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Oct
08/11

Anime Review – “Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise”

Last Updated on Thursday, 8 December 2011 05:24
Written by MuttonChop
Saturday, October 8th, 2011

Grounc Control to Major Tom...

G’day Shipheads, and welcome to my review of “Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise”.

For those of you who haven’t seen this movie before, a brief rundown of the plot:

“In a world both very similar to and different from our own, an apathetic student, Shirotsugu Ladhatt, who aspired to join the local air force but doesn’t have the grades, instead joins the Royal Space Force. Unfortunately, this space force is more of a publicity stunt by the government than anything else–nobody has ever even made it to space. However, after our hero meets and falls in love with an idealistic young missionary, Riqunni, he becomes determined to actually make something of the joke that is the Royal Space force. But as the odd collection of dropouts and aging rocket scientists begins to make progress toward their goal of a space flight, the enemy in an ongoing war decides that this new space technology could become a dangerous weapon and decides to nip the budding space program in the bud. Shirotsugu, spurred by his unreturned feelings for Riqunni, braves assassins, budget cuts, and all-out war to make his dream of traveling among the stars come true…”

This movie is a masterpiece. From the story, to the artwork, everything in this movie is top notch, from start to finish. And don’t let the fact it’s an animated film fool you, this is very much a movie for adults.

Tom Cruise, eat your heart out...

To start with, the plot is quiet but complex and engaging, and the overall theme is an extreme close-up on a sweeping tale of exploration and adventure. It follows the story of Shirotsugu Ladhatt. Unable to join the Air Force, he instead settles for the Royal Space Force, whose goal is the first manned shuttle launch. Unfortunately, the countries space program is considered a joke. Through a journey of personal discovery and finding faith, you watch as Ladhatt progresses from a man with no hope and direction to a man driven to succeed, and prove to everyone that the space program is something to be taken seriously.

Now, while the story is awesome in itself, where this movie really stands out is in the animation. The sheer attention to detail that went into this movie is a credit to everyone who worked on the film.The world in general is beautifuly detailed, but the wow factor comes in some of the action scenes, which are few and far between in this movie. This isn’t a bad thing however. The whole point of this movie was not to be a massive action film, it’s a lot deeper than that. It talks about the human condition, the struggle to achieve things that are bigger than yourself. But when the action scenes start, they don’t hold back. Featuring stunning aerial dog fighting, an awesome scene where Ladhatt is being chased by an enemy government’s assassin, up to and not forgetting the final scene of the shuttle launch, the detail that went into drawing these scenes gives us action sequences that are comparative to, hell, that even exceeds the quality of some big budget Hollywood movies.

If you can find a copy of this movie anywhere, I highly recommend it to anyone. This movie was made back in 1987, but don’t let that scare you off. For a movie made back in the 80′s, it has a better quality of animation than can be found in just about any cartoon series from today.

Muttonchop approves this movie!

Tags: adventure, anime, assassin, flight, honneamise, movie.muttonchop.wings, Review, space | Posted under Front Page, Movies, Uncategorized |

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Sep
16/11

These are a few of my favorite things…

Last Updated on Friday, 16 September 2011 10:04
Written by MuttonChop
Friday, September 16th, 2011

I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum... and I'm all out of bubblegum!

G’day Shipheads, it’s everyone favourite Crewbie (and Devil), Muttonchop, and today, I’m doing an article about something near and dear to my heart.

Anime!

When anime was AWESOME!

Now before anyone has a chance to start saying that anime is only for kids, hold up for a sec.

Yes, the anime being produced today is predominantly aimed at a younger, teen/tween fan base. However, if you take the time to dig a bit deeper into what’s on offer, and look back a few years, you end up finding some amazing anime series and movies that can stand up to, and in a LOT of cases outdo, the anime being produced today.

Since I am a mad keen anime fan, I am going to start reviewing some of these older gems that the vast majority have never heard of before. Classics such as “Wings of Honneamise”, “Bubblegum Crisis”, the original “Ghost In The Shell”, and more.

It’s my hope that through this I can get more people to experience and appreciate the time and effort that went in to not only making a compelling story, but an amazing visual experience the likes of which at times not even Hollywood can match, in my humble opinion.

Girls, Girls, Girls!

With that, I’m going to take my leave, but watch this space. Over the next few weeks I’m going to be watching as much anime as I can get my hands on and posting my reviews shortly after.

Until then my fellow listeners, I’ll catch ya on the flip side.

Muttonchop.

Tags: akira, anime, evangelion, guyver, keen, mad, Movie, police, series, tank, teen, tween | Posted under Front Page, Movies |

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Sep
04/11

PAX 2011: More than Games, All About Friends.

Last Updated on Sunday, 4 September 2011 10:19
Written by MuttonChop
Sunday, September 4th, 2011

So, here we are. PAX 2011 has come and gone. Lines were formed, games were played, friends were made, alcohol was had. For someone like me, a first time PAX attendee, I don’t think I could have asked for a more awesome time than what was had this weekend past.

While I didn’t get a lot of hands on time with many games, I like to think I took something a lot more important away from that weekend than what was my game of show, or who the best dressed cosplayer was.

So hello to my new friends!

I took away new friendships that will stay with me forever. For those who haven’t been to PAX before, you’ll quickly find that the event, while still being somewhere for developers to show off their game to a more public audience rather than the media-only events like E3, is also more simply a meeting point for gamers to catch up with those people who they’ve played with for years, but have never met in person before. Let me relate my experience to you.

On the Thursday before PAX kicked off, I was invited along to a Pre Pax Barbeque at Ala Douche’s house. I was travelling with good company at that point, with the Fisherman, Farva, Nerves and myself flying the flag (and the shirts) of Talkingship. We showed up to the house, knocked on the door, and it opened to reveal some guy introducing himself as Mike, and some other guy called Corey. Confusion set in for a second, until they realize they didn’t give me the names I know them by, Ala Douche and Darkwonders respectively. After the introductions finished, we headed out and sat down, and started talking about everything and nothing at the same time. There wasn’t the sort of hesitation you get when you meet someone for the first time, and don’t know where to start the conversation from. We’ve know each other for months, if not years at this point. We’ve all talked and played together on both the Xbox and Playstation, we’ve gotten to know each other through Facebook and chatted with them on Skype. The only thing that most of us have never done is see each other face to face, in the flesh.

A group of gamers playing Megaman... Recipe for Disaster!

Eventually, more people from the Sarcastic Gamer crew started showing up. Dave and Esmerelda, Frawlz, 8BitBass. Everyone who showed up simply walked in and was immediately comfortable with each other. The one surreal moment I had during the whole week was at this BBQ. Just about everyone was sitting on the couch playing Megaman, and I was sitting in the adjoining kitchen just watching. All these voices that I’ve played with for ages, people who come from all over America, and in my case, Australia, all camped out on the same couch, telling 8Bit how to pass this particular level that was giving everyone a hard time. At this point I just sort of went “Woah! This is Awesome!”, and went out and joined them in trying to finish the level. It was an excellent evening of introductions and chatting!

Unfortunately, as things tend to, the night came to an end. Some of us went off to Ooopy’s Pre Pax Party at “The Garage” Bowling Alley, and the rest stayed at Ala Douche’s place to keep drinking, but the BBQ was the highpoint of the night, and the rest was just the wind down. To everyone who was at the Barbeque, I’d like to thank you all for your hospitality. It was so nice to be welcomed into the fold with open arms. I walked in feeling a little bit like the odd one out, and left with a group of new friends that I’ll hold close from now on.

For those who didn’t attend, it is something that you MUST do, at least once. Of cours,e if your like me, you’ll do it once and want to keep coming back every year!

Okay boys and girls, thats enough from me for now. There shall be more to follow.

This has been Muttonchop, signing off!

Posted under Front Page, Rants, Video Games |

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Jul
10/11

Review: World of Tanks

Last Updated on Monday, 11 July 2011 09:29
Written by MuttonChop
Sunday, July 10th, 2011

It's a world..... FULL OF TANKS!!!!!

G’day Shipheads, and welcome to my review of “World of Tanks”.

Today’s review is brought to you by Insomnia, Sleep Deprivation, and Caffeine… Mmmmm, love that Caffeine.

So, to start with, what is “World of Tanks” I hear you ask… no seriously, I heard you ask the question… I’m right outside your window…

Putting the "multi" in multiplayer...

Put simply, “World of Tanks” is a Massive Multiplayer Online game with RPG elements built into it. The games involve teams of 15 players versus 15 players, driving a wide variety of light, medium and heavy Tanks that range from World War 2, through to the Korean War (Police action my arse…). Battles are fought in sessions that can last from as long as 15 minutes (the games maximum session time) to as little as 3 hard, fast minutes of intense “Cavalry Charge” style gameplay.

Win or lose, you will earn XP and Credits, which all go towards the RPG side of the game. XP can be used to skill up your tank crews, allowing them to operate the machines better and faster than they can at the start. XP and Credits are also used to research upgrades to your machines, with things like better engines, quicker rotating turrets, better tracks, improved cannons all helping you turn your humble beginners tank into a ROLLING MACHINE OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION!!!… ahem… Like I was saying, you upgrade your starter tanks, of which you have 3, and with successful completion of a full upgrade of any single tank, it opens up further options to begin purchasing the next tank tier above it.

All this goes a long way to make an already enjoyable game an even deeper experience. The other part of this is that no tank is ever the same stat wise. You could have an American Light Tank that has completely the opposite stats to a Light Tank of a German or Soviet design. More armor in one place, less in another. Faster ground speed, but slower turret rotation, or a slower turning circle, but a quicker and more accurate target lock on. All these things go a long way to ensuring that the tactics you are using to survive differ from tank to tank. For some, sitting back and providing cover and support is your thing, others might be better suited to flanking the enemy and taking them from behind. Then there are just those that charge head on into the oncoming artillery fire. It all goes into making an awesome game that has surprising depth to it.

…and did I mention that the game is free to download…

That’s right sports fans, the core game, to download and begin playing online instantly, will not cost you $59.95, it will not cost you $29.95, it will NOT cost you $5.95…

It is free as free can be.

Say "Hello" to my little friend!

Now, I hear you saying, “Muttonchop, how is it that they can provide me a game with such depth and longevity and have it cost nothing to download and play?” Well, they do this through the one thing you probably all saw coming… Micro Transactions. Now, you may think that I’ve lied to you in saying that this game is free, but really, I haven’t. The core game IS free to download and play, and you can have a hell of a lot of fun playing normally while still being competitive. You just have to adjust to the fact that your machine isn’t as decked out as some of the others, and adjust your tactics accordingly. The only thing is that playing the game without resorting to a purchase will still net you all the tanks and upgrades available to those who have purchased them… it will just take you a very looooong time to accrue the XP and Credits to purchase them. Like I said though, don’t sweat the little stuff. This game is still a lot of fun to play with a more basic tank than what some others may have. This is also where the matchmaking system really comes into play. It does a very good job of balancing out the teams, ensuring that no one team is more overpowered than the other, leaving it more down to the skill of the players to take the win rather than the “He who has the super tech shall smite all!!!” philosophy.

Now, I could go on and on about this game, telling you about how good it is, but all I’m going to tell you to do is to just download it and find out for yourself. For the cost of some of your bandwidth, you can be engaging in large scale tank battles for free, with other people who just want to have fun and blow shit up just as much as you do!

I’m Muttonchop, and I approve this game!