Category: Musings

Montreal Motocross Thingy

Went to the Motocross show last night and had a generally good time… it was something that my mom wanted to go see as a family outing and for the most part, it was a genuinely fun show. I’ll admit that I’m really not much of a motocross fan (I don’t follow the sport, so I can’t be a fan if I don’t watch it), but all in all, it was a fun little event.
A couple weeks or so ago, my mother had asked if I wanted to attend the Motocross event that was being held at the Big O. She wanted this to be a family event since we didn’t get to go on any trips this year… you know, what with my health issues and other bullshit. So I’d say, “Yeah, sure. Why not?”
Bought the tickets online – a process that she insisted on even though I would have rather bought the tickets in person – and to my great surprise, were mailed over within a couple days. I’ll say this much – the admission office who handles this stuff does nice, prompt work.
So the show was last night and they had a few qualifying races, some titles were awarded, many bikes crashed on the various obstacles that weren’t dirt mountains, and a couple injuries happened. All in all, thirty bucks well spent just to see the freestyle bikers in action. Even from a faraway seat, those stunts are pretty awesome to see live and in person.
Not necessarily going to follow the sport now, but I might be inclined to catch the show next year when it comes around.

Here’s the show site. They don’t have the results of last night’s show as of this posting, but they might.

Roided Picard

2026 Notes
Originally threw this together as something that was going to be used in a gag video montage that would fuel the endless debate over the behaviors of TV Show Picard and Movie Picard. It was to be a “music video” of sorts using DVDA’s Now You’re A Man track, with Roided Picard showing up during the chorus bits. Alas, Youtube’s Content ID and stickler for music from actual musicians killed the idea dead… so this is what’s left of that particular endeavor. Maybe I might use it again down the road.

An Underwhelming Effort, Mr. Bores

I wrote this brief blurb on my other site, under DTM Blog Post #1189

This was my thoughts on Chris “Irate Gamer” Bores’ then-latest entry into his long-running (read: takes forever for him to put out) History Of Video Games series. Note the part at the end where I’d say that I’d ignore him to the foreseeable future and think about how long that stuck… not that long, I’m afraid.

No break, this time. It’s not that long of a piece anyway.

So the Irate Gamer, after months of delay due to hard drive failures and other excuses, has finally uploaded the second part of his “History of video Games” series… which is just a review of the Magnavox Odyssey… and it’s supposedly split into two parts. Now I’ve seen the episode and… yes, it seems like I’m falling asleep.

You know what? I try to give the guy a chance. I really do. Despite all the bad rap he gets, I figure I give him a chance and hope he somehow redeems himself. Sure, people call him a knock-off and a plagiarist… and sure, he gets a good chunk of his information wrong, but even after all that, I was willing to give him a chance in hopes that maybe, just maybe he’d produce a product that goes beyond the usual sloppy servings he had uploaded as of late.

Guess what? It hasn’t happened.

Maybe it’s just me… but isn’t the point of a “History Of…” to touch on important events in a timely manner? I’d figure it’d be the best thing to do and easy to mock up. So why am I getting reviews of Space War (not even the actual version, but a random Flash version) and Computer Space when they should just be significant footnotes in the story? Why am I getting a review of the Magnavox Odyssey when it’s supposed to be a historical retrospect? And why, for the love of God, are we getting TWO PARTS of this?! Just discuss the console a bit and move on! This is supposed to be a HISTORY RETROSPECT!

It should be noted that the Angry Video Game Nerd already did a review (2011 Update: more of a general overview than a review) of the Magnavox Odyssey and he only took ten minutes to review most of the necessary components outside of the light gun, which he demonstrated its use by shooting at the TV. Now there’s probably more to the Odyssey than that, but the Nerd’s review was advertised as that… a review. (2011 Update: again, more of an overview than a review… and I could have done without the stupid Nerd Terd or whatever it’s supposed to be called.)

Now, I’m not going to declare myself a hater or anything like that – but I am simply going to ignore the man for the foreseeable future. Until he can produce something that is actually worth my time, I’m not going to bother anymore. (2011 Update: said ignoring was ignored.)

Sorry, Chris. But you fail.

(2011 Update: To be fair, later installments did drop the “review” format and just go through various items and games quickly… the accuracy of the information is questionable, but this series is mostly harmless and if anything, has sometimes inspired me to look up some of the historical points online.)

Altered Beast for 1000 Wii Points? Seriously?

So apparently, there’s no Castlevania ReBirth showing up for WiiWare for the foreseeable future… oh well, I’m guessing it’ll emerge when more concrete details on the game are available. In the meantime, head on over to Virtual Console Arcade and pick up the arcade version of the Sega classic ALTERED BEAST for a thousand Wii Points… wait, what?

Seriously… let’s be honest and think about this. Isn’t the Genesis version of Altered Beast already available on Virtual Console? And isn’t it about eight hundred points? I mean, what’s the point of buying a slightly better version when there’s a cheaper alternative? I’ve played both versions and there’s nothing to justify spending an extra two bucks on a slightly better arcade format when the Genesis version will do you just fine.

OR… or… you can just pick up a copy of Sega Genesis Collection for PS2, which contains both games on the set… or even Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for PS3 and Xbox 360, which also contains both games on the set. Heck, it even has Shinobi.

Sorry, Sega. You’re going to have to find some other means of getting my money, because this ain’t it.

Heck, I don’t even like Altered Beast.

The Obligatory McWrestling Intro

Strange this “professional wrestling” thing. Even though it’s not considered a legitimate sporting event and is promoted as the more-ambiguous “sports-entertainment” event, wrestling has seen its share of high points and low points. Either way, it’s also seen as the lowest form of entertainment out there, simply because it’s “fake” and “stupid.”

But then that’s why I enjoy it. I like my action predetermined. It makes sense to me that when one wrestler rapes another man’s wife, said man challenges the fiend to a wrestling match when in real life, the wrestler would get arrested and tried. It makes sense that two guys would feud over a woman’s manegerial services. It makes sense in the realm of professional wrestling, where the backstories is almost as important as in the in-ring product.

I’ve been watching wrestling (and will refer to it as such for the remainder of this post) on and off since the early 1990s… mostly with nothing more than a passing interest. But really, it was only around 1998 where I really got hooked. Yeah, the longtime fans know this period as the Monday Night Wars, where two wrestling companies fought toe-to-toe for ratings supremacy and resulted in plenty of product, both good and bad.

But even when I saw the shows, I knew it was scripted. It had to be. I mean, the first show I’ve seen that got me hooked was Wrestlemania XIV, where Steve Austin won his first WWF World title. There was a clip show promoting a match between Undertaker and Kane and some of those clips involved lightning bolts and guys being set on fire. Seriously, did anyone watching this doubt that this is nothing more than elaborate spectacle? Did anyone need more proof than this that all this was just for show?

So I’ve been watching wrestling for about a decade. Times have changed, old promotions have fallen, and new ones rise to fill the void. Unfortunately, the product that I watch now is nothing like the product that got me hooked… almost to the point where I’m content just buying the various anthology DVDs comprising classic wrestling matches. Even so, I still watch the shows and I still follow most of the happenings. The interest is still there and I still pay attention to what’s going on.

Of course, even though the action in the ring is fixed, what happens outside is anything but… what with all the drug abuse stories and drug-related deaths that have happened. It’s rather funny to think that there’s a bigger death toll related to a “fake” sport than a legitimate one. Alas, that’s the sad truth…

But for those who put that little lining aside, they’ll find that the product is still somewhat enjoyable and anxiously await the next big golden age. I know I am…

End obligatory first post.

Linda Mac Runs For Sentatoralshipthing in Conn… I Got Nothing.

Here’s the website.

Um…

Uh..

I got nothing.

(2019 Update: Much to my utter amazement, the site is still up… I’ve got nothing… but hey, if you want to check out a time capsule of sorts, the link is there for all to see.)

(2024 Update: Never mind. Site’s gone now.)

All These Years, I’ve Screwed Up The Damn Name

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, the third in Konami’s series of classic remakes for WiiWare, is a bit of a revelation, as it officially confirms the proper name of the title. Besides that, the general belief is that it’s going to be a remake/remix/upgrade/whatever of the Game Boy title of the same name.

It sort of makes sense when you think about it. While I can’t necessarily speak for Contra ReBirth since I’ve not played it yet, it seemed to me like Gradius ReBirth is sort of a spritual remix or upgrade of the Game Boy version called Nemesis, as both games seem to have similar levels.
In any case, it’ll be interesting to see how this game turns out. I’m hoping it’ll be a return to form similar to Super Castlevania IV and not another “Metroidvania” game that seems to be the norm these past few years… then again, anything is an improvement over what we got on Game Boy.

My Gaming History Thus Far… Have Some Mushrooms, Brother.

I’m into video games… mostly the old-school variety.

I’ve been into video games since I first got an Atari 7800 ProSystem back in the late-1980s and enjoyed the system tremendously until I eventually got the almighty NES. The NES survived until my brother picked up an Super Nintendo for himself, but eventually the system migrated over to me. I’ve grabbed a Sega Genesis for five bucks at a thrift store, but the system lacked controllers, forcing me to borrow a couple 3-button controllers until I got my hands on a couple six-button controllers and eventually one with Turbo capabilities.As time passed, my interest in video games would wane (I sold my Super Nintendo with the small bunch of uninspired games I had for the system, including a couple Madden games and a crummy port of Wolfenstein) with only my trusty Game Boy and the occasional session of PC games to sate whatever desire was left. before I eventually picked up a Playstation (the smaller PS-One model) and started collecting games again. It was mostly wrestling games at first, but eventually I relented and picked up a few choice titles – mostly sequels or updates to game series I had played during my younger years.

A couple years later, I got an original Xbox for Christmas and began collecting games for that system. Somewhere along the line, I picked up a GBA SP unit when the Classic NES Series came out (only got a couple of those before getting real GBA titles).

When I finally got work, I eventually picked up a Playstation-2 and even a GameCube with GameBoy Player. Somewhere along the way, I picked up a Nintendo DS Lite and a PSP which were the best ways to keep up with the latest crop of games, since I knew that it’d be a good long while before I get my hands on a current-generation console.
That’s okay, though. I picked up a clone system called the FC Twin, which played NES and SNES games. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to play all the old NES games I had left over and it was incentive enough to start building a new SNES library as well as build upon the existing 40+ NES titles I already have. Heck, I even picked up a Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and a damn Game Gear along the way, just to get more old stuff in the collection.
And then last year, I bought a current-gen console, Nintendo Wii. Mind you, it was mostly for Mega Man 9 – a wonderful new-old game – and also bex but also because of their amazing Virtual Console service which opened up a new realm of titles I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to get without paying major cash for.
I don’t necessarily consider myself hardcore (I play video games for fun and not for arrogant bragging rights – although I like winning too), but I’m not necessarily casual either (unless keeping records of game play on DVD is a casual player attribute).
I don’t have a massive collection (roughly 550+ games total plus 15+ consoles – nothing compared to Handsome Tom’s huge-ass collection), but at least none of it is from eBay and online sources (mostly flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores, and specialty shops… and the newer retail stores for the “recent” stuff too, I suppose).
I’ve never imported Japanese games, but I do have a couple of those Hong Kong multicarts on NES… also from a flea market for much cheaper ($40) than they would have asked for years ago ($200+).
And that’s pretty much my brief history with video games – which is still ongoing. I still play games, but I’m holding out on getting any new ones. What I’ve got at the moment is enough for me… at least until something catches my eye.
So ends the first video game-related post on this blog. Expect normal rants on the topic in the future… whatever that means.

Jeff Hardy Busted For Drug Possession

According to this article, Jeff Hardy was arrested for trafficking perscription drugs and possessing anabolic steroids. As a result, WWE is not going to be producing that Jeff Hardy DVD that I never knew about.

Hardy apparently left WWE back in August to do other stuff. My guess is being arrested wasn’t high on the list. Hey, the guy made his decisions and could have gone clean, but some people don’t have the will to get it done and most of his colleagues are none the wiser to clean up either.

All we could do now is wait for Matt to cut another scathing rant about how the Internet knows nothing and blows everything out of proportion… even though Jeff’s mugshot will probably grace the Smoking Gun website by the time that gets done.