lost in games

Those of you that have been reading the “fine print” on the right side of my blog may have noticed that for the past couple of weeks i have been reading this book  by Simon Sebag Montefiore. It’s a fascinating book and here’s an example of why i like it so much:

“Stalin confided in Khrushchev that he sometimes locked himself in the bathroom, while she (his wife Nadya) beat on the door, shouting.

‘You’re an impossible man. It’ impossible to live with you.’

This image  of Stalin as the powerless henpecked husband besieged, cowering in his own bathroom by the wild-eyed Nadya, must rank as the most incongruous vision of the Man of Steel in his entire career.”

Just read Michael Abott’s latest blog entry about Personal Trainer: Cooking.I never believed that i would be so interested to try one of these”games”. I would normally call this part of the DS “shovelware” but i really want to try this game.

Evening plan.

Lie on couch with a cup of traditional afternoon tea (blimey), with my DS and play Pic Pic.

21:25 - Just placed the hot cup of tea on a white mat from Mykonos.
21:26 - Inserted Demon Days by Gorillaz into the cd player. Volume at -60db.
21:31 - I switch on the DS and choose the Drawing puzzles. Previously left off at drawing puzzle no. 19 (out of a total of 400).  Kids for Guns (track 3) now playing.

21:43 - Done with Drawing 19. It’s a bee!
21:52 - I am almost done with my cup, and just finished drawing 20 - Brushing teeth. Slow progress today. Drawings are getting bigger, more colourful and brighter.
22:00 - Drawing 21 seems to be a red/black fish. A Rossoneri fish?
22:04 - Switch on the TV to have the Man Utd - Wigan game on mute. It’s already 1-0. Let’s hope it was a Ronaldo goal, my fantasy league captain. Checking flashscore now.
22:05 - Damn. Rooney….Fantasy league site gives Ronaldo the assist. Nice!
22:08 - Back to my Rossoneri fish.
22:15 - I messed up the connections. I can’t finish the drawing as it is and have to undo some of the work to figure  out what i did wrong.
22:17 - Got it! Rossoneri fish completed.
22:18 - The tea is now just a memory as the Fire Coming out Of The Monkey’s Head lyrics enter my ears.
22:22 - Ronaldo is limping after suffering a hard tackle. I hope it’s one of his theatrics.
22:25 - Wedding and Crocodile drawings completed as Tevez misses an Adebayor opportunity to score.
22:30 - I finish the Cow (drawing 23) and take a break to check google reader. Still 1-0 and Ronaldo is just fine. Typical.
22:35 - Google reader - Game unveils online rental service . Interesting….
22:40 - Back to Pic Pic and drawing 24.
22:47 - Half time at Old Trafford while i am still at 24…. Plan going better than expected.
23:30 - Finally finished drawing 25, “boxing”. Connections reached a maximum of 18. The puzzles are getting trickier. Time to call it a night. Still 1-0.

Don’t know what Pic Pic is? Check eurogamer’s perfect 10 review

What would a new year be without some resolutions and set ourselves some targets. Still have not decided my resolutions with regards to life in general but guess what. I have already made up my mind about the ones which relate to my gaming. Without further ado, here they are.

1. Write 3 great (LOL!) articles a month. Currently i am writing some stuff on a regular basis but most are just writing thoughts as they come to me. My aim is write some articles of proper length and and quality (again LOL!) beginning from February.

2. Play 2 great old games and I have already decided which ones too. The first one is Beyond Good & Evil on the original XBOX and the second Grim Fandango on the PC. Both superb games that i should have already played. In 2009 i will be makind amends.

3.  Get back to football games. I used to be a pro maniac from the days when it was still named International Superstar Soccer till it was changed to PES. Master Leagues and local multiplayer games were part of the training and i was quite good too. Not anymore. Basically gave it up two years ago and never actually got back into it. Last year i bought my first ever FIFA and also stayed with the franchise this year too. But i have not actually played it much apart from the “Be A Pro” mode. I miss being good at the footy games and i want 2009 to be my comeback year.

There are a few more that i am thinking about but these are the big 3 i really want to achieve by the end of 2009. I will of course be updating the blog on all three of them and any new ones i decide to include.

The year begins!

Just watched the final episode of The Sopranos tv series. Did it live up to all my expectations, the hype and did it deserve all those awards?

Yes……

Another good year for games has come to an end. Some people would say that this one was even better than the last, but i am not one of them. Still, in a year that saw the release of GTA IV, LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Left 4 Dead, Fable II, Far Cry 2, Lost Odyssey, Valkyria Chronicles and so many, many more excellent games how can one complain.

Yet, my game of the year is not among the afforementioned. My personal choice Game of the Year 2008 is Braid on XBLA, one of the best puzzle/platform games i have ever played. A game that had caused me to curse so much and yet was so satisfying to play. I enjoyed every minute of it.

It’s ironic that almost a year ago i blogged about how XBLA, WiiWare and PSN were irrelevant to my gaming. That was a major error of judgement and i am glad i was proven wrong. Downloadable games from these services have provided me with some of the most memorable gaming experiences in 2008. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 would probably feature in my 2008 top 5 list, if i had one, and Lost Winds together with Wold of Goo on WiiWare are two more must play games.

There are more to come, i am sure of it.. Now i have no more doubts.

I have not been blogging for some time now so i thought i should just update you on what i am currently reading/playing/watching:

The Sopranos

I am now on Season 6 and this is probably the best series i have ever watched together with The Wire. Awesome!

Necessary Ilussiions by Noam Chomsky

It’s a book i started reading when i was at the university but never finished it. It’s about how the media in democratic societies are being used by the state-corporate establishment to define and narrow down the field of debate among the people. It’s very interesting although it can be somewhat repetitive and also so far most of the examples/facts used by Chomsky relate to the American continent i.e. Nicaragua, El Salvador etc. I would have preferred a more worldwide approach.

Lost Odyssey (360)

A game that takes the space of 4 DVDs. I can’t remember when was the last time a console asked me to “Insert Disc 2″. It’s a very traditional Japanese RPG and reminds me of the Final Fantasy series. I am actually really enjoying this game. A lot more than i expected. The game requires a lot of patience due to its length (i inserted disc 2 after 14hours) and the numerous dreams you read in the form of text. I like the musical score, the character development and also had one of those great experiences you encounter every now and then in games. I will write about that in a later blog.

Lost Odyssey has changed my attitude for FFXIII from indifference to a can’t wait!