The most awesome Mario movie ever!

Bowser’s minions get their revenge according to CollegeHumor

And it goes from bad to worse

So yeah, we just had another big meeting. Our termination date has moved from Oct 1st to Aug 15th. I only have a job for about 2 and a half weeks. Fucking awesome. Good news is that if I find a job before then and I start soon after I leave, I’ll get paid from my new job plus my severence pay.

Still, this fucking blows. I’m not going to call and tell my wife yet. I’ll wait until I get home to tell her. No sense in ruining her day.

More horror, yes please.

I just saw the new trailers for the game Dead Space. Holy shit this game looks awesome! Especially the second video with the modified version of Twinkle Twinkle over the quick, gruesome cuts. The trailers were put together by the director of the movie Saw, and the influence definately shows. This one has landed on my radar in a big way, I really hope they can maintain the creepiness and scare factor. If so, I will be super excited to play this one!

Yes, I totally have one now!

What I’ve been playing

I think I’m done with Super Stardust. I’ve gotten about 11 trophies but I’m going to have a hard time getting more. There were a couple that I’m just not good enough to get, one that I need to buy the Co-Op patch to get, and one that I will keep trying for (the 10x multiplier trophy). I want that 10x multiplier trophy, but I just can’t quite get do it. I’ll get it eventually.

I downloaded PixelJunk Monsters and really like it. I also bought Pain (just because it was on sale for $5) but its ok. Its fun but I don’t see myself playing it a whole bunch. Maybe if it gets trophies. There is talk of both PJ Monsters and Pain getting updates for trophy support and I really hope it happens. I’m trying not to play too much PJ Monsters until the update.

I also bought the first 4 episodes of Siren: Blood Curse and downloaded the PixelJunk Eden demo. I really like Eden. I’ll definately get it this week. And more trophies! Siren is really cool too, the trailer looked awesome. Its a bit wierd though. The presentation is a little confusing. There’s not really any set-up, they just drop you in on the characters and you switch off between who you control. You collect “archive” info that fills in background on the characters and you follow the timeline with each character in turn. I like it, it seems to have nailed the creepy horror vibe with the extremely low light, music, and enemies. So far though it seems really linear. It tells you what to do and your pathway is limited. Most everything is blocked off except where you need to go to accomplish your next goal. We’ll see how it goes the further I get, I’m only up to episode 3 so far.

I’m still enjoying Metal Gear Solid 4. I need to finish it before Uncharted gets trophies in late august. Really enjoying Giant Bomb too. The site is just a massive database with almost every video game related piece of info you could think of interconnected. And since it has Wiki features, its really easy to add to it or update it. Once they catch up with the backlog of submissions it will really be amazing. There are just a couple things that I like better about GameSpot so far though. You can make as many customizable lists as you want, which is awesome, but there is no way to alphabetize them so the info in those lists is unorganized and a pain to look through if you’re looking for something specific. Not sure if there is a way to add this functionality in the future, it seems that they took the structure for the Comicvine site and modified it to work with different info. That being the case, the ability to alphabetize a list or not may be part of the dna of the site and not as changeable. That’s really the only major complaint I have about GB right now. The wealth of info that is available and what will be available going forward is just mind blowing. Easily the most ambitiously comprehensive source I’ve ever seen for video game info. I can’t wait to see how they develop the editorial and news aspects of it.

My E3 thoughts

Is it just me or did E3 seem underwhelming this year? There wasn’t really anything at any of the Big Three’s press conferences that blew me away. Sure, there were some things that surprised me, but nothing that really made me go, “Holy shit!” I guess its ok though, because there were a TON of great games being shown and/or announced and a bunch that I didn’t really anticipate being excited about that ended up piquing my interest. Off the top of my head, here’s my take on the things that caught my eye:

Xbox 360 Dashboard update – Seems to me like XMB inspired navigation with a suspiciously Mii-like avatar identity. Hmmm…very curious. Its too early to tell, but it seems like Sony is catching up and Microsoft is borrowing a bit from their competitors. The next 12 months will be interesting indeed.

Final Fantasy XIII on 360 – Wow, I didn’t see this coming! Can’t complain though. Anything that gets their game to a bigger audience is great, it will allow SquareEnix to continue making great games. All the Sony fanboys need to stop crying and grow up. You know what makes someone a “real” gamer? Enjoying ALL games, regardless of what system they’re on!

Nintendo – I agree with Giant Bomb, they seem to be heading down the road to foregoing the hardcore gamer altogether to focus on casual and toy-like games. I guess I see where they’re coming from on the business side of things, but this makes it no less heartbreaking. Nintendo is the very reason I (and many people my age) became gamers in the first place. I can’t really think of anything that I am excited for from the Big N for the foreseeable future. Its awesome they’re innovating, they shouldn’t stop, but PLEASE Nintendo, don’t alienate the fans that have kept you alive in the video game market for over 20 years!

PSN movie and TV downloads – Cool. I’m the kind of guy who likes having a physical copy of my movies though, so I probably won’t ever buy a movie this way, especially since the majority of the movies available for purchase are in standard-def. Lame. Now rentals, those I might use someday.

Gran Tourismo TV – Come on guys, you’d have GT5 the full game done way quicker if you weren’t pretending to be television producers. I guess its cool for people that would enjoy it, but it seems like it’s a bit too close to focused marketing for my taste. I guess it depends on what the final line-up of content ends up being.

Resistance Retribution – This is probably the only game that came completely out of nowhere for me. I’m not sure how I feel about the third person perspective, but I’m really interested in seeing how this one turns out.

Ratchet and Clank Quest for Booty – I’m stoked! I knew there would be a new Ratchet game but I didn’t think it would come so soon and the fact that it will be a smaller, cheaper PSN title is very cool. Here’s hoping for more “episodes.”

Infamous – This is one that I didn’t expect to be interested in but the video seemed really cool. Seems a bit too similar to Force Unleashed though with all the lightning powers. We’ll see how the reviews turn out. I’m wondering what the hook will be for me.

Fallout 3 – Another one that surprised me. It’s looking really cool. I just might buy it, we’ll see how the review are.

Prince of Persia – I like the new art style. This one is on my radar. Don’t know if I’ll buy it, but I want to see more.

Sonic Unleashed – I don’t know man. I am pretty skeptical of Sonic games these days, and the whole were-hedgehog thing sounds a little retarded. Not sure where the hell this idea came from but we’ll see. I’ll read the reviews but I’m not hopeful.

LittleBigPlanet – Sackboy is pretty cool. I won’t be making many levels myself but I’m tempted to get this game to play all kinds of insane creations from other people. The Sony sales numbers presentation was awesome!

Siren: Blood Curse – I had no clue about this game before E3. The trailers look amazing! It really looks like a Japanese horror movie. I like the downloadable episode idea. And it comes out this week! I’ll definitely buy it.

Soul Calibur IV – About what I expected. Looked awesome, anxious to play as Darth Vader and the Apprentice. I’m getting it.

Lego Batman – Stoked!

Bionic Commando Rearmed – Stoked again! Probably even more so than for the new Bionic Commando game.

Geometry Wars 2 and Portal Still Alive – Awesome on both counts, I’m just disappointed that they will be 360 exclusive.

De Blob and Flock – These games looked really cool and fun. Looking forward to seeing more of them.

Puzzle Quest Galactrix – More Puzzle Quest? Yes, please!

Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2 – Where will it end? I don’t have the money to keep up with a yearly music game war, never mind Konami’s music game. I haven’t even bought the first RB yet. As cool as GHWT sounds, I’m going to have to go with Rock Band when the time comes because they have a much bigger song library and the first game, second game, and all their DLC will be compatible with each other. I don’t have the creativity, time, or patience to create my own music anyway.

Resident Evil 5 – Definitely buying it. Not sure yet how much I’ll like the co-op though. We’ll see exactly how much a part of the gameplay it is.

God of War 3 on PS3 confirmed – This will be the greatest game ever made. That is all.

Giant Bomb interviewing Alex Navarro – Loved it : ) It must feel so weird for him to be on the other side of things.

Mega Man 9 – They’re making another old school Mega Man game!!! REAL Mega Man!!! OMG!!!

Castlevania Judgement – A Castlevania fighting game? Ummmm….what? In the words of Dr. Evil, riiiigggghhhht….. How bout no!!! This series needs to just stop and stay 2D on the DS. 2D is the only way Castlevania will ever work. Now if they made a true sequel to Super Castlevania IV on XBL and PSN, then they’d have something amazing.

Eternal Sonata coming to PS3 – Awesome!

PixelJunk Eden – Looks really cool, did not expect to be excited about it. I will be buying it. Also, trophies!

The Force Unleashed – What can I say that I haven’t already said previously? I am chomping at the bit to play this game.

Resistance 2 – Totally stoked for this game, especially since it will have trophies. It looks great!

Bioshock PS3 – Another one I am really looking forward to after hearing so many great things about it. With trophies.

Killzone 2 – This one has me interested, but I don’t see too much to make it stand out to me.

MK vs. DC Universe – I gotta admit, the more I hear and see of this game, the more intrigued I become. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but I am slowly getting excited about it.

GameSpot’s Kristin Reilly – She is really hot, and she’s into video games! I haven’t missed an episode of On the Spot since she started doing the show. Kristin you are my dream girl!

The Gerst Mann

In honor of the official launch of Giant Bomb, I thought it only proper that my first blog post reflect on one of its founding members, Jeff Gerstmann. I’m not sure if this qualifies as an ode, a tribute, a roast, or something else, but it has been written in good fun and I’m sure that anyone who is familiar with the man will understand and identify. So without further ado,

Is it just me or does anyone else think that Jeff Gerstmann must be some kind of trust fund baby with a super secret Swiss bank account somewhere? Either that or he just made way more money working at GameSpot than anybody thought. Ever listen to him talk about all the stupid, obscure, and expensive stuff that he’s bought over the years? Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. I think he’s awesome. But jeez. He’s bought pretty much every game system known to man (even when he knew going in that they were lame *cough* Sega 32X), duplicate copies of many games on different systems, import Japanese games, a bomb-ass computer, a laptop, a camcorder, a bitchin TV, and a Japanese Dual Shock 3 controller that probably cost him somewhere in the neighborhood of $100. By his own admission, he paid $1200 for a Neo-Geo copy of Mark of the Wolves that he played once and now “sits on a shelf.” He even considered buying a Street Fighter IV arcade game for $2600, sans cabinet!

As a member of the gaming press, I’m sure a lot of the stuff he buys is for research purposes, but if that was the case then he would just use the company credit card for most of this stuff and it would stay at the office. I’ll be the first one to admit its none of my business, I just think its hilarious. And to top it all off, he lives in southern California, where the cost of living is about 20-30% higher than the rest of the country (except for maybe New York). I used to work in the mortgage industry and was assigned a large region in Cali, so I can confirm that real estate (among other things like gas) are downright insane out there.

But in the end, I must thank him. He is arguably the most knowledgeable, dorky, crazy, and dedicated guy in all of gaming; to quote Ryan Davis, a video game savant. Its because of his encyclopedic wisdom, insight, and utmost need to absorb every possible experience in the gaming world that makes him such an interesting guy to listen to every week and why people will continue to follow his work wherever he goes for years to come. He, along with many other present and former GameSpotters, made me realize that you can be comfortable and proud to be a video game dork as an adult. By bringing mature (not really) intelligence and analysis to the table, you are able to enjoy games on a completely different, and in some ways even more enjoyable, level. Reading their reviews and listening to them every week not only helped to bring out my expressive side, but also re-ignited in me a passion for video games that I haven’t experienced since I was a semi-finalist in the Cleveland round of the 1990 Nintendo World Championships when I was 10 years old.

So Jeff, I would like to salute you, say thank you for your madness, and congratulate you on embarking on this new venture. You make the gaming press fun and keep us informed on all the happenings, no matter how obscure or expensive or ridiculously insane they may be. We are all extremely excited about what is to come with you, Ryan, Brad, and Vinny at the helm!

Online hijinks and trophies!

I started playing Call of Duty 4 online and really enjoyed it. It is so much harder playing with real live people who know the game inside out. I pretty much died my way through the first few experience levels. Once I play for a while I start to do the “just one more match” thing. I tend to have more fun with the first couple hours of a session though. After a while, usually late at night, I start getting matched up with people of a much higher level and they just wipe the floor with me, causing me to stop playing in a stream of curses. Burnout however, I am continuing to play regularly since Cagney came out. I have completed all of the new 2 and 3 player challenges and all of the old 2 player challenges. I have made a bunch of friends playing Paradise and am working towards completing my second set of old challenges so I can unlock the last car. I am up to about 112 hours with that game. I seriously don’t think I’ve ever played one game this much. With the Davis update, Eastwood update, and trophies coming to Burnout, I have a feeling I will still be playing it when they finish their “Year of Paradise.” Bring it on, I say!!! I like the new car too, the Rai-Jin Turbo. Its really hard to drive though. Its fast as hell so it doesn’t have boost, but its acceleration isn’t great so if you have to make a jump and don’t have a lot of room to build up speed (like jumping off the roof of a parking lot onto the roof of another), you need to use a different car. Most importantly though, it turns like a freakin truck. Between the insane speed and heavy turning, it’s a big challenge to race in, but it looks awesome and is very fun. I can’t wait to win the Hunter Olympus next weekend!

So, yeah. PlayStation finally has a reward system now in the form of trophies. Whooooo!!! It’s about time, I say. Sony is finally starting to get to a point where their online offerings are able to compete with Microsoft’s. The games are looking great and we will soon have a reason to play them beyond the end credits. I’m not sure yet if I agree with the way the experience level system was implemented (seems needlessly more complicated and confusing than Xbox’s simple point structure), but I can already tell that I am going to get addicted to earning trophies. I bought Super Stardust HD strictly to start my collection. It’s actually a pretty great game in its own right, I may even like it better than Geometry Wars. I like the three-weapon system and the fact that you can go anywhere along the surface of a sphere. However, I think the trophies for it were a bit slapped together just so they could have a game playable with trophies from the start. Some of the Bronze ones are way harder to get than the Silver or Golds. That small gripe aside, I already have 11-12 of them and am anxious for them to start showing up in new games. I’m totally stoked that they are coming to Burnout Paradise and Uncharted. Even better that the Burnout ones will be retroactive (those guys at Criterion are some of the smartest and most customer focused people I’ve ever seen in this industry)! I decided that I won’t start playing Uncharted again until the patch for trophies comes out. Should be sometime in august, so that will give me time to finish MGS4.

66% completion and 50 hours later

I beat Grand Theft Auto 4 last week. Damn fine game. I didn’t get bored once in those 50 hrs either, which is unusual. In fact, I actually went back to a save file I had not too far from the end of the game so I could make different choices and see the alternate ending. The first time through I killed the guy you’re looking for and chose revenge on Dimitri. I won’t spoil the outcome of that choice, but the second ending was even worse in my opinion! If you show mercy and walk away from revenge, those who live and die are very different. I must say though that the ending didn’t affect me as much as I expected it to. I think that after hearing so much hype about the story I had expectations that couldn’t realistically be lived up to. Either that, or I’m just not someone who is emotional enough in life to be moved by a video game; with a few rare exceptions (Final Fantasy 7 as a whole package and experience moved me more than possibly any game, movie, or book ever. Lunar: Eternal Blue is another example). Don’t get me wrong though, the story, ending, and the way it was integrated into the GTA4 gameplay was nothing short of amazing. Of course, I haven’t played MGS4 yet, but I’ll get to that shortly. Also, I have never seen a game world as realistic and alive as Liberty City. The level of detail and polish that went into it is simply astounding. A new benchmark has been set, Grant Theft Auto 4 deserved every perfect score it received.

Speaking of MGS4, now that GTA4 is done I have cracked open Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece. I am in Act 2 right now and I am enjoying it. I was surprised at how difficult I found it. Like GTA, I enjoyed the previous games in the series but haven’t played enough of them to appreciate the story, let alone how a game like this needs to be played. I am getting used to the controls and learning how to sneak around the game. I did have to download the MGS database from PSN and give it a good read-through to familiarize myself with the story and characters, but I feel like I know enough to get almost the full intended experience. The presentation is amazing. I am looking forward to completing it.

Super Chuck Norris Bros

This….is awesome!