Red Dead Redemption

I'm still on a bit of a gaming kick. I got Red Dead Redemption about a month ago. It seemed like a risky acquisition, as I also bought the last Grand Theft Auto game and didn't like it much. GTA was highly touted with great reviews but it didn't seem all that great to me. I got bored with it very quickly. This game is basically the same thing set as a western. Yet, I love it. Why?

 

I have to think that the hunting of animals makes the game. That's pretty much all I did at first was try to get the hunting badges. Also the treasure hunting feature is cool. The main storyline and quests start to get repetitive. I say that, yet the last couple of quests involved stealth, a train, and explosive charges. So, right about when I was getting bored, they changed-up the gameplay.

 

I'm a fan of western movies and the music in the game is very Spaghetti Western inspired. That's kinda cool.

 

There's also mini games of poker, blackjack, horseshoes, liars dice, arm wrestling and 5 finger fillet. Those are intersting for a while.

 

Overall, I have had fun with this game and recommend it. Right when I started to get bored, it got better and drew me back in. I think I may just see this thing to the end, unlike GTA. There's an unlocked area of the map I have yet to open up. I think I'll play it up to that point at least. But I'm also eyeing that Dead Rising 2 game. Zombies + makeshift weapons + multiplatform release = my next game purchase?

Bauer Supreme One 80 - Review

I mentioned getting new skates a few posts ago. My new Bauer Supreme One 80's are very different from the used Graf skates I had. First of all the fit was undoubtedly better. The Grafs were not baked to fit my feet and were a cross between Japanese foot binding and a Medevil torture device. Hardly a fair comparison. It was an admittedly dumb move to buy cheap, used skates. I am not the person to even be "reviewing" skates, since this is only my second season of ice hockey. But I will say that these skates feel great.

 

I've skated in them twice this weekend. I felt a little "pressure" in the arch of my right foot. Not sure what that's all about. But I'm so used to my feet aching and my ankle swollen, that the Bauers are night and day. From my roller hockey days, I've always felt that Bauer skates were too narrow for my feet. I have small, wide feet with a pretty high arch. When you think short and wide, you think Barney Rubble feet. Yet, I still have a high arch and bony ankles. Very odd. Getting the Bauer skates in a wide width made for a great fit. The toe box is the narrow area, but it doesn't bother me.

 

I think the Graf skates had a wicked rocker. At least compared to the Bauer's it feels that way. I feel a lot more stable, but not as nimble on the Bauers. I think it may just be a matter of cutting a little more rocker. I don't mind the skates the way they are, but future fine tuning might be possible? There is definitely a forward lead built into the Graf skates. I kinda liked that. It seemed to fit my stride. Yet, stopping in those skates was very tough for me. I've had much better stopping ability in the flatter Bauers. Yes, I'm attempting to give my opinion on skates and have yet to master stopping on ice.

 

So, if you are a rookie player using someone's old Graf skates and they are killing your feet I encourage getting some Bauer Supreme One 80 skates.

 

 

NG Fighters get reinforcements

Well, it was a much better off season than I had expected. I got to the rink only to find a packed locker room. We had apparently picked-up a few new players. There was a rumor of us getting several new guys "from Canada", but I didn't put much stock in it. Yet, we started the game with 3 forward lines. A new defenseman and new goalie.

 

The new guys made all the difference. We came back from 0-2, to win the game in overtime 3-2. The downside is that our new defenseman will probably not play anymore games with us, since he already plays in an upper division at TSC. The new forwards are probably well beyond the Novice division as well. I know that ringers are a part of all rec sports, but I don't think that makes it right. It is an interesting personality for guys that sandbag and play well below their skill level. Isn't a person that picks out inferior competition to insure victory, a bully?

 

 

 

 

Samsung Captivate GPS Fix/Update

Samsung announced a GPS fix today (the link below is via Engadget). This is great news. As one of my chief complaints about the phone is the GPS acquisition time and reliability. Apparently, the fix will be pushed out to customers over the next few weeks via a notification on the phone. Nice. If the "fix" works, I will be one happy Captivate owner. I have some mixed feeling about this, however. As I hope it doesn't mean that the Froyo 2.2 upgrade will be pushed back...

 

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/22/samsung-captivate-gets-gps-fix-other-galaxy-s-versions-wait-pat/

Training Camp

NHL Training Camp opened last Friday. My rec league training camp was also open. Since we missed playoffs, I had a few weeks off from playing. Which was nice. I got a chance to rest my feet and ankles. But it is time to start getting back into playing shape.

I had been using some poorly fitting, used skates. The intent of these skates was to use them a couple times per year at best, when my family got together to play hockey around the holidays. So, they didn't cost much and it didn't matter that they killed my feet for one or two days out of the year. But weekly use was not good. I have some pretty weird shaped ankles. Sharp ankle bones which stick out to the sides, don't fit well in skates. I had developed a bone spur of sorts on my left ankle and it was only getting more and more swollen as the weeks went on.

At the end of the regular season I invested in some new skates. It turns out that one of the benefits of having baby feet, is that I border on the sizing between senior and junior skates. So, I got a much better model of skate than I would have been able to afford at senior pricing. And one of the only skate models that didn't hurt my feet were on the higher end of the price scale (go figure).

I'm pretty excited about getting back to playing hockey. The fact that the NHL is starting back up at the same time, only adds to my anticipation. It will be cool to spot a few of the Kings players at the rink, since I play at the Kings practice facility. I'm anxious to try out my new skates. I'm ready to start fresh with a new season.

On the downside, we didn't make many roster adjustments over the off season that I know of. I was hoping that a few on my friends were joining the team, but that didn't work-out. It's pretty common to get a lot of people wanting to play, but getting signed-up is a whole other story. I don't think we have a goaltender finalized. I'm a bit concerned. We were a pretty bad team last season. Another season of playing together will help, but the bottom line is that we need to add a little more skill to be competitive. i don't know what to expect until I walk into the dressing room and see who we have.

Bring Back the Gamer Addiction - Batman: Arkham Asylum

I've made-up with the PS3 lately. We have a rocky, on-again, off again relationship.

The latest use of my non-work, non-family, non-sleeping time has been Batman: Arkham Asylum. What a great game! I've had it on my radar for a year now. Finally got it, at a bargain basement used price. I liked the gameplay. The use of Batman gadgets in the game was obviously required, but also well done. I think there could have been more intricate gameplay, but I liked it as-is. I'm a bit of old-school gamer. By that I mean all thumbs with modern controllers. Going from a single stick and single button, ala Atari 2600, has been a long, slow process. Yet, it is still difficult for me to work 10-buttons, 2 sticks, and a d-pad very effectively. Even I could play Batman without much button confusion.

Graphics were solid. There is such high expectation on graphics these days. I am easily impressed, but to me the integration of gameplay with the graphics is what matters. Being able to shoot a Bat-cable, in a full run, from a great distance and seeing Batman zoom up to the top of a tower is pretty cool. Also, the animation of gliding around with the Bat cape is very satisfying. The boss battles were a bit boring. But again, if any more intricate, I probably wouldn't have the skill level to do it. The game seemed long and yet short. Some of the stealth attacks seemed to get repetitive. But just as I was starting to complain, the game was over. After finishing the main story, I went back to find all the hidden Riddler trophies. That sort of thing is irresistable to me. I love that aspect of this style game. At least the length of the game or overall game time, had me thirsty for more. Which a game rarely does.

Batman II is in the works. I'm stoked. If they can build slightly on this game it should be a hat trick (I was going to use home run, but don't like baseball). I will definitely by the sequel.

End of an Era

I'm a bit sad to say that all of my grandparents have officially passed on. On the positive side, most of them broke the 80-year-old barrier. Hardy stock. I'm feeling more relieved than sad at this point. My grandmother had a bad case of Alzheimer's disease. She started to not know who I was 20-years ago. Within 5-years, she was fairly un-recognizable as the Grandmother I knew. Largely because she could not recognize me or anyone for that matter. It seemed that everyone was a new acquaintence to her and that had to get frustrating and confusing. Her personality had obviously changed because of that.

I now understand the phrase, "You are dead to me." By not being able to regularly communicate and experience a person in your life, they are effectively dead. At least in the case of my grandmother it wasn't by her choice. I am relieved for my grandmother. I can't believe that her quality of life was ever the same after Alzheimer's. When my grandfather died a few years ago, I'm not sure she even understood what was going on. It was heartbreaking.

So the actual passing of my grandmother's body is not as shocking or saddening as it could be. It is really her mind that made her the person I remember and that was lost a long time ago.