I've been listening to a lot of music as of late. I've also been paying membership for Giant Bomb and not really using it to it's fullest other than HD Persona 4 Endurance Run and the like so I decided to talk about some musics. Let's get started.

This isn't an ordered list, just a list of albums people may or may not know about but should.



You're A Women, I'm A Machine by Death From Above 1979





Death From Above 1979 is this crazy thing that some people call a band, I guess. They consist of a lead bass player and a drummer. They do have a singer, but he's also the drummer so there's that. Despite this "band"'s lack of members they put forth a completely crazy ass punk/dance/noise-rock sound that is ridiculously fun and full sounding. The lyrics to me seem very tongue-in-cheek and are pretty damn funny such as the opening lines to the closing song Sexy Results - "Sexy Results, the results are super sexy" spoken in a very alluring french tongue.



Post by Björk





Post is really the only Bjork album I like. It's her second album preceded by "Debut". Yeah I know, the album's old but it's really good. Has a nice experimental alternative 90's sound to it. But it's like good 90's sound, not everything that came after Radiohead that tried to sound like The Bends but more original and confident then the majority of Post-The Bends 90's.



Deathconsciousness: (Disc 1) The Plow That Broke The Plains and (Disc 2) The Future by Have A Nice Life





This is probably the most astonishing album I've ever listened to. Its genre, I cannot explain. Incredibly unique and full of emotion. The best I can do is say it is some combination of Shoegaze, Post-Rock and Depeche Mode. The Plow That Broke The Plains is mostly gloomy but also very beautiful. It starts with a nice instrumental piece that sets the mood for this half very well. It's followed by Bloodhail which is probably the most approachable song on this disc. Lyrically it maintains the mood but the sound is very Depeche Mode. The first half also includes amazing songs that really put you into the setting of the album. Concepts of religion, death and mystery can be heard and felt through-out the entire thing. The closing song "There Is No Food" is one of the best endings to album I've ever heard, only out done by the ending to the second disc.

The second disc, The Future, is a loud pop-like electronic rock time capsule from the future. Its themes still seem to be the same but the tone has lightened a bit, but something still feels very wrong. The majority of the songs on this disc are certainly Shoegaze, and they're amazing examples of noise manipulation. The song "The Future" is the most upbeat of the album and is easily danceable to. The closing songs "I Don't Love" and "Earthmover" are fantastic examples of the greatness of Have A Nice Life. Earthmover is the best ending to any album I have ever heard, and listen to the whole album through and you will see why I think this. Prepare for an adventure with this album.

Six-Million possible and impossible bat-cats out of the portal this album just opened in your skull:




ACT II: The Father of Death by The (motherfuckin') Protomen




Okay okay... hear me out. Mega Man Rock Opera. I'll wait for you to be done calling me a video game obsessed fanatic or whatever before I say that The Protomen are one of the most kick-ass bands in the history of America. What kind of man makes a Rock Opera about Mega Man? The talented as fuck kind do. This band's from the south and have been blowing up in video game communities because their two albums that tell a (non-canon and better) tale of Mega Man and his creator Dr. Thomas Light. I'm suggesting ACT II over ACT I only because it is clearly better produced and approachable. The sound is basically meatloaf with video games and high-drama. The songs are catchy as hell and the music is great. The first half of the album has been called a spaghetti-western and the later half is a 80's throw-back orgasm. The story is great and the music is awesome. I really shouldn't be having a hard time selling this to you - it is a fucking Rock Opera about Mega Man. Go buy it now!



Four albums of greatness for you to go out and listen to! Fantastic, isn't it? Go forth, and be a little bit more hipster than you once were!

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6459941/1#6460241

Basically, this man asked Bioware if "they sold [their] soul to the EA Devil?" and was banned. But not just from the Bioware forums, from his DLC, from his games, from his Dragon Age II: Bioware Signature Edition.

and what did Bioware have to say about this?


"Please review the EA Community Terms of Service, particularly sections #9 and #11. There are two levels of enforcement here:

1. BioWare community bans are forum-only and can be for as little as 24 hours. These bans should have no effect on your game, only your ability to use all the features of this website/community. these bans are handed out by BioWare Moderators as the result of our travels around the forum and/or issues reported by fellow community members.

2. EA Community bans come down from a different department and are the result of someone hitting the REPORT POST button. These bans can affect access to your game and/or DLC.

Because the BioWare community now operates under the same umbrella as all EA Communities, community members here have all explicitly agreed to abide by and be governed by both sets of rules. Consider it an added incentive to follow the rules you say you're going to follow.

If there are further questions or concerns, please send them to me via private message. Thank you.

End of line." - Stanely Woo

So, anyone else really love the new Bioware?

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a game I’ve been playing off and on since 2008 but have not really gotten around to finishing it. Until now… I bought it off Steam for $10 after seeing it had been reduced from $20. By belief for a game such as this is that it is difficult for anything slightly good to not warrant/justify a $10 purchase. But there are exceptions.

CoC (just gonna call it that) was released in 2005 for the Xbro and PC by Headfirst Entertainment. Headfirst went bankrupt shortly after the release of CoC and the rights were picked up by Bethesda which as far as anyone knows, is not doing anything with it. CoC is a unique survival horror game that is an adaptation of the H.P, Lovecraft story “Shadow Over Innsmouth” and it is one of the better incorporations of a book’s story into a game.

The year is 1918 when Jack Walters, a detective for hire is called to negotiate with some cultists in Massachusetts. Some crazy shit happens and Jack goes literally insane, but only for two years. After he is release from the asylum he was being kept in he got a call asking him to investigate the disappearance of Brian Burnham, a young man who lived in a New England fishing port town known as Innsmouth. The story involves alien beings, cults, sea gods and an unwelcoming group of townsfolk.

When you arrive in Innsmouth, the game truly begins. You interact with townsfolk who are less than compliant and sneak around crime scenes to find cold hard facts about the Bernham lad. It starts a little slow but fairly early into the game and event – and you will know what I am talking about the game begins to use it’s mechanics to their fullest potential. CoC isn’t a FPS, it’s a “You’re weak and You’re fucked”-sim. Jack can’t aim, can’t run and cannot stand against the super natural beings that be. Because of this, you’re forced to stealth or die. You do not get any weapons to fight until about half way through the game

The core of the game lies within hiding, healing, running and keeping sane. CoC is surprisingly realistic and that is good because it adds sincerity to the source material. There are no crosshairs, your arm will tire if you aim for too long and when you fire the affects feel and look accurate. There is no UI but there are health indicators such as blood on the screen, fading color and bone crunching noises from your broken legs. There is an inventory menu where you’ll manage your health in a Snake Eater like fashion. Supplies such as bandages, splints, anesthetic and sutures are gathered through med-kits scattered around the level Sanity is more than just a theme in Call of Cthulhu, it’s also a gameplay element.

Jack has a fragile mind, and is definitely not the right choice fro high-stress situations and eldritch horrors that he’ll encounter in Call of Cthulhu. Certain events in the game will cause Jack to be scared, being scared makes Jack lack sanity. He’ll hallucinate and will get tunnel vision, he will also lose a portion of his permanent sanity. Other things like blood, bodies, body parts, monsters cliffs and if you lose enough sanity – boulders will terrify the shit out of him. Sanity is a broken gimmick, it’s cool but doesn’t work. There was a time during a boss fight where I would step outside and begin the battle. The second I saw the boss I’d go into what I can only assume is Jack having a seizure and then I would stare at my hands and do clenching motions, this was apparently me going insane. You can also kill yourself if you go insane with a gun drawn. It’s cool the first time to experience, ridiculously frustrating later.

Levels generally involve a checkpoint, stealth/action/story/puzzle sequences with save locations sometimes thrown through out the level. Some levels seemed like they weren’t play tested as you’re not given any clue how to go about the level in the manner that is obviously intended, this leads to trial and error and more than likely death, which then starts you at the beginning of the level, which understandably is very frustrating. Luckily, there are few levels like this. CoC’s levels are all different and have very memorable things about them. Call of Cthulhu has some of the best scripted events in any videogame I’ve ever played There are a few intensely fun moments of just “OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT”. The intensity and horror aspects of CoC really redeem some of its flaws.

The horror is very true to Lovecraft, Plenty of unknown beings and disturbing imagery throughout. There are no monster closets or boo scares. All horror comes from fear of being caught, seen or the unknown. Although the game is from 2005, it is one of the finer examples of modern survival horror in videogames in a long, long time. The setting, context, weaknesses, and atmosphere all work very, very well.

CoC’s graphics and aesthetics are very impressive for a ’05 game. The game seems stylized in modern Victorian and everything is dipped in dank, gloom and disease. The lighting is static, but there are some moments that static certainly impresses thanks to the art direction. CoC uses film grain which cannot be disabled, some may find it annoying, but I find it fitting and pleasing. Due to bugs and un-optimization I had to run the game on the lowest resolution which made things very blurry and fuzzy.

Call of Cthulhu has some serious bugs, seriously serious bugs. I revoke my statement of Bully: Scholarship Edition being the buggiest game I’ve ever played For starters, the game would lag to all hell if it wasn’t played on the lowest setting and resolution. I originally started playing about two weeks ago, the game deleted my save file and I had to restart. There are some visual bugs and times where cutscenes play while the game is playing and you die because you’re stuck watching a cutscene. But the big bug was when I would not finish the game because boulders would scare me so bad and slow me down to the point of suicide so I would get crushed by falling rocks every time I attempted this part of the game. I inevitably had to download a third-party unofficial patch to increase speed.

Call of Cthulhu is an extremely unique horror title. It has great ideas that don’t go beyond a great idea. It is remarkably faithful to the source and the author. The gameplay is challenging and realistic which in context is great fun and very daunting at times. Some of the most intense moments in games come from Call of Cthulhu’s great level design. Unfortunately, the ridiculous amount of bugs and the necessity for a third party patch really suffer the game’s quality. However, if you’re looking to be scared and experience something different, than it is indeed worth the money and possible effort to play through this game. Perhaps all my technical issues were just bad luck.


Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Pro-Tips:

•Use three saves and rotated through them. Very useful for any survival horror game or game with scarce resources.

•Just use this patch
http://www.tahionic.com/computers/Call%20of%20Cthulhu%20-%20Dark%20Corners%20of%20the%20Earth/game%20cheats.html
it will eliminate a lot of frustration the game makes.

•Run the game in the lowest setting and resolution

•Beware of boulders

Bully was a PS2 game developed by Rockstar near the release of the Xbox 360. Rockstar felt that it did not get the attention it deserved so, in 2008 they released Bully: Scholarship Edition for the 360 and Wii, The re-release brought updated graphics, new classes, missions and music. Is the game an underappreciated gem, or a poor, poor port of a decent game?

Bully was a unique idea and definitely something different for Rockstar. Not the usual crime and violence oriented action adventure game. Bully puts you in the role of anti-hero Jimmy Hopkins, a boy who has been suspended seven times and dumped in Bullworth Academy by his mother and new stepfather. Jimmy is a noble bully; he only “gives what is coming” and just wants to be left alone. All hopes of that are gone when Gary, a psychotic classmate with a desire for power “befriends” Jimmy.

Bully’s story is full of back-stabbing, incest, teen romance and high school clichés. This is Bully’s strongest point; it excels in brining great humor with the assist of really great (but not so diverse) characters supported by their archetypes of Nerds, Preps, Greasers and Jocks. The highpoint of Bully’s characters is Gary who is a psychotic student with a made plot to control the school with (or without) Jimmy. Unfortunately he disappears at the end of the first act. All the teachers are interesting and fit their classes surprisingly well. And as you explore Bullworth you’ll over hear lots of funny things the citizens and students say.

Bully has gameplay – crazy, I know! It consists of doing missions, going to class and performing mini games in said classes. That is really all that is worth doing. There are collectables and bike races and the like but they’re not worth it, or fun. You have an entire campus and a steadily unlocking town to explore but it is empty, dead, boring and not worth exploring. The classes are fun for a while, but get old. I ended up skipping them near the end cause they were boring and repetitive, the rewards (costumes and kissing bonuses) are not worth the effort, well – the bike enhancements are nice.

The game would probably be a lot more fun if it weren’t so buggy. This is seriously the buggiest game I’ve ever played. Minor bugs, big bugs, mission breaking bugs, game crashing bugs, you name them, and Bully’s got ‘em. I failed so many missions because targets simply disappear or getting stuck in the map’s geometry The game runs on the Gamebyro engine (Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout ) which is usually pretty stable, but I experiences frame rate issues all the time and poor camera controls. Rockstar outsourced the porting, not a good choice.

The game goes on longer than it should. 15 hours is what I clocked in at and with tedious actions you’re always doing, 8 hours would have been fine. Without skipping class you only have 18 minutes to do missions before you pass out and must go to class (or not). You go to class at nine AM, go to class till three PM, and then at 11 PM prefects and cops will chase until two when you go to sleep (bed or not). These time constraints make completing tasks, a task and time management is just a gimmick. It really is not fun. You’ll need to deal with this until the last three missions!

The music is nice. It’s a little unfitting, but it fits, it’s odd. Every time you get chased by someone, depending on their faction a humorously fitting song starts. The music is atmospheric in a game that craves atmosphere and really benefits the game making it one of its few barely saving graces. Unfortunately there is this xylophone piece that plays when nothing is happening, and it gets stuck in your head. I can’t really hold this against the game though, it could just be me, and there is always at least one song in every game that does this.

The thing about Bully is that it has great potential. While Bully may have not been very good, it is a great spring board for a sequel. Despite the game not selling well, a sequel was accidentally confirmed by the original game’s composer. With Rockstar’s track record, a good sequel is pretty likely. So where Bully failed, let us hope for a fantastic sequel!

Bully is a decent game made awful by tedious activities, gimmicks, bugs and restrictions. It has great writing obfuscated by awful gameplay. It was a really neat concept that hopefully will be made more than just a failed idea with the coming sequel.

Cave Story is a game that was originally released in 2004 on the PC for free by a Japanese man who goes by the name of Pixel. The game was re-released on the Wii in 2010 for $12 with updated graphics, music, controls and additional features including a new character to play as. With retro visuals, sound and gameplay reminiscent of a toned-down Metroidvania does this indie title warrant a purchase? Or is the retro appeal just a gimmick?

Cave Story is something that doesn’t come around very often. An absolute hidden gem that is fun and challenging all the way through. Cave Story is something very old but also very new. Cave Story doesn’t gamble it’s charm on the player finding a sense of nostalgia within it’s retro aesthetic and gameplay, it simply just works.

The game plays like Metroid with a light off-focus on exploration. As a result, you never feel like you have missed anything, even though you really may have. The main focus is the game’s combat. There are a total of twelve or thirteen weapons, some you’ll be given and others ae secret or are traded to certain characters over the span of the game. Each weapon has three levels which are gained by killing enemies and collecting triangles dropped by said enemies. Depending on the weapon level, the weapon could do more,or in the case of the Nemesis, less damage This adds a lot of depth to combat when you need to balance weapon levels and use weapons according to the enemies weakness, especially in the case of Bosses.

One thing admirable that Cave Story does is add a lot of variety to enemies and bosses. Like the Mega Man series, each enemy behaves differently and has different ways to go about killing each enemy The same goes for the bosses that you’ll come across during the game. The first few bosses are quite easy, sharing the same strategy of jump over shoot jump over shoo; As the game progresses bosses become more complicated and at times confusing, messy, and cluttered, luckily this only applies to certain bosses near the end of the game when the game attempts to crank the difficulty to illustrate that you’re a hero.

Cave Story is a challenging game, never too hard or easy. It uses the traditional 2D platforming banes such as Spikes, spikes disguised as beds of lava and the occasional pit-fall. You have HP which can be increased in 3-5 points by using heath vials hidden around the levels you explore. Ala metroid, some will be available without doing anything but others require you to backtrack through the levels to use a recently obtained item to achieve new hights or unlock things separating you and the health vial. Enemies will drop hearts, rocket ammo and weapon EXP, bosses however – do not. This is probably the most challenging part about Cave Story, especially when you’re supposed to fight four bosses consecutively and you’re low on ammo, health or weapon levels, but it’s never something you can’t overcome.

Cave Story isn’t the kind of game you play for story, but you’ll be surprised to find out that it is in fact – pretty decent. Without spoiling anything the story is about an island which’s inhabitants are dog/bunny things called Mimigas who are being suppressed by the evil Doctor and Witch Misery and their lacky Balrog. It involves a war, experimentation, possession and death. The story is consistant and always present. It’s dark but not depressing, well, too depressing. It has a lot of hidden bits scattered through out the levels and dialogue. The extra hidden bits of info add to why the story could be one of Cave Story’s strongest features. However, it is not without it’s flaws. Some dialogue is hit and miss, weird and in context – melodramatic. But again, very few times is this apparent

The Wii version has extra modes which add a lot of longevity for such a cheap game. The boss mode allows you to fight every boss consecutively with intermission to refill health and swap weapons. Sanctuary Attack is an endless attack mode, very hard. And then there is the ability to play as Curly Brace which does nothing besides add small bits of interjection. There are also some weird experiences with Curly Brace’s dialogue with herself that are just weird.

Cave Story is an excellent gem of a game which succeeds in using old school gameplay while not feeling broken. The story, looks, music and gameplay mix together perfectly creating a charm that just sucks you in. from the very beginning. The game is well worth the $12 USD (buy it with a Zelda 64 game cause Nintendo only sells $10,$20,$50) especially with the addition of extra modes and fantastic controls. Purchase dis shit.

When I have more ideas, I will post them in hopes someone will steal my idea and make the game/mod


What is up what is up?!

Remember that show, Finder's Keeper from the late 80's on Nickelodeon? Finder's Keepers was the shit. Teams of like some ammount go through really messy rooms to find a single object. Simple but it was fun to watch and vicariously play. Anyway, my idea is really simple...

Finder's Keepers: Source is a Half-Life 2: Episode Two modification based on the Source '07 engine. Teams of two search vigerously through physics based messy rooms to find ONE object. Each team consists of three people. Rooms are abnormally large and have lots of stuff in them. A round will take 3 minutes. Every fourty seconds the goal item will be swapped and the old one will be removed and replaced by a newly spawned item.

Obviously it'll rely on on physics a lot so it may be pretty hardware intensive. But this could be compinsated with lack of visual aesthetic.

I think it could be done fairly easy and has some really fun potential.

I'm no lawman but the name would probably have to be changed to something. I suggest Locator's Obtainors.

And it would have a really cool thing to it where it's set up like the old show. The "rooms" will have one wall missing where you can look out on the set.

Comedically placed NPCs could be sitting on the bleachers.



Make it happen!


P.S.: If you've never heard of the show here is a link to the wiki. Finder's Keepers