modeps's sochl blog

Activity Update

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:30:00 -0500

You've probably all been wondering what the heck has been going on around here... and I'll tell you! My personal / professional life has leapfrogged my pet projects and unfortunately time has not really been very available to work on new features and updates of Sochl. Time may be even more sparse within the next couple of months as Mrs Modeps and I are preparing for our second child, due any day now. But don't you worry, I haven't abandoned the site at all, and I hope to return to old form as soon as possible. Also, please note that there seems to be something wrong with posting blog entries, I'll attempt to fix that soon. Best, ~Jim

Syphon Filter: Combat Ops (PSP) Winner!

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:40:10 -0500

NephX Wins!

Tool and Sting, Confirmed for GH:WT

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:02:08 -0500

Well played Activision... you jerkfaces. Now I'll need to get both RB2 and GHWT.

Santa Monica, CA – September 5, 2008 – Rock and roll legend Sting and progressive metal pioneers Tool are making their video game debuts, contributing more than just music, in Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® World Tour. In what will be the largest collection of artists ever to appear in a Guitar Hero game, singer-songwriter, actor, author, activist and lead singer/bassist of The Police, Sting will add his voice and likeness as an in-game character. Aspiring frontmen can take the stage as Sting throughout their vocal career or play alongside him as he performs one of The Police classics, “Demolition Man.” Hugely popular alternative metal band Tool, known for their epic, intense musical arrangements and killer visual arts, will also soon be known for their contribution to the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitar Hero fans from all over the world will be able to rock out to “Parabola” and Grammy-award winning “Schism” from Tool’s critically-acclaimed 2001 album Lateralus in addition to “Vicarious” from their 2006 Grammy-award winning album 10,000 Days. The game will also feature an all-new venue designed in collaboration with the band and highlighting the art style that has become a staple in their music videos, live shows and album artwork.

/me shakes fist.

Win Syphon Filter: Combat Ops (PSP) from Sochl

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 7:52:36 -0500

Artayd2 was kind enough to donate a code for Syphon Filter: Combat Ops to the Sochl cause. Combat Ops is an MP only affair available through the Playstation Store. It can be yours fairly easily, all you've got to do is respond to this post and answer the following question. A winner will be chosen at random from entrants as long as you've answered legitimately (you can be funny, or serious, or whatever). Ready? Here we go! Q: What feature would you like to see a developer implement or improve in a multiplayer game?

Few Updates

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 8:17:33 -0500

Prepping for a few new features, I've updated the game pages again to include a new subnav style. There are now dropdowns breaking the list into different categories. Also, I've updated the top banner section so if users have a customized nav image, it will not only appear on their profile page, but their collection and wishlist pages too.

Demo Impressions

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 9:20:12 -0500

The insane difficulty of Alien Hominid has been replaced with a simple, yet humorous walk in the park with awesome artwork. I never went below 3/4 health throughout the demo's single level, nor did I see anything particularly worth me buying the game for. I know its got 4p Live Coop, which is cool and some RPG style aspects (leveling up, stat points, equipment, etc)... and I love the art style, but it still seems to be a fairly generic brawler akin to Streets of Rage or Golden Axe. Perhaps later on it gets more interesting, but is this another case of a somewhat shoddy demo not making a good case for the full game?

F'n Nintendo

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 5:47:40 -0500

Eurogamer Article

Nintendo has denied neglecting core gamers and claims to have new projects based on existing IP in development with "all development teams". "We have never neglected our core gamers. We still have developers working on popular core gaming franchises but we need longer to complete these games, approximately two to three years," the company told the October issue of Edge.

Two... to three.... years.... Which means they'll hit most likely when they launch their WiiSquared or whatever it'll be called.

TH at Amazon for $50

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:18:59 -0500

Here you go. Don't know how long it will last. After going back and trying the demo again, I enjoyed it more than I did the first time I played it, so I figured with a $10 drop in price, I'd give it a try. Stay tuned for impressions of the full game.

Molly F'n Hatchet

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:04:45 -0500

I've now at least beaten every song on Hard guitar for Rock Band in the main setlist... except for one. Molly Hatchet's Flirtin' With Disaster. I'm almost thinking that because I'm not playing on the Rock Band guitar (the one that doesn't make you strum during solos), I've got a more difficult task ahead. It also doesn't help that my yellow button is acting flaky... or that the song literally broke my wrist. Ouch. I'll beat it eventually, but dang yo. Even holding onto my overdrive until the very last second doesn't help me in extending the session. I hit 75-80% of the song at every fail.

Game Pages

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 7:52:22 -0500

I've been playing around a little bit with the game pages, trying to condense and reorganize information. They're not final but what I have is now live on the site. Please check it out and let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions.