Call of Duty II, the only game where your allies don't die within 15 seconds.

It's true!

Which is why I enjoyed Call of Duty II.

First off, it's graphics is nothing special, especially after Half Life 2, Lost Coast revealed just how well the graphics will become soon. With the gameplay having no storyline whatsoever, other than following that of history, Call of Duty II needed something special, in order to rise above the rest of the FPS which appeared during the rush in October.

And it had.

Basically, you play a soldier in 3 different nations (different soldiers for 3 different nations), and try to defeat Nazi Germany and stuff, proceeding as how history said it will go (or actually how history went...).

However, you seem to have a huge amount of allies coming from all directions to help you complete your objectives. That's the key point of this game. Too many games have neglected the use of friendly AI in order to help complete a mission, allowing the AI to die in some huge fire fight within 10 seconds of their appearance.

Hence, while you have a few AI friends to help you out (More keeps coming to replace the dead though), unfortunately, you cannot simply rely on them to finish the game for you. You are the one who needs to move forward, allowing the rest of your squad to follow. If you happily sit on your ass and snipe the enemies, you will realise that the enemy too, has an infinite supply of reinforcements.

However, aside from the great AI, the story itself is rather bland. Basically, it's always the same destroy/kill/secure/protect style of play. However, that can be simply countered by the fact that this is a World War II game, not a game where you become the hero and try to rescue some VIP hidden deep in cell 4 or something. It's you, and your friends, vs the enemy.

The game itself is rather exciting. You will find yourself needing to take cover very often, since standing out in the open gives the enemy a clear shot at your face. You will also need to run away from grenades, helpfully indicated by a "grenade indicator", warning you or any grenades in your area. Of course, you can toss your fair share of smoke grenades and grenades yourself, but one thing it missed out was giving snipers a chance to know that the grenades are nearby, as the indicator disappears once you "scope in".

The sound itself was pretty well done, for all 4 countries (Russian, British, America and Germany). The accent is there, and basically, the guns sound like they are real guns too.

The multiplayer mode was, sadly, disappointing. There isn't a single local server nearby, and I am forced to play on a server with over 200 ping. Even then, most of the maps are rather big, turning the whole game into a sniper's game, or rather, a game where "If you get spotted first, you die, assuming I have a good aim". In games with more people, DeathMatches become a sniper's sport, if you can find a decent nest. However, a grenade, and you will find yourself flying sky high. The CTF versions are also available, but it's insanely boring, since there isn't an actual spawn point. Hence, you can find yourself spawning in front of your enemy flag, because the system uses a method which allows you to spawn near your team mates. There's also Survival mode (Think CS), and also HQ mode (No idea. Few servers are running it).

However, the idea of friendly AI actually helping you out cannot be ignored. I didn't really expect too much for this game, and quite frankly, it did surprise me. The realism, the AI, the sounds. They are all excellent.

Perhaps this is why it was the best of E3. Hehe.

8/10

6 hours of Call of Duty II is bad.

And I've just finished only the British Campaign. There's still the American's one to go.

My eyes hurt....>_<

Harry Potter and the bucket of CGI

Note: This post will have a bit of spoilers on the latest Harry Potter movie, and probably even more.

Well then, I've finally managed to catch the latest installment of the Harry Potter movie with my jie, even though my exams ended on the 18th.

I've never been a huge fan of the Harry Potter movies, as I feel that they have been sliding downwards since the 1st one (Which isn't too far high on my ladder to begin with), and I didn't really expect much for this latest movie.

I was right not to expect too much.

It isn't even bad.

It's rather...horrible.

Dreadful, in fact.

The whole movie could have been filmed at some studio, and you probably won't notice the difference.

Why?

It isn't a movie.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is one huge chunk of CGI. Almost right from the beginning. The movie tries to condense a 700 paged book into a 3 hour movie, and fails horribily, because of the simple reason that they took out too many things, leaving some ends explained, and some actions actually meaningless.

Meaningless? Let's see, the enterance of the other 2 schools is nice, but there's totally no need for people to perform backflips and stuff. Them entering the school would be nice, thank you. The Quidditch world cup was also a total joke. Even 5 minutes of action would be nice, but all you see is a bunch of people flying around, and boom, the whole thing ends suddenly.

The 3rd challenge was also rubbish. There was so much potential in that dark and misty maze, but the only enemies the champions encountered is a bunch of grass closing in on each other and roots which can move. A far cry from what's written in the book, although by that time, you know that the one who wrote the script pretty much had the book in the fireplace.

Had it not been the actors/actress superb acting skills, this is one movie which would have gone to hell.

Sadly, the movie downplayed a lot of the skills of their cast. Richardson, the female who played Rita Skeeter, was excellent, but sadly was no more than a mere shadow in the show. Heck, the idea of Harry X Herimone was so juicy, interesting plots could have developed. Sadly, that just did not happen. After that picture on the newspaper, the whole thing died.

On top of that Ginny looks rather bad, not like what the book described her to be, and I'm disappointed with Emma Watson's growth.

So...

Meeh.

Although with such a disconnected story, I wonder how the heck they are going to do movie 5, since not everyone reads the books.

Ah well.

2/10.

--

Hmm, there's this rather cool place in Cineleisure which as around 200 computer stations (advertised). All of them are pretty cool stuff. Should head there sometime to play Quake IV. (CHAOS? ARE YOU LISTENING? HURRY UP.)

But hey, it's 24 hours for this two months....

I think I found something to do during the chalet.
--

With every word, I feel venom dripping from every letter.

With every word, I feel a sting in them.

With every second, I feel a new crack in my heart.

Had I lost the battle from the very first move?

Ha! Microsoft losing money for each 360 sold?

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+loses+money+
on+each+Xbox/2100-1043_3-5970560.html?part=rss&t
ag=5970560&subj=news

Well, if that's to be believed, of course.

However, why sell a console for nearly $200 of its manufacturing price?

Simple.

Sell games.

Companies which make a loss due to the consoles usually get the money back when they sell games. Take Nintendo. Their sales of Gamecube was horrid, but they made it back by releasing some really quality games (directed at their market, children, of course). However, Sega's Dreamcast, which sold plenty of sets, died in the end because it kept producing games which fail over and over again (Sonic 3D? Nuff said).

Xbox itself wasn't that fantastic itself, until at least quality games such as Halo and Ninja Garden came out. With Square-Enix pledging it's Allegiance to the Xbox 360 (henceforth known as 360), you can be assured that some quality games will come out.

Yet, will it take over Sony for the number 1 spot?

Until PS3 appears, yes.

After that, no.

Let's face it. How many Xbox titles are actually good? Ninja Garden, Halo, Halo 2...erm, that's about it. The main issue here isn't the multiplayer, which Xbox has thanks to it's Xbox live (a little pricey though...). It's simply the quality of the games which Xbox lacks. Sony has plenty of fun games, namely RPG titles such as Final Fantasy and Dynasty Warriors, just to name a few. Microsoft only managed to convince Square-Enix to convert, after Square-enix produced crap such as Final Fantasy X-2, which also happens to be Square fan's most hated game.

Face it. Square died after Enix took over, and Microsoft is picking up someone who is well past their age. (Think Alex Ferguson).

So hence, Microsoft isn't doing anything fantastic by releasing the 360 earlier then the Revolution and PS3. It simply lacks the quality games which we players look for. The fact that some "Xbox-only" games, such as the Halo series, can be ported to the PC does not help one bit, since the draw to buy the 360 dies almost immediately.

Go PS3~!
--

Hmm, after playing the Piano a bit, I feel much better.

Hehe.

Anyway, after that failure yesterday, I guess I just have to pick myself up and try again.

After all, to listen to her sing that song one more time, is more then enough reason for me to keep trying.

And I will, even if my last breath depends on it.

Because it's worth it.

kaze ga yoseta kotoba ni....

Ah well.

I guess I've lost this one as well. Maybe 1 move too early or sorts.

Or maybe I was just a little too hopeful.

--

Song of (whatever) switched to Tenki Ame, by Takeshi Senoo, from Aria the Animation Soundtrack. This is the anime I'm helping the group translate. It lacks action, but as our project leader said, it's relaxing.

I took it up to kill time and to get some experience. LoL.

Holidays, dreaded or something to actually look forward to?

Yay. The exams are over. Half an hour before your last exam ends, you are already happily tearing your Entry proof into molecules, intending to leave that pile of trash for the people whom your school hired in order to keep the place clean (Never mind that the school knows who sits at that location).

"You may leave", the voice of the chief examiner booms through the hall. You cheer wildly along with the rest of those who ends on the same day as you as though your football team has just won the League, and laugh at those who still had papers in the days ahead.

That night, you party like a wild animal at your friend's house/bar/void deck. The pile of notes on your table are sent to the nearby incinerator, your confirmation slip learns to fly as it takes a trip out of your window.

It's finally here.

The holidays.

After partying till 3am, you finally go to sleep, before waking up 12 hours later.

You do the usual stuff in the bathroom. As you look into the afternoon sun, wondering what had happened to the morning, a thought hit you like a hot brick on your face.

It's the holidays. It's something to cheer about.

Yet, you have nothing to do.

Some of your friends are still having exams, and hence, you will only be celebrating a whole week later. You log onto MSN, only to log out 5 minutes later, feeling that you should not spend the first day of this so-called "freedom" online, rotting in front of your computer.

And so, you sit in front on your sofa, idly leafing through the newspapers, wondering how the heck you are supposed to get through the next few months with almost nothing to do.

Going out with friends everyday is fun, but it's tiring, and there's a high chance that your wallet can't take the stress, unless you are planning to walk along the beach everyday.

Suddenly, studying everyday, the thing you hated, dreaded, loathed, does not look so bad after all.

Sounds familiar? XD

Holidays are something everyone look forward to. However, when you have over a month to spare, after which there isn't exactly much to do, you will realise that having something to do isn't that bad.

This is probably because our mind cannot handle the fact that we are actually "free" yet. After 2 years of insane studying in order to make it for our A levels, suddenly telling us that we have no need to study any more is actually rather shocking. It's like NASA saying that the world is flat, when you believed it was round all this time.

Yet, a week later, why do I have this empty feeling inside? I should be celebrating, tossing myself off some cliff. However, I'm sitting in front of my computer, watching Animes and playing Guild Wars (and most recently, Diablo 2, again).

And hence, I found no choice, but to give myself some work in order to kill time.

For some reason, people like to waste their holidays by working. It is definately one way to earn money. However, merely days after the end of an exam? Whatever happened to "relaxing"?

No, what I mean in finding work isn't heading out to the real world to work. Sure, we can most likely handle that. However, isn't that a little unhealthy for the mind? Study. Exam. Work. Your mind needs a break, and you ain't giving it any.

What I'm talking about is learning something new. Something interesting. Or doing something interesting. 2 years ago, I've learned flash (Although I've forgot everythign since I don't use Flash that often), I've learned PHP and MySQL thanks to the Job attachment last year (again, nothing stayed). I'm thinking of learning Timing, Typesetting and Encoding of avis this year. I'm also eyeing the Near Perfect Grade Strike Freedom model, assuming I have the cash for it.

Hence, holidays arn't boring. They are in fact actually rather interesting. They can be full of activities. You don't need to burn a hole in your pocket, or go out with friends everyday in order to "fill" your holiday.

It's just how you plan them, and what you want to do with the few days that have been assigned to you as a "holiday".

Site updates.

New banner. I used a totally different style to do this one, prefering to mix around the brushes and stuff. Not too happy with the text, but I'm rather satusfied over all with the result, because it does, somewhat, matches the colour of the blog.

I'm such a failure with colours...

Anyway, the cover girl this time (no guys on my main banners so far...I wonder why...) is Shana, from Shakugan No Shana, which was mentioned before. It's at episode 7 now, and still going pretty strong. Watch it if you have the spare disc space, because the encodes by the two sub groups used are pretty CPU consuming (Eclipse uses H264 while Flamehaze uses Xvid).

Song of (whatever) is now Hero's Theme by Steve Burke, from the Kameo Elements of Power Original Soundtrack. An extremely impressive soundtrack, especially for a battle-music type junkie like me.

Anime and Manga Rush..kekekeke.

Hmm, since the exams are finally over, I can devote myself to reading Rave and watching Anime the entire day.

Goddamnit, I need a life =\.

However, it's good that I managed to restrain myself from watching/reading them, because if I did, I would have had time to study.

Rave

This is one of those animes which was spawned from the Manga, but lacked the budget, and ended up crashing half way. However, thanks to the anime (and AXN), the Manga became much more popular, as people would want to know what happened.

The story is something like what you see in Dragonball. This guy called Haru has to find all 5 pieces of Rave, and throw them together in order to save the world.

Yeah yeah. Been there. Done that.

However, what's refreshing from this storyline is the way the characters are developed. Time was placed for the storyline, but even more time was placed on developing the characters. Haru's companions all have their own dark past, and throughout the 35 volumes of the manga, their past is slowly revealed, bit by bit.

What I really liked about this manga was that it emphasised a lot on friendship and team work (and all the good stuff, of course.) Drawing strength from their friends, Haru and his company will defeat their enemies.

However, the only bad point of this manga was the sheer amount of enemies there are inside. After Haru and Co defeats a gang, another bunch will appear, and we get a whole new story once again. This somewhat makes the story draggy, because we all know that Haru will win (usually by drawing strength from knowledge that he has friends or something)

Still...

There can only be so many tear jerking scenes a guy can take, especially when you read it into the wee hours of the morning, 9 volumes at one go....

Damn. The ending was excellent, although I did not exactly like the build up. Thankfully, the parts before that were not too bad.

Overall, a pretty nice and decent Manga to collect.

Score: 8.8/10

Full Metal Panic

As I've enjoyed Full Metal Panic (FMP) : The Second Raid (FMP:TSR) a lot, I was looking forward to watch FMP after my exams. The fact that they were sitting on my shelf as CDs for almost 3 months did not do much to influence my decision to watch it at the closest possible opportunity.

First off, the reason why this was 24 episodes was makde known almost immediately. The character development started almost right from the start. From almost the 1st episode, you will find out that the main character, Sousuke, has absolutely no experience with normal life.

This was one anime which made me laugh insanely at times, seeing how impossible Sousuke is, and the way he acts towards the one he's supposed to guard: Chidori.

It had a great story, and great fight scenes. However, it lacks enemies. Unlike Rave, which had like a few billion enemies (and a few more), this one had just 1 main enemy who simply could not die. He was "killed" at least 3 times in the entire series (and he still reappears in TSR). Also, another disappointing feature of FMP was that it's ending was rather lame, and pathetic in a sense. While I was expecting a whole crate of dynamites explosion type of ending, it simply fizzled out like a birthday cake candle.

Hence, it had great potential, but it simply (once again), missed the spark.

At least the ending was a rather decent one, although no where near as well done as TSR. Still, the parts leading to the ending was all excellently done, and I found myself wondering how people were able to stand the wait when it was broadcasted in Japan.

I certainly could not.

Score: 9.2/10

WOOO HOO!!!

XD

FINALLY. IT'S OVER. ALL OVER!!!!!!!11U1IUiu!iu!i

\o/

However, during the course of the exam, there were some funny moments.

Like, for example, the fact that the invigilators like to carry their bags everywhere they go. Including collecting scripts.

I have no idea why they want to do that, unless they are afraid that their collegues for a month or so could be thieves? :O

The horror!

XD

And of course, since it's the last day for some of us, when the IMCAS (or however you spell it) form was collected, there were people turning their Entry proofs into confretti.

It truely was a memorable sight.

Anyway, I've decided not to comment on my exams, since everytime I comment, something screws up...

Of course, as always, I've been planning and pretty much listing what I need to do during my holidays.

-Animes to watch:
-> Full Metal Panic
-> El Hazard (TV2 and OVA)
-> GSD (once again)

-Books to read
-> Rave. It's about time I finished that whole thing
-> Robert Jordan Wheel of Time book 11

-Upgrade my computer, I need more RAM, eyeing 1.5gig

-Maybe, just maybe, buy a master grade Strike Freedom. XD

Also, after leeching off the community for quite some time, I've finally decided to give back to the society. I've joined Anime-Shrine as a Chinese --> English Translator for their Aria Project. First time for everything, I guess. Aria isn't exactly that fantastic, but it lies more on the relaxing side.

And hell, translating 60+ lines of text sure is tough. Took me 4 hours to translate them all.

A slap on the wrist for 'perverted' crime

A slap on the wrist for 'perverted' crime

By MARK BONOKOSKI


In the wake of Attorney General Michael Bryant's controversial and headline-grabbing legislation earlier this year that put the muzzle to pit bulls, one would think the appeal Crowns under his command would jump on any criminal case where the breed played a particularly ugly role and the dog's handler got off lightly in the courts.

But apparently not.

From this point onward, parental guidance is advised.

Back in August, a now-17-year-old Scarborough girl -- her name protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act -- was sentenced by Justice Paul Robertson to 20 months probation after pleading guilty to the Criminal Code offence of "compelling bestiality" -- as in using a neighbour's pit bull as a sexual weapon in the anal rape of a then-12-year-old boy.

There were conditions on the girl's probation order, of course, including counselling to address "sexual offending and anger management."

The Crown prosecutor, Kim Motyl, had sought a custody and community supervision order of 18 to 20 months, all to be followed by a year probation and counselling.

She also requested an order for the girl's DNA to be submitted to the federal database, as well as the conviction being registered under the high-profile designation of "serious violent offence."

Both were denied.

Believing the sentence did not adequately reflect the crime, Kim Motyl's boss, Tony Loparco, appealed to the Crown's appeal office on Bay St. where it was reviewed and then rejected.

"We never comment on the reasons," said Brendan Crawley, a spokesman at the Office of the Attorney General, the overseer of the Crown's office.

"That's it. There is nothing more to be said."

The facts of the case are as follows: In August 2003, the then-15-year-old girl was hired by a neighbour in her apartment building to look after her pit bull terrier while she went away to the west coast, and left her explicit instructions not to bring any other person into the apartment.

The police report is three pages long. And it is graphic.

It has the girl attending the apartment to feed the pit bull, and taking along the 12-year-old "victim" who also lived in the same building. They were sitting on the couch when the dog climbed up and began "humping" the boy.

Both, according to the report, thought it was "funny."

"We need to get rid of his horniness," the girl reportedly said, and then instructed the boy to get down on the floor on his hands and knees where she then forcibly pulled down his pants and underwear, and put the pit bull in position.

The boy told her to stop -- that it was "no longer funny."

But it wasn't about to stop.

"The victim began crying in pain," reads the police report. "After about 10-15 seconds of the dog penetrating the victim, the accused began hitting the dog on the head to break him off. The accused instructed the victim not to tell."

Back at his own apartment, the boy initially told his mother that his "puffy" face -- swollen from crying -- was the result of banging his head on a shelf. After he went to the bathroom and discovered he was bleeding, however, he let the entire story spill out, including showing her the scratches on his back that were consistent with claw marks.

According to the police, the boy's mother confronted the girl, but did not immediately report it to the police because she feared the girl was not only a bully, but a member of a gang in that end of Scarborough.

It was only after a social worker at the boy's school called the mother to discuss her son's increasingly bad behaviour did the mother disclose the events of that summer. The social worker, in turn, called Children's Aid who, in turn, called the cops.

The girl was originally charged with three criminal counts, one for compelling bestiality, one for bestiality on a person under the age of 14, and another for sexual assault.

The last two charges were withdrawn when the girl pleaded guilty to the first count. During the sentencing, Judge Robertson said that, despite the Crown's prosecutor's use of the words such as "repugnant" and "perverted," he could find "no evidence before him that the physical injuries (to the boy) were anything more than transient in nature."

He also said he "would not equate this offence with one of incest or a serious sexual assault" that would result in "psychological damage far in excess of the physical nature."

"The offence before me was spontaneous, lasting about 10, 15 seconds," said the judge. "It started as an ill-advised joke between friends."

It was Tony Loparco, the head Crown in Scarborough, and prosecutor Kim Motyl's boss, who asked for the appeal.

"From a legal perspective, I knew the appeal would likely be turned down, simply because the girl will soon be 19," said Loparco. "That, and the fact that young-offender rulings are rarely changed.

"But, was it worth a try? Yes, it was," said Loparco. "Imagine what that boy went through, with a pit bull.

"Sometimes you just despair for humanity.

"It's frightening. It truly is frightening."

--http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Bonokoski_Mark/2005/11/04/1291748.html

"The offence before me was spontaneous, lasting about 10, 15 seconds," said the judge. "It started as an ill-advised joke between friends."


Rofl. Try getting raped by a dog for 10-15 seconds...

Sunday Times made me go Rofl.

I know, I know, I should be studying...

But hey, I am constantly being amused by Sunday Times.

1st of all, there's this article at the back pages which talked about how people used terms like "LoL" and "GG, you're screwed." in their daily face to face conversations, instead of keeping them online or in their cellphones. To be honest, I won't say I'm not guilty as well, since I do use those terms in conversations at times.

However, what interested me was how the term "Cya" could be defined as a "short form". How many ways are there to pronouncing that term? C-Y-A? C'mon, it sounds alike with See-ya, which is why the term "Cya" was morphed and coined. The writer obviously seemed to have forgotten that there IS a difference between writing and speaking. This is almost like saying "bai-bai", which is a "cute" form of "bye-bye (sucker....XD)" in real life. You can't "short-form" that term, unless you say "bb" to your friends, which, frankly, sounds retarded.

Another thing that the paper brought up was that people verbalise expressions, just as they might have had in online conversations. "*rolls eyes*", when said, again, sounds retarded. Bloody hell, we can see you are rolling your eyes, since when talking to someone, you should be looking straight into his/her eyes, instead of staring elsewhere. I do not see a need to actually verbalise that expression, unless of course, you are recounting it in a third person form (I rolled my eyes at that time). Imagine someone saying "sweat drop" after you've said a cold joke.

Which is colder? The cold joke, or the person who said "I sweat dropped"?

You decide.

A few pages earlier (page 29), there's this article by some one from New York Times, talking about how irked she was by the short-forms the internet users use. She isn't the only one. I don't mind short forms, but I prefer not to use them. It simply makes what I type much easier to read by the other party.

Or perhaps, it's just my preference. LoL.

A little short form is fine, but too much, it makes your message look like some kind of codebook that's used in world war two.

At least it isn't alternate caps. If there's one thing I seriously hate, it's alternate caps.

It's an eyesore. Nuff said.

And then, of course, other then these amusing articles that's on the back pages of Sunday Times, there's this rather annoying story at the front-mid pages of the paper.

I'm talking about the self-proclaimed Singapore most famous pink blogger.

To those who have no idea what it's about, the blogger wrote something about how abled body people should use toilets that is designed for the disabled.

While I do not wish to comment on this rather ridiculous issue, I am surprised that this piece of "news" was placed in front of other world stories such as the French Riots, and the anti-bush demostrations in Argentina. Sure, at the back pages, I don't think I'll mind.

But the front pages?

Since when did news about "bloggers" become more important than other world news? Even the Senior Minister's visit to Japan has been relegated to the back. Is there so little news to report, such that what happened to a blog is being shown on the front pages? Is reporting how others responded to a blogger's views more important than other world news?

This is sad. Truely sad. And coming from a state newspaper as well. From some tabloid, it would be a little understandable.

But The Sunday Times isn't a tabloid. It should be reporting news, not what happened to a blog. Hell, even the white house scandal isn't even half mentioned in the news. Sure, it's supposed to be an "update". However, do we actually even need updates on such issues, which is ridiculous to even talk about, to begin with?

*shakes head*. Why must you people continue to destroy my faith in humanity....?

Good night, Winter.

Time to pull the power cable! \o/

..

Hmm, although I'll get it back up on the 10th for a little bit of stuff.

..

Yeah right..who am I kidding...
--

Site updates:
-Finally found the code which controls the padding of the text AND the sidebar. Previously, I can't move the damned sidebar.
-Changed the background of th quicktime object to black. I realised that my code for the thing was wrong all this time, which is why it looks wierd on IE, and that I can't change the background.

Song of (whatever) switched to Daia no Hana (Diamond Flower), by Yoriko, which is Black Cat's opening theme.

All the best for the A levels!

\o/

November.

Finally.

17 days to go.

Once again, All the best!

Picture is once again taken from Shuffle!. Asa-Senpai, once again, is the main star.

Expect another one soon. Haha.

--

One final game of Civ IV proves that my score of 7.5 is correct. Basically, it's Civ III improved. As I've not really played Civ III, I can't really tell which are the new units, but from the boards, it seems like the diplomacy stuff is much better.