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!

Wolfgang Gartner - Illmerica

Wolfgang Gartner - Undertaker

deadmau5 & Wolfgang Gartner - Animal Rights

Looking forward to seeing the Deadmau5 in Manchester next Friday ftw!

Movember Results

So it's now the end of Movember, so I thought I would share my Mo with the world. Click on any of the below pictures & you can see it in all its glory (plus each picture is in fact 4 pictures in 1!)

Now I'm off for a shave...we continue

Speedflying in Wengen 2010

Adrenaline rush or what!

Movember

This year, I am taking part in a charity even designed to raise money for Prostate Cancer research. It's called Movember or sometimes No-Shave-November and encourages men to put down their razors/shavers & grow a healthy moustache. I think it's a very worthy cause as there does seem to be a general trend in focusing on breast cancer a massive issue, but less on one of biggest male cancers - Prostate (see the wiki link):


Now has been running since around 2003 over in Australia, but has become more & more prevalent, especially amongst rugby teams (e.g. Wasps whose team roster pictures are normally taken during the month of November hence the delightful moustaches on some of their players last year!)

There are a team of Mo Bro's in my office (called LTG), and I thought I would join, both because of what the charity is designed for & the impact on my own life with prostate issues, as well as the excuse to grow some facial fur!

So far there have been some cake sales to raise money and there is a campaign in the office to get one of the guys who has had a full beard for an estimated 30 years to shave it all off...if we can raise £500, but it's all done in good humour!

I will stick a pic up at the end of the month, but if you would like to sponsor me, please have a look at the following link which will take you to my Mo Space page.

Gamerinageifcation

So about not playing any new games...after Reach & Lego Harry Potter....well Fable 3 has come out...& so has the new Call of Duty (Black OsS)...so expect a couple of reviews in the next few days (or weeks, knowing me!)...when I can eventually find time to put down the controller & bloggerificate my brain ;)

We continue

Harry Potter + Lego = win?

So Travellers Tales have released another Lego game...which is nice! After the successes of Star Wars, Batman & Indiana Jones (I never actually played IJ, but I know a lot of people who loved it!) they have tried their hand at putting the hugely successful series of Harry Potter Lego models into a whole virtual world - inspired by the Warner Brothers films.

This is the first installment (it's based on the first 4 movies) so I'm sure there will be a second with the last 4 movies (& then another one with all the movies stuck together...a la Lego Star Wars). But leaving that aside, it's a new Lego universe & whole new set of tricks for your characters to master, but with similarly designed platforming & fun puzzles, collectibles & challenges
& it's a more fantasy-based experience - there's magic involved here!

Firstly this game is pretty vast - Hogwarts Castle & grounds are substantial enough for you to go get lost in easily, there's Diagon Alley & Gringotts Bank, it's all there for you to explore! You will quickly adapt to the myriad of spells you will need to learn (progressively) as you go through the school years.

There are a good number of levels for each year group, with a good variety of missions - all linked in closely with the movies (more than the books) & keep you interested enough to play through to the end & it'll take you a long time to play the whole game.

There's nothing really new or different from previous games, with the notable exception of a change to the coop mode, which now automatically cuts the screen which is a good change. But I'd still give this a good 4 out of  stars

.....we continue

New Footy Game

A long held game of cat & mouse, a game of 2 halves, etc. there are 2 football princes vying to be king, last year, apparently it was Fifa's year, hopefully this year will be different!

I've stuck with Pro Evo, since 2006 (when I first got my 360) & have bought it every year: 2008, 2009 & 2010, so now it's only natural to get the new 2011 version.


Therefore, I have decided to......not purchase a new football title this year. Now here's why:

1. Last years title was a little disappointing - lots of good things happened, champions league, etc. but the massive disappointment was the refereeing - which once again sucked!
2. I'm saving for a wedding - come on people - I can't save and spend out on 'luxuries' as well!
3. Football games are really a social tool - you need to play it with friends and you can't really play this on your own, which tends to be how I'm playing at the momento - hence why Fable, Halo: Reach, Lego and the CoD games work so well for me - you can do it without...backup!

So I'm not boycotting it, I'm just not planning on buying it, you know...unless the need  arises!

Halo: Reach [a.k.a. Halo 5]

Ahhh it seems to be the season of new games - this time it's back to the Halo universe, for the 5th (& arguably final) game that the developers Bungie are making involving Spartans/UNSC vs. Covenant.

The game is different to previous Halo games (ignoring ODST), because you are not controlling the Master Chief - this time you are another Spartan warrior called Noble 6, as part of an elite squad called 'Noble', on various missions on the doomed planet of Reach (we know it's doomed because it's set a couple of weeks before the original Halo: Combat Evolved game, which kick-starts after the fabled Fall of Reach).

There are only 10 formal missions found within the main campaign, but these are really tough - even on normal difficulty setting. So far I'm only playing through on normal, but once completed it's game-on for Legendary (i.e. toughest mode). The story is packed with emotions, it's gripping and makes you want to keep going through to the end. In fact it's quite like the movie 300, because you know they're doomed to fail (eventually) & it's a futile fight, but that doesn't stop them going out all guns blazing!

However, the main element of this game is not simply the campaign, the level of extras is huge; there's online Multiplayer games aplenty, there's Forge (a level creator tool) & the return of Firefight 2.0 (building on the original from ODST) all fully editable.

What this game has done is to pick all the best parts from the franchise (guns are  new & improved, firefight is fully customisable, forge is an epic affair, multiplayer is expanded to be on a par with the greats...like Halo 3!) create an exciting storyline, then allow you to play to your hearts content.

I would describe it as a must buy a 5/5 for any Halo fan - it's better than ODST & arguably the best of the main games - go get it!