Wednesday, June 29, 2011
SONOIO
SONOIO - Enough from Alessandro Cortini on Vimeo.
enough
Ready for another remedy
Maybe not as good as used to be
I will be back tomorrow
Moments stalling for my destiny
Ready for another remedy
I'm not myself today
Making a scene in the pouring rain
Doesn't make a difference cause I've had enough
And all the things I need to say
Never make it out cause I've had enough
And everything I do today
Nothing gets done cause it's not enough
And I've had enough of everything
Tried to make it right and I'm wrong again
I'm afraid of everything
Everything's out cause I've had enough
And I don't believe in anything
Doesn't really matter cause I've had enough
And everything I do today
Fades away
Going nowhere with your strategy
Sit down, relapse, relax you got nowhere to be
I'm running from another
Running from another side of me
Maybe not as good as it used to be
I'm not myself today
Making a scene in the pouring rain
Doesn't make a difference cause I've had enough
And all the things I need to say
Never make it out cause I've had enough
And everything I do today
Nothing gets done cause it's not enough
And I've had enough of everything
Tried to make it right and I'm wrong again
I'm afraid of everything
Everything's out cause I've had enough
And I don't believe in anything
Doesn't really matter cause I've had enough
And everything I do today
Everything I do, it fades away
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
good piece, seriously
Most of us knew this was coming, but for many that knowledge didn’t make Ned’s death any easier. For fans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, this was the seminal moment. The death of Eddard Stark was a wakeup call to every person holding that book in their hands—no matter what you were used to, no matter what came before, no matter how certain you were in the tropes and the traditions of fantasy writing—this was when you sat up, eyes wide. This was when those safe little Belgariad stories suddenly looked harmless and trite. This put fear into you. If this guy could die…
They did it again. They did it on your TV set. You’ve read and heard the various reactions. Shock. Disbelief. Anger. Sadness. And more than a few calls to boycott the series because of it.
What greater compliment can be paid to the man that played Ned Stark?
The impact Sean Bean had on this show is almost too large to be expressed. For us here at Winter Is Coming he is especially significant, because Phil broke the story of his casting days before anyone else had it. You could say Sean Bean helped put us on the map. We were excited because, prior to that, we had almost assumed the soon-to-be sprawling cast would be filled with no-names, new actors, and character actors, plus or minus Peter Dinklage. Sean Bean taking the role was monumental.
He brought with him his own loyal and passionate fanbase, of course, and he brought some peripheral nerd cred, having carved himself a nice period / fantasy niche playing roles like Richard Sharpe, and Boromir of Gondor. And he brought real acting chops too; he was the sort of actor who didn’t mind getting his hands filthy, outspokenly preferring gritty, physical, sweaty horse-and-sword epics. Sean famously hiked miles up the side of a mountain during filming of The Fellowship of the Ring in full costume, armor and all, rather than take a helicopter to the elevated shoot (dude apparently hates helicopters).
I liked that his female fanbase was especially impressive, and he seems to appeal to a wide array of age groups (Lady Chatterly may have had something to do with that). Which is sort of funny, since Sean isn’t a Hugh Grant smoothie; he’s a Sheffield guy (“Blades for Life!”) at heart, a dude’s dude, and a man of few words who apparently doesn’t mind getting into it and throwing down every so often. (Sean “got into it” just a few days ago, in fact.)
(Is that normal in the UK? If a fight erupts in a bar here in the US, police are everywhere and lawyers are hungrily rubbing their hands together, looking for lawsuits.)
But I have to say this too: while the other Winter Is Coming writers celebrated the casting, I was personally doubtful, and expressed it a few times.
Sean Bean, to me, was the antithesis of a Ned Stark; Sean was known for playing angst-ridden, conflicted and outwardly emotional men. I was accustomed to seeing him with his heart on his sleeve, and Ned Stark was stoic and impenetrable. I saw this role as a monumental challenge for him.
But boy did he step up. So much so that I can’t picture anyone else in the role; his mark was indelible. It’s not a coincidence that he’s been submitted for an Emmy. This could very well have been his greatest, most nuanced performance to date. Whether squinting irritably at Jaime Lannister, or speaking tenderly with Arya, Sean showed us how deeply a stoic man could feel. If there’s anything more triumphant in acting than completely changing someone’s idea of who you should be, I don’t know of it.
Sean was the backbone of this story. Now the challenge will be seeing it without him.
Finally, we can’t talk about Sean’s portrayal of Ned without talking about the death scene. His performance in “Baelor”—an episode named not for the great sept, in my view, but for the single word he uttered to save Arya’s life—was riveting. You can put it down as one of the most tragic deaths in film or television. Top five, assuredly, and that list for me includes what he did with Boromir of Gondor.
What else can compare? Something from The Sopranos? Serenity? Grave of the Fireflies? The English Patient? In The Bedroom? Old Yeller? Maybe.
It comes down to the fact that we, the fans of A Song of Ice and Fire, got more than we ever expected from Ned Stark. And thanks to Sean Bean, the new fans of Game of Thrones got the exact same punch in the gut George R.R. Martin gave us. If not more.
Sean brought greatness to the most important role in this, the television series we always hoped we would see. It’s perhaps shallow to say this is something we “live and die” for—strange, really, in these tough times—but it’s certainly one of our primary passions. We worried at times that they wouldn’t be able to do our beloved story justice. How could they? This momentous scene at the feet of Baelor, in particular.
I wondered if Sean could show me the things I saw in my mind’s eye. I wanted to see Ned.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Well he did better than that. I saw Ned all season, and at the end I saw one of the greatest exits in television history.
What else can you say to that, other than … Take your bow, Sean. This one is the most deserved.
via winteriscoming.net
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Has Transforming Moogles, Recruitable Monsters and Rap
I've always thought that Final Fantasy XIII didn't get a fair shake. Admittedly, it was an overwhelmingly linear journey—player agency wasn't topmost among the priorities incorporated into its development. But it was an extraordinarily intentional game; nothing about it ever felt accidental or unplanned. It did a few things, but it did them exceedingly well: excellent combat, well-produced cut scenes, a surprisingly mature narrative, and quality voice-acting. But all of that deliberateness—of which I was a fan—came at the expense of a certain amount of freedom that many fans expect from the series. XIII-2 is looking to change much of that.
The Final Fantasy XIII-2 E3 demo gave the impression of a game that is a much looser experience than its predecessor. The environments were larger and more meandering, the gameplay systems more varied, and the character models and plot elements especially flamboyant (and often obscure). It's clear that the developers are prepared to emphasize gameplay this time around, even if it comes at the expense of consistent world-building and narrative plausibility. This isn't necessarily a bad thing—but those expecting a direct continuation of XIII might find the sequel jarring.
The demo was set in a sprawling complex identified as the Bresha Ruins. It was raining, and large droplets of water periodically splashed on the screen. The soundtrack was familiar, but very vocal-heavy; at one point it slipped into rap. I controlled Noel, a young man dressed in a blue garb that was very suggestive of Fang's costume in the previous title. In tow was Serah, Lightning's younger sister, and—surprise!—a moogle.
Aside from being a throw-back to the franchise's older days, this moogle appears to serve multiple functions, For one, he (or she—it's terribly hard to tell) can transform into Serah's weapon, either a bow or sword. Outside of combat, pressing the gamepad's left trigger will make him to perform a scan of the area, occasionally revealing hidden treasure orbs. He's sort of goofy; it would be hard to imagine a comparable character alongside the high-drama of the the last installment. But there's something charming about having him tag along. Like many of the new elements I saw in this demo, I struggled to see how the moogle would fit into the title's larger framework.
The Ruins were populated with non-playable-characters, something we didn't see too much of in Final Fantasy XIII. Now you can talk to many of them by using the confirmation button. No more strangers yammering-off whenever you walk in front of them. It had more in common with the way the series has handled NPCs in the past. They were still fully voiced, but their dialogue could be scrolled, and would even change depending on how many times they were engaged. The alleyways, plazas and staircases—full of people wandering and going about their business—reminded me of the cities of Final Fantasy XII. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a return to a more traditional, hub-like structure in XIII-2, with shops and side missions.
Square Enix is being tight-lipped about the title's narrative. The story is quite confusing, and despite my being a seasoned (and enthusiastic) player of XIII, threw me for a loop. Apparently, the game is set in an alternate reality situated sometime after the events of the first title. Lightning is missing. Or simply doesn't exist. It was difficult to get a straight answer. At any rate, Serah is the only person who believes that Lightning is still out there somewhere, and sets off to discover her older sister's condition and whereabouts. There was a lot of dialogue about time traveling, and alternate dimensions, leading me to believe that the plot will incorporate some form of cross-dimensional adventuring.
Combat plays out much the same as did in the previous game: there are paradigms, auto-battle, and a three-character party. But this time, the action is broken up by quick-time-events called "Live Triggers", the conditions for which appeared to be random. Of major interest is the inclusion of monster-type allies in battle. In the course of the demo, I linked up with a flan, a behemoth and some sort of rock-based beast that had particular combat specialties. Switching paradigms would automatically reassign the appropriate monster ally to my party; a defensive paradigm might feature the rock monster as a sentinel, for example, or a ravager-intensive paradigm would bring in the flan. According to Square Enix, these monsters can be permanently recruited by collecting crystals at the end of battles and will experience some form of level-up as the game progresses.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Has Transforming Moogles, Recruitable Monsters and RapCombat also received an overhaul. The demo was a lot more generous in dolling out preemptive attacks, thanks to yet another moogle-involved subsystem referred to as "Mog Clock." Whenever Noel entered within the radius of an enemy or group of enemies (who had a tendency to spawn out of the ground, rather than be visible far into the distance), a color-coded count-down timer appeared at the bottom of the UI. Engage the enemy while the timer is still green, and you'll receive a preemptive attack and all the bonuses therein. If the timer is yellow, you'll enter battle with neither any special advantages nor penalties. And a red timer, as you could probably guess, is bad news.
There's more. Puzzles, actually. Entering into a "Temporal Rift" (whatever that is) toward the end of the demo brought Noel and co. into a abstract space, with a tile floor plotted down the center. The tiles formed a puzzle: each time Noel stepped on one, it would disappear. The challenge consisted of having to collect tokens arranged at intervals along the tiles, all the while making it from point A to point Z without backtracking. The puzzle wasn't particularly difficult or riveting, but it was an inoffensive way to break up the action. It was yet another way in which the game felt like a grab-bag of ideas and systems.
My 25 minutes with Final Fantasy XIII-2 ended in an unexpected way. It gave me a choice. A big choice. Would I attempt to attack big ol' colossus head-on or take the scenic route and try lowering its defenses via some ancient machinery? The game was proud of this decision-point moment: the prompt expanded to fill the entire screen. Fun demo, but I couldn't help but worry—is this title attempting to do too much at once?
via kotaku
Monday, June 6, 2011
Assassin's Creed Revelations E3 Trailer [North America]
god these game get better and better. its unheard of!
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - E3 2011 Trailer
god this game looks better and better everytime i see it. the story has to amazing with r a salvatore involved.
Star Wars: The Old Republic E3 2011 Cinematic Intro Trailer (HD 720p): T...
insanely awesome... i may just have to play.
Tomb Raider "Turning Point" Debut Trailer [US Version]
woah. tomb raider looks fun interesting again. i remember loving the second one.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES: E3 2011 Teaser Trailer [HD]
pretty bad ass, goes back to the ship from aliens
Metal Gear, Zone of the Enders Return With HD Collections
Konami announced today that two of its most popular franchises, Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders, will be getting HD compilation re-releases on the PlayStation 3 and, for the first time, will also see action on the Xbox 360.
The Metal Gear pack, due in November, will include Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. These games will now feature HD graphics, new art, remastered audio and achievements.
The Zone of the Enders collection, meanwhile, includes Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders 2 (and will boast the same improved/added features as the MGS pack). It'll be out in 2012.
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Both packs will also boast a similar feature to the recently-unveiled PSP Remaster series, which Konami is calling "Transfarring". This will allow users to, when playing a game like Peace Walker that will be available on both handheld and console, transfer their saves between the two.
The company also unveiled plans for a Silent Hill HD collection. More on that to come.
via kotaku
wise man
I'd never done a crazy thing in my life before that night. Why is it that if a man kills another man in battle it's called heroic, yet if he kills a man in the heat of passion it's called murder?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
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