• 1May 07

  I am way too mad for a temporary Sabres fan.

  Hi there.

  IT WAS IN!!!!

  Well.

  I found a Wii.

  It should get here tomorrow.

  I hope it gets here tomorrow.

  It should.

  • Posted May 1, 2007 11:27 pm PT
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• 5Dec 06

  3 years on GS!

  I don't remember what compelled me to register - in the before time, in the long long ago - I wanted to vote in some poll, or something...so I signed up, picked the most creative username EVAR, and went back to visiting randomly every few months. Memories!
  
  But really, I've met some cool cats and had some good fun during my time here, so thanks GS.
  
  Well, it's exam time. I'm kind of going crazy, one, because there's still no snow, two, because I am living off ramen and macaroons, and three, it's...exam time.
  
  But I WOULD like to use this space to extoll the virtues of self-checkout. Bless you, Zehrs, for self-checkout, because it means I can get 5 lbs of macaroons for $3 by punching in the code for jujubes. Honour system FTL. Though they might be catching on, cause I got eyeballed a little last time I was leaving. No worries. If they sic the fuzz on me and I need to go into hiding, I've got a six-month supply of macaroons for sustenance.
  
  And: This WarioWare video has got me thinking of getting a Wii as early as January (JanuarWii? HA! Guys! ...Guys?), a Diesel-free Hitman movie makes me a happy panda, but sad for what could have been, as it means no more spastic laughing fits when I think about the Hitman movie, and Yoshi's Island DS is frustrating, but the good kind of frustrating, not the Trauma Centre kind of frustrating.
  
  Happy Day of the Ninja!
  
  • Posted Dec 5, 2006 6:04 pm PT
  • Category: General
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• 20Nov 06

  Wii: First Impressions

  And I really mean first impressions, like my first and last 45 seconds with the system so far.
  
  AWESOME.
  
  A few days ago my roommate and I discussed the Wii. She grilled me on what games to get, and I half-heartedly admitted (for the thousandth time) that I'm waiting til April (while my soul withers away). She said she'd be getting it as soon as possible, probably with Red Steel. I flinch, but say nothing.
  
  This morning, when I woke up to hysterical laughing and screaming, I knew it had arrived.
  
  So I got my first taste of the Wiimote. And it's way small. I know I'm not telling you guys anything you don't know, but it's just so freaking tiny. And surprisingly light. Verdict: whoa.
  
  Perfect size and weight for my hands. It didn't feel like it was going to fly out of my hands and destroy valuable property, and my fingers fell on the buttons naturally. The B trigger is especially nice. I thought having it on the underside would be awkward (the 'Cube's R button gives me enough trouble as it is), but it's perfect.
  
  And you know, after hearing repeatedly how the controller was designed so it wouldn't intimidate non-gamers, I began to doubt that it could actually be successful. But I really think this is the first controller I could shove into my mom's hands and get her to play with for more than 5 minutes. Seriously. My mom. Who played Tetris on the NES for one 30-second burst in 1989 before declaring it "out of her league" and giving up games forever. Who has never even been that impressed with the DS - I KNOW! - when her demographic is supposed to love it (thanks for nothing, Touch Generations marketing demons!) Revolutionary? Well...I get it, now.
  
  So we fire up Wii Sports, and I try out tennis. For one of the supposedly weaker games in the package, it's really cool.
  
  I thought I'd suffer the same fate as many a Wii noob, but my timing was spot-on, and I connected on all of my shots. 80% of them, however, were long. My favourite thing to do in Mario Tennis is to just rush the net and power smash into the faces of the other team over and over and over. It never gets old, you know? And I was hoping to do the same in Wii Sports Tennis, meaning I got downright violent with the Wiimote. I really wish you could give the opposing Miis black eyes or something. That would be so sweet.
  
  After about five volleys I reluctantly hand it back, cause I'm already 15 minutes late for class. Before I leave she says she's moving out in January to be an RA. Sadface.
  
  So...I'm seriously reconsidering my April plans now, post-launch game void be damned. I'm getting $50 for an academic survey I did, then with Christmas money...I'll be a third of the way there. Meh. Ugh. Heh. Well? My plans for a 360 next year are now pushed back indefinitely.
  
  Negatives...well, yeah, the speaker is pretty cruddy, maybe half as good as the mediocre DS Lite speakers, at best. While it's not a life-or-death issue, it IS a nice little feature, so hopefully it's improved in later builds.
  
  What I'm really interested in now is getting some quality time in with the nunchuk, because my left hand, out there on its own, is a complete spaz. You know, regular controller, hands squished together, I can manage that. There is just some weird dissonance in my brain (I'm extremely left-brained, so maybe the other side is wired a little more sparsely) where fine, independent control of my left hand is nearly impossible. I sprained three of my fingers my first two days with Guitar Hero. I try to bring a fork up to my mouth with my left hand, I stab myself in the cheek. It just does not compute, haha. So while I had a blast today, I think that'll be the make-or-break point for me.
  
  Yikes, longest blog yet. So I spewed a lot of praise here, but after the shock of TGS and the outright hysteria of E3 and the months and years of spec and hype and fighting and blah, I was so worn out, so very tired of it all, and so ready to be disappointed that I just wanted to curl up in my room with my DS forever. But I'm weak, I gave in, and so far? Good show, Nintendo. Just rein in the gimmicky crap and keep a steady stream of good games coming.
  
  It was just so bloody fun.
  
  • Posted Nov 20, 2006 3:48 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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