T w e n t y S i d e d
I’m taking the day off. Please enjoy this movie I made a couple of years ago:
Recycled Content:
The Witcher:
Presentation
When Oblivion came out, my poor little computer couldn’t handle it. With the help of Oldblivion I eventually managed to stagger through to the end of the game. I later upgraded, and went through the game again with acceptable framerates, although only if I had the visuals turned down to “eye-gouging ugly”. Now here I am with a brand new graphics card that can handle Oblivion with a nice framerate and all the fancy visuals turned up. But of course I’m done with Oblivion. Time to find another RPG.
Brace yourself, because I’m about to be very mean to the game everyone seems to love so much. Mellow out, listen to some new age music. Do whatever you have to do to keep from freaking out. If you just can’t bear seeing The Witcher take a few roundhouse kicks to its pasty wrinkled face then you’d best look away. Maybe go read my comic instead. It’s about World of Warcraft, and nobody cares when I abuse that thing.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Witcher:
Presentation”
Stolen Pixels #8:
Just Between us Girls
This episode of Stolen Pixels is an exploration of gender roles and sexuality within a pseudo-anonymous roleplaying environment that examines how we present ourselves when the gender of The Self differs from the gender perceived by other actors.
Ok I lied. It’s just some cheap shots at the freaks you meet in MMOs. Please do read it anyway.
Unbricking a Logitech Keyboard
Remember that a while back I had a wireless keyboard go bad on me. In the comments of that post, Andrew made the following suggestion:
I had a Logitech keyboard that would crash on occasion. The solution communicated from technical support was to remove the batteries and bang on the keys for a while to discharge the capacitors in order to completely power-cycle it. Then, re-install the batteries and re-synch.
I was this close to throwing the thing out when I read his comment. It tried it. It worked. Keyboard fixed.
Now you know.
EDIT: Gah. A few hours after writing this post and the keyboard died on me again. I’m sure I can restore it again using the method above, but it seems sort of pointless now. A wireless keyboard which “crashes” every couple of days and needs a couple of hours off to recover is pretty useless. I have to run a wire to get the conventional keyboard into place and then pull the wire again when the logitech cheers up. Defeats the whole point of having a wireless, really.
Still, maybe this will be useful to someone. I am sort of surprised at how short-lived this keyboard was. I don’t expect that from Logitech. And while I’m at it, since when do keyboards need to be so complex that they can crash?
And perhaps I do more blogging about keyboards than seems reasonable, but I spend an incredible amount of time with these things which leads to this odd fixation.
The Dark Knight
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The 1989 Batman movie reigned as one of the biggest blockbusters of all time. I was never that crazy about it, but a lot of people were, and the thing was an unstoppable juggernaut even before it went to video. People really loved that movie.
But nearly everyone agrees that this movie is far better. (I’m sure there are exceptions, there always are, but I haven’t run into them yet.) The consensus is that the new Batman kicks the old Batman’s ass, takes his lunch money, and then puts him into a headlock and makes him admit that he’s a little girl that likes wearing dresses and kissing boys.
So the question I want to pose is this: What if we somehow got this movie in 1989 instead of the Tim Burton version? Would it have been an even bigger success, or is the success of the new one a product of our current culture? Would 1989 audiences have recoiled at this darker version of Batman, or would they have been driven insane by the sheer awesomeness of the thing?
Discuss.
The Cost of Spectacle
This post is for developers, investors, and publishers of A-list games. (Or is that AAA titles? Whatever. “Games on the shelf at Wal-Mart for $50” is a more accurate descriptor but it’s kind of verbose. Sort of like me.) I know I’ve got at least two or three of you in my audience, hiding amongst the crowd of regular gamers, indie developers, and my fellow curmudgeons. I’m going to have another go at talking you out of your obsessive pursuit of graphics, which at this point makes Gollum’s pursuit of The One Ring look lackadaisical. I realize this is a hopeless task, but it’s no less hopeless and unfulfilling than trying to keep my humble hardware up to date in the face of your skyrocketing system requirements. And since I’m not having a good time I might as well drag you along with me.
If you’re one of those people who is unable to tell the difference between spending money and making fun games then you’re excused. Go back to developing your juvenile plotless cookie-cutter tech demo and don’t trouble yourself with this business.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Cost of Spectacle”
Stolen Pixels #7:
Vulture Milk
This strip is titled, “Vulture Milk”. No, I’m not telling you why. You’ll have to read it yourself.
From The Archives:
Deus Ex and The Treachery of Labels
Deus Ex Mankind Divided was a clumsy, tone-deaf allegory that thought it was clever, and it managed to annoy people of all political stripes.
Project Button Masher
I teach myself music composition by imitating the style of various videogame soundtracks. How did it turn out? Listen for yourself.
PC Hardware is Toast
This is why shopping for graphics cards is so stupid and miserable.
Starcraft: Bot Fight
Let's do some scripting to make the Starcraft AI fight itself, and see how smart it is. Or isn't.
Punishing The Internet for Sharing
Why make millions on your video game when you could be making HUNDREDS on frivolous copyright claims?
Best. Plot Twist. Ever.
Few people remember BioWare's Jade Empire, but it had a unique setting and a really well-executed plot twist.
Another PC Golden Age?
Is it real? Is PC gaming returning to its former glory? Sort of. It's complicated.
Why The Christmas Shopping Season is Worse Every Year
Everyone hates Black Friday sales. Even retailers! So why does it exist?
Megatextures
A video discussing Megatexture technology. Why we needed it, what it was supposed to do, and why it maybe didn't totally work.
Was it a Hack?
A big chunk of the internet went down in October of 2016. What happened? Was it a hack?