New Toys
After sitting squarely on the fence, Diana and I bought an iPad. The idea was that it would fill a number of purposes, from portable movie player and book reader, as well as email/Facebook checker, game player, educational toy, etc. I think it will take a little while to actually figure out how this little device will fit into our lives. It's beautiful and fun to play with, but it still feels like a weird hybrid. I was able to convert previously ripped DVDs and get them on the pad. That certainly will help with our upcoming plane trips with Allison. We also got a little learn-to-read app that she can play. Maybe surprisingly, I'm somewhat reluctant to just plug her in to a screen at such a young age. As I said, we're still figuring out how it will play into our routine.
The same day, I also bought "Red Dead Redemption", Rockstar's latest and greatest offering since Grand Theft Auto IV. GTA, it should be noted, was voted "Game of the Year" by dozens of major publications, and critics are already raving about RDR. I've played about 3 hours over the past two nights, and am about as fired up as I've been about any game ever. They absolutely nailed my perception of the old Wild West. The towns are as dirty and gritty and determined as their inhabitants, and the landscape is breathtakingly beautiful. It just feels so damn cool to mosey down the middle of a town and watch and listen to the people. Or ride out into the wilderness on your horse under the starlight, and listen to the howling wolves.
Horseback riding is a major mode of transportation, and it's a ton of fun. They really do a great job of making your horse feel alive, with a mind of its own. You don't drive your horse like a car by pushing a button for forward and a button for backward. But you can turn him, and kick him to make him go. If you're riding with a group, he'll naturally follow the horses in front of him, so you don't have to manually steer the whole time. Kick him a lot, and he'll go pretty fast, but kick him too much and he'll buck you off. So even riding somewhere is a fun little mini-game of going as fast as you can without pissing off your horse too much.
One of the main selling points of the game is your ability to make moral choices. The nature of good and evil have always been topics in Grand Theft Auto, with corrupt cops and benevolent gangsters. I've only seen the tip of the iceberg, I hope. As an example, I was out riding, and heard some gunfire. I went to investigate, and saw two men chasing a third and shooting at him. The two men were wearing badges. What should I do? I ended up shooting the bad guy, and the good guys thanked me. I don't remember if I earned any other rewards. I'll bet that if I shot the lawmen the bad guy would have thanked me and rewarded me as well.
I could go on and on, but I'll cut it short. I've played poker in a saloon, helped drive cattle to pasture, shot and skinned deer, skunks, rabbits, coyotes, and even an armadillo. I've helped the Sheriff raid a bandit hideouts, rescued a lady being carried off by a bad guy, shot the rope of a noose to save a hanging man, and found and deciphered an old treasure map. Each of those events leads to rewards and more and more stuff to do. It's just overwhelmingly delicious, and I'm just at the beginning.
As best of all, Diana appreciates the background sounds of desert wilderness over the honking and cursing and gunfire of Liberty City.
After sitting squarely on the fence, Diana and I bought an iPad. The idea was that it would fill a number of purposes, from portable movie player and book reader, as well as email/Facebook checker, game player, educational toy, etc. I think it will take a little while to actually figure out how this little device will fit into our lives. It's beautiful and fun to play with, but it still feels like a weird hybrid. I was able to convert previously ripped DVDs and get them on the pad. That certainly will help with our upcoming plane trips with Allison. We also got a little learn-to-read app that she can play. Maybe surprisingly, I'm somewhat reluctant to just plug her in to a screen at such a young age. As I said, we're still figuring out how it will play into our routine.
The same day, I also bought "Red Dead Redemption", Rockstar's latest and greatest offering since Grand Theft Auto IV. GTA, it should be noted, was voted "Game of the Year" by dozens of major publications, and critics are already raving about RDR. I've played about 3 hours over the past two nights, and am about as fired up as I've been about any game ever. They absolutely nailed my perception of the old Wild West. The towns are as dirty and gritty and determined as their inhabitants, and the landscape is breathtakingly beautiful. It just feels so damn cool to mosey down the middle of a town and watch and listen to the people. Or ride out into the wilderness on your horse under the starlight, and listen to the howling wolves.
Horseback riding is a major mode of transportation, and it's a ton of fun. They really do a great job of making your horse feel alive, with a mind of its own. You don't drive your horse like a car by pushing a button for forward and a button for backward. But you can turn him, and kick him to make him go. If you're riding with a group, he'll naturally follow the horses in front of him, so you don't have to manually steer the whole time. Kick him a lot, and he'll go pretty fast, but kick him too much and he'll buck you off. So even riding somewhere is a fun little mini-game of going as fast as you can without pissing off your horse too much.
One of the main selling points of the game is your ability to make moral choices. The nature of good and evil have always been topics in Grand Theft Auto, with corrupt cops and benevolent gangsters. I've only seen the tip of the iceberg, I hope. As an example, I was out riding, and heard some gunfire. I went to investigate, and saw two men chasing a third and shooting at him. The two men were wearing badges. What should I do? I ended up shooting the bad guy, and the good guys thanked me. I don't remember if I earned any other rewards. I'll bet that if I shot the lawmen the bad guy would have thanked me and rewarded me as well.
I could go on and on, but I'll cut it short. I've played poker in a saloon, helped drive cattle to pasture, shot and skinned deer, skunks, rabbits, coyotes, and even an armadillo. I've helped the Sheriff raid a bandit hideouts, rescued a lady being carried off by a bad guy, shot the rope of a noose to save a hanging man, and found and deciphered an old treasure map. Each of those events leads to rewards and more and more stuff to do. It's just overwhelmingly delicious, and I'm just at the beginning.
As best of all, Diana appreciates the background sounds of desert wilderness over the honking and cursing and gunfire of Liberty City.
2 comments:
We got RDR this past Tuesday as well, and it's one of the few games that I'm actually interested in playing. I've just barely gotten into it, but it's loads of fun. Hopefully, I'll have some more playing time this weekend.
The commercials for RDR have almost pushed me to getting a concole just to play that game. If we hadn't just recently purchased a Wii for the fellas I think I would be in the market.
You may want to check out the HBO series Deadwood on Netflix and read the book Blood Meridian if this genre gets you going Adman.
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