Quick PC Build Log

So I haven't done a blog post in a long time and I've realised I'm a compulsive procrastinator so have a quick build log/images of my PC build that I did last week for my 21st!

Reciving new parts is a little like Christmas, so much anticipation and boxes and wrapping fly everywhere...and occasionally manuals, but no one needs those...right? So I spent about £970 on this build including delivery from Aria.

-i5 2500K (3.3.GHz)
-ATI 7870 GPU
-750W OCZ Modular Power Supply
-64GB Crucial M4 SSD
-1TB Segate SataIII HDD
-Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advance Cooler
-Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Case
-Gigabyte Z68-UD4 Motherboard
-Sony SATA Disk drive
-8GB Corsair Vengeance (Low Profile) 1600Mhz Ram

Fresh from delivery:

So I started to assemble it all, checking that everything was correct and orderly for the post test, all good so far:

The heatsink was a little awkward, so I had to alter my usual (and correct) fashion of post testing outside the case in lieu of affixing the backplate with the motherboard screwed down to the gorgeous, sexy corsair case:

Post test was successful on first try which was brilliant! Then started the cable management which I really get a kick out of doing. I love having a neat system inside, not only does it look good, it promotes airflow allowing heat to dissipate correctly. Usually I would take the top HDD cage out to allow direct airflow to the GPU, but I had some difficulty cable managing the third HDD in so its located in the upper shelf. She's looking like a sexy beast now if I do say so myself:

A pic of spaghetti junction behind the motherboard tray. All tied down, there is method to this madness, just a limited amount of space to do it in:

All done! Looking gorgeous with my newish monitor. I also picked up a mechanical keyboard for a hefty price, but it was well worth it - gaming and typing is orgasmic on it, I can't go back to membrane keys now. I'm still running the same mouse and mat that I have been for the past 4 years and I can't think of using anything else (perhaps a mamba in a year or so time) as I love it. A very slick looking build if I do say so my self:

The SSD is well worth the cash. I have windows installed on it and a few drivers and once the bios is done initialising windows takes about 10-15 seconds to load in, meaning that the computer boots in about 30 seconds. It's like using a Mac. Windows experience index lowest is 7.5 with the CPU which can be overclocked with everything else at the maximum 7.9 Battlefield 3 and all my other games run very well. BF3 I get between 55-70 FPS on Ultra. Team Fortress 2 around 300 FPS, L4D 200ish. Metro 45-75 and crysis 2 50-70. It's a brilliant system and I haven't done any over clocking yet! Some pictures of the front of the case:

All the insides are sound damped which is glorious, I can barely hear the thing and there is no difference in acoustics under load. Brilliant case. It has loads of fan filters and hidden doors too:

So happy to have a powerful gaming PC that will see me through for a long time and I can throw another graphics card in at a later date. I had to persuade myself not to get a GTX680, I would have had to made some sacrifices and I love my build as is.

I also did a build for a mate as well last month and that turned out brilliantly:

There's something about building PC's that gets me excited and its also relaxing as well when everything goes smoothly.

It also wouldn't be a blog without an awesome gif either.

A Day With Ubisoft

Recently I was invited to attend an event with Ubisoft that showcased all of the upcoming titles that had been initially shown at the E3 2010 back in June this year from the company. It was like stepping into a little holiday location (in Chelsea, no less) complete with ice cream, popcorn and a multitude of screens hosting the publishing outfit’s latest demos. Trying to avoid getting too excited was certainly quite a difficult prospect! With everything from Sony’s PlayStation Move and Microsoft’s Kinect, through to Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2 to try out, there was plenty on show. Whilst you can catch up on my thoughts about Just Dance 2 and Shaun White Skateboarding, here I will break the Cubed3 taboo and talk about the non-Nintendo titles on show, and, more specifically, the Kyoto Company’s competition in terms of Sony and Microsoft’s new motion controllers that are due to hit later this year. This blog will also be in two sections so be sure to check out part two. We’ll see where this goes shall we? See you on the other side. Enjoy!

Microsoft’s Kinect, and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
I’ll jump straight into the deep end with one of the biggest contenders, Microsoft’s Kinect, which has raised heads across the Industry in terms of the tech featured behind the device. In short, it’s a camera that maps the player in 3D space and allows them to interact in the gaming world on-screen. My first thoughts on seeing the Kinect module in person is that it is rather on the large size. Quite a bit longer than Wii’s sensor bar and almost as thick as the Wii itself (though obviously not as deep), if you plan on having movement capabilities from all three companies, Kinect will take up the most space below your TV.

Playing the device is like nothing I have experienced before, and believe me, it felt so alien. Whilst movement-oriented gameplay with the Wii Remote and PlayStation Move (more on the latter later) focus on a solid controller in your hand to flail about with, Kinect is nothing but your body, which feels both natural...and extremely weird at the same time. This odd feeling came from seeing your body moving on-screen and touching objects featured there, but not actually coming into contact with any matter in the material world. Perhaps the most the surprising thing was that the device actually worked, far better than I could have ever imagined, especially given my initial doubts when first hearing about it. Whilst I imagined this kind of technology appearing in another ten or so years, Microsoft has instead delivered it, right here and now in the flesh.

Taking on Ubisoft’s Your Shape: Fitness Evolved was entertaining. It accurately measured my height, shoulder breadth and other miscellaneous pieces in what can only be described as a Superman-esque x-ray; again, it felt strange but all rather high-tech, showing off how accurate Kinect is. The demos available for Fitness Evolved included one from each of the modes; Personal Trainer, Gym, and relaxing exercises such as yoga. Starting up with the gym session, which had me cross punching boxes, it was remarkably precise with only a slight amount of detection lag. Not feeling flexible enough (as well as not wanting to embarrass myself to passers-by...) I opted not to do the yoga class but went for the upbeat personal trainer class instead. This snippet had me lunge punching in time to the on-screen teacher and wow, you really do work up a sweat! Kinect forces you to do the exercise as accurately as possible otherwise it will not count your move sequence.

As far as what this particular demo showed me, Kinect does work; quite well in fact. Whilst accurately assessing my body as I made a fool of myself to make sure the exercises were done correctly, it soon lost that weird feeling and became more natural. While it works for these type of games, and there are many possibilities that it could be used for, I can’t imagine running on the spot to move around inside a game world. You will still need your controller for more traditional experiences, unless Microsoft comes up with a friendlier proprietary input device. As it stands, Kinect is impressive technology and works for the ‘casual’ games, but it needs more titles to appeal to the veteran audience to warrant a purchase at its currently hefty ����£130 price point.

Playstation Move with Racket Sports and Ruse
Here is a device a little bit closer to home in aesthetics and function, PlayStation Move. Surprisingly the wand is lighter than the Wii Remote, and considerably lighter than Wii with a MotionPlus attachment. As for the overall ergonomics of the device, it sits in your hand as comfortably as the Wii Remote does, with easy access to the five face buttons and the underside trigger. However, the start and select buttons are placed rather awkwardly on the upper sides of Move making it difficult to reach in-game. The Move has one main difference compared to the Wii Remote too, and that is the glowing orb on the end of the wand. It’s satisfyingly squidgy, so you won’t be able to harm anybody if you accidentally whack your friends with that part of the controller. The orb itself glows different colours depending on the player or actions on screen, and it even (somehow) tracks if you cover it up with your hand, which is nice to know as, since you’re waving your hand around, it is bound to get covered up at some point.

As far as games go I got to try out Racket Sports, which in essence is Wii Sports: Tennis, featuring beach ball, squash, ping pong, badminton and tennis. Racket Sport’s similarities to its Wii counterpart is uncanny. The players move automatically to the best place on the field to return the ball, the arenas themselves look very similar (albeit with a new theme for each game type). However, there were some pretty pressing negative matters. I don’t know whether this was due to the game’s code, the Move controller itself or some other external factor, but there was quite a lot of noticeable lag. Taking a swipe at the ball took a second or so for it to register in-game, which made playing the title pretty difficult as it required relatively quick reflexes. Motions themselves also had to be overacted, and sometimes weren’t recognised by the PlayStation Eye camera that helps Move to work. This put a dampener on the experience as a whole, but judgement shall be reserved until more games show up.

There is one genre that is sorely missed on consoles, and sadly enough, the Wii as well. We have our shooters, puzzlers and adventure games, but where are all the real-time strategy (RTS) games? This is one genre that that is near non-existent on the Wii, possibly due to the power or lack of demand. It seems, however, that Ubisoft are tapping into that potential and are bringing Ruse, a popular board game that has recently been re-invented as a video game for the PC, and wildly enough, will now be featuring on the PS3 exclusively for Move. Many of you have probably guessed by now that this brings control over your territory not unlike a mouse would on the PC, one of the reasons why it has never worked on conventional controllers. Players are now able to flick in various directions to open up sub-menus to build barracks and weaponry as well as selecting different squads through the pointer. Thankfully, the lag that was experienced with Racket Sports was not present on Ruse, making the play seamless and effortless. This isn’t a stripped down version either; everything remains intact from the visuals to the day/turn based combat system. If this takes off, hopefully we may see some more RTS titles hitting consoles, hopefully including Wii, since so far the main examples have been the superb ANNO and the average SimCity Creator.

Carry on to part two!

A Day With Ubisoft Part 2

Welcome to part two, lets carry on where we left off....

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
As a massive fan of the past games, I was eager to see what Ubisoft had in store for us with the next iteration of its Assassin’s Creed franchise. On the show floor they had a demo of the beginning of the single player story mode which an Ubi-guy walked us through (no hands-on), as well as nine or so booths set up for online multiplayer. As the single player was demoed to us, the action looked much more fluid with enemies being dispatched in a flurry of attacks without the need for the slow counter-attack system of the past games, as well as being able to pick items up such as axes and throw them at oncoming attackers. Brotherhood features Assassin’s Creed 2’s Ezio as a master assassin with a whole order in the palm of his hands. Instead of dispatching enemies yourself, you can order your comrades to do it for you and quite literally walk into your contract’s house to kill them. Of course, you won’t be able to just do this for every fight; there is a recharge feature in use here to keep the play a little more challenging. It is shaping up to be a very good title to say the least.

Many of you may be wondering how on earth multiplayer work for such a game. Well you can relax, as it works pretty well, actually. In the demo, players could choose from a plethora of characters, each with their own unique abilities such as ‘run faster,’ ‘change your appearance’ and ‘multiply yourself to distract your enemies.’ You are then sent into the arena (essentially a small portion from the game) to hunt down another player whilst you are being hunted down yourself. You get more points for stealthy kills and lose your contract if they are alerted to your presence and get away or you kill the wrong person, which is pretty easy to do. Personally I bolted across rooftops and slowed down when targets were in sight, which made it harder for people to follow but stealth less apparent. It’s all about finding the right balance between stealth and movement to win the game, as well as predicting opponent’s moves. Oh, and did I mention that the crowd are all replicas of the in-game characters? Anyone could be your enemy. Gripping stuff.

Tom Clancy blowout
That’s not all that was at Ubisoft’s event however, as they were also showing a game demo of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, which featured the players deep behind enemy lines, stealthily taking out enemies using a whole host of technology, such as cloaking devices, enemy locaters and an all-new and improved cross-com system that allows you to see the field of view of your squad mates, and ultimately take out the target along with any surrounding foes. Speaking of the squad, it seems Ubisoft has opted to improve the enemy AI considerably so that you no longer need to give them specific attack and defend orders; the AI is now smarter and they operate separately on the mission to take down enemies and make play more fluid, whilst always being there when you need them. It’s not all stealth however; we were given a taste of what happens when all hell breaks loose, which as it happens is a massive fire fight with an intuitive cover system and destructible environments, so you can’t stay in one place for too long lest you want to succumb to a storm of bullets. Future Soldier is shaping up nicely and features some impressive gadgets and gameplay, not to mention that it looks a hell of a lot nicer than Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter in terms of scenery, character models and general attention to detail. If they manage to make the game balanced with the use of devices such as the cloaking system, this should be a title to look forward to in the future.

Sticking with the theme of Tom Clancy, Ubisoft was also eager to show off a demo of H.A.W.X. 2, which features the same ridiculously over-powered jet fighters taking to the skies in all-out warfare. Essentially it is the same game as in the past, but they have made many improvements across the board, as well as including new missions. Taking off is now much faster and adrenaline-fuelled than it used to be and the weapon systems have been upgraded to become more user-friendly and, ultimately, more deadly. Ubisoft has also taken players’ complaints from the last game on-board and made changes to the ‘night cover/sight/attack’ system that plagued players of the previous iteration. There really isn’t much to more to say about H.A.W.X. 2, other than it is very similar to the previous game. However, what was shown was only really a taster. If you like fast-paced dogfights then this will probably be a title for you. Be sure to keep your eye on this one, because what was shown barely scratched the surface of what the finished product will be.

To Conclude
With many new titles to explore, what is written above barely covers the experiences that were had. The biggest crowds were around the new Microsoft and Sony controllers, new technology that everyone was eager to try. I’m not sure which one has more potential, but I’m partial to say that the Move will be better due to its lower price-tag and also due to the fact that it is familiar and I have an idea of what type of games will accompany it. However, I wouldn’t rule out Microsoft’s Kinect either, as this is new technology and has the most undiscovered potential as nothing quite like it has been done before. It’s hard (or easy, depending on which way you look at it) to see how the games for the system will go, but as I said before, the games have to come for Kinect before we see its true potential.

New controllers aside, the games that were presented show an impressive year or so for Ubisoft. They are all looking pretty stellar with no laggards in the mix, though particular interest must go towards titles such as Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. I’ve gone on for a fair bit of time here to cover as much as possible, but all good (and long) things must come to an end. I hope you have enjoyed this dip into the other side, and catch you again soon!

I'm not leaving

Contrary to previous blogs around this time, I'm not gonna pull the standard trick. Just to say that I'm going away to italy on holiday for a couple of weeks to Italy. I'll check in from time to time on my ipod but I'll see you guys on the other side! I'll be reading, playing pokemon, and most importantly, eating a life's supply of Ice Cream!

I think I'll leave it at that, too late to write a long blog (though this does have to be my shortest yet!)

Ciao!

p.s. If my star inbox is empty when I get back, there will be blood! ( Just kidding)

Obligatory once-a-thousand-post blog

What? 4000 posts? Already? Dayum, doesn’t time fly! A lot has happened in my life over the course of 1000 posts, I’ll keep this as short as possible to prevent the inevitable TL;DR syndrome that seems to be a factor in a ‘I want it now’ society, ah what a world eh?

So within the last 1000 posts, I’ve successfully joined, made friends and finished my first year of Business & Management at Oxford Brookes University. I have to say, it has been a real blast! Keeping busy with new found friends, going out to various clubs and bars, having the odd tongue wrestle (hehehe) and generally doing what students do; Studying 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.....2 weeks a year (yes, thanks FB). Hopefully I have passed the first year rather successfully, I’ll find out in the next few weeks I suspect. Can’t wait to start my second year and begin to plan my year in industry....Something business & game related would be good....just to keep the interest flowing - anything is good, but I would like to find an industry that I am comfortable in, but business is business.

Some of the more acute/regular (and sound of mind, I never said I was however!)of you forummers may have noticed that I have come on board this very site as a news poster along with Stewart Lawrence (AKA StuLaw) and Ross Marrs (AKA Marzy). Along with that, I’ve been helping out with the reviews, you can check my, better late than never, review of Avalon Code out too! As we speak I’m getting ready to write another! C3 has also opened up a few interesting new prospects via whisking me off to different events, the last being the Monster Hunter Tri hands on back in February - and the next being, well, you will have to wait and see won’t you! Keep your eyes peeled! But it’s been fun, and I’m getting back into the swing of things again as the final few uni weeks shook up my ‘C3 time’ schedule somewhat, but I’m back now!

I have also gone multiplatform (HUZZAH!) as apposed from Wii and PC, now to be joined by the black beast that is the Xbox360 (nah, not the George Forman of a PS3 - though forgiven in its new slim design). This has given gaming a new leash of life for me, as my PC was struggling somewhat with newer titles. It is nice to actually look forward to a game and actually be able to play it with some decent quality and no frame rate issues! However, it has made my PC slightly obsolete, but I still jump on there for some L4D2 etc, as if I was to get it on Xbox, no doubt that Microsoft would make me pay for all the extra DLC, whereas valve love PC too much - There are plenty of advantages to it. Now opens up a new door of fun online games with friends (Can’t believe I’ve been missing this) but Xbox’s online capabilities are pretty superior if I do say so myself.

Anyway, enough of Micro-steal-your-money-soft, how about that Monster Hunter Tri eh? I told you back in February it was going to be something special, and boy, was I right! Loving every minute of it, it’s the game I turn on for an hour, only realise it has been dark since the last time it was light! Getting through it at a steady pace whilst juggling old and new xbox catalogue games (open worlds!) as well as socialising.

Other than TV’s imploding, and the amount of good game releases that have managed to empty my wallet on copious occasions this month (seriously, before E3 is meant to be deathly quiet on the game front! Has the world gone mad?) As well as securing a summer Job, there hasn’t been that much that has gone on; just flitting through the viscous jelly that is life. I also think I’m going to pluck up the courage to ask a girl out that I’ve been thinking about a lot too (seriously, I can’t get her out of my head), I just find that kind of thing to do. It’s strange, I’m not socially inept in any way and I can get a whole room of people to like me in a matter of minutes (MAGNETISM) I struggle when it comes to the beginning of relationships....I’ll work it out, or cry myself to sleep, either way it’s going to happen!

Jesus! This was going to be a short blog! 761 words later.... You guys should give a listen to a band that I’ve been enjoying over the past few days, they are called Band of Skulls, if you have Spotify, give it a listen, and I’ll try and fit a video from the old tube of you’s below.

I wonder what the next 1000 posts will bring? Love? Dispair? Red Rings of Death? Find out in the ne....when I can be arsed to write another blog, I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids.

A Day Trying Monster Hunter 3 ~ Tri

At the beck and call of the 7:00am alarm, I stumbled out of bed, but rather than be groggy, I was excited, because that was the day I would sit in on my first launch conference, and I can’t think of a better title than Monster Hunter 3: Tri. After a hurried breakfast and brisk walk to the bus stop, in a dusting of snow I might add (still!), I hopped on the coach to London to meet C3 Staff Member Stuart Lawrence for the first time. After the initial, slightly awkward greetings we were on our way and chatting like lifelong friends heading towards London’s Science Museum where the conference was to be held.

Upon entering the building where the event was to take place, we were to shown to the main foyer, most of which was dominated by a cut-out depicting the front cover of Monster Hunter ~tri’s box art (which was conveniently roaring). To the left, a door similar to that found on the official website was set up, which is where the conference was to take place. However, the right-hand door caught my eye as one of the employees entered it, completely set up with many ready-to-play versions of the game. My fingers started to twitch in anticipation of what was to come! But first the conference had to be sat through, which in itself was entertaining.

Ryozo Tsujimoto and Kaname Fujioka ascended onto the stage after Knights in shining armour (no, really!) had marched down the corridor to knock on the doors of the so-called ‘Monster Hunter School.’ Everyone took their seats, acquired their goodie bags and gave to the two Japanese developers a hearty round of applause. Tsujimoto-san jumped straight into the conference with Fujioka-san comically using a cow’s skull and human arm for pointing mechanics throughout the presentation, showing off an all-new trailer to whet our appetites. During the talk he explained the world of Monster Hunter and how they had “pushed for the highest possible graphics, and I (Tsujimoto-san) believe it is the highest possible quality.” I definitely have to agree with him after seeing it in action; it’s staggeringly beautiful. He followed up by discussing the ability to fully customise your characters and weapons, thanks to the introduction of weapon classes such as the ‘Bow Gun’, ‘Great Sword,’ and the newly announced ‘Switch Axe.’

Next ‘Professor Kaname of Monsology’ took centre stage to explain some of the monsters’ traits, with many of the designs and behavioural patterns having been gained from studying real-life animals. We were treated to video clips to outline each point he made, such as territorial behaviour, where many smaller creatures will attempt to take down a larger class one that has invaded their space. Some monsters may appear weak but have special abilities, like the Qurupeco that has the ability to mimic cries of other monsters, and not only the small ones either, the ones that make you need a new pair of underwear! Monsters also behave just as a real creature would, in that they become fatigued during battle and their attacks become weaker. Many will try to fly away to feed and, in turn, build their stamina back up. This, we were promised, was just a small taster of the ecology featured in Monster Hunter ~tri and we would have to play the game ourselves to find out the rest…

Now the room on the right-hand side became available to everyone, and you could tell they were all as eager as me to get their hands on the title. Right in the middle of the room were four screens set up in a circle for players to try their hand at the online multiplayer, whilst around that were multiple seats and screens set up for the two-player arena and single-player story mode. Stuart and I jumped straight into the two-player split-screen arena and I was surprised at how comfortable the Classic Controller PRO was, and after a bit of fiddling, how well the controller worked with the game (incidentally, the team behind Monster Hunter 3 helped design the Classic Controller PRO). After choosing the pre-made Great Sword class and Stuart the Bow Gun, we headed into the arena and the first thing that hits the player is “Wow, this is gorgeous” and “I have to take down that thing?!” Once finished with the first two monsters, we proceeded to the final creature, the Barroth. This ‘thing’ was huge, and very well defended with a solid outer coat of rock and literally no openings for attack. After it had wiped us out three times, the beastie was finally slain thanks to a combination of teamwork based on long range (Bow Gun) attacks and short range (Great Sword) distractions. By no means is Monster Hunter 3 going to be a quick, easy game for the player! The Barroth alone took around 25 minutes to take down with the need to be constantly on guard. It was nerve-wracking, but the final result was worth it.

Next we launched into single-player mode and started off as newbie hunters. The story presents itself as so; the village of Moga has been plagued by earthquakes and they believe it to be the work of the recently arrived sea-dwelling monster, Lagiacrus. It is, henceforth, your job as a hunter to solve the village’s problem, but something tells me it’s not as simple as taking down one monster. Even though it is single-player, your character does have an odd little mask-wearing companion, called a ‘Cha-Cha,’ that goes through quests with you. Throughout the game you are able to develop this character and attain new masks that affect its personality. This game looks even better in the single-player aspect; early on the title throws a jaw-dropping amount of draw distance at the player, with creatures flying round a massive gorge whilst everything remains pristine and perfectly functional, with no slow-down at all. In the small snippet of gameplay that we were privy to, the focus was on questing, which also taught the player how to survive in a world where monsters and humans co-exist through a natural tutorial system. The main meat of the game is here, and sadly we only saw the smallest portion of it, but I can add without any hesitation that it is very good. Another little function that I picked up whilst exploring Moga Village was in the hunter’s home, where you are able to retrieve arena data directly from the Wii Remote itself, suggesting that if you take your controllers to a friend’s house for a bit of two-player arena action, you are able to keep the emblems and other data acquired and use them on your own copy of the game. At last the feature revealed back when the Wii was first unveiled is being put to good use!

As for the online multiplayer, one word perfectly describes it: Astounding. This is where the game really steps up a notch or five, with four players communicating to take down large foes. It all feels so natural and is definitely a seamless extension from the single player element. Stuart and I opted to take down the rather large water-dwelling Lagiacrus on a fifteen-minute timer to try out how controlling your hunter in water would feel, which is near enough identical to controlling it on land but adds extra depth and variety to the Monster Hunter experience, so it is a welcome addition. With four people attacking this monster, it took damage much quicker and its apparent distress became quickly noticeable with the slowing down its attacks, fleeing and losing limbs. We almost had it down...and then the timer ran out. We wanted so much more, but our time was up, unfortunately. Without getting to test out the Wii Speak compatibility it is hard to fairly comment on the function, but I’m pretty sure it will work well with team members talking and co-ordinating each other to carry out an efficient hunt. With the game running perfectly over Wi-Fi, including no lag whatsoever, whilst maintaining gorgeous graphics, this is sure to take the online world by storm, especially with the promise of extra downloadable content, meaning there will be no reason to get bored of Monster Hunter 3 (~tri).

Sadly, that is when the day came to a close. Posters were signed by Tsujimoto-san and Fujioka-san, interviews were finished up and I parted ways with Stuart to head home through the rush hour traffic. I had a new game sat at home for me when I arrived, which I had been waiting to play for a long time. I didn’t want to play it, though, and I didn’t even open the packaging because as far as I was concerned, I knew it wasn’t Monster Hunter and that was I really wanted to play. It scratches at your skin and sinks its claws and teeth into you, and as I have discovered, it doesn’t let go.

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Something, Something, Something Blog Side

Posted 13.12.2009 1 8722

Now Playing: Muramasa Demon Blade/See Sig
Now Listening to: This is Absolution ~ Killswitch Engage
Now Watching: Nothing to Note.

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog (really long actually) so I thought I would just do a general blog about what’s been going on for the past couple of months with my life, which, lets be fucking honest here, is quite a lot, and probably not very interesting to you guys, I’m just procrastinating the evening away with a beer, internet, music and way too many games I’m in over my head with them, but hey that’s life! (And in turn, allow you to waste some time too!)

So let’s kick this off with the summer of 2009, I visited Italy much like I do every year for the past couple of years. The beginning of the summer was quite nerve racking for me with the A level exam results due out in a week’s time, but we’ll get to that later. Where did I visit I hear you ask? I went to a little lake called Iseo near-ish to the large and over touristic Lake Garda. Because it’s quite close to Garda, the beauty of it is that hardly any holiday makers go there, it’s perfect because of it. The food is top notch and the ice cream....well it makes you cream and let’s leave it at that. The views from the villa that we rent from a friend are immense, going from one side of the lake to the other.

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The views:


Ice Cream (this was taken in Verona, but same difference)

Probably one of the best parts of Lake Iseo is the storms (yes I know, it doesn’t sound like much) but the weather comes down from the mountains and gets trapped in the valley that the lake is in and it just sits there shaking the whole place. A few years back, the villa that we stayed in had the whole roof completely removed by the storm (unfortunately no pictures of this) and this villa isn’t exactly small (Consisting of two large-ish bedrooms, a large living space, small kitchen and bathroom) so that’s a pretty impressive feat. We didn’t get as many storms as last time, but I still did manage to snap up some pretty awesome shots!

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The storm:

We did a day trip into Verona which is a couple of hours drive from Iseo and had a wonder round the town in what was now the baking heat. We’ve been before, but it’s just such an enjoyable day trip. Saw the sights such as the massive roman amphitheatre (these are the best kind of stadiums Keven ) and a really interesting art display by renowned artist Marc Quinn in which (I’m only posting one image of relevance here) he completely cast Kate Moss in gold as an Aphrodite (Don’t worry, she isn’t in there) but it just shows his amazing skill, the whole statue was amazingly detailed from the hair to the eyes.

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Marc Quinn’s Kate Moss

From Iseo, we spent the last days in Venice which me and my mum had never been too. We had to do all the tourist things of course such as get a gondola (which is friggen expensive due to tourism) down the Grand Canal, we saw sights such as the Rialto Bridge (both on it and from the water) and the main square which a few movie savvy people might recognise from the latest James Bond movie, but St. Marcs square is one of the most famously recognised all over the world anyway!

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Rialto Bridge:

St. Marcs Sqaure

I’m on a Boat Bitch!

So, On holiday I discovered my A level grades (a nice satisfactory ABC) which got me into my first choice university; Oxford *Cough*Brookes*Cough* to study Business and Management which was a nice surprise (lets be fair, I worked like a mad man last year, if any of you remember my ‘prison sentence’) so everything went into overdrive those couple of days just sorting out everything before I headed out to uni as well as my 2 days work experience which I won courtesy of the Mail on Sunday for my business writing skills and headed off to uni!

Since arriving, everything seems a little less stressful and I’ve actually spend most of it paralytic, socialising, meeting my deadlines and playing a large backlog of games courtesy of my PC. I’ve met lots and lots of people and joined a few good societies, gaming (or WARP: War games And Role Playing. Basically console gaming though!) And anime/Japanese society which is good fun. Already set my house mates up for next year and we have just started looking for housing, some really cool guys and a couple of gamers . Met some really nice girls and have my mind split on two because they are both so brilliant (can’t I have both?) but we’ll see how that goes in the future eh

At the end of October I went to the MCM Expo at London’s Excel centre and had quite hands on experience with the whole thing. As well as it being a complete nerd out with so much cosplay, losing of the game, playing of games and so many items that you want to buy that it’s just awesome (crowded but awesome). I got some hands on time with Bayonetta, Tatsunoku v Capcom (joe is awesome as ever!) Monster hunter tri, Ninja Gaided sigma 2, Left 4 Dead 2 (before release of course), Bleach DS 3Rd, Borderlands, Phantasy star Zero and a few others that slip my mind. Bought some DVD’s one of which I got signed by the producers and CEO of ‘Sword of the Stranger’ which is such an awesome anime, and got Little kings story and Flower sun and Rain from the Rising Star booth for a nice tidy sum of £15.

Show Spoiler

Rukia/Ukitakae (with ghost busting machine in the background!):

The Team Fortress Gang (for Keven):

TvK at the Capcom Booth:

Monster Hunter Tri at Capcom Booth:

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2:

Between then and now it’s been much of the same with plenty of work, drinks and various birthdays that I can’t remember anymore, lots and lots of Modern warfare 2, which after the 11hour install on hour uni’s shitty internet connection has to be one of the best games I’ve played this year. Others would include L4D2, Muramasa, Little kings story (you need this game) and Another Code R and Fallout 3. Other tid-bits include starting on the news posting side of C3 along with Marzy and Stulaw (check his recent blog here, so I won’t just be so forum based anymore (man, I’m going develop Arthritis at E3!) but will be helping supplying you guys with news of the wide world of gaming!

Looking forward to Christmas with the family, got a nice long six weeks off (don’t start semester 2 until 28th of Jan!) so I plan to get through the 10 or so games I have that need completing, if only I could stay of MW2’s multiplayer long enough to actually get some decent hours in other places! Anyway, I think that’s about it, and if you actually read all that, I congratulate you! Merry Christmas C3!!
Echoes221
AfroXmas221

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I'm Leaving.

Posted 14.08.2009 19 8357

Now Playing: The Conduit Online/ Phoenix Wright T&T/ Final Fantasy XII RW
Now Listening to: Devildriver: Pray For Villains
Now Watching: The Big Bang Theory!

For 3 weeks (Gotcha again!, Man that never gets old. When I actually do leave, you won't believe me)

Yes, that's right, I'm off to Italy for 3 week holiday (Not leaving for good don't worry!) So you are going to have to get used to a slightly quieter forum without me.

It's probably a good thing to leave at the moment though; C3's starting to do my head in a little bit. I love the site, don't get me wrong, It's just the sudden appearance of (how do I put this nicely), Abusers of the English language (not the Americans!) that is making my blood boil and popping my veins. So it's good to have a break from something every once in a while, and I will come back refreshed and appreciate everyone more, and all posts on the forum shall be coherant! (It SHALL, or I go canibalistic. It's up to you )

I'll let you lot know how my exams went, I have access to a restaurant computer while I'm over there, and I need to check UCAS /E-mails frequently for University related attachments. So there will be the odd post or so on Thursday...when I get used to the stupid keyboards the French/Italians have (why have anything other than QWERTY? Filthy Iti's)

On the lighter side of things, you may be pleased to learn that my Grandmothers hysterectomy operation for her cervical cancer went well and they believe they caught it in the early stages which is good, that's another load off my mind. The more stressed I am, the more agitated I get which is probably why I've been flipping out at the English language abusers too much (though, I think I was within my own right to do what I did, and I presume others will agree), and for that I apologise, I haven't been myself of late and probably won't be until all my exam results come back (hopefully good).

The Place it Italy I'm going to is called Lake Iséo. It's really picturesque and about 150 miles from lake Garda so there are no tourists (they all go to Garda) so the food is brilliant and the ice-cream is ORGASMIC! Dirt cheap too (I'm talking 5euros for a large pizza with fresh bufala mozzarella and baby tomatoes and the rest of it!) and after 2 and a half weeks, I'm off to Venice at the beginning of September which will be nice. Never been before and don't worry, I'll look out for Assassins gliding in the sky (and they'll come from behind and stab me in the throat ) Ah, References, the bane of us all.

That about sums it all up, and I might do a blog post with some pictures of the lake etc (if I have time) next Thursday. But all the hullabaloo will be with exam results (which I'm shitting myself about) The main reason for this blog was to stop you wondering where I had gone (though Super Link Could of done that for me). And if you want me to bitch about Language Abusers, PM me with said quote, And I'll compile a blog post when I get back Could turn out quite amusing! (though I never truly mean anything bad by anything, and I'm never vicious anyway so it's some harmless fun)

Your departing
Echoes221

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Freedom!

Posted 09.07.2009 9 8376

Now Playing: Another Code:R /Hotel Dusk Room 215
Now Listening to: Hex Omega~ Opeth
Now Watching: Scrubs Season 5

This blog has been a long time coming but I've been a busy, busy person. With the ending of my exams I am now no longer grounded for a year (no prison!) and can no play games whenever I feel like, this blog may take a similar form to an earlier one of mine, but what the hey!

So what have I been doing with all this time I hear you ask? Well for starters I've been going out rather a lot and just enjoying myself with friends including going to several carnivals in the area and the occasional shopping trip into central London for shopping exploration, food and games (Of course!) My Friend gave me mad world as a late birthday and un-grounding present which I have been waiting to play for a very long time (Good, Little repetitive, good in short bursts). As well as that, I've been going to the gym pretty much every morning as When boredom sets in it's either games or go to the gym, and since I have so much free time, I may as well do both! Better to get fit than become an anonymous amoebic blob with a seat and controllers somewhere in the mix. There has been lot's of story and good times I've had to catch up with mates which has been entertaining to say the least on muddled up and drunken nights (whilst getting bitten, bloody mosquitoes).

I have also been trying to find jobs, but to no avail. I've had several running jobs for various companies which has been good and bought in a little money as well as doing some gardening and babysitting here and there. But, I managed to score a job next week working as runner for the producers of Green Wing ( ) Through family contacts as they are doing a new series of some comedy or other set at Brunel University! (Yes, I get to visit JB's old Uni lol ) so that is giving my Bacon for my Holiday in Italy.

So you can see, with being busy, busy, busy, you may have noticed I've been around less on the forums and that can't be helped, life goes on. Don't worry I'm not leaving! I check in constantly but Sometimes don't have the time to write something (well lies actually, I'm usually watching something online e.g. series 5 scrubs ) but you know what I mean. So I would like to take this time to thank you guys again for always being there (even though it has been quieter) to help me through this atrocious year that I have had, by being generally funny, interesting, argumentative and downright confusing (members know who they are!) So that's all I really wanted to say on the matter, just read my previous blog to see where I am coming from (It's called "Times like these".

Now, it's the wait. The wait kills us all. It makes us nervous. It dictates our futures. It kills our confidence. It makes others delusional. And of course, you could be trapped in a car with your parents half way round Italy when you get them. Yes EXAM RESULTS. I'm freaking the fuck out. I've worked so hard this year and a few of my exams just felt terrible and now I'm concerned because of how much work I have put in this year, If I fail It will kill me a little inside. I'm just hoping for an A in business and a B in English and that should set me up nicely for university...Hopefully, otherwise I will be racking up phone bills from Italy trying to sort out Uni's. If I fail, I'll retake January, no biggy really, but still, nerve racking all the same.

On a lighter note, Get Another Code:R, you will not be disappointed, it's a brilliant game.

Echoes221 out.

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The Revision Blues

Posted 28.05.2009 8 8316

Now Playing: Nothing
Now Listening to: Queens of the stone age ~ No one Knows
Now Watching: Nothing

I have not written a blog for a long time so I thought I would take a break from revision to help you guys get through your own revision.

As many of you know I've been pretty much solidly working for a whole year to counteract my abysmal AS grades and I had to survive somehow without any game consoles and barely any entertainment. So here I am, helping you get through these next few weeks.

First off some revision tips that I find useful, I'm sure you have heard them countless times before but actually take no notice of whatsoever. Newsflash people, they actually work. Exceptionally well I might add.

1. Plan your revision time effectively. There is no use focusing on one subject because it's the easy one, that's not the way to go, you need to tackle the harder subjects first and balance the time out between all of them. This helps you to get the most out of your day

2. Take regular Breaks. I know, I know every 45 minutes blah blah. But it works, your brain stops taking in information after an hour or so and it becomes harder. Or if you're on a good run and need to continue, go for a little longer and take a longer break. Do something constructive and non visual as you might just wipe out whatever you have just remembered with something that is pointless on YouTube

3. This kind of contrasts with point two, but have some downtime. Maybe a few hours spread over the week. This could take the form of playing a game for a good hour or so to take your mind off the work before you go to bed, watching some TV or being constructive and doing exercise as it gets you off your arse. Because, revision piles on the pounds if you eat like I do while you work!

4. Remove as many distractions from the area of work as possible, and if you have a PC, try turning the internet off during the day to prevent yourself going on face book etc. And only turn it on if you really, really need to get information off the net to work with. It's also ok to have music playing in the background quietly, but nothing catchy that you remember the lyrics to particularly well as you focus on the actual lyrics instead of the work

5. Make sure you get good nights sleep. Go to bed
earlier and get up earlier to work as your brain takes in more information in the morning than later at night. Try waking up and remembering what you did before you went to bed work wise, it's difficult, isn't it?

6. Before an exam, go to bed early and don't do any work at least 2-3 hours before the exam, This allows all the information to sink in whilst you do something else for a few hours, it also helps you become less nervous by not pondering things that you think you haven't learnt well.

7. Do exam practice. Do exam paper, after exam paper etc etc and actually learn what the examiners want and what the mark schemes say as it is good practice to learn how to answer the questions at hand

8. Make sure you have all the revision material you need and back everything up with references from different books to get as many examples as you can as well as asking your teachers or on the student room

9. If you have severe nerve issues. Remember, everyone is in the same boat in the exam hall and being calm is the key. Think of ants scurrying around on the floor, they seem so insignificant. Now imagine a higher being looking down on us like we do ants. That also seem insignificant, it's just part of the chain. Remember, if you fail, you can retake the exams. A year is next to nothing in the greater scheme of things.

Now to help you get through the possible lack of entertainment, Remember, all games, TV shows and movies will still be there when you finish your exams. What's the rush in playing them now? Think about it. You can record everything and get almost anything on line these days. That must have game that you have wanted for so long. Don't buy it until you are done with your exams to remove the temptation from not working. "But oh no, what about my face book friends" Well you forget that everyone is in the same boat as you and you should deactivate it. You won't miss much as there will be hardly anything going on due to the exams going on and so forth. If you do go out with friends, keep drinking to a minimal as much as you like it, It gives a hangover. Hangover + revision =nothing learnt. Basically a day lost. You don't need to drink to have a good time.

Yes, this is why exams are bitches, but, there's only a month or so left. And every time you think you can't cope. Think of me, Sat here working, No consoles for a year. And remember, it's one month of solid work to get the grades, unlike me who has been going for almost nine months.
See you on the other side of hell.
Echoes221

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