And A Few Bites
There's snow in March. Just as I was getting ready for spring (and ultimately, summer) with all of its beautiful women, days outside in the early spring sun, chirping birds and sprouting greenness Mother Nature decided to dump a good amount of snow on our heads. Hopefully things wil turn 'spring-ish' in the next few weeks.
I've never really liked online gaming, but Xbox Live and my first chance to play for a bit with the OGU guys changed my opinion. I'm playing games online more frequently now, even though I'm still loathing the fanatical gamers from time to time. As someone rightfully mentioned in the forums, even though I enlisted in the 'Recreational' ranks on Live I keep running into Pro and Underground people. Not the guys you want to play, believe me.
As the release of Oblivion nears the tension starts to build. There's no franchise I'm such a rampant fanboy of. Ever since I first played TES: Arena, way back when I was just a young adolescent I've loved the series. Finally my investment in an Xbox 360 will pay off and I can hadrly wait.
In the meantime there is Burnout: Revenge that I'm really, really looking forward to. I've had a lot of (offline) fun with Burnout 3, and I deliberately held out on Revenge for the PS2 because I knew there was some kind of 360 adaptation coming. The new online features they implemented sound like a whole lot of fun so I'll be wasting away quite a few hours online when the game hits. Also I've always thought that I was quite good at this game. The only problem is: Stores all across the place list either 10 or 17 March as the Euro release date...I don't know which one to believe now.
Speaking of wasting away hours: Now that the sunnier days approach I cannot game anymore. Our apartment has a huge window on the sunside of this complex. We arranged the room this way that the TV set is next to the window. Obviously this makes it impossible to game after 1 PM when the sun starts to glare in my eyes. Thankfully Pauline bought us new curtains. Yes, that's true, we've been living here for months without curtains (we've got dark windows, so nobody noticed). I want to have these things in place as soon as possible so that I can properly game in the afternoon hours again. Plus it makes the living room look a little more complete.
And speaking of gaming properly, Pauline is willing to invest in an HDTV. I feel like a complete jerk for making her consider this, as she's the one bringing in most of the money in this household, but she wants to dish out between 500-700 Euros for a nice, small HDTV somewhere in the future. Of course I cannot wait until the thing is here, but on the other hand I'm hesitant in accepting this. It's a whole lot of money and while I don't see any problems relationship-wise I feel indebted to her. I wish I could do something in return, but on the financial front that's a little hard seeing how I'm a student who doesn't have too much to spend. Any advice (don't make it too romantic, she as well as I are not the candlelight dinner types) is appreciated.
Mystikvm Blog
Mirrors
by Mystikvm on Comments
Zen
WARNING: This thread is all but spoiler-free
I have opened a thread in the VU yesterday with a rather strange theory of mine how the storyline of Final Fantasy X is a metaphor for what happened in Japan prior to and during WWII. Of course this is by no means true, if you want to read about it I recommend you click here and see or yourself.
In that topic there were complaints and inquiries. Some complained I was looking to deep into this thing, others complained I kept it too short and others wanted to know a little bit more about Zen. I'll redo some parts of the thread here.
In relation to the videogame one must know that Zen hasn't always been bad. In fact, it came to Japan as an offshoot of a Chinese equivalent, but as with most things that emerge in the fairly isolated Japanese group of islands, it soon became something that became intertwined with the peculiar nature of its folk.
Zen, just as normal Buddhism doesn't have anything to do with politics. The Buddha is above these things. Also it has some very basic principles. No killing, no stealing, no intoxication and more of that jazz. So Zen is like Buddhism, it only claims that all is one and has a little bit of Buddha inside it. To realize is to become enlightened, and then things return to normal again. Nothing changes. No reflection, no desire, no nothing.
So what made Zen into a vehicle of imperial power? Well, as you might remember from history class the Mongols were quite the hotshots in the 13th century. Part of their plan to conquer the world was the acquisition of Japan. Of course the Japanese didn't want that, but they were fairly backward compared to the military and tactical might of the Mongols. So a guy, known as Nichiren, tells the Japanese to not worry. He, as a Zen Buddhist will pray for the country's sake.
So the Mongols came and Nichiren prayed. What happened then might be called sheer luck or divine intervention, but a typhoon came and blew the Mongols away. The Mongols said it was luck, the Japanese praised it as the 'kamikaze', or the Wind of God. Zen had saved Japan. But it gets more crazy than this. A few decades later the Mongols return. Rinse and repeat, another typhoon came and yet again the Mongol army got shattered.
So this is when the typical Japanese offshoot of Buddhism, Zen, became protector of the country.
Flash forward to the 'modern times' in Japan. As I mentioned in the thread, something without a deity is fairly open to interpretation. As the Japanese military slowly marched toward the gates of hell with the country, supportive of these atrocious deeds in their footsteps the Zen sect failed the most important of the Buddhist principles. They killed.
The Zen sect, knowing that selflessness was the power of the Japanese soldier made the emperor into a deity, spread the word across the conquered nations and thrived. A religion gone corrupt.
Now where is the exact relation to FFX? It's the similarity between Zen Buddhism in its nature and practice and the teachings of Yevon in the game. While Dkittels rightfully mentioned in the thread that Hemingway said that everything is meant the way it has been written, there's no denial that people are being influenced by everything that happens around them. To me it is striking that something as Japanese as Zen Buddhism, which is unprecedented (there are not many similarities to Christianity in the game, apart from martyrdom) and the way it is being portrayed is also very like the way Zen Buddhism acted.
Also the time in which the game's development started falls into the period when the book 'Zen at War' literally shocked the world. Its writer had come across documents stating that a few official Zen sects were actively supporting the massive slaughter of Chinese and the Japanese war efforts. This was a huge issue in Japan. Just as a lot of writers might not use such shocking events as paraboles, often they do derive inspiration from them.
I've never claimed it's been the developer's intention to confront the world with a similar corruption as Zen Buddhism, which basically caused the Pacific War (I can elaborate on this if you'd like), but I do think these events might have been a source of inspiration.
I'll leave it at this for now. Feel free to ask questions.
WARNING: This thread is all but spoiler-free
I have opened a thread in the VU yesterday with a rather strange theory of mine how the storyline of Final Fantasy X is a metaphor for what happened in Japan prior to and during WWII. Of course this is by no means true, if you want to read about it I recommend you click here and see or yourself.
In that topic there were complaints and inquiries. Some complained I was looking to deep into this thing, others complained I kept it too short and others wanted to know a little bit more about Zen. I'll redo some parts of the thread here.
In relation to the videogame one must know that Zen hasn't always been bad. In fact, it came to Japan as an offshoot of a Chinese equivalent, but as with most things that emerge in the fairly isolated Japanese group of islands, it soon became something that became intertwined with the peculiar nature of its folk.
Zen, just as normal Buddhism doesn't have anything to do with politics. The Buddha is above these things. Also it has some very basic principles. No killing, no stealing, no intoxication and more of that jazz. So Zen is like Buddhism, it only claims that all is one and has a little bit of Buddha inside it. To realize is to become enlightened, and then things return to normal again. Nothing changes. No reflection, no desire, no nothing.
So what made Zen into a vehicle of imperial power? Well, as you might remember from history class the Mongols were quite the hotshots in the 13th century. Part of their plan to conquer the world was the acquisition of Japan. Of course the Japanese didn't want that, but they were fairly backward compared to the military and tactical might of the Mongols. So a guy, known as Nichiren, tells the Japanese to not worry. He, as a Zen Buddhist will pray for the country's sake.
So the Mongols came and Nichiren prayed. What happened then might be called sheer luck or divine intervention, but a typhoon came and blew the Mongols away. The Mongols said it was luck, the Japanese praised it as the 'kamikaze', or the Wind of God. Zen had saved Japan. But it gets more crazy than this. A few decades later the Mongols return. Rinse and repeat, another typhoon came and yet again the Mongol army got shattered.
So this is when the typical Japanese offshoot of Buddhism, Zen, became protector of the country.
Flash forward to the 'modern times' in Japan. As I mentioned in the thread, something without a deity is fairly open to interpretation. As the Japanese military slowly marched toward the gates of hell with the country, supportive of these atrocious deeds in their footsteps the Zen sect failed the most important of the Buddhist principles. They killed.
The Zen sect, knowing that selflessness was the power of the Japanese soldier made the emperor into a deity, spread the word across the conquered nations and thrived. A religion gone corrupt.
Now where is the exact relation to FFX? It's the similarity between Zen Buddhism in its nature and practice and the teachings of Yevon in the game. While Dkittels rightfully mentioned in the thread that Hemingway said that everything is meant the way it has been written, there's no denial that people are being influenced by everything that happens around them. To me it is striking that something as Japanese as Zen Buddhism, which is unprecedented (there are not many similarities to Christianity in the game, apart from martyrdom) and the way it is being portrayed is also very like the way Zen Buddhism acted.
Also the time in which the game's development started falls into the period when the book 'Zen at War' literally shocked the world. Its writer had come across documents stating that a few official Zen sects were actively supporting the massive slaughter of Chinese and the Japanese war efforts. This was a huge issue in Japan. Just as a lot of writers might not use such shocking events as paraboles, often they do derive inspiration from them.
I've never claimed it's been the developer's intention to confront the world with a similar corruption as Zen Buddhism, which basically caused the Pacific War (I can elaborate on this if you'd like), but I do think these events might have been a source of inspiration.
I'll leave it at this for now. Feel free to ask questions.
Dark
by Mystikvm on Comments
Style +7
The drought that's hit the 360 ever since the new year came around has hit me too, even though I got the system not so long ago. The thing is, one can endure PGR3 and DOA4 only for a limited amount of time, and I've gained quite a bit of mileage in the Arcade games too. Playing these games began to feel a little tedious. There's also little to nothing on the PS2 I can play. In other words, I was strapped for games.
I couldn't wait until Burnout: Revenge hits (which will most likely be my next purchase) so I went with Perfect Dark Zero. Yes, the game half of the world has been praising while the other half pisses on its mediocrity.
Put me in the praise camp for now. There's something about this game, something that hits the sweet spot. When I first fired up the game and played some of the single player it's evident that a lot of polishing has been done. There's also quite a lot of 'mainstream pimping' around, and I think that's what's most off-putting to people. The Samsung brand in the top corner when you are using the D-Pal, Joanna Dark dressed according to latest fashion standards (which will make this game a relic of 2006's culture in less than a decade) and a lot of 'swooshing'. Things that go 'swoosh' are immediately cool in the eyes of the guys that hang out at the nightclubs while Bluetoothing text messages they got from their friends over in Hong Kong to the Motorola RAZR V3's of their (often female) friends.
I think that's how most of the 'hardcore gamers' will label this game. "Meh, it's too mainstream. Look at the sponsored content!". Or: "Look at how Joanna Dark looks! Stepped right off the latest Cosmopolitan cover!".
I say: "So what?". What I've been playing this weekend is a game that's a great experience. Upbeat music, captivating locales, gameplay that's just as slick and stylized as the game's appearance and it's got a slightly above average storyline for now. There's little else I could wish for.
But what's surprised me the most is the online component. At first I dived right into the Ranked matches, where people are shooting holes in each other for the best spots on the leaderboard. Of course I got fried and served. I have very little experience with console shooters, and here I am, challenging people who've been glued to their HDTV's for weeks on end with the same game in their systems. It was very off-putting, discouraging even. I complained to Pauline that I'd have to play for weeks and weeks, accumulating a stellar amount of deaths in order to measure up against these guys. Until I figured that the non-ranked servers were probably populated by people like me. People who are looking to kill some time online in a fun environment without relying too much on skills and 'props'.
I was right. Joining these matches throws me into the kind of environment I'm liking. The people I'm playing now aren't much better than I am and it makes for a very relaxing diversion. Also, as with PGR3 I don't have to worry about lag, something that's quite the luxury when you compare itto PC gaming.
I'll be clocking quite a few hours of PDZ in the coming weeks, and quite a few of those will be spent online. A solid purchase it seems so far. +7 points for style.
The drought that's hit the 360 ever since the new year came around has hit me too, even though I got the system not so long ago. The thing is, one can endure PGR3 and DOA4 only for a limited amount of time, and I've gained quite a bit of mileage in the Arcade games too. Playing these games began to feel a little tedious. There's also little to nothing on the PS2 I can play. In other words, I was strapped for games.
I couldn't wait until Burnout: Revenge hits (which will most likely be my next purchase) so I went with Perfect Dark Zero. Yes, the game half of the world has been praising while the other half pisses on its mediocrity.
Put me in the praise camp for now. There's something about this game, something that hits the sweet spot. When I first fired up the game and played some of the single player it's evident that a lot of polishing has been done. There's also quite a lot of 'mainstream pimping' around, and I think that's what's most off-putting to people. The Samsung brand in the top corner when you are using the D-Pal, Joanna Dark dressed according to latest fashion standards (which will make this game a relic of 2006's culture in less than a decade) and a lot of 'swooshing'. Things that go 'swoosh' are immediately cool in the eyes of the guys that hang out at the nightclubs while Bluetoothing text messages they got from their friends over in Hong Kong to the Motorola RAZR V3's of their (often female) friends.
I think that's how most of the 'hardcore gamers' will label this game. "Meh, it's too mainstream. Look at the sponsored content!". Or: "Look at how Joanna Dark looks! Stepped right off the latest Cosmopolitan cover!".
I say: "So what?". What I've been playing this weekend is a game that's a great experience. Upbeat music, captivating locales, gameplay that's just as slick and stylized as the game's appearance and it's got a slightly above average storyline for now. There's little else I could wish for.
But what's surprised me the most is the online component. At first I dived right into the Ranked matches, where people are shooting holes in each other for the best spots on the leaderboard. Of course I got fried and served. I have very little experience with console shooters, and here I am, challenging people who've been glued to their HDTV's for weeks on end with the same game in their systems. It was very off-putting, discouraging even. I complained to Pauline that I'd have to play for weeks and weeks, accumulating a stellar amount of deaths in order to measure up against these guys. Until I figured that the non-ranked servers were probably populated by people like me. People who are looking to kill some time online in a fun environment without relying too much on skills and 'props'.
I was right. Joining these matches throws me into the kind of environment I'm liking. The people I'm playing now aren't much better than I am and it makes for a very relaxing diversion. Also, as with PGR3 I don't have to worry about lag, something that's quite the luxury when you compare itto PC gaming.
I'll be clocking quite a few hours of PDZ in the coming weeks, and quite a few of those will be spent online. A solid purchase it seems so far. +7 points for style.
Downtime
by Mystikvm on Comments
Kaputt
I'm at my parents' place. That's nothing new, but the fact I have to use the Internet here is. The thing is, my computer is broken.
For the tech-interested: Yesterday Pauline was using the computer when it suddenly shut down. I'm used to this happening every once in a few months. Computers are complex beasts, so sometimes it may happen that it cannot crunch more data than it is doing already and it just shuts down or reboots in despair. However, this time it shut down immediately after pressing the power button again. Even after we let it cool down for a while it still didn't boot up.
We figured the CPU had broken down. A little fast, after not even 3 years of service, but well, those things happen. A nasty financial pinch in the butt. Pauline wanted to upgrade the system sometime this year, but now she has to do it sooner. It's a waste of money to replace the broken parts with identical new ones when she was going to give the system an overhaul anyway.
My mom happened to stop by today, so we went to the computer store together. Thankfully we go there a lot and the people behind the counter know our faces. They often give us discounts or free parts. I think 25% of my computer as it is now has not been paid for, thanks to their massive discounts. The guy there said he thought a broken power supply was most likely. When it's emitting too much power the voltage of the CPU rises extremely, causing it to run harder and thus it's giving off a lot more heat. Of course my CPU cooler can only cool so much and the system will shut down automatically when it reaches critical heat levels.
Alas, it did not work. Even with a new power supply the system is still booting up at 70 degrees Celsius. After 2 minutes it's over 90 degrees and shutting down. Tomorrow I will have to return the power supply and do the system upgrade. A better CPU (most like somewhere in the 3.4-3.6 GHz range) and a new motherboard, one with better features. My current motherboard is a b**** to work with. It doesn't accept more than 512 megabytes of RAM, most likely it causes my graphics cards to die when I hook up my 21"monitor to the VGA port and I always run into compatibility issues when running games, thanks to that motherboard. I'm happy I can rid myself of that thing now.
In the future all that's left to buy and install is a new graphics card ro replace my current Radeon 9600 SEC. I hope everything will be in working order again by tomorrow afternoon. Being without a PC is a major handicap.
In the meantime I have a lot of time to game. I broke the Top 1000 in Bejeweled 2 Action Mode and I'm still improving. That's about the only good thing that happened to me in the last two days.
Hopefully I'm back in Internet action this Saturday, with a beefed up system, a system that should cut it for the next 2 to 3 years, hopefully without stuff breaking down on me. Until then, I'll be disappearing into offline obscurity.
I'm at my parents' place. That's nothing new, but the fact I have to use the Internet here is. The thing is, my computer is broken.
For the tech-interested: Yesterday Pauline was using the computer when it suddenly shut down. I'm used to this happening every once in a few months. Computers are complex beasts, so sometimes it may happen that it cannot crunch more data than it is doing already and it just shuts down or reboots in despair. However, this time it shut down immediately after pressing the power button again. Even after we let it cool down for a while it still didn't boot up.
We figured the CPU had broken down. A little fast, after not even 3 years of service, but well, those things happen. A nasty financial pinch in the butt. Pauline wanted to upgrade the system sometime this year, but now she has to do it sooner. It's a waste of money to replace the broken parts with identical new ones when she was going to give the system an overhaul anyway.
My mom happened to stop by today, so we went to the computer store together. Thankfully we go there a lot and the people behind the counter know our faces. They often give us discounts or free parts. I think 25% of my computer as it is now has not been paid for, thanks to their massive discounts. The guy there said he thought a broken power supply was most likely. When it's emitting too much power the voltage of the CPU rises extremely, causing it to run harder and thus it's giving off a lot more heat. Of course my CPU cooler can only cool so much and the system will shut down automatically when it reaches critical heat levels.
Alas, it did not work. Even with a new power supply the system is still booting up at 70 degrees Celsius. After 2 minutes it's over 90 degrees and shutting down. Tomorrow I will have to return the power supply and do the system upgrade. A better CPU (most like somewhere in the 3.4-3.6 GHz range) and a new motherboard, one with better features. My current motherboard is a b**** to work with. It doesn't accept more than 512 megabytes of RAM, most likely it causes my graphics cards to die when I hook up my 21"monitor to the VGA port and I always run into compatibility issues when running games, thanks to that motherboard. I'm happy I can rid myself of that thing now.
In the future all that's left to buy and install is a new graphics card ro replace my current Radeon 9600 SEC. I hope everything will be in working order again by tomorrow afternoon. Being without a PC is a major handicap.
In the meantime I have a lot of time to game. I broke the Top 1000 in Bejeweled 2 Action Mode and I'm still improving. That's about the only good thing that happened to me in the last two days.
Hopefully I'm back in Internet action this Saturday, with a beefed up system, a system that should cut it for the next 2 to 3 years, hopefully without stuff breaking down on me. Until then, I'll be disappearing into offline obscurity.
Saying Goodbye
by Mystikvm on Comments
Dog
Last spring I updated my journal with some concerns about one of the two dogs my parents own. At that time I still lived at their place and I was partly repsonsible for the Labrador Retrievers. I was happy to be repsonsible too, I love them with all my heart. One of the best things about going to my parents' place is seeing those dogs again.
Well, the elder of the two (he's from Belgium, the papers there stated he's 8 now, but in reality he's much older, probably 12 or 13...We've been shafted, but that's of no concern now) has been having problems with relieving himself for over a year now. He's clearly dementing and regularly wets the place (two times a day). He also doesn't always reply when you call his name, has trouble remembering commands and gets grumpy. For a long time me and my parents have been able to deal with this. Even though he has problems walking long stretches and lying down takes quite some effort he didn't seem to be in pain of any kind. But his behaviour has been a burden that became heavier to carry every day. Right now he's even biting when you tell him to lie down (in his confusion he walks around the house all day, without a moment of rest), but he's also shaking when standing still. Probably he's experiencing pain now. Also his habit of relieving himself in house has gotten worse the past few months.
My mom has now made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon to put him to sleep for good. She's close to a nerve breakdown herself as my dad works early shifts and the dog always wets the floor when someone's waking up. In my dad's case that's around 4AM. However, he has to work so he calls on my mom to clean it up. Needless to say this is an unworkable situation.
But he's had a great life the 4 and a half years he's been with us. When we got him from Belgium he was about to be killed due to his supposed old age (they told us he was 4, which is a lie as you have read earlier). For a dog living in 'borrowed time' he's had a great time full of love. I'll be going to say goodbye tonight. I will surely miss him....Right now I'm very, very happy that I'm not living with my parents anymore, as it would have been even harder to accept had I still lived there.
Thank God the other dog is still there. She is 8 years old...I do feel bad for her though as he and she were real buddies. I wonder how she will react when her friend won't come back home anymore tomorrow...
Last spring I updated my journal with some concerns about one of the two dogs my parents own. At that time I still lived at their place and I was partly repsonsible for the Labrador Retrievers. I was happy to be repsonsible too, I love them with all my heart. One of the best things about going to my parents' place is seeing those dogs again.
Well, the elder of the two (he's from Belgium, the papers there stated he's 8 now, but in reality he's much older, probably 12 or 13...We've been shafted, but that's of no concern now) has been having problems with relieving himself for over a year now. He's clearly dementing and regularly wets the place (two times a day). He also doesn't always reply when you call his name, has trouble remembering commands and gets grumpy. For a long time me and my parents have been able to deal with this. Even though he has problems walking long stretches and lying down takes quite some effort he didn't seem to be in pain of any kind. But his behaviour has been a burden that became heavier to carry every day. Right now he's even biting when you tell him to lie down (in his confusion he walks around the house all day, without a moment of rest), but he's also shaking when standing still. Probably he's experiencing pain now. Also his habit of relieving himself in house has gotten worse the past few months.
My mom has now made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon to put him to sleep for good. She's close to a nerve breakdown herself as my dad works early shifts and the dog always wets the floor when someone's waking up. In my dad's case that's around 4AM. However, he has to work so he calls on my mom to clean it up. Needless to say this is an unworkable situation.
But he's had a great life the 4 and a half years he's been with us. When we got him from Belgium he was about to be killed due to his supposed old age (they told us he was 4, which is a lie as you have read earlier). For a dog living in 'borrowed time' he's had a great time full of love. I'll be going to say goodbye tonight. I will surely miss him....Right now I'm very, very happy that I'm not living with my parents anymore, as it would have been even harder to accept had I still lived there.
Thank God the other dog is still there. She is 8 years old...I do feel bad for her though as he and she were real buddies. I wonder how she will react when her friend won't come back home anymore tomorrow...
Sick and Sound
by Mystikvm on Comments
Flu
It's an epedemic right now, everyone close to me is either sick or has been a short time ago, or they feel it coming up. I fell victim to this year's flu too. Thankfully it's not as serious as other people have it, but I feel bad nonetheless.
It all started last Saturday when I had a sore throat and felt like I had ran the NY marathon after not sleeping for 48 hours. That afternoon I decided to go home while I was visiting my parents. A short nap and a shower later I felt considerably better. But it was to no avail as Sunday I felt extremely bad, just as yesterday. Today is a little better and I'm hoping to be fit in a few days.
The worst thing about this sickness is that my lips are very painful. They look like I took a hike in the Himalaya without the proper protection. As a result they hurt so badly that sleeping is nearly impossible. I keep wetting my lips with my tongue, which of course doesn't speed up the healing process. They'll never stop being split and painful this way. My mom stopped by yesterday to drop off a medicine for it of sorts. You put it on your lips and it makes sure that they don't dry out. That way I don't have to wet them with my tongue (which contains salt which ultimately dries out) so they will heal faster. I slept very well last night and the pain is 'half gone' now. They don't hurt as bad as they did Sunday and yesterday. Here's hoping that the pain will be gone by tomorrow morning.
Pauline did me a little favor yesterday, she stopped by the electronics store to get me an audio cable to hook up my Xbox 360 to my receiver, enabling stereo sound.
Yes, I don't have stereo sound on my TV. It's a crappy television set with only mono sound. It doesn't do right to the new console at all so I felt I had to beef up at least one aspect of the experience. I'm not into 5.1 surround sets (I often swap around stuff and don't feel like setting up the room again every three months, plus 5.1 sets often produce less favorable sounds when compared to regular speakers of considerable quality), I have to admit that I'm quite happy with my current sound setup. Enjoying games with a wall of sound coming towards you is an experience I haven't had before. It's strange how a change this small can make such a big difference. I'm now rediscovering my games now that I'm finally freed of the horrible sound my television produces.
The next step is to improve the television itself by throwing it out the window and getting a new one, something I've been planning to do for over a year now. Hopefully this summer....
It's an epedemic right now, everyone close to me is either sick or has been a short time ago, or they feel it coming up. I fell victim to this year's flu too. Thankfully it's not as serious as other people have it, but I feel bad nonetheless.
It all started last Saturday when I had a sore throat and felt like I had ran the NY marathon after not sleeping for 48 hours. That afternoon I decided to go home while I was visiting my parents. A short nap and a shower later I felt considerably better. But it was to no avail as Sunday I felt extremely bad, just as yesterday. Today is a little better and I'm hoping to be fit in a few days.
The worst thing about this sickness is that my lips are very painful. They look like I took a hike in the Himalaya without the proper protection. As a result they hurt so badly that sleeping is nearly impossible. I keep wetting my lips with my tongue, which of course doesn't speed up the healing process. They'll never stop being split and painful this way. My mom stopped by yesterday to drop off a medicine for it of sorts. You put it on your lips and it makes sure that they don't dry out. That way I don't have to wet them with my tongue (which contains salt which ultimately dries out) so they will heal faster. I slept very well last night and the pain is 'half gone' now. They don't hurt as bad as they did Sunday and yesterday. Here's hoping that the pain will be gone by tomorrow morning.
Pauline did me a little favor yesterday, she stopped by the electronics store to get me an audio cable to hook up my Xbox 360 to my receiver, enabling stereo sound.
Yes, I don't have stereo sound on my TV. It's a crappy television set with only mono sound. It doesn't do right to the new console at all so I felt I had to beef up at least one aspect of the experience. I'm not into 5.1 surround sets (I often swap around stuff and don't feel like setting up the room again every three months, plus 5.1 sets often produce less favorable sounds when compared to regular speakers of considerable quality), I have to admit that I'm quite happy with my current sound setup. Enjoying games with a wall of sound coming towards you is an experience I haven't had before. It's strange how a change this small can make such a big difference. I'm now rediscovering my games now that I'm finally freed of the horrible sound my television produces.
The next step is to improve the television itself by throwing it out the window and getting a new one, something I've been planning to do for over a year now. Hopefully this summer....
New Horizon
by Mystikvm on Comments
On The Upside
A few good things have happened since the last time I updated. The best thing to happen is that Pauline found a new job. She now works at the National Tax offices. Her job is nothing major really, just making sure that stuff that's been ordered for inside the offices gets in the right way, gets processed and reaches the right persons, but she's into this kind of work and has been doing this for years. Her working experience is what got her in on this job, of that I'm sure. In principle she'll be working there for 3-6 months, but at least it's something for the time being. I hope she leaves a good impression over there, raising her chances on a new contract.
Another mildly good thing is my phobia for alcohol. I'm trying to get over it the best I can. My latest weapon? Malt beer.
That's right, I'm joing the ranks of the evil-doers by drinking beer. I've always loathed the taste and smell of beer. My brother once told me that you have to learn to appreciate beer before you end up liking it. It's pretty much the same what Pauline told me. I've always thought this was the stupidiest thing someone could do. Why on earth would someone want to drink something he or she doesn't like at forst just so that they like it in the end? To me it comes off as acting like the tough guy for liking alcohol. The more you drink it, the more you like it, the 'tougher' you look in the eyes of others.
But well, the 'drink it to like it' principle might work for me. I'm not liking beer but I've ordered a few malt beers over the past week in the pub and I've come to appreciate the taste a little more. Why am I doing this? Well, it hurts me to see the people I lvoe drink alcohol. Most often they drink beer. Maybe I'll be feeling more at ease when I'm drinking the same thing. For now it seems to work, let's hope it keeps up.
On the subject of 'drinking something so that you like it', it's not that way for everyone I guess. I know that when I smoked my first cigarette I loved it. None of the coughing and horrible taste people complain about, it was just a great thing to do. In the end I became addicted of course and I'm still a smoker now, but I guees it's the same for beer drinkers. Some people will have liked the taste the first time they tried.
Oh yes, I did pick up Dead Or Alive 4. I don't know what to think really. It's fun with friends, but some single player modes are horrible. If you have played the game you know I'm talking about Time Attack here, where I have to beat that Alpha 152 monster final boss thing two times before completing the game. I was looking to take a shot at the achievements for Time Attack, but with this final boss it's more an issue of luck than skill.
Where the rest of the cast of characters is tough, but fair, Alpha 152 is at the pinnacle of cheapness. Massive hit combos, teleports when I'm in the middle of a good combo, special attacks that drain half my health bar....It doesn't sound very fair and in reality it isn't. I found out that strategically approaching the battle doesn't work at all, just pressing some buttons hoping you'll do some massive damage works much better.
The game feels a little broken because of this. I know I won't be getting full enjoyment out of the game thanks to this final boss. But I still have the online mode to explore, so I hope there's some hidden fun in the back corners of the game. I'll just avoid Time Attack for the time being.
A few good things have happened since the last time I updated. The best thing to happen is that Pauline found a new job. She now works at the National Tax offices. Her job is nothing major really, just making sure that stuff that's been ordered for inside the offices gets in the right way, gets processed and reaches the right persons, but she's into this kind of work and has been doing this for years. Her working experience is what got her in on this job, of that I'm sure. In principle she'll be working there for 3-6 months, but at least it's something for the time being. I hope she leaves a good impression over there, raising her chances on a new contract.
Another mildly good thing is my phobia for alcohol. I'm trying to get over it the best I can. My latest weapon? Malt beer.
That's right, I'm joing the ranks of the evil-doers by drinking beer. I've always loathed the taste and smell of beer. My brother once told me that you have to learn to appreciate beer before you end up liking it. It's pretty much the same what Pauline told me. I've always thought this was the stupidiest thing someone could do. Why on earth would someone want to drink something he or she doesn't like at forst just so that they like it in the end? To me it comes off as acting like the tough guy for liking alcohol. The more you drink it, the more you like it, the 'tougher' you look in the eyes of others.
But well, the 'drink it to like it' principle might work for me. I'm not liking beer but I've ordered a few malt beers over the past week in the pub and I've come to appreciate the taste a little more. Why am I doing this? Well, it hurts me to see the people I lvoe drink alcohol. Most often they drink beer. Maybe I'll be feeling more at ease when I'm drinking the same thing. For now it seems to work, let's hope it keeps up.
On the subject of 'drinking something so that you like it', it's not that way for everyone I guess. I know that when I smoked my first cigarette I loved it. None of the coughing and horrible taste people complain about, it was just a great thing to do. In the end I became addicted of course and I'm still a smoker now, but I guees it's the same for beer drinkers. Some people will have liked the taste the first time they tried.
Oh yes, I did pick up Dead Or Alive 4. I don't know what to think really. It's fun with friends, but some single player modes are horrible. If you have played the game you know I'm talking about Time Attack here, where I have to beat that Alpha 152 monster final boss thing two times before completing the game. I was looking to take a shot at the achievements for Time Attack, but with this final boss it's more an issue of luck than skill.
Where the rest of the cast of characters is tough, but fair, Alpha 152 is at the pinnacle of cheapness. Massive hit combos, teleports when I'm in the middle of a good combo, special attacks that drain half my health bar....It doesn't sound very fair and in reality it isn't. I found out that strategically approaching the battle doesn't work at all, just pressing some buttons hoping you'll do some massive damage works much better.
The game feels a little broken because of this. I know I won't be getting full enjoyment out of the game thanks to this final boss. But I still have the online mode to explore, so I hope there's some hidden fun in the back corners of the game. I'll just avoid Time Attack for the time being.
The F-Word
by Mystikvm on Comments
Fun For The Whole Dang Family!
A guy I used to talk to a lot over the internet used this phrase to promote the online community we were a part of. It's also the best predicate I can give to my new Xbox 360.
I've never had this much fun with a videogame system. Normally games make the system. I remember getting the PS2 and I had one game with it at that time, Gran Turismo 3. Of course, after a few days I got a little bored of playing it all day, and I left my PS2 for what it was for the rest of the day, sometimes even for a few days on end. When there were periods with no fun games to buy and enjoy (something that happens often with the GameCube) my consoles turn into very expensive paperweights. The 360, however, has been on for hours and hours and I'm still not bored with it. The system makes the system.
I got one game with the console when I picked it up last Friday. The materialistic devil on my shoulder told me that it probably wouldn't be enough to saturate my gaming needs. Apart from the PS2 I got every system with more games, and experience has taught me that those decisions were very good moves. I have a relatively short attention span and need diversity to keep me interested. However, I ignored the little devil and went with Project Gotham Racing 3 alone. And now it seems the days of getting bored with new and expensive toys due to a lack of things to play on it are finally over. The 360 killed my materialistic needs, my short attention span and my tendency to give up on things when they don't work out. Ingredients? Xbox Live Arcade and Achievement Points.
I don't play PGR3 all the time. I play it in short bursts, but when I stop playing I know there are Arcade Games waiting for me. It was a good choice to go with Bejeweled as that game has never stopped to appeal to me. It's a perfect way to kill time and of course, to get those darn points.
You can moan all you want about those achievement points, and how they kill gaming. For me they have revitalized it. I'm no good at Geometry Wars. In fact, probably my grandma even would beat me, two fingers in the nose. However, the points I can earn encourage me to keep trying and trying. I tell you, if this were a fun pack-in with any current generation game I'd give up after a couple or tries or so. However, the 100,000 point mark is giving me a few points, and it is waving at me from the balcony above. I just have to climb up. So now I'm religiously trying a few times every day to get to that mark. Once I've reached it I have to make sure I get to 500,000. This sytem works like a charm, I've never invested so much time so intensely into my games.
It's a smash hit. Surely I will be taking a few steps back from the system as it ages and as I'm growing accustomed to its presence right next to my computer, but I doubt I will ever stop trying to accomplish more in the games I buy. Like I said, games have never been this appealing to me, it feels like MS reinvented my primary hobby, and I'm thankful for it.
Should you be on the fence about whether to get one or not, please get it. It's worth every singly penny, especially if you're as prone to addictions as I am.
And I passed an important test today at the uni, so I will be treating myself to Dead Or Alive 4 as soon as they have new copies at the local store. I remember Dkittels inviting me to a game a long, long time ago ;)
A guy I used to talk to a lot over the internet used this phrase to promote the online community we were a part of. It's also the best predicate I can give to my new Xbox 360.
I've never had this much fun with a videogame system. Normally games make the system. I remember getting the PS2 and I had one game with it at that time, Gran Turismo 3. Of course, after a few days I got a little bored of playing it all day, and I left my PS2 for what it was for the rest of the day, sometimes even for a few days on end. When there were periods with no fun games to buy and enjoy (something that happens often with the GameCube) my consoles turn into very expensive paperweights. The 360, however, has been on for hours and hours and I'm still not bored with it. The system makes the system.
I got one game with the console when I picked it up last Friday. The materialistic devil on my shoulder told me that it probably wouldn't be enough to saturate my gaming needs. Apart from the PS2 I got every system with more games, and experience has taught me that those decisions were very good moves. I have a relatively short attention span and need diversity to keep me interested. However, I ignored the little devil and went with Project Gotham Racing 3 alone. And now it seems the days of getting bored with new and expensive toys due to a lack of things to play on it are finally over. The 360 killed my materialistic needs, my short attention span and my tendency to give up on things when they don't work out. Ingredients? Xbox Live Arcade and Achievement Points.
I don't play PGR3 all the time. I play it in short bursts, but when I stop playing I know there are Arcade Games waiting for me. It was a good choice to go with Bejeweled as that game has never stopped to appeal to me. It's a perfect way to kill time and of course, to get those darn points.
You can moan all you want about those achievement points, and how they kill gaming. For me they have revitalized it. I'm no good at Geometry Wars. In fact, probably my grandma even would beat me, two fingers in the nose. However, the points I can earn encourage me to keep trying and trying. I tell you, if this were a fun pack-in with any current generation game I'd give up after a couple or tries or so. However, the 100,000 point mark is giving me a few points, and it is waving at me from the balcony above. I just have to climb up. So now I'm religiously trying a few times every day to get to that mark. Once I've reached it I have to make sure I get to 500,000. This sytem works like a charm, I've never invested so much time so intensely into my games.
It's a smash hit. Surely I will be taking a few steps back from the system as it ages and as I'm growing accustomed to its presence right next to my computer, but I doubt I will ever stop trying to accomplish more in the games I buy. Like I said, games have never been this appealing to me, it feels like MS reinvented my primary hobby, and I'm thankful for it.
Should you be on the fence about whether to get one or not, please get it. It's worth every singly penny, especially if you're as prone to addictions as I am.
And I passed an important test today at the uni, so I will be treating myself to Dead Or Alive 4 as soon as they have new copies at the local store. I remember Dkittels inviting me to a game a long, long time ago ;)
My Zero Hour
by Mystikvm on Comments
It's Here
I told you I'd be looking for the 360 this week, but that I wasn't expecting too much. Well, like I expected the machine was sold out everywhere, with giant waiting lists in front of me. I signed up at one store where I happened to be #9 in line, but they had no word on when they'd be getting new systems and how many.
Back home I checked a few internet stores, and one all-purpose mail order service had a delivery time of '1 week'. Puzzled I contacted their Customer Support. If the machine was sold out all over the country, how the heck could they be so sure to have new systems by the end of the week? The girl on the other end of the line assured me that they had been sending out systems ever since the 360 launched, with virtually no shortages. Happily I order my 360, they told me they would call me a few days later to make an appointment on when and where to deliver the console.
Flash forward to this morning. I was alying a bit of Civilization IV when the phone rang. Not the mail ordering service, but the store I had ordered my 360 at. They had gotten new systems, 7 in total. Two people had not answered their phone for two days so I bumped up two places and I could pick up the last sytem right away. Quickly I canceled my order at the online service and went out in the freezing cold to get the system.
It was there. I snooped up PGR3, a few months of Live, a second wireless controller and some Marketplace Points and went home. I tell you, the feeling of having a new, state of the art toy is something that I'm always underestimating before I actually have it. The joy when I got it out of the box, noticed how it all smelled so fresh and brand new and the exciting moment of turning on the console for the first time....
Like everyone I spent a lot of time tinkering with the system settings and checking out what the box had to offer before actually playing a game. Hexic HD is surprisingly missing from the HDD (was this a limited offer, like the free remote?) but I made up for that by immediately getting Geometry Wars and Bejeweled.
Project Gotham 3 is a great experience. While it's a little underwhelming in terms of graphical prowess (OK, I don't have an HDTV) it plays like a dream, has some interesting twists and I was immediately captured by the quest to earn as many achievement points as possible. As you can see I haven't gotten really far yet....
So far it's great. It's downloading the Full Auto demo right now and I'll be checking out a few other demos in the coming days. I'll also be diving into the online mode of PGR3 and I hope to add some of you GS guys to my friends list. The gamertag is Mystikvm, feel free to add me.
Getting new systems is fun. Getting one while knowing half of the world wants it is even better.
I told you I'd be looking for the 360 this week, but that I wasn't expecting too much. Well, like I expected the machine was sold out everywhere, with giant waiting lists in front of me. I signed up at one store where I happened to be #9 in line, but they had no word on when they'd be getting new systems and how many.
Back home I checked a few internet stores, and one all-purpose mail order service had a delivery time of '1 week'. Puzzled I contacted their Customer Support. If the machine was sold out all over the country, how the heck could they be so sure to have new systems by the end of the week? The girl on the other end of the line assured me that they had been sending out systems ever since the 360 launched, with virtually no shortages. Happily I order my 360, they told me they would call me a few days later to make an appointment on when and where to deliver the console.
Flash forward to this morning. I was alying a bit of Civilization IV when the phone rang. Not the mail ordering service, but the store I had ordered my 360 at. They had gotten new systems, 7 in total. Two people had not answered their phone for two days so I bumped up two places and I could pick up the last sytem right away. Quickly I canceled my order at the online service and went out in the freezing cold to get the system.
It was there. I snooped up PGR3, a few months of Live, a second wireless controller and some Marketplace Points and went home. I tell you, the feeling of having a new, state of the art toy is something that I'm always underestimating before I actually have it. The joy when I got it out of the box, noticed how it all smelled so fresh and brand new and the exciting moment of turning on the console for the first time....
Like everyone I spent a lot of time tinkering with the system settings and checking out what the box had to offer before actually playing a game. Hexic HD is surprisingly missing from the HDD (was this a limited offer, like the free remote?) but I made up for that by immediately getting Geometry Wars and Bejeweled.
Project Gotham 3 is a great experience. While it's a little underwhelming in terms of graphical prowess (OK, I don't have an HDTV) it plays like a dream, has some interesting twists and I was immediately captured by the quest to earn as many achievement points as possible. As you can see I haven't gotten really far yet....
So far it's great. It's downloading the Full Auto demo right now and I'll be checking out a few other demos in the coming days. I'll also be diving into the online mode of PGR3 and I hope to add some of you GS guys to my friends list. The gamertag is Mystikvm, feel free to add me.
Getting new systems is fun. Getting one while knowing half of the world wants it is even better.
Hunt
by Mystikvm on Comments
Mission Impossible?
I have been eyeing the Xbox 360 ever since I heard the first snippets of news around the console. When it launched I had just moved and thus missed my chance on obtaining one around launch. I didn't exactly regret my choice to move, but I did feel like I had missed out on something great thanks to moving and the financial hassle involved. It seems my days of mourning are over. The finances are now watertight (thanks to Pauline) and this week I'll be hunting for the 360.
This should prove to be a fun endeavour. I'm not expecting to find one right away, as there is a major shortage. I've always found it fun to hunt down something I really want, and I'm actually hoping it'll take me some time to get one. That will only improve the actual satisfaction.
I still have a lot of other stuff to do. I have to rearrange the living room as the sun is now glaring on the television and computer, so we wanted to move those to the other side of the room anyway. This is a good opportunity to do so. Both the satellite TV and the 360 will be hooked up coming week (hopefully) and seeing how the 360 cannot be stacked among the other appliances I have to reserve a special spot for the machine. I also have to get a lot of additional cables to hook up the console to my PC monitor and make sure that the behemoth doesn't kill the 360 in the process (it has fried several graphics cards already, the thing is possessed I tell you).
There's also some other housework to do, like properly arranging the bedrooms, something we still haven't done all the way. I'm not the biggest fan of tinkering with hammers, screws etc. etc., but a few lights still have to be installed and we might as well do it all the way now.
BTW, I noticed GS displays your Gamercard. I already natched mine a few weeks ago, just to make sure nobody would steal my nickname. Thankfully I can put it to use this week if all goes well. I'll keep you updated.
I have been eyeing the Xbox 360 ever since I heard the first snippets of news around the console. When it launched I had just moved and thus missed my chance on obtaining one around launch. I didn't exactly regret my choice to move, but I did feel like I had missed out on something great thanks to moving and the financial hassle involved. It seems my days of mourning are over. The finances are now watertight (thanks to Pauline) and this week I'll be hunting for the 360.
This should prove to be a fun endeavour. I'm not expecting to find one right away, as there is a major shortage. I've always found it fun to hunt down something I really want, and I'm actually hoping it'll take me some time to get one. That will only improve the actual satisfaction.
I still have a lot of other stuff to do. I have to rearrange the living room as the sun is now glaring on the television and computer, so we wanted to move those to the other side of the room anyway. This is a good opportunity to do so. Both the satellite TV and the 360 will be hooked up coming week (hopefully) and seeing how the 360 cannot be stacked among the other appliances I have to reserve a special spot for the machine. I also have to get a lot of additional cables to hook up the console to my PC monitor and make sure that the behemoth doesn't kill the 360 in the process (it has fried several graphics cards already, the thing is possessed I tell you).
There's also some other housework to do, like properly arranging the bedrooms, something we still haven't done all the way. I'm not the biggest fan of tinkering with hammers, screws etc. etc., but a few lights still have to be installed and we might as well do it all the way now.
BTW, I noticed GS displays your Gamercard. I already natched mine a few weeks ago, just to make sure nobody would steal my nickname. Thankfully I can put it to use this week if all goes well. I'll keep you updated.
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