2010 exciting games

OK so here are some games franchises to watch out for in 2010/2011:



Splinter Cell: Conviction - everything I've seen about this game is making me very excited about the release day & might well be my next game purchase - so far away!


Crackdown 2 - I loved the first, but I think they will up the ante (graphically) & apparently have leveled the playing field with more challenging enemies & weapons - should be good fun.


Halo Reach - you can't put a good Master Chief down & this is the latest (& potentially last - maybe) from Bungie who will look to add more Spartans than ever before (i.e. more than 1) to a Halo game & should bring in something from Halo 3/ODST. Also compatibility/gamplay with Project Natal (motion controller - due out at the same time).


Fable 3 - I absolutely loved fable 2 & can't wait to see what Peter Moleneux comes up with & it will be interesting to see what happens with this - linking in with Project Natal.


Something new from the Call of Duty franchise - can they screw up all the good work done with CoD5 WaW/CoD6 MW2 - well hopefully not...but Treyarch did CoD3 - such fail! Maybe more futuristic or another side of war - we shall see.

Gears of War 3 - but that might just be me wishing! However I'd like to see what Cliff Bleszinski decides to do with the franchise - will he wait till after the proposed movie or keep going a la the Call of Duty series?!

Reflecting on all these for a moment - they're all sequels! I think some new original titles will appear as well. But whenever a game is successful the sequels often tend to be even better (e.g. Halo, Gears of War, Fable, Assassin's Creed, etc.)

We shall continue...

Growing old is getting old

Well I thought being 29 would change things...nope - still a very tall child. However, this year it's my (whisper it) 30th birthday & I'm not going to let it go by quietly like I did with my 18th, 21st etc. so I feel a silly party coming in the summer!!
I think that way it'll be better weather & trying to get people to party of Christmas Day is very unlikely, so big summer party with loads of friends & drag some family over & a smaller bash on Christmas Eve (or Eve-Eve like this year).


So far I've created a very extensive guest list & will need to be as realistic as possible & then work out the finer details - date, food & drink, workcrew, venue & theme - lots of fun to get this going though.

More to follow when I get my brain going....

Great moments in life?

OK so this is a random thought for a Saturday but here goes; pondering & reflecting on those great moments in life that you look back on & makes you smile. So I think I'm going to write a very random selection of those memories & who they were with.

I don't expect most people to understand but to be honest it is for my own benefit as a tool for reflection. Also I'm not sure where this has come from...at all - just an unexpected exercise.

Finally if an of them seem controversial I apologise in advance.


...we continue...thinking

T-Mobile/Fonesafe Rant

OK this is a mini irritation blog - courtesy of Fonesafe (the company who T-Mobile use as their insurance brokers).

So here's the story - when I had the chance to renew my phone contract last summer, I had just got a new payg phone so didn't need a new handset. Therefore I gave my upgrade to Madd Thoughts & decided to take out an insurance policy in case of loss/damage, etc.Well unfortunately Madds lost her phone this weekend & when I called up & game my honest account of what happened I was told that they couldn't accept my claim - why?

Well even though the insurance was sold on the basis that I would not be the primary user of the phone, when trying to claim for the loss I was advised - because I was not the user of the phone - my claim was invalid.So this means that after outlaying 6 months worth of insurance & had what looks like a perfectly valid claim  turned down because I was honest & told the story as accurately as possible, rather than just fake my claim.

So to get another phone for Madds I have to go out & buy a new one anyway - which has cost me about the same amount of money anyways. I've been really happy with T-Mobile for about 4 years, but this is not what I call fair & as such have emailed them with an official complaint.

We shall see what they will do - but I won't hold my breath. In short - grrrr

A morning lol from Ian M's: Youthblog

From Youthblog/Youtube & making me lol about the snow:

Gaming Blogger: Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter

Now this is the one game that Madd Thoughts actually likes playing on my 360 - it's a rehash of the old Serious Sam PC/XBox game but with a proper graphical overhaul & is available on Xbox Live for 1200MS Points. So far I have only played the demo version, but I shall be getting the full version...when I get my first pay pack of 2010! At first glance not a lot looks different - the enemies are still silly & numerous & the wisecracking hero Sam "Serious" Stone is still there causing inst-death to all manner of creature.
Basically he's a one-man doom-machine ready to kick some alien ass!!

I'll do a full blog on it later - but for now - excited!

Game bloggerage: Assassin's Creed 2

Another blog - another new game - ho hum! Assassins Creed 2 (AC2) - a well rated game (by Xplay 4/5) & here's my thoughts:

The premise is much the same as the original game, but is so much grander in scale, location & more epic in terms of sheer scale.

Originally I wasn't too sure about this as the first game passed me by & I couldn't really get my head around it. However having played Fable 2 (see herefor review) has certainly begun the concept of much more gametime & patience with RPG-style games. This is really key for AC2 - it's not an all-action stab-fest, it's far more subtle & interesting a game than that.

What first got me interested was seeing the mini movie Assassin's Creed: Lineage

"The story is a prequel to the video game Assassin's Creed II. It centres around the father of the game's main character Ezio Auditore da Firenze."

It leads very nicely to the beginning of the game & starts to build the plot of the game, but let's just say that it definitely whetted my appetite to both get the game & play it!

The time-line of the game takes place over the course of Ezio's lifetime & starts off as a easy-going teenager running around the streets of Firenze (Florence) getting used to the games mechanics, controls & gameplay. Very quickly though everything changes & Ezio must continue in his father's footsteps & become...an assassin (o rly, ya rly - Si).

It's a sandbox game (open world), with a strong main mission & many side missions & you can upgrade your Armour & weapons. There is also the town where your villa (i.e. base of operations) is based & it's falling to pieces & in desperate need of renovation & repaid. When you progress through the games you will earn credits (Florins) which you can use to rebuild/renovate the town, increasing its value & in turn earning you more Florins. What I thought was very interesting is that it's actually a real place - Monteriggioni...& I've been there when I went to Italy a few years ago! It's quite a famous completely-walled medieval town & provides a very realistic backdrop for your villa - I think seeing it in person & knowing it really does exist helped my immersion in the game & it's the same with Florence, Rome & Venice where they create a very beautiful cityscape.

The maps themselves, whilst they are all open, you need to climb tall structures & sync up your map (basically getting a birds-eye view of the area). Ahhh the climbing! Other games - most notably Crackdown (& for some reason Transformers) allow the player to climb building, to reach those troublesome locations on top of buildings. In AC2, it's more like the free-running/climbing of Mirrors Edge. The game is realistic enough to pretty much give me vertigo whilst climbing really high! However, this does have some seriously good platforming puzzles - trying to find the impossible jump/handhold can be a challenge.

Although you start off with no weapons (other than your fists) you quickly progress & can unlock all manner of weaponry to both defend yourself, as well as learning the assassination trade well. I quickly found that you could dispatch your targets (often with one hit) when you start to improve your technique. Also because it's open world & quite open ended, you can chose your line of attack - will you blend into the crowd & sneak up to them & get a one-hit kill, or attack them openly & directly & risk all the guards coming dunning with hammers & swords? The missions vary from simple(?) assassinations, to escorting or straight up group fights. The beauty of the attack is that when you get your timing right your opponent will be struck down fast.

The challenge of this game isn't set by the user - therefore you don't set easy/normal/epic - instead because of the user-driven gameplay, the difficulty of the game depends on what you choose to do. SO do you try to complete all missions & side missions, or just stick to the bare essentials? Do you try to solve all puzzles & explore everything you can...or not? I think this works really well, as you don't only need to progress, but you really want to - to better yourself & become a more deadly assassin.

I've only been playing for probably 10-12 hours so far, but there is so much left to do - it's even distracted me from CoD6 for a while! Overall I think that although this game isn't for everyone, if you like RPG's & a bit of stealth - then you're going to absolutely love it! The only slightly annoying part is the camera which can drive you a little crazy sometimes - but only sometimes. A well deserved 4/5 from me!

Skiing blog

For this years ski trip we accompanied some families of my home church (Kidlington Baptist Church) to visit the very friendly resort of Les Gets. It's about an hour from Geneva & just down the road from where my aunt had a chalet - Morzine & Avoriaz.

It was a bit of an epic drive - we left bright & breezy at 2am on New Year's Day & arrived about 6:30pm at our stop off hotel (free interwebs was most important of course!). Next day we headed off to the resort early, to get out boots & ski's & then had our warm-up avo on the slopes.

It took a little while to get back into the swing of things & I think a lot had to be with being stuck & under-rested in the car. I think flying is defiantly the preferred method of transportation to anywhere further away than like...Devon!

The Madd Thoughts fell over a couple of times on the first day & laughed the first few off, but gut a little too hurt on the final run down of the day - helmet has been a very useful addition to her ski gear - but it was properly icy & rocky & her first experience of the mogul's was not the greatest in the history of the world.

So far then the skiing has been good, but I think I'm getting a little old…tiredness seems to be happening rather fast & so am not really skiing for a whole day. My most epic fail for me has been the chair-lift fail, I managed to take out PC & throw David B from the chair - it was tragic! The skiing has definitely improved from the iciness, there was a good 24 hours of snowing so fresh powder then a great day - lots of sun & fantastic views so out came the camera of course.

Having said all that, I think that the beauty of this type of skiing holiday - with friends, over say family only, is that he social element is as much a part of he experience, as being on the slopes. So communal meals, sharing rooms, visiting bars & shops, as well as the obvious skiing as a group idea.

The only real issue we've had has once again been financial. I thought that with some serious savings we should be ok. However, even when taking into account the ski passes & trying to over-budget for meals, etc. we still find ourselves running short on funds. The killer has been the ski hire - which runs to basically half of all of our budget.

Wednesday is a rest day, where Madd Thoughts needs to do some serious essay work done & I shall be bloggering more!

2010 - we begin

So anyways there is a very good reason for that - I have actually been out of the country for once - skiing in Les Gets in the French alps (just down the valley from Morzine & Avoriaz which I have visited before many times). But more on that when I actually remember to upload the blog I wrote when I was away lol.

So what else has been happening - well gaming wise: (cue more reviews coming methinks) Assassin's Creed 2 & Left 4 Dead 2 have been purchased & am currently enjoying each immensely. Also Serious Sam has been released on XBox Live in full HD & I might well have to get that as well - to keep Maddie happy!

Also had a couple of parties - a Christmas-Eve-Eve party celebrating my birthday, then another one a New Years-Eve-Eve which was a little bit more impromptu, but equally fun. Also got some awesome presents for Christmas (photos on my Facebook page) but on top of all that rad pile - a Blu Ray player from my old man - it is the Panasonic DMPBD60 MR DVD & it definitely is worth it - Star Trek was the first played & it did rock hard. The only think I need to do is get some good speakers with it for some super sound!

Musically much Deadmau5 & another in the look of DJ Zinc - fun & expect more soon.

.....we continue

Happy What Now?!

Happy Christmas (& birthday to me!)


From the Brianshare, Pikachu Ind & Six crew

...or just me ;o)


Six out

These are the breaks

Now my thoughts are turned to somewhere altogether different - Brighton, or to be more specific - Marine Parade! Adam Freeland's label produces some fine artists: Freeland, Evil 9, Alex Metric & Ils for starters. This will be looking at the recent (kinda) releases for the 9 & Freeland:

Evil 9: They Live. Some other works by the 9 are their debut album: "You Can be Special To", a mix for the "Y4k" series & one of my favourite Fabric albums: "Fabric 28". The overall theme for this album is horror - but more specifically Zombies (win). The tracklisting is:

Feed On You
Wait - Evil Nine & David Autokratz
All The Cash - Evil Nine & El-P
They Live
Ngempa Guzon
How Do We Stop The Normals
Dead Man Coming - Evil Nine & Toastie Taylor
Set It Off - Evil Nine & Beans
Behemoth
Born Again
Twist The Knife - Evil Nine & Emily Breeze
Luke Goss
Icicles - Evil Nine & Seraphim

The top tracks are: "Wait", "They Live", "Dead Man Coming", "Twist the Knife", & the awesome "Icicles". So if you ever find yourself (& I know I do) playing Nazi Zombies (the extra game & possibly best part of Call of Duty 5: World at War) & need a soundtrack - we have a winner here!


Freeland: COPE (& a little of COPE Remixed)

Adam Freeland's 2nd release - this time as just 'Freeland' (Adam Freeland's own band) there's a really heavy rock influence, but still showing his breaks roots. The tracks break(s) like so:

"Do You"
"Under Control"
"Strange Things"
"Bring It"
"Mancry"
"Borderline"
"Rock On"
"Silent Speaking"
"Best Fish Tacos in Ensenda"
"Only a Fool (Can Die)"
"Morning Sun"
"Wish I Was Here"

There are some choice tracks: "Do You" is a proper sledgehammer to the brain (a good thing btw), the it whizzes through the rest of the album, "Under Control" is great, "Strange Things" is ok (but the High Rankin remix is out of this world & possibly better even than "Do You") "Bring it" & "Mancry" again are good breaks, but don't have the wow of the opening track. However, then things get a little more interesting!

"Borderline" brilliant & in my top breaks for this year (along with "Do you" & "Strange things Happen" High Rankin remix") "Rock on" is (shock) very rocky, but sits well on the album. "Silent speaking" is the only other slightly weak track - too chilled really. "Best Fish Tacos", "Only a Fool can Die" & "Morning Sun" all standout tracks & get the feet-tapping/dancing-round-the-house-like-a-maniac in me going & the final track is like a perfect set closer - the beats are thick & it feel like it goes on forever (note: The Jenkinsound Remix it it's perfect partner!).

Overall - Evil 9 get a 4/5 & Freeland 5/5

P.S. Get the Marine Parade podcast - for all your British breaks needs - they put up exclusive mixes by all the label's artists - win!

Silversun Pickups - Swoon etc.

OK this has been out for aaaages (April I think) but it's still SSPU & it's still excellent & regularly played.

So I've banged on about this band before (i.e. here, here, here, here, & here), I've called them my band of 2008 but I would also call them my band of 12009 as well.

I've been lucky enough to see them twice & I can't really over emphasize how good they are live - hugely energetic & really excited to be playing - they have fun with the crowd & try to get the room dancing as well.

Anyways enough about the live win, the album itself. So it's actually only 10 tracks, but what stunning tracks they are:


"There's No Secrets This Year"
"The Royal We"
"Growing Old Is Getting Old"
"It's Nice to Know You Work Alone"
"Panic Switch"
"Draining"
"Sort Of"
"Substitution"
"Catch and Release"
"Surrounded (or Spiraling)"

On the first play I wouldn't believe the quality of the first 5 tracks - absolute stonkers & I would be hard pressed to say which I preferred most - there were elements that I liked & was reminded of other bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters & of course Smashing Pumpkins (who they are likened to, just with a happy frontman!), but it still feels very SSPU - not covering or interpreting. I think it's more a compliment to be likened to those other bands, rather than it being anything to diminish who they are.

The rest of the album sounded great...when I got past track 5 eventually that is! They songs weren't as instantly successful on my ear, but really grew on me with the last 3 sticking & getting stuck in my head on a regular basis But add to that the rather stunning "Currency of Love" & "Ne Plus Ultra" as B-Sides & you have a brilliant 5/5 album.

It is different from the first & I would argue all the better for it. You can definitely tell the band have improved, with more intricate guitar work & more integrated keyboard as well. There are still some tracks that make you want to rawk out - initial single "Panic Switch" being chief amongst them.

Overall they remain my band of 2009...let's see what they do for their (hopefully great) third album.

CoD 6 MW2...again.

An update for those of a gaming nature - the joys of CoD 6 MW2 appear so far to be boundless...

I've now completed it on Veteran & as an experiment, I signed up to XBox Live Gold for a free month (courtesy of Microsoft when they replaced my 360 due to the 3 red rings of death fail)

What it has opened my eyes to is multiplayer - it is seriously addictive though! Some people do go straight to the multiplayer & ignore the single player/co-op - a mistake in my opinion. However, the strength of this game is that Infinity Ward don't miss a trick - every aspect of the game is brilliant, including the multiplayer.

It plays like a shooter, but also offers leveling up system just like an rpg. So you start off as a complete Level 1 n00b with iron sights & everything basic. The more you play it, the more guns, sights & perks you unlock. This is where some of those near the top (Level 70) have such an advantage - they have silencers, can drop live grenades, are more impervious to explosions, etc. & you've just got a sub-machine gun & a pistol.

The challenge is very high & you will be respawning...a lot. But there is such a satisfaction in being able to get a good kill-streak & leveling up that the death-frustration is only marginal. Currently I'm at the not wholly impractical level 21, which has unlocked the 'Bling' perk - 2 attachments for guns - such a win.

There's lots of customizing opportunities & you can fine tune how your character behaves - do they need to be swift & silent - then activate those perks. Do you need to be like an unstoppable Juggernaut - then get those perks.

The leveling up of weapons & perks happens through challenges - like get a certain amount of kills or headshots, or scoped kills or shooting from the hip.

You will learn to love the sound of leveling up your character - just like that magical sound of unlocking achievements - win!

The maps are all in very different locations from within the game & near the game & are all well costumed to accommodate the different game types. Particular favorites are High Rise, Afghan, Terminal, Invasion, Skidrow & the very tiny Rust (what? I like small maps - more intense!) There's 16 maps in total, but I'm sure more will be added with forthcoming DLC.

The different match types are fairly varied & offer different challenges, depending on what you prefer. Are you a Lone Wolf - just wanting to find & kill anything that moves - Free-for-All. Like to work as a team for different objectives, Deathmatch, HQ, Demolition, etc. is for you!

You also represent different factions, such as the Navy SEALS, the SAS, etc. But also militia the Russians & shadow company, etc. to balance it off. It's always a good v bad forces theory, but still good to be either. Seeing as my nationality dictates it - the SAS is my favorite!

Once you get into the game, get to know the levels a little you will notice a patter of where the opponents are hiding out/trying to capture & it's then a raging war to capture the spots back!

Also the Spec Ops is ticking along nicely - I've got most of the 69 stars (59 at last count) & have even done one of the Echo levels on Veteran - epic!

Finally X-Play even rates this game best shooter & multiplayer in their annual Game of The year Show. So if you like shooters - you need to own this game - then it can own you!

PPS check out the CoD6 Wiki

Decembero

So it's officially winter as far as I'm concerned - first frost, out comes the ski jacket, on go the gloves - it's cooooold outside! So here's a random thoughts update for this past few days/weeks:

Have been struggling recently with what to do for Christmas & generally feeling a little too alone. I think a lack of social interaction outside of work - instead playing too many games has a certain contribution. I've put it down to trying to save up for skiing & the deposit.

It did get to a stage where I got so frustrated with having zero monies, that I transferred a little bit & got me a digital camera & enough to cover my extended weekend with Maddie.

With the whole job/accommodation issue - so far am still effectively nowhere - saving like a crazy person still & hoping that a decision about my full-time employment is reached sooner rather than later. However my potential housemate s still in the not-quite-employed enough situation as well.

On the Christmas front, I've now established that I'm working on Christmas Eve, then will head over to Woking, for Christmas with the Kings (Maddie's family).

Demotivators

Me me me....me2

So for some reason I've been thinking a lot about memes - or to be specific Internet Memes:

The term Internet meme is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although this concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.

So this could include such classics as Lolcats or Demotivator posters. These are the simplest memes & most often the most popular for the more geeky/techy amongst us. However, what's better than a picture - a moving picture or "video" if you will! The Youtube generation which has risen up over the past 3-4 years or so means that memes can now be videos rather than just pictures (the so-called viral video).
I think that the humour involved within this field is often brilliant, because it evokes the great comedian in finding humour in everyday situations & seeing the funny side in serious issues.

What it does bring to light it the viral idea -which, although it has negative connotations, creates a "have you seen/heard about" culture, when internet phenomena spread through word of mouth, or through forums.

Of course especial mention should go to the daring 4chanwhere they took the simple idea of forums & added the meme to it.

So where someone posts a fairly amusing picture for example, other people will construct & edit around it. So a classic would be using images from the 300 & editing it to sync in with another meme e.g. King Leonidis in the film should "This is SPAAATTTAA" when added to another cultural pic brings classic results:

About themselves, 4chan say:

4chan is a simple image-based bulletin board where anyone can post comments and share images. 4chan's collaborative-community format is copied from one of the most popular forums in Japan, Futaba Channel. Different boards are dedicated to different topics, from Japanese anime, manga, and culture to videogames, music, and photography. Feel free to click on a board that interests you, and jump right in—anyone can contribute!

Bob & Steve 6

Top 10(ish) most impacting Rock bands

OK according to yours truly here are my top 10 band - with first listened to track, best album (imho) & seminal track to sum up the band:

Foo Fighters: Down in the Park: Colour & the Shape: Everlong/My Hero
Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Chile (slight Return): Are you Experienced: All Along the Watchtower/Crosstown Traffic
Muse: Origin of Symmetry/Black Holes & Revelations: Plug in Baby/Knights of Cydonia
Pixies: Wave of Mutilation: UK Surf: Surfer Rosa/Come on Pilgrim: Where is my Mind/Monkey Gone to Heaven
Placebo: Nancy Boy: Meds: Bruise-Pristine/Drag
Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Nevermind: Aneurysm/You Know You're Right
Queens of the Stone Age: No One Knows: Songs for the Deaf/Queens of the Stone Age: Little Sister/No One Knows
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Aeroplane: Californication: Around the World/Dani California
Silversun Pickups: Lazy Eye: Carnavas/Swoon: Well Thought Out Twinkles/Panic Switch
Smashing Pumpkins: Tonight, Tonight: Zeitgeist/Rotten Apples: Zero/Bring the Light
Sonic Youth: Sugar Cane: Daydream Nation/Dirty: Purr/ Teen Age Riot
System of a Down: Chop Suey: Toxicity: Toxicity/Aerials

These are what I would call my most influential...but only in terms of rock & doesn't include say:

Dire Straits, Metallica, Arcade Fire, Radiohead,
The Who, Black Sabbath, Snow Patrol, Kings of Leon,
Blur, Beck, R.E.M., Rage Against the Machine, the Hives & Autolux

ALL of whom I deeply respect & feel they rock most heartily! I think it also shows my age a little too much, but hey what can you do - also notice that I rate SSPU highly!

Six Rock out!

Bob & Steve 5

Bob & Steve 4