I had been considering hacking it and installing a Linux OS, but, right now, it's kinda neat.
I'm one of them now. I share yet another trait with one of the generic people.
STALKER: Clear Sky
This is one of those games that I'm convinced I really do like, but just can't make myself sit down and play.
I don't know what it is. I mean, there are some very noticeable flaws in the game, namely that configuring the video settings is a metagame unto itself, but it is a good game. Inventory has been streamlined somewhat from the first game, the story is interesting, and the visuals are pretty solid. It plays well, too.
The video configuration game is wild, though. I'm rocking a 1GB video card, 4GB of RAM, with a 2.53Ghz proc, and the max settings run at 1fps. One. This is a year old game, folks.
Anyway, I love the setting for the STALKER series. It's a parallel reality in which there are warring Russian factions in the Chernobyl wasteland, which is populated with all kinds of horrific creatures and people with specific agendas. It feels like a living, breathing world in which time is moving forward, rather than maintaining a static environment. Characters move around, follow a routine, sometimes go on a mission, and their interactions with you will sometimes change depending on your prior actions. Very cool world.
But, yeah, I just haven't been able to make myself hold still long enough to really dive into this one. I did finally get the video settings at something that both looked good and ran well, and that helped a bit when I played for maybe a half hour last night.
WEEKEND
After work today, I'm loading the boy, the new iPod, the laptop, the netbook, the PSP, the DS, several books, and a bunch of other shit like clothes and toiletries, and heading to NORTHERN ILLINOIS. Yup.
My in-laws live about an hour outta Chicago, just far enough away that they don't have 'normal' water. They use well water, which is kinda like showering in mucusy goat piss, and like drinking from a diarrhetic volcano's ass. Their water has been so bad for so long that every time I even come near it, I wanna gesture to my wife like, 'See! See how much I love you and what a great husband I am!?'
Then, I remember that she and her family think that horrible water is normal, and it's actually offensive when I'm disgusted by their disgusting water.
Long time readers will know that I've been whining about this for about eight years now.
And, lemme tell ya fellas, nothing puts your wife in a great mood like her hearing the same criticism about visiting her parents for the 999999th time in eight years.
Luckily, I'm one of the few dudes I know with cool in-laws. They've been tremendously kind about the fact that they got stuck with a son-in-law like me, and have really helped us out at key moments, and for that, I can put up with being urinated on by any number of barnyard animals while I attempt to get clean.
OH! OH! Also, soap DOES NOT come off your body when you try to rinse it off, since it's hard fucking water. I really hate that.
Anyway, yeah, they're cool people and have helped us out in these early years of married life, so I am very thankful for that.
My wife flew up there Wednesday to get some time with just herself and her girlfriends in Chicago, while I hung out here with our boy and watched my Cardinals beat the fuck outta her Cubs, and we'll be joining her in her hometown tonight.
Tomorrow, we're going to a wedding, and then her little sister's graduation party. Sunday, we'll be driving back to hang out at my sister's birthday party, and then Monday, we recharge and lounge and do nothing.
With that, I'm out, but not before leaving you with a metric fuck-ton of Heavy Rain:
READ the 1UP Preview!
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Have a great weekend! What do you have goin' on?
-Blaine
Have a great weekend! What do you have goin' on?
-Blaine
Which model did you get, Mr. Spouts-Specs-All-The-Time-But-Not-About-His-New-iPod?
ReplyDeleteAnd here I've been intentionally hiding for months now the fact that I got an iPod Touch, just to avoid your ridicule. Trust me, part of me didn't want one. But I've dealt with some crapass .mp3 players in the last few years and decided to go with the one I knew would work for more than a month or two.
The best thing about my Touch so far (besides being irresistable to women, of course) has been Stanza, an app which allows me to read any .lit, .txt., .pdf, etc files full screen with completely adjustable font size. It also has a bookstore if you're into buying stuff. Saves your page automatically, has TOC and bookmarking, and a little graph at the bottom showing how much more book lies ahead. I've read four novels and probably two dozen short stories on it in the last few months. I probably read and listen to music on the damn thing in about equal proportions...strange, but true.
Some of the games are ok, too, although you're more of a core-than-casual guy, I believe.
@bombtrak I got the 120GB model w/ the gunmetal casing. Do the books work with the Classic model? I'm not sure they'd even be worth reading on this little screen. What's TOC? Pfft @ iPod games.
ReplyDelete-Blaine
TOC = Table o' Contents
ReplyDeleteNot sure what works with the Classic model and what doesn't. Probably not worth reading on that little screen of yours though.