System: Microsoft Xbox 360
Publisher: 2K Sports
Reviewer’s rating: B
ESRB rating: Teen
Game type: Snowboarding
Kind of like: “Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland” in the winter
Best feature: Killer presentation
Worst feature: No online gameplay
The bottom line: “Amped 3” isn’t available for any other console but, like all the Xbox 360 launch titles, it could be. (Which begs the question, “Why does the 360 exist?” But that’s a whole different story.)
The game doesn’t even use the system’s most prominent feature, the online community of Xbox Live. Why not? We have no idea.
That said, the trick-happy snowboarding sequel holds up pretty well when it’s judged on what it does rather than what it doesn’t.
It makes you laugh, mainly, which is rare in the gritty, testosterone-fueled world of video games. “Amped” has a wicked sense of humor, and puts it across with a kinetic, cut-and-paste style of animation that makes you feel like you missed at least as many goofy gags, pointed punch lines and obscure pop-culture references as you caught.
Fans of single-player action will find plenty of mountains littered with a variety of challenges, from trying to impress potential sponsors with your snowboarding skills to leaping off a cliff with a hang-glider to launching your snowmobile through a ski-lift door. It’s all set to a soundtrack of edgy indie music.
It would take an impossible amount of hipper-than-thou attitude to obfuscate the fact that your core gameplay is same-old, same-old. “Amped 3” very nearly pulls it off.
This guy seems oblivious to his admirer… Or is he?
You write the caption!
What are your thoughts on NBC’s new series, “The Book of Daniel,” its depiction of Jesus or the controversy surrounding it?
We just, apparently, have difficulty paying attention for very long. Or, so argues James Bovard, author of Attention Deficit Democracy . Actually, maybe we are stupid. Bovard takes no prisoners in his argument that we, as a nation, have lost sight of the very tenants of freedom and democracy that the Founding Fathers wanted to establish. If there’s any doubt where Bovard is coming from, check out this first paragraph:
“Delusions about freedom and democracy are subverting peace and freedom. The American system of government is collapsing thanks to ignorant citizens, lying politicians, and government leashed neither by law or Constitution. While presidents and pundits harp on democracy’s inevitable spread around the world, it is perishing at home.”
Note his nice Nero reference in that last sentence.
For those who think war is a natural part of politics - sort of the ultimate expression of “I don’t agree with you” or, more likely, “You have something I want and I can’t be bothered with diplomacy” - Archaeology Magazine might have something of interest to you: The Archaeology of War. It covers centuries of facts uncovered, literally, by those who dig in the ground in search of historical truths. Check it out
here.. Here’s the sort of interesting cover, to liven things up a bit. Looks like the guy on the right is a goner.
On a lighter, and more interesting (to me) note, the improbably named Bunny Crumpacker has released The Sex Life of Food, in which the author explores the desire for food and for sex and how they sometimes act one on the other. Looks like she is going back pretty far, judging by the cover:
And finally, and on a completely different note, Sarasota’s own Blaize Clement offers the first in a new mystery series, Curiosity Killed The Cat Sitter. Another Sarasota writer, N.M. Kelly has released her third book. Whale Season.
Now that the New Year is no longer very new, I hope everyone had a great start. It is back to full gear, as the traffic this morning suggested. Or maybe it was just that everyone left for work the same time as I did.
There is strange sense of renewal for me during the start of a new year - as if all the ills of life will be taken care of just because December 31 turned into January 1. I believe most of us feel like that, optimistic and rejuvenated - yet not wanting to go to work on January 2.
I have a whole list of resolutions, yet my practical self says that only a few of them will carry me through the end of this year. But making resolutions is fun and breaking them is even more so.
I have started my New Year on a high note, and I hope all of you have done so too. Happy New Year to all and may you have a prosperous year.
Tell us about your New Year’s Resolutions
I had a heck of a great time last night at Santoro’s Amphitheater, where Mickey and I celebrated the New Year with break beat DJs Baby Anne and Icey. Fire dancers and trapeze artists were part of the glamorous atmosphere, along with lots of people who were happy to have someone to kiss when the ball dropped. Every person in the place looked terrific, and all were dressed in the best gear and accessorized to the nines. I told a stranger that I liked her bracelet, a glittery band that went over the back of her hand and linked through her fingers, and she gave to me. She said I was “fabulous†and she thought I should have it. I told her I couldn’t take it, but she insisted.
Mick and I danced all night, for as long as my sore little feet could handle it. The next time we plan to go out until the sun comes up, I’ll be sure to wear better shoes. Once I decided I’d had enough, we headed to The James Joyce to meet some friends who’d watched the ball drop at a house party near Seventh Avenue. Minutes before it was time stop serving alcohol in Ybor City, we left the pub with our pals and headed to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to meet some more people.
The original plan was to go to Floyd’s, but we ended up hanging out in the lobby bar area for an hour and a half. Mick ran into an old pal there, so the group of us hung out drinking and chatting. We left around 5 a.m., when the terrible 1990s dance music got the best of us. Once we got home, I slept like a baby until noon.
Looking back, 2004 was a tough act to follow. That year saw the release of both “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” and “Halo 2,” the sort of titles we line up at midnight for the privilege to purchase.
In 2005, the industry’s largess might have seemed chintzy by comparison. But even so, there was plenty of fun to be had. To wit, we present our top games of the year.
Because we’re incapable of agreement on anything, we each picked five favorites.
WES PHILLIPS’ TOP 5
1. Lumines (Sony PSP): This puzzler melds music with “Tetris”-like action and proves that a game doesn’t have to be complicated to be good.
2. Project Gotham Racing 3 (Microsoft Xbox 360): The best game out of the gate for the 360 has magnificent graphics and refined gameplay.
3. Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse (Microsoft Xbox): A killer soundtrack, scathing sense of humor and fresh take on the tired zombie genre.
4. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PSP): This is the first handheld game to have the open-ended, go-anywhere feel of a console title.
5. F.E.A.R (Windows PC): This genre-bending first-person shooter gave PC gamers a reason to keep upgrading their computers every three months.
DOUG BUEL’S TOP 5
1. Shadow of the Colossus (Sony PlayStation 2): This game of man vs. Gargantua is spellbinding at every turn. Few games manage to create a cinematic experience where you feel that what you’re doing matters on a profound level, as this one does.
2. Meteos (Nintendo DS): This puzzler makes intense use of the machine’s touch screen - indeed, the game wouldn’t be possible without it. The backgrounds are more than just eye candy, with varying gravity and behaviors as you conquer the different puzzle worlds.
3. Soul Calibur III (PS2): Namco’s fighting extravaganza is what a modern fighting game is supposed to be. There are more characters than you can count, great graphics and endless fun.
4. Resident Evil 4 (Nintendo GameCube and PS2): With its gritty graphics and rural chills, Capcom’s bloody horror fest set an all-new benchmark for the genre. It also breathed life into what many saw as a flagging franchise.
5. Nintendogs (DS): Nintendo’s “virtual pet” simulator stands the traditional idea of what constitutes a game on its head. This is the harbinger of the future - games you play with instead of play.
ROMMIE JOHNSON’S TOP 5
1. God of War (PS2): This near-flawless production is the new standard bearer for action/adventure titles. Gorgeous graphics, a terrific score, buckets of blood, gratuitous nudity and one of the all-time coolest video-game weapons (the Blades of Chaos).
2. Indigo Prophecy (PS2, Xbox and Windows PC): The term “cinematic” gets thrown around a lot, but this is the reel—uh, real—deal. Its story of an ordinary Joe in extraordinary circumstances is as engrossing as any other video game—and a lot of movies.
3. The Warriors (PS2 and Xbox): Based on the 1979 cult-classic film, this brawler from the makers of “Grand Theft Auto” is an open-ended orgy of senseless gang violence. Can you dig it?
4. The Movies (Windows PC): Precocious love child of “The Sims” and iMovie. You run a Hollywood studio and make your own films; every little detail from writing the screenplay to editing the final product is in your hands. Too cool.
5. SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals (PS2): The best online run-‘n’-shoot experience of ‘05—and, yes, that includes “Perfect Dark Zero.” A dozen huge maps + 32 players = unlimited mayhem.
These two look awful chummy, having a swell time bellying up to the bar ...
Write your thoughts on what is happening.
Still don’t know what to do for the biggest party night of the year? Here are a few more ideas:
The Green Iguana – Veteran’s
Where: 9202 Anderson Road, Tampa; (813) 288-9076 or www.greeniguana.com
What: Party with DJs Santana and Structure, with free champagne at midnight.
Cost: Free to get in.
Whiskey Park (both locations)Where: 11921 N. Dale Mabry Highway, (North) Tampa or 720 Howard Ave., (SoHo) Tampa; (813) 968-1515 (North) or (813) 259-9669 (SoHo) or www.whiskeyparksoho.com
What: Party favors and live footage from New York
Cost: $10 in advance.
Cap’s Tiki Hut
Where: 28107 Wesley Chapel Blvd., Wesley Chapel; (813) 929-7440 or www.capstikihut.net
What: Dinner Buffet with live entertainment.
Cost: $34.95.
The L.A. Hangout
Where: 16411 N. Florida Ave., Lutz; (813) 964-5631 or www.thehangoutbar.com
What: New Year’s Party with cover band Cold Shot.
Cost: None.
Santoro’s Amphitheater
Where: 1609 E. Seventh Ave., Ybor City; (813) 248-2331 or www.ampitheaterybor.com
What: DJs Icey and Baby Anne tearing up the tables, with a free champagne toast at midnight.
Cost: $25 in advance.
Prana
Where: 1619 E. Seventh Ave. Ybor City; (813) 241-4139 or www.clubprana.com
What: Five levels of parties, champagne toast, complimentary breakfast and a chance to win $1000.
Cost: $30 in advance.
The day after my 18th birthday was the first time I ever went to a club in Ybor City. I’d been to concerts in that area of town before, but this was the first time I ever went to a dance club. I was at The Orpheum that night, where I watched a friend’s jam band play for a few hours before someone, a girl I barely knew, asked me if I wanted to go to Masquerade with her. It was a Thursday night, back when the place used to have all-you-can-drink wells for $8. I went with her, and I was only in the club for a few minutes before I had to help her track down her car keys, which she’d left with a friend who couldn’t be located. Still, those few minutes introduced me to a Tampa I’d never known. From then on, I went to Masquerade on Thursdays religiously, and this pattern lasted until the club quit having an ’80s dance party. That’s why I’m glad to know that there will be an ’80s night reunion party this Thursday, Dec. 29, at Masquerade. I hope to see all of the old crew there, considering that it will be $8 for all the well drinks your body can hold. Visit the Web site for more information.
Ho-ho-how many times can a sane person be expected to hear “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” without ripping the knobs off the radio and trying to use them as earplugs? Seriously.
Let’s face it, people. If you plan to rely on local radio for your holiday music, you’re going to be hearing an inordinate amount of crap over the next few days. And then you’re going to hear it again. And again. And again. Ad nauseam.
Isn’t this one of the reasons you bought an iPod or MP3 player in the first place? Of course it is.
Lucky for you, Found Sounds is here to help. We’ve scoured the Web (as far as you know, anyway) and come up with a handful of holiday treats for our loyal reader. (Hi, mom!)
For starters, there’s Bright Eyes. I know, I know. Conor Oberst can be a little narcissistic and everything, but once you get used to his cracked warble, his take on “Blue Christmas” actually sounds warm and genuine.
A Bright Eyes song courtesy of Saddle Creek:
Bright Eyes: “Blue Christmas” [mp3]
Next we have Clem Snide. That’s not a guy’s name, it’s an indie-pop trio from New Jersey and they’ve done a nice, slightly melancholy version of “Joy To The World.” You know, for those poignant holiday moments.
A Clem Snide song courtesy of SpinART:
Clem Snide: “Joy To The World” [mp3]
Finally, we have “The 8bits of Christmas” by the 8bitpeoples collective. The album, available for free download in its entirety, features holiday classics programmed on old 8-bit video game machines and computers. If you downloaded Beck‘s “GameBoy Variations EP” from iTunes earlier this year, you have some idea what to expect. Our favorites are:
Two tracks from 8bitpeoples:
Bit Shifer: “Let It Snow” [mp3]
Goto80: “Last Christmas (Hot Digi Rmx)” [mp3]
Bit Shifter did “Let It Snow” on a GameBoy. Goto80 (ahh, don’t you miss BASIC?) did “Last Christmas” (yes, the Wham! song) on a Commodore 64. Too cool.
If you know of any other free, legal holiday music downloads out there, link us up.
A nut lovers convention or WHAT?
Let us know.
At work today, I learned something new. Goat meat is called chevon. This, after a lunchtime conversation about mutton.
We were pondering whether or not to buy goat cheese, and then turned to what it was called. I insisted goat meat was called mutton, but my co-worker, Janine, was adamant it was a grown sheep’s meat that was called mutton.
We looked it up in the dictionary and, yes, she was right – sheep meat is called mutton and goat meat is called chevon. But Wikipedia did mention that goat meat was called mutton in India. Given Wikipedia’s woes lately, no one was ready to concede a point to me.
So now I know that goat meat is called chevon, and veal is calf, and venison is deer, and pork is pig, and beef is cow.
For me, it was humble pie.
The new Belle and Sebastian disc is due out in February. Kevin Walker‘s as close to giddy as the man is capable of getting. If you haven’t already downloaded the handful of tracks that leaked onto the Internet in recent weeks, you can check out the first single courtesy of Matador Records. It’s legal, even!
If you haven’t heard these guys before, yeah, they’re a bit precious on the surface. But don’t let that fool you. Stuart Murdoch’s sweet melodies and lush arrangements invariably hide some of music’s sharpest—and often most vicious—lyrics. It’s probably a safe bet for fans of the Smiths or Nick Drake.
A new Belle and Sebastian song from our friends at Matador:
Belle and Sebastian: “Another Sunny Day” from “The Life Pursuit” [mp3]
When it was raining last week, and roads were slippery and visibility not too good, there was a man jogging along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. It was almost dark, like it gets these days, even though peak rush hour was not over yet.
He was jogging in the bicycle lane of the road, wearing dark clothing and almost invisible through the droplets of rain and the fleeting moment of clarity that the windshield wipers provide.
I wondered why he was jogging at that time, when he couldn’t be seen though the glaring headlights of other cars blinding one’s vision, and the red tail lights reflecting off the road making it more difficult to see. And did I mention he was wearing dark clothes? On BBD?
Anyone who has driven that road knows how much traffic there is, and how many police cars to catch people who speed even a little bit. But that particular evening, no one was speeding. Couldn’t speed, because there was a long, slow traffic jam.
The jogger was not visible until you almost came upon him. It was a dangerous situation for him, anyone who might have gotten a little impatient and turned a little into the bicycle lane, could have hit him. And we all know what makes a bicycle lane - a sliver of white paint.
Why was he jogging in the bicycle lane when there is a perfectly good sidewalk on the opposite side of the boulevard? Why was he not wearing light or fluorescent clothing? What was his responsibility as a pedestrian on a busy roadway?
I heaved a sigh of relief as I passed him. I was glad that the traffic was slow, and thankfully no driver was impatient, and almost all seemed alert. I was glad that he wouldn’t be a part of a news brief about a jogger hit on the side of the road, at least not that day.
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