Day 384: 8 people

That's how many people that are working today. Due to 1st Feb is a public holiday. Most staff opt to take Tuesday off so they get a direct 5 days. I on the other hand have a lot of stuff to do at the office plus the kids and wife are busy so better just spend time at the office. The rest of the staff who came became a tight group who just gossip around and say what was on their mind. Since the HR department is merging soon and other departments will follow suit. I can see it a bleak future for me in the company. But hey... Get to leave early since who the hell cares right... 

Racing Gears Advance

The GBA is consider one of the many great handheld consoles of its time. It can be seen by this great game

Game no: 194

Genre: Racing

Platform: GBA

Who will like to play this game?

- Those who like fast paced racing with real cars and weapon combat.

What will I expect?

- Racing on multiple terrains complete with alternate paths to complete the race.
- A robust upgrading system where you can upgrade your engine, turbo, etc...
- Weather that plays effect on the racers and will cause havoc on your tires.
- Top down perspective that give an overhead view on the track.

When does the game get fun?

- The game is fun... But in the later racers if you don't have your car upgrade to the max, you are going to lose... and lose you will most of the time.
- You are always on your feet when maintaining your lead. A single error such as an oil slick and smoke will cause you to lose your lead.

Where does the game feels lacking?

- The game doesn't have an easy mode for people who just people who want to relax and enjoy a good race.
- The difficulty ramps up once your reach the fourth level of the race.

How did I rate it?

- Worth to be played at least once. Losing for a couple of time requires you to go grinding for better upgrades. Something that I don't have the time for

Status: Finish the game until stage 4

Day 383: A day of rest and relaxation

Today came the office the amount of staff was reduce by 50%. Most of them went to their Chinese New Year break already so the rest of us were left just to hang around and look busy. I was not that busy today so I spend most of my time talking to people and just gossiping. Since it what I do best... and sources close to me say that today the boss is going to give everyone a day off  from work since the the eve of Chinese New Year.

Day 382: Revelations in the office

Yesterday basically is the start of the holiday. My team is gone off except for ZN. The rest of the office is in the holiday mood. So today I am going to just talk about the office gossips around the water cooler.

Well... as you know my 3- review didn't stick with me well but I found out most of my colleagues who I know for a fact work their asses off for last year so got a rating that they didn't deserve. To my surprise my boss told ZN all my individual KPI doesn't mean shit since in the end its up to the management to decide on your face. So over here the office politics is very strong and in my opinion this is utter bullshit. Since we don't deserve a good rating based on our merit but who ass do we lick more.Well what to do when this office has a blatant amount of nepotism in here... So 2017 there will be a change in my life... 2 years is enough

Another office gossip is that the people division (is basically HR) will have to be restructured and HR lady and her staff have to move to the main office. It turns out this is the first step before streamlining other departments into one big entity. So a new department that consist of new people that will come and take care of us a couple of days. I think this is great since there are a lot of ways to cheat the system. The new HR doesn't know anything about the staff and the working of the office. Let's see how this is going to be in the coming weeks forward

Game database needs to be revamp

I am having an issue with my game database. The games does not tally with the database... This is going to take a while...

[Update] After a couple of hours doing some accounting on some games I finally got the right amount. But the issue is the game no tally is of by one.. So let's start with the next game is game no 194

Day 381: Awesome last day of work

I call it the last day since I tomorrow most of the office will be on holiday for Chinese New Year. Today I was super busy with a lot of working stuff. Going from up and down the floors... We managed to fix most of the items so overall today is an awesome day. Say farewell to my boss and CK and tomorrow will be another awesome day... Oh yeah.. ZN got her appraisal done. She got a 3.. She wasn't satisfied.

WRC FIA World Rally Championship

My favorite racing genre

Game no: 193

Genre: Racing

Platform: PSP

Who will like to play this game?

- People who like racing in general. Rally is the most technical when it comes to handling and drifting. You need to know when to press the accelerator and when to break.

What will I expect?

- A lot of tracks. Multiple weather and a good day and night cycle.

When does the game get fun?

- The game is tons of fun. The Expert does get difficult but players who love to challenge themselves will stick with it.

Where does the game feels lacking?

- I can't access all the track unless we take a higher difficulty.

How did I rate it?

- A masterpiece. A lot gave it a bad review but that is just subject to your own individual preference 

Status: Finish novice championship

Day 380: Meeting went well

Yay... Today I took half day. Didn't felt like going back to the city. Yesterday we figured out what was the problem with the client site. So today I was expecting the worse in the meeting. It turns out that the meeting went surprisingly well. There were no shouting and everyone was happy and courteous. Meeting ended at 11:45 and boss approve my half day... I'm off... See you tomorrow

Level up: +1
Current level: 88

Day 379: Great start for the week

Monday was a great day because 

A) no sales meeting

B) no team in the morning 

C) no pending work

D) free lunch by TJ 

And then in the evening in turn to shit... Today going to get scolding from a client. We found out why his site is not working properly. It's not our fault but someone going to get the chop. As VH says don't put the blame on us but on them.

SUPERHOT

I can see the appeal of the game but to name it game of the year 2016... I don't think so

Game no: 193

Genre: Action

Platform: PC

Who will like to play this game?

- That's a good question. I mainly tried this game because it was on Giantbomb's top 10 game of the year. This game is a very unique experience I might say.

What will I expect?

- The premise is simple. Don't move time stop. Move and time will go on. The objective of the game is to clear the room from all bad guys
- A faux PC complete with command prompt. There is even a cool wood chopping mini game.

When does the game get fun?

- The game is fun. It takes a couple of stages to get a hang of the controls. But once you get the hang of it. You'll figure out new ways to clear the room.

Where does the game feels lacking?

- The game does get a bit meta and wonky in the middle. It even goes to ask you to do something to break the fourth wall.

How did I rate it?

- Worth to be played at least once. Its a fun game.And its short. Just around 2 hours

Status: Finished game until the end...

Day 378: Heart to heart

So finally I did my appraisal with my boss. It turns out it wasn't half bad. We talked. The same thing he mention in 2015, is the same problem I am having for 2016. Lack protectiveness and initiative. I took that in strive knowing that this will be my last year here (hopefully)... In the end he gave me a 3- (that is below a 3 and above a 2 [we don't want a 2, that's bad]). So this means I meet all expectation but don't exceed it. Oh well.. after that we spend time gossiping about other staff and he says that you are not that smart and you need to ask others for help. At least I was not bummed out by my result. Among the 3 (CK and ZN) I am the weakest link. As they say... the weakest link is time to say goodbye... Man job hunting needs to start.

Day 377: Third time is the charmed

Today got a new phone (again 😓). But this time it's a new phone. No a hand me down phone. 

On the left is my old iPhone 6 and on my right is my iPhone 5 SE. Well I love the smaller size of the iPhone rather than having 2 iPhone 6 in my pocket. Work was ok. Had lunch with the HR crew... Yeah that's about it. Tomorrow is appraisal time so I taking the let it be mentality 

Day 376: Meetings after meetings

This post was written on Wednesday

I got back case of the cold which makes a lot of my bodily functions non responsive. So the doctor gave me a couple of days leave.

[Freebie] On Tuesday whilst I am on medical leave, I came to the office because I had someone flying over from Singapore and we had to make sure we are up to speed before meeting the clients. So I didn't consider that work to much since I was just there listening to him talking. I left after 1 and went to bed for a while.

So we are now back on Wed. The meeting went well. The clients were impressed by the British/Viking Man. I was enjoying the meeting as well since there are a lot of knowledge I am learning at the same time. The meeting went on for 2 hours and after 1 I need to excuse myself from the office to head to another client meeting.

Over there TJ and I were trying to convince his boss why they should come under our company. The boss was impressed so the contract is now ours. Overall great day of work today. My boss email me that he is going to do my appraisal on Friday. I think I already psyched myself not to expect any bonus. I think it is time to move out...

Ridge Racer

Ridgeeee Racerrr..... First game I played on my psp 13 years ago

Game no: 192

Genre: Racing

Platform: PSP

Who will like to play this game?

- Those who love arcade style handing and drifting

What will I expect?

- Arcade style racing with courses that are build to drift.
- This game is more capture the leader since we always start at the last place and we have 3 laps to get to first

When does the game get fun?

- Drifting and using the afterburners is always fun. The game difficulty range to moderate to extreme.
- Each car has a unique style of handling and each car has its own customer HUD. Which is cool.

Where does the game feels lacking?

- The game requires precision controls to get the right amount of drift. The cars do get a bit jelly which hamper the driving experience.

How did I rate it?

- Worth to be played at least once. Its a fun game. Multiplayer is a riot. But is hard find people with a PSP nowdays.

Status: Finished the basic tour and 

Day 375: Friday... Yay

After the rollercoaster ride that was this week. The weekend is finally upon us. So what have I learned this week is that there is no point trying to pleased everyone. Just be happy where you are and see where does it takes you. Plan to play some games and watch a lot of series... Happy weekend

Day 374: What's the point

Yesterday is a sucky day. Not because of work (well partly related). Yesterday the parent company gave some briefing about your performance and how your performance is related to your bonus and payout. But after the meeting I went to check the system and see that my boss have given me a very very bad competency review. the review meant that I am incompetent. So I ask what is the point... No matter how much of work you do... no matter how much you think you are like by your peers. In the end if your own boss doesn't think you are competent enough to do your job, what is the point of working here... I want to confront my boss and ask him to justify by given me a bad rating. But I have a lot of leeway from him so I think by just asking will open a different can of worms. I got to play it by the ear and see when it comes to my performance review next week. That's going to be another sucky day./

Day 373: Need to finish reports

Forgot to blog yesterday since I was super busy doing reports that are due next week. Anything news worthy happen yesterday??? Not really... Went to the bank and turns out I can check my family balance book since thea ccounts is not registered in my name. Other than that, everyone in the office (will the girls mostly) were all wearing zebra pattern stripe dresses, blouse and shirts. I don't have any stripe shirts... Ok need to finish report so I can go to the bank again.

Day 372: Great food day

Today in the morning at the office we had a sitting of the lion eye ceremony. There is where they give life to a lion by coloring the whole body. After that the lion will come to life and start dancing and throwing oranges. In the morning we had a sponsored breakfast. Here are the pics 

After loading up on carbs. I had a meeting at a hotel. Where the water cost more than my usual lunch menu. I had the lobster mac and cheese. It was delicious 

Oh yeah. Work was as usual... More and tedious... Hehe. But still fun... Yum yum 

Dustforce

Chim chimeny chim chimeny chim chim cheroo.

Game no: 191

Genre: Action

Platform: Ps Vita

Who will like to play this game?

- For those love short and sweet burst of gameplay. 

- People who love to clean

- Combo breakers

What will I expect?
- A hub world where you connect with a lot of other worlds 

- 4 different characters which plays almost the same but with different dusting equipment.

- The feeling of getting a total kill combo when you get your super meter charged up.

When does the game get fun?
- The game is fun. Killling (oops) I mean dusting the stages does get fun. When you get a combo it does make the game more enjoyable

Where does the game feels lacking?
- The precision controls will drive you insane. Everything needs to be timed in the precise moment. You will end up falling down from time to time and that does kill the mood of the gameplay.

How did I rate it?
- Fun for a couple of hours. This game is meant to be in short short burst. If you have time to kill and are a gulton for punishment I suggest pick this game up

Status: Played a couple of hub worlds and I call it a night. Deleted and never looking downloading it again.

A Boy and His Blob

Man this game was fun until physics killed it 

Genre: Platformer

Platform: Ps Vita

Who will like to play this game?

- This game is a remake of the classic SNES title with the same name. If you like physics based games, you will like this game

What will I expect?
- Puzzle solving and blob manipulation

- A warm and fuzzy feeling inside

When does the game get fun?
- Ok the game is not that fun. I was just liking the relationship that the boy and his blob was having. The game has a very serious one hit kill situation where anything you hit, fall or touch will send you to your death. There was one place where I kept dying until I rage quit.

Where does the game feels lacking?
- The whole premise feels a bit too slow. The Snes port was a bit faster than the Vita port. They did however update the graphics to HD quality which is good but the gameplay did not survive the test of time in my opinion.

How did I rate it?
-If you can get pass level 12 and figure our the puzzle I am sure this game will be an enjoyable run. But for those who doesn't have the time and patience, I would suggest to skip this game out.

Status: Rage quit after level 12

Day 371: Great day today

Today was the first day of our sales meeting. The last was 4 months ago. At start the boss announced that the sales target has went up 30% from last years target. That's like a crapload of money. I got some couple of work to do. Other than that it was a normal day. We got our peer evaluations already. I got more than 7% but my friend ZN got around 4%. She was quite bummed. It turns out one of her evaluators is a piece of work. Hopefully she will get a better score with the boss 

The Girl on the Train

What the heck did I just watch 

Who is in it?

Emily Blunt (she drunk 70% of the time)

Luke Evans 

What is it about? 

Like the title says. It a thriller about a girl who looks out of the window and see the strangers at the houses she saw. Something then happen and there is a series of events that will lead to the climax. 

When did I get bored? 

I didn't get bored per say. But the movie is a lot of flashbacks to build some backstory for the characters. So some parts I just skip it. 

Where it didn't do it for me?

A lot of places could be slove if the girl didn't drink. No one wants to believe a drunk.

Why should you watch this movie?

The plot is quite interesting. But the lead up is very slow.

How do I rate this?

Worth a Bluray watch. 

Mario Kart DS

An oldie but a goodie.

Game no: 190

Genre: Racing

Platform: DS

Who will like to play this game?

- Those who love kart racing games and with arcade style handing. Plus this game have weapons. Which is awesome.

What will I expect?
- 32 Tracks
- Shooting weapons
- Fast paced 150cc game play. 50cc is quite tame
- Single player mission

When does the game get fun?
- The game is always fun. I think is better playing it with humans but the computer does provide some challenge. Leading the race and getting blue shell in the end is arrrrghh...

Where does the game feels lacking?
- It does get repetitive playing alone again and again. It is fun but when you lose for the 3rd time on a single cup. It does get frustrating.

How did I rate it?
- A gaming masterpiece. Can be played time and time again. But the later you play the obsolete a DS will become. It's probably hard to find new friends for it

Status: Finish all 50, 100 and 150cc tracks.

Day 370: This is frustrating

Well yesterday I thought it was going to be a laid back Friday. But in the end it turned into a hellish time. I was working a project for CK. He gave me a small task to do. Nothing to hard. So I go the info from H2. After that the RN which was the person in charge of the project called me saying that the client wants more based from the diagram. The issue was the diagram was incomplete and there is not that much information that can be derived from it. So I told CK and got a scolding... I went back to H2 and he was angry.. But the thing is he is not angry at me. He is angry at CK for giving me something that I don't have any knowledge about. Is like asking someone to drive a car but they don't know the first thing about driving a car. Well I gave what I have to RN. Explained everything. She seems to fine with it and went home... 2 days off but from the looks of it 36 hours left... Can't wait till the end of the week. 

Level up:+1

Current level: 87

Day 369: Interesting Revelations

This morning when sending my kids to school. I got text asking me that if I want a job. After I ask for a job description. He was quiet. So I guess this company is a bit iffy. Besides that I found out that you really need to play internal company politics in order to advance your career. So do I care? No. Another thing I found out that another department had an open position and I would be great for it. I would consider it if I can work at Cyberjaya. But in the meantime I love my team... Oh yeah I did performance reviews for two of my friends today. Felt a bit honored they choose me to do a peer review for them. I even did one for my boss which was great. 

Day 368: 2017.. Blank Slate again

Well today there were close to 4 accidents happen around the way to work. With one happening right in front of me. Back to first day of work in the new year. Nothing much happen. Got stuff to do and got a lot of more new stuff to get it done. Got a new insurance card so that's good. So it covers more clinics and hospitals. Other than that... is just any normal day. Minus the picking the kids up to school.

The Wolf Among Us

First game of the year. Let's try a new style of review

Game no: 189

Genre: Adventure 

Platform: PS Vita 

Who will like to play this game?

- Those who love a great narrative. This game offers 4 branches of dialogue and each decision we made will change the outcome of the story.

What will I expect?
- Lots and lots of cut scenes.

When does the game get fun?
- The games is never fun. But the story is so interesting that this game feels like a day off playing.

Where does the game went wrong?
- The game is not totally great. The vita port is lacking in response time, so some of the Quick Time Events are a bit too fast to react. This makes the games itself feels less enjoyable.

How did I rate it?
- Fun for one time. You need to play at least 3 times to experience the full story. But its mostly the same thing.

Status: Finish the game and the main story line

(700th post) 

Dangal

After the Grate Wall. When for another cross cultural movie and this one is even better.

Who is in it?
Aamir Khan
Ok that is the extend of my Indian actor knowledge.

What is it about?
Its a somewhat true story about a formal National Wrestler (Mahavir Singh) wanted boys so he could train them to win Gold in the International Level. But after 4 tries he keeps on getting girls. So he starts out to do something that is not in the system. Train girls to wrestle and fight the system where is a total male sport.

When did I get bored?
Surprisingly Indian movies are at the bottom of my must watch list. But this movie is not a love story and there is no typical Indian stereotypes. This movie is genuinely interesting from start to finish. I finally understand the game and rules about wrestling and we are on the edge of our seats at the final scene.

Where I didn't do it for me?
After watching the movie did some Googling of my own and it turns out the movie is all fiction. Well almost 70% of it. They need to make some tension since in reality nothing like that happen. I was also not sure why people cried at one particular scene... Maybe I am just  dead inside or I didn't find that sad enough.

Why should you go and watch this?
For the wresting scene. The movie has good family values as well. Forget is an Indian movie and think of it more as a Sports type of movie. Like the Mighty Ducks

How do I rate this?
As those Indian people always say 'Syabas'. It means great job. or Movie

Fun fact: Dangal means wrestler...
 

The Great Wall

2017 and I am going to something different on my movie reviews.

Who is in it?
Matt Damon (I like him)
Andy Lau
Willlem Dafoe
Other Chinese actors that I think are famous in their own land

What is it about?
The Great Wall of China was built for a reason. Every 60 years monsters will try to breach the wall in order to attack. This is the story on how they thwart the attack. Very old school riding horses and shooting arrows kind of movie.

When did I get bored?
The story is fast paced enough that there is not a dull moment. There are a couple edge of the seats moment and the battles are a good 20 minute apart.

Where should I exactly view this?
This is a popcorn movie that is a great view at the cinema. The plot is easy enough to understand and the action is not that over the top (except for the last bit... that looks too CGI'ed

Why did I liked it?
Well it won't win 2017 best movie of the year but it a good action movie nonetheless. Plus I can see this movie earning billions in China. This movie is really about this Chinese spirit and how they are great warriors.

Hows the rating?
If you are on a date.. You have nothing to do... Want to kill 105 minutes. A good movie to watch.

Fun fact... I keep spelling 'Great' as Grate...

New Years Resolutions

First post of the year and my only new year resolution is to take it one day at a time. So rather than making a full year of stuff that needs to be doing I am taking it slow.

The main thing is try to waste time. Every free time I have I need to do something rather than doing nothing. But family will always comes first. As for gaming its going to be

Vita

3DS (DS) 

PSP (GBA, SNES, Genesis) 

PS4

PC 

iOS 

Need to switch between current and retro.

Random thoughts for 2017