Second Day At Work

Well I started a new job yesterday, so today was my second day at work. I have to say it's pretty cool, with my first day being pretty easy. While the office is pretty busy I just got asked to do something then left alone until I had finished, no asking if I was nearly done or any pressure at all. As far as first days go it wsa pretty sweet, especially when I found out we don't have filters on the computers, so I can browse what I want to and search for things on the net (Cat Porn) when I am waiting for my next job. I wasn't even looking at the clock to see when it was home time, as a result I ended up staying an extra 20 minutes until I got asked why i hadn't gone home yet.


So with my first day done and left feeling happy at what a cushy job I had the day before, I went to work for my second day. It turns out that word has got around that I can help out with other bits and bats on the pc, so I am now getting asked to do other stuff like spreadsheets, registers and reproducing booklets that they have lost the computer file for. This is all after what I know I have to do in the mornings like making sure all the work placements have turned up and marking them off on the register before phoning through to another department to tell them who isn't in.

The sad thing about it all is it's great, as every little job I am asked to do only takes me a short amount of time. Since half the people aren't really great with computers they think everything is a big job, when really half the time it's pretty simple. As a result I get to say sure I will have it all done in about an hour, then just get it all done in 10 minutes or so and do something else. (Taking my DS in to pass the time on Friday to save sitting there all the time)


Since I have shown an ability to work with a few different things on the computer, my name has been put forward to go and help out with the learn direct group in the other building. If I can get on there helping out from time to time, it would be great for my resume. I may not know a lot of things, but I know a few bits of things here and there so I should be able to bullshit my way through it. I think it is just mainly working with beginners though teaching them how to use Microsoft Office and Excel. (I have used Excel for 2 days and it seems piss easy)

The only bad things are I keep getting told to take a break, even though I am already doing sod all and trying to browse the net in peace. There is only three women I would sleep with that work in the offices where I am, and last of all there is no decent graphic software for editing so everything looks crap. Which ended up with me uploading an image to my photobucket so I could fix it at home for a project I have been working on today


September 2007 to December 2008 life pretty much sucked balls for me, thank fuck 2009 seems to be better. I know this entry was pretty shitty but meh, expect me to get back to moaning how the women in the office refuse to sleep with me, or posting something game related soon. Heck I might even throw up a picture of me looking like a spaz at work.

Wasting Money On Games

You know what its like, you see a game on sale or you pick up the game you pre-ordered 5 months before and then put them on your shelf to play at another time. As time passes you think I will play that in a while, yet a few months pass and it is still sat there on your shelf, and your left wondering why you have bought the game if you can't be arsed playing it.

I think this happens to quite a few people, myself included as I browse my shelves and see unopened games I really can't be arsed bringing myself to play. Only the other day I bought the PS2 game Odin Sphere because it was on sale and I may play it one day, but then again I probably won't and it will just sit on my shelf collecting dust.


I really am quite terrible for doing this, I walk into the store for one thing and end up coming out with about 5 and thinking to myself "Shit I needed that money for food". I just can't seem to resist buying games just so I add to my collection. Worst still is when I have bought brand new full price games, as those things aren't exactly cheap. Then there are the times I decided to import a game of plump for the special limited edition with the bonus dvd I will never watch.

It is scary to think how much money I have spent on games just to have them never getting played, or playing one or two of them for less than an hour and putting them on my shelf to never play again. I could trade them in but I wouldn't get anything for most of them, since you lose so much on trades. (Yet shops like Game sell them second hand at double or triple the price they give you)

It's not just games either, I have a Wii that last got touched about 4 or 5 months ago when I bought a new game for it. It is now just sat there unplugged annoying me saying "Wow you bought me and all these games for nothing" and it's true I have spent about 50 hours playing on the Wii since I bought it just after launch. The worst thing is the game I have played most on it is Wii Sports, so why the heck did I buy the other games for it when I knew I wouldn't play them.


Here are just a few of the games sat on my shelf still sealed.....

• Fallout 3 (360)
  
• Condemned 2 (360)
• Tiger Woods 09 (360)
• Madden 09 (360)
• Eternal Sonata (360)
• Devil May Cry 4 (360)
• Project Silpheed (360)
• Need For Speed: Undercover (360)
• Opoona (Wii)
  
• Final Fantasy 4 (GBA & DS)
• Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)
  
• Freekstyle (Gamecube)
  
• Baiten Kaitos (Gamecube)
  
• Tales of Symphonia (Gamecube)
• Soul Calibur 2 (Xbox & Gamecube)
• Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (PS2)
  
• Odin Sphere (PS2)
  

....and the list goes on with games on multiple systems, never mind the games I played for an hour or less.


The real crime in all this is I have fantastic games like the ones listed above, and yet I am playing crap like Jumper, My Horse and Me 2, Space Chimps and many other crap games that I shouldn't even think about playing. I guess it's time I took a step back and looked at what I am doing as a gamer, maybe it is time I started playing some of these games before buying any new ones. At least if I play a few of them it would not seem like a complete waste of money as it does now.

Wild Arms 5 Piracy

I really want to own Wild Arms 5, I have all the other games in the series and even imported Wild Arms: Alter Code F. There is just one problem though and that is the price, ever since the game got released in April 2008 I have been trying to purchase it. The only problem is that it only got a very limited release in Europe, as such the only ones I have managed to find are on ebay.

So why don't I just buy it from ebay? Last time I checked it was on sale at £100 new and it has been this price since about a month after it came out. £100 for a game that is supposed to sell for £25 is just bullshit, and it's the normal case of some asshole wanting to make money from people that want a game in short supply.



So why don't I buy a second hand copy of the game? Well the main reason is the ones I see all have French game manuals and sell for £60 or so. While the American versions sell for £40 second hand. I think it's great that after buying all five of the other games in the series, Media Vision and 505 games decided to screw over the fans of the Wild Arms series buy not making more copies of the game available, and having a system where some game stores don't even know the game exists, let alone recieved copies of the game for sale.

I guess I only have 3 options open to me.

1) Pay through the nose for a second hand copy with French game manuals.

2) Pay for a second hand copy from America I may not be able to play with my import boot disk.

3) Get a pirated version of the game that I would have bought if 505 games made more copies available in the first place.

Looks like I am going to be taking option 3, so thanks for the free game Media Vision and 505 games, I guess I deserve it for being a loyal fan of the Wild Arms series. It's nice to see your into rewarding your fanbase with free games, and also encouraging people to get them by pirating the games you spent so much time and money developing.

Stumble It!

Toilet Gaming

We all have done it at one time or another, your sitting on the toilet at home or at work doing a number two and you know your gonna be there a while. So you do the only thing you can do to make the time you spend in there less boring. (Yes I said doing a poop is boring, it just doesn't entertain me, and don't deny doing it) So you whip out your Phone,DS, PSP or other gaming device and play, often staying sat there playing away with your pants round your ankles longer than you need to.

So just what are some great games you can pick up and play for a quick 15-45 minute go, while locked in the bathroom? Well here are some of my favourite games to play....

Well my phone is a piece of crap, I am not one of these people that has to have the latest I-phone or Blackberry. I have a Razor phone that looked good about 2-3 years ago. Since I got a free game with my contract every month I have played some average and some great games on it. The ideal game to play is a simple puzzle game like Jewel Quest or the superior Jewel Quest 2.


The game play is simple you just line up 3 jewels to clear a line and light the tiles behind them. If you however line up 3 skulls they wipe out any tiles that are lit up where they were before you cleared them. I used to play this game all the time at work and it doesn't seem to get old, it's an addictive game to say the least and perfect to play on any phone. (Something that can't be said for 99% of phone games)


The DS is a great piece of kit, I only own the original one because I didn't feel that upgrading to a DS Lite was really worth it. I have to say that the number of games available is fantastic with the ability to play GBA games as well Nintendo gave everyone what they love, a backward compatible system. Personally I love to play RPG's on the DS, they are perfect toilet games as you can either continue the story, or just sit there and level up your characters by getting in some random encounters just so you can beat that boss a bit easier further along in the game.


This may look like a surprising choice but so far this game is everything you would expect to see in a Naruto RPG. Why would I play a Naruto game I hear you ask, well my kid has managed to brainwash me by forcing to watch Naruto with him for the last year or so. As a result I am now turning into a fan of all things Naruto. Path of the Ninja 2 see's some evil Ninja's releasing some evil spirits from a cave, and you must get 5 magical mirrors to seal the cave before the large demon escapes. Basically its an old school RPG like you would see on the Snes years ago, with the touch screen coming into play to do your chakra moves. (Basically special moves a bit like using magic in another RPG) The party system see's you being able to use a host of Naruto characters as you go about your mission, in this turn based RPG. (One to import if your in the UK as it still hasn't been released over here yet)

I no longer own a PSP, I still own about 25-30 games for the system though just incase I end up buying a new one in the future. I doubt that it will be any time soon though, as the PSP while being able to do a lot of things always felt a bit lack luster to me, and really uncomfortable to play on for more than about an hour.

Everybodys Golf features characters with oversized heads and a whole host of courses to play through. As well as this you have loads of items to unlock and purchase to improve your golfer, from better clubs to some new snazzy pants. The game just reminds me of Tee-Off on the Dreamcast, which was one of the most enjoyable golf games I have played to date. While Everybody's Golf doesn't improve on Tee-Off it is definitely on par with it. (Sorry I couldn't resist the bad golf pun, I guess I can't hit a hole in one all the time.) As each course takes around 3-4 minutes to play the game is perfect for a quick 9 holes while your otherwise engaged.

Now I know not many people have a Neo Geo Pocket Colour, but the few that have will no doubt have heard of this game and its SNK version counterpart. The Neo Geo Pocket was far superior to the Gameboy and Game Gear, the only things that really let it down was that nobody can compete with Nintendo when it comes to hand held's, and they had very poor third party support and as well all know without games your system sucks.

SNK Vs Capcom Card fighters Clash was released in two different versions, A Capcom version and SNK version. I managed to get both with my Pocket Colour, and there is very little difference between the 2 apart from the cards used in each version. The game sees you walking around and challenging people to fights using cards, kind of like Yu-Gi-Oh except less gay. The game basically sees you going around and getting more powerful cards, as you try and work out what your best strategy is with the cards you have. It's not the most thrilling game in the world, but that is why it is perfect for those lonely gaming sessions that include just you and your porcelain throne.

All four of the games are great in their own right, and are worth playing while not using the toilet. To those people still saying "ewwww" at the thought of using a system on the toilet, stop using your phone on the toilet or reading in there, it's just as disgusting.

Why do we stay up and watch crap films at 3am?

Over the last week or so I have sat down and watched some really bad films on tv, or ones that I have seen many times before. In doing so I have stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning just to watch the end to a film that I already know the end to or don't really care about. It just seems that I am drawn into watching these films no matter how tired I am, and the best thing is the next day I sometimes can't remember what I stayed up to watch.


So just why do I keep doing it? I know I am not alone in doing this and many others do the same thing. I am just curious why we all keep subjecting ourselves to this kinda thing. It's a bit retarded to say the least, do we really need to see 2 Fast 2 Furious or Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift for the 5th time? Then there is always some crap film on from around the 80`s that we wouldn't watch any other day of the week like the Dolph Lundgren flop Masters of the Universe.


I really need to stop watching crap in ther early hours of the morning, if anything just for my own sanity, something that needs saving with the extra amount of crap stuff shown on TV over the festive period. If you could O.D. from watching crap TV I think I would be probably be six feet deep just from the last 2 weeks or so.

Thats not to say that some good stuff hasn't been shown, but it is all stuff I have watched before like Uncle Buck, Conan The Barbarian, Big Trouble In Little China and one or two other films everyone has seen a million times.


Could it be I am to lazy to turn the TV over or even off? I don't think it is, I just seem to be captivated and half to watch these kind of films to the end. It really is pretty sad that I am watching these films, when I have other stuff I could be doing instead, I guess I am just a sucker for watching crap and stuff I have seen many times before.

Resident Evil Degeneration

I really liked the first two Resident Evil films, however I really hated the third film and felt that they were just clutching at straws with the storyline. After watching it I thought that I would never waste my time watching a Resident Evil film again, that was until I borrowed my mates imported version of Degeneration on DVD. If only the writers of the action films got together with the writers of this anime then Resident Evil may have a future instead of turning into a running joke of bad films.

The film starts off with showing various new channels featuring storys about Racoon City and protests against a pharmaceutical company called WilPharma. As people fear another outbreak like the one seen 7 years early in Racoon City. There are also some terrorist threats made saying that the T-Virus will be unleashed on American soil unless the truth about Umbrella and Racoon City is made known.


Shortly after this we get to see Claire Redfield arrive at Havardville Airport to be greeted by an indian lady and her niece. Needless to say shortly after chaos ensues with Zombies attacking the airport. From here we have a 90+ minute wild ride as the plot unfolds and Leon S Kennedy makes his appearance as the STARS officer sent to deal with the situation. There are a few nice twists and turns along the way and there isn't to many dull moments in the film, it is pretty action packed and really worth watching. If you hated the Resident Evil live films don't let that put you off, as this is the kind of film you want to see with the name Resident Evil.

Neglected

Well it appears that I have really neglected my blog as of late due to random crap and the bullshit known as life. I am still an admin over at Console Heroes just about, I really do wonder sometimes if the time everyone has put into the site has been worth it. I know the obvious answer is yes, but at times I just feel so frustrated by it all.

This year I have quit the review team then rejoined it, 90% of the time I really hate writing reviews and know that I am crap at it. (Heck I am crap at most things but meh)

I just cleared out my friends list earlier on today of all the people I never game or talk to over Xbox Live, it just seems a waste having people on there you never speak to or play games with.

I have also recently picked up an R4 card for my Nintendo DS, so with a bit of luck I will soon be playing some of my Snes games on the DS as soon as I locate a working emulator that will run with it. Hopefully they will have a Megadrive version as well.

Nothing else to report other than I have decided to fall well and truly off the wagon tonight, so I should be back once I have run out of money and booze.

Happy Fucking New Year