Since it’s the first day of October, I may as well recap the last week of September.
- Well, last Wednesday saw my glorious return to movie night at Jeff Rovin’s. I guess not too much was different, other than me flying solo. But I still had my seat next to Mike, and the regulars were still in attendance. Oh, and there’s now a HD-DVD and Blu-ray player on hand, and even though everyone has seen Casablanca maybe 9000 times by now, Jeff still had to show what it looks like in ultra high-def, and it was indeed pretty (more than anything, old black and white movies looks the awesomest in HD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray).
The feature that night was the Deep Throat documentary. When Jeff told me what we were watching at the start of the evening, I figured it was going to be about the Watergate scandal. Nope, it was all about the groundbreaking porn film, and it’s effect on society, how lawmakers and moralists all went ape-shit, how the general public got an education in sex, and how porn peddlers and feminists were best friends for about 15 seconds. Best part was how in one of the anti-smut trials that went down (in the south, or course), it was stated that one primary reason the film was evil was because it showed clitoral orgasms, which was deemed was “wrong” and “bad”.
- Thursday was the first day of DigitalLife, the big consumer electronics show that takes place every fall here in NYC. Every year I go to the event, which started out as an East Coast iteration of E3, but bombed hard, which is why the focus was shifted to TVs, computers, cell phones, and the like, and things got a tiny bit better, but not by much. And every year I file a report about how it was mostly lame. Well not this year. Why? Because it was so insanely mediocre that there is absolutely zero to talk about. On the video game front, there was seriously NOTHING; Microsoft had a pretty big set-up, and let me ask you this… You’d think that two days after the launch of their biggest piece of software of the year, and perhaps their biggest piece of software since Vista launched, as well as one of the biggest video games this entire year, and perhaps the number on reason why people got Xbox 360s in the first place, which means I’m talking about Halo 3… you’d think that they would be pimping the shit out of it, right? HA! Of course not!!!
I was expecting a huge wall of huge plasma screens featuring nothing but Halo 3, but there was nothing of the sort. Not even one single dedicated set-up. That’s pretty fucking insane if you ask me. They did have some games on display, though all of them were PC titles (including the Windows version of Gears of War). I asked a MS PR rep what the deal was, and she simply had no answer. Which was a shame since that meant no real reason to talk to her, and she was hella cute too.
Other than MS, you had Activision with Guitar Hero 3. And… that’s it! Last year we had Square, Sega, and a few others. Jesus Christ, what the hell happened? They did have the little area with assorted 360s and PS3s, but the selection of games was totally random, and not all noteworthy.
Though I was also reporting for Zedge, and thankfully I was able to find a few things about cell phones (though not as much as I had hoped). I even brought Joe with me, who acted as my camera person! I’m still in the middle of editing all the footage, so in the next day or so, everyone will get to check out my awkward interaction with Popeye and Olive Oil.
Other, non-cell phone highlights include me chatting it up with the guy who runs the company that produces those video projectors shaped like R2-D2 (I’ll try to produce a clip of that just for here, the guy was… quite the character) and when some sweaty fat guy tried explaining to Joe and myself some of the finer points of Dance Dance Revolution (there was a tournament on-hand, and of course, all the entrants were chubby guys who look as if they hardly ever move their fat asses, but for some reason can “dance”). Oh, and I really want to smack the douchebag Geek Squad guys, if only due to the fact that I’m still fucking pissed at Best Buy.
- Friday night I went over to Dave‘s to play a game that I shouldn’t really talk about in public! Let’s just say that it’s something I’ve been looking forward for a long whiles now, and because I’m lucky enough to be “connected” let’s just say, I was able to acquire a copy of it before it is commercially available. Unfortunately, I was not able to get it run with the hardware that I normally have access to, and I was hoping that Dave’s super set-up would do the job. Well, it didn’t, though it’s not Dave’s or his computer’s fault. It’s simply just missing a codec or something, and with no real means of figuring out what that element could be. Oh well…
At least I got to finally check out Halo 3, and I finally found out why that game has gotten everyone so entranced. But I actually didn’t bother to play it, since I knew I wouldn’t last long (especially online) due to my general poor game playing skills and lack of proficiency at FPSs, due to my motion sickness and all). Though I did get the chance to play something else I had long wanted to get my hands on, and which Dave also wanted me to check out, but kept forgetting about: Metal Wolf Chaos.
I believe I’ve mentioned the game before, but for those who don’t remember, or simply are not in the know, it’s basically a wacky mech game from Japan in which you assume the role of the President of the United States. In a giant robot suit, that is, versus the Vice President who has taken over the country. Once again, if you have done so already, you HAVE to check out this crazy vid.
Anyway, the game isn’t half bad; it’s your standard run around and destroy everything, and everyone, mech action game. But it’s the presentation, that has given the game the cult status that it enjoys today, primarily the ultra Enrgish dialog, such as…
“Mr. President! You destroyed their forces! I’m sure you’ve lost their vote.”
“I’m doing it for freedom Jodie, let’s never give up.”
Jodie is the name of the President’s secretary, or assistant. Before each level, she gives a mission briefing, which is punctuated by the name of the mission, which aside from being accompanied by a drum roll, is usually something long and insane, like “Operation: The Hills of Beverly Hills Must Be Engulfed By The Fires of Freedom And Justice Of No Other Sort.” And as you play, if you do poorly, Jodie gives you tons of shit, such as “Mr. President! If you care so much about those houses, why don’t you just whip out your check book and buy them yourself!” Meanwhile, you can whip out a bunch of different phrases, to help enhance the carnage that you inflict upon the enemy coup d’?tat forces (which btw, is a term you will hear over, and over, and over throughout the game), by going “Oh yeah!” or “Enjoy my missile blast!” It has to be played to be believed everyone.
Afterwards, Damian stopped by, and next thing you know, I’m playing beer Burnout with the guy, with the rules being, whoever lost in our two player head-to-head session of Burnout Revenge (for the 36) had to take a long swig of beer. Though thankfully, I’m actually pretty good at Burnout, so I only lost once during the six or so matches. And Dave would have joined in, but he totally Burnout 4 with a passion since its not Burnout 3, and I gues no amount of booze will cover it’s flaws. Afterwards I got to check out the Dirt demo, which I really dug, though mostly because fo the Codemaster’s always brilliant front-ends for their Colin McRae line of rally racers, which I am such a sucker for. I also found the graphics to be drop-dead gorgeous, and… get this! I really don’t think the 30 fps hurts it that much in the end. The stunning high fidelity totally compensates for things, and to be honest it’s barely noticeable, and take it from a diehard racing guy such as myself. I also found all the grumbling over Project Gotham Racing 3 silly, which also had the 30 fps “problem”, but at least for something like Dirt, where it’s rally racing, and therefore does not require the absolute precision, turn on a dime, type of handling, it’s even less of an issue.
- Saturday was the long awaited marriage of Rob & Michele. And it was quite the splendid affair! Aside from seeing Rob and Michele finally tie the knot, there was plenty of good food, and a DJ that was actually really good, who helped to keep the dance floor alive throughout the night. Plus, I was the only friend to sit at the immediate family member table, which was quite the honor. Though the only awkward moment of the evening was my attempt to talk to some girl who I thought I recognized roaming the isles at DigitalLife a few days prior, and whom I had really wanted to chat with, and here was my chance! I asked if she had gone to the show, and she hadn’t, and clearly had the “Nice pick up line, dumb-ass” tone of voice. Okay, so yeah, I was trying to talk with her, but still… All I can say is that I am not having any luck with the ladies as of late!
- Sunday I went to the city to pick up Thursday’s footage from Joe, and decided to get some comics as well, and TOTALLY forgot that the new Zelda DS title, Phantom Hourglass, had just come out. What’s wrong with me? Anyhow, it would seem everyone I know is all Halo 3 crazy, which might explain it passing me by.
Oh, and I spent about an hour last night explaining to Katie all the stuff that’s gone down in Marvel Comics the past year or so. She knows I’m getting back into super hero fare, including Iron Man, and decided to explain why I’ve gotten back, including how I almost got into DC Comics, when they teased the return of the Golden Era Superman, which I was all excited about, since I too wanted to see a surly, racist, and sexist Man of Steel in these modern times, but DC got cold feet or something. As for ol’ shell head, Katie’s only response was “What a dick!” Oh well… Though the funny thing is, when she called, I was in the middle of re-reading Scott Pilgrim, for assorted reasons. Plus, I’m I finally have two possible titles to the comic version of my wacky, sci-fi sex fantasy that Katie will be illustrating: either HARVEST or NUTRIENT.
- As for today, I finally got my date in court: October 17th is when I will be going to court to contest my ticket from NJ Transit! And going by the results of the poll thus far, it seems that most believe I will be going to jail. We’ll see!
Also, one more thing…. and it feels somewhat weird bringing this up, at least around here, since I try not to talk about stuff that’s too personal. Plus, I never felt that there would be a need for it, yet there seems to be a certain degree of confusion, as evidenced by, among other things, a steady trickle of emails from various friends and acquaintances (even though most of my closest friends have known about it for some time now), all of which while not getting into specifics, can be boiled down to “Wha? HUH?!” The funny thing is, I thought I was leaving obvious clues for the past couple of weeks, but as others have pointed out, it hasn’t been all that clear. To the degree that a few feel that some kind of “announcement” needs to be made.
Long story short, I am single. My romantic involvement with MK Reed came to an end just over one day and two months ago. And on a side-note, today would have been our three year “anniversary”… since it was on October 1rst, 2004 that I met up with her to share a ride down to Bethesda, to attend SPX, which is how we got to know each other and things blossomed from there. I guess it should be noted that it’s also partly why I have decided to not attend SPX this time around.
BUT, it should be noted that we are still on friendly terms. Which is why, later this month, if you’re at the show, stop on my MK’s table (which will also be shared by Robin and Katie, as well as Toby I believe) to pick up your copy of UNLUCKY #3!
Oh, speaking of anniversaries, for those who also don’t know, today marks the 30th anniversary of home video games, or at least as most know it. Happy birthday 2600!
