Dragon Age: Origins

I initially beat this game a while ago on the PS3, but I wanted to play it on the PC and do a comparison, which took me until about two weeks ago to finally through it.

This game, simply put, is amazing. While naturally it's not perfect, it comes a lot closer than most games I know, so let's break it down.

Story. Without giving spoilers for anyone who hasn't played through this yet (then why are you reading this? Go. Play it. Now.), the story of this game is incredible. It creates a deep world filled with history and culture. The extensive background work they did is readily apparent. While not overloading the player with information, the culture reveals itself through the rules of the world, the culture apparent in how the NPCs behave, and how events unfold. Having this kind of basis to build on creates a world that's cohesive and credible, allowing the player to dive in and stay immersed. Additionally, while the player is inducted into an ancient and honorable order, you are not hailed as a hero. Quite the opposite. The bad guys are spreading rumors about your order, and even if the people of Ferelden don't believe the rumors, they largely wonder if your order is still relevant, or strong enough to make any kind of difference.

One of the greatest things about the story is that the player is presented with a number of choices that change and shape the story. However, while these choices strive to be interesting, they fall just a shade short. Looking at the 6 major choices in game (the 5 major quests of the second act of the story, and the Landsmeet in the third act), two come very close to being something that will engage the player, but then turn around offer a third "warm and fuzzy" option. While this may not end up available to the player in all playthroughs, it does kind of distract from things. Another choice comes down to "be a jerk for power, or not", so unless your character is a little wishy-washy in their morality, this will be an easy choice. This goes on for many of the choices. If you have a strong idea of your character's morality, this quickly turns into easy choices that have far less meaning than if they had balanced the pros and cons of the choices a bit better. I think only one of the choices really becomes interesting, and that's "The Broken Circle" quest line. Here, your character can feel good either way, but it comes down to the many versus the few in terms of who deserves what.

Character development is incredibly powerful in Origins. Every one of your companions has a unique back story, unique and developed personality, and interacts realistically with other members of your party. Who you have in your party will change not only the banter, but how the group seeks to influence you in your choices.

A wide array of side quests exists, both offered by the common folk, and most of your companions will have quests. This creates a rich and immersive world where you will really feel part of a living, breathing world.

As far as class balance, there is none. Mages are grossly overpowered, and including the player you can have up to three in your party. Rogues are useful and versatile with options to be melee, assassin or archery. Warriors, however, move very slowly. While they can deal damage, especially among widespread groups of base level enemies, your ranged party members can often dispatch the one you're going after before you get there.

Tactics can be set for each of your party members as well. This is useful ability to keep your party working in unison or to set "oh shit" options up if squishier party members get aggro. Use of abilities or potions at key moments if your attention is on characters is hugely helpful. But they can be difficult to set up properly for total reliance. I found myself pausing every few seconds and cycling through characters to manually set their inext action. This could make some battles last incredibly long but with half that time not actually in action.

But despite these issues, this game is beautifully designed, creating a world that is enjoyable, deep and vibrant. I'd definitely say it's worth the time and money to buy, especially now that it is a lot cheaper and comes bundled with a bunch of goodies.

Mists of Pandaria Beta: Pandaren Starter Zone

My beta tests will be limited. I am a big fan of seeing a game unfold all shiny and new on release versus playing it to death during beta.

My focuses will be the new starter zone, some of the high level stuff and new achievements.

First, the new character creator is great. You can see all the choices laid out at once, making it much better than trying to cycle through and find what you want.

The Pandaren starting zone is gorgeous. Once again the starting zone Blizzard designed is tightly themed, well-structured, and based off the few quests I was able to do, will be as entrancing as the other starting zones.

The beginning of the monk class was a lot of fun. It has a bit of a rogue feel. But still was unique. I'll write more when I check it out with a premade. 85.

At a start, this xpac is looking to be amazing. Some felt the Pandaren were too cartoony, but I love them. My little Pandaren girl is just adorable. And I love playing her. I am greatly looking forward to starting up a Pandaren monk when the xpac drops.

Hackers

After a year long hiatus, and despite a backlog of entries to catch up on, I decided to open up the new year with a post on hackers. Those vial scum that infect our devices for fun and/or profit.

One in particular, the Windows Security 2012 viruses, and its predecessors (2010 and 2011 versions) have given me quite the headache. Now, I'm tech and internet savvy enough that I don't get hit by most viruses (this is the only one I've had an issue with). I have a good antivirus software that I keep up to date and running at all times. I surf sites that I'm familiar with and "know" to be safe. I don't click links offering me huge prizes as I'm the 1 billionth visitor. I admit to one flaw (that I will be fixing soon), and that is a tendency to run with my firewall off due to making some gaming, and more particularly subversioning commits of programs run a great deal smoother.

When I first got this virus in early 2010, I was still relatively noobish enough that I didn't want want to go digging around in my registry on my own. So I shelled out a couple hundred bucks to let techboys dive in and deal with it. At this time, the virus was pretty nasty already, writing itself into your system restore checkpoints, and shutting down all programs and internet access except to its own site.

The idea behind this virus is simple enough: put together a rogue program that looks believably to be a legitimate Windows issue, then  charge unwary users to "register" it, and at the same time steal credit card information. I will give them props for at least trying to get something out of the deal. The only thing worse than a hacker-for-profit is a hacker-for-shits-and-giggles.

I went the next couple few years with no trouble from this nasty little shit. However, the creators seem to be out for blood as I've been hit with it 3 times in just the last couple of months now. I think I've finally nailed down the site I was getting it from (actually a long-time favorite of mine. I do not think its the creators of the site installed the worm, but that the creators were simply able to worm it into their system).

And the little shits have been doing their homework. The first time I got it, I ran into a couple small snags uninstalling it myself, but was able to dig into the registry and get rid of it. The second time, however, they had the virus shutting down access to the registry editor, the system restore feature (the "nice" one that rolls back your system a few days and saves all your files, regardless of when they were created rather than wiping your hard drive to factory oblivion), and the command prompt.

This latest incarnation, however, shows further ingenuity. They killed system admin rights, disabled the task manager, removed visibility to external drives, hid the system protection feature so system restore couldn't be turned on at all, and after entering in a fake registration code from one of the many removal guides available shut down my network drivers regardless of what level of Safe Mode I booted up in.

After three hours of rage and tears, I was finally able to make some headway against this beast. I really, really, really do not want to wipe my computer. It wouldn't be the end of the world, with my files backed up. The only files I'd lose I care at all about are my Skyrim saves. My bigger problem is that I would then have to reinstall a lot of programs. Besides taking up time, some (like my Windows Office) I'm out of installs on. Others I have difficulty locating the disks for, and all in all, would take me a good couple of days to get everything back up and running, patched and ready to roll.

So this boils down to a great deal of rage on my part. People like this are scum, and should focus on getting out of their parents' basements and getting real jobs.While I'm sure they rake in a fair amount of money, its at the cost of other people in the worst way. Besides the money and identity theft, which can seriously fuck a person over anyways, it also kills what, to many people, is the most important device in their lives. Family pictures and videos lost, access to internet to manage the household, hours of games, important documents, etc. All possibly lost. Or, if it can all be saved, it is at the cost of several hours of work. Hours that often need to be put to use elsewhere, working, sleeping, cleaning, relaxing from a long day, etc.

How many of us really have the time for this kind of shit? All so some asshole can get rich off of the portion of the populace that doesn't know how to recognize this kind of scumbaggery. While the tech savvy like myself just hang our heads in shame for getting a virus and can dig in and beat it, there's a large number of people with no clue how to recognize this kind of thing.

Its easy to brush it off as "their own damn fault" for not learning the proper ways to protect themselves, but who teaches them? Most computers are up and running out of the box in minutes, with no alerts to this kind of thing. Ask a tech at a store, and they'll simply offer a good anti-virus (which Windows Security can get past).

I will give the creators of the Windows Security virus that they're smart. Every new iteration of the virus ruthlessly cuts around the various ways to counteract it and kill it. And thanks to them, I've learned how to rip the very heart out of my computer, beat into submission, and and shove it back in.

But it's cost me so much in terms of time. And ironclad security (if there is such a thing) quickly starts to interfere with legitimate applications and usages.

And with the rise in the use of smartphones and similar devices, those are quickly becoming vulnerable to hacking as well.

It's despicable, its disgusting, and it's costing victims time, money, and possibly leading to serious, life-changing problems.

And sadly, there's no way to stop it. As long as there's a profit to be made, and the internet and constant connectivity is such an increasingly critical part of our lives, we will never be free from this kind of threat. People will do terrible things to each other for fun and profit, just as we've done for millennia.

The common response to rants like this from many people is "Lol, then buy a Mac". But as more and more people buy Macs, they'll start getting hacked just as much as their Windows counterparts. Yes, Windows has problems that are undeniable. But Macs are not superior or immune. To be perfectly honest, the main reason Macs aren't hacked as often is that most of their users are artists, hipsters, and college students. Few of whom have anything worth stealing. PCs are targeted because the virus will hit the widest base, and are also far more likely to hit more novice users who will fall victim to the scams. As one person put it, if Fort Knox and the cookie jar had the same level of security, which would you be more likely to steal from?

So there it stands. Hackers are complete scum in my view. Even so-called "political hackers" like Anonymous, who claim to be fighting for truth, justice and the American way when they're just bullying anyone who disagrees with them.

But the vast bulk of my hatred lies with the creators of the Windows Security virus. As I pass 4 hours of working on getting rid of your worm, for not the first time, I want to find you. The things I want to do to you make Guantanamo Bay look like a five star day spa.

I will find you. And when I do, I'm going Liam Neeson on your ass.

Dead Like Me: Life After Death

Dead Like Me: Life After Deathwas the straight to DVD movie that followed the critically acclaimed series, Dead Like Me, and attempted to give it some closure that it didn't get in its second (and final) season.

The movie starts with the restaurant where George, Daisy, Mason and Roxie all gathered together to get the day's reaping assignments from their boss, Rube, burning to the ground. Our quartet of protagonists are shocked to find their former boss no where in sight, and discover that he has finally moved on and that they have a new boss.

The movie manages to capture a lot of the charm of the series. However, a lot of issues just played out as cheap and contrived, in an attempt to bring closure in the space of a movie. George's reap causes her to become entwined with her younger sister's life. It felt forced and contrived, and served little purpose. The lack of closure for Reggie and Joy after George died (and, unbeknown to them, became a reaper) was part of what made the series so poignant.

The loss of Mandy Patinkin (who played the original boss of the reapers) was a big hit to the charm of the show, and it lost some of the structured feeling, as each of the reapers gave in to the excess provided by their new boss. While their characters didn't necessarily act out of character, they felt largely forced. The loss of his guidance forced the characters to make their own way, which was certainly an interesting plot, and better than many they could have done, but it jsut didn't feel bad.

Dealing with a reaper gone bad (their new boss) felt too much like one of the episodes in season 2. The emotional core of George and her sister again felt forced, with Reggie being involved in a secret romance and trying to find acceptance among her peers. This felt incredibly cheesy for the story.

All in all, it wasn't a bad ending for the series, and it wrapped up lose ends perfectly well, but it still managed to fall far short of the original series and leaves the viewer feeling disappointed.

The Futility of the Console Wars

I kind of touched on this a few days ago, but I wanted to touch on it in more depth. It comes as no surprise that Nintendo, XBox and PlayStation are in a 3 way war with each other. But what is really the point?

Gamers tend to polarize in favor of their favorite platform. Their preferred is the only "real" console, and too be a "real" gamer you have to have one.

But what are these companies really accomplishing? Increasing fractional points of their marketshare? What does that even mean anymore? How many households really don't have more than one? True, a few truly can't afford it. Some just don't care. But after all these years, people that want them pretty much have them. Going off the prices of the brand new consoles (let alone what their prices have fallen to over the last couple of years) the total cost of all 3 would have been $1400.  A large chunk of change to be sure, if paid all at once. But, when you break it down over the long term, the XBox 360 was the first of the new gen to come out, and it came out in November 2005 (not a bad strategy. Come out a year earlier than the PS3 or Wii and get a head start). That was 62 months ago, though. If you set aside just $23/month, you'd have all three right now. And that's going off of new prices, let alone the massive drops we've seen in the last couple years.

So, if you really wanted all three, you could easily have reached that mark by now.

 So really it comes down to what you prefer in your console. More and more, the consoles are trying to overlap each other. The Wii started off catering to the family market, trying to appeal to a broad base, and offering a family friendly system that parents and grandparents would feel comfortable getting their kids. With their innovative motion control system that got the kids up off the couch, and being the first console to develop software that went beyond simple gaming, the Wii has a strong base. Mario and Zelda will never go out of style, and their party games are changing how families spend time together.

XBox has long been the console appealing to the 18-34 male demographic. Halo and other FPS titles are what the XBox was built on, and their offering of Achievements and online multiplayer struck true with the "hardcore".

PlayStation found a niche in the middle. A large number of strong exclusive releases keeps it popular among hte hardcore. Games like LittleBigPlanet and ModNation provide options for families. Almost most importantly, PlayStation's creator, Sony, is able to add alot of functionality that the others couldn't. It comes with a Blu-Ray player (which of course was developed by Sony), and through firmware updates is able to keep on the cutting edge without the need for a lot of excess hardware. PS3 already supports 3D technology, and all signs point to it not going out of date for a long, long time.

But now, it seems that they are all trying to trample on each other. The Wii is trying to pick up more ports of the "hardcore" games. XBox and PS3 both are embracing the action-controllers with their Kinect and Move respectively. XBox is making a serious push to put out exclusive family-friendly games like Kinectimals. And the PS3.... well, the PS3 has Kevin Butler. And that just plain makes them epic.

But I wonder what would happen if instead of trying to simply grab more customers, these consoles (in particular the Wii), especially when it comes to their graphics device) moved more towards simply improving their experience. Focusing on what they do best, and perfecting it, and giving their fanboys a taste of what each console individually has the potential to become.

Right now, the only real victims are the players. Berated by their friends for buying the "wrong" console. Feeling obliged to defend their choice of console to other gamers they come across, and the idea that whichever console you happen to own, you must clearly fly their fanboy flag.

Internet Didn't Just Kill the Video Star

Back in the day, I remember pouring over players' guides for my games. Finding all the secret areas, helping find the smoothest route through a level, and completing all the optional side-quests. I had an entire shelf filled with them.

But it dawned on me the other day that the last player's guide I actually bought was a couple years ago. Nowadays, I don't even consider picking one up for my games (except Pokemon, but that's because it is more encylopedic and allows for easy browsing through the full Pokedex).

With internet sites teeming with guides written and published by other gamers, forums with which to ask (or find an answer to something someone else asked) questions about how to conquer a certain aspect of any given game, and even video walkthroughs available on YouTube, there is no point to shelling out cash for a players' guide. A quick Google search can even bring up the map for Super Nintendo's Jurassic park. I used to spend hours carefully pacing and measuring where I was, and drawing it in colored pencil on graph paper.

I can't remember the last time I actually jotted down notes during a game (not counting WoW, where notes are related to gear and AH prices rather than notes about the story itself). Anymore, I simply keep my laptop next to me when I'm playing, and within 30 seconds I can find the answer I need.

In some ways, its almost sad. Few players guides are worth the price. I think the only guide I still have and use that I think is worth it is the Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess leather-bound special edition guide. Guide's aren't entirely without their value, however. It provides everything you need in a simple package (no wading through forum posts trying to find something), and the writing for the walkthroughs tend to be seasoned with anecdotes and humor.

But those alone aren't enough. Bradygames and Prima need to wake up. I'm sure they've noticed the declining sales, but they aren't doing anything about it. Guides cost about the same, and still don't come with any kind of perk to encourage using a paper guide versus a searchable text guide on the internet.

Even I can't think of much that would entice me to buy guides that are going to eat up shelf space. Any token "collectible" items they offer with it are unlikely to be cool enough to pique my interest. In-game rewards are rarely necessary to fully enjoy the game. Maybe add some concept art, some back story, and maybe an interview or two?

Who knows. As the players' guide sections of game stores dwindles, I know there will come a day when my kids will wonder I had to go buy books to have a game walkthrough. Just brings back a little nostalgia for the days when I spent the time I wasn't gaming pouring over these guides, learning every game I had inside, out, and sideways in ways that in a world where I don't have to dive too deep to find what I'm looking for, and finding extra tidbits along the way are rare.

The Biggest Loser: The Ultimate Workout

The Biggest Loser: The Ultimate Workout is the latest in a line of Biggest Loser workout games, and the first compatible with the Kinect. While I have not played other TBL games, I have played other fitness games, mainly on the Wii.

The Ultimate Workout is probably the best I've seen. First, if you're a fan of the show, you'll enjoy getting to work with your choice of Bob, Jillian, or both. If TBL isn't your thing, then you still get an excellent comprehensive workout. You are given a wide range of tools to help you meet your goal that I don't see so comprehensively offered in others.

The first thing offered by TUW is a body analyzer. This picks up your measurements without the need to go find a tape measure. These are not entirely accurate, but if it is off by enough to matter, it seems to go far enough that it is easily noticeable (it read my neck as 216" around. I'm pretty sure that my neck isn't 18 feet around). It has a standard array of offering recipes, calorie trackers, and a "Lifestyle Tasks" that give you simple tasks to help build healthy habits.

The game offers 10 different workout programs, with focuses ranging from large amounts of weightloss to muscle toning, to intensive training. The game uses a fitness test to help you determine your level of fitness, which helps to ensure that you don't push yourself too far, or go too easy. While other games offer this, I felt TUW had a much better test, and I was very happy with the level of my workouts. It also provides a variety of workouts from basic aerobic and muscle exercises to yoga to boxing training, keeping your workouts varied and more interesting.

Utilizing the power of the Kinect to provide a controllerless experience, this game takes away a lot the frustration of at home workouts. When using workout videos, it can be hard to do a new exercise and be sure that you're doing it correctly, and with the Wii, the necessity of holding the Wiimote and Nunchuck makes adding things like dumbells and medicine balls nearly impossible. With the Kinect, TUW is able to tell you if you're not doing an exercise correctly, urging you to correct your shape, kick higher, lunge farther, etc.

By far, this is the best workout game I've played, but it is far from perfect. There are a number of features that are lacking, or outright missing. First, despite clearly being compatible with XBox Live, there is no way to email yourself the recipes listed in game. You have to break out the pad and pen and try to copy it down from the screen.

Next, there is no way to change your workout to account for injuries. During my first week, I bruised my knee (unrelated to the game), but there was no way to adjust my workout to avoid aggravating the injury. There were plenty of exercises that didn't bother me much, but no way to reset my daily workout.

Third, there is no way to schedule specific days off outside of trying to set your initial schedule (when you start a workout program) to line up with what you need. There is no way to account for things like going out of town for a day or two, or other one-time adjustments easily. This would be a great addition to the game, to allow that week's workouts to be set to catch up with what you will you be missing.

Finally, the limitations of the Kinect can skew your scores for individual exercises, and cause the trainers to get pissy with you. It can be incredibly frustrating to be executing the exercise correctly, and hear that you're quitting, or have that one show up as your worst exercise (instead of seeing your real worst that you need to focus on improving).

Now, I know many gamers rail against the idea of workout games. They feel that exercise and games are antithetical. However, this view severely constricts what our consoles are capable of doing for us. I've found games make the best form of exercise. Going to the gym is a headache, exercise videos can end up doing more harm than good, and the structure and motivation provided in these games can help to keep you focused.

If you're interested in working out, whether to improve your fitness or to lose weight, this is a good buy that will not end up on the back shelf when you reach your initial goals.

Achievements and Gaming

Achievements have been around for a while. But until this latest console generation, it has been largely up to the individual games as to whether or not to include them, or what their depth and breadth would be. But, with PS3, XBox 360 and PC all offering them, it adds a new dimension to the games we play.

Achievements encourage us to fully experience the game, perhaps pushing us to sample aspects of the game they might otherwise bypass. And they do so in a way that is non-intrusive. Participating is not forced on the player (unless the player is completionist and OCDs over getting all the achievements for a given game), allowing us to avoid things that we just don't want to mess with.

World of Warcraft is definitely the most prolific with achievements. With well over 1000 achievements, and pertaining to all aspects of the game, any player can feel accomplished by how many achievements they can get. Raids and dungeon groups are encouraged to complete fights in more difficult ways, and players are encouraged to actively pursue PvP activities. But no one loses out on any kind of substantial rewards if they skip, merely cosmetic ones.

This is the best kind of achievement system. You don't want a game to force you to do a bunch of stuff you don't want to in order to gain important rewards. Achievements should reflect your dedication and skill, not be a requirement to complete the game.

They also increase replay value as you have more incentive outside of curiosity to see all the endings, or find all the secret items. I never got all the flags or killed all the Templars in Assassin's Creed because there weren't trophies associated with them. There was no point for me. While there is that sense of personal satisfaction, that's all. You don't get anything tangible that you can quickly compare with friends.

It has expanded the interest in individual games, and their replay value, but have remained just weak enough of a pull that games can't used them as a crutch. They can't expect a bad game to float along just because gamers will be trying to get the achievements.

The Wii needs to get on the bandwagon. It's one of the downsides of playing games on the Wii. The lack of achievement support just makes a game feel less fun. Not all games offer their own achievements, and those lacking them leave one feeling little incentive to explore the game to its full capacity. It may be a trend caused by the increasing need in our society for something tangible, rather than enjoying intangible satisfactions, but its the reality we live in.

As we progress through the future, achievements won't be going away. They are too powerful of a tool for game developers to help focus the player on varying aspects of the game for developers to give them up, and players enjoy getting them enough that it will continue to hold our interests.

Cross-Platform Gaming

Console wars have existed since consoles were introduced in the 1980s. Talk to any gamer, and they will quickly be able to tell you why their favorite platform is the best. Whether PS3 or XBox, PC or Wii, we all have our favor
Each platform, though, does seem to have its niche. The Wii is great for family games, the PC great for RPGs and RTS (where great amounts of hotkeys and the fine control of the mouse can improve the experience), the XBox seems to be best at more "grown-up" games, and the PS3 lives in a great middle ground.

But, the divisive lines get a little silly. Most titles are available cross-platform. Assassin's Creed II is going to be just as good, regardless of what you play on.

I think the time has come for the various platforms to stop fighting with each other, and embrace each other, at least to an extent.

Most cross-platform games have primarily the same kind of achievements and trophies, and the same kind of multiplayer. In the upcoming Portal 2, gamers will be able to connect via Steam to play multiplayer across both PS3s and PCs. I think that this is a huge step in the right direction.

One of the hardest things about playing multiplayer is that your friends cannot always play with you. If I have AC Brotherhood for PS3 and my friend has XBox, we're not going to be able together. The platforms need to come together and embrace each other. We need to support cross-platform multiplayer, cross-platform friend lists and chat, and cross-platform comparison of achievements.

By doing this, we can start to break down the walls of console partisanship, and start to create a more open arena, where players can choose based solely on their own personal preference, rather than what they feel will keep them better connected with their friends.

Come on guys, lets come together.

Wizard of Oz

A couple weeks ago I was watching Wizard of Oz with the kids. I've seen before, of course, but not in years. I was actually very impressed with the quality of the film, and the special effects, particularly given that it was made 72 years ago.

The story, of course, is timeless. The novel came out 1900, and even 111 years later, its still a story filled with heart and magic, and entirely entertaining. The journey of Dorothy as she learns how important friendship and family is, and learns the importance of intelligence, courage and love.

Aside from being visually beautiful, the actors are filled their parts perfectly. Judy Garland's Dorothy creates a charming heroine, but one with faults that she must overcome. Almost surprising for the time period, Dorothy does not come across as a damsel-in-distress, and aside from being a little naive, has the spunk to be a formidable foe for the Wicked Witch. She travels through the land of Oz, eager to get to her destination and find her way home, and remains resolute in the face of danger, even when the Wicked Witch offers her safety in return for the ruby slippers.

The Scarecrow creates a charming, clutzy, and loyal character to help guide Dorothy through the hazards of Oz. Initially, the studios wanted to hint at a future romance between Dorothy and the farmhand counterpart to Scarecrow. While this was cut from the film, you still can see the chemistry between them, and see the affection they have for each other.

The Tin-Man is caring and compassionate, and provides the moral compass for the group, helping them remember to be kind to others, and take the moral high ground. The Cowardly Lion provides excellent comic relief, and his character has become widely recognizable. His fear at the silliest things helps keep things lighthearted when the movie takes darker turns.

The Wicked Witch was masterfully portrayed by Margaret Hamiltion, and her character has become iconic. She provides the perfect amount of pure evil, and creates a formidable foe for Dorothy and her friends. She is thoroughly well-developed, and has a fullness to her character that many other similar movies lack in their villains.

A story of friends, love, and perseverance makes this movie into a timeless classic that will still be popular for years to come. An instant classic, and one of the best movies out there.

Monty Python

Monty Python is a collection of great comedians, creating great comedy.The British troupe had a gift for bringing together surreal and absurd comedy, and delivering it with straight faces. Their show, Monty Python's Flying Circus has created some of the most memorable sketches around, like The Lumberjack Song, Dead Parrot, and Spam.

The influence they had over comedy is incredibly clear as you can see hints of its influence in early SNL, and more. The movies that followed the end of the series, in particular The Holy Grail, have become cult classics, and elements from these movies have become so ingrained into our pop culture that we hardly even notice them anymore. "Just Look on the Bright Side of Life", coconuts has horse hooves, airspeed velocities of laden swallows, and more have become staples of our culture, as much as "lol", "tweet", and other such idioms.

Monty Python is why the Python programming language is called Python, why our junk-email is called spam, and why Lemony Snicket has a character named Uncle Monty.

Their humor may seem fairly mild today (for the most part), but in the late 60s through early 70s, they were defining the cutting edge, and pushing the boundaries of what was considered appropriate. Terry Gilliam's "stream of consciousness" styled animations are unique, even today. They create an abstract storyline that draws you in, and in many ways, cleanses the pattern of your mind. There is very little way to make sense of them, and if you just roll with it, it seems to clear your mind enough that you transition into the next sketch with a fresh outlook.

If you aren't familiar with Monty Python, or have only seen their movies, go hit Netflix and go through The Flying Circus. It's raunchy, it's hilarious, and you won't regret it.

Futurama

Futurama is one of my favorite shows, and over the break (and a little before) I worked my way back through the series (thank you Netflix). I was almost surprised to see that the original 4 seasons have weathered the last ten years well.

The show was timeless. The jokes they made weren't so caught up in cultural relevance that they've lost their kick, and the various moral-of-the-story moments were universal enough that it didn't feel stale. the show is amusing, and lampoons social issues without beating you over the head with it.

The show is also visually impressive with its unique (for its time) blend of hand-drawn and CGI elements. It gave a look that was new and innovative for its time, and one that has never really been copied. You could look at a frame from Futurama, and you'd likely recognize it from the show immediately.

The show kept itself more or less on track, but since a strong timeline wasn't really necessary (it uses the sitcom standard that things more or less return to normal at the end of an episode), they could change it up a bit. We see varying version of Fry's freezing, a couple possibilities about the life of his dog, and even the all-important career chips get largely ignored throughout the season.

This change to the "canon" is done without a lot of excessive justification. They just do it, and instead of weighing it down, just run too fast over the top of it for it to be jolting to the viewer. This jostling of the plot isn't meant to insult the viewer's intelligence, or try to break up the already fairly sturdy plot. The writers would just get a new idea of what happened in certain events and let it roll. Screw the paradoxes, and just go with it.

The humorous show wasn't without its tear-jerkers though. The episode (Luck of the Fryish) of flashbacks to the time Fry spent with his brother is poignant, but without becoming maudlin. The final episode of season 5, The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings, the series culminates with Fry finally being able to win Leela over enough that she at least considers and respects his feelings, and is a very tender ending to the series proper. And of course, the ending to Jurassic Park, as we watch Fry's faithful dog from the 20th century sit forlornly, waiting for his time-lost master to return has been said to be one of the saddest things on television.

The movies that followed, and wrapped up, the series were incredibly well done. In The Simpsons Movie as well, Matt Groening shows a knack for taking television shows to the big screen. Rather than trying to trump them up to Hollywood proportions, he makes them feel much more like extended episodes. All four of the movies were hugely entertaining, keeping both the moral lessons, and the jaunty humor rolling, ending with Fry and Leela finally confessing their love, and sharing their first kiss as the Planet Express ship flies straight into a wormhole.

It was a fitting end to the series, but when Comedy Central decided to bring it back, it was welcomed with open arms.While Fry and Leela's new romance altered the dynamic of the cast slightly, the show continued on, and managed to do so without having to repeat plotlines, and managed to come off as fresh as ever. Some fans have been disappointed, but that's only to be expected, I guess.

I'm not sure when the rest of season 6 will finish airing, likely next summer. But my DVR is waiting for it.

David Eddings: The Work of a Storytelling Master

David Eddings has long been my favorite author. His talent for epic fantasy is amazing. His characters are well-developed and have a depth to them far beyond that of many other books. While their roles may be stereotypical (the young hero, the might sorcerer, etc etc), he gives to each of them a unique flavor.

While you will find similar characters in all of his books, they have enough individual idiosyncracies that they never feel dull, or simply copies of other characters.

His first jaunt into the world of fantasy (with only one novel published before that) was good enough to end up with 12 novels (starting with two 5-book arcs and two companion novels), and a companion book providing some of his notes and whatnot. His next story landed two trilogies. He followed that up with a single-volume novel (mostly to prove to himself that he could write a sweeping fantasy in just one book), and his latest is a four-book arc. He also published his second novel (written in the 1970s, not published until the 1990s), and a thriller in 2002.

This success is absolutely amazing. To end a career with 27 published novels is astounding.

In looking up a couple things for this entry, I discovered that I missed his passing in 2009. The industry truly lost a titan who was a master of the craft. Like many of his fans, his books had a profound effect on my life. I can still, 12 years later, remember the day I stumbled across him. I was at Barnes & Noble with my mom, just browsing through books. I kept a little notebook in my pocket when we went to bookstores to jot down books that caught my eye to look for later at the library. I stumbled across Polgara the Sorceress, and the cover caught my imagination, and the back-cover blurb clinched it for me. I checked it out later that week, and was caught instantly. I read it everywhere. At lunch, in class after finishing my work, at home. I devoured it in just a couple of days. After that, I moved on to his other books.

They still amaze me, and settling in to reread them is like reconnecting with an old friend. I reread Polgara, Belgarath, The Belgariad and the Mallorean once or twice a year, and typically all in a row. It always renews my sense of adventure, and helps put all the little problems in my life into perspective.

The worlds he created were well-developed, and spanned across continents, mapped out in great detail, and filled with a score of minor characters. Each country had its own geography, its own dress, its own customs.

Each book even went beyond simply providing an epic story, but probed at ideas much larger. The meaning of destiny, the meaning of religion, the meaning of time.

Of all of his books, Polgara the Sorceress has always been my favorite. Expanding on the already deep world of the Belgariad and the Mallorean, its two companion novels, Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress take a step back and go through the events leading up to those books.

Polgara the Sorceress is, even on its own, a rich story spanning the three thousand years in which Polgara served the destiny that had been provided for. Her gentle pain at watching her friends and her family (except her father, Belgarath) grow old and die is heartbreaking. And throughout the story (which is told in the first person) you even get little quips and jabs made towards the characters of the Belgariad, providing humor throughout the story.

Eddings' books are funny, filled with adventure and memorable characters. Whenever I finished one of his series, there was always a kind of melencholy. Eddings draws you so completely into the world of these people that you become emotionally tied up in them, and saying goodbye, knowing that their stories are done, is sad. Even though the story is done, and Eddings ties up all the loose ends, he leaves his world moving forward, and I always sat back and wondered what happened to these characters as their lives progressed after the adventure and into the newly changed world.

If you haven't read one of his books yet, go and do so. You won't be disappointed.

XBox and Kinect

One of the big releases this year was XBox's Kinect system. At first, my husband and I weren't overly interested in the Kinect. It looked pretty cool, but just not enough to justify the price for us. But, this Christmas, our 7-yr-old went over our heads to the big man in red himself, and we found a shiny new XBox with Kinect under our tree.

Overall, I've found to be an impressive system. The time delay between reading your actions and executing them on the screen is no more than any other controller (which is actually rather impressive when you consider how many calculations it has to do to translate full-body movement). The voice commands work fairly well, as long as you speak clearly. The infra-red sensors even recognize you when you're signed in, so if someone has to cut in front of you while you're playing, it doesn't read their movements as input.

However, it is not without its drawbacks. Our playing space is 6.5 feet deep, and the sensor sits about 5.5 feet above the floor. Usually, this is suitable for a lot of gameplay. But when doing movements that lift over my head, or involve laying on the floor (usually during working out), the angle doesn't quite pick it up correctly, and the floor-based movements especially get largely cut off.

Calibrating the sensor is fairly easy and intuitive. Initially, you just stand with a little card (that comes with Kinect) and adjust it to fit into a certain space, then the system scans it. Fine-tuning for a play session just simply requires standing still in the center of your play space while it reads your body and adjusts accordingly.

However, I have yet to find any way to fine-tune it manually where you can adjust the viewing angle on your own. This would have been a huge improvement, especially if it could be done on the fly during gameplay without having to quit out of your current game session. Adding this alone would make problems with movements that extend upwards, or require laying on the floor, almost completely go away.

The Kinect holds a lot more potential than I really granted it when I heard about it. Workout games (which I'll be talking about in more detail later this month), dance games, and the like are all a lot more fun with the Kinect. The ability to do engage in games without having to figure out the best way to hold a controller makes it a lot more fun, and a lot easier to just dive into the action.

I haven't messed around with it a whole lot outside of my workout game, but I think as time goes on, Kinect is just going to get better and better.

Assassin's Creed II

The acclaimed sequel to the hit Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II took the already hit formula and ran with it. Assassin's Creed was an amazing game, but ACII blew it out of the water. The story of Desmond picks up immediately where the first on ends. As you and Lucy escape Abstergo and reach the Assassin safe house, you learn a lot more about the overplot that was hinted at in the first game. As the plot thickens, and you begin to learn the true significance behind the search for the Pieces of Eden.

What really amazed me about the game, was that I wrote my review of Assassin's Creed before I started playing the second (although ACII was long since out). Almost every problem I had with the original was addressed, even if not perfected. Ezio's character was far more fleshed out than Altair. His motives were more clearly defined, and his drive for justice for his family creates a sense of immediacy and real engagement for the player; so much more than provided by Altair more or less simply following orders.

One of the best parts about Ezio's character that makes him far more enjoyable to play than Altair is the lack of monologuing. He doesn't sit and engage in a one-way conversation every time he kills someone, blatantly and unimaginatively spelling things out for the player. Instead, Ezio engages in active dialogues with his allies, and while he occasionally mutters to himself, it's more natural, and not nearly as intrusive.

The story is far more coherent, and the past and present are much more closely linked. In the first one, especially if you took long breaks during play, you could almost forget about Desmond's story. What Desmond goes through is only tentatively related to what Altair is doing. In ACII, however, while the cuts to the present were still rare, you did at least get voiceover contact that helps provide background about the other characters, and some of the in-game objectives. While this may not seem like much, it is enough to keep the player anchored to Desmond's storyline.

While combat and other gameplay is very much the same as in the first, Ezio comes with a slightly larger bag of tricks than his predecessor. A variety of weapon types are available, including upgrades to the iconic wrist blade, including the ability to poison, and a double blade, allowing for killing multiple targets. With these, comes new ways to kill your targets. Poison tends to be fairly discrete when the situation demands it, but can be difficult to execute without notice. More fun are the opportunities offered by the double blade, which allow you to perform air assassinations (descending upon one or two victims, driving your blade in as you land) and double assassinations where you can walk up to two targets and down both at once.

A few new weapons provide some interesting gameplay. First, the smoke bombs. Using this to distract guards in tight spots gives you the option of either running away, or just slipping through the chaos executing them with your wrist blade. The second new addition to your personal armory is a pistol attached to your wrist blade. It's loud, it attracts a lot of attention if used in populated areas. But it has the benefit of one-shotting enemies at a good distance. You are also given daggers, but I found little use for these.

However, while they tried to expand on the weapon selections in the game, they missed the mark. They gave the weapons a wider range of stats, attempting to give you an option between being able to hit harder against better armored targets (using mauls), being more defensive with the ability to deflect incoming strikes, or simply dealing more damage. However, because the mauls and defensive weapons were more suited to individual enemy types, and you couldn't switch equipped weapons on the fly, it wasn't much of a decision. I really think they could have taken that decision a little bit further.

One of the new features in the game was the use of money. You could use it to upgrade your stronghold, increasing your income, you could purchase upgrades and other items, and you could hire citizens to help you out. You can gain money in a number of ways. You can find treasure boxes scattered around every city, you can pick pockets, complete small jobs around the city, or you can earn it from your stronghold. It was a good idea, but one that quickly becomes trivial. First, after a few upgrades to your stronghold, and keeping up on clearing out your stronghold's moneybox, and you will quickly have more than enough for expenses and filling out your upgrades. This quick trivialization of the money system distracted from the novelty, and could have been better developed.

Another feature that got woefully undeveloped was the use of dyes to change the color of your clothes. This change is purely cosmetic. I felt that this had a lot of potential for providing possible camouflage and disguise in cities, but the idea was completely undeveloped. It was a fun idea (even if I stuck with classic Assassin white), but other than that, it served no purpose.

All things considered, the deeper plot and character development gave a great boost to the already strong game. The story was well-paced, and the character development was a great deal deeper than the first. I haven't started on Brotherhood yet, but if Ubisoft continues to build on and improve the features of their game, They will have one of the best games ever made on their hands.

The Social Network

The Social Network is the film that follows Mark Zuckerberg's rise from Harvard nerd to the youngest billionaire in the world. The story itself is rather interesting. Mark, after a long night of drinking following a breakup creates a website. A rather simple website even, you just go to the site and are given the photos of two girls, and the user simply clicks on the one he/she thinks is prettier.

This site, FaceSmash, doesn't sound particularly impressive at first glance. But, to create this site, Mark had to hack the student directory of almost every dormitory house, and the site brought in over 22,000 hits in a matter of hours and caused the school's network to shut down. After that, some fellows from one of the more prestigious houses try to get him to program a site called Harvard Connection. Mark stole their idea and expanded it to a far broader base, while maintaining the exclusivity that Harvard Connection was trying to provide. After borrowing some money from a friend, his career takes off. He tramples anyone and everyone that stands in his way, and eventually ends up in court hearings being sued by several of those people.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg. Jesse Eisenberg has all the charm of Michael Cera, but the ability to play much deeper and more complex characters. Mark is almost an anti-hero. He cheated the creators of Harvard Connection of their idea, he cheated his best friend out of his share of the business, he was a jackass to his girlfriend. When confronted and dragged to court, he was never attentive in these meetings. He worked on his site, he daydreamed. He viewed the events around him with a mildly curious detachment.

You can never really root for him as he faces his obstacles. They were so clearly of his own making, and he just as clearly felt little remorse for them. But at the same time, while he was arrogant, there wasn't a great deal of gloating over his adversaries. He just did what he felt was best for the creation of his company, regardless of who got mowed down along the way.

At the same time, however, you never feel a terrible amount of sympathy for those he trampled over. The three jilted creators behind Harvard Connection all came from substantial money. Two of them (brothers) even rowed for the United States in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. His best friend and initial business partner also had money, and all four of them had perfectly lucrative futures ahead of them.

Even Mark Zuckerberg was never in any real sense of peril. If, at any time, Facebook had failed, he had more than enough skill with computers to get hired on at any major IT company. It made the story, strangely enough, more interesting. In most of these other "real-life" stories surrounding the creation of great things, there's almost a sense of melodrama in how the characters overcame obstacles and gave everything they had for the small chance of success.

Jesse Eisenberg's performance was not the only noteworthy performance. Justin Timberlake's portrayal of the erratic and charismatic Sean Parker, founder of Napster, was masterful. Timberlake completely inhabited his character, creating a man similar in many ways to a natural disaster. He sweeps in and, despite the fact that he is clearly an emotionally unbalanced man, spending too much time trading on his success to throw wild parties with cocaine and young floozies. Despite the fact that he is incredibly unbalanced, there was some kind fire behind him that made him valuable to Mark in making Facebook the vast success it is today.

The movie was incredibly well done, and definitely worth seeing, even if you aren't big on Facebook. The story surrounds a peculiarly complex young man as fortune, quite nearly, falls directly into his lap.

Cataclysm: Website

With Cataclysm, Blizzard released a new website. The new Battle.net has a lot of interesting bells and whistles that I enjoy enough to write about. First and foremost, the look is a lot cleaner. Things are organized a little more intuitively. Comments on Blizzard's news items actually have indented threading now! This makes it a little easier to follow the replies. I wish they would add this to the forums, but given the average IQ of the playerbase, they'd rarely end up under the correct post I'm sure.

I do dislike General doubling as the Suggestion forum. Having a separate suggestion forum helped keep down some of the clutter and made it easier to run through them offering my two cents.

One of the biggest changes in the website is the information available when you are logged into your account. I can check upcoming events (whether static game events or guild events), I can skim the guild news for what my guild has been up to that day, and most importantly, I can see how many auctions I have up, sold, expired, and how much gold from the AH is sitting in my mailbox, and even how full my mailbox is.

Not only can I keep an eye on my main's economic activities, but it also allows me to check alts without spending fifteen minutes logging between characters. This, to me, is probably the best thing ever. I can even browse the auction house without logging on (or subscribing to the mobile AH).

A number of other small features has made it so the WoW website is worth regular perusal. None of them are earth-shattering enough for me to discuss in detail, but here's a quick list:

• Easily track average item level on the Armory.
• Find my active realms at the bottom of the forums listing without having to scroll through a list of all realms.
• List of popular forum topics to glance at to see if any catch my interest.
• Ability to change active character from a dropdown menu rather than navigating to a different page.
• Latest Blue posts at the top of the forum directory
• Quick links from players/mobs/items to their page on WoWhead
• Better compartmentalization of web features makes it finding what you want a lot easier.

All in all, the new website provides a lot of new functionality and a lot of new features. Now, it's actually worth checking out on a regular basis, instead of just on Tuesdays while waiting for servers to come back up.

Cataclysm: Vashj'ir

Vashj'ir is Cataclysm's (and WoW's first) underwater zone. This change of venue provides an experience that's quite unique from the other zones. The other zones, especially those introduced in Cataclysm, are all very well designed. The new zones follow solid story lines, interesting quests, and a feeling of real progression in the world with use of phasing.

But running around underwater is something else altogether. The first major challenge is coming to terms with the 3-dimensionality of it. Now, you're just looking around you on a 2D plane for enemies and quest objects, now you're coping with enemies and objectives above and below you.

It's an interesting format, and it creates a new sense of immersion. The zone also lacks a lot of the single-toned lack of variation that other zones often have. You have kelp forests, deep abysses, high elf/naga ruins, and you even get to go running around a giant squid.

One of the quest lines I found the most interesting was one that sent you back in time to play as a naga Battlemaiden. You uncover stirring intrigue, deep mysteries, and epic battles. It's so vastly removed from anything else you encounter in the game.

While I was incredibly happy with the other zones as well (Uldum is probably my favorite) but the uniqueness and innovation present in Vashj'ir (and awesome sea horse mounts) makes it more than worth going through, and even more than once.

Cataclysm: Achievements

Today I wanted to look at one of my favorite things in the World of Warcraft: achievements.

Achievements is a large part of why this game has held my interest for so long. When I got bored, I could go chase down some achievements. I did pretty well, too. I think there was only a dozen or two achievements outside of the raiding and PvP that I was missing.

It pushed me to explore areas of the game that I otherwise wouldn't have been interested in. Before achievements, I didn't bother with world events, much PvP, the Stranglethorn Fishing Tournament or exploring the outer reaches of every zone. I certainly never thought I'd get around (and find others interested in) old-world raids and dungeons.

Blizzard has given us a reason to push outside of our comfort zone, and pursue areas of the game that we would otherwise have skipped over. I certainly don't think I'll ever get Arena Master, or Battle Master. Most of the raid achievements (since I no longer actively raid) will have to wait till they are long obsolete. But, there is never a lack of things to do on my main, and my interest in the game is made stronger because of that.

The 200+ new achievements added in Cataclysm encourage you to really take a look around this new world of ours.

There's the standard fare of exploration and completing X amount of quests in zone Y. There's even more that are plugged in as "gimme" achievements to keep people happy as the realm of attainable achievements is a bit larger. Namely things like completing a certain quest chain, or bouncing on a trampoline, or completing a certain daily so many times or in a certain time limit. Naturally, Glory of the meta-achievements exist, with their requisite requirement achievements ready to go.

All in all, there seems to be plenty to keep me entertained and shelling out my $15/mo. However, it has not been without its disappointments. First, it seems that perhaps our good friend Hemet Nesingwary has hung up his gun and is no longer depopulating all of Azeroth of a myriad of critters. This was disappointing since his quests have been around in every iteration of WoW since Vanilla.

Also, the rare-spawns of Cataclysm don't have a deathwarrant out. Getting "Bloody Rare" took me a good six months to finish. I got up extra early every morning some time after Wrath came out and would scour Outlands, looking for those final rare spawns. I'm still 7 mobs shy of Frostbitten.

Also missing from this expansion are further iterations in the mount and companion chains. I still plan on collecting as many as I can, but it would be nice to see that little flash of gold at the bottom of my screen to reward my efforts.

Altogether, not a bad set of achievements, but it is missing just enough to feel lacking.

Cataclysm: Dungeons

Dungeons in Cataclysm have taken a huge change from what was the norm in Wrath of the Lich King. Gone are the days of the 15 Minute Roflstomp. Now, dungeons require patience, skill, and a level of awareness that hasn't been seen since Burning Crusade.

One of the bigger changes is that to queue for one of the new dungeons, you first must find the entrance in the world. No more logging in for the first time and jumping right in. With the increase in difficulty, Blizzard has also added a minimum average item level to be able to queue for dungeons. This helps keep people who have no hope of performing to the needed level from getting in.

On the downside, these two features have pretty much killed the ability to dungeon-level from 80 to 85. I can understand the changes, certainly, but since that was my preferred method for leveling my alts, it can be a little frustrating. My Death Knight alt is halfway through Deepholm, and I already feel a little sick of the place. With my Paladin and Mage already to 80, and my Shaman and Druid almost there, it is going to quickly grow old.

It has been rather amusing to me to see all the QQ on the forums about the major leap in DPS queue times with the Random Dungeon Finder. People think that this is somehow all Blizzard's fault, and that they can somehow fix it. They fail to consider that (1) people are still leveling, (2) people (especially tanks and healers) are still gearing, and (3) with the rewards from running with your guild, many are doing that, not only for the rewards, but also for a more dependable run.

Queue times do seem to be slowly decreasing though. Saw my first queue today that was only 32 mins, which is a step down from the 45 minute queue. I don't particularly mind, but between the queue and the length/difficulty of the dungeons, my daily heroic is taking 2 or 3 hours, which is a huge jump to the 30-40 minutes from Wrath.

But, dungeons are so much more fun now. They are difficult, they require crowd control, and they require people to be on their toes. This is what made me fall in love with the WoW dungeon system in the first place. Pugging may be incredibly frustrating at times, but it is certainly doable. PuGs are, however, a much different beast than they were before. Now, you can't carry people. The elitist assholes that ragequit after the first wipe make waiting around for a new member a real pain.

The change in dungeons was certainly a welcome one, but a lot of people are slow on the uptake. You either have elitists that think the group sucks and is a waste of time if anything at all goes wrong because of the ease with which they blew through Wrath, or you have people who still think dungeons are just AoE fests and they can just plow through without any consideration for how their class works, or the mechanics of a fight.

There's still three instances I haven't tried (Grim Batol and Blackrock Caverns due to not finding the entrance yet, and Throne of the Tides because I leveled out of its range on normal before I had the chance to run it). However, those that I have tried are incredibly well designed to require skill, ingenuity, and the sincere effort of everyone involved.

Bravo, Blizzard. Bravo.