Yet ANOTHER Brain Age record!
Originally uploaded by darthbane2k.
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
After a thrilling day of football, I finally got around to completing New Super Mario Bros for my Nintendo DS. The photos below serve as proof, the three stars mark the fact that not only was Bowser defeated, but all secret levels/exits accessed and all Star Coins collected and spent.
Some of the rewards the game provided (For completion) was the ability to change backdrop wallpaper, and the ability to play as Luigi!
The game was an absolute pleasure to play from beginning to end, one of the most perfect platformers in the past 10-15 years.
Now onto my Father's Day pressie... Super Princess Peach!
Some of the rewards the game provided (For completion) was the ability to change backdrop wallpaper, and the ability to play as Luigi!
The game was an absolute pleasure to play from beginning to end, one of the most perfect platformers in the past 10-15 years.
Now onto my Father's Day pressie... Super Princess Peach!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Both Mum and Baby are home from hospital, healthy and safe & sound.
Jaden is dealing with the presence of his new sibling well, no signs of jealousy yet. He seems to be very excited about Baby and very protective too, as a big brother should be.
We are all re-adjusting nicely to having a newborn within the house - sleepless nights aside, all is going well.
Jaden is dealing with the presence of his new sibling well, no signs of jealousy yet. He seems to be very excited about Baby and very protective too, as a big brother should be.
We are all re-adjusting nicely to having a newborn within the house - sleepless nights aside, all is going well.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Its a Boy!
At 3.57am on Wednesday 21st June 2006, Musole gave birth to our second child Jerome Jonathan Wildman, a healthy baby boy weighing at 8 pounds, 3.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Another Brain Age RECORD!...its my age!
Another Brain Age RECORD!...its my age!
Originally uploaded by darthbane2k.
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Friday, June 16, 2006
England 2, Trinidad & Tobago 0
I warned everyone that writing off Trinidad and Tobago would be at their peril, yet yesterday served to remind me what exactly I hate most about the England team….its supporters.
From Joey-Twopence being interviewed on the street by London Tonight, to the smug and arrogant Terry Venables (in ITV Pundit mode) to the complete ignoramus Wanker Gareth Southgate, who could not be any more incompetent as an ITV Commentator.
These are the same England supporters who fail to recognise that Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago even exist in England's group, the same supporters who think there are only two teams In this tournament, England and Brazil. The same supporters who think that just because England fancy their chances this World Cup, that they will win it by default The same supporters who have an unhealthy obsession with World War Two and 1966 (That’s 40 years ago folks) who rushed out in their droves to purchase the most jingoistic and xenophobic diatribe (song) that not only stereotypes, mocks and ridicules all Germans (have England even played Germany yet?!) but goes that one step further and likens Jurgen Klinsmann to Adolf Hitler - simply because (you've guessed it!) he's GERMAN and because the World Cup is hosted in GERMANY.
ITVs coverage of the football yesterday was a complete joke. It was as if they had no interest in covering any of the games except for the England one. Now I know that the England team Is of obvious national interest, but when you have a Ecuador v Costa Rica match at 2pm (pre England) and a Sweden v Paraguay game at 8pm (post England) you at least expect commentary that is relevant to the respective match and half/full time analysis that at least covers said match. Not even a goal was replayed or discussed, instead we got a Sven Goran Erickson interview for the umpteenth time. Hey ITV! If you DON’T want to show any non-England matches, then hand the rights over to the BBC! They always do a much more professional and thorough job than that joke of a broadcaster with their pathetic PC female host.
Anyway rant over, as sickened as I was with the result yesterday, I am pleased with the way Trinidad and Tobago played. They had more fighting spirit than England and held themselves with great dignity. What pissed me off was how (and still) the media write off this team, constantly mocking them and ridiculing them as the worst side of the tournament. From what I saw yesterday and with the Sweden game a week before, Trinidad and Tobago are far from one of the worst teams of the competition. No excuses about the weather, Rooney's fitness, playing ten men behind a ball etc, Trinidad and Tobago made England work their asses off - and they still weren't good enough to ensure a Jamaica style thrashing like they so arrogantly assumed was theirs by rights, even before stepping foot onto the pitch.
Generally, the English supporters are far too ignorant to realise just how much of an achievement it is for Trinidad and Tobago - a small nation comprised of two small Islands, (less than 1 million population) to qualify for this tournament and play among the best to the standard of the best. They deserve far more credit and recognition for what they have done than what they are receiving.
After frustrating and holding England, T&T only slipped up with less than ten minutes to go after a blatant Peter Crouch foul on a defender (Is the pulling of the hair not considered a foul these days?) allowed him to score a goal. If that goal had rightfully been disqualified, then im damn well sure that Gerard's opportunity would never have arisen.
To be honest, I never expected Trinidad and Tobago to beat England, I expected a gallant tie at best. One can debate all day whether T&T actually deserved a draw, however I would have thought at the very least, and especially now, that they at least deserved some RESPECT.
From Joey-Twopence being interviewed on the street by London Tonight, to the smug and arrogant Terry Venables (in ITV Pundit mode) to the complete ignoramus Wanker Gareth Southgate, who could not be any more incompetent as an ITV Commentator.
These are the same England supporters who fail to recognise that Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago even exist in England's group, the same supporters who think there are only two teams In this tournament, England and Brazil. The same supporters who think that just because England fancy their chances this World Cup, that they will win it by default The same supporters who have an unhealthy obsession with World War Two and 1966 (That’s 40 years ago folks) who rushed out in their droves to purchase the most jingoistic and xenophobic diatribe (song) that not only stereotypes, mocks and ridicules all Germans (have England even played Germany yet?!) but goes that one step further and likens Jurgen Klinsmann to Adolf Hitler - simply because (you've guessed it!) he's GERMAN and because the World Cup is hosted in GERMANY.
ITVs coverage of the football yesterday was a complete joke. It was as if they had no interest in covering any of the games except for the England one. Now I know that the England team Is of obvious national interest, but when you have a Ecuador v Costa Rica match at 2pm (pre England) and a Sweden v Paraguay game at 8pm (post England) you at least expect commentary that is relevant to the respective match and half/full time analysis that at least covers said match. Not even a goal was replayed or discussed, instead we got a Sven Goran Erickson interview for the umpteenth time. Hey ITV! If you DON’T want to show any non-England matches, then hand the rights over to the BBC! They always do a much more professional and thorough job than that joke of a broadcaster with their pathetic PC female host.
Anyway rant over, as sickened as I was with the result yesterday, I am pleased with the way Trinidad and Tobago played. They had more fighting spirit than England and held themselves with great dignity. What pissed me off was how (and still) the media write off this team, constantly mocking them and ridiculing them as the worst side of the tournament. From what I saw yesterday and with the Sweden game a week before, Trinidad and Tobago are far from one of the worst teams of the competition. No excuses about the weather, Rooney's fitness, playing ten men behind a ball etc, Trinidad and Tobago made England work their asses off - and they still weren't good enough to ensure a Jamaica style thrashing like they so arrogantly assumed was theirs by rights, even before stepping foot onto the pitch.
Generally, the English supporters are far too ignorant to realise just how much of an achievement it is for Trinidad and Tobago - a small nation comprised of two small Islands, (less than 1 million population) to qualify for this tournament and play among the best to the standard of the best. They deserve far more credit and recognition for what they have done than what they are receiving.
After frustrating and holding England, T&T only slipped up with less than ten minutes to go after a blatant Peter Crouch foul on a defender (Is the pulling of the hair not considered a foul these days?) allowed him to score a goal. If that goal had rightfully been disqualified, then im damn well sure that Gerard's opportunity would never have arisen.
To be honest, I never expected Trinidad and Tobago to beat England, I expected a gallant tie at best. One can debate all day whether T&T actually deserved a draw, however I would have thought at the very least, and especially now, that they at least deserved some RESPECT.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Its been a long time!
Alright, I'll hold my hands up - this is the first entry on my blog for a very very long time. Truth be told, I've simply been far to busy to keep it up to date. However im going to try to get things going once more, and not let it fall so far behind again.
Hmmm… so what has happened since my last entry? - Well rather than attempt to recollect and explain everything in detail, here's a anecdotal summary of some of the latest developments, before we get 'back to business':
Arcade Light Gun:
That’s right folks, I finally succumbed against my better judgement and made yet ANOTHER modification to my MAME Arcade cabinet.
I purchased an LCD Topgun from EMS in Hong Kong for a bargain £30 delivered. Installed the two LED tracking stands to either side of my cabinet (these are black, so they aren't too much of an eye sore) and after a rigorous and sometimes frustrating attempt at collaboration, I can now play many lightgun game arcade classics!
Some of my favourite titles include, House of the Dead, House of the Dead 2, Virtua Cops 1 & 2, Point Blank, Chiller (a curious game where your aim is to torture and maim people!!) and the American Laser Game cheese-fests that are Mad Dog McCree 1& 2, Crime Patrol and Who Shot Johnny Rock!
The gun attachment has added over 100 additional arcade games.
PICTURES TO FOLLOW
2006 FA Cup Final:
I said it was Liverpool for the win all along, and it sure was. Thrilling match, even more gratifying for myself as I happen to hate west ham and its supporters - so after the 120 min roller-coaster ride and nail biting penalty shootout, there was a lot of gloating done by yours truly, who had to endure the match in the presence of an ever-so-grateful Gooner (see Tottenham).
Digital Camera:
I sold my unreliable aging Sony Digital Camera on eBay for a tidy profit and imported a beautiful Nikon P1 in its place. This baby takes cheaper SD cards (I have 2Gb at its disposal), can take pictures at 8, yes 8 mega pixels, and has built in WiFi functionality! Yes!, I can shoot pictures and have them directly transfer to my PC, I can send a batch of pictures wirelessly to my PC when I want to free up some memory, and I can even send pictures wirelessly to my photo printer!
Full review here.
E3 2006:
E3 baby!.. E3!!!! This years E3 in May was the big one that everyone was waiting for. Nintendo were to unleash full details of their revolution, now officially called Wii, and Sony their Playstation 3.
Sony kicked things off with their press conference, which managed to drag on for over 2 hours. They promised everything and delivered NOTHING - hype without substance and same old bland and boring games. Rather than go into detail here, you can simply read a transcript of the event or watch a hilarious video summary courtesy of You Tube. However some of the specific low points for me were as follows:
Now Nintendo's conference was much better, clear, concise and focused. It is unanimously agreed that they 'won' E3 and officially won the 'Hardware of the Show' award for the Wii.
You can read a transcript of Nintendo's conference, or watch the full video here, part 1 and part 2
Nintendo's show started out strong, with an almost immediate display of footage for multiple Nintendo titles, including Super Mario Galaxy, Pilotwings, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Red Steel. It was basically the strength of knowing these games exist, coupled with live demonstrations of Red Steel and Zelda using the Wii remote that carried the show.
There was no real surprise about the Wii, just confirmed rumours: The controller will have a built-in speaker (the example they used for it was you could hear the bow in Zelda pulling taut) and rumble, and the nunchuck attachment will have its own motion sensor. A lot more was eventually revealed about the games the next few days, as there was 27 Wii titles on the show floor for people to play. Iwata also mentioned a web browser loaded on the Wii's flash memory. There will be two versions of Zelda: Twilight Princess released at the same time: the Gamecube version and the Wii version. Both will go on sale the day the Wii launches.
The big news on the DS front was the unveiling of StarFox DS and Yoshi's Island 2, which drew applause from the crowd. Phantom Hourglass was said to "pick up where Wind Waker left off." Osu! Tatakae! Ouedan! was confirmed as coming to the US as Elite Beat Agents.
They also briefly mentioned "Wii Connect 24", some sort of feature where the system can stay connected to the Internet all the time, even when you're not using it. This would allow people to visit your home in Animal Crossing, even when you're asleep or automatically download new game demos to your DS. The Wii in this standby mode is said to use as much power as a small light bulb.
No pricing or launch details beyond "fourth quarter 2006," no major slams on Sony for trying to steal the control scheme. But just on the strength of their franchises alone, Nintendo generated more excitement in their first five minutes than Sony did their entire conference. The one thing that surprised me was that they didn't end with one final surprise announcement, as they usually do. They did eventually pull out Super Smash Brothers Brawl a few days later, featuring a guest appearance by none other than Solid Snake!
So what has happened since E3? How about the Wii-60 alliance, even endorsed by Microsoft's Peter Moore who strangely enough, has nothing but praise for Nintendo's new-gen console. The general consensus is that the price of a Xbox 360 + the price of a Nintendo Wii = the price of ONE PS3! So 360 and Wii are the way to go! If sales of the underestimated DS are to go by (which is trouncing the psp globally) I predict that Wii will take the global market and Microsoft take Europe. Sony's ridiculous pricing and focus on Blu-Ray has simply alienated one too many gamers, and yes - I have pre-ordered my Wii already!
Check out this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6sASwCPQZY&search=E3%20WII%20QUEUE)from E3 - the public simply do not care about PS3 - they all rush past Sony's stand to play Wii! Welcome back, Nintendo!
PSP gone Bye-Bye! - DS Lite says hello!!:
After the disappointing E3 showing, I finally decided to sell the most expensive paper weight I have ever bought, my PSP. Why? - Because for a handheld games machine, it had NO decent games - even downloading and playing ISOs on my 1.5 firmware bored me.. Sony are more concerned about treating the PSP as an all-in-one multimedia device. I have no desire to listen to MP3s or re-buy the same movies I already own for portable device with preprioty format. The PSP had been gathering dust for months, I sold it and three games and bought be a sexy Nintendo DS Lite. The DS Lite has been joyous to own and play! I have a blast with online Tetris (8-bit era themed for Nintendo fanboys!) and Mario Kart, and enjoy the fascinating Brain Training and New Super Mario Brothers. Simply put, New Super Mario Bros is the greatest platform to grace us since Super Mario 64 10 years ago. THIS is what gaming should be about - having fun!!
The DS Lite is lighter and more compact than the original. Its screens are more vibrant, sharp and colourful than even the PSP!
I imported mine from Australia TWO WEEKS before the UK release and saved £40! - and even after buying a case and all of the aforementioned games, I STILL have £110 left over from the PSP sale!!
MORE PICTURES TO FOLLOW
World Cup 2006!
Need I say more? I have been going into work at an un-Godly hour just to be able to come home early enough to catch the majority of matches. It's has been a GREAT tournament so far.
Of course im rooting for England, but as always, I've a fondness for Brazil and a hope for Trinidad and Tobago - who admittedly, I would love to beat England today!
Jas, Sham and I enjoyed the first England match very much under the traditional influence of alcohol. Two Asians, one Black guy, sitting by Gus from Eastenders, supporting England in a South African bar (Barracuda) - go figure! , only in England indeed!
The pattering of tiny feet, the sleepless nights, the dirty nappies!
And last, but certainly not least comes the news that I am to be a Father again. Very very soon infact, as my second child is due for delivery in less than a week. We have been frantically trying to redecorate the flat in time for its arrival (which Musole describes as nesting) and are all very excited; Jaden, too - as he is well aware that a little brother or sister is on the way!
Hmmm… so what has happened since my last entry? - Well rather than attempt to recollect and explain everything in detail, here's a anecdotal summary of some of the latest developments, before we get 'back to business':
Arcade Light Gun:
That’s right folks, I finally succumbed against my better judgement and made yet ANOTHER modification to my MAME Arcade cabinet.
I purchased an LCD Topgun from EMS in Hong Kong for a bargain £30 delivered. Installed the two LED tracking stands to either side of my cabinet (these are black, so they aren't too much of an eye sore) and after a rigorous and sometimes frustrating attempt at collaboration, I can now play many lightgun game arcade classics!
Some of my favourite titles include, House of the Dead, House of the Dead 2, Virtua Cops 1 & 2, Point Blank, Chiller (a curious game where your aim is to torture and maim people!!) and the American Laser Game cheese-fests that are Mad Dog McCree 1& 2, Crime Patrol and Who Shot Johnny Rock!
The gun attachment has added over 100 additional arcade games.
PICTURES TO FOLLOW
2006 FA Cup Final:
I said it was Liverpool for the win all along, and it sure was. Thrilling match, even more gratifying for myself as I happen to hate west ham and its supporters - so after the 120 min roller-coaster ride and nail biting penalty shootout, there was a lot of gloating done by yours truly, who had to endure the match in the presence of an ever-so-grateful Gooner (see Tottenham).
Digital Camera:
I sold my unreliable aging Sony Digital Camera on eBay for a tidy profit and imported a beautiful Nikon P1 in its place. This baby takes cheaper SD cards (I have 2Gb at its disposal), can take pictures at 8, yes 8 mega pixels, and has built in WiFi functionality! Yes!, I can shoot pictures and have them directly transfer to my PC, I can send a batch of pictures wirelessly to my PC when I want to free up some memory, and I can even send pictures wirelessly to my photo printer!
Full review here.
E3 2006:
E3 baby!.. E3!!!! This years E3 in May was the big one that everyone was waiting for. Nintendo were to unleash full details of their revolution, now officially called Wii, and Sony their Playstation 3.
Sony kicked things off with their press conference, which managed to drag on for over 2 hours. They promised everything and delivered NOTHING - hype without substance and same old bland and boring games. Rather than go into detail here, you can simply read a transcript of the event or watch a hilarious video summary courtesy of You Tube. However some of the specific low points for me were as follows:
A $599 / £425 price tag for the PS3 console!
HYPE! - lauding a game for its innovative ' real time weapon change'!
A $599 / £425 price tag for the PS3 console!
The PSP STILL doesn’t have any decent games
A $599 / £425 price tag for the PS3 console!
The PSP is now a rear-view mirror for PS3 racing games…… still has no games.
A $599 / £425 price tag for the PS3 console!
Rumble removed from Dual Shock 3 controller - Sony say rumble is last gen, an Immersion lawsuit says otherwise
A $599 / £425 price tag for the PS3 console!
The over-rated Grand Theft Auto is NO LONGER a Playstation exclusive series! Xbox360 says hello!
And finally, the shameless attempt to 'rip off' Nintendo's motion controller. Sony add a tilt function to the Dual Shock, the PS3 can detect whether the controller has been lifted, lowered or moved left or right. A half-assed demo of a crappy title called 'Warhawk' showed a developer in spasms, franticly tilting his arms left and right (like your grandmother does when trying a video game) in order to land a craft on screen. What Sony wont tell you is that UNLIKE the Wii controller, the Dual Shock 3 CANNOT detect 3D Space - i.e how far away you are from the screen or whether you make a punching or sword slash motion.
Now Nintendo's conference was much better, clear, concise and focused. It is unanimously agreed that they 'won' E3 and officially won the 'Hardware of the Show' award for the Wii.
You can read a transcript of Nintendo's conference, or watch the full video here, part 1 and part 2
Nintendo's show started out strong, with an almost immediate display of footage for multiple Nintendo titles, including Super Mario Galaxy, Pilotwings, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Red Steel. It was basically the strength of knowing these games exist, coupled with live demonstrations of Red Steel and Zelda using the Wii remote that carried the show.
There was no real surprise about the Wii, just confirmed rumours: The controller will have a built-in speaker (the example they used for it was you could hear the bow in Zelda pulling taut) and rumble, and the nunchuck attachment will have its own motion sensor. A lot more was eventually revealed about the games the next few days, as there was 27 Wii titles on the show floor for people to play. Iwata also mentioned a web browser loaded on the Wii's flash memory. There will be two versions of Zelda: Twilight Princess released at the same time: the Gamecube version and the Wii version. Both will go on sale the day the Wii launches.
The big news on the DS front was the unveiling of StarFox DS and Yoshi's Island 2, which drew applause from the crowd. Phantom Hourglass was said to "pick up where Wind Waker left off." Osu! Tatakae! Ouedan! was confirmed as coming to the US as Elite Beat Agents.
They also briefly mentioned "Wii Connect 24", some sort of feature where the system can stay connected to the Internet all the time, even when you're not using it. This would allow people to visit your home in Animal Crossing, even when you're asleep or automatically download new game demos to your DS. The Wii in this standby mode is said to use as much power as a small light bulb.
No pricing or launch details beyond "fourth quarter 2006," no major slams on Sony for trying to steal the control scheme. But just on the strength of their franchises alone, Nintendo generated more excitement in their first five minutes than Sony did their entire conference. The one thing that surprised me was that they didn't end with one final surprise announcement, as they usually do. They did eventually pull out Super Smash Brothers Brawl a few days later, featuring a guest appearance by none other than Solid Snake!
So what has happened since E3? How about the Wii-60 alliance, even endorsed by Microsoft's Peter Moore who strangely enough, has nothing but praise for Nintendo's new-gen console. The general consensus is that the price of a Xbox 360 + the price of a Nintendo Wii = the price of ONE PS3! So 360 and Wii are the way to go! If sales of the underestimated DS are to go by (which is trouncing the psp globally) I predict that Wii will take the global market and Microsoft take Europe. Sony's ridiculous pricing and focus on Blu-Ray has simply alienated one too many gamers, and yes - I have pre-ordered my Wii already!
Check out this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6sASwCPQZY&search=E3%20WII%20QUEUE)from E3 - the public simply do not care about PS3 - they all rush past Sony's stand to play Wii! Welcome back, Nintendo!
PSP gone Bye-Bye! - DS Lite says hello!!:
After the disappointing E3 showing, I finally decided to sell the most expensive paper weight I have ever bought, my PSP. Why? - Because for a handheld games machine, it had NO decent games - even downloading and playing ISOs on my 1.5 firmware bored me.. Sony are more concerned about treating the PSP as an all-in-one multimedia device. I have no desire to listen to MP3s or re-buy the same movies I already own for portable device with preprioty format. The PSP had been gathering dust for months, I sold it and three games and bought be a sexy Nintendo DS Lite. The DS Lite has been joyous to own and play! I have a blast with online Tetris (8-bit era themed for Nintendo fanboys!) and Mario Kart, and enjoy the fascinating Brain Training and New Super Mario Brothers. Simply put, New Super Mario Bros is the greatest platform to grace us since Super Mario 64 10 years ago. THIS is what gaming should be about - having fun!!
The DS Lite is lighter and more compact than the original. Its screens are more vibrant, sharp and colourful than even the PSP!
I imported mine from Australia TWO WEEKS before the UK release and saved £40! - and even after buying a case and all of the aforementioned games, I STILL have £110 left over from the PSP sale!!
MORE PICTURES TO FOLLOW
World Cup 2006!
Need I say more? I have been going into work at an un-Godly hour just to be able to come home early enough to catch the majority of matches. It's has been a GREAT tournament so far.
Of course im rooting for England, but as always, I've a fondness for Brazil and a hope for Trinidad and Tobago - who admittedly, I would love to beat England today!
Jas, Sham and I enjoyed the first England match very much under the traditional influence of alcohol. Two Asians, one Black guy, sitting by Gus from Eastenders, supporting England in a South African bar (Barracuda) - go figure! , only in England indeed!
The pattering of tiny feet, the sleepless nights, the dirty nappies!
And last, but certainly not least comes the news that I am to be a Father again. Very very soon infact, as my second child is due for delivery in less than a week. We have been frantically trying to redecorate the flat in time for its arrival (which Musole describes as nesting) and are all very excited; Jaden, too - as he is well aware that a little brother or sister is on the way!
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