Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Review

This review is pretty much a personal opinion and observation but nevertheless, there might be some stuff that you may find interesting. I’m a gadgeteer and whenever I get something new, I always blog about it. Except that I was really busy with my academics that I did not have any enough time to write about it. But! I have it here now, and it’s my new phone, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic:

My Life in Review 2009

Although in general, my 2009 was not that of a bang in terms of events but there are spectacular moments to reflect on. 😀 I seriously wanted to end 2009 as it was my laziest year of all. Now, I wanted everything to change and I’m quite desperate. 😀 But first! let me recall some of the greatest events of my 2009 life. 😀

1. the ELC COMPLEX – It still pounds on although with a different teacher. But the toughest ELC major and second to it was clearly remarkable as it nearly killed me. ELC 102 and 106 really do ring the chillzzz in me as these are the majors that nearly took my scholarship away. Why? Both majors have the same scenario: there were only four exams given but because of the shear number of failing students, both majors have to give up one exam to save the peepz. My standing on both majors was “F” before the fifth exam and I always prayed to God not to give my mom a heart attack. God listened, mercifully, twice as I managed to bring both subjects from the killer “F” to “C”. take note, “C” would be the base especially for the toughest because the toughest subject was placed on my junior year which requires a QPI equivalent of “C” or 2.0. Even up to now, I still cannot believe how I did those, mixing in my mind maybe the professors pulled strings or I simply did a good job.

2. MixMas 2009 – I am now a huge fan of UP’s Lantern Parade, largely because it pulls me away from Ateneo and brings me to my barkada way back in high school. It’s my second MixMas and happily, those who were not in my first mixmas were already there and those who were there in my first mixmas was not there! :D:D:D But still great fun. I really love the fireworks routine and this time, I managed to sneak beside the launching area and get to record the display directly underneath the stunning art of explosives. After that, an overnight with my friends which I missed a lot. So nice and I wish we can be complete next time. 😀

3. Loyola Schools Assessment Team – It bothers me a lot, actually, as I am a person who’s very curious on how people think about me and being a team head in this group makes me think, most of the time, that I don’t look as good as anybody else, feeling inferior in short. But in the end, it did not matter as one person told me that being in LSAT is a professional work and I have to be professional in every way, set aside all of the obstacles, if there are any, and fulfill your job at your best. I love LSAT this year largely because of the addition of new members into my team, how a close member of mine bonded them and in the end, I was proud to reeeally call my team a TEAM. and oh, take note, new people, new faces and new bunch of intelligent minds calling me Kuya.

4. Life Coach in University – Life coach that I met when I entered LSAT, Summer of my sophomore year. 😀 Until now, he’s still beside me despite my annoying declines of requests because of other priorities. He’s responsible for my team head position in LSAT. In fact, he was the first Grad Assessment Team head, when the team finally held their separate team when I entered the commitment. Mom knows him well because they share the same field of expertise: Chemistry. 😀 He worked in PIPAC for some time and after graduation for his second degree, went as a teaching assistant for one of the professors in the Chemistry department. He’s also taking his masters and I think he’s the most patient Grad student my team encountered because he knows our agony. Yup, It’s Sir Lord Alec Pasion. XD

5. SINGLE! – No other word for it, really. 😀

6. SCHOOL DIFFICULTIES – Yep, I’m having a difficult time matching the wavelengths of the people around me in school. Really… But STILL, alive here and pounding on!

7. THE TERM “KUYA” – Kuya Pau as most of the people around me call me. And their number became bigger! But, this is the year when I felt that being kuya more, more during high school. I thought people only call me kuya because of my age but there are people who proved me wrong, who made me appear as a “person” in front of them. It was a different feeling and I loved it more than being called Kuya because of my age.

8. BLESSINGS – Here’s one:

Captured by the phone inside that box. It’ll be my phone for the next 5 years. 😀 Unless I decide to change again when I get a decent job. 😀 Thanks…! 😀 Also for the saved grades for this year, I am really thankful, all of those survived near-acad-death experiences, family issues that were solved and more. 😀

9. PEOPLE – People who slapped me in the face…joke… that made moments!

1. Kuya Mark – Santa Clause. 😀

2. LSAT GRAD TEAM – ANG KULET NIYO!

3. Ate Ja – Wanted me to go back to Gabay but I reserved the request. And now I will be using it. 😀 Unless it had an expiration date. x_x nevertheless, Thanks, ate Ja.

4. Jan – An assessor of mine who was most known for bonding newly assigned members in my team. I think it was the best job done so far because I admit…I can’t do that in a fraction of a day…and he did. XD

5. Mom – Still supportive despite me being a deviant sometimes. But of course, I have to compensate for all my wrongs. and now she gave me something that makes in more mandatory to maintain my grades. I think most of the reason why I’m still standing up, was her. (My, my, whatta drama)

6. Gabay Peepz – I think it was Chard who called me “THANK YOU KUYA TOM!” after handing the people there a bag of Lays. 😀 Hahahaha~! still that curiosity I had in LSAT was a syndrome I have in this org. Crossfingerzzz. Oh yeah, I’ll do more of that Lays dropping. Maybe I’ll get Cheetos next time.

7. Jegay – that bet still has two years to go. 😀 and I’m still in the podium. XD Belat.

8. Jesse, Alvin, Amor, Arvin, Carlo, Nestee and MARKY – Grilla Moments. 😀 Can’t say more about it, they might kill me. Oh yeah, the BBZ pioneer, cheers.

9. Manfred – Partner in Crime. 😀 get someone you can court dude!

10. Paul – Partner in Crime, in vacation…in Canada…most of the time. 😀 Hey man, go back here. PILIPINAS NEEDS YOU!

of course, the best would be my FAMILY and BARKADA and there are so many moments to write that I’m too lazy to put here.

and because of my Short Term Memory, I cannot write more! and I declare welcome 2010.

BRING IT ON!

[PSP] Need for Speed Shift Review

Knowing that NFS “shifted” to realistic simulation of professional racing, this upcoming title should be impressive and worth waiting. aaand I think it is, though not for the PSP. This title is the greatest proof, so far, that NFS is starting to fail in the PSP platform [together with PSP itself].

Shell-Ferrari Model Cars with real Engine sounds

Yup, I have them all~! Here’s the new set of model cars recently released by Shell. 😀

Need For Speed Undecover – PlayStation Portable Review

Need for Speed Undercover is the latest installment of EA’s racing chain. This time, an undercover job (obviously) will be in your hands and you shall play as a wheelman to know where the smuggled cars went. You will be under Chase Linh which is Maggie Q and plainly all she will do is talk to you. For this review, I will chop it into bits so that I will be able to cover most of the game’s aspects and I will be using the Nissan GT-R most of the time.

THE GAME ITSELF

It’s pretty much the same as Need for Speed Most Wanted because most of the time, cops will try to take you down even though you’re not speeding. What amazes me is that the cops recognize you when they see you around again. Although the cop thing is not gonna help with the race, I think the cops in this game were sharper than before. Unlike MW, the cops here appear and run opposite your car, making you stop if you don’t notice them because they will crash head on to you. Which is pretty annoying for some of us because we hate repeating and repeating the race. Other than that, rechargeable Nitrous, speedbreaker and heat levels were shifted back.

NEW STUFF

There are new stuff in the game although it might not be appreciated that much. The game itself has the largest EA world created with several highway links to three different places. In the race types, new ones were highway battle, Cop escape, Cost to state and outrun. In Highway Battle, it’s the same as a Sprint but it is “Wangan” straight with minimal traffic which makes it nice to drive around that thrash your opponent easily. Cop escape is also similar to MW except that the whole city is open for you to hide somewhere unlike in MW where you should keep on outrunning cops in one circuit. Cost to State makes you damage anything in front of you, beches, signs, cars and even cops. You’ll have to damage enough to get through to this type of race. In Outrun, you play cat and mouse with one opponent with, again, the whole city or world open to you, much like Tokyo Xtreme Racer or old Wangan Midnight games.

There’s also a new feature which Maggie Q called “In the Zone”. She said that when you are “IN the ZOnE”, your speedbreaker and nitrous will refill quicker than normal. This will also create a nitrous brake light beam effect from the back of your car and glows your tach when you are in the zone. That feature will be gone once you hit any barrier of wall. You will get the feature when you do a lot of stuff like airtime and near miss.

Another new thing is that this time, the AI is using a real life cop car which is the Nissan GT-R. Also, cops are using choppers so that it will take time before you shake them off.

Yup, definitely a GT-R. Run!

NO NEW CARS, NO NEW GRAPHICS

Yep, I think most of the cars there are apparent in previous titles and if ever there’s a new one, it is not that good although I would like to make it a point that the new Nissan 370Z is an exception, makes me wonder this car might have a bias. The Nissan GT-R and the 911 GT2 were there while there are cars being removed such as Subaru Impreza. Even though the environment has changed, the graphics didn’t. When I saw the game, I preferred the new graphics that the Need For Speed ProStreet had. It’s was back to rubbish wheel designs and reflective roads. Although there is a new type of bodykit which is named “Integrated” which makes the car look better. It might compensate to the rubbish designs of the old era but I don’t think it will compensate that much.

That’s integrated bodykit for you. (whut?!)

BAD GAME PHYSICS

It’s also the same as MW when turning. At some point you will be forced to use the speed breaker in order not to let your opponent pass you when you turn in like a stupid person because you’ll crash on a wall. I hate using speed breaker because it interrupts me looking for another button to press so that it can make me corner better. The cars tend to slide badly when you encounter jumps which is pretty annoying. It may be good because it really happens in real life but sometimes the slides were too exaggerated.

RANTS~!

The game itself is not even gonna reach satisfactory rating. One because it’s like a repeat of the MW. Another, the new features may be good but they’re not gonna lift the game up the ranks. Cars may be accessed with ease but tuning all cars will not be necessary. For example, once I got my hands in the Nissan GT-R, I tuned it up and used it all the way. I did tune the Zonda and the Porsche but I did not use them. Once you’ve tuned the high end cars, most of them have the same specs. That is why in this review, I’m just using a GT-R. The graphics suck because they kept on repeating the same design. I was expecting it to be more like the Prostreet. Prostreet cars have better reflections compared to this one. The new bodykit series is really great, I admit, it made the Evo X look better unlike the exaggerated wide bodykit for Race.

When I read reviews for NFS on PSP, I always optimistic towards the game. Like the Prostreet, I liked the damage modelling and wondered why is it not included in the latest. Why are the improvements not implemented on the new installement? I’m really an NFS fan but it seems that the interest is fading away. Right now I have NFS Prostreet because I enjoy the physics of the game and the online feature. If I played Undercover online, it will be no challenge. really.

This game is nice, in terms of its story. I admit, I liked the story more rather than the game. The story made me continue the game because I’m always interested on what will happen next. Other than than, it felt like I was back in Most wanted but this time on the side of the cops being a puppy to them. 😀

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