Duality

A recent post in the Nintendo Forums has sparked a great deal of day dreaming. Well, at least on my behalf. This post was the current list (according to Famitsu) of downloadable games on the Nintendo Revolution and let me be the first to say WHOOO! (There is a possibility that this is merely Famitsu’s “Wish List”, but no one has been able to determine that yet) Now I warn you, this is a long list, but very, very tantalizing. And this is still an early list, as we approach the launch, there’s sure to be more and more games added to the list.

NES

1. 10-Yard Fight
2. Anticipation
3. Balloon Fight
4. Barker Bill’s Trick Shooting
5. Baseball
6. Clu Clu Land
7. Dance Aerobics
8. Devil World
9. Doki Doki Panic
10. Donkey Kong
11. Donkey Kong 3
12. Donkey Kong Classics
13. Donkey Kong Jr.
14. Donkey Kong Jr. Math
15. Dr. Mario
16. Dragon Warrior
17. Duck Hunt
18. Excitebike
19. Famicom Wars
20. Final Fantasy
21. Fire Emblem Gaiden
22. Fire Emblem: Ankokuryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi
23. Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy
24. Golf
25. Gum Shoe
26. Gyromite
27. Hogan’s Alley
28. Ice Climber
29. Ice Hockey
30. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
31. Kid Icarus
32. Kirby’s Adventure
33. Kung Fu
34. Mach Rider
35. Mario Bros.
36. Mario Time Machine
37. Mario is Missing!
38. Mario:Fun with Letters
39. Mario:Fun with Numbers
40. Metroid
41. Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!
42. Mother (Earthbound 0)
43. NES Open Golf
44. Nintendo World Cup
45. Nuts & Milk
46. Pin-Bot
47. Pinball
48. Play Action Football
49. Popeye
50. Pro Wrestling
51. Punch-Out!!
52. R.C. Pro-Am
53. Rad Racer
54. Rad Racer 2
55. Short Order/Eggsplode
56. Slalom
57. Snake Rattle & Roll
58. Soccer
59. Stack Up
60. Star Tropics
61. Super Mario Bros.
62. Super Mario Bros. 2
63. Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels
64. Super Mario Bros. 3
65. Super Spike V’Ball/World Cup Soccer
66. Super Team Games
67. Tennis
68. Tetris
69. Tetris 2
70. The Legend of Zelda
71. To The Earth
72. Track Meet
73. Urban Champion
74. Volleyball
75. Wario’s Woods
76. Wild Gunman
77. World Class Track Meet
78. World Cup Soccer
79. Wrecking Crew
80. Yoshi (Mario & Yoshi)
81. Yoshi’s Cookie
82. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
83. Zoda’s Revenge: Star Tropics II

Super-NES

84. Derby Stallion 98
85. Donkey Kong Country
86. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest
87. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble
88. Earthbound (Mother 2)
89. F-Zero
90. FX Fighter
91. Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo
92. Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu
93. Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
94. Hyper V-Ball
95. Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball
96. Ken Griffey Jr.’s Winning Run
97. Killer Instinct
98. Kirby Super Star
99. Kirby’s Avalanche
100. Kirby’s Dream Course
101. Kirby’s Dream Land 3
102. Kirby’s Ghost Trap
103. Legend
104. Mario Paint
105. Mario and Wario
106. Mario’s Early Years: Preschool Fun
107. Mario’s Super Picross
108. Metal Combat: Falcon’s Revenge
109. NCAA Basketball
110. NHL Stanley Cup
111. Panel de Pon
112. Picross NP Vol. 8
113. PilotWings
114. Shigesato Itoi’s No. 1 Bass Fishing
115. Sound Fantasy
116. Star Fox
117. Stunt Race FX
118. Super Famicom Wars
119. Super Mario Kart
120. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
121. Super Mario World
122. Super Metroid
123. Super Punch-Out!!
124. Super Scope 6
125. Super Soccer
126. Super Soccer 2
127. Super Tennis
128. Tetris & Dr. Mario
129. Tetris Attack
130. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
131. Tinstar
132. Uniracers
133. Winter Gold (FX Skiing)
134. World League Baseball
135. Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario World 2
136. Yoshi’s Safari

Nintendo 64

137. 1080° Snowboarding
138. Animal Crossing
139. Banjo-Kazooie
140. Banjo-Tooie
141. Blast Corps
142. Bomberman 64
143. Bomberman Hero
144. Buggie Boogie
145. Cabbage
146. Catroots
147. Climber
148. Command & Conquer
149. Creator
150. Cruis’n USA
151. Cruis’n World
152. Cu-On-Pa
153. Custom Robo
154. Custom Robo V2
155. DD Sequencer
156. Dezaemon DD
157. Diddy Kong Racing
158. Donkey Kong 64
159. Doubutsu Banchou
160. Dr. Mario 64
161. Echo-Delta
162. Emperor of the Jungle
163. Excitebike 64
164. F-Zero X
165. Gendai Dai-Senryaku: Ultimate War
166. GoldenEye 007
167. Hey You, Pikachu!
168. Jack and the Beanstalk
169. Ken Griffey Jr.’s Slugfest
170. Killer Instinct Gold
171. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
172. Kirby’s Air Ride
173. Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside
174. Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr
175. Mario Golf
176. Mario Kart 64
177. Mario Party
178. Mario Party 2
179. Mario Party 3
180. Mario Tennis 64
181. Mickey’s Speedway USA
182. Mini Racers
183. Mischief Makers
184. Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 2
185. NBA Courtside 2: Featuring Kobe Bryant
186. Paper Mario
187. Perfect Dark
188. Pilotwings 64
189. Pokemon Puzzle League
190. Pokemon Snap
191. Pokemon Stadium
192. Pokemon Stadium 2
193. Pokemon Stadium: Gold, Silver, Crystal Version
194. Ridge Racer 64
195. Riqa
196. Shigesato Itoi’s No. 1 Bass Fishing
197. Sin and Punishment: Successor to the Earth
198. Star Fox 64
199. Star Wars Episode I: Racer
200. Star Wars: Battle for Naboo
201. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
202. StarCraft 64
203. Super Mario 64
204. Super Smash Bros.
205. Tetrisphere
206. The Legend of Zelda DD (Ura Zelda, Master Quest)
207. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
208. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
209. The New Tetris
210. Waialae Country Club: True Golf Classics
211. Wall Street DD
212. Wave Race 64
213. Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey
214. Yoshi’s Story

Man, I can’t wait to whoop some ass in Mario Party 1-3 ;)

Every year I try to look back and pinpoint some of the worst moments I had all year. Then I examine them and see what it would take to avoid them this year. But this year there’s a problem. I’ve yet to think of a really bad time. Either my head is getting better at covering things up, or I had a fantastic year. Well, I guess there was one main bad thing, and it’s definitely part of my resolutions. But other than that, I guess I’ll have to go to my old standbys. And I know there are probably more resolutions that I’m forgetting, so if you want to help me out and list a few in the comments, go right ahead. (but keep it tactful ;)

“Be more straightforward with my roommate.” (the one that I don’t like)
For too long have I just ignored him and not said what was really bugging me. From now on, if he pisses me off, he’s going to know it. This may not be the nicest resolution, but it’s something that has to be done. And in reality, it applies to all the people I don’t like, so there’s at least 4 or 5 that I can think of right now.

“Get a girlfriend.”
Man, I say this one every year and frankly it’s starting to get a bit old. However, the last three months at school introduced me to a lot of new people and I made a bunch of new friends. The whole thing has brought out a much more socially comfortable person in me and I feel like this year, my resolution has never had a better chance of being fulfilled.

“Lose some weight.”
This too is one of those ‘I say it every year’ resolutions, and I don’t know if it will ever actually happen. Over the years I’ve gotten used to being slightly overweight and while I’m sure it would be healthy for me to lose weight, the social pressure I used to feel existed has been taken away.

2006 is going to be a very big year for me. Most importantly, I’m going to be graduating in June. And while I’ll still be in Davis, I’ll be moving to a house later this year. And after graduating, I’ll keep working at Gamestop, but be saving up money for voice lessons at Voicetrax.

Overall, 2005 was a pretty cool year, and 2006 is shaping up to be even better. And before I sign off on my first post of the year, I wanted to thank each and every one of you who has taken time out of their days to come and read my rants and ravings. It’s been a weird ride this year (blogging-wise), and thanks for all the support you’ve given. So Happy New Year everyone. I hope all your wishes and dreams come true this year.

“Another night deprived of slumber,
Hours passing without number,
My eyes trace ’round the room. I lay
Dripping sweat and now quite certain
That tonight the final curtain
Drops upon my short life’s precious play.

From the darkness, by the closet
Comes a noise, much like a faucet
Makes: a maddening drip-drip-dripping sound.
It seems some ill-proportioned beast,
Anticipating me deceased,
Is drooling poison puddles on the ground.

A can of Mace, a forty-five,
Is all I’d need to stay alive,
But no weapon lies within my sight.
Oh my gosh! A shadow’s creeping,
Ominous and black, it’s seeping
Slowly ‘cross a moonlit square of light!

Suddenly a floorboard creak
Announces the bloodsucking freak
Is here to steal my future years away!
A sulfurous smell now fills the room
Heralding my imminent doom!
A fang gleams in the dark and murky gray!

Oh, blood-red eyes and tentacles!
Throbbing, pulsing ventricles!
Mucus-oozing pores and frightful claws!
Worse, in terms of outright scariness,
Are the suckers multifarious
That grab and force you in its mighty jaws!

This disgusting aberration
Of nature needs no motivation
To devour helpless children in their beds.
Relishing despairing moans,
It chews kids up and sucks their bones,
And dissolves inside its mouth their ‘lil heads!

I know this ’cause I read it not
Two hours ago, and then I got
The heebie-jeebies and these awful shakes.
My parents swore upon their honor
That I was safe, and not a goner.
I guess tomorrow they’ll see their sad mistakes.

In the morning, they’ll come in
And say, “what was that awful din
We heard last night? You kept us both from sleep!”
Only then will they surmise
The gruesomeness of my demise
And see that my remains are in a heap.

Dad will look at Mom and say,
“Too bad he had to go that way.”
And Mom will look at Dad, and nod assent.
Mom will add, “Still, it’s fitting,
That as he was this world quitting,
He should leave another mess before he went.”

They may not mind at first, I know.
They will miss me later, though,
And perhaps admit that they were wrong.
As memories of me grow dim,
They’ll say, “We were too strict with him.
We should have listened to him all along.”

As speedily my end approaches,
I bid a final “buenas noches”
To my best friend here in all the world.
Gently snoring, whiskers seeming
To sniff at smells (he must be dreaming),
He lies snuggled in the blankets, curled.

HEY! WAKE UP, YOU STUPID CRETIN!
YOU GONNA SLEEP WHILE I GET EATEN?!
Suddenly the monster knows I’m not alone!
There’s an animal in bed with me!
An awful beast he did not see!
The monster never would’ve come if he had known!

The monster, in his consternation,
Demonstrated defenestration,
And runs and runs and runs and runs away.
Rid of the pest,
I now can rest,
Thanks to my best friend, who saved the day.”

-Bill Watterson
(The Complete Calvin and Hobbes)
(Awesomest Christmas gift ever!)

Merry Christmas to all!! I hope all your dreams come true.

This is just a reminder, but starting this Friday, I will be appearing on stage again for the first time in five years. The THIRDeYE Theatre Festival is a yearly production of three student written pieces. We will be playing this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (with a matinee on Sunday), and next Friday and Saturday the 9th and 10th.

“UC Davis’ venue for new work written, directed, acted, produced and designed by students, presents three works chosen from scripts submitted last spring: Dissident by Drama major Tyler Katz, directed by Michael Ortiz, in which an artist’s search for self reveals more than he bargained for; Language Barrier by Drama major Syche Hamilton, directed by Matt Welch, in which a father struggles to accept his daughters’ sexuality; and Vespucci by English major Kaelan Smith, directed by Bryan Bachar, a political drama that questions our power to create change. Jade McCutcheon is the festival’s Artistic Director.”

Tickets are only 9 dollars for students, and while it may be a bit of a drive for some of you, it would mean a lot to me if you could come. I am playing Tom Vespucci in the play Vespucci. It’s been a lot of work over the past three months, but well worth it. Anyway, here you can find out all the information you might need, or feel free to leave a comment, or IM me or E-mail me or whatever. If you’ve got my number, you could even call me. It should be an enjoyable evening, and I hope you can all make it.

Bloody hell…

well…we can still dream…

In a move that may be a surprise to some (I was actually expecting something like this), to quell some of the X-Box 360’s fire, Sony decided to release the price point of the upcoming Playstation 3 today. That’s right. The time has finally come. Will loyal games have to shell out 1000 bucks for a PS3? Hell no!

“Sir Howard [Sony’s CEO] said the PS3 will sell for $300 to $400 and will come with a bundle of games, movies, and TV shows, many of which Sony also makes. ”

300-400 bucks?? That’s it? Good lord Sony! You have just completely erased any consideration I had about buying an X-Box 360 (not that there was much to begin with). Seriously. Shell out 400 bucks now for a minor technological advancement, or wait a few months and shell out the same 400 bucks for an unbelievable leap in technology. And considering the PS3 will have a built in Blu-ray DVD drive and the fact that stand along Blu-ray DVD players cost one thousand dollars, the PS3 is God’s gift to man.

Sony. You always know how to make me feel good. (You can read more of the CNN article if you’d like.)

A year ago today, the Nintendo DS was released in North America. It’s been a long year for the DS but things have finally started to pick up. With the amazing creativity in games like Trauma Center: Under The Knife and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, not to mention the sheer awesomeness of Mario Kart DS, that little system is getting a lot more play time. And the future is only looking brighter. With Animal Crossing, Mario & Luigi, and even Electroplankton (that’s for you, Quad) the future has never looked better. So join me in wishing the Nintendo DS a Happy Birthday!

I’ve got three bits of movie stories for ya today. Firstly, one thing that I’ve been doing in my free time (as limited as it is), is playing The Movies. If you don’t know what that is, essentially it’s a sim game that lets you run a movie studio, but you also get to actually make the movies you produce. You chose the actors, sets, costumes, lighting, sound, special effects, everything. Anyway, after you’re done making them, you can export them or upload them to The Movies online community site. It’s there that other people can watch and rate your movies. With the help of a friend of mine, I uploaded my first movie. It’s not anything to write home about, but I think it’s cool. Anyway, you can view Battlefish Tarantula and please let me know what you think.

Secondly, I got to see the new Harry Potter film today and I have to say that I’m a bit torn. On one hand, it was overall a very good movie. However, when you look at the movie in parts, it cut out a lot of things. And I’m not just talking about things they cut from the book (which was a lot), but there were parts which felt like there was a scene preceding it and they had just removed it to make the film shorter or something. There were several places in particular (the Quidditch World Cup and the Ball) in which this feeling was very pronounced and really took away from the film. However, like I said before, it was overall a very good film and set up the next one very nicely. The ending was so perfectly sad and depressing that I was actually comparing it to The Empire Strikes Back.

Thirdly, I finally got around to watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Wow. I can’t even begin to describe how perfect this film was. Everything it did was exactly the way it should have been. You could tell that every little thing in this movie was done for the fans. It’s really impossible to describe how amazing it was. All I can say is that if you’re ever played Final Fantasy VII, you owe it to yourself to see this film. Even if you’ve never played it, you still should see it. For someone like me, who loves FFVII more than anything in the world, it was not only a great movie, but a truly emotional experience. And I’ll admit that by the end of it, I was actually a bit teary-eyed. It’s the culmination of everything good in the world and served to you with a smile. Enjoy.

As I write this, it’s about 1AM and I’ve got to be up in several hours. I should have gone to bed hours ago, but for some reason, I couldn’t sleep. And as much as I know that I should keep trying to sleep, I thought of this and realized that I couldn’t put it off any longer. So here goes…

The easiest way to explain my absence? Umm…I was dead. Yes, that’s it. I died. It was all very sad. Lovely funeral, though. But as I got to heaven, I spoke with the big guy and apparently there was a mix up. Big paper jam at the filing office. Turns out it wasn’t my time after all. So they decided to send me back. And because I was buried with my cell phone I was able to call the undertaker and they exhumed me.

…not buying it? Damn. Well, long story is I’ve been busy as all hell. Sort-of. The big announcement that I meant to have made over a month ago is essentially what’s been keeping me busy. I’m in a play. Now for some of you, that may not seem like a big deal, but it actually means a lot. Mainly, the fact that I haven’t performed on stage in over five years. So this is essentially my big comeback. The story I was going to tell is too long to repeat now, but the short version goes something like this.

As a theatre major, you are required to participate in many different areas of the theatre before you can graduate. Of them all, I had three left. 2 crew positions (ie, sound op, light op, spot op, etc) and one acting. Back in early September, several announcements were made regarding upcoming auditions for the departments Fall shows. I contemplated for a while on whether I should act this quarter or just crew, and decided that I would crew. Fast forward to the first day of school, and there’s an announcement made in one of my classes stating “We need more male actors. There will be open auditions later today. You don’t need a monologue.” And after some time, I decided “What the heck. I might as well give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen?” So after school, I went to the theatre and cold-read (ie, read a script for the first time, sans memorization) a scene. I didn’t think much of it, but lo-and-behold the next day I got an email saying I was called back for three of the four shows!

Quite excited, but rather nervous, I returned the next day for callbacks. And for one show, again the day after for a second call back. Then, several heart wrenching days later (it’s amazing how nervous I was. Especially since this wasn’t even something I had planned on doing) I got the email that changed my life…well, no, maybe thats a bit of an exaggeration. I got the email that changed my quarter! (Much better)

So, these days my life is filled with either one of two things. School or Rehearsal. (oh, and let’s not forget my new job) For example, on Mondays and Wednesdays, I’m at school from 9AM-6PM and then have rehearsal from 6PM-10PM. And as fun as 13-hour days can be, there’s only so many you can take before you decide to cut out all but the essentials from your life. Not to say that writing here isn’t important to me, but there’s only so much I can do. And if I ever do have some free time, I tend to space out and participate in various activities that don’t require me to think, ie TV or games.

However, over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about a few things Quad once told me. The biggest point of them being that I don’t need to write novels here. I can just write quick entires that let people know what’s going on with my life. And while Quad hasn’t been bugging me lately to write more (bless him) I feel like I should. Obviously, giant month long pauses between posts just wont do. I wouldn’t blame you if you stopped coming. Somehow I’ve always felt that quick entries were like cheating. And while that’s not always a bad thing, I need to get over it and realize that not everything has to be in thesis-form.

Anyway, I’m not sure how much of this makes sense (it’s close to 1:45 now) but I think what I’m trying to say is that I want to start posting quick items, but I didn’t feel like it was right to do so until I’d explained my hiatus. So now with this out of the way, I can feel free to indulge the lazy writer within me.

Oh, and if anyone will be in town (or lives close enough by and doesn’t mind the drive) I will be in Vespucci, which is part of the THIRDeYE Theatre Festival. We will be performing Friday-Sunday December 2-4 and Friday-Saturday December 9- 10 at 8:00 p.m. except for Sunday at 2 p.m. It’s really good show and I encourage anyone who like the theatre to come. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask.

It’s good to be back!!

Back in June of 2003, I was in a bit of a jam. I had just left school, I had no financial aid, and I needed a job. After several days of walking around town handing out resumes, I got a call from a small gas station/car repair shop called Hoffmann 76. Seeing as how I needed the money, I took the job. At first, I had no real interest in the repair side of work. I was never much of a car person and barely knew the difference between an oil filter and a windshield wiper. (OK, extreme example, but yeah…) But they took me in and over the years I learned a lot from them.

Yesterday, I found out that Gamestop wanted to hire me.

So it was with a heavy heart that I decided to say goodbye to my beloved gas station. Today I quit my job. However, today I also finished the necessary paperwork and was hired at Gamestop. It’s an odd feeling I have right now. One one hand, I’m sad to see the station go and I feel bad for leaving. On the other hand, I’ve got a new job that I should enjoy even more and a bright future to look forward to. (Oh, and the fact that I get discounts on games helps ease the pain too.)

Farewell Hoffmann 76, Hello Gamestop.

Well…interview (singular), to be exact. I’m gonna combine several things into this post that slightly relate to each other, but are things that I think are awesome. And yeah, its a bit more ‘personal digging’ and whatnot, but bear with me.

In high school, I always knew that there was one place I could go to and be myself. I didn’t have to worry about people judging me and I didn’t have to worry about whether or not I ‘looked cool.’ For me, that place was the theatre. I loved the theatre. I love the theatre. After high school, though, I dropped out of the theatre scene almost entirely. I went to college and studied to become a Computer Science Engineer. But despite how much I loved computers and really wanted to learn how to program, I just never felt like I belonged among the other engineers. I never felt like I was accepted. And after two years, I dropped out.

A year went by and I decided to return to school. But this time, I was going to do what my heart had been telling me to do all along. Theatre! So I returned and joined the Theatre department. I took several theatre classes my first quarter, and while I did meet some new people and get to do a bit of acting, all in all, I never got the feeling like I did in high school. And the fact that the next two quarters (and two summer sessions) were almost theatre-free didn’t really help things.

However, this quarter started about two weeks ago and through a series of coincidences and a risk or two, it’s turned out to be the best quarter ever! In a later post I’ll be explaining one of the biggest factors, but the other one is the fact that I know people in my classes now. This may sound like a trivial thing, but in all my classes so far, I’ve known like one or two other people in them, tops. But this time, I’ve got four classes and for the most the same group of people in each one. That, to me, makes all the difference in the world. Being able to sit in a class and joke with someone makes them all the more bearable (not that they’re that hard to sit through to begin with, but it definitely gives me another reason for going to class).

And my time outside of class has also changed. Now I can walk up and down the halls and see people I recognize. Somehow these past two weeks have changed me in such a wonderful way. I’m meeting new people and I’m actually being outgoing, and talkative, instead of my usual shy self. It’s awesome! I really get the feeling that I’m back in high school with all my old friends. I’m finally becoming hyper again! School has no longer become something I need to do. It’s turning into something I want to do.

I know I skipped a lot of things, but as long as the gist is there, I think you’ll get it. Anyway, to tie it into the second thing I was going to talk about, today I had a job interview at Gamestop. For the past 5 months or so, I’ve been stopping by Gamestop every week and asking them if they have any job openings. And while the answer was always “not now, but we’ll be hiring for Christmas time” I kept going. If for no other reason than they might eventually get so tired of me asking that they would give me a job. However, last week I went in and was told that the hiring for Christmas has started and I scheduled an interview time.

Today was the interview and I have to say that it went GREAT! If I didn’t have such a crappy ass schedule right now I could almost guarantee that I got the job, but since I do have a really busy schedule, we’ll have to wait until Friday or so to find out. “But what does this have to do with theatre,” you’re probably asking. Well, I felt that because of how open and loose and confident I’ve become over the last few weeks, I was able to have a REALLY great interview. Because I’ve been taking so many risks lately, and saying things I usually don’t say, It’s like I’m a different person. And i think that really showed in the interview. I was completely relaxed and I was even joking around with him and everything, it was awesome.

Anyway, long post, I know, but just a taste of what I’ve been up to lately. I’ve still got about 4 or 5 topics I want to post about, but for now this will have to suffice.

I think my inner child has been waiting 5 years for this moment and now, the spotlight’s finally back on him. Wheee!!!

While this is slightly old news, it’s something I’ve been meaning to write about. Sadly my life has taken a turn for the ‘busy’ and…well, I’ll explain about that later. Anyway, last weekend (October 2nd and 3rd to be exact) I got to go somewhere I’d never been before. VEGAS! But I’m getting ahead of myself a bit, so I’ll back up. And since this is in the past now, I can freely talk about it.

About a month ago, I received a call from Ken, the father of one of my best friends, Alex. Now I had been talking to Alex earlier that week and he had explained to me that his parents were going to take him to Reno for his upcoming 21st birthday. So I then receive this phone call from his dad telling me that he’s actually going to take him to Las Vegas. “Cool,” I thought, “but what’s he telling me for?” But before I could say anything, he comes out and asks if I would like to join them! Not only that, but he’s going to be paying for my ticket! This is too good to be true! So I of course accept and take a vow of silence.

Time passes and soon enough, it’s time to head off to Vegas. So Sunday night comes and I’m about to head to the airport when I just happen to see Alex online. We start talking, and in my opinion (since I knew the surprise), I thought the conversation was hilarious.

Alex: It’s Vegas baby!
Me: Vegas?
Alex: Not Reno, Vegas!
Me: wow…thats a heck of an upgrade ;-)
Alex: Yup, we’re bringing a camera so I’ll take some pics and send them to you.
Me: Sweet
Alex: And I’ll call you for a loan when I run out of money :-D

Anyway, so my flight leaves before their flight so that I could be standing at the gate when they arrive and, to quote Alex’s dad, “see him shit his pants.” So my flight leaves around 8:40 PM and I arrive in Vegas about 9:55PM. Their flight was supposed to have left at 9:05PM and arrive around 10:25. However, it was a bit delayed and I ended up siting at their terminal for about an hour and a half before the plane actually arrived. But eventually the plane did arrive and Alex walked out the gate and for the first few moments didn’t seem to notice me at all. Then, after a double-take proceeded to freak out. His father, laughing hysterically, continually said “Oh, we got you!” and a merry time was had by all. :)

So! Travel aside (oh yeah, and his dad rented a freaking convertible! Talk about cruising The Strip in style!) we eventually make it to our hotel just as the clock strikes midnight. Party Time!! Now that it’s October 3rd, Alex is officially 21 and we decide to hit The Strip! The next few hours seem to be a bit blurry at this point, but I do recall playing slot machines for a little while, and then searching many a casino for a cheap table game like Blackjack or 5 Card Stud. The cheapest we could find at the time were 10 dollar tables (ie, $10 was the minimum bet required) and we played blackjack for about an hour. SO MUCH FUN! I’ve come to accept that I love playing table games at casinos. Screw slot machines, I play enough games at home! Table games have that human interaction (especially with other players in Blackjack) and it makes them so much more fun. Oh, and we also tried our hand at some Roulette and that was fun too, but a bit too random for my taste.

We eventually got some sleep around 5:30AM and woke up around 10AM to get some breakfast (Buffets Rule!!). Afterwards, it was right back to the casino floor! Alex and I finally found some 5 dollar black jack tables and I actually managed to stay at one table for almost two and a half hours with the same 20 dollars I originally put in. And by the end of it, I actually walked away with that original $20. But by 4 o’clock or so it was time to start heading to the airport. We took one final cruise around town and a few hours later said our goodbyes to Sin City.

So, how much did I lose, you ask? Well, perhaps this breakdown might help:

Things Lost: 160 dollars, my innocence, and self restraint (j/k about those last two ;)
Things Gained: Wonderful memories, a love of card games, the knowledge that Vodka and Amp taste 100 times better than Vodka and Red Bull, oh yeah…and like SIX freaking blisters! (you really never realize just how much your actually walking)

So in conclusion, Vegas=Good. Thanks a ton Ken. I had the time of my life. And Happy Birthday Alex!

…I should really think of a formal title for these kinds of posts. ;) After my last “lots of topics in one post” post, I felt rather good about it. So I think I might make it a regular thing. Lemmie know what your thoughts on the matter are by leaving me some comments. But for now, news!

Holy crap that was funny
Last night I had the privilege to see Dave Chappelle live and it was one of the funniest shows I’ve ever been to. Although, now that I think about it, I’ve only been to about 3 comedy shows. Once was Eddie Izard (Freaking Hilarious!), and the other was Lewis Black (Angry and hilarious!). There’s something about seeing a comedian live that makes it so much funnier than seeing them on TV. So if you ever get a chance to see someone live, take it!

Our Hero Has Returned!
For the past…wow, almost a whole month, I haven’t played City of Heroes because of an attempt at concentrating on school. But now that summer school is over and I’ve still got till Thursday before the fall quarter starts up, I’ve started playing CoH again. Just yesterday I played for almost 7 hours straight! Oh, and I created a new Hero as well. Her name is Icicle and she’s an archer with ice powers. It’s pretty fun to freeze someone in there tracks and then pick them off from a distance. But Blind Vengeance is still my main man and I had some awesome missions yesterday. This reminds me, I wanted to make some posts about my CoH characters…I’ll have to remember to do that later. ;)

Here we go again!
There’s something that I’ve been wanting to mention for some time now but I never seemed to get around to it. I bought a Nintendo DS. *pause for gasps* Yes, yes…it was only a little while ago when I sold my DS and bought my PSP. Well, now I have both. “Why”, you might ask? Two words: Instant Puppies!! Yes, Nintendogs was the reason I spent 130 bucks again. Although I do have a blue DS now and that’s an improvement. Either way, I’ve got Nintendogs and I also bought Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Which reminds me, maybe I’m the last one to see this, but it seems that all the subtitles on DS games can be abbreviated as DS. Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Lunar: Dragon Song, Dig Dug: Digging Strike, etc. The only one I can think of that’s breaking the mold is Animal Crossing: Wild World. Anyway, hopefully Nintendo can keep me as a customer this time, but with inventive games like Trauma Center and Phoenix Wright coming out soon, not to mention hard hitters like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing, I don’t think Nintendo will have much to worry about.

Blooodddd…
Every now and then I run into an anime that both creeps me out and captivates me at the same time. Luckily I recently found one. Trinity Blood is currently airing in Japan, but fansubs are being made each week. It takes place hundreds of years after humans cause Armageddon. The remaining humans have mostly come together religiously and the church hunts down a new evil that has appeared. Vampires! However, the coolest thing about the show is that the main character works for the church, but is a Vampire himself. But not just any vampire. He’s a Vampire that feeds off the blood of other Vampires! Now I’m sure there’s some one out there who’s gonna be all “wait that was done is so-and-so’s book!” or whatever. And there is probably actual terms for it all, but who cares. It’s a cool anime with lots of blood and violence. Once I finish watching them all, I’ll write a full review.

And Justice for all!
Just a quick note, but the new Justice League Unlimited season…AWESOME! They created a new Legion of Doom!! And just as the first episode of season 1 had me pausing every two seconds to name each hero they brought in, this episode had me naming all the villains. My only hope is that they bring back The Joker and—with any luck—his main squeeze (and mine) Harley Quinn! Joker hasn’t been seen since season 2 of Justice League! *sigh* A guy can dream, can’t he?

Well that’s about all I can think of right now. Next time I’ve got things to talk about, you’ll be the first to hear about. ;)

Last night I was flipping through my Tivo library and stumbled upon two episodes of Justice League Unlimited. “Did they start showing reruns?” my brain thought. However, I didn’t recognize the episode names. Upon further examination, I discovered that they were in fact NEW episodes! Season 3 of Justice League Unlimited started this past Saturday and I would have missed the whole thing had Tivo not been smart enough to record them for me. Bless you Tivo! You truly are king of kings!

First and foremost, an explanation. I’ve been without TV or Internet since Friday, and before that, on and off for the last two weeks. So now that everything is *knock on wood* back up and running, it’s time to talk about things I’ve been thinking about recently. Now, I’ve got a bunch of stuff to talk about, all of which could easily be separate posts, but I’ll try to keep ‘em short and sweet and scrunch it all into this one post.

Burnout
So last week I was down in the bay and I helped a friend hook his X-Box up to his wireless internet so he could use X-Box Live. You see, previous to this, I never personally knew anyone on X-Box Live. I’ve had the service for the last three years or so, but never really played on it much. But now that I’ve got someone I know to play with, my interest has been rekindled. Only problem was, the only game we both owned and could play online was Burnout 3: Takedown. Now I’m in no way saying that Burnout 3 is a bad game (it’s one of my favorites), but the problem was, ever since I replaced my 1st generation X-Box with a more recent one, I’d lost all my saves. And with no Burnout 3 save, I had no cars to play with. So the only solution was to play through the whole game again to try and unlock all the cars, otherwise I’d have no chance against my friend. However, after spending this entire weekend playing Burnout 3, I get online today (finally) only to realize that Burnout: Revenge (ie, Burnout 4) is coming out tomorrow!! Of course I’m going to get it (my friend will get it too), so I essentially spent all weekend unlocking cars in a game I’ll never play again. And while it was time consuming fun, I can’t help but feel like I wasted the whole weekend.

Tell me a Fable!
Speaking of games I’m playing over again, Fable: The Lost Chapters recently came out and I managed to *cough* buy *cough* (read: download) a copy of it. For those who might not know, last year Fable came out for the X-Box and was wildly hyped to the ‘Ultimate RPG’. However, while it was a good game, it was by no means Ultimate, and it was incredibly short. So now, a year and a half later Lionhead Studios releases Fable: The Lost Chapters, which is essentially Fable, but with some extra areas to explore. Only thing is, those extra areas aren’t accessible until after you beat the main game, so I’m playing through the entire thing again! Oh, and as a further kick in the pants to those of us who shelled out 50 bucks for Fable when it came out, Fable: The Lost Chapters is also being sold on the X-Box…for 20 bucks!

Let’s all go to The Movies
Aside from Fable, Lionhead Studies is busy working on several other games that I’m looking forward to playing, like Black and White 2. But the main game that I’m just dieing to get my hands on is The Movies. Now sadly, most people haven’t heard of this game (in fact, I’m the only one at my local game store who’s preorder it) but it is such a perfect sandbox game that I just can’t resist. Essentially the goal is..well, to make movies! You run the studio, you make the stars, you make the movies! And when I say you make the movies, I mean it! You can write the script, chose the actors, sets, camera angels, locations, sound effects, and even record your own dialog! You have complete control over everything! I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a whole bunch of movie ideas in my head just waiting for a canvas to release them, and it’s looking like The Movies is going to be that canvas. Only problem is, they’re gonna have to stay stuck in my head until late November…*sigh*

Well, I know there was more I wanted to say, but after exhausting my brain on these three topics, the others seem to have run off. But don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll find them soon enough and get started on the next collection of thoughts.

This weekend has been hell.

A few months ago, I built my friend a new computer. Awesome, awesome machine. But about a week ago, I get a call from him saying that somethings wrong. It’s not powering up like it should. So I tell him to bring it up and he arrived at my house Saturday afternoon. These are the details of what went on from there (Note: Most of this was written in an IM to Quad, and while I’ve tried to edit it to look presentable, it may still read weirdly):

So he comes to me with a computer that wont turn on. Well, it will, but nothing happens. Press power and the fans/lights come on, but no beeping, no hard drive spinning up noise, no nothing. So, logical answer: motherboard, CPU, or both are fried. So we go to Fry’s Saturday night, buy a new motherboard that will work with his uber processor (It’s some rare P4 thing…about 120 bucks for the board). But by the time we get home, I had to get some sleep so I could wake up at 5 and go to work this morning.

So i get home from work today, plug in the new motherboard, and hook everything up. Power on! … Nothings changed. … So we go back to Fry’s and instead of buying a new processor (300+ bucks), figure we’ll buy a new motherboard/CPU combo and save some cash. So, we return the motherboard. I figure: this way, we’ll change both things out. Can’t go wrong, right? Wrong. We get home and I change everything out again. Finally,I get it all hooked up. Power on! NOTHING! FFFF**********KKKK!!! [Ed: Censored for you younger viewers]

So I’m pissed at this point and I decide to take a breather. After about 15 minutes I calmed down and started thinking about it. So what’s left to be changed that could cause a problem like this? The RAM? No, I checked them. The hard drive? No, that wouldn’t cause the computer to not boot. The CD ROM drive? HA! Yeah right. The power supply? …*idea*… Oh come on…it can’t have been that easy. But nevertheless, I decide to try and replace his power supply. So I unhook my desktop and am about to gut my power supply when I realize that my power supply is too old and doesn’t have the right connection needed. F**k. Okay…I don’t want to go and buy another part unless I’m damn sure that It’s the right one. So I look around and see my roommate’s computer. Wwweeelllll…he’s not here right now, so who would know? [Ed: Sorry Porf. But it’s all back together now and working fine. I swear!] So I gut his power supply and hook it up to the Motherboard. Turn it on…BEEEEEEP!! Hallelujah!! She’s awake!! Sure she was beeping at me repeatedly, but that’s probably cause I don’t have anything else hooked up, right? Wrong…I check the beep codes, turns out the new board doesn’t like our RAM. Well F**K it! So for the third time, I take everything out of the computer again and put the original motherboard/CPU back in. Hook it up with my roommate’s power supply and boom! It’s all working. So now, tomorrow morning I’ve got to go back to Fry’s for the 3rd time in 3 days. Return the motherboard/CPU and buy a stupid power supply. So…3 days and some 250 dollars later, the computer works (*knock on wood*)

I swear. Either God hates me, or he’s got one hell of a twisted sense of humor…

Recent conversation between Quad and myself regarding Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS1

Quadoshock: FF Tactics Advance <<< Tactics Ogre GBA

Xero: Yes, but FF Tactics >> all of them

Quadoshock: Tactics Ogre SNES/PSX =)

Xero: Nope, not as good.

Quadoshock: You never played Tactics Ogre for SNES!!!! =(

Xero: Must I remind you that Cloud is a secret character in FF Tactics? And as the greatest FF Character of all time (greatest hero, that is), it puts FFT on top. Last time I checked, he wasn’t in any ogre games ;-)

Quadoshock: You know as well as I do that the shorter the shorts, the better the FF character. Which puts the FFXII girl and X-2 Yuna at the top =)
Quadoshock: Since Cloud wears pants, he’s way down there ;-)

Xero: But you’re only half right! The ’shorter the shorts’ only works for female FF characters. For male, the bigger the sword (or in some cases, the bigger the hair), the better the male FF character. Which puts Cloud up at the top…in both categories, I believe ;-)

Quadoshock: But female >>> male ;-)
Quadoshock: And FFXII girl has shorts so short, I’m not sure if they can even be called shorts ;-)

Xero: True, but I don’t recall ever hearing about short short wearing ogres ;-)
Xero: hence FF >> Ogre ;-)

Quadoshock: There are 1337 n3kk1d Ogres man ;-)
Quadoshock: That’s like negative shorts

Xero: hahahahaha

“Manny, until now we’ve scraped along the ground like rats, but from now on we soar like eagles. Like eagles on pogo sticks!”

Let me let you in on a little personal history with me and online gaming. My first introduction to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) came in the form of Anarchy Online. I played it for about three weeks. Straight. I rarely left the comfort of my desk (which at the time was actually not that comfortable), and usually went to sleep as the sun, and my roommates, were waking up. Unfortunate for my AO friends, my timing couldn’t have been worse. After those few weeks Thanksgiving break came along and I was out of state with no way to access my crack. About a week of going cold turkey (and eating it too..get it? cold turkey? ha!) and by the time I got home, wanting to play AO was the furthest thing from my mind. So, one down…

About a year and a half passed before thoughts of MMOs came crawling back into my head. As they say, you can take the addict away from the drugs, but you cant take the drugs away from the addict. (ok…no one says that, and if anyone did, I’d punch them….what a crappy saying…hopefully, the point is still semi-clear.) Anyway, as a long time Final Fantasy fan, when I heard they were making a FF MMORPG I had to join in. In fact, I was so dedicated to playing that I actually sold $900 of my DJ equipment just so I could upgrade my computer for FFXI. And once it was finally released, lo and behold, the addiction was back. I even dragged two of my friends into it with me (one of whom still plays today). But after a few months, the drudgery of killing the same rabbits 50 billion times got old. (Oh, and let’s not forget the UBER rabbits that reared their ugly heads every now and then.) So, with a heavy heart, and a lighter wallet, I decided to stop. The addiction had been fed and it would go back into hibernation for a while.

But like a zombie that just wont die (god I suck at metaphors), it came back. Actually, I think I’ve learned to control it a bit. It was begging to be let out last April but I held off until about a month ago. For those of you who have read some of my posts regarding the Justice League, you might get the impression that I enjoy my superheroes. Well, you couldn’t be further from the truth. I LOOOVE my superheroes! So, with the impending release of City of Villains I figured it’d be a good time to test it’s current counterpart, City of Heroes (CoH).

“But Alexis, aren’t you just going to leave this game in a couple months like all the rest?” I can hear you all thinking the same thing. And who knows? I just might. However, after everything I’m about to explain about this game you might start to see why this is not only a stand out MMO, but one that will have me coming back time and time again.

Be Yourself

The most widely praised and downright cool part of the game is the character creation. CoH has one of the most in-depth character creation systems ever..well..created! You start by picking how you got your powers (ie, Mutation, Science, Technology, Magic, or Natural). I chose Mutation. After picking your body build (Female, Male, Giant Male) you can then start the process of making your superhero. There are hundreds of different options to choose from and complete control over the size and shape of any part of your character. There are hundreds of different clothing options as well. From hoods to masks, tights to business suits, everything you could imagine is in there. (Capes however, though available, are something you have to earn later in the game.) You can even pick from an enormous selection of logos for your superhero to display proudly on their chest. And on top of all this, you can change the color of every piece of clothing and any part of your body. With all of this, there are literally millions of different combinations so that you’re almost guaranteed to never meet someone who looks like you. Gone are the old days where you can take two steps without running into another pointy haired elf (I’m looking at you, Final Fantasy XI). Here, you’re completely unique. And the best part? You can create as many different characters as you want and keep them all! CoH really wants you to experiment and find as many ways as you can to enjoy the experience.

HELP!!!!

So what does a superhero do, exactly? Everything a superhero’s supposed to do! To start with, you’re given some simple missions like “Arrest 10 Lost” (Lost being the name of a gang, and ‘arrest’ being a nice word for eliminate), but for the first few levels you’ll pretty much be walking around town stopping street crime. As you might be saying “and this is different from killing rabbits…how?” let me explain the contact system to you. As a superhero, you have many different contacts. From the City Representative to the lowly newspaper reporter, you will gain the friendship of many different contacts. Each wanting to either give you a new mission or introduce you to even more contacts.

As an example of the missions you might be going on, I’ll tell you about a recent experience I had that spanned many different missions. I was talking to my contact who deals primarily with the “Clockwork”, a group of dangerous robots. After being asked to clean a few of them off the streets, I set off to dish out some justice. However, among the remains of one fallen Clockwork, I saw the words “Help me!” scratched into it’s case. Taking this new clue back to my contact we discovered that a top mechanic has recently been kidnapped and realize that it must have been him who wrote this message. I decide to go to the factory where they are making these specific Clockwork and shut them down. Afterwords, I find an encoded note that I can’t make sense of. So I take it to the City Representative who then passes it along to her scientific contacts and returns the note to me decoded. Apparently it’s an address where they’re keeping the mechanic! I run over, bust in to the abandoned warehouse, and take down all the Clockwork I can find only to be ambushed by one of the Clockwork leaders! After defeating him (or should I say ‘it’) I rescued the mechanic who tells me that not only was he kidnapped, but his family too! Fortunately, he knows where they took them and I dash over, kick some more bot-butt, and save his family. All in all, a very long set of missions, but it was so much fun to get new clues and try to figure out the case.

I HAVE THE POWER!!

In City of Heroes your character can choose from many different “power sets.” I personally decided to go with a Katana and enhanced healing. Though after certain levels you can pick up powers from new sets like martial arts or the power to control fire. Another power you can eventually pick up is flight. My character just hit level 14 and I picked up Flight without thinking twice. With the power of flight (or super speed or super jump) the world becomes a lot more open to you. What might have taken me minutes to get too only takes seconds. Not to mention that it just looks awesome! Oh, and to explain the quote at the top, it’s from one of my favorite games (prize to whoever identifies it first), and it’s exactly what goes through my head every time i jump off the top of a building and start soaring through the air. Awesome.

What? No Gil??

Actually, no money at all. “But how is this possible? You need money to buy goods!” Simple. No goods. Now before you faint, let me explain. Unlike almost every other MMO out there, CoH doesn’t have items. There are no +5 Swords or “Armor of Whatever”s. What superhero upgrades his costume? In CoH there is no crafting, trading, or auctioning. There are only two things you’ll ever have: Enhancements and Inspirations. Inspirations could be compared to potions. You have inspirations for strength (Enrage), healing (Respite), accuracy (Insight), etc. They are temporary boosts to your stats that can help you out a lot in tough battles. Enchantments are essentially what you upgrade your character with. You could think of them as training. After certain levels you can add ‘Power Slots’ to your list of skills. Then in these slots you can place enchantments. You can have enchantments to increase a skills accuracy or strength, or perhaps increase your flight speed or health recovery speed. There are dozens of different enchantments to help you improve your character. Both enchantments and inspirations can be acquired in two ways. Firstly, you can get them by defeating enemies. Secondly, you can buy them from contacts or superhero trainers. “But wait! You said there was no money!” In place of money, CoH dishes out Influence. You can acquire influence by saving people’s lives, completing missions, or giving trainers extra enchantments you don’t want. So while technically there may be some form of currency, it’s definitely something you’ve never seen before.

The Final Showdown

So what exactly sets City of Heroes apart from every other MMORPG out there? I could say the character creation, or the in-depth missions, or the fact that you can even create a super-group with all your friends. And while some aspects may be similar to many other MMORPGs, there are several main differences. One of them is its level of accessibility for the average gamer. You don’t have to spend hours and hours trying to finish your next quest to get your next item which gives you a new quest to find a new item. You can sit down and play for 30 minutes if you want. The point is, it doesn’t suck up your life like every other MMO. Another main difference is its subject matter. Not everyone can live in a world of swords and sorcery. I sure couldn’t. But like many other comic book nerds I’ve finally found a place that let’s me live out my fantasies. And really, who didn’t want to be a superhero when they were a kid?

A 4 out of 5.

Got a few hundred thousand dollars just lying around and no idea what to spend it on? Well, today eBay will be auctioning off some of the most sought after and prized movie memorabilia of all time. Mainly, several recently released pieces from the Star Wars collection. For example, starting at only 60 thousand dollars you can own Luke Skywalker’s original lightsaber from A New Hope. 60 sounding a bit too high? Well for a starting bid of only 40 thousand dollars you could own Darth Vader’s lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back. Oh, and one of my favorites, for only 20 thousand dollars, you could own Luke Skywalker’s severed hand from The Empire Strikes Back.

Other items can be found at their listing on eBay. Happy Bidding! ;)