Come see my opinions, the odd comment, my thoughts and well...that's about it I guess, enjoy

• 19Aug 08

  Blog Company

  Hello! I'm back for another wonderful blog.

  So, an update about last week. My sister is back at home and she's seeing a councilor, plus she's resolved to get better, nice, huh?

  Hmm, so new games, right. Well, I recently bought Soulcalibur IV, to me, it's awesome though the story could've been similar to SC III and more cutscenes involving the characters, the rendering is awesome. Plus I like the charater creation, much deeper, though a few minor issues, but still pretty good. I also bought the Orange Box, I may actually play Portal and Stranglehold, the first game to actually make good use of the John Woo action style, you gotta love getting all pissed off and unloading enough lead to make a life size statue of yourself, hell, make ten life size statues of yourself.

  I also beat Battlefield Bad Company, expect a review for it soon, but my personal thoughts about Bad Company...it's Bad-A$$, lol, I know, bad joke...uh...yeah, moving on. I liked the sound design, best audio ever for any shooter, plus the dialogue is hilarious 'Well slap me hard and call me El Derado' or "There's gold in thar hills!' plus the soldiers you fight with are very likeable and fun to listen to.

  Well, I'll be back with another blog and hopefully no puns included, hahaha

  -Frosty

  • Posted Aug 19, 2008 11:10 pm PT
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• 5Aug 08

  I almost lost my sister

  Hey, long time, huh? A change of pace and something that happened not too long ago, a day or two to be exact.

  So, how can I put this? Well, I'll put this way without trying to sugar coat it or to be blunt. Monday morning, just as I was about to wake up to go to work...my dad found my little sister unconscious, thinking she passed out my dad....found something around her neck, she, uh, tried to hang herself. She wasn't breathing or anything and she had a pill bottle in her hand...so we tried to get her breathing again, thanks to me, she managed to breath but didn't respond. We kept trying to wake her until the ambulance arrived. We don't know how long she'd been there, but if my dad didn't find her...well, I don't need to tell you what could've happened. So, the ambulance arrived and managed to get her walking again, but she passed out again. We spent maybe two hours in the hospital until we got told she was doing alright.

  You never know if stuff like this will happen and you can never get rid of stuff like that...you'll never know how cold her body was...but, I got her breathing, hahaha, funny news is that I failed first-aid when I took it in school and I got my sister breathing again....just something makes me wish I could've done more, but I guess getting her breathing again was enough, it'll take some time to wash away the memory, but I don't think I'll ever forget what happened.

  So how is she? Well, she's doing alright, back to her normal self again, docs are just running tests to make sure her heart is doing okay, maybe tomorrow or thursday she'll be back at home, but what'll happen than? I don't know, that's another story

  -Frosty

  • Posted Aug 5, 2008 10:55 pm PT
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• 20May 08

  CGI Animation-Appleseed vs Vexille

  Well two CGI animated movies were released this year, the first is Appleseed Ex Machina, from the famed Masamune Shirow, creator behind the famous Ghost in the Shell series and Vexille, an original animated feature from the producer of the Appleseed Movies, it's time to see how these two measure up.

  First up is Ex Machina.
  The Story-Set in 2133 where humanity has survived a devastating non-nuclear war goes to create Olympus, a city that is something of a shining hope for humanity, a fresh start. The city is inhabited by both humans and artificial humans called Bioroids, created to feel emotions such as happiness, joy, sadness, but don't feel hate or anger, to keep the peace, Olympus created ESWAT, a special enforcement agency that operates to keep the peace.

  So the story follows Deunan Knute,a legendary soldier who is a bit of a loose cannon, she and her boyfriend, who is 75% cyborg, get caught up in a conpsiracy that may threaten both humanity and bioroids, while at the same time she must tackle a rather interesting love triangle as a bioroid joins their ranks...who looks just like her boyfriend before he became a cyborg.

  Second is Vexille
  The Story-In 2067, the UN places a ban on bio robotic research after realizing its threat to humanity, Japan, the world's leading robotics producer, does not comply to this and resorts to the extreme by pulling out of the UN, it doesn't end there, the set up a magnetic barrier around Japan to keep the world from seeing what's going on in Japan.

  In 2077, new activity emerges from Japan and a small group of agents from SWORD are sent on a dangerous mission....infiltrate Japan and investigate the robotics corportaion, Daiwa. During the mission, Vexille, the main character, is seperated from her unit and wakes up in the hands of a resistance group getting ready to strike at Daiwa, she meets the leader Maria and soon learns the dark reality of the isolation of Japan.

  Now how the two stories stack up? Ex Machina has a rather deep story and the characters are pretty likeable, even those who only appear for a few minutes, plus feels very cinematic thanks to John Woo joining the team, however, Vexille presents a rather dark future that could be possible should robotics become the next big thing, though the characters take a little time to grow on you, but again, is very cinematic,e ven without any outside help.

  Winner-Draw, both have excellent stories and very enjoyable.

  The Animation
  Ex Machina-Is often considered to be photo-realistic anime and I have to agree, animation is amazing, it's hard to really call it cell shaded, more like something you see from Blue Dragon but way better, thanks to some good lighting, it helps set the mood and tone for each character.

  Vexille-This to me maybe the be the best example of photo-realistic anime, in fact, if you don't pay attention to the animation itself, you may feel like you're watching an actual movie, it's a very unique take on the cell shaded, it has a more darker tone than Ex Machina and the lighting is a fine example, giving off a very realistic feel to it.

  Winner-Again, a draw, it's hard to really point out each other's finer points without pointing out the flaws

  Technology
  Ex Machina-For those familiar with the first movie and the Ghost in the Shell universe will know what to see when they see Ex Machina, the use of Power Armo and dropships will make many sci-fi fans get all giddy, the designs are unique but fitting for the universe, most civilian technology is similar to those of today, much like the weapons.

  Vexille-The power armor used in the movie is quite possibly the most realistic of the two, similar to actual concepts of power armor and appears to even be possible to make with the right technology and money, a lot of the civilian technology will remind you of Minority Report, for handheld weapons, it's hard to tell as there aren't many scenes with soldiers with assault rifles.

  Winner-it's a little hard, but if you're looking for realism, Vexille takes the gold, but if you're looking for acool futuristic design, Ex Machina is the best bet.

  Action Scenes
  Ex Machina-The beginning of the movie literally kicks off with a small bang during the opening scene, later goes to a shoot out in a catherdral, than a brawl at a construction site, than we move to the final siege on a floating lab.

  Vexille-watching the SWORD agents enter a mansion via smashing through the windows in their armor, a chase through a port and to end it all, a race through a wasteland in dune buggies while outrunning giant metal worms that resemble the sand worms from Dune,

  Winner-C'mon, a dash through the wasteland while being chased by giant metal worms? Bad-A$$, beats attacking floating labs anyday, Vexille takes the win.

  Main Characters
  Ex Machina-the main character is a loose cannon soldier named Deunan Knute, after the thirty minutes of the movie, you'll fall in love wth character, mostly for her out of place sense of humor and her rather aggressive attitude.

  Vexille-the main character is the calm, love-stricken soldier named Vexille Serra, she's the titular character and the opposite of Deunan, she has a bit of emotion during the movie's dramatic moments but si shown to be aggressive during the battles.

  Winner-Again, both characters are very likeable, it's a draw, though it's Deunan's sense of humor wins this one

  Music
  Ex Machina-offers up a techno-rock soundtrack featuring some famous artists and some unknown ones as well, plus an orchesrtated score to back it up.

  Vexille-Like Ex Machina, it has a techno-rock sountrack featuring some of the artists featured in Ex Machina and the creepy Host of Seraphim by Dead Can Dance, plus the core is helmed by famed DJ Paul Oakenfold.

  Winner-if you like techno and rock, both soundtracks willuffice, though Vexille's original score is pretty solid against Ex Machina's orchestrated score, still it's a draw.

  Overall-It's actually a draw, as much as the action scene match favored Vexille, both movies are enjoyable, especially to see how far CG Animation has come, here's to two of the finest animated movies.

  Appleseed Ex Machina-5/5
  Vexille-5/5

  -Frosty

  • Posted May 20, 2008 10:51 pm PT
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