Every year around this kind of time I start to get itchy feet. I don’t know whether it’s due to the miserable January/February weather, or some sort of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), complete and utter boredom or the inevitable and incipient arrival of my birthday – to be honest it doesn’t really matter what the cause is, because deep down I know that I’d love to get out and see the real world again.
For some time now I’ve been considering heading back out on a road-trip. I haven’t been out on the open road for some years now, last time we decided to go for Monte Carlo or bust – inspired of course by one of the greatest films of all time…
Our ride wasn’t quite as exciting or as ingenious as Major Digby Dawlish’s, it didn’t have any frills or mod-cons, nope it was just a tatty battered used van that we’d managed to pick up at a reasonable rate from the local van hire company. We spent a few weeks patching it up and making it liveable and then we set off.
Neither of us had really spent a great deal of time in France, so we decided to try and take in as much of the country as possible. We started in Normandy, trundled our way through Paris and continued down south, stopping in Geneva and traversing the Alps until we reached our desired destination: Monte Carlo and the Mediterranean.
We spent a week or so living the high-life and then we turned the van around and sped off west through the French Riviera. I’d always wanted to visit Carcassonne so we drove down and spent a few nights surrounded by some of the most astounding and intact medieval architecture in western Europe. After buffing up on our history we went north to Biarritz, surfed our brains out and watched the sunset every night – twas the perfect finish to a great holiday.
Arguably the most eagerly awaited MMO for years will be landing at the end of this year, and if you thought that Age of Conan or Warhammer was going to be the fabled WoW killer then you were off by a long way, but in a galaxy far far away, in the Bioware studios, TOR is being born and its coming will blow away anything Cataclysm has to offer. I mean why on earth would you want to be Gnome, or a Goblin, or even a Worgen (WTF! Seriously Blizzard, was that the best you could come up with?), when you can be a motherf*cking badass Sith Warrior Emperor styleee! Seriously you better be able to be a Mon Calamari Jedi/Sith, or I’m tracking down George Lucas and shoving a double ended lightsaber where the sun doesn’t shine.
As I mentioned the game is being developed by Bioware, probably the greatest RPG developer in the world, so expect a huge story driven MMO. The game itself is set 300 years after the events of Bioware’s phenomenally successful Knights of the Old Republic series; hopefully some sort of conclusion to Darth Revan’s story will be included. TOR is going to be your more traditional 3rd person MMO, but it will have some significant tweaks installed. Bioware have already announced that it will be heavy on story, with a lot more instanced 1player/grouped scenarios which will help unravel the plot.
Bioware have also stated that TOR will be the first fully voiced MMO, their intention is to make your participation within the story that bit more immersive; I tend to find Bioware games a little disjointed when it comes to this aspect, when you speak to NPC’s they’re always very grand and dramatic, but when you click that ‘prepare to die’ option and the fight begins, you tend to lose that sense of roleplay without a voiceover.
>
*Revision*
In a recent statement BioWare announced that an up and coming MMO title they are working on will be delayed to the start of 2011, although they did not mention it by title, most people in the industry have taken this to mean ToR. With Cataclysm due towards the end of the year it makes sense to delay a few months, allow the initial hype of WoW 3rd expansion to die down a little and then hit the market with a fresh finished product. To make any sort of traction in the MMO industry your product needs to be ready, there’s just not enough attention span and patience for a work in progress – so companies get your damn releases right, or don’t bother.
The USA is big ol’ country. In-fact it’s absolutely mahoosive! It stretches for miles and miles, 3,000 of them to be precise, all the way from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific Rim. One of the most striking things about the USA is its diverse geographical wealth; the country has literally got everything. If you want to climb a mountain in the States you can, if you want to trek across the desert you can do that as well; the country practically has every type of terrain and topography known to man. Two of the most visited parts of the US are the states of Florida and California; both are heavily involved in tourism and are well known as vacation destination hotspots.
California
California is the third biggest state in the US and by far the most populous area, with such a large area to explore, car hire in California or public transport is essential if you want to make the most of your vacation. The weather during summer is regularly a balmy 40-50°C across the state, with a more temperate climate in the north and much higher temps throughout the southern and elevated parts of the state.
The state is of course famous for its three major cities of San Diego, San Francisco and Los Vegas. Other major attractions consist of the Sacramento Valley, the Yosemite National Park, the Sequoia National Park, the Sierra Nevada and many, many more.
Florida
Florida, otherwise known as the ‘sunshine state’ is another major US holiday destination. It’s the fourth most populated state in America and is famous for its theme-parks and its location amidst hurricane alley. Florida stretches from the north, past the central marshlands of the Everglades and all the way out to the Caribbean down through the Florida Keys; once again arranging car hire in Miami or well prepared travel plans will be essential for a successful trip.
One of the key attractions to Florida is of course Orlando and its huge variety of theme parks and attractions. Disney Land, Universal Studios and SeaWorld are great fun for all the family and a number of discounts and offers can be found on or offline depending upon how hard you look and what time of year you head out.
If those two destinations don’t get you going, then very little will; might as well just book that spot at Butlins or grab a last minute flight to Tenerife, because Florida and California have it all going on and you’d be a fool not to love it.
Recent Comments