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I stumbled upon some videos for a game releasing soon titled, I Am Alive. The premise is a protagonist surviving an apocolyptic present, trying to locate his family. Sounds like it has been done before, I know. But the presentation and gameplay makes the game look very submersive. For example, if you happen upon some other threatening survivors, you can pull your gun to scare them off, even if you have only two bullets. The focus is more about the player using their wits than simply shooting their way through game, which I appreciate.

I Am Alive will be available soon (Spring 2012) as a downloadable game.

I Am Alive

#Skryim

(Wood Elf)

So, I was doing the In My Time Of Need quest in Skyrim:

The barmaid at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun is apparently a fugitive noble from Hammerfell. She claims that she is on the run from assassins sent by rival houses in her homeland  and needs someone to stop them before they find her.

I weighed the options of giving up where the barmaid, Saadia was hiding and saving her. I chose to save her, which led me to having to speak with a prisoner of the Alik'r assassin clan. So I go to the dungeon in Whiterun, thinking that I would have to break this guy out. I locate him and pick-pocket a key off of one of the guards. But before I decide to open this guy's cell, I try speaking to him through the gate. Success! The prisoner tells me that he will reveal where the leader of his clan is in exchange for me paying his $100 fine. I figure it's less of a hassle than breaking him out so I pay the fine. I tell him he's free and he tells me where Kematu (his clan's leader) is. So as I'm walking away, I hear the prisoner call the guard over to explain that I had paid his fine. The guard reluctantly acknowledges but then tells him that he can't free him because he can't find his key.

I just kept walking.

UPDATE: The guard must have figured it out because three hired thugs were sent to teach me a lesson. And I found a note on one of them.

Since Grand Theft Auto III was released for PlayStation, I became a fan. I love the sandbox gameplay and customizations (introduced later in the series with Vice City and San Andreas). Another thing that fascinated me was the life of the city, so much so that I would sometimes just drive around in the game and look for random events (a guy running away from police or attacking another person) and listen to some of the NPC's conversations (funny stuff!). Today, Rockstar released a teaser (which is what I refer it as) for their upcoming Grand Theft Auto V. Check out the video below. My buddy posted his thoughts on the video and I responded in the comment section (copy and pasted below). Although at first glance, the video doesn't reveal much except that the protagonist is a former criminal trying to turn his life around but will get caught up in some shit. There are rumors about multiple protagonists (maybe simutaneous play with different protagonists, not necessarily co-op) but that remains to be seen. Either way, there are some interesting things about the teaser that you'll notice upon closer inspection.

My comment on OBG:

Yes, the teaser (which is what I'm referring to it as) is underwhelming. Aside from graphics, the whole thing seems rehashed from previous titles. One thing I find interesting is that Rockstar stated that their numbered sequels changes something about the game drastically. Consider GTA III and GTA IV. Although Vice City and San Andreas introduced new elements (bikes, property, changing clothes, aerial vehicles, weapons, etc...), they were built upon GTA III. I wouldn't necessarily consider GTA IV a game changer but it was the first GTA game on the next gen consoles and they did change the game mechanics as well as make Liberty City more like New York City (as they did with Vice City and San Andreas, Miami and Los Angels/ San Francisco/ Las Vegas, respectively). There are certain things to note about this teaser. At 1:06, there is a character being chased by police that does not resemble the protagonist at :41. Maybe there are multiple protagonists. Look again at :25 and we see the same guy that was running from the cops drive the red convertible. Jet skis are back at :19. At :07, there is a couple on the beach with a dog. There were never any animals in previous GTA games. At :34, there is a gym on the beach, which probably means you can change the physique of your character, a la "CJ" from San Andreas. And lastly, there is a jet at 1:01 and a private jet at 1:10. Again, the teaser was underwhelming but Rockstar isn't the type to put all of their eggs in one basket.

For good measure, here is a trailer for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Another thing to note is that you only saw Los Santos in the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. If there are planes, it is very likely that San Fierro and Las Venturas are also included in GTA V to make getting around easier. Also, they expanded the size of Liberty City by including four out of five boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, & Manhattan) and parts of New Jersey (Alderney). So why wouldn't they make San Andreas bigger? What do you think?

While vacationing in San Diego, my friends and I became entranced by a symphony playing music that wasn't classic. While following the delightful tune, we discover BROBOT. Below are some of his adventures...

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When it comes to reading comic books, I mostly read Marvel and Image growing up but also picked up some titles from Dark Horse, DC, and others (I collected Spider-Man, X-Men, Spawn, Deathblow, The Maxx, and Sin City). DC though, has usually done consistently well with their animation and movies. I especially enjoy their production and art style, particularly with Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Teen Titans, and Young Justice. Recently, DC has been doing something incredibly smart by releasing stories as individual movies; Superman: Doomsday (which I have yet to see but have read the comic), Batman: Gotham Knight, Superman/ Batman: Public Enemies, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Superman/ Batman: Apocalypse, All-Star Superman, and Batman: Under the Red Hood. DC's next release is Batman: Year One and I am very excited to see this film when it's released. Check out the trailer below. And just when I thought I couldn't be more excited, I read that DC plans on doing an animated version of The Dark Knight Returns.

29 years on this planet.

A Google doodle for my birthday.

"If u ever in ur life? Loved Hip Hop music? Please listen to that song I just posted. I damn near cry everytime I hear it." - Skillz (@SkillzVA)