It's been a while. My plan to post at least once a week has, as usual, flown out the window. I always start off well but then get distracted and lazy and start slipping.

Since my last update, which if memory serves me was the "10 Things about blah blah blah" post, I have been busy with various odds and sods. I'm in rehearsals for a play, which I'm excited about. I haven't acted on stage since the end of 2007, so the prospect of treading the boards again has me all a-tingle. We open in one month and rehearsals are going well so far.

Other than this I have had the usual mix of work/exercise/wife time etc. Of course, amongst all of this I have worked some good gaming sessions in. My favourite gaming moment from the last month or so was powering through co-op with a friend on Killzone 3. My best mate came to stay with us for a few days so I hired the game out, and we managed to finish it off before he had to leave. It was a lot of fun. I honestly haven't played a lot of co-op and it made me hungry for more.

I've also almost finished F.E.A.R 3 (or F3AR if you insist). I bought this game last Monday along with Enslaved and Dead Space 2 as part of a pre-owned "buy 2 get 1 free" deal at my local EB Games. I'm enjoying the game quite a lot. It starts off a bit average, but it ramps up the intensity and action after the first couple of levels. I've played the first two games in the series, and I'm definitely enjoying this one more than the second. The first game is still the best, however. In fact, I rank it amongst my favourite first person shooters. This third installment has a different vibe than the other games, though. It's not in the least bit scary, for one thing. The first F.E.A.R holds the distinct honour of being the only game to cause me to have a nightmare. I had been playing the game into the early hours of the morning, lights turned off and with my headphones on so this definitely had something to do with it. In any case, I remember Alma coming for me in my dream and I woke up screaming. Good times!

After I finish F.E.A.R 3 off I think I'll move on to Warhammer: Space Marine, which I bought for $20 used from a video store. I played the demo of this a while ago and really enjoyed it! It seems like a whole heap of loud, dumb fun.

On the PC side of things I just bought Alan Wake on Steam, finally. I have a bit of a history with this game, I guess. Being a huge Max Payne fan, I remember reading updates about this game on Remedy's website years back when it was still in development. Even as the release kept getting pushed back and back I still loyally maintained my interest in the game. That is, until Remedy announced that the game was now going to be an Xbox 360 exclusive. I was really fucked off. The only gaming machines I owned at the time were my PC and my PS2. I immediately thought "fuck this game" and lost interest, even when I eventually got a 360 I still didn't buy the game. The eventual release on PC did catch my attention, though, and I just couldn't resist when the game was half price on Steam earlier this week. I've played a couple of hours of it so far and it's pretty fucking good. It looks incredible on the PC, for one thing, so I'm kind of glad that I waited.

That's about it. I'll try and get back to weekly updating again. I know that none of you out there give a shit, but I want to do it for me. It does me good to just write something now and again, it gets the ol' brain working.

Yes, I'm a mindless zombie who follows others. I want to be one of the cool kids!



1: I used to be "mildly obese"

Back in my last couple of years of High School I started going to the gym to work out. However, being young and dumb I really didn't understand the whole concept and lifestyle behind working out. This meant that I ate a lot of pasta and did some half-assed weight training at the gym to try and bulk up. What this lead to was me putting on a lot of weight, to the point where I eventually got to 95kg (210 pounds). The "mildly obese" is a quote from my doctor at the time, I didn't realise he thought this until I got my medical records a few years ago and had a read through them.

2: I'm now addicted to exercise

About five years ago, at the age of 27, I started seriously working out. Prior to this I would have bursts of exercise activity for a few months and then gradually lose interest and give up. I have consistently exercised for the last five years now, and in particular during the last couple of years I have gotten really serious about it. My focus is mainly on resistance training, but I throw in cardio rotations in every once in a while to keep my general fitness level up. It's now at the point where if I go more than a couple of days without exercise I really notice it and get pretty grumpy and unhappy. I simply have to exercise. I'm actually doing correspondence study towards being a personal trainer, but that's going pretty slow. I'm definitely not the most motivated person when it comes to study.

3: I once performed essentially naked in a play

This one takes a bit of explaining, it's one of my favourite acting memories. I used to be part of a theatre group called The Loopen Experiment, and we performed a Butoh dance piece amongst World War II gun emplacements on the hills around Canterbury, New Zealand. Yes, we were definitely an experimental theatre group. The first portion of this production was basically four of us totally naked, covered in white body paint, with only a strip of fabric hanging down between our legs to hide our shame. It was so fucking bizarre. I remember while we were warming up before the show a Japanese tourist who was hiking through the hills stumbled into the engine room we were performing in and promptly screamed and ran away at the sight of us.

4: I've never been in a serious fist fight

The only time I've actually punched somebody in anger was when I was about 8 years old, and a kid at my school was bullying another kid who was walking around on crutches with a broken leg! That was a pretty dick move, so I stepped in and got into a tussle with the bully and threw a few punches at his gut. Since then I've managed to avoid physical confrontation. Luckily I grew big quite early, so I managed to avoid being bullied myself at school. In my adult life there have been a few situations where things could have gotten physical (ooooerr) with other guys, but I've managed to talk them down before the shit hits the fan. I'm generally a pretty laid back guy, I've got no interest in confrontation with anybody unless it's absolutely necessary.

5: I shake constantly

I have a condition called "essential tremors", which is basically a constant tremor in my body whenever it is tensed. So, if I hold my hand out in front of me and tense it then it will shake. If I'm just sitting on the couch relaxed then you wouldn't notice anything. This has been a hassle all of my life, and I was incredibly self-conscious about it while growing up. Even now I find I have to explain it to people early so they don't think there's something really wrong with me, particularly when I'm exercising with them because when my muscles are tensed while lifting weights it's definitely noticeable. My dad has the same thing, apparently it's commonly passed on from generation to generation. So, that's a bit shit-house.

6: I've had my heart broken only once

By a girl named Rosey, about 12 years ago. Anybody who has been through this kind of break-up can attest to how much it fucking hurts, and I was pretty much a wreck for about 3 months. What got me through this time? Final Fantasy X! I played this game almost non-stop during this period, and it really took my mind off of things and gave me time to heal.

7: I never thought I would get married

Until I eventually got married. I'm not really sure why, but in my teenage years and my early twenties I always told myself that I'd never get married. I didn't see the point of it, I figured that if you were with somebody that you loved then simply making your own personal commitment to them was enough. What difference would putting a ring on her finger actually make? But then I met my wife, and within a couple of years of being with her I noticed a definite change in my thinking. I wanted to make the ultimate commitment to her, and it seemed like marriage was the next logical step. We've now been married for a little over a year, and it's fucking awesome!

8: I own a copy of PAL format Suikoden on the PS1

This is my only valuable game. It's in almost mint condition. I keep it sealed in a bag to try and keep it as safe as possible. I didn't buy it for collection purposes or anything, I bought it years ago and played through it back when I owned a PS1. I didn't realise it was valuable until I noticed it on an auction website for about $200 NZ a while back. I honestly don't think I'll sell it, but it's nice to know it's a valuable little collector's item.

9: I've lived in three different countries throughout my life

I was born and raised in New Zealand, but when I was 24 I went traveling around Europe for 3 months before settling in Edinburgh, Scotland for 6 months. I lived in a tiny little "box room" in a flat with 4 other people, and worked at a kilt store and at HMV. I eventually got incredibly home sick and bought a ticket back to New Zealand.

In 2008 my then-girlfriend (now wife) and I moved to Melbourne, Australia, for a work opportunity for her. It was fun, and we enjoyed Melbourne a lot, but once her work contract expired after 12 months we realised we missed New Zealand and all our friends at home too much so we moved back.

10: I once worked as a host on a party bus

This goes back to my time living in Edinburgh. When I first arrived I was pretty low on cash, and a friend of mine hooked me up with a job working Friday and Saturday nights on a party bus. The name of the bus company was "Club Class", they're still operating actually. Here's their website: http://www.clubclassbus.com/edinburghinfo.htm

The job basically involved dressing up in a pilot's uniform and chaperoning party groups from bar to bar, and chatting with them and generally making sure they had a good time. The whole thing started off well and I genuinely enjoyed it, it was like being paid to party every weekend. Before long, however, it really started to drag, especially once I got a day job and was exhausted by the time the weekend rolled around. I actually stuck it out right up until I left Edinburgh to head back to New Zealand, but my heart wasn't in it. My boss definitely would have fired me before too much longer.

The above quote is one of my favourite lines from Bulletstorm, which I picked up a few days ago on Steam when it was only $7.99. I had previously played the demo of the game on Xbox when it was first released. I kind of enjoyed it, but I couldn't see myself playing the full game. I imagined that I'd get bored after too long. I was wrong.



First of all, the graphics in this game are gorgeous and the art design is fantastic. For a ridiculous game about killing freaks and mutants in over-the-top fashion, People Can Fly definitely didn't scrimp on the visual element. The planet the game is set on is a beautifully realised sci-fi wonderland, and everywhere you look there is an amazing view to behold. But enough of that shit, what about the shooting the people in the balls and then kicking them into a giant cactus? Yes, this game has that. There is a lot of kicking. Always with the kicking. The character you play, Grayson Hunt, has a seemingly magical giant boot that propels people skyward and slows down time. Of course, the slowing down time part is never explained. It doesn't need to be in this game. This is a game where you can pull a mutant towards you with a electric leash, kick an explosive barrel towards another freak, and the then shoot an explosive bola which wraps around the first mutant's neck after which you can kick him into a crowd of his friends and then detonate. Glorious.

As most people will know the main point of difference in this FPS is its "Skill Shots". These are basically all the different and inventive ways you can kill people in the game, and you score points depending on which Skill Shots you use. My favourite is "Sausage Fest", which is when you kick a hotdog stand into a crowd and it explodes. Yes, "Sausage Fest". The names for the Skill Shots can be quite amusing, and it's worthwhile taking a look through your stats to see which ones you have achieved.

It's obvious while playing Bulletstorm that the developers had their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks when they put it together. The characters are all hyper-stylised stereotypes, and the voice actors seem to have fun spouting their often hilarious dialogue. I honestly have laughed out loud several times while playing the game, some of the lines are just so ridiculous.

I'm about half way through the game so far, and my fear of growing bored has proven unfounded. I'm really enjoying Bulletstorm, and I'm looking forward to discovering more inventive ways to slaughter people in the days ahead.

Two posts in two days?! Has the world gone mad? No, but today is kind of a special occasion. Today marks the second anniversary of my sister's death. In honour of this, I thought I'd write about one of my favourite gaming memories involving my sister. Cast your mind back 23 years to when I was 10 years old, and my sister was 12....

Our family was on one of our semi-annual holidays. On this occasion we were spending a week or so traveling around the South Island (of New Zealand, where I come from). Being typical kids, my sister and I took our NES along with us on the trip to stave off boredom. What game did we take along with us? Super Mario Bros. 2, of course.

We had been playing the game for a while at home but hadn't managed to beat it, and of course this was before the wonders of being able to save your game. I was pretty good at the game and could make it quite far through before losing all of my lives, but my sister was even better. We grew up in a video gaming family thanks to my older brother owning various computers, and she had no problem keeping up with and often surpassing us in video game prowess.

On one particular night of our holiday we spent all evening in our motel playing the game. The way we did it was that she would play a level, and then I'd play a level. We were doing better than we ever had before, but before long it was really late and mum and dad insisted that we go to bed. Although we had no idea how many levels the game had we could sense that we were nearing the end, so we couldn't just give up! So, of course we did the logical thing and left the NES on pause all night so that we could carry on next morning. I remember feeling really worried that the system would overheat and shut down, but I had no reason to fear. When we turned on the TV in the morning it was still paused and going strong.

Now, I'd like to say that this had the perfect happy ending and that we finished the game triumphantly but I honestly don't remember. I know we would have gotten pretty damn close before having to pack up and move on to the next town.

Thanks for the memories, sis. I love you.

So much for my weekly updates. It's been two weeks since my last post. For shame!

Anyways, I've been playing a few games over the last couple of weeks. I've continued on with Killzone 3 multiplayer, and I'm still doing well. I'm up to level 20 so far, mainly playing as the medic class. I like to save people's lives, it makes me feel special. My kill/death ratio is looking healthy also, it's at 1.10. Bonza, mate.

On a more laid back and sedate note, I've also played through Journey a couple of times. This game is....just.....so good. Every aspect of the game is designed to go straight to the pleasure centre of my brain, where it pokes and prods until I'm grinning like a loon and laughing with joy. It's simply one of the most beautiful games I've ever played, in every way imaginable. I know that I'll be playing through it multiple times, I'm keen on meeting a "white robed" player. I think I'll wet my panties with glee when that happens.

Other than dabbling in a bit of Sly Cooper HD (this month's free game on PSN+) the final game I've been playing is EverQuest. Yes, after 7 years away from the game I have returned thanks to SOE making the game free to play. To my delight all of my old toons were still alive on my old server, so I've been getting back into playing as my bard Smoove Grooves. There have been a shit-ton of changes to the game, primarily for the better. Zones actually have maps now which you can look at in game, which is fantastic. When I used to play the game I had to consult a massive folder of maps that I had printed out from allakhazam.com. You can also hire NPC mercenaries now, which makes soloing easier. Since returning I've already dinged 3 levels up to 59 (out of a cap of 95). Overall I'm definitely enjoying my return to Norrath, but we'll see how long it lasts. I tend to get burned out on MMORPGs pretty quickly as I get older.

I recently downloaded the free Killzone 3 multiplayer trial to give it a spin, and to my surprise I've become really addicted! I'm generally not much of an online FPS fan, the last game I really got into was Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare back when the online gameplay that if offered was fresh and exciting. Since then I've dabbled in a few other games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and a little bit of COD: World At War, but nothing really holds my interest for very long.

I think that what I like about Killzone 3 is the fact that it's not a "twitch" shooter. Your character has a definite sense of weight and momentum, and jumping takes a second or two to action so bunny hopping about the map isn't a viable option. Other than the demo I haven't actually played the Killzone 3 singleplayer, but I loved Killzone 2 so it hasn't taken me too long to fall back into the rhythm of the game and the weighty controls. I'm actually pretty good at the multiplayer in Killzone 3! This is nice for a change, I'm generally kind of average at online shooters. My K/D ratio is about 0.8, and I'm up to rank 11 so far. Once I hit the rank 10 cap in the trial I was more than happy to pay to buy the full version, especially with the PSN+ discount.

It's early days yet, but I can't see myself getting bored of this game any time soon. Have any of you out there given the trial a go? If so, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.