Entertainment
This issue we bring you 4 superb articles. Doddsy brings you our first articles give you an early review of the suspected game of the year, GTA IV. Merch Gwyar gives our next article: Runescape Videos. A look into the ever increasing popularity behind a new wave of directors, using Runescape as their new medium. Rizzo writes a fitting tribute to the super athlete Brett Favre. Doddsy also brings our last article which is a review of the latest Daniel Craig movie Flashbacks of a Fool
- Doddsy
Give Me Liberty
GTA IV - By: Doddsy
They are very few people who haven't at least heard of Grand Theft Auto (GTA). Whether you have heard that it is causing the kids of today to stab or each other or the respect it has from the gaming community, you will have heard something and drawn your own judgements. GTA IV is about to be released and soon the same hushed murmurs of excitement will explode into an abundance of joy. Why? Because GTA IV is a very good game.
The GTA series is one of the most respected game in the gaming community. GTA III developed the concept of Sandbox Gameplay (having entire areas to explore outside of levels). GTA Vice City took what III did but took it to a whole new level. A vast and detailed map, a brilliant storyline and replay factor unmatched by many other games, it is still ranked the number 1 game by PlayStation Official Magazine UK. GTA San Andreas introduced new factors such as multiply and that controversial 'sex minigame mod.' It also brought a vast new map, almost uncrossable by foot (unless your patience outdoes the priests) but lacking the subtle details of Vice City. Now that GTA IV is here they had to something bigger and better, and amazingly they did.
GTA IV brings the series back to its roots, back to Liberty City. Liberty City is Rockstar's twisted view of New York City. The references are clever and witty with name twists such as the MetLife building, cheerfully known as the GetALife building in Liberty City. There are many other references like this and spotting one will always bring a smile to your face.
Liberty City is New York's virtual counterpart and it does it proud. The city is mapped beautifully and virtually all the actual streets are there. You will probably recognise such areas as China Town when you pass them and if you know New York you will quickly realise that are in the same place. Residents of New York will begin to spot these as they play along. You will also find that Liberty City's is a lot smaller that its Southern counterpart. To make up for this a lot more of the map is explorable and discovering new areas is always inspires a feeling of minor euphoria.
I have explained quite a lot about the city and you may be beginning to wonder about the hero of this story. Our hero is Niko Bellic, one of the huddled masses. He recently left from a nonspecific Eastern European country which plays some part in the movie. The genius in Niko's characters not from his over excited trigger finger or from his one liners (though he gets plenty) but from his weariness. He has a perfect blend of both trust in the person giving him jobs but a great weariness in why they are unable to do it themselves. This adds to a very interesting character who is a dream to play.
GTA IV is all about change and with graphical upheavals and a brand new character they had to change the gameplay too. Some simple, but necessary, changes were made such as the way passers by interact with you. If you walk down the street with a gun people will run and scream and draw the attention of the NYPD LCPD. When you used to be able to walk up to a car, open it and drive off; you now have to make sure that no one is paying much attention before you smash the window, quickly open and hot wire (very quickly though) the car before driving off. Then in another change to the last game the smashed window will give away that this car is stolen, so you have to take a calculated risk when you 'jack a car.
The final aspect of the game that has made this by far the best GTA ever is the mobile phone. Unlike before this is not a simple gimmick. It is a very useful tool and even changes the output of the game. At one point (minor spoiler) a contact of mine kept arranging for us to meet over a deal, due to time restraints I put it off. It was only when he was being held kidnap because of a botched deal that I began to regret avoiding him. As well as these plot changes it acts as a calendar, prompting that I had a lunch arrangement during a bank robbery, and even a level restart. During all the time I played through this was used on only a few occasions. If you failed a mission once you knew exactly how to do it correctly on the next run through.
GTA IV is set to be the best game of 2008, with the possibility to be the best game of the next generation consoles. If you own a PS3 or an Xbox 360 then you need to own this game.
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Runescape Videos - By: Merch Gwyar
Welcome to a brand new column here at Sal's Realm Newspaper. Each issue, we will be highlighting some of the very best in Runescape videos, past and present, for your viewing pleasure. There will also be a focus on the movie-makers and the occasional tip on making your own videos.
A whole community has grown up around Runescape movie-making. There might not be a skillcape in it, but they are fun to make and fun to watch. They range from the informative, demonstrating how to enhance gameplay, through news bulletins, for example recording notable events like Clan Wars or darker times such as riots, while the vast majority of these videos are there for pure entertainment. Players have achieved fame in the game through their alternative music videos or their series of films.
Music Videos
This issue, we have two music videos for your enjoyment, 'Mr Roboto' and 'Soul Man'.
'Mr Roboto' was first uploaded on February 10th, 2007, and has since attracted 1.2m viewers, nearly 8000 comments and has been added to favourites over 7000 times. Created by dark arm3, whose You Tube persona is Sladeakakevin, its charm lies in the perfectly synchronised movements of the three main characters. Dark arm3 is joined by Cedie7 and Dark horse46, fellow members of his ClockWerk Productions Runescape film company, in order to ape the activities of autoers when no-one is watching. As robots, their dancing is repeated wherever they turn up in Gielinor, singing out their plea that we should sympathize with their plight. The result is one of the most stunning music videos out there.
'Soul Man' is at the opposite end of the spectrum, in that it has only been around since February 22nd, 2008, and is the first attempt at a music video by its director and producer, Doomcreator0. In less than a month, it has already attracted over 300 views, several comments and has been added to the favourites of three people. As word gets around, these figures will no doubt rise off the scale. Doomcreator0 has a cast of thousands in his video. Of especial interest to Sal's forum, many of the people contributing to this are Slammers, including one scene which has a huge group collectively credited as 'Sal's Realm'. The brilliance of this video actually comes in the editing though. The fast paced, seamless movement between scenes makes for a thrilling backdrop to a popular song.
Series
This month has seen the return and loss again of, perhaps, the most successful Runescape movie-maker of all time. Better know as Tehnoobshow, he arrived back on the scene in March with his latest incarnation, ThePwnageNinja. Within days of creating this account, he had had nearly 100,000 views to his channel, with over 5000 subscribers. All of this is small fry compared to the peak of Tehnoobshow, which attracted 14,000 subscribers and was listed as one of the most subcribed YouTubers ever.
However, a few weeks after his return, fans logged onto his YouTube Channel to find an omnious, but familiar message: 'This account has been suspended.' Though rumours are flying across the forums and other people's video channels, there has been no official word as to why from ThePwnageNinja himself.
This isn't the first time this has happened. Tehnoobshow videos were temporarily lost, when his YouTube account was banned for reasons never fully explained.
Videos created by both Tehnoobshow and ThePwnageNinja have been collected and reposted by a fan. They are on the account Tehftwnoob and may be enjoyed there.
So what is all the fuss about? Tehnoobshow tapped into a theme which every Runescape player has experienced at some time in their playing career, the world of the newcomer. No-one can step foot into Runescape without first being a 'noob' themselves, so personal memory would suffice even if no-one had ever bumped into another newcomer again. Tehnoobshow was an irreverant look at the worst of newcomers, those people whom we all collectively shudder at, whilst consoling ourselves that no matter how disoriented and desperate we were, we were never like the eponymous noob, Bob. It's this semi-familiarity, coupled with a sense that it's something that only happened to other people, that pulls us into the videos. What keeps the viewer there is that they are simply very funny sketches.
There were only ever 11 Tehnoobshow videos, but it feels like there were more. Chosen at random from them is 'Teh Desert'.
That's all for this edition. We hope you enjoy those we've found for you and come back next time for more.
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Brett Favre - By: Rizzo
March 4th, 2008 was a sad day for all American Football fans. The legendary quarterback and country boy, Brett Favre (pronounced “Farve"), retired from the NFL. Many were surprised with his decision to retire, and fans did not want him to leave.
I for one did not want him to leave. For 10 years he had been my favorite player in the NFL, and had been such a role model. He did so much with his talent. Not only was he a star football player, he was a person that I wanted to be. I wanted to be that guy that everyone knows and loves. Brett Favre was that one guy I could look up to. He was a small country boy. He loved goofing around. I said to myself, "If there is anyone to be like, I wanna be just like Brett." Even today, I look up to him. I respect his decision to retire from such a passionate career, and I hope he succeeds at whatever else he does. But I'll never forget this man, who has made such a lasting impression on me.
Favre was drafted in 1991 by the Atlanta Falcons, and coach Jerry Clanville said that “it would take a plane crash to put Favre into the game.” During the offseason, the Green Bay Packers traded in order to get Favre. In Green Bay was where Brett Favre made his mark.
On the third game of the 1992 season, starting quarterback, Don Majkowski, was injured. Favre was second-string quarterback, and was put into the game. Near the end of the game, Green Bay was down by 6 points. Favre needed to lead his offense into the endzone in order to win. With a minute left he did so. The Packers won.
Because Majkowski was injured for the next four weeks, Favre played instead. This was only the beginning of his record of most consective starts played by a quarterback. For the next 16 seasons, Favre never missed a sinlge game.
In the 1996 season, the Packers took the long, hard road to the Superbowl. They faced the New England Patriots in the title game. The season before the Superbowl was difficult, and many players were injured, but Favre played well and guided his team. In the Superbowl, Favre, acting like a kid, had fun and ended up winning the game, 35-21.
Favre never won another Superbowl, but over the next few years he had many difficulties. In 2003, Brett’s father, Irvin Favre, died, right before a Monday Night Football game. Favre played as he had never done before. He perservered, playing to the best extent of his ability. He threw four touchdown passes, and threw 396 yards. It may be considered that this was the best game of his career. Then, 3 years later, Favre’s wife, Deanna Favre, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Brett still played, while at the same time, praying for his wife to get better.
At last, the time was to come. In 2007, Brett Favre, came to play football with the Green Bay Packers for a sixteenth season. The team seemed that it had no chance of even making the playoffs. He proved everyone wrong. The Packers finished the season 13-3, much better than the 8-8 season before. They went into the playoffs, but ended up losing the Championship game to the New York Giants.
Favre had been proud of his team that season, but had no remarks of retirement just yet. Then on March 4th, he made his decesion to retire.
Who knows where Favre will be next? He may go back to his home in Mississippi, where he loves to be with his wife and two daughters. He will always remain like a kid though, happy to be playing the sport he loves.
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Brett Favre had some absoluely great career records. In his last season, he passed and made a new record for touchdown passes, career passing yards, interceptions, and wins by a starting quarterback. He holds the record for most consective starts by a quarterback at 253. He is also easily a future Hall-of Famer.
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Flashbacks of a Fool - By: Doddsy
There is not a genre on this planet to describe Flashbacks of a Fool. The story follows a wealthy run-a-way British actor (played by Daniel Craig) living in California and why he is there. The flashback then comes as he tries to remember why exactly he was in America instead of with his family in England. These are where some of the problems begin.
For whatever reason they set the flashback in the late 70s. In the flashbacks he was aged somewhere between 14-18 meaning he would have been born in the mid 50s; making him over 50 which his character definitely wasn't. Technicalities aside this movie did work on many levels.
Our lead character was on a 24/7 bender and the run of the film demonstrated it. The camera work often went out of focus and the sound would dissolve away like a mind tainted by cocaine does. While that premise is complex to see from the offset it does make sense when in realised in the true context of the movie.
Giving a synopsis of the plot would ruin most of the storyline but it follows a simple idea that your life won't be complete until you redeem yourself for everything you ever did wrong. Go back and cover up all your tracks and make sure that when you finally go, you have fixed everything that was niggling you at 5 in the morning.
If you can take anything from this overall confusing film it is the above message. The only other reason you may want to go and see this is to see Daniel Craig in the nude but the message is more important.
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