7/30/2007 - Thriller Remixes/Parodies (3 videos)

Directed by John Landis, Michael Jackson's Thriller video is more a short film than a music video. At 14 minutes, it certainly has less music content than non-music content. It is, however, the choreography of the "dance" part of the video that makes it stand out. If zombies were to really dance, it would probably look like the Thriller video. MJ may be a freak now, but he was actually cool in the 80's...

Of course, with such a popular music video, there is bound to be some remixes and parodies, and YouTube is the ideal place to find them. This first one was found as an extra in the Final Fantasy movie DVD. It's actually a great showcase for the breakthrough computer animation they used (I'm surprised they haven't made more movies like FF with photorealistic CG actors).



The next one may not exactly be a remix or parody of Thriller, but it certainly reminds me of the music video. It is a Japanese commercial for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and like most Japanese commercials, it's a strange one. I mean, I don't think watching this commercial would actually persuade anyone to buy the game. There's not even any gameplay footage!



The last one is a music video that is perhaps an alternate universe version of Thriller sung by Michael Jackson's Indian counterpart Michael Jackson. Unlike MJ's version, this one actually gives me the creeps. And yet, like all Indian music, it is strangely hypnotic. In fact, in GTA: Liberty City Stories, I tune into the Indian station just to retard any activity in my higher level mental facilities.

7/29/2007 - Sony's Embarrassing E3 2006 Press Conference

Like yesterday's video, this one is a prime example of creative editing. Last year's E3 was the proving ground for what Sony considered to be their cash cow in the gaming world for the next few years to come. The Playstation 3 in its final form made its debut with SCEI's president Kaz Hirai's keynote address, and those who aren't impressed by the PS3 have cited this keynote endlessly as the beginning of the fall for Sony. With good reason too, as evidenced by flagging hardware sales and an almost public acknowledgment of Nintendo's recent dominance by their price cut of the PS3.

Sony's problem was that their way of differentiating themselves with their foremost competitor at the time, Microsoft, was to put out hardware of an even higher end, bundling in a very pricey Blu-Ray player that was harder to develop for and expecting the world to think that $600 would be the new standard price point for gaming systems. Nintendo's counter to this was brilliant... they knew they couldn't outdo Microsoft and Sony in terms of processing processing power, so they developed a system (and specifically the control system with the Wii remote) that would have completely games than the XBox and PS3. By doing so, they could keep the price down and bring gaming to the masses. Sony was so focused on becoming a Porsche that they didn't know that most people just drive whatever's most comfortable to them.

It's ironic that I would be showcasing an anti-Sony video when my PS3 is actually on its way to me. Yes, I was seduced by the price cut and the five free Blu-ray movies. It was a really close call between the PS3 and the XBox (which is getting its own price cut), but that 30% failure rate for the XBox really put a nail in the coffin for it. Also, judging from this year's E3, I think Sony's learned its lesson somewhat. They even referred to the embarrassing moments of last year's presentation which is showcased in full effect by this video.

7/28/2007 - Seinfeld Lost Episode

Rated R for defamatory language

After some much needed rest, I'm back to the blog... maybe not one everyday, but I do have a good collection of videos in the queue right now.

Some of these YouTube video makers are true masters at the art of editing. I think one of the best examples of great editing is this video that compiles a collection of Seinfeld clips to create a "lost" episode that is sort of a "What If?" scenario where it was Kramer (and not Michael Richards, the actor who plays Kramer) who said those racist things at the comedy club.



If Michael Richards had come out with a video like this himself right after the incident, I believe he could have saved his career.

7/18/2007 - Video Game Deaths and Game Over Compilation (100th post)

Wow, I can't believe it's been a 100 posts already. I've written more in this blog than I've ever did for an English class. I only wish I was this prolific back then. It's been fun, though. It's helped me gather my thoughts and consolidate my opinions on so many subjects. I think I've gathered a great set of videos that will at least give me some enjoyment over and over again.

I would like to announce that I'm taking a little break, though. While there have been no shortage of good videos out there, weeding out the great ones is getting harder and harder. YouTube's popularity has really soared since the time I started this blog and that means that there are so many more videos to sort through before I find the gems. And if anyone is wondering, my criteria is this: I have to still like the video after watching it the third time. Don't worry... I'll be back after I've compiled a huge list of them.

I think the most appropriate way to usher in this break is to feature this video that compiles Game Over screens from various NES games. I am almost sure which one is the Angry Video Game Nerd's, though. It would have to be Friday the 13th's Game Over screen which he actually praised in his review of the game. It's probably the most blunt Game Over screen in the history of video games.

7/17/2007 - Hit & Run ?

One of the big controversies these days is whether or not we should put cameras on every street corner to deter crime or to catch criminals in the act or to find missing persons. Sounds good, but many people say they would be an invasion of privacy. I guess I wouldn't like to get caught picking my nose or something...but I would give all my privacy way if I could see more videos like this one:



OH SNAP!

7/16/2007 - Jay Leno and Josh Duhamel sniff some gas

The late night wars was over for me a long time ago. I've never liked David Letterman. It's not because of his quirky sense of humor. It's because he doesn't have a sense of humor worth quirking! I mean, quirky is fine, but you have to be funny! Letterman just comes across as some kind of comic snob who thinks that he's entitled universal understanding of his "humor". His jokes and his skits are almost always lame. The only thing worth watching is the Top Ten list and that's only because Dave didn't write them.

Jay Leno may not be the funniest man in America, but he's a fine stand-up comedian. Maybe the biggest difference between Jay and Dave is that Jay doesn't try to be anything more than a comedian. His monologues are almost always well-delivered, and if they're not, he'll tell a self-deprecating joke. My favorite segments of the Tonight Show, though, are the Headline skits on Mondays. I still can't find a good one to submit to him, though.

Here is a recent segment of the Tonight Show which I found hilarious. You know what happens when you talk after breathing in helium gas, right? Well, apparently there is another gas that has the opposite effect. Since it's not harmful, it made a great science experiment, of course:

7/15/2007 - エアーマンが倒せない

A lot of people don't think of it this way, but video games are a true art form in and of themselves. It takes true artists with tremendous imagination to come up with the designs for the characters and environments in these games. A lot of games these days with "good graphics" aren't necessarily ones that have the most number of polygons. Rather, they have talented graphic artists who complement the 3-D digital world with beautifully rendered bitmaps pasted on top of the polygons. For example, God of War and Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess don't compare to games on the next-gen systems in terms of polygon count, but the rich art contained in the game makes them look as good or better than those next-gen games.

Back in the 8-bit era, the game designers had a limited number of pixels to work with. Because of this, game sprites had to be relatively simple, but have enough detail in them to be recognizable as to what they represent. One of the best examples of great 8-bit "art" was the Mega Man games. They had this kind of cartoon art-style that gave the games a whimsical yet post-modern feeling to them. The imagery of the Mega Man games is so iconic, that it is often used in mashups or in music videos like this one:



This music video incorporates some very cool aspects of Mega Man II, my favorite Mega Man game, and my favorite 8-bit game of all time. Also, look for the clever Terminator 2 reference!

7/14/2007 - The Legend Of Zelda - We Are The Champions

Queen's song "We Are The Champions" brings back so many memories for me. It's a song that always gets played during high school assemblies after our athletic teams won... and we had pretty good teams. Monday, April 2, 1990 was a particularly memorable day. It was the day of the National Championship Game between the NCAA basketball teams of Duke and UNLV. I was living in Las Vegas at the time, so I had a rooting interest for the home team. Everybody did.

The Friday before, March 30, 1990, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Movie debuted. Being a huge fan of the cartoon, I was totally psyched for the movie. I was counting down the days, ready to bring my Raphael action figure to the theater. I didn't want to watch it opening weekend, though, because I was sure the movie theater would be packed. The following Monday night was the perfect time to watch it because everybody would be watching the basketball game. My father and I watched the movie in a half-filled theater and it was Awesome...Totally Radical! The theater also had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, so naturally I plunked down a couple of quarters into it right after watching the movie. Sweetness!

When we got back home, the basketball game was almost over. UNLV had a commanding lead, which wasn't surprising, because we had a great team that year. We were able to beat Duke by a record 30 points, and people were celebrating in the streets. I had just watched a kick-ass movie and came home to see our team kick the ass of the other team. All to the tune of "We Are The Champions". It was one of the greatest nights of my life.

I've actually been privileged to be in the cities of two NCAA basketball championship colleges during the time they won their championships. In 1997, I was a junior in the University of Arizona studying Computer Science. March 31, 1997 our team was playing Kentucky for the championship after defeating two other #1 seeds. Kentucky was also a #1 seed, so if we won, we would have beaten three #1 seeds for the title, an unprecedented feat to say the least.

I remember having a programming project due in a few days, so I was in the computer lab for the first half of the game. We couldn't operate a radio in there, but we had the internet. It was the internet in the early days, though, so no streaming video or even audio. In fact, the only thing we had was a Java client that just showed the score and which team had possession. My lab partner and I were monitoring it very carefully, and that little scoreboard on the screen was exciting enough. That game was so close and had so many lead changes that it became too distracting for us to finish the project.

We called it a night at halftime, and I went home to watch the rest of the game. Of course I wouldn't be writing about it if we didn't win, but I have to say that it was one of the most exciting basketball games ever, even if you didn't have a rooting interest. We had to beat them in overtime, after all! Again, there was celebration in the streets, and again to the tune of "We Are The Champions".

So in the context of celebrating the wins of the teams I root for, "We Are The Champions" evokes a real positive response from me. It also happens to be playing at the end of one of my favorite comedy movies from the 80's, Revenge of the Nerds. Therefore, when I saw "We Are The Champions" used in such a creative way as in this video that pays tribute to the Legend of Zelda video games, I just had to add it to My Favorites.

7/13/2007 - Will It Blend? - Glow Sticks

It's hard to predict what will become popular on the internet. If you're an entrepreneur and you want to make it big, you have to have some kind of hook... something that will draw those eyeballs in a creative way. A common hook is having something demolished and destroyed. It's why the Mythbusters are so popular and why people like to see iPhones, PS3s, or Wiis smashed.

Wanna see some things smashed on a somewhat smaller scale? The folks at Blendtec think you do. They've set up a ongoing series of videos that demonstrate their industrial strength blenders by blending things you would never want to do yourself...unless you're a little psycho. And that kind of describes the host of the series, Tom Dickson. He presents himself as mild-mannered in these videos, but anybody who goes ahead and blends a toilet plunger doesn't have all his marbles. I think the best of these videos, though, is the blending of glow sticks... it's something that I've always wondered what would happen.

7/12/2007 - Windows 98 Blue screen of death

It's hard to remember just how bad Windows 95/98/Me was. It's a wonder that so many people put up with it only because it was the most widely used operating system at the time. Booting was slow, installing drivers for peripherals was a pain, the graphical user interface would freeze for no reason, and I'm sure we've all experienced the wonderful Blue screen of death. It's cryptic messages still haunt me today.

In fact, the BSoD was so pervasive, it even made its way onto a demonstration during a keynote address by none other than Bill Gates. You would think that everything would have been rehearsed over and over again so that there would be no surprises in an important presentation. It just goes to show that nothing can prepare for the suckage that is Windows 98:



You just know that guy was in the unemployment line the very next day.

7/11/2007 - Jack Tretton PS3 price cut interview

When they announced that Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix was coming to the next-gen systems, I decided that I really wanted either the X-Box 360 or the Playstation 3. From the beginning, I thought I would be getting a PS3 because I wanted to be able to play all my PS2 games. But then they announced the price. I wouldn't care if it projected holograms... $600 IS WAY TOO MUCH! Couple that with the lack of games for the PS3, my attention turned to the 360.

After all, 360 had some games on there that I really wanted to play, and the X-Box Live Arcade system looked like a great addition for retro gamers like me. But I knew there were things that really irked me. Like the way they labeled the buttons on the controllers. It's like they gave a big "SCREW YOU" to folks who were used to the Super Nintendo button layout (if you have a 360 and an SNES, you know what I'm talking about). That, and the fact that I have to pay yearly for the X-Box Live service. But you know what the final straw was? The 30% failure rate! I don't know of ANYTHING out there that has such a high failure rate! Before I heard that, I even thought about getting a used 360. I'm glad I didn't.

So Sony pulled me back into their camp this past weekend by announcing that $100 price cut. $500 for a gaming system is still expensive, but it's really cheap for a Blu-Ray player. Also, after evaluating the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars, I really think that Blu-Ray is here to stay. I was this close to cementing my decision for the PS3, but then I saw this interview:



Are you kidding me?! What the heck is this about a 10-year life cycle? It's OBVIOUS why they had to cut the price to $100: The Nintendo Wii is kicking their butt! This guy is the CEO and he's totally clueless! I want to scream to him, "You don't know jack, Jack!" Before I go ahead and buy a PS3, I want this guy out of Sony first.

7/10/2007 - CNASN Game Reviews: TMNT

There's no doubt that the Angry Video Game Nerd has a good thing going. He appeals to the retro gaming audience who have gone through their share of horribly bad video games by simply enumerating all the bad points about them. But by doing so as a foul-mouthed "nerd", he crosses that line from being just a reviewer to an entertainer as well.

His popularity has led scores of others to copy his style and methods, so you can find dozens and dozens of angry reviews of bad video games on YouTube. The myriad of these videos somewhat dilutes the effectiveness of AVGN's reviews, but he always finds a way to keep his new reviews fresh. I still like watching all those reviews, though. And yet, sometimes a non-angry review of a good game hits the spot too. Take this review of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, for example:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5so3Lx7WWvE (link shown because embedding was disabled)

This one appeals to me because I've played those games many, many times... in the arcade and on the home consoles. These beat-em-ups were designed to take away your quarters, but they did so knowing that everybody would want to do so because the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were such a hot property back then. It's funny how games based on motion pictures usually turn out to be total crap, but games based on cartoons running at the time became classics. I'm not sure why that is... I'll have to think about that one.

7/9/2007 - Pepto Bismol Monsters

I thought it was just Japan that has weird commercials. I guess we have some weird ones over here too. The only thing I can say after watching this Pepto Bismol commercial is... What Were They Thinking?! Were they trying to create some kind of new dance craze like the Macarena? What purpose do the Godzilla monsters serve? What kind of advertising executive would even sign off on a commercial like this? Does this make you want to buy Pepto Bismol? Actually, it is giving me an upset stomach...

7/8/2007 - Back to the Future Vice City Mod Trailer

As far as movie trilogies go, my favorite has to be the Back to the Future trilogy. The Lord of the Rings movies are great films, and The Return of the King ranks as one of my all time favorites. However, they're so long and I just can't watch all three movies multiple times, especially The Two Towers. I was never a huge Star Wars fan (there goes my geek credentials); X3: The Last Stand sucks compared to X2: X-Men United and X-Men; the Spider-Man series takes too many liberties with the comic storyline; Rambo and Die Hard are getting their fourth movies this year; and I don't like pirate movies.

When I first watched Back to the Future, I was a young boy who was very much interested in science. So much so that I wanted to become some kind of scientist when I grew up (can I have my geek credentials back?). The subject of time travel in the movie really tickled my imaginations and Dr. Emmett L. Brown became my hero. Yeah, there's plenty of bad science in the movies, but the creativity of the writing and film making more than made up for it. Some people don't like the dark nature of Part II, but really enjoyed the part where Marty has to go back to the same time period where he was in Part I. I could just imagine the fun they had in recreating those scenes they did years earlier but from different angles.

And how cool was the DeLorean? With the popularity of the movies, I don't know why that car wasn't more mass-produced. While it would be pretty hard to procure a DeLorean, you can download a mod of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City which contains the Back to the Future DeLoreans as in-game vehicles. In this movie, you can see all three models: the first one that required plutonium to power the flux capacitor, the second one that had Mr. Fusion and could fly, and the third one with the microchip that got replaced with 1955 counterparts. Everything is masterfully recreated, from the fire trails to the 88 mph activation of the time circuits!

7/7/2007 - Tourettes guy-- bird in the house

Rated R for extreme profanity

It's the Tourettes guy again... this is one of his episodes that didn't make it into the "best of" clip show that I previously featured. If you think the Tourettes Guy is a jerk, then this video is for you. You'll see his very inappropriate behavior in response to a sad story from his ex-wife, and then you'll see him get his just desserts when a bird shows up in the house. Needless to say, hilarity ensues.

Some people have commented that Tourettes Guy is a fake... that nobody curses that readily and is willing to have it caught on tape. I guess it's possible that he's just acting or something... trying to make it big on the internet. I, for one, would like to believe it's the real thing... that we're really getting a glimpse into the life of a seriously disturbed (but funny as hell) individual. There are these reality shows on TV featuring "celebrities" like Gene Simmons, Hulk Hogan, and Ozzy Osbourne. They wouldn't hold a candle to a reality show based on the Tourettes Guy, that's for sure.

7/6/2007 - batman dead end

Today's video is probably the most popular fan film of a comic book character...in this case, Batman. There's good reason it's such a hit. Unlike the multi million dollar movies depicting the Dark Knight, this short film features Batman AS HE IS in the comics. In particular, the costume is how Batman's costume should look like. No spandex, no rubber molding, no fake muscles or body armor, and most importantly, NO BAT-NIPPLES!

They get the characters of Batman and Joker pretty right on... almost exactly like they are in the 90's animated cartoon, which in itself is probably THE definitive version of the characters. Batman is portrayed as the hard-boiled avenger of the night and he actually looks pretty scary. And the Joker's grin here is not the latex implant that Jack Nicholson put on. Rather, it's the manic smile coming directly from the actor himself. I really don't know what to think of Heath (Brokeback Mountain) Ledger as the Joker in the next Batman film, but he'd be wise to look at the Joker in this fan film.

As for the appearance of the Aliens and Predators... yeah, it's a bit random. It's not out the realm of the comics, however. In a few miniseries with the crossover companies of D.C. Comics and Dark Horse Comics, Batman has fought against the Aliens and the Predators on multiple occasions. It's not completely unrealistic, either... well, I'm speaking in the realm of the comics, again. After all, if the Aliens got beat by Sigourney Weaver, and the Predators got beat by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Glover, then what chance do they have against Batman???

7/5/2007 - A Scene From Troll 2

You know those Razzie Awards? They're the ones that are given out right before the Academy Awards each year. Instead of celebrating the best cinema can offer, the Razzies represents the worst in the world of motion pictures. If they were to give out an award for the...absolute...worst...acting scene in any movie, it HAS to be this one from Troll 2:



It's so bad, I can't stop watching it. It's so bad, it can't even be considered to be something that's "so bad that it's good". Oh, my gaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhd.....

7/4/2007 - New from Carl's Jr./Hardee's

Tucson, Arizona is not exactly a large city... you can pretty much get to any destination in town in about 20 minutes. It is growing, though, as evidenced by the arrival (finally!) of our very own In-n-Out Burger. This gave me and my cousins a chance to exercise our gastronomic muscles with their custom burgers. The three of us tried our hands at three 5x5 burgers...animal style! Yes, that's 5 pieces of meat and 5 pieces of cheese. So good...

Unfortunately, we probably could not progress to the next challenge of a 6x6 because the 5x5 itself was not an option on their register and we had to ask the manager to do a special order for us. While that's disappointing, it's not as bad as having all the Krispy Kreme stores in Arizona close down. They had such a promising start, too. I remember having to go to Las Vegas or Phoenix in order to taste that hot glazed goodness... and when they opened shop in Tucson, folks from small Arizona cities would come down here for the donuts. Then there was that STUPID Atkins diet fad that made carbs evil and Krispy Kreme bankrupt. Dr. Atkins, I hold you personally responsible for ruining my young adulthood!

Without a Krispy Kreme here, I can't try out the recipe in this video: replacing the buns of a Carl's Jr. Six-Dollar Burger with Original Glaze Donuts! Gotta love the creativity of this guy, even though he's quite the slob.



Yeah! Who needs that extra year of your life?

7/3/2007 - NBA Finals Lebron Etch A Sketch

I used to own an Etch A Sketch in my childhood. It was a strange drawing device that allowed you to control an internal pen with two knobs, one for vertical movement and one for horizontal movement. If you made a mistake, you would have to start over because the only way to clear the screen was to shake it so that the entire screen is erased. In order to draw anything more complex than stick figures, you have to master the diagonal and circular movement with the pen. And to make really good drawings, you have to be creative in camouflaging the connecting lines because you can't "lift" the pen... it all has to be done in one continuous stroke.

I got pretty good with my Etch A Sketch... I could draw faces and duplicate drawings or photographs in front of me. But what is shown on today's video is something I would never even attempt. This guy is an Etch A Sketch god. If you were to look at the final result, it looks like a really good drawing by itself. But knowing that it came from an Etch A Sketch... damn.

7/2/2007 - The Legend Of Zelda Retrospective Part 6

I didn't get into playing the Legend of Zelda games until I bought a used copy of A Link to the Past. It was a good, thing, too... the first Zelda game was hard as hell, and the second one just sucks (IMHO). I had subscribed to Nintendo Power and saw that LttP was voted the #1 game month after month (I think it was up there for at least three years!). I kept putting off getting the game because I thought it was just another RPG or a maze-type game, both genres of which I was not fond of. Boy, was I wrong!

A Link to the Past was the first game in which I became "addicted" to... and when I use that term, it doesn't mean that I would play it over and over. It's sort of an obsession I feel when the game is unfinished, a boss is defeated or an accomplishment achieved, but something else is unlocked in the process, forcing me to investigate further. And that is, in essence, the beauty of the Zelda games. They plunge you into a world where you use your dexterity AND your brains to get past certain obstacles only to have other obstacles appear.

Some people call A Link to the Past Zelda III because it was released after Zelda II: Link's Adventure, but according the text on the game's box, the story of LttP took place long before the first Legend of Zelda game. So, in essence, the game is a prequel to the first two games. The game that would follow in the series would be Link's Awakening for the Game Boy. But was this game a sequel to the first two, or a sequel to the prequel, or a prequel to the prequel? Things were getting more confusing. According to the manual, Link's Awakening takes place months after LttP, which makes sense, because the nightmare boss at the end of the game takes the form of some of the bosses in LttP. So after four Zelda games we have this as the "official" chronology: LttP, Link's Awakening, the original Legend of Zelda, and finally Zelda II. Everybody got that?

Then we come to the game that totally messes things up: the Ocarina of Time. Whenever you have a storyline that introduces time travel, you know you're in for a world of hurt when trying to keep a timeline straight. I'm not sure if it was in the manual, or the box, or in Nintendo Power, but OoT is supposed to take place even before LttP. Yes, that's right... a prequel to a prequel. I really have to ask now... WHY? Why obfuscate such an epic storyline by continually putting out games whose major releases are prequels (LttP, OoT) and then release minor sequels to those games (Link's Awakening, Majora's Mask respectively)? Why can't it be like the Mario games? Each game in that series is a direct sequel to the game before it. No prequel BS!

Well, the folks at GameTrailers tried their best to come up with their own Zelda timeline, trying to use the story elements as a guide while ignoring the "official" sequence as stated by various instruction manuals and boxes. They even go the Back to the Future Part II route by splitting the timeline to fit their concept. Note that this was postulated before the release of Twilight Princess, which I believe ruins their best laid plans...

7/1/2007 - Shawn drops iPhone in Houston

So, one day after the big iPhone launch, and what becomes the most popular iPhone video on YouTube? It's of this guy, carelessly dropping his iPhone during the unboxing of it:



So why did this become so popular? My guess is that a lot of people out there are a little sick of hearing about the iPhone. Interestingly enough, it wasn't Apple themselves that generated all the hype. It was mainly the tech blogs and constant speculation of a product that was announced 6 months in advance that drove the iPhone frenzy. Really, all Apple did was put out 4 or 5 commercials of the iPhone during the last month. And yet, the anticipation for it was constant... leading some, especially those who read tech news and blogs everyday, to wish that the launch day would pass just to get on with their other business.

Also, there are those who have a bit of iPhone envy. Not everybody can afford the $500/$600 to get one and then pay AT&T at least $60/month for the pleasure of having the latest and greatest from the folks at Cupertino. So when we, the "common folk", see somebody drop and possibly damage their shiny new gadget, there's a little bit of satisfaction in the form of schaudenfreude that we experience. I know, it's bad... but we're all human.