LSTAR: What a strangely great idea for a game... We need more voxels, people!

Also, faux Zelda!

THIS HAS BEEN THE SUMMER OF OUR MISSED CONTENT

LSTAR: And with that particularly painful pun out of the way, I'm back!

The Genius of Onomatopoeia

LSTAR: Easily the best thing about being a PC Jockey (other than cheap games and big resolutions) is seeing the bizarre little concepts and gimmicks people work into their mods on an almost hourly basis. From the inspired puzzling of Research and Development, to team based Medieval combat in Age of Chivalry and a thousand others in between (and that's just Half Life). This one may just take the cake by replacing all the pings, clicks and reports of Half Life 2's sound effects with modder Trase's own vocal mimicry. Everything from flicking on a torch to firing a grenade now gleams with the nostalgia of the playground battlefields of old. Oh, and Spaced.

The mod can be downloaded here, and positively begs to be spliced with Action Half Life.

You just don't get this kind of thing on XBox...

Scraping By...

LSTAR: If, like me, you're still waiting on the PC release of Arkham Asylum at the end of next week, don't be glum! Watch Baman Piderman instead!

Interestingly, already in the hands of PC pirates, developers Rocksteady have artificially crippled the game to stop players from progressing beyond a certain point in the story. Looks like Pirates will have to pony up on release day, or at the very least wait on a patch. While not as elegant as Valve's solution (releasing game data early, but withholding crucial executables until release day) it is a discreet reminder that no matter how skilled Crackers are at subverting copy protection, few of them will be up to the task of fixing the game itself (or coding it in the first place...).

As Eidos Admin Keir puts is, "It's not a bug in the game's code, it's a bug in your moral code."

Speechless...

LSTAR: Good Lord... A Playstation advert that doesn't make me vomit furiously!? Or want to beat my face in!? A PS3 pricecut!? And a new slimline PS3!?

This might just be the year of the PS3 after all...

Unlike 2006. And 2007. And 2008.

What a Wonderful Left 4 Dead

LSTAR: There've been a lot of Left 4 Dead themed music videos made recently, but this one in particular made me smile. Wonderful!

Gotta love them "rainbows"...

Firefox Tweaks #1 - Aging Tabs

LSTAR: Being a frequent victim of the scourge of Tabsplosion, I've been looking for ways to cut down on open pages and shorten Firefox's startup times. One of the best solutions I've found is an Extension called Aging Tabs that gradually alters a Tab's appearance based on how long it's been unused (either in seconds, or page changes).

The way I have it set up, tabs change from pale cream to dark grey in 5% increments over the course of 20 minutes of inactivity. Anything that's darkened completely, I can generally assume is safe to close.

How do you keep your browsing under control?

And if you're still stuck using Internet Explorer... I have nothing to say to you...

Studio Engineering

LSTAR:

1 x Twin RCA Coupler - £1.75
1 x Twin RCA Male to 3.5mm Female Lead - £3.40
2 x Post and Packaging - Free

Being Able to Hear the XBox Through My Headphones - Priceless.

At least, that was my approach to overcoming my TV's lack of an Audio Out socket. And it sure beats listening to things through its notoriously bad speakers...

Alien Prequel Comfirmed

Shed: SO SORRY I'VE BEEN GONE.

A new Alien movie has been confirmed, with none other than Ridley Scott at the helm. It's a prequel. Colour me hopeful.

LSTAR: Interesting. At least it's not another damned AvP! There's a reason fanfic isn't usually made into movies...

This Week I Have Mostly Been...

LSTAR: Wow. Scummy update schedule, eh? Anyway, I think I can make a post out of what's stopped me from posting over the past week with a little help from Jesse...

Playing - Ground Control

Massive Entertainment's Magnum Opus seemed to ignore as much of RTS convention as it invented. 3D terrain, that had debuted the year before in Warzone 2100, was seen to full effect with pesky hills getting in the way of barrages of cannon shells and what not. With no economy, resource gathering or base building (units being limited to between 3 and 12 depending on how many dropships were available for a given mission) battles boiled down to pure tactics. Units had to be positioned to complement each other, avoid damage and (more importantly) minimize friendly fire. Juggling tank squadrons, pulling back units for repair and constantly trying to outmaneuver the opposition makes for incredibly compelling skirmishes. Graphically still holding up nicely today despite a somewhat hideous UI. All wrapped up in a Hard Sci-fi plot that's basically Starship Trooper, minus the bugs.

Reading - A Clash of Kings

George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire saga continues it's descent into GrimDark with more senseless violence, depravity and smart Fantasy writing. A slightly slower pace than the first volume with an interesting look into some of the Religions of Westeros.

Listening - Spotify

I can't really nail this down to any one album or even artist. I've been listening to everything from Chopin's Noctures through Gnarls Barkley's Odd Couple through to even poppier numbers like La Roux's La Roux and Röyksopp's Night Out. If there's one thing I can say about Spotify, it really does help with breaking down your inhibitions.

Watching - Movies!

I went to see Moon this week. It's very Clarke (high praise in my books) and looks a lot like a cross between 2001 and Dark Star. I also managed to see a screening of The Blues Brothers which was epic, as always.

I've got a few days off work now, so I'll try to come with something interesting to say...

WebComics - Garfield Minus Garfield

LSTAR: As I'm sure is the case for quite a few of the Internet savvy crowd, I lose a not-insignificant chunk of my day to following a few webcomics. From impractical self-help guides, to the occasional flash of nerdy brilliance... But every so often you come across something so bizarre it's hard to explain why its so compelling...


Dan Walsh's Garfield Minus Garfield is one such strip. Walsh's continuing mission is to take original strips from Jim Davis' Garfield and photoshop out all references to the eponymous Garfield, leaving only the support characters to continue alone in a confusing and empty existence. The result, understandably, shows Jon, the original strip's other central character, as such a freaking sociopath it's hard not to laugh.


And the rest of the comedy is simply wondering what the original joke was supposed to be... I'm not sure I'll ever get round to finding out though... I mean, Garfield's not really my cup of tea.

Senor Deskophant is born!

LSTAR: Not quite appropriate, I know, given that we're still in the middle of July, but I've just taken delivery of a whole pile of computer components, over a week early. And since I've got a day off tomorrow, I feel much tinkering will be done...

Nothing like 17 kilograms of silicon and assorted metals to get you in that jolly mood...

Anyone who's interested, the new specs are as follows -

Intel Q6700 @ 4x3Ghz (or really, as high as I can push them)
ATI HD 4890 PCS+
4 GB OCZ RAM @ 1066Mhz
1TB Samsung Eco Drive
DFI LANParty X48
And a few other, less important bits and bobs,
All wrapped up in a surprisingly attractive Antec 300 case
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

BANned?

LSTAR: Last night Blizzard, of Diablo and assorted Craft fame, came out with one of the most baffling statements I've seen in a long time. It seems that Starcraft II, the second iteration in the insanely popular sci-fi RTS series, will be dropping LAN support. What's that? LAN support? You need support for a LAN!?

Yup, it seems that when SCII launches at some as yet undisclosed time in the next year, multiplay will only be possible via Blizzard's revamped Battle.net system.

Wow. I'd never really thought of LAN play as a feature, it's just always been there. Ever since Doom we've had the opportunity to bring together a cluster of computers together and let the good times roll.

Now one game, albeit a blockbuster, isn't going to be that much of a big deal to most people. The scary thing is that the decision makes a hell of a lot of sense, and could easily become that much more common in the future.

The big appeal of the LAN, at least other than having all your buddies there beside you for easy access goading (mileage may vary depending on friend quality...), was that in the dark ages of 56k and 28.8k modems, you weren't relying on bouncing (relatively slow) signals to your friends, waiting for the reply and generally being pissed off by the devil Lag. Connection was fast and smooth in a way we never dreamt the internet could provide. These days, with more and more of my acquaintances getting 20Mb and even faster internet connections this is becoming less and less of an issue. We were able to have a quite comfortable 4 man game of Team Fortress on an internet server a while back with no noticeable issues.

The real issue, at least in Blizzard's corporate perspective, is the ever-present scourge of Piracy (Yarrrrr!). When the Ethernet cables go in and internet goes off, anything goes. Phone-home scripts have no where to call, CD key checks are easily spoofed and there is next to no evidence. While normally a fairly clean-cut, straight edge digital denizen, I'll admit on numerous occasions to sharing around a full game on a memory stick. To me it's not much different to syncing an extra controller to my 360. Just adding another player into a game I own and have payed good money to enjoy. And on quite a few occasions it's even convinced people to buy games I'm sure they'd never have considered without the gratuitous taster of a free copy. But, of course, I'm pretty certain Blizzard don't see it that way... To most sales execs, anyone playing a borrowed copy is someone who won't be handing over money at a till any time soon. Something they, whether correctly or incorrectly, want to avoid.

Connecting through Battle.net will of course mean that every player will need not only a directory full of ones and zeros, but a genuine, unique CD key to play. Somehow I find it hard to believe that some of my less PC savvy friends will be able to justify the expense of a game they may play once a month at best...

But it is an interesting situation. Play an RPG and you hardly expect everyone to pick up a Player's Guide; pay for cable and you hardly expect to be charged extra to let your friends come over and watch a movie... Less and less now are we treating videogames as "products" and more as "licenses to use services". How far is too far?

Great job Blizzard. It seems you may have taken a damn good shot at killing off one of the best parts of Freebooting. Playing the damn games.

Shed: You're getting very good Lstar. This article is excellent, if not too epic. Keep it up xox.

Well, I suppose for as long as it takes for Razor or some other bunch of aspiring "info-terrorists" to rig up a working keygen...

What're You Buying?

LSTAR: As you've probably seen, Sehane at the moment is a bit of a General Interest blog. By which I mean, we write about things we find generally interesting without any real sense of focus.

Not that we pay much attention to criticism (hey, that's our job!) I thought it might be prudent to ask you folks what you want us to focus on.



And yes, you may vote for multiple categories.

Missed Playing Resident Evil on the PS1?

LSTAR: Great! Now you don't have to, thanks to this hi-definition/hi-fidelity remake!

Dan Deacon - Bromeister

"I've Been Wrong So Many Times Before - But Never Quite Like This."

LSTAR: Dan Deacon has always been a favourite of mine ever since Spiderman of the Rings found its way into my CD Drive. So far, Bromst - his latest effort - hasn't disappointed, mixing the classic elements of his previous work with a hitherto undisplayed maturity. Wheras Spiderman was very much an Ode to Playtime and Milk and Cookies, Bromst, while keeping the fun jungley jingles and overall insanity, shows a much more complex side to Deacon. Richer, more organic and ultimately more listenable.

Also, the fact that people can now overlay their comments on the actual videos on YouTube is as exciting as it is sickening. A new venue for expression, a new venue for people to ruin...

SteamWatch - Zeno Clash and Dark Messiah

LSTAR: This week's Steam Deals (Steals?) are two flawed favourites from the Archives of Sehane. While arguably not worth the full entrance fee, with 50% off on both titles they should become a lot more appealing to even the most cynical of reader...

On the one hand, Zeno Clash, the jewel of Chile's game development scene, an insane romp through a prehistoric world via the medium of kicking, punching and stomping. It feels very much like a cross between a modern shooter and one of the sidescrolling classics of the 90s like Streets of Rage or Double Dragon. At £7.49, while not an essential purchase it should be considered, especially if you find the possibility of kneeing an Elephantman in face even slightly tempting. The newly released (free) DLC also helps to lessen the painful briefness of it all.

On the other, fantastically grim fantasy action courtesy of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Leaving its dusty RPG roots behind, Dark Messiah is an all Kicking all Stabbing action-game with nary a dice-roll in sight. Fun and compelling virtually the whole way through (with the exception of the Goddamn Evil Spiders...)At £3, this source-powered gem is an absolute steal and I'd be hard pressed not to recommend it to anyone. Easily amongst the top 5 games I played last year, Metacritic be damned.

Buy it. Now. Twice.

Sehane Review Here.

Layar - Reality, Augmented.

LSTAR: In my steady march towards renaming this the "Things that are Kinda Like Shadowrun Blog", this caught my eye. An Augmented Reality system deigned for Andoroid-powered mobile-phones and (soon) the iPhone 3GS. Through a mixture of GPS, Electronic Compass, Internet and Camera technologies, items of interest are highlighted on your camera's view by AROs (Augmented Reality Objects), with more information available with a touch.

While this demo seems mostly focused on real estate (and who isn't focused on real estate?) the Application can cover Bars, Hotels, Restaurants and pretty much anything else worth adding to the database. Although the currently released edition only covers the Netherlands, "Layars" for other countries, including America and Britain, are promised by the end of the year.

Although staring into your mobile might seem like an impractical way to get around town (not that most of us don't do this anyway already...), this could make for a perfect excuse to ditch those tourist guides further afield. And hey, it can't be long now until true Optical Implants...

iEye... I can see it now...

GameWatch: Prototype Review

LSTAR: This week I got Prototype. This week I finished Prototype. That should tell you two key facts off the bat: It's very compelling, but oh so very short. While such a short campaign would be easier to forgive in Corridor Shooter X, in a free-roaming game like Prototype, isn't 70% of your time spent travelling from place to place anyway? I guess it's in Prototype's favour then that transport is so well done. A little like Assassin's Creed, if Altair was able to fly and didn't have to worry about falling off things...

Loved

That's a lot of... "Fisting" action...: With 5 biological forms of hand-to-hand (or tentacle-to-hand) combat, not to mention an array of handheld weaponry, there's no shortage of ways to make yourself felt on the shifting battlefields of New York City. From the slow and heavy Hammerfists to the lithe, lethal Blade it's easy to find a favourite. Although I settled into using the awesome Whipfists for most situations, the fact that the game kicks in a burst of slowmo upon opening the radial Powers Menu makes it easy to mix things up when the circumstances demand it.



The Venn Diagrams of War: As the game goes on, the two factions occupying NYC move their areas of influence, based in part on your actions. Reduce a Marine staging point to rubble? Chances are the boys in khaki aren't going to be securing the Upper West Side any time soon. Light up an Infected Hive with a thermobaric device and soon there'll be tanks running roughshod over disease ridden corpses. Some of the best scenes in the game occur when the two factions' areas of influence overlap. Soldiers, mutants, monsters, tanks, helichoppers get to it, while civilians flee and you take advantage of the distraction.

Man-Glider: One of Mercer's most useful and awe-inspiring powers is his ability to glide. While not capable of true flight, running vertically up the side of a skyscraper, leaping off the top and swooping to your destination, bouncing from rooftop to rooftop like some sort of urban flying squirrel is almost better.


Close to Home: Even with all the virulent imagery and state brutality, the most disturbing thing is watching pedestrians walk through central park and blocks of traffic honk their way through rush hour when barely five blocks away, in a neighbouring district, you can hear the sound of frantic gunfire. After all, how close would we let a pandemic come before taking notice?

How... Intriguing: The Web of Intrigue is a very interesting way of letting the player unravel the story of Prototype. While, in function it's not too different to the Journal Entries that have been cluttering up corridors with prevailing frequency since they appeared in Bioshock, the WoI has a much stronger flavour. With Mercer's ability to consume enemies, both body and soul, it makes tremendous sense for him to investigate his predicament by snatching persons of interest from the street. In any case, these mobile memory banks make a Hella lot more sense than assuming that everyone of importance will pour their hearts and souls into a diary any could stumble across... Oh wait.

These Times, They Are A Changin': It's also interesting just watching the City change over the course of the campaign. Seeing increasing numbers of soldiers patrolling the safer districts, propaganda posters ("Do YOU Know The Signs?") being pasted over adverts for TV shows and perfumes, then being defaced when people realize that the closest thing to a cure is a Tactical Nuclear Missile.

Hated

Haven't I Seen you Round Here Before?: For a game that's supposed to be about a dynamically evolving super-virus there's a disturbing lack of variation. Pedestrians are decently mixed (not that you ever pay much attention to them) with a variety of ethnicities and styles, but the meat of your enemies, the Military forces have less than a dozen different models, the Infected only 3 or 4. It's really is hard to see why Radical didn't just alter the existing civilian models for their Infected counterparts.

Deja Vu Demolitions: Bizarrely, while Marine Outposts and Infected Hives move across the city throughout the campaign, they always, without fail, settle in the same type of building. It's a real shame that with all the sky-scrapers, warehouses, sports stadiums and apartment blocks in Manhattan that the Infection always infests the same, dull, squat building. Always.

Fightin' Der Final Boss: The final boss is, well...
A: Frankly Unnecessary.
B: A Repetition of a Previous Boss.
C: Set Against a Timer.
D: Barely a fifth the size of the boss that came before it.
It's hard to think of any Golden Rules it doesn't break...

The villain's gambit is also faintly ridiculous...
Villain: "Don't kill me! Only I know the code for the missile!"
Mercer: "I can eat people to learn what they know!"
Villain: "Oh no! A Big monster!"
Mercer: "Let's fight!"


All in all, Prototype is an immensely enjoyable experience. Any technical or design quibbles are quickly swept under the carpet when you realize just how much power the game is offering you. By the end of the campaign you're swatting helicopters like flies, taking out entire squads of infantry with a single sweep of you fists and sending people flying like ten-pins just by running past them. While the Web of Intrigue does provide a bit of extra content, longevity will still be the deciding point for most people. That is, people who aren't already completely sold on becoming a cross between Wolverine, The Hulk and the Common Cold.

Care to nitpick?

Scribblenauts: Child-friendly Badassery?

Scribblenauts at IGN.com

Shed: Sorry for the hiatus, folks, been too busy playing games to write about 'em!

So here's Scribblenauts, a new puzzle/action/platformer from 5th Cell, to be released later this year on DS. The concept behind the game is that "anything you write, you can use". So with the DS stylus, you can write the name of an object, and it will spawn: you can then place it where you want in the game world and it will behave as it would in real life (or in fiction as the case may be.) The aim is to collect Mario-esque stars to complete the 200+ stages and challenges the game contains, in any way your imagination can think of.

The example in this E3 demo is one of the most badass things I've ever seen:

He makes Cthulhu. He makes God. He gives god a skateboard. And a shotgun. He makes them fight (to make it an... even battle?!) I'd be incredibly worried if a kid put in "Cthulhu", but seriously... Awesome? Yes.