AndrewTS

Not fair to directly compare, but so far... Godzilla (1998) Opening Weekend: $44,047,541 (3,310 theaters, $13,307 average) % of Total Gross: 32.3% source: boxofficemojo Ouch.

Begins had a really weak opening too, actually. It started on a Wednesday, too.

S D's new sig: I would have preferred that poster over the final cover.

The game doesn't hold your hand...you can only save in towns, and if you die you get to continue with all your acquired experience but at the cost of half your gold. Not so bad early on--but obviously later on it won't be much of an option. Oh--and when you first see enemies out in the field--don't fight them until you're sure you're ready. An axe-wielding dino ran into me and wiped me out in like 2 seconds near the first town. Ouch. The sprawling overworld and large dungeons, as well as some of the humor, seems to have a bit of a OOT edge. Sadly I didn't have much time to play it, so I may rent it again. I haven't touched the FFXII demo yet.

It's probably expected that I have the DVD collection of the Zelda cartoons...but I know that they were cool when I was a kid but now I could only imagine how awful they would be. Earthworm Jim was a fun cartoon, though. Since it was made by plenty of the same folks who did Freakazoid, it's strange but funny. Has anyone seen the Johnny Turbo or Viewtiful Joe cartoons? All I know is that it's on KidsWB. That's probably all I really need to know, right? Why the hell would anyone make a Johnny Turbo cartoon in 2005?

NPD Releases Xbox 360 Sales Data Hardware shortages keep November numbers lukewarm. by Che Chou, 12/16/2005 Folks, the dust has settled. Earlier this week, industry marketing research firm, the NPD group, released its Xbox 360 sales data for the month of November. And luckily for all the pundits and critics out there, Paul Thurrott's Internet Nexus has posted some numbers. The results from all the hype and hoopla surrounding one of the most exciting (and for some, frustrating) console launches in gaming history are, if nothing else, interesting to behold. The fact that Microsoft's flagship launch title, Perfect Dark Zero, was outsold by existing current-gen titles like Madden and Need For Speed Most Wanted must be disappointing for their first-party portfolio. Furthermore, Call of Duty 2 being the best-selling game on Xbox 360, and one of the best in November overall -- who saw that one coming? Keep in mind that the summaries below are only based on numbers from mid-to-late November, when Xbox 360 games, and then subsequently console, became available for consumption. So without further ado, let the shock and awww begin! Total number of Xbox 360s sold in the United States in November: 325,902. Total number of Xboxes sold in the United States in the same number of days following launch: 556,221. The best selling Xbox 360 title: Call of Duty 2 with 250,730 copies, making it the 3rd best selling console title in November. The worst selling Xbox 360 title: Ridge Racer 6 with just 9,091 copies sold. Perfect Dark Zero was the best selling first-party title. The worst selling first party title was Kameo: Elements of Power, with 73,801 copies sold. Total number of Xbox 360 games sold: 1,273,352. Total number of Xbox games sold: 1,334,930. Total amount of money made by Xbox games: $72,072,729. Average number of games sold per Xbox 360 console: 3.9. Average number of accessories sold per Xbox 360 console: 3. Percentage of wireless controllers sold per Xbox 360: 98%. The top 10 selling Xbox 360 titles in November were: Call of Duty 2 (Activision) Madden NFL 06 (Electronic Arts) Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Electronic Arts) Perfect Dark Zero: Limited Edition (Microsoft Games) Condemned: Criminal Origins (SEGA) Project Gotham Racing 3 (Microsoft Games) Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft Games) Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft Games) Quake 4 (Activision) NBA Live 06 (Electronic Arts) Source: The NPD Group and Paul Thurrott's Internet Nexus (Somebody explain to me what the big fat hairy deal is over wireless controllers? They eat up batteries, and are easier to drop/misplace. I've found them to be little more than a novelty at best, and overpriced pieces of junk at worst. At least the Nintendmote is justifiably wireless. I'm imagine 1st party ones would be made better...but if they're cheaper to be wired, give me wired. )

That potshot makes no sense. Territorial lockout on 360 is silly though.

How many X-Boxes have been sold in Japan (the original)? Why the friggin' hell does it seem like Microsoft made 10 times that many 360s for the Japan launch?

I've heard some differing opinions on the Goemon game. Some boards I've seen folks remark that the Goemon game was "not worth fighting for", and that Vic is blaming Sony unfairly. I haven't played it myself, but even though it was supposed to be improved, it is a rather old game I guess.

Maybe they'll have good subplots...like how the SP ep had the anti-steroids stuff. The funniest part of that ep were the athletes no-selling Jimmy's rant.

"The Farrellys, meanwhile, are attempting to stage their long-gestating update of The Three Stooges." Stooges + cursing and excessive poop jokes would suck.

Nick Arcade I reminder fondly. It was the only game show where they'd put kids into a video game... ...via a lame super-imposed effect. For the time it was pretty neat, though. Melissa Joan Hart seemed to be the worst Sonic 2 player of all time. I think she had like 45 seconds to collect 30 rings in one of the acts the Green Hill Zone, and failed miserably. It didn't even seem harder than the retail version, either.

Um, that actually did happen last month. Source? I don't remember where I read the above...but seems it's obviously wrong. I'm seeing about 41,800 sold, myself.

Considering DQ is far more obscure in the US than FF, it's odd that the FF games skipped over the missing games and the DW games continued as normal. I rented the game...so far gameplay seems very old school (tried to rush through first dungeon without doing any leveling up prior--had a heck of a time as I progressed), but the presentation is very modern and polished. Although a game filled with Toriyama character designs can be very repetitive. Yay, random townsperson that looks exactly like a blondTrunks, and bunny-girl barmaid that looks like android 18. I want Oliems' race of chicken-people to show up in a game somehow, darn it. So far the humor works well. Cute, but not too cute, and you're not beaten over the head with it.

The 150-dollar 360s are only if you sign up with a certain broadband service. I think they've sold less than 500 360s to date over in Japan.

I'm assuming Suncoast and SamGoody are sticking around? They're all owned by the same company. Samgoody/Suncoast are extremely aggressive at trying to get you to sign up for their discount program, though. Ugh.

Ubisoft (the fine folks who bring us Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia) published Dragon Song...however, consensus on that ranges from below-average to awful.

Sometimes Working Designs "localizations" would leave a lot to be desired (Lunar translation, Silhouette Mirage's gameplay) but back in the 90's they helped bring over titles that hardly anyone else would touch those games.

A local K-mart had an assload of the CDs for $5.99 in a huge display.

Nobody needs an adapter to play VPW2. You can either use... a) a saw or knife to saw off the ends of the cart, if you don't mind the holes it will leave behind. b) a gamebit screwdriver and a backing for US cartridge. You could probably get a spare Warzone for like 50 cents and slap the back on VPW2.

Rented Aeon Flux, the game, for PS2. It doesn't suck...it's actually quite fun, with shades of PoP, Metroid Prime (the roller sections are similar to Morph Ball stuff...except you can roll over enemies and hurt them in this game), and the overall feel is like a more diverse Bloodrayne (natch). However, it costs as much as Two Thrones and isn't nearly as good, so it's worth a rent at least, but likely not a purchase. Of course, I'm early in the game still.

Wasn't that flannel shirt/jean skirt?

Night of the Boston Crabs.

"Put this on his head, he'll think it's night!" Blanket party for Cena would rock. ...they can't be serious...

Because when I think of teachers, I immediately think ultra-right wingers.