A couple of things…
- So with so much going on, I’m still pretty out of the loop video game-wise. I’m still not up on all the E3 relate news, at least in regards to the under the radar type stuff that I mostly care about. But I guess that’s the case with everyone, since only now are some really interesting things come to light, like how Kenji Eno is apparently going back to designing video games!!!
I’ve been a super huge fan of the guy for years, and he was doing things differently (with games such as D, Enemy Zero, and Real Sound) before it became sorta hip; people often site Hideo Kojima or Tomonobu Itagaki as “rock star” game designers, but in my mind, Kenji Eno will always be the very first, and perhaps the very best. Like how he threw a PlayStation console onto the floor at a press conference to show his disdain for the company.
I’ve also heard that Chulip (the kissing RPG) is, once again, coming to the US, courtesy of Atlus (or course). So obviously, there’s still some news left to sift through…
- Needless to say, the PS3 is still making headlines. The latest brew-ha-ha was due to some report that states Sony is trying to eliminate the second-hand game market by making it illegal to sell used systems and games, and even make it so that games are connected to a system. So let’s say you bought a game and wanted to play it on you’re friend’s PS3. Well, this would put a stop to that, but Sony was quick to call it all b. s.
But its still something that’s highly probable. Most people don’t realize this, but the second-hand game market, specifically places like EBs and GameStops that buy, sell, and trade used games, really are hurting the industry. First they sell a game for $50 to some kid, with much of it going back to the game’s publisher, then he goes back to sell the game for $25, and next they sell the game once again, but as used and at $40, but this time all of the money goes to the store, none to the people responsible for the game. Hence why many publisher hate the major game stores, but since they hold so much power, they have to deal with the devil. Though as much as I’d like to see EB & GameStops just go away, this isn’t the way to do so. I suppose all this will be taken care of, as well as make the whole Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD debate moot, plus any other future deliverable media debates, when things shift towards content being primarily downloadable. Though again, most people want to have a hard copy of whatever they buy, but now I’m starting to veer off topic…
Something else I’ve seen pop up are more and more articles in which people state that folks are going to buy the PS3 no matter what. And the more I think about, the more I have to reluctantly agree. It seems as if Sony is intent on copying Microsoft, at least all the things that helped to create all the buzz and excitement over their system last winter. Apparently there’s only going to be 2 million systems available world-wide at launch, which means there’s going to be tons of stories from the mainstream press, once again, about people going ape-shit over a video game console, such as committing crimes to get their hands on it, or some parent that spent over three times the retail price, almost $3000 for an empty box on eBay. Nevermind the outrageous price, people see all of this and at first question why people are going insane over the PS3, and then it will make them want one then (cuz “Well, it must be something special!”).
- Back to real life: Tuesday night was “game night” at Mike Rovin’s. It’s been a while since we played against each other (back in college, we would go against each other till 3 in the morning on a weeknight via Tekken 3 or Bushido Blade 1), and the game of the night was Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. And like before, it’s always fun beating Mike since he gets so loud and pissed, plus he tries to get me all relied up and engage in shit-talking, while I prefer to be nice and calm and almost zen like. I’ve discovered that nothing gets under the skin of a competitive game player than being highly complimentary, regardless if one is winning or losing, though with Mike, we’ve been doing our little shtick for so long that it was mostly for show for Mike Simses (at least for me).
Afterwards Mike (Rovin) played some clips from assorted flicks, just like his dad, which were all his favorite sword-fighting scenes of his. Saw the final showdowns from Mark of Zero (its his fave fight scene of all time, and it’s pretty damn up their in my book as well), Scaramouche (which felt pretty limp after seeing the fast paced and intense Zorro fight, but the camera work was pretty incredible), El Cid, Troy (which to me highlights a major problem with all fight scenes in the past couple of years: they’ve all become way too Jackie Chan/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-like), and of course, Conan the Barbarian and Destoryer. I also insisted on seeing the final lightsaber duel in Revenge of the Sith, which I recalled being cool, but as Mike said immediately beforehand, its just two guys swinging their swords left, right, left, right, wildly and stupidly.
The next night, last night, was movie night at Jeff’s. Started off with some movie trailers on the HD channel. Among them was the Pixar film, Cars, and the reaction it got from everyone seems to be consistent from everyone else’s. At this point, I seem to be the only one that’s genuinely excited for it; most seem to go “Hey… they’re cars alright.” I don’t know, but I have a strong feeling it might be my favorite film from them yet, perhaps even topping the Incredibles; sorry, but I’m just a sucker for cartoony cars, or at least talking ones (I was a big Knight Rider fan back in the days). Perhaps it due to my love for arcade racers, though oddly enough, I’ve never played Stunt Race FX. And I also think it’ll the first to get a “eehhh” reaction from all my normally Pixar-lovin’ friends. Next was the Christmas episode of Millennium, then another Action. The feature was The Man Who Would Be King starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine, which was pretty amazing (for the past few weeks, I’ve been able to get reacquainted with films I saw as a kid, but without the horrible cut-off and poorly placed commercial breaks thanks to A&E). Afterwards was another episode of Bullshit with Penn & Teller, with the theme being people’s obsession with hair. The ass-hair waxing scene was so hard to watch that at least one person had to leave the room. And all I can say is… thank God I have no problems in that area.
Later on, MK, who was still quite pleased for snagging the last copy of Scott Pilgrim Volume 3 at Cosmic Comics earlier in the day, showed me an interview with Bryan Lee O’Malley that was quite good (I have to admit, my fave part was when he sorta dissed the whole American manga scene). MK was going to read the book last night while I slept, but was afraid that her giggling would wake me up, so instead she spent the night playing Lost in Blue…
- … and this morning on Insert Credit, someone passed along yet another review of the game that claims its sexist. It’s funny because as long as MK’s been playing it, for many weeks now, not once has she ever complained that its sexist, nor anyone else I know who’ve played it, which curiously enough, are mostly the girlfriends of guy and whom don’t play video games that much. Perhaps it should be noted that the author of the article is a guy, and that for the most part, its almost always men that are complaining about sexism about games. Then again, there are more men playing games, so its perhaps natural that men’s voice will be the most vocal. And I’d like to think that there’s nothing wrong with men being annoyed by women being portrayed negatively in video games. But maybe there’s something as caring too much; as I mentioned previously, when talking about the subject of women in games at ICON, most of the women in the room wasn’t that upset with how girls are portrayed. Some had the sentiment of “its just a video game” while others basically said “there’s sexism everyone, so why should games be any different?”. And thankfully, once also pointed out that even though every girl in a fighting games is quite nubile, all the dudes (at least for the most part) aren’t exactly realistic either.
So perhaps this guy is over-reacting… and maybe I did too with the whole Melissa/GameLife controversy? Ummm…. no. I’ve already stated my reasons many times already, but once again, I also know for a fact that real women are actually upset by it all.
Oh, and the new GameLife came out yesterday or something, their special E3 edition, and people are either saying that it has officially jumped the shark or that does a far better job of cover the event on the show floor than any of the major gaming news sites and their video podcasts ever did. I also hear that one definite highlight is Melissa’s interview with some guy at Rare since it obvious that he wants to have sex with her, but its on GameVideos.com, which runs worse that 1UP.com on Mac, if that can be believed (plus I hear it sucks as on PCs as well).
- Also last night, I showed MK the site of some chick who messaged me on MySpace to ask if I could make a video game starring her.
As for today, I stumbled across this. Anyone know what the fuck this is about? Anyway, it’s aweomse. Also, talked to Job for a bit and he suggested once again that I re-consider doing a podcast. I’m still not totally sold on the idea, though I haven’t crossed it out of my mind either…
And as for tonight, it’s shitty movie night with MK, Robin, and Matt Singer. Should be fun.
- Hey, time for some pictures! First up, remember my trip to the Korean grocery store over week ago? Well it garnered me some awesome Japanese candies, including…
Some quite little biscuits featuring various vehicles…
Here’s some featuring sealife. I haven’t tried them yet, so I really hope they’re not fish-flavored snacks (since they are pretty popular among Koreans)…
I had these before, but in chocolate…
Asians love to embrace nature, even in their processes candies, and this isn’t the first mushroom themed chocolate cookies I’ve had…
Sticking with nature, here’s some chocolate covered tree stumps. I got this one just for the flying squirrel on the box…
Here’s a bag of corn snacks featuring an ass-kicking garlic…
I totally love the packaging on these soft drinks turned into hard candies…
And I don’t think I really have to explain why I got these…
Here’s some chocolate filled mini-puffs which used to be favorites of mine when I lived in Korea. Which means I haven’t had these in over 22 years…
The same goes for this…
It may not look much, but when I saw them, I went totally bonkers. Its a favorite drink for little kids in Korea; back in the day, old women used to deliver them by the caseload every morning, sorta like milkmen circa the 50′s. Again, I haven’t had these for more than two decades, so I didn’t hesitate to get a few cases. And they’re still just as good.
And I didn’t just get candy; the place had a huge selection of ramen. I got mostly kimchee flavored ramen, but I could resist the particular brand of chicken flavored noodles…
And here’s a blurry pic of the masked Mexican wrestler that June got for my birthday, which I believe Joe says she got from some trendy clothing boutique or something…
As I mentioned, I got a flew of fresh shirts for my birthday. I guess the theme this year was astronauts. Here’s one from Dave…
And here’s one from Farel…
Plus, here’s a nice tee that MK got for me at APE…
And finally, remember me mentioning those trading cards featuring stand-up comics from the early 90′s by Pauline Poulette? Well here they are in all their glory…
I showed this pic to a coworker of mine, so about five years younger, and aside from Bobcat Goldthwait, he didn’t know who the others were! Definitely another “Man I feel old!” moment.
