My 202nd post!

The year is 1870. The World is at War.

Who's that ugly bastard in the beanie?

Saturday started off way too early. It was 6am and I began pressing the sleep button my phone. Eventually by 6:30 I had gotten up and toddled off to the Bus Stop so I could make my way to Kels. The plan didn't go quite as I'd hoped. Got to the second bus stop that should have taken me to Kels, but I had to wait 40 minutes before it turned up. With having to get to Kels by 8am, and the bus arriving 10 minutes before 8, I decided to take a taxi.

So I crossed the road and called up B&W Cabs to pick me up from the Caltex on Beams Road, Carseldine. Twenty Minutes later, no Taxi. Another call ordered in the next cab, making sure it was going to my Caltex since there was another one in the same suburb on Gympie Road. Fifteen minutes later, still no driver. A third call confirmed it was just down the road, and then I was off to Kels to go play Dystopian Wars at Blind Pig.

Dystopian Wars is a Steampunk Wargame that covers sea, land and air (not necessarily at the same time, fighting with a large arsenal of vehicles from battleships and double decker Aircraft Carriers, to Tanks and Giant Robot Walkers, to Air Fortresses and Blimps with Aircraft Decks. These examples are just from one faction, the Federated States of America.

It's a fun game and I spent the better part of the day playing it on the weekend. It was a battlebox based game, with full upgrades and no plane tokens. That's fair enough. My Federated States of America should have a fun time KICKING ARSE!

Sadly, I thought I was prepared. I remembered my models. I remembered my dice. I was not prepared. I did not remember to cut out my templates. I did not remember to bring a tape measure.

So for the better part of the day, I was shared tape measures and templates. Aside from such asshattery, it was a pretty awesome day. I tore apart my first opponent, my second gunned the crap out of my Battleship (Yes, he sunk my Battleship alright), and my third opponent just ripped shreds off me.

Overall it was a fun day though. And I got myself some more toys as well. I picked up the Aircraft Carrier, which is a Fkn huge model; and I picked up a battlebox of Land Forces, containing tanks and an Amphibious Landship.

Luckily I got the box for free because when John, the event Organiser, gave a random draw prize with $50 give cards for Phoenix Forge, a small company that comes down to Blind Pig every month and sets up a stall, and if there's an event he supports he'll provide gift vouchers.

Now I have about another dozen models for my Dystopian Wars army and I'm liking it. Aaron was even convinced to play because after jumping into Firestorm Armada with an Army for Aesthetics, and feeling quite Impotent against Scott with his model choices, Aaron had interrogated me about Dystopian Wars and what Army would be best suited for himself.

I may have convinced him to play a Prussian Empire Force. And hopefully we'll play a small game sometime during the week.

What I like about Dystopian Wars is that it's a nice Dice Rolling game. While Warmachine has all these various stats that count towards various attacks that add up and everything. Dystopian Wars only requires you to turn up particular faces, and then count those faces. The only numbers you have to follow by are the volume of dice you're allowed to roll and what range band you're at which adjusts that volume of dice.

A very fun day had by all. Especially Luke from Phoenix Forge, who couldn't tell who I was at first and had to ask me to make sure he was right. Oh how we laughed.

The Horror

I've seen things man. Things you wouldn't have dreamt. Things that haunt them and make you wake up in a cold sweat wondering where the fuck you are.

Actually, it was a lifetimes worth of Dust. And a Mouse Skeleton.

Mum asked me a few weeks ago to have the day off today to help with the carpet. Well, that worked out to be quite the interesting venture, didn't it. We had sorted out the majority of the rooms, so we thought, but really it was no place for the guy to work. So we had to clear out the entire rooms. Mums room the only exception due to her Bed because it is far too big to put out into the hallway.

So we cleared out as much room as possible and shoved whatever we could into various other rooms. And lo and behold, the dust is blanketted so thick that if you sweep it off your hands won't be dirty, but you'll have a nice thick piece of 'wool' to pick up and toss into the bin.

Though we did find some pieces of treasure here and there. When mum had the Divider torn down, we found some newspapers underneath dated from 11 December 1977. I don't know if Mum has kept them, but it was pretty amazing to see a very impressive Barbeque set for $139.

Then there's a few old photos that mum found tucked away under my sisters bed. The photos varies over the many many years, and I had to send a photo of me and my sister standing in front of the tree out front for my first day of school. I knew she'd like how cute I was, and how tight my shorts were. Even I'm amazed I was able to fit into them.

Overall, it was a pretty successful day aside from the almost destroyed computer desk of mums. It's an Ikea one, and the guy yanked it out the wrong way and it all tore apart. Mum, my sister Penny and I were stuck for about an hour trying to put it back together. After banging my head on a corner a few too many times, and some really confusing teamwork, we finally got it back together.

The day ended with all but one bedroom and a sliver of the loungeroom untouched. That'll get sorted out tomorrow, which will be good because I would rather not have to sleep on the couch for more than one night.

Mums old knitting machine.

This happens when your mothers house of 40 years is up ended. Now to deal with the dust fallout.

Respawning in the Platform Wars

There is a Time and Place for Video Games. But occasionally there's a Video Game that is simply timeless. Games that are just so fun that you would play through them again years down the track.

Take the “ID Super Pack” deal on Steam for example. It has several different games, including respective expansions, which range to about 20 years ago. That's longer than some of my workmates have been alive.

But I found a problem before I clicked on the super-freakin-awesome deal. I don't want to play them on my PC. No, I want to play them on my Console. So that put me in an awkward situation because I really like these games, and some I haven't had the chance to play yet.

I know what it's like to play some of these games on a Console. I already own Doom and Doom II on my Xbox360, and I've had loads of fun playing them. But I always wanted to finish playing Hexen and Heretic, and I adore the first two Quake games.

So would it be too much to ask for a Console port of these games? Probably. I wouldn't imagine it to be easy Porting a game to console, regardless of how similar a Console is to a PC. And the time spent would have to turn a profit in the end. So my optimism of these ports coming to reality isn't very high.

But hey I got my other wish of PSP games playable on the PS3, so why not throw it out there?

Playstation HD Remastering

Playstation have been on a binge of Remastering games for the PS3, so that when played on a HDTV they don't look extremely pixellated. Which is fair enough. I know some people get irked if they happen to see an awkward pixel on their Helvetica

Personally it doesn't matter to me. I couldn't care if it's the same quality as a Gameboy* on a 60inch TV, if it's still a good game. It's why I still play certain PSOne games. It's also why I still own Gran Turismo 2. I love that game and I will get back to it when I can find time.

* - B&W, 160 × 144 Pixel Resolution

So even though I don't care about the resolution of a game, I still care about the games themselves. There are some games I just can't get access to, or if I can I don't want to grab it because it's for the wrong system.

Last year they released HD Remasters of selected games as compilation discs, which I find to convenient. I picked up the God of War compilation and got stuck on the Atlus Puzzle and haven't picked it up since, but I still had lots of fun getting through it. And I never had the games before, so it was fun to have a new game to play.

Same goes with other upcoming releases, such as the Splinter Cell Trilogy and the Team ICO set. I adore Splinter Cell. It's the coolest stealth game I've played, though I haven't touched Assassins Creed yet. And the Team Ico games, “ICO” and “Shadows of the Colossus”, while I own the latter of the two it would be nice to see it in better view. It's a very artistic game (though that's apparently up to debate) and I'm more than willing to trade in my PS2 copy for the PS3 version coupled with “ICO”.

I hope for other PS2 compilation games such as Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, and maybe even the Final Fantasy Games (X, X-2 and XII), heck a remastering of Killzone 1 would be cool. But I don't hold any high hopes.

But just the other day, they announced they're re-releasing selected PSP games for HDTV. As in to have PSP games for the PS3. [Link]

This is cool, but not exactly what I always wished for. I thought about something similar at one stage, of converting the PSP games into PSP Minis, which the PS3 can play, and I would've been pretty happy with that. But this is a bit better because those people who just can't stand a large pixel can be happy.

All well. Made do with what you've got. Now to see what they plan on bringing out.

Digital Librarian

One thing I can really appreciate about walking through Aisles of Books of varying subjects and ages is the Custodian of these hallowed halls. A professional woman, with luscious hair braided and wrapped into a bun pierced with chopsticks (possibly actual chopsticks), a white blouse and grey skirt to cover her sensual body and long elegant legs, which approach you with elegance in every stride.

Sadly I don't think there's anything like that for Digital Libraries. Yet. These computer programs don't have a simple feature such as this, possibly out of fear of Clippy Syndrome. Or worse.

Granted, you can have your own personal Librarian from your partner. Dress them up appropriately and then ask them the subject matter of what you want to read. They'll scan the shelves, starting from the top and making their way down each shelf to find a matching title, then reach for the cover slowly and run their fingers down the spine, before sliding it out and reaching it over to you.

Then you probably attempt to have sex instead of reading the book, because you feel like a teenager with a crush on the hot Librarian, and you're both in the Staff only back room of the Library.

I like to doubt that this would ever happen, but I've heard of people getting off using Car Exhausts so anything is possible with the number of ports a computer tower has.

This is what bugs me, though. You have access to these books and games, but there's no guide to walk you through them all before you get distracted. Sure you could have your partner scroll through, and seeing those crossed legs always gives me a thrill, but obviously it isn't the same.

There's no scene of wrinkled spines and plastic cases, no scent of aging pages to waft up as you open a book, or clatter as you open the box of your game of choice. It's all a scrolling list of beautiful box art, with the same atmosphere you conceived when last a game was played.

The selection of activity is a sacred ritual that should be taken with a hardy respect, and enthusiastically exercised for long hours to leave one in a sweaty satisfaction.

The convenience of having a Digital Library is that of having dozens, maybe even hundreds, of games not cluttering up your home. It's there, in your system and you don't have to worry about damaging a disc, or tearing apart the pages of the book.

And this will be the world in time to come. Future Generation of devices, and even devices today, will be part of the Digital Distribution. Physical copies will start the decline into becoming collectable memorabilia.

So what will happen to this sacred ritual? Will it evolve with the coming times? What will be the Avatar of this ritual, the Librarian to the your Search Engine? Or will the entire idea simply dissolve into time?