When I first heard this song through a user's in-game video montage, I thought to myself, "Amazing song and vocal." And I tried looking for, maybe a bard in one of the inns that could play the song. However, there wasn't one. It wasn't until recently that I realized this was not the original voice for the song, but by the artist Malukah. Yet, it resonates with me so much more (maybe it's because it's more emotional). Nevertheless, enjoy the song, especially if you are a Skyrim fan.

Here are 2 other Skyrim songs sung by her:
Age of Aggression (Skyrim cover) and Age of Oppression (Skyrim cover).

Thanks to Jeremy Soule for creating such beautiful soundtrack for the Elder Scroll series.

Painterly Look Of Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is truly a beautiful looking game. I'm always mesmerized by the painterly look of the forest, villages, and towns. Sometimes, I would spend the whole day with nature, admiring its beauty while picking up plants and herbs. Other times, I would climb up a high place and watch the sun set in the horizon and the dazzling stars that appear after that. It was always a magical moment. As I love rainy days the most, whenever it rains in Skyrim, I would take a walk outside of town just to be immersed in the rainy atmosphere. Other than real life, this is as close as I can get to experiencing the same feeling without getting wet.

Key To Good Games: Fun

Ever since getting the Logitech G27 a few weeks ago, I've been playtesting it with a number of racing games. I've been playing Gran Turismo 5 before getting the G27, and playing it with a wheel is a completely different experience. However, I craved for more realistic driving games and thus ventured into the PC realm with games such as GTR2, GTR-Evolution and rFactor (I don't have the money for iRacing yet). I also tested more arcady games such as Dirt 3 and Shift 2: Unleashed. After playtesting them, I somehow found myself going back to Gran Turismo 5 and wondered, "If GTR2 and rFactor games are so much more realistic, why am I playing GT5 instead?" (Okay, I also went and play Dirt 3). Then I realized that it was the fun factor. GTR2 and rFactor, although great games with amazing physics that mimics realism to the highest degree in car racing simulation and great for learning how to drive cars, are just a bit too dry.

Maybe it's because I'm more of a casual player than the hard-core gamers who strive for realism in every way, I found that Gran Turismo 5 struck the balance between boring and frustrating, and having challenging gameplay for the players. In addition to that, Gran Turismo 5 implements to a certain degree a sense real-world driving, making casual players feel they are part of the driving world. It's like Starbucks, who goes for quality dark-roasted coffee that caters to the majority of the people. It's a win-win situation. Coffee purists may go beyond the needs that Starbucks can provide, but most people are happy to be a customer of Starbucks. That's what I think Gran Turismo did for gamers as what Starbucks have done for coffee drinkers.

Today, I saw a video of Todd Howard's DICE 2012 keynote speech and he talked about similar content. He mentioned, "You can do anything. You just can't do everything." and within that limitation, what the stuff were that he and his team implemented to create the award-winning game, Skyrim. For those interested, check out the video below.

Realistic Take On Video Game Skateboarding

The tricks in this video are not hard to pull off, but the nice filming coupled with a good soundtrack make the video extremely watchable. I always feel calm whenever I watch this video. Good work on making the video montage!

Humorous Racing Clip!

While watching video uploads on car racing, I came across this little gem that made my day :)

Great Driving Skills In Race 07/GTR Revolution Game

This is a video entitled RACE 07 / GTR EVOLUTION - Ferrari 458 Itália by beingy on youtube showing great driving skills. Makes me want to play racing game after watching it.

'Thunderstone Advance: Towers of Ruins'

Thunderstone is the first deck building game for the board game club, although it uses a system established by Dominion. I love the concept of going preparing my characters with spells, weapons and equipments, and heading off into the dungeon to kill the monsters that have been terrorizing the villagers. During the next few months, we stopped playing it and have not looked back ever since. Maybe it's because the game takes too long, or maybe because we got burned out by playing too much in too short of a time. I did not get the last 3 expansions as they seem too samey as the original one.

Recently, I got wind of Thunderstone Advance: Towers of Ruins awhile back and was wondering what new things could have been added. I knew the artwork has changed, and some stuff are tweaked. But there weren't any in-depth info on it. Today, I watched the DiceTower review of the game and somehow, it revived the long lost excitement that I first had when playing Thunderstone. The DiceTower released 2 reviews, one for new players and the other for Thunderstone veterans. As much as I am excited over the new changes that I believe will make Thunderstone a more strategic and better game (the preparation phase, obtaining familiars, etc.), it was the board that made me smile. I had longed for a board like that for my Thunderstone game sessions. Having it adds a layer of immersion that is just lacking with the original one. I will surely be picking this up for the board game club when it's released.

Real Driving Simulator On PC

The above is a video made by a gamer of rFactor and it's simply amazing! Below is how I came to know about the game.

I've been playing Gran Turismo 5 for quite a bit over the weekend and thought it was a great driving simulator until I checked youtube and found out that Forza 4 seemed to be more realistic than GT5. Having loved the Gran Turismo series since GT on PS1, I forced myself to check Forza out. It is a really pretty game. What attracted me was not the visuals, but the sound. It sounded fantastic!

So, after drooling over how good Forza 4 plays (and sounds), I began reading through the flame wars from the fanboys. It was then that I found out the most realistic driving simulator belongs to the PC. What? Really? How come I did not know that? So I checked out the gameplay for GTR2 and rFactor v1.225. Wow! Simply amazing! Project CARS also showcased amazing graphics, although there's a debate on the realism of the cars' physics. Now I'm itching to get my hands on them.

Danny Way's Hawaiian Dream DLC Tour & Commentary

I found the following video posted by WretchedRapture on youtube. He has some mic problem, but the overall commentary of Danny Way's Hawaiian Dream Skate Pack created a very relaxed viewing. Late at night, with a cup of coffee in hand, I spend 15 minutes of my life experiencing the Hawaiian dream...

Skate 3 Great Video Montage

Many years ago, I remember buying VHS tapes on aggresive inline skating just to see the cool tricks being pulled off. With Skate 3, there are lots of video, but the bobbybobbydigi solo is one of the best. It's not the stunts he pulled off, rather, it's the way the whole video is put together, creating a sense of real-life skateboarding that amazes me. Nice editing timing, right amount of slow-motion and correct use of camera angles make this video a pleasure to watch. Hope you enjoy it.

Skate 3 - Beginners

I've been digging around YouTube looking for videos on Skate 3. Here's one that made me laugh.

Skate - The Best Skateboarding Game Experience

After I stopped playing console games for a little over a decade, I've recently got a PS3. Since then, I bought some games, mostly in the fighting and RPG genre. I also like sports games since they allow me to do things that I could not do in real life. I remember how I loved Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on the first PlayStation way back in the late 90s, but somehow started struggled with the series since I feel like I'm memorizing the buttons to pull of chain combos which defy the laws of physics.

Last week, I bought Skate (the first of three games), a game that caught my attention years ago due to its realistic approach to the real sport (I'm a sucker for realism). I thought I would like it and that was true. What I did not expect was that the game's low camera angle somehow causes motion sickness for me. So a few days later, I went out and got Skate 3. I love it! I've since logged about 7 hours of gameplay and enjoyed every minute of it. The ability to free skate everywhere, doing tricks and grinding rails, skating around a fictional campus and its neighborhood areas while A.I. skaters pop out every now and then so you never feel lonely were just amazing. While I never skateboarded in my life, I did spend a big amount of my time roller-blading with my friends. The feeling I got from Skate 3 mimics that experience.

If you like skateboarding at all (and prefer realistic gameplay), then you should definitely get the Skate games. For newcomers, start with Skate 3.