Category: Leisure
Out In The Peak District
I am very blessed in living in Sheffield. Although there are other places I would rather live if I were choosing where to live, Sheffield is still a lovely, beautiful place. It is also next to the site of Britain's first national park, the Peak District. It is a wonderful place, stretching most of the way between Sheffield in South Yorkshire and Manchester in Lancashire, taking in parts of Derbyshire and incorporating the Derbyshire Dales too. If you go a little further north, there's the Yorkshire Moors, the Lake District to the west and the North Yorkshire Moors to the east. It is a beautiful place and one that I really should take more time to explore.
Yesterday I went with a few other people from my University for an evening barbeque on the Longshaw Estate, near Grindleford in Derbyshire. It was rather cold when the sun wasn't out, but thankfully the sun was out most of the time we were there. It's wonderful to be able to go out and to just enjoy places without having to worry about writing 20,000 words of research, of the five exams you have to take the next week, or the essay that you understand absolutely nothing about, or the group presentation that your group are showing no interest in. No, I can just relax - for now.
Photography
Since I finished my degree almost a month ago now, I've been trying to find the time to focus upon a few things that I haven't had as much time for as I would like in the past few years. I've had varying success with this, but I think I'm slowly getting there, and feel like I'm finding the time to appreciate the beauty of creation as I try and slow down.
As a result of this, I have been trying to take a little more time for a little photography. I'm no professional photographer - just an amateur who quite likes playing around - but I love capturing scenary and love trying to capture vivid scenes. Here below is one such photograph I took at the weekend:
I have to say, I really love this photograph. It's a stunning capture of dusk. I carried out a quick straw poll and the consensus was that this is a photo that wouldn't be out of place in an African scene. I've never been to Africa myself, but from pictures I have seen of Africa, I couldn't disagree.
But this wasn't taken in Africa. It was taken at Edinburgh Airport on Friday 6th June @ 20:42. f/4.5, 1/100th, ISO-80. It's not been doctored in any way - just cropped for a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Scotland can be as spectacular as any other place on earth, with the right timing and a creative mind.
Manic Street Preachers
Last night, I went to see the Manic Street Preachers in Sheffield, the first gig I've been to since I went to see Electric Six at Glasgow Barrowlands (not Gallowgate, as it did say earlier) a couple of years ago (Frenzy aside). It was, quite simply, fantastic.
Naturally, there's only one place to be at a gig like this, and that's right at the front. To not be right at the front would be a crying shame, even if you're slightly weary, as I was last night. The Manics were supported by a band from Liverpool called Johnny Boy, who were quite good, but it must be daunting to be the warm-up to a Manics gig.
Anyway, some of the old favourites were there last night, including "You Love Us", which they opened with, "Motorcycle Emptiness", which is one of my favourites, and "La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh).
I have to say, my favourite that they played all night would have to be "If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next", which, quite frankly, may be the best they have come out with in my opinion - although with so many great tracks to choose from, it's hard to pick one. Two of the most popular of the night (judging on a level of how crushed one was within the crowd, which is a virtually foolproof mechanism for judging!) were "You Stole The Sun From My Heart" and "Motown Junk", both of which are awesome tracks. They also played their new single "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" from the album "Send Away The Tigers", which I really need to get round to buying.
Definitely a gig not to be missed if the Manics are coming near you on tour.
Noelinho's Top 10 - Video Games
Following mrBen's review of Driver for the PC, I thought I would do a top 10 - of video games :)
So, in reverse order:
- Madden 2000 (Playstation). I have Madden 2002 for the PC, but it's not as good and doesn't like my new GFX card. Therefore, Madden 2000 gets the nod. I did have NFL Quarterback Club '98 for the N64, but it wasn't quite as good - it didn't have the balance of pass and rush that you can have in Madden. Tactics in the game are simple - short passes to the half and full backs, gain short yardage. Get a good block or a nice jink to the left or right and you could be away. But, you could always rely on the QB Sneak for a surprise play, or the HB Slash. When passing long, you'd always pass to either really long, past everyone except your receiver (but only if he'd beaten his man), or throw as he runs across, so as to reduce the chance of an intereception. Finally, you could always run a 10 and turn - throwing the ball as the receiver turns around and stops. A brilliant game.
- LMA Manager (Playstation / PC). Most people say their favourite football management sim is Championship Manager. It is good and I do own two copies of it, but I have preferred the two copies of LMA Manager that I've had. I don't know why, they aren't hugely different. Interface is the main thing. I think having as bit more control over the commercial side of the club adds to the game a little bit - though it's not everybody's cup of tea, I'm sure.
- Gran Turismo 2 (Playstation). The original Gran Turismo didn't impress me. The second had me hooked. Great graphics, physics were fantastic. The tracks were amazing, there was something there for every road / street / closed circuit racer. It's a shame it's not on the PC, it'd be fantastic. Perhaps I'll need to save up for a PS3 at some point* (or be sensible and first of all wait until they are cheap). The endurance races were very good. Only two bones - not enough cars in races, no damage. Pf course, that's only because I'm a Formula 1 fan. I don't think having either of those two things would have helped the game one bit.
- Grand Prix Legends (PC). Probably the oldest game on the list. When it came out, it needed an original Pentium running at, get this, 90Mhz, 16Mb of RAM, and an SVGA graphics card capable of running at 640x480 resolution. How on earth could I ever hope to aspire to that specification... Don't be fooled by that. It is a Formula 1 simulation of the 1967 season and has to be the hardest game I have ever played. It still has fanatical support today, although it does now have the addition of 3D graphics acceleration. It is almost impossible to get hold of copies of this game, for which almost 1,000 tracks have been produced. It is almost impossibly difficult to play with a steering wheel - and if you don't have one, it's worse. When mastered, it is astoundingly good. If you aren't good, it is a ruthless punisher of mistakes - as it should be. In 1967, a mistake could cost you your life. That definitely comes across in this game.
- Brian Lara Cricket (Playstation). I have played the demo of the sequel for this on PC, but having not played the full game, I'll go with the original. Yes, it's a little dated (ok, and it may be a year older than Grand Prix Legends), but it is fantastic. Batting is great (I scored 954/4 declared once, I only declared because I thought the counter may reset to '0' at 1000), bowling equally good. Good line and length is the key. If you can master that well enough, it makes batting a whole lot easier. Fielding, though available, was frustrating sue to the camera and so I didn't use it. However, it was still a fantastic game.
- F1 World Grand Prix II (N64). The very game that came with my N64 when I bought it in Sainsburys. Incidentally, there was a ?1.38 sticker on one of the N64 boxes, so I picked that one up. Unfortunately, I didn't get it for £1.38 :( A very hard game. It had some great scenarios taken from the 1998 season, like trying to finish the race with a win, but having a gearbox that was about to blow up. Very fun. It was made all the harder as a game because you could damage your car, but AI cars were indestructible. It made for a frustrating time when they hit you (I got bumped off in one end-of-season race Michael Schumacher style!), but it really worked, i.e. you couldn't win by cheating by helping people very lightly in to the barrier. The champion setting was incredibly difficult, but just about completable. The second-hardest game I have ever played, and the best F1 game bar the "Grand Prix" series.
- WWF No Mercy (N64). Best wrestling game ever - beats "Smackdown!" hands down. There was a problem with the original release - the cartridges would accidentally erase themselves. Re-released and replaced, but the blood was taken out (Grrr...bloody German censor board!. It used a great method of "momentum" in matches. If you got enough momentum, you'd eventually get your "special move". However, if you smacked your opponent around too much without pinning them, they'd get second wind. Taunting was also great. A wonderful multiplayer game and very challenging single player, with great storylines. Including an 80 year old who challenges you to a swimsuit contest. Only in the WWF...
- Colin McRae Rally (PC). We're getting real close to the sharp end here. In fact, all of the games are fantastic, even the games at the bottom that would have been on the list. I could do a top 20 easily. Still, Colin McRae Rally. I had the original on the Playstation, the sequel on PC, and I also have the 2004 version on PC too. The 2004 version is easily the pick of the bunch. It's a pure petrol-head experience. Driving through a narrow forest at 120Mph is scintillating stuff, and replays always look hairy. That's because that's exactly what my rally driving style is like. It's a fabulous game, requiring fantastic concentration. And a hard sunroof. Graphically fantastic, too.
- Grand Prix 4 (PC). The Grand Prix game, from Geoff Crammond. The "Grand Prix" series of games started at the beginning of the 1990s and has always been highly acclaimed. Unfortunately, with the F1 licence now with Sony, it is confined to just the four installments. The fourth game came with a new, very nice, graphics engine. The physics weren't the most challenging out of the box, but with with tracks made using GPS technology, it was a great game. Good oil fires, too. Alongside, Grand Prix Legends, the most realistic F1 game out there. Grand Prix Legends just shades it for realism, actually. Well, 40 years ago it would, anyway ;)
- Goldeneye (N64). Could there be any doubt? Playstation owners either just couldn't understand just what made this such a great game, or they were just in pure denial. There is no better multi-player game. The levels were awesome. Guards that spawn forever, giving kill counts of more than 2,500 if you played for long enough. A "facility" level taken from the very start of the film, where you get to shoot at guards in the toilets as they swat flies - or scratch them. Sniping guards from half a mile away. Shooting Trevelyan for fun just because you could. Putting innocent civilians and scientists in the line of fire, getting them accidentally killed by guards - just for comedy value. Slapping Natalya at every opportunity, just because she was ugly (and I know of many who took delight in that!). And the blasted drone guns. Everywhere you go, drone guns. Chasing Baron Samedi through "Temple" as he cartwheels out of the way all the time. If you've never played Goldeneye, you have missed out. In fact, you've just not lived.
So there you go! Noelinho's top 10! However, there are plenty more that I would love to have included, but those are my top 10.
Brian Lara Cricket 2005
mrBen did a quick review of Cricket 2005 and Brian Lara Cricket 2005 at the beginning of September. I have, since then, played the demo of Brian Lara Cricket myself, and so I thought I should do a very quick review myself. I don't plan to review Cricket 2005 - it's made by EA Sports. Say no more.
Anyway, I owned the original game on my Playstation, and it was ace, although it was often a little too easy (my top score was 954 - 8 dec. I didn't go up to 1,000 because I feared the game might not handle it too well). Graphics were good - for 1996, and the game play was fun. Bowling was pretty good too.
So, what of the new, 2005 edition? Well, batting is once again quite nice. It's slightly harder now, and much more inportant that you time your shot well. Press the button too early, and you miss. Too late, and you'll be watching a fuzzy stump cam.
In the demo, you get 6 overs to bat, and 6 overs to bowl (I don't always bother to bowl). This morning, I got 63-4 off of my 6 overs, including a very nice 29 runs off the fourth over. It's nice to see batting is in a healthy state :)
Bowling is also improved nicely. You can now overstep the mark (i.e. bowl a no ball), and there is much greater control over the deliveries you bowl.
Finally, there are some good technological improvements, including hawk-eye, which provides an excellent explanation of lbw law upon each appeal, and a reason why each appeal is turned down. Unfortunately, the umpires seem to be infallible, which doesn't really reflect cricket as I would like :( It's good to have some realistically bad decisions. There is also a replay for run out decisions, which was lacking in the previous instalment of the game.