Three games I'm not bothered about The title says it all really. Every year a slew of games are released, some good and some bad, but recently there have been a few which I know are going to be good, but I'm just not that bothered about them. If that doesn't make sense then let me explain below. Gran Turismo 5 Gran Turismo 5 was the game that I said I would buy a Playstation 3 for. It was first announced nearly four years ago and I've even found a preview dated the 5th of December 2007. Years later I don't have a Playstation 3 and even if I had the money I wouldn't buy one. The delays have been insufferable and what’s made it worse is that the competition has upped there game, if you'll pardon the pun. In those three years that GT5 has been tweaked and perfected games like Need For Speed: Shift and Forza Motorsport 3 have been released and what's more they have been very, very good. In many ways they've taken the Gran Turismo formula and tweaked it to make there games unique. I now look at GT5 and I can't see anything, apart from stunning visuals that would set it apart from the competition. In many ways the delays have meant that it is out of touch with the modern gaming world and instead of getting GT5 this Autumn we'll be left with a graphically updated version of GT3. Dead Space 2 I bought the first Dead Space and I was very impressed with it. The producers of the game were quite open about it and they said that they had taken the best bits of Sci-fi and horror movies and combined them into a game. It worked, the game itself was creepy, atmospheric and it had a good storyline. The only problem with it was that it was successful, not only was it a good game, but it also had very strong sales figures. Now add in a producer who instantly looks at those sales figures and commissions a sequel and you have a recipe for disaster. I've seen some of the videos for this game and I get a feeling that you'll be doing more of the same. You'll be alone, wandering through a derelict ship or space station and you'll be fighting a whole load of monsters that you saw in the first game. The whole premise of doing the same again doesn’t appeal to me. Fable 3 Before I begin it should be noted that I bought, played and loved the first two Fable games and up until Peter Molyneux started mouthing off I was really looking forward to the third game. If you have seen any of his comments then you will note that he has labelled both Fable and Fable 2's story as rubbish. Perhaps if he wants a better story he should look no further then to Final Fantasy 13. It has simplified the gameplay and focused on things such as improved graphics, a quality and complex storyline and ease of usability. Based on Peter Molyneux's recent comments I have to start thinking about how much of it is just mindless propaganda. We all know that Fable 2's biggest flaw was the clunky menu system, but he doesn't have to go around and say so. If he wants to be a master of PR he should let the game do the talking and perhaps go the way zippy did (If you don't know who Zippy google it and you'll see what I mean). What will happen after Fable 3 has been released and I've forked out forty pounds for the game, will he label it as rubbish or will he pat himself on the back and feed his massive ego. Based on all that Fable 3 is a game that I may pick up once the price drops to an acceptable level, but I've been put off from buying it on the day of release. I did have more to add to this list, but based on my Fable 3 rant I'll end it here for now and keep it short and sweet.
Even though I am temporarily unemployed I have been a very busy boy for the past few weeks. I have continued to apply for jobs, I think in the last couple of weeks I have applied for over twenty different jobs. This process can be soul destroying. Several of the jobs have required me to fill rather complex and lengthy application forms which take a minimum of two hours to complete. For all the hard work and the effort that I put into these forms the only thing that I receive is a standard response saying, “No thanks, you're not good enough for this job.” I try and think that I get this response because of the high levels of unemployment that we are continuing to face, but it is never a nice feeling to be rejected even when you think you're perfect for that job. I have to go to the Jobcentre on Tuesday for my thirteen week meeting. The worst thing about the Jobcentre is that you go and meet someone every two weeks to “sign on”, they take a quick look at my Jobseekers diary, get me to sign on the dotted line and then that's it. There's nothing else for me to do but to go home and sit my unemployment funk and feel like they couldn't give a s*** about me or anybody else who walks into that place seeking help to get back into work. If they tell me that I haven't been trying hard enough then I will kick off. On a more positive note I have completed three short stories and I've sent these off to literary magazines for publication. Even though I feel that I have produced these to a high standard with engaging characters and good story-line’s I am expecting rejections. That doesn't matter as I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment at getting these done. Even if they do reject these stories I have ideas to expand these and turn then into larger pieces. As for the title of this piece, burn out. I do feel really knackered, but that feeling of tiredness comes from working hard over these past couple of weeks and I feel rather happy at that.
One of the posts on the forum got me thinking about the future. What will it be like? Here are just a few thoughts from my mind on what life would be like one hundred years from now. Kinect will be coming to the Xbox360 soon and it promises voice, facial and movement recognition. I personally don't think it will work quite as well as Microsoft claims, but with every new invention someone else will take that base idea and improve upon. In twenty years time this could be common place, but what if we go beyond that. What if we move into thought recognition, would it not be weird if we could control the T.V., lights, music and most other things just with a thought. It would certainly make watching the T.V. with your other half interesting, every millisecond the screen would flicker between Topgear and EastEnders. It also raises a question of what will a T.V be like in the future. We will move beyond having flat screen T.V’s and into full holographic technology. Imagine if all you had to do was place a ball, no bigger then your hand, in the centre of the room and then bang the whole room would explode with images. Not high definition images, but real definition images. Imagine if you wanted to watch a nature program, a satellite any where on in orbit would be able to scan down and search for a specific species, map there terrain and extrapolate an image based on what it can detect. You could have live streaming images anywhere in the world without having to place annoying CCTV cameras in the street. Cars as we know them will be gone, electric cars will be a thing of the past as well, hydrogen fuel cell cars will probably be the most common car. Governments are already considering a pay as you drive sort of scheme and I think something like this could make it to expensive to drive regularly. I also think that as the population expands to untold proportions then owning a car and driving to work as we know it will not be possible due to high levels of congestion. I think the bike may make a major reappearance with the slogan of “go anywhere, any-time.” For the purist the common pedal bike will still be around, it will also be supplemented with an electric model for those who are just to lazy to move their legs. I would love to see major inroads made into space travel by the end of the century, unfortunately I just can't see it being done. I think manned missions to Mars will have taken place, maybe one or two. I certainly think some sort of mining mission will be taking place on the surface of the moon. Only a handful of people will get the chance to go to space and mine the moon. Virgin Galactic are planning on sending people into space on a short two hour trip, personally I think after the first few thousand rich people have had a go at this then business will dry up and it will die faster then the Dodo. This brings me onto the final topic, Robots. They will have there advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that they will be able to do the manual labour jobs efficiently, quickly and without endangering human lives. The disadvantages are that this will mean that those who don't have great qualifications will struggle to get jobs. I can easily see a class divide emerging. One between those who can afford the best for their children and those who aren't fortunate enough to have everything tailor made for them, simply put it will between the rich and the poor. Civil wars might even break out, but the government would be able to deploy there army of Robots to quell the rebellion. (Please be aware that this is only a hundred years in the future and Robots will not have become sentient and overthrown mankind by this time). Anyway, those are my thoughts on the future, bye.
I was a little bit bored today so I started rummaging through my old stuff and I came across something which I last edited over five years ago. This is it and it's titled 'Life after Death'. The only thing is I'm not to sure what it was supposed to be. Please someone help me, I'm dying right in front of you. The pain cripples me, The heartache stabs me, And this life drops me. I'm nothing more then a faded memory, Forgotten by most, Failed by most, And left to exsist in this neverending misery. Please someone save me, I'm falling into despair. I'm far away from you, I'm lost in the Neverworld, I'm dying in this thoughtless world. Come a little closer and You'll die, Come a little closer and I'll kill you myself. You know it makes no sense, I know it makes no sense. You left me for dead, And now you are the one, Far away from me, Lost in the Neverworld, And You're thriving in this thoughtless world. Come a little closer and I'll die, Come a little closer and you'll kill me yourself. Please someone save you, From me. I think it was meant to be song lyrics, but I'm sitting here thinking, 'seriously, did I do that'. I might try putting that with some heavy metal music, screeching guitars, banging drums and a second singer going 'ARRRGH' in a slightly demonic tone.