As I sit here with my warm cup of morning goodness, checking my various daily websites for fresh content nuggets, I’m relieved that my week alone in the office is coming to an end. My boss(es) have been out of town on business and I was left to manage the office in their stead. I’ve done my best and have kept the work moving across my desk at a steady pace. I think I’ve actually gotten more done this week than I have in the past month or two. I am, however, ready to stop being the secretary / manager / accountant / mailing dept / art dept / photographer. I don’t mind the last two, but the rest really aren’t in my skill set. Don’t get me wrong, a monkey can label and ship out a package or print off an invoice, but I really don’t enjoy taking orders from point A to Z. I’m not sure anyone does or would.
On top of that I had to photograph a Christmas party on my own last night and another one tonight. Luckily the boss, though jet lagged and possibly cranky, will be with me, at least for moral support.
Completely changing gears, I was curious as to what everyone else was wishing for for Christmas? Just out of complete and blantent curiosity. It’s not like I have the money to get anyone the present of their dreams. Sorry guys. I’m just curious what games, gadgets and gizmos you have on your list this year. If you don’t have a list, or aren’t really sure, then what are you looking forward to in the coming months?
Personally, there’s a game or two in Jan/Feb that looks interesting. Frontlines (demo now available on XBLM) looks kinda cool. Army of Two, the new Brothers in Arms, Burnout Paradise, and Kingdome Under Fire: COD all look kinda strong.
Anyway, I should get back to work. Still a lot to do to get ready for the shoot tonight, then it’s a non-stop rollercoaster of crazy this weekend as we have 3 Christmas parties in a row, followed by helping someone move to a new apartment on Monday. Ah, the fun never stops.
Matt out.
Easy as pie. It really depends on what you feel like playing…
FPS-ish:
1) Call of Duty 4
2) Bioshock
3) HL: Orange Box
4) Rainbow 6/Halo3/Gears of War
RPG/Adventure-ish:
1) Mass Effect
2) Eternal Sonata
3) Assasins Creed
4) Bioshock
360 top rated games:
1) HL: Orange Box
2) Bioshock
3) Call of Duty 4
4) Mass Effect
Four I think YOU would like:
1) Eternal Sonata
2) Mass Effect
3) HL: Orange Box
4) Bioshock
2 RPGs and 2 FPS-ish games. All crazy highly rated. I know you’d love the orange box because you’re an old school Gordan Freeman fan like I am. Eternal Sonata is a Final Fantasy ish RPG set in a world of classical music. Mass Effect is THE sci-fi RPG of the century, and Bioshock is just weird enough and fun enough to be awesome. My 5, 6 and 7 picks would have been Halo 3, Guitar Hero 3 and probably a split between a racing game (PG4) or Call of Duty, based on what I know you’d probably like.
Also, a point not to be overlooked is the XBL Arcade. There’s all sorts of awesome games on there. Puzzle Quest, those weird German board games, old school Street Fighter, that sort of thing.
PS: Metacritic is always a good source of “top games” information.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/xbox360/
Never been big on FPS on console, that’s what a PC is for. That and I can’t aim worth a damn with an analog stick. Bioshock did look interesting though, and the upcoming Soul Calibur IV should be good. And they have Castlevania: SOTN on that there arcade thingy.
I agree on the FPS, but the ease of use of Xbox Live is hard to beat. Instead of starting a PC game, opening the server browser, finding a server that happens to be playing a good map, has a good ping, etc, and then finally connecting, the XBL experience is mostly “matchmaking”. It just finds a good game for you. But I agree about the controls. I’m so much better with a K&M combo than I am with the controller.
Bioshock is very much on the side of “interesting”. It has a lot of FPS elements, but there’s a lot of story telling, a lot of collecting, upgrading items, hacking machines, etc. It’s the spiritual successor to the System Shock franchise, at least in terms of the mechanics. (RPG+FPS)
Did I read my XBL messages correctly, did Chip break down and get a 360!?!?!?!
Haha, not yet 😀 I just created an account to poke around with. I was in GameStop earlier today debating about picking one up, but decided I need to finish cleaning up the apartment first. Maybe tomorrow.
Chip: I picked up a 360 a month ago to fill some free time during the usual December freelance lull, and I love it. I never was a fan of FPS on the console either, but I’m getting the hang of it. I primarily got it for Rock Band, being a Guitar Hero disciple, which is awesome as well. Xbox Live is a game changer too, in terms of ease of use (especially when compared to Wii). If you do end up getting a 360, I doubt you’ll regret it.
Matt: For video games, I’m hoping for Orange Box, Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga, and GHIII for the 360 (I sold my GHIII:Wii on Craigslist due to the mono problem and because I got the 360 and could use the controller w/Rock Band). I really want some new Shures (plus the mic adapter for the iPhone), and I could use a large external HD for my media serving iMac. I’m also hoping for some nice kicks and a hoodie or two. BUT…I really didn’t do much hinting, so I haven’t a clue what I’ll get.
My aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer a little over a month back. Thankfully she had her surgery yesterday and it was successful. Long and tough recovery coming up but it looks as if she’ll be okay, which is great. Because of this, my mom is staying at her house until the middle of January to take care of the day-to-day with my four cousins. My dad and brother will be flying up on Christmas Eve…so for the first time since high school, my whole fam will be up north and together with the extended fam for Christmas. So that, plus the successful surgery, is good enough for me.
That’s good to hear about your aunt. It’ll be great for you to have a big Nagle family Christmas this year.
PS: Which guitar were you painting? Is that the one you sold?
I’ve painted a total of 3 PS2 guitar controllers. (I’m a bit intimidated by the GHIII controllers.) The last 2 were gifts for my cousins for Christmas, so that’s why I haven’t put up a blog post about the process. Expect one the week after Christmas though!