Perfect timing for an expose on the banking industry. Of course this book mainly focuses on investment banking but the principal of bankers greed runs through this book like erm.. blood through veins. Anderson claims it's a work of fiction but it's obviously based on his own experience. He works his way up the greasy pole utilizing only his charm and resilient liver.
I'd recommend it to anyone wondering why the dreaded credit crunch is biting so deeply.
Thursday 26 February 2009
Tuesday 24 February 2009
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was one of my favourite thrillers of last year so I've been eargely awaiting the sequel. So much so that I made one of my now rare hardback purchases.
The new novel picks up a year after events ended in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and basically carrys directly on. However where the first novel was framed firmly within an overall whodunnit (all be it spiced up on the detection front by the large amount of time that had elapsed between the crime and the events in the novel) the new book, at least in the first half, lacks direction. It's like a procession of events.. Chunks of which aren't really connected to the main thrust of the narritive.
However the characters that Larsson has created are still interesting and I enjoyed spending time in their company. Fortunately the novel picks up about halfway through and then romps through to a thrilling climax once again leaving me highly anticipating the third book in the Millenium trilogy.
On a side note the translation from the native swedish is one of the best I've read.
The new novel picks up a year after events ended in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and basically carrys directly on. However where the first novel was framed firmly within an overall whodunnit (all be it spiced up on the detection front by the large amount of time that had elapsed between the crime and the events in the novel) the new book, at least in the first half, lacks direction. It's like a procession of events.. Chunks of which aren't really connected to the main thrust of the narritive.
However the characters that Larsson has created are still interesting and I enjoyed spending time in their company. Fortunately the novel picks up about halfway through and then romps through to a thrilling climax once again leaving me highly anticipating the third book in the Millenium trilogy.
On a side note the translation from the native swedish is one of the best I've read.
Recession Busting!
Actually it's got nothing to do with the dreaded credit crunch. I have decided however, in the spirit of one of Nish's experiements, not to buy any new game during the month of March (For the purpose of this experiment I'll be defining new as 'new to me' so no second hand games either).
I've currently got Race Pro on the go along with Fable 2 that I've barely scratched the surface of along with an untouched copy of Pure and numerous other games that I could do with finishing off (Hello Assassin's Creed lurking on the back of the shelf there with just the last mission left to do).
There'll be no DLC either so Lara and The Lost and the Damned will have to wait until at least April too. As it happens I'm not fussed with Resident Evil 5 and while I'm intrigued by Bayonetta no doubt it'll be in bargain bins soon enough.
So there's the plan. I guess I wont be darkening Games stores for a while..
I've currently got Race Pro on the go along with Fable 2 that I've barely scratched the surface of along with an untouched copy of Pure and numerous other games that I could do with finishing off (Hello Assassin's Creed lurking on the back of the shelf there with just the last mission left to do).
There'll be no DLC either so Lara and The Lost and the Damned will have to wait until at least April too. As it happens I'm not fussed with Resident Evil 5 and while I'm intrigued by Bayonetta no doubt it'll be in bargain bins soon enough.
So there's the plan. I guess I wont be darkening Games stores for a while..
Monday 23 February 2009
First Look: Race Pro
There's an episode of Top Gear in which Richard 'The Hamster' Hammond reviews the Porsche 911 GT3. The GT3 is a 911 stripped of weight and creature comforts. As Hammond explains "It comes with less so it can give you so much more". He then goes on to list all the things you might want from a car that the GT3 doesn't have.
This suitably motoring related anecdote brings us on to Race Pro from hardcore PC developer SimBin. Want a racing game with state of the art graphics? Buy another game. Want a pretty front end with exciting menus? Buy another game. Want a range of licensed street parts to modify your ride? Buy another game. Want amazing crashes with deformable cars? Buy another game.. SimBins game comes with less than the current norm in the genre so it can give you so much more.. Oh and how much more.
It's all about the driving. It's you and your chosen car against the track and the prize is your life. There is a selection of driver aids to ease you in should you so choose. In truth you don't need them (or at least you don't in the selection of cars I've driven so far). There's so much feel and feedback from the car and track that you can tell what the cars doing. Occasionally of course you can feel it a touch to late as your understeer off across a sand trap or you get a touch enthusiastic on the accelator of your Caterham and the back swaps ends with the front but it feels fantastic.
A couple of complaints though, When you restart a race or qualifying session it has to reload and then you have to press 'A' three times to get back to the action.. Which can be annoying when you bin it on the first corner. A practice option would be nice within a career mode tournament cos occasionally it throws in a track you haven't driven before.
This suitably motoring related anecdote brings us on to Race Pro from hardcore PC developer SimBin. Want a racing game with state of the art graphics? Buy another game. Want a pretty front end with exciting menus? Buy another game. Want a range of licensed street parts to modify your ride? Buy another game. Want amazing crashes with deformable cars? Buy another game.. SimBins game comes with less than the current norm in the genre so it can give you so much more.. Oh and how much more.
It's all about the driving. It's you and your chosen car against the track and the prize is your life. There is a selection of driver aids to ease you in should you so choose. In truth you don't need them (or at least you don't in the selection of cars I've driven so far). There's so much feel and feedback from the car and track that you can tell what the cars doing. Occasionally of course you can feel it a touch to late as your understeer off across a sand trap or you get a touch enthusiastic on the accelator of your Caterham and the back swaps ends with the front but it feels fantastic.
A couple of complaints though, When you restart a race or qualifying session it has to reload and then you have to press 'A' three times to get back to the action.. Which can be annoying when you bin it on the first corner. A practice option would be nice within a career mode tournament cos occasionally it throws in a track you haven't driven before.
Friday 20 February 2009
Game - The Shop.
I'm getting increasingly annoyed at the GAME chain. The insistance on Bod's asking me if I want any help is getting stupid. In my local GAME I was asked, with in the same visit, four times if I wanted any help. Twice by the same guy. What makes it worse is that on the rare occassion when I do want some help they invariably don't know the answer seeing as I've probably forgotten more about gaming then they'll ever know.
However todays exploits at the till have finally forced finger to keyboard. I wanted to purchase Race Pro which was released today. I also wanted to trade in NFS:U on PSP. Which I presented with my purchase. Firstly despite being a new title they weren't any copies behind the counter so I had to wait while he went 'out the back'. Then he insisted on dealing with my trade in now. Firstly scanning it and checking that the pre-offered £10 was acceptable (It was such a steaming turd of a game I'd of paid him to take it off my hands) then he wanted my first initial. Now normally they scan the game in, take the reward card, scan the part exchange, deduct the amount and you pay the balance.. But not today.
He couldn't take my reward card apparently. I'd have to give him all the information manually. Then he put the £10 store credit on to a gift card. Then he rang up my purchase. At this point he was now able to accept my Reward Card. He then asked me if I wanted to use my £10 store credit. Funnily enough I did. Did I want him to discard the gift card he'd insisted on using? Well I didn't want it in the first place so yes I did. I pay the balance. Accept my game and get told that when I've finished with it I can trade it in along with any other unwanted games. Yes. I understand the trading in policiy as I demonstrated when I just traded in an unwanted game.. But thanks.
It's no wonder there's always a huge queue. I'm quite tempted to write to the management and explain how, not only enviromentally unfriendly the waste of a gift card was, but how retarded the whole operation was. I'd go somewhere else but since Woolies closed down I've not a huge amount of choice.
However todays exploits at the till have finally forced finger to keyboard. I wanted to purchase Race Pro which was released today. I also wanted to trade in NFS:U on PSP. Which I presented with my purchase. Firstly despite being a new title they weren't any copies behind the counter so I had to wait while he went 'out the back'. Then he insisted on dealing with my trade in now. Firstly scanning it and checking that the pre-offered £10 was acceptable (It was such a steaming turd of a game I'd of paid him to take it off my hands) then he wanted my first initial. Now normally they scan the game in, take the reward card, scan the part exchange, deduct the amount and you pay the balance.. But not today.
He couldn't take my reward card apparently. I'd have to give him all the information manually. Then he put the £10 store credit on to a gift card. Then he rang up my purchase. At this point he was now able to accept my Reward Card. He then asked me if I wanted to use my £10 store credit. Funnily enough I did. Did I want him to discard the gift card he'd insisted on using? Well I didn't want it in the first place so yes I did. I pay the balance. Accept my game and get told that when I've finished with it I can trade it in along with any other unwanted games. Yes. I understand the trading in policiy as I demonstrated when I just traded in an unwanted game.. But thanks.
It's no wonder there's always a huge queue. I'm quite tempted to write to the management and explain how, not only enviromentally unfriendly the waste of a gift card was, but how retarded the whole operation was. I'd go somewhere else but since Woolies closed down I've not a huge amount of choice.
Wednesday 18 February 2009
The "Complete" List
Resistance 2
Mirror's Edge
Quantum of Solace
House of the Dead: Overkill - Story & Directors Cut
I've already said a lot about this so I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Gotta Wii? Get this. It's the most fun I've had with it. I NEED to get a mate round for some two player action (although I've read over at the EDGE forum that it can cause technical difficulties). It's the game that keeps on giving. FUN FUN FUN!
Mirror's Edge
Quantum of Solace
House of the Dead: Overkill - Story & Directors Cut
I've already said a lot about this so I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Gotta Wii? Get this. It's the most fun I've had with it. I NEED to get a mate round for some two player action (although I've read over at the EDGE forum that it can cause technical difficulties). It's the game that keeps on giving. FUN FUN FUN!
It's not quite in a carrier bag just yet.
So my new Wii composite cables arrived today and after a little bit of fiddling around with the TV and the Wii settings I'm happy to report a much improved picture on my Sony Bravia HD TV.
I've plugged my new 360 (which I have to say is an awful lot quieter than the old one) in to the HDMI slot on the TV as it was the former user of the composite slot.
As the TV is a couple of years old it only has one HDMI slot so for the time being that leaves the poor old and least played PS3 not even plugged into the telly.. An unthinkable event for a Sony machine not to be plugged into the TV a few years ago but that's the way the digital cookie crumbles.
It's not quite suffered the indignity of Nish's emo 360 and been stuffed into a a carrier bag but if it stays unplugged for long.. who knows..
I've plugged my new 360 (which I have to say is an awful lot quieter than the old one) in to the HDMI slot on the TV as it was the former user of the composite slot.
As the TV is a couple of years old it only has one HDMI slot so for the time being that leaves the poor old and least played PS3 not even plugged into the telly.. An unthinkable event for a Sony machine not to be plugged into the TV a few years ago but that's the way the digital cookie crumbles.
It's not quite suffered the indignity of Nish's emo 360 and been stuffed into a a carrier bag but if it stays unplugged for long.. who knows..
Saturday 14 February 2009
First Look: House of the Dead: Overkill.
I'm not quite sure why I got so excited about this... All the reviews seemed positive and it sounded like a lot of fun but I've never played a House of the Dead game before and I haven't bought a lightgun game since Virtua Cop on Saturn with it's chunky blue pistol. However excited I was and so yesterday I left Game with a limited edition copy.
It's obvious from the very first moment that it's been a labour of love. From the 70's style cinema presentation (For those of us of a certain age it brings a warm glow before you've even excersised your trigger finger) to the deep booming voice over guy it's the little touches that help set the atmosphere. The very first thing you see is the dictionary definition of the word 'Overkill' and it's perhaps at that moment you get an idea of just how over the top the game is going to be.
I'm going to invest in some new video leads for my Wii as it doesn't look it's best on my HD tv through the standard leads (I noticed that my friend get's superior results with his on his old CRT TV) but it's another Wii game where the art direction goes along way for making up for the Wii's lack of processing power. It's got a sort of grainy, grimey filter that looks both modern and yet authentically horror-ish at the same time.
Once you've started the game it's obvious that Political Correctness is going to be nowhere to be seen. Each Chapter is bookended by a cut scene featuring the classic buddy combination of mismatched cops forced together and then swearing like troopers.
Mainly though it's about blowing Zombies away and it does it really well. The Wii-mote works perfectly and the action is fast and furious with the camera zipping around as foes come at your from all angles. There's plenty of bonuses scattered around to up your score but it'll take a few plays to get them all I think. It's got a cracking sytem where there are infinite continues but each one halves your score so I never got stuck but I'll need to improve if I'm going to afford some of the better guns.
The gun shop can be visited after each round and guns can either be upgraded or new guns purchased to help you on your way.
Overall it's an absolute blast of fun and entertainment.. How long lived it'll be only time, and of course Blog: By Bob, will tell.
It's obvious from the very first moment that it's been a labour of love. From the 70's style cinema presentation (For those of us of a certain age it brings a warm glow before you've even excersised your trigger finger) to the deep booming voice over guy it's the little touches that help set the atmosphere. The very first thing you see is the dictionary definition of the word 'Overkill' and it's perhaps at that moment you get an idea of just how over the top the game is going to be.
I'm going to invest in some new video leads for my Wii as it doesn't look it's best on my HD tv through the standard leads (I noticed that my friend get's superior results with his on his old CRT TV) but it's another Wii game where the art direction goes along way for making up for the Wii's lack of processing power. It's got a sort of grainy, grimey filter that looks both modern and yet authentically horror-ish at the same time.
Once you've started the game it's obvious that Political Correctness is going to be nowhere to be seen. Each Chapter is bookended by a cut scene featuring the classic buddy combination of mismatched cops forced together and then swearing like troopers.
Mainly though it's about blowing Zombies away and it does it really well. The Wii-mote works perfectly and the action is fast and furious with the camera zipping around as foes come at your from all angles. There's plenty of bonuses scattered around to up your score but it'll take a few plays to get them all I think. It's got a cracking sytem where there are infinite continues but each one halves your score so I never got stuck but I'll need to improve if I'm going to afford some of the better guns.
The gun shop can be visited after each round and guns can either be upgraded or new guns purchased to help you on your way.
Overall it's an absolute blast of fun and entertainment.. How long lived it'll be only time, and of course Blog: By Bob, will tell.
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