Fable 2: First Impressions

Published on October 19, 2008 in Geek it up!, Reviews and Video Games. 5 Comments Tags: , .

fable2Due to a small error by a couple of retailers Fable 2 broke its street date and went on sale for about half a day before being taken back off the shelves. Apparently there are still some stores selling but it appears to be a bit hit and miss. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and pick up a copy on my lunch break and seeing that Fable 2 will be available for the masses later this week I thought I’d post a quick first impressions on this highly anticipated game.

Developed by Lionhead Studios exclusively for the XBOX 360 Fable 2 is a western RPG and apart from Oblivion a genre I haven’t really played much. As with most RPGs it is too easy to lose track of time and I’ve already clocked up around 10 hours of game play and I’m surprised to say that I am really enjoying it.

I initially called out Fable 2 as ‘The Sims for boys’ and I’m going to stick by that. Your ‘hero’ while embarking on an epic quest also deals with the mundane and can get a job, have a wife (or two), family and even redecorate one of the many properties you own. Balancing both the main story and managing your life in general can be rather frustrating but also very rewarding if you’re willing to put in the time.

The main story is captivating and from what I can see going to be very lengthy and open ended with the choices you make throughout the game altering the story and ending which could lead to good replay value. I won’t go into the story as I don’t want to spoil anything but it looks like a winner and if anything bad happens to my dog there will be hell to pay.

The graphics of Fable 2 look gorgeous (although the water could do with a little more work) and the fantasy/cartoon style fits and helps create enchanting atmosphere as does the soundtrack. Voice acting is variable and intriguing unlike Oblivion and the random comments made by the AI throughout Fable 2 is both interesting, random and humorous.

There is a lot to like in this game, the fighting mechanic is simple but effective and collecting experience to level up your character is done very well and has forced me to pay attention to the way I battle although you could hack and slash your way though if you wanted to.

I don’t want to draw too much to the negatives as it is a great game but the menu system is slow and sucks in general. Some kind of hot key (back button) access to items or quests would be helpful as clunking my way through the menus can be frustrating and disjoint the gameplay. The lack of a detailed map is annoying the hell out of me but there are maps of regions etc so maybe I just need to adjust to this. I have also found that interacting with objects and people doesn’t always seem to register with multiple attempts normally required. My last gripe is with AI getting in the way. For example walking through a busy town people don’t get out of your way and are near impossible to move forcing you to walk around them. I would love to see the way Assassins Creed handles this in Fable 2.

As I have only just scraped the surface of Fable 2 I look forward to seeing how it plays out and also how the online co-op plays as this could add yet another meaty layer to an already massive game.

Triumph meets David Blaine

Published on October 9, 2008 in Random Stuff. 2 Comments

A classic piece of Triumph the Insult Dog where he takes on David Lame Blaine.

I have no idea how this douche can call himself a magician but I can understand how Triumph is considered a comic genius.

Via Digg.com

Ponting is the key

Published on October 7, 2008 in Uncategorized. 4 Comments

Ricky Ponting

In 2 days time Australia will begin their quest to win again in India after their 2004 breakthrough and continue their dominance of World Cricket. People are however starting to say that Australia are as weak as they have ever been. A total lack of quality spin bowing and an overall bowling attack that is very young could prove to be their downfall.

Looking at the overall squad you would feel that they would be hard pressed to get the 20 wickets required to win a test match. For me this series and the success of the Aussi team is all down to one man. Ponting is going to be the key in this tour the man who currently only averages 12.28 in India. Why is he the key? I don’t think that we can actually win the series with our bowing attack and think for us not to loose we are going to need our batters to fire.

Ponting must improve on this average and get over this love of loosing his wicket to the evil one (Harbhajan). If Ponting can find form on this tour I think it will end in a draw with a score line of 1-1. However if he continues to fail I just don’t think our bowlers can do it and I feel we will loose and loose bad. All our batters must fire due to our weak bowling attack.

Is our 10+ year run at the top soon to end? I don’t think one series loss would prove that our run is over (2005 ashes anyone?) however I do think that our dominance of the game might be over and by the end of next year we might no longer be the number one team in the world.

Episode 25 – Raj at PAX 2008

Published on September 25, 2008 in Podcast. 1 Comment

So I finally got around to editing our last podcast and getting this show online. I hope you all like it.

We chat with Raj all about PAX 2008 listen to that to find out what game he describes as game of the decade. We also talk about what we have been gaming and have a look at what is on TV at current. Check it out.

Big thanks to Raj for taking time out to record with us and do it twice as the first time it crashed as we were 25 min into the show.

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SoundWave 2009

Published on September 24, 2008 in Gigs and Music. 4 Comments

soundwave

The lineup to Soundwave 2009 has been announced check it out below:

Nine Inch Nails, Alice In Chains, Bloodhound Gang, Scars On Broadway, Lamb Of God, Alkaline Trio, Billy Talent, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Face To Face, In Flames, Rival Schools, Anberlin, The Subways, Every Time I Die, Devildriver, Funeral For A Friend, Less Than Jake, Poison The Well, Madina Lake, New Found Glory, Fron First To Last, Bedouin Soundclash, Hellogoodbye, Finch, Goldfinger, Say Anything, Chiodos, Silverstein, Saves The Day, Lacuna Coil, 36 Crazyfists, Straylight Run, Evergreen Terrace, Minus The Bear, Moneen, Ace Enders (The Early November), I Am The Avalanche, Jaguar Love, Unearth, Bayside, Emery, Houston Calls, The Audition, Attack In Black, Innerpartysystem, Valencia, In This Moment, Riverboat Gamblers, Alesana, Horse The Band, Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster and more to be announced!

Looks good to me. It was a very fun show last year and the next one looks like it might be even better. (Ed:I’m stoked about the bands highlighted in red).

On Podcast news the show should be up sometime tonight.

Rock On!

NINE INCH NAILS

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Published on September 3, 2008 in Movies. 3 Comments

It looks like Kevin Smith is back to making decent films. Some people may be getting Seth Rogen overload but I’m still enjoying it all. Check out the trailer for Zack and Miri Make a Porno and let me know if your looking forward to it.

That Drum Playing Gorilla

Published on August 26, 2008 in Random Stuff. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

If you’re going to have a Gorilla drumming to Phil Collins to try and sell your product consider me sold.

Not only is this a Gorilla playing drums but it’s playing one of the best drums intros ever.

After doing a quick Google search I found that this is actually an advertising campaign from the UK dating back to 2007… go have a read over at Wikipedia for more.

Wikipedia Link

Music News – August

Published on August 22, 2008 in Gigs and Music. 4 Comments

While most of the world is currently obsessed with all things Olympic (Come on Australia!), a few items of music news have recently caught my attention.

I’m really pumped to hear that Brand New have announced that they’ll soon be working on a new album after they finish touring in September. Their last sublime release The Devil & The God Rage Inside Me is probably my favorite album of all time so I can’t wait to see what they bring to the table for their latest release.

Bloc Party have surprised everyone by announcing that an online version of their new album Intimacy would be available this Thursday. Despite the new age of digital downloads it still came as somewhat of a surprise that a high profile band like this would release their latest record with no fanfare or buildup. If you purchase it online, they’ll also send you the hard copy of the album (with some bonus tracks) when it’s released way later in October (27th). I’ve given a listen to some of the new songs on their myspace page which all seem to have the same industrial synthesiser sounds as Mercury did. While this isn’t a bad thing it does look like the new album is going to be a lot less commercial accessible than A Weekend In The City was.

Lagwagon have recently released their 7 song EP wittily titled I Think My Older Brother Used To Listen To Lagwagon. While my initial listen only left me wanting more (why not a full album?), it’s a short but sweet release that should appeal to anyone who likes the Lagwagon of old. In other Joey Cape related news, the man himself will soon be releasing his solo album titled Bridge. While Cape is no stranger to branching out into other areas (Bad Astronaut, Me First & Gimme Gimmes), this is his first solo attempt at a full acoustic album. Even though I’m generally not a fan of this style, his previous EP split with Tony Sly (No Use For A Name) and a quick listen to an early release track (No Little Pill) from Bridge both show that he’s got the chops to go it alone. Look out for it’s release on September 29th.

In October Rise Against will release their highly anticipated new album titled Appeal To Reason. The recent release of the cover art & 13 song track list, containing song titles like Collapse (Post Amerika) & Re-education (Through Labor) indicate that the album will be politically charged. The later song is currently streaming through their myspace site & should tide you over until the full album is release on October 6th. Everyone who orders the album on iTunes will receive this single and a live track now and an exclusive b-side after the album is released. I can’t wait to hear more heavy hitting punk metal goodness for this Chicago foursome and if the rest of the songs are as good as this one then we’re in for a treat.

Earlier in the week, The Academy Is… released their new record Fast Times At Barrington High which is currently being streaming online at Muchmusic.com. While the band have always walking a tight line between pop punk & pure power pop, it sounds like they’ve finally crossed over into full blown commercial territory with their latest effort. I was actually pretty disappointing after my first listen as all the tracks sound like they’ve lost their rock edge and are filled with sappy romantic lyrics. However since their last album Santi took a lot of listens before it finally grew on me, I’ll hold my judgment until I’ve given it a few more spins.

I’ve also given an advanced listen to Anberline’s new album New Surrender, (set for release on September 30th) & am pleased to say that these Christian rockers have delivered the goods yet again. Apart from the baffling inclusion of a re-release of their old hit The Feel Good Drag, the rest of the album is chock full of great tracks and highlight the fact that the band is yet to release a bad (or even average) album. Stay tuned for my upcoming review.

One recent release that has really impressed me is The ’59 Sound from The Gaslight Anthem. The album was released a couple of days ago & I highly recommend that you rush out & buy this one. Their debut album Sink Or Swim was my favorite album of 07 and this New Jersey foursome just seem to go from strength to strength with another solid folk/rock/punk record. After recently seeing them play an awesome gig at the Arthouse it comes as no surprise that they’re now embarking on a massive tour supporting Rise Against, Thrice & Alkaline Trio (surely the best lineup ever!). I was lucky enough to have a quick chat with Brian Fallon after the show & was surprised to hear that the Australian crowd left such an impression that they had to come back for two encores. It was also great to hear that they’re a great bunch of genuine guys that love what they’re doing and have worked hard to get were they are. Even though they have a relentless touring schedule here’s hoping that they hit our shores again soon!

While tour announcements have been fairly scarce at the moment, I was excited to hear that Streetlight Manifesto will be heading to Australia again on November the 2nd. These guys blew me away with their energetic ska sets when they supported Less Than Jake/Reel Big Fish last year, so I’m expecting even bigger things when they headline their very own show at The Corner Hotel. Tickets only cost $37 (considering there’s seven band members that means they’ll only pocket ~$5 each) & can be picket up from the Corner box office.

Last night I was lucky enough to witness the phenomenal live show of Socal punk legends Unwritten Law at the Palace. If you missed a chance to see what was basically their ‘Best Of’ show, then keep an eye out for their first live CD/DVD combo titled Live & Lawless recorded at The Key Club in Los Angeles. The album is set for release on September 16th and contains 16 live tracks and a DVD featuring 22 songs, including a five-song acoustic set.

Next week (Saturday 30th) I’ll be continuing my trend of checking out at least 3 bands a month and can’t wait to see Thrice at The Corner Hotel. There’s also the Horsell Common gig at The Hi-fi bar on the 5th September and The Matches will be playing at The Corner Hotel (I love this place) on the 13th September. I’ve yet to book my ticket to the Gyroscope/Shihad show at The Ferntree Gully on Friday 12th September (woo, 2 gigs 2 nights) but this one promises to be HUGE.

Just a reminder to the Pennies crew to let me know if you plan on seeing any of these bands, as I’m getting pretty sick of being a lame o and having to see all these awesome bands by myself. Come on people get off your lazy arses!

Well that’s about all for the Crazyman music news wrap up, so till next time (when I can be bothered), keep on rocking!

Blur: The Best of (youtube)

Published on August 18, 2008 in Music. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

During the 90s there was a little thing called Britpop that came out of the UK. At the forefront of the Britpop invasion were Pulp, Oasis and Blur.

Now this isn’t going to a history lesson (I just don’t have the time) but if you do have a moment go read up on Oasis vs Blur (wiki link) and Britpop (wiki link) in general. It’s great reading and a little Britpop should be part of any music lovers music collection.

Blur are my band of choice closely followed by Oasis but Blur were just so damn interesting and creative where Oasis were good at what they did and stuck to it like glue.

So the reason for this post is that for whatever reason Parlophone one of Blur’s record labels has created a YouTube thingamajig that has 23 of Blurs music videos that are featured on the Blur: The Best of compilation which I have two copies but not the elusive release on MiniDisc.

Anyway if you want a crash course in Blur and Britpop in general sit back and have a listen to some of Blur’s finest.

I suggest She’s So High, There’s No Other Way, For Tomorrow, Girls and Boys, Parklife, Country House, Charmless Man, Beetlebum, M.O.R, Tender, Coffee and TV, The Universal just to name a few…

The Gaslight Anthem

Published on August 17, 2008 in Music. 0 Comments

senorandthequeen

It is not often that I go to see a band live and after seeing them continue to play their songs on my iPod. I can say after seeing these guys live and picking up their EP Señor and the Queen that they are currently my favorite band of the year.

If you have never listened to The Gaslight Anthem then I highly recommend that you pick up this 4 track EP. I don’t normally like EP’s as they don’t have enough songs but this EP really just smashes you with the sound that is The Gaslight Anthem. Now after 15 plays of this EP I still can’t stop listening to it. Their sound is hard to describe but I guess I would call it folksy punk.

The Gaslight Anthem have just released their second album called “The 59 Sound” and this follows on from where the great EP leaves us. Gaslight are getting rave reviews for their live act that I can agree with as they were simply amazing live and even stayed on after the show to chat to the fans. The quality of Gaslights work is so high that they were the first band in history to make the cover of UK magazine Kerrang! the UK’s number one selling rock weekly, without the publication having previously written a single word about them. Kerrang! called them “The best new band you’ll hear in 2008″.

I would agree with this they are one of the best new bands and not just more of the same old shit they actually have their own sound. Check them out I promise you won’t be let down.

95 Pennies.

Highlight track: Track 1 – Señor and the Queen