Firstlook 2009
Firstlook is the largest gaming convention in The Netherlands. I went over to Amsterdam with two friends and here are my impressions…
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Firstlook is the largest gaming convention in The Netherlands. I went over to Amsterdam with two friends and here are my impressions…
Recorded with the Samsung Pixon.
As you can see, the clouds were moving really fast. Lotsa rain started pouring down and the wind started blowing really hard. Almost as if it were forming a tornado! Yeah…That’s never gonna happen in The Netherlands. Still, it was pretty impressive to see, too bad it didn’t last very long.
Free Gaming is an organization that initiates projects and events for gamers, improves the needs of gamers and shows non gamers that games aren’t just about audiovisual entertainment. Just like last year, they’ve organized a festival in Rotterdam with a variety of things to do. I didn’t attend Round 1 because I didn’t even know such organization existed. I found out about Round 2 after seeing an ad so I did some googling and stumbled upon their official website (Dutch). The Netherlands doesn’t have many events that involves gaming (well, none that actually stand out) so I thought it’d be nice to go and check it out.
The weather was crap but luckily most -if not all- activities were covered in tents. It was pretty small for a festival but you have to take into account that everything is being sponsored and the festival itself is free to everyone. About 20.000 people were expected to come, so I guess they haven’t succeeded into reaching the non gamer yet. That might seem illogical, reaching a non gamer with a gaming festival, but one of their goals is also to show what a gamer’s life is like and that gaming a lot shouldn’t necessarily be bad.
There were a variety of things you were able to do at the festival, although quite a few activities were shown much more impressive on the pamphlet than they actually were. They had an Xbox 360, Nintendo and PS3 tent, an Asian arcade, the latest-Harry-Potter-game tent, the Bonami Console Museum, some merchandise, educational and art tents, some LAN tents and a Modern Warfare 2 canon. These were probably the most interesting ones (alright, Modern Warfare 2 canon was bull).
The Xbox360, Nintendo and PS3 tents all had their respective consoles multiplied for people to play. Xbox 360 games that featured: Assassin’s Creed (uh, why?), Fable 2 (why, again?), Fight Night Round 4, Gears of War 2, Halo 3, Kung Fu Panda (for the kids, I guess…), Lego Indiana Jones, Fifa 09 and Overlord 2. Nintendo’s games were: Wii Sports Resorts (this one hasn’t been released yet in the EU so it was a nice addition), Punch-Out! and that was…it. Oh, I’m forgetting the Nintendo DS games: Rhythm Paradise, Pokemon Platinum and WarioWare: Snapped! Last but not least, PS3′s repertoire: Infamous (why?), Killzone 2, BLUR (race game, not released yet), Little Big Planet, PES2009, Guitar Hero, Buzz , Singstar and Tekken 5. I’m seriously hoping the ‘why’ games were for show off because no one is going to stand there and play for even half an hour (why’d they want to show off AC and Fable 2? Don’t ask me.) Overall, the line up was pretty bad in my opinion, although Buzz and Singstar had its fun moments. Street Fighter IV was a game that I was personally missing (and I’m not the only one, according to their Hyves).
The Asian arcade had some really old arcades such as Soul Calibur I, a shooter whose name I didn’t see and a dodgy golf ball game. Oh, they had a Dance Dance Revolution arcade there as well. I love DDR, but the metal dance plate was wet due to the weather. I kept slipping and couldn’t even play properly. Moving on…
There were about a dozen Xbox 360 consoles with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince running in the next tent…Moving on.
The Bonami Console Museum was alright I guess. They were selling many games from older generation consoles (Gameboy!), great for collectors. They also had many old consoles being showcased and you could even try out some of them. Some of the games you could play were Red Alarm (see photo), Space Invaders and Super Mario Bros. on the NES.
Merchandise was pretty cool, although the place was a bit small. They had T-shirts, bags, posters, action figures and some smaller things such as key chains, all from anime series and games. I had no particular interest in most things but did get one item: a Final Fantasy X poster (see photo). It’s a picture of Kimahri and Yuna. I love it.
There were two LAN places. One of them had Call of Duty 4 (yaaaawn), the other had Fogfighters (something for little kids). While neither of them were of any interest, the Call of Duty 4 LAN tent had a huge touch screen from Samsung. You could play slots by touching it and the screen looked awesome.
It might sound a tad bored judging from what I’ve written but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It was fun to see cosplayers running around, seeing other people playing certain games and the one thing that was most fun was dancing on the stage with seven other people. Because the first two songs were way too slow and easy, I kinda joked that I’d like a fast song. Instead of choosing a fast song, they chose a very long and hard song. Me and my big mouth…I was out of breath after we’ve finished and while I was first, I kinda felt sorry for the rest.
I thoroughly enjoyed the festival and I wonder what they’ll come up with next year.
I spotted one of these ads from far away on my platform so I wasn’t able to identify the purpose of the ad immediately, but when I came back my initial speculations were confirmed and I was pleasantly surprised. The text says “Do you leave your own self behind when you go outside?”. Yeah, it’s about discrimination and obviously, it doesn’t just concern gay people. Therefore, I’ve scouted a bit more for some other ads:
The provided website not only gives you information on discrimination, but also shows you the anti discrimination points spreaded across The Netherlands that allow you to file a complaint if you or relatives have been discriminated by others. While it so perfectly makes sense to respect every person, some people still manage to do it. A very good project that gets my support for sure.
I just realised that today is Father’s Day. Yeah, we never actually celebrated this day.
It reminded me (of the many times) of my father, who passed away on 29 October 2007 due to cancer.
We miss you, dad.
In memory of our father.
It’s been a while since I wrote a blogpost and it’s partly because of the exams and deadline projects for school (the other part is me being too lazy to write, haha). Here’s an update of what I’ve been up to lately:
Watching Leverage
A friend of mine recommended me to watch TNT’s Leverage. The show’s about four (solo working) thieves who each have their own specialty and an ex-insurance investigator who knows how to combine each specialty into one team that gives ‘leverage’ for those that need it. Each character has a distinct and interesting personality which, combined with some witty humor and clever plots for each episode, makes the show worth the watch. I’ll definately be looking out for season 2, that is going to air this summer in USA.
Enjoying with friends after our exam and before our practical test
Photos of that day can be found here: dukath.fab4.be/wendy. I haven’t selected any pictures yet to upload them on my own album. Basically, this day was planned because we had mad fun the first time we did it and it was meant for us to relax a bit after a busy period which actually wasn’t over yet due to the practical test that was planned for next week. It was a succes nevertheless. (Don’t mind me hula hooping on the Wii Fit…)
To the cinema with my sisters
In the same week before the practical test, my two big sisters came to visit us and decided we should do something nice. Apart from all the physical examinations I did to practice (thanks!), we also wanted to go to the cinema. It was “He’s Just Not That Into You” vs. “X-men Origins: Wolverine”. With my exceptional convincing power ( :whistle: ), I managed to drag my lil sis (my big sisters didn’t mind) to X-men Origins and eventually she actually wanted to watch more Hugh Jackman (X-Men Trilogy, Australia). I can’t blame her.
I had big hopes for X-men Origins (I get that feeling each time a (famous) superhero movie is being released, though). My hope started to sink a bit in the beginning because the story progressed very, very slow. Luckily after the break, the pace fastened and it ended up being a decent movie that was worth the money spent. Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed (Sabretooth) definately stood out while Taylor Kitsch’s role as Remy LeBeau (Gambit) was disappointing at best.
Practical test
The practical test is where your med skills are tested through various (little) tests that are observed and graded. This is probably the stress moment of the year for most first year med students. Luckily, I had a few friends who were willing to undergo some horrid examinations (thanks
). Things I had to do were a neurologic examination, put a bandage on a hand (which didn’t really go to well
), heart examination, abdominal examination and venapunction. Just like most students, I was friggin’ nervous about the test but things went smoothly.
Two new X-box 360 games: Dead Space and Infinite Undiscovery
I’m still playing Resident Evil 5 but I managed to get two games that I really wanted for a while now. They were cheap too, Dead Space being a bestseller and Infinite Undiscovery doesn’t go for more than $10 in the US now. Dead Space is one of the scariest third person shooters I’ve ever played. After playing Dead Space, I might understand why people were a bit disappointed with the scareness level of Resident Evil 5 (Resident Evil being the mother of survival horror games). Resident Evil 5 pretty much wasn’t scary at all. Both games are awesome nevertheless and I definately do not regret buying Dead Space. I have mixed feelings about Infinite Undiscovery (something you wouldn’t expect from a Tri Ace and Square Enix game). The game looks great, has a very fun combat system but there are a few things that are really nagging me. First of all, lip syncing is totally off, the dialogues (sometimes) are SO cheesy and sometimes the voice overs are missing (only subtitles are being displayed)! And secondly, the game isn’t always as clear as you’d like when it comes to objectives; so unless you’re playing with a guide, you’ll be stuck running around hoping you’ll find the way. The combat system is Infinite Undiscovery’s best aspect and I’ll continue to play the game because of that.
Playing as a photographer at a 25 year marriage party
I was invited to a party by a friend because his parents needed a photographer. I’m not (by a long shot) a professional photographer, but I do enjoy making photos and was very glad they asked me to do it (they didn’t necessarily wanted a professional photographer). I took the oppertunity to practice my skills and shot a bit less than 300 photos. That’s probably the biggest photoshoot I’ve done so far. Alas, bigger isn’t always better but the photos came out pretty nice and I hope they like them too (I’m still awaiting opinions as of now
).
Upcoming events
Right now, I have two more deadline projects to finish in the upcoming month and one more course to go before the summer break.
You might have noticed a “today’s events” and “upcoming events” header on the right side. That’s a new plugin called calendar in which I’ll put stuff that interest me (such as series/movies/games release dates and the like).
I’m anxiously waiting for:
Montyoum’s Dead Fantasy III and IV (May 20)
Resident Evil 5 Formula Setting Artbook (May 25)
Star Ocean 4 (May 28)
Terminator Salvation (June 3)
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (June 24)
This is an advertisement that was near the train station while I was waiting for my bus. It’s an ad about delivering food to your house, but somehow, I get the feeling the focus isn’t on the pizza that’s being displayed…
I -almost- felt perverted when I took this picture, XD.

And the list continues…
I like…
51. tea or coffee in the morning.
52. to laugh for no reason because other people are laughing.
53. both fast food as well as healthy food.
54. to not understand the lyrics in music. This is why I usually like foreign music more than English or Dutch music.
55. quality.
56. biting nails (bad habit, I know).
57. to listen to a song all day long until it gets boring.
58. warmth over cold.
59. medical TV programmes as well as animal TV programmes.
60. many type of fonts (typography).
61. to change my own writing font from time to time, though they don’t stay permanent.
62. bringing along my music player everywhere, as well as my cell phone.
63. spend money on some electronics rather than on clothes.
64. trading card games, but no one around plays them.
65. showering more than bathing.
66. sleeping.
67. getting excited by releases of games or TV series I really like.
68. thinking about what could happen in the near future.
69. Gmail more than Hotmail.
70. Leviathan.
71. reading several webcomics.
72. going to electronic stores.
73. to mix English words with Dutch.
74. helping people with technical stuff.
75. MSN more than other IMs.
76. flashy flash movies (such as MK vs SF 3).
77. the occasional game magazine.
78. the very occasional game guide. I don’t have any, but I like to read ‘em.
79. apples, oranges and mango.
80. keep my mailbox organised. Somewhat.
81. to do things with care.
82. to download…
83. to check important things over and over until it’s perfect. (Call me a perfectionist…)
84. it when my blog is read.
85. to buy something when it’s on my mind.
86. watching the news on TV.
87. lolcats.
88. water!
89. airplanes over long, long bus/car rides.
90. to keep my school items organised.
91. getting to know new people.
92. nature in general. Love all the animals, except for most bugs. While I’m not scared of them, one big beetle once scared the shit out of me when I was sleeping.
93. to tease my sister.
94. to be me, even though sometimes, it feels…forced.
95. staying in my pyjamas.
96. to get up late.
97. store everything. I hate throwing things away.
98. university over high school, though high school was great fun as well.
99. it when I’m almost done with this list (had to be said).
100. you!
Again, to sis.
My sis posted a list of a 100 things she likes. I thought it was a fun idea and gave it a try too.
I like…
1. the colors blue and green.
2. medicine.
3. my friends’ positive approach of life (something I don’t always have)
4. the Japanese and English language.
5. technology.
6. gadgets.
7. all sorts of music, but especially instrumental music.
8. reading the Dutch braintainment magazine “Quest”.
9. watching TV series that have either something funny, supernatural, mysterious, tense or a sense of morality in it.
10. sitting behind my computer doing all sorts of stuff.
11. my ‘collection’ of keyrings on my keys.
12. my new glasses.
13. dancing on Dance Dance Revolution.
14. games played on my Wii.
15. staying up late.
16. my university.
17. chatting with friends.
18. going to theme parcs.
19. London.
20. musicals (even though I haven’t been to a whole lot).
21. taking pictures.
22. going to the cinema with friends.
23. my cousins.
24. sarcasm.
25. to be cynical at times (usually combined with sarcasm).
26. to blog.
27. cats, dogs, guinea pigs and mice.
28. high definition video.
29. all kinds of names. A few are Boris (pets), Chris, Isaac, Seth, Yuna.
30. all kinds of words. It’s the same thing as with names. I can’t describe it. They just give a feel to it for me. Some words are more special than others.
31. headphones.
32. to write with a comfortable pen. No books or columns or whatsoever. Just plain writing with a pen.
33. the pen I currently use, a Parker pen which I got from my dad.
34. the number 8.
35. the piano, even though I can’t play it (a shame).
36. my name and nickname: Haoran and Harry.
37. speaking and writing in English.
38. being able to joke around with my friends.
39. just to stare into the far distance at times.
40. writing with the proper punctuation and grammar.
41. editing videos, even though I don’t do it a whole lot plus I suck at it.
42. comforting/being comforted by talking with people.
43. to watch at full moons.
44. disabled people. I have a huge respect for them.
45. my new tv.
46. drawing weird scraps when I’m talking on the phone.
47. to walk around when I’m waiting for something. I can’t stand still.
48. pickles.
49. to read while eating.
50. anything chorus-like in a song.
Went out and took the camera with me :mrgreen:
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