11.03.2008

The Amazing Video Game Name Generator

I happened to find this hilarious tool of wonderful amazingness while cruising around the internet; it's called the Video Game Name Generator, and it has a bank of phrases/words that it randomly combines together to make names of imaginary video games, with something like 70 million possible combinations. And it somehow manages to come up with a ton of absolutely hilarious names.

My personal favorites would have to be Communist Chipmunk From Hell, The Sims: Equestrian Apocalypse, The Lethal Banana Strikes Back, Super Flatulance Gone Wild, Renegade Stunt Babies, Legend of the Terrorist in My Pocket, and The Jedi Banana Strikes Back. Sure, sometimes it comes up with completely stupid names, but all it takes is an quick click and an insta-load, and you should be back to total hilarity.

Seriously, check it out, even if you don't like video games (Though I really don't know why you're here if you don't.. Just kidding! I love you anyway :D). 

Linky

11.02.2008

Woot!

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know I just added the Woot! Watcher gadget to my sidebar, so if you're in need of a good deal, check it out when you stop by to read :-)

In case you don't know what Woot! is, it's a website that comes up with one great deal and gives you 24 hours to order it, and then at midnight, they introduce a new deal. I've seen some fairly amazing deals, so it's worth a look if you like saving money.

Hope you enjoy. 

Sad Socks (Coldplay's Lost? Video Competition)

So, chances are you haven't heard about this, but Coldplay's running a contest for two free VIP tickets and airfare to one of their concerts. How do you win them, you ask? By making the best music video of their single, "Lost!". Well, actually, the music video is for the acoustic version of the song, "Lost?", but you get the picture.

Anyway, there've been quite a few creative entries so far, varying from one involving lamps making pictures to another featuring a trip through a store in a shopping cart, to more generic "oh you're so far away, I miss you so much my dear!" videos. You can check out the best ones on Coldplay's Youtube channel, but Coldplay.com featured a specific video that I think is, one of, if not the best, of all the contestants so far. It features a tragic, and quite funny story, of two sock puppets. And it actually almost made me cry. It's really very good and creative, so check it out:

Jedi Jesus!

My girlfriend and I were having a conversation on AIM earlier, and don't ask how we got on the subject (believe me.. I don't even know), but we started talking about what it would've been like if Jesus was a jedi. And she made a picture to illustrate the conversation. Thought you guys might appreciate it: 

It's fairly amazing ;-)

Snow Patrol: "A Hundred Million Suns"

About a year ago, Snow Patrol made it big in the US with their slow-progressing love song, Chasing Cars, and to be honest I got very tired of it after just a few listens. It wasn't an interesting song at all, just a simple pop melody that could do well on the radio, and really sounded nothing like the rest of their album. But in the past month-ish, I'd started listening to their last two albums (Eyes Open and Final Straw) a LOT. Probably once or twice a day each, from start to finish (I get sooort of obsessive when I like an album).

So, I was pretty excited to hear they had a new album coming out about a week ago (I never pay attention to music news, so I get the shit surprised out of me when I go on Wikipedia and look at bands' pages and see "new album to be released NEXT WEEK!". It happens a LOT XD) entitled A Hundred Million Suns. Upon first listen, I honestly thought it was a completely horrible album. Everything sounded very samey, and in some parts I thought their vocalist, Gary Lightbody, had turned into a robot over the past two years.

However, I gave it another chance and I guess AHMS is just one of those growers, instead of an "OMG-I-want-to-make-love-to-this-album-after-one-listen" album, because now it's clear that this is a great album from a great band. What elevates Snow Patrol above most other bands nowadays, in my eyes, is that instead of simply going with the success of their huge, boring, elephant of a hit single (otherwise known as a Coldplay X&Y) and making an album full of huge, repetitive songs that rely purely on hooks, they decided to go in the opposite direction with this album. This is clearly not "Chasing Cars II", and there's not a single song on the album that sounds much like it at all.

It opens with "If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It", which is a good, pounding rock tune that isn't very memorable but does a good job at introducing the mood of the album, though it definitely doesn't match "You're All That I Have" off of Eyes Open. The other ten songs on the album all clearly sound like Snow Patrol, but they have a more experimental feel than most of the bands' previous material. Whether it's the distant vocals on "Lifeboats", crashing drums keeping the beat, handclaps providing a rhythm on "The Golden Floor", or guitars that drift in and out of the soundscape, this album feels distinctly seperate from Snow Patrol's past work. 

The album does have some glimpses of the catchy hooks of the past however, most clearly on its lead single, "Take Back the City", which sounds different from most of the rock out on the airwaves at the moment and should help give Snow Patrol a more accurate identity in the US. "Crack the Shutters" also has the same catchiness, but it manages to keep its ballad-ish lyrics pushing forward with a very up-front beat in the chorus. 

If there's any point where this album lacks, it's in the second half, where three or four moderate tempo songs sort of seem to blend together. But the biggest surprise comes in the form of a bonus/hidden track called "The Lightning Strike", which is a three part epic-song made to be sort of like a sonic journey through a thunderstorm. Lasting over 16 minutes long, it's by far the longest, most creative tune ever to come from this band, and it's a very interesting listen, if you happen to have 16 minutes free ;-)

So, what do I think of A Hundred Million Suns? Well, it's definitely different than Snow Patrol's older albums, but in a good way. They're starting to take a step towards where they should be; an inventive guitar band, instead of a catchy pop-rock band. AHMS is by no means a super revolutionary album, just a step in the right direction. If I had to rate it, I'd say it deserves something like a 8/10

11.01.2008

The Best Console?

So, I guess I lied - I'm gonna talk about this right now, because I really can't think of anything else to post about haha. Anyway, this has been the age old question - for as long as I can remember games existing - which is the best console? This time around there's the Wii, PS3, and the Xbox 360, and I'll include the PC as well, just for fun. I guess the way I'll do this is just by talking about each, then telling you what I think at the end.

I'll start with the good ol' 360, which I've had the longest, since like.. March 2006, I think. And I loved it, for a very long time, until very recently, infact. It's got pretty much everything you could ask for in a console - the most exclusive games, the best navigation, the most features, the simplest navigation, and, most importantly of all, Xbox Live. Live is, without a doubt, the best thing this console has going for it; it has an AMAZING community, mainly due to the fact that with most consoles, you get a headset, so teamwork gets going, because most people can talk and coordinate things. Yes, it may be $50 a month, but honestly, how many people can't spare $4 a month? But the Xbox-io has one extremely huge flaw. In the first two years I owned mine, it got the red rings (the most common way they break) 3 times, which wasn't too bad since they fixed that for free, and I got it back within two weeks.

But over the summer, my 360 started crashing uncontrollably. Just the other day, I was listening to music, and it was working fine for hours, and then I accidentally turned on the visualizer fullscreen and it crashed. And this time, Microsoft won't fix it for free, because it's "not a common problem". Which I love, as I know many other people who've had similar issues. And it'll cost me $100 to fix. And I don't know about you, but I can't see putting in money to something so incredibly unstable. Sure, I've heard the newer consoles break less, but they've been saying that every few months about the "new consoles". And they still break just as much, it seems. 

I bought the Wii next, solely for Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and then later got Wii Fit as well. And I really haven't been able to pin down why they're so extremely popular. I rarely turn mine on, and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's because the very botched "Friends Code" online system really doesn't work at all, and makes me feel detached from my friends, which is hard after being so used to being connected with Xbox Live. Or maybe it's the fact that you have to stand up to really get the motion detector to work right, which isn't exactly my idea of "kicking back and relaxing", which is usually what I turn on a game to do. It might also be the fact that the games really aren't too compelling on your own. But that does lead me to the Wii's one shining star - it's INCREDIBLY fun when you have other people playing. It seems that most developers have made that the focus of their games, which is great, because the Wii's multiplayer is the one thing that the other systems just can't match. 

Then came the PS3, which I bought because they were discontinuing Playstation 2 hardware backwards compatibility, and I really wanted that, and Blu-Ray also seemed like it'd be worth trying. But I can't lie - in the year I've owned the system, I haven't bought a single retail game. I've downloaded games, and I've rented them, but I've never been compelled to buy any, because I've always had my 360, and for whatever reason, developers that make games on both platforms like to make the 360 versions better than the PS3 ones. And none of the exclusives have really stood out (though LittleBigPlanet shall be mine soon).

From when have played some games on it though, to be honest, it's not as bad a console as some people (*cough*fanboys) make it out to be. The online's not as good as Live, which I think is mainly because you have to buy a Bluetooth headset seperately to talk and they're not cheap, but the service is free, so it sort of balances out, I guess. Everything else works as well as it does on the Xbox, for the most part, aside from when the game developers decide not to work out all the bugs (which happens way too much.. *punches developers*). Two random annoyances I have, though: one, the controllers feel way too light, but I believe that's fixed now with the new Dualshock 3 controllers having vibration again (Sony, you have to admit, taking that out in the first place was STUPID). And two, no one should buy this console for Blu-Ray unless you're a complete graphics whore, because after the "OMGPRETTY" effect wears off, you'll probably decide that the $10-15 price difference on the movies just isn't worth it.

And lastly, we come to the age-old PC, which is according to some people "dying off" (but, I'll tell you a secret: it's really not ;)). I've been playing PC games on and off, but I'm planning on getting into them more with my Xbox dead, and having just built a new gaming rig. So far, I can tell you that the PC has three major advantages over any of the consoles. First, if you have a powerful PC, the graphics are EXTREMELY prettier than any console can make (just take a look at Crysis if you don't believe me). Next is the fact that games can be modded, which lets you get a lot more bang for your buck, since they change up the way the games play quite a bit. And the third thing I like more about the PC is that it uses a mouse and keyboard, which is a lot more accurate when it comes to shooters than any controller to this day.

But of course the PC's not perfect - the biggest problem is definitely how, even if you spend thousands on a new computer, within a few months it'll be outdated, while consoles last for 5 years. And you also have to deal with technical issues and all sorts of funky compatibility shiz, which is about as fun as giving a hairy man a full body wax (I mean, unless you're into that, and hey, I'm not one to judge..). One last little thing I have to note about the PC is that the community is about as tight as the PS3 - not very - but if you have some friends who play online, or you find a good clan to play with, then that's not an issue. 

As for the verdict..? You know, after all that reading you've done, I feel kind of bad, because I tricked you. I don't have a verdict. None of the consoles are best. The Xbox may be great, but how can I recommend something that breaks for nearly everyone at least once? And the Wii, well, what's the point of buying a game system that's not much fun to play alone? The PC, sure, it's great, but who has the money to constantly (and expensively) update a game system every year or two? Honestly, if I had to pick one of the four, I think I'd go with the Playstation 3, because it's stable, and it has nearly all of the game variety the 360 or PC has, even if many of them are slightly buggy and the community's not as tightly knit as the Xbox's, and it's not quite as fun with friends as the Wii. So, that's as close to a verdict as you'll get out of me. My advice, if you're looking for a good console, just read what I had to say and choose what you think you'll like best, because I really did my best to be unbiased with this as possible.

What? You're pissed that I didn't tell you what you should buy exactly? Well then, you can have a consolation prize: a free cookie. I mean, it's a virtual cookie so I reaaally don't know what you can do with it, but.. Eh.. I'm sure you can figure out something. *Runs off*

Welcome To The Analog Stick

Hey guys, I'm Matt and I'd like to welcome you to my new blog called 'The Analog Stick'. I'm planning on writing mainly about video games (and nerdy tech stuff too, because I can be omgsupernerdy on occasion, just give me some computer parts and you'll see :D), along with a little bit of music and movies and "whatever" thrown in for fun, and I'm sure your question is "why exactly would I come here and read your silly opinion instead of going to some place like Gamespot where everything's organized?!" Well, because I'm amazing obviously ;)

Sarcasm aside (you'll learn that I pretend to have a big head a lot :D), I guess you should just come read because I'll put an honest opinion into everything I write, and even though I'll be sure to write well, it won't be completely "must be totally professional"-ish (or as I like to call it, "I'm a writing robot, watch me go!" writing), because I know reading that stuff gets pretty boring after a while. And I'll be mixing it up instead of just doing reviews, just doing news, just doing games, just doing music, it'll be a big huge mishmash :D

As for what games I play, I'm pretty much into everything EXCEPT fighting games, 'cause their repetitiveness gets on my nerves most of the time. And I do have all 3 current consoles (Wii, 360, and PS3) along with both portables and a brand new gaming PC, so I'll talk about all of them, including which one I think is the best (*cough*notthe360*cough*), but that's for another post a little bit later :)

Musicwise, I like a bit of everything aside from death metal, commercial-samey rock bands (like Nickelback) and commercial rap, but my favorites definitely lie in the soft rock/acoustic/alternative area. As in, my favorite band is Coldplay (not afraid to admit it, laugh all you want) but I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Keane too. And movies, I'm into everything too.. except shitty movies ( ;) ). 

You know.. I just had a moment of realization looking at this post, that I like pretty much everything.. Huh. That's really weird..

But anyway, before I get off into a really random rant, I'll leave you with this to ponder:

A cookie in the hand is worth more than one in the drawer.

(Whatever the hell that means! If you get anything out of that, please, tell me what in the comments, because I'd really love to know haha.)

Anyone who's reading, hope to see you back soon, I'll try to keep it interesting and stuffs. 

:-)