Greybeards Gripes

The Au Gres River is still solidly frozen and a few fish are being taken through the ice.   A 20 inch Walleye came out,  right in front of my house a day or so ago.   The Bay ice is another story,  not to many fishermen out there this week.   The 30ish weather is rumored to be leaving soon, with a cold snap on the way.

As for my Wii adventures with Call of Duty,  I’ve just made it through the second level,  finished by a wild firefight in a big Television broadcasting studio.   Definately intense,    and pretty challenging.  So far I haven’t been disappointed (if you don’t take the Wii graphics into consideration that is).   Let me back up just a bit,  and complain a little about the fact that my 7.62×51  SAW wasn’t able to shoot through office cubicles. 

This has just come to my attention and it’s importance has lead me to overide my avoidance of political posts:

“The BATFE has written gun dealers in the states of Montana and Tennessee to let them know the BATFE will be disregarding the states’ sovereign gun laws”

I find this very disturbing,  that an entity of the federal government feels that it has the power to nullify the word, will, and law of the people.  I certainly hope it does not come to be,  but a possible outcome of this massive powergrab by the ATF would be,  that the Montana and Tennessee State Police and National Guard would meet the ATF at the states border’s and deny then entry into the state.

 When it came down to making the order,  I wound up getting Call of Duty Reflex in a package deal with another nunchuck and a Zapper.   (If you don’t do Wii,  this probably doesn’t make sense).

I played Call of Duty for the first time tonight.   I didn’t save anything,  just kind ran through the steps and got the feel of it.  As expected,  it’s pretty hard.    Controlling your character is rather difficult,  and often seeing your target (who’s actively shooting at you) is often a problem due to the machines graphics limitations.

The Zapper,  (a short carbine like holder for the Wii controller and nunchuck) goes a long way toward making the game more playable,  and it also came with a game called Link’s Crossbow Training.   This added on game is designed to use the Zapper,  and goes a long way toward building the sighting skills needed for Call of Duty and other programs that use the Zapper as a controller.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written any gaming reviews,  and my skills have eroded a bit,   but as long as the weather is cold,  you might see a few more gaming articles.

We’ve played more of the Wii sports games,  and I’m actually starting to feel some muscle pain,  (and a flair up of carpal tunnel) that has to be Wii related.  So I guess I’m getting exercised.   One of the problems I’ve noticed with it:  The controllers don’t really care about what kind of form you’re using in your chosen game/sport.  For instance,  pitching a baseball:   One can do the full windup and pitch and get a 98 mph fastball,  or a quick underhanded flick of the wrist = 98 mph fastball.  The Boxing game is even more unsophisticated.   Hold your hands in front and do quick, short jabs,  producing powerfull knockout punches on the Wii opponent.  If you actually step into the punches and use your hips and shoulders,  the power produced on the Wii system is much less, plus if you throw combo’s too fast,  it fails to recognize them . It’s just not that realistic.  That said,  I -am- getting some excercise.   From the feel of the nerve systems in my right arm,  probably a little to much jerking and snapping for my own good.

To give my carpal tunnel a break,  I’ll be working on the balance programs for the next few days.   And looking further into a “Shooter”.   “Conduit” comes with  recommendations (although Gamespot didn’t care for it) as does “Medal of Honor 2: Heros“, (and GameSpot like it)   I’m still holding back of Call of Duty Reflex,  in all honesty, I’m a little worried that it might require a little more skill than my old bones can produce.

Wii report,  Day Two:

Now that we have the “Balance Board” running and have gone through some of the “Wii Fit” routines,  we’re beginning to give the Wii a little more respect.    The fitness routines and tracking systems are  pretty well done.  (and they’re actually kind of fun)   I am starting to see,  how it might be good for me.

I’ve still not done anything with the Wii that indicates that it’s a “game” machine though.   I’m currently looking at purchasing “Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, Reflex“.   I’ve been told that this is one of the better actions games for the Wii platform.    This is a link to a video review of the game.  Watching the linked video,  makes it look pretty interesting,  very intense!!!!

These are pictures of what the shoreline north of Point Lookout looked like today  (1-13-2010).   Looks more like what one would expect in the spring.  NOTE:  And the weather has NOT been warm!!!  Yes,  the top one is looking out on Lake Huron,,   Open Water!   The bottom one is looking toward the Gravelly Shoal Light,  seen off in the distance.  The are large format photo’s,  click on the picture for the full sized view.