Surf's Up

Yet another game made out of a movie, Surf's Up is a racing game in which all of the participants are penguins riding atop surfboards. In the game, you complete laps around courses situated on ocean or river environments. You get to perform a variety of tricks in the air by pressing the correct sequence of buttons when projected upwards on certain obstacles or ramps. There are also weapon boxes scattered around the track, although you don't have much control over the tricks. The attractive 3D graphics generally put the system's horsepower to good use. The frame rate also remains smooth, even when waves are crashing down and the characters are performing somersaults in midair. Characters bounce around constantly as their boogie boards pass over waves. That, combined with the splashy landings, gives Surf's Up the same sort of look and feel as Wave Race or Jet Moto. The sound effects mainly consist of generic splashing noises and brief repetitive character comments. If you don't like the soundtracks that come with the game, you have the option of making a playlist using your own MP3 files by placing them into the game's folder on the memory stick.

Races are still loads of fun despite not being able to control your character's acrobatics. The real question is how much play time you'll actually get out of the game before you're done with it. The single-player championship mode consists of five meets that contain four courses each, for a grand total of 20 races. A three-lap race typically takes roughly five minutes to finish, which means you'll only need about two hours to finish all 20 courses and earn the championship. Going through the championship unlocks courses for use in the free surf mode, as well as additional characters that you can use in all play modes. The free surf mode is nothing special as it simply contains one-off races, time attacks, and survival races using the standard courses. The multiplayer mode offers different options depending on whether or not your friends have their own copies of the game. As many as eight people can compete in races and in Mario Kart-style arena matches if everyone has a copy. However, if there's only a single copy to go around, you'll be limited to two players and have half as many locations from which to choose. The multiplayer isn't compelling enough to compensate for the sparse single-player offerings, but if you can find some people to play with, you will definitely get a few extra hours out of the game.

Overall, the game doesn't offer much in the way of content. If you're a great fan of the movie, you'll appreciate the way the characters are portrayed and enjoy speeding through races with them. Just don't expect to get more than an afternoon or two out of the game before you're finished with it.

Yuwei's gonna be in Bintan for a 3mth internship! So excited for him, even though it's only a 40min ferry ride away. It's still considered an "overseas internship" k. Anyway we just read about Xiaxue's entry on her bad experience at Angsana Resorts Bintan. We dont really read her blog all the time (yes, i refuse to contribute to her ads dollars) but because of the internship, yuwei better read up on any news about the resort. It was really bad publicity for the resort but some stuff wasnt really their fault (like when the tar on the beaches stained her clothes, it was a common beach and they cant stop the tar from coming onto the beach rite..) From the way they reply her, they probably dont care about her swearing them upside-down haha. I'll still visit Bintan anyway, to visit Yuwei =)

By the way, 5th May is a Monday, not Tuesday. 60hrs before the flight, I just realised that I'm leaving on a different day that I've always thought so. It's on 5th May 320am!! It changes alot. (1) I cant talk to Jiakai online anymore because by the time she reach home, we'll already be on the plane. So she better access internet somehow and reply my how-to-get-to-ur-place-in-paris mail. (2) I cant collect our train reservation from STA on Monday because we're already on the flight (again). Luckily uncle's there to help. Thanks uncle Gary! It's gonna be his 5th trip to STA, opsy! (3) We're taking the same flight as Kah Yong! Yay more in-flight entertainment! haha (4) I only have half a day to pack my stuff after sending yuwei to the jetty on Sunday. Yes I wanted to start packing only on Monday but it seems impossible now. I better start tomorrow. (5) I need to reschedule things I plan to do Sunday and Monday all on Sunday! (picking up walkie talkie from Jingwan, buy snacks/sweets/biscuits, remove my half gone nail polish from my toes, settle credit card bills etc.) *Panicks*

Flower Stand Tycoon

Flower Stand Tycoon is about a chic urban floral business with some hefty profits to be made. In the game, your Uncle Pott's has a dream of nurturing a great florist business. Fortunately for you, however, Uncle Pott's is more of a bioengineer than a businessman, and would rather spend his time inventing new flower cross-breeds than being a salesman. He hands you his van, $700, and an old flower cart to start, and you're sent out to make your fortune as a budding Flower Stand tycoon.

To start, you'll need to stock your cart with inventory. Inventory includes both flowers and merchandise. The variety of flowers you can sell will increase with further research. Merchandise (like balloons, teddy bears, and wind chimes) is earned as you reach certain objectives, such as taking over competitors territories. Until you've bought the refrigerator upgrade, your daily supplies can not be carried over the next day, so select carefully. While restocking, you can also adjust your prices to meet with customer demand.

Once you've gotten your cart stocked, you are ready to select a target neighbourhood. Your flower stand is mobile, and can travel to a different neighbourhoods each day. You may purchase more carts later on in the game, allowing you to visit different neighbourhoods at the same time. The features of each neighbourhood and its customer base are unique, so you'll find differences in the amount population and customers' favourite flowers. After selling flowers in a neighbourhood, demand will go down temporarily. It may take several days for demand to replenish, which is why its a good idea to visit different neighbourhoods each turn.

As the day is being played, you can observe your carts on display monitors. The customer's reactions give you vital feedback on your business strategy. Satisfied customers are market with a happy face. Disgruntled customers may be upset over high prices, long wait times, or lack of flower variety. At the end of each day, you will get news article hinting at things that affect the following day's sales. As you'd expect, you may buy a variety of upgrades for your carts. Lights attract more customers, and music makes them more patient. Calculators improve your speed, and refrigeration allows you to roll over unused supplies. Larger carts can handle more inventory, plus have a bigger presence and attract more customers. Allocating more money towards Uncle Pott's research means you'll have faster access to new flower types. Advertising means more customers and better market share. You'll also have regular access to research which can assist you in making strategical choices.

Later in the game, you will begin to have competitors. Each neighbourhood will give you a statistic on your market share, along with the competitors'. When your market share is higher than all competitors, the neighbourhood will be highlighted in your colour - orange. Competitors will also have their own highlighted neighbourhoods. You can take over by getting a higher market share, but they can likewise take over your territories, so its important to keep an eye on market share trends.

You'll notice numerous similarities in Flower Stand Tycoon to both Fairy Godmother Tycoon and Ice Cream Tycoon. The concept of market share and competitors is a nice twist that makes the game more interesting. While not unique in mechanics or theme, it is relaxing and never turns the pressure up too high. All things considered, its fairly easy to learn how to play, and most of the rules can be figured out as you go. However, while tycoon games always have an audience, Flower Stand Tycoon doesn't seem to offer anything special or interesting to the player. The game play also appears open ended, with no real goals outlined for the player other than "becoming a tycoon". There aren't any major twists, the plot is rather minimalist, and the game play can be somewhat predictable. In contrast to Fairy Godmother Tycoon, which was full of humor and clever cutscenes, Flower Stand Tycoon is a bit more plain. There are no jokes or interludes or anything of the sort, short from the cute newspaper headlines shown in between each day. While it's tough at times to figure out what the main point is, other than earning a daily wage, Flower Stand Tycoon does offer accessible tycoon gaming with a no-pressure attitude.

Cabela's African Safari

In Cabela’s African Safari, you can choose from 7, 10 or 14 day safaris including open safari, game tracking, baiting and herd hunting missions. The game features over 30 exotic species of animals including sable, kudu, gemsbok, eland, waterbuck, impala and much more species that you've never heard before, as well as all new African waterfowl and upland bird hunting. Cabela’s African Safari also features an unlockable Big Five Trophy level where gamers can experience the world’s most dangerous animals (leopards, lions, elephants, rhinos and Cape buffalo) at their fiercest. You can also gather hunter points for good trackings and great shots.

Hunters will have access to an arsenal of authentic firearms including big caliber weapons they will need to bring down charging rhinos and thundering elephants. In addition, all-new shooting controls and features including Adrenaline Mode, Hunter Sense and Shot Cam, allow gamers to hone in on their prey with more accuracy and ease. Hunter Sense, slowing down the animal's movements, is the most useful to me, even when it's only for a few seconds.

This game is not exactly interesting unless you enjoy animal-watching, but overall, it's still entertaining as a different kind of shooting game.

Mr. Bigshot

http://www.mrbigshot.com (click on the demo tab)

This is a simple investment game using real stock performances on the history of New York Stock Exchange. There are four rounds in the game, with each round set in a different year, ranging from 1977 to 1990. Given $100,000 to start with, you are to gather more wealth than the other computer players to be "Mr Bigshot". You will then have to pick one of the two stocks, "Big" or "Shot", and decide how much you want to invest in. Some simple description, such as construction firm or precision instrument producer, and figures of the stocks will be given. You will be given three chances to revise your portfolio each round/year, taking into account the performance of the stock in the quarter and recalling what happened in that year. For instance, prices of oil may increase due to a war in the last quarter so you better sell your stock by then if your company is sensitive to changes in oil prices. Also, when the Black Monday's coming up, do take precautions not to invest too much or to sell off your stock before that quarter. Some of the actions you can take after each quarter include holding on to the stock, switching to the other stock (you'll have to incur switching costs, of cos), and selling the stock. Dont worry about not being able to recall what happened in 1977, there will be short The company name of the stocks will only be revealed after the end of each round.

It's rather interesting and you can play the game for as many times as you want without getting bored too soon. They have quite a variety of companies and it is unlikely that you will get a repeated stock in the same period. Pity the game allows for only buying and selling of one stock at any one time; it would have been better if players are allowed to state the percentages of each stock to purchase, creating their own portfolio. Afterall, it's just a simple game hosted online using flash platform. It's rather noisy as well (the "host" of the game likes to chant funny phrases and the background music irritates me) so do remember to turn down your speaker if you are playing the game in the office or during a lesson. The game reminds me of the AA206 project hah. Now that exams are round the corner, it's a good game for a study break.

It takes some time to load, hanging most of the time. Closing the browser and clicking on the link all over again for about thrice should guarantee you a try on the game. So please be patient. Have fun!

SNGS Fiesta

Jiehui says everyone who went back to st nicks will blog about it. I'm a st nicks girl and I went back, so I must post something...

"The Traffic Light" with "Macs" at the back.

(The person in the background looks like my cousin! Right, jie? Right, hang? Look like ting jie right?)

There was a big glup going around for photo-taking. It even tried queueing for the run. The school was trying to make two Guinness World records - one for doing a 4x100m relay continuously in 24hrs and the other, I forgot (something bout having the most people covering the longest distance in 24hrs?). Dr William Tan was there doing a 24hr marathon to help in the fundraising. He's disabled since young and now he's a athlete, educator, professional healer and researcher. Didnt manage to catch him on camera.

With two SNG dolls outside the library.

While waiting for shawn in the hall... and trying very hard to take pictures with the full crest in the background...

This is the really cute horse ride that bobs up-and-down when you step hard enough to make it move. But the kids taking the rides were all so tiny that the horses wouldnt budge if the girls in-charged didnt go around pushing the horses. It looked really funny, each of them with a horse buddy making the horses bob.


Ms Foo Say Lian! Yay she could remember my name! I still have the little blue whale toy that she gave in primary 2! It was a present for scoring full marks in this math test but when she went thru the answers I realised she marked one question wrongly and I only got 98. I 挣扎 for very long before going up to her to tell her the truth cos I thought I would have to return her the whale. (I was only 8 okayy..) But ms foo very nice, she said I could still keep the whale. I've been an honest girl from then onwards =)

St Nicks primary girls...

More pictures...

Then I left at one plus cos I had to study for ... ... ...
AUDIT QUIZ!!!

Ok la, at least the quiz didnt turn out too bad. Hopefully I can get more than 5/10 this time round. I've been too slack this sem, thinking that I'm already stuck in my class. BUT I'm wrong! My 3 lousy quiz grades CAN drag me down one class =\ better work harder!