Since I firmly believe PC game developers don’t get it, here’s a list of things every single PC game needs to have as a requirement. I hope to put this in some kind of formal document every PC game needs as a set of guidelines to follow or as a gate-keeping service a company uses to determine if a game is ready to be sold or not. I’m sure most corporate execs and business owners would be primed if I told them there’s a larger market their games could be sold to–Intel graphics chips–but their developers didn’t seem to put this in for whatever reason. It could’ve been the other way around that a publisher said the game had to be released on PC after its console debut leaving much of the customization out of the picture. There’s no real reason to release a game on PC lacking any of these features especially one made in the last couple years.
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Finally! Took me a while, but I beat it. I had a lot of other stuff I could do it the game, but it got boring after a while sadly. I wish there was more changing stuff like the beginning of the game. The fact that you could only hold 4 weapons and one was forced to be your hammar was a side-effect of the game being originally made for console and while it balanced it some, it really didn’t make it so fun when there’s 100 EDF, your friends suck and can’t kill a anything but themselves, and you keep running out of ammo and have no really good guns to deal with anything. If I could just use all the weaponry I worked so hard to purchase, I think the game would’ve been superb.

The game was great in many aspects though. Gameplay was awesome and something unseen. I can understand why you couldn’t terraform in here, but thought the developers could’ve found a way around that at least. There weren’t enough things in the game to make you feel like a badass, like you could do something. There used to be a moral multiplier which never made it into production, and it always said times one. Should it have said more, I figure the original design was to have an army at your side of Red Faction members helping you out. I can easily say, had that been the case, I would’ve definitely enjoyed this game WAY more. Casual mode definitely is still a bit too hard and I played on normal for most of it before feeling like my 7th or 8th time through a mission was getting far too annoying. There were even two mission types I tried many many times and just kept failing so I just chose not to do them anymore. If that’s what I’m doing, there’s some clear oversight on the part of the developers.

The story, if it was more like the end of the game, would’ve been better from the beginning. There just nearly wasn’t enough development and the explanations of things were so subtle they were non-existent. What was the whole thing about people talking about Parker early on? Why was a town named Parker? How in the world was that girl a Marauder? Where did those people come from when they said the planet is rightfully theirs? Where’d they get their technology from? A LOT of EDF soldiers died. I can’t imagine that not one of them joined the side of the Red Faction. So many other things like more information about what was going on with Earth, how long the Hydra took the build and what effect you really had after completing missing was doing. Like, you’d do a mission which would cut off all EDF supplies on Mars and next thing you know they’re bringing out tanks and provide you with unlocked mechs. Clearly something’s wrong there.

I hope they make another game, keep it as fun as this one was, and really elaborate on a ton of stuff. Lastly, I heard there was an ostrich hammer in here. I bought the game to use it, where is it hmm? Developers, I hear you crying!

– Kevin out

WHAT HAPPENED? No really, what just happened? The girl was kinda on the moon or something living a strange life without her brother, but was her life up there created by her brother? Was it even the same girl? Her and July died so I dunno. This show had a pretty sad ending, but I just didn’t feel it so much. The main character lost her memories and then died. It was extremely sad. I couldn’t move during the entire time. I kept sitting there watching her existence fade away and just sat in the chair wondering what was going on and how I was going to deal with it. Apparently I’m currently in a highly-emotionless state of mind because it did nothing. Having the rest of the show just blah to the end was enough to make me have no reason to care.

Charming yet frustrating at times. I felt like I wanted to use some better form of control during the game which could help me out. It has the same artwork as a game like Professor Layton, but a lot more choice in music, some fun charming parts with your character, and a neat bit in the story you probably didn’t imagine going into it.

My favorite part of Machinarium was the artwork. The mini-games or story elements most point-n-click have where you need an item or two and that does this and that does this and this character does this to get this is not appealing to me in the least, but I used to play games like those all the time as a kid and it was interesting to play one more setup for an adult mind.

The help area was really helpful, and it was challenging to unlock the walkthrough. I’d say it’s best to keep it unlocked at least if you did it. I wanted to see what it was like to get the walkthrough and it helped me out in a part I thought I had to do more in. Turns out, I was trying to do more in the game that I was supposed to which would be a problem the developers have to deal with and only occurred in the jail at the very beginning of the game.

I wish there was some extra to the end and a way to make sure I saw all the thoughts my character had of his past since some of them just happened without any event triggering them.

For the $10 I paid, I’d say the game was worth playing, but I’d even say it’s $7-8. I paid the same $10 for Zeno Clash, enjoyed it a lot more and spent less time being frustrated since it was my skill which held me back, not problematic design. I still think it was a fantastic game and a must-see, but I’ve thought from the beginning that it was priced far too high at the usual $20 and would be a total letdown for those individuals. I’m assuming my pricing is biased considering I do not like the point-n-click schema enough to be attracted to those games anymore.

– Kevin out

P.S. I wish I knew how to pronounce the name of the game properly.

It’s been three people now who’ve messaged me about Christmas. I completely had no clue it was coming up or that it was so close. Frankly, this year I’m pretty impervious to the holiday. Usually, I at least know it’s there and coming in a certain amount of days, but this year, there really is no Christmas for me so I don’t have much to say anymore about it. Seems strange to even think of holidays as something to consider anymore. I mean, last year I almost worked on Christmas if I got up early enough to do so. I guess I’m just so situated in my own world that nothing really happens around me with my knowledge anymore.

This is one of my most highly-recommended anime. It makes you think so much and look at your world another way. The story takes place in Tokyo if there was an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. The aftershocks would be 5.0 quakes.

It was an 11 episode series and the 10th one caught me by surprise. I really don’t want to give it away in the least. I knew something was up. The show was fairly easy to read and, because there were kids involved rather than 20 yr olds, I felt like the majority of the show wasn’t going far enough in what they were showing. After seeing it till the end, I would say that’s false. You don’t realize the genius in the show if you don’t see the whole thing, and I’d even go so far as to say this ranks up there with Galaxy Railways and Saikano in the emotional effect. It’s really hitting me hard right now.

Apparently Astro Fighter Sunred isn’t done. I’ve seen 6 more episodes in the last few days. Guess I get to watch more of this fun stuff. It still amazes me how this show has nothing to do with Power Rangers style super hero action. It’s kind of like watching a show about everyday daily life along with a group of people supposedly part of an evil organization who are trying, but failing, to kill a jobless man living off of the expenses of his girlfriend. The guy is supposed to be a super hero, but he’s a jerk and actually shows he has a conscience. A lot of his character is depicted as the bad kid on the block, the bully. It’s pretty funny.

I guess I finished it yesterday. The show really doesn’t have a concrete ending so maybe there will be a second season. This is yet another anime in a long line of them that has very wish-wash endings. At least this one made sense ending with two friends who can never see each other again.

Member Since: 1/2/1997 6:13:46 PM. For some reason, I thought I got it in 1996? I can’t remember so well, but AIM says I got it in 1997. I remember that because it was Netscape or something related, but there was also the AIM one from the AOL messenger, and they were both related somehow. It guess, when it was Netscape, it would’ve been NIM.

– Kevin out

Either someone at Microsoft thought up the same thing as I did or blatantly stole it. Look at this little bugger.

Pictured are the second and twenty-third DDR Night posters. That’s the first and the very last appearance of the DDR Club’s posters at UMKC. It’s pretty old considering it still has the old DDR Night logo even. Our DDR Night slogan was “We’re Ready; Are You?” I wanted it to be grammatically correct and to read well which is why I was smart enough to use a semicolon unlike Microsoft’s marketing team.

There’s a reason you see a childrens’ hospitals named “children’s” and why Microsoft opted out of my semicolon. It’s because those symbols aren’t used by the grammatically incorrect and since you’re marketing to the everybody, you’ll want anything confusing out of your advertising. Most people don’t know how to used those symbols properly unless they’re making emotions. Either that or those marketing departments are just made up of those people who can’t use those symbols properly. Whatever the reason, I just wanted to say how cool it was to see an idea I thought was cool actually used by the marketing team of one of the biggest companies out there.

– Kevin out

I’m starting to downsize again. I’m gonna move my family server over to new hardware, which has higher data capacity which means I go from 8 hard drives to 3. It’ll also be on more powerful, but more energy efficient hardware which is always a plus. It takes less time and power to do the same tasks my current server is doing which’ll be the main impact from this endeavor.

In another attempt to downsize, I have a gig coming up this Friday and was looking for a couple high-quality receivers. I have one already, but it’s not necessarily high-quality for audio with the speakers I wanna throw at it. I was talking to my dad and somehow came up with an idea for how I can setup my computer speakers as ZONE2 on the receiver I bought early this year. It’s a do-all solution which also has a function that allows you to turn off the receiver and play audio to another location or zone while also retaining the ability to control the volume, effects, and source independently of the main system. Pretty freakin’ awesome huh?

Now my computer speakers are setup as ZONE2 and my theater system still works and can play a movie off of my computer at the same time as I’m playing a game or something. It’s pretty darn cool how diverse this is. I’ve been able to put another use to the 25 year old receiver I was using and also get rid of the equalizer. Downsizing is fun! Even if my setup doesn’t look as cool as it used to, at least I’m using less power and getting better quality audio.

On a side note, my monitor’s external power supply started melting in my hands. I had a spare on hand and am waiting for a replacement. The thing was so hot I got kinda burned. The power cable was so warm that even a few minutes after the unit had been powered off and unplugged the thing was still warm.

– Kevin out

I finally took some new pictures of my workspace as it is today. Been almost a year now since the last time I did this. Not that much changed visually, but I did close the side of my computer, refoam the subwoofers, rewire a bunch of stuff, and clean up a bit. I got a few new electronic devices and nothing much else. Two of the pictures, 1727 and 1728, are there to show the difference of flash on and off.

Here are my first posted pictures of my audio/video equipment. I’ve been moving stuff around for so long and hiding things under my desk that no one really ever saw it until this year. I’ve got more hardware I’ve put into storage, but what’s there does everything I need right now. Most of these pictures should look familiar aside from the fact that the big tall wooden cabinets on the sides of the TV are gone now.

Just like the previous season, I was laughing loudly at the comedy of the whole thing. The music in this season was much improved from the older one and seems to contain some custom works actually worth listening to on their own. I was left wondering a few times where they picked up some of these amazing recordings.

On the other hand, I was displeased with the poor computer graphics work. This season contains a lot more of it than the previous one and not only is it noticeable, but it is cheap and poorly executed. The movements of the characters are stiff and unacceptable of the music they are playing. I wish there was more oomph in ‘em if anything. It was just completely lost of the feelings and emotion that reside in the expressions of the characters and the music. Still, it was enjoyable for me to watch.

I really don’t know why I continue to do these. I always write out lengthy write-ups after each show I finish for the most part, but I detest doing them and really have nothing much I’d like to say. If only for historical purposes, it still seems like a waste.

I watched Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Big Battle yesterday and it made me want to go and watch the 52 episode series from 1983. Other than that, I have nothing to say. Gosh, if not for the fact that I had been doing it, I really would no longer continue these write-ups. I only hope I have some readers that benefit from my annoyances.

Whoa! Get this, I wanted to pass that 13 footer when my ex girlfriend was supposed to visit me in April 2008 back when we were dating. I’m watching an anime right now where some of it is in French (Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter) and immediately noticed Je T’aime. That is the name of the song I was going to pass for her.

I really tried and tried hard before she came to make sure, by the time she was here, I would pass it. I even got the help of a guy online who’d passed it himself asking about what to do where. I never did pass the song, but the week she was supposed to be here, I got to the very last notes before I failed. The thing is, I feel like such a romantic now; Je T’aime means I love you.

– Kevin out