The KB Life

Review: Ouya is finally here! Oh no, it’s only okay…

Kirrus — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:04:00 +0000

So I finally got a chance to sit down and play the Ouya, courtesy of Binkley, as mine hasn’t arrived yet. The Ouya is the new hyped console system that runs the Android operating system. I won’t go over the specs but you can always check them out here. The thought of a console that runs Android apps has me really excited with the possibility, that maybe it can bridge the gap between the casual and hardcore world, and open up new possibilities for developers. However playing around with it I was kind of underwhelmed, but it does have a lot of potential it can grow into.

The system itself is sleek and tiny. It fits in the palm of your hand and takes up barely any room. Powering it up it’s the world of android at your finger tips. For those unfamiliar with the Android or mobile world, it’s kind of like an entire console built around Xbox Live or PSN.

You search games, download them, and play them on the console. One thing right off though was in my initial set up; the screen resolution wasn’t set up on my TV correctly, as it didn’t fit exactly right. Being just a normal 30 inch TV that I got from Costco, this was a little disappointing. There wasn’t a recalibrate in the display settings, but I could redo the full set up procedures (again, I had borrowed this console from Binkley, so I’m sure it was calibrated for his TV) but it was a little disappointing it didn’t have some quick calibration settings.

The controller itself is somewhere between an Xbox and PS3 controller. It does feel a little cheap though, I prefer a little more weight in my control and feedback. Also a minor gripe for veteran gamers is the button names are OUYA (cute huh?) but the colors match the Xbox scheme. So when it says press A to confirm, and the color is red, it’s a little confusing for veteran Xbox players. Also the home button needs to pressed very hard and is not very responsive. The first time I pressed it I thought it didn’t function as a proper home button, but later discovered I had to really press down on it for it to work.

I will admit that my home internet connection isn’t the fastest but it took a while for things to download and populate. I shouldn’t have to wait just to see the thumbnails for games.

Strangely enough, after you select a game to download, after it’s downloaded, you still need to click install. Why would you download a game and not install it? That might be a requirement from Android, but it seems strange.

Weird console quirks and non-polished UI aside, what makes or break a console is the games. And right now it’s kind of broken. The current issue with the OUYA is there aren’t a whole lot of games that you want to play right now. Most of the games are just ports of Indy or Android games with console controls slapped on. It’s cool that there’s Final Fantasy 3, Canabault, and League of Evil on it, but really these are all games I already played and own on other consoles. Most of the other games are just Indy junk of questionable quality. Also it’s abundantly clear that many of these games are mobile games that aren’t optimized or made for the consoles. References to “tap” in tutorials, vertical screen modes, and extra buttons on screen that you can’t select just scream quick ports. Beyond games there are other apps, and having Twitch.tv stream to my real TV is nice. If anything this is probably a better Roku box.

Overall the OUYA is currently a disappointment, but I do feel its chock full potential. A few UI updates, a few focused developers making some quality games, (hmmm maybe me?) and this could be a great little machine. It’ll need a little while to get to that point though, we’ll see if the Game Stick has a better debut out of the gate.

True Justice & The True Justice Drinking Game (TM)

Binkley — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:00:33 +0000

Thanks to Netflix, I have seen the future of Steven Seagal‘s career. It’s TV, and I’m not talking about that Lawman reality show of his.

Let’s start with looking at Seagal’s credits on True Justice. Beyond being the titular star (his name appears before the title), Seagal is a writer, executive producer, and creator of the show. I cannot think of any other project where Seagal has so much creative control, and his influence definitely shows.

True Justice takes everything “we” (re: I) love about Seagal and distills it down to a pure essence. Whereas his direct to video films have a running time of 90 minutes or so, each episode of True Justice is a tight 45 minutes without commercials. As such, we get everything we would normally get in a Segal film but with none of the extra filler. Think of it as the difference between an energy drink an an energy shot. True Justice is a pure shot of Seagal every episode and for true fans every episode will leave them wanting more. (Thank goodness there’s a 2nd season of this show!)

So what is True Justice about? Seagal is Elijah Kane, the chief of SIU, a secret division of the Seattle Police Department that specializes in undercover duties. SIU works multiple cases and they are usually called in on cases that either rapidly escelate (multiple homicides, drug trafficking, serial rapist, etc.) or are unique in some other manner. Many of the episodes features the team taking on multiple cases and sometimes the cases end up linked and sometimes not (how realistic!).

There’s no “Seagal” in TEAM

Kane’s team is composed of newbie Sarah, token minority Mason, tough veteran brunette Juliet, and male renegade Sheppard guy Radner. I would discuss each of them in more detail, but this show is all about stereotypes, archetypes, and tropes. One thing I noticed about this show is that since it’s filmed in Canada (Vancouver?), there are many Asian actors and actresses in secondary roles. It’s probably the TV show I’ve seen with the most number of Asians in speaking roles even if over half of them are criminals or shady informants.

So is this show watching? That’s hard to say. Hopefully this article should be enough to convince you one way or another. I am avoiding spoilers as I want things to be a surprise to the Seagal aficionados. This show is basically an adaption of a self-insertion fan fic. I do think this is the best format to showcase Seagal and his Seagalisms as it avoids the issues that crop up in his films due to length. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I love it. In fact, I’ve created the True Justice Drinking Game (TM) to help haters and fans get through episodes of this show. (WARNING: Playing this game during the last episode of Season 1, “Payback” will probably lead to alcohol poisoning.)

The True Justice Drinking Game

Take a sip

Seagal

Kane’s Asian heritage is referenced or his knowledge of all Asian cultures helps with the case
Kane speaks Mandarin/Cantonese/Japanese/other Asian language in a scene
Kane uses an accent in a scene
Kane references black ops or his black ops background comes in useful
Kane mentions training someone
Kane wears a badge around his neck
Kane wears sunglasses or shooting glasses
Kane wears a hat or bandanna
Kane visits an informant
Kane disarms/shoots/beats someone up (another if it’s unnecessary or another lawman)

The Team

Sarah gets hazed or is called newbie, or her skills are questioned etc.
Sarah gets in trouble
A team member is saved by Seagal, another sip if it’s NOT Sarah
The team tails someone, another sip if they lose them

Production

Asian in a secondary role, take another if it’s George Takei or Tia Carrere
B-roll footage of Seattle via car or aerial shot
Obvious digital effects (fire, smoke, explosions, etc.)
Jump cut white flash edits (just 1 for each sequence/group)
Text appears telling you a vague location in Seattle/surrounding area
“Written by Steven Seagal” appears in the opening credits of an episode (him and someone else counts)
A punch or kick misses but people react as though they are hit
Seagal vision (like Shawn Spencer from Psych‘s detective vision only…Seagal-ier) / crime flashback

Seagal often shoots from vehicles to conserve energy.

Take a gulp

Seagal

Kane cheats death in a ridiculous manner (dodges bullet at 6ft, etc)
Kane dodges an ex flame/lover
Kane has a model girlfriend at the end of an episode

The Team

Radner/Shepard loses his temper and starts a fight / goes too far fighting a suspect / in too deep
Radner/Shepard volunteers to go undercover in a strip club / deal with the ladies
Radner/Shepard gets shot down by a woman
Mason/Token Black Guy talks about divorce, his wife, or problems meeting up with her, their rocky relationship, etc.
Juliet/Brunette girl gets angry at someone
Sarah volunteers to go undercover
Team members go undercover in a strip club or dance club
Team members go on a stakeout
A team member has a personal tie to the case

Production

Obvious continuity error (costume change, etc.)
The camera shakes during non-action scene or ridiculous shaky cam during an action scene
A gunfight at the beginning of the episode (8min in or less)
A gunfight lasts longer than 2min
Split-screen shot
Subtitles under credits
Obvious recycled footage
Shot of shell casings hitting the ground
Seagal’s political/environmental philosophies are a plot point
Scene cuts instead of showing Seagal running OR another character pursues a character instead of Kane

If you play during this episode, you may get alcohol poisoning.

Finish the Drink!

Kane sings/plays the Blues

Kane polishes a katana / uses one

Kane gets wounded/hurt

Kane has a beard

A team member leaves the show (temporarily or permanently)

Triple or quadruple split-screen shot

Seagal looks at the camera

Cultural Wasteland: A Mini-Doc about the 909 Film Festival

Binkley — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:43:07 +0000

We here at The KB Life have been busy helping IE Battlegrounds with their streaming. We’ll be back with new convention videos soon enough (summer con season is almost upon us).

In the meantime, here’s a mini-doc that Binkley worked on for the 909 Film Festival. Check it out and don’t forget the festival is open to ANYONE so totally submit if you’re a filmmaker (or animator) of any genre!

Cultural Wasteland- A Mini-Doc about the 909 Film Festival from Russ Gumbel on Vimeo.

Cosplay @ PMX 2012

Binkley — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 04:42:18 +0000

Ok so Binkley has been busy with classes and Guild Wars 2 (REAL TALK!).

With PMX around the corner, check out this video from the 2011 archives!

Jim Lujan @ Comic Con 2012

Binkley — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:25:49 +0000

Binkley recently caught up with local Pomona animator Jim Lujan at Comic Con 2012 of all places. Check out this candid interview and be sure to check out Jim’s page and YoutTube channel!

You may recognize Jim’s works from the 909 Film Festival, where he won Best Animation!

Cosplay @ Anime Expo 2012

Binkley — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 22:25:23 +0000

Check out this brief video featuring some of the more unique cosplay we saw at Anime Expo!

Rage of Bahamut & Blood Brothers @ Anime Expo 2012

Binkley — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:31:56 +0000

Are you looking for some new (FREE) games to play on your Android or iOS device?

Well then look no further to Rage of Bahamut and Blood Brothers by Mobage Games! Check out Kirrus’ preview in the video.

Cosplay @ AM^2 2012

Binkley — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:21:57 +0000

This will probably be the last video for a bit as we go through our summer convention schedule. Follow our personal twitters for updates.

In this video we encounter My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fans, Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2, female Phoenix Wright, and Dragon Kid from Tiger x Bunny! (Binkley stalked this cosplayer starting from lunch! True story. XP)

Cosplay @ Long Beach Comic Con 2011

Binkley — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:40:07 +0000

Yes, we (and especially Binkley) are back from the dead (more or less). Let’s all take a moment to congradulate Binkley on surviving multiple hospital visits…..OK, we’re good to go now right? (Binkley wants to assure everyone he was never in life threatening danger.)

Anyways, we’ll be hitting the summer cons for Southern California looking for cool/unique cosplayers. In preparation for that, we have a couple videos from the archives that Binkley has been wanting to publish since before he got sick.

This particular cosplay video features gender bending Riddler, Punisher, the infamous Jedi Elvis, AND Binkley janking his way through an interview! What more could you ask for?

Adventures in MMO Land Episode 1: Welcome Young Padawan

Kirrus — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:30:35 +0000

With a lot of hype and fanfare, Star Wars: the Old Republic has graced us mere mortals and having a love of star wars and video games I decided to take the plunge.

OMG, the MMO it's finally here!

Growing up nerd, and having been a gamer my whole life I think it may surprise people who know me that I have never played an MMO in my life before this. Well, I’ve never played World of Warcraft at least, THE MMO. I had always been turned off by Everquest, Ultima Online, and every other pre-WoW MMO. It always seemed blocky and slow, and when I game I really didn’t want to be beholden to 10 other people waiting around. I like to game when just two or three others, and elite delta six team of adventurers if you will. Though I have dabbled a bit in similar genres playing Maple Story, Dungeon Fighter Online, and Audition, the dancing MMO. Yes there is one, so go bust a move now. But I have never played the big one, and this is kind of shameful as my mark as professional game designer so I decided that with my love of Star Wars and Old Republic promising to be WoW plus more, and one very pushy friend who wanted me to play with him all the time named Matt, I forked over the 70 dollars and entered a galaxy far far away. After taking to attempts and about an hour an a half to install, 21 gigs? WTF? I was finally able to enter the game.
After creating a character, which I actually thought had an underwhelming choice of options (see the WWE Smackdown games for the most robust character creator ever) I made my first character ever. Prayer, a sith warrior that I was going to be the baddest most kick ass dark lord this die of Darth Maul, minus the being chopped in half thing. Also she was pretty hot.

Time to rock this universe

If I was going to stare at some character for hundreds of hours on end, it was going to be a girl. Also I kind of wondered who would actually ever want to not play with light sabers or be a bounty hunter. Like who would want to be a grunt storm trooper? Kind of like the people who were shop keepers in Ultima Online. When given the ability to slay dragons and cruise the space ways, you decide you want to put and run a retail store? Apparently lots of people though. Right off the bat the game is pretty beautiful, even though I seem to be running around this dusty boring ass desert planet fighting a lot of worms. The cut scenes look great, the animation looks great, the sounds sound great, a lot of things were great. What was not so great was actually learning how to play. This game has virtually no tutorial! And here is my greatest source of frustration and gripe with this otherwise awesome game. I don’t know how to play and it really doesn’t tell me what to play. You right click on things to attack. Why is it right click? Why not left? Which power was it using? My drill sergeant Matt wanted to party up with me and chat, and I didn’t know how to just reply to that. Or equip new weapons I found, or much about anything. The game assumes you’ve played WoW and know all the previous commands from them. All 547 commands. It took me about 4 hours of play before I figured out how to even open up the Codex, which is the information guide / text tutorial buried under the mission menu.

It took me forever to find this

Why aren’t hot keys marked? I even bought the physical copy of the game but there is no manual to play. Every choice seems so permanent, and with an unrelenting Matt goading in my ear to hurry up and get to level 50 I don’t have time to make wrong choices, especially with a Jedi rebellion to crush. As I plunged into Old Republic my overall impressions are it’s a beautiful game, and it seems like a lot of fun, but really… a little help! We’ll see how it goes in my adventuring. Wish me luck.