What's on my bookshelf

So, while I’m downloading “Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull” (disappeared with all other installed games when my main-board croaked in April), I’ll start with my first update. What have I been reading?

A lot. Okay, I can see that’s not what you’d call helpful.

Let’s start with the books currently still under work or planned for:

• Preston and Child: Cemetery Dance (a new case for my favourite FBI special agent Pendergast)
• Dan Simmons: Drood
• Dan Brown: The Lost Symbol (in German, my father’s already finished with it)
• Cleo Coyle: the last three of her Coffeehouse Mysteries (“Decaffeinated Corpse,” “French Pressed” and “Espresso Shot”).

Now on to the books I’ve read between the end of September (when I wrote about Dexter) and today.

• Cleo Coyle: the first four Coffeehouse Mysteries (“On What Grounds,” “Through The Grinder,” “Latte Trouble” and “Murder Most Frothy”)
• Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt: “Dracula The Un-Dead” (sequel to Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”)

I’ve also read a couple of German books that were non-fictional, but I won’t list them here, because they’re probably not out anywhere outside Germany. I might mention one or two of them in other posts, though.

I read Cleo Coyle’s first novel and got really hooked (even though I’m not a coffee drinker and there’s loads of information about coffee in there, in addition to the murders). When I’ve finished the last three novels still on my ‘to do’ list, I’ll be through with the series this far (although there’s going to be another one published this month, from what I’ve read).

“Dracula The Un-Dead” came as a surprise for me. I saw the German hardcover edition at my local bookstore and decided to order the English paperback over amazon. I didn’t really think it would be any better than the sequel Freda Warrington wrote years ago, but I was wrong. The story features almost all of the original characters (except, of course, for Quincey Morris, who dies at the end of Stoker’s novel), but tells what became of them. It’s centred around the son of Mina and Jonathan Harker, young Quincey who is mentioned at the end of the original novel. And it features one of the most interesting vampires I’ve ever come across (and, this time, I don’t mean Dracula himself, but his worst enemy).

Well, I think that covers most of my reading material since September. But as the game still is downloading, I might as well continue, so expect more soon.

I'm still alive

Believe it or not, I’m still alive. Things have been changing recently, some for the better, some for the … well, not so good. Anyway, I have not forgotten about this blog, I simply couldn’t work up the necessary energy to write more posts. But that’s going to change from now on, promised.

First of all, I’m going to give you updates on what I read, watched and played lately, afterwards I’ll try to give you an update on my regular crusades, too. (You know, “Killerspiele” and “Size 0”).

So, expect more in the immediate future!

Welcome to the Asylum

Arkham Asylum is the place where the many super villains of Gotham basically have their second home (or maybe their first). It’s the place where therapists try to cure them – usually to no avail. “Arkham Asylum” is also the subtitle of a new game set in Batman’s universe. And it’s the place where the whole game takes place, too.

I’ve waited for this new game for a long time, ever since I saw the first pictures and the first trailer. Of all the DC heroes, Batman is my favourite. And he makes a great character for a computer game, because he doesn’t have any supernatural powers. (Now, I’ve enjoyed playing “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” a lot – despite the fact that it’s a pretty bloodthirsty game. But then, we’re talking about Wolverine, the guy with the sharp blades protruding from the back of his hands.) But any being with supernatural powers, be it alien, divine or mutant, means thinking around the bent. Wolverine doesn’t have to worry about a few people with MPs … Batman does, despite the protection of his suit. And, as a gamer playing “Arkham Asylum,” so do I.

The Joker is caught – once more – and Batman is taking him back to Arkham. No, that’s not the end of the game, it’s actually the intro sequence. The first thing that came to my mind while watching it was ‘Why the hell is that guy so happy about it?’ This thought was closely followed by ‘Wow, someone really went overboard with the security measures here.’ I soon learned that nobody went overboard with the security measures, of course, since the Joker breaks free and disappears inside the Asylum. No wonder he was in such a great mood – he wanted to get in, after all.

The intro sequence is quite long and partly interactive, even though the interactive part merely is following the guards who take the Joker back inside the Asylum. Still, there are some quite interesting moments, such as the meeting with Killer Croc on the way down (that guy’s huge and has quite some teeth…).

There’s basically three things to do during the game: walk or run through corridors, fight Joker’s henchmen (and various madmen) and solve riddles or problems.

Quite some problems stem from the fact that the Joker controls most of the Asylum, including the intercom (meaning a lot of voice-overs all over Arkham Island). Quite often only an air vent or a gargoyle high up on the wall provide a way onwards. The fighting consists mostly of close-quarter combat (against unarmed enemies) and guerrilla tactics (against armed enemies, as Batman is not bullet-proof). I found the inverted takedown (an upgrade you can buy with experience points gained from winning fights and solving problems) quite useful in these situations. Just get on a gargoyle, wait for an enemy to walk by underneath, drop down, grab him and hang him up by his ankles. Quite useful and terrifies the rest of them.

The riddles are usually create by the Riddler (who else, seriously) and usually quite cryptic. There’s always something in the area, though, which is connected to the riddles. In addition there’s challenges like ‘destroy 5 Joker’s teeth’ (referring to the gadgets always hopping around in the corridors). There’s also Riddler Trophies hidden around (green question marks), tapes with interviews of the various inmates and the Chronicles of Arkham, cryptic messages left behind by the founder of the asylum. They are not necessary to continue the game, of course, but provide additional content and additional experience points.

The controls of the game have been converted quite well (even though I have to admit I prefer the combination of mouse and keyboard to the game controller in this case) – “Batman - Arkham Asylum” is a multiplatform title with the pc-version being the last to come out. Bad for me, as I don’t own an X-Box 360 or PS III. I installed the English version of the game (it’s a multilingual DVD), mostly to get the original voices. You don’t get to hear Mark ‘Luke Skywalker’ Hamill a lot these days – and he gives a great Joker (and has for about 15 years now…). In addition, quite some jokes are only funny in the original language.

I’ve only seen about 30% of the game yet, but I really like it already and I will continue to play until I’m through.

"Killerspiele" return - Election Edition

Elections are coming um, next week on Sunday we’re electing the new members for the Bundestag (the German parliament). And, as always, the “Killerspiele”-debate comes up again.

In addition, there have been some things happening lately – violence that resulted in the death of a man trying to help, another student running amok in his school – that have, once again, sparked off the whole debate.

It’s always the same faces you see throughout the debates on TV – people who usually speak about the whole topic without knowing the slightest bit about the actual games.

Even after almost three years – that’s how long my blog’s been running now – the actual debate as a such has not changed the slightest. Whenever there’s someone killing or maiming people and the person is a teenager or in his twenties (no women accounted for so far), it’s immediately the fault of the “Killerspiele.”

Yes, most of them do have something like “Counterstrike” on their computer. But, to be honest, I’d be more surprised if a boy that age didn’t have such a game on his hard drive.

One thing is strange, though: all people running amok during the last few years were members of a Schützenverein (shooter’s association would probably be the right translation). As not everyone in Germany is allowed to own a gun, becoming a member of such a club is the only way to learn how to handle a gun (something you don’t learn from a computer game) and how to actually shoot with it (aiming with a gun is completely different from aiming with a mouse). Despite the fact that those amok runs would not have been possible without the amok runners being members of a Schützenverein, not one politician has ever demanded to shut them down. Strange, isn’t it? Or, maybe, it isn’t. The older members of those clubs are most likely to vote for the politicians always going on about the “Killerspiele.” So why alienate those who will most surely vote for you?

On the other hand, the politicians still have to learn one fact: it’s not just a small group of underage nerds who play computer games, it’s a large group of people at voting age (getting bigger and older every year) who do it.

Thoughts on the TV program

Usually I don’t get to watch much TV before eleven a.m. I’m either working in the morning or I’m sleeping in (while on vacation).

After a few days on which I rose early – in one case didn’t sleep at all –, I have to admit that I didn’t really miss anything. Early morning shows (morning shows in general) aren’t exactly something to be thrilled about.

But then, I can’t say there’s a lot to be thrilled about on TV. Every now and then there’s a good magazine, an interesting series or a movie worth watching. Apart from that, it’s enough to provide a background noise, but nothing else.

That is what TV has basically been for me, ever since I moved out of my parents’ home. I live alone and the TV provides me with some noise, with a background sound. I listen in to it when something seems interesting, but I’m not watching TV with concentration.

When I was a kid (about the time the dinosaurs walked the earth…), the TV program seemed so interesting. I was really waiting for most of my favourite series to begin and I was always thrilled when I was allowed to watch the evening program with my parents. When I had my first TV, was allowed to watch in my own room (that was around the time we got cable), there were so many interesting things I wanted to watch. But today… Somehow the interesting parts are missing.

The TV program isn’t what it used to be … or maybe it’s just a question of how long you’ve watched TV already. Sooner or later there’s just repetition.