Monthly Archives: January 2009

Games

Fallout 3 Final Thoughts

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Considering the number of posts I’ve written about Fallout 3 already, an official “review” of it wouldn’t be appropriate, so I thought I write a summation of my final thoughts about this game. First up, this is easily the most controversial game of 2008, at least within the gaming community itself. On the one hand, the game has been an undeniable success, selling faster than Bethesda’s previous hit Oblivion and selling more than all of the previous Fallout titles combined. Its review scores are uniformly high across the board, with the PC version in particular being widely recognized as the best across all platforms. This last part is especially impressive given how badly the PC ports of games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Saint’s Row 2 have since turned out.

On the other hand, ever since it was first announced, this game has spawned a small but extremely vocal gang of detractors. Explaining the full history behind all this animosity would take far too long, but the short version is that they call themselves diehard fans of the original Fallout games and are disgusted that Bethesda bought the rights to make this game when, according to their sense of justice, it should have been made by the group behind the original titles. It’s not like there’s no substance to their arguments, but the sheer spittle-spewing vitriol of their attacks makes them look bad, and not unlike what you may find posted on sites like Free Republic and Hillary is 44 on Barack Obama’s inauguration day.

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Politics

Malaysians ignore call to boycott U.S. and Israeli companies. Utusan Malaysia baffled.

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Maybe it’s just me, but I found this article published in the Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia hilarious. To recap, Malaysians are supposed to boycott products and services made by companies linked to either the U.S. or Israel due to what’s been happening in Gaza. This isn’t anything official and the government has said that it’s up to the conscience of each Malaysian whether or not to actually boycott anything.

It should be no surprise that Malaysians have by and large ignored the call to boycott. No surprise to anyone except Utusan Malaysia apparently. You can just hear the petulance in the article’s whining over how Malaysians are apathetic to the plight of the Palestinians and continue to patronize businesses like McDonald’s and KFC. Remember that “This is Sparta!” line from 300. Guess what, Utusan Malaysia, “This is Malaysia!”

Plus, extra points for trying to link this to justifying the existence of the ISA, however tangentially. Your political overlords must be proud of you!

Films & Television

Heroes continues descent into spiral of death

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Since I gushed over the first season of Heroes so much, it’s only fair that I take the time to write about how awful it’s become. My wife and I have just caught up with the first half of Season Three and though it isn’t exactly the debacle that Season Two was, it’s nowhere close to the greatness that was Season One. It appears that the main lesson the producers learned from the previous season was never be boring. Things move along at a breakneck pace and there are plenty of action scenes through with hardly any quiet moments at all.

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Games

Surviving the Wasteland

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I’ve been wandering around the Capital Wasteland for what feels like ages now, but when I look at the map, it’s obvious that there’s still a lot of unexplored territory left. I’m kind of beginning to feel burnt out on the game though and I think I know why: I feel too powerful. There’s literally nothing that I fear out there anymore. A Vertibird dropping an Enclave patrol? A pack of deathclaws? Sentry robots? Bring them on. Between my pack full of explosives, thousands of rounds of ammunition for my unique plasma rifle, an endless supply of stimpacks to keep me healed up and my companion helping out, it’s only a matter of seconds before all my enemies bite the dust.

It’s not just a question of turning the combat difficulty up a notch either. All that does is increase the health and the damage of your enemies. That kills immersiveness because it’s just silly to see an unprotected human head take so many direct hits without turning into a bloody pulp. No, the real problem is that I’m too rich and have too much stuff now, so the Wasteland no longer feels like a forbidding, fearsome place to me. Where once simply stepping out beyond the relative safety of the walls of Megaton felt like an adventure and spotting the bald green head of a Super Mutant was enough to give me pause and think about my approach, I no longer take any care at all travelling. I’m perfectly happy to barrel straight towards my destination knowing that whatever is in my path can’t possibly be any significant threat to me.

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Fun, Politics

Mugabe on holiday in Malaysia

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It seems that the President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is on a month-long holiday in Malaysia. According to the news report, his wife has withdrawn about RM330,000.00 for the trip from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the couple owns a home in the country. I wonder where it is. Perhaps one reason why they’re here might be because the travel bans imposed on them by the EU and the USA are still in effect. I guess the Malaysian government doesn’t have a problem with them spending their poor country’s money here.

It’s also worth noting that Mugabe’s wife, Grace Mugabe, has often been a target of criticism for her habit of going on expensive shopping sprees while most Zimbabweans are deprived of even the most basic necessities.

Politics

Malaysian Minister: If you don’t like it here, just leave

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My rough translation of first few paragraphs of this news article from Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia:

Individuals who aren’t satisfied with the laws of Malaysia can emmigrate to become citizens of other countries, stressed the Minister for the Interior, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

He said that if such persons felt that the laws that are in effect in the country are not appropriate, they are free to choose to become citizens of the countries that they prefer.

If we follow the Rukun Negara, as citizens of the country we must be loyal to it including abiding by the laws that are in effect and if they feel that these laws are not right for them, they are free to choose to be citizens of other countries.

The proof of loyalty can also be interpreted as not inviting foreign powers or other governments to interfere in the domestic affairs of our country, he said while officiating a Gotong Royong Program at Sentosa Village, Sedili, near here today.

Malaysians probably won’t be surprised, though honesty of such frankness from a minister is somewhat refreshing. What’s really funny here is that he then went on to berate an activist from the ethnic Indian minority for having the temerity to call upon India to impose economic sanctions against Malaysia for its treatment of Indians in the country, when the Malaysian government seems perfectly happy to call for sanctions against Israel for what’s happening in Gaza.

Best of all however is the fact that back in December, the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that the Malaysian government was willing to help ethnic Malays in countries where they are a minority, which presumably would entail interfering in the domestic affairs of those countries. Double standards anyone?

Also, you’d think that if a country’s citizens don’t like the laws currently on its books, they could, you know, vote in a new bunch of legislators to have them changed. Apparently, in Malaysia, any citizen who dislikes any of the laws in the country is expected to leave it instead.