Wrestlevania

If it's for only a short while, I guess the system might possibly hold some charge in case of a power cut. If not, my "new" Xbox 360's BIOS battery was dead before it left the factory.

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Really enjoying the ambiguously-named "DJ Pete" podcast from Resident Advisor a couple of weeks ago. It's a minimalist, cinematic sort of Techno, which isn't a style I normally go for. But it's got some real pace and atmosphere to it, so I'm posting it here. On a related tack, I was doing some work with YouTube for a client yesterday and used the following as the test -- still my favourite music video: 1P3Wc-37pC4 Make sure you watch the whole thing if you've not seen this already--it's effectively a short film in its own right. (Chris Cunnigham = :tup:)

I make a point of switching my 360 off at the wall whenever I'm not using it. It's plugged into a 4-socket adaptor block, which also powers the separate 2.1 sound system I use for console audio, as well as my HD monitor. The 360's known to snaffle power whilst it's "off" but still plugged in, and you can hear the amp in my 2.1 bass speaker still buzzing when that's supposedly switched off too. So I just switch the adaptor off at the socket every time now. It's a pain in the arse somewhat, because the 360 has no BIOS battery and so the clock resets when you do this. Which, in turn, means your save games can get horribly out of sync for stuff like GTA IV (which organises saves by real-world date and time).

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We'll be the judge of that; spill your guts, n00b!

Thick McRunfast

I don't think you could even write this off as a bug; it's an oversight in story-telling.

As long as the climax is a smarming Roger Moore exploding in a cloud of fire, I don't mind.

We rewatched Quantum of Solace last weekend (at home this time) and it was a lot better than either me or Mrs V remembered when we saw it in the cinema. So I'm changing my opinion from an emphatic to a definite I also got started on the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, which seems pretty good so far (finished episode 3). One thing still really bothers me about it, though: the thinly veiled undercurrent of incest (between John and Sarah) almost makes me physically ill at times. Whether it is "clever" or not, I don't care; it makes for uncomfortable viewing and has me literally squirming in my seat.

One random seemed to suddenly get really pissed off for a moment in the previous level, though I couldn't tell if that was about being asked to work together or getting constantly leapt on by Hunters. Wasn't the same person who quit as soon as they died on the final level though. That's really shitty and a bad sport. So effing close, too...

I can't say I'm really enjoying myself very much. Played about 3 hours worth now, and there seems to be little challenge or diversity. Unless you call being swamped by random drive-up baddies while attacking a check point challenging. I'm also struggling to see any tactical merit in the game so far either. Enemies, whilst momentarily unable to pinpoint you if you're in "deep" cover, seem to work out where you are in a just a few seconds -- whether you continue to fire at them or not. This negates what should be a choice between skirting around the outside of a camp, picking off enemies, or just marching straight down the road guns blazing. I've actually been killed trying to stealthy a lot more than I have just casually running around in full view. I'm not finding this compelling at all, sorry. I'm also now able to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. at a very respectable frame rate (at last!) and, in all honesty, while the gunplay isn't as good, the environment and stories are much more appealing.

Just revealed at GDC, OnLive, frankly, sounds stunning: It's also going to ship as a standalone "setup box" type thing, smaller and cheaper than a Wii, which will also feature strong community aspects much like Xbox LIVE. Sounds very intriguing to me, in that it's a) subscription-based and you can play high-fidelity games on basically any computer. Would see an end to the PC/Mac divide, which would be nice. Not sure Nvidia, ATI and other high-end chip vendors are going to be quite so elated about it, however. That and the fact it's currently focussed on North America only at the moment, too.

Twas indeed fun. Seems like it's actually worth allowing the odd random in -- that rage quit was definitely a highlight!

This is a good thing, trust me...

The RSS has updated just in time for me to download ready for the drive home. Yes!

OK, so after the problems I had last time I finally got around to starting a new game last night. And this time, things went more smoothly. I ran into exactly the same problem as I did last time, but solved the missing instruction to trigger meeting my buddy: you must buy a weapon in the gun shop before doing anything else. What I wasn't explicit about when I wrote before was that there were no new guns unlocked in the computer--just the guns I already had on me, plus the model of shotgun many of the NPCs had been toting in-game already. But you must buy a gun nonetheless--you simply can't progress otherwise. Buy a gun and your buddy - plus a new mission contact - magically warp into the bar over the road and unlock the door for you. Very considerate of them.

In fairness, I had a double-take moment with it, too OssK.

Interesting, researched and well-reasoned read.

For Buffy, I could certainly understand that. But Firefly didn't seem to have too many loose endings to me -- even before you consider Serenity. Anyway, I hope Caprica and The Other Thing aren't great big narrative hoovers. Or that the reason the ending of BSG was so naff was because closing ideas were cannibalised for the new shows. Thinking more about the ending, it was so circular as to make the whole thing moot anyway. Like none of it mattered or changed anything at all. I can understand how that happened, from BSG's point of view, but I feel like I've had sand kicked in my face.

I still can't get past this, myself:

I think they've perhaps missed a trick in not announcing - and showing - a working set-top incarnation, including firm price point and street date. Regardless, this is potentially huge. PR guff (yes, 1ms is balls) aside, this could be absolutely massive -- especially if they licence their technology for inclusion in dedicated PC hardware (think Forceware as much as dedicated gaming card). It's making my head hurt just thinking about the possibilities actually. Imagine if manufacturers started including them in TVs, and the OnLive service offering grew to include things like Netfilx and such...

You've misread on both counts: I was referring to "zizzi" being French for "willy", and ThunderPeel was saying the restaurant chain Zizzi's food was shit, not the French.

On the filmic side of things, Mrs V and I watched Gran Torino this weekend. And oh dear, it's not meant to be this fist-gnawingly hilarious, is it..? It's B-grade straight-to-TV shlock at best, but appears to have warranted a cinematic release because it had Clint Eastwood growling and mumbling through it. You could see the dialogue setups coming scenes in advance. For instance, Eastwood's character is hounded by a persistent preacher who, upon the death of Eastwood's wife, promised he would get Eastwood to attend confession. Finally, Eastwood's character concedes and goes to church to appease the vicar (and his dead wife). And when the preacher asks, "When was the last time you took confession?" grizzled and battered war veteran Eastwood rumbles back, "...forever." And his isn't the worst performance in it either, not by some measure. Awful film.

I would concede that the latest episode of Dollhouse was indeed more entertaining than usual, and by some stretch. But why has it taken 5.5hrs to get up to something really, genuinely interesting? Also, Whedon over-egged the pudding in my opinion: Which I find less appealing.