• 25Apr 07

  I Have Dove Into the Past....and it is Good

  Sure, I have all the latest systems. I am the proud owner of the Xbox360(fantastic), a Nintendo Wii(more fun than a clown car on fire), and a Playstation3 (meh....its ok). But there are times where you are given an oppurtunity to revisit your childhood and look back at what once was. I was given this chance earlier this week.

  My sister called me and stated that while her boyfriend and her were cleaning out their attic, they stumbled upon a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Since they are over a decade old and were just collecting dust, she asked if I wanted them. I couldn't miss this chance to relive my innocent days.

  She dropped off both systems in a box with all the wires, controllers, and some games. At first, I was a bit uncertain of what lie in front of me. Dust and lint had collected in every crack these two systems had to offer and the NES had what seemed like candle wax on it. How could they possibly work? They must be ruined by now.

  I gave them a quick rub down (that wax is still there), and attempted to plug them in. However, I am only able to plug one or the other into the TV and the power outlet. I decided to try the NES first. It already had Super Mario/Duck Hunt in the drive, so I just booted it up. Amazingly enough, the system started with no trouble at all. I started playing Mario and could not wipe the dumb grin off my face. The next twenty minutes took me back to my childhood where I remember playing on a small TV in my bedroom.

  Then I decided to play Duck Hunt (The box also contained the laser gun). However, the game did not function on my TV. Alittle frusturated I attempted to remove the gun controllers wire and plug in the normal controllers wire. However, doing this resulted in the system spazzing out and stopped working. Apparantly pulling out the controllers during gameplay ruins the system. Now I'll never get to see how Excitebike and Bad Dudes are on the NES.

  Annoyed, but being alot more catious, I plugged in the SNES. It also works just fine. I have Super Mario All-Stars so I can play every original Mario game that was on the SNES and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I have played Mario for the most part because it was one of the few games I owned as a kid and is still an amazing amount of fun all these years later. I never had the chance to play the older Zelda games. The first Zelda game I ever played was the fantadtic and perfect in every way Ocarina of Time. Now I can play one of the first in a great fanchise.

  I have all these expensive next gen systems in front of me, but I have not turned them on in days. All I play is the SNES. That just shows how great the system was and how it has a close place in all of our hearts.

  

  RIP NES. I barely knew thy. 

  • Posted Apr 25, 2007 9:22 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 9Apr 07

  Some Of My All-Time Favorite Movies

  I have reviewed some movies in the past and made a few 'Top 10" or "Best Games" lists before. Now, I'm continuing that trend by telling everyone some of my favorite movies. You may not agree with me and you may wonder why I left some better movies out. There is a reason for that. I will only name movies I have seen the whole way though. I will not say how great a movie is if I have yet to see it. Whats the point? These are in no praticular order and cover various genres.

   

  Die Hard

  Die Hard was a fantastic action flick back in 1988 and still stands as one of the best. It had a crazy hero, a cunning villian, lots of guns and explosions, and the standard damsel in distress. This is one of Bruce Willis's best films and also caused the uttering of one of the best catch pharses ever. Yippy Kiay Mother F***ker! (I spelled that wrong)

  16 Blocks
  Since we already started with a Bruce Willis flick, we may as well continue with one. 16 Blocks is one of my favorite films for a couple reason. First off, the actiing, action, and directing is all great. However, another reason I liked this film is because of my father. The main character Jack looks just like my father who passed away in 2004. This is something only I can understand, but evn without that fact, 16 Blocks is still a great thrill ride.

  Accepted

  Lets switch over to comedies for a second. Some may think this movie has no place on this list, but the truth is, it was one of the funniest movies I ever saw. Whether it was the goofy characters, the witty dialouge, or the bizzare premise, Accepted had me laughing the whole way though. I saw it twice in theaters. It also made Justin Long (the actor who plays the main charcacter) a common face instead of just "Hey isn't that the guy on the Mac commercials?".

  Bruce Almighty

  Jim Carrey has been in alot of movies that I have greatly enjoyed. However, one of my favorites has to be Bruce Almighty. Having a normal man be given all the powers of God is a ridiculous premise already, but the things that Bruce uses them for are very humorous. It is a great comedy that everyone can, and will love. I look foward to the sequel.

  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

  Anyone who doesn't consider this film a masterpiece should have their head examined. WWCF came out 19 years before I was born and when I first saw it at the age of 9, I thought it was stupid. However, as I got older and saw it again, I began to love it and appreciate it. Sure, the remake was good too, but you can never argue with an original. I look foward to showing it to my kids some day.

  Hostel

  Out of the chocolate factory and into the torture chamber. Hostel has been called one of the most terrifying and disgusting horror film. I am not a fan off horror movies. I saw it on DVD two years after it was in theaters. Was I scared? Not at all. Was I looking away and then rewinding three times with my mouth egapped? Yes. If you can stomach the violence, you'll enjoy this movie.

  Collateral

  Is Tom Crusie and sadistic wacko who forces his beliefs on people? Yes, but you have to admit, he's been in alot of great movies. My favorite of which has to be Collateral. It has stylish action, humorous dialouge between Cruise and Fox and just plain delivers a fantastic action movie.

  300

  Who wasn't expecting this movie to be on this list? It's not the best movie ever made, but it is highly entertaining. The action is very well done, visually appealing, and its just plain fun to watch someone stab other guys. It's only been out for a few weeks, but I will always love it.

  Assault on Precinct 13

  You may have noticed a large amount of action movies on third list. I'm a guy, enough said. This was a great movie because of what it did right. Large gun battles, smart characters, and enough suprises to keep you entertained. I loved this movie, even if every single person who died got shot in the head.

  The Matrix

  Even if the sequels got worse and worse, the orignal Matrix was one of the best movies ever made. It had some of the best stylish action ever seen and had fantastic acting. Did you know Will Smith was going to be the original Neo? No joke.

  Shrek

  One of the best movies ever. It was beautiful, funny, and delivered a great sequel. I can not wait for the next one.

   

   

  I have made this list alot longer than I originally expected. I would add a few more films, but I think thats enough. Yes, I know there is no Sam Jackson on Denzel Washington material here, but I simply don't have room. They have so many great films that I love. I'll just mention them here. Hope you enjoyed the list. Please comment what your favorite movies are or what you think should have been here.

  • Posted Apr 9, 2007 5:37 pm PT
  • Category: Movies
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• 4Apr 07

  Trade-Ins and New Games

  It has been to long since I blogged. In the past three weeks I have done much to hinder and improve my gaming collection.

  First, I traded in all my Xbox games. Thats over 30 games. If you average those at $50 a piece, thats over $1500 in games. I also gave in a few Playstation2 games and all my Gamecube games. On top of that, I traded in my original Xbox and my Gamecube. I did not take the time to do the math, but that has to be over $2500 in games and gaming equipment. I got $170 for all of it! What a rip-off!

  Anyway, I traded in all these games for the soul purpose of getting Guitar Hero 2 for the Xbox360. I already have it for the Playstation2, but it is such an awesome game that it was totally worth buying again. On top of that, I decided to get DDR Universe. It's fun, but way to hard for someone like me. I can play Guitar Hero on expert, but I can't get better than the basic difficulty on DDR. Atleast it's a good workout.

  Luckily, I found a random Circuit City gift card for $30. With this and some cash I had lying around, I got The Godfather: Blackhand Edition for the Wii. I must say, it is a whole lot of fun. You haven't truly lived until you have strangled a shop owner by shaking your Wii contorller wildly.

  Thats the update on my gaming life. Lost thousands worth of stuff for three very good games. Yay..... 

   

  

  • Posted Apr 4, 2007 2:27 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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