Yes, I’ll take some change please!

I don’t really need to say anything else do I?

It’s done…

It only took a week. Someone came to see the bike yesterday and bought it that same day : (

Oh well, now I can pay some bills. I will get another bike eventually, hopefully next year. We’ll see.

Now please excuse me while I weep.

Just tryin to keep up

I have decided to abandon my Now Playing list somewhat for the time being simply because between now and the end of the year there are so many good games coming out and I am going to be trying to play as many of them as possible.  Therefore, it is unreasonable to think that I will be able to keep up the list when I won’t even be able to keep up with the games themselves.  Basically, here’s how things are looking.  Through the end of the year I will be playing Penny Arcade Adventures, Flock, Sam & Max Season 1 on Wii, BioShock, WipEout HD, LittleBigPlanet, Dead Space, Resistance 2, Valkyria Chronicles, possibly  Fallout 3 (not sure if I want it yet), and lastly, I have to play GTA4 again for trophies.  AND Burnout Paradise is getting more updates, not to mention that I am paying pretty close attention to Mirror’s Edge and MK vs. DC Universe.  They look really cool but I’m not sure if I want them yet.  There’s too many damn games!  I haven’t played my DS or PSP in a while now just trying to keep up with the PS3 stuff.  I eventually plan to play Lego Batman too.  I’m sure I’m forgetting a few but that’s just off the top of my head.

As to what I’ve played recently, I finally beat Bionic Commando Rearmed.  Very nice payoff at the end there : )  I never beat the original but I had heard about it.  Nice to actually see it.  I am continuing to play WipEout HD here and there and I’m enjoying Penny Arcade Adventures more than I thought I would.  I downloaded Everyday Shooter, LocoRoco Cocoreccho, and flOw as well.  Everyday Shooter is pretty cool.  Very trippy and psychadelic.  And really difficult.  I like that the mechanics of defeating enemies change with every stage and that as you play you constantly build up points that you can use to unlock additional stuff.

LocoRoco is possibly the most bizarre, insane game I’ve ever played, even slightly more so than the original game for the PSP.  I think I like the PSP one better.  flOw is pretty cool, very serene and calming.  I can see myself playing it after a rough day just to unwind or chill out for a while when I’m bored.  It seems like it is a game that just doesn’t end.  I’m very curious to see how Flower turns out, since its by the same people.  Ooh, and I almost forgot about Fat Princess!  I can’t wait to see how that turns out, it looks hilarious!

So bottom line, too many awesome games, too little time.  Just like last year.  Lame, but also awesome!

Just a quick update before bed

Ok, real quick.

Finally got the platinum trophy in Burnout Paradise. I was able to find an Eye Toy at Best Buy (apparently the only one left in the whole damn city) for only $10 so I was able to get the trophy for sending a mugshot. So I am happily playing my original save file again. Whooo!

I am very pleased to announce that I beat Mega Man 9. I understand the initial reaction that it is insanely difficult, but after going back to play a little Mega Man Anniversary Collection for comparison I have come to the realization that it is really no harder than any of the original games. In fact, the argument could be made that its actually easier. The reason is because in the old days of Mega Man 1 & 2, there were no such things as Energy Tanks. The simple addition of this life saver makes the game incredibly easier. Other than that, the same basic strategy used in the original games is what is required to excel at MM9. I believe this is the reason people think that it is so much more difficult.

In these days of finger-contorting control schemes and almost unlimited options to take out your enemies, playing an original Mega Man game feels very crippling. You no longer have ten different ways to approach a given task, there is only a jump button and a fire button, the only relief being the weapons you earn from the bosses. In order to win at these games, you must focus on memorizing the levels and enemies that occupy them, what it takes to eliminate them most effectively, and honing your platforming skills to a needle-fine point. For those gamers that grew up post-SNES, they have never known limits and challenge like this. I feel sorry for them.

Let’s see, what else. I finally figured out that I could use my bionic arm to repel the final boss’s missles in Bionic Commando Rearmed. I should’ve figured. So now I will be able to finish it. Nice. Also, I am slowly getting the hang of Wipeout HD. It’s still pretty tricky, but I feel like I am getting better little by little. Picked up Linger in Shadows the other day. Pretty wierd but pretty cool at the same time. I can definately appreciate what they are trying to do. It was cool to watch and manipulate and find the hidden stuff in that “game.” And it was an easy batch of trophies too

Picked up Dead Space last week and am super excited to play it, but I just haven’t been able to find the time to even start it. I was at my in-laws house all weekend and I am back to working nights, so its been difficult to find the time. Not to mention that I am car-pooling to work with my wife who starts work an hour earlier than me, so that just subtracts free time from my schedule. I’m trying to move and get things situated at my new job so things are a bit crazy right now. I have a feeling Dead Space will consume a considerable amount of time once I start it and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to put aside big chunks of time. And LittleBigPlanet and BioShock are coming very very soon so I will be back to being extremely behind again. Oh well. I would rather have to many games to play than not enough!

I guess that wasn’t very quick at all was it? Eh, whatever. Who needs sleep right?

It is with a heavy heart…..

that I have officially posted my motorcycle on Craigslist. It will kill me to sell it only a year after getting it, but I need the money right now. And it will be easier for me to get over it since winter is coming and I won’t be able to ride it soon anyway. I fully plan to get another bike as soon as possible, but I need to pay some bills right now and save some money.

So, if anybody is interested or knows anybody who wants a bike, please check out the page or send them to check it out, and in the meantime I will ride it as much as I can and cry myself to sleep : (

Hope, more hope, and dread

So I just accidentally clicked something and lost my entire post. Dammit. Ok, here goes a shorter summary of it, or at least what I can remember of it.

We ended up applying to the same damn apartements we lived in before on the east side. Not that I really mind though, its just funny. We know the grounds are kept up nice, anything we needed fixed was always done so pretty quickly, and they know we are good tenants. The supers remembered us and tipped us off on a 2 bedroom, 1st floor apartment that is becoming vacant very soon. We should hear something soon. It will suck moving back to an apartment though, we have too much crap. A lot of it will have to go in one of our parents’ basements. At least we will both be super close to our jobs. Plus, Devon will be close to her friends and family again, alleviating a huge source of stress for me since she won’t be lonely anymore. And since she drives now, her mobility will no longer be dependent on me. More than worth leaving the west side, even though I love it so. West sider for life!!!!

Speaking of Devon, she got offered a job at Lucia’s Salon on the east side so she will be close to home and be able to stay in the same line of work. I’m really glad for her, the job suits her well and seems like a good fit. I hope she likes it and can stay there for a long time. Maybe we can finally settle down in our new jobs and new surroundings and make 2009 better than 2008 was. 2008 sucked a big fat one pretty much all around.

As far as Progressive goes, I am learning a lot. There are only 6 people in my training class so I am getting to know them pretty well. They’re all really great people and my only disappointment is that we will be starting our own schedules after training is over. (To all my former Chase homies though, you still have a huge place in my heart and our friendship will continue on!) We have three great trainers between us, so there is a lot of personal attention. I hope to learn everything I can and show them what I can do so I can move up soon. Just like at Charter One and Chase, I have access to a lot of information about how this industry works and plan to use it to my advantage. The system we use to set up a claim is nothing special, but the system we use to look up an existing claim is the same one that the claims reps/adjusters use to document every step in the process, from interviewing all parties involved, to repair estimate amounts and determination of who is at fault (and thus how much $ will be paid out to whom). With so much information at my fingertips it will be fascinating for me to be able to look at some of this stuff and, like I did with banking, learn how the whole thing works and the thought process behind it.

The only thing that kind of caught me by surprise though was the realization that eventually I will get a call where there has been a fatality. Not only do we take calls on vandalism and minor fender benders, we also get calls from people on the side of the road moments after an accident happened, and sometimes they will be really bad. I honestly don’t know what affect it will have on me the first time somebody calls me freaking out because they just had a serious crash on the freeway and killed somebody.

Anybody who knows me knows that I am not an especially emotional person, but this is quite a unique situation. Not too many people ever get the opportunity to speak to someone moments after something like that, and I still have to calm them down and provide empathy and support, all while trying to get enough information from them so that I can file a claim. I’d like to think that I’m strong enough to handle something like that, but its not something you can really prepare yourself for. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m scared to take my first fatality call (yet), but the thought of eventually having to do it makes me very uneasy.

Some good/bad news and other stuff

First Paradise City, now Liberty City gets trophies. This trend better not continue, otherwise my back catelog will get pushed back even further while I go back to games I’ve already played to earn trophies. The good news is that GTA4 is an awesome game. The bad news is that its a HUGE game…I played that game for 50 frickin hours…and I’ll have to start all over to get them. Oh well, like Burnout, I’ll probably be able to go through the game a lot faster this time now that I’ve been through it and know it well. And since you can have multiple saves at a time, I won’t have to go through the hassle of moving my original save game to a memory stick like I had to with Burnout Paradise.

In other news, I am getting really really excited about LittleBigPlanet. The more I read about it, the more awesome it sounds. It looks incredibly deep with the level building and with the steady stream of levels from the community, I will be able to play it for a long time. The cuteness of it is not lost on me either. Sackboy is one of the most likeable characters I’ve ever seen. I’m sure the cuteness will go off the charts once I start playing around with him and start seeing all his animations and emotions. I preordered at both GameStop and Best Buy to get the Kratos and Nariko in-game costumes. Then I cancelled my GameStop preorder and put the money on the special edition of Resistance 2. I don’t feel bad at all for cheating GameStop like this. For one, the free Kratos costume does not cost them anything, and for two, the evilness and virus-like qualities of the company are quite well known. I am excited to get my hands on it more than I ever expected to.

I am also incredibly excited for Dead Space! This game is looking to be incredibly creepy and the interactive website and animated comics are getting me super-stoked about it. Its awesome that they are creating this entire world and atmosphere around the title. I gotta say, after the amazing holiday season we had last year I didn’t think 2007 could be topped. But considering how many stellar titles have already come out this year (Burnout Paradise, GTA4, MGS4, BC: Rearmed, PixelJunk Eden, etc) and the stuff that is coming in the next 2-3 months, 2008 has a pretty good chance.

On the subject of the God of War movie, I don’t really have an opinion of Brett Ratner. I’m not familiar enough with his work to say if he will do the games justice. But David Jaffe seems to have a lot of faith in the director and the writing team. And after finding out some of the films that the writing team are responsible for, I have to agree. The only thing that it keeping me from getting incredibly stoked for a GOW movie is the completely abyssmal track record of almost every video game movie ever made. I really really really really really want a God of War movie to be just as incredible as the games are, but I just can’t bring myself to trust that it will be. Show me a cool trailer and I may change my mind…..