Is it quiet in here or what?

      Hey guys, mlp_midnaspet here,
I have been busy.... busy making SHIRTS(fanfare plays)
 http://www.redbubble.com/people/midnaspet
I make nerdy stuff and stupid stuff but really. I put a lot of work into these.
So yeah... se you in a month I guess.

The bane of the internet

     I feel as though I need to speak on this subject, it has haunted me for a while and I need to share my thoughts. What I need to speak of is the menace known as pewdiepie, a Swedish gamer that has gained the system and the control of 13 year olds everywhere.

     Pewdiepie is what is known as a "Lets Player", these "Lets Players" play whatever game happens to be horrendously popular at the time and play them and uploads the video and commentary to You Tube. This is all fine and good. I see it as an audio book type of situation. If you cant game, watch someone else do it. This is an interesting case. A good way to introduce this topic is to link a video that accurately displays how I feel.

    By the way, shout out to Retsupurae, best LP'ers on YouTube.

       I feel the same way as the people in the video, he is downright annoying. He is a shrieking fool and a toxic force on the internet. I feel the same way about minecraft but I should only offend one large group of people on the internet.

       The issue at this point is his popularity. This heathen has over 19 million subscribers. Let that sink in... NINETEEN MILLION AND GROWING. How many mentally inept people on the internet can there be. And please, don't take that statement lightly. I don't think anyone above the age of 12 should be so socially and mentally inept to even tolerate this... this thing.

       For about a month in middle school I liked watching this mess and I am not proud of it but what  I am proud of is. At that age I was old enough to realize how stupid this garbage is. Hell, even my 12 year old brother is above it. Yet there are people, real humans, in my high school that watch regularly and enjoy his "work".

      Beyond the issue with actual content I wish that the people that subscribe to him would spread the love. There are dozens of people on You Tube that put more work and deserve more attention than he does. Namely game theory other people like that.

     A community that is more obnoxious than he coupled with content that makes people want to plunge screwdrivers into their ears. ON TOP OF a broken system. He has become the richest, most over rated man on the internet. I wish worse on him than I do Peter Molyneux.

Indie Hour: 1...2...3... KICK IT!

     1...2...3...KICK IT! is a skydiving game, you dodge objects, hug walls, and grab collectibles on your way down for points. But what makes this cool is that it is made by music.

     Way back in 2009 Dejobaan games made AAAaaaAAA, a reckless disregard for gravity. A skydiving game. stunts and really good level design with a good challenge. When this was released another game was in development. They wanted to make a game with similar mechanics and gameplay but have music play a much bigger role. Then, 4 years later the game becomes available on steam for early access. I see it and start to drool, the game is amazing.

     It takes your mp3 of choice and after a minute or so of loading you are in the game, falling through obstacles  and having a great time "playing" your music. I love this game and even put it on my list of best games of 2013. 9/10, go buy this game if you like music.

Those small things

     I am an avid tech user and as such I like to make my experience as comfortable as possible. One thing that I have found essential to this is a good mouse. For years I used a Microsoft brand optical mouse and I loved it but the became to loose to use in games so I went on a search for the best budget mouse. I spent days on amazon and forums looking for the best. Eventually I found the Anker 2000 dpi Gaming mouse. This mouse is phenomenal, the rise on the palm rest was perfect, it had cool lights, and even had an option for on the fly sensitivity switching. The best thing was that it was only 25$. Unfortunately the wheel went out after a couple of months, I couldn't find anything on it so I assumed it was just my unit.

     Soon after I was on the hunt again. This time I found the Perixx 5000 dpi dual mode mouse, and to be honest I liked it. It was wireless to a degree but it also cost 55$. Not bad but it left something to be desired. The drivers were glitchy and ugly and often didn't take effect, not to mention the mouse is low to the desk, poor rise and was generally uncomfortable. I soon returned that for my current mouse.

     I recently used the return funds to purchase the Anker 8000 dpi laser gaming mouse and to be honest. I love it! The rise on the palm rest is perfect it has great color control, on the fly macro recording and playback(a macro is a string of keys, e.g. If I want to be able to press 5 keys on a keyboard with one press i can make a macro to activate all those keys.), 9 buttons and that on the fly sensitivity switch. It has served me well for a 40$ mouse. Well worth the value.

    What I am getting at here is that the right mouse can completely change how you use your computer, and it might take a couple of tries but when you find the "one", it will be well worth the wait.

Not my usual musings.

     When we stand up for the pledge of negligence or the national anthem we are stating our patriotic pride. Or is more happening? See, when someone sings at a sporting event or something like that we are expected to stand. But why? As Americans we have created this unspoken social law that states that we have to show ultimate pride for our country and if we don't then we are seen as anti American, your neighbor will look at you with a condescending look in his eye.

    

     This is propaganda being fueled by the community. Think about it, WW1 propaganda had many purposes but one major purpose was aimed at the people, the every day citizen. It aimed to create ultimate pride for their country, it was a subtle way to instill patriotism without seeming abrasive. Often it was combined with positive reinforcement, but today it is expected.

 

      I am not particularly proud of the things my country has done yet I stand. A lot of people feel the same way but yet they stand. I want to understand why this hasn't stopped. Don't get me wrong I love America, I have more freedom here than pretty much anywhere else, but what my country has done to get to where it is I do not like. I don't want to get political on this blog but I refuse to buy into this propaganda. I hope that I have enlightened you.

1000 posts, Yay.

     Me and the co-owner of this blog have been watching eagerly to see when we get 1000 page views. After 4 months and four days we are going strong. For this post I will talk about something that has stewed in my mind for a while, the Xbox one launch announcement.

   We all know about the Xbox one's "colossal failure" at its announcement. All the DRM policies and such were a massive turn off, but! but, but, but, but. Consoles (and anything really) always has a massive following And people WILL buy it. Now lets say that one one side we have the people who Had the 360 and will FOR SURE buy the one despite its flaws. Now on the other side we have people who have been looking into the one, they are people who are new to gaming or people who have owned other consoles that aren't Microsoft's. These people will likely(more will than not ) buy it. Now when the news of its flaws from its debut reaches these two group of people, The die hard's will argue and buy it no matter what. The Others will be turned off, some of them will buy it, but a large number of them will just say "no". Now, when Microsoft changed a lot of things, supposedly "taking into consideration what the fans think" All of the peoples views change and a third party emerges. Group 1 stays the same. Group 2 will have more people considering buying it and more who WILL buy it than ever before. And on to the third party, These are every day people, not really gamers or against it. Just normal people. These people see what kind of reforms that Microsoft is pushing and suddenly the One seems a lot more attractive. This may be a stretch but I don't think so, Microsoft has too much money and is too large to make a move like that and think it will work.

    Been working on that one for a while so, yeah. tl;dr

I AM FIRE: The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug

   The other night, I went to the midnight premier of what I believe was the most enjoyable movie screening I have ever been to. People were dressed up, everyone had a good time, and (of course) we all got to see the insanely amazing new movie "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug". Right off of the bat, I would like to point out I am a die-hard Tolkien-ite, so my review will be somewhat...biased. And as you might expect WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS. 

Movie Review #3: The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug

The Movie On Fire: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire

    Hello everybody, it's me again with another one of my quaint little movie reviews. This one will be on the (somehwat) newly relesed "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire". And as before WARNING: SPOILER TERRITORY AHEAD.

                                Movie Review #2: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Here it Comes: The New "Amazing Spider-man 2" Trailer

     First off, I would like to apologize for my lack of posts in the last week...month...2 months. I have been awfully busy with schoolwork and haven't had much time to post. But hey, I'm back!

     Anyway, as the title suggests, this article is about the brand new, explosive, downright freaking awesome new "The Amazing Spider-man 2" trailer, which was just released yesterday. After having watched it about 4 or 5 times, this has really solidified my opinion that this Andrew Garfield Spider-

man reboot is FAR superior to the original Toby Maguire trilogy. I mean, we haven't been forced to watch Garfield break down and sob like a moron yet, so that's good right? I'm sorry, I just think Maguire has a dumb face. And Emma Stone is infinitely better than the ever screaming Kirsten Dunst.

     Another thing I enjoy in the reboot that was fairly absent in the original trilogy, was the arrogant cockiness of Peter Parker/Spider-man. This is something I think Andrew Garfield pulls of very well, while it was mostly nonexistent in the original trilogy.

     Last but not least, my absoloute favorite thing about the trailer is the Easter eggs that hint at the coming of the "Sinister Six", a sort of anti-Spiderman Avengers, you might say. Anyway, here is the trailer and enjoy!The Amazing Spider-man 2 Trailer

Longevity of games and how platforms affect it.

       I am a heavy gamer and thus spend a lot of time online. Online multiplayer spans many types from competitive to cooperative and they both play differently to the longevity of the game. One game I would like to highlight is Halo. Not 4,3, reach, odst, or even 2. Just Halo CE, a game that launched on the xbox in 2001 and changed the gaming world forever. The game had an along side launch for the PC and even had exclusive maps. This makes the game nearly 13 years old now and you would think that that's it right? No. While the Xbox Live service for the xbox was shut down many moons ago people still play it online, lots of people. The last time I logged on to play an online match of halo ce there was more than 450 servers. 450! We have seen console games abandon and shooters thrown to the side for the sequel that comes out a year later later, but for a nearly 13 year old game to have more than 450 active servers? That should speak to the longevity of the games on pc. I have witnessed console gamers exclaim at how amazed they are that a game that is more than a year old still has an active community. that is nothing to sneeze at. I believe that the console, if it wishes to survive, needs to allow user created servers. It is what keeps a game alive once the publisher/developer forgets about it.

Customer service

I buy things online a lot. Almost always from Amazon, and let me tell you that they are good. I have always gotten quick responses and and great results. Example: I tried to buy some music using promo codes and while the codes seemed responsive they charged my credit card. The let me know that the codes where inactive when I asked and they refunded my card and gave me 5$ free for using on their mp3 platform. More companies need to learn that even after someone buys your product that you do your damnedest to make them want to keep using your services.

Another example would be the company Anker. They reply within 24 hours, they are willing to help, and they are nice. They know that if you are having issues that it is their job to help you out. I recently had an issue with one of the mice I bought from them and they where willing to refund and pay for the shipping.

These companies are to be trusted and have proved it time and time again.

Tech time: Next-Gen consoles.

The next gen consoles are launching this holiday season. First is the PS4 which launched on the 15th. And second is the Xbox One, launching on the 22nd. Both of these will be wildly successful but as different as they are that run on very similar hardware. Im going to talk about the hearts of these machines.

     AMD is a company that makes computer possessors, the control center of any device. They also make Graphics cards, they power all those textures and models in games. For simplicity sake I will refer to the GPU(graphics card) and CPU(Possessor).

     The two major companies that make CPU's are Intel and AMD. Traditionally Intel performs better but cost more and the opposite is true for AMD. I personally am a fan of AMD because they are a forward thinking company and Il tell you why. AMD makes this little thing called and APU(Advanced Processing Unit.) This physically looks like a standard CPU but it acts like a CPU and a GPU in one. It is a low power consumption alternative to owning the two apart. They are also dirt cheap.

     This is important because the Xbox One and the PS4 both use them. The top of the line APU available for consumers is a quad-core. Now with this in mind the next-gens run on a beefed up 8 core. This is kinda crazy and will offer a lot of possibilities for developers in the future. The graphics power behind it isnt amazing but it gets the job done well.

    If I had to put my money somewhere(excluding pc gaming) it would be in the Xbox One. In my experience the fanbase is more "loyal" and Sony is a bit unstable and it isnt known exactly what the future holds for them.

Indie hour

On this Indie hour we will look at Auditorium by Cipher Prime. Control light to make music, different colors make different loops and when they all combine you are left with a beautiful light show and a sweet tune. I, in retrospect, cant think of any point when the game got repetitive or boring. The game is 7$ right now on steam and is a nice break from from the wave of generic shooters. I highly recommend Cipher primes other works, they have lots more and you will be hearing about them here very soon.


Link dump:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/205870/

Hotline Miami

     A haze of colors and blood, swinging your bat and pumping your assailant full of lead. Pulsing music fills your ears, its a little distracting but it keeps you going. Your phone beckons but who waits on the other end is a mystery. Dead hookers a DeLorean, and animal masks, this is  Hotline Miami.

     Hotline Miami is a top-down "helicopter view, or imagine the camera is hovering directly above the character pointing down" there is death, the struggle of a man who is in too deep before it begins, and some kick ass music.

    The game takes place in the 80's and is so psychedelic and trippy at some points it is like playing a fever dream. The game is 10$ on steam and is worth every penny. My rule is that a game has to either give me equal or more hours of entertainment to how many dollars went into buying it OR has to be really good, enough so to make up for the short play-time. This game is a shining example of the second option.

    Essentially, BUY IT. it will run on any low end system and will give you one hell of a ride.

  Link dump:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/219150/ store page.

A little problem I have

I'm not sure if you can read the announcement on the Metro Last Light tile, if you cant open it in a new tab. My issue is what it says "Now available on Linux, Mac, and PC" now here's the thing. A pc isn't an operating system. Mac OSX+ and Linux are operating systems. A PC is capable of running Mac OSX+ or any Linux distribution(version) in fact all Linux distros (term specifically used for different versions of Linux) are designed for a PC. Aside for android but that's kinda different. When people refer to a PC as an operating system or they say "Mac vs PC" they have no idea what they are saying. its annoying and kinda movie studio lawyer in where you question their understanding of their designated medium.

        If anyone who has hands in this industry ever please this then please help people understand.

Tech war: Console vs PC

     The battle of console vs pc has existed for a long, long time. Each platform has their pro's and con's and today I will objectively look at each.



    First off I will talk console(Xbox 360 and PS4). The console is simple, it is a controller with a set number of functions and it requires no effort from the user. This makes it easy to just buy a Console and plug it in, easy low effort, low yield gaming. Price is also a big factor, 200-250$ for a full fledged gaming system. That is great, its an easy access platform that, even though im a pc gamer, i think every one should have as their first gaming experience.

   Now its PC's turn. The pc is a whole different ballgame, it requires a lot more work but it is higher yield. One of thee major things about pc is the controls. A mouse is very precise, more so than a joy stick at least and a keyboard has a lot more room for inputs and key-binds. Pc gaming is also, in the long run, cheaper. games are cheaper and upgrades aren't necessary very often. A pc also gives the user a learning experience and can help the user learn a lot about computers and could even help them get a job. Content creation is all on pc (mods, making games, etc). And a mid-ranged pc will out perform a console any day in terms of graphics, and game-play.

    The cons of a console include, the worst community ever, not to generalize but there is a lot of children and it gets old fast. I don't like getting death threats from 12 year old, it isn't fun. Graphics, im no graphics nut but they do enhance an already great game and console just cant deliver. Controls, games for console like first person shooters are designed for mouse input, the twitch ability just isn't there. Library, pc has a whole library of indie games and more titles are released every day, weather they be indie or big name. (Xbox only) Paid subscription, it sucks. Thats it.

    Cons of pc gaming include, Price. A "gaming pc" that is fully capable of any game at max settings could cost about 1500$. an pc that is about 2/3 of that ability is about 500-700. Thats about it, you get cheap games, indie bundles, an active and creative community and mods. Oh man mods.

    A "mod" is a customization of a game usually made by a group of community members and they truly enrich the game experience.


Ultimately it is your choice. Just make the right one.

Windows *7* 8

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while but here you go.

I am an avid user of windows 8 and with the release of 8.1 I am happy as ever but it could be better. I have been using windows 8 as an alternate windows 7(best this to his shelves since XP) besides, why wouldn't I. Windows 8 is faster and more secure, ultimately better. There is however a trade off, Metro. Metro is the "square OS" that windows has bundled with windows 8 and I don't like it, i just don't use it. It confuses me that so many people hate windows 8, it runs all the same programs as 7 and is faster. For those who just wanted a faster windows 7 out of 8 there is salvation, startisback. Startisback is a program that can completely eliminate all traces of windows 8 with no hassle (other than the price). It lets you disable hot corners (when you put your mouse in a corner an irritating stuff starts cluttering the screen.)

This is an image of my windows 8.1 desktop.

The price for 2 licenses is 3$ and for 5 it is 5$. cheap, worth it, get it. i would get five in case I to buy more computers in the future, or maybe a tablet. As a serious tech user I recommend.

Link Dump:

http://www.startisback.com

Things Go Wrong In SPAAAAAACE! Movie Review: Gravity

     This is my first attempt at a movie review, and as I do more and more I will (hopefully) get better and better at them. In other words, if it sucks: let me know what I can do to improve. Oh and I will warn you right now SPOILER ALERT.

    Movie Review #1: Gravity

Space Sandra Bullock and Space George Clooney...in SPAAAACE

      The other weekend I made a spur of the moment decision to go see the new movie "Gravity" starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. If it hadn't been one of those spur of the moment things, I probably wouldn't have gone to see it, as its really not my type of movie. But after I saw it, I was fairly glad that I did.

Plot: 4 out of 5.
     The plot of the movie was good, but not amazing. I was entertained, it kept me actually wondering what would happen next, etc etc etc. I really did like the aspect of the entire movie (minus one scene) in space. However, I did get a feel much like that of how I felt while I watched "Armageddon":  WHY IS EVERYTHING GOING WRONG? I mean, seriously, how many things went wrong for these astronauts?! Too many

Character Development: 3 out of 5.
     I felt the character development was lacking in the fact we only had 2 characters in the entire movie. Okay, yeah, there's one other guy who's there for like the first 10 minutes, but then he dies and we never hear any more about him. And I also felt like I didn't really click with the protagonist, Dr. Stone, but maybe that's just me. I did love Kowalski though, you can't NOT love him. Adds some much needed comedy and heart to the movie.

Graphics: 5 out of 5.
     I'm not going to lie, I hate Imax and 3-d movies. That being said, this is the kind of movie I wish I would have seen in  Imax and 3-d. Anyway, the graphics were stunning, the views gorgeous, and there were some very creative point of view shots. All in all, some of the best graphics I've seen in a realistic fiction movie. 

Acting: 4 out of 5.
     The acting was well done. Again, good but not amazing. I have no complaints, but nothing to rave about, with the exception of George Clooney. Absolutely did a perfect job in this. In fact, I liked his character more than the protagonist.

Overall: 80 out 0f 100

The Stanley Parable

Back in 2011 a mod for the game Half Life 2 was released known as The Stanley Parable. The experience lasts about 30 - 40 minutes but it is a solid 30 - 40 minutes. 6 Endings each with full dialogue and a new take on first person narrative at the end, it is diffidently worth your time.

             The game possesses great charm, while graphics and things of that nature may seem primitive the narration is the superb, it surpasses all games that i have played with flying colors. After playing i can still hear the narrators voice, it is hauntingly soothing. It also won Smartest mod of 2011.

            The reason I bring it up is because the developers(Galactic Cafe) have pulled together and have made a standalone game. This release will be different, deeper and with a lot more dialogue. If you are interested the demo is available on steam right now. Full release is in 1 day! now none of my friends are excited as me about this but they don't get to rain on my parade. Speculated price is below 20 but no price has been announced officially.

           The demo, contrary to other demos, isn't the first 10 minutes of the game, not just the tutorial but a full voiced fully mapped narrative experience that contains nothing from the full game, no spoilers here! In total the demo is about 20-35 minutes depending on how you play it and how many secrets you find.




Link Dump
Galactic Cafe Developers
The Stanley Parable mod for Half-Life 2 - Mod DB
My steam name: mlp_midnaspet


         

GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL

So this last weekend Pokemon X and Pokemon Y were released, this for me is a huge release. Not many people I know are into Pokemon and less have a 3DS but if you own one and have played any Pokemon game before, you owe it to yourself to buy it. The Story (no spoilers) is very light, its a return to older games, possibly to contrast the dark story of black, white, and its sequels. This game contains all generations and is based in a French type environment.

            I have been playing Pokemon since blue(im not actually old enough that was just my first) and have played my way through the years and haven't been this giddy to play a Pokemon game since blue.
A major complaint of mine and others with the last two games is that the Pokemon sucked, one was an ice cream cone, another was a garbage bag, it was bad. But in this game instead of adding 150 terrible Pokemon they added 70 good, original Pokemon. Quality over quantity.

           The Pokemon in this game, instead of being 2d sprites, are rendered in full 3d and man some of them were cute before but now I wanna hug 'em all. The art style is a cell shaded  style and it works, well. Also there is only so much graphically that the 3DS can do. Speaking of the system, the 3d can only be used in contextual areas, sad but its ok because no one uses the 3d. Also if you turn on the 3d during a battle the fps drops down to about 15-, not very cool.

           All in all I give it a solid 4.5 out of 5. Its awesome but a little bit of detail here and there could make this game shine a whole lot more.