Major System FAIL!

Today, I am not impressed. The reason for my sour mood is two fold – firstly I have had an awful week in work and I already know that next week is going to be a nightmare due to staff holidays and me being the only one who can cover them. Secondly, I knew that my Windows 7 pre-order (thank you for the bargain eBuyer) would be dispatched on Thursday for delivery when ever the Royal Mail stop striking and get some work done, so I ordered some upgraded memory to help things run a little smoother. I very happily opened my shiny new Corsair XMS2 memory yesterday and was excited to get home, rip open the case and fit it. Upon starting up my PC I went in to the BIOS to see what voltage it was assigned – this was too low, so I upped it to the amount needed and rebooted. The next trip in to the BIOS showed that my FSB had done up to 1066Mhz thanks to the bottle neck of my old memory now being removed, as a result all the voltages required had increased slightly, but more importantly the speed of my system would finally reach its potential. I rebooted the system and allowed it to run in to Windows whilst eagerly monitoring the boot sequence to see how much quicker it was – just as the smug look of success came across my face I was greeted by that thing all PC enthusiasts dread … the Blue Screen of Death!!!

After some tinkering I decided to phone my cousin, who is a bit of a guru on these things and we ran some tests. These hinted that the problem may be with my PSU, which granted isn’t the most powerful, but it is a very good spec and from a top manufacturer. I had gambled on this PSU being enough for my machine when I last upgraded, but it seems I may have lost this one due to the faster FSB, two additional hard-drives and a fat graphics card. Reluctantly I decided to buy a new PSU, because even if it turns out not to be the PSU, I should really get one more suitable anyway. As usual I went on to the eBuyer site, but the choice wasn’t fantastic and many seemed over priced for some reason, so I looked elsewhere. It appears that eBuyer was, as usual, very competitively priced and much to my amazement PSU prices have doubled since I last bought one 3 years ago – WTF is that all about?!

The only explanation I can think of is that all the companies have jumped on the ‘Energy Saving’ bandwagon and decided that all of sudden the same heap of junk, with a bigger fan (to reduce noise) and some plugs (to allow excess cables to be removed) is now worth a fortune – I was not impressed. In the end I settled on a 600W OCZ ModXStream that ticked all the boxes, but didn’t break the bank – thanks to OCUK.

I’m hoping that it will arrive tomorrow so I can get my system stable and backup everything before I install Windows 7 and start on the next bunch of issues.

ARGHHHHH!

The Beautiful (but very amateur) Game

This weekend was a momentous occasion… my first full game of 11-a-side in over 10 years!

Some of the lads I used to play 5-a-side with (but still work with) arranged a game against a sunday-league team they know. We all vaguely know each other, so it was a fairly relaxed atmosphere, but that didn’t mean the tackles would be any nicer. We lined up in our old-skool Lotto kit that resembled the Juventus home kit of the 80’s and for the 30 seconds before kick off we looked like we had potential. This was clearly a malicious rumour because within 5 passes it was evident that we needed some practice. Despite this we put in a good performance and went in at half time tied at one each, having held our own very well. I was frustrated because of the teams lack of organisation, but it was to be expected from a team who have never played 11-a-side together before. As the second half started we had gone flat and quickly conceded two goals, much to the annoyance of the defence who had been playing well, but had little support. After a few substitutions, myself and the forward decided to change things and drop him back in to the centre of midfield, allowing us to get control of the game with me playing a more defensive role to pick-up their best player who was shifting from side to side to get space. The change quickly made a difference, we dominated the middle of the pitch, broke down their play and began to play some good passing football of our own. It wasn’t long before we scored … or more to the point, before I scored – after a fantastic interception (if I say so myself) I was able to run at the central defenders who both followed our strikers run, leaving me to step through the middle and slot the ball home with my left foot. The score was now 3-2 to them and we were controlling the game. As we pushed on to get the equaliser it was clear that both teams had started to tire, big gaps started to open up on the flanks and their central midfield had disappeared. With 15 minutes to go, and having dominated for the last 20 minutes, we conceded a corner from a mistake at the back. The resulting cross was lobbed in to the back post, headed back across goal, saved by goal keeper and then frustratingly headed back in by their player to make the score 4-2 to them. We knew it was too late for us to get a win, but we pushed on to restore some pride and continually pressured their goal, but with the lack of a target man to dominate the aerial balls our attacks where repelled. With a few minutes to go one of our strikers got through on goal and despite the option of a simple through ball, tried the shot, putting it just wide. This summed up our game, we had been good at everything apart from the final ball or strike on goal. Despite losing we all had a really enjoyable game and received praise from our opponents which was as much as could expect given the circumstance.

After the game we all grabbed a quick shower and headed back to the boozer to watch the second half of the football. It was disappointing to watch Liverpool lose, again, but they did put sausage and chip butty’s on, so that saved me from sobbing in my pint.

Playing 11-a-side again and actually getting a chance to put my mark on the game has sparked my interest in playing more… watch this space.

Converting the Stubborn

Just a quick one today.

Last night I had 5 mates round for one of the regular xBox nights we have. Traditionally we have always played Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), but this time around I have decided to move my alliance to FIFA 10, something that was scowled upon by the traditionalists. After a week of persuasion I eventually managed to get a small group of sceptics to come round and give it a try. The format was familiar, arrive with a few beers, order in a chippy tea and play the tournament – cost to enter is one pound and no ‘top’ teams are allowed. Out of the hat I picked Boca Juniors, the worst team in the draw, but as I had played the game before this would help to even things out. After setting up the controllers to the alternative format so that we had a level playing field we got in some practice.

The result of the evening was that we all filled our faces, everyone loved the new puppy and I gained 60% acceptance, just two more people to keep the pressure on, if they all have a copy by xmas then the rest of the group will have to follow suit so they can play online … the mission continues.

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias

Once again Frontier, the team behind the LostWinds series, have pulled off a masterpiece.

Over recent weeks I have been gaming quite a lot, mainly playing FIFA 10 online through the xBox 360, but last week I stumbled across an article about the imminent release of LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias, the second part in the story of young Toku and Enril the Wind Spirit’s adventure. This sparked me in to wanting to go back and complete the original game, something I had failed to do because I got stuck at about 70% of the way through and never returned to finish. So on Friday night whilst in the pub, giving the better half my complete attention of course, I decided to start my failed adventure again, the following evening. This particular Saturday night was scheduled to be gaming night because the better half had arranged a works night out and my new goal was to complete LostWinds.

After dropping her off at the pub to meet her friends I dashed home, grabbed my snacks and drinks and settled down to begin my adventure anew. Despite the fact I had encountered most of the jaw dropping moments the game has to offer before, I was still blown away the effortless interaction between the two characters and the charming puzzles set in the most amazingly stylised scenery. The charm of this game is that it is so simple  and yet so fulfilling in terms of story, visuals and a sense of achievement. One particular moment mesmerised me as I played, this was of course the final ‘boss’ encounter. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but the thought that has gone in to it was outstanding and yet the solution is so simple and almost ‘routine’ after hours of game play, however it wasn’t without its difficulties. The reward for the completion of this puzzle wasn’t only the fact that you complete the game, but you also save someone from evil and gain a new friend. I completed the game in just shy of 4 hours and felt truly enlightened for having done so. Admittedly I did turn to a guide to avoid getting stuck where I had before, but this only served to mess things up further because the directions it contained where wrong, so my lesson has been learnt.

Fresh from the original adventure and still with that warm cuddly feeling in my chest I downloaded the sequel. 20 minutes later I was at the introduction screen and the magical music that features throughout the games was playing … then suddenly the dreaded iPhone ring-tone began to play … I had my orders to go pick the better half up and she was in a slightly less than lady like state. Disappointedly I prised the remote from my hand a powered down the Wii, I was soooooo close!!!

It wasn’t until Monday evening that I finally got to sit down and play Winter of the Melodias. I turned off my phone, turned on the Wii and at last made it past the opening screen. As the game starts you are greeted by a familiar scene – Toku is asleep in a stupid place and fall to the ground with a bump. His guardian, Deo, is there and shortly after arrives the renowned adventurer Notéa to break the bad news and the foundation to your next adventure. I wont ruin the plot beause learning it is an integral parts of the games experience, but its nothing to unfamiliar. Person close to you in trouble, go to dangerous place and save them. This begins the best introduction to a game I have ever experienced, its begins by your new friend Magmok, ancient Guardian of Mistralis, taking you to the place you need to be, as thanks for saving him in the final encounter of the previous game. As you proceed up the mountainous terrain Magmok climbs with you and helps you in areas where you cannot get through unaided. As you ascend the basic controls are introduced for those who are unfamiliar with the first game. By the time you reach the top your are familiar with the basics and ready for an adventure.

I have only played a further half an hour in to the game before I had to go back to the real world, but needless to say I can already see massive improvement to the game, yet it still feels the same and offers the same amazing experience. A clever touch I really enjoyed is that when you begin you are not dressed for the environment, meaning that you have to stay close to beacons in order to keep warm, this adds a new dimension and pressure to the early stages and really makes you think. The increased variety of enemies is also very clever, after encouraging you to use them in clearing an obstacle or to defeat other enemies , an example of this is when you reach a thorny blockade, you can use the enemies that are ‘on-fire’ to destroy the thorns before using vortex to make a snow ball and dousing them out. These clever touches add depth and this is what make Winter of the Melodias so much more rewarding than the original – not to mention the map which actually helps you make sense of what you are achieving.

I genuinely recommend to anyone looking for a good adventure game to give this a try, its only £7 and worth every penny in my opinion. You can’t help but be charmed and feel a sense of achievement.

Update (15/10/2009): I’ve just finished the game after an intense 4 hours. So I thought I’d post a tip for those struggling with the final fight (spoiler alert)… that purple blob he throws at you is the only thing you can hurt him with.

Is FIFA as addictive as Heroin?

Well, so far I’m only one sentence in to this post and it’s taken me four days to get this far, so you work it out …