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danielkempster

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Edited By danielkempster

Hey guys. It's that time again, where I sit down at the computer and spend an hour or two pouring my musings onto this page.

Crashes in Burnout Paradise look incredible

So after an eleven-week stint at University, I'm back at home for the Easter break. I remembered to bring my 360 back with me this time, so I've been playing plenty of games over the weekend. Most of my time has been spent with the two new purchases I mentioned in my last blog; Burnout Paradise and SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, to all American readers). I've never been heavily into the Burnout franchise, and Paradise isn't going to change that, but it is proving to be a lot of fun in short bursts. The visuals are very impressive (the audio less so) and I'm liking the open-world, do-things-at-your-own-pace set-up. SMDUC serves its purpose as a compilation of Mega Drive (Genesis) games, although the achievements feel very tacked on, which is a shame, because I can't help but think there was potential for some really inventive ones (think along the same lines of what Valve did with The Orange Box). I was looking forward to approaching old childhood friends like Sonic the Hedgehog and Streets of Rage with a fresh attitude. Instead, I get 50 Gamerscore for viewing a load of artwork that doesn't even have to be unlocked. To be fair, there are a few genuinely challenging ones (completing Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine won't be an easy feat), but for the most part the achievements seem very half-arsed.

I'm also in the process of getting hooked up to Xbox LIVE on a semi-permanent basis. I figured I might as well take advantage of being at home, where I don't have to worry about the God-awful University accommodation network. I've already set myself up with a Gamertag - dankempster, for those of you interested in adding me to their friend lists. I've also signed up for a month's free Gold membership. Now I'm just waiting on a nice long Ethernet cable to turn up so I can wire up the 360, and I'll be good to go. I've also ordered a card for 1600 MS points, with the intention of buying The Lost & Damned DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV. While I've never been much of a competitive online gamer (I tend to prefer a strong, story-driven single player experience when it comes to playing games) I look forward to hopefully meeting some of you online over the next few weeks.

Truth be told, I'm starting to get a little worried about my tendency to buy games. Now that we're well into 2009 I'm starting to feel the expected urges to catch up on all the games I missed last year (hence the purchase of Burnout Paradise, I guess). The downside of this, besides having next to no money to my name, is that I'm slowly but surely adding to my list of games I have yet to finish. My friend bought me BioShock as a birthday present a couple of weeks ago, and I still have yet to put any real time into that. I bought Dead Space the other day in order to push my Amazon order up into the free delivery price range. Then, while I was in town today, I picked up Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and a disc containing the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine additional content for Oblivion. I think I'm going to put a curb on my game-purchasing for the time-being, so I can catch up with myself and play through some of these games.

In news not related to video games, I went to see Paul Weller play live at the O2 Arena last night. Anybody who knows me personally will be aware of how much I love the Modfather, placing him second only to The Who in terms of my favourite musical acts of all time. I'm an avid listener of both his solo work and his output with The Jam (although I've never been much of a Style Council fan), so going to see the guy perform live was an incredible opportunity and he didn't disappoint. For a fifty-year-old man, Weller still has a lot of energy and charisma, and the chemistry between him and his new solo band was so electric I think everybody in the audience could taste it. He stormed through rock numbers like Peacock Suit and From The Floorboards Up with arms and guitar flailing in unison, let his airy voice and piano do the work on the lighter songs like Invisible, and managed to breathe new life into older songs like Wild Wood while still preserving their original magic. While seeing Weller didn't mean as much to me as witnessing The Who back in 2007, I can safely say that it was the more enjoyable of the two gigs. That's one more thing I can cross off my list of things to do before I die.

I guess that'll do for this blog. I'm not sure what to tell you to expect from me next, because my head is so full of thoughts it's impossible to tell which ones will turn into meaningful blogs in the near future. I have Morrowind to talk about, GTAIV to get back into, and all those aforementioned games to start playing. In addition, I have a lot of work to get on with this Easter break - four 2500/3000-word essays on top of all the reading I've been set. That being said, I'm seriously thinking about doing one of those Top Thirty Games Of All Time lists that everybody seems to be doing at the moment. Thanks for reading, guys. See you around.

DanK

---

Currently playing - SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (X360)

15 years ago

danielkempster

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#1 Edited By danielkempster

Hey guys. It's that time again, where I sit down at the computer and spend an hour or two pouring my musings onto this page.

So after an eleven-week stint at University, I'm back at home for the Easter break. I remembered to bring my 360 back with me this time, so I've been playing plenty of games over the weekend. Most of my time has been spent with the two new purchases I mentioned in my last blog; Burnout Paradise and SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, to all American readers). I've never been heavily into the Burnout franchise, and Paradise isn't going to change that, but it is proving to be a lot of fun in short bursts. The visuals are very impressive (the audio less so) and I'm liking the open-world, do-things-at-your-own-pace set-up. SMDUC serves its purpose as a compilation of Mega Drive (Genesis) games, although the achievements feel very tacked on, which is a shame, because I can't help but think there was potential for some really inventive ones (think along the same lines of what Valve did with The Orange Box). I was looking forward to approaching old childhood friends like Sonic the Hedgehog and Streets of Rage with a fresh attitude. Instead, I get 50 Gamerscore for viewing a load of artwork that doesn't even have to be unlocked. To be fair, there are a few genuinely challenging ones (completing Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine won't be an easy feat), but for the most part the achievements seem very half-arsed.

I'm also in the process of getting hooked up to Xbox LIVE on a semi-permanent basis. I figured I might as well take advantage of being at home, where I don't have to worry about the God-awful University accommodation network. I've already set myself up with a Gamertag - dankempster, for those of you interested in adding me to their friend lists. I've also signed up for a month's free Gold membership. Now I'm just waiting on a nice long Ethernet cable to turn up so I can wire up the 360, and I'll be good to go. I've also ordered a card for 1600 MS points, with the intention of buying The Lost & Damned DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV. While I've never been much of a competitive online gamer (I tend to prefer a strong, story-driven single player experience when it comes to playing games) I look forward to hopefully meeting some of you online over the next few weeks.

Truth be told, I'm starting to get a little worried about my tendency to buy games. Now that we're well into 2009 I'm starting to feel the expected urges to catch up on all the games I missed last year (hence the purchase of Burnout Paradise, I guess). The downside of this, besides having next to no money to my name, is that I'm slowly but surely adding to my list of games I have yet to finish. My friend bought me BioShock as a birthday present a couple of weeks ago, and I still have yet to put any real time into that. I bought Dead Space the other day in order to push my Amazon order up into the free delivery price range. Then, while I was in town today, I picked up Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and a disc containing the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine additional content for Oblivion. I think I'm going to put a curb on my game-purchasing for the time-being, so I can catch up with myself and play through some of these games.

In news not related to video games, I went to see Paul Weller play live at the O2 Arena last night. Anybody who knows me personally will be aware of how much I love the Modfather, placing him second only to The Who in terms of my favourite musical acts of all time. I'm an avid listener of both his solo work and his output with The Jam (although I've never been much of a Style Council fan), so going to see the guy perform live was an incredible opportunity and he didn't disappoint. For a fifty-year-old man, Weller still has a lot of energy and charisma, and the chemistry between him and his new solo band was so electric I think everybody in the audience could taste it. He stormed through rock numbers like Peacock Suit and From The Floorboards Up with arms and guitar flailing in unison, let his airy voice and piano do the work on the lighter songs like Invisible, and managed to breathe new life into older songs like Wild Wood while still preserving their original magic. While seeing Weller didn't mean as much to me as witnessing The Who back in 2007, I can safely say that it was the more enjoyable of the two gigs. That's one more thing I can cross off my list of things to do before I die.

I guess that'll do for this blog. I'm not sure what to tell you to expect from me next, because my head is so full of thoughts it's impossible to tell which ones will turn into meaningful blogs in the near future. I have Morrowind to talk about, GTAIV to get back into, and all those aforementioned games to start playing. In addition, I have a lot of work to get on with this Easter break - four 2500/3000-word essays on top of all the reading I've been set. That being said, I'm seriously thinking about doing one of those Top Thirty Games Of All Time lists that everybody seems to be doing at the moment. Thanks for reading, guys. See you around.

DanK

---

Currently playing - SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (X360)

15 years ago

BiggerBomb

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#2 Edited By BiggerBomb

You weirdo! I bought Dead Space the other day, too. Ah well, I'll make sure to add you to my friends list whenever I have the chance to turn on the box, again. Oh...and I was also planning to purchase the points for The Lost & The Damned, asap. Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. DUN!

15 years ago

Disgaeamad

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#3 Edited By Disgaeamad

Yo, I accepted your friend request!

And yeah, you need to keep your purchases under control. I've managed to keep myself in line and only play one or two games at a time. Makes life much easier.

15 years ago

MasterOfPenguins_Zell

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#4 Edited By MasterOfPenguins_Zell

I'm planning on buying Burnout Paradise tomorrow through Amazon. My LIVE is also ending soon, might just order that and get it out of the way now at the same time....

15 years ago

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