JD's Webby Log of Fun Times (beta)

#5 Button is Best!

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:29:00 +0100

The grand prix in Brazil has crowned the world champion for the last 4 years and this year was no different with Jenson Button finishing 5th - just about enough to limp over the finishing line and make it mathematically impossible for anyone else.
These posts haven't been that frequent (as is the usual promise) but I am thrilled that Jenson got the job done and is now World Champ 2009 - the first ever consecutive british driver and the 10th driver to clinch the title in the sport's history.

Don't forget that Brawn GP also secured the constructor's championship at Brazil which rounds off a literally unbelievable year for a team that was very close to not making it into the 2009 season.
Honda has to be credited for a lot of success, and despite pulling out at the end of last year, development for what became the Brawn car started early through the 2008 season and a lot of funding to produce a car that was fundamentally quick.

At the time of my last post, Button (and Brawn) were on the perfect high. Button had won 6 out of the first 7 races, and with Barrichello also finishing very well meant that Brawn were comfortably leading the constructor's. I speculated to a friend that Button should go on to win the championship after carving such a headstart - one that can he use to buffer against the return of the form of the teams we expect to see at the top - Ferrari and MacLaren.
The Ferrari fightback never really happened, Kimi managed a good handful of podiums and even a race win to his credit. Massa unfrotunately fell foul to a rogue piece from Barrichello's car and is/was ruled out for the rest of the season - Good news is that the injury was non-fatal and he should be back in the Ferrari next year. Badoer, and now Giancarlo Fisichella have substituted for Massi in his absence and have done dismally, pretty much pushing up the rest of the grid in qualifying, giving the rest of the paddock a glimpse at how difficult the 2009 Ferrari is to drive - more props to Kimi.

Another underperformer has been Heikki, teammate to Hamilton and in what can be called a bad car by their standards, has looked very average. A combination of Hamilton's talent and determination, coupled with the impressive resources at MacLaren have transformed the "dog of a car" to quote Eddie Jordan into a competitive car - a race winning car on a number of occasions at the hands of Hamilton. This was Heikki's second year at MacLaren and was his chance to show just what he can offer to the team, but now rumours are that he is heading to Renault to join Kubica. In fact, Kimi Raikkonen seems odds-on favourite to partner Hamilton next year - to me this seems crazy, I got the impression there was bad blood but may be that left with Ron Dennis.
In fact, I could do a whole post on the driver lineup for 2010, and I wish I did one earlier, as destination of the big names all seem decided. The big swap is Alonso to Ferrari although this has been known unofficially for most of this season, and speculated on even earlier than that.

A combination of the pressure on Jenson and development that went wrong mid-season meant that Barrichello would often perform better and every weekend seemed to be a repeating example of damage limitation for Button.

Getting back to the season, and after 7 races in, a lot of people myself included, starting talking about Jenson as world champion, and whilst he never admitted it until the eve of the Brazil GP, the pressure and expectation got to him. Reviewing Ferrari's and MacLaren's efforts, the main rival to Jenson took the form of the Red Bulls, who had a great season thanks to the Adrian Newey designed car. They will finish runners up in the constructor's championship, and must look good for next year. That is, unless you believe what Jenson has come out and said that Brawn will not be one hit wonders, and the slow spread of sponsors over the Brawn car hopefully confirms that they will have adequate funding to challenge for the title next year. Button is most likely to sign for Brawn next year and Barrichello will make the swap with Rosberg at Williams if rumours are to be believed.
So the Red Bulls were the main threat but the Newey car was so much on the bleeding edge, it fell prone to unreliability and engine failures. Mark Webber managed to secure his first win, a very popular winner in the paddock, but thanks to the bad reliability and two drivers that while being very talented, Mark is regarded as a quali expert, and Sebastian's speed is unquestionable, I think they lacked that extra once of racecraft to maximise their points. That being said, both are now race winners in a well funded and ambitious team, I'd throw a bit of money on one of their drivers for next year's crown.
The Red Bull threat faded as the season reached its climax, first Vettel dropped out the hunt and then Mark a few races later, and that pretty much left the two Brawn drivers. A combination of the pressure on Jenson and development that went wrong mid-season meant that Barrichello would often perform better and every weekend seemed to be a repeating example of damage limitation for Button.

Since his last win in Turkey, Jenson's qualifying was very poor, a couple of times being knocked out in Q1 which made races very difficult to score points, near impossible to win, and so Jenson would have to fight his way and pass cars to make up for a dismal performance on the Saturday. Jenson has made a name this year of making crucial passes, the last race in Brazil is the best example of this, and was "a champion's drive". I'm not sure if this was a bit of conservative strategy but after qualifying I would be cussing "why not fuel Jenson a bit light, get him up the grid?". His qualifying performance does confirm that with a perfectly set up car, Jenson is untouchable with his smooth approach. If the car is less than perfect, then Jenson finds it more difficult to adapt his style and get the maximum out of the car, proven at the weekends where Rubens could not be matched by Button.

So this pretty much wraps up this season, the last race is at Abu Dhabi, a new addition to the calendar and with both championships settled, here's hoping for a exciting race and perhaps a return to the early season Button, now that the pressure is off. It's also worth mentioning that the BBC have done a good (not great) job at taking over the coverage from ITV. See a previous post for my thoughts on their coverage. There were crazy scenes as everyone wanted a piece of Button after the race. In between Coulthard looking uncomfortable being grinded by some celebrating Brawn engineers and Jake Humphreys literally pushing cameras out of the way of their BBC cameras during a post-race interview with the world champion, it was good to see a Brit win the title, there's always the British mentality that we'll slip up somewhere - I swear it was never that crazy for when Hamilton won the title (although I may just have a bad memory). Spare a thought for those drivers on the podium, they had a pretty poor attendance if the cheers were anything to go by.

Gamechanger, part 2

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:23:00 +0100

Continuing on from last time is the second part of my "gamechanger" post which only exists as I rambled too much in part 1. I picked up my car on Saturday and over the course of the weekend and today's commute I must have easily travelled 100+ miles. I am a little nervous when first starting off on a journey - it's a little scary

I took some snaps in between the time of running over flowerbeds at my Nan's house - "you got the one with the sexy arse" exclaimed my friend Carl when laying eyes on what has been my most expensive purchase EVAR!!1 Seriously, the only way I will top this is buying a house, or a more expensive car.

It's been great to save the time on my commute - I am now leaving later in the morning, and once I get the route down I could probably leave even later still. It's also very pleasant being back home much earlier and not being a bit sweaty from the approximate 3 miles I walk each day. It's nice to look at the clock when I got in earlier and think I wouldn't be half-way home if I was still going via public transport. I won't be doing anything more or new first thing in the morning, but getting in earlier obviously gives me more time - more time than I'm used to or know what to do with. One thing is with the extra time available, not being a bit knackered when finally getting in and not walking 3 miles every day means that I should and will be able to go to the gym more frequently. Often I'd find a regular schedule difficult to maintain as I would be too tired or just completely unmotivated after a rough day at work to go.

At the start of the year, I set myself 3 major goals and I've achieved one - learning to drive and having a car of my own. The other two goals are to get fitter, and with getting back sooner I should be able to develop a regular schedule. Looking ahead and there's 2 and a bit months left, which should be enough time to get fitter and into better shape. The final goal is to find a new job which has been tough so far - lots of applications, a couple of failed interviews, but again being able to drive and not be tied down to public transport opens up a lot more opportunities.
I think the target for the rest of the week will be to get down the gym on a regular basis, get more acclimatised to the commute and towards the end of the week, hit the job search hard. And who knows I might be able to free up some time to blog more.

Gamechanger, part 1

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:31:00 +0100

Image by canonsnapper via Flickr

The blog has been quiet of late for a number of reasons. One of those reasons has been the summer (stretching onto Autumn, more about that later) of me learning to drive. I've alluded to it in various tweets and also my first (and currently only) iphone app review post where I looked at some apps to help with the theory test. Well I managed to pass the theory back in June, put in my practical test straight away and failed at my first attempt in August. Not to be beaten, I put in for it again and passed the second time round at the end of September, and there was much rejoicing.

This weekend I am heading back to Shropshire to take the final steps and secure my first car - a pretty cool red Fiesta (low mileage, good condition *thumbs up*) and the realisation that being able to drive really is a gamechanger.

A fair time ago I blogged about my inability to drive and therefore reliance on public transport was a good thing but screw that! For the most part I will be kissing goodbye to public transport and I can't wait. I am proud to think that the monthly tickets for the train AND bus services I use to commute to work will be my last. My commute at the moment consists of a 20minute walk to the train station, a short train ride to Stourbridge Junction - a short hop to Stourbridge Town and there I'm presented with two options. If the timing is good, I can get on one bus for a 45 min journey which will take me directly into the estate where my workplace is based. Alternatively, I can take a shorter bus ride and that will leave me with a further 15 minutes walk to the estate.

That journey totals about an hour and a half - some people think I'm crazy to do it but I haven't got too much of a choice especially with my job prospects being pretty awful. But with the car, I reckon the commute should drop to about 30-40 minutes, we will see what the rush hour traffic will be like, but it means that I can leave the house later and be back sooner = more time to do the things I want to and/or enjoy, not to mention more time for the blog and a hopeful return to the reviews etc. It also means some extra time in bed which will do me a world of good - I get by on 6 hours sleep but it always takes me til mid morning to truly "wake up" and I do often feel stretched (if that makes sense). A car also means that journeys back to Shropshire to see friends and family won't be a chore and take up half a day - The drive is just over an hour for the family which is a lot better than the 3+ hours going via Birmingham on the train.

I was disappointed not to pass on my first attempt - I really lucked out with the instructor I decided on - Mike who drove a Mini One converted to run on LPG. Mike could only be described as a proper geezer, but a very good instructor with his rhymes to remember the rules of the road and practical guidance for reversing into a parking bay (you won't have the luxury of all that space in a supermarket car park...). I was ready and perfectly capable to pass that first time. I was truly gutted and I think Mike was as well - and not just because it would have been an extra tick in the "win" column. I had an hour before the test and he said to me "if you drive like that on your test, you will pass no problem". A measly 40mins later and I had racked up the 2 Seriouses which would deny me my full driving licence. For the curious, I foolishly pulled up and stopped alongside a car when I was instructed to stop behind the car and subsequently held up the traffic behind me. I got the other serious by not signalling on a roundabout. Coming up to the roundabout, I was instructed "take the 2nd exit" i.e. go straight on, and I didn't put the car into gear whilst slowing for the roundabout, so I was out of gear when taking the roundabout, and in my panic I took the third exit and neglected to signal that I was going to go right on approach.

cue me putting on a light show for the car behind as I wrestled to great frsutation to cancel the indicator

Like a lot of others, I found the driving test a stressful experience and I probably needed to sit one test just to be put into the situation. Also its sickening and a little scary when I hear people speculate that examiners have to fail a number of people to hit quotas and keep revenue coming into the DSA. The first time pass rates for a lot of test centres don't go much higher than 40%. Failing is one thing but what is more gutting is the waiting period for the practical test. For me it was 7-8 weeks, so the fact I had just failed and I would have to wait that long just to have another go was crushing. Compound that with the fact that Mike had relocated during our lessons and was slowing moving his clientele to in and around Gloucester, meant that I could not continue having lessons with him.

I had to find a new instructor which came in the form of Phillip and his Mini Clubman. It had all the electronic assists and gizmos, a card for the ignition as opposed to the traditional key, an engine that can be turned off if you were waiting at the traffic lights, gradient awareness that would continue to engage the brake to help with hill starts and my bane, that damn indicator arm. When indicating, the arm would return to its central position, rather than stay in the up/down position and this would mean that rather than returning the arm to the central position to cancel the indication, you would have to push the arm in the opposite direction and that would often mean the opposite indicator would come on - cue me putting on a light show for the car behind as I wrestled to great frustation to cancel the indicator.

Phillip, my new instructor had very much a hands off approach. Normally I would be pretty pissed off at this - I would always be questioning my actions to Mike, I needed to confirm whether I should have been in a different gear for a turn etc and that process was nowhere near as effective with Phillip. Fortunately I felt that I was at a level good enough to pass already and it was just a case of keeping up the practice until my next attempt. Phillip's quieter approach, often just giving out directions may have proved to be good preparation to what it would be like on the test.

Expect part 2 in a couple of days, complete with pics of my new motor, no doubt. I'm heading home this weekend to sort out the road tax which of course can't be done without sorting the insurance first. Also, the insurance can't be sorted unless the specific car is confirmed before taking out the policy. Who thought buying a car could prove so difficult? Well, at least the insurance has been sorted, the road tax will be sorted Saturday morning and I should be driving in my new (to me, at least) car soon after. With any luck, I'll be able to catch the formula 1 this weekend as well, go Button!

0 Days Without Crisps

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:22:00 +0100

Image via Wikipedia

It's Monday and time to continue a trend of promised new and positive habits only for them to fall apart midweek. Often that involves maintaining a regular (and high) attendance at the gym - there is really no positive benefit to going only once or twice in the week, well that's what I've found anyway. Another positive habit that keeps getting restarted is a better diet which brings me to the title of this post - the countdown ( or up) has started -- today is 0 days without crisps.

I seem to keep bringing work up and I promise it won't make an mention for a while after but I've always found work to sap at my motivation. usually around Sunday afternoon or evening I find motivation to try doing things a little different, try harder and generally be more productive. I don't know whether this is down to me reflecting on the weekend and realising I could have done more, a build up of motivation due to the prolonged time not at work or a mix of the two but promises are made, oaths are sworn that come Monday, come tomorrow I will be a better person.

It's scary to think that on weekdays I am out of the house for near enough 12 hours means I'm not aligned on improving myself - it sounds like an excuse and it probably is but it's the only explanation I have to why it took me 3 months to join the local gym and over a year to start driving lessons (man that looks terrible when put down in black and White). Following some root canal work I had to undergo did mean I had to change my diet to cut out most of the unecessary sugar and I succeeded to a certain extent.
Just like championing the gym visits, there are lapses of routine and discipline. In terms of diet, there are 3 which I hope to eradicate completely - those being chocolate, cheese and crisps. my problem is I can go fairly long times without needing them in the house but every now and again I cave in and stick them onto the tesco order and proceed to binge on them without restraint. Combine this with poor gym attendance and I think to myself "hmm, think I've put on some weight" or "my belly looks bigger than I remember" the self-esteem takes a nose dive and motivation follows it down too and there is no more will to change for the better arg!

Coming back to the present and after consuming a high number of crisps from the multipack I purchased over the weekend I decided to finish them off and announce "no more crisps!" It's difficult to explain why I do relapse in instances like this. Crisps are good to have around as they are super quick, zero preparation and can cure a shot of hunger but just like consuming a huge bar of chocolate I feel terrible after. Also how ridiculous is it that I am moaning by my inability to resist crisps!?

I believe the secret is some kind of sponsor, I see it as the only reason why other habits like preparing my lunch for work, hell even getting out of bed for work, driving lessons etc is that there is someone else there to make me accountable, someone that will be disappointed, pissed off if I don't do it.
So this is day 1 without crisps and the first day of a habit that I intend to keep - please keep me honest!

Google Analytics and Censorship

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:45:00 +0100

A bit of a meta post this one. Google analytics is a free service that anyone with their own website, even just a simple hosted blog like this one should give a try. google analytics is basically a site usage reporting tool - a big step up from the hit counters of the internet's infancy.

The statistician in me loves to pour over the reports it offers and it's always interesting to discover how people find this blog and also what they check out while they're here. I usually check once a month or so and see how the latest ran has been received etc and to see where I get he visitors from. I've linked the blog from my facebook profile, my Twitter and other social bookmarking sites so the majority of direct traffic comes from there. the other traffic comes from search engines like good ol' google. i can reveal that the most popular searches have been along the lines of "gym motivation" thanks to the couple posts I did on that and also Jonathan Ross whose podcast I wrote a review of - I guess the scandal with Russell brand has kept those searches going. There is of course some gaming and f1 searches due to my leaning toward writing about those subjects. in the past I've tried those search terms which have led people here and fair play to them digging deep through the search results as they didn't show on the first couple of pages for me!

Now I took a stance that I would not go on about my current job although I have no doubt made my thoughts clear and even lamented about them in a Your New Favourite Podcast episode. I have also named my employer, only once and that was a "first day" post but someone managed to stumble onto the blog. I fear what kind of impression they would get from the rantings of one of the employees. it's also worth reiterating that any thoughts and opinions expressed here within this blog are mine and mine only and in no way reflect that of my employer. Checking the google analytics recently and it seems someone (or many) have been clicking round the blog, in particular the "work" category.

Until I had to answer the phone late on in the morning one day, the only words to fall out of my mouth were "Spineosaurus" and humming of the Jurassic Park theme

Everything written here was correct as at the time of writing and to be honest I'm a little sick of censoring myself. I do it constantly at work, being on the phone to strangers means I can't really say what I think.

In fact I had some work colleagues as friends on facebook and xbox live but I've decided that I will draw a line at the office hours - all other times I should not feel restricted in my opinions because of fear that someone from work may be listening. of course I know better than to bad mouth the company - I have some sense of professional integrity combined with an ever present fear and anxiety of my actions towards others. That being said I should be able to say whatever I feel like and I'm not fussed by being confronted by people over these words. It's all my opinion, and it's true, but who really pays that much attention to what I say and do - I can say that at work that that's not the case. Until I had to answer the phone late on in the morning one day, the only words to fall out of my mouth were "Spineosaurus" and humming of the Jurassic Park theme - thank you /filmcast!. In fact, I feel it's become so bad that I actually think of the person you see during the working day as a different persona, a separate slice of me is a better way to put it as I only share a small section of me - I am content to share this mostly silent but sometimes blithering idiot that they call "Jonathan".

Apologies for the rant but I'm making a (small) effort to blog more as a friend has recently started blogging and another friend is keen on starting a podcast with the working title "the toast rack" which I think sounds awesome. so look at for more blogging, hope to get back into the routine of reviews in what ever form they take, and maybe some more Your New Favourite Podcast episodes time permitting of course.

Getting in on the act...

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Tue, 7 Jul 2009 21:47:00 +0100

It's very predictable for me to start a new post by exclaiming how long it's been since my last post. Avoiding that common pitfall (whilst simultaneously referencing it), let's move on to something that has been preoccupying my time and that's my lovely new iPhone, yay!

I sent out a twitter update a while back of a sudden urge to have an iPhone. Fortunately, Apple have announced an updated iPhone at the WWDC in June for the last couple of years, so I didn't have long to wait.

Long story short, I now have an awesome iPhone 3Gs which I stoked to have. One great thing about the iPhone is the breadth of the app store where you can install applications (or "apps") onto the device. The problem arises when trying to find the quality in the mountain of offerings already available - often there are several apps that do . To that end, I'm going to get in on the act of app recommendation as that method has developed as a way to counteract the difficulty of finding the needles in the haystack. I'm not claiming to be a definitive source (at least, not yet!)

Recently I've taken up the challenge of learning to drive (which is going well thank you) and as I had left it too long since last passing my theory test, I now had to do it all again. This meant hitting the books, learning my highway code and of course checking out practice questions. I was using a book to go through the questions, covering up the answers with my hand. The two apps below are effectively electronic versions of the practice question books and they're both free! yay!

The Theory Test - Free Edition [FREE!] (Link to App Store)

A simple little app, that offers a fair number of the questions which you may encounter during the theory test itself. This overcomes the potential for myself to cheat by not covering up the answer on the book, or glancing a look as I turn the page. It is possible to browse through the topics or take a mock test - the interface is very clean and simple, there's not a lot of need to do anymore. There is also a pro version available which offers access to over 970 questions for a price of £1.79 at time of writing - a considerable amount more than this free version. After trying a few mock tests, I did find a lot of the questions repeating.

MyLicence Lite - UK Driving Theory Coach [FREE!] (Link to App Store)

This app is very similar to The Theory Test above, allowing to browse the question bank and of course sit a mock test, complete with timer. This app also has a pro version (currently priced £4.99) which gives access to many more questions. When taking the mock tests this app records your previous efforts in terms of incorrect answers so it's pretty cool to see how I've progressed - a plus over the app above. The look of this app is very similar and uses a darker palette, but to be honest it's pretty much the same.

I believe if you were looking for a theory test solution on the iphone, then go for the paid versions to give a much larger range of questions. Myself, I was using these two in conjunction with a practice question book and it seemed to work out ok - I got 50/50 on my theory test a few weeks back (but then again those kinds of tests have never been a problem for me). Perhaps not the most exciting couple of Apps to recommend, but being free it's really easy to give them a try.

I've tried out a few games so I think I'll take a look at some of the instant, "must-have" games. I also still need to make a decision if I'm going to turn these into their own themed posts, and throw the latest up on the right, there's probably no harm...

#4 Jenson Button, F1 World Champion 2009 (?)

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 12:27:00 +0100

Yep, I really am going out on a limb here - Jenson Button will be this year's F1 World Champion. Is there anyone out there that wants to bet against me?
The F1 season is quickly approaching half-distance, We've just had the Turkish GP and Silverstone is in less than 2 weeks. Button has chalked up six victories in the seven races so far. Now that's definitely Championship-winning form, but it seems to be the British way to lack the self-belief in our sportsmen. I won't go on about the fairytale of how this team that almost-never-was, I will throw out some thoughts on how I feel this season is pretty much decided (whether that's a good thing or bad...)

It's no secret that if you have the best car, then you'd expect to do pretty well, but there is some Jenson factor in there - especially when we compare to the fortunes of Barrichello. Button is clearly a confidence driver, and he is on a high right now, it seems that near-nothing is impossible. Going back to his first win for proof on the confidence boost - Button was the highest scoring of all drivers for the remainder of that 06 season.

Where is the real title challenge going to come from?

Speaking of which, Jenson's current form does mirror that season to a certain extent. That season was Alonso's defense of his title, and he built up a points advantage over his rivals only to maintain that lead by not taking any risks and always ensuring that he finished in the high points if the win was risky, when Schumacher made a charge late on in the year. Button has the same comfort, and perhaps more. His nearest rival is his teammate, who is only just in touching distance as he has the same car. Even if Barrichello could convert more races into higher point finishes, I believe that Jenson would be at least one step higher. It could perhaps look like favouritism by the team, but it's this confidence that has taken Jenson, arguably a great driver that has never quite had the car to get results, to another level - and has brought on comparisons to Schumacher.

Six out of seven is Button's form, the only one that was missed was won by Vettel of the Red Bull in the wet. At the moment, the Red Bulls are the only real challengers to Brawn in terms of pace. That being said, Vettel is usually the one most likely to mix it up with the Brawns in qualifying but in my opinion, at the moment, he lacks the racecraft to go out and fight for the win. His race wins have all been on pole in a very strong (if not strongest) car, where he has a clear track ahead of him, and can control the race. There have been a couple of times where he has been stuck behind slower cars (Massa and no doubt Trulli woo! woo!) and he not been able to get past (although that may be down to the Red Bull aero design, not being able to get close enough).

Take the recent Turkish GP - Vettel went for a risky 3 stop strategy, the reasoning being less time on the problematic soft tyres, and overall having a lighter car so he can keep up the pace. That is, the strategy only works if you can keep up the pace - a mistake by Vettel on the opening lap let through Button, so that meant he would have to pass him (possibly twice), but after getting close after the first pit stops, he could not get close. Even without the lap 1 mistake, Vettel conceded that he would not have been able to keep Button behind, and I would have to agree. Following the several laps stuck behind Button, Vettel's strategy backfired and his teammate Webber was able to take 2nd - Vettel clearly dejected during the podium ceremony.

Looking at Brawn's other rivals this season, the Toyotas looked initially promising but seemed to have dropped back to the obscurity of the midfield as was the case in previous seasons. The Ferraris have improved their pace such that they make Q3 with a high probability, but you're kidding yourself if you think they can contend for wins. McLaren, also struggled like Ferrari, but have not been able to turn round their fortunes thus far. Hamilton has transferred from disappointment and frustration during interviews to outright bemusement. So strange, I was half-expecting a period of Hamilton and McLaren dominance after winning the driver's championship last year, and narrowly missing out in his maiden season. A big disappointment for myself has been the Williams team, who thanks to the double diffuser advantage, have looked promising, but have not really been able to translate into anything much except the odd handful of points here and there.

That being said, Vettel is usually the one most likely to mix it up with the Brawns in qualifying but in my opinion, at the moment, he lacks the racecraft to go out and fight for the win.

So in reflection, where is the real title challenge going to come from? As I mentioned to a friend who dismissed by claims of Button, world champ,following the first couple of races, Button has dominated early on and now has such a points cushion, that if reliability took a turn for the worse, and/or one of the other teams improve and start chalking up the wins, then he would (read: should) be able to manage his points lead and still wrap up the championship comfortably.

Not only will Jenson Button be crowned the winner of the Driver's World Championship, Brawn GP will win the Constructor's Championship. And finally, both championships will NOT come down to the last race and both will be wrapped up several races before the end - that may be dull but I predict it to be the outcome of the current trend of Jenson's and Brawn's dominance.

P.S. A perfect example of a pet peeve of mine - celebrity interviews during Martin Brundle's pit walk. Naomi Campbell was brought in front of the camera, only for her to respond "England!" to the few questions that were asked of her - well done for DC for closing the door on that embarrassment promptly. The BBC coverage then managed to cut away to the model in the Ferrari garage during the race, she must have been supporting Rob Smedley, Massa's race engineer...

I'm leaving on a Jetplane...

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:33:00 +0100

Continuing my posts detailing my trip to the US further and looking back on my Trans-Atlantic flights, a really big deal for me. I've only been on a plane once before (twice if you count coming back :D).

Unfortunately I didn't take any pix, the authorities may have thought me a terrorist after pointing my camera at airplanes and security personnel was my paranoia. Anyways, to brighten up the site enjoy another *random* snap taken on my travels.

Note: It's a pretty obvious sign that I play video games too much that I thought of the Dead Air finale from Left 4 Dead when getting on the plane...

It's a little weird that I was nervous for the flight. Strange, as I've been on a plane before, and apart from takeoff and landing, the majority of the trip feels like being in a bubble removed from the World. There is an appeal to the window seat, but there isn't much to see except blue and impressively pure light once you're above the clouds. The best part, in my opinion, has to be the takeoff, all the noise and violence as the plane handles the contours of the runway, and then replaced with a simple (not to mention constant) hum as I watch cars, buildings and streets get smaller until the plane passes through the clouds and then attention reverts to the cabin, in-flight entertainment and food.

Both flights had a monitor in the back of the seat in front and the flight out to Chicago, in particular had a "flight status" channel if you will. It would transition through a number of screens, parting such information as expected arrival time, current altitude and speed (those numbers are pretty mind-blowing, they are so large it's difficult to get a reference) and a map charting our progress using a red line much like the Indiana Jones films.

In terms of in-flight entertainment, I watched Yes Man on the way out (look out for an upcoming On the Box post) and Milk on the way back. It was a shame that during my outward flight the guy in front of me had his seat reclined to the max, which meant that I too had to recline, although I was unsure how, so during the movie, I sunk into my seat as the monitors were little LCD affairs which offer crap visibility when viewed from an angle. I also caught up with some podcasts and also chilled out to music - I did not read the large Bill Bryson hardback I packed (as I couldn't find any other books in my house to read).

Due to the length of the flight, we got not 1, but 2 meals. Unfortunately, gluten-free seems to translate to pineapple it seems. It's only a shame as I'm not a fan of pineapple but I got given some for 3 of the 4 meals - a little messed up. Other than that it was fine and edible enough.
The stewards seemed to have a problem understanding me, which considering how multilingual they surely must need to be, is either troubling for them, or a kick in my confidence sac. On the flight out, the one steward couldn't understand me saying "can I get an extra cup?" as they gave you a portion of orange juice in a tub of all things. The other time on the way back, the steward was asking if I had finished with my meal:

Steward: Are you done?
Me: No, I'm not done
(steward goes to take my tray)
Me: Oh no, sorry, I'm not done
Steward: Sorry, are you done or are you not done?
Me: I'm not done, I'm not done
Steward: Oh ok, you're done (goes for tray again)
Me: No I'm not done!

Plus, TV + Film has lied to me, all the attractive stewardesses must have been kept up in first class, which you must walk past to get to economy - it's nice for everyone to see what for most people (almost certainly, myself included) will be forever unattainable.

I had a huge wait for my flight back whilst at Chicago, and as it turned out I botched the online check-in. My fortunes did turn round, and the lady at the BA check-in kiosk obviously took a shine to me and upgraded me to premium economy. Not much of a score, but it meant slightly larger seats, believe there were two less in each row.
I also got to sit next to this french (guessing from her accent the few times she spoke) girl - perhaps a little too young for me but very cute all the same. I was very impressed at her (and others around me) ability to fall to sleep so readily, I unfortunately could not reach the same state. I'm a pretty good sleeper, once I'm gone, it's quite difficult to bother me, but actually getting to sleep is harder. I get a bout of insomnia, I knew that I needed sleep and hell, I was tired enough, but the hum, the footsteps of stewards and my numb ass prevented me from falling asleep. It was a classic case where I was aware of every hair on my foot, sensitive to any change in air flow and temperature, and absolutely no position was comfortable. And all that jet lag destroyed me for the following 2 days as I caught up with sleep.
It was at that time while I looked around at all those napping that I felt a little sorry for myself, I got wishing for a close companion of which we can both rest against - and it's pretty forward to try it with a stranger. To feel so completely comfortable with another human being to happily doze on someone else's shoulder, even more so to be content, I would love me some of that. Speaking of which, travelling on a plane and it is impossible (for guys at least), about joining the mile high club.

On the flight to Chicago which was in the middle of the day, there was a queue for the toilet, so the next person may be surprised when there's more than one person in there. Plus those toilets of which I speak of are at the front of economy, so all those observant would notice two people go in at the same time. There were toilets at the very back of the plane, I think those would be the way to go.
Once that initial milestone is overcome, that's not that much room inside, plus you have to watch out for the Call Steward button. I also can't imagine that the door, or any of the walls are particularly sound proof, although you probably wouldn't care. After the deed is done, there's the returning to the seats, so that needs co-ordination. I imagine the first person in should be the first person to go back to the seat - what is known as a queue or FIFO system (First in First Out) - but hey, I'm sure you get better with practice.

I may be over thinking this, but it's only the important subjects we address here.

Anyways, trans-Atlantic flights are pretty awesome, my ass went numb about half way through and I didn't get feeling back until my ears stopped popping. Arriving back at Heathrow, a man grumbled when we had to go on a small bus ride to get back to the terminal - for Christ's sake, you have just crossed the Atlantic, do you have any comprehension of the distance travelled? Do you have any appreciation for the technology and design that has made such a feat possible, and commonplace? Planes FTW!

I wanna be in America (Again!)

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:42:00 +0100

Long time no see Blog. Yes it's been a while, but at least 10 days of my absence can be accounted to my visit to America. It's been about a week since I got back, and well there's loads to blog about, but a combination of jetlag, work and general laziness means it's taken this long to post.

So you can expect my next few posts to cover the fun times that were had during my time in the US, although this post is tainted with sadness. The main reason (maybe joint with just visiting any part of the US in general) for my visit was my good friend Andy's wedding, and having received an invite last year, it's been something I've been very much looking forward to - in fact, I would go as far to say that it's was and has been the highlight of my 2009. The sadness comes that with the trip now over, I must return to my shitty existence with nothing obvious on the horizon to look forward to (There's the trip to France for Le Mans, but that's about it).

Trying not to feel down, it kinda feels like the start of a new year, or more accurately a restart. The break gave me an opportunity to refocus on my goals for the year. I set myself 3 main resolutions, and well progress hasn't been great. Those resolutions being: Learn to drive, Get a new job (ideally in the Shropshire area) and get a lot fitter with the help of the gym. Honestly, only the third one I've made any progress in, and to be honest I have been quite slack in the weeks leading up to my trip.

To that end, I leave you with a pic I snapped in my first visit to a Walmarts (proving that I still am really juvenile) and to watch this space for more US trip related posts.

#3 One diffuser to rule them all...

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:24:00 +0100

I delayed this post until the decision by the FIA on the legality of the rear diffusers which some of the teams are running and gaining an advantage with. As expected, the decision went in favour of Brawn, Toyota and Williams with the diffuser getting the all-clear.

Teams I think most likely to make a jump forward with a new diffuser would be the Red Bulls and BMWs. These cars are the next most competitive after the diffuser cars, the Red Bull especially quick. Depending on how long it takes to get the new design on the car, I would expect the front runners to get much closer, perhaps even challenging Brawn GP, who have a clear advantage over the rest of the grid.

The question is will Button wish that the race could have continued to score maximum points as opposed to the half-points which were awarded?

With a new diffuser, Ferrari and McLaren would make a jump forward. Ferrari at the moment require the KERS system to be as competitive as there are. The system itself has been a good initiative to promote the ideal that Formula 1 is at the bleeding edge of technology, but it's questionable how much benefit it gives. There is a weight penalty with the KERS, especially against the taller drivers, and it's not providing the lap time benefit to justify it. KERS does help during the race, a KERS-enabled car can easily pass a non-KERS car, but that advantage is removed when both cars have the energy recovery system. That being said, the racing on show has been exciting, no longer do we see a slow and heavy car building up a queue behind it (well not for very long anyways...)

What I really want to see are two Brits fighting for podiums and wins - my fear was that with the mammoth rise of Hamilton in the last two seasons, Button was being forgotten. This season there's a danger of those roles being reversed, where it would be great to have more than one Brit at the sharp end of the grid. The test is to see how Hamilton copes with a difficult car, I'm suprised at all of the talks already of him leaving the team.

For both Australia and Malaysia, the races have started later in the day in order for the race starts to happen at more Europe-friendly times.
The reason for all this is that the countries that can afford to build and put on F1 races are outside of Europe are mainly Asia and the middle East, but the majority of the audiences are in Europe. The race in Australia started later and visibility was an issue towards the end of the race. Malaysia is renowned for experiencing showers/monsoons late in the afternoon so why the race period was moved into this timeframe is very odd, particularly because the weather habits are well known.

The race itself eventually became a washout, the race eventually red-flagged about half distance. Button drove the Brawn for the first time in the wet and again was perfect in his execution. Glock made the risky gamble to go on Inters and benefited with 2nd place. The Ferraris gambled too early with the full wets and paid the price. Hamilton managed another points finish despite the car being uncompetitive; Kovalainen did not finish again.
The question is will Button wish that the race could have continued to score maximum points as opposed to the half-points which were awarded?

#2 F1 is back! (Round 1: Australia)

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Thu, 2 Apr 2009 19:45:00 +0100

Hey ho, the new season of Formula 1 kicked off in Australia and what a great opening race we were offered. Ignore the fact that it's been about a year since my last Sports Thoughts and read on for some of my thoughts on the race at Melbourne and the rest of the championship.

Now this year sees a big shakeup in the rules and regulations in terms of car design, I won't repeat them here as a quick internet search will give you all the answers you need. What I will add is that there has been controversy surrounding the design of the rear diffuser - an element at the base and the back of the car. Three teams have interpreted the new rules differently and produced a radical design, which while has been confirmed legal for Australia, an appeal has been made and a decision will be made after the Malaysian GP.
One team to profit from adopting the controversial design are Brawn GP and they are responsible for the wonderful fairytale story at the season opener.

Last year Honda announced that they would be withdrawing from Formula 1 - since becoming a full fledged constructor they failed to achieve the level of success they were hoping for - a competitive season in '06 resulting in Jenson Button's first win, but there's been little to write home about in the last 2 seasons - the team pretty much making up the numbers towards the back of the grid.

Brawn GP take their name from Ross Brawn, who was brought out of sabbatical into the Honda as technical director, and now holds the position of team principal in the new team. Since the Honda announcement, Brawn and Fry have appealed for a new owner to buy the team, but have had to form the team on their own. During the frantic months at the start of '09, they have managed to secure Mercedes engines for the year and a very hasty sponsorship deal with Virgin (they were still applying the decals to the cars and trucks on race weekend) meant that they could race at Australia. Button also managed to keep a race seat and with minimal testing and time against them, the team opted to retain the services of Barrichello for the second seat. Bruno Senna was looking like a strong candidate but he lacks experience and personally believe he has made a lot of progress through his career off the back of his name.

Going with the veteran Rubens ultimately paid dividends with Brawn GP securing an unbelievable 1-2 finish, Button driving a near-perfect race out of front, and Rubens recovering from a poor start, to literally battle his way onto the podium with a pinch of luck for good measure. Ever since the car was run during pre-season testing, it has been very quick, pretty much topping every timesheet. Having arrived at Melbourne the Brawn GP cars continued to dominate. The other teams who went with the radical rear diffuser (Williams, Toyota) were also very competitive. Brawn GP locked out the front row, with Jenson taking the Pole. Rightly so, they were tipped to clear up in the race, bar an iffy moment during his second pit stop, Jenson drove a perfect race. Rubens didn't get off the line cleanly and survived a first corner incident with minimal damage to his front wing. He later had a coming together with Raikkonen and thanks to a Vettel and Kubica taking each other out, he managed to drive to 2nd.
Vettel has since come out as the guilty party which having seen countless replays, believe to be unfair. Vettel gave Kubica the opening when he made a mistake on the previous corner, but he still had the inside line against a much quicker car in the BMW. Vettel was pretty much cutting the corner to try and avoid Kubica who didn't leave anywhere near enough gap. Robert was not smart; he was on the better tyre, and even if they were side-by-side coming out of the corner, I would have predicted him to come out on top. Vettel has also been fined after driving a damaged car - he did just lose his front wing in the collision, but dropped it on the white line to crash - if only he could have kept it together, crept back to the pits, he may have been able to salvage a point or two.

The fact that the Brawn GP cars are so quick shouldn't really be that much of a surprise to anyone. Remember that Honda turned up to the start of the '08 season knowing there were fundamental problems with the car that could not be realistically addressed. Knowing this, the team pretty much abandoned development of the '08 car and looked ahead to this season and the potential of the new rule changes leveling the playing field. McLaren and Ferrari were obviously competing for the title to the very last race and so couldn't switch their priority for this season until it was pretty much over.

Probably my biggest disappointment was the Renault. They were allowed to improve their engine to bring it up to parity with the other engines - supposedly it was 30-50BHP down on a lot of the other engines. The fact that Alonso was able to win twice with an underpowered car reaffirms his credentials as a world class driver and also the aero development which had to claw back that performance deficit.

It would have been just a single week until round 2 at Malaysia, and provided the Brawn cars handle the heat, I expect them to be as dominant. The teams would not have had any real time to develop the cars, plus the majority of teams are probably now stalling to see the outcome to the diffuser issue - if it is deemed legal (which I hope so, it would be a shame for Brawn to be disqualified), then the other teams will shift their designs to take advantage like the trailblazers already have.

The Red Bull looks promising, the extra time Newey spent designing has paid dividends, and the non-KERS BMW of Kubica has a lot of potential. Ferrari will be there or thereabouts and if they can get their cars to the finish, they will almost certainly pick up a fair share of points. The McLarens will suffer again this weekend, and I wouldn't expect to see an improvement until Barcelona which is the point where the teams aim to bring the first major aero update.

With 2009, there is a ban of testing during the season, means that the headstart the Brawn team have in terms of development could have them net a number of wins early on until everyone else catches up. With that in mind, my prediction for Malaysia is Jenson for the win (FTW!)

In closing, a quick mention about the BBC's coverage now that they have taken over the reins from ITV, and overall I'm a little disappointed in their lack of ambition. My biggest criticism of ITV's setup was the lack of studio and the BBC have continued that trend. The pitlane before race and quali sessions are not a good place to broadcast from, those cars can get pretty loud. Joining Jake Humphrey are pundits David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan - good choices in my opinion. That being said, DC is playing it too straight for my liking, there's no personality in his comments where he has proved to be impressively observant and wise in a lot of interviews I've seen/read during his time at Red Bull. Eddie Jordan, on the other hand, is a perfect pundit, incredibly opinionated, not to mention knowledgeable about the sport and its politics. Turning to the commentary team and the BBC have retained Martin Brundle (as well as Ted Kravitz reporting from the pitlane) who is joined by Jonathan Legard (great name :D). Jonathan did drop into horse racing commentator mode at the end of Q3, but other than that the pairing seems to work well. Another positive is the disappearance of ad breaks and for your nostalgia gland, Fleetwood Mac's The Chain is back.

There were a few technical slips, some tech guys creeping into shot and also a lost of picture for a short period. Thankfully the BBC did broadcast the entirety of the first press conference following the podium proceedings, I hated the way that ITV would return after hearing from the race winner. Another great option is the 1 hour forum that follows the race on one of the BBC interactive channels. I stuck around for that which was cool. Again with the red button options, and the commentary can be toggled between the TV commentators and Radio 5's coverage. There is also the option of switching to the in-car cameras as opposed to the main race feed. That kind of stuff is a great start, to add the timesheet information like in the applet (and that seen/used by the teams) would be awesome for people like me that would geek out on all the stats and timings etc.

Here's looking forward to Malaysia, it should be less damaging on my sleep patterns...

#2 Insert Coin Bonus Stage (part 1)

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:54:00 +0100

It's been a long time, but boy! is this a long one.
I'm been playing catch up with a number of video game reviews/thoughts/rants for ages, so I thought it'd be a cool idea to catch up in podcast form.
Featured games are: Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, some afterthoughts on GTA IV after I finally completed it, Flower - the big game in a small package and closing off with some rather in-depth thoughts on Fable 2.

It's a double-edged sword as it seems unfair to try and squeeze it all into one, so I've broken into two parts, so apologies for the formal goodbye, I'll make it up next time.

As mentioned during the podcast, I may have forgotten some major pros/cons of a game so don't shun me for this being done on the spot - for the information that has been included, I've tried to be careful but there are some spoilers within, you have been warned. Enjoy.

Featured Music:
Intro/Outro - Pacific Theatre - Yourcodenameis:milo
When We Were Younger and Better, A Failsafe, Music is Music as Devices are Kisses is Everything, Little Victories - all by 65daysofstatic.
The Birth and Death of the Day, Welcome, Ghosts, It's Natural To Be Afraid, What Do You Go Home To, Catastrophe And The Cure- Explosions in the Sky
Quiet, There Are Some Remedies Worse Than the Disease - This Will Destroy You

iTunes link

[MP3] Download the show [51:33] (Right click, Save as)

#4 What ever became of the likely (1UP) lads...

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:43:00 GMT

It's pretty common knowledge in gaming circles that 1UP got bought by UGO, coinciding with the end of the magazine EGM. Also a high proportion of the 1UP staff were laid off, and a consequence of that as far as the Podcast Reviews is concerned is the unfortunate death of many cherished podcasts that I held dear - also I'm annoyed that I wrote a huge post over the Christmas break concerning the 4 podcasts of theirs which, for the most part, are no longer about.

Fortunately, these 1UPers which I had so readily welcomed into my heart, would not go down without a fight, and they have now established new podcasts/shows and this post is a little look at them, passing on the links to help these guys out.

The guys, Philip Kollar and Nick Suttner, formerly of 1UP FM have started up a very similar audio-only podcast with the rather apt name Rebel.fm. Joining these two are Anthony Gallegos and Arthur Gies, resurrecting their old website eat-sleep-game.com.
The podcast takes a very similar form to the old 1UP FM podcast, they have a chat about what they've been playing, what reviews/articles they've written, very familiar ground. The episodes so far have centered on a particular topic e.g. storytelling in video games, one the initial discussion is got out of the way.

The Rebel.fm guys are also keeping up the tradition of the backlog, now branded the Rebel.FM Game Club. For those not familiar with the concept, the guys revisit an old game and have in-depth conversations about the game's mechanics, its impact etc more often than not spread over a number of weeks. The Game Club episodes are now being made separate, as opposed to tagged onto the end of the regular episodes - especially good if the look of a 2hour+ podcast is daunting.
Very recently Nick Suttner has landed a job at Sony and is leaving the podcast, which is a shame, I liked what he brought to the podcast so we'll see how that affects the dynamic and whether I will continue to subscribe...

The Geekbox (found over at geekbox.net) is an interesting podcast as it doesn't strictly cover just video games as such, and more often than not is a lot of geeky banter between friends over film, TV, comics, not to mention a fairly heavy coverage/thoughts over Lost. The geekbox features Ryan Scott who is joined by Karen Chu, Andrew Fitch, Greg Ford and Master Higgins, who owns the comic book store in which they record each week.
I've never checked out the Games for Windows podcast back in the 1UP days so I can't say if it's a huge departure - the general consensus is that these guys are sticking with the format that they know best. Whilst not strictly about video games, it's more of a geeky culture podcast so I'm very keen to keep on listening.

The 1UP Show was a weekly half-hour I very much looked forward to, an alternative and conversation-led look at the latest previews, releases etc.
Matt Chandronait and Ryan O’Donnell are continuing to put out a regular video offering in the form of a new show Co-op which can be found over at Area5.tv - the name being taken from their favourite level from Rez. Their new work can also be found over on YouTube and Vimeo - If you like what you see then please subscribe/show your love on these sites too as it's all helping their exposure.
This was the last of the rebirths to happen, obviously bogged down with the logistics of sorting out their own recording equipment and editing hardware + software but it's finally here, they're a couple of episodes in and as long as they have a funny short-story running through each episode, just like the 1UP Show, then I'm a happy boy - the latest had Ryan's valentine plans spoiled by the other guys taking up space in their place with all the recording and editing, I laughed a lot.
These guys also mentioned a possible charge for a HD version so it'll be interested to see how that develops.

I guess the most important thing is if you a gamer then check out these new offerings - they need your support as at the moment, so digg, subscribe etc if you like what they do - they're pretty much winging it off people's kind donations. I'm not saying that I will endorse these podcasts blindly, but a lot of the familiar names and faces that I've come to love and admire are still at the helm, so there's some reassurance that they intend to keep the quality up. Plus, at the moment, there's a lot of cross-pollination going on, with a lot of these guys guesting in each other podcasts - it's one big family!

#16 Left 4 Dead

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:00:00 GMT

There's one game recently that has dominated my online play, and that game is Left 4 Dead - Valve's co-op shooter set in a zombie apocalypse (also available on PC). This is a game that whilst does offer an offline, single-player, can only truly be experienced properly with three others WITH headsets and that is crucial - having your teammates shout out for help, berate you for failing to save them when surrounded and offer congratulations for pulling through a nasty scrape is genius. The simple fact that playing through this game, makes yourself and others emote so is testament to the quality of title here.

What do I think of this game? Simply awesome. Is that not enough for a review?… Fine, click for more.

Left 4 Dead has you play as one of the four survivors through four themed campaigns, the premise being that you must work and help each other through zombie-infested streets, houses, sewers etc towards a hopeful rescue. These campaigns are full of movie set-pieces and cliches, the impression further cemented by the movie poster loading screen when the campaign starts. Each campaign is split into 5 "chapters" or levels with a "safehouse" being the goal at the end of each chapter. Each campaign builds to its finale where the survivors have to call for the rescue vehicle (a helicopter in one scenario, a yacht in another etc), and then hold out against waves of zombies until it arrives.

The beauty of the game is in its ability to induce panic even when there may not actually be that many zombies running at you. Holding down the trigger as you try and mow the advancing numbers down and your accuracy will suffer, which only adds to the panic as you begin to struggle to clear these zombies.

Along with the finale set pieces, there are also chokepoints throughout the stages such as waiting for the elevator, opening an emergency door etc where you can no further until you initiate the sequence. Doing so predictably alerts the zombie horde to your presence, so get ready to defend your position.

To make progress through the levels even harder, the survivors will come up against boss or elite infected characters. The Hunter will pounce on an unsuspecting survivor and start ripping them to shreds. The Boomer will attempt to vomit over survivors - the Boomer's bile would attract the horde and the vomitees (I’m arguing for it to be a word) would become the sole target for the zombie pack. The Smoker has the ability to lasso with his tongue and drag them away from the other survivors. The Tank is a hulk-like super-zombie that can pummel a survivor to death, hurl slabs of concrete and requires all four to work together to take it down. Finally, there's the Witch that doesn't dynamically spawn like the others, but sits stationary - the choice is to try and sneak round and not disturb her - doing so equals instant incapication if she gets you. The intro movie does a great job of solidifying all this information so it all feels pretty familiar when you first start out.

The sound design in this game is deep and well thought out. All of these boss/elite infected all have their audio cues, plus even if they are missed, the survivors themselves will often announce them for you - and soon enough you'll be calling them out too. The music swells to indicate an incoming swarm plus the vocals of the four characters and the interchange between them are very entertaining. Drums beat when a roaring tank bursts out and the haunting melody coupled by crying indicates a Witch is close and gets stronger as you dare to get closer. Clicking in the left thumb stick will get your survivor to announce what they can see, whether that be a Boomer, weapons or even another survivor. When doing this with your other players, your player will shout their name if they are a fair distance away, and not if they're much closer, again it's these kind of minutia which make the game so polished. A fun departure we've developed is announcing Bill's name - I don't know why but it's hilarious - give it a try and let's spread this thing...

Players are able to carry 2 types of weapons, the 1st weapon being the pistol which has unlimited ammo (a 2nd pistol can be found to dual wield - although remember it's still the one trigger and not both like in Halo which I accidentally did my first time with it), the 2nd weapon can be a choice from a shotgun, machine gun or rifle, and this ammo is limited, but more can be found, along with gun upgrades, along the way. Players can also carry one health pack (restores majority of one's health), one projectile (more in a moment) and one lot of "pills" which offer a temporary health boost. Players can either carry a molotov cocktail or a pipe bomb, which zombies are attracted to the noise and light and then blow up taking out a large number.

The game itself actively rewards co-operative behaviour; if one person breaks off from the others, whether that be leaping ahead out of impatience, or being left behind, the game will punish that survivor, so it really is an "all for one" mentality, which everyone needs to adhere to in order to make it through. All players are able to heal themselves and more importantly heal each other. Pain pills which offer a temporary health boost can also be shared with other players. When other players have been knocked down or being pinned by a hunter or smoker, you can rush to their aid to help them back on their feet - but do it quick, once a player has been knocked down they are on borrowed time and very close to death. The beauty of the game is in its ability to induce panic even when there may not actually be that many zombies running at you. Holding down the trigger as you try and mow the advancing numbers down and your accuracy will suffer, which only adds to the panic as you begin to struggle to clear these zombies.

If the group stays in one place then don't think the game will cut you a break, the horns will soon sound and a swarm will be on its way.

Probably the biggest selling point of the game is the AI Director that serves to vary the experience every time mixed with these simple mechanics detailed above. The majority of the game's encounters are unscripted so it's not possible to learn what's going to be beyond the next corner and so forth - the AI Director will mix it up every time, throwing a swarm of zombies at you during one playthrough, and spawning a tank at the same point on the next playthrough. If your team is struggling then the director will ease up on the zombie swarms and offer more ammo and health. If the group stays in one place then don't think the game will cut you a break, the horns will soon sound and a swarm will be on its way.

Extra little options which again cement my opinion of how polished this game is are the option to call a vote in mid-game in order to change the difficulty, go back to the lobby, or kick a player as they keep running off/startling the witch. Also it's possible to take a break and the AI will take over. There are always the four characters (unless there have been deaths...) and the AI will take over (and sometimes do a better job).

Along with the campaign mode, the game also offers a Versus Mode where you get the opportunity to play as the infected. Four survivors play against four infected and it's the ultimate griefing mode. The learning curve is a quite steep at first when playing the infected, it takes a moment to work out how to maximise each infected's ability, plus you are taken out with one good shot most of the time, so it's best to plan and coordinate with your other zombie buddies. Once this initial slump is overcome, the game is terribly rewarding and strangely always fun to give the survivors a hard time. I found it best to take cues from where the AI director spawns the zombies, so Smokers go on rooftops, Boomers hide round corners and jump out to vomit etc. The game randomly selects either boomer, hunter or smoker as the infected that you spawn as, the witch is not an option (rightly so) and the option as spawning as a tank crops up most once a level and is awarded to one player, so that's always very cool, although it's never myself enough it seems. The versus mode scores the survivor team after each round, multipliers are awarded for the number that make it to the safehouse - despite this the playstyle seems to be at a quickened pace to give the infected team less chance to screw them over. After each round, the teams swap over and go again.

The main life in the game I think is the versus mode and also chasing the harder achievements in the campaign, such as completing all four on expert (very hard!)

Perhaps the only downside of the game is the fact that while the game's placement of the infected changes every time, the campaign setting is limited to the current four offerings, and it is this reason why some may feel that there's not much game here. I personally feel there it is enough, the number of hours I've clocked up should be proof of that. Plus, Valve are very good at supporting their games, and forthcoming DLC has been announced. This DLC will offer to play the other two campaigns in Versus mode and also a new Survival mode - no details have been announced but it's the next best thing after a fifth campaign which is what everyone, myself included, were hoping for. Despite it not coming in this first DLC pack, there's hope that more DLC will be released in the future.

Left 4 Dead was actually released last November, and I'm prepared to make it my Game of the Year for 2008. It is a true co-operative experience which I've not found in other games that boast a co-op option. I would repeat my sentiments at the very top, this is best played with others and soon you'll be crafting your ultimate zombie team in preparation for when the real undead apocalypse comes...

#15 Race Driver: GRID

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:22:00 GMT

This is a belated review, but I finally managed to get round to giving Race Driver: GRID (or just Grid as the cool kids are calling it) a go, and for a racing game fan such as myself it was exciting to try out a new IP over the established heavyweights in the genre.
GRID is actually from the same people that brought you TOCA and the Colin McRae: DIRT (that seems a lot of capitals...) but was this game worth my 8 month wait?

First off, this game's front end-menus are incredibly slick. Upon loading the game you are offered with chunky 3D text that floats in your garage. This style carries over into the races themselves and is used very effectively when a particular driver is highlighted before the start as the cars line up on the grid by what I can assume to be your race engineer/voice in your head. More about the voiceovers later.

The game offers a career mode (more about that later), a freeplay mode where you can set up a custom race and of course multiplayer. Unfortunately, the online community has pretty much dried up upon playing now, but it does offer a voting system for those players in the lobby to pick the next race which is a cool alternative to the game generating a random race, or having specific lobbies for the differing race types. Anyways, let's concentrate on the single-player and in particular the career mode where you are most likely to spend most of your time...

The first step in the career mode (called Race Day) has yourself accept offers to drive for other teams in order to raise cash needed to start your own team. The main focus is running your own team, improving its reputation, attracting new sponsors and eventually expanding to accommodate another driver to race for you.

Once you hit this early landmark, progress through the career is very conventional. The career is spread across 3 continents - North America, Europe and Asia (predominantly Japan) - the progress on each continent is separate and broken into three tiers. Participating in events earns you reputation, which goes towards acquiring new racing licences which unlock the higher tiers, and also money which is used to purchase new cars and sign a better teammate.
As more racing licences are acquired, new events open up which offer greater rewards and exposure to better and faster cars - there are no surprises here.
A great feature in the career mode is the ability to acquire sponsors and palce their branding of your car. Each sponsor has a condition which if satisfied will pay out a bonus, much in the way that there is a bonus attributed to each driver offer available. At first, the conditions are pretty easy to meet - "finish the race" or "finish the race greater than 7th" but as the sponsors' bonus increase, so do the difficulty of these conditions, some only paying out if you win the race or to go to the extreme, will only pay out if you win without taking any damage - that's a toughie

GRID offers a number of different event types. From street races to grand prix race tracks; from head-to-heads to demolition derbies and drift challenges - the variety helps keep the racing fresh and a lot of different disciplines are covered. At the end of each season, participating in the Le Mans event is an option - initially driver offers from other teams are the only option until you can raise the funds to purchase your own Le Mans prototypes. The Le Mans event itself lasts 24 minutes and it's a shame that the trackside environment looks pretty sparse, although the transition from day to night and back again is a unique challenge.

For the events themselves, a really useful game mechanic can be found in the form of flashbacks. These allow you to pause the race at any time, rewind up to 30 seconds or so to erase your mistake and give it another go. This is especially useful when you have just written your car off in the wall, or have given away 1st place by screwing up on the last corner. It's also super convenient that access to the flashback is mapped to the back button, access is easy enough to become a reflex and is not hidden away behind menus.

Under the hood (geddit!), and the core game is not much more than a just above average racer. The game avoids the depth and minutia of Forza 2 and the differing handling of the cars doesn't even compare with that of PGR4. With regards to the handling, a lot of the cars feel very samey and more often than not suffer from oversteer, especially at slow speeds to the point that it feels unnatural.

While the game is lacking in car handling compared to PGR4, GRID injects more personality thanks in part to the voiceovers I mentioned earlier. PGR4 named all the drivers, gave them nationalities, and presumably different characteristics (although it was very difficult to tell), but it failed to humanize my AI opponents. Luckily GRID does offer more immersion, with each driver having attributes defined in skill, aggressiveness etc and also a potential preference for a particular discipline.

Under the hood and the core game is not much more than a just above average racer.

Back to the voiceovers, and at the start of the race, your race engineer will highlight a particular driver or team that could be a threat in the race. The same race engineer will give you constant updates during the race, letting you know who is currently in the lead, if there have been accidents and also updates on your position. If you reach the status of having a teammate, your race engineer will inform you how they are doing, and you will also get updates from your teammate as well. The teammates offer that personality, my first teammate was a whiny Italian who I eventually replaced with a stoned American surfer dude. It's little touches like this which enrich the experience so you're not just going through the motions.
Possibly the most notable and immersing hook is the ability to select your name from a list when you first fire up the game. Both your race engineer and the very attractive sounding woman that greets you when firing the game will use the name/nick you've selected - again, another great little touch. Don't worry, if your name isn't it their pre-defined lists, they do offer a number of nicknames as a next best thing - if only you could combine them into a super-duper nickname...

The AI opponents in the game are pretty impressive - when following two or more that are in close proximity to each other it's refreshing to see them realistically scrapping for position, and not following a set line like a number of racers are guilty of. The AI is prone to mistakes, often after being hounded by someone close behind, they'll often slide, skid and sometimes completely spin out - which all adds to the realism and helps give a sense that you're not just racing against 7 bots.

Overall, GRID is an OK-to-good arcade racer, a case of more style than substance. That being said, features like the flashbacks and the voiceover work help this game stand out from the crowd - there's a lot of enjoyment to be had here but it does get a bit samey after a while.

#1 Rough round the edges... (You Know)

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:53:00 GMT

And so a podcast is born. Yes, episode #1 of Your New Favourite Podcast is finally out!

This first one is a little rough round the edges plus it's my first go at editing out all my "umms" etc but I'm just happy to get it out the door - I've been promising it for a long time.

Topics covered include some admin, quick mention to some upcoming reviews and a healthy rant about recruitment agencies and the the interview process, while I play Civilization Revolution - link to my review as mentioned in the podcast/audioblog.

As to the frequency of these, I've yet to make my mind up but expect the next one in a couple a weeks as I'm pretty busy (but not too busy as to play games and record my angry thoughts seemingly...)

For now, enjoy, leave comments, feedback or even topics/questions you want me to throw my two cents at.

Featured Music:
Intro/Outro - Pacific Theatre - Yourcodenameis:milo
When We Were Younger and Better, A Failsafe, Music is Music as Devices are Kisses is Everything, Little Victories - all by 65daysofstatic.

iTunes link

[MP3] Download the show (21:38) (Right click, Save as)

#0 On The Box!

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:49:00 GMT

The team here at Your New Favourite Blog have been busy expanding and we're (read: I'm) proud to offer a new themed post - On The Box.

The whole purpose of the new themed post is to throw out some thoughts regarding TV and Film - praise those faves of mine and berate those poor offerings that I was tricked into watching.

Anyways, stay tuned and expect On The Box to be a fairly regular occurance. I have mentioned in the past that I am a subscriber to the LoveFilm service so get to watch Films on a regular basis. Also there's a number of highly anticipated shows that have started up in recent weeks: 24, Lost, Scrubs, Battlestar Galactica and there's also older shows like the Wire which I need to get back into so it's not like I'll be struggling to find stuff to cover.
I leave you with a link to an old rant about Peter Jackson's King Kong, oh dear... I mean enjoy!

#14 I need a Civ Rev here!

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:57:00 GMT

Apologies, that's a very dubious play on words used for a title. I am referring to the game Civ Rev, or Civilization Revolution to give it its full title. This is the latest iteration of the popular Civilization series and the first to appear on consoles, hence the "Revolution" in the name.

For those not in the know, Civilization is a turn based strategy game where you are the leader of one of 16 famous civilizations (Caesar for the Romans, Cleopatra for the Egyptians, Queen Elizabeth for the British etc), and you are tasked with developing and improving your civilization, befriending other civilizations, eliminating others, and guiding your civilization towards one of the four victory conditions. Those being Economic (Building the World Bank), Democratic (Constructing the United Nations), Space (Building a craft that reaches Alpha Centauri) or Domination (Eliminating all other Civilizations from the World Map). Now Civ Rev is based on Civilization 4 (the most recent PC release), but has been simplified and streamlined to create a simpler and faster version of the game, no doubt to suit the console player that prefers a shorter experience, because of a shorter attention span maybe?...

The game primarily involves adding buildings to cities, creating wonders, even creating new cities and roads to link them up, not to mention units used to defend your own cities and attack others. As to be expected, different buildings offer specific attributes, like the ability to increase production or gold etc - these kind of mechanics have been forged long ago so there are no big surprises but the interface makes it very easy to mange build queues, production priorities.

Always with real-time strategy/turn-based strategy games, the control scheme is very important and especially with the PC pedigree the game has, there is a lot of stake here. Fortunately with the simplified gameplay, the controls work extremely well on the controller – if anything, the fact that the game is turn-based lends itself very well to the consoles.

it is so very easy and comfortable to drop into the “just one more turn” mentality

Whether it be moving units around the map, browsing buildings to potentially build or switching between cities is all incredibly straightforward, although navigation can get a little laggy towards the end of the game when the map is much more densely populated.

The game could also be considered a "Revolution" in terms of its graphical style. Civ Rev has taken a departure from the realism of the numbered games on the PC and uses a cartoony style, in particular the advisers/toons which appear during the game. They are charming enough but their verbal uttering in a made-up language akin to the Sims really started to grate, and I often reach for the OK button. The actual graphics are pretty average compared with current gen expectations but does fit the cartoony style well.

Battle animations are enjoyable to watch and a strange compulsion comes over wishing the little buggers on - although the cartwheeling planes do look a little daft, especially when facing other planes. Towards the end of the game when the map is full of cities and switching between them zooms out the map (you do get to see the curvature of the world which is quite cool) and this blue fog-of-war appears until it finishes zooms in. There is also some pop in as well which is a disappointment considering the level of graphical quality.

The sign of any great game is how difficult it is to put down. I probably sound like a broken record but the quickened gameplay is completely responsible – it is so very easy and comfortable to drop into the “just one more turn” mentality. Even though the game has been tailored for shorter play sessions, I often found myself completing a game from start to finish in one or two sittings.

Ultimately the game is a lot of fun but can get repetitive after a while. For each civilization, there are unique bonuses to be had when you progress through the different eras, but these usually become a formality when you reach the modern era. The Xbox 360 version was the one I tried and, predictably, there is an achievement for winning with each civilization, so if you care for them then they're an incentive to continue playing. The difficulty can be increased and this only serves to increase the aggressiveness of the AI opponents.

Speaking of the AI opponents, they lean heavily towards the aggressive and hostile end of the spectrum – Often alliances formed a mere handful of turns ago become threats of annihilation. With the randomly generated maps, your game can sometimes be doomed if your starting position is a little too close to another civilization. Also, a small peeve, but I found it terribly annoying that the AI could effectively hold me to ransom by offering X turns of peace in exchange for an important technology that I had spent a long time researching, but it seems not possible for me to do the same back – not fair!

Like a high percentage of this generation's games, the online play ensures its longevity. Playing online is exactly the same as playing a standard game against the AI. Players will compete on a random map with Barbarian villages, lost artifacts etc and the unpredictability of playing with other real life people can be very interesting and introduce a level of strategy that has perhaps been removed from the game, provided of course that the players stay in the game. Yes, Civ Rev games are now shorter but they can still easily stretch to a couple of hours, especially when waiting for the other human players to finish their turns.

I was immediately gripped by the demo when it was released and was very keen to play the full version ever since. After finally getting the game, I am very happy to sink a few hours into this - I've found it's very useful to play while I listen to one of the longer podcasts I subscribe to as there are no crucial story cutscenes to pay attention to, or online friends/players to chat to as I go. Whilst each civilization receives a unique bonus at the turn of each era, the playstyle is predominantly the same for every civ.

With Civ Rev, whilst the game is a lot of fun, the meat of the game is apparent from the get go - there are no plot twists, there are no climactic events, it's all very samey, which while enjoyable in brief playthroughs, has had to give away to other games thanks to the depth in quality of releases recently.

#5 Bring a civilization to its knees...

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 22:07:00 GMT

Or drive someone to insanity. These are two of the explanations of where the band 65daysofstatic draw their name from. The two explanations being that locking someone up for 65 days with nothing but radio static being played will turn them insane, or if a civilization is cut off from any outside communication, it will drive itself to anarchy. Whatever the reason is, these guys (also British :D) and the music pieces they make are simply awesome, other-worldly at their best.

65daysofstatic are an instrumental outfit, I guess you could label them as post-rock if you wanted to play that game. All I know after checking out a fair few instrumental bands, there is a satisfying urgency to their sound, as opposed to very quiet, subtle wandering pieces which groups like Mogwai are all too guilty of. No, what we have here is intricately layered guitars, keys, bass and drums - there are no vocals here and I feel that the songs are better without them. It's incredibly pretentious but I believe that having listened to the majority of their songs, favourites being "Hole", "Retreat! Retreat!", "While We Were Younger and Better", "Little Victories", the list goes on, that lyrics could not be found to fit these songs which now circle in my head. 65days are masters of the quiet/loud dynamic and expertly utilise the build-up to crescendo and then beyond. Some could argue that it all becomes a bit too formulaic, but they do enough to keep it fresh, and I'm happy for the adventure that I'm taken on...

You get the feeling that every little bit of feedback is completely purposeful, every tiny amount of leftover buzz from quick slides and chord changes are all there to provide something, to add to the whole.

That being said, it's not all dreamscapes and audio wet dreams, some of the material does miss the mark, and especially their remixes including famous pop songs like Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" I could happily do without. I have to qualify this that not all their work is perfect, but their highs more than make up for their lows. In particular the song "Hole" is a 4 and a half minutes roller coaster for the ear. Each of the elements working together but each doing their own thing, keys being delicate and enchanting, guitars that dance a melody and swell to meet the drums and bass - they are loud and distortion laden when they need to be, and only when they need to be. You get the feeling that every little bit of feedback is completely purposeful, every tiny amount of leftover buzz from quick slides and chord changes are all there to provide something, to add to the whole. The whole song ebbs and flows together - the drums and bass forever keeping the pace and explode at the "choruses" but never take over. In fact, while some songs do suggest that drum machines, pre-recorded drum loops may have been used, I think the drumming featured is some of the best I've heard, World class. Every listen is slightly different I find, focusing on a particular element whether it be the drums, the keys - each element on their own is quite simple but as mentioned above, it's the layering which ties it all together. They might be considered a headphones band for this reason, I'd love to throw down the challenge and find someone that could not find something in their songs that they really appreciate.

Since starting to listen to 65daysofstatic, they have shot up my last.fm charts, Hole in particular is now my 2nd most listened to song if statistics are to be believed. All I can say is go check these guys out, at their peak, they really are something else, a combination of challenging your expectations the first listen through, and then the anticipation of the song going Boom! on subsequent listens.

For those already converted, a high five awaits you...

P.S. Excellent jogging/running music.

Blog Update Dec '08

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Tue, 9 Dec 2008 20:31:00 GMT

It's been over a month since I last blogged so a quick update just in case the Internets think I'm dead.

There is only a finite time available every day, and while we're making do with the 7 day week (gave a thought to turning it into 6, could it be done!?) it means that something has to give, and the last month, it has been the blog.
Recently I've made a renewed effort to improve my attendance down at the gym, which I've had some degree of success. Add to that the fact that this last quarter has given us so many high quality games and even with the extra time devoted to this vice, there's still a fair number I need to try. Expect some Insert Coins about them all soon (probably in the next year :s) but I will add now that Left 4 Dead, a co-op first person shooter set in the wake of a zombie apocalypse is probably the greatest gaming experience this year, plus thanks to Gamestation's Christmas offers, I am soon picking up Fallout 3, so looking forward to that as well.

Also, I'm falling more and more behind with the podcast reviews as well, so will make a bigger effort to catch up. Plus (I may have used the word too many times!?) I'm thinking of setting up a new themed set of posts covering Film and TV, inspired a great deal by Billy of geekytalk.wordpress.com. Plus (the last time I promise...), I may finally get my very own Podcast/audioblog off the ground, and throw in some personal musings, rants, whatever I feel like etc

Hope to post soon, but if not, happy holidays! :D

#13 The Dark Side

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT

So I finally caved and got myself a PS3, woah! The last time I had two consoles was the Gamecube and the Xbox, and well I quickly stopped using my Gamecube oh dear! That outcome is unlikely to happen in this case, Xbox 360 has the better first party (and exclusive) titles, and any multiplatform releases I would get for the 360, considering the superior online experience, and how in a lot of cases (not so much now) the PS3 version has just been a port of the 360 version.

That being said, the PS3 does have some pluses. For one, the dashboard is slick as fuck - not to mention supremely easy and quick to navigate, it makes the 360 dash look old and clunky in comparison. That will of course all change when the New Xbox Experience drops in November, but until then the PS3 comes out on top.
Also a big motivation for getting one is of course Blu-Ray playback - I haven't watched one yet, but I've already converted my LoveFilm queue ready (EDIT: I watched Gotham Knight, the collection of animated Batman shorts akin to the Animatrix, in brief, some stories very cool, some not so much). DVDs look great thanks to the upscaling, plus the PS3 can handle a wider range of media files, so I have to convert video podcasts, TV shows etc a lot less. It has wireless connectivity built in by default, and even some large files (a HD version of a very recent Heroes ep for example) played absolutely fine. Plus if streaming is getting a little choppy, the dash offers the option to copy the file onto the PS3 HDD, problem solved.

That being said, I have had some problems with syncing the controller to the console. I've experienced whole days where upon pressing the "PS" button on the controller (their equivalent of the 360's guide button), and literally nothing happened - no flashing lights, nothing. It's possible that the battery had ran out of charge, but it seemed incredibly problematic charging up the damn thing. As it's a USB cable, it can be charged off the PS3, or indeed any computer (even some cable boxes I read), but I was not getting the slow flash to indicate charging. Late one day, I pressed the PS button just to see what would happen, and it switched on the console - it took me completely by surprise, I had to run and connect up the cable like it was the only chance I was going to get.
Thoughts on the controller itself, it's light, much lighter than the 360 controller (no chunky battery) although I'm not a fan of the triggers - they don't feel at all comfortable. I haven't had a chance to utilise the sixaxis motion controls; The Force Unleashed didn't have any mechanics within which utilised it, and that brings me smoothly onto some thoughts of my first PS3 title eva!!!11one1.

Now, the Force Unleashed's premise is where you play the super badass, secret apprentice of Darth Vader, Starkiller (wasn't that the original name for Skywalker, or did I read a bad trivia fact?!), set between Episodes III and IV, and will hopefully fill in the gaps between the two trilogies, but more about of the story later.

The only time I would die would be due to the annoying knock back onto bottomless pits, where Starkiller would animate getting to his feet, before realising where he was and in trademark Wile E. Coyote fashion, fall to his doom.

I've heard murmurs that this has been the most expensive game ever developed (I don't believe that's the case...), and it's an absolute must have for die-hard Star Wars fans. To be honest they're the main driving reason why the franchise is still knocking about, and whilst I really like the original trilogy (not so much the recent films), my nostalgia gland tingles on familiar locales in the game, not to mention the rousing fanfares that ebb and flow throughout the game. Unfortunately once you look past all of that, an average hack 'n' slash game is all that is found.

All the force powers you'd expect are included, force grip, push and lightning are at your disposal, and can be leveled up via three simplistic categories. The categories also allow you to purchase new lightsaber combos, and also buff your character with increased health, improved force regeneration etc. That being said, this RPG mechanic didn't leave the impression that I was developing a unique spin on Starkiller. The first level of the game sees you play a pimped out Darth Vader, sporting all the force powers at their maximum levels, it was a lot of fun tearing through the Wookie habitat - following that level, you begin the adventure with a nerfed Starkiller and you have to work your way back up to that level; what a tease.

The mechanics are very button mashy - there's not much strategy required here. A lot of the times, I run up to a group, work some force push/lightning and finish up with some lightsaber. Lightning is pretty much the standard point of attack, stunning pretty much every enemy in the game. That invites you to take the time to go to town with the lightsaber, or fling the smaller troops far with the force grip for instant kills. In fact, all this power becomes destabilising after a while. I actually never "properly" died in my playthrough. The only time I would die would be due to the annoying knock back onto bottomless pits, where Starkiller would animate getting to his feet, before realising where he was and in trademark Wile E. Coyote fashion, fall to his doom. Perhaps I was playing on too easy a difficulty and coupled with the health boosts you acquire through leveling, low health was never a problem. It was very consistent that my attack animations could be interrupted and that the enemies' animations couldn't - especially the 10 foot tall elite troopers later on (I've never seen those in a Star Wars film...)

Of course, the force allows you to double-jump, but it feels horrible and difficult to control. I was constantly caught out on the later levels which add a verticality to proceedings. Also walking off platforms meant that Starkiller falls directly down rather than retaining some forward motion as real physics dictates should happen, which for a game that boasts great physics, doesn't actually have any groundbreaking innovations. I never saw evidence of stormtroopers held in a force grip trying to grab their surroundings - as the game progresses, the difficulty ramps up by throwing more enemies your way so there wasn't much chance to observe.

The story of the game is probably the best thing about this game, but the story only exists in the cutscenes that separate the levels. I won't spoilt it here, but I did experience a disconnect with the dialogue early on in the game, but the story cleared that up in a rather predictable fashion. I'm annoyed at the love story that was shoehorned in - again completely needless and very clunky considering the storytelling experience the Lucas camp have. The levels themselves are exact copies of each other, the environment the only thing changes. Get ready to button-mash your way through waves and waves of enemies, the odd sub-boss mixing it up, before you reach the end encounter versus a master Jedi of some kind.

Be warned; when it comes to the boss fights, get used to coming up against good ol' quick time events. With the sub-boss/elite units you encounter throughout the level, an optional quick event sequence will be offered for a quick takedown when their health is low. Unfortunately, with the boss battles, these QTEs are mandatory. I wouldn't mind that much for two reasons: The first being that, the button presses you have to match are the same every time, so even if you're slow with the reactions, you'll soon commit them to memory. Also, once you've initiated the QTE, you're not getting out of it, so if you slip up, it resets back to the beginning, along with the accompanying FMV - "hey didn't you throw the junkrock at me, just a moment ago?!"

Speaking of QTEs and the buildup of this game, saw a trailer where Starkiller pulls a Star Destroyer out of the sky and crashing down to the Sith's feet. That was very cool. Sadly, the set-piece in the game does not approach anywhere near the level of coolness that it should have been. Some tedious analogue stick action separated by waves of tie fighters to interrupt the flow. It was only very frustrating as the tie fighters proved very hard to destroy, that is until I discovered that the only some can be destroyed on the left by using force grip, whilst others could only be zapped by force lightning on the right, very annoying, anyone else get this?

Overall, not a great experience, and nothing in it that made me want to repeat at harder difficulties. The story is the only redeeming feature of the game, although the fanboys will check this out through rose-tinted glasses. So my first PS3 game was not a keeper - in that time I did order Metal Gear Solid 4 which I will play through once I've gone through the current crop of Xbox 360 games that are begging me to play. I traded The Force Unleashed in for £18 and then paid the difference to get Civilization Revolution, a game of which I literally can't put down now, despite Fable 2's main quest screaming out for attention; a review will be on the way. The bundle deal I got The Force Unleashed meant that the game worked out as £10, so if only financially, I believe I've broken even, maybe even come out a little on top.

Also post #100, woah! Here's to another 100.

#3 ExtraLife Radio

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:56:00 +0100

It's been a long time since I put out a Podcast Review but I am obliged to cover Extralife Radio, not only because it is very awesome but I recently made a donation to the show. Making a donation means that your name gets read out at the top of the show, so I've posted a short clip from show #197 where the legendary Scott Johnson says my name- woah!

More after the jump...

I'll keep the review itself pretty short as it seems that the show is planning to end after episode 200 (technically one episode away, #199 was just released!). It's a big shame as it is a great show, one of the podcasts I really look forward to listening to.

But I've just realised I haven't mentioned what the show is about! OMG! At its essence, the show brings together three webcomics in a discussion over the week's "geek" news, whether that be recent film releases, video game previews, comic-related stuff etc. They include some personal stories as well, plus there's also a fair amount of banter thrown in too for good measure. The host is Scott Johnson of myextralife.com fame and he is the regular participant (as well as host, did I mention that?!), hence why he has lended the name to the radio show/podcast. The two other most regular appearances are from Brian from comicscoasttocoast.com and missiondeep.com and O(bsidian) from commissionedcomic.com. There are of course other guests on the shows, most notable Randy Jordan (aka Randy Deluxe) from the Instance (a WoW themed podcast which Scott also runs) who joins in to throw in his two cents usually about films as he's a massive film buff.

In short, it's a great show, more often than not released on a weekly basis, has a duration of just over a hour most times (although it can vary) which is great for my commutes. In addition to plugging the podcast, go check out their individual websites if you're into webcomics at all, it's very funny stuff. While initially I couldn't stand O at the start who always seems to cut across people and comes across as obnoxious; now I can fully appreciate what he brings to the table, plus more often than not he mixes it up to cause conflict and doesn't really mean a lot of it. That being said, I probably like O's comic the most. Scott's comic is what got me into the podcast and that was through his comic because of all the wow-themed comics he did many years ago when I was a World of Warcraft junkie (free at last!)

In conclusion, it's a fun, light-hearted show where three like-minded individuals come together to chat and joke about all stuff geeky which suits me down to the ground. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Where would you sit?...

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Sun, 5 Oct 2008 21:02:00 +0100

I went to a house party that was being hosted by an old friend, Marsh, or as I had to teach myself to say Chris as noone in Worcester (where he's currently studying) know him by the old name we used back in school. Anyways, the house party was a lot of fun, although too much drinking led me to forget exactly how it all ended but good none the less. It had all the makings of a good party; drinking, drugs and a large number of strangers to meet.

One rather cool thing that happened which I felt needed to be blogged about was a little conversation I had with this guy Kwan (don't know how it's spelt sorry) about some behavioural psychology which I do find very interesting. Anyways, not sure how we got talking about it but I posed a scenario to him, which I will repeat here:

You get on a bus and there's an attractive girl (or guy, whatever works for you) sitting in one seat. Knowing this, where would you sit?

I posed this to Kwan and I made a decision myself. Make yours and hit "read more" to see if there's some mutual thinking going on. I'd be curious to know what people chose.

It is was rather spooky, Kwan gave his answer: opposite and one row back. It was a proper woah moment, as I thought the exact same thing. I thought that was awesome and we tried to reason why - you wouldn't sit in front of the girl as you wouldn't be able to see her without obviously turning round. But why not directly behind her, or even opposite but on the same row?
It's no secret that I'm a big podcast nut and I would love to find a podcast that discusses this kind of stuff - unfortunately the couple I've tried haven't been that great.

That being said I did ask Chris later that evening, and he replied again opposite, but two rows back. The bubble had been burst but still he half agreed, so I'm clinging on to the victory.

#12 Soul Calibur IV

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:21:00 +0100

The next step towards myself renting Civilization Revolution took a little detour and with me changing my lovefilm plan to save a bit of money, Soul Calibur IV will be my last rented game for the foreseeable future. The reason being there are the likes of Fable 2 and Fallout 3, huge RPGs that I'll lose many a hour to, not to mention other upcoming releases like Gears of War 2. Then, factor in some of the games I've yet to really play through, Grand Theft Auto 4, The Orange Box, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, and it's obvious that I won't have the time to continue renting games that I'm interested in, just not enough to purchase. It's a shame that the last one of these is Soul Calibur IV...

Now, one point I need to stress, and probably the most important thing to take away from this, is that I don't like fighting games. Now that may be a result of me being generally poor at them which I'll get on to later - consequently this "review-of-sorts" will probably be on the short side.

Before I tear apart the mechanics and all the "different modes" of the game, a quick note on the visuals. With fighting games the immediate foreground is the only area of concern and with this being a relatively small area to render, fighting games have always been very beautiful and Soul Calibur is no exception. All of your (presumably) favourite characters are back along with a couple of new characters, including some Star Wars stars (see later...)

Pick a dude and fight a different dude. Sometimes you may have 2,3 or even 4 dudes in a row to kill, and you may be lucky to have one (or more) backup dude, repeat ad infinitum.

One notable feature of this game is the character creator, something I looked into after giving the story and arcade modes a quick go. Although it's understandable, the character you create is effectively a re-skinned clone of one of the existing characters in-game. There's not the option to build your own move-list unfortunately. Despite that, the look of your character is very customisable, and new weapons, clothes, accessories are unlocked as you make progress through the game. That being said once I had made a half-naked, busty chick with a squeaky voice, my interest in the character creator had subsided so I moved back into the main game.

So Soul Calibur offers a number of modes: Story, Arcade, Tower of Souls and then there's the online play as well, but in reality all this is the same thing over and over again. Pick a dude and fight a different dude. Sometimes you may have 2,3 or even 4 dudes in a row to kill, and you may be lucky to have one (or more) backup dude, repeat ad infinitum.

The main reason I don't like these style of games is the the tedium of going through looking up a character's move list, returning to the game and I'm there staring at the pad trying to perfect the diagonally-down X, X, Y move and getting frustrated that my character is instead performing the forward X, X move every time. Add to that the time spent looking at the pad trying to get the timing down, only to miss the AI character take off 50% of my health - it does not lead to an enjoyable experience.
If I ever pull off a very cool looking move, it really is a fluke and whilst the more extravagant combos do reward you with better looking and more damaging moves, I can never repeat them again - and that is more of a reflection of my own "playstyle", not necessarily a flaw with the game.

Something I can't stand about this genre are the pre-fight exchanges and Soul Calibur is no exception. Expect your character to taunt their opponent "I will have victory" or "get outta of my way!" are prime examples, or seemingly random lines - I find it hard to take seriously, and it's something which could easily be dropped. Are these build-up cutscenes there to build "drama" or are they masking loading times? Speaking of which, the game has surprisingly long loading times - definitely a game that will benefit from the "rip to hard drive" feature coming in the new dashboard, sorry the New Xbox Experience, sorry my bad...

Moving on and the game also boasts the inclusion of characters from Star Wars. The Apprentice from the recent The Force Unleashed game and Yoda (Xbox 360) or Darth Vader (PS3) are the included cast. There's no way to convince me of a cohesive story why these guys are in the Soul Calibur Universe. I played through the story with Yoda for the achievement, there was something about a rift caused by the force that teleported Yoda through, WTF?! The apprentice seems a little overpowered during my play through, he was consistently the roadblock I hit during the Arcade, plus his mutterings of "kill" and "die!" were pretty lame - maybe that's why I lost my concentration and subsequently the bouts...

It sounds like I really ripped into this game and I'll reiterate what I said at the start "I don't like fighting games". I have friends who are fans of the genre and the Soul Calibur series so I could just be a button-mashing idiot that can't handle more than four buttons. The test comes to how often you come back to playing the game and with this being a rented game, I wanted to get my monies worth, but every time I loaded up the game, the same mechanic stared back at me, only with increasingly sophisticated AI which can easily trounce my very "one-dimensional button-mash and hope for the best" mentality. Whilst I usually try a rented game for a week, (sometimes longer) I had to cut it short as there was nothing in this game for me that enticed me back.

What's your Green Karma?

jimiminar@googlemail.com (Jimiminar) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:53:00 +0100

I got the idea for this post whilst on the commute into work. For those not in the know, part of my commute consists of a bus journey. Getting closer to work, and I more often than not see a queue of cars in the other direction and as I go by pretty much every one has just one person in the car - maybe 1 in 20 there is a single passenger. Anyways, this got me thinking, that whilst I am tied down to public transport, I'm doing my bit to save the environment as opposed to these non-carpoolers.

Before I get shot down, I'm not claiming myself to be some kind of eco-warrior here - whilst I do subscribe to the public transport, I have a host of power-hungry, and no doubt world destroying, electronics at home, so there is some kind of balance. To answer the question I threw out there: What's my green karma? I'd probably argue that considering the above, I'm going to argue it comes out at about neutral. To help swing the pendulum in my favour I also buy fairtrade bananas from Sainsburys, so check me out...

That being said, as soon as I (finally) pass my driving test, I will ditch the joy of sharing a rickety and sometimes smelly bus full of noisy kids, chavs and drunken bums and become one of those lone occupants in the queues of cars I see. Does that make me a hypocrite? Probably. Am I ok with that? Oh yes.