Author: loserx

A Dramatic Turn Of Events, Reviewed

One of the first reviews of the new Dream Theater album, A Dramatic Turn Of Events, is now available and, sure the author’s an old Dream Theater fan and so is prone to gushing, but then again so am I and I figure, what he likes, I would probably like too.

Some highlights from the review:

  • ‘Keyboard player Rudess has talked of how he would write sections to fit snugly around John Petrucci’s riffs’
  • ‘The growling vocals have vanished to be replaced with typically complex DT musicality and countless melodies, and critically the album is not immediately gratifying, and requires several listens in order to fully grasp exactly what the band have achieved here.’
  • ‘It also showcases Myung’s talent as a bass player — which many have claimed has been left in the background in the recent past — and it’s a pleasure to hear him so prominent in the mix once again.’

September cannot come soon enough. Only question is, should I pre-order the collector’s edition?

The Legend of Korra Teaser Trailer

Legend of Korra Trailer - HD Version Full 720p

The teaser trailer for the Legend of Korra is now available and it looks great. Even more impressively, they are doing what the Japanese animation industry can’t seem to do, create a strong, smart female lead character. For that, I salute Messrs DiMartino and Konietzko.

Lots to like here:

More information was made available at the San Diego Comic Con.

As an aside, this should have been titled simply Avatar: The Legend of Korra. Thanks for nothing, James Cameron. Also, fortunate the Shyamalan fiasco didn’t kill this franchise dead.

Thunderbird Lives

I’m a pretty big fan of Mozilla Thunderbird. The project has adopted the multi-channel development model of Firefox (which was adapted from Chrome’s) which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. Instead of the nightly, Aurora and beta channels, though, Thunderbird’s channels are named Shredder (ha), Earlybird and Miramar. With the new names comes new logos, courtesy of Sean Martell, Lead Visual Designer for Mozilla.

I’m almost tempted to use the Earlybird builds just for the logo.

Spaceward Ho!

Finally got around to Mass Effect 2 (which isn’t as good as the first, which I’m not that fond of in the first place). I was doing Jacob’s loyalty mission and came across this sculpture that the natives propped up to worship:

One thing came to my mind immediately.

The Tori no Hito (Bird Human) statues from Macross Zero, of course. I mean, tropical island paradise, the shape…

Probably all just a coincidence though.

Adrenaline Mob

So Mr. Mike Portnoy (formerly of Dream Theater, of course) assembled his very own super-group consisting of SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward (copy and pasted from Blabbermouth).

On paper, this band should be kicking all sorts of asses and I am a huge fan of Sir Russell Allen. Unfortunately…

I present Exhibits A through C:

Their message seems to be “We like hanging out in abandoned industrial areas”*

And, really? Using the Godfather font for your logo?

Exhibit D:

Adrenaline Mob - Album Teaser - 2011

Well, that was, how you say, GENERIC. Not half bad but generic and underwhelming.

Never mind chest thumping quotes like:

  • “Even my wife, who’s been through it all with me, says it’s the best stuff she’s ever heard me play on. I played in DREAM THEATER for 25 years, plus some other pretty decent bands including AVENGED SEVENFOLD, so that’s really saying something.” – Portnoy
  • “This band is not in the vein of SYMPHONY X or DREAM THEATER. It’s more along the lines of, say, ROB ZOMBIE, GODSMACK, DISTURBED, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, SHINEDOWN… with Russell‘s absolute pipes from hell and Mike just outright killing it on the kit.” – Orlando (come on! Disturbed?)

I just don’t foresee great success in this band’s future, but I’ll be glad to be proven wrong

* of course, most rock bands want to be taken seriously so goofing off on camera is taboo. Admittedly, goofing generally only works well for Devin Townsend.

Can’t buy taste with money

For only €800, you, too, can put a fine piece of gauche consumerism into your pocket! Features: a sapphire crystal home button and 18-carat gold trimmings backed by Scottish leather from the “finest Caledonian herds”! Oh, it also has some trifling nonsense like 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen and an 8-megapixel camera with 720p HD recording.

Introducing the Nokia ORO. Oro being Italian for gold in case you have the observation power of a mollusc and fail to see the sheer blingyness.

While the technical specs aren’t poor by any means, it is “powered” by Symbian. Which was a fine mobile OS in its day back in the mid 00s. So, something for the more money than sense crowd.

Photo source: CNET UK

Oblivion 5th Anniversary Edition

Here’s a new idea, an anniversary limited release of a computer game.

Bethesda is releasing a 5th anniversary limited edition of Oblivion, which comes with Oblivion GOTY edition (wot? no DLCs still? I want my horse armour dammit), a map, a “Making Of” DVD and a coupon for a 10 dollar discount for Skyrim, all in a sexy steelbook.

Overall, I’m thinking it’s a little shabby.

Since this is what should be the ultimate edition, why not pull out all the stops? That excellent soundtrack on audio CD would be nice, for one thing. The aforementioned DLCs wouldn’t be out of place either.

From here on I’m speaking for the PC version since I don’t care for console gaming.

What I would really like to see is some acknowledgment for what really made the game so successful and enduring: modders. Official integration of what I consider essential mods like the UOP and the supplementals and one of the DarN UIs (the default UI is nerfed for consoles, completely unbefitting of PC gaming) would have been fantastic and much appreciated. Of course, any potential copyright issues will have to be looked at but I’m sure the modders involved would be happy to have their work included in an official release, especially in a set so reasonably priced.

The game executable itself needs work. Essential tools like OBSE, Stutter Remover and Fast Exit should be integrated. The executable should be compiled with the LARGEADDRESSAWARE option enabled, no reason not to nowadays. Long standing problems like the Abomb should be fixed. What would have been really nice would be the backporting of improvements from the Fallout 3 engine such as the more efficient graphic rendering routines which results in the huge draw distances found in FO3. UI improvements like pressing “A” to take all items as in FO3 should be built-in too.

I just don’t find this a compelling package. The box is so pretty though.

Photos taken from nitrobeard.com.

Oblivion Mod Impressions: The Lost Spires

a Lost Spire

Basic premise, the Archeology Guild needs an enforcerbodyguard for their researchers and you’ve been hired. This quest mod is way more fun than it sounds though. Intrigue, ruins diving, ancient artifacts, basically be Dr. Indiana Jones in Tamriel.

Technically the mod is well implemented with some solid custom models and textures. The voice acting is perhaps a little uneven but more than adequate.

The story is well-written. This mod strays a little from the official established Elder Scrolls lore. I am usually a stickler for lore-correctness in my mods but here the additions are explained well and, in any case, the fun to be had more than makes up for it.

One thing I don’t like, though, is that the player becomes *gasp spoiler* the Headmaster of the guild at the end of the quest line. Silly stuff, considering the player is, in universe, said to have no archeology skills. I just don’t think it’s necessary to reward the player so. Even for the vanilla Fighters and Mages Guilds quest lines I would have liked the option of deferring the Master and Arch-Mage positions to Modryn and Raminus.

Grab it at the official website.

In which I embark on a journey and meet Lucifer and a cheeseburger

Deconstruction is the third in the four album Devin Townsend Project cycle and it has been leaked (check it out on YouTube). After listening to it I do believe the man has out-Ziltoided himself.

As promised, the music is brutal and complex and the story is ostensibly about “a man who goes to Hell and meets the devil. The devil eventually promises to show him the secrets of the universe and presents a cheeseburger to him. However, being a vegetarian, the man cannot eat the cheeseburger, rendering his journey pointless.”

Early reviews are very positive and I’ll add my voice to that chorus. It’s one fucking intense album. When the guest list was first announced I was a little worried at how many there are but even on a preliminary run through my fears were dissipated. The many guests are brilliantly featured, their voices contributing to and blending with that trademark Devin Townsend Wall of Sound. Floor Jansen’s (formerly with After Forever) turn on “Pandemic” is particularly awesome.

Production is fantastic as usual for Devin. He has announced his dropping out from the Loudness wars and good thing too. Finally a loud album I can crank my hi-fi for.

Listening to the album one thing is clear, Devin has been sober for years and it turns out it really wasn’t the drugs or alcohol. He really is insane. In a good, mad genius way though.