Apopcalypse Now

Well, I picked this up, and I must admit I’m very very impressed.

In itself, it’s a good fun racing game, but as part of the bigger picture of the future of games it’s a good sign.

For those unaware, Burnout Paradise is a racing game, set in a freeroaming city. The concept is as simple as : pull up at a set of traffic lights, rev your engine and a new race begins. There is no interruption in the flow of gameplay to select what event you’re going to take part in, as the events are just there.

Sticking with the interruption free interface, to go online, you hit right on the d-pad twice, and that’s it, you’re online. In the same place in the city, in the same car, with minimal interruption. As said before, if this is the way that freeform gaming is developing, then we’re in for a good generation.

Core of the game aside (I’m not a games reviewer, and probably never will be), it’s the little touches that really add of the overall ‘quality feel’ of the presentation of the game. Leave the controller along for 30 seconds, your car engine switches off. Leave it a little longer, and the game enters a ‘Photograph Paradise’ screensaver type mode, showing the impressive environments off set to classical music. It just oozes a quality, polished presentation.

I’m really looking to getting my teeth into the completists element of the game. The game counts the number of specific billboards and private property fences you smash through, with a combined total of over 500… Most of these are well hidden, or challenging to smash. Coupled with the 120 or so events, it should provide a decent amount of longevity.

I’m quite pleased with the soundtrack too. I mean how can a game featuring Faith No More, Guns & Roses and Adam Ant be bad?! :p

Anyways, I’ve rambled like a terrible games journalist for long enough (without actually telling you a great deal about the game…), so I must depart.

Also, I’ve met the commitment I made in the previous entry, so you can all bugger off ’til June now

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

Crumbling to pressure, I’ve decided it’s about time for the Annual Update!

The new year opened with a bang, Becka (my good lady wife) and I began a beginniers course at Manchester Climbing Centre. Two days later I tried to put my index finger into our mashed potato. Spurting blood everywhere (much to the glee of our kitten, who was apparently a little peckish for flesh), we managed to get to Manchester Royal Infirmary, who after leaving us sat in reception until 0100 taped it up and sent us on our way. About a week ago I removed the butterfly stitches and dressing to be presented with half a numb fingertip that is very sore under pressure - not at all conducive to climbing, or to my horror gaming. It’s recovering, slowly (I can game again!), and the story could have been more interestingly put (Becka’s account of the evening is terrific), but it’s getting there. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue climbing again in a couple more weeks. The moral of the story here is : Don’t use your finger as a chopping board…

Speaking of climbing (which is hopefully our new love, Becka has been signed off as a competent climber! This means that she can safely demostrate the ability to climb top-roped walls, and belay too. The plan (once I’ve completed my climbing course :() is most likely that we will start climbing at the new Awesome Walls centre in Bredbury. I found the time this week to finally go and have a visit, and well….the name of the centre says it all really. Very VERY impressed with the facilities, and because it’s only recently opened, it’s not constantly busy unlike the Manchester centre.

Progress with the car (D’argo - a 1980 Mini Clubman Estate for those not in the know) is progressing…………….. More parts are arriving this week, and he should hopefully be ready for welding and MoTing within a fortnight. THERE, I said. I’ve comitted myself now…

Work of course is dreary as always (as it is for us all I’m sure!). My line manager is off on paternity leave for the next three weeks, so we’ve extra responsibilities in his absence. That and extra pressure… Fun and games eh?

Anyway, I’m rambling. I’m posting from work (which I shouldn’t be), but my shift finished fifteen minutes ago so meh. I’m going to ramble off to Tesco and get tea and Burnout Paradise. I promise to blog again before February actually begins! (There, I’ve comitted myself again!)

My iBook’s hard drive took it upon itself to die last night. Goodbye 15gigs of music (unless I can recover them from my HFS formatted iPod?). Goodbye various bits of website development… Goodbye Panther…?

Oh well, it’s another thing to save up for

RIP PiBook :p

I left work early last night as I was feeling like death. I got home about 17:30, and jumped in the bath. After 20 minutes or so of shivering in a nice hot bath, I went straight to bed, and spent the next 12 hours sweating and tossing and turning (much to my wife’s dismay - she woke up, all concerned when I stopped moving!).

Either way, finally got out of bed at about 14:00. Decided to have a quick blast at CoD4 MP, got my ass handed to me as I can’t aim straight in my current condition! Went back to bed about 17:30, up again at 21:00. more uselessness a CoD, and now I can almost guarantee I’m not going to be able to sleep.

Apparently my boss thinks I threw a sickie as I’ve a long weekend booked off, I’ve got a company van that I was meant to be returning today, and I still feel like the poop. Ah well, c’est la vie. They can come and collect it if it’s bothering them that much…

If I’m completely honest, I’ve absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to put by way of content in this thing. The long office day is now drawing to a well deserved close…

Well, with a ninja-18-hours-later edit, I’m going to throw up a list of typical car owners. These opinions are based on my experience within the motor trade. Don’t be offended if you don’t fit into these particularly accurate character types…

Old Jaguar - Eccentric ex-businessmen, resplendent in tweed.
New Jaguar - Eccentric businessmen who are too good for a Ford, yet drive one anyway
Mercedes - ‘I own the road. Mercedes Benz’ word is gospel. Everything you know about cars is wrong. Also, indicators are an optional extra’.
BMW - ‘I couldn’t afford a Mercedes’
Alfa - ‘I couldn’t afford a BMW’

I think I’ll add some more as the mood takes me, any suggestions? Comment!

Well, where else to start? Welcome to my blog. Whether you’ve stumbled upon it accidentally or been linked to it from elsewhere, you’ll no doubt find it incredibly uninteresting!

Still, it gives me somewhere to put my musings :p