I said goodbye.

Well yesterday was my last day at the Theater, I went out with a bang putting together Doom, Stay, and North Country. So for a recap my full time job is gone, but my part-time job is now going to be my full time job. :) Of course this means I only have 1 job right now which hasn't been the case for at least 2 years so I'm wondering what to do with all my extra time. Miklotov called the other day, and he would like me to start playing FFXI again I guess he's up to level 63 or something.

Wal-mart gets 360 love...

Went to Wal-mart last night for some ice cream (Peppermint is back in season!) and wondered by the electronics dept. I couldn't figure out why there was a whole group of people down the videogame aisle looking at the display case. Come to find they were all watching a kid play Call of Duty on a Xbox 360 display, that was sitting on a shelf just behind the glass. They are using what looks to be a 20" HD widescreen lcd for the monitor, so I'm assuming it was running in at least 720p. Call of Duty looked really good, but definitely had some clipping issues as the soldier on a balcony kept having the gun or parts of his body show through. I was relieved a bit when I seen the static image on the screen that stated "Call of Duty - Prerelease version" so maybe there is a chance they will polish it some more. The clerk behind the photo center adjacent to the aisle said that there were only two stores in Wichita that had the units set up so far (Pawnee & Broadway, and 21st & Maize I believe). I came home to find that evidently this is widespread and Kotaku has some pictures, and videos up, evidently there is also a demo of Kameo on the unit. I would have taken some pictures last night but my phone was at home charging.

Nintendo Wi-Fi, would you like fries with that shake?

Nintendo has announced a partnership with WayPort who provides Wi-fi service in McDonald's (select locations only), and fyi the only location in Wichita that currently has Wi-Fi is the Micky D's located in Sims Park (2615 W 13th St). IGN has the original announcement, and a follow up interview with some more information. This interview also includes the info that in the beginning the USB Wi-fi dongle will only be available via the Nintendo.com website.

IGN also has the first look at Metroid Prime Pinball rumble pack add-on. The Nintendo rep recently put this game in the DS demo unit at EB Games minus the rumble pack unfortunately. :(

And it begins... and XBox 360 gets touched...

Since the GameStop/EB Games merger is complete today saw the first round of downsizing. Gamasutra is reporting here that GameStop will be closing the West Chester HQ, and related Warehouses laying off over 700 workers. :(


Microsoft is throwing a XBox 360 "hands on" junket for journalist in San Francisco, and New York. There are some "first impressions" hitting the net here, and here. Sounds like Perfect Dark Zero may be worth picking up after all, although Call of Duty 2 seems to garner mixed feelings. The footage I had seen before looked really good but one of the impressions said the textures weren't great. On another front Kotaku is also reporting that there may be demo 360 units in stores by October 24th, which would be a month before the 11/22 release.

Gamestop cometh... Xbox 360 news and DS luv.

I was out driving around the 'hood, and seen that the building where GameStop was going in was up. Imagine my surprise when I went around the corner and the GameStop sign was already up! I especially like the "And Movies Too" part. I wonder if that's new or if some of the other more recent stores are like that?


edit: I was informed that is the same as the store in El Dorado (never been there so that explains my lack of knowledge). I guess the "And Movies Too" is based on a larger floor plan than the regular GameStop's.

There is a Microsoft Conference going on called X05 in Europe (Amsterdam to be specific) and some tidbits have emerged... There will be a playable Halo character in Dead or Alive 4, Peter Jackson (King Kong) will produce the Halo movie, and there may only be 3 first party titles available in the launch window (read probably before Christmas). Evidently we will only see Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero (both by Rare), and Project Gotham Racing 3 (from Bizarre Creations) released by Microsoft Games. There were some other new titles announced that you can read about at GameFaction in this article.

Two new games came out today for the Nintendo DS the latest Castlevania, and one I'm looking forward to Trauma Center - Under the Knife. :)

Nintendo is Colorific... Movies, and more.

Well if you didn't know Nintendo just released the GBA Micro (look at the archives for my feelings on the subject), and quietly released updated versions of the GBA SP also. These new versions are backlit (instead of frontlit like the older units) like the new Micro. Below is a shot from an article at IGN showing the differences between all the units (original GBA SP left, New backlit SP right, and Micro bottom).


Anyhow big N released the newer SP's in graphite, and pearl blue, and to my surprise today there is also a Spongebob yellow one. :P Seems Toys'R'Us got an exclusive version of the new SP. I tried to get my wife to spring for one saying that the 15th anniversary gift was supposed to be portable electronics, but she didn't buy that. :(

I heard today also that big N plans on releasing a Red/Silver version of the DS system packaged with Mario Kart DS this holiday season, but I forgot to see if he had any pictures of it.

I forgot to mention the other day that I watched two movies again. History of Violence (which is, yep you guessed it very violent), and Into the Blue. While I liked History it seemed to run a little short, and I would have liked a little more 'story'. Into the Blue surprised me. I figured it would be a cheesy action flick with nice scenery (Jessica Alba :P) which it was, but it had some great Bahamas scenery as well. The story wasn't bad, and there was some gore (shark bite) that I felt was pushing PG-13. Like last time they were both worth watching, but I felt that I enjoyed Blue more.

PSP HaX0r! More fall TV, and missing MMORPG...

Well it was bound to happen. About 4 days ago them pesky HaX0r's found a way to exploit the v2.0 PSP firmware. Yesterday someone released the files necessary to "downgrade" a v2.0 unit back to v1.5, re-opening access to the wealth of homebrew games/utilities that is available. It's important to note that the exploit only works on a v2.0 PSP, so if for some reason you updated to v1.51, or v1.52 (Why???) or had that originally you will have to update to v2.0 before you can "downgrade". :)

The fall TV season is in full swing with new shows, and new episodes for the returning shows. My poor DVR's are working overtime. I'm glad that the Cox DVR allows me to record 2 shows at the same time, there are certain time slots where I record 3 different channels. I've seen the new sci-fi LOST style clones (2 episodes of each as a matter of fact.) and so far I like Threshold the most, followed by Invasion. I really didn't care much for the pilot of Surface, but the second episode this week was much better, although not enough to knock off the other two. I got a kick out of My Name is Earl, even though my wife thought it was stupid. :) I'm also really enjoying How I Met Your Mother, and Supernatural (which I think I mentioned earlier).


It dawned on me the other day that I'm kinda missing FFXI. I've been seeing pictures of the Xbox 360 version, and found out there is a new expansion coming (announced at the Tokyo Game Show). Not to mention that there is supposed to be an update in October that is going to add even more new stuff. I don't think I would like playing on the 360, because I wasn't fond of the control scheme on the PS2. The PC controls are so much easier to use, and since I already own FFXI, and Chains of Promithia on the PC I would only have to buy the new expansion. Of course there is no word on what will be included with the Xbox 360 version of the game, and since it should support HD will the graphics be greatly improved?

More Nintendogs... and I saw The Man.

Well I knew that there was talk of another Nintendogs (the Holiday Edition), but today I found this on DS Advanced...


Nintendo of America has announced today that starting October 24th, they will release a special "Best Friends" edition of their popular title, Nintendogs.

This new version of the game will be bundled in with the two new colors of the Nintendo DS arriving on the same day.

On the 24th, Nintendo is set to release both Pearl Pink and a Teal color portable system. The special bundle is set to retail for a price of $149.99.

The "Best Friends" iteration of the series is set to offer starting puppies such as a Labrador retriever, a golden retriever, a German shepherd, a beagle, a Yorkshire terrier or a miniature dachshund.

Nintendo has also announced that the special promotional bundle will come packed with a Nintendogs themed screen cleaner as well as Nintendo DS skin based off the popular puppies.



I watched The Man today, and it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be from the trailer. Not the greatest "***dy comedy" I've ever seen although it had some pretty funny parts.

Nintendogs... The phenomenon.

Well I finally bought my daughter a copy of Nintendogs. She has played mine a couple times, but since there can only be one save per cartridge it doesn't lend itself easily to multiple players. I told her that we would try to find a pre-owned copy at some point and pick it up. She even traded some games in for credit about 2 weeks ago, but unfortunately they haven't had a used copy come in yet. I've also been waiting for one at work, but that copy never came in (they decided to keep it, or give it away).

While it's not impossible to find a new one most of the ones on the shelf are the Chihuahua & Friends version. I think if more people were informed that all the breads are available on each version (the different cartridges only limit your initial 6 bread choices) there probably wouldn't be any in stock. Anyway imagine my surprise today at SEARS of all places to have all 3 versions, it boggles the mind. This threw her into overdrive pouting because she couldn't get one. I made her a deal that we would go to Best Buy since it was advertised this week, and came with a free "training guide". I figured they would be out of both (games & guides) but they were not. So she is now the proud owner of a Chihuahua & Friends brown & white Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named "Max".

I was commenting the other day that Nintendo didn't have any system sellers coming out this holiday season (since they pushed Zelda back till next year). These dogs may have enough umph to carry through Christmas. I could have sold 3 of these Friday night at work had they been available, but unfortunately we've been sold out for a while. Two of the three still bought DS systems anyway, even though we didn't have the game. It seems to be one of those games that crosses gender, because for every 9-14 year old girl that comes in and ask for a copy, I'll have a boy the same age range ask also.

Okay for all of you that already have a copy I found this site where you can make your own Nintendogs map. It will recreate your in-game map, and show you where all of the "hidden" items can randomly be located on your walks. This is what my in-game map looks like, this is where Flash takes all of his walks. :)

Video games the weird, and ugly...

More from the Tokyo Game Show, the first is called Portable Resort where your stranded on a tropical island with little to do. Here is what IGN has to say about it...

The concept of Portable Resort, an "entertainment tool" for PSP, involves the player freely spending time on a beautiful tropical island. You'll be able to go anywhere on the island, with the in-game world experiencing progression through time and a full day/night cycle. The in-game world is synched up with the current time, so when it's dark out in the real world, the game world will reflect that. Perform all kinds of little fun tasks as you stroll around -- pick up a ukulele from the beach, and you can use your PSP as an instrument, with the analog thumb pad is used to strum, with the face buttons used to form chords. Although interaction is limited, the title is meant to be a part of your playing life often. A stand for your PSP is part of the release (sold separately), so you can keep the system next to your bed or on your table, with the game running non-stop. The game includes alarm functions, so you can use it as a replacement for your alarm clock.


Check out this video from Namco's Japanese site. My PSP can now be a portable ukulele what will they think of next?

But then we progress the new Metal Gear Ac!d 2 will come with a special viewer that attaches to your PSP, so that some parts of the game will display in 3-D. I can't wait to see someone walk into a wall using this contraption! :P No word yet if this will come to American gamers, but I believe chances are slim.

It's time for a Revolution... and feel-good movies.

Well another nugget from the Tokyo Game Show was the unveiling of the Nintendo Revolution controller. Gyro-scope movement, mouse like, and revolutionary maybe, weird definitely. :)




I got around to watching two movies today Just Like Heaven, and The Greatest Game Every Played. Just Like Heaven was a excellent romantic comedy, I really enjoyed it. Greatest Game Ever Played fit the Disney "feel-good sports mold" just like the previous pictures it notes in the trailer such as Remember the Titans, The Rookie, and Miracle. While it achieved it's goal (I felt good, and emotionally drained after it was all over) I would recommend Just Like Heaven over The Greatest Game, although they are both good movies and worth seeing. I beginning to think Disney has some guy on payroll just to go through old sports almanacs, and come up with heart warming stories of triumph.

Xbox 360 is coming... NFL, PSP, and Fall TV

Well they finally announced the launch date! Earlier this morning Microsoft held a press conference before the Tokyo Game Show opened, and stated the official launch date for the U.S. will be November 22nd (my birthday, hint, hint). It launches here first then the European launch follows on December 2nd, and the Japanese launch on December 10th. Now personally, I don't know who's bright idea it was to launch 2 days before Thanksgiving, and 3 days before Black Friday (the busiest retail day of the year). I guess Micro$oft is hoping that if people are going to spend their cash it might as well be on a 360. Although, I foresee a lot of disappointed people getting Xbox 360's only to have them sit under the tree for a month.

I'm still trying to win one from Mt. Dew's Every 10 minutes sweepstakes. I have drank more Pepsi products in the last 2 weeks than I care to remember. I don't think I'll get better odds to win a system than there so I'll keep playing. It would also be extremely cool to win as I hear they will ship out your "prize pack" at the end of October so you could have a 360 2-3 weeks before the rest of the U.S. (-9,000 Mt. Dew winners). Hmmm... I wonder what they would sell for on eBay 2 weeks early? :)

A little late but, how about them KC Chiefs? Just goes to show you that pre-season doesn't prove anything. I'm in about 3 different NFL pools, and let me tell you my 1st week picks sucked. :P Some of the games Sunday were so far off the odds it wasn't funny, I'll try and do better this week.

The white PSP went on sale today in Japan (no word of a US release), and some of the forums have pictures up. It looks pretty sweet, and I hear it "hides" fingerprints way better than the black one. It does come with version 2.0 of the operating system installed which wasn't much of a surprise.

As I mentioned last time the Fall TV season is revving up, I caught Bones, and Supernatural the other night. I enjoyed Supernatural a little more but will watch more episodes of Bones to decide. Bones will have a hard time if they have to dig up a new set of bones every week, I mean exactly how many skeletons can you dig up in year? Tonight CBS starts the new season of Survivor : Guatemala, and tomorrow is the 2 hour premiere of Threshold.

One step closer to Gamestopdum, Fall TV, and I cut the cord.

Well it seems that I'm one step closer to working for GameStop, Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the merger of GameStop & EB. Here is part of the story...


Investors will get the chance to vote on the merger at the annual stockholders meetings, scheduled for October 6. The boards of directors for both EB and GameStop have already advised investors to vote in favor of the merger.

If it's approved, the merger will be concluded soon after the meetings. Operating under the name of GameStop, the company will own more than 3200 stores in the US, with about USD 3.8 billion in annual revenue.

The Fall TV season is coming full steam. FOX seems to be getting an early jump with some series already started (see my Now Watching sidebar) like Prison Break. There seems to be a flood of "good looking" thriller/suspense/supernatural series this season. I thank LOST for opening the floodgate. I don't know if any of these will be as good, but the teasers running for shows like Threshold, Invasion, and Surface peaked my interest. I just got my Fall Preview TV Guide so I will look to see what else catches my eye. My DVR units will be working hard for the next month or so.


I've been looking for a wireless router for a while now (around the time I got my PSP, hmmmm). The price point seemed to be about the same through all the stores, but unfortunately most of them required 2 freaking rebates to hit that ~$45 range. Now these were all "G" units, although I did occasionally find a deal on a "B" unit I just held out. Well Sunday I found that Target had hit the 50% clearance mark on the Motorola WR850G units. I just couldn't pass up a "G" unit for $25, and no rebates to deal with. Set-up was extremely easy (the only stumbling block was a reboot of the cable modem) and fast. I even updated the units firmware from the Motorola website, and I was good to go. I can now say I've surfed the web on my PSP in the living room which was pretty cool. :)

Swedish PSP lovin...

Okay when we get new hardware launches in the US why don't we get chicks with painted on shirts? I think they would go over big at Best Buy. :) They would probably dig those funky yellow PSP cases.

Man them Swedish people are crazy, I mean that in a good way. I gather it was some sort of a PSP launch party, unfortunately alta-vista doesn't offer Swedish translation. Anyway if you want to you can check it out here.

TV & Movies... and looting.

A week or so of feeling like crap, and I really hadn't gotten out much. Anyway the kids are back in school so it's early to rise, unfortunately that means getting up 5 hours before I have to be to work. Been putting my DVR through its paces, just to make sure its ready for the upcoming fall season. Cox finally got off thier arse and added KWCH to my HD line-up (yay!), and I hear that UPN might be up in HD sometime this year (soon?). Doesn't mean Cox will ad them to the line-up, but I believe there is more chance in seeing them before NBC on the DVR. Speaking of HD, I have found that I will watch (linger if you will) a channel in HD regardless of whats on. Bugs (yeah the creepy crawly kind)look really cool, as does anything with a lot of scenic shots (travel shows, and bridge construction). I have even watched some of the US Open which looks awsome on Universal HD (my current favorite HD channel) even though I don't really care anything about tennis.

I actually watched two new movies today! I think thats the first 1st run movies I've seen since Deuce Bigalow European Gigolo (see the feeling like crap part above). Okay I went into Underclassman with low expectations especially seeing as I've only seen the trailer a couple of times on tv. I'll admit I really enjoyed it. There I said it, flog me at will. It was funny, and there were a lot of recognizable people in it (Cheech Marin, Kelly Hu, and Roselyn Sanchez).

Then I went into Transporter 2 being a big fan of the orginal movie. Sorry to say I was a little dissapointed. :( The action was top notch, but it just felt (mainly the action scenes) like deja vu. Its a short movie running just around 88 minutes. This makes all the action bump together, and it never really slows down to you know... tell a story. I figured Luc Besson probably only produced the sequel not having much control, but he also shared in writting the script. If you liked the first one you will probably like this, but I think I would have been more entertained re-watching the first one. On a side note the credits indicated there was a French film unit, but I couldn't tell you what scenes were shot there it all looked like South Beach to me. (I'm guessing but I assume it was some of the interiors).

Last but not least here is how they shop at Wal-mart in Lousiana.

Okay if that wasn't enough check out this video from MSNBC, if you can't stop the cops who are supposed to stop the looters, who can you stop??

Even more PSP's infiltrate the world...

Well today (Sept. 1st) was the European launch of the PSP unit. They ship with v1.52 firmware installed, but include the v2.00 update on the demo UMD that comes with the package. There is a notice in the package that states "Important! Before using your PSP (PlayStation Potable) system for the first time, insert the Demo Disc included in this pack and switch on your PSP for the latest system for the latest system software update. It is only necessary to insert the disc once.", trying to intimidate you into upgrading? Currently there is no way to downgrade from firmware v2.00 back to the hacker friendly v1.50. Someone posted last week that they have found a way to downgrade from v1.51/v1.52, and that information is supposed to be released today.

If you want to check out some screenshots of the French Virgin Megastore launch click on the Jeux-france website.

A long time ago...

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. :( Kinda got caught up in other things, and there wasn't a lot going on.

The releases on the PSP had been very poor. I checked at work before the first of August and noted that we were getting 16 UMD movies, but only 2 games were scheduled for release during the month. You can say Sony had a tremendous launch effort, and within the 'launch-window' seen more games than the DS had out (maybe even up until this day). Alas they were hit with the same software shortage that plagued the DS, but Sony thought they could make up for it by selling movies. I personally have bought 3 UMD movies, and only then because they were cheap (used, on sale, etc..). I had intentions of watching them on the way to E3 back in May but that didn't happen. Since then I have found that with the base unit watching a movie isn't really an easy task, you have to have earphones or you can't get the unit loud enough in an environment with *any* extra noise. Some of this could be solved by using one of the many third party "docks" that have speakers built-in, but only in a office/room area, you could not use this on an airplane or in a car. I found this week on vacation that it is also uncomfortable to hold the PSP while watching a 2 hour movie in a car.

Speaking of vacation, I'm back and can easily say I really miss not having internet access during the week. I'm so used to surfing 5-6 days a week and keeping up on all the news that I felt left out this week, thank heaven for public libraries with internet access. At least I was able to get about an hour *fix* one afternoon.

Of course on the day I surfed I evidently didn't hit the big news of the week, that Micro$oft had announced pricing for the Xbox 360. I'm sure you've heard it by now but a "Core" system with a $299.99 price tag, and the "Value Pack" for $399.99. I see now that I'm back all the fallout from these announcements as some people are livid about this pricing scheme. Personally I feel it's pretty close to the $299/$360 prices that were floating around a month or so ago. After looking at the included items in the "Value pack" I don't really see as there is much to debate, if you want a Xbox 360 that's whats its going to cost you. The "Core" system seems to have been thrown out there just so they could say enter the next gen starting at $299! I will agree that some of the first party accessory pricing seems to be on the steep side ($50 for a wireless controller, or $40 for a memory card?). I guess that means I have about 3 months to come up with $350 (I already have a pre-order down).

The forum post I get a kick out of though are those that say they'll wait for the PS3 because the Xbox 360 is overpriced. Man if that $500 price tag that's floating around now comes true I can safely say I won't have one of those on launch day.

On the DS front you may or may not have heard there is a price drop coming. It's been verified by everyone except Nintendo (I think). The units will drop to $129.99 when Nintendogs is released this month, saving you $30 bucks, or you could look at it like your getting Nintendogs free. I don't know which one will have more impact although I think both will drive DS sales, something that hasn't happened lately. If you can find a Wal-mart that still has DS in stock with the bundled Super Mario 64, and the price drop that could be pretty sweet.

Last but not least I updated the side panel to reflect the last few movies I've seen. The last one being Deuce Bigalow European Gigolo. I had high hopes for this movie (as I loved the first one), but it wasn't too be. It had some funny parts, but mostly I got the feeling they were trying waaaayyy to hard to recapture the charm of the first one.

Movies, XM, and more...

Well I finally got around to seeing Star Wars : Episode III and it didn't dissapoint. I really liked all the little details to tie it into Episode IV, plus it had quite a bit of action which doesn't hurt. By no means the best of the series, but far better than Episodes I, and II.

I also watched War of the Worlds Tuesday night, and it wasn't bad either. The special effects were excellent, and it did not seem to drag along. I don't recall seeing the original version in full, but I recall bits and pieces of it. I know its playing in town Saturday night, and it might be on my to do list.

I finally got my free XM Roady 2 Radio (from a JCPenny promotion about 2 1/2 months ago). I've had it since Wednesday and so far it's awesome. I haven't spent long enough periods in the truck to try out all the stations, but have found a couple of favorites. I won't say it's the greatest thing since sliced bread although it could be close.

The DVR was the last piece of equipment I got that truely blew me away. Does not matter if you buy a Replay, TiVo, or whatever. That little box changed the way I watch TV period. I just commented yesterday to a friend who had joined the DVR ranks to say goodbye to his VCR, and he said he had already unhooked it. I don't see the XM radio in this light yet, but it's really growing on me. I haven't had the car stereo tuned in since I got it. There are just so many options, and truthfully I haven't listened to 85% of the channels yet. Now probably 10% of those I will *never* listen too, but you get the idea.

There has been more hacking on the PSP front. Last week they got homebrew (emulators) to run on v1.50 models (which is the default release here in the states, unless you upgraded wirelessly...). Now they have written a boot loader that allows Lumines to run off a memory stick. Right now there is no sound, but originally it required any UMD to be in the drive. They have already released an update which doesn't require a UMD so the sound can't be far off. It was enough of an insentive I got off my ass and bought a 512 MB stick. :)

Updates...

Well since it's summer, and most of my "What I'm watching" list was out of date. I've updated the side panel for a more current reflection.

The dead are alive, er.. yeah.

Well I watched Land of the Dead this morning, and I must say that is one excellent zombie flick. I would rank the Romero dead movies like this Dawn, Night, Land, followed by Day. Land just can't come before Night, but they could be really close, maybe a tie for second favorite (I'll have to watch Land again, and see if it holds up to repeat viewings). Of course this doesn't include any of the remakes, or similar premise movies like Return of the Living Dead series, 28 Days Later, Zombie, etc.

It had some good gore moments, although like Dawn of the Dead there were more than a couple laugh out loud times too. That might be why I enjoy most of the Return movies also, you get a great dose of horror, but they still manage to provide some comic relief. :P

Speaking of good gore I heard that High Tension (U.S. name of the french film Haute Tension) has some really gory bits. I just couldn't bring myself to watch the half dubbed/cut version that Lions Gate shoveled out, so I picked up the uncut french version (Switchblade Romance the U.K. name of the same french film?!) dvd. So I'm looking forward to watching it at some point.