Yes it's amazing but after about 2 months I finally manage to get into making a new post on here!
However, it'll probably end up as one of those babbling posts where nothing actually gets discussed in any detail, and becomes more a brain burst of stuff I think of right here and now.
Ok.........
Let's start with the obvious topic, gaming.
The past couple of months has seen me go from a 'can't be arsed with it anymore' to a 'things are picking up again' and I'm back into the bug of actually wanting to play a game most nights. Mostly due to the likes of Just Cause on the 360 (fantastic fun game!) and more recently Splinter Cell Double Agent on the same console. The latter I've not played enough to make any true judgment on as yet but so far it's more of the same from Mr Fisher in terms of playing the offline side of things. More on that one as and when.
I've also noticed that I'm sadly becoming something I despise, a gamerscore whore. Imagine, I've just finished the main story of Just Cause (a little too easy for my liking but then the side stuff easily doubles the games life). One look at the gamerscore gained shows around the 600 mark of the possible 1000 as I'd already done a couple of the side bits, some without even realising! 400 points. Shouldn't be hard to get.........should it!?
Now I understand how this damn system hooks you in. It becomes a case of 'just one more achievement, then I'll stop', but you then go for another and another. I checked the total time spent playing the game. Forty hours give or take a bit. Forty!!!! Four-Zero hours of my life have gone into it, around two thirds of that just trying to complete the achievements, and I'm still 60 away from the 1000.
My name is DJ, and I'm a gamerscore whore!
May the gaming gods have mercy on my soul!
Of course this is exactly what Microsoft want. The feeling that there is value for money in a £50 game just because it has that thing of taunting you with that constant reminder of the 1000 points you, yes you, could get. Within the first hour of powering up Sam's latest espionage encounter (Splinter Cell Double Agent for those of you who weren't paying attention at the start) I'd gone into the blinkin' achievements list. It's not like I want to get them for the fun of doing the various things it asks (some of them are secret anyway in SCDA); screw the fun give me the satisfaction of getting those points!!
When you think about it it's a clever little trick from M$ to add in these elements, keep people coming back for more, especially if there is no Live play. Plus it's little touches like these that make me realise just what a top notch job those marketing bods at M$ had done during the 360s development. I know, I sound like a fanboy (perish the thought) but it's true.
Look at the way the respective three companies stand at the moment amongst the gaming public given current coverage in the media. Sony seem to be courting controversy wherever they go, with their hand in the closure of Lik-Sang.com the latest PR disaster, Nintendo can't help but do the right thing with profits up by 50% above expectations so far this financial year, and M$ hitting a chord with Japan finally (not a big one admittedly but a good start) coupled with the slew of big titles hitting the shops over the next few months. Who would you rather work for now just based on consumer and media perception if you had the choice?
Why are Sony finding themselves in this state though? Despite PS3 delays for Europe, the machine itself does look to be very strong, with more titles coming out of the woodwork that look to be able to take on Xbox 360 at it's own game (pun intended); superb news on PSP/PS2 compatibility; huge backing from a massive installed fanbase, meaning devs will definitely be interested in making their titles available on the PS3. Yet still they seem to be hammered.
Now I'll be honest, at this point in time I'm no Sony fan, as I believe what they are doing in some respects is nothing short of arrogance and ignorance of their market, which is odd considering how long they've been here now, and that they can arguable lay claim to being the Daddies of the current popularity of gaming amongst the masses since the PSX days. I won't be buying a PS3 on launch (because you probably won't get one unless your name is God or pre-ordered years ago, and it costs waaaaay too much) nor within 6 months. However some that is also due to the fact that I did buy a 360 on launch.
That got you puzzled!
It's simple, I got home with my 360, all excited like a child with a new lolly no-one had tried before, and loved it as soon as I began using it. Three months later, the shine had gone and myself and a couple of friends were thinking 'well what happens now?'. Even with the delay to PS3 for us Brits and Europeans which should mean a stronger launch line-up than the US/Japan, I worry that there'll be this big bang, then a void for a few months before something else decent appears. If I'm gonna pay £425 to £500, I'd rather avoid that, wait until 12 months-ish into the PS3's life, then look at purchasing.
Of course reality is, as most people who know me will no doubt agree with, I'll probably get one as soon as I can. It's that thing of walking into a store when
that new game is out, or new console. Suddenly I need to buy the bloody thing. What the fuck is that anyway? Why is it any different to seeing the cover in a magazine? Why does that little black DVD box make everything else blur out around you like tunnel-vision?
My wife would say it's because I'm a big kid who gets excited at anything that bleeps and has an electrical three-pin plug.
She's right, but that's not the point.............who am I kidding, it is!
It's that bloke thing of electrical stores. Most chaps reading this are probably sitting there with a 'yup, that's me!' smile on their face. You go into somewhere like Currys; bad example, Currys suck arse unless you know what you want (sure I've gone on about Currys before. Better leave it there in case I say something I'll regret in court!).
Start again. You go into an electrical store, surrounded by TV's, DVD players, Hi-Fis, hell evfridgesges and washing machines if you're in the right mood, and feel like you've just entered frickin' Lapland, and Santa's behind the cash-desk.
Anyway, enough tangents. Look I've missed two months of this thing, I gotta make up for it! Tell you what, go make a cuppa/grab a beer/take a leak etc. and come back in a minute. I won't go anywhere, cause it's a blog you daft arse :p
*drums fingers on desk waiting*
You done? Settled?
Excellent. Well that's all for this post, see ya soon!
Kidding!
In other news, we've both recently got into Lost, as in the TV show. Well some people don't know about it, not many people granted but there you go.
I went and bought Season 1 after I managed to acquire the first few episodes so we could try it out. I think we watched three of the five I got hold of, before going out and buying the set. That was about a week and a half ago. Now we're up to Episode 14 and loving every minute of it. How the hell we didn't get into it first time I don't know, but I think a little matter of getting married may have had something to do with it. As Season 1 started on TV we were due to get married then go on Honeymoon not long after, and what with going on a plane to the US it wasn't too good for the psyche to watch a show about people in a plane crash getting washed up on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere.
Speaking of Lost, that's excatly what I'm gonna go watch now!
This time I really am done.
See you all soon people!
PS. just realised the spellcheck thing may have screwed up a few bits of text. I'm feeling too lazy to correct them right now so you'll have to put up with them I'm afraid!
