Saturday, March 31, 2012

Daniel X


this series is downright stupid. a study in cliches. worst of all, you can tell when Patterson's (good) writing stops and Ledwidge's (terrible) writing begins. James Patterson can (and might i add, should) go back to the beginning and rewrite this whole thing. ALONE. the entire series is filled with the same repetition and some bad jokes. i don't mean distasteful. i mean TERRIBLE. one more thing wrong is some of the interaction and response doesn't even make sense! in one chapter Daniel is taking a taxi to some place and the guy asks him why he's there and he say's it's his job, "lettuce shredder at taco bell." he'd have done better by having him say "I'm an alien hunter!" usually you see continuity from one book in a series to the next. not in this. the continuity from chapter to chapter doesn't even fit! normally when going from book to movie they leave out stuff that needs to be in, or else change things for the worse. not for this. i don't think they could make this series any worse. in my opinion they can only go up! (seeing as they started at the bottom, there is no place else to go) i got the first one in audiobook form from my library. some of the filler and stupidity didn't come off so bad but in the book it just seemed stupid! the thing that got me interested in this was the first chapter being printed in the back of Maximum Ride Manga. the library didn't have that so i got the audiobook. after listening to the book i got a hard copy from the library and found that what just seemed odd in the audiobook was actually cliche after cliche! i tried to read the second one but found that even with a different co-author it wasn't any better! this series is not recommended unless it is rewritten by Patterson. ALONE. it gets a 0.7* rating. when i find the  manga novels i will probably rate them better.

one more thing, in the necessary rewrite, make it so that Daniel's sister escapes with him, it would make more sense. also, make the other alien kids so they all find each other on earth, and maybe make the gun that #6 uses the actual gun used by #1 to kill Dan's parents! as well as not swapping out non graphic swearing for crap that makes no sense!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Star Wars: The Old Republic

off topic, blogger changed it's interface, which is annoying. on topic,
                                         Star Wars: The Old Republic:
i bought a brand new PC a while ago, 1TB HDD, 3GB RAM, 2.40GHz AMD CPU, pretty good deal for only 300 (i plan to upgrade it when the warranty is up). it runs World of Warcraft without a hitch. can't say the same for SWTOR. i had to download for at least two, three weeks to get the fully patched client. it takes up about 40, 50 GBs on my hard drive. i have been signed up for this thing since before it was in beta test. i was signed up to be a beta tester and didn't make the cut. oh well, i moved on. then i got an eMail in my inbox offering me a seven day free trial for the game. ok, i downloaded the main client (25GBs) and then it wanted to patch. i have DSL, so speeds are better than dialup, slower than cable internet. it took me over three weeks to get the client patches downloaded. i had to call customer support to get them to reset my trial until i had the download finished. then the real trouble started. first i get kicked from the server while designing my character. then, when i do manage to enter the game, it's so slow i have to change the settings. then i wind up with a choice: crappy, choppy graphics and readable text. or crappy and choppy graphics, and illegible text. my PC more than meets the minimum system requirements, and i have a decent internet connection. why then does this game that is supposed to be the greatest star wars RPG manage to make it feel like my PC is a windows 98 trying to run a windows vista program on maximum settings? this game is only free for a week or three days depending on how you got the trial. WoW (amongst others) is free to play up to a level cap or (for some others) completely free! i will not recommend this unless they make the game easier to play graphics wise, and free to play, as well as a smaller download/patch size. they could isolate the RPG format and use online play for PVP and dungeon/boss fights, but they probably won't for now this gets a 1.7* rating. if i had actually bought the physical copy of the game when it came out (which i was sorely tempted to do) i would have been very unhappy. the only redeeming quality is the opening cinematic's (amazing picture and sound, better than some movies) which is why i kept it above a 1.0*, but below a 2.0* this game will not be worth playing for the average consumer, or RPG lover until they start on some major patching. this game reminded me why i do my heavy gaming on my consoles! if they port it to Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 i might buy it as long as they do not charge me to utilize multiplayer gaming. when this is completely F2P i will upgrade the rating and when this has a better way of managing it's graphics i will upgrade it again, but for now, it get's a low rating. i hope that KOTOR 1&2 were better, cus now i am ticked off at bioware for this game. it might not be bioware's fault and completely EAs, butfor now, i will shy away from bioware until i find a reason not to. Electronic Arts has a bad rep with a lot of gamers so it could just be on their end.

bones has been renewed for another season!

i just got word that Bones (read earlier posts if you do not know what it is) has been renewed for an eighth season! that means the best forensic drama on TV is locked and loaded for more action!

Wii



what can be said about the Wii? it had motion control before kinect and PSMove. it has some great games, it might not have 1080p HD graphics, but it's the best console for sale. motion+ means it duplicates motion 1:1. otherwise motion control is shoddy at best. my Wii is definitely a great console. if you are planning on getting a Wii get an older vertical one so you can play gamecube games as well, and not have to spend money on classic controller pros. if you get extra Wii remotes you should get the ones with motion+ built in because the addon is sloppy and adds weight and makes the already tough job of removing the jacket to insert batteries even harder:

here's an example of the difference between the addon and the built in version in case you don't already know:


. it might not be able to play DVDs or CDs but then that's why you get a DVD player isn't it?
when you need more memory (you will, the internal memory is lil more than half a gigabyte) you will need to purchase a 32 gigabyte SD card (any will work, but the capacity is obviously greater) a series of articles on SD cards and flash drives is in the works. when i run some through tests i will post what is best here but for now i am reviewing the Wii. you'll want to keep virtual console, Wiiware and game saves on the SD card and leave the main memory for online multiplayer saves, and channels you use frequently. you will want to reserve an amount of space on the memory for transferable saves since the Wii cannot run them from the Sd card. as for Miis (avatars for games like Wii sports and some wiiware) you will want to keep one persons Miis on their remote, and another persons on theirs. speaking of Wiiware and virtual console (Wiiware is download games made for Wii and VC is older games for older consoles ported to the Wii) you will need an internet connection to download them (as well as internet for multiplayer) a minimum of DSL is recommended and works fine for me. you will also need to purchase Wii points to buy old games, and Wiiware ( if you already know this it's fine to skip it. i'm just covering my bases here) one gripe i have about it is you cannot just take VC, Wiiware, channels, and multiplayer saves from one wii to the next, so you will want to find a way to clone the memory (WARNING! THAT MAY VOID THE WARRANTY On THE WII YOU ARE CLONING AND THE ONE YOU ARE TRANSFERRING IT TO!!!!!!!) or buy an extended warranty ( or wait until you experience problems to register your Wii with club nintendo.

all in all, this is a great system. FPS games are insanely easy to aim, sword fighting games actually feel like you are swinging a sword, and the platformers replace button mashing (for the most part) with motion control. if you want a real workout from it you will need to get ankle and wrist weights, as well as purchase a zumba, just dance, or Wii Fit game. the Wii is the most reliable of the seventh generation of home consoles, and i have had nintendo games a long time, call me pre decided on this, but the Wii is by far the best console you can finds for everyone. with games for young children and hard core players alike, this console gets a 10.1* rating. the cheapest one in stores is 99.99 USD, and you can get ones with several games bundled on eBay for a lot less. this is by far the best console i could have purchased.

photo credit(s) Wikipedia.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

amending my two and a half men review

there was a few week lapse in the regular stupidity and insanity that was a staple of the show before Kutcher joined it. and they seem to have turned it back into the original and are trying to turn Ashton Kutcher into Charlie Sheen! my advice to Kutcher: either get them to change the scripting or leave the show altogether, because one Charlie Sheen is enough. doesn't CBS realize that what they are doing to the show now is what got them nearly canceled last time around?

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

how the xbox 360 could end microsoft's decade (give or take) long foray into the gaming market

We all heard what they said about Kinect. that it would extend the XB360s lifespan into and beyond 2015. but with the 360s bad track record (RROD, E74, shredded discs. need I go on?) even with the release of the Xbox 360 S it still has problems. It doesn't take a hardware designer or even owning the Xbox 360 (which i don't) to know that it is an insanely crappy system! Take a look at the Wikipedia page for the Xbox 360s problems! it might have good games, it might have a good network, but by 2015 it will be operating on dated equipment. nintendo has already release an 8Gen handheld and the 8Gen home console is not far behind. nintendo's new hardware, coupled with it's reliability and total backwards compatibility on the hardware side, and nintendos WiFi connection, Wii connect24, and Sony's PSN for Vita/PS3 on the networking side (both free as opposed to XBL which requires a sub to use multiplayer) will trump it in my humble opinion. In the end it all boils down to this: no accessory, no matter how good will save a console running on dated hardware. So unless I need to own an Xbox 360 and kinect to understand something, Microsoft will probably be out of the game in 2015. I guess that by the time it gets to that point, (if trends follow) nintendo will have a 9Gen handheld out and a 9Gen home console will be soon to follow. if I am wrong and I prove myself wrong or get proven wrong I will retract this. but for now, my opinion stands that if Microsoft does not design new hardware soon, they will be signing the death warrant for their console business.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Full review of Skyward Sword

Okay, continuing with the last review, I have since finished Skyward Sword and started in on Hero Mode. I have to say, the game is amazing, and I definitely recommend it. The main quest, which is amazing enough isn't even half of the whole game! Like the original Zelda, Ocarina of Time, and Wind Waker before it, it includes a masterquest, but unlike OoT or TLZ, the world is not rearranged or flipped.
The enemies DO do twice as much damage AND you can't get hearts by going to a flower.
Occasionally you can get them by killing enemies and slashing pots, grass, etc if you have the heart medal. You can only use potions, sleep, or sitting on a stool, seat, bench, or stump.
This game is a must buy for the Wii.
And now to mention something I found while browsing the internet. One other critic I found was saying they needed to include classic controller or gamecube support. My question is, how they would implement the control? With the C-Stick for the sword? How would you stab? Yeah, I digress, there is nothing wrong with the Motion+, but  you do need to get the Wii Remote+, not the Motion+ addon for a better response out of the controller. If the motion controls seem off, you will need to use the 1 menu and use the "Calibrate Motion Plus" button.Iif you avoid the Lanayru gorge until after you finish the other two song quests you can avoid the game killing bug, but then that's what the Skyward Sword Save Update channel is for isn't it? Or you could just finish the hylian shield quest and the song quest and not talk to the goron in the gorge again until you finish the other two.
All in all, there is nothing wrong with this game that nintendo has not fixed and there is everything right with it! Go out and buy this game, you won't regret it! Skyward Sword is simply massive, intuitive, and amazing!

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