This is made of so much win.

This is my R32.



And the number of stars it has is...l33t. Woot~ 1337 FTW~

In which times are getting harder...

Been away for abit (and mood's not too good these days)...I'll tell what I've been through lately.

>Friday<
I went for an interview at APL, an international shipping company for a position of Documentation Coordinator at MidValley. At first it didn't seem too bad, even at the interview room. Alas, I closed the door to this job myself (yes, not the interviewer). Here's why.

The pay was not that great. Yes, I'm a fresh grad, I'm not entitled to complain at all about that...but the reason I complained was because I will have to work odd hours. No, I'm not going to be doing some 9am to 6pm work hour, I'll be working at like..shift based hours. Still 9 hours, but I'll be working till 1am (starting from 4pm). However, it's not like I wasn't informed about this BEFORE the interview - so why did I still go for it you may ask?

Simple.

On their website, it was posted that there was two options, first being the late hours (one that I was offered), second was the usual hours (which is fine by me). I hope I could ask for the usual hours, but sadly they aren't hiring anyone for those hours at that point. Now, you could say, just work lah!

I did consider the prospect of working late hours (thats why I accepted the interview in the first place). But by the interview time I've come to realise that it's simply difficult for me. First off I have no own transport (which I should; but that's for another day) - that means going home at 12 or 1 is hard. Second was the fact that I simply can't leave my grandfather alone at night. Sorry, nowadays the world ain't a safe place - especially at night - and I've come to worry about his safety because of that.

If only they had those early hours I would have gone for it....but it's not happening...

The interviewer did point out that my degree entitled me to a higher pay, but they simply couldn't pay me what I wanted since they did have a fee structure to follow (understandable)...the interviewer even said it's better for me to find somewhere else coz of that.

But as time passes by (even now as I type) - I've come to realise that it's getting very difficult to get a decent job with my kind of degree (2nd lowers). I won't regret this - what good does regret does? I just have to keep on looking. And time isn't on my side...

To carry on with my day - I spent the rest of the day in the arcade while waiting for dad for dinner - did play some games but nothing too much..and at around midnight I went for yumcha with Sato, Jimmy and Tracy at some mamak store in Happy Garden (can't remember the name...)

>Saturday<
Usually, Saturdays are @D4's team meetings/outings...this week's lack alot however. Initially, me, IN and Sato were to go to Sunway but parking was impossible (rounded the place for 1/2 an hour) so we head off to IOI instead...IOI was a boring place...and I still don't like those Wangan players...total Osaka whores last time I've been there so this time I don't even bother to accept challengers...because I'm so so so so sick of freakin' Osaka. Geez. There, I only finished by 2nd loop story mode - and my R32 is then 166 games away from S9. Meanwhile IN and Sato used my ID4 card C*-Eve (because they forgot to bring theirs)..and racked up 6 wins to bring my card consecs to 41. Jimmy and Tracy dropped by but left early. I didn't find out why though.

The thing was Sato had to go back home around 7pm (he's heading back to Japan for a week)..so after sending him back...me and IN..had nothing to do..he sent me back and later we were supposed to go out again with Jimmy for another meeting.

...which never happened by the way.

And what wonderful timing it was for Streamyx to FAIL. Lagging connections..and I've read on forums it was nationwide too. Geez TM, buck up your freakin' services...I didn't pay RM99 to surf at dial up speeds.

...Then again, maybe I did.

>Sunday<
Watched the Clannad Ep24 (the Tomoyo-Tomoya OVA)in the afternoon. Will blog more about that later.

I went to MV later in the evening....and I finished the Perfect GT-R arc on my card as well as clearing 7 out of 10 stages on the first Devil Z arc....and from today I decide to just NOT do the 200 ghosts..and finish another story loop (6 games saved)..therefore..I'm 147 games away from S9 on my R32. I also got...something else. But that..remains a secret. Eventually people will find out though. But until then, it's a secret =D.

I came back, and finished all the Generals Challenge for my CnC Zero Hour game...now to uninstall it. That's about it for now...right now, I'm pondering over some things.

That's all for the 3 days - and trust me, the way things are going...the next week is going to be a crucial one.

Fun in Facebook (and other stuff)

Lately I've been doing a lot of stuff at Facebook..to cure boredom -_- (hey, when you're broke you don't have a lot of options do you?). Among them:

Ace Hockey

Playing Air Hockey against the CPU. Going for a clean tourney, but not happening so far (must remember to not hit the puck into own net -.-).

Nations

Making my own nation >_> titled "The Empire of Cyan Starr" =D.

Description (as of blog post) as follows:
The Empire of Cyan Starr is ordered by Emperor Jason Cheong Khai Soon. In this nation, only those who make large donations to the government are allowed the right to vote. Personal computers are given to each citizen and children are taught to type at the age of 12 months. This nation's advancements in health care has subsequently founded the concept of the 'Medical Insurance Company', allowing more people access to medical care, but further segregating those living below the poverty level.

Life in Cyan Starr is very safe due to the right of the police to randomly search private property. This country sports an impressive military force which operates fully on testosterone-driven body builders which are used to intimidate any adversary. Religious practice and public observances are allowed, but no policies may be created to advance any given expression of religious thought. Education in Cyan Starr is of great importance and vouchers are given to any student who cannot afford schooling.

Huge concerns about the environment have prompted this government to research how humans impact nature and then hire a prominent public figure to exaggerate the information to ensure citizen participation. The free market is allowed to decide policy provided the government is in agreement with any decisions made, and any freedom which a citizen understands should be available to them is made available once it is forwarded to all known acquaintances and posted in their front lawn for the public to review.

The use of baby seals as an alternative fuel has been permitted by Jason Cheong Khai Soon and the defenseless animals are being slaughtered by the dozen.

Marijuana has been legalized in Cyan Starr, but the sales tax has insured that only the rich can afford this luxury.

Jason Cheong Khai Soon has instituted National Citizen Appreciation Day and has made every citizen feel just special enough to quit complaining about the poor leadership of the government.
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Yes, I kill baby seals for an alternative energy source. I'm evil :3

Make A Baby - link here
I made one with my special someone :D
Introducing:

Lili ReiHeart-Crysallis :D Isn't she cute :P Born on 22nd June :p and recently me and Tabitha have been spending a lot of time on her..and well now she's in the "Kindergarten level" :3

Pacman 2.0 - link here.

OLD SCHOOL GAMING! This is when I'm really really bored though, but it's fun when you need to kill time :D

Superpoking.

Although recently I've been poked more :3, I ought to poke people later :S

Giving gifts out.

Giving out gifts is a norm in Facebook. I don't do it alot actually..but sometimes when I'm in the mood (read: free time to click) I'll just give gifts out. Winnie the Pooh is just one of them by the way.

Gamer Social

Being a gamer myself, this app comes in handy to keep track of what I've been playing, what I am playing now, and I can also review games through this handy app. :D

My City.

- Looks like SimCity..but everyday one of my friends (and myself) can add 1 citizen into my town. It's small at the moment (just 33 at time of post), hope to get more soon. :D

And many more,these are just a few of my favs. :D I love Facebook.

And in other news:
WMMT's S class project:
R32 is now 186 games away from S9 (now A3 Ace demo car)[thanks to Lynn for the games..although you didn't really have to help >_<], RX-8 remains unchanged. Hmm....

Thoughts of the Week #1: Initial D Arcade Stage 4 : A game that fails to live up to its predecessors.

It figures that I can't leave this blog dead for too long. So I'll be active again :)

So, lets see now. It's Initial D. It has wide screen. It has better graphics and sound. Surely the game would be as successful as its predecessors.

Apparently, not.

Take a look at ANY arcade with Initial D 4 and you will find it mostly dead. In contrast, Namco's arcade racer Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 (hereby referred to as WMMT3 from now on) has taken over the arcade as THE racer to play.

What has certainly gone wrong. Well, I managed to find reasons for it.

1) Lack of courses.
When Initial D 1 came out almost 4 - 5 years ago, arcade racers were given four course to choose from. When the sequel came out, it became even better, with two new courses, totalling six. And when the third installment came out, it became even better, with three courses added. Now certainly, you'd expect the fourth one to have more than that?

Not quite the case.

Sure, the fourth installment introduced 3 new courses (Lake Akina, Myogi (now a mountain based course and not the circuit one in the three previous versions) and Tsukuba), but as a trade off they removed Usui, Akina Snow, Shomaru, Tsuchisaka. Thats FOUR removed. Sure, the game engine changed (ID4 uses the Sega Lindbergh board unlike the other three), but surely Sega could have readded them? Unless they are L-A-Z-Y.

And it doesn't end there too.

2) Certain car models removed.
Yes, I know they have added the Evo IX and GDBF.

But did Sega have to remove more cars than they add?

The original lineup in the Japanese release was seriously lacking cars it wasn't funny. In V3 there were at least 30+ cars in the game. And when V4 came, at least 8-10 were missing. That included the "king" car of V3, the RX-8. Sure, they fixed things up for the English version when they re added three cars back (Miata, Altezza, RX-8), but come on, is this an upgraded version or a downgrade.

3) No transferral of cards from previous version.
This one takes the cake as the main reason why people just simply did not want to play V4. Previously you could have transferred your cars to the next version at the expense of the cost of the new card. Which is cool. You keep your points.

Then when V4 came out, you couldn't transfer the card - mostly probably because the tuning system has changed. Lots of people didn't like it coz they had to start over.

4) Tuning system was tedious.
One FT car will set you back RM450. Why?

The tuning shops that improve the car performance comes every six ejects. No, not games. Everytime you pull out the card counts as an eject. That's tedious.

Then there's thirty five performance parts to install 35 x 6 = 210.

Yup, you pull the card 210 times. Whoopeedoo.

And the card only holds 150 plays...so you have to renew the card at least once. Which brings me to my next point.

5) Error 403 says hi.
If you read my blog before, I've got this before.

You insert your card.

You pay the amount required for a new card.

Your invalid gets spit out.

.....

Nice red sign comes out saying license couldn't be dispensed. Call the technician!

Sucks doesn't it? Now most arcades know how to fix this error, but seriously, if it happens often enough, it's a problem. Considering point number 4, this is serious.

6) Lack of battle auras.
Yes, I know the Japanese have them.

But we don't.

See, the reason people battle nowadays is because they want to get to see some cool ass flame that rises up before the start of the race perhaps as super intimidation or coolness factor. I wonder why Sega did not fix the battle auras to be included. This reason alone is the reason why all the battlers stuck to the last version.

7) Weird physics that makes it difficult to play.
From those videos you see on Youtube it looks like you could try full gassing all the way and it works, right? Well yes, you can. But then halfway thru the turn you get this funky understeer. And even if you do avoid hitting the wall, you still get a funky accel penalty. WTF?

That's where penalty cancel comes in play. Perhaps the most retarded physics exploit ever. With a simple tap of the brake coming out of the turn/understeer, the accel gets restored.

Except it's not easy to execute in theory. If you don't do it right, it won't work.

So what does that mean?

a) If you don't know what is this, you're screwed in PvP battles.

b) If you don't know how to execute this properly, you're...still screwed in PvP battles.

The gap between those that know how to play and those who don't are so wide new players are deterred from playing. This also effectively makes this game have an unusual high learning curve. Sadly, the physics might look easy to play, but in theory it's not.

Conclusion
So much failure reasons that deter this game from being the game to play. I play it because I can adapt to it, but not everyone can. It's not really crowd attracting. Just shows that graphics don't drag the crowd. Just look at Wangan if you don't believe me.

Thanks for reading Thoughts of The Week #1 XD