I got a new watch! It is made of shiny and awesome:
WRC Wales Rally GB 12/11/2011 – Hafren
Here’s a few photos of SS12/15 (Hafren) from the 2011 WRC Wales Rally GB, at which much fun was had:
Cupcake Time!
For Hallowe’en, I made a bunch of Mud ‘n’ Blood cupcakes for a Scarefest film festival at our house. I think we’ve just about finished eating them all, so thought I’d post a few pictures and the recipe. Boom.
Sinister Reviews #06: Triple Town
#06: Triple Town (Facebook)
Genre: Casual, Strategy
Platform: Facebook (version tested), Google+, Kindle
Release Date: October 2011
Platform: Facebook (version tested), Google+, Kindle
Release Date: October 2011
Developer: Spry Fox
Publisher: Spry Fox
There was meant to be a full-blown review of Disney’s Epic Mickey on the Wii this week, but then Triple Town happened. So, rather than postponing my usual update, I thought I’d do a mini-review of what’s become by far the best game I’ve played on a social networking site so far. Boom.
Smashing Pumpkins
Last night’s Diamond Cottage Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest was smashing, and there were some gloriously-carved pumpkins. Here’s a few of my photos. Yay!
Sinister Reviews #05: Super Paper Mario
#05: Super Paper Mario (Nintendo Wii)
Genre: Platformer, RPG
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Release Date: September 2007
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Release Date: September 2007
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
Super Paper Mario was one of the first games I purchased for my Wii back in early 2008. Having never played any release from the Paper Mario franchise (which at present includes the self-titled N64 release, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door on the GameCube and a forthcoming adventure on 3DS) but having been an avid onlooker from the confines of my Mario-free PlayStation 2, I jumped at the chance to join in with the Plumber’s current-gen incarnation. Where the previous two releases were more straightforward Mushroom Kingdom RPGs with comedic overtones, Super Paper Mario takes the ‘Super’ from Super Mario Bros. and transplants RPG elements onto the traditional 2-D platformer; melding some nifty side-scrolling action across eight, stylised worlds. The relatively servicable storyline sees Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser joining forces (and all becoming playable) to defeat a new antagonist and save the worlds of both dark and light. All too often, games relying to heavily on mash-ups of contrasting genres fall flat or become a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none: Super Paper Mario manages to juggle genres with aplomb, and ignoring a few mere fumbles, manages to keep things in the air until the curtains close.
Sinister Reviews #04: The Legend of Zelda – Spirit Tracks
#04: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo DS)
Genre: Action RPG, Adventure
Platform: Nintendo DS
Release Date: December 2009
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks follows on from the previous Zelda/DS incarnation, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, which I’ll happily go on record saying is easily the DS’ finest hour and one of the most inventive Zelda games in the history of the series. In between the awesomeness, however, nestled many flaws that plagued the experience: The endless sailing required to travel from place to place, the short lifespan of the main adventure, the repetitive trawls through the Temple of the Ocean King after every couple of hours’ gameplay, the lack of substantial sidequests; it was certainly a Zelda quest full of character and charm, but in terms of substance, it was unfortunately left wanting. Two years wiser, Nintendo stepped back from their palace of gold to take a good look at the series and propose a Zelda adventure that doesn’t just retread old glories (like Twilight Princess did with Ocarina of Time; and Phantom Hourglass continued from Wind Waker) but instead proposes its own quirks and oddities. Sure, Zelda gets kidnapped as per usual and Hyrule is once again in peril of succumbing to evil forces, but not in usual way; yes, you’ve got the same old boomerang and the same old sword ‘n’ shield, but with some completely original weapons that make great use of the DS’ innovative controls; and while the traditional Zelda dungeon mechanic is retrodden, the new features it weaves into it balance ‘familiarity’ and ‘originality’ with ease. So, Nintendo have gone against all tradition and listened to player’s criticisms and troubles by attempting to ‘fix’ what many felt Phantom Hourglass lacked, while honing those features that it excelled at, right? Well, with a couple of exceptions, yes. Continue reading
The Blizzard of Flames
I guess it’s been a while since my last non-review post, so let’s get to it. What’s been occurring? Well, this and that.
Sinister Reviews #03: Fable II
#03: Fable II (Xbox 360)
Genre: Action RPG, Adventure
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: October 2008
It’s hard to review Fable II without first talking about Peter Molyneux and since it’s a lot easier to get the whole thing done with now, let’s get down to it: Creative Director of Lionhead Studios (and before that, Bullfrog Productions), Molyneux’s overseen some of the most seminal videogames of the past two decades; from Black and White and Dungeon Keeper to Populous and Theme Park. Fantastic though his output is, he’s attained a reputation in the industry for being happy to talk to journalists early in a game’s gestation period and promising a huge bunch of “cool shit” to appear in the final product (note: Not actual Peter Molyneux quote). Understandably, the time and budget constraints of developing a current-gen videogame mean that a lot of good ideas end up getting dropped, or scaled-down upon release; leading to inevitable disappointment from fans and a product that doesn’t live up to the whirlwind of hype. With each new release, the promise of (r)evolution detailed by Lionhead’s pre-release statements gets larger and larger, offering a mind-blowing combination of Choices, Options and Potential. There’s nothing wrong with ambition, but too often, trying to be a jack of all trades with a vast array of game modes, minigames, side-quests tends to disengage from the main game itself and that sums up Fable II: A darned solid game, but nowhere near what it’s trying to be.
Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone 11/09/2011
A few shots from yesterday’s ILMC/LMS race at Silverstone:
Sinister Resistance 