Ten years in the making

Lets see ten years ago I was still in high school deep in the grips of Mr.Bond, I was also skateboarding every day and worrying about what homework was due. I certainly wasn't looking forward to Team Fortress 2, as I had never even heard of it at the time. Valve put the announced sequel to the original on the back burner opting to rerelease the first game (originally released in 1996 for the Quake engine) as Team Fortress Classic in 1999. That same year they also announced TF2 would be coming soon and was in development again.

Jump forward to the beginning of this week. TF2 is finally making its debut as a playable public beta (provided you preorder) and should be released in October. The game has undergone a drastic engine and graphics change and looks nothing like what was originally previewed for release in 2000. The look as gone from as realistic as they could manage in 1999 to a cartoonish hyper realism that smacks of the Incredibles. I know some folks are a bit put off by the games art direction, but the style is right up my alley.

I can't speak to how accurately the game play holds to the original because I only played it once or twice. TF2 is amazing though, I have not been excited about a first person shooter in ages, well at least a multiplayer one. The game modes keep each round fresh and the different classes mean that if one tactic isn't working you have eight other options (there are 9 total) to try before throwing in the towel. If it takes 10 years to produce a product that is this unique, artistic and just plan good then I hope other companies take notice. Don't rush your product and don't go for the easy buck. Aspire to be like Valve and Blizzard, who always say it will be finished when it is finished and then release super polished games that sell millions.

A few youtube trailers for the game coming soon...

Loose Ends

There a few unfinished entries on the site as of late, so why not use a Thursday morning to take care of them.

BioShock Wrap (link)
I wrapped up BioShock over the weekend at around 10 hours of playtime. This is game of the year material and has been reviewed as such. I am eager to share my experience with others and will be swapping Dirt for some shock to Heavy Mehtul at lunch next week. If you have a 360 this game is a must, if you have a PC with the chops to run it then I'd suggest picking it up as well.

Chronicles of Conan Continued (link)
I couldn't contain myself after finishing volume two, I went out Tuesday night to the local comic shop and picked up volume three. I haven't opened it up yet, but rest assured that I will be near done with it before the weekend is up.

Tattoo Photos (link)

Crystal and Elizabeth's Twin Sparrows

Crystal's Lilys

The Governator is a Hypocranator Part 2

Man I love this movie...


...what happened Arnold?

BioShock or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying...

...and love the console.

I've been puffing my chest for PC gaming advocacy for years now. With only occasional dips in the console creek. I purchased an Xbox 360 for my birthday last September in what I would consider a weaker moment. The system usually collected dust outside of Gears of War and Crackdown. I beat and sold both within 3-4 weeks of purchase, they both had good single player elements, but nothing that truly grabbed me. They really shinned at cooperative play (co-op) and would have gone back to the store a lot sooner without it. Live has its merits, but only talking to one person at a time, outside of the game I'm playing, seems like a step backwards when compared to VoIP applications on the PC.

My slow slide towards the console starts with high quality single player games in high definition. This past Wednesday was the first time I purchased a first person shooter for a console since GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 (ten years ago). BioShock is the game that broke my video game console's back I'm afraid.

This game would look jaw dropping on a 15 inch CRT, let alone 50 inches in high def widescreen. Of course it is a raw numbers game, there are a lot of pixels and polys on the screen working over time, but art direction really ties it all together. The game play is engaging, there is a real survivor element to managing ammo and powers. There is five different ways to approach every fight and none of the them is necessarily the right one. Catch an enemy on fire and they will make for the closest water source (if one is available), when they dive in to put out the flames electrify the water to finish them (wow that sounds violent when I write it).

Ultimately the story is what really sinks in the hook. It is told through found recordings of small cast of characters and direct contact via in game radio. There is a slow progression to insanity that really heightens the experience. When you eventually get to fight against or interact with one of the characters it seems like you already know them or at the very least know their motivation. When I do actively think about what is going on in the game, it seems odd that everyone in this underwater paradise would record audio journals and leave them strewn about the world. It is a product of the game play though, the story is slowly trickled out to the player, keeping them transfixed.

To sum up, this is the first game that truly feels "next gen" in its approach to game play, graphics and story telling. This game is art, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Roger Ebert can bend over and kiss his hind parts as far as I'm concerned.

Ugh, I know another post about video games (doesn't he have another blog about games), two in fact. I promise no more after this one, well not directly, but man oh man this game is gripping.

The Governator is a Hypocranator

In the words of one of my bestest internet friends Christopher Ng (The Chort) "You change!". In this case it would be "You change Arnold Schwarchenegger! You change!".

Arnold is the star of many a classic action film that I grew up watching. His million bad guy killing sprees and cheesy one liners are ingrained in my youth.

"Let off some steam, Bennett."

Arnold just killed a chain mail vested, out of shape, kidnapper/old army buddy gone bad with a pipe through the torso and steam came pouring out of the pipe! How bad ass is that? Really freaking bad ass, that's how bad ass! Forty minutes ago my best friend in 5th grade was pausing the VHS and kissing the screen during the one obligatory 80's nude scene. Fifteen years ago that was my favorite movie and Arnold could do no wrong. I grew up watching Terminator, Predator and the above mentioned Commando. To a lesser extent Arnold's early and late 90's work was worth watching too. Terminator 2 being the exception of course, as it is still one of my favorite movies of all time and one of the only sequels that was better than its original.

So what happened? The action hero of the 80's and 90's, who made his career on killing bad dudes, got elected as governor of California. Great people in California are kind of crazy and who doesn't love an immigrant living the American dream story. If Predator is any litmus test, anyone from a great 80's action movies can be a governor. Start putting together campaign contributions Carl Weathers! All fine and good, well not really, but hell what do I care California is really far away.

One topic that does hit home however is violent video game laws. The governator has plans to appeal a court decision that would allow minors to purchase violent and graphic games. Apparently Arnold has acute amnesia. The man built his career and ultimate election on a hill of violent movies and even violent movie video game tie ins. Regardless of the 1st Amendment implications, the governator is trying to slap the hand of the video game industry with his right, while holding the hand of Hollywood with his left. This is not an article about violence in video games, how parents should raise their kids or even censorship and its merits or lack there of. It is about the double standard. Hollywood's fascination with torture porn flicks (Saw and others) goes unnoticed while California and other states ratchet up the pressure on the video game industry and retailers.

Violent video games are a scape goat and politicians who try to string them up are just catering to the media and a media perceived sense of the greater good. Parent's don't let your children view any media (books, games, tv, etc) that you deem inappropriate, its your job not the governments. At the end of the day I enjoy a good violent movie or video game and I will still scream out "get to da choppa" on bike rides, but the Governator has lost the little respect I never even had for him. I know this isn't as dire a topic as Mehtul's and ultimately Kent's most recent writings, but its another topic that is on my radar and I thought I should share.

Still Alive

And kicking, Hammer wasn't crazy and I still have all my vital organs. Catching up on two days of missed work is hard stuff. I expect I will try and catch up on five days of missed blogging in the coming week.

See yuns tomorrow.

LAN Party Saturday Night

Cookout Friday Night

Mehtul, Nino, Me, Hammer, Splinter

Update: Full gallery of photos from Hammer's trip.

Strangers on the Internets

At 10pm tonight I will be at the Richmond airport picking up a friend I have never meet.

I have been playing video games online with the same group of guys for going on three years now. We know all about each others personal lives, poke fun at each other and generally have a good time. All of the guys who live in Richmond, about eight including myself, get together for lunch on a regular basis. When a tournament was announced for the game we play competitively, we saw it as an opportunity to meet the rest of the team outside of in game voice chat. Plane tickets were purchased, carpools were planned and preparations were made. Then it got canceled.

War_Hammer or Doug, if your in to using real names and not game handles, still had a ticket purchased from Texas to Richmond. So we made a mad dash to plan a LAN party and cookout in his honor. He will be staying with Crystal and I tonight and tomorrow night and then with other members of our team till Sunday.

When relaying this story to some of the ladies at work I got concerned looks and questions.

"Do you have a gun for protection?"

"Your letting a guy you meet on the internet stay at your house?"

I guess the situation sounds bad when you try and explain it to people who see the internet as a place to send chain letter emails and watch dogs ride skateboards. We have built our own community, often share family photos and spend most evenings chatting with each other and playing games for hours on end. I know these guys, without having to be in there physical presence. We are friends.

After sharing my coworkers misplaced concerns with my internet friends (see that sounds bad) we all had a good laugh and made some morbid jokes at our own expense. Hammer let us know that his wife had also expressed some concern, you know, in case I'm the crazy one. I guess all this concern could be attributed to the news media and their rhetoric of fear, a la a Michael Moore stump speech. The internet is the tool of pornoholics, pedophiles and kidnappers as far as Nightline and other "hard" news programs are concerned. I guess I never thought of myself of living and interacting on "that" internet. I grew up using this here interslice and fancy myself one of its savvier users. Its a place to build friendships and have fun as far as I'm concernicus.

I look at Hammer's visit as an opportunity to hang with a good friend, not meeting a stranger for the first time. Tomorrow we will be tooling around Richmond hitting the civil war sites, grabbing lunch with the working stiffs and going bowling with the rest of the gang in the evening. Friday we are going down to Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg and coming back to my house for a Guitar Hero, burgers and beer cookout. Saturday we will be host to Hammer LAN 07 and Sunday we may get out to Colonial Downs.