Ground Zero
I was kinda weird today - I’d been up the towers in 1994 and hadn’t been back since. I’d forgotten how it was when I was there before, but it was still a bit spooky. I guess that’s a lot to do with the sheer scale of what happened here. The photo’s on display (some of which are incredible) make sure you don’t forget that.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the vistors were genuinely sad, or just acting that way because they felt they had to. Which ever way the atmosphere was very sombre and that’s a bit weird in a city like New York…
The sky falls down in Chinatown
Brooklyn Bridge after a storm
F.E.A.R 360
F.E.A.R. is clearly heavily influenced by Japanese horror movies, most notably The Ring. It uses a lot of the same kinds of visual tricks that you’ve probably already seen before in a movie and it’s very effective.
There are stretches in F.E.A.R. when you don’t actually battle much - but you’re still shitting your pants. You can search abandoned office buildings only to find pools of blood or a haunting voicemail left by family members who are trying to contact their loved ones - knowing that at any minute you’re gonna be shot to hell. This constant tension, combined with fantastic combat makes F.E.A.R. a truly immersive game.
Throughout F.E.A.R., the graphics, the particle effects, the physics, and the sound effects combine to create the sense that all hell is breaking loose. Obviously, the game looks best in high definition and the audio (on a home cinema) is outstanding, really helping to establish the mood. In a game that’s all about making you afraid of the dark, it’s often the little noises that send you spinning around, ready to blast whatever it is that made the sound. Combat also sounds glorious. You can hear almost every single noise in a firefight, such as glass shattering apart, spent brass cartridges hitting the floor, and the thud of explosions.
F.E.A.R. is one of the most intense and atmospheric games I’ve played on my 360 (which is ironic because a few weeks ago I put it on eBay). It’s an excellent blend of horror and action and features some of the best gunplay around. For these reasons it’s an incredibly intense game. The fact that it’s also one of the creepiest games ever made is just icing on the cake.
Cock-a-doodle
Cock-a-doodle won this on Monday at the Design Week 2007 Awards. How many people* can claim they went to the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton and picked up an award for a site based around doodling cocks. Brilliant.
If you haven’t already, you should really go play with the site here.
*Obviously this doesn’t include Cookie/Knotty/Iain and Peter, who all went to the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton and picked up an award for a site based around doodling cocks.
The foggy Silent Hill
Directed by Christophe Gans and based on the similarly titled games, the initially impressive production design delivers a fairly intriguing (foggy) first act. This is sadly let down by a inexplicably long and mostly irrelevant middle and end.
As a big fan of the games, I was sucked in by the visual reference to it’s spooky digital mother, which is continually impressive. The cinematography from Dan Laustsen, is par with the very best of David Lynch. That however, is where the enjoyment and any slight comparison stops. David Lynch can do it because he is good, this isn’t. I won’t be alone in having been here before, a film (even one by Mr Lynch) will not stand on visual treatment alone.
Rubbish (heavily clichéd) scripting, clunky dialogue and a an overly complicated and incredibily preditable plot are testament to that. On top of all of that Silent Hill is about 45 minutes too long, which means that your tollerance is seriously diminished.
If you like the games, then it’s worth a look - but only for the visual interpretation and don’t say I didn’t tell you.
To be totally honest, I felt a little bit stupid after I’d watched this film. When I initially looked at the box I saw that Sean Bean was among the cast - and I should of know then not to rent it.
Well worth the effort.
Some dude wanted to get the additional 60 Xbox Live gamer points by trudging through 1,000 Death Matches and 1,000 Dark Ops rounds, in Perfect Dark Zero -all without him actually being there.
So he created a robotic dictator that was programmed to simply hit the start and B buttons on a timed interval in order to progress through all the matches needed to snag the oh-so-coveted points.
Makes me wonder what he intends to do with the time he’s saved, I bet he won’t be spending it with friends as I very much doubt he has any.
Lost Planet - 360
Ok, so there are a few points I should raise before I continue with this review.
A) It’s the first game I fired up on my shiny new 40” Bravia HD TV.
B) I am playing on EASY.
C) I have only played the first three levels so far.
So, firstly, Lost Planet is an utterly fantastic looking game (thanks Sony). It rocks, it feels really solid and well crafted and the the frozen cities are truly epic. The visual and lighting effects are also stunning; with some of the finest explosions and smoke I’ve seen in a game to date. Secondly, it’s a bit like being in a sort of chilly version of Starship Troopers, which I think is a pretty fine place to be. Great big monster bug things and guns - good guns. The enemy, weapons and mech design is brilliant, making the title incredibly enjoyable and easy to pick up and play. The controls are tight, intuitive and the game play straightforward. Lost Planet seems to be a fun game, well paced and bursting with action. If I have a complaint, it’s that so far, the game suggests it may well be a tad formulaic. Fight off swarms of Akrid, climb inside a Vital (mech) Suit, tackle yet more Akrid, defeat a boss. Repeat.
But hey, if I wanted variety I’d be playing my Wii.
rubbishcorp® on a psp/wii/ds
Perhaps this will save the psp. Via the wonder of modern technology you can now view this blog on a psp/wii/ds. Imagine. If you’re running wordpress and you want some of the action click here, then all your onlooker can check out your blog - instead of using his console to play enjoyable games on. Brilliant.
They said this would happen
A boy plays space invaders with his mind…
Collective Discharge
Another sublime mash-up from my good friend Mr Lovely and his make-believe friend. Smashing.
Download and enjoy.
Genius
On Kilburn High Road.
Where as cigarettes that are taxed by the government are jam packed full of healthy ingredients, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia. Anyone???
More thinly veiled cynicism from our beloved government.
Morning in my new garden part 2
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
POKE digital chandelier
Built by these guys - http://www.jasonbruges.com/ - it sits above our boardroom table. Interactive and sensitive to moveable diode type things, the light changes as you want it too.
It’s stunning.
Nice animation for Guinness
