Just a quick update with the current roster of games...

FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4 (360)
Probably the best boxing game ever? Wait for my review

ROCK BAND (360)
Drums completed (but not all to five stars) on easy, working my way through vocals on medium. Purchased my first DLC in the form of the Presidents of the USA song pack.

KNIGHT & GRAIL (C64)
Wow! Was really looking forward to this, and my Premium edition arrived yesterday. Sadly a thunderstorm and related power cut cut short my first session on the real machine, but I also got sent the download link with my purchase so I can boot that up in the emulator too. It's sort of like Castlevania and Metroid with a nice map, extra weapons and a few puzzles to solve. Head over to the Binary Zone Retrostore and buy it now!

BLITZ (PLUS/4)
A classic - drop bombs to clear the skyscrapers - chosen for the Champion's Challenge at the end of the current Retroleague season. And for once I'm top of the leaderboard!


Mind you, I should also be playing through the current pile of Wii games... and Tony Hawk's Motion on the DS... and getting ready for Console Combat... and doing some tunes on Shredz 64...

It doesn't seem possible that we are already halfway through 2009. Even if it has been a difficult year so far for me, time seems to be moving VERY quickly.

Progress on the new book project is good, if a little slow at the moment. Up to 95,000 words but I am painfully aware that there is a LOT of editing to do.

Been spending quite a bit of time on the real C64 rather than the emulator this week, transferring disks back and forth. I'm working on some projects for my friend Wayne, and also checking out NEW stuff. I'm helping playtest a new GEOS game - geoGlyph - which is getting close to completion.

And then there's Berzerk Redux, a great little conversion of the classic coin-op being done by Martin Piper. It all started when someone on the Lemon64 forum asked about porting the code directly from the Atari version. When it was pointed out how difficult that was, a "bounty" was offered to whoever created a working conversion. Martin has generously given that bounty to the CSDb (Commodore Scene Database) to pay for hosting costs, which is fantastic.

Anyway, you can find out more at
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/forums/?roomid=11&topicid=58028
(Discussion thread)
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/index.php?id=80567
(Release)

So, this month it's a trip to see my brother Chris for his birthday and then up to Manchester for Console Combat. Should be fun.

So, my latest post on Obscure Internet is up, but to remind people about it, what do I put this post under?

Games because it's a column about gaming.
Internet because it's an Internet site (gathering unusual stuff and presenting some very funny views/columns)
Writing because I'm doing the writing.

Anyway, today's post is about the price of games and I hope it is thought-provoking.

I didn't buy any new games today on my trip into Boston today (had a look around the flower festival in St Botolph's church too, some very clever arrangements to celebrate 700 years of history) as I want to make some progress on what has just arrived - there's Klonoa to review on the Wii, and Mercury Meltdown Revolution and Tony Hawk's Motion to play. Plus I'm still only in the early stages of GTA IV and I haven't touched FIFA09 since before the holiday...

If you want to look back at all the Obscure Gamer posts so far, just click here:
Obscure Gamer

Had a nice morning out Sunday, with lovely sunny weather and my aunt here to visit. First it was the big car boot sale at the football club, although I only bought a couple of books - there were some (new) games, but nothing that shouted "BUY ME".

Then it was on to the Church Farm Museum, tucked away in the middle of a housing estate. And it's a lovely little place - free entry too. There's a couple of buildings (a barn and a cottage) that they moved from nearby villages, farm equipment and a fascinating little exhibition on crime and punishment.

Web-wise, I've been updating my SEUCK site - http://www.seuckvault.co.uk - and planning some more changes for it.

There's also my review of Boom Blox Bash Party up at Console Obsession - http://www.consoleob.com/boom-blox-bash-party-wii-review.html - and today I'll start on the process of playing Klonoa on Wii to review that. Got a couple of bargains on the way from Play.com as well.

Blood test at the hospital tomorrow and check-up/result from the doctor next week. Still feeling good, just need to motivate myself to get back to the book writing after the holiday...

So, a lovely short break at Whitby. Not a place I'd thought about visiting before, but then a few weeks ago we saw a BBC documentary (Britain's Best Drives) that happened to feature the place, and a friend of my dad's is from there originally.

Drove up Thursday, staying at a caravan site just outside the town. The caravan was AV9 - Abbey View 9 - and it did have a magnificent view of the abbey. Sky TV and a DVD player too. While sitting quietly listening to my MP3 player I saw a kestrel hovering over the neighbouring field, which was nice.

Friday it was a short walk around part of the town and a visit to the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, before rain forced us back to the caravan. Saturday it was a trip on the North York Moors Railway, pulled by steam from Whitby to Pickering. A two-hour trip, a short walk in Pickering and then two hours back. Out for dinner at the lovely Magpie Cafe near the pier. Sunday it was a trip around the Abbey with the audio tour, then over to Kirkleatham (on the edge of Redcar, with the bonus of the scenery on the coast roads) to visit the Owl Centre and museum there. Treated my parents to a meal out at the Hare & Hounds pub in the next door village last night. A lovely mixture of things, some time to relax and recharge the batteries. Easy journey home today with the sunshine.

Fortunately there weren't too many e-mails to catch up, so it's back to the writing, reviewing Boom Blox Bash Party and all that sort of thing tomorrow...

So, May was a very good month for me. Writing lots, feeling better, my brother's wedding, and just generally an end to a very tricky period in my life.

June is going to be off to a good start with a few days away, which I'm looking forward to.

Games wise, I've got Boom Blox Bash Party for the Wii to review, I made a start on GTA IV yesterday and I'm starting to rack up some gamerscore on the 360.

Other projects are moving forward too. The SEUCK Vault website will see a major update when I get back. I've been finding out some interesting things for Games That Weren't. And I'm going to move on with cataloguing my collection (as well as organising the sale of some duplicate/unwanted items... to free up more space and get MORE RETRO GOODNESS IN)

Long term, there's the two retro events (Console Combat and Retro Reunited to look forward to).

So, keeping my promise not to neglect my old consoles, been having a go on WE LOVE KATAMARI over the last couple of days... and completed it!

The Katamari games are lovely, a real change of pace from FPS and driving games. There's so much love gone into them, and a very philosophical feeling that drives them. And what other game lets you roll up rainbows and the Arc D' Triomphe in a giant ball?

The book is still going well, a lot of revision/changes this week rather than new words, but the total rises steadily. Sorting out (fingers crossed) some other writing assignments as well.

Also continuing with the spring cleaning, even tidying up the My Documents folder on this hard drive.

So, I finally took the plunge and installed Firefox. Wish I'd done it a long time ago! Feels very fast in comparison to Internet Explorer, and some nice touches. Got to work out how to transfer my RSS feeds though.

The Web is very powerful these days. I've been using it a lot to research my next book, and it was great to get e-mails yesterday from people agreeing to help with artwork/photos to illustrate it.

But then, I also installed the StumbleUpon add-on and discovered a whole new way of spending time. Already got a little folder full of interesting writing links, such as www.oneword.com - 60 seconds to write about one word.

...well, a couple anyway. One on Rock Band, one on Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2. I've not been playing a LOT of 360, easing myself in. Did have some fun playing online with my brother the other night, and keep getting beaten at FIFA09. Still, it's mine now.

Achievements on other fronts too, getting lots of little projects sorted and one or two interesting developments for the future (fingers crossed). Been feeling good this week, and the nice Spring weather today put me in a good mood.

Book project #2 hit 70,000 words today, with a good session this morning revising and updating a whole chapter. I've actually ADDED a chapter to it in the last week, the target is around 100,000 words so homing in. There is a lot of work on the artwork/photos front to do as well, and I still need to secure somebody for the foreword.

Did my bit for the economy by buying an Xbox 360 yesterday. With Rock Band and Song Pack 2, FIFA 09, GTA IV. Plus Points, Live membership, wireless adapter, Plug & Play kit and Band in a Box...

So I'm online now (see if you can work out my gamertag) and looking forward to checking out a new format. But that doesn't mean I'll neglect my old machines. Found some more Amiga disks (mostly coverdisks) that I'd forgotten I had, and plan to spend some time on the Dreamcast too.