Wow. It's been a while. I've been lurking around reading your blogs but haven't had a lot to say. Random updates.

I got an iphone, and this is the first internet enabled phone I've had. I don't know how I can ever go back. I've been thinking about getting some podcasts and I've tried a few (across various genres). Giant Bombcast seems decent as the guys seem to have a bit of fun and is about dudes playing games and having a chat as opposed to straight up reviews and news. I haven't really been listening to metal much lately, and I managed to find what could be the worst metal podcast. The presenters kept talking over the music comparing it to other bands, or citing their influences, or turning it off if it wasn't working for them. I think I want something more mainstream with more well known established stuff, not people ragging on demos. There is plenty out there... but I don't really know where to start. Do you listen to any podcasts? Anything that you think might be cool, doesn't have to be about games. I probably should listen to some news. The worst I can do is not download it :)

Games wise, I haven't really played a lot. I haven't played too much Mass Effect 2, which is the last game I was playing. I also played and finished Dead Nation which is a pretty decent dual-stick shooter. I'm hoping there is a sequel. My most played game recently is Picross for the DS. Cost me $10, and I've got so much value out of this game. For those that like puzzle games, it has a similar appeal to Sudoku or Hashi, so if you like those puzzles this will probably appeal to you. I really need to get back in to playing my other console games that have been on the back burner.

After seeing it in a shop for a while, I purchased a miniatures game, Heroscape. I had been contemplating a lot, and I said to Megan that I am going to keep going in to the shop until I buy it, so I may as well just bite the bullet and do it. I've only played a couple of games but I'm quite enjoying it. It has hexes so you can build the maps and they stack, so you can create elevations, and there are different types of terrain. Miniatures games always seem to have had a barrier of entry, and this seems much more accessible. The downside is that it also isn't as accessible because it turns out it has been discontinued at the moment, so some of the sets are hard to get or commanding a premium on the second hand market. I expect I will slowly build up my collection, and hold out hope that it gets reprinted because I think it still has quite a following.

I've also finished my first read through of 1001 Games You Must Play Before You Die. Because my computer is super slow, I've been reading a few entries while it is loading programs. I was intending to play through some of the early games to see how they hold up, but haven't had the opportunity to lately. There are a bunch that I've played, and I need to go back and check out the iphone games in particular (weirdly I haven't bought any games for it yet, and I used to buy them on Megans phone). Where other books in this series talk about their cIassics, there is a fair bit of "It's not perfect" statements in this book. There are plenty of entries that highlight the shortcomings of those games, or qualifying a positive with its limitations. As half the book is from 2000 onwards, thus recent stuff, I'm wondering how many of those entries in the last half of the book will be replaced in a new edition a few years down the line. Or will some of the older stuff suffer because it has truly become archaic? I might be interested enough to buy a new version in a few years, or at least find the list online to compare.

So quick blog, maybe I will expand on some of this stuff in their own right later.

So, what podcasts do you listen to?