October 2008

Fable 2
Submitted Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 11:48:24 AM by Klaitu

This will be a spoiler free review, and I'll explain why later, but don't be afraid to read this one.

Since it was just released last tuesday, there's been a lot of press about Fable 2 recently. Chances are if you're a video game person, you knew about the release. In terms of hype, Fable 2 is somewhere just below The Orange box for word of mouth praise.

So, does Fable 2 live up to the hype? I have to say.. it's pretty close. It's as close as you're going to realistically expect out of a video game.

The designer, Peter Molyneux has billed this as a "game for gamers and non-gamers alike". It can be deep, but it doesn't have to be. It can be serious, but most of the time it isn't. It's simple enough for anyone to play, but deep enough to let you learn variety at your own pace.

Just like the original Fable, Fable 2 is all about choices. The most obvious here is good vs evil, but Fable 2 plays a lot more with the grey areas than did it's predecessor. If you want to be 100% pure good, you have to go out of your way to do it. If you want to be pure evil, you've got to work at that too. Sure, you're gonna end up on one end of the scale or the other, but not neccessarily maxed out.

Ordinarily when I play a game like this, before I even play it I think "I think I'll just make my first guy the good guy, and then do the bad guy the second time through". As it turns out, I couldn't do the straight good guy thing like I usually do, and it's all because of the clever choices they put into the game.

I can't spoil it, but the choices are really interesting in this game. Like I said, I was playing the good guy, and there were choices I really did have to consider slipping over to the dark side on.. and there were a few choices that I actually did choose the evil option.

Other choices are not so obvious, you make the choice you think is the one you want, but it turns out you were wrong all along.

The choices that you make actually change the world that you live in. Just as a non-spoiler example, you start in a poor district of a large city as a child. Depending on what you do there, when you grow up this district either becomes a disgusting slum, or a middle-class neighborhood.. and once you've made your choices, there's no turning back.. and I mention this because some of the choices involve the deaths of characters, or will affect your character for better or worse.. permanently.

The main plotline is actually supremely well done. It's probably the most advanced plot from a western RPG since the Ultimas. In my opinion, it far outshines the well-lauded Knights of the Old Republic. The characters are unique, and don't prescribe to cliche.. and they're all voice acted very well by British people who are actually from the UK.

Speaking of which, the game was not localized for the US, which means that I should have spelled it "localised". It's in the original form, which I think is most excellent.

I could probably write a lot more about Fable 2 and tell you stuff that you already know about it.. so I'll summarize:

Do you own a 360? If yes, buy this game as soon as you can and play it. If no, then you should consider buying a 360 just to play this game. I know that's expensive.. the game really is THAT good.

The downside? The game is designed for you to explore its every nook and cranny. There's tons of side quests for you to do, and the thing is cram-packed with content.. but if you just stick to the main plotline missions, it's maybe an 8 hour game at the most. In order to see all the content, you're looking at perhaps 30-40 hours of gameplay, which is decent for an RPG. So, in short: Sidequests not optional.

Overall Score: 9 of 10

If I gave out 10's, I would have given out one just then.

Sessler's Soapbox
Submitted Friday, October 17, 2008 - 5:03:17 PM by Klaitu

This is a podcast done by Adam Sessler, the guy who has been the long-time host of x-play. Apparently he's been doing it for almost 2 years, but this is the first I've heard of it. I blame g4's poorly designed website.

Anyways, Sessler's Soapbox is actually pretty good. I actually bumped into it when I was looking for Fable 2 information, so I watched a couple.. and then I ended up watching all of them.

So, what's it about? Just random gaming news basically, and honest thoughts from a gamer who also just happens to be a game critic. He occasionally gets very vaguely political, but that's to be expected of people who live in California.

Anyway, if you haven't checked it out, check out Sessler's Soapbox, it's pretty cool.

http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/blog/tag/172/Sesslers_Soapbox.html

Security When?
Submitted Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 4:27:23 PM by Klaitu

I often listen to the Security Now podcast that Steve Gibson does over on twit.tv. It's a pretty cool little show. While I wouldn't profess to have the expertise of Gibson, I think of myself as at least "security conscious" especially since I am currently doing CCNA courses, and a big part of that is security.

Earlier today my internet connection went out. The cable modem itself was getting a signal, but nothing was going out through it. This is different than what usually happens when my ISP brings it down for upgrades, in that case the modem usually doesn't get a signal from the ISP for some time.

So, we called the ISP, in this case Cox Communications, and it turns out they had suspended our connection because they detected that we were filesharing MS Flight Simulator X.

Now, I'm no stranger to the ways of filesharing, but I haven't done anything with Flight Simulator X.. but nevertheless, my ISP has a record of it happening. How could this be?

I spent a great deal of time trying to track down what happened, and how so I could plug the security hole that I seemed to have.

First, could the ISP be wrong? Technically, yes they could. My cable modem has a MAC address, and the MAC address is how my ISP determines who is a customer and who is just jacked into the line. That's why you can't just plug a cable modem into the wall jack and have it work. You have to give them the MAC address so they can tell their system "hey, the machine with this address is ok!".

There is a thing called MAC Address Spoofing. Using MAC Address spoofing, someone could configure a cable modem and change its MAC Address (usually MAC addresses are set at the factory). However, ISP's like mine, which depend on MAC address for revenue likely have all sorts of security programs that would detect MAC spoofing instantly.

Assuming someone did successfully get it to connect, there would be 2 of my MAC address on their system, and it would be easy for the ISP to spot it.

So, MAC Spoofing.. technically possible, but highly unlikely.

That means that the fileshared Flight Simulator X had to have passed through MY cable modem, and that means someone would have to have access to it from the inside. My cable modem has one ethernet port, and that port is connected to a routing switch, which is in turn connected to all my neat electronics.

This routing switch is a wireless one, which seemed a likely culprit. After all, you can see where all the cords go since you plugged them in, but you can't see where radio waves are going.

I checked out my wireless configuration, I'm using AES encryption with a 20 random character key (actually generated at Steve Gibson's website). This encryption is widely considered to be "uncrackable" at the present time, so I feel safe regarding my wireless network.

If it isn't the wired network, and it isn't the wireless network, then where could my security breach be?

It took me a bit to figure it out.

You see, I have 5 computers, but my routing switch only has 4 ports. I wanted all of my desktop computers to be wired, so to do that I have yet another routing switch attached to the first routing switch.. and that routing switch has wireless capability, even though I never intended to use it. When I installed this second switch, I made sure that wireless was disabled.

When I went to check it out, it turns out that wireless was enabled. Enabled with no encryption or security on it at all. As it turns out, whenever that switch loses power, and it restarts.. the wireless comes on by default!

Well, thar's yer problem.

I still have 5 computers and only 4 ports though, so my solution was this:

1. I removed the antennae from the switch itself.
2. I configured the wireless to use encryption, so if it were enabled, it would be encrypted anyway.
3. I set it so that the router will only connect to MAC addresses I specify, and then I didn't specify any. It means that all MAC addresses are invalid.
4. I assigned the wired ports static IP addresses, I then configured DHCP to give any wireless device invalid IP addresses. This means that if a device were to connect, it could probably send packets, but it would never receive any.
5. Any port that isn't a common-use port will drop any packet it gets.
6. The switch/router now logs all connection attempts.

In other words, I put the whammy on it.

So, I squared things away with my ISP, who basically said something like "well, we'll let it slide.. this time".. and I'm back on the internets!

My Own Worst Enemy
Submitted Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 2:55:08 PM by Klaitu

Christian Slater and Christian Slater are hamming it up!

Basically, Christian Slater has a technologically-induced secret identity split personality that engages and disengages at random.

Hilarity ensues.

I just saw the pilot and I'll probably check out more to see how it goes. It's not too bad.

Richard Garriott's Secret Outer Space Message
Submitted Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 1:29:23 AM by Klaitu

So, when Lord British was blasted into space, he had a notebook with some strange symbols on it. If it were anyone else, you'd just think that it was some kind of art on the cover, but with Richard Garriott.. we KNEW it was a secret message.

See? That's GOT to be a secret message. I tried to decipher it, but I couldn't make out many of the symbols. There's "Hydrogen" and "equals" and "earth" in there.. but a lot of those symbols aren't universal.

As it turns out, Kazola figured out that this is written in Logos. What is Logos? It's a fictional language created for Tabula Rasa, of course. Here's the actual symbology:



Ordinarily you have to play the game to translate this, but I cheated and checked out any number of fan sites for the symbology.. and even then, some of the symbols weren't in the lexicon. Here's what I ended up with:

"earth is the dream of the mankind except person will not exist the dream time eternal"

The symbol that killed me was the one for "dream" It's actually the symbol for youth, except it's in a bed. I took this to mean "sleep" or "dream" when actually what Richard meant to say was "cradle".

So, if you do a search for space quotes containing the world cradle, you end up with.....

"Earth is the cradle of humanity but mankind will not be in the cradle forever."

So, I got pretty close!

Anyways, that's Richard Garriott's secret message. He docks at the ISS in about 2 hours, so no doubt he will have more hijinks for us to uncover.

Sid Meier's Pirates!
Submitted Monday, October 13, 2008 - 3:55:18 PM by Klaitu

There are really a handful of developers that have their names in front of the game titles. "Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa" or "Will Wright's Spore". Some of them serve as a warning.. like whenever you see "American McGee's" in front of something, you know it will suck.

Sid Meier is actually not too bad with his games. He made Civilization, Alpha Centauri, and a whole fistfull of other games too. Pirates is one of these.

Pirates is a pretty simple game. You're a pirate. Your goal is to pirate things. Pirating things is not particularly hard. You win.

Still, insofar as simulation games go, Pirates is actually pretty solid. It's not a game that you'll play repeatedly, but it's a nice little diversion.

Overall Score: 7 of 10

Shreddin!
Submitted Monday, October 13, 2008 - 3:46:08 PM by Klaitu

Please enjoy this picture of me shredding mad lixx.

Also pictured are my Sister and Carson's girl.

Together, our mighty rock band is called.. The Baby Elephants!

Things are Shaping Up
Submitted Monday, October 13, 2008 - 3:42:09 PM by Klaitu

Wow, Diablo 3 really looks like I might play it now.

Nerds.. in.. Spaaaace!
Submitted Sunday, October 12, 2008 - 1:37:17 PM by Klaitu

For all of you who have been keeping up with my Garriott-watching, Richard Garriott is now in space! He's aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 mission which is presently on the way to the ISS. It takes 2 days to get there, he will arrive on the 14th.

Then the true nerdity can begin.

Hey, I know that guy!
Submitted Saturday, October 11, 2008 - 1:52:46 AM by Klaitu

Rogue Galaxy
Submitted Friday, October 10, 2008 - 3:11:33 PM by Klaitu

This is one of those that I never got around to while working at Hertz. I just never had the time.. and I was put off by reviews that said the game was similar to the abysmal Dark Cloud 2.

I'm glad that I tried out Rogue Galaxy, because it wasn't in any way like Dark Cloud 2. It was actually pretty good.

As with all Japanese RPG's you start out as a kid with a destiny and over the course of the game, you reveal that destiny. Oh guess what, you're the guy that can save the world.

The plot here doesn't do anything new or spectacular, but the settings and art style give the game a unique feel. It almost doesn't seem like you're playing a Japanese game. In fact, if it weren't for the prescence of life-size talking cats, you might not ever guess it.

I don't know what movies they watch over in Japan, but Rogue Galaxy "coincidentally features" a lot of things ripped from movies. Movies like Treasure Planet. There's even a volcano scene that is a direct rip of Lord of the Rings.

Not that it doesn't work, it completely does, in a strange way that only the Japanese could fuse together.

Voice acting here is pretty spectacular, the main star is Will Friedle, who was a long-time runner on Boy Meets World. Other Stars include Steve Blum (Spike from Cowboy Bebop) and Kari Wahlgren.

Gameplay took me about 40 hours or so, so it's a good value if you're strapped for cash. The gameplay is solid, but by the end you're tired of it. The end to the plot is not at all satisfying.

So, how can I sum this up? It's not nearly as good as Dragon Quest 8, but it's way better than Dark Cloud 2. Actually, it's a lot like Final Fantasy 12 in the likeability factor.

Overall Score: 7 of 10

Stupid X3
Submitted Monday, October 6, 2008 - 2:30:45 PM by Klaitu

You know what really grinds my gears?

X-Men: The Last Stand

I recently re-watched the movie, and I have to say that while it has some good points, it also has some serious problems.

First off, all of a sudden, everyone is flying everywhere. Storm flies in the first 5 minutes of the movie.. but Jean Grey also flies, Angel flies, and Magneto flies later on..

Sure, they all can fly in the comic books, but the movies have firmly established this "no flying" policy. In the first movie, Magneto is able to levitate since he is on top of the Statue of Liberty. Later, Storm and Jean Grey are able to "fly" Wolverine up to the torch, though this process is not stable at all.

In the second film, Magneto temporarily levitates when he's inside a large metal room. He is also able to levitate himself out of prison with the aid of a metal disc. Other than that, there is no flying.. and there's a very good reason: Flying looks stupid in a live-action movie unless you do it a very specific way.

Secondly, the movie's character choices were less than stellar. Some of them didn't make any sense at all.

The biggest problem is that the filmmakers basically cut Rogue out of the movie, and instead replaced her role with that of Shadowcat. Now, Iceman and Shadowcat are romantically linked.. except this is out of character, Shadowcat has always been linked with Colossus, and never with Iceman. However, Rogue and Iceman have been linked from time to time.. so at least that makes sense.

This leads me to the next problem: Rogue is all screwed up.. and this isn't X3's fault, neccessarily. Rogue was screwed up since the beginning of the films. The main problem is that Rogue is not a teenager. They've sort of made her the "newcomer" through which the audience is able to see Xavier's School, but that role doesn't belong to her. In the 1980's, that role belonged to Shadowcat. In the 1990's, that role belonged to Jubilee. Rogue is older than both Jubilee and Shadowcat. You can't make her into a teenager without wrecking her whole character points.

Speaking of character points, in X3, Rogue takes "the cure" and becomes a "normal human". This is something that she considers in the comics, but decides against once she realizes that she can help people with her abilities.

And speaking of Abilities, where are the other half of Rogues powers? Sure she can absorb other mutant's powers, but in the comics her body is indestructable, she can fly, and shes strong enough to do things like lift cars. She obtained these abilities from Ms. Marvel in her youth, and the struggle between Rogue and the latent imprint of Ms. Marvel is a huuuge point of Rogue's story.

And what's the deal with Rogue telling Wolverine her name is "Marie". Nobody knows Rogue's real name except Rogue, and she's never told anyone.. the only person she wanted to tell was Gambit, who told her to keep it to herself.

I don't mind them changing stuff around for a movie, but they should at least not wreck the characters.

It's not just Rogue who is screwed up, though.. Magneto got the shaft as well. Magneto commonly gets the shaft since he gets pigeonholed as the "X-Men villain" but he's really a decent guy who sees the Human race as a group of bullies who want to destroy mutants.. to that end he favors wiping them out before they develop the means to do the same to him.

This much is portrayed in the films, but they give Magneto a much more sinister, evil intent. In the first film, he's portrayed well.. he wants to mutate the world leaders so that mutants won't have to fight humans. In the second movie he wants Xavier to use Cerebro 2 to kill all the humans at once, leaving only mutants. In the third movie he... just wants to fight people. He literally raises an army and tries to start a war between humans and mutants.

Also out of character is Magneto abandoning Mystique once she gets hit with "the cure". This is something that Magneto would never do, he treats his followers well and that's why they devote themselves to him. They are literally Magneto's Acolytes.

Another problem? The death of Professor X. Magneto and Xavier are old friends.. and not like "once upon a time" old friends, they are friends who are so close that they are like brothers. In the comics, the death of Professor X was so astounding, and such a big deal that Magneto renounced his conflict with humanity and dedicated his life to Xavier's ideals. He even led the X-men. In the film, their relationship gets one line "Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you will ever know". That's it.

There are also serious problems with minor characters in the movie.

Leech isn't green. Is that a big deal? Well, what if beast wasn't blue, or Nightcrawler wasn't scarred?

Callisto's powers are wrong. Sure, she can sense mutants, but now she can.. run real fast?

Psylocke's powers are completely wrong. In the movie she turns invisible. However, Psylockes power is the psionic dagger and the butterfly effect. She's also british, which she isn't in the movie.

Arclight is sort of right. In the movie, she can.. clap really loud. In the comics she can create shockwaves from her hands (not really from clapping). She also has strength like Rogue is supposed to have.

Pyro's powers are correct, but he doesn't really use them in this movie at all. Also, Pyro is austrailian, a fact that is left out of the movie entirely.

Juggernaut.. well, he's not a mutant. He's Professor X's brother.. and aside from that, the movie says "The prisoner can't be allowed to gain momentum, if he does he will become unstoppable". Problem: He was in a moving truck 5 minutes ago.. he had momentum (if you're just disregaring the momentum he has from just being on Earth... which is moving)

Thirdly, the actual movie itself is poorly made. Do you recall what happens to leech once he is rescued by Shadowcat? Of course you don't, the movie doesn't say!

What about Angel? He was featured prominently in the trailer and his character is actually portrayed correctly. Oh wait, we see him for about 5 seconds.

The movie tries to do too much and ends up not delivering.

I can't stay mad at X3 for very long, because it does a few things exactly right. One of those things is Beast.

Casting Kelsey Grammer as Beast was the most perfect choice of casting in any movie ever. Kelsey Grammer IS Beast. Beast's makeup was great, he moved like beast, he talked like beast, his lines were things that beast would say. His internal conflict was exactly like it should have been. The portrayal of Beast was absolutely perfect.

Storm sucks.. It's nothing to do with the movie, but Storm has always sucked. Her character sucks, she never has anything interesting to say, her powers suck, she dresses funny, and nobody really likes her.. but she's been in the x-men since forever, and it wouldn't be the X-men without her.

Likewise, Hallie Berry sucks. She can't act, isn't pretty, isn't interesting, and when she's on screen you want to take a nap because she sucks. She's an absolute shoe-in for Storm, and the casting here was perfect.

Anyways, that's today's X-men rant.

Engage Borkification
Submitted Sunday, October 5, 2008 - 11:46:43 PM by Klaitu

Indeed.

Jack Thompson Disbarred
Submitted Friday, October 3, 2008 - 2:14:13 PM by Klaitu

You may recall Jack Thompson. He's the crazy florida lawyer that's been trying to sue every video game company ever made. He has a particular hatred for Take Two Interactive, the publishers of Grand Theft Auto.

Thompson was disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court, the highest Judicial authority in Florida. His ban is permanent.

mong the extensive findings of fact presented in the report, the Court takes particular note of the following which occurred during the three-year period at issue in five counts in these cases: (1) respondent made false statements of material fact to courts and repeatedly violated a court order; (2) respondent communicated the subject of representation directly with clients of opposing counsel; (3) respondent engaged in prohibited ex parte communications; (4) respondent publicized and sent hundreds of pages of vitriolic and disparaging missives, letters, faxes, and press releases, to the affected individuals; (5) respondent targeted an individual who was not involved with respondent in any way, merely due to "the position [the individual] holds in state and national politics;" (6) respondent falsely, recklessly, and publicly accused a judge as being amenable to the "fixing" of cases; (7) respondent sent courts inappropriate and offensive sexual materials; (8) respondent falsely and publicly accused various attorneys and their clients of engaging in a conspiracy/enterprise involving "the criminal distribution of sexual materials to minors" and attempted to get prosecuting authorities to charge these attorneys and their clients for racketeering and extortion; (9) respondent harassed the former client of an attorney in an effort to get the client to use its influence to persuade the attorney to withdraw a defamation suit filed by the attorney against respondent; and (10) respondent retaliated against attorneys who filed Bar complaints against him for his unethical conduct by asserting to their clients, government officials, politicians, the media, female lawyers in their law firm, employees, personal friends, acquaintances, and their wives, that the attorneys were criminal Case Nos. SC07-80 and SC07-354 Page Three pornographers who objectify women.

The Court concludes that the facts, as even more extensively detailed in the referee's report, support the referee's numerous recommendations as to guilt. The referee cited various cases indicating that disbarment is an appropriate sanction and recommended permanent disbarment because "[r]espondent has repeatedly stated in these proceedings that he will not change his conduct" and she "finds no evidence whatsoever to indicate that [r]espondent is amenable to rehabilitation, or even remotely appreciates the basis upon which a need or purpose for such rehabilitation is warranted." Indeed, as noted by the referee: Respondent has repeatedly failed to follow the appropriate rules and orders throughout these disciplinary proceedings as evidenced by the granting of the Bar's Motion for Sanctions and the Supreme Court of Florida's orders of February 19, 2008 and March 20, 2008, wherein the Court found that [r]espondent "abused the legal system by submitting numerous, frivolous and inappropriate filings," despite being warned not to do so. In fact, the referee reported that respondent walked out of her courtroom at the final hearing in this matter because she would not allow him to "to turn the [d]isciplinary proceeding into a press conference." Based on the record before it, the Court agrees that respondent is not amenable to rehabilitation. Further, the Court approves the referee's recommendation that permanent disbarment is the appropriate sanction.

The Court approves the corrected referee's report and John Bruce Thompson is permanently disbarred, effective thirty days from the date of this order so that respondent can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If respondent notifies the Court in writing that he is no longer practicing and does not need the thirty days to protect existing clients, this Court will enter an order making the permanent disbarment effective immediately. Respondent shall accept no new business from the date this order is filed. Judgment is entered for The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300, for recovery of costs from John Bruce Thompson in the amount of $43,675.35, for which sum let execution issue. Case Nos. SC07-80 and SC07-354 Page Four Not final until time expires to file motion for rehearing, and if filed, determined. The filing of a motion for rehearing shall not alter the effective date of this permanent disbarment. Consistent with this Court's sanction order, no motion for rehearing will be considered unless signed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar other than respondent.

Constantine
Submitted Thursday, October 2, 2008 - 2:47:19 PM by Klaitu

Here's an old one I just got around to watching.

I've come to realize that Keanu Reeves likes living in trashed out buildings, wearing black, and "doing the Jesus thing". A better name for this film may have been "The Other Matrix".

So what's the plot? Nazis. Yep, the Nazis have the spear that pierced Jesus at the crucifixion, and somehow this is the key to opening a doorway to let the son of satan into the "human world". Still, it didn't seem to help them win World War 2.. even though its called the "spear of destiny" and "he who wields the spear of destiny controls fate" and all.

Anyways, some mexican guy finds it in the present day.. and long story short, the archangel Gabriel wants to use it on the heroine in order to let the demons out of hell.

Whatever.

Constantine was alright, but I can't imagine paying money for it.

Overall Score: 4 of 10

The Onion Movie
Submitted Thursday, October 2, 2008 - 2:41:58 PM by Klaitu

I've been reading The Onion pretty much since it came out on the internets.. so an Onion movie seemed like it would be good, even though I wasn't really sure how you'd make a movie about a newspaper.

The end result is like watching a live action version of Robot Chicken. Tons of short skits that are just barely linked together. Some of the skits are awesome, and some aren't so great. Overall though, The Onion Movie was pretty good.

I've got to give extra props to the skit with "Proteus the Invincible" though, that was just awesome. Steven Segal isn't bad in it, either.

Overall Score: 7 of 10

Freaks and Dragons
Submitted Wednesday, October 1, 2008 - 2:07:02 PM by Klaitu

This is why Freaks and Geeks is awesome!