Sorry
It has come to my attention that, in the words of JDogg, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, LMNOP has been "weak" as of late.
I admit the truth of this. It is undeniable. Yet there are reasons for this.
First, I'll fall back on the excuse that everybody does: work has been busy. As in, "May I have another bowl of porridge, sir?" busy. Yet I have confidence that the scars will, given enough time, heal properly.
Second, I've been really excited about a new project David is working on (you have to read the comments to get the gist of it). This could be my big break-through, so I kind of want to focus on it for now.
Third, there is something that has taken over my life and slowly but surely leached all productivity and responsiveness out of my overwhelmed mind. No, it's not The Mayor's site.
It's this.
Now, I like video games. I like to play them. All kinds. But I especially like driving games. But until now I've been able to keep a pretty tight lid on my affinity for digital crack. I usually max out after about an hour of playing one game.
"Forza Motorsport" is an exception. Probably because it is an exceptionally good game. I have eight other driving games for the Xbox, from arcade racers like "Burnout 3" to more realistic ones like "Sega GT". "Forza" kicks all their asses eight ways to Sunday. It's the Dodge Viper to everyone else's Geo Metro.
Okay, that's unfair to titles like "Project Gotham Racing 2" and "Burnout 3", which are excellent games in their own right.
But "Forza" bolts on an intercooled turbocharger and takes the gameplay to a whole 'nuther level.
I won't go into all the geeky ways that "Forza" makes me giddy. But the level of detail and realism in this game is stunning.
Funny enough, today I finally whip out the April 2005 issue of Popular Science that I've been carrying around in my bag for weeks. There was a car on the cover, but I hadn't taken a closer look. It turns out the cover story -- "Virtual vs. Reality: Can You Tell the Difference At 150 MPH?" -- is all about "Forza".
The magazine got a professional racecar driver and a professional car tuner/gamer, and ran them through two days of real-world and virtual driving tests to see how "Forza" stacked up against reality.
They tested six cars, from the VW Golf R32 to the Porsche Carrera GT.
The gaming setup was just as sweet. They each got a 50" plasma TV and a $2,500 custom-made chair with a force-feedback steering wheel and built-in surround sound speakers.
The result?
Anyway, the long and short of it is that this game is phenomenally addictive and has kept me up on several occassions until 2:00 a.m. The game has been devouring my blogging time the way I've been devouring pavement on its pixelized tracks.
I admit the truth of this. It is undeniable. Yet there are reasons for this.
First, I'll fall back on the excuse that everybody does: work has been busy. As in, "May I have another bowl of porridge, sir?" busy. Yet I have confidence that the scars will, given enough time, heal properly.
Second, I've been really excited about a new project David is working on (you have to read the comments to get the gist of it). This could be my big break-through, so I kind of want to focus on it for now.
Third, there is something that has taken over my life and slowly but surely leached all productivity and responsiveness out of my overwhelmed mind. No, it's not The Mayor's site.
It's this.
Now, I like video games. I like to play them. All kinds. But I especially like driving games. But until now I've been able to keep a pretty tight lid on my affinity for digital crack. I usually max out after about an hour of playing one game.
"Forza Motorsport" is an exception. Probably because it is an exceptionally good game. I have eight other driving games for the Xbox, from arcade racers like "Burnout 3" to more realistic ones like "Sega GT". "Forza" kicks all their asses eight ways to Sunday. It's the Dodge Viper to everyone else's Geo Metro.
Okay, that's unfair to titles like "Project Gotham Racing 2" and "Burnout 3", which are excellent games in their own right.
But "Forza" bolts on an intercooled turbocharger and takes the gameplay to a whole 'nuther level.
I won't go into all the geeky ways that "Forza" makes me giddy. But the level of detail and realism in this game is stunning.
Funny enough, today I finally whip out the April 2005 issue of Popular Science that I've been carrying around in my bag for weeks. There was a car on the cover, but I hadn't taken a closer look. It turns out the cover story -- "Virtual vs. Reality: Can You Tell the Difference At 150 MPH?" -- is all about "Forza".
The magazine got a professional racecar driver and a professional car tuner/gamer, and ran them through two days of real-world and virtual driving tests to see how "Forza" stacked up against reality.
They tested six cars, from the VW Golf R32 to the Porsche Carrera GT.
The gaming setup was just as sweet. They each got a 50" plasma TV and a $2,500 custom-made chair with a force-feedback steering wheel and built-in surround sound speakers.
The result?
Within five minutes, [pro driver] Jeanette logs a time of 1:16 and change -- just four seconds slower than his fastest lap at Road Atlanta in the real car. "That's better than my best time," says [lead designer] Greenawalt, who, as "Forza's" architect, has been playing the game longer than anyone. "It's unreal!"
Anyway, the long and short of it is that this game is phenomenally addictive and has kept me up on several occassions until 2:00 a.m. The game has been devouring my blogging time the way I've been devouring pavement on its pixelized tracks.
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