Be Excellent To Each Other

I seek Superbike 08 for the 360. However, I prefer to actually buy it than have it delivered and have to deal with cunty mail order companies and also risk the mailman deciding he'd rather not push it through the mail slot, but to instead take it back to the depot and give it to his mate, Mr Mouthbreather.

YESTERDAY!

Tesco Extra, Gabalfa, Cardiff

I stopped by here on the way home for a number of essentials (milk, wine, mushrooms, ketchup - all the essentials of a healthy diet!) and they didn't even have it. Asda has served me well in the past, so I figured I'd try them today.

So...

TODAY!

Asda, Pontygwindy, Caerfilthy

Nope, they don't have it either. And I fucked got up early to have time to go on my way to work and everything. Not 30 seconds after I got into the car to head to work, the heavens themselves opened and a huge rainstorm commenced.

Partially gruntled, I took advantage of a lull in work today to go and visit 'good old' Queen Street.

First stop: 'Zavvi', Capitol Arcade

This is at the far end of Queen Street, so my plan was to get the train there and then work my way back towards, er, work. The game was there, but it's £34. Which is a bit excessive. So, no. Little did I realize this would be the best price I'd find.

On to: Game, Queen Street

I don't normally go into Game, as it's shit. But I figured I'd check, at least. The 360 section is really badly arranged, and it took me almost 3 minutes to find the game. £37. Nope.

No surprise there, so: HMV, Queen Street

HMV also had no idea how to arrange a games section, so after a lot of hunting I finally find it, £37.99. Bah.

Oh well, let's try: WH Smith, Queen Street

They don't have it. They (like everyone else) think I really want to play Race Driver: GRID. Codebastards can FUCKEZ OFFEZ AS THEY SAY EN FRANCAIS.

Which only really leaves: Gamestation, St David's Centre

£37 here too.

Desperation drives me to visit: CEX, Cardiff Central Bus/Train station

Nope. In fact, the 360 section was worryingly small, the majority of the shop now being devoted to DVDs. MotoGP07 was here, for a 'bargain' £15.00 PREOWNED. Next to it was Mass Effect, also £15.00 preowned. Or you could buy a brand new copy that hasn't been in some scumbag's faulty 360 drive from Zavvi for £17 (which I did, two weeks ago, thanks for asking).

Conclusion: High Street, I hate you. Please die.

All these shops have the game for about £10 less if you buy from their websites.I want it for £27.99, as that means I'd have £10 left over to not buy Braid with.

Also, every shop has enormously out-of-proportion Wii and DS sections, catering to the pleb scum who want to play games about ponies and doggies and endless clones of Wii Sports, and also can't do so without clipping a plastic tennis racket/baseball bat/etc to their WiiMote. Smiths in particular had a huge DS shelf, the entire top half of which was entirely games about jumping ponies over fences and brushing the hardened clumps of shit out of their stupid tales as they disinterestedly chew their hay and HATE YOU. YES, GIRLS, HATE YOU. PRINCESS ONLY TOLERATES YOUR FEMALE JUICES RUNNING DOWN HER BACK AS YOU RIDE HER, BECAUSE YOU FEED HER.

Sad now.

How did you know I like to be called Princess?

Because of that crispy mark on the back of your shirt.

Gutted. I'm trying to do the same with NASCAR 09, but the cheapest I found that was £44.99 PREOWNED in Game. How fucking funny is that?

"Entirely un"

You're asking a lot to find a game that's been out for 5 days for near half price.

I traded it in a few weeks ago with the intention of getting 09, but I haven't got around to it yet...

I'm sorry.

D'oh

Ordered off Gamestation's site. Gameplay refused to save my new address and Amazon charges too much for delivery. £29.99 altogether... Or £7 less than from their shop.

Arse, now I'm going to have to get it before you get too good at it.

Ha! You are a fool. My power is more powerfuller!

Surely delivery from Amazon is free on all items over 15 quid?

If you don't mind waiting a week.

Yep but the free delivery takes longer.

It's been pretty random for me, sometimes it'll turn up the next day, sometimes they seem to sit on it for a week before posting it. Usually if I want to guarantee it's going to show up quick, I'll use the first class option, but most of the time I'll use the free postage and then curse them for not posting it within 30 seconds.

Also, you'll have to convince me it's a good game as it's got quite mixed reviews.

As long as it comes by the weekend I don't mind, as I've nearly finished Arse Effect.

Right, I played the demo of this last night. Fuck, I'm rubbish at bikes. It's not as slick and polished as MotoGP 07, but I think I'll be able to get the hang of playing it as the controls are better.

I might just end up getting them both.

I think it's certainly a better game than anything Climax has farted out but I've never been a huge fan of their stuff.

I had MotoGP 2 on the Xbox180 and thought it was pretty decent, as with the demo for 07. What don't you like?

The AI mostly, you can't race them. In Namco's MotoGP4 if you fucked up and started 12th, you'd have to work for 5th. In the Xbox one they brake illogically and are you'll pass and repass about 10 of them entirely at random. Plus you can't use manual gears because 7000rpm in 6th sounds higher than 7000rpm in 1st.

I did find that using the cockpit view meant I couldn't work out when to change gear as there was nothing on the HUD and I couldn't work it out from the engine noise. Ho hum.

SBK08 arrived today. Well done Gamestation's website.

Queue irony round 2 as I'm disappointed I can't play it right away and have to go ride on a real bike instead (to work).

£24 from http://www.simplygames.com/info/16099

Well, I've played it for a few hours now.

The tutorials are more helpful than you think - they have all the handholding options switched on, and introduce you to the game. The 'follow the racing line' ones are a bit too annoying (go a bit too wide on the course, and you fail, instantly) but otherwise it's a good, fairly gentle introduction.

And you need one, as this is HARD. There's achievements for smashing your bike into an inoperable state AND sending your rider to hospital, for goodness sake. Having Platinum medalled all the tutorials, I figured I could handle turning the dial a bit towards 'real', and fiddled the options appropriately. Now, death is literally around every corner, as I lowside around every corner either on entry (braking too hard) or exit (accelerating too hard). Unless you put the braking assists and traction control on, it's like driving a Porsche with greased rear tires across a frozen lake. All but the gentlest manipulation of the controls will kill you horribly.

This is all before you add other riders into the mix. On 'Real', they'll match your best acceleration and braking, if not outperform it. Try to avoid running into them, or you'll go flying off yet again.

All I can say is that it takes a lot of getting used to. In Forza you could switch all the assists off and still hurl the most powerful cars around the track with relative abandon, able to stay in control. Here, you need to be a lot more gentle with the controls and be a lot more careful.

Tips, as I think I've worked them out (for those thinking of trying it or the demo):
-brake well before each corner. That 'any friction used for braking can't be used for cornering' blurb from Forza we all chuckle at is extremely true here. When you start turning in, you want to be done braking.
-don't brake while cornering. Anything but the lightest touch of the front brake while turning will throw you off (this is actually something they demonstrate during the CBT while you're walking the bike around). If you find you're going wide, use the rear brake first.
-accelerate gently out of the bend. As otherwise your rear wheel will overtake your front wheel. I tell you this as if it happens, you won't be there to see it.
-avoid locking the rear wheel when braking, as this will make you wobble and likely die on the rapidly approaching bend. Alas, the rear brake is 'A' by default so it's basically an on/off switch, so be gentle with it.
-for a good start, only a tiny bit of throttle to get you going, and then steadily increase it. Full revs will spin your rear wheel uselessly, and too much throttle will result in a wheelie (and when your front wheel comes back down, the bounce might destablize you... I found this especially a concern on Brands Hatch where the grid is on a bend)
-begin turning for bends a lot sooner than you would in a car... as there's a moment of your rider shifting his weight over before the bike starts turning good and proper.

So far, it's challenging fun, but (like MotoGP) it will put a lot a people off with the learning curve (no pun intended).