The Crow Rambles

Behold! There is hope to own your very own but hopefully not as lame as in the movie, real life transformer! Way to go Japan!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STQ3nhXuuEM&eurl=http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36286

I am Legend should be named I am Crapfest. Max here to warn you that I am Legend is not, by any means a good movie. It is filled with over acting by Will Smith and is a 90% bastardization of a classic Scifi story. Yet another example of Hollywood f’ing up a good Scifi property. So if you are hoping for anything resembling the beloved short story by Richard Matheson don’t see this. Just do yourself a favor and reread the story. Max out.

Suddenly, inexplicably, Halo 3 has captured my gaming time and steered me right off of Mass Effect and Assassins Creed. Even WoW has taken a backseat lately to sixteen player online battles.

You see, I’ve never been a big online gamer. Most of my digital story portions are single servings. One lone narrative for me to meander through and appreciate at my own pace. The online competitive multi-player arena was one I avoided mostly because the competition seemed to stiff. I wasn’t a 13 year old middle-schooler with enough time to spend five hours a night perfecting my head shot without even using the zoom lens. I have a life, I have commitments, not just to my beloved better half but to the other games.

And so it caught me quite by surprise the other day when I popped in H3 for a quick multi-player run (in that I do dabble in it from time to time) and ran up a thirty kill count (second only to some maniac who logged 50) on a big team battle. Thirty kills?!? I was in a zone. I was a zen killing machine. And it felt fucking awesome. Spurred on by the addictiveness of being better than some of those snot-nosed little punks, I spent the better part of my day off running through the Sand Dunes and Valhalla engaged in mortal combat. I jumped three ranks, skipping right over Staff Sgt. 3 & 4 and going straight up to a lieutenant. Spartan Officer Achievement unlocked, thank you very much.

The lady is leaving Sunday for northern Maine and not returning until late Wednesday. That gives me Sunday night and Monday all freaking day to play. I’m practically salivating. Captain’s rank, here I come!

Battlestar Galactica’s season three DVD finally got a release date of late March. Over the past eight months I’ve painstakingly managed to transform the girl from a non-believer into a sci-fi/fantasy loving geek via the magic of Firefly, Serenity, the Evil Dead Trilogy and the first two seasons of Battlestar. Before I move onto the hardcore stuff (Farscape! And maybe Kull the Conqueror, just for fun…) I’d just as soon capitalize on the BSG momentum and get season three wrapped up before four starts broadcasting. There might be a little bit of overlap, but I figure I can just DVR the first few episodes of season four when it starts airing on SciFi.

In related news, I sat down and played some Mass Effect this weekend. For some reason though it just wasn’t grabbing me the way it did when I first started, even though I’m only about six or eight hours into the game. I think my brain is just hard wired for WoW right now, making it difficult for me to concentrate on any other games (except Guitar Hero III, because the girl plays that one, which makes it way more fun. You can’t beat late night GH3 sessions.) According to Penny Arcade we’re in the midst of that afore mentioned ‘Warcraft renaissance’ anyways, so I guess that makes me feel a little better about my returning addiction. I’m not alone, the greatest fear of all addicts. Even still, I managed to log three hours with Mass Effect before I had to take the dog to the vet for her monthly heartworm pill. Not bad. Just not… good, like Silverpine Forest would have been with my rapidly leveling undead tank…

I also tinkered with the site a little bit. I’m reasoning that if I’m not ready to let it go and want to keep it up and running properly, it’s time to fix all the little things that have been bothering me about it. For instance, using a small logo as a “home” button – I never bothered to animate it for a mouse-over when I started putting the site in its current state together. In fact, I don’t even think I knew how to do that before. So I’m starting to fix that along with a few other minor graphical tweaks. I also began the construction of the updated story main page, and that I am particularly excited about. When I am able to get it up and posted… and everyone can read the whole thing start to finish… Well, I admit that’s gonna be pretty damn exciting for me. Now if I can just manage to entice back any readers who lost interest when the writing petered out last year…

I have a terrible confession to make… but please don’t tell my Xbox360. I re-activated my World of Warcraft account. After playing for two years, I’d finally kicked the habit a year ago. My level 56 warrior languished for twelve whole months… untouched on Llane. But when I found out a fellow geek and co-worker plays, and he’s on a PVP server (which I always wanted to try and should have rolled in the first place), I couldn’t resist. I bought a new graphics card to replace my second-hand G-Force I’d limped by on prior. I bought and installed The Burning Crusade. And I started two new characters on Riverdale (I think that’s the name) PVP server. A Blood Elf Pally to level with my friends new mage, and an undead tank to work on in the off time. My tank is up to level 12 already, and just snagged his first nice green drop off a mob. And the pally is level 9.

And holy shit, I am fucking addicted hard-core to that game again. Why did I ever leave? I feel like a crack addict who just lit up again after quitting… Goddamn I love WoW. I’ll keep you posted.

Thank the gods the holiday chaos is over… how is it these things get more complicated as you get older? You would think you’d get better at managing the interwoven fields of relatives, Christmas cards, gift checklists, and general good cheer, not worse at it as time goes on - as seems to be the case with yours truly. Anyways, greetings and hello to anyone still reading. Although I suspect this blog has been largely abandoned by our vast audience of… oh, let’s say two (?) since we put the site into ’shut-down’ mode, I’m still here writing. These entries will probably end up being an unread digital testament to our struggle for greatness… where the press will dig back through after we’re famous and say “wow, these guys used to be regular dudes too!”, thereby increasing our every-man appeal and making us more famous. Oh yes… I can practically hear the cash register of fame ringing us through already… Then again, I might just be dumping my thoughts here for nothing…

In either event, on to what’s happening with us. First off, Max is right. Assassin’s Creed is pretty cool. It may not be everyones cup ‘o tea, but I find myself quite captivated with the world Ubisoft has created. I think of it as a balanced mixture of the Hitman series with a good dose of Prince of Persia thrown in. But without all the Hitman level frustrations… I never could get those games down. But the PoP-esque acrobatics as you leap from building to rooftop are just a blast. And the anticipation of the kill… Now that is something I haven’t felt in a game in some time. Bravo to Ubisoft for giving death some gravity again.

Regarding the story, the temp title of The Crow Speaks has finally been dropped in favor of what I believe will end up being the final one: To Trip the Dark Horrific. I’m about half way through the final edit, and am hoping to be wrapping this up within a few months. The major hang up right now is transitioning all dialogue and action originally attributed to Kiara Frost to another character (you’ll have to wait until I’m done… sorry, not giving any spoilers!). The character in itself serves the same purpose Frost did, but changing this ties everything together a lot more neatly. Plus the whole thing was getting a little estrogen-heavy, if you catch my drift… Incidentally, if you’re out there still reading Ms. Slowly, deepest apologies for the removal of Frost. But trust me, it’s all for the better! Frost will still see her day… I promise.

I’ve also started working on a short series of essays about my love for video games. I’m starting waaaaaay back in the original NES days, just documenting how I got started in the hobby and what I love about it. It’s mainly a nostalgic piece for me, but we’ll see where it goes. Maybe Max will wanna throw in on it as well (since, you know, he was kinda there the whole time too).

Lastly, the web site. I’m kicking around a bunch of format ideas. I hate to abandon everything we put together, but it’s current incarnation just wasn’t doing it for me. Who knows though… maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and be motivated to start going again. But somehow I doubt it. What I will be doing is when the story is done, probably posting a chapter per day for a month until it’s all up again. I haven’t forgotten you, my dear original readers! Also, site-wise I think I want to gear it more toward original work and ideas by Max and I, and maybe a few artist types too. Rev. Brad, if you read this, give some thought to a digital gallery of your work here and tell me what you think. I can copy-protect it easily if need be.

That’s all for now folks… Hope everyone had a good New Years and holiday.

Stay groovy,
Jay

A few things for you all today (even if all consists of two).  First off, the Devers brothers may be off on a new career path soon that may or may not launch us into a world of Scrooge McDuck like pools of money and high class orgies.  Fear not though loyal reader, we will take you on the inside of our new world and shed light on a industry that thrives on our passions.

Now secondly, Assassins Creed is phenomenal.  Yes it has a few short comings in the form of repetitive dialog and missions, but taken as a whole it stands out in the crowd of unoriginal games that is all too deep.  Let’s consider how many games tackle the middle ages in any sort of competent way, are there even any?  Save things like Civilization IV?  Let alone as an action title?  In AC we get authentic Crusade action and boy do we get a lot of it.  The combat system is brilliant and just interesting enough to be challenging and something to master.  The free running you do throughout the cities is intensely fun and addicting and allows easy control for complex maneuvers.  The graphics are as good as it gets and the character animations are for the most part flawless.  The story is interesting and continues to intrigue me. Even if it wouldn’t make a good novel it sure makes great video game fare.  It seems that every review I’ve read so far has  knocked the game for revealing a major plot twist in the first five minutes but I say it was a brilliant move.  It allows for such a smooth way to move events along in a story that would seem ridiculous to take place in one seemingly long day.  It is actually quite clever and I say kudos to the boys at Ubisoft for doing something original.  And despite being another open world game as some might say, Assassins Creed is an original work that raises the bar in terms of overall quality we are going to expect for our sixty dollars.  But that’s the way it should be.

-Max out

I shelved Oblivion for a while.  I killed hundreds of zombies in Dead Rising and put that down for a time.  And Halo 3 has been permanently assigned to my Thursday night online multi-player ‘fests.  So I’ve finally caved in and put the Bioshock disc into the tray that Tina so kindly picked up for me three weeks ago.  And… oh my… god this game is amazing.  The controls, the graphics, the design, it’s all so fluid.  So flawlessly awe inspiring.  This game really is the definition of art.  I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of what the game offers, and already I’m planning to play it through a second time and make a few different choices.  This is indesputable evidence that the single-player experience is not dead.

In related news, I received my preorder bonus disc for Mass Effect from Best Buy in the mail yesterday.  I’m chomping at the bit to dive into another Bioware sci-fi epic.  If it’s half as fun as Knights of the Old Republic, I’ll be happy.  And this one looks fantastic from the previews I’ve watched.  Max, I’ll be sending the disc your way soon so you can check it out.

“The Crow Speaks” was a working title.  In fact, it originally was designated as the catch-all name for anything on the website designated to be fiction (as you may have noticed give the “…Speaks” button for the fiction section).  And yet, here I am a step away from the final chapter, one full edit, and two years later and I’m still using the day one working title.  It’s time for a change… here’s what I’ve brainstormed so far:

Apocalypse Later (a play on the movie Apocalypse Now, the “Later” referencing how the main character continues to put off his destiny)

Three Witches (Frost, Aerin and Blondie)

Two Witches (just Aerin and Blondie)

World Rift (probably more appropriate for the second book… as the dimentions the ‘thing’ comes from is bridged with a rift)

Demon Rift (kinda bothers me… there’s no direct identification of a demon really…)

Witch’s Rift (err… maybe?)

Lost Vessel (sounds like a book about lost boats)

Unwanted Fortune (the title of Chapter 9, I always kinda liked it)

The Strange & Unusual Tale of the Soldier and the Witches (going for a classic sounding thing…?)

Osiris’ Soldier (referencing the legacy of Jay)

See one you think works or can come up with something better?  Please leave a commment!  Help me out here folks!

It’s no secret that we here at The Crow have always harbored a public loathing of all things Star Trek.  Max particularly hates it in any form, be it TV, movies, games or… whatever.  Personally I’m not all that fond of it either, although I hesitantly do admit to having a secret love affair with a few of the movies, Wrath of Khan and First Contact particularly.  In fact, these two movies are the only Trek films to grace the hallowed shelves of my extensive DVD collection.  Come to think of it, they’re the only Trek related items I even own.

However, I’ve got a confession to make… I’m actually a little bit excited in a fan-boyish kind of way about this new JJ Abrams helmed franchise ‘reboot’.  For those unaware, Paramount has already almost completely cast this next movie, in which we’ll be seeing a new young version of the original series characters.  Yes, you read that right.  New actors will be portraying Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the good old Enterprise crew.  It’s not so much that this will be a ‘reimagining’ of the series that has me excited, but more that it represents a fresh start.  A turn in fan attitude that all those freaky, dress-up and pretend we’re in Starfleet types are ready to accept new faces gracing the roles they’ve come to worship and are prepared to finally let go of the severe cheese that has sustained the series god-knows-why for forty plus years.  In other words, it gives me hope that another sci-fi community might be accepted into more of the mainstream.

Think about it, was Star Wars cool to like back before the new prequels burst forth from the rigid digitized mind of George Lucas?  I don’t really think so.  That’s not to say I in any way pretended not to know as much as I do about the movies so I could get that hot blonde to like me that night back in college at one of my Fraternity parties.  Err… yeah, anyways - look at what we have now.  The tribute movie Fanboys is on the verge of being released, Star Wars is all over the place again (TV, magazines, you name it) and suddenly it’s okay to admit you can tell the difference between a Sand Crawler and the Sand People.

Will this new film do the same for Star Trek?  Take it out of the stuffy, ‘where do they go to the bathroom’ sci-fi genre (or as I call it, nerd-fi)?  Who knows… but I have hope.  Simon Pegg of Shawn of the Dead fame has just signed to play Scotty, and Karl Urban from Lord of the Rings will be portraying Leonard “Bones” McCoy… so there is some talent on board.  Plus the Trek universe has always held such untapped potential in my mind.  I’m really looking forward to seeing some revolutionary things when the Enterprise graces the silver screen once again next year.  Because if it’s another re-tread of an old, tired story type with new actors mimicking their cardboard cut-out predecessors, I have a feeling Rodenberry’s franchise might finally get the flush at Paramount.  Ironic, considering I’ve never seen a toilet in Star Trek…