vanillaflavoureddavid

Watch me ollie!

Monday, April 18, 2005

Plumbing the Depths of Nerdity

Allow me to regale you with a tale from real life. Specifically: "what I did with my Sunday".

The missus and I met up with a couple of mates of ours, one of whom tried to trick me into wearing the same shirt as him, so he could claim to waitresses and other passers-by that we were twin brothers. I'm not sure why.

We went to eat breakfast, which took far too long, but was tasty when it arrived. We discussed plans for some sort of new entrepreneurial venture on which we could all retire. I think we came up with some halfway decent ideas, but I'm not sure I can see us actually following through on any of them.

Then the missus had to go to work, so we all walked her down there. She found out that her lunch break was only a couple of hours into her shift, so the three of us decided to hang around and wait for her.

So here's where the nerdity comes in. Lately, the four of us had been indulging something of a jones for boardgames. And while we were standing around discussing what to do with the two hours before the missus's lunchbreak, we happened to be standing right next to a display of boardgames. So, in a joking sort of a way, I suggested "hey, why don't we buy a copy of Risk, and have a game in the cafe, until we're ready to go to lunch."

Which, I'm a little ashamed to say, is exactly what we did.

Little did I know, however, how long a game of Risk actually takes to play. I have vague memories of playing it as a child, but I couldn't remember anything specific about the game. The box looked cool, though.

So, 7 hours later, we have to leave the store, because it's closing. We've spent the entire time hunched around a table, playing a single game of Risk, except for the twenty minutes or so it took us to eat the pizza that we ordered from the shop around the corner. 7 hours of playing Risk in a non-operating cafe in a bookstore, while the missus worked her entire shift in the next section over. Some young girls laughed at us.

And the worst part is - the board was in a very similar position to where it started, when we were forced to abandon the game. Each of the three players had a similar number of units, and each held exactly two continents each.

I'm forced to admit, however, that it was actually a hell of a good time. Now that I know that you can't get a game finished in two hours, however, we'll plan differently. The next time we play, there will be privacy, more comforatble seating, music, snacks, and an accessible supply of booze.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Mer.

Okay, so this has been the week from hell, on so many levels. Rather than discuss it, I'll simply direct you to somewhere more cheerful.

Na. Na nana nana nana na Katamari Damacy.

Etc.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Well, there goes that idea.

EA really aren't taking any chances these days, are they? This worries me.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Resident Evil 4

... is officially awesome. I spent a bit more time playing it on the weekend, and I'm dying to get back to it. I stopped playing late last night once it all got a bit intense for my tired brain - I was trying to winch this cannon up to the top of a tower, and some giant horned religious fanatic bastard lobbed a steaming great big ball of flaming pitch at me out of a catapult. That's hardly cricket, is it?

Anyway, the game still has some of the clunky bits that let you know that it's a Resident Evil game, but they actually seem really endearing now that they've fixed up the more substantial problems that had been starting to bog the series down. I always liked the series (particularly the second one, which I played through about five times), but the controls, camera, inventory system, crummy puzzles and worse acting were really starting to get on my nellie. This time around, however, it's a hoot. It's still got the feel of a Resident Evil game, in terms of its setting, pacing, characterisation, etc, but it plays almost more like a Metal Gear Solid title - you can actually move and aim and look around and all that fun stuff.

Upshot? It's a more enjoyable, more skill-based game, without the frustration and the clunkiness. On the downside, it's not as creepy as the previous ones, and I haven't really had a "jump out of my seat in fear" moment yet. It's still dripping with atmosphere, but having a more capable character at your command takes some of the edge off the terror. Whatever sort of creepy giant human centipede thing comes crawling out of the darkness, you at least know that you can have the muzzle of your shotgun in its face in under a second this time around, rather than having to slowly rotate on the spot while it gnaws at your ankle.

Probably game of the year so far, bearing in mind that I still haven't been able to play MGS3, so I can't make that comparison. Those of you with Gamecubes should pick it up the next time you're at a game store. Those of you with PS2s should be able to wait just a little bit longer, and then do the same. It's a little ripper.

The new Daft Punk record.

Okay, so apparently everyone else hates it.

So what? I'm loving it. It takes a bit of getting into, just like both their previous records did, but once you click into the right mindset, it's a real winner. It's clever, playful and coherent. Sure, it's not exactly emotionally charged, but I'm not sure every record needs to be. If it had an overarching emotional tone, I'd say it was something like "grumpy".

Um...

Look at this. Go on.

I'm not sure it requires any particular explanation.