Acid for Blood

A couple weeks ago, one of the first things I did after moving to the area (the very day I moved to the area, actually) was to go to my local GameStop and pre-order the limited edition version of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (as well as the limited edition strategy guide because the Sales Associate asked me and I’m a big sucker for MGS books with pretty pictures and words in them). This is a very odd thing to do because not only do I not even own a PlayStation 3 (or a television, but that’s another story), I haven’t even properly played Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. MGS4 is the sequel (in terms of the storyline) to MGS2. Why do this? Why get the game when I don’t have the console? Nostalgia for MGS1, mainly.

If I’m reaching for compelling arguments that dropping $500 for a games console is a good idea, it’s because there are a bunch of PS3-exclusive games on the horizon that I’d like to play, including MGS4. For example, though I don’t really play the Final Fantasy games, FFXIII is looking pretty intriguing. The next game set in the world of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus is going to be a PS3 exclusive. I also want to play Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War, which is a completely historically inaccurate (Mages? During the Hundred Years War? Really?) hack-n-slash game that didn’t get super good reviews (now that I take a look). However, I played it at a friend’s house and it was a lot of mindless fun. Oh and there’s Tekken 6 (and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection). I love me those Tekken games, even though I’m not super good at them. It’s not PS3 exclusive, but I’m also dying to have Rock Band.

The 80 GB PS3s have been phased out of retail. The only PS3s currently available in stores are the 40 GB versions without PS2 backwards compatibility. The 80 GB PS3s feature backwards compatibility through software emulation, which is not ideal, however limited backwards compatibility is better than none at all. There are rumours that the 80 GB PS3 will be phased out completely, to be replaced with a 120 GB or even a 160 GB version at the same price point. There is no word on whether this verson will be backwards compatible, but it’s a safe bet since the 40 GB model lacks that feature. Perhaps it’s better to wait for the one with the larger hard disk, but is it worth the wait when I could be playing MGS4 at launch?

Even if I don’t get a PS3 in June (Those things are expensive; maybe I’ll just get a Wii), I will still have a copy of MGS4 Limited Edition. With the special artbook. I also got my Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 DVD pre-order bonus the other day. It’s currently comfortably nestled amongst boxes of CalorieMate and some Japanese promotional material for Metal Gear Solid games. All of these items are temporarily housed on the mantle above my fireplace. It’s kind of a Metal Gear Solid shrine because — why not? Besides, my flat is still cluttered with boxes and I haven’t yet had time to decorate it properly. So in the event that I don’t buy a PS3, I’ll at least be able to read the artbook and look at the DVD. Sigh.

Oh, by the way, Naked Snake (from MGS3: Snake Eater) was right: CalorieMate really is damn good.

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Per the suggestion of commenter Tough_Nutz in my previous post, I burned the Ubuntu Linux distribution to a CD, booted the OS from the CD-ROM drive, and transferred my critical files to an external hard drive. It totally worked! I’m so happy that I haven’t lost my files. I’m going to reinstall Windows on my desktop tomorrow night, and on Saturday someone from the cable company is going to install my internet so I’ll finally be able to play Guild Wars at home.

I’ve been curious about Ubuntu for a while, but never got around to trying it out until now. Ubuntu is incredibly easy to install and from my brief experience it’s also easy to use. It’s kind of cool that I can run the entire operating system from a CD-ROM. If so many games didn’t run on Windows, I’d probably want to use Ubuntu. Gaming on a Linux OS seems like it’s beyond my capabilities. I’m probably more proficient at computers than the average user, but probably not enough to mess around trying to get games to work with a Linux distribution. If I get another laptop that I don’t intend to use for games, I’d probably put Ubuntu on it though.

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I left my job at Xfire last month to work at a company that I couldn’t speak of until today. It was my first day on the job as a Community Manager for Guild Wars. How cool is it that I’ve been writing about the game as a player and now I’m working at ArenaNet? Pretty damn cool, I must say.

I relocated from California to Washington last week, and the move and associated stresses have left me exhausted, a bit sleep-deprived, and not inclined to play games, so I don’t have any updates on that front. Oh yeah, I played the hell out of Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, and I’m looking forward to Puzzle Quest: Galactrix.

I tried to troubleshoot my computer yesterday to no avail. I’m going to try one more thing this week and if that doesn’t work, I’ll have to reinstall Windows. I’m irked that I’ll be losing all those Guild Wars screen shots that I haven’t saved somewhere on the web yet. Also, my save game files for Portal and The Longest Journey. Doh. Must back up more often.

Right now I am not sure whether I will continue to write about Guild Wars here or not.

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