Things
Seven... not six...
I've been working a lot... a lot... My sleep schedule is so jacked up right now. I went to bed one night at five in the morn. I later woke up at three, one hour before work. After work I went to bed at seven-thirty. There was light in our room, from the outside. Woke up that night at five, went to work at six. Came home... didn't sleep until ten, after dropping Brian and David off at MST and Bemis, respectively. Mom woke me up at three fifty-five to pick them up from Dad's house. I need to go to sleep very soon so that I can get up for my noon shift tomorrow. At least it's only a five and a half hour shift. I'll be able to do stuff that night.
Speaking of doing things, I NEED to hang out with more people! Work's been getting in the way, BIG TIME. Speaking of work, the schedule for next week has finally been uploaded.
Sat: 12-18:45
Sun: 17:30-01:00
Mon: 19:15-01:00
Tue: 17:30-01:00
Wed: 18:15-01:00
I'm closing four days in a row!
However, I have all day Friday and Saturday night off. That is to say, let's do things. I leave on the eleventh. Next Thursday. A week from today.
I still need to hang out with Alyssa and Shelby. Sometime this weekend? Do either of you read this? Hm :neutral:
Paul came over tonight, Wednesday night. We hung out, played Smash Brothers, Wii Sports, kind of watched 4chan and 7chan invade the Hal Turner Show. Not much happened that I can remember. We also hit up Borders Books and Best Buy. Paul bought World War Z and The Alphabet of Manliness as well as Elebits from Best Buy. I couldn't find any D&D books in Borders, but I did find all the Death Note mangas. The first book went through maybe six of the episodes. There were nine books. Only twelve episodes have been released so far. Probably thirteen either today or tomorrow.
Earlier in the day, after I picked up Brian and David, I got a new pair of headphones from Best Buy. My old ones kind of crapped out on me.--My foot is asleep right now. I do not like the feeling of pins and needles--They sounded as if someone had gone in and enabled the Sound Blaster Live! effects. It was doing weird stuff. Brian said that all he had to do was wiggle the cable a bit to get it sounding normal. I used it as an excuse to get a new pair of totally sweet ass headphones. I love 'em.
I can't hear anything with them on ^_^
I started playing Phantasy Star Online on the Gamecube again. Phantasy Star Universe wasn't quite what I thought it'd be, and I just found out about user-run servers for PSOGC. Totally awesome. Apparently they also fixed the download quest problem that Sega and Sonic Team broke as well as enabling the Parasitic Gene: Flow drop that Sonic Team denied us.
It feels good to play that game again. Too bad PSO doesn't recognize the Wii's wireless hardware. I've heard that using a USB->LAN adapter on the Wii will allow the Gamecube LAN and online games to go online, but I need to look into it more. For now, I'm stuck lugging my Gamecube and Broadband Adapter back to school with me.
You know what's funny? Looking at the setup in our family room:
Two Wiis
Two Wiimotes
Two Gamecubes
Two or three corded Gamecube controllers
Two wireless Gamecube controllers
One Gamecube with the Gameboy Player
The other with an ethernet cable sticking out the side
Two Playstation 2s
Four Playstation 2 controllers
One Playstation 2 Guitar Hero Cherry SG controller (Limited edition; better than the crappy red one and the lame black and white one)
Various DVD cases for games belonging to any of the six afforementioned systems.
Cables all over the place.
A tennis ball
and a Kleenex box.
These headphones are great.
There are several songs that make me feel.... nostalgic, if you will. They bring back memories of whatever I was doing at the time I first heard them or listened to them quite a bit.
Example:
Dragoste Din Tei, Pachelbel's Ganon (yes, Ganon), and Fluß der Liebe bring me back to a night... last February I believe. Early February. Ah! The week of winter break! My computer was in Dad's office because we had a LAN Party that week. I was up kinda late that night, working on website things. Trying to not think about Megan. These three songs I kept playing, as I had just recently acquired them and liked them quite a bit. That was also the night I installed WordPress 2.0 on my website and tweaked the included theme a bit. I had been using WordPress for quite a bit since MovableType went pay-to-play, er -use. WordPress 2.0, however, was a BIG step up from the previous version I had been using. Everything just worked. It was looked nice, and it was nice.
Songs like Through Glass, Perfect Situation, Make Damn Sure, Tell Me Baby, Dani California, The Adventure, Move Along, Lips of an Angel, Animal I Have Become, Steady as She Goes, Miss Murder, and a few others bring me back to this last summer. At least one of these songs was guaranteed to be on the radio during my drive to work. It was inevitable. Those long summer days, driving down Van Dyke with my windows down (AC is broken).
But then there are songs like Cascada's Everytime We Touch. It makes me feel... something. It brings me back.. somewhere. What I feel, and where I go, however, I cannot discern. It's weird. I wanna know what's with this song. Why does it do this to me?
I bring this up because the latest Penny Arcade references it. Reading the lyrics made me think of the song, which made me search through my playlist in Foobar 'til I found it. And then I played it.
I'm confused.
Thanks to Jason from IIT, I've had something to do while closing at the theatre these past few nights: read Ender's Game. It's really a great book. Unfortunatly, no one around here has heard of it, save for maybe Dan. I was at Guest Services when he asked me what I was reading.
Ender's Game
Nerd.
Says the guy playing Command & Conquer: Generals on his school laptop [given to him because he's in a Computer Networking class] and talks about World of Warcraft all day long.
He keeps calling it my "nerd book."
I find it funny.
I can't believe I'm closing four days in a row. That sucks balls.
It's about two in the morning. I should get up at ten in order to eat, shower, get dressed, and get to work by noon.
I really hope the money I get from all this is totally worth it.
Time is flyin
Precalc this morning wasn't too bad. I understood most of everything he was saying. Law of Sines. Trig stuff. I've learned this already.
Went to Java. Haven't paid attention in weeks. Oh well, we'll force our way through the lab. Should be no problem.
Law is really bothering me. Lots of work, just no motivation.
Today was an overall good day. At dinner, I first sat near Matt, Jason, Galina, and Casey. After a bit, Galina left for class and the other three were just talking about Zelda: Twilight Princess. To my left, a few seats down, were Amber, Phil, and Richard. After refilling my pop, I decided to sit with them. We talked a bit about college in general, highschool, siblings, some math, chick flicks, and (Richard estimates) forty-five minutes worth of Doctor Who. I also gave Amber a proper thank you for the candies. Good stuff. Came back. Played some SSBM, watched an episode or two of The Office with Jeremy, and (unfortunatly) one episode of Pimp My Ride. Why does he have that on DVD? I question the kid sometimes.
Earlier in the day, I finished Resident Evil 4. About seventeen hours total play time. Not too bad, I'd say. Unlocked quite a few things. New game+, Professional difficulty, a new costume, Assignment Ada game mode, The Mercenaries game mode, and two new weapons in the shop. Neat. Replay value. Plus I gotta do all the shooting gallery minigames that I skipped over. The ending wasn't too bad, I enjoyed the part where Ashley, the president's daughter, asked Leon for sex.
All in all, a good day.
Oh! It rained today! It was all nice and dark and gloomy out. And its been steadily raining all day! I love it! Tomorrow's supposed to have a chance of snow! Yayayay!
Apparently there are only two or three weeks left in the semester. I'll be home again before I know it. But this time I'm driving back. Let's see if I can make my way from Chicago, Illinois to Sterling Heights/Shelby Township, Michigan without getting lost/dieing on the way. An adventure, I say!
Hmm. Would be good if I had a cellphone.
Anyway, see y'all from home soon enough.
Speaking of y'all from home, you guys need to visit me! People other than Jason!
Campin’ teh Wii
Good luck to us! Not to get a Wii, but to survive eighteen hours in the cold.
I kissed a rat
Well, it was more of having a rat IN my mouth rather than just kissing it.
I forget exactly how Alex came across his Hat of Disguise, but.. he has a Hat of Disguise. We stayed the night in some (vampire ware-bear) guy's castle. Alex, being the mischevious bastard he is, put the hat on and became a very good looking woman. He then snuck into my room and layed beside me on my bed. Of course, I had no idea it was Alex. And, apparently, Alex keeps his Bag of Tricks in his throat (don't ask me, I have no idea). So, I lean in towards this good looking woman and.... BAM there's a rat in my mouth. Bastard.
All in all. Things are going very well. I dropped my psych class. I got a job in the registration office. There might be something going on between myself and a girl. Phantasy Star Universe has successfully sucked away almost sixty or seventy hours of my life in less than two weeks. I earn $9.50/hr at said job. It was sixty-two degrees out today. We're playing D&D tomorrow night. And again two days later on Sunday.
I dunno, I just feel really good about things right now.
Or maybe that's just my stomach telling me to get some food. I'm starving. But it's four-fifteen in the morning.
Oh! And I get to go home again in less than two weeks! And the Wii launches in little over one week! And I'm camping it! With a bunch of guys from school.
I'm off to sleep. Good morning, y'all.
Wii are not amused
Some of you may not know this, but I am a huge gamer. Gaming is a big part of my life, so I figured I might as well comment on some recent news...
Nintendo, just today, announced the Revolution's real name. The Wii. When I first saw that, I asked myself what they were thinking. The Wii? How is that pronounced? "Wee"? Will I be holding a Wii-Wand then? Am I going to be Wii'ing infront of the TV (or at my computer if rumored VGA/DVI support comes true)? It sounds like another name for urine or penis for crying out loud! What were they thinking??
But then I thought about it.
And saw the video.
Sure, the "philosophy" behind the name is very sensationalist, seeming almost as if it's trying to sell the name a bit too much (one person commented asking if they got a hold of Sony's marketing department), but I can see what they're trying to do. It's kind of an odd name that grabs one's attention and won't let go. Similar to the iPod. What kind of name is "iPod"? The name is also pronounced exactly like the English word "we;" as in, us, my friends and I, my family. Coincidence? Not at all. The DS is a very social system. People love to play it with other people. At the LAN Party on Thursday, Alyssa brought her DS with Tetris. Tetris has a multiplayer mode that only requires one game card that allows up to either eight or ten people to play. I played quite a few three person games, and one or two five person games. I think it's safe to say that we played for almost two hours on and off. It was easy to set up, and most importantly, it was fun.
Nintendo's goal with the Revolution, excuse me, the Wii and the DS has been to get non-gamers interested in gaming while also providing for the traditional gamer. I'm not quite sure on their stance regarding the hardcore gamer, but I think they're moving in the right direction with Metroid Prime: Hunters on the DS and many gamers that I've talked to that would consider themselves "hardcore" have a major interest in the Wii. Well, they had an interest in the Revolution; hopefully a name change won't chage their minds. Most non-gamers may not see the point in playing Final Fantasy VII. It's long and can be quite boring at times. Most people (emphasis on most) like to do things with other people. Games that break the stereotypical "go here, jump on these platforms, press this button, shoot these zombies, steal this car, do this trick on your skateboard" seem to work quite well with non-gamers. I've seen over and over people that wouldn't even play Super Mario World pick up a PS2 controller and roll around in Katamari Damacy, or dance a bit in DDR, or even wail on the ol' axe in Guitar Hero. These games are easy to pick up, and that's what Nintendo is trying to do with the Wii. Ask yourself, however, how many times you've seen a non-gamer jump on a DDR mat or grab a Guitar Hero controller on their own. Very few (zero for me). Now, how many times have you seen them try the game when one of their friends agrees to try as well. I've seen a large amount of co-workers try Guitar Hero because their friend would be right by their side, doing just as bad as they. Quite a few of my close friends started playing because either one of my other friends or I have convinced another Guitar Hero neophyte into playing. The first time I tried Guitar Hero was at a work party where a few of my friends had just seen the game for the first time and wanted to try it out. People are very social creatures, and the Wii will play right into that. In traditional Nintendo style, the system is bound to populated with a multitude of multiplayer games. People are also very lazy. Did you know that one needs only to buy a single wand from his or her favorite store (or bring one from home) and they are able to play on a friend's Wii right away? There's no need to plug anything into the Wii in order to use another wand. Just turn on the remote in the vicinity of the Wii in question and you're in the game in no time! How easy is that?
Now, I have to admit, I think a lot, so when I think about something I usually cover a lot of ground in very little time. All of this seriously passed through my head within the first instant I saw the article on Eurogamer. Within a few minutes, I warmed up to the name. Sure, I still think Revolution has a better ring to it than Wii, but Wii has strength (or should that be have?).
If everyone would take it seriously. This post was not meant to be about the name change or Nintendo's philosophy on gaming, but about the response to the name change. Information of the new name has traveled quickly. Maybe that was Nintendo's goal, maybe not. Either way, however, I'm kind of disappointed in the overall response. Eurogamer is a European site, obviously, with a lot of British visitors. The British use the term "wee" to refer to one's penis or urine. One Brit commented that the name was being taken a little better over in the States because he didn't see as many penis jokes. I submit a one 88NoSoup4U88's comment from Slashdot:
Off record: If the Wii's can connect to eachother, would it be a 'wiiwii' ? And would I be in trouble if I told people I'm off playing with my friends and our WiiWii's ?
And JonTurner over here thinks he's hilarious:
Something tells me this is going to get ugly. Just off the top of my head:
1) Shopper: "Hi. I see these are on sale. I would like to take a Wii."
2) Son, you've been playing with your Wii all day on that tiny monitor -- give it a rest or you'll go blind.
3) Headline: Wii usage linked to possible repetitive stress injury?BTW, Is a cluster of these called a Wii-Wii?
Sure, if you check out the Eurogamer comments and the Slashdot comments you can find a few that try to defend the name (more so on Slashdot than Eurogamers), or at least the logic behind it, but the majority of comments are making fun of the name. Now, I have no problem with making fun of things, especially something that just begs to be made fun of, but some people are just taking it too far. But is Nintendo asking for it with a name like this? As I said, news of the name change has spread quickly. The name is out there, everyone knows what it is. Has Nintendo just shot themselves in the foot? Or is it true that no publicity is bad publicity?
By clicking the link below, you will be treated to a few comments I found on the Eurogamer article. They were originally gonna be tied into the post in some way, but that just didn't work out. Instead of scrapping them, I decided to let y'all in on the mass stupidity and close-mindedness of the online gaming community. Most of these are horrible. These are the kinds of gamers that claim to be "hardcore" but in reality are just sheep that follow the trends. So what if it's called the Wii? Would you really sell ALL your Nintendo stock, Krun? And Pho-Zoon, it's appropriate how you put quotes around the world 'loyal.' If a simple name change like this is making you dump Nintendo, you must not have been that loyal, eh? Yiannis here is apparently extremely skilled at predicting the market. Nintendo's name change will really cause more Xbox360s to be sold next week? I better grab one while I can! And Smelly... good ol' Smelly.. He has been trolling the comments on Eurogamers since the news broke. Nothing positive to say. Just general overreacting. Like most everyone else.
I tried to grab a few (truely) funny ones as well, but the majority of them were just bad... There were a few comments, can't find them now, about people who had warmed up to the name. One of them said something to the effect of "I now associate the name 'Wii' more with Nintendo after just a few hours than I do 'Gamecube' after four years." Another said that the name will be unforgettable. And it will be. It's no Playstation 3 or Xbox360. It's the Wii. It's not just a sequal to a previous console (as the other two seem to be), it's brand new. People will know what you mean when you talk about the Wii.
E3 is only a few weeks away. Nintendo has yet to reveal the "most secret" aspect about the Wii. If the controller, virtual console system, and name change were received as such, I'm both excited and worried to see how people will react to this last secret.
Off-topic: When I first saw the name, another thought ran through my head: It's missing an 'f'.."
It's perfect, really: With the Wii you may not connect to NintendoWifi, but rather Wiifi.
Or maybe it's just me.