Well, tomorrow is the big day of our Federal Election. Vote with your head, not with your heart.

Being the fine upstanding Australian citizen that I am, I have opted to actually help out at one of these polling places in my local electorate (if you’re in the Ryde area, come and say hey). I think I’ll just be doing vote monkey work, which includes vote counting after 6pm. I actually imagine it’s going to be quite busy, since there are quite a few residentials nearby…hopefully places like the nearby Church and the local bowlo will take some of the weight off.

But yeah, the main point is that I’ll be making myself a nice little packet. Ooh, yeah. Oh, and to contribute in the decision-making process of the people, of course. That goes without saying.

Okay, gotta get some rest for my blissful 7:30 start tomorrow. 

Raiden set for Xbox 360.

"Raiden Fighters Aces is a compilation of arcade shooters from the Raiden Fighters series. Included, you’ll find Raiden Fighters (1996), Raiden Fighters 2 (1997) and Raiden Fighters Jet (1998), all playable in their original vertical dimensions…Raiden Fighters Aces will hit Japan in 2008. There’s no word yet on an international release."

You have no idea how many gold coins I wasted on that damned machine during my younger years. Here’s hoping it’s an international release.

So, Assassin’s Creed.

I played through the first level and found a bug within the first 5 minutes of playing - if you free run in the direction of the ladder after you first see the French guy, you will go straight through the wall and land on an invisible platform. And subsequently fall to your death.

But, besides that, it’s actually a pretty clever plot. The crowd interaction is great. The script / voice acting is quite respectable (although Altair sounds a bit too American). The parkour mounting system is also pretty seamless.

One gripe I do have is that it’s all a bit too simplistic. In the Prince of Persia series, there was at least some degree of interaction and even a touch of skill involved in running along walls, vaulting between platforms and evading enemies. In Assassin’s Creed, all you do is hold down the RT + A button and you’ll automatically "free run". I don’t know how it’ll play out on the PC, but to me it feels like the system was gimped for a controller.

However, I was able to plough my sword through someone’s torso last night in a finishing move.

All is forgiven.