Shopping… well, kinda

Posted in Life by Aris on July 27, 2006

So I headed out to the shops today and here’s what I got:

Games

My new computer’s arriving any day now, so I got two games I wanted to play but couldn’t due to crappy hardware and a collection of games of sentimental value.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas You know this game. For those who don’t (are there any such people out there?), this page can prove quite helpful. Now, before you ask, no I haven’t played San Andreas yet. Well, I’ve played five or six hours on a PS2, but that’s nothing, right? The game’s so huge I’ll be playing it for months. I am a big fan of Vice City (that would be the previous installment in the GTA series, for those who do not know so) to the point where I’ve played through it five or six times. After waiting so long to play San Andreas, I think I’ll be more than happy to finally get my hands on it.

Half-Life 2: Episode One All I’ve read/heard about this expansion is that it’s tiny, but great. I’ll also play Half-Life 2 along with this, since I never could on my previous computer. So I think I’ll be satisfied. Here’s a link to learn what this is about.
Baldur’s Gate Boxset Computer RPG players know this. Heck, any gamer should know this. One of the greatest RPG series ever made and Black Isle’s finest work, after maybe Planescape: Torment. I do own Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II along with its expansion, Throne of Bhaal. What I couldn’t find, though, no matter how hard I searched for it, was the original expansion, Tales of the Sword Coast. When I saw that boxset lying on the shelf, I knew I had to get it. It cost about 15 euros, which is not bad at all for two games and two expansions. This set ought to keep me company in the cold winter nights, aka some months from now.

Books

I do some reading, too, although this summer I’ve stayed away from it, mainly because I wanted a rest after school. These days I’m reading the complete short stories of Ernest Hemingway and today I also got these two books:

Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski Anyone who hasn’t read any Bukowski go to a bookstore and grab a book right now! I will not comment on the writer himself, as that would be unnecessary; I’ll only mention that this book is a collection of articles published in Open City, an underground LA newspaper of the late 60s. Therefore, this book is also of historical value. Seriously, though, you’re missing a lot if you haven’t read any Bukowski.

In Search of Lost Time, Book 2 by Marcel Proust A masterpiece of 20th century fiction and one of the longest works of fiction ever published. This book is as monumental to literature as the Bible is to Christianity. Okay, maybe not quite, but you get the general idea. I have only read half the first book, but I happened to have some extra money on me, so I got part 2. This is a masterpiece, but a long one at that, so be prepared to devote two or three months of your life if you’re planning to read it. It’ll be worth it, in my opinion.

Music

Minimum – Maximum by Kraftwerk Apparently the group’s first live album. I can’t say I know a whole lot about electronic music. As a matter of fact, this is my first album of Kraftwerk. I haven’t even listened through this once, so I might come back to this 2-CD live album in a future post.

This is pretty much all. Do note that this isn’t what I’d regularly get when going out. This was a rare occasion: I happened to have the money and I was lucky enough to find certain items I was interested in. So, uh, any thoughts?

Metroid Prime: Hunters

Posted in Video games by Aris on July 7, 2006

Hunters box art

Metroid Prime: Hunters is yet another installment in the Metroid series of games. It is also the best First Person Shooter for the Nintendo DS and, in my opinion, one of the best FPS games for a handheld console.

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