from heaven

I think last year was mostly a good year. Except for the incident with my dad's kidnap, which thankfully had a happy ending (figuratively), things last year were definitely for the better.

I finally managed to become MRCP, me and Kelly got married and also pregnant (final product ETA June 09), and I also managed to secure a 5 year training programme in Geriatric Medicine, the speciality I want to do as a consultant.

I went to Dubai twice, once in the blazing heat of August, and then with Kelly in the cool weather of December. I also saw my dad in Amman, and met up with some golden oldie friends (Blue Blood, Wolf, NBA), all of which I last saw 8 years ago!

The saddest news from last year was the tragic demise of a great Baghdad College friend called Harith Abdullah. He was killed in a car accident in Dubai, freakishly enough the same time me and Kelly were there. RIP Harith, you will be missed.

Last year was also the year that all hell broke loose when it came to video games, and gaming in general. There were so many megaton releases and essentials that I ended up owning most and playing none. I still haven't even put the Metal Gear Solid 4 disk in the PS3!

I also got to do more reading, both of fiction and graphic novels. A13 introduced me to graphic novels and the whole scanning scene, while my purchase of an iRex iLiad got me reading all sorts of novels again.

It was also the year when Clan Khara was born. 3 members strong (with no real hope of more coming), me, Blue Blood, and pyroMax form the team. Team Fortress 2 dominates our stats, but the 2008 release of Left4Dead has kept us busy too. We now have our own dedicated server hosted with multiplay. It's called The Toilet and is an 8 player Left4Dead server. Great stuff.

It'll be interesting to see how 2009 pans out. I hope it's a good one for everybody. I for one am learning how to knit for the baby (a scarf is my first project). I tell you, it's not easy!

Finally, without further ado, here's the games I clocked 2008

PC

Tomb Raider Underworld

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty - World At War

Abe's Oddysee (no I didn't finish it 11 years ago!)

Shadowgrounds Survivor

Flipside

Clive Barker's Jericho

World Of Goo (my love for this is public. Get it people, get it!)

Dead Space (EA surprises us with an original IP that copies the best bits of killer games like GOW, BioShock, and RE4 to create an atmospheric, scary, and gripping space survival horror. Great stuff)

Psychonauts (this is the 2nd time I finish Tim Schafer's masterpiece of design, humour, and story telling)

Half-Life (how I missed this the first time I don't know. Neither does Blue Blood :p)

360

Gears of War 2

Mirror's Edge (more here)

Castle Crashers

Braid (Proof if anything that bedroom coding is alive and kicking. One of the most artistic and beautiful platformers/puzzlers to hit any machine, Braid tells the story of one man's fruitless mission to "find the princess". It is perfect in every manner, from the art style, to the music, to the time-bending puzzles, to the great ending, it just drips with style and elegance. And to think it comes from the brain of one man)

GTA IV

Rez HD (more here)

Ninja Gaiden II

PS3

Siren Blood Curse

Ninja Gaiden Sigma

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Ratchet and Clank: Quest For Booty

Wii

Super Mario Galaxy (All DAMNED 120 stars! There's a 121th star, but that's just OTT. SMG is Nintendo and Shigeru's finest moment, redefining 3D platforming just like the phenomenal Super Mario 64. Top stuff)

No More Heroes (Suda 51's spiritual follow up to the excellent Killer7. Taking videogame clichés and conventions to the max, and coming up with a weird and wonderful hack and slash 'em up that borrows from and makes fun of almost everything related to the world of gaming and gamers. As ONM put it, a video game lesson in 10 classes. NMH2 is officially coming too!)

Lost Winds

Zack and Wiki