I don't think we need to dwell on the football this weekend do we? I'm talking of the Leicester result of course. *sigh*

I spent a lot of this weekend finishing off Killer 7 so I thought I'd post a few comments as it's quite an important game IMHO. Gameplay wise I'm in two minds, part of me is impressed with the bold decisions they made by stripping the usual action adventure controls to a uniquely minimal set (you move by pressing one button to run - the only other control you have over the character is when you get to a junction and get to choose a direction to move), however I think the first person shooting bits could have been better. You are rooted to the spot when shooting, so the usual circle strafing associated with first person shooting games is thrown out of the window, in fact these bits play more like an old lightgun game - which begs the question why not throw in lightgun support?

As for design you can't help but admire it. From the strange graphics engine with it's unique cel-shading, the way enemies explode in a shower of blood droplets, the bold colours and minimal texturing to the manga sequence which intercut each level - you can see a lot of thought has been put into the visual presentation of the game. The soundtrack is just as well thought out, I'll write about that later though as I've ordered the CD soundtrack from Play-Asia, and I think it warrants consideration on it's own.

Then there is the story, intriguing and clever are two words that come to mind. On the surface it's a surreal tale about an assassin with 7 personalities (each of which can take on a physical form) hunting down a cult of terrorists called Heaven's Smile. But it's so much more than that, there is a whole subtle and clever critique of Japanese American relations since the end of World War II (made even more poignant with the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima) lurking in cut scenes , conversations and symbolism buried within the game. It's the sort of thing that I'm not capable of analysis by myself, luckily someone else already has over here - makes a very interesting read if you have completed the game.

Don't think I'll play a game like that for sometime - next one on the list: Nintendogs... It's a puppy simulator *gulp*

The picture of Kinga is troubling me a bit (a whole wine bottle?!), so here's a picture of the new Kid606 album which is less scary:

more details and an mp3 over here...

for his mum...

Kid606 - Resilience
Hurrah! A new Kid606 album, I've been hearing rumours of this album for quite some time, a Kid606 album with proper tunes? Surely not? Well, it's true! This album (dedicated to his Mum - all together now: ahhh!) is full of cute little tunes which sort of swing between selected ambient works era Aphex Twin and modern RnB. There's still plenty of 'Kid606'-ness in here, but it's much less abrasive than some of the things he's done, and it has strings! Strings I tell you! Never thought I'd here anything like that on one of his albums. Anyway, very nice CD - completely pain in the ass to get hold of so it will be criminally ignored as usual. *sigh*

MP3: Spanish Song

Well... it's a hobby I guess. What next? A spot of light fisting maybe?

Something different to the normal "I watched/played/read product x today, it's really good/shit, I think you should buy/avoid it"-post I think.

If you only know me from this site you may not know that I've got a maths degree - I don't mention it too much, what with the games, comic books and career in IT I'm geeky enough I think!

Not wanting to sound too big headed but when I was at school doing my GCSE's, and later on at college during my painfully metal phase when I was doing my A-Levels, I found Maths to be something I was pretty good at. I ended up with two Maths A-Levels at grade A, so naturally I chose a straight Maths degree at university - the trouble is degree level Mathematics is pretty dull: mainly learning very dry fundamental theorems that don't seem to have much practical application. It wasn't until my third year when things got interesting: fractal geometry, fluid dynamics, topology and (the fashionable at the time) chaos theory - all sorts of fun filled stuff which I had great fun teasing philosophy students with. Anyway, after three years I ended up with a fairly mediocre level degree (mainly down to learning how to drink very hard), but I still find I have the odd moment when I have an interest in the subject.

So where's this going? Well I have a couple of links for you. First one is the most unfortunately named mathematical theorem ever (fnar fnar), and the second is this flash game based on an idea by a maths graduate - it's driving me insane!

I got an album today by a band who look like this:

Now let's take a moment to examine the scene...

He appears to be playing a guitar with a broken hand whilst flicking his middle finger at the world in general and with what could quite possibly be a mains lead in his mouth. The band are called Wolf Eyes and they could very well be responsible for the noisiest CD I've bought this year.

For that feat alone they should be congratulated.

*edit* Plus that picture sums up my current attitude to Mondays, work, Microsoft Sharepoint, Sainsbury's Be Good To Yourself Cup-a-Soups, and anyone who dares invade my personal space very nicely indeed...

cry wolf...

Wolf Eyes - Burned Mind
I've been holding off buying this album for quite some time as frankly it scares me a bit: it's got a drawing of a crow pecking at a couple of decapitated heads on the front cover, and from what I gathered from various reviews it was meant to be pretty unlistenable. Well, I say unlistenable, but it still got very good reviews in things like The Wire and Pitchfork - so I thought its about time I gave it a go. Well, I quite like it! It's definitely not for a lot of people, but if you like the really (and I mean REALLY) noisy bits in some Sonic Youth songs, have a bit of a soft spot for Grindcore and can have a chuckle along to most of Kid 606's Down with the scene album then I think you'll like this too.

MP3: Village Oblivia