LOST PLANET

They say it's never too late. Well, I just beat Lost Planet's campaign about two months and two weeks after it's release. That's unlike me but I actually started playing like twelve days ago. I should have finished it earlier but I've been a bit busy and a bit under the weather.

These days I'm reading Frank Miller's Sin City.

4

There are only four games that I plan on buying before graduation (which is in June). These are:

• Dance Dance Revolution Universe Bundle (on XBOX 360).
• Virtua Fighter 5 (on PS3).
• MotorStorm (on PS3).
• Super Paper Mario (on Wii).

About 90 minutes ago, I applied for a writing workshop held by KFUPM's Theater Club.

BACKGROUND DOWNLOAD

Since the new PS3's firmware update, users have been able to download and do just about anything at the same time (e.g. listen to music, watch videos or even play games). Now, how good is this new feature?

Well, let's compare it with something similar, say the same feature on XBOX 360. Unlike the 360 download functionality, PS3's actually allows you to resume downloading your files. Believe me when I say that using a 64KB connection I was able to download a few demos in a week. This would require me more than a month to do on 360 using even a higher-speed connection like 128KB. On the other hand, 360 allows you to prioritize your downloads, which is not possible on PS3. Never the less, 360 removes files from your list whenever it fails to download them while PS3 does something that you could call "parallel downloading."

I just watched 300 yet I didn't mention it. I wonder why.

RATCHET & CLANK FUTURE: TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION

Check the debut trailer on GameVideos.

It's 100% real-time and it's really, really awesome.

BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT, SWEET RETURN

Ever been excited about something only to be disappointed later? Well, that's what Lost Plant was for me only that the disappointment was a huge, unfunny shock.

But this has changed. After two months since it's release, I just inserted the disk into my 360 last night and BLAST! The game was fun to play. Why? I just had to walk away from it till the bitter taste faded away. I also played it with a few changes in the settings which apparently made some of the annoying glitches disappear.

The effect of a rocket passing barely past you never wears out.

007

Casino Royale is one of the finest action movies and surely is my favorite James Bond movie. It's actually a joy to watch!

I gave up on 007 movies long ago but I watched this one only because I heard Denis Dyack from Silicon Knights praises it on EGM LIVE. You still there?! Go watch this movie, NOW!

"I want the money." This line just haunted me.

WINDOWS IS RELIABLE?!

Something quite funny and sad happened last weekend. I went home with my external hard disk and plugged it in a PC there. I tried to play some video files but Windows just hanged for what seemed to be eternity (to me, a to-be Software Engineer). Long story short, sometime later the folder containing the folders was still there but everything inside it was gone. I tried another PC and nothing was there, inside the folder. Whenever a should-be reliable system/device crashed, I just cannot help but get angry. Two days later, I'm back at KFUPM, plugged my external to my PC, tried to copy the files again to the folder and everything wen smooth till I finished copying. The folder was still empty with zero size. I tried to delete it but Windows wouldn't allow me to, so I just ignored the whole thing. I just happened to restart my PC a few times that day and on the second time Windows spotted an error in my external. A few minutes later, everything was back to its original state. I gotta admit that this is the first time Windows surprised me in a good way.

Does this mean that I like Windows now? NO!

See, I find it just worth sharing that Windows did something it should do (recovering some files that Windows itself damaged). The funny part here is that I connected my external to two machines with Windows XP Professional and nothing happened but when I connected it to my PC, which runs on Windows XP Home, things worked out!

One of the first things I will do when I graduate is switch to Mac.

ROYAL BLACK 2: PS3, AGAIN!

With Home, Little Big Planet and PLAYSTATION Edge, Sony totally ruled GDC (if that's even possible).

Heavenly Sword "wows" me to no end.

I'm really excited about Fable 2 and Super Paper Mario.

MY PS3

So I got a 60G PS3 last weekend (from amazon.com) which cost me about $720 (the extra $120 were for Aramex for shipping from US to Saudi Arabia). I got Resistance: Fall of Man and a second controller so I was able to enjoy the hell out of it on coop (and no, I did not miss rumble). Then I started single-player but didn't get to the end yet.

You might wonder which is better, Resistance or Gears of War? Well, that's another story for another post.

CLASH OF GENIUS, CLASH OF MONSTER

[SPOILERS ALERT: NARUTO]

Sasuke VS. Orochimaru? This is the current event in Naruto manga world, which is a blast to read. On the other hand, the anime seems to struggle after the long stretch of filler episodes. It appears that they are prisoners to their fear of catching up with the manga again so they just keep throwing some junk scenes here and there. I hope they get back on track soon.