Sunday, May 31, 2009

Over

Another year, another gaming convention. It's unfortunate my last game was canceled, but oh well. I tried some new things and some old things, and generally had a good time.

Oh, and just for fun, I'm going to list my ten favorite games I've played over my 9 years of conventioning.

10.Apples to Apples
9.Clay-o-Rama
8.Wrasslin'
7.Corruption
6.Cosmic Encounter
5.Munchkin
4.Illuminati
3.Toon
2.Talisman
1.Super Giant Monster Showdown

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Monday, May 25, 2009

Record

Hurray for a week of new computer!

So this week is the annual gaming convention. I'm pumped for some Munchkin action, man! PUMPED.

And then next week is E3 2009: Return of the Nerd Circus. My new rule states that I am to expect nothing, preventing disappointment and increasing surprise. I'm going to stick to that. I will, though, be very very surprised if Nintendo announces a new Zelda. I have my reasons for this.

I was thinking of possibly doing one of those posts where people list music they listen to with a theme. I was going to post about the music I associated with the last few years. But then I realized that there were large gaps. Oh well, here's two of them:

2005: Monkey Gone to Heaven - The Pixies
2008: Friends - Ween

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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Crunch...Animals!

I finally got Punch-Out!! I'm enjoying it so far, even though the great land of Frustration is once again in my presence. Seriously, fuck you Bald Bull. But I was able to get to the Title Defense mode at this point, which means I'm on my way!

After watching several videos on evolution, I started looking through the lists of prehistoric animals. One has caught my eye so far - Doedicurus, a relative of the Glyptodon, AKA big-ass armadillos. I love armadillos, I consider them one of my favourite animals. So, knowing that at some point in history a giant armadillo with a spiked club tail existed tickles my fancy. Eheeheehee.

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Monday, May 11, 2009

DR.E.A.M

This has probably waited too long, so not every detail is clear and thus it is less entertaining.

The dream took place at work...or at least a grocery store very similar to it. It actually kind of looked like IGA at times...anyway, the main thrust of it was that the last episode of a TV show I liked, which I'm pretty sure was Sealab 2021 (which is funny, because that show ended about two years ago). There were TVs strewn about on the racks that I used to watch it...and it didn't look much like Sealab, to be honest. There was something else about it, too, that made it a must-see for me, although I can't remember what that was, exactly.
I also wandered the store, finding dream strangeness about. No specific examples of it that I can remember. See, I told you waiting so long has sucked all the fun out of this.

But yeah, first new 'major' dream in a while.

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Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Prediction + Health Update

I seem to be getting sick again. Maybe it's the H1N1 virus (man, what a 133t name). There has been one reported case around here. Of course, it was in a child from a school I haven't been to since grade 8, so unless it's diffused into the populace at a much more rapid rate than health officials knew, that seems unlikely. More likely I'm coming down with a common disease. It feels like the same shit I got last fall. Which wouldn't be too good, because that sick time sucked, but it still better than OMG FORIN PANDEMIC.

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To update my game prediction posts from before (if you haven't stopped reading by now, DO IT. STOP READING.)

For Punch-Out!!, we have a few more confirmations. We have actual footage of Piston Hondo and Great Tiger now. Also, the ESRB website description pretty much comes out and says Super Macho Man and Soda Popinski are in the game, which fits my list. Current reviews point to 'a few' nods to Super Punch-Out!!, which means that someone else from that game will show up alongside Bear Hugger (I'm still going with Dragon Chan on that).

With Piston Hondo, though, I must take off one my original list, and it'll probably be original final boss. The final boss seems to be silhouetted on the web site (why else would the one unfilled profile be there since day 1?), and it looks like...a buffed up Mr. Sandman? That would be odd.


Now, Smash Up. Nothing big, but the current post on the developer blog says that "the characters all utilize a weapon of some sort", which would mean the characters in the game would have to have some sort of weapon. It's a pretty open phrase, I mean anything could be used as a weapon. I don't think it hurts the stuff I had in my prediction post, but its something to consider.

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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

I art usefal

In me news, I discovered Google Reader the other day. It is awesome and amazing.

I have been listening to many old/new albums recently, as well. On the list:

Both Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew. I'm not a big listener of jazz, so I don't have a really informed opinion, yet. All I can say: it's crazy!

Also, a friend of mine inspired me to download Krautrock. So I have two examples of it, one of which (Kraftwerk's Autobahn) is awesome, and the other (Tago Mago by Can) is too weird to determine how much I like it on one listen.

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Saturday, May 02, 2009

H

A thought occurred to me not that long ago:

Back during they heyday of The Simpsons, there were a number of different writers and show runners with their own distinct styles that nerds who watch the show enough (or listen to the DVD commentary) can be able to pick out. Soon enough, you'll be able to figure what was Oakley/Weinstein episode, what was a Mirkin episode, etc. So, during that period, there were talented people who had an impact on the show.

So, here is my query: What is stopping a group of talented writers and directors from coming onto the show now and making it good again? Given that the people who grew up on the show, now my age or older, could now be entering the creative industry, possibly as TV writers. If the show refuses to go down in the future, is it not possible that new recruits to bring the show back up again?

Now, considering that, I must remember there are some other factors to consider:

1)What is the creative environment on the show like today? I wouldn't necessarily think that the show is under more corporate scrutiny now than ever before. The execs have given the show a lot of creative space, and they probably recognize that any sort of exercise in control would hurt their image in the eyes of the audience. Even so, there's still the possibility that the show, which is now considered a staple (ubiquitous, even), may have a different atmosphere for the writers than it did during the earlier seasons.

2)Who are the creators on the show now? I honestly don't know, since I stopped watching. When did they come one? How long have they've been on? Where did they come from? The answers to these questions would likely have an impact on new writers coming onto the show.

3)Is it possible that the show has simply run out of possibilities? That there are no more stories to tell with these characters, this setting? That seems to be a very possible thing, too. As I said, I don't watch the show anymore, but any glimpse I get of it seem, for the most part to be spinning its wheels. Oh look, more marital problems for Homer and Marge! Bart/Lisa finds another possible love interest! I also notice a growing number of fantasy episodes, which in a show like The Simpsons really should be kept at a minimum. All this seems to suggest that there's really nothing left for the show to say, although it could also just be that we have a bunch of hacks in the monkey house.

4)Do any of these creative types even really want to work on The Simpsons, rather than go off on their own? This is an issue that is common for people who want to break into the comics world as well. Especially when you're a big fan, writing your favourite characters would be a dream come true, whether it's Homer Simpson or Spider-Man. But even if you are a big fan of some property, you could still be incredibly savvy about what working on that property would entail. I would think just as many Simpsons fans (myself included) would rather go off and create their own thing using the inspiration they got from the show. This is not a bad thing. It is likely that most of the good comedy we see today and will see in the future comes from people who grew up on The Simpsons (although I won't discount that the major creative figures from the show, Greg Daniels and Oakley/Weinstein for example, have also become diffused among these shows as well).

It was just a thought, though. I thought that would probably have been more relevant three years ago, as by now everyone just wants Fox to let the show finally die with whatever dignity it has left. But that's unlikely to happen any time soon.

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