Bah!!!

Having to work the day after Thanksgiving really sucks.

Batman Arkham City PC vs Rage

What we have here are recent releases of two games that are both console ports to PC. One from ID software a company synonymous with FPS shooters on the PC and the other from Rocksteady who had a huge hit in Batman Arkham Asylum.

Thanks to the Nvidia deal on their GTX cards I got a free copy of Batman Arkham City. On Nov 22 the game was finally released and I finally got to play. Yes, PC gamers did have to wait over a month longer than Console players but I'm OK with it. It works when installed. I know this sounds like a silly statement but given my experience with ID Software's Rage.... its a big thing to me.  I have had some issues so far and I'm not far into the game but I've played as Catwoman, fought lots of thugs, and had fun all on the day I got the game.  Once I've gotten further into the game I'll try to make a better post about it.

I was never able to get Rage working  in single player mode on my PC. Multiplayer worked fine from day one but I wanted to play the single player game.  ID has tried to blame the issues on video drivers. If its video drivers why did the multiplayer work?? ATI does have to take part of the blame in the failure with Rage, After 4 driver revisions the single player just did not work on my ATI 4850 based card.  I installed my new card Monday night and low and behold Rage works. Had fun playing it too. So who's to blame for it not working AIT or ID? I blame them both.  ID should have known their was an issue and and worked with ATI to get it fixed before the release.  Releasing a game that was broken for so many on the release day and required so many tweaks and driver revisions should not be acceptable.

Batman vs Rage

The winner Batman Arkham City.  Kudos to Rocksteady you held the game and showed that just because its a port does not mean its half-assed. Its not without issues but it works. It looks good, plays well and I can have fun. Is it annoying to wait a month after the console version comes out? Yes. Is it annoying to have to exit the game to change the config? Yes. But the game works and its fun.

ID this is how a Console to PC port is done. Pay attention and learn from what Rocksteady has done.

Superior and Brilliant Mini reviews.

I just read issues 1 & 2 of Mark Millars Superior. While at one level its Capt Marvel(Shazam) and Superman wrapped into one story so far its very well done. If you have not checked it out its a fun read. I need to catch up on 3-5.

I also read issue 1 of Bendis's Brilliant. I'm not sure where this is going but its and interesting start.  The story seems to be set in the "real" world where their are no super-heroes. A group of students may have discovered how to make them. The 1st character you meet has already found a way to use them for personal gain. So we have our first villain but who will be the hero? It should be interesting to see how the group reacts when they see what he's done.

I'll be looking for issue #2.

Life really sucks some times.

The Walking Dead - Season 2

Finally its back. The Walking Dead - The Walking Dead: Episode 201 – AMC


Right now I think this is the best show on TV.  This ep seemed a bit like filler to reintroduce viewers to the cast and the status of the world.  I'd bet it could have been trimmed to 30 minutes with some careful editing. I read this was a merge of what was supposed to be the first two episodes of the season.

Can't wait till Sunday.

DC Comics New 52

At this point I've read most of the "New 52" from DC. While most of them are good With a few exceptions I think they have missed on opportunity here.  With some of the characters(superman, green arrow, firestorm, and a few others) its a complete reboot with a new history. With a few its like a non event(green lantern, swamp thing). I feel they have missed what could have been a real opportunity to do something cool and new. They should have rebooted all of the books/characters. Started the universe fresh.

In most cases its feels like the same old stuff with just a fresh coat of paint.

Rage at ID Software's new game Rage.

I've been a fan of the games from ID since their first wolfenstein game.  ID software games gave to two things. They all really follow a standard pattern. Kill stuff, get key, open door, kill more stuff. You repeat that patter to the end of the level.  They were always well done. You got them, install them and they worked and looked good for their time.

Until now.

What the F happened with Rage?

I got rage earlier this week as a present. Wednesday Night I start the install. I put the 1st disk in and what do I see? I timer that says 2 hours to install...  2 hours to install? Really? OK, find its a huge game its probably worth the wait.  Then no sooner that its installed it needs a 2 hours update from steam. WHAT!!! the game only game out yesterday and their is already a huge patch. Ok, I'd rather get the patch now that have problems and wait for a it.  SO I let the update run and head off to bed.

Thursday night my wife and I finish our evening TV(X-Factor and Greys) and I head up to play.  Pretty standard intros, get the setting for controls the way I like and the other basics and start the game.  The Game intro plays and gives the basic setup. Video looks nice it fades to black and I wait.... and wait.... Hum something is wrong here. I clicking around and the end result I find it's crashed... dammit, restart... Shit cant skip the video have to watch it again. F, it crashed again... Ok off to the web.  I see posts about issues and needing a new video driver. Download, uninstall,  reinstall, launch game. This time I hit the multiplayer link just to see if the game would play with out having to wait for the video to play. Multiplayer comes up and plays fine. Car combat was fun and looked pretty good.  Finish the match and cycle around to restart the single player. It crashes again in the same F'ing place... #(%*&()%#&()

After a more web surfing I found one comment on the steam forums that seems to indicate that this is a know bug and will need to be patched to get past it.


ID what the F happened?  How did simple things like the game not working on the existing drivers for either Nvidia or ATI get past your QA? How did the post video crash get past your QA?

What happened to not releasing the game till its done?


ARG, I guess I just have to wait for the patch. At least COH is Free to play now.

My first post

Ok, this is an experiment. Can I actually sustain a regular blog and will anyone care?

I don't really care if people read my ramblings to be honest this is just a way to express feelings and get stuff off my chest.


We'll see how this goes.

Thanks for reading.