I guess that’s, er, neat…?

So, there are a lot of you out there who DON’T read Penny Arcade, for different reasons. But they’re the reason I found this video. Anyone who’s ever played Halo can appreciate this. I’ll let Tycho’s words speak for me:

What really sets the presentation apart, though, is his frame by frame, physical recreation of each item’s animation. That’s what elevates it beyond merely a source of lunchbreak entertainment and into the realm of fascination and mystery.

Here’s the video:

Yeah. I’m not sure what to think.

Original Penny Arcade Post

Fresh look

The thing I love about WP is that I can throw a new theme up pretty much whenever I want. This is going to be the new style for the site for the time being, at least.

Enjoy.

VIDEO: First look – Mirror’s Edge

I found this video over on Ctrl-Alt-Del this morning (thanks), but they previewed this game in Game Informer last month. It’s called Mirror’s Edge and it looks pretty incredible. The gameplay is first-person and mostly platform-oriented. Combat will focus on hand to hand, with some gunplay thrown in. The story takes place in the not-too-distant future in an Orwellian society where the media are controlled by the government. This has resulted in a new workforce of information runners who, for a fee, will deliver information between anti-government groups. In order to avoid security forces, they take to the rooftops and travel underground. Watch the video below for a taste.

Wii is outta here…

Well, I finally did it. I got rid of my Wii.

After speaking for months about how the red-headed stepchild of my entertainment center went utterly neglected unless I was angry, I took the system, along with all the games and accessories to my local ReamStop and traded it all in for store credit. I would have sold it to an independent buyer, but the market is so flooded with new consoles on Craigslist and eBay, I didn’t want to go through the hassle. When all was said and done, I had about $300 in credit, and I only had to wait 45 minutes while the clerk helped half a dozen other customers that came into the store after me! Honestly, though, the clerk at least had the integrity to suggest that I sell it to a private buyer, which I didn’t anticipate.

So, I’m Wii-less. Meh. I’ve said over and over again how the software library for the Wii sucks, and in spite of the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which is receiving universal critical acclaim, I still can’t justify having the thing sitting on my shelf. It’s simply isn’t what I want in a gaming system. Namely, it has a poor software library, very limited online capabilities, and poor graphics processing. If it weren’t for the motion controls, the Wii would just be one more failed system for Nintendo. They developed a cool gimmick, essentially.

Also, the mainstream news media tells the rest of the world what the cool kids already knew:

Chuck Norris the only WMD in Iraq, say U.S. troops

If Sadam had been building an army of Chuck Norris’s in secret underground bunkers, we definitely could have justified a pre-emptive strike.

Could you push this down the internets?

I found this article from the Consumerist to be pretty amusing. It’s about a company that forces negative links down a search engine’s returns by posting positive content on higher-ranked sites.  After finding out about this borderline First Amendment violation, the Consumerist decided to have a little fun with them…

CLIENT: Does your company work on all of the internets?
Kelly: yes
Kelly: we remove negative links from all erch engines like
Kelly: google or aol, or yahoo
CLIENT: How does that work? How are you able to get another company to get rid of something that’s part of their business?
Kelly: we push the negative links back in serch engines
Kelly: so nobody will see that ones
CLIENT: So you like make new internets and push the bad internets down
Kelly: yes
CLIENT: My keywords are lolcats
CLIENT: I have a cat breeding business and people keep making pictures of cats with derogatory phrases on them
CLIENT: It’s hampering my ability to attract new clients
Kelly: just a seccond please
Kelly: ok
Kelly: wich one of those you want to be pushed back ?
CLIENT: let
CLIENT: ’s see
CLIENT: this one is very bad
CLIENT: http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/ceilingcat9xd.jpg

CLIENT: it’s from here: http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/24/ceiling-cat-is-watching-you-masturbate/
CLIENT: I have also seen it recreated in other internets
Kelly: an wich one is your domain?
CLIENT: FanciersPlus
CLIENT: Where pet lovers go
CLIENT: http://www.fanciersplus.com

CLIENT: We also need to push this negative one down the internets
CLIENT: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12943180@N00/296449700/

CLIENT: Not only is it blocking people from my site, it promotes dangerous cat behavior
Kelly: can i have you name and you phone please
CLIENT: I’m just looking for a price quote, I don’t want to get in your telemarketing database yet
Kelly: i cant tell you a price..
Kelly: for that you ahve tu discuss with my manager
Kelly: he will call you if you will provide me your name
Kelly: and your phone number
CLIENT: Ok, I understand, but do you think I have a case? Will you be able to push these disgusting “LOLcats” off the internets so people can find my cat breeding page?
Kelly: we can help you with that

I wonder how long it will take ComplaintRemover to push this negative link down on the search engines?

via Fark

My new crack…

There’s a little game called Audiosurf available on Steam right now. I highly recommend picking it up if you’ve got ten bucks to spare. It creates custom courses from your own mp3s for you to race on, and there’s are a variety of play-types where you’re essentially grouping colored blocks (think Luxor) to create combos and score points.

It’s part rhythm game, part match-3 game, part visualizer. It’s a whole new way to enjoy your music collection.

Not sold yet? Watch this….

Zero Punctuation: Devil May Cry 4

Enjoy the latest rant from Yahtzee!

Also, there’s a new hi-res video from Huxley over on Huxley Evolved. I was impressed. You can download the HD video here.

Forumwarz

Maybe I’m late to the game on this one, but I just discovered an absolutely hilarious browser-based rpg called Forumwarz. It mocks the entirety of the Internet in fantastic fashion, with a particular focus on, you guessed it, forums.

Take 20 minutes and try it out. I was hooked.

Guitar Hero III gets a literary tribute

I found this story about a guy watching a teenager play “Through the Fire and the Flames” on Expert in Best Buy to be extraordinarily well-written and very compelling.

At about one minute in there is a pause, perhaps five seconds where the band’s singer mumbles some 1980’s era lyrics into a microphone. I’ve never particularly cared what he had to say. Kyle is absolutely motionless. There’s no shaking out of hands, no turning to make knowing glances at his audience or worry about his hair.

He blinks.

Take 5 minutes and read it; you won’t be dissapointed.

Via LevelUp and Gamers With Jobs.