I'm not one to dig through other people's trash but when a man throws away a precfectly fine working Master System and eight games then my inner garbage collecting hobo unleashes himself. Not only that, but this guy had also thrown away three Famicom games, but sadly, no Famicom.

Here the list of all the crap I found:

Master System Console

Sega AC Adapter

After Burner

Astro Warrior

Space Harrier 3D

Shinobi

Altered Beast

Hang On/Safari Hunt

Thunder Blade

Rambo

Pro Yakyuu Famista (Famicom)

B-Wings (Famicom)

Twin Bee (Famicom)

Also got the SMS equivelent of NES'Zapper for Safari Hunt and two Master System controllers. No 3D glasses though, so I can't really play Space Harrier 3D. RF adapter was also missing (which may have been why it was thrown away) but the NES adapter works just fine for it.

As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Now, If only I could find a Famicom somewhere...

I know they're all lvl 60s-70s but fighting the elite four repeatedly is no fun so I'm not doing it. This is from my Diamond version.

Blastoise lv.63

Ice Beam

Waterfall

Surf

Hydro Pump

Naughty nature

---------

Infernape lv75

Flame Wheel

Flare Blitz

Grass Knot

Close Combat

Lonely Nature

----------

Scizor lv.61

Double Team

X-Scissor

Night Slash

Iron Head

Hardy Nature

----------

Honchkrow lv.67

Dark Pulse

Sucker Punch

Fly

Psychic

Gentle Nature

-----------

Electivire lv.63

Tunder Punch

Ice Punch

Cross Punch

Earthquake

Adamant Nature

-----------

Leafeon lv.61

Magical Leaf

Synthesis

Grass Whistle

Giga Drain

Hasty Nature

_____________________________________________

Any suggestion and comments on how to make my team better is welcomed.

Nintendo failed hard last year and people assume that it'll always be that way. In general, Nintendo almost always impress at E3 and I think they know that they have to come out strong this year. Anyway, I think everyone's going to have a big show this year. E3 is back in full force and everyone's going to try to put their best foot forward. Here are my predictions:

1. Nintendo

-new entry for Zelda or Zelda calibur franchise

-DSiWare news/"Virtual Handheld"

-Whatever Retro Studios is working on.

-new entries for 2nd tier franchises like F-Zero, Starfox, Pikmin, etc..

-new "Wii _____" title.

-Big news regarding Pokemon Gold/Silver remakes and other future DS games (DSi related).

-several new franchises geared toward "casuals" and non gamers (new non-game apps for Wii, as well)

-one new franchise geared toward "the core."

-More New Play Control remakes

-Unlikely: Mario Galaxy 2

_________________________________________

2. Microsoft

-Halo OTST

-Update on Peter Jackson's Halo project.

-More additions to the Xbox Dashboard

-New big exclusive franchises from Microsoft and third parties.

-"stealing" away another "PlayStation associated franchise"

-Motion Controller along with casual games that it'll work with.

-New Rare game (probably Killer Instinct)

-Mass Effect 2 will be PC/Xbox only

-Unlikley: New LionHead Game

______________________________________

3. Sony

-PSP Go!

-God of War III footage

-Team ICO game

-Long dead Gran Turismo for PSP resurrected as PSP Go exclusive.

-Gran Turismo 5

-New Ratchet & Clank

-Lost and Damned coming to PS3

-small price drop for PS3 ($20-30)

-Unlikely: Any talk of Home's "success."

_____________________________________

I'm not going to lie, I was quite liberal here but the more you predict the more you get right, right?

These are my picks for the best games of 08. By games of 08 I don't necessarily mean games that came out last year but the best games I played for the first time in 08.

10. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

9. Endless Ocean (Wii)

8. Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts (360)

7. No More Heroes (Wii)

6. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations (DS)

5. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (DS)

4. Soul Calibur IV (360)

3. Earthbound (SNES)

2. Fable II (360)

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

They couldn't save my old 360 (RIP, old friend) so I was given a replacement by Future Shop. The new 360 has an HDMI port (which is useless to me) and seems quieter and I finally got a new phone after mine crapped out in May, it's an iPhone. It is an awesome gadget and I can see why Apple has such a crazy fanboy base. Also, If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch get Aurora Feint, it's a really good game which you can get on the iTunes app store for free.

R.I.P

Master Hermes' Xbox 360

Jan 27, 2006 - July 30, 2008

The above statement is pretty much a perennial argument by Nintendo's critics and it's also one of the biggest hoaxes in gaming. The notion that Nintendo hasn't created a new franchise since Pokemon in the late 90s is misguided and downright stupid if you really look into. Are Mario, Pikachu, Link and Fox shoehorned in games where they don't belong? Hell yes they are, but that doesn't mean Nintendo has had no new ideas. I'm going to go against the norm and say that Nintendo have, since the beginning of the GC-GBA era ( 2001-2008 ), published and developed a ton of new franchises. Let's start with the GameCube. Amidst the the torrent of rehashes such as Mario Party 4-7 and Pokemon Colosseum, people seemed to have forgotten new franchises such as Pikmin, Eternal Darkness, Chibi Robo, Golden Sun, Geist and Animal Crossing. The problem with the games I just mentioned is that they were either complete commercial flops (Eternal Darkness, Chibi Robo and Geist) or merely moderate successes (Pikmin, AC, Golden Sun).

My question is why should Nintendo create or foster new franchises if you all don't give a crap? When they makes a new franchise and it tanks don't expect them to just sit around pretending everything in A-OK, they're going to turn to what sells, i.e, Mario Party. Now while Nintendo has had a tougher time with new franchises on the GC and GBA, the DS and Wii have been fertile ground! Don't believe me? Here's a list (off the top of my head) of new Nintendo owned franchises on those two systems:

WiiSports

Endless Ocean

Elite Beat Agents

Soma Bringer

Hotel Dusk

Trace Memory

Brain Age

Big Brain Academy

Master of Illusion

Nintendogs

Electroplankton

Excite Truck

Clearly Nintendo is in a better position to innovate in software when they are industry leaders. I believe we can expect more new franchises from them in the coming years. I've listed a bunch of stuff here but that's just the surface, what about all the new franchises with old characters, Starfox Adventures, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, WarioWare? What about all the franchises that are new to all those outside Japan, Fire Emblem and Advance Wars? While Nintendo isn't innocent of exploiting their tried and true names, it is not guilty of being a tired old hack with no new ideas, if you want to point the finger at a company who is, I'd suggest EA or Square.

As a HUGE Harry Potter and BioWare fan I've had many fantasies about an RPG based in the HP universe done in the same style as a Knights of the Old Republic or Jade Empire. The problem has always been that if EA did it themselves it would probably really suck. Now, however, the stars have aligned. I see no reason why this game shouldn't happen, EA own the rights to the HP video games, they own the world's best western RPG developer and the HP franchise pretty much sells itself, it's a win win situation. When EA first bought BioWare they said they were working on around six or seven games and at least three of them where unannounced titles, let's pray a Harry Potter game is one of them.

MAKE IT HAPPEN EA!

Let me tell you what's missing from the above pic, dialog trees and a little something I like to call fun...

Anime North, which I am told is one of the biggest anime conventions in North America, was held last weekend and Otakus, fanboys, people who want to be Japanese and all manner of other scum and villainy flocked to it like a perverted Mecca. For the past three years friends of my who regularly attend the convention have tried to talk me into going, this year I finally did. While I'm not exactly the biggest anime fan, I did enjoy myself. For one, there was a tons of gaming related stuff there, which wasn't too much of a surprise as Anime and Gaming nerds share many common interests. Rare gaming goodies were on sale and while most of the REALLY rare stuff (like copies of FFIII for SNES or the REAL FFIII for Famicom) were well over the $100 mark, less rare but equally juicy gems such as Starfox (SNES) were only $10! So yeah, I spotted a copy of Starfox and childhood fav, Pokemon Snap, and bought them both. There were other good games but I didn't have enough cash for them all. I also ended up buying a pretty big Wario plushie (Wario is a god). Honestly though, the best part of my day at Anime North was when I got a signed sketch from Scott Ramsoomair, the cartoonist behind the VG Cats webcomic.

I'd be lying however if I said that their wasn't part of me that was scarred for life. I'm sure you've seen people in cosplay before, maybe on the Internet or a photo, but seeing these people UP CLOSE is a much different. Yeah, some of the costumes are pretty cool, but for every guy in a GOOD Cloud costume there is fifty fat chicks dressed as scantly-clad Yunas and twenty DUDES dressed as Sailor Moon. Also, I was promised hentai, but all there was when I arrived was softcore stuff! What a disappointment. My friend tells me the hentai didn't start until after 12:00am, some good that does me, I wouldn't be caught dead after nightfall near all those cosplayers...

 

 

Level 30, Wow! I'd like to thank God, my Mom, all the n00bs I've pWned over teh years, but most of all, I'd like to thank myself for being so L33T...


The Breakfast of Champions! (no, that's not me on the box. When you're as L33t as me, you have to keep your true identity a secret).

There are ton of damn classics I either missed or were too stupid and young to buy (let me rephrase that, "get my parents to buy") back in the day and Virtual Console is a chance for people such as myself to finally own those great games we missed. So here are the games that I do not own, but had fond childhood memories of playing, (through renting or friends) that I'd like to see on VC:

NES:

Final Fantasy
Ice Climber
Kirby's Adventure

SNES:

Super Mario RPG
Earthbound
StarFox
Harvest Moon
Clay Fighter
Kirby's Dream Land 3

Genesis:

Micheal Jackson's Moonwalker
Sonic 3
Sonic and Knuckles


N64:

F-Zero X
Zelda: Majora's Mask
Paper Mario
Harvest Moon 64
Donkey Kong 64
Mario Tennis
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Mystical Ninja 2
Battle Tanx
BomberMan 64
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Pokemon Snap
Yoshi's Story

Games I'd pay to buy again and why:

-Dragon Warrior (NES. Battery on my original is dead).
-Chrono Trigger (SNES. The PS1 version I own has annoying load times).
-Super Smash Bros. (N64. I'd love to play it without whipping out the old 64 all the time).

Those are the games I'd like to see come to VC. Sorry about the lack of TubroGraphx-16 games but I never really played it at all back in the day. I'd also like to see third parties bring their games from other non-Nintendo systems, why can't I download Final Fantasy IX and Chrono Cross, Square? Anyway, that being said, what VC games do you all want?


My MOST wanted VC game....

Read Kotaku's misinformed response first: LINK

I respect the Pope and what he says, but Benedict XVII seems like he
says things without thinking too much about how people may interpret
them. Unlike John Paul II, Benedict seems to run his mouth without
thinking things though. Nevertheless, the Pope has a good point that people are
missing. Everybody is taking this as "animated film and video games are
perverted." That is NOT
what the Pope said.

The Pope said that any medium, even animated film
and video-games (which have both historical been for children), that exalt violence and trivialize
sexuality are indeed perverted. Who among you would argue that hentai
is not perverted? It is perverted. Who would argue that Death Race, a
game in which you were given points for running over pedestrians, is
not perverted? It is perverted. Gamers who will defend any game against
scrutiny simply because it's a game do the industry a huge disservice.

A lot of neat stuff is going to happen this year, especially for gaming. Here's some the cool crap I'm excited for, game and non-game alike.

-Super Smash Bros Brawl
-Halo 3
-Mass Effect
-BioShock
-WarioWare Smooth Moves
-Mario Galaxy
-Pokemon Diamond
-Lair
-Spore
-Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie.
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Book.
-Pirates of the Caribbean 3
-Paris Hiltion getting shot (at least I hope this happens).
-New HDTV.

DAMN!! I'm having a nerdgasm just thinking about it


Master Chief gazes into the future, and what he sees is breath taking.

Wow, I've finally made it to level 29, and with it has come a disturbing realization that I spent way too much time here. I haven't seen much people at this level so I assume I've  become too powerful for my own good.

I know each rank relates to a certain game so I did my research and Radiant SilverGun comes from...uh...Radiant SilverGun, a Sega Saturn game I've never heard of. Apparently, the game was never released outside of Japan.

Anyway, with a higher level comes more 1337 responsibilities, which means more n00bs to pWn, fanboys to snuff out of existence, and all the other things us Level 29s do. In conclusion, I leave you with the box art for Radiant SilverGun.

 

Merry Christmas, n00bs!

I hope all you guys had a great holiday season and got a lot of games and game related gifts this year. I got pretty good haul this year. If you look at my XBL gamertag you'll see that the Gears of War Collector's Edition was part of the said haul. I Broke the Christmas rule and opened my copy of GOW two days early. I'm not very far and I have a few minor problems with the game, but overall, it seems to be as good as everyone says it is. I'll have a more in depth first impression up later followed by a full review after that.

Here's most of the Christmas gifts I received from friends and family (I usually get more after christmas, from my cheaper family members who refuse to buy any gifts until Boxing Day... )

-Psychonauts.

-Soul Blade (a little confession, I bought Soul Blade for myself. Does anyone else buy themselves gifts or am I just psycho? I bought a copy for a friend too).

-Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2-disc edition.

-3 sweaters

- $ 100 dollars worth of money which I will probably spend on more games and my other love, books.

- and of course, Gears of War Collector's Edition.

So what did you guys get?


Staring at this while Silent Night plays in the background is the scariest **** ever. Try it.

"A lot of things are riding on the success of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the launch of the Wii, the legacy of one of the greatest game franchises of all time, and the case for Wiimote controls in “hardcore” games. Twilight Princess has arrived and let's nobody down. It is the best Zelda ever made. The only aspects that keep it back from a perfect 10 are slightly dated visuals and audio quality. Aside from those insignificant issues, this is one of the best games ever made. "

Read the full thing here.

BTW: For some reason I can't spilt my review into paragraphs so I'm really sorry for the "block of text."

THESE ARE NOT FULL REVIEWS, JUST FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

Elite Beat Agents (DS):

Freeze, n00bs!!!

A fun and and engaging rhythm game that's easy to get into but difficult to beat. A lot of variety in the music, but some songs suck, for example, Material Girl...and I say that because Madonna is a ugly whore. Multi-player is fun but not fair, you could be pWning your opponent for the entire game but one slip up near the end and you'll probably lose. All in all, Elite Beat is a fun game that no DS owner should miss.

I'm currently on the last level on normal difficulty.
My Score so far: 8.8/10

Okami (PS2):

The best looking game ever, worthy of the Zelda comparisons.

Okami was hyped by some as a "Zelda Killer," I'm playing it right now and I can safely say that Zelda is still alive and well. That being said, Okami did beat a certain Zelda game at something. This game makes Wind Waker look like a cheap Saturday morning cartoon, I'd even go as far as to say it is the best looking game of the last generation. You'll boot up Okami just to look at it.

The gameplay is very much like Zelda's dungeon crawling experience and while it doesn't beat that legendary series at it's own game it is by far the BEST emulation of the Zelda formula to date. The brush techniques are great and the Japanese mythology is very interesting and immersive.

If you own a PS2, go out, do yourself a HUGE favor and buy Okami, it is the best game ever to grace that console. After playing Okami it's sad to hear that Clover, the studio responsible for this masterpiece, is no more. so in conclusion, BUY OKAMI NOW BECAUSE THERE WILL NEVER BE A SEQUEL OR ANOTHER GAME BY CLOVER EVER AGAIN!!!

I'm 10 hours into the game.
My score so far: 9.7/10

(And no that's not me in the pic....)

I have obtained the glorious distinction of being a Level 28 Bionic Commando. All n00bs shall now bow down before my uber nerdiness!


Hopefully this one makes it to Wii's VC cause I never had the chance to play it

The game is looking better than ever! There are more screens over at the Wiire.


Fox's new look. Is this the new StarFox stage?

Wario about to get pWned in teh face!

Wario getting pWned agian, this time by Kirby.

Snake and Samus duke it out in Pokemon Stadium.