My co-worker, John, from work mentioned Flash Mobs at work yesterday, and I thought the whole idea was teriffic. Basically, a very loosely connected group of people descend on a pre-determined location and act out a short script, ie spinning in place, or playing an inpromtu game of duck-duck-goose. Then, after a few minutes, everyone up and leaves, vanishing into the crowd as though it had never happenned.

I guess what attracts me is the randomness of it—injecting a moment of absurdity into what would otherwise be yet another day. It seems harmless, though probably somewhat perplexing to the random passerby. Why are these people, who seem just like me, chirping like birds? Perhaps it is immature, but maybe we all need to take some time to act like kids every now and then.

This is a side-effect of the Internet, connecting and organizing like minded people together. In this case, the goal is very transient and fleeting, but perhaps that is the attraction: there aren’t politics or morals to get in the way and argue over. People are just getting together to have a moment of fun. What is wrong with that?

Just completed [[amazon:B00005QX4F Aliens Vs. Predator 2]] today. I didn’t play the original, so I can’t contrast. But it sticks to its premise, which is pretty good. You can play as a Marine, an Alien, or a Predator, all of which have their own gameplay in a joint plot.

Being a big fan of the Alien(s) film series, I was really looking forward to this game. And they really pulled it off, the atmosphere of Aliens is in this game. The Marines and Aliens are true to the film origins, which I really appreciated. That distinct pulse rifle noise is spot on. The Predator is sort of thrown into the middle of this Aliens environment, but so be it.

The gameplay is great. You’ve got three different characters to learn, each with special controls and abilities. You learn more of the plotline with each character you play. There are also cute overlaps where you see the character you just played. Each character takes around 3-4 hours to complete; I finished the game in two partial days.

This game is also a couple of years old now, but it isn’t really that obvious. Compared to some other 2001 games, this must have really been amazing when it was released. I would have been happy to pay twice what I payed—it would have still been a bargain.

Congratulations to Monolith on this achievement. I’ve been a fan of them since I downloaded their Monolith CD way back in 1994 or so, before they existed as a company. Can’t wait for their upcoming version of Tron 2.