Back From Oblivion - Also, Skyrim Photography

So it's been a while since I did this whole "blog" thing... if that wasn't obvious already. ANYWAY, life got me running AROUND! *ahem* Sorry for the bad grammar. I'm hoping to revive this blog. No promises, though.
On to the good stuff. Skyrim is awesome. I have so far spent 96 hours in my second world and it reminds me of how Morrowind felt. Mysterious, dangerous and intriguing. You can feel the history, the mythology. A lot of credit goes to the art department for designing the world so well. This was something Oblivion was lacking to me, so it's nice to be so satisfied by Skyrim. It's just beautiful too, which leads me to the focus of this entry. I'm going to be taking pictures on my journey and post them here. Now that I found out how to remove the HUD from the game, they're gonna look great! Hit the break without further ado...

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Daily Entry | Alan Wake - Theories (UPDATED 6.6.10)

I finished playing Alan Wake a few nights ago. Outisde of it being fun. Outside of it having an imaginative combat system. Outside of it having great pacing. Outside... well, outside of it being a great game overall, the story in Alan Wake provides one of the best mindfrag mysteries I've encountered in a great long while. After beating the game 3 times in rapid succession, I've formulated a theory of the events. This theory is quite complex, and I'm sure it won't fit in the forums I'd love to contribute to, so I'm making this my HQ. I'll keep it updated.
Let me warn you all, this entry contains MASSIVE SPOILERS of a MASSIVE nature regarding the video game Alan Wake. If you haven't played or beaten it, and don't want to ruin the entire story, don't read this! Also, if you haven't played and beaten the game, you probably won't know what I'm talking about, so there!

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Daily Entry | An AwesomeSaber Preview

A few months ago, I was randomly searching online, as I often do, and as I sometimes do, I searched around for some outfit that makes custom lightsabers. Years ago I went to a Halloween party as a Jedi with a friend and we "made" our own lightsabers. I made a design that was so elegant and beautiful it actually depressed me because I knew I didn't have the know-how or the hardware to pull it off. Sooooo, we cobbled together some PVC and screws and junk and made some alright looking sabers.
From that Halloween I had a dream to find someone that could make my dream lightsaber a reality. Over the years I've come across a few places that offered "custom" saber builds, but most of them just had a selection of parts you could choose to have assembled by whoever. The only actual custom job had prices so exorbitant it was almost funny. Moreso, their portfolio contained some bad looking creations. Everything looked like it was out of some high school shop class... I mean... c'mon!
But I digress... A few months ago while doing the randomness I came across Parks Sabers. I checked over their production models, and was quite impressed with the quality of reproduction of their clone models, as well as their own designs. Not only did they have great looking hilt designs, but they came with DETACHABLE, TOUGH lighted blades! Continuing to the museum, it became apparent they did custom jobs. I fired off an e-mail asking if it was really "custom" jobs they do. I got a reply less than 12 hours later asking for a design. So I drew up this outline:

...and e-mailed it. Again, promptly came the reply, "give us a call to talk about the details". Could it be? Could they really do this? Can my dream come true? I called and talked to Jeffery Parks, the head honcho himself (awesome personal attention to customers!) and he went over my design and in a very cool way talked me through the practicality of the design. We altered a few details (which to me, ended up with a better looking final design) and he said he'd get to making it. After the 12 week turnaround, I got an e-mail with pictures of my finished design. It's amazing; better than I could've imagined. And I can't wait to have it in my hands. Check it out!

Absolutely amazing! Unless these are fake pictures, I'm going to love it! It looks like a prop from the movie, like it could be an actual saber. Wow. *drool*
I'll post more pics, and with the blade attached when I get it.

Nights... Into Dreams (Do Come True!)

As usual, I've been very busy lately. There have been a few new developments in life but this isn't the entry for that. No, my friends. This entry is so much better. If you've been reading my little 360 page here for a while, then you'd know I have been a big supporter and fan of all of Sega's consoles and games (if you haven't; now you do). Anyway, I got the Sega Saturn years ago for my birthday and along with it came the wonderful game NiGHTS: Into Dreams. This was a sort of "beginning" to the now-long list of interesting out-of-the-box games Sega's released. The game was essentially about two children that traveled to a dream world called Nightopia when they slept. Nightmares were invading and the two kid-o's, along with the most awesome jester I've ever played as were the only ones that could save the denizens of Nightopia. You flew through the sky collecting orbs, avoiding enemies, and twisting and turning to get a high score at the end of the "course"... hard to explain, so I'll just show you!

Suffice to say, it was one of the most original and fun games I've ever played (and still do from time to time). To the point, ever since the game reached the masses, fans have been longing for a sequel. Throughout the years there have been many rumors, all of which have resulted in letdowns. Some have given up hope, thinking it was one of those one-shot deals; a kind of test to see if non-traditional games would be successful. Others just gave up because they were losers. But I, I never gave up. And my undying hope has finally paid off. What's more, the Wii is involved.

That's right, folks, it's has been officially confirmed by Sega that a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW Nights game is in development, and even has a (tentative) release window in the fourth quarter of this year! They even have a "webpage" for it! So far I've only seen 5 screenshots of the game, but the news alone is enough to get me excited. It's called NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. Once again you have to save Nightopia from the Nightmarens. Here's the text from the site (if you're too lazy to go there yourself).

The critically-acclaimed franchise that gave gamers the freedom to fly in a world of dreams is coming to the Wii™! As a fantasy jester called NiGHTS, you will experience a heightened sense of gliding, spiraling, and looping through seven extraordinary worlds of Nightopia where the ocean resides in the sky and glass-formed cliffs overlook a castle of mirrors. When the "Nightmarens" from the neighboring dark world of Nightmare infiltrate the idyllic Nightopia, NiGHTS must defend the dream world to keep it safe for all dreamers. This holiday, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams will take you in a voyage filled with courage, hope and inspiration.

Awesome. Awesome to the max. Nights with the amazing Wiimote control setup? Yes, please. So yeah, I'll be keeping up with the news on this one. For now, I'll leave you with the few images I could find...