/played
Second Life (pc/mac)
Me & My Katamari (psp)
Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (psp)
Tetris DS (ds)

/listened to
Again… podcasts…

/watched
Nothing…

Just to be complete, an update of what I’m doing, although it’s not much different from last week. Second Life has me some what in its grip (not too much though, now that the house is decorated I’m taking it slower ^^) and Tetris DS helped me get through another family event :D

If you own a PSP, I really advice Me & My Katamari, since I’m still enjoying it a lot even after so many hours of play. MGA2 requires longer attention spans and although the PSP offers easy immediate standby, breaking a level or cutscene in half just doesn’t feel right.

Next week Brain Age will finally arrive in Europe, so you will be seeing a much smarter me :P …

Crap. Another MMO has gotten me in its grip. Although, this time, it’s not really pointless grinding and questing, reaching useless goals and playing with 12 year olds. Nope, it really is a second life, oddly enough. Just, this life is a bit less limited ;)

The great thing about Second Life is its user-created content. Everything is created by the residents, the players in the game. You have access to a 3D modeling tool, allowing you to create anything you like. Adding your own textures and writing your own scripts, lets you build your own furniture, cars, pets,… anything really. All limited by just your imagination.

Of course, you don’t have to. You can just visit the shopping malls and buy your stuff instead of being creative yourself. What brings us to money issue. The world of SL has its own currency, the Linden Dollar, which has an exchange rate with real life money. So you can exchange it in two directions, meaning you can spend real life cash, but also make it! If you are succesful and have the skills to create great items, you might be able to get some extra pocket money out of it… or even get loaded! (google for some success stories of SL residents)

But the main activity is the networking, meeting people and going out to visit places. There are clubs of all sorts, fun parks, malls,… someone even recreated the town of the Flinstones! The live music streams add to the realism, giving that extra touch to each place you visit. Clubs even have live DJs interacting with the avatars dancing in the club. It’s a crazy new world, but one really worth a visit.

The first day I logged in I was lucky enough to run into a girl named Alyssa, who was kind enough to show me around the world of SL. Together with a guy named Quidam (or kiwi as we call him), we’re now living on this beautiful piece of country land (small island included!) owned by her. Now I got my own little Irish cottage on there. Took me 2 days to find furniture and get the interior right (it’s been a while since I saw 4am and 5am pass by two days in a row), but it’s looking sweet ^^ lol.

I suggest you check it out, as the basic account is free. Just download the 30+mb client, create an avatar and look me up, Suibne Goodnight. I even got white wine in the house ^^. And a drunk cat… walks a bit funny (whoever wrote that script is a retard lol). In the mean time, check out a few screenshots.

Omg this is great news! First Gears of War is announced to release here before the rest of the world, now Loco Roco, the crazy Japanese PSP game, is coming to Europe end of June, before Japan and even months before the US. How crazy is that? ^^

You can check out the site in Dutch (!) here. Finally the game industry is starting to show some respect for its best customers and greatest fans :D Hooray Europe ^^ !!

[Tnx to Wim]

/played
Me & My Katamari (psp)
Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (psp)
Second Life (pc/mac)

/listened to
Podcasts…

Okay, no Lost this week. Those 3 episodes of Season 2 sort of made me want to take a break… I’ll get back to it soon I hope.

Me & My Katamari is still keeping me busy. I don’t know whether the game is longer than its PS2 versions, but it sure feels like it. Which is a good thing though, since they were really too short. Also couldn’t resist buying Metal Gear Ac!d 2, the card-based stealth game. And I seriously have stealth problems, even when it’s turn-based, so I end up having to kill every enemy on the field anyway.

And yes, there’s a PC game on the list! *Shock! .. I know I banned MMORPGs from my life, but I blame Adam Curry’s podcast. Hearing about Second Life over and over again and seeing as it is free, I finally got around installing it. And it ended up wasting all my precious weekend time. It’s like an MMO, but without the grinding, questing, annoying parties, etc. Just the good things! :D Chilling, talking, shopping, building, etc. The entire world is completely customizable and just about everything you want to do is possible. The place is only limited by your own imagination.

I’m planning on doing a seperate post on the game a bit later on though and won’t go into too much detail here. I’ll try to get some nice screenshots and some fun stories to tell ;) In the mean time, if you are interested, head over to their site and give it a try!

/played
Tetris DS (ds)
Me & My Katamari (psp)
Lost Planet (360)
Daxter (psp)
Loco Roco Demo (psp)

/listened to
Guns n’ Roses - All albums
Freezepop - All albums
Podcasts…

/watched
Lost - Season 1 Episode 21-25
Lost - Season 2 Episode 1-3

Same music, more Lost. Although I’ve been following game news like crazy, I haven’t really played that much. The Lost Planet demo is amazing though. I don’t think I’ve seen a game that pretty before. Next-gen is today!

Lots of handheld gaming though, since that’s something you can easily do on your lunch or toilet break :D. Tetris DS is still a blast, although it’s better online. And there’s no WiFi at the office here so :/ We also bought Daxter for Elke and she’s loving it, plays it each morning/evening on the train. I tried it myself and was surprised by the quality, compared to most other PSP games. There was no low quality voice recordings like GTA PSP had, the characters are well animated and the game is actually pretty fun.

Last but certainly not least, I received Me & My Katamari from Elke, for our 4 year anniversary ^^. Even though the reviews aren’t all positive, I’m really loving it. It’s a bundle of happiness and joy all put onto one small UMD for you to carry along. Lunch breaks improved by 200%! It’s Katamari and its bright, beautiful world fits like a glove on the sexy PSP screen.

Next up! Brain Age and Metal Gear Ac1d 2. Out this week! :D

Last week was one crazy game week. Unless you’ve been living under a rock or are a complete noob when it comes to gaming, E3 just ended last Friday and it was pretty interesting.

Sony was the big loser though, with some underwhelming announcements and the return of the Dualshock controller… with motion sensor! (Wii rip-off anyone? Hell, the developers weren’t even aware) Microsoft had some great games to show off and Nintendo stole the show with their Nintendo Wii, probably the greatest innovation in gaming since ages. Google the Internet and see Steven Spielberg even go crazy playing Wii tennis with Miyamoto.

Anyway, a quick overview of the games that really impressed me:

Lost Planet (360)

Thanks to Xbox Live, we could enjoy a demo of the game at home… and it blew us away. This must be the prettiest game on console I have played. Not just the lighting, but the models and animation, the fact that it really looks next-gen… and plays great! This is a must-buy for sure.

Gears of War (360)

Although I thought it wasn’t an exclusive for 360, this really shows what the hardware is capable of. The creators of Unreal bring you a gory, 3rd person over-the-shoulder shooter, that just looks as if it was pre-rendered… but isn’t. Sony must have cried when they saw this.

Nintendo Wii

Yes I said games, but when it comes to the Wii, you got to love them all. Red Steel looked a bit unready, but Wii Sports, Metroid and Mario Galaxy can’t be released soon enough. The new controllers will change the way we play games… and will require me throw some furniture out the window if I want room enough for 4 player Tennis…

Heavenly Sword (PS3)

The cover of Edge made me check the game out on the Internet and although it’s just God of War with a chick, I think that’s just what God of War was missing. A red-haired beauty slashes away with a couple of huge swords and chains. Gorgeously rendered, well animated and extremely sexy-violent (if there is such a thing), this might just be worth considering a PS3.

Dead or Alive: Extreme 2 (360)

It’s girls, in bikinis, in hi-def. Do I need to say more?

Some other titles also grabbed my attention, but these are the ones I’m losing sleep over. Xmas 2006 (and in some cases 2007) can’t come soon enough!

No, I’m still not starting my own (although I’ve been thinking about it)…

Podcasts have changed my life. No really. A big part of it even… Yes, those 2 hours (minimum) I spent commuting each day have become far less of a pain since I discovered the world of… podcasts. Hey! That’s 10 hours a week. So yeh, it is a big deal ^^.

Anyway, there are too many podcasts out there. And it really is getting hard to filter out the crap. So I’ll give you a list of what I think is worthy of your time… You are reading this blog so chances are big you sort of have the same interests, no?

Enough talk, to the list!

1UP Yours Radio Podcast: In my humble opinion, the best videogame podcast out there. Heated discussions on news, game reviews etc. If you want an honest opinion, this is the place to be.
Listen!

Adam Curry: Daily Source Code: It’s daily, so I can’t really find the time to listen to every single episode. Adam Curry, “the podfather”, talks about podcasting, his personal life and Second Life. Quite entertaining… for a Dutch ^^.
Listen!

Mondays - What Sunday Threw Up: Now these guys/girl are funny. And available almost every Monday! A 1+ hour show to brighten up your start of the week.
Listen!

The Kojima Productions Report: The latest news on Kojima, creators of Metal Gear Solid. Even if you aren’t into MGS, like me, it’s pretty interesting to hear about the latest developments on one of the greatest Japanese titles out there.
Listen!

Major Nelson: Your source for any Xbox 360 related news, head of Xbox Live gives you the latest info on the first next-gen console.
Listen!

Dreamstation.cc: A weekly show, filled with reviews and news on games, by, if I’m not mistaken, a group of Italian-American guys who really do make a fun show. They tend to talk a bit too much about The Godfather though ;)
Listen!

VGM Daily: Not as good as the previous, but these guys always have a bunch of nice game-related interviews ready. They have commercial breaks though. Thank god for the fast-forward button.
Listen!

As you noticed, lots and lots of game news enters my ears during those traffic jams. I’m like a walking games magazine! :D Ask me anything! There’s more, but nothing I’ll keep listening too for much longer. If you have any more to promote, let me know!

/played
Tetris DS (ds)
Singstar Rocks! (ps2)
Test Drive Unlimited Demo (360)

/listened to
Guns n’ Roses - All albums
Freezepop - All albums

/watched
Lost - Season 1 Episode 2-20

One week I play loads of games, the next I play almost none. Singstar Rocks! really requires lots of booze, so I’ll try that again some other day. Tetris DS is amazing online, so please leave your friend code if you have one. The offline modes Puzzle, Push and Standard are a blast, but connected to WiFi the game can get really tense. Test Drive sucked. I really hope this is very early code. If it is, it’s great to see developers allowing not just the press to get their hands on these versions. If it’s not, they can keep their crap ;)

I’m still listening to lots of podcasts (I’ll post a new list soon) but I’ve put my entire GnR and Freezepop collection on the iPod to keep me company from 8 to 5.

As for movies, absolutely nothing. Just Lost. Lots and lots of Lost ^^. Held a little marathon this weekend and hoping on finishing the dvds before Thursday. Then try to catch up on Season 2 .. busy times ahead! But I must, because I can’t keep avoiding spoilers much longer.

A Mac is really a PC and a PC can be a Mac but let’s not go there ^^. You’ve probably seen these ads before if you’ve visited the Apple site since last week, but they are really worth a look so, here you are, in case you’ve missed them.

/played
Dragon Quest VIII (ps2)
Meteos (ds)
Riviera (gba)
LocoRoco Demo (psp)
Ridge Racer (psp)
Ridge Racer 6 (360)
Tetris DS (ds)
GRAW single player demo (360)

/listened to
Podcasts…

/watched
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Lost Pilot 1 & 2

Yes, finally started watching Lost. Have a lot of catching up to do and must hurry if I don’t want too many spoilers. And may I just say, Final Fantasy VII is an amazing movie. I never played the game, but they have added a bunch of in-game sequences to the DVD to explain you the story, so that helps. The feature itself is an incredible piece of work, the best 3D animation I’ve ever seen. And if you’re into FF style action, you will have quite some scenes to drool on!

As for games, I had to make up for the week before. Some family events helped naturally, being the perfect time to put those handhelds to good use. So I had a blast with Riviera and Meteos again. And beating pro races in Ridge Racer while the sun is reflecting on that sexy PSP screen is quite a challenge as well ^^.

I’ve advanced some in Dragon Quest VIII, blew the dust of my 360 and played some online Ridge Racer 6 with Duncan which was a blast, loved the graphics in GRAW but got bored quickly and got all happy and jolly when playing the crazy LocoRoco demo! It is a MUST download. It’s got kawai written all over it.

As you might have noticed in my previous post, I got loads of new games. I already tried Tetris DS and it really brings back memories of the good old Gameboy version (which the bastards stole from my parents’ place). The theme songs and top screen animation will put a smile on anyone who’s been a Nintendo fanboy for as long as I have ^^