Last night was movie night and the feature was Time Bandits, the Terry Gilliam classic. I gotta admit, I’ve always been rather lukewarm towards HD, mainly because of the high cost and all the shit involved with setting things up, but seeing a classic film, presented in high definition, and properly, was pretty f’n amazing and made me realize that all the trouble might just be worth it. Though in the end, 98% of everything still looks like shit, so I suppose its understandable why HD folks are so eager for the HD-DVD/Blue-Ray era to begin already. And I guess if the idea of spending $3000 on a TV doesn’t bother you, neither will the idea of re-buying all your DVDs.
But yeah, Time Bandits fucking rocks. What else needs to be said? Anyone who’s seen it already know this truth, and those who haven’t… should. We also watched parts from And Now For Something Completely Different, the film adaptation of some of Monty Python’s classic skits, and again, it looking simply beautiful on HD. In fact, its never looked better, but that’s because its never gotten a decent VHS/DVD release.
Afterwards was the season premier or South Park. I’ve been busy so I haven’t had a chance to pay super close attention on what the hells been going on… first I hear Isaac Hays quits the show due to their portrayal of Scientologists (great episodes btw…. perhaps not as strong as the Mormon episode, which may be their greatest ever, but that John Travolta scene is simply classic), which he is a part of, then I read that he never technically quit, and the reason why he didn’t appear in the rest of season nine was due to a stroke and that he was still part of show (despite comments from Matt and Trey, South Park’s creators, stating “We’re gonna get you, by the power of Xenu!”). Then comes word that Issac had indeed left the show, but not on his accord but by Scientologists who have been overseeing the man very closely as he recovered. And later, a preview for the season opener is revealed, and the Chef character is featured. Well anyone who watched last night knows what exactly happened, and it was pretty good episode, even if I didn’t find it particularly funny, because it seemed to be nothing more than a 22 minute long “fuck you” by Matt and Trey, and nothing more.
And the whole Scientology thing is pretty scary, because its yet another reminder of easily swayed people can be (people like calling them a cult, which they most definitely are, but many really don’t stop to think what that means). It makes me think of an old friend of mine, and how we used to share the same basic train of though when it came to people and politics. Recently I discovered that this person had become deeply entrenched in the ultra conservative, right-wing train of thought. And guess what? That’s okay… not by cup of tea (In consider myself a moderate, though leaning towards the left), but this person, my friend, seemed like a totally different person. I spent about a day with him, and the entire time he tried arguing his various cases, even though I would have none of it (I believe arguing politics is ultimately stupid because it does nothing… no one’s mind is ever changed, and in the end, both parties just end up getting pissed at each other). I did my best not to get into a political discussion, but it would always turn into one; when he commented that his city had just began mandatory recycling laws, I made a (perhaps tasteless) joke, to the effect of “Well in New York, we don’t have to worry about those kinds of laws, since we have plenty of homeless people who take care of the recycling!” And to that, his response was “So, would you then say that the homeless problems is perpetrated by recycling then? Are they not simply enabling them?” I didn’t say anything, but in my mind, I was “Holy shit, what in the fuck! Is this really my friend?!”
Anyway… tomorrow’s ICON, and I’m in the middle of putting together my Keynote presentation for the ten best games ever created (in my opinion). Obviously, just talking about these games is not going to work, so I’m going to need visual aids (since most people I’m certain have never seen, let alone heard of, Vib Ribbon). So my hands are full, but I’ve been keeping tabs of all the stuff that’s been coming from the Game Developers Conference (again, I’m fucking pissed that I’m not there, but… that’s just how it is). And thus far, the big news is…
- The PS3 will ship with a hard drive. I believe Sony pointed out that Microsoft’s offering of the 360 with either one included, and one without, has been a mistake (which is a mild way of putting things).
- The controller for the PS3, which is the bat-arang that everyone loves to hate (including myself), is being redesigned. Most are hoping (or assuming) that its going to be the Dual Shock again, which I have no problems with; hey, its not the best thing every, but its been almost ten years and I guess I’m used to it.
- But the big PS3 announcement is how the hardware will be region free. And this of course had drawn a resounding “YES!!!” from all diehard gamers everywhere. Cuz lord knows dealing with mod chips to play the really good stuff has been a fucking migrane and a half with the PS2. Though it should be noted that only hardware was cited… software publishers can choose to region code their games, but I would have to assume that someone small like Cave will open up their games so everyone in the world can enjoy it (and reap the financial benefits as a result). Though now everyone’s wondering if it’ll be backwards compatible with over region PSOne/PS2 games, but I’m still trying to figure out the memory card compatibility for those systems have been ironed out…
- Meanwhile, no real Revolution details have been given out (everyone will have to wait for E3), but New Super Mario Bros has been playable, and everyone’s been raving about it.
- Also, the possible real name, plus logo, to the Rev has been leaked.The Nintendo Go? Though I think that might be just the name of the online service or something.
- And the winner of the Game Developers Choice awards have been revealed, and every single game I voted for won. Sweet!
As for non gaming news, the logo for Snake on a Plane has been revealed, and it is hawt…
Guess that’s it for now… see some of you this weekend?!
