I'm With CoCo

This NBC scandal is a disgrace, for both Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno.  Clearly, the wrong person is about to be fired.  It's terrific to see the younger generation turn out to support Conan.  Unfortunately, that support is currently online, and in the television business, Facebook and Twitter don't count.  But don't lose heart, show your support, and have faith.  Something unexpected may happen.

I have a long tradition of charging towards windmills, so, naturally, I have to join in and voice my support for Conan.  He has every right to sit at Johnny Carson's desk.  Then again, so did Dave Letterman.

Edit: I should specify when I write about the "wrong person" being fired.  The only ones in my mind who should lose their jobs are the NBC executives.  Good Lord, the President of NBC needs to be fired.  They've taken a normal situation regarding ratings and network affiliates, and somehow managed to completely destroy their late-night institution, and drive away two of their most talented stars, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien.  It is now appearing more and more likely that both will be gone.  And what happens to The Tonight Show, television's greatest legacy?  Nobody knows.  What a disaster and what a damned disgrace.  Conan and Jay deserved better.

Arsenic is Good For You!

This is the utter madness that we have to deal with.  Monsters like Donald McGraw are the reason Big Coal and Big Oil have such hypnotic sway over politicians and the general public.  And it certainly doesn't help that our national news media is so grossly uneducated in science matters.

Everything is good for you, if spun properly and repeated often enough.  Meanwhile, the people and the Earth are being poisioned.  Poison for profit and Damn the Consequences - the language of the mad.

Photos - Sony PS-X75 Direct Drive Turntable

The Vintage Knob: Sony PS-X75 Direct Drive Turntable

Here are some terrific photos of the excellent Sony PS-X75. This is one of the great Japanese turntables, a marvel of (then) cutting edge technology and swift design. There's something special about the look of late-70s stereo equipment. These were prized possessions and you felt genuine pride in sharing your sound system with others.

If you can find a PS-X75 on eBay, grab it. You'll be paying a heavy price, but if the table is in pristine shape, it's worth the money.

You can click on these screenshots to view them in their full size. The photos are pretty big.

The Class of 2050 Will Despise You

It's suddenly cold across sections of the Northern Hemisphere...hmm.  How strange.  Who could have guessed that there would be snow in January?  Clearly, this means global warming is a hoax, because Ben Stein said so.  Shaq, unfortunately, could not be reached for comment.

Oh, and by the way, December 2009 wasn't even close to setting records for cold temps.  In fact, this past decade was the hottest on record.  The 1990s was the previous hottest decade, and the 2010s are expected to become the new hottest.

I don't quite know if it's the entire human species that has become suicidal, or just the old white men in charge. Either way, your grandchildren will come to despise you for ignoring the climate catastrophe.

Photos - Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth

Castlevania is back, baby!

This is the real kind, the old-school arcade Castlevania that beat you senseless and sent you crying home.  Konami has been coasting by on the fumes of Symphony of the Night for so long, I seriously doubted whether they even remembered the old formula.  Thank goodness they've rediscovered it.

Digital download platforms like WiiWare may be considered second-tier by many developers, but the truly great games are there, and their numbers are growing.  Castlevania Rebirth is a magnificent return to form, brilliantly designed and fiendishly difficult.  2D videogames have come roaring back, and I'm hopeful this trend will continue in 2010.  This is the finest Castlevania in a very, very long time.

Twitter Feed Added

I've finally added Twitterfeed support to this blog.  That means you can follow this site, as well as The Ghibli Blog, on Twitter.

Twitterfeed, thankfully, has become far more user-friendly since the last time I dealt with them.  Their site was such a cumbersome mess that I avoided it entirely.  I'm happy to report that things are far easier now.

Video Game Freak Outs!

The Wikipedia page for Pac-Man includes this rather notorious moment, which was a surprise to me.  To the kids of the early 1980's, this was an urban legend - the fabled "Freak Out."

I read about one Pac-Man player who played for hours, scoring over a million points, which was legendary in itself.  Then the video game suddenly melted down.  Then other games were revealed to have similar meltdowns - Centipede, Missile Command, Donkey Kong.  And thus the Freak Out was born.

Of course, now that I'm an adult, I can laugh at the phrase.  Hah!  The Video Game Freak Outs!  So much of the early computer era was couched in the hippie slang of psychedelics.  It's one of the most subversive stories in this culture's history, when you think about it.  That 70s generation who ushered in the modern computer revolution were, to a great extent, acid freaks.  The computer and the internet are psychedelic tools, if you think in Terrence McKenna terms.

Anyway, that's a HUGE discussion, and we shouldn't get distracted just now.  I just wanted to share this forgotten moment from the past.  Today, this Pac-Man screen is known as a Kill Screen.  It was caused by a bug in the software code regarding the fruits, which rolled over on screen 256.  Many classic games were afflicted with similar bugs, resulting in the Freak Outs.  And, of course, computers have managed to find endless ways to crash, glitch, or suddenly freak out.  The trip goes on forever, kids - the world as made of language.

Video Games at the Close of a Decade

Because we're turning over into a new decade, we're reading endless lists and essays on the "Best This of the Decade" and "Best That of the Decade." With games, it's no exception, and I really do look forward to reading those whenever I find them. The medium is just frivolous fun, an entertaining pasttime, and a great social tool.

Videogames are also a young medium, one that is still discovering itself. What is a "video game" in the year 2010, anyway? Do we point to the quick-paced arcade games of the 1980s and 1990s? Do we look at the console platformers and sports games and adventures? Where do we factor in the home computers, the PCs, the dedicated consoles, the handhelds? Where do we fit in these new gaming arenas such as Flash, Facebook, and iPod? And how does this fit in with the endless technology rush to produce Hollywood-styled movie games and spectacular visual effects?

Games have evolved tremendously these past ten years, more so than at any other time, really. The rise of the internet as a disruptive force; the emergence of emulation, whose potential remains untapped; the development of new control systems like Nintendo's Wii Remote and Microsoft's Project Natal; the long-dreamt-of expansion of videogames into the general population, including women; the staggering costs of the seemingly endless hardware race, which threatens to collapse the entire industry. All of these have emerged in the first decade of the 21st Century.

This is why I'm so disappointed and bored by reading the video games sites and blogs. These larger issues are never discussed, or even acknowledged. Entering into 2010, gaming journalism is still trapped in Mommy and Daddy's basement, furiously munching on Cheetos and Mountain Dew while bashing away on First-Person-Shooter #5,006. Their world is no different today than it was during the heyday of Diehard Gamefan and EGM and GamePro back in the mid-90s. It's still only about Graphics Graphics Graphics, only now there's a new obsession with validation. Video Games as the New Hollywood. Video Games as High Art.

Videogame journalism is being left behind. That's another notable evolution of the past decade. The internet saw largely to this, and the expanding audience will play a larger role over time. The Boys Club has been crashed and there's no going back.

I think we should address all of these issues. There's a lot of fertile ground to explore and discover, and we should learn how to adapt to this evolving landscape. I'll try to do that, from time to time. I'd also like to take a look at some of the great games that may have been forgotten this decade. The hype machine, as usual, seems only interested in the last six months. I think we should remember our past. Videogames cannot be a perpetual motion machine, only locked into the present and immediate future. There is a rich and storied history, and that history must be preserved and respected.

Photos - Donkey Kong

Just wanted to post a couple photos from the original 1981 Donkey Kong.  I really ought to download the latest MAME one of these days.  I love the immediate fun of '80s video arcade games, their short-term bursts of excitement.  They're more suited to our hyper-fractured culture of the 21st Century than ever before.  After all, who has the time?

What I want to know is why Nintendo has yet to release their classic arcade games like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros on the Wii Virtual Console?  The current selection of arcade games is anemic, just embarrassing.  Give me Donkey Kong!  Give me Robotron!  Give me Pac-Man!  Give me Tron!  What are we waiting for?!

Tackling Global Warming is Good For the Economy

This should be obvious to anyone, but moving towards the post-fossil fuel economy is a win for everyone.  We're in a race to develop new technologies and exploit new sources of energy such as solar, wind, and geothermal.  The future is coming, and the jobs needed to make it work are coming.  Shouldn't Americans be the ones to get those jobs?

Remember the Space Race?  Well, today we are in the Energy Race, and at stake is nothing less than the future of the global economy.  Either the United States or China will become the great economic power of the 21st Century, and alternative energy is the key.  That's the bottom line.

Oh, and we need to prevent planetary catatastrophe so our grandchildren don't go extinct.  That would be nice.

Australia Suffers Hottest Decade as Globe Warms

Yeah, Australia may be melting down, but it snowed a lot in Minnesota during Christmas.  So that means global warming is a big hoax.  Nothing to see here.  Oh, and pay no attention to those dust storms.  It's all Hollywood special effects...or som'thin'.

Photos - Just Dance (Wii)

Okay, finally cracked 10,000 points on The Beach Boys in Just Dance....whew!  I am never playing that stupid song again.  Now I can just dance for fun and exercise...and to crack 15,000 points for the little crowns, hehe.

Screenshots from Just Dance are damn near impossible, so with a little surfing, I found a few worth sharing.  Ubisoft had better send me a free review copy of the sequel, for all the work I'm doing.  Seriously, next time, don't even bother with the likes of IGN or Gamespot.  Waste of time, kids.  Complete waste of time.

Technics SL-1200 Mk2 - Here's Some Really Cool Photos

There has been much speculation swirling since late November suggesting that Panasonic will kill its famous turntable, the Technics SL-1200 Mk2.  There has been a lot of backpeddling and confusing statements on the matter, and, frankly, no one as yet knows the fate of the world's most successful analog turntable.

In any event, this inspired me to grab some photos of the SL-1200 Mk2 in action.  Even though I currently use a 1977 Sony PS-X5, I've had my eye on a Tec-12 for ages, thanks to its indestructibility and endless upgrades.  Now I'm really wishing I had the spare cash to grab one.  Here's hoping that Panasonic does the wise thing and continue to produce these excellent turntables for years to come.  This remains one of the stellar bargains in hi-fi audio.

As you can see, the Mk2 comes in silver and black.  I'm more partial to the black, myself, but both colors look terrific.  Enjoy.

Photos - New Super Mario Bros. Wii

One of my favorite moments in New Super Mario Bros. Wii - the ending credits.  You and your friends can bash the letters just like blocks, and compete for the most coins collected.  This was such a surprise that came out of nowhere.  I love it.

Why Can't I Do These Dance Moves?!

Sometimes, Just Dance just annoys the hell outta me.  The Beach Boys' "I Get Around" is the hardest dance song in the whole game. I'm just pulling my hair out trying to break 10,000 points on all the songs. Just how the hell are you supposed to perform those moves so you'll score points? What the hell are you supposed to do?!  Can somebody watch this video and explain to me how exactly I'm expected to score points on what are, by all measures, easy dance moves?!

This is the frustrating thing about Just Dance. You are never told why you "miss" a move. Did I move too fast? Too hard? Do I need more momentum? Do I need to hold the Wiimote a certain way?  Do I match the beat of the song, follow the beat, or lead it?  I have no clue how to improve, aside from an annoying string of X's.

Listen, I think Just Dance is an excellent game, and I wouldn't be blogging about it if I didn't feel that way.  I'm an experienced video game critic, after all, and rooting for the underdog is my business.  But there are times when I can sympathize with the game's fierce critics among my fello gaming critics, I can feel their frustration.  When dancing to KC & the Sunshine Band or Gorillaz or The Beach Boys, I feel their frustration, too.  Thankfully, I've had enough positive experience with the game to persevere.

What's really needed are some user-generated videos on Youtube, showing you how to perform the dance moves correctly.  All of the online videos are part of Ubisoft's viral marketing campaign.  This is where I usually rely on the video games community, but they have collectively stuck their nose at this game, and any Nintendo Wii title with the dreaded "casual gamer" tag.  I'm on my own.

Oh, and about the scoring.  The game's Progress screen records not only which songs you've played, but which ones you've scored over 10,000 points.  Each song is highlighted by a yellow border.  When playing, your scoring bar "breaks" when you've cracked that magical milestone.  Naturally, I'm competitive enough to want to crack the high score on all 32 songs.

Did I also mention that you get crowns when you crack 15,000?  Ah..joy.  I am not going to play The Beach Boys or Gorillaz that far.  No bloody chance.