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Spiderman: The Movie PC Game
6/3/02 Emory Rowland |
"With great power comes great responsibility"
I really enjoyed writing my impressions of
Spider-man: The Movie, PC game by Activision. Swing over to Gamezilla's newly upgraded
site and check it out. Here's a little thread (pardon pun):
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"If you are laboring under the
delusion that Spiderman resembles a shooter, think again. The
bad guys have guns, you don’t. But you got da moves! To call it
a third person fighting game on steroids would risk
understatement. The web dimension changes the way the player
moves, fights, and thinks. Walk forward into a wall and the next
thing you know, you are climbing up it. Escape an enemy’s attack
by zipping up and sticking to the ceiling. Before you know it,
you are climbing and zipping yourself all over New York, while
the villains scratch their heads and reload." |
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Metty User Feedback 4/13/02 Emory Rowland |
Thanks very much to Greg Campbell of Portland who offered
his thoughtful comments about
Metty, my
meta tag creator software. Getting such remarks really makes
writing a freeware program pay:
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"Just wanted to thank you for your
Metty freeware program, it has been
very helpful. I had read about putting meta tags into my html to
get my
site found by search engines and had vacillated about getting
started. Your
program got me started and it has made it easier than I thought
it would be.
And the program makes it easy for me to keep improving my tags
until I get
them just right."
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Comanche 4 Review 1/12/02 Emory Rowland |
Gamezilla has been keeping me busy with reviews lately.
Being a game reviewer can be a lonely life, especially when your
editor asks you to review a boring loser game. However, Comanche
4 by Novalogic is one of
those rare titles that I have really looked forward to
reviewing! See the quick snip below or the
full review at Gamezilla.
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It's been a long time and we've
missed him. Finally, Griffin 2-6 is flying again! Anyone who
enjoyed Novalogic's
previous simulation of the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche
helicopter will recognize the protagonist's radio call sign.
Griffin 2-6 is as adventurous as ever in Comanche 4 and he's
sporting one heck of a wax job on that chopper. This time around
our high-tech helo pilot does not concern himself much with
annoying details of flight model, weapons behavior, or
aeronautics. Novalogic is no longer touting consultations with
Army test pilots or giving special attention to helicopter
physics or accentuating the inclusion of digitally sampled sound
from the real Comanche as was previously done. It seems that
anything smacking of realism or detail has been de-emphasized in
the new Comanche 4. Even the RAH-66 model number is
conspicuously absent from the box of this "Action shooter in the
sky." Have you guessed where the emphasis gone? Every developer
of combat flight software titles must make the inevitable choice
between simulation and arcade game. Most successful products end
up containing elements of both. With simple controls, a near
crash proof flight model, and plenty of enemies, Comanche 4
makes every effort to draw the player into a worry-free action
oriented environment.
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Williams Pinball Classics Review
12/12/01 Emory Rowland |
Gamezilla published my review of the
Williams Pinball Classics game for PC. A bit:
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Who needs bells and whistles?
Before the PC was ever invented, my father secured an old
Williams pinball machine for our family recreation room. My
brothers and neighbors played it relentlessly. We broke it,
repaired it, and played it some more. By far, the old wood,
metal and rubber contraption brought more joy and whisked
away more after school/work tension than any other indoor
recreational device.
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Metty Version 1.21 Review
11/9/01 Emory Rowland |
Attention meta tag junkies! Completely
Free Software had some very positive things to say about
Metty
in their recent
review. In addition, Graham Pockett, the editor, sent me
a new meta tag to use in future versions! Some highlights
from the article:
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This is one of the best Meta tag
creation tools we have seen. It offers a sample set of Meta
tags so that you can see what is supposed to be in each slot
and it also offers a reasonably good Helpfile to explain
what each tag does.
Either way, you should have a comprehensive list of Meta
tags on your Web pages and we cannot find a better tool for
creating them than Metty.
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Eurofighter Typhoon Review
8/29/01 Emory Rowland |
Gamezilla has published my
review of Eurofighter Typhoon, a pc flight
simulation/game with a long and rich history. Here's a bit:
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Eurofighter
Typhoon is different from any of the company's previous
titles. While many in the flight sim community would have
been satisfied to outfit the Eurofighter in the TAW or
Wargen engine, DID made it clear that the new Eurofighter
release would not be a hardcore sim, but would focus on
battle management, strategy and fun. It would inherit
elements from grandfather EF 2000 and bastard stepchild
Wargasm. Its lineage was split between the methodical
simulation of its predecessors and the action-oriented 3D
romp of Wargasm. So, like Mr. Spock, Eurofighter Typhoon is
part Vulcan, part human. Aspects of flight sim, strategy,
roleplaying and cinema comprise this creature. There is no
instant action, mission builder or myriad of complex buttons
to push. Its design seems more on the order of an
interactive movie than a flight sim. Therefore, it may be a
bit unfair to compare Eurofighter Typhoon to a typical sim.
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Rocket Download Review of Metty and
New Release 8/24/01 Emory Rowland |
Nick Smith of Rocket
Download has published a generous
review of Metty, my freeware meta tag
maker featured in the August 23rd edition of the Launch
E-letter. Also, he awarded Metty 5 out of 5 smiley faces,
referred to in Rocket Download speak as "emot icons." Thanks
Nick! Here's an excerpt:
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As
you probably know, most (if not all) of the major search
engines automate the process of indexing Web sites. Though
some human interaction is involved, they largely rely on
spiders, crawlers and other "bots" to do the dirty work.
Bots commonly grab information from meta tags, which
typically contain details about a site's content. This handy
freeware tool practically eliminates the basic, though
mind-numbing task of writing these tags. By simply entering
information into a series of forms on the interface, Metty
will automatically produce the HTML-formatted tags for you.
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Version 1.21 of Metty fixes a few minor items.
Download Metty Version
1.21 or find out more from the
Metty homepage.
What's New
-Import File, Save File As, and Save Tags As functions now
see files with .html extensions.
-Improved Help Document.
-Other miniscule changes not worth mentioning.
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Metty Version 1.2
7/28/01 Emory Rowland |
Thanks to thousands who downloaded version
1.1 of Metty, my freeware meta tag maker released last
month! I'm always looking for ways to improve the program so
that your site will be discovered by the right people.
Version 1.2 contains a few fixes and adds some small
improvements.
Download Metty Version 1.2.
What's New
-Corrected robots tag to output as plural "robots" instead
of singular "robot."
-Added keyboard shortcuts.
-A new HTML file now opens by default.
-More helpful details with error messages.
-Changed Import Web Page under file menu to Import
From Web.
-Corrected various misspellings.
-Executable file size is smaller.
-Slick new setup program
-Better uninstall support
-Added tutorial
Creating Meta Tags with Metty and
article
A Meta Tag Adventure to Metty Online.
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Gaming in the Future
7/18/01 Emory Rowland |
Gamezilla
has published my
Gaming in the Future article. Here's a
sample from the kitchen:
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Human sensory experience is
limited to the five senses. It’s just a matter of time
before game developers are able to capitalize on each of
them. Not only will we feel your pain, but see, hear, taste
and smell it. Today’s typical hardware stimulates senses of
sight, hearing, and perhaps feeling (via Force Feedback). We
should be seeing hardware devices reach beyond a simple view
screen and speakers to stimulate the other senses as well.
Eventually, there must be some
type of hardware display revolution that visually immerses
the gamer instead of simply painting a flat screen with
pixels as today’s computer monitors and television screens
do. Electronic gaming will make a quantum leap when a new
type of display device is invented to replace the monitor/TV
screen. Such a device, once developed, standardized, and
mass produced, will provide the level of realism needed to
attract large numbers of consumers to the electronic gaming
playground. Perhaps at this point electronic gaming will
enter the mainstream and compete with the film industry.
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Seamless Tiles
7/18/01 Emory Rowland |
I
posted more seamless tiles for your web designing, game
texturing, and wallpapering pleasure. Get them
here,
here and
here.
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Meta Tag Article
7/5/01 Emory Rowland |
I have just
finished writing
A Meta Tag Adventure, an article that
chronicles the struggle of a fictitious character named
Woody to promote his chainsaw dealership via the Internet. I
am experimenting with using fiction as a tutorial method. If
you are interested in using meta tags to promote your
website, you might learn something or at least have a laugh.
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Metty Version 1.1 6/9/01 Emory Rowland |
A new version of
my HTML meta tag maker,
Metty is available for
download.
Metty allows easy creation of 33 meta tags that cause your
web pages to be properly indexed by search engines,
thereby increasing rankings. Metty can insert generated
tags into an HTML file that has been imported locally or
from the web, then save to disk. Metty is Freeware!
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Palm Beach County Ballot
11/31/00 Emory Rowland |
Did you vote in the 2000 U.S. presidential election in
Florida? Even if you don't live in the sunshine state, try
and vote for Bush, Nader, Browne or anyone else and you will
see the frustrating reality that your ballot has been cast
for Gore. That's what happens when you vote with the Palm
Beach County Ballot, my first Visual Basic creation, which
serves no purpose other than for humor and to make a
frightening political point.
Download the Palm Beach
County Ballot or find out more
here.
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Motocross Madness 2 Review
5/31/00 Emory Rowland |
MPOG has published my
review of Motocross Madness 2, the sequel to Microsoft's
popular dirt bike racing game. Here's an excerpt: |
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The Enduro events were often cluttered with arboreal
obstacles. I killed more trees with my bike than George of
the Jungle with a paper shredder. At times, the game was
reminiscent of Midtown Madness, especially when vehicles,
trains, and aircraft precariously cross the path of the
racer. I loved trying to outrun a train in one race in order
to cross the tracks and achieve the objective. Indeed, the
game style fits Microsoft's "Madness" series. Perhaps
insanity would be a more appropriate sentiment in some
cases. Those trained in defensive driving skills should fare
well.
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Quake III Arena Review
1/24/00 Emory Rowland |
Multi-Player Online Gaming (MPOG) has published my
review of Quake III Arena. This is my first publication
for MPOG. In case you haven't heard, Quake III Arena is an
avant garde first person action game that is quite popular.
Here's a snippet:
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Most first person action games
would be no fun without a story, right? The Quake III Arena
story liberally paraphrased from the manual reads something
like this:
Untold centuries ago, the
Vadrigar...blah...constructed the arena...blah...clamor of
battle...blah...Okay, let's frag!
#
The extraordinary work that
Quake III Arena is, it has been criticized for its lack of
new features. I believe that Id's intention was to release a
solid well-coded product. Just as in the past, Id has taken
a minimalist route rather than an imaginative one. It's no
secret what the mod community has done with yesterday's
Quake engines. I anticipate some great mods to be
constructed on this latest platform. I was certain that I
liked Quake III Arena immediately after playing it, not
because of any feature, but because Quake III Arena had a
very nice feel.
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Homeworld Review
01/01/00 Emory Rowland |
My
review of the game, Homeworld appears on the
pages of GamePen, a
gaming website that frequently publishes my work. This title
gets my vote for game of the year, 1999 with five out of
five stars. Here's an excerpt:
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Planets, stars,
and well-hued nebulae are a few of the astronomical bodies
upon which to feast the eyes. The large Capital Ships fade
into view ominously while the Fighters and Corvette class
ships zig around streaking the space with engine trails.
Videos shot in the game engine blend seamlessly. I could go
on and on about the graphics. The screenshots tell all. Want
some wallpaper? Press the scroll lock key when the game is
running, then check your screenshots directory. |
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