Just finished my last bit of Christmas shopping. Let the fun part begin! - 3 days ago
Brittany Murphy died? Of a heart attack? At 32? At least according to TMZ, that is. Effed up. - 5 days ago
I commented on a @ctvbc story about a spelling error; they're too scared to approve a minor nit-picking comment. Yay 21st C. journalism - 5 days ago
Finished Assassin's Creed II tonight. Loved every minute of the 40+ hours I spent on it, so much it's a candidate for my favourite game ever - 6 days ago
Sick, injured, and just stepped in cat puke. Ladies & gentlemen, we have a candidate for worst day ever - 1 week ago
Welcome to harrysaxon.com! This is the personal website of Chris, a Vancouver-based gamer and blogger who goes by the Doctor Who-inspired online moniker of harrysaxon (or harrysaxon23 if some rotter already nabbed it). I generally discuss books, video games, television (especially Lost), baseball, and my other interests.
As well as posting blogs, I use this as a social networking launch page. Pretty much everything’s clickable through to my profiles the main sites, like the Twitter feed and gamercards, and those that aren’t displayed on the page somehow are listed on the top left. Feel free to visit and/or add me on any of them.
Just a quick post – haven’t had much time to blog lately, between work, Christmas stuff ramping up, and Assassin’s Creed II, not only a first rate game but a strong contender for one of my top 5 of all time after 50-odd hours immersed in Renaissance Italy. Full review coming soon, once I’m finally finished the main storyline.
My wife and I finished the story mode in Lego: Rock Band tonight, and I thought I’d offer up some impressions. While the game has received a bit of a negative backlash from long-time Rock Band fans, I think it’s pretty unwarranted overall, but the game is admittedly not perfect. This is no The Beatles: Rock Band.
I think the idea of making a more kid-friendly version of RB isn’t at all without merit. While some of the decisions made about which DLC songs are appropriate are… opaque, at best, the bright colours and quirky humour of the Lego games is a great idea to get kids more interested in the game. RB itself is a little on the grungy, dingy side in terms of venues and player avatars, and it’s quite a fun change to be playing in environments inspired by Lego sets I remember building as a kid.
As you’ve probably heard, reports are now saying that Microsoft banned modified over one million modified consoles from XBL as they were modded to play pirated games, forcing these users to buy new consoles if they want to continue playing XBL online.
They didn’t ban or zero-gamerscore the accounts used on these consoles, though in a way I think they should. They ban gamertags for using gamesaves to game the achievement system – and aren’t these people doing the same, by inflating their gamerscores with hundreds of games that the regular gamer can’t afford?
Yeah, I know, they can’t. It would be nice if they could, but they can’t tell which gamertag on a given console is a pirate. It’s quite possible that I could truck my memory card over to a buddy’s house for some Rock Band 2 and he never mentions that he modded his console. I don’t know the disc in the drive is a DVD-R, and I get banned and zeroed for no good reason.
I can’t believe anyone’s outraged by this, but many people are, judging by the comment threads I see online. You frickin’ mod your system to play pirated games, then get pissed that Microsoft catches you. Then they don’t do anything but prevent you from playing online from that console. No XBL ban for your gamertag, no zeroing of your gamerscore – you just can’t use that console online ever again. You can play single-player pirated games to your heart’s content as long as you don’t care about gamerscore. All they did was stop you from playing your pirated games online or earning gamerscore with them, on the online service they provide and are perfectly within their rights to refuse service to. They were kind, in my opinion. Just how deep does of culture of entitlement go?
Awhile ago I said I was done with Heroes, but that didn’t take (it was mostly pique at a Tim Kring interview in which he acted like a douche). But seriously… is anyone still liking this show? I’m watching, but it’s usually because a) I don’t work Tuesdays so have probably been into the agave extracts and b) I have a morbid fascination with seeing how bad something can get. It makes no sense.
After the first season, they figure they need a bunch of characters with cool new super powers, then decide to abandon them entirely, leaving no resolution for many of them. They replace the new superheroes with convoluted back story characters and resurrections, like Papa Patrelli, then promptly kill them off, while just plain losing track of some of them. They decide to strip down the cast to the core regulars this season – not a bad idea – then proceed to introduce a bunch of pretty lame new characters. They fixate on trying to re-capture their first-season successes, so are now sending Hiro back in time to muck with them – crap like rescuing Charlie. Thanks for once again rendering a key emotional point in the once-good series moot, again.
This is the biggest problem, they keep contradicting the canon. Saving the cheerleader didn’t do squat, in the end – Claire easily survives Syler’s brain surgery later on, and gains her power. And he survived Hiro’s sword stab even without her power, so it didn’t matter much. Then Syler conveniently forgot about powers the show couldn’t deal with, like his nuke and illusion abilities – their attempts to amnesia them away were shallow and silly.
I have a tendency to consume media in pairings. After reading a novel I get a strong urge to watch its adaptation. The past few months, I’ve read/watched A Clockwork Orange and several Stephen King adaptations like The Mist, for instance. I’ll watch any adaptation at least once, though I don’t re-watch the execrably bad ones like The Langoliers.
One exception to this is Jurassic Park. I love the Crichton novel, probably his best. Crichton wasn’t a prose genius or anything, but being a science junkie, his well-researched science fiction (though, for some reason, it was rarely called that) always scratched an itch for me. I re-read it a couple days ago, so I had to re-watch the film too, even though I hate it.
I suppose that the parts of the film that are well-done – and which made it such a success – are still pretty great-looking, and that’s why I insist on seeing it again. The rex attack, the kitchen scene with the raptors, the first time you see the dinosaurs in the film – these are moments of true Spielbergian eye candy and kinetic action that are still beautiful to look at. But so much of the film is so intolerably bad, and much is because of mindless changes to a good novel.
The last few weeks have found me very busy with these three things. Thanksgiving dinners (three turkey dinners over two weekends) are a time suck, because while they’re “dinners”, they’re not just dinner – heading over to relatives, spending a large chunk of the day, all that. But worth it for the delicious, delicious turkey meat and dressing. Sadly, I ate the last of the sandwiches yesterday.
That time I have that hasn’t been taken up by gorging on turkey flesh has largely been dominated by three games; Rock Band 2, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Psychonauts. It’s a little late to review The Beatles: RB and way more than a little late to review Psychonauts, but here’s some of my impressions of two of the best games I’ve played in a long time, and my reason for new-found Rock Band 2 obsession.
I’ve spent a little time today looking at the various turn-by-turn navigation apps available. They are all expensive – the cheapest is $20 and awful; the cheapest decent one is $35, and the high-end apps are $90-$100. While the TomTom iPhone mount is pretty nice looking, even in a bundle with the software you’re looking at as much money as a cheaper standalone TomTom – and with one of those, my phone isn’t occupied with the GPS app.
The real problem seems to me is that all have built-in map support, and up-to-date map licenses are expensive. While I understand the benefits of having built-in maps, they’re what drives the price of these up. And truthfully, the amount of time I’m on roads where I don’t have 3G coverage is pretty rare, and my data plan is practically unlimited.
What I need is a voice turn-by-turn plugin for the standard Google Maps app, or a $5-10 app that uses the Google Maps app and 3G but gives me turn-by-turn directions. Sadly, as far as I can tell, no-one’s talking about the need for one or developing one. And once again I wish I’d learned how to program.
While somewhat amusing to see grouped together, I think this video sort of misses the point.
The real problem is that all these films need to remove the possibility of phoning in help. It’s just a plot necessity. That’s because if you put a character into any classic horror situation the same people who put together snarky videos about plot devices would be saying, “Why the hell don’t any of these characters have cell phones?”
What I mean is, notice how the films are all basically from the past 10 years? It isn’t a plot device or movie cliche, really; in fact, that video clearly shows a range of excuses writers have used to take cell phones off the table in thrillers, and not just the simple “no signal” – though it dominates, of course. It’s just a minor, obligatory scene which lets the writer communicate to the audience, “Yes, of course they have cell phones, but I can’t have them using them. Can I get a little suspension of disbelief?”
So, like many who were at the Penny Arcade Expo ‘09,I got hit by H1N1. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, which is why I never got around to doing a wrap-up of the convention.
In brief, it was terrific, and we look forward to going back next year, #paxflu be damned. Outside of the plain fun that was had, especially the concert and any time Jerry and Mike took the stage, it was invigorating to immerse ourselves amidst that many 10s of thousands of people who share your interests. Despite the usual con things like people in full Jedi gear, it was a remarkably… well, through lack of a better word, hip gathering compared to my experience at SF, Trek and comic cons.
I’m cutting my thoughts on PAX short, as upon re-reading my daily posts they already contain most of what I want to say. On a secondary note, this site is getting some attention again. I’ve changed the look of the site again to still keep as much information as before but in a cleaner, easier-to-follow layout.
I decided to shut down Not a Planet Anymore as a collaborative blog sans collaborators is just forces me to split my time between two not-that-different blogs. All my posts that were only put up over on NAPA I’ve copied back over, as I don’t want people having to switch between two similar WordPress sites to read my (admittedly meagre) output in the past year. So if it’s me you’re looking to read, drop your links and feeds to NAPA and sign up over here.
10:57 AM – Minor disaster when Lisa forgot her pass back in the hotel room. But we got wristbands for the Freezepop and Jonathan Coulton concert tonight anyway, which is sweet. Wandered about the exhibit floor again, but can’t see standing in a 3 hour line to play Left 4 Dead 2 for 10 minutes. Currently standing in line to meet Wil Wheaton.
11:30 AM – Wheaton changed plans & wasn’t going to be there until noon, so we bailed & are at the live taping of the G4 weekend Feed.
11:57 AM – According to Adam Sessler, PAX is the friendliest and “least smelly” gaming con. Heh.
2:20 PM – Watching Mike draw the new strip live. Jerry’s not here because his wife gave birth this morning, so Scott Kurtz is with him… (later) Jerry just showed up. I knew these guys were talented, but I had no idea how talented and funny they could be in front of a crowd.
7:25 PM – The Harmonix presentation about the Rock Band Network was astonishing. This is going to be HUGE. With no more than a PC with a MIDI editor – the one they were using to demo cost $60 – and their free software, Magma, and an XBNA membership, bands can get their songs in the RB store with the same level of control as Harmonix. Note charts, of course, but lighting, character animations, automatic lip-sync for the avatars, everything. It’s amazing. And a cottage industry has already started of people doing it for bands who don’t want to learn the software. Bands can set their own prices and get a third of the revenue (Harmonix and Microsoft get the other 2/3). This is more powerful software than Harmonix themselves are currently using for DLC. Peer review process for publishing. Realtime preview of how the note charts will look in-game. This is going to be revolutionary – I thought they were years away from anything like this.
Then Jonathan Coulton performed a song. The HMX guy showed the song in the editor, showed many aspects of how it’s authoured. Then they sent it to the Xbox in the room and people from the crowd performed it, with JC on guitar. Videos of both performances will be on Youtube when I get home.
2:53 AM – Hell of a concert, hell of a day. Changing “My Monkey” to “Wil Wheaton” for the whole song, singing “Still Alive” with 6,000 people were the highlights of Coulton. Bedtime.
