lost in games

Yesterday’s post was about how Scene it?, a board game turned to videogame has stolen the hearts of many of my friends and has become a social event during this Christmas holidays.

However, if there is one thing that beats games this time of year is books. There is nothing like lying on one’s couch reading a book, sipping a glass of whiskey and listening to the rain-noise (whenever it rains…) outside or to a chillout album. Books, much like games, manage to take me away in that world where the whole story is taking place. Feeling what the characters are feeling. Seeing what they are seeing. I am being emotional again…

My appeal to you is to squeeze in one book during this period. You will not regret it. I will give you a few recommendations but you should do your own research based on your mood and the kind of books you want to read. And believe me, you will find excellent books whatever your preference.

I would like to give you a few suggestions to help you get started.

• Fever Pitch (the football fan’s choice)
• Man and Boy (middle age crisis anyone?)
• Hyperion (Sci-Fi at its best)
• We need to talk about Kevin (family and so much more. An emotionally difficult and yet extremely satisfying book)
• Life of Pi (a unique adventure)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (truly a classic)
• Kite Runner (about friendship)

Currently, i am also reading a fantastic book (read half of it so far) called Animal’s People which revolves around real events in a town in India.

Good book hunting and keep on reading!

It’s Christmas time and the social gatherings skyrocket. For some reason going to people’s flats and houses during the christmas holidays feels right. Board games are almost always part of the agenda in these gatherings and these involve both the female and male population.

Now, however you can have as much fun on your TV. I am talking about entertainment games like “Scene it?” on the 360. This is a trivia question game on movies. No killing, no racing, no football. Just questions on movies. Sounds boring it?

Far from it. I had friends over the weekend, went to two different flats and Scene it? was a hit. The best piece of entertainment for some time now. I think since last december when people came over for Wii Sports.

There isn’t much to tell about how the game is played. Just that you are given multiple answers to answer a specific question. These can range from a Billboard of a movie slowly being completed and you need to answer for which movie this is for. The speed of the answer will determine how many points you get. Another popular variation is when you are shown a short video clip of a movie and then asked questions about the specific scene and the movie in general.

The game comes with 4 good quality wireless buzzers (you can also use your existing 360 controllers) which were also a big hit with my friends. The whole package is GBP35. If you are looking for a good game which will interest both women and men i definitely recommend Scene it?. It has a database of 1800 questions so it should keep you occupied over the holiday season. Hopefully there will also be additional downloadable questions sometime next year so as to keep people using those superb buzzers.

P.S If you own a PS2, there is the game called Buzz which is trivia game but with more general knowledge questions. It too has 4 buzzers but these are wired. But it still good from what i hear.

Now Whos’s being naive, Kay? - Level Up
Aberrant Gamer - Gameswatch 
Halo 3 Forge: Illusion Self Portrait - Ozymandias 
SMG and Nintendo’s continuing critical dominance - Gamecritics 
DMC4 demo on PSN and XBL in early 2008 - Joystiq 

After 2 days of seminars, i am back to work and have a ton of emails and work to do plus some personal stuff. Basically i am a bit swamped.

Just managing to write a bit after playing a bit more Anno. I am playing the story mode where you are given missions to complete in order to move to the next stage. It is basically a tutorial (the first two chapters out of a total of 5). It is good at what it does. I mean it is good for learning the ropes.

To be honest however i prefer the “free role” where you are not restricted on what you need to do. I suppose the continuous mode in the game represents this but still the story could have been handled a bit better. Don’t know how. The thing is the story mode may get a bit boring after a while. Only time will tell.

Don’t get me wrong though. This is a superb game and i still can’t believe i am playing it on the DS of all consoles! It has also up to 4 multiplayer mode. Fortunately i have a few people inteterested in these management games so we may have a go.

Anyway, have to go. Tomorrow!

I was away at a seminar yesterday and i will be away again today so i haven’t been able really to post anything good.

But i do want to write a few words about the new game i am now playing on the DS. It’s a strategy management title where you are given some resources and are told to settle the new world.

The game has a story mode where you are given missions which need completion in order to be given the next one.

After a few hours playing it my first reaction was, i can’t believe i am playing such a game on a portable console. And i can’t believe it is actually any good. I am still in Chapter 1 (out of 5) so i have a lot to see but i like the interface and options. I don’t like the small screen as in strategy games like this one you wantto able to watch the area for any alerts or new ideas for building.

Anyway, my first impressions are really positive and it is the sort of game i haven’t played in a long long time. Good stuff.

Monday Morning Quarterback: - Level Up
Dean Takahashi - Call of Duty 4 Review 
First Look at X360 Fall Dashboard update - Arstechnica 
Metallica to debut new single in Rock Band -  Destructoid

Good morning all.

Although i am taking the day off today and thought i would post only later in the day i saw this piece of news and couldn’t resist.

Activision (publishers of COD4 and Guitar hero3) and Vivendi (owners of Blizzard and thus World of Worldcraft have announced that they are merging. The new company will be called Activision Blizzard and the deal will be worth USD18.8billion.

This merger creates a second juggernaut in the industry to rival EA. The combined companies are expected to have a revenue of USD3.8billion in 2007 compared to EA’s USD3.65billion.

The different strengths of each company should make this a perfect fit in terms of product line-up. I hope the quality remains high. Only time will tell.