The Blog of CCJAD

The start of something fresh?

2011-03-04T03:07:00.004Z

I doubt anyone noticed the ducks whist they were weaving in and out of the HTML but I updated the blog again, just on a temporary basis, to a new layout which is anything but perfect.

As a result it seems our south bound friends won't be flying back up north for summer, such a shame.

I'm currently working on a completely new look but it has been a ridiculously long time since I put any effort into it so here's a simple little change for the moment.

However, the music is now AWESOME, not that it wasn't before ('Ruff mix' by 'wonderdog' and 'Zabadak' by too many people to list). I invite anyone from CCJAD to post here again if they've got the time, it looks nicer than it did in green!

Sorry about the blog archive column as well, it didn't quite come out as expected but I'm too tired to sort it.

In conclusion, enjoy this small update. Calum

Ps. I was so lazy I actually googled 'Funny picture' to post something nice for people to look at, but it seems the internet is shit. Here's a startling painting of the many 'Zelda' series protagonists and antagonists throughout all the many timelines. You don't have to be that nerdy to appreciate it. It's been circling around the internet for a while now, but it's awe inspiring if you're a fan and haven't yet stumbled across it.

Ruff mix

2011-01-26T14:41:00.004Z

Still need to update this thing after almost a year, but here's some pleasant music for the time being.

Super Secret update coming soon!??!

2010-04-19T03:19:00.001+01:00

Shh, it's a secret...but you'll see.

I think the ducks'll be migrating soon.

RDBQDS BMCDR

2009-12-10T20:31:00.003Z

- Ally

What the duck

2009-08-18T10:42:00.003+01:00

Well, after CCJAD kept freezing Firefox, I've not posted for a bit. However, I return to find out that a magic duck as arrived and blessed our webpage. It doesn't freeze anymore. Good job, little duck! Try not to shoot him too much, visitors.

What's the banter, peeps? I feel awful about life.

Catchya around,

- Ally.

Let us try this again.

2009-06-13T14:48:00.010+01:00

Hello. My name is Alistair. I am the "A" in "CCJAD". I started this blog with 5 friends in Oct 2006. Here is 2009, and this poor blog is neglected and dying. Who's fault is it? To be honest, it's no-ones. The mentality of "If he doesn't update, why should I?" got the better of some of us, it seems. The rest don't know how to even extract .rar files so that's fair enough.

So yeah, instead of giving my usual bi-annual update of "Nothing is new", I'm actually going to discuss things. Make sure your seat is comfy, kids. Oh and by the we way, since my internet connect fails so hard, I can't actually upload files/pictures that are larger that 15KB to show you, so you are gonna have to make do.

Let's go back to August, 2008. Here, I started my "future career" by leaving College and attending University. In University, I'm taking Computer Games Design. Sounds like a piece of piss, right? Ah hah haha. No. If you want to design and make games, you better be damn ready for it. My class is made up for around 99% people who have the mentality of "I LIKE VIDYA GAMES, SO IF I LIKE DA VIDYA, I CAN MAKE THE GAMES". This results in people coming in once a semester, skipping classes to buy the newest releases, going home, finishing them and then totally disregarding any course work what so ever. This is a no-no.

In my first semester, I had to make a board game. Now, to be honest, I thought this was a pretty smart move. Think about it, your average Halo-tard isn't going to jizz his pants at the prospect of making a BOARD GAME.

"HOW DO I SHOT MAH GUN" "IT'S A BOARD GAME YOU BUM-PILOT" "WHAT? I CAN'T FIND THE CONTROLLER"

Okay so the convo above never actually happened, but I digress - a board game. Not just a board game, but a board game suitable for a German family. Through the use of personae, "research" and me raging and smacking my group around for the whole semester, we managed to make our board game "Hunters and Wolves".

I can't be arsed to go into massive detail on the game play, but basically the game is for 3-5 players. 1 of these players will be the Wolf, the rest will be a Hunter. The main objective of the game is the collect the most "meat" overall. However, the sub objective is for the Wolf to escape, and the Hunters to prevent this. It's a pretty fun prospect cause eventually the Hunters give up working in a team and begin screwing each other over. I basically made all the imagery in the board game. These delightful works of art can be seen here.

This is the box top. It was bloody difficult to actually glue this onto the box. (We basically bought a copy of Cludeo, and harvested elements such as the dice, board, box, etc)

This is the box bottom. You can't see it in these bad resolution pictures, but at the bottom it actually says "(c) 2008 To LAT Graffix. This is small print to make the board game appear authentic and actually adds no value what so ever." Who says you need to be serious all the time at Uni? Also, that weird square thing on the right is actually the game board. Delightful fun fun.

So yeah, that was pretty much semester 1. Learning that everyone in my course is a pretty much a PC gamer and a 4channer. I detest it when people are like "LULZ I GO ON 4CHAN THAT MAKES ME INSTANTLY AWESOME FEAR MY INTERNET WANG SIZE". Congrats, you like a site. I quite like Google you know? But I don't fucking go on and on about it.

Semester 2 was more of less the same shit, but we had to take our game from its Board game roots and make it into a PC application version, and all I can say is that it sucked HARD. I basically gave up because my team were bickering kids who wanted to do it in PowerPoint. YOU CAN'T PROGRAM A BOARD GAME IN POWERPOINT GOD DAMMIT. I basically had to do the whole project in GameMaker, but I probably killed off my inner child in the processes. I mean, I'm doing Computer Games Design, no Computer Games Programming. My course is fail at times.

At least in semester 2 I got to do some 3D modelling. That was probably the highlight. After using XSI in College, I grew to hate it. Using it at Uni, I grew to love it. I don't know how or why, but I did. My task for 3D modelling was to make a scene with a table, vase, PC monitor and chess board. We were allowed to add our own objects for extra marks, so I really took the piss with this one. I added wires to EVERYTHING and made an N64, tissue box, hell, I'll just show you the pictures.

This is the scene! Looks lovely, huh? Notice the VGcats drawing of CCJA in the frame? Yeah, I'm that awesome.

FIRE HAZARD EGADS MAN

Hell, we had to make a chess board, why not make chess pieces too?

N64 with my most favourite game evarrr in it.

So yeah, that was fun considering I went slightly Over the top with it.

Lets see now...

Way back in November 2008, CCJAC (Last C being Chan, cause David has screwed us over) went to the 2nd Anime convention in Scotland, Auchinawa. After the enjoyment of Auchinawa 2006, we looked forward to this one cause we were actually going to be staying for more than 1 day. 3 days at the con, with our own hotel rooms, that was probably the highlight. Compared to 06, I felt it was rather rushed, not much to do, unorganized as all hell and just as generally not as enjoyable. The venue was smaller too, and the games room really lacked compared to the previous. Masquerade was a joke. It in general was just not as good.

Here is the only group photo I managed to get, and I'm not even in it.

Us doing the "Imran". By us, I mean CCJC, I was the camera man.

Here is me putting my rape face on, to an unexpecting James' fortune.

So yeah, Auchi 08 didn't feel as great as 06.

Back in March, I had quite a surprise. What was that surprise? Well, let's recap a bit. Back in 2003, my family was blessed with a kitten. We called this kitten "Felix" (Original, huh?) and he was the best pet ever. As he grew, he started slaughtering every little animal that crossed his path, and also chewed the hands off anyone trying the pet him. One fateful day in October 2007, he went missing without a trace. We were quite gutted when he never re-appeared. Obviously, we sent out "Lost cat" posters and told the neighbours. For a week or so, there was no news. While people had assumed he had been ran over or whatever, I didn't actually feel like he was dead. Of course, I didn't have any idea on his true fate, but the idea of him being dead didn't fit.

So, around November 2007 we finally got a tip about a black cat that had been found wandering around, eating at some person's garage. We had our hopes high, but it turned out this homeless cat was not ours. However, we decided to adopt her until her rightful owners came forward. This cat was called "Meg". Actually, she still is called Meg, cause her owners never claimed her. She lives with us happily, leaving hairs everywhere and purring at the sight of you. She is a nice kitty cat, probably around 9 years old now.

Anyway, in March 2009, around 2 years after Felix vanished, we got a phone call about 9/10am in the morning. Not expecting anything important, my parents answered. The phone call was from a Vet in Perth (About 40 miles north), and some family had brought in a cat. This cat had a microchip, which gave the vet the contact details for us. While slightly confused, it turned out that Felix was still alive. He had been living in Perth for a few months now. I can't tell you how much of a random surprise this was. It was totally out of the blue.

So yeah, we went to Perth, thanked the family and brought him home. Felix - who had been going under the name Wilson for several months - was finally returned, and was about twice the size of when he left. Big fat blob. Below is a picture comparing the cats. Meg is the top cat, Felix is the blob on the bottom.

Meg refuses to look at the camera, Felix has fallen and can't get up.

Felix had only been living with the Perth family for a few months, so that means before-hand he was freelance, so who knows how many people he met and how many names he had? One thing for certain is that he learned the value of food and how to eat his fill when given the opportunity. Sadly, him and Meg don't get on. When they first met, it was hissy-meow fits. Now it's just evil stares, wishing for the other cat to die.

I had so much more to talk about, but I've been writing this post for about 2 hours now, and I've got other stuff to do. So, in a nutshell:

-Buy Punch-out Wii
-I'm replaying Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Fantastic game.
-I became a staff member of Goemon International
-My last.fm account is here if you are interested

That's all I can write for now. I leave you with this smexy image of me Hotel Duskified:

Catch you!

P.S - There are probably typos, but this post is too long to check XD.

Chris' Top Albums - 5: Death On The Road

2009-01-24T10:51:00.005Z

Okay, so writing this on a train that's not moved in a while in an attempt to stop me freaking out, so appologies for any logic leaps or terrible incoherency.

I was talking to a friend earlier, the writer of Thoughts from a Moogle, about our top 5 favourite albums of all time, and was thinking I should write brief reviews on all of mine. So, here comes the first in a series of 5:
Album 5: Iron Maiden's Death on the Road.

This could be considered cheating a bit, since it is after all a live album, and technically a compilation, but that doesn't stop it being absolutely fantasatic.
From the famous Maiden latin opening to the closing notes of the iconic Run to the Hills, every song on this album (with the probable exception of Journeyman, which all things considered seems an odd choice) is utterly anthemic.
As far as musical technique goes, I hardly need to comment on this one. It's Iron Fucking Maiden. They practically pioneered british metal single handedly, and Bruce 'Air Siren' Dickinson's voice isn't losing any power with age.
Now, as this is a recording of the tour for the Dance of Death album, which I'd personally consider one of their best, it's a glorious mix of classic Maiden (Wrathchild, The Trooper, and of course Run to the Hills) and the cream of the crop from that - Paschendale and the titular Dance of Death are the two that spring to mind, making for an eclectic mix to satisfy any Maiden fan, and a fantastic album even if you're not an avid follower of Eddie and the boys.
Sadly the crowd still lack the ability to keep in time. Oh well.

AFTER-POST EDIT: added bonus feature!
Chris' Favourite Track - Wildest Dreams

So! Next time, I'll be reviewing album number 4... what will it be? Who knows? Well, me, obviously.
Catch you next time, hopefully with less insane crazy train fuck-ups,
Chris.

...

2009-01-08T20:00:00.002Z

Stream of Consciousness

2009-01-03T23:28:00.002Z

So, I'm pretty bored, and want to write a blog post. But would you believe it, I've got nothing to write on! So I thought I'd try an experiment. We all love experiments, don't we? At least as long as they blow up at the end, which could well happen! Now, fellow readers, let's take a trip into the verbose caverns of my subconscious mind and see what leaps out.

Recently started playing Dissidia: Final Fantasy on PSP (sadly in japanese), and it is a magnificent fangame. Except it's actually an official fighting game, with combat bearing a striking resemblance to the Kingdom Hearts 2 style of gameplay (read: it's fast paced, simple, and fun). Everything looks fantastic, other than some slight roboticisms with the characters during cutscenes, and the soundtrack is nigh-on heavenly, with some of the finest remixes of classic FF tunes ever created.
Of course, the main problem with the game is it's REALLY BLOODY HARD. Seriously, it's insanity, the computer opponents gladly kick your pathetic meaty arse to hell and out the other side. It could just be that my understanding of moonspeak isn't sufficient to get the intricacies of the levelling and item systems, but seriously, it's really, really hard. What.

Animal Crossing: City Folk came out on Wii a couple of weeks back. I refuse to be dragged back into my addiction, and really wasn't interested till I was shown a shot of the Majora's Mask item proudly displayed in someone's room. Of course, my internal raging fanboy went nuts, since Majora's Mask is clearly one of the finest games ever to be created - a rant for a later post, perhaps - and now I'm severely tempted.
I need help.

Right, getting slightly long here, but I think we've got time for one last rant! Seems I need to practice keeping things short, don't I? Well, might as well end on a different note. For once, it's not a game! Yes, I do have other hobbies too, shocking as that may sound. I even have a social life every few weeks, you heard it here first, folks. No, this time, I'm going to briefly mention my favourite band on the planet ever.
And that band is Coheed & Cambria.
...you know what, let's leave that rant for later. It'll be rather long.

Say, that's TWO rants to look forward to! Lucky you. But for now, it's time to bring this experiment to a fairly unimpressive end. A bit like when the fuse fizzled out on the dynamite in old western films. Catch y'all soon,
Chris.

Chris Enjoys The Vidya, 4: Terranigma

2008-12-15T15:15:00.003Z

So, like, it's like Zelda. No, not the 3D ones, like Link's awakening and that. Yeah, puzzles and shit. Except, right, it's also kinda like Final Fantasy. You can change your weapons and level up and stuff. You use magic too, it's totally kickass.

RIGHT SO. In case you hadn't guessed, this game is one of those action-RPG things, albeit slightly heavier on the RPG side than others. It's part of the Soul Blazer series, made up of Soul Blazer (SNES), Illusion of Gaia (SNES), Terranigma (SNES) and The Granstream Saga (Playstation 1), all loosely connected through various plot elements, but since I've not actually played any of the others, I can't really say much on that! Yay for shoddy journalism.

The basic premise of the game is, you play as Ark, a young boy who inadvertently breaks the entire planet by opening Pandora's Box at the start of the game. Smooth move lad, but at least it gives him something to do - opening the box leaves him unaffected by the rampant magical typhoon that crystallises his village. So, off you go, wandering the underworld and resurrecting the surface world. Which I should probably explain.

So, the world that Ark, and Yomi (who is released from Pandora's Box when it's opened, and accompanies you through the game) are from is actually the inner face of an earth-esque planet that's shaped as a hollow sphere. Whilst Pandora's magic messes things up severely in the underworld, it completely ramshacks the surface world. Hence, the first half of the game is to sort this out. Of course, the fact that this is only the first half should give you an idea that the story has it's fair share of plot twists. Not going in to much depth, since hopefully you'll go and play it yerself if you've not already, but Ark ends up getting stabbed in the back more times than an over-used voodoo doll, and it's all very exciting and stuff!

Of course, no matter how fantasmagorical the story is, it's all for naught if the gameplay sucks. Luckily, this isn't the case! Ark's main weapon is a vast array of different spears, and he has a fairly diverse set of attacks for these sort of games. From jumping and stabbing enemies from above, to spinning your spear in a deadly whirlwind, to just plain slapping them in the face with the pointy end, it's great to keeps things interesting, even if a lot of the time you'll find yourself just using the running stab for the speed of it.

On the other hand, the magic system on the game is rather... well, it's a bit naff really. All your variety of spells come from Spell Rings, that crumble after a single use back into their component parts - Magirocks. Then, you go to a store and re-combine them to use them again. Pointless much, and it just results in the spells being a rarely used device, since just prodding things full o' holes is much easier, and much more satisfying really.

Well, this is beginning to roll on a bit (again), so I'll wrap it up soon. As a final note, both the level designs and the bosses in this game are brilliantly realised, so crawling through the dungeons never seems to become tedious or repetitive, as there's always something new to see or do. Good show, Enix. Yeah, Enix. The reason this game seems so... hushed up, is because it never got a release in the U S of A, as the Enix branch there up and died before hand. Pity that.

Oh also, I can't say anything on the music, cause I played it all whilst listening to Hoobastank. TTLY ORSUM.

WTF GREEN?

2008-11-23T14:40:00.003Z

Woah, it's been a while. I come back and the blog is GREEN.

Not really a big post, just stopping by to say hello and to post this video.

GoldenEye 'Chaos' clip

I've seriously not laughed so much in ages. Kudos, N64 - bringing entertainment even after your time.

Update on my life: Uni sucks.

See you guys whenever I can be bothered to be forced to login!

~ Ally.

PS. Lost the game.

PSS. I have no idea why the blogspot is green. Anyone care to explain?

PSSS. Lawl, the video breaks the horizontal scroll.

Nintendo's Latest Plaything

2008-10-02T14:42:00.001+01:00

Whoops, seems I forgot to update again. Since I’m sitting in the computing labs at uni with absolutely nothing to do, guess I should think of something to rant about, and since it’s only been announced today, it’s gonna be the DSi! We’re well cutting edge here at CCJAD, we are.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the DS Lite, if not with the original DS. It’s Nintendo’s latest wonder machine, drawing in users by the millions, and filling swimming pools full of cash for the big boys at N to swim in and laugh like maniacs. They’re japanese, what do you expect? But now, despite the first re-design, they’ve decided the money isn’t flowing in fast enough, and have announced another version: The DSi. Not the iDS. DSi. Totally not apple inspired in any way at allllllllllll. As if the accusations of copying the sudden outburst of iPod styled designs being mandatory for everything ever when they made the DS Lite weren’t bad enough.

Okay, I’ll try and stop with the heavy sarcasm here, don’t wanna drown you before I get to the exciting part: tech specs. Why bother re-designing it for a second time if you’re not actually gonna DO anything to it?
At first glance, the DSi looks like an identical clone of the Lite, lacking only the GBA port from the older iterations. This seems to be the only complaint levelled against the new design so far, but speaking from personal experience, I never use the port anyway. If I wanna play a GBA game, I’m gonna be using my GBA SP. Yes, not everyone has them, but with the difficulty of actually buying GBA games now, it’s not really a major fault.
Next up, the physics of the console itself. It’s been thinned out once again, apparently making it more comfortable to use. The main difference in this aspect is that both screens have been slightly increased in size (3.25 inches instead of the old 3 inches), and once again made slightly sharper. Good job, ninty.
So, they stole the GBA slot, and sliiiightly increased the screen size. What’ve they done with the rest of the space, I probably don’t hear you cry? They’ve put cameras on it, of course! Sounds a bit bizarre at first, and was oddly skirted over during the press conference. With a 3mp camera built into the outer case, and a 0.3 interior camera to boot, I’d hope Nintendo have some plans for these, like exclusive games. Which brings us nicely onto...
...the DSi shop! Basically an online store specifically for DSi games and apps, using the same points as the Wii Shop Channel. Personally, I love this idea. They’ve added an unconfirmed abount of flash memory to the handheld to support these downloads, as well as an SD card slot for any extra space you may need. Will we be able to transfer between the Wii Shop Channel and the DSi channel? Again, unconfirmed, but it seems a fairly obvious step for them to take.

So, to round up:

No GBA slot

Slimmer build

Increased screen size

3mp exterior camera

0.3mp interior camera

Online games and app shop

Internal flash memory

SD card slot for memory expansion

Built in opera web browser

Sounds good so far. Oh, one last detail I forgot to mention. Apparently this isn’t a replacement for the DS Lite, but rather a sort of companion handheld for it. Whether the general public sees it that way or not, who knows?

P.S. Feel free to send me my advertising check whenever, Ninty. You’ve got enough cash to afford it.

A job at Game...

2008-08-08T15:32:00.008+01:00

...and why you should never, ever get one.

Out of the (in theory) five of us that write this blog, three of us have worked or are currently working at everyone's favourite UK video games store, the inspirationally named GAME.

Now, I dunno about Calum and Ally's experience, but for anyone with a keen interest in games, this could well be one of the circles of hell. Let me tell you why...

1. Managers who don't have a clue - for the love of God, learn something about the product you're paid to sell. Also, show your face on the shop floor every now and again. It doesn't take five hours to draw up an 8-man rota a week in advance, you're not fooling anyone.

2. Customers who, also, don't have a clue - Example: 'I'm looking for a game for my son, but I don't know what it's called.' 'Okay, what system is it for?' 'System? I don't know anything about these things!' '...buy a gift card.' Yes, this sounds petty, parent's can't be expected to keep up with all the constantly changing technology, but if you're coming in for a specific game, please check what it is.

3. Head Office - Here's a short list of things that regularly go wrong in stores because of head office: Tills crash when swiping a gift card. Not enough posters to be put on display. Display prices sent in Euros rather than Pounds. Not enough pre-order games sent in. Games sent in which we are no longer allowed to sell. This is all from the people that are meant to make our jobs easier?

4. Self-entitled customers - We're a corporate store, no, I cannot lower the price on that Wii for you. I really don't care if you have a better deal somewhere else, just go buy it there. Please, don't look offended when you're not getting £30 back Halo 1. It's far from ridiculous, the game kinda sucks.

5. The general rudeness of the public - Most likely just a side-effect of our town, but till I started working in this store, I had never before realised just how rude the average population member is. Part of my laughable job description is to greet customers when they enter the store, and 9 times out of 10, you're completely ignored. I understand that people don't want games shoved down their throat as soon as they get in, but pretending you didn't hear a polite greeting is just plain rude. I'd go on about customers deciding that I know less than most mothballs, and that being a 'shop boy' means it's okay to belittle your intellect and just generally be rude as you damn well please, but I think you get the idea.

Now, I'll be honest here, despite all these complaints, there are times when the job is genuinely enjoyable - you get customers that know their stuff, and you can chat to them and have a bit of a laugh. All the sales assistant level employees in my store are a good laugh, and you tend to be able to relax a bit when the managers are taking days off whenever they feel like. However, between the relentless barrage of targets you're expected to meet, and the sheer audacity of some customers, it really can suck the life out of you.

Oh, and one more thing. WE DO NOT HAVE WII FIT. That is all.

Chris Enjoys The Vidya, 3: Tales Of Symphonia

2008-07-14T13:33:00.005+01:00

Hmm... this is gonna be a tricky one, cause despite only being 4 years old, the nostalgia goggles are firmly in place here. I love this game, it's the only RPG that I've went through to complete twice, and done pretty much all of the pointless bonus quests too. The mere hint of a sequel had me excited, and the fact that there is still no European release date distresses me greatly...

Still, I shall attempt to make this a fair review, and point out both good and bad in the game. So, without farther grandstanding, bullet points go!

Battle system, the most important part of an RPG. If it sucks, you're gonna stop playing, no matter how amazing the story is. Books are basically RPGs with crappy battle systems, at the end of the day. The Tales of... series always does well here, but ToS really excels for one reason - CHAIN ATTACKS. Basically, once you level all your specials, you can chain them together to make your opponent cry tears of pain. Plus it makes you look badass.
Story, has it's weak points, but overall flows pretty well, and lacks some of the 'What just happened?' that can curse J-RPGs all too easily. Not gonna ramble here, cause I'd end up spending my life on it.
Items and weaponry, whilst varied, become pointless after a while. You find a weapon you like, and stick with it.
Leveling, not too complex, but engaging enough. Nice balance here.

Okay, that oughta do it for the praise. The battle system is free-flowing and 3D (not turn-based, running about and smacking things), there are no random battles, the story is well-rounded and engaging... all gold stars for this one.

...okay, fine, I'll say some bad things. The main problem I had is that there are too many characters, most of which I used only when necessary. You tend to pick a balanced team and stick with it, till the story decides to steal someone from you. The voice acting can grate at some points, especially after hearing someone announce a special move for the hundredth time ("It's pancake time!"), and you'll occasionally find yourself wanting to get from A to B without crossing fifty miles of nothing in between.

These are all fairly minor complaints in what is otherwise a great RPG, one of the finest I've played. Also, fun fact, this was gonna be on FFVII till I spotted this sitting in my games rack. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna play this and cry over the lack of European sequel...

Guitar Hero On Tour...

2008-06-04T18:44:00.001+01:00

...is gonna suck horribly. Here's why:

Dear god.

Chris Enjoys The Vidya, 2: Eternal Darkness

2008-05-28T17:47:00.002+01:00

I had two games I really wanted to review for this post, but I'm gonna leave the other one (Megaman Battle Network) till a later date, cause I know I'll rant endlessly on it if I do it right now :P So, I'm gonna go with another favorite - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.

Loosely based on H. P. Lovecraft's works, Eternal Darkness is a survival horror that follows roughly a dozen character's experiences with the Tome of Eternal Darkness, 'a tome bound with human skin and bone'. There are a lot of little details in the story, but in broad strokes, the main character, Alexandra Roivas, goes to visit her uncle after he's had his head moved several feet from the rest of his body by some unknown force. She spends the night in his giant creepy mansion, and finds a badly hidden room full of strange artifacts - and the Tome, with only the first chapter still in it.

So, like we'd all do when we sense some great evil force in a book of human flesh, she starts reading, and starts re-living the lives of those in contact with the book before. The first character you play as - a Roman from 26BC - inadvertently gains the powers of one of the ancients of your choosing, and turns into Evil Bad Guy Man for the rest of the game. Once this happens, you zoom back to 2000 AD and Alexandra gets to explore the mansion some more. Rinse and repeat for all times in between, and you get an epic horror story. I don't really want to say much about the specifics of each time, partly because each story is well written on it's own, and you need to play it to really enjoy them. Mostly because the game is really long.

The important part of this game is the gameplay itself, which really sets it apart from others in the genre. I'll start with the main thing that was discussed when it was coming out: The Sanity Meter. Health and strength in this is measure in three bars, Health (obvious, something bites you, you get hurt, something big bites you, you die), Magick (magic with a k at the end, I'll go over this more later), and finally Sanity.

This little green meter measures how well your character's mental strength is holding up, and gets drained every time one of the creeps screams at you, or you get hurt, or some other event causes them to question their reality. What's really interesting is the effect this has on the character. Rather than just causing your health to drain when it's low, or your attacks to weaken, it causes them to literally go insane. They'll start shambling about, eyes darting from corner to corner, jumping at every noise, and then your TV will change channel because you sat on the remote. Except you didn't, and now zombies are eating you and you realise the insanity is affecting you too. The lights in your room start to flash, and the rain pounds against your window like something trying to get into the house... okay, this is a bit far, but the TV channel one really is in the game. Again, don't want to say much on the actual effects, but a couple of examples are needed - and these are far from the most effective ones at spooking the player
One, you walk into a room and the walls start dripping blood. Your character starts cowering in the middle of the room as demons break through and hover ominously towards you as you wrestle with the controller to move them on... and then they vanish, and you wonder what happened.
Two, you enter a room and it's literally FILLED with enemies. There's no space to move at all, and they all leap at once.
Three, you explode. Yes, really. Boom.

As you can hopefully tell, these effects are well thought out, and make up the crux of the games mechanisms. The magick system is also very well though out, with each ancient's allignment having dominance over another, and it all being done through a rune like system to make your spells. Runes for heal, damage, dispel and other effects, as well as target runes such as self, item, and creature all keep things interesting when you're trying to frantically fight off the hordes of enemies, really keeping up the nerve-rattling pacing of the game.

To conclude, this game is designed to thrill. It's dark, disturbing at points, and violent. It's also one of the best Survival Horrors out there, and certainly the best on Gamecube. Track it down, play it, and enjoy.

Exams are over and look, the internet's here with some music!

2008-05-23T23:56:00.011+01:00

Phew, after a few weeks of burning the candle at both ends I am pleased to announce that me fucking exams are finally over, and what bitches they were! And so with the first year of Uni gone I decided now would be a good enough time to post on the blog once again!

Well, as Chris has planned to do, I hope to post on a regular basis starting with a new feature here at Ccjad. Every so often I hope to upload a song at the end of my post that I have been listening to recently or have enjoyed quite a bit and would like to share with all you readers out there. Keep checking back as you may find a song you like or never heard before.

Recently, it's been kinda hectic with not much time to spare between study and work. However whilst browsing my on the interwebs I rediscovered some good video's I think many will appreciate.

First off is the Internet Party

Then there's Internet Party 2: An Intervention for Myspace.

Admittedly both are very well written with the 4chan jokes especially tickling my funny bone. If you liked these videos you can check out some more of the creators stuff : "Those Aren't Muskets" at, funnily enough, www.thosearentmuskets.com.

For the debut week of Calum's songs (we'll make up a name for it later), I selected a song from the album "Music for an Accelerated Culture" by the band Hadouken called "Declaration of war. For some reason or another (awesome band name?), this song has been stuck in my head for the whole week and with the catchy tune going on, I hope it gets stuck in yours too. It's not really our style at Ccjad, but the retro-chique sound caught me by surprise with the synth feel really mixing things all together very well. To check it out, just press the play button at the end of the post and make sure you have the newest version of Flash as it always helps.

Well with Chris' reviews, Ally's quirky updates and my music uploads, hopefully Ccjad will be able to spread it wings a little more and get it's feet off the ground.

Catch y'all later
-Calum.

P.S. If you did like the song guys and dolls, check out their album at a store near you or their Website.

Chris Enjoys The Vidya, 1: Boktai

2008-05-17T00:30:00.007+01:00

So, time to start something. I'm hoping to do this every week for at least a few weeks (note to other ccjad members: prod me to do this). Just gonna pick a random game that stands out as great in my mind and talk about it for a bit. Today's episode: Boktai.

Okay, it's a bit of an obscure start, but hey. This was a fun little game with one hell of a gimmick: it came in an XBOX HUEG cart that stuck out the top (or bottom for SP users) of the GBA, which was where the little black panel that made all the magic happen was. This little panel was a Solar Sensor, and this is where it gets a bit different.

But before I get into the gameplay mechanics, I'll quickly explain the story. You play as Solar Boy Django, a vampire hunter in a world inhabited almost entirely by vampires, and armies of ghouls, bats, golems, and elemental versions of all of these. After your pappy got owned by the big bad vampires, you inherited from him a kickass scarf and the Gun Del Sol, which as the name suggests is powered by the sun. This is where the solar sensor comes in: Whenever the pack comes under sunlight, your sun meter in the game is powered, and if you're outside or under a skylight in game you can charge the Gun Del Sol. When you run out of charge, you can't fight, and have to stealth your way through the levels.

Oh, and speaking of stealth, did I mention this is designed and made by Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear Solid fame? It shows. The stealth, while basic, is fun. You knock on walls, the ghouls get little exclamation marks above their heads, you run away while they wander round to see what's going on. In theory, you can go through the dungeons up to actually fighting the Vampires this way, although towards the end of the game it becomes pretty unfeasible unless you're a stealth game god. All the Vamps need killed with ye olde Gun Del Laserbeams, which throws them in a coffin, and you into the final stage of the levels...

Now comes the hard part. You have to drag that little coffin alllllll the way back through the dungeon, and then smack it with a giant laser - and the giant laser NEEDS sunlight. At all times. So if you get to this part at night, you're screwed. This was the main flaw in the game: while the sunlight was a fun gimmick, an element you can't control (the weather) affecting the outcome of a game is not fun when it doesn't go with you, and living in Scotland, I basically had to play through all this in a day.

But hey, it's fun, the story is good, and the gameplay is entertaining and original. Think Castlevania meets Metal Gear, is the short version. Wow, this is actually a pretty long post. That's it for this week then, more obscure games you've never played next week!

OBJECTION!

2008-04-20T19:05:00.003+01:00

Behold, the miracle of my art.

But wait, it gets better.

Some kind dear actually coloured it for me! Thank you!

First impressions are the most important

2008-03-04T18:10:00.006Z

Well, finally got back round to posting something, so I guess I better make it half decent. Since I seem to be just playing/reading/listening to short bursts of things recently, I'm gonna give some of them mini-reviews based on my first impressions (hence the title, cause i r smrt) on them! Fun for all :P

Advance Wars: Days Of Ruin on Nintendo DS

Played a whole... ten minutes of this round at Calum's a few days ago, and instantly realised I need to get it. I liked the old AW games, despite never having managed to actually complete one (always get stuck at sky battles, just can't do them for some reason), but this one is fantastic looking just for the update in graphical style. If you don't already know, the basic premise is the world has been hit by some kind of disaster, meteors or some such thing - I'm guessing it'll turn out to have been a SUPER SECRET PLOT of some kind - and the bad guys are all having a massive looting murder party. The game opens with your character, a recruit with a name I can't remember, crawling out of some wreckage and getting saved from said bad guys by The Good Guys. The first thing that hit me was how realistic things were looking now, with them ditching orange jumpsuits for army fatigues suitably covered in apocalypse dust. The battle system seems more in depth too, and all reviews have been positive. So, all in all, instantly hooked on this one. Thumbs up get!

Lost Odyssey on XBox 360

Well, I'm about an hour into this one, and so far all I can say is 'What the hell?'. Here's some MSN quotes I've came out with whilst playing:

(19:28) [ShadowDragon/Ch: Ohh yeah, I rock. Died in the tutorial battle.
(19:30) Jingleboy: In Bleach?
(19:30) [ShadowDragon/Ch: Nah, Lost Odyssey

(19:42) [ShadowDragon/Ch: Lost Odyssey has save points
(19:42) [ShadowDragon/Ch: Why do people still make games with save points
(19:43) [ShadowDragon/Ch: Just let us use the menu, damnit

(21:49) [ShadowDragon/Ch: I have no idea what I'm meant to be doing in lost odyssey... already
(21:50) Jingleboy: :P
(21:51) [ShadowDragon/Ch: Oh! I was meant to sleep at the inn
(21:51) [ShadowDragon/Ch: That makes sense I guess
(22:09) [ShadowDragon/Ch: So... I've slept at the inn. Now what the hell am I meant to do? And yes, the inn cutscene really was that long.

(22:53) [ShadowDragon/Ch: Alright, taking a break from Lost Odyssey because the first boss completely destroyed me in two turns

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I think I need to restart and play whilst paying attention rather than just running through it though. Despite these complaints, the storyline so far is really good, and has made me want to keep playing it, especially the 'recovering lost memories' aspect of it because they are genuinely interesting. Jury is still out on this one.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in Manga

Well, this first impression is of the first volume of the manga, which is good for it. Had I been reading it online, I would've stopped after the first couple of chapters. It suffers from trying to give us a lot of the japan-only backstory in a short amount of time, and dumping us into a slow-moving intro right after that. I was bored, and only reading on because I'd paid for it and I'll be damned if I wasn't finishing it no matter how bored I was. After the start, I was glad I did. Things heat up very quickly, and the fights are intelligent enough to keep you looking closely rather than skipping through to the next story part. The story follows Jotaro Kujo, the third or fourth JoJo in the proper story as he believes he is being haunted by a demon. He soon finds out that it is actually a mysterious psychic being called a Stand, which has appeared because of his will to fight after the families age old enemy Dio is brought back to the world. Soon, more Stands appear - both good and evil, and those in between - and the race is on to destroy Dio before he becomes too powerful. I've yet to buy more of this, but it'll certainly keep me interested if it keeps up the pace it sets towards the end of the first volume. Another thumbs up for this one!

I do have a couple of other mini-reviews to make, but this post is getting rather long so I'll keep them for another time. In the meantime, I'm going back to being excited about Auchinawa and working on my games programming.

Bai for now,
Chris

Remodification and tweaks - Updatin'!

2008-03-03T12:51:00.007Z

This week at CCJAD some of the members decided it would be a good idea to finally move onwards to a new skin, a new look for the blog. If any of this sounds vaguely familiar to something you've heard before then, well, yeah you would be right to think that. It's been said.

Although in the past there have been posts claiming to update the layout and whatnot, our claims have never really made it to prime time...well it's mostly been me creating empty promises if not anything else. But this time we're Serious. As recently posted we are hoping to get a few more posts up here and there, maybe a few reviews (got a cracking one for 'Bleach: Shattered Blade' for the Wii coming up if we ever get the time to do it), more videos obviously (my forte) and of course other little tid-bits we get up to individually and collectively.

For now though I'll leave you and perhaps throughout the following week you'll see a difference in the page.

Ciao for now.

-Calum

Ps. Here's a little pic that had CCA laughing for quite a bit. Not at the picture, but the sheer brilliance that this kid must exuberate at all times. My power is maximum too by the way.

I cannot be arse

2008-02-28T18:11:00.007Z

Hello my dear blog readers! How goes life? Haven't heard from me for a while, but not to say you've haven't heard me for the longest time. *Looks at other blog users, more so CJD*

This blog is now called CA until another person posts. :P

What have I been up to the past few months? Well, in all honesty, not much. I can list a few things, such as Halo 3, College, eating and sleeping, but nothing fantastically amazing. Life just goes on, yet each day I feel like I am waiting for something. Waiting for what? I dunno. I just get the feeling.

Currently at my college, me and 3 other dudes are making a Team Project game. (Our Group is called L.A.T Graffix, guess who suggested that one. ;) ) We are making good progress on said game which will be the FIGHTAN-type, and we aren't even supposed to work on it yet. We are basically doing the whole thing backwards. Program first, then paperwork. For more info on our game named "Sprite Fight", check out the game's dev blog here.

Recently I have also been reworking on my Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon script. Don't know what that is? Basically, it is a code which allows you to use Nintendo Wii controls for my Favorite N64 game. What you need to run it is:

*Wiimote (Nunchuk is optional or Classic controller)
*A PC with Bluetooth. (I used a USB dongle)
*Project 64 with Mystical Ninja Starring: Goemon ROM
*GlovePIE 0.29 (I'll provide link here.)
*And of course, the script I made here. (ZOMG RAR FILES!11)

Read the text file included, and that's that. It works really well with all modes, and it also contains a Wii Boxing-type mode called "Impact Mode" which can be used in-game to enhance certain boss fights.

Too lazy to try? Here is a vidya:

With that, I leave to do something else. Probably just sit around on msn, being lonely. :P

See ya around peeps,

~Ally.

P.S CCJAD plus extra C are going to Auchinawa this year. We will post more details when it comes closer to the time. If you are going though, feel free to leave us a comment! (And a wave)

Computer Music - The unconvensional way to jam

2008-02-22T05:16:00.008Z

Indeed, today I came across some odd tunes leading one onto the next making small songs out of the unexpected.
After being woke up at a ridiculous hour by the wind whizzing by outside my window here at Stirling Uni (good old Scottish weather), I decided I wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon. And as I didn't want to wake anyone up at this hour for any favours, so I did the next best thing; Stumbled!

Yes, fuelling the insomnia at the source I decided to truck onto the internet to see what bizarre things I could uncover next and although by far not the most bedazzling thing yet found, I did discover some rather odd yet enjoyable videos by people creating music out of Windows' sounds from Windows 98 through to vista.

Oddly enough in my opinion, each song was rather good and each became more catchy than the last but I'll let you decide which is your favourite in this unorthodox post.

Windows 98

Windows 98 and XP

Windows XP and Vista

My favourite one was probably the XP and Vista one.

Peace out for now folks.
-Calum.

P.S. Rather random find here but god damn, those tunes can be catchy. =P
P.P.S. Also noticed the video's are getting slightly cut off so hopefully one of us will sort that problem out in the near future. Right now, I'm too tired.

The coolest stunt in a long time....5 minutes to be exact.

2008-02-03T00:22:00.004Z

This has to be one of the coolest and best choreographed video I've seen in a long time. Can you imagine 200 people freezing on the spot for 5 minutes as if time had frozen?

After seeing that, I bet you want to go out and do it for yourself. I know I did. =P

Peace! Calum.

Ps. Whilst watching this video I couldn't help but be reminded of a previous prank pulled in Japan where 100 people ambush 1 other person. The last scene is genius.

A new year is dawning...where'd January go?

2008-01-28T00:02:00.001Z

Ah how times flies when you have nowhere to be and nothing to do...or can't be bothered doing anything. It seems in the first month of 2008, we at CCJAD have neglected our duties to post any form of content on the blog, some admittedly, more than others and as a result, missed the first month of the year! Yay!...some of us missing the last month of last year as well. ^_^'

With almost everyone returning back to Uni/college this month as well as work dominating much free time we all have just taken those moments off we've had to sit back and do mostly nothing which remotely feels or replicates the aesthetic values of 'work'. As a result the blog was left empty...but not anymore!

Anyways, I would say I'd make posting more a new years resolution but I decided to stay away from any resolutions this year basically so I couldn't falter myself later when I inevitably broke them. So at the moment not much to report at the moment but I hope to get some pictures, videos or comics up at some point in the near future. For the moment however this should make do. If you've not used Babelfish before I'd advise looking it up before checking this video. Props towards Ally recieve for the first place find anyway. =P

-Calum

P.s. Random picture for late post win!

CYBERMANDA!

2007-12-13T20:33:00.002Z

Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man's hat.

12 days. Hope you've got yer presents ready kiddies!

~Ally.

P.s Just as planned.

CAPS LOCK TITLES CONTINUE!

2007-11-25T21:54:00.001Z

Yeah, as the other guys have pointed out the Blog hasn't just been inactive but broken as well. And although I've know about the skin problem for quite a while, I've not done anything about it, sorry guys. With Uni work and exams always around the corner it's just been repeated nights up cramming and frantically typing. Not saying that's a viable excuse but it sure as hell's a good one. =P

Thanks to Chris for sorting this make shift skin, I know how annoying it can be. Shame all our non-working do-dads and whats-its aren't still up. Was quite happy just to say they were there...even if they didn't all work simultaneously.

Apart from that Ally made a valuable point being maybe we should just focus on keeping posts coming rather than widgets and stuff for the mo', so maybe we should just stick with the simplistic skin at the mo'. It's easy to use, practical and not too bad on the eyes.

Anyways, I'm not dead yet!..but I could say otherwise for the internet connection around here.

-Calum

....and I hope to post a bit more, especially during the holidays. =P

WHY I LOVE ROBOT

2007-11-21T21:24:00.001Z

Bwahahahaaa! Skins! They're fun! If you're into that kinda thing, I guess. I'm gonna get all this fixed and working again. Tonight, hopefully. We'll lose some of the fun stuff, but most of it didn't work anyway. I'll try and make it so the site doesn't load slower than a 90-year old woman driver too! So all should be well. Once I do all that, I'll even make a proper news post! Magic.

Temporary skin for now though, while I hax0r t3h c0d3z.

EDIT: Well, for now I'm gonna leave it as this. At least that's what I'm saying now, whether it stays as that I have no idea. Spoken to Ally, and we both agree it would be nice to make it a bit lighter, and edit it a little, but the simplicity of the layout is pretty nice. Anyway, I'm about to sit a mock programming exam, so I must go!

Chris

BWAHAHAHA!

2007-10-16T19:30:00.000+01:00

"I HAVE BREAKED MY SKIN DEADLY!!1" ~ Ccjad Blog

Ally here, just to stop by and announce that Ccjad is pretty dead. No updates since August, skin buggered up, etc. I feel guilty that it go so under maintained.

Since there is no IT man at Ccjad, I will try to take the role at the minute to fix the skin. Fun stuff. (Hope it's a piece of cake)

Ccjad seems to be broken up at the min, each either being at Uni, college, work or being a lazy bum. (Like me this week) Wouldn't hurt to just post yer status though. =P

Hope to fix soon,

~ Ally.

PS. Yes, the blog speaks now.

The Bidoof Rustler!

2007-08-06T17:05:00.001+01:00

The other day I saw David practicing his most shameful past time. None of us have know where he has been or what he has been doing, pondering why he had been totally inactive online with a distinct lack of posts on the blog. We had theorized that perhaps he had been 'Terry Tated' a while back, but I managed to catch him committing the dark arts on camera.

Giant bidoof rustling whilst eating Pizza and wearing Akatsuki clothes!!!

No wonder he wasn't answering his phone. Seems we've lost him to the dark side lads.

Calum

Something amazing.

2007-07-28T14:36:00.001+01:00

Hey all, Ally here. I made a little something, and thought I'd share. :D

Here is the before image:

And here is the after image:

Meet Pimpguin!

Part from that, nothing else interestingly fun to tell. I'm just watching old episodes of South Park, but that's all.

See you guys around.

Re-inventing and re-design.

2007-07-14T09:33:00.001+01:00

Hey y'all, has been a while since I last posted. I write this because in the future people will want to know how this Blog came to be and how inactive it was when it was in it's earlier stages. =P

So yeah, been a while and what's the first thing I notice? The Bloody music player isn't working. What do we get instead? A massive 'FILE NOT FOUND!!!1!!' message. Hmm, sorry guys, maintenance has never been my strong point. I'm also considering a new layout seeing as the current one seems to be insanely temperamental, editing itself so it can display it's contents in the most awkward fashion fathomable with varying effects from computer to computer. And of course to top it all off, I once again have a computer testing my patience, freezing at irregular intervals with incredibly slow opening speeds.

Yep, when 'bad' rears its ugly face, it always seems to come in concentrated shit tides.

Anyways, excuses asides time to look to the future and what it beholds, like what sort of things you can see me posting in the future. Well really the same as now, but hopefully more frequent. I plan on focusing on videos and perhaps articles pictures or general news I find interesting mixed with a narrative response to the links. I.e. a bunch of funny stuff. =P

This post however I'll be looking at once of the trump cards Nintendo unveiled this week at 'E3' which in all honesty, with their Wii having a more physical approach to gaming, was a stroke of genius.

Indeed Nintendo are always striving to provide the alternative form of play instead of the conventional controller, and with Wii Fit they may just have tipped the bar. Quite similar to the ps2 snowboard hardware Wii fit uses a board with two panels on top of which the player must stand. In doing so the console can calibrate balance and register weight of players and display the players BMI on screen. Really this is an excise game but then Nintendo are always aiming to please more than the core audience of the gaming industry.

After watching the video you can see that improving balance, posture and stamina are all part of the experience within the game which in turn is always good. But after analyzing the board itself, we can conclude that it can take us to new heights in gaming, think of the possibilities. Finally a 'new' Tony Hawks game or a more submersible 1080. Sounds good to me! Count me in. Perhaps even 'Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games' (sigh) will be able to use the Wii fit board.

Surprisingly on this note, nobody has posted the biggest letdown in cross-over history. Yes, if you're anything like us here a Ccjad no doubt you would have heard of the utter failure in innovation of 'Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games'. Being one of the biggest Sonic fanboys ever and being a Mario fan alike, this was possibly the least epic thing Sega and Nintendo could have done.

No this is NOT a hoax, it is the single most gutting thing to happen to the pair of them, although apparently it's supposed to be good. ¬_¬

In all fairness I will be giving it a try and most likely buying it for either one of the two platforms it's coming out for (Ds and Wii). But seriously, guys, a Sports game? With that title? It sounds like a fucking children's book not to mention that most sport games appear on shelves begging to be bought regardless of their soulless content. How can you even have a sports game with such uneven teams?

No point in gearing up team Mario, you ain't gonna win against Sonic. Seriously, he's like supposed to travel at the speed of sound, I doubt you'll be able to keep up.

I don't care if he's jumpman there's still no chance in hell he would ever win a contest of speed and agility. This is about the only event his team will win, and even so, it's Bowser the 'Bad guy' who will win!

Hmm, there wasn't supposed to be a rant include this time but ah well. Anyways, Various other titles were show cased at E3 this week such as Killzone 2 for the Ps3 or Halo 3 for the 360, both looking as slick as oil but really there was only one new title that stuck out for me, or at least, one which had not yet been shown anywhere else. And that was Mario Kart wii!

Finally a decent racing game for the Wii apart from Excite Truck! And what's this? It comes with a free Steering wheel addon for the wiimote?! Oh joy!

Here's Reggie kicking ass and taking names whilst show casing the Wheel at E3 whilst showing some footage of Mariokart in the Background.

The Graphics are looking as gruber as ever for Mario in his supah-kart.

Looking good for Wario too as he blitzes along the track

Looking over some of the other things it would be good for all of you out the to google...conduct a google search for Geometry wars, phantom hourglass and Metriod prime 3 for some more Wii goodness. Also for you Smash fans out there, you can keep an eye on the up coming masterpiece that is Smash bros Brawl by clicking the picture below to be directed to the

.
To round things off, hopefully I'll be able to get a new layout up and running soon whilst clearing it with the rest of Ccjad...or Ally as he posts. ^_^'

Anyways, enjoy your holidays ladies and gents.

Ciao for now, Calum.

P.s. Another random video for you as I round off....and Raiden from Metal Gear Solid is alright, it's Rose that ruins it >_>.

5 in a row!

2007-06-19T15:51:00.000+01:00

Indeed, I now make a record with 5 blog posts in a row. How delightful.

Exams are all wrapped now anyway. The last 3 weeks have been well earned/wanted rest time. Mainly composed of sleeping, playing vidya games and surfing the net. I've decided to try and finish all my out standing games, though taking a break from RPGs as I've played enough for the time being. =P Still no posts from the other 4 of Ccjad either... ah well. Maybe one day.

I haven't really got much else to say really, we've got an end of Highschool prom on Thursday but that's about it.

See you guys around!

~Ally.

Ps. Word just in, Manhunt 2 has been banned everywhere in the UK. Oh noes.

Funny how I was thinking about this the other day.

That's life.

2007-05-29T00:18:00.000+01:00

I discovered this picture and found it rather touching. I felt the need to share it.

Credits go to Adonis Werther; for this beautiful piece.

In other news, last exam tomorrow! ...Er today even. =P I best be getting some sleep, though it's chemistry and I'll most likely fail it anyway.

Sorry for the lack of updates aswell to any readers of our blog, if you exist. When the exams are over, hopefully more things will be put up by the other 4 memebers.

Also looks like it's time to cut down on RPGs, and I currently have Skies of Arcadia, Baten Kaitos: Origins, Magical Starsign, Pokémon Pearl (hopefully) and Dragon Quest 8 to finish. As well as normal games like Eledees, DKR:DS etc.

I plan to watch a lot more anime in the holidays as well, main problem is locating them. I also wanna meet up and do loads of weird and wonderful things with the rest of the Ccjad crew. (Other than Ragnarok. =P)

Ah well, hope you see you guys around. I really need to leave now.

~ Ally.

Ps. Flumpmart.

By the way...

2007-04-20T00:30:00.001+01:00

NEVER EVER under ANY circumstance let Cass fly Thunderbird 2, because he sucks at it. I have proof:

Fortunally we both lived, however Cass lost a lot of his hair as a result of this, and I lost a toenail.

Yeah.

~ Ally.

The dragonthorns are defeated.

2007-04-11T22:12:00.000+01:00

You know you've been playing too many RPGs when you fear you'll get into a random battle when scrolling down webpages.

True story.

~Ally

Tony vs Paul

2007-03-29T22:49:00.001+01:00

Whilst stumbling today I came across a video I hadn't really seen online in a while and admittedly I just had to post it.

Indeed this must be one of the best uses of stop frame animation I've ever seen and I never tire of watching it. Hope y'all enjoy it.

Calum.

Want to know what Stumbling means? Go to http://www.stumbleupon.com/ Works best with firefox.

*Edit*
P.S For all you Kingdom Hearts fans out there you wanna know what I relised today? 'Xemnas' is an anagram for 'Man Sex'...kinda takes the wind out of his sails don't it.

The life of Mii.

2007-03-25T20:27:00.002+01:00

With the exams fast approaching and holiday's not far away it's safe to say that sanity is not well kept around here unless induced by the simple musings induced by surfing on the web.

In otherwords, me think im getting dumber...er.

But here's a little video for the time being whilst I regain .

Ignore the wifey at the start, god only knows what she's blabbering about.

Calum.

P.S. Watch Bleach!....then Death note!

Update tiemz!

2007-03-22T22:16:00.001Z

Yer, tis that time again! :D

Nothing new to report, so onto the funnies.

Ok, now time for the cool things!

http://mrdoob.com/lab/PV3D/vis/effect01/

http://mrdoob.com/lab/PV3D/vis/effect02/

http://mrdoob.com/lab/PV3D/vis/effect03/

Those are some awesome visualtions. View with headphones for max effect.

www.scarymonkey.net/movies/shoetietrick.php

For the banter.

Ah well, see ya later!

~Ally.

Ps. Delicious raep.

MKH

2007-03-07T23:18:00.000Z

Omfg! (Pronounced Om-fff-ig)

This is fake, april fool's joke by the way. :P It was posted in some magazine somewhere. Still, I think it's a nice concept/mockup.

~ Ally.

Someone That Hasn't Died!!!!!!

2007-02-16T23:15:00.001Z

Hi everyone,

Tis Cass here, sorry for not posting often, but I was locked in an epic battle to the death with an army of zombies (which I totally destroyed btw) and after being bitten I've been in hospital recovering (I can't believe I got bit, damn zombies biting me and *incoherant mumbles of hatred*).

Anyway, as you can probably asume that never happened (that you know of) and I'm wasn't recovering in hospital (that not even the government know of).

Well, not really got a lot to say so I'll leave you with a little amusing picture, until next time (which might be another hospital visit later).

See ta soon *waves*

Cass

Huzzah the music has arrived!

2007-02-16T02:08:00.001Z

Took us long enough but we gots our playlist going! Woot! :P

After an arduous battle with computers and code in general, I an' Ally managed to spring forth a musical jukebox! Still in it's earlier stages we'll probably upload some more music in due time....mind you, me thinks some of our members may have forgotten this site exists, but as soon as they get their stuffs up we should have a nice assortment of differing musical meshes. So far I've uploaded a bit of an assortment of choice as far as I can see and hope at least one thing matches what you guys like out there.

As for our preferences, I like anything I can drop a beat to. But when it comes to it all of us have our own unique taste in music...well obviously our preferences overlap at some points.

Anyway, I'm surprised my brains still functioning at this time of the morn so I'll leave y'all to your own devices with, hopefully, our music streaming in the background.

Night! Calum

P.S. You should give the music player some time to load for slower connections. Don't worry it will appear. And listen to all of a song because some songs have slow starts. Try something new, you might like it! ;)

Top ten anticipated games of 2007...from GameTrailers

2007-02-07T17:51:00.001Z

Admittedly, not all the games I'd like to have there are within this video but it is still fairly accurate. Seems like 2007's going be a big year and I'm gonna have to get myself an Xbox 360.

So what do you all think out there? Any other suggestions for what should be playing amoungst the big guns? Post your views and thoughts as to what you think should have been included in the top ten. Personally, I would have liked to have seen perhaps a Final Fantasy game and perhaps Spawn but whatever.

Laters, Calum

Musical Kitchen

2007-01-25T20:46:00.002Z

*Click the above space to make it play.*

Let's hope this distracts you enough so you don't notice the music player's still not working. Don't put the fish in it. Ignore the I-tunes part.

>_>

<_<'

Calum.

Names and their meanings

2007-01-21T01:51:00.000Z

Well, might as well have some educational fun.

Basically, I'm going to list CCJAD's names and their meanings/origins. :P

Alistair Hathaway - 1st name: Gaelic/Celtic form of Alexander. 2nd name: English. "Defender on mankind"

Christopher Brown - 1st name: Greek. 2nd name: English. "Christ-bearer" & "Let Majesty Flourish"

James Cassidy - 1st name: Hebrew. 2nd name: Gaelic/Celtic. "Supplanter" (Which means one who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place of another) & "Curly Haired"

Calum Beck - 1st name: Gaelic/Celtic 2nd name: English. "Dove" & "From the brook"

David Fergusson - 1st name: Hebrew. 2nd name: Gaelic/Celtic. "Beloved" & "Son of Fergus".

And there you have it. I can't find a meaning for my second name, so I suck. :(

Music while you read.

2007-01-18T00:16:00.000Z

Yay! After some arduous times, myself and Ally managed to get a music player up and running so while you read you're favourite blog you can listen to some of our music!
Mind you I need to fix some tweaks here and there but for now there's two songs available (although five names come up...what the fudge?). So press the skip button to the next song...cause Asterisk doesn't work yet.;_;
So enjoy while it lasts and don't feel scared to ask for any of the music you hear on the blog, we're 'hear' all week. Try the beef!

Here's a cheery wee pic that kept me going during the whole process.

\o/
Peace, Calum
/ \

Ps It shouldn't have been this hard...Watch Bleach

*Edit* Why does nothing work? The music player should be working soon. Sorry for all those who are desperate to have something to listen too ¬_¬...*chuckle*...*End Edit*

Depressing times

2007-01-07T19:55:00.000Z

Yeah, with the holidays ending today and the exams coming closer, it's getting harder to relax - which sucks. When everyone was just getting used to being free, the two weeks go by - BOOM - and then slap-bang, you are going back to school. Right now teachers will only bother about NABs and Prelims. So roll on the 12th!

In other news, the pope died. So, another one 'poped' up.

Seriously, I have nothing important to type, and I have nothing much to talk about.

However, recently I've taken accustom to just sitting on my arse all day playin' some good ol' N64 which celebrates its 10th year being hooked up (Unlike its brother 'Cube, who sleeps under the bed after 4 years) with an Expantion Pak and a copy of Perfect Dark. I Must say, great game. Hell of a lot like good ol' GoldenEye with mainly improvements, though I do miss the whole James Bond theme. I completed the game in about 7 hours, which is a shame, as that means it's done and dusted already. Yet, I go back just to shoot bows and launch knifes into the two poor firearm helpers. Great fun. There are those other difficultly settings, but I can't be bothered with them at the minute.

My poor Wii is getting some neglect, as I have nothing to play on it really. I mean, I have some Virtual Console titles, but I want some proper 3D action. Or in general, new fun. Ah well.

Before I go, I'll leave you all with this random image, enjoy.

See you whenever.

Christmas, new year and all that Jazz

2007-01-02T13:41:00.001Z

It's now January. For most of the world, the long awaited period known as Christmas has come and gone....a little too fast for me though. Did December actually happen? I can't remember.@_@

Anyways, I hope everybody out there had a good 'winter vacation'. Not much has happened within the Ccjad group. With exams looming and School just around the corner again....let's just say I'm starting to feel the pressure. :P

As Chris, David and James surprisingly haven't mentioned,they finally started their own web comic. Whoopee! It's been a while in debating but Chris finally took the first decisive step and started the three on their own grand adventure. I won't say much on it, I'll let one of those three describe their intentions and what direction they're going to pursue. But I guess I'll post the link;

Remember y'all it is in it's early stages so be nice. :P

Anyway, that aside I thought I'd give a random review!! This wee....post since three fifths of the group now have Wii's, with one awaiting the next shipment to come through, I thought I'd do a review on 'Power Stone Collection' for the PSP.
Having had the first one for the Dreamcast and always having my eye on the second instalment, I took the plunge and decided to buy the Hand-held remake.
On first playing the game you can select three different modes. Simply put, these are Power Stone, Power Stone 2 and a gallery collection. The gallery is really where mini-games and the end cut scenes are available to view and play, but anyway on with the review.

Power Stone

Unlike most beat-em-ups, Power Stone does not conform to the linear fighting games we are unaccustomed to see. Instead, we are submerged into a 3D environment, in which the player can run circles round their opponent if they wanted too. Extremely similar to the battle system in the Namco 'Tales' series genre for the PS2.
One of the unlockable features which makes this game unique in itself is the Rear mode, where the camera shifts to a Resi evil position behind the character which in turn is a nice feature but very hard to control.

The main theme of the game are the Power stones them self. Both Power Stone and Power Stone 2 revolve around them. In Power Stone, it's 1 on 1. Duke it out, with one main character in your focus. You have five health bars, but they go down fast, and if the opponent attacks you whilst having three power stones, there's not much point in having them in the first place. You can throw tables, chairs, pictures, even pots and light posts, and much more! You can pull anything out of the background and use it on your opponent. There are unlockable weapons in this game that are from the second game which for me is a plus. Laser beams and Kantana swords can never go wrong (*cough* Multi-player Red Steel *cough*).

But really the only items worth getting are the power stone. Collecting three of them will turn your character into an unstoppable, god-like divinity that could turn the tables on the opposition. You have two different normal attacks that drain you "super-bar" by little, and then you have two super attacks that drain all of your bar which is saying so is worth it. Although these massive attacks may use all your gauge up, they absolutely maul your opponent to death, and they're not exactly easy to dodge.

Power Stone 2

This is more of a party game in which saying, it's better played with friends.All the characters from the first game are all here, plus more, giving the game a standard total of 12 to mess around with. There are extra characters, but I'd rather not ruin your game.

You can try the 1 on 1 mode, but the 3 on 1 mode and the adventure mode are much better. You also collect money in adventure mode, which will be very valuable to you when you hit the Item shop.

The item shop is your haven from the fights in the game. you can spend hours here for one reason and one reason only. and that's the mixing system. Once you get all the items that you can from adventure mode the first time 'round, come here and mix them, you never quite know what you'll get at the end. You can also buy items, sell items, and even give the shopkeeper an item or two. I'm guessing at the moment it allows you to unlock even more stuff but I'm not entirely sure.

The best part about this game is that there are over 130 toys for you to play around with in this game, each (most rather) with its own unique abilities. From umbrellas to toy hammers, rabbit tails to crowns (which you wear), you can use them all. It's always nice to dress your character up like a total ass and then kick the shit out of someone.

Overall, the idea of having this game on the go really enticed me into buying it. The only problem I can see in the game is, as usual for the Psp, the loading times. You want to be able to pick up a handheld game and play it straight away, not wait a few minutes as a stagnant picture of a plane floats by your screen. Other than that it's a great time waster and I really like it so I'm-a gonna give it 8/10.

So that asides, let's move onto Zelda : It's Good, it does not need a review. Get it. Get it NOW!

Anyway, have a happy new year everybody and let's hope January's not too bad on us and I'll leave you all with this delightful picture. Hope it didn't happen to you on Christmas day. :P

Later y'all, Calum

Watch Bleach!

Whadda about your sister Joey?

2006-11-26T16:08:00.001Z

y halo ther!1

~ Ally

Edit: Zomg

Would you pay that much for a $600 console?

More on our Wii adventure, and other bits.

2006-11-20T16:25:00.000Z

There's Ally and Calum playing the Wii, taken sneakily on my phone :P You can see the tiny little console behind the screen, and the Laser Hockey game playing. Calum on the right, Wiimote in hand, Ally on the left, and Man That Wouldn't Give Me His Wii Bag in the background.

Wii is awesome fun. Everyone there really enjoyed themselves, and it proved just how easy it is to get into. By all the reviews I've heard of it, it's looking like a hit already. I can't wait :D

EDIT: Chris is listening to :

Bruce Wii!

2006-11-19T23:48:00.001Z

Yo, how goes things?

Nothing much to report, except new console releases etc.

On the 18th, Ccjad (Maybe minus the D. =P) went to play the brand-spanking new Nintendo Wii! This was a one in a life time opportunity (Not really) as we managed to play it the day after the PS3 launch, but before the US Wii launch. So we are special, go us.

Anyway, we left for Glasgow at 9:30am (9:32 am to be exact =P) then wandered all hyped up to Buchanan galleries until we saw the crowd of people around a white stall. Our first thoughts were "Ah, bugger."

Hurrying on, we slipped into the line, which wasn't too big, but hardly moved. He waited for about 30 minutes, talking about the Wii and the other people in the queue, waiting to play the Wii it's self (The game was Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) which incidently, 3 of us have played. Then guy from the stall goes "The time you get to play the Wii has been reduced to 2 minutes due to the queue". That sucked. After another hour, we finally got to the top of the line.

The game had been changed to Wii Play. Kinda sucky as it didn't use the Nunchuk, or use the Wiimote to amazing extent, but still, better than nothing. The fun had been granted, as me and Calum wielded our Wiimotes. It was suprisingly shiny, and really comfy. I would have spend longer looking at it, but the 2 minutes were dwindiling and we needed to hurry.

Wii Play is composed of a few mini games which will rock only for mutliplayer. By yourself, it is pretty dry. The mini games I remember consist of Table Tennis, Laser Hockey, Target shooting, Fishing, something looking like Cow riding, something to do with a rocket and Pool. We were not really spoiled for choice, so Laser Hockey it was.

Laser Hockey was basically Air Hockey, but with funky 1980's neon lights. I went Razzle Dazzle Red, where as Calum was Burnin' Blue.

Either my hand were shaking pretty bad, or the sensitivity was WAY to high, but my red neon paddle was zooming all over the place with the slightest movements. The game started after a count down, and then we started flicking the Wiimotes. I must say, it was fun. I scored first, then a second time but then the tables turned and the final score was 5-4 to Calum. (One of his goal scored by me. >_>) It was still fun though. Most impressive bit was twisting my arm and watching the paddle twist as well. The sensor bar which collects the Wiimote movement was in a rather awkward position and I feel it wasn't calibrated right, but it does a pretty good job.

Next up was Chris and James. They choose the Target Shooting game, which I avoided since it would be too much like a Light Gun game for my liking. The game starts off after another count down, and Chris was owning James' ass, until James got his bearings and turned the tables, which resulted in him winning.

Target Shooting was similar to the classic Duck hunt, but evolved with the rounds. It started by shooting targets of Red, gold (For extra points) and your opponents Mii's face (If you shot your own Mii's face, you lost points, which James found out). The stage then went onto balloon shooting, which the occasional Duck, then to shooting a can, then to shooting UFOs which was abducting Mii's. At this point, the guys were kicked off.

The Mii's we played as were called Andy and Sparky. Random line breaker. =P

We came back after a while to see the queue and crowd had grown bigger. We timed it right thankfully. =P The new guys were playing Wii sports, which I wanted to play. The tennis match they played looked so inviting and fun. The guy got his ass handed to him by his sister, which goes to show that the Wii will attract girls. We did contemplate having another shot, but decided against it.

The Wii truly is a small console, but it packs a great experience. It had most the folk around us turning their heads to look at the awesomeness.

In the same trip we went to a kick ass import shop with the latest from America and Japan and a "Zomg ogle" PS3 in a glass cabnit, which was probably bullet proof. We also stopped off at really good GameStation with all the retro consoles and rare games.

..And there you have it, our wii experience. We will have to wait til the 8th of December to get our hands on one in the UK, but we look forward to it with bated breath.

- Ally out.

P.s. Reggie Fils-aime is awesome.

Edit:

A long overdue update...

2006-11-12T22:19:00.000Z

Ok, got the drift, let's have a proper update this time eh? :P

Not much to report y'all, 'cept Guy Fawkes is an awesome time of year...but you've always got the old fags hobbling out of their little caves to complain about the sound of fireworks...*sigh*. I couldn't care less if your dog was 'shaking like a leaf', buy it some bloody earmuffs!

...I like cats and dogs by the way before we get any hate-mail....if we have readers that is. XD

For all those interested in Anime and all things exciting, and you live in Scotland have a look at Auchinawa!. It's one of the things, among others, we're all looking forward too! No doubt we'll get pictures for the hell of it but if you're interested and read this post in the near future, you should get your ass on down. Check the link for details.

Apart from that there's a Bank Holiday Weekend coming up! (!WOOT!) And the 'Wii' is having a trip to Scotland for our all preying eyes and hands. Should be some good gamin'!

Apart for that nothing else much happening..except those bloody November Christmas adverts! Can't they at least wait until the 25th or something? :P

Anyway, have a good week or time period between my posts! (which could be a while XD)

Calum....now can I get my Chefiroth?

P.s. I'll get the money to you soon for Auchinawa Ally! XD
P.P.S. Hopefully the flash playlist will be up and running soon soon keep your eyes peeled and ears open.

Tooth pick of doom!

2006-11-05T21:47:00.001Z

"ZOMG! GUYS ITS ME! ITS ME!"

"Looks like he is saying kiss me... kiss me."

"SMART ASS MOTHERF*CKER!"

*BOOM*

~ Ally.

Unadventures of CCJAD - Halloween Ain't That Special

2006-10-31T16:40:00.000Z

Apparently we're a suspicious lot here at CCJAD, or at least if your a fifty year old security guard at a superstore. Who is useless at trailing people. And ends up getting followed by the people he's meant to be following :P
We have too much time on our hands, it's true.

So, last period on Monday the school decides to inform us that sixth years are meant to be dressing up to collect money the day after. Panic! In the end, some of us managed, some never tried. The results are scary, you might not want to look :P

Happy Halloween
Chris

ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE MUST HEED!!!

2006-10-23T22:06:00.001+01:00

It's Cyrano here, with a very important announcement, all those on the cyber plane, you must go forth, you must download, you must support Terry Tate.

He is the Office Linebacker, and anyone who's ever watched american football, or rugby, will have witnessed the vicious ownage of all in their paths. Now, Reebok have transferred this greatness to Felcher and Sons', a fictious company, filled with lazy workers, but no longer, for their lazy ways have been thwarted, by a giant black man!! Tate is the greatest, he owns all, his owning knows no colour, race, gender or creed, if he witnesses a fool, he destroys them, it is hilarious, videos that you'll never tire of laughing at.

Go forth minions, to google, to limewire, and download TERRY TATE: OFFICE LINEBACKER

DO IT

DO IT NOW!!!

2006-10-23T17:47:00.001+01:00

9000!! NINE THOUSAAAAANDD!

VEGITA!

ITS OVER NINE THOUSAAAAND!

- Ally.

I CAN REACH THE SUNSHINE!

2006-10-22T22:49:00.001+01:00

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again.

Oh snap! My English novel broked my brain!!

This place seemed quiet so Random out burst from me.

See Mario there? Do you think he is really in pain or secretly conducting an army of evil mens to destroy YOU? Zomg beans on toast.

If anyone actually looks at the blog, leave us a comment please!

... Or you'll be constipated or something.

FUN FACT! I just googled constipated to see if I spelt it correctly, and I have some Firefox plugin that enhances google, and it also trys to guess what you are searching. Anyway, I put in constipated and pressed enter at the wrong time... and got this!

Joyus!

Now before I retire, I will leave you with this other funny picture of when I uninstalled World of Warcraft. (This is not a hoax)

Ally/Jingleboy, out!

Last but not least...

2006-10-18T22:26:00.000+01:00

Hey all, I'm David, the last of the bloggers. I've been shirking my duties, according to Chris, so I thought I'd better say hello. As I said, I'm David, and just like the rest, I've got a nickname, I usually change it randomly to annoy, but I'll always come back to Cyrano.

I dont really know what to say on this, so I guess just a summary of moi will do. I'm 16, second youngest of the group, unlike the pensioner Cass, lol. I'm going out with Debbie, my girlfriend of 7 months this thursday, which rocks. I spend A LOT of time drawing, as anyone who knows me will tell you, whoever you are, I know you as 'random person from somewhere', so hello to you all. :P

Anyway, drawing, I spend ages doing it cause its really my only skill, and I really enjoy so go me. Many I draw the JL(Justice League). I've recently finished Kingdom Come, a graphic novel by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, who is the greatest comic book artist on earth. The art is amazing, and the storyline is very well done, a tad philosophical but owns none the less. If you ever get the chance, I recommend you read it, many times, Chris and Calum have read it too, and they both agreed it was good. I'll be on again soon, I just wanted to say hi, and let you all know the D of CCJAD stood for something :P

Bai,
David

(Chris: Un-typo'd :D)

Intro Posts, Round 4

2006-10-16T16:22:00.000+01:00

Well, I guess it’s my turn now, since David is shirking his duties as usual.
Hey, I’m Chris, and I’m the one that set up the site. I’m the youngest of the group at only 16, and I’m also in my last year of High School. Currently studying Maths, Physics and English at Advanced Higher, and Chemistry at Higher *groan* along with our usual prefect duties, I’m also head of the School Website Team, so it’s gonna be one very busy year.

In my spare time, other than posting here, I watch a lot of anime (currently watching DNAngel and Tsubasa) as well as read manga (currently DNAngel, Tsubasa, Hellsing & Trigun). And it’s my fault that Cass & David are now into them, after supplying them with Cowboy Bebop and .hack//. Also, I read quite a few webcomics (MegaTokyo, Questionable Content, D101 & Ctrl+Alt+Del) and occasionally even attempt to draw! :O

I used to play way too many video games, but not so much now – mostly due to the lack of good things being released at the moment. Bring on the Wii :D

So, yeah, that’s about it that I can think of. I’m still trying to decide whether or not to post my English work up here. I dunno, maybe.

See you
Chris

Newcomer!

2006-10-15T19:53:00.001+01:00

Yeah, newcomer Alistair (Ally/Jingleboy) is here! I was not here when this blog was born, so yeah, I have an excuse for being late. (LawlCass)

Anyways, nothing to special about this blog yet. It needs pictures and more randomness involving a DeLorean going backing time while being chased by terrorists with rocket launchers. Wait, its been done. >_>

Same as the rest, I'm in School, I'm 17 and I play loadsa video games. I also share Cass' desire for a Nintendo Wii. I'm also the only one who doesn't play an instrument out of the 5 of us. I make up for it by being an RPG junkie. How the hell that works? Well, as Calum would say... Magic.

I liketh Anime and manga like the rest, and I also enjoy drawing but there is one draw back to that - I can't. So I make up for it by using Photoshop. (See my 'muck about' over there... dear lord blogger takes its time to upload images).

Thats pretty much all I wanted to post. I got homework awaiting... just crying... to be done... In the oven! =D

Ah well. Laterz.

Ally

Someone you haven't heard from

2006-10-14T10:54:00.000+01:00

Hi all, tis me, Cass.

Just leaving a short post seeing as some other members of CCJAD keep hastling me about it (you know who you are :P). Seeing as this is my first post on what will hopefully become a bigger and more popular blog, I think I should...probably introduce myself (don't expect anything in great detail, I'm currently crashing from overdosing on lucozade and didn't get a lot of sleep last night -_-).

The name's James but you can get to know me as Cass. I'm the oldest of the CCJAD at an ancient age of 17. As Calum pointed out I'm still in school and studying; Music, Maths, Computing and Art. I'm very into Music and not only love listening to it but love playing my instruments (drums mostly but I also play some guitar and keyboard). I've been playing drums for coming on 3 years and I'm looking for a band if anyone needs a drummer. I'm really into anime and manga and thanks to Chris the majority of the time I have something to watch and/or read (lately I haven't been doing either and watching and reading material is slowly mounting up :P). I'm also really into drawing and anime has probably been my biggest influence for that, I love drawing my favourite characters and sometimes even making my own. I also love playing video games and can't wait for the Nintendo Wii ^_^ ^_^ ^_^.

That is all I can be bothered writing at the minute (literally falling off chair from lack of energy and sleep) so I'll talk to you laters, see ya *waves*

Cass

A little bit more about us...

2006-10-13T23:08:00.000+01:00

Hmm, Friday the 13th...lucky.

Hey everybody, congratulations! You've may just have stumbled upon something that could well become the starting point of the next 'Super-site' of the millennia!...Just we don't quite know what it's about yet, although I see Chris has already started posting some reviews. It's always good to start somewhere!

So for the moment let me just introduce ourselves with a bit more depth than just our names. Hopefully the other co-founders of the website will fall in suit and become inspired to write a bit more about themselves.

Well first off, my name is Calum aka Chaos-Zero as Chris so aply pointed out. I hope to become one of the main contributors to our site in progress (even if I become one in five). For the remainder of this year and for most of next year too I will be remaining in full-time education (as well as everyone else here) studying English, Maths, Physics and Computing during my last year of secondary school education. At the moment we all claim residence in Scotland, a small country in the north of Europe, a main part of the UK (which is not part of England for some of you yanks out there...Or Ireland for some Australians ¬_¬).

Anyway, back to us. We all have different interests and likes, but we all share many too. My interests include; Video games, Cycling, Surfing the net, anime (not to a great extent but still consumes some considerable time), listening and playing music, meeting with the other members of CCJAD and of course, drinking copious amounts of Irn-bru!. :P

I'll let the others post there interests and whatnot for themselves if they wish and I guess if we get any questions we might divludge some more info about ourselves at a later date. So I'll leave you all to ponder life's mysteries with a couple more names to floating around. Post back soon...if there's anything worth mentioning ;)

Calum

Ps If you want to get in touch with us you either leave a comment on the main site or email us at CCJAD.blog@googlemail.com and thanks Chris for getting us started!

Cheating already?!?

2006-10-13T22:23:00.001+01:00

Okay, this is a bit naughty, but I'm gonna do it anyway. These were mini-reviews I wrote a while back, but I'm gonna put them here now. Have fun :P

Mini-Reviews Time!

Time for me to review some of the entertaining things I've done recently, starting with films:

Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

For the most part it was a great film, but the cliffhanger ending is severely irritating, and many of the jokes are simply taken from the first one, and seem to be there just for people to go 'Ho! Remember how funny that was the last time?'. Still worth a watch though, and I'm looking forward to the next one to find out the conclusion.
As Cass reminded me, I forgot to mention one thing: for those who haven't already seen this film, wait until the end of the credits. There is another scene afterwards. Enjoy.

Superman Returns

Special effects budget overload! They seem to have had so many ideas for this film that they've tried to cram them all in at once, and it's sorta spoiled it. Definitely the low point of the film is the way they try to add in the 'It's a Bird, it's a Plane' gag, and it just sounds cheesy now. I guess that's just due to it being slotted into an old series though. On it's own, it is a good film for recent standards, with Kevin Spacey being placed into Lex Luther's shoes with a show-stealing performance. The other characters do seem weak at times, but he more than makes up for it.

Right, now onto the games:

Trauma Center: Under the Knife for Nintendo DS

This is one difficult game. The storyline fits beautifully in with the action, and the gameplay of the game is excellent, a real testament to Nintendo's 'New Ways To Play' as it couldn't have been created before this time. The game has a great lifespan, and going back to get S-Ranks on the earlier missions will keep many gamers occupied for hours. But once again, this game gets hard. Probably the most difficult DS game I have played, but in this games it enriches the experience and helps to draw the player into the world of Dr. Stiles.

Megaman Battle Network 6: Cybeast Gregar for Nintendo GBA

Yay, another MMBN game! I love these things, and I doubt if I could really explain why. The way the game builds up a skill level so naturally, and the storylines all being created to fit both into the continuity of this series and alongside all Megaman games really adds up to an enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, this would appear to be the last in the series, a real pity considering how large the fanbase of the games has become through time. Perhaps the series will move onto DS or even Wii, but for now this is the end. However, despite this being the final one, it rises to the occassion beautifully by giving the fans of the series all the best bits of the old games, while adding in many new features. I would advise for people to play the older games before playing this one, as many of the techniques used in-game aren't fully explained, preffering only to highlight the new features such as Beast Out and LinkNavi. This game is the most tactical-based game in the series with weakness and strengths being highlighted and used much more regularly rather than just using the most powerful techniques. During the normal game the difficulty level increases perfectly, with the enemies always matching your skill enough to challenge you without being too easy or hard. However, it's once you complete the game that it really shines. The multitude of extra features, challenges, weapons and tasks given afterwards are both difficult enough and entertaining enough to keep players in the game for many months. A definite must-buy for fans of the series, but those new to the series should try the older ones first, then play this as the crowning moment.
EDIT: Forget what I said about not being too hard. Forte is incredibly hard. Insanely hard. And keeps getting harder. Lots of time for me to spend fighting him then :D

Chris

A new beginning, possibly.

2006-10-13T20:47:00.001+01:00

Well, this is the start of something that will (hopefully) last for a long time. We've decided between us to run a blog about, well, anything we can come up with at the time.

By 'We', I mean Chris (that's me, otherwise known as ShadowDragon), Calum (Chaos-Zero), James (Starfire, or Cassidy/Cass), Ally (Jingleboy, or Redant), and David (or whatever he's addicted to at the time. Don't call him Superman, because he's not). So with that lot, we hope to be able to update with some frequency, but not with any timetable (mostly because life doesn't have much of one for any of us).

That'll do for an intro/test post for now. See you soon.

Chris