Father Krishna's Occasional Sermons...

FK's 2011 Round-up!

2011-12-30T06:26:00.000-08:00

Despite having a 6-7 year history as a blogger, I still haven't managed to "get it". The blogs I like have contributors who a.) update their blogs regularly b.) write short, succinct, topical, 'punchy' articles about relevant stuff c.) respond promptly when visitors to their blogs leave helpful or appreciative comments. I do none of the above things and therefore do not deserve to have anyone reading my posts. However, I'll still do a round up of my year in gaming, if only to keep this old place from seizing up and being shut down...

So, where was I? Ah that's right, I'd taken a brief hiatus from my Wii to play Dead Space, which I thoroughly enjoyed... Well, faithful to myself at the time, as soon as I got through Dead Space, I reconnected my Wii to have a crack at Dead Space Extraction. Despite being a very linear and "on rails" shooter, I have to say I enjoyed EVERYTHING abut this game, and I'd even venture as far to say that this was a better game than that which spawned it...

First of all, graphically, this game looks great... You'd expect it t have been a big letdown after Dead Space on the 360, but really the game looks almost as good as it's bigger brother...
The next feature which held it's own for me was the story and characters which were both excellent (chief villain is the unlikeable and duplicitous South African "Eckhardt" - one of the best baddies in my recent memory....) Dead Space is a slow burner which took a while to grab my interest. It did however turn into a Jolly good story by the end. Having warmed me up me for the ensuing story line, the Dead Space Extraction plot was easy to jump into.

The other feature of the game I liked was that as each level was completed, a digital "comic book" is opened, chapter by chapter, padding out the back-story in an original way. At first I thought the artwork amateurish - but as the comic continued, I warmed to that as well!

Fully satisfied, I desired more Wii on-rails shooting excellence. I found it in the excellent House Of The Dead Overkill. At first I played with the awesome looking House Of The Dead Overkill Hand Cannon peripheral. But "good looking" does not make for "good shooting" and I completed the game with the Wiimote as my 'gun'. The game is hilarious, and a great reboot of the original... HOTD is one of my long time favourite franchises and I include a lot of arcade play in that love of the game. HOTD-OK is a riot in terms of B-Movie shlock-horror references, but also remains an excellent shooter in it's own right.

Like Homer Simpson, I'm extremely suggestible, and like Homer, I also make dumb links in my head... The mere fact that I'd moved onto zombies in HOTD meant that I thought about Resident Evil... That lead me into downloading Resident Evil 4 HD, 5 and Code Veronica HD from the 360 Market Place... This was a hugely lazy move on my part. Whilst I've loved downloading retro content on my Wii, 360 and PS3 from a variety of platforms in the past - part of my logic being it gives me the opportunity to play games fr the Megadrive, MasterSystem, Snes, N64 etc. without having to set the consoles themselves up. But now I find myself increasingly downloading things so I don't have to move my consoles from room to room... I have RE4 and RE:CV on PS2, which I can play on my PS3, but my PS3 is downstairs in the living room and most of my gaming tends to take place upstairs in my bedroom. I've just upgraded my TV in the bedroom to a 32 inch/81 cm screen. That's hooked up to my 360 and weeellll... you get the picture, it was just easier to download them straight onto my 360... Lazy twat that I am!

And then all of a sudden I'd played the RE4 and 5 games inside out AGAIN, wringing out every last drop of extra content out of each title. I started into RE:CV but then stopped myself... I had to play something NEW! (Or new to me at least...) This has resulted in me stop-starting and half-playing the following titles Gears Of War 3 (as of yet unplayed), Arkham City (loving it but stuck!!!) Devil May Cry 4 (far into but stuck!!!), Mass Effect (as of yet unplayed), Ninja Gaiden (as of yet unplayed)... Started and then stalled at the end of 2011 would include... Beyond Good and Evil (HD), Back To The Future, Dead Rising Case Zero, Resident Evil Code Veronica, Sonic 4 and Shadow Complex.

I've also just received Sonic Generations for 360 for Christmas off Mrs. K, plus Homefront and The Dreamcast Collection for 360 off my lovely boys Joe and Martin. So, I'm back where I always am... Too many games on the go at one time, that feeling of dis-satisfaction of not completing great games. No change there then! On the plus side, I have recently organised my games, sorting them out, alphabetising them and remembering what I've got. I've just sorted out my gaming environment, with the boys confined to the front living room for their gaming activities, with their PS3 and the newest Sony 40 inch TV. My room has therefore inherited the 32 inch I was talking about fr my 360. My PS3 is now the DVD player in the back living room under my 37 inch! This means at least that all gaming can now take place without annoying Mrs. K. And it means I've got a chance with catching up with myself.

So, as usual I've got a lot of gaming to tidy up... but I'm up t the job! I need to get these finished before 2012... r if that is an overwhelming task it will have to be before this:

or this!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you out there in the blogosphere! I'm off to lazily download Daytona USA and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3!!! :)

Just In From Sky News...

2011-10-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Manchester United endured a derby day to forget as they suffered a 6-1 thumping at the hands of local rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

Hours after finding himself the subject of more headlines after a fire at his home, controversial striker Mario Balotelli inspired the thrashing with an impressive brace.

But it was Jonny Evans' sending off in the 47th minute which marked the start of a downward spiral for the hosts.

Sergio Aguero grabbed the third for City before super substitute Edin Dzeko fired home two either side of a strike from David Silva as Sir Alex Ferguson's men completely unravelled in stoppage time.

City's emphatic win keeps them sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League and gives them a five-point cushion over reigning champions United.

Dead Space - Xbox 360

2011-09-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

COD Black Ops Wii - FK's continuing adventures with Nintendo's finest!

2011-08-24T14:27:00.001-07:00

Apart from the ginger gene, the only thing my three sons share explicitly, is the opinion that Call Of Duty (online) rocks. It's the only thing they can agree on as far as videogames go -their gaming preferences outside of the franchise go like this - Joe (20): Fifa, Martin (17): Dead Space, Ted (14): World Of Warcraft -see what I mean?

On the subject of Call Of Duty, however they are in full agreement. Every new edition of the game must be bought faithfully for full price on the day of release - pre-ordered and at a midnight launch preferably- and (most importantly) that from the point of getting the game into the house, right up until the next COD launch, the game will ONLY be played as a multiplayer, online experience.

I could not be more different. I have no compulsion to play these games as and when they are released. I cannot (despite the desire to play) cope with the game online! To me it is a panick stricken, jarring, frenetic, disorienting experience. On top of that, a humiliating one as I simply get picked off by other players repeatedly until the game session ends.

I DO love the franchise though. I've played a variety of the series offerings across a variety of consoles - PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 - I've even played two COD games (COD 4 and COD: World At War) on the DS! But until this month, I'd never played one on the Wii.

Nice graphics for the Wii doncha think?

It was with a look of wearied disbelief, followed by stifled giggles that my sons enquired why I was choosing to depart from the world of the 'serious' gamer, to play the shoddy and inferior offering presented to Wii gamers. Well, I'll answer that question right away!

Ultimately it was the price... Black Ops for the Wii was available for £15 (inc. postage), whereas it's 360/Ps3 cousins were costing above £25, even for pre-owned. It also served as a sweetener, when I took the risky decision of having a Wii only summer... I had read enough reviews online to know that the Treyarch boys had done a rather grand job of furnishing Wii gamers with a faithful edition of the game... not some embarrassing child-like "Wii edition" - the option chosen by some high profile releases - Ghostbusters for example, or even a "down graded" version of the game - the accusation levelled at Dead Rising, the game mentioned a couple of posts ago.

As far as I can tell, apart from a few control issues with the nunchuck and wiimote at times, the Wii version offers a full and comparable alternative to the games I've seen on the Ps3 and Xbox 360. I'd be a liar if I said the graphics were as good as it's high def relations, but they look pretty good for the Wii. Essentially the game offers the same high octane, constantly moving, thoroughly enjoyable experience, for a fraction of the price. (And I've not even played the zombies mode yet!)

Most of the Wii games I've bought this summer: Chop Till You Drop, Cursed Mountain, House Of The Dead 2&3 Return, Red Steel 2, Scarface The World Is Yours, and Dead Space Extraction - cost about £7-8 pre-owned. Ghost Squad and, Gunblade NY cost £5 pre-owned. Geometry Wars and No More Heroes? £2.99! This could be a reflection of sales, but is not a reflection of game quality. The Wii is a mine of untapped potential for serious gamers... You've just got to sift through a LOT of crap, to find the games worth playing. As you can see from the list of titles accquired this summer, I've still got a lot of play left in my Wii before I dust off the old Xbox again!

Elderly is back!

2011-08-15T03:06:00.000-07:00

Sing it from the rooftops dear readers!

The one and only Elderly Gamer is back and blogging at the following address: xboxmeagain.blogspot.com

Perhaps my favourite blog of all time, been at tad quiet for a spell, like the very site upon which your eyes are fixed at this moment.
However, life in general looks set to improve, as he's back and ready for blogging business! Oh frabjous day, caloo callay etc...

Welcome back dear Elderly!

Dead Rising (Chop Till You Drop)

2011-08-15T02:51:00.000-07:00

More Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop Videos

As my long six weeks holiday approached, I decided to rig my Wii up as my main console of the moment. I tend to switch between bouts of PS3 or 360 playing, but the Wii never got a look in. So in order to prove to myself that it was worth the money I paid for it, I decided to have a "Wii-only" summer. Apart from buying one game for the PS3, (see below), I've largely stuck to it and I have to say I'm loving it! Rather tragically (and unimaginatively), the first thing I played on my newly established Wii, was RE4. Utterly brilliant and proof of the potential of the wiimote and nunchuck as perfect controllers - but I've played it so many times before, that I needed to show a bit more imagination. Then it was onto HOTD Overkill for a bit of light-gun action, followed by 'Gunblade NY' and 'LA Machine Guns', with a bit of 'Ghost Squad' thrown in for good measure. These are all Sega games that I have loved blasting away at in the arcades!

Next,I tried (and failed) to get past my sticking point on Red Steel 1, then enjoyed a bit of Red Steel 2 (great new graphical style,not got me 'hooked' yet, however.) I then re-tried Madworld and still couldn't 'get it', although I liked it's stylistic content.

The game which has had me hooked though, is the much maligned port of Dead Rising, sub-titled 'chop till you drop'. The game was pretty much panned for being a downgrade of the original - the 'hordes' of zombies in the 360 version being replaced by 'groups' of zombies + zombie parrots and poodles - I for one, however am not complaining.

You see, I couldn't play the original past the first couple of levels despite desperately wanting to. It was Capcom, it was zombies - I had to play it! But alas, the unforgiving save system and difficulty spike were just too much for me and I ended up abandoning the game.

Now, a good four years after I first tried to play out the story of Frank West and the Willamette Mall, I'm finally finding out the dastardly truth! I understand that playing this version is like riding a bike with stabilisers, but I don't care! I'm really enjoying it.

I've just purchased RE2 and 3, plus RE 0 for Gamecube, with a GC memory card and controller - so my Wii based Zombie fun looks set to continue. I've also got COD Black Ops for the Wii, plus Tatsunoko vs. Capcom on it's way in the post. On the Virtual conole I just picked up Revenge of Shinobi (Megadrive), R-type (Mastersystem), Donkey Kong (Nes), and Donkey Kong Country (SNES.)

I also picked up Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for the PS3, but I haven't really played it yet. Looks fabulous though! Hopefully I'll report back about these games as my experiences unfold... I've a huge incentive to revamp this floundering blog, as my next post will giddily celebrate...

Yakuza 4: Release Day Purchase Power

2011-03-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

Video Games | Yakuza 4 | Launch Trailer

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

Very occasionally, I can still get excited enough about a video game that I want it on the day it comes out. One such game is Yakuza 4 - indeed, it's much maligned predecessor, the 'hacked to bits for UK release', Yakuza 3 - was the very game that made me get a Ps3 in the first place.

I've loved the Yakuza franchise, since I first read about it's development in a UK videogame magazine in 2004 (0r 2005 - however, it took me a long time - a further three years - before I got round to playing it, as I was strictly into the Dreamcast at that time, and could not bring myself to play the PS2...). It was promoted as "the spiritual successor to Shenmue" (my favourite videogame of all time) - and coming from Sega, with the promise of being a brawling adventure story set in a virtual Japanese underworld replete with a host of mini-games and dating sims, well I was enthralled and hooked by the concept straight away. As a Shenmue lover, there was always a yearning for the 'never coming' Shenmue 3 (it still hasn't arrived yet!) - maybe Yakuza could be a methadone for the cold turkey of waiting for a conclusion to Shenmue?

Now it's seven years later and I've investsed hours and hours in this game and it's following incarnations... from the English speaking Yakuza 1 (starring Mark Hamill and Michael Madsen), through to the syrupy, orphan heavy dramas of Yakuza 3... and I've loved every minute of it.

So far, the ultra cool (yet always caring) Kazuma Kiryu has not made an appearance. The only notable change is that the kung fu action seems even tighter and more responsive than ever, with the ability to stand on one leg and deliver a lightning flurry of kicks to your opponent a pleasing addition. As usual there is a plethora of weapons to be picked up and employed against your foes (Die Hard Arcade style), and thankfully the dating sim side of the game has returned (after being so cruelly cut from Yakuza 3's UK release).

Indeed it's the juxtaposition of sweet highly moral 'family values', slightly saucy romance simulation, frankly bizarre imagery and brutal gangland violence that makes this game so very quirky, so very Japanese, so very... Sega.

As of yet the other forte of the series, the ever twisting and supremely cinematic plotlines have not drawn me in, but another joy of the Yakuza series is how it's stories slowly unfold. I've had a few hours with Yakuza 4 and it's prompted me to blog for the first time in three months. if that's not a good reccomendation for a videogame, I don't know what is!

Yakuza Official Website
Yakuza at IGN
Yakuza at GamesTM forum
FK's first impression of the Yakuza franchise from back in 2008

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas fellows! May your days be merry and bright! New post before the New Year I promise. Been very hectic at work, with health and in home life, leaving me shopping right up today. I will chill out once Christmas day is out of the way and enjoy some relaxation and blogging time! Until then I hope you all have a very peaceful and happy Yuletide!

Star Wars games!

2010-11-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned last post, I'm doing anything I can to fuel my Star Wars obsession at the moment. Of course that means that my gaming tastes have also had a Star Wars flavour, and believe it or not I've actually played through three generations of Playstation in order to satisfy my Jedi enthused yearnings... I'll now take you through my Sony console odyssey!

Starting off, we have Episode One:The Phantom Menace representing the PS1. Now this is a rather lovely movie franchise tie-in from way back in the simple 32 bit era... That's right folks, its my favourite decade... the 90s!

The first thought I had, on re-playing this classic title, was that it was graphically great for the time it was made. The developers managed to get a lot out of the system visually, and the cut scenes are pretty impressive. It was through playing this game that I actually discovered a rather pleasing feature of the PS3. There is an option which allows you to "smooth off" some of the pixellation and jagged edges on your PS1 games, thus enhancing the graphics.

Now this is nothing new... the Dreamcast was able to do something similar a generation ago with the Bleemcast software... but it does enhance the playing experience when sampling retro Playstation goodies...

The game plays through each scenario of the movie, but adding a slight 'Tomb Raider style' platforming element to the story. There is also a good amount of Jedi style combat, employing both light sabre skills and force moves.

Voice acting, sound effects and musical score are of top quality, and overall the game carries the prestige, of being the most 'pleasantly surprising' of the trio I'm sharing with you in this post. That's because despite being a product from the last millenium, it's actually a game which is still very enjoyable in 2010. The game is quite addictive and the save system is very forgiving, but the game can still be frustrating when you have to repeat the same jump or battle over an over again... Now on to number two!

Representing the PS2 we have Episode Three: The Revenge Of The Sith. I picked this title up quite some time ago at Blockbuster as part of a "three for £5" deal. Very often I'll pick up a game and then not even think about it for months. Much later I'll think "Now what can I play today?", go and have a root around and discover a hidden gem! That was the case with this particular game. (I think I bought it during my obsession with London based gangster title, The Getaway. At that time I was not interested in the Star Wars universe and therefore the title got shelved.)

The game is pedestrian and straightforward, with no attempts to dazzle or amaze, but it very much satisfies my Lucas based cravings. Graphically not that amazing, but the simple and uncomplicated gameplay more than makes up for it. As you progress (in a very linear way) through the plot of the film, you accrue Jedi powers and combat skills by earning points for stylishly dispatching your foes. Again the whole aural side of things is sublime with great voice acting and an excellent soundtrack. The game is relatively easy to play through, and again the save system is forgiving.

Unfortunatelywhilst playing through and saving this game, I managed to wipe out the entire memory and saves that I had on my PS1 internal memory of my PS3, thus erasing about 6 levels of my progress on the Phantom Menace... DOH! Now onto the next and final game, this time on the PS3...

The best of the featured trio of Playstation offerings, is the rather fabulous PS3 offering, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It's not it's current generation status that makes it the winner
( -you can actually play a version of the game PS2- ) nor the shiny graphics, or enhanced Force abilities.

It's the fact that it expands the Star Wars story and sheds some light on the events between Episode III and Episode IV. It also allows characters from Episode III to appear alongside characters from Episode IV (Bail and Leia Organa) when the actors who played those characters (Jimmy Smits and Carrie Fisher) filmed their respective roles over twenty years apart... I think that's amazing!

Leia Organa (portrayed by Carrie Fisher in 1978) and Bail Organa
(portrayed by Jimmy Smits in 2005) meet up in a videogame in 2008!

The star of the game is Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Galen Marek, also known as Starkiller.

The game charts the path of his relationship with Vader. The plot is almost Shakesperean in it's twists and turns - Vader murders Marek's father then adopts him. He brings him up as a Sith Lord, but Starkiller is redeemed through his love for new character Juno Eclipse, being drawn from the Dark Side of the Force into the Light and eventually becoming a Jedi.

- There is far more to his backstory than that, but suffice to say, this new examination of an interesting and murky period in the Star Wars chronology and plot development is extremely exciting for Star Wars nerds like myself!

,Galen Marek or Starkiller - (Darth Vader's secret apprentice)
expands the Star Wars story in an extremely tantalising way!

The gameplay of Force Unleashed, becomes more enjoyable as you progress through the game and your destructive Force powers increase. I say destructive Force powers, because destruction is the name of the game. Although Starkiller is more than capable of handling a light sabre with skill and dexterity, his modus operandi is to storm through his oponents hitting them with Force 'push','lightning' or 'grab'. This sends foes and parts of the environment flying off into the cosmos.

So there you go! Three generations of games but all with a common feature... 'quality'!

I'll put some video of each one here under the post, so you can see what they look like. May I leave you with the assurance, that I'll leave Star Wars alone as subject matter for my next few posts. I've actually got a backlog of played games to tell you about, due to my year long hiatus... Enjoy the videos (although I really disagree with the Revenge Of The Sith review) and I'll make a pledge to get out and visit some of my favourite blogs over the weekend... See you soon!

Video Games | Star Wars: Force Unleashed | Review

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

My Current Obsession

2010-11-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

Hope I've spelt that right, I wouldn't want to give you the impression that I'm hooked on dried grapes. Lord no! (Not unless they're covered in milk chocolate and enjoyed after a heavy session on the old bong that is...) but I digress!

Those of you who've known me for a while may be aware that every so often I get into something obsessively. This usually results in me indulging huge wads of cash and hours of my free time at whatever has caught my whim, in terms of persuing and fuelling that moments fad. These have included the music and memoribilia of Michael Jackson, the Resident Evil franchise, the Dreamcast, the Saturn and videogaming in general...

However, my latest obsession, which has been brewing for about a year now, is based long ago in a galaxy far away... Why would a 43 year old man start to get heavily into Star Wars in 2010? There's no reason other than that when I was ill and off for six months, I decided to watch all six films as they were intended to run in the George Lucas chronology. That means starting with Episode One: The Phantom Menace and finishing on Episode Six: The Return Of The Jedi.

Now that might seem logical to everyone, but UK TV channel ITV, recently showed them in the chronological order that they were made, which is Four, Five, Six, One, Two, Three. This IMHO is absurd, but whatever...

When you watch the movies back to back in sequence, the story is quite enthralling. It definitely is a case of the sum being more than its parts, and I found my interest in the Star Wars universe was kick started afresh. I began to watch episodes of the Clone Wars and after first finding it's cartoon stylings unpalatable, I soon became hugely hooked on the programme. I now enjoy it as much as the films and yearn for other eras from the films timeline to be explored in a similar animated fashion.

But of course, when you're obsessed and adicted as I am at this time, you'll find that watching isn't enough... now I need Star Wars comics, Star Wars novels, Star Wars art, Star Wars memoribilia and of course... Star Wars games! Which leads me nicely onto my next subject!

The Prodigal Returns

2010-11-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

No, not me this time... I'm talking about my Xbox! In what was an amazingly swift turn-around time, my beautiful 360 Elite has arrived back from Germany. It's re-positioning under the biggest television in the house, has resulted in me feeling very much attracted to it's Microsoft loveliness!

I've got a glut of games to play on it, bought at about the same time as my console gave up the ghost. These include Kane and Lynch: Dog Days, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Mercenaries 2: World In Flames and for the original Xbox, GTA III, Goldeneye Rogue Agent and True Crime: Streets Of LA. I've also got the Dead Rising DLC on my hard drive...

However, getting anywhere near the biggest TV is a difficult process due to the invasion of the new Call Of Duty (Black Ops) into Krishna Towers. My two youngest sons Martin and Ted have both purchased COD (Mart on the PS3, Ted on the 360). This means that Martin has plonked his PS3 (not to be confused with my PS3) right in the main living room and usurped the TV from me!

I've not even seen as much as a glimmer of the gameplay or graphics of this latest release. I am very aware of the effect it has had on my sons, though, having only heard grunts from them since they got on the game. I gather that every kid in their social circle has a copy and is online 24/7 since they all got their grubby little mits on their copies. It's THE essential gaming purchase of the last few years and everyone is "bashing it" as much as possible! We even had to mention it in assembly at the school I work at, as conversations about the game were beginning to distract children from their lessons!

I have been playing a lot of Call Of Duty in recent months, including World At War, World At War: Final Fronts (PS2), Modern Warfare 2 and Finest Hour (PS2). But I feel no compulsion at all to get on the Black Ops bandwagon, and will play it after I get through the expansive backlog of games I've got stacked up... As well as those Xbox offerings mentioned before I've got Shadow The Hedgehog (PS2), Casper (PS1), Tekken 5 (PS3 download) and a couple of games from the franchise which is fuelling my current obsession...

October 2010: The State Of Play

2010-10-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

I've been wondering how to return to the blogosphere, after a year camped out on the Mountain of Indifference, on the Isle of Sloth, in the Sea of Laziness near the shore of Torpor. Should I return with bells and whistles? Or just sneak back, like I've not just neglected my blogging duties and my good friends throughout the globe for over 12 months... I've plumped for the latter option obviously! A few of the more eagle eyed amongst you might have noticed the changes in title, colour scheme and pictures about the place...

My life has taken a few twists and turns since October 2009. There have been a few ups and quite a few downs over the last year, and I might share a few of the happier and sadder elements of that particular journey in the coming weeks and months. My weight has certainly been plummeting and I am now lighter than I have been in years! The one consistently wonderful constant is the lovely Mrs. K. Patient, calm, loving, generous , funny, beautiful.

Cyprus 2007 weighing 15 stone

Amsterdam 2010 weighing 11 stone.

but for now I just thought I'd relate my various gaming setups and console locations, plus mention a couple of the games which have grabbed my attention recently or over the last annus since my blogging absence.

OK! Down to business...

Father K in Wholesale Sellout to Sony!

It's completely true. There was a time not that long ago,in the aftermath of Sega pulling the plug on the Dreamcast, when the good Father was hugely anti-Sony. I hated them for winning the console war against the vastly superior (IMHO) Dreamcast. I wanted them to lose the console war in the current gen to Microsoft, to whom I pledged my allegiance buying no less than three of their 360s. Then, as my first one had to go back to Germany to be cured of the 'red ring of death', I put the PS2 in it's place and got to grips with a few PS2 titles I'd bought then neglected... Yakuza, GTA Vice City and San Andreas, Devil May Cry 2, Resident Evil Dead Aim and so on...

The PS2 suddenly became a vital console for me. Just as I had been able to catch up on cheap gaming treats as the Dreamcast became yesterday's news, I was now able to pick up great titles for the PS2 for very little money. I played the PS2 up in my bedroom and it got at least equal gaming time with the 360 in the downstairs in the main living room...

But recently I decided I wanted to play a couple of titles for the PS3 - Yakuza and Resistance: Fall Of Man - , so I decided to pick up a backwards compatible 'pre-owned' 60 gig edition, that would enable me to continue my PS2 odyssey at the same time! So now, in my bedroom, where I do the majority of my gaming, is my lovely and oft used PS3 which I have to admit, I can no longer imagine life without...

Now downstairs in the main living room, should be my Xbox 360 Elite Edition (bought brand new in December 2009), but that is now on it's way to (you guessed it...) Germany! No red ring of death this time, but instead it won't read any discs. Bollocks!

So there is a large gap under my huge wide screen hi def TV that I'm not trying to fill at the moment. That's because I already had my Wii hooked up to the big TV in the hopes that it might see more action in the main living room. I've played a little bit of NiGHTs Journey Of Dreams on it and I intend to re-visit the Darkside Chronicles. But I've also bought my first new Wii game in quite some time... Red Steel 2! So who knows? Maybe the absence of my Microsoft console will spark a Wii shaped revolution this time?

In the less used living room I have my Saturn hooked up for the first time in a very long time, and also my Dreamcast. This is the least likely to be used as I can't seem to locate a lead/cord that gives me a good picture. Besides, there are still too many PS2 classics to seek out and discover!

However, the game that has me currently enthralled is actually the luscious and superb Resistance Retribution on the PSP. In fact I'm enthralled by the whole Resistance world at the moment... So now I've discussed my console set up, I guess it's time to start thinking about the games I've been playing. But I'll leave that for another post!

Happy Halloween!

New Posts Before Halloween!

2010-10-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

I'm open for business this week ...

More Resistance: Retribution Videos

Opening Soon!

2010-10-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

Not long to go now before the usual old crap comes spouting forth!

Reconstruction

2010-10-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Yakuza 3: IGN Video Review

2010-09-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas One And All!

2009-12-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

Just a very quick post to say Merry Christmas to anyone who still pops by here! Yep, I've slipped into bad habits again, and haven't posted for months! Wishing you all a Happy Holidays, and a very prosperous New Year 2010!

Catch Up: Contentment...

2009-11-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

I've been totally absent from the computer for some time , which is happily a reflection of my increasing good health and independence since my operation. I've also been in a happy period of gaming contentment in a variety of ways.

Firstly I completed the epic Shenmue on the Dreamcast. I'd played it partly because I wanted to give my Dreamcast some love, as I'd neglected it for some time. It's quite a gently paced game with a kick ass ending. I wondered whether it would stand the test of time, and it does. It looks and sounds brilliant, it's immersive and engaging, epic and wonderful. It was a nice, soothingly paced game to play as I was recovering.

As soon as I finished Shenmue, I allowed myself the luxury of downloading The Ballad Of Gay Tony, the latest download for GTA IV on the 360. It's an absolute blast to have the opportunity to explore another aspect of life in Liberty City. I couldn't be happier than when I'm playing through a GTA IV game and opening up the life of a character - Niko Bellic, Johnny Klebbitz or new guy Luis Lopez- but there is a problem...

I don't know if it's my download only, but the game is constantly crashing during missions, sometimes seconds before the conclusion of a lengthy mission and has seriously hampered my progress in and enjoyment of the game. So much so that I've found distraction elsewhere.

Stranglehold is a game which I'd dipped into in short bursts, but not really played properly. The John Woo directed 'sequel' to the epic movie Hardboiled, the game follows the investigations of the legendary Inspector "Tequila" Yuen, played by Chow Yun Fat. I've now played a good chunk of the game and it's an explosive third person shooter with elements of the "bullet time" shooting mechanic of games like Max Payne and Matrix Path Of Neo. It's graphically lovely too.

I've also just put in a bit of time on both the DS and the PSP. I decided to give GTA: Liberty City Stories on the PSP another shot, after failing to make much progress on my first attempt. I've completed a good few missions which has of course lead to me liking it again... until the next time I get stuck!

I've also been playing Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare... (no not the COD:MW 2 that has just been released)... instead I've been playing the DS adaptation of the game that was a poor consolation for Nintendo fans until now... The DS version is actually very good, with a lot of game squeezed into a tiny cartridge! Epic musical score, good use of sampled voice commands, nice 3D visuals and a good few missions that make great use of the DS stylus. I've completed it now and I'd thoroughly recommend it to any DS owners out there! I'm seriously considering getting COD: World At War on the DS on the back of my enjoyment of this title...

On my beloved PS2, I've been playing GTA: San Andreas and GTA: Vice City Stories (a PS2 port of a PSP game that I'd started previously, and then abandoned.) It's much easier on the PS2!

I've also been getting into a lot of films, watching the Star Wars series from episodes one through six and loving it so much that I actually started getting into the Clone Wars animated series too!

So anyway, just to let you know that I'm alive and well, getting better and loving my gaming!

Oh and I'm going to get the Darkside Chronicles tomorrow, so time to blow the dust off my Wii-mote and give the Wii some love!

Darkside Chronicles (Wii): New Trailer

2009-11-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

Fifa 10 DS

2009-11-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

My interest in football (soccer for my friends across the pond) games has been sporadic at best. The first football game I played with any regularity was Sega World Wide Soccer '97 on the Saturn. Fast forward to 2004 and I had a big stint playing Sega World Wide Soccer 2000 (Euro Edition) on the Dreamcast. But the playing of the two most popular franchises, Pro-Evolution Soccer or Fifa, (usually against my sons) would result in huge 'hissy fits', controller-throwing and general all round bad sportsmanship on my part.

In 2007, however, I found my footballing nirvana in the unlikely form of Fifa 07 for the DS. No longer did I have to play my sons, no longer did I have to face the humiliation of being out-skilled, out-played and generally shown up as inferior. Now my only opposition was the CPU players, and they soon turned out to be little opposition at all.

I played that particular title to death. I played it as my beloved Manchester City, (a club who in 'real life' have not won a domestic or European title for over thirty years) and took them to unprecedented heights of glory. For five seasons I won everything, the premiership, the FA Cup, the European cup and the Community Shield. The game could also be played in it's entirety without using the stylus or touch screen, which was great because my first generation DS was very poorly at the time!

However, time moves on, and a new DS demanded a new Fifa. Besides, Manchester City have gone through such a major squad shake up since their financial revolution, that there was only Stephen Ireland and Micah Richards from the '07 line up still in the squad in 2009. The kits had changed and... well... damn it! I just wanted an update! Now I did have Fifa 09 for the PSP (it came bundled with my PSP which also had a stick-on Fifa 09 'skin') but I never got into it, preferring instead to stick with my beloved DS '07 game. So buying the new Fifa 10 at full price was a big deal for me.

I was full of anticipation when I put the cartridge into my DS. Sure enough, apart from the inclusion of Richard Dunne, the squad was all present and correct. The new stylish black away kit was there and all looked good! I eagerly looked for the 'career mode' with which I had had such success on Fifa 07, but alas it wasn't there! Instead it had been replaced by a mode called "Be A Pro". Rather than guiding your team to glory, the emphasis was now on the career of one player, who has to succeed at a series of challenges in order to progress through the ranks of the home team and be selected by coaches for international duty.

Unfortunately, this was SO different from the game play of the '07 edition, that I found it almost impossible to play, let alone find any success. I was massively disappointed and about to vent my spleen over here at Gnome's Gaming On The Go. That was before I switched game modes. 'Kick Off' Mode' allows you to play a one off match against any rival of your choice. It also gives you the choice of playing in the "Be A Pro" mode, or "Classic" mode. And it was in "Classic" mode, that I found my salvation.

Although not exactly the same as Fifa '07, it was similar enough for me to play with some degree of success. The 'game settings' allows you to set the game's difficulty level, according to your own skill level. I set the CPU skill at 'amateur' and got rid of the 'offside' rule to allow the game greater flow. The ability to play a variety of tournaments in "Classic" mode means I've already taken Manchester City to the final of the English FA Cup (which I won on penalties). However, this incarnation of the game does not give one the option of taking a mid-table club into Europe... You can only play as one one of the the English Premiership's top four teams - Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea, which is a bit of a bummer!

One of the biggest changes so far is the use of the stylus. During penalty shoot outs, the stylus is employed as a means of shooting (by swiping the stylus towards the goal) and saving (a large pair of gloves appear in the goal which you move with the stylus to save the opposition's shot.) I love this feature! It helped me win the FA cup ha ha!

Now I realise that this is a very subjective review (mine always are...) so I'll provide links to more informative sites... Would I recommend it as a full price purchase? Well, no. You can pick up Fifa 07, 08 and 09 for buttons in second hand gaming emporiums. If it's 'game play' you're after then these titles will more than adequately suffice. If you are anal about having current players and kits then go ahead and splurge your hard earned pennies on Fifa 10. But it's because of people like me that EA are able to squeeze cash from a gullible audience every time they bring out a new football or golf game.

However, if you see Fifa 10 cheap or even with a few quid/euros/dollars knocked off, it's a great game for the handheld gamer, which can be played in short little bursts, as a handheld titles should be.

Father K Rating: 7.5/10!

Fifa 10 DS IGN

Fifa 10 DS Review

FIFA Soccer 10 at IGN.com

This Is It - Mini Review

2009-10-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

Wow! Halloween looked like it was going to be a bit of a wash out, till Mrs. K suggested that we go and see "This Is It" to mark the day and to give us something special to do on this most special of nights

We took Little Ted, who rather sweetly said he would like to go because he'd "never been to a concert." I wasn't quite sure what we'd be seeing though, a stunning record of Michael's last performances, a taster of what the concert would have been like, or a bit of a disappointment, like the accompanying CD that I lambasted on these very pages?

In short, the film was brilliant. Mike did not look sick, he did not look like a drug addict, he did not look "odd" and he did not look 50! He looked great! His movements were tight, his voice note and pitch perfect and clearly the vision for the whole show was as much his as it was long time collaborator Kenny Ortega.

What was great was seeing Mike's normality, his personality, his humbleness and his interaction with others. When for years, we have had the most negative press, showing Mike in his masks, on crutches, in wheel chairs etc, it's just great to see him as an iconic entertainer, somehow fused with a normal, likable guy.

The film has captured the very essence of Michael's magic, showing everyone just why he was so celebrated before the negative conspiracy to bring him down began. My favourite parts of the movie were the film sequences, which had been done to enhance (and no doubt pad out) the show.

The film sequence for Smooth Criminal was amazing, with Mike somehow sequenced into a Humphrey Bogart movie, interacting with him and culminating in Mike firing off a Tommy Gun!

The movie for Thriller (cleverly fused with a snippet of 'Ghosts') and intended to be a 3D sequence for the concert, looked amazing. But it must have been either a late part of the concert that Mike didn't get the chance to interact with, or Mike wasn't well when they were doing it. Either way, he didn't seem to be that into it. The film for Earth Song was amazing too, but I'll let you see that for yourselves.

The one part of the film that I didn't get into, was seeing mike doing a Jackson 5 medley. It was interesting to note that Mike didn't do one song from the 'Invincible' album, his only CD release this millennium. Why do 40 year old songs with backing singers standing in for his brothers, when he could have brought us (for the first time) the chance to see his 'newest' material live?

Still, that was a very small gripe, in a film that I would have to give 10/10 as an overall score. Having had to watch recycled material and old videos over and over, to see Michael in this fresh, new, contemporary context was sheer bliss. I can't recommend this film highly enough. Do yourself a favour and go and see it. If you're in any way a fan of Michael or even just a fan of excellent musicianship, you can't fail to enjoy it.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

Cardboard skeleton? Check! Cardboard mummy? Check! Polystyrene tombstones? Check! Tacky plastic banners? Check! Talking skull with googly moving eyes? Check!

I absolutely love Halloween, it only comes a very close second to Christmas in terms of annual holidays... Normally in the Krishna household, we celebrate Halloween excessively, decorating the whole house, carving up a whole heap of pumpkins and root vegetables, getting in tons of sweets and having a big 'drink up' with anyone who cares to call on us.

Last year we threw a big costume party, and had a great time! Alas, this year, no 'drink up', no party, no callers and no dressing up. I was feeling very un-festive this year, and slightly depressed about the lack of festivities ahead. No drinkies for me, doctors orders... meh!!!

However, just at the last minute, I ordered the Halloween box be brought down from the loft, and I threw up a few decorations for the weekend. Even though we have no festivities planned, we are going to the cinema to see Michael Jackson's "This Is It". (That's me, Mrs. K and Little Ted, my youngest son.)

Me and Ted are also carving a pumpkin and there will be a selection of horror films being watched before and after the cinema trip. I started Silent Hill 2 yesterday and I'll also be blasting a few zombies in House Of The Dead Overkill. (HOTD on the Saturn has been a Halloween staple for some years, now it's the Wii's turn!) Oh and I'll also be watching Michale Jackson's "Ghosts" which is far superior to "Thriller" and well worth checking out if you've never seen it (I'll throw a taster video at the end of the post!)

Anyway, no matter what you're doing on this most wonderful of days, may I be one of the first to wish you a very "Happy Halloween!"

Michael Jackson - Ghosts
Uploaded by Wakazai. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Maworld Purchased

2009-10-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

I picked up Madworld for the Wii second hand for £13. I guess I'm now guilty of not supporting this mature, original Wii content first hand, and therefore fuelling the accusation that the Wii is only for family friendly fun games. (But I NEVER buy them however) I remember J and Junlee being up for this one when it was in development. Then we all lost interest in our Wiis and I guess the game was forgotten to an extent.

That means I've now got Madworld and House Of The Dead Overkill to play. I just never play the Wii! Still, Resident Evil the Darkside Chronicles are out soon, so, I'm gonna have to dust it off and get used to sitting in the front room to play!

Brutal Legend: First Impressions

2009-10-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

I've seen Brutal Legend on the gaming horizon for many months now. I know the game's developer has a great reputation for witty and intelligent games in the past. I also knew it was a heavy metal themed game and that it was a vehicle for Jack Black's talent. You would have thought all of those factors would have meant the game would have been hot on my "to play" list. But it wasn't, not at all.

It was only seeing my son play the demo level on Saturday morning (he subsequently purchased the game) that has changed my mind at all. The game looks hot! Visually the graphics are luscious, with a nice 'cartoony' feel to them. The game world looks like it was zapped straight out of a seventies prog rock album cover or an Iron Maiden landscape (I'm surprised 'Eddie' doesn't make a cameo!)

Several rock legends do though. So far I've seen Lemmy from Motorhead (who was also the arms dealer in the seminal Scarface). I've also seen Ozzy, who sounds brilliant and fits right in with the game. Apparently Judas Priest's Rob Halford makes an appearance at some point too.

Of course Jack Black is excellent, he always is. I wouldn't have given this game a second look unless it had jumped right into my living room, which luckily it has! I'll definitely give it a playthrough some time soon, as I understand it's a short game, which suits me fine! Check out the videos and see what you think!

Two Arrivals In The Post

2009-10-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

I got my Twinkies! And whilst they might not have been '£1.60 a piece' good, they were absolutely delicious. The first one I ate without a drink, whilst feeling a little nauseous (due to the cocktail of 40 or so tablets I take each day). As I'm sure you can imagine, that one wasn't that great!

The next one, however, I ate whilst feeling fine and accompanied with a nice decaf Latte'. Now that was GOOD with a capital 'G'! Creamy, spongey, Twinki-licious! My little son, Ted, is also a big fan, although to qualify that, he is actually a fan of anything containing sugar, so no surprise there!

The second item I got through the post was the "This Is It" CD, the latest release from my favourite late artist, Mr. Michael Joseph Jackson. So what do we have? A fancy pants package containing the same recycled tunes that I harped on about earlier on the site. Nothing 'new' at all. I was always going to buy it, I'm a completist after all. But you can register me "underwhelmed" by Mike's latest release. So all in all, the Twinkies were the better of the two purchases.

Hostess 1 Jackson 0 ;)

BJ and Father K Start New Business Empire!

2009-10-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Something like this BJ?

Expensive snacks!

2009-10-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

Now some of you will be appalled by what I'm about to write, what with the state of the world and global hunger etc. I'm not usually what you would call a decadent man, I would actually say I'm a man of simple tastes. However, after watching Zombieland for the second time, I just spent £16 ordering a box of 10 Hostess Twinkies to be shipped to my house.

I know Twinkies are just a very light sponge tube, filled with a very artificial tasting cream, not necessarily the best food for a recovering heart patient! However, I felt such an overwhelming craving (coupled with the fact that I am kind of tied to my laptop, with little else to do), that I found myself buying them.

Now I understand that Twinkies are junk food, and that over in the US they probably cost about $1 for 10 and that I just paid about $20 for 10, but this craving runs deeper than the last time I watched Zombieland.

As a child growing up, I devoured DC and Marvel comics. I was obsessed with them. Not just the stories within them, but the advertisements too. Advertisements for Sea-Monkeys, Charles Atlas work out system, X-Ray Spex, 1000 plastic soldiers for $1 and so on. But also the food advertisements, aimed at children... stuff we could not get in the UK... Lucky Charms, Hershey Bars, Grape Soda, Wonderbread and of course... Twinkies.

These were the best advertisements of all, actually one page stories featuring the very superheroes whose comics they were advertised in. (Although th only one I can remember clearly featured Aquaman, a superhero with whom I'm not particularly familiar to this day).

Now, it is possible to get a lot more varieties of US food in the UK than it was 30 years ago, but very often the prices are ridiculously over-priced (e.g. Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese in Asda £1, Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese in Selfridges £5!) Still, if you want the Twinkie sugar rush, you gotta pay 'top dollar'!

I'll let you know whether it was worth the price I paid when I taste them!

My Brother

2009-10-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

My brother is called Nick and he is four years older than me. I idolised him as a kid, being hugely influenced by his tastes in everything, but especially music. He introduced me to both reggae (Bob Marley) and rap (Sugar Hill Gang) in the seventies and so much more. We were each other's 'best man' when we married our wives , which I think is a testament to our friendship as well as our fraternal relationship.

Of course, our lives diverged as we had families and careers, but we've remained good friends despite seeing less and less of each other as time went on. Recently, his work has brought him to Manchester on a regular basis, meaning we have seen a lot more of each other over the last year.

When I was ill in February, he bought me 'Gun' and 'Scarface' for the PSP, to help me pass time in hospital. Yesterday, he came over to see me and somewhat surpassed that gesture by buying me an iPod touch. I've no idea how much that cost (nor do I want to), but I know it's in the "hundreds".

So I just wanted to post here (although he'll never see it) how grateful I am, and how much I love him. Thanks for letting me share that!

"Koobzing To America" by Barry The Nomad

2009-10-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

How many tired, hungry and oppressed immigrants have seen this image as the first beacon of hope in the "Land Of The Free'? Well , erm, none actually, but if I have my way, President Obama will immediately replace the old Statue Of Liberty, with this new Statue Of Koobz. Then, and only then, will he be deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Cheers Barry!

Thousands Of Catholics Flock To See Koobs "Miracle Waffle!"

2009-10-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Millions of Catholics are expected to descend on the home of aging lethario Father Krishna this morning, after this miraculous image was spotted in the good Father's pancake earlier today. A scientist was quoted as saying: "This is no fake... erm... honest."

Kanye Swoops In Koobs MTV Award Shocker!

2009-10-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

After hearing of this terrible interruption Nobel-Peace-Prize-For-Nothing-President Bollock Obama was heard to say: "What an asshole!" (Takes one to know one Obama!) However, veteran blogger and all round good-egg Father Krishna, was apparently thrilled at Kanye's message, stating: "He was always my favourite rapper..."

Thanks to Nebacha for this superb work of Koobs-related art!

This Is It - A Big Fat Rip off

2009-10-14T05:39:00.000-07:00

As I was surfing yesterday, (not literally you understand) I came across the chance to pre-order the "This Is It" CD, not just the single, but the album CD accompanying the movie. This is the tracklisting:

Disc 01
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
Jam
They Don’t Care About Us
Human Nature
Smooth Criminal
The Way You Make Me Feel
Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)
I Just Can’t Stop Loving You
Thriller
Beat It
Black Or White
Earth Song
Billie Jean
Man In The Mirror
This Is It
This Is It (Orchestra Version)

Disc 02
She’s Out Of My Life (Demo)
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Demo)
Beat It (Demo)
Planet Earth (Poem)

What a pile of shite! We're not talking about new versions of these tracks, but the same thing that you would have if you had all of Mike's studio albums (I do) or the many compilation albums such as "Michael Jackson's Number Ones", "The Essential Michael Jackson", "HIStory Pt.1", "The Ultimate Collection" or "King Of Pop" (I do). Eg. Nothing new at all except a few demos and the "This Is It" track that was conceived nearly a quarter of a century ago.

This means that apart from "Invincible" (2001), the single "One More Chance" (2003) and the Akon collaboration I flagged up a couple of days ago, fans have been denied anything truly new from Mike this millennium. To have to go back eight years to find "fresh" MJ tunes is increasingly frustrating. I made my own compilations this summer and the track list went like this:

"Hold My Hand" MJ/Akon (Unreleased 2008)

"Wanna Be Startin Something" MJ/Akon ('Thriller 25' 2008)

"Blood On The Dancefloor" (Refugee Camp Remix - CD Single 1997)

"2 Bad" (Refugee Camp Remix - Blood On The Dancefloor Album 1997)

"Invincible" (Invincible CD Album 2001)

"2000 Watts" (Invincible CD Album 2001)

"This Time Around" feat: Notorious B.I.G (HIStory CD Album 1995)

"Unbreakable" feat: Notorious B.I.G. (Invincible CD Album 2001)

"Heartbreaker" (Invincible CD Album 2001)

"The Girl Is Mine 2008" feat: Will.I.Am ('Thriller 25' 2008)

"Who Is It?" IHS Mix (The Ultimate Collection 2004)

"P.Y.T 2008" feat: Will.I.Am ('Thriller 25' 2008)

"Billy Jean" - Dirty Funker Remix (2009 Internet)

"Billy Jean - Dirty Funker Dub (2009 Internet)

Now this represented to me something that would provide MJ fans with the freshest and most contemporary sounding material, rather than just a re-hash of all the "greatest hits" that have been recycled by Michael's people for the last 15 years. The track listing of 'This Is It' would make a great set list for a live concert. During the up-coming movie, I understand we'll get to see

Mike singing these tracks 'live' at the Staples Centre in LA. Why not just put a CD out of those recordings? Instead we get the studio versions that (quote) "inspired" the concert set list. In other words, the same stuff that any devoted Mike fan will already own...

The one positive thing I took from Mike's death (apart from a re-assessment of his status in the public perception) was the chance for long suffering fans to finally hear some "new material". Looks like I'm going to be waiting a while...

Take Koobs!

2009-10-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

I've not got photoshop, so I pissed around on paint for bit. I think everyone who reads this (all five of you) should have a go at seeing what you can do with Koobs and then mail it to me. (That includes you Koobs!) I'll post any I get!

Koobs you rock!

2009-10-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Just saw this picture over at Koob's place and it made me laugh so much. Koobs just does funny shit, like that time he videoed himself locked in a cupboard at work. The picture just seems to encapsulate youthful exuberance, and seems ripe for manipulation in a photo-shop stylee.

Just keep on doing what you do Koobs!

Zombieland Trailer

2009-10-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a bit of mindless entertainment with gore, guns and humour (with rotting tongue firmly in cheek), you could do a lot worse than check out this particular film. I saw it with my two eldest sons on Sunday, whilst Mrs. K and Little Ted opted for the less harrowing "Up".

I think me and the tw big guys made the better choice though (we sneaked in to the last 15 minutes of "Up" after Zombieland, ha ha!) Oh, and there is a superb cameo by Bill Murray in there too, as the icing on a very lovely, er, zombie-cake. Enjoy!

Bargains galore!

2009-10-13T01:13:00.001-07:00

I think I've explained recently, that the PS2 is my current console of choice. There are a number of reasons for this:

*It's set up in my bedroom, where I am currently spending a lot of time

*I was fed up of competing for time on the 360

*I wanted to play through a number of titles that I had for the PS2, before they suffered in comparison to the current gen (does that make sense?)

*I was blown away by a few PS2 titles this year which have made me want to play more PS2 titles (God Of War, Scarface, Sega Superstar Tennis, DMC2 etc.) - this has proved to me that the PS2 has a lot of life left in it...

But of course, being me, I couldn't play through my backlog without adding to it. So now, every time I go to Blockbuster games, I'm rooting through the PS2 section (3 for £10) and kind of ensuring that I'm going to be playing the system for the rest of the year at least... LOL! That wasn't the idea! So, my new 'to play' list looks like this:

*DMC1 &3

*Silent Hill 2 (Director's Cut)

*Tomb Raider Anniversary

*Killer 7 (Suda 51!!!)

*Outrun 2

*VF4 Evolution

*Burnout 3: Takedown

*Alone In The Dark

*RE:CV

I also bought the Godfather and Shadow The Hedgehog, both of which carry quite weightily BAD reputations, but I've often enjoyed games that others have panned (Red Steel, Enter The Matrix, Blue Stinger to name but three...)

However, the game I'm currently most pleased about procuring is Burnout 3. Let me explain: My game's 'bible' is a magazine called Games TM, which I have delivered to my door each month. At the back of the mag is a games guide, which has several categories such as Top 10 RPGs, Top 10 Shooters, Top 10 Action, Top 10 Arcade etc. This is where I first heard of Killer 7.

I'll scan these top 10 lists (which include games for Ps2, Gamecube, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3, DS, PSP and PC - but for some reason NOT the Dreamcast) and try to pick up any title off the list that I see whilst in pre-owned games emporiums. I don't seek them out off eBay, and I won't pay more than a fiver for them, but if they are there I'll grab 'em.

Burnout 3:Takedown for PS2 gets a 9.5/10 score from Gamespot. As an arcade racer, it couldn't be more perfect. It's fast, visceral and thrilling and compulsive. Crashing is not a hindrance to racing but is a vital part of it... rubbing, tailgating, slamming and so on, earn you points and nitro. The more risks you take, the more points you'll earn. Everything during the race career is geared towards unlocking new cars and events. This is perfect for a geek like myself, who gets off on collecting items during games (Scarface was perfect for the same reason.)

The graphics are nice and shiny and great looking for a last gen console. But perhaps the best thing about the title was that I'd had loads of practise playing Burnout on the DS, which meant the 'pick up and play' potential was already there before I'd bought the game.

I'll give you some video and screenshots as usual, and then I'm off to play! Health-wise, I feel like I'm getting better and better each day, although I'm pretty incapacitated. My thumbs and fingers are in perfect working order, however, which is good for gaming and good for this blog!

Take care my friends!

MJ - "This Is It" - 'New' Song

2009-10-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

It made the national news in the UK tonight, that there is to be a new new release from Michael Jackson, just four months after Michael's death. This was such an opportunity to smash the charts wide apart, and to re-instate Michael to his rightful place as the facilitator of the modern r'n'b scene (Timberlake, Usher, Neyo, Akon etc.) and certainly confirm that the title "King Of Pop" was well deserved.

We've read that there are "hundreds" of new, unheard tunes out there, so what do those with access to his material do? They release a rejected track from the "Dangerous" (20 years old)sessions that just happens to have the same title as his final concerts.

Now whilst I'm thrilled to see any new material from Mike, I'd like it to be new material. I've been listening to the frankly stupendous 2008 collaboration between Akon and Mike "Hold My Hand" all summer. It's very cool, and most importantly, very contemporary. I've burned dozens of copies of it for friends and colleagues who were craving something fresh from Mike after his tragic demise.

So I'll post the new "This Is It" tune at the top of the post, and then some stuff that I feel would have been better underneath. See what you think.

As to whether or not I'll buy "This Is It", of course I will! Are you daft? I'd buy recordings of Mike sleeping! Ha ha!

Hospitales #3: Nurses who are bitches...

2009-10-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

#1. The Shaving Nurse: This one wasn't really too much of a bitch, I guess she was just a tactless tw*t. As part of my operation 'prep', I had to shave my legs (in case they needed a vein from there), my chest (obviously), my arm-pits and the crease between my pubis and my thigh. This is not so great at any time, but this was the night before my op. and I was shitting myself. The reason the shaving nurse is on the list is because a.) She insisted on kneeling in front of me whilst I did it and b.) She allowed the anaesthetist into the bathroom to "say hello" whilst I was bollock naked. The last thing you want whilst standing naked with microscopic wedding tackle and shaven legs, is to have to shake hands with a stranger.

#2. The Puking Nurse: One drug side effect I did not mention last time was a day of constant vomiting straight after my op. I also had to try and eat/take medicine and hold it down. I knew I had to time each tablet right, so I could keep it down long enough for it to take effect. When it came time for the evening meds, I was due a sleeping tablet. I asked the nurse if I could wait till I felt less sick before I took the sleeper. "No, no, you'll be fine!" she chimed, and made me take it. Of course I puked it up straight away. So I asked if I could have another as I really needed the relief of a good night's sleep. "No, certainly not" explained the nurse "It's very strong medicine, we can only give out one a night..." AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!

#3. The Stone Cold Bitch: Two days after my op. I was moved from the intensive care unit to the medical ward, without passing through the high dependency unit, which I was supposed to. I had four vistitors, and no chairs by my bed, except the one I was to use when they were changing my bed. I asked one of my sons to sit in the chair and a nurse flew out of nowhere to tell me that was for patients only. I explained that this was my son, and I was happy for him to sit on it, as I was lying on the bed. She started to go on about rules and procedure. I started to argue back in my drug addled state and said that it was 'my chair' and I wanted my son to sit on it. I know at one point I used the word "f**k" or "f**king", because the nurse sent for the ward sister to speak to me. The ward sister was very sympathetic to me, however, and very unimpressed that my first impression of the ward was an over-officious nazi-nurse who was more concerned about rules and regulations than ensuring her patient's well being. She went home in tears that evening, presumably after being told to prioritise what any person with half a brain would understand was really important...

Now normally I would hate to see anyone in trouble 'cos of me. But I'll be honest, she made me shed a few tears of rage and frustration, I wasn't devastated to see her shed a few over her mis-management of my care.

Hospitales #2: "Drugs are bad... Umkay?"

2009-10-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping that this series will not be a long one, as I'll be very happy to put this whole time behind me. I was chuffed to see Barry here, as well as J. One because Barry is almost single-handedly keeping the SJY alive, for which I am eternally grateful. J is one of my blogging heroes, and FKWS was always intended to be something like J's place (It isn't because J's is SO MUCH more of a professional affair. "Hospitales" was meant to be like "J in Japan", although with much less interesting subject matter!

Mr. Sonnyboy has been there for me on a number of occasions, and along with BJ is someone I consider a true friend, despite never having met in 'real life'. So as soon as Junlee, Gnome and Nebacha get here, I got all my homies in the hood, and it's all good.

However, dissecting this heart op. experience is what it's all about, so I guess I'll get started. First of all I'll explain what's been done. My chest has been sawn through, to allow access to my right aortic valve, which has been replaced by a plastic one. If you put your fingers below your 'adam's apple', you'll feel two bones, called (I think,) your clavicle(???) Well the first weird thing was for me to feel one bone in that space. They've fused the two together whilst closing it up! Clever, but odd nevertheless.

So you can imagine they needed some heavy duty drugs to get you through that... And despite seeing the pain off quite effectively, the side effects were horrendous. But I'm getting ahead of myself....

My current year of poor health, started when I fell down the stairs rushing to get to work. I dislocated my shoulder and on that occasion, the nitrous oxide (laughing gas) administered was just great. It took all the pain away and I was stood laughing and joking with the nursing staff whilst my shoulder jutted unnaturally into my field of vision.

This injury led me to a couple of months of heavy boozing, with no work to get up for, and I reckon that's what led to my heart condition (which I was born with) coming to fruition at 42...

That lead to me having to give up drinking which I stupidly really got annoyed about. I now wish I hadn't pissed so much of my life away, but hey you live and learn! But again, I digress...

This actually shows both Morpheus (the god) and the actual size of my 'old feller' for most of my stay in hospital, ha ha!

This time, the major drug used in anaesthesia and pain control was morphine. (You know, Michael Jackson's 'droug du choisir'...) I have no idea how anyone could use this shit for any length of time. Famously used for patching up wounded WWI soldiers so they could struggle on fighting, and also named after Morpheus, God Of Dreams, this drug is one I had never really experienced (And believe me dear brothers I've done 'em all....)

First of all, lets get onto the minor side effects. Increased body heat... Hot, sweaty, palpitations. Itching, intense itching of hands and feet. UGH!

Visuals: Whilst my eyes were open, I just saw the normal ward. Eyes closed? Immediately the scene was replaced. This is when I would 'see' the patients and staff that had filled the wards before. VERY scary. Other than that I would see vast landscapes of wires and tubes, electrical cable and strange patterns, a little like this:

Movement: I've experienced auditory and visual hallucination before. They don't phase me. But at one point I was sat in a wheelchair. When I closed my eyes I would feel myself 'whizzing' off. Open them and I was sat right in the same place. Close them and 'wheeeee!!!!' off I'd go again. Not too bad actually that one.

Bowel movement: Opiates bung you up. I just took my first #2 in a week... I won't expand on that, ha ha.

Penis size: On my proudest most 'upstanding' moments, my willy would be about nine inches long, at rest, maybe about five or six. In hospital after morphine, literally about one and a half, to two. Certainly shorter than my pubic hair which I actually wet whilst weeing. When you're at a low ebb, the last thing you need is for your John Thomas to start retreating INTO your body.

So there you go! Horrible, horrible stuff! Next time, nurses that are b**tches!!! (Few and far between I hasten to add....)

Hospitales #1

2009-10-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

Jeez! Father K here, quite literally 'back from the dead', and feeling none to the worse for it (OK maybe a bit). It's been as Vinnie Jones once said in Lockstock "emotional". But I'm gonna keep this brief for now. In my new series "Hospitales" (geddit?), I will be exploring the highs and lows of prescription drugs, just exactly how much a man's penis can expand and contract according to mental state (and the ingestion of prescription drugs), nurses that are bitches, seeing dead people, hospital food and just how good a cup of tea can be when you really need one.

Plus the usual amount of shite I promise but never deliver. But I am back, thanks for the good wishes my four favourite correspondents, I'll be in touch soon.

Total Eclipse Of The Heart

2009-10-01T04:03:00.000-07:00

Well folks, I'm off into hospital again today, this time for major heart surgery. (Ho hum...) Yes it's the replacement of my right aortic valve, with a plastic one. They did in fact offer me a pig's one, but apparently they only last about twenty years, and I'm a vegetarian anyway, so, um, "no thank you" was my response to that one.

So I'm anxious about how it's going to go. They have to stop my heart for about four hours, putting me on a 'heart/lung machine' whilst they hack up my ol' ticker. There's a 1/50 chance that I won't come out of the op. and a 1/50 chance I'll have a stroke. Nice odds huh? Still, there is a 100% chance that I'll snuff it if I don't have the op. so it's a no brainer really.

On a positive note, I'll be looked after by a top team in hospital, the ever gorgeous and wonderful Mrs. K is being a superstar and will be taking two weeks off to look after me when I get out of hospital in approximately two weeks time. Plus, apart from gaming and blogging, I won't be able to do much else, so hopefully that wil encourage me to update this old place a little more.

So, in short, if this is the last post I make, may I just say how much I've loved meeting my fellow bloggers and gamers (you know who you are), how much I love my wonderful family, Mrs. K, and the 'three gingers', Joe, Mart and Ted. Three songs I wish played at my final send off will be "Will You Be There?" (MJ), "No woman no cry" (Bob Marley) and "Ghetto Gospel" (Tupac). I am, however, rather hoping this will not happen for about twenty years or more, ha ha!

Take care peeps! I'll be seeing you...

Retro Video Review # 1: "Spawn"

2009-09-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about my bedroom "entertainment centre" (TM.1997), is that for the first time in many years, I have a VCR! I actually gave about 100 videos to charity shops about a year ago, but I did keep hold of a few essential titles. Videos are so cheap these days, that I will also be picking up a few more classics as I travel along life's highway over the next few weeks and months...

So I thought, "hey, why not give each of my newly watched videos a very short review? So here goes... Spawn was one of the first comic cross-over films I can remember (after Christopher Reeve's 'Superman' and Tim Burton's 'Batman'. Pre-dating the celluloid reinvention of X Men, Spiderman, Hulk, Daredevil et al, Spawn represents a darker side of the comic-film crossover. Whilst Hellboy might flirt a little with the 'anti-hero' persona, Spawn did it first and IMHO, did it better.

To do an ultra-quick synopsis, Spawn is the story of a war between the forces of heaven and hell, with our hero recruited for the dark side. Of course the hero wasn't always a servant of Beelzebub, but was once 'special ops.' agent Al Simmons (Michael Jai White). Simmons is unfortunately betrayed by his squad's colonel and fried to a crisp. Once suitably dead charred and hideous, (plus losing his wife to trusted colleague Terry Fitzgerald (J.B. Sweeney) he is drawn into Hell's army by the Clown/Violator (John Leguizamo). For the rest of the movie our protagonist has to wrestle back the humanity of Simmons from the clutches of the ethereal Spawn, by making suitable moral choices, not letting off a deadly virus (and then wasting people in a variety of ways!)

There is also a fine performance by Martin Sheen, as duplicitous squad leader Jason Wynn, the ultimate incarnation of "the man". 100% bastard, Wynn has made a hellish pact with the Clown, who is playing him against Spawn in the hopes that he himself will get to lead Satans army. Confused? So you should be, LOL!

"Wanna see some puppies?"

As a character Spawn is way cool! He is a dark superhero with an 'ectoplasmic skeleton' which can shapeshift in a handy a variety of ways, and he has a propensity for manifesting chains, barbs and hooks from various parts of his body, which then stick into various parts of other people's bodies...

But Clown's character is where the movie is really at... Obnoxiously humorous and very disgusting, Clown stops Spawn form degenerating into a shmaltzy 'good vs. evil' morality tale (although there is a depressing amount of 'cute puppy/saving orphans' sub-plots in the movie.
Watching the film again with fresh eyes, I did wonder whether Mike Myers had used some of Clown's character traits for Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers films...

Overall a total winner. Pick yourself a VCR and some old tapes for peanuts... Video cassettes are the new vinyl!
FK Verdict 8/10

Kingdom Hearts? Meh...

2009-09-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

Sappy? Crappy? Just a little bit too fluffy and lavendar? Pass me the sick bucket...

There have been scant 'good days' during 2009 for me so far, but one that would definitely class as a GREAT day, was the day I gave up on Kingdom Hearts forever!

I'll explain... during the summer, I cleared loads of old crap out of the house. Whilst sorting through all the rooms, I cobbled together a nice little set up for my newly replenished bedroom. It consists of a fairly big TV, a video, and a Ps2 (and therefore DVD), all of which were given to me for free at one time or another. I bought a digi-box for £20 and lo and behold I've got me a little "entertainment centre", state of the art for 2001... lol!

Mrs. K loves it too, and I can now escape to the PS2 in my bedroom, whilst Ted commands the 360 in the main living room and Martin continues his love affair with the PS3 in his festering pit. So, I found myself in my room more and more as the summer progressed, and I decided to clear my backlog of 'bought-but-un-played' PS2 games. These included Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry 1 & 3, Yakuza II, Scarface and Okami amongst others, in short, plenty to keep me going over the summer. Yakuza II was the first game that I played, and what an absolute joy it was, from start to finish

Now this is a man's game... LOL!

The next project needed to be something very different to Yakuza II though, (it's quite intense at times) so I decided on Kingdom Hearts - Now for some reason, all the saves on my memory card were gone, so it meant starting the game again from scratch. I got to both the Alice In Wonderland world and the Hercules world, and then just got stuck, getting continually wiped out just at the end of battles, making the whole thing tedious, frustrating and repetitious.

OOH! NICE! I want one!!!

Eventually after a few days of play I just got pissed off. I hate abandoning a game unfinished these days, so it was a big decision. I decided to try Scarface. It took me a while to get going on it, but now I cannot stop playing it. I want to complete everything in it, the overall appeal of the game is excellent. Graphics, voice acting and soundtrack are superb, and the story unfolds nicely. The selling of drugs and ownership of turf are paramount to your success as Tony Montana, and this element reminded me very much of GTA China Town Wars. There is also respect points awarded for the purchase of "exotics", luxury items, decor, cars, henchmen and works of art, whose ostentatious acquisition is a key element of boosting status. The violence is frequent, bloody and extremely enjoyable. Lock on with L1, shoot with L2, it couldn't be simpler!

In fact, you could say that Scarface, in reality a GTA clone, compares extremely favourably with it's progenitor. It's worth remembering that this game sat at the top of the gamer's retail charts in the UK, throughout the month of October in 2006, shifting over a million units in its lifespan, and eventually making it's debut in the current gen as a title for the Wii. Despite the very bad rep which movie-tie in games have, I would thoroughly recommend this title to any GTA fan and any lovers of action games in general. And to Sora, Donald,Goofy and the rest of those big shoed, spiky haired, Square Enix inspired sissies, I say what Senor Montana would say: "Hey! F**ck you Chico! Say hello to my little friend..." LOL!

Good God! Gargantuan Gaming Gridlock!

2009-09-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

When I look back across the archives of FKWS for 2009, it is not an impressive one in terms of blogging. In fact I've just about managed to keep hanging onto the tenuous grip I have on the blogosphere in terms of my own blogs and those of my dear brothers.

That being said, it has been quite a mad year, in terms of my health and the adjustments we have had to make as a family unit. And just as I was ready to start back at work full time for the new academic year, the docs tell me I am in grave danger of shuffling off this mortal coil if I don't have a major heart operation... within the next two weeks... HOLY AORTIC CAVITIES BATMAN!

So I have decided to use my time off work as an opportunity to reconnect with this epistle and those of my blogging chums. No grand promises however, I'm far too slack for that...

So, rather than drone on for ages about my gaming past since GTA China Town Wars, I thought I'd present it in list form and perhaps expand on individual titles if I wish to later... I will however post a little link to websites for each of them in case you are intrigued. Ready? Here goes...
GTA IV (again) (360)
Lost and Damned (360)
GTA San Andreas (360)
50 Cent BOTS (PS3)
Yakuza II (PS2)
Kingdom Hearts ...meh...(PS2)
Scarface (PS2)
Sega Rally Revo (PSP)
Soul Calibur (PSP)
Stranglehold (360)

Now I've looked at it, it seems pretty short as lists go, but that is also because I've been enjoying time with my family, tidying, de-cluttering, and decorating the house, getting my eldest off to university and spending time with non-gaming friends, so I'm happy that it's short. Any way, "keep it brief" is my new mantra for posts. Tata!

THIS IS IT!

2009-09-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

October 28th is the official release date. Hopefully I'll have added some new stuff to the blog before then. Just thought I'd dip a toe in the water...

Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars DS

2009-07-14T02:10:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. The months have past and it’s been an absolute age since I wrote anything about gaming. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been playing games, good lord no! In fact, I’ve been gaming at every opportunity, which is part of the reason I rarely venture into the blogosphere these days. Whereas in the past, blogging about games was my passion, now actually playing them is more appealing.

So what has been keeping this old man amused recently? Well my birthday, way back in May netted me Condemned 2, Dead Space and Outrun 2 for the Xbox. Dead Space remains untouched, Condemned 2 has been abandoned due to it’s turgid pacing (I just lost interest in ‘Serial Killer X’ and the whole plot.) Outrun 2 (downloadable from XBLA is a sheer delight, the epitome of arcade racing – although somewhat ‘buggy’ and quick to crash.)

However, the franchise that has been keeping me busy throughout these turbulent times is the wonderful Grand Theft Auto universe, Rockstar’s fabulous gift to the gaming world. And the game that kick-started my current obsession? Why perhaps the least obviously appealing outing of the franchise so far, GTA China Town Wars for the DS.

Rockstar have already had a good degree of success in it’s transference of the GTA world onto handheld consoles (ignoring the GTA GBA fiasco) with Vice City and Liberty City stories for PSP (and indeed I will come to these games later…)

With the money I accrued for my 42nd birthday, I decided to invest in a DS Lite and GTA CTW. The whole package cost me £80-ish and at last I had a fully functional DS with a responsive touch screen again! (My old ‘original’ DS had been sketchy for ages…)

And so I dipped into the world of Huang Lee, ‘Uncle Kenny’, triads, mafia and ancient stolen katanas. But can the tiny cartridge of the DS really encompass the vast world of Liberty City and do it justice? The short and emphatic answer to that question is “YES!” All but one of the boroughs of Liberty City found in GTA IV are recreated in the world of GTA CTW. You can actually recognise areas and neighbourhoods, despite the top-down “birds eye” view, and when you do, it’s quite a thrill! It’s also a testament to what Rockstar Leeds have managed to cram into a cartridge no bigger than a postage stamp!

Yes, there have been compromises in order to get a fully fledged GTA experience onto the DS. The ‘radio stations’ have been replaced by a variety of set soundtracks of different musical genres (although even these have been lovingly created by current artists such as Deadmaus, mentioned on these hallowed pages just a few weeks ago!)

Cut-scenes are limited to still pictures and captions (think Phoenix Wright) and of course we have the 2.5D top down view, but once you begin to play the game sucks you straight in and you very quickly forget the differences between this incarnation and those brought out on full-size consoles. It’s pure, unbridled GTA fun. All the elements are there, driving, drive-by shootings, securing safe-houses and encountering a wealth of colourful and intriguing characters (like the cross-dressing Mafioso), all served up with a tinge of irony and a good dash of humour.

Did I mention the drugs? Drug dealing is the backbone of Huang’s existence in Liberty City. It’s how he earns money to buy weapons and builds his empire. You’ve got to know your smack from your crack and your weed from your speed if you’re gonna progress in the game!

The game is just SO much better than either of the PSP titles, which have me struggling and a tad bored. GTA CTW was a joy to play and complete, encouraging me to pick up GTA IV again and finish it, quickly downloading ‘Lost and Damned’ as soon as Niko’s adventures had come to an end. I’ve also downloaded GTA San Andreas, so I should be good to go over the summer!

Oh and I’ve got my six weeks holidays starting on Friday, but I’m not promising an increase in blogging output… there’s every chance I’ll be gaming instead!

GTA Chinatown Wars Official Site

GTA Chinatown Wars Wikipedia

GTA Chinatown Wars Video Review

Sway Tribute To MJ

2009-07-05T04:44:00.000-07:00

Sway is one of the best UK MCs around. Signed by Akon, his lyrics are often quick witted and self depreciatory - making me think of Eminem at times. This was a quickly penned tribute to the King Of Pop, which featured in Radio One's farewell to the man last Saturday.

Refund News

2009-07-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

I received an email from Viagogo (the company we purchased MJ tickets from)and this is what it said:

"Dear Simon,

At this time of mourning for Michael Jackson, we are together in our sadness at the loss of one of the greatest entertainers ever. As announced on June 30th by AEG Live, Michael Jackson's concert promoters, a full refund is available to you for the ticket(s) you purchased through viagogo for Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' concerts which were to take place at The O2 Arena in London. This refund will include all ticket service charges and shipping fees.

Also as announced, you have the option to be sent the actual tickets you would have received to attend the show. If you choose to be sent your ticket, you will receive a refund of your original transaction less the original face value price of that ticket (and the transaction fee and relevant shipping charge for that face value only). Please note that the original face value of the ticket and any deductions will be clearly shown before you select this option.

The tickets printed with the special lenticular or 3D process, were inspired and designed by Michael Jackson for the fans attending his shows. (See above)

The special offer to receive your actual tickets will remain valid to 23:59 BST, August 14, 2009.

In order to request a refund or to be sent your ticket, please click here and follow the instructions.

Thank you for using viagogo!"

Well, whilst the tickets look good, and will undoubtedly make a great souvenir, I don't have the finances to go for this option, so I've asked for a full cash refund. I'm thinking of using the ticket money to book a couple of flights to New York for a long weekend or week... Or maybe to visit family in Toronto? I'm not sure what I'll do, but this tragedy needs to have a happy ending, so rest assured the money will be blown on something excellent to cheer me and Mrs. K up!

As a souvenir of the concert that never was, I've purchased a T-Shirt which I will wear proudly until it drops to pieces. Right, it's time I kicked myself up the arse and stopped moping around.
Expect a new gaming post this weekend!!!

The Final Rehearsal - They Don't Really Care About Us

2009-07-02T14:46:00.001-07:00

Michael looks like he is as tight and fresh as ever, as he practises for the O2 performance. Ah, what could have been...

Coming To Terms With the Loss Of A Legend

2009-06-30T11:03:00.001-07:00

This past week has hit me hard. I mean HARD. Apart from the death of Michael Jackson, which has hit me like the loss of a close family member, it's been a week of personally difficult issues. My neighbour's front window had a soft-ball size hole shot into it, after fifteen or so gang members rode slowly up my street with murderous intent, looking for her son. I was back in hospital for a small operation, reminding me of how different my life is compared to this time last year. Add to those issues a few small confrontations with one of my sons, and you could say that this week has not been great.

But the thing that has upset me the most, is the death of MJ. As the media goes into overdrive, raking over every angle of his death, re-opening the questions of Michael's sexuality, desired racial identity, relationships with Jordie Chandler and Gavin Arvizo, biological parenthood of his children, financial insecurity etc, there is also a healthy level of praise and adulation that has long been absent from the TV and newspapers. Finally, it seems his position as the most important entertainer of the modern age is about to be secured, as well as a final recognition of the barriers he smashed down in terms of race and injustice.

From the plethora of tributes and expressions of grief from the rich and famous, two have stuck in my mind. The first is from the Reverend Al Sharpton:
"Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama...no controversy will erase the historic impact"

The second is from Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees:

"It’s so sad that we can’t praise people while they’re here in the world. When they’re gone it’s too late. The people who were down on him last year are praying to the altar of Michael Jackson today."

He went on to say that if a fraction of the praise and admiration that was being heaped on Jackson in his death, had been given to him in recent years, he might still be with us today.
Michael's life and contribution to modern culture are now being dissected into infinity. It would be futile for me to try and evaluate this phenomenon, as so many commenters are doing, and will continue to do so for years to come, for it would only be lost in an ocean of words about the man.

Instead, I'll simply recount the story of my own, (very late,) emergence as a full blown and fanatical Michael Jackson devotee.

I remember the Jackson 5 from the time I was about six or seven. I liked them well enough, particularly enjoying their cartoon show, but they were no more significant to me than any other band.

By the time Michael graduated into a global superstar after the release of Thriller, I was completely indifferent to his music. The year I remember that as being, was 1983. At the time I had just graduated from punk and was beginning to enjoy an exploration of all things psychedelic. My musical tastes were very much rooted in the sixties - The Doors, Love, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Who, Small Faces and Sly Stone. The contemporary black artists I admired and listened to existed in the worlds of reggae and hip hop... The Wailers, Black Uhuru, Steel Pulse and Aswad... Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Afrikka Bambatta and so on. To me Michael Jackson felt like commercial pap directed at teen girls. His music couldn't have been less significant to me. I was always mildly amused and slightly intrigued by tabloid reports of his eccentricities, however.

Fast forward 10 years and I'm 24, working hard as a teacher, married with a two year old son. We have a load of Disney videos which we put on for him when we're busy, or occasionally, if time allows, sit down and watch with him. I loved that, sitting watching cartoons and cuddling my little son. Somehow, in amongst that pile of Disney films is Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. I don't know who bought it, but it begins to be the one we both select to watch most often. I totally dig it's spacey, fantasy, futuristic feel, despite the cheesey overtones! It becomes a useful movie to show in school for 'reward time'; every kid, no matter how good their ability to speak English, seems to love it, and it's guaranteed to keep thirty rowdy eleven year olds completely absorbed and engaged for an hour and twenty minutes... BONUS!

About this time, the first allegations of child abuse emerged from Jordie Chandler, or to be more correct, from his aspiring movie producer father. I didn't believe the allegations, they smacked of extortion way back then. But I felt Michael had made a bad choice in paying the family off, rather than vindicating himself and proving his innocence.

Then in 1995, came Earth Song. Little Joe, my son, now four, saw the video on the chart show and asked if he could have the CD. I duly obliged, and we listened to it and sang it together. It also had a dance mix on it and a 'megamix' of all of his solo hits, promoting the HIStory CD. It was cool. It was the first time I'd bought a Michael Jackson song.

I liked the video too, but I wasn't so keen on his stage performance at the Brits. I felt it was cheesey and that Mike was being a bit too 'messianic'. Jarvis Cocker from the band Pulp thought so too. He ran on stage and waggled his arse. It was quite funny, but I also thought it was a bit mean to the fragile Michael.

Cocker's subsequent treatment at the hands of police and security however, was way out of line.

And then I suppose I just forgot about him. I spent the latter half of the nineties off my head at a gazillion raves, festivals and parties. Acid house and dance music dominated my conciousness. The new millemium saw me chilling out and getting used to middle age after my last flourish of youth. Staying in and listening to music or watching TV with Mrs. K became my ideal evening.
Michael was still way off my radar musically though.

In 2003, the family had gone shopping at the Trafford Centre, the local mall. Joe (12) and his younger brother Martin (9) had been allowed to go and have a look round on their own, and returned excitedly saying there was a MJ impersonator dancing and doing the moonwalk outside the HMV store. It was to promote a new CD of all his number one hits and the boys asked me if we could buy a copy. I told them "sure", and sent them off with the money. We listened to it on the way home. I was intrigued by how much I'd never heard and how good this 'new' stuff sounded to me.

Virtually the next day, Michael's haunting mugshot was all over the papers.

(- Now as a quick aside, his changing face had never bothered me that much. I'd always thought it was his, to do with what he wanted . I didn't consider his skin lightening or nose reduction to be a betrayal of his race any more than I considered his increasingly androgynous look to be a betrayal of his gender -)

But that face looked ghastly to me that day, not at all good. The Bashir documentary had aired and Michael's flawed decision to put his (I believe 100% innocent) sleep-over arrangements with Gavin Arvizo into the public domain had backfired on him spectacularly. Bashir had entrapped Michael with the deception of false trust and friendship. He seized the opportunity to exploit Michael's naivety and innocence, and portrayed him as a predatory paedophile. It was disgusting to watch Bashir turn from obsequious and gushing, to judgemental and damning. Michael was like a lamb to the slaughter - he simply could not believe there was anything wrong with what he was doing.

No one in his family circle or collection of advisers or friends had been strong enough to tell Michael to stop. He had become so disconnected with the real world, that he didn't see he was voluntarily climbing upon a cross of his own making. The media and public were now clamoring to hammer in the nails. Incidentally Martin Bashir has said since Mike's death:

"Certainly when I made the documentary there was a small part of that which contained a controversy concerning his relationship with other young people, but the truth is that he was never convicted of any crime.

"I never saw any wrongdoing myself and whilst his lifestyle may have been a bit unorthodox, I don't believe he was a criminal."

I just didn't buy it. I could see that he was ignorant, naive, ill advised, perhaps even arrogant in the belief he could do as he pleased. But I emphatically believed in his innocence. It seemed very odd that this was happening when Michael was having his first commercial success in years, with a number one album and top five single. He was being charged by a man, Santa Barbara DA, Thomas Sneddon, a man who it seemed had harboured a grudge against Jackson for 10 years, since the settlement of the Jordie Chandler case. The accusing family themselves were known grifters. Again it looked like Michael was taking the fall because of his naivety and generosity.

I began to listen to his music more intently and carefully. The more I listened the more I liked. I bought every CD available by the Jackson 5, the Jacksons and Michael as a solo artist. I loved everything, but for me the albums that I loved the most were his later ones, Dangerous, Blood On The Dance Floor, HIStory and Invincible. I bought and watched every DVD and video I could. I became convinced of his genius as an entertainer. His music and performance eclipsed and out-shone every other music I had liked up until that point. As I watched his later videos again and again, a strange thing happened... I got used to his face. Even his later looks didn't freak me out. I'd go as far to say he still looked good in the videos for "You Are Not Alone" or "Blood On the Dance Floor"... Controversial I know!

As my passion for his music grew, Jackson's whole life was put on trial in a Santa Barbara courtroom. I watched the Sky dramatisations of the day's events in court, avidly every day. I looked at the fans outside the courtroom. At one point I would have seen them as fanatical nut jobs, now I identified with them strongly. When friends and visitors found out I liked Michael, they reacted with either bemusement, pity or disdain. To be a public supporter of Michael at this time was not a popular position! I read around the case, found out what I could from the Internet. I was encouraged to see messages of support from artists such as P. Diddy, LL Cool J, Missy Elliot and James Brown. I read these in the Voice, the biggest black publication in Britain. The only good press for Mike, was in the black press.

Then came the verdict. Not guilty on all charges. As each verdict was delivered, one of the fans released a dove. I was ecstatic. I was overjoyed. Michael's life, including the most intimate details of his physical privacy had been aired in public. His home had been violated by searches of his most intimate possessions. He looked gaunt and frail, not exultant and victorious. The trial had clearly had a devastating effect on a man who had still been able to dance like a twenty year old, just a couple of years earlier.

But surely he would regain his strength? Surely he would put the record straight and explain himself in a frank interview with someone like Oprah? Surely he would 'rise again'? Well it didn't look like it. Mike flitted from place to place, country to country, with nowhere seeming like home.
When photographed his trademark 'quirky' outfits no longer looked mysterious, they just looked weird. Fans waited anxiously for new material which never came. Michael had become a ghost of himself.

Until last year that is. Thriller 25th anniversary edition had new collaborations from Kanye West , Will.I.Am and Akon. Ebony magazine printed some photos of him looking... beautiful... for once. And then the O2 Concerts! I did two posts about them, which are here and here. I was going to go and see him! One of my ultimate ambitions in life was going to be realised!!! I knew the show would be an extravaganza with Mike contributing a small amount, but if I had seen him perform just one song, I would have died a happy man. But it was never to be.

Now he's gone and I feel like there is a huge hole in my life. You shouldn't be able to feel as sad as this about someone you never met. But that is what being a true Michael Jackson fan entails!
For the last four years on the kitchen noticeboard in my house, has been the front cover of the Manchester Evening News dated 14.06.05. It has a close up of Jackson's face with a one word headline "INNOCENT". You'll notice it says innocent and not 'not guilty'. In my hall for every visitor to my house to see, is a small portrait of Mike which I got for £1 at a thrift store. I'm proud to have been an "out and proud" supporter and fan of Michael, before the 'all too late' hysteria now he has been taken from us. I'm doing things to cope. I've transferred all my CDs to my PC, so I can make compilations and burn Cds for people. I've written my thoughts down for posterity. I'm wondering about whether I'll go to any tribute show that will be put on in the wake of the O2 gigs. I do know I'll be keeping Mike in my heart for the rest of my life and doing my best to ensure his legend is cemented into the consciousness of all those I come into contact with!

Michael Jackson Rest In Peace

2009-06-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I'm absolutely devastated. I hope he is at peace and that he will be remembered for the right reasons. Good night Michael sleep well.

Father Krishna - The Video!

2009-06-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of dear friends of mine made this video which they very kindly posted over at the Planet Dreamcast Forums. I never had anything like this before and I'm tickled pink! Thank you Brit and Tom!

Deadmaus & Kascade - Remember

2009-06-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

More music that's floating my boat at the moment, but couldn't be more contrasting than my last musical reccomendation, is this rather wonderful tune from the intriguingly named, Deadmaus.
From it's subtle progressive house beats to it's hauntingly soothing vocal, I could listen to this song for hours at a time. Now I know it's not BJ or Nebacha's cup of tea, but I'm hoping it might resonate with a couple of you guys out there. It rather reminds me of this tune from way back in my raving days...

Now I know the few readers I still have would much rather hear about my current gaming habits and believe me , I've got a backlog of games to tell you about, including Tekken: Dark Resurrection, Condemened 2, Resident Evil (remake), Lost Planet, GTA China Town Wars, Outrun Online, Watchmen and House Of The Dead: Overkill .

So I'll get to that soon enough! Until then, this is Father Krishna reminding you all that I'm still alive and floating round the blogosphere!

Eminem - Relapse

2009-05-21T04:05:00.000-07:00

It was a bit of a no brainer really, I was always going to love Relapse, the new CD from Eminem. I’ve been a big fan since his first single back in 1999, buying up every studio album, compilation, D12 release and collaborative sampler – plus his posthumous collaborations with such rap icons as Christopher “Biggie” Wallace and Tupac Shakur. I’ve bought videos, DVDs, posters, and seen him live on the “criminal” tour supported by Xzibit. In fact you could say I’m something of a “Stan” when it comes to Eminem – I’d class myself as a super-fan.

So I’m not sure whether my gushing review of this CD could be counted as valid, but I’ll continue nevertheless. I don’t just admire Eminem as a rapper. I see him as a wordsmith on a par with the greats – Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Byron and Keats.

His lyrical dexterity is second to none. This quote seems to sum up the esteem in which I hold his skills:
“Despite the media portraying him as the devil at various points in his career — just the latest in a long line of anti-heroes here to steal your children's souls and minds — there always seemed to be something more just below the surface with this guy. As an anonymous poster recently wrote on a music chat board I visit, Slim Shady — Eminem's musical alter ego — is like a Shakespearean fool; there's often a lot of wisdom, even a genius, underneath his apparently mad ravings. In fact, in many ways, it could be argued that he was the first to bring a humanistic, even a more literary side, to hip hop that wasn't really there before — less false braggadocio and a lot more confessional technique, probably more of the latter than any rapper before him or since.” (Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times.)

Even when he stops rhyming and recourses to mumbled or slurred gibberish you know that’s just to throw you off guard until the next killer couplet is slammed home. Eminem is in full control of the rudder even when you think his ship is about to crash onto the rocks of taste and morality, he knows exactly where he is going and what reaction he hopes to illicit…

And believe me, you will be pushed to the boundaries of what you find acceptable. Subject matter in the lyrics of the album goes over well trodden ground, ranging from tried and tested avenues:- rape, murder, incest, serial killing, cannibalism, physical and sexual abuse, felching, torture, drug abuse, separating conjoined twins (!) and lampooning target celebrities (even poor old Christopher Reeve still gets a good pummelling, despite his untimely death...) But don’t get it twisted, all of this has to be taken with a pinch of salt, it's all a slickly performed persona – the tendency to rap about subjects ‘close to the knuckle’ is no more reflective of the artist Marshall Mather’s real personal tastes or leanings, than is the hack and slash actions of actor Robert Englund are, when he’s made up as the character Freddy Kruger – Marshall Mathers and Slim Shady are two very different entities.

All the essential elements of a Shady LP are there - skits with Paul Rosenberg and Steve Berman, (denouncing the rapper as a waste of space and his CD as lacking any artistic or commercial merit), collaborations with mentor Dr. Dre and protege 50 Cent, songs about his mum, and the slightly-anthemic-aimed-at-all-those-tortured-goths-wallowing-in-their- bedroom-sing-along-through-your-tears number, "Beautiful". (Why is the most tender and morally valuable song on the CD my least favourite? What does that say about me???)

Notable by their absence are, collaborations with posse D12, songs about ex-wife Kim and any evidence of the politically charged rhetoric that peppered his recordings during the Bush administration. Idon't miss the obsession with wifey, but I did miss the other two.

Beats and backing tracks are as tight as a nat's chuff, the standout track being "Bagpipes For Baghdad" with it's faux R 'n' B Eastern flava, all Bollywood strings, nose flutes and tablas over a thudding bass drum. The track is also notable for a hilarious Scottish flavoured Eminem expressing how he is feeling... "Fooking greet mon!"

I won't pull the album apart track by track they're all superb. Take advantage of the internet and listen to them all, you won't be disappointed. I'm still undecided whether the wholesale public examination of his addiction/relapse/rehab is a genuine attempt by an artist to work through his pain or a cleverly exploited opportunity to provide a concept vehicle for his 'comeback' LP. I'm not sure I care either way. What is definite is the fact that ten years into his career as a megastar, despite five years of seclusion, Eminem is as vital and visceral as ever, still relevent, still excellent and still at the very top of his game!

Star Trek or Wolverine?

2009-05-14T13:42:00.001-07:00

Well, it's my birthday on Saturday, I'll be 42. Normally, that would be celebrated with copious amounts of booze, but as you all know this year will be different. Instead I'll be taking a very non-alcoholic trip to the cinema, where the only drink I'll imbibe wil be a giant diet pepsi, to wash down the nachos, cheese and chillis!

But here's the dilemma... Star Trek or Wolverine? I'm a long time fan of both franchises. I don't get to the cinema that often and I don't want to miss either. I've been a Trekkie since I was a kid, but I also read X Men comics as a kid and I've loved the three X Men movies so far... Plus I'm massively intrigued by Wolverine's back-story...

At the moment I'm swinging toward Star Trek, however, as I'm excited by it's reinvention and I love anything with Simon Pegg (Scotty) in it... I'll let you know where I ended up!

Going To See MJ!

2009-05-11T13:46:00.001-07:00

Well, that's the plan anyway! as you may or may not know, Michael Jackson has been booked to perform a series of concerts in London this year, and early into next. They sold out in minutes and thousands of fans were left disappointed and cheated of perhaps their last chance to see the man perform.

I was one of those disappointed... I expressed my dismay on these very pages, a feeling that I know only Junlee could appreciate. Still, the internet is a wonderful thing, and somehow, through a secure and official vendour, I now have two tickets to see MJ on Saturday January the 10th 2010! Sure they are about as far from the stage as they could be, but I saw Eminem under the same circumstances and that was awsome!

Now, for a start, this has cost me £300 which I really don't have right now. There'll also be the cost of travelling to and staying in London. Then there is the sketchy business as to whether Mr. jackson will be 'well enough' to perform one concert, let alone the 50 or so he has committed to performing. Seeing him shuffling round Las Vegas bookshops in a surgeon's mask doesn,t exactly fill one with confidence...

Still, for now, I'm on cloud nine. I know most of you wouldn't watch Michael Jackson if he was performing for free in the local park, but for me it's fulfilling a huge personal ambition. So hopefully, you'll be thrilled for me!

Chamone!

Stasis

2009-05-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

You can see my house through the trees!

Well. It's 7.54 a.m. on a beautiful May morning and the sun is streaming in through the windows. The Victorian park opposite the house is in full bloom. At this time of day, at this time of year, my little part of Moss Side looks good.

My son, little Ted, anxiously takes his pre-high school SAT exams this week, (which is rounded off with my 42nd birthday on Saturday.) I'm seeing the heart specialist today - I haven't deteriorated or improved since I got out of hospital - so I've nothing really to tell him. I wonder if he's got anything important to tell me?

I'm still in blogging stasis - neglecting all of my blogs, for days, weeks and even months. Every time I feel like I've updated and am ready to get back in the blogging routine, I stop. I then feel guilty/lazy/rude (to my blogging friends and brothers) but this does not wake me from my blogging torpor.

I am gaming like a demon though. My fayre at the moment? Resident Evil. Resident Evil, Resident Evil and more Resident Evil. I've completed Resi 5 on Easy, Normal and Veteran, (unlocking and upgrading all weapons and uniforms) completed Resi 4 again on normal and at the moment I'm about a third of the way through Resident Evil on the Gamecube - although I'll openly admit I'm using a guide - (that game is hard!) - and just in case I need a little Resi on the go, I've started Resident Evil DS again, playing as Chris. Just yesterday, I saw my first cut-scene with Rebecca Chambers and finally understood her place in the first installment! Other than that, I've little to report! I'll chuck a little video of the game at the bottom...

Oh, but I did rent House Of The Dead Overkill this weekend... Perhaps I could share my thoughts on that?

So I'd just like to say HI! and a Happy May to you all!

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (Wii)

2009-04-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

I've not really found anything to really suck me in gaming-wise since finishing Resident Evil 5. My immediate reaction to finishing it, was to play Umbrella Chronicles on the Wii, which reminded me of how good, both the game (and perhaps more importantly,) the console are. The idea of an 'on-rails' light-gun game having as much content and game-play as a standard Resi game was a novel one. It is a format I have found compelling to play on a regular basis since I bought it, although total completion of the title is something that still eludes me!

You can imagine my joy at finding out there is to be a sequel, the hotly anticipated RE: Darkside Chronicles, which re-works the events of RE2 in a 'current gen' format for the first time. Having enjoyed RE Code Veronica, RE Dead Aim, RE: Outbreak File #.2 and Umbrella Chronicles, I'm very excited to see another RE 'offshoot' so soon after RE5.
Oh, and as well as Leon S. Kennedy in his S.T.A.R.S incarnation, you'll also be able to play as Claire Redfield and Ada Wong! Woot!

Actually, Capcom might be single-handedly ensuring the Wii becomes the most used console in my house, with the announcement that RE: Zero and the simply stunning remake of the original Resident Evil for Gamecube getting a repackaging for the Wii - with motion controls as they did for Resident Evil 4! That could see me locked into the RE experience on the Wii in one way or another for the next year! The games are being packaged together (as House Of The Dead II and III were for their Wii-welease) as Resident Evil: Archives.

Guess Who's Back?

2009-04-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

Biff! Bang! Pow! The world's naughtiest rapper, that most skilful of lyricists and twister of verse, Eminem is soon to release his new album (see the countdown on the side bar!) . Here's the superb "We made you", containing the most wonderful rhyming couplet
"Wowsers! I just made
a mess in my trousers!"

It brings a tear to the eye doesn't it? See how many 'celebrities' you can spot!

Resident Evil Degeneration

2009-04-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

Anything with a 'Resident Evil' prefix on it is guaranteed to find me reaching into my pocket. When I saw clips of the CGI movie 'Degeneration' on the Internet, I couldn't wait to see it. Avoiding cinemas and shipping straight to DVD, the film cost me about £15. Unsurprisingly, this is a fan-only movie. Despite the CGI being immaculate, the film never feels just like a movie*, it feels like a massive RE cut-scene all the way through.

Now that actually is not a bad thing for me. I love finding out more and more about the machinations of Umbrella, I love the cut scenes that tie together the plot lines of all Resident Evil games. I'm also constantly impressed at how good CGI films can look, and this film impresses on every level visually. Seeing two Resident Evil stalwarts as Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy getting the full movie length story line treatment is always going to go down well with obsessives like me.

But therein lies a problem. The story is just not that enthralling. It's standard Resident Evil fayre. Zombies, viruses, corrupt government, explosions, tragic family ties and a 'boss battle' with a big monster, that keeps metamorphosing into something scarier every time you think it's dead.

Still, it comes in a pretty packet and I enjoyed it for what it was worth. Buy it if it's cheap, or rent it. Download it for your viewing pleasure if you wish, But it's definitely worth a watch if you are a big fan of the franchise, or want to know the minutiae of the Umbrella story so far... FK rating 7.5/10

*(It still had Mrs. K absolutely terrified...)

Kiss Psycho Circus - Videogame Torture

2009-04-05T17:11:00.001-07:00

You'd have thought after the last harrowing few weeks of Fallout 3, that I'd have promised myself only positive videogame experiences for the rest of 2009. I am seemingly not that kind to myself. For the last few days (since finishing Resi 5 really) i've been playing/enduring a Dreamcast game called Kiss Psycho Circus: the Nightmare Child. And what a fucking nightmare it's been.

Ostensibly a first person shooter/mythical quest type thing, the game has very tenuous links to the band Kiss. You might find a jukebox or stereo which will play a kiss song. As the player, you go around collecting pieces of Kiss costumes... Ace Frehley's platform boots, Gene Simmon's shoulder pads or Peter Criss's cod-piece.

The game is just a tedious run through of a middle of the road, dated, FPS. Some of the game's monsters are pretty well designed, some of the landscapes boldly coloured in psychedelic hues, which make it alright to look at, graphically a kind of cross between Half Life and the more trippy boss levels in NiGHTS.

But the game gives you nothing for your dogged completion of levels. If you die you get put back a long way, meaning the replaying of elements of the game over, and over, and over again. The story is literally one of the most convoluted pieces of bullshit ever, one that I can't be bothered to relate. The cutscenes are minimal, there's nothing to unlock or collect and the boss battles are never really going to inspire. After literally hours of playing through seventeen, long, long levels, the game just fizzled out with one of the most boring and simple boss fights ever. Nothing memorable at all.

I was hoping for a Dreamcast revelation, a repeat of the joy I found when I played 'SOTB: Gut's Rage' last year. but the only joy I had from completing this game is knowing that I beat it and I'll never have to play it again!

Royksopp - "Happy Up Here"- Space Invaders Ahoy!

2009-04-04T03:05:00.001-07:00

Hi Folks!
Right I've got two weeks off work! Hooray! I've actually got a lot to tell you, so expect a glut of posts before the usual drought. Just to tide you over whilst your waiting I'll hit you with this videogame inspired video from Scandinavian ravers, Royksopp. The video is superb, but the tune is even better. Sounding like a piece of syrup-laden synth pop at first, there is something very dark and twisted underneath. I love it! There's actually a version of the track out by a Russian brass band which is equally good, but that's another story...

Glass Cabinet Full Of Lovely Junk

2009-03-26T17:51:00.001-07:00

Click on image to enlarge!

I used to have all this junk on display in a huge glass cabinet in my room. I kind of cobbled it all together in a contrasting montage as I collected it. (I'm terrible for hording nostalgic or setimental crap!) I hoped it might look a little like something psychedelic artist Peter Blake might create. Unfortunately, it was totally getting in the way and Mrs. K said she wanted rid of it. So I took this photo and now it's electronically preserved as my screen saver. Spot anything in there that you recognise?

Catching Up

2009-03-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

My posting has gotten rather erratic again, largely due to a lot of game-playing. Oh and I've gone back to work (half days) so I guess I've had less time than I envisaged. Apologies for the lack of updates and thanks for still dropping in here!

Back To work!
As stated above, I finally dragged my cardialogically challenged ass back into work. It was good to be back and the support from my colleagues (especially my boss) has been overwhelming. Unfortunately , in 2009, one of my target children has been permanently excluded from the school three months before he would have left for high school and a second has suffered the most awful trauma. Again. The poor kid has faced having to go through the process of fleeing a war zone with his family (age 4), growing up without his father, who is in prison for rape (seven years so far), moving from housing project to housing project because of harassment from neighbours, a mother who is (understandably) depressed and most recently the death of his grandmother, who committed suicide by pouring petrol on herself and setting it alight. Kind of gives you a perspective on your own troubles doesn't it?

Watchmen
One of the last things I did before going back to work, was go out on a Tuesday afternoon to the cinema with Mrs. K. We went to see Watchmen. I thought it was a stunning film and enjoyed every aspect of it. Despite having dipped in and out of the graphic novel, I'd never read it properly so it had no bearing on my opinion of the film. I thought the acting was excellent throughout, the plot was superb (if not a tad confusing at times) action sequences and fight scenes were brilliant. The musical score and particularly the songs chosen for the movie, were completely integral to the atmosphere of the film. The cinematography was technically excellent and well executed. my favourite characters were Rorshach and The Comedian. A tad worrying perhaps!? For a well written and considered review of the film, check out what Junlee has to say about it, here.

PS2 Love
Recently, (since finishing God Of War actually,) I've just been feeling loads of love for the PS2. I have bought Tomb Raider Anniversary (Special edition - three disc pack featuring: the game, -Tomb Raider Anniversary development/'making of' documentary- DVD- and soundtrack CD.
All this in a nice presentation box which only cost me £4 (pre-owned) in the Blockbuster sale.
I've played the first couple of levels and it is a stunning looking and very playable title. I can compare it to the Saturn original as it's the only other Tomb Raider game I've ever played properly, which adds to the whole experience. Overall the game celebrates Lara's legacy very well!
I also picked up Headhunter, Code Veronica X, and Yakuza 2. When you factor in Kingdom Hearts - which I swear I will finish this year - and DMC 1 & 3, the PS2 is going to get a lot of action in the Krishna household this year.

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
I bought this for me and the, boys after beating my son Joe in a hard fought race, on a demonstration stand in the local HMV. The game was displayed on a 50" High Def flat screen TV with surround sound speakers. It looked gorgeous! I've not played it since we got it home, but it has all the ingredients of a classic arcade racer that me and the boys can play competitively for an afternoon every once in a while.

Gears Of War 2:
I'm slipping this in mid-post without any fanfare, because that's how it slipped into my gaming life. My middle son Martin had borrowed it from a friend, but not played it. The game had sat, neglected under the TV for a couple of months. I was in my usual 'post game completion indecisive stage' after finishing Headhunter and couldn't decide what I wanted to play. On a whim I stuck GOW2 into the 360 and then chugged happily and easily through it over the next few days. I thought it as enjoyable as the first in terms of playability and visuals, but I'm just not as drawn in by the characters or plot as I could be. Consequently, I'll play Gears 3, but won't be chomping at the bit for it's release date... In terms of sheer shooting/carnage induced pleasure, however, it's great!

Resident Evil 5 Co-Op:
Well I've played a couple of sessions with random strangers online, notching up quite a few levels and achievements along the way. On one session I was guiding a new guy who was playing for the first time. In the next, I was being guided by a guy who knew where every obscure 'easter egg' was. Conversation over the headset was almost strictly reserved to the game, but was nevertheless pleasant. We even had rest spots, such as 'tea breaks' that were mutually agreed to, and built into the play time! So that was all good. I've also started a file playing co-op with my little son and I'm enjoying that. But overall, I enjoyed playing the solo campaign more. I've yet to play online with a friend though, so if anyone fancies a session, drop me an email and we'll arrange it!

I've remembered why I loved the Wii...
I'd become completely bored of my Wii and had banished it from the "little" living room, up stairs to the kid's rooms... It was most recently residing in my son's sock draw, underplayed and unloved.
After completing RE5 however, and needing a further 'Resi fix'... Umbrella Chronicles!!
I hitched up the Wii to the biggest TV in the house, in the less used, but much nicer, "big" living room. WOW! I loved everything about the experience... The sound it made when it came on , the menu screen, all the great retro game downloads it has on it, the way the controls felt and responded. I also remembered just what a fantastic game Umbrella chronicles is... Even as good as Resi 5? Just may be!

Anyway folks, it's getting late and my keyboard looks like it's in need of new batteries. Typing is becoming quite frustrating, as letters keep getting missed out of words, so I'll sign off for now!
I've one huge (for me life-changing!) piece of news I've not mentioned, so come back soon, OK? :) Take care my brothers!

Complete Resident Evil Retrospective!

2009-03-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

As anyone who knows me well will tell you, when I'm playing a Resident Evil game I get all obsessed with the whole Umbrella mythos. This retrospective from Gametrailers.com, is about as good as any synopsis I've ever seen, carefully linking footage from all of the games and meticulously piecing together a definitive Resident Evil timeline!

I first became aware of it over at Caleb's most wonderful Hunyak Blog!

RE 5 Completed!

2009-03-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I bought RE5 on Friday and I've played it a few hours each day (except Sunday.) I played it in the easiest mode and struggled with some of the bosses, but in the end, I finished it! I breezed through the game without any tears (unlike RE: Code Veronica or RE: Umbrella Chronicles...)

So, after all the hype and waiting was it worth it? I'd say a slightly hesitant "yes".... Great looking, very playable, forgiving save system and weapon/ammo supply, excellent use of cut-scenes, great musical score etc, it was an excellent experience all the way.

I knew it was going to rely heavily on the gameplay mechanic of Resident Evil 4, but didn't realise how much... At times it felt like the same game... but as RE4 is one of the bst video games ever, that's no bad thing! The new weapon selection/resource management, having to be accessed in-game 'real time', as opposed to the luxury of the last game's system, can be hard to manage- (although the enemies, right up to the final boss, seem to give you plenty of time to prepare your weapon.) The save system is better and checkpoints frequent.

I did begin to panic at the amount of time it was taking me to beat the final boss, and resorted to restarting Chapter 6. I wondered if the arsenal I had, packed enough punch to finish the boss.
That old nagging doubt, seeded by my lack of success in RE:CV and RE:UC...
The surprises weren't very surprising, but like Umbrella Chronicles before it, the game tied up some story strands nicely. I wouldn't say it was a massive upgrade in technical terms from RE4 or Umbrella Chronicles, which IMHO looked almost as good and play equally well. But on the whole, I've loved RE5 as much as I knew I would.

I liked having Sheva as my AI companion. Her importance as a partner becomes fully apparent in the final boss battle. The fun will now come from Mercenaries Mode, playing online co-op (something I've yet to experience properly, my online escapades being restricted to SCIV, VF5, and Sega Rally) and waiting to see what the DLC is like!

Having seen Dead Rising tailored to the technical capabilities of the Wii as "Chop Till You Drop", I wouldn't be surprised if Capcom don't bring out a 'Wii edition' of the game at some time in the future. Certain levels and scenarios would have played well with a Wii-type control system. RE5 delivers what was expected, I just don't know if all the hype and long waiting were that necessary!

So what next? I think that might just be RE:Code Veronica again, or maybe the Umbrella Chronicles...

Resident Evil 5 tomorrow!

2009-03-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

Well, both me and my son Martin have got our pre-orders for RE5 in at our local Blockbuster. He's buying the PS3 version, (me the 360 version.)

Oddly enough I'm not that excited. I've begun to worry that I won't enjoy it! I just 'completed' Left 4 Dead (every level is available from the start of the game in single player mode, so you don't have to 'earn' the right to play them, they're just ...there.

Consequently, there is little satisfaction in 'completing' the game, (although it is a nice zombie shooter!)

I'll most likely be playing RE5 in single player mode and I just worry it will be a restriction to have Sheva as my AI companion... But I also don't want to miss out on the excitement that a lot of us here in the blogospherewill be playing the same game at the same time!

Anyhoo, you'll know my thoughts on the game soon enough! In the meantime enjoy the IGN review above...

Michael Jackson Live

2009-03-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

Incredibly, much to the surprise of his fans, when it looked like he was going to disappear forever, Michael Jackson is playing some live concerts, here in the UK. Tickets "go on sale" tomorrow (13.03.09), although all tickets for each of the 10 shows at the O2 Arena in London, are sold out due to "pre-sales".

I'm gutted! I would love to see MJ perform, but the chances of me getting a ticket for under £300 (if I am able to get one at all,) are very remote. He has announced another 10 dates, but they will be equally difficult to get hold of! It's so frustrating to be so geographically near to the venue of his first live appearances in years, and yet have little chance of fulfilling my ambition to see it!

Headhunter

2009-03-11T05:41:00.001-07:00

I'll start (as is now becoming customary) with my apologies for the lack of posts, and thanks to both BJ and Gnome, for enquiries about my health, which is satisfactory, and by no means an excuse for the appalling lack of updates here.

That said, let me fill you in with what I've been up to gaming wise... from one retro console to another, I decided following the joy of God Of War on the PS2, to finish a Dreamcast game I had previously played half way through, before abandoning it. That game is the mighty Headhunter. The game is set in a not to distant future, where the government is all pervasive, fascistic and working hand in hand with global multi-national corporations. (Sound familiar?)

As well as the rather worrying scenario mentioned above, there is a rather unhealthy trade in human organs, both sanctioned by the government and criminals via the black market. The world in which we find ourselves is beautifully illustrated through out the game via "news bulletins", videos interspersed throughout the game, which tie up the game's back-story and provide a humorous distraction after tense missions!

The character you play is Headhunter Jack Wade. Headhunters are future cops, stealth assassins and all-round bad ass dudes. And who's the baddest bad ass of 'em all? Why YOU of course! Only at the start of the game, you've lost your gun, your license and your memory.
Does this hinder our hero? Fuck no!! That's because Jack is a hybrid of Dirty Harry and Snake Plisken. I'm not gay, but I could swing in that direction for Jack, he's THAT fucking cool!

Fortunately, your former chief and a wealthy heiress who's father has just been murdered are there to set you on your feet again and restore you to your former position as Headhunter number 1. In order to regain your license you need to go through a series of virtual training missions in cyberspace, facilitated by the L.E.I.L.A virtual reality computer.

Oh and did I mention that you travel through your futuristic city-scape on a whopping motorbike? The better you ride your bike, the more experience points you acquire assisting your progress through the game.

The game plays like GTA (the bike-riding bits) and Metal Gear Solid (the stealth bits). The game really shows the potential of the hardware it was produced for, being one of the best games on the Dreamcast and delivering some stunning graphics for it's 2001 release. Unfortunately it never merited a release in the USA on the Dreamcast, as the console was already doomed to obliteration by the PS2 when the game came out. However, it did get a PS2 port, which you can pick up for a pittance if you're silly enough to not have a functioning Dreamcast in your house.

The save system, health regeneration and weapon/ammo upgrades are all conducive to a satisfying gaming experience, although some of the boss battles are bloody difficult! The soundtrack, by Sega stalwart composer Richard Jaques is amazing, so good in fact that I've thrown it up in the videos at the top! Overall I'm glad I delved back into this game and would say it's an essential Dreamcast purchase/experience. Father K rating 9/10.

God Of Wargasm

2009-02-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

After the sour taste left in my mouth after the latter stages of Fallout 3, I needed to revert to a video-gaming comfort zone. That was provided by the most excellent God of War, which I started back in the early part of December, then left hanging for two months.

For those of you familiar with the game, I was at the Pandora's Temple stage, so I still had a lot of the game to play. The game was just the tonic I needed and I soaked up every moment of this epic title. I have also completed GOW:Chains Of Olympus on PSP this year (in hospital), so I'm simmering with anticipation for GOW III on the PS3! I won't go into detail about what I liked about this game,it's nearly five years old, so hardly hot news, suffice to say EVERYTHING is brilliant and it's a truly satisfying gaming experience, better than any current gen game.

Finishing the game unlocks a plethora of hidden gems, including a 'making of' documentary which I watched with interest. What's truly great is being able to watch all of the video sequences in sucession like a mini film. The only problem is "what next?" - I'm thinking of the epic Headhunter on Dreamcast or PS2 (I have both versions...) I'll let you know!

Class Ad

2009-02-17T14:34:00.001-08:00

It seems as though we're lucky here in the UK at the moment. As well as the usual crap commercials which invade our televisual delectation, we have a couple of gems. the funny ey-brow chocolate commercial that I threw up the other day is one, and this my dears, is another one... Enjoy!

Decisive Move

2009-02-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

Following the petulant tone of my last post, I've decided that firm action was required on my part...
This involved the trading in of both GTA IV and Fallout 3 (plus a few other pre-owned titles) at Blockbuster last night, meaning neither 'open-world' game can be dipped into again!

I then had to decide what I would pick up with my credit note... I was torn between two zombie blasting titles. (I often seem to revert to zombie blasting when I'm at a crossroads in my gaming life. Should I go for House Of The Dead Overkill on my much maligned Wii, or Left 4 Dead on my trusty Xbox?

I'd been bitterly disappointed by the last HOTD game I'd purchased, namely HOTD 2&3 Return for the Wii. It felt like a shoddy and cheap port, with no extras apart from some annoying bugs...

I'd got HOTDII for the Dreamcast, with a fully functional lightgun and HOTDIII for the PC. The Wii version brought nothing new to the table. Plus buying HOTD Overkill, almost necessitated me buying the new 'Magnum' Wii-mote housing/peripheral thang, meaning the whole package would have set me back nearly £50...

Left 4 Dead, my middle son 'reliably' informed me, was THE game to own this year. He'd been itching to get it since finishing Dead Space, and assured me and his two brothers, that if we bought a couple of Xbox controllers (setting me back £50), we could all play it as a 4 player co-op.

That swung it for me. I imagined us all sat round as a lovely family unit, blissfully zapping zombies whilst smiling and winking approvingly at one another. That bubble was soon burst as we got it home and realised that four player co-op meant two players in the house and two on-line... DOH!

That was a wasted purchase of two controllers then... Ho-fucking-hum! Still, the game is very satisfying if wasting fast paced zombies en-masse is your 'cup of tea'. I've enjoyed what I've seen so far, even though I've opted to play it in single player mode with the other three team members as CPU AI.

The graphics are reminiscent of the PS2, but it's well paced, camp as Christmas and has it's tongue firmly planted in it's cheek. The characters are cliche'd horror film fayre and so far ammunition and health boosts are abundant enough to stop the game from becoming a chore.

That is not to say that this is my 'new game', however, at the moment, I'm trying to decide between finishing God Of War I on the PS2 (which requires me sitiing in my son's bedroom to play...) Playing Shenmue or Headhunter on the Dreamcast (which means I'll suffer the derision of my sons for going over old ground...) or jumping straight into Gears Of War 2. Any advice my dear brothers?

Falling Out With Fallout... Living In Purgatory

2009-02-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

After nearly 100 hours of gameplay, the discovery of nearly a hundred locations as diverse as Megaton, Tenpenny Towers, The Republic Of Dave and Lamplight Caverns, such notable characters as Gob, Mayor McReady, Daring Dashwood and DJ Threedog, after bartering, trading, stealing and sneaking, creating weapons from vacuum cleaners and surgical tubing, slaughtering raiders, slavers, traders, deathclaws, rad-roaches, super-mutants, capitalists, federalists, anarchists and bomb-worshippers, not to mention the endless wandering, wandering, wandering and wandering...

...I am now officially sick to bloody death of Fallout 3! I have made the huge mistake of wandering into perhaps the biggest open-world game developed for a console, using no guide or walkthrough, playing "by ear" (as it were) and meandering through the most ridiculous route any gamer could ever take.

I've unintentionally avoided main missions whilst fulfilling nearly every bastard-side-fucking-cock-mission there is to engage in. Enough is enough! I've resorted to online maps, guides and walkthroughs. Eventually, I've been led to Vault 112 and the rather splendid Tranquility Lane simulation. I've met my pops and it looks like I'm on the path to conclusion and closure...

NEVER AGAIN!!! From now on it's strictly linear gaming, possibly using a walkthrough EVERY TIME. I might even only play 'on rails' games from now on... What is certain is that I'm going to choose my next game very carefully. Might go back a generation or two to the safety of the Dreamcast, PS2 or Saturn... Might stick to the PSP for a bit... But I will never, ever play anything as big as Fallout ever again. Life's too fucking short!

Resident Evil Retrospective (Gametrailers.com)

2009-02-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

I discovered this on Caleb's excellent Hunyak Blog and immediately ripped it off so you guys could see it! Enjoy, but be sure to visit Hunyak too!

I'm Out Of Hospital!

2009-02-06T06:01:00.000-08:00

With a big bag of drugs and a month to see how I get on before going back to work. So hopefully that will mean I can play and blog a bit. Let's all celebrate with this lovely video! Woot!

Hello My Friends!

2009-01-31T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well just a quick one to say thanks for all your good wishes and kind thoughts. Just to clear up the mystery, I've no idea what's wrong with me, neither do the docs! my heartbeat is 118 BPM, whereas the norm is between 50-100. I'm short of breath and I've got fluid on the lungs! Jeez! having said that, I don't feel too bad! And the docs don't think it's anything fatal at the moment (thanks Funnyman!)

Still, I've got to stay in next week, but I've had a day at home today. It's been great and I've been pampered by the family. Part of this pampering includes a brand new PSP Light to help me pass the time. I've completed God Of War and I've got Need For Speed Carbon, Gun, Tekken Dark Resurrection, Virtua Tennis World Tour, Tocca Race Driver, Micro Machines, Powerstone Collection, Fifa 09, GTA Liberty City Stories, plus Akira, House Of Flying Daggers and Kung Fu Hustle on video! Not bad eh?So I'm still alive and kicking at the moment, and hoping to be home some time next week with a conclusive diagnosis! Then I can get back to blogging and enjoying the good life! Still, my days of living an unhealthy lifestyle are firmly behind me, that is definite. There's nothing like spending ten days on a hospital ward with three guys with 248 years between them, one in the advance stages of pancreatic cancer, two who are incontinent, one blind and all three flatulent in the extreme! That's an eye-opener believe me! Stay well brothers!

A message from FK

2009-01-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

Hi this is joe FK's son. He wants you all to know that hes in hospital so hes sorry if hes been quiet and not replying to any emails. He's unable to get to a computer and is unlikely to be out until next week. Please spread this around the blogsphere. He sends a big big love to all!
cheers everyone Joe x

Games For 2009: The "To Do" List... Xbox 360

2009-01-12T14:36:00.001-08:00

Well, well, well... No sooner have I finished looking back on the games of 2008, when I've got to consider the games I will be playing over the coming year. I've decided that this post will come in a few parts, considering the variety of consoles available to me, this seems the only sensible way to go... Otherwise it gets a little confusing.

So let's start with the most accessible: The 360. I say 'accessible' because it's right there in the little living room, the room where we hang out the most. The TV is the biggest downstairs (not huge, about 28 ", but it has the Xbox and the Dreamcast permanently hooked up to it, so there's no messing about with cables.

The Wii now resides in Little Ted's room and the PS3 moves about from room to room. In the big living room, we have the PS2 and recently, the Saturn permanently hooked up. Nice set up huh?

OK, so first things first... There's no point me starting anything new till I've tidied a couple of things up.

Unfinished Business #1: GTA IV I'm 50% of the way through the game. However, I can see this as being something I chip away at 5% at a time between other games. I really think I have to be careful in the future. I'm not the sort of guy who can just gun his way through a game. One because the demands of work and family necessitate that I don't put in long sessions of play, hours at a time. I'm not an intuitive gamer. Missions, routes, pathways etc. that might seem obvious to others can pass me by unnoticed. That can result in me spending ages just floundering around. Missions that some people might knock off on a first attempt, I might only achieve on a third or fourth attempt... The time adds up and it's time I don't have... So Niko, will have to be content to come out and play on my schedule...

Unfinished Business #2: Fallout 3: I'm in love with this game and the world in which you play. everything about this game is perfect to me. The atmosphere, the interaction with AI characters, the retro-future styling, the gun play with the VATS system, the apocalyptic vision of post-nuclear war ravaged Washington, the various tribes and factions, the fauna and flora, the nostalgic soundtrack and in game radio broadcasts... Sheesh! It's everything I had hoped for and more... I've played it without guides or walkthroughs, discovering new characters, quests, areas and landscapes, letting the game unfold before me. It's picking up speed now and my progress is much quicker than it was in the first few days of play. So I'm completing this before anything else is even considered. I've got my DS, Dreamcast and Saturn for short bursts of distraction if needed, but there will be nothing put into the 360 before I've completed Fallout... (Oh and do enjoy the video review at the top of the post...)

Hopefully, no matter how badly I play, I'll have managed to complete it before March 13th 2009, the day the highly arousing Resident Evil 5 comes out. This will be pre-ordered and picked up on the day of release. I'm not expecting to breeze through it by any means, so it could take up most of March. I'm quite tempted to play it co-op with someone much better than me, so I can complete it quickly, see the cut scenes and story revelations and then maybe come back and play it single player at my leisure...

Gears Of War 2: I enjoyed Gears well enough, but I'm not mad to get into GOW2. it's been sat in my house for nearly a month and I haven't even bothered to try it for five minutes, but I will get round to it.

ProEvo 2009: For the last couple of months I've watched my two eldest sons play match after match with often hilarious competitiveness. I've got to get in on the action. I love soccer games on the Saturn and Dreamcast, but both Pro and Fifa have eluded me in terms of appeal since PS2 times... Having said that I played about three seasons of Fifa 07 on my DS whilst I was off, winning every major title and taking my beloved Manchester City to the top of the Premiership.
So yeah, football is gonna feature in 2009.

Bioshock 2: Another one which will be pre-ordered and picked up on the day of release. Unlike the second part of Gears Of War, I'm gagging to see what happens in the next installment of this particular story. It's taken all of my will power to not take a backward step and re-play the original...

Call Of Duty: World At War: I liked COD4 in mission mode, and that is the way I intend to play this title. In straightforward liner fashion till it's completed, then I'll leave it alone.

I'll stop there, because that lot could conceivably take me up to the Autumn period. No doubt I'll deviate from this list or there will be something I've not considered that catches my eye. But realistically, if I also play my other consoles in the way I intend, that's quite enough to be going on with...

Pendulum/Prodigy

2009-01-11T04:14:00.000-08:00

A couple of music videos for you here. The one at the top is by the band Pendulum, a shared love of both myself Joe and my oldest son Joe. 'Swinging' (geddit?) between rock, indie and thumping drum 'n' bass, they're a breath of fresh air within the UK music scene, appealing to a broad spectrum of music lovers. The first video strikes a blow for those of us in the "portly/rotund" section of society, although contrary to internet rumour, it's not me in the video...

The second video, is a Pendulum remix of an old Prodigy classic, Voodoo people. I love the Prodigy's punky outlook on the rave scene. It was fresh and original, dark and brooding as the quite disturbing video shows. I've seen them twice, and believe me, when they kick off, everyone in the house is rocking! expect more from both bands during 2009, though I'll resist the urge to throw up a load of videos which people ignore.

Nazi Zombies!

2009-01-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

I just checked the date of my last post and it was literally a week ago. Having been absent for so long, it may have looked like I'd retreated into my non-posting mode again... Not so! The fact of the matter is that I've devoted the week to The Saturn Junkyar d, which I had severely neglected over the last year.

So, there will be more posts here at FKWS over the coming weeks, as I reckon it's time to put some life back into this old place.

Now I know that some of you guys know there has been the arrival of a PS3 here at Krishna Towers, and a couple of you have asked me for my impressions. Well the truth is, I've only played it properly for about twenty minutes this morning. when we got the Xbox "for the kids" last year, I was all over it. I've probably had more use out of it than they have. So this year, I've let them have free reign over it. There's three of them that need to share it, so I figured the last thing they would need was a fourth party competing for game time.

My middle son was kind enough to buy me Condemned 2 for the system, but I've not even played a second of it. So what did I play to give me my first taste of "proper gaming" on the PS3?
It was Call Of Duty: World At War - Nazi Zombie Level.

I played co-op with my littlest son and I have to say it was a blast. The basic premise is that you are stuck in a small building with barricaded windows. Hordes of Zombie Nazis are coming and it is your job to fend them off, with a variety of graded weapons. These might be as simple as a knife or pistol, or as devastating as a grenade or alien gun whatever the hell that is...

You can also repair your boarded up windows, if the zombie throng have damaged them,. The aim of the game is to last as long as you can whilst swathe upon swathe of the undead advance.

The levels inclusion in what has been seen as a serious war game, which treats the subject respectfully has been one for which publishers Treyarch have been slated. There was already a hostile reception amongst COD4 fans before the game came out, that Treyarch should develop the next COD game. They took a big gamble taking on the project and it seemed that in the face of anticipated failure, they pulled the sequel off just fine... Except for this one unlockable.

Hell it even prevented the game being given a 10/10 score from Games TM magazine, who settled for a 9/10 due to the inclusion of this side quest.

personally, I don't see what all the fuss is about! If you think it is a crass add on to a serious game, then don't play it! Stick to mission mode and online battles and ignore it completely. I thought my brief time on it was a lot of fun and I could see myself playing it over and over in a bid to beat previous efforts, By all accounts the online battle mode is not nearly as much fun as those on COD4. My sons have enjoyed the Nazi Zombie levels far more than online play, choosing to play it with their friends in the house, rather than trying to blast some unknown COD obsessive, screaming abuse through the head set from across the Internet.

I will eventually play the mission mode and will eventually use the PS3 more and more as it becomes less of a novelty to the kids. But for now, shooting fascist walking dead has been an excellent introduction to the system!

The Evolution Of Fallout 3

2009-01-04T23:55:00.001-08:00

The decision to hand development of the much loved Fallout PC game to the good folks at Bethesda as a 3D console port for it's 3rd outing, caused much consternation amongst the PC massive, (Gnome included!) Fears seem to have been allayed somewhat however, as the game has been acclaimed with both critical and commercial success.

Expect a video review soon, before I cast my own verdict on the game, which is likely to be heralded with tears and other body fluids... Until then, here's a quick visual run down showing the graphical evolution of the game from the good folks at IGN. BTW, the music which forms a constant backdrop to the gameplay, is by the Inkspots, and I absolutely love it! Like Bioshock, there is a fabulous retro-future atmosphere that adds tremendously to the overall feel of the game... Enjoy!

Oh no what a bitch!

2009-01-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

Oh no she mother-fucking didn't....

Now in seventeen years of teaching and child care, I've witnessed some seriously fucked up parenting. Whilst I agree that children need to be taught some life lessons about family income and that the expectations of consumer excess are skewed at this festive season, this is just cruel.

Sure little Johnson might need new winter clothes, and he might have failed to hear his mom telling him that she couldn't afford a 360 on the ten thousand ocasions he asked... BUT!!!

Hearing the raucous hilarity of his family as they witness his Christmas dreams dying, videoing the event, asking him to "cry to the camera" and then posting his misery on Youtube for the world to see... Word's fail me. Damn!

Hopefully young Johnson will grow up and devise a "cunning plan" to make his dear mother think she has won the lottery, and wait for her to phone up her siblings, cousins and bosses, telling them that she hates and disowns them all, before revealing to her that it was just a 'hilarious prank' like the one she played on him all those Christmases ago...

2008 revsited:

2009-01-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

I can't promise to be as specific as the previous posts, but 2008 goes something like this:

Xbox 360:

Bioshock: My first 360 experience. Brilliant in a every aspect.
Shenmue 2: My second 360 experience. I bought the Xbox game without actually owning an Xbox. I bought it for the Shenmue 1 DVD. Couldn't resist making it my 2nd game on the 360.
Call Of Duty 4: Great on mission mode, but I don't see the attraction of endless online matches (unlike my middle son who puts in an hour before school each day...)
Gears Of War: Enjoyable but not earth shattering... That's not meant to be as dismissive as it sounds.
Condemned: I liked it! (Played during my dislocated shoulder convalescence)
Viking: Battle For Asgar... played a good chunk, but never completed. (I felt bad about letting Nebacha down on that one...) Enjoyable!

Max Payne 1 & 2: Definitely two of the greatest games of all time.
Dead Rising: Dabbled, but didn't get very far, then I bloody lost it! How do you lose a game in the relatively small confines of a house???? Not the first time this has happened either!
Sega Rally Revo! (360) Could this game please get some more love??? Still want to play friends online on this one, but hate the vertical split screen)
Virtua Fighter 5!!! Awesome online, but I get my arse kicked! (Playing Nuno and speaking to him - and his mum- was a gaming highlight of the year...)
Soul Calibur 4! Awesome online and I kick arse!
Blacksite: Area 51. (360) Critically panned (specifically by Funnyman) but I enjoyed it!
GTA IV (half way through...) This is the game that totally opened my eyes to the potential of the franchise...

Nintendo Wii:

No More Heroes (Wii) A great game, but I got stuck on the last but one boss. Disappointed I never finished as it was one of the only Wii games I've enjoyed this year.
Umbrella Chronicles (Wii) If I could defeat those damned Twin Ivans, this would have been my game of the year! (however, as I couldn't complete the game, it remains something of a bitter-sweet experience)
Ghost Squad (Wii) Great, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected...
House Of The Dead II & III Return - Wii (a lazy port... I've ony put it into the Wii once)

PS2:

Resident Evil Dead Aim PS2: Loved it!
Devil May Cry 2 PS2: Loved it!
Yakuza PS2: Simply stunning. Perhaps the greatest revelation of the year!
Matrix Path Of Neo: Second playthrough... Totally satisfying!

Gamecube:

Resident Evil: (Gamecube) Simply stunning, with graphics that I've yet to see betterered on any next gen console. Unfortunately, I lost my GC memory card and thus, never completed! DOH!

PC:

Sega Rally (PC) There's something great about playing a Saturn game on the PC and I can sneak in a bit of Saturn gaming at work too.
HOTD III (PC) Very nearly completed it...

Dreamcast:

In terms of the old Dreamcast, this was the year I centralized the collection, with the intention of actually playing games I'd bought but not tried, However, the only games that received any real attention were Half Life (which I tired of half way through) SOTB: Gut's Rage which I played during Dreamcast June and completed and loved and Jet Set Radio which I played as much as I could and loved, but on which I got stuck around the Russian level. I'll definitely return to it at some point... Tee Off Golf was a great distraction. 2008's only Dreamcast release, Wind And Water Puzzles, proved to be nicely packaged and lovingly produced, but was never going to set the world on fire!

At the moment I'm loving Fallout 3, my Resident Evil 5 Demo and Burnout on the DS. I'm sure there's more but I'm running out of steam... I'll post separately about my retro downloads on the 360 and Wii. I'll post separately about my handheld gaming on GGOTG. I've also got a bunch of games spread across the consoles mentioned above and the glory of the PS3 to investigate during 2009, which look's like it could be a good one for gaming.

Happy New Year to you all...

St. Nuno

2008-12-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

Wow! Has it been over a month since I last posted here? I shamefully know it has been. After my recent shoulder dislocation, I kind of slumped. Not only have I neglected my posting duties, but I've kind of dropped out of the blogosphere in an Elderly type of way.

I haven't posted, and even more shamefully than that, I've neglected to even check out or comment on my fellow blogger's blogs. If I'm honest, I kind of slumped after my injury, having two months off work and slipping into a routine of staying up all night, drinking loads , sleeping all day and vegetating in front of the TV.

Sure, I've played a bit, including Fifa 2007, Call Of Duty 4 and Ninja Gaiden on the DS, Condemned and GTA IV on the 360, God Of War on the PS2, but mostly it's been endless rounds of Maury Povitch, Jerry Springer, Everybody Loves Raymond and King Of Queens on the TV.

So what has kicked my sorry arse into gear? What has inspired me to update this sorry blog? Well peeps, it's all down to one man. One saviour of Portugese proportions. Not only has he discovered a new contributor to both the Dreamcast Junkyard and the Saturn Junkyard, but he has bestowed the most incredible Christmas present on the Krishna household that has arrived in years....

Having waited with baited breath for about three years for the release of Resident Evil 5, checking out every internet snippet, every 360 teaser and video demo, what should pop through my letterbox this afternoon???

Only a fucking playable demo of said game from my hallowed Portugese brother!!! I don't want to blow him up good and proper, 'cos the lovely package I received is in no doubt a tad illegal, but if you are a regular reader of this terribly un-updated missive, you'll know who has furnished me with this terribly exciting CD.

Let's take a snapshot of the moment... December 22, 2008. The postman drops a package through the letter-box. My biggest son, Joe tells me to wake up. (I was snoozing on the sofa at the time, as I have been so many times since mid October...)

I open the envelope and within is a anonymous looking disc with a hand written letter (nice touch Nuno BTW...) I pop it into the Xbox obeying the hand written instructions... Go to the My Games section of the Xbox dashboard and WTF????!!!!! ... I see the RE5 logo and some Japanese gobbleydegook.

Five minutes later, and I'm playing RE5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fucking hell!!! I'd be a liar if I said that little FK wasn't standing proud at that moment... It was a truly beautiful gaming experience. Me and my three boys were glued to the TV, all edging closer to wrestle the controls from each other.

There was a tangible feeling of excitement as we all competed to play the Shanty Town level as Chris Redfield. If I'm honest, I was the crappest, getting eaten by the infected horde much quicker than my two eldest offspring, but I was having some sort of out of body experience at the time!!!

I'm having some sort of posting epiphony at the moment and could go on and on spilling my guts to you all, but it would be wiser to wrap thi up right now... Suffice to say that Nuno has rescued me from a personal slump of major proportions, and his generosity has pulled a brother back from the brink...

So apart from registering my major gratitude to the man, I'd just like to say that my 2009 resolution will to be a return to the international brotherhood that has meant so much to me since I started blogging!

I love you guys and a Merry Christmas to you all.

Cypress Hill

2008-11-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

Artist Site

Jay Z vs. Linkin Park '99 Problems'

2008-11-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

Outkast Vs. Rage Against The Machine 'Bombs Over Baghdad'

2008-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

La Coka Nostra - That's Coke

2008-11-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

MOP Ante Up!

2008-11-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

Dead Prez - Hip Hop

2008-11-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

Mongrel- Fundamentalist

2008-11-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

Ouch!

2008-10-21T03:37:00.000-07:00

No posting from me for a while folks, I just got back from the casualty department at the local hospital. I fell from the top of the stairs in my house, right to the bottom, dislocating my right shoulder (for the seventh time). I'm one finger typing this and it's a ball ache. So I'll be out of action for a while, in terms of posting and commenting. I'll still be reading your blogs though, so know that I'm with you in spirit!

Oasis: The Shock Of The Lightning

2008-10-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

I may have been a tad ambiguous in the past on FKWS, about my feelings for this band. I think my last post that had any reference to Oasis was slagging off band main man Noel , for making inane comments on video games and violence.

To my American audience, this band maybe an unknown quantity. To my UK readers, love 'em or hate 'em , they are perhaps the biggest musical phenomenon to come out of the UK for years...

Opinion on the band is quite divided. Personally I think they are the most excellent UK musical output since the Beatles or The Sex Pistols. Interestingly enough, the band (or more significantly lead singer, Liam) suffuse those two influences quite succinctly.

I'm inches away from knowing these guys... "Inches away..." you say Father K? "Well do you know 'em or don't you?"

Weee....ellll... no... But one of my best friends, Neil, grew up with them in Manchester. He's in one of their videos! This has lead to me having a personal message and autograph from lead singer Noel, and almost getting to know them!

Neil has offered me the chance to meet them TWICE! but I've not been able to... for various SHITE reasons... You have to put into your mind, that the band or artist you would most like to meet in your life were willing to meet you, then imagine that a close friend could make that a possibility for you, but then for whatever reason... *please insert your own shit excuse* you couldn't....

DOH!

I'm still hoping that one day me and the guys will hang or chill... until then I'll just hit you with you with their latest single... Which I think is fucking great!

Dead Set E4

2008-10-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

This is a trailer for a new TV show coming onto E4 this Autumn. It looks excellent! Centred around the UK reality show "Big Brother", it depicts the contestants and hosts going all zombie-fied on live TV. Can't wait!!

X To The Z

2008-10-12T05:10:00.000-07:00

I don't care that no one likes my music. I'm gonna keep ramming it down your throats anyway.

X - xzibit, snoop dogg & dr.dre
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