Description:
A tech review site done by someone you probably don't know. Filled to the brim with previews, reviews, tips, lists, opinions, and chocolate chip cookies.
Contents:
I am back! And with Scribblenauts!
Hai! Sorry I have been missing, just busy with other stuffs, but now I am back! I have just recently purchased scribblenauts, and would like to throw my hat into the ring.
You may have noticed my posts have a certain pattern to them. Bulk review, a review of each aspect, and then a final grade out of 100. That's nice, but since this blog isn't very popular yet, I figured we could try something new. Introducing...
PROS AND CONS
Overview:
Scribblenauts, if you have never heard of it, is a very hyped DS game about a little guy names Maxwell, and his adventures. It is by newish developer called "5th cell". What is so unique about this game is that there are almost NO limits. It is difficult to explain, so lets just do an example:
The level opens showing a brief overview. It is a small, platforming level, with you, the main character, standing next to a crying little girl. It then pans up to show a kitten stuck on top of a house. In case you don't have the brains to figure this one out, it then shows a small hint, displaying "Reunite the girl and her kitten!". Simple enough. But wait! There is no ladder! No pogo stick! What shall we do to save the kitten?!? Never fear, we have our trusty notepad by our side! All we do is tap the small icon in the upper right hand corner, and a small display with a keyboard fills the screen. Type in anything you want. Seriously, anything. Type in sandwich, you get a sandwich. Type in monkey, you get a monkey. There are only 3 basic commandments that limit your godlike abilities:
1. Thou shalt not use real life people's names. (With a few exceptions, mostly names of the game designers who made the game.)
2. Thou shalt not use vulgar language. (It is rated E+10)
3. Thou shalt not violate risky trademark laws.
Other than that, every noun in the English language is under your command. And thus, the game begins...
PROS:
- Endless replay value (All about the replay value with me!)
- Meme friendly (Keyboard cat, Long cat, and Rick Roll are all included)
- Neato graphic style! (For a game with so many items, it sure puts in a lot of detail)
- Rideable vehicles and animals are fun!
- Lots O' levels
- Built in level editor, for when you finally run out.
- Fights! (Who would win, the Kraken or Cthulu?)
- Great conversation-starter
- Buy skins for your character with ingame money.
- Multiple solutions to every level
- Thousands upon Thousands of ingame items.
CONS:
- Movement problems become evident (You touch anywhere to move your character there, which gets annoying after a while)
- Level editor lacks good instructions, or good mechanics (And you can't share them without having a friend-code of the level maker)
- Skins are nice, but they don't show up in the main-menu/sandbox mode
- Skins also are a bit lacking. What if I want to play as a giraffe? Why can't I?
- Lack of trademarked/copy written items makes sense, but gets annoying after a while.
- Item models are frequently reused to save developers time.
- Some items just don't work the way you expect them to... You may end up being forced to have your most frequently-used items be "Rope" and "Ladder".
- Limit bar gets annoying after a while. A small bar on the top screen limits how many items can be onscreen at once, obviously for the engine of the DS to stay at a workable frame rate.
- Racist undertones?
Overall, probably one of the greatest games to grace the Nintendo DS as of yet.
18 thumbs up out of 19
What do you think of the new review-type? Just experimenting, but I would like to hear your opinions. Please, for the love of cookies, let me know there is SOMEBODY out there that reads this thing :)
--Nic
Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs
As I have said previously, this site isn't JUST gaming. It is basically anything powered by electricity, and then some! So I proudly give you my first movie review, for Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.
One of my more fond childhood memories is my father reading me the Judi Barret book "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". It was not only one of my favorite books, but also one of the first books I read all on my own (No ABC books for me :P)
So when I heard they were making a movie version, I was very excited. I have to say, after seeing it, I was definitely not disappointed.
Let me get one think straight right off the bat. The movie is so loosely based of the book that the only real resemblance is the main idea: Food falls from the sky, people are happy, food gets big, not so happy, someone saves them, they are now happy the end. But really, If you based the movie entirely word for word on the book, it would cap off at a 10-20 minute short. The book is only 10 or 20 pages, which is not much to work off. So they gave it a total makeover that, in my opinion, was definitely for the better.
I dabble in 3-d animation, so I admire when I see a lot of work put into a film, but this was just amazing! At some points there are at least 50,000+ geometries on the screen at once, and even the less experienced viewers can tell it took a while to get the film to look like the it does. Details can do so much to a movie, and in 3-d it is even more spectacular.
My complaints are to a total minimum, the main one being that it ends quite abruptly. The storyline is almost flawless otherwise. Some of the characters can have an immature sense of humor, but hey, what do you expect from a kids movie? I have much more that could be said about the film, but I think the best way is to get your own opinion by seeing it yourself! On to the stats!
Acting/Voice work
9/10
Seeing the "making of" was quite funny, seeing that since there are many food scenes, the voice actors had to speak with a mouth full of assorted foods. From Anna Faris to Mr. T, you will not be disappointed.
Camera work/Animation
10/10
Ray tracing, high face count, and soft body physics make this the most visually appealing film of the year as of yet.
Humor/Scariness/Mood in general
9/10
Occasional potty humor is the only thing viewers have to worry about.
Morals?
9/10
Has a very nice message about father-son love, as well as a bit of young love.
Appropriateness
9/10
Definitely a family film, nothing really offensive to speak of...
FINAL JUDGEMENT
94/100
One of the best family films of the year, and almost makes up for the drought of quality movies the past summer!
Chiptunes!
Hey readers!
Sorry for my lack of posts recently, I should be getting better at this soon. This post isn't as much of a review as it is a cool little thing.
Remember the classic 8 bit chiptunes from the good ol' days, like the Mario theme song? Well, I am trying to get society to recognize this genre by mixing it with their favorite songs. That is why I created the YouTube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/Chiptunetime
Chiptunetime is its name, its mission is to create a chiptune version of ANY song requested, no matter what! Comment here or on one of chiptunetime's videos what you would like made 8-bit, and I promise I will get right on it. Subscribe if you would like, remember I am not forcing you to do anything, just wanted to let you know about it! Thanks for listing, stay tuned to return to your normally scheduled programming :)
-Nic
Lack of posts?
Schools starting, and it is difficult to be an A student AND blog, so I may not blog as often as I used to. BUT, be sure this blog will NOT close any time soon!!! New posts coming soon!!
Frantic 2
Hey everyone, it's back to school time, and you know what that means... SEIZURES!!!
That's right, because every ones favorite epileptic flash shooter is back again!
For those who haven't played frantic 1, you have really missed out. It is a fast paced top-down flash shooter by polymerrabbit, who is new to the flash development area, but really has what it takes. Now I won't lie, this game has so many particle effects, explosions, flashing lights, etc., that older computers may lag... a lot. Luckily options are included to tone it down, but it wont be as pretty as it was before. Back to the point, this game is HARD. Like, even easy challenged me a bit, so if you are a "pro gamer" who wants a challenge, this game is for you!
There are many different techniques, strategies, and WOAH THIS SHIP GOTZ LAZZORZ!!!! Oh, I am sorry, where was I. Oh yes, there are multiple unlockable ships to choose from, many enemy types, and even upgrades, though really the action is all that matters. This game goes very fast, and if you spend to long thinking and not long enough shooting, you will be dead SOON. Boss battles define the word "Epic" very well, and like most of the game these wont be a walk in the park.
Not only is the game fast paced, but the music is SWEET! This developers close ties with the popular community known as newgrounds helps him find the sweetest music ever!
Despite lag, this developer has quite a potential. If by some amazing chance polymer was reading this article, I have one thing to say. Make frantic for the XBLA! It would hit top rated in seconds, and keep hyperactive 11 year old's from spamming halo. Please! Now for numbers!
Gameplay: 9/10
A little on the tough side, but fun whats you get in the rhythm of it.
Music: 10/10
Sweet, constant, techno-rock tracks get your heart pumping.
Casual gamer friendliness (CGP): 6/10
This is not your grandma shooter. Not that your grandma has a shooter...
Different difficulties offer little consolation for the painful difficulty of this game.
Hardcore gamer evilness: 9/10
Extremely difficult, and when you get the hang of that, there are achievement-like "Feats" for you to collect.
Replay value: 8/10
If this is your kind of game, and your rig can run it, you'll be playing this till Frantic 3 :D
Overall: 92/100
Given the limitations of flash coding, and the small time window the creator made this in, this is a truly impressive piece of work, and I will be looking forward to seeing more from him.
Play Frantic 2 here for the low low price of FREE!
5 Video games with bizzare ideas that did well
With some games, judging by their covers makes them seem like they will be the next "Superman 64". But, when the release comes, to your surprise they are hits! Here are a few of the games, in no particular order, that surprised us all the most:
#1 Super Mario RPG : Legend of the 7 stars
A role playing game about a superhero plumber in a hallucinogenic dream world fighting giant turtles with spikes on his back and his minions, of course not without the help of your "Special Mushrooms". This one seemed like it would be a flop right from the start, but surprised everyone when it actually had quality gameplay! A classic, even today, even if it still scares us all, just a little bit.
 #2 Roller-coaster Tycoon
Hey everyone, here's a great idea! Lets make a game where you get to watch people have a good time, while you mess with the financial side of things! Sounds like a great time, doesn't it? No, I didn't think so. Resource management games were uncommon in the time of this games release, but it is still considered one of the pioneers of the Sims-esque genre.
 #3 Nintendogs
Cleaning poop of a carpet, going on long, exhausting walks, and having a constant yapping noise drive you insane day and night. Does that sound like fun to you? Well, it apparently did to Nintendo, and they went through the design of this... interesting concept. Even though 90% of the owners of this bestseller are 11 year old girls, it is hard to deny its amazing success in the casual gaming market this game had. BARK!
 #4 Super smash bros
Mario. Yoshi. Pikachu. Link. Our demented childhood hero's now fight to the death for our entertainment. Almost like pitting to kittens together in a fight, as the cuteness level sometimes makes it appear. Things cute and innocent as Kirby eating its opponents just to absorb their abilities for its own use seems like it should be outlawed. But once we actually played this hit, we realized there is nothing more intense and entertaining than our childhood friends fighting with items like bombs and samurai swords.
 #5 Pokemon
Another franchise involving cute animals fighting for our amusement, Pokemon has a cult following that grows daily. Sure, they cover up the fact that you are basically "cock fighting" with the concept of "Fainting", but we know the sad truth. Trainers stuff adorable creatures into ball shaped prison cells until they are release to fight to the death for cash prizes, against their will of course. "Trainers become bonded with their Pokemon"? Yeah right, I bet those things can wait to make a break for it. But children and adults alike continue to collect, trade, and torture these poor creatures just for the thrill of it.
These games have obsessed many a generation with their amazingly addictive gameplay and fun-ness, and it once again enforces the time tested saying "You can't judge a book by it's cover" I hope you enjoy this, my few readers, if you enjoyed this and want me to keep doing what I am doing PLEASE follow me with your google account to show that someone out their thinks I can do it! Thanks for the support, until next time :)
-Nic
Back!
Sorry, that trip took a little longer than expected, but now I am back! Expect more REAL soon!
-Nic |
