First things first: today is Katie Skelly’s birthday! She is now 23…
So that means as of today, we are only 7 years apart. Though that will change this coming April, when it’ll go back to 8, though seven is still a pretty big span for some folks, hence why I’m a total pervy lech in some people’s books. Literally! Straight from Hilary’s sketchbook, circa the other weekend…
Unfortunately, due to the fact that Katie is in Pennsylvania, and I’m all the way out in New York City, the only party that’s going on at the moment is the virtual kind, but at least its filled with some of her favorite things: Hello Kitty, red pandas, make up from Sephora, a cute little dress from Erin Fetherston (with a cute fashion model to go with it), and candy, along with a really hot piece drawing from Joel!
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Okay, next order of business: I finally played it last night. Rez HD. And dear God, it was GLORIOUS.
The original plan was to hook up with Dave Mauro over the weekend, but things just never came together. So I was hoping to stop by his place later this week, before heading west for more or less the rest of this month (as mentioned previously, the GDC is coming up, but before flying out to San Fran, I have to entertain my folks in Seattle/Tacoma, and I’m afraid there won’t be much video game-playing during that time, other than the few precious moments I’ll have to myself and either my DS or my PSP… yes, I’m bringing both, because I anticipate it getting just that bad). Unfortunately, last night was the only night in which Dave was available, and he only had a few hours to spare, so I immediately rushed out to Greenpoint from my apartment in Washington Heights (which is quite the trek, especially when time is an issue), and once inside his apartment, threw $10 onto the table, to commence with the downloading.
And while that took place, we went head-to-head for a few rounds with the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros Brawl. The thing is, I actually got the chance to play it a few months ago, on the behalf of Nintendo, but couldn’t say anything due to an embargo, though I believe that has passed by now. Or at least I hope it has! Anyhow, the game is pretty awesome; it’s more or less exactly like the GameCube version, just “more”, which I guess is good. Hey, if it ain’t broke, right?
Though previously, I wasn’t able to check out all the various stages, nor try any of the new characters. Neither Sonic, nor Snake, nor Zero Suit Samus was unlocked, but at least I finally got to play with Wario, Pit, and Olimar, all of whom are pretty neat. And I gotta say, I was blown away by the new Pokemon Trainer character, and the ability to fight as Pokemon (believe it or not, Squirtle kicks all kinds of ass). Though otherwise, I found the rest of the new characters lame: as if we honestly needed additional characters from the Starfox franchise, other than Fox and Falco, the Mother 3 character would actually be cool if A) we had gotten Mother 3 in the US and B) he wasn’t just like Ness, who is not that awesome to begin with IMHO, I’m kinda “meh” when it comes to Meta Knight, and I know Dave loves Diddy Kong, but he’s from DKC, so I could give a rat’s ass about him (though he was fun to play as, I will admit).
The arenas, as expected, were fucking ace; the scrolling, war-torn Super Mario Bros stage was hot, as was the new Starfox stage. Though the real stars has to be either the Pictochat level or the Wario Ware one. I also liked the all the additions to the action, such as the assist trophies, which are where extra characters can be used to help out… I recall one of the characters from Sin & Punishment, and Lakitu from SMB, who chucks Spinys into the heat of battle. Or how you can collect pieces of Olimar’s ship to fly away while everyone else gets eaten up by monsters! Oh, and then there’s everyone’s big ultimate moves…
But enough talk about Smash Bros, let’s talk about REZ HD!
Beforehand, Dave was actually skeptical if it would be worth the download, but his mind quickly was changed. Rez HD is quite simply the ultimate iteration of that game, the way its meant to be truly played. The high definition graphics defy proper description, though stunning, gorgeous, and beautiful is a good start. The audio was also nicely upgraded, with amazing sound separation, making the experience all the more immersive. I honestly cannot tell you how incredible a rush it was to play this game; I was in heaven, to the degree that I actually felt woozy, and had to contain myself because Dave was present. But by myself… not saying I would have started crying or anything, just perhaps continually jump around for joy or the like. Though he knew full well that I was in the midst of nirvana; when Carl called to see what was going on, I did hear Dave explain him that Rez to me is what Spider Man 2 is to himself. And Dave loves Spider Man 2.
Aside from presenting the game in mind-blowing clarity, additional visual and audio modes have been added to the mix. On the visual front, the bloom is particularly nice, though my personal fave is the tile effect, which pixelates everything (though it makes it hard to see what’s going on exactly, so you absolutely need to know the game like the back of your hand… which I am proud to say, I do). The sepia effect is just as one would imagine it to be, and was remarkably effective during stage five. As for audio, you can have the game sound as if you were playing in a cave, in a long hallway, underwater, etc.
Now, I had heard that the gameplay was a bit different, and I can confirm this to be true. Not dramatically, but certain portions of the game are a bit harder. Some sections have the enemy shooting at you when they normally wouldn’t before, and a few bosses require more hits as well (yet I knocked out the stage 4 boss before he became the big ball of rage…. hmm). Certain sections run faster than before, which requires faster reflexes, though it isn’t so much that things were sped up, its just that there’s zero slowdown. Again, it’s the ultimate version: the Dreamcast build is quite pretty in its own right due to VGA support, but is locked in at 30 fps, while the PS2 build runs at 60 fps, but suffers from slowdown and standard video output. Rez HD simply blows them away, even without all the fancy tricks, just with widescreen alone. Plus, the already mentioned audio kicks the Dreamcast’s version to the curb, which was already much richer than the PS2 version.
If there was only ONE complaint I have about the game, its how the full motion video segments have not been upscaled, and as a result look extremely artifact-y and somewhat out of place. And its also a bummer that the ending is a bit different. Otherwise, the game is flawless.
But yeah, because its a bit harder, plus I’m a tad bit rusty, I didn’t get 100% across the board as I normally do, and at the very last moment of the final fight, I got hit and and lost my baby form, which sucked. Oh well. Though what’s worse is how I now have to get a nice, big HD set to properly play Rez at home. Fuck. Hopefully, Dave won’t mind me coming over time and time again to get my fix, cuz I absolutely need to experience Trance Mission in HD.
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Anyway, what else has been going on since last time? Well, re: this past weekend, instead of playing Rez HD as originally planned, I spent more time with No More Heroes. Been taking it easy for the most part, just occupying myself with all the side missions, and looking for shirts in the trash (I cannot tell you how much fun I have just doing that), though I am also slowly but surely making my way up the ranks. The boss battles have been amazing… I’m all the way up to the girl that uses grenades. Though I will say that I found the combat leading up to her, with the army dudes on the beach, a tad bit repetitive and boring, and I’m afraid that it might be the case for later on. I’m also getting a little tired of the same music that plays during these parts, but at least it sounds AWESOME when you go into Dark Side mode, with everything sounding all techno and trance-like. Though I absolutely hate it when it gets triggered at the worst possible time, such as when there’s no one around. Once again, the sound truly excels during the boss encounters. At any rate, I can’t wait to see what else the game has in store for me (Joe Salina mentioned how the game keeps getting better and better, each boss more inventive and fun after the next, and I’m a total believer), which is why I’m especially pissed that I have to put it on hold for the next few weeks. Speaking of…
I hate to continually bitch about my trip back to Washington, but the timing could not be any worse. I just found out Friday afternoon from my editor at Nick Mag that someone very special was coming into town, to show off something very, VERY special, and of course, I’ll have to miss it. Fuck. I guess there’s the chance that it’ll be there at the GDC, but still.
Also, I’m going to have to miss the next Rumbo in Dumbo, but that takes places the Saturday after the conference, and I kinda regret my decision to spend an extra day in San Fran. Kinda. So I’ll be flying in the following Sunday, and will be arriving around 8 in the evening, just as the Oscars are starting! Which means I will have to take a cab directly to Joe Simko’s. Provided there is an Oscar shindig of course (and if there isn’t, I will be majorly bummed…as I’ve stated before, its OUR Oscars).
… Okay, back to the weekend: was pretty laid back. On Saturday, I hung out with Simko and the rest of the Sweetrot gang, and I guess the highlight of the evening was snatching some discarded pictures at the picture counter at a Rite Aide. Both feature two women, one at a bar, the other during some ski trip I think. Both are digital shots that somehow got messed up (both are extremely blurry and all artifact-y). Anyhow, they were just laying there, and I simply took them (it was clear that they were abandoned). As pointed out, both have that last known photo feel, and both women featured are probably now dead. Anyway, onto my fridge they go! Man, I wish I had a scanner to show them off… Oh, and another highlight I guess was how Joe and I both sang Milli Vanilli in reaction to something at the same time, unintentionally.
Then on Sunday, I went out to Mitsuwa, this boss Japanese grocery store in New Jersey where I’ve purchased many fine Japanese candies from, and much of which I’ve taken pictures of and posted here in the past, with Hilary. Again, no pictures due to no camera, and if I had one, I would most surely pass along pics of a brand of cookies called simply HARVEST; when I showed the package to Hilary, she said I totally had to get them on principle alone, which was true, and which I did.
And yesterday I went to see an ear doctor, to tend to what I thought was an infection, which I do have, though something else was taken care, something a LONG time coming. I’ve already detailed the entire affair over at the forums, but once again, from the top: went to a supremely old school ear doctor, one whom I didn’t even want to see, at least after I got into an argument with his cunt receptionist, but when no one else was available, I had no other choice (I had taken the day off of work already, plus considering how I’m flying this Friday and changing altitudes can mess one’s ears when they are healthy, I felt it imperative that I seek medical attention ASAP). The set-up he had was draconian, pure and simple; aside from the fact that there was not a single computer to be found (the receptionist used a super old typewriter to file reports), the doctor’s office was old and weathered, straight from the 50s, everything from the furniture to his tools. Anyhow, like all old schoolers, he went right to business and within just a few minutes, he had some tool super deep in my ear, to the point that he was touching by brain. And due to him stimulating the part that governs balance, all of a sudden I felt super dizzy and went OH GOD, I THINK I’M GONNA THROW UP!
After laying down for a bit, he went back to work and discovered some crap that was deeply impacted in my left ear canal. Which had been there for literally YEARS; whenever I swallow, I’ve always felt something brush against my left ear drum. It’s extremely annoying, yet like many minor medical conditions that people live with, I simply became used to it. Actually, I had assumed it was result of me being too aggressive with q-tips, as if I had scratched or slightly torn my ear drum (basically, re-open a wound from my childhood; my left ear drum was indeed ruptured due to a sonic boom from a nearby cannon when I was a baby… I was raised on a military base in South Korea), but the truth is, it was just shit that I kept shoving back inside with said q-tip, hence why it was always most prominent afterwards. So now, after many years of quietly dealing with such aggravation… and I’m talking for at least 20 years or so… it is now gone, and as a result, my hearing is much better! For years I’ve gone around telling folks that my hearing sucks. Well, no more! And the thing that still gets me is how the ultra fancy, multi-million dollar ear and throat clinic I went to about five years ago couldn’t figure out what the problem was, but some really old guy with really old tools could, sans all the x-rays and crazy modern methods they used. A really nice gentleman btw (with a snazzy powder blue bow tie), even if he was annoyed with how tense and fidgety I was. But hey, if you had some device inside that had something going in your nostril and touching the inside of your ear, on the other side, you’d be all nervous too.
Anyway, it’s like 8:30 and I still have to meet someone to work on mystery project #2, so laters.
