dictating every aspect of it and I've only seen it in Grim Fandango, Planescape: Torment and Outcast like ten years ago.

Simply it's refreshing to see a game that is not built around genres which are expected to sell and features found in these genres. Ueda clearly designed the game with his vision in mind and used the features necessary to bring it to life and that is probably why the game crosses so many different genres. Sure, it's an adventure game at heart but it has everything from exploration to platforming, from heart-pounding battles against some of the biggest creatures ever put in a video game to the simple puzzle-solving act of figuring out how to bring these giants down, but mainly it is a sad love story about isolation and connection. Wander's connection to his only companion throughout the game; his horse Agro, the physical connection of Wander climbing on the colossi and finally his connection to the deceased girl Mono - a girl for which he is willing to sacrifice even himself trying to resurrect her by bringing down the colossi and making a pact with the Devil. The best part about all of this is the subtlety of the delivery in the minimal amount of dialogue, the very wide and empty landscape of the Forbidden Land that really brings out feelings of isolation/alienation/oppression and in the simple act of not telling you who the deceased girl Mono is to Wander. All these little details come together and form a game that is truly refreshing, unique and ultimately lovable despite it's sad setting.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

2009-09-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

I should probably start this of by mentioning that I worship pretty much anything I've seen from Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli so the amount of bias you're about to read cannot be classified as a proper review. On the other hand I will also not deny that I am a very casual Miyazaki fan in that I don't really know anything about the man except that he is the mind behind some of my favorite animated films. Hell, make that favorite films period. Classic works of animation such as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke are the ones that come to mind in an instance, and are only the tip of the iceberg because there are many more such classics. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that there was a new Miyazaki film coming but I was still taken quite a bit by surprise when I saw the ads downtown for the new film Ponyo. They were actually going to play it in Swedish cinemas (!) and it didn't take me long to decide that I was going to finally see a Miyazaki film on the big screen.

Now you might expect me to describe the plot of this new film but since this is not really a review I will actually not waste time on such insignificant things. This might seem strange but if you actually see the film you will understand that this film is not a triumph of story but of the imagination, more specifically it is a triumph of a child's pure and innocent imagination as well as the joy of that. I was literally grinning the entire film ear to ear while my eyes were getting pretty teary from simple joy of what I was seeing on screen. I could probably spend hours talking about how impressive the old-fashioned way of doing animation was and how charming the soundtrack was and all the different themes that were going on in this film but none of that would describe how much I adored and loved watching this film. I ached to go back to my childhood to go back to the time before I started living with compromises of growing up and I felt nostalgia for that time when everything seemed possible and there was only good to be expected from the world and the future.

Ponyo is simply like watching a colorful canvas of imagination open up and take you to a place where you can experience and see things which were only common during your childhood daydreaming, but don't get the wrong idea though because you will never feel manipulated in a Miyazaki film. This film is the real deal and clearly not based on some checklist on what should happened and not in an animated film for all ages. It's really hard to put your finger on what makes this such a brilliant piece of animated work but you find yourself simply in love with this entrancing beautiful world that Miyazaki has created and you genuinely feel love for these hand-drawn characters and the riots of energy that they manage to create. Often I see Miyazaki's work summed up into "Magical!" in different reviews but for me personally that is an inadequate term this time for Ponyo - because while it is indeed magical - I could only think of one word during my viewing of the film and that word was "innocence" and with it Miyazaki breaks my hearts into a million pieces with pure joy.

Miyazaki not only manages to do this to me regularly with every film but he also makes it feel like a new thing every single time. These films always manage to grab a hold of me and sink me down the imaginary road of memory lane to a place where I know I am safe and loved. This is not a common thing, in fact it is a very rare thing that you won't get to experience too often when watching a film. Going into this blog I planned to rip on Disney and their incompetence these days compared to Studio Ghibli but now I barely feel like acknowledging their existence next to such genius works as Miyazaki puts out. These films that Miyazaki conjures from his wonderful imagination are not designed for any specific type of person, don't be fooled by the animation into thinking that this is for children. These films are for anyone who hasn't completely squandered the last bits of their childhood imagination, be they three years old or a hundred. Do not miss this one out!

Best Game Developer Diary Ever Made

2009-09-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

Stumbled upon this hilarious but pretty pointless developer diary for the upcoming game Borderlands by Gearbox. It's clear that the chaps at Gearbox have spent more time browsing YouTube for funny videos this summer rather than actually using this dev diary to tell us anything about the making of the game. The whole video is clearly a reference to the clips of Christian Bale going apeshit on the Terminator Salvation set that surfaced a while back. Hopefully Christian Bale will take this video in good humor but it's more likely that he'll be really really crazy pissed off. Hopefully he won't resort to the chainsaw as in American Psycho because it would be a shame to see another developer close their doors. =)

Microsoft Marketing Über Alles!

2009-09-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

The new "We Are ODST" ad above for Halo: ODST is another confirmation on what I have been saying since the start of this gen; the people at Microsoft's marketing department know their shit. I remember the initial Xbox 360 TV-ads and how unique and hip they were with the amazing slogan of "Jump in!" but the real works of advertising genius were in my opinion the "Starry Night" and "Believe" ads that were made for Halo 3. These ad were not game ads per say since no gameplay was actually shown and many people complained about this but what those people didn't understand is that these guys at Microsoft were not interested in the game per say - they were instead interested in myth-making. This approach worked too since Halo 3 is among the highest selling console exclusives this generation with 10 million units sold and going, these numbers can only be achieved if you managed to penetrate the mainstream.

The slogan "Finish the Fight" is among the strongest and most subtle ways to confront the consumers. I personally have missed the whole Halo spectacle and not finished any of the games - since I think the games are pretty sucky except the first - but even I feel a sensation that I should go and finish the fight when I see these ads. It doesn't end there, the "Believe" ads compliment this idea that you need to do what is needed as Master Chief by telling different stories from old veterans about Master Chief and how they were waiting for him and how he was their only hope. Once again the ads urge you to go and become Master Chief or all these old soldiers will not be alive unless you finish the fight. Like I mentioned all of this is simple myth-making; taking a few strong and emotional cues and repeating them over and over until they become almost myths within society. Brilliant marketing in other words or you could even call it Joseph Goebbels' inspired propaganda.

Now we have the "We Are ODST" ad which once again shows off the supremacy of Microsoft marketing compared to say Sony or Nintendo. Here they're building a war movie mentality of the squad and how sacred it is, the fall of brothers in arms and how the end of a battle is a start of yet another. All with extremely high production values that really get your blood pumping and have more in common with a Hollywood production rather than a game. All of this makes me suspect that Don Draper from Mad Men is working at Microsoft's marketing department. I mean the level of money, talent and heart put into these ads is not something you see every day in game commercials so it really stand out. It is also an important indication that gaming as an industry is going forward and being taken more seriously, these quality ads don't come cheap. Below I linked to my favorite Halo ads to showcase my point in that these marketing guys and girls at Microsoft get it.

"Starry Night" Trailer
"The Hunted" TV Commerical
"Gravesite" TV Commerical
"Believe" - TV Commercial

The Mysterious Pop of Andrew Bird

2009-09-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

I don't really know much about Andrew Bird except that he's a Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and whistler. That's pretty much all I know about him and all of that I've read on his website a while back. On the other hand what I do know well is that he's probably my favorite active singer/songwriter today with great masterpiece pop albums such as The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Armchair Apocrypha and the most recent Noble Beast and I've spun all of them today in a rally to find pure pop bliss. I succeeded.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, simply calling Andrew Bird's music as "pop" is kind of an understatement and it's really hard for me to describe Andrew Bird's music but I usually go with; pure pop bliss mixed with tons of weird quirky lyrics as the main pillars of it, all packaged with pure charm and talent. Let's be frank, great pop is hard to come by these days, especially pop as ambitious as what Andrew Bird is accomplishing with pretty much every album. It's catchy and full of melodies but it's so quirky and weird at the same time, ultimately it's just beautiful music.

The Mysterious Production of Eggs is definitely his best album that I have in my collection and that is where I suggest anyone starts if they have any interest in checking out Andrew Bird, that's where I started and was completely blown away. Still I wouldn't disqualify any of the other albums since all of them are pretty great in their own way and should be heard by anyone who appreciated great catchy pop music with a coat of quirkiness. I'm personally off to once again sink myself into the strange world of Andrew Bird and his beautiful music.

The Amazing Art of Beatles Rock Band

2009-09-02T04:48:00.000-07:00

This game holds absolutely no interest to me and I can never see myself buying a Rock Band game and playing with those silly plastic instrument. I tried it once in a store and felt like I went full retard. There was absolutely no connection between me and gameplay. I'm not saying that these games are absolutely horrible, I can somewhat understand the appeal of music games for the average Joe. My main problem with the current music games is the huge amount of rehash that is happening in the genre and I can see it very well ending up in the horrid state that milkage left the Tony Hawk games for example.

So when I heard about a Beatles Rock Band I felt like a part of me had died - for future reference here is me dying inside - considering I've been a fan of The Beatles for a long time and didn't want to see their brand and great music soiled by a game series and genre on the decline when it comes to creativity and quality. Not many things are sacred to me but Beatles happens to be one of those few things, I simply did not want to see lifeless doll-like Beatles made "hip" for the average Joe of gaming and in the process losing all the soul that the band possessed.

However since E3 2009 I will give the game one thing and that is the art-style and design of the game which happens to be god damn freaking genius AMAZING gorgeous. I don't know who made the amazing animated intro and art of the game but when I saw the opening for the first time all I could say was "These people get it!" and they really do because I don't know how they managed to tell the career-spanning, larger-than life story of The Beatles - all stunningly animated - in less then three minutes and leave you with a feeling of "It all makes perfect sense!". I'm simply speechless.

Now I can only hope that someone with brains and money goes to the people that made this stunning piece of animated art and hires them to make a full length feature animated film about the Beatles in the same style as this opening sequence in the game. The Beatles are larger than life for a reason and I don't really want to see a live action film about them but an animation of this quality can really do justice to their music and soul as has been proven with a mere two and a half minute opening scene found in a video game here below.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Review

2009-08-31T10:08:00.000-07:00

The night has been long, ominous, dark and damp. I have stalked, terrified, abused an army of Joker's goons and I have matched blow for blow Gotham's criminally insane. I have met my fears at the hands of Scarecrow, I have almost been broken by Bane again, I have outsmarted Killer Croc, I have done some serious gardening on Poison Ivy's plants and I have stopped another Joker plot that would have destroyed Gotham. I have done all this because no one else can, I have done this because I am Batman and Batman: Arkham Asylum has made my childhood aspirations come true; while at the same time managing to be the single best Batman game I have ever had the pleasure to play and one of my personal contenders for GAME OF THE YEAR.

My history with the Dark Knight has never been a deep one, I've never followed the comics and I don't know near enough about all the lore found there. Still he has always been there ever since I was a kid, I've followed him in the Tim Burton films as well as in the animated series and I have recently fallen once again in love with him through the recent films by Christopher Nolan. I am only slightly familiar with some of the comics like The Killing Joke, Year One and The Dark Knight Returns through Wikipedia. The one thing that has always stood out to me about Batman is the darkness as well as the intelligence of the character and the best part has always been that he doesn't really have any superpowers like Superman so back when I was a kid I felt hope that I might grow up like Bruce Wayne and have all those cool gadgets; that is why Batman: Arkham Asylum is such a blessing for people like me, because now I finally can at least feel like I'm Batman.

The greatness of Arkham Asylum streams from that one single idea of where you can actually play and feel like the Batman. The amount of respect for the lore of The Dark Knight put into this game by the developers Rocksteady is simply amazing - the whole game feels like an extra long episode of the animated series but with a much darker and more mature tone that reminds me of Alan Moore's and Frank Miller's work with The Dark Knight. Batman: Arkham Asylum respectfully recreates the dark, violent, scary and cinematic parts of Batman lore and The Dark Knight himself is once again the silent menace that strikes fear into the criminals of Gotham, the silent predator, the dark avenger.

While in past Batman games we've gotten mindless non-stop beat 'em up action with a Batman skin and paint job, here in Arkham Asylum, Batman is finally done justice. Yes, you will be brutalizing Joker's goons alot but that is only one small aspect of the game because you will be doing so much more; you will be exploring Arkham island, you will be solving puzzles, setting up crime scenes, silently taking out a whole room of armed goons one by one while instilling fear into them and finally you will be Batman with all the cool gadgets & tricks. The game is truly sum of it's parts because if you were doing only one of these things the game would not be as grand but the variety of gameplay really let's the game reach new heights.

The story of the game is quite simple but really good in a Batman sense of things. Joker has been apprehended by Batman and delivered to Arkham Asylum but of course things turn out to be too good to be true and it was all part of Joker's plan as he soon breaks free and takes control of the island, you being Batman and all are forced to do what it takes to stop him once again. It's a simple story but it's greatness is simply in it's presentation, you feel the tension of it throughout the game as it simply pulls you in. Arkham island is a truly living place with guards and villains but it's major appeal is in that it changes along with the story and you can really see the consequences of the actions you witness within the story.

Area-wise Arkham island is not really a big place but the developers have wisely countered this by letting Batman enter certain areas only after he has the right equipment to do so, in general this solution works really well and the backtracking isn't tedious but it does present some problems. The main problem for me was that due to plot and balance issues there is no so called "New Game+" which means that when you finish the game you won't be allowed to play again with Batman fully leveled and equipped with all the gadgets that you found, something I would love to do and it would greatly extent the 15 hours of gameplay that you already have here. The other issue I had with Arkham is the insane amount of collectibles found here and it feels at times that they're everywhere, but the really annoying part is that they're tied in with the challenge rooms so even after you finish the game you won't get to play all the challenge rooms unless you collected stuff like crazy.

Technically the game boosts impressive visually that look and run beautifully for the most part. I've stumbled upon some technical hiccups in frame-rate drops and the infamous Unreal Engine texture pop-ins, I've also had the dialogue sounds of Batman not play properly two times but in general this runs really smoothly and I haven't encountered any game breaking issues. The game certainly looks beautiful but I should also mention that I found the sound to be really impressive as well with a very moody music score as well as what seems like hours of recorded dialogue and now I'm only talking of Mark Hamill's brilliant portrayal of the Joker. One should also note that many voice-actors from the animated series have returned to do their characters for the game and yes, that includes Batman.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is simply one of those rare times where the developers have gone the extra mile, there is so much love for the Dark Knight in this game that you forgive any of the few misses that are in the game and even those few misses are really nit-picking. Last year I remember it was Dead Space that surprised me as the sleeper hit of the year and I can say the same thing about Arkham Asylum. When I first saw the game I was convinced that it would bomb but here I am playing it for the second time and I'm still in awe at what Rocksteady have done here, this game just oozes quality and care. Don't be fooled by the 15 hours of gameplay and how short that seems because you'll play this one a few times and after that there are always the challenge rooms to perfect your score and compare against people online; a feature surprisingly fun.

Conclusion:
In summary I can say that regardless of whether you're a fan of Batman comic books or not, you should feel very at home in Arkham Asylum. Batman: Arkham Asylum is quite simply the first game that lets you be Batman. Everything about the game; the impressive visuals, amazing soundtrack, superb voice acting, Bourne inspired combat, the tricky boss battles, all feel like they have been lovingly crafted by developers that are both respectful and passionate about the source material. This is the Dark Knight at his peak and don't be fooled by the comic-bookish look of the game, this game is not afraid to take dark turns and the later parts of the game are directly morbid, in many cases more so than the movie The Dark Knight. If you like action-adventure games then don't miss this one out because it might be the definitive single player experience of the year and I shouldn't even have to mention that this is the best superhero game that has ever been made. Pick this one up or the choke is on you.

I'M BATMAN! BAI!

2009-08-27T01:49:00.000-07:00

Just got confirmation that my copy of Batman Arkham Asylum has arrived and I'm off to pick it up. Don't expect to see me much around for the next week or so, cause I'll be busy saving Gotham from Joker's insane plots! Bai!

Mad Men - Love Among The Ruins S03E02

2009-08-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Last week when the first episode of the new Mad Men season aired I was left feeling underwhelmed because the episode felt like a reset of the show so that the new viewers can get a nice little introduction into the world of Mad Men, nothing wrong with that but myself as an old fan, I felt that the episode was a crude flashback to season one. I also wasn't feeling the season opener since the pacing felt off and it didn't really pick up too many past plot threads. Still the biggest flaw of last weeks episode was in Don's plot line with the air-hostess in that it felt very rough and in your face with none of that Mad Men subtlety which I adore.

Now this weeks episode can be summed into three letters "WOW!". This episode is a prime example why I watch and adore Mad Men so much as a show. It was complex with quite a few small plot lines and many of them felt like they might go on and become major plot lines for the season. The show is at it's strongest when it is subtle and not in your face and this episode is doing that perfectly. Love Among The Ruins as it is titled is already one of my favorites due to the fact that it feels like a Mad Men Greatest Hits episode. The writers of this show are truly genius when they really go all out and despite there being so many threads to the plot in this episode they manage to hint at relevance in all of them.

This is also the reason I adore this episode because it returns to what the show does best, we get alot of screen time in Sterling Cooper and the business side of things with a cool advertising plot about Patio Diet Cola, which became Diet Pepsi, as well as some really good domestic drama with Betty & Don and how they are forced to deal with Betty's ailing and lonely father. I'm pretty sure having Betty's dad living with the Drapers isn't going to work out, family-wise or plot-wise and I feel it is a disaster waiting to happened but I really enjoyed Don taking Betty's brother aside and telling him this is exactly how it's going to happen.

Don really gets to shine in this episode and I am once again in love with his sheer mellow manliness, at work he is still the guy in control when it comes to being a big shot ad-man, and at home he once again shows that despite his major flaws he is still a very good man to his family. He not only had the previously mentioned awesome scene where he puts Betty's brother in place, but he also has a great scene at the end where he's admiring his son's beautiful instructor during a spring performance, this scene is simply stunning because of the subtlety in that Don really can't control his desires and I am glad that the writers held back and didn't try to make anything happened with the instructor during this episode. I'm waiting impatiently for the next installment to a show that once again seems to be in high form.

So glad to meet you, Elliott Smith.

2009-08-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

There is something really special about Elliott Smith, it's not often that music truly speaks to my very being, I've had Nirvana, Silver Mt. Zion, Radiohead and the most recent one being Elliott do that. They all cover different parts of myself and I usually listen to them during specific moods. Elliott was a brilliant singer/songwriter with so much talent and heart, the kind that only comes once in a generation, but he was also a tragic character with drug problems as well as a general sense of not being able to deal with life and many of his best songs deal with these themes. Often when I listen to Elliott's music I feel that I am listening to a thousand sad love songs and all of the failures of those loves is put upon himself.

I never knew, met or saw Elliott live but I will always remember him as he was when he performed Miss Misery during the 1997 Academy Awards, back when he was overshadowed by Celine Dion. He was the loser, the misfit, the freak show in the glamorous crowd of Hollywood but at the same time you could tell that this man was an extraordinary musician and there was a pure innocence in his awkwardness; it was as if he knew he didn't belong there and accepted it. Many years later today it still makes me sad that there was no room in this world for a man such as Elliott, I'm sitting here listening to Angeles and it's nice enough to make a man weep, but I don't weep, do you?

The Twilight World of Gatsby - Icon

2009-08-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

Made another icon for Sarah. The Twilight World of Gatsby is as the title says an icon where the result was giving me some major flashbacks of the book "The Great Gatsby"; one of my favorites. I'm embarrassed to say though that I cannot remember where I ran across the stock so I can't link to the talented artist. Sowry.

"His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete." - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

GAME OF THE YEAR 2010 CONFIRMED!

2009-08-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

This picture is worth over 9000 words and it's a MGS: Peace Walker screen which has just confirmed next year's GOTY.

Sony @ Gamescom 2009

2009-08-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

Gamescom is on in Germany and Sony started with pretty good conference with the main focus being their business strategies rather than game announcements and it seems pretty clear that Sony are ready to get back into the fight over consumers once more with the announcement of a Playstation 3 Slim and a $100/€100 price drop taking affect both with the new Slim PS3 which will be arriving during the first week of September, as well as any older model currently on the market. I guess most would call this long overdo but since I already own a PS3 the novelty for me is purely aesthetic in that I find the new PS3 Slim cheap looking with it's lack of piano black dust collecting finish.

Now what really spiked my interest is the new firmware 3.00 update which appears to have some cool features. In general I like the Microsoft inspired new connectivity with the Playstation Store that they seem to be going for and in general they finally seem to be streamlining the PSN experience and it's long over-due. Still I am I let down by the failure to even mention anything about cross-game party chat and cross-game invites but there is still hope that it might be just around the corner. One thing that I'm really looking forward too with the new update are the dynamic custom themes and I can't wait to see what kind of awesome themes creative people will bring out. A short video about the new update is linked in the image below for your viewing pleasure.

There really weren't that many announcements today by Sony but many of them seemed at least interesting, one of the big things for me was to find out that VidZone will finally make it to Sweden this fall. VidZone is basically a service where you can stream music videos and seems like a great feature to have at parties if it actually works well. The other big thing for me was that the video store is finally coming to Europe towards the end of this year but the downside for me is that Sweden sucks and will be getting it sometime next year; hopefully in the beginning. Other than that I'm excited with the stuff coming to the PSP like the Minis - bite-sized short games for those time when you want to play something while you're doing number two. I'm also curious about the digital comics coming to PSP through the Playstation Store and I'm hoping the pricing is not a total rip-off and the damn things are actually readable.

Wipeout HD Fury

2009-08-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

This is one of those cases where my shallow graphics-whore side has riled up all my hype for this game. I have never been interested in futuristic racing games with hovercrafts, well I did play Wipeout on the PSOne but I was never a fan. So when Wipeout HD rolled out on the PSN for the PS3 a while back I shrugged and moved on with my gaming life barely remember it but now with the release of the extensive expansion pack called Fury I actually feel pretty hyped about this whole game.

The main reason of this change of heart can be observed in the pictures found in this blog entry and yes, I am aware that they do not fairly represent the full glory of the 1080p resolution that your experience when you play the game. That's right, HOLY FREAKING GOD this game is running a resolution of 1920×1080 and at 60 frames per second! Now you may think that I'm late to the party since Wipeout HD was doing this always but I counter that I just didn't find the art-direction of the original game as exciting as I find it in this new expansion. The art-direction in this new expansion is just way out there drop dead gorgeous, not to mention it looks insanely slick and interesting to look at due to the way they've done the colours.

Like I said, this is not really a genre I'm into at all but the slick design and technical achievement of the game has awed me to the point where this will be my next gaming purchase. I also read that you can use your own music while playing this so I'll dig out my most experimental instrumental music to go along with the game. Not to mention that from all accounts there is enough content on this downloadable game with expansion it could in theory be sold as a retail game on disc. However the best part of it being a download only PSN game is that Wipeout HD + Fury go for half the price of a new retail game. Anyone interested in seeing one of the best looking games I've seen this gen in motion can click the link below for a cool video.

Wipeout HD Fury Gameplay

Mad Men - Season Three

2009-08-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

Mad Men season three is finally almost here; today for the US people and tomorrow for me. I've been watching some promo pictures and it reminded me how much I miss the show and the characters in it, Don, Betty and the whole Sterling Cooper gang. There is just something special about this show and it's hard to put my finger on what but this show is the first show where I have disliked only one episode in the whole of two seasons. Every episode is so well crafted and written and I love how all the characters are human beings with huge flaws yet still are so extremely charming and likable.

I don't know what to expect from season three but I hope they don't reset the characters to season one, I am mainly referring to Don and my hope that he tries not to sleep around so much now that Betty has given him another chance. I'm also hoping for more Don flashback episodes where we find out more about his past. Otherwise I hope the drama isn't the focus as much as in season two and instead we go back to season one's more subtle drama and more focus on the ad business. This show is really at it's strongest when they let the great actors do their characters in a bit more mellow tones and that's what I hope to see this season as well. I'll probably try to blog about the episodes but no promises because I'm kind of lazy.

My Most Anticipated Games 2009/2010

2009-08-15T05:04:00.000-07:00

10. Batman Arkham Asylum - PC/PS3/360

I don't think I've ever played a proper Batman game in my whole life but after playing the demo around twenty times I am convinced that the true Batman game is just around the corner. I love the mixture of stealth and action that this game presents, as well as how dark and brutal they have made it. Don't be deceived by the comic look of the game, this game has more in common with Alan Moore's and Frank Miller's Batman, rather than the Batman you've seen on Cartoon Network. The only gripe I had with the demo is that it felt a little too simple but I hope it's due to it being the first level and that the challenge will increase in the full game.

9. Bioshock 2 - PC/PS3/360

It's not often that you get to see an intelligent shooter and it is even rarer to see one become successful and have a sequel. Bioshock came out of nowhere and charmed a whole game scene with it's mad dystopian underwater world of Rapture that was based on Ayn Rand's philosophies gone wrong. It was at the time of it's release a breath of fresh air in a first-person shooter genre that was going stale but to be fair one should class Bioshock as an Action-RPG due to the different skills that your character could develop depending on your choices. Bioshock 2 is already looking like it will be a worthy sequel but my only concern is that the "newness" of the first game will be lost in a sequel.

8. Alan Wake - 360

Alan Wake has been in development for so long that I feel I was still a teenager back when it was first announced. Still it's Remedy that's making it, the people behind the Max Payne games and I'm expecting high production values and quality from them. The story is an intriguing thriller about a best-selling horror author who retreats to a small town, loses his wife and the nightmares he writes about start coming to life. This E3 we finally got to see it running on 360 and it looked quite stunning visually. My one concern was that I felt it was too much action in the showing, I would much rather they had focused on the moody thriller aspects of the game since that is the reason why I'm interested in the game at all.

7. Heavy Rain - PS3

It often saddens me to see how classic puzzle-solving adventure games which were so prominent during the 90's have gone out of style. This is also the reason why I'm so excited about Heavy Rain, because it not only is a classic adventure game but it also does something new with the adventure formula. Imagine if you were playing a movie but instead of being inactive all the decisions you make during the real-time of the movie had an affect on how the story unfolds; add to that multiple main characters that you get to play and you have something really unique in development. Quantic Dream tried to make this game previous gen with Fahrenheit but came short but now with the full backing of Sony I believe they might actually succeed in making something really great. On the flip side this project might go to hell and turn into total shite. Time will tell.

6. Assassin's Creed II - PC/PS3/360

I'll start this off by saying that Assassin's Creed was letdown for me personally, don't get me wrong it was a good game and looked absolutely stunning, but there were some major errors made with the most important thing; gameplay. It can be summed into one major error and that is that it was repetitive as hell. Now with Assassin's Creed 2 it seems like Ubisoft is about to redeem themselves by having more missions, choosing your equipment, new toys and finally the new adventure set in the Italian Renaissance and looks absolutely gorgeous. Ubisoft certainly seem to be on the mark with this sequel but I'm doing my best to keep the hype down because in my experience they make great games but rarely legendary.

5. Splinter Cell: Conviction - 360

Sam Fisher is back and he is looking alot like Jason Bourne Identity. Judging by the trailers he's out for revenge for his daughter's death and no one is safe from this agent gone rogue. The focus seems to have been shifted to an action sneak game with the focus on action as well as the tone seems to be much darker and raw with brutal torture interrogation scenes. Some people don't approve that the series is moving in a Bourne direction but I personally love it because I was always more a Bourne fan than a Splinter Cell fan. I'm looking forward to brutalizing the bastards that killed my daughter.

4. Alpha Protocol - PC/PS3/360

Alpha Protocol is much like Splinter Cell: Conviction look to take great amount of influence from the Bourne movies but is far more ambitious about it. In essence this is an Action-RPG with the focus on your decisions when you play the game. Make split-second timed decisions in dialogue, develop your character's skills and buy the equipment of your choice. This is being developed by Obsidian (Neverwinter Night 2, Kotor 2) so I expect great RPG elements but knowing these developers I expect the game to lack some polish. None the less, who hasn't dreamt about being a secret agent and making all those badass decisions. I already have plans on having Mike be as close to Bourne as possible.

3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - PS3

Like I mentioned in my earlier blog entry, Uncharted 2 looks absolutely amazing and I'm not just talking from a visual point of view. The gameplay looks amazing, the in-game cutscenes match those of MGS4 and the adventurous charm of the characters is still intact. It's a longer game than the first, it seems more polished in every aspect compared to the first, it has competitive and cooperative multiplayer and I have a feeling it might end up being my personal Game of the Year. The fact that this game already seems more polished compared to many released games with a few more months of development left makes me think that this will clearly be one of the best games of the holiday season and the year. Won't be surprised if it dethrones Killzone 2 as console graphics king either.

2. Mass Effect 2 - PC/360

Mass Effect 2 will be something special, I can tell, Commander Shepard is back and is taking on a suicide mission with a high probability of death. The fact that you can import your Shepard from the first game and the decisions you made then will affect the sequel will be amazing on it's own. I simply adore the first but it had some flaws so this is another sequel where everything seems to be bigger, better and more badass. The bad and repetitive side-quests have apparently been amended, the galaxy map and exploration have been re-done, the dialogue system has been further intertwined with the cinematics and improved, multiple endings have also been confirmed. All these things are amazing but what makes me go gooey is the fact that Commander Shepard is back! I simply adore the default Shepard, the way he looks, sounds and his background and I can't wait to play as him again this coming January.

1. The Last Guardian - PS3

The Last Guardian is the title of Fumito Ueda's new project. I have often said that Ueda is to gaming what Miyazaki is to animation, a breath of pure fresh air. The Last Guardian is appearing to carry on the torch that he started with Ico and Shadow of the Colossus; both games considered by many pure pieces of art. When I saw the impressive trailer for The Last Guardian my jaw was dropped at how beautiful it looked already and how much pure charm is contained in Team Ico's games. I felt like all the other games I had seen at E3 were now forced into a backseat due to them not actually doing anything groundbreaking compared to The Last Guardian. I felt like I was moved back in time to when I first saw masterpieces like Outcast, Deus Ex, Grim Fandango and just like back then I was in awe to be a gamer because with these games and now The Last Guardian I could say to myself "This is possible within gaming?" The pure childish fantasy and imagination I saw in the trailer left me almost teary-eyed, to see the little boy interacting with the huge creatures was unlike anything I had seen in gaming. The fact is that genres are irrelevant to this game, I could try and call it a platform adventure game with sneaking elements but I'd just feel retarded attempting such a silly thing. Instead this is simply one of those times where someone is doing something that is so beyond convention that one can only sit back and hope that it turns out as amazing as it's promised potential. I can't wait.

Uncharted 2 - Gameplay

2009-08-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Every time I see a new video of Uncharted 2 I get surprised by a new setting and environment. First videos were of a sunny city warzone, second batch was of icy glaciers and now we're back with a rainy city section. This game seems to be all about content and according to developers it is a larger game than the first.

Then you have the multiplayer added as well, three player co-op, treasure hunt, team deathmatch and a Horde mode light with added objectives. I was in the multiplayer beta and while it was obvious that it wasn't the finished game and lacked some polish, it was also obvious that it was a sheer gameplay blast to play.

I love how everything is more polished and ambitious compared to Uncharted and it is not just the graphics but more that it truly seems like Naughty Dog has really listened to the fans of the first game and amended every little thing that was lacking with the first game. All in all for me this is a clear case of pre-order time.

Demon's Souls is looking good...

2009-08-13T03:28:00.000-07:00

I must admit that I may have been hasty when I wrote off the PS3 exclusive Demon's Souls as another crap title last year when I first heard about it. Then again a year ago I really wasn't impressed with what I saw, the whole game seemed like some generic Diablo meets Oblivion escapade. Fast forwarding to present time and seeing the E3 trailer as well as watching G4TV's preview I must admit that I am feeling hyped and there is the all familiar itch "I wanna play it!".

The whole premise still seems pretty much the same, it does seem like Diablo meets Oblivion and you pretty much seem to just go through the dungeons smiting any evil you find and kicking the asses of the bosses (or more like getting your ass handed to you since I hear the game is brutal difficulty wise). Of course there are some RPG elements where you decide how your character develops skills wise but I wouldn't expect Planescape:Torment level dialogue and story.

Now here is where I get hyped, the game has an interesting multiplayer side to it, apparently as soon as you log into PSN the game world is online and you can see other players and their ghosts/bloodstains will help you out so that you don't make the same mistakes as them. Later on other players will be able to breach into your world and you into theirs and have fights over each others souls. Finally the icing on the cake is a three player CO-OP where you can take on the dungeons with your pals.

These online features sound truly refreshing and interesting, I've always ignored dungeon-crawler games but this one sounds like it might be a blast with some online friends. I can only imagine how kick ass it would be to team-up on one of the game's epic-sized bosses together with your friends or to put it another way; I have too much rage to play a difficult game on my own so playing with a party is my only hope.

And yes, this game does still seem a tiny bit underpolished with how the camera seems a bit too far from the character and the character movements look a bit floaty but none the less I'll be getting this game as soon as I have another brave knight (or two) that are willing to take on the challenge of saving the kingdom. Demon's Souls can be imported from Asia subbed or you can wait until this fall when it is getting released in the US. In the meanwhile I would suggest anyone interested checks out the videos I linked below.

Demon's Souls E3 2009 Trailer
Demon's Souls Hands On Preview - G4tv.com

Teardrop - Icon

2009-08-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

Made this avy/icon for Sarah/Ruri. Stock courtesy of fogke over at dA. Check his gallery out!

The Blog Starts Now!

2009-08-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first ever world-exclusive blog; BEARable.

I never planned to start a blog but here I am. This is purely for my own benefit since I think too much about useless things that no one is really interested in so I'll just put them here instead.

This blog will likely be mostly about games, movies, music, shows and other useless pop-culture bullshit.

I'll update shortly with a proper entry...