I was doing some YouTube surfing and watched some of the highlights from Australia's last World Cup (Soccer) campaign and I stumbled upon this...

As most long term readers know, GiganticHeadStu and I partake in FIFA 08 challenges and similar to State of Origin, the win-loss and for-and-against are frightfully close after so many games. Well at least they were until last night.

I won the first game 8-3 but much later in the night and MANY drinks later Stu decided to challenge me and my sobriety again. The previous record for a drubbing was Stu 16 Brad 4 but this paled to the

25-5

destruction I dished out in the wee hours of the morning. Wayne Rooney had twelve goals on his own! Moral of the story kids is don't drink and competitively game. Thank goodness FIFA is here to tide me over until Euro 2008 starts otherwise I'd be all out of soccer to watch. Anyone see Dean Windass' goal for Hull City to put them in the Premier League for the very first time? A volley of a lifetime.

How is everyone going with GTA IV? A number of people who know their games had a word to me that I absolutely MUST try the multiplayer so I will get to it once I've finished Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance again on the Xbox v1. Speaking of the big black box, I can't believe I called it "old school" the other day... how time flies. Switching between the S Controller and the Xbox 360 Controller really highlights what an exceptional job Microsoft did doing the little things right to make such a superb controller upgrade. For those keeping score I abhor the pathetic and archaic PS controller. SixAxis doesn't not count as a revolution in design. I know people who love the PS controller so its certainly a personal taste for every gamer.

Ninja Gaiden II is not far away and I wonder if my n00bish skills will be sufficient this time around. I am truly a Ninja Dog! It does look sweet though and will be getting a good hack 'n bash 'n slash.

I am turning 28 this coming Sunday and I am wondering what game I should play for some online fun with some Aussies and minimal lag. Suggestions?

The mystery with the "who wants more LAN's" is still unsolved and in the works, so keep those fingers crossed!!

GTA IV is here and most of you who read this blog are most probably enjoying what could be the best rated game in history. I know a lot of mainstream press like to add that its violent and shows drug use blah blah blah (just to be provocative for the sake of it), but it is a great positive to see more than a few liken it to a great gangster/mafia film. From what I have read it surpasses them all... games or movies.

I haven't had the chance to play it yet but I did load up the original GTA from 1997 for the PC just for a quick laugh and you certainly can see the heritage that is prevalent in the later titles. I'm a big sucker for the history of gaming so if you have only played the 3D GTA's from III onwards I implore you to find a copy of the original and give it an hour. It's worth the giggle to experience some gaming history.

GTA IV is a game that is going to take a load of time to get through so I'll be taking my time to play it and enjoy it, just like a good scotch.

Good luck to tranceVib for his wedding on the weekend. I've had the pleasure of meeting his bride a few times and he's done exceptionally well for himself!!  Hope the wedding goes spectacularly well guys. Marriage... <shudder>

Speaking of weddings, I'm off to the Gold Coast tomorrow for Stu's buck's weekend which will include the trots, some golf and a few drinks. It should be a great deal of fun... as long as my golf swing is on song! I'd like to get close to my dad at least once in the next few years as beating a 90 year old at golf in a few decades times really isn't a victory to celebrate too much!

I need to play the new Mario Kart. Period.

I find it mildly amusing that the UEFA Champions League final will be contested by two English sides.... in bloody Moscow?!?! I hope for a Man Utd-Liverpool final just due to all the history between the two sides. If only there was a way to move the final to Wembley Stadium.... imagine the atmosphere!

Who wants more LAN's? Vote with your comments below. If a certain opportunity comes off in the next week or so it could be a reality. Everyone have their fingers crossed for me!!

I did load up Galactic Civilizations II the other day and if you like 4X games then you must play this. Deep, challenging and diverse.... pure gaming excellence.

I was having a look at what I actually installed when I loaded up Civilization Chronicles and to my delight I found Civ 2: Test of Time, which is a range of modded Civ games based on the Civ 2 engine. My instant favourite was the Fantasy mod as one of my all time favourite turn-based strategy games is Master of Magic, a 4X classic as I've said a number of times on this blog. Combining fantasy with the greatest 4X engine in history equals a new time destroyer in my game collection!! Just what I need in the lead up to Civilization Revolutions which arrives June 6 for Xbox 360 and PS3. I'll be playing it on the Xbox 360... Xbox Live > PSN by a wide margin

Have you seen the Don King Presents Prizefighter trailer? This could be another launch in Winter to stay on top of as just the training modes look awesome. Right click HERE to download. For some stupid reason it won't play when I embed it so I'm being lazy.

IGN UK has got this absolutely right....

Mario Kart SNES > Mario Kart DS > Mario Kart GBA > Mario Kart Double Dash > Mario Kart 64

Sorry but Mario Kart 64 was not even close to the orginal goodness of the SNES classic. Double Dash was a massive disappointment too so its great to see that it looks like Mario Kart has got back to its exceptional roots. About time I say!!  I know there is that silly wheel thing for the WiiMote but I will be playing this with the Nunchuk as if I could I'd drive a car with a controller... scratch that... an Xbox 360 controller. Think Tomorrow Never Dies but substitute the phone for a wireless 360 controller. I was THIS close to buying a second hand BMW 750iL but got talked out of it due to the uber-expensive parts.... still a cool car anyway. For those wondering I went with a Monaro instead.

The van is still going strong!!

Oscar visited today and he still rules. Don't you love ex-girlfirends who need help with their IT dramas?!? Just stirring Katie She is still a Burnout Revenge guru!!

Thanks to Stu and my sis I now have the 'flu. If it gets worse I will have to bail on DarkLAN this weekend...

Stu and I have been playing a bit of Tiger Woods 08 of late. As my character is maxed out I am really enjoying crunching drives well over 300m... just like real life Actually the only thing accurately portrayed on my character is my large jaw.

If you like wrestling make sure you subscribe to JR's Bar-B-Q Blog. It's my favourite blog on the internet as JR tells it straight with honesty and no BS, without the arrogance often found out on the 'net. Next time I'm in the US I think I will make the trip to Oklahoma just to try his world renowned Ribs!! I constantly try to lift my game to match his excellent standards so keep the feedback coming. All (sensible) comments are welcome.

One thing I hear all the time is whinging and moaning about the length of games to complete, specifically their campaign mode. Now doing some simple maths, if you compare it to buying a DVD @ $20 which gives you at best 3 hours of entertainment plus extras barely anyone watches, you'd expect a gaming to deliver 15 hours of play time. Should games be given additional credit as they are interactive? To me, it's about quality. I'll take Gears of War on Insane, Call of Duty 4 on Veteran or Halo 3 on Legendary over pretty much any DVD I own and those who say these games are too short... stop playing them on Easy

On the whole value for money thing, I thought I'd put together my Top 10 Xbox 360 games in terms of value for money... if I'd actually paid for any of them hehe. I've estimate the amount of game time spent on them between Stu and I as well as our thoughts about how good the game actually was to come up with the rankings. Now I'm looking for your contributions and I have three XBLA games to give away to the best three Top 10 I get in the comments section. I'll edit this to put what games they are later on (can't remember right now)

Pidgeo and Stu's Top 10 Best Value games for Xbox 360

Honourable Mention: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Crackdown, GRAW, GRAW2, Smackdown vs RAW 2007 and 2008 

10. Fight Night 3 (20hrs)

The campaign was short, and the bouts between mates even shorter as I'm not very good ("I AM GOOD"... Happy Gilmore rules) but due to the nature of boxing this is to be expected. Probably the first game that really showed what next-gen was all about... as Perfect Dark Zero sure as hell didn't!! Fight Night still gets a play on nights with adult beverages being consumed!! 

9. Gears of War (25hrs)

Yes the campaign was short but on Insane it was just awesome and we both are waiting for more later this year with the second installment. There is next gen and there is Gears of War. The PS3 wishes it could do something as nice as Gears (yes I know there is a game using the same engine but its not close to GoW) Good multiplayer added to the mayhem... but let's be honest Stu and I aren't that great at it!! Watching the elite play at WCG was a sight to behold. 

7. Puzzle Quest (ummm...)

Let's combine an RPG with a Tetris style puzzler.... a great way to ruin my productivity for three months!!

6. Call of Duty 2 (50hrs)

Superb. Just superb.

So many games try to do WWII but none are even close to COD2 on Veteran. Pure hardcore gaming at its finest. Stu and I still shudder at the Normandy landing scene. 

5. FIFA 07 (200hrs)

FIFA 06 was an abomination on 360, World Cup 06 was good but FIFA 07 got the most time of the three. It showed glimpses of greatness but due to the sheer amount of playtime it has to be on this list.

4. Halo 3 (100hrs)

It's the end of an era with more of the excellent multiplayer that made it a household name... who would have thought a certain Infinity Ward game would overshadow it on Live?!?! Still, we got some excellent value out of the Spartan helmet 

3. Oblivion (550hrs)

We keep asking ourselves.... when is the next Elder Scrolls game coming?? This is the epitome of what a WRPG should be which means some hate it, but those who enjoy what RPG's are all about loved this and lost similar amounts of time to it as we did.

2. Call of Duty 4 (750hrs)

Admittedly Stu accounts for about 700 of those and not because I dislike it at all. I've played through the campaign a number of times and think the multiplayer is glorious... Stu just plays it ALL the time!! Plus unless I'm playing with him, Barnzey and/or Atomic HellCat its not as much fun... because I suck!!  

1. FIFA 08 (Too bloody many)

Do I really need to explain this one? We're now 33-28 my way and most of those are 40 minute games. On top of that we've both played numerous managerial seasons.... bring on '09!! One quick question... what happened to the long shot control that was suppose to arrive in '08? Maybe I should be thankful considering Stu has Steven Gerrard.... for those who need a lesson of his greatness watch this clip.

Well there you have it. Get those lists in and I will announce winners on Friday.

The feedback here and on the forums to my last post has been nothing short of amazing. I want to thank everyone for posting and I am humbled by the response as there were many times of the last few months where I questioned my contribution to the community and in my job itself. Of course that was during a "low" but still the memory remained. Now I can see that I still achieved some good things, but even better for everyone is that we can all continue to get involved in some of the things I had a hand in like (Dark)LAN's, arcade and MP nights. I'd love to have a Civ 2 night before Civilization Revolution arrives in June so anyone who has the game and is keen for a game let me know. I'll try and organise an Undertow night in the next few weeks too.

I got asked to describe what Bipolar is to me and it is quite a deep question to answer, but I'm certainly up for the challenge. Bipolar to me is living a dichotomy of lives due to the opposite and extreme moods that swing between each other. One where I am withdrawn, and sullen. One where my mind is full of dark thoughts racing around and concentration one real tasks is non-existent. One where my energy levels are extremely low and it is hard to even get out of bed, like a constant fog of drowsiness and lethargy. The other extreme is almost fun as my energy levels are sky high so I can barely sleep and feel invincible. The centre of the universe is me during those times and whether at work or in a nightclub, everything is happening around my own universe. I feel like I can complete 100 tasks at once but unfortunately due to the extreme high my thoughts are scattered. The thrill of the moment leads to excessive spending, especially in bars. One time for example I bought eight bottles of Veuve champagne at nightclub prices as there were a few new ladies in our group and thought it was a great idea to have my Amex card over the bar. You don't want to know how much was spent that night!! Such reckless fiscal adventures lead to the downward spiral into a depressive mood as you don't have the high to keep the realities of life away.

That cycle between high and low can be days or weeks but it is extremely rare to feel "normal", at least in my experience anyway. The worst part is when a manic or high episode clashes with a depressive episode as I feel wired, even coiled like a high loaded spring, but feel dejected and low as well. These have only happened on rare ocassions but near misses to terrible consequences.

The positive news is that over the last week or so, beginning in the specialist clinic I was in I have felt normal and steady. My concentration has been the best in years and I have been able to focus on tasks and get things done in swift order. Hopefully this will continue with medication, healthy eating and loads of exercise which I have also jumped into. Rowing, weights and walking the dog have been a load of fun I must admit!

Which bring me to gaming. One thing that always made me feel just a little bit better during the downs was Xbox Live. More specifically the messages I got in my inbox as even though I didn't respond that often I still felt part of a community, part of a group with a common interest that was sharing this interest in a non-threatening way. Getting invited to games of say a Halo or Call of Duty 4 was always a little positive in the clouds of unhappiness at the time, so from personaly experience I think online gaming if done in moderation and the surrounding community can be a positive influence and contributor in life.

Things aren't so great on the FIFA front however. Stu has my measure on every statistic except the one that counts - the win-loss column  I will need to lift my game and fast if I am to stay in front however as he has the momentum currently. Check out the FIFA page for the updated stats. We've added an additional caveat to the battle as the winner now gets the team fan song blasted through the MAN ROOM. Stu of course enjoyed "You'll Never Walk Alone" immensely this evening but I cannot wait to have the worst version of "Glory Glory Man United" being played over the weekend... IF I can find some form.

Well its bedtime for me. Tomorrow I hope to have a Live chat with my good mate and JRPG uber-god tranceVib posted as we discuss RPG's past and present as well as anything else we decide to.

I can't stop playing these bloody Tower Defence games. One side of my family had a reunion at my parent's house in the Blue Mountains and I managed to spend half of it playing Onslaught!! Now I try my best to deliver a message that gaming nerds like myself aren't anti-social cretins but TD games really don't help with destroying that stereotype at all!!

Sagacious Tien commented on my last post that I should try out Desktop Tower Defence and stupidly I did. Saga you just made "The List"

It doesn't have the crazy graphics and loads of combos that Onslaught has, but it combines a good range of weapons and upgrades with the strategy of maze building. Another superb TD game which you can find HERE

The guys at MyGen have launched an awesome new tool that allows you to design your own gamercard for use on Facebook, MySpace, blogs, websites and the like. I have NO artistic ability whatsoever so I'm going to borrow one but there are hundreds of awesome ones to choose from. Head to http://gcdesigner.mygen.com.au to have a look for yourself! What an awesome tool!!!

Well that wasn't the best game of football I've ever seen but with an awesome crowd, loads of drama and a close result made for a great spectacle in the A-League Grand Final. I don't think we've heard the last of the last minute dramas either as while writing this, Fox Sports News has just reported that Mariners 'keeper Danny Vukovic has been charged with Violent Conduct - Striking an Official which carries a maximum penalty of a life ban. Plenty of drama to follow in the days ahead I think.

6th June 2008 is a day to mark down on your calendar right now if you're a strategy gamer, as 2K Games have announced that Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution will be launched in Australia and New Zealand that day. I know many people who are absolutely salivating over this game (myself included) so lets start the countdown with some multiplayer Civ II in the near future! You can get all four Civ PC games in the Civilization Chronicles box set at your local retailer, which is a must buy for anyone who enjoys strategy gaming.

I spent some more time getting the MAME Cave ready by building the PC and getting the table required. All I need it to pick up the CRT monitors during the week and we'll be ready to go. Look forward to the pics and video later in the week

16-4 in a game of football is a disgusting scoreline. It's even worse when it's against your brother-in-law and he's playing as Liverpool. On Saturday night my best mate SWOOOOGON came down to mine and Stu's place for some co-op gaming, BBBQ and drinking (we're 27, 27 and 29 so completely legal!!). After I got WOMPED and I mean WOMPED at Fight Night Round 3 the other two had some classic brawls that Stu somehow won 2 games to 1 which I still can't believe. I'm sure SWOOOOGON will be training hard for the rematch!!

Afterwards, Stu and I loaded up FIFA 08 to have our championship battle and just like Arsenal later that morning when they lost 4-0 to Man United in the FA Cup, I should not have turned up. It was one of those games where everything was off... timing on runs and tackles, shots and passes... everything!! It was the biggest scoreline and margin of victory in the history of the championship and very embarrasing indeed. Last night before watching WWE No Way Out on PPV we had a game and after going down 3-0 very early and thinking "here we go again", I got back some form and won 7-4.

At least my team didn't lose to BARNSLEY in the FA Cup Stu!!! Let's all start a Barnsley chant!! It was a weekend on amazing results in football as no-one could have predicted the 4-0 Man U/Arsenal result, Barnsley shouldn't really have beaten Liverpool, and what a crazy game the Newcastle Jets vs Queensland Roar was?!?! Three soft as penalties, lots of niggle and a blinder of a goal from Tarek Elrich made for one heart stopping ending. I'm glad the Jets won and will certainly watch the Grand Final.

The other main reason SWOOOOGON came down was to drop off his old entertainment unit for my tech cave. I've started Operation Overhaul for it so that I can have all my new and old school gaming set up for maximum enjoyment and ease of setup. This the plan and it's actually not too far from completion. I just need to acquire most of the MAME Cave parts and set up that part... plus clean out the piles of junk in there right now.

1.  Entertainment Unit
   1. 46in Samsung M8 LCD for the display
   2. Samsung DVD and Surround Sound unit for sound
   3. Xbox 360 Elite and HD-DVD drive
   4. Old School Consoles I actually use
      1. N64
      2. SNES
      3. NES
      4. MegaDrive II
      5. Saturn
      6. Dreamcast
      7. Master System II
   5. RCA Switch box to change source for old school
   6. Foxtel Digital STB
      
2. Bench
   1. Open 624 ADSL2+ modem with 4 port router
   2. Linksys ABG wireless router
   3. Hot Dog Machine
   4. Toasted Sandwich maker
   5. Bar Fridge underneath
   6. Charging hub for all portable devices
      
3. PC Hub
   1. The Beast
   2. Samsung 226BW LCD
   3. MS Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 for use on main TV
   4. MS Reclusa Keyboard
   5. MS SideWinder mouse
   6. Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition
      
4. MAME Cave
   1. 2 x 19in Dell CRT
   2. MAME PC with VGA splitter
   3. Xbox 360 Racing Wheel with PC adaptor
   4. TankStick controller (click here for details)
   5. 2 x USB Light Guns

So that is the plan! I can't wait to have the MAME Cave done with the TankStick and light guns all working so we can have some late night NBA Jam or Operation Wolf action!

Gears of War on Windows has been quite enjoyable so far, especially the amazing DX10 graphics and the additional achievements . I am a self-confessed FPS on PC n00b but I'm going along OK on Casual haha. I will definitely be up for some co-op over Live with the winners of the comp who are.....

TigerAUS because of his sledge on me @ DarkLAN was priceless... how's your Live account going anyway... MWHAHAHA
hergs13 for changing the binding of his mates controllers and....
TerrySpanks for his three simple things that are much better with company than solo.

Well done guys and to everyone who entered. I was really pleased to hear that local MP is alive and well, plus I think the message is loud and clear.... "organise some more LAN's and gaming events in the future Pidgeo".

Anyway, it's lunch time which means food, drink and more FreeCol.... damn you DarkArmada!!

Online gaming in all its forms has taken off astronomically over the last few years. I remember back to the days of playing Warcraft 1 by direct dialing my mate's modem (9600 BAUD!!) and thinking it was amazing, but I never imagined things like Xbox Live coming along. If I had I'd be much richer than I am now!!!

Back in those days, competitive and co-op gaming for the vast majority consisted of inviting mates over and playing together on the one TV and console or playing games like Stunts or Civ 2 and just swapping seats for each players turn. Ah the memories!!

What I am wondering is how many people still play local co-op or competitive games? Is it just easier now to play over Live than organise the mates to come around for a bash? Do you prefer the deeper competition that you get online compred to your neighbour, brother/sister or in my case gigantic headed brother-in-law? Or has Live and other online gaming just added to the experience without taking away from those local multiplayer experiences? Also, what games do you play local MP? Sports, driving, hack n' slash...

I have three copies of Gears of War on Games for Windows to give away to the three comments I like the best on the topic above. Don't forget that I need to authorise the comments before they appear so please be patient and resist the urge to double post hehe

Now to some other random thoughts and news

• I downloaded FreeCol that DarkArmada suggested and I love it! I didn't play nearly as much Colonization as the Civ games so this is almost a completely new gaming experience. What is really great though is seeing the original Home City that was enhanced so well as a feature of Age of Empires 3. No real surprise there as Bruce Shelley worked on both games I believe. DarkArmada once I have a few games under my belt we'll have to organise an online game.
  
• Speaking of open-source remakes of classic games, if any of you were fans of Chris Sawyer's masterpiece Transport Tycoon Deluxe, head to http://www.openttd.org/ to download the clone that fixes many of the bugs and adds a huge amount of customization to it. I set it up over the Xmas/NY break and had a blast! You should see the new airports you can build
  
• SimFarm rules! Did anyone else play or remember this little gem? Same with SimTower and its little known but superior sequel Yoot's Tower... classic gaming!!
  
• I thought my desktop had some grunt, but I now have a new target to try and build starting with the Intel D5400XS motherboard. It supports 2 x Intel QX9650 CPUs, 8Gb RAM, 4 x NVIDIA 8800 Ultras.... <drool>
  
• Catan AI on Hard cheats! I literally had 30 minutes where I could not build a single thing due to the AI ganging up on me and using the robber almost every go! I was 8-2-2-2 up but lost 10-8  I have beaten them a few times though hehe
  
• I finally finished Rainbow Six:Vegas campaign! If you don't own it already it's an absolute steal at RRP$49!! What an awesome game it still is and I am salivating at the thought of R6:V2 and killing the traitor!
  
• I'm picking Newcastle to win their way into the A-League grand final 2-0. If they do win, I will be avoiding the F3 on grand final day like the plague!!
  
• I still need to update the FIFA 08 page but it's now 26-22 my way with only four goal diffrence. Maybe Stu could take over from Rafa Benitez @ Liverpool haha
  
• Pidgeo is a dateless wonder for Valentine's Day hahaha.

I always look forward to reading your comments and thoughts so keep them coming in!!