While breaking into co-workers offices at sans Sarif Industries, I looked at an eBook lying on someone’s table. It was about Hugh Darrow (who’s been alluded to an awful lot, making me think he’s going to turn up at the end), who’s a pioneer in the field of human augmentation. In his fictional biography, what got him into the field in the first place was competing in Robot Wars! Sometimes my real life intersects with videogames in the oddest of ways (though I doubt he ever fought Killer Carrot).
Author Archives:
..yes, yes, alright. Human Revolution is great and I’ve been playing it for the last nine hours. Happy? It’s wonderful, fantastic, and some other nice words. Still not best pleased with the ‘you can only play it when we say so’ bullshit though. Look for a review whenever I get around to it.
It’s the end… but the moment has been prepared for…
Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. But flick your eyes upward – oh no! I changed the name! Bought myself a brand new domain and everything. Yep, this is no longer the NRB (though the old domain still works), it’s regenerated into Adam Englebright Dot Com! Glancing at my dashboard, I’ve written 365 posts (how strange!), goodness knows how many words, most of them utter rubbish, in the almost three years since I started. Looking back at some of the utter dreck I used to write, the quality of my writing has improved enormously, which is nice (though thinking about it, I was 15 at time of first posting). Anyway, see you in a few days time, when I’ll no doubt be talking more rubbish about this Saturday’s Doctor Who!
A complaint in the form of a letter
Dear Square Enix,
I arrived home this morning after a brief journey into town to find that Amazon had delivered my copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I was naturally pleased to get my new game, so I grabbed my laptop, popped in the disk, and it began to install. Register on Steam? Fair enough, I like Steam, and it’s good to know I’ll be able to download and play if I scratch the disc or something.
john finnemore
John Finnemore? If you listen to the credits of Radio 4 comedies, you’ll notice his name is a frequent occurance. Anyway, the other evening, I, along with NRB associates Scott and Luke, went to see the recording of some of his new sketch show for Radio 4. While it’s fairly easy to get to London from our general location, it’s still a bit of a hassle, what with having to get a train then a Tube then wander around until you find the darn place, which a bit of a dull slog, even to someone like me, who likes train travel*. Fortunately, our experience was unexpectedly enlivened by a bomb scare.
A-levels and suchlike
Well, I got my results today*. They weren’t bad – not enough to get me to my first choice (UEA) but enough for my insurance (Brighton), and that’s fine by me. I get to go and live down by the seaside! However, today I have been taught some salutary lessons I would like to share. Read More
Review: Torchwood: Miracle Day, Episodes 3 and 4
A review in 2 parts
Part I : “Dead of Trite”
Oh, for pity’s sake. The first two episodes weren’t nearly as much rubbish as this. All the cliches, the pointed observation of localised British-American differences, the frankly moronic behaviour by the protagonists… For instance, Jack saying to Danes, ”Did they mention the name ‘Jack Harkness’? Of course, asking him that may signal that’s an important name to know, so if he’s allied with them and he’s now going to tell them… Read More
My Doctor Who Origin Story
This is for something else I’m doing, but I thought this is a tale which deserved its own post. Many years ago, when I was in primary school, aged ten, my dad came home from work and gave me some stuff, which was jolly nice of him. Specifically, a Bill Bailey CD (The Ultimate Collection… Ever!) which is a brilliant thing in itself, and contains Insect Nation, which remains one of my favourite songs, but more importantly, a CD rip of the record of the audio version of Genesis of the Daleks. Also, the Dalpol Davros in the picture above. I listened Genesis all in one go. I distinctly recall the ‘Do I have the right’ speech bit… and its subsequent resolution when the wires were run over by a Dalek anyway. A program which has writing of that calibre, I decided, must be worth my time. From then on, I started watching videos of old episodes, reading the BBC Doctor Who books and listening to Big Finish audios where I could find them. I got library staff to order in as many of the books as I could (though I never got into the old Virgin novels) and looking through the list, I’ve probably read all the Eighth Doctor Adventures (and most of the Past Doctor Adventures) at some time or another. And two years later, the TV series started again!
I think that works much better as a post on its own than as a footnote, don’t you?
Review: Superheroes of Suburia
My brother watched this on Friday night, and, as he’s wont to do, spent nearly every subsequent minute demanding I watch it. But to give him his due, it’s probably just as well he did, or else I’d have forgotten, which would have been a darn shame, because it’s great.
Review: Torchwood: Miracle Day Episodes 1 and 2
A review in two parts
Part 1 : New world, old problems.
It’s funny what I’m willing to suspend disbelief for. Take this episode of everyone’s favourite* silly Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood. I’m perfectly willing to accept that by some unknown mechanism by which prevents everyone, all around the world from dying at exactly the same time. I’m a bit less willing to believe in the bullshit legal explanation for a paedophile convicted of rape and murder being released. It’s probably because it contradicts what I would view as sensible human behaviour, i.e, don’t release rapist/murderers just because legalistically there’s the possibility of justification and the rapist/murderer is threatening to ‘sue the Governor’.




