Does It Play On a Mac – Rawr

Rawr isn’t a game itself, but a tool used to optimize many assets of a World of Warcraft character. A highly useful tool, it doesn’t have a Mac equivalent, so this is my account of trying to get it working on my MacBook Pro.

Link I refer to in the video:
Mono Project
Rawr Homepage

Does It Play On a Mac? – Star Trek Online (Part 2)

Part two of my exploration of Star Trek Online where I look at a different method of running it using a build of Crossover Games made specifically for STO.

Link I refer to in the video:
Forum post with unofficial Crossover Games build

Does It Play On a Mac? – Star Trek Online (Part 1)

Back again, with my first two-part episode, exploring the new sci-fi MMO “Star Trek Online”

Links I refer to in the video:
Star Trek Online Unofficial Mac forum post
Star Trek Online client download page

Sherlock Holmes

A Sherlock Holmes movie doesn’t really cry out “action-adventure”, even more so than with the stereotypical image of Sherlock Holmes as the calm, collected, steel-nerved thinking machine. Take that and add in that Guy Ritchie is directing (Snatch, RockNRolla, Revolver) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) is starring, there’s the possibility that this movie could simply attach a known name to a film that bares little resemblance to the spirit of the material. It’s to this film’s credit that this portrayal of Doyle’s most famous character gives it new life and calls previous incarnations into question.

There’s an interesting scene near the beginning in which Holmes is seated at a restaurant waiting to meet Watson and his fiancee. As he’s waiting, he notices little details: bit of a conversation, the sound of the silverware, a watch ticking. Soon these details grow and intensify with Holmes struggling to maintain composure. It’s a very interesting theory that Holmes brain is wired differently than other people in that he can’t NOT notice the details we all miss. It works to give Holmes a humanity we can appreciate. Another scene takes Joel Silver’s almost patented slow-motion fight sequence and adds Holmes using his deduction to reason the best moves to see a fight through. It works very well.

For the main plot, Holmes and Watson must discover and attempt to foil the plans of Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong, who played Archy in ‘RockNRolla’), a villain who seems to hold supernatural power. Strong plays him well, making him menacing and giving him real character. Rachel McAdams does a great job portraying Irene Adler, possibly the only woman who has ever bested Holmes and could keep his interest. McAdams doesn’t have as much material to draw upon as other actors do for their characters, and I think that freedom to play comes through in the confidence and charisma of her Adler.

The movie is shot in an industrial England that thankfully doesn’t drown in black, but uses gray and heavy desaturation in the colors. It’s a visual choice I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ritchie work with in his previous films, but one that gives the film a unique identity. This is also true of the music, which uses a lot of smaller orchestrations and string quartets to give definition to the time period.

This was well worth seeing in the theater at least once, and it’s worth a purchase once it’s released to homes. A very good action film with some brains behind it.

Avatar

Even if you aren’t an avid movie viewer and don’t pay attention to movie ads, you’ve probably heard of “Avatar”. With all the buzz and blitz promoting this movie and with all the articles written about the groundbreaking technology developed for it, at it’s base there’s a highly enjoyable movie.

Humans have established a base at the alien world of Pandora in search of a highly valuable mineral. The only thing that stands in the way are the hostile-to-humans environment and the natives, the Na’vi: large blue-skinned creatures with tails. Humans have developed a small number a alien bodies called avatars that can be controlled remotely by a person whose genetics are encoded into it. Jake Sully, a marine who lost his scientist brother and the use of his legs in battle is given the chance to walk again using his brother’s avatar, in the hopes that he can connect with the Na’vi and negotiate with them. There are themes here that have been explored before (technology vs. nature, diplomacy vs. war, science vs. faith) and they all have been woven together in a solid and very satisfying action-adventure. If none of the new technology used in this film existed and the film was told in a more tried and true process like animation, this film would still have a very solid story to make it worth seeing.

The process used to apply an actor’s performance to a CG character here results in some amazing work. The Na’vi look and act as natural as if they were actually alive, not just in the body but in the crucial area of facial expressions. The actor’s performances really shine through their characters with all their nuances and subtlety. It deserves to be seen on the big screen to appreciate it in detail. All the acting is top-notch too. Sci-fi fans can geek out in the face of Sigourney Weaver appearing in another James Cameron film as the hardened scientist Dr. Grace Augustine, Sam Worthington ably takes on the lead role of Jake Sully, Zoe Saldana (Neytiri) shows off her chops and grabs yet another role in a high-profile sci-fi property. I was also intruiged be Stephen Lang who plays Colonel Miles Quaritch, the leader of the human’s military. While other actors would play such a high-powered officer’s role with more bluster and volume, he imbues a very cold composure in Quaritch that gives him depth beyond the typical antagonist.

Detail was also given to the creation of the world of Pandora. It’s an amazing world with a palette of deep blues, greens and purples that is alive with all sorts of plants and creatures. (Although it does remind me of World of Warcraft’s design, which leads me to believe that either James Cameron or someone very high up in the production design department has at least one level 80 character.)

Even if you’re not a sci-fi fan this movie is easily worth multiple viewings in the theater and worth seeing at least once in 3D. The 3D is very well done and amazing to view but it’s also good to see in it’s non-3D format to catch details that might have been missed. This will definitely be worth purchasing when it gets released to the home market as well. Highly recommended.

Does It Play On A Mac? – Unreal Anthology

This installment looks at Unreal Anthology, the collection of five games from the Unreal/Unreal Tournament franchise.

Does It Play On a Mac? – Deus Ex

For this episode, I check out Deus Ex, the classic game combining RPG elements with a first-person shooter set against a story touching on many major American conspiracies.

Does It Play On a Mac? – Daggerfall

After a short break to update some equipment I tackle Daggerfall, the 1996 chapter of the Elder Scrolls series recently released by Bethesda as a free and legal download.

Does It Play On a Mac? – Neverwinter Nights Diamond

This time around, I attempt Neverwinter Nights Diamond the Dungeons and Dragons-licensed RPG that includes all the expansions and is estimated to contain over 100 hours of gameplay.

Does It Play On a Mac? – Free To Play MMOs

There are quite a few F2P MMO’s (Free To Play) out there right now, so this video looks at several to see how they fare on a Mac.

Games attempted in this video:

• Mabinogi
• Dungeon Runners
• Gunz: The Duel
• Runes of Magic
• Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine

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