I own quite a few DVDs, and due to my issues with Time, I find that I don't always get a chance to WATCH many of them. But given that I'm on holidays, I'm finding a bit of time to try and catch up on the backlog. Sorta.

Recently I've been trying to wade through the final season of an awesome Science Fiction TV Show - Farscape. Cancelled before it's time. For a Sci-Fi show, there's a surprising amount of ongoing stories - none of this "resetting" the show after each episode so that everyone's OK with everyone each week, people have FIGHTS on this show with each other and don't always LIKE each other. *grin*

There are actually plots happening as well, which is nice. The good guys generally win, but not always, and not without cost. We've lost a few main characters over the years, which is again unusual. The aliens aren't just "humans with a funny forehead", which is again a good thing.

(Can you tell I'm a fan yet? *grin*)

NEone else out there know what I'm talking about? Any other Farscape fans here at Gamespot?

are difficult to run. But generally only when they're of the physical kind. Other marathons exist, and I experienced one recently (in fact, just a few hours ago).

Yesterday and today are the days in which I think I've seen the most amount of Movies EVER! Yes, it's the Boxing Day (Proclamation Day?) long weekend, so Movie Marathons abound in all the local cinemas, and I figured it was about time I went to another one. It's been a couple of years since I've graced one with my presence.

In fact, I went to see FOUR movies yesterday. Blade Trinity with my sister and her fiance. Hero, The Incredibles and National Treasure in the marathon thingy. And they were all pretty good! I must admit, I enjoyed National Treasure the least out of those four, and I thought it was actually pretty good! :)

I won't go too much into the stories of the movies, but Blade was another good sequel - bit of humour thrown in this time, care of Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl). Hero was very picturesque - lovely colouring, spectacular fight scenes (lots of jumping around and running on water) and even quite an interesting story. The Incredibles was a good rollicking adventure (while I'm here - WHAT does "rollicking" mean, NEhow? How does one "rollick"? Does it hurt? Should you were suitable protective equipment? Someone wanna help me out here?) and was also quite involved story-wise, so I enjoyed that thoroughly. National Treasure was a good adventure with a bit of a puzzle / riddle motif thrown in. Quite good just the same.

I've slept since then, which is why I am only awake for a couple of hours now, and it's kinda 1700. *grin*

NEhow, I thought I would take a break on commenting on my gaming and chuck this lil' tidbit in. More another time...

Well, it's the day after Christmas, and I am suitably impressed. As most of you out there possibly know, my main present for Christmas was an X-Box console, and MAN I like the thing! :)

Managed to acquire a few games for it prior to Christmas, so I've got a couple of 'em to play now. Checked out Halo and was blown away (literally AND figuratively - still working on the controls a bit... *grin*) Even had a look at Top Spin, a tennis game that came bundled with the console. Now, I'm not a big sport game fan, but I quite enjoyed this one, even if I DID suck at it!

Fable is awesome. Just on an initial wander in the game, and the number of things you can do is staggering. What other game records how many properties you own (including shops) and knows how many people are in love with you, or how many times you've had sex? It's a bit strange like that, but interesting just the same.

Toe Jam and Earl III is cute, but not terribly difficult. Funny more than challenging, but good just the same.

Znuggles, I finally understand whatcha mean about Ninja Gaiden. Fired it up, ran along some walls, threw some Shuriken around, and then got into a couple of fights. And got my butt handed to me on a silver platter. *grin* I quite enjoy the game, but I gotta learn how to FIGHT in it if I wanna get past the first level! I suspect my time through the game will be much the same as yours, my friend. Long, drawn-out and somewhat frustrating - but coming back for more just the same. :)

Well, I better get off and do some stuff around the house. Might even get a chance to play some more on my new toy soon - the graphics are AMAZING - or possibly go back to some games I'm doing on the PC or PS2. My "Now Playing" list is WAY too long, and I need to shorten it a bit. One or two of 'em I'm getting close to finishing (Second Sight and Ratchet and Clank) so I should prolly focus on 'em a bit.

More next time, people! :)

Well, everyone else is up to it - I guess I might as well jump on the bandwagon...

MARY KISS MOOSE!

I wish all of you the best for the Christmas period, and also into the New Year. May you have a joyous time with your family and friends over the festive period.

Hope you get all sorts of kewl games for Christmas, and even find some time to PLAY 'em! :)

CYA sometime after Christmas Day, people.

Matt

xoxo

Well, I'm certainly enjoying my time off from work. Managed to spend more time playing games over the past couple of days than I've managed in the past couple of MONTHS. It's kinda nice. :)

Oh, usual thing for me at the moment...

*Possible SPOILERS ahead*

Well, I've been busy in Third Age over the past couple of days. Managed to find my way out of Moria - after having defeated a mighty Balrog I might add. (OK, so Gandalf helped a lil' bit. Well, a LOT actually. All RIGHT, he did most of the fighting, we just ran around and screamed a lot and tried not to die... *grin*)

After that, managed to meet up with some Elven Scouts and scour the land of Uruk Hai for a bit. Those guys can be a bit tough - just as well I'd managed to find some kewl weapons in Evil Mode to help me out! (Morgul Blades are awesome - that's all I'm gonna say on that). Turned out to be some MUCH bigger Wargs running around in this area as well, so I had my work cut out for me.

Following that, we managed to head out to Rohan, and tried to help some of the villages being sacked by the Wild Men following Saruman. We didn't QUITE get there in time to save the villagers, but we smashed the bad guys real good. Also managed to meet up with a Rohan warrior by the name of Morwen - a lady who is pretty nifty with her axes. We've continued on through Rohan together - now five party members strong. :)

Currently, we're in Snowbourne, trying to undo some of the damage that Grima Wormtongue has wrought. I'm currently getting jumped by lots of Uruk-Hai, Orcs and Wild Men - all intent on giving me a bad day. So far we're doing pretty good, but I AM trying to find Morwen's family and open all the gates in Snowbourne so I can get to their Great Hall. I'm gonna be busy over Christmas... *grin*

Current Stats for the game... Completed 38%, including 100% of the quests in the first four areas. Currently, in Rohan I've completed 62% of the quests there, so things are looking good. All of the Evil Modes to date have been completed, with a LOT of nice goodies to play with being the result. My average character level is 42, but Berethor is 46th Level. I've also managed to unlock 65 of the Epic Scenes, so a lot of the story has been unfolding in the background. :)

I'm also currently trying to build up my skills in Crafting and Shadow magic (due to two lovely Elfstones in my posession). It takes a while, but it's worth it - Wheel of Fire is AWESOME! :)

Guess I should wind it up here, I have a Christmas do to go to in about an hour, so I should get ready.

More another time...

Well, it's time for another update on the wonderful world of Middle Earth! :)

*Possible SPOILERS ahead*

(Don't say I don't warn you here, people! Wouldn't wanna upset NEone who might be thinking about playing this pretty damn fine RPG! *grin*)

Well last time we left off, our intrepid band of Adventurers had managed to find their way into Moria and were wading their way through hordes of Goblins on their way through the undergroud kingdom. And lemme tell ya, there's PLENTY of encounters with those lil' fellers happening in there to keep ya busy.

Since then, I've put in another couple of hours worth of gametime into Third Age. I'm currently about six hours in, and going strong. Most of my party are now about Level 25 or so, and they NEED it, with the numbers of Goblins jumping around... Currently completed 100% of the first two areasof the game, and am now into the third area - at 30% completion. Unlocked 33 of the Epic Movie thingies, with one or two skipped (for some reason or another... *shrug*) Overall, about 14% of the game is now under my belt, so I'm about 1/7th of the way in. Managed to defeat the first two levels on Evil Mode as well, the second level being a LOT easier than the first.

For those of you a lil' unsure of the whole Evil Mode thing, it's fairly simple. Save your game once you've completed an area of the game. Then go back to the Main Menu for the game and select More and then Evil Mode. Once in there, just smash the Good Guys into a pulp, and then you unlock new items for the Good Guys in the main game. Pretty sweet, actually. :)

Currently, I'm wading through the third area - Eastern Moria. On a bit of a hunt - trying to track down about 9 Trolls who caused some trouble 'round these parts sometime back. Need to avenge the Dwarves of Moria a bit, so we're gonna go smash 'em good! Managing to complete each quest as they come along without TOO much difficulty - although some Goblin Chieftains have been giving me some grief from time to time.

Bam - I know you're playing this game at the same time as me. Should you wanna discuss more specific details about what I've been doing, or bits and pieces about the game - PM me. We won't bore the rest of the world with nitty-gritty details here, I don't thin.

Tomorrow, I think I'll foray again into Moria. Trying to get OUTSIDE to the Elvish kingdom of Lothlorien is proving to take a while... *sigh*

To be continued...

Well, before I go any further here I need to include the following bit RIGHT up in the top bit here...

*Possible SPOILERS Ahead*

Right. All done. Let's get on with a bit of an update on what I've been up to here, shall we? I've spent a few hours this evening sitting behind my PS2, trying to get a bit further ahead in this game. I've managed to achieve a degree of success as well, which is always nice. :)

When we last left off, it was still early days for our intrepid band of Adventurers. Berethor and Idrial were still running around near the Elf Outpost early in the game. Since then, I've managed to acquire a couple of fellow wanderers to join them in their quest. Elegost - a Dunedain Ranger - and Hadhod - a Dwarven warrior. Each of them have their own skills and special attacks, which have proved interesting.

Just as a general comment on abilities. It takes a while to build 'em up, doesn't it? I've managed to level up my characters a few times this evening, and even managed to add some new special abilities in there while I'm at it. Just seems you gotta remember to keep USING them for them to advance. Seems to work pretty well, although the Crafting Skills take AGES to increase...

Currently, I've managed to work my way into Western Moria. I've managed to find all seven of the Dwarven Runes, and am just about to head down into the Balrog Pit (or whatever this fiery area seems to be hiding). Most of my characters are just over Level 15, and I seem to be progressing nicely. Found some nice weapons and armour along the way, but some of them seem to be a bit unbalanced. (For example, Idrial the Elf seems to be a walking fortress, with an Armour Rating of somewhere just under 200. On the flip side is our Ranger Elegost. His AR is just under 75. What's the deal there?)

I'm proud to announce that I have completed 100% of the first stage of the game, and currently am at 40% for Western Moria. Also managed to complete Evil Mode for the first area, which was kinda interesting. Evil Mode, for those of you who haven't tried it (and are willing to read past the word SPOILER up above... *grin*) is basically a series of battles between the party and some ne'er-do-wells. Various Orcs, Goblins, Trolls and even a Nazghul bash it out with the good guys. Funny thing is that in each battle, you beat the good guys. And in each subsequent battle, they're back for more. C'mon people, why won't these do-gooders stay DEAD, I ask you? :P

NEhow, quite enjoying the game still. I'm a completionist, so having only achieved 7% of the total game means I have my work cut out for me. More on this one another time...

Ladies and Gentlemen, from henceforth I have a new title. You may now refer to me as "Da Godfather". :)

As of a few hours ago, my very good friends Stan and Giulia (who recently had a bouncing baby boy) decided (in their wisdom) to make me the Godfather of their child. Personally, I think they made the right choice. After all, who could be a better candidate for guiding the spiritual, emotional, and social developmen of such a young child?

There's so much I have to teach him! I need to make sure he understands how to blame other people for his mistakes, and how to get what he wants by crying a lot at a very young age. I need to show him how to get his older brother into trouble for things he didn't do, and how to play games on his Dad's PS2 and PC. I need to teach him about girls, and cars, and about fast food. I need to show him the World Wide Web, and all the wonders it contains. I need to teach him the value of money, and make sure he understands the varied ways he can get it (from Mummy's purse, for example) and SO much MORE!

I think I'm gonna be busy for a while here, people. NEone have any suggestions on where I should start? *grin*

Is an AWESOME movie! I recently picked up the Collector's Edition (2 Disc version), and watched it through with my Dad. I'd forgotten how GOOD it was. *grin*

I don't know how many of you out there have seen it, but if you haven't - GO WATCH IT! It involves Time Travel, alternative Universes, a somewhat crazy teenage boy, and a six foot bunny rabbit named Frank. Sounds weird? Well, it kinda is - it's one of those movies you kinda have to WATCH, and pay attention to while you're watching. Stuff slips past if you're not careful, and it can be a bit confusing at times...

Even so, it's a GREAT movie, and I recommend it to you all. The extras disc has some other suitably weird stuff on there - the #1 Donnie Darko Fan's Darkomentary. This guy is WEIRD. In a kewl way, but I can see how he could turn into a stalker a LIL' too easily. There's some funny people on this planet, and they're not all me. Really! :)

NEhow, I gotta sit down and watch it all again real soon now. To pick apart some MORE bits and pieces in the movie. Theories abound in my family about what some of it means, and that's always great - being able to discuss a movie afterwards, rather than just say "It was good". I like that.

(Bit of a fan myself, if you haven't noticed. *grin*)

I have some more Gamespotting to do, so I better get back to it. More on my DVD and Movie collections another time, I think...

Well, it appears I have been active enough to go up another level! Yay me!

I get to be a "Rad Racer", whatever that means. Level 7 I am, now let me see if I can figure out how to advance again - perhaps a lil' more quickly this time. I get to watch all the rest of you lot, racing up a level every week or so - not sure how you do it all, but I'll figure it out sometime.

NEway, I have some ratings to make and some reviews to write I think. That, and some games to play and people to chat to. My oh my, I have SUCH a busy life! :)