Mezurashi Ame

Its hard to imagine that it's come full circle. I was minding my own business tending to my internet cafe way back in 2005 I believe. I was searching for Sony stuff because I was bored and I stumbled across the announcement of the Playstation 3 and with it some future exclusive games. That's when I first saw the controversial Killzone 2 rendered video. Everyone was skeptical about it even down until last minutes of the multiplayer beta.

I didn't imagine back then that I'd actually get to play this game, let alone own a Playstation 3. Now with a couple of weeks to spare, Killzone 2 is actually coming out. I've played the demo and I can say that it meets up to the expectations of that video that was shown way back. Even though the demo is around 10-15 minutes, I had a blast. I kept playing it over and over. The controls are a bit giddy though. Its feels like a realistic FPS. You can actually feel how heavy the gun is and when you get hit by a bullet you loose your balance from its impact. The visuals are something to behold. Though its just tones of browns, greys and blacks, its really very well polished. I enjoy seeing the Helghast jolt back when I run down to them and hail them with bullets. The AI is pretty intelligent. Its no surprise since Insomiac, the guys who did Resistance 2, helped Guerilla in programming this AI. In a sense the Helghast move and behave sort of like the Chrimera but more aggressive. I was hiding behind cover for a while in a firefight with this one Helghast. We weren't hitting each other that much since we had to duck a lot in the crossfire. I was surprised when he threw not one but 2 grenades to my position. I mean WTF? This feels like I'm fighting against someone online!

Anyway, this game is a must for all you PS3 owners out there. And just in case you are wondering, the Killzone 2 Demo is available only at the European PSN Store right now. Just create a EU PSN account and you are set!

Plurk has been a place where I could express myself openly no matter how cheeky, stupid or absurd you may sound. Unfortunately it is also a place where feelings run wild and some people mistake that for something else. What I'm saying is, beneath all the sugary coatings of a touted "social network" plurk is in fact, anti-social.

I've lost a friend and a colleague's trust all because we both had our egos and pride. I posted something seemingly harmless until someone posted something they shouldn't have. I then politely asked to refrain from that topic since it was a very sensitive issue for me. Knowing where I have come from, they should have at least had the decency to think what they posted. And so this colleague contested that plurk is supposed to be a "social" site and I needed to be more open. Of course I also said that yeah its a social site but what I post is my right, and people should have empathy on what they say. To avoid further confrontation, I deleted the post, but what this woman did, she continued fanning the topic hot even though I stopped already. That's when I decided, I took her out of my friend's list and we haven't talked to each other ever since.

Just today, I sort of had an indirect argument with some friends who I thought I was close friends with. In the end I was betrayed. A simple post asking advice. I was grateful for their comments but there was tension as I somehow felt that they wanted me to follow that advice and that I was wrong.

Do not post anything overly too emotional. People will make fun of you in one way or another. They may know it or not but the point is you are the one who gets hurt.

If you want to ask for some serious advice, don't do it in plurk. Its better to post it on your facebook, multiply or any other blogs that you've got accounts with. I've noticed that most of the people only plurk about happy non-serious things. So that means your serious down-to-heart tear jerking post will be mocked at therfore adding injury to insult.

I now fully understand why someone I know deleted his plurk account. I might just go that far one of these days.