What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Where the hell did the week go?!? Between the release of excellent games like Mass Effect 2 and the official announcement of the Apple iPad, things have been nuts (in a good way)! This weekend is a great time to bring things back to normal by playing some games. Vandal Hearts is still on my playlist. I love strategy/tactical RPGs. I wish gang fights were turn-based and took place on grids. If they did that and belted out tunes from West Side Story, gang fights would be the most popular spectator sport in America.

In a bit of mixed news, I realized that my save file for Mass Effect is in a debug system somewhere in San Francisco. I’m not even sure if it would work on a retail Xbox 360 anyway. What does this mean? It means I’m going to play the first one over again before I start the sequel. This is probably not the most efficient use of my time, but this is how I need to experience these games. It’s BioWare, ergo I must.

You know the drill! Let everyone know what you’re playing this weekend.

Apple iPad’s A4 Processor Related to Snapdragon and Tegra

One of the big surprises at Apple’s iPad unveiling is that the device uses Apple’s own silicon. A lot of people — myself included — were wondering about the design of Apple’s A4 processor and how it compares to the current batch of high-end mobile-chips (Snapdragon, Tegra, etc.). CrunchGear has the answer:

The A4 is a custom implementation of the ARM A9 processor, also found in Snapdragon (running the Nexus One) and Tegra (running the Zune HD). The difference is there is a GPU mated with the A9 in Apple’s design, probably to help offload the graphics work and keep the interface smooth.

There’s room for processor shrinks and even overclocking; the A9 has been clocked to 1GHz by everyone because it stays cool, but if Apple (or anyone) were to apply some better cooling, they could take it all the way up to 1.3GHz.

Early reports are that the iPad is so fast that it makes the iPhone 3GS look like a tortoise. With its A9 roots, this makes total sense. It will be interesting to see if Apple uses an A4 variation in the upcoming iPhone, which is expected to be announced in June.

Source

White Knight Chronicles Character Creation Video

With all the great games coming out in Q1 2010, I kind of forgot about White Knight Chronicles for PlayStation 3. The game is coming out next week, sandwiched between Mass Effect 2 and Heavy Rain. I want to play it, but I don’t think I’ll have time until (much) later. How about ladies and gents? Is it on your radar? Does this trailer make you want to pick it up?

(Not a) Review of Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic

I attended a screening of Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic on Tueday. It was full of ultra-violence, disturbing imagery, cool animation, and vagina-shaped thingies. As a standalone animated film, it was okay. As an animated film that promotes a game, it totally succeeded in making me want to play Dante’s Inferno. Here are some assorted thoughts (not a review!) on the movie.

In the first few seconds, I was impressed with the animation style and was expecting something fairly realistic. The first three minutes of the film shattered all of my expectations. It went something like this:

  • Minute One: Dante’s horse flies upside down. For a second I thought he was attempting to do M. Bison’s “psycho crusher” from Street Fighter.
  • Minute Two: Dante returns home to find the slaughtered remains of his family and servants. This was just a taste of the gore that was about to come.
  • Minute Three: The spirit of Dante’s beloved Beatrice Portinari goes full frontal. This was just a taste of the boobs and vaginae that were were about to come.

So yeah! The animation style was impressive and disturbing in that tentacle-porn way. Compared to Planet Hulk, an animated film I recently saw, the art style and technique were out of this world. That said, some people might not like that several different animation studios with distinct art styles contributed to this movie. One of my friends in atendance didn’t like how disjointed and inconsistent everything was. In some scenes, Dante was thin and had long hair. In other scenes he was buff and had short hair. His appearance during the flashbacks reflected whatever style a particular animation house was using.

Perhaps I’m giving the film too much credit, but I chalked it up to journeying through a spiritual realm and perception changing in the various Circles of Hell. Hmmm, after typing that thought, I’m definitely giving the film too much credit.

Oh yeah, the Nine Circles of Hell hurts and works for this movie. Starting in the real world, traveling through the Nine Circles, and having flashbacks is a lot to do in an 88-minute movie. It definitely feels rushed and sometimes forced. Death’s Scythe — one of Dante’s two major weapons — isn’t explained at all; it seems like it’s just a random object Dante finds early in the movie and keeps for the next 84 minutes. Virgil’s introduction is done in like 15 seconds, “Hey, I’m Virgil! You loved my poetry and I’ll be your guide. Try the veal!” The way it does work is that it teases each circle as a level. It made me want to see more of each level and all of the boss fights.

The violence in the movie is completely over-the-top and it can be lots of fun. Some of the fight scenes were awesome, but by the end of the film I had my fill. The impact of Dante’s showdown with Lucifer was lost on me because my brain couldn’t process any more violence. If crazy fight scenes are your thing then you’ll love this flick. It makes Kill Bill look like Bambi.

There are some people — a certain game designer with a masters in English that’s working on BioShock 2 comes to mind — that will be offended by the movie’s liberties. Sure, a lot of details were altered, but the movie (and presumably the game) had far more accuracies than I was expecting. If it gets people interested in The Divine Comedy and leads to gamers reading the books, that’s just a fantastic thing. Besides, if you were expecting a literal translation in this movie or the game then you’re just stupid.

Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic comes out on February 9, 2010 — the same week as the game. This is a mistake. It should be out now to generate more interest in the game. As a marketing tool, it excels at making people want to play on PS3 and Xbox 360. Few people are going to want to buy it after playing. It entertained me, but it’s hard to recommend it as a Blu-ray or DVD purchase. I do think it would be an excellent impulse download on PSN or Xbox Live, so long as you’re expecting tons of gratuitous violence, gallons of blood, and vagina walls.

Zatanna Zatara Screens and Concept Art

Sony Online Entertainment has released a batch of renders and concept art for Zatanna Zatara in DC Universe Online for PC and PS3. One of the reasons I prefer DC over Marvel is its excellent secondary characters. Zatanna totally fits the bill. She’s a sexy lady in a ridiculous costumer (fishnets?!?) and her formidable powers come from saying words backwards. It’s so wacky that I love it (and her)! Hopefully her stupid alternate costumer with the dumb headpiece will be available as well.

Second-Hand Thoughts on the Apple iPad

In the last 24 hours, I spoke to five of my friends that got their hands on Apple’s iPad. All five of them are avid iPhone users, so keep that in mind as you read their opinions. Here are their sentiments, along with my thoughts on them.

The Form Factor is Sexy and Useful — Well duh. For the most part, Apple’s products always look good. My pals said that the iPad feels great and they can see themselves using it on the couch or in bed. All five raved about the its looks, but to me it looks like another Apple product. That’s not a bad thing at all, but I have to think they’re drawn in by the newness of the iPad and Steve Jobs’ “reality distortion field”.

The Virtual Keyboard is Good — Four out of five of my friends (as opposed to dentists that recommend Trident gum) loved the virtual keyboard. They said the ample screen made typing very accurate. I’m sure that’s the case, but I can’t see typing for an extended period of time on this thing. The lack of tactile feedback is one thing, but typing on a hard surface can’t possibly be comfortable. I loathe the virtual keyboard on my (sim-less) iPhone and while I imagine that the iPad’s is better simply because of its size, I doubt that I’ll “like” it.

The good news is that one of my friends asked a rep about other wireless keyboards for the iPad and was told that any Bluetooth keyboard will work with the device. I hope that’s true.

It’s Just Like Using an iPhone — I think everyone was expecting this. On the plus side, it has the same simplicity and ease-of-use that the iPhone and iPod Touch have. The downer is it had the same limitations (no multitasking…yet) and quirks that the iPhone and iPod Touch have. When I was irked about the lack of multitasking, one of my friends said, “You do most of your work on your browser and Google Docs so why do you care?” He has a point. I could work efficiently on an iPad, but I would like multitasking and I’m sure many of you would too.

The Processor is Snappy — Continuing with the “iPad is the Mark McGwire of iPhones” theme, the device sports a zippy processor. Considering that some of the planned games and apps for the iPad are more robust than the iPhone’s, this was totally necessary. For entertainment purposes, the firepower was needed to play high-quality video at 1,024×768. Hopefully the fast processor will lead to multitasking on the iPad at a future date.

The Screen is Lovely…But Not Widescreen — As I noted yesterday, the iPad has a strange aspect ratio for this day and age. Considering it’s being positioned as a data consumption device, it’s unusual that it’s 16:9. All five of my friends at the event were puzzled by this and none of them could get a good answer.

Apple is Being Mum on VoIP — I was annoyed that only one of my friends asked if Skype would work on the iPad. It can and it should, but the communications aspect of the device were not mentioned at all. My friend that asked this question was met with a big IDK. If Apple blocks Skype on the iPad, its usefulness to me goes down by 44 percent.

No Camera? — Considering how cheap a 640×480 camera would be and how large the iPad’s bezel is, three out of five of my friends were shocked that it didn’t have a camera. It seems like it would be a great device for video chatting. I’m with you brothers!

GPS Mystery — The WiFi only models of the iPad lack any kind of GPS. The WiFi + 3G models have assisted GPS. Two of my friends asked if it had “real” GPS and were met with crickets (not actual crickets or the Disney variety).

24 hours later, the device is less interesting for me. I have an iPhone 3GS and I’m getting hooked up with a Kindle this week. The iPad is cool and beautiful, but for the price of the high-end model, I can get a pretty powerful thin-and-light notebook from Asus that would be way more useful. I do think the iPad can be a productive and entertaining device, but my bases are covered already.

So there you have it! Given the information I received from my five pals at the event, has your opinion on the iPad changed?

Mortal Kombat Movie Reboot in the Works?

Word on the street is that Warner Bros. is looking to reboot the Mortal Kombat movie franchise. The first movie was fun and full of unintentional comedy. The second movie was…not so good. Before I get into my reasoning for why the first movie is worth watching, here’s the word from Bloody Disgusting:

Warner Bros. Pictures has been looking to redo Mortal Kombat with Oren Uziel in talks to write. Based on Midway’s popular 1992 video game, the franchise follows the best fighters from around the globe who are summoned to an island to compete in a tournament whose outcome will determine the fate of the entire planet. Uziel’s Shimmer Lake made the 2009 black list, which features the best unproduced screenplays around Hollywood.

Okay, I will swear up and down the West Coast that the first movie is worth seeing. It has Christopher Lambert’s ridiculous accent, the sexy Talisa Soto, the future Mrs. Pete Sampras (or Veronica Vaughn from Billy Madison, if you will), a bunch of martial artists from the WMAC Masters show, and Robin Shou’s Richie Sambora-inspired hair! These components are like the Voltron lions; you add ’em up and the first MK movie becomes an unstoppable giant-robot force of a flick! I’m right about this. Don’t question me.

Source via Joystiq

Coffee Talk #75: My Three Favorite Gaming Videos on YouTube

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Serena Williams slamming it Down Under, Neil Patrick Harris ruling American Idol, or the Brangelina breakup, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

YouTube is just a brilliant time waster. There are so many excellent clips on the service. Whether you’re looking for something interesting, stupid, violent, or moronic, YouTube surely has something that will tickle your fancy. Naturally, there’s a lot of great gaming content to be found. Here are three of my favorite gaming clips on YouTube.

#3 “Temptation of Sonata” — Ivy
This K-pop video takes its cues from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. I’m shocked at how accurately the fight scene between Tifa and Loz is recreated in this video for a goofy song. I’m a big fan of the movie and Korean women, so this totally works for me.

#2 “Wind Waker Unplugged” — Freddie25
Here’s an absolutely brilliant acoustic performance of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’s theme. I wish the kid would forget about school and make more of these videos.

#1 Snorlax Owns
This is the only clip that’s not safe for work. It has naughty language from two idiots. Basically it’s two guys with NY accents lewdly commenting on the short movie that accompanied Pokemon the Movie 2000. While the accents remind me of home, the Pokemon knowledge of the narrator is pretty impressive (though he gets confused by the dragonair at the end). It’s just hilarious to hear two dudes cursing each other out over Pokemon. “That’s not raichu dick! That’s f*ckin’ pikachu!”

Now it’s your turn! I’d love to check out some of your favorite gaming videos on YouTube. If you have the time then please post a link and tell my why you dig your video.