Whilst we seem to be on a bit of a retro theme, I managed to get hold of the 360 version of Tomb Raider: Legend.

I’m a bit of a TR fan from the days of the original release on the PSX, which I now see is being re-released in an updated form.  I remember it being a huge game for it’s time, taking a good while to get through, so the challenge of the new one was something I was looking forward to.

You just know there’s a huge BUT coming along!

How long did it take?  Seven and a half hours, and then when I got to the end, it wasn’t actually the end at all, but left it on a ‘To Be Continued’ type feel, without actually stating it.

Thankfully, I got this game in the budget price range, but if I’d have paid £40 for it when it first came out, I would have been even more miffed.  Although not perfect it was good fun whilst it lasted, but to just suddenly end, and not even with a proper ending, is a little lacking.

Admittedly, I was playing on the second level of three difficulty settings, but even so.  The only other possibility is that I’m better at Tomb Raider than I remember……..nah!

This whole trend of ending a game when the story hasn’t actually finished is starting to get on my nerves.  I know I’ve ranted about this before, but when you’ve put in the time to go through a game and complete it (which in itself is a rare occurrence for me, end titles are something that I rarely see in the games I buy) I want an ending. Not some half-arsed open ended crap to leave the developer room to shoehorn in a sequel.

I doubt it’ll change any time soon however, but I doubt I’m the only one who thinks this.

I’ve always been into retro in a kind of now and again style - I have a collection of old computers and consoles that unfortunately never get to feel the power of AC running through them quite as often as they should.

That is now all due to change. I’ve managed to clear some space upstairs and put in an almost new 26″ TV. I’ve already connected up the old Xbox and have come to realise that Pro Evo 4 is actually a very good game!!

Hopefully over the coming months I’ll be able to connect up the old Amiga 500 and after that the Spectrum 2. I’ll keep you posted. For now it’s just the Xbox upstairs with the Gamecube.

Not a PS3!

Just thought I’d clear that one up.

Having wanted one for ages, and now with a little one on the way, it is time for me to delve into the world of Camcorders.

Only problem is I can’t decide which one I want.  Budget-wise, my absolute ceiling is £500, and I know that I want a HDD unit instead of DV or Mini-DVD one.  I’ve done a bit of looking around online and found a good list of cameras at Empire Direct although there are plenty of online retailers that sell them this list is the longest I’ve found.

Only problem is that it only seems to be JVC and Sony who make HDD cameras at the moment.  Have no problem with either brand……well maybe a slight bias against Sony, but this is hardly a PlayStation is it……..but it would be nice to see offerings from other manufacturers.

Why am I telling you this? I wouldn’t mind peoples opinions on which of them look good.  If you have one yourself, then it’d be great to hear your views.  Just drop any thoughts down below as usual.

I’m having issues at the moment.  Issues with myself.

Sunday evening, I sit down with the laptop to get a bit more work done on Project BD, mainly by trying to add some semblance of a Contact-Us-type page.  Luckily the recent .net magazine had a tutorial piece suggesting how one could be made, and it looked a decent base to start from in order to make my own from.  The main problem was I just couldn’t get into it.

It was like I’d come face to face with a large mental brick wall, and getting around it wasn’t easy.  That’s not a slight against the tutorial, as bar the odd little bits here and there I understood the methodlogy without too much trouble.

Rightly or wrongly I just gave up.  No point sitting staring at the screen getting more depressed over why my brain just wouldn’t kick into gear.

Next thing, I thought of, go look around at other peoples sites, try to understand what they’ve done, how they’ve done it, and how I might be able to code similar features myself.  This was a good and bad idea.  Good because there are so many great sites out there that aesthetically are really good and are backed up by good user interfaces, giving me plenty of fodder to learn from.  Yet it was bad for that exact sanme reason.

So now, whenever I look at the code I’ve done, it just looks shit, messy, and altogether a bit useless.  Maybe I’m being too harsh on myself, trying to run before I can walk, but it’s still nagging at me, and quite frankly I’m putting myself off my own code.  Christ I even wanted to play Halo more than do some coding, which was a surprise to me!

The only solution that is making sense now is to start all over again from scratch.  Ditch the code I’ve already got, take any learnings from it I can, and moving on to a new iteration.  If I can’t even get my own projects working properly, how in the name of the HTML gods am I going to be able to get paid to do this.

Bungie’s support website for Halo 3 has a forum. This forum has a section allowing players to post bugs. Nice touch you may think but it’s not terribly nice when you realise it’s 118 pages long at the moment! I doubt very much if someone is going to go through all 118 pages fishing out the true bugs from the replicas.

And what chance of these being fixed before the beta ends? None.

Here’s the link to the forum if you want to add your own bugs. Uploading screen anyone?

>> Bungie Halo 3 Bug Report Forum Topic

Two stories caught my eye on Digg today. I thought I’d share them with you.

Halo 3 Beta - nine unanswered questions
With the Halo 3 Beta on constant play in the GamesRadar office, we’ve compiled a list of the questions we’ve been hearing people ask as they’re watching or playing. Some are funny but point out odd things, others are a little more worrying…

Sony Caught Using PGR3 Again?
Earlier this year Sony was caught using a screenshot of Microsoft’s Project Gotham Racing 3 to promote Gran Turismo 4…

You’re wondering, what the hell is he on about. Since when has the Cupertino based computer company played any part in the rise of the Xbox 360? Well I tell you, it’s made the difference between the latest dash update being a wonderful expansion of the 360’s offerings or it being a complete waste of space.

Why?

Because of the little Apple keyboard that works seamlessly in the USB slots of the 360.

Now I know this has more to do with the 360’s setup and it’s ability to behave almost OSX-like in it’s ability to understand common USB keyboards but the ability to use the best keyboard in the business, for MSN chatter, whilst playing Halo 3 (eventually) is a definite winner in my book. Without the ability to plug in a keyboard (and there is no way I was going to fork out a lot of money for a thumbpad keyboard extension which has a very limited use) the IM update on the dashboard would’ve been wasted on me - hell I get annoyed at having to slowly type out three words when sending a message using the standard controller - it’s like pulling teeth!

So I recommend to you all - get a USB keyboard, a mac one preferably - and plug it into your 360. It makes messaging on the 360 much more useful!