2008 September archive at NokkonWud

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The Life and Times of Mr NokkonWud

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Archive for September, 2008

25SepCome Get Some…

For those of you who don’t know, Duke 3D was released on Xbox Live Arcade for the bargain price of 800 points yesterday (24th September). It’s the same game we all love and remember from the PC when we all used to giggle at school because we were playing an 18 rated game with the cheesy hero everone couldn’t help but love, but now with even more than before, featuring some fantastic additions, not just for an arcade title, but for any title.

Duke Nukem 3D – XBLA features;

Eight-player cooperative and DukeMatch multiplayer: Play ranked matches in one-on-one or free-for-all for leaderboard spots. A playlist of levels keeps the game fresh, with levels rotating on and off the list. Play co-op with your friends, earning single player achievements or completing the game entirely. It’s your choice how to play. By reserving private slots you can play with your friends or with strangers in any combination. Invite away.
User clips: Every time you play a game, a user clip is recorded. View the clips any time in your theater or share with friends who own the game. Upload the clips to leaderboard spots if you complete a level in the fastest time, or if you have the highest score. Use these clips for tips on how to complete a level at speed. The possibilities are endless.
Painless death: Review your play from the start of the level right up until your death, and jump back in at any point. Go back 10 seconds or 10 minutes, the choice is up to you. You can still save and load your game at any point if you prefer.
Gallery: Unlock achievements and Duke Nukem 3D concept art. Visit the Gallery at any time, view never before seen art, and learn more about the game.
Xbox 360 enhancements: The inimitable Duke Nukem returns in updated and improved form on Xbox 360®. The game now features controller vibration, bilinear filtering, motion blur, Xbox LIVE® Vision camera support for DukeMatch, multiplayer, full stat tracking, and more.

First impressions are that it most definitely retains the charm that made it a classic, coupled with achievements it’s definitely pushing all the right buttons for fans of the series. On top of that you have the user clips, co-operative play and all the other enhancements it has really come out a triumph.

Already I’ve wrapped up the 500 kills online, an achievement that didn’t take anything close to what I thought it would, but learning my lesson from games past, figured it would be best to get them out the way before the game becomes less popular as all Arcade games seem to.

For 800 points you could buy a lot worse than this and for me to say that, for an Arcade game, is quite something. It’s a market where I’ve purchased many games, but other than Hexic, couldn’t really recommend anything. Until now.

Get it bought.

Hail to the King, baby!

in General and Video Games. 5 Comments

23SepFankoo. Fankoo.

A big thank you to those of you who helped me out when it came to Xbox Live ‘trials’, when I reverted back to Silver and being unable to afford another Gold subscription. Your help was very much appreciated and in numbers beyond my wildest expectations.

So I think it’s only fair that I thank you all here on my blog, so a big thank you and manly hug to you all, but I’d like to take this moment to really thank one of you in particular.

Thank you Zico, who helped me out three times, once with a voucher code for an Alternate outfit in Ninja Gaiden II, a 1-month Xbox Live GTA trial and a 12+1 Month Xbox Live voucher which was certainly the biggest shock of last month for me.

Once again, thank you to you all.

Scary Squirrel, Haly x3h, KennyBhoy, Zico all of whom gave me 1 month, Xbox Live vouchers.
McDaniel who gave me a 3 month Xbox Live voucher.
Zico UK who gave me a 13 month Xbox Live voucher.

Thanks to you all I am now covered until February 2010. Fantastic.
For anyone I have forgotten about, I really do apologize, your gesture was fantastic and it’s not my intention to leave you out.

in General and Video Games. 24 Comments

23SepTime For a Change

I’m about to have a change of priorities. I know many that know me will be thinking ‘about time’, but it’s nothing too serious, but more an irritation that bothers me when it comes to writing simple documents or even when it comes to simply writing blog posts.

Several years ago I used to read a lot of books, books of any nature by any author – as long as the blurb of the book was interesting I would pick it up and give it a go. For the last 18-36 months I think it would be fair to say that I only read a fraction of what I did, and when I do read a book it’s seldom to completion because they just don’t grip me and for this I blame myself for this because I will sit up browsing the Internet, looking on forums, watching movies or playing games when I could, and used to read books.

As a result of reading less and less my grasp of the English language has worsened considerably and I find myself continually repeating the same key words – something that won’t bother many, but it does big the bejeezus out of myself, so for that reason I am trying to force myself to read books, which should hopefully sooner rather than later stop becoming a chore and once again become a joy.

The last book I read through to completion was a PJ Tracy book over 12 months ago, a book I read the majority of when I was staying at my friend Matthew’s house and thoroughly enjoyed it, so why suddenly I found myself losing interest in literature I don’t know, so I’ve gone and grabbed another book by Ben Mezrich called ‘Ugly Americans’, which I am hoping to enjoy as much as the last Ben Mezrich book I read, Bringing Down the House, a book which became a film earlier in the year called ‘21’ featuring Kevin Spacey (which for those of you interested, was totally bastardized and ruined – the book is much more complex and less obvious than the movie).

After finishing Ben Mezrichs book I think I will go back to one of my favourite genres, autobiographies, there are a couple I’m really wanting to read, but being so into cooking and watching Masterchef: The Professionals (which is brilliant by the way), I am tempted to finally read either the autobiography of Gordon Ramsay, or the autobiography of Marco Pierre White, though I think it’s likely to be the former as I think MPW is a total cock (though undeniably a brilliant chef). So we’ll see how Ugly Americans goes.

So here I am, the good news is that I’ve managed to complete this post, but I hope to bring you many more, better written and unlike this one, interesting piece of writing. I may even start writing in-depth articles… Then again, Hell could freeze over. But I will try, I promise.

in General. 9 Comments

23SepPerhaps It was the Blood Transfusion…

just spent the better part of an hour watching a game of ‘Aussie Rules Football’ on television and I’m still no better off for understanding it other than players cannot simply throw the ball ala Gridiron nor throw it backwards ala Rugby, but instead have to punch it. They may also kick in any direction though they cannot carry the ball for very long, having to bounce the ball but from what I saw, it appears they may only bounce it once.

Confused? I was and I was watching the damn thing.

The players also seem to have complete disregard for the pitch markings which seems a little bit bizarre, with players seemingly running in and out the markings at will. Even more out of the ordinary was that every complete pass was met with a whistle which seemed to be coming from the direction of the referee, only to hear a shout of ‘Carry on’, a million miles away from Football where (usually) the referee’s whistle results in an immediate stop of play, it certainly never means ‘play on’.

What is most well known about ‘Aussie Rules’ is that it’s pretty (read: damn well) violent, I’m sure we’ve all seen videos on YouTube of players getting clotheslined around the throat, ripped down to the ground and even punched. Rather frightening. However, when watching it there didn’t seem to be anything too out of the ordinary (aside from people slamming into each other in the first place – though in Aussie Rules no one seems to wear any protection), until one player wearing the number 44 for St Gilda’s made another rather impressive catch whilst being torn down, the commentator comes out with “I don’t know why he’s improved so much, perhaps it’s the broken cheekbone or perhaps the blood transfusion, but he’s a much better player now”.

The most unexpected feature of Aussie Rules when I was watching it was just how big the pitch was. It really is enormous and on first appearance it looks to dwarf those of a Rugby pitch, Football (soccer) pitch and an American Football pitch, it really was huge. I guess that’s why you never seem to see overweight Aussie Rules players in the videos, had I been playing I think it’s far to say I’d be on the deck, gasping after 5 minutes.

I guess the biggest shock was the fact I watched it in the first place and I would say it’s fair enough to say that had I not been bored to tears without any contact with the outside world via the phone or Internet I wouldn’t have watched it, nor will I ever likely go out of my way to watch it again, but it’s not as thuggish or as unskilled as I ever thought. Quite impressive.

On the subject of Aussie Rules, I found the following quotes which I just think sums up those outcasts in Australia, particularly those mental enough to play AFL:

Continue reading ‘Perhaps It was the Blood Transfusion…’

in Funny and Sport. 0 Comments

23SepThis Week, I has been mostly…

Since losing the Internet, the time I’d spend doing productive (and some none-productive) things on the net has been spent watching movies, a lot of movies.

In fact, in the first week of not having any Internet access at all I have watched:

The Bucket List (x2)
The Family Stone
Just Married
Mona Lisa Smile
The Breakfast Club
Rush Hour 3
Little Miss Sunshine
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Euro Trip (x2)
The Holiday
Thirteen
Smart People
27 Dresses
Meet The Spartans

I have also been watching TV shows such as Point Pleasant, Dexter and Angel. Quite frightening really.

I do find it east to put something on, particularly TV shows and model away in 3D Studio Max, it’s pretty damn relaxing. I do enjoy it quite a lot, doing modelling in silence is annoying and doing it to songs is just as bad as clock-watching – every time it changes songs it’s like 4 or 5 minutes have gone past. I have knocked up 5 or 6 little assets, sadly none of them are textured due to a lack of tablet (I really must get one when I get a job) and a lack of Internet for reference.

I’ll try and get them posted as soon as I get them textured.

I really need my net back or to get out more, I don’t mind which…

in General. 3 Comments

23SepUntil January..

The end of the transfer window has been and gone, this article would of course have been posted earlier had the internet not died at 9pm, 3 hours short of the midnight closing of the Summer Transfer Window on September 1^st 2008.

The end of last season ended on a massive high, Champions of England and Champions of Europe, a fantastic double and it goes without saying, a great achievement. This led many to speculate on this Summers transfers. Everyone thought they knew some certain transfers of course such as:

Didier Drogba to leave Chelsea.

Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

Chelsea to spend massively.

Of course, none of those happened, which goes to show that not everything is guaranteed.

The other big transfer rumour and one of the most expected for the entire Summer was for Manchester United to sign another striker to help back up Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, the two-pronged strike force we used for the entire season and a partnership where we were lucky that Tevez was never injured and Rooney only injured for short periods of time.

And we did. We signed another striker, Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur, a transfer which was originally rumoured to happen 12 months earlier, but eventually took place on September 1^st, only minutes before the end of the transfer window. It was close. It was also an event that seldom happens. The last time we signed someone we needed last minute was Dwight Yorke in the 1990’s!

The negative news is that we signed Berbatov. Yes, he’s classy and has one of the finest first touches in the game, but he’s lazy, doesn’t run and quite simply doesn’t fit into our style of play – I can’t see it working playing him in the same team as Rooney and Tevez as a 3 man strike force, our team is catered for 4-4-2 and he doesn’t give you the work ethos that Rooney or Tevez do. The other fear is that, as a tall player, we’ll start launching the ball long, a tactic which will soon become predictable if you only have the one man to aim for. Personally I would rather we have really pushed the boat out for Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero, a player much in the same vein as Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney, in that he’s quick, fleet-footed and dynamic, he can mix up play, drop into the channels and beat people, all the things that our frontline can do and that made us so dangerous. The problem is that Berbatov won’t try to do that, nor do I believe he can do that. I can see me getting very angry with Berbatov over time if he doesn’t pull his socks up.

As if that wasn’t enough, we also managed to get rid of some chaff from the Man Utd squad, most notably Louis ‘Sick note’ Saha, a player who in 4 and a half years at the club managed only 42 Premier League starts and who our medical staff declared fit numerous times only for Saha himself to turn around and say he’s not mentally ready. We overpaid at £12m for him, thankfully my fears weren’t realised in having to pay another club to take him off our hands, and instead we simply gave him away to Everton.

We also managed to get rid of one of the dodgiest defenders I can ever remember at Man Utd, Mikael Silvestre, a player who’s ability with a football struck fear into the hearts of his own fans and whose tackling ability resulted in many free-kicks and penalties conceded. Thankfully those fears now belong to a title rival, Arsenal.

Lastly we got rid of Dong, a Chinese ‘striker’ so abysmal he could only have ever been purchased for shirt sales in the Far-East.

However, by far the biggest shock Worldwide was the takeover of Manchester City by ‘Abu Dhabi United’, a company that so far has claimed not to be related to the Arab Royal Family by the same name, but a company whose personal wealth dwarfs that of Chelski Billionaire, Roman Abramovich, with the company claiming a combined wealth of near enough £600 Billion and a willingness to buy whoever it takes for whatever it takes to become massively successful.

They made their wealth known by smashing the transfer record by signing Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5m, getting the one man Chelsea coveted more than anyone else, a transfer that ex-Man Utd director and professional turncoat Kenyon messed up on massively, upsetting Real Madrid by selling Chelsea shirts with Robinho on before the transfer had officially taken place, resulting in Real Madrid refusing to sell to Chelsea (ha ha) and going to fellow/rival Manchester club, Manchester City (aww).

Either way, when Abramovich took over Chelsea people said Football would never be the same again. Now with the Arab families getting involved (with Dubai International rumoured to be interested in buying a club too) I think the time truly has come now. Teams who can afford anyone they want and pay whatever they want without even seeing a dent. Football clubs are now truly play things of the rich and famous and for me, that just means we will see even more and more of the World’s greatest players gracing our shores and playing in the English Premier League.

Platini must be seething, which is good because I personally can’t stand the racist asshole.
Now to see what happens in the January window…

in Sport. 0 Comments

23SepI’m back on T’internet.

I feel like I’ve been in a bit of a cave lately, I’ve had no phoneline, no credit on a mobile phone, no job, no car, no TV in my room, no PC (my friend borrowed it) and no Internet. It’s like travelling back in time to the nineties – scary.

On the other hand, it was quite refreshing, particularly when I got to see friends, or simply watching a movie or some TV shows on TV downstairs, playing through some games I’ve not played and actually going back to, and enjoying, reading books.

I also prepared some posts for this blog whilst my Internet was off, a service which has only just started again today – now through Sky.

These posts were all prepared throughout the past 3 weeks, they weren’t written today, so they may not be the most up-to-date things, but I was bored and felt like writing something when my LAN connection because ‘Local Only’, so here they are, or, if you read newest through to oldest – there they were.

in General. 0 Comments