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No, it's not because I'm a cheater - see, I need extra thumbs because pretty soon these ones on my hand at the moment are gonna be broken. "Oh no!" you cry, "has El Blokey got embroiled in a terrible web of lies and deceit involving North London gangsters who will sever his digits?". Well, close...OK, you're not close at all. Simply put: I'm going to be playing a lot of games for a few months. "So what!" you shout, rudely interrupting once more. Well, I think you should all join me in purchasing extra thumbs. If you have a PS2 that is. Because what's coming up is a bumper schedule of great games...backed up with a load of classics.
I've just finished sending an email to Sarah, the person selling me my next but one video game. I've just won an auction, and I'm paying her £20.77 for her ICO, complete with 5 artwork postcards. I must say I'm chuffed, (as my top bid was a little higher. Ain't eBay wonderful?) as I've heard nothing but nice things about ICO, and I'm getting it for half the price most shops are selling it for...and the limited edition, at that. I just finished a quick blast of Pro Evolution Soccer (playing the International Cup as England. Funnily enough, Seaman played a blinder and Heskey scored loads of goals.), and reminded myself that in eight days I'll be playing the sequel (unlike Ali, who's probably playing it now...I HATE YOU SO VERY MUCH). Then, I corrected myself. In eight days, I'll have the OPTION to play the sequel. It's got some real contenders...in fact, every week for about a month I've got games dropping at my doorstep. Tommorow TimeSplitters 2 should be delivered by Mr Postman, and that should keep my thumbs in check for a week (except for Sunday, when I'm going round a mate's for some 8-player Halo!). Of course, then ICO will be doing pretty much the same thing, so I'll have to give that one a bit of playing. Then, next week, Pro Evolution Soccer 2 hits, like I said. So, just with those three games I'd have a few months of gaming fun at least, not to mention PES2 and TS2 multiplayer. It'd be pretty diverse, too, with a fabulous football game, a fragulous first person shooter and a third person puzzle adventure artsy castle horn thing. My digits would never be bored, because whenever one of the three games got stale, I would switch discs (or change altogether, and watch The Office, series 1). Then comes November 1st, with NHL Hitz 2003. I love this game, and I've played the last one with three mates and let me tell you, it's dy-na-mi-tee-hee. Fast and furious, and like Pro Evolution only on ice and arcadey, with deeper modes and with fights. Another game, with yet another type of content, with another pace.
But that's all small fry compared to the Great White that we call the Eighth Of November. On that Friday, God willing, a very special package will drop through my letterbox (or be handed to me by Mr Postman after he very annoyingly rings my doorbell at the crack of dawn several times). For this is a Friday like no other...it is the UK release date of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I've seen the screenshots, watched the movies, and read the only existing hands on impression from IGN...and I can honestly say this is my most wanted next gen game. I haven't been hyped up about a game for a long time, probably not since Mario Tennis on the N64 (long story)...and it's so close, I can almost hear Lazlow on the rock radio station. An epic of a game, with tonnes of characters, weapons, missions, cars, bikes, boats and even helicopters. And it's only twenty two days from now. So TimeSplitters 2, ICO, Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and NHL Hitz 2003, new (to me, anyway) as they are, will be gathering dust as I shoot old ladies with AK-47s and chop up hotel staff with chainsaws.
And still, it's not over. November 15th is the release date for WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth, which could finally be the decent wrestler-em-up we've all been waiting for (but then, we say that each time, don't we?). With 60 playable characters, a proper story mode, yet more variations of the word 'exhibition' and a CAW mode that's somehow managed to get even more in-depth. So I'll have to dig out Vice City for at least a day to get all my panda-fuelled rage out (which will do nothing to help the thumbs situation)...and that's still not all, because then there's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 with Bob Burnquist, mini-games, no time limits and yet more tricks, combos and grid lines to master.
So, that's seven completely different games coming up for me to play. And then there's Jak and Daxter coming out on platinum, and Racthet and Clank coming up. And Sly Cooper. And The Getaway. And the new Tomb Raider.
Argh.
Make that two pairs of extra thumbs.
Thanks for reading.
-El Blokey
I've just finished sending an email to Sarah, the person selling me my next but one video game. I've just won an auction, and I'm paying her £20.77 for her ICO, complete with 5 artwork postcards. I must say I'm chuffed, (as my top bid was a little higher. Ain't eBay wonderful?) as I've heard nothing but nice things about ICO, and I'm getting it for half the price most shops are selling it for...and the limited edition, at that. I just finished a quick blast of Pro Evolution Soccer (playing the International Cup as England. Funnily enough, Seaman played a blinder and Heskey scored loads of goals.), and reminded myself that in eight days I'll be playing the sequel (unlike Ali, who's probably playing it now...I HATE YOU SO VERY MUCH). Then, I corrected myself. In eight days, I'll have the OPTION to play the sequel. It's got some real contenders...in fact, every week for about a month I've got games dropping at my doorstep. Tommorow TimeSplitters 2 should be delivered by Mr Postman, and that should keep my thumbs in check for a week (except for Sunday, when I'm going round a mate's for some 8-player Halo!). Of course, then ICO will be doing pretty much the same thing, so I'll have to give that one a bit of playing. Then, next week, Pro Evolution Soccer 2 hits, like I said. So, just with those three games I'd have a few months of gaming fun at least, not to mention PES2 and TS2 multiplayer. It'd be pretty diverse, too, with a fabulous football game, a fragulous first person shooter and a third person puzzle adventure artsy castle horn thing. My digits would never be bored, because whenever one of the three games got stale, I would switch discs (or change altogether, and watch The Office, series 1). Then comes November 1st, with NHL Hitz 2003. I love this game, and I've played the last one with three mates and let me tell you, it's dy-na-mi-tee-hee. Fast and furious, and like Pro Evolution only on ice and arcadey, with deeper modes and with fights. Another game, with yet another type of content, with another pace.
But that's all small fry compared to the Great White that we call the Eighth Of November. On that Friday, God willing, a very special package will drop through my letterbox (or be handed to me by Mr Postman after he very annoyingly rings my doorbell at the crack of dawn several times). For this is a Friday like no other...it is the UK release date of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I've seen the screenshots, watched the movies, and read the only existing hands on impression from IGN...and I can honestly say this is my most wanted next gen game. I haven't been hyped up about a game for a long time, probably not since Mario Tennis on the N64 (long story)...and it's so close, I can almost hear Lazlow on the rock radio station. An epic of a game, with tonnes of characters, weapons, missions, cars, bikes, boats and even helicopters. And it's only twenty two days from now. So TimeSplitters 2, ICO, Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and NHL Hitz 2003, new (to me, anyway) as they are, will be gathering dust as I shoot old ladies with AK-47s and chop up hotel staff with chainsaws.
And still, it's not over. November 15th is the release date for WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth, which could finally be the decent wrestler-em-up we've all been waiting for (but then, we say that each time, don't we?). With 60 playable characters, a proper story mode, yet more variations of the word 'exhibition' and a CAW mode that's somehow managed to get even more in-depth. So I'll have to dig out Vice City for at least a day to get all my panda-fuelled rage out (which will do nothing to help the thumbs situation)...and that's still not all, because then there's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 with Bob Burnquist, mini-games, no time limits and yet more tricks, combos and grid lines to master.
So, that's seven completely different games coming up for me to play. And then there's Jak and Daxter coming out on platinum, and Racthet and Clank coming up. And Sly Cooper. And The Getaway. And the new Tomb Raider.
Argh.
Make that two pairs of extra thumbs.
Thanks for reading.
-El Blokey
El blokey wrote:
> Not really. I think it'd be even cooler if they all came out on one
> day.
---
Nah, you wouldn't get to experience them all fully on the first day - at least if you get one every Friday then you have a chance to get quite far in the game before beginning a new one.
> Not really. I think it'd be even cooler if they all came out on one
> day.
---
Nah, you wouldn't get to experience them all fully on the first day - at least if you get one every Friday then you have a chance to get quite far in the game before beginning a new one.
Not really. I think it'd be even cooler if they all came out on one day.
El blokey wrote:
> I'm reading the TimeSplitters 2 manual as we speak...thanks SR,
> delivery on launch day. You rock!
---
And next Friday you'll have Pro Evolution 2.
And the Friday after that you'll have Tony Hawk's 4!
And the next Friday after that you'll have SmackDown 4!!!
I can easily see Friday becoming your favourite day of the week... :-D
Did you choose the games so that they'd come in a pattern like that deliberately or something? :-D
> I'm reading the TimeSplitters 2 manual as we speak...thanks SR,
> delivery on launch day. You rock!
---
And next Friday you'll have Pro Evolution 2.
And the Friday after that you'll have Tony Hawk's 4!
And the next Friday after that you'll have SmackDown 4!!!
I can easily see Friday becoming your favourite day of the week... :-D
Did you choose the games so that they'd come in a pattern like that deliberately or something? :-D
Jonman wrote:
> One of my friend's grandfathers actually had an extra pair of thumbs.
!!!
I'm reading the TimeSplitters 2 manual as we speak...thanks SR, delivery on launch day. You rock!
> One of my friend's grandfathers actually had an extra pair of thumbs.
!!!
I'm reading the TimeSplitters 2 manual as we speak...thanks SR, delivery on launch day. You rock!
Good stuff, as ever, Blokey!
I can see what you mean about there being so many games that are essential purchases this Christmas. TimeSplitters 2, Pro Evo 2, Tony Hawk's 4, WWE SmackDown 4, GTA: Vice City and Burnout 2 (out already, mind) to name a few, and this is just on PS2. We have great GC titles which I must buy too, such as Mario Party 4, Super Monkey Ball 2, TimeSplitters 2 (again) Metroid Prime, Starfox Adventures and Mario Sunshine (even though its out already). I'm either going to need a large flourish of GADs or a National Lotto win to clear this all up, and I don't see either coming.
This large rush of top-quality games can't be really described as good, because the less fortunate of us will be having to put our hard-earned cash towards other things, and we may not get to witness some of the joys that this Christmas' game schedule holds for us.
I'll probably never get my hands on all the games I mentioned above, which are all games I really really need to get, and I'll be very disappointed at that. I'm getting Pro Evo 2, SmackDown 4 and GTA: Vice City on PS2 definitely and probably TimeSplitters 2, Mario Party 4 and Starfox Adventures on GC, if I'm lucky. I'd better be. I'll cry if I don't get 3 on each console. Seriously.
Once again, I have to point out that this is a good post.
I can see what you mean about there being so many games that are essential purchases this Christmas. TimeSplitters 2, Pro Evo 2, Tony Hawk's 4, WWE SmackDown 4, GTA: Vice City and Burnout 2 (out already, mind) to name a few, and this is just on PS2. We have great GC titles which I must buy too, such as Mario Party 4, Super Monkey Ball 2, TimeSplitters 2 (again) Metroid Prime, Starfox Adventures and Mario Sunshine (even though its out already). I'm either going to need a large flourish of GADs or a National Lotto win to clear this all up, and I don't see either coming.
This large rush of top-quality games can't be really described as good, because the less fortunate of us will be having to put our hard-earned cash towards other things, and we may not get to witness some of the joys that this Christmas' game schedule holds for us.
I'll probably never get my hands on all the games I mentioned above, which are all games I really really need to get, and I'll be very disappointed at that. I'm getting Pro Evo 2, SmackDown 4 and GTA: Vice City on PS2 definitely and probably TimeSplitters 2, Mario Party 4 and Starfox Adventures on GC, if I'm lucky. I'd better be. I'll cry if I don't get 3 on each console. Seriously.
Once again, I have to point out that this is a good post.
One of my friend's grandfathers actually had an extra pair of thumbs. Yes, two thumbs on each hand! But, alas, he was born a couple of generations early, and instead of becoming a world beating Tekken player, they severed his extra digits to save him getting ridiculed at school.
And another true story, I used to play squash with a giuy with two thumbs on one hand. Alas for him too, it was his left hand. Right handed extra thumbs are obviously better for multi-combo action.
This world's a ker-azy place.
And another true story, I used to play squash with a giuy with two thumbs on one hand. Alas for him too, it was his left hand. Right handed extra thumbs are obviously better for multi-combo action.
This world's a ker-azy place.
I can certainly see where you're coming from - for a student earning next to nothing, this rush of high-quality games isn't really a welcome thing.
Add to the list you made, Burnout 2: Point of Impact, Hitman 2, Rugby (Bit anchient now but i need to play it) James Bond:Nightfire and others.
Good post
Add to the list you made, Burnout 2: Point of Impact, Hitman 2, Rugby (Bit anchient now but i need to play it) James Bond:Nightfire and others.
Good post
No, it's not because I'm a cheater - see, I need extra thumbs because pretty soon these ones on my hand at the moment are gonna be broken. "Oh no!" you cry, "has El Blokey got embroiled in a terrible web of lies and deceit involving North London gangsters who will sever his digits?". Well, close...OK, you're not close at all. Simply put: I'm going to be playing a lot of games for a few months. "So what!" you shout, rudely interrupting once more. Well, I think you should all join me in purchasing extra thumbs. If you have a PS2 that is. Because what's coming up is a bumper schedule of great games...backed up with a load of classics.
I've just finished sending an email to Sarah, the person selling me my next but one video game. I've just won an auction, and I'm paying her £20.77 for her ICO, complete with 5 artwork postcards. I must say I'm chuffed, (as my top bid was a little higher. Ain't eBay wonderful?) as I've heard nothing but nice things about ICO, and I'm getting it for half the price most shops are selling it for...and the limited edition, at that. I just finished a quick blast of Pro Evolution Soccer (playing the International Cup as England. Funnily enough, Seaman played a blinder and Heskey scored loads of goals.), and reminded myself that in eight days I'll be playing the sequel (unlike Ali, who's probably playing it now...I HATE YOU SO VERY MUCH). Then, I corrected myself. In eight days, I'll have the OPTION to play the sequel. It's got some real contenders...in fact, every week for about a month I've got games dropping at my doorstep. Tommorow TimeSplitters 2 should be delivered by Mr Postman, and that should keep my thumbs in check for a week (except for Sunday, when I'm going round a mate's for some 8-player Halo!). Of course, then ICO will be doing pretty much the same thing, so I'll have to give that one a bit of playing. Then, next week, Pro Evolution Soccer 2 hits, like I said. So, just with those three games I'd have a few months of gaming fun at least, not to mention PES2 and TS2 multiplayer. It'd be pretty diverse, too, with a fabulous football game, a fragulous first person shooter and a third person puzzle adventure artsy castle horn thing. My digits would never be bored, because whenever one of the three games got stale, I would switch discs (or change altogether, and watch The Office, series 1). Then comes November 1st, with NHL Hitz 2003. I love this game, and I've played the last one with three mates and let me tell you, it's dy-na-mi-tee-hee. Fast and furious, and like Pro Evolution only on ice and arcadey, with deeper modes and with fights. Another game, with yet another type of content, with another pace.
But that's all small fry compared to the Great White that we call the Eighth Of November. On that Friday, God willing, a very special package will drop through my letterbox (or be handed to me by Mr Postman after he very annoyingly rings my doorbell at the crack of dawn several times). For this is a Friday like no other...it is the UK release date of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I've seen the screenshots, watched the movies, and read the only existing hands on impression from IGN...and I can honestly say this is my most wanted next gen game. I haven't been hyped up about a game for a long time, probably not since Mario Tennis on the N64 (long story)...and it's so close, I can almost hear Lazlow on the rock radio station. An epic of a game, with tonnes of characters, weapons, missions, cars, bikes, boats and even helicopters. And it's only twenty two days from now. So TimeSplitters 2, ICO, Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and NHL Hitz 2003, new (to me, anyway) as they are, will be gathering dust as I shoot old ladies with AK-47s and chop up hotel staff with chainsaws.
And still, it's not over. November 15th is the release date for WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth, which could finally be the decent wrestler-em-up we've all been waiting for (but then, we say that each time, don't we?). With 60 playable characters, a proper story mode, yet more variations of the word 'exhibition' and a CAW mode that's somehow managed to get even more in-depth. So I'll have to dig out Vice City for at least a day to get all my panda-fuelled rage out (which will do nothing to help the thumbs situation)...and that's still not all, because then there's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 with Bob Burnquist, mini-games, no time limits and yet more tricks, combos and grid lines to master.
So, that's seven completely different games coming up for me to play. And then there's Jak and Daxter coming out on platinum, and Racthet and Clank coming up. And Sly Cooper. And The Getaway. And the new Tomb Raider.
Argh.
Make that two pairs of extra thumbs.
Thanks for reading.
-El Blokey
I've just finished sending an email to Sarah, the person selling me my next but one video game. I've just won an auction, and I'm paying her £20.77 for her ICO, complete with 5 artwork postcards. I must say I'm chuffed, (as my top bid was a little higher. Ain't eBay wonderful?) as I've heard nothing but nice things about ICO, and I'm getting it for half the price most shops are selling it for...and the limited edition, at that. I just finished a quick blast of Pro Evolution Soccer (playing the International Cup as England. Funnily enough, Seaman played a blinder and Heskey scored loads of goals.), and reminded myself that in eight days I'll be playing the sequel (unlike Ali, who's probably playing it now...I HATE YOU SO VERY MUCH). Then, I corrected myself. In eight days, I'll have the OPTION to play the sequel. It's got some real contenders...in fact, every week for about a month I've got games dropping at my doorstep. Tommorow TimeSplitters 2 should be delivered by Mr Postman, and that should keep my thumbs in check for a week (except for Sunday, when I'm going round a mate's for some 8-player Halo!). Of course, then ICO will be doing pretty much the same thing, so I'll have to give that one a bit of playing. Then, next week, Pro Evolution Soccer 2 hits, like I said. So, just with those three games I'd have a few months of gaming fun at least, not to mention PES2 and TS2 multiplayer. It'd be pretty diverse, too, with a fabulous football game, a fragulous first person shooter and a third person puzzle adventure artsy castle horn thing. My digits would never be bored, because whenever one of the three games got stale, I would switch discs (or change altogether, and watch The Office, series 1). Then comes November 1st, with NHL Hitz 2003. I love this game, and I've played the last one with three mates and let me tell you, it's dy-na-mi-tee-hee. Fast and furious, and like Pro Evolution only on ice and arcadey, with deeper modes and with fights. Another game, with yet another type of content, with another pace.
But that's all small fry compared to the Great White that we call the Eighth Of November. On that Friday, God willing, a very special package will drop through my letterbox (or be handed to me by Mr Postman after he very annoyingly rings my doorbell at the crack of dawn several times). For this is a Friday like no other...it is the UK release date of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I've seen the screenshots, watched the movies, and read the only existing hands on impression from IGN...and I can honestly say this is my most wanted next gen game. I haven't been hyped up about a game for a long time, probably not since Mario Tennis on the N64 (long story)...and it's so close, I can almost hear Lazlow on the rock radio station. An epic of a game, with tonnes of characters, weapons, missions, cars, bikes, boats and even helicopters. And it's only twenty two days from now. So TimeSplitters 2, ICO, Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and NHL Hitz 2003, new (to me, anyway) as they are, will be gathering dust as I shoot old ladies with AK-47s and chop up hotel staff with chainsaws.
And still, it's not over. November 15th is the release date for WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth, which could finally be the decent wrestler-em-up we've all been waiting for (but then, we say that each time, don't we?). With 60 playable characters, a proper story mode, yet more variations of the word 'exhibition' and a CAW mode that's somehow managed to get even more in-depth. So I'll have to dig out Vice City for at least a day to get all my panda-fuelled rage out (which will do nothing to help the thumbs situation)...and that's still not all, because then there's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 with Bob Burnquist, mini-games, no time limits and yet more tricks, combos and grid lines to master.
So, that's seven completely different games coming up for me to play. And then there's Jak and Daxter coming out on platinum, and Racthet and Clank coming up. And Sly Cooper. And The Getaway. And the new Tomb Raider.
Argh.
Make that two pairs of extra thumbs.
Thanks for reading.
-El Blokey