I dunno who actually reads this anymore. Gone are the days in which 25 comments was a small number for me and we broke 70 frequently. Facebook is just that much better than this I guess.

Anyhow, being the Zelda freak that I am, I'm excited for the new DS game Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6dgiMig8Bk

It looks like it'll turn out really well, and it's been confirmed that the difficulty will be upped from Phantom Hourglass.

This excitement has led me to replay possibly my favorite game ever.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

Ya ya I know I always say Ocarina of Time is my favorite game ever but come to think of it I haven't played WW for 6 years and if my memories of it are even slightly correct it's the most fun I've ever had with a video game. I sold it a while back along with all my GCN stuff to get a new guitar, but it's only $18 used at Game Stop so I figured I could pick it up and play through it all again.

I recently started to replay Twilight Princess, another fantastic game, but I realized how long it had been since I played Wind Waker and how it had only been about a year and a half since I played TP last. Then the more I thought about it, I remembered that Wind Waker was the better game, so I halted TP after Goron Mines (one of the best dungeons ever) and switched over to Wind Waker.

Also, I've decided my top 3 video games ever:

1. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

2. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

3. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Yup..... all LoZ. They're just way too good.

Well we're almost 2/3 of the way through the year so I felt it might be time for an update on the whereabouts of best movies and games of the year. Sadly I haven't bought many new album releases this year, sticking to some older stuff, only really have a top 2.

It was really hard to pick the order of the movies, as I've really loved every one of these. I had to include a tie for 5th just to make it a top 6 really because I couldn't choose :P. I'm pretty confident in that the top 3 will remain the top 3, although they could shift around a bit, but past that I have no clue which one I like best, so keep that in mind.

MOVIES

5. TIE

The Hangover

The Superbad of 2009. Absolutely pi$$ your pants funny, definitely one you'll want to see a few times.

The Hurt Locker

A stunning, extremely suspenseful film. Without a doubt the best war movie since Saving Private Ryan, and on par with all the great war movies in the last 25 years. I really found it hard not to put this higher up but hey something has to be #5 on a top 5 list.

4. (500) Days of Summer

I actually saw this with my mom on her birthday because she wanted to. I had interest in seeing it, although I was just expecting a pretty good movie, nothing real special. I was treated to one of the best romantic comedies I've ever seen, touching, yet it never forgot how to make you laugh. One I would gladly watch again.

3. Star Trek

Although some people here are saying "Oh, it's shallow, not very deep, blah blah blah," (no offense Lock), but I think you're all forgetting what Star Trek is supposed to be: fun. It was a light speed enthralling blockbuster that got the blood rushing and put you on the edge of your seat. Hell even the critics remembered to put aside harsh criticism and just have a ton of fun (hense, the 83/100 average score). All in all just a hugely entertaining film.

2. District 9

What a year for Sci-fi! The trailers made this movie look like crap. It looked like another humans rule aliens suck Sci-fi money maker. However when the reviews rolled in and it got an average of 81/100, my interest perked up a bit. I was treated to an incredibly original and emotional story, perhaps the best story ever seen in a Sci-fi movie. It mixed drama and social statements (relevant to today I must say) with the hugely entertaining violence Sci-fi is known for. However even with guns that blow people up, and chain guns that gather all the bullets in a giant clusterfukc before exploding at everyone not a Prawn (alien), it was all ignorable when you got into the story. You actually feel for the aliens, and you view them as equal to the people, living beings with lives and goals of their own. More than once did I fear for a prawn's life. By the middle of the film I cared more about the average prawn than all the government b@stards trying to kill it. I'm extremely tempted to put this at #1. EXTREMELY tempted. In fact I'm considering switching it right now. But the #1 is such an amazing film it deserves it at least as much, and honestly I don't know which one I like more.

1. Up

Well shocking isn't it. Ya the fact tht I love anything Pixar practically touches didn't give this away did it? Well I'll go slightly further: this might very well be Pixar's best film yet. It made me cry (first movie EVER to do that), and not only did it do this, but it did it not once, but twice! Okay one time I teared up but didn't cry, the second time tears full out ran down my face, BUT STILL THAT'S AN ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR SOMEONE WHO ONLY SLIGHTLY TEARED AT SCHINDLER'S LIST! Pixar never ceases to amaze me. The first half of the film was the most perfect thing Pixar has ever done. The second half, still amazing, typical Pixar, but they truly outdid themselves on the first half. Well done gentlemen, keep up the good work.

Seems to be a good year for films, so let's check in on the video game report.

5. Mad World

You know it's a good year for games when I start a top 5 countdown with a game that I originally scored a 10/10 and hailed as one of the Wii's best games. Well I've lowered the score to a still superb 9.5 in my mind (because it didn't end up as replayable as I expected), it remains one of the Wii's top games. Nowhere else have I seen such huge amounts of gore, but as they say, the more the merrier!

4. Punch Out!!

If you played this game as a kid, it's one great trip down nostalgia lane. If not, it's a fantastic introduction to one of the great franchises in gaming. Extremely challenging, very addictive, and it just has that great old school feeling. More a puzzle/strategy game than a real boxing game, it interlaces genres flawlessly. Nothing really bad you can say about this game at all. Some could complain about lack of new characters but that's a petty complaint, seeing the old characters come to life in 3-D is better than all the newcomers.

3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour '10 (Wii version)

I'm a bit of a closet golf fan. I don't talk about it much, but I watch any tournament that comes on TV and have always liked playing golf, although I'm not particularly good so I stick to mini golf, and this. The best sports game in years. Ya, in so many years, that it's the best sports game ever made. Absolutely FLAWLESS 1:1 motion control is the highlight. Huge replayability is another huge part of its success seeing how many new modes and courses there are. Start, a career, play a link or two, play disc golf (don't ask WHY), play online, you can even challenge history in past tournaments! What's even better? You can "compete" with the pros in real time during tournaments.

2. [Prototype]

Take Mad World, get rid of quicktime events, add color to the graphics, make another equally amazing story, make a huge sandbox world and add the ability to fly around by shooting blood from your wrists at jet speed velocity like emo Peter Pan (not my quote, but I like it), and you'll get Prototype. I wasn't expecting too much out of this game, just hoping for a good violent game to fill my craving (the Wii leaves a little violence to be desired ya know). However I got one of the most fun games I've ever played. I played this with my friend, trading off every 25 minutes for 15 hours and we didn't get sick of it. At all. Every moment was cherished and when 6:00 AM came, I was disappointed that we kinda needed to stop.

AND NOW FOR #1, THE ONE YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE ABOUT....

1. Little King's Story

If you didn't know this either you didn't read my last blog, your IQ is 15, or you have a severe case of short term memory loss. Yes I all but expressed will to put out and fukc this game in the last blog, so I assume your sick of it. Haven't heard about it? Good, go read the last blog, it'll kill 25 minutes of your life. One of only 3 games I've ever scored an 11/10 (2 actually, OoT was a 12), meaning it pushes beyond perfection (DUH), which basically means if you have a Wii buy it now you total retard what are you doing pi$$ing your pathetic life away reading this when you could be pi$$ing your pathetic life away playing Little King's Story?!?!?!?! It's much better and it should suck away about 60 hours of your life instead of the 5 minutes on this blog. I've beaten the game and for the first time ever, in any game, I'm going for 100% completion (unless you count Majora's Mask as 100% without all the heart pieces, same goes for OoT and TP), which should take upwards of 100 hours. There's not much else I can say, in the words of a wise poster on a thread about LKS "I can't describe things that are too awesome." Just get the damn game already, if you regret it you deserve the looney bin.

*cough cough* So much dust on this old thing. What I made like a 10 word blog on July 20th and before that I don't think I have blogged for months.

Well it seems Shadow, Elmis, and Jacob have all stopped coming here, though seem to be kinda active on Facebook, it's just not the same without having a wide open flame fest that anyone can see. Lock, I see you still on here occasionally... kudos for keeping it kinda alive.

I actually have been on Gamespot quite frequently, but I haven't touched tv.com in ages, and I still won't. I like the more old fashioned look of Game Spot and mp3 better. But mp3 is so dead that I've been the featured user on the front page for about two years now... and no one updates anything, so I've been hanging out on Game Spot. Besides, Nintendo apparently decided they wanted to be nice to me and start making good games, which bring sme to two QUICK VIDEO GAME POINTS. Then I will avoid video games for the remainder of the blog.

WHO THE HELL TURNED ON THE "MAKE GOOD GAMES" SWITCH AT NINTENDO?

Ok seriously, you can't go a year and a half making no good games, or so few that it's not even acknowledgeable, then decide "Hmmm I think we're gonna try to make up for 1.5 years of sh!te by releasing about ten great looking games all within a few months!"

Ya, not cool. I don't have that kind of financial support. I just bought The Conduit a month and a half ago, which was worth it, not amazing but definitely a solid FPS, and in July I bought Little King's Story (we'll get to this one later). Theeeeeen they bring down the hammer, and decide that they have to release a Metroid Prime Trilogy pack! Fukc you I need to buy this, I never played Metroid Prime, got halfway through Metroid Prime 2 then got stuck, and beat Metroid Prime, and would love to play it over again because it's a masterpiece. Okay, okay, it's just one more game, $50, and it's three games in one. Great deal. Now let's look at September... yay my wallet can survive the Wii doesn't have any heavy hitters coming up, other than maybe Muramasa: The Demon Blade and I'm not too keen on a Japanese 2-D platformer/fighter right now, and Dead Space EXtraction which looks sweet but I think I can wait until Christmas or something on... BUT WAIT, CHECK THE DS! SCRIBBLENAUTS, MARIO AND LUIGI: BOWSER'S INSIDE STORY, AND KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS! COME ON I DON'T HAVE $100 A MONTH FOR GAMES! Okay calm down you're getting great games you can't complain. Let's take a look at October. While we're here let's check the DS... nothing, perfect I'll have that month to play whatever I don't buy from September. Now for the Wii... Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, annnnnnnnd... nothing else! Because Red Steel sucked and therefore a sequel will suck right? RIGHT? NO?!?!?! WUDDYA MEAN IT LOOKS GOOD?!?! Lemme see that video... great another $50 or 60 (WM+) to piss away). Well with all these great games coming out you'd think they'd leave December open to some crap for the holidays, so let's hope there's room for other stuff under the tree. Well Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers looks good, but it's after Christmas, so I've got a while, and I doubt it'll even be released until next year, despite what Game Stop tells me. Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks? Awesome, my favorite series, and there's only one game so I can focus on it. Now let's check 2010's lineup. The only hope my wallet has is that they spread Metroid: Other M, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and New Super Mario Bros. at least two months apart and at least in April or later because No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is coming in early 2010, and having recently bought No More Heroes for $18 and recently FUKCING LOVED IT, I'll definitely be getting that. Good looks like there's a good number of games coming out in 2010, not too many that I can't even afford them all... what? More are coming out? Not just the ones on gamestop.com? The Grinder? Golden Sun DS? Monster Hunter Tri is coming over from Japan? WHAT?!?!?! MAYBE EVEN A NEW LEGEND OF ZELDA FOR WII?!?!?!?! A TON OF OTHER STUFF WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT?!?!?! NOOOOOOOO NOW MY BANK ACCOUNT IS DOOOOOOOOMED TOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

They coulda spread all this out over the last year and a half and with good enough spacing still had enough great games to fill the slots all the way up to 2011. Oh well, I'm being dramatic, I can wait until Christmas, I'll be able to hold off until Christmas on a good number of these.

Speaking of unholy amounts of gaming.....

Little King's Story.

Ooooooooooh I can hear you know. LOLZ WII IS FOR 5 YEAR OLDS LOOK AT THAT GAME LOLOLOL IT SUCKS!!!!

YA WELL FUKC YOU YOU KNOW WHAT'S BENEATH THAT CUTE CUDDLY LOOK?!?!?!

A FUKCING AMAZING GAME

Wii Game of the year? Yes. Game of the year for anything? Yes. Best game on the Wii? Verrrrrry possibly. Best game ever? Not gonna say yes because people will start naming flaws, and how I'm being hasty, but let's say this: it contends for the title as much as any game, and yes, could very well join the ranks of Ocarina of Time as one of my very favorite games, if not the #1 game. I'm sorry it's just I've never played a game for 16 straight hours with a friend who did nothing but watch mesmerized not even caring he wasn't playing, with me loving every moment of it, then having him come over again another day, and willingly watch for another 12 hours straight. And you know what? He loved it again. We both had a great time. Now you're saying I had a better time because he was there? Well I'll let you know those 28 or so hours of gameplay make up a fraction of the time I've played it. And the biggest fraction you can get is half, so I've spent at least 50 hours playing this game. Yet, I still need to fight the final boss. I've done every little side quest, tried to build my kingdom up from nothing to everything even when I didn't have to. I enjoyed every minute of it thoroughly, even when I was retrying King Jumbo Champloon 10 times before I beat him. Even when King Long Sauvage's beard was whacking my men off the mountain was I having a bad time. Not even when I was arbitrarily digging for treasure because we were running out of money was I bored. Not even when a carpenter was taking his sweet time building that bridge and a giant poisonous frog jumped out of the lake and lande on my men, killing 5 of them, was I frustrated... or when there was no frog, was I bored. Not even... well you get the idea.

Every last part of this game is fun. And that's what a game is all about: fun. The problem with today's gamers is that they've forgot that. Someone on the Wii board brought up a point that this was like a N64 game, and at no offense to the game. I didn't think of it, but I realized they were right. This is the kind of return to form games need. It doesn't need to have explosions and guns and gore and t!tties (although I won't lie, the game benefitted from the Long Sauvage princess' gigantic, Earth shaking boobage), it needs to be FUN. And Little King's Story is fun in its most pure form. The Wii's first party releases like Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, and Super Mario Galaxy have all been amazing. You know why? Because Nintendo is the last of the big three companies not afraid to make a "fun" game. Sure violent FPSes (you could make an argument that Metroid Prime 3 is a violent FPS but I think it has something that separates it from the rest) are fun. Sure games like Prototype and inFamous are a blast. But it's games like Little King's Story that made the world fall in love with gaming. Remember the Nintendo 64 lineup? The golden age of gaming? Games like Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie, Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Legend of Zelda Oot and MM, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Paper Mario that ruled the shelves. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There was a reason the N64 was such an entertaining console, it was because rather than needing to be something resembling a bloody porno, the games relied on gameplay, and fun designs that made you smile. That's what Little King's Story has returned to. And apparently there is one other team out there willing to just make a fun game, Cing.

I've also never been afraid to play a game because I'm worried I'm gonna beat it and it'll be over.

I know I ALWAYS overreact, but come on, I played a game for 16 hours, slept for 5 hours, woke up, and played it for 5 more hours after my friend left! How often do you do that? How many games can really grip you for that long? Not many.On the GoTY part, absolutely no overreaction. On the best game for Wii, it is a solid competitor,easily trumps most anything, and it might be better than the other heavy hitters. Best game EVER? We'll really have to see. I don't think we could ever get past the perfection of Ocarina of Time in gaming. Games like Majora's Mask (which is about as good as OoT, but loses a little on the "being new" points, Wind Waker (noticing a trend of Zelda games? :P), Twilight Princess (like Majora's Mask, close in quality, but not in originality, which is fine) have come close to the same type of perfection, and games like Metroid Prime, Super Mario Galaxy, Okami (sorry for the lack of other console games, I do believe those 3 superior to any other current console's games though, and Okami is a PS2 game) have found new ways to create near perfection, but I don't know what can top it. I'll tell you one thing though, if it doesn't take it down, Little King's Story is without a doubt one of those games that is grabbing at OoT's ass, trying to grasp perfection (teehee), and only comes up short because it isn't OoT in the first place. Had Little King's Story been released 11 years ago, I have no doubt it would be called one of the greatest games of all time. And really, it deserves such a high title regardless of the year it was released. It is simply a masterpiece that you must experience. Anyone not giving this game at least a 9/10 is really picking away at the game. OH NO LACK OF IR! OH NO SLIGHTLY ANNOYING SOUND EFFECTS! OH NO... err... OH RIGHT. There are no other complaints anyone has made that had some sort of relevancy. I don't need IR, I can deal with strange sound effects, but I CANNOT deal with people picking away at a game for obnoxious reasons and forgetting they're supposed to be having fun, not picking at how bad the mechanics in the table tennis (yes, I sh!t you not, it is in the game) mini game are.

While Little King's Story is receiving massive critical acclaim, an 87/100 average on Metacritic, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority of people who say this is one of the best games ever. But everyone who can appreciate truly great games, and not just FPSes with fun online, is just afraid to say that a new game that's not a sequel is as good as the older games. Well you know what? I'm saying, Little King's Story is an absolute masterpiece and if you're letting kiddy graphics, lack of IR, or Corobo's squeaky shoes make it an 8.5/10, tough. Seriously if LKS came out for the Xbox 360 (and had been better advertised), IGN would give this game a 9.5 at least and call it the best game of the generation. But of course they're critics, and as such, will say, "no IR Pointing waaaaaaaaaaah blah blah blah -0.5 points". Shut up IGN, it's either the best game for the Wii, or if not one of the 3 best, and it's among my favorite games ever. You don't like it, Sucks, it's my opinion and although maybe not quite as raving as mine, if you play this game with a need for blood and boobs or a craving for pointing at the screen for unnecessary reasons, you will love it.

11/10

HA!

And for once my extraordinarily high scores are justified.

The Escapist : Video Galleries : Zero Punctuation

You will watch now. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. Best video game critic ever. Hates the Wii, but he's hilarious.

Also he lives in Austrlaia. Bonus for you people down there.

Nooooooooooow theeeeeeeen.

Did I just write all that on games? Are you kidding me? I was trying to cut back and make those two things quick but nooooooo I'm such a NERD that I just had to write all that.

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of volleyball this summer. Too much volleyball. Way too much.

I've never said that, but all in all I played about 70 hours of volleyball within a month. 7 hours a day at three different camps, totaling up to 12 days. Minus 4.5, minus 5, minus 5, minus 2, so just under 70 hours. That was really a bad idea I must say. Really intense and extraordinarily straining on my body. Don't do that again. Don't do that again. Don't... ah whatever.

All I've done in the music department is listen to half of "Veckatimest" online since no one seems to have it ANYWHERE, which Ireallyliked,definitely gonnahavetobuy,andreplacedcopiesof"Superunkown"and"Axis:BoldAsLove"thatmymomlost.Shereplaced them actually, makes sense since she lost them.

Oh yes I also bought...

and

Both great albums, "RATM" is a little better, but that's what you can expect when comparing one of a bands' first albums and another band's... how many is that now? :P We will make up a number known as abrytuilj until we know more. So anyway "The Eternal" is a fantastic abrytulijth album for Sonic Youth, while "Rage Against the Machine" is a cla$$ic everyone should, and prolly does, have. Of course you'd suspect me of listening to "Killing In the Name" over and over, but "Bombtrack" gets just as many plays, "Testify" gets close, and "Take the Power Back" might just be the greatest pump up song there is. No better album to just pop in when you're pissed or feel like blasting out your speakers.

Also I have mastered the solo of "Bohemian Rhapsody" because I am just amazing. If you need a reminder of how great the solo is:

YouTube - Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

There, with that extra listen you have just bettered your life because you may have just listened to the greatest song ever. No, not favorite, greatest. Come on it's possible.

And I actually have more news in music than I recalled because somehow this slipped my mind...

34543.jpg 500×333 pixels

Yes my friends, Pearl Jam live. Same place that I saw Smashing Pumpkins, The Gibson Ampitheatre.

There's one big difference between this and the Pumpkins show though:

I'M IN THE PIT!

YIPPE KAI YAY MOFOS!!!(or something to that effect)

Being a member of the Ten Club has its advantages, as does being willing to work over $163 for tickets that only come in a two pack.

October 6th, really psyched. Might have to miss volleyball practice, but it'd be worth it.

Well I've sufficiently tired myself out, as it's 5:04 AM. I have a lot of movie stuff to talk about, but I might as well make a whole 'nuther blog for it. First I'll have to see how many people are even still here to comment.

Goodnight, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whatever it is whatever time it is where ever you are, have a good.... errr.... time! That's the one. Have a good time.

... day...

You know what that means! Game time! First to name the game I'm waiting one more day for gets a cookie.

No that title wasn't intended as a joke, I just couldn't think of a title. Sorry that a combination of not being in school and playing too many video games has fried my brain (although worth it, I suppose).

Recently I've had nothing too interesting to blog about. I've spent the beginning of summer playing tons of volleyball (winning the final 4-day tournament, giving our team the 1 seed at Junior Olympics), and just sitting around, mostly playing video games. I promised to not mention video games in this blog, but I'm not a man of my word, and it's only one or two paragraphs. If you really actually care I've indicated where the section for games begins and ends.

*BEGIN VIDEO GAME TALK*

First off, The Conduit. I drooled over it forever, waiting impatiently, then finally I get it. Worth the wait? I'm not even sure. The multiplayer is absolutely fantastic. Little to no lag online, a variety of modes make every fight a little different. I could spend hours playing online and not get bored. The single player is just good, not great though. Very challenging and you get to use a great variety of weapons, but like with all FPSes being released today, you do have the feeling of "I already did this in the last level." Nothing really against it, it's the way every modern FPS is (with the exception that critics j!zz their pants over the other ones, not so much with TCon), but it feels like you're getting gipped when you could be playing something else. All that aside, the controls are the best of any FPS I've ever played, the graphics are outstanding for the Wii, and I'm having fun with it. All in all an 8.5-9.3, depending on how it holds up. If I continue playing multiplayer a lot, it'll score high, if I move on within a few weeks, then it'll get towards the lower end. So game of the year so far? No, but best FPS on the Wii, and a definite buy? Yes. But game of the year has been awarded to a new title, one you wouldn't expect out of me.

Wait, an Xbox 360 game as GOTY? That's right. But Dee you don't have a 360 or PS3! Well, no, I don't, but my friend brought his over and we played from (I sh!t you not) 8:30 PM to 5:30 AM, with no breaks, taking 25 minute shifts. It was a desperate attempt to beat the game in one night. Then we slept for 6 hours and played for one more hour. Did we succeed? Not quite, we have about an hour and a half left to go. But did I thoroughly enjoy every last minute I played or watched the game? Yes. Not very often a game that I can play for 9 straight hours comes along. In fact, this game may just have sold me on a 360. I'm looking at some eBay bids, and this one comes with 7 games, and if it doesn't go too high I'm taking it. Having one great system is nice, but you have to settle for a great game every once in a while with one that's just good in between every one. With a 360, I'll constantly have a great game to play (especially with the three great ones that come with the bid, and Bioshock and Mass effect which I'll buy both used). Of course this is all just a plan, I may just stick to only my Wii, seeing as Little King's Story, which is looking more and more like yet another GOTY title stealer as I come closer to getting it. Oh yeah, the release got moved to July 21st, which pisses me off because I should have it right now. But oh well, it will come and I will bask in its awesomeness. If it isn't the new best game of the year for me, then something amazing must've come in between now and then.

I really don't know if they could have made the game more childish looking (or the name more wussyish). All the critics are loving this game, and all of them say that its cover, title, and look are about the most misleading things possible. Jyst check out IGN AU's opening paragraph to their review.

IGN: Little King's Story Review

Oh yeah, and because I felt like it I used a patch to get Crossover Games for free on my Mac, so now I can use Project 64 to play Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Paper Mario, and I got Steam to play The Orange Box. Hey I'm going to freaking Atlanta I need something to keep me entertained. Oh yeah and I got a DSi in exchange for old stuff, playing The World Ends With You on it, fantastic game. Yeah, all that.

*END VIDEO GAME TALK*

So like I said, I have just about nothing to talk about. That explains why all I have to talk about is video games, they're easy to talk about (and fun to argue about) and they kill boredom exceptionally well. Basically they've been filling in the void outside volleyball so far this summer. You see, I have had a practice or tournament almost every day of summer so far, so time to get with any friends and do anything has been minimal. I've spent most of the time just watching TV or playing a game, going to practice, coming back, watching TV or playing a game. Sounds boring, but I love it this way, no responsibilities and I can just sit around and be lazy like a fatass and not have to care since I'm working out a ton. In fact the summer won't really change, I'm playing volleyball almost eveery week this whole summer. Camps, beach tournaments, other sorts of training, I'm doing it all.

Of course this also means I might need a lot of extra music for the time I'm at camps and such, so hit me with every suggestion you have. "The Smiths" wore off quickly because although the music is fantastic, and Morrissey writes good lyrics, his voice is slightly intolerable. Still a good album, but not enough to make me listen to it over and over. With that in mind, I'm open to a lot right now, though I'm craving something moderately heavy. I'm feeling an RATM CD, as that's always good for pumping up, perfect for volleyball. If you can think of anything that'll satisfy this, feel free to blurt it out.

I'm trying to milk this blog a little more, but I really can't get anything more out of it. Sorry if I disappointed you, but then again I don't really care.

I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately, and when I have there's been heavy focus on video games. Everything else is still going on in my life, volleyball, music, all that stuff, but you all know well I'm a Nintendo fanboy and when they have a strong year I get excited. I'll talk about the goings on at the end, but let's get to something big in the game world: E3.

Well E3 has come and gone again. I think we can all agree that this year was much better for all three of the major companies. The most noticeable improvement for a company was Nintendo's. After their God awful conference last year, they really stepped it up and put on a great show. I'm quite excited about a lot of games they talked about, so I thought I'd make a list of the top ten I'm looking forward to most.

This list was extremely hard to make. Nintendo announced and talked about so many amazing looking games and I could only fit ten, so let's start with ones that didn't quite make the cut, but I will definitely be getting

Honorable Mentions: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS), Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii) (I found it hard to not include it, but some of the lower games in the top 10 barely clinched it)

10. Dead Space: Extraction

This is definitely not my kind of game. I'm easily scared, and this game is survival horror in its purest form. But I really can't resist looking into the game. I don't know too much about it, other than you shoot zombies in space in the future, but I know it looks pretty badass.

YouTube - E3 Dead Space Extraction Video

9. The Grinder

While this game will probably be fantastic, deserving much better than #10, so little is known about it that I can't get that excited for it. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay looks intense, and it's coming from High Voltage, who is also producing The Conduit, which is shaping up to look damn impressive. Regardless of how much we know there's little doubt it will be great. I'll certainly be looking at this one as it goes through further development. It already looks stunning in the pre-Alpha stage so I'm excited to see the end result.

E3 09: Debut Trailer

8. New Super Mario Bros.! Wii

No one ever forgets the good ol' days of the cla$$ic Mario platformers. Hours of challenging (or sometimes simple) fun. When New Super Mario Bros.! came out for Nintendo DS, it was welcomed with huge acclaim. Now Nintendo's brought a new idea to the table, a co-op Super Mario platformer, just like the originals, but with four people working to get to the finish. The game was not given a higher spot on my list because it's essentially a new idea polished up with a new feature. By myself, I'd rather play the game for the DS. When I play a game on the Wii I'm playing for a full scale 3-D game. However when the game comes out I'll definitely get it, have some friends over and just go through the game. Definitely a neat idea, but among some other great looking titles, it can't be put too high up. Make no mistake, most other years this would be a top 3 pick, but this year was just such a great year for Nintendo.

YouTube - New Super Mario Bros. Wii Trailer

7. Golden Sun DS

I've heard of the legendary Golden Sun series before, but never had a chance to play it. Now that it's coming to DS, it looks absolutely amazing. I feel like I need to get it. I don't know how my wallet is gonna handle all of this spending, but I'll have to find a way to manage. Anyway, the game looks beautiful, and I could always use a good RPG.

YouTube - Golden Sun DS trailer

6. Zelda Wii

Actually, it's the game I'm anticipating the single most. The new Zelda for Wii is the game I look forward to more than anything. But, nothing has been revealed about the game except this concept art, so I thought it would be unfair to pass up other great looking games and put this so high up. The graphics and controls will be a massive improvement over Twilight Princess, since that was a Gamecube game ported to Wii with tacked on controls. Still, it was a great game, and if it improves as much as I expect it to, this will be one for the ages.

YouTube - News About Next Legend of Zelda for Wii - Part 21

5. The Conduit

Only not put in the top 3 because it's coming out in just a little over a week, so there's not much to anticipate more, it's pretty much here! However I still wanted to give it a shout out. I don't doubt that it could definitely take over as game of the year. I have extremely high hopes for this game. The campaign mode will undoubtedly be fun. I mean FPS campaigns are always at least pretty fun. But even if it isn't as amazing as I expect it to be, the multiplayer will without a shadow of a doubt be the best online experience available for the Wii. One could argue that you could simply go play Halo or something on Xbox 360 or PS3, but the biggest reason I have to play this game is the controls. Being fully customizable, I can fix everything the way I want, make it the way I think game should be controlled. Expect me to be up late when this one comes out next week. Some people may complain that it's just a generic FPS, but that's just what the Wii needs. It doesn't have enough generic FPSs. If that's the only complaint people can find, it will be the best game in a while.

YouTube - The Conduit Multiplayer-Trailer

And now a four-way-yes, four-way, I can't choose one-tie for my most anticipated game of E3 2009.

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2

The first Super Mario Galaxy has become the most critically acclaimed exclusive of the generation, holding a 97/100 average on Metacritic. Needless to say, it's an absolute masterpiece. Absolute perfection. It takes what made Super MArio 64 and Super MArio Sunshine so great and builds on it. With the best power-ups we've ever seen in a Mario game, beautiful awe-inspiring graphics, unforgettable gameplay, and most of all it's unique level designs, hopping from planet to planet with its own gravity, it has earned its place in gaming history. Being a sequel to such a fantastic game, it will no doubt build upon previous strengths, and fix the tiny flaws. The addition of Yoshi looks to bring a new dimension to the game. Only being a direct sequel, and therefore something I've seen before, holds this off from the #1 spot.

YouTube - Super Mario Galaxy 2 E3 2009 Trailer [HQ] (Rate This Game)

1. Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

As you probably know, I am of the humble opinion that The Legend of Zelda is the best thing to ever happen to video games. My two favorite games are both Zelda titles (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, which I tried to blog about a while ago but it wouldn't work). I was a huge fan of Phantom Hourglass when it came out, and I even spent some time with it today. Spirit Tracks is what I've been waiting for for so long, a new Zelda title. I don't even need further explanation. It's a Zelda game, and will therefore be amazing.

YouTube - Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - E3 2009 Trailer

1. Metroid: Other M

As a huge fan of the Metroid series, and one who once claimed Metroid Prime 3 to be my favorite game of all time (though since I have lowered it down a bit, I was extremely excited to see a new Metroid title. From the get go, I was expecting something similar to the Prime games, a first person adventure (no it's not an FPS, don't argue, it isn't) through space, battling evil using high-tech weapons. I was caught completely off-guard by what I saw. The game runs in both third-person and first-person, switching between an adventure with FPS like action and intense third-person melee and shooting action, that looks more like a choreographed movie scene than a video game. I'm anticipating this game more than almost any other. Yet another game is proving that the Wii has far more powerful graphics than it is given credit for. But what could the other #1 possibly be?

YouTube - E3 09: Metroid: Other M Trailer

1. Scribblenauts

Bet ya didn't see a DS game coming in at #1 for me or Gamespot didja? I don't blame you, there's typically a shortage of great games for handheld consoles. But I haven't seen a concept quite as original and unique as this one in..... well quite possibly my whole life. This was enough to sway both me and Gamespot to put it as best game of the whole show. This time last year, if someone had told you that they were making a video game where you could type in literally any (or 10,000+ if we gotta get specific here) noun and it would appear right in the game so you could use it to solve a puzzle, you likely would have thought "No way in hell is that going to work." How could you program THAT much into one handheld game, even a console game couldn't do that. But they're working their asses off, putting more effort into the programming of this game than possibly any developer has before. In fact, I'm so excited for this game, I traded in my old DS, 6 old Wii games, and 4 old DS games to get a DSi to make sure I could do everything. The DS looks to have a huge next two years, as big as the Wii. Now excuse me, I must start taking bets for who will win in my epic battle of God vs. a metal Pterodactly vs. King Kong (which I happen to be watching now, great movie) vs. a dog vs. a Kraken vs. a pirate vs. Abraham Lincoln/ Yes, you can make that happen in this game. I'm betting on God to win.

YouTube - Scribblenauts Trailer

Also a quick shout out to a game coming out on the same day as The Conduit that I'm also getting, that wasn't mentioned at E3.

Little King's Story

Looks brilliant. It's Pikmin meets Animal Crossing meets Minions.

Just to show I pay attention to other platforms, I'll mention the the two games form the other two major platforms I want to play most.

Xbox 360

Mass Effect 2

I'm begging one of my friends to get this so I can play it. We've settled that he'll rent it and if it sucks I'll pay for it. Oh yeah, and I have to bring food and drinks to his house to play it.

PS3

MAG

256 player online? Yes sir, sign me up. I don't know anyone with a PS3 (mainly because it usually sucks, with a few exceptions), but I'll do my best to try and play this.

Next blog I'll discuss other topics, this took a hell of a long time to make. I promise not to even mention video games in the next blog.

Everyone who gets the opportuinity to, see Animal Collective live. The music is perfection when played live, but not just that, they have a iight show like no fukcing other. Even if you hate them, just plug your ears and watch the light show and all the energy, it's worth the admission fee. If it's any consolation for you Elmis, the opener sucked so I got tortured a little.

Bad picture, but still gives a pretty good idea of it:

Not a great venue in that picture, it all looked much better at The Wiltern, but the giant ball of trippiness is present everywhere, and the flashing synthesizers are going to cause a seizure one of these days.

Judging by other pics, it looks like all the flashing synthesizers (they had sheets over them with flashing lights undernath making them appear in every color of the rainbow, quickly switching on time with the beat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bV92BJhipk

There we go, there are quite a few videos from last night. Not very good audio on any of them, butit's decent and it gives you a good idea of the light show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9nwK0qLtg0

That's all for now. Here's to hoping all other AC fans (especially longer term fans than me) get a chance to see their awesome live act.

...where no one has gone before.

If you have the slightest hint of nerd in you you'll realize that I saw the Star Trek movie. Actually, I saw it twice. I had to visit my dad over the weekend and I promised I'd see it with him, but I already saw it with friends on IMAX for my birthday. So if I was willing to see it twice, and if you have a brain, you've probably figured out that I liked it. Good job. Now for the review.

Star Trek

Well well, Star Trek. The holy grail of nerdy series. In a room of a bunch of non-Trekkies, I doubt many people would have raised their hand if they were asked "Who wants to see the new Star Trek movie?" And with good reason. It's no secret that the last two Star Trek movies have sucked sh!t. I know I definitely wouldn't have raised my hand. But now after seeing it two times, I would raise my hand to go see it a 3rd time.

Star Trek spends no time twiddling around with worthless intro scenes, showing who everyone is, it jumps onto the screen and is filled with massive ships and, an intense battle scene is almost immediate. Of course, there is a plot about this. What do you think this is? Star Wars Episode 1? That's an insult. It's best to not know anything about the movie when you go into see it, but it is a good idea to have basic knowledge of the original series, characters and their attitudes mostly. This is because although the movie succeeds as an individual film, it triumphs as a prequel, what many critics (and I) have hailed as the best prequel ever made. It sets everything up perfectly for the original series to take place. The character's relationships, positions, etc. (minus one new character) are set up exactly in the way they were in the series. Some of the characters' original catchphrases will make old fans tingly inside. "Dammit man I'm a doctor not a physicist." "I"'M GIVIN' IT ALL I GOT!" Sound familiar? (Disclaimer: I do not watch the original series, nor am I a fan of it, but I have seen some episodes and this movie appears to set it up perfectly. If it doesn't, feel free to comment about it.)

But without even knowing it's a prequel, anyone can enjoy this film. It's not just for blockbuster action movie lovers, it's for the indie drama movie fans too. It's this years "The Dark Knight" (perhaps, unfortunately), in the way it is filled with action and explosions that keep you on the edge of your seat, but also a dramatic and deep (at sometimes bizarre) story, about friendship and loss. Everyone needs to go see this. It actually bests all Star Wars movies, bar the original, yes even The Empire Strikes Back, if that gives you an idea of how good it is.

10/10

Definitely the movie to beat so far this year, and it will take something HUGE to dethrone this. Best action movie in ages, yes, this is including The Dark Knight. Given the chance to watch either one again, I'd watch Star Trek one more time. It has the same dramatic depth to it as The Dark Knight, but then on the action side, it's more fun. The Dark Knight had a great plotline, but on the action side, it was overly dark. I liked the darkness of it, it was the only way to do the movie right, but Star Trek achieved a great plot while managing to remain fun. If Star Trek were released last year, it would be #2 or #3 overall, after Slumdog Millionaire and maybe The Wrestler.

When I think about The TDK comparison, it is unfortunate because although it's fantastic and worthy of at least a Best Picture nomination, it won't get one. It will win Oscars for visual editing, special effects, costumes, etc., but other than MAYBE a nomination for best supporting actor (for Zachary Quinto as Spock), it won't get very far. Pity the Academy is too stuck up to see greatness in films like this. Don't get me wrong, I think they usually pick the movie that deserves best pictur emost (and if not, then the 2nd or 3rd most deserving), but it's a shame that any action or special effects automatically disqualifies a movie for best picture unless it's a gangster movie (which for some reason are Oscar darlings).

While I'm on movies, I'll score four others and give a short comment. Not reviews, that's way too much work.

Valkyrie

7.5/10

Interesting story with a surprisingly good performance by Tom Cruise, but it was inconcise and hard to follow. Perhaps the story was just not meant to be a movie. Still worth watching.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

9/10

Although overlong like many complained about, the story is fascinating and the characters actually make you care about them. The story spirals into a very sad and powerful ending, one that everyone knew was inevitable. Unpredictable and undeniably entertaining, it's definitely one worth watching, though not quite among the best films of 2008.

Taken

7.75/10

"I won't tell you Taken is great, but it's great fun." This critic nailed it. The story was intense fun, although some things about it were just nonsense. The odds of such a story actually happening, even under the exact same circumstances, are slim to none. He based tons of his ideas purely off chance, and guess what? They all turned out correct. That doesn't happen. Regardless, it was still a very fun watch.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

9/10

Shockingly funny. Watched it off a recommendation from my dad, who is very reliable. It won't be as funny for everyone as it is for me (although if you're reading this, you probably have as good or better knoweldge than me). You should have a good knowledge of music over the last century if you want to really enjoy it. Otherwise it will just be another unfunny stupid comedy. Also, dare I say the music was great? Particularly the blues at the beginning. The lyrics were obviously intentional trash, but the music was actually quite good. The corny acting, cliche story, and ridiculous foreshadowing of everything bad, all intentional of course, combined with the musical satire all make for one great big laugh. However, if you're a huge Johnny Cash fan and are easily offended, stay away.

I was almost a little embarrassed to like the last one, but I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed watching it.

While in New York, I picked up some CDs (since the Barnes & Noble there has a whole floor devoted to CDs and DVDs).

"s/t" by The Smiths

Thanks to Shadow for the recommendation, truly a great album.

"Remain In Light" by Talking Heads

Couldn't resist it for only $8, and such a hard to find album too. As well, excellent, just what I'd expect from the Talking Heads.

"Feels" by Animal Collective

It was between this and "Sung Tongs", and after demoing both album over three times previously on playlist.com, I thought "Feels" was the better choice. Also fantastic, my 2nd favorite, after "Merriweather Post Pavillion." Now to buy "Sung Tongs" with that iTunes gift card I have (ew, iTunes, I feel dirty). 3 days until Animal Collective live (sorry to sound harsh and braggy that I get to see them, if it's any consolation for you I accidentally bought the wrong tickets so I don't get floor seats).

I got a ton of good stuff over my birthday too, but this blog is long enough. Maybe I'll go over it next blog.

But one present I'll talk about now is a huge book I got called The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes: The gastest, the greatest, the best axemen ever! The first section of the book is entitled "Virtuosos", with the description of what separates a guitar hero from a virtuoso

"The guitar hero is the iconic image of rock 'n' roll. Beyond image, the rick-guitar virtuoso is about the playing- the talent, the technique and, above all, the dedication. The dedication involves practising (is that how you spell practicing in another country?) for hours every day, cultivating the talent and the technique, obsessing over sounds and how to create and control them and then putting it all into the context of a performance as part if a rock band onstage. But while the guitar hero inspires the audience, the guitar virtuoso also inspires and influences other guitarists, who can see beyond the image to the dedication and details in the music and the performance."

I thought that was just a neat quote on what makes a guitarist truly amazing. It named 19 guitarists virtuosos, in no particular order I guess, keep in mind this is purely for rock guitarists, explaining why B.B. King, Robert Johnson, and other great blues guitarists weren't put in the book until the blues section:

Frank Zappa

Jimi Hendrix

Jimmy Page

Jeff Beck

Eric Clapton

David Gilmour

Steve Howe

Brian May

Mark Knopfler

Steve Hackett

Steve Morse

Eric Johnson

Eddie Van Halen

Joe Satriani

Randy Rhoads

Steve Vai

Yngwie Malmsteen

John Petrucci

Jonny Greenwood

With no particular order, it's definitely not a perfect list, but this is about one of the best lists I've seen someone make (no not just for the inclusion of Jonny, although I do like that and find this gives me a little more right to say he's great :P). Check out the book, anyone who wasn't included in the virtuosos section that you think should have been is definitely somewhere else in the book. Really an interesting thing to pass some time.

Today was my birthday. This was by far the best present I got:

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/punchout

Sorry Mad World, you were just dethroned for game of the year so far. If you have a Wii, for the love of all that is holy go buy this game now. If not, find someone who does and try the masterpiece yourself. It's even better than the NES cla$$ic from over 20 years ago. Obviously better graphics, but the characters are better than ever (almost all the same, but the added personailities make them more memorable), more replayable, as challenging, as addictive, more engaging, and the controls are great. Ignore any critics saying to play it NES $tyle and pass up the motion controls, the motion controls are just as effective and easy to pick up on and execute, if not better. If you think I'm overhyping something again I really don't give a sh!t just know you have to play this at some point if you were ever a fan of the cla$$ic Punch Out!!, or if you just want a great challenge. The original Punch Out!! was the hardest game I ever played, and nothing has changed since then.

Oh and about it dethroning Mad World, so far I think it has (since Mad Worldwasn't quite as replayable as I thought it would be, still a great game though, maybe down to a 9.5 at worst), but it'll take some time to make a truly accurate judgment.

I want some good sleep now, I'll blog more later. Just thought I'd update you on how games on my top 5 anticipated list were turning out. So far, one of the lower ranked ones has taken #1, and The Conduit, which I expect to be #1 now, is coming out next month. Little King's Story (God could they make the name any gayer?) comes out too and that looks great. Woulda ha dit on my list if I had known.

By the way, if anyone has ANY music suggestions at all, I'm wide open. I havenm't been to the store in a few months and have a ton of money on my hands waiting to be spent.

Sorry every blog has been about video games lately (not that there have been many blogs), it's just the Wii is actually having a great year so far, redeeming itself from last year's almost complete sh!tfest minus a few gems so I'm excited about it. Blogs will be back to normal soon. More frequent too as school comes to a close.

That's right being a fan for 3 months isn't stopping me from seeing 'em live for $45 a ticket at The Wiltern. I accidentally ordered tix for the upper level but I'm tyring to get it changed to pit tickets. Either way it'll be tight cuz the place is so small there isn't a single bad seat. All you longer term fans who don't get the opportunity can suck my nutsack XD.

Oh and by the way, no I don't just have "Merriweather Post Pavillion", I got "Strawberry Jam" and have listned to "Sung Tongs" and "Feels" and will prolly pick them up. I like "Strawberry Jam" about as much as "MWPP" and the other two are both greta and pretty equal, but I like AC's poppier side more. Anyway I got tickets for 'em, you don't (probably), so late.