Reggie Fils-Aime Would be the Worst Politician Ever

"By now, you all know how Nintendo chose a fundamentally different path," said Fils-Aime. "Instead of competing for the very best players, we decided to shoot for the most players."

So basically, rather than making games for people who care about games, Nintendo wants to make games for the masses; people who don't care about games. I understand this money-making concept, but being a long-time Nintendo fan, this really hurts. He said many times before that he's not forgetting the core-gamers. This means that he outright LIED to us.

Hopefully with this new economy, there will be less casual gamers buying games. Nintendo will start hurting and they'll deserve it. Then they may finally see their wrongdoing.

My Ideas for the Next Generation

With just a couple years left of this gaming generation (still called "next gen"), I'd like to cite a few things that the next consoles have to do in order to keep things fresh. I think we've seen basically all we need of good graphics. That needs no improving. Here's the list of my top 3 hopes for the next gen consoles.

1. Complete Backward Compatibility

Is it really that hard to do this? I think that they don't even need to have slots for past games. I have plenty of old Nintendo games and Playstation games that I'd love to play on my Wii and PS3. Problem is, the Wii can only play Gamecube games while my PS3 is one of the models that can't play past games. My proposal to fix this is to have a fairly complete library online of games from past consoles. This being pretty much done anyway, all that's left is typing in the product code and you get a free download of that game. Fair, simple, and people will have more reason to buy a second controller. (And if they're real cheapskates, they could charge 10 cents. I wouldn't mind.

2. Small Size and Ability to Plug into Your Computer

Ever since the beginning of the Gamecube, I had wanted to console games on the go. So I bought one of those tiny TVs that attach to the top of your Gamecube and plug into the car. Now this wasn't TOO bad until I found that the screen is thin plastic that scratches, there are way too many parts that get lost, and it turns off when the car gets turned off. This could all be remedied by simply having a USB cable attached to a relatively small console (Wii sized is good) and an application that turns your laptop into a TV. Never again would you have to forfeit console games on a long trip.

3. Bringing Back the Nintendo Seal of Quality

Not just Nintendo, mind you. Sony and Microsoft need to make their own seal of quality. Far too many crappy or quick-cash-in games are being allowed to run free on today's consoles. Now that I think about it though, Nintendo has been allowing the most atrocities recently. Each game on the next gen consoles must be thoroughly tested and be made sure to not get below a 50% score on Metacritic. If they don't meet quality standards, then the game will be sent back or canned. Of course, it will cost a lot of money to be constantly making high-quality games, so I suggest that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo should give a flat amount of money to every game that passes the quality test (on top of profits of course).

A Message to All Hillary Supporters For McCain

I usually avoid any way of offending people, but this is the one exception. I can't understand why any self-respecting Democrat would vote for McCain. I can't even understand why a self-respecting Republican would vote for McCain! It is clear that McCain votes almost all of the time with George W. Bush and the world is slowly being destroyed because of Bush's reign. The North Pole is an island for the first time in human history because of global warming, and Bush hardly acknowledges it! The war in Iraq has cost the economy as a whole $3 trillion and this is a war that was based on lies. How are we going to pay that debt back to the Chinese? Oh yeah, and don't forget the countless lives lost on both sides. Do we want another four years of this crap? Enough with the spite game already! Hillary lost and she's not going to replace Obama no matter how much you whine! I don't want to live in a post-apocolyptic world any time soon because of your stupidity. If you don't like Obama, then look at McCain and Palin. They're even worse. If it must be so, pick the lesser of two evils. Just don't be an idiot.

If you agree with me, just make a supportive comment.

If you don't, then call me out. I'll destroy your argument.

I Haven't Updated in a While...

Sorry reader or two. I've been busy doing actual work recently. I will continue updating soon. I just need to sort out school and stuff first.

Scotland is a Bit Different

I look up in a cafe to see a flyer for a website named polestars. Among the things you can buy are a naked butler and nipple tassles, both with pictures. Is this strange to everyone or is this commonplace? The best thing about being in a different country is that you really don't know.

At first glance, Scotland is the same as the US, save some small differences. Dollars become pounds, pants become trousers, fries are now chips thus making chips into crisps. Throw in kilts and bagpipes and you've got it down, right? Well... no. Not really.

Everything here is either connected to the crown or the church. The streets are all named after some saint and sodas and various other refreshments are checked by her majesty.

They have a strange policy of drinking; do it as much as possible, but don't let the kids see. It's pretty stupid and it doesn't help.

If you check the headlines of any newspaper here, you'll soon realize that nobody is good at titling things. Headlines include "Celtic poised to gazump rivals in bid for Loovens" and "Ronaldo voted the ultimate gay icon". Well, maybe their subjects are just really bad.

One last thing that I found weird is that there is tea time, but hardly anyone has tea. If someone asks you if you've had tea, that means have you had dinner. This is especially strange because no one has tea at dinner. Scotland is an odd place.

Little Big Planet Beta is Closed

I got an email address at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival to someone in the beta. I emailed them and asked for help to get into the beta. They told me that the beta was now closed. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to wait a couple months to play it again.

The Game I Would Like To Destroy

Recently, ScrewAttack.com asked what game would you like to destroy. This is my blog entry.

If there was one video game that I would like to destroy, it would have to be Yoshi: Topsy Turvy.

I HATE THIS GAME!


You constantly have to recalibrate the motion sensor, the game is laughably easy, and no part of it is fun at all. Unfortunately, the worst part about it is that it's supposed to be a spiritual sequel to Yoshi's Island, one of my favorite games ever. They didn't even keep in egg throwing. I know. It's horrible. The only reason I beat this game is so I could confirm how bad it is, and I regret it now. I WOULD destroy this, but I'm now a collector and I hope to teach future generations just how bad a game can be. Even abominations need to be documented to better mankind.

Tomba!

Has anyone else here played the Tomba! games? I beat the first a while ago and the second one today. When I checked if Whoopee Camp (worst name for a company ever) had made any more games, I had been startled to see that it broke up after Tomba! 2. I really like this series, but it's gone now and there's no possibility of it coming back... What if the Mario or Zelda series never made it past game 2? That's what this feels like to me. This already amazing franchise would have gotten better and better, but it never made it.

The creative director went on to make ICO. I've never played it, but I've heard many great things. He's still out there making the best of games! I just wish this man would one day look back on his past and say, "Hey, that was a cool game. Let's try and do that again."

The Idea of a Girlfriend

This story is technically fiction, but the character is me.

I sit on my friend's bed, waiting for him to get back from the bathroom. I survey the room and find that he has four pictures of him hugging girls on his walls. His girlfriends... He's by no means a lady's man, but he's somehow gotten four girlfriends in the past few years. I lie back onto the bed. Why does he have a girlfriend? Why don't I? I'm much more likable than Greg. Girls love me. I... No. This is my fault. I've been avoiding relationships on purpose. I can't handle something like that. I can hardly take care of myself. Do I hate myself...? No. I hate society. For some reason I have to have a friend that's MORE than a friend. Somebody who is potentially a partner in marriage. But not really. I need practice first. It's a sadistic idea. I need to love someone for a period of time, then I'll eventually have to tell them that I don't love them anymore. Then I'll probably have to avoid that person for the rest of my life. Greg enters.

"Greg, why do you have girlfriends?"

"Umm... because I like them as more than friends?"

"No. You would just have them as friends if nobody told you that you needed a girlfriend."

"I guess..."

"So is it just peer pressure? Do you genuinely care about them?"

"I kind of do and kind of don't. I learn to care about them and we get close."

"But... nobody around here is like me at all."

"...... What am I supposed to say? Too bad? Am I supposed to find you a girlfriend? When you find someone that you like, ask them out."

"But... no. I'm... not like you, Greg. I can't just say, 'Do you wanna go see a movie'. I'd feel sleazy taking a girl out to a movie. I'd feel like I'm taking advantage of her. Actually, I feel like having a girlfriend is just two people taking advantage of each other. It's so horrible, and yet I want it so badly. I feel like a creep!"

"You both know what you're doing in a relationship..."

"No. That's not true. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what to say to my parents. I don't know what I should invite her to. I don't know how much I should like the girl. I don't know if I should say 'I love you'. I don't know how to kiss. God damn it, I'm the only guy I know who's never kissed a girl. How would I be able to cope with anything? I'd be a horrible boyfriend and I can't accept rejection. I might as well live life alone..."

"I'm sorry. I... I'm sorry."

Yeah... That was less a story and more a pouring of emotions. At least it's realistic.

The Hunter and the Prey

This actually just happened.

I have watched a fly buzz incessantly around the room for far too long. I lunge at it, shoe in hand, time and time again. This is either a really smart bug or I have horrible hand-eye coordination. This isn't working. I've come close to breaking my picture of Tin Tin, but the fly remains intact and won't shut up. I need a better weapon. I look around the room and find the perfect weapon; the chemistry regents workbook. I take it in hand and I wait until the fly has landed on a window for one last time. I focus on my prey, bring the workbook slightly back...WHAM! It barely hits the fly, but it goes down. Oddly, the corpse is nowhere to be found, but I don't care. I need to go to bed and am filled with relief. The suburban hunter has succeeded again.

Western Culture Hiding the Truth About Food

A while ago I went to a restaurant in China town and I saw this staring up at me from the plate. At first I thought it was strange to eat something with a head. Then I realized that all meat had a head at one point. Western culture had blinded me from the truth. I had not appreciated all of these years that what I was eating was not a plant, but a being that had lived. I felt sorry for it, but then I also realized that it was simply the circle of life to eat other animals. Becoming a vegetarian wouldn't be an option for me anyway. There's no way I could look at a lobster and not think of making a meal of it.

The Seven Samurai

This is a movie review that I wrote for school last year.

I felt that the Seven Samurai was a great movie, although at times it was quite boring. I liked how 7 different people (master tactician, apprentice, old friend, wood chopper, skillful one, serious and skillful one, and a crazy farmer’s son) with hardly any relation to each other faced 30 bandits in a few battles. It was also interesting how the farmers weren’t completely innocent themselves, as they had killed injured samurai in the past and stolen their weapons. I thought that the part where the apprentice was in love with the farmer’s daughter was unnecessary and it just abruptly ended. The story with the man who had lost his wife to bandits showed how important family was, but it was also boring and dragged on for a while. One of my favorite parts of the movie was when the old man was playing an instrument really badly for the whole scene, and a guy sleeping there said to stop because it was depressing. The other guys said, “No, keep playing!” It was also enjoyable to watch the sparring with the bamboo sticks. It was also really cute when the farmer’s son samurai was so loved by the children. It really depressed me when he died in the end though. He was the staple of the group. What I question the most from this movie is why didn’t they use the horses they stole from the bandits when fighting? It would’ve made the battle much easier. They only used the guns once, which could’ve killed the leader much more easily. It was really sad in the end when it showed the graves of the four samurai that died. The leader said, “Once again we have lost the battle. The farmers won.” I finally understood it meant that he had always beaten the enemy in the past, but he lost his friends. Although I found the movie a bit long and tedious, the Seven Samurai was amazingly well made, the weapons and scenery looked realistic, and the battle scenes were extremely intense. I give it 4.7 out of 5.

230 Games!

I just beat Mega Man 4-6 (I want to beat them all before Mega Man 9 comes out.), I remembered that I played Mega Man: The Power Battle at a private school I went to (They had an arcade machine under the cafeteria!), and I recently started playing Viva Pinata, so that's 5 more than before. I'm steadily moving along here! I'm almost done with Lego Indiana Jones and I'm planning to play a lot of Mega Man, so I'll probably get to 235 pretty quickly. The list is at the title link.

Land Ownership Essay

I actually didn't make this for a class or anything. I just thought it would be an interesting topic to write about.


When I was a little kid, I lived near the border of two towns. Nearby, there was a fence that separated town A and town B. I thought it was a strange idea that your location could change so drastically in an instant. I would sometimes walk through the gate, back and forth, telling myself that I was in town A, then town B. It seems a bit silly now, but I was testing whether anything really changed across that border. Although the adults told me that town A and B were different places, I could find no difference.

People own land by claiming it is theirs, whether through discovery or attaining it from others. This is a strange idea to Native Americans, as they see the land as public, something that can't be owned, just borrowed for a while. When Europeans came, they asked to buy their land. The Native Americans didn't understand that they were giving away the right to use the land, so they happily sold it. Was this naive of the Native Americans or irrational for the Europeans? Who had given the Native Americans the land in the first place? They just happened upon it. That didn't make it theirs. Vast undiscovered lands are found and people instantly claim that it is theirs. There are other animals living there, but if there are no humans, then it is for the taking. Are humans the only ones capable of ownership? No, other animals have possessions. Even when there are no other forms of life, it is still a ridiculous concept. Governments claim airspace above their countries and even the United States put a flag on the moon, signifying that a whole planetoid is owned by a country a ridiculous distance away. How can people claim that these are attainable?

Lands are not things that can be owned. It's all just part of nature. When one claims property, does it include space above and below too? What limits can be made? Modern society is dependent on land ownership, yet it undoubtedly makes little sense. Is it too late to change? Yes. The world is built on flawed logic.

80 Unique Views Today...

Well, now that you're all here, are you going to keep coming back? If you are, thank you. Plus, I feel like I'm talking to a wall if there are no responses, so would you mind a couple comments here and there? Much appreciated.

How Long Should a Blog Post Be?

Nobody wants a long blog post. They want it to be short, sweet, and to the point. Has everyone become ADD? Yes. The internet has made us like this. And I'm completely fine that way. This is how long a blog post should be.

Video Game Accessories

Is it just me, or are there too many video game accessories that are too expensive and take up too much room in our closet? There's Guitar Hero guitars ($40), Rock Band instruments ($130), the new Guitar Hero drums which you CAN'T replace with Rock Band drums (unpriced), Wii Balance Board ($40), and plenty others. Now these are the most expensive ones, but still, why am I paying more than $50 to play ONE game? But for some reason, I can't use a PS2 Guitar Hero controller for a PS3 Guitar Hero. Is it fair to the gamers to make them pay top-dollar to play a game? I didn't buy Rock Band, a game I had been anticipating for a while, because it was $180. And it's not just buy it and it's done. Guitar Hero needs TWO guitars to be able to play with a friend, and these accessories frequently break. And there's no replacement. I just have to hand over another $40 if I want to play again. I know that video games are made to make money, but maybe more people would buy the games if there weren't so many accessories you need to play. The only way I'm going to get my money's worth for each accessory is if they work with every console and game that can use it. And we all know that's not going to happen...

The Rubber Room

Has anyone else heard of "The Rubber Room"? It's basically a holding cell for teachers that I originally heard about on NPR. I think it's horrible and inhumane to keep teachers in a room doing nothing for seven hours a day. They can stay in that room for years, even if they didn't do anything wrong. They're getting their punishment before their trial. I'm scared for these people. I suggest that you spread the word about the ways that the Department of Education handles its problems.

In Cooperstown

Right now I'm in Cooperstown; the most boring place on earth. Up here, the water is disgusting, everything is at least a few miles down the road, and nothing is interesting. Except I saw peanut butter pie on a white board at a diner. I've got to try that sometime... I also went to a pretty good dessert place with an authentic strawberry shortcake and at least a gallon of ice cream piled onto my cone. We all agreed that whatever radio station they were playing was horrible. Although it hasn't been the most amazing day, tomorrow we're going to an antique car show and going sailing on our Laser. I enjoy sailing, but it's a lot of work to set it up and put it away and the water is cold this time of year! I've also been thinking about driving recently. I've decided that when I need to get a car of my own, I'm going to get a Smart Car. Those things look awesome!

How Come Nobody Comments?

I know that at least a FEW people read this blog (Probably just my friends and such). How come I've only gotten a few comments? That was a while ago, and I want to get a good idea of who actually cares about what I say. You don't need an account to comment on this blog. Go to comments, type your username in, then put a little comment. A longer one would be preferred, but a small one is better than none. Please comment on this post. Thank you.