To sum it all up, I don't consider this passing year to be a very kind one for us. There is just too many family, friend, and pet related deaths... so good riddance to 2008 and looking forward for a better 2009 along with my soon to be niece.
As you may have already seen on my posts HERE and HERE, I already made an MJ and Rodman patch for 2k9, so why not complete the trio which was the core of arguably one of the greatest NBA teams ever assembled.
*click the pic to make it bigger Scottie Pippen Patch
things I updated:
- re-did the hair texture - a much younger detailed face texture (hairstyle and facial hair reflecting more on his 90's look) - blended the skintone better - corrected the lip color
UPDATE: Alright, my Scottie Pippen patch is done. You can get it HERE. <---- Click on it.
PASSWORD: perimeterdefender
Just read the .txt found within the .zip to successfully make the patch work.
Capcom is going all out on it's newly revitalized Street Fighter franchise, it's set on almost every media imaginable, which of course is always a good thing for fans that couldn't get enough of it.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (already available on XBLA, PSN) Souped up graphics, hi-def sprites, updated soundtrack, while still retaining the same gameplay engine that made it one of the greatest fighting games of all time. What's not to like?
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Soundtrack Remastered soundtrack made by the fans available on torrent sites. I think the key word here is that it's for FREE.
Street Fighter 4 Collector's Edition (for XBOX 360, PS3) Comes with a game disc, hint book, full length anime movie titled "The Ties That Bind", and figurines (Ryu for PS3, and Crimson Viper for XBOX 360) currently priced at USD 79.99. Price is reasonable with all the stuff that comes along with it, my only gripe is no Guile figurine. Dammit!
Street Fighter 4 (release date: February 17,2009 on XBOX 360, PS3, Arcade) Gouken/Sheng Long
It took the strengths of its predecessors like the majority of Street Fighter 2's awesome roster, Street Fighter 3's parrying system (which is now called focus system), retained it's 2D fighting roots (which failed miserably on Street Fighter EX) and Street Fighter Alpha game's super moves. And best of all, no Jean-Claude Van Damme in sight.
They also used stylized cel-shaded technique for the game's visuals, and added a lot of new characters including Ken and Ryu's master Sheng Long (as seen above) who looks like someone who eats a lot of meat (he's huge, just look at the size of his feet!), I always thought he was the stereotypical old master. Hopefully it would still utilize the same well balanced gameplay that made some of the earlier games great.
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (in theatres: February 27 2009)
First Trailer
Japanese Poster
Starring the ridiculously beautiful Kristin Kreuk of Smallville fame as Chun-Li, more info on the movie can be found HERE.
I'm personally looking forward to the franchise re-emergence. I consider Street Fighter as the best fighting franchise ever created, lots of well spent tokens in the arcades, lots of memorable battle with my friends, lots of good times.
Something I whipped up during my free time (love the holidays) since my MJ MOD is currently on the backburner.
*click the pic to make it bigger Dennis "The Worm" Rodman Patch
things I updated:
- re-did the hair texture - added two new hair color variants for Dennis (green and red respectively) - more detailed face (because a Rodman with baby smooth skin is unacceptable) - more authentic eyebrows and facial hair
If only there's a way to correct those damn "crazy eyes" they gave him.
UPDATE:
I finally finished my Dennis Rodman patch, you can get it with your grubby little hands HERE. <---- Click on it.
PASSWORD: crossdresser
Just read the .txt found within the .zip to successfully make the patch work.
Ever recalled something interesting on a website that is now unfortunately unavailable or closed? Ever wondered how some of your favorite sites looked like in their earlier years? Or if your just plain bitten by the nostalgia bug and wants to see how the "interwebz" was back then. If you are (or if you're just really, really bored) then check this out.
Then key in the website you fancy (let's use www.friendster.com as an example) and hit the "Take Me Back" button
Lists of archives of the site will now show up, it ranges from even the very birth of friendster in 2002. Let's click on "Nov. 24, 2002" and see how www.friendster.com looked back in the day.
Voila! www.friendster.com was still in BETA those days, a time when sexual predators, stalkers, pedophiles, attention whores, boys posing as girls, and emos were still non existent. Now those were some good times.
Everything happened so fast. It was just YESTERDAY when I visited and donated my own blood for her to use, and yet earlier today we received the message saying that she passed away.
Ka-te with local celebrity Jericho Rosales
Who was Catherine Joy Villanueva?
She was biologically my 2nd cousin. I will remember Ka-te (as she is fondly called) as a simple, slightly shy, always smiling, and respectful young woman.
The cause of her untimely demise...
Complications to the kidney was said to be the main culprit, Ka-te comes from a broken family. Her parents both love her very much but taking turns caring for her plus the fact that both have day jobs made supervising of what Ka-te eats very difficult. It was said that her diet mostly consist of junk foods, notoriously salty foods that might have aggravated the complications further.
Her last day...
What I saw in the hospital was not the same old smiling Ka-te I used to know. Lying before me was a pale-colored, withered, and anxious individual that even needed an oxygen mask just to breath properly. I was told that she had just vomited before I got there. She was still conscious, I wanted to tell her to be strong and start praying but chose not too since the last thing I want to do is to scare her even further about her mortality. I finally said goodbye since it was time for my blood donation and she needed to rest, not knowing that it would be the last time I'll be seeing her alive.
It's better to burn out than to fade away...
Ka-te was a good kid, she would've turned 19 years old this friday. She hasn't even reached her prime yet.
May she rest in peace,
Catherine Joy "Ka-te" Villanueva December 19, 1990 - December 16, 2008
Iraqi Journalist throws both his shoe on George W. Bush
Soon to be former U.S. President George W. Bush (to be suceeded by Barack Obama) was talking on Baghdad news conference when an Iraqi journalist suddenly hurled both his shoe at him. Good thing "Dubya" successfully dodged both shoe in true Spiderman-like fashion since the Secret Service was slow to react on the whole situation. Imagine if those were bullets instead of shoes, not 1 but 2 bullets would have been already fired before they made a move to save Bush.
Kevin Costner must be shaking his head in disgust right now.
The alabaster-skinned, hot tempered, and arrogant anti-hero known as Kratos has returned. And just like with his previous adventures, it seems he will still be bringing boat-loads of chaos to whoever stands in his way.
Now those are some huuuge hand contraptions right there
This, along with the still unnamed Team ICO project in the works are the only PS3 titles that I'm personally interested in. The graphics shown in the trailer seems a bit dated but doesn't bother me much, as long as they keep the formula that made the 1st 3 games (God of War, God of war 2, God of War: Chains of Olympus respectively) great, it's all cool with me. After all, it's not everyday you get the chance to kick mythological Gods and creatures arses for your own personal pleasure.
Alright, earlier today I donated blood for my cousin Ka-te who is currently confined at the National Childrens Hospital (NCH) because of kidney complications. As usual, it turned out to be a very quirky experience yet again. It started normally, I filled up some forms and was introduced to someone that would interview me if I was qualified to donate. Funny thing was It was around 10a.m. at the time and the interviewer (an intern from the same university I went to) seemed high/drunk/tired already. The dude was totally zoned out, it's as if even if I slapped him then and there or stolen the clothes he was wearing and gave it to the poor he wouldn't even notice it. So I asked him if he had a late shift earlier to somewhat justify his current state, in which he just replied: "No". =/
We then went on to the interview proper, he was moving so slowly yet he was able to cross his legs (in true interviewer stereotype manner) before asking me the questions. Ironically, the 1st question he asked was: "Do you take any illegal drugs" in which at that point I really wanted to say: "I never took any illegal drugs in my life, I don't even smoke and only drink socially... hell, I don't even take vitamins, maybe I should be the one asking you that question bro." but of course, refrained myself from doing so. He then proceeded to the other questions and asked: "If you have a female partner, does she engage in casual sex with other people?" in which I replied: "If I do have a female partner, don't you think you should be asking her that question instead? Because I'm pretty sure she won't tell me that delicate piece of information for I will instantly dump her ass without any hesitation whatsoever.
Terminator: Salvation Projected release date: May 2009 Starring: Christian Bale Directed by: McG
The Terminator was a movie ahead of it's time plot-wise and visually. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is personally one of my favorites movies and features one of the baddest villains to grace the silver screen, the T-1000. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was nowhere as good as the 1st two and was said to be the signal of the end for the franchise.
The question now is, will the 4th Terminator flick be the salvation for this aging franchise?
Well if you are or just someone who has some spare cash to burn *cough* sarcasm *cough*, then this huuuge Panasonic plasma TV might be a good prospect for you this holiday season.
Sizing in at a whopping 103" inches, this beast of a machine dwarfs most TV set even in split screen view (see pics).
Other details:
- it is sold at around $70,000 (Php 3.5 Million in our local currency) - weighs 700 lbs, impossible to wall or ceiling mount - has its own wheels & huge bracket/support - takes 10 people to carry - it consumes 1500w of electricity (so make sure you have another stash of spare cash lying around when those electricity bills roll in)
Congratulations to our very own Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao on his dominant win over "The Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya in 8 rounds of boxing that was held in the MGM Grand, Garden Arena at Las Vegas earlier today. It was definitely a much more convincing win than his last bout with Juan Manuel Marquez.
Mabuhay ka Manny!
As what Manny proved in this fight, he's on the top of his game and can probably beat any opponent not named Darlene Antonino-Custodio.
Now if only his politician "friends" would just let Manny focus on the thing he does best, which is entertaining his fans rather than using him in their own personal agenda noh?
It's no secret that one of my hobbies back then was creating patches for EA Sports NBA Live games for the PC. I got interested in it when they couldn't put MJ in their games anymore due to licensing issues. I then decided to just make him myself along with a couple of other notable missing players in the game since tools to mod their games were available.
NBA Live Series Patch Montage
Now comes a new NBA game for the PC, this time by 2k Sports. Been a fan of them since NBA 2K3 (only at consoles that time) because their gameplay was always a step ahead over their competitor. I always wanted for them to make one for the PC and was ecstatic when they finally did this year, enter NBA 2K9.
I'm enjoying it at the moment. But still, the feeling of not being able to play as MJ due to licensing issues again just flat out suuucks.
Which finally led me to lace up my patching boots again to create the dude below:
*click the pics to make them bigger
Modding methods for this game is still at it's infancy, I'm still tweaking and finding some workarounds for this patch on my spare time. I'll try to update this post when progression happens.
UPDATE 2/18/2009:
I finally started tweaking my MJ again since it's now possible to edit headshapes for the game. I only managed to work on the side view part though, since the vertices (small dots) is ridiculous this time around compared to the NBA Live ones.
*click the pic to make it bigger The good thing about 2k9 headshapes is that it has a lot of vertices for a cyberface patcher to work on. The downside is also the same thing ironically, more vertices equals more work. Dammit!
If I successfully finish his headshape, the only thing hindering his release would be a fully functional roster editor.
UPDATE 2/21/2009:
Finally got an ingame preview up.
*click the pic to make it bigger
I'll try to work on the front and top part of the headshape in the following days.
UPDATE 2/28/2009:
Got caught up with some personal stuff and just resumed worked on my MJ again, below is a sneak peak on where I'm currently at.
*click the pic to make it bigger
I still need to tweak and tighten some parts but I think it's coming along quite nicely.
UPDATE 3/04/2009:
Alright I finally decided to release a "Newb Friendly" version for my MJ. It means no texmods, hex, specific rosters, or complicated stuff for the guys that just want to have MJ in their game. The method used though would be overwriting an existing player, so there would be a couple of CONS that comes along with it.
CONS:
- It will overwrite the player named deandre jordan of the clippers in your game, so if you are a huge deandre jordan fan for some reason then you are royally screwed - I had to lighten my MJ's skintone to match deandre's leg texture so he will appear lighter than my previews above - Deandre's bodytype is a tad thinner than that of MJ's - No custom MJ compression shorts or calf brace - Announcers will of course still call him deandre jordan
Lalaine tagged me a couple of posts back to share 10 facts about myself.
Here they are:
1. I accidentally fell of a moving bus once.
2. I have thicker hair than most males do, even thicker than some women.
3. Pizza is my favorite food even if it's considered as "junk" food. 4. I drove for three years with an expired driver's license and thankfully never got caught.
5. I prefer wholesome looking women over foxy looking ones.
6. I am of Filipino-Chinese-Spanish descent.
7. I can forgive but never forget, partially because of my slight eidetic memory.
8. I don't like people who keeps on making promises on their own free will yet continuously breaks it, no one ever pressured them to do it in the 1st place.
9. I like to customize stuff.
10. I hate flying cockroaches, because they always seem to land on you.
It was my family's 1st colored TV purchase that instantly became a fixture in our household which spanned on for years. I personally was ecstatic since the TV that preceded it was a black and white, knob for a channel switch, no remote control type of TV and the Sony Trinitron was well... the exact opposite of it which was of course much cooler. Being someone who grew up around the 80's-90's era, a time also considered by many as the golden age in music videos, sports, cartoons, and video gaming. I can fondly look back and say that it was the Sony Trinitron that served as a medium for me to personally witness it unfold during the time. Endless barrage of now classic toons, shows, and games were shown and released, yet only a very few of them escaped my clutches with the help of my trusty "boxy" non-human sidekick.
It is built as sturdy as they come, I never personally encountered it break down on me. In fact, it's so ridiculously sturdy that the last model of Trinitron we got is fully functional up to this day and is still entertaining our housekeepers regularly during their breaks. That's what I call longevity, and it certainly ain't showing any signs of slowing down whatsoever.
The Sony Trinitron definitely gave significance in my life just like the Sony’s World’s First RGB LED Backlight LCD TV: Bravia X450. In which I'm pretty sure that years from now will also be talked about in good faith by the ones wise enough to purchase one.
