It’s starting to look like I’m posting nothing but YouTube videos, but I assure you, this is only a phase. There are a couple videos that I just had to share! The first is a video that my girlfriend, Ashley made for her Japanese class a couple years ago. It has zombie sock puppets and hamburgers…in Japanese. Ashley plays the female lead. I wish it had subtitles for the dialog, but let’s be honest…you don’t need to know what they’re saying.
The other video is one that was made by the folks of my anime club, COUp, for a musical they produced for the 2007 Animazement. The musical was about people entering the JET programme and this was an educational film the characters had to watch in order to prepare themselves for life in Japan. It’s modeled after a 1950s propaganda film and is goddam hilarious!
I’ve been playing Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations for nearly a month now…I’d forgotten just how long these games are! The good news is that I’m pleased to report that unlike the past Phoenix Wright games, I’m on the final case and I’ve yet to go running to an FAQ! While some might say they’ve dumbed the game down, I say that they did a better job in adjusting the dialog to giving the player at least a clue as to which piece of evidence is relative to the situation. So we get something like, “What piece of evidence proves this person wasn’t at the murder scene?” instead of “This person is lying. Figure it out.”
Well, the real reason behind this post is to share a video I’ve found… Now, I think the “Phoenix Wrong” videos that sprung up like weeds were funny at first, but got old really fast. But this one actually got me laughing over and over. Also, while I’ve always loved the classic “Ti Kwan Leep” skit by The Frantics, this video is my first exposure to another gem of theirs…
After posting my last comments, I was reminded of an excellent example of how grossly deceptive a trailer can be versus it’s source material. I don’t know if any of you are fans of Highlander or if you’ve seen the movie Highlander: Endgame. But it’s okay, because you don’t have to in this case. Check out the trailer here:
When I first saw it in the theater, I thought, “Wow! That looks fucking awesome! The heroes jumping through dimensional portals… A villain that’s some immortal telekinetic wizard with magic crystal balls and shit… Even ninja powers like splitting into two guys! The movie doesn’t come out for three months; where can I buy tickets now??”
Fast forward to my buddies and I going to see the movie on opening night. Guess what. No dimensional portals. No stopping swords in mid-air. No splitting into two guys. Just five seperate plots, all boring. I was pissed and confused… Were there two Highlander movies that came out that night and I saw the wrong one? Years later, I did some research and it turns out that the footage that I saw in the trailer was filmed specifically for the trailer. It was a bunch of completely unrelated shots that the studio produced in order to make the movie look cooler than it was and draw people to see it. So essentially, I was lied to about the movie.
Am I saying that Capcom is trying to also lie to us with the Street Fighter IV trailer? No way! But what I am saying is that we should not take this trailer at face value. It’s job is to create attention and excitement about the game…not give us insight into the final product. It won’t be until much later in it’s development before we get any kind of look at what’s to come. I just hope that they keep us as up to speed as they have been with us for SSF2HD Remix, thanks to the likes of David Sirlin.
Today I caught the new video up on GameTrailers, analyzing the Street Fighter IV trailer that was released just a couple months ago. The game is barely into production, but already everyone is picking apart the trailer for clues of what to expect of the final product. I can understand fanboys like myself getting excited over the next Street Fighter game. But that trailer can’t really have anything that we can really go on, no matter what Christian Scensson says.
The truth is that the trailer was nothing more than a 1min 20sec cartoon meant to promote the game. That’s what teasers are all about! I can see that the trailer shows some of the art style they might use as the theme of the game, but nothing regarding gameplay. We still have quite a ways to go before any true gameplay footage surfaces. Hell, it’s been like pulling teeth trying to get some decent footage of the Super Street Fighter II HD Remix game that’s been in development for quite some time.
In the mean time, I guess we can continue to see more people breaking the video apart like this.
A few days ago, I was in a GameStop and I overheard a father come in with his son with a question about replacing the battery of his Nintendo DS. Not the DS Lite, mind you; this was an original model, bought near it’s launch date, not 3 years ago. (Exactly today, as a matter of fact!) The father complained that the battery would no longer hold a charge and was hoping to buy a replacement. Unfortunately, since the DS Lite is the new standard for the platform, GameStop no longer carries parts for the older model. After discussing options with the sales clerks, he was left with the choice between taking his chances finding one online or buying a whole new DS Lite.
This kinda got me thinking… I began to notice that the battery in my year and a half old DS Lite doesn’t last as long as it used to. Come to think of it, neither does my cell phone’s. It’s barely a year and a half old and I don’t even use it that much. I wonder if my Game Boy Advance SP’s battery is doing alright.
What makes me nervous is that we don’t have much of a battery standard anymore. I’m reminded a lot of my rant on buying an original Game Boy Advance. Having AA batteries is great cuz just about everything uses them! Or at least, they used to. I understand that products began using the lithium ion batteries because they were not only rechargeable, but they also had a much longer life than the old standard batteries did.
This seemed to work great since people got tired of shelling out money for batteries all the time. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t blame them. The only problem is that instead of forming a new standard for electronics, every company–though more like every device–has it’s own proprietary battery. I can’t use the batteries from my old cell phone when I get a new one. I can’t take the battery from my DS and stick it into my cell phone. I can’t let someone borrow a spare laptop battery when theirs runs out of power (unless they have the exact same model laptop that I do).
I would be much happier if we had applied the lithium ion battery technology so that it can fit in the form of the old battery size standards. They’ve had rechargeable batteries for well over 20 years now, which would satisfy those complaining about buying new ones all the time. And the new technology gives us the battery life that modern devices need. As it is, it’s not very economically helpful if I buy a rechargeable battery to save money, yet when it no longer holds a charge, I gotta pay an arm and a leg to whomever is left that has one since the manufacturer no longer supports my machine.
Hell, I’d even accept a whole new standard if they would design one that makes these batteries more universal! Have one type that’s like the AAA, meant for small devices like TV remotes or watches. Have one type like the AA, that most portable devices can use, like phones, cameras, game devices, MP3 players, etc. Then you can have one or two larger types, similar to the C and D size’s purpose: powering laptops, large flashlights, portable stereos, and more.
But that’s not in the best interest of the manufacturers… See, that’s where they get ya! It’s all about add-on sales. The companies have rigged it so that if you need a replacement battery, you can only get it through them. This guarantees that no other third party will be able to reap that cash. And because of the lack of support for when the battery finally dies, they have leverage for pressuring you to buy a spare battery when you first buy the device…just in case.
So here’s what I’m likely to do: I might buy myself one or two spare batteries for my DS and keep them stored for when mine finally craps out completely. Then I’m planning to take my own advice and try to pick up an original GBA. Cuz there are some games that I know that I’ll want to play 10-20 years from now.
I’ve had some bad writer’s block the past few weeks… I have a bunch of things that I’ve been wanting to talk about but haven’t had time to. And now that I’m finding some time, the stack of topics is so high that I don’t know where to start! So for now I think I’ll just do a quick recap of the highlights in my life…
I am so loving Disgaea! This is a game that I could theoretically play forever. And that kind of replay value gives it the longevity that I wish more games possessed. It’s also gotten me interested in picking up similar games as well as a few other console RPGs that I’ve been wanting to try. So far, I’ve also grabbed Phantom Brave, Xenosaga, and I’ve also ordered a copy of the original Final Fantasy Tactics.
With both Disgaea and the new Ace Attorney keeping me busy, I’ve let Ashley borrow my GBA cart of Final Fantasy VI. I’m right at Kefka’s castle and I figure I’ll tackle that and the dragon dungeon whenever Ashley’s done with it. Meanwhile, I have no shortage of things to keep me occupied.
The big boys at my day job bumped up when we move into our new facility to last week. So now we’re just about moved in, which is exciting to me! Work will either continue to be busy or at least steady for me for just a couple more months before I can shift focus back into web development.
My friend Miranda moved back to Cary, after having years of adventures in Wilmington. I’ve missed her a lot and her living so close by again may give me the excuse I need to not be such a recluse. So if I can make it to COUp or Game Night, I can have some kind of social interaction to maintain my sanity.
From the recommendation of the COUp listserv, followed by further endorsement from Kevin, I’ve become hooked on an awesome podcast: Fast Karate For The Gentleman. It’s yet another show that I wished Alpha Counter could have evolved into. Couple of guys goofing on comics, games, and anime… I’m still downloading their archives and filling my MP3 player with them.
I’d totally listen to that podcast in my car, except…the CD drive in my stereo died. I can still listen to the radio, but I can’t stand commercial radio. I insist on listening to my own shitty tastes in music and talk radio. And without all the ads. So I might look around to get an idea on how much it might cost to repair it, but it seems more likely that I’ll just buy a new one. Only this time, with a service plan for sure. I hate situations like this since that’s the only thing wrong with it and it feels like a waste to toss it. I can’t sell it, since who would buy a broken stereo that costs more to repair than to buy a new one?
I’m still working on commentary for my podcast archives. Posting them when I can… Listening to some of the new podcasts I’ve adopted and scrutinize my older stuff, I again feel the desire to do a new podcast. But if I don’t have time to write (which I should focus on more), then how can I have time to record a podcast?
It was announced last week that the original team behind the cult hit show Mystery Science Theater 3000 would reunite to work on a new movie riffing project which they call Cinematic Titanic. The group consists of Joel Hodgson (the original host of the show), Trace Beaulieu (the original Crow), Josh Weinstein (the original Tom Servo and mad scientist sidekick), “TV’s Frank” Conniff, and Mary Jo Phel (Pearl).
I think that this news would be far more exciting…except that it’s not the first MST3K-related revival. Over a year ago, Mike Nelson (former MST3K head writer and Joel’s hosting successor) started up Riff Trax, a business where he produces funny commentary tracks to play along to DVDs. He’s been able to regularly recruit other MST3K alumni like Kevin Murphy (best-known for playing Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (Crow’s Sci-Fi Channel performer) as well as the occasional celebraty. Riff Trax has focused mostly on recent films, but has experimented with episodes of popular television shows.
This means that we will soon have not one, but two sources of movie riffing goodness. While this is great for all fans of MST3K, there comes a friendly rivalry between the two groups. It’s yet unclear how Cinematic Titanic will act to compete with the Riff Trax team. What’s also not yet known is what movies that Cinematic Titanic will cover. If I were to guess, I’d expect that they would continue to older MST3K tradition of taking on mostly older B-movies. But since their business would depend on the video library of their audience, it might be wiser to give adequate attention to current, more popular titles. So that means we just might be able to hear the classic MST3K teams take on movies that Riff Trax have already produced tracks for.
With the two groups in competition, it might be a while before we see a cooperative act. Cinematic Titanic will need to fight hard for a while to make a place for itself in the market before it can afford to play with their Riff Trax family members. Though it’s not impossible just yet, it may be a bit longer than fans expected to realize their dreams of experiencing a movie riffing involving both Joel and Mike. So far, Mary Jo Phel is the only player that will have worked on both sides of the coin, since she teamed up with Mike to riff on Mariah Carey’s bomb, Glitter.
To be honest, while I first fell in love with MST3K during Joel’s reign on the show, I found the direction of the show after his departure to have some of the show’s funniest runs. The Riff Trax team has more of my favorite people, but the gem that might just bring me over to Cinematic Titanic is my all-time favorite performer, Trace Beaulieu. To me, MST3K began spiraling down in quality after he left. So while for now Riff Trax has my favor, Cinematic Titanic just might win some of my dollars after all…even if I hate the name.
A few days ago, I was in a GameStop and I overheard a father come in with his son with a question about replacing the battery of his Nintendo DS. Not the DS Lite, mind you; this was an original model, bought near it’s launch date, not 3 years ago. (Exactly today, as a matter of fact!) The father complained that the battery would no longer hold a charge and was hoping to buy a replacement. Unfortunately, since the DS Lite is the new standard for the platform, GameStop no longer carries parts for the older model. After discussing options with the sales clerks, he was left with the choice between taking his chances finding one online or buying a whole new DS Lite.
