For all my bitching and sadness at being in NZ there is one thing that has been an absolute plus.  And that is that I’m back in the geek realm, loving it, homes.

Ok so let’s start.  Remember a while back when I told you about the 3DS?  Well, I hung on to that dream for a good long while then almost gave up on it due to severe lack of funds and mostly depression.  Then my birthday rolled around and what do you know, I love my friends.  One in particular.  Seriously.

The very first thing I noticed about it was that the hinge is not nearly as stiff as the DS which I’m not sure I like much.  But that is the only issue I have with it.  The 3D is seriously cool, alas, I can only do it for about 15minutes before needing to vomit but that’s the price you pay for holding Awesome in your hands.  And you can turn the 3d off.  The one thing I do need to say about the 3DS, however, is wait.  Just wait.  There are sweet fuck all games out for it at the moment and we’re waiting on a whole bunch of firmware updates to just get an internet browser.  I’m a little confused on why they would release the console so early, actually.

Woooohooooo

Yup, I know Kingdom Hearts isn’t A) New or B) in 3D but I’m serious when I say there is nothing good out yet.  This fantastic review of The Sims 3 for 3DS made me laugh, EA have completely dropped the ball on the franchise, it totally cheers me up to see them going down the shitter.  That’s what you get for turning a virtual dollhouse into some half arsed RPG.  Couple that with EA’s refusal to test before releasing anything and you have The Sims 3 for 3DS.

The only 3D game I currently own is Rayman which I’d not heard of but apparently had the best 3D graphics out of the other meagre options.  The game is pretty but it’s basically Spyro with a less attractive main character.

I dunno ay.  I’m all about aesthetics and this guy is wearing red on purple and has no legs.  Or arms.  And I don’t like his face.  I’d prefer Spyro.

In Xbox news, I’ve joined the Portal fandom.  I can’t believe I missed this game when it first came out, I mean, I knew all the memes and basically what the game was about but I’d not played it.  Once I started Portal 2 I didn’t stop till it was done.  It’s a short but sweetly hilarious game in single player and co-op had my brother and I up at all hours finishing it.  The characters and script are nothing short of genius and we finally completed it all last night.  As soon as I get paid, I’m out to buy the 1st one to see what I missed.

This post is going to be a disaster. I am sorry, English Language.

Last night we went out clubbing in central London and I attempted, midway, to do my sneaky run off and go home without anyone trying to stop me routine.  I didn’t get very far when I realised my wallet was missing out of my bag.  With all my cards, ID, Boots reward card and £70 of wages in there.   Spurred on by alcohol, I cried and cried and cried as my friends bravely put the call out to my NZ bank for me to cancel my credit card and then to HSBC to cancel my London card.  The wallet itself was a Nightmare Before Christmas collectable, given to me by my parents.

I was so miserable about this this morning, not to mentioned embarrassed by the crying like a 3 year old drama, hey – it’s been a tough week ok? that I didn’t actually turn my computer on till about 4pm.  Sitting in my Facebook inbox was a message that would have actually got me out of bed happy had I read it earlier.

“So yea i found what seems to be your Purse last night. it still has all the cash in it and cards, I work in soho if you would like to meet up and collect it just send me an email.”

Hurray for Londoners who are awesome.

Balls that I’d already cancelled my cards.

In other news…

I watched the Nintendo press conference at E3 yesterday.  I have to say, their games ranged from Sort of Average to AWESOME and back again.  Very, very excited about the Donkey Kong remake and the new Epic Mickey which looks really odd but fun.  I had planned to get an iphone once I head back to NZ but priorities have changed now.  The Nintendo 3DS is my new reason to live.  SO EXCITED, must have one, must have one NOW.

Oh my god there’s going to be one in purple.

My life is not complete until I have one.

Xbox kinect looks stupid.  Just saying.

Hilariously, the place is situated smack in the centre of the NZ/Australian burbs of Londontown so I saw about 105 people I knew on my first shift.

Pole dancing stuff has been good lately, finally passed an intermediate level and am moving on up.  Getting into the tough stuff now.

Ok, time for an embarrassing confession.  I…bought the latest Pokemon game for DS.  WHAT.  IT’S ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR GAMES EVER.  Admit it, you all have heard of it.  Anyways, I figure that all those people couldn’t be wrong and decided I might as well give it a go.  It has suckered me in.  The best and most shameful part is that it comes with a wee tamagotchi like thingy so you can take your characters out wandering with you.  Amazing!  Even Marcelo looked interested for about 30 seconds.

And of course, Spring is finally on the way.  I know this because my nose is blocked and my eyes are itchy as hell.

OH and ONE MORE THING.  I can see what people have typed into google that brings up this site via some statistics thingy.  I feel sorry for you, person who was looking for “strip clubs in bruges”.  Hahahahaha

It was my first winter Christmas ever this year and it did snow, sort of, for a bit. I worked Christmas Eve and caught the last train out to Nottingham to spend Christmas with Marcelo and his whanau. Unfortunatly I’ve been deathly ill for most of the holidays and spent most my time in bed recovering. I’ve also been working on this site, tidying and updating the back end of it and hopefully making a start on changing the front of it. I hate CSS. And everytime I get frustrated, instead of powering through it like I usually do, I’ve simply been switching over to Dragon Age. Which is awesome. Which I highly recommend. Which Marcelo has been booting me off my own laptop for so he can play.

New Years was a bit of a blow out, we got back to the house after watching the fireworks in Nottingham, fairly early due to Marcelo’s sudden and violent attack of vomitting.

This year is going to be my year for gaming, reading and travelling MORE. The only thing I’m getting sick of is the whole minimum wage living but there’s not much I can do about that at the moment. Live hard or go home. Or live hard before going home.

Which brings me to This Morning when my flatmate woke us up to tell us their bedroom had water dripping from the ceiling.  Our shower upstairs is sort of really badly designed, the British Way, I like to think of it.  It’s one of those bathtub/shower fandangos, with this tiny clip glued on to the wall, to hold the shower head.  Tiny clip sags sadly when the shower is turned on, causing the nozzle to face directly at the wall.  I usually wrangle it so it was on a diagonal which means I get half the spray on me and the rest on the wall.  Right next to the tub is the sink.  There is a tiny triangle of space between bath and sink, where I think all the water from the shower is going.  I choose to say NOTHING in case the landlord blames us for taking a shower wrong.

The landlord answered my desperate phone call for a plumber with, “I’m working Clinic duty.  I am busy.  Find a plumber, get a quote”.  That’s ok then, you check out your sniffly noses and sore throats while I rack up a couple of thousand pounds in damage to your apartment.

In other news, I’ve taken to going to the gym and doing yoga dvds at home out of boredom.  The Sims 3 blows goats, I am just…. the anger…. Do Not Get Me Started About This.   A friend of ours has Guitar Hero World Tour and Rockband at his place and invited me over once.  Poor guy.  I have now been sending encouraging texts about inviting me over again so I can satisfy my damn 2 year desperation to play the freaking drums.

I also went to extreme lengths to replace my Nintendo who I loved and miss immensely. Apparently colbolt blue was a limited edition colour.  I think I bought the last one in EXISTANCE.  On Ebay, which I am always sceptical about so am counting days until it gets here.

Forbes has reported Spore to be the most pirated game ever, thanks to its aggressive and obnoxious security measures. As a member of Sims 2 communities, I know for a fact EA refuses to listen to its community, but it seems they can no longer ignore these numbers. Other torrent articles have reported the same thing.

Which leaves EA finally attempting to make amends by loosening its grip. They gave a short interview with MTV, in which they state “EA has no intentions, nor will they ever, to make it easier for people to play a pirated game than to play an authentic retail copy.”

They also say they will release a patch that will allow you to install the game more than 3 times, as well as added bollox that “SecuRom is not spyware”. That is a matter of opinion, I’m thinking.

It’s a small step forward, but perhaps it’s too late. I’m fairly sure that people would not have bothered learning to pirate if EA hadn’t of forced them too. Once you’ve learnt how to get something for free, why go back? Of course, if EA continues to eat their words and remove the offensive DRM, I will pay for games once again. I still want to support Maxis.

MTV Article in which EA finally speak out.

Spore has come out with a new friend however. The same friend that was the cause of me vowing to never legally acquire anything from EA ever again.

Hello to SecuRom, the same shit infested security software that has plagued the last few Sims 2 Expansions. Despite the community blowing up on the official forums, blowing up on every other forum, vowing to never buy Sims 2 again, coming to our forums to ask for help with how to pirate the games, EA has ignored it all. In fact, in the beginning, Simmers were getting banned left, right and centre for even talking about it.

Here’s the kicker. Their anti-pirating software is the reason everyone is pirating.

Spore’s version of SecuRom means you have to activate the game online before you can play. You also HAVE TO install the dreaded “EA Downloader” to get the official patches for the game. How many times have I seen “Sorry, we know the downloader isn’t working. We’re fixing it now” on Sims2 forums? Too many, I forget.

The worst bit, you can only install Spore 3 times. Hilarious, considering the answer to glitches and problems with the game is usually… reinstall it. Also, EA seem to think that you’re only ever going to own 1 – 2 computers in your life.

But it’s a good thing! Says Maxis. It means you don’t have to play the game with the CD in!

Oh wait, I know why. Because when I had SecuRom on my last PC, it wouldn’t read my legally bought disc anyways. I had to pirate a game I’d already bought just to PLAY IT.

Now the DRM isn’t only being complained about by Simmers.? It seems the rest of the internet has jumped in.? I hope EA are kicking themselves.? Reviewers on Amazon are bombing it as well.

So yea, I’ll do the right thing. I’m going to download a torrent. I wanted to buy it. I did. I would of, same as I would of brought every single Sims 2 expansion. I think Will Wright is the shizzle. Maybe I’ll write to Maxis and ask if I can send a donation in just to say thanks for making the game, but sorry, I have to pirate it to avoid EAs punishment for being a paying customer.

Since moving to London, I have become one of the faces in the crowd of public transport commuters. It takes 40 minutes of having my face smooshed against the doors to get to work. This morning I actually got my arm and handbag stuck IN the doors and some kindly man had to wrench the train doors open to get me out.

I have an iPod and I read those freaking awful gossip tabloids they give out for free. “They’ll rot your brain”, Marcelo warned me.

Then I saw it. A man playing a Nintendo DS whilst on the tube. My latest obsession was born.

I didn’t stop talking about it the whole way round Romania. “See, if I had a DS, this 6 hour train journey wouldn’t be so shit”. “If I had a DS, this bus ride wouldn’t be so shit”. “I really think I should get a DS”. “How much do you think a DS is?” Marcelo is the most patient man alive.

When I got back to London, I faced a dilemma. DS or PSP? “DS. I have one, it’s awesome, you should get Animal Crossing”. Yay for gamers in my workplace. “It’ll consume your life”, he added.

My newest digital family member fits nicely into my handbag and comes with me everywhere.
Funnily enough, it isn’t Animal Crossing that has consumed my life. Last night I went to bed thinking about the next case in Phoenix Wright. World Ends With You is freaking awesome, I’ve really been enjoying it. Controlling 2 separate characters on 2 screens at the same time is such a great challenge.

I’ve brought the Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories GBA game, because I am a girl and I follow the stories ok, so shoot me. I did order Trauma Centre that was recommended by a friend from Ctrl-Alt-Del but the seller on Amazon seems to have died or stolen my cash or something.

(No, I haven’t brought Sims 2. Yes, I have thought about it.)