The Man in Blak

Which, ironically, is about the worst thing that could happen to them. The last three games have been fantastic and, for the first time all year long, St. Louis seems to be playing with some fire in its belly. Maybe closing out the Friday game with So Taguchi at the keystone served as a large foot up their collective ass. As exciting as that homestand was, however, it's yet another string of games where the Cards barely creep above .500. They really needed to go 6-1, 5-2 at a minimum to have a real shot at this, but going 4-3 (with three wins on the Brewers) puts them in a very dangerous position, thinking that they can push all their chips to the middle of the table with a pair of tens. None of the big names (Rolen, Isringhausen) are tradeable, obviously, but I've got a very deep fear that somebody may dangle some mediocre veteran trinket (Hey, you can call me Jon Garland!) ahead of LaDuncketty for That Anthony Reyes Kid That Hates Our Beloved Groundball Dogma. They keep saying that they won't sacrifice the future, but if Tony and co. plan on sticking around, then Reyes may not fit into the future anyway. Here's to hoping they stand pat (or deal Kip Wells or Encarnacion to some scruffy-looking GM on the streets), play the kids for next year, and actually build upon this momentum into the upcoming road trip.

Diablo II is good, mindless fun, even if it's dangerously close to being a glorified expansion pack for the original Diablo. The skill trees were kind of a double-edged sword - great addition to the game, but woefully unbalanced in the beginning, which led to patch after patch of frantic nerfing (which would then lead to another tree inefficiency to exploit). Ironically, it would probably be more fun to start playing now, with all of the patches and balance kinks worked out, than it was in the beginning.

Deerhoof: 1. Friend Opportunity 2. Milk Man 3. Untitled EP 4. Reveille 5. Apple O' 6. The Runners Four 7. Green Cosmos 8. Holdypaws Even though I find myself spinning through Milk Man and the untitled release more and more recently, it's still hard to look away from their 2007 album as their most complete work, from start to finish. Holdypaws comes off a little too sterile, but Green Cosmos isn't necessarily bad - it's just weird. I feel like that old guy from the Six Flags commercials should be breaking it down throughout the title track. David Bowie: 1a. "Heroes" 1b. Low 2. Scary Monsters 3. Station to Station 4. Hunky Dory 5. Aladdin Sane 6. Ziggy Stardust 7. Lodger 8. Diamond Dogs 9. Young Americans 10. Heathen 11. The Man Who Sold The World Big gap after Aladdin Sane, as there's probably about one song from each item of the list from Ziggy onward that I ever revisit. Ironically, the title track for The Man Who Sold The World is a favorite, but the rest of the album just doesn't work for me at all. Alice in Chains: 1. Jar of Flies 2. Alice in Chains ("Tripod") 3. Dirt 4. Unplugged 5. Sap EP 6. Facelift What's great about this list is that it's almost completely backwards from where it was in high school. But it's true, the only AiC that ever touches my mp3 player anymore comes from the last two studio albums that they ever released. Dirt tops the list for so many people, but some of the songs border on the embarrassing - you think "Down in a Hole" wouldn't make Dashboard Confessional blush?

Well, Ben Roethlisberger and Kyle Boller come to mind as well, but neither of them had two guys (Anderson, Frye) to leapfrog to get into the starting role.

You're glad that I understand the conspiracy charges? They don't have to prove that he was physically present for the charge to stick. He can be complicit in their completion by financial association (sponsoring the dogs) and, given that he co-founded the kennel with the other three guys, there is plenty of evidence to show that such an association was in place throughout the illegal activity. And if you could take a moment to explain how "buried car axles with chains" are standard operating equipment for a legitimate kennel, I'd really appreciate it.

Tourists would be more inclined to try out local specialties. I think it would be locals with horrible taste who love fast food, aka plenty of Americans. That's assuming that the tourists make like Rachael Ray and actually seek out the local specialties beforehand, of course. But point taken, no sense in discounting rampant stupidity among the local populace.

Tourists who don't know any better?

They just got bought out by IHOP, by the way. I'm not sure if that means the Applebees will be absorbed into the great IHOP collective or what, but changes may be already be underway by the next time you encounter potential starvation on I-75.

You keep misdirecting around the "lack of a paper trail" and this asinine idea that Vick's own private Justice League of lawyers are going to be able to discredit witnesses that accounted for pages upon pages worth of allegations, but you don't seem to understand that the witnesses are ultimately secondary to Vick's involvement with the staging of the dogfighting operation, which can be demonstrated by pointing to his purchase of the property, as well as the additions made to the property by Bad Newz Kennels (of which Vick was a co-founder). More importantly, though, it's worth driving home that this is a federal conspiracy charge, which means that the federal prosecutors can link Vick's involvement to the operation without having to prove that he was physically present for any illegal dealings or activity. It's not so easy to simply state what somebody knew or did not know at any given time; there is a ton of evidence, both factual and circumstantial, that points to his likely involvement in the dogfighting and that conclusion will likely be more than enough to stick him with an indictment for conspiracy, let alone the Travel Act violation charge.

Yeah, Killzone 2 is a complete first party venture - Sony Computer Entertainment is publishing and Guerrilla Games (the development studio), is a Sony subsidiary. Unless SCE sinks into the sea like Atlantis, I don't see Killzone 2 being released on a non-Sony platform any time soon.

Are you out of your mind? That's a nineteen page federal indictment, with over fourteen pages of overt acts towards the crime, many of which pertain directly to the condition of Vick's property throughout federal investigation. The evidence includes dog purchases that coincide directly after Vick bought the house, alterations made to Vick's property to facilitate dog fighting, and "equipment" (including about 50 pit bulls, some of which had injuries consistent with those one would expect from dog fighting) used for the continued operation of breeding and testing the dogs for fighting. The multiple pages of "witness accounts" are just the cherry on the shit sundae.

That's some serious real-talk allegation, my friend. Accusing the internet of not being serious business... the thought!

BRUJ0 and I briefly discussed Cowboy Bebop and the ability to collect important personal information posted in the chat by pressing the Save button. Amnesia was there, but I think he was asleep. Or maybe he just forgot where he was and clammed up. I know I would, were I in such a predicament.

I've already got the N64 original and I'm not really that fond of it in the first place, so no for me. Given the quality of the first-party lineup coming down the home stretch this year, they've done a fair job of mitigating the lackluster third-party support and given consumers some solid options for the near future. With the lead that they have in the market, one could argue that they can "afford" such complacency. The problem is that they shouldn't be mitigating anything; they really should be piling on with these first-party releases and putting a lot of pressure on the competition. If they continue to burn time leaning on first-party development and the VC (which has been the drizzling shits for a month running now), they allow Microsoft to capitalize on superior online play and start putting together more alternatives to the "casual gaming" mantra that Nintendo has been pushing. If they dare to let the frequency of major software releases trend downward, they'll run the risk of gamers having time to "breathe" and contemplate whether the Wii is a novelty machine or a legitimate gaming platform.

Hilarious. Okay, point taken. Is there some recent taping, say the preceding Smackdown before the death angle or the Raw from the week before? There's got to be some stock footage in that vast WWE library that they can use to fill time rather than explicitly cashing in on a wrestler's death, regardless of whether the company knew about the circumstances or not.

Why not open the show live with condolences for those close to the Benoit family and then play a re-run of last week's Raw?

Agreed 100%. RE4 is a rare sight in gaming, as that it's so good that it actually makes the rest of the RE series look bad, by comparison. I haven't played it for the Wii yet, but the controls seem like a natural fit for the Wiimote and the fact that they brought over the extras from the PS2 version is just gravy.

I don't mind the Deftones, but I can't recall any other recent band getting as many negative reviews and responses to their live show. It might be fun to stick around and see the crowd react to Chino's pitch-ignorant wailing, though, so there's no sense in leaving early.

Don't forget that you can play many of the VC games with the original Gamecube controller. (Right off the top of my head, I think the only emulated console that doesn't fit well with the GC controller is the Sega Genesis.) In terms of non-Zelda VC recommendations, I think that the SNES games offer some of the best values out there. Actraiser, F-Zero, and Contra III are all great games that haven't been bundled into any other GC compilations, AFAIK. Kirby's Adventure is a tremendous NES game that clocks in at only 500 points. Once you grab a Classic controller, Beyond Oasis and Gunstar Heroes are definitely worthwhile Genesis pickups. And don't pick up Milon's Secret Castle, unless you're prepared for a major challenge. That game is relentless.

Awesome. I used to play this all the time at the convenience store a couple of blocks down from my house. Nice little Castlevania/Ghosts 'n Goblins hybrid. This list cheats a little bit, but it works out pretty well, I think. 1. Time Crisis 4 2. DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution 7th MIX 3. Virtua Fighter 5 4. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition 5. Ms. Pac Man / Galaga 6. Hydro Thunder (three synched cabinets) 7. Neo-Geo MVS cabinet with the following slots: Metal Slug 3 Samurai Shodown King of Fighters '98 Bust-A-Move 8. MoCap Boxing 9. Dungeon & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara 10. Don Pachi No pinball makes the cut (though I'd certainly include Twilight Zone, Super Mario Bros., and Star Trek: TNG, if I had additional slots), just because they seem like they could potentially be a maintenance nightmare. And fuck a "skee ball" - that requires putting down money for ticket munchers, prizes, and people to man the prize desk and make sure little Tommy doesn't heave one of those things into the DDR cabinet.

Wait, why do my sentences end in exclamation points? Well, if that's the case, then I feel that you've got an inaccurate view of the game, but maybe we should just agree to disagree at this point. I won't argue that Wii Sports' appeal for somebody who enjoys more in-depth gaming isn't as high as it is for the casual gamer, but I do think that: - there's a little more accessibility in there for hardcore gamers than at first glance (primarily through the multiplayer possibilities) - it's more valuable to consider the casual audience when evaluating a game than the hardcore gamer, simply because there's much more of the former out there in the world That's just me, though. Your mileage may vary.

Okay, then I misread your response. When you explained that the results had came to you so easily, it appeared that you had achieved those results through the "shortcuts." If that's not the case, then I apologize. With that in mind, though, I think it's worth considering that you are not a typical member of the target audience. No matter how accessible Wii Sports may be, it can't appeal to everybody - if you're athletic and you have excellent hand-eye coordination, why not go outside and play the actual games? No, that's not what I'm saying at all. (I do like that you dropped some Latin, though.) I'm saying that the game's strength lies in the ease in which it offers quality motion-sensitive gameplay. The gameplay requirements are about as low as you can get - just about anybody can "pick up and play", so to speak - but the enjoyment that comes from the games is high (with some games being more enjoyable than others, admittedly). The game doesn't nail exact details for each sport like a simulation would, but doing so would likely add frustration to the player's experience, which would detract from the easy-going tone that the game is aiming to achieve. Ultimately, I feel that the quality of the arcade-style gameplay, the accessibility, and the possibilities for long-term appeal (Wii Training, Wii Fitness, multiplayer with Miis) add up to make Wii Sports a valuable addition to the medium, especially when you consider that it's the pack-in software for the console. It won't offer the best baseball or golf experience that you will find on the console, but it does offer a gaming experience that can be fun for people of all types and ages. Finally, I'm not citing the target audience to leverage the popularity of the game (though I'm glad that you agree that it is a success) but, rather, to establish a context for evaluating the game. Flatly declaring that "game A has a better gameplay than game B" does imply a context: for you, game A was more fun than game B. Such an evaluation doesn't really mean much for the gaming population at large, though, unless you take the target audience into consideration; one person's preferred 80 hour RPG can be another person's cure for insomnia.

If it wasn't your complaint and you don't believe that Chrono Trigger has that problem, then why build up a strawman for "older RPGs" in direct response to a post about Chrono Trigger (in the middle of a discussion that that basically started with your declaration that Chrono Trigger was overrated)?

No, you don't necessarily have to concede that those games are difficult, and I think your point actually touches on a major concern for Wii developers; is it worth constraining your audience to a particular gameplay approach/strategy to make them enjoy the game as intended? It is easy for somebody to just sit on the couch, flick your wrist the right way, and throw a 95 mph fastball in the baseball game, rather than going through an actual pitching wind-up. However, even though it goes against the spirit of the game (which is actually getting up and making things happen in the game through realistic motion), placing restrictions on such an approach could limit your possible audience - Grandma may not be encouraged to play a game of baseball with her grandson if you have to go through a physically taxing super-realistic pitching motion every time you throw the ball. So, keeping that in mind, it's obvious that Wii Sports caters to a wider audience, sacrificing realism for a way to reduce gameplay requirements. If you're looking for a more realistic tennis/baseball/etc. game and you're willing to meet the more difficult gameplay requirements, you'll obviously find a better alternative elsewhere down the line. But you can't ignore that there are many people out there who are just looking for a fun time playing a sports game, realism be damned, and they are the target audience for a game like Wii Sports. And, in my opinion, Wii Sports does a very good job of providing arcade-esque gameplay to that target audience (while offering limited appeal to diehards as well) without completely overwhelming them in the process. Interestingly enough, I think your post actually demonstrates why you are seemingly incapable of having any fun with the Wii: if you're looking to win in Wii Sports without any physical exertion, why are you even playing the game? There are certainly elements in the game that I outlined in my previous post that cater to completionists, but "beating the game" isn't even the point here - the enjoyment of the game comes from just getting up and going through the motions. To a certain extent, you may very well be correct. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 has already shown a more realistic (and, more importantly, reliable) capture of the golf swing. There will no doubt be a tennis game that has more accurate spin control on a backhand, or a baseball game that offers tighter control over pitches and seamless transition into actual control over defense. But, as I explained above, Wii Sports isn't intended to compete (and obviously can't compete) on the same level as full sports games that are designed specifically for that particular sport in mind. Golf fans that are looking for a super-realistic round of golf are obviously going to side with Tiger Woods, but the casual audience (which may very well include people that haven't even played the sport in question) doesn't have those expectations; they're just looking for a fun experience, and Wii Sports can offer that in a variety of different ways.

Today's VC games: Lode Runner (NES, 500 points) Golden Axe II (Genesis, 800 points) Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Genesis, 800 points) Probably one of the worst VC weeks in quite some time, especially when you consider that the Sega games are available in half a dozen or more different compilations. And what in the world is Broderbund thinking by releasing Lode Runner into a marketplace where Battle Lode Runner already exists (for only 100 more points)? Are you ever going to offer a rebuttal to this?