SteelSkin.net – The Ramblings of Chris Nutt

So this is my second play through of Mass Effect. I first played on my mate John’s 360. I am not playing on the PC. I have to say, bar the odd issue with low resolution assets and GPFs it is a better experience. The interface is much better and the Mako is far better a vehicle.

It is a good universe, I wish in a sense they would do a Manga, TV Series or Film based on the universe. Whilst not as gritty as the new BSG universe or as beloved as StarWars, I feel it would make a very good franchise to explore. It has overtones of good old StarTrek, before it became a mess about time travel. The series it is most like to my mind is Babylon 5. However it has so many roots, I couldn’t call it a rip off of any one series. It is it’s on distinct thing.

Bringing Down The Sky DLC is free if you register on the Bioware forums and is a very nice addition. It doesn’t use to many standard assets and is over all very much worth playing. For around £3.25 on XBLA it is ok, not long, but good. Don’t buy Pinnacle Station though as it is really just virtual missions and not a distinct mission as such.

As a big fan of 70s airbrush style space adventure it is very enjoyable. I have been reading some Asimov lately and whilst more restrained, I can see more than a hint of him in this.

Ok so I have been pretty lax in updating lately, sauwee!

Car Front

I purchased my Sister’s old Mazda 323. It is a nice car, though finding an unschuffed panel is pretty hard I wanted to do it up a bit, but none of the mechanically minded friends seem to think it is worth doing. Shame as tidied up they are nice looking cars. It is good to drive, better still when I swap the tyres around. The fronts are a bad mix of non-brands and treads, the backs are nice Pirelli P6000s. Joined the 323F forums they seem like a nice lot. Also mailed off my old Puma mats to a deserving member of the Puma Project forums.

Me

My boss of 10 years left recently, it’s a real shame. I’ll miss David, but I am sure I will get on just fine with my new one. I tend not to talk work here as I keep my client’s and company’s info in confidence.

Computing

Windows 7 still rocks and I think it is the best Windows yet or at least since the XP SP2 release. Vista bashing still gets on my nerves, but as crappy security software falls by the wayside I hope 7 get the chance Vista didn’t.

Someone hit the nail on the head with the iPhone, I never quite understood why I didn’t want a StarTrek:NG level device and it all comes down to its absolute ‘I know better than you’ text prediction. This why I can type pretty much easier on my old keypad SE K800i T9 than it’s virtual keyboard. It’s all about prediction, thats why I stuck with SE over Nokia and Windows Mobile. In SE it assumes you are correct and helpfully suggests a few options. In iPhone it auto corrects you with one option which you can turn it off to get what you typed. Everything else is ok or learnable.

Games

Looking forward to a few games, really enjoyed Mass Effect on my mate’s 360. Frankly I can see myself buying one as a Mass Effect player. he he

Tunes

La Roux, nice music, but her voice is a bit weak. I Come To Shanghai, good music, but often depressing, cheer up dudes. Trance Around The World with Above and Beyond, free trance music, ta chaps.

Procrastination

A+! I have failed to: Buy a bike, work on the house, ask anyone on a date, buy a laptop.

Weddings

Congrats to: Dave & Rosie, Jo & Chris, Neil & Gwen and David & Lorna. Woot!

John Gilmour

An awesome friend and now officially an awesome designer, congrats on the Degree Dude!

These days I have to seriously wonder whether the gaming populous even wants high quality games any more. Apparently thinking and charming plots not count for crap. Games can do more than play themselves and put women back to the 50s, where the best they could aspire to is School teacher (not a bad job, but certainly should not the only option).

That’s why Gallia needs you! or rather Valkyria Chronicles does. If you have a PS3 try the demo, it gives you a flavour of the full game, but the full thing is amazing.

One of my regular rituals is checking the feeds on Friday for 1up Yours and the 1up show. Much like Buzz Out Load, it is great hearing a group of professionals with the limiters off. EGM was an institution, but unfortunately it was owned by the sick Ziff Davis and in a far less magazine friendly country. When I was over in Alaska in 2007 I noticed how poor access to computing and gaming magazines. They had maybe 3 magazines in Walmart versus 10 in my local ASDA (Walmart UK). My local ASDA is a 5th the size of that Walmart. In Dunfermline or Kirkcaldy’s WH Smith you can see almost 70 computing/gaming mags (including specials). It’s crazy. I am sure that if EGM existed in the UK it would not just be around, but in far fitter shape .

Anyway back OT, I wish the guys and gals that were laid off all the best and those survivors I have no ill will and I hope you can turn lemons into lemonade.