A Rare Moment

Dilbert does gaming. I haven't seen them do this since the famous "Virtual Reality" strip where Dogbert cheats at a game of basketball by hovering.

Prordering

Or preordering. Or...pre-ordering. I prefer prordering - it's easier to just slur all the syllables together. Or heck, take the second R out and just type "prodering" to avoid confusing yourself. (Or maybe that just makes it more confusing.)

Nevertheless! I got the call yesterday that EB Games had just stocked my prodered copy of Final Fantasy XII Collector's Edition for PS2. I'm supposed to go pick it up on Halloween. Given that I have to work that day (as well as man the door at night for those picky little trick-or-treaters, many of which I expect to dress as Jack Sparrow), I don't know if I'll find the time. Though if Mom doesn't work that day, I could have her drive me down there to acquire my Loot, drive me back home, and then I could just go about my business.

I've got some plans for Halloween night. I've got my costume fine-tuned to perfection (after a trial run three days ago). I am dressing as a 1930's Vegas gambler. The dressy pants, the shirt with French cuffs, fancy vest and bow tie, and my favorite brown fedora. It looks quite good on me - I'll see if I can get somebody to snap a picture (though it'll be a while before I can upload it because we're unable to get the pictures off our camera, since we don't have the USB cable to do so). There's always Mom's older camera though, but that sometimes has focus problems...

I'm expecting my brother and his family to come over tonight as well, since my niece wishes to go trick-or-treating. My nephew would probably also like to go, providing of course he understands the concept of trick-or-treating (he's barely a year old by now - cute little guy).

Of course, to fit the occasion, I'm gathering all sorts of zombie-themed video games. Resident Evil 3 and Night of the Brain-Eating Mavis Beacons Typing of the Dead for Dreamcast, the Crisis Evil total conversions for Beats of Rage...or maybe I'll just play Doom. (But it's got to be something that I can play in the living room so I can answer the door quickly...)

Flight of the Game Valkyries

I signed up for a free trial of Gamefly the other day, and today my first two rentals arrived in the mail. I'll elaborate on them now...

Yakuza
Just about everybody that I've heard mention this game compares it to the likes of Shenmue or Streets of Rage - and after playing it for a few hours, I completely understand why.

You play Kazuma, a Yakuza who aids a friend of his by covering him for the murder of a Yakuza captain. After spending ten years in the pen for his "crimes", Kazuma is a free man once again - but upon finding out what his friend has been doing over the past several years, he can't help but get involved. And by "get involved", I mean "beat the ever-loving shit out of people."

Kazuma is able to run freely around Tokyo and buy food, play slot machines, etc (much like Shenmue). But in wandering around the streets, he'll occasionally bump into rival Yakuza, con artists, or criminals; all of which find some excuse to pound the tar out of him. But Kazuma isn't unprepared - he has a whole slew of downright brutal martial arts moves at his disposal, with more that can be learned by gaining experience in battles. And then you can pick up stuff to use as weapons. Bikes, trash cans, garden lanterns, milk crates, chairs, you name it. Or you can grab an enemy and throw them at the others.

Contact
Very recent DS release, and probably the most unique RPG I've played for the system. In this game, you control a kid named Terry as he helps a mysterious Professor recover his fuel cells. The action takes place on both screens at once - Terry remains on the bottom screen (along with the menu system), and the Professor is constantly wandering around the top screen, making remarks about Terry's progress or doing work on his latest project. (At some point he even references the increasingly-tired meme, "Hit his weakpoint for massive damage!")

Contact has some pretty unique game mechanics from what I've seen of it. I haven't played it much yet (mostly owing to Yakuza) but it looks to be a mighty promising game. And it's bound to be more fun than Deep Labyrinth, which has grown a little bit stale lately.

The Dammit Strikes Back!

Phoenix Wright plus Halloween equals yet more awesome. Edgeworth as Sherlock Holmes really works, too...

Phoenix Wright: Return of the Dammit

I swear I'm still not going to shut up about this game. Especially not since I just ordered the sequel off of PlayAsia. Gyakuten Saiban 2, the Japanese version of the game, most certainly contains an English language option - so I have no more reason to avoid ordering this game. Plus it's only like $30 after shipping charges (dirt cheap considering that it's being imported directly from Japan).

Soon, I shall go absolutely nuts over the game once again - and then I'll start getting impatient and wonder when the hell they're going to start localizing Gyakuten Saiban 3 for US audiences. The first case alone was pretty awesome (as I saw when the Comeback Courtroom team released their first patch), but I want more!

In conclusion: PHOENIX WRIGHT, DAMMIT!

Things Never Heard

JESUS, KING OF THE BORG!

Seen in a real-time log of the Galbadia Hotel IRC chat room

Look at me! In ancient Babylon did I tread; youthful was my gaze when it set upon the Lycean barques of yore. Old was I even when the first beasts writhed from the primordial ooze. Poets I have commanded to look upon my mighty works and despair; kings I have conquered; my wise lips have passed the eulogies of gods. Look upon me! The alpha! The omega! My name? Jehovah!

Florian Eckhardt of Kotaku, attempting to bypass age verification to buy a copy of Bully without showing the clerk his ID

(looking at a cute picture of some kittens in a slideshow)
Aww, so cute--
(the picture changes to a mugshot of Manfred von Karma)
--AAAHHH!!

Me, five seconds ago

Sony Continues To Suck

I usually pride myself on being unbiased in terms of brand loyalty in console systems. But these days, that's starting to change - mainly due to some very questionable business practices on part of Sony.

Let's start from the very beginning.

Part 1: "It requires a huge financial investment...Five hundred ninety-nine US dollars..."
It all started back at E3 this year. Sony's otherwise absurdly boring E3 press conference (which inadvertently started several Internet memes, like "RI~DGE RACE~R") brought us a severe bombshell - the PS3 would be expensive. Very expensive. Even moreso than the XBOX 360, which theoretically would cost a little over $400 to get a fully outfitted system. Sony's announcement of such a huge price put off a lot of people, myself included.

Part 2: Of UMD and Firmware Obscura
Sony's tendency to break homebrew applications when updating firmware is a bit of an annoyance for PSP owners. Here they could use homebrew as a selling point, yet Sony has been known to release minor firmware updates for the sole purpose of patching "security holes" that users are exploiting to make all sorts of neat programs. Stuff like new games, support for additional music formats, better Internet access, among others. Yet Sony has seen fit to suppress this community following. Not to mention that a majority of PSP titles available today are just not that great (Coded Arms, Untold Legends, among others).

Part 3: Short List
The PS3's shipping estimate has continued to dwindle - from 2 million units, to 1 million, to 300,000, and now even less still. Given the absurdly high demand for preorders, it's going to sell out across the country in a matter of minutes. And Sony still won't be making money on it, because supposedly they're losing money for how cheap the system is (I swear it's that Blu-Ray drive that's driving up the cost - that, and their controller).

Part 4: Things To Do in China When You're Dead
Sony recently sued the pants off of online import retailer Lik-Sang, over their sales of PSP units to Europe prior to the official European launch. Now, we in the gaming community are well aware that Europe always gets the bad end of the deal in terms of games actually reaching their region - they've missed a lot of games, and those that they haven't missed, they have had to wait months (even years) later than everybody else. But that's not the point - Lik-Sang was an amazing import dealer. If I remember correctly, that's where my brother and I ordered our SuperJoyBox PS2-USB adapters - high quality, timely delivery, and an interface that wasn't buggy or confusing. With this, it's really sad that Lik-Sang is dead. And I blame Sony, of course - if it wasn't for them, Lik-Sang might still be alive, and I could probably grab other awesome stuff from them.

There's always Play-Asia, though. Until Sony destroys them, too.

Some Field That The King Owns

This article is not about the PS1 dungeon-crawler, Kings Field. It is also not about its spiritual successor - the PS2 game, Eternal Ring (because I haven't played it enough to make an informed judgment - though I'll note right now that I hate the controls).

On that note, this article shall contain no traces of dungeon crawling whatsoever - not even Deep Labyrinth (on which I am terribly stuck - I hate teleport puzzles), Dungeon Hack, or Steamband.

This article is also not about work, life in general, or anything that might possibly be of interest.

So what is this article about?

Nothing. I just wanted to lead you on and make it look like I'm posting something =P

Sickness and Wellness

I'm shifting between phases of well-being. I was fine last week. Then I found my throat started itching. Days later, I woke up with a completely blocked nasal passage (easily remedied with some cheap cold medicine), and a sore throat (that, thankfully, didn't really obstruct my ability to speak clearly - which I need when speaking with the elderly).

Every other day, my body switches between sickness and wellness. One day I'll be perfectly fine (save for the occasional runny nose), and the next I'll be wishing I didn't have to go to work because I'm afraid of infecting the old folks.

Why's this happening? I've got a theory...and it has to do with that walk-in refrigerator at work. I keep having to go in there to get out the desserts and other miscellaneous things. It is really freaking cold in there (well, it has to be). Cold enough that when there was a water leak in there, it actually encased the inner freezer door in ice.

One thing that I wish I will never have to do again: shoulder-smashing the freezer door until it closes, and THEN opening it. Because for some reason, the freezer door doesn't shut properly much of the time (the water on the floor freezes the door in place). So I have to charge into the door to unstick it, and then pull it back open so I can get my stuff and leave before I get frostbite.

Add to that, owing to the water leak, the floor is slippery as hell outside of the freezer (but inside, it's frozen enough that the floor can practically pull my shoes off). Occupational safety hazards...gotta love 'em.

The boss tells me that they're going to fix the door soon. How soon, though? Will I have to get the message across by accidentally slipping and cutting my head on those wire shelves? God, I hope not. It'd probably interfere with playing video games if I had to wear a large bandage on my head.

Phoenix Wright: The Movie, Again

Continuing from last time's post, I'm filling in a few of the blanks. To reiterate my choices from last time, though...

CASE 1 - THE FIRST TURNABOUT

Phoenix Wright - Johnny Yong Bosch
Mia Fey - Kimberly Harne
Winston Payne - George Clooney
Larry Butz - Ashton Kutcher
The Judge - Robert Culp
Frank Sahwit - Jack Nicholson

CASE 2 - TURNABOUT SISTERS

Maya Fey - Jennifer Hale
Dick Gumshoe - Kurt Russell
Miles Edgeworth - Cam Clarke
Naturally, based on his role as Liquid Snake.
April May - Paris Hilton
Bellboy - Patrick Warburton
Marvin Grossberg - Terry Jones
Redd White - Patrick Pinney
Mr. Pinney did the voice of Stan in Monkey Island 3.

CASE 3 (TURNABOUT SAMURAI) NO LONGER OMITTED

Will Powers - Bruce Willis
Wendy Oldbag - Tress MacNeille
Obviously! Look at all the old lady voices she's done!
Penny Nichols - Jennifer Aniston
Well, she's the only person I could think of. Though Lisa Kudrow might also work.
Sal Manella - Paul Sidello
He fits the role, because he's voiced another similar character - Koshi Rikudo from Excel Saga.
Dee Vasquez - Renee Raudman
Renee did the voice of Nastasha from Metal Gear Solid.
Cody Hackins - Anyone will do...can't think of any standout voices (that still sound like that today - Haley Joel Osment will probably be too old to do this voice by the time the film begins production)

CASE 4 - TURNABOUT GOODBYES

Lotta Hart - Mo Collins
Manfred von Karma - Tough choice!
I once had the idea to cast Christopher Lloyd as von Karma - though the idea also struck me to use Neil Ross (Col. Volgin from MGS3). In all honesty, Lloyd would probably be better overall, but Ross could fit von Karma's character too.
The Old Guy - Still have no idea

CASE 5 - RISE FROM THE ASHES

Ema Skye - Again, I lack any good ideas
Lana Skye - Lara Cody
Angel Starr - Elizabeth Hurley
Jake Marshall - Michael Shapiro
Mike Meekins - Mike Judge
Based on his role as Mr. Buzzcut from Beavis & Butthead.
Damon Gant - Jerry Stiller

A Parts Shortage

Not too long ago, Sony said that they'd only have something around 300,000 PS3 units available for the US launch. Now? They can't even make that many. All thanks to a parts shortage involving their Blu-Ray disc drives.

So let's think about this a bit. The XBox 360 only had somewhere in the neighborhood of one million units shipped for launch. The shortage that we experienced was pretty devastating to say the least. eBay scalping reached an all-time high.

The PS3, which only costs a couple hundred dollars more, now has less than 300,000 units at launch. It sold out of pre-orders within 15 minutes on the first day. As far as utter oblivion goes, I'd say this ranks pretty highly. People are going to be pissed.

But I won't. Because I'm buying a Wii.

Desktopia: The Results

In this screenshot you cannot see the Google Desktop gadgets, or the sidebar - but you can see my double-height taskbar (more buttons!), KwikStrip in the upper-right corner (yet more buttons!), and my latest Phoenix Wright wallpaper (Edgeworth is still awesome!).

I also took the liberty of providing a second screenshot featuring the sidebar and all the gadgets.

It obscures the wallpaper slightly, but Edgeworth is the only part of the wallpaper I really ever cared about, so it's no big deal.

Now if that were Godot in the upper left...it'd be a different story altogether.

Desktopia

My Windows desktop is a place of ultimate residence. It is where I return home every day of the week (yes, I also return home from home). It is my base of operations, my fortress of solitude, my hermit's shack on the edge of cyberspace.

As such, it is important that I keep it as functional as possible. It's also critical that it look good to me, so I often redesign it based on my current interests.

My desktop's current look: VistaMax Grey visual theme, with anti-aliased Windows Classic pointers, and a wallpaper of Miles Edgeworth. Because Edgeworth is awesome.

Recently I've been looking for productivity enhancements for the desktop - Google Desktop, which came with my computer, has been very helpful for clearing off the clutter and reducing my dependency on my web browser to check things like email and calendar events. I also added the Google Weatherbug plugin, and a neat little digital clock to save room on the taskbar for more buttons.

Another program that I'm absolutely ecstatic about is BioHazard's KwikStrip - as of 2.5 Beta 5.7, the program is extremely stable, supports skins, and is a snap to customize. I've actually made several skins for it myself.

I should note that I also have no icons on the desktop whatsoever. The desktop is merely a canvas for windows to be placed, and it is a serious pain (for me anyway) to search through there of all places for my shortcuts, folders, and programs. I have my most frequenly used programs (xplorer2, KwikStrip, and the recycle bin) in the Start Menu (I'm using the Windows XP style start menu instead of the Classic), and my other frequently used programs on KwikStrip and docked in the upper right part of my screen. I launch everything else through xplorer2 or the Run box.

I never use the Programs menu for anything except recently installed games. Which might explain why I rarely (if ever) clean it out.

My Arms, They Have Been Coded!

Rental of the week: Coded Arms (PSP)

Coded Arms is a fairly run-of-the-mill first person shooting game, designed for the PSP handheld system. Unfortunately, the main problem with the game is the fact that it was designed for the PSP - a system with a control scheme that is obviously not suited for shooters. This is immediately obvious when learning the controls.

Konami took it upon themselves to try and replicate the most common shooter control setup - that of Halo's, with its left-stick-move, right-stick-look, triggers-fire setup - and ended up creating about the most unwieldy and unintuitive control set imaginable.

Here's the hoedown lowdown. You use the PSP's little analog nub to move your character. From a design standpoint, the nub is actually pretty crappy, given that you pretty much have to release your left hand grip on the system to use it with any precision.

Next, you have the look controls - the four face buttons. Ever try playing Exhumed or Alien Trilogy for the Sega Saturn? Your character's turning speed is fairly manageable, but with the tradeoff that it's difficult to line up shots. You can make the turn speed more precise, but then you can't turn quickly to hit enemies to the side. Argh.

Coded Arms does feature a control rebinding mode. I opted for an old-school Goldeneye/Turok setup, with the nub to aim and the face buttons to move. I only confused myself further because I'm used to the way Timesplitters/Halo/etc handle things...

Onto the gameplay though - Coded Arms turns out to be a fairly generic first-person shooter. Auto-aim is extremely handy, but sometimes turns out to do little good because of the game's Rainbow Six-style inaccuracy system. Your accuracy is affected by moving, turning, and shooting, so in order to make any shots worth a damn, you have to stay put and not hammer the trigger. Unfortunately, most of the enemies in the game are hard to kill without circle-strafing them, so you're screwed anyway. Prepare to waste a lot of ammo.

There are a few aspects that I like about the game, though. The overall style of the game is fairly interesting (since you're fighting through computer simulations, you can see the rooms "materializing" when you walk into them). Weapons and armor are referred to as "plugins," while all the pickups in the game are little executable files. Your weapons are upgraded in much the same style as Assault Suits Valken (a.k.a. Cybernator) - you pick up "keys", which upgrade whatever weapon you're using. Once you get a certain number of keys on one weapon, the weapon's damage and attributes are improved (pistols will do more damage and become more accurate, rifles may get larger clip sizes, etc).

The pickups bring me to another flaw in the game - it's hard to tell some items apart. All the ammo pickups look exactly the same, so you don't know if you'll get ammo for your bolt pistol or for your next-to-worthless sniper rifle (honestly, what good is a sniper rifle in a cramped indoor environment?).

Coded Arms is an amusing diversion, but I'm glad that I only rented it instead of buying it. I couldn't see myself putting any serious time into it.

And now to Part 2 of this post - the highlights of the weekend.

My brother and his family appeared yesterday for a day-before-anniversary celebration. Yes, they have officially been married for a year as of today. May their relationship continue to flourish.

Things that happened during yesterday's get-together:
- Tacos, tacos, and more tacos
- Cheesecake
- Got to play with my new PS2 component video cable which was awesome
- Played Lego Star Wars 2 with my brother and didn't beat a single level =P
- Bought Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault for the paltry sum of $20 - I'd pay no more for an EA game
- Watched Excel Saga
- Watched Lucien spit up upon my bed pillow (it got cleaned up)
- Watched Michaela watch The Brave Little Toaster, still one of my favorite movies of all time
- Showed Bro my awesome custom car-horns for TrackMania (Dracula shouting through a bullhorn - "WHAT IS A MAN?! A MISERABLE LITTLE PILE OF SECRETS!")
- Gave my sister-in-law a couple of hugs. Not entirely sure if she liked them, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it?
- Discovered how easy it is to make Nintendo's Sim City soundtrack sound good on a Roland MT-32
- Realized how much cabling I have in my room - enough to strangle several yaks
- Created a makeshift crepe using a tortilla, some cherry pie filling, and Cool Whip French Vanilla

I also spoke with Exophase for quite a long time last night. His words enlightened me (and also sometimes confused me). I could learn a lot from this guy. Hell, I already have.

One More Day

I have one more fun-filled day at work before I may finally end this week. This week has been more tolerable than most, owing to the addition of our new cook, and the constant aid and assistance of Rose and company. I keep finishing late, but that is no fault of my own. It's nobody's fault except the jerks that don't apply to come help us out. Come on, people!

Or maybe the problem lies in the fact that the company doesn't have enough money to hire another potentially poor worker. We've been burned a lot by that lately, to be honest.

Things are looking up, though. I get to look forward to having my brother and his family come visit this weekend. They're bringing the kids, but I don't mind as long as I get to spend a bit of time with my brother for once (instead of occasionally getting to see his face before he gets dragged off again to look at something).

I've got a lot that I plan to do. I better clean my room for once...and wipe off this whiteboard of mine so I can write crap on it.

Assuming that I don't get distracted by my new copy of HL2 Episode 1.

Three Fifty

This happens to be my three hundred fiftieth post on this Blaugh. Somehow I thought I'd be more excited about it, but I guess the fact that I just got up is kinda lessening the blow.

For some reason I've become fascinated with Second Life, a dumb little virtual reality game where you can walk (or fly) around the world and buy things. These things range from clothes and parts for your avatar (or complete avatar replacements), texture resources to make your own stuff, and furniture and housing. I even found an OpenPorsche that was free to copy, and even though I didn't get it to work (the best I could manage was attaching it to my face and running around with a large car glued to my head), it was still pretty cool.

The highest point of my SL journey, however, was when I stumbled upon the Garden of Mo. It wasn't very impressive on principle alone, but the Garden contained a line of hovering stools with messages written on them. One of them was curiously labelled "The Garage of DOOM". I took a seat and found myself floating upwards until I finally found myself in the garage.

The Garage of DOOM is a fairly well put together first-person shooter game that takes place within the SL world. It has its share of bugs, but it's an amusing way to spend some time. And it doesn't cost any in-game cash, either.

Other highlights of my trip: the ARMORD shop, Nexus Prime (the cyberpunk city), and the blackjack table.

I don't see myself spending much outside of my L$250 of free cash, but SL is certainly a fun environment.

Uninspired Demo of the Moment

Just finished screwing around with something that I nabbed from EB Games yesterday. There is a PC game entitled "El Matador", which is billed as "Max Payne 2 meets Far Cry." Lofty claims, those. EB was giving away pre-sell demos (for those that pre-ordered the game - Lord help those who did). But since the game is already out now, they started giving them away for free.

I snagged one. I almost snagged two, but what would be the point? I've got enough coasters.

I'm sure you can imagine that I don't like El Matador. So I'll explain why.

The demo includes a tutorial mode (which is barely needed). I cruised through it to get a general feel for the aesthetics of the game (since naturally I won't have time to stare at pretty graphics when I'm being shot at). Well, not so much "cruised" as "I got stuck at the shooting range because I ran out of ammo."

How'd I run out of ammo? I'm normally a fairly conservative ammo user. But the game forces you to ricochet bullets off a wall to hit a target behind bullet proof glass before you're able to continue.

Afterwards was the "live" shooting course where I have one minute to run through a series of alleyways and kill all the cardboard cutouts (while preserving the very threatening-looking police officer cutouts). After my fifth failure to complete the course (due to my inability to find the very last target), I decided to take my frustration out on the door guard nearby (who was anything BUT a cardboard cutout).

I aimed my Desert Eagle at his head from six meters away. I pulled the trigger, and I heard...

...a very distinctive CLICK.

I couldn't have been out of ammo...I just picked some up from the tutorial guy. I pressed the Reload key to make sure and took another few clicks at the guard's face.

Three more distinctive and mocking CLICKs spouted forth from the pistol. Frustrated, I aimed for the sky and pulled the trigger one last time, thinking that my gun had jammed. "Pow," spoke the gun as it finally launched a bullet into the air. I was very confused at this point. I aimed at the door guard once again and clicked, but the gun refused to fire. What the hell? That's a mighty strange way to deter friendly fire...though it's certainly not a new one (Metal Gear Solid comes to mind - "It's no good! I can't do it!").

I was determined to beat the system. I wanted to destroy this door guard who had, so many times, ushered me out of the shooting range because I had once again failed to finish in the time alotted.

So I determined just how close I could aim my pistol to the guy's face before the gun became sentient like HAL and said, "I'm sorry, Weasel, but I'm afraid I can't do that," or in his native language, "CLICK."

Eventually, I found the sweet spot - I could aim just barely off center, and the pistol's inherent lack of accuracy (gotta love those third-world knockoff pistols) took care of the rest.

Several shots later, one bullet finally struck home - generating a spray of blood against the wall. The guard simply stood there, like one of those British palace guards that is disallowed from doing pretty much everything short of blinking. Despite the fact that his blood was now caked against the wall behind him, the door guard stood there and looked at me expectantly, as if nothing had happened and I was still about to walk into the shooting range again.

At this point I gave up and decided to play the actual game. I had experienced enough of the game that I would know how to handle myself.

And wouldn't you know it, I died too soon to get an idea where my foe was.

It sure looked pretty though...not something I'd actually buy though.

Legends That, For Some Reason, Remain Untold

Today's purchases were of the El Cheapo variety. I got rid of some excess stock (a few XBox games and two Gamecube games) and picked up my pre-order of Lego Star Wars 2 (for about six bucks after trade-in). I didn't feel like I got quite enough out of it, so I accompanied my mother to Blockbuster. She rented a movie, and I bought a pre-played copy of Untold Legends for PSP.

So far, I've put more time into LSW2 than the other stuff I've got.

While I was visiting my dear brother, I also looted some of his stuff (though not without his permission). Vampire Bloodlines (enjoyable), TrackMania, and the copy of Indigo Prophecy that was once mine (and is now mine once again).

Untold Legends looks like an online RPG at first (and it really is, in the sense that Diablo is an online RPG). It turns out to be a relatively fun little action/RPG game, which will get some good mileage out of my PSP for when I'm bored of playing my other two RPG's (why is it that I keep buying RPG's for handheld systems?).

And when will I manage to cut back on my parentheses abuse?

Phoenix Wright: The Movie

I have a dream, and that dream is that Phoenix Wright be turned into a feature-length anime film. Or maybe an OAV. That dream also consists of said anime being translated and dubbed into English with an all-star voice cast. Here are the roles that I would pick for each character:

CASE 1 - THE FIRST TURNABOUT

Phoenix Wright - Johnny Yong Bosch
Johnny is the voice actor behind Vash from Trigun, as well as Kaneda from the 2001 special edition of Akira. I just think he'd be a great fit.

Mia Fey - Kimberly Harne
Kim has only ever voiced one role - the role of Mika Slayton in Konami's sci-fi adventure, Snatcher, for the Sega CD. The personalities are quite similar between the two characters, so the role would be a natural.

Winston Payne - George Clooney
Clooney's role in Intolerable Cruelty made me want to stick him into an attorney position here, but not a big one. I think he'd be good for Payne's role.

Larry Butz - Ashton Kutcher
Let's face it - Larry is definitely the perfect Kutcher material. It's either him or Seth Green.

The Judge - Robert Culp
Because I can't imagine anybody but him saying "What is the meaning of this?" all the time. Especially not after hearing that line in Half-Life 2, spoken by Dr. Breen. I would have loved to pick Graham Chapman, except he's dead.

Frank Sahwit - Jack Nicholson
Gee, Jack Nicholson goes to court. How many films have I seen him in now that feature him in court? I can name two off-hand...

CASE 2 - TURNABOUT SISTERS

Maya Fey - Jennifer Hale
Another voice actor handpicked from Konami's stable. Ms. Hale performed Emma Emmerich in MGS2.

Dick Gumshoe - Kurt Russell
Mainly based on Kurt's role as Captain Ron. Plus it'd be pretty silly to see him ending the majority of his sentences with "Pal."

Miles Edgeworth - ???
I once chose Eric Kelso (Gui Zhang from Shenmue) but there's bound to be someone better. The problem is, I can't think of anyone fit for the awesomeness that is Edgeworth.

April May - Paris Hilton
It's a character/actor match made in heaven. And it's bound to get more people to dislike Hilton, which is always good.

Bellboy - Patrick Warburton
I almost put Patrick in the role of Gumshoe, but thought better of it - but I had to put him in the cast someplace!

Marvin Grossberg - Terry Jones
It was either Grossberg or the Judge.

Redd White - ???
I really want Phil Hartman, but he is in the same situation as Graham Chapman (i.e. dead). So now it's a tossup between Danny DeVito, Mike Myers, and...uh...Bruce Willis?

CASE 3 OMITTED
It doesn't have any seriously major plotpoints in it as far as the main story arc is concerned...

CASE 4 - TURNABOUT GOODBYES

Lotta Hart - Mo Collins
Ms. Collins did the "actor" Gaz from the Invader Zim episode "Mysterious Mysteries."

Manfred von Karma - ???
It's hard to think of an actor harsh enough to portray Manfred.

The Old Guy - ???
I've got no clue.

CASE 5 - RISE FROM THE ASHES

Ema Skye - ???
Whoever the newest teen idol happens to be. Somebody that at least sounds smart, though, or else the "scientific investigation" bit won't be convincing at all.

Lana Skye - Lara Cody
Ms. Cody performed Rosemary from MGS2. This role would mainly be based on Rosemary as she appears near the end of the game (during the GW "glitch" sequence on Arsenal Gear). "You'll ruin your eyes playing so close to the TV."

Angel Starr - Elizabeth Hurley
No further comments.

Jake Marshall - Michael Shapiro
The voice of Barney in the Half-Life games. Considering Marshall fancies himself a cowboy, the southern accent will serve him well. (It's either him, or we get a Clint Eastwood sound-alike.) Alternative: Owen Wilson.

Mike Meekins - ???

Damon Gant - Jerry Stiller
The only person that I can really imagine asking people if they've been swimming lately.

So yeah, there's a lot of blanks...but I have most of the parts filled out. Now if only I could get animators, artists, a budget, and approval from Capcom.

Yet Another Trend

Well...saw this over at my brother's newly-revamped blog (Loki Jr., it's in my links), and thought I ought to do this myself. Just because I am (still) a trend whore. Sometimes. Copy-pastage follows!

IF YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I WANNA KNOW...
I want to know 28 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other. Just leave your name.

1.Your Middle Name: James (gotta have the boring name to balance out my pretty unique first name)

2. Age: 19. I can buy cigarettes and drive, but intend to do neither.

3. Single or Taken: Single...*sniffle*

4. Favorite Movie: Let's see, that's a tough one. If I had to pick just one, I'd be torn between Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Double Indemnity.

5. Favorite Song: Currently I'm on an Uematsu high - my favorite would have to be Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy VIII.

6. Favorite Band/Artist: Pink Floyd (hey, just like Bro!). Jethro Tull is a VERY close second.

7. Dirty or Clean: Clean, clean, CLEAN!

8. Tattoos and/or Piercings: None, never have, never will.

HERE COMES THE FUN ... ... ... (I swear I didn't just write that - it was there when I pasted it in)

1. Do we know each other outside of myspace/OD? Probably not (unless you're a relative of mine).

2. Whats your philosophy on life? Don't concern yourself too much over the future. Live in the now.

3. Would you have my back in a fight? Only if I were armed with a suitably powerful weapon. I'm worthless otherwise. (Heck, I'd probably be worthless anyway - just like Yogurt the Hamster from Shining Force.)

4. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest? I don't keep secrets except from myself.

5. What is your favorite memory of us? Covert Ops.

6. Would you give me a kidney? Organ donation doesn't appeal to me.

7. Tell me one odd/intresting fact about you: ...um...define "interesting"? I think I'm fairly boring when it comes to interesting facts...

8. Would you take care of me when I'm sick? Hell yeah. Wouldn't want you dying on me, now.

9. Can we get together and make a cake? Only if I get to be the one to draw on it.

10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately? None to speak of.

11. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me? If I have, it's been too long for me to remember.

12. Do you think I'm a good person? You're a good enough person to not deserve the crap that life is throwing at you.

13. Would you drive across country with me? Not sure why I would, but I would all the same.

14. Do you think I'm attractive? Yeah...but, uh...don't read too much into that, okay?

15. If you could change anything about me, would you? Hard to say.

16. What do you wear to sleep? That's classified information. Though I'll go so far as saying that I don't sleep naked.

17. Would you have sex with me? Eeew! The rest of these questions were okay, but...GEEZ!

18. Would you go on a date with me if i asked you? My place at eight. Bring your hard drive and TrackMania. (Different sort of date than the question is asking, but who cares?)

19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? You'd probably be too busy spending your one day with your beloved wife, but I'd probably tag along anyway so I can make MST3K-like remarks on occasion. Which would probably make you (or your wife) kick my ass.

20. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you? What do you think?

All The Cheesy Bread One Can Eat

Mmm, cheesy bread...and marinara sauce, too. Shame it's Papa Murphys...it probably would have been even more awesome if it came from...like...Izzy's Pizza, or something. But who's complaining? It's frickin' Cheesy Bread.

My bank experience is now complete, since I have an active debit card along with my first collection of checks (starting with Check #1337 - yes, I picked that number myself). Once I get my next paycheck (at which point I suppose that my auto-deposit will be firmly in place), I shall pay my monthly payment on the TV, and then go buy myself some component video cables for my wonderful PS2. Then I'll see if any of my games actually support progressive scan.

I wonder how much it would cost to get an HDMI cable to connect my TV to my computer? Dual flatpanelly goodness...only problem being that I can't do the dual monitor thing unless I switch off my SLI stuff, at which point there's little reason for me to even own this super-rig if I can't get the most out of it.

But oh well - one monitor will do me well, I suppose.

My feet hurt again...that trip to Seaside has taken its toll (perhaps I shouldn't have been so aggressive on the gas pedal when playing F-Zero AX). A weekend of rest will certainly do me well though...a weekend accompanied with Component Video. And MGS2 on Hard mode and GameOverIfDiscovered.

Umm...

I didn't think I'd go four days without a post...did you? I mean, geez. I know it was my weekend and everything, and I was tired, but that's no excuse for me not to keep y'all posted.

Progress I've made in life since four days ago...

* Got my debit card
* Bought Deep Labyrinth for the DS
* Finally completed the Tower of Lezard Valeth on Valkyrie Profile
* Picked up an HDTV and set myself up for monthly payments
* Discovered that EB Games' opening hours seem to change every time I visit
* Visited Seaside, ate at Pig'n'Pancake, walked on the beach, and played a bunch of arcade games - including F-Zero AX, the original Donkey Kong, and a round of Skeeball
* Glared at the Battletoads machine
* Almost played Mo-Cap Boxing except I ran out of change playing Terminator 2
* Admired the fact that the place had a fully working Galaga machine
* Heavily considered cancelling my pre-orders for a few games (like Lego Star Wars 2, since they never freakin' called me when it came in)

It's a bulleted list because I'm lazy. And I'm bored.

I shall spend responsibly. Must have the money to pay off the TV in six months...and see if I can't sell the old set on craigslist. I'm sure somebody wants it.