The Premire Episode of "The Sandbox"

We here at Armaggon Sushi are now getting into podcasting.

I know you love video game music as much as we do. Nothing makes you want to save the castle or take out an enemy bomber with a Surface to Air missile more than an intense musical score. But where do you go if you want to hear the opening theme of "Call of Duty"? What place can you turn to, if you want to know who composed the music for Infamous. Well, we wanted to create that place, and so "The Sandbox" was born. It is a podcast that brings you all the video game music you love from the early 80's to today.

If you are tired to listening to the same old songs on pandora or Rhapsody, then check out "The Sandbox" it is definetly something different.

http://www.box.net/shared/071x65988kp5b6abvh7o

Video Game Tips Video

Hey blog fans. Here is a video I shot, explaining various tips to beat some of my favorite games. Take a gander.

Best Video game Controllers of all time

It’s time to take a look at unsung hero of the video game world. At E3, the games are the rock stars, and the systems are the CEO’s. But what about the controller? You know, the d-pad, the joystick, the game pad, the ergonomic wand of the game. You probably have several piled in a corner somewhere. It is constantly getting kick, pulled out and knock down. They are the workhorses of the industry, and yet they get very little attention. Well, I am here to change that by rating the best game controllers of all time. It’s time to get those plastic instruments of destruction out of the drawer. Haul your Dreamcast VMU control pad down from the attic, because it is time to give the controllers some love. 

Ratings are from one to five, with five being awesome and 1 being extremely lame. Controllers will be rated on innovation, durability, response time, aesthetics, comfort.*

#11) Atari Jaguar: 2.34

Innovation: 2.9

Durability: 3.5

Response time: 2.9

Aesthetics: 1.4

Comfort: 1.2

 Atari Jaguar was one of the first 64 bit systems released in the United States. In 1993 it’s lack of game titles led to its demise, and it’s controller didn’t help. This monstrosity is a case of bigger not always being better. The first run of this game pad had a whopping seventeen buttons. If that wasn’t enough, they released a later model sporting twenty buttons. It was a controller perfect for someone who could play with both hands and feet. The complicated button pattern made this controller incredibly hard to hold. The design wasn’t very creative either. It’s as if they took a Famicom controller and stuffed it full of buttons until it exploded. This controllers one redeeming quality was is its durability. The controller was pretty solid, and would be put to better use as pummel stone than a game pad. To quote Comic Book Man “Worst Game Pad Ever!”

#10) Nintendo 64: 2.36

Innovation: 2.6

Durability: 2.8

Response time: 3.4

Aesthetics: 1.6

Comfort: 1.2

 It’s surprising that such a popular system has a controller so low on the list. However, anyone who has worn out their thumbs on the tiny, hard, rigid, f&^%#$ing plastic joystick, will understand why this controller has a low rating. Its three-pronged design is better suited for some alien race with multiple appendages. Nothing is worse than switching between two different control pads in the heat of battle. At least Nintendo allowed you to add a rumble pack into the controller. This was innovative for the time, but it’s bulkiness and positioning put more strain on a gamer’s hand. The small analog stick would also wear out after time, forcing you to buy more and more of these ugly controllers. Nothing brings down the Feng Shui of a room like mountains of grey controllers.

#9) Dreamcast: 2.9

Innovation: 2.2

Durability: 4

Response time: 4.2

Aesthetics: 2.4

Comfort:2.2

 Ah, Dreamcast. If Sega is like an alcoholic cousin, then Dreamcast was his final bender before he shot himself. Dreamcast was Sega’s last attempt at the home console market, before eventually bowing out to the likes of Sony and Nintendo. This controller had many of the shortcomings of the N64 game pad. It had two slots for memory cards or Rumble packs, and followed the one analog stick and one directional pad format. It’s bubble shape made it difficult to pull off quick button combinations for faster games. Street fighter Alpha3 was a nightmare with this controller. This controller did benefit from the software of the Dreamcast, which made it very responsive, once you got your hand on the button. In the end this system fell victim to the same vices that felled Sega’s other systems (except Genisis); a lack of games in the face of fierce competition. This console was also one of the first to successfully employ four controller input jacks that are standard on today’s high level gaming machines.

#8) Virtual Boy: 3.19

Innovation: 4.1

Durability: 3.4

Response time: 3

Aesthetics: 3

Comfort: 2.4

Virtual boy was Nintendo’s first attempt at a 3-D gaming platform. Its controller’s uniqueness is more a result of the gaming environment than innovative controller designs. The virtual boy came out in 1995, and had a game pad with two direction pads on either side of its controller. It’s shape laid the groundwork for Play Station’s later designs. The two D-pads were to help the player control sprites in a three dimensional environment. It was connected to a visor that was more of an over grown View Master than a gaming console.

#7) Xbox/Xbox360: 3.19

Innovation: 2.5

Durability: 3.9

Response time: 4.7

Aesthetics: 2.1

Comfort:2.3

The Xbox was Microsoft’s platform for breaking into an industry that it has ignored for far too long. The programming behemoth was too content to languish in the stagnant PC gaming field, instead of capitalizing on the billion dollar home gaming market. The Xbox/Xbox360 sported a impressive processor and unheard of online game play. It was marred by the first generation of 360 consoles crashing inexplicably. (Instead of the blue screen of death it was the red circle of death.) The other flaw was the huge, fat, nasty, bulky controller. One version of the controller was so big, it was actually marketed as the “Fat Boy”. It takes a pair of Dwight Howard sized hands to comfortably grasp this controller. If you weren’t a grown man, it would take both hands, and sometimes both feet to be able to use the controller the way it is supposed to be used. The Xbox 360 controller got a little smaller and is not quite as bulky. The rest of the controller is pretty uninspired, looking very similar to early predecessors.

#6) Nintendo Gamcube/Wavebird: 3.21

Innovation: 3.7

Durability: 2.9

Response time: 3.3

Aesthetics: 2.9

Comfort:3.4

After Nintendo’s fiasco of a game controller with the N64, they got a little bit better with the Game Cube and Wavebird controllers ( I know the Wavebird was developed by a different company). This controller still employed the rock hard joystick. I had seen more than a few thumbs blister after several hours of intense smash brothers play. This controller also had a more ergonomic design. It lost the third prong that the N64 controller had. The Wavebird was also a very capable after market controller and gained extra points for its wireless capability. It is not the sturdiest controller in the grouping. The joystick would wear out and many times snap off. While this controller is far better than it’s predecessor, it is still nothing to write home to Japan about.

#5) Super Nintendo Entertainment System: 3.28

innovation: 3.14

Durability: 3.8

Response time: 4

Easthetics: 2.6

Comfort: 3.1

The Super Nintendo was easily one of the top five systems of all time. Its catalogue of game titles alone was enough to make even the most successful PC blush. Its controller design was a part of that. Nintendo decided to expand on the older N.E.S. format in several ways. First, it took off all the hard corners in exchange for more rounded edges. This was much appreciated by the hands of gamers who would play for hours on end. They also added several more buttons, including two left and right triggers at the top of the controller. The expanded number of buttons allowed for more intricate commands to be played in the video games. This controller had two problems, which kept it from ranking higher than it is. First, is that with more buttons comes more opportunity for them to wear out. After some time buttons would stick, or not be as responsive. I wore out one pair of controllers just playing Killer Instinct. The other problem was that these controllers were not very stylish. The dark and faded purple against the varying grays on the controller was pretty ugly to look at. These controllers definitely got put in the drawer when they were done being used.

#4) Nintendo Entertainment System: 3.32

Innovation: 2.6

Durability: 4.8

Response time: 3.2

Aesthetics: 3.4

Comfort:2.4

The Nintendo Entertainment System is given credit for bringing video games back from the brink of extinction after an explosion of terrible games almost killed the market back in the 80’s. And, the controllers were just as awesome as the system that saved video gaming. The N.E.S. controller (as well as the Famicom controller) set the standard that all other controllers follow today (a directional pad on the left and buttons on the right). It’s simple, but it works, and every other controller on this list is a spawn of this design. It is also the most durable controller I have ever used. Conan could use a pair of these as bolo’s to trip up his enemies. There was nothing you could do to destroy these controllers. The big knock on these controllers was that the square design was hard on a gamer’s hands. And while two buttons works with N.E.S. games, it is not very useful to control the myriad of commands found in today’s platforms.

#3) Sega Genisis Controller: 3.66

Innovation: 3.4

Durability: 4.2

Response time: 4

Aesthetics: 3.7

Comfort: 3

The Sega Genisis boomerang controller was probably one of the sexiest game pads to ever hit the market. It’s black on black control pad and button interface my have been hard to find in the dark, but reminds one of the sleek body lines and engineering of a Corvette. This was the beginning of the two party console wars. It was Genisis versus Nintendo and a whole bunch of forgettables in-between. These controllers did not hold up as well as the N.E.S. controllers. And, the connected D-pad was supposed to make the way you move your character around a space more natural, but ended up putting you in a bad spot. “I wanted to crawl under the electrified fence, not jump into it.”

#2) Play Station 1/2/3:  3.81

Innovation: 3.4

Durability: 3.7

Response time: 4.6

Aesthetics: 4

Comfort: 3.2

This controller is the golden standard for video gaming today. Sony, a relative latecomer to the console gaming industry, hit one out of the park with this controller. It’s body shape was ergonomic and functional. It takes advantage of the basic design set forth by Nintendo, but adds two left and right buttons at the top to make use of all your fingers. The smoothed curved edges kept gamers from having hard corners bruise their hands. The next generation of controllers for the P.S.2 were black, and added analog controllers for a smoother control of a character. Finally, the third generation for the P.S.3 made the controllers wireless for nearly unlimited range from the console. The fact that these controllers are lumped together is the only reason they are kept at a solid #2.

#1) Nintendo Wii: 3.84

Innovation: 4.9

Durability: 3.9

Response time: 3

Aesthetics: 4.1

Comfort:3.3

Leave it to Nintendo to create the number one controller on the list. The Wii controller was so innovative; it was the main reason for the console’s sell out performance after its release. Now, both Microsoft and Sony are rushing to release a comparable controller (i.e. the Kinetic and the P.S. Motion Controller). The Wii remote is everything we thought the “Power Glove” was going to be. You can Wirelessly control actions on the screen with the movement of your body. It’s clean, white, futuristic look is something straight out of the latest Michael Bay Sci-Fi action thriller. My hat is off to you Nintendo.

I have no idea what the future holds for gaming and game pad development. But I hope to see even funkier and more innovative designs in the future.

My apologies to all the controllers that were left off the list. I decided not to include every controller, either because of its relative obscurity in the gaming world, or its similarity to other controllers on the list. So while some of these controllers have a truly unique and awesome design they didn’t make it. My apologies go out to: Famicom, Sega Master system, the Atari 7800 Joypad, Sega Saturn, Turbo Graphix 16, Amiga CD32 , CD-I, Coleco Vision , Atari 2600, Intellivision, NeGcon, the power glove, Neo GeoCD,  and the host of PC Game pads. 

Amiga CD32

Coleco Vision

NeGcon

Power Glove "The Wizard"

*Ratings are based as follows

Innovation is based what was new about the joystick. What did this game pad bring that was not there before?

Durability is based on how well controllers stood the test of time. Do they break easily, and how fast to the buttons wear down?

Response Time refers to how well the game pad controlled the image on the screen. Was there any kind of lag between pressing the button and character movement?

Aesthetics asks one question. Does it look cool?

Comfort refers to how well the controller fits in your hand. How quickly will you get calluses using it?

Cowboys And Aliens And Other Fancy Genre Cross Overs

This particular blog has nothing to do with video games. (Although it has the potential to be an awesome first person shooter) I am here to talk about the new movie coming out "Cowboys And Aliens."

If you can look past the obvious title, this movie has the potential for unabridged awesomeness. You combine gunslingers from the old west with the high tech weapons of the future, and it has to be great. Top it off with big talent like Harrison Ford and the director of Ironman, and it is an instant classic.

However, this movie got me wondering. What other potential genre crossovers where waiting out there in the weeds? I searched the internet, and found three coming out in 2012.

The first is Saving Ninja Ryan:

The classic world war II movie gets a shuriken in the arm with this action packed crossover. Finding one man in a war is hard enough, but when Hitler enlists the special martial art forces from Japan and china, he tip the scales of war. Tom Hanks and his unit must find the only man with the Kung Fu skills to turn the tides of war.

The next one is a Lion Gates feature: My Best Friends Zombie Wedding

The romantic comedy has never been this funny. Julia Roberts has had no luck with love, until a strange virus mutates half of the world's population. As she turns into a horrible zombie, she realizes that the man she is trying to devour is the one she loves.

Finally, this is one of MGM's last releases before they went belly up: Interview With The Umpire

This movie takes the sports drama to a whole new level. With a blockbuster cast, this film takes us deep into the life of a vampire Umpire. We follow his tortured soul as he tries to balance his blood lust with his desire to umpire professional baseball. No one is going to argue with this toothy referee.


I will have to wait for the release of Cowboys And Aliens, but until then I will be on the look out for more silly genre crossovers.