Sunday, December 17, 2006

Total nerd

I finally got round to hooking my Xbox up to the intermaweb yesterday.

OH.

MY.

GOD.

Who the hell knew online gaming would be so much fun? OK, I feel a bit of a twat sitting in my living room with a headset on shouting "sorry" to the various people I smaah into on Project Gotham Racing 3, but on the whole it's a damn brilliant thing.

Strangely, I've found that there's a lot of Livepudlians on there; did the entire city buy a job-lot of consoles? The French player tend to talk a lot too. And by 'a lot' I mean 'A LOT.'

There are a couple of worrying things, though. Other people can rate your performance. My rating currently stands as this:

50% of people prefer to play with me.
50% of people prefer not to play with me.
100% of people find me 'unsporting.'

WHAT!?

OK, I'm still kinda getting used to the game, but 'unsporting'? Yes, I might've been involved in a few huge pile-ups, but c'mon... the dudes were in my racing line - they caused it!!

It's all good fun though, and not half as geek-tastic as I thought it was going to be.

Downsides? I've got crip-hand from holding the controller too tightly. And I'm feeling compelled to go out for a run tonight just to see some real people in the streets so I remember they actually exist.

Anyway, if anyone out there is on Xbox Live, look me up. My username is, what else, sparkymalarkey, and I'll be more than happy to be unsporting towards you too.

11 comments:

Dinah said...

After a day of hunting, my sister and I finally found our super nintendo...minus cords and controllers. So close! Oh, it was finally located under our bathtub. The perfect place for electronics, no?

Tim said...

SNES!!!! Awesome!!

Lack of controllers = not so awesome...

What was it doing under the bath? I do hope it wasn't propping up the tub!

(when I first read your comment I thought you'd been out hunting for the day! No offense, but you don't strike me as a shotgun carrying bear hunter!!)

Dinah said...

Well, it's not hunting season here. I am not, myself, a hunter, but hunting (for deer, not bear) is really big in my part of the world. Once I was having dinner at my friend's house, and she stopped chewing her venison and pulled a bullet out of her mouth! That was kind of awesome. So yeah, no hunting except in the indoor lost-stuff kind of way.

Tim said...

Pulling a bullet from her teeth is pretty hardcore, whether there was hunting involved or not!!

And hunting for a SNES sounds way more exciting than hunting for a deer. More friendly to our woodland pals too!

skillz said...

I've always been wary of online gaming since that tv show Killer Net

Miss Smuggersham said...

that sounds like loads of fun!

what does venison taste like?

Dinah said...

sort of like beef, but not exactly. It's hard for me to describe.

SNES update: one controller, power adapter, but nothing to connect it to the TV.

I am so envious in a good way of your gaming, Tim.

Tim said...

Skillz - I don't remember that show, but I think you'd be fine. There's always Sandra Bullock or The Lawnmower man to save you!

Miss T - It is! I couldn't eat venison - not after seeing all the deer with their happy smiley faces in Bushy Park...

Dinah - You should've said chicken; apparently every meat tastes like chicken.

Wahey! You're slowing reconstructing your SNES! Please tell me you found the other parts in a weird places like the console - like dangling from a tree and acting like a tournequet on a wounded soldiers leg!

One controller is good - but you have to find the other to enjoy glorious mid-90s two-player action!

Tara said...

Unsporting?? That's harsh! Rate them as "unsporting" and see how they like them apples! I don't even like that expression, but it seems to fit right now.

I doubt I'll get an Xbox, it sounds very addictive and that thing would suck me right into it.

Glad you're having fun with it!

skillz said...

Tim, if everything tastes like chicken, then what does tasty wheat taste like?

Tim said...

Tara - I *SO* would if I could be sure who it was who rated me. I have my suspicions, but the only way to be certain would be to rate all my adversaries as unsporting... and that's kinda unsporting.

Xbox is very good fun. I can see my social life just dissolving away...

Skillz - Um, chicken-flavoured wheat...?