Halo 2

Yesterday brought me to the end of the Halo 2 single-player campaign. The story was good (albeit confusing), but what really got me was the total lack of an ending. I finished what I did not know was the last level, went to a cutscene, which looked like it was going to throw me into the next level....then....BOOM...credits. It was like "Oh, hi...ya...we ran out of development time....TEH END!"

But oh well, it's not as if there won't be a Halo 3. Now it's on to Metroid Prime 2..

Nintendo DS Commercials

A new wave of commercials have started for Nintendo DS...check them out.

"Breath" is the best, I think.

Metroid

I picked up Metroid Prime 2: Echoes today, but have yet to play it because LISP fucking sucks. That is all.

Spring 2005 Schedule

Course  Sect  Course Title         Units Day     Begin   End  
80242   A     CONFLT DISPTE RESOLT  9.00 TR    03:00PM 04:20PM 
80405   A     GAME THEORY           9.00 MW    03:30PM 04:50PM 
80511   A     THESIS SEMINAR        9.00 M     09:00AM 11:20AM
82273   A     INTRO JAP LANG/CULT   9.00 TR    01:30PM 02:50PM 
98050   A     STUCO HOME BEER BREW  3.00 T     06:30PM 08:20PM 

Scheduling was today. Next semester should be decently easy with Game Theory being my "hardest" course. As long as my Thesis goes OK, I think there shall be much relaxing. Also note that, aside from Mondays, I don't have to get up *ever* in the morning AND I have *no* classes on Friday. 3-Day weekends will be nice, though the actual plan is to save Friday for thesis work. Now I just have to talk where I work into not wanting me to come in at 10:00 AM..

CMU Jeopardy

One of our own...wagering $1337. l33t.

Link to story.

Halo 2

Well, it's here. I stood in line along with Ethan for about an hour on Monday night to pick it up at midnight. So far it's pretty good. I'm on level 10 or so.

Multiplayer is also pretty cool. It has some flaws with the customizability of the game options when using the Optimatch mode, but hopefully they will be fixed in a future update.

You can check out my statistics for online play be clicking here, or, if you're an RSS lover, there's an RSS feed over to the right in the "Games I'm Playing" section that will keep you up-to-date with the recent games I've played.

Currently Ignoring: Modern Philosophy

Nintendo Petition

Recent Nintendo Gamcube games are bearing a "Best Seller" emblem printed directly on the box art if they've sold over 250,000 copies (over their lifetime or in pre-sell). So far this has affected Paper Mario 2 and Mario Power Tennis. Brand new games are coming out with this emblem on it, so there is no way to obtain a new game without this blemish. After speaking with Nintendo, this is a trend they are going to continue everytime a game sells (or pre-sells) over 250,000 copies.

Whether or not you are a Nintendo fan, or whether or not you serverly hate them, for the sake of the box art...please sign. This could become viral and spread to other consoles as well, so its in all our interests.

An example of the emblem can be found here.

Sign Here: http://www.petitiononline.com/gcnart/petition.html

Spread the word! Either link to this weblog entry or just circulate the petition link.

(Please use a real name and email address or this is useless. You can choose to hide your email address so you will not be spammed.)

Mario Power Tennis

I totally forgot that Mario Power Tennis ships tomorrow.

*Scrambles to pre-order*

I kind of let this game slip under my radar, but what can I say, it's a busy time for gaming. That being said, it does look like it's going to be yet another great Mario sports title from Camelot. The sheer amount of game modes should be able to keep anyone busy with the game for a long time. Of course, the real drive of this game is going to be multiplayer -- it's got party game written all over it. Perhaps it can take away "Best Party Game Evar" from Super Smash Bros Melee.....well, probably not...but I'm sure it will be quite good. I'll definitely pick it up Tuesday and let you know how it goes.

From October through December I'm spending about $800 on games and the Nintendo DS...crazy. I'm going to start having to put in extra time at work or something.

Currently Watching: Good Morning Vietnam

Musings

Haven't posted for a few days...so here's a few things of note..

I just got back from seeing The Incredibles -- great movie. It's different from any Pixar movie so far in that it's almost more of an action movie than a comedy. At times I was thinking to myself "Disney approved this?" Some scenes were full of gunfire and explosions, and I pictured old Walt spinning in his grave. That being said, this movie is going to make a lot of money for Disney...it really is just that good.

Tomorrow at midnight brings the release of Halo 2. I'll be attending the local "midnight madness" at EBGames so I can get my hands on it ASAP and register a clan name for me and my friends -- "The Onion Rings." How much I'll actually play depends on a few things. First, the game needs to not suck. From the reviews coming out, it hasn't scored lower than 9.4, so I don't see that being an issue. Second, multiplayer will depend on how often my friends play. There's a lot of games coming out right about now, so I'm not sure how successful that will be. Most of them are being sucked in by World of Warcraft.

Of course, the week after next heralds the arrival of the greatest female heroine of all time -- Samus Aran, in Metroid Prime 2. Everything about the original was great; Retro really has done wonders with bringing Metroid into the 3D realm. Apart from the story-line and game-play, I'm very excited to listen to some of the awesome music I know it will bring. The music in the first game was epic. There were the old familiar melodies wrapped in a darker, more mature style, as well as a litany of outstanding new ones. I really hope the music from MP2 can live up to that of its predecessor.

Currently Drinking: Jones Soda Co. Cream Soda

Canada, Part Deux

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Midi

'Nuff said.

Canada

I always joke about Canada. I call it our shadow, the loft above a great party, etc. It is the butt of many jokes from moose to mountie.

But last night I found myself looking at the requirements for citizenship. As of late, the United States is getting far too intense for me, and is drifting away from my ideals.

I don't want to live in a country where, because of the greed flowing through its veins, is a giant target for terrorists worldwide. I don't want to live in a country where a woman does not have the right to choose, but criminals can walk down the street with assault rifles. I don't want to live in a country at war all over the world or with a president with an IQ of 10. I don't want to walk down the street and see some rich white guy driving his 10MPG Hummer while the country as at the knees of the Saudis.

I want to live in Canada. A country made fun of because of it's ability to do nothing. A country where the biggest controversy is whether there is French labeling on products. A country where I can be safe and raise a family without worrying about losing my life or my rights.

Canada, Ho!

Well, that sucked..

4 more years.

But really, I can't completely blame the American people for this. It was very easy not to like Bush. What with him being a retard, going to war in Iraq, and him being a retard, etc. The lack of an inspiring candidate and clear message by the Democratic party is to blame. I think the Democratic party needs reformed in quite a big way. Kerry wasn't *bad*, but if really he's the best we've got...if we can't beat Bush with *our* candidate...that really says something about the party itself.

Bush hasn't done anything right, he simply campaigned on religion -- both times. In 2000 was the first large break in the population that religious people clearly went Republican. Now I'm not saying the Democrats should appeal to religion...people just need to be persuaded that religion does not equate to morals. That a president can be moral and trustworthy without pushing God.

Unless Bush really fucks up in these next 4 years, I see the Republicans staying in power for the next 8 years.

Random thoughts at 1:00AM...just my thoughts..

(Note: Pending Ohio doesn't flip to Kerry on provisional ballots..)

Vote!

Please please please...

Vote tomorrow.

I voted for Kerry, but you can vote for whoever you want...just vote. I'm assuming the people that read this traditionally don't vote (aka, you're young). Here's some motivation: If you don't vote, the grandma and grandpas of the world shall dictate our future, then they'll die, leaving us to deal with their decisions. There...both morbid and motivating. But really, go vote -- for your sake and mine.

Also, look here for some interesting polling statistics.

WoW Open Beta

It is upon us..