Star trek: the video game

   Finally a star trek game!! I have been waiting for this for a while and I literally cannot compute how happy I was when I find out about the game.

       

     Set in the time between the reboot film star trek and the up and coming film star trek into darkness, the game's story is rather clever and rather enjoyable. Kirk and Spock along with the rest of the enterprise crew are on a mission to obtain the Helios device stolen by the Gorn race from the Vulcan people. Playing as these characters you are able to interact with, Chekov, Sulu and Uhura on the bridge. Although I must say I was slightly disappointed that I was unable to walk onto the bridge as every time I tried a cut scene was initiated.

    

      The game is able to be played by 1 or 2 players and everything in the game is not too hard that it cannot be completed by a single player but not too easy that a second player is completely unable to help. Every computer that needs to be hacked or every combat sequence is made easier by having the second player aiding in the action. Although the second player is helpful, balance is restored when the ‘dodgy’ camera decides to freak out and turn your character around and make you lose your perception of the environment. The first time I encountered the Gorn as soon as the cut scene ended and game play resumed I ended up going around in a circle and then looking the wrong way. Although not a big issue it did take quite a chunk out of my health, when the Gorn got a good hit on me. This happened a few time throughout the game and I even ended up dying a few time as a result. On the up note on this if you do survive the strike of the dodgy camera there are plenty of health and ammo regeneration spots in every area. I rarely ran out of ammo and rarely died from gradually losing health.  They were very well placed and always readily available when needed.

         

      As I said earlier I would have liked to walk onto the bridge at the beginning of the game, as I would have liked a bit more freedom in exploring the enterprise, within the game admittedly you do get to walk through the bridge, the engineering deck and the medical bay which is pretty exciting but there is a set path you have to take which limits where you can go. Maybe I’m being too hopeful in this and I suppose it is a big ask to be able to freely explore something as big as the U.S.S ENTERPRISE.

 Don't get me wrong I loved this game I mean you get to play as Kirk and Spock, and I could forgive all the other minor things if they could sort out the major flaw in the game. As already stated the game can be played by one or two players, but that feature loses its appeal when you discover that player 2 cannot upgrade any weapons or keep any of the upgrades available unless you play the whole game in one sitting, which for most people is not realistic as things like life intervene. When you exit the game and then try to continue where you left off it only loads one player even if you have played thus far with two players. You have to select chapter select and start at whatever chapter you have saved the game in again. When you do finally get into the gameplay with two players, you will find that player 2 has lost all of the XP they had previously earned and any upgrades they had bought.  Player 1 does keep everything they have earned and bought so that isn’t a problem. But some of the upgrades available help out the other player so although player 1 can help player 2, player 2 cannot use upgrades to help player 1. In combat player 2 becomes a red shirt, drawing enemy’s attention so player one can complete a stealth attack. When that is not an option player 2 stuns enemies over and over until player 1 can get the kill or take down and get the XP since there is no point player 2 getting it. If you play as player 2 you are there to make easy tasks just that bit easier for player 1,so they are not waiting around for the AI to run off in a different direction, shoot at random object and air and then catch up to them. So even though the story is interesting and there are plenty of enemies to kill, it can become a little bit boring when you are just waiting for the other player to scan everything after a fight and get all the rewards.

     Putting all these faults aside I do love the game I mean come on your walking around as James T Kirk and Spock, talking to the characters we love, fighting the Gorn, and going on your own adventure while flying the Enterprise. This may be the closest I personally am ever going to get to be a member of Starfleet and hell, I’m going to take it.

  

     Star Trek holds a lot of meaning for me and I’ve gone through a lot of ridicule for my love of it as well as many of the other things that I love. I will always Love it and I hope that there will be more games for this franchise, because Star Trek will always be around, it will outlive many of us and will still be shown by whatever technology is available when we are gone.

 And so there really is only one thing left for me to say and you may view it as overused and clichéd but it is still a classic and I hope you will forgive me.

  When everything is said and done the game itself is accurate and does justice to the franchise and I look forward to see what will happen next.

So……Beam me up Scotty.

   

   

   

Jobs

       I have been looking for a job for a while now and the only response I get back is " We regret to infom you that we not be taking your CV any further and feel that you do not have the relelvant experience for this position." I even recieved this back when I applied for the same position that I had been doing for years but in a different company.

      I have also looked into internships and trainee positions and even then, the reply that I get back is telling me that I don't have enough experience. Now please someone explain to me how I am supposed to get the expeience if nowhere is willing to give me the experience. I have spent hours online, on the phone, scouring newspapers and tracking down employers. I have literally sat down and refused to moved until I spoke to someone about a job, because I do not not want to be just passed on as someone who isnt worth anything.

   I am a hardworking person, which any company would be lucky to have. I have always given 100% in everything I have ever done and am so organised that I don't leave room for mistakes or anything unexpected, I always plan for every outcome and come up with at least two solutions for every problem that may occur.

  When I was growing up I always wanted to attend University because I was told by teacher, parents and well adults in general, that if I went to university I would have a better chance of getting a job and I would get a much better job than I would have if I didn't go. I feel as though I was lied to, I know people who dropped out of college, some who even got kicked out of college because they couldn't be bothered to do the work and each of these people are in really good jobs and doing really well. Someone I went to University with was kicked out for plagiarism and is now working for a law firm. Now I understand that some people realise that college or Unversity isnt for them and drop out or prefer not to attend and go straight into working, or pursuing something that they believe in and I am not talking about these people. I am really talking about the people who can't be bothered to do anything and then get handed everything and have done nothing to earn it and to be honest arent really that good at the job. So before I offend anyone who chose to work or train or work on their own goals and ideas, I am not talking about you.

    I graduated from University, I have never failed any exams and have worked since I was 14 years old, everyday I could around my education. I have never relied on people for anything, I've always worked hard for everything that I have.

   Yet I cannot get a job to save my life, my days are spent contacting people who could give me an opportunity to prove what I can do, but don't want to. I know I am not the only person to have this problem, because the people I graduated with are in the same boat as me.

  If someone can explain this to me please, I beg you, explain it to me, because I am really at a loss at understanding this.

Sailor Moon

    When I was younger I used to rush home from school everyday to catch the episodes of sailor moon on Fox Kids. I loved it so much that I had the sailor moon action figure and jumped around the front room shouting 'Moon prism power' along with the show. Serena/Salior Moon was always my favourite character along with Lita/Sailor Jupiter, although Mina/ Sailor Venus came close. I fell in love with the character Darien/Tuxedo as did every other young girl watching and wanted Luna to be my cat.

    But recently I rewatched all of them and I honestly cannot believe how much I have forgotten about the show, not only that but my opinions on characters have severly changed. For instance Darien is not the loving boyfriend to serena, who shows up whenever shes in trouble to help her. He shows up and says "Sailor moon, use your tiara!", which she should remember since at the beginning of the series its the only weapon she has; seriously if this show used texting more often in it, Darien would have just text her and stayed in bed. But after he shows up and reminds her as to what she has to do, he just goes off. When they are together he likes her for say one episode then wants to break up with her, not to mention how mean he was to her before they went out. The only time he is nice to her is when he is evil and working for the negaverse. There are a lot of holes in their relationship even though they know they get married and have kids because they went to the future. But even after that I still love Darien.

    Luna is another character who I kinda hate now, she hates serena and wants her to be amy/ Sailor Mercury. She actually says in one later episode "Serena, why cant you be more like amy?". But it doesnt stop there she always puts her down, calling her useless, hopeless and thinking she wont do well in anything. I cant believe I wanted her as a cat, if I did get my wish, I dread to think what she would say to me. Luna conviently forgets that serena saves the world by herself time and time again, while all the other scouts and Darien have dies or been knocked unconcious. Yet everything that serena does she gets moaned at not only by Luna but by Raye/Sailor Mars aswell. Its only watching it again that i can laugh at how Raye wants Darien so much at the start of Sailor Moon and throughout the different series makes comments about how serena doesn't deserve Darien.

    Now don't get me wrong even though I am saying all of this Sailor Moon is still one the best shows ever in my opinion, I mean they even put life lessons on after the episodes in 'Sailor Moon Says', whats better than that an awesome episode of female heroines then a lesson in how to share afterwards, what could be better than that? I love to watch them.  I just wanted to make that clear before anyone thinks im just moaning about this show. These things that I'm writing about actually make me laugh. Mina has a humour that I can only now aprreciate. Amy is so much more boring than I remember, her episodes are about her making friends with old men, how smart she is and how she thinks people don't like her. To be honest I dont think she would have been hugely missed if she left the country, her powers arent the best of the lot. Aqua illusion isnt an illusion, Mercury bubbles arent bubbles, its a mist. She has only got worse and doesn't get much better throughout the rests of the series. I know Amy is popular with some fans but I just personally just think the other scouts have more useful powers and have more depth as characters.

    One of the best characters turned out to be Artemis, he helps everyone and is so sweet when it comes to Mina. One episode when she is feeling really low about a boy, Artemis shows up and surprises her with a bunch of flowers. He always believes in the scouts and has faith that everything will work out just fine. He is such a good character in comparrison to some of them others. Amara/ Sailor Uranus I just find annoying, everything about her annoys me, she thinks she is much better than she is and always makes it known  to the others that she thinks she is better then them. What is fighting serena about at the end of Sailor Moon S, its already been proved she is their princess and she has just saved the worl , again and Uranus decides to fight her to make sure she is worthy of her service. Now i know Michelle/Sailor Neptune was there too but I think Uranus is the decison make in that relationship. Michelle is never anything but nice to the scouts unless Uranus is involved then she changes. So not totally blameless but I still think something fishy is happening there.

 Its not just the characters that i've noticed, it's the storylines aswell. Some are completely dire but I still watch them. There is one story where a designer with one the most disturbing voices I have ever heard, has special pencils that she uses to draw and the negaverse curse her pencils so when she draws she becomes evil. Why that sounds like a good plot I will never know, but yet I sit there and listen to the woman with the bad voice go on and on and cant look away.

  As I said before I do love Sailor Moon and I always will so I'm not complaining about how bad it is, just things that make me laugh and find hilarious when I compare the show now to how I viewed it as a child.


 

Online Gaming

          So i'm writing another post about games, but this is just because too many people are moaning to me about the online games that you can play on your ipads. Games that are free to begin with and stay free if you ok not progressing but if you are then they cost you. In the games you have to buy certain items to help you level up or complete quests to get a  new item but in order to purchase these items, you must first enter your password which is a personal password, one that you are told not to share with others. But the password only shows up at certain times, everyone says so how can I be held responsible if it doesnt always ask for the password??

      Now if you have an ipad I think it would resonable to assume you know how to use it and have a knowledge of what the setting are, but in these cases the people that have been moaning to me, didn't bother to learn about the ipad and now that you can change the settings so that your password appears each time something is being purchased.

  I know this may seem like a silly topic to write about but I do get rather fed up with people complaining about somehting they dont fully understand and like I stated in my last post don't want to see that if they had paid attention then it probably wouldn't have happened.

 

Why do people blame Games?

       I've been keeping quiet for a long time on the subject of video games, online gaming and games in general. I've always just let people say what they wanted and smiled without agreeing or disagreeing. I was brought up to never cause trouble and to behave myself but there are some things that are really getting to me and I can't be impartial anymore.

     For years people have been using games as an unjustified scapegoat for the dysfunctions of the reality that we live in. Video games have been blamed for the senseless violence that has occured within our society for years, as a way of explaining why.

     I have been playing games since I can remember, so have all my friends and family. My Cousins Matthew, Micheal and my uncle David, introduced me to my first game which was Sonic The Hedgehog, a game which I have followed and still play, I even have the theme tune on my phone. Ever since then I became addicted, video games gave me the escape that I needed growing up. The games never judged me because my dad wasn't around or didnt make fun of me because I loved superheroes and asked my mum for a Superman costume for my sixth birthday. They were always there when I needed time to think or de-stress. If it wasn't for gaming I don't know how I would be able to relax and take my mind off of any stressful situations. While I was at university, constant dealines and pressure could be pretty hard to deal with sometimes and I would always end up playing a game to stop any of the pressure getting to me.

    Just like me, the people I know have been playing video games or years and have never been in any trouble, they have never hurt anybody intentionally and never would. We all play games that include violence, weapons, women wearing hardly anything and gang crime. Games such as GTA(Grand Theft Auto), Metal Gear Solid, COD(Call Of Duty) and Tomb Raider all include violence and weapons but they also all come with a age guide whether it is a 15 rating or an 18 rating and these are often ignored causing a whole new realm of problems.
 
    I've had numerous 'discussions' with people who have bought games for their children, brothers and sisters and then moan about how violent they are and that they don't condone violence nor do they like their children or sibling playing these games. All I ever say to them is, "Why buy them the game?"and I always get the same answer back "Because they wanted it". This is why I do not understand why these people are complaining, because if they chose to buy a game, rated higher than they childs age and that includes a warning about the violence then they are to blame not the companies. Some people just like to moan and can't face the blame in case anything goes wrong in future because of the myth of video games having a bad influence on people.

    Games don't influence people to kill others or hurts other people, I would never dream of even pinching someone to hurt them, I love to find the good things in everything and always try to be as happy as I can be. I have never been in trouble with the police and yet as soon as I say I love video games people make judgements about me and around 90% of the time they are never good judgements. They assume that I dont't have friends, a boyfriend, a social life and that I just go around copying what I see in a game. If someone does decide to copy something they see there is obviously something wrong with them to begin with to be able to think that way and have the ability inside them to harm another person.

   Many events in recent years that have been reported here and in america, video games always come up as a way of explaining why this terrible person done this terrible thing, when in reality the individual had some deep psycological issues and believed what they were doing was right. If they could look at a game; a fictional world with fictional characters, that go on unrealistic quests or missions to obtain a fictional object or to save the world, and choose to think that they should do that, then im sorry but they are not 'right in the head'. They need help, yes I understand that sometimes a mental anomoly is hard to recognise and diagnose but that does not mean the video games created that anomoly, it had to of already been there for an individual to think they were they did.

    I had to write this because I am just getting so fed up of people putting gamers in a bad light and using games an an excuse.