Rez HD (360)

Straight in, no trial, no testing, no hesitation – I just paid for and downloaded the full game. And? It’s crap. NOT REALLY! LOL! No, it’s great. It’s just like the PS2 version I have, only with three main differences: I don’t have to use that awful PS2 pad. It’s slightly better looking. It sounds AMAZING. Admittedly, one of those things could be solved by the Dreamcast version, and another by plugging my PS2 into my new surround sound system, …

Undertow (360)

So I hated the demo, but Microsoft gave it away free last week (as a “we’re sorry Xbox Live has been broken for a month – here, have some crap” gesture) so I’d downloaded it. You can see that there’s been a week’s delay in playing it – I was hardly excited to do so. It’s still crap. Like, really crap. I was compelled to switch it off after the first level, and I really don’t see myself ever playing …

Assassin’s Creed (360)

Started this for the sole purpose of trying out something other than Tony Hawk on my new speakers. It doesn’t (yet) have the immersion, soundwise, but then I have only played it for just over an hour. Well, I say I’ve played it for just over an hour. In reality, I’ve watched it a lot, pressed a button every now and again, and been shown how to press buttons. Oh, and I’ve been killed and somehow came back to life. …

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (360)

So I got my subwoofer working today. Good grief does it make a difference! Every skate-check gets a heavy thump, bailing makes a deep crunch, even aggro kicking gets a meaty whoomph from the speaker. Excellent! As far as the game went, I (again) beat a few more street challenges, and then mopped up some more Classic and Hawk-Man goals. The Museum Classic goals were bloody difficult, although really shouldn’t have been. Could I natas spin the switches to turn …

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (360)

Since today was mainly taken up with setting up my new surround sound kit, I didn’t spend long playing games. I did, however, break Tony out for a while and finished off the last Uber Goals, completing those remaining. The Pro one was really quite hard (on the Nail The Trick demo especially), until I realised you could manage more than one of the ten required tricks in one combo. Then, as usual, I completed some more street goals. 87% …

I make noise now

Today, I went to Richer Sounds and spent far too much money on some audio kit. I got myself an Onkyo TX-SR605 AV receiver, a set of Tannoy FX5.1 speakers, and some more expensive than expected cables to connect everything up. I then spent SIX HOURS connecting everything up. SIX. ACTUAL. HOURS. And then, when I tried to put the receiver into my under-the-TV “entertainment centre” unit, it wouldn’t fit. So I had to undo all the cables and fit …

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (360)

Yes, I did skip two days of playing games. I was busy! Mainly with resurrecting the dead. But then I came back… to Tony. Again. Can’t stay away. So I thought I’d have a crack the Uber Goals again, and managed the Hardcore one without a problem. I haven’t attempted the Rigger one at all yet, and the Pro one? Not looking forward to trying that again. It was hard! Also completed some more street goals and improved a few …

Drupal register_globals problem

Have you tried to install Drupal, and got a message saying your server environment is unsupported because you have register_globals turned on? Have you been unable to change this because your web host (1&1, in my case) doesn’t let you play with PHP’s settings (and quite right too)? Help is (possibly) at hand! It’s likely that although you can’t configure PHP directly, your host will allow per-directory PHP configuration changes. You do this with a plain-text file called php.ini, which …

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (360)

So about this “I’m done with the game now” post last night. It was clearly a lie, wasn’t it? Completed Pro in two more Classic Goals runs, Am in a third, and one Am and one Pro for the Pac-Man-meets-Tony-Hawk “Hawk-man” runs. Not a chance in hell I’ll get Sick for any of the Classic or Hawk-man goals. They’re clearly not possible.

Gizmondo resurrection: Exciting Psychic Worlds!

Just when you thought the Gizmondo Story had reached the final chapter, it seems there may be a sequel! The Gizmondo was a poorly realised and even more poorly marketed handheld machine, with built in camera and GPS, and with game and media playing facilities. Seven people bought one. Of course, the great thing about Gizmondo wasn’t the device, but Gizmondo Executive Stefan Eriksson. Eriksson had a dodgy financial background, links to organised crime, and, in 2006, crashed his Enzo …

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (360)

OK. I think after today’s session I’m “done” with this now. I’ll no doubt come back to improve on some of the bits I’ve only got Am on, or for a bit of a skate for fun. Or maybe I’ll play online a bit. But I’ve done all the story goals in all the storylines, most of the skate spots, impressed all the pros and all sorts of other things. I’ve not done many “classic” goals though, I’ve just realised, …

Sega Superstars Tennis

Imagine a game like, ooh, Mario Tennis. Only instead of fantastic characters from the world of Nintendo, you have all those “great” characters from the world of Sega. Like Sonic the Hedgehog. And, erm, lots of rubbish furry things from Sonic games. And a monkey! In fact, two monkeys! And Ulala. Amazing. Veedayoh:

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (360)

I thought the game was about to take a turn for the crap when I realised Bam Margera was in it. His sections in “The Tony Hawk Dark Days Trilogy” (that’s THUG, THUG 2 and THAW to you) were the least Tony Hawk-y and, generally, crap. I mean, I love Bam and all, but he added too much Jackass to the game. Thankfully, his story was mostly about outdoing him with proper skating and climbing stuff, rather than the usual …

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (360)

Yeah, I know I completed it earlier, but there’s still quite a bit to do. Not least, almost all of the Rigger storyline. Which is what I spent most of my time on. It seems very hand-holdy. You’re told exactly what to rig or mod, and how. Yeah, you’ve a bit of freedom over adding other bits, but I’m yet to find a reason to do that. Also completed a few more Street challenges that I’d missed, and now my …