Aformentioned overhaul is complete.

Just a little update. (I know that pretty much nobody reads that thing, but that’s beside the point. I’m just bored.)

I still don’t have a microphone. I’ve been thinking about maybe getting one at some point, mostly for the sake of my live stream ( Located right here: http://www.livestream.com/gamedust) however I don’t wanna spend money on a cheap mic that stops working after a few weeks, nor do I feel that forking out 80 quid for a good headset/microphone until I know that I’ll get enough mileage out of it.

As far as music goes, I’ve been playing around with some different vibes. Things with a halloweeny feel to it, “proggy” riffs, metalcore-like things etc. but I haven’t really felt ready to record any of it. Mostly because they’re all improvised riffs, not really something one would classify as a song. I definitely want to record more, but I need to create an identity for myself and step away from the somewhat generic and boring stuff I’ve been recording so far.

I also might give this blog an overhaul at some point in the near future to make it more co-ordinated with my livestream channel. If I decide to do so, I will make a back-up of the current design I’m using because I like it too much to just get rid of it.

As far as gaming goes; I just recently pre-ordered Shogun 2 Total War and got Red Alert 3 in a cheap steam deal. I may or may not stream a bit of those, depending on how well it works and when I feel like it. I’ve also been playing a crapton of Minecraft again lately. However I have no idea about how to successfully stream it. If anyone has any tips for that, please do share.

A Slow Descent

Blood-red Mahogany

(I will probably continue on working on this song later, so don’t worry, it’s not a finished product to me)

My second contribution to the “Dexter plays” fad. I’ll probably stop after this one. I only made this because I had left over footage and nothing to do.

Dexter plays a little Medieval 2: Total War. It’s a little bit on the sloppy side, but I had fun making it. I might make more of these in the future.

soundtest of my new recording hardware. Excuse the simplicity of the riff and the fact that it sounds a bit unsynchronized, It wasn’t something I put effort in. Just a simple two-track recording to see how the Line 6 UX2 held up.

Very pleased with the quality of the sound.

Now I just need an artist name and a more community oriented page to put music on and I’ll be in business.

One left 4 Dead video/fraps test in a series of two in which I test out how smoothly my computers can record.

This one was recorded on my laptop. Fraps settings can be found in the video description

One left 4 Dead video/fraps test in a series of two in which I test out how smoothly my computers can record.

This one was recorded on my desktop. Fraps settings can be found in the video description

After nintendo’s success with the wii and it’s wii-motes, it was only a matter of time until Microsoft and Sony jumped on the bandwagon. I feel that, in this stage of development, I might as well write out my two cents.

To be completely honest, I think both of these products are completely unnecesary aditions to the systems they’re being made for. When I play a game on xbox 360 or PS3, I don’t play them because I secretly wish they had motion controls. Never have I played Halo or God of War and said to myself “gosh! I wish I could stand infront of the TV and dance around like a lunatic for this game. It would improve my experience so much!”

If I wanted to play a game focused on motion controllers, I’d play a wii game!

Even from a marketing standpoint; this is a dumb move from both companies. Their consoles have both established themselves as consoles focusing mainly on the typical gamer, while the wii has generally been focused on a more mainstream audience. Jumping into the same market nintendo has already captured is not going to do anything for them at this point because people who that sort of thing appeals to have already gotten a wii. A lot of that same audience probably doesn’t care a whole lot for Gears of War or Resistance.

Now to cover the companies’ respective ideas:

Kinect is a expensive camera that’s being marketed as a “controller free gaming experience.” as in; “you know those things you grew up with as a gamer? yeah, we’re going to strip them of your experience. Isn’t that great?” It’s a camera as well as a microphone of which both aspects sometimes remain questionably functional. Even if Microsoft manages to fix the issues with it they’ve been having during development stage, which they no doubt will try to do, I don’t see what’s so great about this. I like my controller and I don’t feel the need to give it up.

In my opinion, the xbox 360 controller is the best normal controller on the market right now; so why the heck would I want to get rid of it?

Playstation move are two wiimotes painted black, one of which has a glowing orb mounted on top. That one would be the motion controller, which has shown decent function, but doesn’t exactly look ergonomic to me. Supposedly it’s going to be compatible with a whole bunch of older games. “upgrading” your God of War 3 experience by making you swing around like a asylum escapee to mimic Kratos’ flexible moveset, no doubt causing quite a bunch of dislocated shoulders and broken TVs.

I agree that sixaxis was barely functional in most games, but is the best solution to that really to just drop all pretense and completely copy the wiimote? I honestly don’t think that the PS3’s targeted audience is waiting for a product like this. After all, the wii’s been out for quite a few years. People decided to get a Ps3 because it fit their desires as gamers more than the wii.

My verdict is that both of these things are completely unnecesary. As it stands now, I won’t get either one of them, esspecially if they don’t think of better ways to use them.

PS: I suck at concluding reviews. Should really start working on that.

So I’m back, without modeling photos, but after the time of my life. I’ve had a lot of fun and have been everywhere in California from north to south. There are some vacation photos which I might post here later, but I don’t have them yet, so I’ll see once I get them. I don’t know what else to say about my vacation so if I figure out something more to write, I’ll just put it in a new post.

Fox, Heather, Sakura. I love you guys. <3