No U-Turn Zone

So Chris Hecker came onto the stage at GDC (Game Developers Conference) and started to say some rather... Colourful things about the Wii... Now, the man has his opinions, and I can respect that. But such a prestigious event as the GDC is hardly the place to be spouting lines such as "The Wii is a piece of shit!", "[They need to] make a console that doesn't suck ass." and "It's not clear to me that Nintendo gives a shit about games as an art form." Such is the way I expect the forum going Sony Fanboys to react, but I guess even they need a day job.

It's not this that raised my irk however. I was... Disappointed to say the least yes. But I understood that a man needs to get his opinion out, whether to his friends or in the middle of an international video game conference. No, what made me dislike the man, was his statement the following day. In what can only be described as a perfectly executed 180, the man had this to say...


"I don't know who has read the internet, yesterday. In a [unintelligible] panel I said a bunch of things. I was trying to be thought provoking and entertaining and fun and a lot of the stuff went too far over the top—on the entertaining and fun side, so that it was no longer thought provoking, just inflammatory. And in the process I hurt a bunch of people I care about. And so, I want to apologize now.

When I'm on stage, I'm me. I'm talking talk from me. From me. I'm not representing EA or Maxis.

I want to make two things perfectly clear.

I do not think the Wii is a piece of shit. Nintendo needs to be applauded for trying to interface on the controller front, the user interface front, on making games accessible, on making a console that you don't need to mortgage your house to afford.

Secondly, it's totally obvious—and I'm sorry that I implied otherwise—that everyone at Nintendo is passionate at making great games. Some of the games give me hope that we will be seen as an art form on par with movies and books."

Now, I don't think I need to tell you all how much such blatant flip flops irritate me. But this is made worse by the fact that, while this was most likely something his boss's told him to do in a blinding rage after hearing that their man had gone and done something drastic, he didn't even have the balls to offer his own head for this. He merely stated that he was trying to have fun and joke around. Well guess what Chris... We're not laughing... If he had come clean and said simply "I stand by my statement, though it is not the views of my company", then I would have forgiven and forgot. But unfortunately for him, such blatant fuck ups tend to stick in my head for quite a while.

CYOTFS
-Mav

Recap

I'm back, and with a job I hope to keep, and from it receive a decent income allowing me to pursue the things I want, giving me more opportunity to post here. I shan't bore you with the details, so on with the post!

Everyone loves the music from Zelda. It's a collection of masterfully composed pieces that waft through your ears and are instantly recognizable. But there's always been that unfortunate hitch... Nintendo only ever did them in Midi format. Even for the new Twilight Princess. If this is something that has bothered you as it has myself, then fear no longer!

While not performed by a true orchestra as we would all love to hear... The site describes the process as thus:

"The ZREO team uses high-end sequencer synthesizers to transcribe the sounds of legend. From there, the MIDI's created by our musical team are sent through sound libraries, where the computerized sounds are transformed into very realistic and believable orchestrated masterpieces that are must-haves for any Zelda fan!"

They truly do sound magnificent, and I recommend you check them out.

Now I've been hearing rumours about confirmation of an FFVII remake on the PS3, but after extensive reasearching and scouring every last contact I have, I've learned nothing new. The game is in the same 'will they, won't they' limbo that it's been in since E3 2005. However, Square-enix's Yoichi Wada did mention in a c-net interview that they would be "increasing release remakes for the current platforms" Current platforms being PS2, NDS, PSP. These remakes do indeed include the Final Fantasy series, and so far, I - VI have received this treatment. Does that mean that FFVII is inevitable? No. Does it mean that there is a higher chance of this mythical remake being done? Yes. But don't hold your breath folks... It'll be a while yet before we even hear a peep about it.

Being part of the LOTR Online Closed BETA is interesting to say the least. The game is allot more cinematic than current MMO's on the market, having a starting human burning down an entire village to escape the wrath of a Nazgûl (better known as a Ring Wraith or Dark Rider to those who've only seen the movies), while saving a pair of hobbits and aiding a Ranger in the process. Complete with a cinematic movie explaining the events between said burning village and the starting capital.

I've only played a little, dabbling mostly in the character creation side of things thus far, but from what I've seen, it's an interesting game. So far, you are unable to play any 'evil' races, being forced to choose from either an Elf, a Human, a Dwarf or a Hobbit. The classes are not dissimilar to those in WoW, however they are stretched out a little more. Champion and Defender for example are two classes that would merge together to make a WoW Warrior. And of course, Hunter is available for all your ranged needs...

And you thought there was going to be allot of Legolas's in the Burning Crusade.

The only other news I have that is of any interest ATM is that Gametrailers has a preview up for Cooking Mama: Cook Off on the Nintendo Wii. A strange game that I'm not exactly enthralled by... But it's originality has to count for something right?

CYOTFS
-Mav

New Project

I'm not sure how much longer I will be writing this blog, as a new project has arisen which may or may not force me to quit writing this. I am currently helping write an e-zine, which will cover topics ranging from games to popular culture to computer technical advice. I'll of course be covering games and culture, as I have done on this blog for the past few years. This may render the blog useless, as I'll no longer be able to say what I want, as it will be in the e-zine.

Now don't worry if you actually like getting your weekly dose of Maverik. You can still read what I have to say in the e-zine as it will be free for download in PDF format. However, you will have to settle for a monthly dose, as we cannot possibly release it in shorter intervals and keep any form of professionalism.

Keep in mind that this doesn't mean the end of Maverik Uncensored. It's just a possibility. I may still be able to maintain both.

On a lighter note, I've just started watching Heroes, the new NBC show. To give you the general gist of it, a group of people from all around the world slowly start to realize that they are not like everyone else... They are different. Special in some way... A few of them have noticed it. Some are still clueless. But the one thing that is certain, is that they are all gaining powers beyond human belief.

It's a pretty cool show. There seems to be 13 episodes that have been released so far in America, and it has only just started showing in Australia. But if you like the whole comic book superhero thing, and are intrigued about the genesis of such empowered peoples, then you should definitely check it out.

CYOTFS
-Mav

I Can't Beleive It's Not Fisticuffs

Sorry for the late post. But I think I've been doing pretty well with this whole regular posting thing. In any case, the first thing I'd like to make public knowledge is that World Of Warcraft jokes are back in now that Burning Crusade is out. Everything from telling Naps to bubble hearth if he's attacked by a Bengal tiger (He's in India for a while, but I'll cover that in a little while), to referencing to an argument attracting a whole group of other guys ready to fight as 'pulling adds'.

Now there's a funny story behind that last thing. Well... Not so much funny as if there were a joke, then that was the punchline. But the story's interesting none the less so shut up and listen. I was at The Bunker (a rather sub-par public lan) for the night because the Cyber Room isn't open 24/7 anymore. We were playing WoW for a while, when suddenly we heard someone start yelling behind us. It later turned out that some jerk-off had started calling everyone in the room nerds for being there, and the other guy did not take kindly to this. So they shouted for a bit, and things came very close to getting quite physical. However, the guy defending the present gamers was suddenly surrounded by like minded individuals who joined him in kicking the dick out rather promptly. We made the joke about adds and whatnot, but theres no denying that part of me wondered just what I would have done had a fight actually broken out. Being rather out of shape as I am these days, I don't think I'm quite so effective as I used to be...

So, I mentioned that Naps is in India. Well, he is. And I'm as jellous as ever. But don't think he's just going to be walking about and seeing the usual tourist traps (they have those in India don't they?), he's actually staying with one of India's most famous journalists, which gives him access to a far more interesting experience than my feeble money could purchase. I guess when both your parents are big in the art business, you get to know people. In any case, he's going to be heading out with a reporter who's traveling into the jungle with a group of activists who are looking for some Bengal tigers. Needless to say, it'll be pretty dangerous and he'll be cut off from civilization for a few days... But I always hate it when I miss out on an adventure.

Now for those of you still wondering whether or not Burning Crusade warrants getting back into WoW (as I myself did), then allow me to say that my personal experience has been that that the money spent was spent wisely as I'm enjoying the game again. But if you want a more professional opinion, then Gametrailers is always happy to provide.

Shout out to Max for his 18th birthday which is commin up very soon. I'll see you at the party.

CYOTFS
-Mav

Childrin R Skary

Just a short post today. I just want to give some serious props to Katy Towell for her series of drawings and animated shorts. She's definitely got a unique style about her that makes me respect her work even more. I honestly hold this woman in the very highest of regards.


Check out her series Childrin R Skary. Some of the best artistic folklore tales I've seen, done in a wonderful 3 colour scheme with a unique art style. So if you like the classical style folklore tales with a hint of Gothic horror and sometimes very sad moments, or think you would as it's a rather unique style, you should definitely check this out.

CYOTFS
-Mav

Freelance Police Or Vigilante Scum?

If you're anything like me... And judging by the fact that you're reading this blog, I'm going to assume you are... Then the safe bet says that you either love the crazy antics of Sam and Max, or you will do after I'm done beating you around the head with an old copy of Sam and Max Hit The Road, and then give you the remains to play.

That said, I think you'll understand the apprehension I held when I opened the first installment episode of their new series of games, Culture Shock. However, despite my fears of not only a waisted purchase of one game, but the subsequent 5 more that I had subscribed for, I was extremely pleased to find that the world of Sam and Max hadn't changed a whole lot. If at all. It was still the exact same lovable, kooky, crazy adventure I had come to expect from the not-so-dynamic duo.

The gameplay was once again the simplistic point and click interface that so many adventure games have forgotten, and although the graphics weren't the best I'd seen, they were still perfectly befitting of Sam and Max. The voice acting was superb, and the music suited every scene without becoming repetitive or irritating. And above all else, the writing was the same snappy dialog with hilarious one liners thrown into the middle of conversations that made me fall in love with Sam and Max all over again.

It wasn't long before my eagerly awaited sequel was available for download at the same extremely accessible size of about 80MB was released. I snapped it up with the speed of a gazelle, knowing that I would be one of the first to play it who wasn't a gametap member (apparently they can only accommodate for Americans). And much to my pleased eyes, the game was still a brilliant piece of comedy, crammed into about 4 hours of enjoyable point and click adventuring.

So why do I mention all of this NOW, you ask? Or even if you didn't, I'm going to tell you anyway. The 3rd installment of Sam and Max (The Moll, The Mob, and The Meatball) will be available on February 8th (January 25th for you gametap members out there), and I am near climatic explosion with anticipation. If you haven't already played the first two, then catch the trailer for the 3rd at Telltale Games, or just take a look at the original hilarious teaser for the whole series. If you like what you see, then for the love of all that is holy and good in this world, go buy the damn games!

CYOTFS
-Mav

Names With Teeth

The game Stranglehold has just recently released a theatrical trailer for your viewing pleasure. It's made me realize that as much of a movie buff I like to tell people I am, there's still many a movie I've yet to see that I really need to. One such movie is entitled Hard Boiled, and is the inspiration for the game mentioned above. I'm surprised with myself for never having gone and torn this off a shelf somewhere, because it's pretty much the ultimate action flick ever filmed.

Oh sure you can throw your Terminators and your Scarface's and your Rambo's at me all you want... But this is a movie that is just dripping with so much action it is almost capable of leaving you feeling a little blood soaked when your done. With a title like Hard Boiled, and a main character with a name like Tequila, you just know that the good times are about to be rollin in.

The movie racks in an impressive body count of 307, and contains one of the coolest scenes ever filmed in a movie. So cool in fact, that it received it's own chapter on the DVD release of the movie. The scene lasts for 2 minutes and 42 seconds, and the whole thing is done in a single running shot filmed on a hand held camera. Due to their running out of time, the shot had to be done in one take, and as shown by it's existence, was achieved successfully.

Oh and I just turned 19 yesterday. So happy birthday to me.

CYOTFS
-Mav

The Future Is Crotch Clocks

The guy who invented the bear suit has apparently been pretty busy working together a new high tech combat costume for the military. A new advancement in advanced warfare? Or an expensive 'future cop' outfit that'll clutter up some geek's closet eventually? Only time will tell.

So I've mentioned that I like Guitar Hero. But the big question is whether or not I'm willing to fork out the money to re-buy GH2, along with a second controller for the 360? Well, with the rumors of downloadable content flying about, I've been very concerned that the temptress will drag me into her swirling vortex. And with a list of new additional songs already packaged in for the game, I'm stating to solidify those fears... I mean honestly, how am I to resist the temptation of Iron Maiden? Personally, if the rumors are true about Black Hole Sun and The Final Countdown, then I know I'll be at the forefront of those who have sought the game shouting "Once more into the breach my brothers!"

But the thing that sends chills up my spine and causes me to pray to a god that may or may not exist, is the supposed sale of the Guitar Hero license by Harmonix, and the purchase of it by Nervesoft. Guitar Hero 3 may very well be in the hands of the creators of GUN, and seeing my distaste for their capability to live up to expectations, I spend my time concocting scenarios in which the beautiful perfection that is Guitar Hero melts away into nothing but a fond memory, and Guitar Hero 3 becomes the stuff Nightmares are made of.

CYOTFS
-Mav

Big Ass Screen

I'm not kidding. This is the kind of screen that has the capability to fill in for a wall you may be missing. The new LCD from Sharp measures in at 108", making it not just a big TV. But the largest in the world. Supposedly able to achieve the same crisp picture quality as any of the latest plasma displays, though the thing will most likely require a forklift just to get it into your home.

Aside from being large and heavy, it looks to be a beautiful machine indeed. With no price tag, and a release schedule of somewhere within this winter (Summer for you Yanks). When asked what the target demographic for such a large and most likely expensive device would be, the Sharp representative merely stated "I'm sure we'll find somebody".

In other, slightly more amusing news, I've been shown an interesting little name generator that randomly creates the names of would be games, most of which seem to come straight out of Japan. A few that I've come across.

Medieval Polka Melee
Everybody Loves the Sex Smash
Small-Time Bible Explorer
Hideous Axe Story
Unstoppable Chainsaw Man

CYOTFS
-Mav

Rock On 80's Rock Gods

For those of us who have been playing their copies of Guitar Hero 2 to death, savouring every note struck as we play on to the day when we receive the coveted prize of Guitar Hero 3, we were all preparing for a long wait and praying that the formula that we know is damn near perfect doesn't get messed with too much. But it seems that the folks over at Harmonix decided that we were spending too much time on our knees, and not enough time getting excited about their next installment.

So with the power of just a simple name, they proclaimed the creation of what they are calling Guitar Hero: 1980's Edition. An expansion of sorts I would assume, being that it is not given the almighty title of Guitar Hero 3. But really, with the GH2 engine in tact, who can really complain about a game that is going to work well, but with new songs, characters and guitars? Not me, that's for sure. I'm the guy who knows that the exact moment they begin to actually release extra songs for download on the 360 GH2, I will be buying that shit and locking myself away for a week.

And now, we wait for a song list to salivate over.

CYOTFS
-Mav

Game Of The Year 2006

Gametrailers has finally finished announcing all their nominees for best this and that of 2006, and have finally revealed who took home the coveted title of Game Of The Year.

If you want to find out for yourself, go watch the clip before reading on.

Indeed, the much well deserved Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess took home the ultimate prize, and it's not hard to see why. With over 40+ hours of game time encompassed entirely in the story mode, and countless more including all the extra items to be found, caves to be explored and side quests to be accomplished that the series is so famous for, you can easily rack upwards of 60 hours or so before you could truly claim to have seen everything. And even then, you'd probably be wrong.

The Wiimote was daunting at first, but turned out to be perfect for the game, allowing an intuitive combat style, and precision aiming for your arrows and clawshot. And speaking of these tools, as Gametrailers mentioned, unlike the other many games that came out in 2006 that managed to do one thing very well, Twilight Princess will have you riding horseback, exploring dungeons, shooting arrows, solving puzzles, fishing, sword fighting, flinging giant spiked balls, walking on walls and roofs, and even riding a spinning top around the walls. And it does all these things expertly.

The story is cleaver, gripping and surprisingly dark for a Zelda game. With a new shadowed figure traipsing through the land of Hyrule, breaking the barrier between the realm of light and twilight as he goes. With glowing animal spirits, herculean Gorons, fish-like Zora's and even a giant Yettie or two to help tell the tale, you can't help but feel an appreciation for the writing direction.

The hardware, as everyone knows by now, is hardly going to rival the likes of the PS3 or the 360, but it truly is a matter of gameplay over photo realism in something as grand as Twilight Princess. The art direction is beautiful anyway, and these things count well above that of a high pixel count in my opinion.

So there you have it. Gametrailers Game of the Year. Will the other award ceremonies come to the same conclusion? Will they be able to sway my own opinions? Only time will tell.

CYOTFS
-Mav

Down But Not Out

Running short on cash as I am, I'm re-encountering those issues with being poor. Things such as not being able to afford that DVD I want, or always having to grimace every time someone suggests we all go out for lunch... So I'm going to see what I can't do about getting some kind of income, even if I have to sink as low as applying for the doll *Shudders*

I figured I should finally do something about this, so here I am, mentioning my friend Mandy on my blog. Yup, this is what I've come to. Shout outs for requests on my blog of which I'm pretty sure no one reads.

Speaking of, I'm going to TRY and get a schedule on this thing... I'm going to attempt to make 3 posts a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. No promises, but any kind of attempts at structuring something here are better than nothing right?

I want to talk a bit about two new games I've recently watched trailers for. Shadowrun, a remake of the classic SNES game in FPS format on the Xbox 360 being the first. The footage I've seen does not impress I'm afraid to say... The once majestic techno-punk RPG that wowed those of us lucky enough to play it seems to have been boiled down to another FPS that tries to break the mold, but from what I've seen, does so rather poorly. It's not what I would call a fitting sequel/remake, but I've been wrong before. And good lord do I hope I'm wrong this time.

The other game I wanted to make mention of, is The Outsider. It's not that I can derive anything about the gameplay of this PS3/360 game, or even have any knowledge of it's fundamental game type beyond belonging to the Action category. From the trailer we can assume that it will be a shooter, be it first person or third, and this is backed by the fact that the systems it is scheduled for excel at pumping out shooter after shooter titles.

No, what piqued my interest in this game, was simply the premise it put forward in the trailer, with it's beautiful choice of quotation. It tantalises the senses with promises of political intrigue, and a man betrayed, now free of the shackles he was once bound by. This is the kind of stuff I live for. Now, as long as they can keep the idea fresh, and not simply cheapen it with cliche after cliche, bringing about your typical Max Payne rip off.

Oh and as a final note... This is quite possibly the best moment in Street Fighter history.

CYOTFS
- Mav

Title Well Deserved

So Gametrailers just announced the winner for Trailer of the year. There were a few contenders, but after having watched the winner, that being the Bioshock trailer, I could not have agreed more. This is the sort of advertisement that grabs people by the short hairs and demands that they love every second of it.

Living in Australia as I do, I'm currently being subjected to the horrors of a summer without any form of coolant. And here, that means 40 degree days of wondering just when my body will simply melt into the furniture. Now I know that all you foreigners are experiencing winter right now, and believe me when I say I wish I were there. Summer is by far the least pleasant time of year for me.

Seeing the warm weather, I've been reluctant to play my Wii much lately. Or to even play Guitar Hero II much. It's things like this that make me wonder what Nintendo had intended for those of us who don't like the whole sweating thing. It's decidedly uncomfortable, and tiring. But perhaps it didn't really matter to them, as the every time I look at the line up of launch games, I have to wonder whether the system was even for us, or if we are merely the messengers for the rest of the community to get into this strange thing called video games.

Having recently gotten into comics in a rather large way, I can't help but appreciate the irony of my timing. It seems I somehow stumbled into a massive Marvel crossover known as Civil War, and everything I though I knew about the universe is being changed before my very eyes. Not to mention all the things I've missed throughout the years. I mean, Xavier is no longer leading the X-Men? When the hell did that happen?

But beyond all that, I'm really looking forward to Supanova 2007, because now I'll be going for the Comics as well as everything else. This will hopefully allow me to grab all those missing issues of Cable and Deadpool I've been tearing my hair out over.

Oh and to all you Americans with your PS3's snugly under your TVs... Screw you and the cooperation you came from. The Wii may be less than perfect, but the 360 is affordable and has a hell of allot more enjoyable games than that overpriced hunk of technology.

CYOTFS
-Mav

What The...?

So apparently the vocal trance artist Cascada thinks she's Kylie Manogue or something... That doesn't really sit right with me for some reason.

I've been playing the new DS RPG Children Of Mana, and I have to admit, it's intrigued me enough to stay my ravenous rampaged attempts to finely finish Kingdom Hearts 2 and be done with it. The design seems simple, in that there are a set number of dungeons and a home town. You do several quests (both story advancing and seemingly limitless jobs for rewards) in what I would call a randomly generated level structure, if not for the fact that the levels remain the same, but the order in which they are tackled seems to be the variable.

Anime cut scenes are a definite bonus, even if a little short, but the art style and the musical compositions are absolutely stunning. This can however be detracted from by the 500th time you've killed that same Zombie, or when you start repeating the same rooms over and over.

The control's are simple, but they fit nicely, making the magic system easily accessible, while still complex enough to give a touch of strategy to it's usage. The weapons system however, isn't quite so voluptuous. Each weapon has 3 ability's. Attack, support & fury (fury being a special technique usable once you've fought enough to fill the fury bar).

Despite everything else, it is a dungeon crawler at heart, but a fun one with an interesting story, especially if you've played any of the previous Mana games (which I'm guessing most of you won't have).

I'm hoping to obtain a video camera for my birthday (21st for those not in the know), and if I manage to pull off such a robust gift, then you'll be seeing an awful lot more videos on here, as I'll be toying with it endlessly.

CYOTFS
-Mav

Welcome To The New Year

Well, it's been a crazy 2006, but it's finally over. I realize I'm about 2 days late, but I'm sure you'll forgive me as I've only just regained my internet.

So what did 2006 bring? Well... In the way of games, it brought the Wii. That was quite the innovation. Though it's launch titles left a lot to be desired, it's potential is beyond that of the average humble home console.

It's brought many new and interesting films, but also brought about the atrocity that is the mass production of 3D Pixar like films that have done their all to ruin the genre (I believe they deserve their own Genre yes).

I for one gained and lost 2 jobs, both of which were wrought upon me by my family members. A mistake I hope not to repeat a 3rd time.

I began watching Buffy, something I'm a tad late for, but am enjoying none the less.

I discovered what it was like to be under the powerful influence of absinthe AND what it was like to keep a friend alive through his over dosage of the drink, all in the one night.

The death and rebirth of XinRPB1...

And a whole lot of other less memorable crap... Because, now that I think of it... 2006 wasn't all that interesting... Just another stepping stone towards the future.

So bring it on 2007! Let's see what ya got!

CYOTFS
-Mav