Wilson's Blog

Ok, my other blog cant be edited for some reason, so ignore it and read the rest of this BIAATCH!! Ok, so you have a new forum, after having spent around 10 months on the older version, and jeez is it different! First off, the homepage. Don't even go there, I mean just go straight to the forums, if your internet is as bad as mine, anyway. It takes an unbearably slow, sloth like amount of time to load. And even after all that 4 day wait, I'm left with the message "Cannot find Direct Video Player", just to make my browsing experience even more tiresome and aggravating, the video on the homepage is incompatible with my computer. Looks nice though, when it eventually loads, much more professional than the last one. I have to say, I'm impressed with the new logo design, look at it, come on, just up at the top left there. Pretty, isn't it. There is no scrimping on the advertisements, thats for sure. I'm starting to wonder if MLG has been taken over by Scion. The ads at the top of your screen are nicely subtle, but the squarish ones at the sides of the screen couldn't be more eye-catching. This is all still an improvement, as I know well how much MLG will benefit from advertising like this. The forums have me with a strange sort of feeling. The design is too plain in my opinion. I can see characteristics of graphic design and computer help forums coming through onto the V4 MLG ones. More professional, but less unique if you ask me. There are a few problems, as you would expect, but nothing MLG wont be able to fix, I'm sure. Even as I speak, the forums will no doubt be improving: there are less problems each time I visit the site. I was here just as the old Version 2 MLG forums were going down, and the then brand spanking new Version 3 forums were up and running. So I've become so accustomed to the V3 forums, that of course I'm not going think that the V4 forums are just perfectly better in every single way. I got used to my MLG Green skin choice. Oh how I miss my Green skin. Leprosy or not, it was beautiful. And there's no animated avatars allowed... ...bummer

So I got rid of those stupid I's and the CaPs No cAps thing in my name, ok they weren't that stupid at the time, but I got fed up of them. I shall now be known as Wilson_!

GIMP is an image manipulation program. It's quite good. Many people complain about how bad it is, and that CS2 is so much better, but it's completely free! No hidden costs or anything. Ok so there are a few features it lacks, and some Plug-ins crash from time to time, but its still very useful.

Heres the GIMP homepage:
http://www.gimp.org/

Some things I've done on GIMP:

First thing I did:

That took me a few seconds.



My first minisig:


Other one:

As you can see, they are vot very good, mainly due to the lack of features GIMP has. The ones done on Photoshop look more like this:


Sigs:




I'm resonbly pleased with this sig^. I followed a tutorail, but it was quite difficult since it was for a different program. I had to download some brushes from here:
http://resources.deviantart.com/applications/gimpbrushes/

The grunge ones are what I used for the sig above
These ones are good:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/35925380/

If you like the sig and you would like a similar one, just PM me and I might find the time to make one for you. Dont expect anything great though!

New stuff:



Yeah, I can do animation now!

At last, I can do minisigs properly

At BestBuy:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7294661&type=product&id=11188418 76708

$59.99
Release date of 3/1/2007

A clinic that offers treatment for people addicted to playing computer games has opened in the Netherlands.

The clinic tries to find replacement activities for addicts

The service, run by addiction consultancy Smith and Jones, offers a program lasting up to eight weeks.

The clinic estimates that up to 20% of gamers, many of which are children, could develop a dependency.

Compulsive gamers have similar symptoms to gambling addicts, they say, and risk damage to relationships, health, education and their careers.

"I lived in my room. I have 4 televisions around me, with one X-Box 360, PlayStation 2, X-Box 1 and a Game Cube and a lap-top, where I can play online games," said Tim, a 21 year old who has received treatment at the clinic.

Tim played games for up to 17 hours a day.

"I have no social life, I have no friends - only cyber-friends"

Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5191678.stm

You can go there and get help if you need it.

According to an article from BBC News, high development costs for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are leading some publishers to rely heavily on in-game advertising.

By acquiring Massive Incorporated, who splice ads into online PC games, Microsoft has become the forerunner for next-gen advertising. Xbox group product manager David Huffer said "the first generation of Xbox we experimented a little bit with online advertising, but the Xbox 360 is much more targeted at something like online advertising."

In-game advertising, an industry currently worth about $56 million, is expected to increase over tenfold by the year 2010 to as much as $700 million.

I sure cant wait for an Ad for Burger King popping up during blue-screen in Halo 3!

EA Unveils Development on Six Titles for Nintendo Wii. EA's dedicated Wii development team is crafting six custom-designed titles including new releases from the Madden NFL, Need for Speed, Harry Potter, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR, SSX and The Godfather franchises.

Each title will remain true to the hallmarks of its franchise but is being designed to maximize the power of the Wii hardware and take full advantage of the uniqueness and innovation of its one-of-a-kind controller. The Wii version of Madden NFL will be demonstrated for a group of elite critics and industry media later today at EA's Studio Showcase 2006. Additional titles currently under development will be announced in the coming months.

This is what John Schappert, Senior Vice President and General Manager at EA had to say about this:
"Once we started to experiment with Madden on Wii, there was an explosion of innovation. Everyone in the studio is energized by the creative opportunity afforded by both the hardware and controller. By reaching into our catalogue, we are able to bring a fresh and distinctive experience to some of EA's most popular franchises. Creatively, the game play possibilities are staggering and endless"

Sounds cool.

Microsoft has shot down reports, based on comments made by an Australian Toshiba executive, that Microsoft plans to release an Xbox 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive.

"We have no plans to release the Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD drive," the company said. Its full statement:

"At E3 we showcased our Xbox 360 HD DVD player that is an external drive. Since launching Xbox we have retained a games first emphasis, but we also offer consumers the ability to build on our powerful platform, such as in combination with a Windows Media Center Edition PC. We feel that offering the drive externally is the best way to give consumers the ultimate choice to create their own high definition experiences. We have no plans to release the Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD drive."

Sony sure isn't making any friends with their Playstation 3 price plan. Their announcment at E3 that their Playstation 3 would sell for $500 and $600, depending on the bundle, didn't really shock anyone. It had been rumored for a while prior to the press conference that the PS3 was going to cost a large chunk of change. But suddenly the price of games is coming up, and Sony is under the gun again. In an interview with Playstation Magazine, Sony Exec Kaz Hirai suggested that PS3 games will cost more than $60.

Hirai said, "I don't think consumers expect software pricing to suddenly double. So, the quick answer is that we want to make it as affordable as possible, knowing that there is a set consumer expectation for what software has cost for the past twelve years. That's kind of the best answer I can give you. So, if it becomes a bit higher than $59, don't ding me, but, again, I don't expect it to be $100."

While a price hike up to $100 doesn't seem feasible now, the possibility of PS3 games costing between $70 and $90 isn't far fetched. Considering how much more it costs to make a Blu-Ray disc versus a DVD, this new price plan is a good possibility. Thank God I'm not buying one!

Sony's PlayStation chieftan, Ken Kuturagi, has officially announced that the PS3 is delayed until November.

However, the firm is aiming for a simultaneous worldwide launch with major availability.

Sony said it would ship 6 million PS3s before the end of 2006 - to put that in perspective, Microsoft has only shipped about 3.5m Xbox 360s so far since the system launched last year.

Kuturagi also unveiled some of the features of the console. A 60GB hard drive will be included with every machine and it will be possible to run Linux on it, officially. Interestingly, the PS3 will act as a media hub from which you can grab all your content - sort of the opposite of the Xbox 360, which acts as a media grabber.

He also spoke of Sony's as-yet-unnamed online service, which appears to be shaping up very much like Xbox Live - with a free online service for downloads and chatting then a premium service for actually gaming.

I'm not dissapointed, as I wont be getting one!


$599.99! NO WAY!

Interested in next generation games console technology? Read this(even if your not):

MoSys, Inc., the industry's leading provider of high-density system-on-chip (SoC) embedded memory solutions, today announced that Nintendo's Wii uses MoSys' patented 1T-SRAM technology to produce high performance memory within the Wii console's graphics system.

This is the latest result from the more than six-years-long technical collaboration between the two companies. Previous generations of MoSys' 1T-SRAM technology were incorporated in the Nintendo GameCube, in 1999, and shipped in multi-million quantities. The newest 1T-SRAM implementations embedded within the Wii console are fabricated using NEC Electronics' advanced 90nm CMOS-compatible embedded DRAM process technology. These high speed and ultra low latency memories are used as the main embedded memory on the graphics chip and in an additional external memory chip.

According to a source of megagames, Sony has been working with an Israeli company called Prime Sense to develop a PS3 peripheral which will recognize a user and his entire environment as well as his movements and will incorporate them into useful, in-console actions.

The source also claims that this mystery device will be available on the PS3 come launch day. There is also a rumor that a PC version will be made by Logitech at around the same time. This tech sounds a lot like the gesture tech that will be incorporated into the Xbox Live Vision Camera, but on a bigger scale.

If this information is correct it seems Sony is really trying hard to put value into a console who’s price tag has caused many gamers to reconsider their next gen purchases. The concept of this technology sounds amazing and would definitely add a new sense of immersion to games, if it works right. Sony has made no official announcement of this device and with launch day creeping up, if true, an announcement should not be far away.

Popular gamer-centric Web comic Penny Arcade is holding its third annual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in August, and the group says the three-day shindig is shaping up to be the largest yet. Attendees will get the chance to go hands-on with unreleased games; sit in on a number of conference sessions; witness the Omegathon game contest; and hit parties, concerts, and other activities around the clock.

Today it was announced that exhibitor space for the show has been sold out, with heavyweights Nintendo and Microsoft headlining the list of participating companies. Also set for the show are Nvidia, ArenaNet, America's Army, Turbine, NCsoft, Ubisoft, Rockstar, Mythic, Foundation 9, Red Octane, Flying Lab, Creative Labs, The Behemoth, Sabretooth Games, and Garage Games.

Another addition to the program is a keynote address by former Microsoft employee Alex St. John on "The Prehistory of the Xbox." Now the CEO and founder of WildTangent, St. John's involvement in Microsoft's DirectX technology and the creation of the Xbox has been chronicled in a number of books, including Opening the Xbox by Dean Takahashi and Masters of Doom by David Kushner.

Previously announced attractions include concert performances by Mike Relm, The Minibosses, MC Frontalot, Optimus Rhyme, The Video Game Pianist, and the Neskimos. PAX 2006 will be held August 25 to 27 in Bellevue, Washington. For more information, visit the official Web site:
http://www.pennyarcadeexpo.com/index.php

I think that is the end of H2 for me. I dont think I can get much more out of it. I used just play it to get better, and I can still get much much better, but there is no reason. I had a good run with H2, but now it is finally over. I may still share my knowledge on the forums, but thats about all I'll do.

I just want to say before I start, yes I do think Halo 2 is a good game, but no I dont play it anymore because it's boring now and I'm fed up(read other blog for more).

The balance on maps on H2 is next to zero. None of the MLG maps for H2 provide any balance whatsoever, but Bungie got it right with most of the H1 maps. Hang 'Em High is just perfectly balanced, in my opinion.

The power-ups in H1 were extremely important. Most games are centered around power-up spawns and if you cant get the power-ups before your opponent, your screwed. The camo in H1 makes you invisible, but the H2 camo does not at all.

The Plasma-Pistol(PP). The PP ruined H2. It has far too much AA, it can go round right angled corners for goodness sake! The H1 PP required skill to use correctly. I remember the H1 combo, it was not near as effective as the H2 one, which is a good thing because the combo has destroyed H2.

I feel obliged to compare H2 and H1 shotguns. There really is no comparison. The H2 shotgun is a much use off host on XBL as a needler with no ammo. The H1 shotgun however, WAS a shotgun. I remember playing the single player on H1 and how fun it was to blast body parts off the Flood, ooh the good old days!

Melees in H2 are far too powerful.

This sig says it all:


H1 melees were balanced and required skill, of which I dont have, to land and do effectivly. BLB>BXB (Double Beat down is far more skilful and balanced than the H2 BXB weapon glitch).

The grenades. Well the H1 grenades were much more skilful things to control and use correctly and could go for miles unlike the excuse for grenades in H2. The H1 grenades took much longer to go off and did not bounce as much as the H2 ones so required you to think ahead when nading.

The Auto-aim in H2 is, as we all know, strong to say the least. This can be seen when using rockets in H2, if you try to aim for the ground underneath your opponent, you will probably miss and the rocket will go flying away into the distance as the Auto-aim (AA) pulls your reticule upwards. The huge AA in H2 makes the outcome of most BR fights pretty random, especially on XBL. In H1 however, the AA was far less so the person with the best pistol usually won the fight.

In conclusion, there are major balance issues in H2 which H1 lacks, the skill required to win a game of H1 is far greater than that needed for H2 and the overall gameplay style in H1 requires you to be more skilful, strategic and aware.

H1>H2.