Age of Conan is finally here!

I have been a fan of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian since I was in high school. Before I got to read Lord of the Rings, I read Conan when I chanced upon Conan the Valorous by John Maddox Roberts (allegedly Robert Jordan before he wrote his famous Wheel of Time series) in a local book shop. I read close to a dozen of Conan books in my younger years before I moved onto other fiction works. But it is still pretty dear to me.

And now, The Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures one of the most-awaited MMORPGs on the planet is now out.

I loved the mythology that Howard created for Conan. From Aquilonia's borders to dark Stygia, the Aesirs of the North to the warriors of Hyrkania. All of its incredible races, kingdoms, wars, conflicts, riches and characters are now fully fleshed out, all in magnificient computer 3D graphics. And from what I've read, there's a possibility that players might be able to meet the Cimmerian himself. Now that is absolutely wicked. This is one of the few online games that I'll be sinking my teeth into. I just hope that my experience with it doesn't turn out like Lord of the Rings Online.

Reading Comics again

For the last several months., I've bought a number of comic books because I'm trying to rediscover my long lost passion for this form of literature and entertainment. Just check out Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. In 2005, this graphic novel was one of Time Magazine's 100 Best Novels.

I've never really heard about Watchmen until a friend of mine lent me his book in 2000. I read through it but unfortunately I had to give it back because he had to give it to one of his friends.

It took me 8 years before before I actually bought my own copy of it and to me it is simply one of the best comic books that I've read in my close to 30 years of reading comic books. It isn't a comic book. It is a graphic novel.

While I'm more of a mainstream kind of comic book reader and collector, (collecting Marvel, DC, and Image comics) , Watchmen has in some way opened my eyes and mind to read more of this kind of graphic novels and other alternative comic books. I checked out Lucifer from Vertigo and I'm utterly intrigued with it. I also got a number of John Constantine Hell Blazer TPBs (collected issues) and I'm hooked.

I've got the Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. I have the four issue 1985 First print issues and got the collected edition as well. Bought it from a guy at eBay and it was worth it.

So hopefully I'll be to sink my teeth again in reading and collecting comic books. If you've got any suggested comic book reads, I'll be more than welcome to try them out.

Old Games versus New Games

It's been a while since I played any PC game. For the longest time, I've been playing console games from PS2, Xbox and even the Gamecube. Started playing them religiously in 2004. The reason I didn't play any PC game because of the amount of work I had to put in to make it work on my PC. With video games, you pop in the DVD, voila! Instant gratification! Sadly I missed on a number of great games on the PC. Yeah, the video console had a lot of really cool games, but when it came to in-depth RPGs (role playing games), RTS (real time strategy), the consoles can't hold a candle to the PCs. The only time I spent time playing on the PC is when I tried out casual games and MMORPGs(massively multiplayer online role playing games). I played WOW, Everquest and some local games here in the Philippines. But standalone PC games? Never touched them. Until now.

I just got a brand spanking PC and I'm trying out Bioshock. My initial impression is this game utterly rocks. I know it isn't recent but I'm trying to rediscover the joys of PC gaming. That's it for now.

And I will post the images of the Patlabor toy that I got. Including the MG Gundam Unicorn that I got as well.

That's it for now.

Brave Gohkin AV-98 Ingram 1 & 3 (TV Version) preview

Before I dive in and discuss my last post, I just have to tell you about this little toy news. I finally got my order of Brave Gohkin AV-98 Ingram 1 & 3 (TV Version) from Hobby Link Japan It's a small action figure of the popular TV mecha anime, Patlabor. This thing is just awesome to look at. Ingram 1 has interchangeable armor. You can change the head to display the Ingram 3 version. It's loaded with slick gimmicks such as extendable right manipulator (note: hands), a right leg compartment that holds a pistol and a cockpit that actually opens. Pretty sweet. On top of that, it has shoulder patrol lights that actually light up (it comes with a bundled watch battery
I'll fill you on the other great details and images on my next post.

Videogames do not cause Violence

I read from a Reuters.com report that videogames do not create killers. This according to a book written by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson, Harvard Medical School team called "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do. . The report tells Kutner and Olson's views, that there is no data that supports video games cause violence.

They got it right.

Video games don't cause violence.

I'll talk more of this in a while.

In the mean time, check out the link below.

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0725760620080509

It's a start

I've been mulling over the idea of blogging again for quite a while but I've been rather busy with a lot things (i.e. bloody work, life with wife and kids, etc). I had this idea of creating a web site that will allow me to talk and write about what I really love: Technology, all sorts of Gear and Games. It was supposed to start last 2006 when I was in between jobs and I got the domain name and the plans and all but I never followed through with them. I have been thinking of whether to go all out with blogging but I was tied to the idea of hosting them on either yahoo or godaddy.com. Lo and behold I decided to go back and create a blogger account...
Well this is a start but I still have a lot of work to do. But I am absolutely bent on making my years-old plans moving. Wish me luck.