Goings on

I haven't had too much time for games lately.  A few days ago, I had an itch to play a flying game.  I have the following that I've never played:  Ace Combat 6, HAWX 2, IL 2 Sturmrovik (too lazy to check spelling), MySims SkyHeroes.  Additionally, I have Over-G Fighters, the Battlestations Pacific and Midway games,  and HAWX that I could play.  I decided to go with Ace Combat 6.  It was okay, but I wasn't aware I had a timer on a mission and stayed to blow up enemies and ended up failing the mission.  The game didn't do much for me, so I decided to put in HAWX 2.  This was a little better for me.  While it lacks the certain something of other Clancy games, I found myself getting into it.  I'm only a few missions in, but it wasn't bad.  Decided to change things up again, and went for Iron Man 2.  Awful, truly awful game.  Finally, I switched up again, and, realizing that I've never finished Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, decided to tackle that.  I'm finally starting to get into the game.  It was somewhat odd to see my last achievement was earned in 2008, but oh well.  Originally, the looseness of the controls on the platforming segments took me out of the game, and I shelved it.  Going back, there are still some irritating bits, but I've been able to get through most of the game and have only broken one controller!

I'm also happy to say that I've finally finished my Stormtrooper armor, and am now a member of the 501st.  I have a few other costumes ready to go for it.  Just in time for Dragon*Con as well.   In other Star Wars costuming news, I've also bought a casing for a mouse droid.  I'm hoping to have that built by the end of the year.  It shouldn't take a whole lot, but finding the right R/C chassis may take some time.

In other news, I decided to be that suburban guy and buy an SUV.  Mainly, it's to be used once or twice a month for hauling stuff, or carting my stormtrooper armor to events if I've got the kids in tow.  Surprisingly, a Honda Accord's trunk is not very spacious.  I did some research and found that older ones (<1999) are selling very cheap at the moment, mostly due to gas prices and whatnot.  Because of this, I was able to pick up a 1995 Range Rover for over $2000  under the blue book value, and $500 less than the dealer trade in value, so I'm fairly happy with it.  Granted, the 15mpg highway scares me to death, but I don't see myself going long distances in it.  I should be picking it up today.  It's in great condition for a 95, and has relatively low miles (135k).  I should be picking it up today.

College football season is nearly upon us.  Bama's looking like a contender this year.  T he games that most concern me are Arkansas and LSU.  Hopefully, this team has learned a thing or two about playing for a full 60 minutes.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the top 25 will change a lot after the first few weeks of the season.  I'll just go ahead and say it - I don't think Florida State is a top 5 team yet, and I think their ranking is a function of the media trying to hype up a top 5 matchup for week 1 of the season.  I do wish that preseason rankings would be thrown out and start the polling after the first 4 weeks of the season.  SEC expansion talk has been interesting.  I'd be fine with A&M joining, but not so sure about Missouri.  They seem to not take their football as seriously as we like in the south.

Aside from all that, I've just been slammed with work.  I'm hoping to have some proper time to play some games soon.  Realistically looking at my calendar, it may be mid-September before I have the time.