The Lost Realm

Once upon a time, I thought Pokemon was a silly game for silly kids; it’s just a bunch of cute things spitting water at each other’s heads while their tails are on fire, right? I once said that I’d never play such a silly game to “catch `em all”, but now I have to come clean. Not only am I playing it, but Pokemon Diamond/Pearl is actually a really good game.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I still enjoy playing games like Assassin’s Creed (stabbing roof-top guards in the throat is very cathartic), Gears of War (who could go wrong with a gun with a chainsaw bayonet?), Guitar Hero (rock out!), and, er, Super Mario Galaxy. OK, they’re not all loud or violent.

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl is, much to my surprise, quite a deep and addictive game. The turn-based style and pace of gameplay makes it relaxing, and especially easy to play with others. You can pause at hold conversations with people while playing, so it really is social gaming at it’s best.

This infection appears to be spreading. I have it; Ely has it; my brothers both have it. In fact, we spent three of four hours of Saturday battling (I believe quite loudly) together. Romilly also enjoys “playing” (barracking for the cutest pokemon to win), but can’t quite manage all the reading on her own. I’m sure it won’t be too long, though (for now, Mario Kart shall remain her poison of choice).

Hello, my name is Lionfire; it has been 10 minutes since I last checked on my berries.

Today is Mario Kart Day! (Yay!)

But none of the stores here have it! (Wha?)

Because the delivery truck is stuck somewhere in South Australia! (OMG!)

So there will be no long-weekend Mario Kart party! (*sigh*)

Just Super Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero. (Yay!)

PS: Contrary to my concern, I did not overflow. (but there appear to be minor side-effects)

My plan was to blog more. I’d simply wait for interesting things to happen, and then write about them.

This plan has been thwarted, though in the best of ways.

I’m about half-way through my holiday and, so far, it has meant a whole lot of doing absolutely nothing. This is, of course, my definition of the perfect holiday. It has been over 10 years since I’ve taken a real break from work. The last time I can remember having this much time to myself was during my undergraduate years.

I’ve been just hanging out at home, relaxing, tinkering with things, playing Nintendo Wii (a family Christmas present) with the kids, playing PC games until far too late at night, and sleeping in (oh, how I will miss sleeping in). Carolyn and I even managed to have a real, actual date, just like grown ups! Not only was it almost two years to the day since we met, but I believe it was the first time we’ve actually had a “romantic” night out.

So if you’re wonder where all the blogging is, it’s not here. It’s on holiday, doing as little as possible.

It all started when I asked for a Bumblebee. Carolyn answered on behalf of the universe, and Bumblebee appeared:

After that, Talk Like a Pirate Day brought about the world’s first pirate herb garden, containing a pirate ship lovingly hand-crafted from balsa wood:

After the pirate ship, Carolyn secretly worked on yet another balsa project. Then, just before Christmas (because she couldn’t wait), I was given a small package that contained this:

I shall never, ever, ever incinerate you, my weighted companion cube

Duke Nukem Forever is out! Well, at least the teaser trailer. The sad part is that it doesn’t actually look as interesting as the trailer they released in 2001 or even this joke trailer.

It’s taken 10 years of development to make it… worse?

For the next 22 hours or so, you can get Cellblock Squadrons for 60% off the normal price.

I may have mentioned the game once or twice before, but it was written by my (starving) brothers and some people seem to like it. For just one small donation of US$9.95, you can make their Christmas just a little bit happier. And blow some stuff up.