08.26.07
Posted in Gaming at 1:29 pm by Silesti
So I’m going to be playing host to a 6 year old this evening (baby-sitting duty) and I decided that it’s about time he got into XBox360. So I thought I’d check everything out and AARRGGH! A red ring of light! Immediately panic set in and I had visions of my gorgeous machine going away.
A panicked call to Microsoft sorted me out of course. 4 light is nothing more that a badly connected AV cable. I felt so stupid, but it just goes to show how we get programmed by what we hear and read. My first thought was total failure. For any other piece of kit I have I’d have gone through all of the plugging/un-plugging before even getting worried.
Anyway all is good and we’ll be having fun in cars later!
Silesti.
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08.22.07
Posted in Gaming at 9:31 pm by Silesti
So here’s the scoop; I haven’t finished this game yet and I’m not sure that I’ll even get around to it. Let me fill you in!
The graphics are fine. Good render speeds, smooth action and very effective visually. The gameplay however leaves a lot to be desired, and I mean A LOT!
The piece of action which has tipped me over this particular edge is the ‘Hoover Dam’ section when playing as the Autobots. Bumblebee is working his way into the control enter and has to bash down a number of doors to get there… fair enough! OK, behind each door is a wheeled drone which immediately scoots off to alert it’s masters (why they have to do this in person I’m not sure, but moving on..) agan I have no real problem with this as a concept, but you’d think after the first one, your dumb character would be ready to blast seven shades of oil out of the things as soon as they appear, but no, every time Bumblebee simply watches idly by as they trundle off and you have to transform and drive after them to make up for this ineptitude! Rubbish!
Oh! And that brings me on to the controls! I don’t like having an on/off switch as an accelerator and brake. Why do I have to have to put up with this when there are a pair of perfectly good analogue controls availble being used for weapon and shield control.. AS ON/OFF SWITCHES!
I switched over to try the game as the Decepticons at this point and, actually enjoyed the game quite a bit more. Is this wrong? The wanton destruction, the mayhem, the carnage (OK so there’s actually no carnage so to speak, but the hint of it is there.) Am I an Evil character?
The answer is of course no. (I think) it’s just that it’s more fun to smash things and win than to be careful and win.
I may re-visit this one at some point, but for now, it’s going on the ‘I should have thought twice.. it’s a movie tie-in’ pile.
Silesti.
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Posted in Gaming at 3:47 pm by JohnB
So the core of my gaming life is the XBox360. It’s hooked up to an LCD monitor and the sound gets shunted through my surround amp. The wireless steering wheel is really the only peripheral device I’ve got, other than the standard controllers of course.
I recently got myself a second-hand PSP, not so much for the gaming as the media side of things. A handy bit of software from Jesterware has let me rip my DVD’s so that, my favourite MP3’s and a decent sized memory stick means that I’m good to go for train and plane journeys.
As time goes on I’m sure that I (and my alter-ego) will be back here with updates!
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