- wokisan
- Level: 18 (98%)
- Rank: Flicky
- Member since: May 13, 2003
- Last online: 01/15/10 9:29 pm PT
-
My Emblems:
- Rank: Registered Member
- Virtually There: E3 2007 Microsoft Conference.
- Readers' Choice 2005 Chooser
- Commercial Challenge 2004 / Ballot Puncher
- Serious Collector
- Old-School
- Rank: Registered Member
- Old-School
- Serious Collector
- Commercial Challenge 2004 / Ballot Puncher
- Readers' Choice 2005 Chooser
- Virtually There: E3 2007 Microsoft Conference.
Flight of the Wok
A tale of an old school gamer struggling to 'stay young' and trying to teach his progeny the goodness that gaming is. Can he suceed against the evil forces of Disney and Barbie? Only time will tell......
-
28Jun 07
Well...it had to end one day. What happens when your 360 breaks twice in a row? Well, once it is fixed you go crazy. 117 days and 60 additional XBL friends later (Thanks to AGE
) I finally took a break. I was tempted to play an arcade game for a few minutes just to keep the streak going but fell asleep before I could execute my plan 
Plus my PC and my Wii were beginning to feel a neglected.......
- Posted Jun 28, 2007 7:15 am PT
- Category: Games
- 0 Comments
-
12Apr 07
THanks to my Xbox 360's blog, I know that I have gamed on it for 41 straight days. Guess that's what happens when you have to go a whole month waiting for it to get back from getting repaired. My refurb unit is still going strong (with the exception of a weird DVD drive noise every once in a while) although I am very curious about MS's plans to allow users to move all their content from an older premium to a new Elite model. That announcement might push me over the edge to get one.....maybe.
BTW here's the link to my Xbox 360's blog. If you have a 360 you might want to check the site out and see if you want to get a blog for your machine.
Wokisan's Xbox 360 BlogOn the Wii front I bought Tiger Woods 07 but just couldn't take the graphics (too many jaggies) and sold it on eBay. After all this time our favorite game is still WiiSports. No one has played it much lately but with the release of Super Paper Mario that might change.
- Posted Apr 12, 2007 4:59 am PT
- Category: Games
- 0 Comments
-
3Mar 07Got my 360 back...well actually got a 360 back. My original 360 has evidently been sent to pasture. MS sent me a refub unit made in Nov '06 and so far so good. It has the 2nd gen DVD drive (would have been nice to luck up and get the 3rd gen BenQ model...) which is ALOT quieter than the one in my former Jan '06 xbox. Hopefully thisone will last....
- Posted Mar 3, 2007 2:24 pm PT
- Category: General
- 0 Comments
-
19Feb 07Well, I haven't blogged in 2 months. You probably figured because I have been simply playing the Wii all the time....Uh......no.
Not to say that the family and I are not enjoying the Wii (we really are) but it's my 360 that has me bent out of shape and out of blogging mood.
Look, I really like the Wii. Its fun, its neat, its different (in a good way) but it isn't my 360. It isn't GOW, Lost Planet, Oblivion and games like that. At my core, that is what I still enjoy the most...games like those.
But I'll tell you one thing the Wii is.....much more dependable than my 360. My 360 is off again to lovely McAllen, TX where hopefully this time the MS service center there will actually FIX my 360 instead of sending it back with a new problem.
So there you have it. I was one of those people who used to say, "hey, my Jan '06 360 is still going strong....no problems here" when a forum post about 360 problems would pop up over at avsforurms......not anymore......
I ain't that mad (yet), I just want my freaking 360 to WORK. This is the only console I have ever bought an extended warranty for....now I am glad I did. Fingers crossed.........- Posted Feb 19, 2007 7:32 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
18Dec 06I have a cousin in Roanoke. His name was Courtney.....I now refer to him simply as...."The Man". He found a Wii, snagged it for me at an area WalMart, and I now have it in my possession.
All hail Courtney....THE MAN!- Posted Dec 18, 2006 5:05 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
17Dec 06Get to Best Buy a couple of hours before they open...
#19 in line but I figure, "they got 40 on launch day. I should be ok....."
Store gets 18 Wiis.....................
Story of my life.- Posted Dec 17, 2006 5:44 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
13Dec 06
Despite growing up mainly on Nintendo games I was a little skeptical about the Wii....until I played it. A relative of mine snagged one from a guy he works with (had to pay $50 extra to get it) and invited me and a few other cousins of mine up to his crib to play. We were instantly hooked! I had been worried that the Wii would be gimmicky and that it would get old.....but it was such a refreshing and different experience.
I decided right then and there to get one but that hasn't been that easy. I had to resort to eBay to get my 360 earlier this year and I have been tempted to do the same for a Wii. But it appears I will have one last chance this year to snag one from a B&M store....on the 17th. Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, EB Games, and Gamestop are all getting shipments this week and will begin selling them early Sunday morning. I hope to get up early, snag one, and avoid having to go back to eBay.
Just like with my 360 I already have extra controllers, a component cord (had the VGA one for my 360 before I got a system), and a game all ready to go. Now I just need a Wii.- Posted Dec 13, 2006 7:46 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
28Jun 06What is that you ask???? Zuma has gotten my wife to play alot more on the 360.....now...I think it is a good thing...so far. She's becoming addicted to Zuma and if it progresses to 'Animal Crossing-like' levels I might feel differently. She even joined Xbox Live.....go figure.
- Posted Jun 28, 2006 7:45 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
8Jun 06
I just finished Half-Life 2: Episode One (PC) and I am STILL not sure if I care for the idea of releasing several-shorter-separate 'episodes' instead of a more traditional length expansion pack. In general I don't like the idea of the shorter episodes. They seem too short and not quite worth the $20 price tag to me.
***In my best Steven A. Smith voice** HOWEVER!
I think for HL and Valve it maybe a good idea. Why? Because otherwise we would probably have to wait forever for the next Halflife expansion pack/game. This way we get our HL fix every 6 months. Interestingly enough during that same time period Maxis will release 12 expansion packs for the SIMS 2....
I guess the question is would you rather get a 4hr episode every 6-7 months for $20 or get a 10hr expansion every 12-15 months for $30 or ***gasp*** $40?
Hmmm, I'm still undecided... but I must admit I did like the way the original HL releases laid out. And $20 while not 'alot' or money seems a bit much for something you can play through in 4 hours (some say 2 or 3 is possible.) How about selling it for $20 and giving HL2 owners a $5 credit????
GameFly Update
I sent back TR:Legend on Monday evening and got an email on Wednesday that Gamefly was shipping out my next game! 2 days.....woah. Awesome news for us East Coast guys. I'm hopeful that my game will be here later today (it is 2am EST on Friday...guess I should get some sleep...). I will keep ya posted.
GameFly Update (6.12.06)
I got my new game from Gamefly on Friday, just 2 days after receiving notification that it had shipped. Very nice! A total turn around time of 5 days from shipping the old one to getting the new one. Not bad at all IMO.- Posted Jun 8, 2006 11:14 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
6May 06
Renting video games has changed SO MUCH over the years and clearly for the better. I can remember years ago renting SNES games and spending way too much money doing so. As the years passed I eventually got to the point on not even bothering to try to rent a game.
Why? The cost of renting didn't represent that good of a value. You could just buy a game...finish it...and sell it on ebay....or simply buy your games used in the first place. Also you could never find the one game you really wanted to try out. All the kids would get out of school, force their parents to drive them to Blockbuster immediately, and suck up all the good games every Friday it seemed. (I didn't have much time to play during the week of course)
Well years passed...BLAH BLAH BLAH, and I finally decided to try out an online renting service to see if all the hype I had been hearing was for real or not. I tried Gottaplay at first because they had a distribution center reasonably closeby in Atlanta. Unfortunately it seemed that every game I rented would come from their Cali or Texas distribution centers which meant a LONG turn around time anyway. I had originally stay away from Gamefly for that very reason. It's all West Coast...no love for us East Coast Playas. Still I continued to use Gottaplay and enjoyed a relatively pleasant experience. But after I received the 6th pick on my gamer que I decided to try another service.
Against my 'better judgement' I went ahead and tried out Gamefly and I have been pleasantly surprised. I got my top 2 picks instantly (Tomb Raider : Legend and GRAW) and one arrived in only 3 days. However the other took another 3 days to arrive :-P. They were shipped the same day....so what happened to the other...waHOO knows. Still spending $20 a month instead of dropping $60 on a new game or searching forever on eBay to find one at around $40-45 is the way to go in MHO.
However once NetFlix decides to rent video games...the renting game universe as we know it will change forever...I can't wait
- Posted May 6, 2006 8:59 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 2 Comments
-
15Apr 06
I haven't posted for a while.... it's springtime and that means a few things.- Lots more yard work 'assignments' from Mrs. Wok to deal with.
- Spring Football up in Charlottesville.
- Longer hours at work...[hot weather + tax refunds = peeps wanting to 'pimp out' their rides and spend big money to do it]
- More 'home beautification projects' from Mrs. Wok to deal with.
- Our cat Spanky Spitball sleeps all day...wait, that actually happens during the Fall, Winter, and Summer as well.
All of this means very little time for me to play much of anything. I have spent some time playing Top Spin 2 (frustrating but good). My only quibble is that the amount of loading times during career play is very irritating. Also....I wouldn't say the player models are exactly....next generation. It's a challenging and fun game (most of the time) but the TP2 team needs to up the ante in the graphical department. This title seems 'rushed' to me.
I have also checked out Oblivion...awesome, deep game. I've logged 20 hours and have only completely the first step of the main quest. Easily the best 360 game to date IMHO. But no more 400 point Horsey armor...LOL.
I have also checked out Marc Ecko's Getting Up. Solid...solid effort. It has a slick presentation which does border on being a bit cluttered for my tastes. With the exception of an occasional goofy camera angle....it is a very good game. Marc...you did it...props to ya man.
Family Fun with Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing has replaced MP7 as the number one GC title in the Wok household. All 4 of us have a character and it is interesting to see the differences in how we play.
And yes, Ivy (the 4 yr old) is still all over my 360.....as is the 7 year old......as is my cousins down the street.....as is my incredibly lazy cat (slight exaggeration)....well you get the picture. I realized very early that having 4 controllers total was required.- The wife is obsessed with paying off her mortgage (on her 2nd one now) and will sell anything to Tom for some quick bells.
- I'm doing my best to fill the museum with all sorts of fossils, fish, and critters. HEY! leave my cockroach alone...that was a important donation to the museum. I'm also a job hound to say the least and yes....my name is Wok and I am addicted to shaking crap out of trees
- The 7 year old....well I'm not sure what she does. Doesn't donate anything, doesn't do many jobs, just kind of mills around chewing the fat. I guess she is more concerned with decorating her house.
- The 4 year old (almost 5) 'hard core gamer' has crap everywhere in front of her house. She wants to carry as much junk as possible and cram as much as possible in her house...which you can't even navigate.
Her inventory is full, she has used the mail/present trick to store even more stuff, and her house is bringing down the median home price in hawaii (the name of our town). The wife actually forced her to 'clean up all the crap' the other day which was pretty funny. Packrat you say?
Fanboyism is for Kids
BTW....360s are popping up everywhere now. If you got the coin and reject this ridiculous fanboyism (it's a scourge upon our gaming nation I say!) go get one. I love Microsoft (I'm a big PC guy...actually shouldn't that make me hate them...BSOD anyone??
) but I'm sure I will check out the Revolution (Nintendo was my second love...Commodore was the first) and probably the PS3 as well.
I have no patience for snotty nose preteen/teenagers who clutter the forums with ridiculous "I love SONY, M$ sucks!" or "Bill Gates PWNS SONY fools!" or "Nintendo is the best, M$ and SONY stink!" posts. Give me a break. You twerps are SO fortunate to be growing up in this era of video gaming. You are SO spoiled to have gaming as advanced as you do. Try getting a 'next-gen experience' on a vic20 or C64 hoss. How's that working out for ya??? Yeah, I sound like your grandpa but while you waste time busting on each others systems and restrict yourself to one console I'm enjoying just about all of them including the classics.....
....except of course during the Spring.
Peace. Be a gamer...just play.- Posted Apr 15, 2006 10:48 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
28Feb 06
If you have been bored enough to actually read some of my blog you will remember me talking about my 4 year old daughter who seems to be well on her way to being a hardcore gamer. I thought that was cute, cool, and a number of other warm and fuzzy-like descriptive words....but I must say...............things have changed. There is a huge disturbance in the Force.
I made the mistake of letting my "little hardcore gamer in training, my little padawon" play Daddy's Xbox 360. BIG MISTAKE....
Now it suddenly has become 'OUR 360'...not just Daddy's 360...OR NO YOU DIDN'T! Now I can't get the little runt to play her Gamecube. All she does is whine/plead to play 360 and being a dad (who melts in his little girls' hands)...I give in...
%$@%#%#%@%#@%#%@#@%#@%#!!!!!!!!!!
It takes me freaking months to actually get a 360 and within 2 weeks I'm fighting to keep sole possesion of it! But I will not go down without a fight. She might be tough but I have 25+ years of gaming experience on my side. I will defeat this young apprentice of mine! Stay tuned.....- Posted Feb 28, 2006 7:09 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
20Feb 06
I picked it up tonight and am getting ready to play as I type. Gotta go....later.- Posted Feb 20, 2006 9:23 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
19Feb 06
Finally scored a 360. I did it on eBay and surprisingly got a good deal (for eBay). I got the bundle (included an xtra wireless controller, PGR3....got 2 now...will ebay one, and a play n' charge kit) for only $23 more than what I would have paid retail for it. The only caveat.....I gotta drive up to Charlottesville (60 miles) to get it. No biggie, I'm always up there for UVA games/events. I'm just glad to finally have one...I was tired of looking and calling all over VA and NC.- Posted Feb 19, 2006 3:44 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
18Feb 06
If you have checked out my game collection....you'll notice I have 3 Xbox 360 games listed. Yes...it's the sad truth. I have PGR3, PD0, and DOA4 and haven't been able to find a console in Central VA or Northern NC yet. I stay on ebay and when I see a good deal...my 'frugal' self just can't resist. I picked up PGR3 and DOA4 about $20 cheaper (for each) than retail. I figured what the heck.....I know I'm going to buy a 360 so why wait. I spent some of my Best Buy Rewards Dollars and got PD0 for $5...lol. Anyway the search continues, I'm using a few tracking websites, a neat little app from a dude named untitled, and calling quite a few places to try to snag one.
My knothead cousin in Roanoke, C-Thug, decided one day, "hmmm...I think I'll get a 360." So he waltzes into a local Wal-Mart and grabs the last one. To quote Napoleon Dynamite, "LUCKY!". Alas my search continues. I watch eBay but I'm not THAT desperate....yet
Another interesting thing (well to me...obviously not for you...heh heh) I have noticed is the different gaming tastes/personalities in my two girls. The youngest who is 4 and 1/2 is pretty hardcore. She would play all day every day if we would let her. She is addicted to Mario Party 7 and Super Monkey Ball 2. And she wants to WIN. I've tried to tell her that 'having fun' is the ultimate goal of gaming to which she replied, "But I have more fun winning Daddy." Atta girl...LOL. She's getting pretty good and can whip anyone in SMB2 if you are not 'on your game'.
Her older sister (who is 7) would rather watch a movie than play games...until I bought Animal Crossing. That's definitely her niche. Seems like she is going to like more open-ended games where if you choose to you can just wander around and investigate things. A future Morrowind player???? Perhaps.
And yes the younger one plays Animal Crossing as well....she'll play any game, any time, any where.... Folks...I believe the 'gene' has been past on....hardcore at 4 and 1/2......be afraid....be very afraid.- Posted Feb 18, 2006 6:17 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
21Jan 06
A storm is brewing in the wokisan household. It's tax time and with a couple of deductions named Jazzy and Ivy running around the house, there is usually a nice refund coming. Now begins the annual 'discussion' about how much of the refund we should save. Last year I spent a bunch of moolah getting adjustable struts/shocks and lowering springs for the Max, which I dropped a few months later. (Looks very nice by the way)
Now I have earmarked a 'slice' of our refund for a new 360 although the wife recently informed me that I have already spent my 'slice' 2 months ago when I got a LCD HDTV (which I bought in part because I knew I would be getting a 360 )
Of course we all know the outcome.... I'll get it since in my estimation it is well worth whatever flack I catch afterwards. Of course the kids are now firmly in my corner (the Gamecube has made me much more powerful in the force....heh heh) and will support whatever daddy says as long as he keeps buying GC stuff. Yah daddy! LOL.
I guess I probably shouldn't tell mrs. wok about the 18"s I've been thinking about using another slice of our refund on......- Posted Jan 21, 2006 7:13 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
26Dec 05
This week I got the kids a Gamecube (the Mario Party 7 bundle) and now they are addicted (wonder where that genetic trait came from????)
My 4 year old had to be literally pried away from her controller at 12:02am the other night screaming and crying, "JUST ONE MORE TURN PLEASE!!!!!!!!".
I couldn't help but to laugh and think back to the days when we (myself and a few of my cousins) would stay up all night playing the original Super Mario Bros on the 8 bit NES. Around 3am everyone would die (in the game of course...lol) because we all fell asleep during our turn and time would run out.
My girls (and my wife for that matter) never really connected with any of my games (Xbox, PC, even my older NES, SNES, and N64) but with the GC......they are now solid gamers.
Plus now I had the perfect excuse to pick up Viewtiful Joe...a game I've been wanting to play for a while but didn't want to buy a GC just to play it.
The only problem is I can't get on the freaking gamecube to play it because the kids are hoarding it right now. I'll have to sneak on it late one night I guess....- Posted Dec 26, 2005 8:07 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
8Dec 05
It has happened....After 1 year (well....11 months actually) Halo 2 has sucked me in. I have embarked on my quest to NOT be a level 1 for the rest of my gaming life....
I joined a clan with a very appropriate name for my skills...."The Victim". It is run by 2 pretty cool guys, Jay and Ash...who are probably wondering where the heck I'm at right now...heh heh. So when you frag Wokisan please be kind to the 'Victim'.
BTW...wow, Halo 2 and Forza look great in HD. Now I am ready for the 360..... **evil villan laugh**- Posted Dec 8, 2005 7:01 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
20Nov 05
I'm still playing the movies and loving it! I have 2 movies up on the online site under my studio, Danimont Entertainment. Both are silly and pretty corny which I like. Check 'em at Danimont Entertainment- Posted Nov 20, 2005 3:02 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
-
15Nov 05
Nothing has been able to tear me away from Civ IV....not the wife and her charms (lol), kids, the cat, dinner, bathroom breaks, showers, UVA football......well that's just a bit of an exaggeration there.
I don't have a ton of time for games...especially during football season (games/travel/tailgating takes up our whole Saturdays) but I have managed to sneak in quite a bit of Civ IV...I love it...even more so than when I first got it 2 weeks ago.
But then came along "The Movies". Peter has done it again. The game itself can be irritating (it is a MAJOR resource hog...and I'm not sure why) but the ability to make these silly mini-movies is SO ADDICTIVE.
The game does need a patch (as does Civ IV) to 'tie some ends up' and we need some DOCUMENTATION on how to use custom logos etc in our studios, movies, etc but wow...it's great. Any of you looking to get away from all the 1st person shooters out there...this is a nice place to start...
...after Civ IV of course...heh heh.- Posted Nov 15, 2005 3:14 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 0 Comments
