Well it is hump day, and there are a few things on my mind. none of them worthy of a full blog, but added together they should equal one blog.

First of all. I am trying to recover to Kansas' 2 point loss to Missouri. This is a rivalry that actually stems from a war. I hate missouri. I hate losing to them. I don't need to use a lot ofadjectives to describe this rivalry, I will leave at at I HATE MIZZOU. Kansas lost on a last second shot in Columbia, and it was a tough pill to swallow. KU was ranked 16th in the nation MIzzou was 19. That is 3 spots higher if you are terrible at math, yet the Mizzou fans rushed the court. Did i mention i hate MU? Here is my complaint. Only charge the court if you have reason to do so. This was not worthy, but Mizzou fans do have a miserable sports tradition and this win could be considered an overall highlight in the history of the school. KU fans need only look back to last April to see the NCAA title to get this bad taste out of our mouths. Plus Mizzou Comes to Lawrence in a couple weeks, and I am thankful to have tickets to that beat down.

Okay, enough of that, although it felt good to vent :(

Other going ons. United States beat Mexico in World Cup qualifying. Big win for the States in a great rivalry. I think we could surprise some people in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Too bad not many Americans care :(

Duke Played North Carolina tonight. This is a great NCAA basketball rivalry, yet i am completely tired of it. Everyone knows it is a good rivalry, but ESPN turns it into the game of the century regardless. I like dick vitale. He isknowledgeable, but i am so sick of him calling this game, and ESPN making this big a deal about it. If you lived in a hole, UNC blew Duke out of the water in Cameron Indoor.

Miguel Tejada got charged and will be sentenced for lying about taking steroids under oath. A-Roid came out earlier this week letting everyone know that not only is he a Yankee, but also a cheater. I hate steroids. I hate the steroid era. Yet, I may hate baseball more. After returning from a strike baseball needed a way to put butts in seats. The had no problem with the 98 home run race reviving baseball, but now they can easily turn their back on what helped bring them back. Again I hate steroids, and feel there is no place for them. At the same time the MLB in general is coming off like the biggest cowards in this case.

Also, does anyone else feel that we have bigger problems the government could be solving than who did steroids in baseball in the last 10 years? Seems kind of ridiculous to me.

Finally. I beat Marble Madness tonight. That has to be the easiest, hardest game ever. When i beat it everything seemed so easy, yet i had never done it before tonight. The game is short and simple, but the levels are well designed, and the game has always been one of my favorites. It tests patience and will. It has always been one of my favorite games for the system. I honestly don't know why there have never been a sequel made for that game. The Wii would be a perfect match for a sequel. I know there are games that kind of feel the same (mercury meltdown revolution to name one) but it just isn't the same.

Okay well this post ended up being much longer than expected and as the cowboy says in the big lebowski - i'm rambling again.

For a relaxing weekend with not much going on this one has been quite entertaining. For the sake of not doing a total weekend round up, I will do a quick top 5 instead - some of which is gaming relatand some of which is not.

5 - I dove back into Super Mario World on the Wii's VC. The goal is to beat the entire game, finding every secret land, and hidden level along the way. I had begun this probably a year ago and then got side trackeand hadn't played it in a long time. I knocked out about 2/3rds of the game this weekend. Reliving memories past and remembering why i think this is the best Mario Game of all time, which in turn would put it in the running for best game of all time in my book.

4 - KU Basketball - The Jayhawks beat Oklahoma State this weekend moving to 8-0 in conference play. A year after winning the national title and losing 80% of last years scoring to the NBA you can't really ask for much more than that. Just proves that big time programs don't often rebuild, they usually just reload. Up next for the hawks is a road game against Mizzou, in the Border War. This is truly a hated rivalry. Afterall not many rivalries actually stem from an actual war. I don't have a good feeling about this road game on national television, but KU has surprised me often recently.

3 - I have put in some time on the Wii Balance Board. I am optimistic of the future for this product after diving into Shaun White Snowboarding for 3 consecutive days. The story is a little juvenile, which is somewhat expected and not a big deal, but the game play especially on the balance board is solid. It is tough, but fair, and the learning curve seems about right. As i have progressed through the game the chanllenges have gotten tougher and my abs have paid the price. Overall i am pleased with the overall game experience in this one to date.

2 - Dinner at the Hereford House. It is about the cream of the crop in terms of steak houses in Kansas City. That is truly saying something because KC has its fair share of good steak houses. I had a 9 oz Filet on Friday that practically melted in my mouth plus a twiced baked potato, salad, bread, carrot cake, the whole deal. It was easily the best meal I have had so far this year, and what is usually about a $75 dinner was on the house as it was covered with xmas gift certificates.

1 - The number one moment of the weekend was the late showing of Coraline in 3D. I went in with high expectations of this movie, and was not disappointed. The movie was unbelievable. It was creepy, the story was entertaining, and the animation was unreal. If you are at all interested in animation go see this movie. You will not be disappointed.

That is about it. There are several other items that fell just short of the list. I played quite a bit of Tiger Woods on the Wii - It is highly addictive and I am befuddled that it took me 2 years to get into the game. It was 75 degrees hearyesterday - that is uncommonly warm for Kansas City in February, but i am not complaining. An old high school buddy is back in town for a few days from North Carolina. We are going out tonight to catch up on old times and drink too many sunday night beers.

All in all it was a great weekend in which nothing was planned, and really nothing special really happened. Just one of those weekends that makes you appreciate life.

It is rather unusual for me to look forward to a weekend of nothingness. This weekend however I am rather looking forward to not having much going on. Instead of a normal weekend of balancing coaching three youth soccer teams with maintaining a relationship and enjoying time with friends and family, this weekend will be spent mostly relaxing.

Don't get me wrong there is plenty to do. Family dinner this evening, two games to coach, a KU basketball game, and I will probably check out Coraline in 3D as I have been excited to see that one for some time now.

For me that is a light weekend. That means that I should have several hours devoted to catching up with a few titles that need some attention. I recently added three games to my Wii collection. One is the before mentioned Coraline – the Game, Shaun White Snowboarding – the Target exclusive, and Rayman Raving Rabbid's TV Party.

Coraline – I bought under circumstances that I rarely do – after reading a negative review. Pretty much every thing I read is correct, yet I continue to play it. Mostly to get a sneak peak of the storyline I think. Probably not one of my finer purchases, but every once in a while it happens.

Shaun White and Rayman TV Party should be solid additions and utilize the Balance Board. If you read my last post you know that I am worried of the future of the Balance Board. My hope is these titles ease some of my concerns.

Regardless for the first time in a long time I should be able to put some time in on the old video game system. Probably a lot of time on the Wii, and knowing my personality a little time on the NES, or SNES as well. Hope everyone else has a relaxing weekend and can get a little video game time in.

Virtual Boy, Super Scope, Gameboy Micro and Wii Balance Board

I have started to fear that the Wii Balance Board may be the next in a line of misses that occasionally surface under the Nintendo label that for the most part doesn't miss.

For the most part if it has the Nintendo label, it is going to make money, and make consumers happy. Rarely does this company miss. However, like any company that walks the line of cutting edge technology, sometimes there is the occasional whiff. Is the Wii Balance Board in danger of falling into this rare, but costly area.

The Virtual Boy is often looked at as the biggest mistake in Nintendo's history. While the reasons are not as clear the sales (or lack thereof) most everyone agrees that the Virtual Boy was a flop. Ask an avid 1990's pop culture junkie and most will not even know what the Virtual Boy is. This is most likely because it was on shelves for about 10 months before Nintendo threw in the white towel.

The SNES Super Scope had similar results. There was lots of hype and little fun. The light gun for the next generation of gamers. This gun came with 6 games (all on one cartridge) right out of the box. The bigger than needed bazooka like gun looked cool, and every young boy who saw the commercial wanted to have one of these oversized pieces of plastic. I for one was lucky enough to get one for Christmas the first year it was available. It never once worked out of the box, however I am not sure that is the reason it failed.

Gameboy Micro had little (ha ha ha) success on the market and if you blinked you may have missed it. Sure, it will be floating around retro stores and ebay for years, but in terms of really making an impact in the gaming world it is about at a 1 out of 10.

Is the Wii Balance Board the next in line for failure? As someone who was highly excited for and even one who enjoyed Wii Fit, I still fear that this high tech piece of technology may be one that soon collects dust in a closet or basement. I hope this is not the case, but like the others before it, the recipe for disaster is present.

When taking another look at the reason behind the failures of the other Nintendo products there is one thing they all have in common - a lack of solid games, in number and in quality. While they all had other flaws, it is clear that the games that were available for the before mentioned failures were lacking.

The Virtual Boy had an absolute lack of gaming. There are several games that I feel are revolutionary for that system, and while there are neck cramps and headaches that go along with the system, there are also some very fun times that can be had with it. If there were more Wario Lands and Mario Clashes for that system instead of Waterworlds and Virtual World Baseball I believe the system could have been revolutionary.

The Super Scope is the same way. The games it came with were nothing more than short mini games that simply showed off what the Super Scope could do. The sheer volume of available games though is poor. Yoshi Safari is arguably the best game that uses the Super Scope, but after that, It is hard to even think of another title. I understand that a gun limits what type of games you can have, but if done correctly shooting games can be a blast, no pun intended.

Gameboy micro is a little bit of an exception, as more than anything it just took advantage of another systems games, and an incredibly small size. Still there was little reason to go get one of these if you already had a GBA.

Now we get to the Wii Balance Board. Game developers need to program and pump games out that are well developed and take advantage of this amazing piece of technology. The question is does this become another flavor of the week, or will games continue to be released. Again I stress Quality and Quantity.

As for me I, I hope that Nintendo learns from past mistakes and keeps promoting the Wii Balance Board. I took a chance and purchased the Shaun White Snowboarding game and Rayman TV party – both which use the balance board and both which have pretty decent reviews.

Only time will tell in this case. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

When the Wii came out i was lucky enough to get a system fairly easily - called a target store, played dumb, found whn a shipment was going to be delievered, gut up at about 4:00 am and after a few hours of waiting I had the system. I had played the system briefly at a buddies and was instantly interested.

Of all possibilities that went along with the Wii, the thought of playing golf at home was probably what had me waiting at that Target Store a couple of years ago. The first try was Super Swing Golf. An Average, cartoon based game that didn't really fill that golf at home void i was looking for.

Next up was Tiger Woods, A birthday gift that came right around the same time that I was into Mario Galaxy, as well as Rayman and those rude little bunnies. Regardless, Tiger Woods set gathering dust after a few initial plays were finished in which i determined, it just was not that fun.

Fast forward 2 years, Tiger gets another try before going out to the bar that night. A much different game than i remembered. Perhaps we were just ready to look at it in a different light, or perhaps we finally gave it the time it needed to truly get into the game. Regardless the game is great. It is golf at home.

It is a great one player game with career modes and challenges that are difficult enough to make things interesting, but easy enough to get into easily. The multiplayer mode is also great. Why pay to play Golden Tee at the bad when you can stay home and play tiger for free. (Ok, so we usually make it to the bar later, but this is a great way to start.)

It isn't like this is a shocking post, because the gameconsistentlygets good reviews, and the series is a major money maker for EA. Instead this post is just their to remind us that gaming is sometimes a state of mind. What you are in the mood for. Sometimes you will find that a game is much better than you originally thought.

There is nothing better than when that happens.

The holidays have past, and with them another chapter was added to my video game collection. I received a used Super Nintendo from my brother with a few classic games. While I waiver on my opinion of best systems SNES is always near the top. Perhaps it was only because this was the system i played most often while growing up, but i would also argue that it was the first system that offered games that had theconsistencyand depth to stand up to time. Games you could not beat in one setting, Sports games that you could play full seasons, and thoseunbelievablegraphics.

Regardless it was another piece to the puzzle in a collection that i realize will never be complete. With the addition of the SNES my Nintendoconsolesystem is complete. I am the proud owner of a NES, SNES, N64, Game Cube, Wii. (Not to mention the DS, Sega Genesis, and my vintage pride and joy - the Virtual Boy.)

Needless to say I am hopelessly involved in collecting something that will never be completed. While the systems are in place, there is always something else to be found. The rare game at a garage sale, the cheap old favorite at the vintage game shop, the failednovelty add on at ebay. (can you say super scope?)

The collecting never ends, but that is an okay thing. However, it is a thin line to walk - in between a kind of cool, kind of nerdy hobby - where people can mistake a simple and enjoyable collecting hobby as being some sort of Nintendo Junkie.

In a way i am like a drugie always looking for my next fix. Luckily for me this is a drug that only causes pleasure, and although addictive, it is not unhealthy when done in moderation. Yes, it is true, I have found it - this is the perfect drug.

Below is a picture of my dog. He is a 15 pound little guy who just cannot seem to stay out of trouble. Actually it is not even that, he just pushes the envelope more than any dog I have owned or been around. Owning a dog is nothing new for me. My family had dogs when I was growing up and I have been around dogs my entire life. The point is that training is not a problem. In fact this dog is very smart, I would argue that he is too smart. He has my girlfriend wrapped around his little paw – she absolutely loves him.

My frustration reached its peak this week when I came into my bedroom and found him chewing on my digital camera. It was beyond ruined. I had a hard time understanding how a dog of that size could completely destroy a camera like that, but he managed.

When this happened I was about 10 days away from leaving to go to Las Vegas. A city you definitely need a camera in. Talk about the ultimate bad time. I had to spend money to replace the camera right before going on the trip. I did that, replaced the camera. I actually spent a little more and got an upgrade form what I had. I truly like the new camera and am convinced it will be a better product than the broken camera, but none the less it was one of the most frustrating purchases I have ever made.

That aside how can you get mad at something that you love and is such a big part of your life? Not to mention the eyes he has.

Moral of the story – If you have a dog make sure you do not leave important things in your pant pockets.

My last post was about how easy the internet makes life... but really technology in general.  At work today i left to go to a meeting, came back to my office and my computer had bit it.  It doesn't work at all...

Karma and PC's suck... I wish i had a mac at work like at home.  

Well, that is all i have, guess that means i leave early today?!?!?! 

We live in a pretty exciting time. While there are no flying cars, or time machines, we do have things that are much more advanced than any bad old time movie, TV show or even cartoon could depict for us in the future.

Do you remember life without the internet? Seriously, how did we live without the internet? Before the internet we had to actually talk to people to get answers... and our porn, well it had to be purchased through video or print. I know it is crazy, but our lives were much different just 15 years ago. The internet allows us to be much more productive in fractions of the time it used to take, however it also allows us to waste countless hours at work looking at crap that is, well, not work. I am just as bad as the next person, but I think it is safe to say that if you sit in front of a computer most of the day you are bound to check out some sports stats, make a bid on ebay, or update your facebook profile.

I love technology. It makes things painlessly easy. It is also a huge pain in the ass. Recently made a list of things I have been meaning to do in an attempt to crack down and organize my life. Most of these were not possible before the internet and now I have a long list of online chores to accomplish.

• Organize my flickr account - upload the pictures I have taken in the last 6 months since the last upload (roughly 1000 pictures probably.) Then comes the fun part labeling and tagging all the images. Then organize a photobook online and purchase it for holiday gifts. FYI parents, girlfriends, girlfriend's parent's love photo books. Thanks internet for another easy gift idea.
• A wedding gift for my brother and his fiancé - only on the internet can you find a personalized brick that will proudly sit outside these lovebirds favorite baseball team's stadium to show their love for each other and the home team for years to come. Dustin you are welcome, Brooke sorry - hopefully everyone else gets you useful items from the lists you provided.
• Organize my iTunes collection. This has been on my list for months. Now with a trip to Madison, Wisconsin for Thanksgiving with the GF's family followed by a weekend trip to Vegas this has an increased importance. Gotta update that iPod and I might as well just do everything while I am in there. Afterall technology has taught us the we need at least 20,000 songs in our pocket at all times.
• Update my Gamespot info. Plenty of new games and updates to report, but so little time. Online communities are great, but sooo easy to let get out of date.
• Get my Wii fixed. It isn't reading discs anymore. The internet tells me to send it to Nintendo, and I do anything the internet tells me. I will be too busy to play much of it in the next month anyway. Seems logical to do it now.
• All of these will be much easier if I get a new laptop charger and battery.

The over / under on finishing these is December 12 - the day I leave for Vegas. Should be easy enough just concentrate and get after it. Well, I will get started as soon as I post on livejournal, look for crap on ebay, read a funny article that my buddy just emailed me and click this link to see girls take it all off live on camera.

Sigh - damn you internet.

So I have come to the fact that I am at least partially a nerd. I think we all are a little bit. Perhaps the first step is admitting you have a problem. Or in this case admitting you're a nerd. It is Gilbert from revenge of the nerds who says it best...

"I'm a nerd, and uh, I'm pretty proud of it."

I think it is safe to say that no one is really going to be free until nerd persecution ends...

Much of the things that I call hobbies or even jobs revolve around topics that some would claim to be nerdy...

I love playing video games... I do not discriminate because that would be wrong... so I play, have and collect games and systems from the NES through the Wii and pretty much all in between. All of these hold a special place in my heart and are a soft spot when I find myself searching ebay.

Ever wake up in the middle of the night so you can check to see if you need to put in another bid? Yeah I am guilty. Ever wake up in the morning to realize that in some drunken stuper you have made a purchase that will set you back a few bucks... again guilty.

I also have what I call a love for (and my girlfriend would probably call an obsession with) fantasy football. I love it. Perhaps it is my male competitive behavior or maybe it is just the fact that it combines two things that I love watching football and gambling. Regardless of the reason it is a passion of mine.

Here is when the light went on and I realized that I was a nerd. It is Monday night and I am sitting about 10 feet in front of my big screen HD TV watching an Arizona vs San Francisco football game that before fantasy means nothing to me as Arizona pretty much has a strangle hold on the division. Right next to my pride and joy... that is what I call my TV... is my 19 inch tv that has all of my gaming systems hooked up to it. It was awesome. 3 ½ hours, one fantasy football victory, one defeat, countless number of video games and beers later I went to bed realizing that I may never grow out of this lifestyle.

I now have a full time job at a creative web design company, and I coach 3 youth soccer teams these activities take up about 60 hours a week, yet still there is time to fit the nerdiness in.

I go to concerts, have a hot ass girlfriend... somehow, go drinking with friends, travel, play golf, go to any sporting event I can, and still I can make time for my nerdiness.

Perhaps it will happen when I have kids. This will be the end of this era, surely that is the case. Then again maybe not; have you ever been in a best buy, target, gamestop, etc. I sure do see a lot of Dad's in these places buying up the latest must have games, and from what I can tell most of the time they are not for their kids. At least I hope the kids are not playing the titles they are purchasing.

Sigh... perhaps I am doomed to walk the earth a nerd for the rest of my life. Oh well, someone smart probably said... if it makes you happy then who the hell cares what others think.