Canada means hockey?

Driving into work this morning I listened to Canada lose another big international hockey game. It is becoming pretty commonplace. Canada is findings themselves as an ‘also ran’ far too often at the Worlds for my liking. It is clear that numerous nations have caught up to the top teams in play. The table of three or four now sits eight or nine. Still…. today Canada (once again) had the lead going into the third and ended up losing… to Slovakia. Slovakia wanted it more and Canada took some undisciplined penalties. I have to give the Slovakians full credit for the win… and I expect it will be considered a big win for their hockey program. But it makes me wonder about ours. Once again Hockey Canada sent a team that didn’t medal. As much as Canadians want to believe we are the hockey superpower, we aren’t. We are one of a growing list of nations that can win an international game on any given day. I’m interested to see what the response to this loss is nationally. It is pretty disappointing especially with the captain taking a 5m major to end it. Barf.

My opinion of Diablo 3 is still evolving. I don’t think I’ve played enough to review or critique the game yet. I do wonder what people were expecting? Diablo has always been a simple click action/RPG and it still is. Is the DRM annoying? Yes. Do I think I should be able to play *single player* anytime I want? Yes. Is the limited personalization of your character (via stats and spells) disappointing? Yes. It really feels dumbed down (if you can dummy down a mouse click game :P)… That said… I think some of the spells and spell effects are pretty impressive and graphic appeal is pretty subjective… I don’t mind them, occasionally they are washed out, but in general okay. I did expect more innovation from Blizzard… being one of the biggest/most successful developers does create expectations. There are some odd nit-picky annoying things as well such as the inability to save anywhere. (I assume because the level is random and would also have to be saved?) Still -1. Is it fun? So far yes… I can sit down and play for 2-3 hours and be content. After 2-3 hours of megaclicking my wrist is done anyway. I’m also looking forward to seeing how multiplayer co-op plays…

It is forecasted to be a lovely long weekend! Saturday will be at my sister’s for belated Mother’s Day and birthday celebrations. Is it Friday yet? And Sunday the Shed in backyard comes down. Looking forward to smashing the shit out of it.