48 inches, widescreen display, hi-def video and sound, picture-in-picture, split display so I can rock ass as Dante while my wife watches Narnia...
All for only $500 8)
Yes. I'm officially in on the hi-def craze, and it's about time. All I need now is for my PS2 component cables to finally arrive, and I'll be all set. Well, not really. There's never a point of complete and total satisfaction,I suppose, but for now, I can't ask for anything more.
Man it feels good to be in.
How do you like THAT?! I'm Nobunaga's Ambition. With a name like Nobunaga, that has to be good!
w00t!
AAAANNND, I got promoted to officer in the best union on GS! All this in a single day...
w00t w0000t!
On May 30, 2005, I ended my Remembering Japan - 1 blog entry with this:
"I have more, I really do, but I'm sleepy and would rather go hang out with my pals before bed. I'll continue on with this stuff some other time, but for now, it's almost lights out."
I must have slept myself into a coma...
My buddies, Cat and Mike, are leaving me behind now. Actually, Brian's already gone, and Mike's gonna be gone in a little less than month already. They're off to separate bases in Korea for a one-year deployment each. And I don't know if we'll get back together again.
We all had one hell of a trip together a year ago. We got to enjoy Japan in the winter, and a bit of its spring. My very first snowboarding trip was with the two of them, and we had an absolute blast. Speaking of blast, Mike and I decided, knowing full well that we were still inept 'boarders (I could not turn toeside; Mike could not turn heelside) to try our luck on the black diamond.
Mike beat me to the top, and when I found him he was sitting, staring down at the opening of the beastly black diamond. A huge, steep right-hand turn lay before us. "This ain't gonna be good," I said, and then I proceeded on down.
I fought valiantly, but that right-hand curve got the better of me, almost sending me into the forest. I could hear Mike wipe out someplace lower than where I was, though not much farther. Somehow got into a "toe stop" (which is a big, fat misnomer, 'cause it didn't stop me...) on what must have been the steepest part of the mountain I'd faced so far. "Don't rock back on your heels...keep your heels up... don't let your heels touch the snow... almost there... you're gonna make it." I coached myself thus, but my body didn't understand the orders. "You mean don't do THIS," my heels chided, as they pressed the plank of wood attached to them into the glaciated mountainside. And then, not more than a second after that...
Flight.
...followed by a very unfavorable landing on the packed snow and ice that was distributed equally between my upper back and the back of my head. Then there was a backflip, a landing that was not unlike the first one, and then a slow, gentle bout of sliding. For a moment, the white-washed winter wonderland faded out to dark, dark black.
I very quickly came-to, and as I gathered my senses and attempted to work my way up to my knees, Mike came gliding coolly up to me. My cap, which had abandoned me during my blunder was in his hand. "You alright," he asked me. My expression belied my response. "I'm cool."
In a supernatural bit of foresight, I brought with me what remained of the prescription Tylenol I'd recieved at sick call only weeks earlier. And thank God for that precognition. It took a few minutes, but I eventually gathered the strength I'd been waiting for. All I had to do was make my way back to the lodge, cruelly located at the bottom of the slope, and I could medicate the headache I knew was sure to kick in at any second.
The fear of another torrential wipeout held me back, even though I wasn't hurt. So Mike hung out with me there, sitting on the edge of that slope, until I'd gathered the courage to get up and set off for the lodge. My heart pounded at the very thought of trying the mountain again, but I knew what I had to do. So, with no other options available to me (Summon the rescue team to come and save me? Not in this lifetime!) I stood up on my rubbery legs and I tumbled down the rest of that damn mountainside.
Cat finally caught up with us in the lobby, where I was eating prescription Tylenol caplets and drinking warm tea. We filled him in on the goings-on and had a good laugh. I ain't no punk, so once my blood started running warm again and I'd convinced myself I hadn't been concussed, we all went straight back to the lift. And had a wild time riding the bunny slope.
Adrian 1 - Mountainside 0
That's the nature of the military lifestyle, I suppose. It's been this way since I joined. Meet a group of guys who you go through basic training with. Then, after seven weeks of camaradarie and growth, say goodbye. Go to tech school, and form even tighter bonds with new friends over the course of several months. And say goodbye again. Finally arrive at your "permanant" duty station. Get really close to a new host of friends. Go through tough, aggravating times together. Experience Japan together. Laugh at and with each other. Be there for each other. Know that you'll always be buds.
Then shake hands and say goodbye again.
By now, most people are aware of the great draw of Tetris on the DS. Besides a few new modes and some WiFi gameplay, Nintendo spiced up the old-timer with a smattering of classic Nintendo visuals and sound effects, spanning all the biggest mascots that linger on even today. Sweet. There's no denying that Tetris DS has reawakened my love for the game, but one glaring fact compels me to rant.
As Ryan Davis pointed out when writing GameSpot's official Tetris DS review, Tetris is arguably the reason Nintendo's original Game Boy soared in the eighties. Sure, the handheld was already doing well for itself, but it wasn't until it was bundled with Tetris that it really anchored its position -- the position that it enjoys still today. Position number one.
So how ironic is it that once again Nintendo has released a Tetris game on one of its handhelds and that Tetris will once again help boost said handheld's popularity? The sting in the irony is that Tetris DS pretty much dismisses the fact that Tetris is not an original Nintendo creation in the first place, leaving Alexey Pazhitnov and his influential puzzler out to dry.
The entire game is built around highlighting Nintendo's glory days, so you'd figure that in the spirit of remembering the heyday of the eighties, they could have stuck some actual, regular, you know, TETRIS in there... somewhere... as an unlockable or something. Anything. But no. No Tetris. Just Nintendo's conceited remix of it.
But, before I go too far, I must admit Nintendo deserves major props for making some honest-to-goodness fun Tetris spinoff games in Tetris DS, not the least of which is "Push" mode. And, in truth, Tetris DS is not ruined by Nintendo's contempt for the original. Nintendo has given me a reason to play Tetris again, and I'm thankful for that. Still, Ryan Davis' words stayed with me as I began playing Tetris DS for the first time a couple days ago, and the more I thought about it, the more I hated that I couldn't choose to listen to the original Tetris music when I played... or that the blocks didn't change color-schemes as I went up in levels. The pure form of Tetris, which was pivotal in Nintendo's success, hardly gets a mention on this Nintendo handheld -- a platform that may well owe its survival and prosperity to Tetris to begin with. How wrong is that?
I'm not one to get carried away by a game's review score. There are few reasonably questionable verdicts given here at GS, but even if I do find a review of theirs dubious, I generally just press on and forget it. GS final word on a game is just that: their final word. And their final word on a game doesn't make me enjoy a game any less or any more than I would have otherwise.
But now we have this case with Metroid Prime Hunters where the game was reviewed and scored, then suddenly pulled from the reviews archive due to some glitches found in the review's accuracy being pointed out by some sharp users. Pretty big glitches too, I might add. So big, in fact, you have to wonder what kind of priority was given to telling us all about Hunters. To have a review come out so late, and then be full of inaccuracies when it does finally get posted, puts GameSpot in a bad light. That's what this user thinks anyway.
In GameSpot's own explanation of its rating system, they acknowledge the possibility of factual errors being a possibility in their reviews, and that if any such errors were to be brought to light, GS would research the material and amend the review if they saw fit to.
Such was the case with Metroid Prime Hunters.
The game got an 8.6 the first time it was rated. An outstanding score by GS' [usually] rigid standards, to be sure. So why, after making corrections that directly affected their verdict on the game's gameplay, value, and possibly tilt did the game's score remain at 8.6? There is absolutely no sense in that, whatsoever.
Nobody could have really asked them to change the "8" score they marked for graphics, or the "9" they applied to the sounds since those are obviously very opinion-oriented criteria. Gameplay and value, however, are a bit more standardized, even if just by a tiny bit.
Put simply, the original text of the review flat-out lied about Metroid Prime: Hunters' gameplay. Since the reviewer complained about the limitations of the WiFi experience, then mistook a built-in game mechanic for a glitch, but still gave Hunters an "8" for gameplay, it serves to logic that GameSpot'd raise that score once they found out that he was completely wrong. Not so. It's as if they said, "this game is only so enjoyable because [this certain thing] limits it, so it scores an 8 outta 10 for gameplay." Then, upon finding out that the "certain thing" was actually a figment of their imaginations they said, "we mustn't draw attention to our error, so the gameplay score stands, even though we just found out it is much, much better than we first realized."
And we, the lifeblood of GS, are supposed to think that's okay?
Well yeah, on some level -- the greater level -- we should, I guess. I count myself fortunate that review scores don't limit my ability to like a game. In this particular instance, the offended material still scored quite high, but even if it hadn't, even if GS had showed blatant bias, Metroid Prime Hunters would still be just as fun to me. And that's what matters most.
But it's more than the tally of the score that we should look at. GameSpot supposedly "takes reviewing games seriously..." but this spoof just doesn't prove it at all. It's as if the 8.6 score was decided for the game before they ever even played it. Like I said, it lost points because they thought it was lacking in some areas. Upon realizing they weren't looking closely enough (most of the stuff they managed to miss was actually printed in the game's instruction manual... sheesh), they didn't have the courage to reflect that in the final score. What do they think, that we won't notice? If that's how it's going to be, then what's the point of them including numerical scores with their reviews anyway?
This little incident will continually make me second-guess GameSpot's credibility as a reviews source, at least where the scores are concerned. Apparently, saving face is more important to them than having scores that reflect a game's real worth around here, and that really sucks.
Ever since I got Mario Kart for DS I've loved playing it online. Sure, I have to deal with playing the same type of racers time and time again, and that gets old, but those special times that I get to race against three other people who don't use Dry Bomber or Egg1 (and don't disconnect to save their precious records) are what make it special. It's very rare, but special indeed.
But those special times may become still rarer, now that Metroid Prime: Hunters has come into my collection. Day 1 WiFi record: 0 wins - 10 losses... ouch. Of course, I'm completely inept and clumsy with FPS games, so it's really no surprise.
Samus, to me, has to have the cleanest record for sequel/spinoff titles compared to any other Nintendo mascot. Mario has been slaved into just about any extracurricular activity Nintendo can reasonably place him in, and then some. He's enjoyed plenty of hits, but far too many misses as well. Mario Party 3-7 come to mind. Link has great titles like Z64 under his belt, but he also had that nasty little spill with those CD-i games way back when. But Samus... she's been treated like a queen. Not even Metroid Prime Pinball tarnished her record, so she's definitely got a hot streak going.
Bearing that in mind, it comes as no surprise how much Hunters has imressed me so far. I've barely scratched the surface so far, playing a bit of the mission and getting completely scorched in multiplayer. **I dare anyone to put me some Street Fighter III online and I'll rule the school! Oh yeah!** Anyway, there's no way to cast a verdict on it yet, but if the opening cinema is any indication of overall quality, it's looking like Hunters will be yet another point of pride for the series.
In the meantime, things are starting to look down for Animal Crossing. But, in a way, that might be a good thing. What's the use of hurrying through it anyway? Even if I get completely bored of it, I know I'll pick it back up and get hooked again eventually. As for right now, I'm only interested in selling my 1430 turnips (bought at 90 bells apiece) to Tom Nook for some serious bells. Or some serious disappointment. Besides checking in on Tom's buying price every day, an occasional stroll along the beach collecting seashells and searching for... what's his name... P- something... it starts with a P... P... Puh... Pascal! That's it! Besides looking for Pascal and some quick dough from Nook, Wild World just isn't really on my radar right now. As I said, that'll change. I've got some cool renovation ideas for my town, I just gotta get the time and motivation to work on it.
Not that the likes of Mario Kart and Hunters are gonna help me there...
Well, it's off to bed I go. Maybe I'll pray to not be such a n00b anymore on Hunters before I lay me down to sleep. No matter what, it'll be fun to pursue a new genre. A genre in which I am completely inept. At least I have loads of room for improvement, so that'll be fun. Hey, when I look at it like that, I'm guess a winner either way.
Cheers
I'm a convivial person. I have the GameSpot badge to prove it. I don't know what it means, convivial, but I think it goes along the same lines as friendly. Cool. I'll go with that. I'm friendly.
Before GameSpot I wouldn't have considered being "convivial" to be any kind of accomplishment. But when I consider how exceptionally rude people around the forums can be, I feel a pat on my back is in order.
Okay, so the badge doesn't come from being friendly. It just means I've got X amount of friends on site. That's fine too. But since I got to talking about it...
Visit any thread in any forum here at GameSpot.com to see what I'm talking about. The rudeness and all. In the PS3 forum, one member creates a thread and speculates on the price of the PS3 at launch. Fair enough, right? Some members engage him in decent conversation, while others take time to tell him how sick and tired they are of "that type" of thread. On and on they go, all-capsing the guy to death...
...instead of just moving on to another thread.
And it's all the time with this behavior online, not just on GameSpot. I don't have a solution for it either, except to not fall into the trap. Sometimes people start threads that I hate too, like those "which game should I get" threads where they almost always answer the question for themselves before they really ask it. Or those idiotic "what color is your DS," threads.
But it's a public forum, and unless someone is making it a point to be a nuisance, what point is there in trying to shut them up? That's what the mods are for.
I'm not spineless and I'm not a pacifist. Sometimes I think I get too confrontational too quickly. It's not that I wish people would stop being rude online, especially here at GS, just that I wanted to tell them all that I think they're all cowards hiding behind the safety of the internet.
And if they don't like it?
They can shove it.
Okay, 25/8 is a stretch, but it sure doesn't feel like it sometimes. I've been putting in 12+ hours a day at work this week, and it's killing any chance to really get into the forums and whip up a new review. I've been playing Shadow of the Colossus (a game like no other -- I mean that in the best possible way) and want to tell the world how I feel about it, but I just can't squeeze in the time to even initiate a rough draft. It's doubtful I'll be able to enter it into this week's ReviewSpotting in time. But hey, it's all good. Maybe next week.
That's how it is I guess. There's the wife, the kids, her job, my job... geez. Can't wait till this week's over so I can get some more "me" time.
For now, it's back to the Community Contributions Union (of which I recently became a member. Shout out to KnightsofRound for pointing out it's a "free" admission) to put my Battalion Wars review up for critique. Maybe. Or maybe I'll just try to get some headway on my Shadow review.
I'm pretty drunk, and I lost $20 at poker with my buddies. I suck at poker. Some friends, eh? The GBA is one of my very favorite consoles. I love that little thing. I wish I had a Micro, but I'll never get one, because I always spend my money on stupid things... like gambling with guys who are good at poker when I'm absolute crap at it. I hope I win the ReviewSpotting this week. The more I read my MKDS review, the more I think it sucks. Hopefully the judges don't think so too. I wonder if I should get in on the DFAD4 thing. That's for the best of the best. Maybe I should... except... I don't have any ideas. Well, maybe a couple. But they're not so hot. But I can sell anything. Anything. I can sell eight days of the week. Dammit. Jenna Jameson is staring at me. Even better, she's doing naughty stuff with Krystal Steal AND staring at me. So that means, even if you're Krystal Steal, and you're making out with Jenna Jameson, and you're on that poster to my right... she'll still be looking at (and, therefore, thinking about) me. I'm the heat. My wife works at GameStop. That's the heat too. Now I get to try out all kinds of brand-new games for fuh-ree, which is awesome. I wish those "pals" of mine would bet on some Street Fighter III... that'd show 'em. Hehehe. I win all kinds of money. Actually, I'd just win American dollars, which is only one "kind" of money, but still. You know what I mean, so, stop looking at me. I should go check out some StrongBad emails. Damn, those things sure are funny. But more people need to be around for them to be really really really funny. That's for sure. And if I didn't hit backspace so much when I'm drunk, there'd be a lot of typos on this entry, that's for sure too. No more backspace starting... ... ... NOW~! Shoot. There I go already. I wonder what Mike's up to. I should call theat guy. He's probably getiing into a world of trouble . but mabye not. Stupid Mike... going to Lubbock to go "clubbing" without me... How can you co clubbing without me, huh?! I'me the heat, remember.? m I sure do. I'm a pretty good candseer... dammint... dancer, I mena. GRRRR!!! BACKSPACE!!! Okay, just focuas... This coulbe a pretty good sobriety test, you know?! So yeayh, I'm a pretty good dancer. In order: I sing, dance, then write the best. Which, of course, means I'
m the heat. Okay, I guve up. I'm embarrasing myself wiht an onslaught of poor grapmmar and spelling. Im ust quit, for now. End of blog entry... NOW!
I missed the freakin' ReviewSpotting deadline. I really wanted my Mario Kart DS review in there... maybe could have gotten a twofer. Dah well, it happens. We'll see how things unfold in the following edition.
Log in to comment