Tag Archives: video games

The Great Console of China

Using RSS feeds is a fantastic way to get news on your favorite websites without having to actually click into the website every time. I’ve been using the RSS feed reading app Flipboard for a few months now, and I’m now also using The Old Reader.

One of the things that have been popping up lately, but not garnering front page news, is the fact that current generation video game consoles are heading over to China.

Consoles banned in China

So far, the two major players in the console war, Microsoft and Sony, have not been able to sell their gaming consoles inside mainland China. The reason, according to Kotaku:

“Consoles have been banned in China since the year 2000,” Lisa Hanson from market researcher Niko Partners tells Kotaku. “The government thought that was the best way to protect Chinese youth from wasting their minds on video games, after a parental outcry.” The following year, online gaming exploded, and the market size hit $100 million. So the ban, Hanson says, “didn’t stop the ‘problem’.”

 

Then, there’s piracy:

Sony did sell their PS2s in mainland China, but as the same Kotaku article reminded us, the pirate tendency that runs rampant in China has rendered the move a disaster.

Sony released the PlayStation 2 in China in January 2004. The launch was a disaster with rampant game piracy and of the hardware itself. While it wasn’t exactly the financial success Sony might have been hoping for, it did build a brand name for the company. Nintendo’s Wii has been copied by a Chinese company and released as the “Vii”, a game system that runs preloaded motion controlled games. Sony’s PS3 has been knocked off as “The Winner”. Pirated versions of console and PC games are prevalent.

 

10 years later…

So 10 years later, I’m reading about the consoles being optioned to sell in China again. First, the XBox One is announced late April, and just today, the PS4 is also announced to be going to the most heavily populated nation.

While on paper, it may seem like a fantastic idea, but considering that the PS2 was one of Sony’s largest console triumph, and it was still pirated to an early grave, what would be in store for the PS4?

Gaming digitally

One thing that has really changed since the disk-based PS2 days, and that is digital gaming. However, stringent DRM on digital game files still won’t guarantee that piracy wouldn’t swallow the profit margin entirely, as the current piracy market has proved that there is always a workabout around digital locks.

Possible preventions

  • Cheaper hardware and software

While this may not be fair to other markets, the fact that other, knockoff products are extremely cheap (under $100 AUD, or even less) mean that to create a competitive product, Sony and Microsoft would have to put onto the shelf an equally cheap product.

  • Exclusive content

This would have to be done concurrently with the previous point, but having exclusive content for the region (the way that Australia and New Zealand gets special ANZ editions) could be enticement to spend some extra money for the official versions. This might not work if piracy gets their hands on it, however.

  • Locking software

The last, and antagonistic suggestion, is to simply ship consoles that lock up if it detects a pirated game being played. This can be maintained through mandatory firmware updates – that is, to not allow the console to function without updating to a new firmware update – so to overcome any hacking that may occur between firmwares. This might be the least pleasant option, because it creates a distrustful atmosphere that places onus on the consumer instead of the publishers to fix a problem.

—

In any case, it seems that the console war is going to wage on the biggest (and most flooded) market in the world. Whether that would work out, only time would tell.

Alex.

I’m Boring But Overcompensate with Headlines

[The Takeover, The Break’s Over – Fall Out Boy]

Pokemon X & Y is coming out in less than two days, and since I’ve basically had my name down for it since the day it was announced back in February, you can say that I’m close to dying, thinking about how far away Saturday is.

Unlike the launch of Pokemon Black and White, and their sequels, I was up close and personal with all the details every step of the way, digesting and re-digesting all the Nintendo Directs that came about. I had my finger on most of the official news and discussions. But, in the last week or so, I started to not read TOO much of the discussion, especially the unofficial ones, because it turns out, most of them are leaked spoilers.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that having trailers, bits of info, released images and gameplay footage etc is a good thing. I especially hate those “cinematic” game trailers that show mostly excellently rendered cutscenes, or just plain non-game scenes, and it gets you all excited for the premise of the game (which is also important) but the game itself ends up not being what you expected. This happened to me a LOT with Assassin’s Creed (all iterations), because I was settling down for a game where I go around kicking ass and in general being an assassin, but the trailers never actually mentioned anything about me having to spend 90% of my time staying under the radar and sitting on benches or whatever. I’m not saying that’s not a good part of the game, but I personally don’t have the patience to have to do that, I’m the type who goes in guns blazing.

I digress. I was really excited for Pokemon X & Y because from almost the get-go you got to see gameplay footage. And that’s really, really important to me, especially for Pokemon, because I’d definitely expected a 3D Pokemon game when I heard there would be a 3DS, and trust me, I’ve definitely had my long-winded rants about how there should be a Skyrim Pokemon mashup. When I saw how this new generation came so close to my dream of having a lower third-person camera POV gameplay than the overworld sprite so prevalent in the series so far, I because crazy excited. I knew, of course, that this game couldn’t be my Skyrim Pokemon (I think the only thing that could be Skyrim Pokemon would either be a Skyrim modded to be Pokemon itself, or Virtual Reality, or, I don’t know, real life but with Pokemon) but it was a HUGE step closer. The more I pored over that first trailer, the more I was sure that this game would be bigger than the rest – and the rest were already too big for my comprehension.

As the months went on, we got to see more and more of the game. Yes, there was that weird sword Pokemon, which is probably going to be pretty awesome but from first glace it looked strange. Then we saw the Mega Evolutions, and as much as it sounded like a hassle, I was pretty sure I’d be jonesing to evolve everything into Mega if I could. Finally, we saw the secondary evolution of the starters, and this is where I bring up my point.

I was listening to Tiny Cartridge’s latest podcast, where they discussed the huge amount of leaks that’s been taking place for the game, as well as the consequences. Now, because I’d been on purposely avoiding anything that would spoil my first moment ripping the plastic off my Pokemon Y (then taking a photo for Instagram because why the hell not), putting it into my fully charged 3DS (then taking a photo of the title screen again because we live in a SHARING TIME), then playing the crap out of it until that 3DS dies, I’ve also managed to avoid all those leaks. In fact, because I only follow some official blogs on Tumblr and Twitter, and because they’re considerate, I’ve completely missed that the leaks existed at all. There were a few that came through, and I’ll discuss it now.

So one of the huge leaks that came through was actually the final evolutionary stage of the starters. When I saw the official release of the secondaries, I thought, “man, Fennekin kinda evolves unexpectedly,” because like the million others, I was going to go for that adorable little fennec fox. The secondary doesn’t look as powerful as I’d hoped, but it still looks cool. But when I saw the final evolution’s leak, I thought, “aw, so Fennekin didn’t go the way of Torchic and end up a BAMF!” And, looking at the leak of Froakie’s final evo, I actually started considering getting Froakie instead. (This is sort of what influenced me to ditch my usual fire starter choice and go for Oshawott, but also because Oshawott is pretty rad in itself.)

The podcast mentioned how leaks actually hurt, because it takes away your moment of discovery. Before I saw the leak, I was still pretty set on Fennekin, even though the secondary looks odd, because Fennekin will end up being Fire/Psychic, which is strong both again the pure Grass which is Chespin’s final, and the Dark half of Froakie’s final. But after seeing the leak, I was actually considering Froakie. Now, that’s pretty unfair to Fennekin, who would have otherwise been picked because I didn’t know, and by the time I’ve trained my little fox (I’m going to call it Mako because Avatar), I’m not going to care what it looks like, I’ll love it. So, I guess in that sense, the leaks do hurt, because it takes away the joy of coming across a Pokemon for the first time, wondering what the hell it does, thinking “hey, I’ve been in this area for like 20 minutes and I haven’t seen one yet, this one must be rare!” and capturing it only to see 5 pop up in a row…those are all part of the fun! If I avoid one Pokemon just because I saw it on a leak and thought “pfft, looks dumb”, then I would be missing out. Besides, I’m hardly a player for collecting, battling or EV Training. I play games for the sense of achievement and for the entertainment, so it doesn’t really matter if the ones I catch are strong or not!

So, it is annoying that certain people in Canada and Europe had gotten their hands on a copy almost a week and a half early, because retailers began to sell them (annoying because I work for a bloody video games store and I don’t get those perks). It is annoying that they’re posting spoilers which may be huge (for example, I’ve now seen a list of which Pokemon can and cannot Mega Evolve), such as Gym Leader lineups etc, or spoilers which are inconsequential but took away the joy of finding out for ourselves. It’s also annoying because Nintendo painstakingly took the effort to make sure everyone started on (almost) the same day, and now these guys have got a week’s headstart in the new world.

But is it illegal? (Well, yes.) Is it wrong of them, and they should be blamed and fined? (Well, the retailer probably broke some sort of contract.)

At my own volition, I went and found the list of Mega Evolutions to look at. At my own volition, I watched a video of Fennekin’s final evo. But it will also be at my own volition to choose Fennekin anyway, or change to Froakie when confronted with those three Pokeballs. It is my choice if I choose to remember all the little details that I got spoiled on when I play, or just concentrate on the game at hand. It’s not my fault that some players got it first, and the fault lies so far away that I can’t do anything about it anyway, so I might as well find something to do in the meantime, go to work tomorrow, then wake up on Saturday and head down to my store and get the game. 

I’m tagging this pretty heavily, so if by chance I get a lot of traffic and someone read through all of it, shoot me a comment! Tell me what you are going to pick for a starter (and also what your Kantos starter will be). Tell me how well you’ve kept away from the leaks and spoilers, and also tell me if you care about leaks like these. Or just comment anything, really.

Alex.

Moonlight Would Provide The Spark

[Three Cheers For Five Years – Mayday Parade]

Serena brought it to my attention that I never finished this post.

As this was two years ago and I’m not bothered enough to check back, I’ll do them all now. I actually have a post in draft for the last few days that I didn’t write, but since I have to sleep within the hour, this might be faster.

Day 01: Your views on death, how you cope, etc. – If I answered this already, forgive me. I guess my answer will be different now. Since then, I’ve come across two deaths, one close but not extremely close to me, and another in my own family. Both were very sad but not in the shock tragic way. The former is definitely very upsetting, since it was my friend who battled cancer for eight years, and who ultimately lost to it. The thing is, the whole family knew it was coming, so they had time to prepare, to spend time and to smile and laugh. Her last days were spent in the company of her friends and family, so all things considered, it was pretty beautiful. The second death was my own grandfather, and it was a bit of a shock, but he was old, he lived a full, happy life, and there were no prolonged pain and suffering. He left my grandmother with a place to live, money to spend, and they had a lifetime of memories together. So my views? Death sucks, obviously, since it’s the ending of an existence, but I’d prefer to think about them when they lived, and how good they lived, and in that way they can continue existing in a sense, and positively so.

Day 02: How you introduce yourself to new people. – I try to be myself, but for the most part I gauge the situation. It’s easy to create a public persona, a funny, slightly inappropriate jokey, kind of persona, and just let that take care of the social conventions. But let’s be honest, we all do that. It’s how society is made for us to survive in, and instead of condemning it, think about the kind of people in your life around whom you could drop your public persona easily. It makes times with them even more special.

Day 03: What you think about love. – Judging by the time stamp, this was initially written just before I met Amelia. June 2011, I was pretty into someone else, and it wasn’t requited. I would have been a bit naive, hopeful but ultimately cynical about it. Now, I think it’s probably at the stage where I think love is definitely something which can fix someone, but also an elusive something which you may never know you’ve had, because who knows what love is? How can you tell you’re in love, and not just deep infatuation? And more importantly: does it matter? If you’re happy, and they’re happy, and your sex drive is VERY happy, then does it matter if it’s not really “love”?

Day 04: Write about someone you love. – Please see previous posts about Amelia. SORRY I just have to sleep very soon.

Day 05: A list of things you fancy doing. – Lately, I’ve been working more, so I do appreciate down times when I can read a good comic or book, or watch some shows while playing Jetpack Joyride, or reading about cool new techie things. I also really, really enjoy cuddling Amelia’s dog Meg.

MEG3

Day 06: Recommend some books to read. – This might just show my immaturity and taste in literature, but a few books I’ve been recently reading that I really enjoyed:

Perfume – the Story of A Murderer by Patrick Suskind (yes, I saw the movie first)

A Song of Ice and Fire (the series Game of Thrones is based off of) by G. R. R. Martin

Repotting Harry Potter – A Professor’s Book-by-Book Guide for the Serious Re-Reader by James W. Thomas (a wonderful way to also read through the series itself as you go along)

The Casual Vacancy (Where Rowling shows she really, really understands how people work) by J. K. Rowling

White Fang (literally one of the first adult English books I ever read, and I fell in love with it) by Jack London.

I’m also going to recommend some comics which I like.

Saga – Image Comics. The illustration is astonishingly beautiful, and Fiona Staples conveys emotions so artfully that some panels are laugh out loud funny, because of the way she’d draw the characters. The story is also compelling, but now that I’m waiting monthly for them instead of consuming them in one go, I feel like it’s so slow!

Chew – Image Comics. I have a thing for Image. Chew is funny and then punch-you-in-the-guts heartbreaking without notice. It takes quite a lighthearted approach at a really, really morbid theme, and it’s so fun to see where everything is headed.

Rising Stars – Image Comics. This series ended a while back, and I blew through it in one day. I’d wanted to savor it slowly, but before I knew it, it was pitch black and I had a sore butt, but I was just sobbing at how things turned out. It’s like Heroes, but better (which isn’t saying much, I guess).

American Vampire – Vertigo. Ever since reading Preacher (which is also good, but I won’t put it on my list), I thought Vertigo would come out with weird-ass things (just like Hellblazer too), but American Vampire’s story really SUCKED me in, even considering the fact that it had time jumps and deviations in protagonist focus. The world which Snyder created is so engrossing I wish they could make a bigger thing of it.

Fables – Vertigo. Also a surprisingly not weird series. It’s like Once Upon A Time but not so whiney. The reason I got into it was because I read a review for Wolf Among Us, which is the Telltale Game’s prequel to Fables. The game sounded fun, and the comics did too, so I gave it a go. Great decision, cannot wait for the game now.

Numbercruncher – Titan Comics. This was one of those random new comics recommended by Comixology, and I gave it a go. It was strange to start with but then the premise really grabbed me, then it continued being extremely awesome, and it’s something I’d totally re-read slowly while contemplating the idea behind it.

The Bunker – Hoarse and Buggy Productions. Yet another random digital-only recommendation, which turned out to be very time-travelly mind-bendy stuff. It’s slow in picking up and just started, so it’s not built up to much yet, but the creators are promising something huge, and I hope they deliver!

Day 07: Write about the arts (music, art, dancing). – Obviously, these things are all around us and we don’t realize it. It feels like these institutions have been built to such an elitist state that, if you’re not AMAZING AND TOTALLY ACE at it, then you’re relegated to “sucking” and “keep it as your hobby”. I mean, for most people, it probably is a hobby anyway, but they don’t need you to tell them that. I wish I was good at all three, because musicians/artists/dancers are sexy, but I think I’m okay with just writing and storytelling.

Day 08: Write a poem. – I once took a creative writing class where one of the assessments was to write a poem. I think poems are also built to be something more than it needs to be. Poems are meant to be a gathering of words in a way which draws beauty and instills thought and emotions into the reader. Just because you didn’t write it in a bloody sonnet format doesn’t make it any less special. A limerick isn’t any lesser than a haiku. A kid who wrote an acrostic poem using the word “MOMMY” and writing about how much they love their mother means a lot more to that mother than anything Hemingway could have come up with, because poetry isn’t about how poncy you are, it’s about the emotion behind it. In other words, I can’t really be bothered writing one right now.
Day 09: Photo of your favorite pillow. – I only have one pillow, and it’s light blue. Unless you want a photo of Meg again?

Day 10: How you wake up in the morning. – I tend to wake up more often to alarm clocks than not, then I take 10 minutes to scroll through my overnight Twitter feed, especially for interesting news, then I get up and do my stuff.
Day 11: Write about your sibling(s) or what it’s like to be an only child. – Being an only child can be lonely sometimes, and also your parents pressure you a lot, since they only have you to make them proud. But, you get lots of stuff, so whatevs, right? It’s getting late and these questions ask too much of me!
Day 12: Your relationship with your parents. – I think this is a bunch of worms which need to remain in the can for tonight.
Day 13: Write about what you believe in, be it God, yourself, etc. – I believe in finding happiness, and one’s innate right to be happy, no matter how. Of course, if being happy means you absolutely need to go on a killing rampage, then maybe you shouldn’t be happy, or even alive. I’m not really one for all-life-is-sacred, because in the end we have about 6 billion on this planet, (I’m the only one with the uncanny ability to be awesome,) about half of them is in a constant state of poverty and probably dying, and the other half cares that a deranged gunman not get a death sentence? Again, let’s keep those worms for another day. My point is, being happy is all you should aim for, because once you die, who knows what else comes after?
Day 14: What you do for Valentine’s Day. – I’m not allowed to celebrate this day because Amelia hates it.
Day 15: Write about the best gift you’ve ever received. – It’s hard for me to pinpoint the best gift, since I constantly want and get tired of new things. I think that a photo album that a friend gave me when I left my old school was probably the most heartfelt and sweet thing, though.
Day 16: Write another poem, about the weather. – Roses are red, the sky is blue, the rain is gray, brown is poo.
Day 17: Post your favorite gif.

Cry3I used this reacting to when Amelia said that we were no longer in the honeymoon period.
Day 18: Your plans for tomorrow. – I work 8 hours.
Day 19: Write about something you fear. – I’m scared that Amelia will find being with me too tiresome as times goes on, because we either have to hide it from our families forever, or come out and face the consequences. We’re both bi, so I’m worried she’ll end up finding it easier just to be with a guy who she can be public with. But that’s silly, because she loves me, and her dog has basically imprinted on me so it will take too long for it to love someone else.
Day 20: What did you eat for dinner last night? – Dad fried up some Spam and we ate it with burger buns and he also made soup.
Day 21: Your favorite thing to drink. – SO I HAD MY FIRST WET PUSSY (well…”second”) TONIGHT AND IT WAS DELICIOUS AND I LOVE IT.
Day 22: How you take your coffee or tea. – I usually have a latte with one sugar, but I used to do double shots with one sugar as well. I take tea black with one sugar, unless it’s green, then no sugar.
Day 23: Your favorite thing to wear. – I like wearing hoodies because they feel like mobile blankets.
Day 24: Another poem, about the shoes you wear most often. – Roses are red, my shoes are purple, some bits are black, so black and purple.
Day 25: Write about where you live. – I live on a street predominantly white, and we used to have a problem with some kids down the road, who would ding-dong ditch us, and they escalated to kicking our trash over, harassing my mom when she’s working in the front yard, and once egged our house. They’ve stopped recently, though.
Day 26: Your favorite smell. – Amelia! Also bacon. OH IMAGINE IF AMELIA COOKED BACON!
Day 27: Your thoughts on the internet. – I don’t see a problem with the internet itself, I see a problem with people. It’s like guns. Yes, guns are bad things and they kill people, but honestly, a gun sitting there by itself wouldn’t be that scary, but you put a pair of hands on it and WOAH it’s a problem. It’s the same thing with the internet. It’s a great way to connect things that are otherwise unable to be connected, but once you put a human behind the mouse and….
Day 28: Write about how you feel today. – I’m a bit annoyed that I spent all day watching TV and not doing some writing, but it is my rest day after all, so I should just be happy I got to rest. Next week is a tough working week, but I’ve got Pokemon Y to look forward to on Saturday!

Consumed With What’s To Transpire

[Sex On Fire – Kings Of Leon]

Yesterday was Dom and Tranny (I don’t know if I’m allowed to call him that since I just met him yesterday but I think it’s fine). Also, it was funny that the song came up on shuffle, and Mai sang to that song yesterday.

Took the train up and met with D.P. at Melb Central, and we walked around trying to find an alky store that was open on a Sunday morning. Finally, Cellar-brations was open. Win! Smart guy opening so early.

Went back to Melb Central and met up with Tranny, Charles, and then Jimmy and Eren etc, and then Fei, Jen and co showed up. WOAH INFLUX OF NEW FACES! I knew I was in for a day of introducing myself.

D.P. went into Mrs Fields where she works and started decorating a cookie cake for Dom and Tranny. She took so long that we nearly missed our train, and only made it by yelling at her to hurry up. It resulted in one of the cookie cakes reading “Dom and Trunny”. I bagged her about it.

Got on the Werribee and knew we were in for a long train ride. Talked about movies and horror movies on the train, and finally got to Hoppers Crossing. It was very sunny and hot already, so it was very complain-worthy walking that 20 minutes to Dom’s place.

Arrived, downed some cold drinks, then went inside when Mai showed up (she’d gone back to pick more people up). Started playing Band Hero after monies were sorted out.

Meghan watched as I played Love Story on Band Hero and laughed because I was “bopping with the music”. I told her that I liked playing Guitar/Band Hero so of course I’d bop. She maintained that I was enjoying the song. Well.

Carmaine showed up halfway through, and then we watched as the guys played a few more songs. A guy called Abir sang a song called “I’m Just A Girl” twice. He was good! Karaoke king right there.

So a lot of Band Hero. Mai sang Sex On Fire, and I shouted that the song was about herpes. She then sang “Aaaaalex has heeeeerpes”. She still got the points.

Had cake! I was craving cake. Made Dom and Tranny do the wedding cake linked arm thing. That was great. I’m sure it was caught on camera.

Then we went outside, and watched as D.P. got back on a bike after admitting that she “wasn’t very good at riding a bike” (which we all took as she doesn’t know how). Made me realize I still haven’t gotten back onto one since Yr 9. It was very stinking hot by then, but we needed to leave soon. So Dom’s dad (I think it was your dad..everyone looks the same…) drove Carmaine, D.P., Jen and I to Hoppers, saving us a walk. We got there and the train arrived. So when the boom gates went up we sprinted like mad, me yelling “RUN D.P. RUN!” thinking if she made it at least she could hold the doors. We made it!

Took the train back, and then I had to wait 50 minutes for my bus, and then walked home for 20 minutes. I was sufficiently exhausted getting home (which is why this is a day late) but then stayed on MSN ’til late. Say it with me: BAD HABIT!

So, happy birthday Dom! You’re now 18, so party like mad. And get your P’s! I need to get mine.

Alex.

MLIA, I’m Hanging Onto You!

So today was another “study session” with Jen at State library. I’ve given up on saying it’s a real study session. Who’re we kidding?

Met up at 9:30 UCMC (by the way, that term never has and never will catch on, will it) and went upstairs to Gloria Jeans, where we both got one of those Iced Tim Tam drink things. Discussed losing weight and fatness for a while, and then we went to State at around 10, past 10 ish.

Went in (it was very cool. Way to pay attention to global warming, guys) and started trying to study for Legal Studies. Two minutes in, we fell into a coma. So we played some games on our iPods (speaking of which mine still isn’t fixed, I still can’t link it to my computer. Can anyone help?) and repeatedly said “Okay we HAVE to study we HAVE to study” and then we didn’t.

At around 12 Jen felt hungry so we went out to a Vietnamese place on Swanston Street. I had Pho (Not Pris. She comes later) and Jen had some broken rice thing. It was hot so I decided to treat myself to a VB. When I ordered it, the guy looked at me and said, “are you old enough to drink?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” And then went away with our order. That was some epic ID checking right there. If only nightclubs did the same, right?

“Are you old enough to grind in an over-age venue?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Are you old enough to drive?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

I decided to be cool and ate some of the chilli that came with the Pho, and bit down on the seeds. It was…interesting.

Went back to State afterwards, and it was really really really hot. Went to the Games Room and played Wii for a while, where Jen owned me in Wii Tennis and Bowling (shh). Then Pris called me, and her and Carmaine came along, with Dom following (well Dom…would have been there regardless…did you know he dreamt about State Library? Duuuuude). Carmaine, Jen and I played Little Big Planet (Jen and I took one control, where Jen was direction and I was jumping etc) and Pris and Dom played Wii. Then they got bored and joined us at Little Big Planet.

I helped figure out how to hold onto things, and spent quite a lot of the time hanging onto Carmaine’s character while she dragged me around. Then we came across a trap where it’s a ghost thing that floats up and down, and if the ghost thing covers your character you die. She got annoyed at me hanging onto her (well hell it was fun.) and aimed it so that the ghost covered our character but not hers. We died, she didn’t. She laughed evilly.

And then I’ll skip how good Dom is at the game.

And then they left to study, and Jen and I actually studied. We went through a practice exam orally (dude, don’t) except I think it was an easy exam because we did it really easily. Studied a bit more, and then played on iPod again.

Jen needed to charge her iPod, so I went to get my recharge cord out of the locker. Except 4 hours was up by then, so I had to pay an extra dollar for another four hours, but only needed 1 hour. Then, this happened (and I submitted it to MLIA, so hopefully you’ll see it):

Today, I was annoyed at having to pay a dollar for another four hours on a locker when I only need it for an hour more. I put in my two dollar coin, and heard my change fall into the slot. Reaching in, I came back with 2 one-dollar coins; the previous user had forgotten to take their change, thus giving me a free hour on my locker. I felt like State Library was apologizing for making me pay. MLIA.

It was awesome.

Left at around 4 and went to JB. They didn’t have the headphones I wanted. Said bye to Jen and went to Big W. They didn’t have the headphones I wanted. Went back to Melbourne Central and bought a Monster energy drink with the 2 dollars I then had because of above, drank it on the train home (shouldn’t have done it) and then at Holmesglen these bunch of fobby TAFE students came in loudly talking in Chinese about how they fail in English (agreed).

Tomorrow, I have my Legal exam. And then after that only Chinese which I frankly don’t even worry about anymore. Maybe I’ll write 1 or 2 more practice essays and I’m done. I’m so glad the exam period was as scary as I feared – but it was still pretty shitty.

Alex.

 

What I Did/Didn’t Do Today, And Why It Was Awesome

It sounds like the start of a very long and boring blog. So I’m shortening it. I will write 1 sentence of something I did or didn’t do, and then put a score at the end. We’ll see what kind of day it was. Hint: it was awesome.

Had breakfast with parents. -1

Didn’t have breakfast with BRuCE. -2

Played NDS on the train to city. +1

Named a pet hamster on Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box “Jenifer”. +1

“Jenifer” said squeak, and needed to get into shape. +1

Listened to my new iTouch. +1

Waited UCMC for Jen who was late. -1

Jen arrived by running loudly and nearly crashed into a guy. +2

Jen smelled like shampoo. +1

Went to State Library joking about seeing MacRob girls there. +1

It was very cold today. +1

Went to the Games Room to study. +1

Actually started studying Legal. -1

Actually got some Legal studied. +1

Called Carmaine and asked if she wanted to come to State. She said no in a very “duh” tone. -1

Stopped studying after 30 minutes. -1

Played Rockband instead. +2

Failed epically on Easy when first started on the guitar. -3

Failed epically when playing on Easy when first started on the drums. -2

Jen sang to “What I’ve Done” by Linkin Park semi-squeakily. +2

Actually did very well on Medium on guitar after a while. +2

Actually did respectably well on Easy on drums after a while. +1

Managed to play and sing the chorus of “Misery Business” by Paramore for a bit. +2 (Not on the microphone I was just singing along with Jen)

Went to lunch at a Thai restaurant I never been before. +1

The Thai restaurant had no chopsticks. -2

The Tom Yum was sweet not spicy. -1

The Australian mother and daughter next to us suffered while eating their “spicy” lunch. +3

Jen had no idea I lived in Thailand before. -1

Jen got a Golden Gaytime after lunch. +1

She started shivering while eating it. +2

I made jokes about her stupidity. +3

She laughed and loved it. +4

Went back to State and said we’d study. +1

Didn’t study. -1

Played Little Big Planet for a while. +1

Couldn’t figure it out. -1

Played Scene It Buzz for ages. +3

Pretended to be rocket launching off the couch when the characters on screen did it. +3

Won once. +2

Lost once. -1

Played F1 Driving. +1

Crashed heaps. -1

Watched Jen weave all 3 laps like a drunken maniac. +6

Didn’t have Carmaine there to weave with Jen. -1

Watched 3 groups of fail idiots try to play Rockband. +3

One of which didn’t know how to start the game. +3

You have to press “Ready” you idiots. +2

Played Little Big Planet again. +2

Actually worked out how to do it. +3

Died a lot but it was fun! +3

Screamed a lot of “THAT’S FIRE! DON’T JUMP THERE!” +5

Jumped into the fire anyway. +6

Got blown up for some reason. +5

Played until 5pm without realizing it. +4

Had to pay an extra dollar ‘cos we went over the 4 hour limit. -1

Got Maccas with Jen. +2

As I was buying, the order for a large Grand Angus was called, without someone taking it. +3

Said I’d take it. +1

Manager said, “the owner would probably eat you alive.” +2

Didn’t take it. -1

Was reminded by Jen after I was on the train that I left my charger for my iTouch with her. -1

More reason to see her soon. +2

Used a calculator to work out the points just then. +3

Score: 76.

Oh, also, I spent a whole day at State playing games with my friend and generally enjoying myself and laughing. +24

That comes to a 100% awesome day.

Alex

French Fries For Fingers

Alliteration kicks ass! Or no…alliteration = beastlike rapage ftwinrar!

Yes, this post will be about Dom.

Today I had 1 period. Teachers didn’t show up. Worst waste ever. Dani, Eunice and I went to Dani’s place after P5 ended, and Dani and Eunice went Op-Shopping whilst I went to her apartment to use the bathroom. Etah tried to kill me again.

Anyway, Andrew said do what you want, so I started playing Guitar Hero. I sucked after not playing for so long, and considering I was shit to start with…

Eunice and Dani came back, and Eunice played 2 games with me. Then she left because she needed to go home to make her dress for Bee’s.

Dom came over, but not without difficulty.

Instructions: Take the 112 to West St Kilda, when you see Coles pull the cord. Then call us.

Result: [ring ring]

Me: Hey Dom, where are you?

Dom: I think I missed it.

Me: Did you see Coles?

Dom: I didn’t see Coles.

Me: Where are you?

Dom: On my way to MSAC.

Me: You idiot. Get off, come back.

Dom: Oh I have Google Maps.

Dom came over and I told him to show Andrew how to play Guitar Hero well, because I know Dom is good.

He started on the Expert level.

And he was very, very, very good.

When there was a really really fast mad bit, Andrew Dani and I all turned to look at Dom’s fingers on the guitar neck to see how he does it. Andrew commented that his fingers look like French Fries.

Then, Andrew made the funniest, but rudest comment:

“Holy shit man, you can probably finger-fuck a girl faster than she can blink.”

D.P. came over after she finished her Spesh SAC, and we watched Dom and Andrew play a really hard song, whose name slipped my memory. Andrew was on Easy, Dom was on Expert. Andrew beat Dom. Oh shock. Then Andrew went on Medium. Andrew lost to Dom.

Anyway, I think Dani’s Guitar Hero controller is now well on its way to being broken.

I left them at Domain Interchange, no longer needing to buy things because I borrowed Andrew’s tie.

I tried all the clothes on when I got home. I looked alright. Very much looking forward to Saturday now.

I still need pants to work in.

Alex.

What happened today?

In Periods 3 and 4, Miss Ma- was away so we were meant to do some work but I ended up sneaking out and going to Dani’s place with Dani and D.P. and we played Guitar Hero and Tekken. And D.P. totally cheated by button mashing. And I chose some stupid guy who didn’t do anything but defend. What. The. Fuck. Anyway, got back to school about 5 minutes before lunch started.

Hung out with Carmaine most of lunch and went to Peer Support. Did the Legal SAC which was a 6o minute block of furiously writing what I think the Parliament is doing in Law Making (hoo-ah).

Oh, and I accidentally added Mr G my ex-Legal teacher on my Facebook. Now THAT, as El- put it, was the funniest thing a MacRob chick can do and I did it.

Hoo-ah.

D.F.