Unread books (July 24, 2011)

EBay (May 28 2011)

                Last Thursday, the first book that I have ordered through EBay arrived in our house. I can’t describe the feeling when I saw the package of 2GO on our dining table. I am wary of making transactions in the Internet, knowing that scammers and fakes are prowling everywhere. But I decided to try it out, with the simplest thing I think I could purchase safely and cheaply: a book.

                 It all happened when I could not find any Stephen King’s “Skeleton Crew” in the bookstores near our house. So I decided to find it in the Net and voila! I ended up in EBay. And I think you know what happened next.

                 I decided to take some pictures of the package and the book, that is, for MY sentimental amusement.

                Book Review? Nah. Stephen King’s just too deep to be tackled here. Besides, I don’t want to be haunted in my dreams.

                Adieu.

fantasy fever(April 18 2011)

                I just hope my blog pardons me for ignoring it for the last couple of months. I don’t know if this is true to everyone but at certain peak seasons (e.g. February), brains tend to ignore things of lower priority, especially when those with higher rank forcefully suck you into the vortex of geekiness. But with all those harrowing deadlines and stressful exams gone (though only for two months), blogging is again possible. I am beginning to think that my life is following certain cycle and that I have written these excuses before. Yes, I think I made so many excuses before. I don’t want to browse through my old posts; it will only defeat the purpose of writing another one. Besides, re-reading my old entries only gives me the chills - perhaps a feeling of mixed nostalgia and regret.

                Anyway, there are so many things I want to share and talk about. Foremost of these is the video card I recently bought for myself as a reward for the good school year I just had. (Although there are still some regrets) It is Sapphire’s version of ATI HD5670 1GB GDDR5. It may not be one of the spectacular stars out in the computer market today, but it still carries splendid specifications to satisfy the casual gamer. One gigabyte of memory allows you to play most of the games of the yesteryears at medium to high settings without lag, since most of those only require 256-512mb of graphics memory. The GDDR5 simply means that it’s fast. It’s not as fast as a card with GTX xxxx or GTS xxxx, but the point here is, I don’t really require something that ambitious. I just need to replace the 256mb-integrated graphics card (integrated with the motherboard) that could not cope up with some of the games I really want to play.

                Okay, enough of the graphics-card-talk. I bought a new video card and I can now play games like Starcraft 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Resident Evil 5 and god knows whatever else. I can now also play videos with stunning clarity and edit them without the computer hanging up. Windows 7 Aero looks even cooler now than before. No, EVERYTHING looks stunningly different now- like seeing again with new eyes. By the way, I invested also for a 2GB RAM (which I bought last Christmas) to make more room and to allow more programs to operate at the same time. Again, I just bought this as a Christmas present to myself. Ah, excuses.

***

                By the way, I’m admitting it: I am a Tolkien fanatic. I know I have not mentioned about it in this blog before, but I adore his works. I can’t get over on how on earth could he have had possibly created the world of Middle-earth with all its elves, Ents, the Rohirrim, the Istari, the Maiar, etc so vividly that you could almost hear the snapping of the twigs in Fangorn, smell the rancid smell of decay in the dead Marshes, and taste the ale in a Hobbit’s inn. I know it may sound that I’m overrating Lord of the Rings, but it deserves such appreciation. Anyway, I am not about to give a book review of the Lord of the Rings (Btw, LOTR is not a series of fantasy books, it is merely a book divided into three volumes, namely: The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers and The Return of the King). Instead, I am about to give you a view of the game company Electronic Arts®’ interpretation of Middle-Earth with its 2006 game "The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II".

                The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II is quite an old game actually and basically not one of those programs that can really test the limits of my newly acquired hardware. But being the Tolkien fan that I am, I installed it and lo! I beheld one of the coolest real-time strategy games I have ever played so far - in terms of the 3D graphics and gameplay. There could be a bias in this early judgment since the characters and places are already familiar to me unlike in other games (though I have already read two Starcraft novels) but I think with its unique units and driving plot, BFME2 can also appeal newbies.

                While it is true that BFME2 was patterned after the usual RTS game, BFME2’s inclusion of a Hero Creator is a brilliant move by the developers. Imagine creating and customizing your hero (just like in Sims where you create your own Sim) and then seeing him roam the map and/or in battle with other heroes and/or units. Isn’t it fun? I’ve always wanted to see my created character in Sims to have a fight with another Sim from the game, but of course, they couldn’t and they wouldn’t. Then BFME2 came.

                Woohoo!

                Sorry, warfreak here…

                Woohoo!

                I tried to create a hero with this Hero Creator, using a troll as my base creature. I actually named him Grumpp from the word ‘grump’ because he would roar every time I get to finish donning him with each piece of armor. BFME2, knowing players can’t help but press the Print Screen button on the keyboard after creating their heroes, has even provided a ‘Take a Picture’ button to capture the image of your hero on the screen and automatically save it in your user folder.

 

                The two sets of campaigns in BFME2 (the Good campaign and the Evil campaign) were really derived from Tolkien’s Silmarillion before the events in the Lord of the Rings. This is still the age where Morgoth (originally Melkor) was the main antagonist and Sauron (the main antagonist in LOTR) was just his chief lieutenant.  Now, do you see the semblance in the works of other authors? Anyway, what you do in the campaign basically affects the outcome of the War of the North. As an option, you can also play in skirmish mode with several battlefield maps to choose from. If you’re really bored, you can view the tutorials (which are really helpful though) or the credits, or take pleasure in the wonderful intro and main menu videos…

 

 

                GameZone asked, “What self-respecting Tolkien fan can be without this title (BFME2)?”

                Well, not me. <wicked laugh...I'm the heir of Sauron>

el treinta de marzo(March 30 2011)