inversereality

Note: The following review discusses gameplay and general user interface. No story spoilers have been included.

Bioware’s new Dragon Age: Origins CRPG arrived in the mail on Wednesday. Confused marketing prior to the release had me wondering whether to buy it. I don’t understand why Bioware insists on using their concept art to market their titles. The art is always dark and murky, a little pulp, and never reflects the actual mood of the story. But my problem was neatly solved when my brother got it for me for my birthday. Thus far, I’m about 54% percent of the way through the game, and quite a bit below the 100 hours of game play promised — I’m only at about 30 hrs recorded thus far.

Unlike Mass Effect, the mechanics of the game UI seem to be geared more heavily for PC users rather than console play. Drilling down into the action menus is unintuitive and time consuming — on the Xbox, you have to hold down the left shoulder trigger religiously to get anywhere, and a slight slip of the finger in battle means that you’re suddenly exposed, or have to struggle to get back to the menu item again, costing you real time and taking up valuable play time.

The much-touted Eclipse engine seems dated and handicapped next to comparable contemporaries. (It does allow for significant end-user development, but as I am not much of a modder, I haven't heard about how well it works in this regard.) Having played other action adventure games like Lionhead’s Fable 2 and Bethesda’s Fallout 3, I have to say, the movement and action controls on Dragon Age: Origins are clunky and overloaded. Fighting is ridiculously difficult in real-time and the transparent overlapping menus have way too many options for battle. The in-game event notices — a huge banner with swirly blood that pops up every time some quest is updated — are badly proportioned and difficult to see on my 32" flatscreen from any distance farther than 2 feet away. There are no multi-camera angle controls (annoying!), no jumping, no swimming, no looting, and no at-will wanton killing. (To the last complaint I say, "so much for being the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate!")

The Dragon Age: Origins name comes from the conceit that the game boasts six different customizable origin stories for the player, based on the variables of race and gender. In terms of game story customization, this is an interesting move towards greater replayability and player-character engagement, and I predict that we will see greater variety and development on this front in future games. Story-wise, however, I am not impressed. There have been no surprising twists (given the advertising, I expected more hard decisions and betrayals), and the characters lack the hook of previous Bioware fare. (How I missed Minsc and his miniature giant space hamster, Boo!) The game’s target audience is, admittedly, in the 17-22 year old range, so perhaps the absence of real emotional "hardness" isn't surprising. Although the naivete and lack of dramatic pathos in the plotline seems to suggest even younger crowd; belying the “M” for mature audience rating.

Overall, I find this a step back from the game play and story development exhibited in Bioware’s previous release, Mass Effect. But for Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights nostalgia, it seems like a timely revisit to the sword and sorcery genre. As an avid gamer who grew up on the Final Fantasy franchise and the Bioware RPGs, it’s nonetheless a must-play for the True Believers. But after years of the same thing replayed again and again in different settings: Bioware, I am ready for more of a change.

The original:



Acoustic:



By Chris Daughtry:



Christopher Walken:



Which to choose? LoL.

It's a dragon made from plastic kitchen utensils. What a way to recycle!



Plasticdragon by ~toge-NYC on deviantART

Started playing it and have been doing so for the last two weeks. This is partly why my sleep schedule is more shot to hell than a shotgun-riddled super mutant.

As a BIG fan of the original two, I found that this game plays around in the playground of the world, but isn't at the level of of EPIC that I really wanted to see it as. I mean, c'mon! The first chunk of the game is all about running around chasing after "my dad"! I don't really trust in any game story where my personal relationship to a fictional "father" is a key part of the plot. Besides, I'm way too old to be emo like that.

In the original game, I had to save the world from being overrun by Super Mutants and for this purpose, effectively became a one-man (or woman) rampaging army of Gatling Guns and a stimpack collection that could bury the Lourve. In the sequel, I was The Chosen One destined to lead my people to paradise, and I did! -- by defeating the power-armor covered remnants of the US government single-handedly as a one-man (or woman) army. See a pattern here?

But the third game? I'm going to save the world by making their water good. WTF? Now, I guess I'm only 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the game, but I'm already missing the humor of the original two, and I sure hope there is a massive army of Super Mutants, soldiers, or some other massively power army that I need to defeat single-handedly, because so far this game is kinda mediocre in its execution. I'm going to see it to the end, nevertheless, but so far, not too impressed. Even with the shiny graphics. (Mass Effect did it better.)

May update: yay, even more books on my list!

( 2008 List )

[January 2009]
Charlie Bone And The Hidden King by Jenny Nimmo
Charlie Bone and The Castle Of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo
Charlie Bone and The Beast by Jenny Nimmo
The Second Siege by Henry H. Neff*
Mass Effect: Revelation
The Tracker* by Tom Brown Jr.
Total: 6

[February 2009]
39 Clues: Maze of Bones
Larklight
Starcross
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer*
Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
Total: 6

[March 2009]
Soon, I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Legion of Darkness by Karl Edward Wagner
Rogue's Home by Hilari Bell*
The Printer's Devil by Paul Bajoria
A Matter of Profit by Hilari Bell
The Last Knight by Hilari Bell
Flame/Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell
Total: 7

[April 2009]
The Wizard Test by Hilari Bell
Songs of Power by Hilari Bell
Rise of a Hero by Hilari Bell
Forging the Sword by Hilari Bell
Total: 4

[May 2009]
Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett*
Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett*
The Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett*
This month was technically a re-read month since I'd finished most of the new books I wanted to read and had nothing else I wanted to go into.
Total: 3

[June 2009]
The Akhenaten Adventure by P. B. Kerr
The Goblin Wood by Hilari Bell
Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett*
Only You Can Save Mankind! by Terry Pratchett*
Total: 4

[July 2009]
Nation by Terry Pratchett
No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Total: 2

[August 2009]
The Purple Cow
Black & White
"Paycheck"  -- not a full book so not counting it, but this is my second exposure to Phillip, and I am unimpressed with the writing quality.
Total: 2

[September 2009]
Alive in Necropolis
Rock, Paper, Scissors by Len Fisher
The Cat Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Lifetime Maintenance
The Dog Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Lifetime Maintenance
Total: 4

So far this year I have read 38 books.
Reading List:
A Long Way Down
Gilead

Now presenting, Barbie the Musketeer -- with transforming magical girl dress!!



I love that Barbie does back flips across the screen and her demure skirt never moves.

Today, I had my first taste of Chocolate Rain. I do not understand why.

---

Haha.

A quote from me: "I just needed to tell you so that then there's expectations and then my need to overachieve will take over and throttle my laziness."

One of my favorite new things to do in the last 2 years at Comic Con is to visit all of the book publisher booths, like Penguin and Del Rey, and pickup full-on copies of all of their most recent sci-fi/fantasy/superhero/horror books that they're promoting by giving away for free. Seriously, some of the best swag I've found in recent years have come from book publishers, and their lines are usually far easier to navigate and much more reasonable that the stagnant fan-pool that rotates around the big blockbuster movie studios every year.

One of my 2009-acquisitions is about two super-powered heroines, Iridium and Jet, who end up fighting on different sides of the law. Now, this is the law of a post-apocalyptic scientific future run by a giant evil corporation, so make of it what you will. The novel, Black and White by Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge, is skim-worthy but not delve-worthy. The super-thin, super-smart, super-good-looking-but-broken heroines are only matched in shallowness by their painfully contrived and short, always-state-the-obvious dialog. The "good girl" hero is a shadow power who dresses like Batman and the "supervillain" chick is a "light power" who dresses all in white, for christsake! Anyone else suffocating under the originality of the juxtapositions in here?

My dalliance with these mediocre marvels began about a month ago, when I read the first two chapters at Comic Con. It had seemed a lot more promising back then. I read another third last night, and woke up in the morning at 4am and just read the last two chapters in my insomnia. In total, I think I let drop about 60% of the book, and I did not miss anything for skipping. I know some people feel very strongly about reading the end of a book, and some of my friends look at me aghast when I tell them what I do. But let's consider here: why do people *not* read the ending of a book in advance?

I would argue that it's because they feel that knowing the ending in advance spoils the story. Destroys the satisfaction of the ending. You don't get the suspense of waiting to find out, or the adrenaline of hitting the climax. But for me, it's just the opposite. Especially if I *know* I'm reading a pedantic piece of near-crap and I just want to get through it as quick as possible. Knowing the ending keeps me from fretting about whether my narrative suspicions are wrong or right, and calms me down enough to enjoy the rest of the story. It helps me to evaluate the writing better because I can take a step back and check out how the writer is building to the climax. I attribute this to years of perversion studying way too much literature, but I enjoy looking at another writer’s craftsmanship and dissecting how it was put together, even if it was mediocre writing. So, while for some knowing the ending “spoils” the story, I think that the full entirety of a novel is not just its “story,” but also its construction and planning, and reading the ending helps me better enjoy and appreciate the process that gets the story there instead of getting frustrated by the poor quality of the writing and angry at the crappy pace. And yeah, I *could* also do that by rereading the book again after I read it the first time, but if I can barely finish the book in its entirety the first time around, why the Hell would I read it again for kicks?

Now, there are *some* books that I will not skip to the end of find out. Terry Pratchett is one author I enjoy from beginning to end. Eoin Colfer is another. William Boniface and Hilari Belli two close thirds. (Although in the case of Bell, I broke that rule once for an interminable, but enjoyable, trilogy she wrote.)

So ultimately, my feelings on the Black and White book: mediocre action, cheesy dialog, and too much girl baggage. Great read for girl comic readers looking for a female-oriented perspective, terrible for anyone looking for a genuinely good comic story. (No Alan Moore, you are not, Jackie and Caitlin.) For a decent comic-book-novel-spin try Austin Grossman’s better written Soon I will be Invincible. Same dual-p.o.v. split chapters, plus some actual surprise twists that you won’t see coming in chapter 2.

Rating: C+

Brain not all here. Today, I tried to put the rice in the teacup and put tea in the soy sauce. To be fair, the latter is a recipe for tea eggs and my genmai cha actually features roasted rice in green tea.

Michael Jackson dropkicks Farrah Fawcett's death out of the news. Harsh, man.

I'm writing a short press release piece on SSDs (Solid State Drives). I seem to remember this as an idea that has been floating around for the last year or so, but don't know much more than that. Apparently it is now THE hot thing in the next revolution of drive performance and capacity.

So, to my geeky tech and engineer friends out there: what are your thoughts about this as a consumer? Is it a foregone conclusion that this is made of awesome and speed? Are there any reservations? What drives you to buy one brand over another?

I know that you have an opinion, so send it to me! Geeky answers needed by Sunday, please. :)

The best part of these is that there's a sing-over soundtrack!

Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Translation


White Wedding: Literal Translation


With Arms Wide Open: Literal Translation


There's also more on YouTube. Haha.

When you see this, post a quote from Red Dwarf in your journal:

"So let me get this straight. You want to fly on a magic carpet to see the King of the Potato People and plead with him for your freedom, and you're telling me you're completely sane?"

"Mr. Flibble's very cross. You shouldn't have ran away from him. What are we going to do with them, Mr. Flibble? [. . .] We can't possibly do that! Who would clear up the mess?"

All from the episode "Quarantine."

Before today, your life was not complete without Nerd Metal:




LoL.

This evening,  I found out that my friend's cousin, Tami, a 44-year-old mother of two, has been diagnosed with a bone marrow disorder often called "pre-" leukemia. The treatment requires a stem cell transplant for her best chances at overcoming this deadly and debilitating disease. But it's not the cost of the transfer that might cost Tami her life: it's the lack of matching donors. (Read all of Tami’s story here: http://www.helpingtami.org/)

The best match for finding a bone marrow donor is usually within one's own ethnicity. This one hits close to home for me because of the 7 million registered bone marrow donors available in America, Asian Americans only make up about 7%. Break that down further into individual Asian groups, and your chances of being Asian, *and* finding a bone marrow donor then become pretty slim. On top of that, Asians have the highest turn-down rate of any group when it comes to committing to the donation: 50% back-out at the last minute, even though they are a match that could save someone’s life.  So, this is a call for help to get as many willing Asians onboard the registry as I can. But don't turn away even if you're not Asian (or liv ein America): everyone makes a difference. Tami's case puts a face to the story, but EVERYONE's participation helps -- you'd only be improving someone's chances at survival!

It costs you nothing to register and the test for bone marrow donors is pretty simple: a cotton swab sampling of your cells are all that is needed, and you can even send away for a test kit to do at home. You will only ever be contacted if you are a possible match -- and that could be the call which saves a person's life. Bone marrow donors then have two choices for how their stem sells will be donated: 1) the old-fashioned way is to stick a needle in your bone and pull it out, or 2) there is a new technique in which you are given several injections to cause your body to produce an excess of stem cells, and this is then collected by filtering it out of your blood. (If you've ever donated platelets, it seems similar.)

So please, please help if you can. Sign up for the home test kit, or join in the drive at the Tech Museum in downtown San Jose on April 12^th. Tell your friends, your family, and your coworkers. Post randomly on your blog, or Twitter, or Facebook it. You can also find out a lot more information at my friend Stacy’s website here: http://www.helpingtami.org/

Please consider helping to save a life.

New website called Listable allows you to post public lists of things you like/dislike/need to write down in a linear order.

See my Extra-Fun Words list:

http://www.listable.org/show/extra-fun-words

And now, random quote:

"There is no God!"
"Then who's the one touching me when I cry at night?"

Signs by Craig:



Click to see more!

These are photos of signs that, supposedly, some person has been posting around Melbourne, Australia. It makes me want to make random signs and post them around the Bay Area. Anyone else? IF SO, THEN MEET ME HERE AT 2:31PM ON FRIDAY. BRING YOUR OWN SIGN, BUT DON'T BRING A SERIOUS SIGN, OR ONE FOR YOUR GARAGE SALE. AS A REWARD, YOU MIGHT GET INTERNET CELEBRITY-DOM.