Edward's December 2011 Mix

1. Napoleon: Total War:

Playing on Easy setting this is still one of the most difficult strategy games I’ve ever played. And when I see some of the Steam achievements available I’m like, how in the hell?? Some of them seem utterly impossible. I’m about midway through the game now, on my first campaign to conquer the whole of Europe. Brutally difficult, but maddeningly addictive in one of those all too familiar “just one more turn” kinda ways, and then suddenly 3 hours have flown.

 

2. Warcraft III:

It’s kind of embarrassing that I never played this when it first came out. In a way though, I’m glad. This is the WoW world right before vanilla WoW came into being, only viewed from a near top down off the shoulder view. And it’s nice to go back and see how the storyline evolved into 2005’s mammoth game that took over the world. This, however, is a strategy game. There are no difficulty sliders, but it’s a very doable game. Suprisingly, the graphics still look pretty dang sharp despite its 2003 release. I finished the human campaign and am now playing the second campaign, the undead. So far so good. 

3. South of Broad by Pat Conroy: 

I still occasionally pull a Pat Conroy book from my shelves and read paragraph long passages out of it. Prince of Tides was absolutely magnetic, and probably inspired my own writing in more ways than I can tell. This story concerns a boy dealing with the suicide of his brother who was a few years older, and sort of a local sports hero. “My brother was so handsome that I could sense my mother’s disappointment every time she looked at me.” This novel is filled with such gem sentences that I find myself stopping to read over and again. 

4. Star Trek: The Next Generation DVD: Season Two: 

I was so much more a fan of the original Star Trek. ST:TNG’s first season didn’t impress me too much. But in watching the second season, something has changed. I’ve gotten to meet The Borg, and Q has made an impromptu appearance. Is there anybody with a bigger ego in the universe? And characters I didn’t particularly care for in the first season, I’m starting to really become attached to in this season. Yes, I even have an attraction to Whoopie Goldberg’s “Guinan.” 

5. PC Gamer 1998 issues: 

I’ve been reading through my old issues of PC Gamer again. 1998 was when games were starting to get really good again after the late 80’s foray from EGA graphics to VGA. From 1994 to 1997 we had to endure such atrocities as “full motion video” and games that cost $60.00.  But 1998 saw StarCraft and Half Life come to fruition. It was a great time to be a gamer. 

6. Manny’s Search by Edward C. Burton: 

I’ve had two phone calls with editors from Amazon’s CreateSpace now. I’m taking out all of the typesetter marks I put into the novel and simply doing my own italics and special marks. I have a few friends working on a cover design. It’s all shaping up well. Hopefully by the end of the month or early next month Manny’s Search will finally be in print.

7. Torchlight: 

I almost dismissed this as a casual game when this game first came out, and now I’m glad I didn’t. It’s basically a Diablo steal with bolder and more campy graphics. And what other RPG lets you send your pet back to town fully loaded with your extra inventory loot to sell to vendors. The game could probably use a mechanic which gives a better sense of direction, but it’s a crazy click-fest. Highly recommended for fun factor alone.

Edward's November 2011 Mix

1. Dirt 2: 

I first became acquainted with Codemasters through their Toca racing games. These were decent racing games in which you controlled a single character who worked his way up through ranks in different racing venues, everything from go-karts to F1 cars. There was a cheesy story told in cut scenes between the races and the games were advertised as “CarPGs.” Heh. Then along came Grid and Codemasters dropped the cheese factor altogether. Grid was da bomb! It took me over 100 hours to bring home the Grand Champion Trophy. And I’m feeling that same old enthusiasm in Dirt 2. The graphics are jaw dropping, and despite using an Xbox controller, the rally and dirt track cars don’t feel arcadish at all. Been playing this game for about 3 months and I’m only halfway through. I’m thinking it’s going to be just as fun rolling through the remaining 50%.

2. Icewind Dale: 

I’m still trudging . . er, uh . .hacking? along in Icewind Dale. My characters are all level 5’s and 6’s now. And there seems to be a little less dying/reload, dying/reload action going on. Game is starting to be intensely fun now. Just hit Chapter 2 (of 6.) Slowest moving game I’ve played in a while, but I think the end result is going to be worth it.

3. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson:

 Still reading this fantastic story written in 1957 by a man who Stephen King admits was the man who inspired him most to be a horror writer. The Omega Man and I Am Legend with Will Smith come off as second grade school filmstrips (was there anything more boring?) compared to reading this book. There’s a scene in the book where the main character finds a dog, a skinny, mangy, mongrel who has managed to avoid the vampires by hiding under a house during the night. When the man finds this dog he falls to his knees and bawls because it’s the happiest day of his life, being that he found something else akin to him: something alive. Matheson captures this whole environment as dismally beautiful as Carmack McCarthy did in his epic The Road.

4. The Walking Dead – 1^st Season on DVD: 

This is what I believe to be the best writing on television since 2005’s Battlestar Galactica. The main character, Rick Grimes, after awakening from a coma enters a melodramatic chaotic world in which he seems to be the only man alive. Everybody else has become a flesh eating zombie. The scene in which the man sits in the upstairs room and holds a sniper rifle aimed at his wife who is now one of the zombies, and he simply cannot pull the trigger will go down as one of the most dramatic scenes I’ve ever watched on television. I hate television. But I’m really enjoying this.

5. Seinfield Season 4 on DVD:

Season 4 is where the show became a runaway hit according to its creators speaking in interviews included in this series. I’m halfway into the season, and I can see it happening. There was even an episode (2 parter) where NBC executives approach Jerry Seinfeld about making a show, how odd. But it works!

6. Rushmore Soundtrack on CD:

 I’m a fan of Wes Anderson films. His comedy is definitely eclectic, but not in that Woody Allen way in which I fail to see the humor because I don’t think I’m intelligent enough, but in an oddly charming way that anybody who was a kid in the 1970’s can see. And of the Wes Anderson films I must admit Rushmore is my favorite. If you’re a fan of the movie, you’ll love this CD packed with all the wonderful 70’s music from the film. Cat Stevens’ “Here Comes My Baby” is my personal favorite.

7. Putnam Country Through the Lens: 

I’m heading a community project in which through an application process, 8 participants were selected and given simple Point & Shoot digital cameras. They have 4 weeks to go out and capture shots of their daily lives in our county. Ultimately, their work will be displayed in an exhibit in our local Putnam County Museum. The 8 selectees have been selected, and the cameras have been distributed. Having to narrow the 8 out of 50, and then let the remaining 42 down was the real bear. I hate breaking hearts.

7. PC Gamer Magazine 1997:

I’m reading through my old issues, a year at a time. I’m immersed in 1997 now, and it’s like opening up a time capsule. So much of my personal history can be followed in PC gaming magazines. I guess I really am a geek. 1997 was a good year, Interstate ’76 came out, as did Bungie’s awesome Myth which was the first RTS that enabled you to zoom in with a mouse and change your viewpoint. So, am I geek because I played these games or because I STILL have these magazines?  :P

Edward's October 2011 Mix

1. The Exies Head for the Door on CD:
These guys rawk! Sic a liontamer on Stabbing Westward and throw in a small pinch of Live, and you have these guys. Listen to "Ugly" and "Baptize Me," and you'll feel it too.

2. Napoleon: Total War:
I really tried to get into Empire: Total War, but the game was just too damn hard. It was no fun leaving the loved ones home to go out and battle, and to return home to find your citizenry had revolted and lost your fair city to the enemy territory! This isn't nearly an issue in Napoleon, and like in all Total War warfare the battles are simply gorgeous to behold. I'm playing on Easy and to be honest, I can't imagine playing this on anything but Easy.

3. Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault:
From the first mission where I was driving a PT boat like a bat out of hell through a maze of broken and firebombed battleships on December 7, 1941 as the Japanese were attacking, I was filled with regret for having let this game float under my radar back in 2004 when it was released. This game is a tour de force of Spielbergian production values.

4. Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage:
 Completed another trip to post apocalyptic Washington D.C. to hang out with the Broken Steel gang. This was actually a game within a game. The whole duration you are strapped, er . .uh . .jacked into rather, a dentist type chair military simulator. And just when you reach down to collect that uber looking sniper rifle the enemy drops, he disappears like Star Trek bridge crew utilizing the transporter room. This was a fun quick romp DLC addition that took me about 5 hours to beat, and guess what? 111 hours into the game now, and I have still only uncovered one fourth of the map. I'll probably uncover the whole map about the time I get checked in all comfy cozy in a nursing home.

5. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson:
This guy has won a Santa toybag full of awards from his writing and inspired Dean Koontz and Stephen King to become writers. This story must hold the record for screenplays written from it, the original I Am Legend with (the legendary) Vincent Price, The Omega Man with Charlton Heston, and the flashy remake, I am Legend with Will Smith.

6. Seinfeld Season 4 on DVD:
I blew through the first three seasons of this remarkably funny sitcom. Season 4 is where the show began to develop a real following, there were some emmy awards won, and Seinfeld and crew knew at this point they were onto something big.

7. Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
 Yes, it's true, I'd never seen it until a week ago. I hated it. Downright abhored it. Please don't get me wrong, I LOVE Terry Gilliam's works, but we all had to cut our teeth somewhere, right? This was like watching a high school play done with last minute understudies. For a TG fix, I recommend Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, (one of my favorite movies) or 12 Monkeys. I do not recommend this.

8. Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein:
Just started this a few days ago and I'm well into it. It's wonderful to make a return to Heinlein's vintage stories. This is the stuff to make lonely farmboys reading in haylofts and under shade trees want to become astronauts and explorers. This story concerns a boy with no memory on an Earthlike planet, sold as a slave to a local town beggar who ends up being much more than meets the eye. I can almost hear cliffhanger dirges at the end of each chapter.

Edward's September 2011 Mix Part 2

1. Age of Conan:

My cousin and I started talking about this game when it went f2p (free to play) and both of us ended up downloading it. A closer look by him convinced him downloading it was a mistake and he uninstalled it. I, on the other hand, began a resubscription, and though it's no WoW, I like it's sparsely populated servers, and I really did the folklore and environment based on 70 years of Robert Howard literature. And what other MMO would allow me to name my character "Edward?"



2. Icewind Dale:

Black Isle Studios (Bioware) is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to RPGs. I'm not ready to tackle their epic 100 hour plus Baldur's Gate yet, but I thought I'd scope out their more hack n' slash centric, Icewind Dale. It runs sweet on my laptop, and so far, despite its year 2000 roots, I'm coming along smoothly. It definitely has the old D&D tabletop flavor I remember playing with my navy buddies back in the 1800's. Good stuff.



3. The March by E.L. Doctorow:

In 1864 Union General William Tecumseh Sherman marched across Georgia and the Carolinas and pillaged them to break the fighting spirit of the south. This is a speculative work of fiction as seen through the eyes of freed slaves, disheartened southerners, Johnny Reb soldiers and Billy Yank soldiers. This book will anger you and sadden you.



4. Company of Heroes:

Probably my favorite RTS of all time. I have fun in this game even when I lose. I’m beginning to consistently beat the AI on Normal mode now, but just when I think I’m a bit cocky, one online spanking puts me in my place really fast. PC Gamer’s Game of the Year in 2006, this game has had residence on my hard drive since. It’s truly a desert Island game for me.



5. Seinfield Season 3 on DVD:
Comedy on television in this country is not pretty. There is nothing funny about sitcoms that rely solely on sexual innuendo and laugh tracks that hold our hands and tell us when to laugh. Seinfeld, however, is what I’ve found to be a wonderful exception. It’s turned me into a total hypocrite.



6. Manny’s Search by Edward C. Burton:
A shameless plug for my very own novel manuscript. Yessir, guilty as charged. Nah, not really. I’m actually involved in making the final edits this month for preparations for the trip around the agent circuit. A stowaway from the Far East hides aboard a US Navy warship to find his father in Australia. This is the brainchild inspired from my own days as a young salty sea dog in the US Navy. If I can’t get any takers I’m considering going the Amazon route. More details upcoming.