Say Hello to my New (Old) Friend

I bought a new Xbox 360 for myself last week. It was both a happy and sad occassion. I found it really annoying to play with my old half-spoilt X360 and could no longer bear waiting for it to break down before getting a replacement. haha.

I would take a picture of it but all standard Xbox 360s look identical. haha. Instead, I have changed the look of my dashboard so it doesn't feel like I am still playing my old Xbox 360. Anything to make me forget the headaches it had given me all this time. It's still one of the default dashboard themes; I'm looking to purchase a nice one from the Live marketplace.

I pray that my new Xbox will serve me well for many years to come.

Raining Blood...

I finally 5-starred all songs on Medium (you may laugh now) in Guitar Hero 3 today! The last hurdle for me was Raining Blood. I harboured nothing but contempt towards it until I beat it.

I got home on Thursday night and attempted it several times in vain. I decided to drop the idea and casually went through some of my favorite songs. I even tried some new outfits for my in-game character (Mmh, leather + purple = hot). I was about to call it a night but then decided to try the song one last time. So I fired up Raining Blood and, all of a sudden, I could see the notes clearly moving towards the screen instead of one huge blurry mess of colours. My stubby fingers ran like clockwork and... I got the 5-stars.

When the result screen came up, I was overjoyed and did a happy dance around the room. I got on MSN and told a Guitar Hero friend that I 5-starred Raining Blood... on Medium (you may now laugh. Again) Now I'll be off to learn Hard mode where I actually have to learn how to slide my hand rapidly up & down the handle. I hope I don't get wanker's cramp.

By the way, the Bard hero class in WoW is freaking awesome! I'm gonna be a Tauren Bard when the expansion comes out. Nothing screams more badass than a cow shredding on a guitar. Just don't let him know that he's going to have trouble playing with only two fingers; it'll hurt his feelings.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

It's okay, it's alright. I got my Guitar Hero III. Good thing Chriz had the foresight to keep old stock for such an old title. First off, I had absolutely no idea that Guitar Hero was played by holding down the fret and then strumming (are real guitars played this way, too? haha).

The game is actually pretty overwhelming to me but I'll just try to enjoy myself and take my time to learn it. It's very tough and its mostly skill-based achievements are regarded by many to be the hardest ever.

I was actually encouraged to pick up this game by this awesomely funny Zero Punctuation GH3 video review. I'll probably just aim to 5-star all songs on Medium since I do not possess tentacles for fingers. So far, I don't know ALL the songs in the game except for one (Guns & Roses' Welcome to the Jungle) so I hope to catch some nice new tunes to put into my phone.

Anyway, for non-Xbox-gamer readers, I think I'll briefly mention what 'achievements' are. Each X360 retail game is worth 1,000 g (gamer points) which are earned by fulfilling its conditions/achievements. Basically, it tracks your progress & accomplishments for the game. If you get 1000/1000, you know you probably done everything there is to do. It's great because it adds tons of replayability to games and anyone can view anyone's achievements online for comparison, bragging rights and whatnot.

And that's it for this week!

I Wanna Be a Guitar Hero T_T

It was last week when I saw it at Tampines' Mega Multimedia. Lying in the glass display before me were a whole bunch of X360 Guitar Hero III packages. Now that was a rare sight. I've never seen it available in stores before. As I looked on, an equation formed in my mind: Me + Guitar = Fun! But time was a-wasting, so I brushed aside the thought and went home with RB6V2.

However, that thought lingered over the next few days and I soon found myself yearning for the game. I think it was due to a lot of sublimal messages and influences that I came across when I was surfing the net. Ranging from game forum discussions to comics strips to watching the full South Park Guitar Queer-O episode (I only recently learnt that full South Park episodes can be watched for free at the official site) Then of course, there was this crazy Guitar Hero contest that totally reminded me of rejects from American Idol:



That was it. I finally decided that I would get the game today. I actually wanted to hold it off till the weekends as a birthday gift to myself but I couldn't wait any longer. haha. I endured through a day at work then quickly cabbed down to Tampines Mall. Somehow, my penguin senses told me something would go wrong.

When I arrived at the store, I quickly went to the glass display and eyeballed the boxes of Guitar Hero III. PS3, PS3, Wii, Wii, PS3. Where the heck were all the X360 versions? I felt that I already knew the answer but I just had to ask the salesperson. Yup, the X360 was sold out. No. Freakin'. Way.

The journey home felt so cold and empty. Time to carry on with the sadface. T_T

It has Been a Short Week

This week actually went by very quickly for me since I took MC on Monday and Friday was a public holiday. I was still pretty sick so it was a good chance for me to catch some rest. I had to go to work on Saturday but it was okay. To my surprise (and also horror), my boss actually came to the office on a Saturday. Now that's pretty amazing. Maybe I should go and buy 4-D.


I went to watch the Evangelion: 1.0 movie at Cathay on Saturday with Akira, Max and Darrell. It was a remake of the old TV series. I actually forgot most of the show because I was probably too young to appreciate it at the time (how long has it been?). A few scenes were redid and the Angels were redesigned. They look pretty great in their new 3D-rendered glamour. haha. This is just the first part so I am looking forward to the rest of the movie.



I picked up Rainbow Six Vegas 2 on my Xbox 360 to play for the week. To be honest, it's an immensely overhyped but pretty sub-standard game. All those fanboys keep saying how the game will overthrow Call of Duty 4 and many got suckered into buying it. I would've sold rightaway it if it weren't for the massive online player base this game has. It's also pretty addictive. I'll just play it, collect some Achievements and then shelf it.

Pon Pon Pata Pon

It seems that the whole country was going to the IT Show at Suntec last week. I arrived at work on Friday to see boxes containing parts of a HP Pavilion desktop sitting around my desk. I had the feeling that the senior manager (my boss' husband) would come in early today to instruct me to set it up. And I was right.

He did tell me that he'd be picking up a desktop to replace the old laptop I was using. Sitting at a measly 256 ram, it takes several minutes to start up/shut down and 30-60 seconds to load any Office applications. I did advise him against getting a desktop, though, since it would eat up even more space on my small work desk. A desk top was generally more stable, though so he went ahead and bought one.




I spent the morning setting it up, only to have Windows Vista lock up when I tried to connect to wireless. I hard-reset it and came back after lunch to continue. I was told to download OpenOffice, which I realized was a pretty cool open-source (free) alternative to MS Office. This was the first time I was using Vista and I realized that it looked really modern and cool (for some reason, its colours and style reminded me of the Xbox 360's OS. haha). Oh well, I couldn't install the drivers of the office printer/scanner because Vista wasn't supported. I'll have to work on it on Monday. Meh.

With thoughts of the IT Show in the brain, I went to check it out myself on Saturday with Yonghao. I was expecting a terrible crowd and , boy, was it terrible. I just bought a 2GB Sony thumb drive (spent 30 minutes squeezing & queueing for it), grabbed some Asus brochures (to plan my next future laptop purchase) and checked out the Xbox games sale (which sucked cos' the prices at good video game shops were still lower).

After that, I dropped by at FunZ Centre for dinner at Fish & Co's with Brainy, Kyo, Akira and Mango. I picked up two new games: Lost Odyssey and Patapon before going home. Patapon is a game that received quite a lot of hype. Its tune is catchy but too much of it can probably drive people nuts. haha

All in all, it was quite a fun day.

Xbox Gaming Bonanza

It has been a month since I have been hooked on my Xbox 360. I feel like an excited kid with a new toy. I used to have a hard time looking for nice games but, with the X360, I am pretty much spoilt for choice. I realized that I actually bought much more than I normally would. I'm usually not so extravagant (originals are expensive and I am usually careful with my choices) so it looks like I'll be playing them for quite a while until the next big release. haha. The following are some of the more notable titles I have been playing:


Halo 3

I finally got a chance to experience what the Halo series is all about. It's the Xbox's flagship FPS (first person shooter) title. The story is nice but, having never played the previous games, it was like watching the last film in a trilogy of movies. Fortunately for me, there's always Wikipaedia. Overall, a fun and solid multiplayer FPS with a large online community. This game got me a little interested on the sci-fi space opera genre. Unfortunately, the game is showing its age a little, facing still competition from COD4 (below). That doesn't stop me from enjoying the game, though.


Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

One of the most popular FPS multiplayer games to date across multiple platforms. Pretty fast-paced and boasting one of the best graphics on the X360. The multiplayer is pretty unique with its leveling up and skills allocation. I initially bought it soley for the multiplayer but now I am glad I tried the campaign for its immersive and memorable story.


Devil May Cry 4

DMC4 was supposed to be THE game. Despite good reviews and great sales figures, I personally felt it was disappointing. Maybe DMC3 set the bar too high for the series but DMC4 feels like a shoddy rush job. The game impresses with its deep combat system, likeable characters and crazy, over-the-top cutscenes.

Then Capcom decided to be lazy with the stages. You are forced to go through the same few zones in the game 2 times; once as Nero and then again as Dante. You even have to fight the same 4 or so bosses; three times each. By the time I had finished two playthroughs, I had the layout of every room burned into my mind. Still a decent game but DMC3 still remains the pinnacle of the series.

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As for my SingNet-bundled Wii... it is no longer with me. I sold it to Hobbes, who seemed like a pretty big Nintendo fan. On that very same day, he went out to buy a DS so that he'd have the full-blown Nintendo experience. He's probably having a Nintedorgasm now, playing with his Wii-lly and all. Since the day I collected the Wii package, I did not even bother to examine the contents. The thing just sat next to my bed and collected dust. It was about time I let it go. haha.

Working Life is Sad

I just need some room to whine about my sad, working life. haha. Six months at my current job and already, I have grown tired of working. Is this what they call burn-out?

Sometimes, I can't help but feel that life is a little sad. Everyday, it seems like I am enduring through 9 hours of work in order to earn the right (privilege?) to go home and enjoy my 6 hours of personal time. As the days go by, I find myself delaying my sleep time just so that I can have more 'awake' time. I used to go to bed at 1 am, then it slowly became 2 am. Recently, I have been going to bed at 3 am. Trading off 2 hours of doing 'nothing' for extra gaming, net-surfing and TV does seem like a worthy deal. But, of course, I always end up feeling cranky and frustrated at work all the time.

Unless we can all end up having our dream jobs (whatever that may be), there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Students look forward to school holidays and further studies. NS guys look forward to ORD. Me? I have no idea what to look forward to other than watching the office clock everyday impatiently, hoping that it would strike 6:30 pm.

Sometimes, we all wish we could have all the time in the world to ourselves.

Chinese New Year Holidays

I honestly wouldn't have known it was the year of the rat if it weren't for the office decorations.

It's the Chinese New Year holidays. Another loooong weekend for me. Sadly, it's Sunday already and it's back to work on Monday.

As with every year, I only visited my father's side of the family on New Year's day and had the rest of the days to myself. Oh, there was a tiny difference this year. I had one other household to visit; my boss' home. Just because she asked me to. haha.

I haven't been blogging much. I am sure it's due to laziness. I have drafted several blog entries from work but never got about to finishing them so they never get published. If I were to clear the backlog, it'd seem weird posting stuff that was relevant weeks ago. I'll see what I can do, though.

I hope everyone has enjoyed their Chinese New Year holidays.

The Box with a Big X, or How I was Driven to Buy a HDTV

Yup, I now have a Gamertag.

I bought a 2nd-hand Xbox 360 from Brainy (the one that he won from a lucky draw in December 2006). The thought of getting one has never occurred to me before (my SingNet promotion Wii is on its way) but Devil May Cry 4 was coming and Brainy's offer of $150 was really attractive for a no-warranty, pre-2007 set. I'll just buy it and set it aside for the release of DMC4 in February, I said to myself.

Then a few things happened.

First thing I realized was that my standard TV was too old to accomodate the Xbox 360. In-game text was squashed up and very blurry, making it near-impossible to read anything properly. I guess it was time I found out first-hand that all next-gen consoles require HDTVs. I went out and purchased a Samsung LCD TV (LA26R71) which arrived on Friday. It looks like my idea of actually saving money with a cheap 2nd-hand Xbox had backfired since I had to fork out a lot more for a HDTV (never mind, I would've probably needed it for the Wii, too).

Only then I could start playing properly. Despite my initial prejudice towards the Xbox (and all things Microsoft in general), I actually grew to love it. The Xbox's online connectivity, with its downloadable content, online community and achievements system (via Gamertags) changed the way I looked at console gaming. Now, I wished I had purchased a brand new Xbox 360 instead (this one is beginning to show its age with some minor freezes and system error every now and then). But then again, it's rather expensive and I would not have learnt that I actually enjoyed having an Xbox 360. haha.

By the way, my Xbox 360 can blog, too. It's alive... it's alive!

Team Fortress 2

I finally picked up The Orange Box last week. It was mainly for Team Fortress 2, a team-based multiplayer FPS. I decided to snap it up after reading a lot of positive reviews and asking for friends' recommendations.

It's a fun and awesome game with nine classes to learn and play as. Its cel-shaded graphics with memorable, cartoony characters make it stand out from most other FPS games, though in essence, it is still a serious shooter. In any case, I think its comedic theme is what makes the game extremely enjoyable for me.

The game is fast-paced and pretty intense.; it kinda reminds me of how I used to play Counterstrike in LAN shops. There are even local servers (by Starhub...) so the game runs smoothly with like 20+ ping. I am pretty much addicted to the game. I hope it will have more content soon. As of now, there are only six official maps to play which is frankly quite pathetic.

There is a funny Saving Private Ryan parody comprising of movie footage re-recorded with TF2 music, sound effects and voice samples. I exploded laughing when I watched it. It really made my day.

SingNet + Wii!

I went to sign up for SingNet's Nintendo Wii promotion on Thursday. It was the Nintendo Wii that swayed me over! I've always thought of getting a Wii. It's pretty pricey at the moment (around S$600+) so this package was quite attractive. At the very least, if my connection still lags after switching ISPs, I can live with the consolation that I got a Wii out of the deal.

I think what I have done might be a little extreme (I just want smoother, lag-free online gaming) but I guess if I let the promotion slip by, I would probably regret it and keep dwelling on it. My SingNet connection should be up and running on the 11th of January and I will be redeeming my Wii a week after activation.