Don't Feed the Wookiee

And soon I can sleep...

2008-08-07T11:47:00.001-04:00

WAR has a release date!

Soon... Yes... soooooon.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Muppets on YouTube

2008-07-24T13:45:00.001-04:00

So it looks like the Jim Henson Company has started to branch out a bit more and started to use YouTube. They've created accounts and pages for:

Sam the Eagle, Beaker, Swedish Chef, Gonzo, and Statler & Waldorf

Each has a single video uploaded so far but with a few extras from Statler & Waldorf. And the two grumpy old men show up at the end of each of the other videos as well. So far they fit very well with the various characters and immediately bring me back to when the original Muppet Show was on the air.

I'm just happy that Animal shows up in a couple and shows off his awesome drumming and singing skills. That made my day. =)

--
.ungawa

-Spyke

WALL*E

2008-06-28T00:32:00.001-04:00

Saw a late digital showing of WALL*E that I just got back from a little bit ago. I'm literally blown away by how good this movie is. To put it in perspective the last time I checked it had a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. That's pretty damn good.

Pretty much everything about this movie was impressive... The animation, the sound production, to the character development. For a movie that has most of the characters unable to talk more then R2-D2 with a few words added it is simply incredible how touching and emotionally attached you feel to them all.

There certainly were a few very moving scenes as well... and if you don't feel those then you're a pretty bit jadded then. =)

It reminded me of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons in that both adults and kids can see it and both enjoy it. Heck men and women can see it and both enjoy it. I think they've managed to create a movie that has something for *everyone* on it... Which is damn impressive.

It's a good sci-fi flick as well as a good date flick as well. There's a combo that you normally don't see together.

Plus the homage/cameo of Animal from the Muppet Show (or at least his manerisms, ergo the homage primary) wins some massive bonus points from me. =)

Go see it as soon as you can. Pixar is going to make a mint from this movie... I think it might end up being one of their highest grossing films of all time.

Oh, and the short that's in front of it is side splitting hilarious. Most of the audience had a hard time breathing during that one... And it's a great primer for WALL*E.

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.ungawa

-Spyke

ZOMG... I might actually finish L.O.

2008-06-08T22:57:00.002-04:00

So I finally buckled down and finished the "Temple of Enlightenment" section of Lost Odyssey. Horrible, horrible dungeon. What made it worse is that I had to go BACK as I had somehow missed the item from the Shopkeeper in Saman.

But... I'm out! I just turned in the Orichalcum and am ready to finish the remainder of the Backyard Battles.

With any luck I'll get a chance to finish things before August (stupid trips). =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Gizmodo: Cylon Baseships run XP

2008-05-29T11:52:00.003-04:00

This is quite hilarious. Some of the comments are also brilliant. =)

http://gizmodo.com/393426/cylons-baseships-run-windows-xp

But this certainly explains *SO* much.

/wink

--
.ungawa

-Spyke

Lost Odyssey - Disc 4

2008-03-30T23:33:00.002-04:00

*FINALLY* made it to Disc 4. It didn't help that I wasn't able to play it for about a month.

It's one of those things where I knew I was in an area where I'd need about 2+ hours between where I was and where the next Save was going to be.

I am glad I waited, though. I'm still enjoying the story and the characters... Although I must say that once you get Sed it's almost like cheating. There are a couple of abilities of his that once in even one of your Immortal's hands things just start to happen and explode all over the place.

I've actually run out of Accessories for one of my Immortals to learn anything from. Well I take that back, I just got the +5 Skill Slot item... I just need to do a few fights... Heh.

Anywho... No idea when I'll actually get back to the "plot" as I'm in that point of every JRPG where it goes... "Listen... You can continue with the main storyline... OR you can start doing all of these optional side quests that get you major phat loot and booku experience. So what's the choice?"

So I figure with how my schedule is I'll get back to LO around 2010 or so. But at least I get to be OCD and finish all the side quests and whatnot. That's the fun part. =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Mass Effect DLC

2008-03-12T15:37:00.003-04:00

So even with how much I love Mass Effect. I don't think I'll be picking up the new DLC package: Bring Down the Sky

It looks like they did a good job with it, but the fact that I have to use a new character or a character that I have *not* finished the game with... That kinda sucks.

If I had nothing else to play through right now that would be one thing... But that isn't the case.

I guess I can just hope that they'll have this content (and any other DLC content that they add) available for the PC version when that comes out in May. That way if I happen to play through that since I'll *have* to (since no save games) then I'll finally be able to go through the new content.

Looking around I guess I'm not the only one that feels this way. Which is a shame.

Now if they had allowed characters that had finished the game to play through the DLC (which I had thought that's what the point was, but guess I was wrong) then that would be all sorts of rocking. =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Newest Iron Main trailer

2008-03-02T17:57:00.002-05:00

I was a bit perplexed that it was an exclusive for Myspace.com until I found the "make fullscreen" button. It's the one down in the lower right hand corner of the movie player. If you have pop-ups turned off (who doesn't) you'll want to disable it for this.

Then you can really see how good the HD version looks. =)

Iron Man Exclusive Trailer HD

Add to My Profile | More Videos

It's looking REALLY damn good. This trailer answers a lot of questions that I had (like why did the Iron Monger suit just look like a bigger version of the Mk. 1, etc). I cannot wait for this movie.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Lost Odyssey: Sarah Sisulart

2008-02-29T17:11:00.003-05:00

I'm still loving this game. It's exactly what I wanted and needed it to be. I'm about 20'ish hours in now.

I will say... The first time I see a lass doing a great Sarah Sisulart cosplay... I'll probably fall in lurve. =)

And I don't even dig cosplay normally.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Anyone else looking forward to Lost Odyssey?

2008-02-13T23:15:00.001-05:00

I never realized how much this game was, to me, a true sequel to Final Fantasy (after FF X). I picked up the strat guide and am just blown away by how close to the FF series this is.

And I love it.

I've been dis-liking the FF series more and more which each game they come out with. FFXI (Online) was interesting but didn't do it for me. FFXII felt like a single player MMO. FFXIII looks like more of the same. Don't get me wrong, the graphics in FFXII were amazing... But if I wanted to play an MMO, I'd play an MMO.

I don't want realtime combat. I don't want things that really aren't Final Fantasy, to me.

Blue Dragon was close... But there were enough things that were "off" to me that it just ended up not working for me. That's why I'm really looking forward to Lost Odyssey. I've got no chance in hell of actually finishing it. That's one of the reasons I have the strat guide... To try and help me through it. If I can find someone that wants to play through it with me (Calling all co-pilots!) that'd certainly help, too.

I mean beyond the turn-based combat they have someone named "Sed". Heh. Everything else I've seen and read about it makes it feel like it's what a Final Fantasy game *should* be. About the only thing I haven't seen so far is their version of a Chocobo.

But if that never shows up, I'm sure I'll be able to live. =)

--
.ungawa

-Spyke

I'm not dead yet!

2008-01-31T14:50:00.000-05:00

I feel happy!

/cough

I mean that I'm doing okay... No really. Just been a bit swamped with work and all. Who knew that working on the production side of an MMO in development was such work?

/sarcasm

Anywho, I'll get back into the habit of updating things once I can think straight again. Everyone keep gaming as I know I need to get gaming through other people at this point. =P

.ungawa

-Spyke

Better yet...

2007-12-24T19:10:00.000-05:00

Just heard this from the Hobbit and I'm certainly going to use it from now on...

Merry Wookieemas!!!

=)

I think it works out very well indeed.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Merry C'mas to all!

2007-12-24T18:12:00.000-05:00

Whatever your denomination happens to be this Holiday season (nickel, quarter, half-dollar) I wish you and yours a very Merry C'mas and a Happy Holidays!

Unless you're a gamer, then you also got a Merry WOOT!

Or you do Ren Faires... Then you also get a Happy HUZZAH!

=)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Dublin

2007-12-10T17:41:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to drop in a quick line to let everyone know that the trip to Dublin was a blast. The work side of things went REALLY well. I was very happy with how that all went.

On the non-work side of things I think I drank a LOT of Guinness. It's a law there in Dublin. I saw it in paper even.

So I've got a certificate showing that I know how to pour the Perfect Pint.

So it's all good.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Mass Effect = zomg!

2007-11-26T08:15:00.000-05:00

Mass Effect looked like it was one of those games that couldn't necessarily live up to all the hype. Even after going gold and seeing all of the near perfect scores it was receiving I was dubious. Heck I even read one sort of "meh" review about it that sounded more realistic then hype based...

Then I actually played it.

ZOMG!

...As they say. Mass Effect is certainly made of win.

I'm about 12 hours into it now and it is amazingly fun. Once you get past the initial mission and manage to get off of the Citadel for the first time the game really starts to open up. It reminds me of a more modern version of Starflight with about 1/1000th of the planets. Trust me, if you've played Starflight, that's still a bunch to explore. It's certainly a leg up on the very few locations we had in the KOTOR games.

Speaking of which the one partially negative review I read said he was disappointed as M.E. was nothing more then the same game as KOTOR just wrapped up in a pretty new bow. That's like saying that Quake and Half Life are the same game. In a very raw way, they are, but it's the differences that make them stand apart.

Same here.

Oh... and let's talk about that pretty new bow. WOW. They've got some visual tricks going on that are just amazing. A nice motion blur and a movie like "film" ends up somehow making this one of the best 360 games I've seen.

I also think changing the combat from the pseudo-turn-based that the KOTOR series was built on to a more true to form real time combat really helps. It actually makes the combat a bit difficult in places. The AI still could use some help (especially your companions) but the combats are more enjoyable in M.E. then most of the combats in the KOTORs.

And this is coming from the guy that loves all things Star Wars.

So at the end of the day I'm glad I didn't pick up Assassin's Creed and waiting a week for Mass Effect. I'm sure I'll go back and play AC at some point. But not until I've played through Mass Effect at least twice. =)

Anywho, time to finish packing for my work trip to Dublin. Everyone have a great week!

.ungawa

-Spyke

Happy T-Day!

2007-11-21T19:27:00.001-05:00

So while I get ready for the gluttony that will happen tomorrow I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone that's reading this a Happy T-Day!

Woot!

I'll be going over to Mum and Da's house tomorrow. No... Not my parents... Mum and Da are two wonderful people (with wonderful offspring) that I got to know really well this year during MDRF. They offered for me to come over and I accepted... Little did they know...

MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!

But... While Mum said I didn't need to actually bring anything other then myself... I had to. So I've got six bottles of the blue label Chimay for various people to drink. I've got a nice German after dinner wine for Mum. I have some Chocolate Gilato and some Coconut Sorbato for desert type stuff.

I'll probably bring Apples to Apples along just because that's ALWAYS fun.

For the rest of the weekend it is going to be pretty busy. I've got to hit Hole in the Wall and get my comics; get ready for my trip to Dublin next week (work trip will post about it later); continue to rock out with Rock Band; start Mass Effect.

My work is never done! =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

The cake is a lie!

2007-11-02T13:02:00.000-04:00

The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie...

.ungawa

-Spyke

Made it back!

2007-10-29T18:23:00.000-04:00

We were delayed slightly, but otherwise the flight back was "normal". So that's good.

But, I had a great time seeing the 'rents. It was very relaxing and enjoyable overall.

.ungawa

-Spyke

My luck with flights continues...

2007-10-27T19:10:00.001-04:00

But this time around it was a new twist on the whole thing.

So not only was the flight down to my parents delayed (due to weather)... We ended up having to divert to a different airport about 15 minutes out due to a malfunction of the plane. It took close to 5 hours for them to get things back up and running and everyone back on the plane.

Altho, there were about 36'ish people on the flight initially... after the delay in the other place there were only 9 that got on for the final leg. The rest changed to connecting flights or just drove the rest of the way.

I'm glad that I'm here seeing my parents... But I'm not looking forward to flying back home on Monday. =)

--
.ungawa

-Spyke

Happy B-day to me! (Tomorrow)

2007-09-28T17:56:00.000-04:00

So tomorrow should be fun... I'll be going to the Ren Faire for the day and then to someone else's b-day party in the evening. I don't mind. =)

Sunday at the Faire is when i'll probably really do my b-day drinki^H^H^H^H^H stuff, but we shall see.

Oh, and yes... I made it to Boston and back just fine. The pirate themed wedding of the Hobbit was fun and amazing. I should hopefully get some pictures soon and stuffs.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Soooo... I'm not in Boston quite yet...

2007-09-21T23:40:00.000-04:00

Seems that my "luck" with flying continues. My flight this evening got delayed by 30 minutes, then an hour, then got canceled. I was put on standby for the next flight going out and since that was way overbooked I didn't get on it.

So after 6 hours at the airport I'm now on a flight for tomorrow. As long as everything goes well (knock on wood, kill a chicken, whatever) I should still get in Boston in time before anything really happens.

Worst case I miss a dinner with the rest of the wedding party (and some of the family). As long as I get there, with my luggage (who knows where that bag is now), by Sunday morning I'll be fine.

Heh.

I hate flying. At least I got an upgrade on tomorrow's flight. Time for something to help calm the nerves on THEIR dime for once, maybe. =)

EDIT: About to try this again. It better work this time.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Heading out to a Hobbit Pirate wedding...

2007-09-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

Yarr!

So I'll be heading out in a few hours to catch a flight up to the Boston area for the weekend. I'll be heading up there primarily to take part in the Pirate themed wedding of the Hobbit. I'll be actually giving away the bribe.

Granted, it's a Pirate wedding... So I should be bribed. =P But it's still quite the honor as I'm the closest thing to a male relative that she actually talks to... being the honorary brother and all. =)

Plus I'll be able to spend some time with my friend Steve... I'll be interested in hearing his exploits since leaving these parts...

My parents are going to be there, too. They always liked KC, so it's a nice thing for her for them to be there... Plus it'll be nice for me to see them, too.

Anywho, back to work for me... But I certainly can't wait for this weekend. Should be fun. =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Iron Man Trailer

2007-09-10T12:33:00.001-04:00

Pretty much the same thing they showed at ComicCon with some edits here and there. I'm still very "ZOMG that is AWESOME!" about it.

In all it's glory: Iron Main Trailer

ZOMG! =)

Looks a helluva lot better then I ever thought it would.

--
.ungawa

-Spyke

Little late! But I did survive PAX! =)

2007-09-02T00:13:00.000-04:00

So I managed to survive PAX... barely in some ways. Let's just say that working the show while sick isn't always fun.

But the Penny Arcade guys certainly outdid themselves again this year. The whole thing was quite amazing. Our booth couldn't have been placed any better. We were *slammed* nearly the entire weekend.

It was hawesome... Many, many kinds of hawesome. =)

Now to just survive THIS weekend with going to MDRF both days. So far so good. I forgot how much fun faire actually is somehow.

Oh wow... only 12 more hours till shooter o'clock again. =P

.ungawa

-Spyke

GenCon down - PAX to go!

2007-08-21T11:14:00.001-04:00

So I'm at work for my one day between GenCon and PAX. GenCon was AWESOME... but I think I obliterated the heels on both of my feet and mucked up my ankles some. Oye!

Now I've got to process through as much stuff as I can today before heading out to PAX tomorrow. I think next week will be simply me catching up on 92387932874 emails.

I'll have a write up MUCH later (probably next week) on the show... But it was great to see KC again (and her fiance Erik). Plus meeting Rob and Pann (awesome hair!) was wicked cool, too.

Anywho... Time to see if I can dig myself out of this pile of email some. =)

--
.ungawa

-Spyke