It's time once again for the always entertaining Pick 5... post, with this edition's topic being: The Only Five You Could Take With You. And if you can't figure out where the subject line for this post comes from, you really should be watching more of The Office. Now, I don't want to imply that I am lumping myself in with the likes of John Carmack. Because I fully admit that I am in that 96% of the population that can only marvel at his genius. But I completely agree with him that if I were forever tragically marooned on a deserted island (yet strangely, supplied with electricity), I would much rather have a laptop, a compiler, and access to the Interweb than a stack of games. But that's not the way you play Pick 5..., so I'll stick to the topic. 1. Bionic Commando - If you're going to be playing a game for the rest of your natural life, it had better be one that never gets old. Bionic Commando is exactly that game for me. My brother and I used to see how far we could make it without firing a shot; only using the bionic arm to swing and stomp on guys' heads. Good times. 2. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved - While a lot of games sort of have this emergent gameplay, as in Bionic Commando, where the player finds new ways to increase the challenge. Others are designed from the ground up to be incredibly fun, approachable, and enduring. Hopefully my island would have some sort of indigenous fauna, preferably monkeys, that I could teach to use the 360's controller well enough that we could try and beat each other's scores. 3. Rollercoaster Tycoon - Yeah, I'm partly to blame for this game being the number one best-seller for about 40 months, because I told everyone I knew that they needed to play it. But it really is a very deep game that could be played for years, and there's just something incredibly fun about designing theme park rides. Sure, there are plenty of other strategy games that I would miss being able to play. But I would imagine that Rollercoaster Tycoon would be just as much fun when I eventually went mad from sun exposure and started arguing with the coconuts. 4. Guild Wars - I haven't really given Guild Wars the amount of attention that it deserves. And with 10+ years of playing time, I think I could see everything that it has to offer. I'm tempted to put Diablo II: Lord of Destruction in this slot, but Guild Wars is a very similar game, and I've already played Diablo II to death. 5. Battlefield 2 - And finally, in probably the most contentious genre, the first-person shooter, it's a toss-up between UT, CounterStrike, and Battlefield. But I think that in the long run, Battlefield just has more to offer than the other two contenders. It would have been a lot easier for me to pick 5 books or 5 movies, but those are my 5 desert island games. How about yours?

So once again, I'm writing about movies on my GameSpot blog. Fortunately, it shouldn't be too long before I'll be able to do so on a CNET film fanatic website. I don't know if anyone pays attention to the Entertainment division's job listings, but last month they had 3 or 4 positions available for Data Producers that were very knowledgeable about all things filmic, all of which have subsequently been removed (I'm assuming they were filled). So, motion pictures being my second passion after vidya games, I am excited about the addition, to say the least. Because as much as I try to get into them, the MP3 and TV dot coms just don't do it for me.

But back to my topic du jour. Dead Man's Chest is a cash machine... It easily blew past more than a handful of all-time opening records with it's $135 million weekend. And there's no end in sight. It's still bringing in upper-teen millions of dollars, every day of the week. Meanwhile, Superman Returns managed an $11.6 million weekend for it's third week in release, coming in behind Pirates, Little Man (which I'm ashamed to admit I want to see), and You, Me, and Dupree.

I don't know if the Blue Tights'll be the hit Warner was hoping for when they signed all those checks. And I have to admit, I really don't understand, because Superman Returns is an excellent movie, especially if you were a fan of the original pictures (I wasn't, I'm just saying). Well, I guess I do understand that Pirates pretty much stole the wind from Superman's sails, and that probably spelled the end for America's greatest superhero. But I still need to check it out in 3D on the IMAX...

I ended up watching Dead Man's Chest again last weekend (at a matinee) and my initial opinion about the flick didn't change. It's a very entertaining movie, with a lot of good jokes, great set/costume/character design, slick camera work, insane visual effects, all that jazz. But it's just not as good of a movie as the Black Pearl. The story's not as tight... You cut DMC by 15-20 minutes, and it'd be just about perfect (and better than it's predecessor). That said, I think I won't mind the length as much when I own it on DVD.

I've finished off R&C: Going Commando, and I'm playing through it again on "Challenge Mode" to check out all of the super weapons. But I should have a review up sometime in the next few days. I also started Indigo Prophecy, which is a really great game so far. As I've mentioned before, I'm a long-time fan of adventure games on the PC, and Indigo Prophecy is a nice evolution of that genre. It's a shame that Atari decided to change the name from Fahrenheit for the American release, because there are all of these cool little references to the temperature and "the coldest winter ever" that add a lot of atmosphere to the game...

The story is really quite entertaining & creepy, and some of the gameplay decisions the developers made are interesting. The Simon-esque mini-games provide a nice puzzle/rhythm game challenge to an otherwise very dark, plot-driven experience. The graphics are a little lack-luster, and I can only imagine how amazing it would be on current technology. So I guess here's hoping Quantic Dream will put out Heavy Rain on more platforms than just the PS3, because I'm not about to drop $600 for a single console.

I managed to snag three games from Circuit City yesterday for 9 bucks each: Indigo Prophecy, Gun, and Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (or MEsGU:CUP?), and I'm pretty happy about it, because none of them are even a year old. I was hoping to find a copy of Drill Dozer or some new games for my shiny DS lite, but it was slim pickens for the portable business.

I also went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at the crazy midnight showing. It's a good movie, but it certainly could have waited until daylight. I wanted to see Superman Returns in 3D, but they were still sold out. I wonder if IMAX sales are included in the regular box office calculations, because it seems like a completely different animal; especially now that they're doing the stereoscopic thing.

I was thinking about this the other day... Superman Returns is 154 minutes long and cost 220 million dollars (if you don't include the 40 million involving a Thanagarian Snare-beast, and Brainiac, wrasslin' polar bears). That's like 24 grand for every second of film you watch... Madness.

I don't think Dead Man's Chest was better than The Curse of the Black Pearl, but it was a really good movie. There were a lot of good jokes and sight gags (any Monkey Island fans should recognize the rowing-with-the-skeletal-leg scene at the beginning), and the visual effects were amazing, but it just didn't seem like as much of a fully fleshed out story as the Black Pearl.

I will say that I think I'll enjoy it more if I go see it again, because I was really tired around 1:30 or 2:00am while Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Commodore Norrington were going for a swash-buckle on the broken wheel of a water mill. But if I do see it again, it'll have to be a matinee, because I don't think I'll be able to fork over another 10 bucks to see the same movie, and not feel like I've just been mugged...

And who do I have to bribe to get a Galaxy Quest sequel?

I'm playing catch-up here to the GameSpot crew. They're two editions into their newly minted Pick 5... feature, which is really a great idea. So with no further ado, the top 5 games I have in my collection because I think they make me look cool:

1. ICO - Everyone who's anyone says ICO is the greatest game ever. And in reality they're not that far off the mark.
2. Deus Ex - The under-appreciated cyberpunk cult classic, that I've never even finished. What I played was fun, but I've become a victim of the technology curve. Games like Deus Ex are just plain ugly now, and it makes it hard to go back and play them.
3. Warcraft: Orcs and Humans - The first PC game I ever purchased myself. In its original packaging from 1994, when CD-Roms were new and exciting... Ah, nostalgia. And it's still one of my favorite RTS games ever made.
4. Planescape: Torment - Another in the "bought and never played" column. I was caught up in the hype and managed to steal a copy off of eBay for $7. But I've never been a big fan of games that come on 6+ discs.
5. The Longest Journey - I consider myself an adventure game aficionado, so I picked this one up just on principle. It was really a bonus that the game is incredible.

Moving right along, the top 5 games I haven't played but should:

1. Final Fantasy VII - I never had a Playstation. Shut up.
2. Metal Gear Solid - See reason #1. I've played the NES versions though, so don't you judge me.
3. The Zork series - Before my time, but fortunately Zork + Asterisk = one of the best ideas ever.
4. Shenmue I & II - To be fair this list really should contain every Dreamcast game, but these two will be the representatives.
5. Psychonauts - I'm actually ashamed of myself because of this... And I'm a huge Tim Schafer fan! I really don't have an excuse. I'm just a jerk.

And finally (but GameSpot has only done two Pick 5s?) following the trail blazed by Justin Calvert, the top 5 games I've played and I bet you haven't but should:

1. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - Even if you don't play another point & click adventure game for the rest of your life, I just don't know how you couldn't love a detective story about ritualistic murders set in the Big Easy.
2. War Wind - An RTS game that was released into the market vacuum that surrounded Command & Conquer: Red Alert. And it's really a shame, because War Wind did things in 1996 for RTS gameplay design that took years to hit the mainstream. Luckily for you, you can download the demo from GameSpot.
3. Z - Or Zed. Another fantastic RTS game from 1996. Z is a really fresh experience, especially for its time. There were no base-building or micro-management mechanics to the game; it was all about territorial control and blowing crap up.
4. Syndicate - An incredibly addictive squad-based action/strategy game from 1993, where you played as a multinational corporation competing for world dominance, using a team of cybernetic assassins. There's nothing quite as satisfying as having your team step off of an elevated train, using your cyborg sniper to eliminate a corporate rival (surrounded by heavily-armed bodyguards) from 2 miles away, stepping back on the train and riding back to base. 30 seconds, mission success... You just have to play this game.
5. Bioforge - Really more than just a straight-forward adventure, Bioforge featured a prominent combat aspect to its gameplay. There was plenty of puzzle-solving to be done, but you also beat a crazy cyborg unconscious with his own severed arm... Because, you need his fork, why else? Yeah, it's not for the kids. Read more about it on Wikipedia.

So those are my 15 picks. I'll leave you with this...

We're no longer called Sonic Death Monkey. We're on the verge of becoming Kathleen Turner Overdrive, but just for tonight, we are Barry Jive and his Uptown Five.

My DS Lite arrived a few days ago, and ever since I've been battling against my own mutinous, deserting neurons to achieve a brain age befitting of my actual years. But when I'm not working through a sudoku puzzle, I'm admiring the construction of the hardware itself. And with every visit to GameSpot, I'm now browsing through the DS library, trying to decide what games I would really like to play.

A few moments ago however, as I was flipping through the television stations and (I'm ashamed to admit) stopping on Spike's MXC, I found my mind wandering. I was thinking about the Microsoft E3 press conference, and the somewhat awkward moment where the stage was passed off to Bill Gates to discuss the Live Anywhere initiative.

The general idea of Live Anywhere is that you have access to a single, unified Microsoft Live account that spans your Vista-powered PC, Xbox 360, and Windows Mobile device(s). From any of which, you will be able to use various aspects of your account; whether actually playing games, checking in on friends, or buying content from the Live Marketplace.

I don't know what was shown on the floor, but the concepts presented on the stage were a very alluring vapor. The details that were glossed over were staggering, but the idea itself was incredibly exciting; revolutionary, you might say.

So tonight I found myself considering how such a system could be adapted to Nintendo's hardware. And I came to the conclusion that, for the most part, it all comes down to the mysterious Virtual Console.

What if the Virtual Console(s) were published for the DS? Perhaps you could purchase an NES or SNES emulator on a GBA cartridge? You could then take (there really isn't a good way to say this...) a memory card out of your Wii and put it into your DS, gaining access to all of your Virtual Console games.

Maybe you would decide to fire up a game of Bionic Commando or Bonk's Adventure on your way to work, and then continue it at home by transferring the memory card back to the Wii. Or perhaps, and this is really crazy, you wouldn't even have to physically relocate the memory card from one device to the other. What if they could synchronize via your home wireless network, updating saved games to the most recent versions?

Maybe on your lunch break you could take advantage of the local coffee house's free wireless network to play a random pickup game of Tecmo Bowl or NFL Blitz (N64); only your opponent is using the Virtual Console on their Wii...

The potential of playing a game on a console and then continuing that game on a fully functional portable (no cell phones please) is the holy grail in video games, in my humble opinion. Add to that the ability to fundamentally double the number of players available for online games, and the potential is even more interesting. Or at least, more interesting than a rear-view mirror...

Yesterday I went shopping, in search of the fabled DS Lite. I placed my faith in the inventory tracking system of Best Buy, which assured me that both hardware and potentially free copies (see the last post) of Brain Age were in stock at the two brick and mortar locations nearest to my home.

It's not clear to me now exactly what that system keeps track of, but either (A) it's a day or more behind actual inventory counts, or (2) after leaving regional distribution centers on trucks bound for physical markets, said products' status are updated to "In Stock."

Meanwhile, back in reality, both stores were sold out of both products, leaving me DS-free and fairly disappointed as visions of a gigantic Mario vanished from my head. But fortunately, I have one of the coolest brothers in the world, thanks to whom I now have a DS Lite winging its way to me (with great lethargy) via the United Stated Postal Service. The short version is this: he bought one off of eBay just before launch day (after hearing rumors of a shortage), and then on launch day saw a stack of them sitting in his local Circuit City and just couldn't resist; a win-win-win situation. Maybe one more win, I'm not sure...

So, while I was out yesterday, I decided to go to the shopping mall next to Best Buy, where I purchased a copy of Brain Age from EB Games and then headed to Waldenbooks. From there, I picked up a copy of the excellent Marvel trade paperback House of M, and two issues of one of the greatest magazines ever printed -- Make:

I had heard a lot about Make: from diggnation and other random sources, but I'd never done more than skim the website. What caught my attention was the cover story about building your own Kite Aerial Photography rig, and now I'm completely and utterly hooked. In fact, I'm hatching a plan to build my own rig and take some aerial photos from the top of Currahee mountain, the former site of the US Army paratrooper training camp, Camp Toccoa.

Also, I've written my review for Ratchet & Clank, and I'm thinking of starting the second game in the series: Going Commando. Or maybe it's time for a nice & long RPG. Well, that's it for today. I think in my next post I'll try and catalog the progress that I have made on my KAP rig.

I've probably been using BitTorrent since 2003, at least. I'm not sure which version I started with, but I can tell you that it had some pretty serious memory issues. I could be downloading a fan-subtitled episode of Naruto (back before it was licensed and the English voice actors killed the dialogue by putting the emphasis on the wrong syllables) and literally watch the process eat up all of my physical memory and even start page faulting. Which resulted in me seeing more blue screens of death than with every other application I used, combined.

Anyway, I held off of switching to a different client for almost three years. Friends of mine swore by Azureus, which had me interested because it was written in Java, but still I stuck with the original. Today however, I installed µTorrent, and after using it for about 5 minutes to start downloading the torrent for Windows Vista Beta 2 I had uninstalled the vanilla BitTorrent client. µTorrent is just incredibly slick.

The interface is amazingly minimalistic, with excellent iconography, well designed menus, and tons of information about the status of your torrents. And the kicker is that even downloading the 3.7GB(!!!) ISO image of Vista, it only is using about 3MB of memory... How freaking awesome is that? So long-story-short, if you have the need to take advantage of a torrent client, I would highly recommend (read micro) µTorrent.

Also, on Saturday I finished up Ratchet & Clank, which is really a spectacular game. I've always been a huge fan of the platformer though, so I'm immediately biased towards anything in the genre. Although, R&C is decidedly more action-oriented than most (and much better at it than Jak II). Look for a review in the next couple of days. I'm not sure what I'm going to start next. But it may very well be New Super Mario Bros., because the DS Lite is calling my name. Plus Best Buy is giving away (pdf) copies of Brain Age with every DS Lite purchased. Bonus!

Tonight marks a critical point in my movie collection, no, even my life. In fact, you could say that my life is easily divisible into two distinct parts. Before and after I owned the 1982 milestone in motion picture history: Mazes and Monsters, starring the (back to back!) Academy Award-winning Tom Hanks.

This made-for-television masterpiece tells the cautionary tale of a group of four bright and sociable young college students who are enthralled in playing the fantasy role-playing game "Mazes and Monsters." We can only look on in horror as Robbie Wheeling (Hanks) descends into the depths of madness as a result of his flirtation with the black magicks of board games.

I can assure you that Mazes and Monsters is easily one of the worst movies ever committed to celluloid. But, like Jaws: The Revenge and Ishtar, Mazes and Monsters is something that every movie fanatic really should see...

And I would think that it would be encouraging to anyone trying to become a successful actor. Before Hanks owned the 80s, he was just another dude trying to break into the movie business. Yeah, so he wasn't exactly a no-name actor; he had done Bosom Buddies...

But you get my point. :P

I finished up my review for Half-Life 2: Episode One earlier this evening, and it had me thinking about writing. I've always had a bit of a predisposition to be a rambler, so I was curious as to how badly my writing has suffered because of it, and also how my reviews stack up to their GameSpot counterparts. Here are some numbers...

Number of games reviewed: 10
Average word count: 699.2
Longest review: Jak and Daxter, 1138 words
Shortest review: Might and Magic (mobile), 473 words

Average score: 8.52
Average GameSpot score: 8.52, that's just crazy.
Highest score: No One Lives Forever 2, 9.4
Lowest score: Oni, 7.5

Not too bad actually... I'm hovering right around 700 words on average, which is a good length I think. I sometimes get eye-weary reading GameSpot reviews that are overly long, and often I'll even skip to the end when they start to drag. Gasp. Unless of course it's written by someone whose opinion I really regard, like GregK or Brad.

Well... I guess that's it for now. I should really get back to blogging more. For the last few weeks, I would think of something I had read or just wanted to write about and then forget about it, or just leave the draft sitting on my desktop.

Like many video game fans, I was glued to my computer screen for the past week, watching all of GameSpot's excellent video content coverage of the expo. Below is my list of the best games of E3 2006. Some of my picks may be contentious, but my main criterion for selection was whether or not the game seemed to be improving upon the state of the art in any exceptional way. Secondly, in areas where that test failed, I simply chose the games that I am most eagerly anticipating. And finally, I only selected from titles that presented more than simple teaser animations. With that said...

PC
Game of Show - Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Adding a level of immersion and environmental interaction that has only been promised in the past, Dark Messiah is shaping up like one of the greatest PC RPGs ever made.

Runner Up - BioShock
The spiritual successor to probably the best Action-RPG developed for the PC. BioShock's 1920's art deco styling is a truly unique visual style that sets it apart from the crowd of first-person titles.

Wii
Game of Show - Wii Sports
No other Nintendo title showcased the elegant simplicity and power of the Wii Controller like this game.

Runner Up - Super Mario Galaxy
It's Mario... I shouldn't have to explain this. ;)

PS3
Game of Show - Assassin's Creed
Greatly improving upon the representation of the bustling city-scape, Assassin's Creed promises to allow the player to use the crowded streets of Jerusalem (among other locales) to their advantage when escaping capture. From the developers of The Sands of Time... Need I say more?

Runner Up - Untitled Naughty Dog Game
Appearing much like the most memorable scenes from an Indiana Jones film, this PS3-exclusive title looks to be one of the best 3rd person adventures since the original Tomb Raider. I am incredibly excited about this game, despite the lack of information and the insane pricetag of the PS3.

PS2
Game of Show - God of War II
God of War was one of the best games of 2005, and the most refreshing action game in years. At its worst, God of War II will merely be more of the same.

Runner Up - Dragonball Z Budokai: Tenkaichi 2
Fighting with over 130 characters from the Dragonball universe in numerous destructible environments with epic maneuvers and camera angles... Any fan of DBZ should be ecstatic about the release of this game.

PSP
Game of Show - Loco Roco
A truly original puzzle game that devises an entirely new way to interact with the standard video game controller.

Runner Up - Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel
This is the future of comic books. Period. Marvel, DC, and the rest should jump on this now.

X360
Game of Show - Gears of War
An amazing game graphically, Gears of War looks like it will also be an incredibly satisfying gameplay experience. The context-sensitive interface and excellent camera angles (WWII-film style shaky-camera running) stand out as some of the great features in this title.

Runner Up - Ninety-Nine Nights
The battles of N3 appear to be truly massive, launching the fantasy 3rd-person action game into the era of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. And I hope they never look back.

XBOX
Game of Show - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
A bit of a weak showing for the Xbox this year. Double Agent will no doubt be a better game on the X360 or PS3, but it was also without a doubt the best Xbox title at the show. Splinter Cell continues to be a driving force in the stealth-action genre.

Runner Up - Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Continuing the successful formula of the X-Men Legends games, Ultimate Alliance appears to be a must-buy for comic book fans. But also another Xbox game that will probably be more enjoyable on its more powerful sibling.

GC
Game of Show - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
I wasn't completely sold on the additions that the Wii controller brings to the party, and I'm not very clear why Nintendo has chosen to release two different SKUs for this game... I suppose the Wii-specific content won't fit on the GC disc. But really, why not get the Wii version? Nevertheless, this was absolutely the best game shown for the Gamecube.

Runner Up - Super Paper Mario
Again, Mario. Done deal. But really, a great graphical style and classic Mario Bros. gameplay.

DS
Game of Show - Elite Beat Agents
Hopefully proving that cultural crossovers can be successful, this game along with Phoenix Wright and Trauma Center are what make the DS such an interesting platform.

Runner Up - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Innovative use of the touch screen for attacking & puzzle-solving. Map annotation is a Godsend we can only hope other developers will include in future DS RPGs.

GBA
Game of Show - Capcom Classics Mini Mix
Strider and Bionic Commando on one cartridge? Hell yes. Final Fight is just a throwaway, especially with the chibi graphics...

Runner Up - Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation
Billed as one of the best turn-based strategy games to hit Japan, this game could be just the thing for US GBA owners looking to scratch their Advance Wars itch.

So that's it for me. No Metal Gear Solid?! No Halo 3?! Blasphemy!! :lol: Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your picks. Thanks for reading!