• 31Jul 06

  Gaming : Old School Style ........

  When I was abt 8yrs old , the only two things that mattered ( for being COOL ) was that - if You had an ATARI or NOT .You were definitely a 'COOL' guy if You had an ATARI.
  
  & The other measuring stick was if You had in-depth knowledge abt Female Anatomy , LOL ...
  
  Back in those days, for some weird reason - my friends ( including safa/shamim/milton ) used to think that just by touching a girl ( like shaking hands with her or kissing & simple-stuff ) they can make her pregnant , LOL....
  ( I'm gonna admit , I wasn't 'AS' knowledgeable at that time as I am now , but c'mon ... LOL ... ) ...
  
  I'm pretty sure I am gonna look at this day & say that I still didn't know about women that much
  ( well , I have less doubts abt the anatomical side , hee hee - If You know what I mean .... lolz... )
  & Mr.Zalman King & his Red Show Diaries have helped me out on that one .... hahah..... lolz...
  
  But for me , today - a greater maze remains to be challenged - Female Psychology ..... a much much deeper mystery today than it was 16yrs earlier embodied ... lolz ....
  Trust me , it's gonna be mighty mighty difficult to figure out women as an ATARI-player .... lol )
  - but , knowing stuff abt girls did put You in IDOL category among friends back in those days , when the ATARI-Player was the KING , it was much easier to figure out women back then .... lol... I guess becaz it was in 2D... lol....
  
  Well , I was cool on both the meters .
  That is , I had an Atari2600 console .
  Mine came with 32 built in games & My father was kind enough to buy me an extra cartridge right-away ( River Raid ) & for that he instantly made his place in my memory as a hero . Trust me , in those days Atari's in Bangladesh were as rare as a Girl with any interest in Halo 2 ( who might be pretty & a good Team-Slayer >> ( never found one that had the brains to get herself over Level 35 & she's also pretty . I did found a Level 37TS but she was a cheat & ahem... better not talk abt her looks ....
  only exception is You ... Jess[BestKillSwitch/OnslaughtJess]
  .. You are one sweetheart ...I'd take you to Big Team Battle with me anyday of the year ...
  
  Anyways , Back To ATARI :
  Back in those days only a single boy would may manage for that precious precious console to be imported from hong-kong or singapore & that's it - he w'd be the only boy in school that had an ATARI .
  If You are aged between 20-25 now & didn't have an ATARI 2600 , my only comment to you is : hahahhaah , I owned You .... sucker ... Na.nana.Na.na...Biotch.... LOL
  
  Anyways , it was tremendous fun at that age ,
  I guess everything is FUN at 8 or 9 .
  Those 2D games were immense fun & a best present a child can ever hope for .
  Obviously , I had owned an ATARI 2600 ( my first console - 2D ) , after that - an ATARI 7800 , then a Sega Mega Drive , ( I didn't own a Nintendo System but did play most of the SNES/N64 games caz my friend Noushad had those two ( who used to live right next door to us ) , then a Playstation ( when it was like 32,000 tk = 400US$ ) , then a PS2 ,an XBOX , a PSP & now an XBOX360 ( which I think is still very expensive - despite MS may say that ps3 costs almost 900US$ ( with all the needed stuff ) - I still think 800CAD$ (360) is ridiculous amount of money for a gaming console - no regrets after playing NFS MW on it though - I forgive Microsoft completely after I played Ghost Recon Adv. Warfighter & also partially caz they announced abt HALO3 . )
  
  I have seen remarkable improvement in Graphics , I have played through almost all the genres to discover amazing & innovative gameplay
  but I just thaught today : wouldn't it be fun to go back to My first console to play my all time favourite two games , right now ?
  
  One is Obviously " Super Ferrari " ( you have a car where the car stays still but the road changes direction to give you a sense of movement & speed - other cars keep on coming from ahead towards you & if hit that car or bump on the side of the road the built-up speed is gone ....
  
  So , basically you drive avoiding those cars & keep on pressing on an increased speed...& race.
  the real fun part of that game to me was the changing environments where the background changed color from day to evening to night to fog & then morning ( You had losser visual in fog & night - which made driving difficult ) ....
  absolute fun for anyone ...... You had to like overtake a 200+ cars before it changed color to morning .... great game it was .
  
  The other one , I couldn't even remember the name at first , It was a shooting game with a jet-fighter moving vertically & you could shoot from the jet as it moved over a blue sea . There were battle-ships , heli-copters , fast moving jets - all moving in random fashion vertically to make your life difficult as a jet-fighter pilot . You could move left-right to shoot those enemy vehicles down but you also needed to re-fuel from those circumstancially red/white striped tank marked as "FUEL" ........... duhh .. You earn points by shooting those down level by level but you only have 3 lives to start with - so if you crash you have 2 more chances to have a dash ....
  
  After one and half an hour of searching on google I finally got the Name of that game : " River Raid " , some of You may also know it as "GALAGA" . It was a tremendous game , I still remember the day when after 3yrs of try I went past 99,9999 points - disappointingly enough the counter went to 0000 again ...... lol.
  
  Anyway , my question to my self was , would I enjoy those games any more ?
  The answer is YES ........ You always have that child inside you that played that familiar game , I downloaded some ATARI 2600 & Sega mega drive emulators , & after facing all those marvellous A.I. in HALO 2 , after seeing-off the ooohs & aaahs for graphics of G.R.A.W on 360 - I still found these two 2D games from 1988 still appealing to me today.
  
  I obviously downloaded rom's for GALAGA & SuperFerrari , trust me it was as much fun as I've had since I played BTB Skirmish on XBL.
  I use to be very good with Ultimate Mortal Kombat on Sega , also Sonic the Hedgehog .....& guess what ?
  
  I just had 2 flawless victories in UMK3 with hardest difficulty & Master mode ..... hoo.ho.ha.ha.haa........ OUTSTANDING .... whooppiiiiiiiiii !!!!
  lolz
  • Posted Jul 31, 2006 5:42 pm PT
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• 31Jul 06

  The Wheelernator Era

   Yes , So it begins ........
  
  Microsoft have been Idiotic enough to make the 360 so expensive & so out of reach that normal game lovers ( specially that of HALO/HALO2 series )are in doubts about their long term benefit .
  
  Say , for example Bungie(developers of HALO) is run by some really level-headed guys , don't get me wrong , Just like it's parent company MS , bungie also intends to get every penny out of you but atleast they have been considerate enough to the practical side , what am I talking about You ask ?
  Ok , everyone who saw that HALO 3 trailer saw the Master-Chief holding an Original HALO : Combat Evolved Assault Rifle , now people playing HALO 2 have already gotten used to dual-wielding , so why would bungie bring-back a weapon thats a single wield ?
  simple ,they are practical .
  
  Let me explain in detail , Microsoft has priced the Xbox 360 so out-of-range for even mid-range gamers & teen-agers , that the only way they are gonna be able to buy an x360 is to sell their Body parts & organs . Sell a leg (or both) - why do You think Microsft pressed on about that wireless gamecontrollers ? caz ppl will definitely need wireless 'Everything' when they are in a wheelchair - then sell a hand or two & You might be able to afford that Xbox 360 .
  
  Now , Bungie realized that really early & decided to swicth back to single-wield cause they are practical : they understood that most of the gamers on HALO 3 won't have two hands ( for sure - either they'll sell them or maybe they'll get cut off doing dangerous job's - thats high pay - so that they can afford that 360 ) , since most of the HALO 3 players will be handicapped , Bungie took a good decision : bring back powerful assault rifle - single wield - only one hand needed to play . Problem Solved .
  
  So , why am I calling it the Wheelernator era ? We will have to go back to give you a preview of my good friend wheelernator .
  
  Back in the days when I 1st met him , he was as annoying as Microsoft . Let me explain , the 1st time I met him was through another mutual friend Slepi , Slepi was showing me how to do that scorpion tank-flip glitch on Coagulation , as Mr.Wheelernator entered - the 1st thing he did was destroy one of the tanks needed to perform that stunt , then he rubbed slepi with a Banshee for the whole next respawn of the scorpion-tank & when it finally respawned ,
  mr.wheelernator was kind enough to destroy it (again ) with sticky-granades & then shoot slepi & me ( Killing us ) & then leaving the party without an explanation .
  
  That was the 1st time I met him & boy was he annoying - just like Microsoft at E3 , flashing everyone with their marvellous Xbox360 & all the new features it has & it's unbeleivable capabilities to show real-life like graphics ......
  
  You see my point ? No ? .... ok , let me show You ...... You see My good friend wheelernator is kinda like Microsoft , You Love em - can't live without'em but sometimes - You write such articles ( like what I'm doing - right now ...lol) to prove your point .
  
  Yes , what is my point ? .... When Microsoft came out flashing everyone they were criticized by industry specialists about the 500US$ price tag for a premium system & at that time it seemed a lot for a gaming system ( Just
  Like a level 37 Tag on Mr.Wheelernators Halo2 Team Slayer Rank will be criticized ) - but in time they both have proved a point .
  
  Although industry analists said that MS will never meet the 3 millions 360 shipped within april mark - Microsoft surprised everyone by shipping 5 million units till the 2nd quarter . Just as Slepi criticized mr.wheelernator that he will never be more than a rank 31 , he proved everyone wrong & reached 32 on his own ( legit - despite my pressure constant urge to join forces with me - he stayed clean ).
  
  The embarrassing thing was ( also the funny part ) - is that at that time slepi was ranked 30TS ( 2 ranks below mr.wheelernator ) .
  So , here we see a SONY vs MS battle ( here Slepi = SONY ) , (wheelernator = MS ) , despite having worked their asses off SONY failed to stay in market share in those two quarters & suffered a 30% hardware low & a staggering 71% soft-ware ( mostly games ) sales low than the year before . On the otherhand MS calmly soothed thier way to the gaming industry beating the giants at their own game with a console that has an unbeleivably hefty price drag .
  
  Now , Slepi might argue that he is a much better
  TS than anyone else , mr.wheelernator is not really as good as that 37 suggests ( just as SONY would argue that PS3 is much better & XBOX
  360 was not really next-gen ..... yati-yati-yata-yata-yata- yati .... & so on ) ..... the fact of the matter is they both ( MS & wheelernator ) have proven themselves on their respective grounds & as any level headed person would say a job well done .
  
  Now , as always the losing party always says : the figures doesn't matter , but it does , do we see a shifting of power here ?
  I mean not the wheelernator>>slepi , ( well , also that .... lol ) , but MS over SONY ? I think so yes . Simply caz You have to agree on the fact that they both are genuine competetors ( MS & wheelernator ) , they may seem lathargic sometimes - but just when You underestimated them a little they'll come out firing - outgunning you with depth play & coy strategies ( MS in market-strategy & wheelernator in skirmish ) .
  
  You have to admit that Microsoft have made some clever moves since the release of 360 - that made 360 the #1 on most wanted charts in North America on the holiday season beating SONY's own PSP .
  
  So , the messege is clear , no matter how much talk SONY (=slepi) has , no matter how good the PS3 is ( hardware wise ) , it's gonna get
  beaten by a much better All-round player ( that's the x360=mr.wheelernator) .
  
  Now for the price part , infront of a 700US$ full system ( PS3) the xbox360 doesn't look that pricey any more with a 500US$, does it ? & My best guess is MS is gonna lower the price of the system by atleast a 50US$ by the time when the PS3 gets released & a minimum of 100US$ lower
  by the time HALO3 gets released .
  
  So , You see my friend wheelernator does resemble MS & their great white console , they both grow on You , you love & admire them with time , You grow to respect them for their undying competetiveness as well as their sheer passion to win & with time they both reward your judgement .
  
  I was doubtful about the 360 , but as time went by I grew to love it & admire the fact that it's a better all-round home entertainment system - I was blown away by the GRAW graphics . but , trust me if GRAW looked that good , HALO 3 will be better - & when I tell You this :
  
  You better listen & get the facts straight , if
  there is a game or console thats worth it this is the one (HALO3/xbox360) - you better get browsing on e-bay to sell that leg or arm pretty soon cause even if it means being crippled : Gamers are not gonna stop at anything
  - as the Microsoft=Halo3=Wheelernator Era Begins ......
  

  • Posted Jul 31, 2006 5:39 pm PT
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• 27Jul 06

  HALO 3 - GAME PLOTS , Leaked , Made-up , whateva - put em here .......

  lolz ,
  in recent weeks I have seen ppl cook up some really crazy stories abt halo 3 plot .
  so I decided to jump on the band-wagon & cook up one of my own :
  
  Bungie studios is abt surprise & delights ( remember the shock ( also surprise ) we all got when we saw a full featured covenant ( the arbiter ) - as a playable character in halo2 ? ) - no question bungie will try to top that - & what better way to do that than killing the Master-chief in the 1st level ( shock-horror-disgust ) , then we don't have a player ( our main character ) to play with - moreover we'll be left with 2.30minutes of high-def cutscenes to soothe our awe . lolz.
  So , thats the shock part - what's the delight ? obviously after playing 5-long years with the same monotonous MALE character all the ( 10million+ ) halo fans must be juggling with all those x&y chromosomes - so bungie brings in new gun ( preferrably XX-chromosomes ) in the form of spartan 432 ( a female MC ) [ hints were given in DOA4] when u get to play her as a character .
  & obviously cortana & spartan432(f) hit it on with some girl on girl action - two girls in action with smg's & assault rifles ( one with a one-zillion IQ (cortana ) - in metal uniforms - c'mon , even bungie cannot top that in halo 4 ...............
  now , as we all know - when u have two playing characters in the previous game ( halo 2 ) the only way to top that is to have 1 more - thats 3 playing characters .
  so , what does bungie do ? they bring back some old-school style ass kicking ( when it was getting boring with a girly MC - with bringing back the original MC from death [ obviously u have to keep in mind that gamers get easily bored - so , if u killed MC in level 1 , bring him back pretty soon - thats as soon as level 5 ] - the possible way of bringing him bak ? u - ask ? c'mon don't ask silly questions like that - if MC canbe genetically enhanced to be a super-human he can then be cloned as well ................... ( master-piece ).
  well, now then, hold on now , so u have MC as a born-again soldier  , but bungie & microsoft intends to make loads of $$ kaching $$ from this game - so obviously thats not gonna be enough - you have to do some gameplay improvement as well , right ? so in halo 3 we get not 1 but 2 copies of MC to play with from level 5 on a single screen - won't that be a handful as gameplay ? think abt all the conversations ppl will have when sorting out combo's - u'll hear them say - "DUDE , this magnum/smg/rocket/dual-needler combo is so awesome .........." or some will say : " i hate ppl when they use those 3-battlerifle & plasma combo's - those guys are so noob's ..........bungie should totally take off plasma pistols from this level..... wOrD" , how on earth you expect to keep those millions of gaming hands busy if you don't supply enough goods ? ( i.e. Two master-chiefs in a single hud ) huh ? common sense .... c'mon ppl .
  now , bungie sure don't wanna disappoint ppl , so if u have 2-MC's as playable characters , u just can't leave arbiter alone can ? u need 4-arbiter's on a single screen to top that ............... hmm............... I wonder what combo's he'd prefer .... will that be 8-covi-swords or 6cov-swords 1 free for sticky granade , 1 for battleriffle............
  lets , not forget our famale side , shall we ?
  surely , we cannot have a halo game without floods , can we ?
  female-floods infact - they just not chew away ur'fleshy arms & legs ( ohh , no ) - they only chew on u know what ................. all but more reasons to make the game rating mature ( & spark-up media-controversy ......... for even more hype ........ ) & when the 9yr ol lil brother picks it up & asks - what these things are doing - u hear ur self say , "now thats why u use shotguns to keep those nasty **** away ........." lolz - a practical lesson none the less - which will serve him throughout his entire marital life ......... hmmm.....................
  i can already see why halo3 is going to be a masterpiece ................
  caz , the plot is all about common sense ..........
  
  • Posted Jul 27, 2006 8:17 am PT
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