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Amazon.com announced a new used videogame trade-in system today. If you ship (for free) a good-condition or better videogame worth more than $10, Amazon will give you store credit for it. I guess the prices they're offering are on average about $2-$3 more than Gamestop. That's pretty cool news, especially since Amazon sells just about everything, but for some reason the fact that Gamestop's stock dropped 13% on the news returned a little bit of my confidence in the market. Gamestop's CEO made an announcement today declaring that there was "zero chance" that Amazon's trade-in system would be successful, because there's "an immediacy for currency when [customers] want to buy a new game." Funny, I went to Borders today to pick up Watchmen and Without Warning, because I thought I wanted them urgently enough I was willing to put up with paying more than Amazon charges in order to have them today. But they didn't even have Watchmen (although they had at least 3 different books about the movie) and they wanted nearly double the price for Without Warning. I guess in my case having an immediacy for currency means buying something online for half the price, and waiting for free shipping. I ordered two books from Amazon on Tuesday for my professional surveyor test. Even with Super Saver (i.e. free) shipping, one of the books actually came today. That only took two days! Of course, there is at least one big downside to this - you would still need to pick up your own packing materials. Amazon doesn't just send you a box or anything like that. current weather: Partly Cloudy, 54, Wind: S 11; Big warmup today, and high temperatures over 60 for the next three days Tags: economy, money, videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood:  thoughtful
Current Music: none
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This may sound totally ridiculous, but I honestly think that one of the best decisions I've ever made was to ditch my razor and shift to using an electric shaver. I hated shaving with a razor so much that I have a special hatred in my heart toward the Gillette Company. First because of the insane amount of money they charged for their ever-increasing number of disposable blades, but also because of the never-ending razor burn and bleeding that came along with using their product. But however ridiculous it may be that I consider that to be one of the best decisions I ever made, the story that follows is so ridiculous there's just absolutely no way anyone could make this up. Apparently Gillette has a new razor specifically for people who play videogames, the Gillette Fusion Power Gamer razor. Insanity. My God, the thing has 5 blades - I remember the 3 blades on the Mach 3 had seemed like 2 too many. After all, the faces of those who play videogames are fundamentally different from those of a normal man. I really didn't think that products could get any crazier than Gamer Grub or Mana Energy Potion, but I guess I was wrong. current weather: Mostly Cloudy, 10, Wind: N 11; Brrrr Tags: insanity, marketing, videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood:  shocked
Current Music: Ladytron - Light & Magic
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I planned on writing a long, vitriolic rant about how I hate Target and will never shop there again, because they never have what I'm looking for, but it's been a couple of hours now and I've calmed back down. So instead I will mention that according to new research, playing strategy games strengthen the mental facilities of people in their 60s and 70s. The research was done at the University of Illinois, and the results don't seem all that surprising. What caught my attention in the first place is that the game they gave them to play was Rise of Nations, a game with which Gregg and I have extensive experience. Ah, god old RON. That was one of our games of choice back in 2003 and 2004, and I can say that it is easily the most demanding game (in terms of mental concentration) that I have ever played. We usually had to stop and take breaks after having played just one session of the game. I think it was probably an excellent game to use for something like this because Rise of Nations really demands more attention than you can possibly offer it - so the game really is about trying to organize yourself and monitor multiple things at one time. Reading about it has really gotten me into wanting to play it again, too... hmmmm. *** Oh cool, it was actually already installed on my computer :). current weather: Cloudy, 28, Wind: W 6; I don't actually know that it's cloudy, but it seems like a safe assumption Tags: health, rise of nations, videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: none
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The game was delayed by about 6 months after the rights were picked up by another videogame publisher, but the new Ghostbusters game, which looks GREAT, is set to come out sometime next June. They released a new trailer for it today. Unfortunately it seems to be mostly pre-rendered stuff, but it still looks great. Reasons why I have high hopes for the game: - the script is being written by Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis - essentially the entire cast of the movie has been reassembled for the game, with the exception of Sigourney Weaver (Dana Barrett) and Rick Moranis (Louis Tully). This includes William Atherton as Walter Peck and Annie Potts as Janine. Who knows, it's a long way off, but it has a lot of potential. Also, it's a chance for me to use my usually-neglected Ghostbusters icon for a post. current weather: Partly Cloudy, 27, Wind: NW 12 Tags: ghostbusters, videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: none
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A remake (but mostly just a new port) of Chrono Trigger just came out for the Nintendo DS. Chrono Trigger, even though it came out in 1995, is still one of my absolute favorite games, probably in the top 10 anyway. I'm looking forward to playing it again, at least partially because I don't remember very much about it anymore. But I still need to work through Fallout 3 and Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions before I get to it. Wow... I was 14 then. I remember Mark mentioning that he was playing it my sophomore year of high school, and Gregg shortly thereafter. I don't think I actually played it until a couple of years later, Gregg felt that it was such a good game I had to work my way up to it from other games, lest I fail to appreciate how good it was. Man, that game has been around for a little under half of my entire life up to this point. Anyway, there's a new boss and a new (14th) ending to the game in this version, which of course has already found it's way onto YouTube. It's kind of long, and quite honestly I think the actual boss battle itself is very skippable. But it's a little interesting, mainly because it actually links in somewhat to the sequel, Chrono Cross, which I spent a good chunk of 2000 and 2001 playing. So here's the video, if for some reason you DO watch it, it's probably worth skipping the middle 8 minutes or so. And just because I feel like it, my favorite song from Chrono Cross. Yasunori Mitsuda makes some of my favorite music, period. Now, if only they'd make a new Chrono game... although Square Enix doesn't seem to make new games anymore, just remakes and ports of the same old games. They're that good though. Boy I'm really geeking out in these posts tonight. Oh well. Tags: chrono cross, chrono trigger, videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: Chrono Cross - Chronopolis
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But I'm not logged into Gmail at the moment, while my LiveJournal client IS open, so I'm just going to post it here, and who knows, maybe someone else may find it interesting. I just read a great feature article on Kotaku written by Leigh Alexander.An excerpt: That guy in the parka who wondered whether to buy Silent Hill: Homecoming probably doesn't read game reviews for the same reason I don't read music reviews; they would have told him all about the controls, the environment, the vibe and the themes, would have listed for him a raft of minor criticisms he'd never even notice, but wouldn't have told him anything about whether or not he'd like the game.
He doesn't need the extra facts, the peripheral humor, the sneak peeks we get from our favorite game sites. And he probably doesn't need the sense of community that we get from socializing, networking and sharing content with other elitists online - because he's got about millions of possible pals out there, average gamers just like himself, who are happy to just play with him and enjoy it.
"Oh hey," a shy girl who looks about my age notices that I've got my DS in my hand as I'm on my way out of the store. She's holding the new Tinkerbell DS game, she looks a little lost, and I can tell she's been hoping to ask another female for ideas. "Do you have this one?"
I tell her I don't; I tell her it's a game for kids. And she laughs a little, shrugs, makes a gesture that encompasses the entire store, as if to say, so? These are all just toys, aren't they? To some people, they are.
So yes, our existence is still somewhat a lonely one; we are in the minority, still. But it's not because we're gamers. It's not even because we're hardcore gamers. It's because we're such fanatical culturalists that we forget about the middle ground. Is it a divide we can bridge?I've definitely thought before that I'm probably the equivalent of a movie/music snob when it comes to videogames. But that's ok with me. current weather: Cloudy, 37, Wind: W 17, Rain today: 0.22"; Dark and foggy - I like Tags: videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: none
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I've been playing a whole lot of Fallout 3 this last week or so. Unfortunately that's affected my writing. On any given weekday I attempt to: 1) Sleep 8 hours 2) Eat 3) Exercise 5) Work 8 hours 6) Write a Livejournal entry 7) Try to get at least one random chore/errand done However "play Fallout 3" has put a serious dent into actually being able to do all those things. At the moment that means numbers 1 and 6 have been missing out. Surprisingly enough I've stuck with the exercise - and have been reducing my food intake again, and I've actually managed to lose about 8 pounds so far. Anyway, back to Fallout 3. The title of this entry is the name of a song in the game by the Ink Spots, which dates from 1941. It's been really stuck in my head. You can hear it in this video: Fallout is hard to summarize, but basically, it's a role-playing game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic America destroyed by nuclear war. But it features a rather unique setting - the war in question takes place between the USA and China in 2077, and it's not exactly our future, but 2077 as someone in the 1940s or 1950s might have envisioned it. So there are mutants, robots, laser pistols, and fusion-powered cars, but also vacuum tubes and everything has a very 1940s or 50s look (and sound, like the song above). This first two games took place around California - the most recent takes place around what remains of Washington, D.C., 200 years after the Great War. I'll try to do a better job of writing more. And not just about Fallout 3. After all, I can always cut further into sleep. Oh, I finally managed to track down contact lenses here in town - and it proved to be easier than I expected. Looks like there was some miscommunication between myself and the eye doctor. I'd kind of like a new pair of glasses too, but my prescription didn't really change much, and I think I may hold off on that. current weather: Mostly Cloudy, 37, Wind: calm; "Winter. Winter never changes." Tags: fallout 3, videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood:  busy
Current Music: none
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There's a certain irony in my writing about this only a few days after whining about getting caught up in advertising and marketing campaigns, but apparently Paramount started to reveal some photos and other details from the new Star Trek movie today, which doesn't actually come out until next summer. Anyway, they released five images, some cooler than others, each one to a different web site, and then they linked them all together. Personally, I think the most important one is the one sent to UGO with all of the crew except for Spock, but each of the images is unique for one reason or another. What can I say, it's Star Trek. I'm definitely a fan of the casting, especially Simon Pegg as Scotty and Zachary Quinto as Spock. Not exactly related, but something else that's popping up on the horizon is that LucasArts and Bioware (makers of Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect) are planning some sort of announcement on October 21st: LucasArts and Bioware invite you to attend the official unveiling of the game that's been rumored about for years.Sure sounds like a Knights of the Old Republic MMO, but who knows. Even just KOTOR 3 would be pretty exciting. It's gotta be better than Star Wars Galaxies. current weather: Cloudy, 70, Wind: SW 6, Rain today: trace Tags: star trek, star wars, videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Zoë Keating - We Insist
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The cast list for the cutscene videos in Red Alert 3 were announced the other day. The Red Alert games are real-time strategy games, spinoffs of the Command and Conquer series. I've only played the first game, which was great. Red Alert takes place in an alternate timeline (which was originally going to be the Command and Conquer timeline but they've since changed that). The basic premise is that Einstein develops a time machine and goes back in time and kills Hitler, therefore preventing World War II. The game takes place in a sort of Super Cold War showdown between the Allies and the Soviets in the 1950s. True to its Command and Conquer heritage, Red Alert had really crazy units (things like Tesla tanks and time-traveling units) and really over-the-top video cutscenes. It looks like they're really trying to carry that forward. After Red Alert 2 apparently the Soviet Union is in tatters, and attempts a time travel experiment of its own, to stop Einstein from ever going back in time. Something goes horribly wrong and the time line gets changed even more. So now there's not just the Allies and the Soviets, but the Empire of the Rising Sun, which has all sorts of anime-inspired units. I'm more excited about this game than I have about almost any RTS in quite a while, with the possible exception of Starcraft 2. You can get an idea for some of the really crazy units at this page. Anyway, the cast has been announced, and there's a surprising number of pretty well-known actors and actresses, including Tim Curry as the leader of the Soviets, JK Simmons as the leader of the Allies, Jonathan Pryce, and Gemma Atkinson. Unfortunately Jenny McCarthy is also there, but I think that's offset by the incredibly cool inclusion of George Takei as the Emperor of the Rusing Sun. This video is great, I love how ridiculous it is. It even looks like they have George Takei re-dubbing over Japanese in English! Tags: red alert 3, videogames
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood: excited
Current Music: none
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Gametrailers has two videos made up of all of the (unique) Critical Finishes in Soulcalibur IV. The Apprentice isn't included... I can't remember, maybe he has the same one as Darth Vader. My personal favorites are probably the critical finishes of Amy, Hilde, Yoda, Setsuka, and Algol. Cassandra and Tira's are both really disturbing, although for different reasons. Part 1 (Ivy, Nightmare, Siegfried, Voldo, Mitsurugi, Kilik, Raphael, Cassandra, Sophitia, Tira, Taki, Xianghua, and Darth Vader) Part 2 (Hilde, Maxi, Amy, Ashlotte, Yun-Seong, Lizardman, Setsuka, Angol Fear (sigh), Rock, Talim, Cervantes, Zasalamel, Seong Mi-Na, Yoshimitsu, and Algol) Haha, "Lightning Dragon of the Zodiac" made me chuckle. I've been finally making some new characters of my own, I think I spend more time in the character creator than I do actually playing the game! current weather: Partly Cloudy, 77, Wind: NW 7; Very few clouds in the sky Tags: soulcalibur, videogames, videos
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: none
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...although it looks like she did in Soulcalibur II and III as well, Haruhi just wasn't around yet. Wendee Lee has voiced someone in just about every English anime dub ever made. I picked up Soulcalibur IV this evening, and I've only had a little bit of time playing it, but I really like it. It's totally ridiculous, I mean, geez, one of the stages is in the hangar deck of a Star Destroyer and Yoda is a playable character, but I find that if I just decide to embrace the ridiculousness instead of fight it, there's a really great game in there. The new customization system is really robust. I have a feeling I may spend more time creating characters than I will actually playing them! current weather: Partly Cloudy, 76, Wind: SW 6, Rain today: 0.57"; We had a torrential downpour a little after 1:00 pm today - it got dark enough beforehand that streetlights came on! Tags: haruhi, soulcalibur, videogames, xbox360
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: none
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Man, I can't believe it's already 9:30, today's going by too fast. I'm back home from dogsitting. Mom and Dad came up for the weekend, and we had a pretty busy weekend. Which I was going to write about, but I need to get betting ready for bed now, so some other time I guess. I do have a real backlog of things to write about though. Maybe the biggest of which is the announcement of Mega Man 9 for Wii Ware. Apparently it's a new sequel to the original NES Mega Man games, as in, it really looks and plays like a new NES Mega Man game. It was rumored to be coming out for Xbox Live Arcade as well (which would be great seeing as my Wii tends to gather dust), but it looks like that might have been false. Here's a little bit of gameplay: Some of the new bosses even sound neat; the list includes Galaxy Man, Plug Man(?), Hornet Man, Jewel Man, Magma Man, Concrete Man, Tornado Man, and, wait for it... Splash Woman. Tags: mega man, nintendo, videogames, videos, wii
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Gundam 00 - The Brilliant Green - Ash Like Snow
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Man, this has been a big week for videogame surprises. First Diablo III, now today comes word that a remake of Chrono Trigger will be coming out for the DS before Christmas. There's not a lot of detail right now, just a press release and a teaser web page, but it looks like it will be more of a port of the SNES game, as opposed to a complete 3D remake like the versions of Final Fantasy III and IV that are out (or soon coming out) for DS. That's both good and bad I guess. A full remake would be pretty awesome. I guess there will be at least one new area and "wireless play" although I have no idea what that would entail. Still, Chrono Trigger is definitely on my top 10 favorite games of all time list, so... good news. I've been playing Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (that is a ridiculously long title!) for DS this week, and I'm really liking it. current weather: Cloudy, 75, Wind: SW 14; There are some big thunderstorms on the way, but no severe thunderstorm watch. The rain is all the way out by Sandusky but it's already dark and ominous to the west Tags: chrono trigger, ffta, nds, videogames
Current Location: 41.327N 81.601W
Current Mood: surprised
Current Music: none
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I stand corrected. All week long Blizzard has been running a stupid trickle-hype teaser page on its web page. It started with a big chunk of ice, then some runes, then some eyes which looked like they could belong to Arthas, Protoss, or even Diablo. Mark asked me on Thursday what I thought it was teasing - I figured the obvious answer was in plain sight. They were probably going to make some sort of announcement about the Wrath of the Lich King expansion for World of Warcraft. Mark thought that was too obvious, and it looks like he's right, because now Blizzard has officially unveiled Diablo III: http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/So... there it is. I haven't actually browsed through the site yet, but I would imagine the game is still a looong way away. Also, most of the people that worked on Diablo II no longer work for Blizzard. That said, it IS Blizzard, and they pretty much only make incredible games. Well, time to take Jake outside (I'm dogsitting this week) current weather: Cloudy, 72, Wind: SW 10, Rain today: 0.05" Tags: blizzard, diablo iii, videogames
Current Location: 41.327N 81.601W
Current Mood: surprised
Current Music: none
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Every day I check to see if Mythos is now in open beta and available for download. Every day it's not :(. I finally watched last week's episode of Lost tonight. It's been really great lately, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Michelle Forbes (Ensign Ro on Star Trek: TNG and Admiral Cain on BSG) had a guest role. One Piece just gets better and better. It's working its way into being one of my very favorite shows. I'm glad that my name isn't Richard Gaywood. There's a new Castlevania game coming for DS, Order of Ecclesia. Apparently they've decided to ditch the anime-styling of the last two games (not necessarily a bad thing), and I guess the main character is a woman named Shanoa, with no (known) connection to the Belmonts, which makes me wonder if it takes place farther in the future than Dawn of Sorrow? I'm pretty ashamed by the fact that I haven't finished the last two games though. Portrait of Ruin got pretty difficult! current weather: Mostly Cloudy, 55, Wind: NW 10, Rain today: 0.01" Tags: castlevania, lost, mythos, television, videogames, xbox 360
Current Location: 41.197N 81.433W
Current Mood:  sore
Current Music: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Hail from the Past
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fusionpanda's journal
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