ID?

Playing around with a few digital business cards:

1) Streaming RSS feeds into my; Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube: http://flavors.me/pikachuind#d3f/blogger

2) 'Proper' digital business card:  http://idently.com/pikachuind

Each have their use, but the digital business card is pretty epic win!

We continue...

Fable 3

Fable 3 - another 2010 sequel, but a game so much darker than previous Fable games (check out my previous review for Fable 2), there are parts which bring some serious edge to the gameplay - you really are facing off against the forces or darkness...but first you have to get to be king (or queen).

This game is split into 2 halves - questing to gather followers, when you have enough, you can challenge for the throne from your evil brother. There are some great moments and you will once again sink days into this game, but you can complete the main part of the game in 10-15 hours, but there are so many side quests & whole hidden realms (there's a whole town that does not exist, even when you complete the main story, it's unlocked through a quest).

It's a game where you have to make some really tough moral decisions, even before you become King and that your actions can have long-running consequences - if you do evil, you will become more evil and vicaversa. This is done to scuh an extent that not only do you begin to change your appearance, but your weapons start dripping with blood & NPC's cower or run away from you when you walk past!

The voice acting is pretty brilliant really - how about this for some voice actors are; Simon Pegg ( as the rebel soldier Ben Finn), Jonathan Ross (as Barry Hatch), Stephen Fry (resuming his role as Reaver), Zoe Wanamaker (resuming her role as the mysterious Theresa - your guide to the throne), John Cleese (as your butler Jasper who also appears in the Sanctuary), Bernard Hill (as Sir Walter Beck) and Sir Ben Kingsley (as Sabine, elder of the Dweller tribe) not bad...for a game!

There are a few (fairly minor) irritants though, like the occasional visual glitch - just try spinning on the spot & you'll see what I mean, or the fact that you still can't jump, the firearm targeting system is not amazingly accurate & the interactions with NPC's is not great either. But they don't really detract from the overall game.

There is one thing which may frustrate/irritate people is once again the issue of DLC (DownLoadable Content) & the cost of adding features which people argue should have been included in the original game.Below is a list of current add-ons for Xbox 360 (or click here) & the most expensive the is Understone pack, which is just one very short mission which unlocks a small town...not the greatest use of 400MS Points ever! See what you think:

1. Fable III Dog Breed Set: 240 MS Points
2. Fable III Free Yule Hat: 0 MS Points
3. Fable III Understone Quest Pack: 400 MS Points
4. Fable III Five Star Dog Potion: 80 MS Points
5. Fable III Hair Pack: 160 MS Points
6. Fable III Female Highlander Outfit: 160 MS Points
7. Fable III Highlander Tattoo Set: 80 MS Points
8. Fable III Dye Pack: 80 MS Points
9. Fable III Red Setter Dog Potion: 160 MS Points
10. Fable III Industrial Knight Outfit: 160 MS Points
11. Fable III Male Highlander Outfit: 160 MS Points
12. Fable III Dog Outfit: 160 MS Points
13. Free Weapons: 0 MS Points

Redesign...again

So I've done a quick redesign to make all things new for 2011 & I hope you like it

We continue.......

Wake-up song of the month: DeadMau5: "Strobe"

Now a classic Mau5 track, this week I've been using this song to wake up to, do the wsahing up to & drive to - it is EPIC! It's from 2009's "For Lack of a Better Name" album

Wedding Update: now it's this year!

So it's 2011, the year when I (finally) get married to my beloved (awww) and to be honest it's looking a lot closer this side of January than it looked/felt last year - things are starting to get firmed up and put in place to make our special day ....special!

Expanding on my previous post there's a lot going on with the wedding now - it's all kicked off again & I've now established many things:

First Night: all booked (not paid for yet) and ready to go - I'm very much stoked about it - should be pretty amazing! I've booked us in for 2 nights, but I won't be sharing where we're going...that'll take the surprise out of it!

Honeymoon: after initially looking at further afield than Europe, then some specific countries in Europe for where we should jet off to, eventually I grounded my thoughts into what we wanted to get from our honeymoon and the reality of what we could actually comfortably afford. Therefore we're going to do what previous generations did & disappear to somewhere in the UK, somewhere I know has no phone reception or internet access & just spend the time being with each other. It's not expensive, but should still be just what we need, to escape to the country.

Transport: very recently (last week) we had a very kind offer of a camper van to take us from the  free of charge, complete with driver - a fully refurbished & minted baby-blue bay - excellent & just what Madds wanted :D

Stag Weekend Plans: So after meeting with my best man (JMC) we have decided to go Coasteering in the Home of Coasteering (Pembrokeshire apparently) & are currently trying to source where to stay in the local area...more details to follow!

We continue...

Getting older IRL

So apparently it was my birthday & it was my largest by far (irony? I think not) & I am now officially an age that rhymes with; dirty, flirty, hurty, shirty, etc. & I was beginning to wonder if this partially-interesting fact would make any real difference to me - the sad truth is that it did - although almost imperceptibly!

So we had a few issues with Maddie getting my Birthday/Christmas presents from Amazon in time for Christmas Day (for those precious few who don't know...that's when my birthday is) but it did not concern me, unusual. Then post-Christmas I bought a new bag (also not a surprise) but it was more of a professional briefcase rather than a rucksack! Then I bought me a new jumper but with elbow patches! Then it gets stranger - this weekend, I went to the shops not caring in the slightest that I looked like a deranged hippy, cooked a  roast & did a weekend of spring cleaning. Clearly I'm getting old!

I think my actions and thought processes are becoming more long-term - I'm thinking about the impact that I have with my spending or travel on my plans for the wedding - where we can reasonably go for our first night hotel, where can we actually afford to go on honeymoon, but more importantly - where can we realistically afford to live?

It is a bizarre thought, to think of one getting older, but there we have it - it is a fact of life.

We continue...

Another CotD - Tarantula by Pendulum....classic!

CoTD 2011: Noisia - Alpha Centauri

the first track on my CotD 2011 version (Choons of the Day for those uninitiated!) that noise has been stuck in my head for like 3 weeks so far - it's got a riff that won't quit :D

deadmau5 - Raise Your Weapon

A slow build-up, but some seriously dirty beats - poetic as well!