Marine1Ten's blog

Returned from Mankato, MN and the campus Xb1 demo today. Played Forza and Killer Instinct. Great graphics and smooth game play, of course. The controller was a fast play. My hands moved left to right quickly and smoothly over the buttons and the D-pad; and same for the up and down motions over the triggers/shoulder buttons. Good movement for BF4 play. The feedback was non-intrusive and the trigger feedback felt just right. No extra pressure required to hold the controller. I have large square palms and short fingers. The controller feels really good to me.

Remember when Johnny Carson did his psychic routine wearing the swami-type outfit? Always a hoot! OK I am going to lay down predictions about one of my favorite hobbies...Xbox gaming. I think that in 1-2 years people will have the option of having the Xbox gaming type of rig they want. (Wait, you say! It is already available? Well, technically not until Nov 2013). Full download, full connectivity with any social network, (yay for internet search during TV), or cable system, (Xbox system rebates may apply) and old school on/off simple tech delivery. MicroSoft is not a hardware company.

Gotta laugh at MS bad E3 luck. The best E3 for MS ever and Sony manages to steal the thunder. And the hurrah is all for naught. The future of gaming is with Xbox One. But they are early. Sony has been early before as well and paid for it in lost market share. Remains to be seen how slow new Xbox One sales will be. Looking back at 2001 and Bill Gates announcing ("the one box for your living room" (paraphrased), at E3, xb1 seems pretty consistent with their vision of the future.

To finally complete a game 100%. To feel I got my monies worth. Yes, I am a cheap date however, I am a faithful one as well. Completing 1999 mode in Bioshock Infinite was a relief to finally see if my build of gear and strategy paid-off. I almost gave up when I discovered the near fatal error of not doing any heath upgrade before Finkton Docks. Because the enemy could wipe my shield in one shot and I lacked any invulnerability gear, plus did not upgrade the sniper, nor did I have a shotgun for Handyman. And had yet to pick up Overkill. I died a lot and reset my check-point to save money.

And I return and find all kinds of "stuff" in the forums. Off topic is often slightly off-putting and flame wars manage to erupt. Thank-you to those calm heads who refuse to be easily offended and keep a meaningful dialogue in spite of those who impulsively reply upon their immediate sense of offense and start a flame war.

Scorching hot most of the summer. Farming has not been fun. Anxiety about our once a year paycheck sitting out there in the droughted fields. Rain has been rare and welcomed with hope and then disappointment at the inadequacy of the amount. Harvest is starting and we will see what we get. Had to laugh about the teacher's strike in Chicago, no such deal for us on the farm. Better to have insurance this year. Enjoyed watching the eclipse events this year. Great skyscapes.

Well, the new site is up and running, but needs some tweaking still. Regardless, here's hoping for the best.

The graphics and gameplay are so good these days. Especially if you played pong back in the day, as a comparison. Now, with online service available on the big screen, 3-D and the promise of better things to come; whats not to like as a gamer?  Most people expect even greater things but isn't there a threshold where the visual cortex cannot go past and the future will be repackaging of the social revolution of the computer and Xbox LIVE networking services? I consider the Kinect to be an evolution in gaming not a revolution in gaming.

The last ear of corn has entered the rotary combine and the golden grain separated and sieved. Harvest 2011 is history. The year began in flooding and has ended in a drought. I and the ten year old hauled wagon loads of soybeans to the elevator and shagged wagons hither and yon. With the crop in the grain bins, I breathe a sigh of relief and say a prayer of thanksgiving that we went through it all safely. Farming is a game where the farmer gambles on mother nature and depends on a benefecent glory solely by faith. So much can go wrong and so often it all turns out right.

Travelled to the land of black hills, roulette wheels and presidents in stone. The folks out there are hardy and still work for bigger companies. Just like the old days when the larger mines took over the independents. Learned to play Texas hold'em in Red Dead Redemption and was looking forward to playing a little (probably naive that, but I was able to pick up the AI patterns in the game and use it to my advantage to clear tables) but our hotel only had 21. No five finger fillet, either, ha!