A Gaming Diary
Archive for April, 2007
MLB 2K7 (PS3)
Apr 16th
Okay, a note for anyone searching Google: the US (or USA) version of MLB 2K7, also known as Major League Baseball 2K7, on the Playstation 3 video games console does work fine on a UK console. I know there have been conflicting reports online. General opinion seemed to lead to the conclusion that it would work, but I could find no confirmation. And some people were assuming that 2K Sports would lock it, as they did with the 360 version. So, if you’re searching Google looking for confirmation, here (probably on page 132 of your results) is that confirmation. It’ll probably only work if you’re using HD, so anyone stuck with an old standard-definition set might be out of luck, but anyone with an HD-Ready television is all set.
Right, okay, that’s my good deed done for the day. It’s very good indeed, too, by the way. Changed a bit from the demo. Seems to look a bit nicer, some options that were on by default in the demo are off in the full game, but it’s basically the same. Which should be pretty obvious, I suppose.
Anyway, I set up a profile and set my options. Played as the Astros against the Giants. I lost, badly. 15-0, I believe. Oddly, my pitcher, who pitched until he was nearly dead because I forgot to warm up anyone to relieve him, never got tense like all the pitchers did in the demo. I wonder if that’s something I need to turn on? But I wasn’t so bad at pitching really. Fielding was more the problem there. I just kept stepping over the ball and throwing to the wrong base. But I was okay. Batting was where I was really awful. One base hit in the whole game. One. In fact, I was so bad at hitting the ball that I thought I might be missing something, so after the game I tried a couple of home run derbys. I didn’t have any trouble hitting the ball there, even with Astros players.
I think I might need to turn the difficulty down a bit.
Anyway, the game’s great (apart from an odd lack of autosave and a million different save files – profile, options, game, even a separate save for the bloody music settings! – that all have to be dealt with in different places) and I’m very glad I can play it. I know the 360 version got (slightly) better reviews, but that’s not region free, so for UK baseball fans PS3 1 – Xbox 360 0.
Guitar Hero (PS2)
Apr 15th
I’m stuck on Medium now. I’ll reluctantly concede that Cowboys from Hell may be possible – in an hour of trying I got as far as 78% – but I’m sure that Crossroads and Bark at the Moon are completely impossible.
Guitar Hero (PS2)
Apr 14th
Two more songs done on medium, both first time, then time to go to Sainsbury’s. Two bottles of Reggae Reggae Sauce bought – result! Although I’m already thinking that maybe we should have stocked up with more.
Anyway, I’ve just been reading more stuff about this whole “politeness in the blogosphere” thing. Blogosphere? Did I get that right? Anyway, there seems to be people saying you should stop people being nasty to people online and others saying that forcing people not to be nasty is even nastier than being nasty. Or something. I think I agree with the latter. Not that I have much experience. Maybe I would have if, instead of listing games I’ve played, that I wrote things about gay rights, abortion and terrorism. (For the record: for, nothing to do with me, against.)
So it struck me that the solution to the problem of online aggression is easy. Everyone should write stuff that nobody else reads. Or at the very most that only three or four other people with similar interests and who broadly agree with the writer read. So, yes, people shouldn’t write about important stuff. Let’s limit the world’s blogs to dealing with specialist and/or trivial issues and let’s also write in long badly contructed sentences that lack necessay punctuation such as commas and hyphens and which go on a bit after they really should have stopped.
Yes, that’s the plan. And if you don’t believe me then you’re a ["silly person" - Ed].
Blast Factor (PS3)
Apr 13th
I was rubbish tonight.
This is making me really want to play Mutant Storm again, probably because I can’t.
Splatterhouse (Wii)
Apr 12th
The final boss on level two is a poltergeist. You have to avoid candles, then punch a chair to death, then some knives, then a painting. Then the poltergeist turns into some sort of ectoplasmic entity and zooms off out a window.
I’d remembered that bit. I’d forgotten, however, that after the poltergeist buggers off that a chandelier falls from the ceiling. Which isn’t much fun when you’ve scraped through to the end of the level with no lives and one single health point remaining.
Ack.
Blast Factor (PS3)
Apr 12th
I’ve got games very similar to this on my 360. Mutant Storm, in particular. But I haven’t got a 360 right now and I needed a quick fix of blasting so I spent £3.49 on this little game. It’s not at all bad, though it shows up the rubbishness of the analogue sticks on the SIXAXIS more than most games. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)
I’m at about 19,000 on the worldwide leaderboard right now, so there’s more competition for this than Super Rub ‘a’ Dub. Unfortunately, none of my four friends have played it, so there’s no competition from them.
Guitar Hero (PS2)
Apr 11th
Picked this up again.
Playing on Medium and I’m not sure how to do it. I mean, I’m getting through songs, but after multiple tries and by the skin of my teeth. My fingers don’t remember which colour is which – especially when I’m asked to press two at once – and holding the guitar so I can cover four buttons really, really hurts me, from my fingers up to the elbow of my left arm. I’m in quite some pain right now.
And I had to skip More Than A Feeling because it’s just too hard.
I should stick to games that require a thumb and a finger of each hand. More than that seems to be beyond me.
Forumla One CE (PS3)
Apr 9th
Over and hour spent on the Nurburgring setting up my car, running practice laps and qualifying meant I started, for the first time ever, in pole position. A fine achievement, born of sweat, grit and concentration.
On the grid, nobody in front of me to crash into, just clear laps of this circuit I know so well. The countdown ends and the race starts. We come up to the first corner, I brake, the cars behind me don’t, Michael Schumacher slams into me and knocks a wheel off. Race over.
So, the number of races I’ve completed in this game now stands at… none.
