• 21Apr 09

  Blogenomic Downsizing To Reduce (Time) Spending

  A month ago there were some changes in my life, and it meant that some of the things that I did to pass the time became too much and I couldn't make time for them.

  A lot of the television shows I downloaded and watched are now off my regular playlist, and my podcast listening habits have also been cut down drastically. I liked writing reviews but it took too much of my time, so it also had to go.

  One of the things to go was this very blog, which I've always enjoyed writing for on a semi-regular basis. It's just that I'm too busy to do these "extra" things anymore, and I'd prefer to focus my remaining time on other things like playing games and drinking beer. You know, important stuff.

  Something's gonna happen with The Blackboard in the near future. This page is gonna be a ghost town now so there's no point putting it here anymore.

  I've got some things in testing at the moment that may or may not amount to anything, but you never know. The point is that If I do get back into creating content for my blog, it won't be any time soon.

  So anyway, thank you for visiting my blog in the past. I still always make time to read your stuff, so please keep it up.

  Finally, I've dumped my remaining leftover items I had been working on a while ago. Please keep in mind that all content was not completed and finalised, so forgive me if something doesn't make sense.

  Enjoy!

  elektrixxx.

  • Posted Apr 21, 2009 3:03 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 9 Comments
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• 21Apr 09

  Offcuts #2

  Thanks for scrolling down a bit!

  
  After a few weeks of using Twitter, I had written nothing in my blog until my Level 3 podcast promo. I never wanted to use the term "macro" in a title also because I had used it previously in "Macrotransactions".

  
  Macro-blogging (Working Title)

  It's been ## days since I posted a new entry.

  I normally have something to write, but there's been something keeping me from doing it.

  After some thought I've come to the conclusion that it's twitter that's killing my blog.

  I could've wrote about things like my McDonalds apple pie wrapped in a Hotcake, or fainting while getting a blood test or getting a new job but instead it was all wasted on throw away bite sized posts.

  
  This pre-dates me using my Twitter account. Looking back it would've been perfect for it.

  
  The Fresh Food People (Working Title)

  The Woolworths song annoys the hell out of me. What makes it worse is that whenever you're in their supermarket they play it in there too!

  
  This was written before Christmas 2008.

  
  20GB HDD Lives! (Working Title)

  After upgrading to a 120GB hard drive for my Xbox 360, my 20GB hard drive lay dormant in the new hard drives packaging... until now.

  Among my group of friends I am the resident Rock Band/Guitar Hero DLC downloader (and the only one with a drum kit), so whenever a gaming night was planned, I had to pack up my mic, guitar and drums. My brother also couldn't play the 360 while I was away becauseI took the HDD.

  My 20GB hard drive is now set up with a copy of all my purchased Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour DLC, as well as three extra profiles set up for instant band play.

  I could copy most of my data using my Memory Unit, but the larger files: "Metallica - Death Magnetic" and the ACDC Track Pack had to be redownloaded.

  
  This was written during my play though and review of skate 2.

  
  From "Review" (Working Title)

  I Always wanted to write game reviews, but issues like not wanting to take notes while playing and difficulty describing situations because I don't have enough words in the dictionary in my head have held me back for a while.

  I've attempted reviews in the past, but my method of writing them was unplanned

  A good review is hard work.

  I hate reviews that focus too much on simply outlining the features of a game. Anyone can look up a game's features elsewhere. A review should focus on the reviewers opinion and not just reading the back of the box. Many of GameSpot's reviews are guilty of this, leaving you with no real opinion on whether a game is good.

  I find it easier to talk about the negatives in detail. Saying that something works well doesn't seem neccessary to talk about in detail. That information can be found in previews and press releases.

  I also decided to post my review at multiple areas. My review's been posted at GameSpot, Giant Bomb, IGN, 1UP and Level 3.

  learning how to use everyone's review scales. Considerations to make with innacuracies across websites. Why did I give skate 2 a 7.5 here and a 7.7 on IGN? Because I can.

  To my surprise I've had a couple of personal offers from two game websites to write for them, after only one review. I checked 'em out and the PM's weren't from bots or anything like that. I'd love to do something with that, but my priority at the moment is to get a paying job first before setting any of my time for other stuff.

  elektrixxx.

  • Posted Apr 21, 2009 3:01 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 21Apr 09

  Half-Baked Review: Resident Evil 5

  When I said half-baked, I wasn't kidding. Most of my review template is still here, along with some inaccurate statements because I never got 'round to completing the game. As well as having my free time cut, I just lost interest after the torch in the cave thing.

  _____
  STORY

  Chris Redfield of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance is off to Africa and local Sheva Alomar (who is also a BSAA member)

  investigate (missing) weapons from Umbrella corp

  past RE games involving Jill
  ________
  GRAPHICS

  With the exception of the introduction, all cut scenes are in game

  A few scenes sometimes surprise you with quick time events

  Split-screen multiplayer does

  Constant screen tearing, especially noticable during cutscenes

  quality character models / animations

  improved cut scene graphics

  Realistic motion blur

  engaging interactive cut scene

  high quality character models across the board
  ________
  GAMEPLAY

  wastes no time getting into the action

  Sheva picks up items, revives you, gives you ammo? Always runs out of ammo? (only if you ammo hog?)

  Holding too far to the left or right makes your character stop running
  ____
  TECH

  Minimal loading

  Good physics

  ________
  CONTROLS

  clunky controls prevents quick fine tuning

  Too many button presses for simple tasks such as reloading, using items, melee attack

  __________
  CONCLUSION

  The poor controls are the only thing that retains the horror.

  elektrixxx.

  • Posted Apr 21, 2009 2:56 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 3 Comments
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