My good friend, and recently published photographer, Gordon relaunched his blog not too long ago.
His blog features weekly updates (more than I give you sometimes), with bios of his favourite photographers, and details of his recent photo shoots. Gordon is very passionate with his photography, and is very good at a wide range of photography styles - unlike me, who only has an eye for landscapes :P
Please check out his blog, and support those people who support me.
Doritos Crash Course is a FREE XBLA title which was released in December. It's a platformer where the goal is to get the the end of the obstacle course in the quickest time possible. As you can see from the trailer below, the game looks simular in concept to the television show Wipeout...
There are a few really good things about this game: 1) It's FREE!, 2) The leaderboard system is great, 3) Your avatar is on screen, and 4) It's FREE!
Crash Course is available for download on the Xbox Live marketplace.
Howdy pardners! Long time no post... Merry xmas (or christmas if you prefer?), and Happy New Year too! Personally, I'm not a big fan of either of those days, but I understand that most people are. What I hate most about New Years is the stupid tradition of having New Years Resolutions. I don't know why people need to wait until the 1st of January to decide to improve your life. You have 365 days in a year to start things!
New Years Resolutions usually get forgotten about 2 weeks after they've been announced, so the majority of resolutions out there will lapse in a couple of days. Are you still going to the gym? Hows the smoking going? Have you still quit? I don't want to shit on anyone, I really wish you all the best. I just don't know why you waited so long.
My 6th of Jan resolution (it doesn't quite roll off the tongue like New Years resolution) was to exercise more. Given that I previously only did anything physical once a week (playing inline hockey), it's not a lofty goal. I'm lazy, and I love getting xbox achievements, so I bought myself a Kinect, and the fitness game, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved.
It's about a week in, and while not liking the moving around & being sweaty, I do think having exercise tied with the xbox motivates me more. I have lost a few kilos, and already look like a body builder. Not really... I look the same, but I do feel alot better. We'll see if the 6th of Jan resolution lasts longer than the usual 2 weeks :)
Here are a couple of videos as a peace offering. Doctor Who is awesome, and so is the Vietnam expansion for Battlefield Bad Company 2. Check out the Doctor Who theme being played on Mario Paint, and the Battlefield musical tribute video...
Be happy, for BC2 Vietnam is nearly upon us! Set for a December 21st release, BC2 Vietnam is looking awesome. It is going to feature 5 maps (4 maps straight away, with one to be unlocked later), and weapons from the late 60's. That means no more gadgets like tracer darts, and motion sensors. But, as you'll see from the videos below, it will feature flame throwers, and flame thrower tanks! Pffwoar!
Personally, I am pretty disappointed with GT5. This will sound silly, but I feel that GT5 was rushed (even after 6 LONG years between GT's). 1000-odd cars, but majority are throwaways, as most are simply model updates of the same car. I don't want to drive 1 Toyota Yaris/Vitz, let alone 10-15 of them! The lack of 'premium' cars is annoying (approx 100 out of 1000), which means that only 10% of the cars have the cockpit view and cosmetic damage.
GT5 is a beautiful game. The tracks are amazingly detailed, and if you're driving a premium car in it's cockpit view, the interiors are amazing too. The cars drive great too. They have alot of 'weight' to them, and every different car has it's own feel. The car physics are the best I have ever came across in a game. Driving around the Nurburgring in a 1954 300SL Mercedes is great fun.
Polyphony have really dropped the ball on this one. GT5 should have been that 10/10 experience that everyone has been waiting for, but have believed their own hype, and have simply re-released GT4, but with prettier graphics. Forza 3 on the xbox 360 is a much more immersive experience, with alot more car customisation, a bigger variety of cars, cockpit view on all cars, and full car damage.
GT5 had the potential to be something truly great, but stuck with the formula it used 6 years ago. GT is no longer the greatest car simulation out there. 8.5/10 for me.
I am ever the neglectful parent. Yesterday was little Canuckistans first birthday, and I forgot. I didn't even remember last night, and couldn't do a quick dash to the service station to buy him a present (Mars bar & a can of Coke?). Nope, I'm much worse than that... I found out it was his birthday by accident.
I was wondering how long it has been since I last posted (11th of October, for you playing at home), and then had that feeling in my head that I had forgotten something (I've been getting that alot lately, ask KC, Bear & Wound!). Yep, I had forgotten, which is bad. Really bad. I might have to buy Canuckistan a bike for christmas.
Over the last year, I have had a great time blogging, and have (mostly) received positive feedback for my writing. It's been very entertaining, and rewarding to know that alot of you have enjoyed it as much as I have.
It all began with Canuckistan are go!, and I am just as clueless with my writing still. As promised in that first post, I mostly wrote about gaming, and hockey. Gaming is my main hobby, which is why things like Impressions, Battlefield, and Forza appear so often.
Sharing my Taste Sensations has been alot of fun too, and I assume everyone now drinks Crown Royal, and eats Filet O Fishfingers. I might have to go and have a celebratory Double Cheeseburger today, and you should too...
WRC is the official game of the 2010 WRC (World Rally Championship) season, and I think it is a great game. I have been a fan of rally racing games since the good old days of Colin McRae Rally, and I'm pleased that WRC is a pure rally game. WRC is not like the Dirt series, where you race buggies & trucks with the occasional rally race, WRC is all rally: All of the time (they should've put THAT on the box!).
There are 6 stages from each of the 13 rallys, from all over the world. You'll be racing in many different terrain types like snow (Sweden), tarmac (Germany), and dust/gravel (Mexico). This game is very challenging, but it is very rewarding when you get it right. Unfortunately, Australia no longer has a rally on the WRC calendar, but we have almost-Australia, in New Zealand. :P
There is online multiplayer (which I haven't tried), and a robust career mode. In "The road to the WRC", you start off in the lower rally classes, and slowly move up through the rally classes, until you finally enter the WRC. There are 50-odd events to race through, so there is plenty of game there.
As the Colin McRae Rally series evolved into the Dirt series, it went away from the pure rally experience. WRC shits all over Dirt, because it is like the Colin McRae Rally series. I recommend this game to fans of rally games. This is the game we have been waiting years for.
Today is the first day of this years hockey season. I love hockey. It's such a fast & skillful game. I wish hockey was bigger in this country. It's so much better than AFL or NRL.
It looks to be an interesting season, with many questions. Can the Blackhawks repeat as champions? Will the Canucks finally live up to expectations? Will the Leafs continue to stink? I hope so.
The Canucks' first game is on sunday against the Los Angeles Kings, and I'm hoping they get off to a winning start. There are 2 live games on foxtel today, and I'm currently watching the Penguins and Flyers battle it out in beautiful High Definition (HD BABY!).
Here are another couple more videos showing off the gameplay elements for Medal of Honor. The 'Objective Raid' mode reminds me alot of Counter Strike, which can only be a good thing. The more I see of this game, the more I look forward to it. The single player looks gritty, and more 'realistic' (meaning less run-and-gun gameplay), and the multiplayer being made by DICE (makers of the Battlefield series) has me very interested, indeed.
Medal of Honor is due to be released in the next 2 weeks. Get excited, people!
Here are some photos which I took last month when a friend of Canuckistan, Wound was down in Melbourne. The graffiti shots were taken in Hosier and Union lanes in the city centre. The last shot, of the snow dragon, was taken up at the Dinner Plain ski resort.
NOTE: I couldn't be arsed to play around with photoshop, so you'll have to make do with shots that have poor exposure, and have colours out of balance. So nerrrrr.
Yesterday, the latest expansion DLC was released for Canuckistan favourite, Borderlands. "Claptrap's New Robot Revolution" has you putting stop to an uprising of freedom fighting Claptraps, who are sick of being abused.
Claptraps are very entertaining & funny characters at the best of times, but killing the freedom fighting Claptraps is even more enjoyable!
Grab this DLC for 800 moon dollars from the xbox live marketplace. More Borderlands can only be a good thing.
Night of the Living Trekkies is a book about a bunch of Trek fans at a convention, which is overran by a zombie outbreak. I don't often get excited about zombie related things, but my interest is definately grabbed by it being tied in with Star Trek.
I really need to get this book. The title is awesome as it is, but check out the trailer which was made to promote it. If this book ever gets made into a full-length feature, it would be THE GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME!
I might have to make a trip to Borders tomorrow :)
On my games radar is the upcoming title Medal of Honor (damn american spelling - it's honour!). This game is a first person shooter set in Afghanistan, and along with a robust single player campaign, the multiplayer looks to to have alot of potential.
The multiplayer modes have been produced by EA DICE, who made my favourite game Battlefield Bad Company 2. That alone should be enough to get you excited, but DICE look to have added a few things which sweeten the deal. Essentially, MoH looks to be the love child of the Call of Duty & Battlefield game series'.
Check out these videos, showing off both multiplayer & single player gameplay...
I can't wait to try this game out. Release date is due to be around the 14th of October.
Up for grabs on my Forza 3 storefront is a C class tune for the Volvo S60. This Volvo is a great allrounder, and has plenty of grip, with it's AWD system. I also think this is a rather sexy car: Buy this car, and the Forza babes will never leave you alone.
After purchasing the S60 and applying the tune, your Forza wallet will be about $90,000 lighter. I currently have one of these cars up for auction too, with a starting price of $75,000.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is an XBLA and PSN title which was released last month. The story is based on the Scott Pilgrim vs The World movie and graphic novel series, which sees the main character (Scott) fall in love with Ramona, and have to battle her evil exes to win her heart. Fairly standard stuff really, I battle evil exes all of the time.
This game is amazingly retro. Not just in it's 8-bit presentation and awesome chiptune soundtrack, but the gameplay itself is rather retro too. Side-scrolling beat em' ups went the way of the NES and Master System, and this game would be right at home on those two classic consoles.
The gameplay is fun, but it's the presentation and attention to detail which makes this game so great. The detail in the pixels is amazing (the graphics were produced from famous pixel artist Paul Robertson), and the chiptune soundtrack is fun, and fits the game perfectly (game soundtrack was produced by chiptune heroes ANAMANAGUCHI). This game soundtrack is even available for purchase on iTunes (I have the soundtrack on my iPhone). Scott Pilgrim gets better when you're playing with friends (especially as the difficulty is BRUTAL when going solo), but unfortunately there is no online co-op. I guess the developers wanted a true retro experience? No online co-op would be the only negative, to an otherwise perfect game.
Here is a trailer, which shows off the retro goodness...
I am in Lesbian with this game. Jump on your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 and try out the demo.
