Archive for the ‘gaming’ Category

Games, girls, and vicodin

Monday, November 16th, 2009

I accidentally paid too much towards a bill this week. While this is a plus, it actually would’ve been nice to hold on to some cash for the weekend but it was a decision I made.

The review for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 came out the same day as it came out in NZ/Internationally. To say it’s good appears to be the gaming understatement of the year.
Gametrailers also reviewed Dragon Age: Origins, a game by one of my favourite publishers/developers Bioware.

The latter I don’t really want. It’s an RPG with multi-companion combat and pausing. The trailer does make it look quite nifty but not my bag.
MW2 I have wanted since it’s announcement 18 months ago after playing the absolutely amazing first instalment and the title’s predecessors. Long have I pined for a decent FPS that didn’t mean I had to think about augementations of abilities and the power to level up. Bang bang, pew pew, lazer beams.
If I didn’t tell you how much I enjoyed playing Unchartered: Drake’s Fortune then I really should’ve if you’re into games. It’s like playing your own interactive movie. On the weekend, I hired it’s sequel which also gets an amazing review. I have about 7 more chapters to go (according to a friend at work who had completed it 3 times the week after release) and have to return it on my way to work this morning. I will get it out again soon.

The whole point of this story is that this shows the times “are a chan-gin’”. Old me would’ve bought MW2 to spite my bills and then had a poor week with less entertainment the following time when I could “afford” it.
For the first time in ages, I have put my personal responsibilities before my personal pleasures which is basically me finally believing that for a bit of hard yakka, I can come out trumps.

I’ve been concentrating on what I don’t have for the last few weeks and while I don’t think this is going to change, I have now somewhat found it in me to realise what I do have. In all honestly it’s not a lot and that is not a statement of self pity but more a realisation of what I want and what I can have. Snall gains for big pay offs… and I wondered why Egypt use to seem so far away.

In other thoughts, I tend to overthink things and I found something out which most of you all probably know but when you’ve been in the position I have for as long as I have, sometimes a glimmer is all it can take. Time to stamp on that glimmer:

a) When a girl tells you you’re cute, it’s because they like you. Not “like” you but like you.

b) When several girls at work are flirting with you, even though they’ve made it quite apparent they have boyfriends and to even think about dating them would be the true path of an aspiring manther, it’s actually because you’re in a position of power to give them something or do something for them. Yes, incredibly shallow but it works. I’m not proud of this.

c) When a girl tells you she loves you and then moves to australia… no… she doesn’t… not like that.

d) When girls refer to you as one of the girls, they mean for dinners out and good company, not pillow fights in pyjamas. For some reason, it just never came up.

and to think, I was going to finish this rant with a capitalised “fuck I hate being a nice guy” but instead I think I’ll end with something truthful…

Boobies are awesome.

Posted in gaming, general ramblings | 4 Comments »

Mugargh

Monday, March 30th, 2009

GameHog care of the B from TBALC is a very good website because unfortunately there are a lot of games out there that are not worth the price tag they supposedly command. Thanks B.
Last night, post completion of internets in my new flat, I decided to celebrate by attempting to get past the last beserker in Gears of War just before the final boss. My Xbox360 said “No saved checkpoint found”. I realised I had not put the memory card back in (what I was using pre-HDD goodness) and found it and it back in.

“No saved checkpoint found”

Oh… duh, I need to change the source where the 360 is reading from. Switched over to memory card.

“No Saved Checkpoint found”

Mugargh is my word of the week. Although in my new commitment to happy thoughts and how “It could be worse” and “the glass is half full”, I remember someone telling me that post conquering 50/52 countries in Rome: Total War found out the next day that their hard drive had died, is a lot worse.

But Mugargh anyway…

Flat awesome.
Work interesting.
Health lingering.
Life overall grand.

Posted in gaming | 1 Comment »

PC Vs. Console

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

So this year I have acquired two pieces of technology; a new computer and an Xbox360.

Predominently most of my gaming is played on a PC because it’s what I’m use to and I’m one of those “can’t play an FPS on a console as effectively” fan boys. Over the years, the console to PC gap has started to shrink with gaming companies releasing exclusives to consoles and a lot of the most popular or highly anticipated games coming out on all (even if sometimes spread out like GTA4) platforms.
Modern platforms have also started to incorporate the option of hard drives saving the finding of a memory card or deleting saved games where there was a (ever so) slight possibility you might want to play them again later.
So a while ago I bought myself a new computer because there some upcoming First Person Shooters or perspective games that I wated to play plus my old computer was almost 2 – 3 years old. The most recent of these games was Fallout 3, a First Person Role Playing Game set in post apocolyptic Washington D.C. For those interested, it’s awesome… like, really awesome. The story is great (although I’ve heard the end is a little pants), the graphics are beyond gorgeous, and the gameplay, interactions, and atmosphere are just amazing.

Fallout 3 also comes out on the Xbox360 PS3. Of the few comparison reports, including this one, I’ve read the PC version is by far the best with the Xbox360 being fairly close and the PS3 somewhat trailing. The fact that the PC version is the best surprises me… except and this is the point of this blog.How come the PC version costs $109.99 (Standard) and $149.99 (Collectors) whereas the Xbox version costs $139.99 and $169.99 respectively?

I was thinking about this and I think it has a lot to do with the plug-and-playability of the console version. I bought Fallout 3 on the day of release (Friday 31st October) on the way to work. The whole time at work whenever I needed to go into my drawer to check my cellphone for people txting in sick or to grab someone’s file, there was my Fallout 3 case in the EBGames bag almost whispering “Play me. You are starting to feel unwell. You had better go home.”. It finally got to the last rep on the phone and I was out the door with them rather than doing my normal “Oh, I’ll just tidy that up now” or some other “excuse” to work even later than required. I say “excuse” because it’s a whole bunch of work which I would need to do at some stage and particularly on Friday’s I start to think about it on the weekend >.<
Arriving home, I wandered into my room, put the DVD in the drive and started to install it. Now in most instances, this is great because while it is installing I get to watch TV, browse the internets, or in this case make some dinner.

Console versions, you turn the thing on, you open the tray, put the disc on the tray, close the tray, wait for it to read and play.

PC versions, unless you hax, most of the time require the DVD/CD in the drive to play the game.

PCs have hard drives. Consoles have hard drive options.

PC versions can be compatabile with console controllers. Consoles currently can not handle a keybord and mouse although there are some features similar and talk about this in the future.

So yeah, I’m a little confused. I’m a little confused as to why I would pay an extra $30 for the game just because I can play it now and it not be as good.

This post has kind of lost it’s momentum but I hope you get my point.

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