I'm too busy with E3 stuff and other things to do a full-on update, but
I was reading this Reuter's report just now. I don't know why people
who know nothing about games attempt to write about them. Some excerpts
followed by my comments:
Microsoft has forged stronger
relationships with the industry's top game publishers -- alliances that
can make-or-break a console's success -- and for the first time, will
beat Sony to market with its next-generation console.
--Umm, there's only been one other
opportunity for Microsoft to release their console before Sony. This
isn't some ongoing rivalry or something.
Sony, which unseated Nintendo Co. Ltd. as the industry's top console maker and drove Sega's Genesis console
out of business a decade ago, still controls more than two-thirds of
the market.
--This one hurt my neck
with how much it spun my head. Sony drove out Sega's "Genesis". Wha?
Huh? The Genesis competed with the Playstation?! The Playstation
launched in 1995 and competed with the Saturn. Sega stopped making
hardware a few years after launching the Dreamcast in 1999. A
little fact-checking is all I ask.
Both companies are trash-talking each other and playing up the future
capabilities of their newest gaming machines, partly because the time
lag between major console releases is getting longer and longer.
--Really? PS1 - 9/1995; PS2 -
10/26/2000; PS3 - 3/2006. Ah, I see. 5 1/2 years is a much bigger time
span than 5 years and a month. Of course...
How I Feel:  annoyed Current Music/Sounds: Hootie & The Blowfish - Let Her Cry |
So, the E3 machine is starting soon. In fact, it really started last Friday and continued through the weekend. They put up a trailer of Path of Neo, which looks like the Matrix game we've all wanted to play. But as exciting as the next-gen and even current-gen stuff is, I'm excited about two upcoming compilations.
Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Arcade includes:
Bosconian, Dig Dug, Dragon Spirit, Galaga, Galaxian, Mappy, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man, Pole Position, Pole Position II, Rally X, Rolling Thunder, Sky Kid, and Xevious.
Galaga on my TV from the comfort of my couch with my wireless controller...Ah...
Midway Arcade Treasures 3 includes:
Badlands, Hydro Thunder, Off Road Thunder: Mud, Sweat 'N Gears, Race Drivin', San Francisco Rush 2049, San Francisco Rush - The Rock: Alcatraz Edition, Super Off Road (and its Bonus Track Pak), and S.T.U.N. Runner.
A bunch of Midway racing games? Including S.T.U.N. Runner?! Awesome. Although, Super Sprint was in Midway Arcade Treasures (1), which I have, and without that spinning steering wheel from the arcade, it wasn't as fun. We'll see how Super Off Road fares...
Nintendo, are you listening? Compilations are wonderful things. Give us a Mario collection, a Mario Kart collection, a Metroid collection, a Zelda collection. We will buy them and love them.How I Feel:  E3 happy Current Music/Sounds: Judge Mathis |
So, I've had The Matrix in the DVD player for a week or so, watching parts at a time, and today I just watched the end of it. I tell you, that movie has one of the best endings ever. I mean, the movie as a whole is mentally stimulating, philosophically and theologically challenging, sometimes funny, good action, etc. But in that last 10-15 minutes, starting from when Neo steps into Room 303, you get to experience disbelief, frustration, loss of hope, despair, love, a reinvigoration of hope, amazement, realization, a kick-ass (yet brief) fight sequence, a mix of disbelief and realization, comedy, a bit of tension, one more love bit, excitement, hope...then Rage Against the Machine kicks in! WOW! How can you not leave the theater liking that?!
Let us not speak of the end of Matrix Reloaded...How I Feel:  content Current Music/Sounds: Rage Against the Machine - Wake Up |
I just read a quick preview of Burnout Revenge (Burnout 4) on IGN, and it sounds great. Here's some of the updates/changes:
- Real-world locations, possibly a greatest hit version of a city, like levels in Tony Hawk
- Checking: Any non-competitor traffic going in the same direction
of you can be bumped into and sent flying into other cars, or to act as
a blocker at an intersection, or to even take out a competitor. Big
change in driving habits there
- Jumps and other vertical track changes allow for Vertical Takedowns
- Hidden and not-so-hidden shortcuts will be available (Just like SF Rush!)
- Crashbreakers will be available in races, not just Crash mode.
The higher your boost gauge, the bigger your Crashbreaker. However, if
you have no boost, you don't get a Crashbreaker, and you only get a
Crashbreaker if you were taken out. Ah, "Revenge".
- The right analog stick will control the camera in Aftertouch (yeah!)
- Traffic Attack Mode: Basically, destroy everything in the track. We'll see if there's more to that...
And a screen for you:
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1. We went out to El Fenix tonight for dinner. There was a sign outside that said "All checks must be paid before leaving". I started thinking that it was real important for me not to be the last person out.
2. I walked up to a store and a sign said "No Shoes. No Shirt. No Service." I was alright with the first two since I wasn't in the market for either of them, but I thought I could at least get some service.
...Thus why I am a Flash Developer... |
| » Not that I've ever played one of the games... |
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But I thought this might interest a few of you (from IGN Music):
Final Fantasy Soundtracks
Fan favorite music coming to iTunes.
May 10, 2005 - A whopping
sixteen Final Fantasy soundtracks will be made available via iTunes.
This is the first time any of the soundtracks from the acclaimed
videogame series will be sold in the United States, and the first time
original game soundtracks will be available on the iTunes Music Store.
To meet the demand, iTunes has developed a dedicated Final Fantasy page
that will feature music from Final Fantasy I through XI, as well as
music from Dear Friends, and two Black Mages albums.
"I am thrilled that our soundtracks will finally be available to all
the supportive American fans who have enjoyed our music over the
years," said series composer Nobuo Uematsu.
May. 10th, 2005 @ 07:52 pm
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| » No rules, just right |
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I keep forgetting to thank Mike and Erin for the I'm Just Here For the Food: Food+Heat=Cooking book by Alton Brown. I've been cooking at home a lot more often lately (fast food trips have gone from 1-2/day to 1-2/week) and have been trying to cook new stuff. Among the recipes was The Perfect Baked Potato. Now that I've purchased some Kosher Salt, I can replicate Outback baked potatoes, and I'm a happy, happy person.
May. 10th, 2005 @ 11:14 am
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| » Yeah, I like videogames... |
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Man, things are already starting to leak. People have been reporting what they're showing at E3, but a list of games from a pretty unknown 3rd party company doesn't mean much to me.
What I do like are things like the recent article in EGM. 1UP.com, EGM's online counterpart, has different parts of the article, with a little bit more of an interview, but less pictures. In fact, there are pictures that were only in the magazine. But, because I care for all of you so much, I scanned in the 8-page article and made some pretty high-res JPGs of the article. They're about a meg each, but you can read the text and see the pretty pictures. Pages 1/2 Pages 3/4 Pages 5/6 Pages 7/8
And for those few of you who care about the XBox360, there are a few more pictures and details out there about it. Looking at the system pic, you can see that it can be vertical or horizontal, like the PS2. Also note the lack of controller ports, the two memory card slots, disk tray, Eye-Toy-like camera, headset, and ginormous power button. They've also revealed some skins for the power button, to apparently make your system custom. A cool, graphicy sticker for your power button isn't a horribly "custom" feature for me, but I guess it's a start. Also shown were the remote and controller, both of which share the big, silver X button, which current speculation puts as this almighty button that will take you to an XBox Live hub from anywhere, in any game. From that hub you can view leaderboards, buy downloads, see news, etc. We'll know more after the MTV reveal party on May 12th. Hobbits, The Killers. Should be fun.
Before I go, I have to say that if the producers/writers of ER ever decide to have someone's eye pop out randomly like it's a normal occurrence, I will have to find them and scare their eyeballs out. I freak out whenever I blow my nose now. I'm afraid it's just gonna jump on out.
May. 9th, 2005 @ 11:01 pm
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| » Never again |
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I promise to never recommend something for people to watch until I have seen it first. I'm not sure how many of you tuned in for Revenge of the Brick, but it was not at all what I was expecting, and not at all any better than what 2-3 high school guys could do in a couple of weeks. No dialogue, 3 minutes long. Just crap. Not even horribly exciting crap. I need to watch Thumb Wars, now...
May. 8th, 2005 @ 09:19 pm
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| » Spring Cleaning |
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So, Chris and I are in the middle of a purge. And since I was purging here at my desk, I thought I'd send a quick update.
Mike and I got to play some MX vs. ATV today for about 2 hours. Not exactly a Burnout 3 replacement, but fun nonetheless. Plus, it holds the great advantage over ATV Offroad Fury 2 in that Mike and I can actually see each other and therefore play against each other. Now, if there were more than 10 people on the servers that might make it more fun. But when there were 6 of us in a race on dirtbikes, that was pretty cool.
For those of you interested, there's a week-early shot of the XBox 360. Looks smaller than the old one. Of course, so is a Geo Metro, but still an improvement. I'm guessing the headset and video camera means real-time video chat. But, I'm not sure we all want to really see the other online dweebs we're playing against. Time will tell.
Oh, I'm not sure how good it will be, but Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick is on Cartoon Network Sunday at 6pm (not 7pm) CT.
Don't forget, E3 is coming up in two weeks. Revolution? New Zelda? PS3? Can't wait...
May. 8th, 2005 @ 12:05 am
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