Capture card story continued... SEMI-SUCCESS!

So last Friday my splitters arrived, so I was set to get going on my capturing. However I had some gaming associates around and I didn't want to be a terrible host so held fire so to speak for a while. 

Last night we had some spare time so I went to test it. I tested with my PS2 because taking my Xbox down would be a hassle and I was only ready to put some physical effort in when I knew it would work.

After set up, and playing some Mercenaries 1 (best game on PS2... damn right) I actually got some results on-screen, looking like this after setting it to PAL.

I'm pretty sure that's how it's meant to be. The only problem I'm having is that having done 'Start Capture', played, and then clicking 'Stop Capture', the file is not saved. Anywhere. It's definitely capturing after clicking 'Start Capture', it can be seen playing and timing how long it has captured, but when stopped it literally vanishes. Naturally I'm dreadful with software but even my friends couldn't figure it out (one of them being a lot better than me at this kind of thing).

So now we wait for someone to figure this out I guess. I'll keep my eye on Youtube videos for capturing tutorials and such.

In related news, I have a contact who is willing to donate a wireless adapter for free, so Live play is secured. I know he's a loyal reader of this so thanks bro.

The Best Late Christmas Present Ever

While I was aware that DICE would be releasing a multiplayer demo of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on PC recently, I was also pretty irritated that there would be nothing for us Xbox gamers. After all, I'd be undoubtedly playing it on PC in the first place if I had a decent setup, but I don't and so I'm now anticipating the Xbox 360 version, to be released this March. 

However, in a hilariously cheeky twist, the beautiful human beings at DICE decided to whip out an Xbox demo on the same day by surprise. Isn't this what the games industry should be doing all the time? Treating the consumers to a nice surprise every now and then? Games are for fun, after all.

As for the demo itself, it's indescribably good gameplay-wise. Naturally the selection (or lack of) of just one map tends to get a little tedious but I can't blame them for not wanting to give too much away. Everything that was good about BC1 makes a return apart from having enough grenades to turn a tank into mashed potato, which I have to say is fair. Improvements are simply everywhere, things like being able to choose which squad member to spawn on, every class having a pistol sidearm and some really stand-out vehicles are just a few new features that Bad Company veterans will be able to appreciate. 

All I can say is, try it, whoever you are. You might find CoD to be a good multiplayer experience, but here, you're seeing it coming straight from the masters.

Continuation of the Capture Card Situation...

Strangely enough, I recently found help in pet hate and general moron JJ, who inspired me to write the 'I WANT TO POWN THE WURLD AND MAKE THEM SCARED OF ME' post, and has made infinitely stupid plans to make money by playing MW2. Because he has a working capture card, I found out what his setup was, found exactly what I needed and, unfortunately, what my TV doesn't have.

For one part, I need some splitters. Quite why I wasn't told this I don't know. I need all the RVC cables in one TV, and there sure aren't enough OUT jacks for that unless I have three splitters.

They look like this:

Regardless, I still only have two OUT jacks in my TV. Looking around the house for any other smaller TVs we might have, I found the same results. Irritated, I realise now that the only TV with enough jacks is our big downstairs one, and because I use Xbox Live wired with an ethernet cable, I won't be able to record any online gameplay, crippling a lot of my ideas (which, for the record, were NOT montages). 

So my options are now as follows:

1. Get a wireless adapter for Xbox Live by some means

2. Get a TV with three OUT jacks

3. Only record offline gameplay.

On top of that, I have no money to spend. I don't know what's going to happen. 

Redemption.

It's done. The final feather found on Assassin's Creed II. All 1000g. I can die happy.

Coming back to it, I realised that so few games are so beautifully made. The design, setting and storyline are so good, that they exceed just about everything else from 2009. 

It probably only got me so emotional because I was listening to In-Ah by The Devin Townsend Project, one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. I still am, which just means this post makes me want to shed a tear.

:'D

Updatatron: 24/1/10

Sup gamers,

Thought I'd do a pointless post to say what's going down at the momento. 

1. Capture card still ain't functional. I'll wait it out till I can have someone help. 

2. Finished Ballad of Gay Tony! It's incredible. Everything GTA: IV should have been, even though I do love Niko. Will review it soon.

3. Left 4 Dead 2 review needs doing, will probably happen today.

4. Dark Void is, as expected, not that great.

5. Hackin' away through Half-Life 2: Episode 1. It's pretty good, doesn't have the same 'wow' factor as HL2  but some improvements too in other areas. 

On top of all that, I also saw the Book of Eli yesterday, and I have to say it's definitely worth a watch, especially for you Fallout fans out there. Remember when I was yapping about A Boy and His Dog being basically Fallout: The Movie? This not only tops that but also has a reference to the film if you look closely; when Denzel is in the hotel room, look over his shoulder and there is a poster for the 70s post-apocalyptic film which has to have given it inspiration. It sure did to Fallout. Also notice that Mila Kunis isn't dreadful at acting this time around.

Epic storylines, deep characters and gripping action or another Damian Hirst? No-brainer.

I feel kinda bad for having this badly-scrawled Paint picture-pun done on the Angel of the North as I do actually quite like Antony Gormley, but it was easier than getting it on Tracy Emin's Bed at least.

It's probably about bloody time more people gave games a defence in the art world, don't you think? I'm hardly saying that we should have a 7 foot statue of Lara Croft on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square, but I think by now we've got to start not only reconsidering what is art, but what our apparent art is even saying any more. 

Let's be frank; modern art is shite. I'm not the stereotypical ignorant teenager who thinks anything deeper than a shot glass is stupid, but in all honesty, is anything we actually put on at the Tate Modern any more holding any meaning? Art is meant to be a visual or physical representation of the mind of the artist. It's meant to convey emotion and make a connection with the viewer. You have to wonder when that went out the window now that you go to London to see blocks of hot wax pushed through doorframes, or dissected cows, or just big metal bars in a big room. All it's suggesting is that artists are nothing more than mentally unstable. Doesn't help that the art scene has been eaten up, spat out, eaten again, and shat out by apocalypti-prick Damian Hirst who sees art as nothing more than another way to roll in enough money for another line of coke, and can only get stupid unnecessary attention by making stupid unnecessary 'art' pieces, such as the diamond-encrusted skull which, ironically enough, replicates the skull from the abysmal 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. 

... but games don't? On the contrary, anyone who plays a lot of games could tell you they certainly do, especially in this day and age. For me, as I bring up time and again, it's Fallout 3 and the Max Payne games, but fans of Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid and Legend of Zelda games (anc only a few examples amongst many) could tell you that a huge deal of games connect with player, in some ways, far more than films do with the viewer or art does to the (as it has come to be) ticket buyer. Sure, games which are either very non-fictional or plain dumbed down like FIFA and Call of Duty do not and are not meant to, but the potential in the array of developer companies to create incredible, immersing stories and gameplay is mindblowing. Yet not art, so said by the critics and the elite. A disgrace? Probably. Add it to the list...

FailboatSkipper's Top 5 Characters In Gaming

Need to update this more often. Been meaning to do this for ages. Excuse me if these don't agree with your tastes, I guess I'm shit.

5. Yusuf - GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

This is fairly recent, but it didn't take long for Yusuf to jump into my top 5 favourite characters. His hilarious arrogance and ridiculous wealth allowing him to drop the 'n' bomb whenever he pleases, send military helicopters to his dad to shut him up, and buy the Rotterdam Tower (Empire State Building) on a whim, Yusuf is basically a big mischievous kid. With enough money to buy a small country. Giving you some of the most obscure GTA missions as if they're just another day on the job only adds to his character.

Quote: 'Look at dis phone. SOLID. GOLD.'

4. Dog - Half Life 2 (and onwards)

Strangely enough, this is a character that doesn't even talk. This is mainly because he can't; he's a robot which is programmed to act like a dog, but it's surprisingly this that makes him so full of life. Dog is playful, proven by the game of catch you play with him with huge pieces of debris, but also is able to charge bravely into battle at the exact right time with epic bravado to save the day. But it's the way he acts so fondly to his owner Alyx in particularly and is friendly to Gordon too as soon as he knows he is an ally of Alyx that shows him to be the lovable little friend he is deep down in the mass of steel and code that is his mind. Like Companion Cube, another (semi)inanimate object that you end up attached to made by Valve. I don't know how they do it.

Quote: '[Metallic clunking noise]'

3. Haggard - Battlefield: Bad Company

The whole of Bad Company is a bit of a joke. But it would be nothing without two factors: golf carts and Haggard. Seeing as I already mentioned the golf carts in my top 5 gaming moments, you can see DICE have done a damn good job at making some memorable stuff from Bad Company. His lack of any reason whatsoever and regard for his superiors drives him to blindly start a war with a neutral country in order to get himself and the rest of the squad enough gold to last them a lifetime. His laughable redneck stupidity makes for brilliant one-liners in serious conversations between Redford and the rest of the squad, always acting as a reminder that one should take this game seriously at their own risk.

Quote: 'THERE'S GOOOOLD IN DEM HILLS!'


2. Three Dog - Fallout 3

Without a doubt the greatest radio DJ of all time. Quick introduction but that pretty much sums him up. Not enough to make him the best character? Well, with the length of Fallout 3's Galaxy News Radio loop, which also updates as you complete quests, you'll be hearing plenty of Three Dog (that is, if you're a good person and tune in) and realise he is one of the most energetic, funny and strangely comforting voices ever imaginable. The harshness of the wasteland comes through well when you turn off all radio and Explore music, but his choice of music brings out the 50s vibe and his honesty and bright nature show that, for some people in post-apocalyptica, GNR is the last string of hope left.

Quote: 'Thuh-reeeeee dawg! Comin' to you taped from my fortified bunker in the middle of a D.C. hellhole! Ain't life grand...'

1. Max Payne - Max Payne 2

What's that? Max Payne specifically from Max Payne 2? Surprisingly, yes. They're not different Maxes but it's clear that Rockstar were going for a different type of character in Max Payne 2, and I think it came out not only better but damn incredibly. This is years after the first game and he's changed from a fairly cocky and occasionally smiley gun-toting young adult to a grizzled, darker middle-aged man. His words are cutting and sometimes has a tinge of quirky, sinister humour. His reserved nature means he never bursts into rage but instead will either quietly accept his fate or will grimly persevere. However in the graphic novel cutscenes when his thoughts are spoken like poetry, it's where the pure genius of the script is revealed. Musings of the effect death, adrenaline and evil have on the human mind, his confused feelings about Mona, and his flashbacks of his happy family life all perfectly inter-weaved with the current storyline. Surreal. Amazing.

Quote: 'Einstein was right. Time is relative to the observer. When you're looking down the barrel of a gun, time slows down. Your whole life flashes by, heartbreak and scars. Stay with it, and you could live a lifetime in that split second.'

EXTREME RAGE

Sorry. Sorry for no posts, sorry for not finishing my Modern Warfare 2 review, sorry for not being on my Xbox lately. But my capture card arrived yesterday, and news ain't good.

Strangely enough, when choosing my capture card I went to the somewhat obvious choice of getting the one DigitalPh33r/Jon CJG has. Yeah, Halo machinimas are dated but unlike RoosterTeeth or Darkspire, he records his at home and are good quality. 

HOWEVER, somehow it doesn't appear to be the case. Not only have I seen forums riddled with 'THIS IS A PIECE OF CRAP', but also Dazzle DVC 80 (the capture card) test videos from various people and the quality isn't great.  On top of that, despite getting my setup exactly as DigitalPh33r has his, it's not happening. I might get a result eventually, but for now I'm clueless. I'm just not good with this stuff.

I want to do some damn video reviews.

Return of the Steam

I'm not gonna lie, my laptop over the last few months has been useless for everything but school and downloading music. It's had the worst video/graphics card humanity has ever seen, resulting in not only making my resolution so bad that what was on the screen appeared to have been run over by a cyber-steamroller, but also made most of my PC games unplayable. But seeing as I'm not the... technical type I had no idea all I had to do was download the drivers. Now THAT'S belatedly been done, FINALLY STUFF WORKS. As in, not only will I no longer get people looking at my screen and saying 'what the hell is wrong with your screen, that laptop sucks, you're such a freak, you should be executed', but I can now play the stuff I used to.

Counter Strike, how I have missed thee. I'm really not much of a PC player but that game was like crack. I can't wait to get back into it. Strangely, this might mean for once Xbox 360 is coming second best. For a bit at least. 

End of Christmas holidays...

Ok my gaming is unfortunately now gonna have to slow down because of work and stuff so I'm now mainly restricted to weekends. Capture card still hasn't arrived so I haven't been able to start video reviews (which I REALLY wanted to do on MW2).

I'm sending MW2 back tomorrow in exchange for ODST. In terms of future games and the Big 17 games coming out this year, I have a slight problem in that all my future money is disappearing before my eyes because of holiday issues. I can rent as many as possible but there are a lot. Looks like a whole load of babysitting...

In all, it hasn't been a bad Christmas holiday. I've earned about 2000g, played some good games (mainly in the form of Left 4 Dead 2), and some bad (Modern Warfare 2) but it's been pretty worth it. Reviews are under the belt and I've had the best new year I've ever had. Gaming year really begins in February with Dante's Inferno and Just Cause 2, and I guess I'm pretty ready.

Absolute mass of games

Haven't posted anything on here in a while because I'm managed to get myself overloaded with games, and this is just gonna be an update post before I get stuck back in. I've been finishing the Modern Warfare 2 campaign on Veteran which I did yesterday, but for some reason I also bought The Ballad of Gay Tony for GTA IV, which I've barely been able to get going with. I also bought Left 4 Dead 2 out of mass peer pressure, but it's actually really awesome and pretty addictive. A LOT better than the first one. And lastly there's the shadow of Half Life 2: Episode 1 looming over me telling me to get going on that too.

Gonna get started on all the MW2 Spec Ops achievements today, however dreadful the game mode is. Will also check out the Dark Void demo soon, though I really won't be getting my hopes up.

Video reviews are now hopefully become something I'm going to be working on, I've ordered a capture card (the same model that DigitalPh33r uses/used so it should be good), got my RCA cable, and I've downloaded Pinnacle Studio 12. Once I've obtained a headset I should be able to get going.

Lastly, for all you 'orrible CoD4 fans, I wrote a poem - for SOME reason - about the Prologue Mile High Club mission on Veteran on the Brain Remnants blog. You can get there on the link on the right side of this page, or be lazy and use this one.

Bye.

The Xbox 360 Chatpad Review

I got this for Christmas seeing as I was so fed up of a) Xbox Live's unacceptably slow typing method which is much easier on the PS3 b) Using the alternative of an actual computer USB keyboard, which was an inconvenience due to size and having to pick it up every time I wanted to use it. It comes with one of the new headsets which are pretty thin and crappy, but it'll do.

The actual chatpad is a small rectangular-ish attachment that clicks onto the controller and from there you can type with your thumbs. This works pretty well seeing as it's just below the analogs, where your thumbs would be anyway so it is comfortable. It doesn't unbalance the controller either; while it is quite heavy all it does is shift the weight towards the grips so if anything it will sit more snugly into your hands. The buttons themselves are the perfect size, I don't have huge hands but I can't imagine anyone having trouble hitting a certain key and it should roughly double your typing speed.

So while this is a good tool for quickly messaging your friends 'Internet just buggered', it's still not quite as good as one would hope. The main problem I experience, mainly with the space bar, is some buttons not registering that you pressed them unless you really push them in. It's not damaged as I've taken good care of it but it seems all too often I look at the message I'm writing and realise I've missed quite a few letters. Anyone intending to use a lot of symbols or punctuation may get frustrated too as while these are accessed using space-efficient 'colour buttons' combined with the letter keys, they are pretty hard to see on the buttons themselves and you tend to have to look for about 10 seconds to find something as simple as an exclamation mark. It doesn't help that they threw in a load of useless Greek letters and strange symbols that no one will find a use for; they should have used this space to have one symbol per letter instead of two. 

That seems like a lot of negatives, but it's not a terrible piece of kit. 8/10 for considerably faster typing even if you have to keep checking you're typing what you mean to. It is, however, horribly overpriced at £20 (though I'm aware you're paying for the headset too). I would have paid no more than £10 on it.

FailboatSkipper's Top 5 Moments In Gaming

Woo! It's like a rubbish awards ceremony that no one cares about. But I have nothing else to write about at the moment and it seems fairly original to the other stuff I've done recently so why not. So here's my Top 5 moments in all of gaming in all the games I've played, 1 being the best.

5. Companion Cube - Portal 

This moment is entirely because of how utterly ridiculous it is, but how well it actually works. Companion Cube is really just that: it's an inanimate grey box with pink hearts on it. All it does is let you stand on it to reach upper ledges, block energy balls and act as a weight on the 1500 Megawatt Aperture Science Heavy Duty Supercolliding Superbutton. But it's the way it sticks with you to solve that puzzle, the way it seems to look back at you covered in love hearts, and the way it formed 'companionships' with former test subjects that makes it almost seem as alive as you or me. And even if it seems crazy from a third person point of view, it's why (SPOILER ALERT) it's so hard to throw it into the Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator to be lost forever. We'll miss you, CC.

4. Mastering Venice back to front - Tomb Raider II

Tomb Raider II, and any of the old Tomb Raider games for that matter, are hard. In fact, it's the sort of game you can 'work on a bit every day' and take you two weeks, and there'll be plenty of bits to get stuck on. However, the second level, Venice, is the optimum balance of easy, hard and enjoyable so that in a few completes you can perfect it to the point that you're able to run through it with little trouble, knowing exactly where to go, pulling off the tricky stunt at the end and generally feeling like a Tomb Raider god. The sound of the speedboat revving is unforgettable.

3. The Golf Cart - Battlefield: Bad Company

This has to be the most memorable moment for anyone who's played the Bad Company campaign, and it single-handedly describes the humour factor which makes it completely original in its genre. The utter silliness of the whole thing is outstanding, and the clip of the squad bickering in it while escaping from a tank in the trailer (where this picture is from) is just hilarious. A great smack-in-the-face for all the games out there taking themselves too seriously, brilliantly complimented by the light-hearted bluegrass playing on the radio as you drive around.

2. Ending and credits on the hardest difficulty - Max Payne 2

This game wasn't so much a collection of awesome moments but more one continous amazing moment, doing everything (in my opinion) that every third person shooter needs exactly right with no exceptions. Character, deep storyline, original presentation with the 'film noir' graphic novel cutscenes and special stuff like the Bullet Time chucked in to make the best game I have ever played. Finding the best part of it is hard, but I remember the feeling of immense satisfaction after ending the long slog on the hardest difficulty, seeing the alternate ending (SPOILER ALERT) of keeping Mona alive for all your trouble, and then having the sweet theme song Late Goodbye come in on the credits. It runs like an Oscar-winning movie.

1. Exiting Vault 101 - Fallout 3

While I do rate Max Payne 2 as a slightly better game than Fallout 3, I this moment has to win it. The soundtrack begins with peaceful, ambient tones as the blinding light of seeing the sun for the first time covers the screen in white, and then turns to more ominous and haunting notes as the dead Wasteland that was once Washington, USA is revealed. You see Silvervale smashed to pieces, the skyline of downtown D.C and Megaton hiding behind the destroyed highway. It describes just about all of Fallout 3 in about ten seconds, and is the best possible opening to what will be a long adventure. I’ve played the game 5 times through but that moment still hits me. 

I imagine some of these might change over time, but for now these have to be the top 5. Considered the completion of Gears of War 2 on Insane, or the Dom and Maria cutscene came pretty close, but no cigar.

Just when Modern Waffle 2 couldn't get any worse...

I finished the Modern Warfare 2 campaign last night. It ended firstly with a bout of screams of GO ON SHEPHERD, SCRATCH OUT HIS EYES, FINISH HIM SHEPHERD, then I reluctantly pulled a knife out my chest and threw it into the eye of the man I wanted to end the MW series forever. As the game ended my screams rose again with WHAT? WHAT? THAT'S THE END?

After my scream fest, I decided to move to the screaming-kid-centre-of-the-world, the competitive multiplayer. The gameplay is ok, but there is something that has insulted me like no other game has managed to do. These 'callsigns' you get for your soldier. I had already had a huge rage at the 'Boom! Headshot' one, knowing the classic Pure Pwnage joke was being ripped apart by moronic kids who had never heard of Counter Strike and probably thought it was made up by their favourite Bungie employee. I could feel the sweet soul of FPS Doug dying within me. However it was a different callsign that brought me to extreme rage this time. A pink one, covered in hearts. 'Companion Crate'.

My scream could be heard all across Xbox Live. Why? Why do Infinity Ward do this? Do they not see the joke is wasted on these kids? They will never play Portal. They'll never know about Companion Cube, or the torment we had to go through to put him in the incinerator, and the sleepless nights that followed. Friends in real life are one thing, but Companion Cube in Portal was the greatest companion anyone could wish for, in reality or not. 

But maybe, MAYBE, it's in CoD because that's where the incinerator leads to. Maybe when we were forced against our will to drop our dear friend the Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube in that burning red tube, he goes all the way down to the Call of Duty World, or as we humans have come to know it, Hell. The weird robot lady said that 'good people don't end up here'. Well, maybe all those rubbish characters like Captain Price, Gaz, Soap, they were all in the Enrichment Centre and decided to end their lowly existences by throwing themselves in the incinerator and ending up in another shit campaign. It's certainly my idea of Hell.

I swear, this is my LAST list... 4/1/2010

Ok I'm not going to be doing this 'list of things I will be playing' again, because it's too unreliable due to me changing my mind/not wanting to play every game. This is the situation with the games I said I would play/review.

1. Left 4 Dead - done, reviewed.

2. Batman: Arkham Asylum - I borrowed it, and some strange supernatural force stopped me from ever wanting to play it or touch it. I can't actually bring myself to for some reason. Not gonna happen.

3. Orange Box - still need to finish Half-Life 2 Episodes 1 and 2, but the main Half-Life 2 I have completed and reviewed. Team Fortress 2 has been guest reviewed by EnglishCarBomb and it will be posted shortly, and my Portal review is up soon.

4. Operation Flashpoint - I went ahead and reviewed it, despite never seeing those last two missions.

5. Mass Effect - Yet to receive, might be getting it for Christmas, might not.

6. Shadow of the Colossus - Might have to wait a while for that.

7. Borderlands - Buying fairly soon, but need money.

I ALSO said:

8. Halo 3 ODST - To be rented after MW2.

9. Dead Rising - After ODST.

Reviews: http://failboatskippersgamereviews.blogspot.com/

Yeah I said it.

Modern Waffle 2, getting behind on reviews etc. 4/1/2010

I've been away for a few days over the new year period so theoretically I could use that as an excuse for a shameful lack of reviews of late, but I did actually bring my laptop and promised I would 'do sum bloggin' while I was there so I have failed. Brutal Legend, Half Life 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2 really need to be done soon before I forget and have to do a billion other games, and then the mighty Modern Waffle 2 review. 

Was playing that dastardly game yesterday, and genuinely came within an inch of falling asleep whilst playing the campaign. It's a fine mixture of stupid, boring, and stupid. 'You thought CoD4 was over... It's not... For no good reason it's going to CONTINUE' is the general storyline and it tends to repeat its predecessor in every way, now in a couple of new environments. Stealth missions in snowy locations are done quite well, but things like Brazil offer immensely boring layouts to missions, spiced up with a pretentious attempt at being profoundly dark with things like the airport scene (which, for the record, is actually really boring). I have to commend the genuinely good soundtrack however; they finally decided to hire a decent composer for once, the awesomeness of Hanz Zimmer, instead of just having one noise in the menu as the soundtrack as was used in CoD4 and CoD WaW. 

I still want Uncharted 2. 

Reviews: http://failboatskippersgamereviews.blogspot.com/

Fallout Lunchbox --> Problem Solved

Bloody hell. I've done some stupid stuff whilst gaming but this might actually take the cake - having used that phrase I can only wish this was Portal-related. During my final days of Fallout 3 I spent a shameful 12 hours straight on one particular day, turning me from a springy, caffeinated kid into a slumberous mess slumped on my chair, eyes half open, mumbling into my headset about how Colin Moriarty was a bastard, completely to the bemusement of everyone in the Xbox Live Party. Having got off the damn box in an attempt to preserve some of my humanity, I felt awful. I can hardly describe the feeling of a completely wasted day in my Christmas holidays, spent only on the thing I'd already spent 280 hours on. 

I looked for things to make me feel better. Caffeine worked for a bit but tended to only make me feel like a mess on caffeine. Comfort eating didn't help much either because then I only felt like a mess getting fatter. What happened after is now kinda a blur but the next thing I knew, I had got onto eBay and bought a Fallout 3 lunchbox.

Even before it arrived, I felt instantly better. I felt a new light and purpose in my life, all the mysteries came clear and I was at one with the Earth. Then I played some Brutal Legend and it was lost. Still, it was good at the time.

Pretty shameful, I guess, that I didn't already have one to be honest. This thing is fantastic, and seeing as I've been so addicted to the cursed game I should have bought the full collector's edition by now. When I've raised enough funds I might get a poster and the Bobblehead, though the latter is horribly overpriced.