My Video Hell

I am right now (in between other, more decisively-deadlined jobs) hard at work on the next episode of "The Game OverThinker." It MIGHT take a little longer than I wanted it to take, read below to learn why...

Every episode of "Game OverThinker" from the beginning until right now have been made entirely using two programs - one for manipulating images, one for arranging and editing video files - made by the same Very Famous Software Company. I won't use their name here because it's still slightly plausible that the problem might be my doing (not looking likely), but let's just say they are Very Famous and are named after a type of building material.

ANYWAY!

I've spent about a full week (in total hours) shooting footage and building FX for the ending sequence of this next TGO episode (the middle part I'm doing last so everyone can get their "Ask Ivan" questions in) and have managed to finally this afternoon cut it together into proper format. It's a complicated sequence - one actor playing about a dozen characters via greenscreen with a lot of effects and sound elements - but also a short one, not even five minutes in length.

The "Media Encoder" that Very Famous Software Company's video-editing software allows as it's SOLE option for exporting those elements as one solid video file refuses to complete that task - constantly crashing a few seconds through the timeline with no available description of what's causing the crash or what can be done to fix it. My assumption is "too many elements," but A.) I cannot be certain because this is apparently 1983 where it's still "okay" for software to give error messages with no troubleshooting and B.) for the amount of fucking money these programs cost (seriously, figure out who I'm talking about and look up how much they ask for their products) this should NOT be an issue... especially for less than five minutes of footage not even in HD.

Now, normally, this is something you'd fix by calling a customer service person. Oh! But, you see, Very Famous Software Company doesn't have reps available "overnight" (because, as we all know, if people with jobs that involve the use of high-end video-editing software are known for anything it's for keeping reliable 9 to 5 business hours) ...or even in the evening. Or even on weekends. Apparently I can order a Domino's pizza at 2am but I can't get service for a product I'm paying... egh. You get the idea.

SO! After many hours of self-research (because, y'know, no customer service whatsoever) it seems that a seperate "effects specific" product ALSO made by Very Famous Software Company might handle this sort of project better AND I can just pop the "raw" timeline from it's current place into THAT with little difficult. Okay, cool... granted, it's another HUGE chunk of change and there's no garauntee this is going to fix the problem (sure would be nice to talk to a fucking customer service person about that, huh!?,) but it's something...

Wait! Wait! Very Famous Software Company knows their products are expensive, so they graciously offer downloads for FREE TRIALS on their website! Well, that's good news! So I go to download it, and instead of just downloading immediately via that little "do you want to download ______?" window like every other website on the fucking planet it instead asks me to install Very Famous Software Company's PROPRIETARY downloading service (which requires a login ID) onto my system. Of course it does, it's Very Famous Software Company. So I download the proprietary service that I need to download the free trial... and it won't work. Error message after error message. There is nothing wrong with my internet service. More error messages.

I have other priorities to get to at that point, so I set about those while periodically trying to make this proprietary downloading service work. Several hours later, my work is done and the download service still doesn't work.

But wait! There's another option! Very Famous Software Company offers a "Cloud" service whereby you pay a monthly fee and get to use various versions of their products... which includes the trial you've been trying to download! Hurray! And there's even a free trial of the "Cloud" service itself - double hurray!

...except once I've signed up for the "Cloud" trial, I don't see the option on it's "Apps Menu" for the product I signed up to gain access to. It turns out that the "free" trial of the product I signed up for is ONLY available through the paid version of the "Cloud" service. Of course it is. It's Very Famous Software Company.

I'm angry at this point. Like, Incredible Hulk angry. My Twitter looks like the private diary of an intern for the Romney campaign. Just burning up with hatred for Very Famous Software Company, their products, my inarguable professional need to keep using their products and most of all for the fact that once again something I was actually really enjoying doing (I honestly love doing what I do on this show, and this sequence was coming together spectacularly) has now been drained of it's joy and may even need to be scrapped altogether because of all this. I work hard on this stuff, and the parts of it that are fun are often the ONLY fun I really get for days on end.

So... fine, fuck it. It's only money. I sign up for a month's worth of paid "Cloud" service. The level I paid at lets me have full access to ONE product. I pick the one I came looking for a 4th of a DAY ago. They process the transaction. It goes through. The "order summary" pops up with a big button for "DOWNLOAD." I click it...

..."DOWNLOAD" takes me back to that same useless "Apps" menu on the "Cloud" service. The option that I'm looking for, that've now paid them to let me use for a MONTH... is not there. I sign out. I refresh. I sign back in. Try again. No change. My account, billing summary, email reciepts, etc show that I paid to be able to download this and it's not letting me download it.

And there's NOTHING I can do about that tonight. Or tomorrow. Or until Monday. Even though that means two days out of 30 that I've paid for will now be wasted.

Because I can't call their service line and ask why I am not able to access and use this product because Very Famous Software Company cannot be bothered to have a customer service line available on evenings or weekends.

Because, apparently, it is acceptable for a software company that operates a Cloud-based download management service that caters specifically to people who need constant, ready access to products and material to run their customer service on fucking BANKER'S HOURS. ...Oh! Except that term is no longer accurate, because I can call my bank 24 hours a FUCKING day.

The sun is about to come up here, and I'm fucking done for the night. The lone "upside" to this nightmare is that this is, fortunately, NOT happening to a show/project with a contractual deadline - if it was, I'd be losing my mind for real right now.

I'm telling myself it might just be some kind of service delay and I'll be able to access it tomorrow, but I know that's bullshit. I know I'm going to spend monday morning/afternoon on the phone with Very Famous Software Company working this out, either getting the trial that I paid for actually downloaded or at least getting my money back... money which will then go into the fund for the many, many hundreds of dollars I'll be spending to buy either a better computer (who knows, maybe this heap just isn't "strong enough" to render that biiiiiig scaaaaaary 4 1/2 minutes of video!) or to buy the full version of this Very Famous Software Company's "Effects" program because apparently it'll help and I'll be damned if all this work I've already done go to waste.

Cloudberry Kingdom is a WiiU Launch Title

Not-bad writeup on Kotaku yesterday evening putting a spotlight on the WiiU's surprising strength as an indie-friendly console given the strong lineup of downloadable games among it's launch titles. One of the standouts looks like Pwnee Studios' "Cloudberry Kingdom," which resembles nothing so much as "New Super Mario Bros." with a sadistic difficulty curve:

Mario Warfare

Have you see enough "What if ______ was crossed with _______??" gags on youtube, webcomics, etc. to last a lifetime? You probably have, but check out this video anyway because it looks pretty awesome regardless.

If nothing else, I'm glad to see "Equilibrium" popping back up as the fan-film point-of-reference du-jour...

Mega Man Is Over

Double-meaning, y'see.

Ever since Keiji Inafune up and quit the company awhile back, Capcom has seemed bound and determined to turn his most well-known creation into mulch: Cancelling a slew of well-into-development Mega Man titles, making his appearance in "Street Fight X Tekken" a self-parody, etc.

The latest seeming insult: The Blue Bomber's promised 25th Anniversary game (keep in mind, we're talking about a Mario/Zelda/Kirby-level Golden Age icon here), billed as a crossover wherein a "new" MM battles a cosortium of foes from all the different subseries, has been revealed as... an iPhone social game; fittingly titled "Mega Man X Over."



Over, indeed. If nothing else, at least Sonic can have some company on the "you used to be good" pile.

EPISODE 75: "Easy Does It"

Our newest episode is now showing for all audiences on ScrewAttack!

In this episode, we examine the modern controversy over "Easy Modes": do they really - as the lead designer of "Assassin's Creed III" recently claimed - "ruin games," or is there a vital place for them? In addition, we proudly announce that the next episode will be "Ask Ivan!" - wherein Ivan the Intern will answer questions to posted to the comments sections under the video itself or to this blog post (see episode for details, no anonymous questions please.)

ALSO! You'll see The OverThinker's favorite watering hole, discover the history of The OmegaThinker, witness the shocking origin of RoboThinker, learn something new about Ivan the Intern and watch ME gradually figure out how to properly use my new green-screen! (in all sincerity, I know some folks run hot or cold on the skits, but I'm pretty psyched with how the "ending" bookend for this one turned out tone, FX and timing-wise.)

Embedded episode and spoiler-y discussion after the jump!



Yeah, I'm proud of this one. The Hutchinson quote kind of fell into my lap as a perfect sort of topic-starter for my little niche here, and it gave me some room to A.) flesh out exactly what it is Ivan is supposed to be doing most of the time and B.) bring RetroThinker back into the picture and try out what might become his new status-quo as "resident old-timey expert guy." He's a fun "voice" to write for, and his "costume" isn't as cumbersome as some others...

As to RoboThinker's origin? I really like how it came out, overall, but it was a winding road to get here.

When I sat down during the "planning stages" for the revamped show as the AntiThinker business was coming to an end, a robot villain named "RoboThinker" was the very first thing I wrote down after deciding to continue the "____Thinker" naming-scheme schtick, but for the longest time that was all I had for him. (FYI, you have been spared the appearance of non-starter ideas like an enviro-terrorist called "Eco-Thinker," a white or yellow ninja tagged as "ElectroThinker" and a flatulence-powered one-off villain named "OverStinker.")

Believe it or not, for a long time my plan was for him to either resemble Robocop or The Borg - which would've been highly unfortunate since this is hitting so soon after "To Boldly Flee." Ultimately, I wanted him to look like a less specific parody, and the final concept ("Super-Sentai Terminator," basically) turned out to be best within my budget/abilities AND to fit best with OmegaThinker's DBZ/Trunks angle (that being DBZ's "Terminator" spoof and all.)

In any case, I hope everyone enjoys this one; and I'm already enjoying seeing people getting into the spirit of "Ask Ivan." If all goes well, you'll get those answers, an explanation of WHY OmegaThinker doesn't want OverThinker doing the fighting and your first taste of RoboThinker's voice and personality next time. Until then, let's hear those questions for Ivan!

U Mad?

In case you hadn't heard, the WiiU has an unexpected third-party (second-party, actually - Nintendo published!) exclusive. Some people are... less than thrilled about this.

The poor darlings.

Off To Work

I'll be getting on an airplane for The Escapist Expo very soon, which means updates to this blog may be a bit on the sporadic/late side from now until Monday. Stay tuned.

Nintendo Being Nintendo

The WiiU's dates and prices have been announced for Japan, and will be announced for the U.S. later this morning. The main non-pricing/tech related news is that it looks like the flagship launch titles will be New Super Mario Bros. WiiU and Nintendo Land.

I haven't seen much of "Nintendo Land," but I dig the "symbolism" of its existance: It's a Wii Sports/Play/Resort installment, but this time set in a virtual Nintendo-themed amusement park. I like the optimisitc (on Nintendo's side) vision of what that represents: that the "Casual-core" Wii newcomers of seven years ago are now part of the broader Nintendo fan-culture (we'll find out if that's precisely TRUE soon enough.)

Moreover, though, much as I'm supposed to roll my eyes at the "regressiveness" of the New Super Mario Bros. juggernaut... and while, yes, I'd RATHER be playing a successor to Galaxy or something truly new... damn it, y'all KNOW me. The first console of the Eighth Generation is launching... with a 2D Super Mario Bros. side-scroller. That's kind of awesome.

EPISODE 75 ANNOUNCEMENT!

Episode 75: "Easy Does It" will debut next Wednesday September 19th at 11:00pm CST right here on ScrewAttack. As ever, Advantage Members can watch it starting now.

ALSO: As announced in the episode-proper, Episode 76 will be our first ever "ASK IVAN" installment, wherein fan and viewer mail will be answered by Ivan the Intern. You can ask your question in the ScrewAttack comments page or the comments here (leave some form of name, anonymous questions will not be answered) concerning games, pop culture or anything else you'd want to Ask Ivan about.

Stay tuned for the episode for more details.

Ryan's Review of Metal Slug XX for the Xbox 360

Hey guys, today I am going to be posting my review on the Xbox Live game, Metal Slug XX (also known as Metal Slug 7).

Overall Score (based on my experience): A-

By the way, here is a short video from Youtube showing off the first 2 levels in the game.


Overview and story (warning, this section contains spoilers, as I have played the game already and don't know if you have or not) -

Side by side comparison: doesn't General Morden from the Metal Slug Series look eerily similar to the former dictator, Saddam Hussein (long before he was executed several years back)?

Picture of Saddam Hussein (found on Flickr) Stock Photo of General Morden from the Metal Slug Series (picture found at http://www.gamekult.com/blog/bigbossff/)

Metal Slug XX (aka Metal Slug 7 for the Gameboy DS system) is the latest addition to the hit Metal Slug series and presumably takes place after the events of Metal Slug 6 (which was featured in Metal Slug Anthology for the Playstation 2 as well as the Nintndo Wii).  In Metal Slug XX, the evil General Mordin (the Saddam Hussein look alike that is the main antagonist of the series) is back and is up to his old tricks again, and even recruits soliders from the distant future to his cause and it is up tp Marco, Fio, and all of the other Metal Slug crew to foil Mordin's schemes once again.  Unlike many of the previous installments of the series, were Mordin is merely a pawn of a more sinister plot (such as the alien invasions that took place in Metal Slugs 2, X and 3, a corrupt business man in Metal Slug 4, a shadowy terroist organization in Metal Slug 5, and now mutant man eating insects in Metal Slug 6), Mordin is officially the main villian once again and will also fuction as the final boss character you fight (a first in the series since the first Metal Slug game).  It is also worth mentioning that the super solider, Allen (the Mr T look alike from Metal Slugs 1-4 that you fight) is back and will once again challenge the heros in a fight to the death, this time in a mech warrior style duel in one of the levels of the game.  Also, like in Metal Slug 6, there are several players available (along with a downloadable character if you are willing to pay a little extra) and each of them have their own unique moves and abilities.  Marco can shoot 2 handguns machine gun style when you hit the y button (based on default controls).  Fio (the lady with the orange hair and hat) is automatically equipped with a machine gun instead of the regular hand gun and can't lose the machine gun whenever she dies like the other characters do whenever they die in the game.  Eri has an extra arsenal of grenades and can throw them in almost any direction (up, down, diagonal, straight, etc) and can be extra useful against tough enemies (like boss fights, especially the one at the end of level 4 as you will find out as you play the game) as well as crowd conrol (and there are plenty of times where you will be outnumbered).  Also, the game is 7 missions long (which is actually longer than the average Metal Slug game, which is usually 5 or 6 missions long, which varies by game throughout the series) and it does come with a built in level select feature, which can be useful if you don't want to (or can't) play through the entire game in one setting (which is roughly about 2 hours along if played on the medium difficulty).  Like previous reviews, I will rate this game in a letter grade format (where an F is the worst and an A is the best) and you are free to agree or disagree with me.

Gameplay - B

Metal Slug XX plays out much like any other title in the series.  The game is a classic 2D style shooter that plays out much like a typical Contra game, where it is a side scroller shooter where you you go through the levels, shooting bad guys, avoiding bullets, as well as using special vehicles (scattered in various stages) as you play through each level (mission).  Most of the missions are big and fairly long and have a huge boss or boss machine that you have to fight at the end.  Like all Metal Slug and Contra games, one hit kills you (unless if you are driving one of the many vehicles in the game, in which case it usually takes several hits to kill you) and you do get 3 lives before you get a game over (though the game does come with a continue system).  You can also do 2 players and the Xbox 360 version does come with an Xbox live mode as well (though I haven't played it yet).  The game also comes with a "combat school" where you replay through the different missions of the game and try to meet certain goals (such as getting 100% accuracy when shooting enemies, not gettign killed, etc) for extra achievements and bragging rights.  By the way, I have read other reviews for this game, and I am actually surprised that some people find this game to be too short, even though it is actually 7 missions long (most Metal Slug games are only 5 or 6 missions long) and does take a little while to beat.  Of course, if you are looking for a much longer game, you might try other shooters like the Mass Effect Series, the Call of Duty series, etc). 

Difficulty - C

If you are a typical player when it come to games like Metal Slug and Contra, you will probably die ALOT in this game, even on easy mode.  Like other games in the series, one hit usually kills your character (btw, if you play as Ralph, you can usually take 2 hits before dying) and the levels do get progressively harder as you play through the game, especially levels 4 - 7 where death is nearly impossible to avoid unless if you have extremely good reflexes and can predict the enemies' movies (though I have seen Youtube videos of people playing through games like Metal Slug XX where they never die, let along get a game over, which is definitely an impressive feat to accomplish).  And there are places, where you are bound to die alot, especially in a section in level 4 where you battle man eating plants, soldiers and overhead man eating plants at the same time.  Also, I found the final level to be extra challenging, especially towards the end. By the way, if you have special weapons, you usually lose them when you die (with the exception of Fio's machine guns).  Luckily, when you almost inevitably run out of lives, the game does come with a continue system where you can continue in the mission and you do get infinite continues in the game as far as I can tell (which can be a good thing or bad thing depending on how you look at it).  Obviously, if you are looking for a much more challenging Metal Slug game, I recommend you get yourself a copy of Metal Slug 3 for the original Xbox (now that one is extra brutal as far as lives and continues are concerned, especially on the final mission) or even Metal Slug Anthology and turn off the unlimited continues mode (which is on by default, at least in the Playstation 2 version).  Anyways, the game is challenging, but it is definitely beatable (though you will probably go through lots of lives and continues by the end of hte game).

Sound-  A

Personally, I loved the sound and background music in the game.  Also, like in many of the newer installments, the boss music has changed again (at least for the regular bosses), though they did bring back the classic final boss theme at the final boss (the one from Metal Slug 2 when you fight the mothership).  Also, the voice acting and narrating is pretty nice too.

General - A

Personally, this game was pretty fun for me and where there are some things I didn't like, I definitely recommend this game to any of you who are into arcade style shooters and are a fan of the Metal Slug series.  Also, old time fans of the Metal Slug series will be pleased to see some of the recurring themes this game has to offer, including:

1) General Morden returns and is the main villian this time around.  Also, for the first time since Metal Slug 1, you will fight him as the final boss, and this time it is a much more epic boss fight and comes in 3 stages (unlike the anti-climatic battle against him in the first Metal Slug game).

2) Allen is back for the first time since Metal Slug 4.  If you missed him from Metal Slugs 4-6 you will be delighted to hear that he is definitely back and once again he will challenge you to a fight to the death once again (this time in a classic mech warrior style boss battle).

3) The final boss music from most of the Metal Slug games is back as well. 

Anyways, that is all for now.  You can find Metal Slug XX on Xbox live if you are looking for it and it is relatively cheap to download.  By the way, I have not played Metal Slug 7 on the Gameboy DS yet, so I don't really know how the two versions compare, though if you have played the other versions, feel free to share your experiences with them.

Things I like to see in the sequel (assuming they make another Metal Slug game):
1) Some next gen elements (such as 2.5D graphics and comic book style feel similar to that from Mega Man X8 and Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles).
2) Cut scenes and voice acting (that would be cool, especially if they have good voice actors for the characters).
3) 10 levels would be ideal
4) Some roleplaying elements might be cool as well (kind of like how it is in the Mass Effect series).
5) They should also have more stages with alternate routes and exits (like how it was in Metal Slug 3 where most of the levels had alterate routes that yu can take for some extra variety and replay value).
6) Aliens would be nice to have again, like the ones from Metal Slugs 2 and 3.
7) Cater to both casual gamers and hard core gamers (such as making so people can choose to have limited continues or unlimited continues as was the case in metal slug anthology).




Comments? 
Have you played Metal Slug XX yet?  Feel free to share your experiences in the game.  Did you like the game, did you not like the game?  What would you like to see in Metal Slug 8 (whenever they release it) and no I don't work for SNK, so I wouldn't know anything about the sequel, though I am assuming another sequel is in the works.

Other games you might like:
Metal Slug 7 for the DS - this is the gameboy ds version of this game
Metal Slug Anthology (Playstation 2) and Metal Slug Anthology (Nintendo Wii) (there is also a version for the PSP as well).  Metal Slug Anthology is definitely a must have fore Metal Slug series fans (though sadly they did not make a version for the Xbox 360, so you will have to get a Wii or Playstation 2 if you want to play that game) and features Metal Slugs 1-6 along with Metal Slug X (which is basically an alternate version of Metal Slug 2), and also has special artwork and interviews that you can unlock as you play the game.  The game collection also caters both to casual players and hardcore gamers with variable difficulty modes, variable starting lives, as well as the option to either have unlimited continues (which is on by default) or limited continues (up to 20 continues) if you think you are up to the the challenge.

AWESOME!!! "Sifl & Olly" Return... with a Gaming Show!

ROCK!