Update on The Pitt

Bethesda got the fixed version ready for download yesterday so they really responded to the situation well. I played for about 3 hours last night. I was disappointed to see that my character wasn't advancing any levels. I thought for sure that was going to be in the DLC. I was confused though; advancement will be available available in the next DLC, Broken Steel. Bummer, as I was really looking forward to building my character up some more.

So far The Pitt is quite good. I'll add my final thoughts when I finish it up.

The Pitt = bugfest

So I downloaded the demo early this morning and I was able to play around with it for about 45 minutes, which was hardly time to get anything accomplished. But it was plenty enough for me to see that Bethesda put this DLC out with some nasty glitches. During one part of the game, I was treated to the sight of huge red diamonds, some floating in the sky, some clipping into the ground, all adorned with exclamation points. Nice. I ignored that and went on to the slave camp (where most of The Pitt take place) and my 360 locked up. By then it was time to get ready for work. Now I read that Bethesda has taken The Pitt off of Xbox Live and are in the midst of repairing it. The Pitt was already pushed back a month from the initial released date, so this is quite disappointing to an awful lot of people.

The latest update from Bethesda reads as follows:

"Okay here’s the latest. Our team is doing some final checks late tonight and if everything looks okay, we are hopeful it will be back up and available tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your patience"

If this is true, it is very good news and I will give Bethesda some serious props for taking care of this so promptly. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

More Fallout 3

I finished Operation: Anchorage last night, just in time for the release of The Pitt, which is downloading as I type. Operation: Anchorage was fun in it's own right, but I am looking forward to getting back to the role playing elements in The Pitt. I am also looking very forward to leveling up my character some more. I will post impressions once I get some time to play it for a while.

Fallout 3 - Operation: Anchorage

I finally got around to playing this add-on the other night. While it is very light on the RPG side of things, I still found myself enjoying it quite a bit. I am about halfway through and though it is a bit short, it was worth a purchase for me. It has certainly breathed new life into what was my Game Of The Year for 2008.

"Operation: Anchorage" is basically just a lot of combat with some new weapons. While I don't think these new weapons are any great shakes, just jumping back into combat mode was quite satisfying. This week sees more DLC for Fallout 3 in "The Pitt." It will be more like the main game in that it will have quests and allow the character to keep leveling up. This is good because I have been at the top level forever. Hopefully there is enough of a game to let me get my level up to 30, which is the new top. So far the previews for "The Pitt" look promising. I'll be sure to ge my impressions up as soon as I get some time with it.

A couple of movie recommendations

Both foreign movies...

My wife and I watched Let The Right One In a couple of days ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nothing earth shattering, just a unique take on vampires told in a quiet, understated way. The two young leads are fantastic. After watching the movie I went to IMDB and checked out some different theories on what all happened. Folks there who read the book shed lots of light on things that were a bit confusing. Really good stuff.

I also finally watched The Twilight Samurai, which I have had on DVD for ages. Just a fantastic movie. There's not a lot of action but plenty of drama in this one. It's about a widowed, low-ranking samurai that know what's important: he takes care of his 2 young daughters and goes about his business. When his childhood crush returns to his village after divorcing an abusive, higher-ranking samurai, he fights against his own code of loyalty, duty and decency. It's a terrific love story about a fundamentally good human being. This film set a record by winning 12 Japanese Academy Awards and was nominated for the Best Foriegn Film Oscar. Highly recommended.

Watchmen - the movie

I finally got around to seeing Watchmen last night. I read the book a while back and loved it. It was only the 2nd graphic novel I have ever read, so I am not heavily into superheroes or anything. Overall I enjoyed the movie. It stayed very true to the book. I would think that reading the book beforehand would give one a much better understanding of what was going on and would allow you to enjoy the film despite it's excesses. I can definitely see how someone that goes in cold would see it as a flat and bloated movie. This is because the of the way it's built; instead of telling a linear story, there are constant flashbacks. While this is also how the book was, it sort of deadens any sense of momentum that the movie should really be building. At 2 hours and 40 minutes it is quite long and without that momentum, it seems like some moderate trimming would help. I thought there was one false ending too many, for example. Some of the big denouements in the book came off a little flat and lifeless in the movie. But the ending, while not quite the same as the book, delivered fully. I should note that my brother, who has not read the book, said he thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

Jackie Earle Haley makes a great Rorschach. I also really liked Jeffery Dean Morgan as The Comedian and thought that Patrick Wilson gave a fine, reserved performance as Night Owl II. Matthew Goode, who played Ozymandias, seemed awfully slight for that role; he needed some freaking muscles. The film was beautifully shot; I saw it on a new digital screen and it was most impressive. If I was handing out grades, I'd give Watchmen a B-/C+. I'll be checking it out again on DVD when it is released.

Movie illustrations by Justin Reed

I stumbled upon these illustrations while browsing IMDB. Mr. Reed did some fantastic work showcasing some of the iconic movies of our time. Of course, I decided to display my personal favorite here, but all are well done and definitely worth checking out. You can find them here.

My money troubles are over!!!

Times are tough. That's certainly not news to anybody that isn't the CEO of a failing bank or insurance giant. Many people, including myself, have felt rising stress and pressure due to the poor economy and what it could mean for them and their family. Well, they say God works in mysterious ways, and I am hear to tell you my prayers have been answered. Just take a look at what appeared in my Inbox this morning, and try not to be too jealous:

Dear Friend,

Compliments of the season and my best wishes to you, I apologize if the contents here under are contrary to your moral ethics, but please treat with absolute secrecy and personal.

My name is Mr. Clarence Lim, I'm a Singaporean and a seasoned Banker with Malaysia HSBC Bank (Malaysia office), am as well an account officer to a deceased customer of our bank, we lost this customer in the tsunami disaster on the 26th December 2004 in Sumatra Indonesia and his account of US$19.761 million with us have been unclaimed due to unavailability of next of kin/relatives to claim his estate.

In accordance with the escheat laws in Malaysia as a kingdom, the board of directors of the bank met forth night ago and resolved to turn the estate of the deceased over to Government having waited for too long without the deceased relatives/next of kin surfacing property and if this is done, invariably, the funds will end up to become Government property and it is as a result of this that am moved to contact you considering the fact that you share almost the same name with the deceased.

In view of this, I am seeking your cooperation and understanding to stand as the deceased next of kin to enable us claim the inheritance before the period given by the bank elapse. If you are interested and in agreement with me, get back to me quickly and I will send to you all our bank contacts and the information you may need to proceed without coming to Malaysia, and be rest assured that it is risk free project and the proceedings will be shared 50% each once the fund are repatriated into your account anywhere in the world.

Please reply immediately with your information including your telephone number for easy communication and oral discussion.

I await your prompt response immediately.

Best Regards.

Mr. Clarence Lim."

Now first of all, I owe Mr. Lim an apology. He asked me to treat this e-mail with absolute secrecy and personal. Obviously, english is not his first language (he is a Singaporean after all), but the message was clear. Be discreet. But gosh darn it all, it's hard to keep such awesome news and good fortune under one's hat when you have just been handed the keys to Easy Street! I am sure Mr. Lim will understand.

Despite his penchant for poor grammar and run-on sentences (remember, he is a Singaporean after all!), I am in awe that this kind man has chosen to give me a share of the 19.761 million dollars that the unfortunate deceased client has left behind. And all because my last name is almost the same as that of said dead person! At first i thought this must be too good to be true, but then I re-read the e-mail and it is all right there to see, plain as the nose on my face! I must say that though I am delighted to be receiving so much good fortune (and money!), I will be reluctant to use the Malaysian banking system in the future, as they apparently have some really far-out rules and regulations. But I digress.

Once I verified that this offer was legit (by carefully re-reading the e-mail), I promptly responded so as not to be shut out of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It asked for my information and telephone number. Now I wasn't sure what information they wanted (next time don't be so vague, Mr. Lim!), so I figured I better just send it all. So along with my telephone number (with area code, of course; I bet they have different area codes in Malaysia and/or Singapore after all!) I sent them the following information:
Full name, date of birth, social security number, every living family member's name, DOB and SS number (duh!), credit card numbers and expiration dates, height, weight, tattoos, birthmarks, vices, nasty thoughts, troubling tendencies, pictures of me fully nude to provide visual evidence of birthmarks/tattoos, pictures of my wife fully nude to sort of grease the wheel if you know what I mean, pictures of my kids naked (hey, tastefully done and in no way pornographic, I assure you!) and pictures of naked friends/ex-lovers/total strangers that I have accrued over the years. If this doesn't seal the deal, I have also offered to give them a 10% "finder's fee" from the fortune that awaits me.

I don't want to be rude or anything, but obviously if (when!) this comes through for me, I shan't be bothered with blogging anymore. So wish me luck and know that when I cease to blog here, I have indeed had my wildest dreams come true. Heck, they are probably busy right at this moment, setting up my offshore account. Good luck to all of you; may you each find your own Singaporean banker/Genie to help you through these most trying financial times!

Back in the swing

After getting further along in my RTTS career, I am really enjoying MLB 09: The Show. It took a long while to get my player up to a level where he could do more than hit singles, but now that he is there The Show is great fun once again. Some are criticizing this game because it doesn't do anything revolutionary. But The Show was already an A1 game to begin with. This iteration simply refines the game play that was already present and makes it better. That is nothing to sneeze at. It is a very well done game, one of the finest sports titles yet made. What gives me tremendous hope for later in the year is that the producers of Madden Football have taken notes on what makes The Show so good and are incorporating some of the same theories into Madden. So the evolution of The Show could lead to a revolution of Madden Football.

5WGaming.com

Here's a shout-out to 5WGaming.com, one of the best gaming sites on the web. I lost track of 5WG when it moved to a new address and I missed it like hell. Shawn Drotar does an amazing job keeping up with what's hot in gaming and he's one heck of a writer as well. If you are into gaming, do yourself a favor and follow the link to 5WG. You'll be glad you did.

Chuck Norris for president...of Texas!

Oh my GOD, this is my favorite story of the year so far.

(CNN) – Actor Chuck Norris has his eyes on the presidency, but not the White House.

Norris wrote that he would be interested in becoming the president of Texas, if the state were ever to secede from the Union.

“I may run for president of Texas,” Norris wrote Monday in a column posted at WorldNetDaily. “That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state.”

The actor claimed “thousands of cell groups will be united around the country in solidarity over the concerns for our nation” and said that if states decide to secede from the union, that Texas would lead the way.

“Anyone who has been around Texas for any length of time knows exactly what we'd do if the going got rough in America,” Norris wrote. “Let there be no doubt about that.”

Apparently when the going gets rough, they'd run away.

What a patriot Chuck is. Remember when whiny liberals like Alec Baldwin threatened to leave the country if Bush was elected? Turns out they were good sports. Norris wants to leave and take states with him. He really loves his country, huh?

Pathetic whining. This is treasonous talk, I tell you! We should round up these traitors of the good old U.S. of A. and hold them indefinitely at Gitmo, IMO.

BTW, Chuck - lose the hairpiece. You're not fooling anyone.

P.S. - Check out some of the reader comments that follow the article. They are hysterical!

Computer back home

My (latest) computer saga is over. Exactly 2 weeks to the day, I finally got my PC back with a new chipset fan. They could not find the actual fan that I needed, so they had to jerry-rig one from 2 separate fans. It works, and my motherboard is cool, but it does not allow me to check fan RPMs, as the old one did. A bit of a bummer and I am still in disbelief that it took 14 days to come up with a solution. Anyway, I am happier than hell to have it back. I thank my wife for letting me use her laptop so much, but it just wasn't the same. It did keep me from going completely mental, however.

I finally got Jess's iPod Touch going. Poor dear waited quite a while before she could even use it for the 1st time. But she was very patient. I got her a case and a screen protector today as well, so she should be all set.

Well, I have all of my bookmarks back as well as iTunes, so I am back in business!

Still no computer

It will be 2 weeks on Tuesday. All to replace a simple chipset fan. They ordered the wrong fan originally; they didn't realize it wouldn't fit because my video card is so big. That makes me wonder if they even bothered looking at the thing before they ordered the part. Anyway, they ordered a different fan on February 27th and it still has not arrived. I have called them several times and they act like I am being unreasonable. Needless to say, they will never see my shadow again once I get my computer back. I ought to go ahead and name the company and get the word out, but I hate to do that to a small, locally owned business.

So I am still using Barb's laptop. It has kept me from going crazy, but I really miss my PC. I hope to get back to my regular online routine shortly, but we'll see.

More disappointments from The Show

After playing about 15 more RTTS game, my initial impressions still hold absolutely true. I have only seen 2 AA pitchers that have just 3 pitches in their arsenal. The rest have at least 4 or 5. It's really dumb and not life-like at all. Plus, as I said before, they throw the fastball 30-40% of the time which is way too rare. Even in obvious fastball counts (2-0 for example) they are still not throwing nearly enough fastballs.

Another thing. So far my RTTS CF has 38 hits. 37 of those are singles. That's right. I have 1 extra base hit and it was a double. Ridiculous.

Some of the goals you get during the game make no sense. For example, I have been asked to execute the hit-and-run about 7 times as a batter. Only on 2 of those occasions has the pitch thrown to me been even hittable. The rest are way off the plate and I cannot even make contact with them. Regardless, you lose 5 points for failing to execute the hit and run. In my first game tonight I was asked to H-n-R and I was hit by the pitch. I was penalized 5 points for not executing the H-n-R. I kid you not.

Other situations come up and there seems to be no logic. 4 or 5 times tonight I came up in a tied or one run game with a man on first and no one out. Every time the manager said swing away. No bunting is called for whatsoever.

Each time I have been told I have to complete certain goals to increase my skills in a category, they are the ones I would never spend points on. 2X in a row I have been asked to improve my bunting. As I just mentioned, I have never been called on to bunt. The last 2 sets of tasks I have been given have included batters vision and discipline . NEITHER of these things actually help you during the game as far as I can tell. So rather than spending your earned training points on something useful like contact or power ratings, you have to waste them on things that don't have an effect on actual gameplay and would not be selected by anyone except for the fact that you have to build up these categories up in order to earn a promotion. Ugh.

So far RTTS has been very disappointing to me. And that mode is the reason I get the game in the first place. I am not saying that my problems will be typical for anyone that gets the game. The lack of extra base hits, while alarming to the max, may simply be because my created player sucks (of course the game would not let me give him more than 25 for power when I created him, and as I said before, they want me to spend my training points elsewhere) or because I suck at actually playing the game. Very possible. Whatever the reasons, these are my results and I am not happy with them.

Some quick notes on MLB 09: The Show (PS3)

Got it last night and played about 20 Road To The Show (RTTS) games as a CF. Got drafted by the Braves. Yuck.

Overall impressions are great, but here's a few negatives I have seen so far at the AA level:

-Way too many AA pitchers have 5 quality pitches. Most guys at that level have 2 or 3 pitches they throw, not 5+.

-AI pitchers do not throw enough fastballs. I would guess so far they are throwing between 35-40% fastballs, which is ridiculous. Should be up around 60-70%.

-During batting practice, too many pitches are out of the strike zone, IMO. I can see 4-5 of the 20 pitches being balls, but I am getting 8-10 out of the strike zone each time out. I want to practice hitting, not watching balls go by. This is just my personal taste, however.

-Same stat bug as last year where on base percentage can be lower than batting average.

-When creating a player for RTTS, there are limits as to how many points you can assign to each attribute. For example, I could not get my player's power level above 25 against either righties or lefties. So I started out with basically no power whatsoever. That's weak. If I want to create an all-power, no contact or no fielding player, then I should be able to do so.

I do love that you can continually edit your player's appearance throughout RTTS.

BTW, my computer is still in the shop. GRRRRR!!!