Play World of Warcraft for FREE

First of, i apologize for the long break between posts. I was, well... occupied with what i am about to blog about.

For starters, yes you read the title right, you can play world of warcraft for free. First of, this is not the official World of warcraft hosted by blizzard. Well it is the same game but it isn't hosted by blizzard. So if you have friends playing there, you wont see them here. This is a totaly different server hosted somewhere else. I dont know how, but someone has managed to get the server side programs to host this game. Its been a while now since world of warcraft has been released, and from that time, i could see pirated dvds being sold around with the title "World of Warcraft offline" Basically it is the server side program and the client which you both run on your computer to be able to play the game. But since this is an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game), theres really no sense in playing by yourself unless you just want to try it out, or test a few options or skills. This apparently this was the foundation of this server which was suggested by a friend. Someone actually made a server, hosted the game, and distributed it for free for all to enjoy. This is no small feat mind you, as i have experience with maintaining a private server for ragnarok a few years back. Its a drain on money, resources and time to maintain a server like this one, especially this one where the computing powere needed is way beyond what was needed to run a ragnarok server. Setting that aside, according to the website, the serve has been up for 3 years now, and suprisingly it is up to date. Actually, when you first download the installation, you log in to the official server of WOW (world of warcraft) to update the game, and patch the files, then you just change some settings to direct the game to the raidenwow server, and your off playing.

The server is hosted, well i don't know where its hosted. It looks like some remote country where there are no international, internet piracy laws in effect since its been up for 3 years now. But you can visit the site at RaidenWOW. From here you can download the client side game. Just a note, if your going to download from here, its a torrent file, you'll probably be redirected to mininova, so you must have a torrent client like bitcomet or utorent to download it. Also the game file is over 7gig so you have to have patience before you can play. With a fast internet connection, i was able to download it in a little over 3 days (78 hours to be exact). After downloading the client side program, its not really an installation, its a ready made game structure, all you need is to run the program, after uncompressing it of course, so you'll also probably need a winRAR program. Where was i, oh yeah, after downloading the game, go to the raidenwow website again and click on the link on how to update the game. follow the instructions and after that your ready to play. Oh yeah one last thing, you would need to make an account in raidenwow first. A website account, for logging in to the website, and a game account to play the game. After that just click on the wow.exe and your good to go.

Now for the game itself, I have never played the official WOW game so i have no comparison with this one. but needles to say, i believe that this is close enough to the real thing. The graphics it good, sound is good, movement is good, and the frame rate depends on how good your graphics card is and your internet connection. I've always wanted to try this game out ever since i saw a friend play it with his mage character. At that time, he was fighting a battle of some sorts with other characters online, against other characters online. All i could say is that this is the first time I've seen a mage, charging into battle,... in the frontlines. He was a touch cookie to put down, it took a fighter, a priest and a wizard to kill him. Well needless to say after seeing that, i always wanted to try, but didn't really see the logic to spend and buy the original game, and then pay a monthly fee to just try out the game. But behold, what lands on my lap? a free version of the game itself, for me to try and play so i can decide if it is worth the money i'm going to spend for it, so far it looks promising.

Having said all that, there are a few drawbacks to the game. Yes it is considerably easy to level up. x5 XP i think, it is also easy to get items, x5 monster drop, money isn't an issue (yup x5 money), You even get an auction house where some of the epic stuff which were modified so that a lvl 1 player can use them, are being sold. The game does lack, how should i say this..., players. Its no Blizzard WOW population, but it beats playing alone. There are somewhere 20 players online at anytime. a lot of characters and players have registered. But since their all over the world, you don't all play at the same time, considering also that the maps are huge, gynormous even, so you'd rarely encounter people along the way. Besides that, there are also some glitches to the game itself, like a few quests not working, and some parts of the game not being activated since there are so few people playing. Overall its a good game to play, if you can wait for the 7+ gig download. In the end its up to you right now if you want to be a member of the population and play along with us. Hopefully they'll be more people playing to fully enjoy the experience, so here i am, blogging about it, in hopes that you will read this and be interested enough to register and play the game with us. If you happen to register and play, get your friends into it also, since you already have a copy of the game you just need to just burn a copy for your friends so that they dont need to download it anymore. Who knows, you might see a blood elf warlock running around named Lillandra, if you do say hi, so that she could welcome you to the game.

Movie Reviw: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Ok, lets just get to the point. Yes it is a good film to watch. A very good throwback to the classic Indiana Jones movies where the last film was 19 years ago. Should you go out of your way to spend 100+ php to see it in a movie theater, Yes. its definitely one of those movies you must see in a cinema rather than waiting for the official dvd release. Is it worth the money? Well yes and no. If you want to know more then just read on, if not you have my opinion about the movie, and i suggest you watch it.

Ok, now on to my long winded review. First off, i dont remember much of the old series. i've watched them only a couple of times in the past and i haven't reviewed the old Indiana films for quite some time. But i do remember exactly how the movie felt and the energy and excitement it generated when i first watched them. I can honestly say that this does not disappoint. A classic throwback to the old Indiana Jones movies. Accurately capturing the flow of the past films. Doing the same style of humor, and the same type of exciting action sequences. in a way this is the movies strong point, on the other hand, this is also the movies bad point. I am not sure if it was the movie itself or just me growing up, but it did feel a bit outdated and childish in some points of the movie. But when you look at it in another perspective, i guess all the Indiana Jones films where like that.

Set now in 1954, i think, after the second world war and the cold war was beginning (or has begun), it isn't the Germans that are giving Mr. Jones the hard time, it is now the Russians, or more precisely the physic division of the KGB. The film started out great. It was like landing in the middle of the film, now origins, no pre-setup of plots, just right down to business. Mr. Jones being manhandled out of the back of a vehicle in "Area 51" or so was written on huge door, or gate, whatever. Oh yeah, there was a few min in the beginning of the film, well best i could say, as a filler, i'm guessing it was there to help the audience settle in before they start the action. In which case i should give a fair warning now, If you havn't watched it yet, you might not want to read thru since i'll be posting stuff here that might ruin the movie experience. If your not so concerned about it, then read on.

Where was i? oh yeah, i was a great start to the movie. With out going into much detail, same old routine, something big happens, something was stolen, and its up to Mr. jones to save the day. Please insert comedy sequences and action scenes in between the points. Hahahaha. Just kidding, but frankly i really dont want to go into the details. I will however will go into my usual rants about the movie.

First off is, well' i've said earlier, the movie felt outdated. The comedy sequences were predictable. yes they were different, but they were only different in the way it was acted out. A bit of the rehash of the old jokes that never lost their appeal. Second, the plot this time was somewhat a stretch. without going into the details, what Mr. jones was searching for and what he discovered was really a stretch for me. After watching the film, you might say to me, "but all the plots of Indiana Jones movies were a stretch" but still, for me, this one was a way bigger stretch. Third, well considering the age of Harrison ford, you can definitely tell that its not him anymore doing the action sequences. There are times when you will notice it, but even the times when you don't you'll still doubt your thoughts cuz Harrison's Age is in the back of your mind. for god sakes hes like 65 now.

But after all these things, it shouldn't keep you away from watching this movie. After all the high tech, overly computer generated action sequences we've come to enjoy, watching George Lucas and Steven Spielberg create such an enjoyable film is like a breath of fresh air. The die hard fans are, for sure, loving this movie and so should you.

My Rating: 8.5/10 (great throwback to old style movie making. You'll ride the edge of your seats and laugh at the same time)
Replayability: 4 (its a scale on how many times I can watch the movie over and over before your tired of it.)

Revoltech Gurren Lagann

Well heres my other Revoltech which i bought along with the Regult posted below. Its a very good anime. Its more of a throwback to the old style anime with super robots that defy logic and physics, but hey its an anime, you can do anything in an anime. So just as the Regult, I've posted some snapshots below, and again i apologize for the crappy pictures, i had to deal with a camera phone, a flashlight and a rechargeable florescent emergency light. I edited them as best i could. Just a note, if your planning to buy one, please do be careful while changing the chest accessory. you can actually change the chest, one with the shades and one with out. While taking out the chest with the shades, well it kinda snapped off and i had to super glue it together, so if your replacing yours, just be careful in taking it out.

Revoltech Regult

Well i just want to share my New Revoltech toy. its the Regult unit of the Zendradi. I would have preferred to buy a few of these since they were the staple unit of the Zendradi forces in the Macross series but sadly my budget wont allow it. And to make matters worse theres a VF-1J Max edition that i wanted to buy, not to mention the coming YF-19 and YF 21 series that will soon to come out. Oh hum, i'm running out of funds... :(

Summer Blockbuster Movie Schedule

Ok, here it is. A list of the movies that are comming out this summer. There are more movies due to be shown but i have only listed the ones i've been waiting to watch and the the ones i think other people are waiting for and might make it big splash this summer. They're in order from left to right and top to botom. Some have already been shown, and some i bet a few of you haven't realized existed. A few of these havent been promoted yet, no trailers no news, so i've included a link to each respected Official Home Page for you to view the trailers (if available) or moview information. just click on the photo of the movie you want to view and you'd be redirected to its official site.

One last thing you need to know, these are official movie dates for the US. It may be different here in the Philippines. I would still need to check every wed of every week on whats showing. So if your from the Philippines or any other country, please still check you local listing on what exact dates these movies are showing, either way you can just use these dates as a guide.

Enjoy

Iron Man May 2nd	Speed Racer May 9th
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian May 16th	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull May 22nd
Sex and the City: The Movie May 30th	Kung Fu Panda June 6th
You Don't Mess with the Zohan June 6th	The Happening June 13th
The Incredible Hulk June 13th	Get Smart June 20th
Wall-E June 27th	Wanted June 27th
Hancock July 2nd	Hellboy II: The Golden Army July 11th
The Dark Knight July 18th	The X-Files 2 July 25th
The Mummy 3 August 1	Tropic Thunder August 15th
Star Wars: The Clone Wars August 15

PSP - ISO vs CSO file format

Well i'm thinking, its time for a PSP post. I've been thinking of relevant things to post about the psp and i came up with this since there hasn't been an updat yet on the PSP custom firmware, i decided to post something about the file formats used to store the PSP games and the differences and advantages of using each.

First of this review is for owners that had forgone the warranty of their PSP and converted them to custom firmware for one reason or another. The topics that i will be discussing are tested for Dark Alex's CFW (Custom Firm Ware), ver 3.90 m33-3 which i believe is the latest version. Another thing is that i'm using a PSP slim, and not a Phat, there are differences in the two but i will not discuss them here. So if you have a problem with anything here, and you're using a different version, or have a PSP Phat, i cant help you there since i cant downgrade, or rather wont downgrade and i dont own a PSP Phat.

On to the discussion. The difference of an ISO and a CSO is just the file size it will occupy on your memory card. Basically you can think of it this way comparing it to a picture file format. An ISO is like a BMP image, large file size with no compression, and a CSO is like a JPEG version of the same image, but compressed which has a smaller file size. There are a few minor differences but I'll dive into that later.

Now i'm guessing you are wondering why doesn't everyone use CSO instead, well the answer to that question is load time. ISO file format is a representation of a UMD disc drive but a bit faster to load than a UMD because its is in your memory card and files are accessed quickly and there are no discs that spin around at high speed reading data. An ISO is just basically a container that emulates a disc stuck together in a file. Your CFW is just fooling your PSP telling it that the UMD disc is in fact the ISO file. but enough of that, you just need to remember that an ISO game format is like your UMD disc but has a slightly faster load time. A CSO game file format on the other hand is like your ISO file compressed into a ZIP archive, meaning the PSP has to uncompress the file first before the system reads it. Its not like the ISO where it has a direct access to the files, a CSO file format takes more time and computing power because the PSP need to do a few more thing to access the data.

Now knowing this, there are two ways that the psp loads data from the UMD or your memory card. The first is an initial data load, which is really an easy way of saying that the psp loads most of the game, or the level, or the stage of what your playing and it doesn't access it again until the next stage or level. This is usually is seen with genre games such as puzzle games, strategy games, platform games ect. The difference of CSO and ISO can be seen here during load times of each stage and or level. There is somewhere between a 3 to 8 second delay for the CSO compared to the ISO file format depending on the game. Although this may not seem that much, but for some people a 5 second delay is a bit too much. The other way a PSP loads a game is thru constant access. There are games like God of War, Final Fantasy Crisis Core, Metal Slug Anthology, or even the GTA series where data is constantly read from the Memory card or UMD. Generating encounters, or backgrounds, or random events, then you have the background sounds and music playing, the PSP has a hard time accessing all these file constantly using a CSO file format. Imagine accessing all of these, constantly uncompressing and reading data from the memory card, you will soon realize that your game is slowing down, or is skipping frames, which i can say is a kill joy.

Now that you understand all these, you will have to make a choice now if you want a smoother game experience, but less space on your memory card, or more space on the mem card for games but end up waiting a bit more and for some games reduced efficiency. Id say do both. It is true that if you make all your games into a CSO, you'll have more games to play, but honestly enough, i how many games can you go thru in a day or two. Do you constantly need to change the games you play everytime you open your PS or do you stick to a game or two until you finish them and then load up a new one. Solution is have a mix of file formats. some games with CSO, and some games with ISO. This way you can maximize you r memory card space while maintaining efficiency of your gameplay.

So it comes down to this, below this post are links to programs i use to convert files from ISO to CSO or CSO to ISO. But the software i use requires you to install the Microsoft .net framework into your computer. Why you ask? well i really don't know, it would seem that the program will not run unless you have it in your system. Now fuss no worries, its an easy enough program to use, just select the option you want, example is to select "ISO to CSO" option, browse for the file you want to convert, then just click on the convert button, and thats it. Don't expect too much, compression depends on the game itself. there are games when you convert them like final fantasy give you only a 20% file size difference, but there are games that I've converted that yielded a 60 or even 70% file size difference. You will just need to try them out. I'm guessing that the games with a lot of videos and cut scenes don't compress too well since videos are compressed enough. So try them out and enjoy the experience. If you happen to find a program that converts from file structure to file structure without installing the .NET framework give me a holler, I'll try it out, but really, as the quote goes, "if it ain't broken, then don't fix it..." enjoy ...

Download the Microsoft .Net Framework
Download the PSP ISO Compressor

Dead Fantasy by montyoum

Well i think I'm the last to know about this. It would seem that the information takes some time to filter down to use average people, but here it is. Dead fantasy I and II. If you don't know what I'm talking about then just read on.

Well for starters, theres a guy on the net who calls himself montyoum or Monty Oum whichever you prefer. Monty is an aspiring 3d animator and all i can say is the boys got a future in this. I haven't seen all his work, i think he has done 9 videos in all, but i can say this for sure, the Dead Fantasy series he has created is good enough for me to wait and see where this guys future is heading.

If you haven't noticed it by now, Dead Fantasy is a play on words, combining 2 great games on the market. DOA (Dead or Alive) and Final Fantasy series. The video clips he has created comes from the thought... what would happen if the girls from DOA and the girls from Final fantasy would ever meet and duke it out. Who would win? well thats about all the explanation there is to the clips. Its basically a side by side fight of the two groups with ever escalating ferocity and characters if i may add, coupled with a lot of style and a lot of imagination. Its actually so popular that the clips from gametrailers have already garnered over 6 million views.

At first, when I've heard of the video, i was assuming that it was one of those video edited clips that were pieced together to simulate an actual battle like lets say dragon ball anime character fighting with another character from another anime. Usually cutting things out and stitching them together using an AV editor of some sorts. Expecting this, i was surprised to notice that the characters movements were not cut but in fact rendered scene by scene and everything was original. Somehow, someone made the models for each of the characters and made them move and fight like real professional 3d animators did. Having dabbled into 3d animation a while back, i know how hard it is to make a model, let alone create a 10 min animation. But i know from his montys post that the models were taken from the actual game generator. He accredits an unknown person, who he is calling Mr. Y, who actually dove into the guts of the game and extracted the game models of the characters which he then used to make his film. Still, rendering a 10 min animation full of action must have taken some time. consider the fact that one of the frames in the transformers move took 38 hours to render, and having 30 frames in a second for high def, you do the math. Well of course the level of detail is different, I'm guessing it took 1 hour or more for each frame, but after all the moving and animating the characters coupled with the render time, you can appreciate the effort it took to make this clip. Altho he did say that he learned a few tricks that kept his render time down, well thats good, it just means we don't have to wait that long for the next clip.

Well thats about all i can say about that. Click on the links below if you want to be redirected to the clips and watch them online. I wont be posting a downloadable version here since it is a large file and the ones i have are the High Res ones. Don't expect a quality at par of the final fantasy cut scenes, its more like the ingame 3d quality. But don't let that get you down, it is still worth watching. It just makes you want to pick up a controller and wish that there was really a game like this for you to play.

View the clip Dead Fantasy I on gametrailers.com
View the clip Dead Fantasy II on gametrailers.com
View Montyoum's page and gallery of work at deviantart

Will Eisner's The Spirit, movie by Frank Miller

, I've just finished watching Sin city and was surfing for some trivia or movie details when i encountered another movie being written for the big screen and directed by Frank Miller.

The movie is The Spirit. This is Will Eisner's classic character from the 40's and 50's that broke new ground and paved the way for the comic book characters of today. The Spirit movie is a classic action-adventure-romance told by that great artist Frank Miller who brought us the visually stunning movies of Sin City and 300. This is a story of a former rookie cop that returns from the dead as the spirit to fight crime from the shadows of Central city. From what i can tell from the short teaser trailer (watch here) this will be another stunning visual movie comparable to Sin City. Having the same gritty, black and white style with blotches of color, i do believe that this will be another successful movie derived from popular graphic novels. Starring Gabriel Macht as the Spirit/Denny Colt, Samuel L. Jackson as The Octupus, Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss, Eva Mendes as Sand Saref, and many more. This is shaping to be another all star cast comparable to Sin City.

Well thats that for now. Most of the relevant information i have posted below. If you want a high res copy of the pictures here, just click on them, let them load and right click and save, fair warning these are High Resolution pictures, some of which is bigger than 1Mb. I cant wait until Dec when the movie starts showing. But being in the Philippines, i'm guessing we would have to wait until the new year to view this on the big screen, Metro Manila Film Festival remember? Oh well, im sure 3 days after the first showing, it will be available in you local "vcd?, dvd?, adult?, boss?" vendor. Personally a film like this deserves to be watched on the big screen, the choice is up to you.

Director: Frank Miller
Writers: Will Eisner (comic); Frank Miller (screenplay)
Release Date: 25 December 2008 (USA); Jan 2009 (Philippines)
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Jaime King, and many more.
Official Website: http://www.mycityscreams.com/

Marvel Movie Madness

As i sit here in my chair, still a bit high on the Iron Man movie, I decided to search the internet for information about the Iron Man movie 2. I was told that the iron man movie was already in production and was set to be shown summer of next year. Given this information, i decided to check if this information was true, so where else do i go, of course the internet.

As i surf, and read thru reviews and blogs, I have come to find out that in fact there is an Iron Man 2 and a 3 in production but it hasn't started yet. But there is already a release date for the Iron man Movie 2 scheduled for April 30, 2010. Yes i know its still a long way, but considering the fact that this was a great film, i believe that it is better to wait a while to savor the movies and not get saturated by all the hype and excitement.

But this post isn't just about the Iron Man Movies that is for sure to come, but as of the title suggest its about the Movie Madness that Marvel has gotten into. while reading and searching for information about the Iron Man movies, i have come across some factual, and rumored information about what is Marvel comics is up to. this is a mix between Iron Man trivia and facts and some facts and rumors of Marvel next line up of movies. Let us begin..

• Marvel Studios announced Monday it will release "Iron Man 2" on April 30, 2010, following the success of the first in the comic-book franchise, which pulled in $165 million million domestically and $342.1 million worldwide.
• Robert Downey's character, Tony Stark, makes an appearance in next month's "The Incredible Hulk," movie.
• the Hulk could turn up in "Iron Man 2," Marvel Studios Chairman David Maisel said during a conference call to discuss the company's earnings. "The Avengers" consists of a rotating roster of Marvel heroes — including original members Iron Man, the Hulk, Ant-Man and Thor — that could see the return of virtually any of the franchise's characters.
• Avengers movie just may BE Iron Man 3!!! Jon Favreau (interview) - "I think [The Avengers] would be a very smart third film in the Iron Man series." There will be an Avengers movie in the works, but if it is in fact joined in with the Iron Man movie 3 or a stand alone movie, only time will tell.
• Captain America’s trademark red, white and blue shield appears near the 1 hr 30 min mark in the film at the point where Pepper Potts comes in on Tony trying to get out of his damaged armor. The line you want to watch out for is, ”Let’s face it, this is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.” (movie hint anyone?)
• There is a Thor movie in the works. Tho there was a scheduled date release, sometime 2010, it has been put on hold. apparently the $300 million dollar script, handed down by chosen director Matthew Vaughn, i still in discussion with Marvel Studios along with him insisting a total unknown to play the lead role. Time will tell if this pushed thru.
• There is a Wolverine movie prequel to the X-Men movie. Still being played by Hugh Jackman, the movie starts production Nov 2008.
• There will be another Punisher movie titled Punisher: War Zone domming out this Dec 2008 having Ray Stevenson as the lead role of Frank Castle.
• As stated above, there will be an Ant Man movie being scheduled for production. As of the moment, there is still no news on who will direct it and star in the lead role.
• The first Avenger is finally getting his shot on the Hollywood box office. Captain America the movie is in the pipeline for the next big film for marvel. Directed bu Nick Cassavetes, it is set to show on May 6, 2011. just in the rumor bin, it is said that Matthew McConaughey is Marvel Studio’s top choice to play the lead role in Captain America, well thats just a bad choice. I can never see Captain America in cutoff jeans and a sleeveless shirt.
• And the last news i was able to get is the Nick Fury movie. obviously staring Samuel L Jackson due to the cameo in the Iron Man Movie. There is still no news on when will the production start. There has no news about script and director but for sure it will happen.
  

As you can see from the list, you can surmise where the Marvel Studios direction is taking us. After their ground breaking first trilogy the X-Men movies, Marvel has decided to give us another group that would satisfy a huge group of fans. they just didn't announce a major movie being made but thought ahead making smaller (smaller, yeah right) movies first as an introduction to the major movie which in fact is the Avengers. Making individual Movies is a great idea, then combining them all for the major group is splendid. But heres a thought, in the end, after making the movies and before the major one, if each individual movie cost in the region of $100 million to make, what will be the budget of the Avengers movie when it is consisted of 6 or more major characters, not to mention that some of these characters have Big Name stars that command a hefty salary. Aside from the budget, another thought has crossed my mind. There have been numerous movies, mostly B-grade ones, about some of these characters, For this plan to work, I mean the success of the Avengers Movie, each individual movie must in turn, create a killing in the box office, or at the very least create that major buzz that will influence the next movie coming out. Looking at that perspective, this is a tough and long climb for marvel studios. all i can say is that Iron Mans done, it made a killing at the box office, i guess thats one down, and a few more to go...