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05 January 2008 2008
In my first post of 2007 I listed some resolutions and told you to come back in a year to find out how I got on. So let’s compare how I actually did with how I thought I’d do...
(If you want to see how I’m doing, check out my profile on the Guitar Hero Community website. And if you’ve got Guitar Hero on the Wii and fancy challenging me, let me know your friend code.)
- Run the Sheffield Half Marathon – 0% (down from 99%)
- Try to look smarter at work – 75% (down from 95%)
- Eat evening meals at the table – 50% (down from 90%)
- Play guitar for at least one hour every week – 10% (down from 85%)
- Give blood more regularly – 100% (up from 80%)
- Only go on my PC if I’ve got something I actually need to do – 75% (up from 50%)
- Play my trumpet every once in a while – 0% (down from 30%)
- Get an allotment to grow my own vegetables – 0% (down from 20%)
- Volunteer my services to the local amateur theatrical society – 0% (down from 10%)
- Come up with an idea for a website that will make me rich – 0% (down from 1%)
- Watch more live bands – 100% (up from 75%)
(If you want to see how I’m doing, check out my profile on the Guitar Hero Community website. And if you’ve got Guitar Hero on the Wii and fancy challenging me, let me know your friend code.)
24 July 2007 Status Update
Things have been a bit slack on this blog recently. To be honest, I’d almost forgotten I even had a blog until I read this status update on Facebook around a week ago:
For those who haven’t been reading my status updates on Facebook, here’s a summary of what I’ve been doing since my last post:Christian is thinking that people should be updating their blogs rather than concentrating on Facebook.
Tony is happy with the new TV he bought, which is like this but the 32” version.
Tony is loving playing Raving Rabbids on the Wii.
Tony is liking Black Rebel Motorcycle Club after going to their gig at the Leadmill.
Tony is dry after getting soaked while watching the athletics Grand Prix at Don Valley.
Tony is slightly better at golf after playing in the SDL Open 2007.
Tony is watching quite a bit of Big Brother.
Tony is enjoying the BBC series of Jekyll.
Tony is going to watch Arctic Monkeys, Little Man Tate, The Kooks, Editors, Ash, The Pigeon Detectives and Kaiser Chiefs between now and the end of the year.
Tony is referring to himself in the third person all the time because of Facebook!!!
15 May 2007 Zelda Fishing Task on the Wii
One of the games I bought for my Wii was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I figured it would be a good game to try out some of the different capabilities of the Wii controllers.
Last Saturday, still hungover from the night before, I decided to give it a go. Three hours later, I was still stuck on the fishing task. No matter how hard I tried to think like a 12 year old (the game’s rating is 12+) I just couldn’t yank that fish out of the water – and that’s when I managed to hook one! Aimlessly dangling a pretend fishing rod in a pretend fishing pond wasn’t what I’d bought a Wii for!
The following morning we had a visit from the elusive blog commenter known as “S Crayon” who wanted to see what the Wii was like. Within a couple of minutes, he had FISH ON! flashing up on the screen. A few more minutes later and he couldn’t stop catching fish! I guess this means he has a lower mental age than me or something. How else could he have done it?
Anyway, I’m guessing there may be other Wii owners out there who are struggling with this task (surely it can’t be just me, can it?) so here’s what you need to do:
Having never been fishing, I clearly had no idea what I was doing. I wonder if I’d have the same problem with Red Steel since I’ve never had to save anyone from being kidnapped by Japanese mobsters either...
Last Saturday, still hungover from the night before, I decided to give it a go. Three hours later, I was still stuck on the fishing task. No matter how hard I tried to think like a 12 year old (the game’s rating is 12+) I just couldn’t yank that fish out of the water – and that’s when I managed to hook one! Aimlessly dangling a pretend fishing rod in a pretend fishing pond wasn’t what I’d bought a Wii for!
The following morning we had a visit from the elusive blog commenter known as “S Crayon” who wanted to see what the Wii was like. Within a couple of minutes, he had FISH ON! flashing up on the screen. A few more minutes later and he couldn’t stop catching fish! I guess this means he has a lower mental age than me or something. How else could he have done it?
Anyway, I’m guessing there may be other Wii owners out there who are struggling with this task (surely it can’t be just me, can it?) so here’s what you need to do:
- Cast your line into the pond
- Dangle it around, bobbing the float on top of the water
- When you see that the line is moving, pull your controller up and leave it up
- If you don’t get a bite within a minute or two, try again
Having never been fishing, I clearly had no idea what I was doing. I wonder if I’d have the same problem with Red Steel since I’ve never had to save anyone from being kidnapped by Japanese mobsters either...
14 May 2007 We Wii? Oui!
Ah yes... I forgot to tell you all that I’m now the proud owner of a stupidly named Nintendo Wii.
A few weeks ago, this article dropped into Google Reader confirming that Guitar Hero III would be available for the Wii later this year. The mention of downloadable tracks and online play immediately sold the console to me! I’d already decided a while back that I needed a new gadget but, like many others, I didn’t fancy spending £425 on a PS3, so the Wii was now the obvious choice. In fact, I actually had some change left over after I sensibly sold my Xbox and PSP since I’d not played on either for months. (I’d also heard a rumour that Sony was going to drop the list price for PSPs soon so decided to get rid of mine sooner rather than later while it was still worth more than a tenner...)
However, little did I know how difficult it was to actually find a Wii to buy! Luckily for me, I know people. And we all know that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. So when an Argos store in Hull got two delivered, one of them had my name on it!
What’s so good about the Wii?
I guess the controller’s the obvious thing to mention. Waving your arms around not only makes games more interesting, but it helps to keep you fit and seems to amuse anyone who might be watching you through your lounge window too. Wii Sports and Wii Play are both ideal games for learning how to use the remote in different ways. The graphics might not be breathtaking but who really cares? It’s backwards compatible with the Nintendo GameCube (not that it matters to me) and you can also buy points to download old NES, SNES, N64, Sega Mega Drive and PC games for it. If that’s not enough, you can also browse the Internet (the Opera-powered Internet Channel software is free at the moment) and the Google Reader team have even launched an interface especially for the Wii!
And there’s more... If any of your friends have a Wii, you can add their Wii number to your contacts and watch their Mii mingle with yours. Since Christian managed to find a Wii, we’ve now got Mr and Mrs Briddon wandering around our TV screen in the Mii Parade.
Seriously, geeks have never had so much fun!
[Image from Wii.Nintendo.com.]
A few weeks ago, this article dropped into Google Reader confirming that Guitar Hero III would be available for the Wii later this year. The mention of downloadable tracks and online play immediately sold the console to me! I’d already decided a while back that I needed a new gadget but, like many others, I didn’t fancy spending £425 on a PS3, so the Wii was now the obvious choice. In fact, I actually had some change left over after I sensibly sold my Xbox and PSP since I’d not played on either for months. (I’d also heard a rumour that Sony was going to drop the list price for PSPs soon so decided to get rid of mine sooner rather than later while it was still worth more than a tenner...)
However, little did I know how difficult it was to actually find a Wii to buy! Luckily for me, I know people. And we all know that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. So when an Argos store in Hull got two delivered, one of them had my name on it!
What’s so good about the Wii?
I guess the controller’s the obvious thing to mention. Waving your arms around not only makes games more interesting, but it helps to keep you fit and seems to amuse anyone who might be watching you through your lounge window too. Wii Sports and Wii Play are both ideal games for learning how to use the remote in different ways. The graphics might not be breathtaking but who really cares? It’s backwards compatible with the Nintendo GameCube (not that it matters to me) and you can also buy points to download old NES, SNES, N64, Sega Mega Drive and PC games for it. If that’s not enough, you can also browse the Internet (the Opera-powered Internet Channel software is free at the moment) and the Google Reader team have even launched an interface especially for the Wii!And there’s more... If any of your friends have a Wii, you can add their Wii number to your contacts and watch their Mii mingle with yours. Since Christian managed to find a Wii, we’ve now got Mr and Mrs Briddon wandering around our TV screen in the Mii Parade.
Seriously, geeks have never had so much fun!
[Image from Wii.Nintendo.com.]