Fic update

Did a couple of pages of SA0 chapter 2.

news

I was out drinking the last couple of nights, and it's quite late now (not to mention the clocks going forward). So since completing Overlooked link I've done no new fics.

Fic update

Overlooked link is finished, final chapter and teaser uploaded.

Fic update

Almost finished Overlooked link. Might be up tomorrow. It is getting pretty hard to write plenty for the final chapter, it may end up being shorter than the others.

The final chapter...

...of Overlooked link should be up soon, as soon as I get around to writing it that is. I've just been very busy these days.

Resi 4 came yesterday and it's simply devine. If it wasn't for the merseyside derby today I would've played a lot of it.

Random news

Chapter 6 of Overlooked link is up. Still I get no more reviews and I have done something really drastic, not to get the reviews mind.

Project rub and LSVO arrived today, finally.

Language, Sex, Violence, Other? suffers from the same problems as JEEP, just in reverse. To me a great band mixes their mellow stuff with their rocky stuff. This album is 8:3 Rock:Mellow and even those Mellow tracks are on the edge of being more rocky. I like the album in the same way I like JEEP, I just feel there should be more mellow tracks to balance it out. Better than JEEP, but worse than the other 3. Though I've only listened to the album once so far so my opinion might change.

Project Rub is fun just very short. The story can be done in a few hours, though the extra difficulties and memories mode may lengthen the game. No doubt it'll end up on the shelf when Resi 4 arrives (it's been dispatched). It's fun, addictive, quite challenging and has very stylish looks. The sound though is grating and ruins the whole experience.

To finish off I'll say the Play.com are having an easter sale with some top bargains.

Astro Boy £13 delivered
Disgaea £15 delivered
Pro evo 4 (Xbox), Outrun 2 and Pokemon Colloseum £18 delivered.

I've used them before and they are quick. If I had more money I'd order them all, especially pokemon as I've been wanting that for ages but couldn't afford it and felt full price was too much.

Fic update

Blogger didn't want to let me post last night so here's my official "Chapter 5 of overlook link is up" announcement.

Finally Amazon have upgraded my order for Project rub + Language, sex, violence, other? to dispatching soon. I pray to god that there's no delay for Resi 4.

fic news

Halfway through chapter 5 of overlooked link.

Once I've done Overlooked link I'll probably do some 3 Shadows episodes while writing my secret fic. 23rd June is coming up fast and I only have the one chapter done. This way I can quickly write some 3 Shadows stuff every other day and do some work on the secret fic in between.

Episode 6 is likely to be called Masterhunter Redemption, and might not have all that much action in it.

Then I might write one called Eclipsed, which may be a two parter, I'm not quite sure.

Project rub still hasn't come.

Fic update

Chapter 4 of overlooked link is up.

Project rub is starting to get a bit worryingly late. It came out on friday and I still haven't had a dispatch E-mail from them. The new stereophonics album comes out tomorrow so they might've decided to package them two together (even though I asked them not to), if I don't get them by Tuesday there will be hell to pay.

Red nose day and other misc crap

Today is Red nose day here in the UK. Like Children in need it's a day devoted to comedy, comedy designed to raise money. I used to love Red Nose Day, but since the BBC has no concept of what's funny these days I never bothered. I looked at the listings:

Fame acadamy - Look people generally hate these shows. They only watch them because besides going to the pub, watching TV is the only non-geeky way to use your free time.

Little Britain - I can't stand this. Stupid characters in drag isn't funny. Pathetic people with bad trademark lines isn't funny. I shouldn't have to picture some fat bastard in a skin tight suit to find the line "I am the only gay in the village" funny. You have to picture it because the line itself isn't funny at all. Tension, jokes, great memorable lines, these are what makes a comedy work.

BBC's obsession with Little Britain is worrying. It is not a replacement for Only fools and horses, give us a brilliant scripted comedy. Or at least bring back "They think it's all over", it may be taking the piss out of stuff but it makes me laugh until my head hurts. Little Britain barely makes me smile.

So that's Red nose day ruined.

Also I thought about this recently.

If you insult someone because of the colour of their skin it's racist
If you insult someone because of their sex it's sexist
If you insult someone because of their age it's ageist
If you insult someone because they are gay then you are a homophobe

But if you insult someone because of their nationality, religion, height, or weight there's no words for it. Why? The closest you have is the generalised Facist.

Sonic who?

Today a new Sonic game has been announced, well sort of, the new game will star Shadow and will be called Shadow the Hedgehog. It's nice to see Shadow star in his own game but the trailer hardly convinces me that this will be a game to rival the classics.

Shadow uses a gun now. Strange but intriging. It could be a game about deciding which to use, your normal stronger attack, or your weaker wider gun attack. Sonic has always been about reflexes and quick wits and if this is done right perhaps "Shadow the Hedgehog", might be the game we Sonic fans have been waiting for.

Though after Heroes I have my doubts. First off it's still 3D and 3D doesn't offer the same amount of freedom when it comes to multiple routes. One of the best features of the classics was the different heights on the level. Staying on top was difficult but offered good bonuses, as did staying on the bottom as you were closer to pitfalls. The middle ground meanwhile was the easier option but offer no rewards.

But also I think it's down to our much critical view of the games we play. The Advance games are also 2D, have what I've just stated and still feel a little "Meh!" Overall. This is what will ultimately decide this games fate. It WILL not be as good as the classics as we will be too critical of it.

It's on my list, and poor or not I will buy it.

Shadow the Hedgehog has been announced for Xbox, a trailer can be found on IGN.

Nintendo are Doomed?

By now you're probably read that Iwata-san (Nintendo president) thinks that the Nintendo Revolution will be so innovative, it will scare all third party support away. Well it's something along those lines.

Anyway the general comment made is that If the Revolution has no or very little 3rd party support Nintendo will go the way of SEGA. First off it should get some support from SEGA and CAPCOM at the very least. Some developers may prefer to work with the Revolution for it's unique features.

Though there's no denying that others will go with the "If it's not broke don't fix it" philosophy. Rockstar for example will probably continue to make GTA games as they always sell in great amounts, and also get general praise. They will go to the more popular consoles with their tried and tested methods. I'm not saying they should change or that this is a bad thing, just that there are two types of developer in this world.

Those that get excited about the prospect of new things, i.e. SEGA
and those that are sucessful already so don't need to change, i.e. Rockstar.

The first will no doubt make games for the revolution, the second type won't.

So you could say that yes third party support may be lacking. But lets look at something else.

The Gamecube is hardly rich in third party support either. Yet Nintendo are still making profits. Make profits and you're doing alright. It's losses you should look out for.

Now I know what you're all saying, "That's because of their handheld monopoly and brands such as Pokemon".

And?

Will they disappear?

The PSP I hear you cry? Well it is impressive, it's unlikely to fail, but is it enough to topple Nintendo?

Sony Playstation is a big name. Consoles will sell if it has that name on it. But if we go back to the early 90's, another big company made a portable device that ended up failing, SEGA. Enough to show that big names don't always guarantee high sales.

So am I saying the PSP is doomed? That would be rediculous. I reckon the PSP will sell loads.

Are you confused? You probably think that either the PSP will suceed and the DS will fail, or vice versa. Well I don't. Both will do good, both will have high sales. With Nintendo releasing the GBA2 as well, Nintendo certainly have nothing to fear money wise.

Though I could be wrong. The DS and GBA2 could go belly up. Though two systems from a market leader suddenly flopping, one with a huge amount of support already? Highly unlikely.

As long as Nintendo make profits they will try and push the boundaries of gaming forward, and I don't see them making losses any time soon.

Fic update

I got a new scanner so Diamonds' technical sketch is now up.

Chapter 2 of overlooked link is up.

I finished the first chapter of my secret fic too.

Why are PC's so fucking awkward?

So after about a week of waiting for the PC to be fixed, we improve it by giving it Windows XP.

Shame my scanner isn't compatible with Windows XP, and the only drivers/advice I could get doesn't work (which includes the companies website).

Why are PC's like this? Why can't there be a simple plug and play systems like with consoles. Why do you need installation disks and drivers? If consoles had a good interent browser, one to rival Firefox, and allowed Word processing and Printing, I wouldn't need a PC at all.

Someone should invent a PC that allows everything to be connected the same way peripherals are connected to a console. It'll be revolutionary, and every other PC maker and peripheral maker would adopt this.

While I'm PC bashing, why are specs such a big deal? Does anyone really care that the Xbox can do twice as much ploygons as the PS2 (with raw data). Just look at the games for graphical comparison. If you use a PC for gaming you have to know your stats or take a gamble. I hate the fact I doubt I can play Half-life 2 on my PC (My PC is 5 years old).

Upgrading is also tricky and requires you to know your stuff. Get a console, get peripherals, get games, in five years get the next gen console, get it's perhiperals and games, rinse and repeat. Simple, it works, and doesn't require such a large starting price.

Games have to be installed, what the fuck's that all about? Do you have to install a console game? Of course not. Set up your console, put the disk in, play the game. PC gaming has an extra step for some reason.

Ok now I'm ramling. I'm just upset that I can't give you my Diamond technical sketch as planned. Sorry.

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Fic update:

Haven't done anything of note.

Hurray!

I'm back on the good desktop. Using my Laptop was getting annoying, with the dodgy USB socket and all. And I just couldn't get into that awful 4 GB desktop. I had to use such a low resolution or it would crash and I couldn't scan anything or it would crash.

Once I bring my files back over I can continue with The Overlooked Link and my Overlooked Secret fic. I have a technical sketch of Diamond ready to scan, but my scanner still needs installing again. Expect it tomorrow.

I've paid off a long standing bill and it looked like I'll have 70 quid every month spare. Of course that doesn't mean I'll stop looking for work, just it's nice to know I can help out and buy a game a month now.

VH2 seems to be doing some sort of Stereophonics day. Stereophonics are my favourite band, their new album is coming out very soon. It's been the first time I've been excited by the music scene for ages. The last time I got this excited was for the last album. Today I must've heard "Dakota" 11 times, it's a fantastic track.

March is going to be one hell of a month. Timesplitters 3, Resident evil 4, new stereophonics album (Language, sex, violence, other?)... I'm getting very excited.

Fic update

Uploaded two technical sketches. Miles and Sapphire sketches are up alongside Joz's. Check my ff.net bio for links.

Halfway through chapter 2 of overlooked link.

Here's a pic of me in a ninja mask. "Unleash your inner ninja"