Heh, it's been a while, eh? Sorry 'bout that. It's been hard juggling school and... yeah, just about everything else.

Ironically, it seems that Senior Year is worse than last year could have ever been. And to that I say... WTF?! It makes no sense that we should be bogged down with strenuous classes that might actually hamper our chances of getting into college, when we should instead be learning college preparatory techniques (y'know, the things that actually matter). Seriously, Calculus is by far the worst experience I've ever had with Math... and I like Math! I'm seriously starting to rethink whether or not I want to major in Engineering, because I effin' hate Calculus. I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE IT! Seriously, if nuclear weapons were powered by hate, the resulting explosion would wipe out our solar system and Alpha Centari. I'm not saying that I'm an advocate of senioritis and taking courses like Interstate Trucking and Basket Weaving, but this is frakin' redonkulous! Long story short:

*sings* I BLAME OUR SCHOOLS! (see 0:33)

Other than my loathing of school which burns with the passion of one thousand white-hot suns, not much has happened. Cross Country is almost over, which means that I'll have some free time on my hands. Hopefully, this will give me an opportunity to catch up with reviews and other things (I've really fallen behind).

Gaming Updates!
Okami: I have to follow Moon Princess Kaguya in one of those detestable "Let's Dig for Menial Crap!" events. But before that, I'm going to wrap up a few side quests in the Capital.

MadWorld: My word, this game was amazing. Too bad that it's really short. But still, it was great. Love this game to death, even if there isn't much replay value.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon: Marth! I'm enjoying this game, but then again I love Fire Emblem. Frey is quite possibly the best cavalier ever! He is destruction incarnate. It's too bad that Hard Mode (the canonical story that skips over the added prologue) kills him off in order to have him save Marth. Oh well, I used Jagen (that's Jeigan to some of you) as the sacrifice instead! Yup! I killed the Jeigan character! Yes, I have no shame. Oddly enough, Shadow Dragon seems to go against past FEs; in order to recruit some of the best units in the game, you have to kill off some of yours...

Devil May Cry - 5th Anniversary Collection: Let's see. I beat DMC. I beat DMC2. I beat DMC3. All that's left is to beat the extra storylines to unlock the hidden characters and then go back to see if I missed anything. CRAZY! Jeez, Dante is such a ham, but that's why we love him.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King: Finally, I beat Dhoulmagus! Phew, he was ridiculous. I'm now on a wild goose chase to get back the sceptre, which means that I'll have to fight Sir Leopold next. Whoopee...

Final Fantasy XII: Man, I haven't played this game in ages. I'm in the Dynast King's tomb and just vanquished those two pesky Demon Walls.

Final Fantasy X: Ditto. Finally made it past that Bevelle ordeal (the first time I played, I didn't exactly use the Sphere Grid for what it was worth, but c'mon, I was nine when I first got the game!) and beat the Chamber of Fayth (I hate those puzzles, but Bahamut was worth it! ) and trounced Seymour Natus (darned MultiCasting!). I just made it to the Calm Lands, but I believe that some level grinding (more like sphere grinding) is in order.

Final Fantasy IV: Restarted the game (due to the fact that I missed some valuable items such as Augments) and surprisingly, it didn't take long to almost get back to where I was. I'm currently in the Giant of Babil, where I must face my dreaded enemy... the CPU and its insanely cheap Laser Barrage. Ding dang it!

The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match: This game is just so much fun to play. I wish that KOF 2002UM would be released on the PS2 in the States... Darn it SNKP!

The Legendary Starfy: It's like a Kirby game, only easier. I'm somewhere in World 4, but that's only because I'm snooping around for treasure.

So, that's pretty much it. I'll make my rounds ASAP. Ciao!

Given the nature of the video game industry at the present time, I realize that this blog and every opinion/suggestion brought up here are months, if not years, late. Nevertheless, I feel that I need to post this. I recall that the maxim goes "Better safe than sorry".

If the focus of this blog wasn't evident, I divert your attention to the title. What ever happened to that time where video game companies actually checked the qualities of their products and in some cases, actually showed their approval with ornate certification marks?

For those who don't remember the 3rd Generation of video games (i.e. the beginning of what we now know as the modern video game industry), or were born after it, were too apathetic to care, etc., it was back in 1985 when Nintendo crossed over from its humble origins as a playing cards-producing company and entered the realm of video games with the release of the NES. Considering that the industry had just suffered a particularly nasty crash two years prior due to a gross amount of low-caliber games (anyone mind digging up those buried copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600 in New Mexico?), consumers understandably were doubtful of the console. Therefore, Nintendo encouraged publishers to create high-quality games for the NES and in most cases, limited the amount of titles they could release to five per year.

It was during this time that the Nintendo Seal of Quality, a large, black and gold circular starburst, made its debut on the cover on games for the system with the following message: "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product."

Nintendo's plan must have worked, for in the span of a few years, the NES had become immensely popular, from both a commercial and critical standpoint.

The Nintendo Seal of Quality would be altered in 1988 with the words "approved and guaranteed" being changed to "evaluated and approved". With the exception of this and the Seal adopting a more recognizable gold and white hue, this emblem would remain unchanged until the year 2003.

In that year, the words "of Quality" were dropped and text now read as follows: "The official seal is your assurance that this product is licensed or manufactured by Nintendo. Always look for this seal when buying video game systems, accessories, games, and related products."

It should be blatantly noted that a product that is marketed as official does not equate to a product that is of (at the very least) decent quality. For a more secular analogy, an official in (American) football doesn't automatically have to be good at his job (although he should), hence the reason why you'll see them get so much flak for bad calls during a game. It's the same thing in this case.

Honestly, I don't really see why Nintendo changed its stance on quality versus quantity. Perhaps, it was due to Nintendo struggling against the family-friendly image it had cultivated as well as trying to prevent a lack of third-party support (as was most evident during the GameCube's run, wherein the console's profits came almost solely from first and second-party support; the GameCube would end in dead last with approximately 22 million units sold, slightly behind the Xbox's 24 million and light-years away from the PS2's staggering 138 million). Only the higher ups at the Big N truly know for sure. What I do know is that now, such circumstances shouldn't be preventing Nintendo from checking the quality of its products since it is currently outselling its competitors on both the home and portable fronts.

Specifically, just because the Wii and DS cater to a more universal crowd (children and adults, casuals and hardcore gamers, etc.) doesn't mean that its software library should be full of redundant, gimmicky, bland, or just plain awful games. For example, Carnival Games for the Wii, despite generally poor reception, broke the 1.5 million mark, putting it ahead of titles such as Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and the Wii version of Resident Evil 4. Logically, this seems backwards; Carnival Games (which already has a spin-off title released and a true sequel on the way) strikes me as a watered-down Mario Party (a series which suffers from sequelitis) while Metroid Prime 3 and RE4 were much better received.

Nintendo is still seen as a far-cry from its 8, 16, and 32-bit days (try typing in "Nintendo Wii is a joke" or "Nintendo Wii is a kiddie console" at Google), a heated debate that you may have seen brought up at forums here (or at GameFAQs) many, many times. Reintroducing the real Nintendo Seal might actually help Nintendo; publishers who are trying to ride the wave that is the success of the Wii and DS would actually be nudged to produce quality titles and Nintendo could reaffirm its status as a contender instead of being scoffed at by people who think that Mario and Kirby are the lamest things this side of... well... E.T. the video game.

Also, I want to make it clear that in lieu of the last few paragraphs, this blog can be applied to all video game developers. As far as I know, neither Sony nor Microsoft even have a formalized process of checking games in the vein of Nintendo's. Plus, every console has had its fair share of stinkers (yes, not even the Nintendo Seal could prevent some of the most outlandish wastes of brainpower and money from slipping through). Shaq Fu, a game notoriously hailed as the worst fighter ever, made its way onto the SNES, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy (among other systems) at a time when both Sega and Nintendo had their own seals of quality. Ninjabread Man (whose status as a scourge of the earth should have been easily seen from its ridiculous pun of a title) was on both the PS2 and Wii. The original Xbox had Kabuki Warriors and Drake of the 99 Dragons. Ping Pals for the DS was just a sad rehash of the portable's built-in PictoChat app. Spawn the Eternal (PS1) was god-awful. Lair (PS3), despite being created by the genius behind the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series, didn't exactly garner positive attention. Bomberman: Act Zero for the 360 doesn't even merit a comment. The mediocre, multiplatform Shadow the Hedgehog almost made me reconsider my status as a Sonic fan. There are countless more half-baked (or worse) games based on licenses with good potential. And do I even need to mention Superman 64?!

Long story short, it's not a necessity for video game companies to start using seals of quality (I highly doubt that there will be another video game crash), but it would definitely help. I see it as a win-win situation. Developers wouldn't waste money making games that would ultimately backfire and explode in their faces (because they'd be working on crafting titles that would be meaningful andnot shovelware), while consumers (that'd be us) would be able to enjoy what video games are meant to be: entertaining and exceptionally well-done mediums of art (yes, video games are a form of art, but that's one argument that should be saved for another time).

I mean, would you honestly want to mar your gaming experience playing something along the lines of Bubsy 3D when you could be enjoying the vastly superior Super Mario 64 instead?

No, seriously. This isn't the GS User Soapbox editorial blog I promised last blog (which was about a month ago... ) Sorry.

So... how are you guys doing?

I really don't have much to say in this one. I've been tied up with my summer reading assignments (reading Brave New World and Othello back-to-back and then having to fill out a packet's worth of questions is killing me) as well as other miscellaneous tasks that my parents have relinquished upon me (i.e. researching colleges, taking practice SATs, etc.). It's not my cup of tea, but well... I need to do it irregardless.

Hm... it also seems that I've finally made it to Level 28. Since I've always explained where each level moniker originated from before, I see no reason why I shouldn't do so now.

Bionic Commando (known as Top Secret in Japan) is a Capcom-developed arcade game from 1987 where the hero, equipped with a gun and grappling bionic arm (he can't jump, so he uses the grappling arm to cross chasms and such), must infiltrate an enemy base and stop them from launching missiles.

However, the Bionic Commando that more people are familiar with is the 1988 NES sequel (also known as Bionic Commando, but titled Top Secret: Hitler's Revival in Japan) that was drastically different. While the gameplay remained the same, the plot had Nathan "Rad" Spencer fighting imperial Nazis in the year 198X and rescuing fellow agent Super Joe. As you can guess, all of the Nazi references were censored in the NA and PAL releases (e.g. Nazi = Nazz/Badds, Hitler = Master-D, swastikas were altered, etc.). This game was remade as Bionic Commando Rearmed for the PSN, XBLA, and PC last year and was followed by a direct sequel (again, it was christened as Bionic Commando) earlier this year. There was also a Game Boy port of the NES title (with a few script changes) and a similar, yet different game known as Bionic Commando: Elite Forces for the Game Boy Color. A lot of info, right?

Ok... that's pretty much it. My editorial blog (which has been long since overdue) will be posted in a few weeks' time. I'll also start posting my reviews then (I've finished a few, but I've been too occupied to do anything). I'll be making my rounds ASAP. Catch ya later!

After a (somewhat) long absence, I make my (sort of) triumphant return!

That's right! Junior year is officially over! THANK GOD! I can't believe that in one year, I'll be graduating...

Last week was finals week, but I thought that they were pretty tame compared to 9th and 10th grade. That's kinda odd because 1) I didn't nearly study as much as I did for the other 2 years (I mostly goofed off and watched TV/played video games ) and 2) you'd expect Junior year in general to be a pain in the... ahem... you know. This is how I believed that I did:

Physics - B
U.S.History - A
American Literature - B+/A-
Sociology - A+ (according to my teacher, I aced it... with a 105% )
Pre-Calculus - B
Theology - A
Latin I - B+/A-

Report cards will be mailed this Friday, so I'll know how I really did soon enough.

Other than that, I haven't been up to much (aside from my usual video gaming fare). Hopefully, I'll do more than just sit at home and sleep, but I'm not promising anything.

Also, expect some new stuff (reviews, fanfiction, etc.) this summer since I'll have free time (theoretically).

Before I move on to the normal stuff, last blog's quote ("Read the mood!") came from an obscure source that not even most (non-Japanese) SNK (Playmore) fans would have caught onto. See for yourself...

Gaming Updates!
No More Heroes: Beat the game (again) and unlocked the real ending (Henry makes Jeane look like a walk in the park). The only thing that I'm missing are a few of the cards as well as some of the balls you need to collect for that drunk guy whose name escapes me at the moment. Can't wait for NHM: Desperate Struggle, but 2010 seems so far away...

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption: After a long absence, I've returned to this game. I've made it past the Leviathan Seed portion of Sky Town and I'm now en route to the Pirate Homeworld. I have a premonition that I'll have to fight Gandraya here. In Metroid-related news, Metroid: Another M looks sick!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl & Mario Kart Wii: Still honing my skills to make sure that I don't get rusty. By the way, I'm hyped about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Mario & Luigi: Inside Bowser's Story. I need to get a job so that I can pay for all of this...

Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Saurian: Beat the main final boss (Le Mu, who happens to be worse than Andromeda from the previous game), and opened the pathway to the extra set of bosses (cheap!), and obtained all of the Indie Frags. I'm currently completing the new side-quests as well as trying to obtain most of the Boss battle cards (I have a feeling that I'll need 'em). I think that Mega Man Star Force 3 should be due in a few months.

The King of Fighters '94: Yup... still playing it. I did get a greenlight for going to GameStop soon, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to get my hands on KOF XI or KOF '98 UM (or both! ) in the near future.

Well, that's all for now. The next blog may be a bit different than what you're accustomed to because I'm considering writing an editorial blog for GS' User Soapbox. I'll be making my rounds soon. Tata!

A cookie to whoever figures that first line out before my next blog. Trust me, you'll probably have ample time.

So, I hope that everyone is enjoying a well-deserved break. I know that I am. Yes! Only two weeks of school left! And now, for some somber news...

According to news reports, Wayne Allwine (the voice of Disney's beloved mouse since '77) died on May 18, 2009 due to complications from diabetes. He was 62. Normally, I wouldn't make such a fuss over the death of people I don't know on a personal basis, but I mean, c'mon! It's the voice actor of one of the most iconic characters in all of animation, and he's been doing that falsetto voice longer than most of us have been alive! Surely, he'll be missed.

I've heard rumors that he finished recording for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days before his passing. I wish good luck to whoever Disney finds to be his replacement, but I'll always think of this guy when I see Mickey.

*silence*

Yeah... kinda a joy-killer, right? *scratches head* Sorry...

Well, I went to go see X-Men Origins: Wolverine last Saturday. If you've seen the movie already or don't care for spoilers, you can read the mini-review below (it is possible to read it as is, but you may need to highlight it). If not, go on ahead to the next part. BEWARE!

WARNING: A spoiler is below.

*sigh* Well, let's see... I don't like debunking the film with actual facts (since you can argue that the movie is AU), but there were so many wrongdoings, so I feel like I need to. Here goes:

What was done wrong:
1. Sabretooth and Wolvie are (as far as we're concerned; the origin story is still a bit hazy) not half-brothers. They are bitter enemies/rivals. End of story.
2. Kayla Silverfox can't persuade people via telepathy via touch; her powers were a healing factor and age suppressant. On top of that, the Silver Foxpresented inthe comicsgave me the impression of a femme fatale with skills in firearms. Finally, Emma Frost and Silver Fox are not sisters. Seriously, WTF?
3. The Blob and Chris Bradley were never a part of Weapon X/Team X. Never.
4. Deadpool (at the finale). This honestly deserves its own section. Deadpool is not Weapon XI. Wade Wilson was a dude with cancer who was augmented with a healing factor in an attempt to cure his ailment. He also had mad skills and reflexes. The only thing the movie gets right is his regeneration powers and martial arts skills. To hit the most obvious one on the head, Deadpool does not have the abilities of Kestrel (teleportation) andCyclops (optic beams), norwere his katanas grafted with adamantium and placed in his body akin to Wolvie's claws. Heck, it's even implied that if Stryker had more time, he would have given Weapon XI Emma Frost's diamond form. And how the *insert word here* can he be the "Merc with a Mouth" if his mouth is swen shut until a post-credits scene?! Way to *insert word here* drop the ball.
5. Continuity. X2 implies that Wolvie lost his memory from the adamantium bonding procedure, not from a *insert word here* adamantium bullet to his skull.

What was done right:
1. Aside from the stuff I pointed out above, the rest of the film sticks (mostly) to the established story (i.e. Wolvie's relationship with Sabretooth and Silver Fox) and powers/abilities of the cast.
2. The actors. Hugh Jackman brings that "gruff n' tough, but well-meaning" charm as Wolvie, while Liev Schreiber has the conflicted, animalistic nature of Sabretooth down pat. Ryan Renolds satisfyingly wisecracks, slices, and dices as Deadpool for all of the 12 seconds that his character sticks to its root. And Taylor Kitsch plays a surprisingly good Gambit. He definitely has the Cajun charm down. His accent could be a bit better, but yeah... no complaints here.

WTF Moments:
1. If Cyclops was captured by Sabretooth, wouldn't he recognize him in the original X-Men? I mean sure, you could joke that Sabretooth was played by two different actors...
2. Professor X cameos at the end when he telepathically directs Cyclops and the other mutant children out of the island base to his helicopter. Why didn't Prof. do anything else to help out? In the first movie, he telepathically controlled Sabretooth to stop Magneto from killing a bunch of officers. So why didn't hedo the same with Stryker?
3. The fight with Weapon XI. *facepalm* For once, Weapon XI deserved to lose because he was so *insert word here* stupid! If you have the powers of several mutants alongside a mastery of martial arts, why the *insert word here* would you only use one power at a time? At the end, when Wolvie decapitates Weapon XI, he is busy firing an optic blast. When Wolvie slashes him, the beam stops as Weapon XI falls into the tower, his head starting to detach from his torso. It is then that the optic beams miraculously restarts, blasting through the tower on the way down. My dad says that it's because the blood was still rushing to his head, but if that was the case, why didn't the beams stay on the entire time? And heck, why didn't he just teleport out of harm's way? Brilliant.

- END OF SPOILER -

Overall, there were some nice action sequences, and the plotline (despite straying from actual continuity; how come Marvel does that in a lot of their movies?) did flow quitenicely. My dad jokingly calls Wolvie "Gerald Butler" (y'know, Leonidas from 300) when he emerges from the adamantium bonding process. For those who disregard/don't know the actual plot, Wolvie gets a B; for those who don't/do, it's more like a C.

I plan on going to see Star Trek with my family soon. I've been hearing a lot of good things about the movie. Set phasers to fun! In more bad news, it seems that Hollywood refuses to stop screwing over every video game and anime seriesthat we

love. Aside from movies based off of Tekken, The King of Fighters, Death Note and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (IMO, my money is on the Tekken one), it seems that Sony Pictures is adapting Shadow of the Colossus into a film. No joke. Funny thing is... that's not even the worst part. The script is being wrote by the same guy who wrote Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, while the producer of The Scorpion King is negotiating whether or not he'll produce. Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? Yep; it's a 'lil something called failure.

However, I have some good news! Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes is coming to the States and Europe under the new title of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars! Capcom USA (and The Man, Seth Killian) worked out the licensing issues! I'm so happy, I could cry!

Animation Updates!
Wolverine & The X-Men: It's about time! New episodes! One question... why is Bishop bald?

Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Glad to see the Boy Wonder in the latest episode.

Gaming Updates!
Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Just honing my skills and earning the remaining trophies from All-Star Mode. In order to help the process go smoother, I've decided to focus my attention on training solely with Ike and Meta Knight.

Mario Kart Wii: Ditto, although it really doesn't take much toregain your skills in this. I've finally managed tounlock all thefast staff ghosts, so I unlocked the second Mii outfit as well as the Sprinter.I'm definitely thinking about making a mock version of the attract mode from F-Zero GX, only with Baby Mario in the Blue Falcon (or Mario in the Wild Wing/Sprinter).

Ōkami: Just finished the Moon Cave and beat Orochi. Obviously, there's much more to do, but I'm glad that I found the time to pick this back up again.

The King of Fighters '94: Beat the game again. It was actually pretty easy this time around (Rugal included). I'm planning on picking up KOF XI and KOF '98 Ultimate Match once school is out. By the way, when will KOF '02 Unlimited Match reach the States? I want to burn people with the black and red flames of Nameless!

Now if you'll excuse me, it'sfun time! I may not be able to reach you guys until after June 6th, due to the last two weeks of school (finals included). 'Til then, au revoir!