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    <title>NeoIcaria</title>
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    <id>tag:neoicaria.com,2008-01-04://1</id>
    <updated>2008-07-29T16:15:09Z</updated>
    
    <generator uri="http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/">Movable Type Publishing Platform 4.01</generator>

<entry>
    <title>Review: No More Heroes</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://neoicaria.com/2008/04/review-no-more-heroes.html" />
    <id>tag:neoicaria.com,2008://1.11</id>

    <published>2008-04-12T23:01:00Z</published>
    <updated>2008-07-29T16:15:09Z</updated>

    <summary>Because I Killed Them Ah, I remember the old days. The days when I was just a humble boy back on the farm. The days when I&apos;d wake up extra early to feed the chickens before grabbing my books and...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Doomami</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="crash" label="crash" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="lightsaber" label="lightsaber" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="nomoreheroes" label="No More Heroes" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="oldmanwickerman" label="Old Man Wickerman" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="travistouchdown" label="Travis Touchdown" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
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        <![CDATA[<p><strong><em>Because I Killed Them</em></strong></p>
<p>Ah, I remember the old days. The days when I was just a humble boy back on the farm. The days when I'd wake up extra early to feed the chickens before grabbing my books and rushing off to school. The days when I knew better than to play in Old Man Wickerman's yard. The days when if somebody asked me what game genre was my favorite, I'd say RPGs and then continuing to milk the cows. But alas, those days are long behind me now.</p>
<p><strong></strong> </p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>Used to be a game wasn't done until the total game time read 99:99. But when game creators keep throwing Devil May Crys, Kingdom Hearts, and God of Wars at you, what's a poor farmerboy to do? Our latest entry is No More Heroes for the Nintendo Wii.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In No More Heroes, you take on the roll of crude otaku turned assassin Travis Touchdown. Now I know what you're saying: "Travis Touchdown? That's the best name ever!" Well, it's not but it is in the top ten (right behind Kim Possible I believe). Now our man Travis is ranked number eleven in the assassin list but he wants to be number one. So how do you suppose he'll get there? Think about it, it's pretty obvious.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Travis wields a beam katana which is like a lightsaber but it isn't a lightsaber because lightsabers are copyrighted. So you'll hack through enemies not by flailing your arms like an idiot as the Wii Remote would lead you to believe but by smashing the hell out of the A-button. Keep this up and you'll widdle your foes' health down until you can execute a finishing maneuver by, well, flailing your arm in the correct direction. It's the Wii, you knew it was coming.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Storywise, No More Heroes is no Zelda, but then again only the billion Zelda games can live up to those standards, right? Still, it's pretty weak but at the same time, you have to applaud the fun writing the script must've been. The 4th wall is broken, some plot points are deliberatly left open, and just about every line ever uttered sounds like it was taken from some B-grade action movie. My favorite: "If challenge had a taste, you'd be quite delicious."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The gameplay is pretty fun but it does have it's down times. You take on the bosses in ten fun battles but to get to them you have to earn enough cash by doing minigames. Think of Shadow of the Colossus, but instead of traversing a continent, to stall for time, you have to mow the lawn or pick up cans. Yeah. Don't get me wrong, if your the type of gamer who loves tedious minigames and Wii Play just isn't pointless enough for you, you'll love filling up cars with gas.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Another stumble block is the graphics. While the characters sport unique and great designs, backgrounds are amongst the worst of this generation of games (you may know worse but I play games that aren't supposed to be crappy). They really sport a Gamecube vibe that's a bit embarrassing in today's gaming world. You may not care how much the wall you're about to crash your motorcycle in looks like cardboard but in all honesty, you should. </p>
<p>And while we're on the subject, what's up with that damn motorcycle? Granted, crashing makes the game a bit more realistic, but that novelty wears off fast. I mean, if there's no cool explosion or wreckage as a reward, falling off your bike everytime you slightly hit that wall is going to piss you off. Trust me.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sound is pretty forgettable. Most melodies in the background sound relatively plain and fail to stand out. There is this one real song that's played in every store in the game but it shows up way too often to be considered special. I'll admit, the fake in-game videogame music (played after each boss fight) is pretty clever and honestly, my favorite of the music selection.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now some players may be mad if I end this review with whining about the dumb minigames and not mention the assassination missions. Fine, you win! You can also make some much needed dough by taking on missions that are pretty much the same equation but different variables. Go kill a swarm of guys over here or go kill a swarm of guys over there, or my favorite, go kill this one important guy but he'll be surrounded by a swarm of guys. Hacking through foes is admittedly fun with the four beam katanas available but if you're annoyed by repetition, prepare to pull your hair out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Final Review Summary: No More Heroes is a good game with some bad points that fans will most likely not tell you about when they reccommend the game to you. Because everybody says "Kingdom Hearts II is awesome" and not "Kingdom Hearts II is awesome but I have to admit, the Little Mermaid parts were horrible". But unlike the Mermaid crap, battle swarms of foes or cleaning grafitti for money isn't optional.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: '-editor-proxy';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Score:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: '-editor-proxy';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">7th Ranked Assassin out of 10</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh and Sylvia's a total bitch. I don't mean that in a degrading women way, I mean that in Sylvia's a bitch way.</p>]]>
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>Preview: Saw the Game</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://neoicaria.com/2008/01/preview-saw-the-game.html" />
    <id>tag:neoicaria.com,2008://1.7</id>

    <published>2008-01-31T05:31:52Z</published>
    <updated>2008-01-31T20:45:39Z</updated>

    <summary>Didn&apos;t Saw that One Coming Word on the street has it that the heart-warming Saw movies are crossing over to video games. Well, I have to say, since I&apos;ve seen about twelve minutes of one of the movies, I&apos;m a pretty huge fan....</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Doomami</name>
        
    </author>
    
        <category term="Previews" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" />
    
    <category term="preview" label="preview" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
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    <category term="puppetsarentthatscary" label="puppets aren&apos;t that scary" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="saw" label="saw" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="trapman" label="trapman" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    <category term="traps" label="traps" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
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        <![CDATA[<span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><img alt="Saw_Logo.jpg" src="http://neoicaria.com/images/Saw_Logo.JPG" width="270" height="228" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span><p><strong><em>Didn't Saw that One Coming</em></strong></p>
<p>Word on the street has it that the heart-warming Saw movies are crossing over to video games. Well, I have to say, since I've seen about twelve minutes of one of the movies, I'm a pretty huge fan. Dare I say, the biggest fan ever? Yet even I have my doubts for this movie tie in.</p>]]>
        <![CDATA[<p>First off, I have to wonder what type of genre Saw would fit into. Fighting comes to mind off the bat but they probably don't have a big enough roster for the inevitable Marvel vs Saw release. So scratch that. The most likely genre that I can think of is Puzzles. I mean isn't that what the entire movies were about? That's what I've gathered from the commercials at least.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I find it a bit ironic that the game is aiming for release on the PS3 and Xbox360 given that it would be perfect for the Wii. I mean you can pump the controller up and down to simulate stabbing through your cellmate's gut to get the key and the Wii's made so that your cursor will wiggle uncontrollably, thus simulating fear-induced shivers! Oh well, at least there's always Wii Fit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So I'm going to go ahead and predict that the game will be nothing more than a series of puzzles (I'm sure some cutscenes or mission briefing or some other bs will be in the middle to help draw out playtime). Nothing wrong with puzzle games but I don't see the timed-cheese-grater-on-your-genitals trap as something that can be solved more than twice before the solution becomes obvious, thus killing game replay value. So let's take the time to make this game sound as interesting as possible, shall we?</p><p><br class="webkit-block-placeholder" /></p><p></p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image"><img src="http://neoicaria.com/images/tetris.jpg" width="240" height="180" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" /><p style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: -editor-proxy;"> Saw: the Movie: The Game</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: -editor-proxy;"><br class="webkit-block-placeholder" /></span></p></form><p>From the makers of other video games, why not, comes <strong>Saw: the Movie: THE GAME</strong>! Play as the idiotic Detective Trapman as he stumbles within twelve different traps! Several of which involve <strong>saw</strong>ing off a body limb! Just like in those movies you <strong>Saw</strong>! Scared yet? You will be when you hear the accompanying spoooooky music such as "The Addams Family", "Scooby Doo Where are You", and "Theme from <strong>Saw</strong>"! Not to mention a boss battle that will leave you...in stitches!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Final Preview Summary: Video games are getting pricey lately. Luckily this one will be in a ten dollar bin real soon. It may be on the bottom so dig for it a little.</p>]]>
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>You know what really grinds my gears?</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://neoicaria.com/2008/01/you-know-what-really-grinds-my.html" />
    <id>tag:neoicaria.com,2008://1.3</id>

    <published>2008-01-05T03:11:19Z</published>
    <updated>2008-01-05T03:33:33Z</updated>

    <summary>Movable Type. The very foundation of this blog annoys me to no end. It relentlessly stabs hot-sauce coated daggers into my eyes. What should be simple has become a chore. Technology truly has advanced too far, that now only the...</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Max</name>
        
    </author>
    
    <category term="frustration" label="frustration" scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" />
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://neoicaria.com/">
        <![CDATA[Movable Type. The very foundation of this blog annoys me to no end. It relentlessly stabs hot-sauce coated daggers into my eyes. What should be simple has become a chore. Technology truly has advanced too far, that now only the wisest of robot masters may operate it. It shouldn't be this difficult to change the look of this layout but there's seemingly no documentation. Why did I think this would be a good program? Well, I actually saw someone else using it, someone who I now see had it professionally designed. <div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder" /></div><div>Right now it works and it doesn't look like total ass, and I'm not sure how much more I can care at the moment.<br /><div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder" /></div><div>Truly 2008 has come...</div></div></div>]]>
        
    </content>
</entry>

<entry>
    <title>This is a test</title>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://neoicaria.com/2008/01/this-is-a-test.html" />
    <id>tag:neoicaria.com,2008://1.2</id>

    <published>2008-01-04T20:40:41Z</published>
    <updated>2008-01-04T20:41:11Z</updated>

    <summary>Just a test, jackasses....</summary>
    <author>
        <name>Max</name>
        
    </author>
    
    
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://neoicaria.com/">
        Just a test, jackasses. 
        
    </content>
</entry>

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