2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany

I know y'all Americans don't appreciate soccer as much as other sports, but hear me out.

This World Cup is something to behold. After only 2 reaired matches, i'm in. Never been a soccer fan in my life - as latin as i am - but this is addictive. The pace; the energy from the crowd and players; the personalities; the acting that takes place when someone vies for a call; the footwork artistry; the actual world aspect. I'm not a fan of any team sports, preferring the 1 on 1 mind game of tennis, yet soccer snagged me-- i finally get it.

So now there are 8 teams left, 6 of them being past champs. That means it's only gonna get better. Brasil's on top momentum-wise, with Portugal, France, Germany, Ukraine, Italy, Argentina, and England on their asses. From now on, it'll be pure bloodshed. France is gaining steam, but nobody is messing with Brasil.

They're on break for a couple days and return on Friday with Germany vs Argentina followed by Italy vs Ukraine. Catch it on Univision or ESPN, with replays on FoxSports or ESPN Classic later that night.

And yes, Beckham is my hottie to trottie.

Headline of the Day

Studios Threaten to Make DOA 2 & Castlevania Movies


Gave me a good chuckle.

..Hehe, it's still funny.

Melting away in the summer sun.

Man I don't know about you, but I live in brooklyn and the weather is just killing me. It takes real courage to step outside. The heat is really getting to me. Every year I say that this is my last summer in the city and every year I end up staying. To stay cool I've been buying up cheap GCN games like hotcakes (ugh hot). I've been blasting my way through SSX Tricky and nearly finished with Mario Power Tennis. All the while my ac has been on full blast. So what have you kids been playing to pass the grueling, lack of new games, summer????

Phantasy Star Online... again!

Last night, I finally got PSO working on my PC. Ok, so I had the software for a week but this was the first moment I had to set it up.

So you might be wondering how this is possible. Well, there is a private server hosting PSO called SCHTHACK. They are currently supporting the PC and Dreamcast v1 and v2. As soon as Sega closes the official server, GCN and XBox PSO will be supported.

It was easy to set up. Once I created my character Mel, a HUnewearl, I was ready to par-tey. At first it was really sloooww, but once I lowered the 3D graphics and something else (it escapes me right now) it was like the Dreamcast version. Some of the backgrounds were missing until I came up on them. Yeah it was good.

I met up with my sister and finished the Forest. Being Level 1, I got dropped by the monsters but it was all good. I was lucky enough to get a few hits in too. At the end, I believe I was a Level 4. (Yay!) Tonight, I plan to hit the Caves.

For those who love PSO or want to try it, this is a good way to go. Like I said, the set up was easy and I was on in a flash.

Super Surprised

Having grown up watching Superman: The Movie, as well as Superman 2, 3, 4 on TNT I figured since it lost interest and they stopped making them that Superman was dead, at least the series of movies would end with the Rick Flair Superman Clone. To my astonishment they continued the series after Christopher Reeves finally died.

Being a comic book enthusiast you have to know quite a bit about Superman. All I really cared about was that Batman kicked his ass on several occasions and that his outfit was pretty fruity. Also, his secret identity could only fool completely dense idiots, not the worlds greatest reporters.

So get to the point. Last night I watched Superman Returns and was amazed at how true to the series it was. It was actually kicked ass. Basic premise is Superman left shortly after the end of number 4 looking for the remains of Krypton, his home planet, and he returns to find the world moved on..well at least Louis Lane did. She wrote a Pulitzer Prize wining article called "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman". Drama huh.

Near the end you realized why she was so pissed at him for leaving which I will leave one spoiler line at the end of this post. She also has a kid now (who is like supposed to be 4 I guess) and has a boyfriend/fiance. Singer drug Cyclops along with him to play the role. Basically Lex Luthor ( was Gene Hackman, now Kevin Spacey) got out of prison due to loopholes in his arrest and married a dying widow to get tons of money. He goes to the Fortress of Solitude and talks to Zordon..err, Jor'el, his father and learns all Superman's Secrets.

The rest you will have to watch if your interested. They poke fun at how Clark is obviously Superman but never follow up on it like good reporters. 3 out of 5.I will probably own this movie.

The Spider-Man 3 trailer was the best part by far. It starts off showing his red suit and then shows the black symbiote crawling up it and covering his body armor completely. Then it shows his bad ass spider logo on black. Asked the question about being good and evil and then shows some action.

Should be on the net next week, but it only showed Spidey with the symbiote on, Sandman attacking off a building and Harry Osborn looking really evil and pleased with something no doubt evil. The end is dramatic, showing Spidey looking at himself in the reflection of a building window. He is wearing the black suit and the red suit is in the reflection. I would have liked it the other way around. Maybe he has one of those weird moments like Norman Osborn when he talks to his evil self. Ehh.




SPOILERS**********************




Superman is the babies daddy. She's all pissed off because he hit it and quit it. Superman on Springer after Singer.




***********************************

--
Charlie Frisby

The money is for nothing

So why do us United Statesmen and Stateswomen (since everyone on the continent is technically "American") waste our money so casually. And the More you make the more you blow it. Some people say you just have extra money but my theory is this.


Say you make 6 dollars an hour. You want to buy an entertainment device, say a PSP. That's $250 you have to cough up, which means you have to flip a fuck load of burgers. That's well over 40 hours with taxes taken out of your check and added to your purchase. 40 hours!!! That may not seem like much, but go to work knowing you aren't going to get paid.Know you will own this portable game device with no games or movies included. You would probably say fuck that, I know I would.


Say you make $10 an hour. In most cases, the more money you make the less you work. Say hard labor is scrubbing our grease traps and counting money in the back office while everyone else works is considered "$10 an hour hard work". To buy a PSP it would take damn near half the hours, way less "labor", and half appreciated. If the $10 an hour guy wouldn't be as pissed when he realizes he made a bad purchased as the other SOL guy flipping the burgers.


I'm avoiding a long post so I leave you with this. If you translated everything, EVERYTHING you buy into how many hours you actually worked to get the item, would you buy it. Would you buy sandwich meat or steak? McDonald's or Benehanas?


Damn, I remember when I used to break a sweat when I worked, and I made way less.


Word of advice,meet important people and become friends with them. Also, learn useful skills that you can fall back on. You can waste your money as much the shitheads that will get the better paying job over you with less experience and ability. The system sucks, but if you play it you can go further.

-- Charlie Frisby

iPod Nomo

A few days back, Gizmodo showed me this new portable media player from Creative. They call it the Zen V Plus and it seems to bury the iPod Nano. Features:

-1.5 inch OLED display (emits light by itself, eliminating the need for a backlight). Can be viewed in any orientation- sideways, upside down- for control preferences.
-Photo and video playback; an FM tuner with 32 autoscannable presets; FM, voice, and line-in recording; an alarm clock and calendar; and even PIM functionality, with the ability to sync tasks and contacts from Outlook.
-Supported formats: MP3, WAV, WMA (including subscription), and Audible audio; MPEG-4, WMV, and DivX, among other video formats; and JPEG photos.
-Gets pretty loud.
-Battery life exceeds the rated 15 hours and actually goes for about 20.
-You can set any of your photos as wallpaper and choose from several color themes for the interface.
-Thicker but shorter than a Nano. Also curvier.
-Dedicated volume rocker and combined power/hold switch.
-Available in black or white; color accents indicate the size capacity of each player: orange for 1GB, green for 2GB, and blue for 4GB (black only).
-1GB model for $129.99, 2GB for $169.99, or 4GB for $229.99


I am so effin sold, this is virtually perfect for me. It's even a little cheaper than a Nano. Not cheap enough for me to run out and replace my perfectly working Nano, but worth noting for when there's a little extra green in the back pocket. Or for when this Nano meets its demise. Which'll be sooner than it expects...

Anyone looking for a low capacity iPod alternative or an MP3/media player in general, check this out instead of immediately flying to what's iPopular.

Joining My Club/Proof of Innocence

I've had my beef with 4 Color Rebellion in the past. For reasons that i won't go into unless you ask, they left a sour taste in my mouth (and it wasn't the BJ). Anyway, that was then, and even though i still have my gripes with them - keep in mind that i have gripes with everyone and everything - they have just ratcheted themselves up a few notches on my Okely-dokely scale.

4cr member/writer/Korean spy Nick Rumas has written post-completion impressions of New(???) Super Mario Bros, proving that i'm not some anti-Nintendo hater for hire. An excerpt:

"I hate comparing, but I can’t help it. In relation to visual prowess and beauty on their respective platforms, take a look at Super Mario World and Yoshi’s Island, then take a look at NSMB. All things aesthetic in the former two look to have been created with the utmost care and love, pushing the limits of the hardware to create a world that would truly immerse the player. NSMB, on the other hand, is hit and miss in this regard, and often looks like it was thrown together rather hastily. Fortunately, the gameplay is a different story, and that’s what really counts. Still, from the visuals alone, I can’t help but feel like I’m playing a product that wasn’t quite the labor of love that its predecessors were, and that just ain’t right."

I like him. He can join my club.

Should any of the idiots who flamed me on numerous sites for what i said before about the game read this, check the article's comments and the article itself: I didn't do it for attention, morons. Others agree and it's plain as day-- this game was a holdover to cash in on nostalgia.

They may not put it as harshly, but they still see what i see. I think it's a really good title and it can be fun as hell, but i'll be goddamned if someone tries to say it's the best Mario, or even that it comes close to the greats. Drop the rose-colored glasses for a second, ya jagoffs.

Danny Trejo

Rollin, you better grow a handlebar mustache soon. Danny will be coming for you.

Antonio, I don't know if you got by Tony at all, but I have to many friends who do. Danny knows you as Tony.
--
Charlie Frisby

Restin Easy

As of tonight I have completely finished New Super Mario Brothers. After collecting the last coin in the final castle and realizing I still had a warp pipe I never got the path to, I can rest easy knowing that I fully completed this spectacular game. I am sure most of you have long since finished it. But I had been taking some time off to play my other unfinished games: Osu Tatakae Ouendan, Phoenix Wright, Advance Wars DS.

I guess I should take my time with the rest of these since its gonna be a long summer. And a damn hot one if you live in the NYC, ugh sweaty.

Pet Peeve

You know what i hate? When geeks spew geek knowledge to other geeks. Such as this:

1 said...

If only Nintendo completed the original Earthbound for NES. They had the cartridge, box art and, everything else ready for realese but, the SNES came out and they thrown it away because they thought it would not sell.

And another thing! Where Kirby's Adventure? And I LOVED Zelda II!

2 said...

They did complete Earthbound on the NES, but they didn't think it would sell well outside of Japan due to it's wierdness. And incase you go looking for more information, it's called "Mother" in Japan. Our Earthbound on he SNES is their Mother 2, and recently Mother 3 on the GBA was released.

3 said...

Nintendo translated the game to English, but never released the game. In 1998, a group of ROM translators discovered that Nintendo had auctioned off a prototype of the EarthBound 0 cartridge. They contacted the individual who had acquired the game, and made an agreement to borrow the game for a few hundred dollars so they could dump the cartridge to a ROM file. That is how we are able to play EarthBound 0 now.

The actual name of the game was "EarthBound". However, since the sequel to Mother, which was released in North America, is also called EarthBound, the game has been dubbed "EarthBound Zero".

I know that some people don't know, but goddamn, refer them to a webpage or something. Don't try to impress everyone else who knows this common Nin-knowledge. We get it, you're hardcore. Enough already. Go back to playing your Japanese ROMs.

Warc Update: Instant Feedback

I added a shoutbox, which you can plainly see to the right (not the image, stupid). You can use it for anything you want, most appropriately quick messages and nonsense. We'll also be using it for notes and stuff, like "Out to Lunch" or whatever cheesiness we can think up. Maybe even as a link dump for anyone who wants to leave us a link to something cool or postworthy.

Hopefully Anons will leave some shouts in there if they feel like the comments are too much of a hassle. If not, screw em anyway.

Little help from my friends

Just recently I purchased a Nintendo Gamecube for the 2nd time. Now that I have it, I need a little help finding some awesome games to play on it. Thats where you all fit in. I need some good reccommendations on games. No matter how obscure the titles are I'd be willing to try them out. So far I have Mario Kart double dash, Mario Tennis, Killer 7 (which is too bizarre to play), and Animal Crossing. I've played Wind Waker all the way through, and Metroid Prime. So please help me, I need some good titles to get me through the summer dry spell.

thank you

Voice of the People

The people have spoken-- Rollin's special queer-alities will steer us right. That's not to say however that Friz's spelling, I-man's voice, and Dave's english won't guide this ship, too. It takes a village...of idiots.

Tune in next week where we'll hopefully introduce a better poll host, allow more time to vote, and deny me from voting 5 times for the same answer.

Mixing of the languages

So I went out to dinner tonight and the restaurant next door had the most annoying menu I've ever seen. "Chicken con Bacon" and lets not forget the always ridiculous "Soup du jour". I hate that "we're a fancy restaurant" crap. Pick a language and stick with it. I mean even diners do it. No wonder other countries despise us. We can't stick to a single language we have to try to use as many as possible when it comes to describing food. If you're at a french restaurant, use french. Spanish place, use spanish. Diner, just put numbers next to hidious pictures.

Praying for nautical battle

Now i know this isn't supposed to be a completely video game "blog" (hate that word). But I know I'm not the only one excited about Phantom Hourglass. But what I'm really pulling for is an awesome multiplayer mode complete with battling ships. I'm talking where you can direct your ship and then turn your turret and fire at your friends. Maybe even collect different items or different kinds of cannon ammo, fire bombs, spiked bombs, nets or something that freeze you in place. Who knows, i don't care i just want it done. Make me happy

Any Good Blogs Lately?

The blogosphere is cool, bloated, and oversaturated. The percentage of good blogs is very small. Of course there's the occassional little, quirky, fun blog that catches your eye. Topical blogs, personal blogs, news blogs, thematic blogs, video blogs, whatever. I'm almost positive they exist, and even more certain you've come across a couple once or twice.

Know any? Hook us up with some linkage in the comments.

Rumble at the Warcade

LADIES AAAAAAND GENTLEMEN! You are about to experience the greatest spectacle on Earth. Some call it the greatest show on Earth, we call it the greatest show-er on Earth-- golden shower that is. The first of the infrequently occurring, inconsistently happening Warcade. Let the (yellow) rains begin!

Alright dames and germs, tomorrow night we'll be having the first Warcade. For the uninitiated- and that includes everyone that's not me- the Warcade will be scheduled meetings for wifi encounters of the DS persuasion. Wii will do the same with We. Did that sentence come out right? Anyhoo, what it means is if you want to swap spit friend codes with us and meet us on the Wifi Connection, you're more than welcome. Leaving your codes in the comment box would be recommended, since there's no other way to do it. Let everyone know what you're playing and when, then we'll take it from there.

We'll "enter" the Warcade at around 6-ish eastern time and continue on throughout the night. Don't be afraid to jump in late. If you want my code, go find it on Inf ya bastard.

Whoooo Are You? Who Who, Who Who

Psst. Hey, you with the sticky mouse. Yea, you. Silent reader. Hi! How's it hangin? Well, if you would just stick around for an extra minute, i have something to ask you.

So, um, i was wondering, where are you from? How'd you get here? I know i know, we just met and all, but we're new and want to know if anyone's paying any attention to the crap- and i mean crap- we write. If you don't feel like telling us, that's fine, too. I just wanna know where you hail from and how you found us, if you exist. As long as your not Blogger bots or something. We only care that there's an audience, however quiet or shy.

Just tell us a little bit about you, what you want or expect from us, and et cetera. Oh, and i promise, we're not a videogame blog. We might give you that kinda stuff (alot), but it's only one facet of our blog. Blah blah-blah blah blah-blah blah blah-blah blah. Enough of that. Hey, check out the matching image and banner, all symmetrically aligned. Aint i brilliant? Yea, i think so too.

Lost Magic got a bad rap

Ok so this game didn't get the best rating anywhere on the net, Gamespot, Gamerankings or any of those didnt really love it. but after purchasing my DS lite on Sunday. I needed something new, something i haven't yet played that would be new and fresh on my white little friend.

I played through New Super Mario Bros in a week, Metroid Prime Hunters is only good for wifi, the same goes for Tetris. Now I must admit that i am one of those people who will buy a game, mostly finish it then move on when I get bored or something else exciting comes out. I still have yet to finish Advance Wars Dual Strike or Phoenix Wright, but it'll happen. Plus I feel like this is going to be a long summer without the release of any new games.

So I picked up Lost Magic used for 23 bucks. And so far I am pleased. There are some silly things about the game. like when it shows you talking to a character and say you are running to get them, it shows you run off screen. Battling is interesting in that its all free motion. Unlike AW you can send your units anywhere, and not just one type of unit but all units to one spot to kill one little bad guy. While you sit behind them and shoot spells at them. Which is the other part of battling. In the beginning you have about 6 spells you can use at all times. They cost mana which gradually refills over time. So no need for items to refill it. Same with your health, you have a healing spell to start with that you can use anytime on yourself or your monsters. The monsters you meet in a battle can be captured if weak enough and added to the small army you can command. You get only a certain amount of monsters depending on your level, the higher your level the higher the number. The only problem i've had with units so far is if you tell them to go somewhere and there is a rock in the way, they will stop and not go around it but just stand still. This can be annoying but if you lead them like children you should have no problem.

All in all so far this game is very entertaining. I am not that far into it and already it is starting to be a challenge. I recommend this game to anyone into RPGS like Final Fantasy or Advance Wars. Its worth a look and if you can get it used its a no brainer. If anyone has this game and is looking for an opponent let me know. Just be gentle I'm still figuring it out.

Lite-headed

I am. I was regretting the purchase up until i opened it. Man, it was like taking the panties off some hot, clean shaven snatch and wanting to eat what you just uncovered. It really does look like polar ice. All nice and plasticy, too. I like it better than the navy blue one. The smudging is ok with me since it's easy to wipe off. Dirt on the other hand...we'll see.

More importantly than that, i love the new buttons. Everything except for the placement of Start and Select (it's harder to perform soft resets). The d-pad is a dream, the buttons are splendid, and the shoulders are comfy-er than anything you've ever considered comfy. Those screens are window-clear now. Oh so well-lit. Its size and weight are something you only really notice when you go back to a butch DS. The mic seems to work better, or at least my brain was tricked into thinking so, and the speakers sound a bit lower than the old beast. Maybe it was the environment, i dunno.

I got Big Brain Academy with it cause it surprised me with that 20 dollar price tag. It's decent, better than Brain Age, but it's definitely a $20 game if you know what i'm sayin'. Doesn't really grab you and all that. These days, a game has to have wifi to feel like it's worth my money. Anyway, it's a lot beefier than Brain Age. That has to be said.

The stylus gets an enlargement job, but it feels weird to me after all this time handling Kirby's pink rod. (Take that sentence however you want to.) It doesn't scratch like the original grey stylus did, and it feels a little weird using a bigger stylus on a smaller DS; it makes you not wanna rest your hand on it while you play. There are dots on the touch screen for a reason unbeknownst to me, so if you dislike invisible dots, stay away. Both screens' viewing angles are increased due to the readjustment of the backlights and the brightness, and games like Brain Age improve because of it.

I haven't manhandled it enough to tell if the left hand still cramps with Hunters, but controlling New Mario with it actually made the travesty game more fun. Squishy buttons rule. If only i had a great new game to play. Another important point: it fits great inside the pockets. Mind you, i wear women's jeans and they're not exactly baggy. Less effeminate owners may yield even better results. Oh, and the power switch is better than the power button. Yea, don't forget about that groundbreaking improvement.

Pictured below: me and my closest friends playing our Lites for the first time.



Are you Lite-headed?

I am scared of this console

So, I have a friend who is feaning for a PS2 since he broke his and instead of buying a new one he got an Xbox for free. I say why don't we swap for a while since I don't play my PS2 and I've never played an Xbox. He agreed.

I want to start off by saying this SOB weights more than my computer. This system is (for the lack of a better word) pa-donk-a-donk. Son-Bitch scared my wife and animals. When you turn it on you feel like Microsoft just owned you. Damn.

So I can tell this friend never played it since he has nothing on the hard drive and never set the time and date. So I set it up and everything and find that the controller is the size of a Dreamcast console and has a big as logo on it that would make Flava Flav want to hang it around his neck.

So since I have no games I run around the OS and copy a CD to the hard drive just because I can. My friend Adam hooked me up with the S-Type controller (actually an usable size) and 3 games. I asked for Fable and received. No Bard's Tale but he did include Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (like i didn't already beat the crap out of this game on PS2) and Halo 2 (played it on computer once or twice)

So here I am with a Xbox. Never thought it would happen. I am Not going to be so stubborned as not to play a few excellent games on this system.

Games I plan to play are:
Fable (IGN 9.3)
Bard's Tale (IGN 8.2)
Halo 2 (IGN 9.8)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (IGN 9.5)

I have a feeling our swap pay be permanent. I may lose a DVD player, but I win piece of mind.

Got any XBox "must play" games let me know.

-- Charlie Frisby

Damn the French

Open, that is. Does anyone know if i can watch the Men's Final anywhere at a later time? I know it's starting in a hour, but this is late Saturday night for me. I'm not exactly waking up right now.

Screw it, i'll stay up. If not, and Nadal is in it, i already know the outcome. Oui, he is good.

Mindless Self Indulgence


I used to be real big into the concert scene when I was in high school. Started my way off with Pink Floyd and many other huge names and by the time I shipped off to college I was watching local shows in downtown Dallas every week. Came back after my first year at college and watched my last concert to date, The Burden Brothers (awesome live all 10 times I saw them)

Living in the middle of nowhere has its ups and downs, but defiantly no concerts I want to see. Actually other than new records from band I already love, I hadn't bought a new record in forever. I stumbled upon this fan made video (above) on you tube and fell in love

Bought the bands album and RE4 the soon after watching it 80 times (No PS2 version tho, still GNC)

MSI is a cool mix of heavy punk grindy hard core guitar riffs with an occasional Nintendo and Atari sound effects(but not a video game band). Most of all its different from what I am used to and it's like a kick in the nuts of freshness to what I have been buying.

I made arrangements to go see this band in Denver on July 8th and if every thing goes good I think it will kick ass. If it's not your cup O tea, more power to yah. Don't judge music, just listen to it and if you don't like it, respect the fact that for some reason someone does.

Also, downloading music is great, but i you really like a band, SUPPORT THEM. Buy their records, shits and go see them. Keep the good music alive and keep everything else the cost of your internet connection.

--
Charlie Frisby

Expansion Pack

-Objecting Nintendo-

Let me expand on the first part a little bit.

"When Nintendo talks of delivering games that suit casual gamers and games that cater to hardcore tastes, those hardcore gamers tend to be the more, um, receptive kind."

What i meant by this was, if you lean to the casually hardcore side of the fan spectrum, Nintendo doesn't really care about you. They might put out some games that grab you once in a while, but when they say "core gamers", they aren't referencing you. They're talking about the other guys- the ones who go apeshit for anything Zelda. The same guys who run (most) fansites and rule Nintendo's message boards. Needless to say, they aren't talking about you when they say "casual gamers", either. Don't expect too much.

About the fan subdivisions...

There are much more types of fans than these, for any console or company. It just so happens that the 3 i mentioned are the largest groups: the people who care a little, those who care moderately, and the ones who care too much. Blake commented:

"Being a cult brand (which Nintendo obviously is like Apple, Harley, etc) has nothing to do with marketing. Nintendo is simply more cult than Sony, MS when it comes to gaming, hence there are outspoken, ilogical thinking fans, just like there are with Apple and Harley and the like.

That shouldn't negate the good things that cult companies do, which does help them achieve cult status, but you have to take what they dish out with a some salt. These companies are smart, and they play up their cult status, but I've said it before and I'll say it again. I AM a Nintendo enthusiast. That is, for me they're a good fit for the games I like to play. Period."

Nintendo is cult in every sense of the word. Their fans are devout, eat up (almost all of) what they're told, and march along. Apple has the same thing going, but that's an overused comparison that i don't want to perpetuate.

Their past successes, mistakes, and business decisions have given them cult status, but marketing and PR maintains the image. The way they're marketing Wii shows that they want to deliberately stay cult: undercutting the other systems with seemingly oddball tactics; releasing an underpowered-by-comparison unit with newfangled controllers; talking up the simplicity of new games as a hearkening to the past; playing to the current trend of being retro; and calling it a "new generation" console rather than next gen. That's all marketing, and it's all bull to keep the super fans rabid.

The problem with being an enthusiast is you more often than not leave yourself vulnerable to a company willing to blindside you with their stratagems, even if you're not "gung-ho Nintendo". Also, if all you know is consoles, the scope is limited to who's involved in that space, so being partial is dangerous. There's not much choice, therefore ignorance flourishes. We should look beyond the visions of 3 companies to find something more than just plumbers and guns, and i don't mean the mainstream PC scene. Nintendo's a nice fit for me, too, but they're way too far from perfect for me to invest so much into them.

Pac Man Rules You

*Note: This is a post I wrote a few months ago on Xanga. IT's worth reading, printing and posting on you fridge.

Many people ask me about my game ideas. I have a few good ones, and the few I shared I always get a positive response. But all that aside, how come the greatest game ever played has a very lame story line.

Pac Man

This guy is hungry, and for some reason he is in a labyrinth of tunnels that he will eat himself out of just to go trough it all over again, and again and again. Someone once asked me if Pac Man is actually beatable.

Yes.

There are 256 levels and the last one is half invisible, actually it is only code on one half… as shown here.

One man has been known to have beaten the game without dying once and  was the first person to achieve the maximum possible score. His name is Billy Mitchell. 

This mutha trucka kicked those four ghosts asses all over them tunnels back in 99. He had a referee and everything. But enough about this "Demi Gamer-God". Lets talk about me.

I hate this game. I love it, but I could never ever beat it. I beat TMNT on nes and that was what I considered impossible. 256 insane levels of pain? Fuck that. I have a major beef with this game, and it all starts with a ghost named Pinky.

<== Pinky For some reason God smiled upon this bastard ghost and gave it the skill of speed. I hate this ghost more than any sprite in the history of sprites. If I ever met this crack head ghost I would resurrect it only to kill it over and over. I hope his original death was a very painful one. Much like the Buffalo Bills in Techmo Super Bowl, pink is the color of anger. You see pink is a girly color. No offence but if someone loses to something pink it is like a huge insult to your manhood. Pinky is an abomination to manhood world wide. And then there is the asshole ghost Blinky.

<== Blinky 

So what makes Blinky and asshole? Blinky is the first one out of the house, in fact I daresay that Blinky is the ghost that is not house trained. I mostly just hate this ghost because it is a ghost. 

<== Inky You ever get surrounded by a bunch of bad guys and decide to go across the area and regroup. That’s all fine and good but this bitch ghost likes to stay on the opposite side of the action in hopes of you to attempt to escape his three homies. He is the reason I camp today…because I can.

<== Ringo Star.

Clyde.
First off he doesn’t fit the rhyme scheme. So that makes me believe he is actually running the whole shindig. He also is the color of Flintstone pops and so then when I try to aviate him I get hungry and pissed off. Clyde sucks. Who named this guy? Its like naming the boss Bill. It may have worked for Tarintino...well.

I can imagine a Pac Man movie directed by Tarintino. Imagine Pac Man dancing around a tied up Clyde to Stuck in the Middle with You pouring gasoline and slashing him with a knife. Oh yeah Clyde, the Ringo of ghosts, you will get yours.

AwwwwwwwwwwwSleep.

--
Charlie Frisby

PSM No More

I have been subscribed to PSM magazine for about 3 years now and still have about a year left. I always enjoyed knowing what was going on in the video game industry, and especially with Sony as I was big fan years back.

After an awakening I decided Nintendo was making more games I like to play, in fact Nintendo makes games because they want you to play games. I believe whole hearted that Nintendo wants people playing games (not that money is not the main incentive).

I subscribed to Nintendo Power more or less because I always wanted to and they also gave me 3 free issues and a shirt! NP may be decently bias, and the writers may have...different tastes, but I enjoy my monthly Nintendo Power. But today I canceled my PSM subscription.

The first major issue that made me laugh at Sony was a suggestion in their "pulse" section. Some kid was complaining that his UMD is loose and falling apart more and more every day. They suggested scotch tape. Yes, profession writers suggest you to TAPE YOUR UMD!!!


If I bought anything for 50 bucks and the suggestion I get is tape it, I would make it my personal mission to destroy the people who lead me to believe I bought a quality product.

Last months issue was disgusting banter about how Sony was going to blow everyone away at E3 (and all the did was blow). The issue I got yesterday had a last minute E3 printing update where they, the super fans, sounded like they wish they worked for a different magazine. But all the other stuff in the mag, Pre-E3 was more cocky "My shit don't stink because I can play Blue Ray" trash talk.

Formally professional, formally interesting, formally subscribed.

Bye PSM, IGN had better reviews anyway.

--
Charlie Frisby

Objecting Nintendo

I like Nintendo.

However, i'm not a Nintendo fan, in the typical sense. In case you don't know, there are distinct differences between the two. [The majority of] Nintendo's diehard faithful possess a willingness to be swayed. They want to be swept away from the competition's notions of gaming's next plateau, building facades of indifference whenever a tantalizing game comes along that doesn't bear the Nintendo brand. They shoot catapulted boulders of flame at opposing gamers when an opinion isn't shared. They will behead you if you don't score Mario Party 9 perfect 10s.

Ok, that first one was a tiny bit exaggerated, but the rest are all proven facts.

Moving on, Nintendo fans in the more "casually core" sense - like Invisibleman, and few others on the intraweb - are a completely different breed. In fact, you almost can't classify them, due to their varying opinions, but there are commonalities amongst them. One of these Nin fans' most common ground is that they don't bash their heads into walls when Nintendo hype wafts out from E3. A level head is nessecary to survive that event as a sane person, and the aforementioned typical N-fans will come out with a more profound craze than they went in with.

The casual core audience contains reason and a mostly objective view. Lamentably, the typical fans don't. It's a sad state of affairs because it divides Nintendo's consumer base like a pre-1989 Berlin.

Although, that isn't the point of this write-up. The point is that Nintendo is guilty. Guilty of relying too much on those diehards to keep their greenback cows nice and chubby. When Nintendo talks of delivering games that suit casual gamers and games that cater to hardcore tastes, those hardcore gamers tend to be the more, um, receptive kind. At this year's E3, Nintendo announced Yoshi's Island 2, Star Fox DS, and Diddy Kong Racing. They also showed off Super Paper Mario, another DS Kirby game, and Mario vs Donkey Kong 2.

See where i'm going with this?

The only brand new games that came out of Nintendo's E3 showing were 3 Wii games -- Disaster: Day of Crisis, Project H.A.M.M.E.R., and Excite Truck. A few other 3rd party offers (like Elebits and Necro Nesia) were present, too, but not playable. The thing is, Nintendo promised everyone those 3 new intellectual properties (IPs) a long time ago, we just didn't know what they were yet. So...where were the surprises? Where's the Trauma Centers, the Cooking Mamas, the Geometry Wars? Where'r the new games? I don't give a damn about Super Paper Mario, Donkey Kong Bongo Blast, or any of those other franchise sequels-- save for Galaxy and Corruption since they're actually fresh. Wii is supposed to bring a new age for games, yet at this point, the DS is still the king of innovation, even though it's an early call. Wii's launch line-up isn't half as interesting as anyone expected prior to E3.

Nintendo has to stop listening to those followers who bend over everytime new Nin spiel comes out. If Nintendo wants to exceed their current standing and their lauded history, they need to wake up. You say innovation is your mantra? Then give Mario a rest for a year or two, let someone else shine with the New Super Mario Bros engine instead of pimping him out one more time. Give some other IP a chance to play 3-on-3 basketball. Tell the Pokemon to take a couple years off. Grant Link a vacation. You can't say the industry is at the cusp of extinction and point fingers, when you only innovate 20 percent of the time.

The videogame industry isn't in a golden period. Nor is it in a gaming ghetto. The situation is much more dire-- it's in a lucrative slum. Games are repetitive, identical, and familiar beyond familiarity, but they make tons of cash and nobody's anxious to stop now. As long as Nintendo panders to their faithful and new "non-gamers", they will only expand the market marginally. Touch Generation games are meant as stepping stones to introduce new and lapsed gamers to hardcore gaming over time. By realizing this, you can see that the real intent is to multiply the number of Nin sheep. A side effect would be losing the casual core little by little. This should also tell you not to expect the indie gaming scene to thrive on Wii's Virtual Console, because it aint gonna happen.

People say Nintendo's marketing is the weakest of the 3 console competitors. The truth is, Nintendo are marketing masterminds in their own right; possibly the best of the 3. Cause when your advertising is as lackluster as their's is and your software is as redundant, yet people follow you into volcanic fire pits with blind loyalty, there has to be something in the Kool-aid you're distributing. We are victims of Nintendo's exploitation of nutcase fanatics - and all we can think to do is stand by, waiting to be rocked by the occasional Meteos, Scurge: Hive, and Alien Hominid from disassociated 3rd party devs.

The Real Game Killer

Forget Jack Thompson. Forget Hillary Clinton. Forget your parents. There is a real game killer out there on the road, and its name is the Electronic Entertainment Expo, a.k.a. E3.

This ninja-like killer attacks not only the weary video game journalists and bloggers, which are the main target of this expo, but also the hardcore gamers that innocently follow its events thinking they will get a taste of the future of gaming. What they get instead is an overload of "infotainment" speeches and demos that re-hash what has been said before in multiple press releases, with some dubious claims thrown in meant only to tease the weary audience.

And the worst part is, most gamers will not feel the effects of this stealthy killer until a week or two after the expo is over. All of a sudden, perfectly good games will end up traded unfinished, consoles with half their potential untapped will be thrown into a dark closet, and speculation about any slip of the tongue from industry execs will dominate gaming blogs all over the world, none being the wiser as to what caused the personality shift.

But this year, dames and gentlemen, E3 delivered its deadliest blow yet by giving us its announcements in a form previously reserved only for political campaign speeches. And the mud-slinging still prevails today, with no end in sight.

Will the gaming industry survive E3? I, for one, like every year, avoided going was unable to secure tickets to E3, but I wasn't spared: I foolishly followed its events like Indy followed the Lost Ark, and got trampled by excessive information, too...

Banner #1

Still no comments, but we remain semi-successful with the visits on our 4th official day. Once one of them comments, we can call this a site. In the meantime, check out this test banner Frisby made.


Thoughts?


P.S.- Find the error and win a prize!

In Praise of Short Games

I have a confession to make: I have finished less than a dozen video games in my whole life.

Right. It probably has to do with my being a very slow gamer, but lately it has more to do with a lack of enough spare time for my hobbies. This is why one of my pet peeves regarding game critics is that they always seem to give negative reviews when a game can be finished in under fifteen hours (or fifteen minutes, for that matter). OK, fine, give me a friendly warning about the length. But in my book, a short game is a game I can finish, and that's a positive!

Maybe it is because now both me and my wife have full-time jobs plus a baby to take care of, but there used to be a time when I could finish a Halo (Xbox) or a Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube). But those times are long gone! But in case I decide to spend the next year finishing one of these epic tales, what more recent games do actually finished that you think the ending (or the trip) made it worth the trouble? Personally, I have to add to the couple already mentioned: Rayman 2 (Dreamcast), Advance Wars (GBA), Metal Arms (most memorable ending, and probably the longest game I've ever finished), and Soul Calibur II (the story mode). Oh, and I better add The Return of the King (on cooperative mode), before my wife reminds me that we finished that one together, and Doom III (Xbox, also on cooperative mode, online... all four glorious hours of it)!

Two games that I got stuck in the very last boss battle, but I still recommend to go all the way through: Panzer Dragoon Orta (Xbox) and Vexx.

So, what other epic games made you feel so good after finishing them that you wanted to play them again all the way through from the beginning?

The End of Days

The day has come. June 6th, 2006. That's right-- the first Monkey Tuesday of the month. Oh, and something about religion, i heard.

I did notice some weird things today. Four-legged animals going bipedal. Upside-down rain. People obeying litter and traffic laws. Humans being compassionate. Cute girls not looking at me. It was trippy.

You should fear these ominous signs. They are everywhere and ubiquitous in everything you do. Soon, people around you will become indecipherable and unrecognizable. Loved ones will cry on sight, while domesticated animals will viciously howl nonstop (even cats). Before you hang yourself from a Joshua tree though, listen to me: I know the Antichrist, who it is, and what it's here for. He's adopted a male form [pictured], taken up residence in Chicago, and possesses terrifyingly Draculaic speech qualities. His True Name is Maitreya. But to those that know him, his name signifies his true appearance when viewed upon by human eyes--


InvisibleMan.




Apocalypse...now.

Critical Hit

Warcadia - which will get a proper introduction soon - has only been up for about 2 actual days, and somehow, we've already got a healthy stream of visitors passing through. I don't know if this is due to us being on a "Recently Created Blogs" list on Blogger's main page or people landing here by clicking "Next Blog" in the navbar, but either way, we've got a good amount of window shoppers.

Since this phenomena is very cool for us and will hopefully make what we wanna achieve easier to accomplish, i feel i should thank every single site that's referred to us in whatever way.

And they are:

http://jaymatt1978.blogspot.com/
http://mysticmusician.blogspot.com/
http://justsumblog.blogspot.com/
http://toxicwinter.blogspot.com/
http://chiyogami.blogspot.com/
http://sketchbook-by-pierre.blogspot.com/
http://simplessopros.blogspot.com/
http://dalebrown.blogspot.com/
http://omdb.blogspot.com/
http://carnellsbaby.blogspot.com/
http://somethingthatreallyhappened.blogspot.com/
http://julotte.blogspot.com/
http://naspontinhasdospes.blogspot.com/
http://newarkusa.blogspot.com/
http://transport2020.blogspot.com/
http://charleneestrategia.blogspot.com/
http://pdl123.blogspot.com/
http://republicofphotographer.blogspot.com/
http://ref-fingers.blogspot.com/
http://salixrosa.blogspot.com/
http://papocomplexo.blogspot.com/
http://kreasizhafif.blogspot.com/
http://meltingpen.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_meltingpen_archive.html
http://wiwille.blogspot.com/
http://obsidian3d.blogspot.com/
http://textosperiodicos.blogspot.com/
http://dorissince9.blogspot.com/

So, whatever leads you here, we welcome you.

Gaming's Decay

For a while now, my gaming interest has been declining. Chalk it up to the crappy state of the industry, i suppose. Anyway, the other day, i eliminated my last DS nuisance: Phoenix Wright. GodDAMN that game was so good. Too bad i couldn't finish it off on a Lite.

So yea, wake mii up when September ends.


P.S.- Check out some real official, real early footage of what Super Smash Bros Brawl looked like before they got Masahiro Sakurai (the Kirby guy) to mess it up with all those cutesy characters. Rated M for "Manly".


Hey Friz (or any random person/commentor), what's in the news?

Double Trouble Game Review (Cheezy Title Huh?)

To coincide with my last post I will follow up with a double game review.

Basically I followed my rules for buying used games and I came up with 2 decent games. One of them is a must buy (for me anyway) and the other was worth giving a try.

I'll cut to the chase. I bought Alien Hominid and XIII (13 to the non Roman Numeral reading crowd). Both games I skipped on for some reason back in the day and now for $5.99 and $8.99 I am 2 games richer. I am a side scrolling fiend and I also dig a unique and non WWII fps' every now and again so I felt these games where justified to buy for under $20.

Alien Hominid.

You can skip the entire review process and buy this game if this equation turns you on



I love this game so much it is now my morning ritual to drop FBI agents into a wood chipper for 20 minutes before I go to work...and my wife watches while cheering me on.

$20 new, much less old, buy it now. This flash console game should sit on your game self. All Consoles, same quality (longer load times on PS2... Duh)


XIII

I called it as soon as I watched the opening scene. You can just smell a french game when it starts (Red Steel anyone).

Awesome character models. Lackluster level design. Crazy awesome comic book style touches. Crappy AI. Decent controls (after 20 minutes) (good use of D-Pad),No real boss battles.

Worth playing once, but I'm wondering more about Killer7 for my next weird FPS fix.

If I had to give this game a metaphore I would have to say its like a very hot french girlfriend who is a nympho but bitches a lot and dosent shave anything on her body. There thats what this game is kind of like.

That's about it. You gamble and you sometimes get a decent game out of it. No regrets. Ubisoft's French team needs a little more...something.

Got some buying tips for me (if anyone really reads this site yet) hit me up. I am going to visit Gamestop again in a few weeks and suggestions are always good.

Frisby

Open Sesame

Full blown RUSSIAN girl-on-girl action! Blonde babes with fuzzy green ba11s IN C-L-A-Y!! All g1rls 6 foot and above ONLY!!!!! Cum $ee Cum $ee!i!

.....

Sharapova vs Safina, French Open live on ESPN2 now.

Watch it with me.

Rules for buying used games...

I didn't want my first post being video game related, but Rollin wanted to start a blog the same day I bought 2 older titles... so here it goes

Basically with Game Cube being pronounced Mostly Dead it is the pivotal time for buying up the older used games on the dying console. I remember buying NES games from Funcoland for 75 cents a pop when SNES came out and today you get em 10 to 15 bucks a each if your lucky. Same goes for N64 PS1 and Genesis. So right now is the time to build a great PS2, Xbox or (in my case) Game Cube Library.

Here are my rules for buying used games.

My first rule. Typically if I really know the game is a "gem", I buy it new. Mainly because finding a used RE4 can be a little hard and even then sometimes demand is so high it may only be 5 bucks cheaper than a new copy. Also, when you buy it new you get the satisfaction of knowing you supported a game company, which helps them make even more awesome titles.

My second rule. Never buy more than 2 at once. I break this quite often, especially if I go to a place like Game-X-Change and want to buy up a bundle of NES titles that may be impossible to find later. Main reason not to buy more than 2 coincides with my third rule.

My third rule is to avoid boredom. Many gamers go trough a downtime of gaming usually caused by "Genre Overload" as i call it. If you buy 2 FPS's at once you may never touch one because the other is more fun or just over all better than the other.

"But Friz, this one is a FPS in space with aliens and this one is a WWII rehash to the Xtream, they are totally diffrent LOL."

Reply "Only in your mind you fool!!!"

Let me point out the only possible folly in my view on FPS's would be creat a genre called "FPS Platformer".Personally I feel its tricky to make that into a separate genre. Basically if its a FPS viewing scheme and has a button for jump you may consider it a platformer. I'm off subject. Buy an effing puzzle game and a sidescroller damn it. You will be able to enjoy both and not get bored with them as fast. Geez.

I guess that's about it for my rules other than don't buy lame games. If a game caught your interest way back when and you read mixed reviews just buy it, it cost about the same as renting it and worst case scenario is it sucks.

If you do find a awesome game that was under the radar TELL SOMEONE.

Don't be afraid of games with new and different anything. The first time you turned on your NES or Atari you where trying something new, don't be scared to do it now.

-- Frisby

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