One of my long time dreams is to go to a video game conference. However, when I can’t, Nintendo Power does the work for me and puts out a list of upcoming games from E3 that made my inner geek drool, so here’s a post on what I’m really, really looking forward from what NP covered.
1. GOLDEN SUN DS!!! Oh man, I LOVE Golden Sun so much. I never really had the game myself, but I borrowed GS2 from a friend and played it so many times that I eventually had the dungeons memorized and the characters up to some ridiculous level. Then my sister bought me GS1 from China, and well …the game didn’t save if I saved it and turned my GBSP off (figures, it was from China, no offense), so I kept my GBSP on for a few days to finish the game. I didn’t play GS1 as thoroughly as GS2, but I think you get the point that I am a big fan of Golden Sun. Hearing that a new game (finally!) is coming out for the DS makes me pretty ecstatic. Please get a Japanese ROM with english pack out soon? Pretty please?
2. Scribblenauts – the concept just makes the game sound great. Write a noun and have it materialize in game? Add words together to make interesting things happen? It all sounds pretty sweet. I’ve actually been looking forward to Scribblenauts ever since it was first mentioned in NP (which was last month I think? I can’t really remember).
3. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days just looks freaking awesome, not to mention I’m a big KH fan. It’s actually been awhile since I’ve played KH…I should probably go back and touch on Chain of Memories. However, I’m still really looking forward to 358/2 for the storyline and the gameplay.
4. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers – I’ll put it out there that I’m not the biggest Final Fantasy fan with the exception of Tactics Advance (particularly the first one; A2 never really appealed to me). I guess I don’t really have the patience for turn-based RPG (yes, blasphemy I know). However, there’s just something about NP’s description of Crystal Bearers that makes it sound like a Final Fantasy game I would enjoy.
5. And of course the oh so enigmatic new Legend of Zelda game. Not Spirit Tracks, the big one for the Wii. There’s something about its poster in NP that automatically attracted me. Waaah suspense ;_;
Those are the games from NP’s “Best of E3″ article that caught my eye. Of course everything looks good, and if I could I would try to play through every single game that was previewed, but I’ll limit myself to a select few.
I came across a few interesting links today. After looking at an article about the new Dragon Age game on GameSpy, I found a link to an article about cloud computing gaming, specifically a service being developed called Gaikai. Realizing that something like this is being developed made me extremely excited, especially after watching a video demo of Gaikai on GameSpy.
Basically, cloud computing, simply put, is where services and networks will be hooked up to the internet and accessible anywhere. This takes away the hassle of downloading programs. Cloud computing gaming is where MMOs will be able to be played in a browser instead of going through the hassle of downloading gigabyte files. Here is a basic description of how Gaikai works from their site:
“We install the latest games on our servers in purpose-designed data centres. We worry about the cost of the latest 3D video card, the gigabytes of game files, staying up to date with the latest patches and drivers, and all the other headaches involved in modern PC gaming. Our high performance software takes care of turning the game output into a high quality video stream on the fly, ready for you to watch and play, in a few milliseconds. Your input – every keystroke, every mouse click – is sent back over an encrypted channel to the game.”
-http://www.gaikai.com/streaming-worlds/
When Gaikai is completed, it may be the next generation for gaming, which I am extremely looking forward to.
There is also another service similar to Gaikai called OnLive. Both seem like they’ll be equally great and innovative services. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
On a side note, Dragon Age looks like a really good game. I’m really liking the PC toolkit that’s being offered with the PC version of the game.
Warning: this post has spoilers about the movie. Yea.
—————-
After watching all the HBP trailers, I was pretty certain that it would actually be a decent movie. Boy was that the wrong mindset to have while walking into the theater.
To sum it up, HBP sucked. The movie was too centered around romance and had random plot points thrown in here and there to attempt to make a coherent storyline (that didn’t work btw). There were too many parts that were left out that could have been kept in from the book (example: Dumbledore’s funeral could have totally replaced that wand holding thing).
Before I get into all the bad things from the movie, let me try to think of a few good things. Uhh…. well there was one particular line that was quite good only because it reminded everyone in GSET of an inside joke (“Indeed.” -Snape). Slughorn was portrayed pretty well too. I also really enjoyed seeing Quidditch again, even if it was extremely brief, though that’s probably my OQL geeky side coming out. Luna was brilliant as usual (go Evanna Lynch!). I also felt that Michael Gambon did a somewhat better job as Dumbledore this time. He actually seemed a little more caring than in the previous movies (especially compared to OOTP). …And I think that’s all I really liked.
The major issue I had with HBP is that everything was a plot point, except for the romance. I know usually in the HP movies things are put in as plot points, but in HBP it felt like this aspect was extremely stressed to the point where there was nothing else in the movie except obvious plot devices and crappy romance. Here everyone says “but the romance showed how they grew up, so it was crucial!” Yes, there obvious was going to be some romance because it was also a part of the books, but there was too much. Practically every scene included a hint of if not romance itself, and the emphasis of HBP was not on romance, but on Harry learning how to defeat Voldemort. The memories and the cave scene at the end were both pretty well done (forgot to add that to my like list, oh well), but it didn’t really flow well with the rest of the movie because the rest of the movie was practically all romance. Plus the Harry/Ginny kiss scene failed. “Close your eyes” …..um yea ok, and I thought the Cho/Harry kiss was bad. This surpassed it.
Don’t even get me started on the end either. Could it be any more corny? I know I have a biased opinion on the movie because I grew up being an HP fan, but still, EVERY single HP movie has probably ended with “we’re best friends, let us stick together!” *epic facepalm*
Dumbledore’s death was ok. I wasn’t excepting a lot because I knew the funeral would be cut out, but I felt they could have done a little more with it. Dumbledore was a pretty important character who lasted for six movies; he’s supposed to be the greatest wizard, and he was such a key character in the series. He could have been acknowledged at least a little more, but ah well.
The attack on the burrow was also eh. It could have been left out, but I realize that it was needed to provide more emphasis on the fact that the wizarding world is in danger and sacrifices will have to be made.
I like how Draco always wore a suit. And how Fenrir Greyback was never explained. I heard several people saying how they were confused about him after the movie.
Oh yes, one more thing: Ginny kicks major ass in Quidditch. Bonnie Wright is awesome. Add that to the like list too.
Sorry that my thoughts are all over the place. It’s 1:30 in the morning, and I’m pretty tired, but there you go, all my first impressions of the movie. Overall I’d say it was an ok movie but a horrible adaptation of the book. Too much romance brought down the movie in my opinion. However, watching it with GSET was pretty awesome.
Note: This is all my opinion. If you have a different opinion, feel free to post it. I’ll gladly argue.
-Caffeine
-Orange Soda
-Sugar
-Orange Soda
-Fluffy animals
- ^^ Add cute to that
-Music
-Asian Dramas
-Orange Soda
-Milk Tea
- ^^ with bubbles
-Sleep
- ^^ or a lack thereof
-Did I mention orange soda?
FYI: If you haven’t been a part of GSET ‘09 you probably won’t get this post.
So I’ve been here at governor’s school at Rutgers for about a week and a half now. It’s been pretty much a blast; I’ve been having such a great time. The classes are awesome, the trips are amazing, and everyone here is pretty damn cool. I actually get the time to do things I want to do, since Pburg kind of fails at that with block scheduling and such. The classes I have are biomed engineering, computer science theory, and hacking social networks, as well as physics and robotics which are mandatory for everyone. The classes are really nice because there’s no real stress put into the class from things like homework or tests or quizzes. It’s mostly just lecture about things you find interesting, which is a nice change from the hectic classes of high school. I also think my huge procrastinating is getting slightly better. I’ve actually been doing things on time instead of at the last minute! And I’m getting my competitive spirit back, which has been absent for practically four years, ever since I moved in middle school. It’s a nice change. Plus, the fact that I’m so busy with my project group, robotics, and classes means I have less time to sit around bored and let my mind meander, which is quite nice.
It’ll be a big change once gov school ends. It’ll be slightly depressing to be honest. It’s an amazing change to be away from the boredom of home and be able to have freedom to do what I want with few limits. It won’t be fun going back to a regular schedule.
Whatever. I think I’ll just milk my time here as much as I can.
So junior year’s over. Starting next year I’m a senior. Geez that’s a pretty scary thought, to be honest. It feels like just seconds ago I had graduated middle school and entered high school, and soon after two more months I’ll be part of the next graduating class. It’s a thought I still can’t believe. It’s especially saddening because my family will be moving to California after I graduate because my dad has to go work at his company’s main branch, so there most likely won’t be much of a chance that I’ll be able to see my high school friends again, unless someone is willing to let me live with them
As for this year, I’m content. My grades sucked a lot so my rank will most likely fall a bit, but I did a LOT more extracurricular stuff, especially piano-wise, so that made up for my grades. Next year though will be my return to studying. I mean it. I intend to force myself to work during gov school which will in turn help my study habits for next year. Hopefully.
Overall though, junior year has been a changing point in my life in more ways than one. Things happened that I expected, things happened that I definitely didn’t expect (one in particular…), but hey life comes at you from all directions. It wouldn’t be exciting if you were going down a straight path with no twists or turns.
Congratulations to this year’s graduating class! Senior class of 2010, let’s do this!
The New Moon trailer’s out. *GIGGLESQUEEGIGGLE* /sarcasm. In case you haven’t seen the joyous masterpiece yet, here it is (what a great default video picture, a half naked Taylor Lautner >.<):
Okay, dissection time. This dissection/critique is a little long because for some reason, I took it upon myself to comment on everything possible. If you are a hardcore Twifan reading this and take it upon yourself to try and refute everything I say/mention, please note that I will most likely not reply, and your opinions will not change mine. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinions, and this is mine about Twilight in general and the trailer. However, if I made mistakes concerning the trailer or the books, corrections for them are welcome.
Side note: TTM stands for Twilight the Musical, which is the most amazing parody of Twilight I have ever seen. I will be randomly quoting it throughout this, so if you want to understand what I’m talking about, check it out at: http://www.twilightthemusical.com (it’s still a work in progress).
Okay, so the trailer starts out with a panning over of scenery, blah de blah who cares. There’s ominous music playing in the background. It doesn’t take a really pretentious person to figure out that there’s a premonition of something bad. Scene change to nighttime, where Bella’s red truck drives into the scene (TTM: “I got you a truck. It was really cheap, like you”).
0:14
Bella: “It’s my birthday, can I ask for something? ….Kiss me.”
And then proceeds what has to be the most unemotional kiss that ever existed in the history of movies. Seriously, I thought Edward and Bella had no compatibility on paper, and now on the big screen, every time they get together it seems like the compatibility factor decreases by ten. It’s probably hit the negatives by now. I mean, I understand that this was supposed to be an “aww such a loving couple” scene, but the lack of emotion from both sides just makes it extremely bland.
0:22
Bella: “I love you.”
Those three words probably had even less emotion than the kiss, if possible. This is turning out to be a great trailer already…
0:24
Edward: “You’re my only reason to stay. Alive, if that’s what I am”
You say that, but you really don’t look like you mean it. In fact, you’re practically emotionless. Here the Twifans go “but he’s a VAMPIRE!! He has an excuse for being practically emotionless!” Well that may be true, but seriously, Edward/RPatts looks like he’d rather be anywhere but there, and thus the romance aspect of the whole movie starts to fall apart since the actors/actresses don’t even sound/look like they’re in love.
0:30
Scene change to Bella’s birthday party at the Cullens. All the Cullens are there (TTM: “Edward, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie”) Alice is all excited about the party, informing Bella about her presents and her cake. At least Alice is portrayed by an actress who can show emotions. Kudos to you, Ashley Greene.
0:36 Bella: “Alice, that cake could feed fifty, and you guys don’t even eat.”
Oh Kristen Stewart, I love how you even carry out even potentially humorous lines with the same monotonous voice that you proclaim your love for Edward with, although it does fit Bella’s monotonous personality in the books (EDWARD I LOVE YOU MARRY ME), so maybe KStew’s doing a good job. *Shrug*
0:42
Bella: “Ow, papercut.”
OH NO Bella gets a paper cut (TTM: “I’m so clumsy and begrudgingly in love!”). There’s a closeup of KStew’s face, emotionless as ever (wait, is that a slight grimace I see? Oh, good job KStew, progress!). The music gets darker and louder, signaling soon-coming action. A drop of Bella’s blood falls ever-so-dramatically to the carpeted floor. Jasper freaks out and starts vampysprinting towards Bella, Edward goes D: and pushes Bella away (a little forcefully I might say, it seems she fell into the table) while whirling around and throwing Jasper back, resulting in him crashing into the piano (the poor piano!). Oh, joyful action. Actually, I think the only thing that made the scene suspenseful was the music. The rest was just like “…okay wow, lame, next.” Insert the Twifans who go “but they’re VAMPIRES, and Jasper can’t control himself, so it adds to the suspense!! Bella could have seriously gotten hurt!” Yea, seriously, stop playing the vampire pity card. I think Bella got more hurt by being shoved into a table than by what Jasper might have done. And honestly, come on, we ALL knew Edward would be there saving her sorry, clumsy ass. There’s no suspense if you know the outcome.
0:52
Bella: “What happened with Jasper is nothing.”
Edward: “Nothing compared to what could have happened, and I promise to never put you through anything like this ever again. This is the last time you’ll ever see me.”
Scene change to a forest. Okay first off, I have to comment on the facial expressions through this whole conversation. Good old RPatts has his constipation face back on. KStew, on the other hand, has a face that says “okay let me attempt to look heartbroken so that we can end this scene already, and then I can go home at long last and get the hell away from this set and movie.” No emotion whatsoever, as usual. No wonder her only friend is a cactus (TTM reference). But yea, back to the trailer. Edward leaves Bella with yet another unemotional kiss on the head and leaves. And all the Twifans start to bawl.
Seriously, I think I’m going to go into the movie theater when New Moon comes out with a jar to collect change. Donate your tears of sadness and longing to charity! Ten cents for every tear that falls because you miss your Edward. Twenty-five if it’s just a single tear.
1:09
Good job Edward, you left your ex girlfriend standing in the middle of a forest, where potential predators *cough* could be lurking. Now Bella’s all heartbroken (or pretending to be at least, on KStew’s part) and is reduced to a crying wreck on the forest floor. I have a feeling this won’t turn out well.
1:13
Laurent: “How much could you mean to him if he left you here, unprotected? But I can’t help myself. You are so… mouthwatering…”
Woo, my feeling turned out to be right, though I suppose it was a rather obvious prediction. So yea, Laurent somehow finds Bella, and now they’re in the middle of some sort of clearing. Bella’s standing there looking impassive and dumbfounded as usual. And now Laurent wants to eat her. Literally. Blood-red eyes and all. Way to go Edward, what good judgment you have! …Wait, I thought vampires’ eyes got black when they were bloodthirsty? Oh well, who pays attention to the details in the book anyway? And uh, Bella why are you just standing there while he’s fondling your face? What happened to the flight stimulator in your body that should have been urging you to get out of the dangerous situation? Here the Twifans go “but she was rooted to the ground by fear! And she’s heartbroken!” Okay, really? She had enough courage (and stupidity) to go try and fight James in the first movie, who was much more potentially dangerous I believe. Now she can’t even try to get away from Laurent? Also, I highly doubt there is one person here that would not at least attempt to get away from or fight a person who was threatening to kill you. Heartbroken or not, I’m pretty positive there’s some intuition inside you that would tell you to freaking RUN, no matter how scared you were.
Oh wait, this is the world of Twilight, I forgot. Since Mary Sues can’t die, I suppose somebody will just have to come and save Bella.
1:25
Cue TLaut to the rescue! My prediction was correct, yet again, and he has his regular hair back. I guess the producers got flooded with letters complaining about his fake hair. Good thing too because it looked ridiculous anyway.
So Jacob appears and sprints toward Bella, Laurent gets distracted, Bella turns and flees while yelling at Jacob to run, and Jacob dramatically shifts into a werewolf and lands on all fours, snarling at Laurent. Cue Team Jacob screaming. I guarantee you when I go see New Moon, this will be one scene that results in a mass of screaming females. And that’s why I’m reminding myself to bring earmuffs.
I have to admit though, as much as I don’t like Twilight or the rest of the trailer, those last few seconds were actually somewhat gripping.
Anyway, thus ends the wonderful New Moon trailer. New Moon is unfortunately coming to a theater near you on November 20, 2009. I can’t believe I just spent an hour of my life writing up this three page long critique. I think I shall go off to do something useful, like perhaps my history homework, and try to get rid of this Twilight madness from my brain.
I shall leave you all with one last TTM quote: “Cold things can’t feel love.”
Ah what the heck, better to start planning earlier than later, even though I doubt many of these will be fulfilled.
1. Have a blast at GSET.
2. See the midnight screening of HBP (which may coincide with #1).
3. Finish the OQL site …lol.
4. Fully learn PHP and Javascript.
5. Go over Java in general so that I can be knowledgable next year.
6. BAND CAMP!!!! hahaha.
7. Complete some of the things on the evergrowing list of plans that Ashley and I have.
8. Start writing. Seriously I put this on every list of goals I ever make and it still hasn’t happened. Oh well, maybe one day…
9. Put the plans I have for an MMORPG down on paper.
10. Study for SATs in October.
11. Runescape subscription? 99 fishing? Maybe?
12. Finish college applications. Especially one for early decision.
13. Find a job online somewhere. Note: this is highly unlikely.
14. Learn something about networking.
15. Learn more about hacking. With good intentions.
16. OQL summer league!!
17. Work more on Shurtugal. Especially on the chat.
18. Practice piano. Get Mephisto down and memorized. Try to get Ondine at least up to half tempo with correct notes and fingering.
I believe that’s pretty much it. Now to see how much on this list I’ll actually complete…
Posted by bluebrisingr 
Posted by bluebrisingr 
Posted by bluebrisingr 
