christmas 2007/2008: a good time

well, it's sure been a long while now, hasn't it?

there are many things afoot, including a stint of wins for my philadelphia flyers, an impending venture into the US for MacWorld 2008 and a brand new tv in my living room.

the unfortunate news is that microsoft has asked for their console back. this means a few things that i've been putting off are coming to play:

- firstly, i need to figure out how to get my own 360
- secondly, well, really there's only really one problem, but it's going to piss me off quite a bit

i'm also intrigued as to what prize microsoft will be giving gold subscribers as a reward for being so awesome paying lots of money suffering through a weeks worth of live multiplayer glitches. cash reward? supermodels to feed me grapes on a couch, i think not. maybe some ms points to spend in the arcade or, if they really don't like us, a free rental from the useless selection of movies in marketplace now.

have played the burnout paradise demo that i was pushing so hard and am divided on it.

here are my initial impressions:

the bad:
- i kind of miss the burnout menu system, but it's just a demo right? you'll be able to hit retry in the full game if you want, right?
- there is a lot of slagging you off when you lose, and subsequently drive back across town to retry it, but no fanfare at all if you win
- the star system, that rewards less than first place (as in, you can still get some upgrades or rewards without winning absolutely every race) is gone. gold is gold is gold and this isn't too good
- the missions start of incredibly hard, with a very steep learning curve. took me more than a couple tries to beat my first race, which is not like revenge at all...

the good:
- but it's not all bad with the new burnout demo
- the graphics blew my eyelids open. i seriously can't look away
- the crashes look fricken fantastic! crumple zones all over the car and the windshields shatter too
- the cars handle well and the new trick system is quite fun

so overall, it was a positive experience but has not grabbed me at all in the way that burnout revenge did. it has the potential to be awesome in it's final form, but as of the demo, i'm sitting a little more worried than i was before. i just have a hard time with the new driving around in free space system. i didn't hate the menu system in revenge. it kept the game fresh and varied gameplay for a long time.

but i'm trying to keep my pregidous' out of this until i see a final version.

hope everyone had a very merry christmas and a spastic new years,

JD