It's no secret that I am a fan of genre television. But while I am a fan, I am also very picky about my sci fi shows. And while I loved Stargate (the movie), I was never a fan of SG1, and I hated SG Atlantis with a passion that has not really diminished even after the show ended.
So I had no real interest in Stargate Universe. The premise is, well, fucking stupid. Trapped on an Ancient Stargate Ship; that stops only occasionally for 12 hours? W-T-F? But even with that I usually will check out a show; at least watch the pilot. And SGU was no exception.
So color me surprised, I actually liked what I saw, despite it's inherent problems. You see, a show can survive a fucking stupid premise if done right. And from what I was seeing, SGU was doing it right 90% of the time. Sure there were problems, but SGU succeeded by NOT trying to be SG1 or Atlantis. (If anything, that is why Atlantis was just so bad of a show, it tried to be nothing more than SG1 with slicker technology). Star Trek TNG could get away with that, because it was mimicing a show that had been off the air for years; but Atlantis was mimicing a show still on the air for it's first season. It was already state before it even got it's legs out from under it.
SGU succeeds by placing the characters in a difficult situation, and then playing that. There is no McCoy there to provide instant answers. In fact, very few answers are presented in the show so far. And the challenges presented in the first few episodes are all realistic, serious, and very much play off the concept of surviving only to delay the inevitable. The SGU group are not in charge, and they are not in any position to deal with the problem.
Which gets to my 1 specific problem with the premise that I can't look over. These people are supposed to be the 'wrong people for the job'. Civilians, scientistis, etc, shifting factions and all that. Which to me, is 100% BS. These people were all sent to a remote planet 22 light years from Earth, on a military base studying ancient technology; and they act like 2 year olds? Give me a break, these people would be the best and the brightest.
If the pilot had been an episode of SG Atlantis, by the end of the pilot; they would have completely taken over the ship; repaired it completely, used the stargate for some random reason (just because Stargate is in the name of the show); and gotten into shooting war with a mysterious new dominant race bent on destroying/enslaving/eating humanity. Instead, by the end of the SGU pilot; they know very little of about the ship (other than that it is very old and badly damaged). They are running out of air, and they have no obvious way of fixing it; and one of them had to die just to give them some time to find a solution.
By concentrating on the internal threats and character dynamics, leaving the external threats elemental and insolvable; SGU manages to become something more than the sum of it's parts. And that these characters, many of which really aren't that likable, become so fascinating to watch and they duck, weave, and try to survive, really shows that SGU is trying to be less action oriented, and more cerebral.
I still think that eventually the flavor of the show will turn more SG1ish later, once a lot of these problems begin to be resolved, but for now I intend to watch more of it and see where this show goes.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Demon's Souls and Windows 7
So, last night I installed Windows 7 on my PC. Pulled out my 2 raptors, which were configured in a raid 0 array and replaced it with a 640 GB single drive. Didn't have any problems with the install, 7 recognized all of my settings and hardware.
Over all it took maybe four hours from start to finish. I never do a straight upgrade in a situation like this--I always do a clean install. It took my about 30 minutes to backup all of my data one final time; pull out my old drives, and put in the new one. The actual install of 7 took maybe 45 minutes. And it took about 2 hours to re-install all of my software back on the machine. Had no problems at any point in the process. 7 recognized everything just fine, and I had no driver issues. And on the plus side my space issue has been resolved now.
Tonight I'll probably spend a bit more time tweeking settings, and maybe looking into some of the new features of the OS. And for now, Golden Axe girl is gone from my wallpaper, replaced by FF13 Chick!
Because I knew I was going to be bored and w/o a computer, I ended up going ahead while at the store and bought Demon's Soul. I've heard so many good things about it, and I was wanting a new game, so I picked this one over Brutal Legend.
So far, I'm not impressed. Everyone talks about how 'hard' this game is. But they mistake poor game design with difficulty. The bleak setting, lack of narrative, and the fact that the game provides virtually no information on what you are supposed to do makes the game very fucking frustrating. And for such a 'hard' game, stuff seems to die easy enough. The only time I have problems with it so far is in tight quarters, where targeting simply fails to function (this happens a lot, but once you know where these places are, it's easy to run in; back out and then target the monsters in open areas where targeting actually works).
Admittedly, I'm still in the first section of the game. Equipment is limited, I have virtually no abilities, so maybe it gets better later. Because quite frankly the crappy targeting, and lack of variety in combat moves, and spell abilities was really wearing thin on me last
Hopefully, the game will improve after I get past that first section (I had to go onto gamefaqs to figure out WTF I was supposed to be doing, and after that I found it much easier). I made it to the first main boss, but stopped at that point because it was 11 and it was time for bed.
Over all it took maybe four hours from start to finish. I never do a straight upgrade in a situation like this--I always do a clean install. It took my about 30 minutes to backup all of my data one final time; pull out my old drives, and put in the new one. The actual install of 7 took maybe 45 minutes. And it took about 2 hours to re-install all of my software back on the machine. Had no problems at any point in the process. 7 recognized everything just fine, and I had no driver issues. And on the plus side my space issue has been resolved now.
Tonight I'll probably spend a bit more time tweeking settings, and maybe looking into some of the new features of the OS. And for now, Golden Axe girl is gone from my wallpaper, replaced by FF13 Chick!
Because I knew I was going to be bored and w/o a computer, I ended up going ahead while at the store and bought Demon's Soul. I've heard so many good things about it, and I was wanting a new game, so I picked this one over Brutal Legend.
So far, I'm not impressed. Everyone talks about how 'hard' this game is. But they mistake poor game design with difficulty. The bleak setting, lack of narrative, and the fact that the game provides virtually no information on what you are supposed to do makes the game very fucking frustrating. And for such a 'hard' game, stuff seems to die easy enough. The only time I have problems with it so far is in tight quarters, where targeting simply fails to function (this happens a lot, but once you know where these places are, it's easy to run in; back out and then target the monsters in open areas where targeting actually works).
Admittedly, I'm still in the first section of the game. Equipment is limited, I have virtually no abilities, so maybe it gets better later. Because quite frankly the crappy targeting, and lack of variety in combat moves, and spell abilities was really wearing thin on me last
Hopefully, the game will improve after I get past that first section (I had to go onto gamefaqs to figure out WTF I was supposed to be doing, and after that I found it much easier). I made it to the first main boss, but stopped at that point because it was 11 and it was time for bed.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October Confessions
It's been a few weeks since my WOW guild imploded, and you know what? I've found it pretty easy to disengage from the game completely. I've done a few TOC 10 mans, even a few attempts in heroic; but that's about it. Quite frankly, the break is doing me some good. And it's given me a chance to play a few other kinds of games, do some reading, and some other things that I haven't done much in a while.
Like, Uncharted 2!
I remember the original Uncharted, which was a good game with some frustrating controls and stellar production values. I don't think I actually finished the original...at the time something came up and I wasn't able to do any gaming for a few weeks, and never came back to it.
Uncharted 2 has been hyped to hell and back. And while I would say to ignore the hype, the game really IS good. I've had a ton of fun with it. The controls are tighter, there game play elements are more refined and varied, and the action sequences longer and more interesting both in game elements and presentation. It's a bit longer than the first game, and there is a welcome, yet abrupt increase in difficulty after a certain point in the game.
There are a few problems with the game.
First, the stealth elements are so simplistic as to be unrealistic. It is very easy to stealth past, and kill people, in the open, with others watching, and not sound an alarm. Sure it makes it easier, but when you stealth-kill the middle guy in a 3-man patrol; then stealth kill the other two and no one ever notices...it just becomes a joke. The stealth element is welcome in the game, but certainly could have been a bit more refined if for no other purposes as to make it a little more realistic.
Second, there are some annoying sections of platforming which are extremely forced. And I'm not talking about stuff in the temples/ruins, but mundane sections where you are forced to do really complex platforming to...get past a pipe on the floor; or exit a building with open doors. Of course, Uncharted is 50% platforming, so that is probably a nitpick.
Third, I would have liked the end section to have been expanded slightly. Shambala was very pretty, and I would have liked to have seem more of it. And maybe had some more complex action sequences set there.
Fourth...they don't let you play with Doughnut Drake from the start. Doughnut Drake is the perfect avatar for this game.
Overall, Uncharted 2 was probably the closest experience to playing Raiders of the Lost Ark of any game I've ever played. Some of the action sequences are very similar and may of the characters, betrayals, and story seem very similar. In particular I loved the whole train sequence; the helicopter gunfight in the city, and the truck chase through the mountains--all of which had shades of Indiana Jones written all over them.
Like, Uncharted 2!
I remember the original Uncharted, which was a good game with some frustrating controls and stellar production values. I don't think I actually finished the original...at the time something came up and I wasn't able to do any gaming for a few weeks, and never came back to it.
Uncharted 2 has been hyped to hell and back. And while I would say to ignore the hype, the game really IS good. I've had a ton of fun with it. The controls are tighter, there game play elements are more refined and varied, and the action sequences longer and more interesting both in game elements and presentation. It's a bit longer than the first game, and there is a welcome, yet abrupt increase in difficulty after a certain point in the game.
There are a few problems with the game.
First, the stealth elements are so simplistic as to be unrealistic. It is very easy to stealth past, and kill people, in the open, with others watching, and not sound an alarm. Sure it makes it easier, but when you stealth-kill the middle guy in a 3-man patrol; then stealth kill the other two and no one ever notices...it just becomes a joke. The stealth element is welcome in the game, but certainly could have been a bit more refined if for no other purposes as to make it a little more realistic.
Second, there are some annoying sections of platforming which are extremely forced. And I'm not talking about stuff in the temples/ruins, but mundane sections where you are forced to do really complex platforming to...get past a pipe on the floor; or exit a building with open doors. Of course, Uncharted is 50% platforming, so that is probably a nitpick.
Third, I would have liked the end section to have been expanded slightly. Shambala was very pretty, and I would have liked to have seem more of it. And maybe had some more complex action sequences set there.
Fourth...they don't let you play with Doughnut Drake from the start. Doughnut Drake is the perfect avatar for this game.
Overall, Uncharted 2 was probably the closest experience to playing Raiders of the Lost Ark of any game I've ever played. Some of the action sequences are very similar and may of the characters, betrayals, and story seem very similar. In particular I loved the whole train sequence; the helicopter gunfight in the city, and the truck chase through the mountains--all of which had shades of Indiana Jones written all over them.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
End of (Another) Era
Well last night something pretty unexpected happened. My WOW guild of the last year dissolved with little-to-no notice last night. They'd been doing pretty good, but were having problems with hard modes, and no progressing as fast as some of the members wanted.
I'm still a bit shocked by it. I'm not completely surprised, there were some signs, but it did happen way too quickly. Very little drama though (unlike the Nerfed breakup).
From what I can tell, the breakup was caused by a combination of:
1. Core Players Leaving.
2. Ulduar Burnout.
3. Aion drawing players away.
I'm going to miss them. Arete was a damned good guild. It may not have been comprised of the most skilled players. But they were all fine people who were fun to play with. And very few assholes.
So next up, I guess I have to decide what I'm going to do with WOW. If anything at all.
I'm still a bit shocked by it. I'm not completely surprised, there were some signs, but it did happen way too quickly. Very little drama though (unlike the Nerfed breakup).
From what I can tell, the breakup was caused by a combination of:
1. Core Players Leaving.
2. Ulduar Burnout.
3. Aion drawing players away.
I'm going to miss them. Arete was a damned good guild. It may not have been comprised of the most skilled players. But they were all fine people who were fun to play with. And very few assholes.
So next up, I guess I have to decide what I'm going to do with WOW. If anything at all.
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