Fine taste.

I have eaten Sushi from Fuji Ya for the last three days. And when not eating Sushi, I've eaten Dominos Pizza and Chris and Rob's Hot Dogs. I'm man of discerning tastes...

I got a new project from a new client this week. I finished it a few minutes ago and on Monday I'm going to get a second helping. It's not the most fun or glamorous work, but it pays really well and I really like my contact person.

I've been playing through Halo: Reach on Heroic bit by bit. It's tough. I've beat Halo 3 and ODST on Heroic by myself, Legendary in co-op, I have a feeling Reach is a bit harder than either of those games... In nearly every level there's a section or two where I hit a wall and think "is it time to drop it down to 'normal'? Maybe..." but then I push through.

I'm having a blast, though, and it's those humps that make it really fun. I think Halo does get better as the game gets harder. The enemies seem smarter (really they just stay alive longer and make more decisions, so it seems like they're genius), and you really have to assess the battlefield and plan accordingly. On Heroic or Legendary, it seems like a game of resources. Every situation seems to have a perfect weapon, but it's usually in short supply so it's up to some tactical improvisation after that.

But there's so many combination and approaches to take, even after trying again and again, I always find a semi-graceful solution. It's very different from a shooter like Call of Duty, that just becomes a game of twitch, speed and pattern memorization.

I picked up the new Deathspank game but I've yet to play it. I really liked the first Deathspank, but I probably had my fill by the time it was over. Releasing a sequel a mere two months later seems crazy by videogame standards, and I wonder how many people really are ready for more. I honestly don't think I am, but I will be eventually. Mainly, I like what Hothead is doing and I want to give them my dollas.

I also played the Enslaved demo I grabbed off PSN. I enjoyed but didn't love Ninja Theory's previous game Heavenly Sword. There was a lot I appreciated, but something about it didn't click. The combat wasn't tight enough, I guess. It felt more like a showpiece for PS3 and less like a game, maybe.

I didn't enjoy Enslaved much. The controls felt awful, the lip syncing was terrible (it reminded me of a youtube video where the video and sound fall 1/2 second out of sync) and it looked ok, but not even as good as I remember Heavenly Sword being. I said 'eh, too bad. looked like it might have been fun' and went on with my day.

Then I noticed the Enslaved demo on 360 a few days later, and downloaded it at the studio because it seemed like the animation and characters might be something Francesca would like to see. And for some reason, it was pretty awesome. The controls felt way better, animation felt smoother, the lip syncing was spot on. I went from being totally cold on the game to thinking I might actually pick it up. Weird.