The Pranny Gamer – Page 2

August 20, 2015

Giant Robot Battle Challenge: Megabot Mk. II vs Suidobashi’s Kuratas

It looks like we’re finally going to see some real life mecha (aka Giant Robots). We’ve been waiting for this ever since we found Suidobashi Heavy Industries ‘s Kuratas. To give a bit of a backstory, I first went nuts when I first found out that they were selling this mech in Japan for a whooping $1.4M USD (video). Don’t believe me? Head over to their website for the quotation. You can even get it in Hello Kitty Pink. You read that right. A giant robot in Hello Kitty Pink.

And then a Kickstarter campaign happened. A company called Megabots Inc. went in search of funding in order to build an all american robot. they had big plans for it but, the kickstarter, like so many others did not reach its goal. Luckily the CEO of Autodesk stepped in to sponsor the project to make sure the project happened. And with the newfound corporate support, a miracle happened. America has finally unleashed its beast. And not just so, they even issued a challenge to Suideobashi Industries for a Robot Throwdown.

Now to challenge a country who’s culture is built around samurai and giant robots, can only be suicide. I’d really pitty the poor pilot sitting in that hunk of metal while the Kuratas runs circles around it. There was this particularly cringe worthy moment in Suidobashi’s accepting that challenge when they called out for melee combat.

So its on folks. We’re about to see a full scale 10-15 foot behemoths go at it in all its glory of whirring actuators and hydraulic fluids going all over the place. Hopefully they’ve given some pretty serious thought about pilot safety.

Money’s on the Japanese. They seem to be way ahead of technology and to win this one, it’ll all boil down to the robot’s ability to neutralize the enemy’s mobility as well as keep the piloting of such battle bots more intuitive. Seems that the Kuratas already has that last part figured out while the Megabot Mk II still needs a more intuitive HUD and interface for movement.

This time, Megabots Inc is asking America to throw its support into this great event. Even those from abroad are now starting to pledge into the new kickstarter Megabots Inc created because of its newly found allies in the rebuilding of their Mk II. Check out their latest kickstarter video below and gasp in all our nerdy glory to the who’s who in this next video. (Cue in patriotic music…)

This n00b reporter will be following this story as it develops so check back on this blog post for more updates!

Or for added fun, check out their webpages to throw in your support!

Megabots Inc – As usual they’re asking for your support on Kickstarter, but i think they’ll make it this time.

Suidobashi Heavy Industries – You can customize a Kuratas on their buy now widget.

I will not be surprised if a Korean telenovela comes out with all this as its theme.

August 7, 2015

World of Warcraft: Legion – a new expansion to a decade old MMO

So the game’s been over a decade old and I still can’t stop myself from following up on the latest Blizzard news. I was fiddling around on youtube for teasers and low and behold, I came across the Gamescom 2015 unveiling of World of Warcraft’s latest expansion; Legion. Here we’ll be experiencing the formation of the Burning Legion through the new Draenor timeline. Of course Gul’dan is still the biggest demonic culprit here so, let’s check out some of those details at the Gamescom 2015 unveiling.

And for an old game, with lore that gets confusing as the Wheel of Time series, this new expansion seems to be either revisiting the Burning Crusade albeit following the timeline of Warlords of Draenor. But I digress, any negative commentaries i might have about lore or gameplay will be moot as despite it seeming like older content revisits being the sixth expansion to the game, there are a lot of things to motivate this n00b to reactivate his account and take that Pandaren warrior back into the fray.

Places to explore

I wonder if they'd feature landscaping like this on HGTV — I wonder if they’d feature landscaping like this on HGTV

Here we’ll be exploring the lost dwelling places of the ancients. The new map called The Broken Isles are supposedly over 4000 years old set into their lore, with this location being the start of where the Druids were formed, where Sargeras was imprisoned, and a place where only the great Tauren can roam. We’ll be digging more into this but for an old game, it’s looking pretty still compared to the next gen MMO’s.

Grind up to level 110

So we’re getting another 10 levels to increase before we see any significant raid content. And there’s a few premonitions of reputation grinding that’ll be going on yet again in this expansion. But speaking of which, there will be yet another free character boost to level 100 upon release of the expansion (similar to the level 90 boost when WoD came out).

Artifact Weapons

The new Warcraft skimboard! Only to be used in Southshore... — The new Warcraft skimboard! Only to be used in Southshore…

Now you’ll be able to use such weapons as Ashbringer or Doomhammer. Much epic questing is also involved to be able to pull this off. But think of the transmogs, combining these pieces to older drops from the Black Temple would be awesome. (I can already see my wife shaking her head as I fight the urge to reactivate the account right now!)

New Heroic Class – Demon Hunters

So this is how it feels to be Illidan... — So this is how it feels to be Illidan…

No they’re not similar to the hunters of Diablo 3. These guys are more of an agility based class (judging from how Illidan was decked out), but they do boast three specific specializations which should give us a clue as to how this class will work. Namely; Spectral Sight, Metamorphosis, and Unrivaled Mobility.

Don’t take my every word for it though, head over to the official preview site of World of Warcraft: Legion.

See you in-game toonheads!

July 29, 2015

Windows 10: Early adaptation woes

Free says it all. So does nagware…

It’s July 29, 2015. Today signals the arrival of the Windows 10 release, and so far only 190 countries were lucky enough to be first in this tiered upgrade of Microsoft for their early adaptation. I’m waiting patiently (or trying to) for the notification to arrive and its just one of those things tech addicts like me are susceptible to, are the constant fiddling with new operating systems. This version though makes me breathe a sigh of relief, but then again, this is taking a very familiar turn.

Not long ago Apple started the practice of free operating systems such as the release of Maverick, the first free iteration of OSX deployed to any apple computing device barring their smartphones and tablets. It makes perfect sense that Microsoft would now take their turn in hopping onto the nagware bandwagon.

Here are some of the negatives that do come with free operating systems;

The Bad

Nagware – Those silly notifications reminding you to update as soon as you can this app and that account. The purpose of it all really is to drive your information to intelligence companies for advertising, targeted sales marketing. Ideally free tools for ad annoyance.
Error full gaming – Let’s face it. Early adapters will have early adaptation misery. Waiting on installation screens, error resolution, the hunt for new drivers because my LAN port doesn’t connect to the modem anymore and all that. Suck it up, it comes with running new operating systems. There’s a common fix nowadays so lower your pride and right click and hit “Run in Compatibility Mode: Windows 7” har har har har.

First reported BSOD on Windows 10 on day 1… Good Jab! First day Funk!
BSOD – or Blue Screen of Death. Don’t worry, there will always be one if you’re running a Microsoft product. In fact, there’s already a reported case of a BSOD on Windows 10 on one particular <a href="http://www.reddit best task tracking software.com/r/Windows10/comments/2ii4li/” target=”_blank”>Reddit post. One of the most frustrating things to come across when migrating to the new operating system. Early adaptation, doesn’t always rule!
Bloatware – think all that extra navigation animation is cool? Well its eating up your precious memory and resources to get that extra 2fps boost to your already 90fps game experience.

The Good

Free – always a good thing. Your wallet will thank you. Your wife will thank you. Microsoft will own you. But hey, more bandwidth for games right?
Its more likely to be shipped with new hardware.
They can track your ass if you’re into software piracy. (They can track your ass too if you paid).

So without further a due, lets put on the black eyebags, roll up the sleeves, and wait for the loading screen to finish so that after we install our games, we can run into our first error… Doh!

If you’re set on upgrading still to windows 10, just remember there are pre-qualifications to getting it. Just head over to this handy link from Microsoft;

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-upgrade

After upgrading, let’s all take pictures of how we rage quit against the installation!