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buzz_clik

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Things I learned over the weekend - Monday, 20 September 2010

By buzz_clik 19 Comments

Yup, it happened again! Despite my best attempts, I emerged from my rostered two days off with more stuff in my brain. Check it.
 

Forgetting to do the Save & Quit thing can be a bitch.

 This is the bit I'm going to have to do all over again. Now I've had a restful weekend, I don't feel so bad about it. At the time, though? Grrrrr.
 This is the bit I'm going to have to do all over again. Now I've had a restful weekend, I don't feel so bad about it. At the time, though? Grrrrr.
I'd been playing Halo: Reach for a bit before having guests over for dinner and a movie on Friday night. They eventually rocked up, and when they did I ejected the disc to put some music on. Unfortunately, I forgot to hit Save & Quit before popping the game out. I figure it must surely be okay because I'd just finished a level – bastard tough even on Heroic – and even garnered an Achievement for doing so.

Hey, guess what happened when I went to play it after our visitors had left? You got it. I was several checkpoints back, which quickly sapped my will to stay up and plough through that whole stretch again. I want it known that normally I am a big stickler for the Save & Quit routine, and will even normally faff about in other parts of the game's menus before finally switching off. I'm just miffed that this one time I didn't, Reach's shit save/checkpoint system really seemed to enjoy sticking it to me as punishment.
 

Podcasts make everything okay.

Outside of the movie night on Friday, most of my weekend was taken up with mowing lawns for my girlfriend's parents. They've semi-recently purchased a beach house, the (large) lawn area was mad overgrown and they had no means to cut it. Cue fanfare and flapping cape as I stand with one foot on my trusty Flymo. I don't really mind doing chores of this nature (especially if it means we can use the beach house) but this was a doozy. I was facing 5 or so hours of pushing my hovering contraption around very uneven terrain filled with lush, unchecked grass.

Luckily, I had an iPod handy that was stocked with last week's round of podcasts. The Bombcast helped me through three of my hardworking hours, and for that I thank all involved in its production.
 

There will only be one king of the futuristic battle racer in my lifetime.

 Ugh. Wipeout Fusion's mangled team logo redesigns were not hot.
 Ugh. Wipeout Fusion's mangled team logo redesigns were not hot.
This might sound like a myopic statement, but for my money I can't see anything coming close to dethroning the Wipeout series (no, not that one). As you may or may not know, I'm a big fan of the Wipeout games, even recently going through a period of designing new team logos for the fun of it. I even really enjoyed the oft-maligned Fusion, which was possibly the weakest in graphical styling (although it had one of the strongest soundtracks). I find the games such an enveloping pitch-perfect blend of graphic design, great tunes, fast action and giddy violence that anything else will seem like a pallid clone at best. My only lament is that I don't own a PSP with which to play Pure and Pulse.

The reason I'm telling you all of this is because I paid five whole Australian bucks for Fatal Inertia. I've only played a few hours of it, and it seems to be emphatically innocuous. It's certainly not bad, and there are things I quite like about it, but it's just so bland and generic in a lot of its presentation and ideas that I'm not really sucked into the world that KOEI have constructed. I'm not willing to write it off completely after so little time with it, and I'll probably finish it, but I get the feeling I've already seen most of the thrills and spills that the game has to offer.   
 

Having the theme to 'Allo 'Allo stuck in your head sucks.

I woke up on Sunday morning with the opening tune to 'Allo 'Allo mysteriously lodged in my brain. I've no idea why because I'm no big fan of the series, only infrequently watching it as a child. As I awoke and pottered around, I had the annoying accordion ditty floating around my head for half an hour or more. Needless to say, it was a little infuriating. Stupid brain.
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19 Comments

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Bruce

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Edited By Bruce

Thank G-d that the Bombcast isn't being split in that BS way they wanted to split it; I can't get through Tuesdays without it.

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buzz_clik

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Edited By buzz_clik
@Tebbit said:
" I miss The Designers Republic. They gave Wipeouts 1-3 a really sharp, edgy look.  Also, Under The Influence by the Chemical Brothers + Wip3out + the bass up really high = transcendental experience. "
Awww, tDR RIP. They were/are such a huge influence on me, and although I'd lost track of them in their later years I was still bummed to hear they'd upped stumps. Not sure if you know of them, but Büro Destruct do/did similar things, and it's well worth checking out their printed material. Also, 123Klan are a badass mob of Frenchie designers who make some great stuff. 
 
I loved the first two Wipeout titles but the styling and experience of 3 was one of my all-time favourite gaming memories. With the soundtrack that Sasha put together (was already a huge fan of Xpander and then he put it in!) and the cool gameplay tweaks, the third installment was a mighty entry in the series. Fun fact: the game ran in the Playstation's high resolution mode, making everything look even better!
 
Oh, and don't think I didn't notice your correct omission of the apostrophe in "Designers" ;)
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Edited By tebbit

I miss The Designers Republic. They gave Wipeouts 1-3 a really sharp, edgy look. 
 
Also, Under The Influence by the Chemical Brothers + Wip3out + the bass up really high = transcendental experience.

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alwaysbeclothing

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Edited By alwaysbeclothing

I learned whatever the hell a Flymo and that its used for cutting grass in some fashion.
 
Lack of saving after checkpoints is a harsh lesson I've learned more than few times.  The game should really take care of it by now in most cases.

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error5305

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No Caption Provided
@buzz_clik:  WHOA!!!!
 
Wii shop huh?  I hope they ported that directly and didn't try to "fix" anything.
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buzz_clik

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Edited By buzz_clik
@error5305 said:
" I mean c'mon, "The Championship of Future Formula" "
Oh, no doubt that was a huge hook. I'm a sucker for an Engrish tagline, so as soon as I saw that gem my curiosity was immediately piqued.
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error5305

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Edited By error5305
@buzz_clik:  Ha Ha. Well that depends on two things:  If you can enjoy a sub-par racing game while making non-stop sexual innuendos with your friends, or if you are looking for a good futuristic racing game.   We would "stick it in" at the game store I used to manage, it was not bad really, but I never played for more than 10 min. at a time.
Hadn't thought about the PAL issue, but you theoretically should be able to pick this up for super cheap.  
 
I mean c'mon, "The Championship of Future Formula"
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buzz_clik

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Edited By buzz_clik
@error5305: Holy shit, I've never even come close to hearing about that one. Is it any fun to play? (he says, knowing the fact he's in the Australia PAL region may render the point moot)
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error5305

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Edited By error5305
@buzz_clik said:
" @aurahack: Huh. I'd never heard of that sequel, although I've played the first one on N64 and totally forgotten that there was XG3 on the GameCube. Might check it out, cheers! "
Fine, I will be the one to finally point out the elephant in the room and get it off my chest.
 
Tube Slider
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buzz_clik

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Edited By buzz_clik
@aurahack: Huh. I'd never heard of that sequel, although I've played the first one on N64 and totally forgotten that there was XG3 on the GameCube. Might check it out, cheers!
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aurahack

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Edited By aurahack

You should play XGRA. It's more F-Zero than Wipeout, but it's got an insane sense of speed, a great soundtrack and some killer visuals. It's worth the play for the "breaking the sound barrier" effect alone.

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Edited By buzz_clik
@C2C said:
" Have you tried F-Zero GX? To me that game is the epitome of future sports racing.  WipEout Fury HD though is a very very close second.  "
Yeah, I own F-Zero GX, but for me it doesn't have the layers of awesome that Wipeout has. As a graphic designer, there's not a lot that trumps what The Designers Republic brought to the series, and the legacy of their input is astonishing. While I also love the F-Zero music, at the end of the day I can't go past hearing my favourite dance acts thundering over the action. And F-Zero as a whole is quite wholesome compared the the cynical and sardonic undertone of the Wipeout universe.
 
So for me, it's not just the racing in Wipeout but the whole package. That said, you've reminded me I've got GX sitting in the drawer and I might have to dust it off in the near future. Thanks!
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Edited By C2C

Have you tried F-Zero GX? To me that game is the epitome of future sports racing.  WipEout Fury HD though is a very very close second. 

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Edited By weegieanawrench

Funny that you have the theme song stuck in your head. I have a line stuck in my head from my mom saying it all the time, " I shall say this only once, Allo Allo".

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Edited By sweep  Moderator

I also listen to the bombcast whilst mowing the lawn! Sometimes it makes me laugh so much I forget to watch where i'm going and I end up driving all over the place. Then my lawn looks like shit. In retrospect I probably shouldn't listen to the bombcast whilst mowing the lawn! 
 
Wipeout is one of the games I would get if I were to own a PS3. One of the games I will get when I own a PS3. 
 
Great blog dude :D

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Edited By buzz_clik
@error5305 said:

" So do you just have to drag that mower along the ground when you're not using it, or turn it on every time you want to push it somewhere? "

Nah, it's light enough that I just pick it up and carry it around. That also means I can use it as a cumbersome makeshift weed wacker by lifting it up and lowering it onto tougher greenery.
 
@error5305 said:

" Also you can make new ship skins, I downloaded some of those for Pulse.  Ever try making any of those? "

 I've only just recently noticed that you can do it, but I've not had a shot at it. Looks right up my alley, too!
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I love weed eaters, I love how sometimes it picks up some small rocks which scone you even thought there is a protector shield, they somehow still manage to home in on you. 

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Edited By error5305

So do you just have to drag that mower along the ground when you're not using it, or turn it on every time you want to push it somewhere?
 
The Wipeout games on PSP are excellent.  Great tracks, soundtracks, and frame rate even during the Zone races.
Also you can make new ship skins, I downloaded some of those for Pulse.  Ever try making any of those?

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buzz_clik

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Edited By buzz_clik

Yup, it happened again! Despite my best attempts, I emerged from my rostered two days off with more stuff in my brain. Check it.
 

Forgetting to do the Save & Quit thing can be a bitch.

 This is the bit I'm going to have to do all over again. Now I've had a restful weekend, I don't feel so bad about it. At the time, though? Grrrrr.
 This is the bit I'm going to have to do all over again. Now I've had a restful weekend, I don't feel so bad about it. At the time, though? Grrrrr.
I'd been playing Halo: Reach for a bit before having guests over for dinner and a movie on Friday night. They eventually rocked up, and when they did I ejected the disc to put some music on. Unfortunately, I forgot to hit Save & Quit before popping the game out. I figure it must surely be okay because I'd just finished a level – bastard tough even on Heroic – and even garnered an Achievement for doing so.

Hey, guess what happened when I went to play it after our visitors had left? You got it. I was several checkpoints back, which quickly sapped my will to stay up and plough through that whole stretch again. I want it known that normally I am a big stickler for the Save & Quit routine, and will even normally faff about in other parts of the game's menus before finally switching off. I'm just miffed that this one time I didn't, Reach's shit save/checkpoint system really seemed to enjoy sticking it to me as punishment.
 

Podcasts make everything okay.

Outside of the movie night on Friday, most of my weekend was taken up with mowing lawns for my girlfriend's parents. They've semi-recently purchased a beach house, the (large) lawn area was mad overgrown and they had no means to cut it. Cue fanfare and flapping cape as I stand with one foot on my trusty Flymo. I don't really mind doing chores of this nature (especially if it means we can use the beach house) but this was a doozy. I was facing 5 or so hours of pushing my hovering contraption around very uneven terrain filled with lush, unchecked grass.

Luckily, I had an iPod handy that was stocked with last week's round of podcasts. The Bombcast helped me through three of my hardworking hours, and for that I thank all involved in its production.
 

There will only be one king of the futuristic battle racer in my lifetime.

 Ugh. Wipeout Fusion's mangled team logo redesigns were not hot.
 Ugh. Wipeout Fusion's mangled team logo redesigns were not hot.
This might sound like a myopic statement, but for my money I can't see anything coming close to dethroning the Wipeout series (no, not that one). As you may or may not know, I'm a big fan of the Wipeout games, even recently going through a period of designing new team logos for the fun of it. I even really enjoyed the oft-maligned Fusion, which was possibly the weakest in graphical styling (although it had one of the strongest soundtracks). I find the games such an enveloping pitch-perfect blend of graphic design, great tunes, fast action and giddy violence that anything else will seem like a pallid clone at best. My only lament is that I don't own a PSP with which to play Pure and Pulse.

The reason I'm telling you all of this is because I paid five whole Australian bucks for Fatal Inertia. I've only played a few hours of it, and it seems to be emphatically innocuous. It's certainly not bad, and there are things I quite like about it, but it's just so bland and generic in a lot of its presentation and ideas that I'm not really sucked into the world that KOEI have constructed. I'm not willing to write it off completely after so little time with it, and I'll probably finish it, but I get the feeling I've already seen most of the thrills and spills that the game has to offer.   
 

Having the theme to 'Allo 'Allo stuck in your head sucks.

I woke up on Sunday morning with the opening tune to 'Allo 'Allo mysteriously lodged in my brain. I've no idea why because I'm no big fan of the series, only infrequently watching it as a child. As I awoke and pottered around, I had the annoying accordion ditty floating around my head for half an hour or more. Needless to say, it was a little infuriating. Stupid brain.