played a slew of demos on the PS3 lately... wrote in a rush, so please do not mind the grammatical mistakes. and the title has nothing to do with the Demoman who writes for Shacknews.
Batman: Arkham Asylum >>nice demo.. had watched a lot of footage at Games Com, but that was in German and i didnt get to play so tried it out here.. clearly, the level that was available at Games Com was much different to the one that is being dished out as a demo.. clear partiality i gues.. hehe..none the less, AA has a nice batmany/dark knighty feel to it.. good music score.. story starts off at AA when Joker gets brought in.. apparently Harley Quinn (my fave villain) was in cahoots with him even before he got there.. obviously to her Joker is the GOD and she will do anythiing for him.. so they take over the communication systems and all and release the baddies who then hold the staff hostage or have a direct confrontation with the dark knight... either way the story is plausible...action is good.. mostly one to one combat.. none of the bunch of baddies attacking that will lead to button mashing... ofcourse, as with any action game, there will also be button mashing, but this one doesnt have a 'mashing' feel to it.. u can take ur own sweet time.. counterattacks are nicely done. there is space for stealth too.. although some of the moves will get repetitive over the course of the game.. grapple, dangle, strangle.. then grapple some more, dangle some more and strangle some more.... but you can use them in various combinations.. and also the glide mode.. which stuns an enemey.. but u have to strangle him after that.. buttons are mapped nicely, so the controls dont feel very clumsy.. hints are displayed in 'detective' mode..which comes in handy at times.. esp when u dont know what to do.. you have the use of a Batarang, which is the coolest thing ever !one thing i liked was that every character (or atleast major character) in the game is given a bio. so you know who they are, what their background is etc etc and a little bit of trivia like when they first appeared in the DC universe... it's a good little touch.
Mini Ninjas >> good visuals, cute little action game is what i will call it.. in the style of Genji, you can switch between characters.. each has his/her own specific features.controls are easy.. but it is a tiresome thing to go into pause mode just to equip a skill which u want to use... interesting take to the story.. and some emphasis on stealth. doesnt suffer much from the camera angle syndrome either, which is a relief.. however, the most annoyinig thing is that save points are few and far between.. and it gets really annoying when you have to start from scratch if you die. that was a bit of a bore...
Wet : a mindless shooter.. tries to use slow time when doing acrobatic stuff.. but every time u jump it goes into slo mo, which is annoying when u dont want to shoot but just jump... interesting bit though the protagonist, Rubi, is very HOT !it had a lot of Stranglehold feel to it, although it lacks the look and finish of Stranglehold, as if it was a cheap imitation. in the early stages when u are learning the moves, it goes back like a movie reel when you dont pull off the right moves or take a lot of time doing it.. healing has a very new look to it.. Rubi just takes a swig of alcohol from a bottle, tosses it in the air and then shoots the bottle ! cool.. but only for the first one or two times that you see it. the demo is quite comprehensive...has 3 different types of levels.. a market fight, a 'red' mission when Rubi goes all enraged and attacks all out.. and then a chase seen with a few timed-button sequences in it.. demo playable, game certainly dont think it will hold my attention for too long.
28 August 2009
23 August 2009
So long and thanks for all the fun
All good things come to an end or so they say. I do not agree. I feel that good things last for ever. After the event ends, it stays in our memory, loved and cherished for many years to come.
The last day at Games Com was such an affair. Although we had seen all that was there to be seen, we wanted to go to the venue just one last time; to say good bye to the wonderful people, new friends, food vendors, the booth girls and people with ‘free hug’ signs on them! There was something about the convention that made us go there, day after day despite tired feet and weary bodies. It must be a geek thing or it might just be the love for things we like.
However, we didn’t want to get too attached to it and therefore Lazybones and I decided to take a break and roam around town a bit. We took it easy in the morning and woke up at a leisurely hour. Lunch was the next thing on the agenda and we had hoped to eat at a nice roadside café, preferably a steak lunch or something equally meaty. Rudolfplatz was the destination of choice with its variety of restaurants. What we hadn’t expected was that there would be roadside booths by EA, Nintendo, Singstar and a few others mingled with the smell of grilled meat and sausages (the Germans love their sausages). We came across a really nice place called Bar Cologne with lovely music and a good assortment of tables by the roadside complete with sunshine and all. But Mr Lazybones wasn’t satisfied with it and wanted to search for the ‘perfect’ place to have lunch. I am sure that if his girlfriend was with him, she would have punched him in the face. His usually lazy demeanour was changed for inexplicable reasons. I felt as if he had received a +20 Agility buff from somewhere. So off we trekked to Neumarkt searching for a good place to eat. In the meanwhile, I was getting increasingly impatient as I had to use the loo and all the walking wasn’t helping my cause. After a short break at Starbucks, we continued our quest. By this time the buff seemed to be wearing off and Tan started to get tired. In the end we ended up having lunch at Bar Cologne which had, by this time, become the ‘most suited place to eat’. Talk of changing goal posts eh ?
The meal was sumptuous, service excellent and the ambience fantastic. We were there for a long time, going slow on the food (no attacking this time) and taking in the atmosphere of the place, soaking in the sunshine and generally enjoying the crowd around us. As it often happens, a good meal and warm weather makes one sleepy and we decided to hurry back to the hotel in case the seats on the tram stations began to appear very comfortable and people started to take pity on us and drop a few coins our way. Tan had his hat so it wouldn’t be a problem collecting those Euro cents. The problem was that we were too well dressed to be mistaken for drunken tramps. One must keep in mind to dress appropriately if one wishes to make a few extra cents in cash in a foreign country!
I knew I had made a good decision when I reserved an extra day after the event. It has helped us wind down after the event and enjoy the sights the city has to offer. I don’t know about the rest of Germany but I have liked Cologne and I wouldn’t mind living here. The various sights, friendly people and a few choice places have left an indelible imprint on the heart and mind. I would love to return to the city, preferably with someone special. As I leave the place, I shall forever remember the wonderful time I have had here and will always look forward to returning someday; at least for the lake fountain behind our hotel in the hope of having another beautiful memory imprinted forever.
In a big prosperous country which is heavily mechanised, the simplicity of the city and its people has warmed my heart. It has left me wanting to be one among them. Who says good times have to come to an end? As time moves on, they continue to be as special as they ever were. In fact they get woven with other special moments to make a beautiful picture, a picture that lasts long after we are gone.
To Cologne and its people, I offer my thanks for being very good hosts.
The last day at Games Com was such an affair. Although we had seen all that was there to be seen, we wanted to go to the venue just one last time; to say good bye to the wonderful people, new friends, food vendors, the booth girls and people with ‘free hug’ signs on them! There was something about the convention that made us go there, day after day despite tired feet and weary bodies. It must be a geek thing or it might just be the love for things we like.
However, we didn’t want to get too attached to it and therefore Lazybones and I decided to take a break and roam around town a bit. We took it easy in the morning and woke up at a leisurely hour. Lunch was the next thing on the agenda and we had hoped to eat at a nice roadside café, preferably a steak lunch or something equally meaty. Rudolfplatz was the destination of choice with its variety of restaurants. What we hadn’t expected was that there would be roadside booths by EA, Nintendo, Singstar and a few others mingled with the smell of grilled meat and sausages (the Germans love their sausages). We came across a really nice place called Bar Cologne with lovely music and a good assortment of tables by the roadside complete with sunshine and all. But Mr Lazybones wasn’t satisfied with it and wanted to search for the ‘perfect’ place to have lunch. I am sure that if his girlfriend was with him, she would have punched him in the face. His usually lazy demeanour was changed for inexplicable reasons. I felt as if he had received a +20 Agility buff from somewhere. So off we trekked to Neumarkt searching for a good place to eat. In the meanwhile, I was getting increasingly impatient as I had to use the loo and all the walking wasn’t helping my cause. After a short break at Starbucks, we continued our quest. By this time the buff seemed to be wearing off and Tan started to get tired. In the end we ended up having lunch at Bar Cologne which had, by this time, become the ‘most suited place to eat’. Talk of changing goal posts eh ?
The meal was sumptuous, service excellent and the ambience fantastic. We were there for a long time, going slow on the food (no attacking this time) and taking in the atmosphere of the place, soaking in the sunshine and generally enjoying the crowd around us. As it often happens, a good meal and warm weather makes one sleepy and we decided to hurry back to the hotel in case the seats on the tram stations began to appear very comfortable and people started to take pity on us and drop a few coins our way. Tan had his hat so it wouldn’t be a problem collecting those Euro cents. The problem was that we were too well dressed to be mistaken for drunken tramps. One must keep in mind to dress appropriately if one wishes to make a few extra cents in cash in a foreign country!
I knew I had made a good decision when I reserved an extra day after the event. It has helped us wind down after the event and enjoy the sights the city has to offer. I don’t know about the rest of Germany but I have liked Cologne and I wouldn’t mind living here. The various sights, friendly people and a few choice places have left an indelible imprint on the heart and mind. I would love to return to the city, preferably with someone special. As I leave the place, I shall forever remember the wonderful time I have had here and will always look forward to returning someday; at least for the lake fountain behind our hotel in the hope of having another beautiful memory imprinted forever.
In a big prosperous country which is heavily mechanised, the simplicity of the city and its people has warmed my heart. It has left me wanting to be one among them. Who says good times have to come to an end? As time moves on, they continue to be as special as they ever were. In fact they get woven with other special moments to make a beautiful picture, a picture that lasts long after we are gone.
To Cologne and its people, I offer my thanks for being very good hosts.
The Grind
It is a known fact that in MMOs you have to grind it out to get the best loot; the same holds true for real life too. And today proved to be one such day. The past two days Tan and I had been running from pillar to post, or booth to booth as the case was this time in the hope that we ought to finish seeing everything that was there to see. In the process we ended up tired sooner than expected, especially since we had only had 4 hours sleep the night before.
Friday was a blur but Saturday was just focussed hard work and I believe that we were rewarded handsomely on both the days. We ended up seeing gameplay demos for Brink, Borderlands, Mafia 2, Modern Warfare 2 which haven’t been showcased anywhere before ! I guess we are in a pretty exclusive club too given that we were asked to keep our mouths shut and weren’t allowed to take any pictures of video captures. Furthering our cause for exclusivity was the fact that we got to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2! I must admit that BF: BC is a very cool game. It has retained all the BF elements and has laid more emphasis on squad play, however I doubt if a playable demo will be made available soon. We were made to wait in the queue for about 2 hours just to get our hands on it. I wonder how long the general public will have to wait to get their hands on a completed demo !
No one beats Infinity Ward when it comes to cinematic effects in game and that was affirmed by them erecting a set like a movie hall with surround sound, a big screen and ascending seat levels. It was simply jaw-dropping, so much so that we couldn’t get our jaws in place on our own at the end of the show. The level we saw was called Cliffhanger, and it literally came to that at the end ! Simply amazing… With a youthful exuberance and impatience we approached the lady, who had played out the demo (yes, it was a girl who played it so brilliantly!), to ask certain questions but we were shocked to have met with “sorry we aren’t taking any questions at this time”. No answers to our questions, no goodies and a stone cold reply had us trotting off grudgingly but with an awe and deference reserved only for the very best in the business. It was, however, the best moment of the whole event as far as we were concerned.
Another attraction was the Ubisoft stand, who were showcasing Assassin’s Creed 2, Red Steel 2, RUSE and the new Splinter Cell along with the game version of the upcoming Avatar by James Cameron. Apparently Avatar has been touted by few as a ‘revolution’ in the movie industry ! That remains to be seen as well as whether the game lives up to expectation. Besides, no game adaptations of movies have been successful critically, barring a few. Needless to say I am not expecting much here.
As our priorities changed according to the size of the queues at different booths, we were left with very select options. Waking up early and attacking at the crack of dawn certainly wasn’t, so it was back to grinding it out with others. Waiting for endless hours doesn’t go down well with us lazybones, especially when one has to stand all the time. I don’t know why we do it, perhaps the reward at the end of it is what we crave for and the longer the wait, the sweeter is the reward.
As the day came close to an end, we bumped into a chap with a video camera, his friend and a girl who had a few laminated sheets in her hand. We asked them who they were and found out that they were from a German website and had been filming responses from various gamers at the convention. They then asked us if we were from UK and then asked if we’d like to appear in a shoot for their site. God forbid but does Joey every say ‘no’ to food? The next thing we knew was that Tan and I were flanking the girl and reading out something in German from one of the sheets. I doubt if it was anything rude but I am sure their viewers will have a jolly hearty laugh when they hear us speak ☺ We were told that the video will go live in about two weeks and they gave us the website’s address, man were we chuffed ! Finally we get to be appreciated for what we do best (of course I am not referring to our linguistic skills here) and that too on a foreign website! Well, if it was being posted on a Somalian or Nepalese site I wouldn’t have cared, after all they are foreign too ! Besides, gaming knows no regional boundaries, only skill based ones. That is why new players get called n00bs; or newbies (if someone wants to be civil to them).
We then decided to have some food after the day’s events and thought of having Chinese. We went to an area called Heumarkt, which is a bit like old town area of Cologne, and were mildly amused to see a bunch of guys with Rockstar stickers on them playing a guitar and singing with another bunch that were seated in a very long horse cart. The driver was so bored that very soon, he too became horse-faced. Anyways, after scouting a bit of the area for a decent Chinese restaurant, we came across one called Canton. Tan, his hunger taken complete control over him, blurted out, “lets attack the Chinese!” I am sure he was referring to the food rather than the people. I bet he wouldn’t dare say something like that in Chinatown !
After a hearty meal it was a tram ride back to the hotel to enjoy some ice cream, although it turned out to be a thick shake by the time we opened the tubs. I guess, there are certain things that we cannot enjoy as they are meant to be at the end of the day. At such times one wonders whether the grind is actually worth it.
21 August 2009
the jDome
The iDome was a fantastic piece of equipment that we came across at the show. It is being deveoped single handedly by a man called John Nilsson. The model on display was a prototype he had developed and was invited to showcase it on Intel's floor space as he couldnt get a booth of his own. I must say that the iDome did generate a lot of interest in the public there, especially fans of FPS games. It is a simple and effective way to get immersed into the environment and i am surprised that no one had thought of it before. The picture on the left shows how and why. John stated that it will be ready for commercial production next year, depending on investors really. Currently only limited edition ones are being sold (hand made) for around €2500 !
However, expect costs to come down to €500 once it goes commercial.
Another cool stall we visited was called Alugraphics. These guys do aluminium mouse pads with a smooth surface and can print a print of your choice onto it as well. Prices are pretty reasonable and the quality of the product is amazing. I have recently acquired an Xactmat from Razer and it is very good. Having seen Alugraphic at work, i can say that they will easily be at the top of many people's wish list. They even do aluminium visiting cards; now isn't that great !
Another great thing to come across was a service that did 3D models out of pictures. They had done a life like model of Crysis' protagonist in a nano suit. On display were other sculpted models and we learned, to our amazement, that they were created based on real people's pictures !
However, expect costs to come down to €500 once it goes commercial.
Another cool stall we visited was called Alugraphics. These guys do aluminium mouse pads with a smooth surface and can print a print of your choice onto it as well. Prices are pretty reasonable and the quality of the product is amazing. I have recently acquired an Xactmat from Razer and it is very good. Having seen Alugraphic at work, i can say that they will easily be at the top of many people's wish list. They even do aluminium visiting cards; now isn't that great !
Another great thing to come across was a service that did 3D models out of pictures. They had done a life like model of Crysis' protagonist in a nano suit. On display were other sculpted models and we learned, to our amazement, that they were created based on real people's pictures !
20 August 2009
At the Toy Factory
A beautiful day had dawned with the sun shining brightly through the windows. That essentially woke me up and i quickly checked my watch. The dial read 8:30 am, which was the time that we had intended to reach the venue. The sudden realisation set into motion a flurry of activity and we hailed a cab in order to reach on time. We did manage to reach before the gates opened so it didnt make much difference, although that was something we intend to avoid in the future.
The first thing that struck us on the way was the effort Cologne had put into promoting the event. i havent seen any event, how so ever big, get as much poster publicity in the UK. Elections in India come a close second though, with every lamp post, bus stop, paan shop and your neighbour's wall proudly holding up a parliamentary candidate's beaming picture. But even then, you would have different posters for each candidate, in various poses or gestures or promising different things. The propoganda in Cologne was more uniform and you knew that it was something special. One look at the queues outside the venue only confirmed this. One thing about Koelnmesse that is hard to miss is the sheer size of the exhibition complex. I have been to a few different venues so far but this one took the cake and the packaging with it !
For the information of friends who had accompanied me to the MMC expo at the Excel centre in London, the Games Com hogged 4 times the space that MMC did.
Gate opening wasnt a ceremony of sorts but it was met with raucuous cheering from all present. Contrary to expectations, there werent goody bags handed out and we felt releived that we didnt miss out on anything. Since the issue was resolved we turned our minds to the most important thing at that time - breakfast and promptly located a food stall. I must admit that they did a really cool potato salad along with chicken escalope. We then sauntered along checking out what lay in store for us and came across Mario and Sonic posing for pictures with little kids and girls. A few guys got interested at all as did Tan. However, he didnt get the chance (how can one get a chance when you hesitate for 10 times) and his face said it all. It seemed as if he wanted to say, "why cant i get a chocolate?"
After that, he got very miffed and, hold it, ORGANISED ! He chalked out a plan to scout the floor and woe betide if i had strayed off. I was getting very excited on seeing booths set up by Rockstar, EA, Blizzard, Bethesda, Remedy, BioWare, 2K and few other notable developers. I just wanted to rush into each one fo them at first sight but no, we had to it in order ! Oh, how i hated being organised, especially by someone else !
Nevertheless, it did have its merits and we entered the presentation area for Realtime Worlds, creators of Crackdown, who were displaying in-game footage of their game APB. It was an interesting one, seemed like a fairly new genre with upto 100 pairs online at any given time. That is massive by any online team based game's standard! At the end of the show we asked a few intelligent questions about the game and were rewarded with a couple of cool T-shirts :)
Visits to presentation areas for Modern Warfare 2, Starcraft 2 and 2K just reminded us of the long queues we'd have to stand in if we were to get anywhere. Hence we ditched the plan to sit in on the presentations and decided to check out everything that was on offer. Suffice to say that we over-estimated ourselves. At the end of the day we just ended up scouring only 2 of the 4 exhibition halls and briefly peeping into the 3rd. The 4th remains untouched so far !
Personal highlights for me were getting to see Guild Wars 2 trailer before it was released on the net ! After all, this is one game that i have been looking forward to for a long time. The devs have promised that work on the game was right on track. Also got to get my hands on the beta version of Aion. Beautiful graphics but not much difference to other MMOs apart from the fact that you could FLY ! After Daedalus and Icarus, these are probably the only people to fly using real wings. We then tried our hands at Ghost Busters, Mini Ninjas and another one called Dofus (only cos the girl handing out leaflets was very cute and friendly).
The girls at various booths were astonishingly good looking, some hot, some attractive, some beautiful and some cute; and we took every chance to get a picture with them :) The finale of the day was a dance performance by a troupe at Sony's massive exhibition area on the floor.
As the day came to an end, we didnt feel like leaving and though our legs were tired our minds were still fresh and hungered for more. With heavy feet, we left the arena knowing that we will be there the next day to catch the action from most of the booths and come across some more interesting people. The Toy Factory is huge and even after four days i doubt if we would have been able to uncover all of its secrets. It is a wonderful place but the fun lies in discovering it at your own pace.
The first thing that struck us on the way was the effort Cologne had put into promoting the event. i havent seen any event, how so ever big, get as much poster publicity in the UK. Elections in India come a close second though, with every lamp post, bus stop, paan shop and your neighbour's wall proudly holding up a parliamentary candidate's beaming picture. But even then, you would have different posters for each candidate, in various poses or gestures or promising different things. The propoganda in Cologne was more uniform and you knew that it was something special. One look at the queues outside the venue only confirmed this. One thing about Koelnmesse that is hard to miss is the sheer size of the exhibition complex. I have been to a few different venues so far but this one took the cake and the packaging with it !
For the information of friends who had accompanied me to the MMC expo at the Excel centre in London, the Games Com hogged 4 times the space that MMC did.
Gate opening wasnt a ceremony of sorts but it was met with raucuous cheering from all present. Contrary to expectations, there werent goody bags handed out and we felt releived that we didnt miss out on anything. Since the issue was resolved we turned our minds to the most important thing at that time - breakfast and promptly located a food stall. I must admit that they did a really cool potato salad along with chicken escalope. We then sauntered along checking out what lay in store for us and came across Mario and Sonic posing for pictures with little kids and girls. A few guys got interested at all as did Tan. However, he didnt get the chance (how can one get a chance when you hesitate for 10 times) and his face said it all. It seemed as if he wanted to say, "why cant i get a chocolate?"
After that, he got very miffed and, hold it, ORGANISED ! He chalked out a plan to scout the floor and woe betide if i had strayed off. I was getting very excited on seeing booths set up by Rockstar, EA, Blizzard, Bethesda, Remedy, BioWare, 2K and few other notable developers. I just wanted to rush into each one fo them at first sight but no, we had to it in order ! Oh, how i hated being organised, especially by someone else !
Nevertheless, it did have its merits and we entered the presentation area for Realtime Worlds, creators of Crackdown, who were displaying in-game footage of their game APB. It was an interesting one, seemed like a fairly new genre with upto 100 pairs online at any given time. That is massive by any online team based game's standard! At the end of the show we asked a few intelligent questions about the game and were rewarded with a couple of cool T-shirts :)
Visits to presentation areas for Modern Warfare 2, Starcraft 2 and 2K just reminded us of the long queues we'd have to stand in if we were to get anywhere. Hence we ditched the plan to sit in on the presentations and decided to check out everything that was on offer. Suffice to say that we over-estimated ourselves. At the end of the day we just ended up scouring only 2 of the 4 exhibition halls and briefly peeping into the 3rd. The 4th remains untouched so far !
Personal highlights for me were getting to see Guild Wars 2 trailer before it was released on the net ! After all, this is one game that i have been looking forward to for a long time. The devs have promised that work on the game was right on track. Also got to get my hands on the beta version of Aion. Beautiful graphics but not much difference to other MMOs apart from the fact that you could FLY ! After Daedalus and Icarus, these are probably the only people to fly using real wings. We then tried our hands at Ghost Busters, Mini Ninjas and another one called Dofus (only cos the girl handing out leaflets was very cute and friendly).
The girls at various booths were astonishingly good looking, some hot, some attractive, some beautiful and some cute; and we took every chance to get a picture with them :) The finale of the day was a dance performance by a troupe at Sony's massive exhibition area on the floor.
As the day came to an end, we didnt feel like leaving and though our legs were tired our minds were still fresh and hungered for more. With heavy feet, we left the arena knowing that we will be there the next day to catch the action from most of the booths and come across some more interesting people. The Toy Factory is huge and even after four days i doubt if we would have been able to uncover all of its secrets. It is a wonderful place but the fun lies in discovering it at your own pace.
19 August 2009
A room with a view
A
Day 1 in Germany and it turned out to be a beautiful day. This had been one of the most anticipated days this year for me, apart from the ones that had significant personal importance. I hadn’t been as excited as this for a long time that I can remember. I felt like a little child awaiting his first trip to the toy factory, not store but a FACTORY !
I travelled to London the night before I was due to depart and had stayed over at my friend’s place. I knew that it was going to be a big task to make it to the airport on time, not for me but for Tan, my partner in crime. I knew that he was busy shooting stuff, videos not people or animals, the night before and chances were that he would be late waking up the following morning. Hence I made sure that I gave him a call in the morning to wake him up. Perhaps the Gods had known of my plight from the Paris trip and took mercy on me. Everything went according to schedule and they also threw in plenty of hot girls for good measure !
The flight was a mere 50 odd minutes and Tan was a tad disappointed that he didn’t get his beauty sleep (he was under the assumption that the flight would be at least an hour and half long ! the journey was fairly uneventful apart for the fact that the gent in front of me at the immigration counter at Cologne was being grilled intensively by the officer and I was getting really bored standing there dreading what trouble would head my way. Fortunately all went swell and we had plenty of time to appreciate the beauty around us. Cologne airport was a tidy affair. It was perhaps the German equivalent of either Gatwick or Stansted but better in its lay out. The beauty of the airport lay in its simplicity. At once one could make out the German penchant for mechanics and efficiency. Heck, even the urinals were angular rather than curved !
After a long and hard debate as to whether we should use the public transport or take a cab we arrived at no conclusion. Therefore we duly proceeded to the information kiosk and a very helpful lady told us that the cab would cost us €35 and the train about €2.5 each. That more or less settled the matter as lessons on money management in Paris were learnt the hard way ! As a bonus, it turned out that our tickets for the convention allowed us to use the public transport for free. How great is that !
The trains were very nice, especially the trams. After we got off at what we considered the equivalent of Liverpool Street (as it was at a junction of red and yellow coloured lines on the map) we bumped into Mr Muscles, an American student in Cologne who pointed us in the right direction. Ofcourse, a while ago we were slagging him off for getting in between us and Skatey, a very pretty girl on, you guessed it, skates. A small conversation later we had exchanged numbers and knew where to go if we wanted to party. Tan got even more excited on hearing that that particular area had an Apple store. Poor chap, he has recently been the recipient of some bad news – his Mac was suffering from some hardware faults and was in a repair centre for some rest and recuperation.
Quite soon we arrived at the hotel, looked sort of plain from the outside but the allocated room was wonderful. Very spacious, equipped with a nice AC, a paid internet connection (yes you heard it right, PAID) and a beautiful view. We had to get the internet connection cos our itch to get online JUST WOULDN’T SUBSIDE !
We thought it would be a good idea to cool our heels off and go to the beer garden to have a few drinks and some food. It was a lovely place with a jogging track running right beside it and around the park that surrounded the lake. Now, what sort of image do you get in your head when I say ‘jogging’ ? Yes you got it right, we were thoroughly enjoying the ‘jogging’ !
Once a table was ready, we were ready to order, although we did sit at the table with our laptops, happily tapping away. Needless to say, we did attract a lot of looks. Hence we made it a point to come across as media professionals hard at work rather than two unsocial geeks. The meal was simple and yet tasty, the beer nicely chilled and crisp. After having had our fill, we retired to bed thinking about the days ahead of us and whether we would be seeing any of the industry’s eminent developers and producers. There was lots to look forward to, plenty of hope and an unparalleled enthusiasm. Once again I felt like a little kid, a kid who was about to see the toy factory.
At the end of the long tiring day, there was nothing more soothing than the comfortable bed. In a room with a very beautiful view.
I travelled to London the night before I was due to depart and had stayed over at my friend’s place. I knew that it was going to be a big task to make it to the airport on time, not for me but for Tan, my partner in crime. I knew that he was busy shooting stuff, videos not people or animals, the night before and chances were that he would be late waking up the following morning. Hence I made sure that I gave him a call in the morning to wake him up. Perhaps the Gods had known of my plight from the Paris trip and took mercy on me. Everything went according to schedule and they also threw in plenty of hot girls for good measure !
The flight was a mere 50 odd minutes and Tan was a tad disappointed that he didn’t get his beauty sleep (he was under the assumption that the flight would be at least an hour and half long ! the journey was fairly uneventful apart for the fact that the gent in front of me at the immigration counter at Cologne was being grilled intensively by the officer and I was getting really bored standing there dreading what trouble would head my way. Fortunately all went swell and we had plenty of time to appreciate the beauty around us. Cologne airport was a tidy affair. It was perhaps the German equivalent of either Gatwick or Stansted but better in its lay out. The beauty of the airport lay in its simplicity. At once one could make out the German penchant for mechanics and efficiency. Heck, even the urinals were angular rather than curved !
After a long and hard debate as to whether we should use the public transport or take a cab we arrived at no conclusion. Therefore we duly proceeded to the information kiosk and a very helpful lady told us that the cab would cost us €35 and the train about €2.5 each. That more or less settled the matter as lessons on money management in Paris were learnt the hard way ! As a bonus, it turned out that our tickets for the convention allowed us to use the public transport for free. How great is that !
The trains were very nice, especially the trams. After we got off at what we considered the equivalent of Liverpool Street (as it was at a junction of red and yellow coloured lines on the map) we bumped into Mr Muscles, an American student in Cologne who pointed us in the right direction. Ofcourse, a while ago we were slagging him off for getting in between us and Skatey, a very pretty girl on, you guessed it, skates. A small conversation later we had exchanged numbers and knew where to go if we wanted to party. Tan got even more excited on hearing that that particular area had an Apple store. Poor chap, he has recently been the recipient of some bad news – his Mac was suffering from some hardware faults and was in a repair centre for some rest and recuperation.
Quite soon we arrived at the hotel, looked sort of plain from the outside but the allocated room was wonderful. Very spacious, equipped with a nice AC, a paid internet connection (yes you heard it right, PAID) and a beautiful view. We had to get the internet connection cos our itch to get online JUST WOULDN’T SUBSIDE !
We thought it would be a good idea to cool our heels off and go to the beer garden to have a few drinks and some food. It was a lovely place with a jogging track running right beside it and around the park that surrounded the lake. Now, what sort of image do you get in your head when I say ‘jogging’ ? Yes you got it right, we were thoroughly enjoying the ‘jogging’ !
Once a table was ready, we were ready to order, although we did sit at the table with our laptops, happily tapping away. Needless to say, we did attract a lot of looks. Hence we made it a point to come across as media professionals hard at work rather than two unsocial geeks. The meal was simple and yet tasty, the beer nicely chilled and crisp. After having had our fill, we retired to bed thinking about the days ahead of us and whether we would be seeing any of the industry’s eminent developers and producers. There was lots to look forward to, plenty of hope and an unparalleled enthusiasm. Once again I felt like a little kid, a kid who was about to see the toy factory.
At the end of the long tiring day, there was nothing more soothing than the comfortable bed. In a room with a very beautiful view.
17 April 2009
The Beginning.
After many days, weeks and months of deliberation and procrastination, i have finally summoned the necessary courage (read motivation) to start a blog. i thought it was about time that i got off my lazy bottom and put pen to paper or in this case fingers to keyboard.
this is just the beginning, an introductory post to get into the mode and mood of blogging. there will be regular posts hereafter.
most of them will be related to tech stuff, gadgets, games, cricket and formula 1 but there will be occasional sensible contributions too. of what nature or theme they will be, i do not know yet, only time will tell.
as a disclaimer, i wish to add that i will be solely reflecting my views about things and do not intend to hurt, malign or defame anyone. where real life events and characters are involved, i will mention so explicitly; everything else is a figment of my imagination.
this is just the beginning, an introductory post to get into the mode and mood of blogging. there will be regular posts hereafter.
most of them will be related to tech stuff, gadgets, games, cricket and formula 1 but there will be occasional sensible contributions too. of what nature or theme they will be, i do not know yet, only time will tell.
as a disclaimer, i wish to add that i will be solely reflecting my views about things and do not intend to hurt, malign or defame anyone. where real life events and characters are involved, i will mention so explicitly; everything else is a figment of my imagination.
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