The gameboy micro has the closest sound to a square wave of all tested

I … honestly don’t know what the hell that all means, but I just read it and it was some neat stuff for chiptunes.

sucks.

Ughh, I can’t wait until I’m out of this job.

Anyways, I was cheered up a bit to see that I was quoted at MTV’s GameFile today by Stephen Totilo. I wish I had run into him at GDC, but I didn’t even know if he was going or not.

PS3 informational update: There’s nothing I want on this system. I looked over the catalogue of games and outside of _possibly_ getting that Gundam game from japan there’s nothing that even tickles my fancy. The other game I was moderately interested in was Resistance: Fall of Man but thank god there was a demo for this game.

Resistance is painfully generic. It’s also painfully terrible. I don’t know what else to say outside of the fact that bullets travel about as fast as a man running. Bullets! That should give you enough information.

I also tried the demo for Ridge Racer 7. It looks good! An improvement over the 360 version, but not really by that much. It made me want to get the game, but then I remembered that it’s $60 and I wouldn’t play it for very long because I just played through RR6 in its entirety less than a year ago.

As I stated before, flOw is the game I was interested in. I like it, but honestly prefer the way it plays with a mouse. Tilt-n-tumble ps3 controller is decent, but it never feels “right” to me. I do like that it is much larger than the PC game. I haven’t gotten through it all but I’ll probably play through it a few times.

Now to the meaty reason that I got it: hardware emulation BC. The first game I tested was Shadow of the Colossus, which is an unfortunate game to test. The very first thing that I noticed was the lack of bass. Then I noticed a few other sound problems relating to the music: when it transitions into the more epic and louder and faster music rather than transitioning it now stops and then starts the next track. Nothing _major_ (and it only happens about 2/3 of the time) but it does disrupt the mood.

So my initial impressions were poor and I was a bit disheartened, but I decided to try out a few more games before I was pissed. As I was saying: hardware backwards compatibility was a main thing because my PS2 both has huge problems reading blue bottomed PS2 games and, even with component cables, the games look like someone smeared Vaseline over the screen. I decided to grab a few games that I had played on the PS2 with my TV and been a bit disappointed with.

Gitaroo Man: I had had some very minor lag issues with this game on the PS2 because I was using a wireless logictech controller (my consoles are just a bit too far away). It looked good, but had a slightly smeary quality to it. With the PS3 this is all gone. The minor lag issues are gone, and the quality is a bit improved. The image is so sharp and clear that many of the 3D models look as though they’re made out of many, many lego blocks or something. It’s really nice actually.

Next I grabbed Skygunner because I remember there being a setting to play the game with more background enemies which makes the framerate drop. I was going to load a save from one of the heavier dog fights and see if the framerate issues were fixed. I only managed to watch the intro anime movie, and the quality was quite a bit better. It was very sharp and clear as though it were a good quality DVD. I ended up not being able to find my save game so I moved on to another, but my impressions had begun to change.

Next up was ICO, notoriously difficult to get to run on either of my PS2s. It was so bad that I actually gave up on my second time through at the windmill. So I loaded the game up and was initially disappointed with the terribly blurry quality (I had also noticed this on SotC) so I was set up for disappointment knowing that the game was set to run in a low resolution. Then the intro movie started and the quality was nice and sharp. The lighting was gorgeous and the sharpness was just right. I loaded up the game at the windmill and looked at the water to see that it looked great, and then got to a part with the shadow enemies and they looked better than I thought they could. So, color my impressions changing.

Last was God Hand. This is actually the game that I stopped attempting to use my PS2 on my new TV because of. The Vaseline quality of smear over the screen added with incredible blockyness and a weird resolution was just too much on the regular PS2. This game easily looked the most improved on the PS3. It looked much closer to a late-gen PS2 game like it should. The models and environments are smoothed out a bit and the smear is completely gone. I was so impressed that I kind of forgot that I was just testing games and played for the rest of the night. I’m mostly finished with the game now.

Overall it seems like about 1/5 games will have an issue, but not game breaking (only game disrupting). I’m sure that there are a few games out there that will have major issues, but I’m not too worried considering how bad software emulation is for the PS3. I also realized that my copy of rez is a JP version. I kept trying to get the damn thing to work, but I had completely forgot it was an import. I… may have to buy a US version of this game (when the ps3 controller finally has vibration). The PS3 satisfies what I want in it: not-terrible looking PS2 games. It’s also very nice to have the virtual memory cards and the ability to turn off/switch games through the controller.

Tonight I’ll probably test out a few PS1 games. I’ve been pretty happy with their quality through the PS2 with component cables. Unfortunatly most of my “very good” PS1 games are imports at this point, so I won’t be able to test Umihara Kawase.

OH! Back to the bass level comment. I was looking up some information today on the PS3’s video playback (I want to watch some TV shows and internet videos on my TV) and found a guy who reviewed the PS3 as a DVD player and Blu-Ray player, and he had noticed quite a few problems with the bass. He also tested his surround system and checked for options in the audio menu, something that I did. I think that the PS3 has a bass output issue, and to me bass is very important. Hopefully this gets fixed in a patch (some kind of virtual level adjuster or equalizer).

Me getting sung to!
Originally uploaded by Shapermc.

So, my birthday is tomorrow (monday) but my family has a weird tradition called a “golden birthday” which is the birthday where you turn the same age as the day you were born. I’m turning 26 on the 26th tomorrow.

This is a “big” birthday and my parents and wife got together to try to trick me and give me a surprise in the form of showing up at dinner. Now, I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on and had NO idea that they would be there along with my sister, but they were. It was really weird!

Anyways, so that’s what I’ve been doing all weekend. If you want to see the full set of photos head here.

Gone are the days of long form poetry, and even more recently gone are the days of storytelling over a campfire. Film and television are what our generations hope to translate our greatest stories with. What happens when film tries to capture the vague and powerful visions of the imagination when tall tales of greater than life battles are told?

300.

I was expecting a visual feast when I went to see 300, but I didn’t expect the film to actually be good. For all of its “mindless” brutality and lucid color pallet, it actually accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do: it is an epic poem in film form.

Sure, the plot is simple, sure the characters are clichéd. But this is Greek folk lore here; this isn’t some deep introspective piece, it’s a story to inspire courage and bravery. It accomplishes all that perfectly. I have never seen a film that sets out to show you something so core and elementally basic in its nature and accomplish it so well. It never falters or wavers in its might or pace, and it’s constantly swimming in testosterone. All the while it is epic and larger than life.

Visually it encompasses the color range from gold to bronze with a good bit or red for safe measure. It flows like a ballet or opera at all times with a pace and force unmatched by anything I’ve seen in a long time. To say or feel that this was anything less than an amazing film would be a lie to myself and others.

So, apparently problems come in two.

First, my cellphone finally died on Saturday night. It’s now semi-held together with super-glue and probably won’t last very long. I have an “insurance” plan but it would cost $50 to replace it, but I was planning on discontinuing my service in a month… so I’m debating if it’s worth it to get it replaced or to just see how long the phone will last.

NOW, the big thing: I just got back from the hospital and found out that I have an ulcer. Fuck me, how the hell did this happen? I have to take a pill for the next 12 weeks, every day. I just want it to stop hurting really.

Sooner or later I’ll post about Branded to Kill which I watched last night. Other than that, don’t expect too many phone calls from me because I’ll be afraid to use my cellphone.

Well, I finished the documentary and read a bit of the essays included with Naked Lunch. Unfortunately I’ve not learned much that was new about the film. The most interesting thing that I gathered was that Cronenberg was most nervous about the fact that he doesn’t have homosexual tendencies so that he wasn’t sure he could capture it right on film. He then asked Burroughs if it would be acceptable to use women more frequently.

As a bit of history between myself and the film: this is a movie I saw at a friends house after my parents were outraged by it. Nothing says interesting to a teenager more than “you can’t do/watch/play/read that.” So of course my friends and I went through great lengths to track this film down and I finally saw it approximately 3 years after it’s initial release. It was at this time that I had no idea what I was watching and yet was very intrigued by what I was watching.

I have since seen the movie nearly a dozen time (possibly more) and I’m pretty sure I have it all sorted out about what is going on where and what most of the intentions are. I almost wish I had watched the documentary first because it would have been more interesting to go back through the film knowing what I now know about Cronenberg and his non-homosexual tendencies.

I feel that this film really is nearly a masterpiece of the medium because of what it manages to say about writing, drugs, and society within a medium that only speaks to you with images and sound. The fact that all special effects for this movie are done on screen (no after effects from computers, a thing I would like to see more of and am glad that it is slowly becoming more popular again over horrible CG effects) adds to the longevity of the film, and it’s ability to be viewed as modern and contemporary even after 15 and some odd years.

Without consciously realizing it I have watched two films in a row which are both introspective commentaries on opposite mediums (Peeping Tom and film: Naked Lunch and writing) yet both remain very similar on how you have to view the characters. In Peeping Tom it’s more about attempting to understand Carl Boehm’s character and how he turned out the way he did. In Naked Lunch it’s about trying to figure out what we are seeing and how it relates to Peter Weller’s portrayal of William Burroughs. In one it uses the unconscious obsession to film, and the other the unconscious compulsion to write in order to understand.

About Naked Lunch specifically: I loved exploring this film over time. Separating what is literal from what is internal, to what the symbolism is. A few years back I finally read the book, and was shocked at how large of a key it was to understanding the film. The film itself is not an adaptation of book, but the tale of how the book was written and more about the author himself. Having seen the film a couple times since I read the book I have noticed how lovingly certain items were placed in the film just to homage the literary work (such as the mugwomp (sp?) and the hanging boy figure at the pawn shop window). To say that I understand every last thing in the film would be wrong, but I feel that I know it well enough now.

To me this is a pretty big break through because normally when I watch these documentaries things strike me that I had never though of, or views and opinions are present which strike me as coming straight out of left field. Having only taken one film criticism class (which was honestly very basic and taught me nearly nothing at all) I find this to be a successful achievement in my personal exploration of film.

After such surreal films, I don’t think I can shift gears properly to go back to looking at more straight forward films, so I’m going to play some videogames!

So I finished Naked Lunch last night, but I need to finish up with the box. I’ve seen the movie nearly a dozen times now, and I still really enjoy it (which is more than I can say about many of Cronenberg’s films).

I was looking through the news this morning and came across a story that hit really close to home and made me squeal a bit inside. Newsweek just put up a story criticism Army of Two by EA for it’s “juvenile” writing. Being such a small publication and a minority voice, we can’t really do to much with TGQ outside of preach to our (small) choir on such things. Many people even realize these problems, but considering that they don’t take games seriously much it’s hard for them really complain. You’ll see comments like “that just comes with the territory,” or “what difference does it make as long as it’s fun?” (This fun thing is something I investigated at GDC and I recommend looking forward to in the next issue of TGQ). It hurts all the more to see this kind of writing inside of a game that does look kind of awesome.

I guess I just wanted to say kudos to Newsweek for calling out EA.

Also, a new trailer for Opoona came out. While I wasn’t too interested in the game before, I have to admit that I really love the style for this game. It probably won’t be much outside the standard RPG fare plus some hopefully excellent wiimote integration, but I have to say I’ll keep a closer look on it after this trailer. It’s so cute.

Ok, so I have all these Criterion (sans Beauty and the Beast, and Bicycle Thieves due to stocking issues) and I’m going to try to go through them all and document them on a few levels.

Warning: This may get boring as hell.

So tonight was Peeping Tom, a British film circa 1960. I believe now that Silent Hill 4 is the Peeping Tom of games (ok, sorry, won’t do that again). Anyways, I have a soft spot for horror films, and horror films with as many facets that Peeping Tom has was a pleasure (sort of) to watch. Unfortunately I didn’t get all of the references that were being made (I’m not British no matter how much Monty Python I watch), but it wasn’t too difficult to watch and the language was more natural sounding to me than some of the American films of the time.

I found it interesting that the documentary included with the Criterion version (it was a very excellent documentary too) was titled A Very British Psycho. I have to admit to enjoying the psychology behind this film much more than Hitchcock’s Psycho (although it was as technically masterful). I found the most curious point of the documentary is that the film’s release was before Psycho. I’ve never really been a fan of Psycho, so I’m glad I never made this comparison before.

Technically this is Criterion on the lower end of the scale for cleaning up the film. It’s not too bad because I kind of like the soft and grainy look of this time period (ala Rosemary’s Baby, another very good horror film). I’m very happy to own this film, though now I’m going to have to convince my wife to watch it.

Up next: Naked Lunch! (this may take a while, there’s a lot of reading to do).

Steel my heart
Originally uploaded by Shapermc.

I received a huge box at my door.

In this box is a game I’ve been looking for at the right price for a few years now.

The box is impressive, as is the manual _for the controller_! Anyways, I’m sort of intimidated by it. I’m going to hold off on playing this until I have way more time for it.