Day 389: I'm back... for a short while

So yesterday I am still on MC but I had to return to the office since my laptop was locked out and I need to hooked it to a wired connection in the office. Sucks to travel for 2 hours in a the jam and rain. Came to the office and everyone was nice enough to ask how I am. The bummer was none of my department mates is there. So I just had a chat with sales. Answered all my old emails and went home. Over the course of going home my wife was thinking for me to quit on 1st March (which I am still on mc) but that is over a different issue.

Kirby's Adventure

A must play on the NES 

Game no: 201

Genre: Action

Platform: NES

Does the game still holds up?

Yes it does. Surprisingly deep mechanics that make this game an instant classic

- Different power-ups that Kirby sucks to aid him throughout the quest. The best power-up is the Laser. 

- Small stages that has different environmental effects.

- Boss battles 

- Bonus stages like the wild west stages and the eating bomb stages

- In stage 7 there is a tower where you fight all the past bosses. Kind of like dark souls.

- The music is awesome 

Status: Finished the game with Laser

Score: A masterpiece. Worth to be played at least once.

The Lego Batman Movie

It's great but I think it's overhyped 

Who is in it?

Will Arnett as Batman

Zach Galafanakis as Joker 

Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon 

Micheal Cera as Robin

Ralph Finnes as Alfred 

What is it about? 

It's the story how Batman is the greatest superhero ever and how working alone is not good for him 

When did I get bored?

Action parts are awesome... Then it goes way down to the mellow parts. So the pacing is a bit off paced 

Where it didn't do for me?

The action was design with someone who was Adhd.

Why did the Phantom Zone has King Kong, Voldermort and Sauron? Did Superman fight them and put them in the Zone? 

Why should you watch it?

If you like Lego yes.. If you like Batman then no... If you like comedy the yes 

How did I rate this?

If it was not for the free tickets I would recommend a download only...

Hacksaw Ridge

It's Oscar time and this is one of the contenders 

Who is in it?

Andrew Garfield 

Luke Evans 

Vince Vanugn (he is moving to more serious and dramatic roles)

Teresa Palmer 

Hugo Weaving 

Mel Gibson (Directed by) 

What is it about? 

A true story (not based on) about a WWII medic named Desmond Doss who got a Purple Heart (highest honor in the military) by not firing a single shot.

When did I get bored? 

Damn this movie is awesome. It starts of slow and shows backstory and such. But  once the second hour start it was non stop action. The action is damn awesome with blood and guts flying off the screen.

Where it didn't do it for me?

What was the purpose of the brother?

Why should you watch this movie?

One of a the Great War movies that don't go to deep and shows how much does a person needs to persevere and beat all the odds 

How do I rate this?
One of the best of 2017 ( well technically it came out 2017). A must watch 

Ducktales

200th game and its a good one.

Game no: 200

Genre: Platformer

Platform: NES

Does this game still holds up?
This game has been put in most of everyone's list as their top 10 NES game and I can see why

- Non linear gameplay. You can choose where to go
- Precise jumping mechanic on the pogo stick. Time it just right to get across a big chasm.
- Great bosses
- Secret passages and well as money collecting that never gets to old.

Status: Finished the game until the end.

Score: Can be played multiple times 

Donkey Kong Jr

Revenge is a dish served with a monkey

Game no: 199

Genre: Action

Platform: NES

Does this game still holds up?
The tables has turn where you play the son of Donkey Kong ( I don't think its canon since this son was never heard from again)

- You jump and avoid animals sent from Mario.
- The big difference is you need to use your ape hands to grab on the vines and such.
- 4 stages and you are done. I notice with a lot of old game it keeps on repeating until you get bored of it.

Status: Finished the game until the end.

Score: At least try it once.

Donkey Kong

The original Mario game

Game no: 198

Genre: Action

Platform: NES

Does this game still holds up?
Yup

- 4 Stages trying to get the princess away from Donkey Kong.
- You jump and avoid barrels. Occasional powerup help you along the way

Status: Finished the game until the end.

Score: At least try it once.

I'm scared

We interrupt our normal broadcasting for me to talk about my feelings. Well not so my feelings as much how I am scared shitless for the operation that I am going to take. 

The operation is to remove the a lipoma (fatty cells) at the back of my neck. It's the size of a marble. No issues for my health is concern but this is will eventually grow if not taken care off. So why not since I get 2 weeks off work which is cool. 

They say that you can make money out of blogging but I find blogging as therapeutic. It's a way to let it all out. So here goes 

The MRI machine was scary as hell. I have a medium case of claustrophobia. I hate crowds and tight spaces. So imagine to my suprise that an MRI machine looks like a coffin. I feel that I was buried alive with aliens probing me. It was supposed to be 30 mins but they stretched it to an hour plus. I told the attendant that I was scared but he said not to move that much. Man that was a nightmare 1 hour.

Today on Wednesday is my operation. I am not scared of the operation per say. I am more scared of the general anesthesia. But after talking to several sources. It's more like falling asleep. You won't feel a thing. So there is nothing to be scared about. Ok considered this done and dusted

John Wick Chapter 2

The man, myth and legend is back

Who is in it?

The Immortal Keanu Reeves 

Lawrence Fishburn

Common

A dog 

Lance Reddick 

What is it about? 

Straight after the events of John Wick. This continues the story of how John Wick got back in the deadly business of assassination.

When did I get bored? 

This movie is one thing but that. But I did get tired... More emotionally exhausted watching John Wick karate his way to a horde of bad guys. Its like he is playing Call of Duty in god mode. How can a guy get shot, beaten, hit and still keeps on going?

Where it didn't do it for me?

Well this is a over the top movie. There are stuff that have more questions than answers
A lot of backstory is not flesh out in this movie?
How does the gold currency work?
Is everyone an assassin since its like 80% of the movie.
Why didn't he drag that person out of the continental? 

Why should you watch this movie?

Great action sequence. Great story and a second part in an epic trilogy

How do I rate this?
One of the best of 2017.

Batman - The Return of the Joker

The sequel we want for a Batman movie tie in game

Game no: 197

Genre: Action

Platform: NES

Does this game still holds up?
This game surprisingly is fun as hell

- Batman has 4 different weapon types. Each it its own hyper move.
- The boss fights is a like a hybrid RPG. Batman has 80000 HP while the boss has more.
- The game moderately hard. Its just a lot of timed jumps.

Status: Finished the game until the end. (the last stages is via youtube)

Score: At least try it once.

Day 388: I accept my fate

I was pissed of at the start of the day. My heart still have not recovered. I cried on Wednesday. Didn't had the strength to get out of bed on Thrusday. Which is great because it was a public holiday. I came to the office and told some of my friends my story. Some were shocked. Some were pissed. Other felt sympathy and there is nothing they can do about it. I had a plan on Monday where I took a day off and went to the parent company to talk to the Head of HR. Everybody seems to have my back in this. In the evening I after the meeting I had with a client (met a nice hot Indian girl) I had a chance to call VH (since he was in the meeting with me). He said don't go and complain. Basically I will be making enemies of powerful people and they will make my life a living hell in the future. The reason that I got a 2 is simple. The CEO doesn't like me. It's just a simple as that. VH told me to just let it slide and take is as a challenge. 

Also find a better job. Since it's clearly that this company doesn't value me as an employee. After VH said that my heart suddenly felt better. Gone was the hate and hurt that I felt. I felt content. There is a saying that "rezeki" (which is Allah grace I guess. No idea what's the english word for it) is in Gods hand. So he didn't give me this maybe he has something better for me. 

Funny. The Malays were all wanting me to confront the big bosses. The Chinese were also the same. It took a Indian guy who I valued as a friend to give me rationale and deep though. This will probably be my last post about this rating/bonus issue. After this is business as usual.

On a side note. Yesterday was my last day at the office. I am heading for surgery. Need to remove my lump. That means I am getting 2 weeks (16 days) off. A good time to relax and play games and clear my mind. 

Balloon Fight

Who doesn't love balloon fight

Genre: Action

Platform: NES

Does this game still holds up?
A great game that is pick up and play.

- Fast paced action
- Precision controls needed to win

Status: Played a couple of levels. 

Score: At least try it once.

Arkanoid

The best version of breakout 

Genre: Shooter

Platform: NES

Does this game still holds up?
Its a fun version of breakout with a lot of powerups

- The physics of the balls are near prefect.
- Aliens comes out from the back

Status: Played a couple of stages

Score: At least try it once.

Adventure Island III

The third time is the charm

Game no: 196

Genre: Platformer

Platform: NES

Does this game still holds up?
They pull out all the stop in the last one.

- 5 Different dianasours
- A whole big island to explore
- Multiple weapons and secret passages
- Different environments
- Inventory system to save your powerups

Status: Finished the game until the end. (the last stages is via youtube)

Score: At least try it once.

Day 387: The nail on the coffin

Ok that's it. It was supposed to be a great day doing work and stuff. But it ended in tragedy. My boss called me again because he had something to talk to me about. Seems like the CEO was not happy with my 3- rating so he going to push me down into 2. The reason is all utter bullshit since I am not doing work outside of my kpi scope. That is not even the worse part. The worse part is I am being put back in probation. For around 3 to 6 months until I can prove myself. I really don't need this. My boss has the audacity to say "don't take it negatively". Of course I am going to take this negatively. You are telling me that what I do last year didn't mean shit. How would you feel... 

Long story short. I cried. It's been a while since I cried. Since I am a happy person in general. My heart still hurts. And worse of all this is on the couple of days of my operation. 

But do I have a plan. Yes I do. Will I be quitting. Yes I will. My HR friend (not the lady, I am pissed with her too) KS told me that don't be the victim. Whatever that means. So let's just head straight to  the chain of command. 

Achievement: Rock bottom

Adventure Island II

The first of many

Genre: Platformer

Platform: NES

Does this game still holds up?
Yes it does. This game unlike the first Adventure Island has everything that makes today's modern platformers.

- 8 Unique Islands
- Powerups
- Dinosaurs that you can ride on
- Boss battles
- End stages bonusus

Looks like I am playing a different version of Super Mario World

Status: Played it for a couple of hours, then I got bored. The stages are not varied enough. There is an ice stage, water stage, jungle stage and cave stage.

Score: At least try it once.

Am I ready???

I am trying to do the impossible. I will play every video game in the history of videogames. Well anything that can be emulated by my PSP, PC, and Shield. So what does this mean for my new games releases and stuff. Well I still play them. This is a marathon not a sprint. So I guess we go as slow as possible.

Here are the list in order of consoles that I will try

Phase 1
NES
Master System
Gameboy
Genesis
Neo Geo
Game Gear
SNES

Phase 2
(coming later)

Phase 3
(if phase 2 is ever done)

There are a couple of caveats during this review. Since I am not going to play a game that is boring. The purpose of this experiment is not to finish all games in the list but more to see after 20 years does the games still hold up until today.

So here are the rules to make it on the board

1. Must be played for at least 30 mins to make a review. If the game can't hold me for 30 mins I can skip and move on to the next game. If not there will be a lot of unfinished games in the lot.

2. Minor Japanese text is acceptable.

3. Graphics won't be a factor since all of them have standard 2D sprites.

4. Review format will be reformatted.

5. After everything is done, a postmortem will be conducted.

Wish me luck

Day 386: A very mellow day

Nothing much happen really. Everyone is busy with their own work so I just did my own stuff. The boss was not at the office. Everything seems to be honky dory. Told a couple people about my operation. Probably just to see if they are willing to visit or not. Everyone seems positive. So I too should stay positive. Today during after lunch no one was at the office since the whole finance department went and had a buffet. Which seems like everyone took half day because of this.

Day 385: Back to work

So after 9 days off. Which seems to me like a long time. I am finally back to work. Over last week I found out that I have to do surgery. So next week I will be admitted for 4 days. That means I need to settle everything for 1 month in 5 days. I really should stop starting my sentences with SO.. its getting pretty repetitive. Work was ok.. there are stuff to do and stuff that I need to deliver. Nothing that special. What was a bombshell of this week is two of our senior managers tendered their resignation. One had 3 months notice and she is currently serving her 2 month. While the other have 1 week notice and her new company is going to pay the current company the 3 months that is due.

The question is why did the quit

Manager A: She was frustrated at how she became the punching bag last year since we didn't meet our sales target. She didn't want the blame to be put on her. I don't blame her... Good on her for standing up for what she believe in. Mood on the office was a bit somber. She didn't talk at all at the meeting and was just quiet minding her own business.

Manager B: This is perplexing. She told everyone because she got a better offer. But really... you  must have a lot of pull to secure a 1 week notice off. Plus she is taking all of her contacts with her. So we are on uncharted territory since any new parts/hardware/software order will go through her. So now she is not here, where will get the pricing. They are looking for a new people to replace her but I doubt it you can get the same amount of contacts as the previous boss.

I had a meeting with SJ. She was the new marketing manager. The meeting was only for 20 mins but I think we spend 1 hour just gossiping about stuff. She did want to touch my lump at the back after I told her about the operation. So that was cool. I guess. If you could a growth cool. Ok then... See you tomorrow. I want to upgrade my psp.

Colin Mcrae Rally 2.0

You don't need great graphics to enjoy a good game

Game no: 195

Genre: Racing

Platform: GBA

Who will like to play this game?

- Those who like rally racing. Speaking of which I am in the rally mood now.

What will I expect?

- Basically the ps1 port is ported to the GBA. Great stages from real world locations
- Due to the graphical limitation of the GBA, most of the stages are flat but it does have twists, jumps and turns.
- Heavy 3D style graphics with a lot of pixelated sprites

When does the game get fun?

- Playing a rally game is always fun. Never get bored about them anyway.

Where does the game feels lacking?

- The framerate drops sometimes on sharp turns. But to get this level of 3d awesomeness is a feat itself
- I played this game and I still don't know how to do a sharp hand break turn. :)
- The controls does get a bit over responsive and you find yourself doing a 360 rather than a 180.

How did I rate it?

- Worth to be played at least once. It takes around 5-6 hours to complete a championship mode. Playing it on novice is good enough.

Status: Finish the game until the end credits