(my apologies for spelling/continuity errors in this post. I had typed it all out and it vaporized before I could post it. So I re-typed it all a second time though much less eloquent than the first). After a 27 hour jaunt with Dead Space I am ready to finally hang up my space suit and call it a day. My initial impressions (link) held up right through to the end, and the game remained fantastic from start to finish. Like I had previously said, Dead Space is a 'perfect' game in my eyes. It combines elements from some of my favorite entertainment genres such as the survival horror aspect of Resident Evil, and the sci-fi horror aspect of Aliens movies, and rounds them out with outstanding audio, visuals & game play. My hat is off to the developers on this one, it's a job extremely well done. The HUD & menus from Dead Space should be stuck prominently in a textbook on game design and taught heavily to all new & veteran game designers. The visual indicators in the game do a superb job of conveying the appropriate information without cluttering your display. This worked wonders to keep me entirely focused on the creep factor as I traversed the large and foreboding space ship. Health, stasis & remaining oxygen are all displayed directly on your suit in a subtle yet extremely effective way that just screams 'next gen' to me. Video messages and menus are displayed on screen as if originating directly from your suit, and never jolt your out of the story when you want to review a message or check on your inventory. On top of the excellent HUD Dead Space also boasts unrivaled ambient sound & music. The ship groans and creaks with a symphony of creepy sounds as you make your way through it's many sections. The audio alone in this game is enough to make your skin crawl. Add that to some stellar visuals and you have the makings of a game that is ready to jump right out of your television screen and into your living room. My first play through (on hard) took me 17 tense hours to complete. Ammo was in extremely short supply, bad guys were plentiful and I had to strategically run like hell to stay alive. So many times I ran up to closed doors and frantically smashed the button to try and open them while enemies closed in for the kill. The door would open, I would get through and it would slam shut before anyone could pursue. I had only a moment to catch my breath before they found an alternative route through and the chase was on again. If you're more of a run & gunner, the scenario might not interest you much - but if your personal ad reads "enjoys long walks in dark, terrifying abandoned space ships" then you are going to absolutely love Dead Space. That's not to say there isn't plenty of action, it's just the developers balanced things so well to keep you constantly afraid to turn the next corner - even if you haven't seen an enemy in 10 minutes or so. As I played Dead Space I was always on edge. When I started to get somewhat confident in my leveled up suit and weapons the game quickly turned the tables again and started throwing faster and stronger enemies at me. At no time did I feel like some super indestructible space solider. I was simply an engineer, armed with the tools of my trade - which luckily for me dispersed just the right amount of damage to keep my head attached to my body. The story kept the game play flowing from one task to the next, but got somewhat convoluted towards the end. Even after two complete play thoughts I'm not entirely sure of what was going on. Despite my own ineptitude towards the end of the story, there were still plenty of unexpected twists along the way that I did get. Dead Space is a single player affair, and aside from some achievement chasing, there isn't much reason to go back for more. The game is very scripted, so once you know where the scares are they are hardly startling anymore. For my second play through I went through the game on easy, and there was not a single adversary that could stand in my way. Not to mention ammo was in such plentiful supply I had a hard time keeping inventory slots open. I still have on achievement left, and that is for beating the game on impossible mode. I had such a difficult time with hard mode, that I think I'll just let that one go. The nitty gritty: Dead Space is an awesome, sci-fi, survival horror game. If you like games such as Resident Evil and movies such as Event Horizon or Aliens then this is a game for you. It is not nearly as trigger happy as games like Doom or Gears of War - but there is so much ambiance and environment to Dead Space that you would be a fool not to check it out. There are plenty of good scares in the game, even if some of the techniques the developers used become redundant after a while. The weapons are unique and inventive, and the HUD and sounds are both 'game of the year' quality. If I had to complain about something, it would be that there aren't nearly enough Zero-G segm

The underground parking lot at the Chaoyang Joy City Mall is equipped with automatic parking spot indicators. See the white conduits above the cars? See the red lights on the end of the conduits? These spots are ocuppied, but the spot on the right is lit with a green light -- it's available. It's easy to find a parking spot in this garage. Have you ever tried to find a parking spot in the garage of Ottawa's World Trade Centre on a weekday? If so, you'd really appreciate this application of technology. But it saddens me to say, we North Americans just aren't this advanced. Oh, and did you notice the garage floor? It's finished with a beautiful (epoxy?) paint job that clearly indicates the transit lanes, pedestrian walkways and the parking spots. You could eat off this floor, because it is continually scrubbed . I wanted to take a picture of the floor cleaners who were busy mopping, but I started to feel like the hick who had fallen off the turnip truck. I was slack-jawed with astonishment by the urban mundane that was surrounding me. I became self conscious, and no longer wanted to draw attention to myself, for someone was soon to ask me what village I had come from... Um, the Capital of Canada. Some day, we'll catch up with the Chinese.