barely fatal

Silent Hill is not so bad as I expected it to be. Alright, it’s not brilliant, but the visual effects are intriguing. Alice Krige plays as scary as usual, and there’s even some kind of story. I’ve never played any of the games – all console games, and you know me, I despise those puny toys – so I can’t really tell how close the movie is to the games.

I already mentioned in an earlier comment that Night Watch (the movie) for me does not live up to the expectations – the book clearly is much better. I got me the second part, Day Watch, but I still have finish reading something else – cross-reading always gets me confused.

As for games, I’m rather excited: Mass Effect is coming to the PC, in May, and as an extended edition. Bioware did such a great work on Jade Empire on the PC that I can hardly wait now. Upscaled textures and extra features, that’s how it should be. Also coming, in March even, is Assassin’s Creed. I’ve heard so many different opinions about it (the 360 version) that I have to wait for the reviews, but so far it looks like a keeper. It looks like Spore will be finally released this year, too, and it sounds fantastic: a game for creative people, I like that! The ideas they have about Sporepedia, and how the game connects other people’s worlds seems amazing, you should check it out. Most of the big review sites are showing off their new material from the GDC.

On the job, something strange happened. When I sent around a link to a vid on YouTube featuring the song “Still alive” by Jonathan Coulton – you know, the Portal song – I got people hooked. It’s amazing to see how that game still affects people, positively. Now that’s a clear sign for superior design: you get people to talk about it, without them having ever played the actual game …

I’ve got a cold. Sitting here, wrapped in a blanket, freezing, with a headache. Man, I hate it. It’s such a wonderful weather outside, and I spent all of yesterday walking the city (’cause I had to go shopping, took me 5 fracking hours). But today I can just sit on my sofa and watch crappy shows.

That’s also because I finally finished all of what was left of the Sopranos‘ really last season. What a strange ending, a cut into black out of nowhere and no music. Just as if they had pulled the plug. I mean, it’s probably for the best, the stories started to become less brilliant.

The Rainbox 6 Vegas story gets more and more frustating. After sending the defect copy to Ubisoft as they requested, I got it back last week. And a copy of Rainbox Six Lockdown (old, crappy), as an apology. They don’t have replacement copies for Vegas, and now I have to wait until they get new ones – it could take weeks. How weak is that? At least it was just a budget title, if they pulled that with a full-price game they’d be in really big trouble. Don’t they have any quality control?

The trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was released, check it out!

Do you know The Escapist, or more precisely Zero Punctuation? If not, you should check that out, too. Game reviews, hardcore style.

I want to buy a camera. A real one, not some toy with a lot of megapixels and bells and whistles – a DSLR. Unfortunately, those things are expensive. But I’m not a pro, not even a semi-pro, and cameras for beginner’s have become a trend. Deciding on one is not easy though. Anyways, maybe, hopefully, I can finally post some nice photos this summer that I have made with my own camera – let’s see.

I almost finished reading Nightwatch, and I’m seriously impressed. I’ll certainly get the prequel, Daywatch. Recommended!

By the way, did you know that when the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

A buddy of mine and me bought the budget version of Rainbow 6: Vegas so we can play it in co-op mode. Turns out, all budget DVDs can be installed, but not run. After searching for half an hour and browsing the Ubisoft forums, I found the solution, or something like that: You have to contact their support team individually and then send in the DVD to get a replacement. This information was at the bottom of a very long page in midst of many other mixed customer questions, but in the official knowledge base, or the FAQ? Nothing.

Ok, the support answered my ticket almost instantly, and they gave me all the information right away (not before bombarding me with automated “You are probably too dumb to write a support request, learn how to do it in this video…” messages. But I can’t blame them, I used to work in customer service for a gaming company, the assumption that the problem sits behind the keyboard is right just too often). And the office where I am supposed to send the DVD to is even located just a few blocks from here. Nonetheless, it could have been easier.

The Simpsons movie — yes, it’s fun. The Spiderpig rules. It looked great. The story was so, well, okay. Alright.

What else is new? It’s carnival season again, but I get a free Monday out of it, so it’s not so bad after all Time to do my taxes … :rolleyes: