Affirmation Well look who decided to show up for dinner. It's Bahamut!
I had so many links and stuff to write you, but My computer sucks and died. I have been reading your columns everyday thru babelfish translations at my school (stupid firewalls) and though it sometimes messed it up I still tried to figure it out. Any way if you want learn more about html (seeing as Sonny is gone and you say your skills suck at html) check out www.programmingtutorials.com on the left of the screen is a lot of choices of of stuff to learn for free, and html happens to be there. I know its not that good of a link, but I'm not that good of a person so do whatever. Also there is a really cool site called www.hackquest.com, its free and really cool check it out. I'll try to give you some of those links if I can remember them as to make you live a happier fuller life. Stay cool, and you do not suck.
Jeez, man. I never thought that I sucked, but thanks anyway.
Thanks for the HTML links. However, our site is mainly automated and pretty much runs itself. Which once again begs the question: what do we need Sonny for? Oh, right. Someone to blame when things go wrong.
It's good to have you back, buddy. Keep those links rolling in. Stay out of trouble, and in the wise words of Mr. T, don't be a fool, stay in school.
That goes for the rest of you, too. Well, not the Mr. T bit, but keep sending in those links and letters and I'll keep publishing them.
So I'm plowing through Ikaruga and Tube Slider and while you probably know plenty about Ikaruga, I'm guessing you haven't heard a heck of a lot about NEC's latest offering. So far it's a pretty fun game, though nothing to wet your pants over. Hilden and I put it through some two player mode earlier with pleasing results. Early impressions indicate that it'll be good filler until F-Zero, but certainly won't give F-Zero anything to worry about.
It's good to see NEC back in the game. Now let's just hope that they keep it rolling.
Quickie on PSO Hilden and I have put a few hours into Phantasy Star Online for Xbox, and I have to tell you that so far, this pretty much nails it on the head. For those of you who haven't ever played the game (shame on you), if you ask a PSO junkie what's so great about the game, chances are they'll have a tough time answering you. Is it because the gameplay is deep? Not really. How about the graphics? Meh...not so much. Does it have a great camera system? Absolutely not.
Then what in the hell makes people buy the game and then pay nearly $10/month? Well, it's hard to explain. You need to play it to discover its charm. I logged hundreds of hours into the Dreamcast version, and after this latest session, I can already see that hundreds more are on the way. Yes, even though the game is virtually unchanged from the Dreamcast renditions. Even though the camera and targeting system is archaic and frustrating. Even though the game is about as deep as a puddle of water.
Try it for the two free months. You'll understand quickly.
Oh, and Hilden would like it to be known that, "This game kicks all the ass."
I can smell E3. The announcements are pouring out and I'm anxious as all hell. Joe, Hilden, Katy, Paul, and I will be onhand to bring you all the news as it hits. Outside of the Expo, I'm most looking forward to tooling around LA, as I've never been there before. Hilden and I plan on staying a couple extra days to check out the sites in Hollywood as well as pick up a crack whore or two. Good times, good times.
Rick writes: What's the deal? I thought I'd drop you a line since you sound pretty desperate for letters lately. Are you lonely?
Well Rick, I haven't heard from the regulars like Bahamut or Ken lately and yes, I'm feeling a bit neglected. Now if you're done picking on me, it's time to get back on the tit.
Overload I caught that Gameheadz show on TLC last night and have to say that I was fairly impressed. It was cool getting to see legends like Nolan Bushnell and Miyamoto and hear their sides of the story. Unfortunately, the program was only an hour long. It seemed as though they trimmed down a good deal of the show to fit within the time standards. Hopefully we'll see another installment in the future.
In case you missed it, you can check out their TV schedule here. I'm sure they'll be replaying it from time to time.
Looking next to me, I've got Ikaruga (GCN), Tube Slider (GCN), and Phantasy Star Online (XBX) sitting on my desk, begging to be played. Unfortunately, I also have deadlines to meet, which means you'll be hearing very little from me over the next few days. However, please keep your letters and links coming. I'll be sure to get them posted right away.
Who the heck is this Sonny guy you're always talking about? Does he run the site? I thought you did.
Well Matthew, Sonny is the meathead who "runs" GWX. Well, in actuality, he just sits at his desk and waits for one of us to wake him up so he can post one of our articles. Alas, I do not run the site. In this case, the title of Managing Editor simply means that I'm the guy that the other editors bitch about Sonny to. It's a fun job.
Standing in the Shadow of Pigs First let me direct your attention to this story posted by our News Chief, Miyuru. Now, let's focus in on the following quote:
"The line between the entertainment and marketing and advertising world has virtually disappeared."
Yes, with great sadness I admit that this is true. The music business has all but become one big marketing machine, where music is only the byproduct of their efforts. But the evil buttnugget responsible for writing this press release seems downright giddy. Yeah, let's all just be piss our pants happy that music and advertising go hand in hand. That record companies buy fame for any puppet they deem marketable while talented musicians sit by the wayside. That hundreds of thousands of impressionable kids are spoonfed prepackaged tripe and convinced that it's the real thing.
Now, let's move onto the next quote in this idiotic press release:
"And this new game will have Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs' likeness in a top-of-the-line video game, which will reach the elusive youth and urban markets."
First of all, I wouldn't be caught dead with a P. Diddy product if he unleashed his thugs on me and threatened to pull a Tupac. I mean, who in the hell calles themself P-freaking-Diddy? What are you, a damned cartoon character? No wonder J-Lo dumped your silly ass.
Second of all, since when is the are the youth and urban markets elusive? If those markets are so elusive, who in the hell is playing video games and listening to commercial rap music?
Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to the new P. Diddy game. In fact, I can't even type P. Diddy without feeling stupid.
Let's move along before I freak out.
Those of you who are movie buffs are probably well familiar with the Criterion Collection. I've been fortunate enough to get my hands on quite a few of the new DVDs in their catalog and am really enjoying them. While Christine couldn't be bothered with these types of movies, luckily Hilden's a big movie buff and a good guy to watch this stuff with. A lot of it consists of foreign and art-house stuff, but it's all really good. Well...except for Armageddon. How the hell did that piece of crap get in there?
So far I've landed the Akira Kurosawa collection (which includes the Seven Samurai), The Killers, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I Am Curious (Ooh La La!), Chasing Amy, Solaris (the original), and Il Posto. All great movies and all worth checking out. Give that link up there a click and take a gander for yourself. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Brazil while you're at it.
You know, I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that some people are just messed up. Face it, we humans do some strange things and much of it is accepted as every day, run of the mill stuff. I myself never got into the whole piercing and tatooing scene, but hey, that's just me. Whatever you want to do to yourself is your business. However, I think Lizardman may have taken things a bit too far. In fact, it's hard for me to even look at some of those pictures.
Enjoy.
So Sonny's been gone for three days and the site seems to be running smoothly. In fact, some might say it's running better than ever.
Hmmm...do I smell a mutiny?
Keep those links and letters coming. If you have something you want to get off your chest or a crazy link to send in, by all means send it in. I'm open.
Word to your Mother! The big news around GWX today has been Nintendo and the fact that they're finally giving the Mother - or Earthbound - series some respect that is long past due. We were supposed to get the first one on the NES, but didn't receive the quirky Japanese RPG until Earthbound hit the SNES. The N64 project (Earthbound 64) was quietly canned after years of delays.
Now, it's just like a Nintendo fan to bitch when they finally give us something we want, but part of me can't help wishing that they would go the extra mile and unload a massive GameCube Earthbound RPG. I know, GBA=CA$H, but it would have been so sweet to guide Ness and his pals through a fully realized, insane 3D adventure.
Expect a Classic Game of the Week feature on Earthbound sometime next week.
Outside of Earthbound/Mother news, I'm always one to stay on the cusp of the latest news and information, so of course I am a regular reader of the Weekly World News. As it turns out, Saddam Hussein is a former porn star.
Well I'll be damned.
According to the WWN - as I like to call it - Saddam has been caught with his pants down -- literally. A shocking 1968 porn film has surfaced, in which the flamboyant strongman appears performing raunchy homosexual acts!
You're not doubting the WWN, are you?
And finally, I leave you with a picture of a giant pig.
Don't forget to send in your letters, links, and general BS. As you can tell by the pig, I'm running a little low.
The Boy's a Genius! There are days when I think our own Rod Oracheski is brilliant. Of course there are also days when I think he'd like to see me dead.
Either way, check out his post in our forums which pretty much sums up every forums post ever made.
Despair Well, it's the next day and my Turbo Duo is still staring blankly at me asking me to wait "Just a moment..." Luckily I have a friend who's somewhat of a MacGyver. Seriously, the guy just rigged a ten year old computer with 64 megs of RAM with some thread. And no, I'm not joking. He also recently repaired my Atari Jaguar (hey, don't knock it. I'm a collector) so I'm hoping he can do the same with my Duo. Otherwise, it's off to Retrogames for $60+ worth of repairs.
Dammit.
Sonny's left for Spain for a week and decided to leave the madhouse to the inmates. Something tells me you're not going to be seeing a whole heck of a lot of updates on the ol' GWX this week, but between myself, Joe, Adam, and Brian, we'll try to put up some stuff for you as our feeble HTML skills allow. In the meantime, please be patient with us. After all, we still love you.
What in the... I mentioned last week about how I splurged on a huge pile of Turbo Duo games and was eagerly awaiting their arrival in the mail. Well, upon my return from the great northwoods, there upon my front step was a large package full of Turbo goodness.
I popped in a few games and enjoyed them for some brief moments just to make sure they worked, and then retreated to the back yard for some barbacue action with some friends. Afterwards, I ran down to the basement to get some Turbo action going, only to find that my Duo is no longer reading CDs.
I'm speechless.
I've got twenty-five games sitting here that are virtually useless to me simply because my Duo decided to take a dump on me.
What have I done to deserve such punishment?
I'm taking it remarkably well, as no tears have yet been shed and I have even refrained from screaming obsceneties at the damn machine. Perhaps it's because I'm so mellowed out from the weekend I had and am simply hoping that tomorrow the Turbo Duo will again be in working order.
Speaking of this weekend, it was a great and quiet retreat up to the condo with Christine. It's the place that I proposed to her so it's always got this sappy Hallmark specialness to it that I don't want to go into detail about for fear of alienating my more "manly" of readers. Suffice it to say that it was a well deserved escape from the daily grind. I didn't even bring any video games up, if that's any indicator.
I did check out the screener of Gangs of New York that I got on Friday and have to say that I was pretty impressed with the film. Not as bad as some people say, not as utterly amazing as others have reported. All in all, it was a worthwhile movie that is well deserving of your time.
I have to say - quite begrudgingly - that I've enjoyed the last two films I've seen with Leonardo DiCaprio. I don't know why it is that I'm so reluctant to admit that the guy's a decent actor, but perhaps it's for the same reason that if Kirk Cameron grew up to be an Oscar-worthy actor, I'd have a hard time taking him seriously. Tiger Beat magazine isn't known as a breeding grounds for master thespians, you know?
Regardless of his Cosmo Girl past, I have to give the guy kudos for doing a decent job. The movie was compelling, the cinematography was incredible, and there were even some true-to-history moments that made me feel smart for having taken an upper level history class in college. So there.
Well, the week is back upon us and my Turbo Duo Super CD-ROM load screen is still staring me in the face saying "Just a moment..." It's been two hours. I don't think it takes that long to load.
