For those of you who haven't heard, a woman recently died in an attempt to find a Wii for her children.

She entered in a radio competition, the aim being to drink as much water as you could without going to the toilet, the winner would receive Nintendo's new console (Wii pun).

Apparently she died of water intoxication on Friday.

Source

I found this news to be truly upsetting.

It's not uncommon for parents to go through great lengths in order to get their children just what they want. Though this story has definitely had the most tragic outcome, I find all cases like these to be very depressing.

What is particularly enraging is the stupidity of the radio station. I'm sure they meant no harm, though what they were doing was inherently dangerous, and essentially they were using people's desperation for their own enjoyment.

All she wanted was a Wii for her kids, kids who now have lost their mother.

It's really not fair at all.

A few minutes ago, I found myself sitting in front of a blank blog entry, fingers poised to create another hopefully interesting post.

As I sat there, I found myself at a complete loss as to what I would write about.

I rant? No, not angry enough.

A story, or a poem? No, too tired.

Something deep, profound and meaningful?

Alright, we'll go with that one.

You see, I was suddenly struck by an invisible bolt of pure, concentrated wisdom, and I realized that I don't need to write a fabulous blog at all!

Why should I?

People need to love me for who I am, and not for what I post in this little space beneath that smiling puffy face. So I present to you a new breed of blog altogether. A blog with no expectations or demands, with no need to impress.

No, this fresh and original type of blog involves nothing other than simple, unconditional love.

Welcome, to Gamespot's first...Love Me For Who I Am blog.

Because as I say, I really do love you. Lots, and lots.

...and you love me too right? Of course you do!

After all, I'd rip off your arms and beat you with them if you didn't. :)
 

It's been awhile since I've talked about my girlfriend Jenny, which for you guys is probably a good thing, but I thought I'd tell you what happened to us today.

As we were walking down Queen Street, we came to our favourite outlet of Starbucks across the street, and there were protesters outside! I wasn't sure what they were protesting about, but this obnoxious young woman was yelling "Starbucks Coffee exploits!" into a megaphone.

Now, me and Jenny essentially met through Starbucks, and our love has always been fueled by their coffee, so we took this attack on Starbucks very personally. I suggested we should just ignore them, but she would have none of it.

Jenny is a very forward person, and has the tendency to be a little impulsive. So it worried me when she told me to follow her and do whatever she told me to.

It's pointless to resist her when she gets like that, and for my own safety, I complied. She marched through the crowd, and before going into Starbucks, and gave the lady with the megaphone an evil little smile.

I must admit, I was scared.

She went up to the counter, and asked for 25 expressos Before I had a chance to ask her what the heck she was doing, she sternly told me that I would be paying for half of them.

When we were given our coffees, she took some, and I took the rest, and she went back outside, with a cheerful and innocent little smile on her face.

"Coffee anyone?" Jenny asked the protesters politely as we went around offering them the coffee we had bought. I held me head down, embarrassed enough already, though the employees in Starbucks were laughing, which was encouraging.

Of course, they didn't accept any of it, even after Jenny assured them it was delicious, so she took us a little further up the street, and started to offer the coffee to the strangers casually walking along, minding their own business.

Within 5 minutes, everybody had taken the coffee gratefully, which did not impress the protesters. Jenny saved the last coffee for herself, and when she walked back into the Starbucks with it, the lady with the megaphone gave her such a mean look.

I tell 'ya, if looks could kill...

Anyway, back in the Starbucks, she ordered us some danishes, and an extra expresso for me, and we sat by the window where Jenny could keep an eye on them.

She kept waving at the lady with the megaphone, giving her the same evil little smile, and the lady got more and more frustrated, until she stormed off in a huff, taking the rest of the protesters with her, who didn't look impressed with Jenny at all.

Once the protesters had left, the employees in Starbucks as well as the few people eating/drinking there applauded for us, which made it all worthwhile.

Jenny makes a great girlfriend, though I would not want her as an enemy.

If our relationship has to end, I hope I'm not the one to break up with her, because I think she would actually kill me.

It's astonishing to see the hold emblems have over the community at Gamespot. While many people remain indifferent to these small tokens of achievement, some people need them to survive. If I was given a gold coin for every time I have seen someone ask where is there emblem for voting in a special event or watching a certain live-feed video, I'd be a very wealthy man.

Take a look to your right, you will see my collection of emblems. Notice the emblem for the Wii launch? Yes, yes, I was virtually there you know, and I throughly enjoyed watching it. However! While the show was broadcasting, all people could talk about was emblems, emblems, emblems!

Most of the people watching were hardly interested about the launch, they only wanted to see the proof that they were "virtually there".

I doubt many of these people would still tune in to these live-feed videos without the promise of some sort of recognition, and that makes me sick.

With Gamespot's recent Best and Worst of 2006 feature, everyone can win themselves an easy emblem. Oh joy!

Again, if I was given 5 dollars for every time somebody asked when Gamespot would give out the emblems, I could pay them all to shut up.

It's a wonder whether people actually enjoy being part of these events for the events themselves, and not for the tokens. I suppose it gets people participating, but in my opinion, the distribution of emblems ruins the integrity of the event.

The route of all evil isn't money, it's that stupid emblem thread, describing every emblem, and how to obtain them. Some people follow this thread religiously, going as far to make up their game collections in order to be a "connoisseur of fine games" or a "Serious collector". How do you know who's really telling the truth about these things, and who just wants the emblems?

I've seen too many people seduced by the dark power of emblems, and in my humble opinion, all emblems should be destroyed, because without them, Gamespot would be a place of truth and innocence, with no need of recognition.

Boycott emblems! I implore you!

Well...they are shiny. Maybe, I'll keep my Wii launch emblem, oh, I can't throw out my Soapbox emblem, and perhaps I'll just hang on to my token of popularity.

On second thought, emblems are good, all hail emblems!
 

...sorry, I couldn't resist. :oops:

Well, now that I've wasted your time by bringing you here, I might as well say something meaningful.

I went and saw Happy Feet today, which, strangely enough was...good. Alright, I know what you're thinking, but it doesn't just appeal to kids you know, and once you get over the fact that it's a movie about singing and dancing penguins, well, it gets better.

The movie is actually a lot deeper than you'd expect, and at times it even becomes surreal and disturbing. I'd recommend it.

In other news, I just finished Twilight Princess.

:(

Well, I can't really complain, the quest took me just under 40 hours, and I guess I can squeeze a few more by collecting bugs and poes etc., but the bottom line is:

It's over!

Great game though. Mind you, it didn't quite move me as much as OoT did, but I suppose no game does.

Ocarina of Time still remains, in my view, the greatest game of all time.

Well, that's about all I suppose. I still have Super Monkey Ball to play through, as well as Wii play and Wii sports. I'm embarrassed to admit, I haven't even touched the Wii's online features, and I haven't even established a connection yet.

However, I don't think I'll disclose my friend code, as my younger brother uses the Wii as well, and it would be kinda weird having him read you mail.

We'll see.

Anyway, with nothing left to say, I'll put you out of your misery, if you're still reading.

Drive safely!

Since the first of January in the year 2000, I've had a little tradition. I write the year on a piece of paper, and put it in a safe place. So every January 1st of a new year, I take that piece of paper, and replace it with a new one, with the new year written on it. The old pieces of paper all get burnt, as a sort of...cremation.

This may seem a little pointless, and I guess it is, but it's just my way of getting used to it being a whole new year.

But this year, as I wrote 2007 on a little piece of paper, I noticed something.

2007 = 007 = James Bond

What does this mean?

Happy New Year everyone.

I don't want to waste too much of your time, so I will give you a little update in 4 simple steps.

1. I'm back.

2. I finally have my Wii.

3. I have been playing Twilight Princess.

4. It is good.

 

Okay, so I know it's not Christmas yet, but I'm leaving today for about a week over Christmas. Every two years we have a family Christmas, and it's somebody's turn to host. This year, the hosts are in Wellington, so that's where we'll be going.

I just want to wish you a Merry Christmas, though not a happy New Year, as I will be back by then.

See you soon!

Love, (And yes, I think Love is appropriate)

Cloud
 

In the days of the NES, Nintendo released another, lesser-known system. I'm not talking about the SNES, I'm referring to the Nintendo Cereal System.

[video=diBiwmCr5b4KujU]

And they don't even look like Nintendo Characters...disgusting.

A website recently came about called www.alliwantforxmasisapsp.com. All I Want for Xmas is as PSP was apparently a site made by two friends, who wanted their parents to buy them a PSP. The site featured several rap videos about the PSP, as well as various PSP greeting cards and T-shirt iron on patterns. It was soon found out that the website had been registered by a marketing firm called Zipatoni, a marketing firm, with Sony as one of their clients.

Whoops!

The whole thing was very embarrassing, and Sony has no choice but to confess. The website and all its videos have since been removed, and there is now no trace of this viral marketing ploy.

Well...almost no trace.

Now it's Microsoft's turn. What's that? You didn't think Microsoft would get out of this unscathed did you? In November 2006, Burger King started selling their own Xbox 360 games for an additional $3.99 with any value meal. I'm not sure which of the two conpanies this is supposed to benefit, but either way, it's despicable.

I pity the poor parent who takes their child for a value meal, but ends up inspiring them to ask for a 360, which costs a little more than your standard burger deal.

And I truly feel sorry for the hardcore 360 fan, who walks into Burger King for these games, and walks out with an addiction to whopper burgers.

I commend these companies on their originality, but I'm left curious as to how effective these obscure advertising methods are.

Did Nintendo really need to bother making cereal to boost popularity at that time? Wouldn't Sony have been much better off with a well-crafted PSP ad on TV? Will those mediocre little 360 games sell Microsoft any systems?

I'll leave you to be the judge.

Well, that time of year is fast approaching. In something like 11 days, it will be Christmas day. Being a big fan of the festivities, I have adopted a Christmas theme to my blog.

...Well, at least I tried.

It should do in the meantime, but I think I'll have to change it when I get around to doing so. My Santa_Cloud looks a bit like an elf, and the snowflakes may be a little tacky, but Paint can only take you so far!

Regardless, I'm enjoying having something new to look at in my profile.

In the spirit of this occasion, I have decided to write a little Christmas story. No, don't have high expectations, It's neither funny nor clever, but simply a sweet, heart-warming tale that I greatly enjoyed writing.

I hope you enjoy reading it.

---

Molly's Christmas

Golden sunlight streamed through the window, bathing Molly's room in a warm, December morning light. As a friendly beam caressed her face, Molly's eyes slowly flickered open. She lay there, content to gaze at the ceiling, unaware of what day it was. When Molly realized it was Christmas, she eagerly leapt out of the loving sheets. and into her fluffy slippers.

She threw back the curtains, and beheld the glorious winter scene she saw before her. It had snowed overnight, and her backyard had been turned into a picturesque snowy playground. She longed to go outside and make a snowman, but first, she knew she had presents waiting for her.

Molly slowly and silently opened her door, without so much of a creak. She knew nobody would be awake, and she knew that they would not appreciate being woken. She stealthily crept through the corridor, and risked a peep into her parents' bedroom. Sure enough, they were fast asleep. She would have to wait until they woke before any presents could be opened.

When Molly saw the Christmas tree, her face lit up. Under the tree were presents, neatly wrapped up and tucked away under the sweet-scented needles. Molly loved the smell of pine, as it was to her the smell of Christmas, which she loved. She scurried on all fours to the base of the tree, where she embraced the nearest package. "Oh, I love Christmas" whispered Molly to herself as she went from gift to gift, checking the labels. Whenever she found one addressed to her, she would gingerly take it away, and place it with pride in a pile of her soon-to-be possessions. Once she had found all of her presents, she turned her attention to the pile she had made. Molly was thrilled with the size of it, and she was filled with anticipation of what lay beneath the shimmering wrapping.

For what seamed like hours Molly sat there, in front of her bounty, staring at the presents. All she wanted to do was tear of the wrapping and see what was inside, but she knew she had to wait. Too curious to stay put for any longer, Molly crawled over to her pile, and one-by-one examined each gift. She gently shook each one, turning them over to guess what lay inside. However, no matter how she tried, she could not figure out what any of her gifts contained. Finally, there was one parcel left to look at. Molly slowly picked it up, and just as she was about to shake it, she felt something move inside. In her shock, she nearly dropped it, but luckily, she still had the gift safely in her arms. She put her left ear against the side of the box, listening intently for any further sounds of movement. Molly's ear was greeted with a soft, scratching sound. She scratched back in response, and something in the box starting moving again. "Go on, open it!" said a loving voice behind her. It was her mother, who was standing behind her, with Molly's father.

Wasting no time, Molly shed the box of it's wrapping, and ripped open the box's lid. Out popped the head of a little puppy. It seemed to smile, though it's lips couldn't form such a thing, and it leaned forward, and tenderly licked the tip of Molly's nose. She giggled and said, "Oh, Mummy! I love it ever so much! What's her name?"

"You can call her whatever you like! She's yours." replied her mother.

"Then I shall call her...Prudence" said Molly with a smile on her face.

Once the happy family had opened all their presents, they went outside to play in the snow. Molly brought Prudence, who was afraid of the snow at first, but soon grew to love it. Molly built a towering snowman that she was very proud of, that even attracted the attention of Prudence, who tried to climb up it. Molly gently lifted the animal up, and placed it on the snowman's head, where it stood proudly.

It was the best Christmas Molly had ever had, and Prudence became Molly's closest friend and companion for many happy years.

---

And yes, it's supposed to be cheesy, and I realise that's not what Christmas is all about, but I still think it's a nice story.

If you like it, I may write more.