IMAGinES

Rez Up for Pursuit

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:44:28 +1000

Looks... gloriously weird. Especially that guy with the cane. Does he remind anyone else of Luke Steel from Empire of the Sun?

I'm not sure whether I'm down with the idea of Recognizers with thrusters, though. Still, that's a quibble.

Bring on December!

New Networks Keep LAN Alive in Cairns

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:54:58 +1000

That's the title of my second op-ed piece in The Cairns Post's Tuesday Digital Life section. There's a first here, though; Angelo "DJ A.N.G" Saliba is my first ever interview subject!

And as the article mentions it, I'd be remiss if I didn't link to CairnsLAN.com, the forum through which Angelo hopes to organise the re-ignition of Far North Queensland's LAN party scene.

Download and have a read!

Air (Head) Gap

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:24:52 +1000

Whoops! Sorry, folks, false alarm. Turns out the cause of the screen-not-displaying problem wasn't my video card or anything else in the CPU case; it was an air gap between the DVI video cable and the screen. I noticed after I dragged Vickie's old PC down from the lot and tried running it, only to have it do the same thing.

So I'm currently re-installing everything under Windows, including Steam and Left 4 Dead, and will get to Ubuntu a little later.

Phew! Talk about an exhausting error-check, though. Getting the old PC down from the loft is a pain...

I think my PC just bit the dust.

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:58:07 +1000

As you may already know, a few weeks ago my personal PC started behaving oddly. Both my Ubuntu and Windows XP installs began misbehaving in a very similar fashion; windows wouldn't come to the front when clicked on and web links wouldn't go active when moused over. I figured it might've been a virus, but when I tried to reformat and reinstall the problem persisted, so I started thinking hardware fault.

Switching keyboards didn't fix it and it'd been a while since I'd opened up my case and cleaned the components; I began to suspect a short somewhere. The amount of dust and dog-hair I discovered when I removed the side panel was scary, so last weekend I donned a static strap, pulled everything apart, cleaned it off and reassembled. By the time I was done I was pretty tired and not particularly surprised when the PC didn't power on; I figured I'd connected the front panel to the motherboard wrong.

MX Vs. ATV: Reflex

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:48:45 +1000

Here is my latest game review for The Cairns Post, my second of a game provided by a publisher: THQ's motorcross simulator, MX Vs. ATV Reflex.

This one was definitely out of my comfort zone. The first game I reviewed that I hadn't actually bought was Speed Racer, way back in '07, so I didn't have the anticipation and enthusiasm that kept me playing though Halo 3: ODST, Bayonetta and Mass Effect 2. It's also a strictly real world game, right down to the licensed bike parts and rider gear, so it can't afford to go all arcade-y like Burnout Paradise. Still, all that made for a refreshing, challenging change.

As always, the review is a PDF file, so you'll need Adobe Reader.

Next up: Back to familiar territory with Capcom's pulp-SF jetpack shooter, Dark Void.

Piracy Numbers

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:39:44 +1000

Continuing on from my link to Tycho's summation of the issue of computer game piracy, here's another well-reasoned article that tries to shine some light on the actual extent of PC game piracy and the effectiveness of measures, such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) software, in stopping it.

A Paean to Bond Girls

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:05:02 +1000

Although I disagree with his reviews of Transformers and Revenge of the Fallen, I certainly don't argue the intelligence of Bob Chipman of the Escapist's Escape to the Movies review section. His most recent video is more opinion piece than review; a look at the rise and fall of that unique movie role, "the Bond Girl", and the James Bond movie franchise as a whole.

I'm tempted to argue that for all the talk of empowerment, it's hard to escape the point that their characters were interchangeable guests in a franchise whose only constant character is the male lead.

Still, does that necessarily devalue them?

The Wonder of Electronics

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:43:50 +1000

In case you're wondering, I'm still without PC right now. No, I didn't clean it out as promised over the weekend; it was so stinking hot that I didn't have the patience or steadiness to fiddle with screws and static straps. Instead I ironed, and it was during the course of setting up to iron that I discovered that our DVD player has crapped out (yes, I like to watch DVDs when ironing; yes, I even like to watch Iron Man while ironing). I don't know how, but from the sounds of it (or lack thereof), the mechanism that lifts the disc off the tray and spins it isn't working.

Still Out of Order

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:50:25 +1000

In case you're wondering, yes, I'm still sans computer at home. The realm of the quandary has shifted, seemingly, from software to hardware, as the same issue has manifested itself after reformatting my hard drive. It's unlikely the keyboard, as I've tried two, but it could be the mouse somehow. A USB keyboard may also provide a workaround (both the keyboards I tried had PS/2 plugs) but my suspicions are still settled on a short circuit somewhere within the box. I think I'm just going to have to pull my PC apart, clean every component and hope for progress after reassembly.

This weekend. Between other engagements and cleaning priorities (you know, household stuff).

(Yep, Vickie's gonna kill me.)

Oh, erm. Interesting chatter about the office today regarding my role as game reviewer and the company's expansions into the digital space. More when I feel safe divulging details.

Mass Effect 2

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:40:52 +1000

According to Movable Type, this is my 1,000th post. technically, it's not true, as I have a heap of posts I've not yet imported over from the old, manual blog, but what the heck. Happy 1,000th, everybody!

To celebrate, here's my review for the paper of the Xbox 360 and PC game, Mass Effect 2. My editor reckons it's the best I've done so far, and that I'm really getting the hang of writing for an audience that isn't familiar with gaming. I hope you all agree!

Mass Effect

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:13:04 +1000

I was intending to do a review of the newly-released Mass Effect 2 this week. But the damn thing's so bloody big - it comes on two discs, for crying out loud - that I wanted to spend some more time playing before I penned the review.

Time for the Marathon Rebuild

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:00:20 +1000

If you have Facebook access, you've probably already seen my latest status update about my PC. Basically, both my Ubuntu and Windows XP installs have suddenly started behaving in a very screwy fashion. I've decided to go ahead and do my long-overdue reformat and reinstall on my PC this weekend; any e-mails you've sent me since Cyclone Olga are likely to be lost.

In the meantime I'm not touching my PC, so you'll have to resort to the dreaded electric telephone if you need to contact me.

Burnout Paradise

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:40:16 +1000

After my page-dominating review of Bayonetta last week, the folks at The Cairns Post wanted to know if I had one for today. Having pretty much broken the bank with Bayonetta and with Mass Effect 2 not out until today, I had to tell them no - until I had the brainwave of reviewing an older game from the perspective of (a) picking it up cheaply and (b) it being kept fresh by downloadable content.

Thus, today's review of Burnout Paradise. Download (make sure you have Adobe Reader, naturally) and read!

Cyclone Season 2010 Has Started

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:19:33 +1000

If you find Vickie and I a little hard to get out of the house at the moment, it's probably because we're working to make sure we're ready should a cyclone come our way. For those of you not in the region, we've already had one, Neville, form briefly North of us; as I type another, Tropical Cyclone Olga, is intensifying in the Coral Sea east of us and slowly making its way toward the coast.

Getting Sexiness Right in Videogames

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:37:37 +1000

While I'm on the subject of Bayonetta, I thought I'd offer a couple of links about the game's most talked-about aspect: its sexy lead character, Bayonetta herself.