Episodes From Liberty City



Its the Episodes From Liberty City! due to be released today on the 29th of Ocotober! It contains all Downloadable Content or DLC as cool people would call it, for Grand Theft Auto IV. That refers to " The Lost and Damned " , a series of events based on the turmoils of a Biker Gang Leader " Johnny Klebitz " . The second part of the DLC is " The Ballad Of Gay Tony ", a more adrenaline-filled, over-the-top adventure about Luiz Lopez, the assistant to nightclub tycoon Tony Prince, more commonly referred to as "Gay Tony", hence the title.


What I like about these two episodes, as Rockstar would call it, is that they are seamlessly interwoven into the main storyline of Grand Theft Auto IV. For example, a more obvious example was when the main protaganist Niko the Slavian Badass teamed with Johnny the Biker to collect some drugs from Gay Tony. Yet, who would have guessed that the mysterious enigma that foiled their plans, was Luiz himself. So I really love how Rockstar combines all these characters despite the generic difference in the game's themes.


So where's my legal of-age buddy when I need him ?


Ahem. Therefore I shall wait quietly and obediently to buy this controversial game, until I am of age 18, whereby I will be mature enough to understand the underlying concepts and dangers of drug abuse, profanities and meaningless violence. ....... :)

Time to Jump In

Being sick sucks as hell. I just feel horrible. It involves lots of staying in bed. Drug consumption. and I get migraines just playing 30 minutes of Bioshock. really really bad migraines. will be back to school tmr ( I hear a groan ). Also, I lose alot of weight when I'm sick. So much for those chicken cutlets huh ?

Onto more geeky and seemingly useless things to non-geeks, its the Xbox 360 Gaming Showdown Singapore! Thats right, its the gaming equivalent of the SGTCC '09 . And its for Xbox 360 owners ! Kiss my Spartan-armored ass you Sony fanboys. Its making its rounds around the Singapore Media, and its statistically proven that you probably dismissed it. Here are the details.



Venue: VivoCity, Western Court Area, Singapore

Time: 3pm-9pm (23 Oct Friday) , 12pm-9pm (24-25 Oct Sat and Sunday)

Games like Forza Motorsport 3, DJ Hero, Lips, NBA2k10 and Assassin's Creed 2 will all be featured and thats just a few of them. There will be challenges and you stand to win LG Surround sound systems and TV sets.

Visit the officials site at http://xboxsingapore.com/xgs/index.html for the complete Event schedule.
Well, one fanboy is sure to be there. ;)

Welcome to the Madhouse.

So... the exams just ended ... the internet is down ... Life Sucks huh ? No! Not when ... you have 3 new awesome games to play!


Say hello to the greatest comic book game in the history of video gaming. I intended to buy this early on, but then PS3 announced that they had a bonus gameplay for PS3 players so I really kinda shunned away from this game for fear of comparisons. However, it got 9.3 stars upon 10 in IGN the week it came out , so thats when I really decided that I HAD to get this game.

And I have to say, it really does live up to its name. The game starts in the Batmobile with the Caped Crusader personally driving the Joker back the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Basically, Arkham Asylum is where they send all the unstable Batman villians in DC comics. e.g. Joker , Scarecrow... In a (not so) surprising turn of events, the Joker escapes and releases all the inmates of Arkham Asylum free , leaving the Dark Knight to clean up his mess. From there, you're off on an adventure that ranks right below The Dark Knight movie in terms of awesome Batman experiences.

In terms of gameplay its just really enjoyable. Personally, my favourite aspect was the hand-to-hand beat them up combat. Really really slick moves. and the way the controller vibrates in your hands it just feels like you are really kicking the living shit out of these guys! You kinda feel "empowered" as you strike, reverse and takedown your enemies, unleashing Bruce Wayne's fury onto the world.


Another part of gameplay is the " Stealth " sections. This is where you get the drop on a roomful of bad guys who are patrolling. These sections are cool because they forced me to play like Batman and not some random action game character.


I'd shoot up to a gargoyle, kick on detective mode to see how many enemies I was up against, and then start picking them off one by one. If there was just one dude with a gun in the group, I'd glide in to take him out and then move to the other baddies. If there was more than one gunman, I'd stick to the shadows so as not to get my brains blown against the wall.


There's a lot of freedom on how you want to engage these bad guys, and it's one of the best parts of the game. You could wait for a guy to be alone and then glide kick in and perform a ground takedown, but you've got access to Batman's entire utility belt if you want. Once everything's unlocked, you can use explosive gel to blow out walls and knock guys out, you can through Sonic Batarangs that'll then explode, you can pull people over railings with the grappling hook, and you smash through windows to take guys out.


Voice acting is superb. Did you know that the guy that voices the Joker is Mark Hamill? YES , THE LUKE SKYWALKER! Saw him doing it on Youtube and its just really amazing. The laughter and all. Arleen Sorkin sounds terrific as the Harley Quinn. Everything is just spot-on and the soundtrack really reinforces the dark setting of Arkham Asylum.


Graphics look really great. This is what Batman's world feels like. It's dark and gritty. You'll feel Batman's frustration and the terror of hostages. The game also looks great in motion. Batman's damage detail by the end of the game is a nice touch.


Batman: Arkham Asylum is the greatest comic book videogame of all time. This is a Dark Knight story that is well-told, packs some truly fun gameplay elements, has topnotch voice talent, and feels like it's part of Batman canon. Aside from Deadpool, Batman has become my favorite comic book character. :)

You were born in the zoo ...



Thats right, Happy (very ) Belated Birthday to myself. and thank you very much to all those who wished me ... happy birthday. Birthday celebration was really just a gathering of relatives ... playing some old-school Halo with cousins. Decimation of cousins.

( ROFL ... this guy named " Fuck you " just signed in on MSN. Really sweet huh? Its like your Windows Live Messenger is pointing the middle finger at you. )

Anyway... I got a Calvin Klein wallet from my uncle and family, which was one of my favourites. My mum got me an Adidas bag. My sister got me this chest workout thingy, (you bend it here and there). My dad bought a SW Xbox360 Game. and I really like it all. So its an enjoyable birthday for Nic this year. :)



That's a photo of the birthday cards my little cousins drew for me. Apparently they stayed up till midnight crayon-ing these cards for me. A4 size paper crayon-ed fully on both sides. I was just really touched :)

and since I have nothing much to do, lets do some game reviews.

Relax ( Relax ) , Take It Easy

Hey, Just felt like relaxing today after (a few) days of hardcore mugging. And the English and Geography exams passed pretty well. Unless in English, "well" means "oh-crap-I-forgot-one-paragraph!" But Geography was indeed decent.

Anyone did Q1 and 3 ? And only knew 5 of the points for the Q1 Level Descriptor? Anyone ?

Some really intense basketball from 1pm to 5pm after that. Nah, it was really kinda relaxed. Just practiced for some 57-pointers here and there. Couple of lousy matches. Went home had early dinner and took a nap slept till 10am this morning.

Then when I had nothing else left to do, I had this wonderful idea of looking up my old blog on Multiply. Kinda like reading an old diary. Except with a background of "Smiling Pasta" , the brilliant Taiwan drama from 2006. Yes, I was once into Taiwan and Korean dramas.

Apparently I used to be addicted to the computer! Yeah, and I would hate my parents from time to time for scolding me. A lot of it details my journey and development as a buddy sci-fi geek e.g. reading sci-fi novels, watching re-runs of Star War... watching more re-runs of Star Wars.

Side note: I had the horrible-lest English back then. Its so ridiculous that I had a post called " Please Cum in maii house! " It kept referring to some guy called "mie".

Yet, at the same time, I realized that I was very happy. I kept saying that I would laugh until I cried. Particularly during Sec 1. When I was still playing catching with Justin, Xiu Ming, Shing Yi and Zhi Xiang. And we were laughing all the time in NCC. And I was still passing my Chinese. Truthfully, I'm hardly ever this happy nowadays. I can't even remember of the last time that I " laughed until I cry man" . I'm not sure whether its the stress or the hormones but somehow I wish that I could have stayed in that period of happiness for a little longer. Just a little longer.