Game Releases This Week (Dec 27 - Jan 2)

Sunday
World Party Games (WiiWare)
Wildhollow (Mac/PC)
Learn Geography (DS)

Monday
The Magic Obelisk (WiiWare)
Four Player Tangerine Fight (XBLCG)

Tuesday
Learn Chess (DS)
Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot (360DLC)

Wednesday
CatTaTa (iPhone)

Hello Christmas! Bye Christmas!

Another Christmas is in the bag...Good work, people!

Now, get ready for 2010!

Game Releases This Week (Dec 20 - 26)

Explain to me how having a Final Fantasy game released after Christmas makes any sense...

Sunday
Skies of Glory (iPhone)
Retro Shoot (iPhone)

Monday
Pallurikio (WiiWare)
myNotebook: Green (DSiWare)

Tuesday
Guitar Hero: Van Halen (Multi)

Wednesday
0 Day Attack on Earth (XBLA)

Thursday
Savage Moon: The Hera Campaign (PSPdl)
Advent Annihilation: Westbang Xmas Special! (iPhone)

Friday (Happy Holidays!)
AiRace (DSiWare)
RC Plane (iPhone)

Saturday
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii)

Strange Days Are Upon Us

The San Jose police department is testing out a new head-mounted camera system, partially in response to a recent allegation of police brutality. After watching a clip of the device in action, I can't help but be reminded of the movie Strange Days.

Sure, you can't hide Taser's Axom under a wig (yet), but you can't deny the morbid appeal of watching a police action in first-person. POV video is not a new concept, but I haven't seen it used in this kind of situation before.

After playing the umpteenth FPS, I thought I would have been insensitized to seeing a gun in this manner, but I'm not. The clip is only 10 seconds long, but it's intense. Is it just me?

What makes an FPS in real life so much more exciting than a computer-generated one? Is it the graphics? Is it the lack of control? Is it the fact that there are real humans on screen? It's fascinating to think about it.

While you ponder the possibilities, here's a clip from Rec 2:

TIWILG: Photo Fighter X

Photo Fighter X at IGN.com

I admit, I don't have a DSi...yet, but after watching this clip of Photo Fighter X, I'm more than tempted to trade up for the gimmicky piece of goodness. Maybe it's just a matter of time when we'll be able to make our own version of Mortal Kombat, eh?

I hope they make more games like this, like a driving game that uses your car, or an RPG that uses stuff you have around the house. Ooh, the mind reels!

Unfortunately, it's Japan-only at the moment. I guess I can hold off on getting a DSi for a little longer...

Button Mashest

Do you know Takahashi Meijin?

Neither did I...until I saw this 50-year old button mash like a mofo! Although age has downgraded his ability, this Hudson executive can still bring it by pressing a button 12 times a second. That's the wingbeat of a hummingbird!

Games nowdays don't require that kind of talent, which is a little sad. In this world of context-sensitivity, the age of button-mashing is nearing an end. Combine that with target-locking, light-gun reticles, and "kind codes," then it feels like all gamer skills are becoming endangered.

What is a game without skill; Is it still a game?

Will Takahashi Meijin's 16shot talent be replaced by some person who's been logged into WoW the longest? That would be a sad day indeed.

Pee Wee Live(s)?

In the entertainment industry's ongoing pursuit of reviving every single aspect of my childhood -- Transformers...GI Joe...those squiggly worm on a fishing line-things -- Pee Wee has plotted a comeback, first taking form on stage, then (potentially) branching out onto the big screen.

Now, I would be lying if I said that Pee Wee wasn't an influence in my life, but I don't know how to feel, hearing that he's now dusting off the gray suit and taking out those ugly puppets. I mean, can Jambi's face fit in that box anymore?

Well, he's got my attention, but it's like a "stuff-on-the-freeway" kind of attention...

Mr. Bubbles Action Figure? Yes, Please!

Bioshock 2 begins its accent to mass-market greatness by getting the action figure treatment by the fine folks at Neca. I guess I didn't have to buy that collectors edition with the statue, since the Neca Big Daddy figure looks just as good, and it doesn't come with the broken drill-thingy problem.

I hope they make an Andrew Ryan figure with a golf club accessory (switchable heads?), or some playsets. I'm not too keen on the "Big Daddy plush."

...that just sounds icky to infinity.

America Gets Muscle March And Doesn't Get It

Freed from it's Japan-only label, Muscle March flexes its muscles and crashes into US homes via WiiWare! ...but look at that trailer. Booorrriiinnng!

Come on, Nam-dai Marketing people! That's not how you sell Muscle March.

This is how you sell Muscle March!


(Yet another opportunity to post that video. Fabulous!)

Onwards, Not Upwards

In this lousy economy, it's common for the media to sit next to us, pat us on the head, and say, "there there." Yes, it's patronizing, but it can also be comforting when you assume that everyone is suffering. It's not so much a feeling a kinship as it's schadenfreude.

The San Francisco Chronicle sat down with me to explain that my frustrations at work were not my own, but my generation's. As a Gen-X'er, I am merely fulfilling my destiny as a grumpy idealist, searching for meaning in a world that has passed me by -- or, in this case, sandwiched me between two relevant generations. While I would love to take all these "analyses" and shoot them out a cannon, I can't help but be fascinated by the world that science has built for me.

While there are many points in the article that echo my own, I have the nagging feeling that I've seen this before. Have we learned nothing from the last recession? Are we doomed to more 8-year flushes?

You have to wonder if there is some greater flaw in the world than generational gaps. While I seem to fit the Gen-X mentality exactly, I also fit the descriptions in my horoscope too. Perhaps the issues we have today have been occurring since time immemorial, where we're all repeating a massive pattern, like a cosmic Groundhog Day.

I wish I had the solution to all this, so we can break this cycle and evolve to a higher existence.

Maybe Andie MacDowell knows something...