General Rambling #1 - Because I Couldn't Think Of A Title!

by machofantastico

GENERAL RAMBLING #1 - BECAUSE I COULDN'T THINK OF A TITLE! Christmas draws near folks, for some that will be a wonderful thought indeed. But for others it will mean listening to the same bloody Christmas songs again and again. No this entry isn't about Christmas, I've already had my rant about that kettle of fish. Instead I wanted to chat about a number of different things, I don't really have...

GENERAL RAMBLING #1 - BECAUSE I COULDN'T THINK OF A TITLE!

Christmas draws near folks, for some that will be a wonderful thought indeed. But for others it will mean listening to the same bloody Christmas songs again and again. No this entry isn't about Christmas, I've already had my rant about that kettle of fish. Instead I wanted to chat about a number of different things, I don't really have a plan for what I want to talk about, but we'll see where my ramblings take us.

THE INEVITABLE GAME OF THE YEAR LISTS
The Xbox 360 MW2 Super Elite Console looks better in person then in this picture. One topic I did want to mention was the inevitable Game of the Year lists we gamers usually get around writing up this time of the year. Now usually I would write mine up in the week or so between Christmas Day and New Years Day, sadly though the fourth quarter of 2009 as been somewhat slow for me. Being without a current Xbox 360 since my European launch console went to console heaven some weeks back as mean't that I've fell slightly behind with the latest releases. Plus there are a number of other titles I have yet to play on other consoles. So with this in mind, I'm considering creating my list a little later then I usually do.

Now I already have a number of games that will no doubt appear on my list this year, but as I said there are many I have yet to experience and I feel it's only right that I consider them all before making judgement. Of course when gamers write up game of the year lists, it's purely self-centred and only for their own worth, but it is rather fun and I've enjoyed writing up such features these past two years. Though despite this self-centred orientation, I do enjoy reading some of my fellow Giantbomb users GOTY lists. But what are the games I've yet to get to play:

Assassins Creed 2 - Without a doubt one of my must play games of 2009, though I have yet to play it. Adored the original game.
Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time - Shamefully yet to play, no excuse either as my Playstation 3 is working perfectly fine.
Tekken 6 - While not a must play game this year, I'm still rather interested to see how the latest Tekken game turned out myself.
Lego: Rock Band - This game as Final Countdown by Europe, so don't judge me. (Plus I'm addicted to building up my Rock Band 2 catalogue).
Borderlands - Still on the fence about this latest Gearbox creation, sure I will play it eventually but not sure if I'll get around to it in 2009.
Left 4 Dead 2 - Another game I'll probably not get around to playing this year, but maybe I'll sort out some zombie killing action at some point soon.
The Saboteur - Despite some obvious flaws, I have always held some interest in this game and I'm quite interested to eventually check it out.

I'm sure I've probably missed a game or two, as you can see there are quite a few games I have yet to play and maybe even review. The only game I'm pretty certain to play soon is Assassins Creed 2, and even that game will see me playing through the original again to catch up on the story. But before all that, I'm hoping to finally order my new Xbox 360 console. While I have been on the fence for sometime deciding which version to get, I finally decided to pay the extra bucks and purchase the Xbox 360 Modern Warfare Super Elite console. At £249.99 it's pretty good value when you consider hard drive costs once the 250GB HDD reach stores and is sold separately.

THE TALE OF THE NEW HDMI CABLE AND WIPEOUT HD!
With the right choice of music, playing Wipeout HD can be almost orgasmic.So recently Amazon.co.uk had a great deal on some HDMI cables that I simply couldn't turn down. Now for the most part I've only ever needed HDMI cables for my Playstation 3, but the one I've been using ever since I first purchased that console as seen better days. Bent, twisted and to my recent shock, somewhat broken. These new HDMI cables were selling for £1.64 with free delivery so I ordered two (with the other in preparation for my future 360 console) and I was blown away by how much better the picture looked. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I had played Uncharted 2 with a broken and bent HDMI cable.

But how does Wipeout HD come into this? Well to be honest this isn't exactly a tale. It's more of a thought I wanted to put forward, that thought being how bloody damn beautiful Wipeout HD is. I'll say right here that the Fury DLC pack released for just £10, is without a doubt the best piece of downloadable content add-on I've experienced in 2009 and one I can't get enough of. I haven't talked enough about my love for this latest Wipeout game, especially considering my frustrated dislike for past entries. But when I load up Wipeout HD, turn my audio options to Pendulum's Hold Your Colour album, I could die a happy man.

I pray, that next year we see more Wipeout HD DLC from the fine folks at Studio Liverpool. I can't recommend picking up this awesome PSN game enough, especially the Fury add-on which adds some much needed modes, and one can hope that we see more great variations in modes in future DLC. But for now, enjoy Wipeout HD to the utmost by making sure your audio collection is worthy, throw in some Prodigy, Pendulum and Justice. One of my personal favourite picks as to be Pendulum's Fasten Your Seatbelt (Ft The Freestylers).

THAT'S THAT FOLKS, I THINK ANYWAY!
Well as usual I've rambled on a little, but maybe that was the whole point. More organised then I was anticipating but I'm not complaining about that. If you've spent the time to read my worthless thoughts then I am gracious and probably not worthy. Hopefully I'll be playing my new Xbox 360 next week if all goes to plan, but for now I leave you with the thought that if I'd spent as much time reading a cooking book as I have writing this blog, I'd be a much better cook.

Thanks for Reading.
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