I've been trying to keep my Journal entries upbeat and interesting recently - particularly after the events of the past few months in my life - and most of the time I've succeeded.  Today will not be one of those days...

Yesterday evening, my Grandfather passed away.  Now, I haven't seen him in person in many years since he moved up to Queensland, but we would keep in touch on the 'phone every couple of months and see what was what.  So I can't admit to being as close to him as I would like.  But he was my Grandpa still...

He hadn't been well for a while since his last hip operation, and he went downhill suddenly in the past few weeks.  Thankfully, my Dad managed to fly up there to spend some time with him before he passed away - which is a good thing.  Dad's brother and sister also made the trip, as did a lot of Grandpa's surviving family.  So there were all there at the end.

I don't think it's quite hit me yet, as the distance and not having seen him in person in years is softening the blow somewhat.  This is the man who taught me to play Chess, who showed me how to beat him when I wasn't doing so good.  Someone who would have a good chuckle with me about modern events, and would always be interested in how my life was going - even if he did ask the same questions each time we spoke.

I'm gonna miss him...  :(

More another time, people.  Hope you're doing good well out there in Gamespot Land.  I'll try and be cheerier when next you hear from me, K?

Oh YEAH baby!  *dances victory dance*

I've finally managed to achieve something for which I've been waiting for a very long time.  It appears that all my sleepless nights spent bashing away at the keyboard - slowly but surely increasing my percentage points in small but noticeable increments - have finally paid off!  :)

Look!  No, over there!  (Points to the right of screen...  No, YOUR right, people!)  See?  Underneath my name and to the right a bit?  My new Rank name?  Oh come ON, you mean you don't know what's going on here?  Surely you must be aware I've been waiting for this Rank for AGES...

You may now refer to me as WerePaladin, the...  *drum roll*

Gitaroo Man

I MADE it, Znuggles and Tinoshke!  Now all I gotta do is figure out how to stop my percentage bar from going up any higher than 99%, as I wanna stay this Level forever.  :D

(This has got to be a record for me.  I levelled up twice in about four days.  Must have something to do with all those downloads I've been making and those videos I've been watching...  *grin*)

Oh, and on another note - this Journal entry is my 200th since I started making noises here.  Noticed that when I was trying to catch up on some commenting in my Friend's Journals.  Shouldn't I get a cake or something for this lil' achievement?  Does it somehow contribute to my Gamerscore on X-Box Live?  Or make me more popular with the ladies?

Since I suspect my achievement will have none of those effects, I suspect I'll just have to be content with all the accolades I receive from those of you who read my Journal.  (Money is good, or gifts of kewl Games will do as well, K?  *grin*)

NEhow, in the meantime, make sure you all Game on!  :)

Some famous person once said something about small steps and giant leaps...  I think something similar should apply here to my Journal, and the whole Ranking process here at Gamespot.

(Confused yet?  Read on.  *grin*)

Day to day, those of us who are fairly regular here at Gamespot perform our usual tasks.  We log on, check our messages, browse through our Friend's Journals (and occasionally make some noise there), make a new comment in our own Journal, check some updates on Games we're interested in, perhaps even watch some video reviews or something similar...  and then we move on, to do other things.

All Small Steps in their own right.  Each action adds in some small increment to that lovely percentage bar you can see underneath the word Profile but above the words About Me.  Once a day or so, the Great Gods of Gamespot update our percentage bar, and we inch our way forward towards a new Rank.

But sometimes, things occur a lil' differently around here.  Some of you may recall the weirdness of earlier this month, when I think nearly everyone here at Gamespot leapt up at least one Rank, for no particular reason that I am aware.  Somewhat of a Giant Leap, wouldn't you say?  Now, a lot of people had their theories (including myself) as to what had happened, and I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find an answer in one of the Forums - but that would involve looking, and it's more fun to guess, don't you think?  :)

Point is, from time to time we make much larger jumps in our percentage bar - much more than we might on a normal day.  And the reason I bring this up (finally...  :-P) is because it's happened to me again.  Yes, I've had a sizeable jump in my percentage.  Earlier today?  Rank 17 - 97%.  Right now?  Rank 18 - 31%.  Now, I was reliably informed by several Friends of mine (who shall remain nameless - *cough* Vash *cough* Cantius *cough*) that after Level 17 I would be jumping straight to Level 20.  Which seems to have not happened - instead, I'm merely Level 18...

(So yeah, this is another one of my Rank Up type entries.  Just thought I might put a bit more thought into this one than most of the previous ones...  *grin*)

You may now refer to me as WerePaladin, the...

Flicky

Erm...  What's a Flicky?  Is this another one of those weird Gamespot Rank names that I don't understand?  I kinda liked Magician Lord, and I didn't quite get Minus World...  But now I sound like a horse - wasn't it My Friend Flicky or something?  :)

NEhow, hopefully I'll bounce my way up to Level 19 soon, and lose this Rank name as well.  Let's see what tomorrow holds, eh?

Have fun out there in Gamespot Land, people!  Chat to you again another time...  :)

Well, after some tweaking of settings, some hooking up and plugging in of cables, and some upgrading of firmware type things, I have finally managed to hook up my Wireless Gaming Adapter to my Console(s) and managed to conntect myself to X-Box Live - without needing to drag my Broadband Modem into the lounge room.  Yay me!  :)

What I've also noticed recently is that my Broadband speed has almost doubled in the past week or so.  Used to be running at about 11 mbps, but now I seem to be running at just over 20 mbps.  Not that I'm complaining, mind you - I just wasn't expecting it.  Not sure why it's happened either, but I'm gonna accept it while it happens.

I've also decided to splurge somewhat, and download some of the kewl Games from X-Box Live Arcade.  Something that involves the spending of more money, mind you.  For some reason, I had it in my head that the points we accumulated for unlocking Achievements in the various 360 Games could be used to purchase stuff from X-Box Live.  I'm not sure where I got that idea, but it's what I honestly thought.  Having said that, most of the content isn't that expensive, so I don't really care much.

I'm downloading some Games as we speak (I love Broadband!  *grin*), and I've decided to check out a Game I know pretty well, and also some new ones.  In the previously played Games department, we have Smash TV - an arcade Game I used to enjoy a LOT when I was younger.  In the new stuff, we have Geometry Wars Retro Evolved and Wik - Fable of Souls. 

Now, I was also gonna pick up Zuma Deluxe, but it appears I have miscalculated the number of Microsoft Points it will take me to download - so it's gonna have to wait for another time now.  I've got it on the PC already, but it'd be nice to have it on a Console that I can drag around from place to place if necessary.  In the meantime, I'll just have to enjoy smashing other competitors, blasting lots of shapes, and swinging around on my tongue.  Should be fun.  I'll let you all know how I go on these once I've had a chance to play 'em a bit, K?

NEhow, I should go and do some other stuff that doesn't necessarily involve Gaming - such as various domestic duties and some work stuff.  All good fun...  :-P

Hope you're doing well out there in Gamespot Land, and make sure you keep up the good work, people.  I'll chat to you again soon.  :)

is a book that I expect some scholar in Tamriel will write, many years from now.  This epic tale will concern the Argonian Nightblade Zak'Cthon, and how he almost single handedly saved Cyridiil from the hordes of Oblivion...  :)

Or at least, that will be the case - just as soon as I finish the Game and achieve that lofty goal.  Currently, I'm still in the early stages of the Game.  Actually, I've only just started out on the main quest in the Game.  I've been spending more time than not running around and exploring Cyridiil.  I've been chatting with the locals, trying to help them with their troubles, and generally making a name for myself out there. 

I've joined up with a couple of Guilds - the Fighter's Guild and the Mage's Guild - and I appear to have an invite to the Thieve's Guild as well.  As per normal I'm trying to find out as much as possible, and do everything I can in this Game.  I believe there's an Assassin's Guild out there somewhere that I'll think about getting involved in, and there's an Arena to fight in as well.  These are all pretty much secondary to the main storyline, but I'd like to wander around a bit and get used to things before I throw myself into the Save-The-World plot.  :)

I'll get back to you all with a better idea of how things are going once I've played the Game a bit more.  I'm thoroughly enjoying myself so far, so I'm gonna have to try and spread myself between all my new 360 Games, and all the old ones on other Consoles that I'm also trying to finish.  Story of my life, really...

In the meantime, make sure you all Game on!  :)

Erm...  Good morning people.  (It IS morning, right?  Maybe I should look outside and check.)  I've kinda lost track of time and stuff here.  Time has been a lil' blurry since Thursday morning just after midnight, since I picked up my 360.  I think I've slept once or twice I reckon, and I'm pretty sure I've been to work once or twice - vaguely remember running a couple of courses with some people, and making some noises at them...

It's all a bit confusing, really.  But I've had a LOT of fun doing it, just the same.  :)

Since I picked up my Console, I've signed up with X-Box Live.  Looking somewhere off to the right of this entry, you should find my Gamertag.  Being original, I've decided to stick with my name here at Gamespot - makes it easier to remember who I am and stuff.  Those of you on X-Box Live who wanna add me as a Friend, feel free.  I've already managed to meet some people from other countries and have a go at some online Gaming, and I like it!  :D

I've mostly been playing Burnout - Revenge online, which has been great fun.  Managed to get myself up to Rank 13000 or so in the world after some hours Gaming.  Managed to learn a trick or two, and had a lot of fun chatting with some people from Belgium, England and the States.  Introduced a mate of mine here in Adelaide to the Game, and he's a believer now.  It's been kinda kewl.

I also managed to have a go at some online FPS.  Yes, I managed to get killed a LOT in Perfect Dark Zero.  Never really played a FPS shooter online, and it looks like I'll need to spend some time offline practising before I get good enough to mount a real challenge to some of these online maniacs.  Once you've been shot in the head for about the tenth time, you realise that if you take more than a split second to fire off a shot, or dodge behind cover - you're already dead.  Don't get me wrong - I had a great time playing on some Infected levels, and even some of the Onslaught maps.  I just gotta play some more of the Campaign I think, and practise, practise, practise.  :)

One Game I decided to pick up after checking it out in the store was GRAW.  I'd heard some good things, and some people online I was playing with wouldn't shut up about it, so I went in and had a go on it at my local Game store.  I was so impressed with the graphics, and the style of gameplay (something I must admit I haven't had a lot of experience in) that I bought it, and have had a few goes on it.  Sure, I've gotten killed a bit while I've been figuring out how to play, but I'm getting better...  *grin*

NEhow, I have to run off now.  Gotta pick up my wireless gaming adapter (so that I don't have to keep dragging my broadband modem out to the loungeroom to play online), and do some domestic things like shopping.  After that, the X-Box 360 Day begins, and I suspect I won't be sleeping much again.

Hope you guys are doing well out there in Gamespot Land.  I'll CYA round - hopefully online - and make some more noises at you then.

Game on!  :)

Just a (relatively) short one for you all tonight.  One of the really nice things that having Broadband has enabled me to do here at Gamespot is to actually watch some of those wonderful videos that are floating around the place...

For far too long, I've been forced to watch jumpy videos in low resolution while my poor dialup connection has tried to handle the large volume of data heading towards it.  Now, I can check them all out in seamless hi-res, full-screen glory.  It's GREAT!  :)

So I've been watching lots of Tomb Raider - Legend videos, and checking out some of the kewl trailers for Timeshift and Prey.  Tomb Raider is looking pretty kewl, and I'm hoping for some new action with the lovely Lara Croft in her seventh adventure.  Prey is also looking pretty good, so there's a couple more Games for the 360 that I'm looking like pre-ordering too...  *grin*

Speaking of pre-ordering, now that it is just over 24 hours until I will have my brand-spanking new X-Box 360 in my hot sweaty lil' hands, it's time to look ahead to the other Next-Gen Consoles due out later this year.  According to the latest news here at Gamespot, the PS3 is due for a world wide (including Australia) release in November, and the Revolution is due out sometime similar.  So, it's time to get on the pre-order bandwagon and give some money to my local Gaming store again. 

I'm gonna start earlier than I did with the X-Box 360, as I don't wanna have to stress about how much money I need to put away so that it's all paid off by release date.  So I figure starting now is early enough - eight months in advance.  Combine that with all the release titles that will be detailed in the coming months, and I think I'm gonna NEED to start now...

(I said somewhere earlier that this one was gonna be short, didn't I?  Oooooops!  :))

NEhow, it's all looking good for tomorrow night.  I get home from work, have some dinner and get changed.  Watch some TV, play some Games for a while.  Then around 2300, I head off to EB Games, to get my ticket and stand in line.  I'm not sure exactly how many people will be joining me, but I suspect a few.  I'm all paid up for my pre-order though, and having that good working relationship with the manager there will help - I'm not gonna be disappointed like some of you were around release date in the States and other territories.  Just after midnight, they will officially let us into the store, and I'll pick up my pre-order and my copy of Oblivion and then waltz out again, to go home and set it all up.  *grin*

Over the next day or so, I'll be picking up a wireless gaming adapter and hooking myself up to X-Box Live in preparation for the weekend, when much Game playing is planned.  Sometime over that weekend I also plan on smearing Mr. Znuggles across the road in my first inter-continental Gaming session (Burnout 3 - Takedown on the X-Box), but that can wait until Sunday or Monday even...  :P

So finally, at the end of this (not so) short Journal entry, I wish you all good fortune, and encourage you all to...

Game on!  :)

Oh...  My...  God...

I'm functioning on about two hours sleep at the moment, considering something occurred to me yesterday a lil' earlier than expected.  My Broadband got hooked up a couple of days early.  :)

So yesterday afternoon, I spent a LOT of time online on my old account, transferring e-mail addresses and updating websites and generally preparing myself for all sorts of fun and Games.  I never realised how many mailing lists I was on, and how many websites I'm a member at that require an e-mail address as part of it.  So a few hours passed doing that, and posting out e-mails to friends and family - updating them of my e-mail address changing and stuff...

After that, I decided to try and hook up the modem myself and do some surfing on the 'Net with my new ADSL2 connection.  There were a few Game updates I wanted to download, a movie file I wanted to see, and a whole bunch of videos here at Gamespot I wanted to watch.  I could never do that with my old dialup (not if I wanted to get NEthing else done ever again), so it was gonna be kewl to try it out.

But then, it was like a veil passed in front of my eyes and next thing I knew it was 0400 hours.  Considering I had to be awake again at 0700 to get ready for work, this meant I had to get some sleep!  Was kinda weird - one of those lost-time experiences you suffer when you're abducted by aliens or something.  *shrug*

Needless to say, all I have to do now is purchase myself a wireless Gaming Adapter thing for my X-Box (and the 360 when it comes out in 5 days *grin*) and then hook myself up to X-Box Live.  Keep practising, Znuggles - you're gonna need it mate!  :)

I must admit though - I'm very pleased with how the ADSL is going.  I'm managing speeds of about 11mbps without an issue, which is plenty fast enough for what I wanna do.  Plus, I now have a wireless network that I can piggy-back using my PSP (and hopefully the DS when the Wireless Adapter thingy comes out for it here in Australia) and all the other fun stuff I can do so quickly now on the 'Net in general.

Just thought I'd let you all know I'm doing good over here with my new toy.  I'll be equally as excited when the 360 arrives and I'm hooked up for some online Gaming, but one step at a time, eh?  In the meantime, make sure that you all...

Game on!  :)

I realised recently that most of my recent Journal entries have been Game-related.  And while that's to be expected (given that this IS a Gaming site), it's nice to talk about other stuff as well.  Stuff from my life Outside of Gaming, hence the title to this entry...

Actually, there's been some big things happening around me in recent weeks.  Well, one big thing at least.  My sister got married over the weekend just past.  Which counts as a big thing in my books.  :)

My role in the big occasion was to be in the Bridal party as one of the Groomsmen.  So I got to dress up in a formal suit and look kinda swish, all things considered.  Although the weather wasn't possibly the best, given that I was wearing a shirt, a waistcoat AND a suit coat on top of that.  Oh, and some sort of cravat type tie thing as well.  Add to that the temperature of somewhere near 37 degrees Celsius, and you have occasion for a good deal of sweat...

Apart from the sweatiness, the day went really well.  My fellow Groomsmen and I had some running around to do in the morning.  Some photos and video footage needed to be taken, and we had to have some lunch in there as well.  We had some fun running about, and the manic Photographer made us do all sorts of strange things - but was all good just the same.

On to the ceremony itself, which was almost perfect in execution.  There was a slight hiccup with the organist and the playing of varying songs, but the rest of it went off just right.  Mum started crying as soon as she saw Shorty in her dress (which looked beautiful - if I may say so myself *smile*), as did the Bridesmaids.  There musta been a lot of dust in that Church, as I had something in my eye myself... 

After that, we had to run around some more and have some more photos taken in a variety of locations - mostly outside, but one inside a lovely hall and stairwell in the University of Adelaide.  There were quite a few good pictures taken, from what I can tell (we don't get 'em back for a couple of weeks yet), and everyone in the Bridal party scrubbed up pretty good - even me.  :D

Several hours later, half the Bridal party was fainting from hunger - as most of us hadn't eaten since 1130 hrs that morning, and it was now close on 1900 hrs.  Thankfully, we had a Reception waiting for us, and there was FOOD there, so no-one died - which was kinda lucky, as I may have had to chew off my own leg if I didn't get to eat something...

Dinner went well, as did all the speeches.  Dad was a bit worried about his - as he's not a big public speaker - but he said what he wanted to, and got some laughs as well.  So all things considered, he did good for someone who tries to avoid large groups of people where possible.  Mike's speech as the Groom kept the crowd (almost 150 people) amused, and got more than a few teary eyes as well - with all the nice things he said about people.  (Although I dunno if I like the idea of him giving me wrist burns and nipple cripples as his new "Lil' Brother").  The Best Man's speech was also quite funny, with a few jokes made at Mike's expense.  :)

After that, there was some dancing and shaking of funky thangs.  I even got to dance with an attractive young lady for a bit - until she ran off to dance with the DJ.  Fun while it lasted, but still...  After almost three hours of thangs being shaken funkily, the night ended and the Happy Couple headed off to their hotel for the evening, in preparation for their Honeymoon cruising around Hawaii.  And that is where they are at the moment, for the next week and a half - until they return to Australia again to settle back into their new lives.

On the downside, I missed out on catching the garter.  Was looking to add it to my Garter Collection (which numbers two now), so it was a bit upsetting that I didn't get this one.  :(

So things have been exciting around here for a while now, although they are finally starting to settle back down now, and normal life is due to resume NEtime now...

Big update for the evening, but there was a lot to say.  Back to things Gaming related for future entries.  Hope you're all having as much fun as I have been out there in Gamespot Land people!  Chat to you again soon.

Game on!  :D

Ah, the preparations I've been making over the past couple of weeks...  The joy I've had in sorting out some financial things, ordering some bits and pieces, and generally throwing money around in readiness for the 23rd of March.  :)

In case you weren't aware, the 23rd is when the X-Box 360 is being released here in Australia.  As of last week, I finally paid off all my pre-order stuff, picked up my Play & Charge Kit, and confirmed release dates of Games and other such things.  While I have been made aware of the midnight opening of my local EB Games store - an opening I will be attending to pick up my new Console - there have been some other unfortunate developments...  :(

It appears that two of the Games I have all paid up nicely have had their release dates pushed back.  Burnout - Revenge has been shifted back to mid-April, and Timeshift to mid-May!  This is somewhat disappointing, as I was hoping to have both titles ready for my X-Box 360 Day I have planned for the weekend after it's release.  Looks like I'll have to make do with Oblivion, Perfect Dark Zero, and whatever other X-Box Games I manage to get working on the new Console.  Disappointing, but not the end of the world - the Day goes ahead without change!

On another positive note - you'll be excited by this Znuggles - I have set the ball rolling here in Adelaide, and will be all hooked up to Broadband in about a week and a half.  (Just in time for connecting up my 360 to X-Box Live, really.  :))  Purchased myself a swish Broadband modem with some wireless capabilities, a built in firewall, router and cappucino machine.  I've hooked myself up to a local service provider who will be providing me ADSL speeds of up to 24 mbps, which is kinda quick.  *grin*  So all I gotta do now is purchase myself a wireless Gaming adapter for my X-Box and 360, and I'm all set to go...

(Znuggles, you will hear from me when I'm all set up.  Ready to be taken down in Burnout yet?  :-P)

I'll let you all know when I'm on X-Box Live and ready to do some online Gaming.  Not sure if I'll actually be able to play against too many of you (due to time differences), but on my four days off every fortnight, I'll make the effort to spend some time playing some online Games.  So those of you with X-Box Consoles of varying types - check out my Games list, and let me know what you can whip my butt at.  I'm a n00b in the world on online Gaming, so I'm expecting to be humbled a few times.  Be gentle.  :)

Just in case you weren't sure, only 9 days to go now.  *grin*

I should go offline and do some other work.  Still gotta have some dinner and have some paperwork to catch up on and other domestic type things.  All the usual fun, really.

Game on, people!  :)