Name:Michael Country:United States State:Missouri Birthday:9/3/1985 Gender:Male
Interests:Video games, Christian apologetics, good sci fi. Expertise:Being a Nerd. That is to say, whatever I take a liking to, I usually try and find out all that I can about it. Occupation:Student
First off, if you're reading this on facebook, view the original post and come over to Xanga. There are a few things that I'm going to try and do that won't show up on facebook.
So having beat the Adventure Mode and put in quite a bit of playtime with my brother in multi-player, I can safely say that this game is everything it was hyped up to be. Think about Smash Bros. Melee and then refine it until you have a lovely brick of pure molten gaming goodness. Seriously, it's that good.
The new Adventure mode is very, very good. It's amazing how something with no dialog can still be so cool. It was neat seeing all of the separate stories come together in the end. The battle sequence with the Halberd has got to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen Nintendo do. The grand reveal as to the identity of the Subspace Emissary is probably the second most amazing thing in story mode. I won't spoil it, but just let me say that people that know their Nintendo history will be very pleased with this. I was anyway. The most amazing thing is walking into the final boss room and seeing Sonic just trashing the place. Too cool for words.
The sheer number of fighters is also good. A full list is available online anywhere you care to look so I won't elaborate too much. Just let me touch on a few of my favorites though. Ike from the Fire Emblem series is an amazing powerhouse without sacrificing too much in the way of speed. Charged up smash attacks = goodbye. Snake from the Metal Gear games is probably the one fighter you take a look at and think of as the oddball. And he is, but he's powerful without being to slow and his Final Smash is one of the best in the whole game. Wolf from the StarFox series is the other favorite of mine so far. He fast and plays a lot like Fox but has an almost reckless sort of thing going on with his moves which I kind of like.
The other really cool thing about this game is the fact that it contains the best possible kind of fanservice. Things included for no other reason than to make people happy. This is especially evident in the music The game would be awesome if it just had the original music for the game, some of which is very very good. But instead they draw upon the rich tapestry of Nintendo's history and back catalog to create some amazingly cool remixes and other things. I'm going to put a few of my favorites here. If you're a fellow video game person, then hopefully you can appreciate this along with me. If not, and you're still reading this, then enjoy some cool music anyway.
One of the coolest things from the Sonic games has got to be the "Sonic Boom" song from the Sonic CD intro... I first discovered that this was going to be in the game while I was at my Grandpa's house... he was asleep... I wanted yell very loudly how awesome Nintendo was...
The song with it's original intro.
I'll let this one speak for itself and then I'll comment.
The absolute first thing that popped into my head when I heard this, having watched a fair amount of the Pokemon cartoon was something like. "When we last left Ash and friends..."
Anyone who's ever played Kirby should recognize this.
It's the Butter Building from Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland. So perky and happy. So Kirby.
The page where I've been getting these is here. Take a listen to whatever tickles your fancy.
I (finally) finished reading Dan Allender's "To Be Told" yesterday. It was very powerful. I need a little bit more time to process and think about it, but don't be surprised if I start "writing down my story" and post some of it online. I'm becoming convinced it's something I really should do. It should be a good exercise.
I'm watching with morbid fascination as this whole thing with the New York governor plays out in the media. On the one hand you have to feel a little pity for a person who's caught up in something like this when they're in a high profile position. On the other, he's getting what he deserves and I have to think that justice is being done here.
I'm sitting here in the mac lab... it's past time to start class and the guy who has the file for our project isn't here... So we're all just kind sitting here. Catching up, Doing work for other classes... or blogging.
What is it with Moberly's Wal*Mart and their inability to get items onto the shelves when they're supposed to be there? I went to pick up Stargate: The Ark of Truth this morning at about 11:30 ish... and it isn't there. I call my mom only to find out that the Macon Wal*Mart had it out last night... Don't know how that works... but anyway...
A Question
I've been looking at the people's sites who have Wordpress... and I really like the way it looks. I like what I see being possible on there. My question is twofold. For you Wordpressers, do you like it and if so, why specifically? And for you Xanga people, would you read the Wordpress blog if I got it?
Nerdside
Sonic & Knuckles is coming out on Nintendo's virtual console. Please, Nintendo... do the right thing and allow for some sort of "Lock-On" emulation if people have gone ahead and bought Sonic 1, 2, and 3 already.
Amazing... I am proud to belong to such an amazing group of Nerds and Fanboys.
Apparently some Wiis are having problems reading the Smash Bros. Brawl disc. It has to do with the fact that Brawl is the first Wii game to be released on a Dual Layer DVD, thus the lens has to have more precision. Therefore things are much more sensitive to dirt being on the lens. Those of us that have kept our Wiis relatively clean shouldn't have a problem.
I was watching Stargate SG-1 DVDs last night... What an amazing show. It was the Season 6 episode "Memento." And it was amazing. Not a fan favorite by any means. But a good story. That's what Stargate is good about. Making you care about what happens to the people. The characters become more than your standard cookie cutter shapes. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the show has gone on so long and the characters have been given time to develop... I don't know. I just know that this is why I enjoy the show.
I leave you today... with a Boy Meets World quote from "Eric Hollywood"
Feeny: You call this a classroom? There are only 9 desks! Are we supposed to believe there are only 9 students in the whole class?
Matt: Well, actually camera angles will make it appear to be more.
This past week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster of sorts for me. So when I woke up Monday morning and facebook informed me that Dan and Katherine were listed as "In a Relationship." Those of you that know me know that I was very happy... more than I probably should have been. See #20 on the facebook 20 things note as for why...
There's a flip side to being that excited for your friends when they are though... and that's that you feel your friends' pain. I don't know much and so I won't elaborate, but something else happened this past week. Something that I can't imagine being anything less than emotionally excruciating. Again, if you read this, you probably know what I'm referring to, but it too affected me more than it probably should.
The week though, ended on a good note. Simply observing what I mentioned in the first paragraph. Again, happier than it probably should, but part of who I am nonetheless.
And now to the Introspection/Psychoanalysis part of the thing... Why? Why do these sorts of things have such sway over my emotions? Why are things pertaining to romantic relationships so important to me? I know part of it is simply having good friends and feeling what they must be. Yet there's another element here. It all becomes somehow personal. I personally haven't had a whole lot of romantic relationships and part of me is ok with that. I see the people that did in high school and some in college and it just seems a bit like they have a lot of emotional baggage. However... I'm not a very social person by nature and I long for those precious few that I can really really share myself with. I guess I'm frightened of being lonely... and then I see what others have and hold out hope that the same can happen to me. I guess I'm kind of in love with concept of "being in love."
I want it so desperately... but not outside of God's will. Human beings ruin relationships. It's only when God is present in any kind of relationship that the truly beautiful happens.
Anyway... sorry about that. Just needed to process.
And now... the triumphant return of *drum roll please* NERDSIDE!
Although I was disappointed that the returning Carson Beckett on Stargate Atlantis turned out to be a clone (there were other cooler options open in my opinion) I did enjoy the episode. Seeing Carson wanting so desperately to shoot Michael and then being absolutely unable to was gut wrenching. Also I thought the end was highly symbolic given what's coming for the show next season. The character that's been dubbed "The Heart of Atlantis" being put in a stasis pod and frozen when a cold hard bureaucrat is set to assume command of the city next season.
Smash Bros. Brawl comes out on the ninth and I'm so very excited. I don't know if I'm as excited as I was when Mario Galaxy came out, but still pretty stinking excited. This is no ordinary game we're talking about.
Stargate: The Ark of Truth, the first of two direct to DVD Stargate SG-1 movies comes out on the 11th. Really looking forward to it. I saw a clip from it with Teal'c talking to Tomin about coming to terms with what you've done while in service to who you later realize is the enemy. Good stuff.
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World for the Wii is looking absolutely beautiful. When released it'll be a good showcase of just what the Wii is capable of graphically.
And also let me say, since this gets picked up by facebook as well.
***SPOILER WARNING FOR STAR WARS: LEGACY OF THE FORCE: REVELATION --- COREY ROBERTS... KEEP OUT***
Now that that's out of the way, let me say that I really enjoyed this book. It's not on the highest level of Star Wars Expanded Universe literature along with Matthew Stover's Traitor, not even close, but it is better than a lot of other things out there. So here's the breakdown of things that I liked and didn't. (Now with lots of links to Wookiepedia so that those who don't know much about Star Wars can try to follow if they want.)
The Good
Jaina's Journey to Mandalore. The fact that she went and learned the good aspects of Mandalorian culture and fighting while keeping away the parts that would lead her to the Dark Side was really cool. I'm generally not a Boba Fett / Mandalorian fanboy, but when they're written right (as Karen Traviss does), then I don't mind.
Grand Admiral Pellaeon calling Tahiri "Villip." Absolutely the perfect word to describe the character she's become. There is a flip side to this whole interaction that will be in the bad however.
Ben Skywalker: Private Eye. Ben doing his detective work as far as proving that Jacen had killed his mother was an absolute joy to read while at the same time making you feel for him so much. Here's a guy that's had a brush, several brushes in fact, with the Dark Side and now he finds himself in a situation where it would be so easy to let the emotions of fear and anger overtake him. And yet he stays firmly on the side of the Light. Great character development in this book for Ben. Absolutely amazing.
Luke rattling Jacen via Force illusions of a whole fleet. It was a lot of fun to read about Jacen looking like a nutcase to his crew. And even better him not believing it when the real enemy fleet showed up. Also, it shows that while powerful, Jacen can be tricked.
Shevu. I hope they don't kill this character off next book or forget about him after this series. He's been an amazing character to read and a good mentor for Ben in the past few novels... Too bad Jacen's probably going to kill him in the next (and last) book of the series.
The Bad
Mandalorian Superiority. I know I said I liked Mandalorians... and I do. I like the culture and language that Karen Traviss has almost single handedly fleshed out. What I don't like is the way Traviss writes them as being somehow morally superior to Jedi. I can accept that you can like Star Wars and not like the portrayal of Jedi in some parts of the movies and books. Make them the flawed human beings that they are, but they're still kind of the focal point of the whole thing.
Tahiri shooting Pellaeon. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against "the old man of the Empire" dying. It's just that the character deserved a better death than to get shot by some punk upstart Sith apprentice. I always pictured him as going out in some sort of blaze of glory. Like maybe it's obvious his Star Destroyer is going to get blown up with everyone on board dying. He orders the crew to fly directly into the enemy flag ship or something like that.... Isn't that cooler than getting shot by A 30 year old woman who's become a Sith apprentice essentially because she can't let go of a love that died when she was 15? Come on.
Daala. Gwah? Of all the characters to drag out of mothballs, you pick Daala?
I complain, but overall the book was fun to read. I'll go out on a limb and say that this is the best book that Karen Traviss has written for the Legacy of the Force series. It's got Mandolorians. It's got character development. And most importantly it was fun to read. Fans like me will always find something to nitpick, but it was fun to read. And that's all one can really ask for.
