A Welcome Break

XIIIHappy new year! I’ve had a great festive season. Me and Diane went back north to spend the Christmas with my family, then over to my mate John’s in the beautiful Lancashire Dales for New Year. A top break indeed.

I could really get used to not working ó lying in late each morning, watching Ray Mears and Michael Palin on the telly for a bit , then playing XIII for several hours, then some DVD watching and a few beers in the evening. I’ve got a huge number of DVD’s to get through. I got several this Christmas ó The Two Towers (Extended Version), 24 (Series 1 & 2) and Bo Selecta (Series 1 & 2). I also picked up the Essential Calvin & Hobbes book, which is utterly fabulous.

XIII is a great video game. It plays much like Goldeneye or Timesplitters, but it has superb comic book style graphics (using cel shading) and an excellent soundtrack which produces a great atmosphere. Hugely recommended for anyone who spent a large amount of their childhood reading comic books.

Hope y'all had a great festive season!

Posted 6 years, 2 months ago

Very nice space you have here. Good comments on the game XIII. My brother received this for Christmas and it is such a fun game to play, and the graphics are a much needed relief from other game graphics. At any rate, just wanted to say nice job here.

justin goodlett · www · 6 years, 2 months ago

Thanks Justin. The cheque is in the post ;-)

Phil · 6 years, 2 months ago

You like XIII? I got it a few days back too, but I’m quite disappointed with it. Maybe it’s just my lack of coordination or my synapses being re-wired for GTA, but I find the controls an absolute nightmare (on PS2). Even on the really simple difficulty level, it’s a hard slog that I’m not much enjoying. I guess I should just stick with it and get used to things.

P.S. welcome back. :)

mal · www · 6 years, 2 months ago

The controls did take a bit of getting used to, but it’s worth persisting with, at least on the Gamecube. I love the details - such as the controller rumble when you use the M16, or when you go temporarily deaf when there’s a nearby explosion. The AI of the enemies is spot-on too e.g. they raise the alarm if they spot a body and they hide in clever places when they spot you.

Phil · 6 years, 2 months ago

I liked the look of the visuals on XIII but was unsure the gameplay would match up. I might rent it out now. Great time to have a GameCube - I’ve been really caning SSX 3 and Viewtiful Joe (both completely amazing, and the visual style of Viewtiful Joe is unbelievable - quite hard, though) and I am eagerly awaiting the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time at the end of the month. Should keep me going for a few months. Them and Super Monkey Ball 2. I love my GameCube.

Rik · www · 6 years, 2 months ago

Ah, Super Monkey Ball 2... I forgot about that. I must dig it out tonight and play a bit of Monkey Target. I also got a hold of Super Monkey Ball Jr - which is a slimmed down version for the GBA - which is just as addictive. God bless those chaps at Sega!

Phil · 6 years, 2 months ago

I am a unit manager at Welcome Break Corley i have E-Mailed Rod Mackie on numurious occasions and as yet i hve not recieved a reply can you send me his E-Mail address please. Hazel Sydall

Your reply to Chaos 26765@aol.com

many thanks

Hazel · 6 years, 1 month ago

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My name is Phil Lindsay, a web guy from Scotland, now living in Newcastle upon Tyne in England. I also run a web design company called Presence. You can email me at phil@xlab.co.uk, read more ramblings on my Twitter stream and view my photos on Flickr. You can grab the RSS feed for this weblog here.