TUNE TUES! HERE'S TO YOU KOJIMA-SAN!

HERE'S TO YOU! (Joan Baez and Ennio Morricone)

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES OPENING SCENE

Hideo Kojima, creator and creative mind behind the Metal Gear Solid franchise, might be the best or closest example of an auteur in the medium called "video games".

What is an "auteur"?

An auteur, literally French for "author", is the term traditionally applied to a filmmaker whose creative vision, personal ideals, and artistic control over a film are so great that they are regarded as the author of the work. This term is taken further in discussions of the medium so that, while often there are many hands and minds behind any given film project or projects, this auteur is credited as the true author of the works.

For example, Alfred Hitchcock's style permeates his films to the point where his creative vision is at the forefront and the films he worked on are regarded as "Hitchcock films".

In discussion of film, the term auteur is usually not awarded by critics to just any prolific director; they are afforded to directors with a catalog of film's sharing distinctive traits, from the dreamscapes of Akira Kurosawa to quirky storybook worlds of Wes Anderson, the works of an auteur make up their own world or idealogy. In short, they are a reflection of their creator's vision.

While some independent games are the sole work of a single creative, or a few, AAA titles like Bungie's Destiny or whatever Assassin's Creed game just came out, are the works of dozens of artists, writers, animators, programmers, testers, etc. to the point where Credit sequences in these games take on the lengths of short films. And yet, while the Metal Gear Solid series is the work of so many individuals, no one, besides perhaps Konami, would try to argue that the series wasn't Hideo Kojima's.

The series builds a dramatic world constructed from James Bond action fodder, giant robot anime, Italian spaghetti westerns, military vehicle model construction, geopolitical history, conspiracy theories, etc. that are all reflections of the things Kojima finds cool and come together into some simultaneously beautiful, gruesome, overwrought, genuine, fashionable and dorky creation that is uniquely "metal gear".

The conceits of the series can be rather striking in their contradiction, such as the inclusion of Metal Gear Solid: Rising Revengeance, a game that stands out from the other series by following a protagonist who seems to revel in dicing his enemies into tiny bits with a giant samurai sword, while also having a disturbing subplot about saving child soldiers from being coopted into cyborg killing machines. In a game where a ridiculously hard to miss cyborg samurai wears a sombrero and a poncho as a disguise, we're shortly thereafter greeted with a horrific collection of floating orphan brains in jars, still conscious as their eyes follow you across the room, and meant to illicit legitimate feelings of horror. I realize some might complain about the inclusion of Rising Revengeance in my little rant here but it illustrates, perhaps better than anything, what is "metal gear" and what is "Kojima-esque".

It revels in the ridiculous and yet, somehow, comes out the other side as something that is genuinely thought provoking and cool. Metal Gear is unique and it is depressing to think MGSV may be the last chapter.

GAME GRUMPS- MIGHT AS WELL JUMP!

Uh, well, I just gave you guys like a quick sloppy essay to try and explain my feelings about Metal Gear. So um, here is this and:

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE?

Go watch Rick and Morty.

That is all.

MIXED BAG. UNBOX-KING #29 HALO GUARDIANS LMTD. EDITION XBOX ONE CONSOLE!

It took some doing but I am finally back in the mud with the console peasants (and yes I have a Wii-U but we both know Nintendo isn't trying to compete with the other two big consoles and they haven't found it to be a threat either...until NDX rears its head next year). And, I gotta say, while the console is gorgeous, it is exactly what I expected:

A more powerful 360. I'll admit that part of my hesitation, to buy either the ONE or the PS4, has been that this generation feels like such a small step forward that I wasn't dazzled by any of the new social features or gizmos. More so than ever, this generation feels like it is holding back technology and falling way behind the PC curve set into motion by services like Steam that give PC gaming a lot of affordable custom options. In fact, the first game I booted up, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, was notably less impressive on my new console as my three year old Dell. This generation of games has been scaled back, again, from maintaining a standard of 60 fps and it shows. And I'm not even the sort of guy to pick apart the graphical nitpicks. It was noticeable different when I booted up the Menu Screen.

BUT, and this is a big but, I didn't buy an Xbone to replace my PC. I bought a Xbone to share multiplayer experiences with my friends who have an Xbone but lack a dedicated gaming PC. And I am still excited to be able to play Halo 5, Battlefront, and Black Ops 3 this Holiday season. Even if it cost me an arm and a leg, friendship is worth it.

P.S. It really is a pretty console.

WTF WED! A WEAPON TO SURPASS METAL GRUMP!

GRUMPCADE- VICE PROJECT DOOM:

SLIPPERY BUTTS! (FT. PROJARED)

I really like ProJared:

PROJARED: SUPER BONK!

So, seeing him as the first guest on Game Grumps, since Rareware's Greg Kirkhope on the first (and only) Guest Grumps, was pretty cool. I didn't expect to have live-action shenanigans like seeing behind-the-scenes of the boys trying to film at night or ignoring security or being bothered by fans to an almost threatening to degree.

And this... um, just, don't watch it at work. It is funny though.

A WEAPON TO SURPASS METAL GEAR! (NSFW)

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/18/14!

METAL GEAR SOLID 5: GROUND ZEROES REVIEW OR EGORAPTOR VS. GHOST PEPPER!

Scoville scale [scoh-vil-yoo-nits]
noun
1. The measurement of the pungency (spicy heat) of spicy foods, especially peppers, measured by capsaicin concentration. Regardless of the fact that this is an empirical method dependent on the sensitivity of testers, it is the most prominent method of measuring capsaicin concentration.

EX. You should subscribe to Hot Pepper Gaming. The channel's premise is to get a youtuber, have them eat an especially hot pepper, and then try to review the game despite their mouth, throat, stomachs and bodies being racked with pain, heat, and revulsion in reaction to the peppers. A little over half a year ago, Egoraptor made his first appearance on the channel with his review, and it was hilarious. The pepper he ate before reviewing Monster Hunter 3 was a Habanero pepper with a Scoville Scale rating of 100,000 to 300,000 units. With Tabasco sitting at about 30,000 to 50,000 units, that means that a Habanero is about ten times as powerful. 

In the two pictures at the header of the article, Arin Hanson AKA Egoraptor, is seen before and after eating a Ghost Pepper or Bhut Jolokia, a pepper grown and cultivated in India, for his review of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. Its Scoville rating is much more varied but lands it closer to 1,000,000 units. That means it is often ranked about 10 times more powerful than a Habanero or 100 times the power of Tabasco. Some police forces in India use the Ghost Pepper as an ingredient in weapon's grade pepper spray. This means Egoraptor is in a hilarious amount of pain for our amusement. To schaudenfreude!