Celebrityscraps

Well it’s been a fair while since I last blogged on here, and that’s down to the fact I’ve been working so much!

I’ve taken a bit of time out to do a blog post and I have sooooo much new stuff to blog about it’s hard to know what to start with!

I’m gonna go with a great advert my pal Ade sent me for a new Womens version of the Nintendo Wii!

This week I had time to catch up with another of my online buddies, Rob Welkner for a Q&A. Rob is host and founder of Coin-Op TV which is an LA based live streaming show on everything Gaming.

Let’s see how Rob handled the CScraps Q&A experience!

Q1: What is an average day like in the Rob Welkner universe?

I spend a ton of time in front of the computer and on the Internet.  We broadcast COIN-OP TV LIVE once a week on Thursdays but that doesn’t mean the work ends there.  The days leading up to a show I am generally doing research on the guest, collecting graphics and video clips to show and reading gaming news and catching up on events.  After an episode airs then I have to make sure that everyone out in cyberspace knows about it by linking on forums, sending out a press release, facebook, twitter, myspace, you name it!  It’s amazing how little time I actually spend doing the show versus the marketing and promotional side of things.  I also do all the booking for guests, graphics and edit the remote video segments.



Q2: Did you ever imagine you’d be knee deep in the gaming/entertainment industry 5 years ago?

I’ve always liked the video game industry as both a fan and as a media journalist.  I used to attend E3 (the largest gaming expo in Los Angeles) while in college.  When I launched COIN-OP TV I expected it to last a few years but I had hoped that it would be further along by now.  What is missing to the puzzle is a company to get behind the show as a sponsor.  We make things look and sound as great as possible and most times we fool people into thinking that the show is a high budgeted produced show but in reality it’s not.  If I had a budget then I could assign people different duties and even expand our reach and quality much further.



Q3: What type of games do you like/hate the most and why do you feel that way about them?

Always been a fan of arcade games and pinball.  It was a real shame to grow up in the 1980s and see both the rise and decline of the arcades.  I understand why things went the way they did with the growth and accessibility of home consoles and PC gaming but it doesn’t mean that I was happy to witness it all go away.  Some of my favorite arcade games are Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Robotron, Crazy Climber and Tempest.  If I see one of these games lying in the back of a store or restaurant you can bet I’ll be sneaking over to drop a quarter in to play.

The games I play now are mostly on the Xbox360.  I love the Guitar Hero franchise as you can tell if you have seen my show.  Some other games I play are Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Katamari, Portal and Mirror’s Edge.  I like games that are crafty, clever and original.  Gears and Rainbow introduced an amazing ‘cover’ system that helped re-define first person shooters.  When it comes to games like Call of Duty – the graphics and gameplay are great but I prefer the duck and cover technique of games that let you hide behind things.  It’s a shame more first person shooters haven’t adopted this into gameplay.

It’s tough to say what kind of games I dislike.  I never got into driving, flying or sports games.  I guess sometime in the future I’ll give them all a second chance but for now I’m a big fan of rhythm games and always look forward to what new version of Guitar Hero or Rock Band is on the horizon.



Q4: What’s the funniest Coin-Op TV moment you can recall.

I’m a serious person with drive and determination but I always try to make sure that everyone involved with COIN-OP TV has a good experience.  I’m in constant communications with Brian Gramo who runs www.TheStream.TV network as for show ideas and brain-storming.  I spoil my lovely co-host Hailey Bright in just about every way possible and make sure that guests who come to the show are relaxed, comfortable and know that we aren’t going to ambush them with questions they’re not prepared to answer.

The funniest moments are usually un-planned.  There are only a handful of live/streaming shows about the video game industry out there.  So if you come on COIN-OP TV you can expect the un-expected.  Not long ago we had a designer from Neversoft (Guitar Hero) on the show and we got a chance to perform a GH: Metallica song on the show with me singing and playing guitars while he played drums and Hailey played bass.  It was a fun show and widely embraced by the fans.  Some of my favorite guests in the past have been Rocco from Mega64, Marissa Petroro (Deal or No Deal), Tommy Tallarico, Chris Gore (G4tv) and so many more I can’t even keep track.



Q5: Coin-Op is fast approaching 5 years old in September. Do you have anything special planned to celebrate the occasion?

In October 2008 we had a huge anniversary party to celebrate four years of doing COIN-OP TV.  The entire year was full of exciting things.  The live show built a strong team with me hosting, Hailey co-hosting and Brian running the network.  We made cool anniversary t-shirts that said ‘since 2004’ on them to show people that we’ve been around and not going anywhere.  The party was a huge success and there are pictures and video floating around all over the Internet.

In 2009, we released a new DVD collection titled COIN-OP TV DVD Volume 2 which is the ‘best of’ the second year of the video podcast show.  I plan to produce and release a volume 3 edition before the end of the year.  With the economy the way it is now – we may hold off on having a large anniversary party celebration – however in May there will be a big party that involves myself and many friends involved with the show in Los Angeles.  In addition to releasing new things and partying – we are always looking for bigger and more important people to bring on the show – send us your suggestions!



Q6: Coin-Op has evolved over the years from Video-Podcast to a Live-Streaming show. Where do you see it evolving to next?

When I launched COIN-OP TV in 2004, the majority of people were still viewing video content on dial-up modems.  It was pathetic how small and lo-res my video clips had to be just so that they didn’t take hours to download.  Eventually technology improved and now video streaming on the Internet is as easy as ever.  The video podcast show involved us traveling to events and shooting self-contained video interviews with game designers, collectors and artists.

Things have flipped now with the live streaming show.  We invite guests into the studio and have a longer time to talk with them and even let our live viewers interact with their own questions and comments.  When Brian launched www.TheStream.TV in Sept 2006 it was one of the only independent live/streaming networks out there.  Streaming live video has become quite the norm these days.  When people started doing audio podcasts, I made video podcasts and when everyone started doing video that’s when we started doing live-streaming.  It’s great to be a pioneer but in many ways you don’t get the reward that you expect.  I think for now we’ll continue doing the live show weekly and try to groom it into something that video game developers take notice of and make sure to put COIN-OP TV on their list of places to visit when promoting new games.

Q7: If you were stuck in the middle of the desert with Brian Gramo and Hailey Bright, how would you survive and subsequently escape?

Well, Brian is pretty tech savvy – he is almost like a MacGyver type in which he can manufacture things from out of nothing.  I’m sure if we had some type of technology with us he could figure out a way to make it work.  As for Hailey – one of her greatest ‘skills’ is making other people happy.  So if we were stuck in a desert for days or months, she would be able to keep both Brian and myself from going insane.  Now that I think about it – I wouldn’t mind Brian escaping and just being stuck with Hailey for a long time in the desert!



Q8: If you could be an animal for a day. What would it be and why?

Always would choose a bird or some kind of hawk.  The ability to fly has always been a dream since childhood.  I can’t imagine how nice it would feel to sore through the open sky and look down at clouds and mountains.  The ironic thing is that I am terrified of heights and just about the biggest wimp when it comes to roller-coasters.

COIN-OP TV LIVE airs live on Thursdays at www.TheStream.TV

The show is archived on the website the next day for all to view on archive.

Additional video content and articles can be found at www.coin-op.tv

You can also find Coin-Op TV at these links:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50796546961
Twitter: http://twitter.com/coinoptv
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thirstyfilms
TheStream.TV: http://www.thestream.tv/series.php?s=4

It’s Good Friday which means everyone in the UK has a 4 day weekend starting today!

In light of this I thought it reasonable to mark the occasion with a post of equal awesomness.

I’m a regular follower of the Halflife2.net forums and was put on to this little beauty of a game called “Plants VS Zombies”, which is a different level of genius (and was also blatently thought up by a group of stoners).

The idea is to stop the horde of zombies by growing offensive plants.

Looks fun!

You can sign up to play the game before public release AND get a 10% discount by going to Popcap.com

Enjoy!

What is a sandbox game you may ask. Well in this type of game a player may ignore game objectives and go off to “do their own thing”. This can often open up possibilities that were not intended by the game designer.

I tried out the 21 day free trial of “EVE Online” this Sunday and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

One thing I’ve always despised about MMORPGs is that almost all of them require hours upon hours of leveling up skills! EVE Online takes a different approach. You do have to learn skills to be able to do certain things, pilot certain craft etc, however you set up your training and then can log off and your character still continues to train. This makes the game ideal for the casual player like myself. I can log on for as little as 20 mins and get something achieved, whereas in games like World of Warcraft or Warhammer Online it usually takes a minimum of at least an hour to achieve something

I suggest anyone who has had a taste for MMORPGs to check out EVE Online. Another good thing is that you can pay for subscription with ingame cash “apparently”.

I recently purchased the anniversary Command & Conquer pack, which has all 15 C&C games on one DVD!

There were A LOT of problems with the install, such as certain games just not playing due to corrupt files, and the networking not functioning on VISTA. Most of these I discovered are common problems with the release an managed to find user workarounds online.

I find it amazing that titles such as C&C (the original) and Red Alert 1 are timeless. Sure the graphics are a little dated, but the gameplay elements are still as slick and enjoyable as they were 10 years ago.

Even the C&C Red Alert trailer is still cool!

I think I may have to get round to checking out RA3 soon!

This game slipped past my radar until now, and I have to say I’m looking forward to its release.

I played the Director’s cut of ‘The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay’ and loved it! Judging from the trailer for it’s going to be more of the same shiv happy action.

‘Assault on Dark Athena’ picks up moments after Riddick’s escape from Butcher Bay. In flight away from the prison, Riddick and Johns’ vessel is drawn into the clutches of a mercenary ship called the Dark Athena. Johns is taken captive while Riddick manages to awake from cryo-sleep and evade capture. With mercenaries in pursuit of the bounty on Riddick’s head, Riddick must do what he does best - kill those who get in his way and escape.

An extra bonus is that a fully remade version of ‘Escape from Butcher Bay’ using the new game engine will also be included with the title!

Anyway check the trailer below… it rocks!

Last night my brother found a video walk-through of the old Codemasters classic “Treasure Island Dizzy“.

When I was young I had an Amstrad 464 and Dizzy games were the equivalent of today’s “Super Mario”!

Yes ‘Dizzy‘ rocks, and you can now download the PC Emulated version for free HERE!

Well I promised a review when it came out, but have been very busy so apologies. I’ve now managed to squeeze a reasonable amount of gaming time in on the side and I have to say that Fallout 3 is a masterpiece.

The stats system lends itself to the original two games, enabling you to create a diversely skilled and seemingly unique character. There are also multiple ways to solve each quest so you get to play the game the way you want.

The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or VATS, plays an important part in the fighting phases of the game. While using VATS, real-time combat is paused creating a combat system that the Bethesda developers have described as a hybrid between turn-based and real-time combat. Various actions cost action points, limiting the actions of each combatant during a turn, and both the player and enemies can target specific body areas for attacks to inflict specific injuries. The game features a new health and radiation system as well. The player can measure an object’s radioactivity and gauge the effect it will have on the character.

Another cool thing is that firearms wear out over time (they are over 200years old since manufacture!): as a weapon degenerates, its rate of fire slows and it loses accuracy. However, worn out firearms can be used to repair a similar weapon, or to make more reliable and powerful weapons. Weapon schematics can also be found and used to create various devices such as the Rock-it Launcher, created by combining a vacuum cleaner, leaf blower, fire-hose nozzle, and a conductor, that can fire various items such as lunchboxes and stuffed animals, or the Bottlecap Mine, made out of a lunchbox, cherry bomb, sensor module, and bottle caps. Along with equipping various weapons, the player can also utilize different armors and clothing that may have effects that can alter various skills. For example, a pair of mechanic’s coveralls may boost the player’s repair skill while it is worn. Armor and clothing come in two main parts for the head and body, allowing a player to wear different combinations of hats and armor. Also, a player’s inventory has a specified weight limit, preventing a player from carrying too many items. Some items like weapon ammo have no weight, due to the developer not wishing to bog down inventory management.

The karma system is an important feature in the game-play. The player’s actions, including conversation and combat choices affect the player’s status in the game world; a player who makes good choices will be received more positively by NPCs, and a player that makes bad choices will have the opposite reaction. Extremes of karma also have other effects: a high karma leads to the player being attacked by bounty hunters, and for random NPCs to give the player gifts in thanks of their service. Crimes can also be committed by a player, and whichever faction or group that is harmed by a crime will be fully aware of the player’s action. Other factions that were not affected by the crime will not be aware of it, and since a town is usually its own faction, news of a crime committed in one town will not spread to another. Factions can range in size and boundaries, however, and may not be restricted to a single area. The game world itself is similar in size to that of Oblivion, which has a 16 square mile game world.

The fact you have such a huuuge amount of area to explore and the 100 hours plus in game-play and quests means you won’t get bored of Fallout 3 any time soon!

So unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 6 months you’ll know that Valve are just over a month away from releasing their new smash hit “Left 4 Dead“.

It’s based on the standard genre Zombie film where you control a band of survivors fighting their way thru a load of zombies!

It uses Valve’s “awesome” source engine which powered gems like Half-life 2 and Team Fortress 2 so it’s obviously going to be a treat for gameplay…but…. here’s the most excellent and new twist that Valve have added to the gameplay experience…. THE A.I. DIRECTOR!

Now you maybe asking…. “WTF is the A.I. Director???” …. I’ll tell you!!!!

The A.I. Director generates a unique experience each time the game is played. Like in hollywood films the “A.I. Director” will call for new monsters, sounds, actions etc….  both a combination of the team’s performance and random event. This dynamic system for game dramatics, pacing, and difficulty is truly awesome. The A.I. Director also creates mood and tension with emotional cues such as visual effects, dynamic music and character communication. Thus it creates a completely different experience each time it’s played.

There’s also an alternate game mode where human players can control up to four mutated “Boss Infected” with special abilities and cooperate to stop the Survivor players.

Left 4 Dead is now available for Pre-Purchase on Steam’s online store with a 10% discount!

I got mine today… go get yours now!!!

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It’s been a long wait but it looks like it’s going to be worth it!

Diablo and Diablo 2 is the game that “redefined” the RPG industry standard and it looks like Blizzard has struck another deal with the devil and delivered yet another gem.

The basic background behind the 3rd installment is that twenty years have passed since the cataclysmic events of Diablo II. Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal have had their asses handed to them, but the Worldstone, which once shielded the world of Sanctuary from the forces of both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, has been destroyed, and evil mofos once again stirs in Tristram…. wooooooo scary shit!!!

Blizzard Entertainment have launched the game’s official website, with information about the places, characters, monsters, and adventures awaiting our return to the world of Sanctuary. Some of the site’s highlights include:

The cinematic teaser trailer shown at the 2008 Worldwide Invitational
A 20-minute gameplay demo video
More than 60 screenshots and pieces of concept art
Deckard Cain’s journal, narrated by Deckard Cain himself — stay a while and listen!
And lots of other cool stuff!

Visit the new Diablo III website now to learn more about the game, and make sure to check out the official FAQ and the announcement press release.