How has everyone been???

[The Prince of Darkness]

I swear that this is actually system wars related, but I figured that I had better show my face since it has been so long since I have posted in here. Anyway for starters, I have not really been gaming much at all lately outside of a little bit of Meteos and Advance Wars on DS. I have not even turned on my Xbox in over a month(never thought I would say that.) I guess it is a combination of being really busy with all kinds of other things including trying to develop some newer hobbies, and just losing interest in general. I did go to the mall last night and made a couple impulse buys for the heck of it---Trauma Center for DS and NBA Live 2006 for PSP. I did not get to play either last night because I got home too late, but I am actually really juiced to get home tonight and try them.

Now for the SW portion of my post;) There were two things that happened yesterday that made me think about this place immediately. First, I was at EB and I was talking to the manager about the 360. She said that they have taken over 200 preorders for it. I don't know if the Towson, MD EB is attempting to create false hype or what, but I flat-out told her that I was not interested and she still insisted that there were over 200 preorders. That blew my mind, and I was wondering if you guys thought that sounded right.

The second thing that happened was when I got home I thought that I would boot up NBA Live just to check out the graphics, and I got a strange message on my PSP that said I needed to do a mandatory update in order to play the game. I went to the menu and damned if there was not an update listed there. I immediately thought of all of people on this site that are always MS bashing for their attempt to get the industry to be more like the PC industry. So there you have it, and incidentily, I never got to d/l that patch because my fiancee left the battery too low for me. That damned Lumines!

[Mochan]

Sounds like they have an incentive from Microsoft if they can reach a certain number of preorders. That's what I'm reading into it. I also doubt that they have 200 preorders, probably less, but she is using that line as an incentive for you to jump on the bandwagon. They will probably eventually reach 200 preorders but I'm sure even when they had zero preorders, MS told them to use that line as their marketing phrase.

Now mandatory updating, that's a big no-no and the evil fingers of Patch Mentality are closing over console and handheld gaming. Be it MS or Sony or Nintendo who does it, I find it unacceptable that they are trying to overcomplicate and destroy what already used to work perfectly.

[trebor]

So when's the big day anyways?

[The Prince of Darkness]

Sounds like they have an incentive from Microsoft if they can reach a certain number of preorders. That's what I'm reading into it. I also doubt that they have 200 preorders, probably less, but she is using that line as an incentive for you to jump on the bandwagon. They will probably eventually reach 200 preorders but I'm sure even when they had zero preorders, MS told them to use that line as their marketing phrase.

Now mandatory updating, that's a big no-no and the evil fingers of Patch Mentality are closing over console and handheld gaming. Be it MS or Sony or Nintendo who does it, I find it unacceptable that they are trying to overcomplicate and destroy what already used to work perfectly.

Oh yeah, she was definately trying to sell me,but I was not having any of it. The hype machine is not going to work on me this time.

The patch really took me by total surprise. It just goes to show you how much the arguing I have done on SW has affected my brain. When that happened I looked down at my PSP to make sure it did not say "Microsoft" on it. LoL.

[The Prince of Darkness]

So when's the big day anyways?

September 29, 2006 is the big day...actually big night. We are having a Friday night wedding. Woo hoo it is going to be a huge party. Get this, though. We already have the place booked, the caterer booked, the band booked, and the photographer booked. My fiancee has already been out looking at dresses too. Things are going famously.

[trebor]

September 29, 2006 is the big day...actually big night. We are having a Friday night wedding. Woo hoo it is going to be a huge party. Get this, though. We already have the place booked, the caterer booked, the band booked, and the photographer booked. My fiancee has already been out looking at dresses too. Things are going famously.

Holy moly, I didn't realize it was THAT far out, time wise - I should hope things go smoothly when you have about a year to plan it. :p

You should have PLENTY of free time to play games and post on SW, around your busy schedule of picking out an officiant and picking flowers in the next 11 months, of course.

[The Prince of Darkness]

Holy moly, I didn't realize it was THAT far out, time wise - I should hope things go smoothly when you have about a year to plan it. :p

You should have PLENTY of free time to play games and post on SW, around your busy schedule of picking out an officiant and picking flowers in the next 11 months, of course.

Oops forgot something. The officiant is booked, and the mother of one of my groomsmen owns a flower shop:p

Dude, don't you have to book wedding places like a year in advance where you live? Let's put it this way---if we wanted to have our wedding on a Saturday, or even a Sunday, at the place that we booked we would have had to have it towards the end of October.

[trebor]

Oops forgot something. The officiant is booked, and the mother of one of my groomsmen owns a flower shop:p

Jeez. Talk about lining your ducks up...


Dude, don't you have to book wedding places like a year in advance where you live?

Depends on the place, I suppose. We booked a public, outdoor sculpture garden for our ceremony and a pretty snazzy place for the reception roughly 4 - 6 months in advance, if I remember correctly.


Let's put it this way---if we wanted to have our wedding on a Saturday, or even a Sunday, at the place that we booked we would have had to have it towards the end of October.

We did a Sunday brunch thing. It was great - mimosas and bloody marys, no band, no obnoxious DJ, no nonsense. :D

[Gadfly2317]

Sculpture garden? Did you get married at the sculpture garden at the Minneapolis art gallery? That place is sweet. Pretty good modern art collection, too. I was thinking about the other day after visiting the SF Museum of Modern art, which totally sucks, one of the lamest art galleries I've ever seen.

PoD. . . post about Trauma Center after you get a chance to play it some. I'm curious if you'll find it as difficult as I'm finding it. This is the kinda game that can end up pissing you off. If I weren't playing it with the DS resting on a table for the utmost precision, I'd have probably thrown my DS across the room already.

[Superjoint Ritual]

Now for the SW portion of my post;) There were two things that happened yesterday that made me think about this place immediately. First, I was at EB and I was talking to the manager about the 360. She said that they have taken over 200 preorders for it. I don't know if the Towson, MD EB is attempting to create false hype or what, but I flat-out told her that I was not interested and she still insisted that there were over 200 preorders. That blew my mind, and I was wondering if you guys thought that sounded right I think there's a lot of hardcore Live players that are going to eat up the 360 until the end of the year. The question is, can M$ do what Sega couldn't and get past the Ps3 hype. The Dreamcast had a great launch, but could never escape the looming shadow of the Ps2.

God, you guys are crazy. Getting married scares the hell out of me. You guys are talking about like there's nothing to it. Planning, love, in-laws... I guess I'm too immature for it. Girlfriends are great and all, but it's nice to be by yourself sometimes. I don't know if I could give it up.

Best of luck to you Prince.

Stupid question... Did you ever watch the movie Prince of Darkness? The movie was pretty f*cking wierd. I told you it was a stupid question.

[The Prince of Darkness]

I think there's a lot of hardcore Live players that are going to eat up the 360 until the end of the year. The question is, can M$ do what Sega couldn't and get past the Ps3 hype. The Dreamcast had a great launch, but could never escape the looming shadow of the Ps2.

You know what? I really have no clue anymore. Everytime I start thinking that the 360 will be a huge flop, something comes along and has me thinking that maybe it will not. I have resigned myself to thinking that MS is certainly more equipped than Sega was to make a run. You are right about Live, though, because it could be the X factor.


God, you guys are crazy. Getting married scares the hell out of me. You guys are talking about like there's nothing to it. Planning, love, in-laws... I guess I'm too immature for it. Girlfriends are great and all, but it's nice to be by yourself sometimes. I don't know if I could give it up.

It is not immaturity on your part SJ...you just have not met the right one.



Stupid question... Did you ever watch the movie Prince of Darkness? The movie was pretty f*cking wierd. I told you it was a stupid question.

Well if that is a stupid question then here is a more stupid answer. I have never even heard of it. I really don't know why I chose this name. I am actually a really nice guy, and not the slightest bit evil. I guess that I went with it because I was on the Xbox side, and Xbots are perceived as the bad guys. The funny part is that now I really have no allegiance to speak of. Right now my favorite system is the DS. You just don't find many things "nicer" than the DS.

[The Prince of Darkness]

PoD. . . post about Trauma Center after you get a chance to play it some. I'm curious if you'll find it as difficult as I'm finding it. This is the kinda game that can end up pissing you off. If I weren't playing it with the DS resting on a table for the utmost precision, I'd have probably thrown my DS across the room already.

Oh yeah, if the first three operations is any indication this game will be a tough one. So far it is incredibly nitpicky. I have yet to get above a "C" on the story mode operations or the challenge operations. A couple times I really thought that I nailed them too. I can't get over how cool and original the game is, though. The DS has really hit its stride hasn't it?

[trebor]

Sculpture garden? Did you get married at the sculpture garden at the Minneapolis art gallery? That place is sweet. Pretty good modern art collection, too. I was thinking about the other day after visiting the SF Museum of Modern art, which totally sucks, one of the lamest art galleries I've ever seen.

The Walker Sculpture Garden...yup, that would be the place. We picked a sculpture called Double Curve, by Ellsworth Kelly, to be our "alter".

http://www.walkerart.org/walker_images/e_images/02/wac_1148e.jpg

We thought is was fitting, given it's made up of two curves, in perfect symmetry - very much like marraige is a balance of two individuals. Blah blah blah.

As you might guess, there were plenty of good photo ops. One of my favorites is my bride and I in front of the Spoon and Cherry, which is probably the most prominent sculpture there, and it was just the right time of day, with no bystanders in the background...it was a one in a million shot.

[Gadfly2317]

You know what? I really have no clue anymore. Everytime I start thinking that the 360 will be a huge flop, something comes along and has me thinking that maybe it will not. I have resigned myself to thinking that MS is certainly more equipped than Sega was to make a run. You are right about Live, though, because it could be the X factor. I think the 360 will do fine. And actually, even a basher and skeptic like myself hasn't written it off. Their initial offerings do nothing for me, but ultimately there are still to many unknowns. like

1.) Online. What kind of online is Sony gonna have? I think online will be more of a factor next time. For me personally, for online to be afactor, there are going to have to be the kinda games I like online. While I could always hope that Nintendo makes Pikmin's multiplayer online, I have no trust that will happen.

2.) Who gets that "must play" truly new experience, exclusive. By "new" I don't just mean new IP's or stories, I mean games that break the boudries of what we've ever experienced before in gameplay. Last time, Grand Theft Auto was the big new thing. Both Sony and Nintendo had several littler "new things" though even Animal Crossing exceeded a million in sales. As much as I covet the blue-ray movie playback capabilities of the Ps3, between MS and Sony, I still will pick up the one who first reaches a critical mass of games I "must" play, or else who first releases that one game I cannot live without.

3.)Cost. Still don't know what Ps3's gonna cost. Or how fast 360 will drop its price. Right now, buying a 360 at launch looks pointless for a lot of kinds of gamers, but next christmas, if the games are looking nearly as good as Ps3, there a bunch of games I want, and the do a helluva price drop, who can say? A lot of people might go "well, I've waited until they're both out, and now that they are, the Ps3 can wait a little longer."

4.) Those cool little games online, and japanese support. Who knows how this Japanese support of 360 will turn out? And will either Ps3 or Xbox get some of those groovier games and make them online? I don't care for the annual Live fee, but it's not the end of the world. The system with stuff like online Culdcept tournements, Super Monkey Ball, or hell, even online co-op for oldschool stuff like Contra, Metal Slug and Gradius (and its Ps3 that's getting the next gradius, and it better damned have an online mode). . . .hell, online Culdcept tournements alone would seal the deal for me. Currently, I would expect the Ps3 to be the system to deliver this, but again, if its Xbox, I have no loyalties, and neither do a lot of gamers.

Xbox will carry its base with it, all it has to do is a few other things right to really grow. I'm skeptical they will, but they always could.



Oh yeah, if the first three operations is any indication this game will be a tough one. So far it is incredibly nitpicky. I have yet to get above a "C" on the story mode operations or the challenge operations. A couple times I really thought that I nailed them too. I can't get over how cool and original the game is, though. The DS has really hit its stride hasn't it?
Totally has hit its stride. It's actually kind of irritating the number of games dropping that I want. Even the imperfect games with so-so ratings like Lost in Blue and Trace Memories are highly compelling to me, but there's just too much A+ content dropping like Castlevania, Advance Wars, Trauma Center, Animal Crossing, online Mario Kart, etc.

I nailed to B's and an A on those first three operations, but it took a lot of tries. It's a matter of precision and speed. While the game is very picky, I'm really pleased with how responsive and accurate the touch screen is. I thought it might be an issue because in Advance Wars sometimes I touch a target and it doesn't recognize I've touched the target, but it turns out that's just a matter of where they programmed the touch-spot. Trauma Center is uber-precise. Also, I had a bunch of extra Styluses (Styli?) around, including that freebie pink one Nintendo mailed out to Kirby owners; anyway, I've noticed getting out a new stylus has actually helped; it's slight, but my old one had worn a bit. (I use a screen protector, which I think wears the stylus out rather than your stylus wearing the screen out.)

[Gadfly2317]

One of my favorites is my bride and I in front of the Spoon and Cherry, which is probably the most prominent sculpture there, and it was just the right time of day, with no bystanders in the background...it was a one in a million shot.

Wow. I bet that is a sweet shot. That was by far the best out-door sculpture exhibit I've ever seen. What a great place to get married.

Seems like I heard people up there actually get married in the Mall of America. Glad to see you exhibit the same great taste in real life as you do in videogames :)

[trebor]

Wow. I bet that is a sweet shot. That was by far the best out-door sculpture exhibit I've ever seen. What a great place to get married.

Our wedding took place on a Sunday morning, so there weren't a lot of onlookers and ceremony crashers, which was my biggest fear of having it in a public park. The museum even put up signs blocking off our ceremony area, asking for people to be respectful. It worked out really well.

I'd love to show you some of the pictures, they turned out so well that they almost look fake. Especially the one in front of the Spoon and Cherry - it looks like a postcard, it's so perfect.


Seems like I heard people up there actually get married in the Mall of America. Glad to see you exhibit the same great taste in real life as you do in videogames :)

It's funny about the Mall of America - most people from the Twin Cities and surrounding suberbs avoid the place like the plague. But people drive in from rural areas - even out of state - to go there. Hell...it's common that rubes from surrounding states plan their vacations around the damn mall. Scary, but true.

Even scarier - people do indeed get marred in the MoA. Some people go to the cheap, crappy University that is located in the Mall. I wish I was kidding about that one. Can you imagine? "I go to Mall University!" (It's actually called National American University :p )

Although, there is one reason why I would go to the mall...they have a really excellent sushi restaurant there, Tiger Sushi. Yummy. Shopping-wise, though, there is nothing there that can't be found at any other mall.