written by owen, published 2026-Jan-03, comment
I am not sure what I will play with this year. I might dig in heavy with mastheads as I am kinda slacked off on them over the last couple years. Of course the css code will be based on last years template but I feel like going harder this year. hard and done. we will see.
I am using the starfield colours as base then seeing where I go from there. I think I have done pretty much every design I could with this html layout though I still find some bugs here and there. It more about function. Its always been about function. Function over design. Most of these designs could have been done 20 years ago with old tech but tastes and times change - monitors get bigger. The design is more a sign of the times than my own personal taste.
I do try to mix it up a bit but there is only so much I can do. Mixing colours, borders and padding with a eye catching masthead (rip dooce.com ). I have a page for the old mastheads - surprisingly I did not create any ones in 2025 even though I was making lots of photos. Modern CSS has added light/dark mode and mobile/widescreen layouts that I need to always consider. On older browsers it simply defaults to the standard layout with the sidebar pushed to the footer. It works seamlessly which is a rare thing in modern tech.
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photos by owen, published 2026-Jan-02, comment
First Post of 2026. Still digging through my archive of September 2023
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photos by owen, published 2025-Dec-28, comment
August 2023. Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth
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written by owen, published 2025-Dec-27, comment
For this run I decided to take advantage of the buy 2 get one free under $10 discount on website called the videogame company - In prior purchases I had bought most of the games that I really wanted. I started to run out of storage space, so the current strategy is to buy loose disk only games so reduce space and save some money.
I bought 15 games this trip, got 4 free - 2 did not fall into the discount because they were over 10$. I think a got a good batch of classics, and gems.
Before purchase I spent roughly 3 month curating this list. I usually avoid old games (prior to 2010) but the orange box is highly rated - had to pick it up. I love aliens games so got AVP as well. I have a case with a missing disk so I picked up AC3 and also picked up AC-BF because everyone keep mentioning the pirate sections being the "best thing" since sliced bread.
Edge Cases
Alot of the games I wanted did not have loose copies for sale. I added splinter cell game because I admired the "text in the 3d environment" graphics when I first saw it in a trailer many years ago. GTA IV was released in 2008 but it is highly rated by fans - even against GTA5 so I picked that up as well. The other games where mostly filler. Decided to give Borderlands 2 a second attempt even though I bailed on BL1. I skipped the fable games, halo - they seem very rudimentary - even though they get a lot of praise from audiences. I usually avoid multi-disc games but "L.A. Noire" has been ported everywhere so I might as well play it now rather than later - it currently costs $35 on the switch - I hope I get all the discs.
Some games did not make the list
I was gonna buy shadow of Mordor but the reviews complained about poor optimization. Dragon Age - Inquisition doesn't allow you to install the play disc which is a deal breaker for me . Late life cycle games are usually tricky to back port but if done well can be a lot of fun on old hardware. Far Cry 4 did not make the list - tempting but there was no loose copy for sale so I was not pushing it - far cry 3 + watch dogs is enough Ubisoft for one lifetime. I did not buy any fighting games. 1 racing+ 1 RPG barely made the list - racing and RPGs get tedious very quickly even when played on easy mode.
The list (21 discs)
Battlefield 4 (2 disc) - free $2.99
SSX - $7.99
The Orange Box - $22.99
Grand Theft Auto GTA IV (includes Case)- $7.99
Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag (2 disc) (includes Case)- $10.99
Aliens vs. Predator - $12.99
Splinter Cell Conviction - free $4.99
South Park The Stick of Truth - $8.99
Resident Evil 5 - $5.99
Project Gotham Racing 4 - free $4.99
L.A. Noire (3 discs) - $6.99
Alone in the Dark (2 disc) - $6.99
BioShock Infinite - $5.99
Borderlands 2 - $5.99
Assassin's Creed III (2 disc) - free $2.99
Total: $103.00 USD + $13 shipping
BOOM got hit with UPS taxes/tariffs due to shipping from Canada to the USA $71 USD!
Total: $103.00 USD + $13 shipping + $7 shipping + $71 taxes/tariffs
Conclusion
This should round off my xbox 360 playlist. Its amazing be able to buy most of the games of a platform so easily. Especially now in the modern gaming world of gaming subscriptions, games that never end, constant updates, downloads and paid DLC. I am not sure when I will complete all these games but I know for sure that they will still work when I am ready to put the disk into the drive. I will play them in a 4 game rotation until I get my heart is content. No need to rush or burn money on a monthly subscription while I am a sleep or do something else. I will write another article on my play strategy
Addendum
Gonna need some multi-disk cases. Black Multi-6 Black DVD Cases for 6-Disc Storage $17 USD
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