Posted this on my blog a few days ago, but I figured that gamer people might be more into it so I'll post it here too!

[quote]Anyone with a Playstation 3 has probably heard of the new reality TV show Sony’s been pumping out every week called The Tester.

The show has a full cast of unique characters, one of which goes by the name “Barmy.” This fella was known for being exceptionally awkward and saying the creepiest things. I feel that he represented a large majority of gamers out there, and it’s a shame he was voted off so quickly.

Now, I’m not saying that all gamers are exactly like this character, but many of us share certain socially awkward characteristics. Chances are you know some gamer guy exactly like Barmy.

This is what he looks like:

[IMG]http://blackflowermusic.com/blog/wp-content/bob_taylor_pic.png[/IMG]

This is a caption contest, so in order to further analyze the situation it would be in your best interest to watch the first episode of The Tester. It might be a bit painful to sit through, but it’s worth it for free stuff. Right? Right.

The contest starts March 3 and ends a week from then. The two funniest captions will each receive 1 one-year membership to the [URL="http://www.theeca.com/"]ECA[/URL]. Winners will be announced shortly thereafter.

This contest is open to everyone. If you haven’t seen the tester, go [URL="http://thetester.com/"]here[/URL] for details. I also hear they have clips on youtube.
[/quote]

No need to make this complicated, entries will be accepted either from the comments here or you can comment [URL="http://blackflowermusic.com/blog/?p=434"]here[/URL].

I hate these sorts of threads, so I'll keep it short.

If you've ever heard my podcast, this should probably come as no surprise. I've voiced opinions there, and in other various forms concerning this "community". At first, they were simple observations. I meant no harm, but now I realize that being here is not a positive influence on my life.

I feel that continuing my membership here would only serve to make me a hypocrite. I no longer desire to be part of the problem. I should've realized in the 80s that putting a circle in a square peg just doesn't work.

I like a lot of you, and it was great hanging out over the last few years.

I don't know when or if I'll be back. The earliest I will be back will be after I go to MGC. (you all can meet my wife!). For now, I consider it a vacation. I don't [i]want[/i] to leave, but I think it's just in my best interest right now.

So I picked this up yesterday, and I've been having a blast with it. However, it's definitely no "game of the year".

[url=http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/drinkdeadwater/?action=view&current=new_super_mario_bros_wii1253652260.jpg][img]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/drinkdeadwater/new_super_mario_bros_wii1253652260.jpg[/img][/url]

For those of you expecting it to be just like the DS version, prepare to be a little disappointed. I guess I would say it's a bit clunky. Things just don't seem to respond the way I'm used to them responding. Maybe it's just me.

The multiplayer is kind of cool, but you run into issues with people jumping on top of you, and running into you. That sort of stuff causes you to die. You just have to play with the right people.

The levels are a bit more trickier. Due to the Wii's superior capabilities in comparison to the DS, they've added a number of new elements to the gameplay. I'm sure you've all seen videos of the levels where parts of the floor are spinning. Yeah, that's right! More than just cogs in boss levels spin now. :s

The power-ups seem kinda gimped. There's a penguin suit, which is mostly used for ice levels, a propeller hat that can help with flying briefly, a fire suit, and an ice suit. (Which are basically the same damn thing, one just freezes enemies instead of killing them outright, but there's a certain strategy there you'll notice once you play it. Like freezing fish and having them rise to the top and act as platforms). There's also the invincible star, and a shrinking mushroom. AFAIK there's no mushroom to turn you into a big fella. That's a shame, it was my favorite one. :(

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They want you to use the waggle for only a select amount of things. It's definitely not waggle-dependent like some games. All it does is spin-jump your character, and the effects are different for each power-up you have.

It's addicting, I'll give it that much. It stands on its own fairly well, but analogous to Mario Kart there's just some things between the DS and Wii versions that you'll miss.

I've heard a number of people asking about the difficulty of the game. I'd probably place it a notch above the original. It's not too terribly hard, but then sometimes it's pretty frustrating. If you're playing with even two people, sometimes you'll just think to yourself, "Damn, this would be easier if it was just me."

I've only reached World 3, but I'd say that's far enough along to give a fair assessment of what works and what doesn't. Then again, with games like these, it's not like much will change by the time I get to World 9. I mean, it might get more difficult and I'll finally get to use the penguin suit.

If you're looking for a good multiplayer game on the Wii, I wouldn't rush out and buy this. It's pretty fun, but if you only want multiplayer I would rent it first. If you're familiar with the New Super Mario Bros on the DS, this is definitely a nice addition the line.

I went to a Sunn O))) show recently, and I took video for a good chunk of it.

It's probably not you guys' thing. I mean, it's no 311. But I'll share it anyways.

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[YT]cAY0jJwPUsI[/YT]

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There's a lot of cool stuff here.

But one of the coolest things though that I like about this place are the news feeds. It's like I don't even have to go search for news.

Good stuff. :D

BlazBlue is pretty fun so far.

I've played a couple of online matches, and the actual battles seem to be pretty good. You get trophies for doing the usual rigor of winning and being a high level. I've won 2 online matches, and I got maybe 3 trophies out of it. If I win another one in a row, I get another trophy!

You also get experience points in online battle based on your performance, but I'm fairly sure that's only if you win - since the performance factors are all winning-related. It's so easy to find a match, but then again it IS Day 1 after all. I don't have much experience with creating my own matches, I always do quick play.

The gameplay mechanic is altered enough from the familiar Guilty Gear engine to be its own beast. However, I imagine anyone who has ever played Guilty Gear would find themselves adapting to BlazBlue's mechanic rather quickly.

I also found that the characters are more approachable than my initial impressions. Taokaka is a very interesting character that seems like she was pulled straight from an anime. There's a character named Bang that seems like he's ripped off from Naruto and Strider. When he does his special move, a weird 70s anime theme songs blares over the original BGM. It's pretty unique.

The music in general is pretty decent, it seems to fit the flow of the story. It's not really a unique "Every character is named after a song" or metal theme, but it still works.

There's also an option that allows you to save off your fights as a video. The back of the box says you can upload them, but I am not sure how to accomplish this.

It's easy to play, but difficult to master as the old saying goes. You can play and have fun with your noob friends who button mash, or you can learn the skills and be good at it.

If you're in to the 2D fighters that were on PS2, but have been wanting something similar on a modern console, this game is for you.

Ordinarily, I would post this sort of thing in the "Other Podcasts" sub-forum. However, I think I will be making enough threads in that forum this next week to last a lifetime.

Next week not only will we be having some special guests, we will also be recording a podcast for each day of the week. Why are we doing this? What do we gain from recording so much? I have no idea. Some people like to do live broadcasts, some like to record on-site, but we don't want to do that. We are celebrating our 5th episode by rewarding everyone with 5 more.

Last week we said to check every day, and we meant it. Here's the schedule of who we are having on, and what we'll be talking about for each day (We are recording the day before, so these will released either early morning each day, or in the afternoon)

[b]Monday[/b] - Segment: Noise music. Discussion: music. No guests
[b]Tuesday[/b] - Segment: Casual Gaming. Discussion: craigslist. Guest: Catwoman (from Sisters in Gaming)
[b]Wednesday[/b] - Segment: 16-bit gaming. Discussion: gaming. Guest: Mark Senger (aka Savory Cade from PSnation)
[b]Thursday[/b] - Segment: Games As Art. Discussion: Movies/TV. No guests
[b]Friday[/b] - Segment: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moe_(slang)]Moe[/url]. Discussion: Anime. No guests

Some of you may know that I used to do a podcast called Pause or Continue. We went on indefinite hiatus. It really wasn't my groove anyways. I didn't want to be an announcer, I wanted to talk and be myself.

I felt too rushed. I couldn't be spontaneous or zany. That's who I am! Sure, some would say that the way the show was set up was fast-paced and made for "good radio". I'm not so sure about that. Maybe TV? I dunno, I try not to think about it.

I try to relax. So I relaxed for a few months. I was tired of the weekly grind of editing a show, not getting to be myself, and having to push a show I didn't believe in onto people.

So after a few months of relaxing, I realized that I missed podcasting. So I found a like-minded individual, and I started up a show that I liked. I feel happy about doing the new show, Black Flower Music podcast. It's not really a music podcast, it's just......named after my site for convenience sake. And my site isn't really about music either...[well sometimes].

The new show is just, nerdgeek stuff. It's your typical anime/game/music otaku podcast. Two guys just relaxing and talking about cool stuff. There's plenty of shows like that. There's also plenty of shows that have only 1 focus. Everything's already been done before, so why really attempt to try to break some sort of fictional mold? I want to have fun, and I'm having it. That's the important part, in my opinion.

We're still very gamer-minded people. So you'll hear a lot about games, but also all the other cool media too. A little bit of everything is my motto, as long as it's interesting. We'll try to give some special attention to stuff that needs it, but we're not gonna be those smug guys who only talk about "indie" stuff. We don't need your indie-cred! :P

It's a show I have fun doing. Perhaps you'll have fun listening in. Maybe not. It doesn't really matter, because I'm having some fun. I'm a host, and Tondog is a host. You can listen to us as we slowly get to know each other skype and we record it for you.

You can check out the thread for our first episode here: [url]http://www.vgevo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181922[/url]

:poofhere:

Check out my post on N4G. It's a video review of Ultimate Shooting Collection for the Nintendo Wii.

Have you played this game? What did you think of it? I found it pretty average, to be honest.

[url]http://www.n4g.com/wii/News-279917.aspx[/url]

I don't know what it is, but it seems like getting to be past time of mine where I grab a couple beers for the night, and get on Playstation Home.

I know quite a few of you find it to be "ssoooooooooooooo boring" but I have made quite a few friends on Home, so there's always a pretty big party to go to at night with music and all that.

I just chill out, hang out with people, and do the normal thing. It's almost just like a real party, except I'm not doing crazy stunts on the floor and there's no vomit to clean up the next morning from some underage girl who "thinks" she can hold her own but can't.

Home's not for everybody. But Home's for me. I have tons of fun with it. It's like, I don't have to wait for my friends to have parties, and I don't have to crash ones where I don't know anyone! I can just have them on Home. And it's actually pretty fun sometimes.

Also known as "Games of All Types.

GOAT store used to be somewhat affiliated with VGEVO, and I'm sure some of you were wondering, "Wtf is up with that goat banner? Strange!!!"

Well, I perused through their stock, and decided to do business with them.

First of all, the place only deals with retro games. They don't have any Playstation stuff, but they do have a fair amount of Dreamcast games. Even some post-mortem Dreamcast games, if you're into that sort of thing.

When I first went to GOAT store, I was interested in getting some 32x merchandise. I didn't have the system at the time, and I didn't quite understand what all I needed to use it. There were extra seats and dongles and weird stuff. So I used the in-site messaging service, and the owner answered my questions promptly. He was very professional, but he was also very down-to-earth.

I didn't end up buying my 32x from the store, but I did buy some 32x games from him, and also Mortal Kombat on Sega CD. For the 32x, I picked up Tempo and Knuckles Chaotix. They were all in working condition and were shipped promptly.

I like to shop around, and I've found that the GOAT store's prices might be a tiny bit above normal. However, they will usually have what you want and are very knowledgeable on questions you may have. GOAT store is a lot like your local Ma & Pa gaming store, except on the internet. It has all the warmth, and kindness wrapped up in a nice digital package.

They may not be as cheap as eBay potentially may be, but you can be damned sure you know what your'e getting, and that it will be on time.

If you're into retro-games. The GOAT store should definitely be on your radar.

[url]http://www.goatstore.com/[/url]

I decided to make a little video about the 32x. On my regular blog, I started a series that I call "facepalm", which is usually an article/video or just video about an embarrassing product. The other one was for the Virtual Boy which I posted a few weeks ago.

This one's about the 32x. I talk a little bit about the system. Show you how it goes in, and tell you about some games that are actually kind of fun to play on the damn system.

I just use a PS Eye camera, so it's not all fancy high-class stuff.

I am but a simple man. (no Klaus Nomi reference..........?)

[YT]PUoEAYB3ZLY[/YT]

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There's a new Ender book (Ender's Game) coming out this week. I'm a big fan of both the Shadow and Ender series. This new one actually takes place in between Speaker for the Dead and Ender's Game. It actually deals with him finding the Queen and the first colony's inhabitants. I hope it's good! This one is supposed to wrap up part of the story, but there is yet another one coming out soon that takes place after Children of the Mind.

And............ if you don't know what I'm talking about...then uh... It's just some book series that I'm really excited about. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender's_Game[/url]

I don't read much scifi, but this one always seem to be interesting. Since it deals with other issues than what most books deal with.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not posting new threads for each episode of the podcast. I know there's a handful of people who listen to the show, and YES we are going to continue to make it every week (or try to, sorry about a few weeks ago).

It's just Dan and Jarrod don't ever post here, and it's getting to be a hassle, especially when the threads are bumped down almost immediately by non-podcast related threads like "Im drunk" and silly stuff like that.

It feels like posting it here EVERY week makes it seem like we're trying to associate the podcast with VGEVO or something like that. While I like sharing it with you guys, I'm really the only one that goes to VGEVO anymore. By posting it here all the time, I suppose it gives off that impression. I used to post it here because it was "a bunch of vgevo dudes" with a podcast. So it was relevant to your interests! I guess the hype is gone.

So yeah anyways, enough of that. We're still gonna keep 'em coming! If you want to keep up with all the latest episodes, may I suggest using our [URL="http://blackflowermusic.com/poc/?feed=podcast"]RSS feed[/URL]

I still post here, of course. And there's a link in my signature to the website where I host it. Doesn't really seem like I need to make a thread every week, huh? Yeah. That's right. ;)

So I recently did an interview with Michal Staniszewski, the lead designer of Plastic. They're the group that created Linger in the Shadows for the PSN this past week.

It's a pretty good read. Maybe you'll learn something new about art, the demoscene, and other interesting stuff.

[url]http://blackflowermusic.com/blog/?p=114[/url]

The guys did some beautiful things and had some neat concepts on the PSone and PS2 iterations of the series. With companies like Vanillaware carrying the 2d torch, I'd really like to see the SaGa series continue into the next-gen.

As games become more and more 3d, it seems like there's a lot of stuff being left behind. I don't really mean to turn this into an "baww baww I miss 2D" rant...but I'd really like to see SaGa series in HD.

And while Unlimited Saga wasn't exactly the best game ever, it was a good concept. I'd like to see where they'd go from there.

[IMG]http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/66665/rocket.jpg[/IMG]


Discuss.

Yay.

I haven't been trying too terribly hard to book a show, but I've been keeping my eyes open. So we've finalized a show that we're having on November 8th in downtown Nashville.

The thing is, we're a very weird band. We make weird music (noise). We don't perform too terribly often, but that's because we're incredibly busy with school/work/etc. It's difficult to find a venue to host you, or to find an existing group that will let you tag along. This is our fifth show. One show we had at a rock-venue called "The End" we didn't fit in very well (a bunch of 30-somethings with tight jeans drinking bud, with 30-something neo-grunge rock). I was reminded that I lived in Nashville. And it was a harsh reminder.

But I didn't care. I was up on stage in front of quite a few people wearing a hospital scrub, a crushed velvet skirt, and a blue goth-lolita bonnet. We had a staticky TV, a viola, a bunch of pickup mics, and a synthesizer. I was scared and nervous, so all the energy just rushed out. Some of the hicks in the back were like, "WTF." and some were like, "That's freaking cool!"

This next show I have on November 8th will be at a Coffee house. You know how those places can be. I don't know if it will be as uptight as the other place, but hopefully the energy can be right.

We haven't had a show in quite a while, and hopefully this next one will go fairly well. It better, as there's always a bunch of people frequenting this place.

Oh, and if you'd like to listen to some of me and my girlfriend's music, you can listen in at Myspace: [url]http://www.myspace.com/nataraja[/url]

My girlfriend and I do a lot of different things, but it's usually just to manipulate the mood. It usually sounds pretty different from the last.

I've been doing some thinking, and I have come to the conclusion that I must get my college degree sometime soon. Because you know, the internet is taking over everything.

Not unlike Chuck's mom.

Discuss.


Who uses Amazon more than Gamestop? For certain things, I do. For other things..no. (Because they require human interaction and a comfy feeling to discuss whether I should purchase or not)

ITS AN RPG

RPG!!

RPG

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What's that even supposed to mean?

Personally, I feel like a "golden age" is something where the magic is still there, and there's always a sparkle, always that sensation about it. You know, before you become self-aware. Before you become a cynical adult. Golden age of gaming? Could be atari for some? Could be something else for someone else. They always say, "things were better back then."

And while I can agree at times, I don't always. Things were always done differently "back then" and sometimes it would be nice if the future would ask the past for advice once in a while, since you know...It's been there done that.

Every age can be a golden age.

Which one is yours?

Alright, so we're about two years into the realm of so-called "next-gen" gaming, and it doesn't really feel 'next-gen'. Then again, this generation of gaming is potentially unlike anything we've seen before. As opposed to last generation where they focused chiefly on graphics and gameplay, this generation is somewhat segmented between each system.

This time around, it's not just about graphics. There's the six-axis, online capabilities, high def, waggle techniques, voice commanded games, and that sort of thing. Sure, there's a lot of next-gen technology that is known about, there's just something that doesn't really feel like we've jumped too far ahead from where we were.

Perhaps it's because a lot of games are made multiplatform these days, and when a lot of the platforms are either last-gen, or handhelds...And you don't really even see much of a difference in the versions. You play a game like Iron Man on the 360 and the environments and all the stuff is pretty much the same as in the PSP version. There's becoming less and less things that are unique to each game, it seems like. It used to be, you could find certain kinds of things on certain systems, but now they've kinda lost things to differentiate themselves from each other.

Nintendo might've tried with the Wii, but now it's just turned into a hotbed for horribly unimaginite games and ports as well.

It's like...the systems might be 'next gen' but the games really haven't stepped up to the plate yet. 2 years is still pretty early on, usually...but it seems like already most of the AAA titles like Halo and Mario and Zelda have already come out on the current systems. What other games are there to look forward to really?

I'll end this now. :D

I paid good money to have access to this blog. So I figure I should use it once in a while. You know, to put my conscience at ease.

At any rate, I have reviewed/previewed/sampled/tasted/etc/etc the new Wii game "Castle of Shikigami III".

You can read the whole thing [URL="http://blackflowermusic.com/blog/?p=58"]on my blog[/URL]


Happy reading! :read:

[img]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/drinkdeadwater/number1fan.jpg[/img]


You can't say you didn't see that coming.

So I finally decided to write something worth my while. Haven't had much free time lately, but I felt I should speak some words about Mario Kart Wii. Since it's an anticipated hot new title and not some obscure thing like the games I've been picking lately such as Arcana Heart, Baroque, P3FES, or whatever else. I decided to give a stab at something people will most likely want to read. :(

Anyways here you go, it's been posted on my website. Feel free to check it out.........IF YOU DARE>>>

It's not all nice comments. I do have some critical things to say about it.

[url]http://blackflowermusic.com/blog/?p=50[/url]

So I rented Dewey Cox as a pre-street title today at work, and I decided to see what all the fuss about BD Profile 2.0 was....

It's actually kinda cool.

For more, you can check it out on my real blog: [url]http://blackflowermusic.com/blog/?p=35[/url]

I kinda wish it would stop. I think we all need a big group hug.

:)

In honor of shmup month, albeit a little late. I decided to have some write-ups on shooting-related games on my blog. I wrote a little article on Everyday Shooter.

[url]http://blackflowermusic.com/blog/?p=20[/url]

I was also able to convince my friend, who is obsessed with touhou shmups to do a write-up on that series. I have yet to play touhou shmups (wine doesn't like emulating them...Rawr). They're free, and made by ...either one guy...or a small group of people...I'm not sure.

That link can be found here:

[url]http://blackflowermusic.com/blog/?p=21[/url]

Pretty fun stuff. Hope you enjoy!

It's like magic! Drink a little, and you have a magical recipe for disaster!

Today I did a video review of Hot Shots Golf out of bounds, and also World Heroes Anthology. Now, these reviews aren't exactly the most prestigious of reviews, nor do they try to be.

World Heroes Anthology:
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Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
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:bath:

I paid good money for this blog here on VGevo, so leave me alone!!! :(