Another Uncommon Relic Claimed

Have managed to snag Tetris for NES. Not the widely-known Nintendo version, but the unlicenced Tengen version featuring two players and more Russian folk songs. Now supposedly unlicenced Tengen games aren’t supposed to work on the FC Twin (according to some sites here and there), but Tetris seems to work fine so far on mine.

In addition, I’ve also snagged WWF Wrestlemania Challenge for NES. This game was the sequel to the first NES Wrestlemania game and is generally a much better game overall, although I hate that you have to hold the D-Pad diagonally in order to move straight along… but I digress.

DTM BLOG Classics #41 – Unforgiven 2008 BEFORE and AFTER

(2019 Update: This compilation features two posts regarding WWE’s Unforgiven PPV, which featured three things of note; the end of CM Punk’s first World title reign without him ever doing the job, the debut of the “Championship Scramble” gimmick match that hurts my brain, and the sad realization that I didn’t really missed the PPV; I just skipped it. Oh well…)

BEFORE (September 6th, 2008)
For sixty minutes, fifteen men will compete in three matches. We’ll see if anyone cares for that amount of time. In any case… the Unforgiven PPV introduces WWE audiences to the Scramble match. The rules are… too headache-inducing for me to repeat, so I’ll just copy and paste them from WWE.com:

The rules for the Championship Scramble are simple: Two randomly selected ring warriors will start the match, with a new challenger stepping in every five minutes. If a man scores a pinfall or submission on any other in the match, he is declared the “interim” champion – though he will not be historically recognized as such. The title can change hands as many times as necessary throughout the bout, and the Superstar to earn the final pinfall or submission within the 20-minute time limit will be officially declared the Champion.

So did you get all that? Good, because I sure as hell didn’t. But that’s okay, because WWE is willing to push this type of match as something new and innovative instead of just time-filler to give a shitload of guys something to do for the PPV so hard that they’re giving you not ONE Scramble match… but NOT TWO Scramble matches… but THREE Scramble matches! All in one night! Unbelievable!

It’s like puking on a pile of shit in a puddle of piss.

So anyway, let’s just forget about the predictions because I honestly don’t give ten shits about HHH’s title match that he’s obviously going to win or the end of the CM Punk title reign or the continuation of Mark Henry’s charity title reign as well as the continued burial of Matt Hardy. I don’t particularly care for Dibiase/Rhodes retaining their titles against Cryme Tyme nor do I care about the Divas championship. You know what? Who gives a shit about all that?

Because in the end, it’s about one match.

Now yes, I’ll be the first to admit that I get a little pissy when two guys have been having matches on a monthly basis and it gets to a point where they should really move on… but truth be told, I’m digging this Chris Jericho/Shawn Michaels feud. It’s actually the only reason I tune in to RAW these days. It’s actually a genuinely good story filled with bitterness and what is sold as legitimate hatred between the two (but we all know these guys love each other). There hasn’t been a more compelling storyline in WWE in fucking years than what these guys are doing together.

So yeah, let these guys kill each other. They do such a great job at it and it makes us happy. Good enough that it could very well work outside of a wrestling environment (not recommended). Congrats to Chris and Shawn for a good show… keep up the good work.

So yeah, I was supposed to do predictions… maybe next time. I think I’ll sit back and enjoy the kick-ass feud… and cook some scrambled eggs.

G’night.

AFTER (September 8th, 2008)
For those who care, here are the results of the Unforgiven PPV from last night. No witty comments because I missed the PPV.

Matt Hardy wins the ECW Scramble to become ECW Champion.

Ted Dibiase/Cody Rhodes defeat Cryme Tyme to retain the Tag Titles.

Chris Jericho defeats Shawn Michaels when Shawn wouldn’t stop beating on Jericho.

Michelle McCool beats… random ho to retain the Butterfly Belt.

Triple H wins… again.

CM Punk… doesn’t even wrestle in the main event. Wow, that’s harsh. It’s bad enough he lost the title, but they don’t even let him compete on top of that. Bullshit.

So your new world champ is… replacement Chris Jericho.

Wow.

Must check out PPV.

BOOK REVIEW – Star Trek: Prime Directive (1990)

Prime Directive refers to Starfleet General Order One, the single most important directive that prohibits Starfleet officers from interfering in the natural evolution of a species, especially those of a lesser technological stage. Countless stories have been told throughout the forty-two years of Star Trek that tackles the Prime Directive in some form or other. Perhaps one of the strongest stories – if not THE strongest story – to explore the Prime Directive and the ramifications of its violation comes in the form of the eponymous 1990 novel from the husband-wife writing team of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

Simply put, the U.S.S. Enterprise is charged with the observation of a pre-warp civilization, something goes horrifically wrong, and Captain Kirk is charged with violating the Prime Directive and forced out of the service. So now the book is all about Kirk and his crew trying to figure out what really happened and hopefully clear his name. Now, of course, by the time we reach the end of the book, the status quo will have been restored; this is a Star Trek novel that isn’t going to affect the canon in any way. So you’re left with the journey of how our main characters are going to resolve the situation that they were placed in.

Prime Directive is one of those classic Trek novels that still holds its weight and does a far better job of tackling the consequences of violating Starfleet’s most sacred law than any other form of Trek media to date. It is a book that introduces massive stakes, presents our heroes with a seemingly impossible situation, and the road to its resolution and the return to their usual roles is depicted with enough interesting twists and turns that won’t keep you second guessing, but it will keep you engaged. Most importantly, all the characters are true to their depictions. There’s never a moment where you won’t be going “That’s not how so-so is supposed to act.” When it comes to capture the voices and nuances of that original crew, the Reeves-Stevens have nailed those voices to a tee in most of their outings and this one is no exception.

There are seldom few Star Trek novels from the early days that I would go back and read over and over due to the strength of the material. Prime Directive ranks up there as one of the best. Well worth a read or twenty.

BOOK REVIEW – Star Trek: The Ashes Of Eden (1995)

The Ashes Of Eden is the first Star Trek novel written by William Shatner (co-written with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Steven) and is the first book in the series of Star Trek books that would chronicle the further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk after the movies. This series would be dubbed the “Shatner-verse” and was its own self-contained series that would have no baring on official Star Trek canon or even the canon of the Star Trek novels once that became a thing.

Truth be told, I’ve only read the first couple books at most and dropped off afterwards when they started diving into mirror universe bits and bobs. That, along with the fact that these books would more or less be their own self-contained continuity with no relevance towards the larger literary universe the other Trek novels of the time were establishing, meant that others were free to skip these and do their own thing, which was probably for the best considering some of the narrative choices these things go on… but this isn’t about those later books. This is about The Ashes Of Eden, the story of a James Kirk who is unhappy with the notion of retirement that when he receives the offer of one final mission from a mysterious woman, he is more than happy to accept, even if that mission puts him at odds with an ever changing Starfleet.

Whatever you want to say about William Shatner, never let it be said that he cannot spin a good yarn. And the Ashes of Eden feels like a story written by a man who clearly struggles with the idea of being passed on and will do what he can to stay relevant and active; something that he has infused into the character that he has played for a quarter century and thus should know very well. Whatever the circumstances, the character and actions of Kirk are truly believable and consistent with what we know of him from years of on-screen adventures; a man who will not allow himself to fade into obscurity and will prove he still has something to offer to this galaxy.

Sometimes, this might come at the expense of the other characters, who may come across as either bumbling idiots or ignorant fools. The rest of the cast sometimes feels true to themselves, but some actions, you feel, are out of place and are only there to instill the strength of the central Kirk character. In essence, this is the Star Trek V scenario that Shatner envisioned of a Kirk against his crew sort of deal, except there is no Nimoy or Kelley to argue that they would never go against their captain… but apparently James Doohan was around because Scotty is the only other member of the crew by Kirk’s side during this little adventure… and dare I say, he comes off slightly better here than he did in Shatner’s film debut.

All in all, The Ashes Of Eden is a tremendous book and certainly a nice little last hurrah for Jim Kirk as only William Shatner could tell it… if only it had remained at this one book…

DTM BLOG Classics #40 – The 1000th Post Of DTM BLOG

(2019 Update: This was the “historic” 1000th post on the original DTM Blog, which felt like a monumental occasion before the number felt meaningless in the long run, such as being part of a new blog where it sits far lower on that count. I decided to dedicate the post to what was at the time a substantial acquisition or two in the collection, as the banner above would indicate.)

1000th post… Go fucking figure.

Two significant things happened in regards to my small but growing gaming library. Not so much significant to you, but significant to me. Which is probably the reason why I decided to use this monumental 1000th Blog Post to bring it up… that and I had nothing really major planned and just wanted any excuse to promote something as “big”.

1) August 29th saw me pick up a copy of Mega Man 5 for the NES. Yeah, some people will say that it’s one of the weaker titles in the Mega Man library, but it’s still a fairly good game in its own right – and it DID introduce Beat the Bird, who is in its best form in this game, unlike in Mega Man 7 where all he does is saves you from pits after freeing him from his cage and then you have to pay for extra tokens if you want him to save you from pits again – ungreatful capitalist bird bastard. The big deal with this one purchase is that the circle of NES Mega Man games is now complete, as I now own all six titles – one of several obsessive goals I’ve had ever since I got back into the groove of retro gaming with the purchase of the FC Twin back in October 2007. So in the broader sense of the mainstream Classic series (not counting the handhelds or spin-offs) – with the PS1 Mega Man 8 also in my possession, all that’s left now is the SNES Mega Man 7 and possibly the GBA Megaman & Bass… and maybe, just maybe I’ll save up for a next-gen console so I can have me some Mega Man 9. That’ll be awhile.

2) August 30th saw me pick up a Sega Dreamcast. I can now call myself one of the few (hundred something) gamers to lay claim to all four major consoles of the Sixth Generation… you know, the one with the Gamecube, Playstation-2, and X-Box original. The deal was actually not that bad, as it came with a Dreamcast, two controllers, a third-party Memory Card (no LCD screen on this one), and six games. No Sonic Adventure in the set – which is fine because I have it on Gamecube and play it even less there… Sorry, guys. It may be the best of the 3D Sonics, but I just can’t get into it, but I digress – there’s a football game I don’t care about – I was remotely interested by the included NBA 2K box, but it was empty – but at least I have a copy of WWF Royal Rumble I can call my own. I might even get used to the bloated controller. Pretty sweet deal, I suppose.

So five years (not quite) and 1000 posts later… I’m still here. I’m still gainfully employed, I’m still relatively healthy as long as I stay away from anything made by Maple Leaf for the foreseeable future, I’m still watching movies, I’m still playing games, and perhaps most of all, I’m still satisfied with how things turned out. Could things be a bit different? Maybe, maybe not. But I’ve long since given up on dwelling on what could have been and taking advantage of what I got now… even if it seems little by most people’s standard.

At the same time, there comes a time when I have to get off the Lakitu cloud I’ve been floating for the past few years and grow up. The time will come when I have to look at the big picture and set up bigger personal goals for myself instead of just materialistic ones. I have to go for truly important choices and not just the ones that make me happy now. When that magical time comes, I’ll let you know… but for now, I’m going for a walk outside… or at least a drive to Wal-Mart and pick up some BBQ sauce.

So for the few who have been following this blog, for the few who has stopped by for a quick look and left promptly after, for the few who remotely cared, I want to say thanks for being here. It means a lot… no, really. It does.

I’ll be back soon. See ya.

Power Rangers Game Wizard LCD Handheld Video

Written August 8th, 2015
Digging through the archives and I saw this old 2008 video where I was showing this Game Wizard Power Rangers handheld thing. It doesn’t show off gameplay, the vocal and picture quality is god-awful – I think this was taken with a digital camera that has long since left the world of the living – and the video as a whole is short, but it’s a fun lookback.

In hindsight, I kinda wish I still had this. Then again, I kinda wish this was still working.

Oh well…

A Message To Ericmansuper

This guy did a couple NES game reviews and is currently wrapping up his Wrestlemania review (spoiler: the game is bad), but people tend to complain about how long he’s taking. Guys, I wish I could be on the same bandwagon as the rest of you – bitching about how it takes months to review a game with about as much depth as a Sizzler review – but I’m not. These types of video take time to do and the conflicts of dealing with crashing software doesn’t help matters. I remember it took a good couple days to do a two-minute clip of crappy animation that could have taken less time if fucking Movie Maker hadn’t crashed as much as it likes to. Also, another thing these guys have to remember is that the people reviewing games have lives outside of YouTube. Not everyone gets paid for posting videos.

So Eric. Keep up the good work and take your time. While you have few reviews than the other guys, I find them to be much more thourough and enjoyable than the other “Big Two.”

People can check out Eric’s awesome work here.

Madden-ing Repetition And A Datel Dartel… What?

So Madden ’09 came out yesterday and apparently, I’m supposed to care.

Let me recap something here. I’m not a big football guy and therefore don’t get crazy over the latest Madden game a.k.a. the Same Fucking Game You Bought Last Year But With New Rosters That Could Have All Been Done on DLC You Greedy Madden Felating Corporate Fuck Hacks (thanks, MovieBob). For that matter, I’m not a big sports guy and don’t get crazy over the latest sports title EA manages to recycle from six years ago and releases it as a brand-spanking new title.

I got a couple sports games at best from 2003 and they seem fine for my tastes, but besides that, what’s the point? Isn’t it a bit excessive to fork fifty bucks over for a game that is not only a mere rehash of a game chances are you already have, but is based on a game that you can easily go outside and play for real? Would you really rather play hockey on a TV screen or out doors where you can get a real workout and play the real deal?

In other news, having recently bought a Datel Games ‘N Music cart, I wanted to see if I can get homebrew software to work. I found a neat package that contained a program called DS Organizer, which was a file sorting system of sorts. Okay, so that works and after fiddling through the special package I downloaded (which contained the DSO along with several other homebrews and emulators), I discovered that I can do little text files. Assuming these files can be ported to PC with no problem, I might use this to write stuff on the road during subway/metro trips. I’ll get back to you on that…

RAW (Aug. 11th, 2008) – R.I.P. Rey Rey

WWE.com would like to extend condolences to the family of Rey Mysterio for their recent loss. Meanwhile, DTM would like to extend condolences to anyone who actually bought that.

John Cena and Batista, one week after winning gold they didn’t need, lost it back to the other guys… then got into a fight. What a buildup to a bigtime match.

CM Punk (the World champ, you know) loses a drinking contest to JBL by tossing whiskey in Bradshaw’s face. Not very sporting.

WWE got honored by some award group. Considering what else is on these days, it’s a worthy choice… that WAS sarcasm.

Meh…