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Unboxing AoC

w00t! My Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Deluxe Edition finally arrived.

I had a gift certificate left over for the US Amazon.com. Of course, such a certificate could not be used at the amazon.ca … so I was forced to import, and therefore wait. In fact, I was forced to order the deluxe version (which I’m happy with) … amazon.com wouldn’t export the regular version. Also, I think I got screwed out of any pre-order benefits by going with Amazon. But whatever.

AoC Delux Unboxing

I love getting new games. And mmm-mmm … I love that new game smell. New game smell, of course, is much enhanced by the inclusion of ‘cloth’ map and bonus books. (First cloth map in years, for me). I haven’t yet made it through the whole sound-track, but thus far, it’s great.

Unfortunately, it’ll likely be the weekend before I get rolling. What servers are all the cool people hanging out on?

RealFeatures #1: Urination

There are so many games that tout “realism” with their features. But do we really want realistic games? Realistic flight simulators wouldn’t let you time-compress while you coast for hours in a straight line. Realistic FPSs would end quickly and bloodily. And realistic RPGs… Well… In this new series, we’ll discuss realistic features that might not play out so well…

Depends

Did you ever notice that you drink water like a sponge in World of Warcraft, but there’s only a couple of outhouses in the entire game? And you sure never USE them. But what if urination was a factor in RPGs? Over time, your accuracy- and concentration- related abilities begin to decay. Faster if you drink caffeine or alcohol. And then, after a semi-random amount of time… Your leg-slot armor is automatically unequipped! Optionally, it takes some durability damage. But your accuracy comes back. Now THERE’S realism.

Disclaimer

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Except when what happens is embedded in metallic pigment in your skin. And you blog about it. Then, it doesn’t stay in Vegas.

UPC
Bonus points to whoever identifies this. It doesn’t count if you’re one of the few who already knows.

The commercials should say as much.

Remakes!

After reading this Tobold post, I had a few moments of nostalgia. We see enough remakes made in film and TV; what classic games (or at least older games) are crying for a remake? In my opinion, for instance, the PS2 revamp of Spy Hunter was pretty decent! And Bionic Commando is coming… awesome! What other games could ride on this trend?
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Tweak and Geek Podcast #7

The seventh episode of Tweak and Geek has been released. This time, we talk about Gravatars, laptop recommendations, listener voicemail, and IMGDC, and have a heated discussion about programming styles.

Tweak & Geek

Getting Established and GTA

We’re supposed to get cable and internet tomorrow. Meanwhile, we’re plenty busy unpacking and the like. We did get the entertainment systems hooked up in the living room, but without cable, the TV is less than completely useful. So this morning during breakfast, instead of watching the news, I watched the faux-TV in GTA IV. Kudos to the developers, because it was at least as entertaining as anything “real” in this time bracket! Weazel News FTW!

MMO Music

Last week I wrote up a summary of places online to find the soundtracks of several of the big MMO. If you like MMO music, check it out. And if you know of additional sources, please leave a comment!

While going through the process of cataloging these sources, it occurred to me, some MMO soundtracks were personally memorable … others, not so much. Eight (8!?) years on and I remember the score to Ultima Online (and can probably name the town associated with each tune). Seven years on and I remember the soundtrack of Anarchy Online.

Then, for many years, the soundtracks of MMO failed to stick. Quite honestly, I simply don’t remember there being a soundtrack for SWG. Same for City of Heroes. If I struggle, I can vaguely remember a lot of wood whistle (or some similar instrument) in the score for Bree in LotRO. This, despite the fact that the music of LotRO is awesome.

Perhaps my interests have changed. Maybe I no longer take the time to stop and just listen. Maybe I’ve had a stroke, impacting only my ability to remember MMO soundtracks. Very real possibilities, perhaps.

But I also believe that the relationship between MMO and its music has changed over the years. Here’s why I think so …

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Tache and Emi Travelblog: Day 5

Our first full day in San Diego! The weather was so beautiful. Definitely warmer than Atlanta right now, but still fabulous. We did some driving, some rental hunting, and a little bit of shopping. We managed to drive west far enough to find the ocean, which was awesome.

We are staying for a week in an extended stay hotel. It’s very basic, but we were able to cook some pasta for dinner. We are definitely looking forward to getting a more permanent place and also getting our stuff from the movers. Even the sofa.

(You guys have to deal with me posting today as Tache is off for his first day at work and I’m the only one without gainful employment. I figure while I spend my day looking for a job I can post an update on here!)

The pad
Home, “Suite”, err… studio?

Made it!
Photographic proof that we made it after all this!

Sitting pretty
The kitty is very happy to not be in the car today and is lounging like the pampered pet that she is.