DanAllison.Com

I finally got around to downloading Portishead’s new album Third this weekend and it’s fastly becoming one of my favorite albums in my library. I must admit, it took a few listens to get into, as Third marks a departure from their previous two albums (what?, no record hiss?), but the new style has really got to me. I’m really digging it. Check out the video below from their Current TV special: Portishead in Portishead.

Quick YouTube trick: add “&fmt=18″ to the end of the URL while you’re at YouTube and you’ll get a higher res video. This trick works for most YouTube content added in the last 6 months or so, but unfortunately it doesn’t work with their embed code.

It’s a pretty sparse list this quarter… A few mega must plays mixed in with a few give ‘em a try games. It’s hard to complain about a quarter that gives you a GTA, a Metal Gear Solid, and a Mario Kart, but the time between quality releases is noticeable. Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue through out the summer, like it has in the past.

Xbox360
04/09 - Ikaruga
04/29 - Grand Theft Auto IV
05/21 - Bionic Commando Rearmed
06/03 - Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy
06/24 - Alone in the Dark

Nintendo Wii
04/15 - Okami
04/27 - Mario Kart Wii
05/06 - Boom Blox
05/12 - LostWinds
05/21 - Wii Fit

Playstation 3
06/12 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Nintendo DS
04/22 - The World Ends With You
05/15 - Myst
06/17 - Space Invaders Extreme

Sony PSP
None

PC
06/17 - Spore Creature Creator

First off, I feel no need to go into details about the past GTA games or even the story of this one, a million other sites can provide that info, but I do wish to state for the record that I have very limited playing time with any of the other GTA games from this past generation (You could count the hours I’ve spent playing GTA3 or Vice City on one hand). I just wanted to jot down some of my initial impressions of the game after playing it for the past two nights. In total, I’ve clocked in about seven hours of game time, both in single and mulitplayer. So here goes, first the good news and then the bad:

Positive

1) The Fine Details
All the attention given to the little things really helps with the immersion of the game. Things like the radio stations and television networks, the conversations the pedestrians have on their cell phones, and all the fake brands made for the game (with accompanying logos) really make the city come alive.
2) The Cell Phone UI
Having the cell phone as the main UI for the player is a great device to keep the player in the game. This tactic keeps the player from exiting the game to fumble through menus and is smartly integrated with the games missions and storytelling.

Negative

1) Camera Issues
The camera system makes walking and driving around more difficult than it should be. You constantly have to fight with it to get the best view of the action. This especially holds true when you’re driving, where a left or right turn usually leads to a fender bender because you can’t see where you’re going.
2) Physics system
While the physics are great for the characters (getting hit, rolling around, etc), the vehicles feel sluggish and overly top heavy. It doesn’t take much speed to send any normal car skidding/flying out of control. They almost get it, but I think adding some more weight and tightening up the controls a bit would make them much better.

So far I’m having a lot of fun with the game. It’s makes for a great change of pace from the type of games I’ve been playing lately and I can all ready feel myself being sucked into it. Just writing about it makes me want to go play… and that’s a good thing.

I got back my 360 back from Microsoft yesterday. In total, the whole repair process took 18 days from my work order submission to return delivery… which is about the same amount of time it took last time it bricked. The funny thing was I received an email from Microsoft the day it arrived in Texas (the repair site) and literally a day later it was all ready back on the UPS truck headed for home. This quick turn around makes me wonder if all Microsoft had to do was hook it up to a PC and flip some OS reset switch. I guess asking for them to make a hardware fix is too much to ask. I just hope it doesn’t red ring again… if so, I might be forced to buy a newer, better model.

One of the great perks of working freelance is that you get to set your own schedule. So if you fell like taking a day off (or a week, month, or gasp… a year), you can. Now you do this to the detriment of your bank account and your well being, but the option is there. Well this past week I took a few days “off” and drove down to New York City to visit with friends and family.

I spent most of Friday afternoon hanging with Corey as we walked all over Manhattan. We went down to check out Ground Zero, ate lunch at Paesano’s in Little Italy, walked aimlessly around looking for the New Museum (to no avail) and then went up to Rockefeller Center to check out the Nintendo World Store while we waited for George to get out of work. Once we met up with George, we jumped in line for the NBC Studio Tour, then hoofed it over to Times Square where we caught a comedy show at a comedy club (duh) and then finished off the day with a late dinner at some way over priced Deli/Cafe.

On Saturday, Pat, Kim, little Hunter and myself, drove into the city and spent the afternoon wandering around the American Museum of Natural History. It was my first time attending the New York landmark and I must say it was awesome. I love science museums and because there was so much stuff to see and do, I basically had to choose between the special and regular exhibits, as there clearly wasn’t enough time in one afternoon to see them all. I tried my best to check out the Dinosaurs and various animal displays while running from one special exhibit to another, but alas time was short and we left with a lot unseen. But that’s OK, I plan on visiting again next time I get to the city. From the museum, we headed to the lower east side and ate dinner at the famous Lombardi’s pizza place. The pizza is so good there… I don’t know how Pat and Kim can resist not eating there all the time. The rest of the night was spent chilling at their place with Hunter and checking out the Robert Redford movie, Lamb for Lions (3/5 stars).

Finally on Sunday, Pat, Kim, Hunter and myself met up with our old friend Jon May for some brunch at a nice little place in the Williamsburg area.We ate some good food (mmm… eggs benedict) while we caught up and laughed a lot at our old adventures. From there, I packed up my stuff at Pat & Kim’s and headed for home, completely satisfied in my visit and feeling lucky I have such good friends and family.