Grand Theft Auto IV – Review
Posted by: borncrusader on: December 15, 2008
NOTE : I’m still playing the game. So, I’ll update this post often. Do check back.
PES 2009 – A review
Posted by: borncrusader on: December 9, 2008
Whoa… What a game??? I first played the game with an old graphics driver and the graphics was crappy. A change of drivers and the game is awesome. 
It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played and it’ll keep me busy for atleast a couple of months. The game sports a different menu look which is cool (reminds me of some grafitti on a wall). The game has a new feature this year. This is the “BECOME A LEGEND” feature which makes a comeback. PES veterans would know that this feature was in PES long before EA introduced the “Be A Pro” in the 08 version. The game looks even slicker this year and I feel the overall game speed has been increased by a slight amount. I haven’t checked out the online mode of PES 09 and reviews say that the game actually works, given the fact that the performance was poor in the 08 version. Another big addition in this edition is the UEFA license.
Gameplay
The gameplay in PES is by far the best any soccer game has offered so far. It’s compelling, challenging and the TeamVision AI requires you to think and score. Make a miss and you can see your opponent scoring a goal in no time. PES has certainly worked in these areas. You need to dribble your way past the opponents to get a goal even in the beginner level. Dribbling needs practice in the training mode and once you master it, the game becomes as exciting as watching a real match.
Referee decisions are also almost accurate and seem more close to real life. Transfers are not accurate. Hopefully a patch rectifies them in the near future.
Graphics
Graphics in this edition is a bit reduced, I would say than what was in the previous version. The turf seems flatter sometimes and the lighting is poor when you stand to take freekicks ( Too much specularity ). Hopefully Konami rectifies it in a future update for the game. Player models are good and some faces need a little more tweaking to make them resemble their real-life counterparts. Infact, the game’s ambassador Messi’s face is pathetic. 
EA definitely scores in this area. Their graphics is better than Konami’s.
Sound
EA again scores here. The sounds in FIFA are more dynamic and real while in PES they seem artificial. The commentary is good but yet the chants and in-game sounds need to be more realistic. The control options for sound are also minimal so it’s pretty difficult to tweak them.
THE RATINGS :
Gameplay : 9/10
Graphics : 7/10
Sound : 8/10
The next review is GTA IV, PC. I’m waiting for this game badly…
Srinath Krishna aka borncrusader
FIFA 09 – A review
Posted by: borncrusader on: October 17, 2008
Fifa 09, one of the most awaited games of the year is out!!! Another cool game from EA’s box. I wonder how people at EA manage to come out with a game every year with so minimal changes… Do they work full-time??? Anyways… Here’s the review…
DISCLAIMER : This review is solely my view of the game. I welcome contradictions about my view.
Gameplay :
EA has definitely stepped up the gameplay in FIFA 09. I liked the new mouse movement system. It’s a bit tricky to learn it but once mastered, it can definitely be a potential weapon in one’s arsenal. One more thing I noticed was how the players tire if you keep on using the sprint button. This makes the game more realistic. Another interesting feature is that EA has allowed more control over choosing the keys for playing the game. I’ve made them compatible with those of PES 2008, so that I can play both games with the same controls.
Players fall too often during tackles. There was this one instance when I was given a yellow card for a clean tackle. The replay showed that there was no contact between me and the opponent, and yet i was penalised.
Graphics :
This is a major overhaul done by EA in this version of FIFA. The replays in their full resolution and quality are awesome. The 3d grass is beautiful and the stadium is more realistic. Player models and faces are quite realistic and you can notice that some players sweat as your game proceeds. However, while playing the game, the player models look pixelated even at the highest resolution and quality. This is one thing which EA have to rectify for the next version of FIFA.
Another thing which I think is lacking from FIFA is the referee and linesman animations. The referee doesn’t blow the whistle but yet we hear the sound. The linesman doesn’t show corners or goal kicks or tackles near him. These are well expressed in PES.
Sound :
Another improvement in this year’s FIFA is commentary. Commentary is more realistic than in the earlier versions. The crowd and the stadium ambience is cool and player chants and slogans are realistic.
THE RATINGS :
Gameplay : 7/10
Graphics : 8/10
Sound : 9/10
Watch out for my review on PES 2009 in a fortnight.
Srinath Krishna aka borncrusader
A birthday to remember…
Posted by: borncrusader on: September 4, 2008
The past week is a week I would never forget in my life… It all started on Thursday, the 28th of August… I was shocked to hear that my grandma (mom’s aunt) had passed away… She had been one of my well wishers and the first one to bless me on my birthday… I was depressed to see her being taken to the cemetery the next day… I had my Project review on the same day, ie Friday, the 29th and we managed to answer every question that was thrown at us except for the last one which was about our work division… We couldn’t find an answer to this and Sai, though he managed to conjure up something, failed miserably…
And Sunday was my birthday, the 31st. It was the best birthday I’ve ever celebrated in my life. I thank all my college pals for making it possible. We had gone to an orphanage in Madambakkam and my friends had all the children there sing the birthday song for me… I was moved by that and at the same time enraged after learning that the children had parents but yet had let them live in an orphanage… We conducted a medical camp for the kids and gave out free medicines. And I feel my grandma’s soul would be at peace for sure because I had spent my birthday amidst a lot of kids who long for love and affection…
In the evening, it was the usual gala at Koushik’s place where the fellas got me a cool Black Forest cake which was gulped down in a moment by the others… (They gave me only a couple of pieces )…
It was the best (and worst … My grandma wasn’t there to bless me… ) in my life… I again thank all my coll buddies for taking me with them to the orphanage…
Srinath aka borncrusader
ActionScript 3.0 and OOP
Posted by: borncrusader on: June 21, 2008
I’ve always been an active supporter of Flash and ActionScript and loved to develop interesting animations through Flash and AS2.0. The latest installment of Flash is the CS3 which includes a new version of ActionScript, ie 3.0. AS3.0 is completely Object Oriented and is very similar to Java & C++. So, programmers who have experience in either of these languages would have very less difficulty in learning AS3.0. In this blog, I’ll elucidate my experiences with OOP and AS3.0 and I believe it would help a lot of people trying to learn AS3.0.
Blogging regularly – An excellent idea
Posted by: borncrusader on: June 21, 2008
I’ve always wondered how people find time to blog. Now, I’ve devised an excellent idea that would inspire me to blog daily. The idea is to list the sites that I visit daily. As I wade through the Internet, I come across many exciting and interesting sites. From today, I’m going to list them.
1. http://www.animatedrecursion.com/intro/introduction.html
An excellent resource to learn about recursion. I stumbled upon this site when I was searching for an effective algorithm to perform string algorithm. For you people who don’t understand recursion, this is an excellent resource as you can watch recursion in front of your eyes in the form of Java applets
2. http://vasanthbrainwave.blogspot.com/2008/06/dasavatharam-and-moreeeee.html
Dasavatharam story is analysed excellently here. It also tells about the concepts of Chaos Theory and the Butterfly effect.
This is an excellent resource for ActionScript enthusiasts. Contains many code snippets that u can use. Maintained by one of the best ActionScript programmers.
Cognizant – Neenga nallavara kettavara?
Posted by: borncrusader on: June 20, 2008
OK… I’ve got placed in Cognizant Technology Solutions. You might say “Big Deal!”. I too was a bit disinterested in a company like Cognizant but after I sat for the pre-placement talk, I knew what Cognizant was made of. Cognizant is the fastest growing top-tier IT Services Company and they’ve achieved that in record time. Now, that’s something. They are on a recruiting spree and have recruited 1103 out of the 2600 people who appeared. There was an aptitude test that tested the math skills, verbal and attention to detail. 2199 were selected for the next round which was the usual interview. I was asked some basic Physics questions, a few Communications questions and a few questions on Speech recognition.
So, what’s the reason to my blogging about it? It is that I’ve come across people who despise software as though it is something alien and I want them to change their outlook. Any industry you’re in, you would definitely culminate in a software as it would reduce time and money and people who don’t embrace software are definitely losers in the race. Even though I’m an Electronics student, my heart lies at programming and solving problems rather than having to loiter with a couple of compressed sand particles with legs sticking out.
And there are the others who completely ignore companies like Cognizant just because they offer a lesser pay package. I have no words to express their foolishness. You’ve got to choose a company by its value and worth, it’s employee relationships etc and not the money alone. Of course, I don’t deny… money does have a role to play. But have in mind, Money is not everything and money is not life!
Enough about the placements! Euro has moved to the next stage and it’s getting exciting and better. The first quarter-final was between Germany and Portugal and Germany polished away Portugal by their excellent aerial skills. Cristiano Ronaldo was again in his elements and as someone mentioned in The Hindu, he just passed the ball around and played very little shots. Poor chap! But for his stupid on-field dives, he is a great player. The next match is between Croatia and Turkey and that’s going to be exciting too as Turkey managed to grab that stunning victory from Cech and Czech , at the last moment.
Srinath Krishna aka borncrusader
Indian Cricket Team – Champions Trophy
Posted by: borncrusader on: June 20, 2008
Which team in the world would bundle out for 76 in just 20 overs after scoring a mammoth 627 in the previous innings? Which team would come back strongly to win a test at Perth against Australia after losing a couple of tests? Which team would play some incredible 20-20 cricket but lose to a team like Bangladesh in ODI cricket? Which team would score 413 in a world cup game yet would not qualify to the Super 8s?
You must be knowing the answer to all these questions. India… Indian cricket is known for it’s uncertainty and even a person like Nostradamus would fail predicting the outcome of a match in which India is playing. When is the last time people have witnessed a match in which India scored a 300+ score and bundled out the opposition in less than 200 runs? The other way around happens from time to time.
The Kitply Cup is another fine example. India won its league games against Pakistan and Bangladesh convincingly only to lose in the finals. Thankfully, we weren’t bowled out for 200 odd runs.
The Champions trophy is on its way and the by the looks of the current atmosphere, Australia might pull out owing to security reasons in Pakistan. India has an excellent chance of winning the trophy for itself as it had once shared the trophy with Srilanka because of incumbent weather.
Go India Go!!! Win the Champions Trophy!
My GRE experience!
Posted by: borncrusader on: June 4, 2008
I took the GRE on June 3rd, 2008. I wasn’t that confident about the Verbal section and was banking on the Quants section to take me through the exam with a good score and thankfully that happened. I reached the place with my pal Sriram at about 12:15 for the 1 o’clock exam. I was asked to fill in a confidentiality statement which means that I cannot disclose any questions that came to me during the exam. And I don’t remember any of them either ! I entered the exam rooms at about 12:30 and was relieving myself of the tension by going through the procedures in front of my screen. These were about how to use a mouse, keyboard etc ! Then, I found them boring and was ready to take up the exam. I faced the AWA (Analytical Writing) section. I chose an issue about “loyalty” and started typing. After the first 20 mins of writing the issue, I found that I was going off track! I then had to rewrite most parts of the issue. So, I would always advice you to carefully read the issue topic before starting to type. Then there was an argument which I did quite well. After the AWA section, I felt the need for a break and took a couple of minutes to have a drink of water. Then, I started the Verbal section. Throughout the Verbal section, I was in a state of equanimity and was never tensed at all. I thought I had done well and was expecting a score of something above 600. Then came Quants. This was a bit time consuming and I had to surmise a couple of answers due to the lack of time. I was expecting a score of something above 750 in Quants. In all, I expected something above 1350. After the usual sections, I got another argument which was for some research. I did that with exemplifying confidence. Then came the time for the results! I got a score of 1290, 490 in Verbal and the full monty 800 in Quants. I guess, the reason why I was able to muster only 490 in Verbal was my lack of preparation as far as the Word Lists are concerned. All the words were from Barron’s and I must have missed out on a few questions probably because I misunderstood the meaning of some word. I got three RCs and I did them or more appropriately, I thought I did them really well. I gave just a couple of colleges’ names after the test, so that ETS can send my marks to them. On the whole, it was a well organised exam. And so, I selected the best options in the feedback forms they gave me. It was really a great experience for me even though I didn’t score that much!
I might probably write the exam again in December and I’m sure that I’ll be well prepared for it. In fact, I’m planning to do a nifty little application which can help those aspiring for GRE to easily remember the words. And I would surely release that as Open Source under the GPL .
And lastly, I thank everybody who wished me good luck to do well in the exam. But for them, I wouldn’t have got this score!
Pax vobiscum,
Srinath Krishna aka borncrusader
How do people find time for blogging?
Posted by: borncrusader on: April 7, 2008
As I was going through my profile on Orkut, I came across a link I had added onto my “About me” column, which was this blog. I came to know that I had posted the last post of this blog in December 2007, almost a quarter year before… I’m pretty amazed by people who blog everyday… How do these guys find time? Or more appropriately how do these people remember that they should write a blog? Anyway, with the usual oath that I would blog more regularly, I start of with this blog’s theme…
I faced a real challenge this weekend… The challenge of repairing one of my pals’ old IBM Thinkpad 600E laptop which runs on a meek Intel Pentium 2 Processor @ just 366 MHz and 192 MB SDRAM… This is the oldest system that has come to my hands ever since I have accumulated a substantial knowledge about Computers and hardware. I initially thought of installing Windows, sorry Windoze XP on it because my friend claimed that it had once run XP. So, after several attempts to procure the XP CD, I finally got one and slid it into the laptop’s cdrom drive… I had an empty harddisk of ~ 5gb because, I had once tried to install Debian onto it, and only after formatting the partitions that I realised that the laptop didn’t have an ethernet card (which is quite important when installing debian packages from the internet). So, coming back to the XP installation, I was greeted by the setup screen but when I tried starting the partitioner in the XP cd, the system crashed and I was shown the familiar BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)…
So, XP was ruled out and which was good news because having XP installed on it would make the system slower… So, I tried many light-weight Linux distros like Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux, as both use Xfce as the desktop environment instead of KDE and Gnome. Both weren’t satisfying and then I stumbled upon gOS (g for Green or Good), which is supposedly a derivative of Ubuntu, my favourite OS ever… So, I installed gOS onto the laptop and it booted pretty quickly and in front of me was a stunning Mac OSX type desktop… I immediately noticed that the desktop environment was Enlightenment, which I had once used with a distro named elive. It was sparkling and cute and the main challenge was to make the sound work. After several pains, I got the sound card working. After that, was this really tedious task of installing certain softwares like mplayer, xmms, scilab, frozen-bubble (game). It was tedious because I had to hunt down dependencies of each of these softwares in my PC, copy them to my usb pen drive and then install them on the laptop… After several attempts, I’ve got everything setup perfectly and now, everything works seamlessly…
My next aim is to connect my PC and the laptop via a USB host-host connector, so that I can access the internet in my laptop, through the connection in my PC… I know it’s pretty ambitious, but let me keep my fingers crossed.
Hopefully, I would blog the next time from the laptop…
And today’s quote..
Go linux and opensource and live life as you wish…
Srinath aka borncrusader
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