It's usually hard to quantify someone's time, but my previous week is wonderfully summed up here (their choice of colors, not mine). Vice City is truly a great game - it ranks right up there with Half-Life and Deus Ex. I don't think I'll play too much more of it though - all that is left is menial tasks. I'll pick it up again sometime just to reach 100%, but that time isn't now. Next game on the list - No One Lives Forever 2.
Okay, so I'm a little slow at updating. I didn't do too much last week and then I went to Austin this weekend, and I didn't get a chance to update last night when I got back.
Austin was good fun. Saw Finding Nemo (good stuff) and played basketball (Ram puked afterwards). Other random stuff was thrown in between including Cranium and Trivial Pursuit. Only lost one game of basketball and won every other thing I attempted - please hold your applause.
Today I playtested Halo for the PC at Gearbox's offices. It was a lot of fun - I haven't really played Halo on the Xbox so I can't really compare, but the 7 hours went by pretty quick. I'm under some NDAs, so I can't really describe anything specific. We all get to come back tomorrow and Wednesday as well to play test some more. I'm going to try to exhaust their supply of free candy in those next two days.
Ram made a good point - I should link up a comment to make a pseudo-guestbook. As this is a pseudo-blog, this is a great idea. So the whole purpose of this post is to just make a comment window. So there is no need to read any further. Why the hell are you still reading? Are you that bored? Stop reading now! Stop it. Okay, since you got this far, the meaning of life is located in the comment below. Just click and prepare to be amazed. No, really.
So, I originally wrote this entry last night on my mom's computer, but clicking the Preview button merely caused IE and win98 to crash. I was too disappointed to continue then, but I will try to recreate the magic now. I hope you guys can contain your enthusiasm.
While skimming bluesnews.com, I came across this, and realized the requirements fit me. I play networked games. I have nothing better to do with my time (as proven by earlier entries). I sorta speak English. Perfect. So I applied to be a play-tester at Gearbox in Plano - they are the people assigned to port Halo to the PC. I wasn't expecting anything, but they emailed back offering me a position as an alternate. So this means if some chump, 16 year old nublar (thanks for the word Ram) is unable to convince his mommy to drive him to Plano, they'll call me and I'll get to playtest Halo. Even if that doesn't happen, they have a day set aside for all the alternates to come in and playtest - everybody wins. Of course it is unpaid, but you get to hang out with the developers and see how a game is made first hand (Please stop making fun - I actually enjoy this), and you get to play games. I can't complain. Once the game is completed, they will send everyone (including the non-chosen alternates) an autographed copy of the game and your names goes in the credits (assuming you actually showed up at some point). My goal is to convince a developer to add some Metallica related easter egg, or at least add the name "hbog" somewhere.
In other NFL news, I completed Masters of Doom by David Kushner. It's a decent read - I only had partial knowledge of the beginnings of id software and this book filled in all the details nicely. Other details that interested me (which surprised me by doing so) were the business relationships and the important players in the industry and how they are all interwoven. This area also interested me when I read Hard Drive, which is about Bill Gates and the beginnings of Microsoft. That being said, I am quite happy to read about it - I never want to be a pure businessman - I would get bored if it was my life.
Another thing - I am curious to know who is reading my page. I thought about setting up a guestbook, but realized no one signs those things. Instead, I request that you just post your name in the comments for this topic (look below). And if I don't know how you found this page (i.e. I didn't tell you about it), then post how you got here. Thanks.
So I've been a little more active. Yesterday, Hunter came over and we played 2 games of racquetball - he destroyed me in the first game, and the I lost the second game after leading 14-7. If we had played a third game, I would have ended up puking on him, or me, or the floor, or any combination of those. I really, really need to get in shape.
Today, we watched the Italian Job - not bad, not great - a poor man's Ocean's 11 if you will. That being said, I can't complain about the $3.75 price for the early matinee - who ever knew they show movies at 10:30 in the morning?
Finally started learning music theory - just the basics mind you, but I only started a couple days ago. We'll see how long I stay motivated. Did you know that the inversion of a minor sixth is a major third? Well, now you know, and so do I, and knowing is half the battle.
...back to a better day
My schedule is waaaay too messed up - I need to stop sleeping at 4:00 AM and getting up at 3:00 pm. I'm wasting too much time playing games and sleeping. I shouldn't really call it wasting time as I am having fun, but I have a lot of other stuff that I want/need to be doing and they are not getting done. I need to spend more time learning guitar theory, learning about CSS, exercising, tagging my albums (yes, menial but still necessary), and just spend my time more efficiently.
Another sad result from this schedule is that I'm not eating properly. After waking up a 3:00, I usually get a lite snack (breakfast if you will), and then I eat dinner with the family at 5:00. Then I don't really eat another full meal - I just sorta snack and eat cereal or something. It's not that I'm hungry (I would make a diet guru), but I'm sure this can't be healthy in the long run.
Spent some time today learning the new Metallica album on guitar - this made me realize I sorta miss the solos more - not that I can play the old ones that well or anything, but it is/was fun to try. Not that this album is any easier - the rhythm on the new stuff is hard - it went back to the 6th string chugging on a few of them and I still don't have that down. Plus, when you tune down to drop C, the strings are flopping all over the place and that just makes that chugging all that much harder.
EDIT: I need to add something - here is the best St. Anger review I have read - by far.
Props and a cookie to the person who can guess the song from which today's title and first sentence came from - post your guesses in the comments. And don't google it - that's cheating.
The last two nights I have played close to 10 hours of ET combined - my retinas are completely burned, I literally dream about this stuff, and I'm still not tired of it. I wonder how long that can last.
I downloaded the new Metallica album (you people know I'll be the first one to buy it when it becomes available), and I guess I have to say a few words. It is very different (to me at least) than how all the reviews described it. I was expecting a "wall of sound" with "blast beats" and a very brutal listen. I think those were all overexaggerated by over-anxious reviewers. It does have very harsh components, and its not an easy listen, but there is still a lot of melody and the riffs are distinct. The drum sound is very different from previous albums. James is very loose with his singing, and they left in the jams that are usually added live to the end of songs. While I miss solos, the songs still feel complete without them, and Kirk is still roaming around on the riffs adding little nuances and grooves.
So what's the purpose of blogging all this? Give the album a listen - those people who gave up on Metallica during the Load era will find the angry energy is back, but in a very different (and exciting) form. I can't judge Metallica albums in just a few listens, but it is already growing on me in those few listens. Stand out tracks are Frantic, Some Kind Of Monster, Purify and All Within My Hands.