Dare to Play the Game

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I’m your host that has determined that if you are debating between whether or not to go up on an 18 foot water slide in front of your wife and her family…always go ahead and do it. It’s fun, really. Might want to avoid the summersaults thoug…. Anyhow, I’m here, and you are…well you are there. Really why don’t you come visit, why don’t you write? I’m starting to think that you don’t like me. But then I realize I just don’t give a crap. Well, what are you waiting for, off we go to Morgan. (I always get…errr nevermind).

Princess Leia, I want to lay ya! Sorry, the jokes get bad here or haven’t you noticed. I get blasted sometimes for the weird pics, but Morgan is weird. That’s why I love her, for the same reasons as I go ga-ga over somebody like Drew Barrymore. If they were normal, they would be boring. I think this ensemble is quite fetching and brings more than one fantasy to mind. (Jabba and my own orchestra, enough said).

Attempts at videogame regulation are like weeds: as soon as one is cut down, another sprouts up to take its place. Rep. Cliff Stearns, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, and superstar of last month’s hearing on videogame violence, is sponsoring a new bill called the ‘Truth in Video Game Rating Act,’ aimed at regulating the ESRB’s ratings system.
The purpose of HR5912 is “to direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules to prohibit deceptive conduct in the rating of video and computer games.” The bill aims to criminalize rating a game based on partial content or misrepresenting said content.
It also calls for a study into the effectiveness of the ESRB rating system and to determine several factors: whether or not an independent rating system should be used, how often games are marketed to audiences that fall under a game’s rating, and whether or not a universal ratings system should be implemented for all media.

I was ready to bash this one as I am ready to for most videogame legislation. However, this one has its merits. It is apparently just making sure that ESRB is the same across the board. Which, I for one agree with. It’s for the common good, and would be beneficial for the most part. Just as long as it doesn’t become like the MPAA is with movies. (Nudity bad, violence good, oh wait it is already like that). Just as long as there is still support to release decent adult themed games, I am in favor of a little legislation.

Games Convention Wii Invite
A new chapter in the history of gaming, Nintendo proclaims.

I think I actually flip flop on whether or not I’m going to buy the WII daily. Somedays I really want it, somedays I think I’m better off just building my retro library. But I’ve always thought that Nintendo has been brilliant about their marketing with the WII. Early November sounds perfect, right before that christmas rush and before the PS3; way before. $229 price tag for the system sounds perfect, I’m just wondering what will be included with the package. That will probably lead to whether I buy it, ask for it for xmas or just do something else with my time. I wish there was a third color they were producing, like red. Instead based on these choices, I’ll probably have to go with good ole black. Kinda like the women, which is why I want red! Sorry, I’m bitter.

I tend to touch a point of obscurity this week. The Rolling Thunder series has always been a favorite for me with exciting gunplay and difficult yet rewarding level design. However the latter two games in the series while exclusive to the Genesis are at best niche games to the average consumer. However, if you do get a chance to pick them up, you will be rewarded with a great time. To back up, in the 2 latter games you can either be Leila or Albatross as you use various weapons to thwart your enemy. The side scroller had you always jumping over railings or taking on the oddest of enemies. Rolling Thunder 2 and 3 are available at usually a good price; 1 is also supposedly available for the Genesis as well. However, while 2 and 3 are made by Namco, US Gold took over translation for the Genesis port. I’m just mainly curious to see if the Leila bondage like between level scenes made the cut.

I like jelly beans, don’t you? I would like a blob wouldn’t you? Would you like to throw some jelly beans at your blob so he could turn into many interesting shapes? Well sure. And that was basically the premise of A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia (they have a Starbucks) for the NES and Gameboy. This was one of the more creative games where you and your blob: Blobert (I would have preferred Frank) must go on a quest to defeat the evil emperor. The emperor apparently has a sweet tooth and is vunerable to vitamins (I’ve heard the same thing about Rosie O’ Donnell). Anyhow, the game you pretty much go through collecting jellybeans and feeding it to your blob to preform a variety of activities. Such as Tangerine which turned Blobert into a trampoline. Or Cola which allowed the blob to become a bubble where you could explore underwater safely. Or my favorite: Cinnamon for a blowtorch! Anybody got a viagra flavored jellybean? Or perhaps Vaseline…anyway the only problem with this game seemed to be that your throwing skill combined with the blob having zero depth perception led to jelly beans missing their target constantly. However, it still made a fun game which made its way also to the Gameboy. There was also supposed to be a 3d graphics Blob game for the DS but Majesco has had oodles of problems, so this has been infintely delayed. DS would have been nice due to the touchscreen having a map and help to manage jellybean inventory.

PS2

D1 Grand Prix
Pirates: The Legend of Black Buccaneer

XBOX 360

Dead Rising

GBA

Games Explosion
Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots
Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation

Another poor release week, only thing of note is Dead Rising. I kinda like the way 360 is currently staggering their releases. It makes them special, I mean to people who own a 360, Dead Rising is a big deal. There is some build up and boom there we are, another big game. Have to give them props for that. Too bad, I’m still not interested in it for the time being. And how many games are there for the GBA now, we’ve seen solid release weeks for quite sometime. Then throw in the original Gameboy and Gameboy color titles and the fact that they play imports with no modification, it’s insane. A couple of grand?

Still working on organizing what I’m going to sell, and I’m making some actual headway. Have all of my Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo candidates boxed and ready to go. As mentioned previously, everything in 3do land is going; but I’ve yet to get it all boxed. There is some miscellaneous things as well; but I don’t know if I’m going to include PS1/PS2 on the first go-around. I did pick up some stuff on monday; Stormlord for Genesis, Dragonstrike (AD&D) and Star Tropics for NES. A fantastic bargain for $8 and some change. I love the way a place like Game Crazy tries to sell you those club memberships, especially at $15-$20 a pop when I only show up a few times a year to spend a whole $10-$20. Classic line from Game Crazy this week: “You know you are going to re-buy those games on your WII anyway, so you might as well get the membership”. Lets quickly examine that, shall we? First of all you are assuming I’m going to buy a WII. Yes I like the system, but I’m not sold yet. Second, have you any clue what kind of project I’m working on at home with my game re-organization? No you don’t, so shut up. Third, I just spent 8 beeping dollars, Virtual Console for 3 games will probably set you back about $15-$20 I’m thinking and I get the original cart. Whose the idiot? It’s just sad, really. I have a feeling that when the WII launches, I’m going to pick up a ton of really good NES, SNES & Genesis carts. And I still might pick up a WII. Good for me, good for the Big N, bad for the wifey. Take care folks.

As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)