Whispering Rogue

Us Vs Them : I'm sorry dave you can't do that

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:44:00 +0000

There seems to be something very wrong with our digital consumer systems when they both encourage us to buy content for our brand new digital devices yet copyright restrict them to certain regions.

I thought we'd gotten past this with DVD and it's region locking saga. Sony was the only real advocate of these region locking systems and by doing so lost out on a lot of sales of their players as they were the only ones enforcing these "industry agreed upon" rules. Sony was one of the only manufacturers of DVD players to also have ownership of the copyright for most of the content that would be viewed on the players. It was a system designed to stop piracy. It failed.

The end result of this saga was that the consumer demanded from the manufacturer that their DVD player be region free so that it could play discs not from with in their region. The consumer wanted to buy from either online or other sources content that the retailers / publishers couldn't or wouldn't provide for their regions.

The next generation of disk players has arrived with Bluray and low and behold they are a world wide region player. (notably from every brand on the market sony included). Though the format is losing out to digital download with more consumers jumping on the ease of use vs quality band wagon.

We come to the crux of my rage, eBooks & iTunes.

Apple is probably the best at delivery of digital content right now (through iTunes) and that's a scary thing. They're in a similar place to that of Sony at the beginning of the DVD age. They are the biggest seller of devices that playback digital entertainment. The iPod, iPad and iPhone are the most sold electronic consumer items the world has ever seen. Their ease of use as well as the integration of these products with their software interface iTunes and the library of content that iTunes store holds is why consumers have bought into it. However it is with in the library of content that we find our problem. There are different iTune stores for different regions and so again we have publishers and big entertainment studios limiting the consumer from accessing content that they may desire.

This is also happening within the eBook publishing market. Major players such as Amazon and Google are limiting download of content that consumers wish to buy due to copyright region restriction.

Now it may just be me but I thought this was supposed to be the information age?! If there is a demand for content and people wanting to purchase said content than sure the digital distribution system should not be hindered by these road blocks being put in place by both Governments failing to stay with the times and also the publisher inadequate management to make it available to all at the same time. The technology is here and has been for some years now. In Australia we have free trade with the USA and yet the region lock is still in effect and this confuses and enrages me to no end. If the publishers want to the general public becoming involved within piracy the the simple answer is to make content more readily available to all consumers for a reasonable price and they will make the billions of dollars that they are seeking. Again the consumer is more often than not a share holder of these major companies. Surely the shareholders of such companies should be up in arms over the lost billions that poor management by these companies and their lack of understanding the consumer has brought. Everyone is loosing at the moment.

There is a solution but perhaps it more than anything shows how the previous age is still so reluctant to embrace the new and the now.

Stop Idiocy Today

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:08:00 +0000

So when we have such excellent sites producing content that is providing solutions for most of the worlds issues and problems like the site TED.com why is it that shows such as Australia's Next Top Model and Australian X Factor are getting air time. We are surely lowering the bar for intelligence in our future generations. If this is the pinnacle of our talent and what we as a society hold to be the most valued aspect then we are surely headed for Idiocracy.

This may sound like a rant that has come before from some sort of old fart but to be honest it's not wrong. Yes there is room for man getting hit in crotch with whatever but it shouldn't be held as something to aspire to. These days there seems to be an increasing tendency towards stupidity and shooting y those that have a brain. Let us not follow the path of main stream America where consumption of crap is the be all end all. Let us not say yes to putting drill stations in our front yard for a measly $100,000 without realizing that doing so will poison our water supplies making them unusable for the next 100 plus years. This is happening right now. Watch GASLAND and tell me why is it that the USA is the country that we look to lead the world.

i guess my point is stop being so god damn dumb. If you reward idiots you are enabling them to continue the process season after season. By the time we're ready to revolt it'll be too late because we'll all be mindless idiot zombies.

The Rogue Blender Ep 9 - It's a Gas Gas Gas

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:06:00 +0000

Download Here

Flamingo by Brandon Flower An album with all the bells and whistles.

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:30:00 +0000

I’ve been a huge Killers fan since the tender age of 14. I remember them coming out to play in Sydney on my 15th birthday and not being able to go because I was “too young”. So obviously Brandon Flowers is my dream man and I’ve been super excited for this release for a long time. I may or may not be slightly biased but let me tell you, this album does not disappoint.

Flamingo is the solo debut for Vegas native Brandon Flowers. It was not far from being a new Killers album and you can tell. It is very similar to their latest release Day and Age (both albums sporting the same producer) except is highly influenced by Brandon’s Mormon beliefs. The lyrics are a lot preachier than the Killers stuff. On The Floor is a prime example of this. It is a beautifully haunting gospel song complete with choir. With lyrics like “On the floor, facing the things I’ve done here”. It is perfect for any church attending square. But the rest of the album is so much more than that.

Flowers is a confessed Anglophile who lists some of his influences as New Order, The Cure, Oasis and Depeche Mode and you can tell, especially with his use of tinny synths and hook-heavy 80’s inspired rock. This is also prominent in most of the Killers releases except for Sam’s Town which has more of a rocky vibe.

You would never label Flowers as a country singer but he does it very well especially in the song The Clock Was Tickin’. One assumes this is a song about his mother who died earlier this year. The song, although upbeat in tempo has very dark and depressing lyrics which Flowers has a habit of doing, but he does it very subtly and the songs still seem very cheery.

Ignoring the ridiculous preachy lyrics, the music is aurally pleasing featuring goose bump inspiring climaxes, impeccable backing vocals and countless amounts of instruments which supply the listener with a lot of variety. Flowers’ voice has not changed since Hot Fuss, he is still as versatile and some (mainly myself) would say as perfect as ever.

Definitely recommended for hardcore Killers fans and lovers of upbeat Mormon inspired gospel songs, but why don’t you make up your own mind?

Review by Sarah Keast

Rogue Blender 08 (Blend it like Beckham)

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:53:00 +0000

PODCAST Link Dump (aka shit we talked about in the podcast)
MR Wolf

Bruce Campbell Old Spice Ad

The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.

Don't Even Reply, Disguised Weapons

Don't Even Reply, Kittens for my Tiger

Young Liberals should be more like this

The Last Cavalry

Diarrhea

Better Marriage Blanket

Natures butter apparently not Avocado or Butter

American beer prices

Justin Bieber looks like a lesbian

Steven Colbert

Gas in your backyard

Ps. The drinking game we played for the two games before the Australia Game, You drink when - the ball goes out, shots on goal, scull when goal is scored or card is given.

Carte Blanche for PC

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Carte Blanche for PC

Wow, that @!*&% sucked. But, being an adventure gamer down to my black little soul, I HAD to buy it- you know how it is. It’s not as though this game was god-awful….much… but it was far from anything that resembled goodness! It’s like the developers were not paying very close attention and this game just ended up on the shelves by accident, awaiting some poor schmuck (me) to pick it up, shrug her shoulders and mutter “Why not?”

GAMEPLAY
According to the back of the box, this game was meant to play out in a 1950’s film noir style, but this was nothing like I consider film noir to be- The Maltese Falcon, for example, is FILM NOIR, not this bullshit! The gameplay was really easy- there was no hands-on inventory, so all you had to do was right click on anything that lit up and select what you wanted to do from the drop-down menu- And to make things easier, the game automatically showed the only things you COULD do, ie. Right-click on the Iguana, all you could do was PET it. Aww, I wanted to lick it, goddammit! Since you don’t actually have to work out a single thing for yourself, this game was SOO easy it hurt my brain but for $10 off eBay, it was bearable, and it would go right back there if anyone had ever heard of it!

GRAPHICS
These are done completely in black and white, intentionally, to keep in with the whole noir-scene but are really quite shoddy. Ridiculously simple and boring, everyone has a square head and complete lack of detail in any of their physical features, and at other times everything just blends in together Again, these were tolerable but were in no way a saving grace for this game. ”Turn it off! Turn it of! It’s burning my eyes!”

MUSIC
Holy &*$@! Bugger the music, the voice-acting (if it’s even legal to call it that!) was so f**king awful I wanted to scream!! I have NEVER, in all my 20+ years of gaming, heard anything so…Awful, horrendous… downright POISONOUS to the aural senses!! These developers should be banned from ever going anywhere near a computer again and should be tarred and feathered. Thank holy hell that I could turn the sound off, but even though the volume was off I could still hear the screeching of the characters ringing in the back of my head. I could almost guarantee it was the same worthless human being voicing all the dreadful and regrettable characters, except that the credits proved me wrong. It was lazy, uncoordinated, sloppy, shithouse and excruciating. And looking back on the music, that barely fit the stage either- I was thinking Sam Spade music- you know, the music of the old 50’s detective movies- eerie and sneaky. Man, this game fell so far short it’s unbelievable.

Luckily, this game was only the 1st chapter of this on-going monstrosity, so I didn’t waste my day on a whole game, but it will be a hot day in Auckland when I think of this game again! Pure Crap. Don’t even bother! “Would you like to import your character to play in the next chapter? --Yes, please! --No @*&%! Way!! (It’s as if they knew, deep down, this is one of the worst adventure game of the 21st Century, and I concur!)

TTFN- Ta Ta For Now! Shade.

NO REALLY, DON'T PANIC!! (but your island holiday is on hold)

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:56:00 +0000

An Island in the Sun is our ideal culture in this country. A care free place where all are happy and life is full of drinks with little umbrellas in them. Ooops, just when you thought it was over we now have a week plus till a minority government can be formed. To be totally honest it'll be a minority Labor Government because Tony Abbott and the LIB/NATS have done the damage but aren't stupid enough to try and form a Minority Government. It's just not their style though they will feign trying to put one together to save face. Iron fist rule is more their doctrine.

So this leaves us with a much weaker Labor Government for the next 6 - 12 months, enough time for all parties to get on the saving spree for the following election after the inevitable double dissolution due to more than likely a new E.T.S. based on a deal with the Greens or Some sort of further taxation reform with a sneaky issue tact on to the bill.

Dissolution should be the war cry of this past election and pretty much the state of the world in general. Apathy is also at an all time high with Australians casting more informal or donkey votes than ever before. The public though can only be partially blamed for this sense of general MEHness as no politician or issue as been displayed in a way that could evoke passion from the electorate. Not only that but clearly the big issue is there is no strong leadership anymore in this country or around the world. We have left behind our passions and the ideologies for a more politically correct world in which we are left with bland beige rhetoric to which no one is willing to support or listen to.

An Island in the Sun is our ideal culture in this country. A care free place where all are happy and life is full of drinks with little umbrellas in them. There in perhaps lies our problem maybe we are the country that is to care free? Where is the line drawn between she'll be right mate and the point where we've so much apathy that we're now up shit creek and will be paddling around in it for the foreseeable future.

Incase you haven't seen it here is The Chinese Sims with their Election Campaign Recap.

Remote 3

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:04:00 +0000

Remote 3 is finally uploaded. Had fun with this one especially Debbie's part.

See It Here

DON'T PANIC!!

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:24:00 +0000

DON'T PANIC!!

As we now have less than a week till Australia heads to the polls to decide who will lead the Country for the next few years I felt that I needed to let you know that all is not lost. Nevermind either Labor or Liberals "Pacific Solution" we here at Whispering Rogue have our own "Pacific Solution". What is this grand plan you may ask? Well it involves hammocks, little umbrella's in drinks and a warmer climate for those that don't want to stick around for either of these parties to fuck things up.

THIS THIS

In what has been a shit election campaign by both sides with both having actual zero policies that have any positive outlook for Australia, the clear outcome is that though we may love this land it is perhaps time for us to move forward off to a better option. So divide up the borders have a spot where you can put all those whom are believers of one side of the spectrum and then have the supporters of the other on the other side of the border and get a nice cold war going whilst the rest of us bugger off for some nice drinks withe the little umbrellas and properly chill out in an Island Paradise. Because what was our Island Paradise has been trashed and all that we have left to choose from is the best of a bad bunch.

If you're fed up with this lot then I say at least a 3 year holiday is in order till we get something better. Vote Rogue next Weekend and we'll see you on the island.

Drawn: The Painted Tower for PC

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:36:00 +0000

Drawn: The Painted Tower for PC

I couldn’t help it- A princess with a magical talent for drawing pictures that are gateways to new worlds, c’mon, you’re intrigued too! I frequently download many adventure games from BigFish.com, as they have all the wonderful quirky adventure games that are never fully released in Australia. That being said, Drawn: The Painted Tower was actually boxed up and sold in stores, but (as always) they’re just copying the Americans. Pfft, what else is new?

ANYWAY, I had to try this game out, and here’s my conclusion.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is VERY simple, even for a Point n’ Click, but I was far more interested in the story behind this game and the whole magical painting scenario and most veterans of this genre will be too. I think. I hope. Please!! Floating from room to room, the goal is to find the missing pieces of the paintings and then interact with the picture in some way, which I found quick and easy yet very fun to play, with some quirky characters and an in-built hint system (which you shouldn’t need really)

GRAPHICS

The graphics were lovely- colourful, simple, detailed- and made playing this simple game more enjoyable than based on the gameplay alone. Don’t get wrong, the animation is very ‘pretty’ but in a very pleasant way and there was no other way I would’ve rather spent my Sunday afternoon.

MUSIC

The voice-acting was somewhat in-frequent which disappointed me somewhat but nevertheless it fit the characters well, and added an extra sweetness to the game- except maybe the raging fireplace. The music as also quaint, since the game is about ascending a tower and saving a princess, the game has more of an eerie silence about it, but the background noise of the paintings or the music of the wizards was beautifully done and completed the lovely package of Drawn.

STORYLINE

I know I’ve been saying “Save a magical princess’ but keep in mind the princess is about 8 and she has been kidnapped due to her magical ability. The entire game has a classic fairytale feel about it, but that is no reason to shrug it off! It’s one of those games I feel every gamer should have a crack at, or every veteran adventure gamer like myself. We’d all like to play our FAVOURITE games ALL the time, but every now and then we need to see what the other half plays. And, quite f rankly, there are little surprises everywhere.

You might feel this game can be finished and sold of immediately, and that’s fine, just try not to think this game is something that it’s not and you (hopefully) should find it as sweet and enjoyable as I did.

(As mentioned above, I often download games from BigFish.com for around $8 for a full adventure game, it is an awesome sight to discover completely new games, or to find old games you can’t get in Oz anymore, and to have gaming experiences you won’t find in Aussie stores)

TTFN

Shade