Tali meet Aerie. Aerie meet Tali

Here's something I stumbled across: There are numerous similarities between Tali, of Mass Effect fame, and Aerie, of the Baldur's Gate series. Namely:

- Tali's combat drone is referred to as Chiktikka vas Paus. Chiktikka Fastpaws s the raccoon companion of Baervan Wildwanderer, a deity worshiped by Aerie.
- One of the many Tali responses to commands is: "Nobody's faster than Chiktikka vas Paus!". One of the many Aerie responses to commands is: "Faster than Chiktikka Fastpaws!"
- Both fulfil 'support' roles: Tali with her tech abilities, Aerie with her healing powers
- Both are inexperienced non-human female characters
- Both have soft voices
- Both are romance options for the main character

(source: Mass Effect Wiki)



Now this is an interesting theory because, if anything, the Bioware fans have reacted in two different ways to these characters. Lots of people love Tali but, conversely, lot's of people hate Aerie. The Mass Effect fans (or at least the ones I've spoken too) think Tali's awkwardness is adorable but there are many Baldur's Gate players who dismiss Aerie as whinny and annoying.

It's funny how two characters with similar characteristics can inspire such contrasting opinions. Makes you wonder what Bioware did that worked the second time when it failed the first time...

A man chooses....

I don't watch a lot of TV but I will admit I'm currently following Buffy the Vampire Slayer on TV. For me this is the first time I've encountered it - I never saw Buffy during it's original TV run (maybe it was on at a stupid hour? I don't know) and I'm only watching it now on a friend's insistence. Not that that's a bad thing of course as I've been enjoying Buffy - much to my surprise. :)

Anywho, what I find particularly funny is that the guy who plays Principal Snyder, Armin Shimerman, is the same guy who plays Andrew Ryan in Bioshock. Of course I discovered Bioshock first so, for me, it is extremely funny to see a delusional disciplinarian enforcing strict rules in the school when it's the same guy who played another delusional disciplinarian who built a city under the sea. And every time Snyder comes on screen I have to shout "A Slave Obeys!!"

Kind of funny how things, the benefit of hindsight, turn out.
Mind you, now I'm expecting Xander to knock out Snyder with a golf club....

Planet of Sound (no.3)

Name: James Squire
Birthdate: 27th March 1984
Instruments: Vocals / Guitar
Affiliations: Dire Tribe
Bio: James Squire comes from a family of some prestige. He has an older sibling and enjoyed a decent upbringing. He discovered an interest in singing at a young age through his parent’s record and CD collection. Eventually he discovered soul music and set out to expand his singing ability and learn the guitar. He spent most of his teens playing in a number of bands before eventually coming across Spike who needed a singer for his band.
Being handsome and charismatic, James was a logical fit, in his musicianship and his ability to work a crowd. Inspired by the success, he decided to go solo and left Demon Flower however on good terms. However when the solo career didn’t work out, Spike offered him a spot in the Dire Tribe to which James accepted.
Off stage, James is indeed intelligent and whilst he enjoys the rewards of being famous, he is fully aware how it can mess with one’s head. Thus James exhibits some self-restraint and caution when confronted with them and even treats it with a degree of cynicism. James also a girlfriend named Theodora who he is quite supportive of.

Going Home

Recently I dipped into my backlog of unfinished games and what did I pull out? A gem from the late nineties known as Homeworld!
I must admit that prior to playing this, I had little knowledge of it (as is often the case when addressing the ever-present issue of my backlog).
In fact the only thing I knew of it was through a friend: Back in 2002, I played him Mars from Gustav Holst's 'The Planets' Suite and he recognized it as the theme to Homeworld Cataclysm. Later, he showed me how to play Homeworld - and upon seeing it, I was impressed to see an RTS set in space where the main base was a massive mothership, the legions at your command were mini-space ships and the whole game incorporated the z-axis. From there, however I knew next to nothing about Homeworld and didn't pursue it further. Years later however I happened to see the original game in a store in Melbourne and snapped it up without much in the way of a second thought. This was back in 2009 - meaning the day I finally go to play Homeworld was ten years after I first became aware of it. Go fig....

Anyway, about the game itself: Firstly, I'm impressed by the graphics in that they've aged quite well. Okay so they may look pixellated in places but it certainly still looks good now than many of the other games from the same era. Also impressive is the presentation with the voice of the mothership, the artwork used in the cutscenes and the interface. I like the use of formations in the combat ships and how upgrades and resources are implemented through the ships. And, of course, there's the use of the z-axis and how it's utilised so well. On a paper it may sound like a bizarre idea to have the z-axis in a RTS but here it works a treat

Of course so far it hasn't all been good: Sometimes the graphics grow so small that it's hard to see what the hell is going on - this is particularly frustrating during the combat sequences when your ships are getting blown to bits and you're trying to get your head around it.
But still this is a first-impressions and so far Homeworld still has a lot going for it - and enough to warrant further investigation.....

Secret Six

Back in January I made a post introducing the world to my WoW characters. So for today I present a follow up: A lot has happened to my three characters and they’ve even been joined by some new faces.
So here we go:

Rithendal

So what has been happening to Rithendal? Well, he made it to the Outlands, he’s built up an impressive array selection of pets and he’s ditched his bow for a blunderbuss. I’ve seen a lot of fantasy and I’ve never seen a Tolkien-esque elf with a gun so this change is fine by me.
In addition, he’s taken up wearing a mask that conceals the lower half of his face – call it a bit of roleplaying on my part. Now whilst WoW doesn’t have a lot of room for roleplay (when say compared to Bioware’s efforts) it doesn’t mean the player can’t put a bit of imagination into their character and forge an identity. So I’ve always imagined Roth to be the sullen/silent type so having him wearing a mask is a natural fit. Plus making him look a ninja is kinda cool.

Beldrath

Of the characters introduced in my previous post, Beldrath is the one who has changed the most. Most telling is his haircut: It occurred to me that Beldrath looked waaaaaaaay to similar to the characters that a friend of mine uses so I took it upon myself to give Beldrath longer hair and it being white. Also noteworthy is that Beldrath has joined a guild and taken up mail armor - thus making him completely different from before. Also pleasing is how his armor is all shades of blue.
Not much else I can really say though: The Blood Elf paladin is working a treat and it’s been good fun using this character. His professions, blacksmithing and mining, have been fun and it adds to the character: So far Beldrath is the only blacksmith in the guild so it kinda creates the idea he’s the physically strongest character in it.

Grimcrag

As mentioned in my last post, Grimcrag has been reincarnated as a shaman. So have things been different?
Weeeeeeellllllllllllllll not really: I’ve been killed a lot with near absurd frequency and many of the Dwarf quests (in and around Dun Morogh and Loch Modan) aren’t really that enjoyable. For this reason Grimcrag hasn’t been getting a lot of mileage – which is a shame because I enjoy the Warcraft Dwarves. It may sound contradictory but I do – but at the end of the day if you aren’t having fun then then would be a good time to stop.
For this reason, the character is still around – that is until I decide what to do with Grimcrag. Will I persevere? Or will he reincarnated as a Horde character? Only time will tell…..

Deathfist

And here comes the first of the newbies! Not for the first time, this is an experiment: I found myself developing a liking for the Trolls in Azeroth. I like their appearance, their tropical island setting (Echo Isles) and the fact they all speak in Rastafarian accents. So what the hell: I made up a Troll character. Special note must go the name: I didn’t put a lot of thought into it but much to my surprise it hadn’t been claimed! So yay me! (of course there are many more Deathfists on other servers but no matter…)
I did go with a druid first but that yielded little success –then I went with a warrior and things started looking up. I made it to level 12 and built up a decent enough skill in both mining and blacksmithing but Deathfist hasn’t done much since. This is due to the other characters reaping the attention (curse having multiple WoW characters!) but, again, I’m unwilling to delete him. Much like Grimcrag he may get used or he may reappear under a different name/race – it’s just depends on whether I decide.
But at the end of the day, I can conclude that yeah: Trolls are cool!

Naesandra

This character represents another experiment: Through playing WoW it’s fun to watch a character you create grow stronger and do things that ultimately inspires a sense of identity. Thus I wanted to make a character that starts off in the Alliance only to defect to the Horde – purely for the reasons of building a character history. Alas, it was only later that I was informed that races are purely restricted to allegiance. And when you make the change, a new race must be selected. For this reason one does not see any humans in the Horde.
Still, this was an interesting character to use: I went with a human mage and built them up to level 25. Funny thing is, whereas I previously had trouble with using human paladin, here I was having a far more enjoyable time with the human missions. Which goes to show that sometimes the right class can make a whole world of difference. Also, I went with a female character: Now I have mentioned that playing a character of a different gender to the player in a public playing field may come across as being dishonest. But here it was an opportunity to engage in one of the cornerstones of roleplay: playing a character that’s completely from yourself, the player (mind you when I did get to the Horde a friend was nothing short of perplexed to find me as a she-elf).
Using a mage has been interesting to say the least: It’s been fun but I’ve died so often it’s far from funny (why do all my characters die so easily?!) and I’ve burnt through so many healing potions it defies belief. But eventually when I hit level 25, I made the jump to the Horde – my human mage became a Blood elf and became the character displayed above (bypassing the, by now, tiresome Blood Elf starting quests was equally pleasing). Since then, Naesandra has been my soloist character: it’s who I use when no one else is around and it’s good fun (even if I die too easily). And, to add even more to the character history, she’s taken up Inscription – which has been most welcome in the guild.

Kholek

And here is the last of the new additions – and once again, it’s another experiment. Not willing to abandon the idea of an Alliance Paladin, I decided to create one of the Retribution variety. And, on the suggestion of a friend, a Draenei was selected for the race.
This character has had his moments. Compared to the Humans and the Dwarves, the Draenei have had the most enjoyable starting zone (Azuremyst Isle) and the opportunity to playing a different paladin to Beldrath has been interesting and fun. But I must confess: With the Draenei, I have the opposite problem to the Dwarves. Whereas the Dwarves are a great race with rubbish starting zones, I found the Draenei to be a boring race in fun starting zones. I can’t put my finger on it but there’s something about the Draenei that doesn’t appeal to me. Maybe it’s the idea of space aliens in a fantasy setting. Maybe it’s the idea of space aliens in a fantasy setting speaking in Russian accents. Maybe it’s the thought that many of the Draenei (in particular mine) look like Klingons. But no matter: Whatever issue I may have with the Draenei, I can say that I’ve had more success with this character than I have with any other Alliance character. So that’s worth something.

So this concludes this rather lengthy post – It has indeed been fun to see these characters develop and build their own history and personality. True much of it may exists in my head but, as anyone will tell you, when you invent a character you spend time with them and you watch them grow and they become part of you – and it’s no different in Azeroth.
So what more adventures await these six characters in WoW? Well, there’s only one way to find out……

Saturn V

This weekend, I was at AI-Con - Tasmania's prestigious anime convention. As well as engaging in the usual convention trappings such as cosplay, gameshows and talking to other nutters, I did spend some time in the games room - where lo and behold I stumbled across a Sega Saturn.
I've said a lot about the Sega Saturn before - mostly wondering why Sega aren't doing anything with the games that came on it. I've heard no concrete evidence as to why: some say source codes for certain games were lost and others say the Saturn's complex technology is too difficult to emulate.
But I digress: Over the course of the weekend I got to play Nights and Panzer Dragoon for the first time in a long time.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Many of the games of the fifth generation may have looked impressive at the time but now they seem to have aged rather horribly. Granted there are one or two exceptions (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night being one such example - and maybe Final Fantasy IX) but many fifth generation games, I find, don't look great at all - to the point one can only wonder what the big deal was originally. And the same can be said of my experience playing the Saturn. I have been interested in Panzer Dragoon series for it's ideas, art direction and Saga's status of being the holy grail of gaming - playing it, the graphics look too pixelated that was often hard to see what was happening. And Nights didn't fare much better: The lack of the 3d controller made it had to get into grips with and the game graphics looked pixalated, again, and nowhere near the intro I feel in love with back in 1996.

Mind you, I've always wondered why Sega doesn't dust off the Saturn titles like they have done with the Megadrive and the Dreamcast but I think I see why: I've seen firsthand that many Saturn titles look like arse now - when compared to the Dreamcast and even some Megadrive titles. It's equally possible that maybe Sega would like to forget about the consoles that didn't work out for them.

Funny how things seem daft the further you get from your teens.....

But here's a thought: The Virtual Console, PSN and XBLA have really gone to an effort of making old games accessible to many people - some of whom may not have played the titles in question, It makes me wonder how many other games have been passed over for release and will thus forever remain unplayed.....

Baldur's Gatorade

Here's something that came by my way this morning:

News of a brand new Baldurs Gate!

Well I'm delighted by this. I loved the Baldurs Gate series - and in particular hold no.2 as one of the greatest games ever made - so to see the whole damn thing revamped in an enhanced edition sounds pretty damn sweet to me. Also pleasing is the effort going into this, with some of the original dev team members being brought in for this and how the original source code is being put into use.

I've had a lot of trouble with BG2 so to have an enhanced version on the horizon is reason enough to get excited. Of course it would be nice if my old save BG save files would still be recognized by this new version (yes I still have them!) but it's too early to call.

But lets drop the pretensions: It's FREAKIN' BALDUR'S GATE!!!!

Third Time Unlucky

Well Mass Effect 3 is finally upon us and already the nerds are out in force. Last week I mentioned putting in the effort not to pay any attention to anything about ME3 and just make the effort to play it myself without any outside influence - but it hasn't been easy. All I've been hearing is how great the game is UNTIL the last five/fifteen minutes.
So despite my best efforts, some scraps of information have slipped through the net. Thus it seems that there are three endings available but all of them are determined through a simple choice selection and none of them are a 'happy' ending. Thus, all the player's efforts go to waste, Bioware's promises of 'every decision matters' comes across as hollow and Shepard doesn't get to ride off into the sunset.

Whilst I have yet to play ME3 and decide for myself, I have to admit that the fan-rage is so great and so furious that it can't be ignored. And some of the anger is interesting to read: Accusations at Bioware for copping out, accusations at Bioware for not putting enough effort into the ending, accusations at Bioware for not living up to their promise of making the decisions matter, accusations at Bioware for a lack of happy ending, and demands for DLC for a 'proper' ending.

Isn't nerd rage fun to read?

Well there certainly are some valid points. No one likes to be ripped off with a ending that is obtuse. No one likes to put in so much effort and get a kick in the balls in return. I recall saying the ending to Starcraft was a lousy payoff considering the effort I put into it and it's the same thing here. People have spent so much time with their own Shepard and building up a bond with them and their crewmates so to have anything less than a happy ending is unacceptable. Some might turn up their nose at a happy ending but I disagree: Happy endings CAN work provided they are done well. And sad endings seem to be dime-a-dozen in games these days so to do a happy ending would certainly make for a change of pace. Therefore to have Bioware go for three sad endings does seem to stink of cop-out. What, coudn't they at least offered a happy endings to the devotees who did EVERYTHING?
If anything, it seems Bioware underestimated their fans in that they would be the type who would go to extraordinary lengths and play every inch out of the game presented to them - indeed, they went so far to admit that they didn't expect anyone to keep all ten (plus two) crew members alive in the suicide mission in ME2 and Bioware themselves had written themselves into a corner (although in hindsight that may have been a telling sign).
Indeed, the outrage and the demands to rectify this seems, to me, a level of denial that will give the death of Aerith a run for it's money.

Somehow though, I can't help but feeling like the comparison of Mass Effect 2 with Empire Strikes Back may have jinxed it....

Arc Fall Fantasia

Earlier this month I posted a video mocking the mindbogglingly bad voice acting from Arc Fall Fantasia. What could outclass it? How about a guy revoicing the afore-mentioned game

Fun With LANs

Back in the mid-to-late-nineties I was in high school - back then many of my fellow students gathered in the computer labs and played deathmatches against each other.

Now, I'm studying a course in IT where many of my classmates are spending their lunch hours playing Quake 2 deathmatches against each other via Virtualbox.

Some things never change...

Gameboys will be Gameboys

Here's a blast from the Past: A commercial from the late eighties/early nineties for the original Nintendo Gameboy;



I remember seeing this as a kid and I still can recall even now - maybe it's largely due to the refrain of "Gameboy!" set to rockin' music.
Funny thing is I never got the words to the last verse - to me it sounded like gibberish - but when I see it now I realize: it IS gibberish. What, did the composer run out of words and he just put in: sakadawakadabakada bbbbb mmmm?!?! I know Nintendo came out with some weird ads in their heyday but in terms of weirdness, gibberish in a rockin' song really takes the cake.

But, with hindsight, my favorite part of the ad is the line: "With all the great games you can get for a Gameboy you better believe you can spend your whole life playing Gameboy!" Its kind of funny considering that consoles usually have a limited lifespan so thinking someone STILL playing the grey, yellow-screened Gameboy is beyond hilarious. A little presumptuous there, eh Nintendo?

Dawn of a new age

Apparently it's true: Dragon Age 3 is currently in the development. After all, it has it's own wikipedia page so it must count for something - beyond being 35% true.

It may be far too early to call but there first few scraps of information show some degree of promise: I like the idea of an open world, said world being four times larger than Ferelden, and the conflicts between the templers and the mages in DA2 erupting into a full out war. And even in this early stage, I'm interested to see how the Warden and Hawke will be integrated into the mix.

Personally I'm less than thrilled. I loved DA1 so coming from that into the disappointment that was DA2 is nothing short of a bitch-slap. And much of the criticism I've heard elsewhere was justified: lousy controls, repetitive environments and a glaring lack of anything resembling something epic. I never completed the game because the second-to-last battle was too hard - even on casual difficulty! - and I felt burnt out as I'd put my name down for an on-the-day release (or whatever you call them). And that last one is a particular sore point as I'd never done the sort of thing before, it cost me over $100 and was underwhelmed with the end result - So much so, I'm not in a rush to do it a second time and it was a deal-breaker to the point where I've slowly become disillusioned with Xbox gaming ever since.

Therefore, it would be interesting to see what Bioware does next with this series. The failure of DA2 has lowered a lot of expectations and much of the promise offered in DAO is now looked upon with unease. I'd like to hope that with the series' back to the wall, no.3 will turn around and prove so fantastically awesome and redeem the missteps of it's predecessor but I'm never one for high hopes - because, as I can certainly tell you, the bigger they are the harder they fall.

What a Great Story L'Arc

Not much to say for today's post so....something on youtube I found hilarious.


Considering that voice acting in video games are now of very high quality the fact that something like this should come along is just mind-boggling.