The Wall

Slow weekend really, Saturday was jsut filled with hanging out with folks who come by the house and stuff and such. Played some Brawl, COD4, and attempted to watch Rocky Balboa.
Sunday, we did end up watching Rocky Balboa all the way through, and man, i still love that movie. It never gets old to me.
Theres 3 types of movies i like: Shootemup Action (Shooter, Shootemup, John Woo stuff), Genuinely funny movies (and not jsut dumb cheap ha-ha movies like ‘Are we there yet?’), and Motivational Dramas (Radio, Beautiful Mind). If its anything else, ill pass. Ive tried em all and got bored at alot, and would rather not feel like im wasting time better spent doing something else i enjoy more.
So i watched I Am Legend with Will Smith last night with a bunch of friends. Again, i should mention there is 1 thing i cherish more than anything: The Experience. And First Impression and Lasting Impressions and Thought Process on First Runthrough are all an intregal part of that experience for me. Even if its a movie ive seen a billion times over, i still prefer the correct optimal experience for my viewing pleasure.
So when the movei was being piched to me, the guys tried their absolute damndest to get me interested in seeing what sounded like just another zombie flick to me, and i finally caved, but i demanded the ‘experience’ and in order for me to enjoy a movie liek this thoroughly, i need to watch it in the evening, with some friends for entertainment value (and if i have any pressing questions), , and some food (preferrably pizza and pop).
So the whole day goes by and everyone is all “lets watch the damn movie now” and im like “sorry dude, were watching it tonight, If anybody wants me to enjoy the damn thing liek they really want me to, i have to see it when im not going to sit there and pick it apart and make fun of it, when it could genuinely be an awesome movie” as, im no movie watcher. im interetd in Interactive Entertainment, and this ‘mood’ even stems into the type of games i play, and when theres a cutscene i want to make sure im going to thoroughly enjoy it.

its.. very complicated to say the least, and not alot of people understand it, but im insanely picky about my experience while trying to be entertained. Hell, the Rambo movie in theaters, i even prepared myself for those. Rocky in the same way. hell even with Bloodrayne the Movie from Uwe Boll, it was jsut the perfect setting for it, and i found myself enjoying what has critically been acclaimed as a complete bombshell of a movie. its all about the experience people, sometimes, content just doesn’t matter nearly as much.

So after waiting for so long, and going through all that trouble of getting shit setup and ready to go, we finally pop it in. About 3/4 in the movie, im REALLY enjoying it, having a good time, getting really into it, and then ouor friend Rae came downstairs as shes just come back from her trip.
“Oh i saw this movie! “.

…ya. I was pissed. In a split second the ending was completely ruined for me. Everyone else looked insanely frustrated as well. When i asked “Why would you do that?” and her response was “Cause i can” and gleefully skipped away out of sight.
The room was stunned. But w continued watching anyways, and i continued to enjoy myself. Despite the fact that the ending was no shocker, anymore.
so then after the movie, we watche dthe alternate ending, and it felt liek complete and utter cheese.

The moral of the story is: Dont blatantly ruin anything for anyone. Its simply not fair and just plain cruel.
If the response is “Oh but its so obvious” NO. What maybe obvious to some, may not be obvious to others.
They’re called twists for a reason people. You never know when they come, how they come about, and what itll bring. Thats the whole FUN of WATCHING a PRODUCTION.

Yeh im still angry, yeah shes apologizzed to me, and yeah i took it. But goddamnit, that could have beaten some of my top favorite movies, which i base solely on first impression and lasting value. First Impressions are crucial to the enjoyment experience, if that sucks, it may as well never be given the time of day.

My top 10 favorite movies (may be inaccurate):

10. The Rock
9. Shootemup
8. Clerks 2
7. The Rescuers
6. Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
5. You know what, im throwing I Am Legend right here , ill be damned if im going to let the fact it was ruined for me sway my thoughts on it.
4. The Incredibles
3. A Beautiful Mind
2. Rocky Balboa
1. Rambo 4

Rambo 4, is by far one of the most satisfying productions ive ever seen. If its any indication, its the only movie in my life, ive gone to see twice in theaters. Both times completely willingly and my idea.

im not a movie buff, nowhere close, but i knows what i likes. And you wont find any star wars, star trek, harry potter, lord of the rings, or hell een the Matrix on my list. They are all good movies dont get me wrong, im not into them.
To any and al wanting to try and sway my opinion on that: forget it. It wont happen.

-k

yeah no, this isn’t jsut one big topic about brawl. Let me continue here

So last night i got the opportunity to play Pete again in Brawl, as hes finalyl back from his vacation. With my new found love for Game and Watch i decided to take him on, while he chose Link.
Holy. Crap.

I havent suffered a beating like that, since Jamis surprise with Zelda fireball spammage (hes since quit doing that now, but you get the point). game and Watch just cant seem to get in close enough. Whatever move hes got, Links got a few counters.
Take for instance, his umbrella as he falls, can eject water, which rejects projectiles (i hear, havent pulled it off or anything) and deals damage to anyone who touches it. link can twist-fly whatever with hsi sword for his upB, and that kicks the umbrellas ass.
G&W’s DownB is an oil bucket that soaks in projectile attacks, in order to unlesh 3 fold once its full. Its one of G&Ws ultimate “Gotchas”, well according to Brawl, Links Bow and Arrow, Whirlwind, Boomerang, or even bomb, do NOT count as projectiles. Ive tried to catch each one of them. So that move is completely useless.
Link also has his Pogo downward sword hit, this is one move that makes zero sense to me how it works, but according to Brawl, that attack, knocks you skyward and star-KOs as long as you have 80% at least damage.
Dont even get me started on Links amazing recovery, both be and Tyler have hit link with a charge smash when hes at 150%, and he STILL survives!
Plus hes got insane speed & range, and somehow manages to hit for 3 times as much damage as the attack should allow. He hit me once with a standard sword attack, im already at 21% from 0%.

I could go on, but the point im getting at here is, the denizens of Hyrule, are all severely overpowered for their own good.
Someone on the balance team sure favoured these characters. The only one that feels balanced in Ganon, and, thank god. If he even had the ability to beat Fox in a standard attack, i think id cry and quit the game entirely.

Oh dont get me wrong though, i can still kick peters ass, he leaves himself open in the air quite a bit, but he makes insane usage of the dodge roll (as in, its his only mode of transportation on the ground), something ive been noticing not alot of people do in Brawl so far. And it makes sense, because he can barely be hit.

So far i think Links weakness is Snake, haha, believe it or not. Snakes standard A attacks, kick the crap out of Link, and by kick the crap, i literally mean: Kick him out. I took Link out with a diving roll at 70% or so, it was hilarious. plus Snakes standard air attacks make Link cry like hes the fresh’un in Prison. just gotta watch out for the Pogo, and everything is fine.

If you werent sick of hearing about brawl enough, you may have noticed my previous two posts, im not sure im gonig to continue those, at least, not here anyways.

So the interwebs cut out fairly early last night after the host went to sleep, so we were forced to improvise our entertainment. So me and Cody felt liek nostalgic gaming, and the SuperNES looked like a good target. …And didn’t feel like burning through Zelda, so we popped in Lethal Enforcers and, wow, got bored of that quickly. That game is missing some serious Blast Processing, because i remember the genesis version being far superior in every sense. After that, and finding out that my copy of Aladdin for some good old school sidescrolling platforming action was out fo the question (black screen o’ nothing), we popped in Mario All Stars, and played the crap out of Mario 3. Man, ok, first Mario 1 speed run competition with jami, Mario World speed run with jami the other night, and now Mario 3 with Cody. Also i gave Mario Galaxy a shot the other day, its jsut been Mario mario mario mario mario. lol. so that was good fun.

Oh also, while waiting for my prescription to arrive, i picke dup a copy of the new Nintendo Power. All i gotta say is: Wow. This felt VERY familiar. now i never read nintnedo Power in my life, and now owning a Wii i felt it appropriate since it had a nice cover story on Mario Kart Wii, Okami Wii, and “Building Better brawls” article. But i was reading it last night, and it felt like very classic video game journalism, stuff liek what Gamepro and Tips n Tricks used to feel like. Liek they dont take anything very seriously at all, lots of just having fun with the publication, and i felt compelled to continue reading the magazine until 3:30AM. Official Playstation Magazine and Official Xbox Magazine or even Game Develop magazine barely does that, i read a few articles, put it down, feel a little iformed, and go about y day. Nintendo Power jsut pure enlightenment and entertainment, as well as somewhat informative, but you knwow hat, i liked that. though, theres ALOT of Blue Hedgehog bashing from the fan letters, which made me lol.

Also, its almost April, which means, im almost on my way to my hometown, Prince George. on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of April, ill be driving with my good friend Gary, to help him move into his new place up in the northern capitol of BC (thats literally what they called it, lol). So that’ll be fun.

Thats all i got for now, until tomorrow!

-k

Preface:
Game and Watch is special. For what he lacks in frames, he makes up for in Power and Unpredictability. Its no secret, game and Watch is HARD to watch. Alot of his moves are sudden and come in first frame with little to no anticipation, while alot of his much deadlier moves have but a single keyframe of animation before blowing the opponent away, making him one of the scariest characters in the game to be against. you just never know what hell do next. Game and Watch is my main that im most effective with, and mostly for the above reasons.
Sure he looks funny and sounds funny with all the primitive LCD bells and whistles, and can very easily be written off as a joke character to those who haven’t seen his true capabilities. But jsut as the saying goes: Don’t judge a book by its cover.

LCD games have always scared me, now i know why.

Disclaimer:
Let me make this clear though: These are my strategies and opinions, and mine alone. Of course different playstyles exist and of course different opinions on moves are evident. nothing here is concrete, im just going by what works for me.

With the disclaimer out of the way, let get on with it:

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Name: Mr. Game and Watch
First Appearance: Fire (i think)
Smash bros: Melee
Changes: Not much, has a couple new moves, most are pretty preserved though.
Affiliates: None
Rivals: Mario
Final Smash: Giant ‘Oil Panic’ Octopus
Level: Flat Zone (Melee), Flat Zone II (Brawl)
Watch out for: Adult Link

Strats Coming soon, this is merely filler

Of all the characters in Smash bros Braw, Wolf, is by far my favorite. And while im not nearly as effective with him as i am with Game and Watch, im going to post all my strategies with Wolf right here, for anyone else looking and watching, to help make more use out of Wolf. Theres not alot of info about the guy ive found so far, so here we go.

Disclaimer:
Let me make this clear though: These are my strategies and opinions, and mine alone. Of course different playstyles exist and of course different opinions on moves are evident. nothing here is concrete, im just going by what works for me.

With the disclaimer out of the way, let get on with it:

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Name: Wolf ‘O Donnel
First Appearance: Starfox 64
Smash bros: First Timer
Affiliates: Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi
Rivals: Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi
Final Smash: Red Landmaster

Strats Coming soon, this is merely filler

So i offiically turned 22 as of March 26th at 11AM or something close to that.

The day started actually durign the previous day. After work, me, Jami, and Cody basiacly played a bunch of Wii stuff until the ‘wii’ (see what i did there? har har) hours of the night. I got 2 hours of a powernap, i woke up and with Jamis help, managed to start, beat, and master Super Mario World on the virtual console.

That took until about 12PM i reckon. Afterwards we got a bunch of people downstairs and played Brawl in Tourney mode until 5:30 or so.

Back at home with the family, we went to dinner at a fancy restraunt called “Zias”. here i tried the Rack of Lamb Dijonnaise, as well as a few local variations of dark beer. The food, was absolutely stellar. The night ended with a slice of Hedgehog Cake, which in short, is like having a party, in your mouth, every bite. It. Was. AWESOME.

i crashed at 9PM because i didn’t get much sleep the night previous, but its all good, the hours and hours leading up to the 9pm crash, more than made up for the remaining 2 hours i usually stay up till.

In terms of gifts, i got this sweet new Casio watch, its got a brushed metal finish and the numbers are shiny. cool!

Thats about it for my grand birthday adventure. I didn’t post, because i was away from all things computers the whole day, so, yeah.

Anyways, stay tuned for my gut reaction and lasting impression of “Serj Tankian: Elect the Dead”

Last night, was in short, pretty cool.

I happened to notice, that Ty, Pete, and pretty much everyone in the house is taking their break back to their own place, leaving the building pretty well empty. However, after slugging through Classic mode in Brawl as Wolf on hard, and finalyl visiting facebook again, i was promptly called by Cole to hang out and play some COD4. it was long after that that Cody came back too. So we all just played the crap out of COD4 and played some Gears of War on my PC. I loaded up that game purely just to show off the graphical capabilities of my computer, but they REALLY got into the damn game haha.

That was my night, but while i was browsing facebook i set up an event to gather a bunch of people up to play some Paintball on this coming Sunday. Its a REALLY late birthday thing for myself, as my D-Day is the 26th (tommorrow) and the ‘party’ is on the 30th.
Ive never hosted ‘parties’ or ‘outings’ or anything of the liek usually. When i did, i was a little kid organizing random things to happen, but then everyone would just play video games anyways (with or without my help, guess i just hang around Gamers alot, or i jsut sucked at hosting events lol) So this is a BYOC CFY CAYP (Bring your own Cash, Care for Yourself, Come as you Please) event, mostly so everyone is free to do what they will, wont feel confined to what i have to say, and fi they have to go, they can go with no questions asked.
I almost dont mind if it was really only me that showed up to the field. I know that wont happen, but what im saying is, this sunday is for me, and if my friends who ive invited show up, itll jsut make the day all the more fun and truly awesome, especially if someone brings some sort of recording mechanism (camera).
See you on the field guys! Should be a fun way to end the school break

I need to practice more on Brawl, just need to get good with Wolf. Hes frigging a pain to get used to once youve used Fox to any major extend, though Wolf does a few things that i thoroughly enjoy. Such as his Up+B, while not the “FireFox” as people have been calling it, its like “Air Wolf” or something lol. Its a TON quicker to pull off, and when it hits, carried the bastard along the trail, and Wolf lets out a side kick at the end to send them flying. Sure it may be shorter distance than the Fire themed Up b of Fox and Falco, but what it lacks for in distance, makes up for in attack power, which, Brute Force is what Wolf is all about. Though i tell you, Master Hand at the end of classic was a pain in the ass, simply because Wolf has no good air moves aside from the Air Wolf thing, and that mvoe is only good againt foes who will travel with wolf collecting damage as he picks them up. Master hand doesnt do that, rendering the move somewhat useless.
My entire 300 damage to the bastard consisted entirely of the 5hp per shot Blaster and jump kicks. .. Yeah. Took. Forever. Got a better strategy for Master Hand with Wolf? PLEASE for the love of all things holy, let me know! i know Wolf has a very shitty air game, but theres gotta be a couple things i can do.
Also if anybody knows how to Run and Gun with Wolf, let me know, ive been trying for ages, and i keep reading he can do it, but i can NEVER pull it off…
Also, Wolfs taunts are some of the best in the game.

Mr. game and Watch, what can i say, hes just a frigging powerhouse, but he requires you to be up close and personal. Even his Final Smash doesn’t have any range. But hes still my second favorite Main.

then we have Fox, when i need speed and combo damage, this is the guy i choose.

Then we have Sonic, which i still need alot more practice with to even be called Less than Effective.

Thats it for me for today,

-k

I just came off reading Jami’s blog entry this morning (holy crap kid, type much? LOL) and feeling a little down from typing so ill keep this short.

I went home for the weekend, starting on Friday (which was a stat-holiday for my job, so day off for me!) so i packed up my Wii and left my house. i could feel Tyler and Codys disappointment as i packed up my Wii, haha. Don’t worry guys, a Brawl session is right around the corner!

I went with gary to Penticton, he had a CD he wanted to pick up and i wanted to grab a second Gamecube controller. Going in for a $20 item, apparently leaving with some $85 of stuff, lol.
- Gamecube Controller (official, non-thirdparty)
- Gamecube Memory Card (madcatz, but works)
- Metal gear Solid: Twin Snakes
- Starfox: Assault

Ive been getting alot into the Starfox series as of late. Much in the same token i got into the Sly series, Ratchet and Clank, Sonic, and various other franchises.
I obsess over cartoon games it appears. And thus i shall continue to do so because i do appreciate the genre. Shooting, Platforming, Theivery, Open World, i don’t necessarily care, these games tend to focus on having plain old fun than incredibly realistic graphics. And isn’t that what gaming is all about?

I absolutely ADORE and praise the Metal Gear Solid franchise, because the gameplay is fun, the story is.. insanely engaging, and the characters are all likable whether you hate them or like them. Gear 1 on PSX was the very first title, that made me very proud to be a gamer. The second scene with sniper wolf dying, actually brought a tear to my eye for its beauty. I REALLY didn’t think a game could DO that to a person! MGS2 introduced alot of things to the series in terms of gameplay that were sorely needed, such as aiming in first person mode for instance. The storyline behind it was again, simply stellar, though i was very angry about controlling Raiden for the majority of the time, i wanted Snake!
MGS3, i never actually played to any extent, though i did watch my friend Alex play it in its entirety so i know the storyline and how it all went down. The final cut-scene at the end of the game left me completely and utterly speechless, to the point where i just couldn’t move, i was paralized, and all i could do was be basked in the beauty of the cutscene execution. The music queues, the voice over, the animation, and even the graphics, all worked in complete harmony to deliver one of gamings most satisfying endings in history.

in short: The MGS series, is what inspires me most. But i definitely enjoy my cartoon games.

When it comes to Brawl with me vs. anything Jami does, yes its true, his Zelda always manages to piss me off. let me explain
1. The kid has insane survival skills. Doesn’t matter WHAT game he plays, he always manages to survive the longest.
2. Impeccable timing. Hes got the timing of shit LOCKED DOWN TIGHT. So thus, always manages to get me just as im exiting my block, no matter how much i switch up the timing. I dont know whether its just luck or he notices something most dont. But its not just blocking, its EVERYTHING.

Anyways, its because of these two qualities in his gaming habbits, that make him a nearly unstoppable force in Brawl. So when he practices and makes use of his Main’s, hes basically god on the field, choosing who he was to off first. It never helps that for some reason he gets the Smash Ball on whatever hit he lands on it, while everyone else smacks it ariund for like 5 minutes. So i played someone who knew all of Zeldas moves, and i kicked his ass with Wolf. So, theres definitly something different about Jamis gameplay habbits that make her an unstoppable force.
I still think Zelda could do without at least 1 or 2 of her moves, such as th deflector, i really doubt she needed that, coupled with everything else she has. Shes liek the mix of everything awesome of every character, powerful CONTROLLABLE ranged EXPLOSION of DOOM, akin to Snakes Nikita. Reflector of peril, much like Starfox’s reflectors, her teleport maneuvers makes SURE you nver have a goddamn CLUE where shes going to land, her Sheik/transform ability is much like Pokemon Trainers, in which they cant be touched during transformation, and both her standard up and side smash attacks are repeated hitters with a final strike at the end of it which can send you off the screen. And nto to mention, her final smash is an instant kill so long as they are in front of her from ANY distance! Her repitoir is, in short: “Unfair”, in my eyes, and clearly unbalanced. Shes like the boss character that has everyones moves except stronger.
As for his other mains, Zero Suit and Peach, Peach jsut has one hell of an annoying final smash (no matter what, your asleap allowing her to pick each one off individually), and Zero Suits whip is just annoying. But aside from that, both characters feel pretty balanced in accordance to the game.

*ahem* anyways, before i start ranting, Jami its not that we think YOUR cheap with Zelda, we just think ZELDA herself is cheap enough to warrant the ‘ban’. Everyone else is cool, lol.

Im ending it here as i cant feel myself typing any less intelligently than i am right now, so, later!

-k

I just wanted to let you know, that Vlogs will be making a return, and a return they shall.

Another quick announcement, is a new feature coming to the Kyle Blogosphere, but will let my Vlog later today do the talking.

Very very short blog post today, as something needs my attention right now, so until later

-k

EDIT: Enjoy this picture, it made me laugh hysterically.

So with the “Garbage Day” and “Chasing Amy” Machinima projects sitting on the shelf for a little while, Ive allowed myself to sign up for the 11 Second Club, and even though i only have a week and a half left, ill still try my best to participate in the March contest, which uses an audio exerpt from “Amadeus“.

Im totally stoked, i only imported the “Andy” meshs and set up the first body poses, and a crappy 3pt lighting setup, and im having a total blast! I REALLY didn’t want to sleep last night, er, this morning.
This competition is allowing me to use maya for animation in ways i never used it before. Ive never tried animating rigs, facial structures, animation graph, or any of that stuff in Maya. All i ever used was rotating and translating the physical bones themselves in my simple simple structures.

Though i wont lie, getting back into the swing of Maya, may have been easier for me than most would trying to adapt (i used Maya for like 3 years before switching to XSI at school), im still having issues with keyboard shortcuts. Also trying to remember simple tricks like getting shadows from light sources to show in the persp viewport in real time have been an effort in trying not to strangle the neighbors cat in frustration.

Im not exactly sure what i want to do with my other blog blog.blackjagstudios.com, it served me well as a blog for critique from fellow peers and teachers alike, but i don’t use it anymore since im out of school, and following two blogs at once would kinda suck, which is why i’m creating a new Label for “11 Second Club” because ill be posting my WIPs here instead of there.

Ill leave it up for Legacy reading and showing, but you can see all of my stuff (and vlogs even) at my Vimeo account anyways

im done for today, to make your day complete, its wednesday, and you know what that means!

-k

Hey all,

So another St. Patricks day has come and gone, and it was a very.. game filled one, haha. Its nice to know i single handedly now have the power to distract anyone and everyone from “normal” socializing to “Fun and exciting bantering and disrupting friendships”. With the power of all of the systems in the house, plus multiplayer blockbuster hits like Smash bros Brawl and COD4, manages to turn just standing around and drinking with the occasional burst of laughter from the lewd comment shouted out at random, to having a real competitive and slowly degrading performance multiplayer bash.

Brawl was basically the center of all attention last night, but, it definitely got to a rocky start >_>, me and Jami, needed to unlock all of the characters, so we went from 50% to 90%, beating SSE on my machine, and going back to getting Jigglypuff, Wolf, and Toon link. So with all characters unlocked and 4 hours into the “party” it was time for some brawlin.

After that there wasn;t a ton of interest from much anybody else, they just watched me and jami beat SSE for 4 hours, so it was understandable. But once the distraction part of the party left (a few who shall remain nameless) people started joining in, including Cole, Cody, Ben, etc etc etc.
A little bit later, a fairly frustrated Cole asked me if he could use my 360 to shoot some people in the face, to relieve some stress. So we popped in COD4 and had some fun with supreme stealth classes and my Barret 50. cal sniper class.

This trend kept going until 2AM or so, when everyone disbanded and went to bed.

I didn’t drink a thing, i was to busy gaming to think about it… haha. id make a terrible irishman.

So theres my unprofessional sounding blog entry of the day.

-k