Gaming Strange

I've been going on a strange gaming path lately, playing games that I don't think I might usually play otherwise.

Perhaps what is stranger still, I have not even finished Final Fantasy XIII. My interests in the game sort of fell out and I have not so much as touched that game in weeks now. One of these days soon, however, I will go back and at least finish the game off just to see how that whole mess of a story ends.

I've been hooked onto Plants vs. Zombies lately, which is strange because I've had the game for quite a while and only recently have I started to really play it. I think it has to do with the fact that my PC is actually running rather smoothly lately, which is a rare event in it of itself. Usually PvZ lags out really badly for me, so playing and enjoying the game never really happens.

I also gave in and bought Might And Magic: Clash of Heroes for the DS. I have been wanting to play that for some time, but just never got around to picking it up. I was going to wait for it to be released on PSN and Xbox Live, but with the lack of a release date, I just couldn't help myself anymore.

Last little ditty; I downloaded the demo for UFC Undisputed 2010. I am curious to see what kind of changes have been made to the game play this year. While I did enjoy 2009, I never really got the whole experience of it because I just never could pick up on how in the world you lock in those submission holds.

I am hoping that system has been made a little easier to learn. Or else I have the feeling I will be trying to get through yet another run though a UFC career using extensive jabs, 'superman' punches, leg kicks and the ever deadly head kicks too.

Fun days are ahead (or so I am hoping)...

Lousy Day in Paradise

The title just about says it for me today folks.

What a lousy day in paradise....

The day started out okay, though I usually head into work early in the morning. While it was nice to be able to sleep in a little longer, it sort of messed me up in the process. Today started out differently and I didn't get to work until 12 in the afternoon. So my brain (and apparently my body too) was a mess and I just didn't feel right today. I don't know how to explain it, but I just couldn't get moving like normal. I was sluggish and it doesn't help anything that my stomach felt like it was zipping around in a circle (think Sonic the Hedgehog speeding around those loops).

So what was supposed to be a 6-7 hour work day, turned into a lousy 3 hour affair. I know I needed to be there longer, I surely needed that extra cash. But I just wasn't 'feeling' it at all. Tack onto that my stupidity of wearing a thicker then normal shirt for an undershirt and I was sweating like a mutha. Torture? Very much so, yes...

What does today teach me?

For my lack of work today, I have to work doubly hard tomorrow and Saturday. Yeesh... but that is the price I know I have to pay to make up for today. Long days ahead doesn't even begin to express what I'm meaning here.

Days like this makes me wish I were filthy rich, so I wouldn't ever have to worry about paying for anything. I wonder how life would be like if everything was just taken care of? No bills, no worries, no nothing at all. Just live life carefree...

What? A guy can dream sometimes, can't he?

Birth Of A Spartan

AVATAR

After hearing about how great a movie Avatar was and after reading endless reviews and the like, I have finally seen the movie for myself. Granted, it was not in 3-D like everyone who recommended this movie suggested, I did get to see it in blu-ray instead. How did it stack up to me? In a nut shell, I enjoyed damn near every moment of it and I thought it had some really imaginative ideas mixed into it.

+ Obviously the graphics for this movie is unbelievable and seeing it in blu-ray made me really wish I made it a point to watch this in 3-D (apparently this movie is being worked on for a theatrical re-release in August, which will apparently include some extended scenes, so I may get my chance yet). I mean the environments were absolutely beautiful! There were moments where I even forgot that what I was watching was CG at all!

+ The pacing of the movie was pretty well played out, though I thought it did start a little slow in the beginning. But after watching for a while, I realized that everything happens for a reason here. The action doesn't just happen for the sake of it, for example. When the actual fighting comes, it has a purpose and I got the feeling that they were truly fighting for a cause and not just because. And truth be told, I love movies like this, which actually takes the time to tie everything together and after it all ends, I can walk away from it not being at all confused and actually feeling satisfied (for the most part anyway). Whew!

+ Touching on the story or at least the attention to detail, I loved how the Na'vi were actually explained. It was cool to see Jake Sully (the main human character) learn everything about them, from how they speak and walk, down to their hunting methods and even how they share memories. A unique aspect that I liked was how the Na'vi could link to their mounts and basically become one mind with it. Did I geek out on all this stuff? Absolutely.

- Having bought the blu-ray, I thought the disk would have to be LOADED with extra features like the usual behind the scenes stuff and the like. I mean the movie was such a big deal, how could there be anything less right? But to my surprise, there was absolutely NOTHING. Not even trailers for other movies. Wow. Ouch.

After seeing the lack of extras, I get the feeling like all of that is being saved for a near future re-release (probably after the August re-release to theaters I assume). While I am a little peeved about that, I am just glad that the movie was as good as it was. I had fun and I I actually enjoyed watching this movie. How can I be that mad about the lack of other features?

My real disappointment remains with the fact that I passed up on watching this in 3-D. When I heard about it, I didn't think it would be that great and generally disregarded the movie as such. But after seeing it in blu-ray and being blown away with how beautiful it looked in that format, I honestly think it would have been worth the extra money to see this in 3-D after all.