blakerson.com

By that I mean Rockstar North, the studio behind the Grand Theft Auto series. This website is not what it appears. Here's the skinny on the game:

It's called Manhunt, and it's Grand Theft Auto gone survival horror. You're a criminal on death row and your lethal injection is faked (you're sedated instead of killed). When you wake up, you're in an abandoned slum called Carcer City, a city wholly owned by an extremely rich man who throws criminals in there for his sick entertainment. Like a reality show, cameras are everywhere. It's your job to survive and get the hell out. That said, this is not your teenage child's GTA. Rockstar North says they're making a serious game - and think about how the cartoonish violence of GTA had everyone up in arms. This game is aimed at seriously disturbing the player - and they'll most likely succeed. Here are some more differences from GTA:

-Stealth-focused gameplay - you have a noise meter
-Much darker color scheme
-The roughly 20 weapons are much more low-tech, mostly blades and blunt objects (and plastic bags). Guns are rare.
-Details on cars are unknown

This is exactly what the industry needs. It's GTA gone real, and this will force the industry to grow up and it'll force society to accept games as legitimate stand-alone entertainment. Expect some legislation to come out of this game (probably banning sales/rental of M-rated games to minors universally), but it'll be more than worth it.

And it was successful! We had 12 competitors and our final winner was Gus, who's on a 3-tournament championship streak if I remember correctly. Blowing everyone away in second place was John Martone, who ownerized with Dr. Mario all the way through the loser's bracket, took second place and $20, only to lose to me in the Grudge Match between us which will now exist forever and ever. Alex and I decided on the way home that we have indeed been passed up by the juniors, who we once owned early into the competitive history of the game.

Afterwards, there was coffee to be had with Michael's sister (yeah, Strange Michael - his sister's pretty smart) and her friend Sarah, who had my attention for a healthy part of the night. I never thought I'd end up meeting an interesting girl at Apex, much less on a tourney night, but hey - variety's a wonderful thing. This Sarah (not the previously mentioned one who got me into the swingin' sounds of Mr. Mayer) and I have the strangest things in common, particularly our tastes for music. We spent a lot of the night trading back and forth obscure artists and song names that typically no one else has heard of. For those who weren't there, this part will weird you out: she's taller than me.

On to more pressing issues, the John Mayer concert is in fact tonight, and I'm extremely excited. Rumor has it he's not feeling well, which means he'd play a short set, but we're hoping he's well enough to play for at least an hour. Hell, he could guitar solo for three hours for all I care, he's that damn good at it. It's off to prepare for concerting.

So I got a call from one of the wonderful folks at Apex yesterday. The next SSB tournament (probably the last major for us college-bound kids) is this Friday (two days from now), starting very early in the evening. They want to have the whole group registered into the game by 6:00 so that the first round can start at 6 sharp. So be there around 5:30. The entry fee is $5, and half the pot will go to the winner (Apex keeps the rest). Spread the word, post it on your own blog, do whatever you see fit. I'll be busy practicing anyway.

UPDATE: The reason for the early start is so the tourney can wrap up before the store closes at 9:00. I propose that we get a big group together and head out to dinner after the tournament, cause it'd be fun.

I've had several people ask me how to add comments to their blogs. Since my system isn't accepting new accounts, try this: Documentroot.com was advertised on this very site this morning and that's how I found the link. That link is an advertiser's link but it gives credit to Google so feel free to use it. I don't know anything about the system since you have to sign up for it first, nor am I able to help you install or maintain it, but if you're desperate for comments this may be a decent resort.

Today I caught some HardOCP headlines of interest and found my way to a press release from VIA pimping some new third-party cases that support the M10000 motherboard - their itty bitty integrated-ghetto-chip fanless board with DVD playback etc. etc.

So this gave me an idea: that's how I'll do my entertainment center. It'll be possible before long to build one of those boxes with a quality DVD drive for less than $500. Since the board has onboard MPEG2 decoding, it'd make a fine DVD/CD player with good sound output. Throw in a $75 PCI TV-tuner card and there's my TV access and a remote control for the system.

"But blake, why do all that when you could build it into your other system?"
It's too loud. When you're watching a DVD movie you don't want to be distracted by fan noise. So the media box will just sit on top of the gaming box and I'll be able to switch between Doom 3 (which will still be scary as hell several years from now on a projector) and movies without much trouble at all.

So here's my solution if I were to build it today:
-Used LCD projector + screen (ebay) with analog VGA / RCA / S-Video inputs
-Gaming box - outputs analog VGA and PC 5.1 surround (function: PC gaming)
-Media box - outputs analog VGA or S-Video with PC 5.1 surround (function: DVD movies, CD/MP3 music, TV)
-Consoles - output RCA audio and S-Video (function: console gaming)
-PC 5.1 speakers (wireless)

Assuming the gaming box and consoles are already in possession, then we're looking at $1000 for the projector and screen, $500 for the media box, and $300 for 5.1 speakers (this is in the future, don't forget) - $1800 for a complete home theater setup that moves easily from place to place. Compare that to someone else's setup:

Big-screen TV/HDTV - $2500 [though prices will fall in the future]
Home Theater in a Box (DVD/CD player, receiver, speakers) - $1000

That tops out at $3500 for a setup that's much harder to use and a total bitch to wire. Not exactly something you can keep in an apartment. And you've got frustrated people who have no idea how to turn the whole system on because you've got more components. My mom now has almost no clue how to switch her system from TV to DVD and back. It's with this in mind that I'm going to build a woman-friendly theater system that kicks ass and doesn't bust my poor Lib Arts wallet.