Christmas repeats

Just had a look through the TV guide and guess what? Repeats after repeats. How many times are they expecting us to go through Chicken Little and Babe? Desperate Housewives can't start soon enough. At least we have the new Doctor Who and Vicar of Dibley to look forward to.

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Bishop calls for veil legislation

Of course he would be against the veil, he is a bishop after all. Wasn't he the one who made that pretty dumb 'double standards' comment? The one where he accused an opposing religion of hypocrisy (which organised religion isn't guilty of double standards?)? You would think this side of Christmas people would learn to just shut up, at least for the next few days. Happy Winterval indeed. I wonder what is his policy on veils worn by nuns and OAPs?

Hooked on Dragon Quest VIII

Bloody hell, the streets are so quiet. The town is, well, like a ghost town. Everybody has probably just buggered off to live in some airport. I am in Jenni's flat and the whole flat is dead, which is fine cuz we can turn on the volume of the telly up a notch. It is depressing though. Maybe we can go off for a bike ride tomorrow or something.


I also introduced Dragon Quest VIII to Jenni, and after a short tutorial on the logic of menu driven turn based combat system (she is a fan of action based combat), she got hooked into the game. She has since hogged the telly and the only thing I am allowed to do is prepare the meals and sulked in the corner.

Saw a Wii on sale at CEX. They were buying it for £290 cash and are selling it back to the public for 350 quid. Quite the mark-up over the £180 recommended retail price. Apparently it has been there for days. With a day of Christmas shopping to go, hopefully there isn't anybody idiotic/desperate enough to let CEX get away with it.

Top 10 female video game characters of all time

Chun-Li (Street Fighter series)

Jessica Albert (Dragon Quest VIII)



Cate Archer (No One Lives Forever series)



Samus Aran (Metroid series)

Elexis Sinclaire (SiN)

Kasumi (Dead or Alive series)



Jill Valentine (Resident Evil series)

Sniper Wolf (Metal Gear Solid)



Claire Redfield (Resident Evil series)

Isabella Valentine (Soul Calibur series)

Winter Solstice: Burning of the Clocks

Winter is here guys.

Jon's "Christmas Awards" 2006

EDGE's Christmas issue is due in the shops any day now. With it the annual Christmas Awards were announced, with Final Fantasy XII getting game of the year. Which is great and all but since FF XII isn't out in PAL territory until next year I guess it is all conjecture, at least for me. Here are my "Christmas Awards" for gaming in 2006...

Best Game
Dragon Quest VIII Journey of the Cursed King (Square Enix, PS2)

In many ways Dragon Quest VIII is one of the best games you can ever play in recent history. Sure RPG haters will naturally hate this, but even Jennifer, who traditionaly shun turn based combat games has learnt to love this. At first, due to the narrative, then progressively the combat system. Combined with great visuals, excellent British voice acting and stunning orchestra, this really does deserve game of the year, even if it came here more than a year later.

People
Satoru Iwata (Nintendo)

Console Game
1. Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix/Level 5, PS2)
2. Shadow of the Colossus (Sony Computer Entertainment, PS2)

Portable Game
1. Final Fantasy III (Square Enix/Matrix Software, DS)
2. Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Capcom Production Studio 4, DS)

Best Innovation
1. Nintendo Wii
2. Professor Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo EAD, DS)

Best Visual Design
1. Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix/Level 5, PS2)
2. Shadow of the Colossus (Square Enix, PS2)

Best Audio Design
1. Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix, PS2)
2. Uhm, nothing else strikes me as unique

Best Developer
1. Nintendo EAD (Japan)
2. Square Enix (Japan)

Best Publisher
1. Nintendo Japan (Nintendo Europe gets worst publisher)
2. Atlus

Best Online Experience
1. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo EAD, DS)
2. Gaming blogs and fanboys during E306

Best Hardware
1. Nintendo DS Lite
2. Sony PS2 Slimline (I know it came out in 2005)

Idiot(s) of the year
1. Jack Thompson and anti-gaming lobby.
2. Idiots who started class action lawsuits on Nintendo due to Wii strap 'issue'.

BTW, Jenni just got Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and she loves it. I had no idea she is into this sort of games!

London Eye

Been here for ages but never been on the London Eye, until this week. By taking advantage of the Oyster Card offers you get half price of the tickets (BOGOF). The weather was shit but the view was still stunning. Even Battersea power station was visible. The journey only lasts for 30 minutes but is probably worth it, even for Londoners. Best check it out during the off-peak season.









Technorati tags: London Eye

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii hands-on

Woo-hoo... not. There isn't a Wii to play on. It is still factory sealed if anyone wants it. I will play with the GameCube version instead and give a proper hands-on account then.

Since I haven't (can't) played it yet I will just describe the box. It is nice (apart from the white box that it came in - Wind Waker came in a golden coloured box) and the artwork is splendid. Link, in both his original humanoid form, and his wolf form in the Twilight Realm, appears on the box. The backside has no description on what the game is, apart from how to play the game with a WiiMote and a note on how this is the biggest Zelda adventure of all time. See most books, games and DVDs, and the back side is mainly populated by plot summary. I hope this won't be a norm on future Wii games, as I found it unnatural. Zelda games are popular for its narrative, not the way it's controlled!!!

Technorati tags: Wii Nintendo Zelda Twilight Princess

10 material Christmas wish list

Well since Richard has done one, I guess I should get going with mine.

1. Nintendo Wii
2. Kona Kula Supreme / Felt RXC Pro / Specialized Stuntjumper Expert
3. A new PC that actually uses less electrical power
4. Final Fantasy XII, for PAL
5. Nip/Tuck and Six Feet Under in High Definition
6. Authentic New York style cheese cake
7. Chocobo and the Magic Picture Book, in English
8. A new FPS/TPS game that doesn't have the usual generic aliens/monsters enemies, plot-lines, unrealistic heroes that doesnt wear helmets and cheesy voice acting
9. Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rose-Colored Rupee Land, in English
10. Complete 2007 Shimano XTR (and SRAM X.0 rear mech) groupset

My 10 wish list for Christmas later in the week.