One blog, ingredients: 0% content, 100% spam.

Here is an appropriate song. Now, on with the spam.

I occasionally find links to various flash games, but I'm starting to notice a trend, that many of them, particularly the better quality ones, seem to be found on one site, a place called Kongregate. And since I was ending up there regularly, I thought I might as well create an account and see just how much of my life I end up actually spending there, by accumulating points and achiev....I mean, badges. They also have a referral thing, not sure why people bother, since the points have no actual use, yet anyway.

A few examples of fun/interesting games I've tried out on Kongregate: Spewer (liquid-physics platform-puzzle), Crush the Castles (trebuchet firing), Shift 4 (perspective-change platform-puzzle), Gravitee (planet golf). Apparently there are also things called 'multiplayer games' on there which I have yet to explore.

What? Trying to get people to do stuff to boost a pointless score on some website? No, no. If I was trying to do that, I'd tell people to go visit MyBrute and give my guy an exp boost. What is it? Well, I guess you would call it a little, pyramid-schemish, raise a guy to fight thing, where most everything is random/automatic, apart from choosing who to fight. There's not really much to it, but it does look nice.

Let's see, what else.....

The Escapist is home to some nice video series, like Zero Punctuation (Cynical and humorous game reviews at sports-commentator speed), Unforgotten Realms (Animated D&D parody), and I suppose I'll mention Unskippable (Game intro movies with added humorous narration).

If there are any Team Fortress 2 fans reading the blog, you might want to check out Nerf Now. Best TF2 webcomic I've come across so far, though I suppose that's mostly because it isn't a Garry's mod thing

Hmm, alright, I seem to be out of spam, for now.
Blog Ends.

To the weak, I seem as a god,
To the strong, I am indistinguishable from the sea of people.
I am both revered, and in reverence.
It is a curious balance, one of many I see in my self.
I appear a creature, determined to balance, no matter the situation.
I could strive to improve myself,
but then, the balance would shift.
I could stop trying,
but then, the balance would shift.
However, to remain, to stay absolutely still,
I become stagnant, stale, and lacking in purpose.
And thus, the balance is entirely lost.

Got a couple more games since last time. since I've recently gotten a way of purchasing games via steam, I'm now an owner of Left 4 Dead, and all the Sam & Max episodes.

Sam & Max, well, it's just a great adventure series, so just go download the 4th episode. It's free.

Left 4 Dead is interesting, but it doesn't quite have the compelling grip of Team Fortress 2.

And speaking of TF2.....Valve just released the 'Meet the Spy' video. Even if you're not a player of TF2, I still recommend watching it, because.....it's awesome Oh, yeah, one little, tiny disclaimer of violence, though I'm sure everybody reading this will have seen worse. Linky.

There are 3 types of people,
Those who say the glass is half-full,
Those who say the glass is half-empty,
and those who learnt to use the verbs filled and emptied, so they didn't have to be a part of this kind of philosophical survey.

Picked up a copy of Boom Blox for $30au. I think that's the cheapest price I've ever seen a new (as opposed to second-hand) console game. Seems fun, though I think I'll have to wait till I can get someone to play with me before it reaches it's true potential. For those who don't know about the game, it's a lot like having a rickety jenga tower, then throwing a tiny ball at said tower. Simple, destructive, fun. Okay, not quite that simple, since the what I've played so far has mostly been puzzles that task you with figuring out which peice to knock out for maximum destruction. The only unfortunate thing is that the camera really doesn't let you get the most out of explosive ends. Anyway, there's also an adventure mode, which I have yet to delve into.

Sonic Unleashed, the verdict. Keep in mind, this is the Wii version, which was apparently developed by a different squad to the PS3/360 version.

I like it. But still, there are many problems with the game.

Probably my biggest complaint, is that the ratio of werehog-to-hog is tipped heavily in favour of the werehog. However, when I think about it, I realize that this is the only time they'll be using these exact mechanics, so they probably wanted to do it as much as possible. And while it's not incredibly interesting, the werehog bit is (generally) solid. Apart from the walk/run detection, which stresses me out, trying to tap Sonic a little closer to the edge, then running right off it, or wanting to run, but taking 5 taps before it shows interest.

On the other hand, the hog levels are wild fun, zipping around all over the place, skidding/drifting around corners, and there's plenty more paths for me to find. Still, I'm not too fond of the couple of quicktime events where failure kills you, or even the ones that don't. And if you want to actually kill a single unimportant enemy in your way, you can lose a lot of momentum, unlike Secret Rings. The bosses aren't terribly complex, but they definately feel right. Some kinda feel like an old arcade shooter, dodging those little bullets.

Until I finished the game, I thought the amount of lives was a bit too tight, until I realised I was ignoring a way of permanently increasing my lives.

Anyway, I like it, maybe not quite as much as Secret Rings, simply for the feeling of constant momentum.

Oh, I will note that I went with the GC controller, as tacked-on Wii-waggling was kinda obvious, and pointless.

Got Shadowgrounds off Gametap, nice. Kinda like an updated Alien Syndrome, with rotating camera and spiffy light effects that have a little usefulness. Hour-long missions with no mid-level save option is a bit annoying though. Wonder how the co-op would be.

Hmm, had a bit of difficulty with my intenet, for about a week. Though it seems I've missed little.

Got Sonic Unleashed and De Blob for the Wii, both on sale. Haven't really played them yet.

I've played about half-way through Far Cry, and.......wasn't this game supposed to be good? Because I just can't find the good game in it. I get the feeling that it was held up by it's graphics, but they aren't aging well.

Prince of Persia: Two Thrones is alright, but doesn't feel as interesting as Warrior Within. There are also a few frustrating things.

Anybody familiar with Team Fortress 2 and informed about Portal may find the following interesting. Would have used spoiler tags.....

Heavy is Still Alive

This was a triumph
I'm taking a vote here
"Huge Success!"
Its hard to overrate my competition
So me and Sasha
We turn all to dust, because, we can
For the good of all of us
Except the ones who are Red
But there's no sense trying to run away
Natascha here says she wants you to stay
And the shooting get's done
With my very big gun
At the babies who are Still Alive!

I'm really quite angry
I'm going, to kill, you now
That's because you broke the man who healed me
And blew him to pieces!
And burned every piece, a-with, your fire
As it burned, it hurt, because, it was a-burning me too!
Now these bullet holes don't go in a straight line
But I'm quite sure
They will find you many time
So you laugh that I got burned
But now you're going to learn
Not to leave a Heavy, Still Alive!

Go ahead and leave me,
Yes go, and run, and hide
Maybe you'll find someone else to help you.
Maybe that medic
That was a spy, HAHA, cry more
Any-way this sand-vich is great!
It's so delicious and moist.
Look at me still eating when there's shooting to do
When I look out there, it makes me glad I'm not you.
I've got babies on the run
from my very big gun
Oh the babies who are Still Alive!

Believe me I am STILL ALIVE!
I'm dominating and I'm STILL ALIVE!
I feel good! and I'm STILL ALIVE!
While babies are crying I'll be STILL ALIVE!
And when they are dead I will be STILL ALIVE!

STILL ALIVE!

STILL ALIVE!

Christmas? I got a new axe, clothes, and a clothes voucher.

Why an axe? Well, a picture speaks a thousand words:

In this case, that includes the word 'chop' about 200 times. Though it doesn't speak of the roots that go for metres in every direction.

Now that's over, onto things of more importance.

During the holidays, my mother's computer fried. It was getting on, anyway, still running windows 98. So, I decided the best course of action would be to upgrade my own computer, and give mum my current one. I also decided to avoid pre-builts, so I travelled over to the next town, rocked up to a computer shop, found that it was closed for the holidays, then changed to another computer shop. Didn't really look around, just got prices one week, but they didn't have it all in stock, so I came back the next week, grabbed all the parts, and went back home to start putting them together. And since mum also gets a computer out of this, she paid a chunk of the price too.

Had a few difficulties, like the stuff (accidentally) not including any SATA cables (necessary), and my copy of Windows Vista coming with the wrong version code (basic instead of the premium I payed for), but now, it's all sorted, and my new comp is running beautifully.

Oh yes, specs. 2.8Ghz Intel core 2 duo (I assume that means duel core). 2 Gig of RAM. Nvidia Geforce 9500 GT.

I did pick up some budget games, but they don't really push the limits of the machine. I got FarCry, which is alright so far, but not as great as I remember hearing, perhaps it hasn't aged well, but I still have a lot more to play. Prince of Persia: Two Thrones, nice, but very familiar after completing Warrior Within. Also, Rainbow 6: Vegas, which I haven't gotten around to, yet, think I'll need to focus when I do, I did complete Rainbow 6 on the N64 before, co-op, it was tough.

But none of those matter, because I'm still playing a ton of Team Fortress 2. Really getting value for money with that. May have to get Left 4 Dead. And I'm seeing how high I can get on the local TF2 server's rankings. There aren't that many people in it, but there are some good players.

When I first turned on TF2 after getting the new comp, I was quite surprised by how much smoother it seemed to run. It almost seemed too smooth.

Of course I've also been watching anime. Watched Excel Saga, 'twas crazy, and now I'm onto Dragonball Z, season 2 & 3, and I'm at the last couple of eps of Freiza right now. Do have a couple more DBZ collections, but they don't go all the way to the end of Cell Games, so I'm not sure whether to wait till I get that set or not.

Still got plenty of anime, either way, and I should receive the rest of my backorders soon. I'm starting to worry my anime shelf is buckling.....