Category Archives: Phokal

pLayday: 3/11 – Halo 3

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Aliens

pLayday: 3/11 – Halo 3

Alright. After last weeks showing, we all learned a valuable lesson:

Space Marines > Marines

Sure, CoD4 may be the new CounterStrike, but it doesn’t have splitscreen. That’s what happens when you are a PC game ported to consoles, rather than a console game. (Console games ported to PC just have ridiculous system requirements).

So let’s go back to a nice staple: Halo 3

Depending on the number of people we get, we can either matchmake, play private matches, or campaign co-op. Any preferences?

I finally beat: Kane and Lynch

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Kane and Lynch

I finally beat: Kane and Lynch

A little late for this review, but it will draw inevitable parallels to Army of Two. In order to have those parallels, I have to discuss Kane and Lynch first.

This game got lynched in the reviews. Receiving fairly “eh” to poor scores, not to mention the whole Gamespot fiasco (where a reviewer coincidentally gave the game a low score, ads were removed, and then he, after 10 years, was fired within 24 hours or so). The game was made by the Hitman team in the vain of their other project: Freedom Fighters (which received a very high ~9.6 at Gamespot and is an excellent game). So, where did Kane and Lynch go wrong? Well, first you’d have to prove it did go wrong. Continue reading →

N+ is fucking hard

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PBF - Little Mac

N+ is fucking hard

Seriously. It’s very hard. Call of Duty 4 on Veteran? You have AI friends to help you through the hard parts. You have a GUN. In N+? Your only weapon is a self-sacrificing friend in co-op to blow themselves up on some mines. That, and you can jump. Not ON to anything, mind you, ala Mario. Touching them will kill you. But you can jump over them at least. Unless they home in on your position / lock-on and track you.

Still, it has been getting great reviews for its 4 player co-op-ability. And in this regards, the game is excellent. The game has a stick (go left and right), and a button (jump). You can give the controller to anybody and they will understand what to do. More so than Mario Party, Halo, Raving Rabbids, Rock Band, or any of those other Party Games. The games difficulty may turn some people off, but as long as it is not taken too seriously it is hilarious to watch failure as rag doll parts clear an entire mine field for the rest of your team.

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pLayday: 3/4 – Call of Duty 4

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CoD4 Price

pLayday: 3/4 – Call of Duty 4

I know it isn’t split-screen (and online simultaneously), and not everyone owns it. But Halo 3 two weeks in a row seems a bit lame when most of us have this game. It’s a low hp, high speed match. Think Counterstrike. Larger maps a decent teamplay help a lot. Getting the drop on somebody generally leads to a free kill (much more so often than in Halo).

Experience gained in online matches also directly relates to new class skills, abilities, and guns. There is also a party system similar to Halo’s (though I have yet to use it). It should be fun.

There are many different types of game modes. If anyone has any info on them, or preferences for what we play, post away.

don't tell me the ending to: The Simpson's Game

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Bart Simpson Chalkboard

don’t tell me the ending to: The Simpson’s Game

Player 2 doesn’t get achievements. This game is fun, but I can’t imagine playing it single player. Combined, these two facts can kill this game for many of you. I, however, have a couple friends who don’t have 360’s and couldn’t give two shits about achievements. Lucky me.

The game itself is cartoony, but hardly pretty. I haven’t had a chance to try it, but from the game trailers the Naruto game does better cell shading. The game does contain animated cartoon clips for cinematics, which are in all their hd glory. Combined with the humor (and the graphics certainly aren’t bad), the game has a charming presentation. Nothing like running through the “Game Engine” level, where video games are made, passing posters of EA’s Bite Night 2004 (Tyson on the cover), and a skeleton’s in EA’s QA Dept.

It also has made me laugh. I know. I haven’t seen the Simpson’s movie yet, but the show certainly hasn’t done that in awhile. We, the gamers, are certainly the target audience. One of the many level collectibles are “Cliches.” These include things like “Swimming: you can’t swim until the sequel.” or “Exploding Barrels” and “Invisible Barriers.” Each time you find one Comic Book Guy comes up and delivers a clever line of dialog. Greatest gaming references. Ever.

I’ve been having fun with it. The running around Springfield section they brought over from Hit and Run is fairly useless, and completely unfun from a gameplay standpoint. But, the actual levels are classic brawler/platformer levels. It is Lego Star Wars fun without being Lego Star Wars. And we all know we’ve played that game pretty much to death already (released 3 times now?).

pLayday: 2/25 – Halo 3

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Halo Rocket

pLayday: 2/25 – Halo 3

I hear Halo 3 has been patched. So I throw the disc in. Lo and behold, the first patch for Halo 3 is upon us. And from the servers descended thy AutoUpdate 1, patching ye Halo 3 to version 1 point 1. As it is written:

“omg, did j00 fixz melee, bungholes?”

“Yes. We have patched Halo to 1 point 1. Now Melee damage will no longer favor the advantaged over the disadvantaged, the strong over the weak. Now they will both perish in a flurry of fists if they are of almost equal skill and health. So, shutup n00bs.”

And the peasants rejoiced.

Continue reading →

CoD4 Progress Report #1

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CoD4 Grenades

CoD4 Progress Report #1

I’ve slowly been making my way through Call of Duty 4 on Veteran (the hardest) difficulty setting. It isn’t too bad, except for a few key sequences that are exceptionally hard. Ridiculously hard. omg-i’m-going-to-beat-QA-to-death-with-my-controller hard.

Seriously.

If I meet someone who tested these sequences,… they better hope they have quick load handy.

At this point, I am generally abusing the fact that my AI compatriots are invulnerable. I try to have them breach and clear the house first, since if I turn a corner and actually see someone the only breaching done is the kind that keeps you in the shower scrubbing yourself raw and mumbling.

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Get hyped for: Dark Sector

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Guyver

Watch for: Dark Sector

Normally, I go around and tell all my friends about hyped games, or games I think that just about anybody would like (if given a chance).

Then there are the games that I follow that I don’t really tell anybody about. I don’t think everyone should play them. They probably won’t be 9.0+ games. But who cares? These are games I think look interesting to me, and you may think so too.

To kick this off: Dark Sector.

This game looks damn violent and damn fun. Two words: Guyver, and “Predator-disc-weapon.”

…

Okay, so I cheated on that disc weapon. And it is doubtful anyone knows Guyver (either the anime, or the live action american films). I’ve seen large chunks of both. They are both awesome in a very 80’s action kind of way. Think Ninja Turtles movies, but with blades on the elbows.

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Who crunches numbers better? PC, Mac, PS3?

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Number Munchers

Who crunches numbers better? PC, Mac, PS3?

PC running as a hackintosh, PS3 running a linux variant (unbuntu, or yellowdog?), and the mac running whatever the newest version is, because Steve Jobs told you these new features are needed.

=Seth-

So, I’m looking for the best workstation style flops/$ for parallel computing. Any suggestions? 8 cores good, 16 better. I was thinking of going with a Mac Pro for $2800. 8×2.8 GHz Harpertown cores & 2 GB ECC RAM. Student discount takes off another 10-20%.

=Detnap-

Hello Mr Seth,Have you thought about getting a ps3 for your project? The PS3 has about 200 gflop from the cpu PlayStation 3’s Cell CPU achieves 204 GFLOPS single precision float, maybe 15 for double precision, while a 8 core is around 50 gflop.

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Trilogies – Engine reuse without the Guilt?

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Matrix Revolution

Trilogies – Engine reuse without the Guilt?

Look. Not everything needs a sequel. Most things should not be designed with the intent of spreading out content. Yes, yes, episodic content is all the rage right now, but the development cycles aren’t there yet. Just look at Valve and their “HalfLife episodes 1-3 = HalfLife3” I bet you their next HalfLife sure as shit isn’t called HalfLife 4. Just because Lord of the Rings did it does NOT mean everyone should be able to sell the same thing 3 times. The reason LoTR did it is because it is a 12 hour movie. You offer me that much more substantial and new content in a trilogy and I’ll be pleased. The problem is: this isn’t happening. The 2nd and 3rd titles each have only a year of turn around, and are rushed to the holiday market. They lack the polish the original had, look and do no better than the original, and are only an extension. They aren’t a sequel, they are an expansion pack. See: amazing “Baldur’s Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal.”

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