Overview forblog

Ch-Ch-Changes

All of that cryptic stuff I was alluding to last week was about me deciding on a new place to live. With my brother moving out and giving me the guarantee that he would not need to move back in with me, I no longer have a reason to hold on to the 2 bed, 2 bath unit we’re currently at. The lease was coming to an end soon and the rate was going to go up about another 70 bucks if I renewed, so I decided to ditch it and instead downgrade to a 1 bed pad, saving me a crud ton a money per month in rent.

So the next few weeks are going to be hectic in not only moving myself out, but helping out my brother move to his new place as well. Couple in the fact that El Nino is planning to show its face here soon, we might have to slog through rain and chillier than average weather when we actually begin moving our junk. But all is well, though, as we should be finished moving before the holiday season begins, unlike last time when we moved while in the thick of it during December. That was a bonkers time to move.

Decision: accomplished

*Big sigh of relief*

Short stack

Part 5 of the Art of Pogs feature: the short lava tube.

All good things must come to an end

Last week I heard Microsoft was finally beginning the process of sunsetting the Xbox Live Indie Games program for good. I know the writing’s been on the wall for a while now starting as far back as 2013 when MS announced they would no longer be adding updates for XNA, the development platform to build games with, but it’s still a bummer to hear as XBLIG together with XNA was something brilliant and innovative, allowing basically anyone the tools for building games for the Xbox 360.

Take me for an example. XNA was the primary reason I finally purchased a 360 back in 2012. For a while I was reading their book on XNA development and it was so cool seeing something you built on your computer be transferred to your 360 via your home network and watching it run on your big screen TV and controlling it with a 360 controller. In fact, when XNA was introduced back during the mid-2000s, this was a time when Microsoft was pushing hard for everyone to build software and applications on their platforms. Microsoft Press -- their own print publishing arm -- was churning out all sort of books aimed at their programming languages. Some of their books even looked like they were focused on kids getting into development.

XNA was a fun quirky little experiment, so it was odd seeing it come from such a large corporation. I’d put it in the same category as Sony’s Net Yaroze -- a development kit which allowed anyone to develop games for the original PlayStation. The games that people built for that were neat too, but unlike Net Yaroze, XNA had hooks built in where you can actually sell your games on XBLA’s indie section, which was mind blowing for the time, and actually still is today. So while Net Yaroze was something for hobbyists, you could potentially make a career with XNA.

So rather than feeling bummed out about them slowly ending support for their low entry program for games development, let’s celebrate Microsoft’s indie platform by showing off some of the games that came from it; which you can still buy today (so check them out if you’re interested). Here’s a short list of games I played that came from Xbox Live Indie Games. Don’t worry as there are no zombie games in this list ;-)

Gentlemen Start Your Engiiines

A bare bones racing game yet includes enough options to keep things interesting. You can select from four different circuit tracks, pick from a number of racers that resemble cars from America’s classic era, and can even do a bit of detailing to your ride like changing its color, racing number, and which US state flag to slap on top of the roof (I have no clue why this option exists). Inspired a bit by Daytona USA based on what I’ve seen such as the name of the game, the rolling start which begins each race (unfortunately "The King Of Speed" or a variant of it isn’t heard when this occurs), and the cover art for the game, it also includes slipstreams to help in reaching the front for the pack. If a quick race is all you need, then Gentlemen Start Your Engiiines is a great way to scratch that itch.

Cylinder

An absolute fantastic puzzle game and my favorite XBLIG title. You need to lineup matching puzzle pieces to have them removed from the play field. Time is of the essence though as new blocks will drop from the top every few seconds. If they stack up above a certain point, it’s game over. The unique aspect of this puzzle game is that the pieces are wrapped around, you guessed it, a cylinder, so you’re constantly moving the camera around to see what pieces you have on the other side. The soundtrack is pretty awesome, too.

Battle High 2

Fighting games seem like a tough one to program for. What with all of the precise controls and collision boxes you need to program and tweak again and again to get it to feel just right sounds like a nightmare. So to see one on XBLA indie and is one that plays well should be allowed an opportunity to shine in the limelight. Battle High 2 includes all the flair you’d see from a triple-A fighting game, has a good roster count, and great graphics. The controls feel a little squishy, but hey, they are responsive enough to where I don’t give a hoot.

Curse of the Crescent Isle

Probably the most polished game on this list. You get the sweet look and play of Super Mario Bros. 2 with Curse of the Crescent Isle. So if you’re jonesin for a new SMB2 game, then this is the one to get. It includes some of the mechanics like picking up enemies and throwing them at other enemies to knock them temporarily out of commission and the levels have those blocky, Fisher-Price looking backgrounds to boot. But it’s the visual look of the game being displayed on a wide screen HDTV that originally caught my attention. It’s a beautiful game, to say the least.

506F6773

Part 4 of the Art of Pogs feature. This time with a second orange lava tube, but this time no slammers; all pogs.

From the other side

From all the times I’ve gone to Dodger Stadium, I’ve always sat on the first base side. Maybe I’m just used to it, but it’s my preferred side to sit at. When I went there this weekend, this was the first time having seats at the back side on the right field.

It was a very odd place to sit at. First off, it was bleacher seating as opposed to having individual seats. Second, when someone needed to get up and leave, it was a very tight squeeze because the bleachers were so close to each other; this also made it difficult for tall people to sit as there was virtually no leg room. Third, you can see only one of the large screens. For us, we could barely see the one over the left field pavilion. We couldn’t see the one right above us because we were sitting under the wavy awning the stadium is known for. And lastly, where we were sitting was the absolute last spot for the sun to set. The game started at 6:00pm, but it didn’t set for us until around 7:30-ish. It didn’t help too that we went during one of the hottest weekends this year where we saw triple-digit weather.

But complaints and whining aside, fun was had by all. The right field pavilion has the benefit of having all-you-can-eat meals during the game. With each trip you can get: two Dodger dogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, and 32oz soft drinks. This is pretty generous and I didn’t know you get Dodger dogs (I thought they were going to be rinky-dink hot dogs) and such a large cup for sodas (I was thinking 12oz). I would say I probably ate 80 dollars’ worth of food. This was a great trade for cruddy not so good seating.

The back side of the pavilion is beautiful as well. It has a lot of gardens and lush landscaping throughout it. I thought about trying a dessert at the newly built Tommy Lasorda's Trattoria, but I’m still broke for the month due to my car maintenance from a few weeks back, so I decided to pass on it (plus I was stuffed from the all-you-can-eat meals).

When it came to the game, it was weird because I was paying attention to almost everything else but the game itself. I guess when you sit near the top from the first base side, there’s nothing to look at but the game. When at the pavilion, you can see all the weird stuff people are doing all around you, so my eyes tended to glance around at my surroundings and seeing things like ushers telling people to go back to their own seats, seeing a beach ball accidently drop into the bullpen, people acting crazy when the cameraman that shows the audience on the big screen when a batter walks up to the plate passes by.

I’m glad I tried the new viewpoint by sitting at the pavilion side of the park, but I think next time I’ll stick to my favorite first base side from now on. If you want to try it, the all-you-can-eat tickets are for the right field pavilion. I don’t know what the left side gets but maybe a weird look from an usher and them saying you picked the wrong side for the unlimited meals.