Paradolia – Alex Smoke

Trilogie De La Mort – Eliane Radigue

Caesura – Helios

Plume – Loscil

An Announcment to Answer – Quantic

Saturday Morning Empires – Various Artists

I’ve set a new goal for 2009.  One I think is doable, however one which is probably going to push my power of control to breaking point.

For the remainder of 2009, I am only allowed to purchase 1 game for either my DS, PSP, XBox 360, PS3 or Wii each month.  So in total 12 games for the year accross all platforms.

I know this is going to be a tough call as I have struggled to get it down to 1 game a fortnight over the past few years.

My last 2 purchases for 2008 were Fallout 3 for the Playstation 3 and The Last Remnant for the Xbox 360.  I’m hoping my preference for Role Playing Games may help me out a little due to the length of most of the games in this genre.

I have no idea what my January purchase will be as yet, time to start thinking I suppose.

Let the games game begin.

It wasn’t a very exciting New Years for me having to work well into the early hours of the morning, however it gave me time to reflect and focus on what my goals are for 2009.

So this evening in order to keep these goals on track I’ll be posting my 2009 New Years Resolutions on this site.

Update:  So my New Years Resolution for this year is 3 part.

First is that I have always wanted to give weight training a decent go, so I have purchased a home gym set up.  I suppose my goal here is not to look like the fool of a guy who has purchased gym equipment but never uses it.

Second is that I want to move house in the next 6 months and so want to complete the majority of my ‘100 Books…‘ list and really cull down some more of my physical possessions.

Finally, I would like a Pug.  I already keep, raise, show Cavies (Guinea Pigs), but I feel something is missing in my life and I think that a small dog such as a Pug can help fill that void.

As I’m a big fan of handheld gaming I’ve started with a few lists from a couple of portable gaming sites I frequent.

Pocketgamer

• The 10 best iPhone games of 2008
• The 10 best Mobile games of 2008
• The 10 worst DS games of 2008
• The 10 worst PSP games of 2008

touchArcade

• “Best of” iPod touch and iPhone Games – A 2008 Holiday Guide
• Voting Closes 7th January 2009 touchArcade Forums’ Best of 2008

PALGN

• PALGN Game of the Year Awards 2008 (the 2007 list here)

Eurogamer

• Eurogamer’s Top 50 Games of 2008: 50-41
• Eurogamer’s Top 50 Games of 2008: 40-31
• Eurogamer’s Top 50 Games of 2008: 30-21
• More will be added as the site updates…
• Eurogamer Reader’s Top 50 Games of 2008

Metacritic

• Best of 2008

VideoGamer

• Top 10 Nintendo platform exclusives of 2008
• Top 10 Playstation platform exclusives of 2008
• VideoGamer.com’s Top 10 Games of 2008 (HD Video)
• Best Games of 2008: 50-41
• Best Games of 2008: 40-31
• Best Games of 2008: 31-21
• Best Games of 2008: 20-11

GamePro

• OMGNintendo’s Top 10 DS Games of ’08
• The Best Games of 2008: YOU NEVER PLAYED!
• The Best (and Worst) of 08: The GamePro Awards
• Top 10 Wii Games of 2008

Gamasutra

• Gamasutra’s Best of 2008 (Massive article)

I’ll be adding more sites to the list as they are released.  Feel free to notify me of any you may come across yourself.

As a sample I purchased the January and February issues of Asimov’s Science Fiction as well as the January – Febrauary 2009 edition of Analog Science Fiction and Fact.  It’s been a while since I’ve picked up either of these titles at my local newsagent so I thought they would be good titles to test out the device.

Also, in keeping with my 100 Books… project, I purchased a copy of the first book in the Christian Jacq ‘Ramses’ series, The Son of the Light.

If your already an iPhone or iPod touch owner you may have noticed a plethora of ebook applications (including those only including stand alone titles) in the App Store.  Over the coming weeks I’ll be testing a few of these out.

In order to read these titles on the iPhone you need to download a copy of the free eReader application.  Once downloaded they can only be viewed with this reader – either on the iPhone itself or on your computer of choice.

Downloading the titles to your iPhone can be done directly through the application…or you can purchase titles while browsing on your computer and download them directly from your iPhone at a later time.

This part is a little longer than the first and I’ve endeavored to provide relevant links with each title.

God is an Astronaut – God is an Astronaut

• Current emusic rating is 4.5/5 and further details from emusic regarding this title can be found here.
• Official Website
• MySpace

Ill Gates – Autopirate

• Current emusic rating is 4/5 and further details regarding this release on emusic can be found here.
• Official Website
• MySpace

Kode 9 – Bad / 2 Bad

• Current rating at emusic.com is 4/5
• Official Website
• MySpace

Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke

• Current rating at emusic is 4.5/5 (with 200 ratings)
• Official Website
• MySpace

Ladyhawke -Paris is Burning EP

• Current rating at emusic is 4/5

Ladytron – Ghosts (Blestenation Mix)

London Elektricity – Syncopated City

Luomo – Convivial

Mark Farina – Best of Mushroom Jazz, Vol 1-5

Mark Farina – Mushroom Jazz 6

Quarta 330 – Homeless (by Sabacco) Quarta 330 rmx

Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins – Clutch of the Tiger

Starkey – Ephemeral Exhibits

Taylor Dupree – Landing

Tim Hecker – Radio Amor

Various Artists – Big Freeze Volume 3

Zomby – Where Were in ’92

I had a lot of fun yesterday burning up my credits (thankyou Xmas people and your presents) so this list is considerably longer than average even with the addition of my November buys.

Again, its a fairly eclectic mix of styles…all with an electronic feel.

Update:  The second part of this list has now been posted and can be found here.

A Setting Sun – Empty Sound

Alex Metric – Deadly on a Mission EP

Beats on Canvas – Beats on Canvas

Belleruche – The Express

Deadbeat – Roots and Wire

Distance – Repercussions

Dorian Concept – A Trebleo Beat Tape

Dorian Concept – Maximized Minimalization

Evil Nine – They Live!

Evil Nine – You Can Be Special Too

Fennesz – Black Sea

Girl Talk – Feed the Animals

Girl Talk – Night Ripper

While I’ve been lounging around I’ve taken the time to pick up a few new purchases from emusic and itunes.  I’ll be adding these to the blog this evening.

At the moment I think its time for a little more rest.

*** I can’t believe its been so long since I’ve made a post.  Time to get back into the swing of things I feel.

Each of these games is free to play, and do not require any downloads to you computer. All you need is you internet connection and a browser.

The first up is one of the many football (soccer) management games available online.

http://www.xperteleven.com/

While I have signed up with a number of these football management games I’ve found xperteleven to be the only one I would recommend mainly due to it’s simple text based interface, low system requirements and non-obtrusive advertising.

While there is a paid option for this service, it really only provides extra stats and for most users the free service provides plenty of information to help your team/s on the road to success.

If you have never played a football management game before I think this is one would be a good place to start. You could jump right in and add your name to one of the public competitions available to all members (with over 1,000 clubs per league) or start you own, inviting a few friends to join in the fun

http://www.ogame.org/

The second of the games is ogame.

ogame is another text based game and it is best described as an empire building simulation, set in a massive galactic setting where you are competing against 1000′s of other players.

The beauty of this game for me is that you are actually competing with other players (I’ve been attacked / raided several times) and that the interface is very easy to understand – which leaves you free to plan your next move. Be it building more ships for your next raid, strengthening your planetary defenses or bulking up your mine production.

Like xperteleven, ogame does have a paid service option…however, until such time as you are truly competitive in your galaxy (which could take a many months of work) it’s probably not something you need to consider for some time.

Here are my latest music purchases through emusic.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s an eclectic mix this month.

Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals

China Dub Soundsystem – Made in China

Kode 9 – Memories of the Future

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – Naturally

Pinch – Underwater Dancehall

Studio – West Coast

I’ll be adding notes progressively for each of the titles as I listen to them more in depth over the coming week.