The fun behind making Injustice

Injustice: Gods Among Us is the fighter I am most looking forward to in 2013. I mean who can complain when you have a fighting game made by the genius' behind Mortal Kombat but the cast only includes iconic DC super heroes. Check out the developer's passion behind this title and new gameplay footage that we can finally play in April.

iStabilizer Dolly - A shaky review

One of the latest accessories we have been sent is the iStabilizer Dolly for smartphones.  If you're unfamiliar with what a dolly is, you are not alone.  A dolly is commonly used in shooting moving pictures (movies) to create tracking shots, or follow shots, etc but to be allow the video to be buttery smooth.  Think the scene from The Shining as the little boy is riding his big wheel around the hotel, being followed by the camera.  Here, let me get that for you:




The shot above would've been next to impossible to get handheld, without a ton of noticeable jerks in frame.  Okay - so we've established the purpose of a dolly.  Pretty cool actually when you think about it.

Enter this crazy smartphone/camera phenomenon where everyone is a Stanley Kubrick, and suddenly there's a market for small versions of steadicams and dolly's right?  Well in concept, it's cool, but what we have here leaves a little to be desired.

The iStabilizer Dolly is actually seemingly well made.  Made from a high quality metal, and with skateboard-like wheels and smooth rolling bearings, it has some potential.  The problems we kept running into were finding reasons to use it.  The platform is pretty short, so shooting people in a normal scene, your shots would be from the ground up, as it only stands about a foot off the ground.  Imagine watching a movie where everyone is 5 and 6 feet, but the camera angle is only 12 inches off the ground, wouldn't be very interesting.
Okay, so maybe we're trying to shoot miniature video.  That's pretty cool actually.  If you're one who can setup and build some sets with your GI Joes, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures, you could in theory create some cool stop-motion-like shots.  The only other use I could think of, is perhaps some product photography/videography.  Smooth video shots from all angles over products, if you're in the business of that...but I'm guessing if you are - you have a much fancier setup.

A device meant for professionals, dumbed down to a consumer market, just doesn't really work.  You could probably get creative and modify the unit to support a taller stance, but I just really have to ask "why"?

Unless you're wanting to be the next Tim Burton and start off by practicing some stop-motion movies, the iStabilizer is a pass in most consumer's books.

iStabilizer is $59.99 direct

Ragnarok Odyssey is the Vita's hunter of monsters

 It is finally here, the action RPG title that most of us Vita owners have been waiting for, the release of Ragnarok Odyssey. Odyssey is built around the world of Ragnarok Online, where a battle is taking place between the humans and the giants. Players will take on the role of a human and have over 20,000 character customization options available to create the hero of your liking and a total of six classes to chose from, all in which play very uniquely. Lastly, and this is a big one, is the online play, RO supports up to four player coop gameplay for when the quests really get  troublesome. Now that the game is installed, my hands are cramped and the battery is dead, lets see how it fares.

I will get this out of the way early, this is similar in gameplay and style to the Monster Hunter titles, by way of collecting items through missions across an original world based on Norse mythology.  There is large monsters, there is a lot of refining, so of course there is to be just as much grinding. I however preferred it to the latter due to the gameplay, Odyssey is fast, while the combat is fairly simple, you will start remembering devastating combos based on the class and you will very likely test multiple classes before even diving into the story. At least that is what I did, each of them are so unique, that curiosity got the best of me and now I focus on two classes, Sword Warrior and Hunter, depending on if I am playing single or multiplayer. On top of all that, the graphics and the load screens were very surprising, one is fast while the other is stunning.

While the graphics are stunning, you can not see monsters in the distance if your life depended on it, and it usually does. Enemies often didn’t appear until I was just about on them and if it was a group of four or more, it usually didn’t end well. The camera, was not bad, actually worked very well I thought, however, if you are locked on to an enemy, the camera was not intuitive enough to adjust its location to target my victim. Lastly the online, much like the camera controls work great...at times. My only issue is the lag when there is a lot going on at once, like when you are playing with a full party and the enemies keep coming, you will likely see lag unless everyone has a strong connection.

Ragnarok Odyssey is a great game, from it’s fast paced action to the online, it is beautiful from start to finish, and finish is nowhere to be found. It is great to either pick up and play a mission, help others, or to farm for weapons, items, and cards if you are looking to kill time here and there or to pass the day away. While the story was lacking, the gameplay was the reason I was skipping the text to get to the action. The most fun I had was spent online, however if that isn’t an option the single player is almost equally entertaining, and quite a bit more challenging depending on your class.

Orgarhythm gets me tap, tap, tappin' on the Vita

This time around we have another review for a download only title on the Vita, a rhythm game that goes by the name of Orgarhythm from a publisher well known for importing portable titles, XSEED.   Orgarhythm is considered a Real Time Strategy, but with a twist. As you can gather from the title, rhythm will play a role in the gameplay and this role is to command your dancing troops to battle it out with the bad guys. Aside from being portable on the vita, other features consist of online multiplayer in the form of two player coop play, an original soundtrack, and musicians are encouraged to submit songs in hopes to be selected for use as DLC. Lets take a look to what exactly Orgarhythm is like to tap upon.

I am still not sure where to start with Orgarhythm. I like RTS’ and I like rhythm games, so why is this not feeling like a virtual peanut butter cup. I immediately started playing through the tutorial, then after multiple attempts at the first mission, I started to get the hang of the gameplay, and I was not good at it. While I think it had a cool style, I mean you play as a god of light, dancing across battlefields in what seems to be a dance battles. This is not the Michael Jackson Experience. Though I must say the latter’s soundtrack may be better. Orgarhythm has a mixture of club and tribal beats for you to tap your commands in to the music. Once again, I was far from good at this, at all. After multiple attempts at the early levels, there was some frustration. I don’t know what it was, I tried with headphones, loud volume, without outside distractions, it didn’t matter. I did however notice that I could time my taps with the circles that appeared at the most opportune times and this was actually the best way for me to play. The premise was indeed unique and the animations always made me grin when I would watch my god and followers bust a move.

When all is said and done, Orgarhythm just wasn’t the game for me. In my situation it was a matter of the controls that I just couldn’t not grasp. The lack of controls from the buttons is the heart beat of this dilemma, I along with many out there are all thumbs and on a small screen, its not gods you need to worry about, it is big fingers. What did have me coming back for more humiliation was absolutely everything else. The music was a good fit for the art style and animations. Get some licensed tracks in there and provide some additional controls options and I will definitely be giving Orgarhythm another chance.