Guilty Gear just got more nuts
This is mainly for Chip and myself… the new sequal to Guilty Gear will feature 4 players simultaneously. That’s twice the insanity. Paperbag guy VS. Boat Anchor girl VS Zombie Guy VS Massive Hair Girl. Holy Damn.
Old Time Hockey
Jason’s comment on the last post spurred me to actually think for a moment about the game I’m playing. ESPN NHL Hockey is probably the closest thing to the hockey game I (we) drempt of when I was a kid. “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” was always the statement, usually followed by a desired game element that was obviously too complex for the time. Playing NHL’94 on the SNES and wishing and hoping that you could check someone through the boards, or get into real looking (read: well designed) fights, or push people over the boards and into the benches. Those are things that simple 8-bit sprite based games simply couldn’t give us. I’m very proud to say that this new game make old school hockey fans very happy. Seriously, when I put someone through the glass for the first time I was jumping around the living room like a little girl. Unlike NHL 2004 (EA-Sports francise) the pace is much slower, you can still score on a wrap around, the characters react accurately, the fights make sense and it’s not a scoring free-for-all. Don’t get me wrong, NHL 2004 is also a very good game, I happen to own it. But it’s a completely different kind of hockey game. ESPN hockey is more a a purists game. It’s a simulation, complete with John Buccigross and Bill Clament giving the play by play. I don’t think I’ve had more than 5 goals in a game the entire time I’ve been playing it. That’s accurate. Rarely (read: never) would you see the Boston Bruins winning 75 to 2 in real life. Also, that’s an actual score I’ve gotten in NHL 2002. I’ve yet to top it since. Anyway, I just wanted to spread the good word about that game and say that finally, real solid hockey games are back. Oh, and by the way, the Bruins beat the crap out of the Rangers the other night. Go B’s!
Holy Crap
My boss just came in with a copy of Medal of Honor: Rising Sun for the Xbox for me since I worked so hard this weekend. I was in a kind of crappy mood today but now I’m feelin’ a whole lot better. Very very cool.
All over the place…
Well, it’s been an interesting week around here and next week will be pretty much the same. Work is, as always, all over the place. I really don’t know whats going on from day to day but I’m getting used to it. Daily we change our schedules and adapt to what needs to be done. It’s a little hectic but it’s fun at the same time. Next week is just jam packed with interesting things. Like a birthday party, an expensive dinner out, a meeting with Lauren’s minister about wedding stuff, etc.
I have been fortunate to squeeze in a little fun here and there. First off, we saw Open Range last night. It was good. You’ll have to like westerns to a)get some of the “in-jokes” and b)actually appreciate the “true grit”. Actually, the movie is quite long and Kevin Costner-ish throughout the first half. The second half is where the true western starts and it all leads up to the coolest gun fight I’ve seen on film since, well, a very long time. Probably the only comparable one I can think of was Tombstone, which, in case you haven’t been paying attention to my screen name for the past 10 years, is one of my all time favorite movies. Whether or not sitting through 2 hours of a Kevin Costner movie just to see a fan-friggin-tastic gun fight is up to you. I was glad I went.
Also, I’ve had a little time to check out some gaming goodness. Luckily my boss is also a video game fan, mostly console games but we won’t hold that against him. We’ve been trading links back and forth on a daily basis on games that we’re excited about. I will now share some of those with you.
First off is XIII, a game I probably mentioned before. It’s a completely cell-shaded 1st person shooter. I got my hands on the demo from FileShack and throughly enjoyed it. Playing a comic book was very fun. It’ll hit shelves in “Fall”. I really hate when they do that. “Fall”, great, I’ll head to the store once the weather gets cold and I’m drinking warm cider. Morons. Seriously though, check out the demo, it’s fun.
I don’t think I even have to mention how excited I am about HalfLife 2 and Halo for the PC. Whoops, just did.
There’s also BF1942: Secret Weapons of WWII which is going to kick some serious butt. I wish more people played it online so I could get in on a large 64 player game.
There’s also the two new Jedi games that I’m pretty excited about. Jedi Academy and Knights of the Old Republic look to be great fun. I know Chris was enjoying KoOR and I’m looking forward to the PC version in a few months. Jedi Academy will just be more light-saber ass-kickin’ just like Jedi Knight. That should make for some good multiplayer.
Once I get everything up and running (apartment and computer wise) we’ll have to setup a multiplayer night and see if we can’t get some long distance, Texas to New England, games going. Should be fun. I’m actually planning on upgrading or if I make enough of a commission off something I just shot, doing a whole new system just for this upcoming gaming season. Lots of interesting games coming out, and a lower-end Athlon and a GeForce 4 just aren’t going to hold up at some point. We’ll see what happens money wise. I certainly wouldn’t expect anything to work out, but on the off chance it does I’ll be building another rig.
Ok, I’m off to do some laundry and have ice cream. Later.
Summer entertainment
Remember last summer, when I was complaining that there were no quality CDs to buy, or movies coming out, or shows to see… well, not this summer my friends. Heck no.
Deep Dish will start off the summer June 10th with a massive 4 disk Global Underground set. Global Underground #25: Deep Dish – Toronto.
At Avalon in Boston, Carl Cox will be in town June 27th for Avalon’s 5 anniversary party. A few weeks later, the master of all things techno, Paul Van Dyk, will be there July 18th.
Movie wise, Bowling For Columbine will be release August 19 on DVD, The Animatrix DVD will be out June 3rd, Punch-Drunk Love is out on the 24th, and Chicago will be August 19th.
In theaters, this weekend Finding Nemo and the Italian Job come out. The Hulk, Charlie’s Angels, Terminator 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean are all mid-summer (although I’m not really interested in seeing any of those). SWAT and Tomb Raider are late summer releases (don’t care about those either).
Video game wise, it’s unfortunately bleak. At the moment, Blitzkrieg and Rise of Nations are this only things coming out (or came out this week) that are worth playing. Star Wars Galaxies comes out at the end of June for those who might care (I don’t) and Republic comes out the next day (23rd and 24th respectively). Homeworld 2 comes out at the end of August but other than that, it’s a long long wait all summer for the mother of all games, Half-Life 2, which won’t be out until September 30th. There will be a few minor releases here and there to keep us busy over the summer, but fully expect to still be playing whatever game your playing now, in August.
Despite the lack of gaming, finding a full time job should keep me fairly busy. First finding it, then working at it of course.
Alrighty, on a more personal note, my apartment is pretty messy. I really wanted to clean it up before the Arolfo’s get here tonight (and before my folks get here tomorrow) but I didn’t get to it. I’ve been busy. So, cleaning will have to be done in the middle of packing… which I also haven’t started. Damn, I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. I probably won’t have time to post again until Sunday or so. Tomorrow is graduation rehearsal, packing, family stuff, etc. Saturday IS graduations, all 4 hours of it. Then probably dinner, then more packing. Sunday, my parents leave and I’ll have time to start packing whats left to come with me in the Matrix but since I don’t leave until Tuesday, I’ll probably relax a little.
The basic plan is for my brother to stay down here with me and drive back with me on Tuesday. Lauren’s also leaving Tuesday with Sara. So, 90% of the packing and preparations need to be done by Sunday morning, but I’ve got another 2 days to pack my car after that.
After that it’s 2 days on the road (or one really long one if you drive it strait) and then I’m home… unemployed and broke. Then the job search begins. I’ve already got 20+ names, phone numbers, etc, of NH and MA area commercial photographers. It’ll just be about making the rounds to see who needs a full time assistant at that point. If that doesn’t work out, I look for web work. If that doesn’t work out, I start looking in the Houston area and find something little to hold me over. Fingers crossed folks, fingers crossed.
Reviews: The Matrix: Reloaded and Enter The Matrix
After seeing the Matrix the other day, I was left with a rather unfulfilled feeling deep down in my movie-reviewing heart. Disappointment is a bitter pill to swallow and getting indigestion afterward doesn’t help. This indigestion comes in the form of Enter the Matrix the video game which I’ll get to later. First I’d like to talk about the movie. Since I plan to do this at length, a convenient “read more” link is provided to ease the pain of an incredibly long post.
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