Today's blog post will be one of those all-in-one specials that everyone loves to not read. Topics are coming to me nowadays, but narrowing down my topics and focusing on them is tough, so bare with me just a little while longer.
Stanley Cup Playoffs
The NHL Playoffs are underway, and the first round is almost over with. The Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators and my Washington Capitals have already advanced to the Conference Semifinals. So far, there have been a lot of overtime games as well as comebacks that always make things very interesting. Right now, everyone is watching the Vancouver-Chicago series, one that started with Vancouver being up 3-0, but is now headed to a decisive Game 7. If Vancouver loses, it'll be the third consecutive year that the Presidents' Trophy Winner loses in the first round of the playoffs, not to mention the third consecutive year Chicago would eliminate Vancouver from the playoffs.
PSN is down
Playstation Network as most Sony fans call it was compromised by hackers, or so Sony says, and has been down since Thursday. There's no end in sight, and it's really bad for Sony since last week 4 top tier games came out for PS3, including one that was download only. Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, SOCOM 4 and Arcana Hearts 3 were big names, but because of the outage, multiplayer is inaccessible. For me, it means I can't earn money via remote races in Gran Turismo 5 (which has probably cost me roughly 3-5 million dollars so far) and I can't play through co-op in Portal 2, which I hear is excellent. It's a tough break for Sony, but it really shows that hackers, modders, and the like really do hurt regular consumers, even if they don't want to.
Happy Easter
I'd like to finish off this blog post by wishing everyone a belated Happy Easter!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Sonic Colors: Dim the Lights
I've heard a lot of praise for Sonic Colors. How it was a return to form, the breaking of the cycle, the pinnacle of 3D Sonic games. While I can say it is the last of those three, I cannot say it holds true for the first two. While Sonic Colors starts off strong, it slowly deludes itself into mediocrity in what is otherwise an already short product.
Sonic Colors is a 2D/3D Platformer on the Wii where you play as Sonic and only Sonic through 45 regular stages and 7 boss fights. The premise is that Dr. Robotnik, or Dr. Eggman for those unaware of the series' history has built an intergalactic amusement park and Sonic must free the aliens that are powering it. While most of the early stages are designed great, around the latter half of the third world is where the game gets a little dicey with its' level design and never really recovers. You can go back and play older levels with newer alien powers you unlock, and given the game only lasts 4-5 hours, you probably will do so for the fear of buyers' remorse potentially setting in.
The graphics and music on Sonic Colors are top notch, and once again challenge Nintendo for what looks really good on the Wii, however Sonic Colors only runs at 30 fps unlike Mario, but considering speed is Sonic's thing it's not that big of a deal. What is a big deal is the controls. Sometimes the game is a little spotty with the controls, and you won't jump properly, nor will you move quite enough forward or back to avoid Sonic from dropping into an endless pit. These are things that have held true to 3D Sonic games ever since Sonic Adventure. Why Sega can't avoid this problem is beyond me, and has plagued the series.
Sonic Colors is the best 3D Sonic game to date, but that's not really saying much given the series' past. While it may be a good first step to breaking the dreaded Sonic Cycle, Sonic is still stuck in a continuous loop of mediocrity. Sonic Colors is just a lot less mediocre and approaching the good category.
Sonic Colors is a 2D/3D Platformer on the Wii where you play as Sonic and only Sonic through 45 regular stages and 7 boss fights. The premise is that Dr. Robotnik, or Dr. Eggman for those unaware of the series' history has built an intergalactic amusement park and Sonic must free the aliens that are powering it. While most of the early stages are designed great, around the latter half of the third world is where the game gets a little dicey with its' level design and never really recovers. You can go back and play older levels with newer alien powers you unlock, and given the game only lasts 4-5 hours, you probably will do so for the fear of buyers' remorse potentially setting in.
The graphics and music on Sonic Colors are top notch, and once again challenge Nintendo for what looks really good on the Wii, however Sonic Colors only runs at 30 fps unlike Mario, but considering speed is Sonic's thing it's not that big of a deal. What is a big deal is the controls. Sometimes the game is a little spotty with the controls, and you won't jump properly, nor will you move quite enough forward or back to avoid Sonic from dropping into an endless pit. These are things that have held true to 3D Sonic games ever since Sonic Adventure. Why Sega can't avoid this problem is beyond me, and has plagued the series.
Sonic Colors is the best 3D Sonic game to date, but that's not really saying much given the series' past. While it may be a good first step to breaking the dreaded Sonic Cycle, Sonic is still stuck in a continuous loop of mediocrity. Sonic Colors is just a lot less mediocre and approaching the good category.
Friday, April 8, 2011
No Shutdown
The President got on TV just a few minutes ago to announce that there would be no shutdown of the Federal Government, stating that a compromise had been reached that would cut roughly 39 billion dollars from last year's federal budget. The pending shutdown would've happened because a fully controlled Democratic Congress didn't pass this budget last year. The budget is mainly a stop gap to keep spending up for the next few months. The Republicans are looking to the fall to start debating an entirely new budget where they have more say about what may or may not go into it since it will be their first budget.
While some will say this is good for Republicans as something similar allowed Clinton to get re-election in 1996 I whole-heartedly disagree. Bob Dole lost in 1996 because he was a major player in the Republicans caving when they gained control of Congress in 1994. People who voted Republican in 94 felt betrayed by those they voted for, and in turn either didn't show up at the voting booth on Election Day in 96 or showed up to vote against those that betrayed them. This eventually led to an economic boom in the mid 90's and lasted mostly through the Bush Administration. The difference here is that we're still in major military conflicts overseas, which is hurting our economic status in the world.
Cutting 39 billion dollars from a 3 trillion dollar budget isn't going to solve anything. Cutting 390 billion dollars would help, but it'd still be a drop in the bucket to the amount of money Government is spending on a yearly basis.
While some will say this is good for Republicans as something similar allowed Clinton to get re-election in 1996 I whole-heartedly disagree. Bob Dole lost in 1996 because he was a major player in the Republicans caving when they gained control of Congress in 1994. People who voted Republican in 94 felt betrayed by those they voted for, and in turn either didn't show up at the voting booth on Election Day in 96 or showed up to vote against those that betrayed them. This eventually led to an economic boom in the mid 90's and lasted mostly through the Bush Administration. The difference here is that we're still in major military conflicts overseas, which is hurting our economic status in the world.
Cutting 39 billion dollars from a 3 trillion dollar budget isn't going to solve anything. Cutting 390 billion dollars would help, but it'd still be a drop in the bucket to the amount of money Government is spending on a yearly basis.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
By George it's been a While
I haven't updated my blog in a while, so it's time to get down to some brass tax and discuss a few things.
The Final 4
The National Semi-Finals were great, which produced two great games with Butler and UConn advancing to the Championship. Kentucky could've won in the final seconds but a poor shot led to a Connecticut win. Virginia Commonwealth fought hard against Butler, but the Bulldogs were too much. My guess experienced paid off there. However, the Championship game was one of the worst, if not the worst College Basketball game I have ever seen in my life. Butler couldn't shoot the ball at all and the game went for minutes on end without the score even changing. I know the NCAA is proud of their parody but have the refs call a few fouls to get some free throws so some mild interest can be maintained throughout. I was watching baseball with 15 minutes to go in the game because of it.
NHL
The Washington Capitals are once against Southeast Division champs, and may be on their way to a second first place rank in the Eastern Conference. They will most likely face the Rangers or the Sabres given the current schedule outlook, but they could face the Canadians or Hurricanes as well. Vancouver, who wrapped up the President's Trophy a couple of weeks ago lost back to back games handily to Edmonton so it appears they might be limping into the playoffs, like the Flyers are. Who, incidentally might lose the Atlantic Division to Pittsburgh if they aren't careful. The Playoffs will surely be exciting but one thing's for certain, my team will never win.
Video Games
I've mainly been simulating B-spec in Gran Turismo 5 lately. I'll most likely stop when I get to level 35 so I can get the best car in the game. After that, it's anyone's guess. I also purchased the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition and playing through the DLC packs. They're fun, but fast travel was definitely needed. Either that or the elimination of travel padding. I beat Playthrough 2 so now all enemies are now equal to my level, which is just great since it'll mean much more experience from here on out.
The Final 4
The National Semi-Finals were great, which produced two great games with Butler and UConn advancing to the Championship. Kentucky could've won in the final seconds but a poor shot led to a Connecticut win. Virginia Commonwealth fought hard against Butler, but the Bulldogs were too much. My guess experienced paid off there. However, the Championship game was one of the worst, if not the worst College Basketball game I have ever seen in my life. Butler couldn't shoot the ball at all and the game went for minutes on end without the score even changing. I know the NCAA is proud of their parody but have the refs call a few fouls to get some free throws so some mild interest can be maintained throughout. I was watching baseball with 15 minutes to go in the game because of it.
NHL
The Washington Capitals are once against Southeast Division champs, and may be on their way to a second first place rank in the Eastern Conference. They will most likely face the Rangers or the Sabres given the current schedule outlook, but they could face the Canadians or Hurricanes as well. Vancouver, who wrapped up the President's Trophy a couple of weeks ago lost back to back games handily to Edmonton so it appears they might be limping into the playoffs, like the Flyers are. Who, incidentally might lose the Atlantic Division to Pittsburgh if they aren't careful. The Playoffs will surely be exciting but one thing's for certain, my team will never win.
Video Games
I've mainly been simulating B-spec in Gran Turismo 5 lately. I'll most likely stop when I get to level 35 so I can get the best car in the game. After that, it's anyone's guess. I also purchased the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition and playing through the DLC packs. They're fun, but fast travel was definitely needed. Either that or the elimination of travel padding. I beat Playthrough 2 so now all enemies are now equal to my level, which is just great since it'll mean much more experience from here on out.
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