Quote Of The Quasi-Day


"If God listened to the prayers of man, all men would quickly have perished, for they are forever praying for evil against one another" - Epicurus

Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Quiet One - A Dishonored Tale



Since before he could remember, there was the tales of The Outsider. So long ago, living on the streets, he came upon an old woman. In her madness, she thought him her darling grandson, and in her he found not just an unlikely caretaker but a way to a new life. She taught him of The Outsider and helped him carve a rune on an old whale bone he found by the river. She gave him charms and trinkets for protection, fed him, kept him safe, but never once looked upon his face, as her eyes were long ago blinded. He never asked how, but learned from her everything he would ever know.

Every day was a new lesson, a new gruesome way to learn the truth or right a wrong. “The pain rings true.” she would often remind him. And though he always offered what he could to The Outsider, always brought runes and eventually made his own altar to him, He did not come. The Outsider would not see him. Did he listen to him in the dark when he whispered? She always assured him that He did. If she said so, it must be true. She spoke to Him often, and she must know, he told himself. But that was so long ago now.

So many years ago, she had opened doors for him, though he would never understand how or which ones. In all the years he spent with her, he never saw her speak to anyone else. Not really. Somehow though, in teaching him the art of inflicting pain and gruesome death, she had provided him with a rather unique skill set, and a career for life. He still remembered as if it were yesterday, the sudden rise to his current position.

As he stoked the fire in the brazier, he thought of his next victim. The Royal Defender, having murdered the Queen and kidnapped the young Princess, was his next charge.

“He'll break like the others”, he told himself. “All who are guilty always break under my influence.“

So many years, and never once had he not gotten the truth, gotten the confession of crimes committed. Never once had he failed in his job, as torturer for Granny or as the Royal Interrogator.

As they brought Corvo in and shackled his wrists and ankles to the chair, he noted something very strange about him. He did not have the look of the others. He sat quietly, as if in another place. One would think he was sitting by the river lost in thought, for all the emotion he showed as he started. Hours passed, and while the screams of pain rang, they seemed hollow somehow. They were something more of the animal in us than the man. And still Corvo sat, lost in thought after a full day of the torture he so prided himself in providing.

“What would Granny say if she saw this failure?” he suddenly wondered.

Hours upon hours later, the torturer now as tired as the tortured, he gave up for the day. He ordered Corvo back to his cell, resolving to do worse tomorrow. As he made his way down to the farthest deeps of the castle, his home now, he sat before his altar. He never stopped believing in The Outsider, nor did he ever stop visiting Granny whenever he had the opportunity. Never once had he seen The Outsider. So when a young man of short dark hair started speaking to him, he simply thought it a new guard or someone from the kitchens who had actually dared to come down.

“Do not fret.”the young man said. “Corvo is different from those before. He is innocent.”


As he turned towards the young man, the room seemed to break apart, the world seemed somehow shattered, and the young man was suddenly standing before him. For the first time, he didn't just believe. He knew.

“And soon he will have my favor. Now you have nothing to fear but his wrath...” he said.

Suddenly the shattered world was to rights again, and he knew Corvo had escaped, or was escaping at this very moment. He realized now why Corvo had been so quiet, why his screams rang hollow, why all his gruesome torture had been for naught but empty screams ringing throughout the prison cells.
And more than anything else, for the first time since he met Granny and she taught him all those years ago, he felt he knew fear.

When he went to visit Granny the next day, she was gone. Even the path to her old broken apartments were gone, as if she had never been. As if they had never been together at all.

He guarded his thoughts, and prayed to The Outsider, new offerings every day, all for the chance that Corvo might forget him, that he never give him a second thought.

And as he stoked the fire once more, he thought he saw a shadow upon the wall. “Tricks of light from the brazier”, he told himself even as the blade sliced his throat. As he fell, he gazed upon his attacker, a shadow with a silver skull for a face. And so very quiet.  

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

4 More Years

First of all, I'd like to say that I am beyond ecstatic about President Obama winning the election. I believe he has been doing a pretty good job, and he's the right man for the job. I also believe Mitt Romney was just wrong for the job for many reasons, but I won't get into that. This post, a bit of a rant I warn you, isn't about them. It isn't about who is President of the United States. This is about what I want, and what I think we all deserve in our government, no matter what we feel our needs are, no matter which side of the isle we sit or stand in. This is about what kind of country I want America to be, to become and to remain.

I want America to be the shining beacon of democracy it has always been, I want us to be the model not only of how to vote, but of how to be. I want us to instill a sense of pride in being Americans not because we were born into it, but because of what we, both united and as individuals, do to make our country and the world better for those around us. And in that spirit, I have thoughts as to how it can be done. You might say my ideas are wrong, idealistic, unrealistic, or you might agree wholeheartedly. The important part is to start the conversation and keep the conversation going.

I want politicians from both sides of the aisle talking to each other about compromises. I want Republicans to come more to the left on several different key issues, with the understanding that Democrats may be willing to come a bit to the right on others. I want both sides to agree to stay out of the issues of abortion, of when its okay and when it isn't. I want them to agree to disagree, and let go of any legislation that would prohibit anyone from taking care of their health in any way. I want them to realize that Health Care should pay for everything we need to survive and thrive, not just what some people approve of. I want both sides to remember that this country was built on the principles of keeping religion away from our political and moral choices. The separation of church and state is in the very constitution that people conveniently quote when spouting how their christian values are being trampled because someone else's life doesn't follow your personal morality.

I believe that politicians should make minimum wage for their position in office, so that they above all know what the lowest paid Americans are going through. In this way, we can ensure that politicians are never out of touch with the lowest of us, the most vulnerable of us, and those of us who sometimes need the most help because they will be there with us. In this way, we can try to ensure they understand our plight. This isn't to say that only those who have made minimum wage all their lives can be politicians. I'm only talking about their wages In Office. Being a politician shouldn't be a choice having to do with money, it should come from a place of wanting to give, of wanting to serve, a sense of duty to others and to ourselves and to our country.
There are plenty of places in the private sector who will continue to make people rich, famous or both. Politics should not be a way to gain riches; it should be a way to inspire people, to continue to make this country great for years and centuries to come.

In this same spirit and train of thought, I believe that there should be a constitutional amendment prohibiting donations to political campaigns over a certain small dollar amount. 500 dollars, 1000 dollars per person. This is still plenty of money. And to make it fair, give both candidates free air time (a certain fixed amount) for their commercials and political ads. In this way, we take away the need to collect all these hundreds of thousands of dollars just to be heard. If they don't need to worry about competing over who has more air time, they'll have less of a motive to cajole our contributions out of us, and instead focus on what they should be: giving us a feel for their values, their ability to do the job, their stance on the issues of the time.

This goes almost without saying, but I needed to include this as well. All of the above gives a harder job to the American people as well. Without the fancy ads, knowing more about the candidates and what they're willing to speak about, their issues and their plans, we would need to work ever harder to listen to their words, to their intent, and hopefully follow our instincts to choose not the lesser of two evils, but hopefully with these changes, the person who is right for the job, who agrees with the majority of our values, and hopefully also who challenges those values with facts and figures when we are wrong. And we must have the courage to acknowledge when we are wrong, when we don't know the right answer, and when we simply were told differently and find it hard to change.

Lastly, I want to rid us of the people who think Orwell's 1984 was an instruction manual, and have people who want to respect all of our freedoms and rights, because they realize that trampling over the bill of rights and the constitution affects all of us and that those freedoms that our forefathers bled, killed and died for are too precious to let them go out of fear, fear of the known and the unknown.

Frank Herbert's Dune includes something called the Litany of Fear. He describes fear as the mind-killer, the little death. Its about feeling your fear, accepting it, and then letting it go. We, as a country, have not had an easy childhood. We are a young country, compared to those around the world, and we need to learn not only from our own mistakes, but the mistakes of others as well. Our biggest problem today is the lack of cooperation, and we need to let the fear that keeps us from uniting together go.

I have learned over the last few years that I am one of the most tolerant people many of my friends know, and a few have commented on it or asked me about it. My answer was simple: "Its their life, its their choice. Why would I have anything but good thoughts for them?" If two women, if two men, if a man and a woman, if a man wants to marry a videogame, there are two questions to ask: "Does it affect me?" and "Will it make them happy?"

"United we stand, divided we fall. " These words define us as a country, and some of us have forgotten or chosen to ignore. E Pluribus Unum means "of many, one". We come from numerous countries, numerous religions, numerous backgrounds, numerous moralities and faiths. We must remember to stand together, side by side, or we will be doomed to repeat the past.


And one last quote, because it encompasses so many of our troubles and our solutions:

"All You Need Is Love" - John Lennon / The Beatles

Friday, October 19, 2012

Fable:The Journey - VG Review

        I have been a lover of the Fable series since the very first, so when I heard about a Fable adventure that let you use the Kinect to control it, I was fairly apprehensive, but also very excited at the prospect. I was able to pre-order, and have just finished my first run-through and I'm here to give you the "skinny" on Fable: the Journey.

Story: **Caution, some spoilers**

      The Journey takes place centuries after Fable III, when the deeds of previous Heroes have become little more than legend and no one believes in magic anymore. The Hero bloodline has dwindled, none left to defend Albion from any of the treacherous creatures native to the land, let alone the great impending Darkness that is after our new hero Gabriel.

      Gabriel is a bit of a dreamer, having grown up hearing the stories of magic and heroes and wishing the world was more like that. He and his faithful steed live a relatively quiet life as part of a Caravan moving across Albion trying to make a living and find a better life. He's also stuck in this life, wanting more but feeling like his life has been planned out before he's really had a chance to choose for himself, so he tends to be late, and is well known for falling asleep at the reigns, having fallen in a ditch more than once.

     Enter Theresa, the Seer, running from an unknown evil. Gabriel stumbles across her, and helps her escape. The Journey then follows the story of Gabriel in 'from zero to hero' form, slowly accepting his fate as not only a hero, but the only person capable of saving Albion from the Darkness. Those who have played Fable III at least once will notice it is the same Darkness from before, though it has returned stronger and is unfortunately unopposed this time, save for Gabriel and Theresa.

    During the course of Gabriel's adventures, you have the opportunity to fight all our old friends, from Hobbes to Balverines, from Stingers to Hollow Men. And as your journey progresses, you learn more about Theresa as well as previous heroes. Some of my suspicions about Theresa were actually confirmed during the stories she tells, so I was gratified to know I had figured her out fairly well. We also see some new information on her as well, and don't worry, I'm not going to ruin any more of the story. That is part of your own foray into The Journey and I won't spoil it.

Graphics:

      The graphics in The Journey are absolutely perfect. They are as good as Fable III or slightly better, and for a fully Kinect based game, that's pretty impressive in my book. All our old friends and foes are detailed and beautifully rendered, and the world around you is just as meticulously preserved as you'd want. More than once during the game, you'll have the opportunity to take a gander at some truly impressive scenery, including an early-on view of the skyline around the Spire, which is always an impressive sight.

Gameplay:

     The gameplay was a bit disappointing at first, but as I got used to it and accepted the difference in style from previous Fable games, I realized that it was really one of the only ways using the Kinect would've been feasible. The experience is less 'Open World' and more 'Interactive Movie', which is a huge change in style from every other previous Fable, but as I said, once you let yourself get into the action, it is a lot of fun.

     The battle sequences are fast-paced and, I won't lie, more than a little tiring sometimes. Your dominant hand, which you choose at the beginning of the game, is the one wielding offensive magic. Your other hand uses more passive magic, the ability to push or move things by magic, a la Force Push from Star Wars. This can be used to push enemies back, throw them into obstacles, or throw obstacles at them instead. You can also use it to stun or hold them in place for a short time. This ability becomes particularly handy when you come across shielded foes, who you need to push or pull to make them vulnerable before you can land any offensive magic successfully. Offensive magic starts with a simple bolt spell, and as you progress you are rewarded with Fireballs, and Blades. Each one of the additional offensive spells is activated by either Voice Command or by certain gestures with your right hand, turning the original lightning bolt into a fireball or blade with a wave, or pulling the bolt behind your shoulder (turning it into a lance).

    Once you have the mindset that it is an interactive movie and let yourself enjoy it as such, the game is amazingly fun, and full of humor and jokes just as all the Fables have before it. I also enjoyed a few of the Achievements, because their name or description were based on Memes, music or movie references and the geek in me couldn't help but laugh and love that.

Music:

     The music is both beautiful and familiar, bringing you back to Albion easily while helping to distinguish the past Albion from what it has now become. From the victorious and cheery to the dark and ominous, the score was delightful and as good as any Fable before it.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly:

     The Good: Pretty much everything. I have very few complaints, other than it was a bit short (took 3 days to beat, and not very many hours per day either), but most games are shorter than I'd like.
     The Bad:   Targeting your magic can be imprecise, but you can go through the calibration for it at almost any time. I didn't re-calibrate but I did go through the original calibration several times to get it as accurate as I could. I suggest you do the same. I also found that while my right hand was usually spot on, I had a lot of trouble aiming with my left. Don't know if its just me, though. Lastly, you need to find the perfect distance and center yourself towards the Kinect so it can be as precise as it needs to be. If you're too close, the accuracy goes way down, and when you're driving the cart, the reigns will go crazy on you if you're misaligned. I definitely need the attachment lens to be able to play closer to my Kinect, so that may make the difference for some people.
     The Ugly:  Hobbes. Definitely still ugly. Also Balverines and Hollow Men. I guess most of the stuff you go up against are ugly, really... but luckily, they don't count against the overall score.

Replay Ability:

     While the game is definitely fun and I will play it again without a doubt, it doesn't have me aching to go back right away. Instead, it is actually making me miss Fable II and III and making me wonder when Fable IV will come out. I'd say the replay factor is good, though, since it has an Arcade Mode, which you slowly unlock as you go through the game. It seems to let you go through the battle sequences in the game without having to sit through the story, which... well, I wouldn't unless I wanted to exercise by randomly shooting magic at Hobbes and Balverines without knowing exactly why, which suddenly seems like a wonderful exercise regime actually.

Scores:

Story:       10/10
Graphics:  10/10
Gameplay:  8/10
Music:        9/10
Replay:       7/10

Overall Score:  8.8 / 10

Monday, October 15, 2012

Dishonored - VG Review

  I was lucky enough to pre-order Dishonored and get an early crack at it instead of waiting for the price to drop, and I'm happy to take the opportunity to give everyone a faster review than usual. Dishonored definitely lives up to the hype it has gathered over the last few months. Its graphics are beautiful, its story interesting, and its only flaw is that it is a relatively short game.

Story:
         Dishonored takes place in a steam-punk world where everything is run by whale oil, a relatively new technology which is still being developed. The city is the beacon and head of a larger empire, and home to the Empress. You, the main character, are the Empress' Lord Protector, bodyguard, trusted confidante, and very close friend. You have held the position for a number of years, and at the start of the game, you have just returned from a journey across the Empire to solicit aid from the neighboring countries. A plague has befallen the city, spread by rats and previously unseen in the kingdom. You, as her most trusted adviser, were the only person the Empress trusted with this mission. Upon your return, circumstances place you at her side even as she dies in your arms, murdered and assassinated by persons unknown. The assassins vanish and you are left to take the fall for her death, immediately captured and sentenced to death.

       Not a bad start to a story at all. Though being sentenced or jailed at the beginning of a hero's journey seems to be a favorite for Bethesda Software, like in the last two Elder Scrolls, they always manage to keep the story fresh and interesting, never letting the scenario become stale.

Graphics:

         The game has a beautiful overall look, comic-book style characters in a detailed environment. The city around you as you explore, and all it's seedy recesses are rendered in the 'you're inside the comic-book' style wonderfully. The effects for the powers you come to possess throughout the game are both simple and stylish, and I can't think of a more elegant way to execute them as they did. The only thing that would make the graphics better would be to go for realistic instead of comic-book style, but then the style served them so well that the only reason I even mentioned it is a curiosity over how stunning the world would look if they did.

Game-play:

        Through the game, you not only discover different weapons to be used and upgrades, you also learn supernatural powers. The powers system and learning curve is easy to use, easy to learn, and devastating to your enemies once mastered. The weapons, while few, can be upgraded in different ways to suit a player's style, or not at all if one prefers to focus on stealth.

       Like most, if not all, power systems, you are given a Mana bar to help you to see how much magic power you have left. Different powers consume different amounts, as per usual, and the powers themselves are quite interesting. You can teleport short distances, possess animals and people, see enemies through walls, call a swarm of rats to attack your enemies or dispose of bodies, and create a whirlwind to knock your enemies back. Under the same powers menu, you can also increase your health bar, improve your health regeneration, as well as add other upgrades such as an increase in agility and the ability to make your fallen enemies crumble to dust so you needn't worry about disposing of the bodies.

       The game play is mission based, but with plenty of leeway to explore, find and finish side quests, and learn more about the city around you. Books are also scattered everywhere, helping to fill the gaps with excerpts from literature, history lessons of the world you're thrust in, and notes to you or other characters can also be found, giving you clues and insights into others' motivations.

       
Music:

       The music during game play was spectacular at immersing you into the necessary mood, subtly swaying the mood between suspense, eeriness, or the ever-impending fight or flight. The ending credits had a song, the style of which goes incredibly well with the game as well, though I'm not sure it would've been my choice style-wise.

Replay-ability:

       As soon as the ending credits finished, I found myself wanting to go back and try to finish the game a different way. Though I have a preference and a penchant for stealth when possible, I was disappointed at the sheer number of alarms raised throughout my game, so stealthy old me is itching to try to do it without raising any alarms. There is also the possibility of abandoning stealth altogether, or changing key moments when I showed mercy or a lack thereof.   Definitely a game to keep to play a second time, or third, or twenty-third.

Cons:

      Honestly, to find cons I had to nitpick in my mind. There were very minor things that annoyed me a little, but didn't impede me from enjoying the game inmensely. The ability to blink, for instance, is used so often (at least by me) that I wish that particular power didn't require mana since its a means of transportation. I also think that the game was fairly short, since I was able to finish it in two very busy days' worth of game play time, which would probably translate to less than 8 hours of full game time from beginning to end.

        Lastly, in a game with as much fighting as there is stealth, while the First Person view served well, it would've been a nice touch if you could switch from First person to Third Person so you could not only sneak a bit easier, but also see what your character looks like with and without the mask, as well as being able to track those around you less conspicuously. Of course, this may be the Assassin's Creed Addict in me talking, so those who love First Person Views don't hold it against me too badly.


The Good, The Bad, The Ugly:

       The good is definitely the replay factor and the storyline. The bad is the lack of more, longer story. The ugly? ... I want to say: "The bad guy's face." He wasn't pretty, I'll tell you that.



Overall Scores:

Graphics: 9/10
Story:      9/10
Replay:    9/10
Music:     9/10

Total Score:  9 / 10


So for the TL;DR crowd:

Dishonored is an awesome game, and a keeper for those who love a good fight as well as a good covert mission.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Fus Ro Dah! - Skyrim with Kinect

     For the past few weeks, we've all been anticipating the newest patch to Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. In addition to your average maintenance patches, this newest download adds connectivity with Microsoft's Kinect, making it a more interactive experience by all accounts. The new update allows for voice commands as simple as looting a body, as complicated as binding weapons and magic to voice commands, and as satisfying as using The Voice. All the thu'um collected in the game can be used as vocal commands instead of having to fumble through screens to switch between them.

    As a Skyrim fan, though not as fanatical as others, I have been awaiting the chance to add this feature to my game since I heard about its addition. I'll be reviewing not only its ease of use, and how intuitive the commands are as well as how the experience might be better or worse for those who've played the game before, and possible changes for new players as well.

    I took my time writing this review, making sure I had experienced the new Kinect patch enough to give an honest opinion on the good and the bad. Nevertheless, the Kinect experience has passed the test of time on my end, and we'll take a look at "the good, the bad and the ugly".  


    The Good: It does absolutely help with game immersion, especially once your character learns shouts. The verbal command structure is not as intuitive for some commands as one would like, but otherwise they did an outstanding job of helping make this game a richer experience. The voice commands easiest to get a handle on are the Quick commands. These are "Quick Items", "Quick Magic", "Quick Skills" and "Quick Map" which take you directly into those respective menus. My most commonly used two were Quick Skills and Quick Map, since the constant leveling and making sure you're going the right direction are the two things I tend to need most. The "Quest" command on the map is useful, and if you have more than one active quest it does cycle between the locations which is also useful. Just make sure you keep your Active quests to a minimum so that you don't cycle between 20 quests.

The "Ally" command is very useful, and a much more elegant way of having your allies perform the tasks they can do without needing to shuffle through several menus and lists in order to get it done. Something as simple as "Ally Follow", "Ally Wait", "Ally Trade", "Ally Retrieve" and "Ally Attack" can be done extremely easily with voice commands, as opposed to the menu system it originally incorporated. Being able to simply look at an enemy and say "Ally Attack" is a wonderful improvement, though now that I have played Mass Effect 3 with Kinect, you can see the sheer difference between the Kinect DLC with its limited ability and the fully integrated Kinect-powered voice command experience that we're sure to (I hope) become used to in the future.

Another new improvement in the Kinect DLC is the Sort By for items. You can, while in a menu, sort by an item's Weight, Name (the norm) and monetary value. This is invaluable when you're over-encumbered and trying to decide what to get rid of. You can go straight to what's the least valuable, or straight to what the heaviest things are so you can decide which one to leave behind if you need to. Some of you don't get over-encumbered as often as me, and to that I say: I have made 'shouting my way to town' into a Thu'um art form.

Speaking of Thu'um, the Shouts in the DLC are wonderful and great for the immersion experience.  I don't know if I like that you need to hold the Shout button like a walkie-talkie to use them, but this is only when in the Dragon Language, and it was still an improvement. My only complaint is that it doesn't always hear the shout, or sometimes it does the incorrect level of the shout (in the Dragon Language).You can use the Shouts without holding it down by calling them by their names in English. I prefer the Dragon Language, myself.

Also, for those who Shout and have issues, I've found that making sure you hold down the Shout button for an extra second before and after you shout will help the Kinect understand the shout better. Another issue can be background noise. I tend to play with other people doing other things, so if I'm playing semi-quietly while someone else is watching TV or listening to music, voice commands might get lost in the mix, which is understandable.


The Bad:   The "Assign'' command isn't as instinctive as it could be. It helps you assign weapons, magic and items to certain voice commands. Unfortunately, there's a finite and very specific list of names to assign things to. For example, you can "Assign Fire Spell", but if you have more than one Fire Spell (which most mages will have), you can only assign one, so make it your favorite. It can also mis-understand which spell you're trying to assign, and you need to look at the list of assignable names carefully, so you won't unintentionally try to assign a spell to a slot that doesn't exist. You can also "Assign Dagger", "Assign Sword", "Assign Armor" so that you can quickly Equip it from your menu. There is one downside to this that I didn't like, which is that, if your weapon gets shouted out of your hand (as so often happens), you need to re-favorite it in the menu (which isn't new) as well as Re-Assign the voice command. So if you're fighting Draugr scum in a cave somewhere and they keep shouting it to the ground, don't bother re-assigning every time. Wait until you're done in that cave before re-assigning it to voice command. It'll save you some aggravation.




The Ugly: There is a Set Loot Limit command which can be very useful, but it is hard to understand and is not explained well in the PDF release of the commands, a link to which will be below. Setting the Loot Limit, which can be 0, 10, 50, or 100 is to set the auto-loot Value-to-Weight ratio. Auto-looting is definitely in the Good column when you want to grab everything, but messing with the Value-to-Weight ratio can be tricky. If you set it to 0, it will loot everything and that is the default setting. If you set it to anything else, it will only loot things with that ratio in mind: so if it weighs 1 pound, it needs to be worth at least 10 gold, if the ratio is set at 10, for example. I don't know why they did it this way, and its not easy to tweak right away. If you want to mess with the ratio, I'd suggest doing it in a dungeon where you'll be looting a lot so you can tell how the ratio is categorizing your loot more easily.

A more elegant loot method may have been commands like 'Loot All', 'Loot Gold', 'Loot Weapons', 'Loot Armor', 'Loot Books' and 'Loot Quest Items' so that once having looked at what is on a body or in a chest, you could choose by category, but for the those out there who don't want to tweak the ratio, you're better off either looting everything or looting by hand.



All in all, the Kinect DLC still gets a great review from me because of the level of immersion for the shouts.
The Good: 9/10
The Bad: 7/10
The Ugly: 6/10

Overall Score: 7 / 10


Skyrim Voice Command List PDF on the Bethesda Website

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Mass Effect 3 with Kinect

     For the last two days, I've had the pleasure of playing Mass Effect 3 with the Kinect support and while I have plenty of hours left before I finish it (and possibly complain over the ending), I wanted to give an honest review of the gameplay before I would need to comment on the story, the ending, and how it might be lacking in some way.


     The game picks up a few months after the end of Mass Effect 2, and the improvement in graphics is the first thing of note as you walk through the halls on Earth on your way to see the council that has been keeping you under house arrest. Of course, since I am using my Kinect, my first "oh-god-how-cool-is-this" moment is when I noticed that even the conversation options can be spoken into the Kinect, making the conversations more natural and interactive. This, of course, makes me think of the future in ten years when we'll just speak normally without pre-determined options and the characters understand us and the conversation continues according to what we Really want to say, but I digress...

     After about five minutes of catching up story-wise, we jump right into some action sequences, re-learning the interface and controls, and shooting the bad guys. A race to escape Earth in order to rally the other races to band together to fight the Reapers (aka, the rest of the game) of course ensues.

    I was surprised how quickly I changed from Disc 1 to Disc 2 as I progressed through the game, but then since I haven't finished it I don't know if it doubles back to Disc 1 again later like some games have done in the past, so I'll have that in the Post-Mortem review after I've finished it. The story is strong, the action sequences are as wonderful as ever, and the Kinect interface to control and direct your allies makes the game so much better it is astounding. The halls of my house ring with "Liara: Singularity! Garrus: Overload!" and "Grenade!" as I make my way through battle after battle. The conversation options, as always, determine whether you continue down your Paragon or Renegade paths. I have only noticed one thing I don't like, and it might be my Xbox more than the game. Occasionally, at the end of a conversation with another character, it will seem to freeze for a few moments before continuing on. The game music keeps going, but the characters involved in the conversation (usually when its doing a close up on someone's face) simply stops for about 30-45 seconds, which is just enough for me to worry about it having frozen, and not enough for me to reach for the power button before it starts up again and keeps going.

     I haven't gone through the advanced training modules in the private console the commander has in order to see if it gives the Kinect commands in there, but they've been intuitive enough for me to figure them out rather easily. I'll give some examples below:

      Attack - Tells your party (or a certain person if you say their name first) to attack the enemy in your sights.
      Follow/Follow me - Has your allies regroup around you.
      <Name> - If you state someone's name and look at a certain location, they'll move there. Keep this in mind as you try to remember everyone's powers, so that you don't make them walk somewhere while trying to remember what the name of what you want them to do is.
      <Power> - If you only have one character with a particular power (singularity, incinerate, etc), simply stating the power you want used is enough to have someone do it at the enemy in your sights. Very handy, trust me.
      Grenade - If you simply say/yell grenade, your character will throw it. If you say someone else's name first, that person will throw a grenade. Both are especially helpful against armored enemies and big mechs, as well as brutes.


       So, gameplay-wise, my review ends here only because I want the Post-Mortem to be the in-depth story and details review that we all expect from a review after the game has been utterly obliterated.


Gameplay without Kinect:  8/10
Gameplay with Kinect:     10/10
Storyline so far:                  9/10
Graphics:                           9/10

Overall Score:                   9/10

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Battlefield 3 - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

I finally got time to check out Battlefield 3 and play through and I've got some interesting things of note, some quirky and others plain ridiculous. Please note, all of this review is on the Story Mode only, not on the online multiplayer mode at all.

I know what some of you are thinking: "Why aren't you including the Multiplayer?" Well, I have three very good reasons. First, when I buy a game I usually play on my own. If its a Co-Op multiplayer, I can usually try to drag one of my FPS-loving friends over, but otherwise its just me. Second, I game for the story. Random running around and killing people online doesn't fulfill me. Instead, give me a strong story and re-play-ability and you've sold me on a great game. Lastly, I don't have XBOX Live, since I've never needed it, so no multiplayer online for me.


The Good:
Being a fan of Battlefield: Bad Company and Bad Company 2, I hoped for good fights, better graphics and a good story-line. I wasn't disappointed. The graphics are crisp and smooth, and I remember looking at several different levels and thinking part of it looked more the part of a movie than a video game. The fights were intense (I was on Normal) and good enough to get me killed once or twice on the tougher levels. Some of the levels have a bit of a "what the heck am I doing right now" problem if you don't pay close attention to the dialogue (and a couple of times, even when you do), but for the most part the logical step takes you to where you need to be. The story was insightful, original, and interesting; everything I have come to expect from Battlefield. The weapons were pretty good, I ended up with some favorites that I could consistently find and use. I also liked that most weapons let you switch between single shots and short bursts, which is great if (like me) you're either making sure to be a good shot or conserving ammo. The story allowed for various different kinds of missions, making everyone happy if only for one or two specific missions.

The Bad:
Mind you, a couple of these are me being picky because of the genre and the way most games let you do things. First off, I spent half the beginning of the game saying to myself "if I had a Sniper Rifle..." anytime I was hunched over behind cover wondering who was shooting at me and from where. This is an incredibly minor thing, since ... I spend most shooter games thinking this.

Here's something a bit more major (SPOILER): There's a small section of a Snipe Mission (obviously my favorite mission) where I kept failing. Failing without dying. It actually looked like I was dying for no reason. So here's what the issue was: You and your sniping partner come across a guy you need to kill with your knife. My natural inclination when taking someone out stealthily is "go slow, don't make noise, do it right". Nope. That was my problem. The only way to get past this part is to RUN at TOP SPEED and NOISY towards the guy and knife him. This makes little to no sense, and goes against anything most military games or military training teach as far as I know. Especially in this particular place, where there's lots of debris, metal and wooden planks that would obviously make noise as you run over them (especially if you'd trip), so slow and steady would SEEM to be the way to go. So I died about 9 times trying to kill a single guy the right way, and the only way to get past is to pretend to be Forrest Gump and RUN at him.

The Ugly:
The Ugliest part, honestly, was the knifing incident, though I did have one problem the first time I played it. I was playing for less than a half hour and the game froze. I thought it was pretty odd, the game freezing especially so quickly. Luckily, it didn't happen again, so I'm assuming my Xbox360 was just having a bad day. I was disappointed that the story was a bit short (though nowhere near as short as Homefront, for example), but the action made up for it.

Here's something that needs to fall under Ugly just because it is the strangest thing I've ever seen: Battlefield 2 comes in two disks. The Story mode and the Multiplayer mode. Perfectly normal, yes? No. Multiplayer is Disc 1 and Story mode is Disc 2. HUH? WHAT? Why is the STORY/Single Player on Disc 2. Shouldn't someone want to play through the normal game BEFORE jumping online and playing multiplayer? And even if they wanted to skip the story... Why wouldn't they just be able to jump to Disc 2 on their own. Why the prompt to skip the storyline? Were they that ashamed of the story? It was Good!! What the heck?!

All in all, the Good make up for the Bad and the Ugly a few times over.

Overall Scores:
Graphics: 9/10
Weapons: 8/10
Replayability: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Running noisily to knife someone instead of stealthily: -47/10  (doesn't count in the scoring, but it's satisfying)

Total Score: 8.5 / 10

Friday, March 16, 2012

Video Game Review - Saint's Row: The Third - Part II

With bouts of insomnia and time on my hands, I gave Saints Row: The Third some more play time and I've got some extras to review about that are new since last time.

I started a brand new character, new game, and tried to see it with fresh eyes.

As always, I enjoyed the fresh crisp graphics, the high-action beginning and the new character creation system. This being my third time in, though (since I originally created a male and then female character) I noticed that it can get frustrating to need to do the bank heist before creating the character at all. While this ensures you get immediate game play, which I still think is a good thing, it can also get annoying if you create many characters in a row (which, I did).

The music didn't get a great review last time, especially since they had the Reggaeton channel added in there which I understood but still disliked. As they're appealing to as many audiences as possible, I know it was a necessary addition. I do think that, for Saints Row 4 (already in production), they might want to re-instate the music stores for extra music, make music pack DLC, or maybe even let the user import music somehow, if that's possible. That being said, I did find a few more songs I liked, and a couple I didn't think I'd like which I did, so I'm a bit happier with the music they included. For those who know me, be very afraid that I liked Power by Kanye West.

This time through, I played a female character, and I played it with the russian accent. I was happy to learn that the dialogue also changes with the accent and personality. The russian female personality is into Pierce, which I found pretty funny and refreshing. I already plan on going back in and making one character for each personality (that's right. more characters.).

I also made sure to take my time, do every challenge, every brawl, every... well, everything. I have 100% of everything done (except for the random phone calls of homies asking for help. I'm just waiting on the phone to ring.). The achievements were especially fun to unlock, not only because of the skill involved, but the names almost always made me laugh or smile. (My favorite is Hack The Planet!, a reference to the movie Hackers)

All in all, I continue to give this game a 9/10.

*****Details/Spoilers below*****

After making my first cool million, I made sure I bought and unlocked every weapon in the game, and upgraded everything to the maximum limit. (PS - this unlocks an achievement) The weapons are as follows, and are most useful for:

Original Handguns: Fully Upgraded, they have exploding rounds and a fast trigger. If you've got fast fingers, this can down a Brute on Casual in no time, in Normal without too much trouble. In Hardcore... I'll get back to you. They're especially useful to keep people away from you (aka Zombies), and making things blow up (aka Vehicles).

9mm Handguns:  Fully Upgraded, they are armor piercing and do extra damage. While they are very good and the default handgun of the Genki missions (Super Ethical Reality Climax), the explosive nature of the others when fully upgraded made them my favorite. These are still extremely effective for most of the game, until you can upgrade other things to be better.

Tech Z-TEN: Fully Upgraded, they have incendiary rounds, reload faster and pretty much rock against Zombies. The down side is, if you have homies with you who get in the line of fire, they'll burn too. They're extremely Zombie friendly, as well as a good vehicle explosion device.

D4th Blossom: Fully Upgraded, they have the Armor Piercing bullets that, again, are great for extra damage but weren't ultimately my favorite. Good for pretty much stopping any normal group of thugs in rapid succession.

Cyber SMG: Once you rid the streets of the Deckers 100%, this interesting weapon is unlocked to buy. It is a physical manifestation of the cyber SMGs used against you in the decker.net environment. It literally shoots neon blue 8-bit bullets. It can't be upgraded, and the damage from it is similar to any of the other SMG's, but it looks kinda awesome.

Gravedigger: A nice little sawed off shotgun look. Fully upgraded, though, she packs a wallop with incendiary rounds. Good if you have a really BIG zombie to kill and you're out of rockets. Or if you're just in it for the glory...

AS3 Ultimax: Still my favorite shotgun, fully upgraded gives you a bigger clip, better accuracy and faster firing. When it absolutely must be killed quickly by a shotgun...

S3X Hammer: The shotgun of the enemy, Stag's shotgun can be upgraded for a faster rate of fire and extra damage. Not bad at all.

K-8 Kruzcov: Probably still my favorite, when fully upgraded, this lovely riffle has an attached grenade launcher, which is also upgraded to shoot faster and farther, as well as holding more ammo, increased fire rate, and bigger clips. Who wouldn't love this?

AR-55: The rifle I love to hate. While its a perfectly nice rifle, I like to control the bursts of fire myself, while this one fires in a set burst, which upon being upgraded, is increased. It also is upgraded with a sniper scope for better zoom distance, increased damage and reduced recoil. As always, bigger clips help to kill more people faster.

Viper Laser Rifle:  STAG's rifle, also upgrade-able, has increased rate of fire, improved aim, less recoil, and a tech-sight to improve accuracy.

Annihilator: Fully upgraded, this rocket launcher has laser guided rockets that follow where you aim, as well as a locking targeting system. Add increased damage and you've got a party...

Satchel Charges: I confess, I never used the satched charges. They can be upgraded to carry more of them at a time, but I while I did get the upgrade, I never felt the need.

McManus 2015: The Sniper Scope. Fully upgraded it has increased ammo, increased damage and less recoil. What else could you want in a sniper rifle?

SA-3 Airstrike: Given mid-mission as a present from Pierce, this lovely lets you laser target an airstrike. Each upgrade lets you target faster, and call more airstrikes. Well worth it, and so much fun...

Reaper Drone: The reaper drones upgrades are just for additional ammo, but really... what else would you need other than more of them?

Cyber Buster:  Almost my favorite weapon in the game, this working model Kinzie makes of the Decker Use-net weapon is the closest you'll get to playing Mega Man while stealing someone's car, blowing up a helicopter and making a group of thugs fly with an explosion all in one piece of hardware. No upgrades, but still a favorite.

Sonic Boom: Again, mid-mission gift from the Powers That Be, it sends focused sound waves, either pushing people/objects, or just obliterating them. Caution, maybe require practice to push things correctly and its slow to charge up.

RC Possessor: Another of Kinzie's inventions, this one fully upgraded lets you control military vehicles, detonate whatever vehicle you're controlling, and have increased ammo. All the fun of blowing up in a car without the messy death attached!

Finally, the last category: Hand-held weapons.

Baseball Bat: The only upgrade is to fill it full of nails to gore people, which is effective, but not really necessary in life.

Chain Saw: Yep. Chain Saw. No upgrades but... Duh. Chain Saw. See: Fun With Zombies.

Stun Gun: A Saint's Row classic, no upgrades but still as fun as ever. A bit expensive in this SR incarnation but...

Apoca-Fist: Deadly Gloves that pretty much do 1-hit kills with your punches. Unfortunately the only way to unlock them is to let Killbane walk without ripping off his mask during the Murder Brawl tournament. ... I did it just to unlock it. I probably never will again. I love ripping off his mask too much.

The Penetrator: The absolutely scariest dildo you'll ever see in your life. It has a baseball bat handle, is slightly longer than the baseball bat, and its Saints Purple. It can, however, kill a motorcycle in about 3-4 hits, so while its a bit funny to carry, its no joke.

Nocturne: The gods heard my earlier plea and gave us a Sword! Only unlocked when you completely get rid of the Deckers, this is their signature sword which you couldn't just steal from their dead bodies and always frustrated me. It can kill a motorcycle in 3 swings, and most normal people die in one single slice. Very nice. In fact, I want one in real life.


Vehicles:

While most of the vehicles are our old favorites from SR and SR2, there are a few new additions, which is what I'm focusing on.

Planes: Yes, planes were in SR2, but they made the controls a bit nicer and they're easier to land without exploding too, so I thought it was relevant to mention. So the new slogan in your mind should be "Planes: Not just for when I want a quick death anymore."

They kept the (Wesley Snipes/Passenger 57 *wink-wink-nod-nod-nudge*) Snipes 57 model, as well as the smaller model. They added a bomber with machine guns on the front which was fun to fly, but accuracy is difficult to achieve. For deadlier flight, see lower down.

Helicopters: Our old favorites are back, with some nice new features. The usual News Chopper style is back, along with a Vulture model that has missiles and a machine gun. The Vulture, which is the default chopper for Guardian Angel missions, has rapid fire missiles, but they don't lock on target so you're usually better off with the machine gun for rapid deployment of death. There's a second deadly helicopter, the Tornado, that has missile-lock capabilities with slower rockets. Of the two, the Tornado is usually my favorite.

VTOL: The crowning achievement of aircraft for Saints Row: The Third, in my opinion, the VTOL series of aircraft make raining death down on your enemies simple, deadly and just plain fun. The F-69 is a plane with both normal flight and hover mode, making it perfect for swooping in, getting close, stopping on a pin and blowing stuff up. I also liked the fact that having the F-69 meant that some dog-fighting skills while in the air became more necessary, since some of your enemies are in the same model aircraft.

The Condor is a bit less sexy looking, but packs similar features, including hover mode and weaponry, and is almost as deadly as the F-69. It also has space in back to carry homies in, which can come in handy.

The Specter is my favorite mode of transportation. A hover bike with flight mode (like the other VTOL models), it has a laser cannon mounted on its front end, making it both stylish and deadly. It is also best for things like landing in crowded or cramped spaces, as its definitely much smaller than the other VTOL options.

Of course, mentioning the VTOL series, I can't leave out the lovely tank that STAG is nice enough to let you appropriate several times during the game. The tank is good, the weapons are deadly and... ITS A TANK.

Cars and Motorcycles:

Again, focusing only on the special additions, I was amused to find the Solar, which is a Prius in real life, as well as the Emu, which is the tiny 1-2 person seating electric car that has been surfacing everywhere. I also found it amusing that one of the challenges is to destroy 50 Emus. I think Oleg only gives you this challenge because he doesn't fit inside one, but that's just me.

X-2: While Cyber-Trailblazing for Kinzie against the Deckers, you ride this lovely bike in cyber space. When the Deckers are gone forever (did I mention Hack The Planet! being my favorite achievement?), Kinzie gives you this lovely parting gift, along with one other:

Wraith: A combination of Tron and an old movie with Charlie Sheen (The Wraith), this is a cyber-punk version of the Attrazione. Both are not customizable, which is sad. Fortunately, the one thing you'd probably want to add (nitrus) can be added with the unlockable "Nitrus on all vehicles" on the cellphone. Caution: Riding in cyberspace rides may make one think they are fighting for the User.

Criminal: I'm not sure why the 4-door short-cab truck was named this, but its a nice ride nonetheless. (And Oleg can hop up into the cab instead of having to run behind you, which is always fun.)

Temptress: Aptly named, she is fast, smooth and corners like she's on rails. A fantastic addition to the SR car collection.

Solar: As mentioned, its SR's version of the Prius. And believe it or not, a nice ride. Fully pimped out, she's so aerodynamic in shape that you can actually slide underneath cars blocking your way (of course, they get damaged and you might get scratched up if you're not pimped out, but still kinda cool). It handles well, and is not sluggish. All in all, a well-balanced ride and one of my favorites to start off with.

Blade: The Saints' Row equivalent of a Dodge Magnum, fully upgraded/pimped out, she's my favorite ride. Handles as well as a Solar, but even before the upgrades she's a tank, very hard to mess up even with multiple crashes. This one, with nitrus and all the reinforcement add-ons, is the one to have when you need to get there no matter who stands in your way, or get away no matter how many police roadblocks you need to smash your way through.

Gatmobile: This one, which is a must for any Gat fans, could've been a bit more maneuverable. She handles horribly, sluggish controls and has a very slow top speed. On the other hand, the front end is Gat's face smoking a cigarette and the cigarette is a FLAME THROWER... So sacrifices must be made. Its fun to have, fun to drive, but not your go-to vehicle of choice. Unless you don't mind going slow and burning your way through. Then you might love it.

Asp: In Cyberspace, no one can hear you blow people into 8-bit cubes of death. Luckily, Kinzie and the Deckers have us covered yet again. A prize in taking down the Decker Use-net, the Asp is an 8-bit tank brought into reality. It literally fires 8-bit neon-green cubes which do damage similar to a tank. A weak tank. Splash damage is less than the usual tank, but I have to believe seeing an 8-bit tank in a real world environment has got to be scarier than anything we know. As an annoying bastard once said: "Shock and Awe".

N-Forcer:  The STAG vehicle of choice, its loaded with a laser cannon and can hold homies inside similar to the SWAT and Ultor vehicles of SR2. SWAT still has it in SR3 if you'd prefer to go for that one.

Saints Raider:  If you decide to save Shaundi and Viola at the end, you end the game with a glimpse into Gangstas In Space. This unlocks the Saints Raider, a dune buggy/lunar lander style vehicle. And its purple. Fun to drive, but you probably won't make it your usual ride.


For those who want more spoilers, more details, or have suggestions on my next review, feel free to comment. For everyone else, I hope you enjoyed the closer look at Saints Row: The Third and hope you enjoy your own runs through it as well.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

VG Review - Homefront

I know this title is a bit older, but it did in fact take me this long to get around to getting it, so I'm sure others will appreciate the review as well.

First of all, the premise of the story is amazing and kind of spooky. North Korea's leader passes away, his son takes over, unifies North and South Korea and starts making his way through Asia and eventually attacks the US, taking Hawaii first and then California. It takes place sometime after 2027, so its both far enough away to be slightly futuristic, but close enough so that everything in the story is kept realistic and plausible.

Obviously, its a First Person Shooter, so we need to talk graphics, weapons and replay-ability.

Graphics: The graphics were a bit better than I expected, very sharp and clear. I also liked that they used video clips of actual political figures in the beginning when they're explaining the story and premise. They used them for the beginning of the time-line, and as they worked their way to the "present" of the story, it became more vague about the political figures and more detailed on the horrors of the ongoing war, which is fitting as well as a nice transition into this world they've created. The blood isn't flat when it splatters on objects, though sometimes it looks a little too singled out, since its something that was added to the previous object, but its pretty realistic otherwise.

Weapons: Most of the time, decent weapons can be found. Everyone is going to have their favorites, so I won't go into criticizing one over the other. Personally, I like the red-dot sights best, but the holographic sights were interesting. For the die-hard old school shooters, there are plenty of ACOG sights all over the place too. The weapons themselves varied little, having only a dozen or so different types, but then if you're in the middle of an occupation/war, and all you can get your hands on is the enemy's weapons, that's going to happen. They also vary in firing, from the M14/M16 that fire single shots and 3 shot bursts, to the fully automatic machine guns that you can cut down a row of enemies if you've got the control for it. The recoil is realistic in that, if you  have that automatic firing, it'll try to go straight up from your original position if you let it. This can be good if you want to make sure you really got him, start at the midsection and stop when you get your head shot.  Otherwise, controlled bursts, as always, are usually the way to go. PS - there's a dot-sight which had a Blue dot which was so nice, i did my best to find it whenever possible.

Replay Factor:  I was warned repeatedly that the game is short, by reviewers everywhere, by other gamers, and anywhere I read about the game really. And yes, the game is short. I started it last night and finished it last night. I'd say, a good four or five hours worth of game play. Of course, I've gone through other games almost as fast too, usually taking two to three days for normal games. That being said, I'm torn. The story is good, and the missions are interesting. The game seems replay-able in that, its a shooter so hearing the story over and over isn't usually a big deal since the point is to run around being sneaky, sniping and/or shooting. But as the story in this game is one of its main features, I'm guessing it would probably be dull after a while, since there's so little story to it. So, replay factor will probably depend on how often you play it through.

All in all, this was a good game, especially considering I got it for free (buy 2 get 1 free sale).
Graphics: 9
Weapons: 9
Replay: 8

Overall Score: 9/10

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The crazy world we live in, and how it might just get worse...

Note: This post is going to be a bit informal, a bit informational, and a lot of ranting and raving. Brace yourself.


         Alright, as most of my readers know, since so far most of you are friends and family or maybe you took the time to read my bio, I'm a computer tech by trade. As a computer tech, there are always people out there who ask for help, need things, and usually require it as simply as possible. In an effort to provide this to friends, customers, family and random passers-by who are complaining about tech issues I can help with, I have spent money over the years on different servers and/or services online. I have LogMeIn Free for my personal computers and those of my immediate family, I have FreeVNC for customers or friends who require it, and I have a paid file-sharing account, where I can post anything from my own music files (which I also post on YouTube when I can be bothered), free tech tools, and the occasional picture I'm trying to share with people. I've never shared anything copyrighted on my file-share account, unless you count my own songs which are sometimes cover songs of other people but don't actually count as copyrighted material in the 'piracy' side of the mentality.

     For years, I've had the same company doing the file-sharing. Recently, I noticed I was paying quite a bit more for this service than I would somewhere else. So I switched services over to FileSonic, who offered not only unlimited space, which is always good, and unlimited time limits on my uploads. They also offered a 2GB file size limit, well above any other people's file size limits for uploads, which means that no matter how big the tool, how huge the signature file or how long the song/video I captured and wanted to share was, I'd be covered. Yay!

     Now, last week, the FBI raided MegaUpload, arrested the owner, seized the website and hardware and god knows what else. In my looking into file sharing servers last month, I almost chose them because they're well known, they're inexpensive, and they usually have easier links to their files than some places because they tend to be shorter. When I'm dictating a link to a customer/friend/family member over the phone, simplicity is essential. So, thank goodness I didn't choose them, right?

     Nope, doesn't matter. The raid on MegaUpload has caused several different file sharing services to block their file sharing! This means that while I can upload files to be stored... I can't share them with anyone!

THE FILE SHARING COMPANIES AREN'T SHARING FILES.

That's like saying the cops arrested a doctor in LA, so now all the other doctors aren't practicing. They'll let you visit, and they'll charge you... but they won't diagnose you, and they won't write prescriptions, just in case. And its not just one or two. I've counted thirteen, so far. Obviously, MegaUpload is down, and doesn't count in this list.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/14-free-megaupload-alternatives/

In this lovely list of alternatives to MegaUpload compiled by Digital trends, you yourself can see that 13 out of their 14 alternatives have reduced their functionality to Personal Storage only. Meaning that if you want to take that video you recorded of your daughter taking her first steps and upload it to a file server to share it with everyone more easily, you may just be out of luck for a while.

     As for me and helping others, what am I to do now? I have no idea. I might go back to paying more at my old file-sharing service (Rapidshare) who, at least for now, is still working normally. But that also means that the money I just shelled out for this brand new File Sonic account might be a loss due to the stupidity in the world around us. And I don't think that is tax deductible.