Teeth: Little White Buggers of Torture

I finished of Call of Duty2 on Veteran level. Quite please about that. It was tough going in places but overall not too bad. Im more pleased to finish it now so that I am ready for Prey when it comes out. I have always been behind the times, you see. up until now that is. I got an Xbox late, I got an X360 last month, got my first live account with it, so only about 2-years late on Halo2 Live action. Got COD a few weeks ago. being late into games means your behind on Live and that sucks cause everyone is usually miles better having had more practice. So I feel a bit of a spare tool trying to catch up. Halo2 is especially bad. man, I really looked forward to getting into H2 but Im too far behind to realy enjoy it especially with the de-levellers and moders around. So now I am free and clear with regards to games. bring on Prey, Im going to be first on. Meanwhile i have PGR3 to keep me occupied and Oblivion of course. Im getting into PGR3 big time. I didnt really go for PGR2. Not sure why, but 3 is a belter. I think getting online will be fun but practise comes first. I organised a LAN session with a few non-live mates and it was good fun on PGR3. COD2 is next up for a bit of LAN action.

The problem of teeth interjected in my game time this weekend. Indeed, my entire life and that of wife too was thrown into turmoil. It want even teeth that belonged to us. My baby is teething an boy do we know it. Why cant the little shits not just grow like finger nails or hair? Why cant they just slide effortlessly into place? They dont. They rip through the gums like slow motion bullets tearing flesh as they go and leaving in their wake a roaring, clinging, purple faced demon child and parents on their knees praying for the end, whatever form the end will take. Were not fussy. Just make it stop. We go to work now to escape the weekends. The wee man is brilliant on whole though. Its just that when hes in bad form it really interrupts game time. We cant put him down for a minute hes so clingy. I cant even plop him beside me when Im playing because he wants to eat my controller. He wants to chew on everything.

But, even through this adversity, I have soldiered on and won the war on veteran. Now if we could just win the war on these bloody teeth my wife and I might smile at one another again.

I feel so sorry for him but at least we dont remember it. We often wish the baby could have been born with teeth and so avoid this pain but as I point out to the wife, would you want to give birth to something that might bite you on the way out? Doesnt bare thinking about really.

Posted by wellskelpt @ 7:34 am EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

YAAAAABEAUTAAAAAYYY!!!

I finally did it. I finally got past the Silo level in Call of Duty2 on veteran setting. It is a feat that many have achieved so not that special really but to me it was something. I was being driven up the wall and round the bend by this particular point in the game. Clearing the town is straight forward enough. My strategy was  to go to the rear of the first house, cross the road, clear the next building then assualt the HQ, I figured that if I took the HQ then resistence would crumble. I play the game a bit like I would in real life (though I have no military experiance, just guess work). Once you have the HQ then the rest is easy. Apart from, that is, the sniper stage on top of the Silo. Now I should point out to those who are perhaps chuckling at my lack of skill since I found this part difficult, that to properly overcome this point you need to be fairly fresh with quick and accurate reflexes. I found that after a long day at work and an evening spent with my baby (and all the play and work that involves) I just wasnt in the right frame to tackle the sniper section late in the evening. It was frustrating me for two days. I even had to replay the level because I got a bad checkpoint on top of the Silo. Last night it all changed. I snuck away earlier in the evening,  mumbling to my dear wife about something important to do for half an hour and on my third attempt I took out all the mortar teams and watched the Shermans roll in. I could have danced, I could have sung, I could have yelled with glee but I didnt. The baby was asleep.

"Ya dancer!" I whispered instead, while punching the air.

Posted by wellskelpt @ 5:18 am EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

Babies are hazardous for your health

Yes they are. Sleep depravation will kill ya in the end. Its not the babys fault though. I have a 7-month old boy and I couldnt have asked for an easier wee guy. Hes very easy going and placid by nature. Usually he sleep all night, 10pm to 7am. Incredible, I know. So why, I hear you ask, is he bad for my health?

There was a time when, on occasion, during the week I would game into the early hours. Perhaps I had a tough bit on Halo or a few balvarine to chop up on Fable, whatever, time would escape and before I knew it the clock said 2, 3 or even 4am. No big deal. I would get a good kip and head to work in the morning only slightly bleary. Things have changed. Picture this recently:

Oops, 2am. Didnt mean to stay up so late. Engrossed in COD2. Shuffle off to bed. Little man sound asleep. Good stuff. Wife asleep. Good Stuff. Me asleep, really good stuff.

2:30am sound of baby crying through the monitor. Leave him for a minute. No good, still crying. Struggle out of bed since Im still relatively awake and wife in deep sleep. Grope for slippers in the dark. Turn off baby monitor. wander over to babys room.

Baby gone back to sleep already.

OK, back to bed.

3:15am baby crying. Wife in deep sleep Im relatively awake. Up I get. Up baby gets. Up wind comes. Baby goes back to sleep. Yay. Back to bed 3:30 am.

4:55am baby crying. Again. Too tired to get up. Must get up. Baby goes over again before I get my slippers on. Hear him fart through baby monitor. Back to bed.

6am Baby awake and googooing. Starts to cry after a while. Get up and bring him to our bed. Half an our of play and wishing he would go to sleep again before realising he is up for the day. Wife gets up to feed him and get him ready. I snooze for half an hour before alarm goes off. Time for work.

Never operate machinery whilst too tired. Im sure your aware of the warnings. I drive to work. I realise I probably shouldnt, feeling slightly light headed. I scrape the car against a wall while parking. I swear profusely with much gnashing of teath. Blood pressure rising. Heart attack due in a few years if I keep this up. I pretend to work all day while perfecting the art of sleeping with eyes open.

I swear he waited until I was most vulnerable before deciding to have one a his bad nights!

Posted by wellskelpt @ 11:03 am EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

Its good to talk

It would be good to talk if it were at all possible. Thats what gaming on live is all about. Playing games and having a bit of banter with friends adds to the experience. So why isnt it happening for me? Up until a few weeks ago I was able to chat with fellow gamers and  laugh as I was gunned down and blown up in many visually impressive ways. Things have changed however and for no aparent reason. Now when I play halo2 or Call of Duty2 online I can only hear my fellow combatants. I can no longer congratulate them on a skillful kill or mock them for a lucky one (note: you have probably realised that I die quite a bit online). My 360 came with the microsoft headset, which has been known to develop faults quite quickly. OK, fine, I get another headset or rather my wife gets me an early Fathers day gift of a headset (ta very much love). The new model being from "Game". Both of the headsets let me hear other gamers. I hear the chat, songs, gibberish in pre-game lobbies and the sound of my impending doom during games but neither of the headsets will convey my own Scottish dulcet tones. (youd love my accent ladies, and gentlemen of a certain persuasion ;-)

So, Watson, the game is afoot. To have two dodgy headsets, one of which brand spanking new, would be bad luck but not impossible. I feel this is unlikely, being the optimist that I am. So I continue to try and figure out what is going on. Could it be the controller connection? Could it be my ISP? Could it be that people simply ignore me? If anyone  perusing this blog has any suggestions for a solution here is some hardware information:

Im using a microsoft wireless controller, X360, NAT set to "open", ethernet cable connection to a Netgear DG834GT 108Mbps Wireless ADSL Modem Firewall Router with 4-port 10/100 switch (laptop connected wirelessly but not normally on when gaming). Like i said, I could talk to people a few weeks ago but not, apparently, anymore.

Of course i should caviat this my stating that there is the possibility I have been a complete eejit the fault is entirly mine and simple to correct but I assure you, 100%, that I do not have anything on mute!

Posted by wellskelpt @ 4:42 am EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments

I heard the call

I have discovered Call of Duty 2 and Im so glad I did. Its great fun. I wanted to get the game ages ago but with a 7-month old baby my finances need to be reined in slightly. I got Oblivion with the console and was happily playing that for a while. The problem I feel with Oblivion is that it is almost too big. There is almost too much to do in the game. It  is still great to play but can be a bit repetitive. Every cave and fort kind of look the same as do castle interiors but all the same its a good game to play but one I might dip in and out of when Im too tired for a shooter. Like COD2. Back on topic again, I like that. Im a couple of sessions into the game and almost finished Stalingrad on veteran. To be honest, and not wishing to blow me own trumpet, I havent found it difficult. There ae one or two sticky sections but other than that its easier than I thought. Much easier then Halo2 Legendary Im finding. Mind you I always was good at "Soldiers" when I was a lad. Picking up a branch for a rifle and scurrying through the bushes to ambush the enemy. Building bases in the undergrowth from which to launch attacks or sit in defence. Every summer the waste ground around my house would echo with the rat tat tat dow dow of shouted machine guns interspersed with arguments of :

"youre dead, I shot you" - "No you didnt, you missed" - "No I didnt, I got you" - "Naw, you just winged me, it was a flesh wound I could still have shot you back............"

COD2 is a fantastic game and you do get the sense of what WWII combat must have been like with bullets flying everywhere and snipers around every corner. I have to say though, I do like WWII shooters and those influenced by it. Im glad I went for this over Battlefield2. Not that B2 is a duff game but I hear it is better online than off where as COD2 is good offline and good on. Actually, I had my first online COD2 a couple of hours after I got the game. I enjoyed it a lot. Basically a couple of games of team snipers on a farm. It was very thrilling. I found it a bit difficult first time round to get my beaings but on my second or third game I got 19 kills which was very pleasing indeed.

A thought strikes me. Ive never been comfortable with realistic shooters. You know, where you kill other human characters in real setttings. I much prefer the "shoot the alien" games. Not sure why. Similarly in Knights of the Old Rebublic and Fable I can rarely bring myself to lean towards the dark side and do bad things. Its only a computer game I know but it makes my skin crawl. My mother would be proud!! The WWII games never give me a problem though. Perhaps its because the era is so far in the past now to be alien? Or perhaps modern combat is so different that the conflict of that time seems impossible to be real. Whatever it is, Im enjoying Call of Duty2 and roll on Call of Duty 3.

;;

Posted by wellskelpt @ 4:15 am EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments