Never forget 10-8-10

In a relentless move to gain control of a rare mineral that only seems to be in abundance in Japan, the might of what was the Britannian Empire decided to take over the nation of Japan. Once completed, the Empire would strip the nation of its rights, reshape the flag, and even rename the country itself into a mere designation. From this day forward, Japan should be called Area 11. The campaign to gain control of Japan started on August 10, 2010.

Super powers such as USA could not stand a chance against the military might that is Britannia, and surrendered – thus signing the country and the entire continent over into British ruling. That gave the Empire a nearly unmatched technological superiority. However most military equipment of the Empire relies on sakuradite, which is available in high abundance in Japan.

It is then when Lelouch Lamperouge is disowned by his father, and would soon after meet an immortal witch named C.C. (Shi-tzu), which then bestowes a supernatural power on him – the Geass. It is a power that, when used on others, enforces absolute obedience. People will do as Lelouch commands them. Using this power, Lelouch would soon after create an alter ego, Zero, and then use it to form a movement that would fight the Britannian rule and free Japan of the Britannian stronghold.

In the years to come, The Order Of The Black Knights would form a formidable enemy of the Empire. What began with the idea to defeat the British ruling, nearly became World War III – which could be averted by the elimination of Lelouch/Zero at the end of his “Requiem” campaign a few years after.

This was a triumph!

Because I’m a pretty crazy guy, I decided to put up some Portalism in my room. Here’s the result… The Portals show their respective counterparts like in the game.

Original Portal screenshot

Damn, where did I park the DeLorean again?

Evening… Commissioner!

I’d so queue for this on the premiere!!

Tik tok on the clock…

Kirk the ultimate party machine, in full flow

FAIL #30

O’Neill

That’ll be all.

In the beginning there was Aperture: Portal Prelude

Most of the times the things that have a sequel, have a prequel. This time it’s slightly different, as this prequel does not come from the makers of the game, and the successor is scheduled to release some time next year. I am talking about one of the most awesome mods for one of THE most awesome games I have ever played… Portal: Prelude.

Portal: Prelude, as its name states it, is an unofficial prequel to the game Portal. Its story revolves around the pre-GlaDOS epoch, even before she was plugged in. At this time, test subjects were monitored by real Aperture Science employees whose work was tedious, lengthy and repetitive. This is why they decided to build a great artificial intelligence that could both replace them in these difficult tasks, but also take responsibility for many other tasks within the complex and compete with Black Mesa’s superiority. All employees of the Aperture Science complex are now eagerly awaiting GlaDOS. Maybe even a little too eagerly, as the upcoming events will tell.

Taken from the About Page.

As the original, the game features 19 chambers in which you must demonstrate your puzzle solving skills. But be prepared to be thinking a little more then you might be used to. For a one-man project, the chambers sure are well thought through, and really present some good training for your brain.

The mod is about 800 MB in size, and freely available from the page. However bear in mind support for the mod is no longer provided. Also, there appear to have been issues with the free version of Portal Valve recently gave away for a limited time only. In my case though, the mod loads just fine without any modifications. Chances are it will work nicely for you also.

Prelude tries to re-create the dark atmosphere and the somewhat cinister and dark humor of the original, and so far for me, this worked greatly. I am deeply impressed at this one-man project (at which at a later stage three people were involved).

Before you go and get it, please consider this warning:

Portal: Prelude
Developers: Nicolas “NykO18″ Grevet, Jérémy “Capitaine Mousse” Barbe, Marc “Moroes” Bidoul
Type: Modification
Genre: First-person shooter, Puzzle video game
Based on: Portal, Valve
Original Release Date: October 10, 2008
Website: www.portalprelude.com

Zeitgeist Appendix: Serial Experiments Lain

Society today: a modern world that more and more gets sucked into the fold of the internet, or to be more precise, social networking. The distance barrier between people is long gone, we can communicate at the speed of light with any place in the world that has an internet connection. In a way, this connects us into a somewhat larger collective – a collective in which we retain our identities, are seperate – and yet part of something bigger, together, as one. You can call that anything you want, this is merely my observation.

And this is kind of where Serial Experiments Lain takes off. It seems that we are at a time like this, where computers can handle a lot of stuff. Lain Iwakura is the primary protagonist of the show. She is a young schoolgirl, innocent, appears to have a normal life. Her dad is somewhat obsessed with computers, seems to have many machines connected in a local network in his room. However things do change significantly when her dad tries to share the passion by giving Lain a top-of-the-line “NAVI” – which is basically a computer. Lain develops a strong affection for everything involving computers, and it isn’t so long before she writes programs, modifies her machines… that kind of stuff.

We come to learn that the internet, or some more technologically advanced version of it, is called “The Wired”. It appears to be possible for people to enter it entirely including their soul, and being transferred back again into the original body, using the NAVI as a medium for these kind of connections. The Wired is one of the center stages of this story, and has quite a significant meaning. It should also be noted that more advanced versions of the NAVI are capable of voice recognition, much similar in the fashion Macs can today.

Lain and her friends sometimes hang in a nightclub named “Cyberia”, which is… somewhat unique. Can’t tell you more without spoiling the show, I hope you understand.

As the show is only 13 episodes, I can’t write too much without giving it all away. Let’s just say that this is most definitely one of the top-ten Animes ever made for sure, and that it could be a predecessor to the Zeitgeist documentaries. It shakes hand with Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and The Matrix. It also touches on certain subjects such as the collective unconsciousness of mankind, or in other words, how we are indeed all connected. And not seperated from time and space, as it is currently assumed.

What’s left to say, is, that although a bit older, this is most definitely one of the shows you should get your hands on, preferably now. It might change some of your perceptions of the reality you live in – even.

Serial Experiments Lain
Director: Ryutaro Nakamura
Genre: Cyberpunk, Psychological thriller
Studio: Triangle Staff
Original run: July 6, 1998 – September 28, 1998
Episodes: 13

FAIL #29