Link Party

Links

-I came upon this watch in a post at Gizmodo and was instantly smitten. It's combination of mechanical and Swiss shivers my gadget-loving bones to the core.

It's gorgeous. It looks like it has pennies inside - doesn't it? The pennies, turned sideways, power this strange time bank vault tumbler of a display with the force of Honest Abe. (click on the picture for an extremely enlarged photo)


-The Atlas Rope Ascender... don't tell the Mystery Men, the campy version of Batman (starring one amazing actor: Adam West [as voiced by Adam West from Family Guy]), or other spandex wearing do-gooders with a penchant for accessories about this because I'm sure that they'll be pretty pissed off to know that they won't be receiving any royalties. (video)


-Gummy bear chandelier – it looks beautiful too! I don't know if ants would destroy it first or if I'd get hungry and lazy and starting picking the fruit off of this delicate prize within the first hour or so. It really is a masterful work. I bet Donald Trump has at least two of these. In his limo.


-Who needs one of those home vaults to hide in (in case a burglar smashes into your pad or your wife finds your porno collection) when you can just give the thief a seizure and watch the smoke pour out of his bubbling eye sockets. Gruesome image, but didn't he deserve it? No one touches your Han Solo figures but YOU, damnit! I love you, Han!


-Well, I'll be damned if my name isn't Segue Sam because I got another Star Wars item for you: R2D2 mailboxes are going to be rolled out and then promptly stolen. Or maybe the beep-filled bot will come to life, powered by your Victoria's Secret catalog and destroy us all. Never thought that humanity would be overthrown in that fashion, did ya?

SSX Blur Review

I won't go through all of the preview stuff that I went through in my last post about SSX Blur. Instead, here is the straight dope: the aggregate review for SSX Blur on gamerankings.com is 72% at the moment. Three websites scored it at 60/100 or below, but most remained a bit more even and threw up mid 70's and 80's.














My Take on SSX Blur
SSX Blur is a good game with hard-to-learn controls that is hella fun. If you don't have time to dedicate to learn the controls, especially ubertricks, then don't bother. This is not a game that you can easily pick up and dominate on. There is no button smashing -- though you can wave you arm around like a manic for the same effect, but at best that'll just give me something to laugh at while you're accidentally scoring big points. This is a game for the hardcore, and the experience... the experience my friends is wonderful.

This game is big air, great music and a death-defying sensation of speed that had me saying, "Ohhhhhh Noooo!" as I plummeted off of monstrous jumps into chasms of space that man was not meant to occupy without parachute or space suit. The game is fun, but frustrating early on.

Before I go off on the controls, let's focus on the A/V. The bloom is dialed to 11; the effects, like your character getting covered in snow after wipeouts is a thoughtful addition; there is some quality lens flare; 60fps is almost always going; and the draw distances are impressive - trees poke out from behind large mountains in the distance and then you can actually just race to that one, special tree and meet it out for a candlelight dinner - the trees are fairly polygonal at their base though, which you hopefully never have to actually notice. Like I did. So, so many times. The music by Junkie XL is as necessary to this game as the mountain - it gets you moving and fuels the need for bigger and bigger air.

Which all, of course, brings us back to the controls. The basic jumping, maneuvering and trick-making are well implemented. Carving, hard turning in either direction, is a learned skill that is required to advance past any Slalom course. Ubertricks are rarified beasts that will only exist in your fantasies for awhile. I still haven't mastered them, but every time that I do see one on the mountain, alone, right in front of me, nostrils flaring at the smell of the cities that cover me -- I stand still because it's the safest thing to do. You don't how they'll react, so I prematurely end the trick just so I don't accidentally add that last backflip that powders me into the mountain.

All of that being said, the game is a blast to play with a lot to offer the single player, career mode experience. I give the game a 8/10. I may go higher once I master ubers, but that probably won't happen for a while.

Final verdict: 8/10

Romance of the Three Kingdoms + Wii

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power-Up Kit is being ported to the Wii. Ok, I know that the word "port" is kind of like going straight for a Yo Momma joke on the game producer's mother when intro'ing a title, but this game may rise above its meager beginnings like a Victorian novel. It's freakin' Romance of the Three Kingdoms, people! Get excited!

Ok, now that I've got you all hyper, let me drop some Valium on you again: the reviews of the PS2 title that this is based on aren't great. Averaging out at 68% is not something that I like to see in a purchase. At the same time though, since they're already going to be adding some Wii functionality, like Wiimote + Nunchuk sword fighting another general on horseback, they will have an opportunity to address the complaints that people had with the PS2 version.

The game will still be turn-based strategy. You'll drive through multiple menus whilst commanding your armies. And, according to the Gamespot review of the PS2 title this iteration goes way back to its roots as a large-scale military game. Since the NES version, apparently the games have focused on one officer in a General's army. The cyclical nature of time though has you once again as the General. Thank God for my perfect timing. I haven't played any of these titles since the NES version, which was absolutely magical.

Ok, I'm done getting misty eyed. Let's see how the resource trading works before I tattoo myself with the barcode (I would never do that, that was an exaggeration - sorry to scare you mom).

cheers,
nck

Tetris Furniture

This post should be subtitled, "Please, dear God, don't let my wife see this entry." I'm sure that I'll be testing these loveable stack'ems out in my apartment any day now, so let's cut to the nuts and bolts.

- These are kid-sized blocks and are very small.
- Couch cushions are a solid, cheap alternative.
- The catalog for these Tetris-ish blocks is available here for $22.
[via Daddytypes from Wonderland]

Let your kids use your couch cushions, make some great forts, and leave it at that. This product seems silly to me. Just silly.

If you don't want your kids to use your couch cushions (maybe they're sealed in plastic or you just have hammocks), go to a mattress store and act like you want to buy the most expensive bedroom set that they sell... so that while the salesmen are all distracted, kneeling down to massage your Platinum-Credit-Card-carrying feet, your kids can use the floor model mattresses to create some killer structures. I'm talking drawbridges, mattress moats, double-decker towers and even some shacks for the peasantry if you have time.

My parents never left us alone in public after the first time that my brother and I did that. Good times.


[all via Kotaku]

Soda vs Pop - Geographically Explained

The war between Soda and Pop helps everyone draw lines in the sand between the Hatfields and the McCoys. You are either on one side or the other and God help anyone who finds themselves in a Soda vs Pop argument – it will not end well. Now you can geographically prove that you are right with the image attached to this post. It’s a study of 125,000 people who answered the age old question: Soda or Pop?

While manufacturers of this disputed beverage category may seem like innocent bystanders, please remember that they do refer to their products as Soda – check their websites if you don’t believe me.

Me though? I call ‘em all Pop.

[via Digg]

[URL for the PNG]

When is it my turn to demo SSX Blur? - Update 1

I want to play SSX Blur. I'm a fan of the genre, the series, and demo'ing games. Sure everyone's already had their hands on her, but that just means she could teach me a lot. A lot about love and a lot about heartache too, I'm sure.

The game looks better than most of the other games out currently for the Wii. You can see that the extra time spent playing with textures in development have paid off, which is something that this game needs because the SSX series has always had nice eye candy. The controls, from what I hear from the links below, sound good too. I think the controls for the Wii could really get things moving with some multi-SSX action, but only two player multi is mentioned without a whisper of any online-manship. Harsh.

Links
Joystiq gets its hands on SSX Blur for the Wii and their low expectations transmogrify into praise. SSX Blur is turning out to be a winner.

Videos from IGN posted on Jan. 19th.

1UP seems to kind of gloss over the game without as much thought as Joystiq, but they give good post. I always appreciate another opinion.

Gamespot puts on their 500 lbs. gorilla outfit and dishes up plenty of insight. Seems all positive so far from the noise machines.

The game is expected to release late February.

I will buy it unless the online tides dramatically change against it prior to release.

[Update 1: IGN has added some amazing screenshots of SSX Blur that really showcase the shockingly swell graphics in addition to how the gesture-based Uber moves will go down. The Uber moves look pretty complicated, but probably not any more so than button mashing until you miraculously score some big tricks.]

Putting On The Ritz Sans TV

Young Frankenstein is such a great movie.

Yes, I am alive. Rumors of my demise have been somewhat exaggerated, but not entirely. I've been sick the past couple of weeks.

The stomach flu hit me hard. Took me off my toes for awhile then I had some allergy issues. I was laid up on the couch watching movies on my computer monitor. Why on my computer monitor? Because my TV is still gone. The saga of my lost TV is as follows...

It took me a week and a half to get a hold of the local repair company that I got farmed out to. They had no idea who I was and they were surprised to find my order "on the bottom of the pile." Frustration doesn't stop just because some bowling ball of a man named Big Jim (putting his weightlifting gloves on as soon as he walks in) and his sidekick show up. It only intensifies.

Today is my one month anniversary without a TV and the cake is getting old. I want to play my Wii.

Soon, though. Soon.