I know I'm a massive nerd...

But,

This is a pretty awesome show done by the Cal Marching Band last year - a show inspired by all that we loved as youth. That, or inspired by what we spent way, way, way too much time doing - especially if you get all of the references in the show.

Enjoy:

Yeah Democracy!

The Video Game Voters Network is reporting that the proposed New Mexico bill that introduced legislature taxing video game sales was struck down. This is a great win for the industry, and hopefully serves as a warning to other states trying to legislate the games we love. I'll let VGVN take care of the explanation, but I just thought I'd throw it out here as well.

Snap Judgement: Lost: Via Domus

So here we go again, sorry it's been so long.

Lost: Via Domus is the official video game adaptation of ABC's hit show.
Unfortunately - the game is a 4. (on a scale of 4-42)

Despite an actually interesting connection to the show (the guy who is slammed into the roof of the plane during the crash in the pilot is actually after the character in the game) and terrific in-game character models, the game falls flat in every other respect.

Lets start with play mechanics. Is it 1997? Or is not being able to jump a retro thing? On the serious - the game control is atrocious. Your character (no name - he's a photographer with amnesia! SO ORIGINAL!) runs about the jungle following Vincent the dog or runnign from fuselage to fuselage navigating your way around. The sensitivity is ratcheted way up, so a simple tweak to the right spins the camera around like it's mounted on a stick of butter.

Stick of butter? Where did that come from?

Like I said before, the models are terrific (Claire looks a bit like a pregnant zombie) John Locke is a spitting image of Terry O'Quinn and Jack Shepard is a doppleganger to Matthew Fox. That being said, the quality of voice work runs the gamut. Jack's voice actor sounds pretty believable and Michael Emerson voices Ben Linus (the same character he plays in the series - other actors voice their video game counterpart).

The game is basically a 1999 PS1 survival horror game with prettier graphics and better sound. I wish that Ubisoft - the studio that created the relatively great Assassin's Creed had done more with this license that has such an abundance of terrific content and writers. But alas, as most licensed movie/tv games do, Lost: Via Domus fails to live up to it's source material.

fighting the covenant in the name of doing good...

I know I usually talk about gaming on here, and that's primarily because I'm the best player on the blog. But no, seriously, I am participating in an awesome Halo 3 Tournament on Saturday, October 20th. The tourney is sponsored by the Cavegirls, a group who hosts gaming fourms here. These awesome people have decided to host a tournament to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. More info on the tournament can be found by going to their forums, and if you don't want to play, you can still donate! Gaming for a cause! DO IT!

The Simple Reason Why Halo 3 Rules...

Now, If you don't understand the following clips, that just means that you've not played Halo at all yet. These are two ridiculously awesome plasma grenade sticks...

The Orange Box

Half Life 2
Half Life 2: Episode 1
Half Life 2: Episode 2
Portal
Team Fortress 2

Go buy it now.

It is awesome. I've played a bit of Portal, TF2, and HL2 so far, and here we go:

Portal: Great, great time, it's a first person action puzzler shooter. Yeah. Try that one on for size biznatch!

TF2: A bit laggy, but the most personality driven multiplayer only game I've ever played.

HL2: Looks ridiculous on the XBOX! They've added HDR (Geek speak for fancy lighting) and re-done a lot of the textures on everything (Makes everything/one look prettier).

SO, if you're waiting, don't. IF you don't have an XBOX 360, go buy one, Halo 3, and The Orange Box, that's essentially 7 games for the price of 2. How can you afford not to? I mean REALLY!

Wii're Problematic

I own a Wii. I love my Wii. But I have a problem. I am purposefully not finishing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I am not doing this because it is too hard, or too long, or too disappointing a game, no I am doing this because I don't have anything to play when I'm done.

The Wii is suffering from a relatively familiar problem in the games industry, the first 6 month drought. Because of a number of factors about getting games published, most new consoles ship with one, maybe two, games that are actually worth playing. And no, Happy Feet ain't one of them. I'll possibly find time in the near future to finish up the newest adventure of Link and Zelda, but really I just wish console makers would be more on top of this problem so that during every new console launch we're not sitting around waiting for the next good game.

Super Paper Mario gets released on April 9, and Smash Brothers Brawl comes out this summer. But please Nintendo, get on your ball. Get some quality games out there soon.

-a