8/31/2008 - The Shining (with robots)

One of my favorite horror movies has to be The Shining. One time I visited an off-season hotel similar to the one in the movie, and I couldn't help but be reminded of the creepy feeling of when I first watched The Shining. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get out of the hotel. I'm not a big fan of director Stanley Kubrick's slow methodical style, but he did make it work in the context of the horror/suspense genre. Really, there is no other way to convey the sense of cabin fever turned to madness that develops within the characters other than to draw out every scene to a degree where the audience is also feeling unrest and dread.

Just take one of the most famous scenes in the movie where the kid Danny rides around the hotel in his tricycle and encounters twin girls that used to stay at the hotel. The image of the twins by itself is really unsettling. Then the way they talk in unison sends chills up the spine. But then, out of nowhere, there is a subliminal image of the twins' bodies after they were butchered by an axe. The first time you see it, you will jump out of your seat. I thought it was funny when this scene was shown in the movie "Twister" playing in the drive-in theater. I was actually more interested in seeing this short clip of The Shining than the entire movie of Twister.

I don't want to show the actual scene in question in all its gruesomeness, so here it is presented in a G-Rated form... with robots!

8/30/2008 - Super Kaizo Mario World part 4 speed up

I've played plenty of difficult games before... the original Ninja Gaiden series comes to mind. And of course there was the scourge known as Battletoads (the fact that some people have actually completed that game still blows my mind). While these games are hard, they were still good games and made losing at them less of a hair-pulling experience.

There are, however, "fan-created" games that are purposely designed to be near impossible to play. There was a PC shooter that was on display at the Iron Man of Gaming where most people couldn't survive the first level. And then there are games like Super Kaizo Mario World based on the SNES platformer that is truly impossible to play through without the use of save states. With save states, you can stop the game at a point where you survived a harrowing obstacle and return to that spot even after you die. Yes, it's basically cheating and would normally diminish the fun of playing the game because there is no consequence of dying if you can just reverse that death with a push of a button.

But with Super Kaizo Mario World, you simply have no choice. Watch any "speed-run" video of this game and you can see that it was created by the devil himself. These videos aren't even possible without recording only the parts facilitated by the save states. Here's one of these recording sessions of the game along with "commentary" from the player. Because it was so long and tedious, the video was sped up, and it's actually funnier that way. Listen carefully and you can still make out the profanity:

8/26/2008 - Soul Calibur 4 - The Incredible HULK Character

A few weeks ago, I didn't think I'd say this, but I'm really tempted to get the game Soul Calibur 4. I've never really played the other games, but I figure it has to be halfway decent to garner 3 sequels. In truth, I've been itching to get a fighting game, especially one where you can challenge others online. The thing is, I'm desperate for Capcom to release either Street Fighter II HD Remix or Street Fighter IV, but they haven't even given out a release date yet!

In the meantime, I'm looking at these very beautiful screens and amazing videos of Soul Calibur 4 and I have to admit that playing as Darth Vader on the PS3 would be pretty cool. What really intrigues me though is the ability to create your own custom character for use in the game. I've seen all sorts of characters that people have created... mostly based on other video game characters and even comic book characters. Any regular reader of my blog would probably figure out who I would create, but it looks like I have been beaten to the punch:



Hmmm... I don't think I'd have the Hulk's pants as destructible armor, though...

8/25/2008 - Microsoft Surface Sphere

I've ridiculed Microsoft's attempt at touch screen technology with it's Surface tabletop computer. I mean, compare their vision of a touch screen computer that's hundreds of pounds with Apple's iPhone that you can put in your pocket. As ridiculous of a concept that the Surface table is, however, it is being used in hotels and bars as sort of glorified kiosks and social magnets. Microsoft's next iteration of their surface technology, however...



Seriously, I cannot see any redeeming value of this product. If this was a product that was greenlighted after Bill Gates retired, then he should really rethink that decision once he see this. Between this and Vista, I'm surprised more people aren't moving to LINUX!

8/23/2008 - Warhawk tips & tricks

I'm so glad Sony and Incognito are supporting the game Warhawk for the PS3. It's the first PS3 game I bought and it's still my favorite after more than a year. Every few months they release a patch or a booster pack that really changes the game and mostly for the better. Since the game came with a headset, I think it was the best $60 I've ever spent on a game. The thing I like most about Warhawk is that it's not overly realistic. Having a third-person perspective gives it a freedom that makes it different than combat sims like Call of Duty. Let's face it, those kind of shooters are unrealistic anyway... so why not play something that is more arcade-like and more fun? I don't know how Warhawk compares to Halo, but I suspect Halo's popularity is also due to it's fun factor. I've seen a lot of "machinima" videos of Halo where people record themselves playing out a comedy or dramatic type show with the Halo characters. This is the first machinima video I've seen of Warhawk, and I have to say that I'm pretty impressed:

8/19/2008 - Afrolegends vs. Daigo

After watching the spectacle of competition that is the Olympics, it occurred to me that they should show videogame competitions on TV. Maybe not on NBC or any of the broadcast networks, but definitely on G4TV at least. There's plenty of drama and excitement involved in gaming competitions... just watch the excellent King of Kong documentary and you'll see what I'm talking about. Heck, you could even go into the personal lives of the gamers like they do for the Olympians.

The gaming competition they should really highlight is the annual Evolution (EVO) competition based on fighting games. Most gamers have had their shot at fighting games like Street Fighter II and they know that the major lure of the games is using your favorite fighter and testing your skills against others, with your status as a gamer determined by how long you can stay on the machine fending off challenges from other players. You can imagine what it's like then to have the best fighting game players from across the world in one tournament competing for money and, of course, glory.

If there is a Michael Phelps of the Street Fighter world, that would have to be Daigo Umehara of Japan. I've already blogged about his amazing full parry comeback in Street Fighter III Third Strike. This display of his prowess is something else. In the game Super Street Fighter II Turbo, you win a match by winning two out of three round. In this match, Daigo (as Ryu) easily wins the first round against Afrolegends (as Balrog). In the second round, though, it looks like Afrolegends is dominating against Daigo, beating him until he's dizzy with little health left. Daigo could merely let Afrolegends win this round and beat him in the third. But that wouldn't be Daigo, now would it?



There are so many things amazing about this performance that you can pick something out each time you replay it. Daigo's control over Ryu is nothing short of a miracle. Just look a the way he can precisely distance himself for the hurricane kick crossups! And something else I just noticed recently is how he was doing the short hurricane kicks so he could build up his Super for the very end. And he was doing this in the middle of his comeback! I bow to you, Daigo...

8/16/2008 - nintendo e3 2008 conference in a nutshell

I resisted doing this, but Nintendo has to be taught a lesson. The more I think about what Nintendo did at E3, the angrier I get at them. It's not because I'm some Nintendo fanboy who up until now thinks that everything they've done is the second coming. Heck, I don't even own their last two consoles. The thing is, I do have a nostalgic love for the old Nintendo properties like Mario and Zelda and I can't stand to see them waste away their brand name with the current direction they presented at E3. It just wouldn't be good for the gaming industry as a whole, either. If competition breeds innovation then ceding the playing field to just Microsoft and Sony will just lead to a boring gaming landscape filled with first-person-shooters. Nintendo has to be shamed just as Sony was after their E3 conference in 2006. It eventually worked with respect to Sony as we are seeing their resurgence now. So with some very biased editing, here is the gamers' view of Nintendo's E3 conference:

8/14/2008 - The Dark Knight- Joker Interrogation Scene Spoof

If there's one widespread criticism of The Dark Knight, it would have to be Christian Bale's Batman "voice". Yes, he changed his voice as Batman in Batman Begins as well, but it was bad in that movie and he didn't make himself any more intelligible in this latest performance. You would think that as a disguise, the Batman suit would be enough... you can only make out his mouth and eyes. But no, he has to completely change his voice just in case some mob member recognizes Bruce Wayne's voice.

Michael Keaton was able to make it work... heck, even Val Kilmer did okay with it. Kevin Conroy of the animated series perhaps had the most inspired take on it by making the gruff Batman voice his normal voice even when the suit is not on, and having Bruce Wayne's voice higher when he is "disguised" as the millionaire playboy.

For some reason, though, Christian Bale cannot make his Batman voice work. It's just too gruff and hard to understand. When I watch the DVD, I'm going to have to turn the subtitles on! Here is an absolutely hilarious perspective of Batman's unique vocal style; and speaking of the DVD, this would make a great extra:

8/11/2008 - buffet madness

Ah, this video brings back memories. Growing up in Vegas, eating at the all-you-can-eat buffets was almost a monthly ritual... and I looked forward to it every time. And why not? The whole idea of a buffet is that you get to eat what you want and skip whatever doesn't tickle your fancy. Back then, the quality of the food was only so-so... roast beef sitting under heat lamps was par for the course and Jell-O was the requisite dessert. Of course it wasn't the quality that mattered, it was the quantity. If you didn't feel uncomfortably full when you were finished with the buffet, it would be considered a waste of money. It's called "all-you-can-eat", after all.

The current trend in buffets now are the super-buffets or mega-buffets, where you pay a premium for higher quality food which can include prime rib and king crab legs. To me, this defeats the purpose of the buffet as I had once experienced it. Back then, it was expected for the casinos to lose money on the buffets and that the whole purpose of the buffet was to draw gamblers in where they would lose their money on the slots. Therefore, if you didn't gamble, then you'd always get your money's worth if not more by gorging yourself on the buffet. Now, buffets will cost upwards of $30 per person and you'd have to eat a lot of crab legs to break even. See, I don't want to have to calculate the retail price of what I'm eating so that I can say I had a good deal. I just want to eat enough ham for me to pass out!

8/10/2008 - Ninja Gaiden Full Story (2 Videos)

Much has been said about the cutscenes in the Metal Gear Solid games, specifically the latest one, Metal Gear Solid 4. The fact that some of them are over half an hour long says a lot about the willingness of fans of the series to endure such overindulgence in storytelling. There is no doubt as to the quality of the storytelling and production values in the game, but the length of the cutscenes really calls into question as to if it crosses the line from being a video game into being just an interactive movie. One of the pioneers of the video game industry in terms of including a cinematic storyline is the original Ninja Gaiden on the NES. Having richly animated cutscenes was really something of a revelation back then, when most "stories" were told through those small 8-bit sprites the size of Mario or Link. The storyline may be a little cheesy by today's standards, but the images were sure iconic. I mean, who could ever forget the opening scene with two ninjas dueling to the death? Give me that over cooking sunny-side up eggs any day. Here are all the cutscenes of the original Ninja Gaiden and it takes less time than many of MGS4's single cutscenes:





The other thing that has to be said of Ninja Gaiden is its incredible difficulty. I think a lot of us would have been frustrated enough to quit the game before reaching the final levels. But the desire to see the story through was such a great driving factor that we endured through those precarious platform jumps, and those stupid eagles.

8/6/2008 - Batman : The Dark Knight Movie Review

Today marks another milestone in this blog: it's the 365th post! That means you can read one post a day for the entire year... yay! I'm going to use this occasion to take a respite from daily blogging and post entries as good videos become available. I'll still try to post as often as I can, but I'm not going to strain myself into writing about a video that's only mediocre.

Okay, I've featured many videos that feature foul-mouthed reviewers who critique everything from video games to movies. Most of the time, they use profanity to bash certain products they don't like. This is what you would expect. However, there are things out there that are so well-received, that swearing also emphasizes how good these products are. Here's a good example of this:

8/5/2008 - Scary Maze Game

Before there was "Rickrolling", there was the Scary Maze Game. As an internet practical joke, it was great in its execution. All you have to do is navigate your mouse cursor to the end of the maze without touching the sides of the wall. Think of it as an electronic version of Operation. It would get progressively harder, of course, with the walls getting thinner and thinner. But then, at the very last level, when you're about to inch through the narrowest of paths and you are concentrating so intently on your mouse control... BAM! A closeup picture of the demon Pazuzu from the movie, "The Exorcist" appears with a deafening roar. For the uninitiated, it's guaranteed to start your heart and keep it racing for minutes. How effective is it? Only hidden cameras can tell the tale:

8/4/2008 - MIT Bunny Letter Opener

I don't have a pet, but if I did, I would definitely train it to do menial tasks like this:

8/3/2008 - E3 2008: Wii Music

Two years ago, Sony gave an embarrassing press conference at the annual E3 conference that led many to think that their $600 Playstation 3 console would be a flop in the marketplace where the XBox 360 has been out for a year already and where the Nintendo Wii would later dominate with its emphasis on casual games. If you watched the press conferences this year at E3 however, you would have no other impression than "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

Sony has since recovered from its ugly stepsister status with its emphasis on hardcore games and with price cuts on the PS3, of course. The demise of HD-DVD also helped the Blu-Ray playing PS3.

Nintendo still dominates the sales chart with the Wii, however. Games like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl have so far kept the interests of longtime Nintendo fans. But with those core games having been released already, what would Nintendo give us at E3 to show that they're not just catering to the casual gamer? Well, do you know what they gave us? A big middle finger:



Unlike the 2006 Sony press conference videos, this one was not edited to look bad. Nintendo, what the hell were you thinking? You may be printing money with the DS and the Wii, but stuff like this really diminishes you in the eyes of your longtime fans. We grew up playing Mario and Zelda games and stuck with you during the 16-bit wars with Sega. A lot of people strayed to the Playstation and the XBox, but at the time the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube were on par with them hardware wise. You made a decision to emphasize gameplay with the motion controls of the Wii, but after a couple of years of waggling and casual games, it all just seems gimmicky. Diminishing online play with shoddy online support and no voice chat doesn't help you either.

And do you know what the worst thing about this video is? No, it's not the horrible rendition of the great Super Mario Bros. theme. It's that they dragged in Shigeru Miyamoto himself to make a fool of himself in front of the gamers who have so much respect for him. Nintendo, if you are seriously intending to make this kind of casual gaming the focus of your productions in the future, then you will have no future. You'll fall back to third place again and it will be much deserved.

8/2/2008 - Texas Hold'em Poker - iTunes App Store

Here's another video of a new application on the iPhone/iPod Touch. I'm not featuring it just because it's an amazing game of Texas Hold'em. Although that alone might warrant it. I mean, when I first heard about games being sold on the App Store, never did I imagine a game like this with full-motion video. It's not completely necessary, especially for a Poker game. But it makes for a fantastic presentation, and it shows off the capabilities of the iPhone well. But what makes this video worth watching is what happens during the demonstration. It shows that Texas Hold'em is really a game of luck after all.