End of the Year

So yeah, didn't really get started with those games. Got sidetracked with a lot of other real life things, like work, business, etc. etc. Still, I managed to finish up all five episodes of the Walking Dead adventure game by Telltale Games. Its a great game with fantastic storytelling and a gripping atmosphere. As far as games go, its more than we can ask for these days. What else... started playing Pay Day: The Heist recently. Another awesome 4-player co-op game about robbers and heists. Good plain fun with lots of shooting and action. Had a go with ZombiU too, it was really good as well. Makes me want to get one but a single game doesn't warrant an impulse buy like that.

Board game wise, my friend got two new board games; Legendary, a Marvel themed co-op deck building game, and a DC comics deck building game. My thoughts; the DC one is good, it is fast paced and there's lots of interactions with other players. I felt it was kinda luck-based though. Marvel wasn't so great with me, too many cards for simple mechanics that didn't seem very fun to me. Granted I only played Marvel once, and I only played both games with two players but so far that's what I feel about these two.

On the Magic front, wow, added tons of new cards to the Cube Draft from Return to Ravnica, as well as some staples that other people use in their cubes. I've kept the power level down a notch (no Black Lotus or Power Nine for example) so that it doesn't feel too elitist for new players. That being said, I'm finding it difficult to find friends who play Magic AND want to draft the Cube...

Business-wise, the shop / website / retail business idea has come to a standstill, no thanks to our daily jobs as well as a lack of commitment, time and effort on our parts. The Property Renovation and Investment business is also kinda slow. We haven't checked out any new houses recently and the houses that we were interested in was too expensive for us. Hopefully we can start a project soon so we can see if this is worth investing time into.

Still, the board game creating and publishing business idea is still in progress; Project Momentum has been halted for a bit while we focus on Project Space, a sci-fi strategy card game. We've worked on the prototype for two races or capital ships now, the Terran Battle Destroyer and the Nixian Armada Carrier. Still working out the kinks in the gameplay (especially space fighter combat) and the card designs, hopefully we can get a finished prototype for these two decks out soon.

My wife and I have also invested in our second property, a RM800k apartment at Ara Damansara. Its quite expensive but I think that area is going to be big in the next couple of years. Besides, I wouldn't mind staying there for a while once the LRT is up and running.

That's it for now I think, till next time.

Three Down, Two to go

Finished Bulletstorm and on to Splinter Cell Conviction. Still have Bioshock, Darksiders 2, The Darkness 2, Just Cause 2 and The Force Unleashed 2 to finish up.

Long days ahead...

EDIT: Alright Splinter Cell was really short, finished it in 2 days. Nice gripping story, always liked the Tom Clancy-conspiracy-army-spy thriller storylines.

On to Bioshock then...

Just to add some background to some of these older games, I had already gotten them but thanks to my old OS that couldn't be updated, my direct X couldn't be updated which screwed up with the graphics for most of these games.

Now that I can finish them, I will.

EDIT: Force Unleashed 2 is done with. It has a decent story with an OK gameplay. Nothing too special really.

My Bioshock CD seems to be corrupted; can't install off it. Which means I'd probably give that game a skip, unless it starts working soon somehow. Next up is Just Cause 2, but I don't feel like playing that game just yet. Maybe will take a breather for now.

I have also revamped the completed games section; you can see the list by year in the Labels section.

Mission Complete

I've managed to finish 2 out of the 3 games I started; The Saboteur and Darksiders. I'm getting started on Square Enix's Sleeping Dogs and it looks like a long game so that will take me a while.

The Saboteur was alright I suppose to kill time but the story wasn't that compelling and the gameplay was the same old, same old after a while. The art style was kinda interesting though, and the boobs everywhere....

Darksiders was much more fun. It reminded me a lot of Kingdom of Amalur (another long game I have yet to finish) in art style and graphics and of Zelda in terms of gameplay. Story was enjoyable and epic, though not unexpected. Looking forward to playing the sequel soon.

The first hour of Sleeping Dogs seems alright though I'm already seeing a pattern of repetitiveness. The hand-to-hand fights are just like the Batman: Arkham series; right click to counter, left click to smack face. There's the GTA element of driving around the city. The camera controls suck ass for some reason, especially when you're trying to reverse. It tracks your facing properly when you drive straight though so it is bearable. So far the missions have all involved beating up people or driving cars off the road... I hope the next few hours hold some different missions in store or I'll be getting seriously bored.

EDIT: So I'm done with Sleeping Dogs. The game is seriously too easy, unless you're trying to get the best rank for all missions. Its hard to not roll over people on the sidewalks, let alone knock down a damn lamp post. The story isn't too bad, typical triad / undercover gangster cop inspired by the likes of  Infernal Affairs and Young & Dangerous. All-in-all, a fun but mediocre game.

Looking to try out The Darkness 2 and Darksiders 2 when I can. For older games, I still have Splinter Cell: Conviction, Just Cause 2, Star Wars: Force Unleashed, Bioshock and Bulletstorm. Probably will settle with finishing one of these first before I pick up the rest.

Hari Raya Boardgame Binge

What a binge. Played almost non-stop boardgames over the Hari Raya holidays. Started off on Friday with two friends of ours, playing Ghost Stories with Janice. Finally managed to win one game that night. Janice retired to bed, and we rounded up the night with 2 rounds of Nightfall

Saturday, we played with my old college friend and her friends. After a nice chicken rice lunch we squeezed in a game of 7 Wonders and Dix It to warm up, followed by 2-3 rounds of Ghost Stories (I sat this one out) and a final few rounds of Boomtown to wrap up by evening.

Sunday we took a break in the afternoon to shop @ 1Utama, though not very successfully. My ramen at Isetan was closed, and nothing looked interesting to buy so we called it an afternoon by 3. Instead, we went to Tropicana City Mall to catch the Expendables 2; leave your brain at the door and just enjoy the ride lol. After, we caught sushi at Sushi Tei and I ended up playing MTG Winston drafts with my friend till 10 or so, then we caught up with another bunch of friends for drinks.

Monday was another shopping day, this time at Gardens, Midvalley. We did buy some stuff this time, got a haircut too. By the time we got home, we decided to go to the Burger Lab for dinner but it was closed (as expected with my luck these few days). We ended up at Silver Spoon @ Publika for some good Italian food. Was supposed to go to Meeples that night to check out some board games but yup, closed too.

Tuesday was another round of all-in boardgame fun with my regular bunch; highschool mates of mine. Lunch at Food Foundry, then off to my house for more board games. We started off with 7 Wonders; I did dismally scoring a 47 versus the winner's 76. Next was Nightfall where I got my face smashed in, then a quick round of Monopoly Deal where again I was made a pauper with no money or properties in my name.Things turned around for me with Conquest of Planet Earth where I sneaked in a victory with my intelligent space-faring aliens that look like prawns. Last game of the day was Thunderstone where my combination of deck thinning and recurring drawing won the day for me.

On the games front, Darksiders 2 is out but I'm going to start with Darksiders 1 first to get the backstory. I started on The Saboteur, a 2009 sandbox game like GTA where you blow up Nazis and see lots of boobs in Paris. Another game I downloaded just last night is Sleeping Dogs, another sandbox game about a Chinese undercover cop trying to take down the triads (like Infernal Affairs I suppose).

All-in-all, a crazy holiday for me, and a busy few weeks with these 3 new games. Later.

Property, Stocks and Games

What I've been up to in the last 2 weeks:

1. Binge Eating / Drinking with my Aussie Bud
Like I mentioned in my previous post, my good friend from the good ol' days came back to Msia for a week to sort out her wedding stuff. Since her husband-to-be wasn't around, we ended up eating loads of good stuff and drinking lots of bad stuff (he's allergic to alcohol) throughout the week.

For food we ate at Dave's Deli (foot long sausages omg too sexy...), Sanuki Udon (great udon place!), Yu Ai (great curry seafood noodles) and Mango Loh (nth special). Drinks were had at a friend's and her house, we were pretty much wasted after drinking for many, many hours haha. Fun times... going to miss hanging out with my bud :(

2. Finishing up Some Games
I've just updated my finished games list for 2012; can't believe I haven't updated it since July last year. I must have missed out a few titles but I can't be arsed to think to deeply about it.

Anyway, I'll talk a bit about the few of the recent games I've played. I completed one run-through of Deus Ex: Human Revolution by Square Enix, which I borrowed from a friend. Its a nice game, gameplay is reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid only with more gadgets and no boxes to hide in. Story-line is nice but I think it could be more engaging... I didn't feel caught up in the conspiracy theories they were trying to spin. Maybe because Adam Jensen is so emotionless about everything. Good game nonetheless.

The Walking Dead by Telltale Games. This was a hit with me right when I found out it was an adventure game with focus on plot and character development more than killing zombies. The Walking Dead series were always more on that anyway and Telltale really clinched the delivery of that with this game. Its super easy to play, but that's not why you play it; the story and making the hard choices makes this game worth playing. A lot like Heavy Rain, without the convoluted and confusing plots.

Last on the list is Asura's Wrath. I thought I wouldn't like this game because of the mindless action and quick-time events, but somehow its grown on me. Its like watching a stylish anime and I love those that have a bit of attitude (kinda like Samurai Champaloo). Over the top and cool action scenes, great cinematics and amazing sounds makes for an enjoyable week of gaming.

3.Investing in Property and Stocks
Trying my hand at growing my money, so I've invested in some stocks recently. I've picked up 3 stocks for now; Mah Sing and Dijaya (property developers) and Genting (gaming and plantations play). Mah Sing is Malaysia's 2nd best property developer and has been seeing some nice appreciation thanks to SP Setia falling out of favor in the market slightly. I picked up Dijaya because I think it's pretty underrated at the moment and there is potential for it to develop the RRIM area. Lastly, Genting saw a 2 dollar dip thanks to expected lower quarter earnings; I feel this is short-term and prices will rebound (maybe higher even) once some positive news comes out. The dividends aren't too bad either.

Property-wise, we went to the Setia Eco Glades ballot yesterday. Prospects for that property is amazing; great capital appreciation potential, minimal capital outlay at 95% margin of financing and no stamp / legal fees. Too bad we didn't manage to get it, our chances seemed high as well. Based on my colleague's calculations, we stood a 54% chance of getting one of our ballots selected :(

That's all for now, till next time.

Welcome home homie!!!

Bff from Australia flies in today, to settle some of her stuff for her marriage next year. Last chance to hang out before she gets hitched so we're going to get properly wasted and eat like gluttons and what not. Time for some good times!!

Been playing Dungeon Defenders with Janice lately. Its been long enough for the both of us that we don't feel bored of that game so we're starting all over with a new character. Hopefully then we can finish the old challenges that needed other character classes to finish. Is great to be playing games with Janice, too bad there aren't a lot that she's willing to play.

I'm struggling to find a game to play now days. There's a slew of games that I will definitely play, too bad they are all coming out a few months to a year later. Till then, I'll be staving off my gaming needs with Dota 2. Max Payne multiplayer is getting kinda dry and Diablo 3 definitely has gone off my list of games to play.

On the cooking front, I made some Asian-ised Seafood Paella with Bomba rice and a sofrito base with prawns and clams. It turned out OK I suppose, tasted alright though I'm sure I did something wrong somewhere. For the sofrito base, I used canned tomato puree and cooked it with chopped onions, garlic and rosemary herbs with a dash of nutmeg powder (substitute for paprika? I think not). Loads of vegetables went in; peppers, shitake mushrooms and loads of onions. The prawns and clams were cooked separately, stir fried and boiled respectively, before being stirred into the rice. The rice was boiled in chicken stock and left to cook and voila! Paella rice.

Further down the road...

The competitive fever I had for Magic these past few months has kinda died down for me, partly because I have been reminded (again) how it can be a real drag playing here with unsporting opponents and a community who cares about themselves and their cliques, rather than newcomers. I'll just stick to playing casual drafts with the cube or repacks from now on.

Love the new Christina Perri song feat. Jason Mraz, Distance. Her songs are always so hauntingly harmonious and, coupled with Jason Mraz's easy listen voice / songs, this duet is pretty good.

I've finished Max Payne 3 of late, now replaying it on harder difficulties and multiplayer. Its a decent game, I always liked the Max Payne dark storylines and noir setting. MP3 is a departure from noir but it puts a fresh spin on the franchise so I'm not complaining. Besides upgraded graphics and a brighter setting, the game is similar to the previous two, lots of action, bullet-time and blood.

Janice and I planned a 'makan-makan KL' trip together last Sunday. It promised to be really good, lots of touring the part of KL we never go to while tasting some great food in almost exotic locations. Instead, what we got was lots of walking, closed shops and traffic jams (of both vehicles and people). Who closes a food shop on a freaking Sunday anyway?

After lots of walking, we decided to move on to Bangsar to explore the food at Lorong Ara Kiri. We had Char Kuey Teow (not so good), Pork Ball Noodles (even worse), Tom Yam Seafood Noodles (so so) and Sarawak Laksa (very nice - but not as nice as my friend's mom's laksa). Rounded it off with a pricey Caramel Latte at a small outlet. We're going to try again the week after next, maybe go to Malacca this time around since my good buddy will be back to settle her wedding.

Good times to look forward to.

"Making Customisation Affordable"

This would be a great vision for a company, I think. Simple, catchy and direct. The company can be involved in all sorts of customisation activities, like raw materials for customisations (e.g. paints, glues), customisation designs (e.g. art, decals) and so on. Wish I could build a business like this someday.

Think about... Socks

When you turn a sock inside out before keeping it in your drawers, you are actually using energy from the future now.

Back to Magic

I've stopped playing sf4 competitively, and am now back to playing magic competitively. I was on the fence about whether I should play again, especially since Malaysia isn't that great to play it... the players here generally keep to themselves and gravitate in their own cliques. Still, it's nice to be playing the game again. Casual drafters in my group have ditched magic for Diablo 3 so I suppose there's no where else for me to play limited magic except in shops, and the odd limited GPT and PTQ events.

On that note, for my first outing back into competitive magic, I did quite well for myself; I got 1st place at Grand Prix Trial Shanghai last Sat!Though I played horribly, somehow I managed to win out to get 3 byes in the Shanghai GP, will be going there on July 28 - 29 with Janice. Maybe I can top 4 and get on the gravy train? Who knows...

Diablo 3 is the new in thing for games. I'm already getting a bit bored with it, nothing but grinding and grinding for new equipment. The difficulty is alright but it feels a bit cheap when you just get one shot-ed by some jumping leaper or corrupted angel... that sucks when you're playing a low life wizard. Ah well, we'll see how long it lasts. I'm already thinking of going back to magic online to practise Avacyn Restored drafts but GP Shanghai is M13....

Any who, for real life stuff. Janice and I will be going to Redang soon with a bunch of my friends for a few days of sun-fun. Should be nice and relaxing. Shanghai is after that, then maybe I'll be heading to UK or Australia for a few days. Macau and HK (maybe) will be at the end of the year. Lots of places to go, looks like busy times this year. One of my best friend's weddings is going to be held early next year too; looking forward to that.

That's all for now, see if I can win another GPT / PTQ or something.

Wow that's long

OK didn't realise it has been like, 5 months since I last posted here. Reading my previous post, I was on the cusp of marriage and obviously by now, I am well into it. So the question I often get is; how is married life like? This comes especially from (a) friends who are still bachelors (meaning not married) and (b) people who have been married a pretty long time. I get the feeling group (a) are curious about what being married is like and group (b) are leading up to handing out some 'advice' and 'experiences' they or they're peers had.

Well honestly, it really isn't very different from our previous 7 years together. Apart from the fact that we live in the same house now and that we have to do housework and laundry and stuff. We pretty much do the same things (go on dates, watch movies, etc.) One of the big changes if any is the fact that we need to make decisions as a family, as opposed to as individuals. That takes some getting used to, especially since I'm one who kinda just does his own thing when and where ever he wants. Oh, and going out to meet up with friends is also taxing, even if she doesn't mean to I always feel guilty about it to the point I might not even enjoy my evening. That can be sucky but it's manageable.

What's new on the gaming front? Well, 1st; I've retired from competitive fighting games i.e. Street Fighter. Too much commitment to stay competitive, effort is not worth the reward yada yada. I've replaced that hole by going back to casual Magic drafts with some old (and some new) friends. It costs almost nothing (except time) and gets me back into Magic I suppose (no one actually quits Magic; they all eventually go back). I'm even feeling like going competitive again; I used to be a pretty decent Limited player back in UK and it was pretty exciting, those times. Though the scene in KL is pretty non-existent for Limited so I'm not sure how that will turn out.