Long time no see

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. Almost a month, even.

I'd like to say it's because I've been uber busy, having started a new job, and getting a major publishing deal ... but that would be a lie.

Okay, the new job thing isn't a lie. Still no publishing deal though. Ah well, what matters is people like Liberator's Ruin.

So what have I been doing? The truth is, not a lot. I've played games (Batman, Dark Souls and MW3 - all brilliant), and worried about lack of money. Which, considering I've bought three games in the past month, you might consider a little odd, but I have lots of credit with Blockbusters at the moment, so no actual money was spent on their purchase.

I've also been getting on with Serial Psyence. Now that the plan is finished, I've started writing the flashbacks which run over the course of the main story. I'm not sure how well it's going at the moment. I'm almost 11,000 words in, and it feels like 11,000 words of utter rubbish - that's what I get for having hardly written a word in 6 months - and it's highly likely that the first 15,000 or so will be trashed, but we'll see how I feel once it's all finished. I'm quite looking forward to writing the main story. I've never written a crime thriller before, so it should be interesting.

Depending on how things go, I may post some sketches in the future, detailing the arcology the story takes place in.

Oh, and anyone waiting for the next part of that piece I started a few months ago, you may have to wait a while longer. I will finish it, I promise!

Once I work out where it's going.

3D is so overrated

I'm quite good at backing the wrong horse. I had this shoved in my face in big, neon letters when I went to the dog races for Heather's Grandad's birthday (now there's an awkward sentence - moving on!).

I bet on about four or five races, and did I win a thing? No. There's a reason why I don't gamble: I never win.

Turns out, I do the same with tech, too. First it was the Gamecube. Not many games. Most were good - brilliant even, when you get things like Metroid Prime - but there weren't many. I bought one.

Then HD DVD. There I was, thinking the tech was just as good, if not better than blue ray, except Sony, being the (mostly) smart buggers they are, bunged a blue ray played in the PS3. So most people instantly had a HD drive. And voila, blue ray won (fortunately, I bought a blue ray player after the dust had settled).

Now it's the 3DS. When it came out, I was justifiably excited. Having played on one in game, I could see how amazing it was. Then I bought one, with ghost recon and pilotwings. After a while, I forgot the 3D was even there, so I wasn't getting much of a benefit. Every now and then, I'd go, 'oooh,' but they got less frequent. I got Zelda, and hardly played it. It's one of my favourite games, yet I can't be bothered. In seven months, I've barely touched my 3DS. I took it on holiday with me, then spent most of my time playing games on my iphone.

The problem is twofold. There aren't many games. Yes, I know it's only been out for seven months, and the DS took a good couple of years to pick ip (hell, even the xbox 360 only had a few games for a year), but there's hardly anything in development that I'm interested in. Then there's the price. 3DS games cost around £30 - £40 each. I could buy an xbox game for that! The great thing about DS games was that they at most cost £30, but you could always find them for £20 or less.

These days I'm limited in my games buying, so I can only pick up a full price game once every couple of months. Inbetween, I might splash on an XBL Arcade game, or a pre-owned or sale game, but I can't justify paying out for a lot of games any more.

So that's it. I'm selling off my 3DS, and the money is going toward an iPad instead. It's got plenty of games, and there are often sales, where games go for dirt cheap (I recently picked up a couple of Gameloft games for £0.59 each). Plus, if I get a keyboard case, I can use the iPad for productivity.

I still have my Xbox 360, and that's my go-to machine for most of my gaming these days (Akham City next Friday!)

I think devices like the iPad are the future of mobile gaming - but what do I know? I always back the wrong horse!

duke Nukem disappointment

I got Duke Nukem Forever on Thursday (yeah, I know it was released on Friday, but that’s the beauty of Game’s first to play system). To be frankly honest, it was not worth the 14 year wait.

Maybe I’ve matured too much to enjoy the puerile humour. Maybe I’ve gained an appreciation for subtler story telling thanks to games like Half-life.

Or maybe, DNF is just shit. Now hold on, before you get on your high horse. I love Duke 3D. I have the trial game on XBL, and even after 15 years, the game is still fun to play. It’s a testament to the game that you can still enjoy it even now.

I’m finding it hard to pin point quite what it is about DNF that I don’t like. The graphics are pretty shoddy – muddy to the point you think it’s been dragged through bog land for thirty miles. The characters are annoying, the weapons are mediocre (you can’t even carry enough ammo like you used to), and worse, you’re restricted to carrying two! I’m loath to carry the rpg, one of the mainstays from Duke 3D, simply because you only have 5 rounds. Miss a shot at your peril.

Normally, I don’t mind the two weapon proscription. It’s a common enough feature in COD and Halo and Crysis 2, but Duke’s an arcade shooter. It just doesn’t belong. Someone mentioned on a forum that the reason the game only allows you to carry two weapons is because you can’t switch weapons easily on a console. Really? I can name a few games that allow you to carry multiple weapons: Bioshock 1 & 2, Red faction Guerilla and Armageddon, Gears Of War 1 & 2, and lest I forget, Gearbox’s own Borderlands.

The level design is frankly appalling, and the enemies … I miss the old pig cops. The ones that squeal when they die, and attempt to shotgun you to death (and were bloody good at it too if you weren’t careful). But these new ones that jump at you are a pain in the arse. It's great when you hit them with a shotgun blast as they fly through the air, but you're more than likely to miss than hit, and have to go through a button tapping exercise to kill them, all whilst being shot at.

Which brings me to the final point. The controls are shoddy, either too twitchy or too mushy, never just right, and make aiming at an octobrain an exercise in frustration.

Was DNF worth spending £30 on? Not a chance. Good job I got £30 trade in for it, which is going toward Ocarina of Time 3DS this Friday.

On a side note, I rented Red Faction Armageddon to tide me over till Friday, and that is fun.