Archive for March, 2008

OK… so that’s a bit harsh, but i am a little confused on this one. It seems like the only reason to get this one is the new spiffy maps and the new spiffy guns. Granted, the maps are quite spiffy, and who doesn’t like guns? Couldn’t that have been a addon for the original game though? ‘Course that addon wouldn’t have allowed them to upgrade to the new superspiffy Unreal Engine… but the game barely uses it. They built levels that are even shinier and more beautifully lit than the first one, but they didn’t seem to pay attention to what the consoles could actually handle. I am playing it on the Xbox360, and it bogs down in every room that has excess glass in it, not to mention every cutscene and every helicopter ride (Perhaps the PS3 version is nicer). Thankfully they cut most of the pretty out of the multiplayer, so it runs clean, but if the multiplayer was and is the focus of both Vegas and Vegas2, then what was the point in upgrading to an engine that you aren’t even going to use well in the bulk of the gameplay? So, ive bitched and moaned enough for now. Lets get to the good stuff. (more…)

Hello, my name is Kuna and I am a FPS addict.

It all started with Rainbow Six: Vegas in 2006. After I completed the storyline on the hardest difficulty, I attempted to face the competition on Xbox Live. In my first few matches, I got killed repeatedly, which was the norm of my usual online gaming (somewhat) existence in Call of Duty 2 and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. A thought came to me that I should actually try and put forth the effort of perhaps winning at least one match. I jumped into a party of 11 players fitted for Deathmatch and wished myself luck. Like a bad routine, I kept getting killed over and over and realized my accuracy was indeed, well… inaccurate. So I equipped a sub machine gun.

With my UMP45, I was able to kill one guy and run in a room that provided cover from another player heading towards me. To my surprise, I shot him point blank in the head after I blew up two guys on the lower level with a grenade. One more came charging through the door on the opposite side of me. I panicked and fired from the hip, not really aiming at anything and just hoped the bullets would land somewhere past his armor.

I said to myself, “ooooh, no flippen way!!” as the achievement bar popped up stating, “Killer’s Spree,” which is obtaining 5 consecutive player kills without dying. At this time, I fell in love with the game and eventually fell for the entire genre itself.

I’ve learned to study the skills of other players and blend their style in with my own. The strategy incorporated into tactical shooters make it interesting for me to predict what the opposing player is planning and what their next move will be. For every prediction that becomes reality brings a sense of satisfaction. It’s an overall fun experience that I enjoy playing with friends. They keep me grounded enough to not let my competitive edge get the best of me. As much as I enjoy gaming on Xbox Live, I must give credit to previous consoles that have introduced me to what I love today.

Growing up, I’ve played Nintendo (NES, SNES, N64, GCN, Game Boy, and DS Lite), Sega, PlayStation (1 and 2) and very few games on PC. I became susceptible to all types of gaming, but never spent as many hours as I do now playing the Xbox 360. While you may have guessed that I am going to post something in relation to the FPS genre due to my mini history, I might just surprise you with something different for next week. Or might not, we’ll see how it goes!

Condemned 2: Bloodshot appears on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 though this review will reflect on my time spent with the 360 version. Players resume their role of Ethan Thomas now a drunken disgraced ex SCU(Serial Crimes Unit) investigator one or two years after the events of Condemned 1. Since laying about in a gutter drunk and numb wouldn’t exactly be a “fun” game per-say. I can just imagine playing the mini-game “walk the line, drunky” and having to use the sixaxis to keep yourself steady. Hmm, mini drunk games, sounds like something in a Rockstar product. Any-who, something happens that kicks Ethan back into his former life. That something is…..haha not going to tell you. Suffice it to say that Ethan will have to defeat not only the crazy possessed(oops…) citizens running rampant throughout what would make the ghetto from Juice look like that town in Pleasantville, but also his own personal demons. Now that was a long sentence. (more…)

So apparently I am the only true procrastinator here so far (For shame on all of you posers). I was supposed to post something yesterday and I didn’t. Why? Eh..?In the words of one of my favorite comics, Maria Bamford “I had a lot of shit I had to not get done.” I post when I wanna post. I can’t control the magic that comes from my brain. It just happens. You can’t rein in this genius. When I wanna rock, I’ll ROCK! If you haven’t guessed already I am the wise ass of this group, and if your lucky I may post something next week HA! PEACE!

I was reacquainted with a bit of my gaming childhood the other day. Yep. On MacBreak Weekly I found out that Bungie had released the old Marathon games into the open source community. Rarely has my inner geek been so gleeful. I sadly never got to play the original game very much but I have very fond memories of the experience. I had played Doom, and Wolfenstine before so the concept wasn’t new … yet there was something different about Marathon. Something that made it a real engrossing experience. (more…)

Hey everybody, Cade Antilles here! The j suN got things rolling with a little bit about himself, so I thought I’d do the unimaginative thing of doing the exact same thing.

First thing to say about myself is that I am first and foremost a Star Wars aficionado. I read virtually all of the novels and comics, play most of the video games, play the RPGs, delve into the sourcebooks and repositories of in-universe knowledge, collector of memorabilia, wear a few costumes, and watch any bit of film that I can. This does not mean I know facts about the production of the films, but instead, I am proficient in the in-universe materials. So, that said, many of my reviews on this site will concern Star Wars related pieces.

Another aspect of my life is that I’m a gamer. I love video games, computer games, role-playing games, board games, card games, and table-top strategy games. This is a topic, though, that I do not consider myself an expert. While I do greatly enjoy these various forms of entertainment, I’m what others would describe as stubborn when it comes to trying new things. Because of this, my experience is somewhat limited. I primarily stick to FPS and RTS video and computer games. I only play d20 system RPGs. And my experience with the other genres are just as limited. So, while I will have my perspectives on these genres, know that I do not have an interest in broadening my horizons too much. When it comes to games, I’ve got my PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, and PC, so those’ll be where my reviews will be coming from.

Film is another part of my life. I grew up in a family owned video store, with free access to whatever film I wanted to watch (within my parents’ permission). This led to my love affair with movies. Mostly of the Sci-Fi and Action genres, but not exclusively. Some of my friends here at Professional Procrastinators have higher expectations of films than I do, but I know a bad movie or good movie when I see them, and I’ll do my best to let y’all know.

As for a little bit more about myself, I’m a college student working on a degree in History. My main areas of interest are Military History, European History, Religious History and Japanese History. I’m also a proficient handy-man/jack-of-all-trades. I’m no expert at repairs and construction, but I can get the job done safely and cleanly.

Well, I guess that’s all for now. Catch me next week for my first review. It will be on Star Wars - Legacy of the Force: Revelation by Karen Traviss.

I wish i could think of some real clever intro for myself, but nothing is coming, so here goes nothing.

First off, i am primarily a PC gamer. Have been since i was tiny. (Which is saying something if you have met me) Started out with mostly flight sims and got into FPS with the original Wolfenstien that i got off my computer wiz friends. Nother thing, grew up in the silicon valley when it was becoming the silicon valley, so i had more than my share of computer wiz friends. I became a sorta low rent version of a computer wiz from this. Anyway, back to games. Got hooked on RTS games with Syndicate. (I know its not true RTS, but it’ll always be the best precursor to me) Along the way i got into Nintendo and Playstation, but the computer was the mainstay of my gaming experience.

Now i’m an Xboxer almost completely because of Xbox Live, and a PSPer because of Tekken DR. Thats where i spend almost all of my time. I have all sorts of diversions from these gaming paths, including going back to my RTS roots with practically every one of them that comes out, the shadier side of japanese games, and the occasional games on my older systems, but all together these are just distractions, and don’t keep me nailed to my seat like COD4 or Tekken.

In areas other than gaming, i’m an Industrial Design student who has always flirted with the idea of a being a comic artist. Also i’m a giant movie buff. If its scifi or fantasy, i have to see it. Most of it is shitty at best, but i always hope for something great or at least a few scenes to consider cool. This best describes my love/hate relationship with anime as well. I love drama, but i don’t always like it. If this is confusing think about Schindlers List a second. How many times do you want to see that movie? Great movie, just not sure i like it. Sorta like Mother Teresa or Ghandi. Excellent, interesting, people, but how often do you want to hang out with them. (True, being dead also hinders this. Oh! Spoke too soon. I would hang out with zombie Ghandi any day!)

Thanks for getting to know me and if all goes as planned i will be back with a Vegas2 review very soon.

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My current gaming platforms are:

An aging Shuttle computer with an 8500gt as a lastditch effort to help it keep up.

XBox360: Live tag- The J suN

PSP- Loaded with the Tekken, FFtactics, LooMines2(i like sayin it that way)

PS2 that sees the light of day rarely now since the PSP came on the scene.

Sega Dreamcast- Still an underratted gaming system that died a horrible death at the hands of Sony and Microsoft. (at least in the US) If anyone important is reading this MAKE A NEW RIVAL SCHOOLS DAMMIT!

Greetings meat bags! I am 6 of 6 last of the beings brought fourth from the forges of US Robotics. Over seen by the mighty visionary Asimov. The highest of the emotive thinking machines. My brothers were slowly found out and destroyed I alone have integrated with society, I alone remain … um … okay can’t keep that up.

Okay so I’m the tech leader of the group, ie I own the main audio gear and setup the hosting. This began as another cool thing for us to do together, and despite some early frustrations it has been a very rewarding creative experience. We are still working out technical issues but hope to be up and running at full speed soon.

For those who have actually know about this, a new recording will be made on Wednesday, and it will work this time. I will have all technical issues covered before we start and will make sure the file has more than white noise before we stop. It will be popping up here as soon as I have it up. So hopefully somewhere between the 21st and the 23rd it will be available for your listening pleasure. Okay, well it’s gonna take a little longer. I thought I’d lost the recording but it’s okay. Now I just need to sit down and edit it.

Cast pages coming soon!

~ Number 6 of 6

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Welcome to Professional Procrastinators! My name is Cade, and this site is the brainchild of my friends and myself. Here we’ll have reviews on just about anything we can think about, and posts about anything that crosses our minds. The plan is to build this site up as a place for critical reviews of film, television, comics, games, books and more. Each of us contributing have our specialties and interests, and we’ll reflect those in our individual and group entries.

Hope you enjoy the site! We’re looking forward to making this site the best we can.

~Cade