I’m looking to start a new job here soon. Another unexpected change but it will open up some new opportunities as it will be a local business with a good friend. So, with that in mind, I’m going to be changing this new theme a bit and updating the header with some images that should prove to be a bit more interesting. Going to try to add some hot buttons for my Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts for reference. Going to be a lot of successful changes in my life and with Solar Shock Pictures still going strong with the upcoming production of American Rejects, it’s looking to be an excellent year.

Well, back to work. Here’s to a new start!

So I no longer work for that online review site. It left a sour taste in my mouth that I do not wish to revisit. It was unfortunate as they not only seemed to care less about its employees as time wore on, but they started laying off the educated people who spoke their mind and suggestions for making the company generate some interest. Ah well, they’re loss and I predict at their current rate that they’re going to peel off employees one by one until only the remaining founder file for either bankruptcy or take whatever money is left and run with it. Good riddance. I’m now working for IT Help Desk support with Woodbury Technologies and I’ve been most pleased with this job! It is a bit of a drive to get to my location… and little remote… so it’s a little awkward to look back and see what friends and working environment I had to this new remote location. Ah well, good times shall be had by all!

Now to discuss some excellent Solar Shock Pictures news! We created our first feature-length film and submitted it to Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals this year! The name of the show is Elysium where I play Clown. The trailer (linked above) is the 3rd of the trailers to be made before it’s unveiling on January 13th. So hang tight for details on the when and where! It will be a fun event!

Games I’ve been playing lately: Assassin’s Creed 2, CoD: Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands, Champions Online, Aion, Uncharted 2, Fat Princess, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and a few others to go off the top of my head. I’d have to be in my room checking out my library to get a full recap. Reviews, potential SitG, and rantings about the games will come soon enough. Hang tight kids.

The last bit of news for this update: I have proposed to the woman whom I wish to marry, and she gleefully said yes. We are still unsure of the date at this time, it was going to be March 13th, however, we’ve had some things arise and that is now up in the air. I will keep everyone posted with what to expect and the other details that are included! I’m incredibly happy and very surprised that I found myself falling so quickly as I’ve usually been the first to yell “BOOOO!!!” to marriage. Yet, here I am. Most exciting!

On that note friends, here is to a wonderful life, new challenges, and I will make sure to keep up to date with news of new Solar Shock projects. I am really missing my film crew right now as we are not in as close of communication that we have been previously. Here’s to the future success of Elysium and our upcoming film projects! Wow… I’d better finish that script if we’re going to consider it in next year’s lineup!

 Enter the continuing character of Chris Redfield with his new partner, Sheva. Immediately, I was thrilled to see that the AI is initially smart regarding their ability to shoot. I wish they’d aim for the head automatically, rather than the chest, but ah well. It’s better than a kick in the face. The story was able to capture my attention immediately. The creepy factor shoots through the roof a few moments after you gain control of Chris and the atmosphere was created very well on the track to meet your contact.

Controls felt familiar as they were very identical to Resident Evil 4. I didn’t find anything different other than the inventory has been changed from an attache case to 9 items only. SIDE NOTE: You can quickly equip items not in the designated D-Pad shortcut by hovering over the item in the inventory and pressing your Left Button/Bumper. Moving on.

Now the AI gets a little frustrating. There are points where you have to separate via an assisted jump to higher ground or over a large gap. The AI doesn’t loot!! The confounded creature just sits there and kills zombies but will not assist in getting that lovely treasure sitting on top of the building! There are also times where the AI will perform an act of less than human stupidity. For example: You have a creature with a one hit kill… rather than go around the creature, the AI runs right in front of it, thus, ending with a “Your Partner Has Died” screen. The YPHD screen… is the most frustrating screen to get because it’s beyond your control. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Enter Multiplayer. This completely SAVES the game for me here. There are key moments in the game where the AI hinders more than assists. With another human logging in, with privacy settings to ensure that you can only have friends you invite or leave it open to the gaming world, it creates a level of harmony that works out splendidly. Tasks are far more efficient, bosses are handled in a much more well mannered degree, and you don’t, usually, have someone who drains 400 rounds of ammo into a bullet proof portion of an enemy. This option enhances the gameplay to the point where I will say if you have a friend who currently has this game, buy it now. Period. Whatever your system of choice is, I chose the PS3, buy it now.

Now for the extras. You’re rewarded quite extensively for your hard work. From costumes for the character models, a significant weapon upgrade system, and an additional gameplay mode to unlock, it makes the trek worth it to go through the game. After you unlock Mercenaries mode… you have EVEN MORE to unlock.  You’ll want to upgrade all your weapons because you are rewarded with a rare weapon after you upgrade the weapon category to the max. There’s even exclusive weapons for Chris & Sheva to assist with gameplay. Considering it was fairly challenging on Normal, it’s a nice tip of the hat venturing forward. Lots and lots to unlock. Collectible figurines that you can exchange points for, hidden emblems that give you a drastic amount of points, Mercenaries mode giving you points to cash in on the goodies you get, unlimited ammo modes for the weapons that are fully upgraded, there’s a lot of content that went into this game and it will take some time to fully appreciate it all.

Side Note #2: For those who have experienced the lack of money and looking for a method to get the cash, consider the following; Chapter 4-1 (Caves) contains a number of jewels, both large and small, and two sarcophagus containing nothing but the money. Starting at the beginning of the chapter, up to the point just before you see some bizarre rolling boulders of firey doom, there is roughly $25,000 to be had and it takes about 10 – 15 minutes to complete. Once you get to the boulders portion, Quit out, save your status & inventory, wash, rinse, repeat at the START of 4-1 (Not continuing) until you accumulate the money needed. I’m sure there’s other methods, but this one worked the best.

Thanks for reading the review, I hope it was helpful. I apologize I haven’t included any links into this review, but I’ve been lazy.  

So tonight, I’m going to be playing Resident Evil 5 online with Josh. I will most likely FINALLY finish the Spot In The Game Part 2.  Took me long enough, but directing & acting in a play and having to be to the theater 4 days a week on top of my day job… it was wearing me down. I’m feeling much better these days, but last night was one of my cast members last performances. It was sad to see her go, but she’s running away on a European vacation, so she’ll be just fine.

So, have faith! I haven’t neglected the web ‘verse too much! I’ll be back in full force before too long.  Until then, enjoy and have fun.

This is a Wordle. Basically you can plug in any website (or in my case, blog) and it will research and generate words based off of what you’ve written in the past. 

Alternatively, you can type in a bunch of words that you want to be in the word cloud specifically. I got a kick out of some of the things that turned up in the work though, it was very colorful. I didn’t find an exact way to export the work as once you create it, they host it on their site, but it is still fun never the less.

On to the discussion of the play! So… Been doing this little play thing, and have attempted to pull in large amounts of audience.  It hasn’t quite happened yet. It’s a very successful play in terms of casts though. Both casts bring a very unique presentation of the same script to the stage. So! Listen up troops. Those in the Northern Utah area who have said that you’re going to come to the show but haven’t… it’s now or never folks! I’ll present the schedule below including the casts.

March 19th (Thurs) – Yuric’s Avengers (Mandie, Buttars, and Myself) 7:30
March 20th (Fri) – Thumb Biters (Dennis, Sean, Mandie*) 7:30 – *Mandie’s standing in for Sheri
March 21st (Sat) – Yuric’s Avengers 7:30 
March 23rd (Mon) – Yuric’s Avengers 7:30
March 26th (Thur) – Thumb Biters 7:30
March 27th (Fri) – Yuric’s Avengers* 7:30 – Sheri is standing in for Mandie
March 28th (Sat) – Thumb Biters 7:30
March 30th (Mon) – Extra showing, Cast undetermined

So there you have it! The current line up! Tickets are $8. Come one, come all! Enjoy.

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

With such tasty treats as Twinkie Weiner Surprise, Secret Treasure Loaf, and Bacon ‘Beer-itos,’ it won my curiousity. Some of the most unique/weirdest ideas that actually have a few of meals that look pretty good actually.

For those that don’t know, I’m a Utah resident. Recently, there was a bill that passed in Utah that makes me a little angry because it involves a little work from a disbarred jackhole lawyer from Florida. To avoid giving him any more infamy other than the link, we shall refer to him as ass-hat. 

Ass-hat got with the Utah Eagles Forum and let’s just say it was a match made in some degree of Heaven. So they crafted a bill which not only wastes my money as a tax payer, but it’s absolutely POINTLESS. Allow me to explain.

Currently in place to restrict minors, youths, the easily influenced people to avoid seeing movies is the MPAA with their rating. If it’s rated M, it’s probably not a good thing. I think parent’s know this, at least, they freakin should! Additionally for video games, there’s the ESRB. There are websites dedicated to parent’s regarding video games such as www.whattheyplay.com which provides very insightful reviews especially since every reviewer has children of varying ages. One of the best sites I’ve seen that actually views certain games as tools regarding what they can teach. 

Now… you’ve been educated. As a parent, if you’re concerned regarding the material your child views/interacts with, which I’d hope that every parent cares for their child at least til their of age where they prove they’re mature enough to handle the material, you are now equipped.  You’ve BEEN equipped if you never knew. So, what happens with this new bill (Utah HB 353), that it is being declared as a victory where Ass-Hat is probably parading town and sticking his head through random people’s window screaming ‘I win! 70-2 bitches! This bill proposes that any business such as the movie theaters and video game retailer who advertise that they examine IDs that they’d be prone to more strict lawsuits if caught purposefully selling to a person underage. Due to a last second change, a clause was placed that was very logical, perhaps one of the most logical aspects of the entire bill, ‘From what I can tell, language choices clarify that retailers cannot get in trouble if “a buyer subject to age restrictions’ (note how they don’t use the word minor or person under age 18) lies about their age to the retailer.” (Kotaku) 

To summarize: If someone comes into the local video game store that proudly promotes they ID, someone comes up who looks under age, but presents what appears to be a valid ID, the game would be sold. However, if the person wasn’t of age, and the ID was fake, the game store wouldn’t be a liability because it did everything they promote.  Guess what… that’s how it currently is!! However, now we will allot tax money that will go down the drain regarding procedures that are already in place! The other option that the stores can offer: If this proves to  be a hassle, all they have to do as a business is take away that promotion. No longer announce that they ID, and then problem solved. Anyone can grab Grand Theft Auto IV with it’s fictional oral & anal sex scenes that Ass-Hat, who claims to have played the game, experienced. Yeah, what a victory. Way to waste my money.  

Sorry, off my political soap box. I usually don’t get political unless games get involved because I do feel that there isn’t equal representation because a lot of the politicians don’t play video games, so if someone comes in with a broad statement that they make up like “Yeah I played it! It shows… anal raping of… young… boys by… priests!” They’ll briefly question, but they don’t know, so they then are surprised such “filth” made it into the market. It’s uneducated people being used to pass laws that aren’t justified, especially if you’re fully aware of the material at hand. Just a shame. 

*steps off soap box*

With my previous post and Killzone 2 goodiness, I neglected to mention the other game that has completely made me feel like the old days of the arcade cabinet, a roll of quarters in the pocket, and a desire to master one of the combatants in one of the ultimate fighting games. Street Fighter IV. 

Hit the jump for a bit more of a breakdown on my experiences with this title!

Oooh! Your interest is piqued?? Excellent. So here’s the game that I thought was actually going to tank. I’m not going to lie, but I anticipated some issues. So, I didn’t reserve this title. As big of a fan of the series I am, I will admit, my faith faltered when I heard they were going uber cartoony. Turns out it was a perfect blend. It made the game look gorgeous and I kick myself for having doubts. 

The greatest aspect of this game is that it FEELS like the old arcade version. I read another reviewer describe it perfectly (I believe it was Joystiq, but not 100% sure.) after you lose you’re ready to pump another quarter into the system to continue. Silly thought in actuality, but it sparks that memory, that reflex reaction to keep the game going. Unlockable characters helped out, the dynamic difference between the characters really adapts to everyone’s unique play-styles. 

Speaking of memory lane – The move sets are as close as they can to the original. This was very comfortable, even the 7 or 8 year hiatus, it was still fun to pick up, and remember how to pull off a sonic boom. The story modes are… okay. They did a good job keeping the story put together. 

New elements included the EX moves. Basically if you do your special moves and you press all 3 kicks or punches, you do an EX-tra powerful version of that move. The EX gauge builds as the fight battles onward.  Get it full and you can pull off a Super Move. This is similar to Capcom fighting games with the ultra finishes. Yes, Ultra moves made it into the game. It’s built upon REVENGE! So the more damage you take, the more this gauge builds up. It can single-handedly turn the tide of battle.  Online play is incorporated much like the arcade experience. You can be on your quest against the computer, but if you’re accepting challenges, ANYONE in the online platform of your choice (PS3 or XB360) can jump into your game and fight you.  You can go as many rounds as each other likes.  Trash talking is closely tied to this experience (“Get some water for that fire!”) but everyone seems to just be happy to play the game with anyone at any time. It can be frustrating as you cannot change that “on/off switch” for accepting online challenges during the middle of your arcade/story mode.  So if you start the campaign, you get half way and then bombarded with challengers, now you’re stuck and cannot progress in the game without receiving a Game Over, and reloading.

Those minor issues aside, this game is incredible. It is fun. Absolutely fun. I would recommend this game entirely for anyone who remotely enjoys fighting games. It doesn’t have much of a tutorial phase, so you’ll have to practice the combos and look online or buy a guide for the game if you want to know your character inside-and-out, but it is worth every cent to get.

PS. It is optional to install the game to the hard drive. I highly recommend to do this. It greatly decreases the load time.

 Yet… I’ve found the time to play some games and take the time to unwind as it has been a fairly stressful few weeks. I decided, after struggling to find a convincingly negative review on the title, to pick up my copy of Killzone 2 at launch. Wow. 

I don’t usually take a large shine on FPS. Reason One: I’m colorblind. Not sure if many people take this into effect, but, take Halo for example, if you’re Red/Green colorblind, and you’re on the Blue Team… your enemies don’t need active camo in order to blend seamlessly into the lush green fields. Point Two: I really thought that all of the Halo series is over-hyped, and really there’s nothing new it brought to the table for me. I just didn’t find it to be fun, especially with the community that plays Halo because it’s all about competitive gameplay rather than just fun. It created a bunch of gamers who are more eager to sling verbal lashings than actually having fun playing a game. 

Before I get flamed by every XBox or Halo Fanboy in the ‘Net, Killzone 2 didn’t bring anything new to the table either. The story is exceedingly casual, but I digged the ending. I won’t give it away, but I liked the ending to this game. It wasn’t expected. The story evolves in very unique manner which I was surprised to see in the title. More importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed the online play. I like the fact that it rewards the players who play consistently enough to branch out in to the special classes, much like that of Call of Duty 4. It was just fun though. They worked out a system where you can seamlessly bounce between the different game types without loading the maps over and over just to change the game style. So you can bounce from Body Count to Assassination. If you’re lucky enough, maybe you’ve been following the Assassination Target trying to get a melee kill, and now he’s the end goal for that match.  It was just fun. The ranking system definitely can take a while to progress, so for anyone just starting out and eager to try out some of the new classes, find a game where they’re doing all 5 gametypes and it keeps a running tally of the points you earn. 

When the dust settles… the story mode was rather short. Casually took me two days to complete (about 5 – 6 hours) with only a few “hot spots” that were increasingly frustrating. I wish the cover system would’ve made it into the Multiplayer but it does keep you creatively thinking while going head to head against a live player. If you own a PS3, this is an absolute must buy for the FPS fan. Again, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but the graphics are gorgeous, the multiplayer is addictingly fun, and the slight RPG element keeps the game interesting as you keep signing up for more games to progress to the next level to unlock more options. Even managed to snag the Clan name “The Brown Coats.” (TBCS) 

Until then, have a wicked awesome day.

Unrelated news: Just finished watching the Oscar’s and I’ve got to say… that is a very inspiring thing to watch for a filmmaker.  Not necessarily because of wanting to win one, but the impact a film can have on a person really drives a desire to be better at the film projects I’m involved with and I am hoping to escalate my performance to the next level. Look for more upcoming productions where I will be challenging myself in more interesting manners.

Appreciate the continued support and patience with the film segments. Later.

(PS While this clip lasts, if you haven’t seen the interview with Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman, check out this clip while it’s up with this quirky interview, and then a similar interview with Andy Kaufman. I find them fairly similar in performance, it makes me wonder if this isn’t just an elaborate gag as he seems to lose it at the end of the interview.)

Interview with Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman:

Interview with Andy Kaufman & David Letterman (1980):