It’s been a good month or so since I last updated, and this is primarily down to the number of assignments I’ve had recently, as well as other things that have been eating up my time. My application to Microsoft didn’t work out in the end – Got to the fifth and final assessment stage, but didn’t make the jump. I’ve started looking elsewhere for other work placements; I sent my CV off to a Bournemouth based web-design/consultation company called Moov2. They are looking for someone who has some knowledge in ASP.NET, XHTML, CSS, etc. so I thought I’d have a go at applying. I have an interview on the 3rd April. I’m also going to apply to IBM too – I am going to apply to as many places as I can this time, because if I don’t get in to one place, I still have other choices. Right now, I don’t mind where I go as long as it’s here or back home and I’ll be doing something I’ll enjoy.
Easter is at a bit of a rubbish time this year. It’s slap-bang right in the middle of my assignments – I have 3 due in (2 group ones) on the 28th of March – so it means I won’t be able to be home for it, which kinda sucks. I have 3 weeks off (our Easter holiday… pfffft) starting on the 28th March and lasting ’til the 21st April. As I have an interview on the 3rd of April, my plan is to go home on the 4th or 5th and then stay until the 13th. Then it’ll be back to doing my 4th assignment, which is due on the 22nd April. Fun fun. The assignment due on the 22nd isn’t that bad, in all honesty and I quite enjoy it. The objective is to make a multiplayer version of Blackjack for mobile phones. I am quite far in it, and have coded a fair bit of the game logic, it’s now just done to sorting out the game’s playing process, the UI (user interface) and at least making it 2 players on one phone. Once that’s set in stone, I can proceed to code in multiplayer over Bluetooth, which I’m sure will be a challenge. I should probably add sound in at some point, but it seems silly to me, because most people play these games where they would turn the sound off – like in school lessons, or a library, or on the bus to work. Oh well.
Things I am looking out for over the coming weeks include the new Panic at The Disco album, Pretty. Odd. – It’s pre-ordered on my iPod touch and will just download to it when we hit the 24th. The song they’ve released as a little taste of the new album, Nine in the Afternoon, is a different, upbeat, yet entertaining play on the original style of their existing songs. I’m hoping they really pull it off with the rest of the album!
On the gaming side of life, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for XBox 360 has just been released and, after playing the original, I yearn to play the sequel. I remember the first time I played that game I was heavily impressed with both the graphics and the gameplay style, something completely different to what I was used to on the PC (It was one of the first FPSs I got on the 360). Another game high up on the wishlist is the famed and probably one of the most anticipated games of the year, GTA IV. The game was unveiled as in-development a while back in 2006/07, and would have been released in Oct 2007. Unfortunately, the release date slipped – one of the primary causes being the Playstation 3 version *sigh*. Anyway, there’s only about 37 days ’til its release (No I haven’t been counting…. honest ^_^) – a 29th April release being on the table. Other games on the horizon I’d like to get my hands on would be Condemned 2 and Tom Clancy’s EndWar.
Condemned 2 is a horror/survival FPS that looks pretty awesome, and hopefully has the potential to scare too. I think games that scare you/make you jump have a higher entertainment factor. TC EndWar is a futuristic WW3 based RTS. The storyline is set a few years ahead, with the US and Europe joining forces to create a missile shield to help eradicate nuclear threat. A few years later, Iran and Saudi Arabia get into a nuclear war and all hell breaks loose. Oil supplies are low, economies are in turmoil. You know, the usual WW3 kinda storyline. One thing that particularly strikes me as innovative in this game is the ability to control your forces via voice command – An option that, as far as I know, has not been tried before. And from what I see here, it looks like it’s set to kick ass.
A final game to mention is Alone in the Dark. This game looks like it will bring immersion to a whole new level. A couple of tech demos, showing off the capabilities of the game engine, here and here, look awesome. A good place to see videos of these upcoming games is http://www.gametrailers.com.
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