The War on Backwards Compatibility Continues

Man, not this again. I'll concede that even as someone who like to play old games I've barely used the backward compatibility options on a lot of my consoles (portables are another story though). However, the thing that really bugs me about this is it ignores the rise of downloadable games this generation. In fact, I can actually see how the lack of backwards compatibility could actually hurt more in the long term plan.

Let's say I'm a gamer that insists on staying on top of the latest trends so I rarely ever replay games. In the past, when a new console comes out I could trade in the old one and all the old titles I still own to finance the new one. Technically I cold be "evil" (in the eyes of publishers) and use that credit to by used, but if I insist at getting the console at launch I'm probably going to be buying new by default.

With this generation though I'd only be able to trade in the games I bought on disc. I'd be effectively throwing away any titles I bought digitally, be it arcade or retail titles. That might not discourage me from upgrading to the current generation, but it might make me hesitant to get as many downloadable titles.

Now I'm pretty sure the the CEO of Take Two doesn't give a crap that I can't get anything back from my downloadable titles. Plus he could point out that right now the Xbox One and PS4 are selling better now than the lifetime sales of the Wii U, the only console still with full backwards compatibility. I still maintain that a system's launch sales don't necessarily predict a system's success (see the Dreamcast) and it will be much more interesting to see how all three consoles are doing in a year.

How I learned to give up and love digital comics

I always loved comic books, but several years ago I had to give up collecting them. Part of the problem was I was getting too many comics then my college undergraduate funds could afford to support.

This happened during the that summer where DC was publishing 52, Marvel was publishing Civil War, and I would pick up indie titles off the shelf that seemed interesting. I got to the point where I realized just how much money I was spending at the comic book shop every week and decided to just drop everything. To this day I regret how unceremoniously I just stopped going, since I probably could have found a less melodramatic solution.

Anyway, years later I've become a successful working adult who has enough money to buy everything he wanted back then (except not really). The logical assumption would be that I strode through the doors of my local comic shop proudly and reactivated my pull list. That did happen.

While I now had the money to afford comic books I found I had no desire to collect them. Not because I felt I outgrew them or anything, but I just didn't want to go through the act of buying individual comic book issues because storing them is a pain.

Historically, comic books are a disposable medium. Readers back in the forties would pay a dime at the newsstand to get an issue of say, Batman, to read on the way to work, and then throw it away later. Even if you were one of those weird people who actually collected comics back then, you had to be careful since they were printed pretty cheap paper. This is the reason why Action Comics #1...

...routinely sells for about $2 million dollars: even though a ton of copies were originally printed, very few of them have help up to the ravages of time.

Nowadays most people keep their comics after buying them. Either because they are collectors who think that newest version of Action Comics #1...

...will be worth millions of dollars in the future (note: it probably won't) or they are normal people who like to read comics and don't believe in throwing them out. Regardless of the reasons, the fact is if you collect individual comic book issues they are eventually going to take over your living space. And while this is also true of say books or video games, comics books have a double whammy of being difficult to reread because there is no good way to store them allows you to find what you want quickly.

The obvious solution is to only buy comics in trade paperback form, but that means you generally have to wait until they finish a story arc to actually read them. This is assuming that the run even gets collected in trade paperback form, since this isn't always guaranteed if the series wasn't a huge success.

This is all a really roundabout way of saying that I finally decided to start buying comics digitally, primarily through Comixology though on occasion I'll get them through the Barnes & Noble Nook Store. Not only has this allowed my to get caught up on stuff I was reading, it's helped me discover a lot of stuff that I missed. In the future I plan on posting mini-recommendations here. In fact, I planned to talk about one this time, but I kinda went off on a tangent.

In any case, next time for sure true believers!

From out of now where...an update!

So it's been a while since I've written here, but ever since I've started writing fiction again it was only a matter of time.

Speaking of which, what I've been writing lately is a novel. It's not the first one I've ever started, but with any luck it will be the first one I finish. Unlike a lot of other times, I actually have a incentive to finish. Specifically Harper Voyager is actually going to be taking unsolicited submissions for e-books in October.

Now I'll admit that I will be pleasantly surprised if I get accepted. For one, I'm a little rusty at fiction writing. For another, I don't have any finished manuscripts so this project will realistically be my only submission. A goal does do wonders to focus a project though, so I'm keeping my moral high.

Of course now that I have an end goal, I need to know just how far along I am. The submission guidelines ask for a manuscript that is 80,000-120,000 words, which seems reasonable (though I don't have a good example handy for comparison. Totally up all the words I've wrote up so far (which requires me to dump everything into one document, since I've been saving chapters in separate files) I am up to 10,000 words.

The doesn't seems like a lot, but since I've not even at the quarter mark of my plot that is perfectly fine with me. I'm also allowing for the fact this is a first draft and that is a good chance when I go over it again I'll beef up some sections that aren't as good as I remember them being when I wrote them at two o'clock in the morning (funny how that happens).

In any case, I hope this a sign of good things to come to this largely ignored blog. I hope to actually make some posts about comics, video games, books, or whatever stuff I've been enjoying.

Scott Pilgrim vs. World

Just got back from seeing "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", and I have to say that it was a surprisingly good movie.

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I read the original comic. I remember picking up the first volume, but it wasn't until the third one that I fell in love with the series.

So with that in mind, the first time I heard that they were making a live-action Scott Pilgrim movie I thought it was a joke. I honestly did not realize that it was in fact real until I saw the trailer. At which point the movie went from being just a joke in my mind, to a really bad one.

In retrospect, I still don't think the trailers won over too many movie goers. I mean just look at this:



"On like Donkey Kong"? Was that ever a good line? And even if it was, it couldn't possible sound any more insincere coming from a movie trailer. It's no secret that the only thing Hollywood likes geeks for is to be the social-awkward, genius/comic relief stock character, and the fact they cast Micheal Cera as Scott Pilgrim almost ensured that they wanted this to be the next Napoleon Dynamite.

So I was quite surprised that the movie was largely faithful to its source material and barely hit the "geeks are awkward" comedy well. This isn't to say it's a perfect movie. Actually it would be more accurate to say that it is two halves of two different, but potentially, perfect movies fused together to one good, but definitely, flawed movie.

Actually, let's take a step back a bit. I just realized I wrote the last couple paragraphs with the assumption everyone out there knew what the hell Scott Pilgrim was. Where if that was actually the case, I probably wouldn't have to write anything to being with.

So to start from the beginning, "Scott Pilgrim vs the World" is an adaptation of a series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley. In it the titular character falls in love with an American girl Ramona Flowers and the story deals with their relationship. Except that in order for our hero to date Ramona, he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. I don't mean that in a metaphorical sense either; he actually has to fight seven evil exes that range from sports/action movie heroes to ninjas to vegan super psychics. The whole package is wrapped in a candy shell of interesting side characters, stylish art and clever video game references.

The movie attempts to adapt all six volumes of the original Scott Pilgrim, but the way it does so differs significantly from the beginning and the end. The change will be most obvious to those who read the original comics, but even if you haven't you would have to be blind to not notice the change of pacing. After boyfriend number three the story kicks into high gear and never comes back down. The effect works surprisingly better on screen then it does on paper, and the second half of the movie still stays pretty true to the source despite despite mostly doing its own thing.

Still I can't, help but feel the movie would have been better if it had just rearranged the story altogether rather then the halfway approach. Makes me wonder if their original plan was to make two movies, one for volumes 1-3 and one for volumes 4-6, but then found out the studio wasn't planning on a sequel. That's merely my speculation though.

Anyway, what surprised me more then the fact the movie managed to do a good job of adapting the story of the comics was that Micheal Cera managed to do a good job of being Scott Pilgrim. I won't lie: I thought Micheal Cera was a fundamentally terrible choice of casting. In the comics Scott Pilgrim is best described as being loud and dumb, and while Micheal Cera can do the latter quite well, the former seemed quite beyond him. Somehow it works, and while he is still not my perfect casting choice he still makes a a good Scott Pilgrim.

This one idea encapsulates the whole move: it's a good adaptation, but not a perfect one. For all the stuff they manged to fit in, shuffle into new place or adapt in an interesting way, there's still a lot of stuff that was missed. Again, I think the film makers would have been better off either going completely faithful or crazy with the original story, but I'm happy with what they made.

Of course the biggest tragedy is that this movie completely failed to appeal to an audience. Fans of the comics probably snubbed it for being too difference, fan of Micheal Cera probably walked out in confusion, and the geek population who may have genuinely enjoyed it dismissed it as hipster garbage. Years from now, Scott Pilgrim may be redicscovered as a lost gem, though I'm sure that's a cold confort to the studio and producers of the movie.

I feel like there's so much I could still say about the movie, but I'm trying to avoid outright gushing or spend all my time comparing the movie to the comic. My point is if there is still a theater that is showing the movie anywhere near you, then you should see this movie. It's got some cool effect, interesting characters and is just a fun movie. If you like it, then you can always track down the original comics, but don't conisder it required reading to enjoy.

Welcome to Rapture, now get the hell out!

I'm trying to decide whether I should be excited over the announcement of the next Bioshock. While I loved the first game in concept from most everything I've read the second game was largely an unnecessary rehash (before anyone rushes to the latter game's defense know I haven't actually played it, because I still haven't finished the first game. I may love the concept, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired). So the idea of a third sequel sends off warning signals in my head.

BioShock Infinite Premiere Trailer

That being said, the new trailer looks good (though what trailer doesn't really?). And while it's easy to crack jokes about how the game will be 'Splicers on a Plane' at least they actually realized how implausible it was for a decaying underwater city to somehow continue to exist.

Perhaps this this game might be the one that actually adds elements and expands the series properly. Either way, I'm probably not picking up this game at launch.

NiGHTS: Can I Enter the Dream Yet?

For all the games I've ever played, there are at least five more I really wish that I had. I've been working hard to make up for what I've missed, but there are some titles that are harder to track down then others. Like pretty much anything on the Sega Saturn.

Since that oft-maligned console was damn near impossible to emulate until relatively recently, it meant that the only way to play Saturn games was the old fashioned way. This wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that the old-fashioned way quickly becomes the really-expensive way. Like the triple digits kind of expensive.

Could be worse, I could be collecting NEO GEO carts

Anyway, the end result of this is despite actually owning a Saturn, I have very few games to play. This is why I picked up  NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, the Wii-exclusive sequel to the original NiGHTS Into Dreams, when I saw it on sale for about $10 used. I had always wanted to play NiGHTS, at the very least to understand what it was and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.

Boy how wrong was I.

Fans Threaten to Boycott Sonic 4 by Purchasing Sonic 1, also Misunderstand Meaning of the Word "Boycott"

There have been a lot of strange video game boycotts lately, but this one tops them all. Apparently there's a group of Sonic fans that feel, based upon the scant screens and videos released, that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 *cough* Episode 1 *cough* will not be the true return to form for the series and should be boycotted by all True Fans. So basically, they're in stage two of the Sonic cycle.

A scientifically documented process

What makes this protest notable is that the boycotters plan to make their displeasure known on Sonic 4's launch day by buying the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Let's have the rabble rousher speak for themselves on the matter:

Fans of the sonic series are like most sega fans, we want their old games brought back to the glory days when sega was pretty much the power in video games. Seeing the gameplay of sonic 4 has made many of us realize what we already knew, Sonic 4 will simply not be anywhere near as good as the original sonic games. Either way, We will decide to finally show sega what the fans truly want. A real sonic 4, as long as sonic 4 stays the way it is, we will not buy it, we will in fact buy sonic 1 on release in protest of sonic 4, till we end up with a re tool, or change, we want sonic in hd, not sonic RUSH HD. We will not buy a future sonic game, till we get a true successor to sonic 1/2

I think I have to take back my earlier comment. I think these guys have jumped straight to stage three.

Destructoid via 1up

It's Boss Time! Also, Blog Posting Time!

So this week herald the arrival of the tenth installment in the Mega Man series. With a new Mega Man game comes eight new robot masters to fight. And what better way to celebrate the arrival of eight new old school bosses to fight then by profiling them?

Why the box art? Because the only Mega Man 10 boss lineup pictures I could find were fanmakes

Except I can't because I haven't managed to beat any of them yet. Okay that's not true. I did beat Sheep Man, which is an act that is much more impresive then it sounds.

In any case, since the game hasn't even been out for a week it's probably too soon to profile the bosses from that game anyway. So instead will take a look at arguable the hardest boss from the previous instalment in the series.

Boss Rush: A Shmup that the Exact Opposite of What You Think it is

As much as I like shmups, there is a certain point when they all start to blend together. It doesn't help that most recent entries into the genre are all bullet hell games.

Don't get me wrong, I like the challenge of weaving through a massive wall of bullets.  It's just that I like some variety to my shmup palette.  Which is why an indie game called Boss Rush seems so appealing to me.

The warning messages are a nice touch

Now looking at the above image you might be thinking, "So what?  The game looks like every shmup ever."  This would be true except that you're not playing as the lightly armed (and even more lightly armored) ship trying to kill the giant boss armed with more guns then god.  No, you're controlling actually the boss and using your excessive firepower to swat the annoying fighter that's trying to paper cut you to death.




It's such a neat and obvious inversion of the tradition shmup formula that I'm surprised no one's really done before.  The only other game I can think of that attempted anything similar was an obscure arcade game (even by my standards) by Sammy called Change Air Blade, and there you could only temporarily control a boss in the game's versus mode.

Boss Rush on the other hand, seems to be all about playing as the boss (though there seems to be a versus mode if you want to rain bullets on a friend).  It has five different engines of death for you to control as was a bunch of challenges and a survival mode if you want to see just how long you can last.

While the game is technically done it hasn't been released yet since the developer is looking for a sponsor.  Hopefully the developers will get a deal soon, because I'd love to be able to play the full game.

Paper Dino via A Little Bit on the Awesome Side

A (Sports) Game to Actually Remember

Obviously someone's not too familiar with the retro game market. Very few people think to talk about old spots game, save a select few such as Tecmo Bowl. When Gamestop still carried older platforms, the majority of the titles game were sports titles.

Still, perhaps it is unfair that older sports titles get disregarded by core gamers (and to clarify, when I say "sports games," I mainly mean licensed sports games. Games like Mario sport series are completely different beasts). I'm sure if you actually sat down and played through a bunch of them from different eras there would be a clear evolutionary gameplay trends to them.

The problem is that any gameplay trends tend to be overshadowed by the selection of teams. It's probably safe to say most people buying the latest version of Madden are doing less for the gameplay innovations and more to play as the most current version of their favorite teams. Sure, EA could slow down the cycle and let people download the latest team stats, but why would they want to when the game sells like gangbusters every year?

The conundrum reminds of the one that surrounds games based on other licensed property. People will buy a Harry Potter game, regardless of whether or not it's any good because it's Harry Potter. People buy Madden because it lets them play as their favorite teams. The situation existed long before EA's NFL exclusivity contract, though that certainly doesn't help the situation.

Frankly, I can't see a way to easily change the situation. I myself don't really play sports games, so any suggestion I have would probably be detached from the reality of the situation. Granted, the reality of the situation is why I don't play those games so it's a pretty vicious cycle of indifference there.

in reference to:

""Do you really think, five years from now, you're gonna hear ‘Is Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation 4 as good as Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation 3? Will Halo 6 people really say, ‘Is this as good as Halo 1?'" Justice muses. "I don't think so.""
- Maybe the Greatest of All Time, but not In Its Time - Sports - Kotaku (view on Google Sidewiki)

GeoCities Closes Doors, Receives Most Attention in Years

Today we've officially reached the end of an era for the Internet: GeoCities is dead.  Yes, Yahoo finally pulled the plug on the free web hosting service.  While the news is sad, it's certainly not unexpected.  How many people out there actually visited, much less created or maintained, a GeoCities site in the past five years?

This is pretty much every GeoCites Page ever

While GeoCities ultimately became cesspool of bad layouts, broken images, blinking text and those little animated "under construction" gifs, it still deserves some respect.  GeoCities attempted to provide an outlet for the major creative outpouring that occurred at the beginning of the public Internet.  Their ambition wasn't just to create a free hosting service though, they wanted create a virtual global community.  If you have any doubts, then just look back at some of the original terminology they used.  Their users were called "homesteaders" and their sites were grouped into "neighborhoods."  Heck, their very own name embodies the idea of a single global city.

In retrospect, they were doomed to fail from day one.

Games I'm Playing: The Funny Animal Edition

Bit more productive with games this week.  It's amazing how not being sick increases your ability to do stuff.  I even managed to finish another game this week, which means I've actually managed to beat at least one game every week since I started this (Rocket Knight Adventures and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past would be the past two).  That's shockingly productive as far as I'm concerned.  Anyhow then:

Klona: Empire of Dreams (GBA) - About a month ago I got the remake of the original Klona for the Wii.  After playing through that I started to revisit some of the other games.  Currently I'm on this one, which is also the first Klona game I owned.

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the Klona series, having first discovered the series through a in-store demo for the second game on PS2.  Unfortunately I did not have a PS2 at the time, so I was unable to jump into the series until this game.

Unlike Klona's console incarnations these games are much more puzzley.  There's been a couple times where I had to pause for a few minutes and wonder how the heck I was supposed to proceed.  I'm still going through it faster then my very first playthrough, especially since I'm skipping the forced scrolling and hoverboard stages.

Overall the game is still as fun as I remember, though I'm noticing how it lacks a lot of the charm and polish of its console brethren.

Sparkster (Genesis) - The second Rocket Knight game (or third, depending on how you're counting) brings a lot of new elements to the table, thought not all of them are improvements sadly.

Changes that are awesome: The rocket pack automatically charges, and you can now boost consecutively.  This means Sparkster can effectively fly in most stages, opening up a lot of new options for the player.

Changes that are not awesome: For some reason Sparkster lost his projectiles, and is left only with a very slow sword slash.  This makes combat a lot more awkward then it needs to be since you have to get so close to enemies now.  Also collecting gems now activates an item roulette, which largely gives you items that are either superfluous or even dangerous most of the time.

The game is still pretty good, but I'm not enjoying it as much as I did Rocket Knight Adventures.

I also played a bunch more of Sonic Chronicles, but since I actually finished that one I'll talk about that separately.  What I will say that it is a bizarre game that feels both highly polished and yet very amateur at the same time.

Sony Address Critical Playstation 3 Hardware Problems by Completely Ignoring Them

This console generation has been rough to Sony.  They went to the trouble of trying to make an uberconsole in the form of the Playstation 3, only to watch it get its pants beat by Ninendo's underpowered, yet lovably oddball Wii.  Then they had to stand by and watch as their third-party exclusive titles like Devil May Cry IV and Final Fantasy XIII suddenly suddenly became less exclusive.  And let's not even get into the emotional ball kick that was the announcement of Dragon Quest IX would be a Nintendo DS exclusive.  That had to drive more then a few Sony employees to go drown their sorrows.

My point is that Sony has to take their comforts where they can get them, like how their console isn't prone to catastrophic mechanical failures like that other guy's one.  After all, Sony would never put out a product without checking for massive design flaws, right?

Oops: The Last Word you Ever Want to Hear in Engineering

What you're looking at is the Yellow Light of Death, which occurs when the soldering on the Playstation 3's motherboard overheats.  This renders the system completely inoperable, short of a trip back to Sony for repairs.  A trip that will cost you about $150 if your system is out of warranty, which is likely given that it only lasts for a year.  If this problem seems oddly similar to the Red Ring of Death suffered by Microsoft's Xbox 360 console that's because it's the exact same thing.

Sony is handling the problem with the grace an dignity of any large corporate entity, which is a nice way of saying they're sticking their fingers in their ears and yelling, "LA LA LA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

In Memory of Captain Lou Albano, the voice (and face) of Mario for a Generation

Do you remember the Super Mario Bros. Super Show?  Of course you do.  Anyone who had an NES and a pulse watched that show religiously back in the day.  They ignored the fact that the plot lines were contrived fairy tale/movie/whatever parodies of the week simply because it was Mario in cartoon form.

Nowadays though, most people deride the show cheap cash in it basically was.  It didn't help that since every episode was a parody of something, they often felt like they had nothing to do with Mario (Nintendo must have noticed this too, since later Mario series would be much more game orientated).  If there is any part of the show that is remembered with any fondness though, it was the show's live-action segments featuring wrestler Captain Lou Albano as Mario.

It kind of amazing that Nintendo got him to shave his beard for this

Unlike the cartoon, these segments were more like a sit-com with Mario and Luigi (played by Danny Wells) siting at home, while occasionally receiving celebrity guest stars including Vanna White, Magic Johnson and Sgt. Slaughter.

Peter Moore Says Disk Based Media is a "Burning Platform." Surprisingly, not Making a Joke about 360s

When Sony got rid of Ken Kutaragi, I thought it would leave an unfillable void of hyperbole in the gaming industry.  I hadn't counted on how many other execs would come rushing to fill it.  Like Peter Moore, Microsoft's former chief PR guy, who claims that disc-based systems are a "burning platform" and those that stay on the platform "face certain death."

Seriously, just look at this:

“The core business model of videogames is a burning platform,” said Moore, speaking at the 5th annual PLAY Digital Media Conference.

“Look at the platform we’re on, it’s a burning platform,” said Moore. “As a concept, do you stay on the platform and face certain death, or do you jump into the water and face probable death? Most of you would choose probable death, so you start moving towards a hybrid model of digital distribution.”

“As digital distribution becomes more and more, we’ll continue as an industry to work with retail and to ship discs, but more and more of the content will be in the ‘cloud,” added Moore, as reported by consumer website IGN. “More content will be delivered daily, weekly, or monthly, and less will be of the old model of cartridges and discs.”

What makes this really funny, is for all his bluster of digital distribution, EA isn't exactly leading the pack on this front.  On digital distribution site Direct2Drive they an impressive 75 items available, but not all of those items are games since the search didn't filter things like bundle packs, DLC and a strategy guide for game EA doesn't actually publish.  They're showing on other digital distribution sites is even more lackluster, with only 20 titles on Valve's Steam and about five on Stardock's Impulse (I'm not exactly certain because you can't search by publisher on that one for some reason).

Perhaps Mr. Moore should get off of the platform before he yells at everyone else about it?

GamesIndustry via the Armchair Empire

Games I'm Playing: The Plague-Born Edition, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the Dark World

Well this is somewhat awkward. I make a big show about how I'm going to give gaming snapshots every week, and then I go and mess things up by playing practically no games the following week.

There are many things I could blame this on, but the most appropriate target would be the fact I was sick for the better part of the week.  While I was never sick to the point I stayed the whole day in bed (the fact I'm only working temp being a contributing factor), I was sick to the point I had trouble gathering enough focus to write.  In between the time I spent coughing up lungs and feeling generally miserable, I did have time to play one game...

The one everyone but me likes

In that past I've been rather...unkind to this game, to put it mildly (link to come when I can actually find it).  The reasons for my dislike are long and complex, so I won't go into detail with them right now. Instead I will give the highly-abridged-but-concise version: I was being dumb.  Really dumb.  In fact, I was being so dumb, I made the Zelda CDi games seem like a good idea.

Games That I'm Playing: The First Set

I've recently realized for all the time I spend talking about games, I don't really talk about what I'm actually playing.  Occasionally I might do a review/opinion piece on a game after I finish it, but due to time and forgetfulness these come few and far between.

So I'm going to try and change that by posting weekly snap shots of the game I'm currently playing.  Be warned that they might be somewhat eclectic, because sometimes I'll just jump between games for no good reason.  I'd also mention some of them might be a bit obscure, but that's kind of a given for me.

So without further ado...

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood - This is the game I've sunk most of my gaming time into lately. It's one I've actually been meaning to play through for a while, but I didn't really have an opportunity until I saw the game in a bargain bin.

While the game overall is pretty fun, it does have some surprisingly large flaws that I won't go into now.  I'm about three-fourths of the way through the game, so hopefully I should finish it so I can write a more detailed piece.

A New Age, Retro Game Approaches

There's been a bit of a Renaissance in gaming lately as developers old styles of games and revisit them in a new light. The best of these, such as Bionic Commando: Rearmed, take the solid underpinnings of the original game while updating some of the peripheral elements and presentation for a modern audience.

Some purists have taken issue that many of these game eschew traditional sprite-based graphics in favor of polygonal ones.  They feel the only way to properly make a 2D game is with 2D graphics.

I wonder how those people feel about 3D Dot Game Heroes, which is a 3D game done with 2D graphics.  Well, actually more like the 2D graphics are being done in 3D.  Look, just look at the video to understand what I'm saying:


Crazy looking, isn't it?

Koopa Kids Return to Kick Ass and Fire Smoke Rings, Though One Does Not Preclude the Other

I haven't really been paying attention to coverage on New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  This isn't because I'm uninterested in the game, quite the opposite really.  Nintendo had me the moment they said "four-player Mario co-op," so really there was nothing more previews could offer me.  At best they would simply reaffirm that I had to get this game, and at worse they could spoil little things about the game I'd want to discover for myself.  As a result, it wasn't until just now when I discovered that the Koopa Kids were going to be in the game.

Helpfully labeled, because even I can't remember all their names half the time

Yes, Bowser's often-forgotten offspring are returning to harass Mario and Co. for this game.  There aren't any pictures or videos of the fights online to my knowledge, but according to a preview on 1up the fights are similar to the Kid's Super Mario Bros. 3 experience, with a slight twist.  In the fight with Iggy for example, he still bounces around on his ball and shoots stuff out of his magic wand, but parts of the floor will rise and fall.  And before the fight even begins Kamek from Yoshi's Island shows up and ensorcells the room, which changes the floor to ice.

Basically what I'm trying to say is the boss fights sound like they're going to be crazy awesome.

While the inclusion of the Koopa Kids in any new Mario game makes is 100 times more awesome (it's worth noting that the only other recent game to use them, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, was also awesome), it also fixes one of the big problems with the original New Super Mario Bros.  Namely how the reoccurring antagonist role fell solely in Bowser Jr., who in addition to being a less interesting character design was also incredibly boring to fight.

This raises the inevitable lingering question: are the Koopa Kids supplementing Bowser Jr., or replacing him? 

Does anyone care if it's the latter option?

Story via Retronauts
Picture via Brandokay Productions

Stop the Presses: Monopoly Can Go On Forever!

Ah Monopoly, the classic board game of finance and negotiations.  A game of high risks and competitive play that captivates the world over, at least until you get down to the last two players.  For most people, this is either where they stop playing Monopoly, or where other people make them before the game goes on forever.

Of course, these concerns are more figurative then literal.  Surely all games of Monopoly have to end sometime, right?

Not according to a study by researchers at Cornell University.  According to their research there is a 12 percent possibility that a two player game of Monopoly can continue forever.

Think about that for a second.  They're basically saying that if you play a two player game of Monopoly there is a better then 10 percent chance that the game will be impossible to complete within the remainder of your life.  For those smug people in the back, please refrain from the "I could have told you that"s.

True hell would be if you had to play Monopoly forever, but could never land on Free Parking

 
Realistically speaking though, the odds of a Monopoly game continuing infinitely are nonexistent.  The world record for the longest Monopoly game is 70 days, but most people would probably kill themselves then even consider playing just seven hours.

As an interesting corollary to the story is that of all the places an infinite Monopoly game could occur, it's unlikely that it will happen at higher levels of play.  Apparently in professional-level Monopoly game (and it really shouldn't surprise you that there is such a thing) games are so aggressive that they don't last more then an hour.

San Diego Union Tribune