My Name Is Score Setter, And I'm An Addict

Far be it from me to recommend you try crack, but have you heard of Bejeweled Blitz? It's a phenomenal, quickfire game distributed by Pop Cap through a dealer known as Facebook.

Bejeweled set a standard for match-three games a long while ago with its rapid pace, colorful gems, and pick-up-and-play style. Blitz takes it a little further by limiting games to one minute matches. Just one minute! It's always frantic playing against an ever-dwindling clock, but limiting it so much really narrows down the "just one more game" scope.

And fighting to be above your Facebook friends on the leaderboard is a big plus too. Allow me to brag with my screenshot above of my best score (note that it was before boosts were introduced). Ego turning off now: 25,000 isn't that bad of a score ::shrug::

-- "I mean, sending me down here to play games! Who does he calculate he is?"

I Wanna See Her Morph Ball

Hot on the heels of my emulated defeat of Mother Brain, here are some amazing cosplay pics of bounty hunter Samus Aran. And before you think the title's sick, I meant it as a verb...or something just not sick, sicko.

Besides the famous Metroid killer, you can find some other serious cosplayers with some amazing outfits at Marcelo Colin's flickr page. Altaïr of Assassin's Creed, Hellboy, and some random Darth all make appearances.

-- "My name is Domino Harvey. I am a bounty hunter. You're probably wondering how a girl like me arrived here. What I say will determine whether or not I spend the rest of my life in prison."

Law-Abiding Engineer

Did you see Law Abiding Citizen with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx? Good flick. Well someone decided, "Hey, I think that film trailer needs more TF2!" And then you get Law Abiding Engineer.

I only caught eight of the nine classes showing up though. Where was Pyro? I think she could've played one of those females. But the Scout's death scene? I think he may have Bonk'd! his last victim.



-- "In my experience, Nick, lessons not learned in blood are soon forgotten."

Greatest Film I've Ever Seen...In Dutch

Have you ever heard of Ben X? No, not the cartoon on Cartoon Network, Ben 10. It's a Dutch film based on a true story about a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome who tries to fight back against his bullies.

Aside from plot synopsis, this film touches social injustice and relates a story through the main character's only attachment to the real world: his online game, Archlord. The actual game wasn't well-received, but it was a useful tool in conveying the effects plaguing the young man's mind. I would never have thought to really love a film constantly displaying MMO graphics. And though I wonder if it relates as well to those who don't have my gaming experience, people were obviously affected enough to offer it up as Belgium's best candidate for the Academy Awards (though it didn't get nominated).

Anyway, I was tied to the character and was empathizing to his forlorn moments. Everything seemed well-constructed, and I couldn't be happier to have seen it. Chalk another one up for Netflix recommendations!

-- "I've never loved anything the way he loves music."

JRPG Redux Reduced: Synopsis Quest

Want the killer without all the fluffity, puffity filler? Try Fluffy Puff Marshmallows Synopsis Quest! It's an old-school JRPG not concerned with epic storylines, treasured treasures, or XP grinding!

If you truncated a NES-style Final Fantasy into 25 mini-games spanning about 10 minutes, it wouldn't be better than this. It has humor, excitement, and very few times of frustration (see "Find the Sunken Treasure"). Just remember to have patience with some of them too; they can be stupid-easy if you just wait sometimes.

"Talk to the Princess" and "Act Like a Hero" are my favorites.

-- "The Princess will be up the stairs in the highest room in the tallest tower."

Just Cause I Can

I've prematurely gushed over Just Cause 2 for a few months now and can now attest to the absolute fun I'm having with it. There's way too much to do, so it definitely feeds A.D.D. tendencies. Whilst flying to a location on the other side of the island, "Ooo hey, that boat looks fun!" or "Let's crash this into that bridge while climbing onto a car that's attached to another car!"

It's really that silly and features so much more than ever expected. And to get the hang of base jumping and seeing some other achievements, I've resorted to faithful YouTube submissions (which also feeds A.D.D. tendencies). Which is how I found the video below.



Seriously silly.

-- "In 1945, peace broke out."

The Star Wars of Iceland

Earth has a plethora of spectacular vistas and events to see, too many to witness in one lifetime. But having the internet helps, right? (You may want to mute that.) Tack on another instance of our amazing world: the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland.

It's simply phenomenal, and the captured images are astounding. I wanna be one of those photographers! But seriously, some of these images look like the emperor just died!

-- "And now, young Skywalker... you will die."

I Beat The Greatest Game Ever...Again

What is your favorite game of all time? Gamers of my generation usually look back to the early days of Nintendo's dominance, and the game I usually pronounce as my fave stems from that era too: Super Metroid.

What's odd is I've never owned a Super Nintendo or beaten it on that system; all my play-throughs have been via emulator. The fidelity has always held up on keyboard compared to the controller counter-part. And I am still reminded why it's my go-to answer for that oft-asked geek question: What is your favorite game of all time?

-- "I've set my laser from stun to kill." "Oh, great. If anyone attacks we can blink em' to death."

Scott Pilgrim? Looks Fun!

I never read the comic Scott Pilgrim, but the upcoming movie looks awesome! Michael Cera plays himself...with super powers. So that's kinda new. Also, the style in terms of video games' sound bites and references is pretty cool.

Now I understand why I've heard this coming up among some of my geek friends' conversations. Definitely heading to the theater for this.



-- "Give me a scotch. I'm starving."

Far From A Triumph

Ever wonder about the origins of Aperture Science? Sure, it's a fictional company that creates ridiculous, fantastic technologies, but how did it come to be making GLaDOS and portal technology? Would you believe shower curtains?

Well until it's supposed destruction, Aperture Science seemed to be living the life of unethical experimentation and future world domination. Hopefully it hasn't been set back too far.

-- "If it isn't Leopard Boy and the Decepticons."

Coheed Surprise!

I haven't really been paying attention to my favorite band of late. But thanks to some random friends, I found that Coheed & Cambria just released their newest album, Year of the Black Rainbow. And now I'm left waiting to drive to the store after work and buy it.

In the meantime I'll be checking out some of the songs and wondering where this new album's story fits in with the overall life & death of the fictional Coheed & Cambria.

-- "9, you shall protect the future."

Step Brothers Buddy Cop Movie

Will Ferrell movies tend to be hilarious. But would the addition of Mark Wahlberg and classic "buddy cop" trope (y'know, that old thang) continue the hilarity? Worse things have happened.

Other guys looks to add Ferrell's magic to the mix as he has the unwitting innocence of a cop who should not be, the unrelenting luck of scraping by ludicrous situations, and the uncommon impossibility of bagging Eva Mendes. Apparently humor is the one of the top things women look for in a man, right?

I've linked enough; enjoy the trailer below.

-- "His wristwatch thought the single Windsor made his neck look fat, but said nothing."

Children's Horror Book

In the spirit of recent genre-mixing novels the likes of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, a new children's story is available to read online: Alien Vs. Pooh. Join Winnie the Pooh as he deals with facehuggers, and the 100 Acre Wood deals with the resulting mess. It's a bit disjunctive but full of disturbing images for a highly-regarded children's series making it well-apt to open up the new genre.

Although I'm not quite sure the children's section at the library is quite ready for this version of Christopher Robin.

-- "This box is full of stuff that almost killed me."

Next Generation of Music Gaming?

This year's Game Developer's Conference didn't bring us a whole lot of exciting announcements. But an idea that I'm sure has been floating around the heads of many a guitar-playing gamer looks to be settling into place. Seven45 Studios is introducing a real guitar amongst the Rock Band Hero competition.

Power Gig: Rise of the Six-String looks to bridge the finger-gaps between video games and real-life rocking. It has real-life guitar players in their booth, so that must be true, right? It purports not to train someone into becoming a guitarist, but it has to include something for the would-be shredder. My only frets lie with the quality of guitar used to make it cost-effective and interface design & functionality of reading correct notes/button presses.

Plus, I can already imagine the great tuning and re-stringing mini games to come with it. "Ahhh, you broke a string. Time to go buy some over-priced ones at our online store and hope they don't break while you string it back up trying to beat the best time!"

-- "Loads of elevators play Celine Dion - that don't make it right."

I'm Right Here!

Was away for a little over a week, but it wasn't a week of me being lazy (just kinda lazy). I was down in Mexico chillin' out, maxin', and relaxin' all cool. But no, there was no "b-ball."

My first time outside the States was amazing, only made so because of the infinitely great company I kept whilst there. She and I almost got swept into the sea by 10-foot waves, rode ATVs through the desert and on the beach, and rode a "banana boat" inflatable tube next to the rocky outcroppings of the southern tip of the Baja California. And there were free drinks at pool-side bars at our hotel. Simply fantastic!

Now to get back to this dull, dull, dull real world and lose myself in Mass Effect 2.

-- "I need a lift in your el truck-o to the next town-o!"