December 23, 2009
My last few days of the trip was a living dream. Since my very first trip to France, I’ve had numerous dreams while sleeping at night about my returning to Bayonne and enjoying all the fun with my friends.
Anais and I hooked up Saturday morning and headed to her mom’s workplace to say ‘Bonjour” to her, Michele. Right after that,Replica Purses, Anais and I headed off for shopping.
Sunday was just a relaxing day as usual although most stores were opened due to holiday shopping. Anais left that late afternoon to head back to Bordeaux for school.
That night, I treated Anais to dinner to thank her for letting me stay at her home. We went to a restaurant where they served real Basque food such as fish with red peppers and potatoes, lamb chops with veggies, and omelets with mushrooms. Our dinner was such a movie shot moment. Not just our catch up conversation was great, but a moment that normally happens only in movies struck. The big fat liar, who I called before I came to Bayonne to see if I could stay at her home told me that she was NOT in Bayonne at all, came right through the doors and SAW ME and my friend!!!!!! WHOOOOOOPS for her! She went to all the way in the back of the restaurant to avoid eye contact on us! What a moment! I hope that she felt REALLY EMBARRASSED for telling me a great lie!
After Michele and I said farewell to Anais, we headed to the beach. The waves was moving forward rapidly. There was a beautiful set of colors in the horizon. Rosy pink color gleamed above the ocean, and then purple rose above the pink, and then finally, periwinkle color stretched from the purple to the end of the earth atmosphere. It was such a magnificent sunset and even perfect to see in dreams at night. Michele and I sat in the car as it was too cold to take a walk on the beach. We talked about the most inconvenient truth topic, the global warming. I know that many of you may be sick of hearing the topic on global warming, but it is really a serious subject that needs to be on our minds every hour of the day. In France, everybody is so conscientious about electricity. One of the first things that I noticed in France during the holiday season is that there are hardly any Christmas lights. I know that probably sounds sad, but it’s really heroic of the French people to do it as they care more about their own planet than their showing off their holiday festivity.
French people are very big on using the sunlight as much as possible. On my very first trip to France, when I was in my bedroom in my host family’s home with the lights on and reading a book, the father came into the room and shut the lights off and opened the shutters. “Don’t waste the electricity,” he said. Every single one of the families with whom I stayed in France have the electricity rule as my first host family – OPEN the shades or shutters as much as possible and TURN OFF the lights!
On Monday morning, I was dropped off at the Maublancs.
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Hint*Hint!? Take a look at the Canadian flag!
Maple Delights is flourised with bottles of variety of sizes of maple syrups, pastries made with maple syrup, chocolate made with maple syrup, and even ice cream made with maple syrup!? It’s a great one-stop place for maple sweets!
What’s the sweetest thing we can taste in Canada?? Chocolate?? Canada sure do have some sweet chocolates, but that’,Replica Chanel;s not it!? Munchkin doughnuts with jelly?? That’s definitely very yummy, but nope!
AHA!? There’s a maple leaf on the Canadian flag!? What can do with maple leaves?
The answer is to make them into maple syrup!? Maple syrup is certainly the sweetest thing we can taste in Canada!? I’ve been eating this most delicious muffin in Vancouver from this cute little cafe called Maple Delights.? They have muffins made with maple syrup!? YUMMMMMMMMM!? There is no question that any food in Canada that has maple syrup in it is a speciality of Canada as I’ve never seen food in US made with maple syrup.
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December 16, 2009
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December 14, 2009
When I got home, I discovered that Simpsons and Arrested Development were both postponed due to holiday programming, so I went through the mountain of tapes that was on my bed, which I had created when going through stuff to take for the weekend. I have so many tapes of random shit, all in collections with cryptic titles (there’s eight volumes alone that are just called “Whatever”) that it’s about time I took the time and initiative to mark down what I have. I’ve long spoken about getting the best of the best (like Iranian Alf, clips from Korean variety shows, or choice scenes from various Mexican wrestling/detective movies) converted to DVD. I spent most of the evening watching a tape that was labeled “BEST FIGHT SCENE!” On it was all the fights in Jackie Chan’s classic Drunken Master 2 (still his best fight stuff ever, I think) and all the fights in Jet Li’s Fist of Legend (an awesome film that a lot of casual Jet Li fans know nothing about). Plus I had the showdown from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which despite seeing about a billion times, still gets my blood pumped, and for whatever reason, two episodes of the thirty minute long Aeon Flux series from MTV back when MTV Animation still meant something. I’ve been a diehard fan of Aeon Flux (and that whole Liquid Television scene… it was extremely influential on me), and I have to say…. I actually liked the half hour series where she spoke. Granted it lost much of the charm of the original, silent shorts, but come on… could they have really pushed that concept any further? The short lived full fledge series still has some of the best writing for any American animated series (which hails from a period where not everything had to rely on bullshit pop culture references).
Tonight I had tacos since Dave lent me the Wigu collection and it makes a pretty strong case for tacos being the ultimate food. Speaking of, I really hope nothing bad has happened with the copy of Klonoa for the GBA I lent him for his Ohio comic con trip…
First up we saw Black Belt Jones, easily the greatest king fu/blacksploitation flick that no one knows about. It stars Jim Kelly (you know, the black guy from Enter the Dragon) as a martial arts soul brotha who’s out to avenge the death of his dearly departed buddy Papa Byrd (played by the late, great Scatman Crothers) who was a target by the mob since his all black karate school is on highly contested real estate. To aid Black Belt is Papa Byrd is his daughter, who’s also a kung fu expert, and a small army of high flying white girls, and against them is a lethal combo of street thugs (along with the assistance of “Bogarts”) hired by the mob, and the mafia themselves (who happen to be Italian since they all like eating spaghetti saying “Mama Mia” any chance they get… the film spreads the love equally when it comes to ethnic stereotypes). But besides the kick ass premises, the story goes along at a great pace, there’s plenty of fight scenes throughout, and tons of laughs (even hippies stand no chance against Black Belt’s rage!). I’ve seen it almost fifty times now and it has yet to become old; I simply can’t emphasize enough how utterly amazing this film is. Even MK was impressed, which makes Farel’s extremely strong negative reaction towards it from years ago even more perplexing.
The next day we slept in and totally missed breakfast. MK drove me back to the city, but before dropping me off we are at some hot dog joint, since she knew of my affinity for the wondrous all American delicacy. All I can say is that once again, something which New York takes great pride in owning has yet again been bettered by New Jersey. Best fucking hot dogs I have ever eaten here in the west coast, and blows Nathan’s out of the fucking water, that’s for sure.
As for today, I’ve just been at work writing this. Had plenty of time since I had to work 13 hours (Christ I hope we get a new night front office manager soon). At least I’m making some extra money, which will definitely help off set some missing cash since I’m no loner doing reviews for GMR (at least for the time being). Speaking of work, today’s the day that one instructor whom I’ve sorta become chummy with teaches. Back to MTV Animation, he used to work with the guys who helped shaped the look of the stations, not just MTV, but Nick, and even HA! when it existed. He says he has piles of tapes with old bumpers and station IDs. I gotta get me a hold of those somehow…
Next was Day of the Dead, which I had only seen bits and pieces as a small child (when my parents would rent every horror film in the state of Washington and made me watch them all with them… I was like five at the time). Unlike the genius that was Dawn of the Dead, Day was a headache-inducing piece of shit that stole two hours of my life that I seriously want back. Besides the great make up, nothing in the film was remotely entertaining: a story that dragged on, everyone was completely unlikable, etc. About the only thing that made movie watching experience at all spooky was nothing that we saw, but a really strange sound that was coming from somewhere in the house that would freak us out when we heard it (and prompted us to have weapons by our side, which was just a broom for myself and a mop for MK). It was the wind hitting the AC btw.
Next up was Viva Knievel, starring Evel Knievel as himself. The convoluted plot involves drug smugglers, ex boozers, a fatherless child, a young rival, a trip to Mexico, plus orphans, and it all equal to one huge ego trip for a guy who basically jumps over stuff on his motorcycle. Not the best movie in the world, but it is hilarious to watch people react to him like he was a God of sorts (well, if you’re friend with Frank Gifford, I guess you sorta are). Plus, his anti-drug speech “for the kids” was stirring to say the least (Hey kids, don’t shoot that nitro up you veins, cuz in five to ten years time, you’ll blow up! Never mind that five to ten years to plenty of time to make awesome music or amazing, legacy defining artwork…).
I would have watched my other, full Aeon Flux tape if not for the fact that it was getting late, plus Adult Swim was on.
Then we went to the shore, where most of the shops on the boardwalk were closed, but not the arcades. One in particular had skee ball (where MK & I won super bouncy balls), an air hockey table (it was pathetic how bad we both are… one game dragged on way after the actual air flow ceased, which exhausted us even further), a DDR rip off that we both sucked at as well (I blame the lame graphics and shit music) and a Simpsons arcade machine (easily one the best arcade games every made). Afterwards was an early dinner at the Windmill where we had burgers and fries, plus we made fun of the shitty mural work inside, and then a trip home to watch another flick.
The next day I ventured into Jersey to spend the weekend at MK’s family beach house by the Jersey shore. The excitement began almost immediately when we got a flat tire while getting groceries. It was freezing cold and the bolts were practically glued onto to the car, but MK managed to get them off. What about me? I stood around like an idiot of course, reading really out to date OS X books. Well I did try to get some help when it seemed like MK might not have been able to replace the tire; I tried enlisting the help of a cop who happen to be in the grocery store, but he was dealing with a lost wallet situation, and the victim was super pissed (and without a shirt for some reason according to MK), so he couldn’t help, though thankfully the place had some WD40 on hand. Too bad their selection of Japanese candy was not that hot. Plus they had an open salad bar, but just olives, and it smelled fucking disgusting. Afterwards we got chicken sandwiches at Wawa’s (of course), plus some booze, and settled down at the beach house. Since I knew ahead of time that there was no DVD player on hand, let along cable TV, I brought along some good old-fashioned VHS tapes of goodness.
The remainder of Friday night was spent watching an old collection of hardcore, electrified barb wire wrestling matches from Japan that I got off eBay when I was really into wrestling. Mind you, I was never that into watching two plain jane sweaty guys grapple each other. But if they dressed liked demons or 80’s rockers, and they five backflips into a glass plane, face first… now that’s what I call sports entertainment. Anyway, all the matches had the ropes replaced with barb wire, but not only did it simply hurt like hell if a guy got thrown into them, but they got electrocuted as well, plus a loud explosion went off to complete the effect. What other sport could you look like total crap, but still get cheers if you simply bled? Well more than just bleed…. practically gutted in some cases. And all for just a cheeseburger (okay maybe not… it’s MK’s belief that they get paid in not cash but burgers, but it’s probably not too far from the truth). My favorites are the high concept matches, like one which took place on a island that both men had to take speed boats to reach. Too bad they spend way too much time dicking around, like setting fires and the such…
The film got us hungry so it was time for dinner at Wawa’s (chicken sandwiches again!), another trip to the liquor store, then a stop at Blockbusters. I haven’t been to one in ages, so I was worried that they wouldn’t have VHS, but they did a small bit. Unfortunately, Death Race 2000 was not to be found anywhere, but we did pick up Wet Hot American Summer and Day of the Dead. Almost got a flick about cannibal sorority chicks that MK pulled out, but guess that will have to wait for next time.
This year we watched both the Garfield and Peanuts Thanksgiving special. The Garfield one wasn’t as memorable as I remembered it, but it was still Garfield, so it was good enough for me. As for the Peanuts special, they’re all damn good, so I guess I don’t have to say much more. One of these days I’m gonna have to try having popcorn, jellybeans, toast, and ice cream as an entire meal (not that it’s much of a stretch from my normal eating habits, but that’s besides the point).
So Thursday was Thanksgiving. As I’ve done for the past seven years or so, I went out to Long Island to spend it with Dave’s family who have more or less made me a part of their own. Not too much to report since, like each gathering before, it followed the same general routine: sat around the afternoon watching TV, ate snacks even though a scrumptious and hearty dinner was on its way, gorged on said scrumptious and hearty dinner, and then sneak away from the “adults” to watch cartoons or play video games in another room. Plus there’s always desert.
I had never seen Wet Hot American Summer despite a desire to do so for years now. It’s weird… I’ve heard so much about the flick from so many different folks; the number of people telling me it’s pure comic genius is equaled by the number of folks saying its the biggest piece of shit ever, and every one of these folks are ones whose opinions I trust, so I’ve always been on the fence. Overall, I liked it… I guess. It’,Replica Chanel;s certainly not brilliant or anything. The set up is great, and some of the talent is awesome. Though I wish there were more State folks in it, plus it felt like it just could have gone… further. I think I might have to see it again.
The next day we had donuts for breakfast and heading to Red Bank. Spent some time in a record store where I found at least a half dozen records that could be great gag gifts, but ultimately I resisted the temptation to buy around the store’s entire collection of New Kids on the Block and Hall & Oates CDs, which I think was the best move in the end. MK on the other hand was elated to find sheet music to all the themes to the Star Trek theme, but was afraid to make a purchase due to not wanting to appear too nerdy. Good for her that I have no shame. After a brief stop at some trendy boutique where I set the highest on Ms Pac Man, we went to Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, which I had never been to before. I hate going to comic shops since its a sad reminder of all the great stuff I’m missing out on, and on a monthly basis! But I made a choice: comics or video games, and everyone knows what I chose. And despite the apparent high price of games, it’s still a helluva lot cheaper than following even just one monthly comic.
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Well, I take it all back.
… Like I said, with the exception of awards that gave an opportunity for some celebrity to come up and ramble on about a title they had minimal or no real input, most weren’t even featured on the broadcast. Instead the winners were mentioned via vice overs with accompanying clips (and 99% of the time there was no gameplay footage, just FMV). I especially liked how the announcer read the designer of the year award (which was Jason Jones and Bungie for Halo 2) as quickly as possible (even the one second it would have taken for the announcer to take a breath is one less second for boobies)….
… Hey EA, if you’re going to 2 hour commercial for your games in the guise of a award ceremony, at least do it somewhat half-assed. First off, get your goons to at least some rehearsal time. This one exchange from two random white guys (who do some sort of bullshit extreme sporting I think) sums it up nicely:
In all seriousness, what the fuck? What does the Crue have anything to do with video games? Maybe Dr. Feelgood was in the latest GTA, I don’t know. At least the brains behind the show knew what game players want: to see a bunch of 45-year old rockers from the hair metal days running around like idiots and trying to reclaim their youth (and damaging their frail hips in the process). Though I must confess, I used to be a fan of theirs…. when I was 11 or something…
… I love how when Burnout 3 won an award (an EA game that’s actually good since they had nothing to do with it), instead of hearing from the producer, one of the true talents behind the game, we all got to hear mostly from DJ Stryker, easily the worst thing about the whole game go and on and on and on, just like in the game!….
Besides, there’s still some hope for video games after all. Yesterday, the day after the show, Namco finally revealed the first screen from Katamari Damacy 2. So it’s not all doom and gloom, at least not yet.
Guy #1: (in an apathetic voice and while struggling to read the teleprompter) “Hey… now…. um…. here are…. the…. nominees for…. best…. action…. action game.”
Guy #2: (says nothing and instead is trying to look like as if he’s playing a PSP but is overacting if you can believe it)
Guy #1: “Dude… what are… what are…. you… doing?”
Guy #2: (now talking in the same manner of the first idiot) “I was just playing…. the new…. Sony PSP.”
Guy #1: “Dude… that just…. how is that possible…. it just…. came out…. in…. Japan like this last…. past weekend?”
Guy #2: “Dude… Spike TV has the hook ups. And… I’m playing… the new…. Need for Speed Underground…. for the PSP…. due this spring….”
… As for the awards, the very first to be given out was for best performance by a female and the winner was Brooke Burton. Nevermind how asinine the other nominees were (I have to assume that Carmen Electra and Hedi Klum didn’t brake new ground in the world of voice acting and were included just to show off some polygonal skin… and while Judi Dench is a fine actress, everything about the game is abysmal, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she, like other decent actors in video games in the past, just phoned it in…. plus four of the fiver were from EA titles), but the simple fact is that Brooke Burton wasn’t even in the game, except for a few seconds in the title sequence FMV….
… No one could say Katamari Damacy correctly…
… Bloodrayne won hottest game vixen or some nonsense, so the game’s creators created a clip where they had her give thanks, but the whole time the eyes were rolled up in the back of her skull. Wow, really hot….
… Impossible as it may be, Snoop Dog was actually a worse host than last year’s David Spade. Snoop (who’s music I used to dig) has outlived his shtick in my book and was nothing more than a self-promoting bore/whore. The exchanges between him and his digital self was especially not funny (sorry, but the whole novelty of a real celeb as a game character has been long dead).
So on Tuesday night was the Spike TV Video Game Awards, and… dear God, where to begin?
The problem here is, appropriately enough, the great evil empire, EA. They ran the show, more or less. It wasn’t really an awards ceremony but simply a public forum for EA to shamelessly flex its marketing muscles and to pimp their wares. But besides running that show, they’re getting closer to running the whole show, i.e. the entire video game industry. And they know it, and so does everyone else, such as Viacom and everyone else in Hollywood, hence why the whole event was nothing more than a huge circle-jerk for everyone involved.
… Now at this point, it may seem to most that I’m making way too much out of one stupid thing. Why the hell am I so pissed off? I’m sorry, but I honestly believe everyone who enjoys video games should feel the same exact way, or at the very least be concerned. But the reality is, most people (especially the majority of the game playing public) really doesn’t give a shit about such nonsense. Well folks should care, maybe even those who don’t necessarily care about video games, because EA is becoming a force to be reckoned with, and when you consider how utterly astounding it is that they’ve managed to mobilize so many companies to work together for them in such a fashion, just imagine what’s possible just a few years down the road. It wasn’t just a sham of a show, it was almost like a sign of things to come.
And of course, right on cue was footage of the new game on a giant monitor right above them….
… They filmed “random people of the streets” talking about video games. What did one guy state as a reason why GTA San Andreas is game of the year? “The hookers, they lookl better this time.”…
… I mentioned the Snoop Dog game just recently in connection with Game Informer earlier. Hmmm… do you think there’s any connection between that magazine, which has the exclusive on Snoop’s game winning the award for best game publication. That an gamespot.com winning best game site, which also happens to publish Game Informer? Na, didn’t think so…
He rapped of course, and about seventeen thousand times, or at least if felt like it (he even did a bit in the middle of Motley Crue’s number). Plus he promoted his new game coming out. Joining him onstage was the man behind it, John Singleton (another person whom I used to like, even admire), and they both went on about how the new game will redefine all video games with it use of highly detailed graphics, hard hitting story, real street language, and no hold barred violence, to depict life of the mean streets of South Central blah, blah, blah. Then they showed a clip, which not surprisingly was a total San Andreas rip-off, and of course, 99.9% FMV and the rest, shitty, ripped-off gameplay…
Okay, end of rant. That was far more heavy handed that even I wanted to be.
Last year’s event (which was the very first one_ made me cringe with embarrassment, and by the end, anything “funny” slowly fadded away and I was simply left feeling angry. This time, I became immediately incensed, but near end, I was actually sad and depressed. Why? Because it was the ultimate showcase of what video games have become today.
… Speaking of sex, thankfully no porn stars were on-hand (I think) but video games were still made out to be the sophomoric male spectacle that it basically still is. Besides the aforementioned Brooke Burton debacle, there was a segment where “hot chicks” spout out game codes. Cuz as well all know, girls are super dumb, and gamers totally get hard-on when they hear cheat codes and girls saying them….
As for the show itself, there was simply so many things that was just wrong, but here in my opinion are the highlights…
… EA was probably annoyed by having to give awards to other companies in order to give the show some semblance of legitimacy, which obviously didn’t happen, so they really should have given game of the year to Madden 2005 even though it wasn’t nominated. I also think it’s pretty funny that the guy from Bungie who went up to accept the award looked really pissed…
… According to EA and Spike TV, video games really aren’t relevant to the general public unless it’s filled to the brim with bullshit gangsta rap and what passes as “hardcore” rock these days. In fact, there was hardly any time spent on the awards, and instead, it was just a musical performances. After all, no one really gives a shit for who’s nominated and the whatnot, it was all about the Motley Crue reunion!
EA has a very specific vision of how video games should be,Replica Chanel, and unfortunately, not only are the powers that be (the record companies, movies studios, those who thrive off the bullshit hip-hop/extreme! lifestyle) more than happy to help reinforce it, but the general public seems more than willing to embrace it. Hence why EA’s growing dominance seem to indicate that everything that I enjoy and cherish about games may become no more, or at the very least, extremely hard to come buy.
Whenever the hardcore gaming audience, the ones who have been obsessed with gaming all their lives and are now in their mid to late twenties (or even older), complained about the “mainstreaming” of video games, I admit that it’s highly annoying, but point to the fact that it’s to be expected. And that it can be extremely difficult to sit and watch something you hold very dear by transformed by the masses into something which you very much cannot understand, or worse, turned into something that’s representative of the things you hate most, and which was why you embraced whatever thing in the first place. And ultimately, it’s all inevitable (video games isn’t the first victim of this) and that one should just sit back, relax, and simply enjoy the games one likes and try not to become too work up or bitter about things.
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Gotta admit, I had a feeling that Nintendo would pussy out near the end with something more traditional. I was wrong.
Yeah it looks like remote, and I was a bit deflated at first. But take a look at this video and then tell me how one who’s truly interested in video games and interactive entertainment could possibly not be at least intrigued?
Here’s it is, what we’ve all been waiting for,gucci purses, the Revolution’s controller:
I would go into more details regarding all the games, but it’ll have to wait for a piece for Gamasutra that may or may not happen; I haven’t had a chance to really ask if they would be interested, and I’ll have to wait till next week when everyone gets back from the Tokyo Game Show.
It was also great to see and catch up with so many folks (though the place was once again insanely packed… as cozy as the Large Animal office is, I’m glad that the next event will be taking place elsewhere). As mentioned previously, I’m a thesis advisor for two SVA seniors, so I brought them along. The biggest surprise was Dave Quigley and some folks from ICON. After the event, the gang, myself, and Sam (who will be doing the music for Spready Bear btw) all went for a drink and mostly chatted about the upcoming ICON. It seems that I am in-fact not the title holder for the most panels spoken at by a single person; that award goes to Jason. I mentioned that I wouldn’t mind going “for the record” but I will want a championship belt made for the occasion. It was also mentioned that it might be an interesting idea for me to do a furry panel. That would be insane.
I just got this info just a while ago, and via the IC forums. Haven’t been to the GAF yet… I shudder to think all the bitching and moaning that’s been waging since the news broke late last night. I wonder if all the people bitching wishes that it was a touch-screen based like many wearily predicted?
Wow… crazy news to wake up to.
This is different… too different, but maybe its a sign that Nintendo has somewhat finally given up going after the audience that Sony and MS are dominating with, which is smart. As its been pointed out, they have their dedicated fan base, and have been successful reaching out to the “non-gamer” successfully (as evidence by the video), so why not capitalize on this fully instead trying to be a jack of all trades? It means no Madden on the Cube, which to me, is not a bad thing.
If there’s one thing Nintendo is good at, its getting a reaction.
Anyway, real quick, last night’s Demo Night was the biggest yet. There was some great stuff on display, including a very technically impressive football game for cell phones (and I know firsthand how difficult it can be to have a decent looking, and moving, football field on a cell phone from a title that was being developed by PixelJump), an intriguing app that tracks when and where your Flash based game is being playing, even offline (which would have been invaluable with JizzMoppa first went live), and a webgame based on the new Nicholas Cage film Lord of War which was made in only one week (it was just fun to see Peter from Templar Studios talk… he’s a pretty funny guy who was easily the most enjoyable drunk at a Gamoids meeting from a whiles back). There was also a new super-glossy looking first person shooter that uses time manipulation. I have to admit, I’m no fan of the genre, but some of the ideas were rather neat, though ultimately…. I think I’ll just save my FPS rant for a later time.
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- The PS3 will ship with a hard drive. I believe Sony pointed out that Microsoft’s offering of the 360 with either one included, and one without, has been a mistake (which is a mild way of putting things).
- The controller for the PS3, which is the bat-arang that everyone loves to hate (including myself), is being redesigned. Most are hoping (or assuming) that its going to be the Dual Shock again, which I have no problems with; hey, its not the best thing every, but its been almost ten years and I guess I’m used to it.
- But the big PS3 announcement is how the hardware will be region free. And this of course had drawn a resounding “YES!!!” from all diehard gamers everywhere. Cuz lord knows dealing with mod chips to play the really good stuff has been a fucking migrane and a half with the PS2. Though it should be noted that only hardware was cited… software publishers can choose to region code their games, but I would have to assume that someone small like Cave will open up their games so everyone in the world can enjoy it (and reap the financial benefits as a result). Though now everyone’s wondering if it’ll be backwards compatible with over region PSOne/PS2 games, but I’m still trying to figure out the memory card compatibility for those systems have been ironed out…
- Meanwhile, no real Revolution details have been given out (everyone will have to wait for E3), but New Super Mario Bros has been playable, and everyone’s been raving about it.
- Also, the possible real name, plus logo, to the Rev has been leaked.The Nintendo Go? Though I think that might be just the name of the online service or something.
- And the winner of the Game Developers Choice awards have been revealed, and every single game I voted for won. Sweet!
Anyway… tomorrow’s ICON, and I’m in the middle of putting together my Keynote presentation for the ten best games ever created (in my opinion). Obviously, just talking about these games is not going to work, so I’m going to need visual aids (since most people I’m certain have never seen, let alone heard of, Vib Ribbon). So my hands are full, but I’ve been keeping tabs of all the stuff that’s been coming from the Game Developers Conference (again, I’m fucking pissed that I’m not there, but… that’s just how it is). And thus far, the big news is…
Last night was movie night and the feature was Time Bandits, the Terry Gilliam classic. I gotta admit, I’ve always been rather lukewarm towards HD, mainly because of the high cost and all the shit involved with setting things up, but seeing a classic film, presented in high definition, and properly, was pretty f’n amazing and made me realize that all the trouble might just be worth it. Though in the end, 98% of everything still looks like shit, so I suppose its understandable why HD folks are so eager for the HD-DVD/Blue-Ray era to begin already. And I guess if the idea of spending $3000 on a TV doesn’t bother you, neither will the idea of re-buying all your DVDs.
Guess that’s it for now… see some of you this weekend?!
Afterwards was the season premier or South Park. I’ve been busy so I haven’t had a chance to pay super close attention on what the hells been going on… first I hear Isaac Hays quits the show due to their portrayal of Scientologists (great episodes btw…. perhaps not as strong as the Mormon episode, which may be their greatest ever, but that John Travolta scene is simply classic), which he is a part of, then I read that he never technically quit, and the reason why he didn’t appear in the rest of season nine was due to a stroke and that he was still part of show (despite comments from Matt and Trey, South Park’s creators, stating “We’re gonna get you, by the power of Xenu!”). Then comes word that Issac had indeed left the show, but not on his accord but by Scientologists who have been overseeing the man very closely as he recovered. And later, a preview for the season opener is revealed, and the Chef character is featured. Well anyone who watched last night knows what exactly happened, and it was pretty good episode, even if I didn’t find it particularly funny, because it seemed to be nothing more than a 22 minute long “fuck you” by Matt and Trey, and nothing more.
As for non gaming news, the logo for Snake on a Plane has been revealed, and it is hawt…
But yeah, Time Bandits fucking rocks. What else needs to be said? Anyone who’s seen it already know this truth, and those who haven’t… should. We also watched parts from And Now For Something Completely Different, the film adaptation of some of Monty Python’s classic skits, and again, it looking simply beautiful on HD. In fact, its never looked better, but that’s because its never gotten a decent VHS/DVD release.
And the whole Scientology thing is pretty scary, because its yet another reminder of easily swayed people can be (people like calling them a cult, which they most definitely are, but many really don’t stop to think what that means). It makes me think of an old friend of mine, and how we used to share the same basic train of though when it came to people and politics. Recently I discovered that this person had become deeply entrenched in the ultra conservative, right-wing train of thought. And guess what? That’s okay… not by cup of tea (In consider myself a moderate, though leaning towards the left), but this person, my friend, seemed like a totally different person. I spent about a day with him, and the entire time he tried arguing his various cases, even though I would have none of it (I believe arguing politics is ultimately stupid because it does nothing… no one’s mind is ever changed, and in the end, both parties just end up getting pissed at each other). I did my best not to get into a political discussion, but it would always turn into one; when he commented that his city had just began mandatory recycling laws, I made a (perhaps tasteless) joke, to the effect of “Well in New York, we don’t have to worry about those kinds of laws, since we have plenty of homeless people who take care of the recycling!” And to that, his response was “So, would you then say that the homeless problems is perpetrated by recycling then? Are they not simply enabling them?”,gucci purses; I didn’t say anything, but in my mind, I was “Holy shit, what in the fuck! Is this really my friend?!”
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December 2, 2009
A little after 3PM it was dark,Replica Chanel, as if the sun had set a few hours early. Then the hail storm started. By the time I had grabbed a camera the ground was already white with hail.
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