The Darkness and other sundry things...

Well, took some time and played The Darkness. It had loads of promise and an interesting hook, but in the end it was too linear and forced. At times it felt like some kind of movie with various interactive sections added to try to keep the viewer/player interested. I'm just not a player that wants to be led around and thrown in to small sandbox to play until the developers allow me to watch the next scene and enter yet another small sandbox.

I guess all games are just smaller sandboxes from what we reckon is reality, but The Darkness's sandboxes felt a bit too claustrophobic. Hmm, maybe that was the idea, as actual darkness is frequently thought of as claustrophobic, enveloping, suffocating and menacing. In comparison, the game Darkness is troublesome, painful, boring and tedious.

Also, on it's way back to GameFly.

In my last blog I mentioned putting my car in for repairs. Basically the AC and the battery went out on me. I replaced the battery and tried refilling the AC only to have it gone again within 48 hours. I figure there must be a leak somewhere in the AC pipes and the alternator has a problem. Took a detour on my morning bike ride and hit the repair center. Head mech said the alternator is only giving 15 out of 100 amps, so it needs to be replaced. Well, yeah, do it. He found one problem with the AC, but there is something else wrong, so he has to troubleshoot this further. Time & money. Great, I guess I'll need a rental for work this weekend. Mo' money. He also found some bushings on the rear suspension that need replacing. Uh-huh. Fortunately he found nothing wrong from the low-speed hit I took.

This will be the third repair the car has had this year. Almost all are for amounts possibly more than the car is worth (a 14yo civic with poor exterior/interior condition, in other words - scrap). I guess I'll have to seriously consider buying a new car within the next 6 to 12 months.

So I went online and checked new cars in the econobox/compact category. Yeah, I remembered how much I hate car shopping and trying to compare and assemble a car with the accessories I want.  One car I looked at was good, so using the website I tried putting together the accessories and packages. I added the 'audio package' (subwoofer) and that required a sat radio and moonroof. I don't want either so I tried removing the sat radio and the site also removed the ABS brakes and a security package (um, what?!). I remove the moonroof and the site removes the subwoofer and the keyless entry system (WTF?!).  I can only guess they design the website with the hope that the mental anguish caused will encourage you to visit a showroom and deal with the retards salespeople & managers.

Ah, well, I hope the rest of you guys & gals get to enjoy this long holiday weekend.