Camcorder for Justin!!!

For the project that I keep saying that I'm going to do I need a camcorder. So, since we're getting our Federal return back this week... Jen is letting me have a little for a camcorder that I can use on my Mac. YAY!

The Olympics will be coming to the C.H.E.E.T. Museum in 2008!

I know I am WAAAY planning ahead for this but, since the announcement of the Wii, I have not been so excited for some video game.

So Nintendo has announced that for both the DS and the Wii, they will be bringing out a game for the 2008 Olympiad starring both Sonic and Mario. How cool is that?

So I'm going to spend this year making plans for next year's Olympics at the C.H.E.E.T. museum. Yup. I want to make a big thing of this. I want people to really have fun. I'll look for some cool prizes for winners and we'll see what comes of this.

My wife rocks!

She's being modest here... but she won a contest based on a Smashing Pumpkins thing.

The thing is that the lead singer of the Pumpkns (Billy Corgan) chose the winner from the three finalists.

BACKGROUND: So a long time ago Billy Corgan had an alter ego that he made into an animated alter ego. There were a few animations made, but it eventually fell apart (mostly because of the Smashing Pumpkins falling apart). Well, people were stoked to hear that the Pumpkins were re-grouping. So the story Glass and the Machines of God (a.k.a. GATMOG) was re-viewed.

Jen is a hardcore Pumpkins fan and so she entered a contest from a MySpace GATMOG fansite where the winner was to be chosen by Billy. The three categories were video, graphic arts, and story. When she became a finalist... that was exciting. But she won the whole thing.

My wife rocks.

What a fan-TAS-tic ending!

So I go home from work on Thursday sick. I'm tired as hell, but when I lay down my eyes are glued open. So what to do... what to do... might as well try to finish this game...

And just as the 35th hour rolled around, I defeated Gannondorf. HURRAY! Then I needed to escape the tower.

"Huh? Strange ending..." I thought. Then... I realized that it wasn't over... and I had to fight GANNON! And what an epic battle it was! That I had the uber-two-handed sword made it that much easier... the trick is: (SPOILER ALERT!!!)
...
...
...
...
...
...
Attack the crotch.
...
You heard me right. If you stay facing his 'package' you can eventually slip between his legs and hit his tail. He can't hit you if you're that close to him.

And then I enjoyed the fruit of my labors: the ending (at 35 hours and 46 minutes). And what an ending it was! Truly, one of the top three best endings from any game I have played (best one still being 'Kingdom Hearts').

Review time!
It took me some time to get used to how Ocarina of Time wanted me to think as opposed to the other games. It was different and annoying at times, but I enjoyed the game all-in-all.
The graphics were really good. And while they were very much Playstation 1 graphics genre... I loved having no loading times. I'll pay more for no loading times. The princess (grown-up) was absolutely stellar. She was well-rendered and quite beautiful (for a video game character) with her eyes that spoke volumes... (dreamy sigh)

The only bit I didn't like about the game was the expected venturing about. I did discover that the game map helped out more than I thought it did in that every location had a circle. If it was flashing, something there was unresolved. If it had an arrow, then the main side-quest had something there next.

For giving me such a fun game and for a really wonderful ending, I give Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 4 Driving Warios

Now, I have the cart for Majora's Mask and a RAM expander for my system. I'm sick at home this weekend (and pretty tired right now as I type this) so I'll start when I feel better.

Wife's sick this morning...

Bronchitis. So this goes out to her. Hope you feel better soon so I can kiss you again.

And my wonderful wife got me a Canadian copy of a movie that I had only seen the last 30 minutes of last year and fell in love with: Only Yesterday by Studio Ghibli. I cried and cried for happiness when I saw it last year when TCM was showing their month of Studio Ghibli... and I cried like a baby this time too. GREAT movie.

And a wonderful wife she is.

Sing it with me: Crap! I did it again o/~

"You got me into
A brand new card game.
Well darn it, darn it"

Yup... and it's a game I wouldn't think I would like.

The game is called 'Anachronism', and it's a game of gladitorial battle in an arena with cards as your miniatures.

The cool thing about this game is that it's collectible, but not: Every card is Rare. Or common... depending on how you look at it. So there is no rare card beats your common card. In fact, they come in set packs so you are guaranteed the same 5 cards in specific packs. So if you like how I played with 'Spartacus' then you can go buy the Sparticus pack and get the same exact cards.

Each set is set up in a clear booster pack with a hero at the front... so you know which hero you're getting right off the bat. An each hero comes with the same 5 cards every time... and they are VERY playable right out of the packs too.

So, to start the game, you can buy one pack (~$6.99) and stop there, or many and mix/match. And with ONLY 5 cards making up a deck, you can swap out cards quickly or create a new deck in minutes. VERY COOL!

And each one is based off of a real or imaginary hero from time (the game is sponsored by the flippin' History Channel!!!

The thing that surprised me was the ability to not only play right away, but that no deck is a 'killer' deck. And with games (literally) taking 5 minutes to play, you can really get some good games in and not fret about your loss (most of the time).

So last night I went to learn the game and just enjoy myself fully intending not to like the game. I have played card games before (Magic the Gathering, Legend of the Five Rings, Pokemon, Dragonball Z... the list goes on and on). I was a card monkey. Then I came across the fact that every three months new cards would come out, the games ALL became "He who has the most money to buy the best cards wins"... and so I stopped cold turkey.

So I sit down and see that there's a playmat that one plays this game upon. The heroes move around the arena to fight each other. But they can only hit the opponent when they're in certain positions... like a miniatures game.

The card are really spectacular with one artist creating the art for a specific hero pack. And their 'foil-y goodness' really makes the cards pop out.

Two games into it I was enjoying it... but not completely. I watched two more games before I REALLY started to see how combinations worked, and by the time I had gotten second place in the tournament that was run last night (that took 30 minutes to run for 5 rounds... so fast!!!) I was hooked. I must say that I enjoyed the make-your-own game better than the out-of-the-pack game. I noticed also that the players are not really cut-throat with this game as I have viewed with other games... but I think that's just the crowd at the Haven.

Thanks to Forrest for teaching me the game and buying me my first hero/pack: 'Lu Bu' from the novel/historical record 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'. Thank you so much, my friend.

* Wikipedia Page for Anachronism Here
* Informative blog here

Zelda was right!

So, the comic of Wario wondering how the doors open when torches were lit was very funny... I wondered that myself...

But I'll be damned if an ancient inventor didn't figure it out!

Heron of Alexandria made many cool devices including the world's first VENDING MACHINE! And one of those inventions (I sh*t you not) was a door that was opened by lighting torches.

GameJew sings to Miyamoto

'THE' Miyamoto. As in Shigeru Miyamoto. As in the creator of Mario, Link... yes THAT Miyamoto!

CHECK THIS OUT!

That's all there is to it: GameJew is groovy. I'd really like to meet him someday.

Ocarina of Time: 7 Hours 20 minutes

Thanks again to Psyguy for letting me link to the Wario-in-Hyrule comic 'Greed'.

Well, I played more Zelda last night and i'm getting pretty frustrated with how this game plays. It's becoming too much like II and IV for my taste.

I am getting used to the controls, but this "figure this out on your own with no hints" is getting REALLY OLD REALLY FAST! I can't buy bombs, the Goron guy won't talk to me... and he hates both my songs (Zelda's lullaby and the Sun song), I can't get into the spinning pot although I could land on it when it wasn't spinning, and what the hell are all those bomb-flower thingys? And why do I need to talk to people three times to get information out of them? I don't want to talk to them three times... THEY TALK TOO LONG AND YOU CAN'T SPEED UP THEIR TEXT!!!

And why does that irritating bunny-eared/winged faerie thingy keep interrupting my travels?

"Hey! Listen! Let's brag to Saria about us saving the world?"

"Listen! She'd be impressed! Let's tell her!"

"LISTEN!! YOU'LL GET LAID IF YOU TELL HER!!!"

(swat) (flutters to ground)

THERE! Now you're a floor-rie!

PS3 Song

Thanks to Collin!

BS Zelda (Bonus Game): "Week 1"

Week 1? Yup, I speaks da truth. This game comes in four one-hour installments.

See, BS The Legend of Zelda: The Ancient Stone Tablets was a game only released in Japan and only via the Super Nintendo console peripheral called the Satellaview. 'BS', in fact, stands for Broadcast Satellaview. You downloaded games for the SNES (well, the Super Famicom in Japan) and played them. THIS particular game came in four installments and was played in REAL TIME! They even got actors to voice the movie-like scenes.

So anyways, people eventually got a hold on the ROM of the game and have been working night and day (quite literally from what I have read) to make this game playable. It is now about 90-95% done and people can play it now (for the most part) and really enjoy it. You only have one hour... so you have to be quick! More information can be found at the BS Zelda Homepage. It's actually REALLY interesting.

Last night I got a hand held gaming controller from Target for $10 and plugged it into my Mac and booted up the first week. Long story short (nobody likes a play-by-play) I got everything except the last piece of heart.

The game is interesting in that to help you speed up your game play, they only allow you access to one part of the world map. You can't even see the rest of the map as is clouded over. Also, to help speed up play, the game will occasionally send you faeries or cause enemies to blow up as if you used special powers.

Simultaneously, the over world changes. At certain times there is rain. So what? Well, in rain... BOMBS DON'T WORK! Their fuses are doused. And certain areas are not accessible until certain times as well. One guy wouldn't even speak to my character (you don't play as Link in this game) until the last 10 minutes of the game!

I am SO excited to be playing this game as a side-quest of sorts... and would highly suggest it for anyone who might like something short and fun to play. ESPECIALLY if you are a fan of the SNES game.

BS Zelda Headquarters has all the files and links to the emulator on their site.

I'll be updating my progress at my JewWario blog this week.

Love that music!

Great orchestrated music for Zelda.

Zelda Reorchestrated

Yowza Yowza Yowza!

Without using another wish and with a level 1 sword (still don't know where the damn power-up is) I beat (what I am suspecting to be) shadow Ganon! 18 hours and 20 minutes. Wow! That was a tough game!

Now, the review.

Placing the small GameBoy cartridge into my handheld, I became apprehensive at what I was about to experience... that's $5 speak for "What am I getting myself into?" I was worried that having gotten used to the graphics and gameplay that the SNES gave me that I would be poorly disappointed in this GameBoy sequel. Needless to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

I really enjoyed the storytelling of this game compared to other GameBoy games... and that's the first thing that comes to mind when rating this game. I really liked how it gave you a story and made it enjoyable. Cut scenes, movies, and pauses in movement really brought across a wonderful emotional story.

As for the graphics, I couldn't be happier. Game transitions (like Super Mario Land to Super Mario Land 2 where they tried to incorporate Super Mario Bros. 3 graphics) for the GameBoy usually do not succeed. However, I was amazed at how they really gave the game the FEEL of the SNES cart for the handheld.

As for the actual gameplay... it was difficult. I was able to get through with just one wish (see previous reports) but the whole rest of the game was really tough to decypher. Making something tough is one thing... not telling a player a vital thing (using two items to make a third item) is really bad.

But, for making such an enjoyable, but difficult game, I give The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening three Nixon Warios. I AM NOT A CROOK!!!


Now, I prepare for the highly lauded Ocarina of Time. Nuff said. I will be working on the BS Legend of Zelda Ancient Stone Tablets before that... so look for my next review to be on this 4 hour game.

In life, this cartoon had a name...

His name was Robert Paulson.

Er.... I mean IS Paul Robertson.



Do the Whirlwind

Pirate Baby's cabana Street Battle 2006

Devil Eyes

The Magic Touch


I have added his LiveJournal to the sidebar.

GREAT GAME!

So last night I finally faced off against Gannon for the first time (well, it IS "Link to the PAST"). And all I can say is that I WISH there were a Master Game set up in this cartridge because I would play it almost immediately (yes, even with this challenge going on). SPOILERS ABOUND AHEAD.

So after getting to the last door of Gannon's tower, I decided to go straight in. After getting my butt almost handed to me, I finally prevailed only to see Gannon's spirit leave his form and go elsewhere. A flute in the distance called to the bird which took me to the pyramid in the Dark World. This is where I saved and made my last two wishes.

: Ok Genie. Wakey Wakey! I am almost at the end, but wish to have a bit more of a 'completed inventory' than I do now.

: Ok. Lay it on me, mah main Jew ah Jewenstein.

: Ok. My second wish is to waitaminute... did you just call me "Jew ah Jewenstein"?

: .... sorry. Um... it sounded clever in the lamp.

: Second wish - To know where that 4th bottle is. Third wish is to know where the remaining 5 pieces of heart are.

: I shall tell you in verse - (ahem)

The bottle you seek is in the dark lands
Where the smithies would be, if you will,
The chest can't be opened, so take it to light
The silent man sits in the desert.

Go to GameFaqs, for there you will find
a list of the hearts.


: Wow... that didn't even rhyme.

: ... yeah, I'm not very good at poetry.

So after getting the bottle and one more piece of heart (and not wanting to spend too much time searching for the others) I go forth and fight Gannon. Emerging victorious (after three attempts) I smiled as the credits ran pleased that all was right in the world, and enjoying the music greatly.

For those of you in the know, my final stats were:
Total Games Played: 048 (1, 2, 3)
Life Hearts: 19
Sword: 4
REVIEW:
That I have never played this game before is a real tragedy as this is surely one of the best games I have ever played. Nintendo went back to a plan that works with A Link To The Past after the previous Zelda II game.

The graphics are truly reminiscent of what majesty the Super Nintendo system brought to the world. Crisp colors and clever graphics make for a great game. The animation is pleasant and never confusing.

The game world is well mapped out to give a challenge to both the novice and the seasoned gamer. There is just enough puzzle in the world to have a youngster make it through (more-so than the first and second titles) and the addition of the world map made it easier still. But don't think that knowing where things were made the difficulty of getting there any cake-walk. The difficulty still forces those grey matter cells to pump furiously as you try to determine how to proceed. A terrific challenge.

Then we get into the storyline which is very detailed for a game that is not really an RPG. The history is deep enough so you feel bad when things happen to the townsfolk, but distances its self enough so that you don't feel like you have to follow too much of a path (harkening back to the first Zelda game's non-linear play).

As endings go, this was a truly satisfying event for me. Usually, the titles just pop up and that's it. But the game drew you into the ending and resolved many things that were just floating about. Then, when the credits did roll, the music was haunting and pleasant. A truly enchanting experience.

So, for giving me so much for my time and making me wish it never ended, I give The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past five Disco Warios!

Now, I start the fourth game of the series, this time on hand-held! The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening came out in 1993 on the GameBoy Color to an audience ready for more fun. Not being satisfied with being repetitive, the gameplay changed slightly and more features were added. I am now on my way to play the fourth game in this incredible series.

Where I am with "The Project"

Ok. We have a name for the video-podcast-show-thingy Max and I are working on.

The Ludus Challenge.

We're going through the last parts of figuring out how everything works, how to do the filming (what works... what doesn't), and how to edit them into a ~15 minute show.

We are both hoping that our first show will be posted between the end of February and the second week of March. Then, we would like to do one every two weeks.

Now, Max is leaving for two months to spend a WONDERFUL time in Europe where he may attend a school for art (but THAT won't happen for a while) so there may be some time that we won't do any episodes (since the camera is his). BUT we will hopefully get 3 (maybe 4) shows SHOT before he takes off... so that's promising.

Tonight we will go over some of the editing stuff and how we can make this work with the programs we have not only for him, but at my house as well (for when he's gone). We will attempt to make the test we have recorded work and get ready for a real shoot very very soon.

Our first game? Castlevania for the NES. It is a game I have never played before (yeah... I know I know... stop looking at me like that), and I think it's a groovy start for our show.

I'm also hoping to have an 'Import Corner' section that is a 3-4 minute 'report' of sorts and a 'About the Town' section where people suggest little video game dives (not like Mr. Biggs, but like a penny arcade place along the lines of a mom-&-pop place that has games).

HEY! Email me with some suggestions of places I can go. They can be out of town up to Boulder, Fort Collins, or Pueblo if need be. Suggest small video game stores, out-of-the-way arcades... your basic 'hidden treasures'. Be sure to send me detailed directions as well. It'll be fun.

Link to the Past: 13 Hours 15 Minutes

I got the 7th dungeon down, the princesses unlocked the magical barrier, I have 18 and 3/4 hearts, 3 bottles filled with red healing potion, silver arrows, a level 4 sword, red armour, and two wishes left...

...let's roll.

Link to the Past: 8 Hours 50 Minutes

Just two hours last night and I got so much accomplished!

I keep on trying to think of how young you would be to enjoy the game and find the secrets hidden within. To tell you the truth, it's actually pretty challenging to figure the tasks ahead and what to do. From playing the first game I can figure out where hidden things may be... but kids may have a tough time ahead of them. There's still so much to do in the game, but MAN does it get challenging.

Luckilly I have only used one wish (and even THAT I should have searched harder) and I am working my way into the sixth dungeon. One more up in the mountains and it's on to the last battle (I am assuming).

I cannot tell you all enough how much I like this game. Please, for the love of Link, if you have a Wii and points for the virtual console... BUY THIS GAME! You will not regret the 800 points.

The Project....

Ok, let me fill you in on what exactly it is... the long way 'round:

There is a Japanese TV video-gaming show called "GameCenter CX". They got a comedian who has not really played video games, give him a retro game (a game everyone loves) and set him in front of a bunch of cameras. He has 24 hours for most games (shot in two runs of 12 hours over 2 days). Now, they cut and paste the thing to run within a 1 hour show... so a lot is cut out.

But the thing is that it's very interesting to watch! He is a funny guy and it's exciting to watch him try to beat something. I find myself wanting to yell out "Left! Left! Nono! Now right! RIGHT!" The producers cut it so that you can see how he gets by tough areas in a game and helps him when he needs help. They shoot it like he's part of a company called 'GameCenter CX' and when he wins several games in a row... they 'promote' him. It's pretty fun.

So I was just telling Max one day how it would be cool for them to bring it to the USA. Then I started telling him about all the games that 'I' haven't played but own... and about my Zelda Challenge. So, the next day, he suggested that we actually DO a series where I play a game I have never played and we record and cut it to fit within a 15 minute (or so) video-podcast.

So recently we recorded me playing a game called Abe's Oddysee, but the audio and video didn't come out like we had planned. So we're going to re-shoot later on using a different game and see how that goes. We'll be shooting some test-runs so we can get better used to the equipment and programs we're using.

Anyways... that's what this project is. In the meantime, here are some stills Max took from the shoot so we can prove we're capable of making dreams come true (laughs).
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Yes, Derek, we will have a product (laughs)

Link to the Past: 6 Hours 50 Minutes

I didn't get much play time in last night for the third of this marvelous series, but I got a lot accomplished. The third and fourth dungeons have been cleared and their bosses defeated. Now, it's on to the fifth dungeon to rescue another princess.

The storyline is interesting as each princess tells her own tale. Knowing that this was the prequel makes the story that much more exciting. I probably won't be able to do too much tonight (a project that I am working on... that you'll hopefully see in a week or so) but I plan to take out dungeons 5, 6, and possibly 7 before Friday.

Also, Advanced Media Network Wii has a groovy article on the "evolution" of Zelda. Worth a look-see. It's exciting to see that I'm playing Zelda at a time that it is getting a resurgence in popularity.

Also, you can now get the Game & Watch Legend of Zelda game for your keychain!