My Take

A little more from those websites...

2011-07-27T19:20:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 30/3/2008

Found these here.

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Baten Kaitos
I’ll also just note that there is a point where one of the female characters is not feeling well, and it is discovered that she is ‘bleeding.’ This was kind of out of place, and I think something was lost in translation, but essentially the girl is having her first period, and is thus ready to begin her training as duchess. The whole thing is mentioned as some sort of right of passage, and is not meant to be sexual. I still found it to be a strange scene.

Tales of Symphonia
The most disappointing aspect of this game is the plethora of bad language used throughout the game. I stopped counting after one hundred. Some examples are: crap, d---, a--, and b------. There is one character that is characterized as being a womanizer. He makes comments that routinely offend the female characters in the game. One of the most troubling parts of the language in this game is the worshipping of a goddess Martel. Quite often the characters pray to, and ask blessings from Martel. As a Christian I found this extremely offensive.

[...]

Angels are shown as the bad guys in this game, as is the Pope, and the church. In order to progress through this game, you are required to rebel against the church, Pope, and Angels. The biases in this game were disgusting.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The game's focus is about the "tri-force" and its powers. There is nothing in this game that suggests believing in this religiously.

Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
There is no nudity in this game, but the main Dark Jedi is a woman named Tavion who wears clothing that accentuates her sexuality.

[...]

The Supernatural elements of this game center on the Force. The game, however, does not suggest that the Force is a real religion to be taken seriously in real life.

Halo
Your computer can talk to you and take the form of a hologram of a sexy woman.

The Simpsons: Hit and Run
In order to achieve the objectives in this game the player must reject authority figures or laws. In one mission Bart is showing his school principal disrespect and if you run over too many people then you have to outrun the cops. Also just like in the cartoon, some characters are portrayed with stereotypical biases and traditional family values are portrayed as negative. The game also requires that some decisions be made to go against traditional values.

Knights of the Old Republic
The word "damn" is used throughout the game, but God's name is not included with it.

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What sounds do birds make?

2011-07-27T19:13:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 6/3/2008

French Sandpiper: kitty wiper
European Knot: thu and wit

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Universal Binary of the Jedi Outcast demo

2011-07-27T18:58:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 28/1/2008

One doesn't exist but who cares? I don't. I just kinda created my own XD. Want to know how?

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It's simple.

Materials

The demo
The Universal Binary update to the retail version of Jedi Outcast II
A blank CD
Burn (optional but my instructions will not include alternatives)

Method
First you must download the demo. See, that was easy.

Now you're gonna want to get the update. Download it, open the disk image but don't install. Right click on the installer and select Show Package Contents. Navigate to the Resources folder and show the contents of the package there.

Open the Contents folder and then the Archive.pax.gz file. It should decompress to the desktop. Open this new folder and what do you see? Three files, two of them applications? Take the Jedi Knight II application and put it in the same folder as the demo application.

Now for the hard part. Create a new disk image in Disk Utility. Click on the New Image button in the toolbar and create a CD sized image with the name "Jedi Knight II" and save it.

Fire up Burn, select the Copy tab, drag the disk image into the window, put your CD in, and burn away.

Now whenever you go the play the demo you just need to chuck in your blank disc and open the Universal Binary application. The PPC version will still work but why would you use that version when you have an almost perfectly capable Universal version?

The only problem is that you can't load saved games through the UI. You need to open the console (Shift + `) and type load and the name of the game. For example, one you reach the Reborn, type load auto.

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WHAT I SAW (400 POSTS ALSO...YAY...)

2011-07-27T18:49:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 2/1/2008

I'm not going to do a full write-up of everything, Bronwyn and Peta have already covered it nicely. This is just what I saw in list form.

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Before I got up from my seat (I really should have grabbed Bronwyn, if I'd known it'd get worse I would have) the African guy, blood in his mouth, sprayed me while I wasn't looking. Subconsciously I knew I had blood on me.
The African guy tried to pass off the sheath to one of the weapons which had slid across the floor. At that time I knew, somewhere in my mind, that there was a knife on the bus. Good thing I didn't announce it because it was at least another 30 seconds before the woman yelled and the bus stopped.
After that woman in blue ran down the front, the rest of the bus pushed forward resulting me being one of the first off.
I ran across the street (a little side road off the main one) as soon as I got off. Soon I saw Peta and called her across.
I was shaking when we ran into the yard. It was a really weird experience. Hello, sorry for crashing your party.
It was very hot and humid.
The bottle of Coke I got when we were back at Tea Tree stayed in my hand the whole time.
During the entire incident all I could think was how could they screw up the security of this stupid track? We're talking about a bus, on a track several metres from the ground, and you can't stop until you either reach the next station or get back on the road.
Being separated from everyone for that moment when I was pushed off the bus and they were still on it felt awful.
The African and the older guy are brave for at least trying to do something.

Want to know what I think about all this? That the O-Bahn, in its current state, is a fucking stupid idea.

Oh and isn't this just great? This is my 400th post and last month I posted 86 articles. That's two more than the most I've ever posted which was 84 back in November.

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Eventful New Years,

2011-07-27T18:45:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 1/1/2008

By Bronwyn Madley...

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Nanna, James, Peta and me went to the plaza (this is in Adelaide btw) and had soem dinner and saw a movie, Golden Compass, was good.
:)

Then we went to catch the O-Bahn (which is like a but that goes on tracks I think) into the city to see fireworks and when we got on the bus, drunk people were already on the back of the bus and they were just yelling and stuff.

THEN they started getting worse, and a fight broke out. Between some girls at first and then boys jumped in and it was two guys. A black guy jumped in to break it up, and he ended up getting bashed, they were kicking his head in, and the bus can't stop because it is on tracks or something.

People were screaming to stop and girls were biting the guys to break it up and everyone was watching, the black guy threw his bag to us and then there was a dagger on the ground at my feet, in it's case.

The fight was getting worse, another guy pulled a bigger knife and a lady just yells out 'HE'S GOT A KNIFE, AND IT'S A BLOODY BIG ONE' and runs up the bus, coz they were coming closer to us and the front end of the bus. She knocked me into Nanna and Peta's seat, and James was already up the other end. James ended up with blood on his shirt and shorts, from the innocent guy's nose and/or mouth.

When the O-Bahn could stop, it did and the driver had already rung police, but it took a while for them to come.
We all ran off the bus and I ran into a front yard, where luckily people were having a party around the back, and told us to get round the back.

One of the guys jumped over a car, and the girls semi-restrained them, but I was in some people's party so I didn't see much of what happened until the police came.
They got all the girls in the divi-van, and they were trying to bash their way out ^_^.
The guys were caught too, and we were all just shocked and stuff. One guy got his hand slit by the knife that was pulled, but it wasn't serious. The black guy mostly was the one hurt.
Nanna's foot and hand are bruised too, from the lady running up the bus.

The people who's party we went into, gave us drinks and were really nice, and uncle Derek came and picked us up, we came home and watched the fireworks on telly.
:)

It was pretty much terrifying, and I would just like to add,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It isn't a bad start to 2008, it's a bad end to a bad enough '07 C:

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u have to read this happend to us about aan hour age PLZREAD

2011-07-27T18:39:00.004+09:30

This post was originally published 31/12/2007

By Peta Madley...

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Its New Years Eve right,
A few of our family were traveling together (Bron Peta Nanna and James) on one of those obahn things.

There was some of their head teens at the back the began to fight, we are talking girls scratching smashing heads and teeth. Next thing you know some black person stands up to seperate them (mainly 2 guys).

The guys in a way teamed up and got the person on the ground and started smashing his head in... afew secconds later a knife hilt ended up on the ground about dagger sized, (just remember we are on the obahn so we cant stop whenever) it was black with a gold snake twirled around it.

Anyways the black man did nothing wrong but he was bleeding and stuff James ended up with blood on him Peta ended up with spit on her mainly because and old man got up and yelled "OI YOU LOT SIT DOWN" this made them worse.

Next thing you know 2 older men got up and started to try and help. Which didn't work again.

we were nearing a station when a woman in a blue dress stood up and yelled "HE'S GOT A KNIFE" "AND ITS A BLOODY BIG ONE " . In all one rush half of the bus was up the driver end. We were about in the middle and they were getting closer.

We we'll yeah moved of course then the bus stopped right out side a house which was having a small get to gether for new years. We all rushed out and got sepperated from nannaand she was saying "WHERES MY CHILDREN??" over and over.

Bron ran straight around in these peoples yardand hid behing a post well large fence we all followed then a lady came out and say what was going one and rushed us 4 around the back yard. The guests were like'whay are you here???'.

We explained and some of them went round the fron to watch while others where going I dont want to get involved but yeah. Peta sent her dad a text explaining every thing.

But out the front the brawl was going on with girlfriends restraining boyfriends. One of the people with a knife jumped over some poor blokes car...

The police eventuall arrived with 3 paddy wagons. One of the girls was trying to bash her way out.

In the end we decided to not go to Elder Park for Adelaide's celebration, because if this is what its like on the way home whats it going to be like on the way home.

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My almost 12 month old review of CoD3

2011-07-26T19:00:00.004+09:30

This post was originally published 29/12/2007

This review was rejected on GameFAQs for the politically correct word "Nazi". If I called them German I would be wrong, right?

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You may wonder what I mean by two review scores, I'll get to that later. Anyway I picked up Call of Duty 3 only because I'm getting Red Steel for Christmas and living in Australia there is no Excite Truck (another game I want). I feel I must also mention this is my first World War II FPS, so I haven't had the same experiences others have had with others or on other consoles.

Graphics - 8.2/10
In terms of graphics, Call of Duty 3 is split into two camps, the first half (the best visuals) and the second half (bland and only as good as a rushed Playstation 2 game).

During the initial 6 or 7 levels you'll see graphics that rival the Xbox and you'll even notice some next-gen-ness shine through on some occasions, like the blurring when shooting an MG42 is incredible.

The worst images sadly appear after level 7, especially in the forest levels where their are really low-res textures everywhere. Another big problem I found was when you get injured and the redness that surrounds the screen appears, you can't see. It's really a problem when you walk too far and get bombarded.

Sound - 8.7/10
This game sounds great with surround sound. Every bullet and bomb or grenade is beautifully mapped to each speaker. Even with stereo sound Call of Duty 3 is immersive. What this game lacks however is a wider vocabulary for the Nazi forces. I really wish they'd stop yelling the same thing every few minutes.

Gameplay - 9.5/10
If you've read anything about Call of Duty 3 on the Wii, you probably have heard it takes about 1 hour to get used to controlling your character with the Wiimote. It's all true. But after that hour you'll be a pro and that's all that matters. Now do the controls work? Yes. Are they better than dual analogues? Yes. Better than a mouse even? So-so. The controls are ultra responsive, just miniscule movements can send you into a spin, which is why it's a good thin you can change sensitivity on both the x and y axis.

The hardest part to control is throwing a grenade because it requires you to move your hand so you have access to the D-pad. You'll learn when to throw the right type at the right time anyway. And I don't use the grenade-motion btw.

The one thing that gets my gripe is the stupidity of the so-called "Pro reviewers" who can't seem to play this game correctly. If you have read or seen their opinions on the gun fighting (where a Nazi will grab your gun and you have to fight over it using actual motion with the Wiimote and Nunchuk), they'll probably tell you the fights aren't responsive. THEY ARE! But only if you slow down your movements and keep with the tempo shown on the screen. And to think my sister had to tell me this...

Story - 6/10
The story depicted in Call of Duty 3 takes place in France as you fight as either the American, Canadian, Polish or English forces. Yep, there is no French playability even though it is their war in their country. The worst parts of the story come when they start talking about or to a character you don't know, it just leaves you confused. The story could have been better.

Replay Value - 7/10
What really makes First Person Shooters is online, especially if the single-player missions get a bit boring. Unfortunately the Wii version of Call of Duty 3 doesn't have online, though it may be possible in the future though patches. Other than that the replay value of this game is lower than I think it should be. I just wish they'd add online.

Value - 7.5/10
Call of Duty 3 isn't the best launch game nor is it the worst, but if you were to game right now I'd get Twilight Princess first (like I did) then some other game, then this. It just isn't that good.

Stability - 5.5/10
My experience with Call of Duty 3 hasn't been the best. The particular disc I got has so many bugs I just scarily made it through some levels. Others have reported similar problems but none as bad as what I've seen. Here's a video of the problem I found in the 4th level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORQri85k38w

Final (without stability problems) - 7.9/10
Final (with stability problems) - 7.5/10

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The wonders of the RE4 board SPOILERS

2011-07-26T18:55:00.000+09:30

This post was originally published 16/12/2007

Back when RE4 first came out for the GameCube its board on GameFAQs was probably the best place ever. Playing RE4 right now and I just got up to the scene where Luis Sera gets impaled by Saddler. The technical name for it, according to the board, is wangled. I'll leave you to guess why.

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Yeah...GFAQS...(NSFW)

2011-07-26T18:52:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 16/12/2007

Powerhour856:

My god if my moms boyfriend yelled at me for fixing my own moms computer id romperstomp his ass then make out with his girlfriend right in front of him

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Definite Rosetta improvements

2011-07-26T18:46:00.001+09:30

This post was originally published 6/12/2007

Back in March I blogged about how great Rosetta performance was after the 10.4.9 update (was it really that long ago?). While the improvements were good enough to just be playable bearable, it still wasn't perfect. For example, playing the Theed level was impossible because the sound went all high pitched and garbled. Not as bad as before the 10.4.9 update but just plain annoying.

Enter Mac OS X 10.5.1 (aka Macintosh Operating System Ten Ten point Five point One). At first I was wondering why was I reinstalling this game again? Was there any chance it would be that much more playable? Well yes in fact, there was. I still have to play at some pretty low settings but the occasional jitter is just fine. Jitters don't really bother me after playing Jedi Knight II on a 500MHz iMac and Jedi Academy on a business laptop. I understanz teh jitterz.

After I get my HDD for Christmas I'm gonna put a Mac partition on for a few games and stuff. I'll also put Ubuntu on as well as use it as a Time Machine. I can't wait.

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I'm back!

2011-07-26T18:39:00.001+09:30

This post was originally published 21/11/2007

My new and improved power cable came today. Still 85W but about 33% smaller! Yay! Now let's hope it doesn't melt...

UPDATED: I just noticed that November is now the month with the most posts, starting with this one. Cool.

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I'm meltiiiiiiinnnnnnngggg!

2011-07-26T18:37:00.001+09:30

This post was originally published 18/11/2007

Well I can't use my computer for a while now, can I? My power cable has melted. MELTED. I've been wondering why my computer was disconnecting all the time. Hopefully it can be replaced soon.

Looks like my Wii is going to get a better workout than normal. Especially Twilight Princess.

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It's Your Choice

2011-07-26T18:29:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 14/11/2007

The following is from a video we watched in RE. This is the impression I know I got when watching it.

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SEX IS BAD! Also, did you know...

...that people who have abortions have underlying mental problems?
...everyone has an STI and having sex will transfer that STI to you and ruin your life?
...abortions are harder than raising a baby which is very hard?
...that there exists human chipmunks?
...the people who made this video want you to do weird stuff with horses?
...we are powerless against the media?
...that sex is good and something we should enjoy, but shouldn't do?

Yes, have sex and you're screwed for life. No really, you are. You'll turn into a chipmunk or begin to talk about sex and horses with no context. Seriously.

Remember people, donotputfasttalkingchipmunksonscreentheytalkfastandmakemelaughitwasveryfunnyunderstand?

And check this out. Yes I have run into pornography before. It's kind of unavoidable on the internet. I have a word of advice to these people; if you value your sanity (or what's left after making these ridiculous videos), do not go to any Chan, use Usenet, use any p2p app or go to a fan fiction site (e.g. this one).

Also, PUSSY DISCHARGE!!!

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Death

2011-07-26T18:21:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 12/10/2007

All this death is a little depressing. I am so tired of it. Where did my holidays go?

"We have known our great grandmother for all our lives, but that was long enough to know that she was a woman with a beautiful nature and one of the most caring people we will ever meet.

All out memories with her were filled with smiles and fun. When we were younger she was never afraid to crawl around on the floor with us. She was and still is pretty much the best great-grandmother we could have asked for.

One thing we will both remember about her is her glittery heart earrings and how she always allowed us to play with them. As we got older we loved to hold her hand and guide her up and down steps. She would be just as silly as us kids at times and she always had stories to tell; all you had to do was ask and like a tidal wave things would start coming out of her mouth. Even though this all sounds silly,it's the silly things that we remember and love.

People like her are hard to forget, but that's what was great about her. Sad as it may be to see a great woman laid to rest; she will always be in our hearts and memories as the happy fun-loving woman who was just as fun as any best friend.

We will always miss you, and where ever you are now I hope you never forget us like we will never forget you." - Peta and Bronwyn Madley

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The origins of my nicknames...

2011-07-26T18:14:00.001+09:30

This post was originally published 12/8/2007

To some I am known as James David Madley, to others, Maddles, and to most of the internet, neonblue2. But where did all these names come from?

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Back in 2004 when I had just started high school and was trying to make new friends most just called me James. This slowly changed as by the end of the year, some were calling me Madley instead. The name Madley stuck all the way through 2005 as well. It was in early 2005 that I found my next nickname.

Go and type "neonblue2" into Google right now. Just about all the results you are going to find are actually me under that pseudonym. It was invented back when I joined GameFAQs and I needed something to call myself. Suddenly, neonblue just hit me. There was something about the name that just didn't seem right though. Eureka! I added a 2 (so that blue and 2 rhyme) and the rest is history.

The most recent nickname I have been bestowed with is Maddles. If it isn't plainly obvious where it comes from then I won't spell it out. People began calling me Maddles last year, the author being Max (I think). If you ever see a comment from a person named Maddles on one of the many technology sites, it's probably me. When it comes to comment boxes I like to stick with something a little more personal.

Of course there have been others. The only other two I can remember come from Rhys and Peter. For some reason, back in 2005, Peter began calling me Jekyll. When I asked him why he just said it felt right or something to that effect. Rhys on the other hand came up with Thumper (don't ask why) back in 2005 as well. Occasionally he still addresses me as Thumper but he usually just sticks with Maddles like most people.

So yeah, there's a little more about me.

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Finished

2011-07-26T18:12:00.000+09:30

This post was originally published 28/7/2007

It's finally over, the Harry Potter series is over. I finished the book today at 12:45 (started at 9 from half way through) and up till now I haven't been able to get it out of my head. They're right, there are a lot of deaths. Some you can just brush off but others make you stop and think. I keep thinking back to the first 3 books, how different they were. They seemed a bit more structured back then. From the end of The Goblet of Fire it just changes. So many things happen. I really can't get over it.

I really really like this book. It's almost as if it's just trying to help you remember everything all the way through. There are references to past adventures in just about every chapter and I reckon almost every character returns (yes, even the dead ones). Hell, there's even a scene with Colin Creevey and Oliver Wood. And there's also a new character, very much like Harry in a certain way.

Finished

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Work experience

2011-07-26T17:42:00.006+09:30

This post was originally published 10/7/2007

Where to begin...Well last week I completed 5 days of work experience at the Next Byte store in Glenunga. It really was quite an experience.

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On Monday I arrived 15 minutes early and the doors of the service department weren't open, so I was forced to go into the store itself and wait for someone to take me through. I was in there for only a minute before the service manager, Phil Wood, came in, shook my hand and guided me through the back. This was the first time I'd see where I would be working for the majority of the week.

After a brief meeting where everyone introduced themselves I was given a 12" PowerBook to see if I could get it to randomly shutdown. It didn't shut down but I got it to kernel panic twice while in System Preferences. I was also given an iMac that belonged to a woman who had a whole list of what had been going wrong. They'd already wiped it and reinstalled Mac OS X so there wasn't much I could do.

Before the day finished I began work on a Power Mac G4 that needed its data to be migrated to a new Intel iMac. For some reason the iMac just couldn't see the Power Mac and so I just left it till Tuesday. The next morning I walked in reconnected the two computers and hoped it would work. It did. So for the next few hours I watched a progress bar. When it finished I had nothing to do so I just watched everyone else. I had three guys around me; Brian, Simon and Yuri. Phil was supposed to be there but he was sick.

Wednesday was mostly the same. I had nothing to do but observe. The highlights of Wednesday were when Simon gave me a guided tour of the inside of an iMac and trying to crash a Mac Pro. A Mac Pro with 4 cores running at 2.66GHz and 5GB of RAM. I think such a thing is impossible. I opened up every program and set up 6 processes that tax the CPU and it still ran better than any other computer I've every touched.

Thursday was the big day. There were 90 MacBooks coming in they needed to wiped and reinstalled. They had been used by some kids probably a little younger than my sister for a Kids Connect thing. It looked like they did some workshops or something because some were still on and running Game Maker with projects open. The games weren't completed though because none of them ran. So I got through about 30 on Thursday. The worst parts were that I didn't know the time (which I later learnt was on a phone in the room) and that everyone who tried to help would screw up my system and less work would get done.

Friday, the last day, I felt so comfortable at Next Byte it felt unbelievable. First thing I did was get Phil to answer some questions for the booklets school gave me. After that I went back upstairs and got started again. This time there were no people trying to help, so I stayed mostly happy throughout the day. No real big highlights, just many MacBooks of which I got through about 70 done overall. The last thing that happened was that Phil came in before I needed to go and basically fixed everything up for me so the MacBooks would be taken care of. Just before I walked out the back door through the service department I said goodbye to everyone, not too hard when they're sitting right there.

What did I get out of work experience? Well sore legs and a sore right arm. People should forget Wii injuries and focus on MacBook injuries. But yeah, it was good. Not quite the field I want to go into but I could work there temporarily if need be.

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How to stay warm on a cold night...

2011-07-26T17:39:00.001+09:30

This post was originally published 16/6/2007

Have the cat sleep on your chest
Emulate a PS2 on your laptop
Play the Wii

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My impressions of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 for the Wii

2011-07-26T17:32:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 3/6/2007

Well, after owning DBZ:BT2 I think I can now give a thorough report of what kind of game it is. Normally I wouldn't have bought a game like this mostly because they usually turn out like crap. But after reading the testimonies of people who had bought the game I decided to give it a go.

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Graphics - 8.5/10
Yes, this game is also available on the PlayStation 2 and yes, it does have PS2 graphics but then who cares? What's great about this game is how well it captures the look and feel of the TV show. The cel-shading is awesome and though it lacks any wow moments it still remains consistent.

Where the graphics fail is the shadows that look a little low res, the sometimes lack of detail in some places on the characters, and the lack of widescreen.

Sound - 9/10
Normally I play my Wii on my 52cm 4:3 CRT TV with only mono sound, but yesterday reploidof20xx came over and we took the Wii down the back and put it on my the movie projector and surround sound. DBZ:BT2 only supports stereo but on a PLII decoder it sounds awesome. All the voice actors are back from the series and they all sound great. In fact, I'd say if you like the audio in the series then you'll like it here.

Gameplay - 9.5/10
Now I want you to imagine yourself as Gohan or Trunks or Pan, fighting Bebi or someone else. What do you do? Well you fight of course! Let's see, there's plain melee attacks, ki blasts, and then there's the more famous ki blasts like the Masenko blast. You see it on TV, you'll see yourself do it in this game. The trick is not to play this game on easy after the first hour. IT'S BORING ON EASY! Let's see, you knock back the computer, you charge, you fire a Blast 2 or Ultimate Blast which knocks them back, repeat.

There are 4 in-depth fighting modes:

Dragon Adventure where you play out the entire story of DBZ and DBGT and some of the movies and a few what-ifs?
Ultimate Battle Z where you fight a string of battles for a score, exp, and extra characters
Tournament where you fight a string of fights in a tournament and earn money (can have up to 8 players with 2 controllers)
Duelling where you fight selected characters (up to 2 players)

There is also a training mode where you can get prizes for completing all the areas.

Control - 10/10
This is a true 1st gen Wii game. You make similar motions to the characters' abilities while holding Z and B and bam, you've done it. Hell, it even supports 3 different control modes; the Wiimote+Nunchuck, the GCN controller and the Classic Controller. When I was playing with reploidof20xx yesterday he couldn't really handle Wii controls so he tried the GCN controller and he beat me! Twice! Now sometimes it seems that the controls aren't very responsive, but then you slow down and watch yourself. It's then you realise you're doing everything wrong. If you get this game be very careful about this.

Overall - 9.5/10
This game is great. They're not lying when they say it'll take 60+ hours of playing. I've played at least 28 hours so far and I can't stop playing. If you ever want to play then make sure I don't choose Trunks (minus sword) because I will destroy you.

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I'm back!

2011-07-26T17:27:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 28/5/2007

Whew, it's been a long 9 days.

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Let's see, there was Robyn's birthday party on Saturday, a police talk about road safety on Tuesday, Yr11 Retreat on Thursday, dentist on Monday, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. It's been great though. I mean the police talk went for an hour and a half but it was very interesting and funny, the retreat was a good getaway day, and the birthday was the first time I've seen Adelle (and Clare) in over a year (since the One Night Stand). Sadly I couldn't think of much to say but I did learn a few things:

Clare now has braces and also had the same tooth exposure surgery I did, and, on the same tooth (but in her mouth)
I am huge
Adelle still has my Final Fantasy IX game, she knows where it is, and she got stuck on the 3rd disc (I wonder where...)
Clare got beeped at a few times while filming the You are the One video 5. Someone else's PowerBook is not my MacBook Pro

I'll post pictures once we upload them to the computer

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What if Final Fantasy XIII came to the other consoles...

2011-07-26T17:22:00.001+09:30

This post was originally published 18/4/2007

According to a PS3 centric site itself, quoting Square Enix, Final Fantasy XIII will not be PS3 exclusive. This news of course sets the messageboards into a frenzy, "Will the 360 get it?", "Will the Wii get it?", "Will the PSP or the DS get a spin-off?" It's been long rumoured that Final Fantasy XIII will make its appearance on the 360 as well, partially because SE bought a license to the Unreal 3 engine, which begs the question why? Didn't Square make its own engine specifically for the PS3?

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Since they now can use the Unreal Engine I wouldn't be surprised if a game came to the 360. Who knows? Maybe they bought it for Kingdom Hearts. I bet many people out there would consider them heroes if they ported it to the Wii. Epic Games said specifically that they would not support the Wii the any way (even after they said they loved the idea) and that means no UE3.

Actually SE would be the ultimate 3rd-party heroes if they ported not only the UE3, but also FFXIII and Kingdom hearts. I'd be even more amazed if they took the leap to port the White Engine to the Wii and 360. Damn, I just want a new Final Fantasy for a console I own!

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Wow, that's very strange...

2011-07-26T17:17:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 16/4/2007

SEMI-BIG FFIX AND TOS SPOILERS!

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Wow that's strange, how did I not notice that? I bet this is one thing they never noticed when they said Tales of Symphonia was a very cliché game. I was just playing FFIX and just rescued Eiko from Kuja when guess what, Mog reveals she is an Eidolon and saves Eiko from Zorn and Thorn. This reminded me a great lot of a scene in Tales of Symphonia where Corrine saves Sheena from an attack from Volt.

What's similar between the two girls?

Both are summoners
Both are saved by their best friends
At certain points in the game both compete for the main character's affection • Both come from isolated villages
Both Corrine and Madeen (Mog) are summon spirits

Now isn't that strange?

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Yay! Holidays!

2011-07-26T17:15:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 14/4/2007

Ahh, schools over for the next two weeks or so. This last week was pretty big with 3 assignments and 1 test. Let's take a big breath and get down to it shall we?

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Tuesday (aka Awesome day in RE)
Awesome because out of about 5 groups, ours (reploidof20xx, Lindsey and myself) was the only one to actually do the oral presentation. By default then, we get the highest marks in the class because we were on time.

Wednesday (aka handing up my To Mock a Killingbird assignment)
The book and the movie are great, you should really see them. Anyway I feel I did pretty well with it. My only issue was the usual "I don't know how to start and how to end" thing, but I think I mostly overcame it.

Thursday (aka Physics Test day)
After studying all week to actually get this stuff the test finally came around. I reckon most of it I nailed except for the multi-choice questions where I got 12/20....Actually out of everyone who is both in my Chemistry class and Physics class it was Cameron who got the highest mark at 16/20. Crazy.

Friday (aka Practically nothing happened day)
Nothing new happened yesterday. Mr Scav did introduce us to a chem program in Chemistry that also happened to be Mac compatible. I don't think Mr Scav knows how to discern between Universal and PPC on his iMac yet because he said it was Universal but it was actually being dynamically translated my Rosetta. Luckily the Windows version comes the actual JAR file which can be run as a program.

And for my report I got no Satisfactorys, mainly Goods, and quite a number of Excellents. It seems they think I put in a lot of effort because that's where I got about half of those Excellents.

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Resident Evil 4 (GCN)

2011-07-26T17:08:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 7/4/2007

As the disembodied voice says, this is Resident Evil...4! And it also happens to be my last perfect game for the moment. I picked it up late 2005 if I remember correctly and though it is for the pretty much given up on GameCube, it rocks!

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Graphics
These are the graphics we drooled over last generation. They are the ones that made us see how far we could take ourselves before we needed new hardware. I think they blow almost every other game away from the last-gen and they definitely deserve this praise.

What's really cool about RE4's graphics is that every cut-scene is rendered in real time using the actual game engine, unlike the PS2 version. Plus, they've spared no expense in rendering everything. From the blood that spurts from your neck when a chainsaw is ripping through it, to the little torch on Leon's hip that actually is a real light source in the game.

Sound
Oh, you just have to hear the blood splatter in this game, or being running the audio through a surround sound system to really know that RE4 has excellent sound.

The voice acting is awesome and the background noises make this game very atmospheric. Every sound keeps you on edge, especially if you've just been attacked or you haven't in a long time. My only real gripe is not with the game but with my current TV. It's mono. If there's an enemy sneaking up on me I hear it as if they're in front of me. It sucks, so stereo is a requirement.

Gameplay
Unlike the other REs I haven't played, this one is a 3rd person shooter. For most of the game you play as Leon, protecting the president's daughter, Ashley Graham. So RE4 is like one giant convoy mission, the upside however is that you can control what Ashley does. You can make her follow, make her stop, or tell her to hide in a bin or something.

There are also shooting ranges spread throughout the three areas you fight through. And organising the attaché case is a challenge in itself. I just love the way it makes you survive on the edge because you don't have the space for an item that you'll want to make a certain area easier.

Oh, and yes, you can attempt to look up Ashley's skirt. Too bad she covers herself up and yells at you. Nice touch actually. That doesn't mean you can't though, there is this one area where you can and she doesn't notice because she's too far up...

Controls
There will be no arguments, the GameCube controller is the best traditional gamepad ever. It just fits in your hands. Anyway, RE4 utilises it in the best possible way, the right way. All actions fit just right and firing the gun feels just perfect.

The only strange thing for this 3rd person shooter is that it's played at an angle from Leon and you can't strafe at all. I don't think it's because you were too buggered to bother, rather I expect it's because Leon is trying to keep Ashley covered and not leave her behind.

Story
RE4's story is pretty basic but everything you do and everyone you meet, though mostly disconnected from the rest of the series, will actually make sense once RE:UC is released. Even though he eventually are left answering several questions about how everything works, but the questions keep you going.

So that's my final review of my perfect games. If you haven't played them you must right now. And yes, I probably will be picking up RE4 for the Wii.

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Final Fantasy IX

2011-07-26T17:01:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 6/4/2007

Where to begin? Well this was my first turn-based ATB RPG and it rocks. Since playing this after buying it in 2001 I have played its two PS1 predecessors, FFVII and FFVIII, and personally I think IX is 100% better. This game is huge!

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Graphics
This was the best of what the PS1 had to offer and it shows. I mean just today I chucked it in my computer and turned on all the filters and enhancements and it looks like a low cost PS2 game. The only thing holding it back in that regard is its low polygon number.

When compared to FFVII and FFVIII, FFIX blows them out of the water. 7 looked like somebody slapped a few spheres on each other and 8's characters looked very flat and very pixely.

Sound
Being of the 32/64-bit era, FFIX has no voice acting at all, but that doesn't matter. Every scene, from the first FMV to the Tantalus performance to the Waltz boss battles have amazing orchestrated soundtracks. Ten there's that classic battle them that is, Final Fantasy. It's back, after being mangled in FFVII and FFVIII (good but not as good as this) and it sounds awesome.

On the subjects of sound effects, they work. You just can't describe how well perfect sound works. No it isn't surround but it does just work. Listen and you'll know what I mean.

Gameplay
Meh, standard ATB fare...alright, you know I'm joking. These are only standard in that they basically work in the same way as every other Final Fantasy game, including the overlimits (called Trances).

Unlike FFVII and FFVIII where you were only allowed 3 people per battle, here you are now given 4 people. What makes this interesting though is that the story influences who you have in your party, and there's even a certain time in the game when you can either pick up an extra character or leave him until next time when the story dictates you must have him.

The gameplay also differs from the usual, with a card game and chocobo digging games. There's also flying around in airships and playing the Mognet game which are entertaining if you like (I like).

Controls
I can't speak for all turn based Final Fantasys but from the games I've played, they have perfectly good controls. It's the same here. If you've played any of these other FFs then you'll know what to expect.

And it does support Dual Shock controllers.

Story
It's a CRPG so yes it does have a very long and entertaining story. It took me 90 hours my first play through and I think I almost did half of everything. Yes it is that long. Anyway the basic story is very nostalgic and very colourful (like I like them). FFIX also employs a very funny style of comedy in its scenes which makes every character loveable almost immediately, and the FMVs are also very very funny. For example, Garnet is standing on a tower adjacent to one Steiner is standing on. Zindane is right next to her. All of a sudden she falls backward over the edge and swings away. Zidane goes to stop her and sees what happens, whereas Steiner almost jumps off his tower and being dressed in armour, all these sparks go everywhere and his facial expression is hilarious.

I love my FFIX!

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Ocarina of Time

2011-07-26T16:54:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 6/4/2007

My very first Zelda game as well as my first first "perfect" game. I was blown away by Ocarina's graphics, story, gameplay and controls. They truly are perfect. I bought this game in either 1999 or 2000.

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Graphics
Just look at those graphics! They are amazing! Alright, perhaps not, but they were incredible back in 1998. What makes them so good? Incredible textures, complex polygon models and their realism. The realism of this game is incredible. Whereas other games of the time, especially ones found on the PlayStation, had a few clipping issues (characters heads half way through walls), but Ocarina did not.

Hyrule is also huge, very huge in fact. Compared to the world of Twilight Princess it's tiny, but you realise it's big once you really start to get into the game. Overall I feel the world of Ocarina of Time has no equal. Even on my second play through there were still areas I'd never walked through in Hyrule Field, and I'd never met the running guy as a kid. Amazing.

Sound
Ocarina of Time had surround sound before most people even considered anything past stereo. No it wasn't Dolby Surround (that was reserved for Majora's Mask), but it was surround nonetheless. Sadly I never got to experience the N64's surround until a few years ago. I have however selected surround on numerous occasions on my GCN version.

The guys at Nintendo must have a sound for everything because as varied as the graphics are, the sound is either equal or even better. The music is high quality MIDI and the sounds truly reflect what you see on the screen. An absolutely awesome soundtrack.

Gameplay
Whenever I think of Ocarina of Time I can't help but remember the good times I had just riding, firing arrows from, and juming across crevices on, my horsey. Epona is a great horsey. As for the rest of the game it's just indescribable. It has everything from sword wielding to bow strumming to playing a musical instrument. You want to be a knight? Then go grab a sword and become a knight. Or what about Robin Hood? Well then grab you bow and shoot the forces of evil!

Now even though there are so many items to use I often find myself playing around with items that have no real value outside certain uses. Deku seeds and sticks are almost useless, but it's fun to just see what happens if a larvos is hit by one of those sticks.

Controls
Many people hate the N64 controller and I don't know why. Before the GameCube came along it was the best controller ever. It just fit my hands. Compared to the PS1 controller it was a god! Anyway, the buttons are mapped perfectly to suit the game. They just work, no questions asked. The best part about the controls is the C-buttons and the many items you can assign in their place. My arrangement was always ocarina on the left, projectile weapon on the right, and any misc. item on the bottom. Sadly this didn't translate perfectly over to the GCN but once you get used to it you don't notice.

Story
All I can say is that it's the perfect cliché. Yes that rhymed, and what I mean is it's so like the old stories you'd get read to you or watch as a kid just seem to come to life when you play this game.

So, Ocarina of Time was and is a perfect game in my opinion. Right now I own a v1.1 cartridge, and a GCN disc (v1.2) of this game and I couldn't be happier.

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Perhaps I should learn Objective-C?

2011-07-26T13:49:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 5/4/2007

If I can't fully play around with Ubuntu because it's crash prone in Parallels maybe I should pick up Obj-C and start developing Mac apps. All I really need is a couple of good books, one on Obj-C and the other on Xcode, I'd be set. I've been thinking maybe I should buy said books around my birthday after I've bought my TV. Ah, I want my TV!

What would I make though? There are already too many browsers out there and I don't think I'd be able to contribute anything breathtaking in that field. Well at least I'll be able to contribute to my favourite projects (ie. Adium, Transmission, Shiira, Burn). It'd be great right now if I could figure out how to make something good in Flash right now though. Because it's so disconnected from the system it is really hard to make anything that someone would find even remotely interesting.

Let's see what happens...

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Yes! Rosetta performance must have gone up!

2011-07-26T13:44:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 24/3/2007

I can tell because prior to the 10.4.9 update, Star Wars Battlefront had performance and sound problems all over the place. But just now I decided to install it again to see if the recent major update improved anything Rosetta wise. Well it did. The sound problem is no longer there and it plays on high at around 24fps, which is great.

Battlefront, I missed you!

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Thank you Primate Labs...

2011-07-26T13:39:00.002+09:30

This post was originally published 8/3/2007

...for putting my name in under the testing section after allowing me to test the pre- release betas of Geekbench 2.0. It was great! And I especially love the fact I get it for free because I did beta test, I'd forgotten that was part of the whole thing.

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Is the Wii the GameCube's second chance?

2011-07-26T13:28:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 24/1/2007

It used to be every day but it has now slowed to every second day. What I am referring to is the myriad of topics asked what GameCube games the Topic Creator should get while we are in this Wii game drought. Of course, if you are a casual player visiting my blog, you may think there were no good games for Nintendo's lunchbox. You are wrong.

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From personal experience, I want to help you in case you have a Wii and missed out on the best of what the GCN had to offer.

For the Action-lover

Resident Evil 4 (Must Have)
Soul Calibre 2
Star Fox Assault (Must Have)
Enter the Matrix

For the Adventurer

Star Fox Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Must Have)
The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition (Must Have)

For the Racers of the world

Mario Kart: Double Dash
Need for Speed Underground 2

For the Role Players

Tales of Symphonia (Must Have)
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

For the Action-loving Role Players

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (Must Have if you have friends)

For the Sport Fanatics

Mario Golf

For the Strategist

Pikmin

For the Platformer

Super Mario Sunshine

For the GTA fan

The Simpsons Hit and Run

For the Sci-Fi Jedi/Bounty Hunter

Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader (Must Have)
Metroid Prime 2 Echos

As you can see, I've labelled the "Must Haves" that that particular genre's fans should buy. If you're like me however and you like to have a wide array of game types, get all of my "Must Haves" (including Baten Kaitos and Star Fox Adventures) and you should be pleased. If you're wondering where Super Smash Bros Melee and Fire Emblem are in my collection, then you knew more than I did at the time. I wish I had picked them up as they are on everyone else's "Must Have" lists.

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The BEST [3D] Zelda game

2011-07-26T13:20:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 22/1/2007

I've seen a lot of debate over the best Zelda game ever on GFAQs lately and some arguments are just getting crazy. Most of the fights have been over Ocarina of Time vs Twilight Princess, two games similar in that they are epic for their time.

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Just to clarify my position, here are the games I have:

Beaten

Ocarina of Time (N64 and GCN)
Majora's Mask (GCN)
Wind Waker (GCN)
Twilight Princess (Wii)

I own

The Legend of Zelda (GCN)
The Adventure of Link (GCN)
A Link to the Past (GBA)
Ocarina of Time (N64 and GCN)
Majora's Mask (N64 and GCN)
Four Swords (GBA)
Wind Waker (GCN)
Twilight Princess (Wii)

As you can see, I'm not much for 2D games (hence the title), but I have beaten every 3D title to date and have pretty strong opinions of them. Like many, I consider OOT to be the best Zelda game ever (and one of the best period) mainly because it's epicness and cliché story. "Cliché is good?" you're saying, what I mean is; OOT is so in-depth, the story adds to the feeling that you're playing one of those fairy tales from your childhood.

Majora's Mask is slightly different to OOT (obviously if you have played it), in good and bad ways. Good: it had better graphics and a different pace, plus, more sidequests. The bad part is it can't be easily picked up and played for 20 minutes and it required the Expansion Pack. Sadly, waht many fail to realise, is that the required Expansion Pack did have an effect on the game. First, there is no distance fog, and second, many characters could be on screen at the same time. I hold MM in very high regard because of it's side quests, dark story, and for just making me paranoid.

The first cel-shaded Zelda to be released was Wind Waker and like many to begin with, I was overly sceptical that a cartoony Zelda would work. When I did get it I was very thankful I did. Though it's easier than previous games (6 dungeons vs 10) it's also more cinematic and theatric. What I think brings it down though is the repetition in some of the later parts of the game and just the long sailing between areas. I certainly loved the story though.

The latest Zelda I have is Twilight Princess for the Wii and in my opinion, it's a pretty good combination of what makes the last three good. It has the epicness from OOT, the dark story from MM and the cinematic qualities displayed in MM. A lot of people have picked on TP by saying it has last-gen graphics.....well DUH! It is a last-gen game also found on the GameCube and thus, must have GCN graphics. So, is TP as good as OOT according to me? No, but it does come close. Controls are no issue for me as I feel this game was made for the Wii in some ways, but the huge world can be kind of a downer. Unlike OOT whose world seemed populated, TP's has very few people per square kilometre (kinda like Australia actually). Number of sidequests is also very disappointing. There were more than 30 in MM and that was the second game for the N64. TP is the 2nd [true] Zelda for the GCN and yet I could probably name all the sidequests off the top of my head.

As you can see, I only consider OOT to be the best [3D] Zelda at the moment and that probably can't change until the new Zelda comes out around 2008 or 2009 (it's been in development for a year already btw).

Your final question may be, "What games also get a 10/10 from James Madley?" Well here is the answer, I also consider Resident Evil 4 (GCN) and Final Fantasy IX (PS1) to be perfect games.

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Apple transition casualties

2011-07-26T13:01:00.003+09:30

This post was originally published 23/1/2007

In the beginning, the Apple Macintosh utilised Motorola's 68k CISC processors, and for a while they were great. But then Apple, seeing they were losing ground against the ever faster x86 chips, began looking into IBM's POWER architecture that looked much better than the new 88ks they were playing around with. So Apple, IBM and Motorola teamed up to produce a more general use, POWER based chip. They called it PowerPC.

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The new RISC based PowerPC chips proved to be much faster than their predecessors and even faster than the x86 lines at the same clock, but sadly they weren't fully backwards compatible. Now you may know or have read about Apple's current Rosetta technology that translates PPC code to x86 code on today's modern Macintoshes. The Macs back then did something similar, emulation. They emulated the old 68k instructions and could run non-ported apps at near full speed. And like today, there were FAT binaries (now called Universal binaries by Apple) that were made of both 68k and PPC code. Continuing on with deja-vu you're probably experiencing, Mac OS was also based on these FAT binaries, specifically OS7 and OS8-8.1. Then, everything after 8.1 was PPC only, and ran much faster than in the OS7 days.

Naturally OS9 should come after OS8 and so it did. What many didn't know at the time was that it would be the last Mac OS based on all previous versions. Where Windows was getting more stable, Mac OS was staying the same as always; crashable. Before Mac OS X, Apple's OSs weren't very good at multi-tasking and it was often what brought the system down. Unfortunately another dodgy period was coming up for Mac users; the OS transition. Where Mac OS was prone to crashing and a bad multi-tasker, the new Mac OS X (v10.0) was slow, crashy and not complete.

Like any OS change, a lot of apps (if not all) won't work because of incompatible executable code. Apple, like before, eased everyone through (including developers) by offering three new services, Classic, Carbon and dual botting. The new virtulisation layer, Classic, could run most pre-OS X apps without having to boot OS8 or OS9. Carbon was a new API that made it easy for developers to port their apps without having to change much code and as an added bonus their creations worked on three OSs (8,9 and 10). And then there's dual booting. Not something really special today but back then, having two operating systems on one computer was incredibly handy.

Now we're moving into a new transition, the Intel one. Mac OS X has matured and OS9 is almost long gone. In fact, the new Intel Macs no longer support anything pre-OS X and that includes all of Apple's OSs. So then how does one run 68k and older PPC apps? They don't, it' that simple. They do however have the ability to open PPC applications built for OS X (sans G5 only programs) using Rosetta, a dynamic translator of platform specific code. It also has Universal binaries, FAT binaries that have PPC and Intel code in them.

So then why the title? There are still people caught in the middle of a transition or who have missed it entirely. For example:

I need to know how to run a program designed for a Power PC processor on an Intel processor for school. I am trying to run Finale Workbench 2002. I got it with my Music Theory book. - dq9

Okay why is dq9 having a problem? I thought you (neonblue2) told me Intel systems could run PPC apps? Yes but you must know more...

It will open normally through Rosetta, but it will be tad slower. - TheoW593 ---
What is rosetta? - dq9
---
Rosetta is the name of Apple's PPC emulation. it is included with OS X on intel Mac's, and any PPC program should run in Rosetta by default - davidd
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I don't think it came on mine. Where can I get it? - dq9
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It comes on every Intel system and is a running process in the background. If the app icon has a cross through it, it may be an OS9 app - neonblue2
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How do I make it work? - dq9
---
You just open the program as normal. Rosetta works in the background. There is no "turning it on". - Prince Enix
---
I found out that this installer is a classic application. How do I open this with rosetta? - dq9
---
The Classic environment is not supported on Intel-based Macs. - DarthNintendo83
---
that's bull s hit i need this for school. once again mac screws me over. There isn't any hack to make it work? - dq9
---
Ah no, Apple and your Mac have not screwed you over. Mac OS X was out when that CD was made so it is actually the developer's fault. Try reading this

http://theappleblog.com/2006/07/01/classic-on-intel-macs-courtesy-of-sheepshaver/ - neonblue2

Furthermore, I still see and hear of some people who still use OS9 because OS X doesn't have the exact app they always use. Fare enough, but there is now a tonne of software available for Mac OS X, just look at these websites:

http://www.macupdate.com/
http://www.versiontracker.com/

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Mac OS X 10.7

2011-02-28T11:15:00.008+10:30

This post is more for my family than anybody else. It's mostly just a list of notes, and features coming to Mac OS X when Lion is released later this year, some of which aren't mentioned on Apple's Lion page.

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Let's start with something awesome. Similar to the now ancient Windows feature, Mac OS X will now create a recovery partition when it is first installed.

Unlike in Windows, however, where the recovery partition is usually a very poor imitation of something useful, Lion's recovery partition is essentially the Mac OS X Install DVD except that it's physically on the hard drive. With Lion's recovery partition you cannot only perform system maintenance but also custom install the operating system and restore from Time Machine. This offers the advantage of not needing to have DVD on hand in case of an emergency.

Hardware wise, Lion is going to require a Core 2 Duo or greater. This rules out the earliest MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Mac Minis. Luckily I am the only person in my family that has a Core Duo-running MBP, so this is a non-issue. The reasons for the obsolescence haven't been made clear yet but it could be because Lion is comprised of almost all 64-bit applications (most likely) or that the new features of the OS put a large strain on the CPU. Either way, Snow Leopard still runs beautifully on this old machine (I'm typing this on my 2006 MBP).

Now on to some really bad news. PowerPC support has been dropped entirely. Rosetta, the software layer that enables Intel Macs to run PPC code designed for the old G3 and G4 Macs is no longer bundled with the operating system nor is it offered as an optional download.

This isn't so bad for someone like me who doesn't run any PowerPC apps on his Intel computers anymore, but I know my mum still uses a very old version of Adobe Illustrator that has Carbon-based problems on occasion. You're going to need to stop using PPC apps if you want to run Lion (or you could alternatively keep a small Snow Leopard partition just to run those old apps).

Safari 5.1 looks like it's going to be very fast and very stable. Since April last year Apple and the WebKit Open Source Project have been working on WebKit2, a new version of the engine that powers Safari, Mail, the Dictionary, and a whole tonne of other apps made by Apple and others.

Its main advantage is the sandboxing of the web stuff and the browser stuff into separate processes. This means that if a webpage in one particular tab goes rogue and freezes, the rest of the browser will remain stable. Currently Google Chrome (and Chromium) offer something comparable as does Safari on Snow Leopard on a 64-bit computer. The difference here is that this multi-process model in built higher up into Chrome/Chromium itself and Safari is currently stuck with only plugins loading in separate processes. WebKit2 brings these advantages to all programs that use it, regardless of the program's purpose.

Visually, Lion has changed a lot. Gone are the lickable Aqua buttons and scrollbars, replaced by iOS-inspired flatter squarer buttons and small black scrollbars that disappear when not in use (though that can be changed). The general theme has also gone lighter and looks very much like iTunes 10 does now. Nothing seems to greatly changed on the feature front except apps now have the ability to go fullscreen. This isn't like the default Windows or Linux fullscreen behaviour, apps actually take over the screen, lose the entire top part of the window (where the traffic lights reside) and adopt a different interface to suit.

Of course there's also auto-saving, an ability of the OS to automatically save the state of a closing application so that when opened again, it resumes exactly where you left. Versions, also a new feature of Lion, extends the auto-save feature by allowing you to revisit previous versions of an open file (e.g. a text document opened in TextEdit) à la Time Machine.

Apart from the iPadification of certain parts of Mac OS X, that's about it. Apple seems to be pushing out changes to Mac OS X that come straight from iOS but at the same time allowing users to retain much of what makes Mac OS X a desktop operating system with, apparently, several options to undo some of the more controversial changes.

Kind of an odd move by Apple really.

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A new beginning

2011-01-22T15:32:00.006+10:30

If you've ever visited my little blog before then you're probably a little confused right now. Yes, everything is gone. This is, at the time of its posting, the only blog post on My Take. Over 1200 posts from January 2007 through to November 2010 all gone, but not by alien attack or giant biscuit, but because I wanted to start over. The problem is that My Take eventually just grew into a site where I'd just post my funny little pictures and the occasional semi-coherent rant on something without bothering to think about what I was writing. This blog had pretty much turned into crap.

Wiping the slate clean had been on my mind since late November last year and now it's finally happening. I saved everything in both XML and PDF last month and then erased everything yesterday. So, here we go. I'll be cleaning up and reposting everything of value that was removed. I'm also going to set up a page where requests can be made for specific posts I made, just in case someone lands here from Google or the like and what they're looking for obviously isn't here anymore.

With that out of the way, did you know today is My Take's birthday?

Happy 4^th Birthday!

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My Take

A little more from those websites...

What sounds do birds make?

Universal Binary of the Jedi Outcast demo

WHAT I SAW (400 POSTS ALSO...YAY...)

Eventful New Years,

u have to read this happend to us about aan hour age PLZREAD

My almost 12 month old review of CoD3

The wonders of the RE4 board *SPOILERS*

Yeah...GFAQS...(NSFW)

Definite Rosetta improvements

I'm back!

I'm meltiiiiiiinnnnnnngggg!

It's Your Choice

Death

The origins of my nicknames...

Finished

Work experience

How to stay warm on a cold night...

My impressions of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 for the Wii

I'm back!

What if Final Fantasy XIII came to the other consoles...

Wow, that's very strange...

Yay! Holidays!

Resident Evil 4 (GCN)

Final Fantasy IX

Ocarina of Time

Perhaps I should learn Objective-C?

Yes! Rosetta performance must have gone up!

Thank you Primate Labs...

Is the Wii the GameCube's second chance?

The BEST [3D] Zelda game

Apple transition casualties

Mac OS X 10.7

A new beginning

The wonders of the RE4 board SPOILERS