Tropico 4 Review

It's all work and no play for el Presidente!

K4L Rating: ★★★★☆

Developer: Haemimont Games

Publisher: Kalypso Media

Genre: City Building and Management Simulation
Platform: PC and Xbox 360

Click here to play the game music in the background to get the mood on (optional)

This is a city-sim with some slight RPG added with some good old dictatorship. You play as a dictator ruling a banana republic and the story picks off where it left in Tropico 3. Noticeably there is not much improvement to the graphics but the gameplay itself has been revamped to the point that it is very addictive. The sense of humor and sarcastic content is downright LOLable. Heck, it was the game I looked forward to at the end of the day for the past week.

Okay so you are el Presidente, a dictator who dreams to turn Tropico from a backward Caribbean nation of islands into a world economic and perhaps military superpower. You basically approve blueprints for building constructions and manage Tropican policies. YOU control your people's well-being! Planning to be on the good side with the communists? Build up acres of farms, double the food ration and approve free housing policies! Wanna be on the capitalists side? Invest in tourism, build up skyscraping hotels and plunder the Earth to make big bucks!

You can turn this...

Into a panorama straight out of Fast and Furious 5! See that cruise ship back there? Bought it for only $20,000.

Tropico 4 LOOKS EXACTLY like Tropico 3. Apart from recycled ideas and graphics that haters gonna keep on hatin', I'll highlight some of the pleasant improvements. This time the Almanac gives you the overall view of what's happening on your island from Tropicans' happiness to your relationship with foreign powers. Last time in Tropico 3, I was not sure where my economy and the mo-ney (that's how el Presidente says it) was going. The Almanac does some book keeping and now you can simply read and make economic decision quickly.

The factions return in Tropico 4 and make more impact to the game. We have the Capitalists, Communists, Religious, Militarists, Intellectuals, Loyalists, Nationalists and the Environmentalists. Any of your Tropican citizens may be aligned with any of these factions just like in the real world where you either join the government or opposition party. The factions now are more lively thanks to the humorous caricatures representing them. The hippy and Mother Nature-loving Environmentalist leaderSunny always appear showing her concern for your disregard for the Tropican beauty. The KKK-ish Nationalists leader El Diable strangely resembles a tattooed White Supremacist with Caribbean accent, and can be heard in the radio throwing out illegal immigrants when you issue the 'Anti-littering' policy. All these characters make Tropico more alive.

And let's not forget the radio. Last time in Tropico 3 we were entertained by Juanito who brings updates and news prior to his assassination (SPOILER). Now we have your loyal adviser cum radio announcer Penultimo who regularly broadcast news of your achievements. Most of his announcements are just plain hilarious complimented with his serious but silly accent. "The people demands election and el Presidente demands your vote! Vote for el Presidente!..... or else".

Did you enjoy the music in the link? Again like its predecessor Tropico 4 includes scores of entertaining Caribbean-themed music. If you play the game in the living room your family might gather around and starts dancing haha.

Another new feature are disasters. We have volcano eruptions, drought, earthquakes, tornadoes, oil spills and tsunamis that will pose problems and your decision affects the outcome. Will you spend $300 per month to contain the oil spill? Or will you just say "Fish? WHAT FISH?!"

Not another oil spill! Luckily Tropican brilliant minds have come up with an ingenious solution: GOLF BALLS.

Oh and you can also share all your accomplishments and awards through the in-game Facebook and Tweeter features. Not a biggie, but quelling a rebellion might look interesting in your resumé.

This is a highly recommended game and you'll get hooked if controlling people and make your nation grow is your cup of tea. Buy now and vote for el Presidente, or else.

 It's sometimes a simple RPG where you lead el Presidente to lead the army to fight against rebels. Your Presidente is customizable and you can select attributes that suit your gameplay e.g. select War Hero attribute to allow el Presidente to perform better in combat.

Suit up in a game.✔

Stun rebels with your awesomeness, in a suit. ✔

Once you get enough power and resources you can build up your own nuclear program and USSR and USA will not dare to touch you! 

Surviving assassinations, military coups and quelling uprisings are just another day's work for el Presidente. This here is a Loyalist angry mob running down the streets chasing 'traitors' during a doomed uprising. 

 The level of detail in Tropico 4 is now deeper, you can place an umbrella as shade for you loyal soldiers. Rebels need not apply.

What is a game without blimps? Most of the games with intimidating blimps have been the Red Alert series, thanks Haemimont Games for putting the ability to send propaganda using these huge balloons. Check out the trailer below.

Visit Tropico 4's Official Website here

What Did Gaddafi Do Anyway?

If I were on the wrong side of the 'good guys', the media would give me funny article titles too

As expected Muammar Gaddafi's death did not receive much respond by the world compared to Steve Jobs' passing. He was as a tyrant who deserved to be toppled violently by fellow Libyans. I, as a representative of the average Joes who only know the basics of the African conflict thanks to Internet, sees him as an evil dictator. The people were unhappy with his rule and desired to topple his regime. Then the power of the people prevailed and it was a happy ending...

Then again, was he really that evil? It's not like he conducted mass murder or threatened the world with nuclear weapons. A quick Google on "Is Gaddafi really bad?" contradicts the image portrayed by the media. Instead of a typical tyrant, he's one of the rare good dictator who changed the lives of his people. For example during his time literacy jumped by leaps and bound from 10% to 90%, free electricity, free farming capital and he approved free-housing policy to name a few. Do all these justify him being shot to his head and abs, paraded half nude and recorded on low quality phones? Something was not right.

Why was NATO so keen in helping the rebellion to bring him down? Why the investment and effort to topple Gaddafi's regime in less than a year when they could've done the same to other dictatorships and regimes like Myanmar and North Korea?

The answer may be Gaddafi's idea: Gold Dinar.

He wanted to use gold dinar to replace the failing and ailing currencies in a gold-for-oil policy, of which received negative backlash from certain proxies. The idea threatened the system the world was established upon and of course upsets those whose interest lie with the current system. Can you imagine how much paper money would devalue when solid honest money from the Earth is pitted against fiat money which is printed out of nothing? That RM100 in your ATM now might devalue to the price of a piece of paper. Hence, the uprising opened a window of opportunity for the proxies to bring him down and thus the intense support from major Western powers.

Now that the damage is done, we'll see how 'democracy' is bringing change to Libyans. Remember Egypt's revolution that toppled Mubarak? It brought change alright, for worse. Egypt is now rolling downhill, or down the Pyramid. Do Google and catch up on news of places where the proxies have invaded, toppled and 'forgotten' by the media. The proxies breaking the strength of African and Middle Eastern nations seem to fulfill the sea foam prophecy. We could be next.

And hey you can choose to listen to whom you think is speaking the truth. I may be the victim of the skeptical media targeting the mainstream media who might think its exposing the truth. Whoever controls the media is the good guy.

Choose your side wisely.

Solar Flare?

It's Monday yay. But today's a bit different as some services like Celcom and Maybank are down or unstable. Not long ago I heard some Astro users receiving the message "...service interrupted due to solar flare..."

I wonder if they all are related? Go ahead and get excited all you 2012 junkies... At the mean time enjoy this morbid end of the world video showing how current tragedies are mimicking end times foretold by the earlier generations...

Cooking Oil Shortage!

First it was the chicken, now Sibu is facing a severe cooking oil shortage. Most supermarkets and kedai runcit have no cooking oil for sale and this could be blamed on panic buying which caused an artificial shortage. The theory is, large restaurants buy the small cheap cooking oils by the bulk, this leaves the regular household consumers with nothing. The near empty shelves make them think that there is a shortage and hence they buy as much cooking oil as they can. This panic buying leaves the other husbands and sons who like buy their groceries late with nothing.

So please, chill and don't panic. I'm not looking forward to eating expensive steamed chicken or waste my time going to 3-5 kedai looking for cooking oil. If you suspect the shopkeeper is hoarding or overcharging, quickly call the Consumer Ministry or Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri KPDN at +603-8882 5500, 084 329202 (Sibu) or go to their website.

iOS 5 Review

★★★☆☆
Not so bad, if you overlook the glitches, bugs and battery consumption rate...

I like the new notification system. It bundles all notice from messages, missed calls etc into one place. You can simply drag the top of your iPhone screen and bring down this clean UI. They include updates on weather, apps, stocks and more. Once done you can push it up to hide it and get back to what ever you were doing.

There are some new apps which I find useless (like Videos) but Newsstand is kinda useful. It gathers all downloadable (IAP) magazines from the Store. Kinda useless on an iPhone due to it's small screen but useful for iPad users.

The last useful app addition is the Reminders. I used to rely on third party apps to remind me to buy new toothbrush, do groceries or remind myself to add things-to-do to my reminder list. A very simple and clean app. 

BTW take note of the battery consumption. 72% at 4:20pm and 65% at 5:16pm. Fast, no?

As for the rest, I'm still pissed at the Music playback issue. However there are online remedies to help you out. As for the playback I found this simple solution.

1. Plug in your device and start iTunes.
2. Under Music tab, uncheck ALL the songs manually.
3. Sync.
4. Check all the songs you wanted again.
5. Sync.

It's a quick fix, but it still messed up some songs where their album covers are missing. Looking forward to iOS 5 update 5.1

iOS 5 Messed Up My Playlist

Imagine hearing those fearsome Russian Red Army soldiers singing alternative rock songs...

After the long wait to update my iPhone to iOS 5 (despite all the problems and 3200 errors) last night, I was somewhat impressed with the new features like newsstand, reminder, camera options, cleaner notification system etc. Then later today I was about to get pumped by listening to some good old Russian Red Army Choir "Katyusha"... Only to be interrupted by Staind.

My Danza Kuduro was OneRepublic, some songs were unplayable and Linkin Park turned Indonesian. I'll update you once I get the solution to this. At the mean time I'll enjoy Menunggu For The End by Linkin Pan... or watch my iPhone endlessly scroll through all my songs without playing any...

UPDATE: BTW, here's an update on how to fix the playback issue.

Bumiputera SME High Mortality Rate

I've seen businesses come and go. In less than 5 years a shop lot in Bandong, Sibu may see 2-3 times of ownership change. From kedai kopi to car wash to boutique, many gulung tikar.

Let's take a simpler example: The new food court at Simpang 3. It was good, so good some people who are well-established wooden stall food & drinks operators could not get the approval to set up shop there. The ones running the new eateries at Simpang 3 are newbies and unfamiliar faces except for Koleksi Azza clothes boutique. Where's the Kedai Roti Canai and the corner Kedai Runcit? Gulung tikar...

They all ran well. Facilities were good and rental was around RM450 per month (whoa!). Then came Raya on 1st September. After the Raya holidays, 2/3 of the eateries never open shop again until now (10th October). What happened?

1. Cannibalism

Look at Taman Harmoni food court. I can see at least 2-4 eateries selling the same Nasi Lemak and Mee Goreng with similar prices with only taste to differentiate them. Basically this food court was a cannibalistic ground. Can you count how many food operators who managed to survive until today? How can one survive when your competitor is just 5 feet away and it all comes down to feng shui or where customers parked (or in most cases rely on friends to support the business). 

Recommendation: A law or accord must be set to allow Bumiputera SME to offer a set of different product or services within a certain commercial area. Anyone who wants to sell something similar, goes to another area. So far I'm just aware it's a canis canem edit world, every man for himself.

2. Low Market

Seriously, looking at the volume of customers I wonder how small businesses can survive. For example there was a furniture shop at a corner lot at Bandong. The market is low-middle income buyers from Kampung Abang Barieng, Nangka or maybe some economic outliers. Can you expect people from these groups to come and buy furnitures everyday? No. Some products and services are seasonal and furniture might only sell during Raya, Gawai etc. Then when they do buy some may go for loan. This is risky as the customers may not pay and default. Where's the Bandong furniture shop? Gulung tikar...   

Recommendation: There should be an initiative from existing agency like SEDC to help provide market research to SMEs. This way the SME can know where to locate their business for best profit and performance.

3. Lack of Skills

Businesses run on dreams, passion, money, customers and skills. Sadly most SME proprietors run on dream and passion, which is not enough. They open shop with high entrepreneurial hope but some have no basic business skills. For example there are those who do not know business and the owner(s) are two separate entities. Profit earned from business should not go into personal accounts. Marketing, PR and competitive skills? Mostly based on hunch and experience. Those who remain usually knows the selok-belok.

Recommendation: Enough with the kerepek pisang with photocopied Microsoft Word 2003-typed simple packaging. There should be an initiative to teach and train SME proprietors the basics to run a successful business such as marketing, book keeping, contingency plan, service etc.

4. Master Plan

Excuse as I will revert to Bahasa Sarawak for this important section. Okay kita mun berbisness mesti tauk long term juak, bukan nangga untung bulanan. Tuk contoh senario long term:

Tauk sik bus terminal lamak dekat RTM? Banyak kedai dekat commercial lot sekelilingnya nak? Plan membangunkan commercial area tok ada brutal sikit. Bila ada area commercial mok didevelop, semua bus terminal, lot, rumah etc dipolah sekelilingnya. Bila dah sik berkembang, sidak transfer bus terminal ya kat tempat nya baru nun untuk dibangunkan. Best kan area bas terminal baru ya banyak lot commercial besar dari area terminal lamak? Pas area ya sampe tahap tertentu agik, bas terminal ya akan ditukar agik gi area Salim untuk memajukan tempat ya gik. SME dekat terminal kinek tok akan terimak nasib sama ngan area RTM. Stagnant. 

Recommendation: Sometimes we need to know what the government or developers have in their master plan. If you know they are going to Salim next, invest there early on. Be dynamic. Be alert. Mok share nasib dan invest dekat area cam bas terminal lamak? No.

5. Killer Giants

The amount of giant players like big supermarket, fast food etc are killing the small SME everywhere. Have you seen what happened to the old Ngiu Kee? With each new Super or Hypermarket that opens in Sibu, the less market share one can get. If Ngiu Kee, Sugarbun (Cathay) etc are facing danger or already gulung tikar, what chance do small and new Bumiputera SMEs have? They are at the mercy of these invading superpowers and the only thing keeping them alive is either determination or luck. For now you might think "Oh kedai kopi ok eh, can invest", but what if one day Starbucks come here and the new market by then, the younger generation, prefer to go there? Gulung tikar la labu...

Recommendation: Will share with you at a kopitiam somewhere, just call my 017. We can still go against these empires.

iPhone App Review: Waze

★★★★★

Finally! A FREE app that'll help you to navigate when you're driving around. Depending on your GPS interpretation, it could be a Global Positioning System or Guna Pun Sesat...

Waze is a GPS navigation, tracking and mapping system where the roads and traffic updates are done by the users. Let's see the cool features and why does it deserve such a high rating:

Of course it uses GPS to help relay information from your iPhone to the satellite to give you real time info of your whereabouts. The system allows landscape or portrait view, below is a portrait view:

To make things fun you can "eat" your way to your destination. You'll munch dots on some roads that'll help you to level up (not sure what's the implication though). It's like Pac-Man but you're driving. And heck that Pac-Man Car thingy is really cute! Now look at me munching Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg... on nom nom nom

Sadly maps like Sibu is not updated. I looked at the road system and I can tell it's from pre-2000. Or maybe pre-1990. Some roads have yet to exist and some were using the old layout. Look at this one, I'm driving into the abyss... 

Fortunately one of the feature I like is the "Make you own road!". As most roads may not appear on the map, you are able to contribute by driving along the uncharted road and then update it at Waze's website. This here is me bulldozing and making the road of Jalan Awang Ramli Amit, while driving at 57km/h. 

And Waze also has the night mode feature. However it's just graphical. And can you see the 5 tabs at the top of the screen? The one with the !20 is like Facebook's notification system where other Waze users post updates like weather and traffic conditions of roads they are using. Sometimes they post stupid and fake stuff but hey look at Facebook...

A highly recommended app for people who are bad at navigating, for road-mappers who want to contribute or for those who fancy looking at Pac-Man-Car thingy chomp dots along their travel route and level up.

DOWNLOAD NOW from the app store

iPhone App Review: Big Time Gangsta

★★★★☆
Riding dirty, blastin fools and taking over the city block by block all in your pocket. And it's FREE. Alriggghhttttt...

Okay this is one good game if you're interested in RTS-ish, Final Fantasy-ish (huh?), gun-tapping or just feeling gangsta. BTG allows you to control your own gang and take over the city block by block. There's not much back story except for the intro rap song which explains how you just got out of prison and will have to take back the city and every last dime (honestly, the rap's kinda lame).

But luckily the song's just a minor 1 minute con compared to the whole content. Let's check it out:

You can control up to 6 gang members to a fight for new turfs. You'll meet some uniformly dressed gangs like the Colombians, the Guatamalans, some old biker-gang bangers and more. This is where you tap tap tap on screen to select whom your gangster should blast. Reloading sucks though.

This here is your crib or HQ. This is where it all starts and you can do missions from here. It may not look much but it was pretty hard to get that SUV, the two bouncers and the Jacuzzi on my crib's porch.

If you have the papers you can upgrade your crib into bigger pads like Da Kastle which may worth 1 hour of MTV Cribs review. You need dollars and credits to buy stuff. Dollars are collected from story missions and apartments you've taken over. However like all games credits are IAP but they can buy a lot of fancy stuff and guns. Did I mentioned guns?

Apart from pimping your puny bungalow, you can also purchase guns and other equipment for your gang members with even bigger guns with spoofed names. I though AKA GRILLA was a cool AK-47 spoof, until I saw the GOLD HAMMER... Gold-plated AKs are so gangsta!

This here is the snapshot of apartments you need to take over. The more you take over, the more money you get, the better equipped your gangsters are and the more turfs you can fight for. Repeat.

The map is kinda huge for a game this scale. For now (version 1.2.2) there are two of areas. Apart from story missions, taking over turfs and pimping your stuff, you can participate in an all out gangs vs gang gauntlet in the Arena.

Overall this is a good game. Beats a typical gangster game where you are required to buy random stuff to do a mission and do that mission a few times until you level up. Then use your imagination to visualize all those icons and numbers fighting among themselves. Highly recommended but can still be improved. Like, WHY IS THERE A GANGSTA WHO LOOKS LIKE AN ASIAN HERMAPHRODITE?

DOWNLOAD NOW  from the app store...