PixlBit

    This is my weekly recap but think about it meshed with the Genesis game DecapAttack. It’s like I’m removing my head and throwing at you. All you have to do is catch it and look inside. Then, please, please, throw it back. A man without a head is like… you know… never mind. I think that might be a good thing. Keep it.

     I played Borderlands 2 several times this week with my buddy MADKRAMMER on Xbox 360. This game is a barrel of fun in co-op. I’m an Assassin level 19 and he’s a Gunzerker Level 30. I was hosting so that means he was plowing through enemies while I hung back and tried to stay alive. There’s experience point sharing, so I was still leveling up, even though I wasn’t knocking off as many enemies (there's an achievment for that). We did one of the Arena battles and I had to use my hologramatic projection as a distraction so I could run and hide many times just to stay alive. I got in some sweet, sweet sniping in though.

     I stopped playing Advance Wars: Dual Strike after Mission 10 on my DSi XL to focus on Borderlands 2 and did some side missions on my own at home. My TV at MADKRAMMER’s place cuts off part of the screen at the bottom, so sometimes I can’t see what buttons do what. It’s pretty easy to figure out the menu controls though, but it’s nice to not have the problem at home. Plus my TV at home is a little sharper in resolution.

     I’m half way through Halo: Mortal Dictada by Karen Traviss. It’s a great read. It’s so good, in fact, that I’m almost not annoyed that she is damning the whole Spartan II program for ethical reasons. The characters are well described, and the way the various plot lines are beginning to thread together is really interesting - Karen's really good at that. I also like the focus on the Kig-Yar (Jackals) which has never been done before in a Halo book. I love the conception of the Huragoks (Engineers) and the AI in the book. The AI remind me of the AI in William Gibson’s Neuromancer. They are modeled on a real human brain and still have faint memories of their past life selves. Greg Bear got into this as well in his Halo trilogy showing that the Sentinels are basically the AI for the Forerunners; they are also modeled on real brains - not always human though.

     I finished the epically long Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson on audio book. This is the third series based on his character Thomas Covenant. I read his first series and the second series as they came out in the 80’s while I was in High School and was entranced by them. This first book of the third series centers on Covenant’s love interest, Linden Avery, from the previous series and is very introspective and less action and location oriented, ie. there’s a lot of internal monologue and conversation. I was a little bit bored by it, but what thrilled me was the crazy vocabulary. There were more words that I didn’t know in this than in any book I’ve read in a while. I wish I could’ve been given definitions on the fly while listening to the audio book in the car, but that’s for a next gen vehicle. My next car must have Siri so she can give me word meanings for my audio books.

     I finished listening to metal band Iced Earth’s Live at Ancient Kourion which came out April 2013. I played it so loud in my car, I didn’t realize I’d almost red lined by RPM gage in second gear.

     On the rumor vine, I heard that the Wii-U got a price cut in the UK on the Big Red Barrel UK podcast down to 180 pounds from 210 pounds I believe for the Deluxe 32 GB edition. 180 pounds is $310 U.S., so I’m not if that means anything to me. However, a price cut anywhere makes me pay attention. I want a $200 Wii-U.

     And my friend MADKRAMMER (Xbox ID) told me MS is going to offer a $399 X1 with NO DISC DRIVE. This could just be rumor, but it’s not too crazy. I wonder if I would go for that. More thought needed.

   And for cool upcoming games, I heard on RadioRadar’s podcast this week about Capybara’s new game Super Time Force coming to Xbox One and XLBA and it sounds really cool. I’ve been following Capy since they did the awesome Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes a while back. Super Time Force is a 2D side scrolling shooter like Contra but with time reversal and a new twist to it that lets you copy yourself to create a small army if needed. Capy’s web site describes it hilariously as “single player co-op”.

                        

   That's it...So seriously. Can I have my head back now?