Def-Step

  I'm feeling brain dead and unmotivated today, so this is going to be a short post. Since everyone seems to have such a boner for Dubstep these days, I'm going to post a remix of one of my favorite bands, Deftones. The song is My Own Summer (Shove It) remixed by Bar 9. It's the first Deftones song I learned to play on guitar many years ago.

Nintendo 3DS Augmented Reality

   I got this from Gekobot's blog, but it's so cool I thought it deserved a repost. It's a demonstration of "Augmented reality" on the 3DS.

 "Augmented reality (AR) is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real-world with a simulated one."- from Wikipedia.


  This got me really excited, I haven't owned a hand-held since the Gameboy Pocket, but this has made me consider upgrading my crusty old GB. Especially with a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake being one of the launch titles.

  If you liked that then please check out Gekobot's blog, he has a lot of cool posts like this one.
http://gekobot.blogspot.com/

Nintendo Nostalgia Part 4

   For part 4 of this series I'm going to do an all racing game edition. Again, this is not a best of list or anything like that, it is only a few of my favorites, and in no particular order.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

   Mario Kart 64. Let me get this game out of the way. We all know Mario Kart, it's Nintendo's racing game. You drive around racing other Nintendo characters, throwing bananas peels, and turtle shells, shrinking people and more. The racing aspect of the game was excellent, but I really like the battle modes. The objective was to hit the other player three times without being hit three times yourself. It was a lot of fun, and I don't see many games with this type of gameplay and it's too bad.

   Lego Racers. Lego Racers is a fairly generic racing game with pretty much the same elements of gameplay as Mario Kart. Except you got to build your own vehicles from Legos. I was a huge Lego fan when I was a kid, and this game was a lot of fun. You could spend a long time just creating cars, which was a blast for me.

   San Francisco Rush 2049. This game was an absolute blast. You race around hitting ramps, and sprout wings to do flips and rolls with. I didn't play the traditional racing mode of this game very much. The best part for me was the stunt mode. You pick up speed and hit ramps trying to do as many flips, spins or rolls as you can without wrecking yourself. It was one of my favorite multiplayer games.

   Wipeout 64. An arcade style racing game similar to most from the genre. There isn't really anything special about this game, you get what you would expect. You fire rockets, lazers, machine guns, plant mines, to stall your opponents and win the races. It's nothing revolutionary or innovative, just a lot of fun.

 Excitebike 64. This was Excitebike's jump to 3D, and offers pretty much everything you would expect it to. You have a Season Mode, lots of tracks and the over the top feel that the original had. And of course you had the Track Editor to create your own tracks. You could even play the original Excitebike, which was probably my favorite part.

  Ok guys that's part four, I hope you enjoyed it. I may have one or two left in me, then I might move onto NES or SNES games.

Zelda the Movie

   I've been thinking about video game movies lately. The first video game movie I remember seeing was Super Mario Bros. and what a glorious piece of shit that was. For the last several years Hollywood has been on a remake kick, with comic books, old T.V. shows, old movies, and of course video games, I guess they just ran out of originality and have to ruin our old favorites.

   When I first heard about the Hitman movie I was pretty excited, until I saw this pussy looking dork they decided would portray Agent 47. But that's an entirely different rant. The same thing with Max Payne, these guys were supposed to be hardened killing machines, not pampered looking, mediocre at best actors. But I digress.

   On to Zelda. Since the Mario movie, Nintendo hasn't been dishing out the rights to Hollywood for their major franchises. And I am very grateful for that. There have been some fan made Zelda movie trailers, which are good for what they are. But not every video game needs to be made into a movie. Zelda isn't about epic battles and thick storylines. It's about engaging gameplay, some puzzle solving, and a fairly generic "rescue the princess" storyline. Some (all) video games just need to stay games. Please don't take a shit all over one of the most loved video game franchises of all time.

   That being said, there is no conformation of, or real plans of a Zelda movie, just a few rumors. This is more of a rant about video game movies in general.

Sublime

   Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite bands, Sublime. Sublime was a three piece reggae/punk band from Long Beach California consisting of Brad Nowell on guitar/vocals, Bud Gaugh on percussion, and Eric Wilson on bass. Sublime mashed together many different genres of music to get their own sound. They sampled a wide variety of artists from Bob Marley to Just-Ice.

   Unfortunately front man Brad Nowell would die before they reached a high level of fame and success. Since his death, Sublime has become one of the most well known bands to come from the 90's. Sublime is a rare band wherein every member is exceptionally talented, instead of being carried by one or two talented musicians. With awesome drum tracks, amazing basslines, great guitar playing and vocals, and brilliant song writing, sublime sticks out from the crowd of grunge and garbage pop from their decade. If you haven't heard them, and you enjoy this kind of music, I highly recommend giving them a listen.

American Movie

   Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite movies, American Movie. It is a documentary film by Chris Smith, that follows Mark Borchardt as he tries to reach the American dream. Mark is middle aged guy, working as a paper boy and cemetery grounds keeper, who only passion is film making. The film documents Mark as he tries to finish his movie Coven, which he had started several years previous, in order to make enough money to make his dream film Northwestern. 

   This film is a masterpiece. The characters are lovable. And the movie is endlessly quotable. With Mike Schank, the burnt out right hand man of Mark. And uncle Bill, the senile old man. This film has you laughing your ass off. While inspiring you to follow your dream. If you haven't seen this film before I highly recommend it.

   Also thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, for those who asked I turned 22.

Birthday Post

   It's my birthday so I'm not going to do a full post. Instead here is a video of a flying scorpion.

Nintendo 64 Nostalgia Part 3

  Ok, this is my third installment of Nintendo 64 Nostalgia. Today I'm going to cover a few more Nintendo 64 games from my past. This is not a best of list, it is simply some of my favorites, and in no specific order. In case you missed the first two here is a link for...

Nintendo 64 Nostalgia part 1

Nintendo 64 Nostalgia part 2

Nintendo 64 Nostalgia Part 4

   Super Smash Bros.. This game is Nintendo's version of a fighting game, and it is awesome. It sheds the traditional fighting game style, and delivers everything you would expect from Nintendo. This is probably my favorite multiplayer game on the Nintendo 64. It was just an absolute blast playing with 3 other friends, falcon punching Kirby into oblivion, throwing barrages of pk thunders. This game is still as fun today, as it was years ago.

    Mario Party 2. Another multiplayer Mario game. Mario Party 2 is basically a board game, with lots of mini games. Of the 3 Mario Party titles, 2 is the one I played the most frequently, that's really the only reason I chose this one. This game is just loads of fun. It randomly puts you on teams of 2v2 3v1 or FFA, for the mini games after each round. We've all cursed that bastard Wario for stealing our star.


 

 Cruis'n World. An arcade style racing game. This is another awesome multiplayer game. Cruis'n World, had you doing just that, cruising the world. You would start in Hawaii, and race all around the world, back to Florida, where you board a spaceship that takes you to the moon. You can do wheelies, drive on two side wheels, do flips, and barrel rolls.

   Blast Corps. Ok, it's time to break up this multiplayer lovefest. Blast Corps has you racing in front of a truck carrying a nuclear weapon, and you must clear a path, otherwise the nuke is going to blow. It's really just all about destruction. You tear down buildings in a variety of different vehicles. This game is so fun, it's easy to forget exactly what you're doing, and go on a destruction rampage, until the truck driver hits something, blowing everyone up.

  Space Station Silicon Valley. Made by the guys who would go on to make the GTA series, and it really shows. Space Station Silicon Valley has you running around different levels, hijacking animal's bodies trying to save humanity. It is basically an early Nintendo toy version of GTA, and it is a lot of fun.


  Ok, that wraps up part 3 of Nintendo 64 Nostalgia. I hope you enjoyed it, and maybe thought about some good times from your past.

Black History Month: Dave Chappelle

   Earlier this week I did a post about Jimi Hendrix, and I figured I would talk about another one of my favorite people. Everyone has watched Chappelle's Show, or at least heard of it. The show sold more DVDs than the Simpsons.  Below is a video of a bit called Kid's Cartoons. This video is NSFW!
                                                

                                                                         Video is NSFW                                                                       

  But what I want to talk about is his stand up. Many comedians talk about real issues that plague society, George Carlin probably being the most well known to do so. It's easy for me to just get depressed while listening to Carlin spit the unadulterated truth at me. But Chappelle is very subtle about it. He may slip it in, and if you're not paying attention you might miss it. Not only that but he keeps you laughing the entire time. He has the perfect mixture of thought provoking material, originality, and of course some doo-doo humor.

Nintendo 64 Nostalgia Part 2

   Since everyone seemed to enjoy my Nintendo Nostalgia post, I thought I would follow up with a few more. Again this is not a definitive "Best" games list, it is simply some of my favorites that I enjoyed as a kid, and is in no particular order.

   Perfect Dark. Yesterday I talked about GoldenEye, well Perfect Dark is basically GoldenEye 2.0. The basic setup is the same, but this game had some awesome weapons, and awesome levels. I'm not sure if it is harder, but it seems like this game kicked my ass more than GoldenEye ever did. But my favorite part of the game was the co-op. This is one of the first games I remember to have co-op, and me and my neighbor would spend hours playing this game.

  Pilotwings 64. In this game, you just basically flew around in different types of flying machines completing objectives. While I enjoyed the normal gameplay. The best part for me was just flying around exploring. This was the first sandbox type game that I remember playing, and it had a huge impact on me. I will never forget putting on those giant wings and just flying around, and sometimes into those flames burning myself.

   Starfox 64. No, I haven't forgotten about this one. This is still, quite possibly, the best flying game I have ever played. I have beat this game hundreds of times, in any possible combination. I'm not sure what else I can say about this game. It's just simply amazing, if you have never played this game then you are seriously missing out.

    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. That's right, the beginning of the Tony Hawk franchise. I was so excited when this game came out. Me and my friends were huge Tony Hawk fans, we even formed our own group that we were going to take to the X-Games. While nothing ever came of that, we still had the game. Flying downhill at break-neck speeds, grinding, flipping. But most of all the soundtrack in this game was just awesome.

   Extreme-G 2. I don't think I've put a racing game on this list yet, and we all know Mario Kart is a great game. So I'm going to talk about X-G 2. This game has you racing 2 wheeled vehicles at insane speeds. It's all you could really want in an arcade style racing game. It has heat-seeking rockets, lazers, mines, bombs, machine guns and more. This game is HARD, it kicked my ass relentlessly. I remember watching my cousin get farther in 1 hour, than I had ever gotten, and was just in awe.


   Ok, thats five more for you. I still have a good bit more which I will probably get to eventually. I also have a lot of NES and SNES games that I can get to if you guys want to see some of that.

   For part 1 click here
   For part 3 click here 
   For part 4 click here 

Nintendo 64 Nostalgia

   Earlier this week I posted a blog about NFL Blitz, so I figured I would post some of my other favorite N64 games, mainly for the nostalgia. This list is not necessarily a "best games" list, just some of my favorites that I remember, and in no particular order.

 Let me get some of the obvious ones out of the way first.

   The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Out of the two N64 Zelda games, I can't really pick a favorite, but I'm going to put Majora's Mask on this list because it doesn't get the praise that it deserves, while Ocarina gets plenty of praise. The 3 day system really made the world feel alive, and made you feel like you had an actual impact on it. I really enjoyed the mask system, being able to play some of the classic Zelda races. And the Fierce Deity Mask was just bad ass.

   Mario 64. Theres nothing I can really say about this game that hasn't been said already. It was Mario's jump into a 3 dimensional world. It showed us how good a 3D platformer could be. Yoshi even makes an appearance when you collect all the stars.

   GoldenEye 007. Another game that everyone knows and loves. GoldenEye was the grandaddy of 3D multiplayer FPS games. Going back and playing it now, this is one of the few games that just hasn't really aged well, mainly due to the controls. But back in the day GoldenEye was king.

   Banjo-Kazooie. Another 3D platformer. A bird and a bear team up to save Banjo's little sister Tooty from the evil witch Gruntilda. This game is just awesome. It's funny, the characters are great, the music is great. You can shoot eggs, fly and smash things, and visit the local witch doctor who will transform you into something useful. But what really stands out in this game for me, is the environment. Each level is very well done, and feels very involved. My favorite was Click Clock Wood, I loved that place.

   

 Jet Force Gemini. Yes another Rare game. Jet Force Gemini is a sci fi, third person shooter. You travel around from planet to planet collecting things to save your friends, or something like that I don't really remember the plot. The plot isn't really important, what is important is the game play. With lots of awesome guns, 3 playable characters (one being a flying dog with lazers on his back), and a co-op mode, this game truly is a gem...imi. Although it does suffer the same dated controls as GoldenEye.


   Okay thats 5 games, I'm going to end it here even though I'm not even a quarter of the way though my list I made. If you guys want to see some more, leave a comment and let me know.

  For part 2 click here.
  For part 3 click here.
  For part 4 click here.

Half Life 3: Where Art Thou

   Half-Life 2 was released in 2004, and was instantly one of my favorite games ever. So you can imagine my joy when they announced the release of 3 mini sequels. While the 3 titles would be shorter than an average game, they were compensating that by releasing them  in short succession. Or so they said.

   Half-Life 2: Episode One came out in 2006. I was thrilled when it did, and quickly played though it in no time, which was fine, it was expected. I assumed we would see Episode Two within 6-8 months, after all thats is pretty much what they claimed. But, I was wrong, it would be over a year until we would get our hands on some new  Half-Life content. Well, whatever that was fine, I guess a little over a year isn't too bad of a wait. Besides I'm sure they were busy with their new titles  Team Fortress 2, Portal, and, Left 4 Dead. But god damnit, it has been 4 years since we have seen any new content.

   I can only assume (and hope)  that  Half-Life 2: Episode Three, has been scrapped, in favor for an entire full sequel. Because if after 4 years, I get some 2 hour long game, I am going to be super pissed.

   I also found this Xbox 360 case mod, which is pretty cool but... if you're playing Half-Life on a console, then you're doing it wrong.

Black History Month: Jimi Hendrix

   In honor of Black History Month I'm going to talk about my favorite person ever. Many people would agree that Jimi is the greatest guitarist of all time. Whether you share the same sentiment, or not. It's hard to deny that his influence was greater than any single guitarist. Nearly any rock song you hear from 1970+ was influenced directly, or indirectly by Hendrix. And the fact that he did all this as a black man in the 60's, is an accomplishment in itself.




   Machine Gun is my favorite song. Every time I hear it, my mind is still blown away by the sheer badassery.If you are a fan of music, and you haven't listened to Jimi Hendrix, then what are you waiting for? Kick back and listen to some of the greatest sounds ever recorded.

NFL Blitz Awesomeness

   NFL Blitz is the greatest football game ever. Before Blitz, football video games consisted of titles like Madden which tried to simulate the sport in a realistic fashion. That may work fine today, but for me it just wasn't fun. It was tedious and frustrating.

   But hold onto your asses because here comes Blitz. They made a game that cut the bullshit and replaced it with action, lots of action. No more refs, or penalties . Any sense of fair play is gone, because this game will cheat you so hard, you will be on your knees screaming. This game was accountable for most of my broken controllers.

   Do you remember those old Blitz arcade machines with the memory card readers? You could play your own team on an arcade machine. How many games have done that? Although it seems a little redundant, it's just icing on the awesome cake that is Blitz.

The Dawn of Man

   After two minutes of black screen and suspenseful music. I began to wonder if I was watching a movie, or listing to an orchestral record. Having just watched Rocky, I was ready for some action. After a few more minutes I understood. I wasn't watching a standard, mind numbing, action movie. This was a long journey, and the introduction is necessary to set the pace of the film.
 
   As clichéd music scores play in the title, I have to remember that they weren't  so at the time.The cinematography is excellent. The scenes are beautiful and further help to set the mood and pace. Although the "monkey suits" seem a little fake, the actors do a nice job of seeming ape-like. It was interesting to see a primitive social structure. The cheetah killing one while the others watched, and the interaction between the two groups both made me laugh, which seemed to happen more than I expected.

   Then all of a sudden there is a big black rectangle sticking out of the ground, surrounded by screaming apes. Which apparently grants intelligence or something, because soon after, one ape learns how to use a bone as a skull crusher. I couldn't help feeling a little proud as I watched my ancestors down pig after pig, and eventually the the leader of the other tribe. Reclaiming the waterhole for a new kind of ape. Who will go on to claim the planet, and eventually the stars.


   Intro.................................................................................Click here


   Part 2................................................................................Coming soon

2011: A Space Odyssey

   2001: A Space Odyssey, the epic Sci-Fi masterpiece, was released in 1968. It created something entirely new, a "realistic" (for the most part) space movie. It also set a high standard for any film from the genre, with special effects unlike anything done previous. Beautiful cinematography, and an atmospheric space feeling.

   In 1989, I was born. And now in 2011, 43 years after its release, I watch it for the first time. This is going to be a little review or something. I'm going to try to give new perspective, on an old classic, and see how well it holds up today.

  I'm going to break this down into 4 sections, like the movie:

  The Dawn of Man .............................................................Click here

  TMA-1................................................................................Coming soon

  Jupiter Mission..................................................................Coming soon

  Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite.........................................Coming soon