[481] [SGD] Ode to the chainsaw

console

< Piro >

"back home slowly"

Thursday - November 6, 2003

Hi everybody, we're back

Somehow, we managed to survive the trip, and it was an interesting one. I'll put some rantage together tomorrow or Saturday to talk about our trip, but for now, I just wanted to touch base real quick and let everyone know whats up, now that I'm home.

Aside from dealing with the fun over overcoming the kind of jetlag where you are still waiting for part of your inner soul to catch up with you from wherever over the atlantic it still is, i'm working on Friday's comic (much needed, i see, after from what i hear was an alarming level of domage) - I'm not on schedule, per se - I don't think i'll be able to finish before i need to crash tonight, but the comic should be up sometime tomorrow. I want to do a nice one because it's been a while, and thank you for your patience with the little break.

Finally, the Miho blanket is available in the Megatokyo / ThinkGeek store - looks like they went up Monday, so if you would like your own peice of fuzzy dark cuteness, trundle on over and get one.

Back to work on the comic. I'll have a better idea of when i might be done later tonight.

[previous rant] - [rant archive] - [next rant]

< Dom >

"Big Air, Dead Time"

Monday - October 27, 2003

[Dom] - 09:00:00 - [link here]

SSX 3 for the Xbox is going to devour me. I just know it.

It's amazing how much of an improvement over Tricky the third installment is, starting with the soundtrack--the fact that there IS a soundtrack that isn't just Run DMC remixed is nice. Unfortunately, EA didn't use the Xbox's capability to let you use your own soundtrack, which is a pisser, but at least half of the tracks on the provided soundtrack are well worth listening to. It's just that it doesn't feel like EA gave the Xbox any love, other than a slight graphical boost and lower load times.

Anyway, one of the best things about SSX 3 over Tricky is that EA Canada stole the best parts of Tony Hawk and shamelessly put them in the game. And while I have never been a big Tony Hawk or SSX fan, the hybrid of the two games has me hooked. The freeform feel of the whole thing, the ability simply to ride from top to bottom without getting involved with those pesky races, even the challenges provide a great deal of variety. And in the age of Wario Ware, variety isn't just the spice of life--the spice is life. Or something like that.

I'm also re-experiencing some of the joy I had playing the Dreamcast Soul Calibur with this one, wanting to win events and earn money not just to upgrade my rider, but to unlock all the art (Adam Warren... love him or hate him, the guy can draw pretty well, sometimes).

In other words... people who've e-mailed me over the past month and a half, sorry, blame SSX 3. Who wants to read e-mail when they can be blasting down a mountain at 70 MPH and pulling physically impossible tricks without blinking?

One last thing. This isn't new, but DAMMIT EA, get over yourselves and start using Xbox Live the way it was intended! Okay, so it costs you a little bit of money. Okay, so it means the servers are under Microsoft's control. But dingblast it, it makes the game FUN. And isn't that what the game is supposed to be about? Ergh. Stupid EA online strategists... leaving us Xbox Live boys out in the cold because they can't be in control.