One year!

Wow, it's been a year since I've posted here. And would you look at that, it's about my language studies again! Taking Mandarin Chinese for over a year now has been one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, things I've done in my life.

Being able to sing and understand a pop song in Mandarin has really given me a sense of accomplishment! Enjoy this silly love song (about loving someone as much as mice love rice!).

Two language classes...ugh

Okay, remind me to never again take two language classes at the same time. I'm absolutely dying here and it's only the second full week of school. GAH.

btw... SIMA.org...you know you want to.

Shoe Bomber = Mr. Fantastic?

A slight change in the order of their names and you get the same person. Coincidence? I think not. Richard "Crazy Shoe Bomber" Reid uncannily looks like Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards if he would just clean and shave himself once in a while.

I mistakenly reversed the names one night while watching a newscast and hilarity ensued. Yet, upon further analysis of my mistake, I realized that there is more to this juvenile mixup. The Fantastic Four may not be all they are cracked up to be. We must keep tabs on them. We must be vigilant!

Are Video Games too Violent?

And here it is folks. The "Loop" debate between two titans on G4TV's Attack of the Show!: anti-videogame lawyer Jack Thompson and the iconic Adam "The Sess" Sessler (as well as some other dude from Gamedaily).

I was surprised with Adam's articulation and his spectacular beatdown of the wacky Florida lawyer; someone finally stood up for what the majority of gamers think. I usually think of Adam as this twitchy guy, who's only remembered for his "x out of 5" comment made famous on X-Play, but his points were well-rounded, especially the one about how an increase in teen violence is caused by other, more sinister social ills. It's asses like Jack Thompson who try to limit and censor entertainment because of a connection to a few nutty kids who just happened to like playing video games.

Jack brought up how video games like "Doom" are breeding grounds for school shootings. Seriously, how can "Doom" bring out the mass-murderer in a teenager? I could see how today's more realistic and immersive first person shooters can potentially "train" and educate children about firearms, but that's only been possible in the last couple years. Doom freakin' came out in 1993 where the biggest graphical achievements in gaming were that the level designs weren't rectangular grids anymore and how the weapon sprite of your gun "swayed back and forth" to simulate the fluidity of running. Wonderful!

P.S. Olivia Munn is hawt.

Jack Thompson on tomorrow's AOTS!!!

Watch as KPer takes down the craptastic anti-videogame lawyer Jack Thompson on tomorrow's Attack of the Show!

I can't wait...maybe Olivia can take a few verbal punches at him too.

And the long awaited first-place winner: Microsoft

First things first. Now that the total reinvention of E3 has finally hit us all, I’d like to offer a few choice words: what the heck? The show was our gaming oracle, man! We got all useful information from pretty much two big-budget gaming cons; and it was without a doubt that the Electronic Entertainment Expo trumped the Tokyo Game Show every year.

Now instead of filling the LA convention center with 60,000 exhibitors, E3 will now be confined to various Los Angeles hotel exhibition rooms and the invite list will be cut down to 5,000 select attendees. Apparently, the big guys such as Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and EA felt E3 was consuming a larger and larger portion of their budget each year as they tried to out-flash their competitors. All smoke and mirrors? Yeah, it kinda was, but it’s also what made the expo such a fun thing to follow.

But anyway, in hindsight, the 2006 E3 gaming expo was truly a remarkable event. A landscape achievement in the gaming industry. The next-generation was unveiled at E3, on all fronts. Not one company had a significant advantage over the other as each had their own secret weapons. Even with all the bad pieces of news that came out of this year’s E3, such as the absurd price of the PS3 or the severely lacking visual power of the Wii, console games have evolved from a childish pastime into a sophisticated element of the home theatre and entertainment as a whole.

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For me, the reason why Microsoft takes number one in my rankings is because of the vision that the Xbox360 will be able to unite all platforms of entertainment in a seamless fashion. From PC gaming to movies, the 360 will be able to achieve the ‘media hub’ fantasy that Sony has been dreaming of since it rolled out the PS1. The “Windows Live” service looks mighty interesting, especially to a person like me, who stopped being a part of the console gaming scene when Half-Life came out in 1998. Online multiplayer matches between PC and console gamers? Sign me up. Sony has tried that model with one game: Final Fantasy XI (of which I’ve invested hundreds of hours in) connected PS2 players with PC players in a MMORPG setting; a perfect genre to introduce this kind of service. But this started back in 2002. Four years later and it’s the only game that seems to enjoy it’s place as the only PC-console cross-platform game out there. The 360 hopes to integrate this kind of gaming across different genres.

The 360’s lineup looks mind-blowing. Gears of War, Shadowrun, Call of Duty 3. One might also recognize that some of these titles will also be seeing the light of day on the PC, not just the console. Let’s see what they want to do with that.

Two words though: Live Anywhere. This idea pretty much sold me and I can’t wait to see how this evolves.

Live Anywhere. Live Anywhere. Live Anywhere. /Ballmer

Updates Coming

Wow. Long time no see blog. Anyway, updates soon to come; including why I think Microsoft will come out on top in the console wars and more.

Second Place: Nintendo and the Wii

Coming in second: NINTENDO CO., LTD.

I’ve got to say I was really impressed with Nintendo’s presentation. My only qualm was with their spokesperson, VP of Sales and Marketing Reggie Fils-Aime. It seemed like he was glaring at me, shouting and barking the glory of the Wii at my face. After all, this was the guy who first appeared at the 2004 E3 declaring, “My name is Reggie, I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games.” Interesting. But anyway, Nintendo’s presentation was not boring at all. It was refreshing and much appreciated, especially after Sony’s bland offering. Nintendo may have very well taken the cake by sweeping E3. That doesn’t necessarily make them number one, though.

Nintendo got right to the point with a movie demonstrating the capabilities of the Wii. It started out like a Wii demo video we’ve seen before, but quickly got into new territory: Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, etc. All were much-anticipated and I was pleased with how they unveiled the games. And unlike Sony who showcased their hallmark games with a traditional video game trailer, Nintendo showed us how we would be playing these games with the Wii’s intuitive and unique 3D motion-sensing controller.

This was the first time I saw the “Wiimote,” as it has been dubbed by some, used in conjunction with the analog stick attachment called the “nunchuck.” Both aspects of the controller-system have built-in rumble features as well as motion sensing technology. One of the new features of the Wiimote unveiled was the presence of a small speaker built right into the controller. This is so that, for example, when Link shoots an arrow from his bow, you would hear the twang of the bow and the sound of the arrow travel from the controller and straight to the TV. Amazing and innovative, well-done Nintendo.

If the Wiimote style of controlling your games doesn’t suit you, Nintendo also announced their new classic controller, which looks oddly like an SNES controller. It’s very minimalist in design with nice, rounded edges. Nintendo didn’t need to come out with this kind of controller, but it was a welcome change to see a company that knows its player base and the needs of that player base. I wouldn’t have expected anybody else to do this except for Nintendo.

We then saw demos of Red Steel, which looks like an amazing first person shooter experience. I’ve heard reports that the controller layout is too sensitive to the user’s movement, and the sword-fighting is not as amazing as it looks and sounds to be. Ubisoft can probably fix that in half a year, so the game should be a welcome treat come launch time.

Next up: The Twilight Princess demo was amazing. Albeit, I was a little overwhelmed with the complicated ways the game uses the Wii remote controller; so many things to do and keep track of, especially with the “nunchuck” in one hand and the remote in the other. The presence of the little fairy tracking the movements of the controller was also quite distracting. Regardless, I have not played the game first-hand, so I don’t really know how all of these details weave themselves into a unique playing experience.

The DS lineup looks very, very strong. It would be safe to bet that the PSP lineup pales in comparison with some of the individual titles the DS will be offering later this year. Ranging from Yoshi’s Island 2, a new Super Mario Brothers, Final Fantasy III all done up in new graphics (and released in America), MegaMan DS, Zelda DS, Starfox DS, to other import games. The introduction of the DS Lite in the US should boost sales for Nintendo as well. (I want one!)

The Wii is probably going to be much cheaper than the PS3, hovering around the price of around 250 dollars. The graphics are not as great as the Xbox 360’s or the PS3’s, but I think the actual fun factor you would get when playing with the Wii makes up for that lack in technical cutting edge. And what am I saying; the motion sensors in the Wii alone make it one of the most cutting edge technologies out there.

And what about the tennis demo at the end with Miyamoto and Iwata, Miyamoto and Spielberg, or Miyamoto and pretty much any high-level journalist/celebrity? Looks like it’s going to be a workout!

As for the top spot...you can already probably guess who it's going to be.

Third Place: Sony and the Playstation 3

And coming in last, but certainly not least:

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT

To be honest, I was quite bored with Sony's press conference. I was eagerly anticipating some big, high-budget show where they would unveil the successor to the undisputed king of the consoles: the PlayStation 2. Why then was I almost falling asleep thirty minutes into their much-hyped presentation? Probably because it was the same old thing. Okay, there is the PS3 that we've seen a lot of times before (nothing surprising there), and there are the landmark games that we would expect on it. Expect is the keyword of this press conference. Everything was expected. Well, maybe not the astonishing price.

Here is the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4. There is the trailer for Gran Turismo 5. Oh wow, there are some screens of the new Silent Hill, the new Killzone, Armored Core, Tekken, and of course Final Fantasy XIII. Oh, and here are the PSP games coming out. Alright. Some of those games are like on their 6th iterations (oh wait, excuse me, Final Fantasy is on its 13th iteration (or is really like 15th because of FF: Tactics and FFX-2?), hooray!)! Give me something new!

The two most shocking highlights of the press conference were (1) the price of the PS3, and (2) the unveiling of the "real" PS3 controller (no more boomerangs!). These announcements weren't even welcoming surprises. There were purely absurd. I will not lay down 600 dollars for a PS3. Oh, what is that you say? There is also a second model for 500 dollars?! Whoop de doo, it lacks significant features that the 600 dollar version has, so who wouldn't shell out the extra hundred dollars if they were already ready to pay 500 dollars. What exactly do you get when you save a hundred bucks? Let's see:

499.99 vs. 599.99
- Only 20GB instead of 60GB HDD
- No HDMI (High-Def) output
- No MemoryStick/SD Card/Compact Flash slots
- No wireless 802.11 b/g (this feature is worth the extra $100)
- $100 in your pocket.

Uhh, considering all these features you would forego, you might be stupid if you buy the 500 dollar iteration of the PS3, but who am I to judge. You might really really want to save that extra hundred bucks for a game or two.

Secondly, the "new" controller. What the freakin' hell! Sony, that controller is not new. It looks exactly like your Dual Shock 2 controllers. But wait! What's that? No more "dual shock?" No more vibration because of the primitive motion sensors you stuck inside the controller? This is like a ‘de-evolution’ of your controller, Sony. I was hoping for a new, fresh design. But no, your controllers still look very similar to your PS1 controllers. You are working with an eleven-year old controller design! And don't tell me you were seriously going to market that "boomerang" crap. Gah!


Nothing groundbreaking. Nothing spectacular. PSP lineup wasn't stellar. I wasn't even impressed with the graphics of the PS3. Looks pretty much like the Xbox360's graphics, maybe even worse, who knows. And why would I need a Blu-Ray player. Being the primary reason for the high cost of the system, you don't even know if it will be the standard format with HD-DVD still on the prowl. I wouldn't get too cocky Sony. Remember the miniDisc? Mmhmm.

Who's number two? Wait and find out!

The Big 3 at E3: Who's Number One?

We've seen some great stuff happening over at E3 for the past couple of days. Both Nintendo and Sony unveiled their next-gen systems, Microsoft announced their 2006-7 gaming lineup, and the PC gaming scene was very much alive with its own shocks and surprises. It would be without a doubt, however, that console gaming took center-stage this year. After watching the press conferences of the "Big 3" console makers, who do I think came out number one? Read on and find out.

North Korea: Super Awesome or Super CRAZY?

In East Asian History class today we talked about the evolution of North Korea from fledgling, isolated communist state in the 1950s to the fledgling, isolated communist state it is today. Under the direction of two eccentric leaders (more notably Kim Jong Il than his father), North Korea has gone pretty much nowhere over its more than half a century of existence. It's neighbor to the south, South Korea, has exploded in terms of the economic and political clout it holds in the international scene.

From a purely childish point of view (barring all notions of human rights violations, government corruption, and hostility towards the United States), North Korea is quite a happening place. That is, if your name is Kim Jong Il. This guy kidnaps Japanese film directors and recreates blockbuster American movies with him in the lead role. He has an impressive garage of exotic cars. His culinary taste intimidates even the most jaded of palettes; wines imported (illegally) from Napa Valley, Beluga caviar from Russia's royal reserves, foie gras from the best farms in France. His bodyguards are made up of an elite guard, trained to withstand the harshest conditions and concrete blocks being smashed on their faces. His gun collection is wide and extensive, containing standard issue rifles from the armed forces of more than 25 countries; soldiers and aides also proclaim great respect for Kim Jong Il's marksmanship abilities, they say he is "most deadly." He's pretty much the only person in the country with internet access. He has an assortment of grand villas scattered across the country; one inland palace has seawater pumped in just because Kim wants to swim in sea water sometimes. He's a huge fan of the NBA, always up to date with current standings; Madeline Albright presented him with a souvenir autographed basketball signed by Michael Jordan. He's supposedly has had nine illegitimate children and is constantly seen as drunk or divulging in "sexual excess" affairs.

I want to go to North Korea to see what it's life to live in a country run by this kind of leader. If you get anything out of this post, go to this Flash detailing the Korean Friendship Association...AWESOME music. Believe me, just wait for it.


Oh! And don't forget to pick up your official North Korean badge over at the government's gift shop! Sweet!