About the old me
Hey. My old blog, Waves, is gone. Here are the old “About Me” pages.
They are no longer relevant to me, my mission or my desires.
Looking back at 2009
And I have to say, it's quite sad. I'm just porting all the old posts over from the old blog, and I'm currently at the Phantasy Star Universe stage. I mean, I know videogames had a big hold on my life, but imagine if I had devoted myself with such vigour to philosophy and psychology instead of a videogame. Imagine…
Plants Vs Zombies 2: It’s About Change
This was originally posted on the now-defunct Random Fury! videogame blog. Well, that was unexpected. I booted up Plants Vs Zombies 2 earlier today only to find it has undergone an almost complete metamorphosis. Gone is the isometric overworld map, and in it's place is a linear zig-zag of levels. Some which the game has decided I have completed, some…
2013 creative targets update
I made three posts in early 2013 detailing some targets I had for the upcoming year, and all of them started well but fizzled out after I stopped smoking for some reason. I feel that if I acknowledge my mistakes, I can learn from them and improve myself. Here is my appraisal of the creative targets I set myself in…
Confidence+5
So I recently posted my latest picture on DeviantArt and then on Facebook, and the feedback has been amazing, it's given me a real boost in creative confidence. To say I'm proud of it is an understatement - it's without a doubt the greatest piece of art I have ever created - and the only time I've not fallen short…
Where I’m at right now
A mini to-do list, combined with stuff I have done and random thoughts. * I need better hours at Asda, ones that suit me and the lifestyle I want. Must grow balls and speak to manager about it. * MUST STOP SMOKING * And start running. * Knuckle down and draw more. Just draw. Anything. It's all good practise. *…
Reminiscence
I’ve had a funny old day today.
I’ve spent it mostly on here doing ArtRage paintings, on YouTube looking at old videogames, and in my head, thinking about stuff. I learned that NiGHTS into Dreams is coming to the Xbox Live Arcade on Friday, and that got me thinking about the old Sega Saturn – and what an amazing console it was. I’ve owned two in my time, one was packed off to make way for an N64 (such a bad move looking back now), and the second one was sold because I felt I never played it enough to warrant keeping it. Oh, and because we were moving into The Big House and we’d have nowhere near enough room to even think about having all my consoles set up. Jane bought me the second one for Valentines Day one year, she is so awesome. It’s weird thinking back about all those old consoles, I’d love to still own them, but they, along with all their games, take up so much space. I know I could download emulators and ROMs and play all these old games again, but there’s something special, some intangible feeling, about playing a physical copy on an actual console, something that digital copies can’t emulate.
I’ll leave talking about NiGHTS until I’ve played it again, but here are some of my favourite games for the Sega Saturn.
Halos and Goblins
Halo: Reach is officially launched on Tuesday, so I thought I’d take a look back at my time with the franchise – I can hardly believe it’s been ten years!
Halo
It all started way back in the days of working at Game, and the launch of the original Xbox. Halo was the big game of the launch and my manager at the time raved about it. I admit, I was unimpressed when he was telling me how the Pistol was the best weapon, and there were grenades that stuck to your enemies, and that one melee attack to the back of an opponent was an instant kill… But then I played it. Campaign at first, it was immense. I never really got on with other console First Person Shooters such as Goldeneye, Quake II or Perfect Dark on the N64 as they never quite felt right, but this did – the controls were sublime. Lugging an Xbox and TV to Craig’s flat was so worth it. Our Halo LAN sessions were never frequent, and there were only a few of them, but they remain a fondly remembered highlight of my life so far. Given that there were only eight of us playing, Sidewinder and Blood Gulch were probably not the best maps to choose, but man, those CTF games were epic, and it was incredible hearing the shouting and swearing come from the other room when we thwarted an attack and recovered our flag.