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I'm back. It's going to be better than ever.

PSP as a media device

I've been using my PSP more as a media device lately. Having moved further out of town I face a 45+min commute by bus each morning and night, and have found the PSP perfect for listening to music whilst writing/reading, and of late - watching TV shows on it. I've become quite enraptured with Dollhouse; it takes me about 1.5 trips to make it through an episode.

I've always used it for listening to music but since upgrading my memory card to a 4GB I can now comfortably fit music and video content on the stick. It's quite handy. It's been a while since I used it as a gaming console. Mind you it's good to have it there, should I be stuck and in need of some entertainment but needing to keep my attention still active (I think I could play Lumines and conduct dinner conversation at the same time; it's become second nature to me).

I don't think I'll be upgrading to the latest PSP 3000 any time soon as it doesn't have anything I particularly want or need, except that it's a bit more convenient in terms of size. But my original model works just fine.

Mmm broadband gaming

Well we finally have the internet connected at home now. We’ve moved into our very own home and have spent the last month making it live-able; connecting electricity, changing locks, sealing gaps, fumigating from armies of ants (seriously, armies – def #3!), sanding and re-painting second-hand furniture and we are still pulling out the dreadful overgrown garden and trying to tidy it up.

Trying to get the internet connected has been a long process. We tracked down the (many) phone and data cables in our house and found we had both Optus and Telstra cable points. Too expensive. We settled on TPG ADSL2. Considered going naked but after hearing what a hassle it would be considering we didn’t have the phone connected in the first place we decided to just get a phone line anyway.

Wow, our connection is SO much faster than at our old place. Can’t wait to play online – let’s hope my little Ronin can keep up! Spartan certainly likes it. Yes our computers have names.

We’ve been chatting about multiplayer games we can play on our LAN such as Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six Vegas, maybe Left for Dead. Our friends around the place will jump in online when they get a chance. We’ve had two such conversations over the weekend about this – the most we’ve talked about gaming in months! Everyone else wants to talk to us about our house; it seems like such a rehearsed conversation (not that we’re not enjoying our new house; but that we DO have other interests, you know!).

Puzzle Strategy!

I am a puzzle fiend from way back. It all started with Tetris. Then in high school I downloaded an innocent-looking game called Bejeweled. I played that damn game for HOURS. Many assignments were left to the last minute thanks to Bejeweled!

Then when I got my PSP, one of the first games I bought was Lumines. Described to me as “similar to tetris”, this game had it all: a character you could choose that danced along to the music in the top corner (I chose a cat, of course); level-ups; the ability to see the next blocks and therefore plan your moves; and of course…um, rotating blocks. I can honestly play that game for hours and get a pretty big game up, but I’m not as crazy as these people.

And now the new edition of Puzzle Quest Galactrix has got me excited. I’d never heard of the game before but found it through a banner ad (don’t hate the banner ads – it’s part of my job to produce them!) and after playing a demo, I’m very keen to play it again. It looks like a cross between Bejeweled, with the swapping of jewels to create ‘strings’ of similar colours; and something of a turn-based strategy game, with defensive and attacking moves (done by swapping the jewels and creating certain combinations to attack or defend). A turn-based strategy puzzle game! How awesome!

Video Games bar to hit Brisbane!

I’ve always loved going to the local LAN café for a spot of PC gaming, to enjoy the hype of team gaming and bask in the atmosphere of kindred spirits. The hum of computers. The clicking of mouse buttons and keys. The murmuring between team members. The game posters on the walls and of course, the high sugar, high energy snacks and drinks and small scale peripherals for sale at the counter. The obligatory geek guy/girl with blue hair, piercings and a black WOW shirt selling you hours on computer #24. I love it.

I particularly liked a LAN café at South Brisbane/Woolloongabba called AFK. Unfortunately it no longer exists but it had potential. The computers were set up on nice desks on one side of the room, with lounges for handheld gaming (or lounging) and tables for tabletop gaming and dining. The food was delicious café food and the coffee was great. Most LAN cafes in Brisbane are more internet cafes with vending machine-type food. It was more of a destination for gamers to gather now that we live in the age of home-based gaming, where my PC set up at home is better than what you would get in a café and we have improved broadband speeds (though we could do with a lot better, Mr Rudd!).

But where do the console gamers go to gather? It seems there will soon be an option. Now I’m sure many a gamer has had a drunken night of gaming with their friends – who hasn’t? My last birthday party was exactly that. But having a destination to go out, meet new people and show everyone how good you are at Guitar Hero? Now that I would be up for! Embrace the gaming community Brisbane, we’re here to stay.

Finding Ms Croft

They've announced that Angelina Jolie will not be playing Lara Croft in the next Tomb Raider movie; the role will be re-cast.

I was not all that upset to hear the news. I love Angelina Jolie, possibly because she was Lara Croft however I feel that there could be someone out there better suited to the role.

Personality-wise, I'm thinking Rosario Dawson, however the producers might go for another good choice, Eva Mendes if they have the budget. I think Eidos did a great job with Tomb Raider Legend in choosing Karima Adebibe as the promo model; her look is spot-on. Even Alison Carroll's look for Tomb Raider Underworld is pretty damn close.

The report I heard was that "Angelina Jolie would no longer play Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider movies." Does this mean that there are plans for more? I hope they do a decent job and don't ruin it for us. Sure, the movies aren't Spiderman quality or even future classics but they were a bit of fun for Lara Croft fans.

Yes, I'm a girl and I love Lara Croft, preferably the pixelated version. What girl wouldn't want to be a smart, hot chick who can kick butt?

Having the body for it

I've just spent the last two days running my department as my boss, our interactive producer, has gone away for a short break. I have one more day to get through after the long weekend (thank you Australia Day!) as she is back on Wednesday. To say it has been a busy few days is an understatement. I've also been down most of my production team too, who got their holidays approved for the same time which doesn't make sense but I've had to have the head creative developer do the menial flash work so he's had to be taken off the website he's building. It's all about compromise, I am quickly learning!

During my extremely frantic days I've also had to fit in time to visit my physio as I've been having terrible back pain. Mostly related to my workstation in the office but also my poor posture. The workstation has been fixed and the posture is much better and improving with each visit. I haven't had the energy or patience to play any PC games once I come home from work recently.

I've always been careful to set up my PC gaming station in an ergonomic position because I know I will sit at it for hours without moving (unlike work where I know I will move around). But I often wonder what kind of damage it is doing to me; spending all day at work in front of a computer and then coming home and spending a few more hours in front of another one. What do other people do to look after their bodies, namely necks, shoulders, backs and posture in general? It can't be good for stress management? Although I do find a good round of FPS does well to calm me down when I'm tense.

Stocking up on PSP games

I’ve added a few new games to my PSP collection. Building on my newfound interest in RTS, I picked up Field Commander, a turn-based strategy game. It’s nice and slow – a good pace for me as I’m still learning about strategy games.

I also picked up a modern classic that I’ve had my eye on for a little while. It’s recently gone platinum, which means it comes with a $19.95 price tag so I decided to pick it up; God of War. Another I’d like to see reduced in price is the Simpsons game (I’d like to play it but I’m not going to pay $70 for it), as well as Tomb Raider Underworld, which I own on PS2 but I wouldn’t bother buying for PSP unless it was really cheap.

One game I am definitely going to buy in the next few weeks is Loco Roco 2 . I absolutely loved the first one and as long as the second one is along the same theme and has the same controls, I don’t see how it could go wrong.

I’m stocking up on PSP games because I’m about to spend a week in hospital, getting tests done for my epilepsy. I can’t bring my laptop however I’m allowed to bring my PSP. So I’ll be bringing in our two PSPs (playing one, charging the other), Azreal’s DS, as well as books to read. I’ll load up a few memory sticks with movies, tv shows and music (I’ve bought another 4GB stick in addition to our 4GB, 2GB and 1GB sticks), plus we have heaps of games and about three UMD movies (what a great success they were!). I’m a little hesitant about the whole experience, but the thing I’m most worried about is how bored I’m going to be!

Starting on RTS

It’s been quite a while since I posted. I will admit, that’s partly due to laziness but also because I felt I didn’t have anything to blog about. Personally I wanted to approach this, my only attempt at blogging that had an actual topic (gaming), with only posting quality subject content. I didn’t want to post for the sake of posting, otherwise it would end up like all my other attempts: a rambling account of my boring personal life.

However, it is apparent that even frequent postings of information, small as they may be, is more conducive to a successful blog. That’s what the pros say anyway.

So on 31 December 2008 I crossed off the final item on my list of goals for the year: to try RTS games. Azreal loves RTS games; particularly the ones set in space, but when he got Company of Heroes last year I knew I had to try it. The thought of managing a whole battlefield scares me a bit (there’s so much going on and it moves so quickly), which is why I’d been procrastinating on taking the leap however I’d put it on my 2008 list so I had to give it a try.

It was great! Because I play Battlefield 2 regularly (along with Call of Duty, Medal of Honour and all those games), I was familiar with the types of weapons and how the characters worked so that was one whole area I didn’t have to learn. Between tutorial modules and the first few missions Azreal and I watched through the collection of Band of Brothers which of course made me want to play it even more.

It’s still way too fast for me but it’s great to have that new feeling again, with all my senses on edge as I play – my mind racing, trying to keep one step ahead; my heart thumping in my chest; my hands grasping the mouse intensely; my eyes darting across the screen to take it all in; my mouth dry. And then that surge of adrenalin as I destroy the enemy!

Computers don’t give you a rush? Well you’re just not using them properly!