Is now the provisional date for when my wife will return to England. Permanently. Nothing much more to say... :oD
I'm incredibly excited, and also tearing my hair out at the amount I need to sort out in such a short period. It's going to be an interesting few weeks.
Monday, November 29, 2004
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Now the end is in sight, I'm just tired...
After tomorrow, only one more week to go until I start my new job! Unfortunately, that means lots of paperwork and writing up notes for my successors. Still, I'm pretty much done with it so next week should be relatively simple.
As for Hexus work, I feel a lot more comfortable now I know my way around the back-end and can put my own articles in the system - I can be something of a control freak at times, so having that extra step available to me makes a big difference. :oP Apart from that, review work has ground to a halt thanks to our wonderful postal service - They certainly know how to make losing things look easy! Oh well, hopefully it'll show up eventually... I have a plethora of guides on various things to write now too, so that should keep me out of trouble as well. :o)
Aside from that, things are looking really good for my wife to move over here towards the end of January next year - She's basically all set aside from buying a plane ticket. It might even be sooner, who knows? Of course, this kind of puts the pressure on me to find us a place to live somewhat, so I'll have to crack on with that once I'm bedded down in the new job. Still, all that aside, I really really can't wait. I have a feeling 2005 is going to be a great year. :oD
Heh, it feels weird thinking about 2005 - I remember the Transformers Movie being set in the year 2005 to give it a futuristic feel, and twenty years later, here we are...
As for Hexus work, I feel a lot more comfortable now I know my way around the back-end and can put my own articles in the system - I can be something of a control freak at times, so having that extra step available to me makes a big difference. :oP Apart from that, review work has ground to a halt thanks to our wonderful postal service - They certainly know how to make losing things look easy! Oh well, hopefully it'll show up eventually... I have a plethora of guides on various things to write now too, so that should keep me out of trouble as well. :o)
Aside from that, things are looking really good for my wife to move over here towards the end of January next year - She's basically all set aside from buying a plane ticket. It might even be sooner, who knows? Of course, this kind of puts the pressure on me to find us a place to live somewhat, so I'll have to crack on with that once I'm bedded down in the new job. Still, all that aside, I really really can't wait. I have a feeling 2005 is going to be a great year. :oD
Heh, it feels weird thinking about 2005 - I remember the Transformers Movie being set in the year 2005 to give it a futuristic feel, and twenty years later, here we are...
Monday, November 22, 2004
Feeling Peaky
All things considered, it's been a kind of busy time since my last entry. The big stress of last week was works attempt to wring every last drop out of me in my final couple of weeks with the company, in the form of sending me all around the UK handing out ID cards - A real "you're leaving, fuck you" job if ever I saw one. Anyway, after plenty of debate and discussion, revolving around me pointing out what an insane idea it was (Why not just send the cards out to the sites for other people to dish out? Handing out cards and getting a form signed isn't rocket science), I finally got my point across and the idea was canned. This leaves me free to concentrate on the important things that need to get done in my final two weeks, thank goodness.
I was in London the whole of Saturday, to see Arsenal's game against West Brom - It ended in a hugely disappointing 1-1 draw, but it was good to be back at Highbury after not being able to make it at all last season. Damn, it was cold though! It was also cool to get my first look at Arsenal's new stadium at Ashburton Grove (aka The Emirates Stadium - ugh), it's fantastic that they found a site so close to Highbury (You can see the new stadium easily from the North Bank). The worst part of my Saturday was the train journeys - Engineering works meant that the trains were taking detours, which meant a 3 hour journey up to London, and closer to 4 hours back!
The number of games I want to make time for is growing ever longer - Inevitably, Half-Life 2 is still my main focus (I can't believe people have completed it already, I could never dedicate that much time to any game in a single sitting), but the Pro Evolution Soccer 4 demo released on Friday has caught my eye too - I didn't like it to being with, but I'm starting to warm to it. Then there's Football Manager 2005 (Which is basically Championship Manager under a different name), which is time consuming at the best of times, and I haven't even installed Need For Speed: Underground 2. Oh, woe is me... :oP
Things have slowed right up on the reviewing front, as I'm currently left waiting for things to show up before I can move on with most of the things I have sat here. But, my second review for Hexus was published at the weekend, which is always edifying. Two more weeks, and I'll be beavering away on this stuff full-time... It just can't come quickly enough!!
Finally, as we're fast approaching December, no doubt you'll all be looking for Christmas presents for me... To make life easier for you, look no further than here. ;o)
I was in London the whole of Saturday, to see Arsenal's game against West Brom - It ended in a hugely disappointing 1-1 draw, but it was good to be back at Highbury after not being able to make it at all last season. Damn, it was cold though! It was also cool to get my first look at Arsenal's new stadium at Ashburton Grove (aka The Emirates Stadium - ugh), it's fantastic that they found a site so close to Highbury (You can see the new stadium easily from the North Bank). The worst part of my Saturday was the train journeys - Engineering works meant that the trains were taking detours, which meant a 3 hour journey up to London, and closer to 4 hours back!
The number of games I want to make time for is growing ever longer - Inevitably, Half-Life 2 is still my main focus (I can't believe people have completed it already, I could never dedicate that much time to any game in a single sitting), but the Pro Evolution Soccer 4 demo released on Friday has caught my eye too - I didn't like it to being with, but I'm starting to warm to it. Then there's Football Manager 2005 (Which is basically Championship Manager under a different name), which is time consuming at the best of times, and I haven't even installed Need For Speed: Underground 2. Oh, woe is me... :oP
Things have slowed right up on the reviewing front, as I'm currently left waiting for things to show up before I can move on with most of the things I have sat here. But, my second review for Hexus was published at the weekend, which is always edifying. Two more weeks, and I'll be beavering away on this stuff full-time... It just can't come quickly enough!!
Finally, as we're fast approaching December, no doubt you'll all be looking for Christmas presents for me... To make life easier for you, look no further than here. ;o)
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Half-Life 2
Last night afforded me the opportunity to play Half-Life 2 for a couple of hours, so it's somewhat inevitable that I'm going to have to wax lyrical about it here.
First off, I know a fair few people had issues with Steam and unlocking the game yesterday, but for me the whole procedure was flawless. I actually ended up unlocking it twice on my two systems, the first at 8:00am as soon as the game became available, and the other at around 1:00pm - Both working flawlessly. I didn't get to fire up the game on either system until the evening, but again it worked on both occasions with no problems. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me personally the whole process was impressively smooth.
So, on to the game itself. The first thing of note is the graphics - The background to the opening menu screen looks stunning, but when you fire up the game you might find yourself a little underwhelmed. I know I was briefly, until I realised why - This game isn't designed to look jaw-droppingly pretty like Far Cry or the like, it's made to look realistic. That means (with the odd exception) no stupid, plastic-looking characters and surfaces, everything has an understated, grittily realistic look to it. And it works very well indeed, to the point where sometimes you want to just stop and admire how right everything looks even in the middle of a firefight.
Then there's the gameplay. Again, for the first couple of minutes I didn't feel right, or particularly immersed in the game. I was expecting another long intro sequence on the train to acclimatise, but no, that was all over very quickly, which left me feeling a little empty. Empty, that is, until I stepped off the train and wandered to close to a security guard, you have me a sharp shove to push me to a safer distance. A small touch perhaps, but enough to pull me into the atmosphere of the game - All of a sudden, I felt intimidated by my surroundings, and it was onwards and upwards from there.
Much as Doom 3 was very much a reimagining of Doom and Doom 2, so Half-Life 2 holds dear to it everything that made the original the great game that it was. This is something of a relief in this world of ever-decreasing sequels. If anything, the introduction of realistic physics as taken Half-Life 2 into the realm where Half-Life wanted to exist but perhaps didn't quite make it. In most situations you find yourself with two options - Brute force, taking out your opponents one by one (and using a lot of ammo in the process), or thinking smart and using the surroundings to your advantage. Okay, so most of the 'puzzles' (if you can call them that) are simple enough, but it all sits together very well with the game itself.
There's a lot to be said for the characters in the game too - When Half-Life 2 was first announced and Alyx unveiled, I started to worry about what this sequel would hold. But, thus far, to my relief the additional characters add to the game rather than distract from it. Having said that, why did they make Gordon Freeman mute? It was bad enough with the Doom 3 marine, but it makes even less sense here.
Half-Life 2 has also surprised me with its stabs at humour so far - They're actually funny. Normally (with a few exceptions), attempts at jokes in most games fall flat on their face, but thanks to the quality of the graphics, characters and voice actors, it works exceedingly well. I don't remember ever laughing out loud at a game before (Not when the developers intended it, anyway).
From the sound of point of view, it isn't as impressive as Doom 3, but still more than acceptable. It doesn't seem to like running on a generic AC97 on-board sound controller though, the game stutters like crazy sometimes when it access a new sound. I'm yet to try it out properly on my Audigy equipped-rig yet.
So, as of right now, I'm truly in love with this game - It's been a while since I've found a game so difficult to drag myself away from, it really does drag you in like something I haven't experienced since... Well... Half-Life. There's still a long way to go, so I might get bored or have something ruin it.. We'll have to see. But, for now, I'm just going to sit at work itching to get back to City 17...
First off, I know a fair few people had issues with Steam and unlocking the game yesterday, but for me the whole procedure was flawless. I actually ended up unlocking it twice on my two systems, the first at 8:00am as soon as the game became available, and the other at around 1:00pm - Both working flawlessly. I didn't get to fire up the game on either system until the evening, but again it worked on both occasions with no problems. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me personally the whole process was impressively smooth.
So, on to the game itself. The first thing of note is the graphics - The background to the opening menu screen looks stunning, but when you fire up the game you might find yourself a little underwhelmed. I know I was briefly, until I realised why - This game isn't designed to look jaw-droppingly pretty like Far Cry or the like, it's made to look realistic. That means (with the odd exception) no stupid, plastic-looking characters and surfaces, everything has an understated, grittily realistic look to it. And it works very well indeed, to the point where sometimes you want to just stop and admire how right everything looks even in the middle of a firefight.
Then there's the gameplay. Again, for the first couple of minutes I didn't feel right, or particularly immersed in the game. I was expecting another long intro sequence on the train to acclimatise, but no, that was all over very quickly, which left me feeling a little empty. Empty, that is, until I stepped off the train and wandered to close to a security guard, you have me a sharp shove to push me to a safer distance. A small touch perhaps, but enough to pull me into the atmosphere of the game - All of a sudden, I felt intimidated by my surroundings, and it was onwards and upwards from there.
Much as Doom 3 was very much a reimagining of Doom and Doom 2, so Half-Life 2 holds dear to it everything that made the original the great game that it was. This is something of a relief in this world of ever-decreasing sequels. If anything, the introduction of realistic physics as taken Half-Life 2 into the realm where Half-Life wanted to exist but perhaps didn't quite make it. In most situations you find yourself with two options - Brute force, taking out your opponents one by one (and using a lot of ammo in the process), or thinking smart and using the surroundings to your advantage. Okay, so most of the 'puzzles' (if you can call them that) are simple enough, but it all sits together very well with the game itself.
There's a lot to be said for the characters in the game too - When Half-Life 2 was first announced and Alyx unveiled, I started to worry about what this sequel would hold. But, thus far, to my relief the additional characters add to the game rather than distract from it. Having said that, why did they make Gordon Freeman mute? It was bad enough with the Doom 3 marine, but it makes even less sense here.
Half-Life 2 has also surprised me with its stabs at humour so far - They're actually funny. Normally (with a few exceptions), attempts at jokes in most games fall flat on their face, but thanks to the quality of the graphics, characters and voice actors, it works exceedingly well. I don't remember ever laughing out loud at a game before (Not when the developers intended it, anyway).
From the sound of point of view, it isn't as impressive as Doom 3, but still more than acceptable. It doesn't seem to like running on a generic AC97 on-board sound controller though, the game stutters like crazy sometimes when it access a new sound. I'm yet to try it out properly on my Audigy equipped-rig yet.
So, as of right now, I'm truly in love with this game - It's been a while since I've found a game so difficult to drag myself away from, it really does drag you in like something I haven't experienced since... Well... Half-Life. There's still a long way to go, so I might get bored or have something ruin it.. We'll have to see. But, for now, I'm just going to sit at work itching to get back to City 17...
Monday, November 15, 2004
Am I ready for Half-Life 2?
So, tomorrow is the big day - Am I ready? Well, let's put it this way, I've spent the evening setting up a system featuring an Athlon FX 53 and Leadtek GeForce 6800 Ultra so yeah, you could say I'm ready. ;o)
Of course, this is just a temporary test system for the time being, but I can imagine it doing an admirable job with Half-Life 2, so I can't think of a better way to experience it.
I should also point out to all the kids out there ready to drop out of school to take up careers as hardware reviewers that it isn't all fun and game-playing - Indeed, if I get everything I need together by tomorrow evening, I will in fact most likely be spending the evening benchmarking, and not playing Half-Life 2 at all while the rest of you enjoy it.
I had a load of other things I was going to mention in this entry, but firstly I've forgotten them in my excitement, and secondly it's getting late - Time to call the wife before getting some sleep. Maybe tomorrow I'll work out what I was going to say here and put something more constructive together.
Of course, this is just a temporary test system for the time being, but I can imagine it doing an admirable job with Half-Life 2, so I can't think of a better way to experience it.
I should also point out to all the kids out there ready to drop out of school to take up careers as hardware reviewers that it isn't all fun and game-playing - Indeed, if I get everything I need together by tomorrow evening, I will in fact most likely be spending the evening benchmarking, and not playing Half-Life 2 at all while the rest of you enjoy it.
I had a load of other things I was going to mention in this entry, but firstly I've forgotten them in my excitement, and secondly it's getting late - Time to call the wife before getting some sleep. Maybe tomorrow I'll work out what I was going to say here and put something more constructive together.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
The date is set
After a few days of constructive discussion about the terms of my contract, and more precisely my period of notice, we've finally come to a date when I finish my current job - December 3rd. It's a relief that I didn't end up with the whole nine weeks as specified in my contract, so I have to thank my boss for backing me on that one. I may even have some holiday available to curtail the time left in my current position even further.
My other good news is that my wife is now looking at moving over here much, much sooner - We're talking about the end of January now, rather than a year away. It means a lot to think about and organise, but it also means that Andy is very happy and excitable right now. ;o)
Aside from that (If you can have an aside from all these life-changing events), things are actually rather quiet, and just involves a lot of waiting for things to happen. This means that I've had a bit of time to feast myself on Azumanga Daioh amongst other things (okay, I admit I'm still on a streak of playing a lot of FIFA 2005 too). We're a week away from Half-Life 2 now, and I'm quietly looking forward to finally getting to see the finished product after all the hype and delays. It has to be good, it just has to - I need a good, involving FPS to convince me that not all games from now on are going to be unconvincing rehashes and sequels of what has gone before.
Talking of FPSes, I'll have to see if I can coax my wife into bringing her X-Box over to the UK with her, I'm itching to try out Halo 2.... :oP
My other good news is that my wife is now looking at moving over here much, much sooner - We're talking about the end of January now, rather than a year away. It means a lot to think about and organise, but it also means that Andy is very happy and excitable right now. ;o)
Aside from that (If you can have an aside from all these life-changing events), things are actually rather quiet, and just involves a lot of waiting for things to happen. This means that I've had a bit of time to feast myself on Azumanga Daioh amongst other things (okay, I admit I'm still on a streak of playing a lot of FIFA 2005 too). We're a week away from Half-Life 2 now, and I'm quietly looking forward to finally getting to see the finished product after all the hype and delays. It has to be good, it just has to - I need a good, involving FPS to convince me that not all games from now on are going to be unconvincing rehashes and sequels of what has gone before.
Talking of FPSes, I'll have to see if I can coax my wife into bringing her X-Box over to the UK with her, I'm itching to try out Halo 2.... :oP
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Times, they are a' changing...
So, about that big announcement - I was going to keep everyone in suspense a little longer, but I may as well just go ahead and come out with it.
Yesterday, I handed in my notice at work. Why, I hear you ask? Because I've accepted a position as a full-time reviewer for Hexus. Yep, that's right, once my notice is up where I am right now (which could be four weeks, or it could be longer, I'm arguing that one out right now), I'll be taking up a post doing full-time hardware reviews.
Am I excited? That would be putting it mildly, yes. Am I happy? You bet I am. To be honest, I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing with my time, so the opportunity to take it up as a full-time concern is a dream come true for me. Of course, the sad side is that this means standing down from the news and article posting side of Elite Bastards, but I'll still be sticking around to some extent whenever I can, so you haven't seen the last of me there.
So, there you have it, not much more to add really. I actually have some other pretty cool stuff to talk about as well, but I'll save that for another day - Don't want to overload you now, do I?!
Yesterday, I handed in my notice at work. Why, I hear you ask? Because I've accepted a position as a full-time reviewer for Hexus. Yep, that's right, once my notice is up where I am right now (which could be four weeks, or it could be longer, I'm arguing that one out right now), I'll be taking up a post doing full-time hardware reviews.
Am I excited? That would be putting it mildly, yes. Am I happy? You bet I am. To be honest, I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing with my time, so the opportunity to take it up as a full-time concern is a dream come true for me. Of course, the sad side is that this means standing down from the news and article posting side of Elite Bastards, but I'll still be sticking around to some extent whenever I can, so you haven't seen the last of me there.
So, there you have it, not much more to add really. I actually have some other pretty cool stuff to talk about as well, but I'll save that for another day - Don't want to overload you now, do I?!
Sunday, November 07, 2004
New beginnings and Boards of Canada
I was going to write a whole load of stuff here on Friday, but Blogger seemed to be dead, as is my memory of what I was going to write. So, instead two random things to think about:
Number one - Everybody go out and listen to a Boards of Canada record. I hadn't listened to any of their material in a while, but most of today I've been rekindling my love for them. If electronic music is your thing, then you owe yourself a look at these guys. Fantastic stuff.
Number two - I should have a big, big announcement to make in the next day or two, so keep your eyes peeled and I'll reveal all as soon as I feel that I can.
A short Blog entry is a pretty rare thing for me, so cherish it. ;o)
Number one - Everybody go out and listen to a Boards of Canada record. I hadn't listened to any of their material in a while, but most of today I've been rekindling my love for them. If electronic music is your thing, then you owe yourself a look at these guys. Fantastic stuff.
Number two - I should have a big, big announcement to make in the next day or two, so keep your eyes peeled and I'll reveal all as soon as I feel that I can.
A short Blog entry is a pretty rare thing for me, so cherish it. ;o)
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Ever had one of those weeks...
Where nothing goes right? Work yesterday was pretty crappy, and when I said to Tara "At least things can't get any worse" - They get worse. Not due to work, but instead thanks to my Mum spending a morning in hospital thanks to some idiotic coach driver slamming into the back of her car. She seems okay thankfully, whiplash and aches and pains aside, but not the start to the day I wanted to hear, it stressed me out to put it mildly. The boot (or trunk, for American readers) of the car is shot to pieces, horribly bent out of shape to the point where it won't close - God knows how long that'll take to get fixed.
Work is also still sucking today - I've had enough work piled on me in the last couple of days to literally last me a year, nobody seems to understand exactly what it is I'm doing and why it can take so long to get things just right. Even when I do get things done I don't remember being thanked for it.
Okay, rant mode over now - Yesterday evening did bear some happy news, with Tara getting together all the forms we need to sort out for her to come and live over here. A small step really, but I can't help but be excited, it's another step towards triggering the domino effect that my life has seemed to line up as to get everything where I want it. Continuing the good news, I'll also be receiving a couple of video cards to review, although there is a strange feeling of deja vu surrounding them.... ;o)
Finally, today is election day in the US. Yes, I'm English, but I guess you could say having an American wife gives me a vested interest in these things - I've taken a much keener interest in US politics in the last four years, so there's a strange feeling of excitement/trepidation about the results. Whatever happens though, life goes on, whatever idiocy the politicans dream up next...
Work is also still sucking today - I've had enough work piled on me in the last couple of days to literally last me a year, nobody seems to understand exactly what it is I'm doing and why it can take so long to get things just right. Even when I do get things done I don't remember being thanked for it.
Okay, rant mode over now - Yesterday evening did bear some happy news, with Tara getting together all the forms we need to sort out for her to come and live over here. A small step really, but I can't help but be excited, it's another step towards triggering the domino effect that my life has seemed to line up as to get everything where I want it. Continuing the good news, I'll also be receiving a couple of video cards to review, although there is a strange feeling of deja vu surrounding them.... ;o)
Finally, today is election day in the US. Yes, I'm English, but I guess you could say having an American wife gives me a vested interest in these things - I've taken a much keener interest in US politics in the last four years, so there's a strange feeling of excitement/trepidation about the results. Whatever happens though, life goes on, whatever idiocy the politicans dream up next...
Monday, November 01, 2004
End of an era
Well, I just stood down from my staff position at Rage3D - I simply don't have enough time to keep an eye on the place, besides which it has changed beyond recognition from the place I knew and loved.
I feel kind of sad about it, I remember how thrilled I was when I was offered the chance to be a Moderator there, but times have changed and so must I. It's the best thing for both me and the site - Rage3D is crying out for SuperMods and Admins who are available to deal with things as quickly as possible, and I need to focus on the other things I'm doing with my career over babysitting the forums there. Still, it was a fun couple of years. :o)
I feel kind of sad about it, I remember how thrilled I was when I was offered the chance to be a Moderator there, but times have changed and so must I. It's the best thing for both me and the site - Rage3D is crying out for SuperMods and Admins who are available to deal with things as quickly as possible, and I need to focus on the other things I'm doing with my career over babysitting the forums there. Still, it was a fun couple of years. :o)
Holiday? What holiday?
So, here I am, after a week away from work, sat back at my desk in the office. Nothing has changed in that week - Literally. The work I'd given other people to handle in my absence has been bounced straight back into my queue as soon as I turned up, regardless of the liberal sprinkling of ASAP and URGENT notices in said jobs. * Sighs * And boy is the clock ticking by slowly this morning, roll on lunch time....
Anyway, as for my holiday, it had its relaxing moments, but Tuesday afternoon saw the (unexpected but welcome) arrival of a large box of goodies for review courtesy of Hexus, so I spent some of the week and weekend working on that. Add to that the Far Cry article for Elite Bastards, and it was more or less a semi-working week. Not that I'm complaining though - I absolutely loved every minute of it. I kind of wanted to test myself out by setting aside full days to do review work to see how it felt - Getting up early-ish and getting straight down to it, getting the whole thing done and submitted by that evening. And it all went swimmingly. It reminds me of the line in the movie 'The Road To Perdition' - "To be paid to do what you love - Ain't that the dream?". Couldn't have said it much better myself...
Aside from that, yesterday was my two-month anniversary of getting married. It's weird, it already feels like an age ago that I was in Las Vegas with Tara, not two months. I think I've stumbled onto a new anime love, thanks to BetrayerX at EB - Bleach. It's one of those series where you watch the first episode, and the potential is just overflowing out of every pore. I've watched the first three episodes now (There are four out right now), and it's developing very nicely. I think I'm going to overflow with anime this week actually - I still haven't watched the latest episodes of Naruto and School Rumble, volumes 3 and 4 of the hilarious Azumanga Daioh on DVD should be turning up this week, and I just ordered the first Tenchi movie. Oh well, whatever keeps me out of trouble. :oP
Anyway, as for my holiday, it had its relaxing moments, but Tuesday afternoon saw the (unexpected but welcome) arrival of a large box of goodies for review courtesy of Hexus, so I spent some of the week and weekend working on that. Add to that the Far Cry article for Elite Bastards, and it was more or less a semi-working week. Not that I'm complaining though - I absolutely loved every minute of it. I kind of wanted to test myself out by setting aside full days to do review work to see how it felt - Getting up early-ish and getting straight down to it, getting the whole thing done and submitted by that evening. And it all went swimmingly. It reminds me of the line in the movie 'The Road To Perdition' - "To be paid to do what you love - Ain't that the dream?". Couldn't have said it much better myself...
Aside from that, yesterday was my two-month anniversary of getting married. It's weird, it already feels like an age ago that I was in Las Vegas with Tara, not two months. I think I've stumbled onto a new anime love, thanks to BetrayerX at EB - Bleach. It's one of those series where you watch the first episode, and the potential is just overflowing out of every pore. I've watched the first three episodes now (There are four out right now), and it's developing very nicely. I think I'm going to overflow with anime this week actually - I still haven't watched the latest episodes of Naruto and School Rumble, volumes 3 and 4 of the hilarious Azumanga Daioh on DVD should be turning up this week, and I just ordered the first Tenchi movie. Oh well, whatever keeps me out of trouble. :oP
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