Thanks to Netflix "watch instantly" on the Xbox 360 (or TiVo, pick your flavor) we started watching the recent-ish BBC show Doctor Who. We've watched the the first half dozen episodes of season one and are enjoying it so far.
Circuit City is (not very surprisingly) closing its doors. They started their "going out of business" sale where everything is a wopping 10% off (and a few things at a slightly greater discount). I stopped by the closest Circuit City expecting to find, well, nothing of interest. The place was packed. It appeared people were snapping up stuff left and right like 10% off of retail prices were the second coming. There were a few older 360 and Wii games I was looking for, but they were all marked at full retail. I can find better deals in moments by ordering online (which is probably why they are going out of business). Last night I was looking at a 7.1 amplifier which I can pick up at Amazon for about $210, or $170 if I am willing to buy "open box" (both prices are "shipped"). Circuit had the exact same model on the shelf, selling it open box (likely missing the manual and remote). The clerk informed me that the receiver cost $315 minus 10%. I confirmed "this is the price for a this non-boxed receiver?" which he confirmed that it was. Amazing. I looked for a few more minutes and found nothing - but even if I had, I would not have waited in the insanely long lines. Honestly, I doubt I will miss Circuit City.
Since I bought my "replacement" Xbox 360 last week I have been mulling over the "extended warranty" business. Not really so much an "if" question (all 360's need the extended warranty) but "who's". It was between the Best Buy extended warranty at $40 and the Microsoft "service contract" at $54. I did some reading about these, and the deciding factor was that with Best Buy, if your unit breaks outside the manufacturer warranty, your extended warranty ends when they give you a replacement. With Microsoft, they will keep replacing the system until the warranty expiration date. Best Buy "might" just give you an immediate replacement when you brought in the dead system, but I think for the extra $14, the extended time on the warranty is more important. So, I called Microsoft to purchase their extended warranty. The call was time consuming as expected. At the beginning of the call the phone support person pretended not to have any idea what I was talking about . This may be because he calls it a "service contract" and I was saying "extended warranty" but ultimately he was able to write up the paperwork to put the contract into place - I had a similar experience when I bought my previous Microsoft 360 "service contract" - they tried to discourage the purchase. Hmm. So, should my 360 have any issues between now and January 2012, I can feel safe that it is covered
For our anniversary, I think I mentioned that I got Wii Fit for us. We aren't using it enough yet, but it is a lot of fun and can actually provide a reasonably good workout if you use it right. Also for our anniversary the missus got me Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the Nintendo DS. This is a bizarre, very European feeling adventure / puzzle game with the emphasis on puzzles. Everyone you talk to in the game wants you to solve a puzzle. Some puzzles have you moving a couple matchsticks to transform one picture into another, other puzzle have you moving chickens and wolves across a stream. We've all done these brain-teaser puzzles, but this game collects something like 130 puzzles in one package and wraps them in a story. I have completed about 25 of the puzzles so far. The puzzle difficulties ranges from easy to devious. I am playing it during my commutes and am having a great time with it. All of the puzzles have hints, but to get a hint you must find and use "hint coins" which are in relatively short supply. I can easily imagine almost anyone of any age who enjoys puzzles would just love this game. The game imposes no time limits that I have encountered so you can take your time and think about the solutions.
This missus had trouble finding the game locally (the local Gamestop told her it was discontinued) but it is currently available on Amazon. If you have a Nintendo DS, I would put this game in the "must have" category.
We had a pretty quiet weekend. I played some Saints Row 2 and we watched a few movies and DVDs. We watched the first disc of season one of Love American Style. It is dated but humorous. We started watching Arrested Development Season 2, funny as always. We went to the theater and saw Gran Torino and Slumdog Millionaire, both of which were really, really good - we strongly recommend both movies. We are currently watching Hancock (good so far). All in all, it has been a nice, relaxing weekend.
On slightly sadder news, my 360 started locking up a few days ago. It had problems loading some games and other games would lock up during gameplay. I thought it was still under extended warranty, but it seems like I let the extended warranty lapse. Since the cost to repair the system is pretty close to just buying a new Xbox 360 Arcade, I decided to just pick up a 360 Arcade. The new unit has the added benefits of having an HDMI video port and with the Jasper chipset it uses quite a bit less power. I will probably still get an extended warranty for it, as I still lack confidence that even the latest 360's are completely reliable. I may try to repair my previous 360 - most 360's just have heating problems which are pretty easy to fix.
The missus and I celebrated our dozen year anniversary and New Years by having a nice weekend of The Office (we've re-watched through season three) and Arrested Development (we re-watched season one). Both shows were just as funny with this viewing. This is at least the second time we've seen these The Office episodes, but it was fun to watch them serially. This is at least the third or fourth time we've seen Arrested Development and we're eagerly anticipating re-watching seasons two and three. I firmly believe Arrested Development is one of the best comedies ever aired and I continue to be sad it ended after only three seasons, but I guess it is better to end something in its prime than to stretch the joke too far. There continues to be talk of an Arrested Development movie -- we'll see.
We also went out to see the movie Four Christmases which was a lot of fun. Sure, it isn't the best or funniest Christmas comedy, but Vince Vaughn is always good for a laugh. If you haven't seen it, there is always Netflix - I'm sure it will be on DVD in no time.
Remember, if you want to make fun of GW while he's still on office, you only about 15 days to do it. Get together with friends and family for the inauguration to celebrate GW's official departure! It will be like New Years came twice in 2009. Even if you don't like Obama, surely everybody believes things will have to get better once he's gone.
A few days after Christmas I stood in line at Nintendo World to pick up Wii Fit as an anniversary present for our 12th anniversary. I allowed the missus to open it a couple days early and we used it last night and I am a touch sore tonight. The regular workout stuff seems straightfoward but the "games" take a bit of finesse that I haven't quite mastered yet. We are looking forward to using it more.
Last summer I spent a pretty huge number of hours playing the heck out of Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA4). I had played and loved the very first Grand Theft Auto game, but never got into GTA3, GTA: Vice City, or GTA: San Andreas. These were initially Playstation 2 (PS2) games and I didn't have a PS2 at the time. By the time these games made it to the Xbox, the graphics and control seemed outdated to me, so I just never got into them. The first open world sandbox game I really got into was Crackdown, and I loved Crackdown. I anxiously await the announcement of Crackdown 2.
GTA4 was an incredibly fun game. It had a long, interesting story. The location (a slightly smaller version) of New York, er, Liberty City was very well realized. The characters were well crafted and the game had a good sense of humor. The gameplay had a few minor flaws, notably the lack in in-mission checkpoints, but you could really immerse yourself in the world. Sure, you played a criminal, but I didn't (usually) go out of my way to be a thug to the citizens of Liberty City. The story-driven nature of the game along with the feeling of actually living in the city gave the game a sense of realism. I am looking forward to playing the upcoming downloadable content The Lost and the Damned.
There is no disguising that the Saints Row series are GTA-knockoff games. They came in early in the Xbox360 life to fill the void that existed because GTA4 had a long development cycle. I didn't play Saints Row (SR1), but everybody I know that played it really enjoyed it. At the time, I think the general consensus was that it wasn't as good a game as the GTA games, but it had nice graphics and was a lot of fun. Since I hadn't played SR1, I wasn't initially going to get Saints Row 2 (SR2). A friend admitted it wasn't GTA4 but said it was a really solid game, so I went ahead and put it on my "Christmas Wish List" and behold, it appeared under my Christmas Tree (12 inches tall and glass, on the dining room table), thanks to my generous sister.
I am now about 5 or 6 hours into SR2 and have played enough to form impressions. Even from the very start, I could tell they weren't trying to directly compete with GTA4. The game is far less realistic, far more "create havoc and mayhem" than GTA4. It often seems to subscribe to the blow sh*t up ethic of Mercenaries 2. SR2 is far less story driven, but there is a story. To play the story elements you are required to do lots and lots of crazy activities of questionable morals. I've seen people say SR2 is video game junk food compared to GTA4's fine meal; both are great for different reasons and desirable at different times. This analogy seems "close enough".
Either way, I plan to play and finish SR2 - I am having a lot of fun with it.
Another fine Christmas has come and gone. We spent the evening of Christmas Eve walking around the Christmas attractions of Manhattan including visiting the window displays at Macy's, Lord and Taylor, and Saks Fifth Avenue. We also visited the Bryant Park holiday shops and Times Square. For Christmas day, we had a quiet day at home playing games, watching movies (including High Anxiety), and re-watching old episodes of The Office. The rest of our weekend promises more movies, games, and Office.
For Christmas, I got Gears of War 2 and Saints Row 2. I finished up Prince of Persia, but I still have a bit of work left to get a few more achievements. Between these and the Wii games I have to play, it should be a fun winter.
About two ago we ventured from the cold northeast to the warm state of Florida to embark on a cruise of the Western Caribbean. I believe this is the fourth cruise the missus and I have been on. Previously we did a short Bahamas cruise on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas, an Alaska cruise on Princess' Star Princess, and an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Princess' Crown Princess. We love taking cruises feeling it is an almost ideal way to vacation. We've avoided Carnival cruises hearing bad stories, but a friend recently took a Carnival cruise and said he enjoyed it. After finding a good deal on a Carnival's Valor, we decided to give them a try. We went with another couple who we meet in NY a couple years ago but who have since moved to Atlanta. Executive Summary: A really good time was had by all!
We arrived in sunny Miami on Saturday afternoon. We rented a car and drive to the hotel. The missus' sister lived in the Miami area for a number of years and had a "favorite seafood place" that the missus wanted to try to locate. As a happy coincidence, that seafood place was actually connected to the hotel we were staying at. The missus and I had a late lunch there while we waited for our friends to arrive (flying in from Atlanta). Once our friends arrived, we all went to do a bit of "last minute shopping" at Walgreens and then it was back to the hotel. We shared a few drinks and some food but called it a night relatively early.
On Sunday morning, we all met up with our niece to have breakfast at a little Cuban diner. Our niece, who also currently lives in Atlanta, happened to be in Miami visiting a friend - what a great coincidence! While the food was just "OK", we all really enjoyed the Cuban coffee. After breakfast, I took everybody to the ship and returned the rental car. I caught a taxi from the rental car agency back to the ship. Once back to the ship, boarding was quick and easy. The rest of Sunday was mostly just relaxing an unpacking.
Monday was an "at sea" day, so it was mostly just R&R. We spent time visiting with our friends, meeting people, sitting by the pool.
Tuesday we were at Grand Cayman. We booked a day of snorkeling on the Barrier Reef with our friends. Before the snorkeling we did a bit of "tourist shopping" then took a boat ride out to the reef. The snorkeling was really nice, saw lots of coral and colorful fish.
Wednesday we were at Isla Roatan, Honduras. As we were planning to do scuba diving on the next two days, we decided to just walk around Roatan, do the "tourist" thing. While Isla Roatan has a fair bit of poverty, it wasn't nearly as depressing as the day we walked around Ocho Rios, Jamaica a few years ago. We walked through many of the little shops and made a few small purchases, but our goal was mostly just to experience the local culture and take lots of pictures.
Thursday we were at Belize. I've wanted to dive in Belize since I started diving. The missus got certified, at least to a degree, because she wanted to dive in Belize. The diving operation picked us up with the dive boat right at the ship. We rode from the ship to the dive shop to get everybody geared up. From the dive shop we rode out to the first of the two dive sites. The ride out to the first dive site took about 45 minutes and it was pretty rough - the missus was turning a cute shade of green. We found out later that our dive excursion was the only water excursion that wasn't cancelled. Once we got to the first dive site, everybody geared up and we went down in small groups of about 6. Our divemaster, William, was the best divemaster I've ever had. He was slow and patient. He had a magna-doodle-style slate that he used to name many of the fish. Although this was the missus' first ocean dive, she performed like a veteran. The first dive lasted about 45 minutes then we had about a 45 minute surface interval during which we snacked, had our tanks changed, and moved to the second site. The dive at the second site went as smoothly as the first dive and also lasted about 45 minutes. In both dives we saw lots of beautiful coral and colorful fish. The colors probably weren't quite as vivid as normal as the day was somewhat overcast, but we both greatly enjoyed the dives. It was so much fun for me to finally share scuba diving with the missus and I think she really enjoyed it, too. The ride back to the dive shop was also quite choppy, but everybody was having a lot of fun bouncing around and talking that nobody really felt the effects.
Friday we were in Cozumel. The missus and I had intended on doing two more dives, but the water didn't agree and most of the water excursions were canceled. We opted to do the Fly High Zip Line excursion with our friends. The missus and I have always wanted to try zip lines and they are just as much fun to do as they appear to be when you see them on shows like The Amazing Race. After the zip line adventure, we spent some time doing the "tourist shopping" thing in Cozumel, buying a few t-shirts and such.
Saturday was the second "at sea" day and the last full day of the cruise. We mostly spent the day being lazy, enjoying the time with our friends.
We arrived back in Miami early on Sunday morning. We had breakfast, said goodbye to our friends, and waited for our time to debark (they were able to debark earlier because they had less luggage). The trip through customs took a bit of time, but not too bad. We caught a taxi to the airport and had to wait a few hours for our airplane, but the flight home was eventless.
All in all, it was a great week. We saw and did lots of things and got to spend time meeting new people and catching up with old friends. I think we've converted our friends (who had never cruised before) into "cruise lovers". Now we all just need to save up some vacation and decide where to cruise to next.
One last thought to share. We have now cruised Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Carnival. Of the three, I would say, without hesitation, that Princess is my favorite. Most of the experience is about the same on all three, I think the Princess ships are easier to navigate and more tastefully decorated. We felt Carnival self-promoted a bit too much for our taste -- the dancing "Freddy Fun-ship" character was kind of silly. We felt the Carnival Valor was laid out a bit more awkwardly and had fewer show theaters and lounges. While the fewer number of theaters and lounges is likely because of the side of the ship, the difficulty of navigation and the decorations are really a design choice. For our next cruise we will likely try Holland America or return to Princess.
