• 1Jan 10

  After the end, comes another beginning.

  Hello everyone! Long time no see. (ummm cheezy) Statistically speaking there was not even a SINGLE blog post by me on Gamespot in the 2009 and to be exact, the last blog post was way back in December 18th 2008!
  
  I've always been a huge procrastinator, but I guess I reached the ultimate level last year. I did plan to post many times but ended up with none. I would daily check blog updates from fellow GS'ers and comment... but that too stopped last year. The only thing that I kept doing was the first thing I did when I joined GS, post in the forums. I daily check my post history and keep talking to pals from various unions. However, there are two groups of friends at GS, people who you talk with in the forums and others with whom you communicate via blog comments, I've missed you all, my blog friends. Now, its time to change that.
  
  The main point to note now is that, its the END of the FIRST DECADE of the... NEW MILLENNIUM. Being someone who has only lived for two whole decades, this last one sure has been quite a ride. I got my computer in '98, internet connection in '99 and been at Gamespot ever since.
  
  Hundreds of movies were seen, songs were heard, games were played and of course, days were lived. The biggest way how this past decade was different was that I now basically had two lives. One online and the other, offline. I am pretty sure everyone here understands what it exactly means. Once you go online, the uncontrolled flow of information really gets your brain on overdrive.
  
  I've already been writing about all games that I played, from the Atari 2600 till the present. So I wont be going down that road (will definitely finish the series soon!) There are hundreds of games I've played this decade and the same goes for games from this decade (played lot of oldies too ) Me being the sentimental person I am, find it almost impossible to choose a "Top - whatever" because, every game I played has this strange attachment.
  
  Anyhoo, I had the privilege of being part of the panel that decided the Game of the Decade at bossfight.in. I had a look at my sorted collection, listed out all good games, trimmed down the list to 100 and then added some cIassics which were worth mentioning and then sorted the list according to rankings. Its not something I generally do, but somehow, with a late night high, I was able to do it, the draft that I made is too... not for public eyes But do check out the top 50 that is being listed by combining the input from the whole Panel at that website!

  ---

  Lets recollect 2009!

  
  Two really big things happened to me last year, gaming wise. Indian Gamespot buddies, From IGG Union, who have known each other for more than 4 years on Gamespot, met IRL at the centre of India, Nagpur. We all are from different states, and the host of the 3 day bash, the IGGBASH, was gagan21.

  IGGBash Begins!
  View TweetLog | View album
  

  I arrived from Hyderabad, Neeraj from Chennai, Shiben from Bengaluru, Amit from Jabalpur and Gagan's cousin from Delhi, all(but Jabalpur ) capitals of different states of India and India itself. We gathered at Nagpur, which is the geographical center of India, also, home town of Gagan himself! It was felt like the premise of a really cool movie It was three whole days of crazy gaming fun. Everybody brought their controllers with them, Gagan had all the consoles and games anyone could ever ask for.

  
  
  
  
  

  

  My stuff that I took to IGGBash

  
  
  We played games non-stop till early morning, we would just sleep and wakeup and start playing again like crazy people, haha. Gagan surely knows how to throw a party. I don't think the whole experience would have been as awesome as it was if it weren't for him.
  
  We played ODST on Co-op, 8 player all-indian team games on Halo3, Co-Op horde mode on Gears2, 4 Player Splitscreen Motorstorm Pacific Rift, 4P FIFA, 4P LittleBigPlanet, WarioWare Smooth Movies, Mario Kart Wii, ad-hoc Tekken 5 on PSP, co-op Contra 4 on DS. You name it, we played it. We even played Batman AA on Neeraj's Killer laptop. We did side by side comparisons of PS3 and PC versions of B:AA,starting the game at the same time on both, PC Won! haha
  
  Check out the whole album to get a feel of the joy. Honestly, this is going to be one of those things that I'm going to tell stories about, to my grandchildren There we were, people who grew up playing games all alone and in a place where games were not all that universally acknowledged.. now all in our 20s, enjoying ,playing games together and discussing all this nonsense that anyone from outside would just run away after hearing. Even when we went out to eat we would be talking on various topics, all game related. Its not like clan meeting and discussing strategies, Things about the gaming industry in general and what things are happening in India etc etc. Simply put, it was one of the best experiences ever. Thanks for being there guys!
  
  

  
  
  The Participants of IGGBash

  NASSCOM Indian Game Developers conference.
  View Tweetlog | View Album

  
  I got to know that there is thing GDC type thing happening right in my city, and without a second thought, I went and got registered for it. Being a student has its perks, The fee was just Rs.500/- for me, instead of Rs.1500.
  
  It was a two day event, but first day was strictly corporate stuff. I was there for the second day. The opening keynote was given by Ernest Adams. He is... awesome, the presentation he gave, showed all general flaws in game development and how people should think while making games. 20+ years of industry experience is no Joke!
  
  There were many other talks, talks on game music, graphics, MMOs, etc. I attended all I could and of course the most important one of the day was the one on being DIFFERENT by Anand Ramachandran. He is the one who writes for Bossfight.in, but many indians might know him from Son of Bosey, one of India's funniest blogs. You could say... he is like, the Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of India The talk was really thought provoking.
  
  After the day's events ended, me, him and two of the organisers from NASSCOM had long discussions, all about video games and other random philosophical stuff, that, much like IGGBASH, never get to discuss IRL. The discussions and everything went on till very late in the night. We all signed off, each gaining a new friend.

  ---

  Lists and Time wasted so far.

  The Lowdown | Games | Movies | Anime

  
  Similar to how everything happened outside, in real life, most of my talks with GS friends happened outside too. I talk to many friends via portals like steam, or facebook or e-mails or even Phone.. its like the relation has gone... TO THE NEXT STEP, haha Its nice to see that a friendship that sprouted from GS has translated so well into real life.
  
  I might not have been coming to GS too much, but will never forget what all it has done for me.
  
  Well now... lets get to the Stats and resolutions!
  
  In 2008, I saw about 300+ episodes of anime, and that was really something. I only saw around 20-something movies that year. Quite disappointed by that fact, I made it my "New Years Resolution" last year to see more movies.
  
  So... how did 2009 turn out to be? Well, I was not keeping track of the number until yesterday when I sat and compiled the whole list (which was made easy thanks to twitter). I saw... *drumroll* 73 AKA Seventy Three movies last year! haha. I didn't expect it to be that high Whenever I got any free time, I just sat and watched a movie, I have this huge stack of shelved movies. Good thing I did I guess.
  
  But, then came the end of 2009 Games list. EVERYDAY, I sit and read articles upon articles about games, but somehow, whenever its time to play games I felt "The time available is not enough for a game" (i.e. procrastination) I played (through its entirety) only 15 games last year. I did play 20+ hours of many games and didn't complete them, FF XII to name one. This only showed one thing. I'm not spending time with games! I always find myself reading stuff and complaining that I'm not playing anything.

  *The New Year's Resolution
  
  So this New Year's resolution is to Play games, especially because this will be my last year in my super happy fun home, and my Home Theatre. If everything goes according to plan, should be leaving for my higher studies in august. So, this is the best time to enjoy games to the fullest. Console games. Coz after that, I guess its just steam and me HP tablet. Bought too many games from Steam deals... they be crazy I tellsya!
  
  Oh yeah, the only animé show I saw last year was GTO, although, its was VERY much worth it. One of the best experiences ever. I got its manga and have to read it sometime. Also, have to watch more animé this year too, I've stalled them at 100 (shows watched). The other thing I did was, read the whole School Rumble manga from start to finish. It was quite an adventure. Then ending... it was... oh well, anyway, its over. All I can say is, the last stretch, I read from 7 PM to 7AM, that's how awesome it was.
  
  Definitely though, when I look back. 2009 has been a year full of unforgettable moments.
  
  Let hope I manage to keep the tempo and start writing stuff and talking to you guys more frequently. The thing is that... real life is no cake walk. I'm in my final year of engineering and time has to be dedicated to it. Cant just expect EVERYTHING to happen as planned. I still have played ONLY TWO games from my year old package smackage blog post!
  
  If anything, I will always be active on twitter because I'm always connected in some way or the other. So keep track that way (at your own risk ) if you want to see my gaming and life updates as and when they happen.

  • Posted Jan 1, 2010 12:56 pm GMT
  • Category: Writing
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• 18Dec 08

  Package Smackage!

  

  Today was another pickup mission! Another one of the students doing their MS in SIUE (where my bro studies) had come to Hyderabad just the other day, and guess what? My brother sent things via her! Yeah, that's pretty common anyways, people send things for their parents/relatives back in India via friends leaving to India! So what were those things? Where was the pickup point? Read on!

  Oh yeah, that's "Reeft Punk" btw.. my avatar when I ride on the bike The helmet with no Visor gives the cool, winged helmet feel to it, and the shades block the dust completely (there is a LOT of dust in HYD, eyes get destroyed). Oh and always have my iPod on whenever riding

  *The Destination!

  The destination was also quite far away this time! (it's like a mandatory condition that the friend's house should be really far away) Luckily it was not as far away as the previous one, and this time it was on the opposite side of the city. The complete path is on the Highway!! That's the best part of it, finally got a chance to ride on the Highway (for a long distance) Enjoyed the ride a lot I must say.. but don't get too joyful! Things can get really dangerous. Good thing it was not very deep into the highway, else ultra super fast trucks would have started zooming by.

  The house I had to go to was in Chanda Nagar and there were many other nagars inside ChandaNagar, it was a confusing mess! I was going on a straight path and then it split into three. Let's just say that I roamed 3Kms ("gullies" and all), for 15 minutes of every path. AND the last one was the right place Ofcourse, it always has to be the last place! (stupid Murphy and his law)

  

  *The Package!

  So I finally reached the house, (ofcourse with a lot of assist over the phone from Pratibha didi ) and there I was greeted to THIS chunk of awesomeness! Just look at towering package! I put everything into my bag, and also gave the things that I prepared for my brother.. made a complete DVD (along with labels and Covers) Took me around 3 months to edit the 3hr + Video (along with handpicked BGM etc ) And another DVD with all the pictures taken when he was not here. I also gave the 1 GB DDr ram that I had lying around here, with no use at all.

  Then Sat there for a while talked a bit with Pratibha didi, got to know a few things about how they all saw my bro After talking for about an hour or so (and after eating 2 Ferrero Rochers! ) I started the return journey. It's getting dark very soon now a days, was pretty dark by 6PM itself! Reached home in under an hour and was ready to...

  *Layeth the SmakethDown!

  I guess I already told you all about how my brother is a deal finder and always tries to get things for... not the standard price Lemme write down the things with their price and how he got them for that much! Ok, without further ado, here are the things!

  

  As you can see.. There are 4 PS3 games

  · LittleBigPlanet - $39 (Amazon Coupons)

  · Resistance 2 Collector's Edition - $59 (Offer in Amazon)

  · Heavenly Sword - $19 (Amazon again )

  · UT III - $19 ( $21 with tax, Walmart )

  And then there are two BD Movies too!

  · Hulk Limited Edition - $16

  · TDK 2-Disc Special Edition - $10

  Both from Columbia house, don't ask me HOW though

  What? You thought that was all ? Now have a look here!

  

  The first 3 games are from the buy 2 get 1 free GameStop offer that was up not too long ago. And remaining are form Amazon

  · Pikmin 1 - $24.99

  · Pikmin 2 - $39.99

  · LoZ: TP - $44.99

  · No More Heroes - $14.99

  · Wario Land : Shake it - $29.95

  · Mercury Meltdown : Revolutions - $9.95

  Yeah! That's 5 Wii/GC games in there! Can't wait to start playing them all, hehe.. just need Luigi's Mansion, SMS, and Eternal Darkness now

  Here is a panoramic shot of everything in one pic! (two pics stitched together)

  

  Huh? It seems Mr.Ephelant seems to have found something.. what's that? AppleSeed : DuesEx Machina DVD and PURE for PC! (for JUST $5! )

  So that's it for this pickup mission! Sure was exhausting! Came home, took pics and then posted the blogs, that's all what I did this day.. now off to sleep!

  As a Special gift here is another nice shot of the whole of the whole package!

  

  • Posted Dec 18, 2008 11:54 am GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 13Dec 08

  Wii Music Impressions and Videos!

  So, i've finally got some hands on time with Wii Music today, but I was not the first one to get their "hands on" it. I made my mom have the honour of being the first to play the game, with me and dad watching as she played
  
  The game started with no menu's, it had the tutor appear, and teach the basic 4 ways of operating the instruments in the game. My mom did all the tutorials and then played her first song! The rhythm of "twinkle twinkle" is well known to my mom (she is the one who taught me that afterall ) She did pretty good in her first ever try at playing instruments using the wii mote (she used to play real instruments back in her days). How did it go? well here is a Video

  Youtube HQ Video HERE

  
  After that..mom and dad, went on playing for hours and had real fun making music and seeing their music being played on the BG, as they played the different instruments. (your previous plays add to the whole arrangement, automatically) soon they had done a whole 2x3 person band music of DoReMe (another one my mom and dad know, thanks to "The Sound of Music" ) well, it was good but not... how do I say this... video worthy However the amount of happiness and joy my parents had , was more than worth it to give it a 100 popularity points
  
  Later I sat and experimented with a few things, wanted to see if I could do some custom changes to songs I know. I actually wanted to play the SMB 1-1 song.. so to unlock it, went on playing, soon I unlocked 47 songs but SMB song was no where to be found
  
  One thing Wii Music really helped me in was, knowing the names of all those songs that I liked but never knew the names of. You know, the songs that came in Tom and jerry cartoons and some other merry melodies or Silly symphonies.
  
  Here is a video of me doing that song which comes in that Tom and Jerry episode, you know, the one where nibbler sings the Ferero Rocher song

  Youtube HQ link HERE

  
  
  and here is another video of me playing a song thats OUT of this WORLD, and I think I heard this in another Tom and jerry episode.. I used this instrument I like very much, whose name I never knew till I played the game, and also dont know now, only remember that it starts with a "D" hehe.

  Youtube HQ Link is be HERE is
  
  You wont know the difference unless you've heard the original, tell me how it was I know I am no expert and it was just my first try, wanted to see how the whole thing goes. I like the second on more!

  Cant wait to sit and record some videos of me playing with some beat boxer or maybe doo wopper, but, I want my SMB 1-1 theme! Played for 5h:47m today and it was awesome, unlocked 47 songs, SMB 1-1 not included, played only 4 songs till now though
  
  P.S : Btw, you have to hand it to the guys who do the Wii game musics, I mean, everyone of those Menu Musics are so soothing and relaxing, they are some of the best musics I have heard in recent times, the one that comes when you save a video is just too good, they are many in other Wii branded games too, and ofcource SMG also has some good music.

  All in all.. I love Nintendo's music

  • Posted Dec 13, 2008 4:23 am GMT
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