tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46198512956808829752024-02-20T18:43:29.108-05:00chronic's blogA completely random assortment of rants, reviews, diatribes, essays, one-liners, puns and haikus.
Video games, politics, poker, crazy videos, etc.Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.comBlogger919125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-54981485671798158272015-09-01T16:20:00.000-04:002015-09-01T20:25:13.038-04:00404 Error - Page Not Found, ProbablyWe at Chronic's Crunchy Blog deeply apologize, but the page you have requested has probably been forgotten about, left in a ziplock in the freezer, or possibly inserted into a smoking device and incinerated. Fortunately, a large gentleman by the name of Abobo decided it would be awesome if he got together with all his buddies from the 8bit era and had a giant party here instead. A gamepad or an arcade stick is an absolute must, so <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/xpadder/" target="_blank">grab Xpadder now</a>: (password: unfedzombie).<br />
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<embed align="middle" allowscriptaccess="always" height="525" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" src="https://3668953e-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/chronicscrunchycavern/videos/home/AbobosBigAdventure.swf?attachauth=ANoY7cqjM2N__9knodarM1nODJrhNS_16Evk6ADf4Yrmz9pa7o6F4Re6MWS-VevDSXFYBJjXYPZRi1JuDa6FfQcER6D1Oykj8q2w8n_5zXJoWgg1syRjY5_Z_FRnLlyfAGgvYXNbipf-Vf-LMyPH8eqgkrLtJPe10MZFA9Xr1ot5tbkt3Dd7gbb-9jejbtUksyHjiT0xTQMkHlx0gPAC9W-QvV8BDaK7XMeh5GJePYhGzsz1Uc2wgy9LHud0gjji3yh_N87DG7hm&attredirects=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="525"></embed>Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com0Brooklyn, NY 11211, USA40.7093358 -73.956555140.6852648 -73.9968956 40.7334068 -73.9162146tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-58280838373569952712015-04-28T04:20:00.000-04:002015-04-28T13:47:50.089-04:00IGN Gets It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/28/why-burnout-3-is-still-the-most-perfect-arcade-racer-ever-conceived"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ARTICLE LINK</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Burnout 3: Takedown is timeless in a way only the very best games get to be."</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-20859487086799311182015-01-06T04:20:00.000-05:002015-01-06T13:52:05.385-05:00Dead Island Meets Mirror's Edge?<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5W1YxFJKl28" width="500"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Skip to 4:50 for the action)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dying Light wouldn't have </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">caught my attention<em> at all</em> accept that I accidentally ran across some gameplay footage that showed free-running remarkably similar to Mirror's Edge (which I loved). It also appears that you only have the ability to melee enemies (no firepower) which is similar to Dead Island. Then, I came across this multiplayer blurb in the wiki:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Online multiplayer has been announced for up to <strong>4 players in the co-op mode</strong>... there will be challenges throughout the world for players to engage in for experience. Two challenges were showcased with <strong>one being a fight to kill as many zombies as possible and the other being a race to an airdrop."</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What do you guys think? Any interest?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Side note: I will have GTA V on Xbox One soon and Sunset Overdrive is a LOT more fun than I expected.</em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-83683724222406799102015-01-04T04:20:00.000-05:002015-01-04T20:22:49.514-05:00Full Circle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HGJ3G3ffYZU/VKm3IqpeD3I/AAAAAAAACWE/rZM_K89C-g4/s1600/IMG_20150104_145432~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HGJ3G3ffYZU/VKm3IqpeD3I/AAAAAAAACWE/rZM_K89C-g4/s1600/IMG_20150104_145432~2.jpg" height="200" width="147" /></a></div>
I know we initially hated on Revenge for the ability to ram through traffic without consequence, but holy crap is this perfect for a 3 year-old monster. He went with the chronic mobile because apparently the color blue plus anything with flames equals awesome. Luckily he has not yet discovered the contents of its glovebox.<br />
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In all seriousness I forgot how much I love burnout. This is amazingly fun compared to any racers I've played since. With that said, we seriously need to get some games going for old times sake.<br />
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Update: The fact that they are playing this instead of Mariokart HAS to say something. Quick, someone send this pic to EA/Critereon!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLgb4OX7uRNHT6NNmFtLjQDC1K0LTjcC35umtHEWQQkgPUsQj_Mzr4HYGQfd08Slab5L4LzDbuZLCzLKMBNF_5Mk4qFWSjuWSp1gU7JkAXPN15ChY09-FDsB4EWW8GnoEjjqCYh8DIfG5/s1600/IMG_20150104_175139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLgb4OX7uRNHT6NNmFtLjQDC1K0LTjcC35umtHEWQQkgPUsQj_Mzr4HYGQfd08Slab5L4LzDbuZLCzLKMBNF_5Mk4qFWSjuWSp1gU7JkAXPN15ChY09-FDsB4EWW8GnoEjjqCYh8DIfG5/s1600/IMG_20150104_175139.jpg" height="400" width="295" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-16335914237685474652014-05-26T19:48:00.000-04:002014-05-26T19:54:37.149-04:00USFIV<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="290" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6QGEWMdkQhg" width="500"></iframe><br />
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Here's the most recent feature trailer. Most interesting to me, besides the introduction of some favorite and unique SF3 characters, is the online training mode. The retail game will cost $30/$40 (PC/Consoles) or you can just upgrade to Ultra for $15 if you already own any of the 16 versions of Super Street Fighter lol. Upgrade comes to consoles on June 3rd, while retail versions and all PC versions come August 8th.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-68383323671326176282014-05-06T16:20:00.000-04:002014-05-06T20:45:02.405-04:00Destiny Beta & USFIV<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mdHdU69i40s/U2l6JwhQ6TI/AAAAAAAACLo/dTM0PXlcNXc/s1600/91eCD2i0JHL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mdHdU69i40s/U2l6JwhQ6TI/AAAAAAAACLo/dTM0PXlcNXc/s1600/91eCD2i0JHL._SL1500_.jpg" height="200" width="141" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D4tr4FCU81Y/U2l_HqXznMI/AAAAAAAACMA/L3rz3b1Ela4/s1600/91u4PuoMiwL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D4tr4FCU81Y/U2l_HqXznMI/AAAAAAAACMA/L3rz3b1Ela4/s1600/91u4PuoMiwL._SL1500_.jpg" height="200" width="141" /></a></div>
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Since it's sometimes hard for me to catch you guys online, I'd like to use this blog (with Chronic's blessing) to ask if any of you are purchasing Destiny and, if so, for which platforms. If any of you are participating in the summer beta I would like to be able to join you. I do have an Xbox one (for now) and a 360, so those are my options.<br />
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Same goes for Ultra Street Fighter IV out in August. If you guys get it, I PROMISE to get on and play. Seriously. I play quite a bit offline - I could easily log on and play instead. I think you can buy it as a downloadable update to Arcade Edition, but I'm not sure. My vote would be for the PC version, but I will buy whichever version you guys get.<br />
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Let me know!<br />
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I hope you guys are all doing well. I just had child #3 (WHAAA?!) and, even though it was no accident, I think I might cut off my unmentionables to make sure 3 doesn't turn into 4 :)<br />
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Oh, and Chronic, I just bought a new 23" IPS monitor with pivot just so I could run 'tate set-ups for shmups and thought you might appreciate it :) It makes them so much more fun. I will snap a real-time pic as I'm writing this just for the hell of it:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-34nURfzXEpw/U2mAsSYTNgI/AAAAAAAACMM/tEWpoGeg4ZM/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-34nURfzXEpw/U2mAsSYTNgI/AAAAAAAACMM/tEWpoGeg4ZM/s1600/photo.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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Sorry for the completely random blog post. Hope to hear from you guys! Ok, MD out!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-8886048001820247672014-04-20T04:20:00.000-04:002015-09-28T04:36:14.167-04:00Snowie Donked Off<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-81346309244428707432014-01-06T04:20:00.000-05:002014-01-06T19:47:11.510-05:00A 5-Year-Old, Her Father, and a 45-Hour RPG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pBlfyHoNkS0/UssnNTThzcI/AAAAAAAACLA/51io03VoN6o/s1600/Ni-no-Kuni-logo-515x289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pBlfyHoNkS0/UssnNTThzcI/AAAAAAAACLA/51io03VoN6o/s1600/Ni-no-Kuni-logo-515x289.jpg" height="223" width="400" /> </a></div>
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My daughter and I are huge fans of the studio Ghibli movies (Ponyo, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, etc), so when I discovered Ni-No Kuni, a PS3 game created by Level-5 and Studio Ghibli, I thought it might
interest her. It's a beautifully-animated RPG that flows effortlessly between their movie-quality, 2-D animation and the 3-D, in-game engine. The story
is nothing short of what you would expect out of a studio Ghibli movie.
It's a rich adventure about a young boy, Oliver, who loses his mother, but
discovers a parallel universe through which he may be able to bring her
back to life with the help of some magical friends. Of course his
journey quickly becomes much more than a quest to save his mother,
ultimately finding himself to be the only one with the power to save the parallel
world and its people from the evils within it. And like any Studio
Ghibli story, it is packed with layers of life messages and meanings.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rnLM2sUF4_I/UssnNVOHLRI/AAAAAAAACLE/84rQiDHc_bY/s1600/Ni-No-Kuni-Town-1024x576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rnLM2sUF4_I/UssnNVOHLRI/AAAAAAAACLE/84rQiDHc_bY/s1600/Ni-No-Kuni-Town-1024x576.jpg" height="225" width="400" /> </a></div>
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We started the very long journey through this story many months ago, always playing together so that neither of us would miss a second of the story. An hour here, 2
hours there... slowly progressing and soaking up every bit of the
storyline possible, including every single line of text and unspoken dialogue
which I read aloud to her without fail. We have faced hundreds
(thousands?) of enemies, made countless friends and allies, and fought
close to 30 monstrous bosses, whose dramatic fights can take anywhere from 15
minutes to a full hour depending on your level. This game has made my daughter gasp, scream, and jump for joy many times over. If you ask her how we became allies with Kublai, captain of the Sky Pirates, or ask her when we first faced the evil and powerful Shadar, or where we can find the lost city of Nazcaa... she'll tell you. She was wholeheartedly passionate about this game, its story, and its characters, as if she were Oliver himself. It has been quite the adventure for both of us.</div>
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Well today, 45 hours into the game, having learned the ancient magic named "Astra" and with a stockpile of health-replenishing items in-hand, my daughter cast the last spell, "Arrow of Light," defeating the White Witch and the Zodiarch, saving Princess Cassiopeia and the world, and filling my daughter's heart with so much joy and accomplishment that she was literally in tears, unable to explain why.</div>
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When the credits came to a stop, she turned to me still wiping the tears from her face and asked, "<i>Dad, can we start all over?</i>"... "Absolutely."</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-55717626087934173582013-12-21T16:20:00.000-05:002013-12-23T03:56:40.608-05:00GTA V vs GTA IV ICEnhancer vs the NSA<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HmTPk9jQ5zs" width="480"></iframe><br />
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OK, so I finally got my gaming PC setup, and while its not a state-of-the-art system (Im using DDR2 for christsake), the final upgrades got me to the point where I was brave enough to try out the infamous ICEnhancer mod for GTA IV. This mod has been around for quite sometime, and the reason its not more popular is that you need a supercomputer from the future to play it at any reasonable FPS. The ICEnhancer mod is poorly optimized, buggy, and will sometimes crash or freeze for no reason, in addition to being an absolute system hog. I have a Q9550 clocked @ 3.6ghz, 8GB DDR2, and an ATI 7970 with a healthy overclock, and even with what is a fairly powerful system, Im still only managing 20-30 FPS in most outdoor areas - and thats with some config tweaks to the mod and optimizations to GTA IV like reducing the traffic and draw distance. <br />
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Why you might ask, would anyone go thru such trouble? Take a look at the video above if you havent already. This mod, and Metro Last Light, which Im currently playing through, are what the real next generation of gaming are like. You all can have your PSONE and XBOX5 callofdutycallofdutycallofduty motion control consoles. Im sure that they are great products to sell and watching The Today Show *Now With Achievements is a truly scintillating experience. Yeah, while Im pretty sure that eventually the NSA will be scanning the contents of my apartment via Kinect sometime in the future, right now, if those people "watching the watchers" want to watch my cat lick the area where they cut off his balls (those spooks are creeps man), if they want to case the place to see if Im harboring "terrorists" (lol) to attempt a possible drone strike (yes we kill people now without <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution" target="_blank">due process</a>, The Constitution is like soooooo 18th century man), they are going to have to do so in person (I have a futon).<br />
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Or... via my cellphone. Or laptop. Telescope. Periscope. Nanodrones. Whatever. Cause my gaming rig doesnt have camera, only a mic for me to scream obscenities laced tirades into about my opponents playing wrong and winning, and a new mechanical keyboard for insta-ragequitting Starcraft 2. Listen, just because Im paranoid, doesnt mean they arent watching, right?Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-54703216772451285862013-11-21T16:20:00.000-05:002013-11-21T18:41:30.775-05:00Burning Lap<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=8ff8a8380288" width="480"></iframe><br />
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This is the video that a few people have been talking about of a "lap record" for Manhattan. If you havent seen the video, you arent missing much, because this isnt even close to the real record. For starters, the driver is not what you would call a racing class driver and takes bizarre, amateurish lines. Probably more importantly, it looks like it was done around 10-11pm at night, not 4:30am which is the only suitable, safe time for such a stunt. There were way too many cars on the road to do anything approaching a burning lap. The guy got arrested after the video made the news, and now cops want to try to confiscate his car to try to discourage anyone from trying to "beat his time" (lol). <br />
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Street racing is pretty much dead here in NYC, and although I do appreciate the effort and tribute to those who made previous videos, lets just say the real Manhattan lap record probably wont ever be published in a video or talked about on the evening news. The real record is well under 20 minutes, and I think if you had a true supercar with a pro level driver, and it could easily be done in under 15 minutes. I cant even imagine what sort of time a lunatic on a superbike like GhostRider could do.<br />
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353kmh is well over 200mph. Hey, you only live once :-)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YTdStgg0x8w" width="480"></iframe>Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-88603737310533076922013-11-11T04:20:00.000-05:002013-11-11T08:14:33.817-05:00GTAV Invisibilty Glitch<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lcUctGyeYl0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Bond, I dont know how you did it. But what... the... fuck! LOL Rockstar QA Testing!Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-55980424429566469752013-10-27T04:20:00.000-04:002013-10-28T02:06:48.873-04:00Hotline Miami and Dinosaur Jr<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/oKD-MVfC9Ag" width="480"></iframe><br />
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So I finally got Hotline Miami. Despite months of urging from friends and everyone I know proclaiming it one of the best indie games in years, I kind of resisted. Despite the fact that the game has my name written on the box - twitchy retro styled arcadey twin stick shooter/melee stealth action game with some sort of post-modern story and a truly epic soundtrack of electronic music, I didnt buy it. I probably played the demo 4-5 times. Finally, the game became free on PS Plus this month so with nothing to lose but time, I downloaded it, and oh man has it clicked. And yes, I agree with you Ubercrunch, the soundtrack is indeed 5 stars.<br />
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I recall the time I first heard Dinosaur Jr. It was at a friends house in high school and we had been drinking a lot. "What is this shit? It sounds fucking horrible..." Yet my friend Alex kept playing it, and after a great deal of struggling and resistance, I finally came around to Dino and eventually they became one of my favorite bands of all time. Sometimes, repetition is necessary, even if its against your own will. Sometimes, even despite all the evidence telling you that you should like something, some part of you resists it with all of your being. Sometimes, you are just wrong - it just takes time to figure these things out. Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-37221338131323970682013-10-18T04:20:00.000-04:002013-10-18T22:12:11.674-04:00Starring Chuck Norris...<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yvJgl_eT80k/UmHgrR7X5uI/AAAAAAAACJ4/HFb8tytA5uw/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yvJgl_eT80k/UmHgrR7X5uI/AAAAAAAACJ4/HFb8tytA5uw/s320/Untitled-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By MD </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a couple of you may have noticed, I rarely get on Xbox Live anymore. I miss the hell out of spending time online with you guys, but, unfortunately, this is how it's going to be from here on out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I love gaming and that's not going to change. Last week I played the Battefield 4 beta on PC, Ni No Kuni on PS3, and even broke out some retro PS1 games on an emulator (Jumping Flash!). But one of my problems is that my time for gaming is usually very sporadic and happens in very short intervals because of work, family (kid #3 on the way - holy crap!), friends, other hobbies, etc. Another is that by the time most of you are online, I'm usually exhausted and ready to get horizontal. Even if I have the juice to stay up, I know that my kids will be up at 7am ready to conquer the universe. I used to push myself to stay up and deal with the repercussions, but it makes for a terrible next day and isn't fair to my kids to have to deal with grumpy zombie-dad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The last year of my life has also seen a dramatic change to a different lifestyle altogether that has made significant improvements to my outlook on absolutely everything, which in turn has made me a better father/husband/friend/human and it's not something I want to lose. Instead of feeling like crap on Saturday morning, I'm usually up at 6:30am negotiating rough trails through a forest preserve on my Kona, running a few miles through downtown Chicago, or pushing through dead-lifts and power-cleans at the gym. In many ways, this new lifestyle is my new obsession; it's my new videogames. I know this sounds cheesy and I <i>promise</i> I'm not turning into a meat-headed douche-bag, but it's something that keeps me interested, motivated, and excited about life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I may jump on LIVE occasionally and be lucky enough to see you guys online for a game or two, but more often than not you will not hear from me for weeks or months at a time. To most of you this probably doesn't matter considering that this is already the case, but I just wanted the few of you to know that it mattered to ME to acknowledge it and tell you that although I may be missing in action, I still love games, miss all of you, and haven't forgotten our golden years of Xbox Live glory.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sincerely,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mike / </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">MDSFX / MD Galaxy </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-67662484187388665072013-10-06T16:20:00.000-04:002013-10-06T21:42:47.226-04:00Two Great Writers Reflect on GTA V<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-AdrCxkpdDc" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Ubercrunch (aka Chris Byrd) has been working on a piece about GTA V and Thomas Pynchon for Al Jazeera for a while and today it was published on their website. If you dont know who <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gravitys-Rainbow-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0143039946/ref=la_B000APMBHA_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381108668&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Thomas Pynchon</a> is, he is one of the most important American writers of the last 50 years and he just released his new book,<i> Bleeding Edge</i>, on the same day that GTA V came out. Uber found this coincidence fascinating and decided to write a piece about the two works. Highly recommended, you can read it right here:<br />
<a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/6/should-thomas-pynchonplaygrandtheftautov.html" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/6/should-thomas-pynchonplaygrandtheftautov.html" target="_blank">Should Thomas Pynchon Play GTA V? - Al Jazeera.com</a><br />
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Another friend and fellow New Yorker, who you might remember from his days as an IGN writer, Michael Thomsen, also recently wrote a piece about GTA V and our modern Surveillance State for the New Republic, which is very insightful and also highly recommended:<br />
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<a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114860/grand-theft-auto-v-and-modern-surveillance-state-america" target="_blank">Videogames Are Making Us Too Comfortable With The Modern Surveillance State - New Republic.com</a>Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-89872417554897605382013-09-28T16:20:00.000-04:002013-09-29T05:46:59.353-04:00GTA V: BMX Style<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8TKApDklgVc" width="480"></iframe><br />
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My favorite parts of San Andreas were the BMX bike and the Stunt Plane, so you can imagine how disappointed I was when GTA IV featured neither. Rockstar apparently realized that an important part of a sandbox game is actually giving people some toys to play with, and they have righted the ship (and then some) with GTA V. Im having some wild visions in my head of a multiplayer game with stunt planes flying upsidedown under bridges and BMX bikes dropping onto them and flipping off while C4 charges explode oil tankers above and cars do burnout drift donuts around dancing throngs of people firing AK47s in the air.<br />
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The online potential is insane. Who needs an Xbox One when we have GTA Online?Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-1730279944804160852013-09-18T16:20:00.000-04:002013-09-19T03:18:39.384-04:00Phil Collins - I Dont Care Anymore<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xLpfbcXTeo8" width="480"></iframe><br />
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As a Phil Collins fan, I was pretty surprised to hear this song featured prominently in GTA V. Not only is Phil Collins considered uncool by a certain segment of the population, but the song's slow tempo and unique production style dont exactly scream soundtrack material. However, Rockstar used the track brilliantly to elaborate on Michael's character, his dissatisfaction with life and his disconnection with his family. Nothing should surprise me when it comes to Rockstar, but GTA V has done so several times already.<br />
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You might think that this song is also referring to my attitude towards this blog, but thats not the case. The lack of updates is the result of both moving, and trying to setup my new place, and my laptop nearly dying. Well, only the keyboard, but it was enough to virtually get me off the internet for about a week. My new place still has a lot of work to do, and during this time Ive had Payday 2, Splinter Cell Blacklist and now GTA V to thank for their amazing ability to enable my procrastination to reach new levels. Its not that I dont care, Im just distracted and lazy - and thats when Im not playing poker 40-50 hours a week. Its just me being a human being. If you guys ever want to post something here during my lulls, please feel free to.<br />
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Overall Im not sure what the future of gaming holds for me, I mean theoretically I will probably buy another game console eventually but right now I just cant get the internal hype meter to budge at all. Of course, eventually some console exclusive arcade style game will be released which I just have to play (Resogun looks great), but these days I find myself happy to turn to my backlog of older games and systems. The 360/PS3 generation has a great case for being the best generation of gaming ever, as it certainly lasted the longest. Sure, I always want more fidelity and higher framerates, but it seems that as soon as new consoles are released, developers chase their tail by trying to up the textures, animations and physics to the point where they are happy achieving 30 frames per second at any resolution.<br />
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So, basically Im at a point where I dont care about graphics. I mean, I never have really, but everyone can appreciate a nice spectacle. Metro Last Light and FFXIV Reborn look amazing on PC, but thats not the reason to play them. I bought an Ouya. It still doesnt have enough games but Im trying to support it. The graphics are just not the point there. I still play on my Wii, in glorious 480p. I still fire up the old Xbox 1 (not Xbox One) and get enjoyment out of Burnout 3 and MechAssault. The 8 and 16 bit consoles will be on hiatus for a while as I made the difficult decision to scrap my 3 CRT TVs in the move, as the space they take up is ridiculous and Im at the point where explaining why I own them to normal people has become a bit of an embarrassment and certainly tiresome. <br />
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But life moves on. Im trying to make changes that are positive and explore some new directions. One of them might be taking a break from gaming for a bit, to focus on other things. But not yet. Not when the greatest game console ever - the Xbox 360 - is in the last waning days of its spectacular life, and certainly not when a game which may redefine what we expect out of videogames is squeezing every last bit of life out of it.Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-28944902913511335422013-09-04T04:20:00.000-04:002013-09-05T04:34:41.355-04:00Divekick Impressions<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-D4Lboq_Xp4?list=UUJx5KP-pCUmL9eZUv-mIcNw" width="480"></iframe><br />
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This game is freaking hilarious. MD got it for me on Steam, and now that Ive messed around with it a bunch, I can say its definitely one of my favorite fighting games. You know when you have a joke match in Street Fighter, with like Vega and El Fuerte having a shrieking gymnastics battle or Hakan and E Honda having an oily grunting competition? Thats this entire game. "Joke Match: The Game"<br />
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Why make a real fighting game when you can make a joke one, where each character only has a single, super-overpowered one hit kill move, and if you repeatedly pwn your opponent a "fraud detection" warning system goes off? Contrary to the GT guys, one of my favorite parts of the game is the excitable Asian announcer who calls the game "DivekickUUUAAAHH!!!"<br />
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No, its no<i> Spartacus Legends</i> (in Bond's words "The Greatest Game of All Time").<br />
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But it is damn fun!Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-67348304613388309912013-08-18T16:20:00.000-04:002013-08-20T05:51:36.544-04:00Payday 2 Impressions<div style="background-color: black; width: 520px;">
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<b><a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/games/0a4ccm/payday-2">PAYDAY 2</a></b></div>
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So after the disaster that was Bond's attempt at securing a copy of Payday 2 for Xbox 360 on Friday (Gamestop only stocked preorders, everywhere else was sold out), we finally managed to get on last night and log some serious hours with the game. Cliff Notes: buy this game ($40). It has some rough edges, and essentially no offline/single player component, but this game is riotously, I daresay <i>criminally</i>, fun. After only one session I can state with confidence that its one of the most fun coop games Ive ever played.<br />
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The progression in this game is <i>slow</i>. As in, dont worry about getting the game a week late, because its a long road to climb to a fully spec'd out character and the difference between a Level 20 and Level 2 (out of 50) character is still quite small - mostly a few class based perks and weapons upgrades. I think, 5 hours into the game, I was still using the default weapons and had no body armor simply because I couldnt afford them. Yes, this is a grinders game for sure.<br />
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I had the feeling, several times when playing this last night, that the game is oddly Japanese is some ways. The super-grindey progression, the story, uh, I dont even know what the story is but the characters are awesome, its arcadey and twitchy in its gunplay (think L4D/Counterstrike), it has a whole stealth component which is like an impossible version of Metal Gear, which finally brings me to the the fact that this game is<i> balls-ass hard</i> and totally unforgiving of your stupid mistakes. Over and over again, we would have that feeling of "<i>We got this, piece of cake</i>" about halfway through the mission only to be screaming into the mic 5 minutes later: "<i>Im down, they're everywhere! Save yourself, take the loot and run man!</i>"<br />
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Overkill Software did a great job with the difficulty of the game - you can play the missions on default difficulty, which is pretty do-able, or Hard, Very Hard, or Overkill (1, 2, or 3 yellow stars respectively). We managed to complete a few missions on Overkill last night, and every single one of them came down to us reaching the escape van on our last, dying breath.<br />
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There are basic generic heist missions which have a base rating of 1-4 white stars, and the yellow difficulty stars stack on top of those. So while taking on a 1 star generic mission on Overkill, for a total of 4 stars, isnt totally impossible, taking on the higher tier story missions with a base rating of 5+ stars on anything higher than Hard requires absolute precision and consummate teamwork to have any chance of survival. But trust me, you need to play most missions on Hard or higher, because it increases your EXP and payout immensely - progression almost grinds to a halt if you play at the default difficulty.<br />
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We played one of the unique "story" missions last night, which was a multi-day heist (SPOILER ALERT): On day one, we had to steal or destroy a cache of weapons - simple enough, save for the fact that carrying the highly valuable weapons to steal them slows you down to a crawl that would make Cliffy B cry for his momma, and there are 6 weapons cases to carry while being shot to hell by guards, - another twist which seemed to me a total throwback to Japanese games of yore. Brutal, but not impossible, we managed it. On day two however, we had to break into the FBI offices and steal a server. Sounds simple enough right? Hahahaha. It might have been, except...<br />
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You can stealth this mission entirely, but stealth in this game is just insane. We actually managed to get up to the server room undetected, but we couldnt find the keycard so we had to break in using the drill, and were discovered. The server is located behind no less than 3 heavily armored doors which require drilling or C4 (which we havent unlocked). After maybe 20 minutes of drilling and defending an onslaught of cops, FBI agents, SWAT teams and super-heavyduty combat soldiers, with our ammo running low, we grabbed the server, healed up, and made a break for it. The combat got even more intense as we made out way out to the van across the street, with snipers taking aim at our heads and cops flanking us from every direction. Somehow we managed to dodge most of the sniper fire and made it to the van with just a fraction of health left. "<i>Sick! We did it!</i>" I shouted out into my 360 headset. Only, the mission didnt end. Somehow, in deploying the medical pack before our departure, I put the server down, and forgot it. The SWAT teams converged around our van, and everything grew dark. FISSION MAILED. And that was <i>only day 2</i> of a 3 day heist. <br />
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Payday 2 runs admirably on the Xbox 360, but it does have some pretty serious screen tearing and occasional slowdown, although the slowdown is fairly minor and never borderline gamebreaking with regard to input latency/playability like I have seen in other titles such as Ninja Gaiden 2 or Gears 3's Horde mode. However, beyond these flaws, Overkill has done a solid job of porting over their game from the PC to an <i>8 year old console</i>. The fact that it even runs at all on the 360 is a technical marvel - helped by the fact that its made using the also-aging Source engine and several advanced graphical features arent present at all in the 360 version. Yes, there is ridiculous clipping, sometimes laughable AI, missing animations, strangely absent customization, a need for more missions, and other flaws which betray a significant lack of polish and indicate a rushed job to get this game out before the behemoth that is GTA V is released. But those flaws cant hold this game down, the core mechanics are just too good, and the game is just too much fun to be ruined by myriad, yet minor flaws. Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-75203510124537676782013-08-15T16:20:00.000-04:002013-08-15T16:20:01.462-04:00GTA Online Trailer<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/olEGtoYs_8A" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Apparently GTA V's online mode is an "evolving, persistent world" - almost an MMO.Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-42061003452359350102013-08-07T04:20:00.000-04:002013-08-07T06:37:27.293-04:00Shadowrun Returns Impressions<div style="background-color: black; width: 520px;">
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<b><a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/games/4it9hw/shadowrun-returns">Shadowrun Returns</a> </b></div>
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So Ive been playing Shadowrun Returns, and although its a type of game we dont really see much of anymore, its quite enjoyable if you go in with the right mindset and expectations. If you are a fan of the writers Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, or are familiar with classic isometric RPG games from the 1990s PC and SNES/Genesis era (like the original <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_%28video_game%29">Fallout </a>or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowrun">Shadowrun</a>), or if you ever played tabletop RPGs, you will love this game. It is by no means a masterpiece or anything revolutionary, but more of a testament to an older style of RP/storytelling games which died out with the advent of true 3D gaming.<br />
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The writing is excellent, and the fully realized setting and main campaign story "Dead Mans Switch" are the reason to play this game (today - many OEM and fan-made expansions will be forthcoming). In this all too realistic near-future "fantasy" setting, corporations are the main superpowers of the world, surpassing goverments or military dictatorships, and independently contracted "Shadowrunners" carry out the nefarious corporate deeds which help them achieve world domination:<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ryiuVKxG4" target="_blank">"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ryiuVKxG4" target="_blank">Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ryiuVKxG4" target="_blank">Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see..."</a><br />
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Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-9863139342023059542013-08-01T04:20:00.000-04:002013-08-01T13:02:28.522-04:00Madeon TECHNICOLOR Teaser Video<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PmxQztpiGZ8" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Makes me want to drop Molly and party for 50 hours straight. Comes out Aug 3rd.Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-5285717377560251472013-07-29T04:20:00.000-04:002013-07-29T08:20:58.532-04:00motdef: Ride to Hell Retribution<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VA3vijm17Bs?list=UUBPggmhnWOiOhmqPtyu1-FQ" width="480"></iframe><br />
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When they called this game Ride to Hell, they weren't kidding. Beyond broken. Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-36214174045191612013-07-25T04:20:00.000-04:002013-07-25T19:22:31.694-04:00Broforce and Divekick Get Greenlit for Steam<br />
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<br />DIVEKICK: (this was from a stream so it's a bit choppy)
<iframe width="500" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/heenWdYYhg0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-87878887210448820232013-07-16T16:20:00.000-04:002013-07-18T00:33:03.674-04:00Megaman 2 Dr. Willy's Castle Theme <iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F81704346&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe> <br />
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One of the <a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/vgm/bestvgm2011.htm" target="_blank">greatest pieces of videogame music ever written</a> covered by BOSSFIGHT. Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4619851295680882975.post-23920623622381531662013-07-09T16:20:00.000-04:002013-07-09T17:59:33.418-04:00GTA V Official Gameplay Trailer<br />
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Switch characters at any time. Customization. Countless heists. Epic scale. Wow. Chronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14051954780090847748noreply@blogger.com3