Stulaw's Blog

Loadsa Stuff

Hey guys, how’s it going? I haven’t written a blog in ages and with the quietness of C3 lately I thought I might as well tell some of my thoughts and stuff about things that are going on.

I’m moving to my University’s campus on the 24th, it’s scary in some ways to think I’ll be living almost completely independently for once in my life, I’m 21 years old and I’ve never been away from my parents for more than a week on my own. I know I’ll be fine and I’ll probably have loads of fun if I get my work done properly on time and have a small part-time job to ease money woes, I’m really looking forward to it .

I’m studying BSc Game and Multimedia Environments, of which my first year should be quite easy since I did a foundation year with almost exactly the same modules. Plus I’ve got myself ahead in Java so I don’t find anything complicated in lectures.

Ah yes, as I said I’m 21, well as of tomorrow (the 14th) that is, don’t know what’s going to be happening for my birthday but for the past couple of years I’ve been at work, and now I don’t have a job. I’m getting money from nearly everyone and was thinking of getting a PS3, not sure when but I have the money, probably put it in my bank and order it from Amazon considering the 160GB model’s 20 quid cheaper than everywhere else (well, brand new at least).

Nintendo announced quite a lot of 3DS related things today, I like the Pink 3DS (not kidding) and the analog add on that comes with Monster Hunter 3G really doesn’t look as bad as people make it out to be (I’ve mentioned this about 10 times in other threads). Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Paper Mario are still my favourite 3DS games yet to come out from Nintendo, they just look full of charm.

Funnily enough my hands are roughly the same size
After 69 hours of playing Xenoblade, I’m still not finished although I’m pretty sure I’m near the end of the story, I’m just doing loads of side quests to level up and make sure I get the most out of the game, I’ve also done about half the Heart to Heart bits of which some are quite humorous. Melia is my favourite character for some reason, don’t know why, plus her and Sharla have the best English VA’s out of the lot (that’s not hard to do I know).

She seems useless, but she's awesome

I really should get on and write a lot more on C3, I barely do anything really and my laziness annoys me, I always say this to myself, and when I do write something, I find something else to do that usually takes over.

T.V is pretty boring at the moment, Doctor Who really seems a bit off lately, the plot’s too obvious with every episode, my Dad finds it complicated, yet I find it too simple and obvious, there’s just something missing and it’s not Matt Smith’s acting which is actually really good. I only watch football really when West Ham’s on and Top Gear never lasts more than 7 weeks per series.

Talking about cars, I haven’t checked how much my insurance would be, but it’s just ridiculous how much I would have paid a couple of months back, £3,000 to insure a Fiat Panda if I had one, that’s usually a cheap car to insure, not that I need one and I’m not allowed to park it at Uni, but seriously, £3K, that would easily see me through the year.

£3k to insure that?

Anyway if you’ve read this you’re probably bored out of your mind, it’s good to see people on here like SirLink, Kafei2006, Azuardo, Phoenixus, Marzy, jesusraz, Jb and Echoes221 among others, it’s just too quiet and I seem to have OCD from going on here and checking the comments.

Seriously, this site needs to thrive like it used to.

It's Armageddon!! Red Faction Style

Last month C3 sent me to Central London to go and test the upcoming PC/360/PS3 3rd person shooter, Red Faction: Armageddon, yes, you read it right, a game not on a Nintendo platform, and this blog is sort of like a preview for it.

First things first, after getting into the Hotel, I met one of the reps who let me into the room where I got a load of free food, and it was nice, a free day down London (since my train ticket runs from zone 1-6) and free Lunch, all was going well as I talked to a man from Eurogamer and a few other journalists that I can't remember the names of.

Afterwords, Eric Barker, Manager of Volition, invited us all in to play the game on the Xbox 360, and the first thing I got my hands on was the single player and here are my thoughts:

The game controls very much like Gears of War, as you'd expect from a TPS on the 360, only, there's no immediately obvious cover button, and there's a Jump button instead, which does come in handy. The rest of the layout is pretty much GOW.

The main focus about this game is the destructibility, as you move through the levels from A to B, almost everything (especially if it's metal) is destructible, and as well as being destructible, it's repairable, with little Nano bots being able to repair almost anything you feel necessary, and both of these are needed to complete the game.

In terms of weapons, there are quite a few to choose from with most of them being guns. The main weapon you'll be given is the Magnet gun, with this you can pull objects towards you (including enemies) and fire them back, or you can even bring a whole building down by pulling its foundations apart (yes, it's that powerful) and it's all great fun, but it can sometimes get in the way. Enemies, especially bosses can be tough to defeat, and may not have an obvious way of beating them. In fact, the boss I played against just needed to be shot down with no remorse, and it took quite a long time to do it.

Next up was the all new ruin mode, where you are taken to a map with one objective, destroy everything. You have every weapon to choose from before you start, these include the Magnet gun, as well as a Gun that fires a black hole and sucks everything in around it, and a Nano bot gun in which the Nano bots eat everything they're fired at( to an extent) that's metal (Think G.I Joe the film). I opted for the Magnet gun in the end, since that seemed the most helpful.

As well as your objective to destroy everything, you also have to rack up points to go onto an online leader-board. You collect more points as you combine the destruction of objects, this is where the Magnet gun is useful as you can pull things, like buildings and explosive barrels, and make them destroy eachother, which is all very fun and sometimes extremely random with the result that you get, so it may lead to some frustrating times as well.

I did get to play the Multiplayer, but at the time of writing this it's unclear whether I'm still under embargo to talk about it. But all in all, the whole game is a good bit of fun.

After I'd had my fun I set off home, I was going to make a vlog for the lack of pictures, but this pretty much says what I would have anyway, and all you need to know is that it's a very good, if slightly typical TPS.

An Afternoon Playing and watching TRON.

One of the most famous quotes from the original TRON Movie, and now TRON is Back In both Game and movie form in TRON Evolution and TRON Legacy respectfully, and I went to an event at The Soho Hotel in West London to check out both the game and the movie trailer.


Now, I got the event quite early as the conference of the Movie wasn’t until about 4.30pm, and I arrived, after a day at University at about 2.30pm, realising that if I went home, I wouldn’t be able to get back on time, so the first thing I did was to book myself in and get shown around by a lovely young lady called Marie. In the game room there was a big plasma screen to play a level from the TRON Evolution story mode on the Xbox 360, as well as 12 smaller screens around the room to play the online multiplayer (again on the 360). With the middle of the room filled with Tron: Legacy merchandise.

The first thing I did was hop on a seat to play the Multiplayer, hoping that I’d get to play the single player after. The multiplayer is sort of like a mix between Halo, Tron, and Prince of Persia gameplay wise, with a levelling up system and upgradable parts via collecting extra memory to add to your player, so I can see this getting into a lot of depth. The graphics on the game look nice, and very, well... TRON like, with there being loads of lines of white and orange lights mixed with alot of blue and green. As a Tron you can attack using beat ‘em up like combo hits, being close range and far away, these attacks can get stronger depending on how you level up your player. There’s also the ability to transform into bikes and knock players out with the streams the bikes create. All in all it’s pretty fun.


After about an hour playing the game, I started to wander around looking at the merchandise, and eating free food, I never got to play the single player for the game however, although later I found out it’s not the same as the Wii version, so it doesn’t really matter. While in the lobby, I got to play Split Second for the PSP, that was pretty fun and I beat everyone’s previous times by quite a bit, and even unlocking some things that made me wonder if it was a demo or not.

Then the major event came up, I was about to see the TRON Legacy Trailer in 3D, I wasn’t allowed to take pictures whilst in the screening part however, but I did learn some new things, like how the game is set before the movie, and learned how the actors and actresses were involved in the games. Then came the trailer, and it was amazing, I really couldn’t tell between the real life and computer animation, the 3D didn’t stick out so much but I’m sure it was helping the visuals, and I’m sure this is going to be an excellent movie.


After that, I decided to play some more of the game until my interview with Darren Hedges, the director of TRON Evolution. Of which you can find here. After the interview, it was getting late, I said goodbye to Marie and headed off, took a picture of the house outside Soho square, and brought McDonald's on the way back.

The Nightmare of Car Insurance

So, a week ago, I finally passed my driving test (yay), and I've just about saved enough money to buy my own car, but what about the insurance? Well, that's a different story.

Due to the fact I live in London, insurance is incredibly expensive. I've been getting quotes of over £4,000 just for cars costing a grand or less. That's expected for insurance comparing websites, but companies like Direct Line, who are seperate from the websites, won't quote me, why? well, I'd like to know the answer.

I'm going to be taking my Pass Plus, but now I don't even think that it's worth it, it's annoying that just because my mates from college live a few miles further out of London, they get dirt cheap quotes for engines twice the size of what I'm looking for, I honestly don't know what I'm doing wrong.

And I've tried seeing if going on my parent's policies will do, but it doesn't make enough of a difference to be worth it.

I really don't know what to do. Any thoughts?

Monster Hunter University

It was a cold Monday morning, I’d woken up early, actually had breakfast for the first time in a month, and was excited about my day for a change because I was going to go and play a game of which I’d only ever previously seen screens and videos. Not only that, but I was going to meet another Cubed3 member for the first time, Calum Peak, and this is how that day went.

As I made my way on the tube to South Kensington - 18 stops, standing most of the way - I was wondering what the Monster Hunter 3 conference, that Nintendo had kindly invited Cubed3 to, would be like, and if anyone famous would be there. I was also wondering what Calum would be like. When I got to South Kensington station, at about 10:00am, I waited for Calum to arrive, and as I waited I decided to buy myself a Toffee Crisp and an Orange Lucozade, whilst listening to a man play a stringed, headless instrument that turned out to be something called a ‘Guqin’. Finally Calum arrived and we started talking about our journeys, as well as our thoughts on what the event would be like. Since we thought it would be in the main section of the Science Museum, as the invitation had stated, I had pictured in my head a big stage with a Press Conference taking place in the middle of a lot of gaming booths.


Once we got through the bag check at the museum, though, we were told that we were actually in the wrong place, with the conference being held next door in the Director’s Conference Room. Upon entering, we were greeted by an attractive brunette who asked our names. I’m thinking now that I should have taken the opportunity to ask her, or any of the other pretty women working at the event, out...to talk about Cubed3 work, obviously!

On reaching the main lobby, Calum got some food while I went to check out the big, roaring (yes it was indeed roaring) advertisement board that was made out to look 3D. Then Calum and I talked for a bit, before finding out that the Science Museum offered free Wi-Fi - yes, we could use our iPods! I downloaded a Duke Nukem soundboard application that Calum had told me about, then as more people started coming in I went to put my hoody in the cloakroom because it was getting too warm. That was a grave mistake, though, because Calum ended up getting interviewed by Nintendo about the event in my absence, with some other random guy. At least when he said that he had never played Monster Hunter at all before they just ignored him and spoke solely to Calum. Then Iain Lee, who many will know from The 11 O’Clock Show and Thumb Bandits, as well as now acting as reporter for Nintendo’s ‘Ninty News’ show, said that Calum would be his ‘buddy’ for the day. We had a chat about the event and when it was going to start since it was meant to start at 10:45 and by now it was already half 11. Then I got out my iPod and realised the case had broken, tried to get it off, and was caught in the act by Iain who said, “What are you doing? He’s trying to break his iPod! Have you glued that on or something?!” to which I replied that it was stuck, and we all laughed.


Finally, we were all called into the conference room, where people dressed up as monster hunters and knights walked us in as an announcer proclaimed, “Welcome to Monster Hunter University, where you’ll get all the monster hunting information and skills that you need”, or something along those lines. We were told we weren’t allowed any flash photography or allowed to film before the Q&A. As we sat down we noticed little gift bags with goodies in them, such as a Pukka Pad, pen, welcoming letter, instruction booklet on the game’s controls, some Monster Hunter 3 postcards, and a 2GB memory stick containing screenshots and art (something that Calum’s bag didn’t include).

As the conference began, Ryozo Tsujimoto introduced himself as the Producer of Monster Hunter 3, along with Kaname Fujioka, who worked as Director on the project. Fujioka-san said he needed a pointer for the presentation, Tsujimoto-san pointed to a prop in the shape of a monster’s skull with horns and Fujioka-san joked that that was too big. Then he grabbed a human skeletal arm, everyone laughed, and the presentation began. During the presentation some new, exclusive weapons were revealed, like the Switch Axe, and then there was a presentation on the artificial intelligence of monsters, showing off how smart they are in-game. Tsujimoto-san stated that he set out to make the best looking Wii game he could, which in my opinion he has done, as well as wanting to make a game with the best possible online experience, which is why there are no Friend Codes, and there are more downloadable quests and weapons than ever before. This all sounded good to me!


After the conference, we were told that we could go have some snacks and then finally play some Monster Hunter 3. Calum and I opted to go into the games room first, where the online multiplayer pods were in the middle, looking amazing on 37” flat-screen TVs, with the one- and two-player co-operative machines on either side. Since the online seats were already taken, we opted for the co-op. All the consoles were set up with the shiny new black Classic Controller PROs that Tsujimoto-san had said he helped Nintendo design. I had already become used to the CC PRO from playing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but I had never played a Monster Hunter game in my life. I selected the Great Sword, which I was rubbish with, then opted for the Bow Gun, which felt better to control. We were both interviewed by the Ninty News crew while playing, and our picture was taking without us realising.

We could only select three bosses at the event, with each boss getting progressively harder. It took us ten minutes to defeat the first boss (the Great Jaggi), and not much longer the second (a Qurupeco). The third, however, took us over half an hour, testing our patience and skills a lot further than the last two. This monster was called a Barroth, and had stone armour all over its body, making it difficult to do much damage at first. Also, its AI was simply fantastic - I could see when it was tired or distressed, and it got angry at times getting faster and slower. I used a Bow Gun for long-range attacks. You get four lives between you and your partner(s) in this mode, and once those are up you have to start again (which against the Barroth we did twice) and I was the one who died the most. When we finally beat it, though, it felt like we truly achieved something special, shouting ‘Yes!’ and punching our arms up in the air in joy.


We then went to play the single-player, and were told that we could go and get Monster Hunter posters signed by both Tsujimoto-san and Fujioka-san. Calum went first and I went a few places behind him, standing behind a few news writers. I’m not sure what magazine or website they were from, but they pointed out something funny - one of the former Directors of the museum was called Dr. Grocock, and above her was someone with a name of an equally funny nature (although I can’t remember the name now). As I finally got to Fujioka-san, the lady translator said they needed to speed things up as by now it was getting towards 4:00pm, meaning I could only get one poster signed. However, Fujioka-san’s autograph is a funny little picture and was definitely worth waiting for to get another poster in my bedroom.

When I went back in, Cal and I were asked if we wanted to play the online co-op, to which we quickly replied yes. This time we went up against a monster called the Lagiacrus as it was a sea monster and we hadn’t had the chance to play any swimming part. We had fifteen minutes to find the monster and kill it, which was not an easy task to say the least! Starting in the main village, we had to rush to the sea to locate the monster, then fight it whilst other ‘sub-ordinate’ monsters were attacking us all the while. I chose to use the Switch Axe, which wasn’t selectable in the other modes, and it was quite awesome. We hacked away at the monster and it sent out an electrical attack that killed me (well, made my character ‘faint’, since you don’t die at all). I had to make my way back from the village, and as soon as I got back the monster decided to run off, which was annoying, but obviously part of its in-built AI (it was hungry and distressed!). It jumped onto the beach and we hacked away again, cutting off its tail and making scars on its chest. But then it ran away again, and our time limit was up. Oh well, you win this time Lagiacrus!


Cal and I decided to head off after that, with me deciding to get the District Line back and Cal the Circle Line train. It was a good day overall, but I then realised I should have taken the same route as Cal, as I could have then taken the Jubilee Line from Westminster and got back home faster. Ah, but it didn’t matter in the end, as not only had I been lucky enough to play Monster Hunter 3 and meet its creators, I had a tasty meal of steak and chips when I did finally get back home...
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