My Work situation

as some of you may have heard I encountered a situation at work, the good news is I am still employed...the bad news is I was transfered and demoted. For those that dont know the situation basically a little 18 year old punk took advantage of a situation that I allowed myself to get into and used it to try and get me fired. Luckily my boss was reasonable and while I am setback in advancing as quickly as I would like at least I still have my job. I am actually looking at this as positively as I can, the store I am going to doesnt have one of the strongest teams so by sending me there they are actually giving me a chance to look even better, My goal is to go in there and blow my new bosses away and become the stores top performer and I think I can do that fairly easily. So although I am disapointed I think I can use this as an oportunity to shine even brighter.

Follow Up On Poker

Just a quickie to follow up on my earlier post on my poker playing. I have been playing somewhat regularly and have found that I have become rather good at playing survival poker. I think the problem alot of players face is that when they get shortstacked they become hyper aggresive thinking that they have to double up or else there done. If you can survive a couple rounds of blinds there is no reason to go nuts. The last few tournys I have played where I have become shortstacked I have just waited on good cards and then made my move and its been paying off. So my poker tip for the day is dont freak out when you become shortstacked just try to surf it out until the good cards come and then make your move. On a side note I have been getting creamed on bad beats latley tonight for instance I played 4 tournys 3 45 person sit and go's and a giant Freeroll in all four tournys I got knocked out by having the best hand and getting out drawn. The worst one came in the last tourny I played I actually played survival poker all tourny long and managed to make it to the final table then with 7 players left I had about 2500 chips blinds were at 200/400 with a 25 ante...I hit pocket Qs and made a 1200 dollar raise pre flop...flop came 6-4-2 with 2 diamonds it was heads up with the chip leader who had about 24000 in chips he comes out and puts me all in after the flop I am thinking he is on a draw maybe A K of diamonds or some other draw type hand since I made a somewhat large preflop raise so I go ahead and call....He freakin flips over 6-2...dude had the nerve to call a 1200 dollar raise with 6-2 off suit...Dont know how he had somemany chips making plays like that but I guess you can make a crazy ass call when you have so many chips oh well!!

Twin Cobra II Gameplay

Random MAME Review #3

I know its been over a week since I last did a MAME review but other things have been taking my time, but alas it is that time again The Random MAME review for this week is Twin Cobra II published by Taito. Twin Cobra is a vertical scrolling shooter a la "1942". Released in 1995 Twin Cobra II is the follow up to 1987's Twin Cobra. Although 8 years separate the two games they are suprisingly similar both feature two player co-op play and the features you expect in a vertical shooter. As with most games of the genre Twin Cobra is a quarter muncher. The screen at times is completly filled with bullets and if you run out of bombs (wich destroy all bullets on screen when deployed) you can kiss your copter goodbye. Although Twin Cobra is a typical shooter I like the fact that they went with helicopters instead of the standard planes usually found in these games. The game does look beautiful and has a couple aspects that set it apart visually first off is the size of the playfield, unlike 1942, there is a wider playfield than what is shown on screen, also at certain points in the game the screen will some in and give you a tighter feild of play...I really liked these areas as the added to the feel of the game and broke up the gameplay a little bit. Overall the game is very well done as with most shooters you collect power ups to boost your weapons what sets Twin Cobra apart is that you have 3 different gun systems wich can change when you collect different colored power ups, Im not sure I was crazy about this mechanic as the player has no control over the change its just a matter of what coller the power up is when you pick it up, so your weapon can change at random wich can throw you off as each one performs a little differently. Overall I enjoyed my play through of the game, though it was a totall revamp of the vertical shooter genre it did offer a few different aspects wich set it apart a bit from the crowd.

Overall Rating

3 Rotor Blades out of 5

My work Test

Ok so when I started working for Publix my goal was always to make it into management at somepoint, Publix is the type of company that once you get your foot in the door and make your way up the ladder, if you stick with it you can retire quite well off. Well today I took my first major step toward being promoted to Assistant Customer Service Manager. Once you express your interest in management you have to take an assement test. The test consists of three parts a video portion, skills assesment and Department knowledge. The video portion was fairly straighforward you are presented with customer situations and then you have to answer how you would handle different aspects of the situation...the only problem I had with this portion was to figure out exactly the right answers. They will give you 8 or so answers and you are supposed to pick the 3 or 4 best ones...the problem was they all applied to the situation so you had to try and determine the exact ones they wanted and that was a little tricky, as for the skills assesment I felt pretty comfy with this portion my boss gave me some advice basically she said answer as though you are the best, you think you are the best and everyone else thinks you are the best. So thats how I answered those. Finally was the knowledge portion...I feel really good about this one there were only a couple questions that I wasnt sure on overall I think I knew just about everything and knew it well. Hopefully my results will reflect my feelings coming out of the test. I think getting promoted will really help Sam and I accomplish the goals we want to in the next year...mainly getting into a house so we actually have room for all the STUFF we have seemed to accumulate.

My Poker Skills

So it seems to be that I am actually getting a little skill at poker, I have started playing online again at PokerStars and I think I am actually getting a little bit of actuall skill. More often than not when I enter a tourny and play like I would if I was playing for real I actually do quite well. And though I make a crazy play or a crazy call now and then (its easy to do when its play money) I think I am a decent player. I would love to find someplace locally that holds Hold em tournaments so I can get some live experience because I know that that is a whole different ball game. And at somepoint I think I am going to try and play for real money online though I am hesitant about that. And my ultimate dream is to someday play in the world series main event so if any of ya have a spare 10,000 dollars lying around and want to bank roll me let me know
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PokerStars Final Table Part 1

The final table action

The BCS Mess

I find it totally hilarious how totally FUBAR the BCS is this year, Every team that has made it to the top has lost and it has created such a mess that no matter who makes it to the championship game they will have backed their way in. And the truly funny part is the one team that has managed to win everygame they have played isnt even going to play in the championship game, that being Hawaii. Maybe this year will finally prove to all the idiots running College football that what we really need is a playoff. Now all the conferences claim that they dont want to lose all the bowl money but here is the solution. Keep all the bowls intact, knock off one or two games off the season (most the national powers play cupcakes for their out of conference games anyway) then have an 8 team playoff using the major bowls , Take 4 bowls as the first round 2 bowls as the 2nd round and then have a championship game, this would solve most of the chaos that the BCS creates and give teams like Boise state, Hawaii and Utah that have been hosed by the BCS the shot they deserve, they have allready extended the season an extra week using the Plus 1 format whats one less cupcake game and one more meaningful game going to hurt anyone.......heck it might even help then maybe Michigan wont lose to the likes of Appalachian State again!


On a side note...specifically my Huskers...while I cant say I am sadend or suprised by the firing of Callahan, I was a bit taken aback by how suddenly it happend having just given him an extension at the begining of the year of course going 5-6 in Husker Country wont keep your job especially once Osborne took over the AD posistion, now they need to do what they should have done and give Bo Pellini the job, He should have been given the job after leading us to the great win over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl after Solich was fired, now they can right the wrong and give the man his due...he is a defensive minded coach and if this season proved anything its that our defense needs a totall overhaul.

So Osborne do the right thing HIRE PELLINI!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!!!

Random MAME Review of The Week #2 Goal! Goal! Goal!

Well I got some positive feedback on the MAME review so here comes number 2. This time we have a sports game that they thought was so good it needed three names...the soccer spectacular Goal! Goal! Goal!

GOAL x 3 was produced by Visco games in 1995 and runs on the NEO GEO architecture. NEO GEO was very popular for arcade games and was also introduced to the home market, though the outrageous price at the time pretty much doomed the home version. In my dream game room I would love to have a dedicated NEO GEO machine at some point. Now on to the game...

Goal! x 3 is your typical old school arcade sports game, not much on depth but overall suprisingly fun. Obviously unlike home console sports games the goal of the arcade sports game is to suck your quarters up so in Goal you are limited to 2:00 minute games and if you end in a tie you have to use another credit to either replay or go to Penalty Kicks. For my play thru attempt I decided to use Argentina for their maxed out speed rating. The tourny plays through sort of like the world cup you start in the group stage and once you defeat the three other teams in your group you go on to the tourny bracket. My play through went relativley smooth with only one stumble in my second match against Mexico where i had to try 3 times to beat them.

See the game in action here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfqdQh0mgsI

Once I made it into the tourny I had no trouble until the final game against Germany where we battled to a 0-0 tie and onto pentaly kicks we went...It was an epic affair that took 8 rounds to decide, I look like a total moron because they kept kicking it straight and I kept diving out of the way thinking there is no way they will kick it straight at me again finally on the last one I figured what did I have to lose and of course he kicked it straight at me...

For footage of the epic struggle click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hRS8dsQToc

The graphics are suprisingly sharp as were most NEOGEO games. The colors really stand out and the animation is decent but could have been better tuned, alot of times its tough to tell exactly were the ball is and in a game like this that can be crucial. The sound is decent with nice crowd noises and realistic whistles and such, the only thing I would have liked to heard here was the chanting crowd that is always present at soccer games. As for controls this is the one area that I had trouble with, as I mentioned earlier the ball was tough to get a handle on and the controls didnt help here, when the ball is in the air was almost impossiable to strike it in mid air with any consistancy. Also all the players seem to be hooked together and the control will randomly switch from one player to another as the ball moves around, this can be frustrating as it will switch and have you running in the wrong direction and lead to some easy goals for the CPU. As for the AI, the opposing AI is quite good and they attack smartly and will take advantage of the control issues mentioned above, on the other hand the Human Goalie AI is very very weak and gives up a ton of soft goals on rebounds that should never have happend.

Overall the game was entertaining though frustrating at times. As far as overall arcade games go this one is probably a middle of the pack affair, though I give it bonus points for being NEO GEO and because it only took 5 quarters to beat it...LOL.(Hey its my review and Ill divy points however I want to 8) )

Final Rating:

4 Penalty Kicks out of 5

Play time: 30 minutes

Quarters Used: 5

Completed: YES

Random MAME Review of The Week #1 NINJA CLOWNS

Yup you read that right our first Random MAME Review is the immortal classic....



Ninja Clowns is a side-scrolling action beat-em-up in the vain of Double Dragon or Final Fight, The controls are simple and the game doesnt offer much innovation outside of the humorous thought of a ninja fighting clown
To view some footage of the game in action click here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUl-kbdJyCA






The story....or lack there of....really doesnt offer much either it boils down to the opening screen and then once you play through the game the closing screen, it boils down to an evil clown named Twisto turning all the citizens of the city into zombie clones...not sure why they are zombie clones and not just straight up zombies but I guess when the game revolves around a ninja fighting clown it doesnt really matter. The enemies are basic and full of cliche's but you dont really expect much in a side scroll punch fest like this one, The boss battles are typicall as well...figure out the pattern, attack, retreat and repeat, the game does ramp up the difficulty as you progress through each level although it never gets to challenging. There were some wierd lab levels inbetween some of the levels that I really didnt understand the point of but outside of that the game is very very typical other than the whole clown thing.


Overall the game was intersting if for no other reason than the insane concept. Not quite a challenge to the side scroller of the century title, but an enjoyable few minutes non the less.



Final Rating

3 pies in the face out of 5



Quarters Used: 14




Play Time: 25 Mins.



Game Completed: YES

NeoFlynn's Random Mame Review of The Week

Ok so in trying to be more regular with my blog and in keeping with my gamer geek ways, I have decided to do a weekly review of totally random Mame games. Here's how it will work each week or possiably more if I enjoy doing them (wich judging by #1 im certain i will) I will pull up a random game and attempt to play completly through it keeping track of quarters spent and time playing. I will then do a short review and give my thoughts on the game, Hopefully my fellow geeks will enjoy it and if anyone wants to direct anyone to my blog please feel free!! So coming up Issue #1 of The Random Mame Review of the Week!

My New Blog

Ok so I am going to try and get a little more regular on my blogging, Im not sure what I intend to use it for, mostly just rants, random thoughts and news about me. Hopefully I can stay commited and do this regularly. Life is hectic right now 5 months ago life was amazing, Sam and I got married finally and everything was looking up for us. The last couple months have been a real downer while things are still wonderful as ever between Sam and I, Life has decided to test us once again from the unplaned cost of my dental bills to the ultimate downer in the tragic loss of Sam's brother, Life couldnt get much worse right now. But Im hoping things will start to look up with the start of a new month and soon a new year.