Trivial

What’s up everyone. I have a small update, a bit of news from my personal life and work with Spawn Kill.

I really haven’t been up to too much lately. Mostly just working and playing tennis. I’ve starting to get pretty good at it, actually, and it seems I have lost eight pounds since I have begun playing. Not too bad.

I had my wisdom teeth removed today. The operation was extremely basic, nowhere near the huge chaotic circus that my last surgery was. My painkillers are potent, and I guess for that I should be thankful.

The Resume page of The K-Tuck Experience has been appropriately filled with my resume. I removed a bit of personal information, but the gist of it remains.

Not long ago I attended a super gnarly web demonstration for the upcoming Atlus release 3D Dot Game Heroes. I had been excited about the game beforehand, but after the presentation I knew I would have to buy the game. It is impressive on all levels. Definitely check out my extensive preview.

Goozex finally game through (after five or six weeks of waiting) with my new copy of Dragon Age: Origins. The game was initially quite hard to swallow, but after sticking with it for a few hours I was able to see its charm. It’s truly a wonderful realm, and the characters are well-realized. My only regret so far is that I didn’t have a better grasp on the skill system in the beginning levels — though I can’t blame the game for this, I most certainly can’t blame myself for not knowing what I should be focusing on.

Also, after many, many months of sitting in pieces spread about my apartment, I finally acquired two critical pieces to my drumset. Amber got me a set of hi-hats for Valentine’s Day, a set of Pearl Pro 14″ hats that were extremely filthy. Hot water, elbow grease, and bathroom cleaner took care of that. An older woman I had a long and somewhat uncomfortable conversation with at work turned out to be the proprietor of the store where these were found, and there I was also able to procure a well cared-for snare drum. It’s a Pearl, steel shell, but beyond that I can’t much identify it.

There have been other things, most not significant enough to remember, let alone mention here.

Take it easy, folks.

I’ve Been Busy

Not so much with work, as my work has always been (and will most likely always be) a mindless shuffle through a particular set of motions, the only variable being the number of minutes remaining until I go home or an irate customer or coworker who wants nothing more than to spread their terrible mood across the Golden Triangle.

I’ve been busy with games. I’d like to break down some of my thoughts, both for this site and for my own personal (and ironically public) record.

Ratchet and Clank is Phenomenal

I just finished A Crack in Time last night, and the entirety of the experience was nothing short of amazing. The guys at Insomniac show a lot of love for their games as well as others, as referenced by the obvious Street Fighter and Mario references I caught within the title.

My review of it will be up as soon as I write it (obviously), but I just wanted to say that Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is one of the best games I have ever played. Other reviews state that the formula is getting old — I couldn’t agree less. Insomniac’s propriety blend of platforming, shooting, and puzzle gameplay has become nearly perfect through the years.

Thanks to the lovely Molotov Cupcake (of Spawn Kill), I will be reviewing Modern Warfare 2 as well. These are exciting times!

K-Update

Yo! I got a few updates here from my personal life as well as my writing gig.

I got in a copy of Fairytale Fights for PS3. It was in some kind of exclusive press package. Unfortunately the game was awful. I still have a bad taste in my mouth just thinking about it.

My Holiday Gift Guide for Solo Gamers went up quite recently. It was a good idea from the mind of Tigresa of Spawn Kill. I hope I did the concept justice.

I also got my copy of Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time in from whomever sent it to Tigresa, who then sent it to me. Only about three hours into the game, my PlayStation 3 unceremoniously died. My brother asked me how many hours it had been operated (since it was originally from the comic store I used to manage), and this line of thinking led me to estimate that the PS3 had been operated well over six thousand hours since it was first purchased.

Needless to say, I have a need to play games, and since I have a copy of this game to review I couldn’t go back on what was expected of me. I went out and bought a PS3 Slim. I’m not too happy with it (my other was a 60gb BC model), but having the option for Dolby TrueHD is nice for whenever I upgrade my sound system. The system is nice in it’s own way, I just liked my old one. I also liked the extra three hundred and sixty dollars I had in my bank account.

That’s the update though. Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is phenomenal. This one deserves a high rating. The review is forthcoming.

Bioshock – I don’t get the appeal

I’ve been doing these rounds through games I get from Goozex, playing titles based on my initial experiences. For example, I played through the amazing Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction followed by the mediocre Mirror’s Edge, so I figured I would play a game that is apparently great for the next in line — Bioshock.

My problem now is that I can’t move on to the rest of the games in my queue because Bioshock just isn’t fun enough to keep my attention, let alone finish. The plasmid system would be cool if it didn’t make combat slow and awkward, trying to balance between stunning something, setting it on fire, or shooting it (because I will still have to do that anyway). The radial weapon menu feels clumsy, and I keep refilling my health/EVE and reloading my weapon trying to do something else, like hack a downed sentry in a pinch.

There are other things too, like how the dialog boxes fill up a good fifth of the screen, or that I can’t change any of my abilities without finding a machine first. I get that it fits with the visual/environmental appeal of the game, but its an odd design choice.

I may actually have to skip over this title in order to get some more prolific games out of the way (namely Uncharted), but it would irk me to have a game that has not been completed sitting on my shelf.