Crawling through the back catalogue

I haven't blogged for a while (as with Ben and Mick) one of the problems is working what to blog about (other than the fact that I'm travelling... it's hardly news any more). The other problem is trying to find time to do it. I've been clocking in a lot of over time so sitting in front of my PC to blog hasn't been high on my list. But here we are... so... the blogging...

With all the travel I've got in the coming months I've been working on some gaming to do to fill in the hours away from home. I considered taking the new console to the family (the Xbox 360) with me but it's weight and bulk are too much to carry back and forth on a plane every week. I have the DS with me obviously but was looking for some gaming not just on the small screen. Due to it's small form factor I packed the PS2 with me. I haven't played much on the PS2 , I bit of God of War 2 for a review and some (PSOne) NFL Blitz with Tom. So there is plenty of PS2 gaming out there to be had.

Playing through the back catalog of games certainly has it's merits. First of all I looked up all the titles with reviews of 8/10 or more and started working down the list. As a result I've picked up Grand Theft Auto III and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for the princely (pun intended) sum of $20 (combined). Both are great games and have clocked a few hours in both. As far as the graphics are concerned they certainly fall short of the 360 but on a 34cm TV it's hardly a concern. I'd never played any of the GTA series, my closest exposure was it's poorer cousin True Crime: Streets of LA. GTAIII is quite addictive, my driving skills need some improvement but it's a lot of fun. There are plenty more in the series (still at cheap prices) to go and that's even before the new GTAIV is released (something I wouldn't have considered on the 360 until now).

On the home gaming front I've been quite addicted to Oblivion on the 360. It's a great implementation of a Traditional RPG on a console, it's a pity the prequel Morrowind wasn't a PS2 game otherwise it would have been one of the first titles I picked up. I was tempted by Everquest on the PS2 (along with WoW on my Laptop, but I'm not crazy) for some RPG love but the ongoing subscription and net usages have put me off so far.

The DS won't be left out though. One of my favourite titles from the GBA and the initial DS (PHAT) was the Advance Wars Series. The latest incarnation Advance Wars: Days of Ruin has just popped up on Play Asia and straight to my order's list. The thing I'm most looking forward to is the Online Battles (with voice chat) a disappointing omission from the first title.

Other than that I almost dipped into the HD Format with a combined player but managed to talk myself out of it (Thanks Ness)

Well that's enough procrastination for one night... back to the overtime

And a year of travel comes to an end.

Yet another year is almost over and I'm in the Sydney Virgin Blue for my last flight of the Year. The last few weeks have been a nightmare of travel and long work hours but it seems to have paid off with a host of happy customers taking me to their Christmas parties this week. Unfortunately I haven't got any holidays left after the Europe trip so I'm working through the Christmas, New Year period but at least with work in Brisbane.

The airport is a bit crazy here today. I've been here since 3:30pm and my flight isn't until 7pm. I tried for an earlier one but there wasn't a seat to be had anywhere. Probably not helped by the fact that quite a few flights have been cancelled. They are starting to run later and later and there are rumours of a closure due to storms but I will get home eventually.

The lack of Internet this week has been a bit of a struggle but it's left something to entertain myself with at the airport (as well as the free alcohol).

In a bit of a change I've done all my Xmas shopping in Sydney. I had planned on a few presents from stores only in Brisbane but it would be cutting it a bit fine to organise once I got back so I found a few things in Sydney. I broke my budget as usually but I supplemented a little with the technology fund so I figure it doesn't really count.

I also had a bit of a trip down retro lane and picked up a copy of NFL Blitz for the Playstation. It was an arcade staple for Tom and I after NBA Hang Time (which Tom still has a N64 to play).

I attempted to look for a DS title after finishing all the new ones I brought with me but decided to replay Mario Kart DS (after I lost all my save data). There are quite a few titles on the Wii and 360 that I'll be looking forward to catching up on once I get a bit more time back in Brisbane.

If I don't get around to blogging again before hand hope you all have a Fantastic Christmas, Santa brings you everything you want and 2008 is even better.