Streetlife in Fuente

During the year of 2001 when I was around 7 years old, my Grandma sadly passed away, so my Mother and I both moved to the Philippines for the winter. It was my 3rd visit, I remember those months being quite a blur, there was a mishmash of both happy and sad experiences that year. Spending Christmas, New Years and celebrating the Sinulog festival without my Grandma was very odd.

I spent my time staying both at my family’s home and in hotels. One of the hotels I stayed in was near the heart of Fuente Osmeña, which is situated uptown in Cebu City. I was heading back in a taxi from doing some late night shopping at Ayala Shopping Centre with my Mum. It was nightime and I was enjoying the solitary air and the delightful lights of signs and stalls scattered around the streets. The beautiful and prestrigious Fuente Osmeña fountain centerpiece exposed itself with illumated jets of water, creating a romantic setting under the mottled shade of narra and mahogany. All of a sudden a enormous swarm of people were coming from all directions, the streets were completely clogged with traffic, I was stuck.

There were groups of very young street children, long-haired and loinclothed, congregating their own circles, sitting on scraps of cardboard playing games. I remember looking over to the other side of the window and seeing a youthful girl, her bruised face was pressed slightly against the window with a handful of little white flowers, her other hand was open in a begging guesture, asking for money and food. I looked back over to my side of the window and a small assembly of street children were chanting tunes about love, hope and Christmas.


290 words = Fail. I tried to keep it as short as possible - sorry!

Steam Voyager - Introduction

I’ve always been afraid of the change I desire…Life could be different.

My name is Maple Greywind. I’m a prisoner of war and I know the truth.

There is a worldwide conspiracy being orchestrated by an extremely powerful and influential group of genetically-related individuals. These people are not the Government, but they rule all nations and control the money and commerce worldwide. They say that they are here to unite the world’s superpowers to secure and maintain global peace, safety and security, when the real intention of all of this is to ultimately bring together a One World Government and one-unit monetary system. This elite entity is called the Nagas.

I know I may sound crazy, but you have to trust me. The population will soon be limited by restrictions on the number of children per family, diseases, wars and famines.. There will be no middle class, only rulers and the servants. No national boundaries shall exist, and those who are obedient and subservient to their One World Government will be rewarded with the means to live; those who are rebellious will simply be starved to death or be delcared outlaws, making them a target for anyone who wishes to kill them.

The 13 bloodline families make up this vast interlocking triangular scheme of the Negas. Their principle is to completely effect and gain control over every human being on the planet and to dramatically reduce the world’s population by 8 million. They’re all beholding to the same secret orders, codes and financers, and they all possess the same thing – Greed and the compulsive drive to possess wealth, power and prestige that we don’t have.

15 years have gone by since my Father, Victor Greywind has fought the battles of Eien with the assistance of my Guardian, Zaurak. The battles of Eien was the eternal fight for freedom, the fight between the government’s military and the real people. There was so much hatred and destruction that they were all forced to flee their homes to the higher skies of our world, Ember. Who knows what the grounds of Ember now looks like below our feet, but I can no longer allow these satanic traitors to rob my health, my liberty, and my life. I’m afraid to find out what will happen if I tell the truth, but this needs to stop. My name is Maple Greywind, and this is my story.

Uber fail

Mmmm

キングダムハーツ - The Making of KH

GRIN's Final Fantasy tech demo? Should Final Fantasy even be westernised?

Part of the "Sound implementation demo" posted by former GRIN employee Jonaton Crafoord. see more here

For all you girl gamers out there...

...if only it wasn't in America.

Applications Now Available for Sony Online Entertainment's 3rd Annual G.I.R.L. Scholarship Program

Program awards up to $10,000 toward tuition and other educational expenses.
US, January 20, 2010 - SAN DIEGO, Calif. – January 19, 2010 – Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 G.I.R.L. Scholarship to help educate and recruit more women into the field of video game production and design.

"The past two G.I.R.L. Scholarship recipients were such a valued addition to our team that we are thrilled to offer this program for the third consecutive year," said Laura Naviaux, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, Sony Online Entertainment. "Our goal is to continue to encourage and reward women who share our commitment and passion for developing cutting edge online games for all demographic groups."

One skilled student will win up to $10,000 to be applied toward tuition and other educational expenses at the school at which the student is currently enrolled, and an optional internship of up to 10 weeks at one of Sony Online Entertainment's studios (room, board, transportation and living expenses not included).

Source: http://uk.games.ign.com/articles/106/1062182p1.html

Micro micro micro - Company of Heroes

Okay. I admit, as a games artist in the making, I've never really attempted to play computer strategy based games such as total war and Civilisation. Embarrassing, I know. But it must be done!

So, I gave Company of Heroes a shot. As I didn't have much idea on the game play I went through the entire tutorial - basic training, infantry combat training, base operations and armor training - which took just over an hour, but it's well explained and well worth doing if your a beginner, like moi.

I went straight to campaign mode afterwards, and I did not expect the amount of difficulty and intensity put into this game, I barely lasted out there. The tutorials I previously went through were nothing compared to the actual thing. I found this very mind boggling! I am clearly aware that practice makes perfect in this game, because I suck at it.

I think CoH was a great game, the highly detailed graphics and the camera angles really puts you in the game. You can even explode a few dozen men and watch bits of bodies whizz around the screen, class! It's a shame I felt that I didn't get the full experience out of it, simply because it's a difficult game. I will practice however, and I shall keep you posted (hopefully) :)

Goodnight peoples, cya tomorrow!
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