Dark Arcanine blogged

That's right, Uncle DA wants you to join GameGrep! It's one of the lesser known aspects of the Neoseeker community, so hopefully through this blog post perhaps I can manage to convince just one of you. If so, I'll be happy but make sure to tell me here so I know my self satisfaction is worthwhile!

GameGrep is the name of an extension of Neoseeker. It's a place where you'll find all the latest news about the Video Game Universe, pretty cool right? Ever wondered how you read those interesting pieces of news around the forums or found out a release date of the game you really want? I will bet you that 99% of the time with Neoseeker forums, they've come off GameGrep.

Now you're all familiar with NeoPoints, most of you will have contributed at least one thing since the start of your Neoseeker like. You will also know that once you get over 100, they display underneath your avatar. Quite a few people like to get just over 100 so they can have another thing displayed, but at least there's another 100 points worth of contributions to the site! Other people like me contribute a couple thousand or more, though you'll find most average around a couple of hundred. My point is that a lot of people do them and enjoy it.

Now if you've ever seen me posting around the forums, you would've noticed underneath my avatar the GameGrep points. Sadly this bit under the avatar is a whole lot more less common on Neoseeker, it just doesn't receive the attention it should. You'll also notice my GameGrep Points are around triple that of what my NeoPoints are. Does it mean they're easier to achieve? To some extent yes they are, is that an enticement for you?

Just by coming onto GameGrep and commenting, you're still contributing. In fact you can get +1 or +2 points, depending on some factors, every time you comment on a piece of news! So just by coming on and commenting, you can get that extra line displayed under your avatar.

What I really want to encourage though is posting bits of news. Now the set up isn't too different on GameGrep, actually this blog posting system contains some similar elements so you won't find yourself overly lost. There are lots of news sites around, so picking one won't be too difficult! Just post one bit of news a day, I promise it's worth it. You can make from I believe 3 points to around 10 just from posting one piece of news! But please remember it can only be around 2-3 days old!

Then this isn't considering bonus points. GameGrep articles get ratings, determined by a couple of different things. Anyway, reaching certain levels means certain boosts in points. If you can do an interesting article, like my recent one about Characters sharing the same voice actor then you can rack up the points really fast! For that one I got some of the different milestones and my most recent one for it was a rating of 300 gaining me 20 points! In fact just by itself that article has easily made me around 60 points! Told you it was easy.

You also don't want to forget alternative sources as well. If you see a piece of news and you found it covered again on a different site not listed in the source of the article or in the alternate articles bit then add it on! You get +1 points so yes it's small but it all adds up.

Now if you become a GameGrep regular, you'll be likely to experience something really cool at one stage which contributing NeoPoints doesn't have the same ability to give. I myself have had one such experience.

Back in November I posted an article called Master Sword Becomes Reality! which is a really sweet article about this dad named Jerry Bennett who made a real life Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda series for her. Now look at the ratings, I believe it's the highest rated article ever on the site. This is fairly easy to explain.

Being popular it of course received a lot of viewers, getting quite a few rates. Then I googled the title, it was linked to on a couple of different sites as well. See you have to remember that the gaming news industry is like a spider web, we're all connected in some way or another. So people are just as likely to be linking to your articles as you are to theirs.

Now all the points I made off that aren't what I enjoyed, though they were certainly welcome. What really made me smile was when I signed on one day to find a PM from Jerry. That's right, he'd tracked down my article! He said thank you to me for covering it and was really happy about it. So by contributing to GameGrep, you can also help people of the bigger community. He also went on to talk in the article with the members leading to some interesting discussion, he certainly gained some quick popularity with the members. Yes I was a bit embarrassed when he asked how to pronounce Dark Arcanine, but hey we can't have everything now can we? I got to meet a proper sword maker and get thanked for covering their work, what more could I want?

I'm also a GameGrep Approver now. You could look at it as the CRS Team of GameGrep, with CRS covering the contributions to Neoseeker for NeoPoints if you didn't know already. It's an enjoyable job and something to hope you can aspire to.

So what is my short and simple point I'm trying to make? A lot of people on Neoseeker contribute for NeoPoints and help the site and community. What I'd like to suggest is maybe try GameGrep out some time. You'll get more points to display under your avatar, you'll get to meet interesting people and read interesting things and most of all, you'll be helping the community.

So hopefully I've reached at least one blogger, if so my mission has been a success. And if you are/not interested, just remember that you can spread the word and let your friends know too.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, if you have any questions just ask them here or send me a PM. I'm happy to tutor you if you like or answer as many questions as needed to get yourself going.

Oh and forgot to mention! A lot of you have been enjoying the Neoseeker Contests lately. Well watch out, because there's regular GameGrep contests too!



musingsthoughts neoseeker related gaming related
Dark Arcanine blogged

Well last night I made that blog about how I'm excited about this Neo Raffle. I checked in this morning and oh no, someone's already beaten my bid for the name change.

Supposedly they can afford a name change, so must have alternate accounts. Well that's how the cookie crumbles, can't say I'm not a bit disappointed though. It makes you wonder how spamming Diamond Clans makes you more deserving than being a Moderator, GameGrep Approver and CRS Member doesn't it?

But still, it's all to do with luck and chance. I still want to kick myself though, because of the limits. If there hadn't been a cap on NeoPoints and GameGrep Points I would've been a lot better off and vastly less likely to lose. And yes, I do now want to kick myself for not buying tickets instead.

Anyway enough about this rant, what else has happened since last night? I found some old photos, I'll probably stick them in a blog post or Loungin' or something. Oh and tomorrow I'm going round my cousin's place to play around with our guitars. Only thing is he has like twenty more than I do!

To finish, I still hope everyone wins lots of nice things in the Neo Raffle. If I'd put all my points into just the bid I likely would've won. But yeah everyone have fun and I'm now going to go mope while I stay named Dark Arcanine.

musingsthoughts neoseeker related
wwemarvelfan blogged

This is madness!

Madness? No. THIS IS NEO WHORING OUT!

Hehehe, meh I don't mind it all that much. So yes, here we have the first sexy of my many sexy blog posts. So leave me a sexy comment saying what sexy thing I should do my next sexy blog about plz.

neoseeker related
Kid Icarus blogged


So after enduring a bit less than an hour of coding, I've finally managed to get the blog to look how I want it to look. For the meantime anyway. Chances are I'll make a new background or a header or something involving gradients and stuff.

Anyway, the point is that we've taken on a whole new look different form the default one, and I feel somewhat proud for completing it, and for that I feel ashamed. I suppose it's because what I've done is really nothing compared towhat other people have done, but I suppose I'll have to look on the bright side and think of it as a start.


musingsthoughts web development neoseeker related
Cero blogged

We watched a Shakespeare parody in school today. And I've never heard, or seen, any play of Shakespeare, so my first though was "Why the *bleep* are so many people dying?!" I see one part. "04 N035 MA W1F3 C43A73D 0N M3 1 741NK 1LL K33L 43R!" (Oh noes, ma wife cheated on me, I think I'll kill her!)

What the heck were these people thinking? "You killed me father, I will kill you!" wtf?! Did they let people kill others with no consequnces?! No laws?! wtf?! Were these people high when laws were made? Were there even laws?!

...I think someone had a couple puffs when that someone wrote the script.


musingsthoughts
Kalin Velothi blogged

I finally got Battlehorn on my new guy, I know it off by heart however. I'm currently going to use the Sparring Orc, trying to get block high. Getting my Minor Skill up can be a real pain, but it's worth it.

Hopefully I'll be able to buy the Wizards Tower next, if I can get the money together. Shouldn't pose to much of a problem.

Thats all I really have to say for now. Until next time :)

xbox 360 gaming related
Zeon I blogged

When did Neoseeker get Blogs? This is going to be awesome.

Only God, Mary, and Joseph know what type of random shit I'm gonna post in here.

Did I mention *bleep* yes, Blogs?

other musingsthoughts neoseeker related
Tainted blogged

One of the most pleasant surprises of 2008 for me was seeing Mario Kart DS return to the top 10 selling games of the year. The game, released in November 2005, remains the most played game on my DS, and is easily my favorite game on the system. However, it is still surprising to see it sell so well this long after its initial release. Many people are probably a bit stumped as to why this happened, especially after Mario Kart DS was absent from this list in 2007. This blog post is my speculations as to why the game is still selling so strong years after its release.

The most obvious reason for the continues success of this game is the blazing success of the Nintendo DS itself. The DS is continuing to sell like hotcakes, outselling every console and handheld on the market by a mile. In December of 2008, the DS sold over 3 million units, which is a new record for most hardware units sold in a single month. To date the DS has sold over 27 million units in the Unites States. It's no wonder that people are just now picking up the "classic" DS games like Mario Kart DS.

Second, Nintendo is realizing that newcomers to the Nintendo DS may not know about the older games that were hot sellers in their time. Recently Nintendo has put out a commercial that advertises older first party games in the DS' library: Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, and Mario Kart DS. This holiday season commercial brought the spotlight back to these older games whose sales might not have been up to standard with newer games, which generated interest in these games once more.



But the other two games in that commercial did not seem to sell as well even with the extra advertisement. What was it about Mario Kart DS that generated so much interest?

I think it's the fact that the game appeals to every type of gamer. Casual gamers enjoy the fun oriented type of antics that come with the Mario Kart name; the frantic items flying at you at all times, the colorful tracks that are interactive and unique, the easy access to Nintendo's WiFi connection. And seasoned gamers love the competitive side of things; snaking and PRBing opens up a whole new level of competition for those seeking a challenge.

On top of that, Mario Kart is such a universal name now. Kids ask for it as a Christmas present to accompany that shiny new Nintendo DS Lite, and moms buy it because they feel comfortable with the Mario Kart franchise. There's no violence or blood; maybe a few squirts of ink here and there, and wiping out on a well placed banana peel. It's a clean name that mothers look to and know that they are making a safe choice.

Finally, I think the game is still so successful because it's such a great game. Mario Kart DS was definitely hyped up by Nintendo, that's for sure. It was to be the first game to feature online support, with online racing available to you as long as you had access to a WiFi hotspot. And Nintendo definitely played up this point, advertising the game left and right leading up to its release.

And then the game released, and everyone realized just how great of a game it was. The controls were responsive and easy to learn, the Mission Mode and Staff Ghosts offered up some hefty challenges, and online play was a great first step. Although simplistic, online racing barely lagged after the first few days of overwhelmed servers. And drift boosting techniques such as snaking and PRBing began to emerge as the must learn techniques for those wishing to be competitive in the Mario Kart world.

So, if this post did anything, it made me realize that Mario Kart DS' success is the result of all of these things, the "perfect storm" if you will. All of these things fell into place, creating the perfect environment for success of Nintendo's little racer. Mario Kart DS is not only the best selling game on the Nintendo DS, but is also the best title available on the DS, and it's not often that you see those two come together.

Note: I got all of my statistics from this GameGrep article. Check it out for the full details.

mario kart ds nintendo ds ds
Krunal blogged

Trophies for the Playstation 3 has been incredibly successful, and has helped them to a small extent gain some ground on Microsoft's XBOX360. However, I don't believe that games a lone will help Sony become the market leader like they did with the PS2.

They unlike Microsoft, have an advantage in the market which they've not sapped into fully, and that advantage is obviously the Playstation Portable. So how exactly can Sony use the Playstation Portable to help it out? Simple, at the moment trophies/achievements are restricted STRICTLY to the two next-gen consoles: PS3 and XBOX360 respectively.

So what better a move would it be for Sony to take the next step, and make it so that PSP games also have Trophies? That's right, I'm suggesting getting Trophies for PSP games.

Not just that, but make people create accounts like with the PS3 (not sure if it can be done already or not... still a few more months till I get my PSP), and link it to a PSN Account. Then the player can earn trophies in games by doing whatever task is necessary, and then they can either go online to resync it with the network, or connect the PSP to the PS3 and have it resync with the PS3 (which if connected online, will resync with the network).

That's not all... best of all I think that the trophies you gain should be attached to the same account. So if I have say, Resistance 2 trophies on my PS3, and Resistance: Retribution Trophies on my PSP, when sync'd with the server, I should be able to attach them to my Playstation Network account.

At the moment Microsoft doesn't have a hand-held system, and Nintendo wont be doing anything like this, so why not make the first move and make trophies go over two platforms. I'm sure Microsoft will do it eventually (and far sooner than Sony) with the next XBOX, so why don't Sony beat them to the punch and make their hand-held system allow trophies?

There are absolutely no problems with this that I can think off besides the high piracy issue, in which case they can maybe add some form of check to make sure that you only get the trophies as long as you've actually got the game and aren't running it off the memory card (unless it's a game downloaded from the PSN Store).

Then all the games that are multi-platform on the PSN store (I mean PS3/PSP compatible), you can essentially play as the game for trophies at home, then when going out, resync the PSP, transfer the save and carry on getting the trophies when your out.

So guys and girls, what do you think?

playstation 3 playstation portable playstation portable ps3 psp trophies
Kathrine blogged

*Sigh* My life is totally wasted. I spend yesterday drowning myself in Harry Potter movies. And I'm finishing up the 4th Harry Potter movie. What am I going to do when the 4th Harry Potter movie is done? I don't have the 5th, 6th, or 7th Harry Potter movies yet, so I don't know what to do any more. ;-; And I'm only on the first book on Harry Potter. And Harry Potter's theme song is stuck in my head. Talk about wasted. D;

other movies books
Azeman blogged

NOSRSLY, any takers?

Anyhow, The entire heading leads me to my recent emotions of EXTREME FEAR. (DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN!)

I think all my fear started around last Summer (?) when i was going on holidays... on a plane. This wasn't my first air journey, nor do I intend it to be my last, but for the entire thing, and some time beforehand, I had horrible feelings that something bad was gonna happen. Obviously it didn't, but that was the starting point of a series of horrible fearful experiences that really never needed to happen.

The entire problem returned about a month or two later, when I was at home, alone, playing teh Pianoforte. I randomly started hearing rhythmical creaks coming from the stairs, one after the ohter. All manner of fearful thoughts started running through my head - Is that a robber? Am I going to die? Does that bottle of holy water have a hand hole? Turns out it was my brother. He thought it was hilraious. I thought i was gonna die.

SO ever since then, any time I'm at home alone, and even when I'm not, and I hear creaking noises, which is alot, I think there's someone there, but there never is. It's really starting to get annoying, and tends to come and go from week to week. I think I need to see a psychologist...

musingsthoughts
The Don blogged

I'll save you the time and just tell you, do not see this movie under any circumstances.
I'm just warning you now...


» Synopsis
Centered around an Account Manager, Wesley Gibson hates his life and constantly asks himself who the *bleep* is he. Being chased down by a group of assassins calling themselves The Fraternity after Gibson's father is killed. Gibson, trying to desperately take control of his life and understand who he is, joins The Fraternity in order to find out and kill who killed his father.

Plagued by pointless bullet-time action, a ridiculous script (based off of a comic book, which should stay a comic book btw) and predictable endings and "plot twister", this movie had me going "what the *bleep* did I just watch". To be quite honest, I don't know if this was an action movie with crude humor or a horribly scripted comedy with meaningless bullet-time action gunfights.
At the end of the day you want a movie to make you think about your life and the directors had tried to do exactly that with this movie, but failed terribly. The film ends with Gibson turning to the camera and saying, "This is me taking back control of my life. What the *bleep* have you done lately?" That particular ending sent me over the edge with rage. Taking control?! What *bleep*ing control?!! You spent half the movie being (what the butcher constantly called him) a "pussy". Suddenly you grow a backbone only to end up on the run again, doing nothing.



The best part? Angelina Jolie's barenaked ass and Morgan Freeman's epic line "Shoot this mother*bleep*er". That's it.



» Result
Don't see this movie. Ever.


movies
chautemoc blogged

Some of you may be familiar with all the ragging I do on DRM, especially with Electronic Arts who seem to be the most notorious for it overall.

Well, me being the diplomat I am, ended up in a discussion with one of the customer support people at EA following me stating I would no longer be purchasing Mirror's Edge upon seeing the DRM it had (the copy I played was borrowed if yer wondering).

Anyhow, I think it's really quite something, so maybe you'll enjoy it too.

(Note that for efficiency, these are excerpts, though most of the dialogue is retained. Keep in mind in my original email, I was being a bit of a jerk, so I'm not at all opposed to his reactions. DRM gets me crazy!)

---

EA:
I have many EA games that use SecuROM and I have, not once, had any troubles with this form of DRM. Generally the only people that have issues with SecuROM are pirates. Furthermore, purchasing games funds these developers that make the games that you like so much. So you deny the developers this money which could go towards developing a new game. Good job.

moi:
Even if you want to discount the troubles (which, yes, would not arise with everyone, but do have an effect for some, and do potentially negate testing to some extent), there are still the principles (I'll get to those in a moment).

"Generally the only people that have issues with SecuROM are pirates."

What do you mean by this? Technical issues or just opposition? If technical issues, this is completely untrue as pirated versions do not have SecuROM. If you mean opposition, this is not true either. I know many people which buy games with SecuROM on them but do not like it, it's just worth it for them, and that I understand.

I know it means I'm not supporting the developer (financially, as I do it in other ways). Look, anger aside, I'd like to have a truly open dialogue here. I LOVE these games. I've been playing games since I was a child and have happily paid for everything and supported these developers up until DRM came along, where it became a mixed bag. I love these games so much it honestly hurts me to personally not be able to support them. I WANT TO. But I can't let myself because I just can't support the DRM.

As for the link you sent (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170057 ), I respond with this one:

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/11/08/new-class-action-suits-target-ea-securom-sims-amp-spore-creature-creator

I don't intend it as any kind of personal attack, it's just.....your link is why so many people hate EA. Bully tactics? Really? That's what you expect will make people want to buy your games? You don't understand the community. We want to support publishers that love games too and don't believe in scaring people into buying games, that trust their customers and believe in the games they publish enough to let them remain free. I want to pay $60 for the truly amazing games you've been publishing, but I NEED to be able to do what I want with them when I want and not have to worry about whether or not I can play this game in so many years, or why SecuROM is still on my computer after uninstalling one of your games and is nigh impossible to get off, or whatever else. It's just unsettling and not something I want to be associated with.

Please consider these things, perhaps pass them to the execs as well. Would love to continue this dialogue if you or anyone else there would too.

I love your games..please let me buy them.

EA:
First off, here is a link to manually remove SecuROM from your machine: http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=20763

Second, SecuROM was applied to EA (and other company's) games to stop pirates from illegally downloading and also reproducing our games. Obviously this was needed as people would copy their games and give them to friends or simply download the game free of charge. So now that EA implemented some sort of copy protection to protect it's intellectual property some people have decided to pirate the game. Basically pirates caused the need for DRM which made it irritating for the rest of the paying players, which in-turn has caused people to pirate the game. Quite the conundrum.

The bottom line is gamers either buy the game and support the developers with future games or pirate the game and contribute directly to the need for more DRM. The way I see it is if you don't like the product, or something that comes with it, don't buy it.

These are just my personal thoughts and are not directly affiliated with EA. Unfortunately I cannot engage in further discussions as this is more appropriate for the forums.

Please do not pirate our games.

moi:
See, we see pretty eye to eye after all. :)

Thanks!

pc gaming related MirrorsEdge
BadWolf blogged

After much confusion and frustration I finally got Pokémon Platinum! n_n
Although it is in Japanese I can roughly tell what is going on (150 IQ ftw xD). i love the game so far, even though I only have a Monferno and just got the second badge. I might start again cause when I get a new game I tend to rush through it. xD

But yeah. That's about it.
A special thanks to Kogara for helping me get the game. xD


ds platinum
Better Call Bob blogged

Rock Band DLC has been great the past few weeks. There's been more Foo Fighters, Deep Purple, James Gang, Jethro Tull, Roy Orbison, Lenny Kravitz, and this week we get some Steve Miller Band, Rob Zombie, and my personal favorite - Godsmack.

1. "Space Cowboy" - Steve Miller Band
- Meh, I've never really been a huge fan of the Steve Miller Band. This song sounds pretty good though. As with this and the other two SMB songs, this is going to prove to be fun (and probably challenging on vocals). Also sounds as if this is going to be the hardest song out of the three.

2. "Take The Money and Run" - Steve Miller Band
- This is a great song. Sounds like it's going to be most challenging on drums and vocals.

3. "The Joker" - Steve Miller Band
- I love this song, it's probably my favorite by the Steve Miller Band. Guitar sounds fun, not too challenging though... hopefully I'm wrong on that part though. Vocals should be fun as with the first two songs. Funny thing is that this was just on the radio last night. =D

4. "I Stand Alone" - Godsmack
- ABOUT EFFIN' TIME HARMONIX. =@ Yeah. I love Godsmack, they're one of my favorites along with Iron Maiden, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. I kind of wish it was a different Godsmack song though. I grew tired of this song, it seemed to get whored out, I was hearing it way too much on the radio. I think this was the Godsmack from The Scorpion King too... wasn't it? I can't remember which song it was. I can't wait for it nonetheless. Doesn't sound like it will be too challenging on any instruments... maybe the most challenging will be guitars. Still though, gimme moar Godsmack. :3

5. "Feed The Tree" - Belly
- First thing that came to my mind when I heard this: 'who the hell is Belly?' I'm still wondering, never heard of them before. Song is kind of boring, but guitar sounds like it's going to be pretty fun.

6. "Wind Me Up" - Ghost Hounds
- I have no clue who this is, and apparently they aren't very popular, because I couldn't find it on YouTube. I search for the song, and all that came up was the anime show Ghost Hound. Then I searched for just the song name, and all I found was songs from other bands. So, I'm just going to assume this song is going to really suck or be surprisingly good. I'll have to buy it and find out.

7. "Typical" - Mute Math
- Hm, I was pretty shocked with this one. This song is going to be really fun. Guitar and drums shouldn't give anyone too much of a problem, but definitely won't be boring. The song itself is pretty good too.

8. "War Zone" - Rob Zombie
- This song is pretty awesome; this is the first time hearing it. Sounds like it's going to be hard on drums and guitar, probably pretty hard on bass too. Rob Zombie has a unique voice, but doesn't sound like it's gonna be all that hard on vocals. Should be really fun to sing though.

Overall, this is another good week for DLC. I'll be getting all eight of the songs.

xbox 360 music
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