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Blackened Skull

Ta.

Cloud harvest update

Added a few shots to my Flickr gallery. The standout one for me were the clouds in Brighton – very brush-stroke like.

I hope the good weather lasts in the UK so that I can get some great autumn cloud formations.

Reflection of mediocrity?

One important cog of my Happy? Index has been, in recent times, my pursuit of videogaming fun. But when the ‘fun’ turns into a puddle of mediocrity you really have to begin to ask questions. Other than enjoying the recent Walking Dead XBL game and spurts of FIFA 12, I am left with too many games that try pandering to a wider audience than can be maintained . So it’s no surprise then that I’m enjoying games that know what they are and know not to step past their limitations.

A recent example of a game that started well but then lost me due to the developers losing course was Assassin’s Creed Revelations. I cannot fathom why a game that is all about allowing the player so much freedom with its fluid movement would want to detour into a Tower Defence game? I hated how it made me feel about the game and how it took me away from the hub of what makes an Assassin’s Creed game what it is. The game remains unfinished for that very reason.

My fear for videogaming as a whole is the easy path of appealing to the masses will undermine any real progress for the industry. With this years retail market at a all-time low, I do hope developers take stock and understand that a videogame doesn’t need every little element thrown at it, to be a success. Just because your Modern Warfare’s have multiplayer doesn’t mean multiplayer has to be included in every single title that is ever released. You only need look to Telltale Games to appreciate that.

Happy? Index 1.30

My view of the second quarter of 2012.

A tough last few months that has seen my working life turn into an absolute grinding bore. Luckily I have been entertained elsewhere;

• Sites in my reader: No real change. One site added to my feed reader – Arbitrary Genius – welcome back Bex!
• Magazine subscriptions: No change. Plenty of catching up to do here.
• Movies watched: 19. The Avengers and Prometheus both viewed at the cinema and both impressed but for different reasons. I’m using Letterboxd – now in open beta – to record all my movie watching and if anyone needs an invite then I still have a few spare.
• Comic books: Finished volume 7 of The Walking Dead which seemed to spend the time building up to the confrontation at the end. Both volume 6 and 7 have been above average reads. The prison setting seems to have stifled the group and how they are becoming a little too comfortable is clear. The mantra should be that there’s no safe haven no mater where you look. I do have volume 8 waiting for me and the first volume of American Vampire in the post. I’m also planning a visit to GOSH! Comics very soon, as I haven’t seen the Soho store yet. From there I’ll be looking to sort out my subs but can imagine I’ll be going graphic novel only from here on in.
• Books read: zilch.
• Music: No further gigs to talk of but a couple of CD purchases worth mentioning. A new Smashing Pumpkins album – Oceania – and the Silversun Pickups with their best so far with Neck of the Woods. Compared with the last few years this must be the most CDs I’ve paid for and enjoyed. I hope the trend continues throughout 2012.
• TV: The second season of The Walking Dead started slowly but picks up well towards the excellently devised 7th episode of the season, Pretty Much Dead Already. Although themes are similar between the TV show and comic book, I’m trying hard not to compare the two. One is based on the other but what will be interesting is if they begin to take queues from each other.
• Gaming: Completed the second episode of The Walking Dead – Starved for Help. Excellent again from Telltale Games and although it doesn’t fulfil all my gaming desire, it’s the only game I’ve really been hooked into. Both Diablo 3 and Max Payne 3 remain unfinished and underplayed. I can’t see myself pre-ordering many big AAA titles this year. Firstly the factor of cost puts me off but also how disappointed I have been with a number of major titles of late. Max Payne 3 hasn’t helped dissuade me from this view either.