Vangrue's blog

11/02 - Wii-intensive Gaming

Good day, Internet! It is Thursday, and that means it's the weekend. Well, for me anyway. You suckers get stuck with another day of the week. You know, I think I'm just going to squander the day, just to rub it in. Of course, I'll have to be visited by the ghost of a dead celebrity or something, who will take me on an inspirational and spiritual journey detailing the wrongs of goofing off. Ooh, or maybe it's a talking Dinosaur! No, Denver! Denver the Last Dinosaur. Yeah, that'd be rad.

Oh, 80s!

Anyway, there's a little news on the wire. You know the one I'm talking about.

• Unfortunately, reports that the Wii would output at 720p, putting it on par with many 360 and PS3 games, are untrue, according to a story at EuroGamer. The output resolution will apparently max at 480p.
• Nintendo World is upon us, which sounds like the eve of destruction in some bizarre acid-trip movie (Beware the Ives of Nintendo! The Nintendonians are invading! Ohno, Nintendo is coming for us! We better hide, or we'll be destroyed in a most excruciating manner!) This event, loosely resembling the late Space World Expo, is actually a series of shows touring the Japanese nation in different cities, showcasing the latest in Nintendo gaming products. With the highly anticipated launch of the Wii just weeks away, this will be one of the last instances where someone gets to touch the wild, undomesticated Forbidden Fruit before it becomes standard, everday household fruit (My analogies are flawless. Do not attempt to delude yourself into thinking otherwise). As you may guess, what I'm looking most forward to are the new Super Smash Bros. Brawl characters reported to be unveiled at the show. One (me) can only hope that this announcement occurs at the first show, as opposed to one of the later shows, causing me to spasm uncontrollably until the secret is revealed.
• In order to fully grasp the reality of the demand for the Wii, you could imagine a family of bears who are craving sweet, sweet honey at the end of their winter slumber. These creatures have not eaten for months, and their level of hunger causes a state of delirium in which they confuse human-people for their tasty snack- effectively mistaking little Suzy for a bottle of SueBee. What we have on our hands here is a bloodbath. The lesson, you ask? Bears are dangerous, and can attack at any time. Seriously, though, anytime a retailer opens up pre-orders for the Wii, they sell out lightning-quick, much like my super-human reflexes. The latest example is Wal-Mart, whose online store experienced just such a phenomenon, selling out in just a few short hours.
• Wii rhymes with 'pee.' We get it.
• Bioware has announced a new PC-exclusive RPG titled "Dragon Age." Games For Windows, the magazine previously known as Computer Gaming World, featured the game on the cover to their latest issue, which means you can go to your bookstore, newsstand, or literary haven of choice and read more about it there. For an idea of what the games all about, imagine, if you will, the developer of Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, and the upcoming Mass Effect (it's a stretch, I know). Now, imagine that this developer is creating a new game called "Dragon Age" and that's all you really wanted to know anyway. There. Are we clear? Good. Seriously, though, from what little I've read about it so far, it sounds pretty damn cool. We're mixing Baldur's Gate style pause-game, issue commands style combat, Mass Effect style almost-real-time conversation, D&D style role playing (think classes and game rules. Momma didn't raise no Barbarian! Well, unless of course you roll up a Barbarian, in which case I hate you forever!). Oh, and you can do cool stuff like run between the legs of the humongous creatures, climb up on their backs, and more. From the looks of it, the game will feature multiple stories to allow, nay, encourage repeating the game.

That's it. That's all I've got right now.

Articles:
Nintendo reconfirms Wii 480p (EuroGamer)
Nintendo World 06 - The Wii Lineup (Kotaku)
Nintendo World 06 - The DS Lineup (Kotaku)
Wal-Mart Wii preorders sell out (Gamespot)
Games For Windows featuring new Bioware RPG - Dragon Age (1up)
And just for kicks... (YouTube)

10/31 - Happy Sugar-Induced Coma Day!

Obviously none of you are going to read this today, since it is Halloween and there's no way any of you are over the age of twelve (Then again, this is the internet, so it's kind of hard to tell sometimes) and must thusly be trick or treating. Still, it is my duty to maintain this blog, and so I shall.

Most of today's news in my favorite categories (gaming, movies, and tech) comes from the realm of video games.

• Viva Pinata has gone gold, which means soon you can finally purchase and play it in your own home (unless of course you're a real or pseudo-real gaming journalist, and have had the chance to review it ahead of time.) This game's looking like it's got a lot of potential.
  
• Nintendo released the finalized list of Wii launch-window titles, as well as the list of titles coming to the Virtual Console by year's end.
• Speaking of the Wii, GamesIndustry.biz reported that Nintendo will release a DVD-enabled version of the console. Just to make sure people are confused, after saying the Wii would have DVD functionality and then not, they mentioned that this version would only be coming out in Japan according to current plans. That doesn't mean it won't come out in Europe or the US, but no one's talking right now. We'll just have to make them talk. (I'd make a threatening gesture, but it just won't come across well in text)
• In regards to my last post, 8bit_generation pointed out that stories are circulating that Microsoft's latest update for the Xbox 360 Dashboard software might be screwing with gamers' systems. I installed the update myself with no problems so far, so we'll just have to see to what extent this is true.
  

I couldn't afford to buy candy at pre-Halloween prices, so if anyone reads this, please send me candy. CANDY GOOOOOOOD! RAAAARGH!

If anyone needs me, I'll be rampaging.

Articles:

Viva Piñata goes Gold (Gamespot)

Xbox 360 Fall Update bricking systems? (Gamespot)
Japan to get Wii with DVD player (GamesIndustry.biz)
Wii: 62 Games in First Five Weeks (IGN)

10/30 - New and Improved, Chop Chop!

Well, it seems that I won't be lazing-about today, as there is news! Well, by now, it's probably not news to a lot of you, but it's news, and I'm going to report on it, dammit! I'll have none of your sass, Internet, and I know how you love sass.

In any case, Xbox.com released information on the newest update to their Dashboard software for the Xbox 360. The list of additions and changes is fairly lengthy, but that's because a lot of them are meager improvements to existing features or tiny extras with little use to Americans. Gamers from beyond McDonaldland, however, are now lucky to have improved language features. Overall, though, the gist of the updates follows:

• 360 HD-DVD player add-on support
• 1080p support
• Support for streaming Windows Media Video file format from a Windows-based PC (via WMP 11, Zune software, or Windows Media Connect)
• Support for video files stored on data CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives, Xbox memory cards, or other, unlisted devices.
• Automatic downloads of Live Arcade games
• Support for the XNA Game Development software.
• Miscellaneous improvements and extras that you can read about in the link at the bottom of the post, because I'm too lazy to list them myself!

And when is this update coming? Next week, you say? Next month? Next year? No, that's all wrong! This update is coming tomorrow, October 31, so you don't have to lose sleep worrying about when you'll be able to use the wireless Xbox 360 headset to send crude messages to your friends. The update will come some time in the morning. For more information on the changes, you can check out these two pages on the Xbox website. Hit the full list at the end of the post.

Before I end, there is one more powerfully important news item- something that will change the world forever!

Cooking Mama is coming to the Nintendo Wii. I know, you probably just wet yourself a little. I'm sorry, I should be more careful with the information I wave around. Seriously, though, this isn't very surprising, given the fact that everyone knew a cooking game was both possible and inevitable given the introductory video shown when we finally found out what the Wii was. Not to mention, Cooking Mama is apparently quite a hit on the DS. I don't know the sales figures, but the budget title has gotten some pretty positive reviews and I've heard about it almost everywhere. A friend of mine who barely plays video games finally picked up a DS and Cooking Mama, and he is enthralled with it. The DS is a powerful tool; it can bring grown men to their feet and crush entire empires! Feel the awesome fury of the Nintendo DS, or you shall face infinite nothingness!

I admit, that was a bit overboard.

Articles:
Xbox 360 Dashboard - November 2006 Update (Xbox.com)
Cooking Mama: Cook Off coming to Wii (Kotaku)

Slow News Day Filler - Movies

This is the Movies portion of the Slow News Day Filler. I don't know how I'm going to get through this, because there are a lot of movies I want to see. I'll try to boil it down a bit. (As a warning, you've got to have the Quicktime plugin in order to play the trailers I'm linking to.)

Movies:
1. 300- This movie is based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. The story is a highly stylized account of the Battle of Thermopylae. The movie mimics the visual style of the comic, much like with Sin City (though 300 is in color). Few movies these days just seem so completely awesome.

2. Casino Royale- The new James Bond movie mixes things up with a new actor in the spy's shoes. It's also the first entry in the series of movies for quite some time to be based on one of the original novels by Ian Fleming. Of course, they can never leave well enough alone, with the studio and writers opting to change various plot elements to modernize it. Frankly, I really just want a fun, interesting movie, and this looks like it will deliver. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

3. The Fountain- I really don't know a whole lot about this. The basic premise seems clear enough. What happens when two people find the real and true Fountain of Youth, allowing them to stay young for ages upon ages? Well, the trailer doesn't really seem to offer that much insight, but definitely looks cool. This could either be a great achievement in filmmaking and storytelling for director Darren Aronofsky, or a load of pretentious artsy bullshit. However, judging by Aronofky's resume, I'd bet on the former.

Et Cetera - Tenacious D in 'The Pick of Destiny', Ghost Rider, Hot Fuzz, Spider-Man 3, and Transformers. There are, of course, various others, stretching out into timeless infinity. However, most of them are too far from release to really talk about, so I'll wait until a random point in the future.

Slow News Day Filler - Games

Not too much going on today, it seems. In light of that, and while I'm waiting for Battlestar Galactica to come on, I present to you: The Things I'm looking Forward To, Vol. 1. I'll also explain a little bit why I'm looking forward to each item. Prepare to be amazed!
Hey, it'll happen some day, and you'll be glad I had you prepared!

Video Games:
1. Gears of War- This game looks amazing. Built on the newest version of the Unreal engine, this game really takes advantage of the machine. This is what we were hoping games would look like by now (At the very least, anyway. We still don't have Robo-sistants, flying motorcycles, or laser ducks, but one can dream, right?). I like shooters, not because I am inherently violent, but because I find fictional action to be entertaining. I'd rather see gigantic Futuro-Marines engaging in combat with hideous alien scum in an imaginary world, rather than the real world. I may not be terribly good at these games, but it's still fun. Hopefully the game won't be bogged down by laggy interference or long load times. (360)

2. Guitar Hero II- While I really don't need to explain myself with this one, I will elaborate for those savages who don't understand. Guitar Hero is the greatest goddamn game ever. It is so awesome (inspiring awe, so to speak), that it caused me to break out into alliteration in the last sentence. It is just that powerful. Anyway, Guitar Hero II essentially fixes the only problem anyone truly complained about in the first installment: There just wasn't enough. For fans of the game, there is never really enough, per se. However, GH2 promises more than just a new collection of songs. Gameplay is expanded upon, promising new formats for multiplayer mode wherein players can take on a song cooperatively, breaking it into different types of guitar (Bass, etc., etc.), and other new features. Plus, this time it has been confirmed to be coming out on the Xbox 360 (including a wireless controller), with a downloadable library from the first game, which could mean that further song packs could become available on Xbox Live. Not to mention, this time the unlockable tracks include what I will refer to as "gag songs" in the form of "Trogdor the Burninator" care of HomestarRunner.com and Thunder Horse, a song by Dethklok (the subject of Adult Swim's Metalocalypse). (PS2/360)

Honorable Mentions- Ok, so this portion of today's posts won't be that long. I don't believe in making individual posts longer than a full novel. There are a lot of games coming out that interest me. The following are those games: Spore (PC/more?), Blue Dragon (360), Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS),Team Fortress 2 (PC/360/PS3), Red Steel (Wii), Superman Returns (360/PS2/DS/PSP/GBA and probably PS3), Fable 2 (360), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii), Lost Planet (360), Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC/Wii), Final Fantasy III (DS), and Children of Mana (DS). There's a lot more, but listing them all would be incredibly boring for all of us, and just plain unneccessary, don't you think?

10/26 in Gaming: The First Against the Wall

I'd rather not submit absurdly huge posts encompassing all the subjects I want to talk about, so from now on, I think I'll keep it simple. Anyway, since this blog is in its early days, I'll now introduce you to Alex Speer, gamer. My tastes in games vary quite a bit. I like games from most genres, excluding, of course, horse-racing, fishing, hunting, most sports, and most blatantly-licensed garbage (except M.C. Kids for the NES. That game blew my pre-adolescent mind. It was ahead of its time, truly the forerunner to every epic game franchise to date, even the ones that started before its release).

I will love Nintendo products for a long, long time. I always have, especially since I was raised in a Nintendo-centric household. My favorite system to date is the SNES. I do, however, own an Xbox 360, and I used to own a PS2. Nintendo fanboy or not, I've been excited about the company's new system for quite some time. Most of this is from massive amounts of conjecture as to the possibilities given a game developer's creativity. As for everyone else in the world, however, it has been widely argued that the system, the Wii, may end up as just a gimmick. Today's article, via Kotaku, is by Ryan Garside at Bit-Tech, concerning this very matter. The Wii was played, and what followed was his critical analysis. Some games are fundamental to the enjoyment of the platform, while others boil down to mere novelties. This comes as no surprise, and my point is the following. Nintendo created the Wii for everyone. That's not just little Billy. That includes his sister, his parents, and his highly jaded Grandfather from the Old Country, where people worked for a living and didn't need to be entertained all day long. As such, it needs to be casual, much like the Nintendo DS. People need to be able to pick up a game, play for a little while, and go. There are other video game consoles for long-term gaming.

Just so we're clear on this, the article merely sparked my topic of interest. I'm in no way offering a opposing anything in the piece, just using it as a subject to jumpstart my post. That goes for all the articles linked to on this blog.
In short, I'm still excited for the Wii, especially since I don't expect it to be my 'primary' gaming console. Hopefully Nintendo proves the doubtful to be wrong, but these things can't all be winners. I still can't wait for the new Smash Bros. Also, have any of you seen the new screenshots of the Wii version of Madden 07? Super sweet, though useless to me since I'm not a big fan of Football.

Article: Bit-Tech: Nintendo hands-on Wiiview

10/26 in Tech: Pushing the Edge

My goal with this blog is to keep a relatively consistent update schedule, for a number of reasons. For one, it would sure be a waste of Internet space if I left this page forgotten. Another reason is that it may help me organize the rest of my life, by having something constant and timely. Lastly, your Mom.

Yes, I went there. I'm edgy.

Speaking of "edgy," today's biggest tech news is probably the release of the new revision of Ubuntu Linux, code-named "Edgy Eft." While this event is of little importance to the majority of people, it symbolizes the maturing world of alternative computing options. In the world of computers, there are PCs and there are Macs. It has traditionally been a very black-and-white world. Linux, or UNIX and the variety of similar alternative operating systems, has not taken off except for people who intimately know how computers work. It's come about as a final hope for those who dislike Windows on the PC platform, usually due to the open-source nature of the product, as well as the abilty to customize (Of course, it would be rude of me not to mention that it can be installed on Macs as well, but it's not as often-talked about. Most Mac people stick to the MacOS, and that's fine for them).

Back on topic, though. Ubuntu was launched as the next evolutionary phase of Linux, intending to bring a wider audience to its gospel (If mixing religious phrases with scientific ones seems odd, it is because I am a rebel!). It's much more user-friendly than many other distributions of linux, but still not as familiar to casual computer-users as Windows. One way to off-set this is with gradual tweaks, such as with the new features released with each new version of Ubuntu. Another way was introduced by the Patron Saint of Ubuntu,Mark Shuttleworth, on his Blog. The gist is that Ubuntu has to look good. Not only that, but transforming the OS into a work of art must not interfere with how well it works. There are a lot of cool little projects as far as visual effects for Linux go (the poster-child for which is the pairing of XGL and Compiz). Many, if not most, don't actually work for most people, particularly due to hardware incompatibility (I can't use XGL no matter how many times or how many ways I install it. I wouldn't give up my ATI video card for anything, though, except probably for a newer one). If prosperity of the platform is the goal, I believe that making it more attractive is a no-brainer.A computer should be something even a shambling Zombie minion of doom should be able to operate.

Article: Shuttleworth: "Pretty" is a Feature

Intro to one Game-Boy, Departure of another

As much as I'd love to jump right into more important matters (or rather, more interesting ones), I feel that I can't open up a blog and avoid introducing myself. I am Alex Speer, young writer, artist, and avid fan of movies, video games, and other sorts of media. I'm not a terribly interesting specimen myself, but that doesn't matter since I doubt if anyone will ever read this anyway. I foresee a total of... two, maybe three people. However, if I ever become famous, or even just internet-famous, I think it should be documented that I had specific notions and opinions about certain things covering an ambiguous spectrum of topics.

Anyway, today I happened across an interesting article at a mobile-gaming site called MODOJO about the demise of the GameBoy brand at the incompetent hands of the GB Micro. Basically, Dan Biersdorf talks at length about factors of the system's end, including poor sales, poor redesign of an already popular version of the hardware (which was also enhanced with the same brighter screen), and the introduction of the new Nintendo DS, which made owning a GameBoy somewhat useless. Personally, I love my DS, and I loved my GBA enough to buy the first and second iterations (the GBA and GBA SP respectively). However, as often happens with Nintendo, they oversaturated their product lineup. Who needs a tiny GameBoy that you could easily lose in your couch cushions, or more likely, the poorly-lit dungeon you call a bedroom?

This isn't even taking into account a quickly and severely diminishing library of game titles for the device. Last year saw some rather remarkable games, including Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Sigma Star Saga, the re-release of Final Fantasy IV, and Gunstar Super Heroes. Since FFIV is just a port, even that seems fishy in the list. The best games for the system as a whole came out in 2001-2004, which I suppose is fitting since that's the majority of its lifespan. Still, the most games coming out last year and this one are licensed games based off of movies and TV shows, which really doesn't bode well for the system. The core audience now is the younglings, which is still relatively lucrative, but is seriously limiting. I'm all for sucking the money out of little kids' pockets, but there's got to be a limit to the amount of disease-ridden, grimy single-dollar-bills you can safely handle.

It seems apparent that the "three-pillar" platform Nintendo adopted was an elaborate scheme to make sure the company had an out in case the DS flopped, and since it's been such a success, there's been no need for the Gameboy. Is that a bad thing, though? The NDS is now a powerhouse portable gaming platform (I've always wanted an excuse to get away with saying 'powerhouse'). It's not uncommon for a company to drop a product-line when something steps in to take its place. This is especially true in tech, with products like graphics cards and processors, as well as lines of cell phones and PDAs, to name a few. How many people do you know carrying around true Palm Pilots these days? Hell, I think I had a Voodoo3 video card at about the same time I had my old Palm m100. Do any of you actually know what those are? Or are you, rather, far older than I, contemplating writing a snarky comment about Commodore 64s and rotary phones? I hope not, since I just called you on it.

Article: http://www.modojo.com/features/20061023/125/rip_game_boy/