Vahiki the Ninja-Pirate

Well, I'm not wasting a day of blogging, so here comes a new entry, a gaming review for Command And Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars... Game: Command and Conquer 3 Price: 40-50 dollars, 60-70 for special Kane Edition Rating: 5/10 Fail, rent, or pass: Rent before you buy Review: Well, pretty much every Command And Conquer fan waited for this game. For those of you not familiar with the series, Command and Conquer is a RTS (Real Time Strategy game) that was and is extremely popular. Tiberium Wars is the third game in the Tiberian universe of Command and Conquer, one that many have waited for and sadly, will be dissapointed by. The game is set in 2047 on a Tiberium ravaged Earth, Tiberium being a parasitic mineral that is rapidly terraforming the planet's surface to meet its own needs--the double edge of this being its worth and value as an energy source. The world has been divided into three zones--Blue zones, which are relatively unscarred by Tiberium and war and highly advanced and cover 20% of the Earth's surface; Yellow zones, which are ravaged by Tiberium and war and are in a state of social collapse and cover 50% of the Earth's surface; and finally, Red zones, which are almost like the surface of an Alien world and have been scarred by Tiberium the most. Red zones cover 30% of the planet. There are three separate factions in this game: GDI (Global Defense Initiative), The Brotherhood of Nod, and the Scrin alien race. GDI is the massive military power which now governs the world and are the "good guys". They actively try to fight Tiberium. Then, there is the Brotherhood of Nod, led by the charismatic Kane (Who seems to never age and has avoided death many times). They seek to better the world with Tiberium and actually worship the mineral. Finally, there are the Scrin, an alien race responsible for bringing Tiberium to Earth who pop up later in the campaign to start harvesting the mineral, believing it to have already covered the Earth. The story in this game is laudable in the fact that EA seemingly retconned the Tiberian universe's story for their own needs. The FMVs are poor, even with the cast consisting of, notably, Billy Dee Williams and Michael Ironside. One can attribute this due to the fact that the cutscenes lack any real action and are seemingly prosaic compared to the previous games' cutscenes, which featured many CGI rendered action scenes. Online play is painful, and is filled with exploits, bugs, broken tactics, poor balance, and many people who will disconnect their games if they think they will lose. It's not worth it. Single player fares better, and the campaign is enjoyable. Really only the redeemable aspects of the game. Ultimately, EA produced a disgrace to the Command and Conquer franchise. If you enjoy single player, then you may like it. If you're looking to buy it, play someone else's edition first or rent it and see if you still like it. Vahiki out.

Well, everyone's excited about the Toa Nuva's return, and for my entry I've decided to take a mostly-speculative look at what they'll probably look like when they are re-released. First, on the subject of colours. My belief and fear is that they will be released in Metru colours, with the exception of Pohatu, who I fear will have his Mata-Nui brown replaced with yellow. I hope this does not come true, but it probably will--although, I will admit, there is a less likely chance that Pohatu will return yellow. Second, on the subject of set design, I think it's safe to say that the gear features will be gone. I think they will retain the same basic look, but will have features such as larger armor, double jointed legs, etc.. Finally, on the subject of masks, don't get your hopes up for the return of Kanohi mask packs. I think the masks will return in Metru-style. Once again, this is pure speculation tied with fact-based theory (Colour=sells, gear sets selling less, etc.). Vahiki out.

Another entry for today that expresses a point that I cannot stress enough: Read as many posts as possible in debate/speculation topics bbefore you post. The speculation could've been proven wrong, talking points shot down, etc. I'll pull one of my personal experiences here: A while ago someone found a sprite for the Voya-Nui Online Game that they believed was a sprite for a Barraki, when in fact it was a sprite for the prototype Hahli Inika. Now, after countless people said that it wasn't a Barraki over and over again, even the person who dug the sprite out of VNOG, people still said it was a Barraki. I remember distinctly that a member said that she/he would remember my name so that when it was "proved" it was a Barraki that he/she would rub it in my face. This ticked me off. This ticked me off real bad and it was all I could do to keep from flaming this member. So unless you want to be flamed or such, read the posts before you post, please? Vahiki out.

The title made the subject of this entry pretty obvious, didn't it? Starting with the first subject--hot dogs, those yummy pieces of cylindrical meat that tase awesome with ketchup and when wrapped in a bun. I hnestly think hot dogs roasted over an open fire taste better than those put in microwaves or ovens. Still, they all taste good. Very good. And the second subject, is Harry Potter. Many have waited for the last tale of The Boy Who Lived, and after obtaining it on the release date, I finished it yesterday. For those who finally want to see Voldemort get some leg room and be a generally awesome villain, Deathly Hallows delivers on that. It's almost as long as Order Of The Pheonix, and quality wise it exceeds all other books in the series. Vahiki out.

Albeit noone read my blog when I made it last year--if someone did then thank you--it was quite an enjoyable experience. And so, ignoring all pattern recognition I start it again. I must be crazy. But crazy people get to have the most fun, don't they? I have cleaned house--er, blog. None of my original entries are left. All that is left right now are my content blocks, the interface, and the title. But, like the pheonix rising from the ashes, my blog rises again. As a better blog, hopefully. I have no real plan on what to do with my blog now, only glimpses of a grand scheme of things for this little media outlet of my thoughts. And so I trudge into the unknown, half-blindfolded, hands tied behind my back and feet doing a poor rendition of the John Travolta. If you got that, please tell me. I didn't. And with that, I end my first entry in this improved blog. Vahiki out.

One question: How awesome were the 2008 prototypes on a scale of 1 to 10? Vahiki

Of course! We throw the one refresh into the board message, from which it was probably forged! Hehe, funny article, Bonesiii.

Wait have you guys been replaced, or the programmer replaced?

Can't read some of your post, Bones. Can't see some of the screen. Greg disproved that? I didn't hear about that. Vahiki

I don't see how the sunken part of Voya-Nui being being the City of The lost could be a misconsception. In Power Play it pretty much stated spoiler, highlight to read That the Matoran on the suken part of Voya-Nui are alive and as far as I know, there has been nothing to disprove that the sunken part is the city of the lost. Vahiki

Happy birthday, Greg. Ah, so talk about 2008 begins. . . interesting. I'm guessing that a lot of 2007 has been planned out, correct? By the way, there was a sales collapse? =Vahiki=