New Surfer Trailer!

A new trailer for the Fantastic Four sequel has been released. It's looking good and it appears to have some teaser shots of Doom. Check it out now!

Plus:
Spider-Man 3 Crane Disaster
Behind the Scenes of Spider-Man 3

Wrath of Con

I'm looking ahead at what to waste my money on for the next few months. It seems a good group of us are willing to go to ValleyCon in Fargo this fall. They're trying to get R.A. Salvatore which is cool but no media guests have been confirmed yet. Either way I'm going because it is loads of fun. I'm half tempted to leave a day early, head up to Bloomington, and check out the Mall of America for a day, then drive up to Fargo, which is about another 3 hours. I doubt I'd get anyone on board for that considering that's more money but the thought is nice. MarsCon is kinda a hit-and-miss up in Bloomington. It's next February/March and they've got the guy who plays Chandra Suresh in Heroes among many other roles. If they get one more media guest I've heard of, I will totally be considering going. This Sunday is MicroCon for one day up in St. Paul. If I didn't have the Blue October concert here, I would totally drive the 6 hours and check it out. There's a crap load of guests. It is so rare we get a good act here amongst the country crap. I really hope there's another FallCon in St. Paul. From the looks of last year, it seems that there were tone of people again, including Krypton Comics! There's no information but if there is no conflicts I will totally check that out. And, of course, there's WillyCon X. We're going to provide all of our previous guests free lodging and hopefully we can get most of them to return. All would be sweet! We're going into fundraising overdrive to secure our more popular guests just in case. I'm pumped. If anyone else knows of any conventions in the Midwest area that I'm unaware of, let me know.

Well, I should return to Pokémon Diamond. My Monferno needs leveling up.

You Are a Believer

You definitely believe in God - and you're very unwavering in your religious beliefs. In fact, religion and spirituality are definitely big parts of your life. Religion shapes how you view right and wrong, as well as the decisions you make. It's hard for you to imagine how your life would be without your beliefs.

Are You an Atheist, Agnostic or a Believer?

Spider-Man 2.1

When I saw the press information for Spider-Man 2.1 I figured it was a gimmick. I'm probably right as they're only adding 8 minutes to the film. But after searching YouTube and finding what very well could be from the extended film, it is somewhat tempting. They sure knew where to add in 8 minutes, mainly fighting and funny. I may have to pick it up. I know it's not beyond me as I repurchased the Star Wars Limited Editions, it would just be nice if the movie industry would just make the definitive versions early. Because people out there are buying DVDs all the time as it is an dnot downloading them anyway, now they have to find ways to make us angry when we've bought a DVD and they release a better one. Torrents seem nicer. Oh well, I am a sucker.

Clips:
J.J.J. as Spider-Man
Bank Robbery
Train Fight

WillyCon IX: Sunday

Yesterday was a typical end-of-con day. I picked up my art and a Taki Soma print and bought some crap of Jodie's. I then went to a couple panels. At then end of the day there's always this feeling of accomplishment but sadness that it is over. I am really excited for ValleyCon in Fargo and WillyCon X, though. I would say that last year we had more attendence, but this year was more fun for me. I got to hang out with a lot of people. I also got to hang out with the artists and that was a riot. I wish I got to talk to James Alan Gardner longer because was very friendly. Plus, I got to play 4-player Mario Kart DS with Greg, Laura, and Terry. Everyone did a really great job at the con and I am so glad to be a part of this club.

WillyCon IX: Saturday

Saturday was fun. I picked up Zach Miller's Joe and Monkey books and they are hilarious. He also signed and sketched the insides as well which was awesome. The Superhero Movie panel went very well. Heath showed an Underdog trailer which I did not know existed and I was stopped in speech. Additionally, I was able to prescreen the room to make sure the technology was working this time, plus with two hours we got to cover everything. He also brought up a video of Kevin Smith's experience with the Superman movie so it was fun to play that as well. Once we were done, I gave the remaining Spider-Man 3 posters to the rest of the Con for freebies. The large ones were gone at the end of the day. The art auction went well and the trivia contest was very fun, although I think we went way too hard on the questions. The categories were a little screwed up too but we got it figured out. I hope we do it again next year. After that was done I was talking to Steph and Zach Miller stops by to chat. Eventually we ended up going with him and Taki Soma to Subway for about 5 minutes and then we talked in the Con Suite. Jodie brought up a Jar Jar mask and so we put that on people and beat them up. It was funny. A group of us talked until about 3 am and then I retired. It was a good day.

WillyCon IX: Friday

I am worried about the amount of money I may spend at the Con. I've minimum bidded on some artwork I like and the artists GoH stuff is really neat and inexpensive. ACME brought up The Watchmen and V for Vendetta, both I want along with Munchkin which I have been putting off. So I'm not sure what I will indulge on yet but I'll try to be good.

Yesterday was very interesting for the Con. I was basically signing up for the Halo tournament all day and kept getting people telling me how bad it is and how the rules suck. I came up with a pseudo-system for this. It was chaotic but it had few complainers. Basically the rules could be modified by concensus, a sort of Wikiality. If people didn't like the map we picked, that's fine, just get others on board with the changes. It prevented people from claiming they were losing only because of our stupid rules. I know some didn't like that, but it didn't bother me much because I try to be easy going at WillyCon. I got back to the room at about 2 last night so I did get a godd night's sleep. Yay for day two!

DS Adventures

OK, So I'm about halfway through Pokémon FireRed's story. Then I've got to breed and evolve to catch them all. Then I need to find out what still remains and link up to a LeafGreen. Fun. I was price checking Emerald and found out that it is around $30 used! I could buy a DS game for that. It's crazy to image the lengths I'll go to in order to have most of the Pokémon in Diamond. It's a good thing it comes out on April 22 so I have time to catch them. Yes, I do realize this is pathetic but at least there isn't a marketing explosion to capitalize on them. It's all about the game.

It's nice having a DS on me at most times. It makes lunch and dinner the most exciting times of the day. It's sad when we can spend time in PictoChat which is not a game in any way and we can see each other. I am glad I bought the thing, though. It's true, I have neglected my Nintendog for my Pokémon. But don't worry, (he isn't real).

I am looking forward to Pokémon Battle Revolution for the Wii. I'll preorder that one sometime. It's in June and uses Diamond and Pearl connectivity with the DS. It's also online so it will be interesting to see Wii on Nintendo Wi-Fi. As long as it's better than Sony's service. Yuck.

Hey, does anyone watch Ghost in the Shell? I know it as the show that's on after Robot Chicken most nights and when I just leave the TV on for no particular reason. I'm wondering if it's good. All I know is it has a neat opening theme before I turn on my iPod and roam Wikipedia. I am so random. One of the hard things about having free time is the lack of anything interesting to contribute.

Call of Irony

I took my PPST this morning after months of putting it off. I also had to handle my passport items as well to get that done. So in my crusing through Omaha I head over to Toys 'R Us because I forgot to go there last week. I walk in and there's a nice large Spider-Man 3 display. I check out the figures and realize my tax refund did get in so I went shopping. I picked up a Sandman, Symbiote Spider-Man, and New Goblin along with a Spider-Spud and Marvel Guess Who? As I was looking around my phone rang. Oh by the way, I guess I lost my service this past week. Thanks Cingular for the notification. So my phone rang and I answer and it's a recording from "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" telling me to head to my nearest store because the toys are in today. What timing!

I also headed over to my favorite GameStop and picked up Pokémon FireRed and preordered Diamond. I went over to the Apple Store to see if I could get my earbuds replaced. The right one is making a static-y noise and it's quite annoying. They asked where the iPod was and I said it was in the car and they needed to see that to make sure it's not the iPod making the noise. Do they honestly think I would check that? Do they think that I have no other headphones besides the Apple ones? I love the Apple ones because they sound the best but seriously, I'm not one to deal with silly, condescending customer service...today. Thank you Cingular and MicroLnk. I might go back next week, though. I also visited Wal-Mart to get Venom. There's no Spider-Man 3 Sorry but there is a really stupid door alarm thing that is not the New Goblin, I don't care what it says. He shouldnot be that happy.

I bug Book Lady to play the items and get giddy. I did notice that the new action figures are not to scale with the 1 and 2 figures and are actually more to scale with the Batman and Superman figures. I'm not sure itf they're trying to standardize or what and Doc Ock towers over Venom somewhat. That's OK. I wonder if the rereleases are to scale...

Oh, hey: Katamari for Wii, 360, PS3 coming soon!
Also: Guitar Hero for Wii

7th Generation Insights

If a game for the Wii doesn't use motion sensing, the game will be criticized because it doesn't use the Wii's primary feature.

If a game has added motion sensing, the game will be criticized for adding a gimmicky feature that doesn't really enhance the game.

EA Sports games will rock on the Wii and will be exempt from determining whether or not the motion sensing enhances the game.

Nintendo recognizes that you have a DVD player and a CD player so why would they charge you extra for it if you don't need it?

Nintendo wants you to figure out whether or not you want HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and doesn't make the decision for you.

Nintendo needs to make DS Download Play for the Wii very soon, but probably won't happen until June when Pokémon Battle Revolution is released.

Nintendo should not have reduced its support of the GameCube as people like me who never had a GameCube can finally play these games on the Wii.

Buying a GameCube, considered to be a failure amongst its generation, to play its games is preferable to buying a Wii and playing GameCube games that you didn't want to own prior.

Considering this criticism, the Wii is only GameCube 1.5 anyway, so why is it wrong to play previous-generation games on it?

Nintendo needs to make Wii Shop Channel like Xbox Live Marketplace. Will we get the Battlefront additional characters? Will we get the Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Heroes and Villians expansion pack? C'mon Nintendo, support those third-parties!

Wii60: You buy a Wii and a Core Xbox 360 for less than a single PS3.

Xbox Live is awesome, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is decent, PlayStation Online is lagging currently.

The PS3 looks no better than an Xbox 360 when not on an HDTV screen.

Why didn't Sony learn from the failure of the PSX, a PS2 with a DVR available in Japan only, which flopped based on poor sales? Adding many, many features doesn't make people want it more.

The PS3 is improperly marketed as a gaming system. Its primary draw is its ability to function as a gaming system, supercomputer, and entertainment system; however, it is the most expensive item in the gaming system aisle and that turns people off.

The PS3 needs to be marketed as a Blu-Ray player primarily until a killer game is developed. It is the cheapest item among the Blu-Ray players and it also happens to play games. Oh, they kinda did...

As neat as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are, they're fighting over 1% of the market.

Sony wants your money. They have developed a credit card reader for the PS3 and I have heard that they may charge you for virtual furniture in PlayStation Home.

Sony is willing to give away HDTV's in Europe in order to sell the PlayStation 3.

Sony should recognize the popularity of the PS2 and the unpopularity of the PS3. I am no technical developer, but it would be neat to see Sony expand on the PS2's expansion bay. They should make an attachment that goes into the back containing a 360-comparable processor, hard drive, networking and yet still look decent while attached and cost between $100-150. They should market new games as PS2+ or something similar as some form of intermediary step between PS2 and PS3. Unfortunately, the time it would take to develop is insufficient to make a profit and the slim PS2 will be out of the picture.

Board Games

The other day I was at Wal-Mart and I saw something interesting that immediately took my attention. It was a Spider-Man Origins Operation game. Apparently, based off the box art, you are Doctor Octopus and you must remove Spider-Man's problems so you can fight later, I guess. Don't touch the sides! If you know me, I like revamped versions of board games. I have Pirates of the Caribbean Battleship, Star Wars Game of Life, Batman Monopoly, Lord of the Rings Risk, Star Wars Clone Wars Risk, Batman Begins UNO, Superman Returns UNO, and The Batman UNO. The Pirates of the Caribbean Life and Star Wars Original Trilogy Risk escape me for the moment. Luckily, I found out that I will have to add at least one more game to my list. Looking at images from the Hasbro Toy Fair, it seems there will be a Spider-Man 3 Sorry. Whoops, sorry Venom! What I'd like to see is a mixed up version of Clue that isn't The Simpsons or the Haunted Mansion. I'm just not sure of what except for that DnD Clue, that's just cool.


Additionally, there seems to be some sort of Spider-Man Mr. Potato Head a la Darth Tater, Spudtrooper, and Artoo-Potatoo but I can't make out what it says...

Spring/Winter Break

Friday, there was a wonderful blizzard keeping people from traveling. Spring Break was to start then and the dorms were to be closed at 5:00 pm. Classes were not cancelled, but the college was willing to let people stay until Saturday at 5:00 pm. Morey was an exception. They put up a big sign that said that we were welcome to stay as long as needed to get home. I really appreciate that. Later Jodene put up a sign that said we could stay as long as necessary until we could get home for free. She rocks! Faye braved the weather on Friday, which, in my opinion was stupid because there was so little visibility. Steph and Daniele headed out this morning but Steph got stuck so the roads were crap. So basically it was down to me, Heidi, Sarah, and Jared (among others) remaining with nothing but time. I had the shortest drive, but Highway 77, which I live on, was closed today until 4:30 pm. We didn't get cabin fever, just a severe case of boredom.

It's no different than any other weekend when people go home. The difference is you're really not supposed to be there. There's a skeleton crew in the dorm and there's no food service. There's no rules so escorting, checking in, quiet hours are all gone. A nice concession if you can't go anywhere. There is Campus Security if you get stuck on campus, which is nice. I drove to McDonald's and the in-town roads were nice especially the highways. The out-of-town was supposed to be nasty. After more time passing we went to Pamida by foot. I wanted to pick up a Nintendo DS lite this weekend but since I wasn't near Omaha, I decided to buy yet another gaming system at Pamida in Wayne. They had the model I liked, luckily, buy games were sparing. I didn't want a piece of crap and I don't want too many games since I don't intend on playing it nearly as much as a Wii. I was able to find New Super Mario Bros. which was on my list of 4 games to get so I was happy. We also went to Quality Foods to get some, well, foods. We then went to Movie Gallery to look for games and possibly a movie to rent. While we are out and about on the roads of Wayne by foot, we notice the relatively nice weather and roads here. It's very much a negative reinforcement to see this, yet know you cannot leave this town.

I like my DS. It's pretty. The game is fun too, but there's still a lot I need to learn. The other games I want are Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, and Brain Age. For now, that is all. This wasn't just a random purchase. I've been contemplating either an Advance SP or a DS for some time now. But when I got my refund check, that pretty much settled the argument. We still got bored so eventually Heidi and I got around to playing Wii Sports and Mario Kart 64. I also hopped into Animal Crossing to get a song from Totakeke [I bought that highly-addicting yet utterly pointless game last week, I just realized I never blogged about that, more to come on that escapade later.] because he only appears on Saturday nights. Sarah then joined us for some Super Smash Bros Melee. Then Heidi and I, still bored by the way, watched Fantastic Four and then got tired.

So now, I wait to see if conditions improve. My mom was stranded in Fremont last night and stayed at my uncle's house. She got home tonight but advised to wait another day. I want to get home but I don't want to be trapped there. Irony of course is that if I had skipped class on Friday as I wanted to and went home on Thursday, I would be home, but trapped with a closed highway running low on food like my dad was. I'm not sure yet if that would be an improvement.At least my laundry would be done. It should be obvious by now how bored I am due to the rambling about very, very inconsequential information but when nothing else happens, you have rights to blather. I really hope the weather improves at home so I can accomplish the things I wanted to do. I want to get the ISP out to our house to rework the connections because they're 6 years old and horrible to network. Only my laptop receives the Internet wirelessly. No Wii, and probably no DS. Not even other laptops. I wanted that fixed while I was home but now I'm not sure if it's cruel to ask them to come. I also wanted to go to Lincoln but who knows if that's going to happen! Oh well, I'm sure to find ways to enjoy my Spring/Winter Break.

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed. Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

George Takei responds to Tim Hardaway

Funny video featuring the Star Trek actor here.

Fall Out!

I rented Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz this week because I have fond memories of Super Monkey Ball 2 on Nord's GameCube. I heard reviews that the learning curve was difficult but was better to use the Wii Remote than an analog stick. The reviewers were right on the learning curve. The first world is cake, the second mixes it up, the third starts getting difficult. By the end, it is exceedingly difficult. I don't care for it, but Book Lady seems to be having a blast. I take it she likes the puzzle challenge games. I like knowing a game has the hope of being beaten, and this one has a faint glimmer. The minigames are depressing as well. Most are hit and miss, especially the ones based on real games. The fun ones are the ones they made up. But it's not enough for me to buy it at this time. It is a good rent, though. It gives you something to work on for a week and then get sick of falling into ravines or lava. I plan on picking up Rayman Raving Rabbids this weekend. That is an example of a fun single player with outrageous multiplayer. Super Monkey Ball is good, don't get me wrong. You just have to be determined to enjoy it.

On another note, I borrowed Animal Crossing from Heidi. That's very interesting. It's a good boredom game, but it's not much to watch. It makes people watching it to start playing the Sims 2. I know it's coming out for Wii, it's just a matter of when and what it will do. I would love it if it expanded on your GameCube save game that you may or may not have made. I am afraid that I will rent it and keep getting messages from animals on my Message Board.

STOP Class

Today I had my STOP class to get rid of my citation. It started at 8 and I had a minimal breakfast of juice and water before going in and I felt fine. About an hour in, the instructor starts talking about an accident involving this woman who totaled her car into a house. She got out of the car but didn't really know that she had about a minute to live because she separated her aorta. I'm not a big fan of large quantities of blood as that is one of the things that keeps me from watching horror movies, although Carrie doesn't creep me out because it's so fake. But when I hear extended blood talk that I am unable to ignore, I feel like I become aware of my own blood which is unsettling. The way he's describing it, particularly how after the blood circulates and without an aorta, how the blood "empties into her belly" it makes me a little queasy. Even after he moved on, the images were still in my brain and it made me very woozy and I felt like I overheated and blacked out.

When my vision and hearing returns I am on the ground with very blurred vision and people asking "Are you alright?" I answer I'm fine and realize that I am in fact on the ground. At first I think it's my mind daydreaming playing a trick on me but soon that wears off. They give me my glasses which are very bent and have a drop of blood on them. They ask if I'm epileptic and I say no. I get back on my chair and check my forehead which is bleeding a little bit. I go to the bathroom to clean up and wash myself and I sit down for a few moments. I return and the instructor asks me if I'm fine or if I want to take the class at another time. I say no and I'll manage. It was just very strange to have that happen.

Apparently I looked as though I feel asleep, then fell on the floor. My eyes rolled into my head and the instructor thought I may have been having an epileptic seizure. They rolled me on my back and I came out of it. The last time I blacked out completely was around 8 years ago in church when I overheated. I also lost my vision on Christmas when I ate a really hot piece of food and it lodged itself. All the same I will probably look into it just to make sure I'm OK but I'm hoping it was just a fluke.I did get to joke about it though when he asked when the last time anyone had experienced tunnel vision and I said "About an hour ago." On a positive note, I did pass the test with a happy face and a "Good Job" meaning I missed no questions.

Doom, New Goblin, and Venom

I found a link off digg that has production art of the villans from the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Spider-Man 3. Doom looks interesting and New Goblin and Venom seem to be on track with everything else we've seen.

Check it out here.

**Updated: Thank God the Doom artwork has been confirmed to be fake. The action figure basically looks the same as well so there may or may not be a redesign of the character's appearance.**

Lectures vs. Discussion

I'm taking the History of World Religions. I went in thinking it would be fun to learn about more than I know. But recently, I find it so dull. I think I've narrowed it down. He wants us to read the book and then discuss it. While that's nice and all, it's disappointing because I don't learn that way. When I read a required text, I have to try to figure out what is essential and what's going to be asked. I hate that. There's no narrative to follow or anything so I find myself bored. I prefer lectures. I know many would shoot me for that comment but I am much more attentive plus it gives me something to do in class, take notes. I learn better when I'm taught. I am still the student here. If I wanted a book to teach me, I would've paid for it alone and not pay for the class with attached instructor. I was hoping the person in there would teach me something I didn't know. I don't want to discover the text together. When I took Hickey's Military History class we had to read and discuss. I sucked at that class so bad. But now I'm in his Early National America and it's lecture based and I am enthralled with the topic. It's not that Military History is boring by any means. I just hate reading a text instead of being lectured at. I'm hoping it gets better when we get to the more mainstream religions and I know more. I would drop the class and take up something else later but I already had to choose between this and Renaissance/Reformation and I may be regretting it. Although Renaissance/Reformation has a complete ton of reading. Oh well, it all makes me excited for Greece.

DDR: Hottest Party for Wii

Some information has been released on the new DDR game for the Wii. It looks really interesting. It seems you use the GameCube pads combined with the Wiimote and Nunchuck. The pads record the arrows and there will be symbols for when to shake either the nunchuk or remote. This reminds me of the Rayman "dance" modes and is reminiscent of what they wanted you to do with the EyeToy camera with Extreme on for PS2. I hope this doesn't get too confusing but I'm excited. Plus, you can have up to 4 players at once. Something the Xbox version had on the PS2. It's going to be weird to buy DDR pads again. I haven't done that since 2003. One thing is for sure, you are going to need one large room to fit 4 pads comfortably but it's still freakin' sweet.

For more information on Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party, go here or here.

What Have Wii Been Doing?

I picked up Marvel: Ultimate Alliance last weekend. I've been playing that for most of last week. It's, not surprisingly, very similar to X-Men Legends, but still very fun. The Wii controls seem to accent the game rather than drive it. I periodically did a motion to attack but mainly stick to pressing A all the time. The cinematics are breathtaking though. I've unlocked all the characters without cheating so that makes me smile. Now I want to play it on Hard.

I rented Rayman Raving Rabbids this weekend. That game is so sick, twisted, and fun. Basically an army of bunnies puts Rayman through a series of minigame tasks that use the Wiimote to its potential in order to be set free. People who watch us must think we're screwed up in the head to be attacking bunnies but they are not friendly once you get into the game. I likened it to the Internet Insanity Test in the weird noises you hear as you play the game. It's very good and I will probably get it soon.

I also rented Superman Returns for the PS2. I have to say, I was quite disappointed in it. I was expecting something like Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man with the free-roam city and, although you have that, the game for me gets bogged down with strange controls and weird missions. It also suffers from Episode III-itis. In that game, although fun, there are many enemies with the ability to block lightsabers. It's a lightsaber! In Superman Returns, Superman's powers seem quite useless against villains. I really have to bring myself to want to play it again. There was so much potential, but it seems wasted.

I read a thing online about Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii. There's a video floating around that shows how moved will work. For example to use Scorpion's spear, you swing the remote and there it goes. Many people have complained that this takes the fun out of the game I disagree. I think it makes the game accessible to anyone. The button-mashers out there liked having the exclusivity of having to memorize a combination to make a powerful move work. Now the layman can do it. I see this a lot recently. When we play Bond on PS2, I have to step back when the others play so they have a chance because I'm too familiar on it. On the System Link for Halo, Mark and Brenner say that people don't like it when they play because they're so good, and they are. With simplified controls, the playing ground is even.

Also, Mario Kart 64 came out on Virtual Console this morning and oh, how I've missed it. I never had a Nintendo 64 because that came out during the time when my parents wouldn't pay for video games themselves. So I missed out on a lot but thanks to Virtual Console, those games are back. The game plays so wonderfully and seems to be graphically smoother than my emulated version, but that could be the emulator. I really wish they could get the license to GoldenEye 007 for the Virtual Console. The company who made it is now owned by Microsoft, plus they need the Bond license but that game would sell so well.