Weekly Banality Update 1-23-2013

a couple of days late, oh well...


Saw some movies (all were DVD/Blu-rays, Netflix or Hulu):

1. Dredd - great sci-fi action flick...wish I'd seen it in the theaters in 3d
2. Resident Evil: Retribution - not going to win any Oscars but...ehhh, it is what it is
3. Super Size Me - seen it before, watched it again...made me freak a bit about my health...
4. Battle Royale - Japanese horror/thriller, think The Hunger Games in a modern setting...

After a frenzied couple of  weeks reading Silver Linings Playbook and The Hunger Games trilogy, I've come to a crawl with The Hobbit. I just don't feel it like the others. The writing style is just draining.

I picked up Red Faction: Guerrilla for Xbox 360. Again Sci-fi 3rd person shooter, right up my alley...

My podcasts of note:

1. Who Charted
2. Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast
3. The CAGcast
4. Nerd Poker

And I'm broke and I need to get off my ass and get my ebay shit in order...

Weekly Banality Update 1-6-2013

trying a new thing to keep me writing, nothing heavy just the trivial stuff...

I got a Nook tablet just before Christmas...I discovered I really missed reading. I read The Hunger Games and The Silver Linings Playbook within the first week of having the Nook . Both were great, quick reads, highly recommended. Presently reading The Hobbit and Catching Fire

back on the video game horse:
This holiday I went a little ape-shit with all the Black Friday, Blockbuster 50% off all used games $20 or less, Xbox live holiday and Steam sales

Xbox 360 (disc)

1. Forza Horizons - you got me hooked I must say...
2. Xcom: Enemy Unkown - haven't even opened it yet
3. Binary Domain  - haven't even opened it yet
4. Madden 12 - upgraded from '09 version
5. NCAA Football 12  - upgraded from '09 version
6. Rocksmith - now if I can get off my ass and play it more, it seems really fun...
7. Need For Speed: Shift - it was $5, not bad, just an impulse buy

Xbox 360 (Xbox Live) - I bought 8000 microsoft points over black friday as well so I had points to spend

1. Bully: Scholarship Edition - had it on PS2, but sold it on Ebay, now have it again...
2. Mark of the Ninja - haven't tried it yet 
3. DLC for Trials HD, Trials Evolution, Fruit Ninja Kinect, Oblivion
4. The Walking Dead: Episodes 2-5 - if 1st episode is any indication, this will be a hell of a ride not for the faint of heart

Playstation 3

1. God of War Saga - for $15, 5 games, 1 month of PS+, a freaking great deal, the main thing I wanted from Black Friday
2. Borderlands 2 - haven't even opened it yet
3. Lollipop Chainsaw - started it...very.....yeah...it's very
4. Rage  - haven't even opened it yet, got it from Kmart, impulse buy at $10
5. The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection - haven't tried it yet, but nostalgia from my PS2 days. especially more so that the end is sooner than later for the PS2
6. Assassins Creed: Revelations - PS3 version comes w/ the first Assassins Creed, and for $10, another deal...

PC - Holiday sale on Steam:

1. Galactic Civilizations II - scifi strategy, yes please
2. Dropitz - impulse buy, at $0.99, I'm ok with it
3. FTL: Faster Than Light - a spaceship sim, again yes please
4. Fate of the World: Tipping Point - world sim, I like this stuff, now I have to just make time and play all these PC games
5. From Dust - I played the demo on XBL, I like it, great price, so yeah this happened too

Movie Time:

I recommend Silver Linings Playbook (see the movie 1st before you read the book), Like Crazy (good but depressing), Butter (straight up funny, in a Cedar Rapids meets Election sort of way)

OK...I'm sorry Microsoft...

...after finally getting the power cord to get the Kinect to work on my old Xbox 360, I am now loving the Kinect...It's really fun and I have to swallow my irritation over having to get a cord...

good stuff... 

Thanks for nothing Microsoft...and Korea Postal Service...

On Feb 25, I broke down and bought a Kinect for my Xbox 360. I used the "I'll use it to exercise" excuse to justify the 200,000 won ($170) price I paid for it.

But like all things, there's a catch. The Kinect will work right out of the box with a new slim Xbox, but not with an older model. You need a power adapter to get it to work with the older models.

If I was back in the USA, this would not be an issue. I would of just gone to Gamestop or at the least just ordered it from Amazon. A 4 day wait, at worst. But I'm not  in the USA. I'm here in Korea and I figure trying to find a small specific power plug for an device not super popular here would be an issue. So I went online to Ebay. On Feb 27, I ordered the plug from a seller in Hong Kong. The seller rating was acceptable and the price was right so lets see what happens I thought...that was Feb 27...

The shipper mailed out on Mar 2. It arrived at the local postal facility here in Korea on the 13th. It was finally delivered today...2 weeks later...I accept the fact that since I gave my address in English caused the delay...but 2 weeks...DAMN dude...

So a month later I finally get to use this thing tonight....better work and not suck...

Obsession: Red Dead Redemption

I now have proof Roger Ebert was wrong about video games.

I finished Red Dead Redemption a couple of hrs ago. I actually teared up at one point. If you played the game, you can probably guess where.

This game moved me the same way American Beauty moved me. It was just powerful, raw, with an amazing story.

Rockstar made a powerful, yet edgy game. There's swearing, nudity, sex, and a whole lot of violence. But it's all tied in to a story worthy of the silver screen.

Video games are art. Not all are as artistic as some, but video games create an emotional response. Joy, anguish, saddness, rage. It's all there.

When I beat it and the credits began to scroll across the screen, i had to read all the names out of respect for what they all had a part in creating.

To use Ebert's definition of art : Red Dead Redemption meets it. I was left shaken, moved and saddened it was over.