I'm really enjoying listening to the Japancakes cover of My Bloody Valentines complete Loveless album. It's really the most gorgeous long play I can remember hearing in a long while... 1:34 PM >>> 4 comments

If you're interested in music, especially the shakuhachi, you should check out this very interesting episode of the radio program Encounter...

"We travel to Tokyo and Kyoto to meet a Zen sect with a tradition of music as spiritual practice whose influence continues today. They were the Fuke sect, and the wandering monks of this Buddhist lineage, known as the komuso, became famous as the Zen Priests of Nothingness."

It looks like it will be archived there for the next month or so... You can also subscribe to the podcast http://abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/eer.xml and get the show that way... 11:18 AM >>> 0 comments

I was thinking about how yesterday I described Sega Rally Revo's punishing difficulty as a reason I wasn't too into it and Race 07's punishing difficulty as a reason it was good and I wanted to play it more. On the surface those statements obviously aren't very consistent - so to elaborate... The thing is, there's difficulty that makes sense, that seems fair and makes the challenge fun - when you screw up, it's because you screwed up. You can see what you did wrong and you can see how you can work to learn how to do things right. Race 07 is hard like that. It's a sim where you have to actually learn how to drive a race car around a track, almost like learning to drive a real race car (I'd imagine). You have to be precise, you have to concentrate, and when you screw up, it's pretty obviously your own fault. You learn as you play and it's quite apparent that if you put in the time, you can and will get better. Sega Rally Revo is more arcadey, less sim like, which can be a lot of fun (see Burnout), but in this case, so far, I've found it to be unfairly difficult (haven't played too much though, since initial impressions turned me off). By unfairly difficult, I mean, it just seems artificially difficult - the other cars seem to race too fast and too perfectly - they never seem to slow down on a curve or anything and seconds after the race has started I'm left behind with no chance to catch up. So far it's difficult to improve, to even see how I can improve. The tracks seem designed to emphasize the gas pedal. In fact there seems to be almost no need for a brake pedal - which takes out half the fun of a driving game right there. The tracks seem poorly designed for racing - though when I went online most of the other people seems to have no problems (though it was hard to tell since they were quickly out of my view, so far ahead of me) so maybe it's just me.

It's true that right now I'm just enjoying simulation type racing more. Race 07, Forza 2 and Gran Turismo are the staples of my driving game diet. These games really challenge you to be precise, accurate and consistent in your driving - to find the right line, to break into curves correctly, and to accelerate out at the right time - to learn the tracks and to learn the different cars. That's why they're fun.

I was thinking about this one race I had in Forza 2 - the first endurance race I tried. Forty-five laps long, the race took well over an hour - and I ended up winning it by less than one second (by 0.78th of a second if I remember right). That was one hell of a unique experience. 10:54 AM >>> 0 comments

Rambling racing game roundup.

In the last month or so I've really gotten into racing games, and have spent a bunch of time trying out a lot of different ones - each which has its own strengths and weaknesses - none of which seem to get everything right. I've also picked up the 360 racing wheel & the Logitech Driving Force Pro - crazy I know - though playing these games with the wheel really does add a lot to their immersive & physical quality - and makes 'em a lot more fun. Except the 360 wheel, with its limited movement, is kind of crap. Yet Forza 2, the 360 exclusive is still probably my favorite current racing game. Dilemma! It's not Forza's controls, but the smooth, beautiful graphics, clear menu system and the way you progress through the game that make it the most fun (unlocking better cars, new races, etc). On the other hand, I tried to try out its online mode over the weekend and couldn't successfully join or start a single multiplayer game - disappointing to say the least. Sega Rally Revo (ps3) had no such problems - I was playing online in seconds. My problem with my limited time with Sega Rally Revo is that it's surprisingly hard (in an unfun way) even when just starting out - I haven't been able to win a single thing in that game so far, and in the online races I tried, I always came in last place. Dirt (ps3), the other rally racer I picked up, is way more fun, way more playable and really looks great (really nice menu system too), but it has no real online races at all - which is a knock, as it really limits the game's variety - and I really miss not having the option to mix it up online when one gets sick of the single player experience. Nonetheless, I figure to put a lot more time in with it that Sega Rally Racer. Although its not so new (I've had it for about a year, I guess), I also pulled out project Gotham Racing 3 to try it out with the 360 wheel, and that works pretty good, but I realized I really just don't enjoy that games kudo system - I just want to race - don't want to have to nail perfect drifts and do that flashy stuff - I just want a smooth ride. Put it back on the shelf. Finally on the PC front I downloaded Race 07 off Steam and after a typically frustrating several hours of tweaking to get the wheel working right and to get the graphics optimized for my system, I've been enjoying it. While definitely not up to Forza's quality in the graphics department, it does have a pretty clean, decent look. But more importantly, it's the most hardcore of this batch of racing games I've tried yet. Very challenging and realistic seeming - I could see putting a lot of time into it - because it's definitely one of those games with a punishing learning curve. Actually I should rephrase that - it has no learning curve - it's just a straight up challenge. In that way, it's better than Forza, which sometimes features a little to much grinding as you work you way up to more difficult challenges. 1:23 PM >>> 0 comments

Fooling around with Flight Simulator X, I went for a little flight over San Francisco this morning in an AirCreation Trike Ultralight...

8:56 AM >>> 0 comments

http://railsimulator.blip.tv/ 2:31 PM >>> 0 comments

9:24 AM >>> 3 comments

10:08 AM >>> 2 comments

11:11 AM >>> 2 comments