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I’ve had the PS3 a couple of weeks now, played it more than I expected but less than the price tag deserves. There’s no doubt that the graphics are slick, all the games look very nice in high-def (well, 720p anyway) and its clear that the machine can do a lot more than anyone is asking of it right now.

Resistance of Man: Great first person shooter, the atmosphere it creates is perfect and the online match making feature is great for finding people to play with. Probably my favourite so far.

NBA ’07: Only played this for 10 minutes, couldn’t get the hang of the controls and haven’t put it back in the machine since. I’ll give it another go but I wasn’t taken with it like the others.

Genji: Not usually my kind of game but the graphics are great. Sound gets real annoying during a long fight, though. Definitely better than I expected.

Blazing Angels: Lots of fun here flying old WW2 planes and taking care of Jerry. Some vertigo-inducing maneuvers to be had, great graphics on screen. Flying by the sixaxis controller motion was impossible, though. Probably my joint favourite with Resistance.

Worthy Mentions: The demo versions of Motorstorm and Gran Tourismo HD were very good indeed, the former being lots of fun, the latter just looked gorgeous.

Sony needs to fix two things fast, though. First, downloads need to happen in the background. It is no fun to be told the system needs to update and then not be able to play for the next two hours. Seriously, background downloading is old technology. Second, the algorithm for choosing the TV resolution needs to be changed to pick the best one available for the game. If you don’t have 1080p Resistance will look best in 720p but, unless I tell it not to, the PS3 chooses 1080i for everything. Can I tell the difference? Probably not, but its definitely something that should be changed.

Yes, I know there was never an initial post to update upon but that’s just a mere insignificant detail. So, anyway, despite knowing nothing (and wishing I didn’t even know that much) about the game I entered a college bowl football pool. $20 to get in and $680 to be shared amongst the winners. With 8 of the 32 games played I am surprisingly joint first with 7 correctly predicted, plenty more games for it all to come crashing down but its a dirty feeling I get checking the scores to see how I am doing.

In other news, I was supposed to have someone come and install Dish TV today, they called last night to make sure we would be home. We got up early and then they called to say that they had been shipped the wrong receivers and they were “fighting” with Dish to get the right items sent out. Bottom line: no one coming today. My brother in law had the same trouble, except that the guys turned up with the wrong box so we’ll see when, or if, I get to kick Time Warner to the kerb.

I have fairly vivid dreams almost every night but, like most people, rarely remember many details when I wake up. Last night, though, I was a Marine fighting an alien invasion (I think I am playing too much Resistance on the PS3). Just as we are about to hit the streets to kick some alien ass, there was the following exchange:

Commander: we’re marines and one thing we do better than the aliens is salute so if you’re not sure who to shoot, get them to salute
Me: but Sir some of us are British and our salutes are weak
Commander: then you are going to die

And earlier this week our spa needed more chlorine and some pH lessening agent. Rather than make two trips outside I put the liquid chlorine into a cup and then poured the pH-down powder. Boom, instant reaction, much frothing chemicals and release of toxic gases. The smell was terrible and I inhaled enough of it to encourage some vomiting and difficulty breathing for about two hours. I don’t do doctors but I almost caved into the wife’s demands that we go to the ER. On the plus side, my cold seems to have disappeared.

And a Merry Christmas to you all.

Seriously, how did such losers, unattractive losers at that, get on TV?

Last night I saw a trailer for some movie and one of the “its great” quotes was from Larry King. Wtf does anyone think his opinion would make anyone go see a movie? The fact that they had to resort to someone like him to endorse the film pretty much comes right out and says the movie blows.

I hate Larry King.

One birthday present I know I am getting today – my PS3, at least according to the UPS tracking website. Of course I am not at home to see it until Friday night but it should be waiting for me when I get there. I am torn between keeping it or selling it on to a friend. It would be cool to have one but, not being home much, it is an expensive toy for something that I wouldn’t get to play with very often. I’ll probably at least set it up to see it in its full high def glory, playing Resistance on a 51″ LCD will definitely beat playing it here in the office on the piece of s*$t TV I have it attached to.

And for those of you who wish to add me to their buddy list, my handle is aPetulantMarmot. See you on the killing fields.

Had you bet me I’d be writing this a few years ago you would have won a lot of money….. today I became an Uncle and my Dad a Grandfather. This morning around 9am British time, my sister delivered a baby boy weighing 8lbs 8oz. As is the custom, both baby and mother are doing fine. I’ve heard no official word of a name yet but when we were back in England it sounded like it was going to be James if it was a boy.

Its not without some sadness – my mum always wanted a grandkid and she is not here to see him – but its exciting news and I’m pleased for them. Fun times ahead for them, I am sure.

Having been at the mercy of the fabulous airport security people over the last couple of weeks I thought this cartoon summed the situation up rather nicely.

Source: Telegraph Newspaper.