Thursday, February 24, 2011
Sleeping is Hard
Even when trying to go to bed early. I hear that if you can't fall asleep within twenty minutes, you're doing yourself more harm than good by continuing to try and fall asleep. Instead you're supposed to go do something else to pass the time some and then try again. I decided to play some DJ Hero. Perhaps I'll try again at this sleep thing.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Fight Study: Plum - the Muay Thai Clinch
Man, brutal class today. Coach sure has a tendency to crack you when fixing your mistakes. Haha, alright onto the analysis.
Combination 1: Plum clinch, twist off guard, curve knee, curve knee, straight knee, straight knee, transition out, cross, hook, cross, left or right round kick
*On the knees, I need to keep my hips in. What I've been doing previously where I throw my hips back is way too drastic and telling. Only bring my hip back enough to create the distance to throw the knee. Emphasize keeping your posture and keeping your hips in.
*Twisting an opponent off balance doesn't need to be drastic either. Make it a small movement but keep my posture and lower body in position. I can't be off balance when I'm throwing him off balance otherwise it negates the purpose of the move.
*When transitioning out of the clinch, the outside arm goes over the opponent's head (but always touches, never detach), positions on the well of the neck, straighten the arm and have the other hand up in a guarding position. Also when you step out around the corner, square back up into your kicking stance.
Things I need to work on:
High guard: Need to keep my hands higher. I like keeping them lower just because I can slip a lot easier but I'll need to find a balance.
Posture: Especially in the clinch and against taller opponents. I try to drag their heads down to get leverage on them usually but this opens up space for them to throw counter knees.
My Thai clinch needs a lot of work.
Combination 1: Plum clinch, twist off guard, curve knee, curve knee, straight knee, straight knee, transition out, cross, hook, cross, left or right round kick
*On the knees, I need to keep my hips in. What I've been doing previously where I throw my hips back is way too drastic and telling. Only bring my hip back enough to create the distance to throw the knee. Emphasize keeping your posture and keeping your hips in.
*Twisting an opponent off balance doesn't need to be drastic either. Make it a small movement but keep my posture and lower body in position. I can't be off balance when I'm throwing him off balance otherwise it negates the purpose of the move.
*When transitioning out of the clinch, the outside arm goes over the opponent's head (but always touches, never detach), positions on the well of the neck, straighten the arm and have the other hand up in a guarding position. Also when you step out around the corner, square back up into your kicking stance.
Things I need to work on:
High guard: Need to keep my hands higher. I like keeping them lower just because I can slip a lot easier but I'll need to find a balance.
Posture: Especially in the clinch and against taller opponents. I try to drag their heads down to get leverage on them usually but this opens up space for them to throw counter knees.
My Thai clinch needs a lot of work.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Fight Study: Footwork and Boxing Combinations
Working with a strictly boxing coach is really helping my footwork a lot. Some simple but fundamental footwork and boxing combinations we worked on tonight.
Combination 1: Jab, slip step left, jab jab
Combination 2: Jab, cross, slip step right, cross
Combination 3: Jab, slip step left, jab, jab, slip step right, cross
Combination 4: Jab, cross, block body right, rear uppercut, pivot lead hook, cross, jab jab
Things to work on:
Guarded jab: When throwing the jab, I need to tuck the chin and raise my left shoulder up to guard my chin just in case of a counter.
Combination 1: Jab, slip step left, jab jab
Combination 2: Jab, cross, slip step right, cross
Combination 3: Jab, slip step left, jab, jab, slip step right, cross
Combination 4: Jab, cross, block body right, rear uppercut, pivot lead hook, cross, jab jab
Things to work on:
Guarded jab: When throwing the jab, I need to tuck the chin and raise my left shoulder up to guard my chin just in case of a counter.
Video game rock and roll is dead. Long live video game rock and roll!
Activision just announced that they have axed several video game franchises. They will no longer make Guitar Hero and DJ Hero games (as well as the video game True Crime Hong Kong). Now it's possible that the games might be revived later on in the future but for the time being, these games have been given the axe by Activision due to lack of profitability.
Factors leading to their demise
Expensive Peripherals: Peripheral based gaming has always been a niche market. The casual gamer is generally not willing to shell out an extra 40 to a 100 dollars more for a controller that they can only use for one game. As I look around my room at all the video game peripherals I've acquired over the years, a cobalt flux metal DDR pad, a Hori joystick for fighting games, a dj hero turn table, and rockband instruments (including the keyboard), I realize that I am not the casual gamer. I also love music games, been playing them since DDR back when I was in highschool. Unfortunately, what drives major sales (the sales Activision is looking for, because both DJ Hero and Guitar Hero were still making profit, just not as much profit when music games first got hot) is the ability to entice casual gamers to buy.
Over saturation of the market: While Rockband and Guitar Hero are competing games targeting the same audience of consumers, Activision deserves a lot of the blame of oversaturating the market with copious amounts of Guitar Hero games. It's the simple law of diminishing returns, consumers are going to find the games less entertaining when they're being inundated with sequels. Since Activision took over the GH series with 3, they have released: World Tour, Smash Hits, 5, Warriors of Rock, Aerosmith, Metallica, Van Halen, Band Hero, On Tour, On Tour Decades, and On Tour Modern Hits. Where Harmonix went right and where Activision went wrong, was to make Rockband a platform rather than just a video game with new tracks on it. The majority of Rockband's music from previous games can be converted to the most current game, as well as thousands of downloadable music that can be purchased for the game without having to purchase another standalone video game disc. This also means that income isn't a guarantee, since gamers can pick and choose what music they want to purchase, instead of paying a lump sum for another 60 songs or what not. While GH has similar functions, they aren't nearly as extensive as Rockband's. Activision sought the quick and guaranteed buck with the route they took and it has come back to bite them in the end.
Lame marketing campaigns: Parodying Risky Business was kind of funny at first...then it became redundant. More importantly, it relied on star power without showing off what makes GH and Rockband fun, essentially a karaoke party with your friends. DJ Hero 2's ad attempted to do this but they went overboard and made it seem like the game was too much of a party that it was laughable. The majority of the ad is dedicated to people dancing and making out. DJ Hero's a fun game but it isn't that fun.
Unfortunate bystanders
While I haven't enjoyed a GH since 3 and have always held by the conviction that Rockband is the better game with better music, the death of GH is still a blow to music video games in general, that includes Rockband. Hopefully GH fans will convert to Rockband and boost Rockband's sales (as the game deserves) but more likely than not, those GH gamers are either over music games or feel burned by Activision's decision to stop supporting the series. Think about it, you've been spending lots of money on plastic instruments for a game as well as downloaded music, only to hear that they've been rendered useless? The initial reaction isn't going to be to go spend more money on more instruments for another game (Yes, I am aware that Rockband supports a lot of GH's controllers, however does the casual gamer know that?).
What is also unfortunate is that DJ Hero and True Crime have gotten the axe as well. While I never played True Crime, the trailer for it's most recent game looked incredible. As a big fan of hong kong crime cinema, a video game that lets you experience that world really intrigued me. DJ Hero is the most disheartening of the news for me however. Say what you will about the lack of quality in the GH games but DJ Hero is amazing. The turntable peripheral is sturdy and solid. The gameplay really feels like you're affecting the music, unlike Bemani's own turntable game Beatmania, where the focus is more on pressing buttons instead of mixing music and scratching like in DJ Hero. Also the music is phenomenal, featuring hip hop and dance grooves in unique mash ups.
My memories of GH
To be honest, most of my fondest memories of GH came during the first two games, when Harmonix (the makers of Rockband) still had control of the series. I remember when my friend David lent the first game to me and I drove my roommate Corey nuts because I must have played the game religiously for that first few weeks that I had it. I played so much I was beating Expert songs by the 3rd day of playing. I remember trying to find a copy of GH2 before it's release date, almost succeeding at a best buy until the guy at the counter told me I wasn't able to purchase it before its street date. I remember playing GH2 so much that I 5 starred all the main songs (not the bonus extra songs) on expert. I had a sticker decal made just for my GH controller. When Activision took over the series with GH3, I admit I played it a lot but it wasn't nearly as fun as 2. The gameplay wasn't as tight and the new graphic direction was ugly. Boss battles were annoying rather than fun. The only reason I kept playing was the music and who can forget Dragonforce's Through the Fire and the Flames? Which I beat on expert by the way. Then Harmonix released Rockband and that was the end of GH for me. Despite not having played it in years and having long since moved onto Rockband, I still think fondly on the original games. Video game rock and roll is dead. Long live video game rock and roll.
Factors leading to their demise
Expensive Peripherals: Peripheral based gaming has always been a niche market. The casual gamer is generally not willing to shell out an extra 40 to a 100 dollars more for a controller that they can only use for one game. As I look around my room at all the video game peripherals I've acquired over the years, a cobalt flux metal DDR pad, a Hori joystick for fighting games, a dj hero turn table, and rockband instruments (including the keyboard), I realize that I am not the casual gamer. I also love music games, been playing them since DDR back when I was in highschool. Unfortunately, what drives major sales (the sales Activision is looking for, because both DJ Hero and Guitar Hero were still making profit, just not as much profit when music games first got hot) is the ability to entice casual gamers to buy.
Over saturation of the market: While Rockband and Guitar Hero are competing games targeting the same audience of consumers, Activision deserves a lot of the blame of oversaturating the market with copious amounts of Guitar Hero games. It's the simple law of diminishing returns, consumers are going to find the games less entertaining when they're being inundated with sequels. Since Activision took over the GH series with 3, they have released: World Tour, Smash Hits, 5, Warriors of Rock, Aerosmith, Metallica, Van Halen, Band Hero, On Tour, On Tour Decades, and On Tour Modern Hits. Where Harmonix went right and where Activision went wrong, was to make Rockband a platform rather than just a video game with new tracks on it. The majority of Rockband's music from previous games can be converted to the most current game, as well as thousands of downloadable music that can be purchased for the game without having to purchase another standalone video game disc. This also means that income isn't a guarantee, since gamers can pick and choose what music they want to purchase, instead of paying a lump sum for another 60 songs or what not. While GH has similar functions, they aren't nearly as extensive as Rockband's. Activision sought the quick and guaranteed buck with the route they took and it has come back to bite them in the end.
Lame marketing campaigns: Parodying Risky Business was kind of funny at first...then it became redundant. More importantly, it relied on star power without showing off what makes GH and Rockband fun, essentially a karaoke party with your friends. DJ Hero 2's ad attempted to do this but they went overboard and made it seem like the game was too much of a party that it was laughable. The majority of the ad is dedicated to people dancing and making out. DJ Hero's a fun game but it isn't that fun.
Unfortunate bystanders
While I haven't enjoyed a GH since 3 and have always held by the conviction that Rockband is the better game with better music, the death of GH is still a blow to music video games in general, that includes Rockband. Hopefully GH fans will convert to Rockband and boost Rockband's sales (as the game deserves) but more likely than not, those GH gamers are either over music games or feel burned by Activision's decision to stop supporting the series. Think about it, you've been spending lots of money on plastic instruments for a game as well as downloaded music, only to hear that they've been rendered useless? The initial reaction isn't going to be to go spend more money on more instruments for another game (Yes, I am aware that Rockband supports a lot of GH's controllers, however does the casual gamer know that?).
What is also unfortunate is that DJ Hero and True Crime have gotten the axe as well. While I never played True Crime, the trailer for it's most recent game looked incredible. As a big fan of hong kong crime cinema, a video game that lets you experience that world really intrigued me. DJ Hero is the most disheartening of the news for me however. Say what you will about the lack of quality in the GH games but DJ Hero is amazing. The turntable peripheral is sturdy and solid. The gameplay really feels like you're affecting the music, unlike Bemani's own turntable game Beatmania, where the focus is more on pressing buttons instead of mixing music and scratching like in DJ Hero. Also the music is phenomenal, featuring hip hop and dance grooves in unique mash ups.
My memories of GH
To be honest, most of my fondest memories of GH came during the first two games, when Harmonix (the makers of Rockband) still had control of the series. I remember when my friend David lent the first game to me and I drove my roommate Corey nuts because I must have played the game religiously for that first few weeks that I had it. I played so much I was beating Expert songs by the 3rd day of playing. I remember trying to find a copy of GH2 before it's release date, almost succeeding at a best buy until the guy at the counter told me I wasn't able to purchase it before its street date. I remember playing GH2 so much that I 5 starred all the main songs (not the bonus extra songs) on expert. I had a sticker decal made just for my GH controller. When Activision took over the series with GH3, I admit I played it a lot but it wasn't nearly as fun as 2. The gameplay wasn't as tight and the new graphic direction was ugly. Boss battles were annoying rather than fun. The only reason I kept playing was the music and who can forget Dragonforce's Through the Fire and the Flames? Which I beat on expert by the way. Then Harmonix released Rockband and that was the end of GH for me. Despite not having played it in years and having long since moved onto Rockband, I still think fondly on the original games. Video game rock and roll is dead. Long live video game rock and roll.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Fight Study: Lead Leg Kickboxing Combinations
Combination 1: Lead leg round kick, cross, lead hook/uppercut, cross, rear leg round kick, rear leg round kick
Combination 2: Lead leg round kick, lead leg round kick, cross, lead hook/uppercut, cross, rear leg round kick
Combination 3: Lead leg teep, lead leg round kick, cross, lead hook/uppercut, cross, rear leg round kick
Combination 4: Lead leg teep, lead leg round kick, cross, lead hook/uppercut, cross, rear leg round, thai clinch*, skip knee, skip knee, skip knee, push off exit clinch
* remember when initiating the clinch to swim one hand at a time, not both at the same time.
Things I need to work on:
Lean Back: I'm still leaning back when I throw my kicks, it's taking power away from my kicks and makes me easier to push over. I've also noticed that I'm leaning to the side when I throw my lead uppercut or hook, I'm trying to load up on it too much and it's slowing me down, takes power away from my punch and opens me up. It's all about body mechanics.
Cardio and Conditioning: Oh man, Coach Cross really knows how to push us. My back is already on fire and my hips were cramping up after class. I will need to do some stretching tonight. Piriformis stretches go!
Combination 2: Lead leg round kick, lead leg round kick, cross, lead hook/uppercut, cross, rear leg round kick
Combination 3: Lead leg teep, lead leg round kick, cross, lead hook/uppercut, cross, rear leg round kick
Combination 4: Lead leg teep, lead leg round kick, cross, lead hook/uppercut, cross, rear leg round, thai clinch*, skip knee, skip knee, skip knee, push off exit clinch
* remember when initiating the clinch to swim one hand at a time, not both at the same time.
Things I need to work on:
Lean Back: I'm still leaning back when I throw my kicks, it's taking power away from my kicks and makes me easier to push over. I've also noticed that I'm leaning to the side when I throw my lead uppercut or hook, I'm trying to load up on it too much and it's slowing me down, takes power away from my punch and opens me up. It's all about body mechanics.
Cardio and Conditioning: Oh man, Coach Cross really knows how to push us. My back is already on fire and my hips were cramping up after class. I will need to do some stretching tonight. Piriformis stretches go!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Fight Study: Heavy Hands
Boxing tonight. My punches are too light. There's no weight behind them. Coach told me I need to control my feet more. I settled down and sat down with my punches and could feel the difference.
The secret to punching power and boxing isn't in the muscles of the back, or the forearms and wrists. It all starts from the ground up. You use your lower body's kinectic chain, meaning your gastrocnemius (calf muscles), the hamstring and quadricep muscles, all the way up to the hips generate a force against the floor downward and backwards, propelling the body's momentum forward. That forward momentum is then transferred to the upper body kinectic chain and converted into momentum generated at the fist.
What I worry about it is being too heavy on my feet. I have a tendency of getting stuck and flat footed in boxing, which is why I try to utilize a more lighter footwork. Unfortunately it's affect my punching so I need to start over and concentrate on the fundamentals before I get fancy with my footwork.
The secret to punching power and boxing isn't in the muscles of the back, or the forearms and wrists. It all starts from the ground up. You use your lower body's kinectic chain, meaning your gastrocnemius (calf muscles), the hamstring and quadricep muscles, all the way up to the hips generate a force against the floor downward and backwards, propelling the body's momentum forward. That forward momentum is then transferred to the upper body kinectic chain and converted into momentum generated at the fist.
What I worry about it is being too heavy on my feet. I have a tendency of getting stuck and flat footed in boxing, which is why I try to utilize a more lighter footwork. Unfortunately it's affect my punching so I need to start over and concentrate on the fundamentals before I get fancy with my footwork.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Fight Study: The Front Kick Seen All Across the World (Anderson Silv v Belfort)
Anderson Silva has received a lot of criticism over the last few fights. He's been criticized for his arrogance and his reluctance to finish fights and for that, the fans love to hate Silva. And yet, despite all the criticism, Silva has dominated each and every contender put in front of him. A near loss against Chael Sonnen however made Silva actually look vulnerable. Belfort was hyped as the fighter built to defeat Anderson Silva, with deadlier striking and wrestling ability than the champion.
And with one swift and forceful front kick to the jaw in the first round ended all that.
I love the front kick to the face. I've used it in my own kickboxing arsenal for a while now. What makes the front kick so effective is it's deceptive range and start up.
The Chambered Leg
Taekwondo and Karate fighters have been aware of this for quite some time but all their kicks come from a basic chambered position. Every kick in their arsenal starts from the chambered position, the leg bent and raised in the air. This allows the fighter to throw a side kick or a round house kick or a front kick all from the same chambered position. An incredibly important defensive ability is to read the minute details and movements of the body to determine what an opponent will attack with, so a fighter will watch their opponents shoulders which can telegraph a punch and a fighters hips can telegraph a kick. So if the initial motion and position of a kick is the same for every kick, it's difficult to read what kick is coming and where that kick will be aimed. at. In Muay Thai, you don't see the chambered leg in most of their kicks. Thai boxing generally doesn't utilize side kicks and their round house isn't chambered like Taekwondo round houses are. The teep or front kick is however thrown from a chambered position similar to its Karate and Taekwondo counter parts.
Rare Target
In Muay Thai, front kicks are generally thrown to the body. There's a few reasons for this. The front kick is usually used as a defensive tool to push your opponent back. If you want to forcibly move a person's back, you need to attack their center of mass. Usually if you front kick a guy in the head, it'll just snap their head back, not move them backwards. There is also another reason you rarely see front kicks to the face in Muay Thai. Traditionally in Thailand, to kick someone in the face is an act of disrespect. It's saying to your opponent, that they don't belong in the same ring with you and that they are outclassed. It has to do with the fact that the bottom of your feet that which you walk on become dirty and to place your dirty feet on your opponents face. Though generally most aren't aware of the historical connotations outside of Thailand.
Deceptive Range
The front kick is a very fast and deceptive kick. The hips drive the kick forward, propelling them. This also means that one can further extend the length of the kick by pushing their hip forward. This is why the kick's range is very deceptive. The natural reaction to a fast moving object coming towards your face is to flinch and pull your head back to try and avoid the kick. However, the head can only rear back so far, in most cases the foot will catch up with it and tonight, that's exactly what Silva's foot did to Belfort's face.
It's a shame the front kick to the face isn't used more often in MMA. Hell, it's a shame the front kick isn't used more in MMA period. But wow, what a stunning victory for Anderson Silva tonight.
And with one swift and forceful front kick to the jaw in the first round ended all that.
I love the front kick to the face. I've used it in my own kickboxing arsenal for a while now. What makes the front kick so effective is it's deceptive range and start up.
The Chambered Leg
Taekwondo and Karate fighters have been aware of this for quite some time but all their kicks come from a basic chambered position. Every kick in their arsenal starts from the chambered position, the leg bent and raised in the air. This allows the fighter to throw a side kick or a round house kick or a front kick all from the same chambered position. An incredibly important defensive ability is to read the minute details and movements of the body to determine what an opponent will attack with, so a fighter will watch their opponents shoulders which can telegraph a punch and a fighters hips can telegraph a kick. So if the initial motion and position of a kick is the same for every kick, it's difficult to read what kick is coming and where that kick will be aimed. at. In Muay Thai, you don't see the chambered leg in most of their kicks. Thai boxing generally doesn't utilize side kicks and their round house isn't chambered like Taekwondo round houses are. The teep or front kick is however thrown from a chambered position similar to its Karate and Taekwondo counter parts.
Rare Target
In Muay Thai, front kicks are generally thrown to the body. There's a few reasons for this. The front kick is usually used as a defensive tool to push your opponent back. If you want to forcibly move a person's back, you need to attack their center of mass. Usually if you front kick a guy in the head, it'll just snap their head back, not move them backwards. There is also another reason you rarely see front kicks to the face in Muay Thai. Traditionally in Thailand, to kick someone in the face is an act of disrespect. It's saying to your opponent, that they don't belong in the same ring with you and that they are outclassed. It has to do with the fact that the bottom of your feet that which you walk on become dirty and to place your dirty feet on your opponents face. Though generally most aren't aware of the historical connotations outside of Thailand.
Deceptive Range
The front kick is a very fast and deceptive kick. The hips drive the kick forward, propelling them. This also means that one can further extend the length of the kick by pushing their hip forward. This is why the kick's range is very deceptive. The natural reaction to a fast moving object coming towards your face is to flinch and pull your head back to try and avoid the kick. However, the head can only rear back so far, in most cases the foot will catch up with it and tonight, that's exactly what Silva's foot did to Belfort's face.
It's a shame the front kick to the face isn't used more often in MMA. Hell, it's a shame the front kick isn't used more in MMA period. But wow, what a stunning victory for Anderson Silva tonight.
Wake Up Alan (Alan Wake for Xbox 360)
For about a week I've got access to an Xbox 360. Since I don't own an Xbox360 I haven't been able to play a bunch of Xbox games. To be honest there aren't really a lot of games I even want to play on the 360, I bought a PS3 for a reason (better suited my preference of video games). Anyway long story short, my buddy Nate suggested I play the game Alan Wake. Wake is a critically acclaimed psychological survival horror thriller. You play Alan Wake, a writer with a man crush on Stephen King, who gets tricked into staying at a haunted log cabin in the middle of a Twin Peak-esque town. An evil dark presence kidnaps your wife and holds her ransom, forcing you to write a new horror novel. Apparently this evil log cabin has the special ability to turn creative works of art into reality and the evil is seeking a novelist to write her an entrance to the real world. Along the way you encounter possessed town members engulfed in darkness and with your trusty flash light and revolver, you dispatch them as you head towards your goal of being reunited with your wife and preventing the evil from coming to reality.
The game was good and I do recommend playing it if you ever get the chance. It's a rather short game so it's a perfect rental. If you're looking for a video game with a great story, pick it up.
What the game does right is atmosphere. You spend a majority of the game wandering through a dark foggy forest in the middle of the night with only your flash light to light the way, in search of any lights in the distance to indicate your next destination.You also pick up collectible manuscripts to the novel Alan Wake wrote. It's interesting because in the game, the events of the manuscript are coming to reality. So you'll pick up a manuscript page about encountering a mad man with a chainsaw and you're anxiety shoots up in anticipation of whatever bad guy might be ready to ambush you around the corner with a chainsaw. There are also tvs and radios that you can encounter that flesh out the story and further enhance the atmosphere of the world. The tvs you encounter will show a short tv program called Night Springs, a neat parody/homage to the Twilight Zone. There are many allusions to Stephen King novels and themes and as I previously mentioned the town is a nod to the show Twin Peaks (as well as other little allusions). The game separates chapters in the game as Episodes, ending every episode with a Twin Peak-esque musical selection and at the start of every new episode you get a "Previously on Alan Wake" giving the game a very television drama feel like Lost or Twin Peaks. You can tell that the developers have an affection for the genre of suspenseful thrillers.
The storyline is also well written. Alan narrates the game through out, giving his insights and making the character a lot more personable. Barry's voice actor is somewhat irksome but he has a few genuinely funny moments. Because the game jumps ahead a week after the first act, you spend your time trying to figure out what happened to that missing week and the missing manuscript that you apparently finished writing. The game's story takes advantage of the interesting plot element of a fictional story becoming nonfiction in front of your eyes. For anyone who's played the game, I especially enjoyed the final scene of the Clicker episode, it's a very cool twist and the most memorable story element in the game for me.
The game however wasn't perfect in my opinion and while it's not necessarily a gripe, the actual gameplay is nothing impressive and functional at best. This is a problem because the majority of the game is gameplay, you traveling from one cutscene to the next to progress the great story. The biggest problem is the game's use of slow motion and bullet time. Seeing how the developers are the same as those who created the original Max Payne games, the first games that I'm aware of to incorporate bullet time in a video game, it doesn't surprise me that the effect exists in Alan Wake. The problem is it's misplaced and over used in Alan Wake. When a monster shows up on screen, the game will slow motion and pan to reveal the monster creeping up on you. So instead of monsters popping up behind you and scaring you, the game shows their location and gives you ample time to turn around and dispatch him, killing any and all possible anxiety and fear of having to watch your back as you travel in the dark. The game also slow motions when you kill the last enemy in a batch of enemies, signaling that you've killed all the enemies in the vicinity and you no longer have anything to worry about. Again, it kills the possibility of fear and the necessity of caution and any anxiety that may arise from not knowing what's around the next corner. The other time the game uses bullet time is when you dodge an enemy attack. What makes Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space scary despite being very action oriented survival horror games is the anxiety and panic that arises when enemies start to swarm you. In those games there is no easy dodge maneuver, if you get cornered you will be mauled by monsters and zombies very quickly, thus causing the fear of getting cornered or surrounded. There is also no slow motion so you have to think quickly while deadly monsters charge at you with promises of a gruesome death. In Alan Wake, the majority of encounters occur in the wide open spaces of the out doors, giving you plenty of room to back up and run away from your slow moving assailants. And even if you get surrounded, enemies telegraph their attacks so you can easily dodge them, initiate slow motion to slow down the action and give you another second to think, all while creating more space for you to reload and stun your enemies with your flash light. The game gets in its own way and kills any anxiety or fear or sense of panic that you experience in other survival horror games with it's bullet time. My friend disputes that the game isn't meant to a horror game but I disagree, there are certainly moments and events in the game that attempt to scare the gamer. If enemies were more threatening, the game might have succeeded.
There's also the fact that there is very little variety in the enemies themselves. There's a brute who will charge at you with a shovel or axe or chainsaw, a dual wielding hand axe carrier who will throw their axes at you, annoying poltergeist furniture and evil birds that will fling themselves at you and a fast moving brute that spazzes around you and waits for an opening. All can be dispatched of by shining your flash light on them and plugging them with ammunition. Speaking of which, there's also very little variation in weapons in the game. While it is more realistic that Alan isn't going to find an assault rifle in an isolated little north western town, every gun essentially functions the same with the only differences being ammo and stopping power. There's also no differentiation in where you shoot an enemy. There is no limb damage so there's no need to invest any skill in aiming. Again, you can argue that a writer who's never fired a gun before the events of the game isn't going to have the accuracy to fire off head shots, but that doesn't mean the gamer's skill should be ignored.
There's nothing broken about Alan Wakes gameplay, I just wasn't impressed by it and to be fair the gameplay isn't the selling point of the game, it's its thrilling storyline and for that I recommend playing the game. I just wished the gameplay was a little more enjoyable as I found my becoming bored with the mechanical like monotony of dispatching the "Taken" that I experienced as I hoped for the next checkpoint to yield a cut scene to further the plot.
The game was good and I do recommend playing it if you ever get the chance. It's a rather short game so it's a perfect rental. If you're looking for a video game with a great story, pick it up.
What the game does right is atmosphere. You spend a majority of the game wandering through a dark foggy forest in the middle of the night with only your flash light to light the way, in search of any lights in the distance to indicate your next destination.You also pick up collectible manuscripts to the novel Alan Wake wrote. It's interesting because in the game, the events of the manuscript are coming to reality. So you'll pick up a manuscript page about encountering a mad man with a chainsaw and you're anxiety shoots up in anticipation of whatever bad guy might be ready to ambush you around the corner with a chainsaw. There are also tvs and radios that you can encounter that flesh out the story and further enhance the atmosphere of the world. The tvs you encounter will show a short tv program called Night Springs, a neat parody/homage to the Twilight Zone. There are many allusions to Stephen King novels and themes and as I previously mentioned the town is a nod to the show Twin Peaks (as well as other little allusions). The game separates chapters in the game as Episodes, ending every episode with a Twin Peak-esque musical selection and at the start of every new episode you get a "Previously on Alan Wake" giving the game a very television drama feel like Lost or Twin Peaks. You can tell that the developers have an affection for the genre of suspenseful thrillers.
The storyline is also well written. Alan narrates the game through out, giving his insights and making the character a lot more personable. Barry's voice actor is somewhat irksome but he has a few genuinely funny moments. Because the game jumps ahead a week after the first act, you spend your time trying to figure out what happened to that missing week and the missing manuscript that you apparently finished writing. The game's story takes advantage of the interesting plot element of a fictional story becoming nonfiction in front of your eyes. For anyone who's played the game, I especially enjoyed the final scene of the Clicker episode, it's a very cool twist and the most memorable story element in the game for me.
The game however wasn't perfect in my opinion and while it's not necessarily a gripe, the actual gameplay is nothing impressive and functional at best. This is a problem because the majority of the game is gameplay, you traveling from one cutscene to the next to progress the great story. The biggest problem is the game's use of slow motion and bullet time. Seeing how the developers are the same as those who created the original Max Payne games, the first games that I'm aware of to incorporate bullet time in a video game, it doesn't surprise me that the effect exists in Alan Wake. The problem is it's misplaced and over used in Alan Wake. When a monster shows up on screen, the game will slow motion and pan to reveal the monster creeping up on you. So instead of monsters popping up behind you and scaring you, the game shows their location and gives you ample time to turn around and dispatch him, killing any and all possible anxiety and fear of having to watch your back as you travel in the dark. The game also slow motions when you kill the last enemy in a batch of enemies, signaling that you've killed all the enemies in the vicinity and you no longer have anything to worry about. Again, it kills the possibility of fear and the necessity of caution and any anxiety that may arise from not knowing what's around the next corner. The other time the game uses bullet time is when you dodge an enemy attack. What makes Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space scary despite being very action oriented survival horror games is the anxiety and panic that arises when enemies start to swarm you. In those games there is no easy dodge maneuver, if you get cornered you will be mauled by monsters and zombies very quickly, thus causing the fear of getting cornered or surrounded. There is also no slow motion so you have to think quickly while deadly monsters charge at you with promises of a gruesome death. In Alan Wake, the majority of encounters occur in the wide open spaces of the out doors, giving you plenty of room to back up and run away from your slow moving assailants. And even if you get surrounded, enemies telegraph their attacks so you can easily dodge them, initiate slow motion to slow down the action and give you another second to think, all while creating more space for you to reload and stun your enemies with your flash light. The game gets in its own way and kills any anxiety or fear or sense of panic that you experience in other survival horror games with it's bullet time. My friend disputes that the game isn't meant to a horror game but I disagree, there are certainly moments and events in the game that attempt to scare the gamer. If enemies were more threatening, the game might have succeeded.
There's also the fact that there is very little variety in the enemies themselves. There's a brute who will charge at you with a shovel or axe or chainsaw, a dual wielding hand axe carrier who will throw their axes at you, annoying poltergeist furniture and evil birds that will fling themselves at you and a fast moving brute that spazzes around you and waits for an opening. All can be dispatched of by shining your flash light on them and plugging them with ammunition. Speaking of which, there's also very little variation in weapons in the game. While it is more realistic that Alan isn't going to find an assault rifle in an isolated little north western town, every gun essentially functions the same with the only differences being ammo and stopping power. There's also no differentiation in where you shoot an enemy. There is no limb damage so there's no need to invest any skill in aiming. Again, you can argue that a writer who's never fired a gun before the events of the game isn't going to have the accuracy to fire off head shots, but that doesn't mean the gamer's skill should be ignored.
There's nothing broken about Alan Wakes gameplay, I just wasn't impressed by it and to be fair the gameplay isn't the selling point of the game, it's its thrilling storyline and for that I recommend playing the game. I just wished the gameplay was a little more enjoyable as I found my becoming bored with the mechanical like monotony of dispatching the "Taken" that I experienced as I hoped for the next checkpoint to yield a cut scene to further the plot.
Fight Study: Is Anderson Silva MMA's Muhammed Ali
Is Anderson Silva MMA's Muhammed Ali? Now here me out before you call me blasphemous. I'm not saying Silva rivals Ali's social impact or even his long term impact on the sport. I'm looking at mostly personality and fighting styles. Some points to consider?
-Both fighters are tall and lanky with long limbs.
-Both fighters are known for their evasive footwork.
-Both fighters utilize their speed yet have knockout power in their hands.
-Both fighters are incredibly unorthodox, they don't seem to sit on their punches and yet can still deliver a knockout punch from an unusual angle that doesn't seem like it would generate a lot of force bio-mechanically.
-Expanding further on the unorthodox style of fighting, they both have fighting habits that are generally considered incorrect. Both Ali and Silva lean back to avoid punches and both fighters keep their hands low.
-Both fighters showboat in the ring, Ali with his famous Ali Shuffle and Silva's clowning around against Maia.
In terms of charisma and personality:
-Both fighters have been known to talk to their opponents during the fight. Ali would goad his opponents, yelling at Liston in their rematch to "get up bum!" as well as whispering in Foreman's ear "Is that all you got?." I don't think I need to remind everyone of Silva's in fight chatter against Maia.
-Both fighters gladly accept the role of heel. Ali admits that he imitated the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, who would anger the audience with his arrogance and cockiness. Ali also believed in theatrics. He once rented a tour bus with insults written across the side of the bus onto Sonny Liston's front yard just to get under Liston's skin so that he could get a title shot. Silva walks into a weigh ins with a mask.
-People also seem to love to hate and doubt both fighters chances at victory. Ali was never the favorite against Liston. A lot of people thought it was a dive on Liston's part. A lot of people thought Ali was going to be murdered in the ring by Foreman. When Ali converted to Islam, sports writers criticized Ali's boxing abilities, everything they had praised about him before became a negative attribute. Instead of being tactical in the ring, he was described as sneaky. Instead of being surgical and methodical, he was now boring and slow. His evasive footwork was no longer admired but instead scorned because now he was seen as running away. Sound familiar with Silva?
Now sure there are definitely differences, simply because of the differences between the two sports they inhabit. Silva's long term impact on the sport is also hard to judge at the current moment. I also doubt Silva will ever have a social impact like Ali did, but Ali never was aware of his social impact at the time and never set out to be a philanthropist and a spokesperson on social inequality.
*shrugs* I've been watching a lot of Ali documentaries lately and I always seem to notice the hate Silva receives. I think he's a great fighter and I always enjoy watching him fight. I noticed these similarities and thought I'd bring it up for thought.
-Both fighters are tall and lanky with long limbs.
-Both fighters are known for their evasive footwork.
-Both fighters utilize their speed yet have knockout power in their hands.
-Both fighters are incredibly unorthodox, they don't seem to sit on their punches and yet can still deliver a knockout punch from an unusual angle that doesn't seem like it would generate a lot of force bio-mechanically.
-Expanding further on the unorthodox style of fighting, they both have fighting habits that are generally considered incorrect. Both Ali and Silva lean back to avoid punches and both fighters keep their hands low.
-Both fighters showboat in the ring, Ali with his famous Ali Shuffle and Silva's clowning around against Maia.
In terms of charisma and personality:
-Both fighters have been known to talk to their opponents during the fight. Ali would goad his opponents, yelling at Liston in their rematch to "get up bum!" as well as whispering in Foreman's ear "Is that all you got?." I don't think I need to remind everyone of Silva's in fight chatter against Maia.
-Both fighters gladly accept the role of heel. Ali admits that he imitated the professional wrestler Gorgeous George, who would anger the audience with his arrogance and cockiness. Ali also believed in theatrics. He once rented a tour bus with insults written across the side of the bus onto Sonny Liston's front yard just to get under Liston's skin so that he could get a title shot. Silva walks into a weigh ins with a mask.
-People also seem to love to hate and doubt both fighters chances at victory. Ali was never the favorite against Liston. A lot of people thought it was a dive on Liston's part. A lot of people thought Ali was going to be murdered in the ring by Foreman. When Ali converted to Islam, sports writers criticized Ali's boxing abilities, everything they had praised about him before became a negative attribute. Instead of being tactical in the ring, he was described as sneaky. Instead of being surgical and methodical, he was now boring and slow. His evasive footwork was no longer admired but instead scorned because now he was seen as running away. Sound familiar with Silva?
Now sure there are definitely differences, simply because of the differences between the two sports they inhabit. Silva's long term impact on the sport is also hard to judge at the current moment. I also doubt Silva will ever have a social impact like Ali did, but Ali never was aware of his social impact at the time and never set out to be a philanthropist and a spokesperson on social inequality.
*shrugs* I've been watching a lot of Ali documentaries lately and I always seem to notice the hate Silva receives. I think he's a great fighter and I always enjoy watching him fight. I noticed these similarities and thought I'd bring it up for thought.
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