Here we go again

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I’m not sure I will ever get back to the blogging multiple times a day like a did a few years back.  I’m not even sure I’ll get back to blogging multiple times a week.  So rather than make the resolution to blog ever day again like I did last year and totally fail I’m going to aim for at least one blog post a week.

Sure I am busy but I should be able to get out one semi decent post a week.  I’d kind of shy’d away from posting about things that have annoyed me and tried really to only post things that would not negatively impact my future employability.  Alas it seems I am not capable of that and I would like to assume that if I do ever leave my current position that it would show character rather than anything else.

Well thats enough of that.  So I will be trying to get the new year off to a good start by getting a couple of posts in before it ticks over, get some graphs of my training progress in here too using the tasty google docs API.  In addition to that I’m going to be putting up a couple of pages taking about a couple of things I am working on with a few people this year with links to those resources.

Finally about a year back some of you might remember a podcast I did with a couple of friends called “Talk of the geek”, well I was thinking I might try this again.  Granted it will have to be with a different group of people since some of the chaps I did it with have moved away and some I don’t have much contact with.  So if your reading this and have a few hours to spare one evening a fortnight and fancy talking about tech, movies and anything else in the geeky interest spectrum drop me a line and lets have a chat.

Until the morrow people.

Co-Op Gaming

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Kicking it at the leeds digital festivale “Get in to gaming: CO OP” I was listing to a interesting talk about the history of coop gaming and I got to thinking. With the advent of services such as xbox live and the playstation network as coop gaming suffered?

I’m not talking about the actual mechanics of the game those have over all gotten better as we have progressed with newer hardware and better development techniques. What I am thinking about is the social aspect of the coop experience?

Those of you that are around the same age as myself might remember hanging out in smokey dimly lit arcades with cola stained carpets and ground in fag butt. Was it the compelling games that drew us to spend hours playing Gauntlet and the Simpsons or was it something else? For me it was a mixture of both. I was and still am socially inept so with hindsight it was maybe a attempt by me to meet people with similar interests. More likely it was because I really wanted to finish a game that was just too bloody hard for me to finish alone! ;)

What I remember beemn so great about that time was the social interaction that two people got with each other as they progressed through a game. Working as a team seeing something awesome for the first time. I remember the first time I got to the end of Capcom’s SideARM with some random dude I met in Galaxy (My local arcade) one afternoon when I should have been in school in a French class. Someone that like me loved the game and with through coop team work we both managed to beat the game on one credit to our mutual satisfaction. Well it was actually more like screams of pleasure at actually beating the bloody boss and loads of jumping up and down. I’m still friends with that guy now and since then many years back we have played many a game together.

As I think more about it it’s been quite a while since I have had that same sense of achievement even though I am a avid coop gamer and play often with friends all over the I just don’t find myself having the same sense of excitement when we overcome a boss or see that awesome vista in Gears of War. It’s just not as intimate. I miss it.

Even recently I have memories of playing Street Fighter 4 and Soul Calibur4 with a close friend religiously every week.  Sat there on the sofa joystick firmly planted on laps the tenseness hearing the other person breath more heavily as the excitement builds.  Ok so its more versus that CoOp but it’s still social and you know what it’s awesome.  It was one oif the great things learning something and sharing it with another person then playing again a constant discovery and migration of information and strats.  This is what’s missing now.  The whole experience as gotten diluted, maybe by distance I don’t know but I yearn to have those days back.

Do I think its possible to recapture that intimacy and get that feeling back? I’m not sure we can. Even with all the advancements in social media and collaboration I just don’t think it what the current generation of gamers want. Most new generation games are geared towards multi-screen play making playing in the same place at the same time rather hard. With the decline in arcades going out to experience that is really no viable. So without a shift in the development of games and by that I mean a shift in trending genre favouritism then I think the time of the classic intimate coop experience as passed as we move towards a more sterile more sombre coop experience.

Luckily we do have emulators so get out there and get your coop on your miserable fuckers!

Steve Jobs

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I woke up today like I assume many of you did to the sad news that Steve Jobs former CEO of Apple Inc and life long hacker in the truest sense had sadly passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Echoing the writing of millions of other bloggers all over the world I am sad about it I think a large swathe of the worlds population are.

I was thinking about why I’m sad about it while I drove to work.  I’m not a Apple fan boy by any means and as lot of what they do as a company I find utterly flawed and oppressive.  As a developer some of the things they force you in to doing make me angry only to live life in the shiny happy walled garden that is the Apple echo system.  That’s not what I’m going to talk about though.  I’m not going to attack them hell I use several Apple products myself these days not only as a developer but also recreationally.  I use a lot of products though and I have no real allegiance any more to one methodology.

What it seems that a lot of the trolls that inhabit the net right now have failed to realise that outside of Apple without Steve Jobs the world we live in as Geeks, Developers, Nerds, and Hackers might be a very different one to what we know.  Jobs was the later in the truest sense of the word back before script kiddies and black hats stole the title it was people like Jobs that started to bring comms and computers to the mainstream.  Helping those who wanted to learn understand and building the communities that we so loyal belong and support even now.

The way Jobs presented and was filled with enthusiasm for whatever he was working on was infectious, reading interviews with him and seeing him speak was interesting to say the least a front man for a large multinational yes but always seemed like he was still part of the community.  In that way the Apple and Linux communities are not that different and right not I straddle them both.  I wonder how different the state of Linux might be and Even Windows in a world where Steve Jobs did less.  Would we have such elegant UI’s ? Would digital media have become the dominant format for audio as soon as it did ?  You might not like Apple but and even Jobs but you have to respect him for what he did.  He helped bring the geek mentality to the masses.  Developers are no longer the slide rule carrying thick rimmed glasses wearing social outcast they are so commonly portaied as it’s OK to pass around a laptop or tablet etc in a coffee shop it’s the norm now, sure it would have happened eventually would would it have been now?  I honestly think that through the competition not only between companies (and the opensource of course) but also the communities that have formed around those companies be they users, developers, fans and advocates and fanboys(girls) that Steve Jobs really did make a difference (to the our world as it is now).

I’m proud to be part of two communities that though don’t always agree on things and have often heated and openly bitter commentaries have today both shown respect for someone that maybe brought us all a little closer to respecting not only each others opinions but each others world.

Cheers Steve.  You rocked that sweater hard yo.

Gears of War 3 Epic Edition

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Gears of War 3 xbox 360

Finally it is the day it ends.  After years of hard fought battles we are going to learn the truth.  The end of the story, the culmination of 5 years of  of patience.  Having preordered it months back I’ve waited and waited and right now I have it here and I am mearly hours away from knowing.

Oh god it’s exciting.  It’s brutally beautiful a absolute symphony of violence blissfully orchestrated and shown in stunning hidef visuals. Yeah you might have guessed I am LOVING it.  I know a lot of you already got it hours ago but its just not the same as going to a midnight launch meeting up with other eager gamers and sharing in the excitement. Of course as is generally now the norm for me I preordered the Epic Edition and OMFG yes the statue or Marcus Fenix is just, well its arousing there is no other word for it just the entire package is well epic (blatant pun intended).

Yeah it was pretty expensive but give over complaining about it to me, I don’t really have any vices I don’t smoke (yeah loads of you do so don’t have a go at me about wasting money!) I don’t really drink other than maybe once a week so get off my back! So I’m going to get involved in some multiplayer action for a while before the 8am COOP run! Oh happy times.

Yes day of work is mine :D  Enjoy some pictures of the Goodies in the mean time. Well it’s after the fact now guys we ran the game on Hardcore in just shy of 12 hours (11h57m) to be exact and well yes it was all I had hoped for.  I can’t fault the fun we had.  I would maybe have liked to see some further plot development and some of the loose ends tied up but I assume that was done for the DLC and the other books.

It’s a couple of days later now and yeah it’s still awesome.  The sheer scale of the game surpassed really anything else I have ever played.  The story though lacking in places moved me in a way that up until now only Final Fantasy 7 had done for me, yeah that’s right I cried.  The introduction of some of the newer characters to the narrative felt a little forced for me but lets face it it’s the relationship between Marcus and Dom that we are interested in.  Really I cannot describe how much I love how these guys are portraid and how their friendship seems more real that many of the relationships I have with my friends.

I really need to play it more before I can seriously comment on anything other than the single player aspect of the game. You might have gathered by now that I am a huge fan of the series.  Just the way the cover system works the way your up close and personal with the enemy no pixel sniping from miles away. The seamless level layouts and the natural progression of the environments.  It’s all for me at least perfect.  I’d describe it as the Lord of the Rings of gaming utter brilliance who’s real worth and contribution to gaming really will not be truly appreciated.

Go buy it! Enjoy it revel in it’s awesomeness I demand it!

Space Marine

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Space Marine

Space Marine on Xbox 360

I’ve waited almost twenty years for a decent Warhammer 40,000.  Sure the Dawn of War games really were rather good but you well let’s face it they were never really fast paced been of the RTS genre.

Space Marine as come along at a time when every game that seems to hit the shelves is either survival horror or another bloody modern military FPS.  So it’s a refreshing change for something to be be a little different using a established brand, especially of the pedigree of Space Marine.

If your into action adventure, close combat of the visceral nature with a spalsh or brutal carnage thrown in for good measure then you are going to love this game.  Seriously it next level shizzle.  Really great visuals coupled with simple fast paced action make it a really fun game with just the right amount of challenge to keep you on your toes and wanting to progress through the ranks to level.

I’ve not really given multiplayer a good pounding yet but it seems pretty solid, the single player game is certainly fun and worth more than a look.  If like me your a bit of a fan and as a younger dude spent far too much time and money on Citadel miniatures, loved the Warhammer 40K universe then you need to play this game.  In fact go and seek out the special collectors edition its just freaking awesome and huge!!!  Check this exciting box of happy out.  I got seriously giddy opening this! What do you get for your hard her cash?

  • A huge presentation box made to look a codex
  • Resin purity seal
  • Original Sound track
  • Hard back hard book
  • Data card detailing some of the more prominent characters in the game
  • The actual game

Really though if you don’t have space on a rather large shelf you might want to reconsider getting this bad body it’s HUGE oh god I’m getting excited just talking about it I need to go look at the art book again and then kill me some Orks!

Go forth in the name of the Emperor!

Space Marine

The ultimate collectors edition of Space Marine on the Xbox 360

 

Progress with 5×5

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I’m continuing on the with the Strong Lifts program.  I’m at the start of week three now.  I’ve lost 1kg in weight and made some good progress with my form on a couple of exercises.  Most notable of which are Squat and Benchpress.

I don’t feel I have gained strength which tbh I probably haven’t at all considering I was lifting a lot more before but with the injury to my shoulder and back I’ve dropped all the way back and building back up to heavier weights.

Going all the way back to lighter weights I have to admit is somewhat frustrating and certainly the loss of muscle mass especially around my chest and upper arms is somewhat discouraging but the need to repair the injuries as left little choice.

The 5×5 program is only 3 times a week and that is where it’s been hard for me.  I’ve not been able to kick the habit of just training on those days so I am still doing CV on the days between but I really can’t wait until I can get back to full training in 9 weeks!

I’ll post some pretty tables later :)

Strong lifts 5×5

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It’s been a while since I’ve really kept anythin like a regualr blog depite my efforts ove the last couple of years to get back in to things I’ve failed.  So then I thought I might start out getting back in to it as I start to sort my life out.

Up until recently I had been training with a couple of guys at my gym which was great for me.  I made massive gains and it was working really well.  However HIIT training only really works if you have a training partner.  Now that I am training alone again I thought I’d give the StrongLifts 5×5 program a go again for 12 weeks and see how I get on.  It also seemed like the ideal oppertunity to get back into the habit of blogging again. I’ll be keeping a chart of how I’m progressing as well as notes on form and any issues I’ve had.  Since I’ve had a couple of on going problems with my shoulder and back I’ve decided to drop the weights right down and build a solid foundation again and in doing so hopefully give the injuries time to heal.

Well tomorrow will be the first day for this so I hope you enjoy it let me know what you think as I progess and hopefully get back into talking about other things that are going on as well.  Less ranty and personal too this time maybe!