The End of The Old and Start of A New

A New Blog

If you've found your way back to this site then take a good look around as its now part of Blankmind's museum. Blankmind has moved to a new server and has a new look at http://blankmind.org. Our days here have been happy and its for this reason we've decided to leave the old Blankmind up and running.

Part One: A Brief History of Square Enix and Where it went Wrong

Men's Special Interest Literature

The last week has been highly productive if I say so myself. Yes, highly unusual I know. Amongst many things the most interesting has been the development of the new blog. Being well underway I can safely say it will be active sometime this month, which reminds me to announce that the RSS feed will be un-active, if such a word exists, until the new blog is published. While I don't want to go on too much about development, I must announce that Blankmind will be taking a new and interesting direction, which I'll leave for my collage to announce. But there is one clue in this part one of a post.

Not a Happy Bunny

For those who have seen the latest video from our YouTube channel (which I would be very surprised and worried if you did seeming as it still rests on my desktop waiting to be uploaded) I'm not a happy bunny. Specifically with Square Enix. Now I don't want to sound like an idiot ranting... but I'm going to continue with this anyway and run the risk. And for the record I apologies if I sound like I'm starting an anti camping. But let's just say their PR or business mindset, whatever you want to call it, for a lack of words, is shit. This defiantly puts me at odds ends. On one hand I'm slating the company that makes one of my favorite gaming series, but on the other I have a company that cannot see further than it's own stocks. But this got me thinking. Were things always like this? Or am I just glorifying my childhood years by thinking things were better back then. I'm not naive in thinking that I haven't just described most of the companies in the world, but surely wasn't there a time when this gaming company focused on making a quality game than profit? This is a brief article on what I found. While reading this bare in mine that this no way a professional article and is only intended to for at best light reading.

Part 1 of A Brief History of Square Enix and Where it went Wrong

Introduction: Reformations and Revelations.

"Square Enix's Corporate Philosophy

1. Professionalism

We shall exhibit a high degree of professionalism, ensuring optimum results in the workplace. We shall display initiative, make continued efforts to further develop our expertise, and remain sincere and steadfast in the pursuit of our goals, while ultimately aspiring to forge a corporate culture disciplined by the pride we hold in our work."

When Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan December 2010 and later in March 9th for Europe and North America markets many critics and players around the world were astounded. The game was a graphical marvel. Again the series seemed to have pioneered in RPG battle mechanics and the company had shown it still maintained a high caliber of artistic creativity and graphic technicality that the series and company are renown for. If anything Final Fantasy XIII was confirmation. Confirmation that Square Enix holds some of the industries best artists and technological prowess in the world. Though despite the hype and instant sales success that come with any popular gaming series (over 5.7 million copies were sold worldwide and became the fastest selling game in the UK) it was not without its pressure. Final Fantasy XIII had a lot to live up to. It was to become the first game in the series to be made for 7th generation consoles. The last time such a project came around had been 8 years ago when Final Fantasy X was made for the Playstation 2. It had cost roughly 32 million dollars in the making and went on to become a critically acclaimed success, so much so that it went on to have its own squeal, a first for the series. It seemed like a fitting outcome. First time the series made a cross to a new platform was when Final Fantasy VII was made for the Playstaion in 1997. Back then it pushed the boundaries or RPG mechanics, making the genre popular once again to the mainstream gamers. Even today many fans hold it as being the pinnacle of the series. A lot of pressure indeed. Final Fantasy XIII was not only being made for one one console, but was and still is a part of the on going Fabula Nova Crystallis project that will eventually see 3 independent games over 4 very different platforms. But there was a bigger and not so obvious importance for Square Enix on a corporate level. It was not only on whether the game would live up to these legacies, but whether the corporation could carry the same success as Square. Whether wanted or not Final Fantasy XIII would be a true test, a test on a corporate and administrative level. While Final Fantasy XII was technically the first in the series to be publish by Square Enix, it was Final Fantasy XIII that would challenge the reformations since Enix merger with Squaresoft in April 2003. Final Fantasy XIII would carry a relatively large success, yet it was soon to be over shadowed by controversy and public relation blunders. Final Fantasy XIII would certainly be remembered, but partly for the wrong reasons. In all the hype it would be its own limelight that would reveal a corporation that some where along the line cared more about profit than its fans. The question was, when?

Shurikens and ShoutOut

ShoutOut! Music Artist Worthy of Note

Ever wondered how to make a paper shuriken? Or maybe you just a bit into making origami's after Heavy Rain? Well try mixing an audio instruction with a chill out mix: that's what Halvard Avheim Vegum did on here on Newgrounds. If you find that this perks your interest into actually making one try the video tutorial here. Not that I want to rip a load of things from Newgrounds today, but Burn7's "Phychosis Pt. 2"defiantly wins top trumps. Part 1 can be found here as can the entire mix here.

The Price of the Future

Another long university holiday has been and gone, and I would like to say that I have done all of the things I planned to do over the past months, sadly that would be a lie. Although we have done numerous things that we planned on, like starting BlankMind.tv, and attending Amecon, there is still a long list of things that were never completed. However we do have plans...

As my friend has previously stated, we’ve been slowed done by the barrage of new and wonderful games that have appeared throughout the year (and of course the year isn’t over yet). It has been quite hard, and dangerously expensive to keep up with this years’ explosion of digital entertainment, whilst also anticipating even more within

the last few months of year. The all new Medal of Honor will shortly be followed by Fallout New Vegas, then The Sims 3, Fable 3 and Force Unleashed 2 all penned for the same release day! Then comes along Call of Duty Black Ops, Little Big Planet 2 and Assassins Creed Brotherhood, not to mention the Playstation Move and the Xbox Kinect, and that’s not even the end of November.

So you’re probably longing for some more personal news... right? Well I have finally been able to order my all new desktop computer, and it’s going to be an Alienware! I will finally, after many many years be able to get my hands on one. For those that are interested in that kind of thing, it’s the Alienware Aurora (no not the ALX, I’m not made of money... but if I were...). I will no dought do a rather long post once it arrives and fill it full of wonderful information on how well it benchmarks with a few different games.

The Futures bright...

So we have a few plans for the future of this blog, and BlankMind as a whole, as my friend has said we feel that BlankMind is growing beyond just a blog, and with such growth we need to make changes so that things can move on a little more seamlessly that they perhaps have in the past. We do have a few things in mind, but we’re not going to be mentioning them on here just yet, we want time to test things and get a good feel for where we’re going.

The Price of the Past

So... how do I explain our absence? Sadly I can't say that this was all planned, but I guess it certainly was foreseen. As a consequence of my absence a brain aneurysm of events have passed us by. But let me at least try to catch you up to speed with this piece of enriched literature:

A Short History of Me

Last time I posted we were all in the month of March and for me and many other avid gamers, just on the eve of events that would send us into a spiral of costs. I think many would agree that 2010 will be forever be remembered for the big bang of game releases. Shall I make a post or should I play on Heavy Rain? Soon turned into, Final Fantasy XIII! to yes I can finally have my own starship on Star Trek Online into Resident Evil 5 updates! and again more Resident Evil 5 updates!

to Jesus I must play Battlefield: Bad Company 2 proceeded by bad ass Sam Fisher then Starcraft II followed by Ruse. If you haven't died from reading one of the longest sentence on the Earth then you see my point. But don't get me wrong, my life hasn't been completely consumed by gaming as I portray. A lot more significantly important events have happened too. So important in fact that they will be omitted from this post and instead replaced with this adequate summary of my previous sentiments to posting.

Things Are Changing

Lets be frank, Major Sheppard and I are bored with Blogger. Blankmind is becoming more than a blog, or is at least trying to be. We now have an upcoming Youtube Channel, Blankmind.tv, a Twitter, Blankmind Tweet and now more recently we want to introduce an image gallery for the blog. In short we've pretty much reached Blogger's limitations in terms with what we can do. Nothings set in stone, nothing is around here, but its time for the blog to become more and we plan to do just that. One thing we are focusing on is promoting Anime artists, or more generally, digital artists. Some new and some well known ones, but overall ones that we think are note worthy. In a nutshell we want to spice things up here. I wont say near but in the future we plan to move the blog. Come the forth Birthday of Blankmind we'll be on a whole new server with a whole new site.

Summer is here and its bloody hot.

It has once again been... well a very long time, and sadly there is nothing major to report. Though some small updates, I have added yet more games to my wonderful collection, with the release of Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption, Splinter Cell Conviction and my late, late purchase Dragon Age: Origins. I’m still playing through all of them, well actually I still have yet to start Alan Wake, so many things on my to do list for this summer and it just seems to be getting longer.

UK + iPad = More expensive than USA

So the iPad has finally seen the light of UK shores, and to no surprise at all we people of the UK are expected to pay more than people in the USA. Now this wouldn’t be so bad it is were a few pound, or even £20 or £30 more, but the base model for the Wi-Fi only version is £429, that’s around £84 more than the America Wi-Fi only version. However importing the base model would cost you about the same as buying the UK mid range Wi-Fi only version (32GB), or the same as the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.

Hotter than Hell...

The weather over here in the UK has been wonderfully hot the past few days, although the forecast for the rest of the week isn’t as good (but almost just as hot). So we did what any other English family would do in times of hot summer weather, we had a BBQ. I won’t bore you with what we had but it was all rather nice, especially as it was the afternoon, so a nice cool breeze.

So I’ll be keeping this one short, I do plan on posting more and posting it more often, just in the process of forming my summer to do list, which seems to be more and more never ending. Anyway, not to long till I receive this years Uni results, I think it all went well, but not as well as it could have gone. I will post again next week, or later this week as writing this has actually been quite enjoyable.

Three Years Old

Yep, its that time of year again! Its Blankmind's third birthday and in time for the celebrations we have upgraded the look and feel. In version 3 of Blankmind the most noticeable feature you may have already seen is the Blankmind Cloud. Allowing you to navigate past posts by theme, the Cloud gathers all tags in the Blankmind Network, generating a list of all posts by that particular theme. We have also given the reader better ability to share our posts to any of your favorite sites, all thanks to ShareThis. These are just a few things amongst many features we are adding. Expect to find more updates in the near future!

The cost of gaming

Once again it’s been far too long since I was last here, just like my good friend I wish I could tell you I’ve been off doing something magical, or saving the world, but sadly it’s something far different from that (perhaps even better?). Lots of my time recently has been spent in the amazing story of Heavy Rain, and the gorgeous world of Final Fantasy XIII, before I go on I’m just going to say how much I love both of these games, Heavy Rain is just brilliant beyond belief and so enjoyable because of its new, unique style. Final Fantasy XIII is amazing, (I haven’t finished it yet), despite its linear nature (of which I agree with my co-writer that Final Fantasy games have always been somewhat linear in nature to begin with), its storyline is nothing short of brilliant, but what do expect from a Final Fantasy title, although I know a few people that would disagree, but that makes me wonder if they have been skipping cut scenes, or perhaps aren’t paying attention to them.

HD is too hard?

As many of you know, a large portion of the games linear aspect has been blamed on the difficulty to produce cities in HD. Now, many people have pointed out that there are a lot of companies out there that can produce HD cities without any problems, however I haven’t noticed that many people reference something that I have noticed so easily. Now I’m not saying that this is the reason, it’s just my opinion, Final Fantasy games have often used 2D artwork to create areas of vast detail, two good examples of this would be Final Fantasy 8, and Final Fantasy 10. So when it comes to HD, the cities would need to be modelled, like any other element of the game, so when you consider that vast amounts of previous games details came from 2D artwork and that this is the first HD Final Fantasy game, it’s no wonder that creating these cities in HD was a problem for a team that are so used to creating them with images. I think that gets my point across, simply put it’s a challenge for a team that have spent many years making detail with 2D art work to jump into creating highly detailed cities without the use of 2D art work.

End of the tunnel?

Ok, so that’s my little rant over with, as for the what else I’ve been doing with my time is sadly just University work, lots to do, and a considerably small time to do it in. Although after a small worry this weekend, and a burst of working, I believe I am pretty much on top and on schedule of it all. Yesterday I started looking into the world of Linux, and Ubuntu, I must admit it looks rather nice, and it’s something I’ll be installing as a dual boot once I’ve finished this semester, although I may install it on my laptop tonight. I have many things on my to do list, including completing my unfinished trophies and achievements, creating a theme for my new Tumblr account, purchasing a good quality HD camcorder and getting things ready for our visit to this years’ Amecon in Keele.

Lightning... Vanille...

Just to round off this short update, I think that Lightnings character is awesome (yes I know she’s hot), but she’s also brilliant, seeming to be comprised of the best elements of previous kick-ass characters. Also I must disagree with my co-writers comments on Vanille, yes admittedly I was thrown byt he accent, the varying degrees and Australian, English and American did cause some confusion, but the more I play the game, and further I get, I just seem to like the character even (and the English voice actress) even more.

Oh God, Not an Essay on Linearity

With February being the prime month for gaming on the PS3, the releases of Heavy Rain and Final Fantasy XIII in particular, is it any wounder why I haven't made a post for a month? I thought not. But lets kid ourselves here and say since the last post I've been in the mountains of Tibet training intensely on some secret martial art? OK, maybe that ain't true but it's not far from the truth and besides sounds much cooler than saying I've played nothing but FFXIII isn't it? OK now that we've explained the inexplicable absence of posts (cough), let me get straight to an enigma that has been bugging me for sometime now: Why does Final Fantasy XIII feel so linear?

Why So Linear?

Now I know what your thinking, it's because the game is! But calm down. I'm not going to make some hopeless attempt to prove otherwise, with all the relentless cries of disappointment from many fans for the past six months, only a fool would try take up such a rebuttal. And while it is blatantly obvious that the linearity is owed to many reasons, from the rpg-on-rail level layout and leveling system to the many cut scenes butting in on your game time, I'm still confused. Haven't these elements always been part of a Final Fantasy game? So why do I still have this strong feeling that I've been cheated out of "true" and "instant hit" FF when I'm controlling sexy ass Lightening, or annoying Vanille? (Sorry I couldn't resist).

Was I wrong back in 2001 to fully enjoy FFX with it's linear level design? Why was it more enjoyable being forced along a linear path to Zanarkand back then? Granted there were more open areas in X, but when you think about it, is it all that different from XIII? I mean it wasn't until the end of the game, like XIII, that we got to then choose to re-vist previous destinations. Though I guess it didn't help that we were always forced to two or three characters in XIII and weren't given the choice of who to select in our party. Yet why was it enjoyable or at least tolerable in VIII? OK maybe we didn't have to wait to the end of the game like in XIII. And yeah, we did have a lot more stats for our characters (why did they take all of those useless stats, I missed those). I also missed the linear, yet great, leveling system that was seen in FFX or in all pre-FFX games where there was only XP.

OK so I am being cynical here. The matter of fact is FFXIII is or at least seems too scripted, with actually leveling removed and new levels of growth only being made available when the game allows. With everything from the leveling to where you walk being either scripted or directed by events, FFXIII is indeed too linear for a third generation RPG.

Why is Linear so Linear?

FFXIII is not a JRPG or a RPG for that matter. Since FFVII, or FFXII, the definition of an RPG has revolutionized so much by giant sandbox games like World of Warcraft, EVE and Fallout III. So much so that we now expect an RPG to be synonymous to sandbox game play and endless customization. Now I'm not saying that many of these elements weren't around back in 2002 or prior, far from so. My point being is that where it was OK for scripted events to dictate the story for a second or first gen RPG, nowadays were expecting more when it comes to game play or evens story telling (winks at Heavy Rain). Though linear isn't bad. When wielded correctly it can create an immersive and interactive story line. But when it comes to game play these days you have to use linearity ingeniously, or face a march or angry boy and girl fans.

But its here that we end up a small positive about FFXIII, the Storyline. I know many out there despise the story that is FFXIII and I fail to see why. With the odd exceptions like Vanille, the voice actors to the narrative of FFXIII has been enthralling. FFXIII is a more of a mature story than previous FF and in that sense is more to my liking. Appealing to older audiences the latest installment touches upon issues in the real world today, going as far as being a satire on terrorism and government propaganda. It cant be helped but be noticed the slight correlation of the universal fear of pulse l'cie to something in todays world. Some how a nation that rules its people by the words of a supreme being doesn't seem that different to some religious states today? Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there, but to the point, FFXIII's story is told superbly and isn't afraid drift into gritty realism (I mean for starters theres finally more black people in the whole universe of FF).

A Sacrifice to the God of Linearity

While supposedly FFXIII's has sacrificed its RPG element to a story driven gaming, one wonders if there had to be a sacrifice at all with gleaming examples out there that counter that argument. Things get especially infuriating with statements from Square Enix stating that it would be an impossible work load to create a fully HD RPG game that is not linear. It does then beg the question why they bother focusing on three FFXIII related titles instead of one if they are finding under staffed or without time to make a fully HD game. With statements such as that it makes later statements less believable that FFXIII will be the last of its kind. Especially when Square Enix's credibility is burnt by insisting that the inferior Xbox360 version is the same as the PS3's.

Indeed Square Enix needs to up its game if it wishes to compete, as while western games such as Uncharted 2 and God of War III begin to break technical and story telling grounds, FF is still left struggling on what retro elements to keep and what news ones to make.

But I'm a hypocrite, a biased one at that, as I still love the game that is FFXIII. As after all, it is Final Fantasy.

Juggernauts and Verbal Diarrhea

Never Blow One's Own Trumpet.

Ok ok I know I should never have announced it, guess the podcast and joint post were really doomed as soon as I mentioned them. Yeah Major Sheppard and I were kind of busy during Christmas, no really we were, we spent most of our time trying to get all the stars in Modern Warfare 2's cooperative mode. Pitifully we only managed to get 3, brought me to tears at least. Can someone give me an actual scientific basis for how a Juggernaut can survive 5 mines? Seriously, its like facing Arnold Schwarzenegger on crack or something. That said the juggernaut has defiantly moved up my list of "people who you do not want to piss off". I think its the music when they appear that does it.

I'm Sorry, say what?

So not a lot has been happening here and to be frank I want to move away from talking about my life. Though before I do that I've just got to link you to my latest favorite song. That sentence doesn't do any justice to the amount of shame I'm feeling about it though. More interesting however is the little bit of anime news about a new season of Code Geass, especially considering the ending of the second which rapped up the story to a closed ending. It leaves many to speculate on whether an alternative storyline is in the works or an expansion of the main storyline as a continuation. Either way fans may expect to find out more as early as this year. On the same note, I think many of us are looking forward to the next few months, well at least those who have money, for the explosion of the most anticipated games. Personally I have high hopes for Heavy Rain and with its success I hope we find many more games putting empathises on story driven gaming.

Video Killed the Video Game

Though it has to be said that there certainly has to be a balance between the actual game play and cinematography, glares at Final Fantasy XIII. Seems like another game that has fallen into the fiery pits with a bad case of verbal diarrhea, now glares at Metal Gear Solid 4. Is it just me or is there a pattern forming here? Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to start a war, I am all up for the integration of movie scenes and scripts into gaming. Far gone are the days when the stereotypical programming did everything in the gaming production, thank god. We all know this, however gone too are the days when the video game creators or story writers direct the script. I think its now important to start hiring the pros and experts from the film industry to direct those complex scenes. This is defiantly where the Japanese Gaming Industry is failing, in the western world at least. But that said I still believe it was Metal Gear Solid 2 that revolutionized this movement with its balance of game play and movie-like-scenes. Never the less, do Square Enix really need to consider producing the Final Fantasy series abroad? Maybe I'm a hypocrite but surely they realize that Final Fantasy is as quintessentially Japanese as Cherry Blossoms (ok, I seriously couldn't think of anything else, it 5 in the morning, its the best I can do!).

Crap from the Internet.

Anyway I shall hopefully be posting again soon, but until then I leave you with the crap from the internet section. Oh, just in case the petrol I lay down eariler didn't catch fire maybe this will help; I saw Avatar and I loved it, so much so I saw it for a second time. See ya!

To commemorate Major Sheppard's and I's completion of RE5 after 1 year of playing (I asuure you people were not bad gamers).

When Country's Don't have British Health and Safety.

Its Been Quite Awhile

So, it’s been quite awhile, and in fact it’s a new year, many things have happened, although they're nothing that big. First up, Christmas 09, went very well, had some lovely things, including the White Edition of Assassins Creed 2, it comes with a figure of Ezio, the main character. Assassins Creed 2 is truly a brilliant game, it builds upon, and improves from the original Assassins Creed, showing more of the rather interesting storyline and ending in a similar manner to the original, making it very obvious that there will be a third instalment to the series.

I would imagine that many of you, like myself, watched the rather heart wrenching two parter of Doctor Who, the first at Christmas and the second at the New Year. I am rather sad to see David Tennant leave; he was definitely one of the best Doctors to have graced the show. I won’t give away any parts of it, just encase some of you haven’t seen it yet (why not!?), but I was quite surprised by who it turned out to be... ‘He will knock four times’. But I always knew they were bringing back the Master.

I will be starting my last semester of my second year soon, it should be quite interesting, including making our own game, more of which I will be writing about on the next post. This will probably be a very busy semester, although the work isn’t too big, it will prove to be quite challenging.

Well that’s all for this week, I know it wasn’t long but this year should prove to be a rather good year for Blank Mind!

Breaking the Symmetry

Late, But Not Too Late.

So I've had this post sitting as a draft for the better of two months, waiting just for someone to push the publish button. It's been so long in fact, that I've had to rewrite the thing because of the Halloween theme, which seems kind of inappropriate now. So much for that idea. But, better late than never, no? Its also with that idea that Major Sheppard and I are attempting to restart the Podcast this Christmas, and yes, be published in the same time frame. Though I'm starting to believe that it is a bad idea me announcing such dedications as we hardly ever follow through on them. So, maybe its an even worse idea to be also announcing "another" joint post. I use the term "another" loosely, as it seems like another when in fact its our, or will be, our very first joint post if we follow up on it. Talk about dedication.

Sadly this isn't going to be a full post. Its been a busy few months and there is certainly a lot to wrap up before the beginning of the new year, yet at the moment holiday days have just offically started and I defiantly have to get as much COD:MW2 as quickly as I can. Just thought I would make a post however, so to not onlt break the nice pattern of two posts of mine against Major Sheppard's, but also to let you know were alive, that you cared of course. Anyway, hope you all have a festive holiday, whatever that means.

Theme of My Life

The Time Has Come

What better time than 11PM, after having been out drinking on a university night than to make another post? I have to admit that it was luck that managed to slip in another post for this month. With the start of uni its hard to keep up with my schedule let alone meeting my monthly goal of two posts a month. I know, goals, right? Amazing! Seeming as my last post was pretty heavy I thought I could bring things back down to reality. And by god do I need to be brought back to Earth. Being pumped full to me eyes with mathematics, can't been good for anyone. I can say with honesty that I feel like I'm going slightly insane. Mathematics is as clear cut as a stubborn donkey when its down to proofs. Equation: No sorry you havent proved anything. Me: What of course I have, I just solved you. Equation: Nope your wrong look it up. Me: I dont have to look it up its common knowledge. You get the picture.

Memory Lane

Though, its certainly a trip down memory lane at the moment. With iTunes being allowed to shuffle through all my music, which I admit I only allow as often as Jews were released from Nazi concentration camps, I'm starting to find it hard to explain why I haven't done this before. And funnily enough this seems to be the theme of my life for the last two weeks, as I finally catch up with Naruto Shippuuden. And typical, as soon as I give the show a rest they started a new and epic arch. Luck, eh? But similarly the show has also been going down memory lane with many flash backs to episodes way back. Not that this is any where important, just thought it was amusing how things are relating at the moment.

Something Extremely Unusual

Something extremely unusual now, me mentioning credible music, more specifically the kings known as Muse. The new album came out a week ago and is certainly a great listen, especially the epic 3 track long song at the end. To be honest, I do not know how they keep on bring out such songs at a high standard. I think I can say on behalf of Major Sheppard and myself that they are certainly to be recommended if you haven't heard them before. OK, ok, so its been along time since I've posted a song from my Shuffle Shame and so I will go out with a bang with the following! Time Has Come.

Deus Ex Machina and Visa Versa

The Count Down

Chaos. I think that's the word that sums up my world during the past few weeks, as everything in my new apartment has either broken or been broken by my landlord. Though in the final count down that is the end of the summer vacation, things seem to be winding down to a calm to much of my delight. And Drained, drained is the word that's probably describes how I feel at the moment. And there was no better timing than these weeks to watch the now three year old Anime series, Ergo Proxy.

Ergo Proxy: The Downfall of Man

Exaggeration. Defiantly something I am fond of and is something I use too often, but this is most certainly not needed to describe Ergo Proxy; it is without my doubt a masterpiece in literature. It is not the best Anime ever made, its certainly beautiful and highly captivating, but its not perfect. Though in a round about way, it is precisely this that poetically justifies Ergo Proxy. In a world that is a devastated by mankind's neglect, Earth is a barren and harsh environment (which pretty much described my apartment once). All that now exists however is one city, one pseudo utopia that cradles the last of "humanity" in a totalitarian and religious state. If this isn't bleak enough for you, maybe the lack of music, lack of a "protagonist" and the pessimistic outlook of man's future that is the storyline helps. If not then maybe the thoughts of your own suicide can only beat what is evoked. Though this is certainly far from a emo's whiny outlook on life. The integration of pretty much all the important works in philsophy such as Nietzsche, Plato and Kant make this the most educated Anime ever made. But dont dismay, you don't really need a degree in literature, philosophy or psychology to understand this Anime. And this is the wounder of such media as video. Instead it all can, as has, been conveyed though the music (or lack of it), the images and narrative. As is indeed the narrative is the most complex used for an Anime, it defiantly is not the best in telling a story. So much so its hard to begin to understand what is actually happening in some episodes until an episode or two after. Its hard to like, even I hated it until I realized it's importance in conveying some of the the ultimate question's in western philosophy concerning individualism and the protagonist's own confusion. Its difficult to describe in a blog post how excellent all of this is put together without making an English essay of it, suffice to say its a show to watch to not only entertain but to also educate. It is a defiant recommendation for those who want to learn more about literature, philosophy or psychology as the elements used in the Anime can be applied to any 19th or 20th Century western literature. Indeed if this was not an Anime, it could be mistaken for 19th century western literature. It has all things bleak, the emphasis being from religious texts in Catholicism and Hinduism. Yes, it even mixes both Western and Eastern philosophies well. Particularly when highlighting the conflict between individualism and collectivism that differs in the West and East. Watch Episode 1 Now. For once as well the intro music is relevant! And in English!

Summers end...

... But a great time for gaming

Time again, but don’t worry, this one won’t be as long as my previous one. But then again maybe it will, depends on what’s on the agenda for this post. I know have the new Batman game, Arkham Asylum. So you can look forward to my review on that in the next week or so, as well as some photographs of the opening of the collectors edition (with the model Baterang). I will also be reading Dan Browns next book ‘The Lost Symbol’ which sees the return of the brilliant character Robert Langdon, I’m very much looking forward to that. I will also be re-reading the Negima manga by Ken Akamatsu, I haven’t yet caught up on it, and so I’m going to refresh my memory on the story and then continue to purchase them.

I’ve been listening to the Iron Man music recently (and you thought my co-writer had bad taste?), I just love the song that used on the first part of the closing credits. If you’re curious it’s probably on youtube, and definitely on iTunes. If you’re really interested I love the one called Gulmira, it has a more heavy metal quality (it’s just music, no singing).

I have recently cleaned out the insides of my computer, using a can of compressed air and very soft brushed to help me. The amount of dust has amazing, even more amazing was how much quieter and cooler my room has been since, so I’ll be doing that more often.

Well next week I will be away on holiday, just down to the South of the country, then after I get back I will be starting my second year of university shortly after. It looks to be a fun and challenging semester, although the joy of having an iPhone will soon be mine. I’ve been trying to contact my co-writer, but to no avail, so hopefully he will read this. I must remember to take my antibiotics with me on holiday, pesky infection, but seems to be getting much better now. Anyway, I won’t bore you with that. I’ve also been playing Star Wars Force Unleashed again recently, mainly down to the release of trophies for the PS3; I still have yet to purchase the latest downloadable content for it.

Have you seen the latest trailers for the next GTA 4 content (Xbox 360)? It’s looking really good, I’m most looking forward to playing it, I thought the first was pretty good, so hopefully this one will follow suit.

For All the Wrong Reasons

Thank God I'm Pretty.

So I'm going to be Mr.Surprise here and write another post only a few days after my previous one. The occasion? None whatsoever! Though it might have something to do with the incredible boredom I have right about now. And so continuing with that theme to the next level is the one and only topic, what I've been up to. I promise I will spice it up somehow, I mean I'm sure the header above caught some attention. Right?

That's no Moon, That's Your Momma.

Strange things have been happening to me recently, amongst them all one of the strangest has been my new urge to watch Dragon Ball Z. Its weird because the last time I watched that show was when I was probably 10 and back then I wasn't particularly impressed by it either. And so when I thought I would watch the first episode of that show, not even bothering to watch the series Dragon Ball that preceded, it shocked me how much I was entertained by it. Now don't get miss leaded here, I am far from suggesting that I was more mature when I was 10 than I am now. In fact it probably takes a few years to fully appreciate the show. I mean I have never come across a show that has far surpassed the A-Team and Walker, Texas Ranger in terms of over the top quotes. I have never laughed so hard in my life from the words: "That's no storm!" or how inoffensive the back talk between rivals are. But in all honesty, I don't really know what is funnier, the over the top evil laughter or the fact that the this is ironically one of the best English dubbed Anime ever. Its probably a given that I'm liking this show for all the wrong reasons, but I have to give the show some praise. Though the weirdness doesn't end there. It just so happens that around the same time I decide to watch this show, I find out that a re-masted version of the show has just begun being aired in Japan, Dragon Ball Kai. Strange indeed. Though I must say that the re-mastered version is the original; the bad song intro was enough for me (yes for me!).

Bord Yet?

I might leave the rest of the strange happenings for another time, as I want to leave with some of the best clips in comics I found on the net so far, I guess this could be added to the crap from the Internet section?

You Got the Boomerang.
Loud Sex
An Outsiders Perspective
Use Hard...

Straight and Traditional

Straight to Business.

I was hoping to make a grand opening in this post by saying an epic comment such as, not many things blow me away. But I know by saying something like that I will not only be lying as it doesn't take make much to blow me away, such as Trueblood at the moment (figuratively and literally), but I would also be over shadowed by the epicness that is the post below. I think my co-writer has raised the bar. So instead of doing something radically different in response, I'm going back to our traditional ways and giving some Anime News and finally some music! Yes that's right, you'll be glad to know that I'm skipping the boring part that is my life and diving right into things. And you thought you got away from my music.

That thing you might call Music.

So I'm going to kill you all firstly by getting to my music, as I know as always we have all missed it. Yes, finally, and to your joy, after many months of listening to some normal music, or at least music I could be proud to say I listened to, I finally fell back to old habits when I came across a cover of a "classic" of mine, "Haruka Kanata", which people may know from the famous Japanese band Asian Kung-fu Generation. Its probably sacrilege to say this, but I'm on my way to hell anyway, the cover for me seemed an improvement (ok guys, out of all the songs Asian Kung-fu Generation have done, this is the worst sung). You can get the cover on iTunes from the new Japanese band Gothic Dolls, sadly though, I think thats the only song that they do good on (and that's saying a lot from me).

Time of Eve.

It was intended that the discussion of Time of Eve be left to the podcast, as it was mentioned in the first episode, but... we all know what happened to that (I think). Anyway, its been a while now and after many months 5 episodes have been released, all of which can be seen where else but Crunchyroll. It has to be one of those animes you just have to watch. With some of the most beautifulest combination of animation and CGI and a story that carries its own philosophical and moral debate, this is one of the best anime around at the moment. I'm not going to delve into much the storyline, but the setting is based in the near future (and despite the anime itself being hesitant as to where on Earth this story takes place, it defiantly takes place in Japan, I don't think the lovely guys in Germany use chop sticks). While its fun to make a joke about this, it certainly serves its purpose that this story could take place anywhere, with androids just having been made available to the consumer and robots already having been implemented for nothing but labor, their place in society is seen as little more than servants. However one cafe is changing all of that. The anime certainly throws a lot of question towards a future implication of the rights of artificial life and probably more so towards today's current conflict between individualism and society.

Crap from the Internet.

Ok, so maybe I've gotten a little too serious, but let me throw some crap into the works now and lighten things up as it has been a while since I've done anything for The Crap from the Internet section. This itself is amazing in it own right seeming as I come across so many stuff while surfing the net (because it's really big you know). The one place that I find myself always checking out at the moment is Fallout 3 Nexus. If your a big fan of Fallout 3, which I'm an addict of at the moment (and having withdrawal symptoms from, just thought I would just share that with you) you'll find a lot of mods here that will improve the experience guaranteed. And because the site allows modders to upload their own works, its updated pretty much everyday. Of course quality is sometimes an issue, 9 times out of 10 I find something of real interest (ok I admit, its the only things at the moment keeping my addictions at bay without playing the game). So ending this post, I thought I would put some funny things I found and you know their going to be funny because I found them (cough). That's right they are Akamaru Certified . Well until next time folks!

She She She's A Bombshell
Mastermind 4
If you know what I mean

The Epic Post

Well its certainly been awhile since either of us have posted a proper post, so this one should hopefully make up for it. Firstly id like to start with information on the show, sadly my co writer is no longer in England so recording the show will be quite difficult. However we are looking into recording it over the internet in order to get it started, we’ll keep you all updated on its progress.

Last week saw the five part episode of Torchwood – The Children of Earth, a brilliant and gripping episode, bizarre aliens, government secrets and Cardiff, what else do you need? However! I do very much disagree with one major part of the storyline; I don’t believe that Jacks character would sacrifice his own grandson just like that, and then run away from it. I don’t think it really fit in with the development of his character, but I do hope he’ll be back.


I know i know, it says BBC America (it’s all I could be bothered to find at gone midnight).

Recently

As you have all been made aware my friend is off to the wonderful land of Japan shortly after Christmas, well he was, until his untimely demise at my hands.... Ok so maybe that part didn’t actually happen, but I’m sure you all understand.
Now then, i have recently been once again working on my friends website, which should be fully online sometime this week (www.hybridnature.com - ok its not ready yet, but its very close). The website is for her graphic design and t-shirt business, of which I have a number of t-shirts from myself, they’re very cool designs.

“Sharks, jelly fish, swimming knives, there all in there.”

I do enjoy watching Dylan Moran (you probably know him most from Black Books alongside Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig), he’s a great comedian, Watch him! Google that shit on youtube! If anyone here listens to the Lazlow Show you’ll get that one.
Oh! I recently purchased a GTA 4 poster, but not just any poster, a pre-release poster, the kind used in shops for advertising. It’s the small things as they say.

Shock horror!

A beard! You’ll be eating snakes and tree frogs next, although I could make a comment about a particular flash compilation that follows the theme but I had best not. I would grow one myself but we are already too much alike personality wise, we can at least try to avoid being physically the same. You know your ring tone is going to have to be snake eater rite?
Onto more pressing matters, the show! What show you ask? *stares at Akamaru*. It will be coming, one day; we have many things we will discuss, (around October time I’ll giving you my review of the newest iPhone, the 3G S), as well as numerous embarrassing stories of our semesters. Did I mention I passed my first year? I don’t remember if there was a previous post about that. Well any way, yes I did indeed pas my first year, with all my points! Which I am extremely proud of. My good friend also has good news from his first year of university, but I will leave that to him to share with you.

The Health Kick

Well recently I was on quite the health kick, sadly as usual it really didn’t last long, but the good news is... I’m starting again! *cough* On the Brightside I’m at least eating healthy now, it’s just the whole exercise thing that’s not really getting off the ground. Why on earth does Word want to spell the word Brightside with a capital B!?
Well the new semester isn’t far off now, just a few more months, money and an iPhone, of course that’s all depending on the whole swine flu problem, and whether or not the government will be temporarily closing schools for a period after the summer holidays. Also depends on if that will apply to universities or just the lower schools. Ah yes yes, and a positive note, a lovely lovely friend of mine will be joining my university in September, I’m looking forward to seeing her around university.

Mosquitoes

I can happily report that i have finally killed the two buggers that have turned my foot into a pin cushion! (A slight overstatement?). But I’m sure since my good friend and co-writer is now back in the wonderful land of Luxemburg we’ll be hearing many more stories of his late night adventures in the sweltering heat and the inevitable onslaught of mosquitoes he will endure. I guess that all adds to him feeling more like Snake with his new found beard. Ah yeas more news, next month I will finally be getting my hands on Batman: Arkham Asylum (the collectors’ edition) for my PS3, so you can be expecting a review of that towards the end of next month. I might also finally be getting hands-on with GTA China Town Wars, so I’ll keep you all updated on that.

Ok a number of things I need to mention whilst i remember, otherwise ill go off and do something else and forget to add them. First the European version of the ‘Hogin’ All the Covers’ album os finally here (search for it on Amazon), it’s by a band of celebrities who perform to raise money for different charities. The band members are very well known, including our very own Hugh Laurie! And Greg Grunberg (from Heroes), James Denton (from Desperate Housewives), Jesse Spencer (from House), Bob Guiney (from a number of different American shows, sadly we don’t get them over here), Teri Hatcher (from Desperate Housewives) and Adrian Pasdar (from Heroes). They’re an awesome band, the covers they do really stand out and they’re just a joy to listen too. Yes I am buying the CD/DVD, just as soon as I have more money.

Ok, although this little feature didn’t last long what so ever, I’m reviving picture of the day! Or picture of the post? You know what I mean anyway. My co-writer and good friend will appreciate this one. Speaking of him, he didn’t believe that I would create such a long and indeed EPIC post such as this. Well although I don’t see this being a recurring theme, it will happen more often (yearly? Lol probably).

All Work and Fun

All Work and Fun.

Ok so I have to write another blog, just because I have the opputunity to write it during work. The boss is out, so looks like the work guys decide its best not to do any work. There is definatly something funny in watching grown men and women play fight. Hey! I'm working though. The bad thing is I can't really think of anything to write in this blog, so I guess it is kinda pointless in writing one. Nonetheless, here I am. Hmmm... maybe I'll come back and rewrite this?

To be or not to be a Slacker

Bearded Slacker.

I know I know! But give me a break, I'm on vacation so I'm bound to be slacking and by god have I been slacking! Neglected the Blankmind podcast of which the first episode has seemed to be lost to oblivion, forgot to do another joint post here, Haven't watch Naruto for two months (shock horror) and I've even grown a beard. No this ain't a sign that I'm lacking in personal hygiene, but is it sad that I'm reminded of Naked Snake from MGS3 when I look in the mirror? Probably. But don't fear people (well you can fear the last part maybe), because while I fail on deliverance, my friend and co-writer has currently gone underground and begun writing an epic - no let me rewrite that AN EPIC, post. So epic that even the caps lock isn't justice enough. No sarcasm intended people (cough). Though for someone who has been slacking, a lot has happened: I have moved into a new apartment for starters, started designing a website for a company and most excitingly have booked a trip to Japan during New Years. Though not sure if I'm going to make the latter though, that's unless Major Sheppard doesn't kill me out jealousy first. Eep.

Humidity and Boredom? It can only mean one thing.

At the moment sadly I've returned to the nomads lands again, Luxembourg. If it isn't the amazon like humidity that kills it certainly is the boredom. There is nothing to do here. Have I ever mentioned that? Looks like I don't learn. Yet, my adventures here come at least with some silver lining, that infamous thing called money. Yep, I'm getting paid glorious amounts to make a site. And I've got a beard! (I mentioned that right?). While I cant really divulge much about the project, I can say at least that this is bigger than anyone of my previous endeavors. Talking of which, while Project Final has gone quite I am still in fact working hard on more music, another album to be more specific. Though while the songs seemed to be completed in little to no time at all before, currently things have rapidly slowed down. My main hurdle has been trying to improve the music itself and create original tracks, of which I have 3 currently under works. Well that's all from me for now, I leave it up to Sheppard to wow us all now with his next post!