Warspanner

I like Matt have been thouroughly enjoying Warhammer Online. It's addictive and highly accessible. Being an MMO fan myself, it makes a nice change to actually get involved with a game to the point that you miss it while away. So much so that I've had a couple of pints, sat down and clicked on "join server" only to find out that once again the server's full. While recently cloning our server it would seem that no bugger has moved and so we're at exactly the same point as we were a few days ago...sigh...click, click, click....sigh.

Over the moon

So, I have finally managed to get Jay into Football Manager! We've started a Premiership season as Liverpool (me) and Spurs (the big man) and currently our situation as of three games (well, two for me) is as above.

A great 4-0 win at Anfield over Villa and a solid 1-0 win away at a tricky Wigan sees me 4th with a game in hand, whilst Jay's had a win, a draw and a loss in his first three.

Watch this space for updates (such as both of us losing our jobs before Christmas)

Death Magnetic

Right, I presume that we've all found a way of hearing the new Metallica album, aye? Whether you were brave enough to risk downloading it and have Lars Ulrich possibly crawl through your telephone line and punch you in the face repeatedly or simply you have managed to pick up the various snippets and such that have been gradually released by the band themselves, if you're a Metallica fan and haven't heard it yet then you're either very disciplined or living under an internet rock.

All I can say is YEEEEEAAAAH! This is the kind of Metallica I like - not the confusing onslaught of noise that was St. Anger. Riffs flying left, right and centre, James Hetfield roaring away in some kind of blinding rage and some top, top songs. Current favourite tune: All Nightmare Long.

Perfect stuff for soothing the pain of having to watch Jay grind through Too Human! Looking forward to laying down the cash for the physical release next week (er, just in case Lars is reading of course :-)).

Too Human?

So, Jay is sitting just over <-- there playing Too Human, and looking mighty involved in the whole thing. In fact, for the most part of today it seems to have kept him rather quiet, which is unusual. Perhaps he's enjoying it!

From an observer's point, it looks fun if a little... well, repetitive. Having said that, I can't see for the life of me why it's been given such low scores at some places; it's not a classic, sure, but it still seems pretty decent.

Watch out for a review soon!

Footy, American style

So, yeah. While Jay is proceeding to watch his hard-earned virtual loot wash down the virtual table with Fable 2's Pub Games (nice purchase, son), I've been taking a chill pill for the past few days with some virus or other. Never mind, though - it's given me the chance to sit down with this year's Madden 09 in advance of doing my review next week.

See, I love American Football. Not quite sure where the seeds were sewn (I think my brother might be to blame), but ever since 1993 or so I've been following the fortunes of the Cleveland Browns, save the couple of seasons where they temporarily ceased to be. Yes, I'm a Browns fan. Stop laughing.



Anyhow, to Madden 09. This year's edition (PS3 flavour for me) is remarkably smooth, looks great and is packed full of the kinds of depth and stats that any NFL diehard could have wished for, even if they've got Brett Favre in the wrong colour jersey on the front (you can download a new Jets cover from EA Sport's Madden 09 website if you're that bothered).

In general, first impressions are positive. The Madden IQ feature adds weight to my thoughts that these games are the best way for anyone to be introduced to the sport, although I am yet to fully experience EA's claims that it fully adapts the difficulty level to suit your skills. It's shaping up to be excellent fun, and I am soon going to test the Superstar Mode to see if I once again get drafted by the ruddy Buffalo Bills. Fingers crossed I don't - seasons 07 and 08 were pretty grim for me down at the Ralph Wilson Stadium.

In any case, I'll let you know how it pans out. With Jay being perplexed as to why a football game allows players to pick up the ball and run with it and generally being rather confused about the whole NFL scene it's definitely going to be me flying solo on this one, but I think I'll live.

EDIT: Got drafted by the Seahawks. Hmm.

Fable Gambling

Dunno what that weird vid of Tekken was all about, but in other news I've been getting hooked on the Fable 2 Pub Game Gambling-like Live Arcade download. While I confess, like most gambling, it's extremely addictive, I also get the impression that some corners where cut on the balancing. Either that or they decided that they would teach us all a lesson - that when you gamble, you'll eventually loose. It would be nice to think that wouldn't be within a couple of hands, but there you go. If you're interested in playing Fable 2 then I recommend pre-ordering for a download otherwise you'll be spending your points on this little mini-game for not much else other than...well, spending your points!

Let's mess around!

It's party time here at UltraNinjas HQ, with Jay being away on holiday and me being in a jolly mood. It's about time the big man had a break given his rather tortuous workload, so hopefully he's out there getting drunk and living life to the full rather than, say, spending his time fitting blinds, installing a new cooker or getting his car serviced.

So, what does a ninja monkey do to pass his time? He watches classic game footage on Youtube, that's what. Here's a particularly jolly piece of nostalgia for you lot so you can join in the fun:



I totally rocked Tekken 3 as Hwaorang. Good times. Whilst I am here, have a listen to the new tune from Biffy Clyro. I'm not such a big fan of theirs, but Mountains is actually a pretty top song in my own opinion.



Over and out.

Braid

So, I've spent this morning playing through a few worlds of Jonathan Blow's Braid (Xbox Live Arcade, 1,200 Microsoft Points). On the face of it the thing looks like any other 2D platformer, but there's a twist within; you can move time back and forth to change object locations, move to other areas quicker or get rid of pesky enemies. It's brilliantly done, as this video shows.

Geo 2 Rocks it!

Following up on Matt was saying about Geometry Wars 2, it really is worth the few quid to buy this game. It's so unbelievably addictive and for the 6 stages it has to play offers some serious re-playability. Give it a shot :)

Error in I.E.

Sorry to all of you who may have been experiencing problems with the website displaying the blog if viewed in certain browsers - it seemed that something had been overwritten somewhere...doh!

(Thanks goes to Gaz for spotting that one!)