A Time For Mourning For One Of Our own

There is a time for laughter and there is a time for weeping. I was on Kutaku this morning when I came across this tragic article. Melissa Batten, a software developer for the Xbox 360, was horrifically murdered by her estranged husband on Tuesday, July 29. After he brutally slaughtered his wife he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.

This is a great loss for the gaming community. I read more on what happened on the Seattle Times website. According to the news article she had requested a protection order against her husband and told the court that he had recently purchased a gun. He at one point called her about 30 times and threaten her not to hang up. The man even barged into her place of work but was luckily caught by security personnel.

This really struck home not only as a gamer or as someone who hopes to get into the industry, but as a woman. Domestic violence is no laughing matter. Its horrifying to think of living in fear of someone like that. To be constantly be looking over your shoulder and worrying where or when the other individual is going to strike just sends down shivers down my spine.

I was reading the comments to the article on Kutaku. Most were respectful but there were a few that were highly inappropriate for the situation. Thankfully these offenders have been banned (eight thus far) from commenting on the site. have had a bad reputation for being lazy, apathetic, testosterone driven, violent, immature, and sadistic. Still, we can't let a few ruin things for us.

I would like to give my condolences to both sides of this tragedy. I didn't personally know this woman but its still sad when these things happen to a fellow human being. We shouldn't just lend our thoughts and our prayers to the dead but to the ones left behind as well. May your spirit rest in peace. She will be missed.

A Sad Sad Song

It's amazing what one finds during a Google search. I was doing a search on the Scout from Team Fortress 2. Lets get this out in the open. I think he's pretty cute. Square jaws just aren't for me but a narrow face is just perfect. Anyway...

So I was looking for some pictures when I stumbled upon LitFuseFilms. It's a machinima site. For those who aren't in the know. Machinima are movies created using video game content. A popular series is Red vs Blue which was created using Halo 2.

Another game that is popular machinima making tool is The Sims 2. I even dabbled in it a bit back in my high school days. Of course mine are ultra low quality and very amature video editing. I might remake this particular film with better quality and better editing. If that's done I'll be sure to post it up on here.

Once on LitFuseFilms' site I came across this one film called Jil's Song written and directed by Zachariah Scott. I have seen my fare share of machinimas but I am by no means an expert. Still, I have to say that this film was simply beautiful. This has to be the best machinima I have ever seen and probably one of the best short films I've seen in general.

Jil's Song is about about a middle aged man in therapy describing his relationship with his lover/wife. He compares love to a song beautiful when it heard but missed when its gone. A haunting piano melody plays in the background as the main character gives his narration. The cinematography is like nothing I've seen before in a machinima. The character models are realistic and the facial expressions are subtle and almost believable. The lip syncing is done very well but I felt a bit distracted by the lower lip strangely stretching at some moments. The voice acting is just terrific. The monologue has enchanting rhythm and flows from the character's lips.

This short film brings up an important discussion. You often see characters in movies, books, and games living happily ever after. If you've read my previous article on Our Passage you would know that I don't have a rosy picture on love. Being a child of divorce I have seen first hand that love does fade. From personal experience I know how desperate one can feel when you find that your feelings are no longer returned. I can truly empathy with the man in this film. Love is such a beautiful tragic song.

Where the Hell is My Ceiling Fan?!

If you have read my previous entry you would know that I am a pretty huge Sims fan. I've been really into Sim games since Sim Town. Today wile I was browsing Kutaku I came across the new E3 trailer for The Sims 3. Watching the new trailer made me wonder what features were actually going to be in the game.

I first found out about the Sims from the back of the Sim City 3000 CD case. It looked pretty interesting but never gave it to much thought. I saw it in the store and I begged my father to get it for me. When I first saw the little virtual people it was love at first sight. I wasn't a plumber or a pirate. I was playing with real people. I became obsessed.

I never saw the trailer for the original The Sims game before I purchased it. I decided to check it out since I was already on YouTube. The trailer is basically a glimpse of what the Sims will look like. All of it was pre-rendered and didn't even show any game play. I don't know how far in production they were in but I assume it was pretty early.

Since I was so obsessed it would only make sense that I would anticipate of the release of The Sims 2. I was a freshman in high school then. When I first saw the trailer it was like falling in love all over again. The graphical improvement were dazzling and all the new things the Sims could do were short of jaw dropping. I just couldn't wait until the release date. Then the release got pushed back TWICE. At that point in time I felt lied to. Some piece of me had been taken that I could never find again.

Once I finally got the game I noticed some things things were missing that I saw in the tailor. For starters, I noticed children couldn't slide down banisters, swing off ceiling fans, and babies couldn't breath fire! Frankly, I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't an option to rip off your shirt as well. Some of the hairstyles weren't included but I think that was for the best. Despite all this this didn't discourage me for purchasing almost all the expansion packs.

Now many years later The Sims 3 is coming out. To be honest I don't have that giddy feeling like I did when I heard about the game before it. There seems to be some graphical improvement but its not a jarring as with The Sims to The Sims 2. The uncanny valley really hits the models in this one. I appreciate being able to move from house to house without having to go into some strange time warp. Still, until I am given reason otherwise I remain unimpressed.

Haza for Double Standards!

If your familure with the Wii Fit girl and how that video her instant internet fame. This has spawned many copy cats. Now at long last their is a video worth watching for the other (minus lesbians) 49.76%.

It's amusing how a video about a girl wiggling her but gets Views: 4,953,475 and gets love and admiration but when a guy does this sort of thing you get comments like this:

"VILE"
~mark0776829

"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!! SICK!!"
~Dscreations

MY EYES ARE VOMITING!!
~m4xn00b

These are only the Youtube comments! Check out the comments from Kutaku!

I understand that most of the gaming public are white heterosexual males. Still, its preposterous that whenever this sor thing pops up THAT population craps themselves and turns into man-children. Can you imagine being bombarded with this thing all the time. That basically how it feels allot of the times for a female or gay gamer. Even when we do protest we usually are more civil and intellectual about it.

I am by now ways a prude but if your going to do this then its only fare to do this as well.

I'm a huge fan of intelligently stupid comedy. What I mean by this is comedy on the surface appears to be stupid but quite a bit of thought was put into joke(s). I found this video on YouTube about the Companion Cube done by mrweebl. Enjoy!

Metal Gear?!

What do you get when you mix Metal Gear Solid 2 game play with Playstaion One graphics? You'll get Metal Gear Solid Mobile. I just completed this cellular phone adventure today. I downloaded this game for my LG Chocolate for about $4 on the Get It Now feature.

Metal Gear Solid Mobile stays true to the Metal Gear Solid experience. Quite a few tools of the trade (including Snakes now famous cardboard box) make their appearance int this inhalation plus some new ones. Stealth camouflage is in this game. It helps you to sneak past guards and to fool security cameras.

The first thing the player will notice are the visuals. Unlike other titles ported to the mobile phone this title doesn't feel like a total cop-out. Everything is rendered in 3d. It's quite impressive for a mobile phone game. The controls are a bit touchy. Shooting in third person can be a bit difficult at times. The game itself is quite short and only has one boss battle. Still, for everything thats crammed into this game its well worth it.

As many fans know, the saga which is Metal Gear is a very complex one. Metal Gear Solid Mobile is by at no means the exception. The story is complex but if you played through Metal Gear Solid 2 it makes more sense. This title takes place after the events of Shadow Moses from original Metal Gear Solid but before the Tanker Incident of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Solid Snake is once again on another stealth mission to stop the walking tank Metal Gear.

In short, if you're already a fan of the series and you don't like cop-out ports Metal Gear Solid Mobile is the game for you.

Bring Out The Monstrosities !

As some of you may know, EA released a preview of Creature Creator their new game SPORE a few days ago out into the wild. Since then, there has been plenty of wild and bizarre creatures uploaded to the internet.

For those who are not in the know. Spore is a game, designed by Will Wright, based around the evolution of your own completely customizable creature. You first start out in the cellular level and then develop into an advanced alien society.

Even though the Creature Creator very limited at this point in time its still quite advanced. With this amount of customization it brings up a problem. There has been an outbreak in creatures that are quite phallic in nature. This brings up a huge question on player customization. How much is too much "creative expression" when it comes to customizable content in games?

I for one am pretty liberal and a proponent of (most forms of) artistic expression. I doesn't really bother me if someone want their planet overrun with vaginas and penises running across the plain. It's all fine and dandy to me as long as they don't upload their creatures on EA's site. EA has every right to block certain creatures they find offensive.

You may be wondering why I don't have any creatures to share with you fine folks. The answer is quite simple. My dad's computer doesn't have the right graphics card to run the program. My personal laptop is in purgatory. Sadly, for now, I am unable to bask in the genius of Will Wright.