Well I renewed the domain for another year, so the Fish is safe for now. Not really sure what I'm doing with it though at the moment. The podcast is on an indefinite hiatus for a number of reasons but may be back later in the year. Everyone's wandered off really!
Then there's this whole swine flu pandemic that threatens to wipe us all out.. good job it's not fish flu really. Although can fish catch the flu?
Time for a quick plug, whilst I'm posting. Whilst I've let this site fall into a state of disrepair again, I haven't been just sitting around licking my balls. Instead I've been concentrating on work with my new band, Snide. If you're into up-beat high energy punk in the same vein as The Offspring, Green Day, etc, or just fancy pointing and laughing for a while at my bald head bouncing around on stage, we've got some gigs booked around the UK during the summer months. Come check us out, and if you say to me you found out about it on the Fish, there's a pint in it for ya!
Saints Row 2: Buggiest 360 Game Ever?
Written by Markus M
Thursday, 05 February 2009 12:56
So for those of you that know me, you've probably gathered I'm something of a fan of gaming. I've owned consoles and computers as far back as the original Atari 2600 and Amstrad CPC's of the 80's, and played games on pretty much all of them. So I've seen buggy games.
But the big ones have usually been restricted to the PC. This makes sense, because it's harder to put together a bit of software that needs to run across a huge variety of hardware, rather than spend time fine tuning it to work on one specific platform - as with the consoles. That, and Windows has a nasty habit of crashing out for no good reason as well, so you're never quite sure if it's the game or the operating system that's pissing you about.
So after paying out for a string of bug ridden games on the PC that culminated in what I fondly refer to as, "The Bioshock Incident", I decided never to buy a game for my PC again and concentrate on getting them for my console instead. After all, despite all the bad press surrounding the XBox 360 hardware faults, it seems to me to be a fairly solid console*.
And that's what I did. And things went swimmingly. That is until I parted with 40 pounds of hard earned cash on Saints Row 2.
It beggars belief how this got past quality control, it really does. When I first started trying to play it, it was on my old 360, which kept freezing in the game and eventually died with the three red lights. I could be forgiven for thinking that the problems were down to my old console, even though nothing else really broke (it used to eat my Fallout 3 disc, but that's another story). So the console was sent off and replaced, and the game is just as bad on the replacement.
Doing some googling shows it's not just me getting these problems, and it's not just the 360 either. I've read numerous complaints about the game freezing at random on the PS3 and PC as well, which says to me that the code is flawed somewhere.
So fix it fuckers! Fix it soon. 40 pounds is a lot of notes to waste these days. That's quite a few beers, a few miles worth of petrol or even a mediocre hooker. Poor show on Volition Inc & THQ for rushing this out and you've had months to fix it, yet all I hear is that they're now concentrating on the next sequel in the series. That's one I won't currently be wasting my money on, and I urge you all not to buy this game if you haven't already.
// Rant over. For your viewing pleasure, a quick gameplay video showing the psychedelic flicker effect and eventual crash:
* 1 Incident of the RROD in three years. Console replaced within a week and a half. Not too bad.
The Podcast is Broken
Written by Markus M
Sunday, 25 January 2009 14:30
So we've had to move servers. Couldn't have happened at a worse time... Everything's gone a bit tits up as they say. At the moment, the podcast part of the site is a bit unstable, so if you're here for that it may or may not work.
Speaking of the podcast, we also had episode 8 in the can and ready to roll, then Windows Vista came along and fucked it all up. At some point in the near future we'll be recording a new episode 8... I just need to give the PC a thorough kicking first.
Oh, and happy belated new year to everyone. May 2009 be a prosperous year for you, and may your yeast infections not itch quite as much....
How Not To Deal With Printer Problems
Written by Markus M
Wednesday, 03 September 2008 18:12
So my printer finally bit the dust. After owning it for three years and getting nothing but trouble every time I needed to use the bloody thing, this little video clip is something I promised myself. A little payback for all the chewed paper, blocked nozzles and ding dong noises it's so graciously given me during our time together. Scared the shit out of an elderly neighbour just out of shot and got ink everywhere, and I've had to buy a new one (NOT another Canon Pixma 1000), but hell it was worth it.
Like This Shit?
Written by Markus M
Thursday, 28 August 2008 15:53
Like this shit? Well you'll no doubt love the Sick and Wrong podcast. I'm not into plugging stuff on this site (oo-err) but, I'm a fan and they've been cool enough to link to us. So yes, if you like this stuff, check them out.
Oh and if you're wondering when the next episode of our podcast will be out - well it's no secret that we're proper bloody disorganised when it comes to recording. Add that to the fact that Nikalas has had to drop out for the time being for health issues (not sure if it's the 'erpes or the 'ormones), it's been a bit difficult (in an almost Special Brew kind of way). Rest assured though, we're currently trying to sort out some new recording equipment along with a regular dedicated recording time so we should be back, offending your ears with a new episode shortly. Yep, I'm actually off for a meeting in the pub later today to iron out all of the details and drink beer. Lots of beer.... mmmm... beer*.
* Actually I'm on the JD these days, but that's neither here nor there. Beer sounds manlier.
Salon Kitty
Written by Lunatic Fish Unfunny & Unplanned
Monday, 04 August 2008 18:27
Keeping up with our horribly irregular schedule, LFUFUP is back for another episode. This time around, hosts Markus M and J go all high brow and discuss the wonders of nazi sex orgies, cures for cancer, public transport, iTunes and stupid film critics. As usual this episode features hand picked music supplied by the Podshow Podsafe Music Network, is aimed at a mature audience with an immature sense of humour, and should be avoided by anyone with a fondness of the words cushion, parsnip and scant.
You can either download the individual mp3 directly, or subscribe to our RSS feed with your favourite player. Also, vote for us on Podcast Alley if you've got a moment or five to spare!