It seems like I complain about the Metriod Prime games all the time, and the complaints I have are valid. The save point system SUCKS. I hate jumping off some ledge, knowing that I need to loop around a long path of rooms to get back to the save point that I was at, and then real life interrupts my gaming, so I have to either turn it off, and lose the rooms I just finished scanning, or leave it on for god knows how long. The multi-stage bosses are so damn annoying. It chains in with the save system, being that if I could save anywhere, I could defeat "Giant Bug Boss: Larva stage", then save, and deal with the adult version later. Instead, I have to grind through the larva, then the adult, then the dark adult. It is really tiresome after a short time. That said, I keep coming back to them, because Samus is such a badass, the story is told in such an engrossing way, and the gameplay itself is really fun.
Civilization 4, especially with Beyond the Sword, may be my favorite game of all time. I am trying to get a second turn-a-day game started up, and this one should be huge. Sixteen players, on a map meant for 9! It doesn't look like there is anyway to get all 16 people on-line at the same time, so no getting a huge number of turns in at once, but hopefully everyone can dedicate some time over the weekend. The first few turns of a Civ game are so boring, but so crucial. Also on the Civ 4 front, I did not manage to be the first to sail around the world in the other Turn-a-day game. In fact, it was done by the last guy who needed it, the guy who has a 30% point lead on the next guy down, and almost a 5x lead over the guy in last place, points-wise anyway. I can't decide if I'm more impressed, frustrated, or pitying of this guy's Civ skill. He seems like an all-around good guy, so I'll feel bad when I start burning his cities down. That's the price you pay for being out in front.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Currently working on...
Last night, hell, most of my gaming time over the weekend, went into Metroid Prime 2. Seriously good game, even though I really hate the save point system, and some of the gaps between saves and bosses are just mean-spirited. I'm well past where I was when the first Save got corrupted, and I can finally move in water the way Samus is supposed to be able to - the game gives me about 30% done, so I figure I'm close to halfway through. Taking a page from Certis' notebook, I'm going to focus on one single player game at a time. Metroid Prime 2 gets my attention now, and either Bioshock or Psychonauts is next. Bioshock is really tempting me, because I don't want to risk having more spoilers tossed in my face, but I think I have to go with Psychonauts since I don't know how much longer it will be free on GameTap.
I got a good Pokemon match in against Antonio; he went with an Eevee team, which was really fun to see. I felt a little bad about beating it up so badly, but I have my guys trained to do max damage, and I know the type advantages a little better than he does. I hope he keeps venturing out from just doing uber Legendaries, it makes for better battles.
Still messing around with Perl and Python at work, mostly monkeying around with existing scripts, so it doesn't feel like I'm learning it, more just getting a feel for what other people have done.
I got a good Pokemon match in against Antonio; he went with an Eevee team, which was really fun to see. I felt a little bad about beating it up so badly, but I have my guys trained to do max damage, and I know the type advantages a little better than he does. I hope he keeps venturing out from just doing uber Legendaries, it makes for better battles.
Still messing around with Perl and Python at work, mostly monkeying around with existing scripts, so it doesn't feel like I'm learning it, more just getting a feel for what other people have done.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Sick kids and grown up time
Archer has the flu. Poor guy, we put him through the pain of getting a Flu Shot, and then he gets a different strain of it. Three days with a fairly high fever, and he's just miserable. He actually napped two days in a row! I commented to a friend that I saw him playing TF2, and that I couldn't join him because of Archer's illness. He didn't seem to get that I didn't want to be tied to a multiplayer game, preferring to play something that I could pause and walk away from.
Ironically, Archer did wake up a few times, and I was playing Rock Band (singing and guitar) so I didn't know it. Allison got to stay with him all day, and then most of the night, too. I was able to get him to get back to sleep around midnight, so I was able to help her out then, at least. I can never decide if it is frustrating or sweet that Allison took care of things; I think it depends on how she reacts to it.
Ironically, Archer did wake up a few times, and I was playing Rock Band (singing and guitar) so I didn't know it. Allison got to stay with him all day, and then most of the night, too. I was able to get him to get back to sleep around midnight, so I was able to help her out then, at least. I can never decide if it is frustrating or sweet that Allison took care of things; I think it depends on how she reacts to it.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Current gaming
Lately I've been playing a ton of Rock Band on the 360, all of the downloadable songs are like a direct injection of addiction juice: I just got the Oasis three pack last night, great songs to play.
I'm getting in a good helping of Team Fortress 2 on the PC, it is fun, but damn frustrating when the people I play with are all dramatically better than I am. I can sort of justify it by saying my computer is getting old, and it hurts my performance, but I think in reality, I am getting old.
I've been doing daily attempts at the Burnout Paradise Demo on the 360. I really want to get Burnout Paradise, but the demo has this awful habit of locking up my 360 after a few minutes. My latest suspicion is that going too fast makes some chip get too hot in the 360. I will have to rent the full game and see if it still locks up, if not, I'm buying this game, it is just so much fun with a small part of the city and one car, I can't wait to see it with the full map and more cars out there.
I usually play Gears of War on the 360 every Friday night. Nothing caps off a week like going machine guns and chainsaws in two teams of 4. I'm so very inconsistent in that game that it isn't even funny. I can go 5 rounds as the first one dead, then hit a round where I take out most of the enemy team. It tends to stay fun, even when doing poorly, and the FIOS connection makes me a good host, so I get to contribute even when I'm doing terribly.
I am still involved in a turn-a-day game of Civilization 4. After nearly three months, we are up to 800AD. I have gone from last place in points, to third, and now back to the middle of the pack. I've established friendly relationships with the only two nations I've seen, and soon I will be venturing out into the open waters to attempt to make contact with the rest of the world. When I can afford the time, there is a group of players I join on Sundays to play a game. This is a rare opportunity for me, and so far I have only participated twice, but both times were really fun. This game just never gets old for me.
I try to keep up with raising Pokemon in Diamond on the DS. Allison just LOVES mocking me for it, but I love the strategic aspect of raising the little guys for battle, planning how to get the best moves for them, and taking them into a real competition. Sadly, McGuire doesn't really play his Pokemon games much, so I tend to be matched up against the CPU, or rarely one of McGuire's friends who is a great opponent and a really good kid. I love the internet for even making this possible.
My iPod has Peggle on it, which gets whipped out every so often, it really is a perfect 5 minute distraction.
On the list of games that I really want to play, but am having a hard time making the time for (this gets embarrassing):
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Super Mario Galaxy
Mario Strikers: Charged
Bioshock
System Shock 2
Vampire: The Masquerade
Psychonauts
Halo 3
Chromehounds
I'm getting in a good helping of Team Fortress 2 on the PC, it is fun, but damn frustrating when the people I play with are all dramatically better than I am. I can sort of justify it by saying my computer is getting old, and it hurts my performance, but I think in reality, I am getting old.
I've been doing daily attempts at the Burnout Paradise Demo on the 360. I really want to get Burnout Paradise, but the demo has this awful habit of locking up my 360 after a few minutes. My latest suspicion is that going too fast makes some chip get too hot in the 360. I will have to rent the full game and see if it still locks up, if not, I'm buying this game, it is just so much fun with a small part of the city and one car, I can't wait to see it with the full map and more cars out there.
I usually play Gears of War on the 360 every Friday night. Nothing caps off a week like going machine guns and chainsaws in two teams of 4. I'm so very inconsistent in that game that it isn't even funny. I can go 5 rounds as the first one dead, then hit a round where I take out most of the enemy team. It tends to stay fun, even when doing poorly, and the FIOS connection makes me a good host, so I get to contribute even when I'm doing terribly.
I am still involved in a turn-a-day game of Civilization 4. After nearly three months, we are up to 800AD. I have gone from last place in points, to third, and now back to the middle of the pack. I've established friendly relationships with the only two nations I've seen, and soon I will be venturing out into the open waters to attempt to make contact with the rest of the world. When I can afford the time, there is a group of players I join on Sundays to play a game. This is a rare opportunity for me, and so far I have only participated twice, but both times were really fun. This game just never gets old for me.
I try to keep up with raising Pokemon in Diamond on the DS. Allison just LOVES mocking me for it, but I love the strategic aspect of raising the little guys for battle, planning how to get the best moves for them, and taking them into a real competition. Sadly, McGuire doesn't really play his Pokemon games much, so I tend to be matched up against the CPU, or rarely one of McGuire's friends who is a great opponent and a really good kid. I love the internet for even making this possible.
My iPod has Peggle on it, which gets whipped out every so often, it really is a perfect 5 minute distraction.
On the list of games that I really want to play, but am having a hard time making the time for (this gets embarrassing):
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Super Mario Galaxy
Mario Strikers: Charged
Bioshock
System Shock 2
Vampire: The Masquerade
Psychonauts
Halo 3
Chromehounds
So this is a blog...
So, with Kim starting a blog, and me just now realizing that I have an account already, (Thanks, Google!) I figure "what the hell", I'm important enough for my thoughts to be on the web for everyone to see.
With this swollen sense of importance, I was able to grab the name Infinite Ego; I'm sure those of you who know me will appreciate that one.
With this swollen sense of importance, I was able to grab the name Infinite Ego; I'm sure those of you who know me will appreciate that one.
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