2007-11-23
Interview: Kenji Yamamoto & Retro Studios
Thanks to some Information Retrieval for the music of the latest installment of the Metroid series, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, a beast that I recently tamed, I was able to unearth this more or less interesting interview from the depth of the iNet, an interview the journalists of Music 4 Games had had with the sound lead designers of the developing team responsible for MP3, as well as with the main composer Kenji Yamamoto who also composed the music for all Metroid titles, if not all major ones.
It's not a spectacularly interesting interview, apart from reading how Mr. Yamamoto describes his way of "leading" (or rather "whipping" ;^) the guys of Retro Studios, and the music of this particular Metroid title isn't that marvellous, if you ask me ... buuuuut I haven't posted something from that direction and aaaaall ... [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
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10.5.2007
Interview with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Sound Team at Retro Studios and Composer Kenji Yamamoto
It’s hard to believe that eight years had gone by between the release of Super Metroid on the Super Nintendo and Metroid Prime on the GameCube in 2002. One of my favorite Nintendo franchises is back in the spotlight, and we have a North American based developer, Retro Studios, to thank for it. Despite the change in developer, series fans were pleased to know that Super Metroid composer Kenji Yamamoto would help bridge the eight year gap, creating continuity between Super Metroid and the Prime series in terms of aural landscaping, an element for which the series has always been known.
Nintendo knows it has a hit on its hands, so we were fortunate to get this exclusive interview with the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption sound team at Retro Studios as well as the renowned composer himself, Mr. Kenji Yamamoto.
M4G: Retro Studios successfully redefined the Metroid universe with the release of Metroid Prime on the GameCube, which took the series from its side-scroller roots into the first-person shooter realm. While many familiar musical themes have been carried over from the original Metroid titles, does the audio team feel as though the Metroid sound went through as drastic a transformation?
Retro Studios: Since the sound transition was from on-chip sound synthesis for everything 2D Metroid to full resolution, sample-based sound effects and streaming audio for our 3D Metroid Prime, I would say that it would be fair to describe the audio transformation as drastic. It was a bold idea to create a 3D Metroid from the start, so the audio had to support that.
Yamamoto-san: When we made the shift from side-scrolling Metroid to a first-person adventure Metroid, we needed to have more realistic sound effects and environmental sounds. On top of that, since I wanted to give a strong impression of the Metroid universe to players experiencing this realistic first-person game environment, the important original theme of Metroid had to be arranged as well. The original Metroid theme arrangement blended well with the newly composed Metroid Prime music to create the distinct Metroid Prime universe. With the side-scrolling Metroid in mind, I thought I could make it sound more realistic and well suited for FPS game. From that stand point, I feel it is fair to say that the music for Metroid has transformed drastically.
M4G: Given that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the first title in the series developed for the Wii, describe the technological advances that have occurred in the audio department and how they have been implemented to improve the Metroid experience.
Retro Studios: The two most important changes in developing audio for the Wii for us were that it gave us the opportunity to create a new set of audio development tools from scratch, and that we were able to significantly expand our audio RAM budget. The increased RAM size allowed us to use higher resolution audio samples throughout Metroid Prime 3 which made a significant positive impact on the overall quality and aesthetic of the audio experience.
Overall, the Wii’s audio capability is an evolution of what we had on the GameCube, but with additional horsepower. This additional horsepower of the system allowed us to use filters and pitch shifting more extensively. My favorite application of this is that we now have true Doppler shifting in all of our moving sounds. Every Space Pirate blaster shot (and most every other enemy projectile) has a loop sound attached to it, and you can really hear shots whizzing by your ear as they pass you by. I still smile every time that happens. Metroid Prime 3 is also the first Prime to have simple occlusion available inside of single rooms. We always occluded sounds from adjacent rooms, but now we have the power to place occlusion objects inside of rooms to separate interior areas from each other. You likely won’t notice this much when playing, but it really helped us isolate and refine how each section of a room felt without resorting to having to track a player’s position and turn banks of sounds on and off. While both of these technologies are old-hat for games, this was the first Prime that was able to utilize such tried and true methods of audio implementation.
We also made more extensive use of pre-mixed Dolby Pro Logic II streamed audio for our cinematic sequences. At the start of development, we had storyboarded out over 60 significant cinematics that we knew would require more involved and detailed audio than anything in Prime 1 or 2. Retro’s whole mantra during pre-production was to make Metroid Prime 3 more impactful, and bigger and better than the previous Primes. This meant that the audio would have to stretch further than it had ever done to accommodate this more hyped up aesthetic. By pre-mixing our cinematics, we were able to achieve a much more polished experience that really helped immerse the player in the story and atmosphere of the game. By using streamed audio we had much greater range of material to choose from than if we only used sounds that would fit into our RAM budget. It was very satisfying when it all came together.
Yamamoto-san: As for the technical evolution of audio, because Retro developed the original sound tool for MP3: Corruption sound creation, I believe it led to an excellent result. What helped me the most during my work for MP3: Corruption was that Retro and I had great cooperative structure and trust between us, mainly because we worked together on the first Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
M4G: The Metroid franchise has always been known for its highly atmospheric and immersive gameplay experience, which has been aided by the electro-ambient scores and gritty sound effects provided by “Hip” Tanaka and Kenji Yamamoto. Describe some of the experiences the sound team had taking on such a well-established franchise and describe some of the challenges that were encountered and how the team got through them.
Retro Studios: There was a lot of pressure on Retro to make Metroid Prime 1 a great game. Prime 1 was a re-invention of a beloved Nintendo franchise by an unknown and unproven American development studio. Every effort was made to make the gameplay, art, design and audio as high quality as possible. I think that Clark Wen (Lead Sound Designer for Prime 1) did an amazing job of staying true to the 2D Metroid franchise while establishing a new and compelling aesthetic for the 3D Metroid Prime. The game really hit all the right notes from every discipline. This is especially amazing when you consider that in Prime 1, all the sound effects for a world had to fit inside of 6 MB! (This includes all of the player package, creature and world sounds). I think this limitation had a huge part in making Prime 1 sound as good as it does; every sound had to hold it’s own weight for its inclusion in the game. We were also very lucky to have been able to use Yamamoto-san for the music as it was his work in Super Metroid that evolved and refined the themes Tanaka-san had established in the original Metroid. Together, the hyper-refined sound design and Yamamoto-san’s distinctive musical style really cemented the audio style and quality of Metroid Prime.
Yamamoto-san: The Retro sound team worked very passionately and positively to make Metroid Prime sound effects and environmental sounds even more realistic. For me, they are irreplaceable, extremely talented work partners.
We communicated through numerous email exchanges and video conferences - however, Austin, Texas (Retro) and Kyoto, Japan (myself) are so far away from each other, which is a big deal when developing game sound. Throughout the development of the Metroid Prime trilogy, it was one of the biggest issues I had.
Usually, I try to communicate with the staff more casually and frequently by occasionally visiting the studio in the afternoons and talking with the team to get updates and see how they are doing, but we couldn’t have that kind of casual communication in this case. Therefore, we couldn’t really share various key moments of development or the frantic moments when we went into the home stretch in the same place. It was very difficult for me.
Of course, we have been overcoming these difficulties by having numerous email exchanges and conference calls throughout the series. My partners for the Metroid Prime series, Clark Wen and Scott Petersen, are now my best (email) friends [Laughs]. They are very important work partners for me who do truly excellent jobs!
M4G: Tell us about the interactive music system employed in Metroid Prime 3.
Retro Studios: Since we basically have wall-to-wall music during the entire game, our interactive music system is relatively simple in design but can get very complex in implementation. Essentially, we assign every room in the game a default piece of music which can change based on triggered events or what state the player is in (like if they are re-traversing that room after getting the ship grapple and then they trigger a mini boss encounter). We define all of these music assignments in a single spreadsheet which is interpreted at runtime. Each room has a total of 10 available music slots and every musical transition that is triggered during gameplay is scripted into each room by hand. Most rooms are very simple, but some have a crazy amount of complexity due to all of layers of events we cram into them to make our re-traversals significant and meaningful. We also added the ability to modify music volume based on static multipliers or a spline. This allowed us to duck the volume of the music and sound effects when the player speaks to NPCs or during the beginning or end of a cinematic.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
M4G: Since this is the final installment of the series, was there any intentional sound design decisions made that took this into consideration? This is the first Metroid title for home consoles to feature other bounty hunters and space travel. Did these gameplay mechanics have any bearing on sound design?
Retro Studios: Right from the start of pre-production design on Prime 3, we knew that this had to be the most impactful Prime yet. To help focus on this goal, I spent a lot of time thinking about how the sound design and music could support this idea of the best Prime ever.
For the sound design, I identified that the core of our audio aesthetic is that everything Metroid should be highly stylized and/or synthetic. To push this further and to help carve out some new sonic territory, I wanted all of our stylized and synthetic sounds to have very little midrange content; I really wanted our world sounds to mainly be just highs and lows. This would ideally leave the middle range for creatures and weapons and music. While we didn’t slavishly follow this guideline for everything, it really helped all of our sound designers focus on a concrete aesthetic and sonic palette. It also came with a catchy description: “Sci-fu”.
A parallel consideration was that we knew from the outset that were going have Phazon everywhere and integrated into the entire game. This meant that we had to come up with a greater depth and variety of Phazon sounds (lovingly referred to as blue goo) than we had in the first two Primes. To do this, we sketched out a whole mess of loops based on what Phazon might sound like. We even had the opportunity to persuade our audio engineer Jim Gage to build a couple of Tesla coils, just so we could record the sounds in the hopes that it would be the secret element for our new Phazon. (It was pure bliss recording the sound of 30” arcs of high voltage electricity.) We ended up taking the Tesla source and a variety of other sounds and digitally mangling them together to form the root of our new Phazon. This root sound was given to each sound designer who was to be creating anything remotely related to Phazon or Corruption for them to reference, use and abuse. The funny thing is that as a result of this you never really hear Phazon directly; it is much more about how Phazon corrupts and affects things than what it is in and of itself. This was not something I expected at the outset and was really part of the evolving concept of what it means to do sounds for video games.
As for the music for Metroid Prime 3, we knew we wanted to move in a more orchestral direction, but one that still maintained the game-y and synthetic nature of the previous Prime soundtracks. I sat down and identified some reference game and movie soundtracks and progressive electronic music to present to Yamamoto-san as possible style guides and references. Soon after I compiled my references, we found out that Yamamoto-san was coming to the states and was interested in visiting Retro Studios himself. This allowed me to present to him my musical references and style guide in person and for us to have a face to face dialog. He was very easy to work with and really understood our desired aesthetic. The cool thing was that after we got our musical direction discussion out of the way, we were able to geek out and exchange ideas about audio tools, music in general and even have a quick jam session. It was truly an honor that I got to play drums behind Yamamoto-san’s excellent guitar playing and our CEO Michael Kelbaugh’s kick ass bass playing.
Alright, so after all of this fun stuff, we also realized that we had some real work to do. The decision to include dialog was looming huge for us; this was be Retro Studios and thus Nintendo’s most significant uses of voice acting, so we needed to get it right. I won’t go into the process we went through here suffice it to say that casting, recording, editing, effecting, implementing and maintaining voice in a game is job all to itself. Thanks to the Herculean effort of all of those involved with our voice recording, we were somehow able to pull it off while simultaneously creating and implementing assets for the rest of the game without imploding the entire audio department.
Finally, we knew right off the bat that Samus’ Ship had to be a character in its own right. We were very lucky to have the talented Matt Piersall of Okratron 5000 doing the bulk of the ship sounds and I think he really nailed its character. 95% of the landing site cinematics you see in the game are a unique and custom creation. The level designers and artists created so many cool landing sites and vistas, that there was no way we were going to waste all that effort and just have a canned cinematic for every ship landing or takeoff. Instead we created, looked at each landing and takeoff as an opportunity to display the worlds of Metroid Prime 3 in a new and unique perspective. This meant that the timing, path and character for each landing and takeoff would be different, which meant that the audio would have to be custom built by hand for each instance. It was laborious, but I think well worth the effort.
Yamamoto-san: When I started working on MP3: Corruption, I visited Retro Studios in the early stages of development. I had an extremely productive meeting with the Retro sound team to discuss the music direction of MP3: Corruption.
At this meeting, I learned what kind of music direction they wanted to take for this project, and it was very helpful for me to know that as I composed music. We communicated heavily on the sound development tools as well, and that helped us so much to understand the work process from there on.
As Retro mentioned in their response, after the meeting, we had an opportunity to have a band-style improv session with Michael Kelbaugh and Scott Petersen. It was a great moment. In that musical session, I felt in my bones that music was and is the true universal language, and I could knew I could cultivate an even deeper trust and friendship with them.
During that meeting, Retro communicated to us that they would like to use orchestral music as the music direction of MP3: Corruption. But if we used orchestral music for all of the sound, then we would lose the distinct musical atmosphere of the original Metroid. Therefore, after I came back to Japan, I tried to come up with answers for the questions such as, “How and where should we use orchestral instruments in the game? What kind of music should we build on from the original Metroid to maintain the real feel that this is still a part of Metroid series? How can we add new music elements for MP3: Corruption?” I tried to address these issues before I actually started working on it.
I already had the basic theory for the Metroid music design in my head, so organizing my thoughts on these questions was very intuitive. Of course, as you mentioned in your question, in this title, there are other hunters such as Gandrayda, Rundas and Ghor, so it was also one of my important objectives to create theme music for each bounty hunter to give players a strong impression of these hunters.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
M4G: As the composer for the Prime series and previous Metroid titles, how much interaction was there with the audio team based at Retro Studios? Were there certain requests you made of the team?
Yamamoto-san: Throughout the development of the Metroid Prime trilogy, we had numerous email exchanges and conference calls; however, we had the most frequent communication during the development of the original Metroid Prime because it was the first title we worked on with Retro. That meant it was necessary for us to communicate very closely as we decided the direction of Metroid music as it shifted from side-scrolling to first-person.
When we worked on Metroid Prime, it was the first time I worked with Retro, so it was very important for me to learn and understand how the Retro team felt about previous Metroid music, and what kind of preference they had for the first-person Metroid music.
Retro sent me many music reference materials for first-person Metroid music direction, and I sent them many sound samples I created to get their feedback and consensus on the music direction. Based on that kind of frequent communication, I felt that the best way to approach this Metroid Prime music design project was the design theory I used for Super Metroid. It was my first time working with an American developer, so it required very heavy communication between us until we created a solid work flow and were comfortable with it.
Once the work flow was finalized, I requested they follow my approach for music creation, and the steps for how to handle it. When I sent the music I created to Retro, I gave them detailed instructions on how to play them, how and when to switch music for boss battles and other environmental sounds, what timing to use when fading music in and out, how to adjust the volume, and so on. We repeated the process of me reviewing their music and giving them other requests over and over to finalize the music. These were very important requests I made to Retro throughout the Metroid Prime trilogy.
M4G: How do you go about composing a score for a Metroid title. Have there been any particular influences you’ve had in mind while composing for the series? Do you use primarily software-based sound banks or hardware? How do you decide which themes you will reuse from previous Metroid titles? Have you conversed with Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka regarding his work on the original Metroid game on the NES?
Yamamoto-san: When creating the theme song for Metroid, I used the inspiration I felt when I saw the title screen of this game. To me, it’s very important to get inspired by the title screen when creating music, so I asked Retro to submit the title screen design at an early stage of the development.
Of course, I’m aware that this is a very difficult request to ask for at the very beginning of the development--when the game itself isn’t even finalized--so I knew what I’d get would not be polished enough to be the final title screen. But I could use the faint shape of the design and the rough movement as my inspiration to start designing the music.
I didn’t use the sound bank to get inspiration. I didn’t have any specific influences for composing Metroid music. I watched the footage first, and used the inspirations I got by playing the guitar and piano to organize the music.
Of course, I’m sure my own music style itself has been greatly influenced by American rock music, and by my experience in a music band when I was in school. But as far as composing Metroid music goes, I only use the inspiration I get from the game footage I see.
That said, sometimes it’s very hard to get inspired just by watching footage. For times like that, I think about the footage while I’m riding my motorcycle to go home from Nintendo, and if I come up with a good melody, I stop immediately on the side of the road to record it on a voice recorder right away. It looks like I’m not thinking about much of anything while riding my motorcycle, so it’s easier for me to get inspired.
The music played in the background when Samus first receives an order from the Aurora Unit in MP3:Corruption is the music used in 1994’s Super Metroid. This music was also born when I stopped my motorcycle on the side of the road on my way home from Nintendo—I recorded the melody by singing. I’m sure people who drove by me were wondering what I was doing. [Laughs]
Next, I’d like to talk about how I decided to arrange the theme music from previous Metroid titles. For Super Metroid (1994), I was simultaneously performing three roles: working as the sound programmer to construct the program, creating sound effects, and composing the in-game music. Thanks to that experience, I now have the ideas to produce distinct Metroid music with a sound programmer’s ear, with a sound effect creator’s ear, and with the approach methodology and theory of a composer.
When arranging the theme songs from the previous Metroid titles to use in Metroid Prime, I decide on the direction of the music by following my own theory, which creates theme music emphasizing the Metroid universe we want the players to experience during their gameplay. In addition to that, I’m always trying to include at least one musical piece from the previous title to satisfy old Metroid fans. It’s like a present for them.
For example, the music we used by following this theory is the jingle when Samus appears on the screen, and the music we prepared as the present for Metroid fans are the pieces for the lava caves in Metroid Prime and underwater music for Metroid Prime 2. When we released Metroid Prime 2 in Japan, I read an internet message written by one of the fans: “There was music from Super Metroid when I was underwater, and when I heard that, it brought back memories and made me cry.” When I saw that message, I felt that there are passionate Metroid fans out there who appreciate what I’m doing for them, and it gave me the confirmation that my direction wasn’t a mistake. That was a very happy moment.
I had several discussions previously with Mr. Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka about music for NES Metroid. To tell you the truth, I partially used Mr. Tanaka’s approach—the one he used for the NES Metroid project--in the music for MP3: Corruption’s ending staff credits. In 1986, the music direction for NES Metroid was to maintain the distinct, dark Metroid universe music all the way from the beginning to the very end of the game (just before the staff credits starts showing up on the screen) to keep the player feeling scared and in the dark. The player does not hear the light-hearted, positive music at all until the ending credits start--then finally, at that point, he or she will hear the positive music and feel relieved.
If you don’t provide any happy music until the very end, it makes the player keep wondering, “When am I going to be relieved?” Then, finally, when the staff credits start with the positive, hopeful music, the player can relax. This was the design approach for NES Metroid music in 1986.
In Metroid Prime 1 and 2, I did not use this approach for the staff credits music. But because MP3: Corruption is the last title in the series, I wanted to implement this approach for this title. If you’re interested, please complete the game and listen to the music for the ending credits.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
M4G: How were the schedule and deadlines for Metroid Prime 3? How did they compare to previous installments in the series? It seems that MP3 has been in development for quite some time.
Retro Studios: When we started pre-production on Metroid Prime 3, we had no hard information about the new Nintentdo Wii platform and so could only take guesses as to what we could and could not do from a hardware perspective. We proceeded smoothly along this path, and had even started some true production when Nintendo shared its plans with us regarding their new and revolutionary controller and the accompanying hardware. Once we had this information, it necessitated a re-think of some aspects of our planned design. This along with the growing pains associated with moving to a new hardware platform were the main source of our delays.
Metroid Prime 3’s development time of 3 years felt about right for a title on a new platform; we had plenty to learn along the way about what we could and could not do. Prime 2 was a shorter and arguably smoother development as everything we were dealing with was a known quantity. As I was not at Retro at the time, I cannot speak about the development of Prime 1.
M4G: Given the fact that Metroid Prime 3 was originally intended as a launch title, how was the sound team able to refine the audio in the extra nine months of development time?
Retro Studios: We were of course disappointed with it not being a launch title, but I know that if we had made launch, it would have been at the expense of overall game quality. Really, there was no “extra” time. We are always trying to add as much value as humanly possible to the player. Sometimes that just takes longer than you initially expect.
Yamamoto-san: Although the development schedule was extended, we didn’t gain much elbow room for music creation. This is because as the development schedule was extended and the game contents were improved, there was much more work for music creation as well [Laughs].
I believe that Retro’s sound team had a huge burden at the end of the development of MP3. Retro had to implement so many voices, and they worked really hard on every single sound effect included in the game until the very end. I really appreciate their hard work.
M4G: Having been able to play through Metroid Prime 3, both the music and sound design are very impressive. I wanted to know what went into the decision to drop the main theme established in Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2 in favor of the new main theme for Metroid Prime 3?
Yamamoto-san: Thank you. I believe Retro’s hard work on sound effects and voice, and the early preparation for the project with meetings in Austin, TX, helped with that end result.
Regarding the main theme for each Metroid Prime title being different from each other, as I mentioned earlier, we partially use the arranged previous Metroid theme music in the Metroid Prime series by following the Metroid music creation theory. Therefore, each Metroid Prime has a completely different theme, to expand the variety.
Each game’s universe has a different design as well, so I also had different inspiration for each of them.
M4G: Nintendo is notorious for not releasing soundtrack albums for its flagship titles, even in Japan. While there was Metroid Prime & Metroid Fusion album released years back, are there any plans to release the scores for Metroid Prime 2 or Metroid Prime 3? If there are no plans for a CD release, has anyone considered a digital distribution outlet like iTunes? You have many fans in the United States, and we are eagerly awaiting the release of your recent music.
Yamamoto-san: Please set your mind at ease. Nintendo is not intentionally being stingy with releasing soundtrack albums for our flagship titles. I believe it was just simply not good timing for album release, considering the development schedule and Metroid fans’ demand. As for the Metroid Prime & Metroid Fusion album, I had enough time in my schedule to support the development and studio recording when the record company approached us. I fully supported the CD cover creation as well.
We, Nintendo game sound creators, are not musicians whose main objective is to release albums. We create in-game music and sound effects to enhance the players’ gameplay experience. It’s sort of like we are playing roles of behind-the-scenes architects in game development. Unlike other musicians, our main goal is not about releasing albums. So we didn’t release many soundtrack albums in the past simply because the timing wasn’t right.
I’m very pleased to hear that there are many Metroid fans in the United States. I’m grateful for that, and I would like to thank every one of them from bottom of my heart for loving the Metroid series and having interest in the Metroid music. Thank you so much!
M4G: What would your message be to the long-time series fans out there who have been with the series from the beginning, and have been looking forward to the release of Metroid Prime 3?
Retro Studios: Thank you so much for your patience and your support! We really hope you enjoy playing Metroid Prime 3.
Yamamoto-san: To Metroid fans who have been playing Metroid games for the last 21 years since NES Metroid was released in 1986, Metroid fans who have been playing Metroid games for the last 13 years since Super Metroid was released in 1994, and new fans who have been playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption in 2007 – I truly appreciate the fact that there have been Metroid fans for over 20 years.
I hope you like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and enjoy playing the game all the way through. Thank you very much.
M4G: Is Yamamoto-san at liberty to tell us what’s next for him?
Yamamoto-san: My next project hasn’t been decided yet, but I’m currently already involved in many Nintendo titles’ sound projects. I’m not only a composer, but I’m also taking the role of group manager for the sound development group, just like Mr. Kondo for Mario games. As I also worked on Brain Age titles to decide the music direction, I’m responsible for ensuring the sound quality of many Nintendo titles, making decisions for sound directions, etc.
Of course, I’m sure I’ll be involved in the next Metroid project, as well as whatever other projects require me as the composer.
Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to talk a lot about Metroid Prime sound. I enjoyed it very much.
Again, thank you very much for being such passionate Metroid fans. I hope you will continue being Metroid fans. Thank you!
www.metroid.com
www.retrostudios.com
Jayson Napolitano
>> # top # | Q: Music 4 Games.net
It's not a spectacularly interesting interview, apart from reading how Mr. Yamamoto describes his way of "leading" (or rather "whipping" ;^) the guys of Retro Studios, and the music of this particular Metroid title isn't that marvellous, if you ask me ... buuuuut I haven't posted something from that direction and aaaaall ... [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
<<
10.5.2007
Interview with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Sound Team at Retro Studios and Composer Kenji Yamamoto
Nintendo knows it has a hit on its hands, so we were fortunate to get this exclusive interview with the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption sound team at Retro Studios as well as the renowned composer himself, Mr. Kenji Yamamoto.
M4G: Retro Studios successfully redefined the Metroid universe with the release of Metroid Prime on the GameCube, which took the series from its side-scroller roots into the first-person shooter realm. While many familiar musical themes have been carried over from the original Metroid titles, does the audio team feel as though the Metroid sound went through as drastic a transformation?
Retro Studios: Since the sound transition was from on-chip sound synthesis for everything 2D Metroid to full resolution, sample-based sound effects and streaming audio for our 3D Metroid Prime, I would say that it would be fair to describe the audio transformation as drastic. It was a bold idea to create a 3D Metroid from the start, so the audio had to support that.
Yamamoto-san: When we made the shift from side-scrolling Metroid to a first-person adventure Metroid, we needed to have more realistic sound effects and environmental sounds. On top of that, since I wanted to give a strong impression of the Metroid universe to players experiencing this realistic first-person game environment, the important original theme of Metroid had to be arranged as well. The original Metroid theme arrangement blended well with the newly composed Metroid Prime music to create the distinct Metroid Prime universe. With the side-scrolling Metroid in mind, I thought I could make it sound more realistic and well suited for FPS game. From that stand point, I feel it is fair to say that the music for Metroid has transformed drastically.
M4G: Given that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the first title in the series developed for the Wii, describe the technological advances that have occurred in the audio department and how they have been implemented to improve the Metroid experience.
Retro Studios: The two most important changes in developing audio for the Wii for us were that it gave us the opportunity to create a new set of audio development tools from scratch, and that we were able to significantly expand our audio RAM budget. The increased RAM size allowed us to use higher resolution audio samples throughout Metroid Prime 3 which made a significant positive impact on the overall quality and aesthetic of the audio experience.
Overall, the Wii’s audio capability is an evolution of what we had on the GameCube, but with additional horsepower. This additional horsepower of the system allowed us to use filters and pitch shifting more extensively. My favorite application of this is that we now have true Doppler shifting in all of our moving sounds. Every Space Pirate blaster shot (and most every other enemy projectile) has a loop sound attached to it, and you can really hear shots whizzing by your ear as they pass you by. I still smile every time that happens. Metroid Prime 3 is also the first Prime to have simple occlusion available inside of single rooms. We always occluded sounds from adjacent rooms, but now we have the power to place occlusion objects inside of rooms to separate interior areas from each other. You likely won’t notice this much when playing, but it really helped us isolate and refine how each section of a room felt without resorting to having to track a player’s position and turn banks of sounds on and off. While both of these technologies are old-hat for games, this was the first Prime that was able to utilize such tried and true methods of audio implementation.
We also made more extensive use of pre-mixed Dolby Pro Logic II streamed audio for our cinematic sequences. At the start of development, we had storyboarded out over 60 significant cinematics that we knew would require more involved and detailed audio than anything in Prime 1 or 2. Retro’s whole mantra during pre-production was to make Metroid Prime 3 more impactful, and bigger and better than the previous Primes. This meant that the audio would have to stretch further than it had ever done to accommodate this more hyped up aesthetic. By pre-mixing our cinematics, we were able to achieve a much more polished experience that really helped immerse the player in the story and atmosphere of the game. By using streamed audio we had much greater range of material to choose from than if we only used sounds that would fit into our RAM budget. It was very satisfying when it all came together.
Yamamoto-san: As for the technical evolution of audio, because Retro developed the original sound tool for MP3: Corruption sound creation, I believe it led to an excellent result. What helped me the most during my work for MP3: Corruption was that Retro and I had great cooperative structure and trust between us, mainly because we worked together on the first Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
M4G: The Metroid franchise has always been known for its highly atmospheric and immersive gameplay experience, which has been aided by the electro-ambient scores and gritty sound effects provided by “Hip” Tanaka and Kenji Yamamoto. Describe some of the experiences the sound team had taking on such a well-established franchise and describe some of the challenges that were encountered and how the team got through them.
Retro Studios: There was a lot of pressure on Retro to make Metroid Prime 1 a great game. Prime 1 was a re-invention of a beloved Nintendo franchise by an unknown and unproven American development studio. Every effort was made to make the gameplay, art, design and audio as high quality as possible. I think that Clark Wen (Lead Sound Designer for Prime 1) did an amazing job of staying true to the 2D Metroid franchise while establishing a new and compelling aesthetic for the 3D Metroid Prime. The game really hit all the right notes from every discipline. This is especially amazing when you consider that in Prime 1, all the sound effects for a world had to fit inside of 6 MB! (This includes all of the player package, creature and world sounds). I think this limitation had a huge part in making Prime 1 sound as good as it does; every sound had to hold it’s own weight for its inclusion in the game. We were also very lucky to have been able to use Yamamoto-san for the music as it was his work in Super Metroid that evolved and refined the themes Tanaka-san had established in the original Metroid. Together, the hyper-refined sound design and Yamamoto-san’s distinctive musical style really cemented the audio style and quality of Metroid Prime.
Yamamoto-san: The Retro sound team worked very passionately and positively to make Metroid Prime sound effects and environmental sounds even more realistic. For me, they are irreplaceable, extremely talented work partners.
We communicated through numerous email exchanges and video conferences - however, Austin, Texas (Retro) and Kyoto, Japan (myself) are so far away from each other, which is a big deal when developing game sound. Throughout the development of the Metroid Prime trilogy, it was one of the biggest issues I had.
Usually, I try to communicate with the staff more casually and frequently by occasionally visiting the studio in the afternoons and talking with the team to get updates and see how they are doing, but we couldn’t have that kind of casual communication in this case. Therefore, we couldn’t really share various key moments of development or the frantic moments when we went into the home stretch in the same place. It was very difficult for me.
Of course, we have been overcoming these difficulties by having numerous email exchanges and conference calls throughout the series. My partners for the Metroid Prime series, Clark Wen and Scott Petersen, are now my best (email) friends [Laughs]. They are very important work partners for me who do truly excellent jobs!
Retro Studios: Since we basically have wall-to-wall music during the entire game, our interactive music system is relatively simple in design but can get very complex in implementation. Essentially, we assign every room in the game a default piece of music which can change based on triggered events or what state the player is in (like if they are re-traversing that room after getting the ship grapple and then they trigger a mini boss encounter). We define all of these music assignments in a single spreadsheet which is interpreted at runtime. Each room has a total of 10 available music slots and every musical transition that is triggered during gameplay is scripted into each room by hand. Most rooms are very simple, but some have a crazy amount of complexity due to all of layers of events we cram into them to make our re-traversals significant and meaningful. We also added the ability to modify music volume based on static multipliers or a spline. This allowed us to duck the volume of the music and sound effects when the player speaks to NPCs or during the beginning or end of a cinematic.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
M4G: Since this is the final installment of the series, was there any intentional sound design decisions made that took this into consideration? This is the first Metroid title for home consoles to feature other bounty hunters and space travel. Did these gameplay mechanics have any bearing on sound design?
Retro Studios: Right from the start of pre-production design on Prime 3, we knew that this had to be the most impactful Prime yet. To help focus on this goal, I spent a lot of time thinking about how the sound design and music could support this idea of the best Prime ever.
For the sound design, I identified that the core of our audio aesthetic is that everything Metroid should be highly stylized and/or synthetic. To push this further and to help carve out some new sonic territory, I wanted all of our stylized and synthetic sounds to have very little midrange content; I really wanted our world sounds to mainly be just highs and lows. This would ideally leave the middle range for creatures and weapons and music. While we didn’t slavishly follow this guideline for everything, it really helped all of our sound designers focus on a concrete aesthetic and sonic palette. It also came with a catchy description: “Sci-fu”.
A parallel consideration was that we knew from the outset that were going have Phazon everywhere and integrated into the entire game. This meant that we had to come up with a greater depth and variety of Phazon sounds (lovingly referred to as blue goo) than we had in the first two Primes. To do this, we sketched out a whole mess of loops based on what Phazon might sound like. We even had the opportunity to persuade our audio engineer Jim Gage to build a couple of Tesla coils, just so we could record the sounds in the hopes that it would be the secret element for our new Phazon. (It was pure bliss recording the sound of 30” arcs of high voltage electricity.) We ended up taking the Tesla source and a variety of other sounds and digitally mangling them together to form the root of our new Phazon. This root sound was given to each sound designer who was to be creating anything remotely related to Phazon or Corruption for them to reference, use and abuse. The funny thing is that as a result of this you never really hear Phazon directly; it is much more about how Phazon corrupts and affects things than what it is in and of itself. This was not something I expected at the outset and was really part of the evolving concept of what it means to do sounds for video games.
As for the music for Metroid Prime 3, we knew we wanted to move in a more orchestral direction, but one that still maintained the game-y and synthetic nature of the previous Prime soundtracks. I sat down and identified some reference game and movie soundtracks and progressive electronic music to present to Yamamoto-san as possible style guides and references. Soon after I compiled my references, we found out that Yamamoto-san was coming to the states and was interested in visiting Retro Studios himself. This allowed me to present to him my musical references and style guide in person and for us to have a face to face dialog. He was very easy to work with and really understood our desired aesthetic. The cool thing was that after we got our musical direction discussion out of the way, we were able to geek out and exchange ideas about audio tools, music in general and even have a quick jam session. It was truly an honor that I got to play drums behind Yamamoto-san’s excellent guitar playing and our CEO Michael Kelbaugh’s kick ass bass playing.
Alright, so after all of this fun stuff, we also realized that we had some real work to do. The decision to include dialog was looming huge for us; this was be Retro Studios and thus Nintendo’s most significant uses of voice acting, so we needed to get it right. I won’t go into the process we went through here suffice it to say that casting, recording, editing, effecting, implementing and maintaining voice in a game is job all to itself. Thanks to the Herculean effort of all of those involved with our voice recording, we were somehow able to pull it off while simultaneously creating and implementing assets for the rest of the game without imploding the entire audio department.
Finally, we knew right off the bat that Samus’ Ship had to be a character in its own right. We were very lucky to have the talented Matt Piersall of Okratron 5000 doing the bulk of the ship sounds and I think he really nailed its character. 95% of the landing site cinematics you see in the game are a unique and custom creation. The level designers and artists created so many cool landing sites and vistas, that there was no way we were going to waste all that effort and just have a canned cinematic for every ship landing or takeoff. Instead we created, looked at each landing and takeoff as an opportunity to display the worlds of Metroid Prime 3 in a new and unique perspective. This meant that the timing, path and character for each landing and takeoff would be different, which meant that the audio would have to be custom built by hand for each instance. It was laborious, but I think well worth the effort.
Yamamoto-san: When I started working on MP3: Corruption, I visited Retro Studios in the early stages of development. I had an extremely productive meeting with the Retro sound team to discuss the music direction of MP3: Corruption.
At this meeting, I learned what kind of music direction they wanted to take for this project, and it was very helpful for me to know that as I composed music. We communicated heavily on the sound development tools as well, and that helped us so much to understand the work process from there on.
As Retro mentioned in their response, after the meeting, we had an opportunity to have a band-style improv session with Michael Kelbaugh and Scott Petersen. It was a great moment. In that musical session, I felt in my bones that music was and is the true universal language, and I could knew I could cultivate an even deeper trust and friendship with them.
During that meeting, Retro communicated to us that they would like to use orchestral music as the music direction of MP3: Corruption. But if we used orchestral music for all of the sound, then we would lose the distinct musical atmosphere of the original Metroid. Therefore, after I came back to Japan, I tried to come up with answers for the questions such as, “How and where should we use orchestral instruments in the game? What kind of music should we build on from the original Metroid to maintain the real feel that this is still a part of Metroid series? How can we add new music elements for MP3: Corruption?” I tried to address these issues before I actually started working on it.
I already had the basic theory for the Metroid music design in my head, so organizing my thoughts on these questions was very intuitive. Of course, as you mentioned in your question, in this title, there are other hunters such as Gandrayda, Rundas and Ghor, so it was also one of my important objectives to create theme music for each bounty hunter to give players a strong impression of these hunters.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
M4G: As the composer for the Prime series and previous Metroid titles, how much interaction was there with the audio team based at Retro Studios? Were there certain requests you made of the team?
Yamamoto-san: Throughout the development of the Metroid Prime trilogy, we had numerous email exchanges and conference calls; however, we had the most frequent communication during the development of the original Metroid Prime because it was the first title we worked on with Retro. That meant it was necessary for us to communicate very closely as we decided the direction of Metroid music as it shifted from side-scrolling to first-person.
When we worked on Metroid Prime, it was the first time I worked with Retro, so it was very important for me to learn and understand how the Retro team felt about previous Metroid music, and what kind of preference they had for the first-person Metroid music.
Retro sent me many music reference materials for first-person Metroid music direction, and I sent them many sound samples I created to get their feedback and consensus on the music direction. Based on that kind of frequent communication, I felt that the best way to approach this Metroid Prime music design project was the design theory I used for Super Metroid. It was my first time working with an American developer, so it required very heavy communication between us until we created a solid work flow and were comfortable with it.
Once the work flow was finalized, I requested they follow my approach for music creation, and the steps for how to handle it. When I sent the music I created to Retro, I gave them detailed instructions on how to play them, how and when to switch music for boss battles and other environmental sounds, what timing to use when fading music in and out, how to adjust the volume, and so on. We repeated the process of me reviewing their music and giving them other requests over and over to finalize the music. These were very important requests I made to Retro throughout the Metroid Prime trilogy.
Yamamoto-san: When creating the theme song for Metroid, I used the inspiration I felt when I saw the title screen of this game. To me, it’s very important to get inspired by the title screen when creating music, so I asked Retro to submit the title screen design at an early stage of the development.
Of course, I’m aware that this is a very difficult request to ask for at the very beginning of the development--when the game itself isn’t even finalized--so I knew what I’d get would not be polished enough to be the final title screen. But I could use the faint shape of the design and the rough movement as my inspiration to start designing the music.
I didn’t use the sound bank to get inspiration. I didn’t have any specific influences for composing Metroid music. I watched the footage first, and used the inspirations I got by playing the guitar and piano to organize the music.
Of course, I’m sure my own music style itself has been greatly influenced by American rock music, and by my experience in a music band when I was in school. But as far as composing Metroid music goes, I only use the inspiration I get from the game footage I see.
That said, sometimes it’s very hard to get inspired just by watching footage. For times like that, I think about the footage while I’m riding my motorcycle to go home from Nintendo, and if I come up with a good melody, I stop immediately on the side of the road to record it on a voice recorder right away. It looks like I’m not thinking about much of anything while riding my motorcycle, so it’s easier for me to get inspired.
The music played in the background when Samus first receives an order from the Aurora Unit in MP3:Corruption is the music used in 1994’s Super Metroid. This music was also born when I stopped my motorcycle on the side of the road on my way home from Nintendo—I recorded the melody by singing. I’m sure people who drove by me were wondering what I was doing. [Laughs]
Next, I’d like to talk about how I decided to arrange the theme music from previous Metroid titles. For Super Metroid (1994), I was simultaneously performing three roles: working as the sound programmer to construct the program, creating sound effects, and composing the in-game music. Thanks to that experience, I now have the ideas to produce distinct Metroid music with a sound programmer’s ear, with a sound effect creator’s ear, and with the approach methodology and theory of a composer.
When arranging the theme songs from the previous Metroid titles to use in Metroid Prime, I decide on the direction of the music by following my own theory, which creates theme music emphasizing the Metroid universe we want the players to experience during their gameplay. In addition to that, I’m always trying to include at least one musical piece from the previous title to satisfy old Metroid fans. It’s like a present for them.
For example, the music we used by following this theory is the jingle when Samus appears on the screen, and the music we prepared as the present for Metroid fans are the pieces for the lava caves in Metroid Prime and underwater music for Metroid Prime 2. When we released Metroid Prime 2 in Japan, I read an internet message written by one of the fans: “There was music from Super Metroid when I was underwater, and when I heard that, it brought back memories and made me cry.” When I saw that message, I felt that there are passionate Metroid fans out there who appreciate what I’m doing for them, and it gave me the confirmation that my direction wasn’t a mistake. That was a very happy moment.
I had several discussions previously with Mr. Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka about music for NES Metroid. To tell you the truth, I partially used Mr. Tanaka’s approach—the one he used for the NES Metroid project--in the music for MP3: Corruption’s ending staff credits. In 1986, the music direction for NES Metroid was to maintain the distinct, dark Metroid universe music all the way from the beginning to the very end of the game (just before the staff credits starts showing up on the screen) to keep the player feeling scared and in the dark. The player does not hear the light-hearted, positive music at all until the ending credits start--then finally, at that point, he or she will hear the positive music and feel relieved.
If you don’t provide any happy music until the very end, it makes the player keep wondering, “When am I going to be relieved?” Then, finally, when the staff credits start with the positive, hopeful music, the player can relax. This was the design approach for NES Metroid music in 1986.
In Metroid Prime 1 and 2, I did not use this approach for the staff credits music. But because MP3: Corruption is the last title in the series, I wanted to implement this approach for this title. If you’re interested, please complete the game and listen to the music for the ending credits.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
M4G: How were the schedule and deadlines for Metroid Prime 3? How did they compare to previous installments in the series? It seems that MP3 has been in development for quite some time.
Retro Studios: When we started pre-production on Metroid Prime 3, we had no hard information about the new Nintentdo Wii platform and so could only take guesses as to what we could and could not do from a hardware perspective. We proceeded smoothly along this path, and had even started some true production when Nintendo shared its plans with us regarding their new and revolutionary controller and the accompanying hardware. Once we had this information, it necessitated a re-think of some aspects of our planned design. This along with the growing pains associated with moving to a new hardware platform were the main source of our delays.
Metroid Prime 3’s development time of 3 years felt about right for a title on a new platform; we had plenty to learn along the way about what we could and could not do. Prime 2 was a shorter and arguably smoother development as everything we were dealing with was a known quantity. As I was not at Retro at the time, I cannot speak about the development of Prime 1.
M4G: Given the fact that Metroid Prime 3 was originally intended as a launch title, how was the sound team able to refine the audio in the extra nine months of development time?
Retro Studios: We were of course disappointed with it not being a launch title, but I know that if we had made launch, it would have been at the expense of overall game quality. Really, there was no “extra” time. We are always trying to add as much value as humanly possible to the player. Sometimes that just takes longer than you initially expect.
Yamamoto-san: Although the development schedule was extended, we didn’t gain much elbow room for music creation. This is because as the development schedule was extended and the game contents were improved, there was much more work for music creation as well [Laughs].
I believe that Retro’s sound team had a huge burden at the end of the development of MP3. Retro had to implement so many voices, and they worked really hard on every single sound effect included in the game until the very end. I really appreciate their hard work.
M4G: Having been able to play through Metroid Prime 3, both the music and sound design are very impressive. I wanted to know what went into the decision to drop the main theme established in Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2 in favor of the new main theme for Metroid Prime 3?
Yamamoto-san: Thank you. I believe Retro’s hard work on sound effects and voice, and the early preparation for the project with meetings in Austin, TX, helped with that end result.
Regarding the main theme for each Metroid Prime title being different from each other, as I mentioned earlier, we partially use the arranged previous Metroid theme music in the Metroid Prime series by following the Metroid music creation theory. Therefore, each Metroid Prime has a completely different theme, to expand the variety.
Each game’s universe has a different design as well, so I also had different inspiration for each of them.
M4G: Nintendo is notorious for not releasing soundtrack albums for its flagship titles, even in Japan. While there was Metroid Prime & Metroid Fusion album released years back, are there any plans to release the scores for Metroid Prime 2 or Metroid Prime 3? If there are no plans for a CD release, has anyone considered a digital distribution outlet like iTunes? You have many fans in the United States, and we are eagerly awaiting the release of your recent music.
Yamamoto-san: Please set your mind at ease. Nintendo is not intentionally being stingy with releasing soundtrack albums for our flagship titles. I believe it was just simply not good timing for album release, considering the development schedule and Metroid fans’ demand. As for the Metroid Prime & Metroid Fusion album, I had enough time in my schedule to support the development and studio recording when the record company approached us. I fully supported the CD cover creation as well.
We, Nintendo game sound creators, are not musicians whose main objective is to release albums. We create in-game music and sound effects to enhance the players’ gameplay experience. It’s sort of like we are playing roles of behind-the-scenes architects in game development. Unlike other musicians, our main goal is not about releasing albums. So we didn’t release many soundtrack albums in the past simply because the timing wasn’t right.
I’m very pleased to hear that there are many Metroid fans in the United States. I’m grateful for that, and I would like to thank every one of them from bottom of my heart for loving the Metroid series and having interest in the Metroid music. Thank you so much!
M4G: What would your message be to the long-time series fans out there who have been with the series from the beginning, and have been looking forward to the release of Metroid Prime 3?
Retro Studios: Thank you so much for your patience and your support! We really hope you enjoy playing Metroid Prime 3.
Yamamoto-san: To Metroid fans who have been playing Metroid games for the last 21 years since NES Metroid was released in 1986, Metroid fans who have been playing Metroid games for the last 13 years since Super Metroid was released in 1994, and new fans who have been playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption in 2007 – I truly appreciate the fact that there have been Metroid fans for over 20 years.
I hope you like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and enjoy playing the game all the way through. Thank you very much.
M4G: Is Yamamoto-san at liberty to tell us what’s next for him?
Yamamoto-san: My next project hasn’t been decided yet, but I’m currently already involved in many Nintendo titles’ sound projects. I’m not only a composer, but I’m also taking the role of group manager for the sound development group, just like Mr. Kondo for Mario games. As I also worked on Brain Age titles to decide the music direction, I’m responsible for ensuring the sound quality of many Nintendo titles, making decisions for sound directions, etc.
Of course, I’m sure I’ll be involved in the next Metroid project, as well as whatever other projects require me as the composer.
Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to talk a lot about Metroid Prime sound. I enjoyed it very much.
Again, thank you very much for being such passionate Metroid fans. I hope you will continue being Metroid fans. Thank you!
www.metroid.com
www.retrostudios.com
Jayson Napolitano
>> # top # | Q: Music 4 Games.net
Labels: videogame news
posted by Woodrow at 11/23/2007 02:53:00 AM
0 comments
2007-11-21
Pixelninja - A Professional Cosplayer
Pixelninja is a female photo model from Sweden (at least in her spare time), named Jenni Källberg in real life, who is not only sexy and a beautiful girl but also a fan of videogames and a professional cosplayer. Or semi-professional. Anyway, she looks gorgeous, even in those cardboard costumes =3
Some of her themes include Ayame (Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven), Mio & Mayu ((Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly), several characters from Battle Royale, Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost In The Shell), Leeloo Dallas (5th Element), Saya (Blood: The Last Vampire), and many more but the best costume by far has got to be Samus Aran (Metroid). Magnificent. [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
View the full galleries at Pixelninja.se.
# top # sent by Foifur
Some of her themes include Ayame (Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven), Mio & Mayu ((Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly), several characters from Battle Royale, Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost In The Shell), Leeloo Dallas (5th Element), Saya (Blood: The Last Vampire), and many more but the best costume by far has got to be Samus Aran (Metroid). Magnificent. [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
# top # sent by Foifur
Labels: videogame news
posted by Woodrow at 11/21/2007 12:37:00 AM
0 comments
2007-11-18
2007-11-16
Pro Street Racing - Românian Style
Did you ever wonder how a typical pro street racing scene in Romania would look like? Well, a new website in english has opened introducing in words, pictures and videos Marek 'Street King' Popescu and his world of Bucharest street racing, infamous car-pimping and not to forget the sexy romanian girls. There's even a short car wash clip.
Watch out world, because he's on the lookout for the international competition. [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
click to enter
The style somewhat reminds me of Super Greg ... ;^)
Here's a short introduction. But don't miss the good stuff on the site in form of vids, pictures and even wallpapers ;^)
<<
[...]
This is the only Romanian street race website in English.
I want to race international. Please check out my car and some of the girls of my town on the web page. Enjoy! You will also please see my best enemy Dragos Dacia. He is also a street racer but does not take it serious. I will always beat him. Multumesc!
[...]
>> # top # | Q: Pro Street Romania.ro
sent by absinthOpfer
Watch out world, because he's on the lookout for the international competition. [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
click to enter
The style somewhat reminds me of Super Greg ... ;^)
Here's a short introduction. But don't miss the good stuff on the site in form of vids, pictures and even wallpapers ;^)
<<
[...]
This is the only Romanian street race website in English.
I want to race international. Please check out my car and some of the girls of my town on the web page. Enjoy! You will also please see my best enemy Dragos Dacia. He is also a street racer but does not take it serious. I will always beat him. Multumesc!
[...]
>> # top # | Q: Pro Street Romania.ro
sent by absinthOpfer
Labels: video
posted by Woodrow at 11/16/2007 06:04:00 PM
0 comments
2007-11-14
Ten Rules of Anal Sex
Rather 'Ten Interesting Things To Know About Anal Sex' - if you have no clue at all, yet an irritating unremovable interest.
Yeah, I know: what a lame psoting intro ... eh .. [...]
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Ten Rules of Anal Sex
by Jack Morin, PhD, a San Francisco sex therapist and researcher, who is the author of Anal Pleasure and Health: A Guide for Men and Women.
Anal Eroticism is surrounded by a powerful taboo. Yet millions of men and women - straight, gay and bisexual - are experimenting with anal sex. The anus, richly endowed with nerve endings and interconnected with the main pelvic muscles, is the closest erogenous neighbor of the genitals and contracts rhythmically during orgasm. Thirty-five years ago, Kinsey stated that the anal region had erotic significance for about half of the population. In a survey of 100,000 Playboy readers, 47 percent of the men and 61 percent of the women admitted to having tried anal intercourse.
Yet the anal taboo inhibits most people from thinking, talking and learning about the sexual use of the anus. Listed here are the ten things most men and women still do not know about anal sex.
1. Anal intercourse is the least practiced form of anal sex.
There are many ways to enjoy the anus erotically. The most common techniques include touching the anal opening while masturbating or stimulating a partner's anus during intercourse or oral sex.
Some people enjoy the sensation of a finger - their own or a lover's - insinuated into their anal opening and gently rotated. Others may prefer the insertion of a dildo or vibrator beyond the anal opening and short anal canal into the larger rectum. Many men, including hetereosexuals, prefer this form of penetration.
Oral-anal lovemaking is popularly known as rimming. The very idea disgusts some people. Others enjoy performing it or allowing themselves to be probed in this special way.
2. Anal stimulation, including intercourse, is not painful if done properly.
The belief that anal stimulation, especially intercourse, has to hurt is a persistent and dangerous myth. Just as pain anywhere in the body indicates that something is wrong, so is the same true of the anal area. With its high concentration of nerve endings, the anus can produce extreme agony when it is mistreated. Yet it can be a source of great pleasure.
When a finger, object or penis is intorduced into the anus, the anal muscles go into spasm, as if fighting off an invasion. Pain will result if the partners do not wait for these muscles to relax. Under sufficient stress they will eventually collapse and the pain subside, unless further damage is done. But, any 'pleasure' afforded from this kind of activity derives mostly from the absence of discomfort.
Maximum anal pleasure requires the elimination of all pain or physical trauma from the anal experience. Self-protection on the part of the passive partner involves being ready to say "no" until he or she is ready to proceed. Readiness is a combination of physical relaxation, usually helped along by plenty of leisurely anal touching, and desire.
Occasionally the anal muscles are relaxes, but the passive partner is still not in the mood. Stimulation should mount only in proportion to the degree of receptivity.
3. Anal sex can be enjoyed even if it has been consistently uncomfortable in the past.
Sufficient desire alone does not necessarily guarantee pleasurable anal sex. Nor is an uncomfortable previous experience always the reason for a lack of interest in or desire for anal sex.
Chronic anal tension is the most common cause of anal discomfort during sex. Hemorrhoids and constipation are usually a sign of this condition. Tension can be relieved by touching the anus and becoming more familiar with it. An ideal time to explore the anal opening is while taking a shower or bath. Deep breathing also affects the anal muscles. Tensing the anus and the letting go in another way of learning to relax it. Anyone who enjoys masturbation might want to experiment with some form of anal stimulation, though he or she should stop if any discomfort occurs.
For many people the turning point in anal sex is when they allow a partner to massage the anus with the understanding that intercourse will not be attempted. Then the recipient of anal caresses can concentrate solely on the pleasure that this erogenous zone is capable of generating.
4. Two muscle rings called sphincters surround the anal opening. Each functions independently.
If you insert a finger about one half-inch into your anus and press your fingertip against the side, you can clearly feel the two sphincter muscles. There is less than a quarter-inch between them. The external sphincter is controlled by the central nervous system - just like the muscles of the hand, for example. You can readily tense and relax this sphincter whenever you want.
The internal sphincter is quite different. This muscle is controlled by the involuntary or autonomic part of the nervous system, which governs such functions as heartbeat and stress response.
The internal sphincter reflects and responds to fear and anxiety during anal sex. It will cause the anus to tense up automatically even if the passive partner is trying to relax. Thus, precautions about safety and comfort are essential here.
Even if a person does feel comfortable during anal sex, he or she may still need to learn voluntary control over his or her internal sphincter in order to relax it at will. Doing so requires regularly inserting a finger, perhaps in the shower each day, and feeling the internal sphincter. The muscle changes spontaneously and in response to behavior. In this instance, simply paying attention is more important than trying to relax. Anyone can gradually learn to control the internal sphincter at will.
5. Anal stimulation provides many kinds of pleasure
The highest concentration of nerve endings is around the anal opening itself. A finger can focus on them especailly effectively. When an object or penis is inserted beyond the anal opening into the rectum, other pleasures are involved. The outer protion of the rectum, like the vagina, has several nerve endings. The inner portion responds mostly to pressure.
Some people enjoy the feelings of pressure and fullness once they understand that these sensations do not presage an impending bowel movement. Rectal pressure is especially important to enthusiasts of "fisting," a form of anal sex in which several fingers or een the entire hand and forearm are inserted into the rectum and sometimes into the lower colon.
In men, the protate - which is just beyond the rectal wall, a few inches in, towards the front of the body - can be a source of pleasure when massaged by a finger, an object, or a penis. Also, the lower end of the penis, or "bulb," is near the anal opening opening. It is stimulated indirectly by most types of anal sex.
Anal pleasure can be psychological as well as physical. The anal taboo adds to the thrill of the forbidden. The most common anti-anal message (it's dirty!) sometimes returns as a source of raunchy, sleazy excitement. Rimming enthusiasts may enjoy the feeling that they are being disgustingly - and delightfully - perverse. Other people regard the anus as a secret, special place. Sharing it with a partner is an act of openness and giving.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
6. Anal stimulation can lead to orgasm
A minority of men and women can respond orgasmically to anal sex without direct genital stimulation. Women probably do so through pelvic muscle contractions - and a small minority even though the sheer excitement of being anally penetrated. When men expereience an orgasm from anal stimulation, they tend to focus on the prostate. No doubt they are also responding to indirect stimulation of the penile bulb.
Orgasms from anal stimulation are most likely to occur when the participants become thoroughly absorbed in their sensations and fantasies. An lmost certain way to prevent such an orgasm is to be become determined to have one. Seeking an anal orgasm will create new pressures and disrupt the pleasure.
It must be remembered that most people require direct genital stimulation in order to climax. On the other hand, a few people have orgasms only with anal stimulation.
7. Diet contributes to the enjoyment of anal sex
Regular bowel movements are the major function of the anus and rectum. There must be sufficient fiber in a person's diet to make his or her feces soft, bulky and well formed. This allows a bowel movement to be produced without force or effort. Forced evacuations irritate anal tissues, causing discomfort and adding to muscular tensions. Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains or unprocessed bran are important sources of fiber.
8. Different rules of hygiene apply to the vagina and rectum
Since intercourse can be vaginal or rectal, many people assume the the same rules apply for the penetration of the vagina and rectum. Although both are lined with soft tissue and are capable of expanding, they are radically dissimilar.
The rectum is not straight. After the short anal canal which connects the anal opening to the rectum, the rectum tilts toward the front of the body. A few inches in, it curves back - sometimes as much as 90 degrees. Then, after a few more inches, it swoops toward the front of the body once again. A person can learn about the shape of his or her rectum by gently inserting a soft object, trying different angles and body positions and concentrating on how it feels. Make sure the object has a flared base so that if you loose your grip, it won't slip into the rectum and become irretrievable.
The rectum does not produce lubrication like the vagina but only a small amount of mucus. Therefore, rectal penetration always requires a lubricant. Chemical additives should be avoided. Water-based lubricants are latex-compatible.
The main function of the rectum is to act as a passageway for feces. But feces are not normally stored in the rectum except just prior to a bowel movement. Yet small amounts may remain in the rectum, expecially if the feces are not well formed. Anal douching before lovemaking will help some people especailly concerned with cleanliness to relax. For others the idea of dirtiness heightens the joy of the forbidden; for them, douching is anti-erotic.
9. Anal intercourse is not necessarily an act of dominance and submission.
The top-bottom imagery associated with anal intercourse is widespread. No doubt the belief that anal sex has to hurt contributes to this notion. And in fact some people are intensely excited by top-bottom fantasies about anal sex. The thought that they are submitting to such a degrading act is a terrific thrill. However, actual, not fantasized, anal pain can lead to trouble.
For others, the enjoyment of anal sex is inhibited by top-bottom imagery. The idea of surrendering control, and perhaps submitting to humiliation, causes immediate, protective tensing of the anal muscles. These individuals are more likely to relax and enjoy themselves if they can learn to regard anal sex as pleasurable rather than as an expression of power.
10. Anal sex can be perfectly safe, even beneficial.
The taboo against anal eroticism is perpetuated by the almost universal belief among physicians that anal sex is inevitably dangerous. No physical injury from anal stimulation results if both partners refuse to tolerate pain, never use force and avoid the use of drugs.
All the other risks center on sexually transmitted diseases. Each of the common STDs - gonorrhea, syphillis, herpes - can affect the anus. Intestinal parasites, bacteria or tiny bugs are usually passed along when fecal matter finds its way into someone's mouth or vagina, most likely through rimming.
AIDS has complicated the matter. The HIV virus can pass from the semen or blood of an infected person to the bloodstream of a partner through a tiny break in the rectal tissue during anal intercourse.
To avoid this risk, anal intercourse and rimming should not be practiced casually. Those who do enjoy anal intercourse should always use a condom. Rimming should always be accomplished by a latex barrier. Of course, in a monogamous realtionship with two healthy people, the risk of disease transmitted anally is reduced.
Thousands of men and women with chronic anal medical problems have restored their anal health by challenging their negative attitudes. This approach is indespensible for full erotic enjoyment of the anus.
>> # top # | Q: sexuality.org
sent by Chinanski
Visit the original page for more information on the topic.
Yeah, I know: what a lame psoting intro ... eh .. [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
<<
Ten Rules of Anal Sex
by Jack Morin, PhD, a San Francisco sex therapist and researcher, who is the author of Anal Pleasure and Health: A Guide for Men and Women.
Anal Eroticism is surrounded by a powerful taboo. Yet millions of men and women - straight, gay and bisexual - are experimenting with anal sex. The anus, richly endowed with nerve endings and interconnected with the main pelvic muscles, is the closest erogenous neighbor of the genitals and contracts rhythmically during orgasm. Thirty-five years ago, Kinsey stated that the anal region had erotic significance for about half of the population. In a survey of 100,000 Playboy readers, 47 percent of the men and 61 percent of the women admitted to having tried anal intercourse.
Yet the anal taboo inhibits most people from thinking, talking and learning about the sexual use of the anus. Listed here are the ten things most men and women still do not know about anal sex.
1. Anal intercourse is the least practiced form of anal sex.
There are many ways to enjoy the anus erotically. The most common techniques include touching the anal opening while masturbating or stimulating a partner's anus during intercourse or oral sex.
Some people enjoy the sensation of a finger - their own or a lover's - insinuated into their anal opening and gently rotated. Others may prefer the insertion of a dildo or vibrator beyond the anal opening and short anal canal into the larger rectum. Many men, including hetereosexuals, prefer this form of penetration.
Oral-anal lovemaking is popularly known as rimming. The very idea disgusts some people. Others enjoy performing it or allowing themselves to be probed in this special way.
2. Anal stimulation, including intercourse, is not painful if done properly.
The belief that anal stimulation, especially intercourse, has to hurt is a persistent and dangerous myth. Just as pain anywhere in the body indicates that something is wrong, so is the same true of the anal area. With its high concentration of nerve endings, the anus can produce extreme agony when it is mistreated. Yet it can be a source of great pleasure.
When a finger, object or penis is intorduced into the anus, the anal muscles go into spasm, as if fighting off an invasion. Pain will result if the partners do not wait for these muscles to relax. Under sufficient stress they will eventually collapse and the pain subside, unless further damage is done. But, any 'pleasure' afforded from this kind of activity derives mostly from the absence of discomfort.
Maximum anal pleasure requires the elimination of all pain or physical trauma from the anal experience. Self-protection on the part of the passive partner involves being ready to say "no" until he or she is ready to proceed. Readiness is a combination of physical relaxation, usually helped along by plenty of leisurely anal touching, and desire.
Occasionally the anal muscles are relaxes, but the passive partner is still not in the mood. Stimulation should mount only in proportion to the degree of receptivity.
3. Anal sex can be enjoyed even if it has been consistently uncomfortable in the past.
Sufficient desire alone does not necessarily guarantee pleasurable anal sex. Nor is an uncomfortable previous experience always the reason for a lack of interest in or desire for anal sex.
Chronic anal tension is the most common cause of anal discomfort during sex. Hemorrhoids and constipation are usually a sign of this condition. Tension can be relieved by touching the anus and becoming more familiar with it. An ideal time to explore the anal opening is while taking a shower or bath. Deep breathing also affects the anal muscles. Tensing the anus and the letting go in another way of learning to relax it. Anyone who enjoys masturbation might want to experiment with some form of anal stimulation, though he or she should stop if any discomfort occurs.
For many people the turning point in anal sex is when they allow a partner to massage the anus with the understanding that intercourse will not be attempted. Then the recipient of anal caresses can concentrate solely on the pleasure that this erogenous zone is capable of generating.
4. Two muscle rings called sphincters surround the anal opening. Each functions independently.
If you insert a finger about one half-inch into your anus and press your fingertip against the side, you can clearly feel the two sphincter muscles. There is less than a quarter-inch between them. The external sphincter is controlled by the central nervous system - just like the muscles of the hand, for example. You can readily tense and relax this sphincter whenever you want.
The internal sphincter is quite different. This muscle is controlled by the involuntary or autonomic part of the nervous system, which governs such functions as heartbeat and stress response.
The internal sphincter reflects and responds to fear and anxiety during anal sex. It will cause the anus to tense up automatically even if the passive partner is trying to relax. Thus, precautions about safety and comfort are essential here.
Even if a person does feel comfortable during anal sex, he or she may still need to learn voluntary control over his or her internal sphincter in order to relax it at will. Doing so requires regularly inserting a finger, perhaps in the shower each day, and feeling the internal sphincter. The muscle changes spontaneously and in response to behavior. In this instance, simply paying attention is more important than trying to relax. Anyone can gradually learn to control the internal sphincter at will.
5. Anal stimulation provides many kinds of pleasure
The highest concentration of nerve endings is around the anal opening itself. A finger can focus on them especailly effectively. When an object or penis is inserted beyond the anal opening into the rectum, other pleasures are involved. The outer protion of the rectum, like the vagina, has several nerve endings. The inner portion responds mostly to pressure.
Some people enjoy the feelings of pressure and fullness once they understand that these sensations do not presage an impending bowel movement. Rectal pressure is especially important to enthusiasts of "fisting," a form of anal sex in which several fingers or een the entire hand and forearm are inserted into the rectum and sometimes into the lower colon.
In men, the protate - which is just beyond the rectal wall, a few inches in, towards the front of the body - can be a source of pleasure when massaged by a finger, an object, or a penis. Also, the lower end of the penis, or "bulb," is near the anal opening opening. It is stimulated indirectly by most types of anal sex.
Anal pleasure can be psychological as well as physical. The anal taboo adds to the thrill of the forbidden. The most common anti-anal message (it's dirty!) sometimes returns as a source of raunchy, sleazy excitement. Rimming enthusiasts may enjoy the feeling that they are being disgustingly - and delightfully - perverse. Other people regard the anus as a secret, special place. Sharing it with a partner is an act of openness and giving.
[ Woody's Checkpoint: # top # ]
6. Anal stimulation can lead to orgasm
A minority of men and women can respond orgasmically to anal sex without direct genital stimulation. Women probably do so through pelvic muscle contractions - and a small minority even though the sheer excitement of being anally penetrated. When men expereience an orgasm from anal stimulation, they tend to focus on the prostate. No doubt they are also responding to indirect stimulation of the penile bulb.
Orgasms from anal stimulation are most likely to occur when the participants become thoroughly absorbed in their sensations and fantasies. An lmost certain way to prevent such an orgasm is to be become determined to have one. Seeking an anal orgasm will create new pressures and disrupt the pleasure.
It must be remembered that most people require direct genital stimulation in order to climax. On the other hand, a few people have orgasms only with anal stimulation.
7. Diet contributes to the enjoyment of anal sex
Regular bowel movements are the major function of the anus and rectum. There must be sufficient fiber in a person's diet to make his or her feces soft, bulky and well formed. This allows a bowel movement to be produced without force or effort. Forced evacuations irritate anal tissues, causing discomfort and adding to muscular tensions. Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains or unprocessed bran are important sources of fiber.
8. Different rules of hygiene apply to the vagina and rectum
Since intercourse can be vaginal or rectal, many people assume the the same rules apply for the penetration of the vagina and rectum. Although both are lined with soft tissue and are capable of expanding, they are radically dissimilar.
The rectum is not straight. After the short anal canal which connects the anal opening to the rectum, the rectum tilts toward the front of the body. A few inches in, it curves back - sometimes as much as 90 degrees. Then, after a few more inches, it swoops toward the front of the body once again. A person can learn about the shape of his or her rectum by gently inserting a soft object, trying different angles and body positions and concentrating on how it feels. Make sure the object has a flared base so that if you loose your grip, it won't slip into the rectum and become irretrievable.
The rectum does not produce lubrication like the vagina but only a small amount of mucus. Therefore, rectal penetration always requires a lubricant. Chemical additives should be avoided. Water-based lubricants are latex-compatible.
The main function of the rectum is to act as a passageway for feces. But feces are not normally stored in the rectum except just prior to a bowel movement. Yet small amounts may remain in the rectum, expecially if the feces are not well formed. Anal douching before lovemaking will help some people especailly concerned with cleanliness to relax. For others the idea of dirtiness heightens the joy of the forbidden; for them, douching is anti-erotic.
9. Anal intercourse is not necessarily an act of dominance and submission.
The top-bottom imagery associated with anal intercourse is widespread. No doubt the belief that anal sex has to hurt contributes to this notion. And in fact some people are intensely excited by top-bottom fantasies about anal sex. The thought that they are submitting to such a degrading act is a terrific thrill. However, actual, not fantasized, anal pain can lead to trouble.
For others, the enjoyment of anal sex is inhibited by top-bottom imagery. The idea of surrendering control, and perhaps submitting to humiliation, causes immediate, protective tensing of the anal muscles. These individuals are more likely to relax and enjoy themselves if they can learn to regard anal sex as pleasurable rather than as an expression of power.
10. Anal sex can be perfectly safe, even beneficial.
The taboo against anal eroticism is perpetuated by the almost universal belief among physicians that anal sex is inevitably dangerous. No physical injury from anal stimulation results if both partners refuse to tolerate pain, never use force and avoid the use of drugs.
All the other risks center on sexually transmitted diseases. Each of the common STDs - gonorrhea, syphillis, herpes - can affect the anus. Intestinal parasites, bacteria or tiny bugs are usually passed along when fecal matter finds its way into someone's mouth or vagina, most likely through rimming.
AIDS has complicated the matter. The HIV virus can pass from the semen or blood of an infected person to the bloodstream of a partner through a tiny break in the rectal tissue during anal intercourse.
To avoid this risk, anal intercourse and rimming should not be practiced casually. Those who do enjoy anal intercourse should always use a condom. Rimming should always be accomplished by a latex barrier. Of course, in a monogamous realtionship with two healthy people, the risk of disease transmitted anally is reduced.
Thousands of men and women with chronic anal medical problems have restored their anal health by challenging their negative attitudes. This approach is indespensible for full erotic enjoyment of the anus.
>> # top # | Q: sexuality.org
sent by Chinanski
Visit the original page for more information on the topic.
Labels: sex
posted by Woodrow at 11/14/2007 06:07:00 PM
0 comments
2007-11-12
Halloween clamps & 1oo+-button-remotes
The glorious developers and innovators at Art Lebedev have invented two new objects that I want to show you, a bat shaped Clamp for Halloween and a TV remote you won't see often ;^) [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
Vespertilium clothes-peg
<<
Release date: 27.10.2007
Cast:
art director
Artemy Lebedev
designer
Yegor Zhgun
industrial designers
Timur Burbayev
Cornelius Comanns
Martin Zampach
modeller
Alexey Zalata
manager
Andrey Voronkov
>> # top # | Q: Art Lebedev.com
Pultius TV remote control
<<
"Problem. Design a remote control with as many buttons as there are channels on TV."
Pultius remote is half a meter (almost 20 inches) long.
Release date: 05.10.2007
Cast:
art director
Artemy Lebedev
designer
Anton Shnaider
industrial designer
Alexey Sharshakov
imposer
Zhdan Filippov
modeller
Alexey Zalata
manager
Andrey Voronkov
>> # top # | Q: Art Lebedev.com
(show me)(don't show me)
Vespertilium clothes-peg
Release date: 27.10.2007
Cast:
art director
Artemy Lebedev
designer
Yegor Zhgun
industrial designers
Timur Burbayev
Cornelius Comanns
Martin Zampach
modeller
Alexey Zalata
manager
Andrey Voronkov
>> # top # | Q: Art Lebedev.com
Pultius TV remote control
"Problem. Design a remote control with as many buttons as there are channels on TV."
Pultius remote is half a meter (almost 20 inches) long.
Release date: 05.10.2007
Cast:
art director
Artemy Lebedev
designer
Anton Shnaider
industrial designer
Alexey Sharshakov
imposer
Zhdan Filippov
modeller
Alexey Zalata
manager
Andrey Voronkov
>> # top # | Q: Art Lebedev.com
Labels: new technology
posted by Woodrow at 11/12/2007 04:58:00 PM
0 comments
2007-11-11
Quiz-Shows - harmful to your body as predicted by professional physicians
Yep, yep, yep, it sure is puke-worthy, this television program of today with all those disturbing quiz shows during the night - I easily get spontaneous headaches when I watch these - but do they actually have to do it on air? ;^p [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
At least she can laugh about herself ;^)
(show me)(don't show me)
At least she can laugh about herself ;^)
Quiz Moderatorin kotzt
# top # sent by #PinkDevils (Undernet) Labels: video
posted by Woodrow at 11/11/2007 12:39:00 PM
0 comments
Metroid 3: Completion
I did it, I finally did it! I beat a Metroid game with 1oo % and I did not use any walkthrough or game guide, and with that I unlocked the not all too spectacular but still unlock-worthy full ending that reveals ... well, not too much. It took me 2o hrs. 12 min. on the "Veteran" difficulty to beat Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - I'm so proud of myself. No guide!! [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
But I must admit, it was partly due to the low difficulty of the game. Unlike previous games of the franchise you don't have to scan everything to achieve 1oo % - which would have been a serious problem for me, without a game guide, I mean, because I seemed to have missed some things. But whoa, wait a minute, that was the actual difficult difficulty? How easy must "Normal" be, then? ... well, although I'm complaining here about the lame difficulty I don't feel any urge to start the game with the newly unlocked "Hypermode"-difficulty. Maybe later, after the IR described below.
Now, overall I must say I was disappointed at first but I really like this game now that I've finished it. The new control scheme with the Wiimote works quite well for this kind of game but I doubt that it will revolutionize the gaming world of the Wii™ as it is too much developed specifically for this game. I mean, I can't imagine a "Medal Of Honor", for instance, with a lock-on target system.
On the other hand I thought it was interesting that there were so many buttons left on the Wiimote. There was even a hint button - totally pointless in my opinion; nothing that wouldn't have worked as an in-menu thing.
And talking about the menu, I really missed the sleek and sexy menu system of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. This mystic sphere fascinated me right from the first second. Sadly it was replaced by a pretty generic textual menu :^( And to top this nonsense-trash-commenting-sequence of mine off, I really have to say that I liked the main menu background of the first Metroid Prime the most. The warm reddish Metroid camera flights were much more comfortable than the cool blue/white medical microscope-views of some bugs that was used in the succeeding games. And don't forget the music in that first part that made me run shivers down my spine. Mmmh (-__- )
Oh, and btw, including this hypermode might have given the game a nice unique touch but it made an easy game much easier, IMHO.
Anyway, now it's time for the obligatory succeeding information retrieval. I already read about some fighting techniques that would have been handy against certain enemies or in general. I just didn't think of them myself. Unfortunately ;^) Well, I can't wait to watch the Speed Run for this game. As I remember with the previous games they always tend to be quite astounding.
So, time to get back to Zelda - apart from the many much rupee involving side quests there's only one boss left ... maybe I'll drop a word or two about that one, too.
# top #
(show me)(don't show me)
But I must admit, it was partly due to the low difficulty of the game. Unlike previous games of the franchise you don't have to scan everything to achieve 1oo % - which would have been a serious problem for me, without a game guide, I mean, because I seemed to have missed some things. But whoa, wait a minute, that was the actual difficult difficulty? How easy must "Normal" be, then? ... well, although I'm complaining here about the lame difficulty I don't feel any urge to start the game with the newly unlocked "Hypermode"-difficulty. Maybe later, after the IR described below.
Now, overall I must say I was disappointed at first but I really like this game now that I've finished it. The new control scheme with the Wiimote works quite well for this kind of game but I doubt that it will revolutionize the gaming world of the Wii™ as it is too much developed specifically for this game. I mean, I can't imagine a "Medal Of Honor", for instance, with a lock-on target system.
On the other hand I thought it was interesting that there were so many buttons left on the Wiimote. There was even a hint button - totally pointless in my opinion; nothing that wouldn't have worked as an in-menu thing.
And talking about the menu, I really missed the sleek and sexy menu system of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. This mystic sphere fascinated me right from the first second. Sadly it was replaced by a pretty generic textual menu :^( And to top this nonsense-trash-commenting-sequence of mine off, I really have to say that I liked the main menu background of the first Metroid Prime the most. The warm reddish Metroid camera flights were much more comfortable than the cool blue/white medical microscope-views of some bugs that was used in the succeeding games. And don't forget the music in that first part that made me run shivers down my spine. Mmmh (-__- )
Oh, and btw, including this hypermode might have given the game a nice unique touch but it made an easy game much easier, IMHO.
Anyway, now it's time for the obligatory succeeding information retrieval. I already read about some fighting techniques that would have been handy against certain enemies or in general. I just didn't think of them myself. Unfortunately ;^) Well, I can't wait to watch the Speed Run for this game. As I remember with the previous games they always tend to be quite astounding.
So, time to get back to Zelda - apart from the many much rupee involving side quests there's only one boss left ... maybe I'll drop a word or two about that one, too.
# top #
Labels: personal, vg review, videogame news
posted by Woodrow at 11/11/2007 12:26:00 PM
0 comments
2007-11-03
Rainbow Partays
Damn those over-panicking hyper-dominant american parents: do their evilest and most frightning nightmares always have to turn me on like this? I mean, I wish this infernal imaginative hobby of nowaday teen girls explained further below would be real - how sexy would that be? But as there's nuttin' 'boot it in the iNet I highly sincerely declare this as a fake.
And btw, what's with this "let's create a new mass fear to make the parental mob break loose again"-thing? Are they tired of bombing faraway countries? Isn't there any good place in this shitty earth ...? [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
<<
"This 'phenomenon' has all the classic hallmarks of a moral panic, ... One day we have never heard of rainbow parties and then suddenly they are everywhere, feeding on adults' fears that morally bankrupt sexuality among teens is rampant, despite any actual evidence, as well as evidence to the contrary." [1] [...]
The rainbow party was first publicized in October 2003 on the Oprah episode "Is Your Child Leading a Double Life?", which was about the perceived trend of increasing sexual promiscuity among American youth and the lack of parental awareness of the supposed sexual practices of their children. A guest, who claimed to be aware of teenagers' sexual habits, claimed (among other things) that teens engaged in "rainbow parties" in which fellatio is performed on one boy or several boys in sequence by girls wearing various colours of lipstick, thus leaving a "rainbow" of colors on each boy's penis. According to the report, girls reportedly enjoy the competitive aspect of the event by using the lipstick to essentially "mark" the depth of penetration, treating the sex play as a contest of sorts; guys participate because of the pleasure received, and also in a competitive manner to see who could "complete" the rainbow. Some experts have labeled this show as lurid pseudo-journalism designed to exploit parents' fears about their children.[2]
>> # top # | Q: Wikipedia (2oo7-11-o3)
And btw, what's with this "let's create a new mass fear to make the parental mob break loose again"-thing? Are they tired of bombing faraway countries? Isn't there any good place in this shitty earth ...? [...]
(show me)(don't show me)
<<
"This 'phenomenon' has all the classic hallmarks of a moral panic, ... One day we have never heard of rainbow parties and then suddenly they are everywhere, feeding on adults' fears that morally bankrupt sexuality among teens is rampant, despite any actual evidence, as well as evidence to the contrary." [1] [...]
The rainbow party was first publicized in October 2003 on the Oprah episode "Is Your Child Leading a Double Life?", which was about the perceived trend of increasing sexual promiscuity among American youth and the lack of parental awareness of the supposed sexual practices of their children. A guest, who claimed to be aware of teenagers' sexual habits, claimed (among other things) that teens engaged in "rainbow parties" in which fellatio is performed on one boy or several boys in sequence by girls wearing various colours of lipstick, thus leaving a "rainbow" of colors on each boy's penis. According to the report, girls reportedly enjoy the competitive aspect of the event by using the lipstick to essentially "mark" the depth of penetration, treating the sex play as a contest of sorts; guys participate because of the pleasure received, and also in a competitive manner to see who could "complete" the rainbow. Some experts have labeled this show as lurid pseudo-journalism designed to exploit parents' fears about their children.[2]
>> # top # | Q: Wikipedia (2oo7-11-o3)
Labels: sex
posted by Woodrow at 11/03/2007 04:53:00 PM
0 comments
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2 Comments:
oh sind die süüüüss.. die kotzenden Katzen ;)
Aber bei den "Mama"-Lauten hat doch das Studio in der Nachvertonung nachgeholfen, oder?
jep, das denke ich auch.
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