I'm BAAAACK!

But you don't need to hear about that. You don't need to hear about my 2-month net drought thanks to an awful service from a broadband company. You don't need to hear about how much bullshit I had to go through just to be able to get a network set up in my new place, or how much I had to abuse my work internet just to get through the day. You don't need to hear about my withdrawal symptoms, the uncontrollable shakes, the whimpering as each new demo-deadline went past. No, you don't need to hear about any of that. You want to hear about what happened when I finally did get the internet set up, this Thursday.

Since I've been offline, I've still been playing games as much as ever. I've not had much money so it's been what games I already have or could borrow from the work library. Which is large and interesting by the way; I've borrowed a lot of games from that cupboard! I had to get Halo 3 when it came out. Not because I expected it to be some sort of messiah for the genre but because I enjoyed both the other two, even with all their flaws, and I know that Bungie really took their time polishing this one up. I completed the campaign very quickly: one evening and a few hours the next day was all it took. Then it was just a matter of waiting for my nets to arrive and getting online to do some co-op! That's what I really love in games at the moment; meeting up with my friends and teaming up against the neverending hordes of enemies that always seem to be at our throats.

I never thought that getting my broadband would actually stop me from playing online!



As soon as I plugged in the network cable and finally managed to browse all the goodness I'd missed in the Marketplace over these last two months, I booted up Halo 3 and selected the Multiplayer mode...

And it checkered on me.

I'd seen it all before, on my friends' 'Boxes, on forums and blog-sites, so many times. I knew once it happened that it was just a matter of a few boots before I saw "the ring". I knew I had only mere moments before anything could go wrong, from eaten disks to corrupted saves. I did what I could, I really did. All in vain.

I've still got my PCs, my PS3, PSP and DS so it's not like I'm without online capable games. But my friends are going to be well finished all the co-op stuff on Halo by the time I get back online.

I should be able to sue for shit like this. =(