Gods among us

Spent 2 hours watching all cut scenes of the new fighting game, Injustice: Gods among us (henceforth known as Injustice). This 2D, 3D rendered background, fighting game is developed by the same studio that brought you Mortal Kombat 9-  NetherRealm studios. I was blown away with Mortal Kombat 9; the storyline and fatalities was well done. I'm no DC fanboy but based on what they did for Mortal Kombat 9, I had high hopes for Injustice.

For those who are wondering, "What in the world is Injustice?" Here's the trailer:

I do not own a Xbox or a Playstation 3 so the only way for me to get to the game is through YouTube. Face it, I don't really enjoy playing 1 vs 1 fighting games as much (more on that below) so a compilation of cut scenes illustrating the story is good enough for me. 

In my opinion, the storyline was done nicely and I must say that I enjoyed the corny moments in the script. The story is set in an alternate DC universe where the Joker tricked Superman into activating a nuclear device which leveled Metropolis. A notable casualty was Lois Lane and this drove Superman over the age. Superman killed the Joker and over the next 5 years, sets up a dictatorship to rule over mankind. Heroes and villains of the DC universe either sided with Superman or were killed. The main opposition to this regime is the Batman. The Batman of this universe transported other DC from another universe to help stop superman and this is where the story begins. Go check the video on YouTube- it's worth the 2 hours if you are interested in the world of DC.

"If I had a gaming console would I have bought and played this game? " The answer will be no. I like the storyline but injustice is still in essence, a fighting game. Don't get me wrong, I do not hate the  fighting game genre; I like to play fighting games occasionally. I grew up playing fighting games in the arcades, Street fighter, Tekken, Virtual fighter, Soulcalibur etc. 

So why the apparent 'hate' now you might ask. For starters, I feel that fighting games are way too competitive a gaming genre. There's a lot of dedication involved- learning special moves, combos, generic fighting plan, attack strings etc. Once you get those down pat for a character- you usually have go through the same process for another character. Other genres, which also possess competitive elements, does not punish you the same way as fighting games do. Look at the tempo of fighting games. It's all about tempo, tempo, tempo. You got to keep the pressure up or you are toast.  Add in a time limit and you have a very stressful environment to perform. All you have is 30 sec- 60 sec to prove your "worth". The chance of a comeback mid round is really slim and if you fail to use that window of opportunity, you get thrashed.

Fast paced action with a slim chance of a comeback sounds like a good recipe for stress.  I play video games to relax, not to put on additional stress. So clearly fighting games are not my gaming genre of choice thus spending money to buy the game might be a waste. However, if you past me a controller while playing a fighting game- I will still pick it up and play the game with you. I'm social like that.

EDIT (28 2252 Apr 2013)-- added Injustice trailer from YouTube.

EVOL

Had a rough start yesterday. Got a couple of Facebook statuses forwarded to me which were followed by whatsapp messages by various people. I usually turn a blind eye to facebook updates like this as I respect each individual's opinion, no matter how divergent from mine. However, I got really ticked off when I saw a post and this led to a facebook response.

The 'offending' Facebook post made no sense what-so-ever. The situation has changed since last year and it continued to change this year as well. Maybe others were not privy to certain information sent personally to me and this allowed a 'sympathy party' to form. I will not post any details here, or on facebook. But suffice to say- in lieu of the current situation, the messages are distasteful. Maybe the whatsapp messages could have been worded better. but no corrections were made to expand on it- I will take it as it is.

I have considered that hormonal changes could have played a majority part as well. For that, I do think my response might be harsh. Nevertheless, I still stand by my response.

I was hoping for it to be a peaceful, relaxing day yesterday. It did turn out ok- watched a couple of standup comedies, played counterstrike again and attempted to learn the "gentleman" dance. Peaceful, maybe not, but I was relaxed at the end of the day.

Jurassic Park fever

I loved Dinosaurs as a kid and I'm not ashamed to say that I have never outgrown this love. I'm still very much interested in any dinosaur news; be it from popular press or research papers.

With Jurassic Park 3D currently showing in the cinemas, I find myself surfing through YouTube with search terms like "Jurassic Park", "Dinosaurs", "T Rex" etc. One of the vidoes I found on YouTube was  a recreation of Jurassic Park, in the game "Minecraft". I've never played Minecraft as I was not too sold on the concept of the game. Nevertheless, I found this recreation to be really cool as it captured and recreated iconic locales like the visitor centre, gate of Jurassic park and the raptor pens. It brought back waves of nostalgia when I first watched the movie on the big screen when I was a kid. The video is shown below- kudos to Josh Collins for his effort in making this "Minecraft world".

Cool stuff right? Now I wish Jurassic Park 4 will be in production and released soonish. Regarding the feathers on Dinosaurs issue- I guess I'm ok with Dinosaurs in the new Jurassic Park movie not having feathers. These are genetic recreations with sequence gaps in their original DNA template, what's a little assisted priming and "directed" mutation between movie-goers? Oh and yes, If they could also develop a sequel to the park building game, "Jurassic Park:Operation Genesis" I would be ecstatic.

Come on!! GIVE ME MY JURASSIC PARK FIX!! NOW!!!!

Rainy days- never say goodbye

Actually the rain did say goodbye- to my plans that is.

I was planning to visit the Taronga Zoo today but the rain made me change my plans. The alternate plan was to head to the Event Cinema in George street to watch Jurassic Park 3D. The alternate plan failed as well. I found my Godzilla (Heisei) DVD boxset and decided I had to watch "Godzilla vs King Ghidorah". I mean it IS a cheaper alternative, plus it was still raining and I just made tea. 

One thing led to another and it became Godzilla Heisei fest today. Who needs to walk around the city when you can watch giant monsters fighting it out in front of your laptop screen. Clearly I needed help.

This went all the way till dinner and being under the influence of the Japanese language for the entire day, I had the munchies for some Japanese food. Decided against using the internet and I just wandered around the neighbourhood in search for an affordable Japanese eating place. My neighbourhood is littered with eating places so I was pretty confident in finding one. After walking through a couple of blocks, I found a place called "Sushi on Stanley". It's a tiny little spot with the seating being rather cramped. The joint is "wallet-friendly" with combo meals with rice, miso soup, salad and fruits below AUD$20. I left the place feeling very satisfied. A quick search on the internet revealed that this eating place has really good reviews. I guess this could be a regular Saturday night dinner place. 

Even though my primary plan for today failed- the back up plan did leave me satisfied as well. Now to make some tea.

Let the $avings begin....again

"Money is a guarantee that we may have what we want in the future. Though we need nothing at the moment it insures the possibility of satisfying a new desire when it arises." -- Aristotle

I got the official email saying that my stipend payments will commence next week and will be back paid to when I enrolled 24 days ago. This news is very welcomed- I've been tapping into my savings ever since February when I had to withdraw from my previous institution. Money just seem to drain away since then for my relocation. Air tickets, professional cleaning of my old place, temporary accommodation while I find a new place in Sydney all took a toll on my savings. 

I like to save for a rainy day. When compared to my peers- I do not get a lot of income and I'm reaching my 30's in 3 years.In addition, half of my stipend (fortnightly payment) goes into rent which leaves me with half for expenses and savings. I've always targeted to save 15- 20% of my stipend and that's been working out so far; which created a safety buffer to spend for my relocation.

Now with a regular income coming in again- it's time to start saving my bank account which has been bleeding way too much recently (in my opinion, that is). Plus, I also need if for trips up to Brisbane.

Alderaan

It is different here-shops opening till late and all. It is really easy to adapt to the Sydney life as it is similar to what I'm used to growing up in Singapore. Resumed the PhD journey on the 8th of April and I've been swarmed with paperwork- one of the thrills when starting out in a new place and setting up a lab. I foresee the paper work is going to take me up to a month to complete but the experience gained from this will be very valuable- not many PhD candidates get the chance to be actively involved in starting up a lab. Other than that I have an abstract for a conference due in June and a paper to submit by October- Full steam ahead!

In other news- the closing of LucasArts by Disney came as a shock to me. Ever since having access to a computer and gaming consoles , LucasArts has been providing me endless entertainment in the form of Star wars games. The news of the closure felt  "as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced"- as I'm pretty sure many people around the world felt the same way too.

Thankfully this does not mean that there will be no new star wars game in the coming future. Disney interactive studio will take over and provide a new hope to gamers everywhere. Hopefully they will give us Star Wars: Battlefront III.

The 8th Day

It has been 8 days since I left Brisbane for Sydney. The transition was not easy- I've spent 4 years in Brisbane. Many friends were made during my stay in UQ, Adalong guest house, CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Sciences and the Queenslander at 145 and they are all dearly missed. Thank God for modern technology- everybody is only a 'button press' away despite the long distance.

These 8 days were primarily spent in securing an accommodation as well as getting to know the city. I'm glad that I was able to accomplish both aims in a span of a week; rooms here get snapped up pretty quick so it really is a case of "like it- grab it". Procrastination serves a 'homeless' sentence.

It's all about location, location, location. My new neighbourhood is an interesting one. For starters, it's near oxford street, the place to be for the Sydney Mardi Gras. The streets are also lined with sex shops, massage parlours, bars and eating places. The most important thing is that the University is a half hour walk away and it is looking to be a good way for a scientist-in-training to stay in shape. My new place is also walking distance from the Absinthesalon, the place I purchase my absinthe when I was living in Brisbane. I foresee that visits to the bar will be a monthly occurrence.

I guess every administrative thing is set for now- cannot wait to resume my PhD studies on the 8th of April.

Genesis

Be advised-  I'll be reviving this blog sometime soon.

Stay Frosty.