Game Review: Carrier Command Gaea Mission

I just found this one the other day. After doing a bit of research, that is, checking youtube for gameplay previews and various other sites for hype, I decided that I would check it out.

Turns out, wasn't too great. Not terrible, mind you, but reallllllllllly needs improvement.

I should point out that I have not yet bothered with the Campaign, just the strategy mode.

You are a solider in an Interplanetary fleet. You command a navel based aircraft carrier on an alien world.

Yeah, that's where I raised an eyebrow too.

 

(the Carrier)

You are tasked with liberating a large chain of islands. It plays like an RTS/FPS. You are always controlling something, whether it be the carrier or the Mantis

or the Walrus

 

You get four of each vehicles. That's it. You can control them RTS style or jump in and control them yourself. It's a neat and very well executed concept. It is, however, fairly limiting. You get four of each and whenever one is destroyed, you have to build one and then have it delivered to you via cargo ship, which can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes depending on where you are. Your carrier also runs on fuel, which can be depleted. If you run out, you have to have the cargo ship bring you more. That was quite annoying.

You also have limited line of sight. Your own islands can't see anything, so if the enemy carrier goes nearby, you don't know. Speaking of the enemy carrier, of which there is only one, it's a freaking PAIN.

Whenever you get within radar range of it, it flees like a mouse when you turn on the kitchen light. It's also slightly faster than your own ship, so if the mission is to destroy the enemy carrier, the only way you'll catch it is if it is heading at you.

In closing, I wouldn't buy it. At least not new. Wait for it to go on heavily marked down sale. It's good, but the drawbacks are very, very annoying. But when combat gets going on enemy islands, it becomes really fun.

I do miss being able to tank rush though.

Electronic Arts Strikes Again

This week, BioWare founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk announced that they were stepping down and leaving BioWare.

I smell something foul. Something that reeks with the stench of greed, a complete disregard for an industry and a company built to serve a large part of the population not to mention the stench of a small game studio that had been absorbed by a larger entity that has a track record of absorbing and liquidating small game companies and...

.....Oh, that makes sense now. I mean, it's not like EA has gone around buying up small game studios and then liquidating those assets, resulting in some really, really bad games, right?

.......well shit.



In any case, the retirement of the BioWare founders only months AFTER Mass Effect 3's (which was good, but lacked a lot, especially in the ending) launch and subsequent scandal and just after the announcement of Dragon Age 3 (admittedly, that doesn't matter to me, since I don't play that series. But some people love it, apparently), only brings about suspicions that EA is once again messing with a company that started with an amazing reputation. Now just shadows of what they once were. For example, MAXIS. Sims, SimCity. Sims 3 is the latest and features an in game market, where players use real money to buy points to buy more stuff in game. (ignoring the whole bit about the never ending amount of expansion packs, since that's been going since day 1) SimCity. SimCity was a revolution in it's day. SimCity 2000 was one of the best games I had growing up. The latest installment that is soon to be released has been converted into an MMO in all but name.

Westwood studios. Makers of Command & Conquer as well as Dune. CnC is my all time favourite game series. Red Alert 2 was amazing. Westwood studios was liquidated and closed shortly after RA2 launch (though many Westwood veterans went on to form Petroglyph Studios that brought Star Wars Empire at War, which was amazing). Generals set the bar for modern RTS combat. Red Alert 3 was so zany and off the wall it blew my mind. Command and Conquer 4, the supposed "finale" in the Tiberium series was so much of a failure that I played it for a half hour, uninstalled it and haven't touched it since. Recently, EA announced a new game, GENERALS 2. I was so happy! But even more recently they changed it from GENERALS 2 to just Command and Conquer Free2Play with no single player (they later said that SP will be added later) or Skirmish mode. Once again an MMO in all but name.

NUFF SAID. I really shouldn't have to add that EA's big boss has proudly said that he has never green lit any games that are purely single player, but I will anyway, because he's a moron.

For whatever difference it makes, I'm riding myself of EA and tossing my support behind THQ and other developers that understand how important single player is.

Parenting

Before I begin, (and to avoid any overly negative feedback after I publish this) let me start by saying that I am not a parent. Therefore, anything said in this entry should be assumed to be pure opinion based on available facts and not experience.

Okay that's done with.

Exhibit A:
Recently something came to my attention, a mother in Texas was arrested and held in prison overnight for "abandonment". Pretty bad parent, don't you think?

I sure don't.

Her children were riding around outside on scooters and she just out of view. Why did she get arrested? Because one of her neighbors made a quick decision and called 9-1-1 because they didn't see the mother anywhere.

The mother was put in jail for 18 hours. 18. Hours. Because one of the neighbors wasn't able to see her watching her kids.

Now, even less than a decade ago, kids were playing outside in residential neighborhoods, unsupervised (I was living in the middle of nowhere, so I can't make much of a comparison). Not only was this accepted, it was the norm. Go farther back and kids were outside all day.

What's changed?

Some people will say that there are more predators, pedophiles and rapists out there. I disagree. I say that we've just succumbed to fear. There are more, yes, thanks to the internet, but not many more. Not enough to cause this level of dread. (whatever happened to block watch, anyway? Neighbors looking out for each others kids).

Now we come to exhibit B. Actual bad parenting.

A report out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada back in May of this year was a story about a family that was torn apart. I say that literally. Police and paramedics arrived at an Edmonton home and arrested two adults, a male and a female (the courts have prevented them from being named to protect the identities of the children). Their two children were taken to hospital. Two year old twin girls. Both bruised, dangerously malnourished to the point that their body weight was HALF of a normal girl that age. One even went into cardiac arrest.

"The parents said the twins were hurt when they fell down some stairs they had been playing on with their older brother three days earlier. They also maintained the girls were able to crawl and walk with assistance at the time.
However, “medical evidence suggests that this could not be possible,” according to the court documents.
A pediatrician is quoted in the documents saying the girls were “profoundly malnourished,” and would not have been mobile three days earlier. He is also quoted saying the bruises on the girls were “clearly due to multiple impacts” and “cannot be explained by only one event.”"

As of Friday, September 21, 2012, one of the children, known by the name of "Baby M" to protect her identity, was taken off of life support and passed away. It should be noted that both parents, who are not allowed to have contact with each other, went to the Supreme Court of Canada to try and prevent the ventilator from being taken off. That does not redeem them. I have not heard any word on the condition of the other child.


I guess the take away from this entry is that we should be careful when judging parents. There are people, like exhibit B, who are not fit to be parents and frankly, should be rendered sterile. Alongside that, there are parents like exhibit A, simply out of sight at the wrong time and whose neighbor is apparently so paranoid that they call the police at the first sign of something odd.

If kids aren't allowed to explore, then they don't learn. That's my view.

Education

So an article came to my attention recently.

Teacher fired

So let me get this straight, a teacher has been fired, for teaching kids about how the real world works.

In what reality does that make sense?

It would have been a bit better if the person behind the firing wasn't the school's principal. The man who wrote a letter to the Edmonton School Board saying that Mr. Dorval had shown “obvious neglect of duty as a professional teacher, his repeated insubordination and his continued refusal to obey lawful orders.”

I'll give your brain a moment to process the irony in that statement.

All done? Good.

So apparently, letting students not complete work and give them "behavioural codes" when they didn't fix that problem is okay while giving them a flat out ZERO for the missed assignment and potentially alienating their feelings is a no-no.

Let me be very clear. People fail. That is how nature works. Someone is always going to be left behind, alienated and outright fail. Deal with it. Does a heard of Zebras running from some Lions stop and wait for the slowest to catch up so that everyone is on equal pace?

HELL NO.

They all run as fast as they can. The slowest get eaten. By not giving students zeros we're letting the system eat everyone up. Sure kids who do good work still excel, but why should they? They're going to pass the class whether they do the work or not. Most kids hate schoolwork. This gives them a free excuse to not do anything.

I skipped on some homework when I was in high school. What happened? I had a C average. I didn't put much effort into my grade 12 Spanish homework. What happened? I FAILED (only by a percentage point, mind you and I still got my diploma, but that was five years ago).

The principal of Ross Shepard high school has even gone so far to say: “I am here to tell you that you did nothing wrong,” Ron Bradley says. “Everything you did with regards to student achievement and high school completion was the right thing.”

He also was quoted as saying that the news media’s take on the policy is “narrow” and oversimplified.
“In my opinion, the culture of the media deteriorated to the quality of pulp fiction and talk radio,”


Dude, get your head out of your ass. You are encouraging kids to be lazy, unproductive slackers. With this kind of policy in effect, the crop of kids who graduate in a few years is going to be so warped that they won't have any idea how the real world actually works!


Now why is this happening? My theory is pretty simple, money.

Public schools are funded by governments. To the best of my knowledge, (this might not actually be the case, I will do some further checking, so don't quote me on this) the higher the grade averages, the more money they get. Zeros look pretty bad and the more of them that happen, the lower the average is so the less money they get. The no Zero policy means that the grade average stays high, since "behavioural codes" don't imfluence the grade average. But that's just my theory.

I just got an official reply from Alberta Ministry of Education and as far as money coming from them, the above is not the case. Each school board sends money as it chooses.

Teachers have spent the last couple decades teaching kids to "feel good about themselves" and "imagine how the world can be". The problem with that is that it doesn't really do anything useful for the students and all it does is breed lazy hippies.

Now if you've read the rest of this blog, you'll know that I am fairly left wing in both politics and beliefs. I always tell people to dream big and if you believe hard enough, you'll have a hard time letting yourself fail. That said, I hate this. It's encouraging kids to not do anything. After all, if they think that no matter what, they can't fail, then get out into the real world and fail constantly, won't that destroy their self esteem and self worth faster than getting an F on a homework assignment? What does that lead to? I'd rather not think about it. Failure builds experience. After all, Thomas Edison did find 2000 ways NOT to make a lightbulb. If we don't fail, then we never have the chance to stand back up, dust ourselves off and look at a problem from a different angle.

That's just my theory.

My return

I apologize for my almost year long hiatus. I just didn't feel like writing anymore. But I've been feeling that with the world the way it is, I should be writing.

Also more than a few movie reviews I've wanted to do haven't had a home.

So, with that in mind,

I'M BACK! Expect new posts shortly.

Why 2012 is the end of the world after all.

To start, no, this is not about the "Supposed" Mayan prophecy. Based on everything I have seen and learned so far in 2011, it's my belief that 2012 will be the end of the world as we know it and the beginning of a whole new world.

2011 has already seen widespread revolutions in the Middle East - Egypt, Tunisa, Libya - and now it is beginning to happen in Syria. It is also beginning to happen in the United States and somewhat moderately in Canada.

The Middle East Revolutions, "Arab Spring", was about bringing freedom and democracy to the lands ruled over by tyrants with an iron fist. Now people are taking to the streets in American cities just like the Egyptian people did in Tahir Square. There is also unrest in China, Iran and North Korea (but neither government will acknowledge that). Coupled with the extreme amount of uncertainty and chaos in Europe with their financial crisis, it is only a matter of time.

I watched the Egyptian Revolution from day one. I have been watching the Occupy Wall Street movement since before it even started.

Now, I will admit that people in North America don't have it as bad as people in other nations, I will admit that freely.

After everything that has happened this year and as we enter the final quarter of 2011, it is my opinion that 2012 will be the year that the world falls. There is unrest everywhere. New York is a powderkeg. All it will take is an event the violence we all saw in England will pale in comparison. And one by one government around the world will fall. People have seen that if enough of them congregate together with a real belief in a progressive ideal, it will have an impact.


At the same time, Egypt is still in turmoil, Libya is barely holding together and the death toll of Syrian civilians is nearing 3,000. So I wouldn't call them complete successes just yet, but it is a start on the right path.

In North America the voting public are, en masse, rejecting right wing conservative politics in favour of either left or centerist politics, something that the right wing extremists are not happy about.

At this point, a global upheaval is invetable. There are only a few questions left to be answered:
1) Where will it start?
2) How will it start?

and, most importantly,

3) How will it end?



Only time will tell, but as I stand here, united with my progressive brothers and sisters around the world, one thing is for certain, this decade will be one that will change the world, and humanity, forever.

NASA's New Rocket

If you haven't heard already, NASA announced today that they have a new vehicle in design, the DSES or Deep Space Exploration System (Though I think DSV - Deep Space Vehicle - sounds way better) that will ferry astronauts to the Moon and then to Mars. They say it is supposed to be able to carry around 130 metric tons. My theory is that that is based on current technology. Who knows where we'll be in six years, that number may just go up.


NASA DSES

The rocket won't be ready until 2017 unfortunately, so we still have a ways to go. But not only is returning to the moon looking more feesable, but seeing a colony there in my lifetime is looking very possible.


I still say that NASA should not only work on this system, but an unmanned delivery vehicle. Sacrificing crew compartments for cargo space would be an easier way to make large deliveries to any future bases.

All in all, I'm glad to hear this annoucement. It's a step in the right direction. It could also foster international competition among the space agencies which could lead to better delivery systems.

Battlefield 3

My mind has been officially scattered all over the wall. I just watched the Battlefield 3 Caspian Border Multiplayer trailer and holy crap is it amazing. It once again proves how much of an edge EA and DICE has over Activision and Infinity Ward and their Call of Duty series.

If I were them, I'd start toning down the hype on MW3 cause there is no way they can match this. I might even have to rebuild my entire computer just to play BF3. Something I will do gladly.

Seriously, I nearly had a spaz attack when I watched this.

(on a side note, you shouldn't watch if you have epilepsy or are allergic to awesomesauce)

and Lolz @ 1:34. Watch and you'll see what I mean.

Pure Disgust.

First off, thanks to Blag Hag for mentioning this.

I would also like to note that my personal preference about whether or not the WTC cross should or should not be put up has no impact on this blog. Those who know me know my position.

We all know that FOX News is the breeding ground on nonsensical crazy. That's just a plain fact. But after American Atheists Communications Director Blair Scott appeared to defend their lawsuit about how they believe the cross should not be put up without equal representation of all religions affected in the 9/11 tragedy, well, Christian extremists took to FOX News Facebook page with an outpouring of hate and rage as can be seen here.

Taking the step to suggest that they should be "Nailed to a cross in the manner that jesus was claimed to have been tortured, rammed through the chest with a spear in full public view". That's just not right!

This is not online commentary. This is inceitment of violence and threats of physical harm. I believe freedom of speech ends when harm is threatened. This goes beyond all that. This is people advocating and supporting that someone walk into the homes of the group's members with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Or advocating rape.

Point is, these are not people expressing personal opinions, they are expressing a desire for physical harm against another human being. For no other reason than a difference of opinion. Indeed this is where freedom of speech must bow down to rule of law. These people have made their desires clear.

Frankly, I am horribly disgusted. Cyber bullying is still a criminal act regardless if it is pointed at a specific person or a group of people.

While these people have had their full names provided to us, I urge restraint from going to their pages and harassing them. That's not the way to deal with this.


I do suggest, however, reporting a tip with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and if you feel the need, the U.S. Department of Education. Because their spelling and grammar are, after all, atrocious.

But seriously, a tip to the FBI would be a good start. Get these people on the grid. If they want to spew hatred, show them the cost.

Crime and Punishment

First off, my heart goes out to all those that have lost loved ones in Norway. That was unspeakably evil.

There is no question that Mr. Breivik is not only insane, but a product of years of right wing brainwashing. However, that is not what I'm going to be touching on.

Many people I have talked with have been saying that we should just kill him and be done with it. On the one hand, I agree. The man is a sociopath. No remorse, no guilt. He believes that he was right in doing what he did and he worked for years to achieve this goal. It sickens me, it hurts my heart in ways I didn't think possible.

In war, it is a matter of survival. Kill or be killed. That doesn't make it right, but it's less of a crime. But gunning down innocent civilians - CHILDREN - for that matter is an evil so vile that Satan himself must be shaking in his boots.

These days there seems to be very few ways to administer justice. Either execution or jail really. But does that work? Executions are easy, especially the more vile the person is. Jails these days are overcrowded and make people into worse criminals. It's easier for the legal system to just throw them in jail, but it doesn't actually do anything. Not in the grand scheme of things.

I say there are a few ways to go about it. Start small and creative. Make the punishment fit the crime. The aim isn't to toss them in jails for years upon years. The objective is to rehabilitate them and let them fit back into society. But that doesn't always work. Jail is for when a criminal cannot be rehabilitated, but at the same time, shows guilt and remorse for what they have done. If a criminal fits that category, then they should serve society. Put them to work doing hard, dangerous work until their sentence is finished.

If they don't show honest remorse or guilt, then they are of no use to society and on top of that, they are a dangerous threat. A person who is of no use to society has no need to be in a society. Like Mr. Breivik here, he shows no remorse, no guilt and is actually proud of what he did. Death is the best option for him. It will never bring back the dead, but there will be one less hate filled person in the world.



I did have one further idea, however. In the case of Mr. Breivik, he should be made to construct a memorial for the dead before his execution. Fitting justice, I think.

The Need for a New World

I've always believed in a better world. I know that a perfect world is impossible, but a better world is always plausible. A world of complete control and yet, as much freedom as possible.

But as of recently, I've started to question if people are actually deserving of such a world.

Dr. King had a dream, and so do I. I dream of world where corporations serve the people and are heavily regulated and taxed. Where public schools are insitutions of learning, not places of brainwashing to keep the status quo. A world where religion is forbidden in politics and schools, but is freely used as a tool for people to better themselves. A world where someone is accepted for what they are. A world of true equality. A world with dignity. A world without political dictatorship. A world of science and technology, but still holding true to the human spirit. A world where peace is something that is not fought for, but a natural part of every day life. Where racism, sexism, discrimination, profit and fear does not exist. A world where the corrupt are brought to justice and people work for the system so that the system can work for them. A world without partisan politics, where there are no political parties and where the government does not keep secrets from it's people. A world where the media exposes truth and asks the real questions. A world where people are not kept in systematic fear of the unknown and what "might" happen. A world where instead of fist fights in the street, you have people debating philosophy. A world where work unions are not needed because employers are fair and don't abuse people. A world where natural resources are preserved and nature is kept in balance with human progress. A world where the Millitary is a civic duty to teach honor, dignity and respect for the world and the people in it, not a tool for enforcing the will of corrupt leaders. A world where our minds stay in step with our hearts.  But above all, a world that is fair, just and makes sense.

Maybe it's a pipe dream, I don't think so. I think it is entirely doable. It just takes hard work, common sense and real ethics.

But most of all, it takes chaos. Pure chaos.




That's right. Look at the Middle East. Revolts and chaos and now they have new leadership for the most part.

"For the world to have peace, it must be washed in the clensing fires". Remember that, my fellow readers. What it means, simply, is that we can't unite the world and bring humanity together until it is purged of the cancer that consumes it.

I believe that people have a civic duty to make sure that this comes to fruition. A duty that if any person(s) are standing in the way of social, civil and humanitarian progress that citizens not only have the right, but the need to remove these people from the road to a better world by any means necessary. People like Wisconsin Govenor Scott Walker, who is rigourously attacking the very people who hold up the country. Stephen Harper, whose agenda will turn Canada into a police state. Kim Jong-Il, whose facist regime in North Korea is the definition of pure evil. The left wing Communists in China who are terrible abusers of free speech and free press. Barack Obama, who can't lift a finger to do what he was elected to do and has become a puppet. And the dictators in Africa and the Middle East, they know who they are. Those are just some examples, but all of these people need to go. Anyone who has hatred. Anyone who views people as different. Anyone who promotes senseless and purposeless violence. Preferably they need to be put on trial for crimes against humanity, sentenced and executed or put to work for the benefit of society. But at the least they need to be barred from public life and forced to live in a remote cabin in the middle of no where.

Not to mention all the Corporate CEOs who want to privatize everything so they can profit as much as possible at the expense of everything else on this planet.


I've been saying that a revolution is coming. I guarantee it. I'm in contact with quite a few like minded people and we are working to see it happens. And it won't be a case of join us to survive, it will be a case of only those who believe in a better future will be allowed to be part of the better future. Everyone else, well, I am truly sorry for you. It's like religion. you either truly accept it or you don't. And those who don't are more than welcome to leave Earth to people like us who want a better future for our children and our children's children.

Faith in Humanity

I..... I have none left.




I used to believe that people could be reasoned with, I used to believe that the greater good could affect people to want to make the world a better, more peaceful place. Where people of every ethnicity and backgrounds and beliefs could live at least mostly in harmony (let's face it, there will always be some sort of conflict somewhere) and mostly in peace, striving for the bettering of the Human species and our civilization in general.

I used to believe there was a moral high ground, where people could meet and work out problems without resorting to pettiness and violence. I used to believe that people were worth saving. I used to believe that the ideal of a "better world" was  within reach, we just needed to try a bit harder.

I was wrong.


I remember exactly where I was on New Years Eve 1999, looking forward to the future with optimism and joy, bright eyed and ready for what was to come. Watching fireworks overlooking Canada Place in Vancouver, it was a sight. I was eager for the future, as was most of the world..............



and then the world changed. Over the course of the last ten years, Humanity has lost 50 or more years of social progress. We have devolved and it makes me cry. I love my people, my brothers and sisters on great mother Earth. I will never stop trying to make it a better world so we can move forward.  The problem is that there are so many in the world who are so filled with rage for no good reason anymore. They are angry for the sake of being angry. Sure you could trace the root cause to 9/11 and it wouldn't be far from accuarate. I'm not talking about the terrorist attacks, I'm talking about the fear mongering propogated by the right wing western governments afterwards.

It's come to the point where even the most basic citizen is full of fear and rage and won't listen to reason anymore and the religious leaders of the world are using that to have their own power grow at the expense of the people. religious brainwashing is at an all time high. People of all faiths claim to be persecuted by both believers of different faiths and those who don't believe in religion and Western society has not helped. The world has become a place where the money grubbing capitalist powerhouses can do whatever they want without a rule of law and religious leaders can proclaim themselves to be the "true voice" of their god and that everyone should do what they say and that anyone else evil and powered by the devil.

Normally this is where I'll start to suggest ways we can fix the problems and make the world a better place, but it would be a waste of my breath. Frankly, it's come to the point where the world is so bad, I don't think that most of it is WORTH saving. Humanity needs a fresh start, we need a chance to rebuild the world from scratch. The nuclear warheads need to be launched with the hope that the people who actually want to improve the world will survive.

Listen up Humanity, you have failed as a race and failed as a civilization. The clensing fires must burn and many will die. You have no one to blame but yourselves. Bare the guilt with shame, for you brought this upon yourself.

apology

I must apologize, I would have covered the recent Canadian Federal Election, but I was unable to access my computer and therefore, my blog. Damned technology.

I must say though, for the 25-30% of the country who actually voted for that douchebag, I hope you realize what kind of monster you have given full authority to and what he will do with such a great nation. I hope you realize what you have done. If not, well then I hope you can understand it eventually.

Homefront

The year is 2027. The US has been devestated by a tactical EMP and then a millitary invasion by the United Korea which controls the Eastern US up to the Mississippi river, which has been contaminated. New Orleans is a dead zone and the Korean People's Army rules with brutal force. The US Millitary is fractured and in chaos. In the East, members of resistance cells fight back against their oppressors. With hit and run tactics, they seek to end the oppression.

Homefront is the latest from Kaos studios and published by THQ.  It's an FPS set in heartland America after the millitary invasion of the United States by The United Korea. On the surface, it seems like almost a garden variety shooter. Run and gun, shoot em up kind of thing. But below that, Kaos has created something quite interesting.

Thanks to the help of the writer for both Red Dawn and Apocalypse Now, Homefront paints a bleak picture of a future America that is ravaged and eve the most basic of needs is scarce and the enemy controls every facet of life. One thing that really sets the game apart is the locations and battlefields. Where most shooters will be set in a massive battlefield, or a burned out city. Homefront takes place, for the most part, in backyards and cul-de-sacs. In neighborhoods that are not easily recognizable and familier, yet unknown. You'll fight KPA soliders though playgrounds and streets, fighting to regain your homeland. And beyond that you'll find yourself up against American Survivalists. The story is amazing. The locations of exquisit. The downside is that the story is quite short, only 7 missions. But they are long missions, for sure. Still, I finished it while I did feel sated, I felt myself yearning for more. I certainly hope Kaos builds on it and develops a sequel.

You take control of a former USMC pilot by the name of Robert Jacobs. And that is all that is told about the character. You never see your face. You never hear your voice. But you, as the player, will feel connected to the character quite quickly. You are teamed with three other characters, Conner Morgan, Rianna and Hopper.

Kaos does many things right with this game. Chief among them, is the AI. They are ruthless and well coordinated for the most part. But they do switch it up and become annoyingly redundant at other times (especially after you've been killed 20 times trying to get through the same 5 minutes). The switch up in tactics has the effect of keeping you on your toes through the game.


Overall, Kaos does an amazing job of making something truly spectacular. It may not be groundbreaking, but the story makes up for any lack of real originality in gameplay.

9 out of 10. Amazing, but lacking in story length.


Home. Home is where the war is.

A Quick Note...

...To everyone who is saying that the Japanese Tsunami disaster is payback for Pearl Harbour. First, fuck off. Second, Pearl got hit with the Tsunami as well. Third, you're a dreg of humanity and unwelcome in the world. Please go die.

My thoughts go out to the Japanese people and all those that have died. May you rest in peace. I wish the survivors a speedy recovery for them and their country.

Battle: Los Angeles review

As with all my reviews, this WILL contain spoilers. I will try my best to limit them, but I cannot filter them all out.

Battle: Los Angeles was released March 11/2011

Aaron Eckhart as Marine Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz
Michelle Rodriguez as USAF Technical Sergeant Elena Santos
Ramón Rodríguez as Marine 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez
Ne-Yo as Corporal Kevin Harris
Michael Peña as Joe Rincon












It chronicles the invasion of Earth by a hostile alien force and a squad of USMC soliders in LA who have been ordered into the fray to rescue civilians who have been trapped behind enemy lines.With time running out before a massive operation, they must fight their way through an unknown enemy and then back to base.



I like this movie, quite a bit. It may not have been the best written or the most well directed and probably won't win any Oscars, but all the same, it was a damn good movie. You don't have to be a hardcore video gamer to enjoy it, but it does help if you like millitary style video games.

Aaron Eckhart plays Staff Sgt. Nantz, a combat verteran from Afghanistan who lost his entire last unit and holds onto that throughout the entire movie, while some of the other Marines question why he is still on active duty. He still has demons about his last tour and that shows in his character. Eckhart does a good job of portraying a man that feels he has lost everything. He is convincing and captures the emotions very well.

The other Marines I didn't feel had the same mentallity. They seemed to be more a gang of recruits than a honed infantry unit. They spoke and reacted as though they were on their first day. The one I really bought was Ramón Rodríguez as Lieutenant Martinez. His character was supposed to be a green officer. Fresh out of officer training and he did react as such. Constantly panicking and questioning what had to be done. He did that part very well. I don't want to call the characters cut and paste or cookie cutter, because that would be inacurrate. But at the same time, the characters do feel as if they are brought from a box of cliches. In the context of this movie, it's not actually a bad thing. Because of the absolute cliche that the movie is, it makes sense to have cliche characters. To make it different would have been a mistake, I believe.

Little is shown about the invaders, aside from a few interesting shots. No real reason beyond what people assume is given for their presence on Earth. A lot of educated guesses are made and a very obvious reason is made clear, but we can't know 100% for sure because we never see anything from the invader's point of view Almost no option of diplomacy is offered, except for one small part, but it is more done in jest. Still, I think that is for the best. When a hostile force comes in and starts shooting, they probably aren't going to be interested in talking. So by removing that element, the movie is streamlined and moves forward quickly.

The only real bit we get to see about the aliens is when the Marines manage to capture one about a third of the way through the film. Even then, we don't get to see much and what we do see is fast paced and blurry. It would have served the director well to slow down and pull the camera back a bit for that part.

All in all, a good movie. Just remember to turn your brain off before you go and see it. And if you happen to like first person shooter video games, all the better. 8/10


And speaking of video games, Saber Interactive developed a tie in video game to the film. I have played through some of it and it is your garden variety shooter. Using comic strips to narrate the cutscenes, it moves along quite quickly. Not bad for what looks like a very low budget game. It is available on STEAM for $9.99

A Note to Doomsayers

A little tip if you are going to go around and tell people that the end of world is coming. Pick a day where something is actually going to happen. Like March 19th, when the moon is going to be the closest it has been in 18 years. Rather than some random day in another part of the year where no supernatural events are scheduled. People are much more likely to believe you then.

I'm just sayin is all.

I'm sure the deity at the universal events planning desk will understand.

Ubisoft

I love how Ubisoft tries to justify their use of over the top DRM (Digital Rights Management) software. They say that it "protects their product from pirates". They say other things too, but it all goes back to that.

Amazing how simple a lie, eh?

Ubisoft has come under much fire from gamers and the gaming community for it's paranoid and OCD use of DRM software. Quite a few of their games are so controlled that the gamer must maintain a constant internet connection in order to be allowed to play the game, so that Ubisoft servers can validate the software that it is authentic and legally purchased.

it is a load of bull crap.

Aside from a few mentions, most of the people I know pirate Ubisoft games for this reason. The company then goes out and says that "It's their fault! Look they pirated it and we have to protect our money, I mean games" When they don't understand that by putting in such DRM software and making it so much of a headfuck to actually play the game, that they drive people away from wanting the games themselves and that people will gladly pirate a copy to avoid having to jump through the 353 or so hoops just to be able to play their legally purchased copy. Frankly, I do not blame them.

Now, on the one hand, I'm not really supportive of piracy. I believe that if a developer takes the time to make a great game, that they should not have to stand their product being stolen and used with no reward for such a good title.

On the other hand, I support piracy, especially with Ubisoft games, because if a company is going to go OUT OF THEIR WAY to make it hard for and basically say "fuck you" to it's loyal customers, just so they hope to discourage a few piraters and make a few extra bucks, then I say, Pirate away, maties.

As I've said time and time again, the best way to combat piracy is to lower the prices on the games and not make it so that the gamer has to jump through endlessly frustrating hoops to enjoy a game. By the time they get to the game, it's not fun from all the frustration.

STEAM does DRM very well. They don't fuck people over and they respect their customers. Ubisoft does not. I say boycott them. Maybe when none of their games sell, they will finally learn.

Free Speech and Children

An article recently came to light that was the inspiration for the this post. A blog post done by a teacher in the States that criticized her students for being "lazy whiners". She was suspended from her job when a student from her school stumbled onto the posting and began to spread it. It, of course, eventually found it's way into the hands of school administrators, who were quick to suspend her, pending an investigation.

(now, I realize it was a while ago, but I've been too busy and tired to do any writing. So I'm getting to it now)

Now, she has received much support from all corners, especially other teachers, who praise her for finally saying something about the type of students they all have to deal with on a daily basis. She has, however, received much criticism from parents about bad mouthing their kids and how she should be "fired and barred from teaching until she can keep her mouth shut"

okay, seriously?

Now, this is a delicate issue. On the one hand, is she justified under the freedom of speech or is she using the internet for direct slander? You will not find a certain answer, so here is my opinion.

While I grant that Mrs. Munroe may have been a bit over the top in her comments, she in no way infringed on free speech. She was well within her rights to post such an article. If she had named specific students, that would been a different story. It is remarkable that in this day and age, students can speak back, insult and curse at their teachers and educators and receive no punishment, but when a teacher who is well within her rights to speak out at students everywhere, sparks a media frenzy and could end up loosing her job. I am no supporter of internet slander, but in this case, it is a necessity.

The real problem lies with the student's parents. They send their children to school and are unwilling to listen when the teacher tells them that their child is not doing well and is behaving in a manner unsuited to a civilized person. Sure, you can shuff it aside and say "It's just a thing that kids today do" but I don't believe that. It is time that students learn that if you speak out in such a manner against a person of authority that there are consquences. Mostly, parents don't want to hear that their "darling angel of a child" is capable of wrong doing and being an insenstive BRAT. But they need to hear it. And they need to start taking action.  Now, I know I am not qualified to give parental advice or anything along that subject, so I will refrain from giving that advice, but I think that if people started properly communicating more and understanding how it all works, we may be able to improve the system.

What do you think? Was she justified under the articles of free speech in making a statement about schools and students today? OR was she making a angry slander against innocent children?

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economic systems

Now, normally I'm one of the first people to dismiss economics as worthless and frankly, it is. But as I was at work the other day, I came up with an idea for a new system, that allows for currency to exist, but eliminates private capital and hording of finances. Simply put:

There are no private banks. Just one government account with the entire world's finances (so trillions of currency units). Everyone who works has a debit card that access to that account. Ergo eliminating private funds and private capital. How it works is that as people work, they earn access to the account through their card. So say if someone works 23 hours in a week at 10cu (currency unit) an hour, at the end of the week, they get access to 230cu permanently. Which they can have access to until they spend it. Simple as that. People can access the account through their debit cards anywhere, there is no longer any paper or coin based currency, just digital.

How it works is that when people earn their cu, they spend it. All that they spend at a business is put back into the government account and then once again, paid to the people who earn it, based on the work they do that is of value to society.

What this system does is eliminate so-called "private money" so that people can be on more even ground when it comes to finances and there are only classes based on the work people do. It's that simple.

Thoughts anyone?

the thing is, this would be only possible under a few circumstances, 1) a one world government. 2) backup power generation for at least this system.

and again, it's a theoretical idea. One obviously not possible with the greed of this world.