Handbrake.

Holy compression rates batman! I happened across handbrake after reading about it while looking into a problem regarding a loss of brightness when using MSI afterburner to record videos. I was stumped for about 30 seconds in regard how to use Handbrake but I figured it out and it's completely changed how I compress videos for the better. 

So how does handbrake work? Well I don't know the exact science magic that it uses to compress files down to such manageable sizes while retaining the quality that it does but it's amazing. Its very straightforward in operation, simply chose what video you want to compress, drag it into the client, and press the button the top left that says "encode". Depending on the size of the file it can sometimes take seconds to compress your file. If your video's file size is a bit hefty the encoding time may be a bit longer accordingly.

You may need to set up a directory for where you want your compressed video's to go. Handbrake may request you to perform this action if you don't already have a directory chosen. The compressed video can be less than a fifth of its original size in most cases, which is great if you work on multiple videos and need to upload them to youtube . The video below was originally around 760 MBs; after being compressed it was all the way down to 134 MB. This is without any loss in quality I might add.

If you want to give Handbrake a try you can download it here. If you're into video editing and need a free tool that does excellent compression I recommend you give this piece of software a try.

An ocean of stars and the lamentations of a pirate.

So what makes Star Ocean so special and why am I lamenting? To be precise I believe Star Ocean the second story is truly the best JRPG of the Playstation era. Its a great game in the same way Jackie Chan's drunken master is great kung fu movie. It gushes with elements that define it's genre to the point where it becomes the goto example of how the genre functions if everything is done to 110%. I lament because I know there's a generation that won't get to experience this game like I did, if at all. I myself experienced it secondhand on the PS2 having come to know of the game late in the Playstation's life. This frustration is compounded by the fact that there is no other way to experience the forerunners to the Star Ocean franchise unless you own the original disk copies of the Playstation or PSP games. In the SNES's case the game wasn't released outside of japan so Star Ocean the first departure for the PSP is the closest you'll get to the original Star Ocean


YAR


With piracy I can dig up the SNES version and actually play it as there's a large enough fan base for the series for them to have forged a translation patch. No small feat considering the amount of text and variation within the game's story. Playstation's Star Ocean the second story is a bit trickier to finagle. Still if you're affluent in various technical arts its not impossible to play the game on a PC without issue. In both of these cases let me be clear. If I could of purchased a digital copy of either of these games (say for download via steam) I would of done so happily. To reiterate- for all legal intents and purposes the Star Ocean series only exist as physical media. They're not on steam, good old games, origin, or even Squareenix's own website. That's right, Squareenix's official online store can't even be bothered to offer a downloadable version of these classics for the PC or even the PSN.

Star Ocean Reborn


I want to play Star Ocean the first departure. In order for me to do this legally I need to purchase a PSP which I can get for about $99 bucks off amazon in new condition. I was curious what all I would be able to do with my handheld other than play games so I googled it and this is what I got . I can listen to music with a memory stick, watch movies off UMDs or my memory stick, look at pictures on the memory stick, browse the web, and use it as an impromptu flashlight. Pretty neato to be sure but I don't have that cash to be tossing around at the moment.


I also need to buy the game (Star Ocean the first departure) which amazon tells me I can get for as cheap as $7.61 brand new. I was surprised by this as I expected it to be 19.99 or so for that condition.  In Star Ocean first departure they used a lot of assets from Star Ocean the second story to  touch the up original Star Ocean that was released on the SNES. The re-releasing of this game is called Star Ocean the first departure- an accurate title to be sure. It received mixed reviews getting a respectable 74 on metacritic which is fairly close to it's re-release cousin Star Ocean Second Evolution which is a remake of Star Ocean the second story which was originally released on the PS1. Confused yet?  Interestingly, Star Ocean the second story goes for $100+ dollars on amazon in new condition. Good thing I picked up my new copy for about 60 bucks on ebay back in 2006 or so.

If I may be so bold...

As of my writing this I haven't be able to emulate this PSP game with much success despite my technical prowess.  More to the point I feel I shouldn't have to as I can purchase Final Fantasy VII from the Squareenix website, download it and play it on your PC. One would reason its not beyond their capabilities to port older games to the PC. Square has a large enough library to bring some a plethora of great games to the PC and other mobile devices. Never mind the contributions that Enix (publisher of the Star Ocean series prior to the Squareenix merger) could make. Since they have their own store they could set their price as they pleased and preserve their exceptional gaming library for a whole new generation of gamers. There is the issue of licensing and converting the games over to a playable format for cross platform interaction but the concept is far from impossible.

My question

Star Ocean the first departure was released in 2008. Why can't I buy a digital copy from your store to play on my choice of device Squareenix?

Here's a classic melody from Star Ocean the second story. So peaceful... the venerable forest.

Star Conflict

I've been doing a lot of tanks and such lately and I haven't really had time to do writing. So with my creative juices bursting at the seams I'm ready to unleash a combination of words that connect together to create paragraphs and string together some form of cohesive thought.  I've been playing Star Conflict for a day or so now and I'm pleasantly surprised by what it offers.


Dah Looks

Graphically its a gorgeous romp through various space locales but usually you're so entranced in fighting you have little time to admire the atmosphere or lack thereof as the case may be (hyuk hyuk). There were only three maps available to fight on but the game is still in beta I believe so there should be more maps down the pike. All the ships look convincingly enough like ships. I'm not an aerospace engineer but I assume all these ships are space worthy. Let's just assume the rule of cool and figure all the kinks of combat in space have been worked out in the distant future (in which this game takes place). The interface inside and outside of battle may take a moment to grasp but its not rocket science.  It runs very well on my gaming laptop despite it feeling like I have an actual window to space in front of me. It was the game's performance on my laptop which gave me in inclination to make a video showing off some gameplay which I'll have at the bottom of this post if you're interested.


Playan

Ship control feel smooth and you an alter your velocity and move in many directions with various engines placed on your ship. I haven't had time to sample every weapon available but from what I've played so far the starting weapons for all your ships offer different engagement styles with benefits and penalties depending on the situation in which their used. Shooting other people with these weapons can be rather tricky at times as you're fighting with no clear axis for combat so you'll have to have situational awareness to properly combat other ships. There's various missions you'll have but I was usually too busy trying to figure out how to kill people to focus on accomplishing any objectives. The lack of any real axis to reliably tell where you 100% of the time makes navigating maps an exercise in frustration when you're trying to capture a point or defend a beacon- at the very least the game offers you some distinct landmarks ( planets or giant mining lasers) in the maps so if you forget you can look for them to find your bearings. Doing this while being shot at and shooting others can be rather difficult of course...



Should ya git et?


The game is developed by the same guys who put together War Thunder. I haven't had time to play War Thunder but from what I hear its pretty cool.  Star Conflict is free to play and you can download it off steam or from its website that I linked up in the first paragraph. Since it is free to play I highly encourage you to give a try if you have some time. Its only 1.5 gigs worth of space on your harddrive so its relatively small for being a "space mmo" that it claims to be.