Saturday, July 22, 2006
Awesome pics!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Champion Dreams : First to Ride
This is the name of a PC video game I picked up for 20 bucks at Toys R Us. It's a game aimed at 8 year old girls I think, with the promise of Horsies and all the fun that goes along with them. This game (as cheesy as it is) is AMAZING.
I don't know what it is I like about it, but I do. There's plenty of things not to like about the game too, but I can't stop playing it.
You can compete in Dressage, Show Jumping, and Cross Country events as well as be responsible for the general upkeep of your horse (cleaning it's hooves, brushing, spraying with a hose, picking up poop) AND gain popularity points with your fellow students by buying riding outfits, horse equipment, hair dye and clothes. YAY SHOPPING!!!!! hahahha......but seriously. The game was made in France and published by Ubisoft, so it has some backing by them, but I love the fact it was made in France and I'll tell you why:
Although it's dubbed in English, there are still English subtitles, and they generally don't correspond very well, which makes for much hilarity!!! Like when the one character Spike calls me Princess in the dub, but the subtitles say Wombat. Or when they accidentally forget to dub a sentence here and there and the school administrator screams something at you in French. Good times!
Obviously a game like this wouldn't get the same funding as a game like Halo or Prince of Persia, so I can overlook it's flaws. Except the few times I actually started swearing because of some little glitches or a puzzle I had a hard time figuring out.
Puzzles you say? Oh yes, this game has a storyline. You're the star student at the school and someone is out to get you...get you in trouble that is!!!
Here's a little summary of how things go down, but I won't spoil it and tell you who the bad guy/girl is:
So you start off in what seems like a Harry Potter movie...you're on a train making it's way through tree covered mountains to a castle-ish school in Scotland. When you get to the school, the surly groundskeeper dude lets you in when suddenly a flash of lightning lights the barn on fire. You rush in, grab a key and unlock a horse box letting out a spirited horse.
For your bravery, this horse becomes YOURS WOOOOO!!!!!! Excitement ensues. Then you meet the other student : Esteban - a sexy Spanish dude, Ginger - the all American girl who likes to rock out with her boombox and slide-y foot dancing due to not great animation, Spike - a blond British punk guy (much like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Kiew - a sassy competative Asian girl who wonn't stop until she's the best.
To sum up the rest of the story without spoiling too much (because I know everyone will go out and buy this game after reading this...ha ha..cough) you have certain categories you have to do each week to make sure you have enough popularity, horse level, dressage, show jumping and cross country points, and then do a competition at the end of each week.
But watch out, someone is trying to get you in trouble at every step of the way. From dirtying your horsebox right after you cleaned it, to letting your horse out loose right before an inspection, to finally poisoning your horse before a competition so he tests positive for drugs. CraaAaAAaazy stuff huh?
One glitch I got really angry at is when you have to give Harry a sandwich...and for the love of God it wouldn't let me give him the sandwich. The reason was, the game should've popped up the Inventory icon (so you can give him the sandwich) but it put up a speech bubble with an x through it, meaning you can't talk to him. I was so mad...
I kept screaming, "Why won't they let me talk to him and give him this damn sandwich"
but then we figured out that while that speech bubble is up, you have to hit I for inventory.....so aggravating though. Stupid sandwich
But the actual horse jumping, dressage and cross country stuff is pretty good. Good 3D model for the horse and movement. The cut scenes are animated pretty badly though. Dressage was annoying me for awhile though cause it said for Half Pass to hold down the A button but it would never work. Then I found out the controls had it set up for Q, so once that was fixed it was all good.
I think I might be the only person who has ever played this game too, because I couldn't find anything about it on the web. Like when that whole sandwich fiasco had me angry, there was no online help. So if this blog post could help even one little girl out there with this game it'll be worth it.
The art on the box doesn't reflect the game either. The picture is of a girl with long blonde hair wearing a pink riding jacket. The main character in the game has short red hair, and there is no pink jacket to buy I'm afraid. The box also boasts you can choose from 14 different breeds of horses.....but I haven't come across the Andalusian yet. (Although I have only been brave enough to play on easy mode thus far ahhah) Maybe it's something to be unlocked. Although they only have one horse model just painted different colours and called different breeds, so what would be the point of unlocking it anyway.
I still like this game though...it can actually be a lot of fun. They give you lots of praise as you do well which is an ego boost ahha. But anyway this is a really long post for a silly game, but it is cute!
I don't know what it is I like about it, but I do. There's plenty of things not to like about the game too, but I can't stop playing it.
You can compete in Dressage, Show Jumping, and Cross Country events as well as be responsible for the general upkeep of your horse (cleaning it's hooves, brushing, spraying with a hose, picking up poop) AND gain popularity points with your fellow students by buying riding outfits, horse equipment, hair dye and clothes. YAY SHOPPING!!!!! hahahha......but seriously. The game was made in France and published by Ubisoft, so it has some backing by them, but I love the fact it was made in France and I'll tell you why:
Although it's dubbed in English, there are still English subtitles, and they generally don't correspond very well, which makes for much hilarity!!! Like when the one character Spike calls me Princess in the dub, but the subtitles say Wombat. Or when they accidentally forget to dub a sentence here and there and the school administrator screams something at you in French. Good times!
Obviously a game like this wouldn't get the same funding as a game like Halo or Prince of Persia, so I can overlook it's flaws. Except the few times I actually started swearing because of some little glitches or a puzzle I had a hard time figuring out.
Puzzles you say? Oh yes, this game has a storyline. You're the star student at the school and someone is out to get you...get you in trouble that is!!!
Here's a little summary of how things go down, but I won't spoil it and tell you who the bad guy/girl is:
So you start off in what seems like a Harry Potter movie...you're on a train making it's way through tree covered mountains to a castle-ish school in Scotland. When you get to the school, the surly groundskeeper dude lets you in when suddenly a flash of lightning lights the barn on fire. You rush in, grab a key and unlock a horse box letting out a spirited horse.
For your bravery, this horse becomes YOURS WOOOOO!!!!!! Excitement ensues. Then you meet the other student : Esteban - a sexy Spanish dude, Ginger - the all American girl who likes to rock out with her boombox and slide-y foot dancing due to not great animation, Spike - a blond British punk guy (much like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Kiew - a sassy competative Asian girl who wonn't stop until she's the best.
To sum up the rest of the story without spoiling too much (because I know everyone will go out and buy this game after reading this...ha ha..cough) you have certain categories you have to do each week to make sure you have enough popularity, horse level, dressage, show jumping and cross country points, and then do a competition at the end of each week.
But watch out, someone is trying to get you in trouble at every step of the way. From dirtying your horsebox right after you cleaned it, to letting your horse out loose right before an inspection, to finally poisoning your horse before a competition so he tests positive for drugs. CraaAaAAaazy stuff huh?
One glitch I got really angry at is when you have to give Harry a sandwich...and for the love of God it wouldn't let me give him the sandwich. The reason was, the game should've popped up the Inventory icon (so you can give him the sandwich) but it put up a speech bubble with an x through it, meaning you can't talk to him. I was so mad...
I kept screaming, "Why won't they let me talk to him and give him this damn sandwich"
but then we figured out that while that speech bubble is up, you have to hit I for inventory.....so aggravating though. Stupid sandwich
But the actual horse jumping, dressage and cross country stuff is pretty good. Good 3D model for the horse and movement. The cut scenes are animated pretty badly though. Dressage was annoying me for awhile though cause it said for Half Pass to hold down the A button but it would never work. Then I found out the controls had it set up for Q, so once that was fixed it was all good.
I think I might be the only person who has ever played this game too, because I couldn't find anything about it on the web. Like when that whole sandwich fiasco had me angry, there was no online help. So if this blog post could help even one little girl out there with this game it'll be worth it.
The art on the box doesn't reflect the game either. The picture is of a girl with long blonde hair wearing a pink riding jacket. The main character in the game has short red hair, and there is no pink jacket to buy I'm afraid. The box also boasts you can choose from 14 different breeds of horses.....but I haven't come across the Andalusian yet. (Although I have only been brave enough to play on easy mode thus far ahhah) Maybe it's something to be unlocked. Although they only have one horse model just painted different colours and called different breeds, so what would be the point of unlocking it anyway.
I still like this game though...it can actually be a lot of fun. They give you lots of praise as you do well which is an ego boost ahha. But anyway this is a really long post for a silly game, but it is cute!
New Blog
Woo, I have a blog now too. I actually only signed up for it so I could post on the blog for the music video for Elliott Brood Aaron and I are working on (and since we have our web pages already too for our artwork) BUT I think it's a good opportunity to ramble some words to anyone who wants to read them.
On that note.....more to come in the following days.
P.S - I love Pomeranians
On that note.....more to come in the following days.
P.S - I love Pomeranians
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