Not as in "Tellurian writes and sings a love song to a console, records this on MP3 and posts it on the internet", I don't want to go to nerd-nirvana yet. More like a telling of how I came to understand what the problem, or rather the thing going on with the gaming market right now really is. Especially the PC gaming market.
Yes, there still are some (few) developers, who make games with the PC platform as the primary, which results in games having a much diffrent feel to them compared with games which have been developed with a joypad in mind which there then ported - with varying quality from title to title - to WSAD + mouse controls.
But that's not all. Controls are an important factor in how a game feels. What's most important to me is, those differences just don't mix. Or they don't mix well with me. I vastly prefer to play a game on its original platform. That is what I've found out. Okay, I don't know much about PC Games on consoles, I'm a PC gamer at heart, I grew up with PC gaming, so when there's a great PC game, I won't play it on console anyway. But if there's a game released on PC which has either been a big hit on consoles, or one that I just can't resist although it's a cross platform thing, then up till now I've gladly jumped for the PC versions. And usually that's pretty okay. I still have to try GTA on a console, but so far I like how it handles on PC enough to not consider giving any of the old games a try. Morrowind and Oblivion are actually games which I had a hard time believing they were actually console ports, even though there were some tell tale signs.
The worst of those signs is the presence of a "vibration [ ]" box in the options menu. I don't really know why they leave it there (yes in fact I DO know, it's for people who play the game with a pad on PC that has a compatible vibration feature, like the X360 USB controller...), and to me that's usually the sign of... Yeah, of what actually? Of a shoddy port? No nececcesarily, it can still be a decent port, but this kind of rubs in my face that I'm playing a console game on the wrong platform. Which is especially daunting when it's a game of a franchise which has left the PC as the primary platform. It's one of the moments my PC gamer heart weeps a bit.

And then I realised, when I ordered a 360 copy of Bioshock - "Tellurian's #1 reason of spitting bile and writing apeshit insanely angry posts all over the interweb in 2007"-game - that a) I've been a fool and b) there are moments when PC gaming and console gaming just won't mix.
For me, it appears that Bioshock is a prime example of this. Okay, I've not played the full version on the 360 yet, but I DID play the demo. And well, what can I say, I suddenly enjoy the combat a lot more than I did with the PC version, and all those little niggles I've had as a PC gamer with the game are suddenly... Swiped aside. The simple / nonexistant inventory? No problem. The strange hacking? Better than on PC. Combat? Fun and intuitive. Not as hamfisted and clunky as I've come to experience it on PC. The pad controls really DO make a difference.
Because, well, suddenly it's no longer a stunningly beautiful PC game that somehow feels hollow and broken, but like the real deal. Like it was MEANT to be played this way. Suddenly it all makes sense. Suddenly all of the things which have been a shortcoming for a PC game turn into a blessing... Okay, okay, I'll want to hold my horses here, and not get too exited. I still have to play the full version.
But it looks like I might actually come to love the game which - as a PC game! - is for me the biggest letdown since Unreal 2.

So, is that a bad thing? Is the XBox 360 (or, the next gen consoles in general) destroying PC gaming? I don't really think so. There'll always be PC games that can't be console games, which just can't be done right with a joypad. RTS, PC-centric FPS (PC FPS and Console FPS two diffrent genres IMO), adventure titles, indi stuff, there are a LOT of PC games which still hold the PC as a platform.
I try to see the bright sides here. PC gaming won't die that easily. And as a PC gamer I have to be "open minded" and just play the console versions of the big budget titles instead of bitch and moan about how shallow and console-ish this "PC game" is.
This has got huge benefits! The X360 versions are better optimized for the platform, and I don't spend the first half hour of the game fiddeling around with the graphics settings, just to get the most polish / high FPS rate. I don't have to install games, no "OMG! Why does this game need humpteen gigabite of HDD space?!" any more... (Assassin's Creed PC, I'm looking at you!).

So, why didn't I come to this conclusion earlier? Especially in the case of Bioshock? Simple answer, my 360 isn't even half a year old, and I've bought it just after the whole Bioshock "desaster" - I guess the last thing I wanted was playing it AGAIN on the platform "it shouldn't have been made for". Yeah, sometimes being closed minded can be a higher form of ass-hattery.
Anyway. What does this imply? Basically that my 360 will see more action than I might have intended, considering some games I've eyed for PC, which apparently are rather console-designs. I'm really looking forward to 2008 now. There's a lot of great games coming out.
Probably even some on PC. ;)

Current Mood: thoughtful

Now that they've actually sorted out who's the alpha sow of the bunch, they've become a lot more peaceful and less annoying with constant fighting, purring and bullying each other around.
Well, but first of all, I've finally decided on some names. My girl's sister named them "Sunny" and "Browny" which is horribly inappropriate for MY evil little piggies. So after some pondering I've decided on "Liesel" for the black one, and "Berta" for the brown one.
Berta weighed 666grams yesterday. And  she's the alpha piggy now. And I've managed to take some pics of her:

Current Mood: giddy

They're really wonderful little things, devourers of huge quantities of hay.
Whenever some plastic bag is touched, whenever I rattle the box with their treats the two of them join in a duet of high pitched squeaks, popcorning and running around in the cage. Which can be a bit confusing if all I've done is get a paper tissue out of it's bag, or if I've just barely touched the hay bag without even taking notice.
They haven't yet fully established who the boss of the cage is. Initially pig 1 was boss of the cage, pig 2 being boss of the hut. But this is changing, pig 2 is more and more forcefully usurping the rule of pig 1. Yes, they fight the cavia way, loudly argueing in a wave of low pitched squeals, and if that doesn't help they will roll their eyes wildly and gnash their long rodent teeth to a frightening staccato.
I've tried letting them run around in the apartment a bit, which they weren't really willing to do. Instead they just sat in the shelter I provided them with, gnawing hay and "pills" (gunieas eat - as bunnys do - their own poo, well, one of the two kinds of guniea poo there is).
So, here there are some photos. Sadly only pig 1 was willing to let this happen to her, pig 2 fled from whatever angle I could get at it, apparently being a very camara shy rodent.
The Cage is a bit smallish for the two of them.
I might get a bigger one some day if they won't cease annoying eachother about who's the alpha-sow. Maybe that'll change once they finally accept "outside" as a place to be and feel comfortable at, even if there are no bars between them and the strange two legged master of the hay.
So, now they're taking a pause, napping and chattering to themselves.

deThey've finally arrived. Two little piggies, one blackish with a red collar marking and a red "crown" bush of fur on its head, the other one softish brown. Small piggies, they're not even a year old. The two of them were pretty shy initially, as is to be expected when some strangers put your cage in a car, drive for 800 kilometers just to take you away from your mom and other sister. At least they got THEIR little hut to hide in, which they did for the first half day or so, then the blackish sister made some first, careful probes into the surroundings, spottet the haystash, grabbed some hay and pulled it into the hut for them both to gnaw on. Which is what they, or rather she, the other one was and is very shy, did with pretty much all food I gave them initially, approach carefully, grab, and dash into the hut to feast.
When they're distressed and feel threatened they reatreat dashingly into their hut, and most of the time they then gnaw on it, which produces loud noises, so I'm not sure if they do it to scare me off, or just to relieve "frustration".
It's funny how there are some kinds of noises they dislike. When I rattle my keychain they let out a short warning purr, which they also let out when I cough. The even purr about some kinds of music. Guess it's some frequency they're uncomfortable with.
Yesterday they got pissed at each other. As they've just been split form their family, they have yet to establish who's alpha sow and who's not. My bets are on the blackish one ("Sunny" my girlfriend's sister called her), the other one lost the "fight" and usually is the weaker and shyer pig.
Gunieas are quite scary when they piss each other off, head rolled back, eyes rolling, the long, sharp teeth exposed, gnashing loudly.
But apart from that and some miner quarrels about who's allowed inside the hut - which they only quarrel about when it's playtime, so it's not essential - they get along well I'd say.
They're always eating. Which they have to, due to their physiology, their bowels need constant input, so the contents don't have room to rot and produce gases. Which can be fatal for the piggies, as they're unable to fart (fascinating cavia facts #4). Which is why it's one of the worst ideas possible to give them cabbaga or beans...
And they're not as dumb as people might think. My Girl got them a large hamster wheel, which they have yet to figure out how to use. For encouragement I've put some herbs and snacks on top of it, and I guess "Sunny" figured out how to turn the wheel. Though she yet has to actually step inside to see how it works. TIll now it looked more like she thought of it like some kind of mean contraption to keep a poor little piggy from its beloved herbs. They LOVE parsley. When I approach the cage with a parsley piece in hand, I am greeted with squeaks of joy and impatience.
They've yet to discover water as a method to quench their thirst I guess... Haven't touched their bottle, and not even water presented in a dish.
Later today I'll try letting them run free for a bit.
They're really adorable little creatures. Even if they leave their beans behind wherever they stand. *_*

Current Mood: chipper

Assassin's Creed still supplies me with a steady flow of fun.
It's beauty is unparalleled. Yes, the storytelling is terrible. The unskippable cutscenes are bad in bein unskippable and SO 90s, but gladly due to the game being very easy on me, I barely see one twice. Yeah, it IS highly repetitive, but due to it's rather "emergent" gameplay nature, that's not too bad. Trying to assassinate all of the archers in a certain part of town while scaling viewpoints is fun enough.
And how beautiful the whole thing is! My favourite place in the game still is Damascus. Though Jerusalem also isn't bad, but Damascus really takes the (Arabian) cake.
I really like some of the smaller things, like how for example the numerous flags not just serve as tedious collect-em-alls for manic hunter-gatherer natures, but also as a good way of, well, randomly saving the game without actually having to do that.
Although savepoints really are a low point. Especially when it comes to assassinations, as the save mostly occurs after I've blown it, and just fought my target down - followed by a lengthy, totally suspension of disbelief blowing dialouge sequence which seems to take place while all the guards of the city idly stand by and watch. But I already mentioned how 90s that aspect of the game is.

I don't know what I'll play after I'm done with AC.
I'm really eyeing Mario Galaxy. I want it BAD, but my financial plan has to provide some stuff for my new flatmates. I need a cage. And some stuff to put in there like a waterbottle, a food bowl and other such things the lil'uns need.
Don't know how much there'll be left for gaming... Besides, I've got loads of stuff to do for uni when the christmas/new year's vacation is over, AND I'm over both ears into new pen and paper projects.
Exiting stuff. No Mario, but EXITING!

First, I'll hopefully get to run a Cyberpunk campaign, powered by Hero System. Of all the "projects" this one is the farthest advanced. I'll use a selfmade setting of corporate Hong Kong, apply some of the better conversions of CP2020 and Shadowrun Cyberware to Hero, and, well, have fun.
Second, I'll hopefully get to playtest my "so goth it shits bats" dark fantasy setting for, well, Hero System (I love it. To pieces. Finally found MY favourite rules system - and what happens? It's getting discontinued by most German retailers...)
Third, there's my "so pulp it features nazi witchers AND soviet psionics alongside DINOSAURS and ZOMBIES!" setting.
And some other stuff I've been wanting to do since some time. I've got too many (geekish) hobbies.

Current Mood: chipper

Now I'm gone beyond the point of redemption. This year really was a year of shifting paradigms for me, in a way.
First, the 360 after me being a very strong anti-XboXter. And now, I've done something even worse.
After years of disrespecting the brand, the people using it and pretty much everything else about it I've finally broken in and got me an iPod.
But, Tellurian! How COULD you! YOU of all people! -will you say. Well, thing is, my beloved CoWon iAudio X5 is more than 2 years old now, and the battery is the most present indicator of how old the thing is. It's sturdy, trusty and still going well, just... Not for very long.
So, you will say, why then haven't you showed some brand loyality and got yourself a new X5? Well... The X5 was the best player on the market when I got it. Now it's a two year old piece, still very good, but apparently, the evil brand with the fruit logo (no, not Cherry Keyboards you foo'!) has finally gotten around to either bribe or otherwise convince the sources I trust that their new large 'Pods are the shit, the new kings in town.
And as it's christmas and I've had the money... Dammit. I feel guilty. :( But somewhat intrigued and fascinated by the damn machines design and functionality. Which were exactly the points where the X5 didn't exactly shine.

Okay, I've paid some dues already, as iTunes shredded apart the order of my music folders the other day. Took the program mere seconds to lay ruin to an order I've kept up for years, took me some hours to put it all back in return. Still picking up leftovers and empty folders.

Still, I'm going to Hell for that. Guilty befor the whole human race!

Current Mood: guilty

I'll probably get two guinea pigs next week. O_Ô
Which will be the first kind of pets ever for me.
Just have to ask my landlords for permission. Shouldn't be a problem though. Not as long as that mutt which lives a few stories higher up is still  here and allowed to crap on the stairs... >_>

Current Mood: anxious

So, Assassin's Creed. It just blows me away. For some reason this is - graphically - one of the most impressive games I've seen in the recent past. It just does a lot of things right. It's got crowds! And it's not just a game giving you crowds for the sake of simulation or world building, but for gameplay reasons. It's a beautiful game world, which is partially beautiful for eye candy's sake, but for the most part it's for the sake of doing things. Of throwing the player a city shaped playground to mess with, bullies included.
Beautiful soundscape. .Yes, I've already got how the random chatter repeats itself, but that's really not anything of a deal considering the aweful random chatter in nearly EVERY other playground/sandox type game. Pretty good voice acting, though the protagonists broad american accent sticks out painfully, yet it's probably meant to be, given the strange sci-fi, mind travelling background.
Gameplay in itself is decent. Combat is challenging but fun. I don't really get the critizism that multiple enemies don't attack at the same time, as they DO attack me at the same time all the time.
There are some tedious mechanics though, especially in the travel sections on horseback. I guess I can see why the "blend with horse or be attacked" ass-hattery is implemented, and I'd say it's there mostly to force players into paying attention to the surroundings and not just gallop through. But it still is tedious, and scraping on the suspension of disbelief.
I'm not a big fan of such techniques I've got to admit, but the landscape and all which is going on and the things to discover are worth the slower pace.
Story wise, I'd have been happier if they could've made a true "assassin during the crusades" game. The sci-fi stuff puts in a lot of easy meta-game stuff excuses, which are okay in context, yet I would have vastly preferred having a game with as little "bollocks" stuff as necessary. Okay. These Assassin's don't smoke pot, and seem in general not very "correct" in a historical way, but having a "Kingdom of Heaven" among games would have been cool. Given that it's still a bastard child of Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia, this game IS a far cry away from the kind of seriousness of a historical romp. Yet it would be a bit closer without playing the sci-fi card.
Ultimately, that's really a thing I wish for. Games that lend themselves (fully) to topics that are not equivalent to the direct-to-video / B-movie stuff but at least worthy of a (little) sophisticated popcorn flick like - say - Kingdom of Heaven.

Anyway. Enough of this. I'll probably post some more about impressions mid game.

Current Mood: chipper

Has it really been THAT long since my last entry here? O_ô
Wow... Anyway, it's nearly christmas time, and the gaming market is beeing bombarded with buckloads of all kinds of titles more or less interesting to my tastes. Sadly I'm also having two papers overdue, and don't want to totally go and rot socially, so I guess the easiest way to dealing with this is just cloning myself. But as that is actually illegal, I think I'll just get me a slave to do the gaming while I do the work. NO WAIT!

So, I'm basically sunken into uni work at daytime and playing Mass Effect at night.
Mass Effect is a pretty good game. It had some good moments so far, though I'm always a bit on the unsure side wether it couldn't still be a lot better. I'm not a big fan of driving sections, and sometimes the cutscenes just make the game worse. Especially when they throw you into the action and so get rid of your orientation. Seriously, this is one of the things Half Life (2) got very, very right. New bogies enter your "arena"? No big swoosh "here comes the new wave" video to make it clear that you get that. I'm actually LESS distracted by enemies suddenly appearing behind me then I am by a cutscene that takes me out of the action, swirls around, and then dumps me back in.
But that is in fact just nit-picking. Mass Effect is a very, very good game. And as I'm playing an all good guy right now, I might actually just go and re-play it as an all bad girl.
And while I was going on about the bad cutscenes: The game also features very good ones, thanks due to interactive dialog. Those really take the cake. If there have to be cutscenes, I really want to have those. Sadly I KNOW this will not become the industry standard, and the next MGS will still be a movie peppered with some action game parts and lengthy codec conversations without any option to actively take part in it other than pan Snake around.
I do kind of jump the bandwagon here, but seriously, I want less cutscenes in games, less trying to be a movie and more being an interactive experience. Some of the most memorable moments in gaming still are things that happened while I was playing, not while watching a pre-rendered, staged scene.

One was a pretty cool thing I did in Deus Ex, while in Hong Kong. I got caught by the MJXII troopers at Maggie Chow's place, darted up to the roof, engaged the speed aug and jumped straight over the street onto the balcony of Jock's apartment. Not scripted, not pre rendered, not even something you were somehow encouraged to do.
Of course that's actually a rather crude example, emergent gameplay is something ENTIRELY diffrent, maybe a better example against cutscenes would really be the way Half Life 2 handles things by technically having cutscenes that are not actually cut other than by the movement of the players own view.

Next big no-no: Respawns. Stay tuned.

Current Mood: curious

When putting games into slots, genres are only half the way to something sensical. Of course, Bioshock and Quake both are first person shooters, and of course Silent Hill 3 and Resident Evil 4 are both (somewhat) on the list of survival horror games.
When it comes to classification, I like to take more into account than just the genre.
I like to differ between 3 types of games: gameplay centric, story / mood centric, simulation centric.
It's kind of a nobrainer, but to explain the diffrence the diffrence between the afforementioned Quake and Bioshock:
Both are FPS games, but Quake is a pure gameplay game, while Bioshock is pretty heavy on the story / mood side.
Of course there are few games which are EXACTLY one thing. The Microsoft Flight Simulator is a pure simulation centric game, Tetris is a pure gameplay game and the Silent Hill interactive comic book thingy would be the total story centric one.
But mostly games mix up those categories. GRAW for example would have all three elements, while probably being stronger on the gameplay side, while Splinter Cell also has all elements with a stronger focus on gameplay, less simulation and - probably - more story.
But still, those categories are nothing I'd want to put in numbers or graphs. Just some abstract form of theoretical measurement.

Current Mood: thoughtful

Some more "first impressions":
I've managed to go up on Live!, and it's really a great thing. The way it works and integrates itself into the whole "Windows Live id" thing is really fine, I totally dig the gamercards and the whole idea of integration so that it's really easy to find people for playing online. Actually a lot easier than, say, PC gaming, but just because PC gaming lacks such a unified platform. Maybe Steam could become such a thing some day...
And of course, the marketplace. Downloading demos really is a very good feature.
Only thing my girl brought me to was how safe it all is, with the nightmare scenario of an virus infected console and all. Not to forget the personal data. After all, Live! wouldn't let me in without knowing my phone number. Better yet, it just gave me some nonsensical error code, with the prompt to "try again later". Had to actually google that code to find out that this was a -relatively- new thing where Live! would go on strike if you don't enter all the data. Kind of a double "archetypical Microsoft" thing.

And on the games front, my Gears of War copy arrived today. For me who hasn't played through countless console shooters, it's really new territory. Great looking too. Now I'm really certain that I won't spend any money on a new screen or TV or anything before my old ones aren't broken. Yes, everything would look nicer and crisper and whatnot in HD, but it's really nothing I HAVE to have.
I'm still kinda clumsy with dual analog FPS. Gets especially bad when enemies come up close. But I guess I'll handle it eventually.
Gears is kinda astounding, very gamey (a gameplay game, not a simulation game or a story / mood game - I'll write an entry about those diffrences soon) and at the same time totally overflowing with details. I don't really care about the "overly macho" characters, or the glorifying of militaria. (come to think of it, the X360 as an american console is really strong on and strong WITH military glorifying franchises... Halo, Gears, GRAW... That's also something I should write some more about... *_* ). The story is - so far - just an excuse for blowing things up. I wonder whether we'll ever learn what the Locust actually are. Probably just a Strogg-paintjob...

And I'm expecting my copy of Halo (1) to arrive sometime soon. With all the world being totally ape-shit crazy about Halo 3, I just want to begin learning about that franchise I've blocked out of my "gamer radar" since it went for XboX-exlusivity. And I've got to hold me back not to dump the money I've got left onto all the games I still want. For one because it'd be stupid to shell it out all at once, for two because I should actually finish the ones I've got here...

So, it's here now. sitting right next to the Wii on my entertainment cart. I've elevated it up with two small wooden blocks, cause I've got the fat lady lying down, but that way I figured, the downside might not get enough of the heat spreaded away, so I tried giving it some room...
Impressions... Well, my first impression was that this big girl is one loud console. Worst I've had in terms of noise levels so far was my old Gamecube, so maybe I'm not used to noisy home entertainment equipment. But that was just the fans... When the disc drive kicks in, the party starts. Guess I've got one with a BenQ drive then... (was it the BenQ drives that were so noisy...?). So this is in fact my first console that beats pretty much every PC I've owned in terms of noise. But that's not that much of an achievement, my PCs have always been built with minimal noise levels in mind (though without watercooling... I really don't want any liquids inside my tech...). Another first impression was how HUGE that thing is. Okay, the PS3 is probably even bigger, but now that the big white one sits there next to the Wii, sporting a PSU which is itself nearly as big as the Wii... (I find the power plug especially intimidating. Looks like some extra high voltage thing...)
Well, after I'd gotten that first impression out of the way, I noticed her eye pleasing abilities. She does look rather nice, even on a standard screen. I've not checked the diffrence between the out of the box cable and the advanced scart, I've gone right through and run it with the latter from the start. So yes, or rather no... I won't need another screen or TV or anything in the nearer future. I can see where a higher resolution would actually benefit the games, yes, but it's nothing that's actually worth that extra amount of money to me.
That "blades" system menu needs a bit till I'll be used to it, and the demos that came with it aren't really worth mentioning... Shame really, they should've put something on there to show off what this thing can do...
Then, the controller... I kind of love this controller. It just feels right. I know I'm two years late with it, but it IS a huge imporvement over the much ridiculed controller for big handed people from the original Xbox. I've spent not even an entire evening with it, and allready I seem to like it better than the trusted DualShock2 (and given that the Sixaxis and DualShock3 aren't any diffrent....). I also like it better than the Wiimote/nunchuck. But for other reasons than the PS one. Where is it better from the PS one? First of all, I prefer the surface texture. I just like the roughed up plastic better than the smooth. Second, the layout is better somehow. Yes, the symmetrical layout of the Dualshock is more pleasing to the onlooker, but not always so for the user of the controller. Also, it's ergonomically better. Which is also the point where it beats the Wiimote-chuck which gives me cramps in both hands after longer times of playing. The 360 controller really reminds me of the one the Dreamcast had... And - bar from the blister inducing D-pad - that was a pad I've really loved.
Another thing I really like about the 360 controller, is that it has a power button for the console. Kind of a nobrainer, but really comfortable.
Then, the games I've got me... Okay, I've failed at getting "defining" games for this console, unless I want a mediocre shooter and a movie license game to be defining of x360 games. I got me King Kong and Perfect Dark Zero, both used, both very cheap.
I really like King Kong. It's good great ideas, is very immersive, and very game-ish as well as very cinematic at the same time, which is something only very very few people can pull off. Plus, it's very intuitively controllable, even for me console-FPS noob. Seriously, usually I'm really bad at them. But pretty much no problems here. Maybe they just have the stick setup I need right out of the box...
PDZ is, well, a shooter. Has some solid audio and not so fancy graphics, but then again, it's a two year old game and a launch title... It's still got some good sides to it, it's just nothing special, really.

So... in conclusion I've got to say that the 360 seems to be a pretty good console, which really needs an internal overhaul to solve the heat problems. And they should find some quieter disc drives. The obvious weak points are heat and noise. But the noise that comes from the heat isn't even the problem, the disc drive is MUCH worse. So far I think a real strong point is the controller. And, well, probably Live! but I'll be checking that out tomorrow. I'm pretty happy with it so far. Now all I need is some more games...
I still find it funny how I've gone full Wii60 within a week... So... Yay Halo! Nay Killzone!

Current Mood: bouncy

Okay, so I've ordered the damn thing at Amazon.
New model with a nice HDMI port, just to be sure for the future.
Plus advanced SCART thingy and Play'n'Charge kit. Dunno if that stuff is really worth the money. Especially the Scart thingy was kinda pricey... Oh well, guess it's cause it says "microsoft". Then again, the BigBen one was just 4 bucks less...

Anyway. Now the waiting game begins...
What game(s) do I get me? That's always a hard question when you get into an established system...
Sadly, I can't get neither Gears nor Crackdown nor Dead Rising at a local retailer. Maybe I'll ask the game-turk around the corner...

Not for anyone who cares:
I've got a fever... Dammit. Anyway, at least I'm always sick in the non-uni days of the year... *rolls eyes*

Okay, I'm down to ordering a 360.
I guess I'll aim for a newer model with an HDMI port, just to be sure. I mean, it still has the ability to connect to my standard TV (or TFT).
And now I'm kinda like feeling before Christmas or my Birthday or something. Okay, given the fact my birthday is close by, it's bit like cheating, but what the hell, right? I don't got enough time for this around my birthday, so I'm doing it now.
Plus, it gets me to play Halo3, which is a game that has been so extremely off my radar...
I've never been interested in Halo. Halo was evil. It was the evil console shooter that suddenly all my beloved PC shooters tried to imitate.
And now I'm giving in, I'm getting a damn Xbox, and possibly even Halo1 and 2 to appreciate what happened in the past and, well, play Halo.
Can't say wether I'll like it or not. I got pretty much no expectations whatsoever towards those games, which is a good thing regarding what happened to me with Bioshock.

But still, I'm giddy. There are so many games now that I consciously ignored which I can play now...
Dead Rising, Gears of War and Crackdown. The Halos. Panzer Dragoon Orta. Ninja Gaiden. Saints Row. Perfect Dark Zero. The list goes on and on. Some of them are old XBox games I've never been interested in. Guess I'll either have to make some room for the Xbox games now, or give away some of my PS2 ones... My gameshelve is full...
I never would have thought, a year ago, that I'd on a day that a new trailer for MGS4 is out get me a 360 and say "no, I don't want a PS3!".
Seriously, some weeks ago, I'd still have been blathering about how the PS3 isn't at all more expensive, and how it still got enough cool games. Maybe you've noticed, but of the games I've mentioned up there, there's pretty much nothing that's available on another platform (bar some upcoming PC ports and Ninja Gaiden Sigma). With the PS3? It'd be Heavenly Sword and Resistance. And that'd be it. Folklore looks interesting, but I know I've outgrown JRPG style games. Okami was the clostest thing to one of these that I've touched and enjoyed end to end since Crono Trigger. Shows how much the "but the Sony console is better on the JRPG games!" arguement holds up, right?
But what with MGS4? I AM a pretty big MGS fanboi. And somewhere in the future, if I ain't broke, I'll get me a PS3 and play it. If it really REALLY doesn't find its way to the 360. I WILL play this game. Just not right now (or rather, whenever it's released). I've waited 3 years until I got me a PS2 and MGS2 back in the day. I knew from trailers how much I dug that game. And I know from trailers, that I do still dig MGS4.
But I'd rather play Mass Effect... Guess I'm too human. Whoops. Another one that's just appeared on my radar... :D

I'm pondering getting a next gen console.
Okay, actually I'm beyond that point, I WANT a next gen console, and more specifically, I kind of want a 360.
Yeah, I feel dirty already. Faulty piece of hardware, evil M$ stuff, and all... But, thing is, it DOES have more interesting games than the PS3.
I'd have to buy a PS3 on the back of MGS4 alone. Up till now, there are no other games to take my interest. Okay, that's not true, there are indeed some fun looking and probably interesting games, Haze, Havenly Sword, and Little Big Planet. But that's pretty much all there is to it.
I've somewhat outgrown my immature "gaming has to be japan-centric on consoles" stance, so I've got no problem with a lack of weird games with spikey haired characters. Besides, I still got a Wii if I want that. I'll certainly miss out on some good samurai action.
Or did I miss that Yakuza 3 is going to be multiplatform...? That's another thing, most games I love are now available on both platforms...
I give it to Sony that they still got Team ICO. Though I don't know what they're up to. Also, is the "Seeds" studio Sony exclusive?
Anyway, I'm kind of planning to get me used PS3 in 2 years or something, when it's reasonably priced.

So, a 360 it's gonna be. Now there's the catch: I don't have an HDTV. And my current TV is just 2 years old (and pretty huge...), so it'd be pretty much of a waste of money to get a new one (unless of course I could sell that monstrosity for a fair price...).
That means now either I'll play on my non-HD TV, or maybe on my computer screen. In which case I'll have to think of something to get me some sound out of the thing...

And allready I'm somewhat scoffing at next gen gaming...
Of course that's partly because in Europe HDTV isn't really that big a thing as it is or was in the US. Probably due to PAL being better than NTSC in terms of colours or something (don't ask me for details, I've read that somewhere...).
But I don't really see the benefifts of hi def. Of course, the picture looks somewhat sharper. But the edge above DVD is... very, very slim.
Be it HD-DVD or Bluray...
Yet, I don't think I can allow myself to rant about HDTV being a method to milk the people, as I'm apparently willing to be milked... :(
Unless of course I just go with gaming on my computer screen...

Current Mood: confused

So. Bioshock. I've been pretty eager to play this game ever since I've heard the first concepts.
And now it arrives, takes me a full day till I realize what I have to do to actually install the damn thing and then, well...
The game is good. But that's it. It's not special, apart from having really good production quality. It's nice to look at and listen to.
But beyond that it isn't more than just good. I don't understand how it could get such overly high ratings. Usually, Eurogamer's 10/10 titles really are special. But Bioshock just isn't.
The game itself is at it's core System Shock 2 with less of the roleplaying mechanics and more action. I guess the only real addition to the Shock2 gameplay are the Big Daddies / Little Sisters to get your experience fix. To be frank, I could live without them. Especially since the game doesn't allow the Daddies to be tricked. The next thing is the so called "moral choice". That's botched as well, cause playing nice gives you a bigger advantage than playing naughty. Yes, harvesting and killing the little girls gets you more instant XP, but with the present you get for every third saved one, it's really no longer a moral choice.
Then there's the combat. It's clunky, most of the time too easy and then suddenly it becomes annoyingly hard.
Fooling around with the plasmids is fun for half an hour, but gets old quickly. Especially since there are only a handful of splicer variations.
So yes, combat is pretty boring. The ressurection chambers take away all the threat enemies could probably pose to you. Get killed and you instantly respawn. What you loose from getting killed is, well, a bit of time as you have to walk back. There's no penalty in death. And especially later this mechanic just becomes annoying, as you're pretty much forced to burn away lots of resources on the buffed up splicers, and should you pick a wrong strategy you'll end up with nothing but your wrench pretty quickly without means of reloading safe of the autosave at a level's beginning.
I'm pretty disappointed.

Current Mood: annoyed

So, I'm still lost in Lost. It's eating up all the free time I have, so no further gaming, although I still have to plough through Normandy with the Company of Heroes and save the princess in Prince of Persia... Guess I'll write something about CoH the next time I'm actually sober.
The show just pushes all the right buttons with me. But I can smell a certain smell of getting overfed with it coming along. Which might be a good thing.
After all it's just another week till Bioshock arrives. Hopefully that is. Last time I ordered a game online that I really cared for it took about a week and a half to arrive.
I'm trying now to really steer clear of any kind of spoilers with Bioshock. No demo for me and no artbook until I've got the game in my hands and if possible, finished.
Good thing I've got quite some stuff to work on the next week...

Current Mood: curious

Yeah, it took me a while to discover Lost. For some reason the series never took my interest. The setup seemed stupid. People usually don't survive planecrashs like the one depicted. And then I heard something about polar bears as plot elements and waved the whole concept away. Then a week ago I stumbled over the trailer for J.J. Abrams new movie project and that got me somehow interested in Lost because, well, putting up marketing campaign about something that isn't called by any name and while leaving a lot of crucial things out and STILL getting my interest is something not many people can do.
Personally I don't know how much credit I should give Abrams for Lost. But it certainly has some seemingly trademark plot elements and more importantly devices of his. For example a lot of "blank slate" devices that work in the plot without being further identified. Comparable to the Suitcase Vincent and Jules have to take back for Marcellus Wallace in Pulp fiction. It doesn't matter for the plot what's in there.
Just as it doesn't really matter what the thing out there in the jungle really is. It's there and it's dangerous. Plus it staying unidentified adds to the overall mystery and probably pulls in viewers counting on a possible de-masking.
Interesting stuff. I really was wrong about the series. Now I've got to wait a few hours until I can continue watching. Blessed be the summer holidays...

On another note, 11 days left till the release of Bioshock. Fingers crossed that my copy will arrive on time and not be a censored version. I ordered a German collectors edition that's said to contain just a German manual but the english version of the game. I'd have gone with an imported CV of the game, but that's a bit hard to come by...
The German version appears to be censored. Although it already has an 18+ rating. Given that those cuts were probably brought about by the publisher and not by any of our wholly own rating boards, I'm left wondering why the hell there'll be an uncut version that's still on sale in the country. It's probably like that, that the fully localized version including cuts is 18+, while the uncut version had the rating denied. Happens sometimes, and in the case of Bioshock I can somewhat understand it, as the game pushes all the wrong buttons for us violence hating Germans. Our ratings boards really don't like gushing fountains of blood and the like.
Well. As long as it's still legal to import uncut versions without shoddy German voiceover I'll be happy.
Counting the days...

Current Mood: bouncy

I guess we can all agree that no big game dev out there ever will make a game that's openly and offensively racist.
That's the domain of shady underground programmers with KKK ties or some dudes from the middle east.
Now Resident Evil 5 comes along. I'm quite happy the press (as in: outside the gaming press) hasn't caught full attention of it yet.
Videogames probably still have to grow for a few years to get accepted enough so they can feature politically touchy subjects outside of those "serious" games.
Of course we all don't know much yet about how the whole Africa setting will be "exploited" in RE5. Wether there'll be any actual "social" commentary on the situation or wether it'll be just a freaky background setting to kill zombies in. I don't expect it to become a "Blood Diamond" of gaming. Meaning a deep, emotionally upsetting, yet fully entertaining piece of, well, entertainment.
Movies seem to be "allowed" to exploit such settings for fun... Games...? I somehow doubt we're there yet.

Current Mood: thoughtful

So, as my other Blog has turned into a one-entry-every-other-month thing thanks to me only writing overly lengthy and not really blog like stuff, I've decided to open up this place here. Less half-assed sophistication, total lack of German language (safe of Blitzkrieg here and there), all talk and hopefully a lot more entries.

Alas, where to begin, where to begin...
Gaming is a harsh mistress as of late. The Prince of Persia isn't compelling enough, as his adventures somehow fail to really pull me in, commanding the Company of Heroes is something I've yet to really wrap my mind around, and my current Messiah of Gaming is still two weeks away.
It's kinda hard to avoid all the hype of a game I've somewhat celebrated since I've first read about the broader concepts behind it. Of course I'm talking about Bioshock (Or, "Bioshoque" as they call it in France). Hype can ruin a lot. It's kinda hard not to set one's expectations too high as to leave the object of desire enough space... 
Plus, as those Harry Potter fanbois trying to avoid getting spoilered, I guess I'll have to leave the internet for a week before it comes out. With that "3 words can ruin everything" story and all...
Anyway, we'll see how it turns out. Although I try to lower my expectations, they're still on an unhealthy level...

Now let's see if I can get my mind to do some good multitasking. Okay. Not really now, rather when I've slept some.
Game is gracious, but I can barely handle keeping track of all the stuff going on at once there...

(Plus, note to self, I should do some uni work... It's not like my life is all play and no work... Which would make Tellurian a dull boy...)

Current Mood: devious