PixlBit

      I played about 13 hours of Etrian Odyssey Untold [3DS] this week. I’m at 45 hours total since I got it on Oct. 1. I’m at level 43 and on the 15^th floor of the third strata of the labyrinth. I like the Activity Log on the 3DS. You can see the number of steps you’ve taken; gameplay time by day, by week , or by game; and the number of notifications via Street Pass. I’m somewhat regretting setting the game to Picnic difficulty because it’s very nearly effortless. I feel the only way I could lose is if I did auto-attack on a boss and walked away from the system. I can’t bear to switch it though. It would change the whole experience. I laid my bed, now I gotta sleep in it.

          I got to talking to a friend of mine at work who played a lot of Skyrim and shared some Vampire stories. The Vampire stuff seems to work very similarly in both Oblivion and Skyrim except for that Skyrim DLC that lets you be a very powerful Vampire. So far I haven’t been hunted by NPCs in Oblivion, but it’ supposed to happen eventually as long as I stay a Vampire. If I get to play some more tomorrow, I’m going to stay a Vampire while I try and finish the Thief’s Guild quests. Thieving and Vampirism seems to me a good mix. The Vampire has invisibility and charm skills that could come in handy. Plus who thieves during the day?

             

    I bought Uncharted 3 for under $10 this week.  It’s the last of the games I had to have from before last year in this current generation, and it looks like the last that is under $10. I’m going to wait now and save up some money and then maybe start in on my 2012 list:

• Assassin’s Creed III [Xbox 360]
• Serious Sam 3 HD [XBL]
• New Little King’s Story [Vita]
• Borderlands 2 [Xbox 360]
• Witcher 2 [Xbox 360]
• Ridge Racer Unbounded [Xbox 360]
• Sumioni Demon Arts [Vita]
• Kingdoms of Amalur [Xbox 360]
• Disgaea 3 [Vita].

     Upcoming titles I am committed to get are Angry Birds Star Wars on XBL on Tuesday and Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus on November 12^th. I’m hoping to have enough cash for a Wii-U at Christmas with Pikmin 3 and Wind Waker HD and that should wrap the year for me.

      I bought the Mass Effect Foundation #4 comic which tells some of the Illusive Man’s teenage years being trained as a Biotic warrior. It was fine, and I enjoyed it. This Foundation series is going to go 13 issues and probably jump around to different characters showing some of the events in their lives that made them who they are in the games. I’ve still got to play Mass Effect 2 and 3.

    In other media, I watched the Sacha Baron Cohen film The Dictator. It was very average and felt too scripted and unspontaneous. The cast was full of SNL comedians. The best part of the movie was the interaction between The Dictator and his former Science chief Nadal. It seemed the most natural and spontaneous comedy in the film.

   I also watched The Three Stooges movie from last year. It was also just average. However, the three guys they got for the Stooges (Chris Diamantopoulos – Moe, Sean Hayes – Larry, Will Sasso – Curly) were amazing imitators of the originals - maybe too good. They ran through every classic expression and piece of slap stick to perfection. It made the film very predictable. The best part for me was actually a music video that ran in a side bar during the credits. Chris Diamontopoulos can really sing (he’s done broadway musicals), and as Moe, he’s hilarious. Larry and Curly were really good at it too. The song is ”It’s a Shame” and here’s the vid. Get ready to laugh and be amazed.

                      

    In reading I reread Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy - just the first book this week. This book was written in 1951 and I think it reflects the incredible faith put in science to save civilization at the time. It makes me laugh just a little bit as the scientists, from generation to generation, outwit the rest of the Galaxy in order to save it in the distant future. I don’t think the scientific community secretly manipulates society to bring it to a better future these days. They seem quite ignored by politicians and the money interests that control them.

    I’m also reading Oliver Wendell Holmes’ Autocrat of the Breakfast Table where he, as an eminent American man of letters of the 19^th century, regales audiences with his wit and wisdom. He notes the amazing new inventions of the Bicycle, electric street lights and the telegraph that have changed the world of the 1850’s. I had to laugh a little bit at that and then think these are the very roots of our present technologies. He also uses Photography as a metaphor often and it reminds me of how new that art was in his time. I’m ostensibly reading this book for its style. The book is Oliver’s talks made into text, so I guess short sentences or commas placed every five or six words do the job to make the reading so smooth and relatively simple. These are two points of style I want to emulate.

   Finally, I’m watching the daily web videos of Cinemassacre’s Monster Madness series by James Rolfe, The Angry Video Game Nerd. He’s on the Dawn of the Dead series for the last few days before Halloween. Go watch it here ‘cause it’s awesome: http://cinemassacre.com/category/moviereviews/monstermadness/sequel-a-thon-2/