Musings From New York

What gamers crave

Carnage! Carnage, I say! Not accounting!

(Found via Ceejbot)

Weekend Update

I got quite a bit done ... er, no make that: did quite a bit (they're not the same thing) this weekend ... I think its because I forced myself to wake up at 8am on Saturday. For starters, I finished putting together my performance goals and training plan (well, most of it) for 2006, and submitted them to my Performance Manager. So now I've gotta wait for the feedback and amend accordingly.

I watched 3 movies on Saturday (yeah, 3!) - 1 amazingly bad one, one bad one, and one amazingly good one ... The Pacifier (hey, at 8am, there isn't much on!), The Brothers Grimm, and Good Night and Good Luck. The latter was on my list "Movies to watch before the Oscars" ... while The Brothers Grimm was a VoD ... I shall not be keeping it in my Netflix queue! I've basically set to watch the Oscar nominees for Best Movie (which also happen to be Best Director) ... a couple of weeks ago, I watched Munich ... so now, I have Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Crash to watch ... although I wonder why Crash hasn't been released on DVD yet ... it's been a while since it's theatrical release, no?

I also ended up finishing Half Life 2. All I can say is ... "Huh?" Yet another bizarre ending (read the Wikipedia entry)! But ... The game was just frikking AWESOME. Although pretty linear in its storyline and maps, the graphics and gameplay were amazing. The Gravity Gun & the Source engine were beautiful .. whoever thought up the Gravity Gun deserves a medal ... or a promotion, at the very least! Interestingly, there was no sniper gun, which is pretty much a staple in First-Person Shooters these days. That should give you an idea of how much close-quarters combat there is in the game (hint: the shotgun's alt-fire is your friend). Anyway, the ending makes it abundantly clear that a sequel is in the making ... let's hope we don't have to wait another 5 years till it's release!

Halo 2 Rocks

(first time I've talked about a video game on my blog!)

I bought Halo 2 as a birthday gift to myself (hey, any excuse will do). Played a bit of the campaign on Saturday ... but by far, the best part is the multiplayer mode on XBox Live. I don't think I'm going to be playing much of the single-player mode any more!

One very noticeable change from Halo is the elimination of the health bar - it's all shields now. If your shields drop, it'll only take a shot (maybe 2) to kill you. Which means a lot of the single player campaign is played slowly and very carefully - a marked difference from my playing style in other FPS games. The multiplayer mode is pretty much just pure carnage. Shoot anything that moves, and try to kill as many as you can before you get killed yourself. It's fun, but I wonder if that distracts from tactics in squad-based games like Capture the Flag. Only one way to find out!

Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy!

I can't wait for this to release!

Homeward Bound

Yes, I'm headed back to New York this weekend, and will be there until the New Year (at least).

Pity, I was just starting to enjoy myself here in the UK. On the upside:

   
• Star Wars KOTOR II: The Sith Lords
   
   
• Halo 2
   
• Half Life 2

Sigh. So many games to play, so little time!

RIP Xandros

EverQuest II Players

Xandros was a refugee from the Shattering of Norrath. He quickly mastered the arcane to be come a powerful adventuring mage. He made his mark on the Isle of Refugee by becoming a Master Goblin Slayer, and a constant companion to fellow adventurers.

He moved to Queynos,  and upon his naturalization, enrolled in Qeuynos U., specializing in wizardry. When the EQ2 beta program closed, he was trying to make his way in the world.

Xandros, we will always remember your sunny disposition, unmarred by 22 deaths, often multiple. May your spirit forever guide our future MMORPG ventures.

Guess who's a beta tester?

Go baby, go baby!

Doom 3 is here!

Yes, the PC Game blamed for Columbine, and nearly all of modern teen violence, has launched its latest sequel. PC gaming magazines haven't had the time to tear themselves away from their screens to write reviews about it. Gamespot is running daily reports, kinda like a blog almost (!)

There's a funny take on the Tech TV website - accuses Doom 3 of hate-mongering (against demons!)

Will I be buying it? Well, yes I think I will ... but the word to be stressed is eventually. If I'm buying anything soon its Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow to play on XBox Live.

Team Survival in Rainbow Six 3

I played my first game of Rainbow Six 3/Team Survival with Nikhil. Or in my case, repeated suicide.

It kinda felt like I'd crashed a LAN party cos the 6 other guys seemed to know each other pretty well. I think they were from Texas or one of the Bible Belt states ... for 2 reasons:

1. The southern states accent
2. The blatant racism/white trash talk

Kinda off-putting, I thought. It'd be better, IMO, to get together with people you know. It'd be a lot more fun, online or in the play-by-play analysis offline.

Weird XBox Goings-on/ RIP Mithrandir

So I setup my home theater system in my new apartment, and moved my XBox over yesterday. For some reason it'd rejigged my character in Top Spin (an excellent tennis game, for those wondering). "Mithrandir" was transformed from an excellent serve-and-volley character to a strong baseline player. Pissing off, especially considring the pain I had to go through to get him to #1 ... beaten by Keurten in the French Open, and nearly beaten by Chang at Wimbledon.

So now, I've created a new character - Bjorn Again (get it?!) He's currently ranked #85 and will probably require several hours of play before he can become Mithrandir's heir.

Haven't played Rainbow Six 3 with Nikhil for a while either ... I'm probably getting pretty rusty.

Sigh.