Dr Horrible Goes 8-Bit

The second and third acts of the previously mentioned 8-bit-game adaptation of Dr Horrible have been posted.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Game

Nathan Fillion alerted Alison to this hilarious video of an imaginary 8-bit game adaptation of (the first act of) Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog via Twitter. The music is the best part. Enjoy.

Dragon*Con 2009: Post 1

I know: I'm a bad, bad man* for not posting the 250 or so photos we took at Dragon*Con this year. I plan to get around to it, really. In the meantime, I thought our readers would enjoy seeing some details of the creation of one of the more impressive costumes we saw at the con: Bioshock's Big Daddy.

* And not in a Leroy Brown kind of way.

Throwin' Frag!

There's recently been some chatter on the interwebs about the possible theatrical adaptation of the Gears of War game franchise. Alison and I, being fans of the game, can't help casting the characters in this hypothetical film in our heads. So here's what we've come up with:

• Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Marcus Fenix. Johnson has the right look, certainly. Plus, Marcus is quite terse---once, in flight school, he was laconic---so Johnson's questionable acting talent wouldn't hold him back.
  
• Adam Baldwin as Dominic Santiago. With Baldwin's experience as Jayne Cobb, he clearly can carry off both the action and the comedy requisite of the character.
• Michael Clark Duncan as Augustus Cole. He's both huge and enormous. Add a little 'tude, and that's everything you need to play the "Cole Train."
• Alan Tudyk as Damon Baird. He's blond, hilarious, and has experience in POW/hostage acting.
• R. Lee Ermey as Victor Hoffman. Seriously, whom else could you cast?

So, what do you think of this list? Do you have any suggestions for Anya, Kim, Tai, or other more minor characters? Whom would you cast in Gears of War: The Motion Picture?

Forza 3

Speaking of the Xbox 360, I'm very excited about all the features of the upcoming Forza Motorsport 3. Is it October yet?

Even Felicia

Even Felicia Day looks silly when playing with Microsoft's new Natal full-body interface for the Xbox 360. Keep that in mind when considering what you would look like.

DJ Hero

Are you bored with your fake guitar, fake drums, and fake microphone?  How about a fake turntable?  That's right, DJ Hero is coming.  

Lessons Newton Taught Us: Furniture Exceptions

One of our rules proscribing Newton's behavior:

The dog is allowed on all furniture except the DDR mats.

The Guild Aligns with Microsoft

It seems that the second season of Felicia Day's web series The Guild will appear on Microsoft's online video service.  This development means that each episode will be available on the Zune, on MSN, andthrough Xbox Live a few weeks before becoming available at The Guild's official site.  This news also means that Day won't have to ask for donations in order to be able to pay to "film" the show.

Update:  The first ep of the second season is available now;  we just watched it on our Xbox (and the TV that Nick so graciously gave us).

Sisters, Again

Ashly came by a week or so ago, and she and Alison had a girls' day at the mall.  They also found time to fit in some Super Mario Brothers on Alison's Nintendo Entertainment System.

If this photo looks familar to you, that's because I posted one that was eerily similar about 6 months ago.

See Ya Later

The uncreatively named Gears of War 2 arrived today, so don't expect to see many posts from us for the next week or so.

Obama Advertises in Paradise City

Check it out: Barack Obama is advertising on virtual billboards in Burnout Paradise.

Gears of Conflict Resolution

Fans of the rather violent game Gears of War might enjoy the latest Penny Arcade.

Control(ler) Freak

Allow me to review the Xbox 360 controllers we own:

• Standard, wired.
• Standard, wireless.
• Steering wheel, with pedals.
• Dance mat (2).
• Guitar.
• Drum kit.
• Microphone.

What do you think the chances are that I can successfully play DDR with the steering wheel? How about Gears of War with the drum kit?

Blisters and Calluses

For many years, I've had large and thick calluses on my hands, from numerous hours of weight training and cycling. All the CrossFittery I've engaged in over the last 20 months has not only made them bigger and thinker, but also caused them to spread to odd locations, such as my inner wrists. Now, thanks to 2 days of driving through New Jersey at over 100 miles/hour and 2 nights of pretend drumming, I have calluses where I never did before. And nascent blisters to boot.

Sisters

During Ashley's recent visit, she and Alison independently arrived at nearly identical outfits one morning. I took this photo of them that night, as they played Alison's first-generation Nintendo. Look how cute they are!

General Hardware Failure

The Red Ring of Death has struck my Xbox 360 down for a second time. And just when I needed Forza to practice for my upcoming HPDE class. Curses!

Does this Guitar Come with Training Wheels?

Those of you who enjoy playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band---at last count, that was at least 66% of our 6 regular readers---might be interested in this Wired article about how the games are inspiring their players to learn real instruments. Hunh.

Oh By Gob, I'b Sig

I think it's safe to say that I'm seriously ill, given that the effort required to turn the steering wheel while playing Forza 2 wore me out, and I had to take a break.

The fevered dream I experienced during my nap this afternoon also indicates that the virus infecting my respiratory system is no pansy strain. In said dream, Stewie and Brian Griffin tooled about in a Miata that had had an RX-8's 2-rotor Wankel engine dropped into it. Brian was driving, of course, since Stewie is too young to be licensed. Come to think of it, swapping a 2-rotor into an MX-5 isn't that crazy. As for a 3-rotor, only a madman would do that.

Game Review: Forza Motorsport 2

Regular readers have likely sighed with relief lately, having been given a respite from new posts for the first couple of weeks of this year. The reason for my absence from the blogosphere, and the reason that most of my posts since my return have been automobile-related, was my absolute addiction to playing Forza Motorsport 2 on our Xbox 360. Forza 2 is a a racing-simulation game, which means every effort has been made to make the driving experience as realistic as possible. To add to the realism, I purchased the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel (and pedals). This wheel not only has rumble, like the normal 360 controller, but also features force feedback, which is invaluable for telling the driver what the car is doing. Following is my review of the game, as used with the wheel.

What I liked:

• Perhaps the most impressive feature of this game is the modeling of the vehicle dynamics. Every aspect of the behavior of each vehicle is included: power, weight, weight distribution, drag, downforce, wheel weight, tire friction, camber, caster, toe, tire width, tire compound, tire temperature, and so on.
  
• Additionally, you can see all this modeling going on by turning on the telemetry. Huge amounts of data are available, which you can monitor live, while driving---good luck with that---or afterwards during a replay.
  
• Did I not mention the replay feature? After each race you can watch---and even save---a replay of your performance. The replay features multiple camera angles, both onboard and off. Some algorithm is used to select which camera you see when. Most of the time the camera choice is good, though sometimes what you actually want to observe---the car you are about to pass, say---is offscreen. Oh, and you can also take photos of your car mid-race via the replay feature.
  
• About 300 cars are available in the game when you buy it, and additional vehicles can be downloaded for a few bucks from Xbox Live. All these automobiles are immediately available to drive in arcade mode. In career mode, most of the cars must be unlocked as you accumulate winnings. What's more, because of all the detail in the physics modeling, each car behaves differently. It's not just that one car is faster than another. You can also feel the difference between front-, rear- and all-wheel drive. You can tell if the car is front-, mid-, or rear-engined. Indeed, you can easily discern changes in performance from modifying or tuning the car.
• That's right, you can swap out or add parts on each car: wheels, tires, wings, dams, brakes, dampers, anti-roll bars, exhaust systems, camshafts, and on and on.
• You can tune the cars, too. You can adjust suspension settings (camber, toe, ride height, and so on), downforce, brake pressure and bias, swaybar stiffness, tire pressure, and more.
• The appearance of the cars can be heavily customized as well. The exterior can be painted or covered with vinyl graphics, which is very important to superficial people such as myself.
• A reasonable number of tracks are available in the game as bought, and more can be downloaded for XBL for a small fee.
• Each car is given a performance index (PI) according to its speed, acceleration, braking, handling and such. The PI changes as you mod the vehicle. Cars with similar PIs are grouped into classes, which allows for fair-ish competition between very different automobiles.
  
• The game includes race series (of 3 or 4 races) designed for cars that are, in some way, similar. There are series for cars of each class, cars with a certain amount of power, cars below or above given weights, cars from different countries or continents, cars of specific make or model, cars over a certain age, cars with certain engine locations or configuratins, and so on. All this variety keeps the competition fresh and interesting.
  
• The game includes great multiplayer support. You can play split-screen with 2 drivers (like Alison and I do), system link with up to 8, or go online and compete with people all across the world.
  
• Forza makes great use of the rumble feature of the Xbox 360 controller. You can not just hear but feel when you drive over curbs, crash into barriers, or even shift gears. This feature is one of the reasons I dislike one of the Seabring circuits. That track's built partially out of concrete slabs, with 1-inch gaps between the slabs. Driving across it produces an annoying rhythmic rumble in the controller.
• The game also uses the force feedback feature of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel to good effect. With the wheel, you can feel if you are understeering, detect torque steer from FWD or AWD vehicles, and tell if you are drifting. I find the force feedback not just immersive but terribly informative.
  

What I disliked:

• All the races take place during the day in clear weather. I'd like drive at night or in the rain, too.
  
• Many of the cars that can be won in the game cannot be painted/vinyled or can only be slightly visually altered.
  

Overall, because I am a car guy, I give it 9.0 out of 10. For normal folks, I'd still award it a 7.5. If you are even a little interested in cars or racing, I highly recommend it. Additionally, if you can spare the cash and have the space, I suggest you purchase the Microsoft steering wheel.