aniRAGE Year In Review: Zeke’s Top Movie of 2010

Zeke’s Top Movie of 2010

There were a lot of excellent movies that came out this year, and even some that are still slated for release. However by far there is one that stood out among all the others in my eyes. It may not have the best of any one thing, and may not be up for a million awards when all is said and done…but this is the only movie I have willingly paid money to see multiple times.

That movie is Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

By no means is it the perfect movie. Say what you want about certain casting choices, it’s editing, it’s sound track…really anything you want. But at the end of the day, this movie gave me the most entertainment a movie has given me in a very long time.
This is also the first movie I have ever watched and gone to immediately find not only the soundtrack, but also the musical score. That was a big a part of the movie as anything else.
The movie has quite a following behind it, and often times I wonder if I’m merely falling for the hype, and loving it for things that don’t even exist. However, whenever this happens, I merely pop the bluray into my PS3 and take it for another spin, and I remind myself all over again why I love it.
If you haven’t seen the movie, I implore you to go see it. Will it be the best movie you have ever seen? Will it change your life? Will it cure cancer and solve world hunger and bring world peace? Nope, but it will entertain the hell out of you.

-Zeke

aniRAGE Year In Review – Zeke’s Games of the Year

Zeke’s Games of the Year:

As part of the aniRAGE Year In Review, this will list my picks for Games of the Year. I have seperated them into 5 categories:

  • Major Releases, or games that came out this year that were sold at full retail price, and were full fledged games.
  • Downloadable Games, games that you downloaded off of X Box Live or Playstation Network, typically at a low price. In this category I also disqualified re-release games, and concentrated on purely original games.
  • Free Games, usually in the form of flash-games in a web browser.
  • Mobile Games, games found (typically) exclusively on phones and other mobile devices.
  • Downloadable Content, add-ons purchased to the game to expand it’s playability and unlock new features.

Major Releases: Red Dead Redemption.

This game came out with a LOT of fanfare, and a ton of hype. It was by a well-known and respected studio. It promised a lot, and in my opinion delivered on it to a T. Some people aren’t huge fans of open-world games like this, but even those that I talked to that played it found it very fun and entertaining. It’s musical score, it’s dialogue and characters, it’s story, and it’s game play were all superb. There were very few games that were released this year that met, and exceeded, the hype to their release. In that category, Red Dead Redemption shines.

Downloadable Games: Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game.

I don’t think I have had that much fun with a 10 dollar game in a long, long time. Usually I’ll grab one of these off the PSN, play through it once, and then forget about it. But I played through this game so many times, and dragged so many people in on it with me. It has a high replay value, and it’s multiplayer is great. The only gripe about the game is it’s lack of online multiplayer, but in the end, it’s much more fun to play in-person anyway.

Free Games: Robot Unicorn Attack.

How do you take Unicorns, Rainbows, Fairies, and the British band “Erause” and make it cool? Throw in robots, of course. This game is so simple, and so utterly outlandish that it’s addicting. It’s one of the few games that I’ll actually keep the sound on for, because strangely the song fits the game so well. In fact, when I play muted I find that my scores go down drastically. If you haven’t played this game yet, you’ve done yourself a massive disservice. Go do it. Now. It’s free.

Mobile Games: Angry Birds.

This one is almost a no-brainer. You have birds, who are angered, and pigs, who steal their eggs. And thus the birds fling themselves at high speeds towards the pigs. HOLY CRAP is it addicting. The fact that you have different stars that you can achieve, which ups it’s replay value, and the creators are constantly pushing out new levels and content, it’s just amazing. The game is available on just about any mobile device you pick up (if it runs Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android platform). If you haven’t had a chance to play this game, well hold on tight, because PC and Console versions are in the works.

Downloadable Content: Borderlands – The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.

There have been many games that are rooted in comedy, but rarely in these the storylines are hackneyed and secondary. Few games series come to mind that make it’s humor a central aspect of the story, while still keeping it fresh and compelling. Sam and Max comes to mind. This game took the core of the Borderlands games, which is to run around and blow the crap out of ANYTHING that isn’t you, and kicked it up a notch. New guns (I guess eleventy billion wasn’t enough), new missions, new characters, and a big boost on the level cap made this add on a must-have for all players of the game. I haven’t had a chance to full take in the newest DLC, but honestly Borderlands has had the best DLC content of any game I have played. And this one just took it to a new level of awesome. If you have Borderlands, make sure to get this game. And if you don’t have Borderlands, go out and get it. And then get this DLC. You won’t regret it.

And there you have it! The best games of the year…at least in my humble opinion. I’m sure you have conflicting decisions, so post them in the comments section! And stay tuned, because the aniRAGE Year In Review is still going on!

-Zeke

Miroku’s Picture update

Alright! I finished all the edits and decided to get to hosting them when I ran into another problem… Seems that all the pictures were taken in HD mod which makes them Gi-Normous O_O! So,… I am now shrinking them to managable sizes. As soon as I get done, I will be hosting these pictures. So, stay tuned! I’m almost there!

~Miroku

Kirby’s Corner – Games to get addicted to! – Minecraft

As I stroll through the internet, you get bored, and decide to stroll through the interwebs for something entertaining and to be very honest, addicting.  Something to take your mind off of the daily stresses of life, and suck you into another world altogether.  Well these are some of the many examples of  “Games to get addicted to!”

Our first game actually was introduced to me thanks to Camera Guy (and yes, he tries to follow me with the camera all the time…).   It’s an independent project from Mojang Specifications, and is not so much a game with a goal as it’s really supposed to be one of exploration and survival.  Minecraft is relatively simple choice for a game.  From the name itself, you can deduce that it’s about mining and crafting things.  Sure enough, that’s the game in a nutshell.  But what it offers is to be beheld in it’s true glory.  Minecraft is ADDICTING!  So addicting, in fact, that it’s actually taken away from my World of Warcraft time for the last month and a half!

What’s so addicting about it, you might ask?  Well for starters, you mine stone and minerals from the world that’s generated when you first start the game.  You take materials that you mine, chop, dig, or hunt for using only your wits, your searching skills, and a LOT of the time, just plain luck!  And you also have to deal with the natural rotation of your world (in other words, night and day!).

But it’s not truly fun and exciting if there’s no danger, right?  That’s why the game features dangers that can lurk around every hill or cavern you find!  From lava and water dangers, to dangerous creatures such as spiders and zombies!  Yes that’s right, zombies.  Oh, and exploding cactus thingies, too…   But c’mon, what if you don’t want to deal with spiders and zombies?  Maybe you just want to casually mine without all the dangers?  Well that’s fine, since the game’s difficulty can be changed from peaceful (no creatures) to hard, so you can choose what kind of game you want on a whim!

But what about the crafting part of Minecraft?  It’s quite robust, actually, and the game allow you to create all sorts of objects, like mine carts, ladders, body armor, even a shiny gold watch!  The possibiliites are quite vast, and what you can do with them is totally dependent on what your imagination can do with it!  You can even start forest fires… (Note: aniRAGE accepts NO responsibility for your pyromaniacal tendencies.)

So what do the graphics look like, you may ask?  Well the game’s graphics have an awesome 8-bit feel to them, as all the items are arranged in blocks, and it makes for simplistic, yet satisfyingly fun gameplay so there’s no issue of perfect placement to worry about.  Just set it and the game helps you out in the process.  The game is also very friendly with mods, as the game allows texture  and graphics addons, allowing for more detailed textures, including HD textures as well.  Even the game is still in the alpha testing phase, the game is fully operational.  You can even edit the look of your character as well!

So you’ve read this thinking “hmm, where do I get this?  How can I get my awesome hands on this game?  Well simply goto the Minecraft website and play it online or from your desktop (it runs on Java Platform, so no install needed.).  Now there’s a free “creative” version to try out some of the features, but it doesn’t come close to the full version which you would have to pay for (and it’s only 9 Euros too), but it does give you access to all future versions of the game for no extra charge.  So all in all, the value if you pay for it during the alpha is HUGE!

And as for those addons and other information?  Well there’s a wide variety of community website dedicated to the game, the best of which is the Minepedia, which has recipes, textures and more!

So go!  Get the game, join me, Camera Guy, and now our most recent victim of the addiction, Sibby!

Until next time!

Kirby

Running late…

Sorry about not having posted those pics yet, folks! I’ve just about gotten them all ready to host, but work and personal obligations have had me a little preoccupied recently, Note, though, that I WILL have those pics hjosted here very shortly… Till then, just sit back… Watch a few vids or chat it up on the forums! And, know that I’ll have them up soon!

~Miroku

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.1

Just got back from the $5 matinee where I, my fiancee, and family went to see the latest adventure of everyones favorite wizard. Now, note, I have NEVER read any of the Harry potter books and know (just from sheer astetics) that the books were/are MUCH better. However, that being said, I think that the latest (and second to last release for the franchise) was, actually, a very well placed together movie which draws alot off of it’s predecessor… More so then any of the other movies till now.

I don’t want to give away to much, but the tone of this movie has been the darkest of any of the previous movies and with great reason. The film pervays a great deal of darkness and the dreary about the characters as they seek out the 5 remaining Horcrux’s (black magic items in which Voldemort has sealed away portions of his own wicked soul so as to be able to resurrect himself if anyone should manage to slay him) and destroy them. There is a feeling of woe and despair one feels as you watch the events of the movie unfold and watch as several characters from Harry’s past meet their untimely ends. However, for all of the despair and anguish, there are places of hope and some very clever humor placed to take the edge off of the knife that is the story. It defienately kept me glued to my seat for the entirety of the film and I was truely intrigued… From the time that the Warner-brother’s logo appeared (which was pretty awesome) to the infiltration of Voldemort’s “Wizarding world Gestapo” to the story of the “Deathly Hallows” (truely epic, indeed!) and to it’s climactic “end”. HP&TDH Pt.1, was VERY MUCH a great movie and if you’re a big fan of the Potter series, I dare say that you should enjoy this VERY MUCH! I personally can’t wait to see the end, this summer.

Well, till next time… Enjoy!

~Miroku