If I ever caught my dog doing this, I'd just very very quietly leave the room, the last thing I'd think of doing is grabbing a video camera.
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Probably NSFW Hilarity
I was browsing my RSS feeds and Filmdrunk had this video. I nearly wet myself laughing.
If I ever caught my dog doing this, I'd just very very quietly leave the room, the last thing I'd think of doing is grabbing a video camera.
If I ever caught my dog doing this, I'd just very very quietly leave the room, the last thing I'd think of doing is grabbing a video camera.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Blip On The Radar In April
Wow, already a third of the way through April, and I haven't made a post. That's pretty bad.
Looks like Winter is finally done. Which is good because it makes taking the dog out less unpleasant. I used to love the cold weather, but I think that was mainly because I wasn't out in it too often. I do still believe it's easier to warm up than to cool down. But now that I'm more "outdoorsy" by necessity, I've learned to appreciate warm weather a bit more.
Poker
This month for me in poker has been break-even at best. Really, it's been pretty swingy. I was hoping to carry that solid momentum from last month forward into this month, but it wasn't in the cards. No pun intended, although after writing that I can see how it is actually a bad pun.
Games
Haven't been playing all that much. Still muddling through my replay of the first SAINTS ROW.
I'm looking forward to LA NOIRE. I'm just trying to decide if I want to get it at launch or try to wait for a price drop. In addition to looking like it's an awesome game, I'm a sucker for film noir. (I've been watching a ton of Bogart, Robinson, and Cagney movies lately.)
Looks like Winter is finally done. Which is good because it makes taking the dog out less unpleasant. I used to love the cold weather, but I think that was mainly because I wasn't out in it too often. I do still believe it's easier to warm up than to cool down. But now that I'm more "outdoorsy" by necessity, I've learned to appreciate warm weather a bit more.
Poker
This month for me in poker has been break-even at best. Really, it's been pretty swingy. I was hoping to carry that solid momentum from last month forward into this month, but it wasn't in the cards. No pun intended, although after writing that I can see how it is actually a bad pun.
Games
Haven't been playing all that much. Still muddling through my replay of the first SAINTS ROW.
I'm looking forward to LA NOIRE. I'm just trying to decide if I want to get it at launch or try to wait for a price drop. In addition to looking like it's an awesome game, I'm a sucker for film noir. (I've been watching a ton of Bogart, Robinson, and Cagney movies lately.)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Mid-Month Check-In
Movies
I finally got around to seeing both AVATAR and INCEPTION. I thought INCEPTION was alright, but I felt it tried a bit too hard to be complex. I thought AVATAR had some nice visuals in parts, but I don't see why it was such a big hit. I dozed off at one point, and I didn't bother to rewind.
I also borrowed RED on DVD, and gave that a watch. Nothing like the original comic whatsoever. In fact, they could've easily gotten away with calling it something else and saved themselves the money they used on getting the film rights to the original story.
Other than that I've mostly been watching old movies. (Even more now that we final got Turner Classic Movies when we upgraded our cable package recently.)
TV
I'm happy that COMMUNITY got renewed for a third season. It’s the only bubble show I was really worried about this year. Hopefully we’ll get another great season. I figure we've got at least one more good season before the statistical likelyhood of a decline in quality (I’ve come to expect a quality decline for any show that runs longer that 2-3 years, with a few exceptions.)
I suppose I'd like one more season of V, given that season finale. It's probably not very likely to happen though.
Internet
It seems that every few weeks I have a few days where my connection does a combo of having lots of packet loss or constantly dropping off completely. Even when my signal levels look fine. This is one of those weeks. It started late at night on Wednesday, where it went out for about 45 minutes. Then it was fine until Friday afternoon. Since then it's been spotty. Like it was fine all day on Saturday then between 9pm and now it's been dropping in and out like crazy. So frustrating.
Cable TV works fine. It happens at different times of day, so it doesn't seem like they're doing maintance or something (which I could see them doing at like 2-3 am or whatever). The signal level on the modem is fine, and the same as it is when everything's working fine. There's no bad weather, or downed lines or anything. It also never seems to last long enough to justify a service call. 2-3 days often.
I'd think that it was because on Friday we ugraded our cable package, and got a new Docsis 3 modem. But the problem started before the package and equipment switch. (Plus our internet supposedly isn't getting the upgrade until our phone service starts, which is next week once Verizon releases our old phone number to Comcast.)
Poker
I was doing pretty well, then on Friday things went bad. Within my first few orbits, I dropped around three buy-ins. Then the disconnects started, which just tilted me even more. Playing with an unreliable connection is pretty much impossible, since it sucks putting a bunch of money into a pot with a good hand and then losing because you get disconnected and somebody raises and you get timed out and they take it down.
Video Games
Only thing I've played in the last few days is the first SAINTS ROW. It's a good game, but the second one is better.
I finally got around to seeing both AVATAR and INCEPTION. I thought INCEPTION was alright, but I felt it tried a bit too hard to be complex. I thought AVATAR had some nice visuals in parts, but I don't see why it was such a big hit. I dozed off at one point, and I didn't bother to rewind.
I also borrowed RED on DVD, and gave that a watch. Nothing like the original comic whatsoever. In fact, they could've easily gotten away with calling it something else and saved themselves the money they used on getting the film rights to the original story.
Other than that I've mostly been watching old movies. (Even more now that we final got Turner Classic Movies when we upgraded our cable package recently.)
TV
I'm happy that COMMUNITY got renewed for a third season. It’s the only bubble show I was really worried about this year. Hopefully we’ll get another great season. I figure we've got at least one more good season before the statistical likelyhood of a decline in quality (I’ve come to expect a quality decline for any show that runs longer that 2-3 years, with a few exceptions.)
I suppose I'd like one more season of V, given that season finale. It's probably not very likely to happen though.
Internet
It seems that every few weeks I have a few days where my connection does a combo of having lots of packet loss or constantly dropping off completely. Even when my signal levels look fine. This is one of those weeks. It started late at night on Wednesday, where it went out for about 45 minutes. Then it was fine until Friday afternoon. Since then it's been spotty. Like it was fine all day on Saturday then between 9pm and now it's been dropping in and out like crazy. So frustrating.
Cable TV works fine. It happens at different times of day, so it doesn't seem like they're doing maintance or something (which I could see them doing at like 2-3 am or whatever). The signal level on the modem is fine, and the same as it is when everything's working fine. There's no bad weather, or downed lines or anything. It also never seems to last long enough to justify a service call. 2-3 days often.
I'd think that it was because on Friday we ugraded our cable package, and got a new Docsis 3 modem. But the problem started before the package and equipment switch. (Plus our internet supposedly isn't getting the upgrade until our phone service starts, which is next week once Verizon releases our old phone number to Comcast.)
Poker
I was doing pretty well, then on Friday things went bad. Within my first few orbits, I dropped around three buy-ins. Then the disconnects started, which just tilted me even more. Playing with an unreliable connection is pretty much impossible, since it sucks putting a bunch of money into a pot with a good hand and then losing because you get disconnected and somebody raises and you get timed out and they take it down.
Video Games
Only thing I've played in the last few days is the first SAINTS ROW. It's a good game, but the second one is better.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Kicking Off March
I'm so lazy with my posting these days. I used to update multiple times a day. Now it's a minor miracle if I post multiple times in a month.
I'd like to redo the look of the blog a bit, but I can't get all that motivated to do it.
Games
I’ve been re-playing MODERN WARFARE 2 quite a bit. (This time on the 360.) I breezed through single-player on regular. Now I’m doing the challenge maps. (That sniper level drives me up the wall.) At some point I’ll go through SP again in hard mode to unlock those achievements.
I’ve kinda had an itch to replay FINAL FANTASY XII lately. I suppose it’d give me an excuse to use my PS3, which I don't even have hooked up to the TV at the moment.
Poker
March is off to a rough start. Lost just under a buy-in in the first session of the month. I was up by a nice amount before I got it in vs a player who kept min 3betting me pre and then shoving the flop or turn. I decided to call him with TPGK (top pair being Kings in this case) and he showed AA. Figures. Just goes to show, they're not bluffing as often as you might think and sometimes it's better to just say, "if he's bluffing, good for him" and let them have it. But maybe that's just being too results oriented, I don't know.
I think I might have ADD, since sometimes I have a hell of time paying attention to coaching videos. I take notes, but I find my mind wandering during some of the power-point style videos. I prefer live play videos where the best method of learning is pausing and trying to predict what the coach will do and seeing if your thought process is close to theirs.
Music
I recently dug out and re-ripped all of my Alice In Chains CDs (remember CDs?) to MP3. I ripped the stuff I liked best a few years ago, but 160 bitrate MP3s sort of suck compared to nice VBR files. I skipped all the duplicate tracks in MUSIC BANK since I did all of the albums and EPs already. One of my favorite bands, but I sort of forgot about them (and didn’t warm to their newest album with the replacement singer). Rediscovered them when I stumbled across a downloaded bootleg of the Dirt demos.
TV
I was going to write about (or more accurately, complain about) some TV shows that I watch. Then I realized it's sort of dumb to watch shows that I don't quite enjoy and probably even dumber to then write about them. That's not to say that I won't stick to being dumb enough to watch shows with concepts I like that fall short that I keep hoping will get better (V, NO ORDINARY FAMILY) or that used to be among my favorites that have gone downhill (CHUCK, THE OFFICE). It just means I'm too lazy to write about them.
I'd like to redo the look of the blog a bit, but I can't get all that motivated to do it.
Games
I’ve been re-playing MODERN WARFARE 2 quite a bit. (This time on the 360.) I breezed through single-player on regular. Now I’m doing the challenge maps. (That sniper level drives me up the wall.) At some point I’ll go through SP again in hard mode to unlock those achievements.
I’ve kinda had an itch to replay FINAL FANTASY XII lately. I suppose it’d give me an excuse to use my PS3, which I don't even have hooked up to the TV at the moment.
Poker
March is off to a rough start. Lost just under a buy-in in the first session of the month. I was up by a nice amount before I got it in vs a player who kept min 3betting me pre and then shoving the flop or turn. I decided to call him with TPGK (top pair being Kings in this case) and he showed AA. Figures. Just goes to show, they're not bluffing as often as you might think and sometimes it's better to just say, "if he's bluffing, good for him" and let them have it. But maybe that's just being too results oriented, I don't know.
I think I might have ADD, since sometimes I have a hell of time paying attention to coaching videos. I take notes, but I find my mind wandering during some of the power-point style videos. I prefer live play videos where the best method of learning is pausing and trying to predict what the coach will do and seeing if your thought process is close to theirs.
Music
I recently dug out and re-ripped all of my Alice In Chains CDs (remember CDs?) to MP3. I ripped the stuff I liked best a few years ago, but 160 bitrate MP3s sort of suck compared to nice VBR files. I skipped all the duplicate tracks in MUSIC BANK since I did all of the albums and EPs already. One of my favorite bands, but I sort of forgot about them (and didn’t warm to their newest album with the replacement singer). Rediscovered them when I stumbled across a downloaded bootleg of the Dirt demos.
TV
I was going to write about (or more accurately, complain about) some TV shows that I watch. Then I realized it's sort of dumb to watch shows that I don't quite enjoy and probably even dumber to then write about them. That's not to say that I won't stick to being dumb enough to watch shows with concepts I like that fall short that I keep hoping will get better (V, NO ORDINARY FAMILY) or that used to be among my favorites that have gone downhill (CHUCK, THE OFFICE). It just means I'm too lazy to write about them.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Late Month Thought Dump
Wow, I've only made one post so far this year. That's pretty terrible.
Right now, as I write this, it's ridiculously cold here...
That's kind of unacceptable.
Firefox 4
Firefox 4 is supposed to come out at the end of next month. I've been messing with it a bit on my USB thumbdrive on my main computer. I also made it the main browser on my spare computer, which is an older, slower machine. It seems to run a lot better on the old PC than 3.x ever did. Messing with the beta has let me figure out how to get some of the customizations I'll want to add to my installation when the final version comes out. (Like adding the RSS icon back into the "awesomebar", some menu cleanups (I like my bookmarks toolbar to be icons only), etc. Anyway, I think it's a nice upgrade.
Video Games
DEAD SPACE 2 comes out this week. As much as I liked the first game, which I played through a few times, I think I'm going to hold off on this one. It's not an, "I must get this at launch!!!" title for me. I definitely want to pick it up. I figure if I wait the price will drop.
I've been replaying some older titles in my 360 library. I replayed BIOSHOCK, and I was annoyed I missed a few achievements. I was hoping to nail 100% on my first play-through. Right now I'm playing through SPLINTER CELL: DOUBLE AGENT. When I finish that I'm deciding between the first DEAD RISING or SAINTS ROW.
Poker
I went on a downswing and decided that I should move down a level in stakes. I'm hoping to move back up again before the end of the month. If I don't then I don't. I'm not going to force it. I need to be comfortably rolled for that stake, where I'm not worried about the money. While I still had enough in my bankroll to not have to move down, I think for my peace of mind it was the right move.
I've also been watching a training video a day every single day. I take notes on everything, pausing and predicting, especially noting instances where I would've made a wrong move if I were the one in the coach's shoes. I note my reasoning for why I'd make a certain move vs why the coach wouldn't have. It's a great way to improve your thought process. (Admittedly, watching videos this way takes a long time, so a one hour video can take three pluss hours to watch. That's why I usually do them in halves or thirds. Watching the first portion early in the day, the rest later on, or sometimes starting a video on one day and finsihing it the next.) I've only missed one day, and that was because I opted to play an extra session instead. (I set out to play a short session and then watch a video, but then after 1k hands, I just was burned out on poker for the rest of the night.)
TV
THE CAPE isn't winning me over. I saw the plot twist coming withOracle, I mean Summer Glau's character from the first episode. At first I thought midget was one of those midget wrestlers, but then I remembered he was on SCRUBS. Anyway, it's just a bad knock off of Batman so far.
Since CASTLE wasn't on, I gave that new Kathy Bates show's pilot a watch. It wasn't too bad. A bit cliche and obvious in some parts, but she's such a good actress you can kind of overlook the flaws.
I also wasn't nuts about what little I saw of Olivia Munn's new show. Right now the only good show NBC has on Thursdays is COMMUNITY (loved the Theo Huxtable nod in the latest episode). THE OFFICE has been downhill since season four, and 30 ROCK has been losing me since last year.
I'm still trying to figure out why I watch NO ORDINARY FAMILY (I keep waiting for something to happen) and V (it's bad, but compelling enough to keep me coming back) on Tuesdays.
I'll probably disappear for another month now.
Right now, as I write this, it's ridiculously cold here...
That's kind of unacceptable.
Firefox 4
Firefox 4 is supposed to come out at the end of next month. I've been messing with it a bit on my USB thumbdrive on my main computer. I also made it the main browser on my spare computer, which is an older, slower machine. It seems to run a lot better on the old PC than 3.x ever did. Messing with the beta has let me figure out how to get some of the customizations I'll want to add to my installation when the final version comes out. (Like adding the RSS icon back into the "awesomebar", some menu cleanups (I like my bookmarks toolbar to be icons only), etc. Anyway, I think it's a nice upgrade.
Video Games
DEAD SPACE 2 comes out this week. As much as I liked the first game, which I played through a few times, I think I'm going to hold off on this one. It's not an, "I must get this at launch!!!" title for me. I definitely want to pick it up. I figure if I wait the price will drop.
I've been replaying some older titles in my 360 library. I replayed BIOSHOCK, and I was annoyed I missed a few achievements. I was hoping to nail 100% on my first play-through. Right now I'm playing through SPLINTER CELL: DOUBLE AGENT. When I finish that I'm deciding between the first DEAD RISING or SAINTS ROW.
Poker
I went on a downswing and decided that I should move down a level in stakes. I'm hoping to move back up again before the end of the month. If I don't then I don't. I'm not going to force it. I need to be comfortably rolled for that stake, where I'm not worried about the money. While I still had enough in my bankroll to not have to move down, I think for my peace of mind it was the right move.
I've also been watching a training video a day every single day. I take notes on everything, pausing and predicting, especially noting instances where I would've made a wrong move if I were the one in the coach's shoes. I note my reasoning for why I'd make a certain move vs why the coach wouldn't have. It's a great way to improve your thought process. (Admittedly, watching videos this way takes a long time, so a one hour video can take three pluss hours to watch. That's why I usually do them in halves or thirds. Watching the first portion early in the day, the rest later on, or sometimes starting a video on one day and finsihing it the next.) I've only missed one day, and that was because I opted to play an extra session instead. (I set out to play a short session and then watch a video, but then after 1k hands, I just was burned out on poker for the rest of the night.)
TV
THE CAPE isn't winning me over. I saw the plot twist coming with
Since CASTLE wasn't on, I gave that new Kathy Bates show's pilot a watch. It wasn't too bad. A bit cliche and obvious in some parts, but she's such a good actress you can kind of overlook the flaws.
I also wasn't nuts about what little I saw of Olivia Munn's new show. Right now the only good show NBC has on Thursdays is COMMUNITY (loved the Theo Huxtable nod in the latest episode). THE OFFICE has been downhill since season four, and 30 ROCK has been losing me since last year.
I'm still trying to figure out why I watch NO ORDINARY FAMILY (I keep waiting for something to happen) and V (it's bad, but compelling enough to keep me coming back) on Tuesdays.
I'll probably disappear for another month now.
Friday, January 7, 2011
First One Of 2011
A week into the new year, and I haven't gotten around to posting until now.
Games
I blazed through DEAD RISING 2 (Xbox 360) and BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM (PS3). I have to say I enjoyed DR2 more. The Batman game was surprisingly good for a Batman game, but the boss fights were pretty repetitious. Now I'm replaying some of the older games in my 360 library. Currently, I'm playing the GTA IV: EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY disc. I just finished LOST AND DAMNED.
Any opinions out there on BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2? I'm not interested in multiplayer, so I'm primarily interested in the the single player campaign. Quality and length are my biggest concerns.
Poker
So far, I've managed to watch one or more videos a day, every day. My plan is to really study my ass off.
At the tables, I've been working on tilt management. I've also been limiting how long I play. I generally set a 60-90 minute cut-off for my sessions now, and just quit, winning or losing. If things are going bad, the plan is to just stop within my stop loss. I'm really hoping to stick to quitting when things go bad. I found that I played the longest when losing, trying to chase my losses.
My results so far have been fairly up and down. I'm trying to remain emotionally neutral to either outcome and just concentrating on making the best decisions I can while playing. That coupled with working on my game by studying hopefully will give me the results I'd like to have.
TV, Movies
I don't know how or why, but I started watching BONES reruns on TNT. Sort of like how in 2008 I managed to watch pretty much the entirety of NCIS in reruns on USA in like three months, given how frequently they run the show. Anyway, I got a good deal on season 1, so I picked it up on DVD.
I've also been rewatching some old BLAKES 7 DVDs. They seem to be good late night bedtime viewing for me.
Regular TV, aside from a few shows seems like it's still on winter break for another week or two. V started it's new season, but it's still pretty mediocre.
Games
I blazed through DEAD RISING 2 (Xbox 360) and BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM (PS3). I have to say I enjoyed DR2 more. The Batman game was surprisingly good for a Batman game, but the boss fights were pretty repetitious. Now I'm replaying some of the older games in my 360 library. Currently, I'm playing the GTA IV: EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY disc. I just finished LOST AND DAMNED.
Any opinions out there on BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2? I'm not interested in multiplayer, so I'm primarily interested in the the single player campaign. Quality and length are my biggest concerns.
Poker
So far, I've managed to watch one or more videos a day, every day. My plan is to really study my ass off.
At the tables, I've been working on tilt management. I've also been limiting how long I play. I generally set a 60-90 minute cut-off for my sessions now, and just quit, winning or losing. If things are going bad, the plan is to just stop within my stop loss. I'm really hoping to stick to quitting when things go bad. I found that I played the longest when losing, trying to chase my losses.
My results so far have been fairly up and down. I'm trying to remain emotionally neutral to either outcome and just concentrating on making the best decisions I can while playing. That coupled with working on my game by studying hopefully will give me the results I'd like to have.
TV, Movies
I don't know how or why, but I started watching BONES reruns on TNT. Sort of like how in 2008 I managed to watch pretty much the entirety of NCIS in reruns on USA in like three months, given how frequently they run the show. Anyway, I got a good deal on season 1, so I picked it up on DVD.
I've also been rewatching some old BLAKES 7 DVDs. They seem to be good late night bedtime viewing for me.
Regular TV, aside from a few shows seems like it's still on winter break for another week or two. V started it's new season, but it's still pretty mediocre.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Mid-Month Update For December
Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. Hard to believe Christmas is just a few days away, and then the year is almost over.
I've been sick since the weekend, and today's the first day that I've felt kinda okay. I was invited to a birthday party, but didn't feel well enough to go. (On top of that my email reply saying I couldn't make it bounced back to me.)
TV
At least once the holidays are over with, there will be stuff to watch at night. Right now there's nothing on, and nothing worth watching (that I haven't seen) on OnDemand.
Games
I wound up getting my big Christmas present early, the new Xbox 360 Slim Holiday Bundle. I've been replaying some of my older games, like SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION and RESIDENT EVIL 5. For new games, I finished off ALAN WAKE, which came in the bundle, and played the two DLC chapters for RE5 and the DEAD RISING 2 prologue DLC. I've still got something to look forward to on Christmas day, since I'm getting some games (and some DVDs and Blu-rays, among other things).
I decided to start over, completely fresh, with a new gamer tag. So I'll have to unlock all the achievements all over again, etc.
ALAN WAKE was really good. I may have to get more MS points so I can get the DLC, even though it seems pricier than the DLC for RE5 and DR2. I hope there will be a second game.
After playing the DEAD RISING 2 prologue, I'm looking forward to the main game. Of course, I liked the first game, so I was already looking forward to the sequel. I just didn't get it before now because I wanted the Xbox version for the DLC and didn't have a working Xbox when it came out.
I can't decide if I want to download the DEAD SPACE 2 demo. The full game comes out next month, and I might want to play it completely unspoiled. (Even if I don't get it right away.)
Poker
I'm probably jinxing myself by saying this, but things have been going okay. Of course, now that I've said that I'll probably go on a huge downswing. After all, I've still got over a week left to ruin the month!
I haven't put in as much volume this month. In fact, I'll be surprised if I even crack 10k hands. I've also really been slacking on studying. I think I've watched two, maybe three coaching videos since my last post. I blame that on the Xbox.
At least it looks like that bill that would blackout online poker in the US didn't pass. I'm in favor of it being more legal (it really isn't illegal to play in the US, even though the vaguely worded law makes people think it is), and easier for US players to deposit. But I think that that last bill wasn't a good thing. At least, for the time being, I don't have to seek out another site to play on.
Etc
Anyway, I kind of doubt that I'll post again before Christmas, so I hope everybody has a good one.
I've been sick since the weekend, and today's the first day that I've felt kinda okay. I was invited to a birthday party, but didn't feel well enough to go. (On top of that my email reply saying I couldn't make it bounced back to me.)
TV
At least once the holidays are over with, there will be stuff to watch at night. Right now there's nothing on, and nothing worth watching (that I haven't seen) on OnDemand.
Games
I wound up getting my big Christmas present early, the new Xbox 360 Slim Holiday Bundle. I've been replaying some of my older games, like SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION and RESIDENT EVIL 5. For new games, I finished off ALAN WAKE, which came in the bundle, and played the two DLC chapters for RE5 and the DEAD RISING 2 prologue DLC. I've still got something to look forward to on Christmas day, since I'm getting some games (and some DVDs and Blu-rays, among other things).
I decided to start over, completely fresh, with a new gamer tag. So I'll have to unlock all the achievements all over again, etc.
ALAN WAKE was really good. I may have to get more MS points so I can get the DLC, even though it seems pricier than the DLC for RE5 and DR2. I hope there will be a second game.
After playing the DEAD RISING 2 prologue, I'm looking forward to the main game. Of course, I liked the first game, so I was already looking forward to the sequel. I just didn't get it before now because I wanted the Xbox version for the DLC and didn't have a working Xbox when it came out.
I can't decide if I want to download the DEAD SPACE 2 demo. The full game comes out next month, and I might want to play it completely unspoiled. (Even if I don't get it right away.)
Poker
I'm probably jinxing myself by saying this, but things have been going okay. Of course, now that I've said that I'll probably go on a huge downswing. After all, I've still got over a week left to ruin the month!
I haven't put in as much volume this month. In fact, I'll be surprised if I even crack 10k hands. I've also really been slacking on studying. I think I've watched two, maybe three coaching videos since my last post. I blame that on the Xbox.
At least it looks like that bill that would blackout online poker in the US didn't pass. I'm in favor of it being more legal (it really isn't illegal to play in the US, even though the vaguely worded law makes people think it is), and easier for US players to deposit. But I think that that last bill wasn't a good thing. At least, for the time being, I don't have to seek out another site to play on.
Etc
Anyway, I kind of doubt that I'll post again before Christmas, so I hope everybody has a good one.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Black Ops And Poker
I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving. Of course given the amount of Black Friday hype, it shouldn't feel that surprising.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops
Even though it runs terribly on my PC, I finished the single player campaign of CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS. It felt longer than MODERN WARFARE 2, but I can't be sure if it was or not. I never clock my time. I also didn't play it straight through with some breaks like I usually do with new games. Doing that usually it takes 1-2 days for me to plow through a game, depending on game length, what else I have to do besides the game, and what time of day I start playing. So I can't really estimate. how long it took. Overall, performance issues aside, it's an alright game. I did find myself playing the zombies mode more than single player though.
Poker
I ran pretty well last week. Which is funny, since I feel like I didn't play my A-game at all last week. Total B-game and C-game. Despite that I still managed to make a profit. I have been getting really lazy with the studying side of things though. I definitely need to pick up the slack there.
So far this week I've had two losing sessions (Tuesday evening and late Tuesday/early Wednesday) back to back, which is a bit demoralizing.
For the second session, I dropped down a level since I had lost earlier in the day. That started off well, it was a winner until one disaster hand. I got it in with KK vs a guy who had a VPIP of 95% (which means that he was playing 95% of the hands he was dealt, essentially ANY two cards), I should've known he'd luckbox into a win (he hit a FH with junk) since he was sitting on 1300 big blinds. It was absolutely disgusting. So that wiped out my profit + some of what I sat down with. Not long after that he left the table, and I decided to just call it quits while I was down just a small amount.
Hopefully the rest of the week goes better.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops
Even though it runs terribly on my PC, I finished the single player campaign of CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS. It felt longer than MODERN WARFARE 2, but I can't be sure if it was or not. I never clock my time. I also didn't play it straight through with some breaks like I usually do with new games. Doing that usually it takes 1-2 days for me to plow through a game, depending on game length, what else I have to do besides the game, and what time of day I start playing. So I can't really estimate. how long it took. Overall, performance issues aside, it's an alright game. I did find myself playing the zombies mode more than single player though.
Poker
I ran pretty well last week. Which is funny, since I feel like I didn't play my A-game at all last week. Total B-game and C-game. Despite that I still managed to make a profit. I have been getting really lazy with the studying side of things though. I definitely need to pick up the slack there.
So far this week I've had two losing sessions (Tuesday evening and late Tuesday/early Wednesday) back to back, which is a bit demoralizing.
For the second session, I dropped down a level since I had lost earlier in the day. That started off well, it was a winner until one disaster hand. I got it in with KK vs a guy who had a VPIP of 95% (which means that he was playing 95% of the hands he was dealt, essentially ANY two cards), I should've known he'd luckbox into a win (he hit a FH with junk) since he was sitting on 1300 big blinds. It was absolutely disgusting. So that wiped out my profit + some of what I sat down with. Not long after that he left the table, and I decided to just call it quits while I was down just a small amount.
Hopefully the rest of the week goes better.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
I Still Can't Think Of A Title
Mocking The Dog
It's been pretty warm (relatively speaking) the last few days, but a few days ago it was so cold that we had to bundle the dog up in her sweater to take her out. After that I kept calling her Dr Huxtable, so I wonder if that's a form of animal cruelty?
The League
Aside from watching a few minutes of the pilot, I never watched THE LEAGUE. For whatever reason, I caught reruns the first two episodes on Saturday night, and now I've watched all but the last episode of the first season. After that I plan on catching up on season 2. Funny stuff. I didn't expect to like it because I'm not into football at all, but you don't have to be to enjoy the show.
Games
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS ran horribly on my PC. Looks like I'll have to go with the console version. I may wait until I get another 360 since I hear the 360 version looks a bit better than the PS3 version. BLACK OPS is the first PC game in years that hasn't run on my machine. Guess I need some upgrades. Oh well, back to FALLOUT NEW VEGAS for me.
Poker
Ran really well for five days up until Wednesday afternoon. Then I had a bad session, hit my stoploss and quit. (My two biggest losing hands were having a big pocket pair that ran into a better pocket pair. JJ vs KK and KK vs AA.) Then about fiften minutes after I quit, I saw on 2+2 that the new Stars update was out and it added configurable bet-sizing buttons, so I played a short one table session to config the buttons and test them out. They work really well, it's about time Stars caught up to Full Title on that sort of simple functionality. As a bonus, I made a small fraction of my losses back.
It's been pretty warm (relatively speaking) the last few days, but a few days ago it was so cold that we had to bundle the dog up in her sweater to take her out. After that I kept calling her Dr Huxtable, so I wonder if that's a form of animal cruelty?
The League
Aside from watching a few minutes of the pilot, I never watched THE LEAGUE. For whatever reason, I caught reruns the first two episodes on Saturday night, and now I've watched all but the last episode of the first season. After that I plan on catching up on season 2. Funny stuff. I didn't expect to like it because I'm not into football at all, but you don't have to be to enjoy the show.
Games
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS ran horribly on my PC. Looks like I'll have to go with the console version. I may wait until I get another 360 since I hear the 360 version looks a bit better than the PS3 version. BLACK OPS is the first PC game in years that hasn't run on my machine. Guess I need some upgrades. Oh well, back to FALLOUT NEW VEGAS for me.
Poker
Ran really well for five days up until Wednesday afternoon. Then I had a bad session, hit my stoploss and quit. (My two biggest losing hands were having a big pocket pair that ran into a better pocket pair. JJ vs KK and KK vs AA.) Then about fiften minutes after I quit, I saw on 2+2 that the new Stars update was out and it added configurable bet-sizing buttons, so I played a short one table session to config the buttons and test them out. They work really well, it's about time Stars caught up to Full Title on that sort of simple functionality. As a bonus, I made a small fraction of my losses back.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
I Can't Think Of A Title
Okay, took a few days off. I still plan to post more than I have been.
Daylight Savings Time
I'm sure this will screw up my already incredibly screwed up body clock even more. Awesome.
Poker
Been running well the last few days. I'm sure mentioning that on here will wind up with me getting doomswitched, but I'm used to things going from good to horribad. I've also been kind of lazy the last day or two with the studying, which is bad.
Games
Still immersed in FALLOUT NEW VEGAS. Did a few side quests that I missed on my first play-through. It's such a long game.
I've also been entering that current Burger King contest for the Xbox 360 daily. It comes with the Kinect, which I imagine would sit completely unused if I were to win.
Getting psyched for COD: BLACK OPS. I hear it's kinda mediocre from people that got the leaked 360 version, but I'll still give it a whirl on the PC. Hopefully it'll run okay with my ancient video card.
Daylight Savings Time
I'm sure this will screw up my already incredibly screwed up body clock even more. Awesome.
Poker
Been running well the last few days. I'm sure mentioning that on here will wind up with me getting doomswitched, but I'm used to things going from good to horribad. I've also been kind of lazy the last day or two with the studying, which is bad.
Games
Still immersed in FALLOUT NEW VEGAS. Did a few side quests that I missed on my first play-through. It's such a long game.
I've also been entering that current Burger King contest for the Xbox 360 daily. It comes with the Kinect, which I imagine would sit completely unused if I were to win.
Getting psyched for COD: BLACK OPS. I hear it's kinda mediocre from people that got the leaked 360 version, but I'll still give it a whirl on the PC. Hopefully it'll run okay with my ancient video card.
Monday, November 1, 2010
First One Of November
I can't believe it's November already. This year seems to be flying right along.
Halloween
Do kids trick or treat anymore? Or do they just go to Halloween parties now? I ask because I can't remember the last Halloween where we got trick or treaters (not that I'm complaining). At least I wasn't dumb enough to try and put the dog in a costume.
The Walking Dead
I thought the first episode of THE WALKING DEAD was pretty good. It's been so long since I read those original issues, probably not long after they first came out. I've never gone back and re-read the early stuff, so while I know generally where things are headed if they follow the comic, but it's been so long and the few characters from the beginning that are still around are pretty different from when they started out. I also still have a hard time seeing Andrew Lincoln as anybody but Simon from TEACHERS, especially since they had him riding a bike in TWD, something he did on nearly every episode of TEACHERS. That having been said, he did a pretty good job as Rick.
New Vegas
Re-started FALLOUT NEW VEGAS. Not sure how I'm going to play it this time, aside from trying to do more/all of the side quests. Last time I was a good guy. Maybe I'll be a little less good this time around, pick different factions to side with and such. I figure I can keep going with NV until COD: BLACK OPS hits.
Halloween
Do kids trick or treat anymore? Or do they just go to Halloween parties now? I ask because I can't remember the last Halloween where we got trick or treaters (not that I'm complaining). At least I wasn't dumb enough to try and put the dog in a costume.
The Walking Dead
I thought the first episode of THE WALKING DEAD was pretty good. It's been so long since I read those original issues, probably not long after they first came out. I've never gone back and re-read the early stuff, so while I know generally where things are headed if they follow the comic, but it's been so long and the few characters from the beginning that are still around are pretty different from when they started out. I also still have a hard time seeing Andrew Lincoln as anybody but Simon from TEACHERS, especially since they had him riding a bike in TWD, something he did on nearly every episode of TEACHERS. That having been said, he did a pretty good job as Rick.
New Vegas
Re-started FALLOUT NEW VEGAS. Not sure how I'm going to play it this time, aside from trying to do more/all of the side quests. Last time I was a good guy. Maybe I'll be a little less good this time around, pick different factions to side with and such. I figure I can keep going with NV until COD: BLACK OPS hits.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Games
Medal Of Honor
MEDAL OF HONOR was promoted as some sort of MODERN WARFARE killer. Upon release it was quickly panned and dismissed as a MW clone. Personally, I didn't think the game was that bad. It's nothing new or groundbreaking, but it served as nice filler while waiting for BLACK OPS. Like most games these days, the single player is ridiculously short, I think it's about four to six hours long, if I'm recalling correctly. I don't think the game is worth $60, but it's worth renting or buying when the price drops.
Fallout New Vegas
FALLOUT NEW VEGAS on the other hand is a much longer, and better game. I played for about a week before I completed the main quest, and I hadn't even been everywhere on the map, done all the sidequests, or even recruited all of the followers. You definitely get $60 worth of game. The downside is, the game was incredibly buggy at launch. There are all sorts of glitches in all the versions PC (the one I played), 360, and PS3. My one gripe, aside from the bugs, is that I wish they had more music on the radio stations. Even that is solved if you're using the PC version, since there are several mod packs out there where you can add more radio stations with even more old time music. One thing that's a definite improvement in this game is that things get off to a much faster start than in FALLOUT 3. I had one friend who I recommended F3 and he played the first hour and gave up because it was boring. Once I told him that things pick up when you leave the Vault he gave it another chance and got hooked. This time around, you create your character much quicker and get right into the game. I really enjoyed this one, staying up until 8:30 in the morning once or twice because I couldn't stop playing. I'm probably going to start from the beginning again, and do some things differently this time.
Poker
I've already resigned myself to the fact that October is going to be another losing month. Oddly enough, right now I have more money than I had started October with, but only because I cleared some bonuses. I've been spending more time (when I could tear myself away from NEW VEGAS) studying a few one-off strategy vids and watching the awesome EIGHTFOLD PATH TO POKER ENLIGHTENMENT (which I'm 5/8 through as of this writing). I wish I had watched the EIGHTFOLD video on quitting before I had played my biggest losing session of the month!
MEDAL OF HONOR was promoted as some sort of MODERN WARFARE killer. Upon release it was quickly panned and dismissed as a MW clone. Personally, I didn't think the game was that bad. It's nothing new or groundbreaking, but it served as nice filler while waiting for BLACK OPS. Like most games these days, the single player is ridiculously short, I think it's about four to six hours long, if I'm recalling correctly. I don't think the game is worth $60, but it's worth renting or buying when the price drops.
Fallout New Vegas
FALLOUT NEW VEGAS on the other hand is a much longer, and better game. I played for about a week before I completed the main quest, and I hadn't even been everywhere on the map, done all the sidequests, or even recruited all of the followers. You definitely get $60 worth of game. The downside is, the game was incredibly buggy at launch. There are all sorts of glitches in all the versions PC (the one I played), 360, and PS3. My one gripe, aside from the bugs, is that I wish they had more music on the radio stations. Even that is solved if you're using the PC version, since there are several mod packs out there where you can add more radio stations with even more old time music. One thing that's a definite improvement in this game is that things get off to a much faster start than in FALLOUT 3. I had one friend who I recommended F3 and he played the first hour and gave up because it was boring. Once I told him that things pick up when you leave the Vault he gave it another chance and got hooked. This time around, you create your character much quicker and get right into the game. I really enjoyed this one, staying up until 8:30 in the morning once or twice because I couldn't stop playing. I'm probably going to start from the beginning again, and do some things differently this time.
Poker
I've already resigned myself to the fact that October is going to be another losing month. Oddly enough, right now I have more money than I had started October with, but only because I cleared some bonuses. I've been spending more time (when I could tear myself away from NEW VEGAS) studying a few one-off strategy vids and watching the awesome EIGHTFOLD PATH TO POKER ENLIGHTENMENT (which I'm 5/8 through as of this writing). I wish I had watched the EIGHTFOLD video on quitting before I had played my biggest losing session of the month!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Life Junk - Early Oct 2010
Video Games
I'm replaying GRAND THEFT AUTO IV again. Shocker. I love that game, which is obvious given how many times I've played it start to finish. As for new games coming out, I plan on grabbing FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS for the PC, and I'll hold off on MEDAL OF HONOR until I see what word of mouth on that one is like. I want to pick up DEAD RISING 2, but I'm waiting until I get a replacement 360 to get it. The exclusive downloadable content for the 360 swayed me away from getting it for the PS3.
Poker
I've been playing fairly breakeven so far this month. This beats losing, but given my massive downswing over the last few months, it's a bit discouraging. On the upside, I cleared one bonus, and used some FPPs on Stars for another. This has helped pad my bankroll a bit. I've been slacking off on the studying side of poker. So many videos (downloaded a few new ones this week) and eBooks to get through.
Guitar
Earlier this week I changed the strings on my 7-string since they were getting old. What I didn't remember was that the only set of 7-string strings that I had in my little guitar toolbox were a lighter gauge (.009's) than what I had been using (.010's). So now when I play the strings feel like rubber bands. I don't want to waste a set of strings, so once these wear out I'll go back to .010's. I just hope I don't get used to the feel of the lighter strings. (The heavier strings also sound better.)
TV
With the fall season I've been watching tons of TV. Instead of going into detail, I figured I'd just provide quick raitings for each show, based on what I've seen so far.
Monday
Chuck 4/5
The Event 2/5
Castle 3/5
How I Met Your Mother 2/5
The Inbetweeners (UK) 3/5
Tuesday
No Ordinary Family 2/5 (not quite sold on this one yet)
Sons Of Anarchy 5/5
Wednesday
Modern Family 3/5
Terriers 3/5
Thursday
Community 5/5
30 Rock 2/5
The Office 1/5 (seriously, I need to just quit)
The Big Bang Theory 3/5
It's Always Sunny 4/5
Shit My Dad says 0/5 (gave up after the pilot, love Shatner, but it's shit.)
Outsourced 0/5 (crap)
Sunday
Venture Bros 5/5
I'm replaying GRAND THEFT AUTO IV again. Shocker. I love that game, which is obvious given how many times I've played it start to finish. As for new games coming out, I plan on grabbing FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS for the PC, and I'll hold off on MEDAL OF HONOR until I see what word of mouth on that one is like. I want to pick up DEAD RISING 2, but I'm waiting until I get a replacement 360 to get it. The exclusive downloadable content for the 360 swayed me away from getting it for the PS3.
Poker
I've been playing fairly breakeven so far this month. This beats losing, but given my massive downswing over the last few months, it's a bit discouraging. On the upside, I cleared one bonus, and used some FPPs on Stars for another. This has helped pad my bankroll a bit. I've been slacking off on the studying side of poker. So many videos (downloaded a few new ones this week) and eBooks to get through.
Guitar
Earlier this week I changed the strings on my 7-string since they were getting old. What I didn't remember was that the only set of 7-string strings that I had in my little guitar toolbox were a lighter gauge (.009's) than what I had been using (.010's). So now when I play the strings feel like rubber bands. I don't want to waste a set of strings, so once these wear out I'll go back to .010's. I just hope I don't get used to the feel of the lighter strings. (The heavier strings also sound better.)
TV
With the fall season I've been watching tons of TV. Instead of going into detail, I figured I'd just provide quick raitings for each show, based on what I've seen so far.
Monday
Chuck 4/5
The Event 2/5
Castle 3/5
How I Met Your Mother 2/5
The Inbetweeners (UK) 3/5
Tuesday
No Ordinary Family 2/5 (not quite sold on this one yet)
Sons Of Anarchy 5/5
Wednesday
Modern Family 3/5
Terriers 3/5
Thursday
Community 5/5
30 Rock 2/5
The Office 1/5 (seriously, I need to just quit)
The Big Bang Theory 3/5
It's Always Sunny 4/5
Shit My Dad says 0/5 (gave up after the pilot, love Shatner, but it's shit.)
Outsourced 0/5 (crap)
Sunday
Venture Bros 5/5
Friday, September 17, 2010
Life In September 2010 So Far
At the beginning of the month I remember saying to myself that I was going to update the blog more often. Well, we see how that turned out. More than halfway through the month and this is only my fourth post. So much for that, huh?
I'm glad the fall TV season has begun. So far only the FX shows are back. SONS OF ANARCHY has been really good (that season opener had a nice sucker punch of an ending!). TERRIERS is alright, I'm not totally hooked, but I'm giving it a show. IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY was pretty funny. Oh, and VENTURE BROS was awesome as usual. This week coming up the shows really start rolling in, starting with CHUCK on Monday.
Poker is just meh. I did manage to stop the bleeding, but I still have to climb back up out of the deep hole I dug myself into. At least I've started quitting when I'm losing or not playing my A-game. That and just breaking even are huge after losing so badly. I still catch myself making mistakes like calling down light with marginal hands vs players who I think are full of shit when they've actually got a hand. I'm trying to get more disciplined about that leak in my game. One of the hugest inspirations in that department is watching the Durrr vs Antonius heads up at the '09 Aussie Millions. Tom keeps getting good hands but Patrick gets something better, and Tom keeps folding when he knows he's beat. He doesn't lose his cool and makes the right play consistently over and over. It's an incredibly impressive display. It's rare you can learn anything useful and applicable to online poker from televised poker, which is usually centered on people playing crappy cards and sucking out. But watching this really can teach a player something. Too bad I didn't watch it and learn from it about a month or two ago!
I wish I had counted how many times I've played through GRAND THEFT AUTO IV so far. I say that because I think I'm going to start a new game of that again. I just replayed through BIOSHOCK 2 again earlier this week. I'm still going back and forth between old original Xbox games and my tiny PS3 library until I can replace my dead 360. (Which I had more than enough money for from poker before my massive downswing.)
Speaking of video games, the other day, while I was playing BIOSHOCK 2 my dog surprised me. She was indicating she wanted to go out, and I wanted her to wait a few minutes while I was playing. The next thing I know, the screen goes black and the PS3 said something about "please wait". I look and see the disc sticking out of the front of the PS3. Lucy (the dog) had hit the eject button on the front of the PS3. Guess I should have it up higher... or take the dog out when immediately when she asks me to unless I want to lose my progress in a game.
I'm glad the fall TV season has begun. So far only the FX shows are back. SONS OF ANARCHY has been really good (that season opener had a nice sucker punch of an ending!). TERRIERS is alright, I'm not totally hooked, but I'm giving it a show. IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY was pretty funny. Oh, and VENTURE BROS was awesome as usual. This week coming up the shows really start rolling in, starting with CHUCK on Monday.
Poker is just meh. I did manage to stop the bleeding, but I still have to climb back up out of the deep hole I dug myself into. At least I've started quitting when I'm losing or not playing my A-game. That and just breaking even are huge after losing so badly. I still catch myself making mistakes like calling down light with marginal hands vs players who I think are full of shit when they've actually got a hand. I'm trying to get more disciplined about that leak in my game. One of the hugest inspirations in that department is watching the Durrr vs Antonius heads up at the '09 Aussie Millions. Tom keeps getting good hands but Patrick gets something better, and Tom keeps folding when he knows he's beat. He doesn't lose his cool and makes the right play consistently over and over. It's an incredibly impressive display. It's rare you can learn anything useful and applicable to online poker from televised poker, which is usually centered on people playing crappy cards and sucking out. But watching this really can teach a player something. Too bad I didn't watch it and learn from it about a month or two ago!
I wish I had counted how many times I've played through GRAND THEFT AUTO IV so far. I say that because I think I'm going to start a new game of that again. I just replayed through BIOSHOCK 2 again earlier this week. I'm still going back and forth between old original Xbox games and my tiny PS3 library until I can replace my dead 360. (Which I had more than enough money for from poker before my massive downswing.)
Speaking of video games, the other day, while I was playing BIOSHOCK 2 my dog surprised me. She was indicating she wanted to go out, and I wanted her to wait a few minutes while I was playing. The next thing I know, the screen goes black and the PS3 said something about "please wait". I look and see the disc sticking out of the front of the PS3. Lucy (the dog) had hit the eject button on the front of the PS3. Guess I should have it up higher... or take the dog out when immediately when she asks me to unless I want to lose my progress in a game.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Maybe it's because I'm a huge fan of the series (I even liked DOUBLE AGENT), but I think SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION is probably the best game I've played so far this year. I was expecting to be let down, but I wasn't.
Like most games lately, the single-player campaign is a bit short. While I would've been happier with a longer game, I can't complain about what we did get. A lot of other people are complaining about the length, but it's not that short, and I'm saying that as somebody who never plays multi-player. The game zips along and doesn't drag. The story is a bit predictable in some parts, and you can tell what's really going to happen in the flash foward parts before you get to them later on in the game.
Despite worried that the game was moving towards a more GEARS OF WAR-style, CONVICTION is still a stealth game. Although, there are a lot of parts you can't simply sneak through like in most of the older SPLINTER CELL games. You're forced into fights a lot of times. That having been said, if you go running in guns blazing to most situations, you're not going to live very long. One big change was that they did away with the whole hiding the bodies of dead or unconcious guards mechanic. But otherwise, this game plays like the other games in the series. (There's even one "raise an alarm and it's game over" level.) You still lurk in the shadows, hang from pipes and try to quietly take out guards.
You can definitely tell the RAINBOX SIX VEGAS team worked on this, especially with the weapon boxes with the upgrades. In some other ways, this felt slightly like one of the RSV games.
DENIABLE OPS adds some value. It's a bunch of missions you can play solo or co-op. So, even if you're one of the people that feels the main story is too short, you still get plenty of single-player action.
I haven't tried the co-op storyline mission yet. If I ever do, I imagine it'll be split screen with one of my friends.
My biggest gripe with the game is a single story element. (Spoilers for four year old game.) The canon version of what happened at the end of DOUBLE AGENT is that you killed Lambert. I thought that sucked, since the best ending to DA is when you spare him and then have to take down the JBA in their own HQ while they hunt for you. With the Lambert dies ending, you don't get the extra level where you fight the guys on the boat. Plus, it made more story sense for Sam to save Lambert.
Overall, this is the game that I spent the least amount of money on in the last six months or so and yet the one I enjoyed the most. Go figure.
Like most games lately, the single-player campaign is a bit short. While I would've been happier with a longer game, I can't complain about what we did get. A lot of other people are complaining about the length, but it's not that short, and I'm saying that as somebody who never plays multi-player. The game zips along and doesn't drag. The story is a bit predictable in some parts, and you can tell what's really going to happen in the flash foward parts before you get to them later on in the game.
Despite worried that the game was moving towards a more GEARS OF WAR-style, CONVICTION is still a stealth game. Although, there are a lot of parts you can't simply sneak through like in most of the older SPLINTER CELL games. You're forced into fights a lot of times. That having been said, if you go running in guns blazing to most situations, you're not going to live very long. One big change was that they did away with the whole hiding the bodies of dead or unconcious guards mechanic. But otherwise, this game plays like the other games in the series. (There's even one "raise an alarm and it's game over" level.) You still lurk in the shadows, hang from pipes and try to quietly take out guards.
You can definitely tell the RAINBOX SIX VEGAS team worked on this, especially with the weapon boxes with the upgrades. In some other ways, this felt slightly like one of the RSV games.
DENIABLE OPS adds some value. It's a bunch of missions you can play solo or co-op. So, even if you're one of the people that feels the main story is too short, you still get plenty of single-player action.
I haven't tried the co-op storyline mission yet. If I ever do, I imagine it'll be split screen with one of my friends.
My biggest gripe with the game is a single story element. (Spoilers for four year old game.) The canon version of what happened at the end of DOUBLE AGENT is that you killed Lambert. I thought that sucked, since the best ending to DA is when you spare him and then have to take down the JBA in their own HQ while they hunt for you. With the Lambert dies ending, you don't get the extra level where you fight the guys on the boat. Plus, it made more story sense for Sam to save Lambert.
Overall, this is the game that I spent the least amount of money on in the last six months or so and yet the one I enjoyed the most. Go figure.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I Got Talked Into It
I got a few emails that talked me into doing the fix for the Xbox myself. After looking at the directions and watching a video or two it doesn't look much more difficult than doing the CPU on a PC. The hardest part, it seems is actually getting the Xbox case open. I probably won't get around to attempting this little project until Saturday.
Worst case scenario, my broken Xbox stays broken. Best case, I save $200 on a replacement. (For a few months at least. I've read that this fix can last for a long time or only squeeze a few more months out of the Xbox.)
So, hopefully, by the weekend, I can finish that last level of SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION, which is the part I was on before the machine stopped working for more than two minutes at a time.
Worst case scenario, my broken Xbox stays broken. Best case, I save $200 on a replacement. (For a few months at least. I've read that this fix can last for a long time or only squeeze a few more months out of the Xbox.)
So, hopefully, by the weekend, I can finish that last level of SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION, which is the part I was on before the machine stopped working for more than two minutes at a time.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
I've Been Dreading This
What I got to play of SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION was pretty awesome. In fact, out of all of the games I had been anticipating that have come out in the last few months, this is the only one that wasn't a letdown. So, naturally, my letdown had to come from someplace else...
Unfortunately, my 360, which is a few years old, picked now to start dying. No red ring of death yet, just the usual "you're about to get the RROD" symptoms of the console constantly locking up and going to a black or blue blank screen. The front of the 360 shows the normal green light, the power brick's light is green. The console just stops responding. (Even hitting the Xbox orb on the controller does absolutely nothing.) I'll reboot and it'll load up the game and get to the menu, or into the game a little bit and die.
It started freezing every so often in the game. Then it got really bad on what I'm assuming is the last level. I can't play more than a minute or two, or sometimes get past the main menu of the game before the 360 locks up and the screen goes black.
It's not a ventilation issue, since none of the vents are covered, and I even moved the Xbox and balanced it on an empty box to see if that made any difference. I also unhooked the hard drive, no dice. Screwed around with the cables, etc. The machine and power brick are both cool to the touch, and it's cool inside my house, so it doesn't seem like it's over-heating.
I thought that maybe if I turned the machine off for awhile, it would help. So I watched LOST and came back and the problem is even worse.
I had read that other people were having problems with CONVICTION freezing due to a patch or whatever. But then I popped in another game and the same thing is happening, which means it's the machine, not the game.
It figures, the one game that I've desperately been waiting to play for a few years now, and this is when Microsoft's junk box decides to quit. Fear of this happening is exactly why when a game is available for both the PS3 and the 360, I opt for the PS3 version now.
I'm not under warranty. The cost of having it fixed is so high, that really, you're better off just buying a replacement. The problem with that is, dropping $200 on another console simply isn't economically practical for me right now. There's the do it yourself repair method, but honestly, that looks like a ton of hassle, and I'd probably screw it up. Plus, there's no guarantee that doing that would fix the problem, so I might waste a few hours on something that won't even work.
Now, I wish I hadn't bought the game, since I could've used that money for something else, and maybe held out for a Playstation 3 version in the future. I'm tempted to just pirate the damn thing for the PC, just so I can finish the game. (Hey, I did pay for the game.) But it's not Ubisoft's fault that Microsoft made a shoddy machine. Plus their DRM is supposed to be really awful.
Unfortunately, my 360, which is a few years old, picked now to start dying. No red ring of death yet, just the usual "you're about to get the RROD" symptoms of the console constantly locking up and going to a black or blue blank screen. The front of the 360 shows the normal green light, the power brick's light is green. The console just stops responding. (Even hitting the Xbox orb on the controller does absolutely nothing.) I'll reboot and it'll load up the game and get to the menu, or into the game a little bit and die.
It started freezing every so often in the game. Then it got really bad on what I'm assuming is the last level. I can't play more than a minute or two, or sometimes get past the main menu of the game before the 360 locks up and the screen goes black.
It's not a ventilation issue, since none of the vents are covered, and I even moved the Xbox and balanced it on an empty box to see if that made any difference. I also unhooked the hard drive, no dice. Screwed around with the cables, etc. The machine and power brick are both cool to the touch, and it's cool inside my house, so it doesn't seem like it's over-heating.
I thought that maybe if I turned the machine off for awhile, it would help. So I watched LOST and came back and the problem is even worse.
I had read that other people were having problems with CONVICTION freezing due to a patch or whatever. But then I popped in another game and the same thing is happening, which means it's the machine, not the game.
It figures, the one game that I've desperately been waiting to play for a few years now, and this is when Microsoft's junk box decides to quit. Fear of this happening is exactly why when a game is available for both the PS3 and the 360, I opt for the PS3 version now.
I'm not under warranty. The cost of having it fixed is so high, that really, you're better off just buying a replacement. The problem with that is, dropping $200 on another console simply isn't economically practical for me right now. There's the do it yourself repair method, but honestly, that looks like a ton of hassle, and I'd probably screw it up. Plus, there's no guarantee that doing that would fix the problem, so I might waste a few hours on something that won't even work.
Now, I wish I hadn't bought the game, since I could've used that money for something else, and maybe held out for a Playstation 3 version in the future. I'm tempted to just pirate the damn thing for the PC, just so I can finish the game. (Hey, I did pay for the game.) But it's not Ubisoft's fault that Microsoft made a shoddy machine. Plus their DRM is supposed to be really awful.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Respawn, Infinity Ward, Activision
Here's a bunch of links to the latest on the whole Infinity Ward and Activision situation. Actually, that should be Respawn/Infinity Ward, Activision situation...
Former Infinity Ward heads form Respawn Entertainment. And, surprise surprise, they're working with EA. Best part is EA is letting them retain the rights to the things they create.
Meanwhile, more and more of their old Infinity Ward crew are jumping ship on Activision... Veteran Infinity Ward programmer resigns. And Infinity Ward loses another pair of veteran devs
MODERN WARFARE 3 being “held hostage”, says Acti
Zampella: MW3 “held hostage” accusations are “false and outrageous”
EA Partners boss: Acti has “blown up” Infinity Ward’s talent, EA “in this game to win”
EA: Respawn creating own IPs, not BATTLEFIELD or MEDAL OF HONOR. What would be awesome is if they win the rights to MODERN WARFARE. They are suing for it, after all: COD-GATE – West and Zampella go legal over money, power.
Some interviews...
Zampella & West speak on Respawn, EA partners
Zampella on Respawn: “This is a total reset”
Life after Infinity Ward -- Vince Zampella and Jason West discuss their future
Former Infinity Ward heads form Respawn Entertainment. And, surprise surprise, they're working with EA. Best part is EA is letting them retain the rights to the things they create.
Meanwhile, more and more of their old Infinity Ward crew are jumping ship on Activision... Veteran Infinity Ward programmer resigns. And Infinity Ward loses another pair of veteran devs
MODERN WARFARE 3 being “held hostage”, says Acti
Zampella: MW3 “held hostage” accusations are “false and outrageous”
EA Partners boss: Acti has “blown up” Infinity Ward’s talent, EA “in this game to win”
EA: Respawn creating own IPs, not BATTLEFIELD or MEDAL OF HONOR. What would be awesome is if they win the rights to MODERN WARFARE. They are suing for it, after all: COD-GATE – West and Zampella go legal over money, power.
Some interviews...
Zampella & West speak on Respawn, EA partners
Zampella on Respawn: “This is a total reset”
Life after Infinity Ward -- Vince Zampella and Jason West discuss their future
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Links For 3-1-2010
Stumped
I honestly can't decide which of the two following headlines is the best one I've read this week...
Hospital says "grandma's dead," grandma disagrees with diagnosis. Or... Do not go to Kmart in speedos and terrorize customers with a sex toy.
I just can't decide. Both made me smile.
Misc
Internet overtakes print in news consumption among Americans. I've been getting my news almost exclusively from the internet for over a decade. I might catch a bit of TV news. Newspapers are like the horse and buggy of the 21st century.
Will the soda tax do anything to curb obesity? They're trying to pull this nanny state bullshit here in Masschusetts as well. It looks like in New York that Diet soda (which is what I drink) will be exempt from this. I doubt that'll be the case here in Massachusetts.
Burger King tells singing employee to stop it. I'm amazed that the RIAA or the ASCAP aren't trying to sue the guy for "public performance" as well.
Entertainment
What will - and won't - be revealed in LOST's final episodes. I'm just hoping it won't suck and leave me feeling like I wasted a few years worth of viewing time, like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and THE SOPRANOS did.
Video Games
FALLOUT 2's rejected 'Childkiller' icon is, uh, whoa ... Maybe I'm a horrible person, but this made me laugh hysterically.
 |
| Well, I think it's funny. Taste be damned. |
Report shows taliban militants used PlayStation controller for detonator. Three guesses which news channel jumped on this first. Oh c'mon, you only need one guess.
Kojima says PEACE WALKER is a "test" for MGS series. After MGS4, I'm not sure I want to continue on with any more METAL GEAR games. I probably will though. I'm a sucker like that.
HEAVY RAIN film rights optioned by New Line Years ago. Call me crazy, but isn't New Line gone now? Or were the owners just dumped? I can't recall. Anyway, I don't see a HEAVY RAIN movie working. The game itself is a movie, really.
SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION delays were good for development, says Ubisoft. Yeah well, let's see how good those delays were for sales. A lot of people are pretty annoyed by the game being years late.
DEADLY PREMONITION is blatantly better than HEAVY RAIN. While I enjoyed HEAVY RAIN, I got a kick out of this review, which nails some of the flaws of HEAVY RAIN.
Comics
Batman > Superman. ACTION COMICS #1 which had the first appearance of Superman sold for $1M. Now DETECTIVE COMICS #27, the first appearance of Batman, just sold for $1,075,000. So Batman is just a little bit better.
Is Superman headed to the courtroom? Warners has hired a new, "scary" lawyer to defend their claim on Superman.
Rapidshare banned from distributing pirated comic books. I think this is a bit misleading. Rapidshare is supposed to actively filter regular eBooks published by a few specific companies. None of which are comics publishers. You can still find all of the current week's comics on Rapidshare easily. Even if Rapidshare were to try filtering comics, people can easily find ways around it. Renaming the files, adding in a few dummy files (like .txt) files to the zips and rars if the original version is flagged, etc.
Yarr!!
Growing concern from european officials over ACTA. They know public outrage will follow this crap.
New ACTA leak outs who have been blocking transparency. Unsurprisingly, among them is the US.
P2P use down, but 24M fewer people bought music in '09 vs '07. I can think of two reasons for this. One is the economy. Less money means less spent on music. The second is that most popular music out there today is god awful. Seriously.
UK “three-strikes” bill to outlaw open Wi-Fi. I guess that would eliminate the slight legal loophole. After all, there are people out there using other people's network's to download stuff: Using WiFI to infringe copyright – the moral dilemma.
Cute baby video wins battle against music label. As much as I roll my eyes at this sort of inane crap that plagues YouTube, it's nice to see somebody score a victory against the record industry.
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