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Do it.

I remember when sony release the original discman, a portable CD player. It had AVLS, which made it impossible for your eardrums to get blown out because no matter how loud the signal was that was coming out of the disc, the player would automatically cap it at a certain level. I loved it, and I miss it.

So what do you think programmers? Is this possible to do via an app or is hardware necessary? I would think a program like this would be immensely popular.

You have to hold an umbrella off to the side, but you want the top of the umbrella directly over your head. To ideally be covered by an umbrella, you would have to hold the bar right in front of your nose. Maybe put an elbow near the top of the bar? I don’t know, but you do.

Do it.

Now I don’t go to a lot of games, which is to say I barely attend games of any sort. However, in recent memory over the past 5 years I’ve heard the anthem enough times to make the following observation: You’re doing it wrong.

The whole point of the national anthem is to pay tribute to the country in which you reside, not to show off the fact that you’re vocal range extends beyond the scale of notes you’ve been given. The national anthem only has one version. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l6TZqzzZtc

Sound odd? If you’ve been listening to the national anthem over the past few years it might. That’s because singers in this day and age are adding notes left and right to give it some extra punch. So whose bright idea was this in the first place? Probablly Marvin Gaye.

Now for the real shocker, and every singer out there should take especially close note of this fact: you are NOT Marvin Gaye. I don’t think I have expound upon that statement much past that.

Now I’m not saying you have to stomp up there and sing like a machine. By all means sing with passion, as well you should. All I’m saying is that it would be nice to hear a singer who sings the notes in the song and just those notes.

And as a side note to people in the audience: Shut the hell up when someone is singing the national anthem. You have the whole game to scream and yell as much as you want, but spare a minute and a half of silence in the name of the country that’s provided an oppourtunity to do something as simple as watch a sports game in relative peace and safety, an unfortunately unique situation today.

So there’s this site that’s going to revolutionize music by making it possible for anyone to record their own track and make it into a rock band song.

http://creators.rockband.com/

Here’s the twist no one has done yet (to my knowledge) that you could probablly do with this: switch up the instruments.

Make the singer sing the guitar notes. The drummer has to pound out a lead guitar solo, the guitar results in singing. The bassist is now playing the drum part.

Anyways, you get the point. Assign a part to a peripheral that doesn’t match up and things will be amazing. That is all.

All sound stops, dead silence, cut to black. Two seconds later the monster screams one last time.

Credits.

Let’s say for simplicity sake that the appliance in question is a vaccum cleaner.

The vaccum cleaner plugs into the cord detacher and the cord detacher plugs into the electrical socket. The cord detacher obviously filters the electrical current through to the vaccum cleaner, but when the user needs to unplug the cleaner, they have a small one button remote control that triggers two spring loaded arms on either side of the detacher. The arms pop the cord out of the socket and viola, you can just grab the cord and bring it with you to your next destination.

LOLcats are funny.

Someone fix this.

Defense games are HUGE on the internet at the moment, but we really haven’t seen anything aside from a couple small XboX Live Arcade and PS3 Network games. I think the main sticking point for not making a defense game into a full scale production is a lack of meat. Most of these games are fun for an hour but quickly lose their appeal or just plain finish after that. And that’s fine, because that timeframe works for the internet audience.

But let’s discuss an idea for a defense game that could last much longer and have much more to offer than it’s flash based cousins.

SIEGE BREAKERS

The story

At the height of of fantasty medieval warfare, the siege rules all. Most wars end up becoming sieges, and the fighting kingdoms are constantly worried about ending up under siege by their rivals. The player takes control of the Siege Breakers, a mercenary group of four men  (or women) who specialize in different fields that together can really take the force out of a sieging military force, so much so that the defenders can easily break out of their entrapment.

Gameplay

So how does this all work out? The game would play in four stages as each member of the team does what they do best.

Stage 1 – The Oracle
The oracle is a powerful visionary who has the ability not only to see and hear great distances, but under extraordinary circumstances can actually see into the future.

The the Oracle, the player will engage in a puzzle game of sorts, whether it be a puzzle box like a rubics cube, or maybe something more substantial like sudoku, tetris, bejeweled , it could be any sort of puzzle really. At the conclusion of this warm up stage, the player is rated based on his timing and accuracy in completing the puzzle. Whatever he earns will carry on into the next stage.

Stage 2: The Assassin
The classic cloak and dagger the night before the siege can turn even the best laid plans into a complete disaster.

Sneaking into the enemy camp, the game goes from puzzle to stealth. The Assassin has a limited amount of time to do as much damage as possible and escape the camp before daybreak. This can be anything from sabotaging ammunition to falsfying battle communications to outright assassinating the enemy general, although this would be practically impossible, but doable. A more fitting challenge for the average player would be perhaps eliminating the 2nd or 3rd in command as well as a number of junior officers.  Once the dirty deeds are done, the player then has to escape the camp, which may be difficult if he or she has roused the guard during his escapades.

This is the first time we see the Oracles work coming in handy. As the assassin prowls the enemy camp, certain tents will light up, letting the player know ahead of time where the officers are, where the weapons are stores, and if the player did exceptionally well, the assassin will have detailed knowledge of the fates of certain rank and file soldiers who are destined to perform heroically on the battlefield the next day, essentially killing the champion before he even discovers his own greatness.

As the sabateur vanishes into the early morning dawn, we enter the next stage.

Stage 3: The Monster
Towering above all the others in it’s respective army, the monster is truly a sight to behold. It alone can easily tear down a wall that is not properly fortified, ending a siege months before the castle might otherwise hold. Even the sight of one of these incoming giants is sometimes enough to break the morale of men before they even begin to fight. Sometimes the only way to fight fire is with more fire.

From stealth we switch to 1 on 1 combat. The player takes control of a hulking beast, charging headfirst in the enemy monster. This would play out much in the vein that soul caliber would. The two monsters clash until one is subdued or killed outright. Though they are substantially larger than the surrounding armies, both sides do get to contribute towards the fight, either by giving aid to their side or by attacking the opponents monster.

Here again the Oracle comes in handy. Perhaps the enemy monster has an aversion to fire, then the player’s army knows to pepper the creature with flaming arrows, either slowing it down or causing slow by steady damage to it over the course of the fight.

The Assassin’s work begins to be seen here as well. Depending on who and what was taken down the night before, the enemy may or may not have the personnel and resources to do anything to negatively affect the player’s monster.

As the clash of the Titans draws to a close, we move on the final stage.

Stage 4: The Knight
Riding atop a mighty war steed, there is no sight more inspiring than that of a fully armed and armored champion to lead the charge straight into the enemy ranks.

This segment would essentially play out like dynasty warriors. The player would take over a single combatant among possibly thousands, taking out the enemy army man by man if necessary.

Here’s where it all ties together:

The Oracles’ rate of success would help the player to know the plans of the enemy before they happen and perhaps identify the enemy officers before they are even visible.

A good Assassin may have already won the battle before it even started. Without key leaders in place, sections of the enemy army may crumble easily or may retreat altogether without coherent orders. Properly sabotaged armories may also result in warriors being underequipped, losing attack and defense benefits.

Finally, presuming it was sucessful, the monster has removed perhaps the greates threat of all, by killing or incapacitating the enemies ace card.

The Results

Ultimately the player’s efforts are tallied up and checked against those of the enemy.

The interesting part of this is that the player can fail literally every stage of this game and ultimately lose the siege altogether, so long as his four character are alive, he can continue to play. The reward for a loss is a minor sum, while playing above if not exceeding expectations results in massive amounts of gold, loot, and XP.

Rewards can be dributed any way the player feels among his four avatars. If you don’t want to give your knight levels in swordsmanship, a sword of the firey void makes for a good replacement.

I would definitely like to physically see these guys getting more powerful too. The Monster eventually grows to tremendous heights, towering perhaps even over his adversary if he’s powerful enough. The mage becomes such a potent mindreader that he can leave suggestions in the mind of the enemy general, ect. You get the idea.

It might be hard to make right, but nothing worth doing is easy.

Now get to it.

My wife and I stopped by a convenience store to pick up a soda. We stood in front of a 30+ foot wide display of every dirnk you can imagine. Gatorade, Coke Products, Pepsi Products, Juices of every sort. As I looked at them all I ended up with a diet 7-up.

I suddenly realized that if these companies keep failing and falling over like noone’s business, maybe next summer there won’t be 7up anymore. Hell, there might not even be pepsi anymore, or maybe coke. Point is, if things keep going this way, in 2010 I might be standing in the sam convenience store (assuming it hasn’t failed and closed) and that 30+ wall might just have 5 feet of one of six available drinks.

Point is, who knows if your favorite brand of soda is going to be around forever? I’m all about the “screw the man”, down with consumerism type stuff, but I’ll be honest when I say I’ll miss 7up if it disappears. So next time you’re looking at the endless variety of whatever it is you’re seeking, take a moment to consider the lower end of the availability, because who knows if it will be there next time?