Gearing up for Christmas

Christmas tree in Manchester, Piccadilly Gardens. Doesn't look too shabby.

My Saturday

When you've no reason to in out no a Saturday, this is where you night find yourself.

A late breakfast

I'm hungry. Time for a meal fit for a princess.

Fast food art

Just had a nice McDonalds, which ended with this wonderful collaborative art piece.

I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

So, recently, a pretty awesome game was released by the name of Mercenaries 2. It's your standard open-world shooter. That is to say, it's third-person, it looks pretty okay and it contains lots of boring a-to-b. On the wholly positive side of things, I found that the story is, as far as I've played it, well written and engaging, with the motives of everyone you meet clearly defined either through exposition or clearly defined faction relationships. The weapon system is realistic in that you can't carry everything... Just 2 weapons and two types of explosive.

Also present is a range of supporting characters who, despite how easy it could have been, do not fit the stereotypes that you might assign to them on your first encounter.

Other than that, it's actually a pretty crap game.

First, I want to address the controls. FPS games have been around for 35 years, with the modern FPS being born with Quake (1996), 12 years ago. Dual-Stick Shooter controls have been under development since the PlayStation, finally being basically perfected with the release of Halo, which had Dual-Stick control with each stick controlling a certain function of the player's body, which is to say one for movement and one for aiming. They even have (and this is the important part) assisted aiming. That's right. Aiming on consoles is a chore, and can be made much easier. So, why is it so hard in Mercenaries 2? Why is my aiming not assisted? Today, the average consumer can rightly expect to have assisted aiming on par with Halo. It's not hard, after all. It's not hard to infer if what they're aiming at is what they want to aim at, and adjust aiming speed appropriately.

Another peeve is geometry. Unless it should look like two different things, it shouldn't. If you travel along any road in this game and just look at the edges, you'll see that the road network is a separate set of geometry to the world. In this 'next gen' era, why is it that we have to see this? It's because people are still hooked on using efficient-but-ugly terrain systems, like Magic Carpet (1994). Games such as Burnout Paradise prove that you can have modeled terrain and still run at a perversely smooth 60 fps. Sure, Burnout Paradise is a racing game and you can make a lot of savings under that genre, but then you have to look at games like GTA IV, which while making a sacrifice of FPS can have a shooter in a modeled terrain world.

However, we can't visit geometry without taking a look at something very close to it; Texturing. I don't have a video capture card, so I can't really show you, but there are some terrible artifacts on quite a few textures. Luckily, it's not too noticeable.

So, I have a final gripe. The game mechanics remind me of Army of Two, another EA game that just doesn't really play well despite the fact that it was well designed. If you pull iron sights, you also automatically crouch and even slide if you were running, too, which is annoying because thus far it seems as though while sliding, you can't shoot. Not a problem if I was sliding into cover, but this happens out in the open too, where I'm probably getting shot to hell and back.

For all it's faults, I can't really say that I would advise people not to play the game, just that if they do want to buy the game, they need to understand that these faults exist and can detract from your experience. I just hope that someone, somewhere, reads this post and realizes that mediocrity is really starting to get on my tits.

I think I'm in love.

Oh, hi. Are you still here? Good, I could do with some company.

So, Google have released their own Web Browser, and I must say, this is exactly everything I have been expecting out of new releases of Firefox and Internet Explorer. It's called Google Chrome and it was released no more than half a day ago.

Firefox used to be the most minimalistic of all the browsers. It was a selling point, even. However, it seems that Google Chrome seems to have gotten way past that and is now firmly in the top spot. This isn't to say it's missing features. Sure, at this point, there are no 3rd party extensions like the ones I'm used to on Firefox or Internet Explorer. There's not even a Google Toolbar, but for some reason, I don't think Google would even put on in it. Ever. It'd ruin the aesthetics of what is, to me, a work of art.

Here's a few of the thing I like about it.

• Tabs look like tabs, with each tab containing it's own controls.
• Maximising the window makes tabs use the title-bar area, to maximise web-page space.
• It's smoothly animated.
• It's memory architecture model means that there are no more massively terminal crashes.
• Only one thing I've tested it with so far hasn't worked. Not bad for Beta software.

In fact, the only thing I don't like about it is the that that, as far as I'm aware, you can't do anything to change the colour of it. Luckily, it's a very nice shade of blue.

Got rid of my sister

She's married, so now I shouldn't have to worry about her any more. It rarely works that way.

The war on weeds

In town today, you can see your taxes being put to home use, as the police do the wedding.

Just how pink does a car need to be?

No, seriously. What were they thinking when they made this car? Maybe that type of car is popular with the female demographic, but really, pink?

My, how the kid has grown.

A few pages back, he wasn't even taking, now he's pointing himself out.

Adam got buff!

Cheeky bugger has been exercising. He's not only cute, but toned, now, too.

Drinking with friends.

So many birthdays in such a short space of time. Today we're celebrating Paul's. I take great pleasure in telling you he's 30.

Highlight of the day

So, my sister is getting married soon. To that end, she's had her hair done. Nice streaky blonde.

Dress shopping

We're looking for a dress for Mother for my Sisters up coming wedding. Here's am example of one of the possibles.

No Hidden Content this way

Okay, so this heart in the Statue of Happiness is old news, but I still think it's worth sharing.

Funny times in GTA4

So, I'm pretty far into the GTA storyline now, I think. I hope. The only problem is, there's almost nothing I can tell you without spoiling it for you, so I'll just tell you something funny I saw on one of the really small quests.

I've met a few people on the streets, however there is one in particular who met an unfortunate fate. I did some work for him, as Niko Bellic is wont to do. As a change of pace, it wasn't wetwork, but more like stalking. This guy, though, was neurotic, stressing himself out so much that it flared up his angina.

The final time I met him, he wanted me to do some more work. Niko flat-out refused. The guy decided he didn't want to be around, so he walked off, into the street. Cut-scene ends, scripted sequence begins. One I could have easily missed if I hadn't cared... but the guy got run over. A sports car came along and ran him over.

Not funny, I know, but it's what happened after. The driver gets out, inspects the body, and calls the police. He honestly tells the police that he ran someone over and that he "looks dead."

The cops ask him to hold. (Note to self: Don't move to Liberty City) So he says "Sure, I can hold," gets in the car, and drives off! Not the funniest thing that has happened, but all the others are too spoiley.

FACT: GTA 4 is better on the XBox 360

Before now, I could only honestly say that the 360 version of GTA4 was better due to a few superficial things, such as a superior controller, superior online gaming through the paid-for XBox Live system (You get what you pay for, folks) or the fact that I don't have a PS3 but now, I have incontrovertible evidence proving that the XBox 360 version is superior to the PS3 version. This single sticking point of mine is, in fact, the one reason that I am going to roll out every time someone brings up the 360/PS3 debate.

This fact is, quite frankly, a killer of a statistic. Previous visitors may have noticed that I like my VGA connection on my 360. So, as I read this article, I grinned. The PS3 version runs at 630 vertical lines. That means that those problems that you see in Halo 3 aren't just limited to the 360.

This does, however, raise an interesting question... in our desire to reach HD gaming, are we pushing our systems too far?

I want to kill Brucie

That is all.

Waiting for GTA made me productive

This is what happens when I get excited for something and must wait. I get productive. I installed linux and got Second Life running on it, despite the fact that it's below spec. It even runs better in linux as opposed to Windows.

Working with the enemy

Adam, playing COD4. Rare occurrence.

I always go for the Ghost

Having gone shopping for a mask, I ran into this beauty, only to have it splatter it's way into my heart.

Gaming for Parents

So, you have a child who is showing an interest in gaming. He's bugging you for an XBox, or a PlayStation or something, you're not sure. It's clear that he's not going to stop bugging you and damn it, you're a good parent who likes to make sure your kid has a happy childhood, so you want to do something.

So, first of all, we need to look at gaming in the context of your child's life. Games are the new Book, the new Film, the new TV. They provide learning experiences that your child might not otherwise receive, talking points for him to discuss with friends and otherwise entertains him. I remember that as a child and even now, I can spend just as much time discussing strategies for beating bosses for various games as I can that surprising end to the first episode of this year's series of Doctor Who.

With these basic ideas of your child's next new experience, you need to decide on where to go with it. In terms of money, the Nintendo Wii is definitely the cheapest of the options available, followed by the Microsoft XBox 360 and then at the 'premium' end of the market, the Sony PlayStation 3. Whilst for the 360 and the PS3, the games are pretty much the same but with different packaging and possibly slightly different controls, the Wii is less complex to learn, for the most part, with it Wii Remote basically being a point-and-click affair just like a normal TV Remote.

This makes the games for the Wii arguably easier to learn, with a more visceral experience at hand than the 'hardcore' buttons-and-thumbsticks of the other consoles, but because it's a relatively new technique, games are still coming to grips with the new system, much like the dual thumbsticks were to the PlayStation One crowd those many years ago. Epic games could be a year or more away, but in the mean time, there are plenty of "gimmick" games available, as well as games that are making strides into the realms of system-defining awesomeness.

Stay tuned for the next post, in which I will discuss the games available for the various systems and how they may apply to your child.

Xbox Live Arcade: Mr. Driller Top Ten. That's Me!

Okay, so very few have played the game yet, but it's a small victory.

50Hz, VGA cables and you

In Europe; or more specifically, the UK; or even more specifically, my house, our TVs operate at 50Hz and have 60Hz as an optional yet popular extra. This is fine for games like Halo 3 (which runs at 30fps and enforces 60Hz) and so on when playing on your TV, however, I play on a monitor, using the Xbox 360 VGA adaptor. This only supports 60Hz, which is also good for Halo 3. This is not good, however, for Doom 3, Fable, Forza Motorsport or any other game that operates at 50Hz only on their European releases from back in the day of the original Xbox that pretty much always ran on TVs.

The problem is, with Xbox backcompat, PGR3, early releases of Boom Boom Rocket and, in fact quite a few games, when I run at reallystupidhighresolutionomg, games that normally letterbox themselves will stretch, vertically. Master Chief suddenly becomes a super-slim super-model in a can. And what about the games that look better in wide-screen? You know, all of them... why must I play some of them in 4:3?

Please, Microsoft, let me run my Xbox at 4:3L/50hz on my VGA cable :(

The Hail Pushed Down

Just had a quick downfall. It's hard to get a good photo of it. Ho-hum.

Lazy Monday

Welcome to Monday. Lady has the right idea, I reckon.

Snow at night

You know, sometimes, I see something that is just so amazing, I have to stare at it.

Why the MLG/ESPN Top 10 is good for you

I saw the first Top 10 and thought it was damned good. I saw the second one, and I loved it. What I saw wasn't just some good Halo, but I saw some great Halo with it's sound-track intact voiced by a commentator who not only sounds good but actually sounds like he knows what he's on about.

The camera-work is magnificent. Every kill is seen from a first-person perspective, and for effect, the more spectacular views are taken advantage of. No poorly-handled camera movements like you see in most videos, (though that is mostly because even 12 years after the release of Quake with it's magnificent 8-bit graphics, Halo's replay system sucks,) nor any bad angles. This is probably because this was made by an experienced television network as well as avid gamers.

If this were to make it onto TV (and what with this being done with ESPN, it probably has) then this will garner an audience. Then it will pick up other people who watch it along-side the regular viewers. Then with viewers comes network attention. With that, we get more shows... eventually, games and leagues start getting shown, teams start up professionally, travelling the globe to fight other people.

That is why the MLG/ESPN Top 10 is good for you, your favourite game and for professional gaming. It will legitimise your game, your past-time, your passion. Go watch those videos. Tell your friends to watch those videos. Ask them to tell their friends to watch these videos. Post them on your blog. Give these videos more eyes, and you will be rewarded!

Army of Adam and I

So, Army of Two came. 9:30am the next day, it arrived, and I barreled down the stairs to the front door to sign for it like it was Santa himself delivering John Barrowman. So, in it goes, and all day, I was playing Army of Two. I only took breaks for food, and even then, only if I had no choice. Adam saw me playing, and sent me an MSN message. Apparently, I'm a 'bastard' :D

So, anyway, I'm playing the game, when I decide I want to try the online play, so I do. I get stuck with a Swede who is playing the game for the first time. I don't complain, but when we're going after some guy and chasing him down a pier, or should I say, before that, he just seems to stop playing or start sucking... or even both at the same time. I happily quite the game and start over in single player.

By this time, of course, I've amassed so much money thanks to the game's persistent money saving, that I have a gold plated pimped out gun-o-death, when I see that Adam is now playing Army of Two. He clearly whined enough to get what he wanted :P Never mind. We hook up, start the game over, and take the rest of the day to kill people to death, and we finished the game. It ends in a bit of an anti-climax, but it did leave me wanting a sequel.

Come back in a few days, and I'll tell you what they got right and wrong about the game.

Next Game

Adam pissed me off. This should evoke a similar feeling in him.

A suitable opponent

Adam and Shirelle came over. Drinks were had, hands other than Halo were played and baby Riley got started on the road to mass murder.

Varied taste in music

Okay, so maybe the title of this post is a lie. I just wanted to show Adam that I'm a bigger Halo geek than he is.

Windows Live Writer

Microsoft have, through an MSN upgrade prompt, convinced me to try "Window Live Writer". It looks nice, and it seems easy to use. I'll have to write a few posts in it before I really start to get to know it... but I love the idea of it.

Subscribe to my RSS to keep an eye on it, eh? :P

Happy mothers day.

It may be two days early, but damn it, Happy mothers day, mum.

Getting drunk in the real world

Mum is having a Mother's day meal. Oddly, the T9 rhyme for 'meal' is 'neck' (which is what she is doing to her drinks.)

Ding!

Just got level 30 on halo.

Early morning gaming

This is an example of High Dynamic Range as seen in Real Life. It's poorly implemented, working on the 'human eye' model, instead of the nicer-to-look-at 'camera lens' model, making it hard to view the details on the display found in this area.

Rain and poor diet.

It's a wet day, the shoe shop had no shoes and damn it, I'm hungry.

Typical Adam

Adam? On Halo 3? How rare!

About bloody time.

He's here. 2 minutes through baggage. Bastard.

Typical Chris

This is typical Chris. See that space between the two on-time/early green bars? That's his flight. He's 30 minutes late, without even trying. It'll be nice to see him again, though.

Something for Torley

Just out shopping with some friends, when I came across these. Torley would love them, I'm sure.

Not where I'm meant to be.

Affairs of the heart can be complicated, more so when my friend no the left is involved. As a result, I'm now not far from my own home. I'm meant to be 4 hours away. Oh well, life goes on.

I feel small.

My ePenis suddenly seems smaller.

On the train on my way to Stevenage

Just on the train. Leeds is bloody huge, at 17 platforms.

My Gaming Station

Sad, I know, but here's my gaming station. You can see my Xbox 360, which is hooked up to my Hitachi hi-fi and no-name monitor. Also seen is a selection of most commonly used accessories.

First post!

This is the first of what I hope to be many posts from my phone.