Selective Tweets #2

May 29th, 2010

ravin-rabbids

You didn’t think I would pan this out into two articles, did you? Well, I did, so deal with it. ^_^ No seriously, I’ve said some semi-nifty things on Twitter, eh? Give me some cred. You subscribed yet? No?! Herm, maybe we can pad this out into 3 articles…

Can’t think of anything to write about Wipeout Fury for the blog. It definetly sports a madder, more aggressive vibe.

2:15 PM Aug 28th, 2009 via web

Eliminator mode= awesome, detonator = entrancing, Zone Battle= kinda lame, awesome package, piles of content

2:22 PM Aug 28th, 2009 via web

I reckon I probably will enjoy Metroid Prime 2 more than MP1&3. MP2 brings the tough bosses and nails the macabre, alt design

10:33 PM Sep 10th, 2009 via web

Will try to substantiate into an article soon.

Quadraxis was certainly a highlight, loved the multi-tiered design and ingenuity of the spider and boostball techniques. Killer music too.

10:44 PM Sep 10th, 2009 via web

There’s something very 1997 which I’ve always admired about the Turok (N64) boxart http://tinyurl.com/mrz8ue

6:07 PM Sep 12th, 2009 via web

Battle of the Bionosaurs, that’s such an awesome name. I’d really like to suss out the 2D Turok games.

11:04 AM Sep 13th, 2009 via web

Momiji (Ninja Gaiden) and Shigure (Ninja Scroll Animated series) have a more than strong design and personality resemblance

6:47 PM Oct 14th, 2009 via web

Band Hero gets “Paralyzer” (Finger Eleven), oh, that sucks >_<

9:33 AM Oct 16th, 2009 via web

Three of my favourite songs (If You Could Only See, Impression That I Get, Paralyzer) are in that game, god.

Why is Rock Band so full of shitey Southern American rock? I’d kill for some Powderfinger, Silverchair, Thirsty Merc or anything Australian

11:33 AM Oct 22nd, 2009 via web

So pleased I have no affiliation with the alt. gamer/Asian-wannabe crowd at UniSA…sure I’m partial, but those people make me wanna barf.

9:40 PM Nov 3rd, 2009 via web

I try to avoid mentioning games much in my social life (unless it’s of mutual interest) and keep things pretty segregated between here and there. I dunno, most of the gamer people I’ve met in my life tend to conform to sad stereotypes and can’t seem to separate their hobby from social etiquette.

Perhaps I’m too purist and objective to be a rabid enthusiast of childish things

9:43 PM Nov 3rd, 2009 via web

Surprising discussion on the Good Game presenter switch @ Mediawatch forums: http://bit.ly/sRNWW

9:48 PM Nov 9th, 2009 via web

Good Game is an Australia TV show about games. One of the shows long-time presenters was suddenly axed without warning. The threads here are interesting.

Might buy myself Rune Factory 2 for Christmas. I’ve avoided a decades worth of bad Harvest Moon iterations, and RF looks like the exception

2:04 PM Nov 17th, 2009 via web

BTW, fans of said, bad Harvest Moon iterations deserve our pity. Damn, anti-purists.

2:08 PM Nov 17th, 2009 via web

I’m uber purist when it comes to the Harvest Moon franchise. The original is the only “true” game in the series, IMO. The spin off Rune Factory, on the other hand, seems slick. I will hopefully get to write about it this year.

Kinda funny that Aus. gets the original US CrossworDS and the recent EU release and rebranding, they’re pretty much identical.

11:41 PM Dec 22nd, 2009 via web

When the identity of a nation state is challenged by mass migration it seeks to consolidate itself by promotion of nationalistic values

10:21 PM Jan 26th via web

The next few tweets are just criticising nationalistic tendencies. I dislike belief structures (religion, cults, nationalist, patriotism, enthusiast followings).

Of course, attempting to define the traits and values that apply to an entire population fails, but we aggressively fail anyways.

10:27 PM Jan 26th via web

It’s for this reason that we have a better understanding of what isn’t Australian rather than what is

10:28 PM Jan 26th via web

Because the reality is that ‘Australian’ is a marker, an excuse to separate them from us.

10:36 PM Jan 26th via web

It’s also a trigger to connote that “what we do is normal and civilised…whereas what they, the other do is not”. Symbols of patriotism, even though we don’t truly understand them, make us feel secure in our belonging to a membership group.

BTW, did I mention that we’re all friendly bunch of larrikins who are great at sport and eat lamb? Aren’t you?

10:39 PM Jan 26th via web

And, yes, it doesn’t always make sense.

Endless Ocean 2, Excitebike: World Rally, No More Heroes 2 and Tatsunoko vs Capcom – all seem like interesting games for the Wii

11:33 PM Jan 28th via web

It’s a pity that Nintendo fans/industry alike will continue to decry the Wii for the obvious lack of quality software/3rd party support

11:36 PM Jan 28th via web

I’m sure if they all had guns and were set in first person/over the shoulder people would care…somewhat

11:38 PM Jan 28th via web

…But even then it wouldn’t be enough.

To unsubscribe to Adobe’s mailing list you an A) Click a link B) Post a letter titled UNSUBSCRIBE to their marketing dept. in Chatswood, NSW

11:06 PM Feb 23rd via web

Great Sunday editorial on Eurogamer about the 3rd party situation on Wii: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/third-party-puzzle-article

9:08 PM Mar 1st via web

Basically good games with strong marketing sell, Nintendo’s presence seems to be an excuse to pass blame for under performing in these areas

9:10 PM Mar 1st via web

Even Nintendo have weak sellers like Battalion Wars 2, Walk with me, Excitebots, Chibi Robo and Custom Robo – same reasons.

9:32 PM Mar 1st via web

Wonders why Nintendo didn’t/won’t extend their ‘New Play Control’ branding to 3rd parties, including Okami, RE0, Remake and 4, Rygar, etc

9:10 AM Mar 6th via web

It’s kinda sad how Capcom sexualised Jill Valentine with RE3’s boobtube/miniskirt combo and RE5’s catsuit, she was just fine before.

about 1 hours ago via web

In RE; Umbrella Chronicles her original body figure is dressed in her RE3 get up which is quite interesting

about 1 hours ago via web

They also made her more slender which doesn’t fit with her RE1 body image

about 1 hours ago via web

Valve are so going to announce HL: Ep3 at E3 and I am so going to look for ways to shit bricks on them.

about 1 hours ago via web

Yes, I’m still sour on the Half-life series. Half-life 2‘s legacy was mostly overrated (it’s just gimmicks!!) and, as I tweet later, the cast are trying too hard to be ordinary. I also look forward to making fun of Alyx falling in love with a soulless avatar.

Selective Tweets #1

May 26th, 2010

selective-tweets-one

My Twitter feed, you might not know, is intended to support this website with minor updates and short comments. I like the idea of websites which become portals of information through the collective support of a range of publishing mediums, and for me Twitter is one of those mediums. I don’t tweet about my life (unless I’m overseas)—there’s enough of that digital litter on the web already—I tweet about games as an extension to the website. Generally speaking, I put as much effort into those 140 characters as I would any good 140 characters here. I’ve been in the tweeting game for maybe 2 years now, so I figure that compiling a list of my most insightful tweets is probably a good way to fill two articles and come off as a self-promoting prick. No, seriously, there’s some cool stuff here, I’ve added some context to certain tweets too, and some of them are irrelevant to games, but still amusing.

The flat-out stupidity of these gaming publications is really starting to become offensive http://tinyurl.com/6jke83

11:15 AM Aug 9th, 2008 via web

Doubts that any gamers would listen to the Mirror’s Edge theme if it had no affiliation with the game. Any nay-saysers please stand up?

11:50 PM Nov 26th, 2008 via web

You can find a link to the music video here.

Tell me what’s suspicious about this website: http://www.kemsynth.com/default.aspx (clue: read the bottom of the home page)

8:12 PM Feb 11th, 2009 via web

Answer: It’s a front for Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror.

Final Fantasy II on FF Origins, playing on the PS3, has frozen up for the 3rd/4th time. This time in an unskippable cutscene.

9:50 PM Mar 19th, 2009 via web

I haven’t returned to Final Fantasy II yet, my PS2 modchip (imported games only) won’t let me load PSone games and the PS3 freezes at fixed points in the narrative. I have read elsewhere that other people have experience similar issues with PSone compatibility on the PS3, but little has been reported on it.

Zuma is a mean SOB, Bookworm is so much nicer, Lex likes to eat cabbage. ^_^

5:15 PM Mar 20th, 2009 via web

I cave, you win Zuma level 12, I’ve spent days of the past month trying to beat you, and all you do is humiliate me. I want a divorce.

6:54 PM Mar 22nd, 2009 via web

I have never been so addicted to a game before quite like Zuma. Just recently I started playing Diner Dash Lite on my iPod and felt the urge coming back. Someday I will try to write an article exploring the addiction and whether it is ethically positive or not.

Interesting the Asian trademarks: http://www.popcap.com/trademarks.php

12:12 AM Mar 29th, 2009 via web

“Compatible with the (DUAL SHOCK) Controller…the most explosive vibration functions the universe has ever seen!” http://tinyurl.com/dewq3p

5:39 PM Apr 6th, 2009 via web

Hehe, this is pretty amusing marketing for Final Fantasy VIII.

Haven’t tweeted in a few days, finished some essays, owned n00bs at healthy selection of N64 games – the usual DP pwnery.

12:37 AM Apr 12th, 2009 via web

I had a meet up with some old friends in which we competed in a race to 10 wins in Mario Kart 64 (battle, blockfort). I was at 9 wins, 6 up from the other 3 players until gang mentality stepped in and the other 3 had caught up, giving us all a level score. In the decider I stopped letting them win and came out the victor. Truly excellent, I am. Anyhow, multiplayer Mario Kart 64 with Gamecube pads via the Virtual Console is just awesome, so smooth.

Wow, just realized the Rune Factory series is developed by Neverland, the Lufia folk. Awesome.

1:05 AM Apr 19th, 2009 via web

Oh and that the PAL DS release is 1.5yrs behind the states. Wow, nothing changes in 12 years.

1:10 AM Apr 19th, 2009 via web

Rune Factory 2 hasn’t even been released out here yet!

Wow, never knew the GBA SP was first released in China. Crazy.

3:06 PM Apr 22nd, 2009 via web

Ellie Gibson has such a charming writing style, no wonder she’s recieved such accolades for her work, I like this; http://tinyurl.com/dzet6j

12:56 AM Apr 23rd, 2009 via web

Why can’t you just be a obedient bitch and centre-align pictures when I ask WordPress!

12:26 AM Apr 29th, 2009 via web

Thanks again for ruining my morning WordPress, pleasure’s all mine.

11:27 AM May 3rd, 2009 via web

These tweets represent my frustration with WordPress (the backend I use for the blog), it never seems to centre align an image without re-aligning the whole article. Images also tend to insert themselves after the last edit on the page and not where I specify. As a result I’m sometimes forced to crawl through the code, it’s also why I try to keep the length of all my images at 560px so that I can avoid aligning.

Jason Hill from The Age’s Screenplay blog took questions today from readers, I got one in too; http://tinyurl.com/c8uq8j

4:50 PM May 1st, 2009 via web

Got time on a Sunday afternoon? Why not make yourself sound more cultured, French phrases used in English; http://tinyurl.com/jzdzg

1:10 PM May 3rd, 2009 via web

Oh, “finished” Halflife as well..had to forfeit game due to glitch, sums up the whole experience really

2:58 PM May 29th, 2009 via web

This is where the bitterness really started.

Still reeling from this morning’s Metroid fangasm.

2:08 PM Jun 3rd, 2009 via web

This tweet is in reference to the initial Metroid: Other M trailer. I get uber emotional round E3 time, it’s infinitely more exciting than Christmas and the Other M trailer completely zapped my fanboy senses.

I like the concept of Milo too, except the kid seems like he just walked out of rehab

2:13 PM Jun 3rd, 2009 via web

I said this because I was surprised that nobody commented on how depressed the poor kid is.

Been reading Kotaku a bit for E3, spelling, grammar and factual errors in one out of every two articles. Pretty atrocious.

2:21 PM Jun 3rd, 2009 via web

I kind of unfairly criticise Kotaku and similar blogs. They’re fantastic at breaking news and not too shabby with investigation too, yet their kitchen sink approach turns me off big time. This comment, however, was true, sure it’s a peak period, but it’s clear that no one had read over the articles more than once.

APB looks rubbish, only way to become famous in a city is to either steal, murder or drive cars really fast. Diverse I know.

5:12 PM Jun 4th, 2009 via web

The future of video games right there. Who the hell is interested in these games?

Turned up the brightness on my TV to play emo-rific PoP:Warrior Within – gonna make me fall in love with Linkin Park music, I swear

1:07 AM Jun 12th, 2009 via web

I really did have to turn up my brightness it was that dark.

Going to play ‘Spot the Gimmicky Game Mechanic’ in Half-life ep1, hope it’s not as dull as Half-life 2

11:16 AM Jun 22nd, 2009 via web

Hehe, it’s so true though. As much as I love going against the grain, my comments on Half-life aren’t attention-seeking. I need to articulate my argument a little better, but the evidence is all in my posts.

Should be noted that Kirby’s Dreamland 3 recieved it’s first PAL release on Virtual Console yesterday.

10:55 AM Jul 25th, 2009 via web

PS3 (Slim) PAL-NTSC price discrepancy is still a massive injustice of $AUD150 – seriously, you announce the drop in Europe, what an insult!

12:29 AM Aug 26th, 2009 via web

The PS3’s success in Europe cannot be overstated, particularly when it’s at such a premium price. I’m always surprised to hear American’s complain over game pricing, they are such cry babbies. Take any NTSC product and add 30% of the price, now THAT is an injustice.

Microtransactions: Pirating the Novel and Memberships and Twitter

May 16th, 2009

Pirating the Novel

There’s a .txt file that resides in a folder on my desktop ironically labelled ‘Desktop’. This text file has a list of three things; my backlog of games to buy, current-gen games I need to buy when they hit the cheap and an exhaustive list of second-tier titles that I’d like to invest in, if time allows. I sometimes swoon over this list, as well as that sheet of ‘Games to Complete’ that I sometimes refer to; the one above my monitor. Sometimes it’s better to envision yourself enjoying these games/write about them rather than actually go to the labour of playing them. Hmmm…

Anyways, I was running through my list and came across an aggravating tick of a game. I love the thrill of collection and bargaining, infact I have a couple of eBay titles qued up right now awaiting the snipe, but some games no matter where you find them refuse to budge from their steep price tags. One of those is Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel for the PS P. Ever since I first spotted this in store – and by golly, what a surprise! – it’s remained fixed at $AUD50+. It’s $20/30 (not sure what the going rate on PSP games is nowadays, always cheaper than DS though) shy of a full price title, yet in reality, this is a mostly non-interactive experience, similar to those interactive DVD games, so why the premium? Furthermore this title was blessed with an ultra limited released and overall lack of publicity – you had heard of this game before right? So Digital Graphic Novel puts me in a tight spot, difficult to find and when you do it’s top dollar.

So then I decided to go to YouTube to see if I could find some video and save myself the $50, and sure enough I found a 16-part playlist (woah – almost 3hrs!) that now resides in .mp4 on my desktop, next to the ‘Desktop’ folder.

ocelot-mgs-digital-graphic-novel

I’m morally split on the decision though, I mean, if I choose to watch these videos, will it be a form of piracy? A devious, devious sin that I avoid as much as possible. Truth is, I will watch the videos, but more concern lies in the classification of this activity. These videos are on a free to view website and openly available. If one classes MGS DGN as a game then therefore watching the video is the same as watching a play through and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Games are interactive media and there is a layer of interactivity involved which I’d be missing out on, so no worries, right? Then again, I don’t think there will be any glimpses of gameplay in the video (ie. the player will just watch), so in that case we’re effectively watching a long cutscene which makes up the bulk of the game. Now if this is the case then what percentage of Metal Gear Solid 4 (ie. the cutscenes) is available online? Well there’s no doubt a montage of that stuff too, so probably a good chunk, therefore what exactly does this all mean? And what’s fair game?

One could also make the same claim for Linger in Shadows, the PS3 interactive short.

Memberships and Twitter

I recently ranted on about pissant membership groups within the blogging community in a post that I dare not upload in fear that you’ll hate me more than my Australian spelling of colour. Embedded within the article were some rather fantastic (if I do say so myself) musings on Twitter’s role in all this kerfuffle. Take a read;

“Twitter, is the fertile soil to plant, grow, share and trade cultural norms – the medium in which is used to emit and transfer. In fact Twitter is more than just the medium, it’s the ideal medium. The social networking element keeps tweeters in touch on a minute-by-minute basis while not binding them to any real time conversation. The tight word count moderates each sentence making it low fluff and straight to the love. The response system flaunts replies to people within the same network. This whole setup is ideal for users to flirt and trade ambiguous nudge, nudge, wink, wink commentaries among each other, and then transmit their dialogue to onlookers. It’s a contained system, built around the utterance; a distilled cultural transmitter. As said to death in the cultural studies field, language = culture. Therefore Twitter’s composition is a fantastic, quantifiable way to observe memberships groups validating their cultural identity between one another. It’s in Twitter that I draw much of my reasoning as it’s a transparent model to view this culture.

When I cruise through other people’s Twitter pages and observe the small talk, I’m often baffled at what’s actually going on. People declaring their membership roles or attempting to grow their seed, by throwing strings of replies to others. It’s a society alright. A society where people are constantly stating their roles and relationships. To “fit in” people have to acknowledge the presence of a membership group, whether they’re in it or not. And with only 140 characters to play with, you need to be discrete about this, which is where the love letters, and ultimately masturbation comes into play. In Twitter, if you want to be part of the elusive membership group you have to wank it all up on an open stage, and therein lies my frustration, as the audience member of that stage.”

Wow, witty and a valid contribution to the language, tech and culture fields. How do I do it? 😛

Posted in Editorial | Comments (2)
Tags: metal gear solid, microtransactions, twitter