A change of pace

I recently received the movie Spaceballs as a secret Santa gift. Watching this movie again reminded me how much of an American classic this is, unfortunately this is one of Mel Brook's less known movies. This movie set out to ruin the space genre and for the most part succeeded. It follows a Star Wars like plot line with classic characters like Pizza the Hut, Dark Helmet, Lone Starr, Barf, and Princess Vespa. Much of the movie has some kind of sight joke or some inside joke relating to other movies. For example the beginning of the movie shows the Spaceballs' main ship which takes minutes to reach the end which gives a nod to the Star Destroyer of the Star Wars original trilogy. One of the greatest scenes of the movie is when Dark Helmet watches the movie Spaceballs in real time which means that your watching him do movements of him watching himself do movements at the same time, I guess it is hard to understand but if you see the movie you'll get it. I guess the movie is also a classic in my heart because the actor Rick Moranis is in it and many people refer to me as a look-a-like, even going as far as winning a look-a-like contest. Again if you never have seen the movie Spaceballs I very highly recommend you to seeing it, not only will it be a great laugh, but you'll witness one of Mel Brooks greatest underrated comedies.

Game introductions

Recently I was referred to the greatest game intros of all time: http://gamerhelp.com/article_viewer.cfm?article_id=130860 and I am surprised how amazing some of these are. My favorite two are the intro for Skate and Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, but the one I will always remember is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time because of its simplicity and the expectations that it alludes to. I enjoyed the Stake intro because its humor and Onimusha due to its quality throughout the entire sequence. What is your favorite intro of all time?

Empires Beta 2.0

One of my favorite mods for Half Life 2 released Beta 2.0 which has fixed many of the problems that occurred during the Beta 1.0 life cycle. I really like the changes to the weapons and tools, before they were very stiff and didn't really seem like anyone would want to use them, but now with the revisions to the models and sound effects its a lot better. The graphics engine has been upgraded and optimised so more people can play with better graphics at the same time. The only thing I don't really enjoy about the game is that it feels like your moving a little to quickly on foot. But I probably will get over that soon enough, and determine if I should invest more time into Empires or Team Fortress 2.

An unrelated accomplishment

Today I passed the Department of Labor and Industry's Special Class Engineer test allowing me to safely operate and maintain all classes of boilers and their appurtenances of up to 30 horsepower and to operate as a shift engineer in a plant up to 100 horsepower.

It was pretty evil having to wake up before 7am to be awake when the test started just after 8. But with persistence and determination I was able to pass the test with a safe margin of error. Hopefully, I am able to maintain a high standard in which future people living in my building will uphold.

Where is the US My Nintendo channel

Within the last week Japan received a new channel allowing them to download demo's to their DS's and many other things. This is one channel that I have been looking forward to for a long time and I have to keep waiting, potentially forever, because Nintendo of America is incredibly slow on what people really want in the US. I guess if I could give a message to Nintendo it would be for them to start making channels that people like myself actually want to use and not more Mii related channels.

Director's Commentary in Games

Recently I have been replaying game from the Orange Box with the Director's Commentary turned on. It is really interesting to hear a developer's perspective on level design, voice acting, and how events occur. I find it fascinating to hear and see how they do little tricks to make something spectacular happen, such as the train falling at the beginning of Half Life 2: Episode2. And after listening to most of the games on the Orange Box's commentary I find myself wondering why more studios do this. Not only does it give the player more replayability but it also shows you what to look for in games, even if you would normally never notice it. So again if you never bought the Orange Box, please do because it is worth every penny

Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee

I recently have been watching Yahtzee's game reviews over at Zero Punctuation. To put his reviews in one word it would have to be hilarious. The reason for this is because he talks really fast and the images that he uses complement his reviews perfectly. Another reason is that he is extremely blatant on everything he talks about, if he doesn't like anything in the game he will drive that point home. To see his most recent video you can find it here, but be warned that he uses a little language at times.

Potentially Great News

Famous, anti-violence in videogames, lawyer Jack Thompson, aka crazy guy, trial begins today to determine whether he will be able to be a lawyer anymore. The Florida bar has refused previous requests from him to suspend his license for 90 days and instead is holding the trial. Hopefully for the good of America he will be removed from being a lawyer and his crazy talk will never be heard of again. For some more information about him check out http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=656 or google him and find out how crazy he really is :)

Check Mii Out Impressions

A few days before Thanksgiving in the US, a new Nintendo Wii channel launched called "Check Mii Out." It is an interesting new channel, but on the whole I find it much less then it could be. There are a few good things, like the attempt to create a Mii that looks like something, such as Mario without a cap and more recently a pilgrim and the toothfairy. But the actual judging of the Mii's is not very well done. You choose your favorite 3 Mii's, but you can keep finding new Mii's as long as you like. It should be multiple rounds of judging, like choosing your top 3 out of a list of 100 or something then take the top one and do another round the same way untill the best are choosen.

There is another part of the channel that somehow rates your Mii's if you upload them. I don't know too much about this side, so I will give an update later in the week.

Sorry for the long break

Sorry for not posting a long time because I was without any working internet for a long time.

The big update I can start off this week is that Super Mario Galaxy has been released. And for a while it was the highest rated game of all time, but unfortunately after a few days of being number one, more reviews came in lowering the score .2% returning the previous champion back to number one, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. So SMG is now the number two game of all time. Unfortunately I do not have the game to give my impressions with because I am getting it for Christmas. I might play it a little bit because I know someone who has it.

Got Maya

A friend of mine just showed me how to get Maya which is a really really amazing modeling program. So I am trying how learn how to use it and hopefully if I every have something really interesting to show, I'll post it up.

My VC Gaming

The Virtual Console on Wii has allowed me to revisit some extremely fond gaming memories (Punch Out) and allowed me to visit ones that I had not experienced before (Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past) for a decent price. But it isn't the price that concerns me it is the amount of games I would love to get, but don't have the time or money to. Hopefully this holiday season will bring joy (and some extra money flow) for some more vc gaming.

Where is Super Mario RPG on the VC?

One of the greatest Role-Playing Games of all time came just before the break of Nintendo's and Square's relationship. This game co-created by both companies was called Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, coming the world of Mario with the story telling and game play of Final Fantasy. This game had many elements that have not been seen since in any Mario game. For example in Super Mario RPG you could equip a weapon, clothing for defense and an accessory. As well, this game marked the first time Bowser was an ally of Mario fighting against a greater evil. All around this game was amazing and I wish Nintendo would realize that this would be a fantastic game for the Virtual Console and even more for a true sequel.

HL2:Ep2 Finished

The conclusion from Episode 1 created a lot of questions left to be answer by later episodes. A few questions were answered, but a lot more were raised during the game. As well, the game had an amazing final battle and even greater cliff hanger. Valve keeps raising the bar on themselves and whenever the conclusion to episode 3 comes I will be sure to get it first day. But until then I have a lot of useless accomplishments to complete and many more games to play.

The Traveling Gnome

I have an unfortunate tendency to beat every game I get to 100% completion, or attempt to at least. While playing Half-Life 2: Episode 2 I was looking though their accomplishment list and found one that forces you to take a garden gnome through most of the game just to place it in a rocket ship. This is probably the most worthless / evil accomplishment in the history of games because you have to transport the gnome in a car that is in very poor condition, in which the gnome can VERY easily fly out. Which means that when driving you have to have more control than Jack Traven in Speed! Well, after I beat HL2:Ep2 the first time, I guess I will have to go back and get this done.

HL2: EP 2

Starting listening to the commentary on Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and its really interesting. The really do a lot of play testing to find out what works and what doesn't. Also, it is interesting to hear a lot of the little things that you normally would never notice. For example, at the beginning of the game a bridge with a train on it collapses consisting of more than 700 different objects in perfect harmony. It is amazing how many little things made it into this game that you would never notice unless told.

Zack and Wiki

Well, after reading a few reviews to the game I am getting more and more pumped for this game. I just might switch my mind from just renting the game to straight up buying it. I'm thinking this just because of the reviews and how much IGN team likes this game. A few months ago they were thinking it was just going to be a 7.0 type of game (average), then after they got the final copy of the game, they were blown away by just how great the game is. So I guess I am trying to help fuel the buy Zack and Wiki campaign. (On a side note, speaking of campaigns the great pundit Steven Colbert is going to run for president!) Hopefully, I get a demo or something soon so I can see if this is a buy or a must-buy game.

Near Future

Well, I'm planning on getting a new update every day this week about something or another to make up for the lack of any updates last week.

My top 5 games coming out in the near future

1. Super Mario Galaxy- If Mario's creator is saying that this is going to be the true sequel to Super Mario 64 than you know its going to be good. And from looking at it so far it appears to be to be that and much more. Galaxy is going to push the Wii to its limits with all the physics that Mario is going to have to deal with.

2. Guitar Hero III- I've avoided Guitar Hero for a while because I'm not much of a Sony fan, but since its coming to the Wii I'm pumped. Just looking at some of the songs in this game makes me wonder how many hours I will be playing before the next one comes out.

3. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles- Resident Evil for the Gamecube was amazing, Resident Evil 0 was pretty good, RE 2 and 3 for the Gamecube not so much, Resident Evil 4 was a level beyond amazing, so I have huge expectations for RE:UC. Since it was first shown there has been an amazing amount of progress to the game and hopefully by the time the game is released it can can have a lot of replay value.

4. Zack and Wiki- I don't really want to own this game as much as I want to play it. Mainly the IGN Wii team has convinced me that this is a must play game. There are supposed to be excellent puzzles found within the game and I like puzzles so hopefully it pans out to beat my expectations.

5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl- Ok, this isn't coming until next year, but this is probably going to be the best fighting game next year for sure, if not game of the year material. I want this game bad!

Half Life 2: Episode 1

Well, I have finally finished the first episode in Half Life 2 and I am amazed at the character detail they used. Alyx is incredible in terms of smooth motions and the amount of detail she contains. As well, Alyx has quite a few jokes in the game that can actually make you laugh out loud, which is very rare for a game especially in this category. Even though Ep. 1 is really short, I don't understand why reviewers frown upon the game so much. The story is very well told and the action is constant and with a purpose. And to my satisfaction Valve did not place any vehicles into this game because Half-Life 2's vehicles went on too long and were no where near the quality of the rest of the game. Over all I think HL2:Ep2 is pretty good and on that note I can finally move on to Episode 2.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Double Update today

Well Sonic, SEGA's most popular mascot, has now been included in SSBB. This will finally put the question of who is the better mascot to rest (or at least for a round). Unfortunatelly, the game has now been delayed until Febuary. Hopefully, this will allow even more major mascots in the game, such as: Megaman, Final Fantasy characters and more. In other words, the game when it drops will be the M3gat0n.

Portal

Well, I have finished the main game of Portal, and its pretty good. The final level is pretty long, but still easy. Personally though, I think the best part of the game is the credits song. It is probably one of the best video game songs of all time, just because it is hilarious. Again, if you don't have the Orange Box, ask yourself "Do you like fun?"

The Orange Box - Portal

Well, the Orange Box has arrived and its worth the wait. Today has all been about Portal and it is pretty easy unfortunately. I am on level 17 out of 19 and from what I have heard the last two are a little more difficult. After I finish these three levels off there is a few bonus levels, which to my knowledge means that the there are restrictions on the levels to make them more difficult. Portal is pretty fun and if another one was made with many more levels and a higher difficulty that would be really fun. So Portal is good, but unfortunately a few steps from great.

Metroid Prime 3 Finished

Well, I finally finished the game, though not at a hundred percent, and agree with professionals that this is the best of the prime series. My only complain really with the game is that the final boss is a little to easy compared to earlier bosses in the game, but it was still an enjoyable battle none the less. Well, this weekend I going to try and finish collecting all the logbook items so I can get the 100% ending, instead of the 75% one. Hopefully the next Retro Studios project is just as exciting as the Metroid Prime games.

An Update on MP3:C

Well I am at least 80% of the way complete in terms of the game. I still need to find 3 Lores to add to my logbook, each being on a different world, a few labeling of items and enemies, and the last of the expansions, health and ship. I am quite sure I could just go right now and kick the final boss into next week, but for some reason I want the full 100% completion. Then I will finally go to the gallery and start buying everything there, well except for the friend credits one due to lack of of MP3:C playing friends. So if you would like to help me get a few friend credits leave a comment. And for some reason you have not played Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and own a Wii, you are doing yourself a huge disfavor.

A possible accomplishment

Since the creation of my account at http://www.ign.com/ I have been diligent about keeping an accurate account of games that my family owns. Recently in my opinion I have hit two milestones in both the amount of video games that I own and the estimated value that ign rates it at. With my recent purchase of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption the amount of games has finally reached 200 games and an est. value of over $5,000. Then to make it even better or worse I have played most of these games all the way through, and if not all the way quite close to the end such as being on the final boss. Even though this collection is larger than normal, there are many games that I wish I could own, let alone play, such as the Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid series. If anyone wants to look at my collection of games hopefully you can find it here: http://club.ign.com/b/list/custom?&lid=100018&owner=Alfire101&mode=vown. Any real classic I'm missing please leave a comment saying what it is.

It works

After a magical update from Steam, Team Fortress 2 is now working. And TF2 is amazing so I suggest that anyone remotely into computer gaming pick this up.

I hate Steam

No not water vapor, Valve's program that is intended to keep all of your Steam Games upgraded and playable. Right now I am angry at the latter, I recently (aka last Sunday) purchased The Orange Box from their website. And on Monday the website said that all those that pre-ordered The Orange Box are going to be able to play the Team Fortress 2 Beta start that day. Well, not only was the Beta a full day late to all those that pre-ordered the game, but the game crashes on me whenever I try and load it.

It will show the new stupid valve character (old one was way better) and then get to the game loading page. After being on this page for around 10 seconds the game crashes and the error box comes up saying Hl2.exe has stopped responding. I was afraid that my actual game of Half-Life 2 was corrupt somehow now. Nope, HL2 is working just fine along with every other Steam game that I have. For some reason this Team Fortress Beta purposely is crashing Hl2.exe, creating a lot of anger on my part.

Then I decide why don't I try to use the support page for help. Well, I get to their support page, type in my problem and get nothing even close to what I am asking in return, so I try again. Nothing, so I try another search using different keywords and still nothing. Now becoming even angrier I try to find someway of directly contacting them. Of course, it is very difficult to find any way of contacting them on any front. Finally, after sending my question of how to fix it to Valve/Steam. They say it will take a few days to give me a reply due to the high frequency of questions they receive.

So by this time my anger has reached a level in which I am snapping (ok, I actually am not, but frustration has set in) because they know that Steam is a creation that should have never thought of in the first place. I guess the only thing I can say now is great job steam for not letting me get to use the video game that hard earned dollars paid for and hurry up on your reply to my problem.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

If there is one game to get for the Nintendo Wii its Metroid Prime 3. Samus Aran's last "Prime" adventure polishes everything created in the first two "Prime" games and adds a few new things to make it the best one so far (and that's coming from only 11 hours into the game). To make it "next-gen" worthy they added voices to all the characters, but Samus still doesn't speak which keeps in line with Nintendo's mascots. An interesting fact as well about the game is that this final installment in the "Prime" series is the only one in which Samus doesn't lose her abilities at any point in the game, which helps the game to move along at an excellent pace.

The Metroid series back way back on the Nintendo Entertainment System after two "barely" successful mascots were created, Mario and Link. Taking the platforming knowledge from Mario and RPG elements from The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo fused these two fundamentals into Metroid. Starting off alone with a weak arm canon Samus Aran found upgrades to her suit as the game progress featuring now mainstays the morph ball, missiles, the screw attack and more. The one thing Metroid is most famous for is in how quickly you completed the game, due to the different endings. A fast completion time awarded the player to see Samus without her helmet on. This was almost, if not entirely, unheard of at the time and had influences on many female game stars in the future.

The Metroid Prime trilogy revolves around phazon a blue substance that is corrupting creatures and even worlds. In the first game players where slowly introduced to the evil power that phazon has. In the second game, phazon is allowing the dark side of a planet take over the light side and Samus is told by the Galaxic Federation to stop it. Finally in the final Prime game, Corruption, phazon has taken over many of the worlds with phazon, including her main enemy's home world, the Space Pirates.

I wish the Metroid Prime series didn't have to end because the creative genius that Retro Studios has produced is so unique and probably will not be seen again for a long time. Their attention to detail is second to none and their ability to backtrack multiple time and still have an extremely enjoyable experience is amazing as well. I only can wish that everyone could fully experience all that is Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and you are only hurting yourself if you have a Nintendo Wii and don't own Metroid as well.

The Mysterious Spaceman

If you ask a person to name a few Mario characters, the first would probably be Bowser or Luigi. Then they might say Yoshi or Princess Peach, and maybe a few common enemies from the games, but probably the most die hard fan will remember, let alone know of Tatanga. This space creature first saw the day of light in Mario's first handheld adventure Super Mario Land.

Tatanga was the final boss of Super Mario Land and the only boss so far in which Mario has to shoot down in an airplane, known as the "Sky Pop." The "Sky Pop" airplane was one of the vehicles Mario used to complete his adventure in Sarasaland (not the Mushroom Kingdom). As well, Mario was trying to rescue Princess Daisy (not Princess Peach) who has now become a common character in the Mario universe. Another difference between this game and other Mario games is that only the only character that appears in a different game is Tatanga himself. The rest of the enemies are exclusive to Super Mario Land even though the may look like common enemies they have unique names such as a chibibo and a goomba. This main reason for this was that the game was not made by Shigeru Miyamoto, but by his mentor Gunpei Yokoi.

After Mario defeats Tatanga we would assume that he should be dead, just like Bowser, but being the mysterious spaceman he is comes back for another round in Super Mario Land 2: The Six Golden Coins. But instead of being the final boss of that game (that title goes to Mario's cousin Wario) Tatanga is the boss of Space Zone, who is much easier to defeat this time around. Tatanga also appeared a few comic strips in the early 90s but has since vanished in the Mario universe.

He would be a perfect final boss if New Super Mario Bros. 2 is ever created and would work extremely well with the new Mario Galaxy coming out later this year. He has everything in his portfolio to be able to cause Mario to go into outerspace since he is known as "the mysterious spaceman." So Nintendo don't let Bowser be the only villain for Mario to face in future titles because Tatanga has shown that he can easily fit this role.

And it begins

And begin it will by first mentioning that is my first entry in a long list to come. You can visit another blog of mine that probably will not be updated for a long time here. Hopefully you will like my blog so much that you will come and visit again.