Saturday, February 3

Sticking it to the Opponent

I just made perhaps the purchase that pretty much proves that I am OBSESSED with Virtua Fighter 5. It's the Virtua Stick High Grade, an arcade-style, arcade-quality controller made specially for the PS3 by Sega for use with it's upcoming high profile beat 'em up sequel. You can order the thing along with a copy of VF5 at a nice reduced price, so I ended up cancelling my previous preorder for just the game and went for the combo offer.
I'm a bit giddy... It's my first real game accessory ever- never bought a wheel or Guncon myself in all my years of gaming. On the good side, I should be able to use the thing for other fighters in the future, perhaps even on the Xbox360. So I'll try to get my money's worth of fighting action from it.

So now, The Sanctum really is turning into an arcade, complete with Hi-def LCD TV, PS3, latest hottest fighting game and a frickin' joystick controller. I'm counting the darn hours away to this game, which is set for release in Asia and Japan later this week on February 8. If nothing goes wrong and FedEx continues it's winning streak with me, I should be enjoying a Virtua Fighting Weekend very soon.

Thursday, February 1

Just Chillin'

The past week or so, Metro Manila has been enjoying some exceptionally cold weather. This kind of cool is usually associated with the 'Ber' months of the last quarter, not usually at this time. Chilly breezes have lots of people dressing a bit warmer in the business district of Makati. Open a faucet, and the water is chilled, like it was coming from a cooler or from the fridge (making for particularly jumpy showers in the morning).
I love this kind of weather. It's nice and calming to come out of The Salt Mines to a pleasantly chilly evening. It's not enough for me to put on a jacket- just enough to make me shiver in a good way. I hope it goes on for a while longer, but it'll probably fade in a week or two. Better enjoy it while it lasts, I guess.

Tuesday, January 30

War on Widescreen

Tonight I popped in a dvd of War of the Worlds (the Tom Cruise flick) and watched it on the new LCD TV. It was pretty cool, to say the least, to see the flick almost in the same way I first saw it in a theater. Great picture, great sound... sweet. Unfortunately I had to turn down the sound a bit, to keep the neighbors from thinking there's a real alien invasion going on. Maybe I should invest in some nice surround-sound earphones.

Anyway, I still like the Steven Spielberg megged-survival horror action flick. Like the effects- awesome deathrays- like the desperate feel, like the creepy moments and all-out devastation scenes. I still HATE THE FRICKIN' KIDS. BAH. I totally identify with Tom Cruise's character. The aliens didn't scare me as much as those two freaky kids. Oh well. Good movie night anyways. Heh.
Taking Leaps

It's only about ten days to the release of Virtua Fighter 5 for the Playstation 3, and I'm suffering in the tormented state of gaming obsession. I've been waiting for this game for months. I bought a PS3 and an LCD TV just so I could play it the way it should be played, which pretty much makes it my most expensive game purchase EVER. That's okay though- you know it's a momentous game when it moves you to make the leap into new technology. Years ago, Diablo 2 moved me to purchase my first PC. I played the game to death, and when I finally moved on, the PC had become an invaluable, indispensable tool for me. I fully expect to play VF5 for a long time- perhaps up to when Virtua Fighter 6 becomes available, at least. But even now, I am really appreciating and enjoying the hi-definition visual goodness I've gotten along the way to acquiring the game.

It's these little things- things that drive us- that often push us forward to embrace new technology, or take a leap from our safety zones into new frontiers. Which brings me to the thought- what game will get me to someday have a brain jack installed?