Jump to content

T-Hybrid

Premier Outstanding BZP Citizens
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    844

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by T-Hybrid

  1. T-Hybrid

    Too...much...awesome!

    By T-Hybrid,

    So I'm trying to MOC with the Mahri, and it's considerably harder than I thought. There's a lot of variety in the pieces, but without any spare parts it's hard to get anything started without having it slowly turn into just a slightly tweaked existing Mahri.
     
    I'm going to have to go back to my old place and dig up the parts from my other sets and see if that can't help diversify a bit. I've already got a few "ideas" I want to toy with, but need a bit more flexibility in parts before I can go from theory to practice.
     
    Still love the Mahri, just overwhelmed by the available parts!
  2. T-Hybrid

    Wanna Smash Your Buddy?

    By T-Hybrid,

    I'll be the first to admit this is less of a longshot than my previous suggestions:
     


    The Miis
    Franchise: Nintendo Wii
    First Appearance: Mii Channel (Wii)
    Why?: This is about as close to a create-a-character as we're ever going to get in Smash Bros. The introduction of the Miis brought a personal touch to the Nintendo Wii. Though not quite as open to customization as most standard CaC's, the Mii would allow the user to put a face with their Smash profile. Nintendo has already "revealed" that your profile will now store Button Configurations, so why not include your Mii?
    Appearance: That's the beauty of it. It'd be whatever you'd want it to be. It could look like you, an alien, or Chuck Norris (though admittedly that'd be a bit unfair to the competition). The Mii would default to whatever color shirt/skirt you set as your favorite in the Mii Channel, and would change to fit the team color if you play in that mode.
    Moveset: Considering the variety of sports and games the Mii's have been involved in already, it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a varied movepool. The standard special attack would involve throwing a random ball, anywhere from Tennis to Bowling. Side-smash would be similiar to Peach's in that they'd switch between bats, clubs, and tennis rackets. The Up+B would be a somewhat funky looking swim move to boost them up. The flailing limbs would cause damage to those that get in the way. Their Side+B special would summon a Cow that they'd rampage across the platform on. This would provide a bit of an extra boost to come back (similar to Luigi and Pikachu's headbutt moves). The Up+A would call up a mighty boxing uppercut. I'm not quite sure what Down+A would do.
    Final Smash: There are a couple of options with this one. My first instincts were to suggest the Mii Parade, where an army of Mii's from your box stampede across the screen. Then I thought, why not reference WiiPlay and have the Wii's play LaserPong (or whatever the game was). Two paddles appear on screen and start bouncing your opponents back and forth across the screen like little Pong balls. It'd be shiny, and somewhat unique comparred to the others I've suggested.
     
    Well, that's the third. I'm rather enjoying this, though admittedly aside from these three I'm running a bit short on dark horses.
  3. T-Hybrid
    I had fun doing an entry for K. Rool. So in keeping with the "Sleeper Hit" characters theme:
     


    Dog
    Franchise: Duck Hunt
    First Appearance: Duck Hunt (NES)
    Why?: Face it, you've wanted to beat this guy up since you first booted up your NES way back in the 80's. Well, now's the chance to put up or shut up. As one of the most reviled and yet memorable characters of Nintendo's earliest console days, Dog brings a few new entertaining possibilities to the Smash Bros table. For starters, he's a quadrupedal character. Other than Ivysaur (who was only introduced recently for Brawl), there hasn't been a four-legged fighter in the Smash series. That is, unless you count Pikachu. And I don't. Also, he'd leave the game open to really have fun inventing a moveset. Afterall, he's a dog. What can he really do?
    Appearance: Not much special here. He'd be upgraded to 3d, as the 2d design was something unique to Game & Watch. But otherwise he'd be the same brown dog with his black ears and color. I'd imagine he'd spend most of his time on four legs. Not to exciting.
    Moveset: Honestly, the only certain thing is that pressing Up on the control pad would let out that annoying laugh that caused many a gamer to fire a barrage of clicks at their screen. You know the one. Other than that, it's tough to come up with anything. I picture him running around on all fours and using a combination of bites and headbutts to attack. Of course, his standard special attack would let him stand up and fire a shot from his personal firearm (shaped like the blaze orange Zapper). His Up+B recovery move would summon a duck, which he'd quickly grab to get pulled up. This duck would also damage enemies as it swooped in. His other moves are a bit of a mystery, but with a taunt as memorable as Dog's...I couldn't refuse the opportunity to make a case for his inclusion.
    Final Smash: Duck! Harking back to his days on the open range, Dog would dive let out his signature bark and dive behind the nearest bush. What would follow would be an insane onrush of wild ducks. Striking from every direction, the ducks would juggle Dog's opponents into the air, where he'd pop up to strike a few blows of his own. When it was all over of course, he'd grab a few strays that fell down and hold them in his classic pose.
     
    So there you go, Dog and K. Rool are the first two additions to my dream Smash Bros roster. How'm I doing?
  4. T-Hybrid

    I Feel Nekkid...

    By T-Hybrid,

    Something must be up with Maj. All my pics are down. I had seen the stuff about Brickshelf, guess I should've registered that'd mean Maj might be having some "downtime" soon. Hmm. While I try to get a new place lined up to host pics, and try to recover most of the pics that I had hosted, feel free to just sorta hang out and stare at the empty walls.
     
    Now I see why they work so hard to secure art museums. It's bring in here without the color.
  5. T-Hybrid

    Hail To The King

    By T-Hybrid,

    Diddy Kong annoucned for Brawl, bringing the total to 8 new characters (Snake and Metaknight were both confirmed in the original trailer). To put things in perspetivce, Melee added 14 new characters to the roster going from the 64 to the Cube. But of those, only three were officially annouced prior to release (Bowser, Zelda, and Ice Climbers).
     
    Now, Nintendo's not going to reveal everything before the game comes out. Which means there are going to be more new characters hidden in the game. So that's where the fun begins. I've got a strong hunch about a few characters, and a few I threw in to have fun with it. So while Nintendo's revealing their characters, I'm going to try my hand.
     


    K. Rool
    Franchise: Donkey Kong
    First Appearance: Donkey Kong Country as "King K. Rool" (SNES)
    Why?: Melee introduced Bowser, Ganondorf, and Mewtwo. These were the first "villians" to enter the world of Super Smash Bros, and have now been joined by Metaknight. This gives even Kirby a rival of sorts to go with Mario, Link, and Pikachu. With the addition of Diddy Kong, it's become clear that Rare isn't exactly holding back from letting Nintendo use characters from the DKC series. When you look back at Donkey Kong's long gaming career, the only real villian that stands out is K. Rool. He's been a king, a pirate, and a doctor. He even dabbled in boxing long enough to get a light dropped on him by a jetpack wearing chimp. If Nintendo truly wants to add a deeper single player experience, it's important to give DK a villian he can confront on his way to the end.
    Appearance: Here's where it gets interesting. K. Rool has had three very different appearances over the DKC series. In order to best represent this, I would dress him in his pirate's jacket and crown. On his back would be the helicopter pack. Sure, it wouldn't look much like any one appearance, but it'd pay homage to his many jobs through the years. I'd even debate giving him boxing gloves, the joke being that K. Rool didn't quite know how to prepare, so he brought it all.
    Moveset: I lied, this is more interesting. His Up+B special would of course involve his copter, which would propell him upward and damage enemies from below. His blunderbuss would be involved as well, most likely as a standard B attack. I don't know how to get the crown toss from DKC involved, but I'm sure the designers could come up with something clever. If you include the boxing gloves, the gun could be shifted to Toward+B (similar to Samus' missles) while B would trigger a windup punch. If you consider the final boss of DK64 was set up like a boxing match, this would be a perfect parallel.
    Final Smash: This was the easiest one to think up. He'd of course have to call out KAOS for one last go. With lasers, rockets, and boxing glove arms KAOS would sweep in and rough up the place while K. Rool sat back and posed (once again referencing DK64's final fight). This posing would also be his taunt.
     
    Well, that's my first go. Don't know if I'll do more. But this is the one I've been wanting since the original Smash Bros. Will it happen? I only hope so. With that said, anybody have any characters they'd like to see?
  6. T-Hybrid

    Mahri!

    By T-Hybrid,

    In all honesty, I've had them for a few weeks. But I've been so busy that I never had a chance to write a full review of them. I picked up a few a day over the course of one week, giving myself a chance to build and toy around with them without having too many at once. Well, remember what I said back when the Inika came out? The Mahri are everything I could've hoped for.
     
    Each Mahri presents an interesting and unique build design, from Jaller's crabby ally (an pretty ingenious little twist) to Kongu's brute approach with dual launchers, every character's design reflects on their individuality in ways even the Hagah can barely touch. Do I have a favorite? Well, I suppose I have to. And right now it's a tie between Jaller and Hewkii. I'm not a big fan of the shift from Gunmetal to straight black, as it leaves Nuparu with very little opportunity to shine on his own. I'm especially bothered by both he and Matoro wearing the same colored Knohi. If they weren't going to use Gunmetal on Hewkii, they should've used it on Nuparu. It would make him stand out amoung the others.
     
    The award for best color scheme goes to Hahli, who earns her spot as the cover girl for this year's lineup with her unique blend of blue and green. I recall it being controversial at first, but after seeing it in person I'm sold on the idea. It's a far improvement over her mix of blue and white last year. And even though I'll probably start a bit of an argument with this comment, she looks a tad more feminine this time around than her mustachioed form last year.
     
    The use of tubes to symbolize breathing appartus was interesting, and without a good look until now I was left wondering how it would work. I was especially pleased with Nuparu and Kongu in this regard, as they were given actual airtanks. And my initial concern that they would get in the way is pretty much put at ease, as they all remain fully poseable.
     
    So, quick wrap up:
     
    Positives:
    Truly indivdual Toa for the first time. Perfect match for the Barakki. Creative use of pieces to create airtanks and armor. A weapon. Not a tool, a weapon. They're finally accepting Bionicle's evolution into an action figure. Jaller's crab. Negatives:Nuparu's color scheme. Too bland comparred to the rest of the team. Would've liked to see a better way of mouting the launchers to their hands. Launchers can go the distance, but takes a bit of luck and just the right push to fire. Overall I'm very pleased. Can't wait to see what they come up with next year!
  7. T-Hybrid

    Brawl Is Made Of Win

    By T-Hybrid,

    I was going to talk about how I picked up the Mahri over the course of the past week, but then the following news broke regarding Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. There's going to be a new character.
     

    Yes, you see that right. Instead of adding just one Pokemon, Nintendo has introduced a full-on Trainer into the SSB series. Using Charizad, Squirtle, and Ivysaur...the Pokemon Trainer will stand in the background and let the Pokemon do the fighting. Only one on screen at a time, and they can apparently be swapped (though there is a Stamina meter that will avoid abuse it sounds like).
     
    Combined with the other revelations slowly trickling out, this is looking to be one heck of a release. Not that it wasn't already a must buy for Wii owners already. I use Pikachu most of the time as it is now, but I can see myself giving this guy an honest shot when I crack open Brawl.
  8. T-Hybrid
    The Twins are playing terrible right now. To a point that it's almost impossible to enjoy the few times they manage to score a run. As such, I've been turning more towards video games and my DVD collection to fill in boring evenings when I'm at my place.
     
    Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 looks to be interesting enough. A combination of demon-hunting and SIMS style NPC interaction (as bizarre as it sounds), Persona appears to be the time-filling RPG I've been searching for ever since the Pokemon training has died down. (Any attempts to schedule battles have fallen through, and training is taking more time than I've wanted to invest recently)
     
    As far as movies go, picked up Hot Fuzz. Saw Shaun Of The Dead about a month ago and was impressed by what Simon Pegg was able to put together. It was great as a buddy cop film, let alone the parodies of the cop genre that it hit on. Can't decide which I like more, but right now I can't find a copy of SotD to save my life.
     
    My cable provider also gives me limited access to free OnDemand movies. Browsing through the menu in the last couple days has shown me that Akira, Dr. Stangelove, and Spaceballs are all available for viewing. I watched Spaceballs (the first time I've seen it uncut) the other night. Dr. Strangelove was another late night viewing a few weeks ago. Akira is probably going to be on the menu tomorrow while I'm cleaning up around the apartment.
     
    I'm going to have to start getting my train of thought back on track. Otherwise come October I'm not going to have anything to blog about...seeing as how last year it was the Twins (even though that only lasted a week).
  9. T-Hybrid

    I'm Still Here!

    By T-Hybrid,

    It's too bad the Anniversary had to get interrupted by the Server Downage, but it looks like everything's back to normal. Except here in Minnesota. As you probably have heard by now, the I35 Bridge in Minneapolis/St. Paul collapsed. Thankfully I was home that evening, though the bridge is the one opposite from where I'd be coming from the Metrodome. And also, just as luckily, nobody I know was involved either. It was a scary evening though, as friends and family called each other to make sure they didn't know anybody who was involved.
     
    Things have gotten back to psuedo-normality since then. Recovery efforts have turned into clean-up and repair procedures, and the bridge probably won't be back up until around 2009/10. Until then, those of us who aren't fans of traffic are just going to have to get used to it, and be glad that it's all we have to put up with after such an event.
  10. T-Hybrid

    What I've Done

    By T-Hybrid,

    In my last entry, I mentioned that I had a fairly major purchase in the works. Well, everything worked out jsut fine in the last few days...which means I can officially annouce: I got a new car.
     

    Over the winter, my poor little Acura started to show it's age. Requiring numerous jumps and eventually a whole new alternator and exhaust system, I thought maybe it could hold out for at least another year. Well, that was not the case. Over the past month, it's started to have problems getting started. This is probably in part due to the higher than usual heat in Minnesota, however its this type of temperature intolerance that left me concerned for the first winter in which I would have needed to rely on it to get to work.
     
    It's a 2008 Dodge Avenger SXT, brand spankin' new. And as I've come to learn in the last few years, blue is truly my favorite color. I had heard a few suggestions from friends and family (mostly Calibur, 300, Sebring, and Avenger). When I saw this on the lot, I fell in love. Like Bernie Mac told Shia Lebouf, "The car chooses the driver."
     
    Well, this baby was calling my name. So after a hectic week of picking out the features, working out the loan, and finally getting the model I wanted delivered to the nearby dealer, I was able to drive it off the lot Saturday afternoon (after picking up Deathly Hallows of course). I'll miss my little Integra, which will be sitting in my dad's garage until my sister comes down for college in a few years. Hopefully he'll take good care of it while it waits for it's next driver. It's been around since '87, and will hopefully serve her well while she finishes up school and gets a car of her own. It'll be a sad day when it finally succums to it's age.
  11. T-Hybrid

    A Year Already?

    By T-Hybrid,

    I can't believe BZP's turning six already. I swear it was only yesterday I opened up The Haven. It's not that I forgot the Anny was coming up, it's just that I've already put it the best I could. But wow, six years! I never thought it'd happen when I first joined.
     
    I'm looking forward to the next set of Spinners, some new Pips, and if all goes well...finally someday getting back to potentially working on Rebirth. Sorry all you loyal readers.
     
    Saw the Mahri as well as the 07 Titans at Wal-Mart yesterday. Was very impressed with Maxilos and Spinax, especially now that I know their true story. Nuparu's coloring leaves a lot to be desired, but Jaller, Hahli, and Hewkii are slick looking sets. I'm in the process of making a rather significant purchase right now (more news on that as it develops) so I have to put the Mahri on the backburner. But I do expect to have them displayed in my hutch by the end of the year. Alongside Maxilos. Unless of course they come up with a new Combiner for the Titans. Kardas will be hard to top, but I'd love to see them try!
  12. T-Hybrid
    Hey everybody, I'm writing this entry from secure location deep within...my apartment. If you haven't been following the news lately, you may have missed that somebody has been able to secure an early copy of the final Harry Potter books. Which, naturally, means that the time is officially upon us.
     
    The spoilers have arrived.
     
    ViceGreymon is standing ready, with RhodoKnightmon of the Vice Sisters also serving as guardian while we prepare ourselves for the inevitable deluge of potential meanies who will find pleasure in doing nothing else aside from ruining the book for the rest of us.
     
    I on the other hand, will not be one of those meanies. As I said in a reply to my previous entry, The Haven will serve as a Spoiler-Free Bunker for my fellow HP fans until July 28th. That is, if I'm able to finish the book by that date. If not the 28th, the Embargo will be lifted upon the posting of my own reactions. Which will include a spoiler warning. But even though I can promise you any entires in this blog will not contain HP spoilers, I can not say the same for any potential replies. I will ask, however, that the BZP Blog Team assist me in keeping the spoilers out of what is going to be at least ONE place you can be safe and still go online.
     
    So, to my fellow fans...who will no doubtedly find themselves in the same situation as I for a time. We must stand strong, and we must stand together. Only then will we be able to survive these final three days unspoiled.
  13. T-Hybrid

    High Alert

    By T-Hybrid,

    T-Hybrid has locked himself away in a secluded location. He has asked his guest writer to take up the reigns for the time being.
     
    As the little note said, T's gone into hiding. The last Harry Potter book's hittin stores in a week and he's doing his best to keep off the internet. Every day I hear more and more about "spoiler" this and "who dies" that. And so here I am standing outside the New Haven making sure the riff raff doesn't get in and ruin everything for him.
     
    I don't know how long he expects me to do this, but he can be stubborn when he's looking forward to something. You should've seen him when somebody ruined the ending to Matrix: Revolutions. He wouldn't shut up about that. "Who the heck puts Matrix spoilers in a Pokemon thread?" he yelled. Still liked the movie, but you could tell he was crushed.
     
    You should see the plan he's got to get in and out of Target the day it comes out. See, the book launches at midnight worldwide. That means the UK's gonna be gettin it a good 5 hours before the States. And he can't find any place that's open at midnight (that's not also holding off until 2am to sell the book). So instead he's got his reservation at Target, and he's going to be wishing to find a way to teleport pretty soon. All I can say is if this gets ruined, I don't think even I'm gonna be able to cool T-Boss off.
     
    So pardon the big guy's rudeness if he doesn't say much over the next few weeks. He's essentially fallen off the Internet for the time being.
  14. T-Hybrid

    1 In 8192

    By T-Hybrid,

    There's a party at the Haven. After having played Pokemon since Red first launched so many years ago, I finally...after having two previous failures...have caught my first Shiny Pokemon. First it was a Rattata that I accidentally fainted in Silver. Then a Pidgey that used Whirlwind in Leaf Green. But this time, this time I was ready.
     
    While training in the Tower south of Solaceon in Diamond, a Green Zubat popped up. Thankfully I had my Lvl 63 Luxray in the lead. So all it took was a Quick Balll and I was good to go. Needless to say I saved IMMEDIATELY after. So now I have a Green Zubat. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but it's there. And it's MINE!
     
    So break out the spirited beverages and the pixie stix. ViceGreymon's letting everybody in today!
  15. T-Hybrid

    Mooseantlers!

    By T-Hybrid,

    Due to surprisingly unexpected results of yesterday's split double-header between the Twins and White Sox, I've found myself in need of a Justin Morenau jersey. See, in the 7th inning of last night's game, Morenau came to the plate having already hit two homeruns in the game (first to right, then to center). The last time a Twin has hit three homers in a game was Tony Oliva back in like 1973. So it's no easy feat.
     
    Well, I made the comment...in all seriousness...that if Morneau could put the ball over the fence in that at-bat, I would go out and buy myself a Morneau jersey. Two pitches later, Justin had parked a ball in the left field bleachers for his 3rd of the night, 23rd of the season, and 102nd of his career. Besides the fact that it made the score 8-0, it was amazing to see Morneau (in his 3rd full year as a starter) do something for the Twins that hasn't been done since guys like Oliva back in the 70s. Last year Morneau became the first Twin to hit 30 homers in a season since they had three with Puckett, Hrbek...and a guy I wish I could remember.
     
    Thankfully I get paid next week, and I've been wanting to get a jersey for a while. It was a tough choice between Mauer, Morneau, Santana, and Hunter. I guess Morneau must've decided it was time for me to stop pondering and start acting. So by next weekend I'll hopefully be sporting my team colors at the Dome.
  16. T-Hybrid
    T-Hybrid is currently running around like a chicken with his head cut off as he spreads his first paycheck out over his first round of bills.
     
    Uh, hi I guess. It's been awhile, and honestly I don't know what to say. T-Boss called me up this afternoon while he was at the office and said I'd have to write an entry. Apparently he wasn't gonna make it and from the looks of things this place has been dead lately. I think it's too much of the Pokemans but that's just me.
     
    There's no room in his new place form me. Anywhere! I spend most of the time outside his balcony looking menacing. Cept for last night when I was watching the fireworks. Fireworks that were about 30 feet to my right. At 2 in the morning it's not cool to start waking everybody up with those things. Too bad it woke T up, otherwise the little bugger would've been introduced to some fireworks of my own. This place may not be a Nightclub, but I sure as heck can keep bouncin people out.
     
    Wow. That's really it for me. Took me a bit to write to. This place looks a lot different since the last time I stopped in. Wonder if T knows. He was pretty out of today. But lack of sleep will do that to a guy. He doesn't talk much about work, but he hasn't come home angry yet so I have to guess its going well.
     
    Well, it looks like I'm stuck behind Server Busy messages. So hopefully this'll get posted while its still topical.
  17. T-Hybrid

    Triple Your Fun!

    By T-Hybrid,

    All-Star Rosters annouced, Justin Morneau...Torii Hunter...Johan Santana. None of them starters, but that's still a good showing. Not to mention Pat Neshek is in the Final Vote.
     
    Justin Morneau has the honor of being the only first-baseman representing the American League. David Ortiz's 7 starts (as great he is offensively) do not qualify. Kevin Youkilis is the Red Sox 1B, and the fact they listed Ortiz instead is doing him a disservice.
     
    No Mauer, but that's alright. Joe had an injury that kept him out for a month or so, which meant he really didn't have a chance to get himself in the public eye enough. Hopefully he can stay healthy next year and give Pudge Rodriquez a chase for the starting catcher spot in '08.
     
    And not to be Mr. Conspiracy Theory, but I find it fishy that Barry B*nds manages to wiggle into the 3rd starting OF spot in the final days of voting. It'd be easy to make happen. Slip B*nds into the starting spot and make Alfonso Soriano (who wast he actual 3rd vote-getter) into the first backup spot.
     
    It's especially fishy when all you hear on the sports reports is "Boy MLB got lucky that turned out." and "Oh, I guess the fans DON'T all hate Barry."
     
    Meh. I'm rooting for the AL. Hopefully things can work out so Johan can make the start. That, or Morneau can show his stuff in the Home Run Derby.
  18. T-Hybrid

    I Grow Impatient

    By T-Hybrid,

    I see pics and read stories about how the Mahri are now available. Yet it appears the LIC at MoA has yet to get them in stock. In fact, the Bionicle section's been moved deep into the middle. The formerly Bionicle display cases are now filled with Batman, and the shelves close to the front are Exo-Force I think. But seriously, where are the Mahri? LIC was the one of the first places to get Rahkshi and Hordika, I'm sorta surprised by this recent twist.
     
    But it's probably for the best. I gotta make my first rent payment this weekend!
  19. T-Hybrid
    Since I'm only in my second week at work, I'm not about to start spending all kinds of money. But just to test the waters, how many other people here are going to be picking up Pokemon Battle Revolution in the next few weeks? If a lot of my fellow BZPers get it around launch, I may go ahead and snag a copy (or at least try to) so I can get into PvP battling again after a very long hiatus.
     
    Hopefully Omi's still trying to hold the BZPFL together. I've been training up a team that I think could make things interesting for everybody involved. Don't know if I'll be able to fulfill my initial commitment to serve as a Leader in the League, but I'd still love to start going head-to-head with some other Trainers around the forum.
  20. T-Hybrid
    Day 1 of my post-college career started yesterday at 8am. And I have to say I think I now know what KIE was talking about. As I was slowly going through the different forms and notifications, I had that feeling that it was all for real now.
     
    401(k), Insurance, Vacation Time...what were all these numbers and terms being thrown at me? Apparently "becoming vested" doesn't mean you get a new overcoat. Who'd a thunk? Thankfully I've got a month to get everything set up, which gives me a chance to learn a few things from the parents.
     
    After a full day of overview training from HR yesterday, my first full day on the actual team came today. About 10 of us in a company of 6000. That's pretty cool that even when it's that big they're able to keep teams small. Will make working together a lot easier, and I think that everybody in the group except me has about a decade of work with the project...if not far more. That means I'm really green comparred to them. Extremely green. My first team meeting was today, with a three-hour block of meetings slated for tomorrow morning. Looks like I'm getting the crash course in reality pretty quick here.
     
    But I'm looking forward to it. Something I've really only said about two jobs in my life...both of which have been in the last year.
  21. T-Hybrid
    "Rock This Town" once again proved to be my downfall. But for an official event held in the Rotunda of the MoA, the GHII Tourney on Saturday sure seemed pretty unprofessional. Since my one and only performance was at 12:15, I was left with quite a bit of time to discuss the merits of the contest with those around me.
     
    For starters, the field was open to over 200 competitors...however, the limited time constraints for the tourney left them able to only take the top 10 scores. 10 out of 200. One song eliminated 190 people. Which means after all the excitement and all the build-up, most everybody who went to the MoA on Saturday ended up being done after only 4 minutes. Hardly exciting.
     
    There were other problems to. The biggest was the apparant inability of the organizers to realize the significance of HD Lag in any sort of gaming. Especially one who's major focus is on timing. Anybody who has an HD TV knows that there is a certain lag associated that doesn't exist in an old school fat TV. So failure to properly calibrate the delay left each player with a different delay, and no opportunity to adjust for it (I've played GHII on a 360, so I've come to realize that if the game isn't properly calibrated for the lag it can take anywhere from two to three songs to get used to the delay). This wasn't helped any bit by the fact that the entire tournament was played on Expert.
     
    That's really my biggest complaint. If MoA and GameStop are supposedly trying to draw a diverse fanbase and make the tourney accessible, why set it at the absolute highest difficulty? There's a big enough cut-off when people transition from Medium to Hard, as there's an extra bit of practice required to start moving your pinky to hit that fifth button. Expert Mode is just that. If you think of Easy as the Tutorial portion of the game, Medium becomes a more standard difficulty. Hard is a good enough difficulty level for an open tournament, as anybody who's good enough to win a tournament on Expert is theoretically good enough to rise to the top of the pack in the Hard setting.
     
    There were other issues. Since this was organized by GameStop, every store in the district was asked to bring their 360 Kiosk to the Rotunda. These were all wired together and hooked into some massive power supply somewhere. Whoever set it all up though didn't realize the kind of juice the whole thing would be pulling though. Throughout the opening rounds of the "tournament", one entire section of 360's would repeatedly power down. Not surprisingly, most of the people who were forced to start over (some people had to restart twice) didn't make it through. Why? Because they were slowly getting adjusted to the Lag, which was then restarted (and never recalibrated by the organizer) when the machine was powered down.
     
    All in all, the whole thing turned into a joke. There were people who I knew could do better who were coming out of it with scores between 50-60%. This is not a game where you can just get "lucky" and get a high score. If you can consistently get a certain range, that's the range you'll get anytime. You're not going to consistently hit 95% in a certain song, then suddenly fall apart and hit only 55%. And when everybody mentioned the lag as they came out of there...yeah.
     
    It's sad when an tourney at a local restuarant is more professional and entertaining than a large-scale public event. And if anybody who was running that tourney is reading this...next time make sure you make that if you're going to set up a website ahead of time, you actually go ahead and put more info on there. Because had I known it was going to be on Expert...and there was a good liklihood I'd only play one song in the whole 4 hour period, I wouldn't have bothered. I'm not good enough on Hard yet to even think about playing on Expert. The whole thing was just a waste of my time. And for shoppers who were watching, it was the same song...over and over again (the first two hours were people playing Rock This Town). Hardly entertaining for them.
     
    I hope they learn from this, and next time have qualifiers at Local Gamestops. That way by the time it gets to the MoA event, they can have a solid bracket already built...and everybody just plays on the same giant TV. That way it's the same lag, and the audience sees a variety of songs.
  22. T-Hybrid
    If any of my fellow Minnesotan BZPers have nothing to do tomorrow, I suggest you make a trip to the Mall of America, where they'll be holding a Guitar Hero tournament. I've been playing it a lot since my embarrassing second-chance at the smaller-scale tourney a few weeks ago. Five buttons isn't as hard as it once was, and my weakness now is just those faster chains (hammer-ons and pull-offs are quite tricky but nearly essential in the tougher songs).
     
    Registration starts at 10 at the Rotunda and ends at noon, with the tourney itself running till 4. I have no idea how this is going to work, but it is my duty as a gamer to go. If you go, hopefully I'll be able to come up with a way to make myself recognizable. Come cheer me on, or sign up and maybe face off against me. Whatever the case, I'm looking to have a good time tomorrow.
     
    And while I'm there, I hope to scout the Lego Imagination Center. All these rumors of Mahri sightings, I figure if they're trickling into stores I may be able to catch one or two in some kind of preview release much like the Rahkshi so many years ago. Though I'm going to have to almost as soon as my run in the tourney's out. Got family plans in the evening.
     
    This is the last weekend where I won't have to worry about getting up for work...probably for a looong time. I've gotta make the most of it right?
  23. T-Hybrid
    93+ Hours: 159 Seen, 92 Obtained. 8 Badges, 1 Championship
     
    At exactly 1 am this morning, I was victorious. After more than a month of on again, off again training and playing, I was able to finish off the Elite Four and become the Champion in Pokemon Diamond. Comparred to the previous games, I have to say this was a tougher Elite Four than the last few gens, especially the champion, who was more difficult than the last two and could probably give the original Rival a run for his money.
     
    Having seen all 150 Shinnoh Region Pokemon, the next step of the game is collecting the remaining Legendary Pokemon and attempting to complete the full dex. If you're keeping score at home, that's over 490 Pokemon. But not much over. So from the above status report, you can tell I've got a LONG way to go. For now, if I can just see most of them...I'll consider it a victory.
     
    But my best option is to start breeding back in Sapphire and LeafGreen, then transfer the freshly hatched babies to Diamond. This is opposed to just clearing out the two previous Gen games. I put a lot of hours into those two games, and have some decent Pokes that I'm going to use in Colleseum and XD on the Cube.
     
    From there, who knows. Battle Revolution is coming soon for the Wii, so I'm hoping to have a decent Battle Team together to start fighting my way through that game. And then, if I'm lucky, I'll have a team I'm confident enough in to start getting into more PvP battling. Haven't fought a human since way back in the Red/Blue/Yellow days.
     
    I'm enojying this game quite a bit. There is a lot to do. Like, an FFXII load of things to do.
  24. T-Hybrid
    Okay, I admit that was a vauge Simpsons reference there. But I've been in a bit of a blah mood since moving in. I'm not entirely unpacked, and a little short on change until my job starts...so my free time's been spent trying to wrap up Diamond (144 seen...and Azelf, Uxie, and Dialga all caught!)
     
    But a bit of good news to break up the ho-hummness, the campus lost and found has apparently located my missing racquetball racquet. One I lost more than a few months ago. Bit of a stroke of luck there. I just need to drive down to the campus in the next few days and claim it.
     
    It was my fault I lost it. Got distracted one day at the courts and had to leave in a hurry. Left the racquet behind, and by the time I realized it was missing it was gone. I'm wondering if somebody "borrowed" it and then turned it back in after they left for the summer.
     
    Whatever the case. YAY!
  25. T-Hybrid

    My New Place

    By T-Hybrid,

    I'm working on getting pics, but right now I'm busy getting finished moving...and thusly there's not much to be seen in it. This place is a lot bigger than I remembered it being when I signed the lease. So it feels really empty. People have told me it's because I'm not used to living on my own, and odds are that's what it is.
     
    So when I start getting paid, that's when I'm going to start filling it up. But in the meantime, I've got a few shelves worth of things I've got to bring over. If only to take up some space. Once things get more moved in, I'll get some pictures and get those online.
×
×
  • Create New...