Arkham Asylum

Spoilers 

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a much better game than I thought it would be. I know that’s not exactly the best intro or the most glowing endorsement of the game, but it also happens to be true. I am a snobbish bastard when it comes to video games (and movies for that matter) so not being disappointed by something which could so easy be taken into a negative light is, I think, an accomplishment. Now, in no way is this game perfect. It has many problems. However, I can honestly say from experience that this is the best Batman game and quite possibly the best super hero game ever created.

Arkham opens with a cinematic of the Bat Mobile (not Christian Bale’s Tumbler, but the kind of spiky, jet powered phallus that Joel Schumacher salivates over) skidding through the streets of Gotham. Batman is speeding towards the infamous Arkham Asylum; a repository for Gotham’s criminally insane. Seeing as how everyone in Gotham is criminally insane, you can imagine the place is pretty big. The team at Rocksteady Studios did a fantastic job of designing a dark and creepy environment. Arkham looks like a mash-up of Alcatraz and a gothic castle. It’s a fun place to explore and could be downright scary in the right atmosphere.

The first moment the player has any control is an establishing sequence where they have to follow some guards who pulling the Joker along on a Hannibal Lecter-style dolly to his padded cells. From the beginning, Batman has a baaaaaad feeling about this. Why did Joker come so quietly? What’s his scheme? While anyone with even a cursory knowledge of stories knows that the Joker is going to break out and rain havoc upon the asylum, it is still a very effective introduction. It is eerie listening to the Joker speak. He is an unsettling character and one of the most effective in literary history, including the vast universe of comic books. It is worth noting that Mark Hamill reprises his role from various cartoon series as the Joker and is, for lack of a better phrase, fucking fantastic. It’s easy to see why, when people argued whether Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson was the better Joker, many said Mark Hamill (though I would still say Ledger. I know he doesn’t play the character exactly right but goddamn it he’s so good. Mark Hamill is a close second.) Many of the people associated with the voices of various characters in the Batman universe return, including Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn and Kevin Conroy as Batman. The voice acting is top notch and really helps suck the player into the world they’re building.

Of course, Joker breaks free and starts to let out all of the prisoners/patients and it is up to Batman to save the day. To be honest, the story doesn’t matter. You could put these characters into any situation and, as long as they act like they should, people will love it, and I was no exception. I am not an enormous comic fan, but even with my paltry knowledge I felt a real connection to them. Bane, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, The Riddler…many are present and all are lovingly written (though Bane is reduced to more of a plot device than anything.) Then the omnipresence of Joker runs through the game like a shiver down the spine. If it was a real treat for a n00b like me to see these characters, one can only image how a die-hard fan would feel.

However, while characters and setting are important, there is the issue of game play. This is where I have a few issues. Game play really can be broken into two main categories; beating and stalking. Batman either beats the hell out of every bad guy in the room or beats the hell out of one guy at a time while every other bad guy in the room isn’t looking. The mass beating portion of the game felt a little boring. There were a few cool moves to be employed, but overall the experience felt like just another beat-em-up. A well done beat-em-um, to be sure, but the genre has existed since the birth of the consol and has barely evolved since. Now, the stalking on the other hand, was fantastic. Rocksteady did a fantastic job with both the mechanics of hiding (usually by swinging from gargoyles) and even more importantly, the enemy AI. These sequences would be unbelievably boring if it weren’t for the fact that every time you take a guy down, Joker will come on over a loudspeaker and inform his men that they are missing someone. The enemy NPC’s then search around for their comrade and, once they find him, start to panic. They rove around in packs, looking for Batman with sweaty palms and bated breath. You can take them out any number of ways, including knocking them out with exploding walls, popping out of grates, hanging them from gargoyles, the list is quite long. There is a strange satisfaction to be gained from watching these bad guys wandering around in a daze, trying to find you, and listening to their frantic conversations before you knock them out. That part is important, as well. Batman kills no one in this game. People die, but never by Batman’s hand. What a swell guy.

An element which makes this stalking element very easy and palpable is the detective vision. With the push of a button, you can see everyone in a room and identify whether or not they are good or bad. This is also used as something of a deus ex machina used to find people based on their brand of tobacco or their pheromones. The detective vision is a very powerful device in the game, and one which speaks somewhat to the core idea of the game. Batman, while vulnerable, is never in real danger. This game is not meant to be read as a treatise on the frailty of man. You are given every opportunity to succeed. Batman is a powerful character with powerful tools which he uses to get the job done. Why can’t he have a HUD which can be programmed to detect a specific brand of tobacco? He’s Batman. Rocksteady never wants you to feel powerless because you are goddamn Batman. This can even be seen in the death screen; the menu which shows up when you die. In it, whichever supervillian is responsible for killing you, be it Joker or whomever, will appear and taunt you. They’ll make fun of you for actually dying in this game. You aren’t supposed to die. You’re Batman! It’s not that he’s overpowered, the game does offer some resistance, and it’s just that there are no real choke points. There is no time during the game that you think that this is just impossible. If you die, you curse to yourself under your breath for screwing up something so simple. In fact, even if you were stuck, the game helpfully tells you flat out during the death screen what you were supposed to do. There is no mystery whatsoever. I found this a little annoying. I understand making Batman powerful and almost all-knowing, but it seems insulting to assume that the player just didn’t know what to do. That must be the problem. It wasn’t that the flying mechanics were a little clunky which caused them to fall right into a spore-spewing plant (by the way, the flying mechanics are a little clunky.) I’m not saying I didn’t like the ease of the game or the power of the character, because I did. It would be weird to see a weak Batman. I’m just saying that maybe they didn’t need to rub salt into my wounds every time I made one miscalculation bout how much health I had.

On the subject of a weak Batman, the boss battles in this game can be great, specifically Scarecrow. I love Scarecrow. His sequences are the most interesting, both in terms of the visuals and the narrative. Scarecrow scenes always begin with a very subtle dosing of Batman with his patented fear gas (which could use a better name.) The world changes slowly. Little bits of the mise-en-scene starts to be different. The camera tilts ever so slightly until it is canted at a forty-five degree angle. Then, craziness. Morgues come to life. Batman becomes a young Bruce Wayne and finds his dead parents again. All of this while Scarecrow’s whispers fill the world with horror. Then, at some point, Batman enters a scene that is hard to describe. Scarecrow stands in the middle, larger than life, with his needle-hand waving menacingly. Being much smaller, Batman is forced to hide and run to his only weapon, a searchlight. These scenes have a flattened, almost 2D perspective are some of the most effective I’ve encountered. Rocksteady actually uses platforming, which is one of gaming’s oldest conventions, and the camera to create a sense of fear and a false perspective. It is a commendable effort that pays off with really rich scenes and some of the most challenging moments of the game.

The other boss battles are a little more standard, though Killer Croc’s is inspired, forcing you to tread lightly on planks above the water, lest he find you and eat you. All of the others are fun enough but grow old, including the unbelievably easy showdown with the Joker. Also, fighting the Banes (yes Banes) becomes extremely tedious. It gets to the point where you realize that if you see a big enemy, you know that all you have to do is hit it in the face with a Batarang and get out of the way. It becomes dull quickly.

In the end, Arkham Asylum can be a little hit and miss, but is overall a fantastic game. Some of the moments, such as the Scarecrow parts and the stealthy stalking, are truly inspired, but are weighed down by the boring beat-em-up and some lackluster bosses. All in all, it’s certainly a step in the right direction, both for Batman games and video games as a whole. I’m looking forward to Arkham City later this year, but it remains to be seen if it’ll fit in-between hours of Skyrim and Mass Effect 3. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Mass Effect 2

Here's a few spoilers, yo.

There is a mission that jumps to mind when I think of Mass Effect 2. It is a side mission in which you are tasked with finding out why a giant spaceship crash-landed onto a backwater planet many years ago with no one around for possibly light-years. The catch is that the only way to recover this data is to go onto the ship. The ship that crashed and has been decaying for years. The ship that crashed and has been decaying for years on the edge of a cliff thousands of feet above the ground. As your version of Commander Shepard of the Normandy walks around on this ancient, decrepit ship, it starts to tilt. There is no music, only the creaking sound of precariously placed metal. Tiles and other piece of the ship break and fall to the ground. A staircase collapses while you are walking on it. If you move too far to the end of the ship, it’s going to collapse. Unfortunately, that is precisely where you need to go.

This is an expertly paced mission, an exercise in excruciation and terror which is indicative of the greatness of this game. Everything that was done well in Mass Effect is done better in its sequel. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s calm down and look at this game critically, shall we? Breathing…breathing…ok.

To start, the story is just as big and breath-taking as the last one. The game starts off with Shepard dying and Cerberus, the shadow group bent on making humans the dominant species in the galaxy, spends tons of money to rebuild him. The Normandy was also destroyed in the attack, but never fear, she is rebuilt as well. The fate of the galaxy is still in Shepard’s hands as a new threat called the Collectors (though they are intimately tied to the Reapers) is attacking human colonies but leaving no trace. The dialogue is well-written; at the very least better than in the last game. Most video games suffer from stilted dialogue, and this game is no different. However, the characters are enjoyable enough and the voice acting done well enough that it’s easy to overlook. Also and possibly more importantly, Bioware decided to delve more deeply into the universe they created, focusing in on the lesser races from the first game, especially the Quarians. Few teammates are actually back for this game. If they are, they generally play small supporting roles. The exception to this (thankfully, as she’s my favorite) is Tali. Tali’s character has been rounded out substantially since the last game, due in no small part to the expansion of character-specific missions. To gain the loyalty of all of your crew members, you will have to take part in missions designed specifically to bring out their back story. It’s a useful tool within the gameplay to develop who these people are that have your back on this mission.

I mentioned that you will need to gain the loyalty of your crew, but what I mean was that you will need to gain the loyalty of your crew if you want them to live. Yes, everyone up to an including Shepard can and will die during the last mission if you are stingy with upgrading your ship or too lazy to go on loyalty-building missions with your crew. Once on the mission, it is also necessary to make decisions which could kill crew if done incorrectly. This adds a lot of weight to the mission, making it just as terrifying as standing on that rocking ship.

Again, Bioware knocked the game’s world design out of the park. This time around, both indoor and outdoor sets are beautifully constructed with variety abound. Gone are the days of drab corridors. Now, though the corridors remain, they’ve been given a bright shiny polishing and the inclusion of many nooks and crannies to explore. The Citadel was also revamped. After it was nearly destroyed in the first one, vast remodeling projects have been undertaken by the Council. Well, that’s assuming that you saved the Council in the last game. If you import a character from the first Mass Effect then the decisions you made will have repercussions in Mass Effect 2. One quibble I have with the game is how little of an effect that is, but I understand that you can’t have everything in life.

Many changes were made to the gameplay as well. For instance, gone are the days of the weapons cooldown. Now, we have the thermal clip. Acting just like ammo in a real gun, thermal clips absorb the heat created by the energy weapons of the game’s universe and ejects itself once it takes all of the heat it can get. The ammo is universal, so you can use any thermal clip in any gun. Though a seemingly minor change, it makes gunplay and gameplay much faster and fresher, setting a quick pace for the game. AI has been revamped as well, making all of the enemies just a little bit harder to kill than before. The RPG elements of the game have been streamlined, which can be good or bad depending on how much you like putting individual points into powers in a menu screen. They also included quicktime paragon-renegade actions. During a cutscene, a right trigger or left trigger will appear on the screen, allowing you to change the course of the scene towards something undoubtedly badass. For instance, you can punch a reporter like you’re a celebrity! Or you can push a guy out of a window and use your best one liner! The whole thing is somewhat of a gimmick, but it is a fun one that breaks up the litany of cutscenes and sometimes boring dialogue that comes with a game like this.

It must also be said that Bioware brings up interesting twists on certain concepts. For the most part, the game is a straightforward, if exceedingly well done, morality-based RPG-shooter hybrid. There aren’t necessarily a lot of surprises, such as the morally ambiguous corporation at the heart of the storyline. However, every once in a while there is a brilliant nugget of originality. For instance, on Illium, a NAFTA wet dream of a planet where nearly everything is legal to buy and sell, you are asked to help a slave find a master. Normally, this would be the bad choice in a game. Slavery is generally viewed as a bad thing by everyone who doesn’t wear a sheet on their head. On Illium, however, slavery is legal. It’s often used as a way to get rid of debts, like indentured servitude. In fact, it’s the only way that this slave, a Quarian, can get out of her current predicament. Slavery is, strangely enough, her way out. This is a welcome, if very uncomfortable, point of view. It’s not often you see a situation in which slavery is actually beneficial to the slave and, given our nation’s history, it creates a very weird predicament. Do we support slavery, which is abhorrent in our society and reality in general or do we stand against it when it would be so clearly beneficial to this individual in an imagined space. Outside of the narrative, too, there are interesting sequences such as one where you are forced to use a biotic to create a bubble which will keep out a swarm of bee-like insects. If you leave the bubble, bad things happen. This reduction of space is very well done and creates a very heavy tension during an already tense final mission.

So Mass Effect 2 is a very smart, very well-executed third-person RPG-Shooter hybrid hyphen-palooza which deserves every award it got. At times challenging both from a gameplay perspective and a narrative one, it succeeds in every way. I can’t wait for the third one to come out so I can waste another thirty hours of my life in this beautifully realized space.

RIn & Gumi Inc.

Time for some new vocaloid action.

By now everyone has probably had there fill of Hatsune miku tracks so today i'll be focusing on two of my favorite Gals Gumi(megipod) and  Rin(rin and len vocaloid).
I guess lets start with two of the newest Rin tracks out for the J-tards
Daybreak:
This is a typical rin track, fast pasted and happy with a decent rock track behind it (tho not cutesy). I find the art style in this PV particularly good

and
 Yutamu stone:
This song has a much more hardcore sound to it, the song even contains a few drops which I found pretty interesting... Its not every day that you have a vocaloid track drop its beat on you :P

Both of the above tracks where released within the last three days (just to give you a sense of how new these are)

Next lets move on to one of my favorite characters to draw(and listen to) GUMI
now gumi is not a vocaloid per-say... shes a megipod (still a vocalist in a box but they tried to make her sound as realistic as possible) this means that she has a lot of lower registers and tends to be used in harder rock situations where a little cutesy robot girl(miku or luka or rin) would never dare to tread.
First up we have
Satan's school:
This video is great as its not animated just the lyrics written down on a note o

ALL THAT being said gumi does do lots of really good megi cutesy songs :3
 like in
Ah, life is wonderful Nyan :3
I can only say that I adore this song  and would love to share it with you :3


*sigh*  hope you all have a "nyan nyan nyan" day
This is dom saying I'll see you at your next dose MAGGOT !!

ps. may the council watch over you

Harry Potter for Grown-Ups?: "The Magicians"

Hey there everyone! Time for another book review, and in light of the recent premiere of the last Harry Potter movie, I thought I'd do a review on a book that was often hailed as a grown-up's Harry Potter book: Lev Grossman's The Magicians.

I was incredibly torn when it came to reading this book. I loved it in parts, in others it felt very lukewarm. The basic storyline isn't exactly original: boy feels out of place in his world, world of magic appears and takes him in, magical hijinks ensue. In this case, the main character is Quentin Plover, who loves a series of magical books that take place in a land called Fillory. Despite being children's books, Quentin can't let them go, which makes him somewhat of an outcast in the real world. Luckily for him, magic turns out to be real and he is invited to attend Brakebills, a Hogwarts-esque school of magic. He graduates, and more things happen to him.


Think it's weird that I had to have that last sentence that vague? That's because it's part of my issue with this book: it skips around. There's a plot...? But it keeps changing, with little to no reason. It seemed like a few chapters were built around developing the rules and a tournament regarding a wizarding sport that is some weird mix of chess and capture the flag, and suddenly their team is in the championships...and then it's a new chapter, everything that just happened was dropped completely. A huge chunk of the book was about Quentin's time at Brakebills...and then suddenly he's graduated and the book takes a completely different turn. It feels like this book was supposed to be more than one book, and for some reason it was forced to become just one. It truly feels random parts were cut out, and the reader is forced to switch gears and adjust to something new.

One thing I did enjoy about this book was the "grown-up" aspect of it. Quentin, upon finding out he's been accepted into Brakebills, says something along the lines of "I'm going to be a motherfucking magician!" I can tell you with all honesty, that is EXACTLY what I'd say if I'd been accepted into a school of magic. This book also has sex in it, which is one thing that Harry Potter seemed to be missing. It's not something I missed when I was reading the HP books, but looking back on it, there was a lot of drama in those books, despite there being no sex at all. The Magicians has a fairly appropriate amount of sex given the age-group of the main characters, and then does a fairly good job of the resulting complications that come from having it.

The thread of main plot that seems to appear and disappear throughout the books is ultimately very well thought out, my biggest issue came with a lot of what surrounded it. Even the ending felt like it had suddenly changed gears, and not in a good way. Apparently there's supposed to be a sequel coming out this year, so I'll see how that is and if that remedies my issues with this book, but I'm not really sure if it can. My verdict is to borrow this book if you have the time and you have nothing else to read. It has it's moments, with a great villain and a fairly genius main plot, but Grossman seemed to get in his own way when it came to developing the world that Quentin lives in, and I hope he remedies it in his sequel. This has great potential...he just needs to take some Adderall or something when he writes so he can make sure everything he says actually goes somewhere, rather than just be somewhat distracting.  

Viva Brother

Music monday

   Holy shit do I have a treat for you guys today,
 Ive got a hold of a pre-release of viva brothers first album "famous first words"(Release date august 2nd I think) these guys are gonna be huge.
   
Not since plastic beach have I sat down the night I got the album and listened to every track and then go back to replay a few songs three or four times.
Its funny that I should compare it to a gorillaz album as Viva brother has a producer from blur (that makes two things the blur has made awesome?!)
A quick fun fact about viva brother the bands original name was just brother but they ended up in a lawsuit situation cause some band already uses the name  brother , so then they felt brother UK would work but for reasons unknown  to me they dropped that also and have now settled on the title of Viva brother.
 
   Ok down to the nitty gritty my analysis if you will, lets just say this band Is far from the most skilled band ive heard... I mean its a UK alternative rock band( Sorry England but most bands you produce are kinda crap in the skill department at least )  but my god can they write some catchy hooks that stay in your head [see darling buds of may below]  The band sometimes suffers from its own genre's image, a few of the tracks have the same tone, but its not noticeable enough to disturbs a listen through the album. The band has received a lot of criticism for sounding a lot like 'other' bands but I find it to be one more reason to listen. For instance  "High str**t low fiv*s" sounds like a lost rock and roll soldiers track now seeing how the band will never make another track again its almost a treat to hear another band channel the soldiers. All around the album has enough variation that it doesn't feel  like a waste of time.

But now this is an odd position that im in, because do to copy right laws im not even sure If I can tell you guys all the track names without ending up in a courtroom but what I can say Is that The big hit off the album is almost certianly gonna be the single thats already out so I can at least show you that. so sorry  you guys will have to wait til august second for all of the tracks but lemmy just say that the sleeper hit off this album is F*lse *l*rm.

Theres really not much more I can tell you guys without risking some  kind of copy right fuck up so for the time being i'll leave you with the single "darling buds of may"


I hope you'll all rape the replay button as much as I do, I really think these guys could become huge, I'll be going (fingers crossed) to a private show down at the hard rock of these guys!!
Be sure to check out the album on august 2nd
At this point I'll leave you to it ,
This dom saying I'll see you at your next dose and may the council take good care of you till next we meet.

Mass Effect 1

Just as word of caution, most of these critical analysis that I write will not be of new games or even new movies now that I've quit at Regal Cinema (just one more day WOOT.) That being said, I don't see the purpose of anything that anyone does on this blog as being close to a buyers guide. We're not here to tell you what to buy or see in the theater; we're here to either make you aware of what we think is really good but no one appreciates or (and this is really just me) analyze something all to hell. I like to take pieces of pop culture apart piece by piece and examine what makes it work or not work. This is especially true in the case of video games as no one really seems to be doing this in any meaningful fashion. Enough of this though. I'll write a fuller essay on video game criticism and aesthetics later (I know you're all shitting your pants with excitement.) For now, let's get into one of my favorite games and game franchises of all time; Mass Effect.

Once again, THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD. You should just assume there always will be, but I can't assume that you're smart enough to remember that.

It's really easy to forget that Mass Effect hasn't always been here. The first one was only released in 2007 and the second one only last year. This truly speaks to Bioware's understanding of world design. They obviously spent lots and lots of time on the mythos and the operations of this galaxy they created. Commander Shepard, the player character for the game, inhabits a world full of varied but not cartoonish races of aliens. My favorite are the Elcor, a large, hairy species with a dull, droning voice. However, through dialogue, we learn that they mostly communicate through body language and smell, forcing them to state their intended inflection at the beginning of each sentence. This is a group of characters that, if handled incorrectly, would seem foolish and probably annoying. However, Bioware avoids playing them up for laughs usually, the exception being a reference to an all-Elcor production of a certain Shakespeare play, allowing the Elcor race to seem quirky but credible. Each alien race is so different in personality and appearance, with fabulous character models and good voice acting. Though the interior environments lack on occasion, relying heavily on the utilitarian, "We're in the future!" look that can grow dull quickly, the planets themselves are extraordinary. One minute, you are on a lava planet in an off-road rover, possibly driving past Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christianson throwing down Jedi-style, fighting synthetic beings . Then the next minute you're on a lush green planet chasing down monkeys that stole a piece of a satellite you're tracking. RPG is about choice, but it is also about a diverse and interesting world. Mass Effect nails this.

The game's narrative is enthralling. This is a massive space opera without the singing. The galaxy is under attack from a rouge secret agent and a race of mechanical beings who have destroyed all of organic life many times over. As Shepard, you have to build your crew and take down the threat. The story itself is very short if done in a straight shot. However, that is not how the game is meant to be played. Exploration is not only encouraged, it's nearly mandatory. If you want to build your characters in any significant way, you need to help the people of the galaxy on a more one-on-one basis. The missions keep you somewhat on your toes, though most of them boil down to something bad is happening somewhere and now you have to kill whatever is making that happen. I know that this is a third-person shooter but I felt like they could have put a little more effort into the actual mechanics of those side missions. The setups are fantastic, with attacks by rogue biotics (people with psychic powers) or experiments gone wrong within Cerberus, a private military organization. The actual differences in the missions seem to be fairly cosmetic, however.

There is a morality system, which is all the rage these days. You can be a paragon or a renegade, though these amount to little difference. Though the paragon will say nice things and the renegade will be a dick, both outcomes usually result in little to no bloodshed. From a narrative standpoint, the only difference is how your version of Shepard comes off; as a dick or a nice guy. It's a handy tool to diffuse a situation without violence, but it is kind of shallow.

The gunplay is well handled. It is the future, so you don't have ammo. Instead your weapon can overheat, forcing you to stop shooting for a short amount of time. You can mod your weapons and armor if you like, though it isn't really necessary if you buy nice enough stuff. You can also outfit your teammates with gear. None of this is anything Earth-shattering, but it's all really fun.

Mass Effect is not a great game because of it's life-changing shooting physics, though. It's a great game because of how much you care about what is happening. As I said before, this is a very detailed world with a history. You learn about every race's culture. Through interactions, you find out how they feel about each other, their prejudices, how they reproduce even (there is a sex scene in the game, but it's brief and sparse with the nudity despite what some detractors say.) You talk to your crew and learn that they are very round characters. They have families and care about the fate of their people and their world. It lends a sense of urgency to the proceedings when you know that if you fail you've let down these people who depend on you. That is where Bioware strikes a blow; by letting you into this carefully crafted world, they make you care about it and want to save it. Even if some of the elements of the gameplay are lacking, some are done excellently (the conversations) and the slack is picked up by the story and this beautiful, immersive universe. It leaves you wanting more, which it thankfully delivered. This game proves that, while gameplay is extremely important and does not seem to get the attention it deserves these days, a masterfully handled world can go a long way.

Music Monday (7)

Here we are another post another monday!Its a fresh dose of music mondays!!!

So I've been thinking of ways to change things up so my  postings don't go stale, I love Japanese vocaloids and that's just something that everyone will have to come to terms with but I am going to attempt on music Mondays at least to focus on bands rather then post new vocaloid tracks.(which will now have there own posting ) I do hope that this will help break up a bit of the monotony of  my posts.

OK THEN  the first Band/group/collective/artist I would like to try this new  dose on is a German minimal techno artist by the name of Pantha Du Prince.
Minimal ? whats that you might be thinking. well the answer is more obvious then you'd think. The term simply means that Pantha Du Prince is a minimalist, Just like in painting  minimalism is taking a form of art (music in this case )and breaking it down into some of its more simple parts (i3 Exploratory baselines, simple drum patterns,ect ect ) Now I personally found this concept to be really cool and intriguing but to some listeners Pantha Du Price may seem repeadatory and at times a bit simple but trust me if you take the time to look deeper and listen to the rhythms within rhythms you won't be disappointed.

Now  I've only listened to his latest LP "Black noise" (and trust me im downloading the other LP's as fast as my shitty internet connection can handle) but the pacing and feeling of these tracks are so primal and enjoyable I can highly recommend this artist even without the knowledge of his other LP's .

A few situations where this artist and musical styling really shines is as background noise while doing any kind of art project or homework, during the beginning  of a party when everyone is just standing around (trust me this will get people moving on a subconscious level) and (im going out on a limb here) being intimate with your significant other.

Youtube has a new feature which allows me to embed playlist's all of "black noise" is below

( also keep your eyes peeled there are some real fantastic remixes out there)

Well I hope you've enjoyed this post I really cant recommend this artist enough  ... give him a good looksy but for now

This is dom saying I'll see you at your next dose

And now up to bat

Greetings everyone from the fabulous Las Vegas,
The drastic change in climate has left me with a bit of a runny nose but all is well down here Its hot n thunderstormy and I wouldn't have it any other way (Like If you step outside after a storm it literary feels like a sauna AWSOME !!) So here's to new beginnings and taking those first few steps out onto that road called life  *raises glass at screen

Ok enough of me rambling on about how my life is gonna start changing,lets get down to brass tax,the funnys if you will.Some the more attentive of you might have noticed my link in the previous post with the word "penny" heres the vid for you slow folks



then there where dildo, lots of dildos


WILL IT SHREDD??? yea yea it will


Hoping your all having as much fun as I am !!
This is dom saying I'll see you at your next dose :D
treat

Now and Then, Here and There

JESUS CHRIST! That's about all I can say about this one. It's part of a three way tie between Gurren Lagann and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. This anime is exceptionally impressive in that its only 13 episodes long.

Now normally I'd be a little pissed off because a lot of anime that length just doesn't get the story development necessary to make such a great show but Now and Then, Here and There is an unbelievable completely astounding story. The Story follows Shuzo "Shu" Matsutani a young kendo student as he attempts to protect the female lead LaLa-Ru from an evil and super crazy dictator king Hamdo that's hell bent on "uniting" the world under his rule and killing anyone who stands in his way and his right hand Lady Abelia.

I went into this anime with the idea that it'd be pretty light and funny with serious undertones for the first half or so and then take a turn for the deep and dark like Gurren Lagann was done since this show was a "recommendation" from Hulu because I'd watched it. That however was not the case at all. Now and Then, Here, and There is a dark gritty very real feeling show that deals with a lot of hard to talk about concepts like rape, child abuse/exploitation, and murder.

The main character Shu struggles for the entire show trying to cope with all of the death, pain and choas all around while still trying to maintain a positive attitude and not let himself be changed by what he sees. Shu not only succeeds in keeping his morals in tact he also manages to change the thinking of most of the supporting leads either directly or indirectly.

This anime is definitely worth at least one watch through and its short enough you can do it in one day or even one sitting. I know if I hadn't had to work yesterday I would have done just that.

An intro to Fridge Invader

Hi. I'm Fridge Invader. My girlfriend, Sexy Librarian told me to introduce myself and I am a slave to her whims. She does the book stuff on this blog. So I'm going to be doing film and video game reviews. Ok so Dom told me to do this now too. He's a pretty drunk, but most good ideas come from inebriation. Back to the intro. I'm mostly going to focus on video games because I have this theory that video games should be criticized as art. If no one holds them to a higher standard then game makers can't hold themselves to it. It's just a theory but I thought I'd give it a shot here. So stay tuned and read my shit yo. That was awkward. Ok my first review, which is of LA Noire is going to be up the second I'm done with this intro. Ok see you guys around.

LA Noire

LA Noire (Rockstar, Team Bondi) had all of the makings of a great game. Film noire is a genre which has hitherto been woefully untapped in the world of gaming. With its indelible style and sheer coolness, it seems like a perfect fit. The lighting alone could be used to great effect. There is also the technology involved; state of the art mocap creating the closest thing to real human faces seen thus far in video games. The hype around this game has been building for months and everyone was excited to try it out.

SPOILERS

In the beginning, this game did not disappoint. For those not familiar with the game, LA Noire is set in Los Angles (hopefully a shock to no one) in the late 40’s. The player is dropped into the gumshoes of Cole Phelps; a very serious, yet talented police officer as well as a decorated hero of the Second World War. As the player advances through the game, Cole advances through the various departments of the LAPD. Many cases are presented, ranging in severity from traffic violations to murder. Throughout the cases Cole uses a notebook, rendered on-screen, to keep track of clues, people of interest, locations and anything else involved in what is being solved. All of this contributes to a world which is astoundingly well-made. The setting is so well realized and polished it is really hard to find fault. Subtle touches, such as Cole highlighting whatever the player selects in the notebook with his pencil, add to a very real world with rules that internally make sense. Even the newspaper cut-scenes, which were a bit jarring at first, do their part to unravel the sordid mystery upon which this story is hung. It is very engrossing.

It’s also worth noting that this game has some of the best voice acting ever used in a video game. None of the actors ever seemed hokey or unrealistic. Stilted dialogue is common in games, even masterpieces like Mass Effect 2, but every line is read with conviction not often seen in the medium. Aaron Staton especially shines as Phelps, giving the game a flawed but honest detective trying to bring order to the lawless West. The technology must also be mentioned as it plays an integral part in the game’s performances. Deep Analysis, as the system is called, is really just about taking a bunch of pictures of the actors as they give their performance. The computer then renders them in real time, creating their digital face. Realism in games is an issue I’d rather not get into in this review, but for this game the process was necessary. Facial animation is not just about realism, it’s about detail.

One of the main themes of the game is honesty and the game play shows this through a new mechanic; the interview. Many times throughout the game, you are forced to extract information from a suspect or witness by deciding whether they are lying and if you can prove it. In order to decide, it is necessary to read their facial expressions. This is where the technology really shines. It would be impossible to read a digital character without being able to see every line on their face. While not very difficult, these interviews are still tense, especially if you are obsessed with a perfect playthrough. As Adam Sessler mentioned, don’t bother the first time. It’s not going to happen. Unless you use a guide or love to reload the game, you are not going to read everyone perfectly the first time through. The same goes for clues. Another somewhat innovative game play mechanic, the player is often forced to search for clues at crimes scenes. These could be murder weapons or footprints, but whenever the controller rumbles, the player must press the A button (at least on the 360) and examine the clue. This and the interviews make up the bulk of the game, creating a very slow, but well thought out pace. It isn’t plodding and the clues are varied enough that the repetition of the pattern doesn’t become stale. It allows you to soak in the mystery and contemplate the angles, which may not necessarily be for everyone, but is handled extremely well for those looking for this kind of game. There is also traditional third-person shooting and chasing. It’s amazing how much parkour Phelps can do in a suit. These traditional elements help break the game up and stop it from being insufferable. Overall, the game play is great.

The world design, the acting, the sound design, the technology and the game play are all fantastic. However, the game really loses when it comes to story. It starts off as good as the other elements. The traffic, patrol and most of the vice sections of the game are fantastic. Gripping and dripping with suspense, they felt like they could each be a lost Bogart film, though one not restricted by the Hayes code. Homicide especially felt right as Phelps chases the Black Dahlia killer. Everything was great right up until the end of the Vice sequence. Phelps, who is married with children apparently (we only see his wife once and his children never to my recollection), decides to cheat on his wife with a German lounge singer. This is caught on camera by his partner and used to deflect questions about illegal activity in the vice squad. The story is leaked to the paper, his wife leaves him and he is demoted to arson. The problem with this isn’t the fall of Phelps. Every hero’s journey has an abyss that needs to be overcome to grow. The problem is that this comes out of nowhere. Phelps’ German lover is barely seen before they sleep together. She is seen in one case, there are a few quick shots of him sitting in the lounge watching her perform then one more case and boom! they have sex. Remember that Phelps has been built up to be a paragon within the narrative of the game. Never has he expressed anything tantamount to a vice. Of course he has to screw everything up, but when someone displays nothing but good intentions and pure actions, to suddenly have him commit adultery and lose all respect from his peers makes absolutely no sense.

At this point, the game picks up again. Though the adultery is frustrating, that in itself does not ruin the game. Once back on the cases, everything starts to feel right again and it is obvious that a resolution to this mystery is closing in. Without warning and seemingly without purpose, the game switches protagonists. The player is no longer Phelps, but is an old army buddy by the name of Jack Kelso. This is where Team Bondi really shot itself in the foot. They spent the whole game building up Phelps and having the players connect to him and then suddenly they are one of the most morally righteous and unlikeable characters in the game. While we have seen Jack in one of the cases and through flashbacks of the war where we learn he knew Phelps, we know very little about him besides the fact that he hates Phelps. He’s always on his high horse, strangely, because Phelps is always on his high horse. His missions feel rushed, relying mostly on run and gun missions which are supposed to provide a big finish but really only disappoint. If Bondi wanted Jack to be the main character, they should have made him the main character. Why spend so much time building Phelps as a character only to switch to an annoying insurance agent and regulate our former protagonist to NPC status. Granted, this has been done in other games (though I would argue poorly), but here it makes no sense. They break all tension and narrative coherence. Then, to twist the knife, they kill off Phelps at the end of the game with only part of the people responsible for these crimes in any kind of trouble. Again, there is nothing wrong with a heroic death, but Phelps goes out in a sewer, killed by overflow. Quite an ignoble death for the character you are supposed to care for. This was all the more frustrating because of how good the game was at the beginning. To start with an interesting crime game and devolve into a mindless shooter with a pseudo-intellectual downer ending speaks to the pressures and abuses of power that Team Bondi is currently accused of. It’s really unfortunate.

Game creators should take note of the first half of the game, specifically its pacing and interesting use of game play. They should also remember to stop switching characters because the gamer will stop caring at all. It is annoying as hell and Rockstar needs to stop it. Seriously.

Let's Start with a Bang: "Almost Transparent Blue"

As the boys would say, I might be blowing my load a little early here with writing about a book as crazy and obscure as "Almost Transparent Blue", but it's one of those books that has really stuck with me...but not for the reasons you might expect. Also, I felt like I should live up to my username a bit...and while this book isn't really "sexy" in my eyes...it sure has a lot of sex in it.

But before we get there, this book is plotless. I want to warn you of that right now, reader. It's also a bit confusing to read: it's all in first-person, and it's often hard to tell who is speaking because the author doesn't always use quotation marks. Very often, people speaking and thoughts are garbled together in the same paragraph. The characters themselves are often blended together; they have a few distinctions, but they never seem separate from each other. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own, but it was assigned for a college class...and BOY is it a "college" book.

Almost Transparent Blue, by Ryu Murakami, is essentially about a group of Japanese teenagers living in Tokyo in the mid-70s. They do drugs. LOTS OF DRUGS. Also they have sex. LOTS OF SEX. I'm really not kidding. We're talking impressive amounts of both, and often at the same time. All described in excruciating detail.

Example (of the drugs. Read the book for the sex!):

Reiko pouted and glared at Okinawa as she took the leather thong and made a tight tourniquet around my left arm. When I made a fist with my hand, a thick blood vessel stood out in my arm. Okinawa rubbed the spot with alcohol two or three times before plunging the wet needle tip in toward the bulging vein. When I opened my fist, blackish blood ran up into the cylinder. Saying Heyheyhey, Okinawa coolly pushed the plunger, and the heroin and blood entered me all at once.  


"Hey, well, that's it, how about it?" Okinawa laughed. He pulled out the needle. In the instant that my skin quivered and the needle was gone, the smack had already rushed to my fingertips and hit my heart with a dull thud. Before my eyes there seemed to be something like a white mist, and I couldn't make out Okinawa's face very well. I pressed my hand against my chest and stood up. I wanted to take a deep breath, but my breathing rhythm was off and I had trouble doing it. My head was numb as if it had been beaten, and the inside of my mouth was dry enough to burn. Reiko took my right shoulder to hold me up. When I tried to swallow just a little saliva from my dry gums, I was filled with a nausea that seemed to rush up from my feet. I fell groaning onto the bed. 


That's in the second chapter. I won't even get into the intense orgy scene. This book actually forced me to stop reading because it was so graphic between the drugs and the sex. I'm not sure if I truly enjoyed this book and the effect the descriptions had on me, or if I was scarred by this book and trying to get others to read it gives me some sick pleasure...but either way, I would suggest picking it up at least once in your life. 


But seriously, the blurb from the Washington Post on the back of my copy of the book says "Bugs and mucus, cheesecake and semen, rain and runways-all lovingly described." Sounds awesome, right?


Also, the internet is a magical, magical place. Here's a pdf file of the book. Now you have no excuse. Enjoy!

Call Me Sexy_Librarian

Hi there everyone!

This is Sexy_Librarian, the newest member of the council, and happy to be on-board. I'm going to be writing about awesome books I've run across--books, mind you, not so much manga. I think I'll leave that to another council member (if we get one). I'll try to keep it varied, but I know my personal preference tends to be books of the fantasy genre, so there may be quite a few of those but I'll keep it as multifaceted as I can. Hope I can get everyone reading something in between all of the media the rest of the council suggests. Maybe a chapter or two before bed at four in the morning...;-)

Oh, and yes, I am a female.

So you can interpret my "wink-smiley" faces in any way you want, readers. ;-)

A new regeneration

As readers from the past will notice this blog has gone through a bit of a transformation (a regeneration if you will) its the same great stuff with just a little bit more. You'll see ive added a few new bloggers to the pay role
 First animebuff123: our new resident anime expert, hopefully he can cover some full anime reviews that I never have the patience to post :D Feel free to read his self introduction in the post below
Second ive added (Blogger name to be added later) :Who will inform you with a smooth baritone text  of such things as Movies and Video games <The boy thinks writing reviews and such could be his future so lets be rough on him eh ?>
Third a Internet female (tho im still not quite sure shes a she ...if ya know what I mean ) Sexy_Librarian : who will post Book Reviews on the reg
...
Now now  I know what your thinking and yes i DO have a penny so dont fret
you've still got me  THE DOCTOR ... ahem I mean _dom (hmmm i might have watched one too many doctor who episodes today)

So i'll leave you all with this little (extra cute) dose  and I hope to see all of you at the couch for the next council of nine !!

This is Animeuff123 checkin in

Hey Everyone,

I'm gonna be posting on _doms daily dose from now on. I'll be doin anime reviews mostly but I may get into some kick ass live action tv from time to time. I love watchin good anime and I love sharing it with people who want to watch something good too. I'm always down for suggestions so hit me up and I'll check it out. I usually watch stuff on hulu so I miss a lot of shit but I'm pretty good at finding great stuff. Anyway I hope to turn y'all on to stuff that will change the way you watch tv