New Car Baby!

Yea so as you may have guessed, despite my pessimism of my own TradeMe browsing habit, I have just bought a car.  Feels good.

So now I’ve got to find some other way to procrastinate.  While not spending money I totally don’t have.

I may have overstepped my mark budget-wise slightly on the price of the car though.  So I pretty much have a full month to survive on my overdraft.  Now normally this would not be a problem as all I have to do is not buy stuff.  Unfortunately with a new car comes the cost of registering under my name, leading to me realising that I had an illegible drivers license. 

So how do you solve this problem?  By throwing $38 at it and having to endure a three week wait the replacement license arrives.  Meaning that every time I go out to a bar, town, or just to buy beer from the supermarket I have to bring my passport which surprise, surprise is going to need to be replaced soon (another $100 or so). 

Buuut I think I can survive until payday...unless

The Great Car Hunt

So I need to stop going to TradeMe.  My plan at the moment is to save up my money for a big-ass OE adventure (hence my previous post), but in the meantime I’m saving up for a car in time for summer. 

Originally I was hoping to get about $6000, but thanks to my rather weak will power and other factors I don’t think I’ll hit that mark.  So in the meantime I’ve been eyeing up TradeMe to gauge what car I can get for, say, $4000-$5000. 

Introducing my problem:  I’ve begun seriously looking at cars within my current price range.  While this isn’t all bad, it’s shorter than I’d planned for – think midget playing basketball short.  The decent cars I find within my price range are usually out of reach in the auction’s last hour, where bidders (or is that bastards?) boost the price up another grand. 

But what would happen if the car I’m currently looking at stays within my price range and I (somehow) win the auction?  What else do I have to pay for?

Well there’s insurance ($60-odd a month I’ve worked out).

Petrol.

Registration (for the minty fresh Jap imports).

Okay, so maybe aside from rego I’d be all good with the initial cost.

But then I hear all these horror stories about people getting a seemingly mean car that turns into a total lemon.  Take my dad’s car for example.  He bought it about eight or so years ago and it worked great....for about 5 years.  In the last year the air suspension has seized up completely, the doors have decided to enter their rebellious teenage years and now refuse to close properly and then there’s the automatic transmission that just plain prematurely changes gear at the most inappropriate of times.  While the first of these isn’t exactly a necessity, the other two are just a complete pain that makes me not want to own a car.

However, my need for a car is constantly on the rise now.  A car would enable me to get to my friends' places at night without having to fork out the cash for a cab, or worry about having to pick up my parent’s car the morning after. 

It would also aid my health and safety.  Instead of dodging stressed out mums and BMW drivers on my usual running route round the neighbourhood, I could easily take myself to places where all I’d have to worry about are murderous speed-walkers.

Complete with bijon frise grenades.

Tristan da Cunha: A Hermit's Wet Dream

In the last few months I've been thinking about where I want to go on my OE: I want to get some money working in England and (maybe) the States, but I also have plenty of places that I just want to go visit.  Some of them are have awesome castles (The Rhine river in Germany), others are less than safe (hi Iraq, please don't kill me), and others I just saw them in a movie (step on down Bruges!).

And then there was those that are just in the middle of fucking no-where.

Introducing Tristan da Cunha.

Hidden away in the South Atlantic Ocean between Africa and South America, this British overseas territory proudly holds the honour of being the remotest bloody place in the world. 

Discovered and, rather arrogantly, named after the Portuguese explorer Tristao da Cunha in 1506, it would not be officially surveyed for another 250 years thanks to rough seas.  A chap by the name of John Lambert eventually established a permanent settlement in 1810 re-naming it the Refreshment Islands, however this was a short-lived enterprise as he died just two years later ironically in a boating accident.  Finally, in 1816 the British annexed the islands to prevent the French from using it as a base to free Napoleon and to stop the yanks from, well...they had a little war going on between them at the time, so let’s just leave it at that shall we? 

Anyway, a garrison of British Marines were posted at the island and eventually civilians started popping up along with whalers, which led to the island developing into a settlement.  Aside from being used as a secret British base in WW2, the islands got the short end of the stick as the world discovered steam power and the Suez Canal became the tits of the shipping world.  In 1961 the local volcano decided to throw its toys out of the cot by erupting, forcing the islands’ inhabitants to flee all the way to Mother England.  A couple of years later the islands were declared safe again and the hermits returned, figuring that it would be better to be burned alive by lava or shipwrecked than being eaten by a computer or something.

Om nom nom

Procrastination's a bitch

Okay so procrastination’s a bitch.

Sitting at home on a crappy August’s day with an assignment due in the coming days my brain should be going into work mode, but ahh yeah nah. You see I should be at the uni library in town, my fingers pitter-pattering away on the keyboard being constructive in the development of my assignment. But there’s one problem: I can’t be bothered to brave the rain to get there.

So, here I am sitting in the kitchen listening to the radio, a copy of Real Groove tantalisingly close, and the internet calling out to me.

And Kung-Fu puppies!

To be honest it’s pretty good that I even got this far. Hell I’ve already done a wee bit of my assignment; the notes are all around me, conveniently covering up the newspaper. But as I said before, I’m impressed I got this far today. A party the night before coupled with a cold bearing down on me made getting out of bed this morning a tough task. Also, I couldn’t help but have a little blast on the PlayStation this morning too, it was just there. Staring at me. Willing me to play. “Just one level monsieur! Shoot a few bad guys before making your mind up, please I implore you monsieur!”

Yes, I’ve decided that my PlayStation is French for today. But the Xbox will always be its fat American cousin, spitting tobacco juice into the bucket, wheezing loudly whenever it has to do any work.

Do you see what’s happening now? My imagination’s spiralling into a hypnotic state of overdrive where I can get carried away with anything that pops into my head.

It’s almost three o’clock now, the day’s practically done and I just got a text from a mate telling me to come round to for a few beers before the 21st tonight. The thought to say “bugger it, I’ll just do this tomorrow” certainly does come to mind, after all I can get (relatively) free parking in town on Sundays anyway.

I told you procrastination’s a bitch.

Curious Georges' Survival Tips for First Year N00bs

So you survived school and all exciting dullness that goes along with it: homework, chumps who just make Geography all the more harder to sleep through, the 9-to-3 drudge of life. But hurrah no worries no more right? You’ve made it into Uni and you are ready to party/sleep/whore your way through a few years and BOOM you’ve got a degree right?

Well aside from a few STDs and maybe waking up in the Waitakere ranges a few times, yeah that sounds about pretty dead on.

In all seriousness though, your upcoming years at Auckland Uni are going to be some of your best and you will remember them for the rest of your life whether you like it or not.

You will always remember when you enquired about the upcoming verbal French test before realising you were in a Civil Engineering lecture, and your friends will remember that time you fell down the stairs after a few too many jugs at Shads that time. 21st fodder right there.

You will also remember seeing great bands at O-Week such as Minuit, The Checks and ol’ King Kapisi (all for FREE!) as well as taking part in the Shadows’ pub quiz. The same goes for getting into the Uni lifestyle by joining up with Bfm and getting all their sweet as bCard deals, cos you like free/cheap stuff right?
But aside from these upcoming moments in your university career there will be some pretty trying times.

Ask around and you’ll surely hear tales of people winging their way through a test they didn’t study for, or starting a 40% essay the day before it’s due and still getting a B+. Makes uni sound pretty breezy right? True. But for those of us who have tried this it really involves about 3 litres of Lift Plus, a truck load of sugar and a computer that doesn’t crap itself just as you’re submitting your essay. In short: yeah it is possible to fluke this shit off, but fuck it sucks doing it.

Basically what this primate is saying to all you plucky first years is: have fun at Uni, but don’t be an arse and think you can out-drink or out-think a seasoned Auckland Uni veteran – these are a hardy bunch and they will make you work for their respect.

Assassin's Creed 2 review

The first Assassin’s Creed received mixed responses from critics and gamers alike. Praise for its style and relative grace as well as just how damn pretty it was, whilst loud complaints were directed towards its tedious and repetitive mission structure as well as its general lack of difficulty. While the game’s praises led many to purchase the title, the flaws halted a number from gritting their teeth to complete the damn thing (myself included). Despite the game’s flaws it was clear that Ubisoft had a franchise worthy of a follow up and hence we have Assassin’s Creed 2.

While many elements of the game will be instantly familiar to those who played the original (free running, combat, stealth, etc) there are a few notable changes. Most obvious of which is the change of scenery: Crusade-era near-east is replaced by Renaissance Italy – whose themes of rediscovery of forgotten ways is very fitting for the sequel. Among multiple references to the original’s protagonist/ancestor, Altair, codex pages are inevitably discovered unlocking more Assassin secrets such as blueprints for a primitive gun and even a second hidden blade. Whereas other games may automatically upgrade your abilities upon collection of these collectibles, it is who you take these seemingly empty collectibles to that gives the game, and setting, real soul and believability – Leonardo da-goddamn Vinci. Yes, the Renaissance-era legend has a firm place in this title by being a close friend of our protagonist’s ancestor Ezio. It’s the little things just like da Vinci that give this game its charm and, as the timeline progresses over the years, the cities themselves change – bridges and churches are built, areas become more populated by believable people, etc. Speaking of which a little while into the game you are given access to your own villa-come-village that, as you invest in it, changes from a dreary hole to a bustling town complete with everything from a church and shops to a brothel (apparently a tourist attraction in Renaissance-era Italy), which earns you money relative to how much money you throw at it.

Settings and themes aside AC2 plays very much like its predecessor which is both good and bad. Good in that it is easy to pick up and thoroughly enjoyable whether whisking along rooftops or descending on a target. Bad in that it is at you may blindly find yourself resembling a squished tomato after gleefully jumping the wrong way off a ledge. Also, at times the combat is too easy with the all too reliable strategy being waiting to counter enemies’ strikes. Luckily these are the only remaining flaws from the original’s gameplay that remain, the tedious eavesdrop/steal/etc missions have been mercifully replaced by more varied missions that provide good pacing and actually feel that they are a part of the wider story arc.

Another major aspect of the original AC that makes a return for the good and bad is the visuals. While there is a lot of visual gratification for climbing up a church spire to admire the view there are at times some very jarring shortcomings in the graphics department. For example, characters’ faces still look exactly as they did in the first game, while very good they appear very tired and just plain lazy when compared to the AAA heavy hitters that AC2 is meant to compete with. While it may seem a very small gripe to make this type of shortcoming does prove to be detrimental to the experience which is a bit of a shame.

Outside of the main story arc Ubisoft have implanted a fair bit of side quests and booty collecting in order for gamers to get the most out of their buck. As well as the aforementioned codex pages (which also grant you more health eventually) you can collect feathers, loot for treasure and take part in side quests such as assassinations, races and deliveries. However there are two particularly notable side quests that will keep platform junkies and conspiracy nuts respectively busy. The first is Prince of Persia-inspired plat forming to be found in assassins tombs which eventually rewards you with your predecessor’s armour. The latter requires you to scan certain anomalies on walls etcetera in order to decipher clues that flesh out the game’s conspiracy – hinting at a presence that has long been among civilised man.

While Assassin’s Creed 2 still contains many similar flaws to its predecessor, it is a solid game for those gamers who want to have a change from online-heavy games like Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2. While still holding onto the original’s charm and beauty the team at Ubisoft have (mostly) listened to fans’ and critics’ concerns by injecting a well-paced plot and believable setting thereby crafting a game that is a joy to both play or to simply admire.

8.5 out of 10

A Chat with Stickmen Studios' CEO Wil McLellan

Wil McLellan is not exactly your average CEO. In fact, Stickmen Studios is not your average company either, it is in fact one of New Zealand’s few game development studios. Wil managed to take some precious time out of his day to sit down and chat about Stickmen Studios and New Zealand’s place in the global gaming industry.

Established in 2006 before opening their studio in Christchurch two years later Stickmen was formed after Wil and two friends decided, “Yeah we can probably make a game in our spare time”. After speaking to people in the industry they decided to formally establish the company and see where it would take them. What followed was years of tireless research that consumed many evenings and weekends. “And then the real hard work started”. Eighty and one hundred hour weeks became the norm as they experienced just how much of a challenge the gaming industry is. What was once a hobby now became his life.

Wil and his team gained experience by working with partner companies to create Flash and iPhone games. Working with kiwi-games portal company Cerebral Fix, two games for the iPhone were produced: the retro Swarm and the family-orientated Love, Share, Nurture – both available for purchase. However, Stickmen’s big projects-focus on the home console developing titles for WiiWare and, as of June this year, the PlayStation Network.

He explains that while Stickmen could have simply chosen to pursue franchised products with an already established audience it is simply not how the company operates, “Our real drive is to make original IP”. Despite opting for a business model with significant high risk Wil is confident in Stickmen’s ability to create high calibre games. By building titles from the ground up it allows for the emergence of innovative and exciting material, something which links into their goal to create breakthrough gaming. Take their soon-to-be-released WiiWare title ‘Dragon Master Spell Caster’ for example, a fully 3D titles to be made available for download on Nintendo’s console – by no means a small feat for a first-time project. Wil is particularly proud of the dragon-fighting gameplay because in a lot of games missiles and magic rarely, if ever, make contact mid-air, “We really liked the idea that when magic collides it does something magical”. So what would happen if, say, a fireball collided with an ice-based attack? Steam of course. And what about an earth versus lightning magic? You’ll just have to find out when the game is released. As their first complete project Wil admits that Dragon Master will provide Stickmen a significant learning curve “You’ve just got to learn how it’s done first time round and that always takes time”. And it’s from these lessons, he predicts, that Stickmen will grow as a company and learn to create subsequent games with greater efficiency and quality.

Speaking of which, Dragon Master is not their only project in the works: two additional WiiWare titles codenamed ‘Project I’ and ‘Project F’ are also in development. While admitting that he cannot reveal anything significant about these games, a quick gander at their website reveals a few details. ‘Project I’ appears to be a side-scrolling puzzle-adventure featuring cute cartoon-style graphics while ‘Project F’ hints at an addictive fantasy-based experience. While remaining very tight-lipped on these projects the head-honcho of Stickmen promises that both are original IPs that again contribute towards their breakthrough gaming mantra in their own unique ways. Stickmen, Wil enthuses, does not want to be held down to a single genre of gaming, claiming that the studio does not want to follow the herd. This is clearly evident in the range of projects thus far: Dragon Master is a 3D dragon flying game, while ‘Project I’ and ‘Project F’ are respectively puzzle-adventure and “strategically-based”. However, Wil teases, there is yet another project in the works that may be released before ‘Project F’. While remaining very quiet on any details he promises that this mystery project continues to carry on a “very different look and feel” to their other products, promising only that further information will be revealed come-November.

“We don’t want to be predictable”, Wil says, and tells me that he is particularly proud of Stickmen because the team are not part of a machine per se. In a writing meeting, for example, everyone gets to put their ten cents in, resulting in a team unified by something that is their shared creation: “I don’t know if it’s unique, but it’s certainly a very enjoyable way to work”.
With so many projects on the go and such an inviting space for employees to stretch their creative muscle, one would think that game development would be a popular career in New Zealand – a nation that prides itself on innovation. Unfortunately this is not the case. Wil points out that countries like Scotland and Canada, who respectively employ 11,000 and 14,000 people in the industry, earn their economies billions of dollars. While New Zealand’s few hundred game industry folk bring in a just a few million per year. A pretty embarrassing statistic, Wil laments, undoubtedly not helped by the lack of opportunities available to those wanting to get into the industry itself despite having the right qualifications. Those who miss out on the very limited positions in NZ’s gaming industry end up working for corporate IT or, as was the case of one of Stickmen’s developers, getting qualified then stacking shelves whilst trying to get into gaming. And then of course there’s the ever-occurring brain-drain: the exodus of talented and qualified kiwis overseas to pursue careers that are simply not available in their own country.

What is New Zealand doing to prevent this loss of talent? Aside from companies like Stickmen and Wellington’s Sidhe Interactive doing whatever they can, it seems very little. While very grateful to the support provided by WINZ (Work & Income New Zealand) and FRST (The Foundation of Science, Research and Technology), Wil still believes the central government could do more. “What I would like to see is some more government support for the industry” Wil declares, just like the recent support and subsequent rise of New Zealand’s movie industry. He holds a lot of respect for the Kiwi movie-makers who have proved that New Zealand is a great place to make films, but now he wants to prove that this is the case with our gaming industry. Pointing to the success of Shatter, Sidhe’s critically acclaimed downloadable game on the PlayStation Network, Wil claims that this is proof that New Zealand is more than capable of making great games.

So what could the government be doing to support our gaming industry? By providing a small investment and a few incentives similar to those offered by other countries, Wil predicts we could see an exciting growth similar to that of our movie industry. In fact, New Zealand game development has the potential to become as powerful, if not more so, than our world renowned movie industry. The explosion of gaming’s popularity thanks to the emergence of casual gaming in recent years has led to some statistics putting the industry growth rate at twice that of television and movies – proving that gaming is no longer a restricted medium. While joking that 95% of statistics are made-up, Wil still points out that the while the film and television grows at 5% per year, gaming rockets along at a whopping 10.5% a year – thus proving that it is no longer a restricted medium and the perfect place for investment.

So where to now for the New Zealand game industry? Will our government answer the phone and provide support to some of our most creative minds fighting to prove New Zealand’s place in the global industry? Or will companies like Stickmen continue to prove themselves through tireless innovation just as they have been doing so since they established themselves as one of the country’s very few game development studios? As more titles are released and announced it is plain to see that so long as Stickmen keep to their goal of delivering breakthrough gaming, New Zealand is sure to increasingly feature on the world stage. And who knows maybe in a few years we will proudly be seeing a kiwi presence at the E3 Expo in LA.

To view Dragon Master Spell Caster's trailer click here (strangely under the name Dragon Master Spell Catcher)