Older: August 2006
Newer: October 2006

Clip clop clip clop

Wendell showed up in my Animal Crossing town today, doing his usual begging-for-food routine. As it happened, I had saved some white turnips for just such an occasion, and in return he traded me this delightful stairs pattern:

I wonder where these go.

I didn't have any free space and had to replace an older pattern which was already plastered all over town as markers, so suddenly I found myself encountering all these unexpected stairwells. The greatest thing is I actually skidded to a halt before crossing over one of these stair tiles. Even though I've been playing this game for almost a year and I know that there's no way I'd accidentally trip down some stairs to a secret basement or something, what that stairs symbol represents is hopelessly ingrained after years of playing other games.

I blame Dragon Quest, of course.

Top 5 lyrics from Junior Senior's "Hey Hey My My Yo Yo"

  1. Put on your pants! / 'Cause you just might wanna dance
  2. But if you're sittin' there thinking this ain't the bomb / Give us a minute and we'll wrap up this song
  3. If it ain't broke, don't fix it / And if you can't fix it, don't break it! (Don't break it! Don't break it!)
  4. Can I get get get to know kn-know know you better better baby?
  5. Thinkin' a lot lately 'bout swimming pools / 'Cause swimming in one would be reallycool (eeeeee)

Mega Man ZX

:]

Classic Mega Man platforming
+
Metroid/Castlevania-inspired nonlinear(-ish) gameplay
-
recent DS platformers' pushover difficulty
=
Mega Man ZX

Basically, Megamanvaniatroid. Please make more of these, Mr. Inafune. (Just overhaul the map screen next time.)

Wiiactions (looooool)

So the big Wii questions are finally answered: $250 on November 19. While it's nice to actually have this information, I think a lot of people, including myself, are a little disappointed.

First, $250, while cheap compared to the Xbox 360 and (definitely) PS3, is still kind of up there for basically a Gamecube with a new interface. And, based on reports that the Wii will be instantly profitable, Nintendo could probably have afforded to drop it down to the $199 many were hoping for. I don't think people are likely to buy just the console and no games, even with the Wii Sports pack-in. Still, maybe there's hope (although it's sort of a long shot) that they'll pull a Nintendo64 and cut the extra $50 right before release.

Second, not getting the Wii out of the gate before PS3 I think will be a huge blow. By launching only two days after PS3, Nintendo not only loses its potential head start but will be walking straight into the aftermath of the PS3 launch frenzy. On one hand I'm glad that the rumored early-November launch won't be cutting into my time with FF12, but the November 19 date really worries me, moreso than the price.

Finally: What's the deal with no information about online play? Are a bunch of launch games actually online-enabled, and I've just missed every time they talked about it? Is Wii Sports even online? Come on, I want to invade other people's homes with my Mii right away.

I'm still enthusiastically awaiting the launch and expect to pick one up on launch day, which is a first for me. I was just really hoping Nintendo would be able to get themselves into a really aggressive position VS the PS3, with a cheap(er) and early launch. Here's hoping their ad campaign for the next couple months comes out in full force.

Bomberman Land: DATED!

Touch!

I've been pretty busy this week, but this warrants a quick post:

Bomberman Land Touch! is now dated for a November 14th release! GET READY.

Special delivery... from Hell!!

This unexpectedly showed up in my mailbox yesterday:

(Dante quote)

Apparently Nathan and cohort Mr. Aaron took some time out of their pirates-and-ninjas-intensive schedule to pick up some expensive Japanese figures. It's pretty cool, but hey guys! Dante is neither a pirate nor a ninja! Let's try to stick with the theme here.

But seriously, it's great. It's going on my cabinet right next to Gogandantes, the greatest swordsman of all demons.

Thanks guys.

Animal Crossing being all opinionated again

Yeah, I'm still playing Animal Crossing.

So does everyone remember when, soon after the game came out last December, a bunch of bloggers and maybe some news outlets made a minor fuss about K.K. Slider taking a jab at the RIAA? Everyone was all, "Ooh! This upstart Nintendo game is trying to cause a ruckus!" I kind of figured it was more representative of K.K. Slider's decidely hippie demeanor (man), and not because some writer at Nintendo has a bone to pick.

Then I saw this the other day:

The President what?? ...How much debt? ...That monster...

Does that seem just a little uncharacteristically pointed? That's harsh, Gulliver.

Update: The New York Times actually did an article on the K.K. Slider thing last December. (Thanks, Leigh.) The explanation offered by Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo VP of marketing, is pretty amusing, as is the speculation that the name "K.K." is a Japanese pun. Well, it actually sort of is—just not in the anti-corporate sense the author suggests; it's derived from Totakeke, the character's Japanese name, which in turn is a play on the name of the series composer, Totaka Kazumi.

Today's lesson

Always be sure to * { border:0; }

Get Crank

OH BOY

Here's roughly what happened in Crank:

  • Hitman Jason Statham, Lock, Stock and Snatch distant memories at this point, wakes up and kicks in his plasma TV after discovering a Mexican thug has injected him with a poison that will kill him if his adrenaline drops too low.

  • Catching on quickly, Jason Statham rampages around in his car in a sequence that looks like it was directed for an Xbox 360 game.

  • The camera zooms out to a birds-eye view of the city and pans to the next scene. Adding to the Google Earth feel of this segment is the word "Google" stamped in the corner.

  • Arriving at a club, Jason Statham stuffs cocaine into his nose and headbutts a huge black guy.

  • While making a phone call, Jason Statham drives his car into a mall and crashes it sideways onto an escalator. He throws some passengers out of a taxi and takes it to a minimart to steal all the energy drinks. Current wanted level: **

  • Jason Statham visits his former employer at his penthouse suite. The scene is fairly calm and doesn't jump-cut or freeze-frame at all, probably because iMovie burned out while filtering the opening car scene and the editor had to reboot.

  • Jason Statham steals the taxi by shouting "Al Qaeda!" at the driver, prompting a group of bystanders to mob him and break his limbs. Then he cuts off the Mexican thug's brother's hand with a cleaver.

  • After stealing a bunch of ephedrine from a hospital, Jason Statham has a doctor zap him with a defibrillator.

  • Now sporting a hospital gown and a huge erection, Jason Statham sees a hilarious caricature of himself on TV. Then he steals a police bike and does donuts in the middle of an intersection.

  • While standing on the stolen bike, Jason Statham crashes into a cafe. He gets up and walks to his girlfriend's place, where he puts his hand in a waffle iron.

  • Jason Statham and his girlfriend have sex in the middle of Chinatown. Then he goes to a warehouse and puts a heavy's hand through a sewing machine.

  • Meanwhile, Jeff Daniels and his team get blown up trying to enter the mad bomber's booby-trapped house.

  • Magically acquiring a new suit, Jason Statham meets up with his employer and the Mexican thug, who are in cahoots. The latter pulls out a huge revolver, but a bunch of Triads appear literally out of nowhere and he shoots his fingers off.

  • Nevertheless, he gets into a grappling match with Jason Statham while they hang out of a helicopter.

  • After falling out of the helicopter, Jason Statham leaves a parting message on his girlfriend's answering machine after strangling the Mexican thug in midair.

  • Jason Statham lands on the roof of a car and bounces like 50 feet in the air.

  • Credits.

Also, I really enjoyed when he said, "You should have killed me when you had the chance!"

Older: August 2006
Newer: October 2006