The Gods Will Be Watching — Critical Review

You Survived X Number Of Days

The Gods Will Be Watching is a survival game.

Found on your local web-browser, over at this Deconstructeam.

It also has versions you can play in Spanish, French, Russian, and Italian.

This game provides the a lot of immersive aspects to the survival genre. You are the Sargent who is in control of a group of people stranded on a planet.
You need to get out by the 40th day or 40th turn.

Each person with you has a certain ability. Making medicine, repairing the radio, and so on. Aside from the 4 other humans with you, there is a android and a dog.

The android can repair similar to the doctor and the engineer. The dog can hunt similar to the soldier but without an ammo cost and less of a likenesses to be successful.

That might but a bit much to take in all at once but that part of the fun. Learning how each part of the team contributes to the overall progress of the game takes time.

There are several characters. There is you the Sergeant, the android BR4Nd-ON, the Engineer, the Doctor, the Psychiatrist, the Soldier, and the faithful dog Marvin.

There are 3 basic mechanics:

1. Talk
2. The characters special ability
3. Kill

The Doctor is the only character who has 4 options. Meaning he can make medicine as his ability but also can do some work on the radio like the Engineer (just not as well).

You have 5 action points at the beginning. You have an action point for every other human still on your team. This seems like enough at the beginning but people start to lose sanity over time. Eventually some of these team mates run away because they become mad.

A lot of the circumstances that randomly occur through out the game can drastically change the pace. A few play-throughs have given me instances where I had all 5 team mates healthy and sane, but then, suddenly animals came over night and took our food wasted our bullets and everyone got scared. Suffice it to say not many people stayed by my side for the next day. But Marvin is always by your side.

The android BR4ND-ON can provide you with an action that doesn't actually cost an action point. He can
provide information about what's going on. It's a useful tool for understanding how sane each person is on a numerical scale. The closer each person is to zero the more likely they are to go mad an run away. Also he tells you the progress of the radio repair.

What's the radio for? Well the radio needs to be repaired by the 40th day or you loose. It's the only way to contact the rescue party that you need to be saved. The Engineer is the best at fixing the radio.

The game causes you to worry about the radio while also making you try and survive 40 days with this unstable group of survivors.

You require to keep your food rations up, the sanity of each character up, your ammunition supplies full, and your medicine needs to always have to have some vaccines. The food is need to keep your from starving. Animals come to steal things randomly between turns and ammo is needed to fight them off but it can also be used to give you the best chance of getting food using the soldier (90% success rate as opposed to Marvin who has 60% for no bullets).

This place has a virus you need to be wary of. It's a virus which freezes a character. I won't spoil the name of the virus but the fact that it stops your character from moving is a hint.

Prepare to die a lot.

The game is extremely difficult. Always giving you random challenges. After a few rounds of nothing happening, I caught myself getting comfortable and taking less risks w getting food and just focused on the radio to get saved. Then. All of a sudden. A round finished and in the transition while the screen was black some white texted appeared. Letting me know that all my food is gone. I then see all my parties members. Almost all of them look like they're about to lose their mind.

The game can be stressful but that "on edge" excitement kept me wanting to go back and try it again. It's simple and it usually doesn't take long (because death is quite frequent).





The art style sort of reminds me of Swords and Sworcery.

With straight forward mechanics and a clear goal the player is tasked with surviving for forty days. The games difficulty keeps you dying and coming back to try again. Knowing how to play but not exactly how to win.

Oh and by the way; never leave the fireplace unlit!

Have fun!

The Unrelated Podcast Pilot Episode

Come check out me and a couple friends discuss news in the gaming industry.

We also discuss general topics regarding games that spark out interest.

I'll get better w all the programs I've just started to learn. That means better production. Looking to have high res soon so that the artwork used can be appreciated better.

This editing skill will go into other video ideas I have in mind. :)

Anyway, here you go!

Hey All You Rudies, Jet Set Radio Is On The Air!

From the wonderful memories of Jet Set Radio! We have been given something to immerse oursleves back into the world of JSR.

jetsetrad.io

Listening to the radio and hearing DJ Professor K calling out to you and all other Rudies in town was always I reason to rejoice. Were I live I can't say any sort of pirate radio station exists (unless you count the one that was removed 4 years ago). From the legitimate stations we have I can't say there are any that meet the style of JSR. Not even close.

Knowing this was an issue, someone who is going by the nostalgic name of DJ Professor K has answered this call. Taking in submissions and uploading new tracks every couple days (if not daily at times). Our old friend DJ has risen once more! JSR exists on the web. If you've got data there is even a radio option where you can listen to music on the go.

Not only does JSR feature the music you remember from the games but also music found over time that matches the style of the nutritious pirate radio station. Keeping it alive and fresh.

The website features a few different options. The front page displays a nice background with a list of new tracks that have been uploaded. This is the Blog portion of the webpage. One the side there is a list of months and their corresponding years. They are archives of past uploads. Here is where all the new submissions are displayed. If you click on one there is a comment section.

The first archive is in March of 2013 (would have been a cool birthday present to have found it back then). This has one entry recorded and that's the long lasting playlist that acts as the radio (continuous play of music). This can be accessed at all times at the top by the second page option after Blog, under Radio.

The About page is essentially a summarized version of this post explaining how Jet Set Radio is designed to bring the music people loved from the game back in a way that can branch out from the game. Feel free to email the the Professor if you've got questions there.

Then finally to let you get involved the Professor has added a Submit page. This is where you can provide your choice of music that you feel suit the dope style all Rudies dig.

Enjoy!

Please Insert HDD Here

Razer is known for making really weird and wacky inventions. They designed a laptop (the Switchblade) with mini screens for keys, and a small screen where the numpad would be.

They made a mouse with a dozen or so buttons on the side (the Naga).

Oh, and let's not forget the Edge. It essentially looked like a tablet with two Playstation Moves attached.

Now even though some of these look strange the odd designs all do help out with feeding the strange needs some people have. Certain MMO players like the Naga mouse because of all of it's buttons but from what I know the majority don't since they use only three commands in the game.

The latest idea to come from the crazy designers at Razer is the K'NEX version of a tree. With a bunch of removable bays it seems almost like a tiny shelving unit. Dodger from Polaris had said it looks like a modern artists rendition of a tree.

Now the concept is interesting. Though that curiosity is heightened when trying to figure out how the machine actually works. Knowing Razer they won't be using cheap parts because unless it can run as fast as possible then "why run at all?" I'm sure something along those lines is chanted at each meeting. Go big or go home is clearly something Razer has made clear with their intense gaming systems like the Switchblade.

The Switchblade is a thin but very powerful machine with a lot of very unique features for a laptop. I can only imagine that the Christine will be the same. Yes indeed. Their new customization desktop is called the Christine...I have no idea why.

The Christine has a bunch of removable bays that seem to be for a more plug-and-play desktop. This is a great idea for those who have some extra cash (since Razer don't come cheap). In seriousness the machine would satisfy a big concern a lot of people have which is that messing around with the inside of a computer is intimidating and a lot of people are not very comfortable unplugging parts and moving wires around.

Making a computer from scratch can be very confusing for people especially when they don't know what Ghz, watts, volts, and GB mean. This might just make their lives easier by making a much more user friendly way of working with a PC. The machine seems to let you just insert a black bay for whatever part you want. Hopefully these parts of clear labelling otherwise I could imagine getting very confused which black box you want to remove.

Knowing Razer it's probably going to be full of lots of good part by default. This as stated before will appeal to those who want to have a good machine and upgrade it without the hassle or confusion that comes with building a normal PC.

The motherboard is certainly an interesting idea to bring up when looking at this narrow computer. There are of course Micro-ATX motherboards (the smallest you could buy) but even they aren't long and narrow enough to fit into the Christine. Since the whole thing is water cooled one has to wonder the vents are for that heat to escape and where that motherboard is. The best guess I can give is that, the cooling unit is at the botton and pipes go to each individual socket from there. The motherboard has to be some custom piece of tech to work with this thing. If it in itself isn't made up by the black bays you plug in.

Even though it would be easy to use if you want to upgrade or replace a part you would have to go to Razer for a new bay since each part is designed by them to fit in. This monopoly would give them the access to high prices on the parts. Meaning the tower itself is probably not too expensive and a good way to lure people in to getting all the parts.

This would mean a very in demand market all being served by Razer. If the concept pulls through and the pricing is right they might open up a serge of new PC designs from different companies as Christine gains traction.

Social Music With Cats!

I've made a video game music playlist! Well, I had some help...

Come check out if there are some nostalgic tracks you've longed for or perhaps new treasures you never knew existed. Where you ask?

Wave.cat is a website for sharing music.

Make a playlist that looks great with social networking at it's core!

The website has a social media user system. This means you can log in from Facebook, Twitter, and even SoundCloud.

The website does not have an FAQ (yet) but they do respond quick to any questions on their Facebook page. Now when it comes to actually making your playlist there are a few things you need to know.

1. You will first need to make a channel. This is a sub-division of the website. This might just be your main channel or about a certain topic. Me and my friend found the website together so we decided to work on a channel for video game music (then anime music). Though it only has one playlist we can organize more based on games, remixes, or even more if we are stricken with the will to organize. 
2. Now with a channel name you'll need a description. Just say hello or give a message if you want to say something specific about you or the channel.
3. Then of course once you have you're channel you'll want to have a playlist (you can make a bunch). On the side when you make a new channel there will be an option to make a new playlist or you can just edit the default one given to you.
4. Editing a playlist has a couple of meanings. On your channels you'll see a pencil icon near the top of the page. This is a button to allow you to edit the background, name of the playlist, the avatar for the channel, the name of the channel, and the description. There are some more features like private and public playlists but you'll learn the details in time.
5. Songs are integral to the playlist. The website allows you to look something up in the search bar and it tries to find YouTube or SoundCloud posts that match the song you're looking for. Aside from that you can just paste a link into the second bar. They are instantly added to the playlist. You can also add entire playlists from YouTube or SoundCloud if you have the link.
6. You can edit the song titles when they come in.
   
   Since you're adding something from online, there are often added details in the titles (XxSuper [HD] Dance Music!xX) you don't need. Just hit the pencil icon that appears when you hover over a song.
   
   
   
   
7. Songs can also be deleted by hitting the trash can. 
8. Then there is the option of viewing the material on it's source page by clicking the YouTube or SoundCloud logo on the song . Also you can use the share icon for socializing. 

The coding on the website is quite clever too. If you try pasting a link to a song but get the URL wrong it will tell you,

"that link sucks... try again."

Not only that, after a while at the top right corner you get little messages about your activity such as,

"thanks for chillaxing 179 minutes with us."

The website has had some bugs, like not being able to edit the latest addition to the list or not being able to edit any song other than the latest track (what irony). 

Now these are excusable. From what I gather it's a very small team working on wave.cat and it's a small website too. There are a lot of visitors but when I signed up my user ID was less than 500. It's still growing and more and more improvements keep coming. For instance the way trending playlists are displayed on the front page:

The user base is very friendly. The admin, Pedro has helped me out quite a bit. Once I even deleted our entire channel. He read my Facebook post on their page and he fixed it all within a matter of seconds. 

There is yet no way to favourite playlists or search through the database other than to go on the homepage and explore what is being exhibited one by one, then bookmark what you want. 

The layout is nice and is easy to use if you've found a playlist to listen to.

If you're interested, check out our favourite music from our
video game playlist or our anime playlist.

Deus Ex, Music Enhancement

There is a lot of great music in games just like television and movies. The music industry has many ties within video games because a great game usually is accompanied by a great soundtrack.

I often ask people for suggestions of soundtracks to listen to and if they can't think of the music right away I revert to the question, "well what's your favourite game in that case?" Usually that has a pretty great score.

It's hard to enjoy a game with terrible music.

Here is an example of a master. Michael McCann is an extraordinary composer who takes vocals and harmonizes them with electronics and orchestral pieces in an almost mesmerizing way.

This is the soundtrack to the prequel to Deus Ex,

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

This music does accompany a great game. With terrific story and gameplay mechanics that constantly change in a way which makes you feel more adept to the world around you. 

There are a lot of things I would like to say about Human Revolution aside from it's terrific music but I will wait until the review (when I've actually beaten it). I highly recommend it.

Now aside from this newer title, the original game is also marvellous in it's soundtrack. The mechanics are even better in that game; allowing you to have more freedom and more exploring. It's a game that offers multiple options when playing any mission.

Deus Ex (the original) is available on GOG if you were interested (it's best place to get classic games).

But this game has quite the reputation. It's been around for long enough to have several mods release for it that are worth checking out and along with that remixes.

Some not so serious:

The fact the song has a rhythm that matches the rap is a amusing coincidence. Aside from that there are a lot of really professional remixes of the music instrumental track along with covers. OCRemix are best known for their work on making diverse derivatives of video game tracks and posting them all for free on their website.

Recently OCRemix released an album (composed by several artists) of various Deus Ex songs (from the different games) called, Sonic Augmentation. Here's a sample:

There is a wide assortment of funny, skilful, and classic songs that have emerged from this series of games. More than likely more remixes will be coming out so keep an eye out for the latest releases on OCRemix.

Credit for music content goes to

1. OCRemix's Vig
2. Triple-Q
3. Michael McCann
4. Alexander Brandon
5. Dan Gardopée
6. Michiel van den Bos
7. Reeves Gabrels

Piano Black Consoles

Usually a bad idea. Of course the aesthetic is what I mean.

The outside of a console seems like kinda of an unimportant detail but once you have it for a while it starts to clearly express the issue with the glossy finish.

What I mean is with the PSP, PS3, and PS4 they all originally had the same issues. A piano black finish (or partial finish) which looks nice but is made of some pretty cheap stuff compared to a grand piano. Leaving finger prints and scratches much easier than a matte finish like the PS2.

During the Christmas season I wanted to get myself something nice aside form all the socks I got from my dear Mama.

I've been on the hunt!

Specifically for a PSP. Everyone can tell me how much I should get a 3DS but I've never been interested in first party Nintendo games and I'm also a cheap student with a frugal attitude. I've held off on a PSP for this long and only a year ago did I start to get into the DS.


Consoles over time get cheaper and at the same time games do too. The best part is with this fact they also get more expansive game collections. This allows for a much easier time when shopping for games (regarding wallet and time spent).

In all it makes sense to get a console with a matte finish (which are usually also textured) and have a longer shelf life in the appearance you expect of them.

 This is similar to the one I got but it's not limited edition and doesn't have

the stylish vinyl. Image source: Kotaku  

 

Aside from that there is also the metal finish. Often a mixture of metals with aluminium (since pure aluminium is way to difficult to get and use). I was lucky enough to get the PSP like this which allows for no finger prints and just a bit of extra protection on a hand-held console as opposed to cheap plastic. The reflection of light on this machine will probably block out any scratches that end up appearing.

Happy hunting.