Posts by Izuno

  • Quantum Of Solace

    Indeed the flipfloping drove me nuts.

    And that's my only complaint about the Bourne movies, especially the second one. The cutting every 0.35 seconds in action sequences was so frustrating. Otherwise those movies would all be A+ from me. I guess I am getting used them, like what we saw in QoS but I also still hate. I prefer to see action in longer shots in more satisfying ways. Think of the action in classics like Raiders of the Lost Arc or Empire Strikes Back. We're talking action film-making 101 from a slightly different era, but at least you can get your mind around everything that's going on. All the super fast cuts and microshots feel like a bullshit cinematic technique to artificially make a film seem more intense. I guess it is a trend that Directors and DPs have "come up with" but FFS it feels like a bunch of suits in Hollywood said "make it more intensererer!" and then the actual filmmakers rolled their eyes and said ".............................ok." (But that's just a cynical perspective.)

    Aside from that, I still enjoyed QoS though I liked Casino Royale better, and overall I think Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Sean Connery's, though the two portrayals have lots of differences.

  • Brash going down...

    Quote from Warby

    i might be doing some great guys some huge injustice by saying this but form what i heard (source: the kotaku news) is that brash is a company that formed to exclusively roll out shitty movie tie ins ... if that is the case i couldn't be more happy that they are biting the dust now !

    uh....yeah. The whole premise of "we can do movie based video games better than everyone else has done it before us" always seemed unlikely to succeed.

  • Wrath of the Lich King, night open release.

    Yeah the grind is just soooooooooooooooo uninteresting. Doing a raid with 10 or more people trying to coordinate taking down bosses and big groups of mobs can be a lot of fun sometimes and it's a different take on co-op multiplayer than in shooter games. But having to grind so much just to get into the raid in the first place really has no appeal to me anymore.

    But, the long grind is how they make the monies.. :yawn:

  • Wrath of the Lich King, night open release.

    uh.......given how many MMO related consulting projects I've done and am still working on, I kind of feel obligated to keep aware of what's going on in the biggest one out there...so yes I'm getting the freakin' expansion pack and yes I pre-ordered it but it's more of a business expense.

    Am I going to walk over to Best Buy (dangerously 10 minutes on foot from my house) for the midnight release?

    To answer, I quote the Major of Imaginationland: "FUCK NO!"

    [Blocked Image: http://www.izuno.net/bin/imaginationland.gif]

  • US presidential election 2008

    I've always considered myself an independent voter. There are plenty of Republicans and Democrats I feel should not be in office and would gladly vote out if I could. Bush was one of them. So is Nancy Pelosi. I could go on, but I'm sick of "Red" and "Blue" and the divisiveness in this country.

    To me, Obama's election is not about change. It's about transformation. There is a difference, though English dictionaries don't clearly capture the distinction. What's happening in the US and the world is an awakening. We are becoming aware that who we are is not solely defined by our past and our fears. We are discovering how powerful our words are in that we become what who we say we are.

    We already know this, especially those of us who started off in the mod community and eventually got industry jobs because of it. It's actually very obvious...we think about what we want, feel good about it and then take action and go for it, not knowing exactly how it will unfold. We stick with it through ups and downs and eventually it's ours. We didn't give up. We just kept going and adjust our plans if necessary but we kept the dream alive. Isn't that what we're generally taught about life? We transform from "wannabe" to "be."

    The connection to Obama's election is that American's now are awake to the idea that we can actually have a great society again that is a leader in the world and not a threat to the rest of it. It starts with us really focusing on what we want. Do we really want to consume 25% of the world's energy and produce less than 5% of it? (Someone check my numbers please.) Do we want to be so divided along racial and religious lines? How's that working out? Really? Like, really? Or do we really think it's okay that health care costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US? Really? Do we really want to shoot first, ask questions never? Do we really want to keep dividing America into "the real America" and "anti-American America?" What does that mean, anyway? Are we saying that I'll only give respect to people who think in ways I approve? WTF? Isn't America supposed to be the land where we respectfully listen to all points of view, even if we disagree with them? Is America ready actually start walking the walk and not just talking the talk?

    Ironically, one of my closest friends is already upset that because he makes a lot of money, will have to pay more taxes under Obama. My gut reaction in my mind was "are you seriously that self-entitled and self-centered? REALLY?" But then I realized how hypocritical of me to dismiss him just because he has a different opinion on taxes than I do. Am I really going to just be dismissive of his perspective rather than listen to it? Isn't that what Obama is calling us to do? To listen? To engage in civil debate? For me, that's a moment of personal transformation when I start considering other people's points of view and realize that I don't need to control their opinion or political beliefs for my life to turn out just fine.

    Anyway, I'm happy Obama won and I don't think of this as a victory for Democrats and defeat for Republicans. I'm wanting to be done with that perspective and pray Washington (and this country) begin to transform the Blue vs. Red mentality. I don't know what is going to happen exactly, but I'm excited.

  • Calling those in the Industry

    Quote from kleinluka

    Not so fast.... I know a lot of people (including myself) who have gotten work in North America without any post secondary degree. The US is one thing, and I agree that it's pretty much impossible without a degree.... but the question was NORTH AMERICA...which includes Canada...and Canada's visa rules are softer than USA...it's mainly about convincing the company that you are capable and that you are worth waiting 3 months for to get the work visa.

    Agreed, and you had experience on a HL mod that became an actual retail/online product which certainly helped, plus letters of recommendation from multiple people employed in the industry. :) You were an example of a talented artist with the proof to show it who met the right people at the right time.

    Tommy, the bottom line to get a job without a degree is you need experience . Given how many people want industry jobs, the more substantial your experience/portfolio the better. As has been said, that means mods and whatever projects you can work on that shows you have a portfolio.

    Also, I would reiterate what has been said about focus. In Klein's case, he was clear he wanted an art job and his portfolio + experience was very relevant to that.

    So I agree that you should pick out what you really like doing and focus on it. Get good at it. Find ways to build a portfolio. I suggest sticking with your degree and doing mods/portfolio work as much as you can. The industry will be there when you graduate. But this is my opinion, I'm sure others will disagree with me. And meanwhile, if in the next year you kick ass as a coder or designer or whatever you choose on some project that kicks ass, that may be enough to get you in and you can go pro before you go graduate like a US college basketball player going to the NBA out of highschool, except you'd get paid slightly less.

  • Prince of Persia E3 trailer is live

    I don't mind the black outlines so much on the characters. I can see why it people would not prefer it, but the black outlines definitely accentuate the animations which so far look very high quality. As an aside, would it be technologically easy to turn that on/off in game?

    I did feel the music was a little off but I'm hoping what's in the game is better. Still, the trailer shows so much of the female companion in gameplay that having relationship-y skewing music is kind of a match. It really has a warm, Ico feeling with her in it.

  • Valve to be bought out by... Google?!

    1) What Klein said.

    2) Just doesn't feel like it could really be true, even though I could actually see Google making use of Valve for profit one day. Good or bad for gaming that's another discussion...

    3) If it actually were true, it would somehow just make me feel bad because I like the idea of Valve being independent. I just don't see Valve selling themselves to Google anyway even though Google is one of the few companies with enough dumptrucks of cash to pay what many believe Vavle is potentially worth over a "longer" time horizon.

    Haha HP

    http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/epic

    "GOOGLEZON"...