Zach - August 24th, 2008 - Airplanes and car accidents

First off, Morgan got into a car accident on Friday.  She is okay, but the car doesn't seem to be.  She got hit at an intersection by a drunk driver who decided running a red light was a good move.  She called me while I was in El Paso, TX on business and I really wished I wasn't.  The drunk driver had a car that's seemed to have an expired registration as well as possibly no insurance.  We are hoping this is not the case.  The car doesn't appear to be totaled, but until we can get the insurance thing figured out we are car-less, which kind of sucks.

Secondly, the business trip;  I was asked two Thursdays ago if I could fly out to El Paso, TX on Sunday for a week long stay in the desert.   Seriously, middle of freaking nowhere, about 15 miles on a dirt road INTO the desert.  We had a hotel and everything, but I actually worked in the desert.  They had five trailers with AC that were supposed to be there on Sunday that didn't arrive and have power until Wednesday.  So we sat in the sun in 94+ degree weather for two days using a little generator for power.  It was still kinda fun though.

God of War: Chains of Olympus was a very fun PSP buy.  My only complaint was that I bought for the 12 hours I would be traveling, 6 there and 6 back, but beat it in the first 6.  Seriously $40 for a game I beat in <6 hours.  Not cool.

 Patapon has still not been beaten, but it is damn fun.

 I am going on a fishing trip in Canada on Sept. 12th.  It will take 10+ hours to drive there, so I will need: New PSP/DS games to tide me over on the drive, and a Cigarette lighter-to-Wall Outlet converter, which I think I can get at Radio Shack or Best Buy.  Viva Pinata DS comes out just before the trip, so that will be bought and will probably tide me over entirely.  I plan on playing that game the way I played the 360 one.

Brian, Bri, Morgan, and I are playing Mario Kart: Wii tonight.  I will tell you how awesome it was later.

~Zach

HOS ROCK BAR

Brian - August 23rd, 2008 - It’s a Brick Storm

Here are some random thoughts for you to chew on:

L-Word. Show about lesbians. Has to be the worst show in the world, but I can't stop watching it. Aside from being wildly unrealistic, there's not a single likable character.

Mario Kart. Finally got a chance to play it for the first time. It's pretty awesome. I don't know yet if I like it more or the Gamecube one, but I definitely miss the co-op single player and proper blue spark boosting. I want to get a multiplayer game going soon.

Bionic Commando remake. Wow. The original Nintendo version was pretty stellar, and I think this one is better. Control's feel a bit wonky sometimes, but otherwise it's top tier stuff.

Dark Knight. One of the best movies of the year. Straight-up. Easily the best Batman.

My car broke down, finally, and it cost entirely too much to fix it. It's probably time for a new car.

Drumming. Still tons of fun. I'm getting progressively more complicated, though my originality feels lacking. I might pick up a video or a book or something to help out.

Shake-n-Bake! I helped! Actually, I did most of the shaking and the baking.

Penny Arcade game. Bri came over one night, and when she left, I started playing it and didn't stop until I beat it. Solid game, overall. Leaves something to be desired comedy-wise: it doesn't feel very Penny Arcade-ish (there's virtually no game-related humor), and Hobo Alley might've been a bit much.

Japanese Express. Japanese fast food, basically. Still pretty good.

Bought the Mirror Mask script/art book. I wasn't all too crazy about the movie, but artistically there's nothing like it.

Trying to get down to Morgantown or DC for a weekend, but Amtrak is very stubborn with its train schedules. I was hoping to leave some Friday night and return Sunday evening, but there's literally only one train that leaves/returns, and it leaves at around 10 AM. Car's not reliable enough to make the drive, and I would hate the drive anyway.

I could've sworn there was more, but I'll have to remember it some other time.

Look! An idiot!

Zach - August 13th, 2008 - Pon pon pata pon

A strategy rhythm  game?  Count me in.

I just picked up Patapon yesterday and have played a little over 2 hours so far.  I have to say I am really enjoying it.  The game combines strategic planning with rhythm.  Basically you have sequences of 4 notes (buttons) you have to hit at a certain tempo.  These sequences give commands like advance, retreat, attack  etc to your army.   This is your only way of controlling your army and in order to do well you will need to consistently give commands.  The strategy comes in with when to give what commands.  You want to be able to attack first, but you have to make sure you've advanced enough so your attack hits, otherwise you will alert your enemies to your presence and they may get the first hit.

The game also contains unit creation via collecting different materials and combining them with money.  The resulting patapon's class determined by which class you wanted to build.  There seems to be some quality of materials going on in order to make stronger patapons as well.

If you own a PSP and haven't bought this game (I am late on this wagon), do so.  The game only costs ya $20.

~Zach

Pata pata pata pon

Brian - August 10th, 2008 - Track 1

For your listening pleasure.

This is all while hooking the headphone jack of the drums straight into the mic jack of my computer, since I haven't found a reasonably priced MIDI solution yet. Not entirely clean. I'm not sold on the bass sound yet, but I have some options there. The bass also sounds jerky occasionally, which I don't recall while playing. Of course, I semi-fumble a few times, and the beat pattern isn't remarkable, but I'm happy with it as a first recording. I'm working on some more variations in it and trying to maintain myself for longer play sessions (I invariably start to lose focus the longer I play). I'm also trying to get into gradually more complicated sequences. I expect there will be a version 2 out before week's end.

Of course, I expect a version with guitar and bass overlaid soon. Get on it, Morgantowners.

Meanwhile, I finally managed to find Mario Kart. Who's up for some multiplayer fun?

We're not territorial about that sort of thing, are we?

Brian - August 4th, 2008 - Slam It

I got myself an electronic drumkit. I've wanted to play around with drums for a while now, but I don't really have the space for a real set and couldn't justify a $1000+ purchase. Dad told me about the electronic variety, which take up considerably less space and cost a whole lot less. It also doesn't hurt that I can jack it straight into my computer to record my creations, either using the line-out or a MIDI connection.

I'm not good by any stretch of the imagination. The set came with some example songs that show what drums are being hit as the song plays, and there's stuff in there I can't touch yet. But I am carrying some pretty cool beats, considerably more than what I can do with a guitar. So far I've found myself wailing for multiple hour stretches, and I'm liking how I'm progressing.

I always wondered if my Rock Band talents would carry over. A little bit (I'm definitely more comfortable with a bass pedal than had I never played), but it's clearly not the same. Rolls are considerably easier on real drum heads. Conversely, the bass pedal sensitivity is entirely different, and I'm finding that I hit too softly or sometimes fail to hit altogether. The second pedal for the hi-hat is interesting, though right now I use it very sparsely.

As for quality, it's, well, what you might expect out of a <$500 system. There's a lot of impact noise that can drown out my speakers if the volume's not pretty high, though when I have my headphones on I don't even notice. I haven't tried it with an amp, not owning an amp and all. Rolls are pretty good on the snare and toms, though they can be lacking on the cymbals. The sound is good, and the inclusion of tons of preset kits makes for a lot of variety. I haven't tried the MIDI out, largely because I don't have a decent program to handle it - though I did have the thing acting as a keyboard with one incredibly simple program.

I'm pleased with my purchase. I see this as something I can really get into. Once I get some decent beats going, I'll be sending them to Ricky to put some guitar tracks over. This is the first he's hearing about it, but it's not like I'm asking him or anything.

64 bits!

Zach - July 31st, 2008 - Good Stuff

First off all, Dragonforce has a new album coming out next month, Ultra Beatdown.  This is excites me for two reasons.
* Ultra Beatdown is an awesome name for an album.
* The last Dragonforce CD I bought entered my car CD player at one point and did not leave it until a point several (read: more than 5) months afterwords.

Wrath of the Lich King, or WotLK, is currently in closed beta.  Blizzard also removed the NDA that existed during the alpha testing of the game.  This is good because I can read all kinds of tasty tidbits on how gameplay is going to change for my hunter, Zakarus.  It is also good because it gives some idea of a release date.  Not much, but I would estimate that sometime before my next birthday I will be installing and playing the next WoW expansion.

Morgan is going to a wedding dress shopping event called "Running of the Brides" that is essentially a huge collection of wedding dresses on some kind of bizarre sale that requires women to get in line hours before opening and make signs for which dress size they are.  From what I can gather, people run around rampantly trying to grab as many dresses as they can, without looking at them, and then later see if the dresses they grabbed even fits. In the event where a dress they grabbed does not fit, they look for signs that match the size of the dress and give it to that person. I think people can die at these events.  I hope she comes out alive.

~Zach

The one they call the vision that bears the gift.

Brian - July 23rd, 2008 - Bibliophilia

I have two major vices: a love of DVDs and of bulky computer books. As a result, I've developed a love-hate relationship with Borders and Barnes & Noble. Mostly hate.

Purchasing computer books, especially game development specific ones, at a brick and mortar store is pretty tricky. Borders is unique in that it actually has a selection of game development books, whereas Walden Books just has a sign with a middle finger drawn on it and Barnes & Noble has a small, random assortment scattered about the computer section - sometimes hidden under Web Design. So Borders wins here, hands down, and it's always nice to have that instant gratification of purchasing something and taking it home.

The problem with these stores - both Barnes & Noble and Borders - is that they deal in wholesale theft. They basically take the value of something and add about $20 to it. Value depreciation is a foreign notion, something uttered by peasants and drunks. As an example, I just purchased Texturing and Modeling: A Procedural Approach. A quick search on Amazon revealed I could get it for $30 less. That's just an example I pulled from tonight, it's certainly not the craziest.

And don't even wander into the DVD section, because you're lighting money on fire. I've gotten DVD box sets for $20 that they're still trying to market for $60. Carnivale - sweet, blessed, Carnivale - I found at Best Buy for $50 less. $50.

Of course, they're not as bad with mainstream books and smaller stuff, but who needs that?

As much as I like the idea of buying my tech books at a store and then wandering over to buy my new favorite show, it's not just responsible. My support for these stores is now officially over.

I'm all in.

Brian - July 20th, 2008 - Things You Need to Know

So how about that Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, 'eh? If you haven't seen it by now, you're probably confined to your bed and are not long for this world, because really that's the only way you could've missed it with all the attention it's getting online. It features Neil Patrick Harris (is that how you spell his name? I was kind of winging it) and Mal from Firefly and some lady who I've never heard of but who will probably consume the bulk of my dreams for a week or two. It's a Joss Whedon thing, which typically equates to pretty awesome.

I hated Guitar Hero 3, as most of you know. I won't go into the reasons. Yes I will. It favored irritatingly difficult chord-driven songs over rocking solos, which just made it more difficult for the sake of being more difficult. It also came out very close to Rock Band, which never gave it a sporting chance. Well, Penny Arcade linked to a bunch of videos for Guitar Hero's new music maker, and I'm fairly impressed. It's a reason two regulars of this blog - I won't mention their names, but they know who they are - need to man up and purchase an XBox 360. Gears 2 and Resident Evil 5 are also reasons for that, but that's a conversation for another time.

On a side note, I saw the original Rock Band at Best Buy for $100. Not bad.

I saw the Dark Knight the other day. You might be familiar with my impressions of Batman Begins, but I'll summarize: rubbish, absolute drivel, where the director's notion of an action sequence involved getting the camera real close and shaking it (like a Polaroid picture). I also didn't like the treatment of Scarecrow, who was absolutely phenomenal in the cartoon. Dark Knight is significantly better. Still a horrible treatment of Scarecrow (was that him in that first action scene?), but I can let it go since it wasn't a focus this time. The Joker was done very, very well. The action scenes were much cleaner, though there were still a few throw-away fist fights with the aforementioned 'action cam.' Batman should consider a voice box instead of making his voice sound like he's been chain smoking since he was six, but whatever. The movie did feel like it was a tad too long, but I can forgive them since it gradually gets better and better. See it. Or not. Whatever.

Have I linked to Zero Punctuation yet? You should be watching these.

The thoroughbred of sin?

Brian - July 14th, 2008 - Games

Let's talk games for a bit, because there are exciting developments:

The entire track list for Rock Band 2 has been released. Right now, I'm looking at RB2 as a glorified song pack, but I understand that there are some enticing new features too. Nothing on that list draws great excitement, really, but the presence of Duran Duran found a special place in my heart and the absence of Freezepop crushes my heart entirely.

It was announced that Resident Evil 5 would have online co-op. Forget that RE5 looks gorgeous enough to send other "next-gen" titles running with their tails between their legs. If there was ever going to be a catalyst to get Zach and Ricky to purchase a 360, that would be it.

I'm trying to care about Fallout 3 and Final Fantasy XIII, but I can't. Though I hear FFXIII will have a simultaneous 360 launch, which effectively settled the debate over whether I should ever purchase a PS3.

I have mixed feelings about id Tech 5. On the one hand, yea, Carmack's great. On the other, all I've seen of this new technology is a car driving in a wasteland - over and over - and a few creatures hopping around.

Puzzle Quest sequel? Looks spellbinding! I stopped playing the first because the computer blatantly cheats and I started screaming obscenities on the Chicago L-Train, but maybe that won't be the case here? Who knows.

Star Ocean sequel, but after the crime that was the last one, I'm much much more excited about the remakes hitting in September.

Zach, I can't even imagine why you bought Guitar Hero DS.

Zach - July 9th, 2008 - Big News

1) I am now engaged.  I wanted to call a lot of my friends, but I got engaged and then went on a vacation for the weekend.  I have been fairly busy this week and after calling and talking to many of my family members about it, I don't really want to tell the story much :-p.  Also, I feel kind of awkward calling my friends up just to tell them I am engaged.  At any rate, to those I didn't call, here you go.  Sorry I suck.

2) Morgan and I bought a car yesterday.  A 2007 Toyota Camry.  We love it.  We had planned on buying a new Prius but not only are they kind of pricy (24k range ), they also have a 4 to 6 month waiting list, depending on if you care about what color you want.

That is it for the big news.  I went from being poor at college to coming here and making decent bank to having to pay of a car, an engagement ring, and plan/save for a wedding.  This is what growing up feels like .  I like it though, I'd rather have the money to afford nice things than not have the money at all.

FFTA2 still has no playtime, Guitar Hero DS also has seen no more playtime.  FFT is still taking all my time.  Brian's last post really excites me though.

~Zach