I, for one, tend to prefer older music to the music of today. There will be a much longer post about this coming soon. However here are a few of my favourite older artists and songs.

Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now

Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit

Blue Oyster Cult: Don’t fear the Reaper

Kansas: Carry on my Wayward Son

Ted Nugent: Stranglehold

Triumph: Fight The Good Fight

I feel somewhat cheated. Akin to diving headfirst into a new romance, I’ve been seduced by Rubi Malone, after parting with 35 valuable pounds (32, in fact; preowned. Paying the virgin premium didn’t attract me this time), into a world where my head is slightly tilted, mouth slightly agape, eyes slightly glazed. For such a price, one would expect a decent relationship, wherein commitment is rewarded with visceral thrills and glowing satisfaction. The experience of playing ‘WET’ has, however, left me feeling empty, hollow and a little bit dirty.

Buying the game actually made me feel uneasy, a little shameful. Why else would I buy a game with an obvious innuendo for a title, showing nothing but a curvy seductress on the cover, other than the fact that I’m a gawping neanderthal?  My discomfort was made worse when I had to hand it over to the female employee. I gave her an apologetic look. It’s for an article I’m writing. Honest.

The gameplay offers nothing innovative to distinguish it from other titles in the third-person action genre. Running, shooting, jumping, backflipping, chopping, slashing, yelling and occasionally grunting are all on offer. Alongside this is an environmental action system that is compelling yet unsatisfying. Rubi’s acrobatics are impressive, and leaping from ledge to ledge, rebounding off walls, flipping over things and swinging round poles strike me as something that might be better to watch than perform, although when they work, they really do work. You gain more points for shooting people while doing acrobatic maneuvers, which encourages the player to jump around like a circus acrobat. This leads to a certain frustration in that after a while, you feel that you are actually a performer, subjugated to the whims of the circus-master.  The game does not allow you to fight on the ground like a mere mortal, as you will end up swiss-cheesed in a pool of your own blood within seconds, even on the easier modes. And pathways through levels are inevitably focussed towards cinematic set-pieces, designed to reward your skills of balancing acrobatics with gunplay by allowing you to continue. In Stranglehold, this mechanic was a bonus, not a prerequisite for continuation. When, inevitably, the player has trouble finding the path through a level (whilst being shot at of course), the brazen, rockstar tone of it all begins to fade away, and good old-fashioned irritation sets in. The collision detection is shaky at times, and the twitchy movement response on the analog stick combined with a troublesome camera and an awkward turning circle, causes many a fatal fall, and many a curse uttered towards the screen.

The game is unapologetic about being primarily concerned with instantaneous thrills. The contrived use of film-reel crackle and jittery HUD, along with iconic monkeys, cowardly gang bosses, anonymous henchmen, twangy guitar riffs,  and token be-Afroed black guy (adorned with gold rings, of course) announces its sole influence to be action films of the 70s and 80s, notably directors Woo and Tarantino (and  Woo’s almost identical videogame title, Stranglehold). These directors are known for living far out of the bounds of reality, both inspired in turn by other filmmakers, rather than anything resembling real life. They are derivative, and as such, so is WET.  As a consequence, it would be trite of me to expect any form of “realism” in the game, although any form of worthwhile fiction tends to have a bit of meat on its bones, too. Just like its heroine though, WET is quite skinny indeed.

The story? I actually have no idea. There is no introduction. The opening cut-scene, with some kind of deal occuring between two gang bosses, is abrupt and really quite bizarre. One guy shoots the other, and Rubi jumps in and shoots everyone, steals a briefcase, and has to chase after the one guy that escaped. I wasn’t sure why at the time, and I’m still not sure why. And then, the player takes over, and we’re told to shoot the bad guys, while jumping in slow-motion.  I am aware that Bethesda were going for an opening in medias res but to have any sense of imminent threat, to care whether my character survives or not, I’d like to know why we’re doing this. And to have the audacity to tell me not only to kill people, but to kill them with style, nay, with gusto – well now. You’re asking me to immerse myself in a filmic blood orgy without a reason why. Explaining the game mechanic at the start of a game is certainly a good idea, but doing it at the expense of storytelling is quite unforgivable. It’s the game’s responsibility to draw me in – I shouldn’t have to do it myself. Throughout the game, storytelling is essentially treated as irrelevant and unnecessary. The dialogue is, quite frankly, dire, and as a person who is not really a fan of the sassy-one-liner-followed-by-yelled-expletive method of filmmaking, I found it lazy and hollow, even for the genre. A particularly cringeworthy line by the heroine involving the words “wet dream” caused a hasty union of my palm and my forehead.

These criticisms are a shame because Rubi has the potential to be a very interesting character. She has a geniune cynical misery about her, which is endearing, and actually seems quite annoyed to be in such a shallow game. Possibly because the camera has a habit of lingering over certain parts of her, over and over again. Not much is given away at all about her history, and if there’s a sequel, some character development should be high on the priority list. Lara Croft was a boring caricature of a woman, but I feel like I know her and her motives better than I know Rubi Malone. I’d also like to know how Rubi keeps her supermodel physique while surviving only on whiskey and pizza. Truly, an impressive skill.

Everything in “WET” is a loud, aggressive red. Its primary manifestation is blood, which is splashed around maniacally in a wanton manner that we’re all very used to by now. Red being the colour of passion, danger, violence and excitement, I can’t fault its overuse in a game which has the words “over-the-top” written on the back of the box. We have it used as a literal manifestation of “seeing red” when Rubi goes a bit mental and everything turns comic-book (sitting through the Offspring-style whine-punk of these sections is more painful than a katana blade to the neck). We have it as the colour of Oriental opulence, a go-to motif for any work involving crime lords and swords. It’s also the colour of passion, which is something I wish would be put into another iteration of WET. Passion not just for the much-loved legacy of Hollywood action – which the creators undoubtedly have – but passion for the art of videogames, building depth into an artwork that has the potential for so much reward. We’ve hacked through Bethesda’s visceral work of lust – next time, how about some love?

WET is out now on Xbox 360, developed by Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M), and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Monti Says: Check out this low-life wing nut.

JTA

September 11, 2009

By Eric Fingerhut

James Traficant has come out of prison spewing conspriacy theories about Israel. The former Ohio Democratic congressman — who was released last week after serving seven years for racketeering, bribery, obstruction of justice and tax evasion — told Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren that Israel has a “powerful stranglehold on the American government.” From a transcript of the interview, where Traficant is charging that he’s being targeted (although it’s not clear by whom) for defending accused Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk:

TRAFICANT: … But I believe that Israel has a powerful stranglehold on the American government. They control both members of the House, the House and the Senate. They have us involved in wars in which we have little or no interest.

Our children are coming back in body bags. Our nation is bankrupt over these wars. And if you open your mouth, you get targeted. And if they don’t beat you at the poll, they’ll put you in prison.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, two quick things. One is the Israelis have released Demjanjuk back to the United States, right?

TRAFICANT: The Israeli supreme court. And I give them credit.

VAN SUSTEREN: Give them credit for that.

TRAFICANT: I give them credit, big-time.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. The second thing is, is Israel is a democracy and is our ally, right?

TRAFICANT: Yes, they are.

VAN SUSTEREN: So, you have no…

TRAFICANT: And they should be our ally. They are our friends over in that troubled part of the world.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK. So, explain to me what you see as — you know, why you target or why you have a grudge against the Israelis.

TRAFICANT: The grudge is not necessarily a grudge. It’s an objective assessment that no one will have the courage to speak about.

They’re controlling much of our foreign policy. They’re influencing much of our domestic policy.

Wolfowitz as undersecretary of defense manipulated President Bush number two back into Iraq. They’ve pushed definitely, definitely to try to get Bush before he left to move into Iran.

We’re conducting the expansionist policy of Israel and everybody’s afraid to say it. They control much of the media, they control much of the commerce of the country, and they control powerfully both bodies of the Congress. They own the Congress.

VAN SUSTEREN: Are you an anti-Semite?

TRAFICANT: No, I’m not. And that’s exactly what they’re going to say. And I expect that.

What I am is an American. You see, I think America comes first. And we have a one-sided foreign policy in the Mideast, and we’ve alienated Arabs who have no way of fighting.

So, what they’ve done — and I predicted this on the House floor — is they would export violence to America. And they have. They have no other way to fight.

I think President Obama knows this. I think he sees this. I think he wants to do something. I think his hands are tied, and I think he’s dancing between the raindrops, trying to figure how I can politically machinate some scenario to mitigate these problems.

Greta, I’m saying this. America is in danger if America doesn’t take back their government without foreign influence, interference.

Traficant says a lot of people have been telling him to run for his old congressional seat –although he says he hasn’t decided yet.

Overall Score: B

Stranglehold runs on every possible video game cliché that exists. Ok, maybe not every possible one but it comes very close. Stranglehold’s storyline revolves around the theme of rescuing the damsel in distress which should be familiar with everyone unless you’re a troglodyte. I’m not saying that the gaming experience was stale but I did yearn for more. Anyone will complete the game in less than a week as it lasts less than 10 hours.

Stranglehold guides in the direction you need to at all times due to its linear gameplay. I never experienced a ‘wow’ moment that would have placed this game in the elite echelon of games. It is straight forward but it has one aspect going for it, it is a lot of FUN to DESTROY and BLOW everything to smithereens. Stranglehold does this well and the beautiful environments are a pleasure to destroy. I am a fan of the Unreal graphics engine used because I like the dark and dank atmosphere it creates in games.

Stranglehold for most should merit a rental because I guarantee that you will beat the game in that time span. Replayabilty is moderate at best because the online component does not stack up to what the competition has to offer, but overall, if you like to blow stuff up then give this game a try.

Of all the musicians who passed recently, none stand out in my mind more than the legendary Les Paul. He changed the way musicians approached their craft, from the instruments they played to the way the recorded them to the attitudes they portrayed. He was a guitar hero for some, an accomplished engineer and producer for others, and an iconic personality for the rest. His impact will live on long after some other musician’s hype wears off. Not every recording here probably was on a Les Paul guitar but they all were avid Les Paul players and that’s part of what I remember them by, that distinct tone and the impact of Les’ approach and how it influenced each of their playing. I was trying to figure out how to work some Bob Marley and the Wailers into the mix but it just never seemed to fit, so enjoy what did from those who I remember off the top of my head in honor of the one-time Mahwah, NJ genius:

“Guitar Boogie” by Les Paul
“The Rock/Love, Reign O’er Me” by The Who (Pete Townsend)
“Whiteroom” by Cream (Eric Clapton)
“Heartbreaker” by Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)
“Blow by Blow” by Jeff Beck
“Rockin in the Free World” by Niel Young
“Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” by Frank Zappa
“Zero Tolerance for Silence” by Pat Metheny
“Siberian Khatru” by Yes (Steve Howe)
“Temples of Syrinx” by Rush (Alex Lifeson)
“Barracuda” by Heart (Nancy Wilson)
“Never in My Life” by Moutain (Leslie West)
“Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses (Slash)
“Hell is High” by Black Label Society (Zakk Wylde)
“Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent
“Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne (Randy Rhoads)
“Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2 (the Edge)

Can I just ask now? Are you not air guitar-ing all over your pad now? Pahleeze… tell me that’s not so much more emotionally invigorating – the windmills, the jumps, the screaming at the top of your lungs pretending you’re the rock star, the satisfaction of pulling off that next sick solo… ah capricious youth, the feeling that never dies so long as the next song keeps coming along… feel free to add your faves from the Les Paul era

www.myspace.com/myndsnare

Myndsnare, Extinct Reflections and Stranglehold will play one final gig together on 15th August  as Technical death Metal band Myndsnare members KP, Sandesh and Yasmin  are leaving India to  study Music in  USA. So this is your  chance to catch up with this legendary band one last time. The gig will (now) take place at B-Flat, 100 ft Road, Indiranagar, opposite Little Italy & Food World . The show starts at 3pm …

Last Sunday, Iattended Stranglehold Wrestlings “Ouch!” event at the Tranzac Club in Toronto. It was my first Stranglehold show, and it will not be my last. Despite the technical problems (laptop related sound issues), the douchebag scenesters sitting behind my wife and I (discussing their next “docu-drama” in voices loud enough to let everyone know they are important) and the shoddy refereeing, it was a great show;complete with a sick Necrobutcher and that indy feel where heels will yell insults at you.

The highlight of the show for my wife and I was getting to meet Necrobutcher. After the show, we were able to get pictures and have a quick chat before the rest of the crowd noticed he was there. He informed us that he had next to no sleep and was vomiting before the show. He still performed in his classic brawling style, even though he appeared a bit “off”. Here is a quick video my wife took of Necro’s match, sorry about the light issues, but the lighting produced  a lot of shadows outside the ring.

By far the best match of the night was the Phil Atlas vs. Koshida match. Two competent high-fliers who knew how to work the crowd (Atlas being billed as a Toronto native and Koshido using the away-team, foreigner gimmick) put on an 11 minute action packed match, with a great ending that can be viewed here.

In other Wrasslin news, I am going to attend 2 ROH (Ring of Honor) shows this weekend at the Ted Reeve Arena. The shows will feature autograph sessions with Lance Storm and Ric Flair, Lance Storm will also be in action, as well as Bison Smith, Necrobutcher, Austin Aries, Chris Hero, Colt Cabana, Jerry Lynn and others. The highlights for me are going to be Fridays tag match between the Briscoes and Super Smash Brothers, as well as an appearance of *dramatic pause* BRET THE HITMAN FUCKING HART. I will most likely spend the money to get a Hart autograph (depending on whether or not I can afford it) and most certainly will buy a Hitman t-shirt.

This Sunday, my wife and I were supposed to go on a “date”.

My wife and I don’t really get to spend that much time together right now. Work and school seem to keep us on kind of opposite schedules, so we don’t really get out much. This Sunday we decided to go to our favorite Indian restaurant Sha-la-Mar, then go to see “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”. Indian food and 3 hours of Hogwarts and Muggles, can’t get much better, right?

Wrong.

I have recently gotten my wife mildly interested in Pro. Wrestling, by watching the roundtable discussions on the WWE 24/7 “Legends of Wrestling” program. This has led my wife to show some interest in certain wrestlers, and led me to buy her a ticket to one of the upcoming ROH shows in Toronto. One of the wrestlers my wife has shown interest in is the Necrobutcher. She happened to come home from work while I was doing homework with an RF shoot interview featuring the Necrobutcher on in the background. She ended up watching nearly the whole interview, and discovered that Necrobutcher was a normal person, who only beats the fuck out of people with random objects as his job.

While updating a recent blog post, my wife inserted a picture of Necro, and discovered that Necro will be challenging Dynamite Terzis for the Stranglehold Pro Wrestling Title. Incidentally the event also features “Ice cold beer and a pissed off midget” as well as Beef Wellington, a “Bare foot thumbtack match”, a 2 out of 3 falls Lucha Libre match, a stable (or tagteam) known as “The Redneck Mafia” and a wrestler known as “the Nazi Destroyer”.  Should be fun.

Needless to say, we are now skipping dinner and the movie to go watch grown men in underwear fake fight with weapons and midgets.

Rassurez-vous, ce billet ne contient aucune référence catchesque. Si vous en trouvez, vous avez officiellement le droit de me donner une fessée.

Il y a quelques semaines de ça, j’avais exprimé mon point de vue vis à vis de la démo de Stranglehold. Ayant pris possession de la version complète du jeu, force est de constater que j’avais raison.

Stranglehold est la suite du légendaire A toute épreuve d’un John Woo qui aura lui aussi succombé à cette mode que les frères Wachowski ont lancé en souhaitant développer leur univers à travers films, jeux vidéos et comics. Stranglehold, donc, ajoute fièrement son nom à une liste de jeux comprenant Les Chroniques de Riddick (I et II), Spider-Man Webs of Shadows ou encore n’importe quel Star Wars. Il m’eut été difficile dans ces conditions de traiter ce nouvel opus des aventures de l’inspecteur Tequila sans le voir comme une adaptation. Et c’est là que le bas blesse.

Et oui, parce que même si le jeu a été écrit en collaboration avec le sieur Woo, l’histoire est tellement plate qu’un tel nihilisme scénaristique impressionnerait même un Steve Seagal bourré à la vodka. Ce qui, je vous le concède, force le respect. Banale histoire d’un flic hyper téméraire et Bad Ass confronté à une guerre des gangs très très méchants qui ont pris en otage sa femme . Rien de bien nouveau sous le soleil donc, d’autant que joueur lambda aura compris et anticipé le renversement de situation final au bout du deuxième niveau.  Le tout est servi par une V.F. dont la nullité n’a dégal celle d’un vieux porno bulgare traduit pour notre verte contrée au milieu des années soixante dix.

Mais rendons à César ce qui est à César. Niveau gameplay, les derniers niveaux à Chicago sont épiques et proposent des fusillades qui prennent aux tripes. Le musée et l’appartement enchaînent les morceaux de bravoure, même si ça reste bien évidemment du couloir et que les ennemis ont le Q.I. d’une huître parraplégique.

Le jeu use et abuse d’un Bullet Time relativement bien fichu mais d’une utilité assez relative puisqu’il ne sert qu’à mieux viser et avoir des points de style. D’autant plus qu’enchaîner les Headshots est très aisé, même lorsque l’action est à vitesse réelle. On peut aussi regretter qu’il y ait aussi peu d’armes, et que leurs différences ne soient pas plus marquées : le fusil et les pistolets mittrailleurs sont vraiment identiques, et seuls les sons qu’ils émettent diffèrent vraiment. Le shotgun a la même portée que dans Black et la mittrailleuse lourde n’est utilisable que dans un seul et unique niveau. Un scandale, donc. Enfin, les grenades ne sont disponibles qu’au niveau du musée, ce qui juste une abbération pour un jeu qui dit pouvoir exploser le décor à volonté.

Puisqu’on en vient à parler du décor, je me permets de pousser un petit coup de gueule. Ouais, parce que le premier niveau permettait d’envoyer des enseignes et des néons sur les ennemis en leur tirant dessus alors qu’ON NE PEUT PLUS LE FAIRE DANS LE RESTE DU JEU ! What the fuck quoi !

Il reste encore à évoquer les bombes Tequila, simulacres de pouvoirs qu’on peut déclencher en ayant assez de point de style. La bombe santé est certainement celle qu’on utilise le plus. Le tir de précision est utile mais dispensable. La fusillade ne sert qu’au Shotgun alors que c’est une des armes les moins utilisées du jeu et enfin la rafale tornade estune excellente idée, mais elle nécessite trop de points de style et ne tue pas tous les ennemis, contrairement à ce qu’annonce le tutorial.

Avec toutes ces critiques, vous êtes en droit de vous dire que Stranglehold ne vaut pas le coup. Sauf que. Vous passeriez à côté d’un excellent défouloir à réserver pour une soirée entre potes durant laquelle vous organiseriez un concours de “celui qui tue avec le plus de style”. Dans ce cas là, c’est fun. Dans des conditions différentes, vous risquez de faire une overdose de dialogues bas du front et de bourrinage intensif ; alors on vous retrouver baignant dans votre urine, mort depuis deux semaines, la manette cassée en deux et l’écran affichant un “Réessayer ?” sans appel. A vous de voir, donc.

Et sinon, à part ça ? J’essayerai d’écrire un billet sur EWR, jeu qu’il vous faut télécharger si vous aimez la lutte. Et bientôt, pour célébrer le cap passé des 25 billets, j’écrirai une vraie ligne éditoriale pour ce blog. Enfin ça, c’est si je ne disparais pas dans un accident de bobsleigh sur gazon d’ici-là.

Pretty sure I’ve stumbled onto a gig where I can make $10 every 5 minutes. There’s a truck stop in my town that employs some of the biggest doorknobs this side of the Mississippi. I came upon this little scheme rather innocently a few weeks ago, but since then I’ve been testing it out and right now I’m 4-6. Here’s the secret…apparently cashiers at truck stops can’t tell the difference between a $10 bill and a $20 bill. Either that or they don’t see that many $10’s and the new design confuses the shit out of them. The first time it happened I walked up to the register with 2 diet cokes (on sale, 2 for $2.00) and a package of Devil Dogs. I whip out a shiny new $10 and lo and behold, Math Boy with the suspenders that look like yellow rulers hands me back $16.42 in change! I just made a quick $10! The next morning I went back in and used the $10 THEY GAVE ME and tried it again! WHAM-O…2 for 2!

Since then I’ve been sprinting to the truck stop every time a $10 appears in my wallet to press my luck again. There are three cashiers that I normally see, and this has worked on two of them so far. Hopefully these cats aren’t bloggers or the jig is probably up, but I’m guessing that if they can’t figure out how to do simple math, this WordPress shit is probably a little outside their comfort zone.

I’m not telling you where this is…hopefully I’ve got a strangle hold on this scam at least until a manager or someone notices the drawer off by $10 every day and someone gets fired.

Title: Stranglehold
Region: Region Free
Ixtreme: Yes
Stealth: Yes
Game Size: 7.29gb
Server: Megaupload
Links: 6×999mb y 1×215mb
01 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JPSQRDN0
02 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=89ZQ4EUZ
03 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CRARKE4F
04 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZYL8DCYN
05 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K101RS4S
06 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ASKOHEUM
07 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YKGTD5HC

A Warner Bros., dona de estúdios como a Monolith, consolidou sua oferta de compra pela Midway. A empresa estaria interessada principalmente nas franquias Mortal Kombat, Stranglehold, Gauntlet, Joust e Galaga.

Uma fonte próxima à Midway informou à MCV que “a Warner está bem confiante que vai adquirir a Midway — que vai ser um grande avanço em seu portfólio. O acordo ainda não está feito. A Midway ainda está aberta para outras ofertas, mas a Warner parece ser a favorita para comprá-la. Eles estão prontos para depositar o dinheiro.”

A Midway também pode vender seus estúdios e franquias separadamente. A Ubisoft é outra empresa interessada na compra, assim como outras ainda não reveladas.

I remember reading this article, written by Cory Doctorow, which might interest all you writerly types (actually all of you, since only a few people actually know about this blog and all are writerly types). His highly acclaimed young adult novel, Little Brother, came out last year and I have been meaning to read it. You can download it off his site, but its really, really weird reading a book on a screen. The book sounds interesting, tapping into that Bush-era paranoia (that I refuse to get over) and putting that suspicion and  mistrust in government into the heads of kids (which I am all for). It’s kind of like this: In the article Doctorow talks about research, and how its a huge distraction from the writing process. And it is. Researching while writing a creative piece really only leads to more researching. Ninety percent of the trivia I compiled is from being distracted while trying to write something. Which brings me to a project I have undertaken for school–a feature-length screenplay. I won’t go into the details of the story, but I am currently three pages under the quota for my screenwriting class tomorrow and I am at an impasse.  Needless to say, I wasted much of the time looking shit up. Gang crime in Chicago. Credit fraud. Embezzlement. Cantonese slang. And meth.

Meth has consumed me.

Meth. The main drug trafficked by Asian gangs in big cities, is meth, namely in the form of ice, which to steal from Stephen Leavitt, is  meth “extra chunky.” It requires factory-like conditions for the transformation to take place, and indeed, there are hidden factories in Mexico, Cambodia, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, just to make it. Meth also comes in the form of mass-produced pills, called yaa baa or shabu. Then its sent over here, to be used and abused. To me, this is all profoundly interesting. What used to be the narcotic staple of hilarious Californian rednecks, is making its way into the mainstream.

I have spent my day with meth information and meth statistics. I found out that a small sugar packet sized amount sells for ten to twenty dollars. Smoking meth gives you a high that can last half a day. I found that a man kept a meth lab in his condo and despite laws preventing purchases of Sudafed and other meth ingredients off the shelves and despite having a fucking meth lab in his condo, nobody noticed. I also found out that meth heads are probably making our almonds expensive. That answers the long-simmering question I had when watching an episode of Cops, where a strung-out man was caught pulling copper wiring from power lines with his bare hands. I wondered, why? Now I know.

So the question comes up: What can I do with this in my screenplay? I have no clue. I want to include a meth lab in a condo, but its so rare and ridiculous that it won’t be believable in a movie. The gangsters in my story would only import from other countries. And besides, meth isn’t delivered in dramatic shipments. It’s not like cocaine. There’s no giant crate for my characters to pop open and find a load of meth resting under coffee or bananas. But it needs to be in there, just because meth is so damn interesting. It’s nasty and grimy, its side effects sad and disgusting (click if you dare), but under the facade of economics, it almost seems civil.

Also meth labs have huge explosions and explosions are awesome. I am convinced that the meth lab is like Chekhov’s pistol. If its in the story, it has to blow up. There’s that expectation the audience has, and while I want to surprise them, I fear disappointing them. Hopefully, I will have a solution.

I found of a copy of Stranglehold really cheap yesterday (April 14, 2009).  I played the demo a lot when it first game out.  I really like it but wasn’t to sure if the game was worth the full price.  So I decide to wait to the game was cheap.  I was in at Walmart, walked passed the video game bin.  I was surprised to see PS3 games in there.  I was Stranglehold, so i picked it up for about $20.00.  There were other games but not too sure which ones.  Some big fat guy was in the way.  I look some other day.  I’ll write a review once I had more of a change to play the game.

It’s hard to find Indian Band pictures , other than few low quality pictures clicked by freinds or fans on a 1.3 megapixel Cellphone which are posted on Myspace or last fm, it’s very difficult to find decent pictures of Indian Bands.  I just stumbled on this ‘awesome’ photography by V ! naY on Flickr , if you are fans of Kryptos, Stranglehold, Bhoomi, Extinct Reflections  to name a few , take a look at these amazing pictures. 

 One more thing ! these are Copyrighted , so ! don’t copy !

Ormai siamo abituati a vedere qualsiasi cosa nel fantastico collegamento che c’è tra cinema e videogiochi: film tratti da giochi, giochi tratti da film, giochi tratti da film che sono tratti da altri giochi…ma quando si tratta di un film basato sul gioco, che a sua volta è il seguito di un film che è basato su un altro gioco che è il sequel…di? C’è un pò di confusione.

Ma anche questo è il bello di Hollywood. Secondo The Hollywood Reporter, gli sceneggiatori Jeremy Passmore e Andre Fabrizio stanno lavorando su un adattamento cinematografico di Stranglehold, titolo Midway uscito nel 2007.

Non c’è ancora alcun commento ufficiale da parte di Midway o di John Woo, ma l’idea è piaciuta ai critici, soprattutto considerando che il gioco è già di suo tratto dal seguito di un film basato sul prequel di un gioco, che a sua volta…

Fonte: Clicca quì

Los aficionados a las películas de John Woo y Chow Yun-Fat estáis de enhorabuena. Dentro de unos meses recibiréis vuestra ración de acción y tiempo bala a partes iguales, mediante la adaptación a la gran pantalla del videojuego Stranglehold.

La verdad es que el juego tiene toda la pinta de típica película de acción “chinesca”, pero con la diversión extra de que los que repartimos estopa somos nosotros.

No en vano, Stranglehold es secuela de una película llamada Hervidero (Hard Boiled), protagonizada también por Chow Yun-Fat como el Inspector Tequila.

Los aficionados a las películas de John Woo y Chow Yun-Fat estáis de enhorabuena. Dentro de unos meses recibiréis vuestra ración de acción y tiempo bala a partes iguales, mediante la adaptación a la gran pantalla del videojuego Stranglehold.

La verdad es que el juego tiene toda la pinta de típica película de acción “chinesca”, pero con la diversión extra de que los que repartimos estopa somos nosotros.

No en vano, Stranglehold es secuela de una película llamada Hervidero (Hard Boiled), protagonizada también por Chow Yun-Fat como el Inspector Tequila.