I've been slowly making my way through reading the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. As expected, there are a bunch that you probably don't really need to play; it's just nice to know the influence that they had on future releases. For example, do I really need to play Pong? Pretty sure I played a version on the Atari, or at least something similar, so I think I can forgo that. Do I really need to play Virtua Racer when I own Forza 2? Do I really need to play Xevious, surely there are better shoot-em-ups released in recent years (and there are. I tried the XBLA demo and was not impressed).

It's interesting as I make my way through the book that I remember some old games I used to play, and recently I've taken to looking a few of them up to see if they still hold up today. The entries in the book say they do... but in some cases I beg to differ. Of course, some of it may be that I don't like terribly hard games, and some of these older games feel unforgiving. I can hear the component of you that whinge about how easy gamers have it these days, but the fact is if I'm not enjoying a game, then why play it? A game needs to offer some challenge, but there is a threshold.

I thought I might try and make my through the book, and play the games that are available online, or possibly available on one of the console services. The older games are usually easier to size up quickly, so they don't take long, but I suspect there might be a threshold later on when the games get more involving. Feel free to chime in on your experience with any of these games.

Oregon Trail - I think I played this in school, but I don't really remember. I've just played it online. It's a bit of a morbid simulation really. I managed to make it on my first try... but 4 out of 5 of my party died and I thought I wasn't going to make it. I scored 818 points if anyone cares. It takes about half hour to play, so you might get something out of playing it.
Pong - I'm not playing Pong. I know what it is, and I can't see it being entertaining for more than 30 seconds.
Breakout - I loved breakout on the Atari 2600. I know there are other iterations in the book (like Arkanoid) so I see no need to play this version.
Boot Hill - I don't think I need to play this game either. Apparently a lot of the charm was the arcade cabinet itself, so it doesn't even seem worth looking up.
Combat - I remember playing this game on the Atari 2600. I haven't gone back to revisit it, but I did check some youtube footage to make sure it was the game I was thinking of. I don't really play multiplayer games, but I imagine this would still stand up reasonably even today.
Space Invaders - Who hasn't played Space Invaders? I don't see a need to revisit it, I played it mainly on the Atari 2600.
Adventure - I tried playing this for a little while, but I guess the bland visuals and not knowing what items were supposed to do what was a bit annoying. I think I ended up dying because I was 'stuck' inside a dragon and couldn't really move, but it wasn't clear either. Meh.
Asteroids - Like Space Invaders, I'm sure everyone has played Asteroids. I played my fair share on the Atari 2600, plus I think I played some iteration or clone on the Amiga 500 as well.
Galaxian - I gave this a bit of a go, but after a couple of games I was growing a bit tired of it. Similar to Space Invaders, the book notes its advancement because the enemies swoop down and try and attack you, but it isn't enough to hold interest for long.
Lunar Lander - I'm completing this list days after starting writing it... and I've been back to revisit Lunar Lander on multiple occassions. The vector graphics are simple, but the physics are realistic, and you need to shuttle your space ship from landing pad to pad by rotating your ship and using your thrusters, while gravity seeks to bring you to a crash. It's amazingly compelling for such an old game, though it's possible you've played a clone or successor throughout the years.
Battle Zone - I gave this one play and that was enough. I can see why it was important in a historical sense for video games, but it isn't really compelling today when we have fully 3D realms and better controls.
Defender - As I understand this is a champion forerunner among shoot-em-ups, but I found it insanely hard. While it is like a side-scrolling shoot-em-up, you can turn your ship around at any point... usually headlong first into a bullet that is almost impossible to avoid. Probably the only game of its like (able to scroll left or right) that I've played would be Fantasy Zone for the Master System, which I'd much prefer over this.
Eamonn - I tried playing this text adventure, but I just really couldn't get into it. Part of it may have been the blockiness of the writing, but I suspect I just may be past text adventures and they won't really do anything for me. Which is interesting, because I do like books and reading. When the next one comes along (and I know there are a few more) perhaps I will give it a try before writing it off completely.
Missile Command - Ah, Missile Command. Another that I played on the Atari 2600. I just tried a couple of versions then, one which was a multiplayer version, and another that is just an update. The multiplayer one was jerky and therefore not really playable, and the single player one just seemed hard to predict, though I suppose you would get used to after time. The core mechanics are still decent today, but there wasn't enough there to keep me playing.
Rogue - I tried searching for 'play rogue' and a couple of variants, but I really got a lot of 'how to play a rogue in WoW' and such and such, and couldn't be bothered trying to find one. In any case I've heard about rogues and rogue-likes, and I just don't think they would be for me. I reckon I played one on the Amiga 500 a good many years ago called Moria, which I would say I liked back then, but I doubt that would be the case now.
Tempest - I played a sem-remake, but it still seems to have all the trappings of the original, one of which is jerky movement around the 'web' that your enemies are climbing up. I have no idea what the jump button is supposed to do. I think I'd prefer to play Space Giraffe.
MUD - To be frank, I just can't be bothered checking this out. I get its history, but not being much of a multiplayer person, I just don't want to invest any time trying this out.
Pacman - Another cIassic that everyone should know. To be fair, I don't know that I have ever played an original Pac-Man arcade machine. But I've played iterations of it before, and don't need to go back and play the original.
Pheonix - I just played the original version of the game... but it took up about a tenth of my screen, so was pretty hard to play. Another variation on the horizontal-plane-only shooter, it does mix things up by having a shield you can activate to protect yourself. But with the screen that small, I could never see what was happening. I went looking for another version, but only found a fan-made sequel, but I'm not too fussed about it.
Zork - So I've given this text adventure a bit longer, but the font was a lot better. I've gotten to point where I'm somewhat stuck in a maze. I'm also wondering if something is wrong or missing with this version, because I got a place that had a door in the north, and also the northwest. But the game did not recognise 'northwest' as a word, and when I wrote 'north west' with a space in between, it just took me west. Similarly there was a place that had signs saying northwest and northeast but I couldn't go in either direction, just back the way I came. Nevertheless, I think I want more visual feedback in my games these days.
Warlords - Given there are any number of later games with the words Warlords in the title, I couldn't find a playable version of this game quickly, but I found video. While I haven't played this particular version, I have played a clone of it, pretty sure it was for the Amiga 500. Basically it is like Breakout, but with 4 players, and each player has a corner of the screen as their territory. They have a paddle that they can move around their territory to reflect back and break down your opponents bricks. In the update I played when graphics were improved, it was opposing castles whose walls you had to break down and take out their general who resided inside the castle with a well place hit.
Centipede - I don't know if the game is normally this fast, but I tried a version online that used the mouse to move your cursor around, and it was insanely fast. I wasn't really compelled by this well-known game, but maybe the version I played wasn't really faithful to the original (though it did appear to be the original graphics).
Galaga - I only played one game, but it's probably the best out of its contemporaries. However, I expect the shield in the game must be pretty powerful and take a fair number of bullet hits. I didn't count, but I got up to the 12th stage after getting a couple of shields in the early levels... Then I lost my shield. Then the game was over within 30 seconds.
Donkey Kong - I've made an amazing revelation. I always thought Donkey Kong had one screen, and that was it. I thought if you completed it, you just started it again. Lo and behold, there are actual multiple levels. So now I i feel like a gaming idiot. Still, I couldn't be bothered playing it for too long, not that it is bad, just not compelling enough to keep me playing.

What are your thoughts on any of these games, if you have played them?

Firstly, it's been a long time since I've written an editorial, so I received a number of new trackers from my "What Is a Game" blog. I usually don't just automatically track back because time restraints often mean I don't have time to keep up with blogs and Gamespot news (I'm probably about 10 days behind for Gamespot news and reviews, but always keep up with blogs). I will probably go through the list of people tracking me soon and checking out their blogs, and if I like what you have to say, then I will track your blog. So don't be offended if I don't track you.

So, I finished my final week of my 8 week gym sessions... though my final week I only did one session which was pretty abysmal. So, how did I do?

Week 7

Wednesday - Pull
Assisted Pull Up - 15 x 12, 15 x 6
Cable Rows - 50 x 12, 50 x 9
Supported Row - 45 x 12, 50 x 11
Dumbbell Shrugs - 37.5 x 12, 40 x 9
Seated Dumbbell Curls - 10 x 12, 12.5 x 4 + 10 x 3
Back Extension - 5 x 15, 5 x 15

Friday - Push
Pec Dec - Started but shoulder was sore from this so stopped
Chest Press - 30 x 6 (warmup), 50 x 11, 50 x 7
Assisted Dips - 15 x 11, 15 x 7
Triceps Pushdown - 57.5 x 11, 57.5 x 8

Week 8
Wednesday - Pull
Dumbbell Lunge - Adhoc. Grabbed some 20kg dumbbells and only did about a dozen or so in total because the Pull Up Machine was in use. But that was enough to make them sore for a couple of days! I really need to do this again when I start back up.
Assisted Pull Ups - 30 x 6 (warmup), 10 x 8, 10 x 5
Cable Rows - 50 x 12, 50 x 11
Dumbbell Shrusg - 40 x 11, 40 x 5
Seated Dumbbell Curls - 10 x 12, 12.5 x 5 + 10 x 5
Back Extensions - 5 x 12, 5 x 12
Knee Raises - 15

I've been having trouble increasing the weight for dumbbell curls, so I kept the 10kg ones handy, squeezed out a few reps at 12.5kg for the second set and then squeezed a few more out at 10kg when I couldn't do any more. Week 8 was just a terrible week for me inspiration wise and I can't really say why. Also for the final week because one of my goals was to try and do unassisted pull-ups and I knew I couldn't do it, I jumped straight from 15kg to 10kg (skipping 12.5kg) which is the lowest assisted weight possible to see how I would do.

Comparing start to finish
So I want to compare how I started in the first week with the maximum that I finished towards the end doing the same exercise. I'm going to skip the legs because I was always having problems with those and haven't really done any exercises in the last week. I will list the exercise, then list what I did in the first week, and then follow with the last thing I did for the same exercise. I will take out any warmups.

Back Extension - BW x 12, BW x 12 --- 5 x 15, 5 x 15
Assisted Pull Up - 30 x 12, 27.5 x 10 --- 10 x 8, 10 x 5
Cable Rows - 35 x 12, 40 x 11 --- 50 x 12, 50 x 11
Dumbbell Shrugs - 20 x 12, 22.5 x 12 --- 40 x 11, 40 x 5
Chest Press - 20 x 12, 30 x 12, 35 x 12 --- 50 x 11, 50 x7
Assisted Dips - 30 x 12, 27.5 x 12 --- 15 x 11, 15 x 7
Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 7.5 x 12, 10 x 12 --- 7.5 x 11, 7.5 x 7
Side Raises - 2.5 x 12, 5 x 7 --- 5 x 12, 5 x 10
Seated Dumbbell Curls - 7.5 x 12, 10 x 11 --- 10 x 12, 12.5 x 5 + 10 x 5
Triceps Pushdown - 20 x 12, 30 x 12, 40 x 12, 45 x 12, 50 x 12 --- 57.5 x 11, 57.5 x 8

Not listed as didn't complete enough to warrant inclusion - Dumbbell Flye, Pec Deck, Preacher Curls, Triceps Kickback.

So fairly decent improvement for all of them, apart from the shoulder press, not really sure what happened there. My left shoulder was sore sometimes, so I am going to attribute it to that. Also I switched up which days I did certain exercises about half way through (going from back/chest one day and arms on another to push/pull) so I think this will also have skewed some results slightly. For example, the Triceps Pushdown was easy when I started, but this was on a Friday when I hadn't worked out the triceps already. Recently it has been after doing Dips so I expect the improvement would be better if I was still doing it 'fresh'.

So how do I look?
Well, Megan says I look more muscly, have a bit more definition, and muscles are harder to the touch. While we took before photos and I could certainly take some now photos, the originals are me in my underwear, so I'd probably be breaching terms of service if I posted them. But, I did take measurements back then, and I've taken them again today. So what are the results? First will be what I measured at 8 weeks ago, and then what they are today in italics.

Chest 91.5cm - 90.5cm
Bicep Hanging 29.5cm - 32cm
Bicep Flexed 32.5cm - 33.4cm
Stomach 88cm - 86.8cm
Hips 95.8cm - 95cm
Thigh 56.3cm - 58.7cm
Calves 37.5cm - 35.5cm
Neck 38cm - 39cm
Weight 72kg - 70.5kg

I'm a bit surprised that I lost girth around the chest, but also of note is that I lost 1.5kg which was not expected or what I was going for, so maybe that is where this has come from. I'm still slightly man-booby, so I might need to work my chest a bit more. Slimmer hips and stomach is nice. Weirdly I have a bigger thigh (my left is smaller than the original, but I reminded Megan that she measured my right 8 weeks ago and did it again) but smaller Calf. So while there are no drastic changes, there are still improvements, and I think that there is certainly potential for more.

So where to from here?
I'm going to have 2 weeks off. One thing I read about frequently is that people don't often allow them suffcient time to recuperate after a month or two of solid gym work. I may go in for a personal training session, as I have a free one for joining the gym, to get a bit better oriented with the gym and get them to show me equipment I don't know how to use. I'm thinking that after those two weeks, I might go for low weight, high rep training to work off a little more of the flab around the edges while still working out the muscles. Maybe 20-30 reps, still for a couple of sets and to failure, but with a slightly higher tempo, get a bit more sweaty.

So I enjoyed writing this series, but I can imagine it would get a bit boring if I continued to do it on a weekly basis (minus last week when I missed blogging about it). Perhaps in future if I set out on a certain plan, I will blog at the start to advise what the goals are, and then at the end to see what I have achieved.

Foreword : I recently purchased and have begun reading the book 'Reality Is Broken' by Jane McGonigal, and while I have not read the entire book, these musings are paraphrased or taken from this book while incorporating my own point of view. The catch phrase on the rear cover is 'Reality is Broken sends a clear and provocative message : the future will belong to those who can understand, design and play games'. Based on the content so far, the book is recommended reading for any gamer, and probably non-gaming partners who want to better understand their gaming partners habits.

I've always pondered briefly why I like video games or what makes them so enjoyable. I'm sure most of us have had that moment where we think to ourselves, "This doesn't really offer me anything in my real life, so why do I keep playing?" Usually that momentary thought is quickly dismissed, shrugged aside because the answer is simply 'I enjoy them' or similar. Reading 'Reality is Broken' has opened my eyes up a little more about who I am and why I enjoy games.

The first thing to ask though, is what exactly is a game? The answer given in the book is brief and concise;

A game is a voluntary attempt to overcome unecessary obstacles.

I read that a few times, and it does seem like a brilliantly refined definition. But it gets you to thinking; Why do I want to overcome unecessary obstacles? At face value, that is a bit of a head scratcher. Who wants more obstacles in life? The answer is that a lot of the time, we actually want our brain to be engaged, and games offer us a way to do this. They do this by providing a goal, a set of rules to abide by, effective feedback and by offering voluntary participation.

Games offer us a goal, and these may be extremely varied. In golf, you need to get the ball in the hole. In chess, you need to checkmate the opposing king. In Gears of War, you need to defeat the locust horde. Whatever it is, you usually know explicity what it is you are setting out to achieve. These clear goals may not always exist in your work environment or other settings.

Games have a set of rules to abide by. In golf, you don't walk up to the hole and drop the ball in. You hit it from a tee hundreds of metres away from the hole with specialised clubs. Each hit of the ball gets added to your strokes, and you need to hit it as few times as possible. As a player you agree to abide by these rules. In todays video games the rules are complex mathematical equations that create our gameworld, from how fast we can run, what our weapon reload times are, how long our turns might take, how much experience we need to level up, how much damage we take and how soon it recovers and a great many more.

Games (at least good ones) offer effective feedback to let you know how well you are playing the game. In golf, you keep a record of all your strokes so you know how well you are doing for the round. For the current hole, you know how far away you are. In a role-playing game, you have a record of the experience you've earned and items that you have accumulated. A game over screen is a form of feedback; it lets you know that whatever you did was not effective, and you need to improve or change to complete your goal.

Games are voluntary. You play them because the goals and rules appeal to you; they are a challenge that you have decided that you want to overcome. We don't want to be forced to accept challenges. We want to be able to make the choice to participate.

I think an interesting phenomenon amongst video gamers in particular (though can relate to all gaming) is that some of us add even more unecessary challenges for ourselves. If none of us have witnessed one, I'm sure all of us have heard about speedruns for games where time taken to complete isn't even a factor or usually measured within the game. While video games come with their own sets of rules, some players make up new ones that weren't even in the game, just because they want to make the game more challenging. Examples include role-playing games where they complete the game 'naked' (without any equipment), action games where they complete the game while using the least amount of force possible (I'm sure I've read there are Resident Evil 4 playthoughs that fire only a handful of bullets for the entire game), or in my case I attempted to play the Halo 3 campaign while only using melee attacks and grenades (for the record, I made it a few levels in before I got bored, so I don't know if it can actually be completed this way).

Why would we do that? Because we feel like we have already gotten the most out of the games normal rules. The thing we want most from games is to be engaged. Once we master a game, we lose that engagement. We always want to be on the edge of our ability, not quite the master of it. While we aren't quite there yet, we feel a pull, a desire to better ourselves. Once we know we can't do any better, we lose that drive, and throwing in some extra or interesting rules can give us back that drive. And the fact is that hope of mastery brings us happiness, not mastery itself.

It's interesting that games, particularly video games, can engage us so quickly to almost the maximum of our potential, because the feedback is almost instantaneous. It's also interesting to note that according to the book that the reason schools are failing to educate our children effectively are because the majority have been brought up with games, and that teaching methods are archaic and far and away from the engagement and feedback systems we have for games... but that is another blog.

Have you ever pondered why you enjoy games? Is it for the reasons above, or do you think there is there more to it for you?

Have you ever added extra challenge or rules to a game on top of that normally applied in the game?

3 of my 4 books I ordered arrived yesterday; 1001 Movies You Must Watch Before You Die, 1001 Inventions That Changed The World, and 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. Alas the book that I want to read first, Reality is Broken, hasn't arrived, but it has shipped so I expect it should be here today or tomorrow. In searching for books online (I ordered them from bookdepository.com) I also noticed they had a Graphic Novel section. I used to collect comics so I might get back into them. So I'll break this blog up into two sections.

1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
Of the books above, I expect this is the one that would interest most of you. I haven't opened it to read the foreword yet or browse the list. As Foolz3h mentioned in the blog I wrote when I said I was ordering the book, video games are young. A list of 1001 video games is probably going to include some chaff. Of course the title of the book does not include the words 'best', 'greatest' or any other such synonym. So I expect the list to include a bunch of games that are not great to play by todays standards, but instead were pioneers in technology or gameplay mechanics. So before I open the book, I wanted to rack my brain for five or ten minutes, to see if I could come up with a quick list of what I expect to be in the book.

Space Invaders (no brainer seeing as it is on the cover)
Pong
Pitfall
Zork
Donkey Kong
Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros
River City Ransom
Ninja Gaiden
Wonder Boy
Sonic The Hedgehog
Contra
Super Mario World
Super Mario 64
Doom
Wolfenstein
Elite
Command & Conquer
Red Alert
Starcraft
Prince of Persia (original)
Afterburner (Arcade)
Lethal Enforcers (Arcade)
Time Crisis (Arcade)
Street Fighter 2 (at least one of the billion iterations)
Virtua Fighter
Tekken
Double Dragon
Streets of Rage 2
X-Men (Arcade)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)
Half-Life
Crysis
Gears of War
Uncharted
Planescape : Torment
Diablo
Prince of Persia : Sands of Time
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
Unreal Tournament
Quake
Super Mario Galaxy
Wii Sports
Gran Turismo 4
Forza 2
Burnout Paradise

Ok, I can't be bothered to think of any more. I was pondering this list earlier and I'm sure I thought of more. Let's see how I did...

So there was no Pitfall, Mario Bros, River City Ransom, Wonderboy (but there is WB3), Contra (but some sequels), Wolfenstein (but Enemy Territory there), Afterburner, Lethal Enforcers, Streets of Rage 2, X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ico, Unreal Tournament (but sequels are in there), Gran Turismo 4 (but preqeuls were in there).

That was a bit worse than I thought. I thought I might get a couple wrong. 14 wrong out of 47 guesses. No Streets or Rage 2? Where is the love for beat-em-ups? I noticed that Castle Crashers is on the list, which makes me glad. While browsing the alphabetical listing I saw a number of other titles that popped out that I can't believe I didn't remember. Like any Zelda game. Should be an interesting read. Heck, I might even download some emulators and give some of these old dogs a try. For the record, the first listing in the book is The Oregon Trail, and the last listing in the book is Alien Zombie Death (PSP).

Graphic Novels
As mentioned earlier, I decided to look at the graphic novel section of book depository when I went and visited. Many years ago, I used to collect comics. I was more in to the Marvel universe than anything else, and my main deviance from Marvel was to Dark Horse Comics for their Predator and Aliens series, as well as Spawn from Image, and a few others here and there. So I started doing so research, wondering whether maybe I would get into graphic novels.

So the other night, I went through my collection, and there are some I think I would re-read again. I don't think I want to get back into collecting comics on an ongoing basis; I'd rather have a story that is self-contained, rather than be left hanging each month until a new issue comes out. I've been doing some research by looking up "top 100 graphic novels" and such and found a few contenders. A common one is Maus, a depiction of Jew Concentration Camps using animals as the various races. Sounds like an interesting way of depciting these events. I expect I will stick with mostly Marvel just because I know the backstory for a lot of characters, but I also want to be open-minded.

I've considered The Marvel Zombie series, as this sounds like a bit of fun. I own The Infinity Crusade, but I'm considering getting The Infinity Gauntlet and perhaps The Infinity War (prequel series to Crusade) because I've read them before but don't own them. But there are also probably some good Batman ones, or from other stables I haven't considered. I haven't seen the movie, but everyone seems to think Watchmen is pretty good as well. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Spiderman : Carnage
So in flicking through my stack, I pulled out this story to get me back in the graphic novel/comic mood. To be fair, I think I was a little disappointed, though I suspect that may be because I am not used to the medium, and the medium itself imparts certain restrictions on the authors. They simply can't have a wall of text on one page to explain in depth how the character is feeling, something I'm used to in books, or something that can be easily expressed in movies or even video games.

Eddie Brock (better known as Venom) is in a cell with Cletus Kassidy, who is about to become Carnage. The suit that Eddie 'wears' to become Venom is actually an alien symbiote, and it comes to rescue him from his prison. In the escape, a residual amount of the symbiote is left behind, which bonds with Kassidy. While Venom has his own twisted sense of justice, Carnage is an out and out socipath who kills people just for fun. The symbiote provides him with superior strength similar to Venom, and can use the symbiote to create various shapes or weapons.

As mentioned earlier, I think I just need to shift my mindset to the fact that I'm reading comics, and it employs a different styIe For example, when Venom escapes the prison, a though bubble above Cletus Kassidys head indicates 'it's all over', but then a narrators panel sas 'No Cletus. It has only just begun!'. It seemed a little infantile at first. But I did find some of the writing effective, such as when Peter could not meet with Mary-Jane on time for a meal in the park. The narration went something like "The warmth had gone from their meal" -cut to picture of Mary-Janes face- "just as it had from her eyes". Sounds cliche but I found it effective.

The premise of the story was that Spiderman was not a match for Carnage, and needed help from the one person he never wanted to ask; Venom. While Venom hates Spiderman with a passion, he hates the idea of Cletus killing innocents even more. So Spiderman makes the hard choice of visiting Venom (who believes Spiderman dead, which happens outside of this storyline) and making him aware he is alive, so that he can elicit his help.

In places the information given seems to imply that the reader is a little dumb and can't figure things out for his/herself, and the feelings expressed and pretty basic one-dimensional, though I suspect again this is part of the medium. I have several Venom miniseries in my collection, though in doing research one blog indicated that most of these were rubbish, so I might be disappointed re-reading those. I've also got Maximum Carnage, which is another Carnage story that is much bigger than this one. Perhaps I'll pull out an Aliens or Predator story instead. Who knows, maybe more recent graphic novels have progressed in their storytelling methods, as Carnage is probably 15 years old.

I have been making comments on some of your blogs, but then when I've gone back to check other peoples comments, my comment has disappeared. This has happened on a few blogs, so it isn't isolated. That's pretty weird. So while I don't find time to comment on every blog I read (but I read every one who I am tracking) the ones I have been making seem to have disappeared. Weird.

Gamewise, I've been playing Valkyria Chronicles. It's taken a little getting used to, and I've discovered on multiple occassions that careful play is recommended. I've been half an hour or more into a battle to make a simple mistake that brings me to the game over screen (usually involving bad placement of the Edelweiss and getting blasted from behind, for those that know the game). It's a very intricate game which involves a bit of cat and mouse and trying to draw enemies into your traps (Hmm... That would make for a nice special order in the game; have one of your characters be a target for the opponents next turn, drawing them out). The story is a bit wishy washy (a piglet with wings just joined my squad as a mascot), but the gameplay is great.

I skimped on Monday exercise again this week. I had almost no sleep the Sunday night, so I had no intention of going. I tried to make it up a little on Wednesday by adding a couple of leg exercises in there.

Wednesday - Pull
Squat - 30 x 6
Calf Raises - 75 x 12, 75 x 8
Assisted Pull Up 15 x 10, 15 x 7
Dumbbell Shrugs - 35 x 12, 35 x 10

I did 30kg for squats as a warmup, but as has been happening for the last few times I've been doing them, there seems to be something rubbing or popping under the skin and it was uncomfortable, and I'm not sure what it is. Nevertheless, I don't want to do any damage, so I decided not to go to the full weight.

I was also feeling a bit light headed after the shurgs, so I decided I simply wasn't in the right condition for a workout and finished up.

Friday - Push
Chest Press - 50 x 12, 50 x 7
Assisted Dips - 15 x 10, 15 x 6
Triceps Pushdown - 55 x 12, 57.5 x 9
Side Raises - 5 x 12, 5 x 10
Pec Deck - 45 x 4, 40 x 2 (Epic Fail)

Did decent for most of these exercises, but felt like a massive fail on the Pec Deck. I suspect this is because I've done it at the end of the workout where last week I did it near the beginning, and I suspect this is where I should be doing this exercise; isolate the chest first, and then do the exercises that involve the triceps. Will do that next week.

General
As anyone who has been reading this blog knows, I haven't been getting the greatest sleep which I feel is somwhat detrimental to my workouts (including not actually doing my Monday for the past 2 weeks). So I got some natural stuff that is supposed to help, I've taken it a few nights this week and it seems to be helping. Only two more weeks and then I will be finished for my 8 weeks. I never got around to measuring myself midway, so I will wait for the 8 weeks. Also looks like I won't achieve my goal of non-assisted pullups and dips by the end of week 8, but I'm pretty happy with the progress I've made regardless.

I ordered a few books today, including a couple of video game related books; 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die, and Reailty is Broken. A roundabout thanks to JBul for the latter, as there was an interview on On To The Next Game (where JBul had his Dead Space 2 review published) with the author, and it sounds like an interesting read, about why games are important and the benefits that gamers bring to the rest of their lives. I expect 1001... will be an interesting history lesson more than anything else. It has a distinct disadvantage over other books in this series like 1001 Movies or 1001 Albums; you need a specific platform to play older games that may no longer be available, or the games themselves may not be available. These are not issues that marr movies or music; rereleases on current formats are much easier to come by. Once they arrive, I'll let you know more about my impressions.

Does anyone else have any books about video games that they've read or would recommend?

So my shorts got washed with my record of sets and reps in it... whoops. But I should be able to remember most of what I have done. Monday is pretty easy...

Monday - Nothing

So I missed my first session. Part of it was because I was tired, and part of it is that I just seem to enjoy doing the legs less. On the plus side, because I had been playing Kinect on the Sunday night and doing some jumping and various other actions, my calves felt more sore than if I had done a regular workout :) I suppose that suggests that working the muscles in different ways produces different results.

Wednesday - Pull
Assisted Pull-Ups - 17.5 x 12, 15 x 8
Cable Rows - 45 x 12, 47.5 x 12
Dumbell Shrugs - 30 x 12, 32.5 x 12
Biceps Curl - 10 x 12, 12.5 x 4
Knee Raises - 15, 15

At least I think this is what I did. I seem to making more progress in the shrugs than I'd expected, and I'm getting closer to my goal of non-assited pull-ups. I also finally added some weight to the biceps curls, but didn't really get too far with that second set. Still, I really stressed the muscles as much as possible trying to get that 5th rep out for several seconds.

Friday - Push
Incline Chest Press - 20 x 6
Pec Dec - 20 x 12, 30 x 12, 40 x 12, 45 x 8
Chest Press - 45 x 12, 47.5 x 9
Assisted Dips - 17.5 x 12, 17.5 x 8
Triceps Pushdown - 52.5 x 12, 55 x 10

Because the Chest Press machine was being used, I thought I would try the incline, with 20kg as a warm up weight. But it really didn't seem to sit right with my shoulder even at that lower weight, so I decided not to continue. I've also been struggling with the Flyes because I feel like it is putting too much pressure on my shoulder, so I thought I would go back to trying the Pec Deck out to see if that was better. So I checked my results in Week 1 - 12 reps at 20kg, and 8 reps at 25kg. So I thought I would start with 20kg because I haven't used the machine in a while and to make sure it was fine with my shoulder... and it was a breeze. 30kg? Breeze. Upped to 40kg and it was a bit more challenging, until I couldn't complete a 12 rep set at 45kg. I was pretty amazed with that, considering I couldn't do a full set at 25kg 4 weeks ago. It might still not actually be a lot of weight, but the level of improvement is awesome.

General
I think my lack of wanting to do Monday indicates I really need to shake up my leg workouts. I tried holding a single dumbbell with arms outstretched and doing a squat today at home, but I get the feeling I'm not holding my back in the right position. I can always do lunges though. What I've been reading indicates that the best exercises are those that mimic actions you would make in real life, and the leg extension and leg curl don't really fit the bill.

After relaying my Pec Deck improvement to Megan, she gave my muscles a squeeze and was genuinely surprised at my muscle hardness, and definitely thinks I'm getting musclier. So that's certainly some good encouragement.

EDIT : "It is a bit like Super Mario Galaxy. But you can also design your own levels." Heard on a radio segment about games... about LittleBigPlanet 2. Like Super Mario Galaxy? WTF?

Rather than do two blogs, I'll put some random stuff at the start, then the fitness stuff at the end.

Thanks to GabuEx who made me an awesome avatar and banner. I couldn't really think of any game that I love more than any other while thinking about what I wanted to replace my banner, but Plants vs Zombies has an endearing art styIe and it did really drag me in so I went with that. It replaced PixelJunk Monsters which is also a tower defense game so it seems pretty fitting. I wouldn't say I play masses of them, but I do have a soft spot for the genre. Thanks Gabu!

Bought a Kinect yesterday, which comes with Kinect Adventures, and bought Dance Central. So far I've finished the Beginner, and one of the Intermediate badges on Adventures, as well as playing a few rounds with Megan. She is enjoying it as much as I am, which is great. Turns out we need to move the couch each time we play which is a bit annoying but not major. We also each played a song on Dance Central, and then did a battle, and I beat her! Which is shocking because I have no natural rythym. I certainly need more practice.

Are there any other Kinect games that are worth playing? Didn't seem it from the reviews I've read. Was considering Kinectimals (god I hate that name) because it might appeal to Megan (she is a non-gamer) but I don't think I would play it for long and couldn't justify the purchase. I've been mulling over a few game ideas in my head, and I think Kinect definitely has a lot of potential, even for conventional game types if used in conjunction with a regular controller. I might blog about some ideas later.

We've also been watching Heroes. We love the show. I had already seen the first couple of seasons a few years ago, and have rewatched them with Megan. Up to Season 3 now which is turning a few things on their head. I think what is great about the show is that they aren't just people with super powers, they are multi-dimensional characters who happen to have powers too. What is also great is that as the show progresses, events change how these people view themselves, view others, or change their purpose. There is also a really blurry line with who is a villain and who is a hero, and this seems to be the main crux of season 3; a few people who we've considered 'good guys' in the last couple of seasons seem to be taking a turn for the dark side. But it seems like a natural progression of their characters as opposed to throwing in random plot twists (which isn't to say everything is justified, but they do well to avoid obvious plot holes when throwing them in). So if you like sci-fi/action/drama and haven't already seen it, I recommend watching this show.

For those still reading, here is how I did this week at the gym.

Monday - Legs
Squats - 65 x 12, 65 x 7
Leg Raise - 45 x 12, 47.5 x 12
Leg Curl - 30 x 9, 30 x4 + 20 x 9
Calf Raise - 72.5 x 15, x 11
Back Extension - 5 x 12, 5 x 12

I'm guessing on the Calf Raises, I didn't write it down for some reason, but I think that is right. Squats are a little troubling, it feels like something is grinding in my left knee when I drop down. Nothing alarming, but not something I want to tempt fate with, so I didn't push myself hard. I still don't know what I'm doing wrong with Leg Curls. Maybe I need to drop the weight and do a larger range of motion. Not much else to say. Felt like a ho-hum workout, little bit of calf burn for the next few days but not much else.

Wednesday - Pull
Assisted Pull-Ups - 17.5 x 12, 17.5 x 7, 17.5 x 4
Cable Rows - 42.5 x 12, 42.5 x 10
Supported Row - 45 x 12, 47.5 x 10
Dumbell Shrugs - 30 x 12, 30 x 11, 30 x 7
Biceps Curl - 10 x 12, 10 x 11
Knee Raises - 15, 15

Did an extra set of pull-ups, because it is one of my preferred exercises. Probably wasn't a lot of rest time between the sets though in hindsight. Threw in supported rows after cable rows, because I think it hits my back better. Went up to 30kg for the dumbell shrugs. The second set my grip wasn't quite in the middle of the dumbell, and with that weight I just couldn't hold it. So I decided to do an extra set making sure I had more even grip, but my grip still gave out as opposed to my traps getting tired. They still felt like they got a good workout though.Bicep Curls were slightly better today.

Friday - Push
Chest Press - 45 x 12, 45 x 11
Assisted Dips - 20 x 12, 20 x 9
Flye - 10 x 12, 10 x 12
Triceps Pushdown - 52.5 x 10, 52.5 x 8
Shoulder Press - 7.5 x 11, 7.5 x 7

Felt pretty good about todays workout, even though there was only improvement in a couple. Chest Press and Dips I increased the weight and did the same number of reps as last time. I seem to be straining a bit with Flyes hurting my shoulder. Perhaps I should go back to the Pec Dec and see if I can perfect it. Triceps Pushdown weight went up and reps down, but got a good burn on the last few reps.

I'm thinking about dropping the shoulder exercises altogether. During the shoulder press my left shoulder was clicking a bit and feeling sore. I probably could have done the side raises after that because that doesn't really strain it, but most of what I've read indicates that the shoulders get a workout while doing the compound push and pull exercises anyway and probably don't need to be isolated.

General
Wondering whether I should have a week off now instead of going for the full 8 weeks. I don't want to plateau too quickly. Also my shoulder seems to be increasingly sore. It is much better than when I started, but the last couple of weeks it seems to be incrementally worse each workout, and I certainly don't want it to go back to where it was. Megan says I look a bit more muscly though, which is nice to hear.

I don't know if I will quite get there within the 8 weeks (whether I take a week off or not), but one of my goals is to be able to do dips and pull-ups without assistance. That is going to be tough. Each week I am usually dropping the weight by 2.5kg, but the lowest it will go is 10kg. Which means when I make the jump from the machine to non-assisted bars, it will be a 10kg leap. Better make sure I can do 2 or 3 full sets with 10kg assisted weight before I attempt that!

Also wondering whether I drop any isolation exercises altogether, and just do extra compound exercises. For example, on Wednesdays I could drop the Biceps Curls and do T-Bar Rows. While similar to the other rows, it will hit the muscles on a slightly different angle, and the biceps are getting a workout anyway.

I'm not as cool as the cool kids though. I can't be bothered taking a photo. My list isn't nearly as big as the likes of Sandpiper, JPL or johnsteed, but I probably haven't bought a game for 6 months, aside from some XBLA titles. Mainly because I'm trying to get it down. I'm talking about my back catalogue of games to play. So here goes;

PS3
Valkyria Chronicles
Wet
Ratchet & Clank : Quest For Booty
Aliens vs Predator
Killzone 2

Gamecube
Legend of Zelda : Windwaker

360
Splinter Cell Double Agent
Lego Batman/Pure
Mass Effect 2
X-Men Origins : Wolverine
Lego Indiana Jones

Wii
Madworld
A Boy & His Blob
Pikmin 2

It doesn't look like much but that is still 14 games. Plus a couple I've started, and may get back to. I've been pretty keen to play Quest For Booty, but I don't have Crack In Time which is the second in the series, and I never seem to see it for as cheap as I'd like. At the rate I'm playing games, plus the fact that I'm borrowing some, I might start buying games again by this Christmas...

On another note, I haven't done an editorial in a while, and I thought I might do one about ratings on user reviews. I don't know if it is worth bothering, because it probably isn't going to change. But I've noted a couple of my reviews where the score doesn't match what the general concensus is, the reviews get rated as 'unhelpful'. I think in most cases the person is saying 'I don't agree with this review' as opposed to the review being helpful, well written, or sincere. My examples are Zelda : Link To The Past and Eternal Darkness, both of which I scored 7/10, and half or more people voted it down. Occassionaly I might rush a review, but I don't think they are written any worse than any others I've done. Has this happened to you if you write reviews? Do you notice how many other people rate a reader review when you are looking at it?

I'm also wondering about my avatar and banner. They were PixelJunk Monsters ones created for me by veni-vidi-vici who hasn't been active here for some time. I linked to them on her profile rather than saving them to my own, and it appears they are now gone. Anyone want to make me a banner or avatar? I don't really want one of the generic ones. But then, I don't know what I want in general. Maybe Plants vs Zombies, that would be pretty cool.

Pretty standard this week. Some good performances, some bad, I'll elaborate each section, plus some general stuff at the end.

Monday - Legs
Squat - 65 x 12, 65 x 8
Leg Extension - 45 x 12, 45 x 12
Calf Raise - 70 x 15, 72.5 x 11, 72.5 x 10

Yep, a measly three exercises. Leg Curl is normally next on my routine after Leg Extensions, but someone was using it so I went on the Calf Raises. I went back to Leg Curls after that, and was feeling light headed so I decided to stop. I was feeling light-headed for the walk home as well, which wasn't good. I felt better with the form on my calf raises, but I didn't really feel any burn or soreness from any of the leg exercises the following day, I assume because I wasn't really in the right state of mind.

Wednesday - Pull
Assisted Pull-Ups - 20 x 12, 17.5 x 6
Supported Row - 40 x 12, 45 x 12
Shrugs - 27.5 x 12, 27.5 x 12
Seated Biceps Curl - 10 x 12, 10 x 7
Hanging Knee Raises - 10, 5

I've been consistently increasing the weight on pull-ups, but only got to 6 reps this time for the second set. Thinking next week I will just make it two sets of 17.5kg assisted weight instead of trying to up it again and see how I go. Used the supporting row machine instead of cable rows because someone started using it just before I was about to jump on it. I think I may get better back stimulation from the supported row, but I will stick with the cable row when able.

Still feel like my grip strength is giving out before my traps on the shrugs, so I didn't want to increase the weight. I will probably give 30kg a shot next time. No improvement on the bicep curls, and a pretty lacklustre attempt at Hanging Knee Raises. Dropped the Preacher Curls because I figure I am already doing Bicep Curls and I don't really need to isolate it any more.

Friday - Push
Chest Press - 20kg x 6 (warmup), 42.5 x 12, 42.5 x 11, 42.5 x 7
Assisted Dips - 22.5 x 12, 22.5 x 9
Dumbell Flyes - 10 x 12, 10 x 10
Triceps Pushdown - 50 x 12, 50 x 10
Seated Shoulder Press - 7.5 x 10, 7.5 x 8
Side Raises - 5 x 10, 5 x 6
Knee Raises (Captains Chair) - 15, 12

Added a warmup for the chest press, and did a third regular set because I was waiting for the dips machine and thought I may as well get an extra set in rather than just wait. Wasn't feeling the flyes today, shoulder started hurting a bit as I extended. A little better on the triceps Pushdown, and while I couldn't get an extra rep out, I held the last one for several seconds before my arms gave out. Shoulder Press was terrible, because I went back to the supported seat and actually did worse than last time. Side Raises were also a bit crap. So it seems Triceps and Chest did better, but the Shoulder was terrible. With the Hanging Knee Raises I did Wednesday, my grip strength was giving out before my abs, so I decided to do them again in the Captains Chair (at least I think that is what it is called) today. I'm not sure whether I should do them every workout, or every second workout. Either way, I think I can do them more than once at week. As I understand it abs recover quicker than most other muscles.

General
It seems that outside of the gym, I'm not really doing all the things that should be conducive to getting the best results. The conscious part is eating better. I don't particularly eat a lot of junk, but I should be more thoughtful about what I eat that is going to help me bulk up a bit, and probably eat more in general. I'm finding myself hungrier more frequently before a meal than I remember. The part that is less conscious is sleeping patterns. I just haven't been sleeping well lately, and I don't really know why. I'm a light sleeper, and the most difficult is waking up in the really early hours of the morning; usually at that point I can't get back to sleep and just wait a couple of hours for my alarm to go off. So I am often tired, which I suspect would be having at least some effect on my workouts. I thought maybe it was a chicken and egg thing; if I workout, then I will be more tired that day and have a better sleep, but that doesn't seem to be working.

After thinking about it last week I decided to change up my routine a little bit, putting the bicep in with the back exercises to make this a 'pull' day as biceps are often used in the back exercises, and moving the triceps into Chest and making this a 'push' day as triceps are often using in the chest exercises.

Monday - Legs
Squat - 60 x 12, 65 x 11
Leg Extension - 45 x 12, 45 x 11
Leg Curl - 30 x 7, 30 x 5, 25 x 5
Calf Raise - 67.5 x 12, 70 x 13, 72.5 x 10
Back Extension - 2.75 x 12, 5 x 12

I've decided to drop the Leg Press from the list. My hamstrings felt a bit tight going in to today (even though it has been a week since the last leg workout) so I took it a bit easier to start with (hence dropping back to 60kg for the squat to start with). I still managed to do better than last week for all exercises... with the exception of Leg Curl. Which I suppose I can attribute to the tight hamstrings. Even when I dropped the weight I still struggled. I will make sure I give them some good stretches throughout the week.

Wednesday - Pull
Assisted Pull Up - 22.5 x12, 20 x8
Cable Rows - 40 x 12, 42.5 x 10
Shrugs - 25 x 12, 25 x 12, 27.5 x 8
Seated Biceps Curl - 10 x 12, 10 x7
Preacher Curls - 12.5 x 12, 12.5 x 10
Hanging Knee Raises - BW x 12, BW x 9

Improvements once again, though I still feel like in most exercises my arms are giving out before my back. I tried to focus more today on really feeling what my muscles in my back are doing and squeezing them that bit extra. I think I could shrug more, but those weights are damn heavy and I feel like my arms are going to drop off. I was also focusing more on my form. I noticed today with my Cable Rows that towards the end of the set I wasn't really pulling the weight all the way to my torso. So I might keep the weight the same until I can do that. I've been thinking the same with Calf Raises; my legs aren't really burning like they were last time, and if I'm honest I don't think I am raising up high enough on the calf raises now that I've added extra weight. They are burning when I'm doing the exercise, but I guess without the full range of motion it is limiting the effect on the muscles.

Added hanging leg raises as an exercise for the abs. It was my intention to do them at home, but as I'm adding shoulders to Friday, the list was one shorter than usual so thought I'd add it here. I probably could have done more, but I was just getting the feel for it as I've never done them before. I should probably try and bring my kness up closer to my chest too. Overall I'm happy with today, considering I really struggled to get up this morning.

Friday - Push
Chest Press - 40 x 12, 42.5 x 9
Assisted Dips - 25 x 12, 22.5 x 8
Dumbell Flye - 10 x 12, 10 x 13
Triceps Pushdown - 50 x 9, 50 x 8
Side Raises - 5 x 12, 5 x 8
Shoulder Press - 10 x 4 + 7.5 x 4, 7.5 x 9

Improvements in Chest Press and Assisted Dips, and about the same on Flyes (shoulder felt like it couldn't take the pressure, and want to work up to 12.5kg after last time). Didn't reach full reps on Triceps Pushdown, but that should be expected as the triceps got a workout during the Chest Press and Dips, whereas last week that was the first triceps exercise. Happy with side raises, and the Shoulder Press is a lot worse than last week, but I think that is because I was seated on a bench, as opposed to a workstation that has a back, which I used last week. It's interesting to wonder how much that stabilising factor would have an effect. I should probably go to standing for any of those sort of exercises so that I am utilising the stabiliser muscles and just drop the weight.

Traps feel the good kind of sore today, obviously the shrugs are really working.

General
I've had a really crap week this week as far as sleeping goes, so I didn't do any cardio this week. Considering forgoing cardio altogether at this stage. Megan mentioned the other day that she wants to run a half marathon after her birthday, about 6 months away. I'm considering whether to join her or not, but I just don't know if I can be bothered running for a few hours. I don't think I would enjoy it anywhere near as much as I'm enjoying weights. I'll keep it under consideration as this workout plan comes to an end, then maybe I will switch to cardio/endurance.