Entries from August 2007 ↓

A couple of days ago I beat BioShock (with the “good” ending - don’t worry I’m not going to spoil it) and I suddenly found myself with some extra time on my hands. So, I did something I haven’t done in a while - I logged into Guild Wars. Since buying the game I haven’t really kept up with it. Partly because none of my friends are playing and I end up soloing everything. For the most part I can’t take most of my fellow players - I’m sure you can figure out why - and my play habits are no where near stable enough to bother weeding through the rabble to find a group to play with.

I spent some time finishing up a couple of quests that have sat in my quest log, longer then I can remember and bringing my Necromancer/Warrior up to level 12. Currently, I’m sitting at with about 25% level till I reach 13. Hopefully, I’ll be able to run my way through the Asalon Foothills and make it all the way to Yak’s Bend one of these days. I’ve attempted it a couple of times and so far it’s been no go.

One thing I did notice logging back in for the first time was - I had a birthday present. I vaguely remember getting that once my characters first birthday had passed, for some reason though I never opened it. I’ll be getting my next birthday present in about three months, maybe then I’ll open the first one.

Anyway, I need to get back to working on my “build“.

This morning saw Kris and I making a special trip over to Circuit City so, I could claim my copy of BioShock (the promise of a 360 game for less then $59.99 is a powerful thing). Arriving around 9:30am coffee’s in hand we decided to walk over to the Walmart next door, after all we had 30 minutes to kill - and no campers were in sight. Not finding what we were looking for, I dragged her over to electronics and sure enough they had six copies of BioShock so if the $49.99 copy didn’t pan out I had a backup plan.

We made our way back over to Circuit City around 9:45am and wouldn’t you know it - three people waiting in front of the door. An older gentlemen (who was apparently there to get his stereo fixed) and a guy mid-thirties with his maybe four-year old son. A few minutes later we were joined by five more people. One of whom finally asks if we are waiting for BioShock, the disappointment on his face was priceless - until he found out that some of the other guys were getting the PC version.

Finally, 10:00am rolls around and someone comes and opens the door. Someone, immediately asks where we can find the game. Which was quickly answered with: “Oh that’s not out until 2pm according to the flier.” I piped up exclaiming that if its out at Walmart and Toys R Us so it should be out everywhere. A few hectic moments later we all assembled over customer service - while they brought the mother load out from the store room.

So, after a quick trip to the Apple store in the mall, a couple of shoe stores, the bank and then the grocery store - I was finally back at the apartment to begin my adventures under the sea.  I’ve put in a handful of hours today and I’ve enjoyed myself immensely!  All I can say is the reviews are true!  The game is fantastic!  There are a few small things here or there but they do not affect the game at all so they are easy to overlook (especially if you don’t look at the game with a QA testers eye).

I’d put in more hours but, wouldn’t you know, I have to move stuff to the new apartment tomorrow and then spend the next couple of days in the woods hiking…

It has finally happened! I have seen a Wii in the store! Well, actually I’ve seen three Wii’s. This morning Kris and I where doing some shopping at the Target in Latham, NY and as we browsed through electronics I saw that the Wii spot was for the first time - not empty (or full with other Nintendo merchandise).

The funniest part of the whole thing is - yes, I left the store without one. After all this time, I don’t want one any longer. I’m just not excited by the system anymore, the novelty of it has worn off I guess…

Last week at this time Racketboy had a post about using shader plugins for the PS1 emulator ePSXe to improve graphics quality. I’ve know about the plug-ins for a while now but, never had the desire to check them out. Well, after looking at the Final Fantasy IX screen shot I decided to give it a go. I have to admit I never played Final Fantasy IX so, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to finally get that out of the way.  Actually, Final Fantasy I, II and VII are the only titles in the series that I’ve played through to completion.

After some searching around I was able to borrow a copy from a co-worker. Over the week I have been able to squeeze in about 16 hours worth of playing - and so far I’m really digging the game. I’m told the game runs around 40 hours or so total. Hell, maybe when I’m done with this one I’ll tackle Final Fantasy VIII, if I can’t borrow one I’ll probably turn to Ebay. The only real downside of the experience is my video card doesn’t like the shader plug-in, so I can’t use it with top settings.  I guess it’s time to upgrade.  Well, I better get back to the game - I need to see how it ends.

• Final Fantasy IX on Ebay
• Final Fantasy VIII on Ebay