Earthquake in SF Bay Area
Yesterday marked my entry into the not too terribly exclusive club of earthquake survivors. We had a
quake, 5.6 on the yowza meter, and I definitely felt it in San Francisco.
It was pretty scary since it took me a moment to realize what was going on. The floor was swaying and my TV started wobbling. It felt like I was on a pirate ship, minus the pirates. My first thought was to stop my TV from wobbling, the second was if it was going to get worse and how long it would last. It didn't last long, maybe 10 seconds, but it was an experience I will remember.
I just hope that I don't get to experience anything stronger. Otherwise I may just need to get myself one of these,
a free-rolling earthquake-friendly house.
EDIT: I found this interesting quote about not getting upset over little things, although now I don't have a car...
"Don't get upset when you do get a speeding ticket, just remember it's only one ticket for the hundreds of times you were actually speeding."Labels: California, San Francisco
Portal
Another game that everyone seems to be talking about these days is
Portal, and the Team Fortress game that it comes with. Now I haven't shelled out for the actual game yet, but this certainly whet my whistle!
Portal - the free Flash versionLabels: video game
Halo 3 - Almost finished
Last night Dalban and I were taking on the evil Covenant and Flood armies. Co-op play is definitely where it's at! And thankfully Halo 3 allows both Xbox LIVE co-op play, and split-screen co-op play. It may be slightly easier than standard solo play which is a bit of a cheat because you can respawn as long as your friend is alive and not under fire. However I think it was a good decision because it helps to keep the action moving.
The BEST part of the night for me personally was when I went flying off a cliff in an ATV, and somehow managed to crash land on the deck of this huge scarab robot... I made quick work of it once aboard.
Some people use finesse, others use force. Dalban took the other scarab down with a huge ass tank and repeated direct hits from his cannon.
Time well wasted.
EDIT: I thought I was super original with my stunt, but you can see a YouTube video of someone else doing the same thing:
Also, I caved due to video envy, made a YouTube account, and am posting a link to a BattleField 2 video of me and Indesin wrecking havoc in a helicopter
here.
Labels: video game
Bioshock
Before my parents left, they presented me with an amazing interactive story that just oozes atmosphere. Bioshock, arguably the best game of the year, is such a pleasure to play, and is the best looking game (although with some very graphically violent visuals) I have seen.
Beyond the graphics, which are immediately apparent, the game's premise, writing, and gameplay are all similarly awesome. The idea is that a few elites were fed up with the choice between capitalism and communism and decided to build their own underwater utopia called "Rapture" where innovation and hard work reign supreme, where a man is entitled to the sweat of his brow, not like topside where government and religion conspire to take their cut.
Guess what? It didn't quite work out like the idealists envisioned; unfortunately graft, corruption, greed, and vice seem to follow wherever man and his good intentions go.
It is a great deal of fun, and if you like gaming at all (and can handle some gore with the rest of the package) you really have to play it through.
Labels: video game
Family Reunion in San Francisco
My parents came down to San Francisco a couple weeks ago and we had a great time.
On the weekend we toured around together and took in an art museum as well as the Blue Angels flying over the Golden Gate bridge. During the week they enjoyed exploring the city while I worked, and we shared California wine when I came back to my apartment.
Unfortunately they had to rough it on an inflatable mattress that left them a little closer to the floor in the morning than the night before, but I did my best to provide clean sheets and keep my Xbox 360 noises to a dull roar.
Fortunately, my mom was able to take the week off, and my dad was able to work remotely.
I'm glad we were able to share exploring San Francisco together, and have our thanksgiving pumpkin pie too!
Labels: California, San Francisco
Gaming Overload
First it was Bioshock and my new Xbox 360. Then it was Halo 3.
What now? Well l I spent my Sunday playing
Gears of War from start to finish in cooperative mode with Dalban.
At first I was playing it all wrong, going toe-to-toe and circle strafing with a bead on my opponent. You'll die that way, at the wrong end of a chainsaw.
No, Gears of War demands more strategy and tactical use of cover. Most of the time you will be practising a careful dance of duck, cover, and shooting from relative protection. All the while your opponents will be trying to pin you down and outflank you.
As the game has been out for a while already, everyone I have played with online has been "expert" and I've played the part of the target practise dummy. I've been kicked out of a few servers already... but thank goodness for the cooperative mode!
Labels: video game
Caving to Temptation
A couple weeks ago I caved an bought an Xbox 360 to enjoy the gaming goodness known and widely celebrated as
BioShock. However I'm not going to talk about that. I'm going to talk about
Halo 3, another game that was preceded by a couple football fields full of hype.
Thanks to my bro, I picked the game up from my local post office, came home, and started to enjoy the experience. The single player mode is quite challenging (I am playing on "heroic" difficulty, the second hardest) and definitely a lot of fun. However the real meat and potatoes of the game has to be the online multiplayer. In fact you can see
my profile and online fileshare for the game here.
Now the important points that they did RIGHT:
- cooperative online multiplayer - 2 to 4 people can play through the single player campaign
- multiple game play modes - solo, team, objective based
- good match making options - match by skill, latency, etc.
What they didn't do so right: Watch
an Australian's one minute diatribe here.
delivering a payload of hot flak straight to my opponents faceLabels: video game
Yesterday marked my entry into the not too terribly exclusive club of earthquake survivors. We had a quake, 5.6 on the yowza meter, and I definitely felt it in San Francisco.
