You got Russian History in my Tetris

Well, the Summer's been long and busy, so now I sheepishly creep back into my tree house to turn the lights off and start consuming some media. The poor place is looking a bit run down, wallpaper peeling, windows besmirched with grime, the bird-feeder's empty and there's a suspicious squirrelly smell about the place. Lets get cracking filling this place with light and noise again, hooray!

To kick us off, behold a fairly extraordinary piece of video setting the entirety of Russian history to the sounds of Tetris. Viewed from the perspective of a humble worker, the man who arranges the blocks will hammer the tune into your brain in no time flat. With fabulous animation and some lovely acting, its an all round winner - you can check out more comedy tunes from the 2 man band, Pig with the face of a Boy at their website. Go and say hello! Now, where can I purchase some squirrel remover? I am the man who is scrubbing the blocks lalala...

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Go Johnny go go go go..

Fantastic news for Natal enthusiasts still holding out for the verdict as to whether what we saw at E3 was real or dressed up fantasy. Impressions coming out of E3 have been very positive, but it still feels very much a believe it when I see it kind of experience. The cautious optimism however is gradually being replaced by downright frenzied excitement with the word that Johnny Chung Lee is part of the development team. You may recall Johnny Lee is the genius behind various Wii remote related applications, that pushed the boundaries of what technology could be made to do in the home. We all probably thought Nintendo would snap him up, but they have, it appears, been caught napping, and it's Microsoft who have made a very very wise decision.

Of Natal, on his blog Lee says "The human tracking algorithms that the teams have developed are well ahead of the state of the art in computer vision in this domain. The sophistication and performance of the algorithms rival or exceed anything that I've seen in academic research, never mind a consumer product". Strong praise indeed, and to have it come from the most recognised academic developer of home made motion tracking, bodes very well for Natal's credibility.

Lee is working on "making sure this can transition from the E3 stage to your living room", so I just got a whole lot more excited for how we'll be playing games in a few years time. As Lee says, "We would all love to one day have our own personal holodeck. This is a pretty measurable step in that direction." Blimey! Do want.

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Flip Vids propagate internet detritus shocker

Cameras! Everywhere! Living in London, its not unusual, they're a part of life here and go largely unnoticed. We don't really see them as an infringement of our human existence and right to privacy, cos we're simply not doing anything interesting enough to want to watch, and if we are, we should expect to be watched. Except in the cinema, that's wrong. But what is also wrong is the sheer size of the cameras deployed amongst our friends and loved one these days. They're soo tiny wee and dainty, we don't stand a chance. Our friends are supposed to be just that, but nowadays we can't drink 18 pints and be sick at the back of the pub without someone sticking a tiny bond-esque spycam up our noses faster than you can say facebook. Before you know it, all our exes are sitting round together, having amusing picture evenings and laughing gaily while drinking chablis and reminiscing about what a drunken and unphotogenic twerp you really were.

Well it's only going to get worse, so get used to it. Photos are so passe, its all about the vidz now. As the tech continues to improve, we'll get that technicolour yawn in glorious slow-mo hi def, and eventually in 3-D. Now there's something to look forward to.

Anyway, flipvids are a cheap and nasty pocket cam thing that feels like it came out of a cracker, and in no way alludes to the bright futuristic technology we can look forward to years from now. But we did have a play with one and made a stupid vid, so enjoy! Do please comment on the youtube page, I got my first and it warmed my heart with it's youtuberiness.

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Rez HD - "Feel the vibraaaaation"

I have up 'til now resisted the lure of microsoft point purchases. Nothing on Live has particularly piqued my interest. At all. I have no desire to play Halo again. I do not particularly wish to pay good money for a weird version of street fighter II. And I positively refuse to pay money for "pictures" of all my favourite gamer heroes. Lameness. This is incidentally in quite a contrast to the virtual console on wii, which I think is fantastic and has pumped my wallet hard over the last year. But now Microsoft's turn has come it seems, with the arrival of Rez HD. I never played Rez on the dreamcast, or Ps2, and have only really heard about it in recent weeks, as the internet got all moist about it's re-emergence. I wasn't even that excited to try it, but the demo popped up in the recently added section on live, and so I shrugged and downloaded the little blighter. This is where the demo service really comes into it's own, take note nintendo.

That said, I've tried other demos, and yet this one unlike them made me get my wallet out to sign up for points right away. Right away meaning after playing it through about 16 times, with my eyes streaming, making it hard to see those credit card numbers and my ears still reverberating with the thumping goa trance. Man that is some toe tapping goodness. The full game though is quite an astonishing experience. The interaction of the visuals and music, the much touted synaesthesia, really is a spectacle, pushing this game to the level of video art, an amzingly creative acheivement. As much as I hate trance per se, I love this stuff, each of the 4 levels tracks building and building to tub thumping crescendos. And then the 5th area, wow, just wow, pure coolness, really very zen. If this is all sounding a bit cryptic, I really can't be bothered to explain what this game actually is - its impossible to convey without making it sound a bit poo, the video above will have to do.

Its not a big game, or a very difficult one, but with lots of unlockables left this is clearly going to have some legs. At £8 who can argue? Its also as addictive as crack coated peanuts. It kind of reminds me of that game that seduces the crew of the enterpise because it gives them all "pleasure". Silly Ryker.

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Zero Punctuated: COD4

Another fantastic review from the brit down under, and of a game I'm loving at the moment. So it must be shared, although I have nothing useful to add. I should do a post about why I love COD4 at some point, but right now I have a pie in the oven, and I'm just keen to get something other than the horror below at the top of the page. Enjoy!

Zero Punctuation at the Escapist

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..then name the system!

If ever a game was to score highly on the geek scale of want, this is it. I am left in a quandry though. Because, if ever there was a game to score highly on the must have the shiniest visuals and most solid physics ever scale, this is it. But if ever there was a game to score highly on the needs me to swing my controller around and flail my arms like a maniac, this is also it.

The wii sold alot of promises to me when I first heard about it all that time ago. The biggest one was lightsabres. I'm sure I am not alone in this. Since then however, I have succumbed (as I always intended mind) to the "proper" next gen console with all its techno bells and whistle glory. I have tasted of the sweet sweet fruit, and enjoyed licking my fingers afterwards. Now, I know that graphics etc are not the be all and end all, but the high powered beasts do make for different experiences above and beyond merely improved fidelity. The video above demosntrates this.

I really think the wii controls have done amazing things for gaming. When used properly, they are infinitely more fun to use than a standard controller, Resident Evil 4 is a prime example; awesome awesome aim mechanics. And what could be more appropriate than conducting storm troopers through the air, and slicing them down with the wiimote? But will the game be gimped by the realtively low tech? Kinda makes me wish nintendo would announce the wii2 already "hey, we made much more money way faster than we expected, we pushed our next model up a notch, and its ready already, here ya go".

Or will this be the first instance of where I buy a copy of a game on the wii, and the 360? Or is that too much geek? Even for a Star Wars fan? I want a lightsabre. But I need it to be shiny. Real shiny.

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Other Heroes

Until such time as I identify what defines me as a blogger, I will continue to share , without compromising my pledge, my interests and what not. This guy is great, many have fallen for his ample charms, so have a care before watching. Also watching this you risk getting over excited that the future has literally arrived here in the present and you may simply give up on life. Whats the point of going to work or forming meaningful relationships, we'll all be pure energy soon right?

Aside from the awesome brilliance of this and his other adaptations of the Wii, it is surely the gentleman's sweet and earnest demeanour that has captured the hearts of so many. The slightly wild eyed donning of the IR glasses at 3:51 may give some pause about the hands our future is in, but I say they're maybe just crazy enough to make it work. Swing by his blog too and say hi from me, I'm too shy.

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Trilbys off to Mr Croshaw

This guys is so hot right now. His meteoric rise to internet fame is, to my mind, entirely justified, as his game reviews, if they can be so called, never fail to make me sneeze milk. His ramblings are quite brilliant, and his opinions seem consistently accurate in sentiment, although he clearly feels some obligation to find faults that may be a little overblown, usually in a wonderfully sweary way. Add in the lovingly crafted windows movie maker illustrations, stunningly simple in their execution and effectiveness, it makes for a piece of media we can be wholly grateful the internet has facilitated. For a change. Also its nice to see a Brit do well in the largely yankfested gaming/net/culture thing.

As a newly born blogger, I would be honoured to embed (is this correct intertube lingo?) one of Yahtzee's fine works. I urge you to go check the other vids, they is funny. I hope the guy doesn't feel too pressured to keep it up.

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