Busy Boy
I've neglected SZ for a few days. Work, vacation, eh.
Band of Bugs, released a few weeks back on Xbox Live Arcade is excellent. It is extremely simplified turn based strategy, yes, but I think this is a good thing. Games are quick and the mechanics are straightforward, making it much more accessible and easy to play for a short session. Plus they put a Ninja Bee in the game -- I mean, ninjas that are also bees just can't be a bad thing. Nice single player game, online multiplayer, and map editor make this well worth the $10. I need to check out Ninja Bee's other games (Cloning Clyde and Outpost Kaloki X).
The brother visited and we played 5 hours of paintball at Bay Area Paintball. Overall it was a good experience, but some things could be better. Firstly, their refs are all high school kids that jack around the entire time. I wish they'd actually do their job so that they could, you know, call the game. I also don't care for the regulars showing up with their machine guns. Paintball, at least for me, involves running around, diving behind cover, stuff like that. These guys perch in the back and snipe people with their jacked up guns. It's not fun and it's a bit more pain than I care for.
In one instance 3 of us took on 2 of them. I was shot before I even made it to the first bunker. My brother and friend were perched behind their respective bunkers. I kept yelling at them to move and advance, and they kept replying "fuck you". Needless to say we lost.
I took a break from Forza 2 and Rainbow Six to play the new Harry Potter (360 version). Overall it's a fun, mindless break from the more hardcore games. There's some really sloppy camera work and overall the pacing is incredibly slow, but it's also very simple and filled with some fun tedium. And the presentation is spot on, with pretty characters and all the voice acting from the movie. And Hogwarts is exactly (and somewhat tediously) re-created. If I were a young kid obsessed with Harry Potter, this game would be great. For $20 it is definitely worth my money.
That should be enough for now.
(posted by grant at 7/02/2007)
