My rant about Guitar Hero

So, it disappoints me that I have to post this, that I have to come to this conclusion, but it was inevitable, given the market-scape.

Let me begin by saying Guitar Hero is a great game. It's a great game with an abusive parent.

And for that reason, I have decided that I'm done with the franchise.

It helps that there is an alternative, I admit. - Rock Band.

But I would keep buying Guitar Hero games if not for Aspyr.

You see, they have betrayed my trust as a gamer for multiple reasons. The first is that with GH3 they released a PC version of the game. That's the version I bought.

But later, they announced there would be no further support for PC - they would release no downloadable content, no further patches unless absolutely necessary and that the game is essentially now, for PC users "as-is".

So, in my gaming sploits, I have since purchased Rock Band for PS3. And I did investigation in to buying a new guitar controller for rocking out with my friends.

Only to find that Aspyr has threatened to sue Rock Band if they released a content patch that would make the GH3 controller work with Rock Band.

So Aspyr isn't getting any more of my money. Not in content, not in future GH games.

As for GH - I am done.

I am very much hoping that Rock Band carries the genre from here on out.

And that's too bad, because for pure gaming quality, GH3 is fun.

Heros, Machine Style

Need that character portrait for your D&D game? Just need to make cool characters to fool around with? Need a new avatar for something?

Hero Machine has you covered.

I knew about this project a while ago, but recently needed a portrait in a flash, thought of the site and figured I check it out again. And man has it come a LONG way.

So, for those who may not know about it, click the link, and sign away the next couple of hours of time...

For a test of what it can do, here is a test character:
== Copy the stuff below this line and paste in to the LOAD prompt. ==

2.5b5*m1*Character Name*Hair:Expansion1,ponytail,FFFA9C,F79652,100,100,23,Eyebrows:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,21,Eyes:Standard,blank2,FF0000,FFFFFF,100,100,20,Nose:Standard,thinbroke,F79D9C,FFFFFF,100,100,27,Mouth:Standard,line,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,18,Beard:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,26,Ears:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,19,Skin:Standard,fraBlank,EF6972,F79D9C,100,100,6,Mask:Standard,fraBlank,2B0036,390F7B,100,100,22,Headgear:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,29,Undershirt:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,7,Overshirt:Standard,downchevron,390F7C,6C4D9B,100,100,8,Coat:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,25,RightGlove:Expansion1,nofingers,CEA66B,8A559B,100,100,17,LeftGlove:Expansion1,nofingers,CEA66B,8A559B,100,100,16,Insignia:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,9,Neckwear:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,24,Belt:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,15,Leggings:Standard,long,390F7C,6C4D9B,100,100,10,Overleggings:Standard,blox,AC8ABC,FFFF00,100,100,11,Pants:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,14,RightFoot:Expansion1,sandal,8CCFF9,6C4D9B,100,100,13,LeftFoot:Expansion1,sandal,8CCFF9,6C4D9B,100,100,12,Back:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,3,Wings:Expansion1,wholebat,FF0000,AD5D9C,100,100,4,Tail:Standard,cattail,F79D9C,EF6972,100,100,5,Aura:Standard,fraBlank,8CCFF9,9482B6,100,100,2,Companion:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,31,Background:Standard,fullscreen,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,1,RightHand:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,30,LeftHand:Standard,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,28,#

== Stop copying above this line. ==

So, where have I been?

I've been playing a lot of EQ2 and handling family matters and playing Guitar Hero 3.

GH3 is a LOT of fun. As you play, the song plays if you get the notes right, or if not, you get guitar scrapes. Couple in awesome music and you get a completely rewarding experience.

Color me addicted.

TR Update

I cancelled my pre order with EBGames after three weeks of dealing with their morons.

I reactivated my EQ2 subscription and bought the newest expansios, Rise of Kunark.

Playing EQ2 again is like going to see an old friend after they've been gone for a while. You knew you'd enjoy it, but you never really realized how much you had missed it until you made the trip.

Now, I gots me some levels to get!! (New server)

From "Net Promoter" to "Net Detractor"

Well, I am at my wit's end.

You see, I enjoyed playing the beta of Tabula Rasa so much that I decided to pre-order the game. So I did. When I decided that I would preorder, I considered only one option because I received good experiences with them in the past. I chose EB Games.

In the past, I never had to contact them however.

You see, when it came time for the game to be shipped, a friend of mine, who (and let me underline this point) ordered the game standard shipping from EB Games at my recommendation they do so, received the game four days early.

So I contacted them via email.

The response I got was "Unfortunately, we cannot ship the game itself before the release date." That is a direct quote.

So OK fine - maybe that's a pretext to "you ordered overnight shipping and it's too early to overnight ship". Which of course makes me wonder why I would ever overnight ship on a preorder, but I let it go.

The day before it was to be released comes, no ship. Web site status says "Prerelease". Umm, no. If I am to have it on my doorstep it should already be shipped. But it wasn't.

So, the day of release, I write them again.

I got no response.

So I called them that evening. The person on the phone says "Oh I'm not sure why they didn't sent it already but I'll discount your shipping cost and send an email message to the shipping department so they can get this one shipped out ASAP."

OK that's something I guess but at this point, I'm fairly disappointed at them. The game has already locked me out saying "Your game time has expired."

Two days later, my shipping status changes from "Prerelease" (we are now three days post release mind you) to "Usually ships within 24 hours."

So today, after that status of 3 days, I call. At this point, I'm fairly pissed because if I had walked down to the store and bought my copy in person I'd have been playing.

The person on the phone has the audacity to tell me "We couldn't charge your card. That's why it wasn't shipped." But then he lies to me and tells me "We sent you an email message on the 27th of last month about it." When I tell him I am staring at my Inbox and can read the date and contents of every message they have sent me, including the "We will be shipping you game within 24 hours" message dated on the 29th, his response is "Whether you got that message or not is not important."

Excuse me?

I contacted your company FOUR times since that date. I placed FAITH in your ability to handle my PREORDER correctly.

So I had them fix the address on the card (the apparent problem) and lo and behold, it gets it right. But btw, we have no record of your previous contact with the other agent so you are still paying the shipping costs too.

Never again, EB Games.

You might, when operating correctly, be able to get me my games on time, but if there is the slightest hiccup, your sheer incompetence and lack of interest in the trust I placed in your company has signed on the dotted line. The dotted line says just above it "I will never use your company again, and if I hear of anyone else wanting to use it, I'll advise them not to."

Despair Inc has a message you might want to look up:
Apathy
Maybe if we don't take care of the customer they'll stop bugging us.

Boss fight music

So in a totally random topic of the day, I got to talking about boss fight music in games.

And I decided it would be a good thing to blog about. This probably won't be a long post.

But half of what makes a boss fight memorable, IMO is the music that accompanies it. Sound overall plays a HUGE role in a game's delivery.

So, what are my top 3?

I am going to link to non-game play versions of these - as I try to be as spoiler free as I reasonably can be. That way if you play the game, you aren't ruined by seeing what happens.

That means that they might not be as pure as the MIDI in game sound is, but the impact should still be delivered:

Third on the list:
"Clash on the Big Bridge" - Theme from Final Fantasy 5. (I really need to play this game again soon)

Second on the list:
"One Winged Angel" - from Final Fantasy 7. A great game all around with an amazing ending.

And #1:
A recent contender, but deserving of the spot:
"Dark Samus" - from Metroid Prime 3. While listening to the music on this one you cannot fully appreciate it's awesomeness because what you don't see is the the boss's moves are timed to the music. It makes the whole experience VERY immersive.

So, what are your favorite boss fights/boss music?

Let me know!

BioShock Review

So, as is par for the course, I sat down and beat BioShock in a few evenings.

So, what do I think of it?

Glad you asked...

One liner: Pretty good game, most of which feels cinematic, with a good dosage of oddities that make it not quite the uber-game it's been hailed as.

So, now for the devil - err, the details:

"... it was not impossible to build Rapture and the bottom of the ocean; it was impossible to build it anywhere else..."

Basic overview:

You are a man who crash lands in the middle of the ocean and is whisked down to "Rapture" - city of free will, free markets and free scientific reign. You fight initially to survive, then to undo the wrongs of those who have created the monstrosity that is now your prison. As arsenal, you can inject ADAM, genetic modifications that change how your body operates, giving you super-human abilities...

First and foremost, this is a FPS in terms of genre. It has the typical elements: point gun, shoot monster, get bigger guns to shoot harder monsters. Collect ammo.

It has some RPG-esque elements as well: Choose which upgrades to "install" at the time being. You start with two solts each in five categories of upgrades, upgradeable to five slots each. You receive quite an array of items for each category and have to choose between them.

But perhaps most significantly, this is movie quality game play. The production values are amazing. Of everything this game has to offer, it really would be a so-so game if this one part did not hold true. But the story, the game decisions, the people you meet, the logs you listen to, all of it - encapsulates you in an epic tale of a good idea driven bad by greed and mistrust.

As you play, you learn that two people who were once partners became rival factions. In the game, you start hearing announcements from prerecorded devices about how bad it is to be a "parasite" - or in other words, a derogatory name for a member of one of the two factions.

These things give the game incredible ambiance.

The genetic enhancements are really cool as well. Your "Adam" is powered by energy called "Eve" (I feel there should be an obligatory drum/hat sound off here...). Eve is kept in fat syringes and then injected in your veins to "reload" when you run out. It is a universal "ammo" for your genetic upgrades and powers all of your enhancements.

Right click and instead of holding your hand out, ready to use a super power, you swap over to the good ol' tried and true gun arsenal. Each has their own ammo - or I should say, set of three possible ammo types. Ammo is found or purchased in about the right amount of frequency, perhaps a bit over-available, but not by much.

The monsters you fight are zombified denizens of Rapture who have gone over the edge of sanity by "splicing" (injecting ADAM upgrades) too far for too long. Now, they retain small semblances of their former self (you find one weeping at the coffin of her daughter - which now has ammo inside - no child) until you attack or alarm them, at which time they go in to a fury and attack you. They shout out at you, in manners that reflect who they were (the doctors, when losing sight of you call out "Nurse, get me that man!" for instance).

In a refreshing break from the norm, this game deserves every inch of its "Mature" rating. My kids will not be playing ANY time in ANY near future. =) Not only do the mobs have no problem spewing out profanities that would make a sailor blush, but the environment is sometimes dripping with blood, or the the questions of morality thrown out of the window. You even make decisions whether to kill semi-innocent little girls for extra power upgrades. (If you choose to kill them, it is at least tasteful about it and the screen fades out while you hear the death scream.)

Finally the deco is very steam-punk. Couple with the unique environment (a city at the bottom of the ocean) that they do take advantage of, and the pixel popping goodness of the engine, it's pretty damned good for a FPS.

So, with all that goodness, why aren't you convinced it's a contender for best game?

Glad you asked, Jimmy.

The game has some problems which kill its enjoyment value. The most troublesome of these, and it's really bad, is the insignificance of death. Now, I understand that the designers didn't want death to be a major hindrance, but really, some hindrance is desirable as it gives the player satisfaction for progressing beyond something that is hard for them. It is so bad in fact, that "zerging" tough monsters (of which there are very few) is a completely viable tactic. ONLY the final battle requires you to complete it in one go.

Another problem is that aside from turrets (which you can disable very easily at any difficulty) there are only TWO mobs in the game outside of bosses. Sure, splicers have different "flavors" but many times it's just a difference in their weapon of choice. Spider Slicers, because they can crawl on walls and ceilings (really cool btw) are the most variant of them, the rest are pretty much just a "he's carrying a different weapon" variety.

The other of the TWO mobs - the "Big Daddy" is a real problem for balance. In the early game, they own you in seconds. No matter how well you net up, it isn't possible to beat them in one go for the normal player, no matter how good you usually are at games. I can imaging that some BioShock aficionados will get to where they can, but that will be the exception, not the norm. But, by late game, due to your upgrades, they become a joke. Actually, everything does. The difficulty ramps down so far that I had to invent new challenges for myself just to keep it difficult. I even decided that for a whole level, I'd only allow myself to wrench stuff to death. (Your melee weapon)

Some levels *drag*. Neptune's bounty is one and it's early on. I almost shelved the game at that point. Couple with the painless death and I had a real hard time staying focused to keep going.

Yes, I'm glad that I did, but the problems were not outweighed by the cinematic quality.

All in all, I'd say the game is good. "Fairly good" perhaps. "Awesome" it is not.

Refreshing, definitely.

Solid Gold, definitely not.

Hopefully, if they make a sequel, they will enhance the good things, rethink the bad, and give us a contender that might even be able to rival "Deus Ex" for FPS heavy weight of all time.