God dammit! I'm turning into a Gamer!!

Hi everyone.

First, accept my numerous apologies for how long it's taken me to update this. My laptop has decided it doesn't want to work and I've had to mail it off to be fixed twice. Stupid POS! But in the time I've been away from the internet...I think I've been turning into a gamer!

Oh Noes!!!!!

Ok, explaination.

When I first came to be a fan of Splinter Cell what attracted me was...well...ok fine...Michael Ironside to be honest. But the second thing was how entertaining the series was as a whole. If the SC movie gets off the ground it will be awesome if done right. Then the novels have all been best sellers as well (But we will be talking more about the novels later.) People would ask me about other series and I'm like, "Well I don't really play other games. I just like SC for the story." But...with my laptop down I have been playing other games and I'm loving some of them.

The tactical stylings of R6:V and GRAW are really not my style in the sense of the campaign mode, but I love to play them with people online, as well as my beloved Fisherists. In Vegas...call me Sgt. Major Fiest. :)



Also, I have found myself seriously addicted to the demo of Dead Rising. In the weeks since I've discovered the game I am growing more impatient waiting for payday to come so I can get it!



Also, I have discovered an old PSOne classic in the form of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from the XBL Marketplace. Wow. I read somewhere that SOTN is considered one of the best games available on PSOne and I can definatley see why. The game is incredible. And looking at it, considering how young gaming was at that time, I can almost promise that game was down right scandalous. Like...I bet there was a serious uprising from the Chatholic League or something. I mean, that game has to be atleast worse than the Chocolate Jesus, right?



I guess my turning back into a gamer was inevitable. I mean I was a huge Mario, Duck Hunt, Adventure Island, Donkey Kong and Contra nerd in the days of NES. I guess the old saying about the butterfly is true. If you let it go and it comes back...you will have it forever.

Also, I want to take this time to say Holy...Shit....

For those who cant imagine why I would say something like that I would suggest you check the TFS Forums. But for those of you who are too lazy...

Myself, as well as two of my friends are going to be featured in the next Splinter Cell novel.

If you go to the forums and find users (Fisherist) LoneInTheDark and Warrior0fLight...these are my friends Alysyn and Robert. After much thought on the part of author David Michaels, he has decided to make them into characters...and I'm just thrilled.

Alysyn is a friend that just can't be replaced. The thing I love most about her is she is working on a PhD in Psych..so when I need to talk to her I get her POV as a friend as well as a psych professional. Awesome.

Robert is someone who I have known for just as long as I have been at the Ubi forums and I'm happy to get to do something for him. He's just awesome and I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.

What's even more ironic is both of them were my coop partners! Robert was my coop partner in CT and Alysyn was my coop partner in XBox version of Double Agent.

And as to myself, well David Michaels is just the nicest guy ever and he seems to think I have done alot to directly serve the franchise so he is not naming a character after me...but actually writing me into the story. I don't have any info on how yet, but as you can imagine I am estatic. I will post more info on the book situation as it becomes available!

Anyway, I hope the next post won't take as long to make. Thanks for reading, and TTYL.

BTW, since this is a girl gamers site I just have to ask...is it just me or does Nick Carter get hotter and hotter every year?

Review of “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Checkmate”

Proving that Sam Fisher is truly a character that will be appreciated for a long time to come, the “Splinter Cell” series has moved beyond the world of video games, and has gone on to be a best selling novel series as well.

When Raymond Benson stepped aside as the first “David Michaels”, Sam found himself looking for a new author. Someone new has stepped in and believe me, the new guy is definitely worthy of writing the exploits of our beloved Third Echelon operative.

I had a chance to pick up some of the new authors previous works and I was happy to see that his style would serve Sam well. Also, the author stated in our initial interview that he spent time as a member of the US Navy and you can defiantly see it in his writing. For example, in Checkmate there is a lot of military language but he does go out of his way to explain it to the reader. You will see things like, “P.P.P.P.P.P.”, “E.W.O.” and “K.I.S.S.” all through the book, but rest assured, it will be explained. It helps the reader immerse herself in the book without getting lost in confusing jargon.

The first David Michaels, as we all know, had previously written the last six James Bond novels, giving the SC books a “spy” feel. The new author, a long time military man, gives the books more of a military feel. As to which is better is a matter of opinion, but the new novels’ military feel will open the series to a new audience.

Also, about three-fourths of the way through Sam finds himself on the Osprey and the ride will get a bit bumpy. The description of the events is done so well that you will find yourself airsick! That was easily one of my favorite parts of the book. Very high intensity. I like high intensity...

Unlike the first two books, this one is written in third person point of view. I was a bit concerned about that going into it because I’ve always felt the books are the medium that allowed Sam to be fleshed out as a person. I liked the first person as I felt I truly was getting into Sam’s head. The reason for the third person POV is understandable and in my case, appreciated. Michaels has stated he had to write the book in two and a half months, which believe me is incredible. That said, as much as I did enjoy the first person POV, I appreciate that the author did what he felt was best for the book, rather than risk the overall quality. It definitely paid off. The book is exciting, has interesting characters, and despite the 3rd person POV, takes frequent trips into Sam’s head.

Based on the two and a half month period the book had to be written in, I’m also deciding, and recommending to you, to give the books editor the benefit of the doubt that the little grammar/typos issues won’t happen again. For those who have not yet read the book, the editing left a little something to be desired. When visiting the TFS forums, David pointed out the fact that they only had two and a half months to write the book and the time was better spent developing the story. So at least for me, considering how happy I was with the story over all, I agree with that. But I can understand why it is distracting to other readers, so I hope the next editing job will be better.

This book is very well done and I’m very happy to recommend it to you. I have to admit, Raymond Benson will be greatly missed here at TFS. But, things change and I feel that David Michaels seems up to the task as well as very anxious to communicate with his readers; made obvious by his multiple trips to the TFS forums. I look forward to the future books as I can promise you, David will do right by us, his humble readers.

Ranting On Sevral Sam Circumstances

Wow. It’s been a LONG time since I’ve updated this thing. First of all, my laptop had some electrical trouble, but thanks to Fisherist Alysyn and her wonderful engineer husband, I’m up and running again. But that is what has kept me off the forums, from posting here and working on the Fisherists site. I’ve been checking my email with my PSP and updating TFS from work. =(

Ok, I do have some things to say tho. Let’s start with the new novel, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Checkmate.

This book was something that I was nervous about from the conception. First of all, I didn’t meet the author until after the book was written so I had no way to be able to say what kind of a writer he was. But, after I met him, I had a chance to pick up some things he had written before and was relieved. His previous writings compliment the SC series well.

The book did well, making it onto the New York Times and Publishers Weekly Best Sellers lists. But, there seemed to be some typo/grammar problems. Since I’m not involved in actually publishing the book I can’t really explain what is going on with that. I can, however, suggest asking David about it himself when he does a chat in the TFS forums on Dec 27th. [/shameless plug]

That aside, it really is a good read. It is more “stealth” than the first two installments.

The first two novels, penned by Raymond Benson, were written with a universal media convergence idea in mind.

Different mediums have different rules.

Since books are not video games, lacking the interactive element, they are made differently. Anyone who expected the novels to be as stealthy as the games was going to be disappointed. You can’t have a novel that contains, “Sam goes into a place, knocks out a guy, gathers some Intel, sticky shocks a guy, then leaves”, and have it be any good. You need some action! But some people feel that they contained maybe too much action. So it seems, based on that feedback, the current David Michaels took it more in a stealth way, describing step by step as Sam methodically infiltrates exotic location after exotic location.

All in all, if you haven’t got it, go get it! Then come back here for a chat with the author Dec 27th at 6 p.m. CST.

Ok, now, next topic.

WTF is this Pilgrim story?

For those who don’t know, it was announced on Variety.com (aka extremely reliable source) that a movie formally titled “Splinter Cell” was changed to be called “Pilgrim” and is now about a retired CIA agent who takes one more mission to investigate the murder of his mentor. Now, there is the possibility that this CIA agent is Sam and it discusses how he got back into Special Ops and eventually Third Echelon. But since no one involved with the film will say anything, we don’t know.

The SC games have sold millions of copies, all 3 novels have been on multiple best seller lists, so there is no doubt in my mind that if made, and made right, this movie could be a hit. So why are Clancy and Ovitz keeping so quiet on this? Will they *ever* address this film and give us a real update? Did they forget that they are the ones who got us hyped for this movie by releasing a teaser on CT, only to leave us hanging? Info is scarce and sources that are supposed to be credible, like the IMDB…well we know more than they do.

Hopefully someone will read this that will get someone to tell us something, because Rubi may be missing a grand opportunity here.

Also, to close…I will be getting a new laptop mid-January so that will mean new narrated vids..hehe….so besides many other things, keep your eye out for that.

I...LOVE...Michael Ironside....and Fisherists too.

Yes, like that's news right? LOL

Talk to anyone at the IMDb forum for the upcoming Splinter Cell movie, or some poor souls at the Ubi forums, and they will correctly tell you that I am a PSYCHOPATH when it comes to defending my steadfast belief that no actor should even be considered to play Sam in this movie, except Michael Ironside. Don't come at me with your George Clooney's (gag), freggin' Mark Wahlberg's (double gag), Bruce Willis's, Johnny Messener's, or I will cut you I swear!

Well a few months ago an interview with Ironside popped up where Ironside said that he would take the role of Sam Fisher if it was offered to him. OMG! I was estatic. Really. I had always wondered if he wanted to take it and that was all the confirmation I needed.

I recently saw something with Ironside which thrilled me even more than that original interview. Check this out...



What grabbed me the most was his comment of "Well, actually, I guess I am..." when he was told he was Sam Fisher. I want him to PLEASE keep that attitude. I want Ironside in that role and I want it to be clear to Ovitz and Clancy that he wants to do it! Anyone who would deny the HUGE contribution of Ironside to this character and series has absolutely no brains at all and should be forced to watch this movie "A Clokwork Orange" style...with me in a white coat standing over them. I would rather the movie be live action...but if it meant they were gonna do it with another actor...do it CGI and keep Ironside as the voice. Sam is oxygen to Splinter Cell and Michael Ironside is oxygen to Sam. There is just no way to seperate the two. Get Ironside in the role, or drop the movie.


Also, the Fisherists are coming folks. =) What started as a small fan club off of TFS has turned into a global bond of 9 women and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Leah, Alysyn, Carolyn, AJ, Kate, Freeda, Jackie, Lucy and Derwen...are the Fisherists. Nine female gamers from five different countries, with ages ranging from 16 to 64, who are hardcore Splinter Cell/stealth fanatics...soon coming to a computer screen near you....

http://www.Fisherists.com/

Watch for it.

Splinter Cell: conViction

Well SC fans, it seems we will be blessed with another Splinter Cell title. Someone at Ubi made a boo boo and leaked concept art of what will be "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: conViction" to certain people...me included. hehe To those who wondered why I removed them, Splinter Cell Community Manager for North America, Rhoulette, asked me to. It's that simple really. Her life is hard enough so I couldn't make it harder for her.

Then a few days later came the leak that the game will be 360 exclusive (Does anyone REALLY think it's coincidence that two leaks came within a week at a time when Ubi was being criticized for lack of info on Double Agent?). Then we got a very much appreciated statement from the devs. All in all, from the point of view of someone who is the first contact with the community, it worked. At Rhoulette's suggestion, I started a thread at the Ubi forums specifically for talking about SC5 on Monday, Sept 25th. Today, on Friday the 29th, it's at 10 pages, 181 posts and 3595 views. That's not to say we aren't all waiting like gangbusters for the demo, but it helped take the edge off.

Starting October 19th I'm expecting a major attendance drop here...lol. I know I will be in front of my XBox! But there is a lil thing I wanted to bring up and that is the upcoming Fisherist website.

My good friend Derwen Llewelyn that helps me with this site was a moderator at the official SC forums when I met her, which is essentially how I got in. Then Rhoulette decided to bless my good friend Lucy with a mod position. In the process of getting to know eachother, the three of us started a group called "The Fisherists" which is basiclly a group of girl gamers on the Ubi SC forums that are crazy obsessed Splinter Cell fans. We started adding girl gamers here and there and now we are 11 members strong. I've tried to balance us out as well as possible.

We have members from Hungary, Britan, Russia, Germany, and the US. We are mainly a COOP and SP group, but our German member is a BIG versus player. We will be securing our own website a little before Double Agent comes out, so check back here for the development. =)

Also, I've taken on a position at a website about an upcoming TV show starring Michael Ironside. The show is called Ice Planet and the website is located at http://www.Ice-Planet.tv. The coolest part of this site is that along with the TV show, there is going to be a game released with this show and...hehe...I've been promised dev access. You really can't beat that. You should check out the site if you are a Ironside fan. I also keep a blog over there on that game so if this blog isn't enough for you, check me out there.


Anyway, that's all here. If anything is up with you that you want to share, you know how to get in touch with me. ;)

Sillys at Shanghai

LOL I guess Fifa fever hit Ubi Shanghi pretty hard...in the head...judging by this little video that came out of there. LOL I always knew new videos would come out of Ubi with the release date coming, but this took me by surprise...

"Batman Begins" with one of our own.

I have to admit I must have a thing for dark, mysterious, and mentally scarred men because Bruce Wayne was my first "character" crush. He seems so sad all the time you just want to baby him until he smiles. Then I kinda fell for Sam Fisher. Hmmm..go fig.

I've followed the Batman series all the way from the first film and I seem to be the only one who wasn't too bothered by the obvious differences between the first two movies, and Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. I think, with the exception of "Ahnold", as Mr. Freeze and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, that all the villins and secondaries in these movies were well cast. Espicially Nicholson and Carrey. Talk about born to play a role. As far as the caped crusader himself, Michael Keaton will always be the true Bruce Wayne/Batman. But, I've learned to live with Clooney, Bale and Kilmer. (Although if Clooney portrays Sam in the SC movie, prepare for me to throw a HUGE hissy fit...)

Anyway, to the game...

Sam Fisher creator and Splinter Cell God JT Petty ventured into Warner Brothers territory where he wrote and did voice direction for the video game version of their film, “Batman Begins”. Being the nice guy that he is, he sent me an autographed copy when I purchased two of his Clemency Pogue books, so I decided I would give this game a go, and see what I thought of the first Batman game I have played since “Batman Forever”.

Now, one can’t deny that this game bears a very striking resemblance to Splinter Cell. Exhibit A:


Some other similarities include climbing on a pipe under a moving train, lock picking, interrogations, optic cables, the words “Mission Failed” on the screen when you die, as well as an OPSAT of sorts where you can catch up on mission info, notes and receive email messages. >deep breath< You also keep contact with the famous Batman butler Alfred (voiced by the forever awesome Michael Caine) in a way similar to how Sam kept contact with Irving Lambert. Within the first few minutes of game play I was waiting for a leggy, blond lead programmer to chime in and tell Christian Bale he was old.

Despite the similarities to Splinter Cell, this game is very fun on it's own.

Those of us who have been studying at the feet of Sam Fisher for the last few years will have a heads up as stealth is crucial to this game.

The first map does a good job of walking you through the basics of the game. Teaching you how to fight, how interact with your environment ..etc. They make it very simple. So simple, in fact, they actually tell you that using a medkit will improve your health. Also in the first map there is an area where Batman gets gased by Crane and you have to go through a small part of the map still disoriented. Very cool.

The second map helps solidify stealth skills by teaching the player how to use the environment to her advantage, how to go around problem areas and sneak up on unsuspecting opponents. It is in the third map where you finally get to put your stealth skills to use in the sewers of Gotham City.

My favorite maps by far are the ones where you get to use the Batmobile. When you are behind the wheel, stealth is NOT an option....and its freggin' awesome! You can't be stealthy all the time and in these levels it seems the point is to run EVERYBODY off the road (well the bad guys and the crooked cops anyway)! Killer fun! My final time through the first Batmobile level I had 100% reputation, 7:56 time, 41 takedowns, 20 multiple takedowns and caused $1,960,000 worth of damage. LOL w00t! I was dissapointed when I defeated these maps.

As far as the rest of the game is concerned...for those of you who are like me, and tend to be a bit of a n00b when playing a game for the first time, you will be aided along by a system that points you in the right direction when you get off track, and places a "target" on necessary doors. This is handy for helping out but if you aren't too careful that option can "hand hold" you through the entire game. Use it, don't abuse it.

They use real movie footage for the cut scenes in between levels, which is cool. The voice acting from the films cast is great. That Christian Bale does a helluva sexy gravely voice, BUT...he's no Michael Ironside.

Also, as you go along and defeat the levels you slowly open extras, one being an interview with JT Petty himself.



This game does have a Splinter Cell feeling to it, but it is also very true to the film. We already know there is a sequel to Batman Begins coming, so let's hope JT continues to be invovled. But for now, if you are looking for a game that has stealth AND awesome car chases, you can't go wrong with Batman Begins.