The Blue Haven

As the title says, the page is once again in the state of "Work in Progress."  This is a theme found on the official Wordpress site, so I cannot make any claims of creation here, but I will have to go through a few things to customize it to my site, at which point, it will be a theme BASED on someone else’s theme.

Main things to address: The image gallery is unavailable to view with this current setup.  It can be accessed HERE: http://the-blue-haven.com/main/theimagegallery/  However, I have not updated it, and likely will not for the forseeable future.  I may do so in summer when I’m not pressed for time.

The individual pages appear glitchy, and I will have to work with that by looking at the exact call line on the comments.php file.

Just saying.

I haven’t forgotten about the promised entry from the last review, but I have some other journal writings outside of this site to take care of. Also, I’m planning a bit of a layout update, so there’s that much to look forward to.

I also am planning to push the idea of moving the UH Pre-Pharmacy Association website to a private server so future webmasters (as well as myself) don’t have to deal with the limitations of those servers.

Title: .hack//G.U. Volume 1: Rebirth
Type: Action RPG
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T
Available Files: Depends on the size of the memory card.
Special Notes for ESRB Rating: Fantasy Violence, Language
Summary: The first of a trilogy, Rebirth starts off where its animated counterpart - .hack//ROOTS - left off. CC Corporation - which published a popular MMORPG called “The World” from the other series of the franchise - released a new version of “The World” after its servers were damaged in fires. Rebuilding the game from the ground up (but still with elements from the past) with new character classes, new areas, new monsters, CC Corporation and its customers believed the game to be safe and fun… But, that wouldn’t make a very interesting story, would it?

“The World R:2″ became a haven for “PKers” (Player Killers) which were previously frowned upon in “The World R:1.” The main character, Haseo, first starts playing the game but was PKed. His troubles with the game begin as he logs in for the first time…

A Disclaimer to all the readers: I have NOT finished the original four (Infection, Mutation, Outbreak, and Quarantine) games yet. I have played enough for SOME comparisons however.

My Ratings:

Graphics: 8.5/10
The full-motion videos/animations were very well done. The style had a touch of cel-shading. The areas have shown graphical improvement from its predecessor and even resemble the areas seen in .hack//ROOTS. However, the character animations while not in a full motion video are a touch subpar.

Story: 6.5/10
Alright, so for most of the .hack fans, story is of utmost importance. For those who have watched .hack//ROOTS, this series will seem like a continuation/finale. In that respect, it does not disappoint. However, after playing a bit, and players falling into comas again, the not-so-hardcore fans are more than likely to think, “Great… this **** again.” However, the way in which the gameplay is integrated with the story is better executed than its predecessors, as you will read in the following section.

Gameplay: 8.0/10
Alright, so gameplay. Those who have played the old games will be somewhat relieved that the gameplay isn’t QUITE as repetitive as before. The areas will at times seem repetitive, (I lie. They ARE repetitive.) but they throw in several “Arena” battles and “Sidequests” as part of the main storyline to further develop the bonds and characters that show the growth of Haseo. To this end, as Hiroshi Matsuyama - President of Cyberconnects2 - wanted to “create a ‘coming of age’ story… for a very long time,” they successfully plant the seeds for character development/coming of age.

Music: 9.0/10
I’ve been listening to the soundtracks in my car and iPod for a few months now. Doesn’t that tell you enough?

All joking aside, Chikayo Fukuda has done a great job with the music, developing a rather unique flavour to the environment of “The World R:2″ with a variety of choral, electronic, easy listening, metal, and many other genres of music.

What prevents me from giving this a 10, however, are the “Mecha-Grunty” and “Piros the 3rd!” tracks. I cannot even stand to listen to those for the first few seconds. There are also a few tracks that seem reused (only because they were remixed, slowed down, or sped up).

Overall: 7.5/10

This is an okay game for the casual gamer and a definite for those who are fans of the series. The story is better integrated and told at a better pace in THIS VOLUME than the IMOQ games. However, although the main theme of the trilogy is of “growing up”, it is still told under the same circumstances of players being put into comas, of which some will undoubtedly be getting tired of.

Disclaimer: .hack//G.U. and all content associated thereof are the properties of BandaiNamco Games and CyberConect2.

Testing a program that I just installed on Ubuntu to automatically update a blog entry.

Title: Transformers
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
Director: Michael Bay
Release Date (U.S.): 3 July 2007
MPAA: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language.

Plot: On a planet known as Cybertron, a war occurred between the Autobots and the Decepticons. As a result, their main source of power and life was lost into the far corners of space, landing in our world many years before. And now, they come to reclaim what is theirs.

Review:

“This movie is so good, it must be Japanese.”

No, I’m not saying the Japanese have better movies than us (though sometimes they do). This is an edited joke from the movie itself (”It’s a robot. You know, like a super advanced robot. It’s probably Japanese.”)

My impression, until I watched it a second time, was that I was probably extremely pleased with the movie as I went in believing it would be a flop. I was thoroughly disappointed with X-men 3 and my impressions of movie adaptations of things from my childhood was dwindling. So when I found it as an enjoyable movie, I refused to believe it. And so I watched it once more. And even trying to pick at the bad parts, I still enjoyed it.

Anyways, first and foremost, many would have watched it for the transforming bots. There is no disappointment there. The CGs make even the unrealistic existence of transformers seem realistic. Only if you’re a stickler to original designs would you be disappointed with them.

Bumblebee is no longer a young VW Bug, but a Camaro. His personality is also somewhat different, and well… he’s just badass. Ranging from his choices of music at the most convenient times… to his attitude, there’s no doubt he takes a star role out of all the autobots.

However, the movie concentrates more towards the human element than the robots themselves. This, I actually did not find a hindrance to the movie itself, as the Transformers came to OUR planet. Not only that, but there is plenty of commentary about humans in general in the movie, that not concentrating on the human element would actually be detrimental.

The camera work, despite filming nothing due to the robots having to be CGed in later, was amazingly well done. The actors were well picked.

If I had to pick a bad portion, it would be the choice of adding a certain sexual joke in the middle. Transformers, as an old cartoon and toy line, would lead one to believe that the movie was made to target the same audience. Of course, there are warnings in the MPAA, but not many moviegoers bother to take note of it. There are adults who may have grown up watching Transformers and believe that by watching this movie with their children, it may strengthen the bond between parent and child. However, it may actually place them in an awkward position, having to explain masturbation.

Oh, and Jazz died in one of the most wasteful ways I’ve seen on film since the death of Nathan Petrelli on Heroes.

As far as giving props to the old series, the movie has plenty. Bumblebee, as a Camaro, was parked next to a yellow VW Beetle, of which he slammed into with a car door. Optimus Prime made his “At the end of the day, one shall stand, one shall fall” statement that was mentioned in the original cartoon movie nearly a decade ago. The “More than Meets the Eye” statement is mentioned numerous times.

All in all, with scattered humour throughout the movie, great special effects, amazingly well blended story for an unrealistic scenario, good voice acting (and acting in general), well developed characterization (for some characters… mostly human), and commentary on our race from an “observing viewpoint”, this movie is pretty much right for anyone, Transformers fan or not.

Rating: 9.0/10.0

EDIT: This is a barebones version. I’m being forced to sleep right now, so I can’t finish. I’ll insert more to this hopefully later today.

Damn, it’s been almost two months…

Just checking in to say I’m not dead. Just preoccupied with some other stuff. I got a job at CVS now.

I’m also participating at Altimit Corporation. Here’s a link.

As you know, I’ve had issues getting the Image Gallery to comply with this layout here. I’ve decided to pursue using a different template for the image gallery (”Modern” by Ross Howard). This uses a black on black colour scheme, but I tend to like it. It just doesn’t fit with the whole “Blue Haven” idea, so I may end up changing it eventually. Though, if you think it’s fine, I won’t if I don’t have to. So please leave a comment about that.

However, issues with Singapore makes it so that I can’t immediately upload my images, seeing as my images exceed 3000×2000 resolution when I take them. It ends up crashing the entire gallery. As thus, I’ve always had a qualm about when and how to update the gallery.

I found a nifty little program called “Multiple Image Resizer .NET” that can convert my selected images all at once to a smaller size. If utilized this way, I can definitely upload my images faster and without crashing the gallery.

So expect the gallery to be finished (not in terms of content) by the end of this month. I have AP tests and graduation coming up and cannot spend as much time immediately on it as I would like.

And yes, Michelle, I’ll include yours in there when I do so.

Graduation for the Class of 2007 - CLHS

Graduation for the Class of 2007 - CCHS

I’m more convinced than ever that a good reputation will in the end bring you great favours.

21 April 2007 was my high school’s prom. My prom date and I inadvertently left her corsage in the car and didn’t realize it until we had already given our tickets and went in.

Due to the popularity of teenagers drinking alcohol at this event in many high schools, ours specified that once we enter, we cannot leave, even to the car. So basically, I was beating myself up about how I forgot it and whatnot.

Refusing to be defeated by a memory slip, I asked the nearest teacher whether it was possible for me to go to the car park to get her corsage. Said teacher said it MAY be possible if I had an officer escort me out. So she referred me to an officer, who then referred me to the Senior Principal. This principal, though I have only talked to her once or twice already pretty much knew my name off the top of her head (it might have something to do with being one of the twenty-one people tied for rank one in my year). She sympathized and went with me to the officer closest to the car park and asked if it was possible for him to escort me out to the carpark and get the corsage. And then, she added “But I think he’s responsible enough to go on his own.” And because of that, I was able to get the corsage in less than a minute (I ran. If the officer was around, running wouldn’t be possible without causing him to suspect I was up to something I wasn’t supposed to do) and come back.

I don’t know how it would have turned out if the Senior Principal didn’t speak in my favour, but even so, I am eternally grateful.

The same, I would think, would apply to Credit Scores… of which I really need to start accumulating…