Today is the Day! Computer Issues

Well, today is the day that I leave for Japan!  Just a quick post to say that because I have to spend a lot of time doing a lot of different things pretty much from the moment I touch down, you might not see a post in 2 or 3 days.  So don't panic, I'm not dead, I just need some time.

Of course though, my computer picks today as the day it wants to start dying on me.  Due to the fact I travel around so much, I do most of my PC gaming on a laptop.  This isn't ideal but I've not had problems running anything and the mobility is perfect for me right now. 

Anyway, the fan on this piece of shit is starting to crap out and I can't clean it/replace it because HP Laptops are built in the most frustratingly possible way you can imagine.  My best bet is blowing compressed air into the vents, which is working so far but really it's only a matter of time before this thing just dies on me.

This isn't really going to affect anything right now, but I'm going to assume the worst and say that the October play list I had planned isn't really for October anymore, just think of that list as the next 6 games I'll be doing.

Anyway, the next post I make will be from Japan, so watch this space.

Glitches and Cheating: A Short Speed Run Rant

Never would I have thought in my life that idiots on the internet would get to me as much as they have with this one, here we go!

Speed Running is a thing I have enjoyed watching for a pretty long time, but only very recently have I got into trying to do them myself.  If you look a few posts down from this one you'll be able to see the first full run I've put on They Bleed Pixels.

Anyway, no matter if you're into speed running or not, as long as you're into games like Half Life and stuff, chances are you have seen the insane runs from a group of people going under the banner of Sourceruns on YouTube.  Their Half Life 2 and Portal speed runs are insanely good and between them they have managed to produce some really good times.

Now if you hop on YouTube and watch these runs, you may noticed that they are glitched to shit.  Lot's of accelerated jumping round levels, going out of bounds and all sorts of funky stuff that allows them to beat the game as fast as they do, but this is where the problem lies. 

It's not just these Half Life runs, it's basically ever speed run that involves glitches ever but there is always some moron in a comments section complaining about how "the run isn't legit! they used so many glitches!  They are just cheating!"  This is complete horseshit and I'm going to explain to you people why.

First of all, what's the point of a Speed Run?  Well it's to get to the end of the game as fast as you possibly can without cheating or modifying the game in any way.  This has of course evolved over time so generally speaking, what's known as "any%" runs will be extremely glitched out in a lot of cases while "100%" may not be as glitchy, or glitches will be used to make certain goals faster rather than skipping huge chunks of the game.  This is not the same as cheating, such as using codes or other tools like game shark to give yourself an advantage in order to beat the game.

A good example of this difference really, is with Sonic speed runs.  If you've ever watched a Sonic run you'll see the runner zipping his way through the walls of the levels to reach the end of the stage as fast as possible.  This is NOT the same as using a level select code or level skip code or a no clip in a game genie password or some shit because you still have to actually PLAY the level.  There is a degree of skill required to shove yourself inside a wall at just the right pixel and at just the right speed in order to make the zip happen, and the only thing making is happen is you and the controller.  THAT'S the difference between cheating and glitching.

So bottom line really is if you're going to pass judgements on people's Speed Runs, clue yourself in on how fucking Speed Running works before you start slamming the keyboard with your stupid hands.  A lot of work goes into these runs and its infuriating to see people dismiss them for such a stupid fucking reason.  If you don't like Speed Running, then fine, but don't shit on other people just because people are enjoying games in a way that you couldn't even begin to understand.

Goddamnit

The October Playthrough Playlist and Other Announcements

Well it's coming up to October and that means it's also coming up to Halloween which means it's time to play a bunch of scary games for the YouTube channel!

I've put together a 6 game playlist that I hope to get through within a month but with all the stuff going on right now it might bleed into November, but that's OK because the games are fun anyway. 

So what are the games?  Well I've split the 6 games into 3 categories and they are as follows

Scary Bad (Games that cost about £1 on Steam and were gifted to me to play because they're shit)
-Dinner Date
-Fortix

Classic Scary
-Silent Hill
-Resident Evil

New School Scary
-Outlast
-Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

So you have all that to look foward to, I hope you'll enjoy me suffering/cowering for your entertainment.  But that's not all! If you were wondering why there is a big fat Japanese flag at the top of the post, it's because I'm moving back to Japan in a couple of days so you may see a return of all sorts of Japan related posts and coverage of arcade games once again!

So keep your eyes peeled for all the content, it should be a good month!

Podcasty Thing! Violence, Video Games and Bad Parenting

With the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, this debate has popped up and all manner of idiots who don't know anything about games are throwing in their opinion.

I go on a 7 minute rant on how it's not really violent games that cause violent people, but a lack of proper upbringing.  Enjoy!

I streamed a Speed Run! and filmed it!

Well I just finished streaming a run of They Bleed Pixels.  I managed to do the whole game in 43 minutes 21 seconds.  Doesn't quite match my personal best time but I'm glad to finally have a speed run up on YouTube. 

You can view it here

Enjoy!

Race the Sun and Indie Whining

Race the Sun is a strange game I was told about last night so let me give you the story.

I was sat in my room playing Ultima 1 yesterday and while I was moving around the lands of Sosaria trying to vanquish Mondain and his orb of immortality, I heard my facebook chat go off.  I go to check it and it's a good friend of mine saying that he had discovered this game called Race the Sun and it was really good.

So I go and check the trailer and it's this cool looking infinite running game where you control a ship dodging all sorts of stuff at high speed, collecting power ups and trying to stay alive long enough to beat your high score.  The cool thing about this game though, at least the way I understand it, is that every 24 hours a world is randomly generated and the leader boards are reset.  From there you have 1 day to get really good at the stage and top the daily leader boards.  It's a cool idea and would definitely keep me coming back, factor in the hard mode that comes with the full version of the game and you've got something pretty good.  A little different from every other infinite running game on the market and a good way to try and kill some time during lazy afternoons by the sounds of things, right?

But then my friend messaged me again this morning telling me that Flippfly, the company who made the game are in a spot of bother.  They can't get green lit on Steam.  So while looking around the website for the game I came across this article written by one of the developers.

http://flippfly.com/news/race-the-sun-a-month-after-launch-losing-steam/

Now I get they are upset about their game not doing very well (2 copies sold last week) but there seems to be a lot of finger pointing and whining in this post.  Whining about how they can't share the same success as Mojang, whining about how the interest for it on Steam Greenlight isn't all that good and whining about how Indiecade basically dismissed it as a mobile game.

My problem with this article is they don't really have any place to whine like this; the lack of success of Race the Sun is entirely their own fault.  Yes, the game looks cool and yes, they managed to get me interested but just by watching the trailer and playing the demo on Kongregate, it's nothing more than a bog standard infinite runner.  The problem with your game being one of those is that there are already loads of those damn things on the mobile market and almost ALL of them are free.  So why would I throw down $10 for your game when I can just pick up my iPod and play Temple Run for nothing? 

Now judging from my friends reaction to the game, it's better than your standard mobile runner game, and I'm willing to believe him.  If it doesn't get a Steam release soon, I'll pick it up off their website and show some support, because it looks they have made something that's pretty fun, so show some love.

But really, drop that whiny "wahh, our game is so good why won't it sell?!" and re work your trailer and make sure people KNOW what sets it apart from every other game in the genre, because there are reasons to want this thing, just no one can tell from what you've put out already.

Go give them a thumbs up on Steam Greenlight too, I'd like to buy this using my steam credit.

Don't Starve

Well this was a pleasant surprise.  Yet another game I got during a steam sale for absolutely no money thanks to the sale of DotA2 items and my only regret with this purchase is that I didn't install it and start playing it sooner.

Don't Starve was released in April of 2013 by Klei Entertainment and I'm sad to say that when I first saw the game I turned my nose up at it.  I saw a dude running around a randomly generated world picking up things and using those things to build stuff and straight away thought that this was another shallow indie game trying to ride the coat tails of Minecraft with it's gimmick being a proper art style rather than block graphics.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Don't Starve is a game where you run around randomly generated worlds picking things up and using them to build other things, that much is true, but really it's more than that.  It's a game of survival where there isn't really an end goal but you're aiming to survive for as long as possible in an extremely harsh environment.  There are 4 really obvious ways to die in this game but only 1 of them involve actually starving.  The others involve being mauled by monsters, going insane and being killed by some strange thing in the pitch black darkness of the night.

The game play is simple point and click stuff, you click on the thing you want to collect or use and item on and it does it.  You can use WSAD or clicking to move your guy and the Q or E keys to move the camera.  From there you are told absolutely nothing and you basically have to fend for yourself, which in my opinion is great.  On the side there is a big list of stuff you can create and it tells you what you need to make them so you can set yourself a target for that gadget you want and then go exploring.

Really it's best to build yourself up a base of operations with the science machines and a fireplace and explore outwards from there and build yourself up over a long period of time.  As you explore you'll discover all sorts of weird shit that even after sinking a few hours into the game I've still not found a use for.  I found a strange gold ring surrounded by evil plants and a gnome doll that both have no immediate use and I know that I'm only scratching the surface of weird collectibles in that game.

When you do die (and you will die eventually) your character is deleted and you will be forced to start again completely from scratch.  This gives you more incentive to really work hard for your survival and not just give up the ghost but dying also gives you experience which is used to unlock other characters all with unique perks that will alter the game play a bit so that surviving with just basic guy doesn't get too stale.

Really I can't say more than that but I've not really even begun to experience all the content.  There is a lot of stuff here and it's being updated frequently.  In fact, I think there is about 6 or 7 days until the next Don't Starve update.  Seriously though, play this game, it's fucking great.