Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas fellows! May your days be merry and bright! New post before the New Year I promise. Been very hectic at work, with health and in home life, leaving me shopping right up today. I will chill out once Christmas day is out of the way and enjoy some relaxation and blogging time! Until then I hope you all have a very peaceful and happy Yuletide!

Star Wars games!

As I mentioned last post, I'm doing anything I can to fuel my Star Wars obsession at the moment. Of course that means that my gaming tastes have also had a Star Wars flavour, and believe it or not I've actually played through three generations of Playstation in order to satisfy my Jedi enthused yearnings... I'll now take you through my Sony console odyssey!


Starting off, we have Episode One:The Phantom Menace representing the PS1. Now this is a rather lovely movie franchise tie-in from way back in the simple 32 bit era... That's right folks, its my favourite decade... the 90s!

The first thought I had, on re-playing this classic title, was that it was graphically great for the time it was made. The developers managed to get a lot out of the system visually, and the cut scenes are pretty impressive. It was through playing this game that I actually discovered a rather pleasing feature of the PS3. There is an option which allows you to "smooth off" some of the pixellation and jagged edges on your PS1 games, thus enhancing the graphics.



Now this is nothing new... the Dreamcast was able to do something similar a generation ago with the Bleemcast software... but it does enhance the playing experience when sampling retro Playstation goodies...

The game plays through each scenario of the movie, but adding a slight 'Tomb Raider style' platforming element to the story. There is also a good amount of Jedi style combat, employing both light sabre skills and force moves.

Voice acting, sound effects and musical score are of top quality, and overall the game carries the prestige, of being the most 'pleasantly surprising' of the trio I'm sharing with you in this post. That's because despite being a product from the last millenium, it's actually a game which is still very enjoyable in 2010. The game is quite addictive and the save system is very forgiving, but the game can still be frustrating when you have to repeat the same jump or battle over an over again... Now on to number two!



Representing the PS2 we have Episode Three: The Revenge Of The Sith. I picked this title up quite some time ago at Blockbuster as part of a "three for £5" deal. Very often I'll pick up a game and then not even think about it for months. Much later I'll think "Now what can I play today?", go and have a root around and discover a hidden gem! That was the case with this particular game. (I think I bought it during my obsession with London based gangster title, The Getaway. At that time I was not interested in the Star Wars universe and therefore the title got shelved.)

The game is pedestrian and straightforward, with no attempts to dazzle or amaze, but it very much satisfies my Lucas based cravings. Graphically not that amazing, but the simple and uncomplicated gameplay more than makes up for it. As you progress (in a very linear way) through the plot of the film, you accrue Jedi powers and combat skills by earning points for stylishly dispatching your foes. Again the whole aural side of things is sublime with great voice acting and an excellent soundtrack. The game is relatively easy to play through, and again the save system is forgiving.

Unfortunatelywhilst playing through and saving this game, I managed to wipe out the entire memory and saves that I had on my PS1 internal memory of my PS3, thus erasing about 6 levels of my progress on the Phantom Menace... DOH! Now onto the next and final game, this time on the PS3...

The best of the featured trio of Playstation offerings, is the rather fabulous PS3 offering, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It's not it's current generation status that makes it the winner
( -you can actually play a version of the game PS2- ) nor the shiny graphics, or enhanced Force abilities.

It's the fact that it expands the Star Wars story and sheds some light on the events between Episode III and Episode IV. It also allows characters from Episode III to appear alongside characters from Episode IV (Bail and Leia Organa) when the actors who played those characters (Jimmy Smits and Carrie Fisher) filmed their respective roles over twenty years apart... I think that's amazing!

Leia Organa (portrayed by Carrie Fisher in 1978) and Bail Organa
(portrayed by Jimmy Smits in 2005) meet up in a videogame in 2008!

The star of the game is Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Galen Marek, also known as Starkiller.

The game charts the path of his relationship with Vader. The plot is almost Shakesperean in it's twists and turns - Vader murders Marek's father then adopts him. He brings him up as a Sith Lord, but Starkiller is redeemed through his love for new character Juno Eclipse, being drawn from the Dark Side of the Force into the Light and eventually becoming a Jedi.

- There is far more to his backstory than that, but suffice to say, this new examination of an interesting and murky period in the Star Wars chronology and plot development is extremely exciting for Star Wars nerds like myself!

,Galen Marek or Starkiller - (Darth Vader's secret apprentice)
expands the Star Wars story in an extremely tantalising way!

The gameplay of Force Unleashed, becomes more enjoyable as you progress through the game and your destructive Force powers increase. I say destructive Force powers, because destruction is the name of the game. Although Starkiller is more than capable of handling a light sabre with skill and dexterity, his modus operandi is to storm through his oponents hitting them with Force 'push','lightning' or 'grab'. This sends foes and parts of the environment flying off into the cosmos.

So there you go! Three generations of games but all with a common feature... 'quality'!

I'll put some video of each one here under the post, so you can see what they look like. May I leave you with the assurance, that I'll leave Star Wars alone as subject matter for my next few posts. I've actually got a backlog of played games to tell you about, due to my year long hiatus... Enjoy the videos (although I really disagree with the Revenge Of The Sith review) and I'll make a pledge to get out and visit some of my favourite blogs over the weekend... See you soon!

Video Games | Star Wars: Force Unleashed | Review

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

My Current Obsession

Hope I've spelt that right, I wouldn't want to give you the impression that I'm hooked on dried grapes. Lord no! (Not unless they're covered in milk chocolate and enjoyed after a heavy session on the old bong that is...) but I digress!

Those of you who've known me for a while may be aware that every so often I get into something obsessively. This usually results in me indulging huge wads of cash and hours of my free time at whatever has caught my whim, in terms of persuing and fuelling that moments fad. These have included the music and memoribilia of Michael Jackson, the Resident Evil franchise, the Dreamcast, the Saturn and videogaming in general...


However, my latest obsession, which has been brewing for about a year now, is based long ago in a galaxy far away... Why would a 43 year old man start to get heavily into Star Wars in 2010? There's no reason other than that when I was ill and off for six months, I decided to watch all six films as they were intended to run in the George Lucas chronology. That means starting with Episode One: The Phantom Menace and finishing on Episode Six: The Return Of The Jedi.


Now that might seem logical to everyone, but UK TV channel ITV, recently showed them in the chronological order that they were made, which is Four, Five, Six, One, Two, Three. This IMHO is absurd, but whatever...


When you watch the movies back to back in sequence, the story is quite enthralling. It definitely is a case of the sum being more than its parts, and I found my interest in the Star Wars universe was kick started afresh. I began to watch episodes of the Clone Wars and after first finding it's cartoon stylings unpalatable, I soon became hugely hooked on the programme. I now enjoy it as much as the films and yearn for other eras from the films timeline to be explored in a similar animated fashion.



But of course, when you're obsessed and adicted as I am at this time, you'll find that watching isn't enough... now I need Star Wars comics, Star Wars novels, Star Wars art, Star Wars memoribilia and of course... Star Wars games! Which leads me nicely onto my next subject!

The Prodigal Returns

No, not me this time... I'm talking about my Xbox! In what was an amazingly swift turn-around time, my beautiful 360 Elite has arrived back from Germany. It's re-positioning under the biggest television in the house, has resulted in me feeling very much attracted to it's Microsoft loveliness!

I've got a glut of games to play on it, bought at about the same time as my console gave up the ghost. These include Kane and Lynch: Dog Days, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Mercenaries 2: World In Flames and for the original Xbox, GTA III, Goldeneye Rogue Agent and True Crime: Streets Of LA. I've also got the Dead Rising DLC on my hard drive...

However, getting anywhere near the biggest TV is a difficult process due to the invasion of the new Call Of Duty (Black Ops) into Krishna Towers. My two youngest sons Martin and Ted have both purchased COD (Mart on the PS3, Ted on the 360). This means that Martin has plonked his PS3 (not to be confused with my PS3) right in the main living room and usurped the TV from me!

I've not even seen as much as a glimmer of the gameplay or graphics of this latest release. I am very aware of the effect it has had on my sons, though, having only heard grunts from them since they got on the game. I gather that every kid in their social circle has a copy and is online 24/7 since they all got their grubby little mits on their copies. It's THE essential gaming purchase of the last few years and everyone is "bashing it" as much as possible! We even had to mention it in assembly at the school I work at, as conversations about the game were beginning to distract children from their lessons!

I have been playing a lot of Call Of Duty in recent months, including World At War, World At War: Final Fronts (PS2), Modern Warfare 2 and Finest Hour (PS2). But I feel no compulsion at all to get on the Black Ops bandwagon, and will play it after I get through the expansive backlog of games I've got stacked up... As well as those Xbox offerings mentioned before I've got Shadow The Hedgehog (PS2), Casper (PS1), Tekken 5 (PS3 download) and a couple of games from the franchise which is fuelling my current obsession...

October 2010: The State Of Play

I've been wondering how to return to the blogosphere, after a year camped out on the Mountain of Indifference, on the Isle of Sloth, in the Sea of Laziness near the shore of Torpor. Should I return with bells and whistles? Or just sneak back, like I've not just neglected my blogging duties and my good friends throughout the globe for over 12 months... I've plumped for the latter option obviously! A few of the more eagle eyed amongst you might have noticed the changes in title, colour scheme and pictures about the place...

My life has taken a few twists and turns since October 2009. There have been a few ups and quite a few downs over the last year, and I might share a few of the happier and sadder elements of that particular journey in the coming weeks and months. My weight has certainly been plummeting and I am now lighter than I have been in years! The one consistently wonderful constant is the lovely Mrs. K. Patient, calm, loving, generous , funny, beautiful.

Cyprus 2007 weighing 15 stone

Amsterdam 2010 weighing 11 stone.

but for now I just thought I'd relate my various gaming setups and console locations, plus mention a couple of the games which have grabbed my attention recently or over the last annus since my blogging absence.

OK! Down to business...

Father K in Wholesale Sellout to Sony!

It's completely true. There was a time not that long ago,in the aftermath of Sega pulling the plug on the Dreamcast, when the good Father was hugely anti-Sony. I hated them for winning the console war against the vastly superior (IMHO) Dreamcast. I wanted them to lose the console war in the current gen to Microsoft, to whom I pledged my allegiance buying no less than three of their 360s. Then, as my first one had to go back to Germany to be cured of the 'red ring of death', I put the PS2 in it's place and got to grips with a few PS2 titles I'd bought then neglected... Yakuza, GTA Vice City and San Andreas, Devil May Cry 2, Resident Evil Dead Aim and so on...

The PS2 suddenly became a vital console for me. Just as I had been able to catch up on cheap gaming treats as the Dreamcast became yesterday's news, I was now able to pick up great titles for the PS2 for very little money. I played the PS2 up in my bedroom and it got at least equal gaming time with the 360 in the downstairs in the main living room...

But recently I decided I wanted to play a couple of titles for the PS3 - Yakuza and Resistance: Fall Of Man - , so I decided to pick up a backwards compatible 'pre-owned' 60 gig edition, that would enable me to continue my PS2 odyssey at the same time! So now, in my bedroom, where I do the majority of my gaming, is my lovely and oft used PS3 which I have to admit, I can no longer imagine life without...

Now downstairs in the main living room, should be my Xbox 360 Elite Edition (bought brand new in December 2009), but that is now on it's way to (you guessed it...) Germany! No red ring of death this time, but instead it won't read any discs. Bollocks!

So there is a large gap under my huge wide screen hi def TV that I'm not trying to fill at the moment. That's because I already had my Wii hooked up to the big TV in the hopes that it might see more action in the main living room. I've played a little bit of NiGHTs Journey Of Dreams on it and I intend to re-visit the Darkside Chronicles. But I've also bought my first new Wii game in quite some time... Red Steel 2! So who knows? Maybe the absence of my Microsoft console will spark a Wii shaped revolution this time?

In the less used living room I have my Saturn hooked up for the first time in a very long time, and also my Dreamcast. This is the least likely to be used as I can't seem to locate a lead/cord that gives me a good picture. Besides, there are still too many PS2 classics to seek out and discover!

However, the game that has me currently enthralled is actually the luscious and superb Resistance Retribution on the PSP. In fact I'm enthralled by the whole Resistance world at the moment... So now I've discussed my console set up, I guess it's time to start thinking about the games I've been playing. But I'll leave that for another post!


Happy Halloween!

New Posts Before Halloween!

I'm open for business this week ...

More Resistance: Retribution Videos

Opening Soon!

Not long to go now before the usual old crap comes spouting forth!

Reconstruction

Yakuza 3: IGN Video Review

More Yakuza 3 Videos

Merry Christmas One And All!

Just a very quick post to say Merry Christmas to anyone who still pops by here! Yep, I've slipped into bad habits again, and haven't posted for months! Wishing you all a Happy Holidays, and a very prosperous New Year 2010!

Catch Up: Contentment...

I've been totally absent from the computer for some time , which is happily a reflection of my increasing good health and independence since my operation. I've also been in a happy period of gaming contentment in a variety of ways.

Firstly I completed the epic Shenmue on the Dreamcast. I'd played it partly because I wanted to give my Dreamcast some love, as I'd neglected it for some time. It's quite a gently paced game with a kick ass ending. I wondered whether it would stand the test of time, and it does. It looks and sounds brilliant, it's immersive and engaging, epic and wonderful. It was a nice, soothingly paced game to play as I was recovering.

As soon as I finished Shenmue, I allowed myself the luxury of downloading The Ballad Of Gay Tony, the latest download for GTA IV on the 360. It's an absolute blast to have the opportunity to explore another aspect of life in Liberty City. I couldn't be happier than when I'm playing through a GTA IV game and opening up the life of a character - Niko Bellic, Johnny Klebbitz or new guy Luis Lopez- but there is a problem...

I don't know if it's my download only, but the game is constantly crashing during missions, sometimes seconds before the conclusion of a lengthy mission and has seriously hampered my progress in and enjoyment of the game. So much so that I've found distraction elsewhere.

Stranglehold is a game which I'd dipped into in short bursts, but not really played properly. The John Woo directed 'sequel' to the epic movie Hardboiled, the game follows the investigations of the legendary Inspector "Tequila" Yuen, played by Chow Yun Fat. I've now played a good chunk of the game and it's an explosive third person shooter with elements of the "bullet time" shooting mechanic of games like Max Payne and Matrix Path Of Neo. It's graphically lovely too.

I've also just put in a bit of time on both the DS and the PSP. I decided to give GTA: Liberty City Stories on the PSP another shot, after failing to make much progress on my first attempt. I've completed a good few missions which has of course lead to me liking it again... until the next time I get stuck!

I've also been playing Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare... (no not the COD:MW 2 that has just been released)... instead I've been playing the DS adaptation of the game that was a poor consolation for Nintendo fans until now... The DS version is actually very good, with a lot of game squeezed into a tiny cartridge! Epic musical score, good use of sampled voice commands, nice 3D visuals and a good few missions that make great use of the DS stylus. I've completed it now and I'd thoroughly recommend it to any DS owners out there! I'm seriously considering getting COD: World At War on the DS on the back of my enjoyment of this title...

On my beloved PS2, I've been playing GTA: San Andreas and GTA: Vice City Stories (a PS2 port of a PSP game that I'd started previously, and then abandoned.) It's much easier on the PS2!

I've also been getting into a lot of films, watching the Star Wars series from episodes one through six and loving it so much that I actually started getting into the Clone Wars animated series too!

So anyway, just to let you know that I'm alive and well, getting better and loving my gaming!

Oh and I'm going to get the Darkside Chronicles tomorrow, so time to blow the dust off my Wii-mote and give the Wii some love!

Darkside Chronicles (Wii): New Trailer

Fifa 10 DS

My interest in football (soccer for my friends across the pond) games has been sporadic at best. The first football game I played with any regularity was Sega World Wide Soccer '97 on the Saturn. Fast forward to 2004 and I had a big stint playing Sega World Wide Soccer 2000 (Euro Edition) on the Dreamcast. But the playing of the two most popular franchises, Pro-Evolution Soccer or Fifa, (usually against my sons) would result in huge 'hissy fits', controller-throwing and general all round bad sportsmanship on my part.

In 2007, however, I found my footballing nirvana in the unlikely form of Fifa 07 for the DS. No longer did I have to play my sons, no longer did I have to face the humiliation of being out-skilled, out-played and generally shown up as inferior. Now my only opposition was the CPU players, and they soon turned out to be little opposition at all.

I played that particular title to death. I played it as my beloved Manchester City, (a club who in 'real life' have not won a domestic or European title for over thirty years) and took them to unprecedented heights of glory. For five seasons I won everything, the premiership, the FA Cup, the European cup and the Community Shield. The game could also be played in it's entirety without using the stylus or touch screen, which was great because my first generation DS was very poorly at the time!

However, time moves on, and a new DS demanded a new Fifa. Besides, Manchester City have gone through such a major squad shake up since their financial revolution, that there was only Stephen Ireland and Micah Richards from the '07 line up still in the squad in 2009. The kits had changed and... well... damn it! I just wanted an update! Now I did have Fifa 09 for the PSP (it came bundled with my PSP which also had a stick-on Fifa 09 'skin') but I never got into it, preferring instead to stick with my beloved DS '07 game. So buying the new Fifa 10 at full price was a big deal for me.

I was full of anticipation when I put the cartridge into my DS. Sure enough, apart from the inclusion of Richard Dunne, the squad was all present and correct. The new stylish black away kit was there and all looked good! I eagerly looked for the 'career mode' with which I had had such success on Fifa 07, but alas it wasn't there! Instead it had been replaced by a mode called "Be A Pro". Rather than guiding your team to glory, the emphasis was now on the career of one player, who has to succeed at a series of challenges in order to progress through the ranks of the home team and be selected by coaches for international duty.

Unfortunately, this was SO different from the game play of the '07 edition, that I found it almost impossible to play, let alone find any success. I was massively disappointed and about to vent my spleen over here at Gnome's Gaming On The Go. That was before I switched game modes. 'Kick Off' Mode' allows you to play a one off match against any rival of your choice. It also gives you the choice of playing in the "Be A Pro" mode, or "Classic" mode. And it was in "Classic" mode, that I found my salvation.

Although not exactly the same as Fifa '07, it was similar enough for me to play with some degree of success. The 'game settings' allows you to set the game's difficulty level, according to your own skill level. I set the CPU skill at 'amateur' and got rid of the 'offside' rule to allow the game greater flow. The ability to play a variety of tournaments in "Classic" mode means I've already taken Manchester City to the final of the English FA Cup (which I won on penalties). However, this incarnation of the game does not give one the option of taking a mid-table club into Europe... You can only play as one one of the the English Premiership's top four teams - Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea, which is a bit of a bummer!

One of the biggest changes so far is the use of the stylus. During penalty shoot outs, the stylus is employed as a means of shooting (by swiping the stylus towards the goal) and saving (a large pair of gloves appear in the goal which you move with the stylus to save the opposition's shot.) I love this feature! It helped me win the FA cup ha ha!

Now I realise that this is a very subjective review (mine always are...) so I'll provide links to more informative sites... Would I recommend it as a full price purchase? Well, no. You can pick up Fifa 07, 08 and 09 for buttons in second hand gaming emporiums. If it's 'game play' you're after then these titles will more than adequately suffice. If you are anal about having current players and kits then go ahead and splurge your hard earned pennies on Fifa 10. But it's because of people like me that EA are able to squeeze cash from a gullible audience every time they bring out a new football or golf game.

However, if you see Fifa 10 cheap or even with a few quid/euros/dollars knocked off, it's a great game for the handheld gamer, which can be played in short little bursts, as a handheld titles should be.

Father K Rating: 7.5/10!

Fifa 10 DS IGN

Fifa 10 DS Review

FIFA Soccer 10 at IGN.com

This Is It - Mini Review

Wow! Halloween looked like it was going to be a bit of a wash out, till Mrs. K suggested that we go and see "This Is It" to mark the day and to give us something special to do on this most special of nights

We took Little Ted, who rather sweetly said he would like to go because he'd "never been to a concert." I wasn't quite sure what we'd be seeing though, a stunning record of Michael's last performances, a taster of what the concert would have been like, or a bit of a disappointment, like the accompanying CD that I lambasted on these very pages?

In short, the film was brilliant. Mike did not look sick, he did not look like a drug addict, he did not look "odd" and he did not look 50! He looked great! His movements were tight, his voice note and pitch perfect and clearly the vision for the whole show was as much his as it was long time collaborator Kenny Ortega.

What was great was seeing Mike's normality, his personality, his humbleness and his interaction with others. When for years, we have had the most negative press, showing Mike in his masks, on crutches, in wheel chairs etc, it's just great to see him as an iconic entertainer, somehow fused with a normal, likable guy.

The film has captured the very essence of Michael's magic, showing everyone just why he was so celebrated before the negative conspiracy to bring him down began. My favourite parts of the movie were the film sequences, which had been done to enhance (and no doubt pad out) the show.

The film sequence for Smooth Criminal was amazing, with Mike somehow sequenced into a Humphrey Bogart movie, interacting with him and culminating in Mike firing off a Tommy Gun!

The movie for Thriller (cleverly fused with a snippet of 'Ghosts') and intended to be a 3D sequence for the concert, looked amazing. But it must have been either a late part of the concert that Mike didn't get the chance to interact with, or Mike wasn't well when they were doing it. Either way, he didn't seem to be that into it. The film for Earth Song was amazing too, but I'll let you see that for yourselves.

The one part of the film that I didn't get into, was seeing mike doing a Jackson 5 medley. It was interesting to note that Mike didn't do one song from the 'Invincible' album, his only CD release this millennium. Why do 40 year old songs with backing singers standing in for his brothers, when he could have brought us (for the first time) the chance to see his 'newest' material live?

Still, that was a very small gripe, in a film that I would have to give 10/10 as an overall score. Having had to watch recycled material and old videos over and over, to see Michael in this fresh, new, contemporary context was sheer bliss. I can't recommend this film highly enough. Do yourself a favour and go and see it. If you're in any way a fan of Michael or even just a fan of excellent musicianship, you can't fail to enjoy it.

Happy Halloween!

Cardboard skeleton? Check! Cardboard mummy? Check! Polystyrene tombstones? Check! Tacky plastic banners? Check! Talking skull with googly moving eyes? Check!

I absolutely love Halloween, it only comes a very close second to Christmas in terms of annual holidays... Normally in the Krishna household, we celebrate Halloween excessively, decorating the whole house, carving up a whole heap of pumpkins and root vegetables, getting in tons of sweets and having a big 'drink up' with anyone who cares to call on us.

Last year we threw a big costume party, and had a great time! Alas, this year, no 'drink up', no party, no callers and no dressing up. I was feeling very un-festive this year, and slightly depressed about the lack of festivities ahead. No drinkies for me, doctors orders... meh!!!

However, just at the last minute, I ordered the Halloween box be brought down from the loft, and I threw up a few decorations for the weekend. Even though we have no festivities planned, we are going to the cinema to see Michael Jackson's "This Is It". (That's me, Mrs. K and Little Ted, my youngest son.)

Me and Ted are also carving a pumpkin and there will be a selection of horror films being watched before and after the cinema trip. I started Silent Hill 2 yesterday and I'll also be blasting a few zombies in House Of The Dead Overkill. (HOTD on the Saturn has been a Halloween staple for some years, now it's the Wii's turn!) Oh and I'll also be watching Michale Jackson's "Ghosts" which is far superior to "Thriller" and well worth checking out if you've never seen it (I'll throw a taster video at the end of the post!)

Anyway, no matter what you're doing on this most wonderful of days, may I be one of the first to wish you a very "Happy Halloween!"

Michael Jackson - Ghosts
Uploaded by Wakazai. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Maworld Purchased

I picked up Madworld for the Wii second hand for £13. I guess I'm now guilty of not supporting this mature, original Wii content first hand, and therefore fuelling the accusation that the Wii is only for family friendly fun games. (But I NEVER buy them however) I remember J and Junlee being up for this one when it was in development. Then we all lost interest in our Wiis and I guess the game was forgotten to an extent.

That means I've now got Madworld and House Of The Dead Overkill to play. I just never play the Wii! Still, Resident Evil the Darkside Chronicles are out soon, so, I'm gonna have to dust it off and get used to sitting in the front room to play!

Brutal Legend: First Impressions

I've seen Brutal Legend on the gaming horizon for many months now. I know the game's developer has a great reputation for witty and intelligent games in the past. I also knew it was a heavy metal themed game and that it was a vehicle for Jack Black's talent. You would have thought all of those factors would have meant the game would have been hot on my "to play" list. But it wasn't, not at all.

It was only seeing my son play the demo level on Saturday morning (he subsequently purchased the game) that has changed my mind at all. The game looks hot! Visually the graphics are luscious, with a nice 'cartoony' feel to them. The game world looks like it was zapped straight out of a seventies prog rock album cover or an Iron Maiden landscape (I'm surprised 'Eddie' doesn't make a cameo!)

Several rock legends do though. So far I've seen Lemmy from Motorhead (who was also the arms dealer in the seminal Scarface). I've also seen Ozzy, who sounds brilliant and fits right in with the game. Apparently Judas Priest's Rob Halford makes an appearance at some point too.

Of course Jack Black is excellent, he always is. I wouldn't have given this game a second look unless it had jumped right into my living room, which luckily it has! I'll definitely give it a playthrough some time soon, as I understand it's a short game, which suits me fine! Check out the videos and see what you think!

Two Arrivals In The Post

I got my Twinkies! And whilst they might not have been '£1.60 a piece' good, they were absolutely delicious. The first one I ate without a drink, whilst feeling a little nauseous (due to the cocktail of 40 or so tablets I take each day). As I'm sure you can imagine, that one wasn't that great!

The next one, however, I ate whilst feeling fine and accompanied with a nice decaf Latte'. Now that was GOOD with a capital 'G'! Creamy, spongey, Twinki-licious! My little son, Ted, is also a big fan, although to qualify that, he is actually a fan of anything containing sugar, so no surprise there!

The second item I got through the post was the "This Is It" CD, the latest release from my favourite late artist, Mr. Michael Joseph Jackson. So what do we have? A fancy pants package containing the same recycled tunes that I harped on about earlier on the site. Nothing 'new' at all. I was always going to buy it, I'm a completist after all. But you can register me "underwhelmed" by Mike's latest release. So all in all, the Twinkies were the better of the two purchases.

Hostess 1 Jackson 0 ;)

BJ and Father K Start New Business Empire!

Something like this BJ?

Expensive snacks!

Now some of you will be appalled by what I'm about to write, what with the state of the world and global hunger etc. I'm not usually what you would call a decadent man, I would actually say I'm a man of simple tastes. However, after watching Zombieland for the second time, I just spent £16 ordering a box of 10 Hostess Twinkies to be shipped to my house.

I know Twinkies are just a very light sponge tube, filled with a very artificial tasting cream, not necessarily the best food for a recovering heart patient! However, I felt such an overwhelming craving (coupled with the fact that I am kind of tied to my laptop, with little else to do), that I found myself buying them.

Now I understand that Twinkies are junk food, and that over in the US they probably cost about $1 for 10 and that I just paid about $20 for 10, but this craving runs deeper than the last time I watched Zombieland.

As a child growing up, I devoured DC and Marvel comics. I was obsessed with them. Not just the stories within them, but the advertisements too. Advertisements for Sea-Monkeys, Charles Atlas work out system, X-Ray Spex, 1000 plastic soldiers for $1 and so on. But also the food advertisements, aimed at children... stuff we could not get in the UK... Lucky Charms, Hershey Bars, Grape Soda, Wonderbread and of course... Twinkies.

These were the best advertisements of all, actually one page stories featuring the very superheroes whose comics they were advertised in. (Although th only one I can remember clearly featured Aquaman, a superhero with whom I'm not particularly familiar to this day).

Now, it is possible to get a lot more varieties of US food in the UK than it was 30 years ago, but very often the prices are ridiculously over-priced (e.g. Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese in Asda £1, Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese in Selfridges £5!) Still, if you want the Twinkie sugar rush, you gotta pay 'top dollar'!

I'll let you know whether it was worth the price I paid when I taste them!