Lucky Tower Bridge Day

We used to play this silly little game, Flyingpops and I, on our way into London Bridge each morning...if the zooming/waiting trains rushing in and out of the station aligned themselves absolutely perfectly *just* as our carriage hit the rail bridge over Tower Bridge Road it was, albeit extremely rarely, just possible to catch a glimpse of the uninterrupted view all the way over the Thames through Tower Bridge...

If we were that fortunate we used to exchange cheeky grins and smirk, and that day then became a "Lucky Tower Bridge Day"...like a "find a penny, pick it up and all day you'll have good luck" sort-of-thing... ;)

Of course, with my new journey, I go into London Bridge and then come straight back out again, heading almost exactly back the way I came, and thanks to the fact that the line to Lewisham comes out of platform one, there are, of course, no lines in that direction for trains to interrupt my view...which basically means every day is now a "Lucky Tower Bridge Day" - which sort of feels like cheating...(in fact, it's usually twice, once in the morning and usually in the evening on my way back - as that train comes in on platform 3)...

I always wanted to try and take the shot, but it was just too distant to have worked from the "normal" train (as it's a platform 9 affair), this shot I took with my 'phone as a proof of concept (yeah, sort of worked, sorta)...I'll try and remember to bring my proper camera in and have a go at doing it some justice...would be nice to capture those happy memories as an image...

Did learn one thing though, through doing this, the shop on the corner down there is called the "Cat and Cucumber" (had never noticed before)...which conjures all sorts of strange mental images, none of them particularly appealing... ;)

A pox upon EA Games!

Those *idiots*...here we have a lovely environment, where it's easy, practically free and extremely quick to get hold of demo versions of new games (thus practically removing any incentive for casual piracy and boosting sales for genuinely great titles) and EA-bloody-Games suddenly decides that it can make a fast buck by charging for *demo* content...*sigh*...

No-one charges for demo content - if you are *paying* then it isn't a blooming demo, it's a commercial product! The only problem is, there are shower of fools out there prepared to splash out their hard-earned for something *useless* (who obviously do exist - because otherwise you wouldn't be able to buy stupid DLC like "Horse Armour") are either going to ruin it for everyone else by souring the pudding or push everyone back into the arms of either the aforementioned pirates, or the second-hand market, neither of which are going to help Tiny Tim, the cheerful but crippled programmers son, get his Christmas goose...

The other thing is, demo content is often released with a caveat something along the lines of "this is a demo and doesn't represent the finished product (blah blah)", so what is the story going to be here? Will we *pay* to become beta testers now? Or will EA wait until the game has gone Gold, sell a crippled version of it until people have stopped paying and then, when the game has been perfected, *finally* release the full version? What a mess... >8(

Oh and don't even get me started on Bioshock II including the first bit of DLC on the *game disk*, Bioware...what were you thinking? *Tut*...

Update - don't look now...EA are considering legal action against "South Park"...! It's just win after win after win for those guys...

Amazing Xbox 360 line up for 2009!

So after the awesome Christmas line-up we have just enjoyed for the Xbox 360 (which I am working my way through as quickly as I can), what do we have to look forward to in 2009? There has been some suggestion that there is going to be a bit of a drought of talent, but I've done some digging and it really looks like there is a *huge* amount to get excited about!!

For convenience I've broken them down into three categories, starting with titles that I am very, *very* excited about (and why) -

Bioshock 2 - Sea of Dreams - Need I actually say any more? The continuation (although there is some speculation that it is likely to be a prequel) of this "spiritual successor" to the System Shock series has already got me shuddering with anticipation (and fear)...oh and Bioshock 3 has been announced too, timed to be released at the same time as the upcoming Bioshock movie, so lots to look forward to!

Ghostbusters - Even though it was pretty terrible by today's standards, back in the 8-bit era one of my favorite games was Ghostbusters (even with it's attribute clash and almost indistinguishable digitised speech) and that is probably the real reason why I'm so excited by this prospect (i.e. actually seeing some justice done to the franchise)...Despite the project being juggled like a hot potato, it does finally have a distributer (Atari at last check) and features members of the original cast including Ramis, Aykroyd, Murray and Ernie Hudson who have reunited to do the voice acting...equal measures of humor and scares are promised, as well as (familiar and new) weapons and gadgets to try and save New York City once again, and yes, you do get to set fire to Mr Stay Puft and that's got to be worth the price of admission alone...!

Beyond Good and Evil 2 - Very little information has emerged about this sequel to one of the most incredible games ever made (and sadly overlooked by most people), but the name alone is enough to justify extreme excitement for me...If you never played the first one, I can't recommend it strongly enough...incredible storytelling, one of the most believable worlds ever created inside a video game, genuinely compelling puzzles, clever and satisfying combat...if this game is anything like the first one, we are in for one hell of a ride!

Banjo-Tooie - An odd inclusion you might think, as this is penciled in at the moment as an Xbox Live Arcade title, but it seems to be shaping up into what I was really after from "Nuts and Bolts", i.e. a true sequel to the original N64 titles...Gruntilda is back (blah blah blah) and you still solve problems, do time challenges and jump around a lot collecting jiggies, however it's little exciting twist (there had to be one) being the ability to play as various other characters (including Mumbo, a submarine, a washing machine and even a dinosaur)...so let's all cross our fingers and hope it's a RARE hit (rather than miss... ;)

Just Cause 2 - Even though I never actually managed to liberate *all* the settlements on the original (it was *huge*) I'm still looking forward to seeing exactly what completely ridiculous acrobatics Rico Rodriguez is going to be capable of this time (my favorite of the first game being to drive at 100mph then jump out onto the car roof and deploy my parachute, soaring into the air over the jungle...that was just awesome)...hopefully some of the annoyances of the previous game will have been ironed out (less grinding would have been nice - I got royally sick of stealing shipments of cigars), and a better story line pumped into place (they have Far Cry 2 as a benchmark now, so the stakes have been well and truly raised)...oh and it's set in South East Asia this time (so that's the last time you have to hear that annoying "Policia!" sound bite (thank God)... ;)

Chronicles of Riddick: The Assault on Dark Athena - If you ever played the first Chronicles of Riddick game, you will *know* why this one is in this section - Vin Diesel *GETS*games - it's as simple as that...he understands exactly what is going to work, what is going to excite and surprise and he works his arse off to make sure that any project he is involved in is immersive, feels realistic and is extremely engaging. The movies were a bit...odd (IMHO, no matter how much I tried to like them)...the games (if the second one is anything like the first) are classics...

Alan Wake - Last, but not least, a game where the hype engine has certainly been cranked up to 11...You play a horror novelist (of the same name) who finds himself trapped in the nightmarish town of Bright Falls and in order to escape must solve a terrible mystery. It's a go anywhere/any time affair, as you uncover a story of suspense, with outrageous plot twists and fascinating NPCs, take care exploring during the hours of darkness though, as the demonic foe are more powerful at night! I want to say "Hurry up", but actually guys, don't...just take your time and release the game when it's *perfect*...

- next, we'll check out a few titles that stand a very good chance of being "must have" titles (and certainly merit keeping a careful eye upon) -

Splinter Cell - Conviction - The last time we saw Sam Fisher he was on the run from Third Echelon, a changed man...quite how this one is going to shape up is unclear, the levels I liked the least of the previous games were the ones where you were stripped of your equipment, and guess what? Being a fugitive means all that kit got put on ice...the key to survival now is improvisation, your environment becomes your inventory...In a nod to the "Hitman" series it's going to be possible to blend in with crowds to avoid detection or cause panic to distract enemies, multiplayer features too with players able to take opposing sides in the battle rather than facing AI enemies...I'm watching with interest!

APB - Right, this one is in here for one reason only - Back in the days of GTA I and GTA:London (on the PC at least, oddly there was no option on the PSOne even though it had a link cable) it was possible to link together loads of computers and play GTA with all your mates - and it was *extremely* fun...! What on earth the developers thought they were doing when they lost sight of that leaves me feeling stunned and slightly hurt every time I think about it...This game seeks to fix that blatant -if you will forgive me- crime...So pick a side, be it Cops or Gangs, and do your thing in a world full of human opposition, it's even got a (background) skill matching system to keep things fair and interesting (well, we'll see how well that works in practice)...no word yet on a single player mode, but it doesn't sound likely...

Street Fighter IV - The original Street Fighter cast is dragged kicking and screaming out of retirement (yet again) but this time not for a super-duper turbo special edition of an existing engine...this is a "from scratch" sequel, which you can't ignore - not only is it *gasp* -3D- (with dynamic camera), it's also adopted an extremely stylish cel-shaded look (a la Jet Set Radio, although a little less stylised), it hasn't abandoned the classic side scrolling gameplay though, never fear...There are a light dusting of new characters (including an MMA expert) and there are the obligatory new special moves which include focus attacks, super combos, and (with a nod of the head towards Nintendo) Ultraaaaaaa! Combos...it certainly *looks* amazing, we'll see if the gameplay is still as accessible and fun as it used to be...

Resident Evil 5 - Chris Redfield (how is he still alive?) goes to Africa! Combine the classic T-Virus zombie/mutant zombie threat with an army of Resi 4's Ganados, expect constant swarms of infected, including foe larger than ever seen before in the series...thankfully, in order to combat this imbalance, Chris is not alone - in a new twist, local or online co-op is the order of the day (although single player is still an option) player two taking control of newcomer companion Sheva Alomar (who is thankfully just as handy with firearms as Mr Redfield)...This is also the game that is supposed to tie up all the loose ends from the complicated ongoing story that began with Resi 1...so could we actually be looking at the end of the Umbrella Corporation? Don't hold your breath (while the series is still making money)... ;)

Wolfenstein - Raven (the development house) are back in action (which is a good thing), coding the latest run-and-gun adventure set in the world of Wolfenstein...so it's back to that scary vision of Germany where Hitler successfully harnessed the power of the supernatural to give the Nazis an unfair advantage in World War 2...very much looking forward to that, but a nice plot this time will be required to get me really frothing at the mouth... ;)

Aliens - Colonial Marines - Single player or co-op (with up to three pals) don the body amour Players take on the role of a member of the United States Colonial Marine squad in a terrifying new chapter of the Aliens story. Arm up with classic franchise weapons - pulse rifles/flamethrowers etc., as well as brand new technology against the Alien hive...bring it on!

- and finally, the ones that could be awesome or could be lame -

Dungeon Hero - Co-op or single player dungeon slash, smash and zzap(!) - it's just too hard to say at the moment, but this might be the kind of thing that really floats my boat, certainly looks like it allows a lot of enemies on the screen at once (so you can practice your big fireballs)... ;)

Blood Bowl - Well, this takes me back! Set your wayback machine to 1987, when in a leap sideways from traditional table top wargaming (specifically the Warhammer/40K/Epic series) the partners in battle "Games Workshop" and the model makers "Citadel Miniatures" collaborated to put out an interesting twist on Rugby/American Football featuring Elves, Orcs and Dwarves who will do literally anything to get the ball into the scoring zone at the other end of the field (including wiping out the opposition)...the dice-and-paper game did actually get turned into a DOS title in 1995 (maintaining the turn-based nature of the original board game)...this remake could go one of two ways, I'm not into sports titles myself, but I might be tempted to if I were able to tear an opponents head off...we shall see!

Alpha Protocol - Fable II-type flexible character development based on moral decisions meets Splinter Cell -looking very pretty at the moment, could be a winner in the making when agent Michael Thornton steps up to the plate to stop an international crisis escalating out of control, his every action having consequences for both his and the world’s future...a mashup of a couple of good ideas, it could result in something special...

- so that's actually about as far away from a drought of good titles that you could possibly get! In fact, it's rapidly shaping up into another financial severe dilemma! Bah... ;)

Fallout 3 - Perfect starting character

So worth the wait...It...is...*Awesome*...! Oh and despite what anyone else says, it is "Oblivion with guns" (which is exactly what I was hoping it would be - Hurrah!)...So here are just a few reflections based on my starting character (I got about 8 hours in and then realised I could have made a rather better go of things, luckily I had a convenient save to return to)... ;)

Stats - firstly, when it comes time to allocate your SPECIAL stat points, make sure you put your intelligence as close to 9 as you can - that means each time you level up you get a *lot* more skill points to allocate (don't put any stat at 10, as later on you will find bobbleheads that give you a +1 to each stat, which would otherwise be wasted)...oh and two things you must do at the start - at your birthday party make sure you read the comic book you are given as one of your presents, it is a permanent boost to unarmed skill you won't otherwise be able to get, and in your next phase make sure you pick up the bobblehead on your Dad's desk (another one shot, permanent boost to medical skill)...

Skills - when you take your career exam, just answer all the questions at random and then when you get your results hit the reset button and choose your skills yourself - of all the skills probably the most useful to me initially was melee (three good reasons - ammo is in fairly short supply at the start, all foe will rush you (only one creature has sniped me, and it did wussy damage), and most enemies will die with 2 or 3 hits, even with a weak melee weapon)...a great strategy is to wake a foe up, then hide behind a pillar or tree, wait until they run up and then wallop them with a sledgehammer using VATS...Other skills - don't neglect small guns (fire ants don't play fair, it's best to take them down at a distance), science and lockpick (there are a *lot* of goodies hidden in locked/hackable places)...you may also want a reasonably good explosives skill, oh and paying other people to repair your stuff is very expensive, so that's well worth it too...again, don't deliberately boost any skill above 90%, as there are skill books (same as Oblivion) that boost each skill by 10% just laying around the place (easier to find than Oblivion too)...my favorite skill? I'm personally loving sneak, it's tantamount to having an enemy detector, if any foe comes into range the nice green "Hidden" message at the top of the screen changes to a bright red "Caution" allowing you to stop and scan the horizon, perhaps even getting a free critical hit/easy kill with a rifle (rather than just suddenly getting killed by a grenade or bitten in the arse by surprise), very useful skill indeed...

Perks - pick whatever you fancy but there are some absolutely must have ones - "Intense training" lets you boost SPECIAL stats (up to 10 times - makes up for having to put all those points into Int), "Educated" (boosts skill points per level even further - at level five I got 22 points - which is 105 extra points over the course of the game!), "Comprehension" - although if you save up the skill books (put them somewhere safe) until after you have a convenient moment to buy this perk then it can wait..and definitely don't bother with "Swift Learner", you will level up quite quickly enough without it...

I'm about 14 hours in now, not even done one bit of the main storyline and already seen and done some incredible things (been shopping at the super-duper mart, drank some radioactive water, made friends with some vampires, been set on fire, killed numerous people with spiky hair, saved a village from a science experiment gone badly wrong and disarmed a nuclear weapon (earning me a free house with robot companion), not bad for a days work)...can't seem to find the dog I was promised though...hmmm...(although he might be part of the main quest I guess)... ;)

Anyway, here's to the next 56 hours of play (if I ever get round to starting the actual game... :)

Update - Started the main quest now (fully explored about 50 areas before doing so and cleared them out, bringing me to level 12) and I am *so* pleased I took Melee - there are an awful number of very claustrophobic indoor areas where it has been completely invaluable, combine it with the Shishkebab and a high Strength (mine is now 9) and I'm flooring Super Mutants in 2 hits when they come around the corner...killed six (two of which had miniguns) outside the museum without drawing a gun! Hehe... ;)

Right, time to get definitive - Further update - I have now finished the game and have started it again as an Evil Character, this is my updated starting guide (it takes about an hour but is so worth it) -

When you are born choose an Intelligence of 9 and quite a high Strength and Agility (don't put any stat higher than 9 though, because of the bobbleheads you will find as you progress), read the book given to you as a present on your birthday (find it under Aid), and grab the bobblehead on your dad's desk in medical (do this now as your next chance is much later on in the game) - make sure you select Melee as one of your SPECIAL skills (see note above)...as soon as you get out of the Vault go to Megaton, get to the craterside supply store (down the slope and then right half-way up the ramp before the two headed cow) and accept the quest to help research the book, specifically the shopping one (super-duper mart), then go to Moriarties Saloon (up at the top at the back of Megaton) and find Lucy West, accept her quest too...next make a mad dash to Rivet Town (a huge aircraft carrier in the bottom right of the map) trying not to level up (sneak and avoid enemies - saving often), get to the Science lab (door on the left past the guard and all the way at the end) and on the table you will find the Intelligence Bobblehead (taking you to Int 10 - the maximum), find the bed in the common room where you can sleep for free (restoring all health) - you can now fast travel back here each time you are injured (a big help at this stage in the game)...

Note - (at some stage you are going to inevitably make it to level 4, as you can't avoid foe all the time, when you do, make sure you take the "Educated" perk, this will add a further 3 points to skills each time you level meaning at the earliest possible moment you are going to get the maximum - 23 - this makes an enormous difference to how powerful you are going to be at later levels)...

Collect all ammo along the way (it doesn't weigh anything) and keep your eye open for a Chinese Assault Rifle (the top small gun and my favorite weapon)...it will crop up randomly on enemies...

Now, fast travel back to Megaton, get into Lucas Simms house (the door is unlocked at certain times of day, or you can pick his pocket, or even kill him to get his key - make sure no-one is looking if you opt for the latter two options though ) and grab the Strength Bobblehead from his desk on the second floor - next make your way to the Super-Duper mart (switch quest and follow the map marker) and sneak all the way round to the back of the store (or complete the shopping sub-mission now by killing everyone and grabbing food and medicine if you like - you can now level up freely) and from behind the counter in the middle at the back grab the motorcycle gas tank and the motorcycle hand-break (they are next to each other by the broken floor cleaning machine), then fast travel back to Megaton, get back to the craterside supply and choose the Minefield subquest, make your way to minefield (following the map marker) and very carefully make your way through town (sneaking and disarming all the mines - watch out for the sniper too) until you see a lawn-mower, open the lawn-mower and pick up the lawn-mower blade), now pop into any of the houses and search the oven, making sure you grab the Pilot Light...(there is a good reason for all this, I promise)... ;)

Now, switch quests to "Blood Ties", complete that mission (convincing the leader of the gang to protect the residents of Arefu) and get the Shishkebab Schematics, fast travel back to Megaton and go back to the craterside supply, go to the work bench on the left on the ground floor near the grumpy bloke and build Shishkebab - You now have the most powerful melee weapon in the entire game - go to Arefu and tell them the good news, completing the quest, then fast travel back to the vampire den, talk to the leader again and ask him to teach you how to be a vampire, you will then be able to get 20 health back by drinking blood packs (which are quite plentiful and otherwise useless)...

90% of enemies will rush you, even ones with guns, so employ a tactic of hiding behind rubble or trees and waiting for them to come running over, then use VATS to slice them in half and set them on fire with Shishkebab...(hehe)...or sneak and backstab for double damage - this tactic is best in the "dungeon" areas but can work in the wilderness if you are careful, otherwise stick to the Chinese Assault Rifle (again trying to get sneak attacks)...always aim for the head or torso...

Fast travel to Megaton and save the game...now you are ready to begin the game properly with absolutely the best starting character...leave this save intact on the hard drive as you can use it for a replay (the game begs to be finished at least twice, once as a good character, once as an evil character, so this will save you a lot of time!) ;)

Moving forwards from here I personally boosted sneak/small guns/science/repair/lockpick/melee (but don't boost any skill above 90 until you have found the Bobblehead/skill books, as no skill can go above 100), best way to make money is to repair unwanted items yourself, then go to a trader (craterside is fine) get the sales lady to repair all your stuff and then get all your money back by selling your unwanted repaired items along with unwanted ammo (there will be lots you won't use - e.g. energy cells, 10mm rounds)...

Xbox 360 Christmas line-up 2008

Just had a quick check of the Christmas release schedule and there are a truly horrifying number of games that I really want (even though I still haven't completed MOH:Airborne from last Christmas (but that's largely because the minute I start playing anything with a lot of banging noises I end up getting an earful from Flyingpops)...it's odd, because there has been such a *lack* of decent games for the 360 for soooooo long, suddenly to be facing (caveat - final reviews/demo play aside - as there could be some unexpected lemons) *seven* "must-have" titles this festive season it's just scaring the (financial) willies out of me...so let's run down the (amazingly impressive) list without further ado -

24th Oct
Fable II (*loved* Fable, despite it not living up to Peter's dream hype, both the times I played it, can't wait to do the same this time - eh chicken lovers?)
Far Cry 2 (sounds like the saving system might have spoiled this one a bit for the console versions, but still rabidly anticipating my trip back to the perfect tropical archipelago, even though it is unfortunately populated by the raving offspring of Dr Moreau...yep, this one is going to annoy Flyingpops no end... ;)
Dead Space (Well...maybe, I'll have to check the reviews, but it's been a long time since I've forced Flyingpops to actually get out of the bath to find out what I have been screaming in terror about - a certain room in Doom 3 - in fact)...

31st Oct
Fallout 3 (YAY!!!!!!! The latest and greatest from the perfect coding team at Bethesda Softworks, it almost makes me want to get Oblivion out again, but I fear that I wouldn't have a wife any longer if that did happen... ;)

14th Nov
Call of Duty - World at War (looking *really* good, if it's anything like as polished as COD 4 then we are in for a real treat, unfortunately it's another bang-bang game though)
Banjo Kazooie - Nuts and Bolts (RARE...well, what can I say - it's not just "hit and miss" with that lot, but "total classic and doggy-do-on-the-shoe" so only time will tell)...the last (proper) Banjo Kazooie I played was back on the Nintendo 64 and if it's *anything* like as good as that...put it this way - Christmas will certainly have come early, although not for Gruntilda)...

21st Nov
Tomb Raider Underworld (Formulaic? Yes...Cliched? Yes...Unmissable? Damn it...yes! Please leave out the silly motorbike sections this time though!)

So all in all we are staring into the primed double barrels of total total gaming joy! In fact, probably enough joy to take me through the whole of next year without needing any other games at all! The down side? If I bought all of this lot on release day it would end up costing me almost £280...! So it's either trade-in time (luckily I have a big of a pile of "completes" at home), fingers crossed for Christmas presents (although with the "global financial crisis" that's actually (this year) probably a non-starter as we all tighten our belts), select a couple of prime titles and be happy with those, or just wait until the prices come down...although with the quality of this seasons offerings that's not going to happen for a *long* time...

I'm pleased...I really am - it's been so long since there was actually a choice in the matter...but "want want WANT"!!!

Honestly, I've not felt like this since I was young enough to early adopt console hardware! Damn it... ;)

Fallout 3 - Not long now!

Wow, absolutely can't wait for Fallout 3, the next in the pipeline from Bethesda - the crew who put out the Elder Scrolls games (the absolute classic "Oblivion" among them)...it seems like an age since I watched that first (incredibly atmospheric) teaser trailer and now here we almost are - European release date is the 31st of October! I almost feel like taking that Friday off and paying for Flyingpops to spend the weekend at a Spa...(and before you get excited, I did say *almost* sweetheart... x ;)

Best news of all, initial (disappointing) reports were that the game was going to be pretty small and very quick to complete (30 hours or so, which after all this development time would have been a bit of a shame), latest news is that (the map at the very least) has now grown to roughly the same size as the Oblivion map (i.e. absolutely colossal) and there are now around 200 possible endings, dependent entirely on player actions throughout the game...not only that, but they have managed to continue with their tradition of employing extremely fine voice actors (Patrick Stewart playing the King in "Oblivion") - Fallout 3 has Liam Neeson voice acting the part of the main characters father...oh come on and hurry up October!!! Not been this excited about a game since (the terrible let-down that was) Thief 3...

Xbox 360 - Oblivion - Easy way to max out Stealth

Okay, this is how to max out your stealth, the easy way... ;)

Go and find the location that your girlfriend/sister/mother/hippy friend keep their hair bands (you'll want a thin one, the kind used to hold a simple pony-tail in place), here is where I knew to find one (tut)...

Speed travel to the Imperial City Merchant's quarter and find the stunningly imaginatively named "Merchants Inn" (walk up the stairs ahead of you, turn left and it's the first tavern on the right), then simply push in the left thumb stick to start sneaking, loop the hair band around the left thumb stick and pull it towards the bottom left controller handle, again looping it around (like so) -

- your character will sneak into the corner and onto a box, but you will notice that instead of movement stopping, the camera will continue to bob (indicating motion), but all the time staying stuck in the corner of the bar...this is perfect, make sure the sneak eye indicator in the centre of the screen is pale (indicating you are hidden, if not, take your characters shoes off and try again)...then just watch for a minute or two, just to make sure your character stays in the corner of the bar (bobbing up and down and hidden), then turn off the TV (gasp!), and go out and enjoy the *real* world for a few hours (take your PSP in case of withdrawal symptoms ;) and when you return (might need to do this a couple of times as the "Journeyman", "Expert" and "Master" announce screens will pause the game, but depending on your skill when you start) - 100 sneak will be yours... ;)

One small caveat here though, if you are playing any class with Sneak as a major skill, don't do this, seriously consider making a custom character class (with all the other skills you fancy, but omitting Sneak), when I got around to sleeping on my initial character I shot up about 10 levels in one go, but still armed with terrible weapons and armour and got my arse kicked (prompting me to have to start all over again)...

A very merry birthday... ;)

Had lots of the family round last night for a lovely meal (half curry/half Chinese and one McDonalds for good measure) and drinks...got an excellent haul of gifts (including) -

- some beer from Harrods -

- a restaurant quality roasting pan (woo hoo!) -

- an extra life (might come in handy!) -

- and an XBOX 360!!!!!!!! Premium pack too, so the hard disk and wireless controller etc. were in the box! Awesome!!! So spent *all* of the rest of yesterday playing Gears of War (amazing graphics!) and Oblivion (incredible game!)...also got some *excellent* books, the new Jamie and Hugh efforts, a really nice shirt and tie (be perfect for the upcoming wedding), a Dalek shower gel, a Viz subscription for next year (cool!) and loads more...

...and...Christmas is tomorrow!! We're just loading all the pressies into Colin now...hope he doesn't break down! ;)

Quake 3 Forever - Q3 in a browser!??

Incredbile but true, it's only 1.5Mb (you need to install the latest Shockwave player) but it runs perfectly! Try out Quake 3 in a browser! I found it worked best in Firefox... ;)

Second Life - An introduction by Cory Ondrejka

Okay, here is a paste from the comment I made on the previous post (but this is an important issue to discuss) and please note - *THIS IS BASED ON A 3 HOUR FIRST IMPRESSION OF THE PRODUCT POST THE CORPORATE PRESENTATION* -

As he constantly reminded us, Second Life is not a game, it's a tool set to build a virtual world, populated by "residents" who can all build whatever they like...(and can even keep it if they pay for land to store it on)...

It's attracting quite some interest by the popular press, see recent articles here and here...wikipedia entry here...not least the BBC who have been holding events and giving away free gifts to "residents", it is even rumoured that Hilary Clinton is going to set up an office in the game in order to canvas in the upcoming elections!

Great promise...a really great speaker...a really great experience? I installed it last night to see...

One thing that came across really strongly during the talk is the massive benefit for those people with Aspingers or that were Schizophrenic, and (implied, admittedly) those disabled people who really couldn't leave the house for physical reasons...this game literally gives them wings (your Avatar can fly from the very start)...

Also, from an architechures of participation point of view, this environment encourages creativity unlike anything else in Web 2.0 (some stupid figure like 70% of participants actually create things! This is incedible - did you know that of all the active users of eBay only FOUR PERCENT actually sell anything? Consider also out of all the huge number of users of the internet what a tiny fraction actually keep a blog up to date? It's effectively ZERO PERCENT, same with Wikipedia effectively zero percent of users actually bother to update it)..!

Anyway, hype aside, my brief look around tonight lead me to a 10 point observation -

1-There is a lot of empty space
2-The first area I teleported to I was walking around for about 4 minutes before (and there was no-one else there) I got a message asking me to leave
3-It feels like walking through a vast flea market, people have to pay to make unique things, and they want money to share (i.e. it's extremely commercial and obviously money driven to the core)
4 - My graphics card isn't quite up to the job...bah... :(
5 - A lot of the object code is dodgy (training areas aside) - the number of sofas that threw me into the air when I tried to stand up was a little silly, and also notable was the wonderful airship I found that threw me into the sea after not taking off, not moving and then complaining it hit something (which wasn't there)...
6 - A lot of the non-dodgy code is clunky (su doku in the help zone is extremely unfriendly)
7 - Educational or public service presentations work WELL (and are free, but I'm not sure they should be charging schools...)
8 - This environment is wonderful for crossing the boundary between IVL and IRL (especially the wonderful crossover between life and avatar at conferences/book signings/etc)...anything you can stream on the web (video, music etc.) you can stream into Second Life
9 - A few extra textures at launch would be nice...I wasn't very happy to arrive in the world looking like a classic US uni jock by default either, especially after being offered the choice at sign up (and choosing an interesting CyberGoth look - which was totally ignored), also the more interesting textures just look terrible on clothing, I thought chainmail jeans would be cool...but no...it looked more like blurry grey wool...
10 - I enjoyed being able to fly by default... ;)

I'm not out the door, and I admint I should try it out on a better machine...(the spec that Cory told me in person was a lot more acurate than the spec on the website)...

I also think newbies need a bit more of a guide to, say -

• Welcoming groups
• Cool things to see
• Cool things to do

It wouldn't hurt to have an obvious - Teleport yourself here (to action/cool/popular thing, rather than just a location on the blurry map) object to engage people from the help island...

Also, in the style of MUDs or MMORPGs? Why not guild recruitment from the off? Instant feeling that you *belong*...

Anyway, there really isn't much excuse not to at least try it and tell me how wrong I am...it's only about a 20Mb download and it's free...(in the begining at least)... ;)

Cory Ondrejka - Speaking today

Well well well, Cory Ondrejka (CTO of Linden Lab) is coming to our office today to give a talk about Second Life! Cool...!

It's attracting quite some interest by the popular press, see recent articles here and here...wikipedia entry here...

Should be rather interesting! ;)

Update - Very cool presentation! Flyingpops is out tonight watching Jools Holland with work at Kew Gardens, so, assuming my creaking graphics card is up to it, I'll spend the evening wandering around "Second Life"...oo-er! ;)

(That's him on the left)

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Domino chase

Simply brilliant physics engine demo if nothing else...watch it here....

Much more importantly, I'm going to talk about 7/7 tomorrow, I think, after the recent report...

Retro Gaming, Remakes and End Sequences

Spent some of the weekend mucking around with the retro gaming scene, inspired by a copy of "Retro Gamer" magazine I picked up at the car boot sale in Dorking a couple of weeks back (there is a guy who somehow manages to get heaps and heaps of current magazines and sell them for 50p a shot, not that I'm complaining)...anyway, I found a few really interesting things trawling the interweb that I thought I would share (if you like this kind of thing) -

• These guys have written a PC emulator (complete with the legal roms) for all of the "Mercenary" games
• These guys have made a beautiful remake of "Total Eclipse" (very early 3D game) and are also working on "Driller" (cool!)
• The Speccie scene has come on a *lot* since I last looked, most of the emulators now support .RZX archives, which basically means you can pause, rewind and retry games during play, all the while recording your keystrokes...the brilliant result? You can download and watch people finishing old speccie games (right to the end sequences! Admittedly they are usually a bit underwhelming considering the amount of effort involved)...I watched someone finish "Skool Daze" and "Bak 2 Skool" (no wonder I never managed them myself)...there is also this archive of "Speccie Spoilers" to enjoy which cut right to the chase...
• Found this site which has a nice archive of remakes (check out this remake of "Sir Fred"...it's still impossible though!), the forum is the best bit to check out for more (and play hints, maps etc)...

Anyway, it's a good way to while away a few pleasant hours in memory lane without having to get the ladders out and dust off the *real* speccies from the loft...(and the games load quicker too)... ;)

The rest of the weekend was spent trying to catch as much of the rain as I could (filled the top half of the water barrel, a bucket (from the overflow on the barrel) and an 8 gallon watering can (from the tap on the bottom) during Saturday alone!) playing the new "Da Vinci Code" XBOX game (suprisingly good, it's almost like "Farenheight" but with better puzzles) and trying to finish "Rogue Trooper" (but the sniper enemy in the later levels is a right pain in the cranium!), and lastly getting the camping stuff ready for Laughton, which is next weekend, but if the weather doesn't improve, well, put it this way - I'm not going to sit in a muddy field in the rain for 3 days...

I also really must try and get out to take some pictures this week, my camera is gathering dust during all these pesky rainshowers and my shooting finger is decidedly itchy...

Sol, mar, arena y sangrea... ;)

...well, aren´t we being a lazy bunch, not even blogging... ;) These Spanish keyboards take a bit of getting used to...

So far we´ve spent the most time just sat by the pool, sleeping, eating chorizo/paella and drinking cerveza grande/sangrea... ;)

The volcanic sand down at the playa de la arena is just awesome, looks like a thousand particles of glittering gold in every square foot of black sand, and the rocks on the shoreline look like they belong on the moon...quite surreal...the resort is a bit of a pain, but only because it´s so perfect there really isn´t much need to wander too far from base camp...local supermarcardo is wonderful too, took some great shots of fresh monkfish looking scary, and about a hundred legs of dry cured pork...not like Tesco... ;) The pull along shopping baskets are cool too...!

Oh, ended up taking GTA:LCS, and I´m pleased I did, much progression has taken place with a focused mind...(and printed FAQ)... ;)

Anyway, wish you all were here...it´s super hot, super good weather and mañana we are off to Loro Parque to see the Killer Whales performo...biggest water park outside of Florida apparently!!! ;)

Amusing combination... ;)

Hehe... ;) An end to "Not tonight dear...I've got a headache" excuses...Snapped in the gents at the "Iron Horse" pub in Merstham...

Had quite a busy (but also strangely relaxing) weekend, Friday night Flyingpops and I got a cab into Redhill for a "New York" style meal in "Frankie and Bennys" (which actually was kind of like being in New York (apart from all the chav children drinking cocktails underage/yelling at/snogging each other))...I had their signature "Black and Blue Burger" which is a kind of burnt cinder of minced beef topped with runny blue cheese...and it wasn't too bad at all, thanks for asking! It actually did *kind* of take me back... :)

Saturday morning was eaten up by the Xbox game "Black" which is absolutely excellent (thanks Mr Jonkinson for recommending it ;) it's kind of like a super serious version of Goldeneye on the N64 (lots of replay value going back to complete each mission at greater difficulty levels, with extra objectives and less health packs) but based around so called "Black ops" US government operatives, the environments are super deformable which adds considerably to the realism (I keep having to stop myself wasting grenades near large areas of glass)...anyway, if you like "Run and Gun" games, go and get it, it's awesome...

Sunday we went over to see G/S/A mostly to take Mr.S his birthday present (a Dr Who DVD to complete his set) - Alexander is *almost* crawling now, but not quite, he seems perfectly content to just get excited about things out of his reach, the realisation that he can motivate his body to get nearer to them doesn't quite seem to have occured to him yet, but it won't be long... ;) Then Sunday night I did roast beef for Flyingpop's folks, ate it and then promptly fell asleep on the sofa, quite exhausted...could have done with another hour in bed this morning too, so I obviously needed it... ;)

"Oh, the snow, the beautiful snow...

...filling the sky and the earth below"...Well, that was the forecast anyway...and what do we get? Slush...
Cold and made from H2O, yes, but certainly not white and fluffy...still, the day isn't over, we may yet be suprised...

To compound matters, I got hold of "Tales of Eternia" yesterday, slapped it on the PSP, tested it worked okay (yes, firmware wasn't an issue!), popped the PSP on charge (last night) and got to the station this morning (in a state of high excitement) only to discover that I had left the bloody thing on the arm of the sofa! In a dejected fashion I trawled the depths of my rucksack, firstly hoping that I had simply missed it, then sadly searching for something (anything!) to entertain me on my journey (my mobile phone decided that this was the perfect moment to die also - lots of silly error messages and screen distortion - so I couldn't even play Jawbreaker or Solitaire) the only thing that emerged from the depths was a tatty three week old copy of New Scientist that had been scrunched up lining the bottom of my bag, so I pulled it out, smoothed out the worst of the creases and read that (again) in a huff...oh and we've run out of Fuji apples and bananas now, so I have had to bring a Breaburn and an orange...bah...not a good day!

Bashed about...

...believe it or not this banana was perfectly yellow when I popped it into my rucksack and left the house this morning, makes me worry about my PSP rattling around in there!

On the PSP front I'm currently playing "Tokobot" (which is a funny sort of puzzle platformer, quite amusing) and *still* playing "Everybody's Golf" which has been absolutely unputdownable since I learned that the last course is called "Dino Park", opened up 3 so far, 3 to go... ;) However, as soon as I get hold of "Tales of Eternia" everything else gets dumped...been waiting for a decent RPG to come out...and I've checked, it works on my firmware level...(suprisingly!)... ;)

PSP Headphones etc...

Okay, so the lovely white PSP headphones that shipped with the unit inside it's "Value Pack" (colour an attempt at "cool"-leeching from the ipod set, I think) have gone into the tech junk box under the PC (joining dusty treasures like my GBA Flash Linker, the DC Memory card rip cable, and heaps of ancient flash memory) and my standard Sony Walkman headphones (old and trusty) have migrated from the DS case to join the PSP for my commute...the reason? The PSP ones are just way too weedy! Even at full volume I could barely hear anything at all of the soundtrack over the normal rumblings of the train and chattering of foreign tourists...to be fair, they do say in the manual that they are "safe" headphones designed to protect your hearing, but frankly if you need to be in silence to hear what they are "pumping" out, the purpose is defeated...I'll turn the volume down in quiet situations anyway!

On the positive side - I'm *loving* my silicone jacket (from GAME), no danger of dropping or scratching it with that wrapped around the fragile bits like an amorous slime-mould! The combined USB link cable and charger is excellent too, especially as the USB bit also works for the C500 and my new camera (got a cigarette lighter adaptor for the car as well to cater for those camping/low battery moments)...(thanks Santa!)...

On the battery life...(I know that was one major concern I had before getting my hands on one)...just to give you an idea, when I got into work today, before charging it (after playing for about an hour on my way in) the battery life remaining estimate in "System Settings" read "7 hours 43 minutes"...not that I have tested that in anger yet, but several non-stop 3 hour sessions (between charges) over Christmas didn't dent the dashboard indicator by a single bar...so looking good!

At the moment I am mostly playing "Untold Legends - Brotherhood of the Blade" which is a hack-and-slash RPG with strong "Rogue" elements (multiple dungeons, random items, random monster positions (apart from the boss fights))...which is really very good indeed! Started two different characters, my favorite of which is a vanilla fighter (Knight Class)...There's nothing amazingly "new" about it, but I love this kind of game, and in theory it should have excellent replay value (a bit like having "Diablo"-mini on the move I guess)...take *THAT* Giant Spider scum! ;)

Sudoku

...was almost to blame for making me miss my stop on the train on the way in this morning, never played it before but found a homebrew for the PSP which proved rather *too* addictive...! It's basically a process of elimination starting with a largely empty (depending on the difficulty a certain number of "given" numbers are scattered around) 9x9 grid broken up into further 3x3 grids - one's task is to ensure that each cell has a single number between 1 and 9 that is unique both on it's own horizontal and vertical lines within the 9x9 grid, and also unique within it's 3x3 square...(it's definitely more fun than it sounds, trust me)!

When I looked up, expecting to see Farringdon and actually seeing Kings Cross, I had to bolt from my seat for the closing train door with PSP dangling dangerously from it's wrist strap and rucksack in hand banging on seat backs to avoid being whisked (gritting my teeth through the glass at a vanishing platform) to Luton Airport! Phew! :^

Slithering up the stairs at soggy Kings Cross revealed a part of town that still doesn't seem to have woken up from Christmas, even today the streets are pretty quiet comparitively, yesterday it was completely dead at 9am, guess quite a lot of people decided to commute in a bit later...I sympathise, my sleep patterns have been a bit of a mess - the usual holiday late nights etc. but also because of my recent cold - tossing and turning for much of the night, then dozing until about 1030-11am...bah to early alarms...

Just...one...more...snooze...zzzz... ;)