This week I are be mostly playin'

It's been an Xbox 360 sort of week with Burnout Paradise, and Arkanoid.

I got Burnout Paradise again (already played it to death on the PS3) because I was challenged to some matches by a 360 owner. I was surprised to not hear ONE SINGLE person talking online with Burnout Paradise. The only difference between the two versions is that in just a few days, the Xbox 360 version has crashed a few times, where as that hasn't happened to me in a LONG time on the PSN. I purchased all the DLC for the PS3 version, so if I do get anything extra for the 360 version, it would probably just be Cops and Robbers, as that's the only payed download that really added something fun to the game.

Arkanoid was good, even though it had some strange Steps vibe. The music was odd.

This week I are be mostly playin'

This week it's been Burnout Paradise (for PS3), because of the toys update, and trying to get some oddly missing trophies.

Fallout 3 on PS3.

Wipeout HD

Killzone 2, which is very intense, and haven't even gotten to playing multiplayer yet.

Super Mario World and Mario Kart on the SNES (Super Nintendo).

This weeks on-hold items are;
GTA IV on PS3 - Abandoned the save a while back to get trophies, and really enjoying it this go around.

Fable 2 - Sorry but I TRIED to like it, but it really isn't my thing. The game is set in what looks like where I used to live in England. Perhaps homesickness is what puts me off?

Overall I seem to be remembering that I just prefer the PS3 to the Xbox 360. Nothing specific, but I think it's got something to do with why I didn't bother with an original Xbox until very late in the game. Now the question of which system to buy a game for is not going to be such an issue as I just prefer the PS3 and the way it works. The creepy Xbox 360 avatar doesn't help.

Retro classic gaming tales part 3 of ..er.. we'll see

Intellivision


I remember looking at the Intellivision over and over in the Littlewoods catalogue. In fact, the word 'Littlewoods' in Greek, means 'small payments, long time, big total'. The Intellivision had two fairly large controllers which were 8-way directional discs with buttons on the front. You got two plastic overlays with each game that you slid into the controllers for your basic selections. There were also two buttons on each side of the controller for more action packed goodness.

One I think I played a lot of was Auto Racing. Top down racer, with the tracks that were much larger than just one screen. Five different cars, from slow and turnable, to fast and drifting. In two player mode, it was simple, as you both played on the same screen, the first player to reach the leading edge of the screen won the point. So it was a good balance of, I'm in front but have less time to see the corners. The part about this I got into later was going off the track into the wilderness. Which was really just what ever the programmers had put in areas you were just never meant to look at. I get the feeling that you COULD go into these areas because they simply never even considered such a thing might happen. It was an exciting adventure that could last many minutes, navigating the bushes/trees/random squares of concrete. If you did this, you too would have discovered the drag strip. Once you knew the track layout, and put in a little time, it seemed that your car was always oriented for one turn ahead, and you could even perform 360's on the turns. But remember ONLY try this if you're a professional. Looking at it now, it does seem strange that the tracks were all set in what looked like residential areas, and not just raceways.

Also played a LOT of Soccer, because I think it's the one you got with the system. This was the first I remember of how you always could score a goal if you shot from the corner of the penalty box. A life skill which carried me through many soccer games for years to come.

Astro Smash was just a vertical asteroids of sorts. Left, right, shoot, avoid incoming death. Even had endless random teleporting. This resulted in anyone playing it the first time thought they were first to figure it being a way of being invincible, and got killed about 10 seconds into the teleport-button-spamming technique.

Space Hawk, now that was something. Adventuring through space coming across all sorts of weird aliens, and hopefully one day being able to tell my grand children, that I was one of the few that met, in person, the Space Hawk.

If you feel the need, you can get this as an Xbox Original, directly to your Xbox360. Gosh darn it, after all this, even though I have it on the PS2, I may just have to splurge the Microsoft Points myself!

Retro classic gaming tales part 2 of ..er.. we'll see

Game and Watch Donkey Kong


Yeah I was going to be clever and mention that you can now get this in the US via Club Nintendo, for the DS. It includes three original 'Game and Watch' titles, of which, Donkey Kong was the one I had as a kid.

Register your DS or Wii games to get gold coins, then you can redeem them for weird Nintendo related shwag. The games come with a printed serial number. Remember to stop and look at all those health warning flyers that you normally throw straight away, and other useless little pieces you get, as the codes are on the back of one of them (somewhere).

Complete a survey, get coins. Do enough surveys, cash in your coins, get stuff.

I don't have enough coins for this particular trip down memory lane... yet.

Inaugural Address, President Barack H. Obama, 20th January 2009

Inaugural Address, President Barack H. Obama, 20th January 2009,
originally uploaded by DigitalLyte.

Here is the full text of these historic words

One of my fave parts....

"We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do."

The technology agenda

Retro classic gaming tales part 1 of ..er.. we'll see

At the end of 2008 I heard more classic gaming stories, than in previous years.

So here's my journey...

The earliest game I can remember is a yellow LED battery powered game, Galaxy Invader 1000 that was something like Galaxians... only er... not quite. Played it to death, and I remember it being VERY hard!



I originally put the entire gaming history of Krysss.com towers in one post. However it became a long list of YouTube videos which while a lot of people would identify with, wouldn't really be that interesting. So I need to go away and try to remember some vaguely interesting stories to put around these games.

As for this little plastic game, I cannot remember much about it, but I am shocked I could track it down online.

Wipeout HD on the PS3

KrysssCom Wipeout HD 9-28-08 (17),
originally uploaded by Krysss.

Super futuristic racing. Great design, great music, and weapons. You may notice me here, nearly being smooshed all over the track by some awesomely swooshy rocket thingies. This futuristic 1080p racer (a $20 download from the Playstation Network store) may make me get out the surround sound speakers again.

More dirty, dirty things

In my recent run of crustily grungy computers, I had the misfortune to find one which doubled as a 'mystery box o' stench'. Within moments of pressing the power switch, an aroma of frown filled the room. I took a LONG time cleaning it, then myself, then the room, then the things I used to clean the room. Oh and if you were wondering, there appeared to be nothing else wrong with it. It was a case of 'well it worked fine when I tried it'. The below image doesn't show the grot that fell off just by moving it around, and removing the front of the case.


Hold your breath!

IBM 300PL desktop unable to boot

I get asked to resurrect all kinds of ancient hardware, and this was no exception. An IBM 300PL desktop system with a strange error message on booting up.

The RF-ID Tag has changed
184 Asset control antenna not detected
System-Security Keyboard is locked.
System-Security Keyboard is unlocked.
176 The system has been tampered with.
Turn power to your system Off then On.
Your system is now locked.

Mysteriously 1984ish style boot message.

After lots of Google searches it appeared to come down to a couple of things. Changing the BIOS battery, resetting the BIOS, or malfunctioning capacitors on the motherboard.

Once you open up the case (and let all the ancient spirits similar to the Ark of the Covenant swirl around the room and dissipate) you may be lucky enough to find a sticker directing you to certain motherboard features.


This sticker was inside the lid of the case, which detaches completely, giving you an awesomely metallic one page book of instructional knowledge and power.


So according to this, the jumper is more or less in the center of the board. The sticker indicates the position to reset the BIOS. It's just a matter of moving the little plastic jumper so it connects the other two pins of the three, for a moment, and then putting it back again.



Here is the jumper on the board, yes, it's THAT exciting!


If after all that, it still just refuses to work, and all the cables appear to be connected (and you have removed the battery for a moment, or better still, replaced it entirely) then it could be the capacitors on the motherboard. I am so not into replacing these types of components, but if they are swollen or leaking they should be replaced.



The rest of the board appeared ok, but these looked jolly bulgy indeed to me. I have had other PC's die slow painful deaths from just this very issue.


And now a dirty and some might even venture, filthy, image for your delight...


If you know anything further, leave a comment.

People and Zombies - Somebody please make this.

Ok since getting addicted to Burnout Paradise, and recently trying Wii Fit, I believe there is a great opportunity to combine the two.

"People and Zombies"

A massively multi-player game where a group of people have to survive against a horde of zombies. Make it to the safe point, and you are good. Get bitten by a zombie, you become one yourself.

As a person you have to make it to a specific location which is safe. Being that people would play over and over, the maps contain multiple safe areas, but only ONE is considered safe at a time. Also on the map are medical stations which dispense serum to allow a recently bitten person to fend off the otherwise inevitable transformation into an undead zombie.

As a zombie you have to stop at all costs (and as you are dead, those costs are pretty low to start with) the people from all reaching safety.

People can;
Walk fast.
Drive cars (perhaps vehicles that can carry other people)
Get healed at stations.
Use weapons
Voice chat people within a very limited range.
They cannot;
Have a radar.
Survive long falls, car accidents, or other physics related antics.

Zombies can;
See everyone on the map
Sit in cars, but not drive them.
Survive otherwise deadly drops/explosions/car accidents.
A strong enough to drag items to block roads or doorways.
They cannot;
Voice chat
Drive cars
Use healing stations
Survive very specific head shots.
Cars can be driven by people, and not zombies. However, zombies can sit in cars, forcing people to check out a car before entering.
Cars cannot drive into buildings.
Guns can be used by people, but when a zombie carries a gun, it shoots randomly in any direction. So there is a slight chance of hitting something.

People can run faster than zombies, using the stepping board. Everything else is steered using the controller.

Zombies are stronger than people, and can survive certain things that people cannot. However this would be accumulative and the zombie would become slower with each incident.

To turn a person into a zombie, they have to be bitten, or splashed with blood. So if a person is standing around, and a car takes out a zombie, it would turn that person into a zombie through infection. The healing stations will delay the inevitable, but not cancel it out. So you have to dose up every now and again to be able to make it all the way to the final goal.

Voice chat is only available very locally, otherwise either side could organize themselves super fast and then it would become a case of who could get to something first and keep it, rather than any mystery as to what was hiding around which corner. Perhaps have the option to speak as a zombie, but it comes out all garbled, messing up short range communications with people nearby.

The safe point for the people could perhaps be one randomly chosen point on the map, out of a set. Zombies cannot enter safe points, but they can enter any safe point which is not active for that particular game. So a person can enter the safe point, still to find zombies inside. This could encourage lots of bluffing by zombies hanging around outside a safe point, to imply that it is the final goal. The safe point could be a randomly dropped thing like a truck or some other supposed portable medical facility. Safe points would be made so that the doors couldn't be blocked by zombies dragging large items in front of the door.

More to come....


Who doesn't like anything with zombies in it?