This is a more “official” start to the blog, as I’ve decided on what I’d like to do for the perceived future. Here’s the rundown: First section is titled Med School Mayhem and, as you guessed it, follows my exploits in “live-action” fashion. Next up is the Weekly Jab, an editorial of sorts with some personal insights I have on gaming, most prominently starting with a question I’ve pondered, my take on it, and hopefully, your responses in the comments. Continuing on, we have Resonance, a section I am dedicating to music and gaming affairs, that is to say, what games I have played in the week, what tracks I have jammed to while gaming, or simply my soundtrack for life. Again, comments on your tastes build my own, especially considering the fact that being a DJ for school occasionally demands it. Finally, things wind down in Culture Café, everything non-game related and off topic, spontaneity at its best.
So last weekend we had our school formal event known as Gala, roast-esque presentations by a nominated teacher and student, photos, dancing, cash bar, etc. Pics below ( I’m the fellow in blue and gold). It’s been a slow week educationally, lots of studying with little gaming. Finals are one and three weeks away and then I’ll be travelling while I’m here in Europe. Here’s to praying I pass! (Otherwise I think my folks won’t be so keen on my traveling and all). For the academically inclined, subjects covered as of now are Physiology, Neuroscience, and immunology. Topics of the week include renal and pulmonary physio, sleep, memory, emotions, ageing, and Alzheimer’s, as well as immunology wrap up, with a final a week from Monday.
Looking back at history some major games come to mind. To summarize, we’ve got Quake and Doom amongst what I’d consider the golden age of fps gaming, Goldeneye 007 bringing that revolution to a console. Halo polished for the xbox what goldeneye established on the N64. Xbox live allowed consoles to branch out into network gaming like pc had accomplished long ago. With the x360, we had gears of war take a more tactical spin on first person shooters, with cover-based tactics becoming the mainstay of exchanges in games be they integral to the controls or not. COD4 produced in an attractive manner what would be expanded upon in Borderlands and thus forward most multiplayer games. The RPG conceptualization that continued play would be rewarded with unlockable weapons, modifications, and abilities that altered how one could play the game. This trend is quite appealing to the fps gamer who wants to adapt to their environment in the uber-mercurial environment of multiplayer gaming. As we move forward I think it is important to realize that fps gamers want more and more to define themselves as they play a game, creating an identity to suit their class of play, style, etc. I hypothesize that Brink, coming out of Splash Damage ( with partnership and influence from Bethesda Softworks) has the potential to polish what currently exists in fps gaming, if not establish a revolution in and of itself. Thus far, fps gaming has innovated upon character development, class styles identified with weapon and skill types, but few alter the way a player can interact with his or her environment, confining one to rely on sprint features and staircases to radically change one’s vertical perspective. Aside from memorizing a map in a 2d sense, it leaves little to the imagination as to how one can play an fps. With the Advent of SMART, I tend to think that we might have something groundbreaking to witness here. With all the character customization of previous titles, and the ability to bust out pseudo-parkour, there is a lot of promise in a title that changes not only the style of play, but how you play in the world.
All are welcome to dispute my claim, or suggest titles of your own In the comments.
This week I’ve been jamming out to Get It By Your Hands by Hiroshi Watanabe, a.k.a. Quadra. Prominently featured in the anime, Eureka Seven, it gives off heavy bass and cool tones. Trance and Techno are sort of my studying out music right now; I am not really listening to any tunes in particular while playing games at the moment. This week has been punctuated by either gaming sessions in multiplayer for BFBC2, trying to reach end class weapons, or by madman stints in Just Cause 2. Not too much here since Finals are up, but I plan on adding more when I have finished my immuno final the Monday after next.
So I’ve been intrigued lately by an anime called Heroman. Why , you might inquire, since it does not look much different from other anime style television. While no major artistic departures are made in this show, it is produced by famed comic book writer Stan Lee. All his idiosyncrasies are noticeable from the get go, from his distinct archetype definitions in character development, right down to the consonance in his protagonists, the victim here being young high school student Joey Jones. It never gets old hearing Japanese accents butchering his name. The culture clash might not be so awesome were I not an avid fan of comics as well as anime, but understanding the best of both worlds makes this quite an interesting find amongst the cavalcade of shows being put out every season, not to mention the eponymously titled Heroman himself beating the tar out of the skrulls *cough* I mean Skruggs, eliciting joy from pugilism. I mean, seriously, he looks like the Michelin Man on roids dude.
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