iPhone 3GS - The Tweety Penguin

I realize that I have not been blogging much ever since I got my iPhone 3gs (16 GB). I rarely change handphones so this is only the 3rd handphone I have ever owned in my life (first one was during NS, second one was during NUS studies).

I went to the SingTel shop on a Friday at 7 pm and took a queue number. I had to return later at 9 pm when it was my turn (there were like 70+ people in front of me). After talking with the sales stuff, I went with the cheapest plan (iFlexi Lite) and topped up $528 for the iPhone.

I could finally use my iPhone on Saturday evening when they activated my new simcard. I was like a kid with a new toy. I tried out the various functions and downloaded a lot of apps. It was so exciting. I have grown to like Twitter a lot. It's fun to tweet on the fly. Previously, when I feel like posting stuff on my Facebook/blog, it is not as newsworthy by the time I get home late at night. Not anymore with the iPhone!

February: Simply Mass-ive for Gaming

I was kept busy at home this month playing two new titles that I picked up.



Mass Effect 2

One of my most highly anticipated games this year. Being a huge fan of the series, I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition and picked it up on its release day. Needless to say, I was utterly hooked and touched no other game for the two weeks that it took to see ME2 through to its conclusion.

Trying to talk about the epic space opera that is ME2 is actually more difficult than it appears since everything that makes the game great is a spoiler. The story and character developement are excellent. Combat has received a major overhaul and now plays like a standard third-person shooter. The writing/script is truly amazing and is backed by a stellar cast. I am sure it will be something that I remember for years to come.

Oh, and in case this phrase catches on and becomes a bad Internet meme...

Try Googling it. lol


MAG (Massive Action Game)

Probably better known as "that 256-player console shooter". For me, I would best describe MAG as a MMO/FPS hybrid. You pick one of 3 competing factions and acquire skill points through leveling which you use to unlock talents/gear on skill tree. You fight on very large maps (up to 128 vs 128) with several fronts and numerous points of interest/objectives.

The thing that seperates MAG from other FPS is its command structure. Each team is broken down into 8-man squads led by a Squad Leader. His duty is to assign targets for the squad to attack/defend and he also has access to special abilities (like air strikes and UAV). There are other higher positions like Platoon Leader and OIC as well.

WoW players will probably start to realize that this is all starting to sound familiar. All these command positions are like WoW raid positions (raid leader, 2IC, class leader) and each match is comparable to a raid/BG (Alterac Valley).

I actually enjoy it when I get assigned as Squad Leader. It is very satisfying when you know you have a part in leading your team to victory. On the downside, if you get in a squad full of morons who run about doing their own thing, you will feel like you just wasted 30 minutes of your life.

However, after playing the game for about a month, I found the maps to be limited and lacking in variety. I am near the max level but I felt like I have been seeing that same gate and that same bunker for an eternity. Hopefully, things will be more refreshing once I hit the max level and do a faction change.

Chinese New Year 2010 - Trip to JB

This year's Chinese New Year holiday was different for me. I did not have to go for house visits at all because my father was busy and my mother was overseas. I didn't really mind because I knew I would only be annoyed by relatives who would ask me the same "Do you have a girlfriend?" and "When are you finding a new job?" questions again every year.

I ended up spending most of my time at home playing games. The only program I had was to go to Johor Bahru on Sunday night to visit my mother who is there on a business trip. This may sound strange but, as far as I can remember, this was my first time going to JB. (My parents took me to KL and Genting when I was very young so it did not leave an impression.)

My guardian, Lim would be coming along too as he would be driving me there. We left for JB on Sunday night at around 11:45 pm (to avoid the traffic, he says). True enough, there weren't many cars crossing the Causeway and we reached the New York Hotel in JB in a little more than an hour.

The hotel was actually in quite a 'ulu' area with a whole row of car workshops right in front. We met up with my mother and had a late-night supper at the hotel's restaurant (which surprisingly was still opened at this time). We chatted a lot and went back to our rooms.

On Monday morning, we woke up to a buffet breakfast at the hotel's restaurant again. The plan was actually to go shopping at Pelangi Plaza nearby but since it was the CNY holidays, only a fraction of the stores were open. The shopping centre was deserted. Doh.


We then went to the massage parlour/spa near the hotel. My mother says she always recommends her business friends to this place for a massage whenever she is in JB. I had a full-body massage which took an hour. It was actually quite painful as it felt as though the PRC masseuse was grinding my body with her knuckles, elbows and (in my mind) a rolling pin. With spikes. When it was over, I didn't dare to look in the mirror; I might be blue & black all over.

Unfortunately, I could not take any pics of the massage parlour as it might be an invasion of privacy (other guests were lying around). haha.


After that, we went to the cafe next door for lunch and ice-cream. We chatted a bit more before it was time to go. My mother's next stop would be KL after she settles stuff in JB.

The journey back to Singapore was much longer this time due to the looooong line of vehicles at the customs and Causeway. It look close to 2 hours.

Nevertheless, it was a short, fun trip and it was nice to see my mother again since my Hong Kong vacation.

Agency Gathering @ Ice Cold Beer

I went to Ice Cold Beer at Emerald Hill on Friday after work to chill with friends from work. It was 'Auntie Stacey' who initiated the outing via mass agency e-mail. The turn-out was greater than I expected. Everyone joked it was to "give her face". I had a pint of Hoegaarden just like the rest and we shared nachos, chicken and a pizza.

Everyone just chatted and talked crap. I witnessed another side of them that I never saw at work. haha. I rarely go drinking/pubbing but I guess sex talk is a pretty common topic over drinks. At around 9 pm, everyone started having refills. I finished my one pint and decided it was time to go. I kinda enjoyed myself that night. It was nice to get to know them outside of being insurance agents at work.

Since Orchard Central was nearby, I decided to go and check out FunZ Centre. As I made my way up to FunZ, I realized that I was having a bit of 'shaky vision' like what a WoW character experiences when he chugs beer. It was kinda funny but all was okay as I took a cab home later.

Two Weeks into the New Year

Ever since the start of the New Year, I have been...

1) Trying to sleep early on weekdays. Cos' going to bed at 1:30 am - 2:00 am is just plain unhealthy and affects my work. Nowadays I now try to sleep at 12:30 am.

2) Spending less times on gaming. It's not that video games are getting boring. Sometimes I want a bit more variety in my daily life. Instead of spending 4 hours every night on games, I try to watch some TV, surf the net, read some fantasy/ sci-fi novels. None of which are any more constructive than playing video games but what the hey.

So far so good though going to sleep earlier does take some getting used to.

On the subject of work, I had some small problems last week with someone complaining about me but I'll just leave it at that.

Over the weekend, I went to watch The Spy Next Door (starring Jackie Chan) with friends at The Cathay. It was one of those family-oriented movies with throw-away villains and a plot that makes little sense. But it was funny. And it had Jackie Chan in it!

On the way home, I dropped by at Funan to pick up Darksiders. I actually kinda regretted my purchase. I blame it on Bayonetta. Even though they are somewhat different, Bayonetta has set the bar for action games so ridiculously high that I cannot help but mentally draw comparisons to it while playing Darksiders. I hope I will grow to like it as I spend more time with it. I probably should have done what some of my friends did: Play Darksiders first then Bayonetta.

Non-Stop Climax Action - Bayonetta!

I have been looking forward to Bayonetta ever since I saw the old "You want to touch me?" trailer from TGS08 and learnt that Hideki Kamiya (creator of Devil May Cry) was working on it.

I finally got my hands on the 360 Asian release last week. Boy was I blown away. As I watched the Prologue cutscene, I marveled in awe at the over-to-top action, complete with hammy dialogue and an upbeat JPop-meets-Jazz musical score. Once I got control of my character and started playing proper, I had a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. It was that same feeling I got when I played the first Devil May Cry. I was reminded why I loved such stylish yet ridiculous games. Kamiya hasn't lost his touch.

I may have gone a little overly dramatic there but that was the best way to describe my feelings. I might be biased but I feel that Bayonetta is fantastic and may have raised the bar for action games. In a sea of generic and cliche action titles, Bayonetta dares to be different and delivers a highly refreshing and entertaining experience.

The presentation is incredible with the game running at a blazing smooth frame rate accompanied by tons of animation going on in the background. When I first saw the trailers for this game, I almost thought it may be too much for human eyes to handle. The combat system is like DMC's engine gone into overdrive. It's frantic, fluid and fun, and yet has a lot of depth to it (as evident by all the insane combo videos one can find on YouTube).

The enemy Angel designs are highly creative and abstract. The boss encounters are the true highlight here. In my opinion, any of Bayonetta's major bosses could have very well be the final boss of some other game.

The music for the game is brilliant as well even though it may not be to everyone's taste. The battle tunes will forever be stuck in my head because they are so catchy. I probably will end up getting the OST which spans 5 CDs and has over a hundred songs. Yes, 5 CDs worth of tracks for a 'mere' action game. I find it amusing that the game's theme song is "Fly Me to the Moon" which is the same as the Evangelion anime and both involve slaying angels.

My first run through of the game on Normal took 9+ hours. I was actually a little sad when I knew I was nearing the game's end. Ah, well. The game is meant for multiple playthroughs and I'm looking forward to challenging myself on the higher difficulties.

I may have overdone it with this blog entry so it's time to sum up: Bayonetta is possibly the greatest action game I have played in a long time. It is awesome in many ways and is a masterpiece that should not be missed.

/END fanboyish raving

P.S.: I took a photo of this from a scene in-game. It's part of the background/scenery. It seems that someone on the development team shares my love for chicks as well.

It's 2010!

First entry of 2010 and I am already having my first Monday Blues of the year. :(

I actually didn't feel any different on Thursday night when the clock struck midnight to usher in the 1st of January. It felt just like any other holiday to me. Maybe I am slowly turning into a boring person. Oh no.

I met up with the MYM guys for dinner at AMK on Friday. We ate at Popeye's and then hung out at McDonald's. Note: I am beginning to think that Popeye's taste quite similar to KFC. hehe.

Over the weekend, I played games and watched the DVDs which I rented from VideoEZY. I guess it has become a custom of mine to rent movies during holidays.

Yup, all 3 are comedies. I enjoyed the Pick of Destiny and Fanboys. There were a lot of genuinely funny stuff in the both of them. On the other hand, Tropic Thunder was lame and nonsensical.

I especially liked the Master Exploder dream sequence in the Pick of Destiny! It's just so ridiculous and funny!


After watching all three, I realized that there were some recurring actors across them all. Jack Black was in the Pick of Destiny and Tropic Thunder. Jay Baruchel was in Tropic Thunder and Fanboys. What a coincidence. I was like: "Didn't I see just see this guy in that other movie?" haha.

Christmas 2009

The Christmas holidays began for me on the 24th. After my half day at work, I met up with Duelist, Addict and Mambo at Funan Centre. We shopped around and then had a late lunch at Shokudo at Raffles City. I realized all these open food bazaar restaurants always have rosti which I really like. haha.

On Christmas itself, I met up with Kyo, Akira, Brainy, Bahamut and Mango for dinner at Suntec City. At first we were planning to have Kuishinbo but it turned out that the buffet charges were much higher that day. We ended up eating at Kenny Roger's which was just as fine since I love their chicken.

At night, we went over to Bahamut's place for some BlazBlue. I haven't touched the game in months and ended up spamming a handful of combos that I could barely remember. I can't wait for Continuum Shift!

(As I post this, I realized that I should be more cam-whorish and be daring enough to snap pictures next time...)

I spent my Saturday at home playing video games. I was in the mood for some music and picked up several rhythm games to keep myself busy; DJ Hero, LIPs Number One Hits and Guitar Hero Van Halen.


Here's the obligatory Prinny-with-new-toy photo. And yes, I have to stack up several empty boxes every time I want to play.

On Sunday, I met up with YongHao to catch Sherlock Holmes at AMK Hub. It is always fun to see Robert Downey Jr. in any movie. I don't know much about the character but I guess they were going for modern-day Holmes who has some character flaws and can fight really well. The plot was a little weak to me but it does hint at a sequel. The show has a lot of investigative moments when it reminds me of CSI. haha.

Looking at the Halo Legend Anime Series (Part I)

Halo Legends starting airing over Xbox Live on alternate Saturdays since November. I believe it is up on YouTube and other sources as well. Some of you may have watched it so here are my brief personal views on the episodes out thus far.

1. The Babysitter
Studio: STUDIO4°C


This is actually currently my favourite episode so far. Nice, clean traditional anime character designs and a memorable story to boot. The plot is based on a familiar concept from the novels (the rivalry between the ODSTs and Spartans). There was a cool twist at the end that left me thinking. Looking forward to see the upcoming "Origins" episode which is done by STUDIO4°C as well.

Halo Geek Moment: That Brute 's Gravity Hammer must be out of batteries seeing how totally UN-destructive its impact is.


2. The Duel
Studio: Production I.G.


This episode centers on one of my most favourite subject matter in the Haloverse; the Sanghelli (aka Elites). The story takes place before they actually joined the Covenant. Seeing them portrayed as olden day honourable Japanese warriors (complete with Kimono!) was a nice touch. Fight scenes were cool, too. Unfortunately, the animation did not do it for me. It was said that they were going for a CGI-meets-watercoloured-painting look but all I saw was a pixelated mess. Some may applaud it for its unique animation style though. Ah well.

Halo Geek Moment: We get to learn how the "Arbiter" became a 'bad' title.

3. The Package
Studio: Casio Entertainment


I found this to be my least favourite episodes so far. So the Spartans are supposed to retrieve a 'package' from a Convenant ship. What ensues is 15+ minutes of filler'ish back-to-back action sequences that seem to serve no purpose other than to showcase the studio's 3D polygons/CGI rendering prowess. It's very mindless and disappointing to me.

Halo Geek Moment: In some parts of the action scenes, the camera switches to a first-person view (complete with crosshair) similar to the video game. This would've been a cool gimmick... if they did not re-use it multiple times during said action sequence.

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The remaining episodes will be aired over the first few months of the new year. I am actually planning to get the DVD/Blu-Ray just so that I can experience the anime a second time in Japanese. hehe.

TIme to Clear Leave

It has been a while since I had a normal update. Everyday has been the same for me: It's all work and games.

There was a period of time when I actually thought that I may be out of the job soon because my agency was in danger of not hitting our quota to stay in business. However, things are starting to look fine now so it is no longer a cause for worry.

I started clearing my leave this month. I was advised against clearing several days at one go so I went and spread out my 3 days to one day per week. It doesn't seem ideal but it is actually not too bad since I end up coming to work only 4 days a week.

Clearing my leave actually reminds me that I need to negotiate with my boss for more annual leave next year. I always felt that 7 days a year is quite pathetic. I'm gonna see if I can ask for something more reasonable like 10.

VGA: Halo Reach

When I first saw the Halo Reach world premiere trailer during the Video Game Awards (live stream) on Sunday morning, I felt cheated. So much hype and they just showed a 2-minute pre-rendered cutscene without a single gameplay video.

It was only later in the day that I realized that whole trailer was running on the in-game engine. I went to catch it again on Gametrailers and also downloaded it off Bungie to watch on my laptop. Still felt it was nothing to write home about.

I got back from work today and saw that the HD trailer was up on the Xbox Live Marketplace. I decided to give it one more shot.

I ended up watching it several times. It suddenly looks and sound so different on my usual gaming setup. I managed to catch little tidbits that I missed out. The music of Halo never fails to impress. Spring 2010 seems so far away.

For those wondering why the game has such an odd name, it's based on the events of the first novel.

More MW2

Penny Arcade hits the nail on the head once again.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/30/

Those knife runners (Marathon+Lightweight+Commando) and Akimbo 1887 shotgunners are overpowered.

I finally Prestiged today on MW2 (360). Haven't been able to spend much time with the PS3 version due to the "Fetching Playlists" bug. It is kinda annoying not being able to play whenever I want.