The first is that every other game with a story needs to learn from this game because this is the first game in a long time (along with Arkham Asylum) that I can play for 4 hours straight and still want to keep playing. My roommate stayed up until 6am playing this game to get to the end.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was a really great game but the story was really what kept it going along with the excellent platforming. Uncharted 2 takes everything that was good about the first game, multiplies it by 5 and then adds crack cocaine to it. I seriously can't think of anything wrong with this game. It has an amazing story, incredibly fun and challenging gameplay (you will die), excellent graphics, fantastic voice acting, and surprisingly fun multiplayer. There were moments in the game where I couldn't believe that it was even possible to do.

Speaking about voice acting, Nolan North (Nathan Drake) and Emily Rose (Elena) do a fantastic job at making you love the characters. You want to keep playing because you want to know what happens next. It's like an addicting book in video game form. The story is paced perfectly, the villain is actually scary, and there is plenty of intrigue and romance that I think is much better than most movies today.

One thing about me is that I hate dying in games… yes, I am a baby but I like to enjoy the story continuously without being interrupted by things like death. The thing about the first Uncharted was that I could only play a few firefights and then quit because I'd die so often, even though I was on Normal. In Uncharted 2, I chose Very Easy so I could get through the game and hear the story. That said, I still heavily enjoyed Uncharted 1 even though I kept dying because it was a lot of fun.

Games like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, where I die every second are no fun to me because there's no reward for living other than to go on and fight and die more often. In games like Batman, Uncharted, BioShock, and Half-Life 2, when you die you want to keep going because there's a new narrative waiting to be told or a discovery to be made. I think that a part of what makes the firefights fun in Uncharted 1/2 is that there's a goal at the end, a place to get to, or a secret to be found. In other words, give me a reason to fight these people and then I won't quit the game.

I will be writing soon about this year in games because quite frankly it was an excellent year for gaming… and still could be even more excellent considering the upcoming releases of Assassin's Creed 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Left 4 Dead 2.

I figured this was not a new idea and was glad to see that it's being worked on. Well, who knows if it still is, that article is from 9 years ago. The standard (ARTS Digital Receipt XML) is being used by some third parties. The only way for this to work is to get banks on-board so there can be a way to easily view these.

Not only could brick and mortars use these receipts (since they already send your credit card info to a clearinghouse), but online stores could use it too. Which means no more keeping receipts/invoices in a file cabinet! I keep receipts in empty Kleenex boxes… just in case. I don't keep receipts from small or insignificant purchases, only ones where I'd possibly need to return something.

Anyway, I thought it was a good idea and hopefully in the next decade we'll see it come to pass… I can dream, can't I?

I thought the graph was interesting. If you zoom down to a week level, you can easily see that people are happier on weekends than weekdays. Big surprise there I guess.

However, a lot weren't so I let those through. One question I had for everyone, though, is why do some people leave a real comment but then try to promote their business? Some of those comments are nice and I want to let them through… but I am not OK with using my blog as free advertising.

Search engines don't follow the links in blog comments, so I am not helping their SEO, but I also don't want to make it seem like I am okay with people clicking through to these people's sites.

What do you think? I decided to allow "real" comments by these people and delete ones that are outright advertising.

FROM DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE &
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS JOHANNESBURG,
SOUTH AFRICA.

Dear Sir/Madam,

URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL

After my official enquiry from the foreign trade office of the chambers of commerce & industry here in Johannesburg South Africa, I decided to contact you but I did not disclose the intention to anyone else because of the delicate nature of the project. I found your profile very interesting and decided to reach you directly to solicit for your assistance and guidelines in making a business investment and transfer of US$26,500,000.00(Twenty Six Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) to your country within the next few days.

Please I must plead for your confidence in this transaction. I am a high placed officially working with Department of (Finance & Economic Affairs) in Johannesburg. I and two other colleagues are currently in need of a silent foreign partner whose identity we can use to transfer this sum of money. But at this moment, I am constrained to issue more details about this profitable business investment until I get your response by email, please if you can take out a moment of your very busy schedule today to respond back to my private email below for more details and include your private telephone number in your response which I and my colleagues will highly appreciate.

This fund accrued legitimately to us as commission from foreign contracts, through our private connections.

The fund is presently waiting to be remitted from the bank here in South Africa to any overseas beneficiary confirmed by us as associate/receiver. By virtue of our positions as civil servants in my country, we cannot acquire this money in our names.  Because as high placed civil servants, we are not allowed by the civil service code of conduct to own or operate bank accounts outside of our shores. On the other hand, it is not safe for us to keep the money here due to unstable political environment. I have been mandated as a matter of trust by my colleagues, to look for an overseas silent partner who could work with us to facilitate transfer of this fund for our mutual benefit, Hence the reason for this email.

My proposal is that after you receive the funds, it would be shared as follows: (1) 30% to you as commission for your co-operation and assistance in facilitating the transfer, while the remaining 70% belongs to me and two colleagues. You will be free to take out your commission immediately after the money hits your account in your country. Since our objective is to invest the money in a foreign country, it would be appreciated if you could also help us with advices and direction on investing into profitable ventures in your country.

However, this is optional, and if it is not convenient for you to further assist us with investing the money, we can end our cooperation after you make available to me our part of the money. The transaction, although discreet, is legitimate and the money will be transferred successfully with all necessary back-up official documents showing the legitimate source/origin of fund.

The transfer will be effected within a period not longer than two weeks as soon as we reach an agreement and you furnish me with a suitable response indicating your interest for processing the transfer. I plead with you on one issue, whether you are interested or not, kindly do not expose this information to any one else. I confirm that the transaction is legitimate and without any risks either to yourself or us. For confidentiality purposes I would appreciate it if you could respond through my alternative email address: xxx

Yours Faithfully,

Mr. George John