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.