Excuse my Internet speak, but I’m just so damn excited! The title may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it really is an amazing game. Not only is the game-play brilliant and wonderfully inventive (closer to an indie puzzle game than a first person shooter), but the presentation is atmospheric and darkly humorous. In fact, I’d venture to say that Portal is the funniest game I’ve played since Psychonauts. Hell, it may be the best game I’ve played since Psychonauts.
Probably the best moments of Portal are the realization moments — when you suddenly realize how to solve a puzzle that just a minute ago looked impossible. Though things may appear to be repetitive, the next challenge always feels new. Sure, it’s short (took me about five hours total to beat, including about an hour spent stuck on level 18), but what there is will continually surprise and challenge you.
During the training levels I always looked forward to the next stage to see what the computerized voice would say. Looking back after having completed the game, the parts of Portal I remember most fondly are the voices. Turrets talk to you in a meek, childlike, friendly voice before they try to kill you (and after you defeat them they console you with lines like “I don’t blame you” or just “goodbye”). Your sarcastic computerized instructor is always a source of humor, whether it’s promising you delicious cake or trying to pretend it didn’t just attempt to murder you. I don’t want to give anything away, but the ending now ranks among Metroid and two of the Deus Ex conclusions as one of my favorite video game endings ever. Whatever you do, don’t skip the credits. Read more…
Posted by probabilityZero on 2007-10-30 | Filed under: Noteworthy, Opinion, Tech and games | 2 responses
I upgraded on Saturday, but I still haven’t gotten everything working. Right now sound capture isn’t working, and I only just got compiz-fusion working (which is weird, considering I had it working perfectly in Feisty; I had to remove it before the upgrade and reinstall it from the Gutsy repos, but all sorts of things went wrong).
It was worth it to upgrade, though, if only because of the new software versions. Plus, I finally got Pidgin working with gfire.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2007-10-24 | Filed under: Other, Tech and games | 3 responses
Well, I have three tests tomorrow, and I’m still a bit out of it from the all-night LAN I went to over the weekend. I know my blogging has been crappy recently. I apologize.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2007-10-22 | Filed under: Other | one response
Well, here’s my post for “Blog Action Day.” This is more of a to-do list for me than anything else, but you may find it useful.
1. Don’t leave my PC on overnight for warez downloads. Or at least do so less often.
2. Have a dark wallpaper rather than a light one, since it uses less electricity. Also, it looks cooler.
3. Unplug my cell phone charger. Not only does a charger use up 95% of the energy it would use to charge when it is simply plugged into the wall not charging anything, I don’t actually own a cell phone.
4. Replace old light bulbs with new energy-efficient light bulbs. This one will be hard. I’ve sort-of gotten used to my burned out light bulb. It’s comforting. Also, I have an excuse for when during an intense gaming session my parents tell me to turn on the damn light before I hurt my eyes.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2007-10-15 | Filed under: Current events, Other | 4 responses
Well, that’s what the Stirland family wants to do, after their son Ben choked to death on one. He died after swallowing it while doing homework.
“What Ben was doing that day, chewing his pen, is what thousands of people do every day.”
“Our initial and main aim is to get the pen lids banned.”
“Our biggest concern is that the safety air hole and the clip, which you clip on to your jumper, acted almost like a fish hook and was difficult to remove from his throat.”
Moorside Community Technology College, the school Ben had attended, has already banned pen caps. So far the family has approached several organizations in England, such as the British Standards Institute and the Writing Instruments Association, in an attempt to stop the production of pens with plastic caps.
Read more…
Posted by probabilityZero on 2007-10-13 | Filed under: News, Noteworthy, Other | 14 responses
As you’ve probably heard, Radiohead has ditched their music label and is now selling their new album, “In Rainbows,” from their website. There’s no set price. You name what you think it’s worth to you, and pay that. If you want to get it for free, you can, but if you decide to pay you can be confident that all the money goes to the band, not to a greedy corporation. I thought it was worth $20 US.
Radiohead is my favorite band, so I was confident the album would rock before I bought it. If you are skeptical, just get it for free and listen to it then go back and pay later. Trust me, you’ll love it.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2007-10-12 | Filed under: Current events, News, Other | one response
It was amazing!
I just got back a few minutes ago. The show was down in Sacramento, a short drive from my home. I sat fairly close to the front, maybe 14-15 rows from the front (I was just happy to be on the ground floor; the place was packed, filling three floors). It isn’t everyday I get to see one of my heroes up close and in person.
The show was great, as I expected. He’s getting a bit angrier as he grows older, but he’s just as sharp and funny. My throat still hurts from laughing.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2007-10-06 | Filed under: Other | one response
