Rabbids say it best...

Fondly remembered, RIP.

New Toys...

Sadly the PS3 is hidden my the Alienware, but believe me, it's there ;)

EeePC 1000H, Alienware SLi gaming rig, PS3, PS2, two PSPs, a Nintendo DSLite and a one terrabyte storage drive rammed with anime, music and films. Life couldn't get better. Now all I need is for Sony to update the PSN listing given Square announced FFVII went onto the PSOne Classics section today!

Proper update soon, but dammit in the mean time, I had to brag! :p

ninepad...

ninepad Facebook Album

So no, I didn't fall off the planet or anything similar. Apologies for not replying to those of you who sent mails; the concern was very much appreciated, but the pace of life at the time too fast to sit and reply to everyone properly. Needless to say, yes, I'm still here :p

New job, new flat, a car crash, a ps3, lots of business trips and four weeks of waiting for a phone line to be installed, but here we finally are. Mebbe I can get that damned chapter finished soon as well ;)

Cheers again for the concern guys; more from me soon.

Final Fantasy - Dissidia

Advent Children... all over again :D

More when I've actually figured out enough to comment properly, but quite frankly, so far - wow! And not just wow in reference to everyone's childish dreams of Cloud vs Sephiroth in a beat'em up; genuine, honest, wow!

Dissida proves to be really, very fresh in style and mechanic, and the game maintains it's RPG roots whilst still capturing the drama and pace of the fight scenes in the Final Fantasy movies and videos. Plenty of wall running, Smith vs Neo style aerial combat and massive, hard hitting limit breaks abound, whilst continuing the tactical, complex traditions of the original games; the basic principles of acrewing brave points before deploying true damage is brilliantly inspired in that respect, and makes for a deep game without slowing pace or making everything feel clunky.

I've already completed the first arc of the story with Cloud, and am midway through with Squall; once I've played a decent amount and have a better idea how all the equipment and accessory screens work, I'll get a decent review up for everyone to see.

But once again; quite simply - wow! :D

Being made redundant has it's benefits it seems...

Huge thanks to pika for this amazing statue imported directly from Japan; Claymore's #47, 'Clare.' This is an original, authentic PVC model, not one of the cheapo chinese ripoffs you see doing the rounds on amazon UK regularly, or like the one I saw in France a while ago.

The detail is stunning; and the quality of the model work is a perfect reproduction of the anime's artwork.



I have some more pictures of the figurine up on facebook in the Claymore group; take a peak here. I'm hoping to get myself the newer figurine too, the one of Claymore in her Holy City outfit to match this one. There's also some busts of the major characters, including the four semi-awakened's, Priscilla and others. We'll see if I can find import avenues eh :p

That aside, as I mentioned in the title, I was made redundant this week, making life a little difficult when it comes to writing. Give me a little time to work things out, but I promise the finale will be out soon.

ganbatte kudasai, as David would say :p

Looking back...

Chatting to nekon earlier today in #promode about the online FPS genre's state of play and Quake Live's forthcoming release and the expectations following it, and I couldn't help but feel the pang of regret... I think this summed it up beautifully;

[ninemil] I just look back at what
[ninemil] 13 years of quake?
[ninemil] 4 generations?
[ninemil] and wonder
[ninemil] is quakelive really the best we can offer the world as a freebie?
[ninemil] is it really representative of what we've spent the past decade of our lives enraptured by?
[ninemil] and the more I think about it
[ninemil] the more it makes me feel really
[ninemil] really
[ninemil] embarrassed

Take the top end of any of the first three generations of Quake; Quakeworld TF, Quakeworld CTF, Action Quake 2, Quake 2 CTF, Quake 3 CPM 1v1 or TDM , Quake 3 CCTF 5v5... Take any of the above or the hundreds of other competative mods and gamemodes and tell me, just how deep can Quake Live ever be in comparison? Just how high is the skill cap? And given there is to be no mod support whatsoever, don't you feel just the slightest bit embarrased to call yourself a Quake fan now?

I feel like our favourite software house is about to unleash Halo 3 on the world and declare to everyone that this is what we've spent the past decade claiming deserves recognitition as a pro-sport o_0

Claymore DS - May 2009

Nothing more to say other than; I really, REALLY want this fucking game :D Official website with screens, movies and more available here.

arQon finally contracting for id software

Stolen news but in all honesty, the ESR post says it clearly enough;

As part of our QuakeLive public beta launch coverage, QuakeUnity brings you an interview with id Software's John Carmack and Marty Stratton. John and Marty discuss the QuakeLive backend infrastructure, their work with mod authors to bring additional features to the game, and the hiring of developers from inside the Quake community. Additionally, the duo weigh in about the complexities of the technology behind QuakeLive, the possibility of licensing the system, their commitment to stop cheating, and the marketing strategy behind the game.


Although id Software has no plans to allow user-made modifications to be incorporated into QuakeLive, they have gone out of their way to hire one of the most successful Quake III mod authors to help them with their project. id revealed to QuakeUnity that Kevin "arQon" Blenkinsopp, author of the popular mod Challenge ProMode Arena (CPMA), has been hired as a contractor on QuakeLive. If you're not familiar with CPMA, it is the premiere mod of choice for Quake III tournaments. It includes competitive features such as modified gameplay physics, multi-view demos, and highly customizable HUDs.

You can read the full interview on quakeunity.com.

The post does miss this really important tidbit however;

While hardcore CPMA fans will be disappointed that the mod's unique gameplay physics will not be incorporated, another popular enhancement from CPMA will be included: the netcode.

So Quake Live potentially has a future boys and girls; and just at a time when the CPMA development cycle had come to a resounding point of circular infinitum. And as disappointing as it might be to switch back to the rather primative world of pre-bunny physics and a shite weapon set, the idea that id's 360 license might bless us with another generation of Quake 3 loving is sudddenly very exciting. Jesus, even I'd put up with slowmode just to get regular clan matches again :D

</excited> :p And gl Kev - after five years of working with you, I know damn well if there's anyone strong enough to kick id into doing the right thing again, it's you.

DDO 3rd Anniversary tidbits

Amusingly Codemasters seem incapable of updating their own website with such information, (offical anniversary date is 3 days away btw) but if you were wondering what Turbine/Codemasters actually have planned for this year's celebrations, this forum post seems to be the closest we have to an answer;

Amaurea 

Community Officer




*Smiles mischievously at the pile of bones with “DDO Anniversary” written on them, puts one the big bone back to the pile and picks one tiny to throw*

DDO was, is and always will be special and different. As different and special as the players which have filled this game and the wonderful continent of Xen’drik with life for almost three years now.

To add to its "special-ness", it has not one, not two, but four “birthdays”. (One of the few things to have more birthdays than the Queen!) Everything started on 28th February 2006 with the US release, which was followed on 3rd March 2006 with the EU English language release and followed with the German and French versions on 23rd and 24th of March 2006 respectively.

Though we will be starting with some small surprises soon(tm), the bulk of our special anniversary activities will take place toward the end of March, which is good because in Germany we believe it is bad luck to congratulate before the actual day of celebration :)

We'll officially announce all the "bigger stuff" closer to that date however in the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for occasional surprises :)

Well there you have it; they've not forgotten, they just didn't bother to tell anyone... o_0

Strawberry Panic Winter Finale

...is almost done. Apologies for being so quiet; this picture pretty much sums life up atm :p



Claymore, Death Note, Lucky Star, The World Ends With You DS, Ouendan DS and a some Mirror's Edge 360 demo ahead of the EU Steam release... :D Life is good. As for the fic, Chapter Fifteen went up a little while ago, and I'm just finishing up the Winter Term finale, ready for the first term's pdf :p Unfortunately, FanFiction.net is rather ill atm, so only the Shoujo-Ai mirror and my forum copy are available atm. Hopefully FF.net will recover some time soon.

No news on the DDO 3rd Anniversary btw :/ Supposed to be the end of the week...