I recently acquired a movie – Shanghai Kiss. I originally acquired it because Hayden Panittiere is in it. Those who know me knows that I recently abandoned my jacaranda wallpaper for a nice high resolution picture of her. Anyways, I watched Shanghai Kiss last night, and found it to be not bad.
Usually, I don’t review those ‘rediscovering roots’ movie because I find them quite condescending (I wrote three different draft reviews of Saving Face, and threw them out). Also, some of the movies kinda harp a lot on the past, and keeps politicizing racial issues (Anyone remembers Mateen Kemet from On The Lot? Yea, I HATE his type of movies, not to say I hate blacks, but I don’t like the condescending tone of his movie, politicizing blacks vs whites), but I found this movie to be quite different. Quite pleasantly different. Continue reading Shanghai Kiss – A Review
Here are some varied thoughts I’ve had that doesn’t warrant a full blog post each.
Improve Work Flow
I’m making Episode 3 of my vodcast, only to find that with new tools, the workflow has to change. I need to optimize my workflow and file position.
Obsession with 1950s Documentaries
I’ve recently (as in the last 2 days) developed an . . . → Read More: Varied Thoughts
Yep. It’s finally here (If you are new and don’t know what’s happening, please do check out the vodcasts in my blog). I’m so sorry for the delay. I did make a promise to some people who contacted me on YouTube, that the vodcast will be a weekly affair, but these two weeks, I’ve been swamped. I’ve had dinners, barbeques and I played (and reviewed) Crysis. But here’s today’s vodcast:
Also I’d like to have a note. There might be confusion with my numbering system. This is VideoLog number 3, but Episode 2 of the Real Headcrab Zombie Vodcast. V-Log #1 was Episode 00 – a test video for responses to it. V-log #2 was Episode 1, the first proper episode. And this, obviously, is episode 2. Continue reading Episode 2 of the Vodcast
Chewxy says:
I’ll play [Crysis], and give it a trashy review, because I’m very sure the only thing it trumps HL2 is the graphics, not the gameplay, definitely not story. cfgt says:
well, 98% from PC Gamer is nothing to sneeze at…
Having bought and played Crysis (I bought the Collector’s Edition at Play-Asia, for a very good price), I’d say I was only half right. I take back my words. The gameplay wasn’t as bad as I imagined it, but I don’t think it beats Half-Life 2 in terms of gameplay. Righto, then, let’s get into the review. It’s going to be long, but it’s going to be worth the read.
Benchmark
Throughout this review of Crysis, you’ll notice I use Half-Life 2 as a benchmark. There is a reason for this. Half-Life 2 has a very good learning curve, and though linear in nature, is very good in level design. Granted, it is more difficult to make a good open-ended game, but the guys at Rockstar did it with GTA III and its spawns. So, GTA and its spawns will also be used as a benchmark. I won’t compare the open gameplay to Morrowind or Oblivion because they are of different styles. The GTA series is closest to an FPS, with an open gameplay.
First Impressions
I got my first impressions of Crysis watching the videos back then, and I remember my jaw dropping. And so I got the game. My first impression was ‘WOW! BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS!!!!!!’; and, ‘oh dear, what a silly turtle’. I shot it. It died.
When I say it’s beautiful, I mean it’s just breathtakingly beautiful
However, this first impression didn’t last. One hour into the game, and I was thoroughly bored, being still stuck in the first mission. Within the first hour of the game, I found most of the game design flaws that would drag on for the rest of the game. Continue reading Mid-Life Crysis
I’m in a personal Crysis right now. Look at what I got:
The Crysis Box. But please spot the other subtle product placements like Powerade, and Eclipse mints, as well as Windows Vista and Intel Centrino Duo. Also, please do note Tim Harford’s The Undercover Economist and An Introduction to Game Theory in the background – highly recommended books.
I am Bloggck, the Oh-God of Writer’s Block. The reason why I am posting this here today on behalf of Chewxy is because he’s having a severe writer’s block and is incapacitated by the severe lack of ability to articulate himself lucidly (that man has never been able to do so, but deludes himself in . . . → Read More: Bloggck Blabs!
Fresh dumplings! (This is getting ridiculous. The English Language is grossly insufficient to describe foods). This ‘dumpling’, is known in Chinese as Zong Zi. There are n number of foods in the chinese cuisine that are called ‘dumplings’ in English – everything from jiaozi, wantan to siu mai are . . . → Read More: Life’s Little Dumplings
and 
in the background – highly recommended books.