Will Power Prevails

While wandering around Bloor this afternoon running errands in preparation for the impending trip to Europe, I came across a new GameStop branch that hadn’t been there a month ago.  We wandered in and I was confronted with a couple of staff members already playing Killzone 2 (the PS3 “Halo-Killer”) that should not actually be available for sale until Friday.  When I asked them if this was for real and whether it was for sale, they said “Sure!” and I could have walked away with a copy in my hands.   But didn’t.  Because I would have felt bad about not supporting the neighborhood Indie Game Store after they’ve been nothing but nice to me.  So even though they offered to let get away with a “we broke the street date!” copy, I actually refused.  On a game I actually want.  Out of principle.

Man, I’m getting old.

The Usual

Wandered around Chinatown picking up a few gifts for the impending trip to Europe, and then wandered back with Tropic Thunder as a new addition to the Blu-Ray collection.

I liked it.  Robert Downey Jr. was a gem of comedy throughout the movie.

Back To The Vet

Took Zero back to the Vet today so they could get a urine sample out of him.  We tried ourselves following the advice of locking him in the bathroom and trying to collect whatever he pissed away on the tile, but unfortunately his condition makes him urinate tiny amounts so the sample wasn’t large enough.  They managed to get a decent amount by catherizing him, which is probably about as uncomfortable as it sounds, so nothing to do now but wait.  They pumped with anti-biotics so hopefully that’ll do the trick.  We’ve also got him on some special PH balanced food in the meantime as well.

Breaking Out The Band

A typical day at Casa Del Geek with a visit to the neighbor’s apartment, PS3 and Rock Band 2 in tow when a visiting friend of his had the audacity to enjoy Guitar Hero World Tour without having ever played a Rock Band game.  When I found out about this, I realized This Simply Will Not Do and first went on an impassioned, evangelist speech about the vulgar history of Harmonix, Neversoft and Activision to give him proper historical perspective, then made him play Rock Band 2 (with my Starpex, yes, I was totally cheating this) while at the same time pointing out the differences in play mechanics and the far more efficient–and elegant–interface and heads up display choices of Harmonix’s RB game over the ham-fisted and not very intuitive GHWT design choices.

By the end of the evening my non-stop venom about everything from Activision’s blocking of instrument compatibility to the simple fact that you can rescue players in Rock Band but not in Guitar Hero World Tour had done their magic and I had another convert who was not terribly impressed with either Activision or their hasty panicked reaction to Rock Band’s success.

If I can save even just one more person from supporting the evil that is Activision and the Guitar Hero franchise and spare them the suffering of a kluged together, hasty cash grab attempt versus a sincere, well thought out attempt to make sure people enjoy interacting with music, I consider my time on this Earth well spent.

Back To Normal

Which means gaming until my eyes bleed.  These are the two latest additions to the collection.  Killzone 2 (or as it is referred to in some circles, Calzone 2) is pretty much the PS3 answer to Microsoft’s infamous Halo series of first person shooters.  It’s currently the best looking game on any console, and it’s a good deal of fun if you’re into the FPS genre.  I’m not, actually, so I find that I actually enjoyed Bioshoc

k more (at least so far) but I have to say that for diehard addicts of the FPS, I can see how this would be an accomplished shooter that does everything right, even if it does nothing new.  I like it, but it’s not going to be a super memorable gaming experience for me beyond the mindblowing graphics.

This, on the other hand, is a pure fun trip, depending on the circumstances.  I’ve been playing the Resident Evil series since the first game debuted back in the late 90′s on the original Playstation.  This game is going to piss off a lot of people more used to the friendly, action oriented mechanics of today since the control system still feels firmly rooted in 1998.  But I’m enjoying it a lot.  When I play with a friend.  The biggest change to the game is the addition of a partner that can be controlled by either the game’s artificial intelligence or a human partner and it is an absolute BLAST to play with a friend.  I’m actually enjoying this far more than Calzone 2, but the experience is considerably less fun solo, where the AI of the game does irritating things like waste a perfectly good healing item on you when you’ve taken what amounts to a teeny scratch, using up all the ammo and other moronic actions.  Oh well… maybe they’ll get it right one of these days…

Oh. Right. The Love-Dovey.

I actually forgot it was Valentine’s Day.  Then again, I’m not in much trouble since the Wife did too.

Back To Normal

With the Wife finally feeling a little better we actually went out and did normal stuff, such as groceries, meeting with friends, eating on Bloor and visiting the Evil, Evil Bookstore, where I picked up The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray.

Once I watch it, I can finally stop being the last Canadian in the country who hasn’t seen this movie.

Recovery Process

The Wife is feeling better, but this seems secondary to beating Persona 4

Music Game Or Religious Experience?

Adjusting

Taking in the sights and trying to decide how I feel about this place.  Proper work starts tomorrow.