Individual Eleven – The World's Cyberbrain

First of all, my most sincere apologies for not keeping this blog updated. For the past few months, I have been busy trying to obtain my Microsoft MCSE certification and recently succeeded! Home study really is something that requires a lot of time, dedication and discipline. Sleepless nights, cram sessions and Mountain Dew; this was my life for awhile. And it seems I just can’t get enough of it, as I am now going to get my MCITP Enterprise Administrator in Windows Server 2008. Yes I know, I’m addicted to exams.

So what’s been going on in the world of game and tech etc. during this time? What I should have done was do a post for each of these but here is a very condensed version! In no particular order…

Starcraft 2 – Beta
I did a post about this on the Girlygeekdom blog, but to summarise… it is smokingly hot and I’m not talking about the summer heartwave we are getting in the UK. It is due to be released on 23rd July. I’ll try not to disappear when this arrives, and also promise to step outside once in awhile.

Apple iPad
Great for some, mediocre for others. Your lifestyle dictates whether this is a good match for you or not. Personally speaking, there isn’t much room for this slab in my life. I need a full OS, I need power, I need an open platform and I need to run existing applications I currently have. Also regardless of what Steve Jobs said in his keynote speech, this for me is not going to replace a netbook. And it’s too damn heavy.

E3
I personally prefer the Tokyo Game Show than E3, but this year I think the event has been very interesting. Microsoft announces Kinetic, Sony with their 3Dness, and Nintendo with their new 3DS portable console. Out of the three industry heavyweights, Nintendo outshines the rest. I’m buying the 3DS without a doubt; Kingdom Hearts, Zelda, Kirby, Final Fantasy, Kid Icarus the list goes on. And NO 3D GLASSES REQUIRED!

Sci-Fi London
A great event every year, I couldn’t go to the entire event because of fencing commitments. However, I did go to the Anime All-Nighter; 10 hours of anime movies back to back starting at midnight (with the odd RedBull/toilet break inbetween). I absolutely loved it, it’s like a pub lock-in but in a cinema. The best anime was Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Bladeworks. I cannot tell you the sheer awesomeness of seeing this on the big screen; if you love Rin, Lancer et al then you must watch this. Unfortunately for some, it was the last anime shown that morning and the majority of the audience were fast asleep. I made sure I was completely awake for it.

iPhone 4
To grip or not to grip, that is the question. Either way, I am getting the HTC Desire running Android in a few weeks. At least people who are experiencing death grip woes get a free bumper case, offer valid until 30th September.

World Cup 2010
The tech angle for this is that I will never, ever, forgive ITV for their “transmission error”: showing a Hyundai ad JUST AS GERRARD SCORES THE FIRST GOAL FOR ENGLAND. Insert rage sentence here.

IT Crowd – Series 4
Our beloved geek series is back on Channel 4. Join Moss, Roy and Jen as they embark on more ridiculous IT shenanigans with utmost hilarity. Street Countdown!

My birthday
I got insanely drunk and played LAN games; apparently I can headshot quite well while inebriated. Everything else is a blur; I think we spent an hour trying to blow up the airbed at 4am. I highly recommend Danzka vodka with Mountain Dew.

Final Fantasy XIII
I completed it! You either love it or hate it, I personally liked it a lot. The battle system is to die for, yes the game is mostly on rails but the game does get going after awhile. There are some insanely difficuly bosses to beat, namely Proud Clad and Gigantuar if you find him on Gran Pulse. I’m just happy that I saw the ending after clocking in around 70 hours of gameplay. Also, I hate Barthandelus.

And finally…

Inception
I saw this movie when it was released on Friday. I have sat here for awhile thinking of how to review it and in summary, I just can’t. It’s such an amazing experience, that any words uttered on this page would not do it enough justice. Not to mention it’s rather difficult to describe, my mind was blown. If you think Memento was a mind masher, try this on for size… only Nolan can produce something like this on the big screen and succeed. A plot peppered full of twists and turns, stunts galore, and a great protagonist supported by a wonderful cast; these are the makings of a movie that will pull you in. I also love the music score by Hans Zimmer, it fits in with the film sequences perfectly.

Entertainment, Gadgets, Games Inception, Sci-Fi London, Starcraft 2

Before I get to the sleep deprived anime extravaganza, this all started with the London Girl Geek dinner event that was co-hosted by the event organisers at Sci-Fi London. They were very generous in providing their venue and the talk by Dr Rachel Armstrong was quite intriguing. Afterwards, we went to the bar located downstairs at the Apollo cinema and one of the fellow girl geeks handed me an event booklet. I flicked through to the centre page and there it was, an Anime All Nighter. I turned to Sarah (founder of Girl Geeks) and said I am thinking about going to this, it sounds rather crazy but… she seemed quite keen as was I, so why not.

There were five anime films in total, shown back to back with 15-minute breaks in between. The whole shebang started at midnight on Sunday and it finished at 10am. There were ample supplies of Red Bull and ice cream, which was all included in the price plus a goodie bag. At £30 a ticket, it was well worth the money. The best anime from the five was definitely Ghost In The Shell 2.0, a remake of the original movie with added CGI and in fantastic HD. I simply cannot put into words how amazing it looked; being a GITS fan myself, it really was a visual treat. There was a slight mishap with the PS3 they were using for playback, but they got there in the end. By the way, I can only imagine how good it must be to play a PS3 game on a cinema screen.

Unfortunately, the whole evening was marred by the diabolical Naruto: The Movie 3. To put it bluntly, it was eye cancer and the cheesiness of it all was absolutely unbearable. I could not understand how anyone can like this in any form. The dubbing was dreadful, and Lord Shabadaba? How anyone can dream up of this name and keep a straight face is beyond me. In the end, it was so ridiculous that everyone in the audience laughed at every turn. Sarah’s partner commented that it was the worst anime he had ever seen, and this event was his first taste of anime. I can understand if this movie puts him off anime for life.

The funniest was definitely Panda! Go! Panda! Again bad dubbing, the “daddy” panda sounded like it had an Indian accent with the famous catchphrase for the evening “That’s nice!” The hilarity continued, the accent, the bad dubbing that did not match the subtitles (for some reason there were subtitles even though it was in English), and the hint of panda fondling with the girl in the movie was just too much to bear. I myself could not stop laughing and neither did the audience. The night ended with the catchy “Panda Pa Panda Pa Panda!” song, of course many others and I had to clap along to that one. Overall I had a great time.

I took some pictures of the manga wall, some rather interesting doodles to say the least. I have to apologise for the blurriness, I snapped them on the way out and the Red Bull wings left me.

Entertainment Anime All Nighter, Ghost In The Shell 2.0, London Girl Geek Dinners, Sci-Fi London