Hey folks, I’m back again for the next part in my unsung gaming heroes series.
Silent Bomber:
Silent Bomber was an old Playstation title from Japan that made Bomber Man look like a child with a sparkler.
You play as Jutah, a soldier haunted by his past and now a “shell of a man, nothing more than a killing machine”. Part of a rag tag crack military team, he is sent on a covert mission to infiltrate and destroy an enormous space ship called the Dante that is on it’s way to destroy your home planet of Hornet.Not much of the background explained to be honest so a lot of the time you just have to nod and agree while you blow more stuff up.
Silent Bomber is a fast paced platformer where you are rewarded for destruction.Jutah’s main attack is to plant bombs on the spot or several metres in front of him using a targeting reticule.You can plant multiple bombs to chain them together or ‘stack’ them on top of each other to increase their damage and blast radius.You also pick up special bombs now and again that either use napalm, gravity or emp effects for greater destruction.For the most part you mainly fight robots, turrets, mechs, and other mechanical monstrosities as well as some infantry and ‘bio weapons’.The thing I remember most about the game though was how hard it was if you didn’t know what you were doing, especially with the boss battles.Until you worked out the strategy for defeating them they would be a source of great frustration.With that said, try as I might I never finished the game thanks to a infuriating boss on the ‘300 mile high elevator level’ that a number of games have.This huge flying mech suit commander’s attacks were very hard to avoid and he was equally hard to hit so suffice to say he angered me greatly.But I digress…
The game also had a small multiplayer function.By picking up data chips in the campaign levels, you unlocked bosses, allies and other high level enemies to play as in the versus mode, which is basically a 1v1 box arena fight.
Okay let me be honest, the story is kind of weak and never fully fleshed out, the voice acting isn’t great and the multiplayer isn’t much better either.So why, pray tell, is this game on the list?Well dear reader I call it ‘The Expendables Clause’ because like the film, sometimes you just want to watch stuff blow up for two hours.This is both a good and bad thing.It’s a great experience and very frantic and run.But to fully engross yourself in a game you have to strike a balance between story and gameplay.The best examples of this for me are Bioshock, Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect series, but that’s a discussion for another time.
Silent Bomber was great fun for it’s rapid action and gratuitous explosions and hopefully one day I can get round to finishing it.
If you want to see the first entry of this series head over to the Team Times website.
That’s it for now but part 3 is on its way soon so I’ll catch you folks then.
Current song stuck in my head: Lionel Richie - All Night Long
Rick — ‘Geek & Sundry’
Geek & Sundry
Coming April 2nd – All the geeky media you could ever need, all under one roof!
That’s right, I’m back once again this month! This time with a somewhat less moody blog for you all, and no – it’s still not the one I had intended to write this month. I will get to that though! Honest!
Anyway – as I’m sure a lot of you will remember, part of what I wanted to do with my blog here on Tonyo Teams was to introduce you guys to some cool stuff on the internet that you might not necessarily know about. Last time it was the awesomeness that is Loading Ready Run, and this month I want to fill you guys in on a new media channel coming to the internet next month called ‘Geek & Sundry’.
What the heck is this Geek & Sundry of which you speak? I hear you all asking. Well I’ll tell you (or at least explain as best I can). Geek & Sundry is a premium youtube channel coming April 2nd with a lineup of six new original series showcasing the best in indie geek culture. And with Felicia Day and the producers of web series ‘The Guild’ at the helm, along with the likes of Wil Wheaton, Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt, and Dark Horse Comics involved in proceedings it’s sure to be one heck of an awesome shindig.
…And if you aren’t familiar with any of the previously mentioned names then I am VERY disappointed in each and every one of you.
What can we expect from this awesomeness then? I hear you all asking (and seriously, some of you need to stop shouting. It’s really hurting my ears…). For this, I’ll reference the website itself (www.geekandsundry.com) …
* The Flog (Premiering April 2nd, new episodes every Monday)
Join Geek Goddess Felicia Day in a whimsical vlog show, as she explores quirky new hobbies and shares experiences that connect her with her favorite people – her fans – in person as well as across the web.
Executive Producers: Felicia Day, Kim Evey, Sheri Bryant, Sean Becker
* Dark Horse Motion Comics (Premiering April 2nd, new episodes every Wednesday)
America’s largest indie comic-book publisher Dark Horse Comics brings some of their much-loved franchises such as Hellboy, The Goon and The Umbrella Academy onto the screen in a unique presentation for their web series.Combining never-before-seen motion graphic techniques and compelling storytelling, fans of these iconic characters will devour each episode.
Producer: Mike Richardson. Director: Eric Bruhwiler
Executive Producers: Felicia Day, Kim Evey, Sheri Bryant
* TableTop (Premiering April 2nd, new episodes every other Friday)
Think “Celebrity Poker” meets “Dinner for Five” and you’re ready to experience the quick-witted camaraderie that pairs notable celebs with must-play tabletop games.Hosted by actor, co-creator and fan favorite Wil Wheaton, this lively show brings together notable geek celebrities from Film, TV and YouTube to showcase the best in tabletop gaming from Settlers of Catan to card games like Fluxx and even RPGs like Dragon Age.
Executive Producers: Felicia Day, Kim Evey, Sheri Bryant, Wil Wheaton
* The Guild Season 5 (Airing April 10th, episodes every Tuesday)
The widely popular award-winning web series that’s topped 150 million views comes to YouTube!Chronicling the adventures of online gamers Cyd Sherman (Codex), Vincent Caso (Bladezz), Jeff Lewis (Vork), Amy Okuda (Tink), Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo) and Robin Thorsen (Clara), the fifth season follows the gang to a fan convention with new discoveries and celebrity encounters.Plus every Thursday check out never-before-seen behind the scenes content.
Executive Producers: Felicia Day, Kim Evey.Director: Sean Becker
* Sword & Laser (Premiering April 13th, new episodes every other Friday)
Popular book club podcast, Sword & Laser, comes to life with an irreverent show hosted by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt.The show features interviews with top authors, reviews of the hottest science fiction and fantasy books, discussion of the essential news of the week, and lots of participation from the vibrant Sword & Laser community.
Created by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt
Executive Producers: Felicia Day, Kim Evey, Sheri Bryant
* Written By A Kid (Premiering July 18th, new episodes every Wednesday)
Original sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories by real kids are transformed into stunning shorts by some of today’s coolest directors. These original live-action and animated pieces truly capture the madness and magic of the 4-to-9-year old mindset.
Directors include Dane Boedigheimer (Annoying Orange), Rhett & Link (IFC’s Commercial Kings) and Daniel Strange (Between Two Ferns with Zach Galfianakis)
Executive Producers: Felicia Day, Kim Evey, Sheri Bryant
* Learning Town (Coming Fall 2012)
In this smart, offbeat musical, nerd music duo Paul & Storm blend vocal harmonies with comedic scenarios as they are tasked with reviving the flagging educational show of their childhoods. In the face of adversity from villainous hipsters, cantankerous ghosts and flammable puppets, Learning Town is one show that has to been seen to be believed.
Created by Paul & Storm and Josh Cagan.
Executive Producers: Felicia Day, Kim Evey, Sheri Bryant
Is that enough awesomeness for you? Well is it? ….No? Well…tough….it’ll have to be!
There are a couple of shows that I’m personally looking forward to – TableTop, since I’m a huge Magic The Gathering and roleplaying nerd, and Sword & Laser, mostly due to my love for the Fantasy genre but partly because I find Veronica Belmont to be utterly hilarious.
I am slightly confused about one thing though. I’ve been something of a fan of The Guild for a while now and I was under the impression that Season 5 was already available online. And yet it’ll be airing on youtube from April 10th. Have I missed something here? Am I being dense? (Wouldn’t be the first time…).
Anyway! For more information on Geek & Sundry make sure to check out their website – www.geekandsundry.com and subscribe to their youtube channel.
Need more incentive to check them out? Check out their trailer!
That’ll be all from me for this month. My birthday is coming up this week and despite not really being able to do much due to being broke til the day AFTER my birthday (sods law – don’t you just love it?) I’m determined to have something of a chilled week. Catch you all in April!
- Rick xo
The Question Of ‘What Now?’
The Question Of ‘What Now?’
I sit here alone in my bedroom turn pseudo-office, staring idly out through my window at the grey world outside. It’s a typical March day – looks as though it could rain any second and yet likely won’t. As if some divine force is up there toying with the people of this particular part of the world. I find myself with some time to kill before I venture out to see some of the people who choose to be around me…and I feel inclined to write my blog for the month.
Yet it isn’t the blog I’d intended to write. That will likely come next month now. No, instead I have decided to write something a tad more personal. A piece in which I drop the bullshit façade I tend to put on for a moment and put the self I keep hidden away in my own private world out there for the world to see.
This blog has been inspired in part by the blog of one Ms. Allison Mack, known to many for her portrayal of Chloe Sullivan in Smallville. I’ll likely make reference to the blog post in question later but in the meantime I want to get this under way.
I had actually begun writing this last night as I lay in bed unable to sleep but after rambling on for nearly a page and a half I thought perhaps it would be best if I started from scratch. Even now my thoughts are a chaotic jumble but hopefully I’ll manage to put them into some kind of order.
You know, it’s actually kind of ironic that this blog should be inspired by the writings of Ms. Mack. During the twilight days of Smallville I found myself empathizing more and more with the character of Chloe. As a result I came to a particularly startling revelation regarding myself. I’ve spent so many years allowing myself to be defined by other people or influenced by their points of view that I find myself feeling as though I’ve lost my sense of self somewhere along the way. That essential part of myself that allowed me to face the world with a “You know what world? I can take you on!” attitude and that drew people to me. I’ve spent so many years wearing so many different “hats” – be it the student hat, the son/grandson hat, the supervisor hat – that now that I find myself at a point in my life where I’m able to just be me….I guess I’m not entirely sure as to how to be just me.
The same is true of my work situation. I’ve been working in the same job for so long now that I find it defines the choices that I make when searching for new employ. What’s more, it even defines how I’m viewed by the people I’m applying to. You’d be surprised by just how many people have commented on my list of entirely creative qualifications only to then ask me (essentially), “So…why exactly are you applying to work with us?”. They don’t seem to take notice of the fact that I’ve dedicated nearly seven years of my life to the same job or that I moved up the ranks from volunteer to my current position within the first twelve months of that. No no.
Today I find myself once again back at square one. No passing go, no collecting the shiny new job that could have solved a number of your problems. The universe is apparently not done with testing you yet! I have found myself back at this point far too often over the course of the last few years and yet each time I seem to end up posing the same question to myself, “What now?”.
I’m sure a lot of you who’re reading this (I hope someone is at least!) are in similar positions. You find yourself being cut off at every corner. You want to find employ (or in the case of those like myself, different employ) and yet everywhere you turn everyone seems to be looking for experienced professionals without having the foresight to think that they could perhaps benefit more from hiring the inexperienced and allowing them to gain experience. You feel disheartened, scared and alone. You wonder ‘What do I have to offer now? What am I doing wrong?’ and that ever persistent question of “What now?’.
I wish I had some definite answer or some winning formula that could give you all guaranteed results but I don’t.
As it turns out, I’m more insecure about this particular area of my life than I had thought. With no safety net to catch me if I fall and no one there to gently nudge me in the right direction I find myself wondering if I’ll ever be good enough. There’s no road map for life and I know that the path taken is half the journey but still I find myself lacking the strength of spirit to struggle on despite my own inhibitions. How does one latch onto hope when everything feels so hopeless?
And yet, despite my feelings of self-pity, the words of Ms. Macks blog did resonate with me as I read them. They made me stop and realize that, “You know what? Maybe it isn’t so hopeless after all!”.
While retail may be the path I need to walk down for the moment to get that green stuff coming in, my heart will always belong to the fields of creativity. I want more than anything to tell the story of me to the world, whatever that story may be, and be the change I wish to see. And while I wish I had something of an ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ figure in my life to guide me, I know that the greatest test of my strength of spirit will be to figure this all out for myself.
Yet perhaps the real question here isn’t ‘What now? ‘but rather ‘What do I do with this?’. Despite my gilded cage, I have some level of freedom. I’m also not exactly short on time either. I’m a creative individual who’s at his happiest weaving words or wandering the path less travelled with camera in hand. Perhaps the cosmos is simply trying to beat me over the head with the realization that I have the time to explore and rebuild my sense of self.
I know that sooner or later this jumbled mess of thoughts and possibilities will transform themselves into something tangible. I also know that it will require me to work my ass off but I know that I am not alone. And I hope all of you reading this know the same.
For those who might be curious, the blog in question can be found here — http://www.allisonmack.com/2012/03/15/what-now and should Ms. Mack ever read this, all I can say is this – Thank you. And hopefully you don’t mind my making reference to your blog like this!
- Rick xo
Tropical Butterfly House, Wildlife and Falconry Centre
Since I had two weeks off work recently, I wasn’t wanting to waste the time doing nothing or simply just doing cleaning, so I decided to take a big step and visit the Tropical Butterfly House, Wildlife and Falconry Centre that’s located in North Anston. Why a big step? Because it was my first time going on my own and also my first time having to work out a bus journey on my own. I’m fine with train journeys mostly, but because I never really travel on buses, they were a lot more daunting for me to get on because the bus routes weren’t familiar to me, even within my own home town.
That said, I bit the bullet, worked out the bus I needed to take and travelled out to North Anston. The Centre was only a short walk away from the bus stop, which was quite handy.
I arrived roughly when the Centre opened at around 11am. I actually thought I must of been the first person to arrive there, but there was already a family with a young child there when I got in. The first place I visited was the brand new aviary for the Parrots, which they’d only just moved into days before. The enclosure has a glass front which makes it easier to see them and take photos of them. I hung around here for a while to see an event with the parrots, displayed within the enclosure itself. The display of the parrots was really nice an informative and really showed off their abilities and how clever they are. Very entertaining for children and adults alike.
After this, I had half an hour to kill before the next display I wanted to see, so I hung out around the barn that was nearby, which is where you’ll of course see the more farmyard animals, such as chickens, goats, pigs, a pony, a turkey and also there were a lot of Peacocks/Peahens wandering around. I swear when I last went about a year and a half ago, they only had one Peacock! One of the Peacocks had his tail all fanned out and he seemed to be trying to scare the chickens with it, the chickens took absolutely no notice of him!
The next event I went to was the bird aerial display, which is where they show various birds to the crowd, talk a bit about them and let them fly about. They showed off their brother and sister Green-Winged Macaws, Bonnie and Alfie, their Kookaburra named Kookie, their Barn Owl named Wispa and to finish off they showed off one of their newest additions to the centre, which was Vernon the Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture, who was a very handsome looking fellow. He walked amongst the people watching and I got to see him up close, as he walked right up to me! So fantastic! There was also another aerial display on in the afternoon that I went to, which was roughly the same birds, but the last bird displayed was different from in the morning, so instead of Vernon, it was Ché and Esteban who are Hahn’s Macaw brothers. They were very entertaining and were obviously quite mischievous little creatures. During the Parrot display earlier in the day, while their trainer was cleaning up, they wouldn’t leave her alone!
After the first display, I walked around for a bit, talking some photos and then wandered over to the where the Meerkats were. As soon as I arrived they ran over to me, thinking I had food for them (As visitors can feed them mealworms through the day I believe) once they realized I didn’t they soon lost interest! It was lovely to see them though and the family has certainly grown in number since I last saw them. I hung around that general area until the next event I wanted to see, which was the talk at the Meerkat pen. I got to feed them live mealworms during this!
After that, I wandered around to where they keep the Prairie Dogs, another new addition since I last visited. They were adorable to watch, especially when they greet each other with little kisses! They also share their enclosure with a Skunk, but he was hiding! Also around this area they keep some chipmunks who wouldn’t stay still for photos unless you enticed them with food that was there to give them!
I walked around to the area where they keep their birds of prey, including Owls and Harris Hawks and then visited the small animal house where, of course, they keep things like Ferrets, Guinea Pigs ect. Though here they had a new events addition, which is to watch the feeding of two baby Meerkats, which are currently being hand-reared at the centre after their mother abandoned them. The two babies were only 3-weeks-old. I got to stroke one of the babies, his fur was so soft!
My last stop was the Butterfly House itself, which is always a lovely experience, being able to walk amongst so many beautiful butterflies. A guy showed off one of their snakes and when he asked it anyone wanted to hold the snake, I was the only one who originally wanted to hold it! It’s funny, I’m so terrified of spiders, but will happily hold a snake (I think snakes look adorable though!)
I feel bad that I didn’t really have the time to browse their gift shop on the way out, as I needed to catch my bus home, but now that I’ve travelled there on bus once, I can now go there any time I wish too!
The Tropical Butterfly House, Wildlife and Falconry Centre makes for a lovely day out. It’s both very informative and entertaining for anyone of any age and it’s great that you can interact with a number of the animals there. The staff are all very friendly. You can tell that they really enjoy the jobs they do and all love the animals they work with very dearly. I’ve been a few times previously with my dad and it’s amazing how the place has expanded and keeps expanding. I remember the first time when I visited it when I was maybe about 12-14. Back then it was just the butterfly house and a small nature trail (I think they had a few birds of prey at that time too). When I visited a few years ago, the first time since my first visit, I was amazed at how big it had gotten and how many different animals they had now!
It really does make a great day out for any animal lover. If you’re not to fond of crowds, visiting the centre during the weekdays while children are at school is of course your best bet. When I went, it was amazingly comfortable to walk around and there were either just families with very young children there, or older people.
Now that I’m a lot more confidant with buses, I’m planning to also visit the Yorkshire Wildlife Park that’s near Doncaster, which I visited with my dad last year. I plan to maybe go sometime after Easter, as I believe they’re getting some Leopards around that time. I originally thought there was no easy way to get to the place, but I’ve since found a bus that stops within a 15 minute walking distance from the park. Now that I’ve found the confidence and more independence to go on my own, I think I’ll be visiting both these places quite a bit now!
I took a number of photos while at The Butterfly House, which will eventually be found in the Photos section of my website, Chocolate Orange.
KpopKimi - Where have you been?
Its been a long time since i posted, i have been so busy with everything. Working with MCMBuzz.com and now working my way up to “Chief Editor, Admin & Journalist” on Koreancandy.comcomes with it’s ups and downs…. Time flying away being one of them.
I have been finding myself interviewing some big names in the Kpop world, and watching the websites grow. Same with Tonyo and TeamTimes, every time i come on, its grown that little more and its good to see it getting recognised.
So, apart from working my butt off writing (who would have guessed i would be doing this line of work?) My costuming has also lifted and dropped. I’m still doing the “Twisted Disney Beauty And The Beast” with my dad being Beast and me being Belle, Progress is slow, as my dad just had a full knee replacement, but Hannah-Chan has made me my LED resin eyes (THANK YOU <3) and i have the head base done, the glove/paw/claws base done, as well as the under skirt for Belle done.
Usually i always say “one costume, that’s it, no changing!” well for this May expo, im actually doing two costumes.. Belle being one, but me being my Kpop self, i have finally decided to do a Kpop themed cosplay. I will be doing the B.A.P Bunny Mascot! i will explain more about B.A.P n my next post, but put it this way, its bad ass! And i will even have my band member “Zelo” being cosplayed by stce!
As most of you who follow my facebook will know, i recently went to the KBS Music Bank Kpop Festival in Paris, and went for 4 days. I had the company of Stce, Stephen, Brinny, Kat, and Michaela. First day was in london, had my purse stolen, luckily it only had £30 and my bank card in it, but stephen helped me so much after the initial shock! myself, stce, stephen and bri all shared a hotel room, and went to china town (my first time!) we had Korean food (i cant describe how yummy) in which we made some of the best memories! (SPICY BUTT!). We then went and did Puricura! (again my first time!) and we had a blast!
Next day we left early for Paris by Eurostar, booked in hotel, got food, then queued for the concert! It was fantastic! i wrote a report for it on Koreancandy, and hope tony doesn’t mind me linking it here, it would explain my thoughts and feelings a little more and saves me writing a 10 page essay!
After the concert and after spending a full night sleeping, we said good bye to Kat, Michaela and Bri (sad times) and myself, stephen and stce went into the Paris version of China town t visit 2 Kpop shops. It was like a holy place for me, i tried different types of bubble tea, we had Chinese food, we laughed nearly all day, i got LOTS of very cheap Kpop merchandise, and had some of the most fun I’d had in a long time. After sleeping that night it was time to wake up, have a mc’donalds breakfast <3 and catch our long ass train back to UK, followed by a long ass bus journey, followed by a long ass car journey!
In the end i had a great time… and now i am saving for the European tours for “Super Junior’s Super Show 4” and “Big Bangs Big Show 2012”. Not to mention im saving for the Expo’s in May and October!
So there we go.. my first blog in a while. When i have time, ill write about my costumes a bit more, and will possibly write about a article i couldn’t use but think will serve a good purpose here.
Keep supporting Team Times and i look forward to hearing from you all!
KpopKimi <3
Future Film releases! ‘The Artist’ review + ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘The Women in Black’ expectations.
Hi i’m Rachel; I shall be doing an introduction video soon so watch out for that! I’m one of the new members here on Team Times and am looking forward to writing blogs and making video’s for you all.
Last week, while feeling a little tired and not up to much, I decided to just chill out and watch something. I wanted to try something new that I hadn’t seen before, so I went to the list of anime on Crunchyroll, just to see if anything stood out to me. Eventually I came across a show simply called “Erin” on the site, which I’ve since learned it’s full title is “Kemono no Souja Erin” or “The Beast Player Erin”.
Rick talks Marvel’s The Avengers, Final Fantasy XII and Loading Ready Run!
It’s that time of the month once again. Yes, you guessed it – I’m back! I actually remembered to write a blog for this month. Please, hold the applause…cheeky fuckers. But yes, I am back once more to fill your February with more randomness than you can possibly handle.
The theme for this month is ‘future movie releases’ and while I tend to just write my own thing, I am going to touch on the theme briefly this month as there is one movie I’m really friggin’ looking forward to (and one that I’m sure several people will touch on at some point too). Don’t fret though as I will be covering some other topics this month too!
In the meantime – on with the show!
Marvel’s The Avengers
Anyone even remotely nerdy should be peeing themselves at the mere mention of this film right about now. All I can say is this – oh.my.freakin’.god. If the trailers for this film are any indicator (please god be an indicator!) then this film is going to be utterly immense and most definitely one to watch for 2012.
I can quite seriously find no fault with this film from what I’ve seen of the trailers thus far and I consider that to be something of a rarity. Joss Whedon (the creative genius behind the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the all too short lived Firefly) can do no wrong in my eyes as far as this film is concerned.
The basic premise of the film is as follows; When an unexpected enemy emerges who threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, the director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team of superheroes to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Seems straightforward enough, right?
The only thing I would recommend to anyone wanting to go watch this film when it’s released on May 4 is this – go back and watch the other Marvel films first – that’s both the Iron Man movies, Thor, Captain American – The First Avenger and The Hulk (the good one – not the crappy one. We don’t talk about the crappy one.). The movie will make way more sense to you that way, especially if you’re not familiar with the universe.
While I can’t say I’m familiar with the vast history of ‘The Avengers’, I have watched the animated series and one small detail about the movie does concern me a little – why include Hawkeye and Black Widow but not Ant Man and Wasp? Or Black Panther for that matter. It just seems like a slightly strange road to go down but given the former twos involvement in the other films I suppose it makes some sense.
Fans of the other Marvel films will also be happy to hear that the original leads from each are reprising their respective roles for the film. I absolutely adore Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man and from what I’ve seen of him in the trailers he certainly doesn’t disappoint in The Avengers!
So if you’re a fan of the franchise or just want a cool action movie to watch come May, make sure and check out The Avengers. I still believe in heroes. Do you?
Currently Playing …
Final Fantasy XII! I can hear the groaning and the shouts from diehard Final Fantasy fans now at the mere mention of that title. Yes, since last we spoke I have been playing through Final Fantasy XII (that’s 12 for those who can’t read roman numerals) and I have to say I’m actually enjoying it thus far.
At the minute I’ve gotten as far as leaving Eruyt Village for the second time and am presently staying in the area to grind up to level 30 before progressing further.
What made me want to play through it again? I hear you ask. To be honest I decided to give it another shot because I didn’t really give the game a fair chance to begin with and wanted to approach it with a more objective mind. And as it turns out, approaching it that way works! I pushed through the game and am at a point now where I’m genuinely emotionally invested in it and want to see it through to the end.
While I know a number of people who have essentially shunned this game, I really don’t believe Final Fantasy XII to be a bad game. It’s just a game with some questionable elements in it. The main point being that the player character, Vaan, should not have been pitched as being the lead of the game – because he has absolutely no bearing on the story at all beyond that fact that his brother was killed during the war and even that quickly gets pushed aside after what feels like a few seconds. Part of me can’t help but wonder if Balthier’s constant ‘leading man’ remarks are some kind of in-joke regarding that subject.
My other issue with the game involves the combat system – specifically the character menus. Let me just explain briefly – in order for characters to use specific techniques, spells, weapons etc. they need to acquire the corresponding license for them (which is fair enough) and then purchase the relevant spell or whatever from a merchant (also fair enough if not mildly annoying at times).
What I don’t get though is that regardless of whom you choose to teach certain spells to, each character ends up with the same combat menu but with the sub menus for spells they’ve not learned blacked out. (i.e. – my approach with Vaan was to make him my back up tank and so I taught him some base/mid level white magic but because I taught my main casters other spells, he still has the sub menu options for ‘Black’, ‘Green’, ‘Time’ etc. magic shown on his menu). It’s not really a major issue as such but it is a mild annoyance during combat.
Why do you stop to begin with? You ask. I blame myself really. Poor character customization on my part coupled with getting utterly fucked off with getting my butt handed to me constantly by one of the optional ‘hunt’ creatures resulted in my rage quitting and not picking up the game again til now. Something I’ve thankfully managed to avoid this time.
I’ll make sure to keep you guys posted on my progress so stay tuned next month!
Loading Ready Run
I wanted to finish off my blog this month by starting off a feature I’d promised to do a while back – an introduction to some things that you guys might not have checked out before but most definitely ought to. To kick things off I wanted to introduce you guys to the awesomeness that is Loading Ready Run.
What is this awesomeness of which you speak? I hear you ask. It is this – “Founded in 2003 by Graham Stark and Paul Saunders, LoadingReadyRun has grown from a sketch comedy site to a comedy destination, with our videos featured in film festivals such as the Comic Con International Film Festival in San Diego, and shown on major TV networks, including G4 TechTV, The CW, TruTV, NBC, and even CNN.
Since 2007, LRR has raised money for the Child’s Play charity with the “Desert Bus for Hope” fundraising telethon and gaming marathon. The event, which sees members of the crew play the worst video game ever made for days on end, has raised over $440,000 in its four years.
The LRR Crew fear actual work as they have no transferable skills, so expect the silliness to continue for a great while.”
At present the comedy troupe (and video production studio) current produce the following weekly videos – their namesake, LoadingReadyRun, CheckPoint and Unskippable – which ‘come out’ every Monday, and Feed Dump which comes out Wednesdays. All of which are most definitely worth checking out though if you have a few minutes to kill and need a few good laughs (though I shall warn you now that there is strong language involved on occasion. Be warned!).
As stated above though their work is not limited to simply producing awesome sketch comedy (and other equally random) videos. Since 2007 they have held a fundraising event called ‘Desert Bus for Hope’ to help raise funds for the charity Child’s Play. Last year alone they managed to raise some $383,075.10 over the course of 150 hours! As someone who watched the proceedings last year too I can honestly say it’s definitely worth a watch and most certainly worth donating to.
So if you have a few minutes to kill today or you’re looking for something to listen to in the background while you game, please go check these guys out and show them some love on their forum! It’ll be a worthwhile use of your time I can promise you that much.
To Graham and everyone else at LoadingReadyRun – well dong and long may you all reign!
Well that’s about it from me for this month. I hope you’ve enjoy my blog and I’ll catch you again in March – also known as my birthday month! That’s right, I’ll be turning a quarter of a century old. Gods help me.
Until then – seeya!
- Rick
flakes have fallen - Ruth
Everyone seems to be talking about it on social networking sites so I thought I’d join in.
SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW! You are cold, white, bright, cold, wet, pretty, and soon you will turn to ice and then brown yukky sludge.
We had a rather loud wake up call at 8.30am this morning when my niece and noisy nephew knocked on the front door. They had been out on their sledge, said hi to Nanna at the door and went… That’s it, wake us up and don’t stop so we can throw snowballs at you to get my own back.
We didn’t get that much snow to be honest, an inch or so. I don’t think the chickens liked it much. They came out their house this morning to the treat cupboard, stepping in human footprints and not the snow. There was literally one chicken footprint in the whole snow. My mum had started a pathway back to their house for them, but when I came out they had stopped where she’d got to and were trying to get into their old house. So I let them in their while I dug the rest of the path. They stayed in there for a few hours and as the snow began to melt they ventured out.
It’s nice watching the wild birds in the snow. The usual robins look nice on the white fluffy background. Feels Christmasy. I started to take some photos of the garden, but all the birds flew away. Except for one starling who came closer and closer finding nuts that had dropped from the seed hangers. I went closer and it came closer still. Almost standing on my foot. I told it “Good job I’m not going to catch and eat you”. To that, it flew away.
Looking out the roads are filled of puddles and the pathways are sludge. It didn’t last very long, but I’m glad it has finally snowed, the sky was looking and feeling like it needed to for weeks.
Everyone seems to be talking about it on social networking sites so I thought I’d join in. 
