Movies, games and PhD
Another 5 weeks since I posted? I should maybe post more often but since I regularly see those that are likely to read it, posting about stuff seems somewhat redundant. However, I've got the urge to post something today and post I shall.
Let's start with yesterday evening during which I watched James Cameron's 'epic' Avatar which is now 'the most successful film ever at the international box office' (BBC News). All I can say to that is 'you've got to be kidding!' Now, don't get me wrong, it was a decent enough film but it wasn't anything special. As has been said, that's the power of hype. Myself, I enjoyed it. The story, while not original, was defiantly acceptable. One part of the story annoyed me but generally it was fine. Personally, I treated the experience more as a graphics demo and was more interested in this 3D thing it's got going on than that actual plot. The CGI was very good and the created lifeforms were believable (just about) so on that front, it scored. The 3D though resulted in a definite 'meh'. There wasn't really anything in the film that wouldn't have worked just as well in the 2D version. Occasionally you got the odd 'wow that leaf was close', but that was about it. As you might expect, the best examples of 3D (at least, for me) were in the trailers that preceded the movie. The technology itself certainly worked, but it didn't really add anything to the experience. Worth it once for the novelty but the next 3D movie/tv show/whatever I see better do it better, otherwise I fail to see the point. Be interesting to see what happens though.
Moving on to gaming, I've had a small flurry of games since just before Christmas. Zelda: Spirit Tracks, the new Mario & Luigi, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed, Star Trek Online and, soon, Mass Effect 2. I was tempted to say something about each of them but that'd take too long so I'll stick to the relevant ones. Batman: Arkham Asylum was named by Yahtzee as his 2009 game of the year and it deserves it. Good graphics, good story (such as it is), and good combat controls. The best bit though is it contains my favourite Batman villain, the Scarecrow, who is undeniably awesome. I'm looking forward to Mass Effect 2, mostly because Mass Effect was good and Bioware know how to make good RPGs (see Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins) and if they've smart they've left most of the original intact. I should probably be prepared to be disappointed though. Great sequels (like Half Life 2) are few and far between. Speaking of sequels to games from '07, BioShock 2 is also out soon and that looks good. I'll hold of getting though, for the time being. I was confused though by Steam who had the offer in place of 'buy BioShock 2 and get BioShock for free', along with the statement that if BioShock is already owned, you could give your new copy as a gift. Fair enough, but below that was another offer. 'Save even more by buying four copies of BioShock 2 together and getting four free copies of the original BioShock'. I fail to see the point of that. If you know three other gamers who never bought their own BioShock copy maybe but still, it is (at best) excessive.
Last bit of gaming news now. For better or for worse, I have bought a copy of Star Trek Online, the new MMORPG from Cryptic based in the Star Trek universe. Think World of Warcraft with starships and you're not far off. I know there have been some reservations that if I bought it then I could kiss my PhD goodbye and I'll admit that I was worried about that myself for a time but, on reflection and after with speaking with various people, I'm sure that won't happen, mostly because I won't allow it too. I'm a gamer already and won't play STO any more than I would any other game. I also won't have the requirement to constantly pay for it, thus removing the drive of 'I paid for it, therefore I must play it'. Since I pre-ordered the game, I get the option (which I've taken) of a lifetime subscription. I can play as much as I want at no additional cost to me (barring expansion packs). The lifetime sub was a little expensive but worth it in the long run I think, especially post PhD. I tried the beta of the game and it was fun so I didn't spend the money blind. I'm sure I'll talk more about this one later so stay tuned.
Speaking of PhD work, I suppose I'd better say something about that. I've been racking my brains over the postgraduate statistics problems for the past few days but I think I've finally got them down. Just need to finish the last question and I'll be ready to give them in, which is good since they're due in next week (although I intend to hand them in on Friday). As for actual PhD work, not much going on there. I've been busy looking at other people's work and haven't really done anything of my own yet except find where somebody made a (minor) mistake. Hopefully that'll change before too long. My immediate problem though is arranging meetings with my Mentor and Supervisor for the reports the School wants doing.
Fun times.
Let's start with yesterday evening during which I watched James Cameron's 'epic' Avatar which is now 'the most successful film ever at the international box office' (BBC News). All I can say to that is 'you've got to be kidding!' Now, don't get me wrong, it was a decent enough film but it wasn't anything special. As has been said, that's the power of hype. Myself, I enjoyed it. The story, while not original, was defiantly acceptable. One part of the story annoyed me but generally it was fine. Personally, I treated the experience more as a graphics demo and was more interested in this 3D thing it's got going on than that actual plot. The CGI was very good and the created lifeforms were believable (just about) so on that front, it scored. The 3D though resulted in a definite 'meh'. There wasn't really anything in the film that wouldn't have worked just as well in the 2D version. Occasionally you got the odd 'wow that leaf was close', but that was about it. As you might expect, the best examples of 3D (at least, for me) were in the trailers that preceded the movie. The technology itself certainly worked, but it didn't really add anything to the experience. Worth it once for the novelty but the next 3D movie/tv show/whatever I see better do it better, otherwise I fail to see the point. Be interesting to see what happens though.
Moving on to gaming, I've had a small flurry of games since just before Christmas. Zelda: Spirit Tracks, the new Mario & Luigi, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed, Star Trek Online and, soon, Mass Effect 2. I was tempted to say something about each of them but that'd take too long so I'll stick to the relevant ones. Batman: Arkham Asylum was named by Yahtzee as his 2009 game of the year and it deserves it. Good graphics, good story (such as it is), and good combat controls. The best bit though is it contains my favourite Batman villain, the Scarecrow, who is undeniably awesome. I'm looking forward to Mass Effect 2, mostly because Mass Effect was good and Bioware know how to make good RPGs (see Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins) and if they've smart they've left most of the original intact. I should probably be prepared to be disappointed though. Great sequels (like Half Life 2) are few and far between. Speaking of sequels to games from '07, BioShock 2 is also out soon and that looks good. I'll hold of getting though, for the time being. I was confused though by Steam who had the offer in place of 'buy BioShock 2 and get BioShock for free', along with the statement that if BioShock is already owned, you could give your new copy as a gift. Fair enough, but below that was another offer. 'Save even more by buying four copies of BioShock 2 together and getting four free copies of the original BioShock'. I fail to see the point of that. If you know three other gamers who never bought their own BioShock copy maybe but still, it is (at best) excessive.
Last bit of gaming news now. For better or for worse, I have bought a copy of Star Trek Online, the new MMORPG from Cryptic based in the Star Trek universe. Think World of Warcraft with starships and you're not far off. I know there have been some reservations that if I bought it then I could kiss my PhD goodbye and I'll admit that I was worried about that myself for a time but, on reflection and after with speaking with various people, I'm sure that won't happen, mostly because I won't allow it too. I'm a gamer already and won't play STO any more than I would any other game. I also won't have the requirement to constantly pay for it, thus removing the drive of 'I paid for it, therefore I must play it'. Since I pre-ordered the game, I get the option (which I've taken) of a lifetime subscription. I can play as much as I want at no additional cost to me (barring expansion packs). The lifetime sub was a little expensive but worth it in the long run I think, especially post PhD. I tried the beta of the game and it was fun so I didn't spend the money blind. I'm sure I'll talk more about this one later so stay tuned.
Speaking of PhD work, I suppose I'd better say something about that. I've been racking my brains over the postgraduate statistics problems for the past few days but I think I've finally got them down. Just need to finish the last question and I'll be ready to give them in, which is good since they're due in next week (although I intend to hand them in on Friday). As for actual PhD work, not much going on there. I've been busy looking at other people's work and haven't really done anything of my own yet except find where somebody made a (minor) mistake. Hopefully that'll change before too long. My immediate problem though is arranging meetings with my Mentor and Supervisor for the reports the School wants doing.
Fun times.