That picture has not been altered on any way and yes, I’m shocked too. SHOCKED. To think that a local CVS has been forced to put these precious, new Gundam Wing tapes in a 9 cent box at a clearance section. WIthin the box were 10 tapes of 2 different GW volumes, 5 each. These tapes were disgraced by being placed next to some clearly homoerotic movie called ‘Dirty Tennis’ and some animated series based on that Brendan Fraser abortion of a trilogy, the ‘Mummy.’ I picked up these poor souls and lovingly caressed them in my arms and checked them out at a paltry 96 cents plus tax. I actually felt a little guilty and after giving the cashier a dollar I told her to keep the remaining 4 cents because clearly CVS was on the losing end of this transaction. Though I no longer have a VCR in my home, the tapes are kept in a safe spot in my home and in a warm place in my heart. However, needless to say, my faith in mankind has been rocked to the core.

Please stand by in the comments for incoming antagonistic and down right asshole-like comments from JPG.

On December 10th, at approximately 12:05 am, “Trina”, my Xbox 360 passed away after less than a year of life. It had as good a death as any Xbox could ask for, freezing right in the midst of a heated battle in Call of Duty 4 on the map Overgrown. It will be survived by myself, Iceman299 and the rest of the Headshot night crew, who will all no doubt find themselves struggling for 3 to 4 weeks before her sister “Megan Good” arrives.

Lets all take a moment of silence and reminisce on all the good times we’ve had together.

So with Wii Music out and the reviews slowly dripping in, the obvious has come to pass. It sucks. God-awful? Not really, but certainly not one of Nintendo’s better showings for a console that desperately needs games. Reading some of the reviews the general consensus has been that the music is too erratic and the actual “gameplay” amount to moving the Wii remote around with the unspecified requirement of having a huge imagination…or an IQ below 30. The game stops being fun a few hours in as you realize that having a seizure could generate the same sort of response from the game as John Williams pretending he was in front of the Boston Pops.

Now I’m not saying this was a forgone conclusion *ahem*, but I think Nintendo needs to snap out this Wii simplified game trend that they seem to be leaning towards. If they want to keep making games using the Wii Fit that’s fine but don’t make them into gimmicky, demo-like shit that the current games for it seem to be going towards. Make some REAL games as well. This years Nintendo Fall Press conference provided some hope that the Wii will finally go back to the people who made it what they are with some new games that offered relevant features like decent relevant internet connectivity. Wii Music is the essence of the game that has aspirations to break the barrier to that coveted non-gamer crowd, however, the shunning of the already firmly entrenched gamer crowd seems to be a side-effect that Nintendo glossed over.

Of course there will be arguments that Wii Music was geared at the younger generation, however for a major game like this to be touted around press conferences aimed at children there’s clearly some reservation for that sort of theory. There had been first impressions everywhere that this would get mixed reviews everywhere simply due to the notion that waving around the remote would provide a deep game experience. In the age of Rock Band and Guitar Hero I understand the desire for a more simplistic approach, but there can’t be a complete disregard for the fundamentals of what makes a game rewaring for the player.

In what has seemed like forever, Wipeout is finally on a console.  Yes, the behemoth-like PS3 has gotten some Wipeout loving and I for one will be there, first in line, to err…download it. Sure there could more tracks, more modes, new tracks and music, BUT, it’s in HD. On top of that it only costs about $20, so I’m willing to forgive and forget in exchange for a game that will undoubteldy have me throwing my $60 controller on the floor for a hairpin turn fuck up. Not even the threat of shaking violently on the floor, biting my tongue and possibly bleeding to death can even stop me. I get the feeling that it’s going to be one of those games that is under the radar but I hope there are some people out there who’ll get it. Since it is a racing game odds are online won’t be so hot. Gamers (or rather me) usually hate playing while losing especailly if the leader is lapping you. Sam on the other hand will be playing Streets of Anger or whatever the fuck it’s called on Live Arcade

I know we haven’t been able to update as often but we’re working on something. As I type this I’m on the Turkish Riviera with some Cognac in my hand. Back in the US we can only hope Sam hasn’t been blown away (yes homo) by hurricane Ike. Godspeed Sam.