Category Archives: Bits and Pieces

Resident Evil 5 – Demo

Christmas came early for me this year, I heard a rumour that there was a Resident Evil 5 demo out on the web after it was released in Japan (UK owners will not have access to this demo, as usual PAL gamers get stiffed). I managed to track it down and have a quick go, and am happy to confirm that it was well worth the wait; the Resident Evil series is my absolute favourite and I have been waiting for this game to come out since it was announced months and months and months ago.

The first thing I noticed on the demo was that it was called Resident Evil 5 and not Biohazard 5 (Japanese name), so this must always have been intended as a UK/USA release but they perhaps changed their minds? The xbox 360 is starting to do very well in Japan now, so perhaps that’s why they got the exclusive on this one?

When I eventually got into the game I immediately noticed how familiar the controls are to Resident Evil 4, almost to the point you could be mistaken for thinking it’s an expansion of the previous chapter in the saga. The visuals are amazing, definately the best I’ve seen on the machine to date, crisp clear graphics which look like most of the cut scenes in RE4. The inventory works well, the weapons are acurate and so is the collision detection. Top notch stuff.

I really enjoy how you’re partnered up in this game with a rather foxy looking sprite called Sheva, it reminded me immediately of Resident Evil Zero where your partner follows you around intelligently and backs you up, heals you and kicks major arse. You seem to be able to supply them with pickups and all sorts in a bid to gain a tactical advantage over the enemies. Speaking of the enemies, so much controversy surrounded the fact that you’re shooting black people in this game (the game is set in Haiti apparently), it never ceases to amaze me really how quick the media are to demonise games. Where were the cries of outrage as you happily saunter around shooting white folk in the first 5 games eh, plus all the carnage you bring upon hispanics in Resident Evil 4? Oh well, we’ll gloss over that, the sheer fact is that whilst walking around in a shanty town, you get rushed by a raging hoard of zombie-like beings (who have the same sort of parasite it would appear as the Ganado’s in RE4). What are you gonna do, open up a politically correct dialogue with them and exchange gifts?

In summary, the demo was short and sweet and at the end I could feel my heart racing when trying to escape the hooded axe-wielding tyrant character (the axe is almost as big as the Eifle Tower); sadly you can’t kill him in the demo but rest assured I will be returning to blow the hood (and his head) clean off and finish the job!

This is most definately going to be my game of 2009, and I can’t wait till it comes out. If anyone wants information on how to get this working then leave me an e mail in a comment on this thread; you don’t need a modded machine in order to play it!

Capcom rules!

Kev’s Low-fat prawn soup/casserole effort

In a bid to shed some weight before my works Christmas party (and generally because I’ve been rather greedy of late) I’ve decided to revisit my self-fashioned ‘low saturated fat’ diet. It’s simple, eat what you like as long as there’s no saturated fat. Oh, and drink lots of water. Sod fad diets, no blocking out food groups for temporary fixes. Dodgy stuff that. Mini-rant over.

I popped into my local supermarket tonight before going home in order to grab some chicken (grilled chicken with peppers and tomatoes is a favourite of mine when I diet) for dinner. The chicken looked a bit ropey/pricey and I decided to browse the seafood section for some inspiration when I saw some tiger prawns which were half price so decided to give them a whirl. When I got back home I decided upon a soup/casserole.


INGREDIENTS:

  • A pack of tiger prawns
  • Button mushrooms
  • Spring onions
  • A single green pepper
  • Plum tomatos in tomato sauce (tinned)
  • Fresh garlic
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • A packet of wholemeal pitta

HOW TO MAKE IT
Use a decent pyrex dish (one with a lid is best), pour in a little olive oil and place into the oven without the lid on at around 93oC (200oF approx). When the oil is heated through, chuck in the prawns (including the prawny water stuff) along with two crushed cloves of garlic, some of the tomato sauce from the tin and a generous pinch of sea salt. Mix it around well and put the lid on for about 3-4 minutes.

While the prawns begin cooking, clean and chop up the mushrooms, spring onions and pepper; when you’ve done this, pop everything in with the cooking prawns along with the tinned tomatoes and remaining sauce. Replace the lid and shove it back in the oven for 10-15 mins (I like all my veg hard, so leave longer if you want yours softer). Just before the soup/casserole (sasserole?) is ready, heat a few of the wholemeal pitta bread under the grill. They make great dipping bread.

And that’s it 🙂 Apologies for the quality of the picture but I only had my mobile phone camera to hand! All in, the meal cost me less than a lady (£5). Bargain.

prawnsoup

Birthday Pizza………finally!

First of all, muchos apologies to Josie for the delay in posting these pictures!

I’ve been meaning to pop a couple of pictures of my birthday luncheon up on the site so that you can all salivate over the culinary delights I was presented with back in October (Muchos respect to Head Chef Alex and Sioux Chef Josie!). Both Al and Josie made the pizzas (and the best chips, sadly not pictured) from scratch, right in front of me I might add which was bloody torture. Thankfully, a Corona lager with lime made the wait that much more enjoyable.  Chin chin!

With no sign of the credit crunch or starving African children, the dynamic duo assembled what would be their masterpiece(s). A variety of different rolls and pitta bread were used for bases; add some homemade pizza sauce and sumptuous toppings and wang………..et voila! It’s also the first time I’ve ever had Mackerel (on pizza or anything else) and it was gorgeous along with the prawns, tuna and mixture of cheeses. I’m genuinely salivating again. Blimey.

So here we go, this is a picture of yours truly and Monsieur la calvacie. Josie seems to have captured the point perfectly after we’d scoffed the first round of pizzas, and were just tucking into the second round which included some dried chillis that burnt the tip of my tongue quite considerably!.  They were definately the best pizzas I’ve ever tasted, and I’m not just saying that!  I am only sad that there aren’t pictures of Josies chips, rum drinking shenanigans or video footage playing Guitar Hero dancing.  Twas the perfick birfinday and make no mistake guvna.  Fanks!

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people thought the latest Hulk movie was inferior to the Iron Man blockbuster which also came out this year; personally I don’t think that is true at all.  Whilst I agree that the makers totally nailed Iron Man; I can’t help but feel that the Hulk movie is superior to it in many ways. 

It’s certainly true that I had more affection for the Hulk growing up than I did Iron Man (I only really started to appreciate Iron Man in my teens, whereas I religiously watched the Hulk t.v. as a kid), overall I felt that the Hulk movie reminded me so much of the comics I used to read than the Iron Man film did, perhaps given the latter’s focus on realism and ‘believability’?   That isn’t to say that both films didn’t have a good stab at challenging some of the worldly issues going on at the moment though (quite effectively I thought?).

I think it’s safe to say that Iron Man’s CGI and effects were in a different league to the Hulk, however, there is something decidedly reassuring about seeing a 15 foot tall green mutant not being completely CGI perfect isn’t there?  He’s not meant to blend in with the crowd.  He’s a big green mofo!  The scenes where Hulk is bouncing around on rooftops and from building to building looked awesome.  Job done. 

So why do I think Hulk is a better film?  Ultimately, what sets the Hulk apart for the other Marvel films is Edward Norton.  What a bloody inspired casting choice he was for the role of Dr. Bruce Banner; a much tormented and brooding soul living in exile, utterly petrified of what lies within himself.  Brilliant.  I sat watching the film last night and could feel myself smiling at how well he portrayed Banner, it’s such a shame that his performance will not be given the recognition it so rightly deserves, all because people thought the Hulk looked too cartoon-like. 

That said, the franchise as a whole is definately building up.  Soon they’ll do Captain America (which I expect to laugh at considering they are getting Brad Pitt for the role) and Thor (how they will make this I genuinely don’t know….?), and then we will get an Avengers movie at last, hopefully with Hulk being a founding member (yep, it’s true).   With the recent success of the ‘Civil War’ and ‘World War Hulk’ comic runs, I can only hope they decide to borrow a few ideas from those stories too rather than just the classic issues.

I enjoyed this film so much that I will definately buy it, the only slightly sour point for me was putting Stan Lee in this movie.  Why?  I LOVE Stan Lee, but does he have to be in every single Marvel comic movie?  Yes I know without him we’d not have Spider-man yadda yadda yadda, but still?  Lou Ferringo I can understand, because he voiced the Hulk in this film (and played the original), but I really hate putting people into films just for people to go “oooooh, look, it’s *insert name here*, ha ha ha, coooooool!”.

“Hulk smash tiresome cameo appearances!!!!!!”