Does Destiny/Fate "exist"?
While I like the idea that there is a path layed out before me, bearing my life towards some sort of conclusion ( I'm hoping for a fireball in a very expensive car while being chased by Ninjas). The logical part of my brain which thankfully stays quiet most of the time won't let this one lie. Although this may make sound like a schizophrenic its happens to be true, I have actually argued with myself over whether or not destiny/fate exists. And sadly the logical side has won.......for the time being
No point to this...just thought i should have something new Agey up......
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Final Fantasy XII
I bought this game lsat week and its good. It has a solid story and some nice features new to the series. Okay firstly the camera angles/view is not fixed as it was in other games. Secondly the battle system is completely new to the series, and lastly the character advancement system is I suppose a hybrid of previous systems.
Starting with the camera angle it takes a while to get used to. But it does give the game more of an adventure feel to it, the new battle system also adds to this as you can see most of the enemies displayed on the map. This is a first for the series and at the moment I'm in limbo over whether its a good or bad thing. I'll get into that later though. Personally given that the enemies are marked on the mini map in the corner of the screen, i'd prefer a fixed camera that pans, more or less what was in X. But its not a major complaint and I'm sure some people like it. It might grow on me as I get further into the game.
The battle system is completely new. Gone are the random battles. For those not familiar with the series the previous systems all revolved around random battles. That was you were in some part of the game world and the screen would flash or warp and you would be in a turn based battle against one or more enemies. With XII SquareEnix made a big fuss about the random baatels being gone. And its true the screen doesn't warp into a battle with enemies. They appear on the screen in real time. But from reading press releases and reviews I presumed that all the enemies bar the bosses would be displayed on the mini map. However while wandering down a train track in som epart of the map....all these f*&cking skeletons keep appearing out of the ground. So thats really a random battle as they just appear and fair enough theres no transition into a battle sequence. The skeletons appearin out of the ground kinda piss me off as it leads me to believe that there will be more parts of the map like that.
The advancement system is different as well. At the moment if seemd like a mix between the materia system from VII and the sphere grid from X....haven't gotten any espers/summons/gfs yet but they might be interesting....very few of the "old reliables" make an appearence. The system isn't bad but still the materia system from VII was the most user friendly and allowed more time to enjoy the story and events taking place.
At the moment I'm liking the story and characters seems to be a good mix. With the almost naive Vaan, the wordly Balthier and the "patriotic" Basch (at the moment anyway). The story itself seems good. However I do have some reservations about Vayne, he seems to be the same type of character as Seymour from X. A character who has good pr guys for want of a better phrase. But still shady with some diabolical plan to conquer/destroy the world. Till the reluctant Hero steps in and takes care of business. The game is enjoyable though. Seems a good farewell to the PS2. Already teaser trailers are surfacing for XIII and XIII-Versus for the PS3. Which look amazing by the way.
Still though FFVII will remain my favourite. Everything with that game just worked. The story, graphics everything. It also introduced the cut scene to the RPG world. Having just recently replayed the game it has lost none of its appeal or enjoyable since I first played it 10 years ago.
Just last weekend I happened to be reading an article on some website about VII, the author said
"Steven Spielberg once said that Video games will never replace movies as entertainment until someone can say I cried at level 17, Steven Spielberg never played Final Fantasy VII"
Starting with the camera angle it takes a while to get used to. But it does give the game more of an adventure feel to it, the new battle system also adds to this as you can see most of the enemies displayed on the map. This is a first for the series and at the moment I'm in limbo over whether its a good or bad thing. I'll get into that later though. Personally given that the enemies are marked on the mini map in the corner of the screen, i'd prefer a fixed camera that pans, more or less what was in X. But its not a major complaint and I'm sure some people like it. It might grow on me as I get further into the game.
The battle system is completely new. Gone are the random battles. For those not familiar with the series the previous systems all revolved around random battles. That was you were in some part of the game world and the screen would flash or warp and you would be in a turn based battle against one or more enemies. With XII SquareEnix made a big fuss about the random baatels being gone. And its true the screen doesn't warp into a battle with enemies. They appear on the screen in real time. But from reading press releases and reviews I presumed that all the enemies bar the bosses would be displayed on the mini map. However while wandering down a train track in som epart of the map....all these f*&cking skeletons keep appearing out of the ground. So thats really a random battle as they just appear and fair enough theres no transition into a battle sequence. The skeletons appearin out of the ground kinda piss me off as it leads me to believe that there will be more parts of the map like that.
The advancement system is different as well. At the moment if seemd like a mix between the materia system from VII and the sphere grid from X....haven't gotten any espers/summons/gfs yet but they might be interesting....very few of the "old reliables" make an appearence. The system isn't bad but still the materia system from VII was the most user friendly and allowed more time to enjoy the story and events taking place.
At the moment I'm liking the story and characters seems to be a good mix. With the almost naive Vaan, the wordly Balthier and the "patriotic" Basch (at the moment anyway). The story itself seems good. However I do have some reservations about Vayne, he seems to be the same type of character as Seymour from X. A character who has good pr guys for want of a better phrase. But still shady with some diabolical plan to conquer/destroy the world. Till the reluctant Hero steps in and takes care of business. The game is enjoyable though. Seems a good farewell to the PS2. Already teaser trailers are surfacing for XIII and XIII-Versus for the PS3. Which look amazing by the way.
Still though FFVII will remain my favourite. Everything with that game just worked. The story, graphics everything. It also introduced the cut scene to the RPG world. Having just recently replayed the game it has lost none of its appeal or enjoyable since I first played it 10 years ago.
Just last weekend I happened to be reading an article on some website about VII, the author said
"Steven Spielberg once said that Video games will never replace movies as entertainment until someone can say I cried at level 17, Steven Spielberg never played Final Fantasy VII"
Thursday, September 13, 2007
May seem repetitive but....it's my blog so tough
My prayers have been answered Led Zeppelin are reforming and playing A SINGLE CONCERT!!!!.....They are playing the O2 arena in London on the 26 November. Now while in the whole it is some of the best news I've ever heard...but the 18000 tickets are being allocated by a lottery basis....while this is supposed to help people feel that only fans will get tickets.....There have been more than TWENTY MILLION requests for those 18000 tickets...While the chances of me seeing my heroes is remote at this stage, there are 2 good things that can come fo this.
1. With demand being so high....the promoter has said ebay will be monitored and any tickets seen will be cancelled. One would hope that if the cancelled tickets will be redistributed via the lottery system to fans......
And secondly in seeing the demand to see them perform, they will do some form of tour.....preferably a massive world wide tour.....but even short tours of the major markets would be fantastic........as long as a plane lands there I would travel to see them....
so hopefully some form of tour will come of this......hopefully
1. With demand being so high....the promoter has said ebay will be monitored and any tickets seen will be cancelled. One would hope that if the cancelled tickets will be redistributed via the lottery system to fans......
And secondly in seeing the demand to see them perform, they will do some form of tour.....preferably a massive world wide tour.....but even short tours of the major markets would be fantastic........as long as a plane lands there I would travel to see them....
so hopefully some form of tour will come of this......hopefully
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Led Zepplelin!!!!!.....Concert.......Could it be?
Browsing the jungle that is the world wide web I came across a rumour that the gods of rock, Led Zeppelin are playing the O2 arena in London in November. For anyone who doesn't know me I am a huge Led Zeppelin fan and to hear that the three surviving members may reform for once off must give my bank manager a heart attack, becuase I will be there. There is no if's, buts or ands I will be there hopefully at the front. But where I read the rumour mentioned that the gig maybe for financial reasons, but if so why just ONE concert.
Its not like people are sick of seeing them live and on TV. Seeing the Rolling Stones break their own touring records everytime a new tour is announced, it makes you wonder......The Stones have been unchallenged in terms of ticket sales for nearly a decade now, probably more. For those of us who have nothing better to do we try and think up acts that could beat their current record. Certainly The Police will come close but I'd be very surprised if they did. Black Sabbath reforming, no there fans are too "specialised" they don't have the wider appeal of The Stones and The Police.
How about AC DC again while they could do a stadium tour there market share is too narrow....Most of the big bands from the 70's and 80's all seem to appeal to just the ROCK crowd. But hold on no one can beat the Stones?
Well maybe.....what we need is a band that nearly outsold the Beatles, a band whose record sales reach 300 million and keep on going right on by without even slowing down. A band who since they were founded have had an aura about them....you knew they were different edgier, that they would and did make history. The older generation of rock fans will say that you should not get carried away be the mysticism that surronded Led Zeppelin.
Well its hard not to, they rarely did interviews never appeared on TV, never released a single. Strange for a band in the 70's they never appeared on top of the pops. They just wrote the theme song for it.
All these factors combined show the faintest glimmer of hope that this band could beat the stones touring record. But the down side of this is that the touts would have their most profitable time ever. And according to the rumour I heard it would be a once off concert.. Which is total bull to be honest. A sizeable number of the tickets will go to corparte sponsers, which means that while the whole venue will probably sell out in about a minute, not everyone will be fans. Prince is doing a crazy amount of nights in the O2 arena....Zep could easily do that even for 4 or 5 nights, it would let more fans see them. And go some way to getting a market equilibrium between supply and demand. Bruce Springsteen sold out the Odyssey on Belfast in 5 Minutes, last thursday 6 September, as of today the 9 September, 2 tickets are on eBay for 300 euro.....Possibly Led Zeppelins last concert together a new ebay record may be set.
If this comes off negative towards the Rolling Stones, I apologise, I'm a fan of the stones and have seen them live. So I know first hand why they are so popular and there tours make so much money. It was the best show I've been too and that numbers quite a few at this stage.
If you ever get the chance to see the Stones....go you won't regret it.
Anyway if anyone reads my humble little blog start up a ruckus let Led Zep know the demand for a full tour or at least more than one gig in London!!!!!!!!
BTW the rumour came from the Belfast Telegraph
Time to get the LED out
Peace
Its not like people are sick of seeing them live and on TV. Seeing the Rolling Stones break their own touring records everytime a new tour is announced, it makes you wonder......The Stones have been unchallenged in terms of ticket sales for nearly a decade now, probably more. For those of us who have nothing better to do we try and think up acts that could beat their current record. Certainly The Police will come close but I'd be very surprised if they did. Black Sabbath reforming, no there fans are too "specialised" they don't have the wider appeal of The Stones and The Police.
How about AC DC again while they could do a stadium tour there market share is too narrow....Most of the big bands from the 70's and 80's all seem to appeal to just the ROCK crowd. But hold on no one can beat the Stones?
Well maybe.....what we need is a band that nearly outsold the Beatles, a band whose record sales reach 300 million and keep on going right on by without even slowing down. A band who since they were founded have had an aura about them....you knew they were different edgier, that they would and did make history. The older generation of rock fans will say that you should not get carried away be the mysticism that surronded Led Zeppelin.
Well its hard not to, they rarely did interviews never appeared on TV, never released a single. Strange for a band in the 70's they never appeared on top of the pops. They just wrote the theme song for it.
All these factors combined show the faintest glimmer of hope that this band could beat the stones touring record. But the down side of this is that the touts would have their most profitable time ever. And according to the rumour I heard it would be a once off concert.. Which is total bull to be honest. A sizeable number of the tickets will go to corparte sponsers, which means that while the whole venue will probably sell out in about a minute, not everyone will be fans. Prince is doing a crazy amount of nights in the O2 arena....Zep could easily do that even for 4 or 5 nights, it would let more fans see them. And go some way to getting a market equilibrium between supply and demand. Bruce Springsteen sold out the Odyssey on Belfast in 5 Minutes, last thursday 6 September, as of today the 9 September, 2 tickets are on eBay for 300 euro.....Possibly Led Zeppelins last concert together a new ebay record may be set.
If this comes off negative towards the Rolling Stones, I apologise, I'm a fan of the stones and have seen them live. So I know first hand why they are so popular and there tours make so much money. It was the best show I've been too and that numbers quite a few at this stage.
If you ever get the chance to see the Stones....go you won't regret it.
Anyway if anyone reads my humble little blog start up a ruckus let Led Zep know the demand for a full tour or at least more than one gig in London!!!!!!!!
BTW the rumour came from the Belfast Telegraph
Time to get the LED out
Peace
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Music
While nearly everywhere you hear how Apple have revolutionised how music is listened to and collected. And yes this is true I'm going to make a presumption here that most people who are reading this have an i-pod/mp3 player (Including phones).
iTunes provides most of the music anyone could ever want and on the US version you are even able to buy tv shows for as little as $2. It truly has revolutionised the consumer side of the music industry, has it depreciated the actual music?
If you listen to the previous generation listening to music was a big thing. Putting on a record when the house was quiet. Just listening to the album. When was the last time anyone from the ipod generation just sat and listened to what was on his/her ipod without doing anything else. Probably never. I'm as guilty of this as anybody else, whether its at the gym, walking, car trips or just reading. The music seems to have slowly being degraded to nothing more than background noise.
The Ipod is not totally to blame, most people will say that they don't have time to listen to music there lives are too busy. With work, socialising going to the gym etc. but those aren't real reasons, just excuses to cover up the fact that music doesn't have the same effect it used to.
Sadly Eminem was the last person to have any sort of impact with his music. Among the homosexual communtities of the US. But was it really? If you look back at rock stars, like Jimmy Page and the Sex Pistols their lives were controversy not just their two songs on one album and there were no attempts to apologise with public displays to try and quiet the masses. It was simply this is me.....accept it or F*&k off.
To a large degree thats what all artists should be like. Music isn't a 9 to 5 job with stock options and a good basic salary. Its a life style, all the people who are in the music buisness are there because they love it.
To quote James Hetfield of Metallica at Download in Dublin in 2006
"This next song goes out to every band who had played here, because they bring a smile to you and make our hearts sing with music, which is why I'm here"
It seems a common miss perception that the music industry is a way to get rich quick. Theres a reason that its called the hardest industry in the world. Because there are no guarantees, if you are a quailified doctor you can pretty much be guarateed a job.
But for the music industry, you need to have talent, the look and an audience willing to pay to hear you. Even if you have all those there is no guaratees that you'll even get to cut a record let alone have a house on cribs.
But is it worth it?
yes
iTunes provides most of the music anyone could ever want and on the US version you are even able to buy tv shows for as little as $2. It truly has revolutionised the consumer side of the music industry, has it depreciated the actual music?
If you listen to the previous generation listening to music was a big thing. Putting on a record when the house was quiet. Just listening to the album. When was the last time anyone from the ipod generation just sat and listened to what was on his/her ipod without doing anything else. Probably never. I'm as guilty of this as anybody else, whether its at the gym, walking, car trips or just reading. The music seems to have slowly being degraded to nothing more than background noise.
The Ipod is not totally to blame, most people will say that they don't have time to listen to music there lives are too busy. With work, socialising going to the gym etc. but those aren't real reasons, just excuses to cover up the fact that music doesn't have the same effect it used to.
Sadly Eminem was the last person to have any sort of impact with his music. Among the homosexual communtities of the US. But was it really? If you look back at rock stars, like Jimmy Page and the Sex Pistols their lives were controversy not just their two songs on one album and there were no attempts to apologise with public displays to try and quiet the masses. It was simply this is me.....accept it or F*&k off.
To a large degree thats what all artists should be like. Music isn't a 9 to 5 job with stock options and a good basic salary. Its a life style, all the people who are in the music buisness are there because they love it.
To quote James Hetfield of Metallica at Download in Dublin in 2006
"This next song goes out to every band who had played here, because they bring a smile to you and make our hearts sing with music, which is why I'm here"
It seems a common miss perception that the music industry is a way to get rich quick. Theres a reason that its called the hardest industry in the world. Because there are no guarantees, if you are a quailified doctor you can pretty much be guarateed a job.
But for the music industry, you need to have talent, the look and an audience willing to pay to hear you. Even if you have all those there is no guaratees that you'll even get to cut a record let alone have a house on cribs.
But is it worth it?
yes
Why I now severly dislike the Sopranos
To start with i was never a fan of the soprano's....in fact i've never watched an episode. But ever since the last one i find myselof cursing the show at least 4000 times a day (Exaggerated for dramatic effect)....Would you like to know why?
Well since you're reading this I'm going to presume you do. I happen to be a huge music fan and what the soprano's did is inexcusable in my eyes. They brought back a genre I'd hoped dead. 80's Power-Ballad pop. Most people heard the first few seconds of Journey's Don't stop Believin' wondering what the song was. Some "clever" DJ/researcher thought it would be a great laugh to play the song and tell everyone what it was from and who it was. Since then any request show has played it at least twice, plus the other DJ's who just play it. (for reasons unknown)
Now I'm not a miserable old coot who resents popular culture or the retro side of things. And okay it has in some way relaunched Journey, they were top of the download charts on iTunes after the show.
What concerns me is that the whole 80's power pop ballad genre could be resurrected. The flood gates could open to the proverbial uncle/dad's embarrassing record collection. The airwaves will be jammed with Europe's The Final Countdown, Van Halen's Jump and who knows what else will come off the bargain shelf at HMV/Virgin.
One thing that is important to remember is that these songs were popular already.....and presumably there is a reason why they weren't up until the Soprano's played it.
Luckily for me since the summer is over, so are my radio listening days for a long time.........
Hopefully
BTW this is just my opinion......
Well since you're reading this I'm going to presume you do. I happen to be a huge music fan and what the soprano's did is inexcusable in my eyes. They brought back a genre I'd hoped dead. 80's Power-Ballad pop. Most people heard the first few seconds of Journey's Don't stop Believin' wondering what the song was. Some "clever" DJ/researcher thought it would be a great laugh to play the song and tell everyone what it was from and who it was. Since then any request show has played it at least twice, plus the other DJ's who just play it. (for reasons unknown)
Now I'm not a miserable old coot who resents popular culture or the retro side of things. And okay it has in some way relaunched Journey, they were top of the download charts on iTunes after the show.
What concerns me is that the whole 80's power pop ballad genre could be resurrected. The flood gates could open to the proverbial uncle/dad's embarrassing record collection. The airwaves will be jammed with Europe's The Final Countdown, Van Halen's Jump and who knows what else will come off the bargain shelf at HMV/Virgin.
One thing that is important to remember is that these songs were popular already.....and presumably there is a reason why they weren't up until the Soprano's played it.
Luckily for me since the summer is over, so are my radio listening days for a long time.........
Hopefully
BTW this is just my opinion......
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