*-)- welcome aboard *-)-
just me. my current interests and stories for the interwebs.
Four player co-op versus a bunch of aliens?!?! Yea, another reason for Call of Duty: Ghosts. Although it comes out on November 5, looks like I won't be playing till the PS4 version comes out a couple of weeks later. I'll see you online then! http://youtu.be/eNm5CmnYBzU
The Official Battlefield 4 trailer just dropped and is touting, not only amazing visuals and graphics, but a very intriguing storyline staring the USS Valkyrie fighting its way through some rough seas all by itself. Check it out below. I also included the Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer so make sure watch that too. Both of these trailer depict their single player goodness which both titles also being released on Sony's and Microsoft's next generation consoles next month! http://youtu.be/CrtwqDt0IEk
http://youtu.be/SumIZb6qMJw
What game are you most excited for on which console? I've always been a CoD fan so I'm in for a Playstation 4 and Ghosts, but Battlefield has stepped up big time!
Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball brought up valuable points in his latest rebuttal in the ongoing Nintendo vs. RIM Blackberry saga. I'd like to highlight these two sentences where I agree heavily.
Today, though, someone deciding to buy a dedicated handheld game device is, more likely than not, deciding whether to buy something to carry in addition to the mobile device they already carry everywhere.The App Store is, practically speaking, an infinite source of new games.
I bought Nintendo's Wii U out of impulse and somewhat regretfully so. I haven't powered up the system since the initial update and have yet to buy any games. The last time I felt that way about a console was Playstation's PSP. It was deemed "portable" but I found it bulky when it came to bringing more than a few games plus extra batteries. Fast forward just a few months later, I ended up only bringing a single game, no battery, then eventually only used it as a media device until I purchased Apple's iPhone 3G. Prior to that, I was using both my Palm Treo 650 and PSP. Chargers in tote, it was a lot to bring on my person especially when I would only access the PSP at the hotels or on the plane commuting back and forth.
I have yet to buy a Nintendo 3DS/3DSXL (I wouldn't actually consider the 2DS) only because, when it comes down to it, I don't want to carry anything more than I already do. I've been considering it for a while now but my current lifestyle of being an airline pilot who commutes from San Diego to Atlanta Dallas on a weekly basis is best when paired with minimalism. Two bags; one for lunch the other for clothing. To further establish the fact that I don't need one, 75% of my gaming is on an iOS device. It's on me, it's with me wherever I go, and it's quick and dirty. No power-up loading times or lag. It's instant gratification. I wish only the best for Nintendo and I truly am rooting for them.
Jumping thoughts, when it comes to consoles / dedicated gaming, I don't foresee any regret in the near future with Sony's latest Playstation 4. Heck, I might even get a Vita (not sure on the OLED version vs. the LCD one) if it means I can play remotely and have access to my PS4! Yea, I reserved one and will be there at midnight at the local Best Buy.
Say good bye to sleep.
In the past, GTA games have given you an exciting world to explore but little reason to push through the actual story. GTA V does both, offering a sprawling world coupled with an engaging narrative that keeps you moving. And the fact that I could see events unfold from all three perspectives made it all the more compelling. GTA V fulfills the promise of GTA IV, offering a sophisticated story and fully realized characters in addition to GTA's typical criminal antics. It doesn’t always gel together perfectly, but when it works, GTA V almost makes you want to be the bad guy.
via The Verge
I'm all about flying planes and this looks like it could be fun!
http://youtu.be/hvoD7ehZPcM
The fact that this box alone will do remote play for PS4, that's pretty awesome! Never mind that it can play Playstation Vita games (I don't own any) but I can see it spawning more sales! It's going to give Apple TV a run for its money if it allows streaming from iOS too. Hopefully we'll know more soon. http://youtu.be/rG5l78gbvpU
Oh hey, and if you've been thinking about buying a Playstation Vita, they're getting rid of the OLED screen in favor of LCD. Its also 20% thinner, 15% lighter plus they squeezed out an additional hour of battery life! Among other requests, you can also built in 1 GB memory and a micro USB charger. Maybe I'll be Vita-ing soon.
Where do you draw the line between supporting the iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad Universally in one app or creating two separate apps charging a little less for the "inferior" iPhone / iPod Touch only version? One way to alienate a crowd is to immediately update your universal version of the app for the iPhone 5 in releasing v1.07 but skipping out on the iPhone / iPod Touch "Micro" version. Reviews have already tarnished the ratings of the "micro edition."
So, does the iPhone 5 suggest a different game when it comes to developers wanting to support it? Straight from the developers website, apparently those that chose the "micro edition" are second class citizens.
With the Autumn Solstice fast approaching, there’s lots of big #sworcery news to share: As we’ve been known to do, the iPhone & iPad versions of the game are on sale for limited time. What’s more, the Universal iOS edition has been updated for the new iPhone 5 and is available to download now. The Micro edition update will follow in a few days.
The fact that I wasn't in line nor a first day adopter says a lot about Sony's losing appeal. No, I don't represent the masses, but if you knew me, you'd know I'm usually the first to be in line the night prior. This time around, I've skipped multiple consoles in favor of iOS devices and I'm going to sit back and wait to see how the upcoming months shape the Vita.
It's not perfect, but it can become a must-have machine. It just needs to evolve and take steps in the right direction.
I know that I haven't posted in a while but I might as well start with the randomness that New Year's Eve brought. I spent the day with my fiance having a great breakfast / lunch, took some pictures around the area (Solana Beach, San Diego, CA) and just hung out knowing that we wouldn't be with each other that night. It would be the first time that we were not able to spend the midnight together since we have been with each other. She was working, I happen to be off that night, but it ended up working out just right! I called up a friend and was invited to hang out! It was great...the randomness = new friends, old neighbors, good company, great food and the random bar that apparently was throwing a New Year's Eve Party for a different breed. Needless to say, we were the only Asians around (not that that matters) and we missed the flyer describing the party as a lesbian night out! =) Good times though! We each donated food cans taken out of Jerome and Joyce's pantry used to discount the cover charged, enjoyed the night then went back to their place and play some quiz games on the PS3...and of course, enjoyed more food! Here are some pics! [gallery link="file" columns="2"]
I have quite a few more pictures that I'll be posting here too in the next few days! Stay tuned!
I really got to enjoy driving the machine all over Atlanta with one of my good friends from San Diego, Greg. I finished a trip on Wednesday and I picked him at the airport once I landed from finishing up a four day. At first, we were planning to head out to either Cancun, Belize, or somewhere random, but after deciding that it would be much more economical to just hang out in Atlanta, we did just that.
The following morning, we woke up rather late, but planned to just roam around Atlanta. Had some breakfast, hung out till lunch and just discussed our alternative Atlanta vacation. Nothing really too much besides go out and hit the local bars, eat at different Atlanta restaurants, hit up the sights and that's about it. We ate at Five Guys which proved to have some great tasting hamburgers and fries seasoned with Cajun spices. Definitely a little more on the expensive side of things but if you consider that their patties are almost a 1/4 pound each and that the regular hamburger has two of these, its not that bad. We roamed around a little more until it was time to watch the Atlanta Thrashers play against the New York Islanders (NHL). The game was pretty exciting as both teams scored a lot of points (8 total + one in overtime) and then hit up Buckhead. To make that long story even shorter, we went to one bar where I was going to meet up with a friend but he wasn't there, so after a while we went to Moondogs where we met some random Filipinos who ended up having ties to some of our friends from high school! Small world, but it was cool to see some friends with connections as it always proves that it really is a small world. That was Thursday.
Friday included us waking up late again, hitting up Shane's Ribshack and then hiking up Stone Mountain. That was the highlight there really as we just burnt the time at Barnes and Nobles and driving around even more. Saturday was a chill day trying to eat at the The Flying Biscuit Cafe. We had to go to 2 of them finally reaching the second and still having to wait about 20 minutes in line. Still good times though.
We played a little bit of some Pixel Junk Monsters on PS3 and called it night. Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention that I leveled up a female Blood Elf Paladin to level 3 almost reaching to 4 on World of Warcraft and that's when I threw in the towel.
Now I'm on a 4 day trip just wondering what the heck I'm going to do with my car and everything else in the next few days. Oh the joys.
Well, because of me throwing out my back on the way to my aircraft on Thursday morning, I ended up calling in sick and went to the Urgent Care center to see what's going on. I had acupuncture for the first time and I can't say that I was totally thrilled with it at all. More or less, a proper nights rest with some drugs prescribed from the doctor helped me out. I got some muscle relaxors, pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds. So, since then, I'm back to about 60%, still not all good because I'm starting to feel the pains again since I'm laying off the meds, but its fun playing Call of Duty 4 as much as I have been. I'm about to beat and I think that I'll do tonight. I can't believe that Medal of Honor: Airborne is coming out in a couple of weeks. What a waste of more money on First Person Shooters. I don't think that I have any other types of games besides FPS. I need Final Fantasy XIII to come out already.
I still haven't finished my website changes, but so far I'm feeling content with the way that it has been looking and moving. I'm still wondering how to get Windows Live Writer to publish instantly onto my WordPress blog because it usually makes it so that it becomes a future posting (5 hours later). Anyone have any ideas?
I didn't notice that my other blog "the battle" was still online but now I have sent all redirects to here: www.elijahnicolas.com/wp I think that it might just stay this way for quite a while, maybe a dynamic picture uptop or something, but we'll see. I remember doing that for my Luxembourg blog a while back so making this one will be a little of the same deal. Maybe just random collages or something. Well, today was another day of nothing-ness. Woke up early around 9:00AM and since then I've been catching up on my shows, playing a little more Call of Duty 4 and that's it! Call of Duty has been a lot of fun but I still really wish that we could all play online together. Oh well, hopefully in the next patch or something.
I ate a can of Soup, the one with the red label along with some popcorn for a lunch and for breakfast, I had the usual Eggo Waffles with topped with maple syrup and light butter spread. I also had some blueberry oatmeal that my roommate left me and I was actually kind of impressed. It was quite tastier than the usual brown sugar flavored oatmeal that I have.
I think that I'm going to try to expand a little bit today with the links to my schedule again and go from there. I still don't know if I want all the sidebars and stuff because they really don't contain any useful information.
As the title states..."Hello world!" I'm just starting to really get back into really making my digital life feel like its worth something. I really haven't been satisfied or impressed with anything that I've been doing in the virtual world and decided to take it to another level. I've decided to migrate from Google's Blogger (after 8 years) to Wordpress. I've always been hesitant because it seemed like it required a lot of programming and customization variables. So, because of all the down time I have in hotel rooms during my long 4 day trips, I might as well get on with this and make it something worth while. I'm still going to be keeping up my blogging as much as I can and the links to my schedules, but it'll be a while before 1.0 is out. I'll make this post the first of .01 alpha release. (yes I'm a geek)
I decided to not sleep after my continuous on-duty trip to Jacksonville, North Carolina. For those who don't know what a COD is, it means, that I end up getting usually less than adequate sleep / rest at the away station. For instance, last night, I got about 5 hours total sleep but this is the way the trip is setup. It makes it so that you are on the duty clock the entire time you are on the ground and this makes it legal. So, I left my crashpad at 1900 yesterday, arrived at the airport around 1955, got on my plane and took off around 2053 heading for Jacksonville, North Carolina. We landed at 2222, got to the hotel around 2250 (23 minutes shuttle ride), and I went right to sleep. I woke up at 0500, got dressed, left the hotel at 0600, made it to the airport at 0630, took off at 0658, landed back in Atlanta at 0834, went to ops to fill out some paperwork, got on the shuttle and went home back to the crashpad. I haven't slept since.
In case you are asking what I've been doing since I got home after having a reduced night's sleep, I've been playing Call of Duty4: Modern Warfare on PS3 and rethinking my website!!! I was able to pick it up yesterday and its just been non-stop action. It stinks that in comparison to Warhawk, we can't play multiplayer local online --> 4 of us at home on one PS3 with the rest of the world online. Hopefully there's a patch out soon to enable this because it kicks Halo 3's ass!!!
