Phoenix Wright:Trials and Tribulations Trailer

Awesome? This is an excellent trailer for Phoenix Wright 3, even though 2/3rds of the trailer is actually talking about previous Phoenix Wright games. So the game, Trials and Tribulations, will be released in late September 2007. I cannot wait.

Hotel Dusk Trailer.

Apparently this is one of the best adventure games in a long time. I love the cinematic edge to the game. I'm so getting this when I have the money.

Gaming FM: Request-Driven Video Game Radio

Gaming FM is a recently resurrected online radio station. Request a song and listen to some video game music! I just rediscovered this site. It's pretty awesome, too bad they've skimped out on the updating.

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Do Blind People Dream?

This is an answer to one of the questions asked in "Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets? And many other questions..."

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Video Games are the new Ritalin?

Author: James Ransom-Wiley Category: ADD | ADHD | SMART BrainGames | SmartBraingames Subject: Video games are the new Ritalin Friday, 03 November 2006 10:55:00 Filed under: Culture, PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox Doctors are experimenting with a new Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder drug: video games. Using SMART BrainGames, a real brain training device, Dr. Margaret MacDonald is determined to show that ADHD sufferers can use video games to condition their brains to be more attentive; and do so without the aid of medications. But the treatment is pricey. The SMART BrainGames device is listed at $595 (PlayStation 2 version; console and games not included) and must be calibrated by a specialist. $595?! That thing best have some Blu-ray! via Joystiq So you're telling me that I can stop ritalin AND play video games instead? Sounds like a win-win situation. Then again, this seems to be only for people with ADHD (I have just ADD) but you know.

Rayman Raving Rabbids....

I kinda really want this game.

I WON!

Call into OLR

For anyone who listens to Orange Lounge Radio, I called in on the skypeline the other day, in episode 201, Part B. I did a quick review of 24: The Game, which I won on the show earlier. The timestamp is: 1:09:52 - 1:11:11. Check it out!

Totems

Insane Japanese game. Yes Insane. Play this and you will never be the same again. Play it. Now.

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Best....Article...Ever

The Flowers for Jack guy has written one of the best articles I have ever read in my life. Read this news posting. Now. Here's a sample: Dear George: I read your rather bizarre letter in Electronic Gaming Monthly. I guess you computer types don't think we lawyers can read. Couple of things you got wrong, Ace: 1. I never said you "were employed by Take-Two Interactive." Never said it, never wrote it, because I never thought it. You've got 15 days, under Florida law, to produce to me, by return email, the letter in which I said you "were employed by Take-Two" or I'll take legal action against you. Check out Florida law on that, if you can read a statute book. 2. You did not want a humane exchange. You wanted to mock me. That was what the flowers were for, and even Electronic Gaming Monthly figured it out. How is it that you are the only one who "got it?" The fact is, you thought this was some sort of joke. Sorry, this issue is not a joke. I've sat with families who are smaller in number because some gamer jerk like you became immersed in a very violent entertainment modality and it made an impact on him. This stuff is not funny, George. You don't get to define what my concerns are and belittle them with some stunt. You've got 15 days. Jack Thompson Check it out.

Email to the Video Game Show

Hi, Video Game Show My question is, have you ever played a game with an overwhelming amount of AWESOME. For example. Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil 4 was, in fact, created by Capcom by extracting PURE LIQUID AWESOME from the center of the earth and compressing it into a DVD. When the user places the disk into his Gamecube/Playstation, he is then splattered with what he knows to be pure liquid AWESOME. Now, this cannot always be a good thing and then there's AWESOME all over the coffee table, and then you call the insurance guys, and they're like "We don't cover AWESOME damage, sorry." And you're like "Frick, this table was transfigured into a pet Raptor and now I have nowhere to put my Drink." Then you go upstairs and open the fridge, only to see that it is now filled with gourmet meals. And you're like "Frick, all I want is some pizza." So then you order pizza, and then you try to eat it, but before you get a chance to, your Raptor devours the whole pizza with one gulp before devouring your left arm. And you're like "Frick, how am I supposed to play Resident Evil 4 now?" So, yah, have you ever played a game with that much AWESOME? Don't AWESOME and Drive.

Firefly/Serenity Dead? Not Quite...

Maybe you heard about the comments Joss Whedon made about the complete lack of Serenity 2 or Firefly Season 2 Yesterday. Of course, in typical Joss Whedon fashion, he was misquoted. Here is a quote he posted on the Whedonesque (his official website) forums: Holy Mother of Oats! I turn my back for five minutes (that's how long it takes to admire my lovely back) and the interweb goes banoonoos! Isn't there any ACTUAL news to get wrong? Sorry about all this; it might be best if I just stay off the computer for a while. Or just glut the feed with wild conjecture. Hmm, let's see... I'm me, so... let's glut! Here are some ABSOLUTELY TRUE statements of factiness. Gentlemen, start your websites. 1) Wonder Woman has finally been cast. To no one's surprise, we eschewed all those tired movie and TV personalities and cast the interweb star "Lonelygirl", or whatever her actual name is. Congratulations, whomever! 2) I've got a thirteen episode commitment from the CW, so get ready for the long-awaited "Primative and Cheese Man". She's the first Slayer, he's a meaningless hallucination -- can they put aside their differences long enough to fight crime? 3) "CLEM!" Broadway. The number where he eats Rum Tum Tuggle will make you laugh and cry and throw up in your mouth slightly. 4) I will absolutely, posatively never ever do any kind of Serenity sequel or spinoff unless a studio asks me. Politely. Or meanly, that's cool too. 5) Warren Ellis's beard has a foyer. It's quite nice: shaker furniture, and a cute ceramic umbrella stand. 6) Kelly MacDonald and Gong Li have got to stop fighting over me 'cause who are they embarrassing? Themselves, that's all. 7) I'm tired of me. Right. Cue chaos. And yes, number seven is more or less true. But my little britjaunt is through (Alexis rocked "All My Sons") and I'm grindstone bound, so I won't be feeding any more rumorsites for a while. There's only one way to stop all this insanity, and that's to produce some actual work for people to write about. So I'll do that. Here's a thing: when "Firefly" was cancelled, my heart got broke. Sounds a bit much, but it changed me. Not even "Serenity" could patch that wound. I'm wearier, warier -- after all those years as a movie writer, you'd think I'd be prepared for another lesson on my unimportance in the scheme of things, but I wasn't. There are two very separate worlds: the marketplace, and the bustling bazaar that is my brain. The brain place is crowded with goods, ideas, sequels, spinoffs, animated versions, miniseries, radio dramas -- this is just the used goods. All the new wares are in there as well and it's deafening. Once I create a verse I never let go of it. And figuring out how much of my energy should be devoted to reawakening the projects you all love with the actors and characters I all love, and how much should be forging ahead and creating entirely new works (which you are contractually obligated to love) is exhausting. More than you know. You know the horse caught bwtween two pools of water? Add seven pools, and make the horse wicked A.D.D. The other world, the marketplace, I don't even begin to understand or predict. All these rumor of projects or the death of projects... When the two worlds align and something actually happens, whatever it is, you guys know I'll be on this site as soon as I'm allowed to be. And I'll be very very clear. There is no news. Not never, just now. I'm off to lunch with Lonelygirl. Your Scribe, -j. Woot, I can just blog other peoples words! Great post though. I really hope firefly comes back, especially if it was a series. That would make me so happy I would cry. Over excessively. Firefly rocks. Go watch it.

AMAZING,,QUAD core gaming demo!!!!

intel recently showed off what we can expect from games that take advantage quad core processors Holy craperoni and cheese with chocolate and root beer and caffienated candy and more cheese and...

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Myst MMO?

The guys at Joystiq have an interview with Rand Miller, who is working on releasing Uru Live for gametap. This game was cancelled long ago and now gametap is bringing it back to life. They are also setting up ways for people to play it around the world (as of yet, gametap is only availible in the states.) The idea of an adventure MMO is mind-bogglingly awesome, even though I have somewhat frowned on the myst series as a whole. The myst series were incredibly immersive, but way too difficult. But perhaps tackling the puzzles of Myst would make it new again? Gametap also announced that they would be making the resources availible to allow people to make their own ages, and that is amazing. The thought of independent game design of this calibur would mean a never-ending supply of content, destroying the play-once problem with adventure games.

Can you defuse the bomb?

15 minutes, and a bomb in a briefcase. Can you do it? This is the awesomest flash game I have played in a long, long time. A problem solving adventure game, if you will. I made it when there were 9 minutes left on the clock.

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Ace Attorney 4 Trailer

I am thoroughly disappointed by the contents of this trailer: (watch below) Does anyone feel that the trailer drones on? Now if you watch the first Ace attorney trailer, it's action packed intenseness. But not here. That probably won't effect the game though. Hopefully.

New Weird Al Music Video: White & Nerdy

This video reminds me so much of myself it's scary.

I am a "cool nerd"

OkCupid (Formerly TheSpark) has a test to help you find out if you are a geek, nerd, or dork. Check it out! Modern, Cool Nerd 60 % Nerd, 60% Geek, 47% Dork For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd. Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)! Congratulations!

Super Mario ROCK!

Not only does this guy play the super mario theme on guitar, he plays it on two guitars SIMULTANEOUSLY! AT THE SAME TIME! Right hand on one guitar, left hand on the other. Wow.

Guitar Hero Wii?

Via Joystiq: Guitar Hero coming to multiple new platforms Posted Sep 20th 2006 4:55PM by Kevin Kelly Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Simulations According to Eurogamer, Activision CEO Robert Kotick let it drop at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XV Conference (that's a mouthful) that Guitar Hero would appear "on every significant new format." We can only guess this means whammy-barring on the Xbox 360 is pretty much confirmed, with Gamestation employees hearing earlier this week that they will be getting Guitar Hero II for that console in early 2007. With the Wii, DS, PSP and PS3 being significant new formats, chances are you might be able to jam just about anywhere. Now that is interesting. Sony no longer having guitar hero exclusively would turn the tide indeed.

Bored? Try Chatting With Some Random Person!

This cool little web app lets you chat with a completely random person on the web. A cool way to socialize off your workday! I found this pretty cool. Throws you in a room with a random person. Here was my convo. chat with a random person! It's kinda cool, this is my convo [22:12] hey? [22:12] *** _855a308984 has joined #9d01ffab69 [22:12] hey? [22:12] *** _855a308984 is now known as branden [22:12] *** _d19d9565cf is now known as minime283 [22:13] ahoy there [22:13] im just trying this out, won't be here too long [22:13] what's up? [22:13] just logged on here for the first time, and can't be on for long [22:13] lol [22:13] just brushing my teeth before, bed, in fact [22:13] where are you from? [22:13] im gonna go to bed too. Even though its a little early for me [22:13] west coast [22:13] hear about this on digg.com? [22:13] that's all im saying [22:13] yep [22:13] palo alto, ca [22:13] cool [22:14] anyways dood, you might wanna check out my blog sometime. [22:14] http://minime283.blogspot.com/ [22:14] have fun with it [22:14] what's the point of the blog? [22:14] and have a good sleep [22:14] night [22:14] nice meeting you

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CanaDS

This is pretty freaking cool. I should do something like this

Wii: $249.99

Allright. So. ... The Wii. Was announced. Today. For $249.99 ... This will include the Wii, one controller, a nunchuck attachment, and Wii Sports. ... I am unhappy. Do you know why I am unhappy? Nintendo said the Wii will retail for LESS THAN $250! LESS THAN! NOT EQUAL TO! > see? > there it is again. not =, >. Look at the kind symbol that is here: >. It smiles at you. See look $250>price of Wii. See how the zero makes a smiley face with the >? Can't you see them running around in open meadows with "Da da da da daaaa daaaa" in the background? But no. Instead we get: $250=price of Wii. See how the 0 and = make a face that sort of make it look like it was TORN APART BY HANNIBAL LECTER? I mean, really nintendo. I suppose you can make the argument that "It is cheaper. By one cent." Well, there is some stuff you could do with that one cent you save. Here's a few ideas.

Electrocute Nintendo Headquarters.

Make a copper sword and kamakazi Nintendo Headquarters

Throw melted copper at the windows. And I'm done. But I'm still bitter.

Video: The Awesome New iPod nano Ad

Apple introduced the 2nd generation of the iPod nano this morning, and along with it, they created a pretty cool ad to go with it. Man, Apple has the coolest ads ever. Check this one out.

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APPLE STUFF!!! W007!

Okay. Check this out: So here's a quick recap of what Apple announced today. -iPod Shuffle - Not too much to say about this one, except that it looks awesome but is still sucky on the inside. Sniff. -iTunes 7 (This is great. Download it now.) This is an amazing jump over iTunes 6. Not only is the logo blue (Yes, BLUE PEOPLE! IT'S BLUE! NOT GREEN, BLUE!) but it's got some crazy new organization bar and you can view your music differently by album art. Plus, it automatically downloads album art for you that you don't have. -iPod - Same generation ipod, but with a better battery life, brighter screen, and 50 dollars cheaper. -iPod Nano Generation 2-Just a Nano with the above features -iPod Games on the itunes music store!!! Tetris, Bejewled, Majongg...only for $5.99 -iTV - Streams video/music from a mac/pc to the TV. That is very cool. Thats it for apple coverage. Interesting that there is absolutely zero news on new macs or mac os 10.5. Ah well. Adios everyone, I'll be blogging the nintendo price point/release date in a couple of days.

Aberrforth Dumbledore is a Death Eater

The following was written in an email to Mugglecast about a theory regarding Aberrforth. I listened to that Phoenix Wright "OBJECTION" song on repeat while writing this. Can you tell? I have not listened to the latest podcast episode yet, so if someone has pointed this out already, I apologize. Here's my theory: Aberrforth is a death eater. Note: When I refer to "Dumbledore" in this theory, I mean Albus. This is out of habit of course. When you were going over the fine details of Aberrforth in episode 53, I started to notice the striking similarities the "in the background" Aberrforth shared with Professor Quirrell in book 1. Someone who J.K. Sneaks in as a minor character who has a major role in the climax. Here are some examples from the books: 1. What we thought happened: Aberrforth saw Snape eavesdropping on Dumbledore, and barged in to show him. What could have happened: Aberrforth was, in fact, eavesdropping on Dumbledore AS WELL, and used Snape as a scapegoat. 2. What we thought happened: Mungdungus was looking for some extra cash, and sold Sirius Black's stuff. What could have happened: Although Mundungus had no clue that he was selling a potential horcrux to Aberrforth, Aberrforth may have known. Now, you might think, "why wouldn't Dumbledore know about Aberrforth being on the dark side?" Well, perhaps Dumbledore did, but refused to act on it, or believe himself. The following quote is from J.K. Rowling herself: "But I would say that I think it has been demonstrated, particularly in books 5 and 6 that immense brainpower does not protect you from emotional mistakes, and I think Dumbledore really exemplifies that." Now here's something interesting: if Snape is innocent, then what emotional mistakes has Dumbledore made? It could be that he turned a blind eye to Aberrforth. In conclusion: "You have a slightly circuitous answer, but I can't get much closer than that." -Quote from JK regarding Dumbledore's emotional mistakes.

Minime283 Seal

Pretty cool huh? You can make your own seal right here.

StarCraft+TouchScreen on Linux using WINE!!!

This guy has has StarCraft running on a touchscreen monitor.... and it is running on Linux using WINE!!! A must see! This is quite amazing. I really think that this video clip proves why changing the way we interact with games (a la nintendo wii or ds) is for the better. It's a far reach from the DS touch screen and stylus though.

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Guns N' Roses in Gutiar Hero II

WOAH!!! SWEET CHILD OF MINE!!! really...really...want...

Wrong Kind of Spam

So I'm quickly checking my Gmail, and I open my spam folder to empty it out, when I notice something odd about the google news ticker thing. Now for those of you that don't know, Google searches for keywords when using adsense to display relevant ads to the user. For example, if you search google for "candy" the ads will probably be for various types of candy. But adsense is in other places besides google, such as gmail. Adsense searches through your email for keywords to display relevant ads. And now I see Google News must do the same thing, because these are the headlines that showed up: Spam Imperial Tortilla Sandwiches - To serve, cut each roll in half Vineyard Spam Salad - Combine grapes, spam, peapods and onions in large bowl Savory Spam Crescents - Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown Spam Fajitas - Serves 8, add extra salsa if desired Spam Breakfast Burritos - Bake 5-10 minutes, serve with salsa Spam Swiss Pie - Bake 45-55 minutes or until eggs are set Spam Skillet Casserole - Broil until golden Spam Quiche - Makes 4 servings Amusing, to say the least.

Sickening DS Lite Stress Test vid

Hey Mike can I try this on your DS?

Now, you may want to make sure you have a strong stomach before watching this one. For those of us that love our DS Lite like it was a third arm, these hooligans that decided to stress test a DS Lite LCD screen have a video up that will just make you squirm. Apparently, this crew decided to stroll into a local Wal-Mart and squeeze the little guy to see if it'd break under the immense pressure of a gamer's superhuman strength thumbs. Thankfully, the unscientific results are a success and the DS Lite came out alive. Still, there's something about this video that is just utterly disturbing to watch.


Via Joystiq.

Konami Trademarks "Guitar Revolution"

Still Cali. I haven't actually played this game yet =m= Following the rockstar reception Harmonix's Guitar Hero has received, it appears Konami might try to emulate that success by bringing the heretofore Japan-only Guitar Freaks series to the US under the recently trademarked moniker, Guitar Revolution.

Filed on 6/29, the Guitar Revolution covers, "video game machines for use with televisions with video game controller in the form of an electronic toy guitar, sold as a unit." So we think what they're trying to say is you'll be able to buy a killer guitar controller to shred your way through a game. Now it comes down to who gets what songs and whose guitar controller rocks harder. That one just ain't cutting it, Konami.

[Via Gamespot]

Tim Burton to script Grim Fandango

This is Cai here blogging for Mike. Tim Burton = <3 According to an amateurish looking blog dubbed The Movie Center linked to from NeoGAF, director Tim Burton has shown interest in a script based on ... Grim Fandango. Sure, this sounds like a fanboy's wet dream, but the quote presented is not only unsourced, it contains two major spelling errors! "Well, I'm currently woerking on Sweeny Todd, which will be released in mid-2007. After that, I'm gonna start working on a new script that was sent to me recently: Grim Fandango."

We ain't saying these rumors are false, just that they're skimpy. It takes a lot more than some unsourced blog postings to get our fanboy knickers in a knot.

Via Joystiq.

Depp to bring back 21 Jump Street Character?

Although I could care less, about this story, my girlfriend reads this blog and probably would want to read this. Here you go cai: As I've mentioned before, with Pirates of the Caribbean 2 landing in just a few days, Johnny Depp is all over the news this week. According to Contact Music, Stephen Cannell is looking to revive his 21 Jump Street series and turn it into a feature film starring none other than Johnny Depp. You'll remember Depp played Officer Tom Hansen on the original television series, but left the show on bad terms. However, the actor recently said he's keen to bring back the character, but only he gets to play him a certain way. Depp says, "He's out of his mind. He's really old now. But he thinks that he's really young. That I would love to do." Via Cinematical.

Ron Gilbert talks up his new game, a light RPG.

When he isn't busy dressing us down for bullying up on student plays, Ron Gilbert -- the lead designer behind adventure-game classics like Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island -- apparently has lengthy chats with outlets like Gamasutra on what's missing in gaming today (the stories, stupid) and how to fix it (make his game). This excites me. I cannot wait, as I am a huge fan of adventure games and the monkey island series. I'll keep a blogging eye on this guy.

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ScummVM Hits Ver. 0.9.0

The lucasarts SCUMM engine emulator has been updated to Ver. 0.9.0, the most notable improvement being the new pretty GUI. W007. I'll have to wait to get home to check this out, but the GUI looks pretty. I can't wait.

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ScummVM Hits Ver. 0.9.0

The lucasarts SCUMM engine emulator has been updated to Ver. 0.9.0, the most notable improvement being the new pretty GUI. W007. I'll have to wait to get home to check this out, but the GUI looks pretty. I can't wait.

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Top 10 Strangest NES Mods

Now that Im finally graduated, I might have time to try and tackle some modding. Every single one of these looks totally freaking awesome, although probably too difficult for me to try. Check it out.

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The Best Games Never Published

TwitchGuru explores the video game industry's development hell to find the greatest games never published. Ah yes. As soon as I thought this I thought, Sam and Max: Freelance Police. And of course it was there. The last one Other games they talk about: Sim Mars: OMG LOLLERBLADES! This looks pretty sweet. Duke Nukem Forever: It's not officially cancelled, it's just been delayed for nine years. Mother: (Earthbound Zero) Yah, I didn't understand that one either. Star Fox 2: Not a big starfox fan anyways

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Uwe Boll Fights Critics -- Physically

via Cinematical:

Filed under: Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Movie Marketing, Contests, Games and Game Movies

On Cinematical alone, Dr. Uwe Boll has been said to be, "incapable of making a good movie," (by Martha), "mostly bad," (by Karina) and "that wacky German man who likes to call himself a director and has a penchant for creating awful video game to film adaptations," (by Mark). Scott says his movies, "cost nine bucks a ticket, but are actually only worth about 99 cents," and Robert has a lot of bad things to say in his Bloodrayne DVD release post, but I bet you none of the writers on this site have been mean enough to enrage the directing doctor enough to win this contest:

Boll is going to fly the 5 most outspoken critics of his work to Vancouver, put them up in a hotel and cast them as extras in his film Postal. The catch? They have to enter the ring and box with Boll in a 10-bout match, footage of which will appear on the internet and in the movie. The filmmaker shouldn't have trouble finding critics to enter, but anyone interested has to fulfill a requirement. He or she has to have written at least two extremely negative articles about him on the web or in print in 2005. He has already picked out a few people who have posted on the IMDb and has put their user-names in the press release.

"I am fed up," Boll says in the release, "I'm fed up with people slamming my films on the Internet without see them." Well, can we at least make fun of the typos in his press releases? Nah, that isn't as fun.

You can read the rest of the announcement at Skewed & Reviewed.

[via JoBlo]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Now you gotta admit, that is pretty cool. "Your movies suck" "Oh really? Wanna fight?" Instead of making better movies, let's just destroy the critics. He is German after all. I guess thats how germans solve their problems. "I am the sucky directinator."

Top Ten Launch Titles

When I first looked at the TITLE for this, three games immediately came to mind. Super Mario 64 is a given. It was the first 3D platformer, and one of the very first 3D console games. It was revolutionary for it's time. Also, Halo. Why? Because it's Halo. Duh. And of course, the last one that came to mind was Tetris, which is the first game to define handheld gaming. I was pleased to see all three of my predictions on the list. 10) SSX// Playstation 2 9) Virtua Fighter// Sega Saturn 8) Halo: Combat Evolved// Xbox 7) Power Stone// Dreamcast 6) Super Mario World// Super Nintendo Entertainment System 5) Ridge Racer// Playstation 4) Combat// 2600 3) Super Mario 64// Nintedo 64 2) Super Mario Bros.// Nintendo Entertainment System 1) Tetris// Gameboy Of course, I had completely forgotten about the other mario games. This list reminds me of how disappointing the Gamecube launch lineup really was. Two words: Luigi's Mansion. Will Zelda: Twilight Princess blow most of these games out of the water? We shall see...

Bleach Movie Coming In December!

The title pretty much says all I know at this point. Anyone know Japanese?

Zelda: TP Vs OoT?

EGM: Are there any specific criticisms of the last Gamecube Zelda game, The Wind Waker, you’ve tried to address in Twilight Princess? Some people complained it was too short and too easy… EA: With Wind Waker, our goal was to adjust the difficulty so that anyone who bought the game would be able to finish it. But I think in doing so we probably made the game too easy for the people who have been playing Zelda for years. Ocarina of Time is still the pinnacle of the Zelda series in many people’s minds, and we’re looking at making Twilight Princess bigger and grander than that. In terms of dungeon count, Twilight Princess already has more dungeons than Ocarina. Because of that, there are more items… Our real objective with Twilight Princess is to make something the hardcore Zelda fans can look forward to. Man... I'd totally be reading this article IF I WAS GETTING MY FREAKING MAGAZINES!!! ahem. This is exciting. So the Zelda game was pushed into this strange dimension us gamers called "vaporware", accompanying Duke Nukem Forever, Starcraft Ghost, and Spore in the "Will they ever come out?" category. But now it's finally nearing, and It better be worth the wait. Better than Ocarina? I doubt it. Good luck with that. One thing is though, Wind Waker they DID make way too easy. I think this Zelda game is aimed more towards the hardcore gamer, despite the fact that they're trying to go mainstream. They better have used this time to put in more orchestral tracks like that SWEET E3 2005 trailer.

Melee/Brawl Comparison Image

So the Wii is definately more powerful than the gamecube, but not by much. Still, it's good enough for me. I have to admit, a smash bros game with better graphics is intriguing... I would probably get an XBOX-360 if I didn't have a certain addiction to Nintendo's franchises. That's all for now.

Animal Crossing Movie?

Coming out in December. I'm totally torrenting a fansub, although it looks barftastic.

Holy Crap! Cloud in Super Smash Bros Brawl!

Hidden in the trailer itself!

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EGM Subscription Services sucks, part two.

Dear EGM Subscription Services: I recieved my April issue of EGM this morning, which you sent by bulk mail. I was happy to recieve it, but it still frustrates me that it is the only issue I have recieved since I renewed my subscription. I've had frustration with this subscription and the customer service department since I renewed (what I believe) was last december or january. You've been very unhelpful, as here were the responses I was given: "We received your inquiry that you have not received all of your issues. We are unable to explain this problem, as our records show that all issues have been mailed correctly."  "We received your inquiry that you have not received the MAR-06 issue. We are unable to explain this problem, as our records show that all issues have been mailed correctly."  "We received your inquiry that you have not received all of your issues. We are unable to explain this problem, as our records show that all issueshave been mailed correctly. We have verified the mailing address and are showing no problems with the mailing of the issues." I find it odd, these problems, because all of the bills have made it to me just fine, and now this April issue has reached me just fine, but I have not recieved any other issues. As a subscriber, I think it's my right to request that this problem be solved, or that I get a refund. And if the problem is solved, I expect more compensation than just the issues I missed. Thank you for your time. Mike Dorval Frustrated Customer This is the email I sent to EGM Subscription services this morning. Earlier on this blog, you've probably read about the problems I've had with EGM. It's been a pain in the neck. If I stand back and look at it, what are the problems with EGM? Well...

Very friggen expensive

This Crap I've had to put up with...while being more expensive. Whereas I could just simply go to Nintendo Power. I mean, the only thing that keeps me at EGM is the unbiased reviews. But I digress. Hopefully I'll get a more satisfying response than last time, or a refund that I can spend on Nintendo Power. After all...I am a nintendo fanboy... Updates coming...

Top 10 Sci Fi Films

Guardian Unlimited assembled an expert panel to decide the top 10. How does your list coincide? Hmmmm...I'm gonna go through each one and comment on it. 1. Blade Runner (1982) Dir: Ridley Scott A movie sitting on my shelf. I haven't seen it yet, but I should watch it, considering it's number freaking one on this list. 2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Dir: Stanley Kubrick Haven't seen this one either. I've had several chances before when I was very small, but I didn't have the attention span. I should check this one out too. 3. Star Wars (1977)/Empire Strikes Back (1980) Ah here we go. Ever since Episode III came out a lot of people are digging out the original trilogy again and watching it, and realizing how crappy the prequels truely were. I mean, the prequels can't compare with the character development in V. these movies were great Science Fiction movies, but they're more Fantasy really. Timeless. Moving on... 4. Alien (1979) Dir: Ridley Scott Don's favorite movie(s) are the Alien movies, and I sort of like them. The scene with the alien bursting out of the stomach is probably the most famous sci-fi scene of all time. Moving on... 5. Solaris (1972) Dir: Andrei Tarkovsky I really want to see this one after reading the description, so gotta add it to my "movies to see" list. To come to think of it, that's probably a good idea. I'll do that. That way I can remember all these sci-fi movies I need to see. 6. Terminator (1984)/T2: Judgment day (1991) Dir: James Cameron I have the latter 2 of these movies on VHS and I must say, first of all, that the CGI in Judgement day is probably the oldest CGI that you can look at today and not laugh at. It was serious quality for the time, and if you look at it now, it still looks great. Visual Effects aside, however, the ending to Terminator 3 sucks. Which makes me glad that it didn't make it up there. 7. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Dir: Robert Wise Haven't seen this one either. It's pretty old...I wonder if it's in the public domain (IE Bittorrent) 8. War of the Worlds (1953) Dir: Byron Haskin I've seen the Steven Speilberg version of this movie that came out last year, and it was okay. I'd rather read the book than see the 1953 version though. (If only the radio play was recorded) 9. The Matrix (1999) Dir: Andy & Larry Wachowski . Now this is great. This is one of my favoritest movies. This, and The Matrix Reloaded. Not Matrix Revolutions. I really hope that the Wachowski brothers would put some more great stuff out. V for Vendetta was great. One thing this article says about The Matrix is that the science is missing. While that may be true, it was replaced with philosophy and H4X0R15M LAWLS. 10. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Dir: Steven Spielberg Haven't seen this one either...hmm.... Allright, so what did I think was missing? Lemme think about that for a sec... -While I want to associate HGTTG with everything Science Fiction, I can't here, cause the movie wasn't that great -It's too soon to declare Serenity an instant Sci-Fi classic, time will tell. But if you haven't seen this movie, see it! Wow, my mind's gone blank. Post in the comments if you think of any! Later.

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Nintendo Monopoly?

Go directly to Jail... Do not pass go... Do not collect 200 rupees. Man, I don't know if this is fake or not, but it is so awesome. Yes, I do have 5 different versions of monopoly already...but this would be great! It would be so awesome. To be able to buy hyrulian things and the mushroom kingdom and Luigi's mansion, would be a lot of fun. I hope it isn't fake.

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"Wii"

"Introducing ... Wii. As in "we." While the code-name "Revolution" expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer. Wii will break down that wall that separates video game players from everybody else. Wii will put people more in touch with their games ... and each other. But you're probably asking: What does the name mean?" "Wii sounds like 'we,' which emphasizes this console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii." "Wii has a distinctive "ii" spelling that symbolizes both the unique controllers and the image of people gathering to play. And Wii, as a name and a console, brings something revolutionary to the world of video games that sets it apart from the crowd." "So that's Wii. But now Nintendo needs you. Because, it's really not about you or me. It's about Wii. And together, Wii will change everything." -From a Nintendo Press Release Okay. So. Nintendo Wii. Umm...salty? Allright. The entire internet is in an uproar. Most people, I can tell, don't like the name "Wii". So it's up to us Nintendo Fanboys to be pro-nintendo and stick up for them. Which would be rather difficult. However, I kind of like the name. First of all, console names are getting way too freaking long. For example: "This game is going out for the XBox three sixty, the playstation three, and the revolution." Now if Nintendo was to keep their revolution codename, podcasters around the globe would be very angry at them. "Playstation 3" is a 4 syllables, minimum 3. XBOX360 is 5 syllables, minimum 3. And Wii, no matter which way you say it, is just one syllable. Code names are code names people. You will get used it. No one calls the gamecube the "Dolphin" anymore. Okay, the second thing: Originality. There's no sense in denying that "Wii" is an original name. It's unique in the sense that no one has ever used it before. Allright. Here's where I'm getting at. Playstation, yes, the playstation. Then after that...oh wait, the playstation 2! How original! And then...yes...The Playstation 3! These guys are bubbling with originality! If you read the press release above, Nintendo has obviously put a lot of thought into this. Sony however, when naming the playstation, was out of ideas and decided to use the name of the unreleased SNES CD drive (that they co-created) Plus, when someone looks at the word "Wii" they think, "oh wow, how different. I've got to have that." Instead of looking at it and saying "This isn't named the same as my console with 1 (or 359) added to it. I'm so confused. Help me." And yet, at the same time, what's in a name? Am I being too analytical? You see I'm not too fond of the Playstation 2 and Playstation 3 names, but does that make a difference? The Playstation 2 won the last console war no doubt about that. Here's what I see: Someone needs to defend Nintendo. Feel free to leave rebuttals in the comments.

WHAT IS BLIZZARD SMOKING???

Okay. My very first blog post on this blogger account. Blizzard cancels Starcraft: Ghost for the gamecube for a lack of online mode. Nintendo fanboys (including myself) cry out in a sort of sadness and terror. We feel cheated. Next, Starcraft Ghost is put on hold indefinately, and everyone forgets about the vaporware. Then, it's announced as a REVOLUTION EXCLUSIVE. Yes, you read that right. Okay perhaps not exclusive, but they refuse to confirm it for any other platform. What are they playing at? To us Nintendo fans, it's like that girl who dumps us and then wants us back all of the sudden...and wants to marry us. What the crap just happened? Don't get me wrong, I'm genuinely happy right now. It was just an unexpected move from Blizzard. Woot for Blizzard. I don't think this is the last move for blizzard to the revolution either. The revo-remote would work better for translating games to the PC that wouldn't work as well with the gamepad. Key point: Real Time Strategy. 'Nuff said. And Starcraft 64 doesn't count. I salute you all. Source: http://www.nwizard.com/web/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163&Itemid=0 Not exactly sure if it's reliable, in fact I can pretty much guarantee it isn't, but it's interesting enough to vent on.

Why just play Rock. Paper and Scissors when you can...

...play rock, gun, lightning, devil, dragon, water, air, paper, sponge, wolf, tree, human, snake, scissor and fire. The ultimate RPS mod. So awesome...

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EGM Subscription Services or Subscription Frauds? (Update 1)

So I renew my EGM subscription, shortly after it expires, and I choose "bill me later" They sure don't waste any time, I get a bill approximately two weeks later in the mail. It tells me "Thank you for subscribing to EGM, the first issue is on it's way. (Pay attention, there will be a test later.) I find something else rather odd about the subscription letter. It's worded somewhat forcefully. Now I have to paraphrase, because I no longer have this letter, but it says stuff like "Do yourself a favour and pay your bill promptly" This is one of the first letters I've ever gotten that looks like it's been written by the mafia. I believe it was about a month or two before I sent the bill, with a cheque, back to EGM. And by that time I was slightly irritated. Normally, a magazine subscription would suggest that you get an issue every month, but I still had not got my first issue yet. About two weeks later, I get an envelope in the mail that says We are currently processing your subscription, but will not continue to do so unless you pay your bill. (Again, a paraphrase. Now for this, I was furious. I emailed EGM, asking them why my MAR-06 (keep in mind this is sent around Feb. 1) hasn't arrived yet. I get a response saying: Dear Subscriber, We received your inquiry that you have not received the MAR-06 issue. We are unable to explain this problem, as our records show that all issues have been mailed correctly. To compensate for issue(s) missed your service has been extended. Your new expiration date is MAR-07. Thank you for alerting us to this problem. Sincerely, Tracey Customer Service I was somewhat stunned, as I had not expected that they had "already sent" this issue. Something seems fishy here. After all, if they have the wrong address or something, how come I keep on getting the bills...but not the issue? I email them back asking them to resend the MAR-06 issue. I get a response saying: * Unfortunately, we no longer have the requested issue available to resend. To compensate for issue(s) missed your service has been extended. Thank you for alerting us to this problem. Now I decide to let this slide, just once, as this is a reasonable response. As of writing this, it is April 3, and I haven't gotten my APR-07 issue (again, sent around Mar. 1) so, I sign in to customer service, and this pops up. Your current subscription will be expiring in the next few months. To avoid a lapse in service, please take a moment to renew your subscription today. Now I am completely furious about this. I email EGM again: Dear EGM: I have still not recieved an issue of EGM since I first renewed several months ago. I complained about not getting a MAR-06 issue a while ago and now I haven't gotten my APR-06 issue either. Also, when I go into customer support on www.neodata.com, it informs me that: Your current subscription will be expiring in the next few months. To avoid a lapse in service, please take a moment to renew your subscription today. This is completely unacceptable. I want my APR-06 issue or a full refund. Mike Dorval Updates shortly. Update 1: Got an email from EGM, again said that they didn't understand why I'm not recieving my issues, and then said that they're resending the April 06 issue, and I should get it between 6-8 weeks. Hmmmm... I'm starting to think maybe its Canada Post's fault, but I doubt it at the same time. I'll continue to update.

No fun being dead.com

This site to prevent drunk driving is the most hilarious site ever. It's no fun being dead.

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Metal Gear Awesome

This is awesome. A flash cartoon hosted from deviantart. See it here and laugh your face off. Excessive Swearing/Violence Warning.

Baptism!

Hey everyone! I haven't blogged for a while, sorry bout that. I plan to be back blogging soon. But in the meantime, I was baptised today! I was really nervous, but everything seemed to go okay. Below is courtesy of a new site called YouTube. It's a place that hosts videos in a flash-based player. Unfortunately, the camera shut off before the actual baptism. :(. But I can still talk about it! The water was very cold. It was an amazing experience for me and I was happy for the rest of the day. I can't describe how awesome it felt. Pastor Glen asked me if I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior, and I said yes. I started to shiver a bit. And then he said something along the lines of "and you want the whole world to know about it." And I said yes. I was then dipped into the water and felt a sort of cleansing. I was only underwater for a sec. And then I came out and everyone clapped. I saw a lot of people there. It was really great, everyone came to talk to me, and I had a very good time. It was nice to have a lot of people there. There were some who couldn't make it, and that's why I wrote this bog and put up the youtube thing. So you guys can check it out. Don't feel bad if you couldn't make it. After the baptism, I hung around to talk to everyone and me, Callyn, my family, and Glen and Andrew went to East Side Marios. That was fun too. I felt spoiled. Tonight we're having steak, and Dan's coming over. I've said thank you a lot today, and smiled a lot today, and now my face muscles hurt. So I look like :< but I really am happy! Like I said, today was a happy day for me. To my blog readers (if you're still reading) Don't worry. I will commence my regular blogging soon. *cough*Shaw*cough*

Nintendo DS LITE - finally revealed?

Unlike the others, this one is actually hosted on the Nintendo Japan site so I guess this is it. There are some specs but it's all in Japanese. It's a good thing I don't have a job yet otherwise I would have gotten the older DS already. This one looks friggen awesome. I did some calculations and it turns out it costs the same as the DS costs now, (although there'd probably be a price drop when it's released), I think I'd rather get this than the current DS. If I ever get a job.

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Digg: Tech Site and bash Christianity site?

This has been a problem I've started to notice with digg as it starts to grow, a lot of stories are sneaking through that aren't tech related. There's a whole bunch of anti-christian articles that pop up on digg for no apparent reason. For example: Skate For The Lord - "Jesus Is Way Cool...., man" submitted by yukevster 35 days ago An Alabama church holds a "Fear Factor" youth ministry event, where teens swallow goldfish and try to escape a locked coffin... oohh, it's just sooo cool! I wanna be a Christian too! Yay!...... Now there have been quite a few bash Christianity links lately, but this one, that I saw on my RSS a while ago, was the one that really bothered me. First of all, this has no tech related stuff whatsoever in the article. Second of all, the article itself is actually quite interesting. It talks about how Christian teens have become more prominent in the states. I recommend you read it. Third of all, But back to my rant. There's also something else: Just because some christians attack offensive movies and whatnot, doesn't mean all of us do. I wouldn't want to be put under the label of Jack Thompson for example. Keep in mind that the stories that say "Christians sue" and "Christains attack" don't necessarily represent all of us. And yes, fellow christians, we have been using digg for the wrong purposes as well. Digg is not the way to spread the word of god, unless it is tech related. You may notice the above article was written differently. I hope to submit this to digg so that maybe some people would read it and stop doing this stuff. I salute you. (If you like this blog, please digg it)

Jack Thompson Threatens Take-Two

You have until five oâ??clock p.m., Tuesday, January 17, 2006, to announce a recall from all retailers of all of the aforementioned three game titlesâ??The Warriors, Manhunt, and all versions of the Grand Theft Auto gamesâ??or I and others shall proceed to secure appropriate remedies against your company in these regards. Allrighty then. Violent video games...are bad. I am warning you, take them away. I mean it. Take them off the freaking shelves. If you don't...I'll kill you with my bare hands. Jack Thompson decides that after everything he's tried, he might as well just try and ask. Not much else to say about that. Shrugs.

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Mathematical proof that 1=2 and all people in Canada are the same age.

This site uses seemingly sound logic to prove absolutely absurd things. The first proof (that 1=2) is a classic and the error in logic is relatively easy to spot but for the rest of them trying to find fallacy could be frustrating ( luckily they also give the answer away if you get stuck ). This is really interesting, but I suck at these. Dan - check out the first one. It sort of explains the 0/0 thing.

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ouch. OUCH.

Okay, so I was excited today. A new keynote at macworld was gonna be today. Yay. I thought, maybe they might unveil the intel mac. Or maybe (but luckily not) a new ipod. But they unveiled the intel imacs and powerbooks. And all I can say is, ouch. I always heard that the intel macs would be cheaper, but I didn't believe it. This new mac has an intel processor, a 2.0 Ghz dual core. Now, what I gather from this is, that since its dual core, there's actually 2 Ghz processors on the same chip, making the clockspeed closer to 4 Ghz. I'm not sure about this, but the "2x-3x faster" logo on apple's site seems to confirm this. The price of this thing is $1499 Canadian. I can't remember what we spent on the G5, but I'm pretty sure it was cheaper than that. The Apple store lists two imac G5s, one for 1.9 Ghz and one for 2.1 Ghz, and ours is 2.0 Ghz, so its neither. The 1.9 Ghz is listed for $1499. So ours was probably a bit cheaper than that. So we bought this imac G5, and a few months later this imac comes out. Now when the intel runs PPC programs, its going to need to use an emulator, but the PPC won't be able to run intel programs. Meaning eventually the PPC will be as obsolete as OS9. Plus, with the intel mac being twice as powerful, it probably won't have any problem running PPC programs. Here's a recap: 1. The intel imac is cheaper or roughly the same price. 2. The intel imac is twice as powerful. 3. The intel imac will not go obsolete. Yet we got the PPC imac. Again, ouch! I thought it might be a mistake to get this thing with the intel macs around the corner, but reasoning told me otherwise. In conclusion, ouch. Linkingment Linkee

Joystiq-A warning regarding Grandma's Boy

-The movie is occasionally very, very funny. Tears streaming down the face funny. (This doesn't mean it's good. A good funny movie is a movie in which the spread between bad and good is relatively narrow and the movie is consistently funny. This one rollercoasters from high to low.) -According to Joystiq's very own Chris Grant, who granted us an exclusive post-movie interview, the movie "succeeded in one arena that almost every movie involving video games fails at miserably: it captured much of gaming culture pretty well to varying degrees of accuracy." The actors used real controllers and played real games with them. Easier said than done, as so few movies get it right. -The way we see it, there are two audiences for this movie. Potheads and hardcore gamers. If you're the former, there are better ways to spend $10. If you're the latter, there are better ways to spend $10. If you're both, well, go see it. It's not like you'll remember to come back here and flame us for recommending it to you. Overall rating within the entire universe of films: 4.0 / 10 Rating within the subset of movies significantly about video games: 9.5 / 10 -Via Joystiq Original Article I'm not sure what to think of this gaming movie. I've heard about it for a while, and apparently a lot of the shirts that are on it are from Jinx.com. It'd probably be an interesting thing to watch with Dan and Don when it hits the movie channel, but I wouldn't watch it in theaters over V for Vendetta, Chronicles of Narnia or King Kong.

The Canadian itunes music store sucks

Hey everyone, You're probably wondering why I didn't blog much in December. Well, frankly, not much really pissed me off in December. It's Christmas. However, here's something that really has pissed me off lately. Since I am a Mac user, I use iTunes a lot. When the iTMS was introduced, I was excited to browse through all of the exclusives and there were a lot of good songs in there. One particular song was Less Than Jake - History of A Boring Town Acoustic Version. The Acoustic Version of what has been for several years, and is, my favorite song of all time. If you have not heard of this song, go download it. It's part of the album Hello Rockview. I vowed that once the iTunes music store came to Canada, I would buy that song. When the Canadian Music Store finally came, I was hit with a different problem. No credit card. I couldn't convince my parents to use theirs but they said eventually we'd sign up. So I decide to hold off. When I check the music store in Canada, I see to my dismay that they no longer have Less Than Jake - History of A Boring Town Acoustic Version. I lose interest in the store. I see a few other exclusives I'm interested in - Sum41 and Yellowcard, and keep them in mind. Just recently, we signed up to the iTunes music store. I was browsing through the music in this store when a thought suddenly occurs to me: what if the Less Than Jake song is only available on the American store? So I go check. Yes, it's right there. The song I want. Just out of reach. And There's no possible way to get it. As the end-user licensing agreement states: Purchases from the iTunes Music Store are available only in the United States and are not available in any other location. You agree not to use or attempt to use the service from outside of the available territory. Apple may use technologies to verify such compliance. In other words, screw you. But here's the crazy part. When I remember about the Yellowcard and Sum41 tracks on the Canadian Music Store, I look for the tracks and see that they're gone! They have actually been taken offline of the store. This is stupid. SUM41 IS A CANADIAN BAND!!! And yet, they're still online. On the American store. So how many exclusives DOES the Canadian itunes music store have at this point? I decided to try something: Search for the term "itunes exclusive" in the American store and then the Canadian store. American Store: 79 album results Canadian Store: 34 album results And that doesn't even begin to encompass most of the exclusives. For example. The three exclusives I was looking for above- Sum 41, Yellowcard, and Less Than Jake, did not even fall under the search "itunes exclusive" Is there a reason why itunes is like this? Is Apple encouraging piracy in Canada? That is a long shot, but it is interesting to note that Canada doesn't have a DMCA like the states and downloading (as far as I know) is perfectly legal here. Might the only way I am able to get this song is through piracy? There's another thing about the Canadian iTunes music store which is completely and utterly retarded. I'm sure you've heard of this thing called the iPod Video. Well, recently, the iPod video was released, and in the American iTunes Music Store, you could download TV Shows, Music Videos, and Pixar Shorts. Up here, no TV Shows for us. All of us Canadians should bind together and form a protest group called "iTunes sucks, eh?" I salute you all.

iTunes now features Customer Reviews on Podcasts

It seems now that itunes has the ability to write a review on a podcast.

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Awesome Zelda Sprite Comic

Hey This is a Zelda Sprite Comic that I feel doesn't get as much credit as it deserves. It features Link, Navi, Pit from Kid Icarus, and Bub from Bubble Bobble. I hope this catches on... I watch this comic as often as I watch CtrlAltDel and VgCats!

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Adam Curry Caught in Sticky Wiki

Former MTV veejay and podcasting entrepreneur Adam Curry appears to have been caught anonymously editing the podcasting entry on Wikipedia to remove credit from other people and inflate his role in its creation. I listened to one of Adam Curry's podcasts, Podfinder, a while ago, and just by the way he talks this story doesn't surprise me. Wikipedia isn't really that great of a source. I like to use it to look up trivial information such as timelines for books or to just explore, but this proves how easy it is to change. I did not know that Wiki saves your IP address. I'm very impressed by this, this definately proves that Wikipedia is somewhat legitimate. PS I thought this was funny, the comments made on the story: Why do YOU care? Because I am a bad person, Charles. That's going to be my standard disclaimer from now on whenever somebody wanders in here to challenge me on professional, ethical, temporal, spiritual, astral, or ethereal grounds. I was born bad. And I only got worse. Rogers Cadenhead | 2005-12-01 07:42 PM | link Is Charles his real name? I want to have his baby. Suzy Creamcheese | 2005-12-01 07:57 PM | link For what it's worth, I really like tacos. Jimbo | 2005-12-01 07:59 PM | link

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20 Games That Nobody Played - But You Should

See the best of what most gamers missed out on over the last 2 decades. Wide range from early Nintendo and Sega to Current-Gen. I honestly do not recognize any game on here except for Puyo Pop Fever-but I'm glad that game is getting some credit, eh Dan?

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Mr. P is L337, P4r7 3

Mr P is L337

Mr P is L337 P4r7 2

The Vice Principal is taking in all of the Honors English people and interviewing them about Mr. P. He asked us questions about the girl who reported to the Principal, and about how Mr. P apparently singled her out. I don't remember if this happened or not, but it does sound vagueley familiar... I sent Mr. P an email of encouragement. I think he appreciated it. Stay tuned for updates.

Half-Life 2 Goldeneye mod available on Christmas Day

Half-Life 2 Goldeneye mod available on Christmas Day

Back in September we brought you word of some enterprising gamers’ attempts to recreate Goldeneye as a mod for Half-Life 2. Development has been progressing on the efforts to create Goldeneye:Source and there’s good news—for people interested in testing and helping with the mod, alpha release is just around the corner.

As a Christmas present to the gaming community, the alpha release will be available on the 25th December, and (according to its website) will include:

• 8 weapons: PP7, KF7, AutoShotgun, ZMG, Golden Gun, Proximity/Remote/Timed mines, and both the throwing and hunting knives.
• 4 maps: Facility, Facility Backzone, Egyptian, Control.
• 3 character models: Bond, Oddjob, Ourumov.
• 3 gameplay modes: Deathmatch, License to Kill, Man with a Golden Gun.

We’ve also uncovered word of a Perfect Dark 2 source mod; despite this age of high-definition sequels, sometimes the classics have as much allure as ever.

[Update - there’s also a Perfect Dark: Source mod; thanks, Tarek]

[Via Joystiq] I sooo wish I could get this game... Friggen awesome... imagine how awesome it would be to play these old N64 games with Half Life 2 graphics. I wish I could play it...

Ebert: video games inherently inferior to film and literature

Ebert: video games inherently inferior to film and literature

Roger Ebert is arguably the world’s best-known movie critic, but his knowledge of video games appears to be nominal at best (and blatantly ignorant at worst).

Consider his online response (3rd question down) to a fan who asks why Ebert won’t broaden his horizons for games as he has for comic books and animation: “Yours is the most civil of countless messages I have received after writing that I did indeed consider video games inherently inferior to film and literature. There is a structural reason for that: Video games by their nature require player choices, which is the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires authorial control.”

The second paragraph of his response demands direct quotations as well: ”[T]he nature of the medium prevents it from moving beyond craftsmanship [however elegant or sophisticated] to the stature of art. To my knowledge, no one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great dramatists, poets, filmmakers, novelists and composers…. for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available tomake ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic.”

Wait, so Roger Ebert is unfamiliar with the linear storylines and cutscene extravaganzas already cliched in console RPGs these days? Has no one deigned to show him a Metal Gear Solid or even the original Xenosaga yet? Or did those wacky endings in fighting games turn him off from the possibility of games with cinematic storytelling forever?
[Via Joystiq] My Thumb is Down I remember when I was watching Ebert and Roeper once, they were reviewing Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Ebert said "This movie is based on a video game, so I suggest buying the video game and boring yourself instead of paying this movie to do it for you." That really rubs me the wrong way. I understand why he wouldn't want to play video games, but to insult them without research is unprofessional. Ebert has this attitude of "If you play one game, you've played them all." And assumes that all video games have a plot equivalent to Pong. He really bothers me, but then again, he's no Jack Thompson.

The Pong Clock

(also includes a Link to a QT movie) The Pong Clock plays a random game of Pong that goes on for 24 hours at a time � right side wins every minute, left side wins every hour. We�re scratching everything else off our list this year � this is the only thing we want. This has got to be one of my favoritest stories ever. I WANT one of these. It's so awesome.

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Conversation with a N00b

Never give out your password or credit card number in an instant message conversation. To help prevent infection by a computer virus or worm, never accept or open any file or link in an instant message until you verify its authenticity with the sender. BRAMILTON says: (10:03:07 PM) what does ur name stand for (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:05:15 PM) what do you mean? BRAMILTON says: (10:05:45 PM) the L337 H4XX0R (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:05:54 PM) lol (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:06:03 PM) "Leet Haxxor" BRAMILTON says: (10:06:29 PM) what the fuck is that (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:06:57 PM) its a nerd thing, you wouldn't understand (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:07:04 PM) you're too much of a n00b BRAMILTON says: (10:07:21 PM) ahah whats a n00b suposed to be (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:09:19 PM) newbie. (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:09:24 PM) It's a geek insult, see (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:09:49 PM) if someone goes into a game and is like "What's a spacebar" they're considered a noob  (--Mîké--)Mr Paul is such a L337 H4XX0R (minime283.blogspot.com) Cai says: (10:09:55 PM) and they are ridiculed BRAMILTON says: (10:10:03 PM) ahhaha k

Huge church made of Lego�

An amazing Lego project: a gigantic church complete with pews, pipe organ, congregation, glass windows, etc. Check it out! Blink. Blink Blink. WOAH!1

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Jack Thompson kicked out of court

Jack Thompson's Alabama License Revoked. Controversial attorney thrown off of GTA lawsuit. Oh wow. Check this out: In our previous coverage of the trial, we reported that Thompson had voluntarily withdrawn from the case because he felt that the "other side [meaning the trial defendents] wants to make me the issue." However, Judge Moore, the case's presiding jurist, issued a stinging 18-page report in which the judge rejected Thompson's claim of voluntary removal and stated that Thompson was effectively thrown off the case for actions "before this Court [that] suggest that he is unable to conduct himself in a manner befitting practice in this state." Furthermore, Moore has referred Thompson's conduct to Disciplinary Commission of the Alabama Bar for "appropriate action." Such actions could potentially include complete permanent disbarrment from the practice of law in the state of Alabama. I feel like christmas has come early. Yay.

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Mr. P is L337, P4r7 2

Please read part 1 before proceeding forth. You cannot imagine what the mood was like in english class this morning. It was one of the most unique moments in class I've ever been in. Mr. P starts off the class by saying that he got home last night and then put on some music and then went to bed. The interesting thing is that you could tell that the whole english class knew what happened yesterday after school with honor's english. Even though there were only about 7 of us there at the time. "I have a...meeting...that I might need to go to at 8:45." Mr. P says. "In fact, I almost guarantee it." Then at 8:45 the Vice Principle walked in. The room fell entirely silent. Complete...eerie...tense silence. You have never heard a classroom this silent in your life. Mr. P walks out of the room, and a student passes him a note. It says, "We won't forget you if you become an unperson." After about 30 seconds of silence from when Mr. P left, the room erupted into conversation. At around 9:30, Mr. P went back in and stunned everyone. He had a smile on his face. He didn't lose his job, and something is probably gonna be done about honor's english. The rest of the message I got from Mr. P was criptic. He said that our 'I's would be changed, and that they would be meeting again for two weeks. He said the meeting was with The Principal and Vice Principal and someone from the school district. He said they were meeting again in two weeks. He definately seemed to be in a good mood though. He told us all of our marks and adjusted them through the 10% he got back. I'm telling you, that class was such an interesting class in the way that Mr. P taught us. He knew that everyone in the class knew what happened, yet he never mentioned one word about it. Stay tuned for updates.

Mr. P is L337

All right. Now everyone is furious at my school's english teacher, (for anonimity reasons, we'll call him Mr. P.) l at the moment. First I'm going to tell you why. Honors Engilsh is a course at lunch time put on by the principal. It adds 10% to your English mark. When Mr. P heard about this, he was furious. He's had problems with the principal before, and he's retiring this year. So he didn't want the principal to mess up his evaluation. At the end of class today, Mr. P told all of us in honor's english to stay behind after class. He explained to us that he's going to give us an "I" until this whole honors english thing is resolved. Now a lot of people were understandably upset by this, but if you're upset at Mr. P, consider this:

Mr. P doesn't really want us to graduate with 'I's. When this I is replaced with a real letter grade, the I will be forgotten. It won't affect our ability to get into university, scholarships or anything like that.

I don't think Mr. P wants to affect our OVERALL grade. Just temporarily.

Mr. P is doing the one thing that not enough people do. He's standing up for his beliefs. He's showing no fear. He knows his job's on the line and he wants to accomplish this before he retires.

I am not going to get into the problems I've had with the administration in general of my school, but I really don't like the principal, and especially the vice principal. At the moment, I'm on Mr. P's side. I salute Mr. P and wish him the best of luck in this war. Stay tuned to this blog for updates.

RealPlayer

I HATE REALPLAYER!!! Something I never understood is why Realplayer is as successful as it is, and why it isn't living in a cardboard box in the gutters of Software city. I dread whenever I download a .rm and .ram file..which requires me to open this horrid program. The other day, I decided to go and download RealPlayer8. When I went to install it, The following message popped up: Your current volume has 0 kb available. You need 9874 kb. Wow. My hard drive has 0 kb and it's still running. Now THAT'S an accomplishment. So anyways, What I do next is decide to download Realplayer 7. Who cares if the version is one less? Well then it can't create a folder in the preferences. It doesn't say WHY it can't create this particular folder, just says that it can't. After all, why should you, the user, know exactly why the installer is incompetent of doing a simple task? So then I go to the Real support forums. I type up the problems I had with installing RealPlayer 8 and 7 and then submit it to the support forums. What an interesting place that is. When I check back the next day, there is no response, but one of the Real Player employees fixed some errors I made in the post. Thanks, Real, thanks. Another thing that's interesting is the actual posts on the support forums. It seems I'm not the only one who is having problems with this program:

Help me PLEASE

ERROR MESSAGE: UNABLE TO CREATE %INSTALL% CACHE - GRRRRRr

Please HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't play CDs offline now that Real Player is installed.

Why can't real player see that I have a blank CD in my CD-R drive?

i can't play dvds anymore....why me lord? why me?

An error message appears when i try to play a cd

Can not play files

So when I finally find out what's wrong, something that has not bothered any other program I have ever installed but bothers RealPlayer in particular...and then I run the program. Ouch. The program is completely and totally covered with digital feces. On the right I have "channels" for things I will never use. I have the filename path, bars underneath and overtop, all over the place. Little useless buttons. The interface is so expensive to your computer that it sometimes laggs terribly while playing video, which is its PRIMARY FUNCTION. Of course, that is just me and my obsolete computer talking, but still. What is it that makes RealPlayer popular in the first place? Well...the answer is .rm. I am astounded at how well the .rm codec is compressed and yet it still retains its quality. This is probably why RealPlayer has been able to survive all these years. However, with the introduction of DivX, XviD, 3ivX, and other codecs whose names prove the unoriginality of computer programmers, RealPlayer's time may be almost up. Keep in mind this whole blog is all about RealPlayer 8, which is 5 years old. I haven't (fortunately) had to use the new RealPlayers yet, but I have a feeling they're going further in this direction just by looking at real.com.

The Ultimate Guide to Google Services

Ever wonder how many different services Google provides? Yeah, quite a few, and here is a list of their current offerings. Google owns EVERYTHING! How did a freaking search bar become so successful? They're gonna take over everything Microsoft currently monopolizes and make their own OS. I mean... LOOK AT THIS LIST!!! Google owns blogger. Google has Gmail, whose userbase is growing. Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Desktop, Google Answers, Froogle, GOOGLE BASE GOOGLE ANSWERS GOOGLE THIS GOOGLE THAT GOOGLE OWNS THE INTERNET GOOGLE IS YOUR LEADER. LONG LIVE BIG GOOGLE. Check the list.

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Geek Love Poem Shirt

Hey guys I saw this shirt on ThinkGeek and wanted to share it with you.

Review: Dr. Strangelove

This film highlights the brilliance of Peter Sellers. If you don't know who that is, he played Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies. This film was made in the cold war, in black in white (even though this was after the time of black and white). Sellers plays 3 parts in this movie: Assistant to Jack D. Ripper, the President of the United States, and the best character ever, Dr. Strangelove: A wheel-chair bound German scientist. Overall, the jokes in this movie were funny and Peter Sellers was brilliant. A few problems I had with this movie: That Dr. Strangelove does not get enough screen time, even though the movie is named after him... and there are long periods in the movie that aren't funny. Overall, the movie was good. I give it (4/5).

Douglas Adams on Windows '95

"The author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy takes on Bill Gates" (NOTE: article dating back to 1995) Okay, you may or may not have heard of Douglas Adams. He wrote The hitchiker's guide to the galaxy series and the Dirk Gently series. Well it turns out this guy was a mac fanboy! Look at some of the things he says about microsoft, priceless! "the song which is better known for its catchy refrain "You make a grown man cry". This is a phrase you may hear a lot of over the next few days as millions of people start trying to install Windows 95. Even the best designed systems can be a nightmare to upgrade, but whatever things Microsoft may be famous for, good systems design is not, as it happens, one of them." "However, the Macintosh is not the last word in interface design, and if Microsoft had been the innovative company it calls itself, it would have taken the opportunity to take a radical leap beyond the Mac, instead of producing a feeble, me-too imitation."

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I'm on the YouthQuake Homepage!

Wow! Joey pointed out to me that I'm on the youthquake homepage! Just go here and click on photo gallery, and I'm on the bottom right. Awesome eh?

Zelda OOT Graphics Update Finished

Djipi has finaly finished his updated graphics mod for Zelda OOT, and frig does it look good.

Shweeeeet. I want.

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Awesome Yoda Video

Like this video you will. Hmmmmm....Yessss...

The video is actually an easter egg from the Star Wars Episode III DVD. Can you believe it?

8 Nintendo Famicoms make sweet music

The musician known as 6955 isn’t any old two-bit fiddler. He’s strung together an array of eight Nintendo Famicoms (pictured here) and linked ‘em to a Roland TR-606 and uses it all to make some thumpy, industrial 8-bit music.

We are both scared and excited for the 8-bit music movement to tip into mainstream acceptance. You might say it already has, what with Beck incorporating music generated on Game Boys into his music, but we’d like to see one of the 8-bit-boys (or girls) make it big.

[Via FFWD link log]

Via Joystiq. I'm interested to hear what this would sound like...

Mario Power Blocks

We’re going to have to try our damnedest to resist dangling these speakers from the ceiling and jumping up to hit them in the hopes of flipping all our enemies on their backs, or obtaining a fire flower or 1-up mushroom. (We hear we only get one life in this game anyway.)

[Via Akihabara News]

Via Joystiq

I really want one of these so I can blast video game music on them

Blockbuster reports $491 mil loss for third quarter

Blockbuster Inc. on Tuesday posted a hefty third-quarter loss of $491.4 million, thanks in part to tighter margins due to cutting late fees. The movie-rental giant, led by CEO John Antioco, left, reported revenue of $1.39 billion. NO MORE LATE FEES! Let's see how long this lasts... Shows how much friggen money they were making off late fees anyways.

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Dan's Blog

Dan has a blog now! Its One Dan's Opinion

I thought up the name. Isn't it cool?

Gamecube AT-AT Mod

Luke, I am your Gamcube. (has to be the coolest GameCube Mod) Wow.

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Cai's Blog

My Girlfriend has a blog! Check it out at Ghostbusting for Coffee From what I've seen, it will probably include a lot of artistic stuff, like artwork and poetry. Cai's very good at art. Check out her deviantart account here. A lot of my friends have blogs now, if you're interested in checking them out, check out my links!

WarioWare's lessons for game design

Game Studies, “the international journal of computer game research,” has posted a review of WarioWare (Gameboy Advance) focusing on the academic merit of the title. The author of the review believes that WarioWare has lots to teach us about game design. It’s a review from a different perspective, making a number of good points.

For the attention-deficit gamer, here are a few highlights:

• ”WarioWare is crammed full of parody, subversion, and quotation of game clichés and conventions.”
• “WarioWare is … a text that uses the representational strategies of a medium to reflect upon that same medium.”
• Just as short stories are the short form of novels and short films are abbreviated feature-length films, “WarioWare demonstrates the ultra-short form of video games: the five second micro game.”
• ”By pushing the formal boundaries of game complexity to a bare minimum [through very simple controls], WarioWare foregrounds the essential elements of what makes a video game a video game.”
• ”Thinking of games as unified strands of discrete forms would let us understand how game designs are recombined, inherited, and mutated over time.”

The review merits more attention than we have space to give it, so put on your tweed jacket and see if you can unpack these ludic semiologies. Via Joystiq I really think WarioWare is a 1337 and unique game, that it should be given a little more credit. A game doesn't need to be a new franchise to be original- just look at Wario Ware Twisted and Touched! (And even Party) Party is awesome. :D

What's New for 2006 - Apple: Intel Inside

Two worlds will collide in 2006, producing the first systems capable of running both Windows and Mac OS. (Maybe.) "Also, look for some hacked-together systems (not released by Apple) in which an Apple computer runs Windows or dual-boots both OSs. Asked about that possibility when he made the Intel announcement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs seemed resigned to it. Apple will neither sell nor support such a thing, but "that doesn't preclude someone from running [Windows] on a Mac," he said. "They probably will."" That would be interesting. A Mac/Windows/Linux Computer. I would love something like that...a computer in which compatability is no longer an issue. In fact, I'll bet you a lot of people would love that. I expect this may allow Apple to get a larger market share. Level the playing field.

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