Archive for June, 2008

The Announcement

Monday, June 30th, 2008

Last year, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. held its third Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea on May 19 and 20. The Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals are public events that allow the company to connect with gamers in a celebration of the Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft game universes and competitive Blizzard Entertainment gaming.

Rumours have been circulating way before the event that Blizzard will be announcing a new game at the event. Some speculated that based on World of Warcraft’s phenomenal success, they were going to announce World of Starcraft. Then again many said that if Blizzard released World of Starcraft, it would only canabalize World of Warcraft’s revenue.

The other speculation was StarCraft II. This made sense since the invitational was held in Korea. Korea is the Capital of StarCraft. It is the land where StarCraft is religion. StarCraft is the National Sport. They live and eat StarCraft. Don’t believe me? Check out this coverage on CNN.

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True enough, Blizzard unveiled StarCraft II, the sequel to its award-winning real-time strategy game StarCraft, at the 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event in Seoul, South Korea. The announcement took place inside the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, in front of thousands of attendees, who received a presentation that included a StarCraft II cinematic trailer and a gameplay demonstration by the development team.

Designed to be the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, StarCraft II will feature the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races, overhauled and re-imagined with Blizzard’s signature approach to game balance. Each race will be further distinguished from the others, with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making a reappearance in the game. StarCraft II will also feature a custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously.

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Fans worldwide were exhilarated. They were elated and jubilant. I was not. The game I’ve been hoping so much for was not announced. Even though I knew they were going to announce StarCraft II, I still hoped. Like a kid whose candy got taken away, I was crushed and disappointed. I didn’t really care much for StarCraft II. Life goes on, new games released, work, studies etc continues.

During the past two hectic weeks, the 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational event totally slipped past me until my cousin told me the news last night. The announcement that was made during the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational at the Porte de Versailles Convention Centre in Paris on the 28th June 2008 was none other than… DIABLO III !!!

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The world is in balance again.

“We’ve wanted to expand on the epic story and gameplay elements of the Diablo universe for some time now,” stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We know that players have also been long awaiting a return to the series, so we’re very excited to be sharing this announcement with Blizzard gamers here in Paris and around the world today.”
- Blizzard Entertainment, Press Release (29/06/08)

According to the press release, Diablo III will pick up the story twenty years after the events of Diablo II. Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal have been defeated, but the Worldstone, which once shielded the inhabitants of the world of Sanctuary from the forces of both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, has been destroyed, and evil once again stirs in Tristram.

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Diablo III will feature a custom 3D-graphics engine to render lush indoor and outdoor areas of Sanctuary with a high level of detail and vivid special effects. The game’s physics-enhanced environments will be interactive and destructible, offering traps and obstacles that create added danger for players and monsters alike. These elements, along with a new quest system and random scripted events, will be integrated into the game’s random-level generator, giving Diablo III the ultimate combination of dynamic gameplay and replayability.

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To learn more about Diablo III, please visit the official website at www.diablo3.com.

Also check out the exclusive interview with lead designer Jay Wilson on Joystiq.

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Reunion

Friday, June 27th, 2008

This arvo, I had lunch with Denise, Aliaa and Khor at Animal Orchestra, my favourite cafe. Its a shame that I found this little gem only a few weeks ago (Well technically, I’ve found this place a few years ago but never went in to try =/).

Animal Orchestra (Sic name!) is conveniently located across the road from Melbourne University and as such is a haven for students needing a shot of caffeine, juice or a quick bite. It also serves the best panini (IMHO).

A panino (pronounced /paˈnino/) is a sandwich made from a small loaf of bread, typically a ciabatta. The loaf is often cut horizontally and filled with salami, ham, meat, cheese or other food, and sometimes served hot. A grilled panino is buttered on the outside and grilled in a press.

The word “panino” [pa'ni:no] is Italian (literally meaning small bread roll), with the plural panini. “Panini” is often used in a singular sense by speakers of English and French, and pluralised catachrestically into “paninis”.

- wikipedia

Shortly after lunch, I had to go for my final exam. Hopefully I will be able to graduate now =) Shortly before my exam, I had a phone call from Antoni, an old friend from year 12 whom has just arrived in Melbourne from Tasmania. We agreed to have dinner at Ying Thai with a couple of old friends. It was nostalgic and nice.

After dinner, half went back (doesn’t really matter to me because I don’t know them anyway) and we adjourned to a cafe at the corner of Swanston Street and Little Collins Street, whose name eludes me now. We were just chatting over some beer and smoke (and no i don’t smoke; but i love drinking ^.^).

I had a little nostalgic moment about the old days when I used to hangout late and not come home, went to pubs and drink a lot, mixing with friends that smoke or take some drugs… How have things changed over the years. I count my blessings that I’m not influenced too much by my old friends from way back in high school.

I’ve always been mixing with the “bad crowd“. Don’t get me wrong, they are not bad in the sense that they are evil, it is just what society brands that stereotype. Most of my high school friends do not come from privileged backgrounds. Most have financial problems and divorced parents. It is a tough background to grow up in. Underneath those tough shell are weak emotional beings. That I know.

Bullies and gangsters in school were the kind of people i mix with. I usually stand out in the crowd because I don’t really belong there but they were the people I grew up with. I really hated it when people ask me to stop mixing with them because they are bad influence. Yes, I know, smoking, gambling, drinking aren’t exactly model behaviours. But sometimes, when you have peered under the hood, you’ll find that they are as kind or even more so than the average society at large.

But, I think I’m going off tangent again >.> How I missed the old days. Then again, I’m happy with my life now in a way. I have a very understanding girlfriend, great friends, a roof above my head, what more can I ask? Hmmm, actually, I need a job =p

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Creepy Morning

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

The alarm rang for the 13th time this morning. It has always been a daily battle for me. I’ve always set my alarm to go off at about three hours before whatever event or appointment starts. For example, lunch appointment at twelve means alarm goes off at 9am. What usually happens is that I would hit the snooze button every five minutes or so for the next hour or more.

This morning is not very different. Habit of three years dies hard. When my body finally agrees to get up, I shambled my way to la salle de bain to wash myself up. Then I shambled past the living room into the kitchen to make me my usual cup of coffee.

This is where it gets creepy. There were half empty mugs and half eaten food on the coffee table in the living room. I stepped into the kitchen and noticed a full, untouched cup of warm Milo, empty plate and toasts in the oven toaster. My hair began to stand as it reminds me of stories of ships whose crew just vanishes living everything as they were. I walked around the apartment and realised I’m the only one home.

Creepy.

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The dreams in which I’m dying, Are the best I’ve ever had

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I’m dying
Are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It’s a very, very mad world mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what’s my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I’m dying
Are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It’s a very, very mad world … mad world
Enlarging your world
Mad world

- Mad World, Gary Jules

 

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Really love this song. This song kind of fits what I’m feeling now, the transition I’m going through. Gone were the days of being children where a simple birthday is something you really look forward to each year, whereas birthdays are merely just another day to me.

There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.

- J.K. Rowling, 2008 Harvard Graduate’s Commencement Address

Children are oblivious to the concept of existence, that they see only what they know. The old adage “Ignorance is Bliss” are words of wisdom indeed. As we grow older, we learn more “truths” to the world. Things are not as simple as they once were. Every action has a consequence.

It is really hard to find a place in this world. When everyone wakes up in the morning to go for the daily grind as simple a means to survive, one must ask is that all there is to life? Sometimes I feel that nobody really lives life anymore as they take for granted all the things that we already have. We’re always living in a society governed by a collective set of rules.

Society is very eager to place upon you sets of criteria that they deemed to be appropriate and good. Break the mold, do what you dream of! It is very to just say it. But dreams need finance (my dreams anyway) and how would i fuel my dreams? Conforming with society’s set rules to join the daily grind. Work for money to pay for expenses to enable us to live.

I suppose the world being predictable with the simple rules that lie beneath the web of complexity makes it easier for us to comprehend and exist. The world is beautiful in that sense. Sitting by my window looking out at the city skyline, draped with the orange-reddish tinge of sunset, it is beautiful indeed.

Maybe we should delve back into our inner child and just simply appreciate the simple joys and beauty of life. It is not that bad after all.

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CSS

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

The move to Mabushii.com has been kind of a success. There are still some quirks to be worked out, i.e. the stupid CSS coding. My old theme doesn’t seem to be working well with the new domain and I’ve trouble using some of the nicer themes I’ve found mainly because they are not so widget friendly.

I’ve been trying to tweak the CSS file but have bumped into a road block every single time. I will probably be learning CSS from scratch (and not using the cheating way) and reconstruct that theme to ease out the compatibility issues. Daunting but necessary i guess.

So, learning CSS is my new goal… after my final exam on Thursday that is. Speaking of Thursday, lunch @ Animal Orchestra @ 12pm anyone ^.^? You know you want to!

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Dearest Subscriber…

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Recently, I have been trying to grab more shifts to fuel my ever growing spending habits. Life is just too short. More money is always good =) That being said, I’ve been given two extra shifts this week, Monday and Wednesday AM shifts.

When I got back from work today, I was dead tired. I’ve forgotten how much more busier the Monday Wednesday and Friday shifts were compared to the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday shifts that I’m used to. But, I can’t complain when I need the money eh?

So it was a surprised seeing a parcel for me in the mail as I’ve never ordered anything recently. After ruling out explosives, Anthrax, poison and whatnot, I ripped open the mail to find a very nice surprise.

I’ve been subscribing to Atomic PC magazine recently. Atomic is a monthly Australian magazine dedicated to computing and technology, with an emphasis on modding and computer hardware. Atomic is marketed at technology enthusiasts and covers a number of topics that are not normally found in mainstream PC publications. Such topics include, but are not limited to, video card and CPU overclocking, Windows registry tweaking and programming. The magazine’s strapline is ‘Maximum Power Computing’, reflecting the broad nature of its technology content.

As a gift to one of the lucky few for subscribing to the magazine, the offered Age of Conan game for the PC. Guess who were one of the lucky few ^.^?

There will be a server maintenance tonight and on Thursday night. In addition, I will be going out on Friday night to chill out with friends as usual and might not be home on Saturday as well. So, starting Age of Conan this week wouldn’t be a good use of the 30 days of free play included. I would probably start it next week.

“Barbarism is the natural state of mankind,” the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. “Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.”
- Beyond the Black River

I’ve been reading the Chronicles of Conan recently and have been having the itch to purchase this game. It goes to show, patience and restraining temptation has it’s virtue. I’m still very much in love with Lord of the Rings Online and won’t be quitting that anytime soon unless my friends quit so yeah.

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Reincarnation

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

Bonjour tout le monde, ça va? Je suis ça va bien. Et voilà, je crée un blog nouveau avec mes amis dans leur domaine. Pourquoi je crée un blog nouveau? Parce que mon blog ancien est désordre et mes amis invitez moi.

C’est blog nouveau pour communiquer, experimer des idées, des sentiments, des secrets. Je veux crée un autre blog pour le jeux review, fiction et autre projets. C’est le blog numero quatre moi. Est-ce que c’est risqué? Est-ce que c’est une combinaison fatale? C’est de la pure superstition!

What i was trying to say was, welcome to my new blog. Is not really that new per se. I’ve just migrated my blog over from leejason86.wordpress.com to this domain. I’m still using the wordpress blogging platform, but the blog itself is actually hosted on a private domain.

This domain, mabushii is actually a pet project by my good friends David and TIffany. They have been planning to have this domain for their pet projects and the like for a long time now. They have been close friends since way back in secondary school i think. I’ve only just joined their circle of friends fairly recently, which is about three years ago if i remember correctly. (Hmmm, three years, time really flies huh?)

So being invited to join in their pet project was actually a great honour =) So what the heck does mabushii means? Mabushii is a Japanese word meaning dazzling. Originally, it was suppose to be called twohandshield.com but tiff strongly vetoed it. Sigh.

This is my blog’s fourth reincarnation. My first blog was ancient history actually. It was created a long long time ago when blogs were just surfacing. At that time, it was a private journal of some sorts. Written journals can easily be found and read but online blog provided me a sense of security. Another reason for creating that blog was because I find it much easier to type rather than write. From my first x286 computer to my current quad core PC, computers have always been a part of my life. So it is only natural that my journal be online too.

Even so, after feverishly updating for a few months, the blog sort of died. It was ancient history and I can’t really remember why it stopped except that I was going through a very emotional time in my life. When I was about sixteen, I created a second blog. It was born out of a need to express my feelings. I’ve been through alot emotionally during that time. And it was also at that time, I began to feel that I don’t belong.

I was in a school where mandarin was the main medium of instructions. Likewise, the students and by extension, friends are from very strong chinese background. Even from a very young age, I was brought up in a mostly western way. I have western style breakfast, i read English books, i listen to English music, I speak English, I watch English movies… I was the outsider in that school. I’ve earned respect, achieve many accomplishments, wield top positions in school but still, I never was able to connect with anyone in that school.

Although I’m with the “in” crowd at school, I never trusted anyone nor talk to my friends about my stuff. I guess that is the reason why I’m so secretive about myself. I don’t talk about myself alot, I rarely reveal anything about my past and the only persons that I opened up myself a little is with my girlfriends. But I digress. This second blog has been a sanctuary for me during that time. However, it sort of died when i moved to Australia half a decade ago.

Migrating to Australia is the best decision I’ve ever made. It was time to begin life anew, a fresh beginning. I’ve never ever looked back since. Reviewing my second blog early last year made be realised how moody, emo and dark that blog was. Hence, the birth of my third blog. This blog was suppose to be a new start for my blogging habits, like my move to Australia.

So i vowed that this blog will be on a more positive mood and opened to all my friends. It is a big step for me to open up pages of my life to people I care. This small glimpse into my life is all you will be getting babeh =p

So everything is going well, so why the fourth blog? I’ve been reviewing my one year old blog and realised it is a jumble of mess. There were short stories, articles, game reviews etc mixed with my normal journal posts. The blog lack direction. I felt that my small projects should be separate from my personal blog. I guess it makes more sense.

So with this new opportunity, my blog will be reincarnated for the fourth time. Fourth, such a risque number don’t you think? Well, It is just pure superstitious I guess. Never really believed in that nonsense. If you must know, I believe Chinese are the most superstitious among all the races I’ve ever known =) Well actually, it is not really a new blog in a sense as I’ve imported all the post from my previous blog to this one.

As you can see, this blog is still pretty much a work in progress. I’m still in a dilemma on whether to transfer my little projects into a new separate blog or webpage on this domain or should I just leave it be and post new projects on in a separate place. I’m temporarily parking my blog on jason.mabushii.com. I may or may not move it to jason.mabushii.com/blog and have a separate main page collating all my projects in a single page on the main domain at jason.mabushii.com.

Whao, i didn’t realised I’ve typed out so much. It was suppose to be a short post of about three to four paragraphs post. Not entirely what I had wrote in my mind. I should stop adding to this wall of text now. Cheers to another reincarnation of the blog =)

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Bundle of Joy

Sunday, June 15th, 2008

Jeudi, le douze juin, Je suis très heureux parce que j’ai …… nevermind, too lazy to write grammatically correct French after my French exam is over. So yeah, I’ve finally gotten my new bundle of joy which I’ve pre-ordered months ago. After a almost a year of waiting it is finally here. And voila, here it is.

This is the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot Limited Edition pack. It contains:

- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot game
- The Making of Metal Gear Solid 4 on Blu-ray Disc
- Official Metal Gear Solid 4 Soundtrack
- Old Snake “OLIVE DRAB” 6″ Action Figure

and as a bonus, the retailer gave me Metal Gear Saga Vol 2 DVD which covers the series and the main characters of the story, it also includes all of the trailers that had been previously released.

Playing MGS 4 with the new Dualshock 3 controller, THX Home Theatre System and Full HD Display is a pure legend … wait for it … dary experience!

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Bored

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Bored
adj feeling tired or impatient because you have lost interest in something or because you have nothing to do.
- Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary

Boredom is an emotional state experienced during periods of lack of activities or when individuals are uninterested in the activities surrounding them.
- wikipedia

Boredom has been defined by Fisher in terms of its central psychological processes: “an unpleasant, transient affective state in which the individual feels a pervasive lack of interest in and difficulty concentrating on the current activity.”
- Fisher, C. D. (1993). Boredom at work: A neglected concept. Human Relations, 46, 395–417, p. 396.

Boredom is “an affective experience associated with cognitive attentional processes.”
- Leary, M. R., Rogers, P. A., Canfield, R. W., & Coe, C. (1986). Boredom in interpersonal encounters: Antecedents and social implications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 968–975, p. 968.

These definitions make it clear that boredom arises not from a lack of things to do but from the inability to latch onto any specific activity. Nothing engages us, despite an often profound desire for engagement.

And yes, I am bored.

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Dungeons and Dragons

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

I was browsing through Borders the other day and chance across “Wizards Presents: Races and Classes“, which is a preview book for Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition book. The 4td Edition is basically sort of a reboot for the venerable series which is attributed to the beginnings of the entire role-playing game industry.

Further researching I’ve found out the the 4th edition will be releasing this Saturday. I myself have never played a single dice roll’s worth of Dungeons and Dragons, though it has always intrigued me. So much so that I’ve actually bought the three 3rd edition core rulebooks just for the heck of it. I love pouring through the descriptions and rules as is gives me insight into how modern role-playing games on PC and Consoles came into being.

I’ve always heard of Dungeons and Dragons ever since I was six, though I’ve never had the privilege of growing up with people interested in D&D. There was a few times when I was actively searching out for groups to join in but it was to no avail. Being born in an Asian country, it will be a miracle to find another that have heard of D&D. The same could be said for Warhammer.

The closest thing I’ve ever gotten into D&D was in Neverwinter Nights I. I remembered role-playing a druid on a RP Persistent World and have taken part in a conflict that broke the little town into two factions and eventually got outcast with my compatriots. However, it is no where near the depth of a true pen and paper version of the game.

The 4th edition promises to make the rules simpler and easier to get into while retaining the depth. Hopefully, someday, I would have a chance to experience it. Someday…

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