Having grew up in the 1980s where Nintendo, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and other notable mentions ruled the children/parent market, it seems nothing can come close to the attachment that I have to Transformers and anime. When the two worlds collide with the added backings of Japanese designers and writers, things aren't the same anymore when it comes to American "cartoons."
As the current Transformers: Cybertron series airs on the airwaves of the KidsWB network/channel, the toys being brought out by Hasbro is continuing on in batches and waves. Some of these are simple imports of the Japanese versions, while others are new and are simply recolor of an existing design.
A little historical background, if you will... back in the days of Beast Wars animated by Mainframe, the Transformers franchise is starting, albeit little by little, to gain some momentum. It wasn't until I heard about Takara's 15th anniversary celebration ideas that I heard of various reissues, releases, and plans. As part of their celebration, they started designing their next set of figures to be based on the first incarnation idea of Transformers: vehicles and existing machineries. It caught my attention immediately. And from there, that fandom exploded. The toys, or figures, became much more desirable than ever. But the story did not end there...
Upon the arrival of the Micron Legend (AKA Armada in USA) series and toys, something went wrong. It didn't look as interesting. The colors aren't right and the design seem to be lacking in many of the toys. When Super Link (AKA Energon in USA) arrived, it got worse. The design seems to be going backwards. I have no idea as to why. And I do not know who is behind these horrible designs. There were only a select few that were interesting but they are rare. It seems all hope was lost...
News got around that GONZO Studio is going to be heading the animation on the next series, titled as Galaxy Force. Given GONZO's reputations for animations, it seems things would be interesting. It wasn't until a special preview DVD was released that things are looking much more promising, showing transformation sequences of both Galaxy Convoy and Master Megatron. The 3D render is much better than before and my faith in the series in its design is starting to improve.
Back to the current timeframe, Galaxy Force is heading to its 40th episode and I have not been disappointed ever since it started. The anime has been great and the toys are ever so good. The latest addition, GX-02 Soundwave, is a great tribute to one of the most loyal Destron/Decepticon character in Transformers history. And the toy does not disappoint.
With 13 episodes left (40-52) and only a handful of figures to go, I cannot fathom how Takara will ever repeat the great designs that went into both the characters and figures. For any collector, getting these imported from Japan is very costly. But I firmly believe that it is worth every cent spent on getting them. The quality simply cannot compare to Hasbro's version, which they are known to make cosmetic, sexual, and identity changes.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Zoom zoom zoom
And the latest addition to the game Guild Wars, Sorrow's Furnace, has been released unto the world. Everyone flooded into the servers, towns, and the like, streaming content down to their computers like madmen. I was about to let others do their streaming first, and wait until the surge slows down. However, I became a little curious as to what was changed. Amazingly, the changes are vast. But some of the changes weren't all that great. But that's only my opinion.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I broke down and ordered parts. They all arrived a day earlier than usual. And once the boxes were opened and the parts inspected, I went back to the system to do a final preparation and backup. It is then I issued the final command: Shutdown. And so begins a grueling six hour hardware swap process that includes unmounting the motherboard, cleaning the parts, evicting dust bunnies. The process would have gone a lot quicker had it not been for a piece of metal backplat being stickied onto the motherboard. It took me a good amount of time just to tear it out. Fortunately, the plate came off without any damage to the board. Although I must admit that doing so put me on the highest level of fear and anxiety. Once the plate was removed, it was the usual -- applying thermal compounds, place the CPU in, mount the heatsink, and so forth.
When the system made that single beep after powering up the system, I was happy. The greatest fear to anyone who tinkers with their own system was not hearing that single beep after the system goes through a simple series of tests (aka POST). It was there that the next phase of the upgrade begins: testing the memory. To absolutely ensure that the system runs at the specified speed, I have to test the memory in order to ensure that nothing got fried when I handled the sticks of RAM. So this was a priority.
7 hours later, a reboot, and the third phase of the upgrade begins. There I ensure the CPU has no "defects," as this is also as important as the RAM. After confirming that it works and runs (to a point), I rebooted and start overclocking, a process that pushes the CPU beyond its advertised specfication. After a series of tests, I landed on a very nice 2.4GHz, 2 models beyond the original speed (4600+ vs 3800+). At this speed, it has effectively saved me a couple hundred dollars. But how long it'll last. That's something I won't be able to know for a long time.
The system runs fantastic. After a couple of mishaps in configurations, the system is stable and I am very happy with the performance. Having two cores is unbelievable, and I am thankful that a low-end model can be had for an affordable price point. Given that Intel's Pentium-D is cheaper, the performance benefit and its architectural design doesn't meet what I'd want to do with it. Meaning, as a gamer, I'd like to have it perform. And sadly, Intel just can't perform with their architecture. To add to that, to go dual-core with Intel is perhaps much more costly than one might think, for Intel shoved too many things to the consumers without considering the DIY (Do It Yourself) market.
I am happy with what I have now. I hope this system will last a long time. All that's left now is getting a pair of 1GB sticks or a new video card. Hmm....
As I mentioned in the previous post, I broke down and ordered parts. They all arrived a day earlier than usual. And once the boxes were opened and the parts inspected, I went back to the system to do a final preparation and backup. It is then I issued the final command: Shutdown. And so begins a grueling six hour hardware swap process that includes unmounting the motherboard, cleaning the parts, evicting dust bunnies. The process would have gone a lot quicker had it not been for a piece of metal backplat being stickied onto the motherboard. It took me a good amount of time just to tear it out. Fortunately, the plate came off without any damage to the board. Although I must admit that doing so put me on the highest level of fear and anxiety. Once the plate was removed, it was the usual -- applying thermal compounds, place the CPU in, mount the heatsink, and so forth.
When the system made that single beep after powering up the system, I was happy. The greatest fear to anyone who tinkers with their own system was not hearing that single beep after the system goes through a simple series of tests (aka POST). It was there that the next phase of the upgrade begins: testing the memory. To absolutely ensure that the system runs at the specified speed, I have to test the memory in order to ensure that nothing got fried when I handled the sticks of RAM. So this was a priority.
7 hours later, a reboot, and the third phase of the upgrade begins. There I ensure the CPU has no "defects," as this is also as important as the RAM. After confirming that it works and runs (to a point), I rebooted and start overclocking, a process that pushes the CPU beyond its advertised specfication. After a series of tests, I landed on a very nice 2.4GHz, 2 models beyond the original speed (4600+ vs 3800+). At this speed, it has effectively saved me a couple hundred dollars. But how long it'll last. That's something I won't be able to know for a long time.
The system runs fantastic. After a couple of mishaps in configurations, the system is stable and I am very happy with the performance. Having two cores is unbelievable, and I am thankful that a low-end model can be had for an affordable price point. Given that Intel's Pentium-D is cheaper, the performance benefit and its architectural design doesn't meet what I'd want to do with it. Meaning, as a gamer, I'd like to have it perform. And sadly, Intel just can't perform with their architecture. To add to that, to go dual-core with Intel is perhaps much more costly than one might think, for Intel shoved too many things to the consumers without considering the DIY (Do It Yourself) market.
I am happy with what I have now. I hope this system will last a long time. All that's left now is getting a pair of 1GB sticks or a new video card. Hmm....
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Slowing down or speeding up
For a time I've been slowing down my time with Guild Wars, seeing as there are some things that are getting out of control and out of hand. With the recent update, things are a little better, but not by much. It seems things were just about to go downhill... or so it seems.
About last week, I was testing a new setup, a new style if you will. For a long time, my monk character has been dedicated to healing players and computer AIs. I figure a little change may be needed. So I started up a test build to see how well the build works against a bunch of physical and projectile attacking enemies. The test went well and further tweaking is needed. But then I discovered something...
After a couple of test runs to determine how well the build works, I discovered what may be a gold mine for certain special and rare items. After one of many final tweaks, I have confirmed that what I discovered is a hotspot for farming. And further investigation by guildmates also reveal that another certain enemy class can provide such rare items. Shortly afterwards, the run begins. And things picked up for me. At least, for a little while.
Now on to a different topic. I've finally broke down and made the order. There's a new baby coming home and it'll arrive by next week. As soon as I've confirmed a few things, I'll be able to have a new system up and running in no time. And with it, some drastic improvements to everything, both in CPU power and overall usability. Until then, everyone will have to sit back and wait it out... at least until pictures are then uploaded. *grin*
About last week, I was testing a new setup, a new style if you will. For a long time, my monk character has been dedicated to healing players and computer AIs. I figure a little change may be needed. So I started up a test build to see how well the build works against a bunch of physical and projectile attacking enemies. The test went well and further tweaking is needed. But then I discovered something...
After a couple of test runs to determine how well the build works, I discovered what may be a gold mine for certain special and rare items. After one of many final tweaks, I have confirmed that what I discovered is a hotspot for farming. And further investigation by guildmates also reveal that another certain enemy class can provide such rare items. Shortly afterwards, the run begins. And things picked up for me. At least, for a little while.
Now on to a different topic. I've finally broke down and made the order. There's a new baby coming home and it'll arrive by next week. As soon as I've confirmed a few things, I'll be able to have a new system up and running in no time. And with it, some drastic improvements to everything, both in CPU power and overall usability. Until then, everyone will have to sit back and wait it out... at least until pictures are then uploaded. *grin*
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
And other notable mentions...
Before it fades away from my memory, I'd like to expand on my personalized list of morons found in the world of Guild Wars. It baffles me just how dumb some people are when it comes to playing the game. And while it may be just a game, there are times when you just gotta wonder if they are really that stupid.
For this entry, I engrave Mystic Fear (aka Peoples Killer) into the stone tablet of morons, assholes, pricks, fucktards, idiots, dumbasses, and whatever kinds of degrading adjectives you can think of. And with good reasons for doing so.
In a society where order and management needs to be maintained, there is a need to put someone in charge, a leader if you will, to ensure that things go according to the task at hand and to supervise the entire performance. It's a common idea used in many places like military and large corporations. Without this kind of hierarchy system, any group being sent out to do a task would easily fall apart. And as such, there needs to be someone to at least give the group some form of direction.
Upon entering the area labeled as the Fissure of Woe, it was mentioned beforehand that a certain individual will be assigned the task of making first contact with enemies and to lure those enemies into the group for an organized and structured attack. This, of course, is a common tactic used in the military as well, to bait enemies into falling into a common trap system where the soldiers will ambush them. However, it seems such a notion is never in the mind of the aforementioned individual, who continued on in attracting enemies when he is not supposed to. Repeated attempts to get the person to stop failed. Eventually, the group informally agreed to not assist him to minimize the risk of failure. That idea worked about one-third of the way to our destination when he died. However, the individual refused to leave and instead stayed where he would constantly harass remaining party members. While the harassment was in text and in compass pings and drawings, the group continued on, battling against the odds and surviving twice.
But while the group eventually died due to a mistake on my part, it was proven to that individual twice that he alone cannot falter a group whose teamwork made the trip most interesting. There was little to no communications between the remaining members and everyone knew what they are supposed to do. No voice communication software was even involved.
For whatever reasons there are, it's bothersome and tiresome that there are those who do nothing but bring grief and sabotage a party's run. Sadly, people have to live with this fact and try to avoid those who are like this. But perhaps the worst part of all this is the fact that nothing can be done other than simply avoiding them. The administrators cannot deal with them unless it is a serious matter. And while the problem is serious enough for the casual gamers, it isn't according to the administrators. I can only hope that parties I join in the future are sensible, as it is risky and is no guarantee the party I end up on is of any good.
For this entry, I engrave Mystic Fear (aka Peoples Killer) into the stone tablet of morons, assholes, pricks, fucktards, idiots, dumbasses, and whatever kinds of degrading adjectives you can think of. And with good reasons for doing so.
In a society where order and management needs to be maintained, there is a need to put someone in charge, a leader if you will, to ensure that things go according to the task at hand and to supervise the entire performance. It's a common idea used in many places like military and large corporations. Without this kind of hierarchy system, any group being sent out to do a task would easily fall apart. And as such, there needs to be someone to at least give the group some form of direction.
Upon entering the area labeled as the Fissure of Woe, it was mentioned beforehand that a certain individual will be assigned the task of making first contact with enemies and to lure those enemies into the group for an organized and structured attack. This, of course, is a common tactic used in the military as well, to bait enemies into falling into a common trap system where the soldiers will ambush them. However, it seems such a notion is never in the mind of the aforementioned individual, who continued on in attracting enemies when he is not supposed to. Repeated attempts to get the person to stop failed. Eventually, the group informally agreed to not assist him to minimize the risk of failure. That idea worked about one-third of the way to our destination when he died. However, the individual refused to leave and instead stayed where he would constantly harass remaining party members. While the harassment was in text and in compass pings and drawings, the group continued on, battling against the odds and surviving twice.
But while the group eventually died due to a mistake on my part, it was proven to that individual twice that he alone cannot falter a group whose teamwork made the trip most interesting. There was little to no communications between the remaining members and everyone knew what they are supposed to do. No voice communication software was even involved.
For whatever reasons there are, it's bothersome and tiresome that there are those who do nothing but bring grief and sabotage a party's run. Sadly, people have to live with this fact and try to avoid those who are like this. But perhaps the worst part of all this is the fact that nothing can be done other than simply avoiding them. The administrators cannot deal with them unless it is a serious matter. And while the problem is serious enough for the casual gamers, it isn't according to the administrators. I can only hope that parties I join in the future are sensible, as it is risky and is no guarantee the party I end up on is of any good.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Sabotage and Technobabble
This'll be technical for a bit so if you know nothing of computer hardware, you can skip this portion.
Lately I've gotten the upgrade bug and am seeking to upgrade the hardware. However, I ran into a problem when I could not find any hardware that supports a particular series of processor, namely the Athlon64 X2. At first it seem weird that only boards with nForce4 chipsets would be able to use the X2 processors from the start. But I later realize that, after visiting a technical forum, that this is not entirely true. In fact, some nForce3 motherboards are supporting the X2 series with, as AMD has mentioned, just a BIOS upgrade. This came as a great relief as I did not want to dive in that much into the world of PCI Express where the upgrade would then cost me more than anticipated. So far, the only hardware that will be replaced is the CPU and motherboard, along with the heatsink since I have no proper heatsink for an Athlon64.
I nearly panicked when I realize that I may be screwed over when I have set my sight on a motherboard make and model. But thankfully things are starting to look better. At the moment, the lowest price for a X2 CPU is $435. Combined with a motherboard would make the grand total of over $555, not including the heatsink to cool the CPU down. However, recent news say that there is a new CPU model being released to be slated at a price of $345 (in 1,000 quantities). This'll be a welcome thing for me as it'll make getting a X2 CPU more affordable and opens up the potential for overclocking. Hopefully the upgrade won't delay me by a lot. I'm anxious to get my hands on the lower-end X2 and will be relieved when I finally get it installed.
Now on to different matters. In my time in playing Guild Wars, I've come across players of varying types. Some good, some bad, some I've no opinions of. You pass by them every time much like passing by another person out on the streets. For this blog entry, I'll be focusing on a particular player whose beliefs does not work or blend with others. I have contemplated for a while as to whether or not to start publishing names of people who has shown intelligence lower and beyond zero IQ.
Enter "Ro The Rock," a warrior who believes to strike while the enemies are standing and waste no time to do so. He also expects everyone to come along and help him before he is killed, which is quite unlikely given the location the party was in. In the game, there are two high level areas called the Underworld and Fissure of Woe, both of which costs 1,000 gold to enter and features enemeies with levels no lower than 24. Upon arriving at the Underworld, the area is littered with Battle Aatxe, a minotaur derivatives set at level 29. Hits from these enemies range in the 150 and up, of which no player can single-handedly stand going against one of these creatures.
After virtually sabotaging the entire run for the whole party, the person left after dying. It was then that the person deserves no respect nor deserves any cooperation from anyone. He would resort to using foul language whereas I continued hassling the person via private message. If any, that person ought to live the rest of the gaming days without anyone else to assist him, ever.
So I hope this list will only be a small one and I hope that people may spread the word about this bad individual. In the game, it's more about teamwork than about being Rambo.
Lately I've gotten the upgrade bug and am seeking to upgrade the hardware. However, I ran into a problem when I could not find any hardware that supports a particular series of processor, namely the Athlon64 X2. At first it seem weird that only boards with nForce4 chipsets would be able to use the X2 processors from the start. But I later realize that, after visiting a technical forum, that this is not entirely true. In fact, some nForce3 motherboards are supporting the X2 series with, as AMD has mentioned, just a BIOS upgrade. This came as a great relief as I did not want to dive in that much into the world of PCI Express where the upgrade would then cost me more than anticipated. So far, the only hardware that will be replaced is the CPU and motherboard, along with the heatsink since I have no proper heatsink for an Athlon64.
I nearly panicked when I realize that I may be screwed over when I have set my sight on a motherboard make and model. But thankfully things are starting to look better. At the moment, the lowest price for a X2 CPU is $435. Combined with a motherboard would make the grand total of over $555, not including the heatsink to cool the CPU down. However, recent news say that there is a new CPU model being released to be slated at a price of $345 (in 1,000 quantities). This'll be a welcome thing for me as it'll make getting a X2 CPU more affordable and opens up the potential for overclocking. Hopefully the upgrade won't delay me by a lot. I'm anxious to get my hands on the lower-end X2 and will be relieved when I finally get it installed.
Now on to different matters. In my time in playing Guild Wars, I've come across players of varying types. Some good, some bad, some I've no opinions of. You pass by them every time much like passing by another person out on the streets. For this blog entry, I'll be focusing on a particular player whose beliefs does not work or blend with others. I have contemplated for a while as to whether or not to start publishing names of people who has shown intelligence lower and beyond zero IQ.
Enter "Ro The Rock," a warrior who believes to strike while the enemies are standing and waste no time to do so. He also expects everyone to come along and help him before he is killed, which is quite unlikely given the location the party was in. In the game, there are two high level areas called the Underworld and Fissure of Woe, both of which costs 1,000 gold to enter and features enemeies with levels no lower than 24. Upon arriving at the Underworld, the area is littered with Battle Aatxe, a minotaur derivatives set at level 29. Hits from these enemies range in the 150 and up, of which no player can single-handedly stand going against one of these creatures.
After virtually sabotaging the entire run for the whole party, the person left after dying. It was then that the person deserves no respect nor deserves any cooperation from anyone. He would resort to using foul language whereas I continued hassling the person via private message. If any, that person ought to live the rest of the gaming days without anyone else to assist him, ever.
So I hope this list will only be a small one and I hope that people may spread the word about this bad individual. In the game, it's more about teamwork than about being Rambo.
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