January 2007

Been really busy these past few days. Mostly due to my new job, as well as that television project I keep mentioning, which I’m really not at liberty to talk about in any great detail… BUT, I will say that if it does actually materialize, I might single-handedly be responsible for introducing the world animu to the general public. And if that happens, my service to mankind will be done. Its not quite what I originally set out to do, but once I got passed over by Microsoft to be their next hot-shot blogger/PR person, my dreams of being the guy that would bring Senko No Ronde X to American shores were pretty much dashed. Oh well.

Still On Top Of Things

Thankfully, my good friends have to come to my aide by passing along important stuff from the world wide web that I might have missed and should definitely know about. Such as….

- MK, who passed along an email that warned me via its title: “prepare for nerd boner!”. And what’s this glorious news? A totally hawt looking wireless USB hub.

Though that headline might be a bit more appropriate (at least to some) for the terrific looking Batfgirl fan art that MK also came across and pointed me towards…

- Meanwhile, Robin, knowing that I’m a total sucker for all shit related to Transformers, alerted me to both the Optimus Prime iPod and the Soundwave that plays mp3s via a SD card in his chest (instead of a cassette, obviously). And the fucking thing is fully transformable too!!!

He also showed me further evidence that I’m losing my grip when it comes to exclusivity in regards to funny hot dog drawings.

- And Dave (Mauro) gave me the head’s up yesterday morning regarding a new blog that’s going to cover the production of the new Castlevania animated movie. It?s really nice to know that this is actually coming along, and like many others, I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on things.

Though what I’m most interested in seeing how the Castlevania hardcore reacts to its development, primarily in regards to James Jean’s artwork. I’m a big fan of this stuff… and I’m not just saying that because I knew the guy in college (Were we friends? Let’s just say I spent one evening dancing around, and completely bound by duct tape while James played music with his keyboard. Nuff said).

Gaming News/YouTube Combo

- Maruo also sent a vid that shows what happens if you play Dracula X (for the PC Engine with a 1.0 or 2.0 Card instead of the required 3.0 card.

- Yet another video from another Dave, but a different guy: David Gilbert, the creator of the Shiva, and another friend of mine, finally has a new game out! To get a small taste of The Blackwell Legacy, check out the trailer.

- And here’s Heather Campell, game journalist, as well as improv comic, and all around nice gal in a short scene from a skate shop that showcases a bit of her acting chops.

- Time for a blast from the past: a Japanese Dr. Mario commerical that features cute Japanese girls as germs (and with grossly innaprorotiately place eyes).

As a bonus, a commercial for the same game, but from Germany.

- Continuing the trip down memory lane, here’s a clip from an old video game show called Total Panic that was apparently on Nickelodeon. And I swear to God, I don’t remember this show at all! And I was a pretty avid Nick viewer at the time (like most folks, when I think of Nickelodeon and video games, I think of Nick Arcade). I really hope its not another sign of me getting old, with my memory going…

- Remember Sega pledging so much support to the PSP and how nuts everyone thought they were? Well, the jury is still out one whether that was such a wise move (Sonic Rivals being a prime example). But they have a new game on the horizon that appears to hold much promise.

It’s called Crush, and here’s its trailer. Basically, you play a guy navigating a three dimensional plane, but you can “crush: things so everything is flat, and then you move in a two dimensional space. Its kinda hard to explain…. just see the vid to see what I mean.

- Oh, and the latest insane thing to surface from Select Button… Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden. Its perhaps the greatest sequel to a game that totally doesn’t need or deserve one.

And of course, there’s a trailer. Pure genius.

Odds & Ends

- I’m still more or less in the dark in regards to what’s happening in the world of gaming as a whole, but I at least know, again courtesy of Dave Mauro, about Piano Hero.

- Meanwhile, according to Insert Credit, Chulip, the kissing RPG that’s been delayed for four years now, and which I keep hearing all over the place is actually coming (again, I’ll believe it once I have the damn game in my hands, though to be totally honest, I’m kinda no longer interested in the game) is going to be a Gamestop exclusive, plus its going to be $30 (for the longest time, it was promised to be $15… kinda disappointing, but I can guess as to some reasons why the price went up).

- And that crazy British guy that I occasionally chat with online who hates Sonic the Hedgehog, at least what he’s become of the series these days, gave me a small taste of something truly neat not to long ago, and then he gave Simon the full goods, which he kindly posted over at GameSetWatch…

… Shit, I?m almost late for work. Gotta go!

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So to celebrate my new game design gig, as well as mark the end of my SVA days, MK came up with an idea for a party, and it went down this past Saturday night…

The festivities took place at Joe (Simko)’s apartment (I’ve pretty much given up on having any further parties where I live due to all the cat fur and shit all over the place). And aside from being generous enough to provide the space, Joe also made some primo cookies, cupcakes, and deviled eggs (as expected, I was the only one to really dine on them; Joe already knows I’m the only other guy who likes them, so they were kinda made just for me!). Oh, and there was plenty of booze as well; I actually broke my no drinking rule, at least for this one night.

But yeah, it was awesome! Since Joe’s apartment is fairly small (but what Manhattan dwelling isn’t), we had to keep the guest list tight. Yet there was still a very good mix of comic book folks, punk rockers, school teachers, gamer dorks, and at least one Jewish stand up comic. I spent most of the evening entertaining folks with assorted tales from my days of hitting on girls on makeoutclub, my long history of insane roommates, and my thoughts on anal sex, among other things. I was also flattered to hear that all my friends actually read this stupid site! And everyone cares enough to notice and have the same basic opinion: I need to do a better job with the horrible spelling and grammatical errors.

The evening began with a cup of champaign in my right hand around eight, and it ended around three in the morning with a PSP in both hands. Dave (Mauro) brought his along to show me one of the shmups I had written about this past Thursday, but more so than the PSone emulator, I was simply bowled over by the system itself; I had never actually seen, nor handled, a white PSP in real life. And its fucking sexy. Enough to make me go “that’s it, I finally have to get me one!” But much of that enthusiasm died when I discovered that the white PSP is still only available in Japan; I thought they were going to introduce them in the States, but that does explain why I only see black systems on the subway, and one of the main reasons to get a white one, aside from the fact that it looks absolutely gorgeous, is that I don’t want to be seen as another one of“those” people (you know, the ultra hip urban youths who only have one for “bling” value, and just want to be seen with it…. whereas Dave only sees people play that one baseball games, I only see people either play football or basketball). Anyway, it being import only makes avoiding dead pixels all the more difficult, and never mind all the hassles of trying to find one with compatible firmware to run emulators (aside from the PSone emulator, I got to play a few Genesis games, and dear God they looked amazing). So in the end… I may just get a regular, black system for as little as possible just so I can play Lumines and Every Extend Extra.

Also late in the night, Joe & I recounted the glory days of Manhattan cable access, and we spoke of our favorite shows (and of course, I mentioned my personal dealings with Zenbock, everyone’s favorite sci-fi con attending/r&b guitar playing Vulcan from Long Island). Note to self: bring some Madame Chow’s to the shitty movie night myself and Nullsleep are throwing together in near future. Anyway, Mauro mentioned some crazy cable access show that one of the dudes from Anamanaguchi had mentioned, and which MK & I both remember to check out earlier today. And we found it, and its simply amazing. Basically its a dude that both paints and cooks at the same time, while also running on a treadmill. Plus he takes calls from the home viewing audience. You just have to see it for yourself…

Here’s two to start off with: this first clip has him painting, exercising, and making a sushi-gingerbread house. And this one has him painting, exercising, and cooking pancakes. Enjoy!

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