My Wisdom Teeth were removed at 0800 this morning by an impossibly perky nurse and a great doctor I hope I never see again. By 1130 I was up and moving, and only ached a little; Contrary to my instincts telling me this time it was going to hurt. So, I did what anyone would do at their parents’ place recovering from surgery: I dredged some old garbage out of my dad’s storage and helped him build me a computer desk that will work for gaming from the couch on my new computer.

This is a worthy sequel to the “Most Productive Day in Warroom Jr. History” when myself, Tyler, and dad build a modular gaming table with folding legs.

Oh, and if it is visible from the camera do not bother: I know how much of a mess my apartment is. You cannot say anything I have not already thought.

It looks like I am on the Road to Relapse, with intentions of reopening my account with World of Warcraft again. The good news is the computer I am looking at getting to start PC gaming again is much cheaper than I thought. The bad news is it is still a couple months out of reach, barring some serious financial mistakes my already weak will is prepared to make.

What it boils down to is if I get half what I think I should for purging my cabinet of Restricted guns I can afford the computer. It is just a matter of finding buyers who will pay for a Para when there is Norc 1911’s flying around. And a looming recession.

After roughly two years of battling it out with the few ranges available and my own schedule, I have come to the grave decision that gun ownership in Toronto is not worth the bother. Over the next couple months I will be selling all but three of my firearms in order to pay for other, more practical and obtainable pursuits. I will be left with a 1943 Lee Enfield from Lithgow, and a Norinco SKS copy that’s just plain easy to keep. I will also look into a double-barrel shotgun with a choke so I can go trap shooting with Allister.

If any owners read this and want to make an early offer, I will give you a discount. We are looking at a Para-Ordnance LDA 7.45, a Cz 52 I hate to sell since I never got to shoot it, and a Norinco CQ311 (AR-15 copy) with A2 furniture. All in at least good condition.

I am liking what Craig and Co. have done with the Bond franchise. Good movie.

Through all kinds of deals with my friendly local gaming store I managed to acquire Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty: World at War without any major impact on my strained wallet. The former was almost a no-brainer because its predecessor had splitscreen co-op. This one has that, plus really good bot supported split-screen everything else. Matt and myself spent the better part of 6 hours playing it. Definitely a hit.

Call of Duty was going to be a pass since I was not impressed with the last one. Too frenetic and the multiplayer was just deathmatch variations where I watched my guy die in someone else’s sights over and over. I heard this one has co-op, but did not read a thing about splitscreen. Thank goodness Allister bought and found out it does, beause not only does tha add another game to the couch co-op collection, but it has zombies. That is right, if you finish the single player campaign you unlock Nazi Zombie Survival Mode. You and friends are in a boarded up house shooting at shamblers, trying to keep the barricades intact, and earning enough points to get good anti-zombie weaponry. I personally like the BAR, although the M1A1 Carbine works the rest of the time.

Curse work! I could be playing it right now…

I have posted a couple blog entries using my account at Gamespot just to fidget around with their features. I will probably transfer them here eventually, but at least the site is there for seeing what games I have, am playing, and want. I might even post reviews, although I do not work well with numbers as scores.

Teddy was telling me about his travails with satellite television. He is currently using Bell but decided they are a faceless, greedy corporation with about as must empathy as Pluto so he shopped around. This being Canada, that meant his other options were Rogers. He said Starchoice but… yeah… anyways.

I deal exclusively with Bell, and while my internet has been stellar, everything else has been a lesson in frustration. Especially my mobile/data account. It is all unnecessarily complicated as a kind of smoke screen to fluster customers enough that they throws their arms up and say, “Whatever! Just give me a phone!” They then sign on for shit they will never use but they bought just to get out of there. It should go like it did for me and Teddy:
Salesman: And with the Fun 35 plan-
Michael: Skip that. I don’t want it.
S: But-
M: You want me to buy this PDA, right?
S: Yeah, but-
M: Then I want this (points to cell plan) and this (points to data plan) and this (holds up PDA) and that. Is. It. Got me?
S: Okay, sir, I’ll ring that up
Teddy had a messaging chat with some Roger representative (what ever happened to “salesman/saleswoman”) who strung him along for thirty minutes avoiding answering the question, “What is the ‘furry muppets service fee?’” When she finally cracked and admitted it was a miscellaneous $2.99/month charge, he told her she just chased off a customer because she would not talk straight to him.

What bothers me about these smoke and mirrors campaigns is I know first-hand treating the customer like a human works better. My employer has many loyal tenants because when they call and ask for clarification, we are instructed to tell them straight-up what they ask for. Even when the news is bad they tend to be accepting and civil because they did not get run around and condescended.

Of course, being honest does not allow for sales tricks like excluding the only hit from an album from being sold individually on iTunes so you have to pay for the whole thing. Asking them about this will just get you bounced around as they blame the record company who of course just volleys it back to iTunes. Enough running around and you get fed up and… Do not want the album so instead of a little money they get nothing.

It is this disconnect from their customers that is keeping the music industry on the slippery slope it is on. A CD is $20, and the DVD with all those songs plus a few, as well as videos and features is $15. Record companies assume an album will be loaned to maybe one other person than the buyer (book publishers assume a book will be read by 8 people). These are living breathing people who have to walk through the real world who made these decisions. Did they think, “Yeah, I’ve never known someone to loan their CDs out. We have to take that into account when pricing.”

Of course, these are the companies that hear people getting incensed over DRM and copyright battles and just stick their fingers in their ears and try to scream until it is over…

Tried the demo for this gem yesterday. You travel with three companions through a quarantined city filled with Jesse Owens zombies and try to get from safe house to safe house. It was fast, intense, and actually felt like trying to get by in the Zombocalypse. The idea is clearly that you play it online with three buddies, but the AI was good enough to stay tight, cover open directions, and watch my ass when I got greedy or tunnel vision.

It also advertises having split-screen, so I will probably be all over this one when it shows up. Gears of War 2 has bot supported multiplayer and apparently so does Call of Duty 5. Could it be developers are starting to realise couch co-op is popular?

Time will tell.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

- John McCrae

I knew when I first read the track list for Guitar Hero World Tour I would end up buying it. I have become so endeared to its competitor, Rock Band I was hoping, deep down, I would not like it. The reviews and Tyler’s first impressions seem to confirm my bias is not necessarily clouding my judgement; It is just not quite better.

Which is a shame, because the presence of the above-mentioned Jimi Hendrix (”The Wind Cried Mary” and “Purple Haze (live)”), “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne, and “Hotel California” by The Eagles proves they are not lacking for good tunes, and the presentation is fetching. They just made the mistake of simply packaging the Guitar Hero formula with three extra instruments. It lacks the illusion of depth.

For example, progressing through the World Tour in Rock Band requries playing gigs well and earning stars and fans based on your performance quality. Get enough of each and you get more gigs in more cities. Every now and then you perform in a challenge set to earn a van, roadies, a plane and eventually a nomination in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some sets are 2-8 randomly chosen songs, some are individual songs on their own and some are 2-8 song lists where you can choose the songs. Each successful show earns you money to customise your rock star. The band custisation means, if you have the time like I do, you can create all four members for a uniform look. If you want uniform. Walkman Tuner Over-ride has a Spanish/Japanese go-go dancer on bass, an insane Irishman that always wears a gas mask on drums, a relatively normal guy on guitar and a goth/punk lesbot singing. At least when the freaks my friends made are not performing. Mr. Bleeatch is a crime against pixels.

In Guitar Hero you are presented with three gigs. If you complete them, you can play more gigs. Each song you complete is unlocked to perform in an up to 6 song custom setlist you can create and perform wherever you have compelted. The money you earn is used to buy special characters, clothes to customise you rock star, and is even necessary to buy the right to perform some of the shows. The latter feels particularly cheap in the case of the ego-stroking Tool gig, which is a steep $8000 to unlock. Even after you earn the songs, they have to be performed at the Tool stage, which strikes me as fucking arrogant. I do not hate Tool, but they do seem to be falling for the messianic worship they get from their fans. I have asked before: What is it about Tool that allows them to get away with releasing the same album over and over again?

Shit. I went off on another Tool rant again…

It also has a studio to make your own songs. They cannot exceed 3 minutes, 1200 notes per instrument, or violate any copyrights. Not only that, despite using Line 6 technology the instruments sound like shitty MIDI samples. Personally I will be ignoring it, and not because I am trying to learn Garage Band. Finally, you pick your band’s name and logo, and the performers that are not players are picked randomly by the X-box for each gig.

I do not regret buying it, but I do just wish the good tracks from Guitar Hero were in Rock Band. The difficulty levels means playing one for a while results in an adjustment playing when switching over to the other. I am rather fond of some of the wackier customisation options in Guitar Hero. At least it is a good start, and the competition will probably mean some effort by both sides to keep their game on top.