The Catholic Church Finally Helps Art

The Vatican has banned the makers of the movie, “Angels & Demons,” from filming on its grounds. The Church constituted the ban because the film, and the book it is based on, is “an offence against God.” The book is written by Dan Brown, author of “The Da Vinci Code,” and the Pope said that there was no reason to even read the script of “A & D,” just knowing that it is a Dan Brown story was more than enough for them to make the ban.

Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” was not only a New York Times’ Best Seller, but it argueably became the most popular book of this decade. But amongst its fame, it received criticism from churches (which historically ban art) and the literary world because of its provaking of Christian symbology and text to create 2000 year old conspiracy theories. Churches (catholic and protestant) viewed this as sacreligious and the literary world saw it as a cheap way to sell poorly written novel. The movie, “A & D,” hopes to live off of Dan Brown’s popularity to make millions in the box office.

It’s about time that the Catholic Church helps the artforms of film and literature by stopping Brown’s abominations that a large population of the western world call “literature,” instead of banning controversial books and films that actually are art. Thanks, Vatican, for making it that much harder for the makers of this movie, I appreciate it.

Classic Cars of 2025

The classic and collector cars of today are the ones that not only every guy dream’t of having (and some of the lucky ones had) in high school, but also the ones that they did have, build, and tune. Some of those cars that come to mind are the Mustangs, Camaro’s, Trans-Am’s, Chevelle’s, Bel-Airs, Corvettes, and GTO’s of the 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s. Of course those cars will still be at car shows in 15 years and their values will continue to sky rocket, but the question is, what cars will also become collector’s car? The answer is the cars that guys (and girls) in high school and college now have and want: imports, tuners, and still some muscle. I have compiled a list of those cars below:

Honda Civic ‘92-’95, ‘96-’00
The Honda Civic will be the most popular collector’s car in 2025, due to its extreme popularity among tuners, ricers, and just about everyone else as well as his high production numbers. There are also so many parts floating around for this car that they will be easy to rebuild and soop up.

Ford Mustang ‘99-’04, ‘05-Present
The Mustang has been a staple in car culture since it first made it’s appearance in 1965 and even though it almost died in the late 70’s and early 80’s, it has made a full come back and the late 90’s saw a new, more powerful and more aggressive looking Mustang that made it the best (and eventually the only) muscle car left. On top of it’s popularity, the abundance of high performance models (GT, Saleen, Shelby) and the abundance of parts from the V6 models will make the Mustang of the late 90’s and 2000s one of the most collectible cars in the future.

Mitsubishi Lancer ‘00-’06
Due to Lancer Evolution being one of the most sought after imports, it and the other Mitsu Lancers will be a popular collector’s car in 15 years.

Ford Focus ‘00-’07
I know that I am already going to be harassed for putting the Ford Focus on this list (I hated this car when it came out); but, a lot of the collector’s cars of today are ones that weren’t the most drooled over when they were in showrooms, but the ones that everyone drove in high school due to their affordability. The Focus also became a popular tuner car because every kid has one and every kid wantd to tune their crs to compete with civics, celicas, and eclipses. Like it or not, The Focus will be a car show standard in 2025.

Mitsubishi Eclipse ‘95-’98
The Eclipse barely made this list over the Toyota Celica and the Honda Prelude, but all four North American generations (nearly two decades now) are good looking cars that have been very popular and they have decent power as well as capabilities for tuning. The most popular and arguably the best looking was the mid 90’s Eclipse because it’s smooth lines and option for turbocharging. This popular little sports car will be all over car shows.

Honorable Mentions:
Acura Integra, Acura RSX, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Dodge Neon, Honda Accord, Honda Prelude, Honda S2000, Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-8, Mitsubishi 3000 GT, Nissan Skyline, Nissan Z, Suburu Impreza, Toyota Celica, Toyota Supra, VW Golf, VW Jetta

If you think any other cars should be on this list, let me know.

Don’t use steroids…you may hit your loved ones.

Click here to check out a hilarious video about the dangers of Steroids. Fucking classic.

Articles of Impeachment Introduced for Pres. Bush (video)

On the evening of May 9, 2008, Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced Articles of Impeachment against Pesdient George W. Bush. The Ohio Representative based his reasoning for the impeachment of Bush on more than thirty charges, most of which were centered around the Iraq War and the run up to it. Reuter’s reported that Kucinich is blaming Bush for having “‘calculated and wide-ranging strategy’ to deceive citizens and Congress into believing that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States.”

Unfortunetly, The Kucinich’s introduction of impeachment is not expected to go anywhere. It is sad that the U.S. congress can move foward with an impeachment over a lie about a sex scandal, but when a president lies to get the country into a war, they choose to barely do anything. Either way, here’s the video:

The Best Wii Games…That I’ve Played (June 2008)

Due to the popularity of my “The Best DS Games…That I’ve Played” posts, I thought that I would continue the trend start to post monthly list of the best Nintendo Wii games. So here you go:

6. Mario Kart Wii: I know that I said in my review of Mario Kart Wii that it was a “disappointment” but it is still Mario Kart and it is still great fun. When it comes to online play, it follows its DS counterpart and provides some of the best onlin eplay that Nintendo has ever offered.

5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Many people would and have ranked Brawl higher on their list. I would have if the online play wasn’t complete shit. Brawl is still just as addicting as the last two Smash Bros. games; but, I thought the best part of this game was the Subspace Emissary because it allowed you to play a decently long side scrolling platformer/fighter with every major Nintendo character.

4. Wii Sports
Although it was a cheap pack-in title, Wii Sports is wildly fun a year and a half later. The five sports are all so easy to pick up and play and hte minigames are even more fun. Nintendo really showed that they know how to make gamers and non-gamers have a lot of fun with this little game.

3. Super Mario Galaxy
Galaxy took the Super Mario 64 engine and pushed it not only graphically, but into space. And the end product is arguably the best 3-D platformer of all time. This is possibly the hardest game to walk away from. From the moment you start playing, you will find yourself saying, “just one more star.”

2. No More Heroes
No More Heroes is a very unique game. It is hard to describe but if I had to in three words I would say, kooky blood fest. This is the best “M” rated Wii game and it has been grossly over looked (because of that it is down to $29.99 at most stores).

1. Super Paper Mario
Super Paper Mario gets my vote for the best comedy writing in a game of all-time. This game is a lot like it’s Gamecube predecessor except it drops the turn based battle system. This game is an estuary of perfect 2-D platforming and RPG elements.

Bush wrong in comparison of Obama to ‘Nazi Appeasers’

Today, President Bush took a jab at the apparent democratic nominee for his job, Barack Obama, by saying that Obama’s apparent appeasement of terrorists is the same as some United States and European leaders appeased Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930’s. First off, no one appeased Hitler in the run up to World War II. If you look at history, Hitler began taking over Europe in the wake of World War I which devestated the great powers of Europe. Hitler initially took parts of Europe that were taken from Germany after the WWI. No one in Europe was ready to go back to war to stop Germans from reuniting with Germans, even if it broke treaties. Once Hitler took Poland, he was warned to do nothing else and when he did, WWII officially began and Europe went back to war in 1939.

Barack Obama would not stand around and listen to terrorist demands if terrorists took over a country and he is not saying anything different. From what Obama has said in speeches and his platform on his website, Obama advocates diplomacy before war, which makes more sense (and is a simple concept taught even in Pol Sci 101) than Bush’s Iraq War which has a ’shoot first, ask questions later’ plan; and five years, thousands of lives, and billions of dollars later, we are still asking questions, to say the least.

Bush is basing his statements on a quote from Senator William Borah (R-Idaho), who was a U.S. senator during WWII. In 1939 Borah said, “Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.” Hitler had a country full of citizens wanting revenge on Europe because they felt like they were treated unfairly by the Treaty of Versailles. Nazi Germany also built a dominating military and raised ungodly amounts of money. Politicians throughout Europe and the United States in the 1930’s had no choice but to “appease” Hitler beacause it was politically and militarily nearly impossible to do anything else. With that said, Obama and other current democrats would have no problem attacking a terrorist group who is attempting to take over the Middle East, like Hitler did to Europe, but no terrorists group have the capabilties of doing so.

In short, Bush’s comparison has no merit…and to think that Bush has a degree in history.

The Best Nintendo DS Games…That I’ve Played (May 2008)

For the fourth time, this article is biased. These are MY favorite games, if you don’t like them, tough. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve played a lot of Nintendo DS games as a game reviewer and as a game store manager, so I feel like I have some authority here; either way, here’s the best games that I have played:

1. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl: That’s right, Pokemon has etched it’s place back in heart as numero uno. Ever since I first played Pokemon Blue in 8th grade, I am a Pokemon fan. No, not of the the anime or any of the other crap. But that games are perfect. And the DS installment didn’t change the formula, but they did add some touch screen controls and, more importantly, online trading and battling. This game is so good, that I bought and played through both versions.

2. Yoshi’s Island DS: Remember this game on the SNES? It’s like that only WAY better. Two screens, sharper graphics (still hand drawn), and four babies! If you haven’t played the original (you should, it was redone on the Game Boy Advance), this series was a spin-off/prequel of Super Mario World (the oringal’s title was “Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island”) and takes place a beautiful hand drawn world where you, Yoshi, have to get Baby Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Donkey Kong to end of each level and to the next Yoshi. This game is leaps and bounds better than the already stellar, The New Super Mario Bros; and Yoshi’s Island DS really is one of the best Mario side-scrollers of all-time. If I haven’t praised this game enough yet, when I start playing it, it’s one of those games where you beat a level and then tell yourself, ‘just one more level’ and continue to do so for hours. There is seriously not a single complaint about this game.

3. Kirby Squeak Squad: I used to think that this game was a pretty weak Kirby game for whatever reason but I recently started playing this game again and I discovered a wonderful little platformer. It has all of the things that makes any Kirby game great and you can store items and enemies in Kirby’s stomach via the touch screen. On top of that, this game is much longer than most other Kirby games and the bosses are a little more difficult than previous Kirby bosses (but they still are not anything a 6 year old couldn’t handle). Also, Super Nintendo’s Kirby Super Star is announced on the DS!

4. Anno 1701: This was a Europe only release, but now it is a Gamestop/EB Games exclusive in the U.S. It blends Sim City with a RTS and it’s set in colonial America. You can defend your colony from pirates, other colonies, and wi-fi invaders. I have put many hours into this game, especially into it’s “continuous play” mode (as opposed to “story play”). Nothing is more fun then waging war and nearly bankrupting your colony just to take over some diamond mines and a some corn fields. Seriously, it is fun. This game was originally a stop-set for “Settlers” (which blew a big one) and is made by, strangley enough, Touchstone (a division of Disney) but it ended up being better than most RTS’s that I’ve ever played not just on the DS but on the PC as well. I really can’t say enough for this game. Go down to your local Gamestop and buy it. If you don’t like Gamestop for whatever reason, import it on the Britian’s ebay (www.ebay.co.uk) it’ll cost about the same $30 and you’ll get a cool European DS case (it’s see-thru and wider).

5. Animal Crossing: Wild World: Animal Crossing snuck up on me and it has had me hooked ever since. Like it’s GameCube installment, this game offers a life sim that is like no other. In other words, it isn’t complete crap (i.e. The Sims series, Harvest Moon, and MySims). You can pretty much do anything you want. I made fruit orchards and pretend that I own…well…an orchard. The game is awesome. If ou have a DS and you don’t have it, buy it. If you don’t have a DS, buy a DS and then buy this game. You will not regret the $150 investment.

6. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker: Think 3-D Pokemon, without random battles in the Dragon Quest universe. It’s a beautiful DS game with a story line that allows you to pander away from it and level up your monsters. You can also breed your monsters to make new ones and battle via wi-fi with your friends or random players. The more I play this game the harder it gets to put it down.

7. Mario Kart DS: In case you were wondering, this is the highest ranked Nintendo DS game at “critic-conglomerizer,” Metacritic.com, with a score of 91 out of 100. It’s kinda like Mario Kart 64 with better graphics, more characters and karts (yes, you get to pick your kart), better controls (even with the D-pad), and online. It also showcases tracks from all of the old Mario Kart games as well some great new ones. You can also play battle modes multi-player which is perfect because no one can screen-cheat.

8. Sonic Rush: To be honest, I have not played Sonic Rush Adventure (The sequel to this game) and it may be better than Sonic Rush, but in its own right, Sonic Rush is a side-scrolling Sonic game with better graphics and a lot faster. Yes, faster. It’s not that difficult of a game, but it’s a blast. Once I get a chance to play Sonic Rush Adventure, I’ll let you know how it is compared to this.

9. Omega: This is a relatively cheap Japanese-only release that is very much worth the import. it has two puzzle games, one is an aquarium puzzle game which is more of a novelty, but is fun it own right. The real game is the omega puzzle game which puts a group of gears with multi colored balls in them on the touch screen and a mirror image of those gears on the top screen. You can move the gears on the bottom screen, but it also moves the same gear on the top screen. If you aren’t too confused yet, you have get the balls into certain parts of the gears. If you are confused, just buy the game, I got it for $7 on Play-Asia.

10. Picross DS: This is the best puzzle game ever (maybe second to Dr. Mario, maybe). You can take your time and work through a puzzle all day, whenever you get a chance. It’s kinda like Sudoku only without the headache and you get a cute, little picture at the end!

Honorable Mentions
The first is SimCity DS. The DS is the best system for RTS’s (Sid Meier’s Civilization DS is coming to it soon!) and sims like the SimCity franchise because the touch screen gives you better-than-a-mouse control of the game, because of that SimCity DS makes this list. The only downside is the small screen, but you get used to it quickly and won’t complain about it. As for the graphics, they are somewhere in between the SNES version and Sim City 3000. The game is also online which is kind of hard to figure out but once you do , you can check out other people’s cities and trade some landmarks. Super Dodgeball Brawlers will be out in a week or so and let me tell you something, it is a great reincarnation of the NES original with a graphics update and some added features. If you haven’t played a Super Dodgeball game before it’s a dodgeball match with one ball and 7 players per team. You can pass the ball around on your side, build up a special throw and unleash it on your opponents. And new to this game, you can punch and kick the other team when they get close to your side of the court (hence the “brawlers” in the title). If you can’t wait for this one to come out, Super Dodgeball Advance on the GBA has been out for a while. Imagine a Super Smash Bros. game on the DS with characters from 28 popular animes and mangas. That game exsists…in Japan, it’s called Jump Ultimate Stars. Due to licensing issues this game will most likely never make its way out of Asia, but this game is worth importing. You can customize fighting teams with characters from series such as Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh. You then can train your team and take them online to fight other players. If you want to spend less on this game looks for Jump Super Stars, the first game in this series (it doesn’t support wi-fi though). Even being an Asia exclusive game, Jump Ultimate Stars is the fourth best Nintendo DS game according to Metacritic.com (Metacritic averages all of the major game review scores from magazines, websites, and tv shows to get one score). If you live in the Seattle area, Pink Godzilla in Chinatown carries both games and sells them for around $50. If you don’t live in Seattle check out pink godzilla or play-asia. The New Super Mario Bros. is a great 2-D Mario game, with phenomenal graphics and it may be up higher on other people’s list, but the game got too boring and repetitive for me by about the third world. But I have no doubt that if you buy this game, you will like it just because it is a great Mario platformer. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a unique RPG and a wildly addicting one. It’s a mix between a ‘hunt-and-gather RPG’ and shooting the heck out of each other’s tanks. Just buy it and you’ll see what I mean. In Trauma Center: Under the Knife you are a young surgeon who has to operate on many patients via the touchscreen and endure a storyline that could be straight out of a daytime drama. There are also two installments of this game on the Wii (but I’d say that the DS version is best). Electroplankton is a crazy little music game that is like no other, in fact, I can’t even explain it. But if you want to pick this game up, try to find the Japanese version because it will actually be cheaper (there was barely any U.S. version made) and it comes with exclusive headphones (you are making music!). Trace Memory is puzzle/mystery/text-based game that is as fun as it is challenging. It’s also very cheap at $10 at most places (and even cheaper if you can find it used! I saw it for $7 at some places). Trace Memory has a spiritual sequel called Hotel Dusk: Room 215; I didn’t like it as much as Trace Memory, but it was definitly a great game on its own. Starfox Command is like Star Fox 64 with better graphics, touch screen controls (don’t worry, they work well), and an RTS between level map which is simple but it adds a nice dynamic to the franchise that I wouldn’t mind seeing in future Starfox games (hopefully on the Wii!). Lastly, I am picking Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Like other sports series, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour Series is largely over looked on the DS mainly because sports games don’t fare well on handhelds; but if you are a golfing fan, the Tiger Woods games are great because the graphics are great and you control the swing with your stylus wchih is very intuitive. Just a warning about this game: my original DS is permantly scratched from swinging the club too much (or maybe too hard) on this game, but the screen protector on my current DS has stopped that problem. In fact, invest in a screen protector no matter what. Just be sure to find the static cling ones, because other ones leave a residue on your screen (I used to manage a game store and I wouldn’t take a DS in on trade if they had that residue from the bad screen protectors).

So that’s it, my top ten (more like 23-ish) games. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are there to stay, or at least until next month.

And, by the way, feel free to comment and let me know how “wrong” I am. Seriously though, if you know other games that are not on the list tell me and everyone else about them, the more the merrier!

*Note: If you want to see past month’s lists, click on the category entitled :”The Best DS Games…That I’ve Played”.

NBC spends first 15 minutes on ‘Rev. Wright’ in Obama interview

NBC had Barack Obama on Meet the Press today for an entire hour (46 minutes after commercials) and host Tim Russert wasted the first 15 minutes on eight questions about Rev. Jerimiah Wright. The next seven minutes were devoted to two questions that challenged Obama’s patriotism and questioned his recent loss of white voters. Finally, halfway into the interview, the first actual issue was touched upon when Russert asked about John McCain’s proposed ‘gas tax holiday’ and Hillary Clinton’s support of it. Ethanol’s stealing of food crops and nuclear energy came up and finally, Obama was asked if he would ever attack Iran and then a follow up question regarding Afghanistan was allowed to go for two minutes before Russert interrupted Obama to ask about the next primary. Russert ended the interview asking about the hypothetical of all of the remaining superdelegates going to Clinton, which is a near impossibility.

There were no questions about the War in Iraq, no questions about climate change, and no questions about the economy. I thought that networks would learn from ABC’ mistake with their last debate that if you have an oppurtunity to expose a candidate to the public, ask them about issues that people care about. It is sickening to still see this Rev. Wright issue not only still floating around, but given the first 15 minutes of a highly publicized interview when the country and the world are facing much bigger issues.

Spoiler Warning: ‘Iron Man’ is Complete Shit

Having a short term memory of most other super hero movies and being a fan of the Iron Man comic when I was a kid, I saw the movie on opening night. That was a mistake, not just seeing it on opening night, seeing the movie at all was a mistake.

I do want to get out of the way that casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was an excellent piece of casting. Downey captures Stark’s intelligence and snarkiness perfectly and I could not have imagined Stark being played by anyone else. Downey deserves all of the credit in the world for single handedly holding together an otehrwise complete abomination of Iron Man, Marvel, and movies in general.

Now that I got the good out of the way, I will start to delve into the bad, but due to constrants on my time that I want to devote to thinking about this movie, I will not get to everything. First off, the hook of this movie was seeing Iron Man doing some badass things with Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ song being played in the background. That never happened, I held my breath the entire movie waiting for this moment and once the credits start rolling, you finally hear Ozzy scream out the name sake song.

Second, for a superhero based on technology, this movie takes a lot of liberties with technology and only standing on the justification that Stark is a “Da Vinci of his time.” Ok…but still, how does he (and his alter-ego) have the phenominal learning curve to be able to handle those Iron Man suits? It makes no sense, even for a VERY corny super hero movie.

The most obvious complaint is the donkey punch that the movie gives to the comic when it comes to the story, I do have a big enough heart to say anything here, I do not want to ruin it for the three people that may enjoy the movie. But, god, do I want to.

I’m sick of film corporations making boat loads of money from ruining the nostalgia of my childhood, with that in mind, I will not be seeing Speed Racer…or Get Smart…or the new Indiana Jones.

Mario Kart Wii is a Disappointment

I picked up Mario Kart Wii today with much anticipation since I have been a Mario Kart fan since it came out on the Super Nintendo. Mario Kart Wii is a great Nintendo game that I am sure you will enjoy immensely, but it isn’t as great as it could have been due to some things that Nintendo changed from the original formula and it’s mediocore-at-best online play.

First, the good. The graphics are shaper than its Gamecube predecesor, you can race motorcycles, you can perform mid-air tricks, it comes with a free wii-wheel, and you can race or battle online.

Next, the bad. The wii-wheel is a fun novelty once and then you pick up a gamecube controller and actually play the game. It’s not that racing with the wheel is bad, it’s just not accurate, you will have a hard time sliding in between two closely placed banana peels with the wii-wheel. Next, The play online takes a short eternity to get started. You have to watch a race before you can join it and the online load screens and the course selection both take much longer than they needed to.

As for using the gamecube controller or the wii-mote/nunchuck, Nintendo changed how you powerslide. Instead of waggling the joystick back and forth until you build up a boost, you have to hold a powersilde for a certain amount of time and when you exit the slide, your kart boosts; that’s ok and all, but powersliding feels totally diferent than the last three major installments of the game (DS, GCN, and N64). In order to maintain a slide that is going to get you around a corner, you have to waggle the joystick back and forth to aviod hitting a wall or going off course.

There are some new items in this game, the ones that stand out the most are the POW Block and the big mushroom. The POW block is like a red shell that you can’t aviod. It flies up and hits you, making you spin out. There’s not much strategy to it and it’s really annoying. The big mushroom makes you bigger and allows you to run over other racers, but it doesn’t let you speed up.

Personally, I liked Mario Kart: Double Dash the best and this game is pretty far from that game. The only thing the same is that the courses still are long and complex. But there is only one character per kart, items work more like the N64 version, and the racing is simpler and slower. Mario Kart Wii is a step backwards to Mario Kart 64 and that disapoints me.

Overall, if you like Mario Kart, you aren’t going to hate this game, but you may be a little disappointed. I’m giving it a C+.

China is going to shit when they read our First Amendment

China is suing CNN for $1.3 billion ($1 for each Chinese citizen) for Jack Cafferty’s
‘mean-spirited’ remarks toward Chinese industry and government. Cafferty said that the U.S. imports “junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food…they’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years.”

First, what’s wrong with that statement? We buy a lot of crap from China and lately a lot of that crap has been poisoned. But maybe China is on to something, they are not “the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years,” The thugs of 50 years ago didn’t sell poisoned goods. So, the Chinese “thugs” of now are WORSE than the ones of 50 years ago.

Second, we United States citizens have made some frivilous lawsuits over some really dumb stuff, but a government suing a cable news channel for some remarks made by a pundant? That takes the cake. I really have nothing else to say about that, it speaks for itself.

Lastly, Americans have the right to free speech! I know that free speech is an idea that the Chinese are not used to, but if they don’t want to be called “thugs,” then maybe they should get used to it!

Hillary’s states don’t matter

Next time you hear Hillary Clinton say, “I’ve won states that a democrat needs to win,” and you think that she may be right, remember that she is talking about New York, California, and Pennsylvania. Those are states that every democrat wins. John Kerry did in 2004, Al Gore did 2000, and Bill Clinton did in 1996 and 1992. So, next time you hear Hillary say, “I’ve won states that a democrat needs to win,” just imagine that she is saying, “I’ve won states that a democrat will always win.”

In order for a democrat to win the election in November, they will need to win states that Republicans usually win.

On that note, Brack Obama has won states that Republicans usually win, like Texas, South Carolina, Iowa, and Alabama.

The fact is, Obama has a better chance to beat McCain based on the states that he has won and the fact that EVERY major poll says that Obama is ahead of McCain.

And to think that I used to be Hillay supporter…ugh.

High school alumni refuse to change ‘mushroom cloud’ mascot

Richland High School in Richland, Washington, uses the mascot of ‘the Bombers’ (the official school seal here) and use a mushroom cloud to represent their public high school. The image conjuers up images of death and destruction in the minds of most, but for Richland High School alumni, it brings the feelings of accomplishment, pride, and patriotism. Why? Probably because Richland is a town that was essentially built as a camp for the Hanford Nuclear Site in 1943, Hanford helped make plutonium for one of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan to end World War II in the Pacific. And because of that, alumni have fought progressive Richland school boards and superintendents that have wanted to change the mascot to anything else and, so far, the alumni have won.

Even though Richland is proud of their heritage and their ancestors’ contribution to the war effort, a symbol of death and destruction should not be the symbol of a place of learning and growth.

The school and city have been visited by documentary makers, Tom Brokaw, Japanese nuclear bomb survivors, and others to see if the name could get changed but had no such luck.

I have started a petition to change the mascot back to the pre-1945 mascot, “the Beavers.” CLICK HERE to sign it.

Thank you.

Game Reviews

I have made a new section on Dmitri Stone’s Tablet, it is “Game Reviews.” This is where I will grade games that only I own and play. Too many times, you read game reviews or see them scored by someone who has only played the first level, but the only games that I have graded here I have played extensively and then some.

Hillary Siding with McCain to stop Obama

With this year’s election in mind, let’s look to the future.

Let’s say that Barack Obama wins the general election and is our next president, then he will be running as the incumbant against a republican in 2012 and no matter what Hillary Clinton cannot run in that election. This means that if Obama wins the 2008 election, Hillary cannot even try to run again until 2016 when she will be nearly 70 years old, weakening her chances.

Let’s make another assumption. With all of the obvious lies made by Hillary (“sniper fire” being one) and the cold-hearted attempts to hurt Obama even though they are of the same party and Obama has a 91% of winning the nomination, it can be concluded that Hillary will do just about anything to become president.

Now that we have made those two assumptions, and if you believe them, we can say that Hillary will do anything to stop Obama from winning. Anything, including staying in the race as long she can to hurt Obama as much as possible to give McCain the win in November allowing Clinton the chance to run against a 75 year-old McCain in 2012.

What do you think?

Obama will fight with Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson on WWE Raw

In what looks like a one of the best publicity stunts in the history of presidential elections, Barack Obama with appear on the April 21st episode of WWE Raw in Greenville, South Carolina. Obama will team up with the Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson in the Rock’s return to professional wrestling. They will fight in a tag team match against unknown opponents.

Obama confirmed the match early this morning after the news of the event was leaked late last night. Obama said that he is looking foward to teaming up with the Rock, who Obama met last year at at a rally in Chicago. “Dwayne Johnson is a great guy and I am looking foward to being on his side in the ring,” said Obama. When asked about his strategy Obama said, “I don’t know, I will probably be hiding behind the Rock.”

Tickets are currently sold out for the event and ratings for the show are expected to reach record highs. The episode will air live on the USA Network.

Bush boo’d as he throws first pitch at National’s game

Hillary Drops Out of Race, Endorses Obama

Today, Hillary Clinton announced that she will drop out of the presidential race and concede to and support Barrack Obama who is, in her words, “a better candidate and will be a better president than I.” This comes as a surprise because Clinton announced earlier that she was going to fight hard until August, when the official democratic candidate would be announced. Actually, I mispoke. Hillary didn’t drop out. Don’t get mad at me, I’m only human. It’s probably because of my lack of sleep.

The Best Nintendo DS Games…That I’ve Played (April 08 Update)

********READ THE NEWEST LIST (May 2008) CLICK HERE********

I’ll warn you again, this article is biased. These are MY favorite games, if you don’t like them, tough. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve played a lot of Nintendo DS games, a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones, so I feel like I have some authority here; either way, here’s the best games that I have played:

1. Anno 1701: This was a Europe only release, but now it is a Gamestop/EB Games exclusive in the U.S. It blends Sim City with a RTS and it’s set in colonial America. You can defend your colony from pirates, other colonies, and wi-fi invaders. I have put many hours into this game, especially into it’s “continuous play” mode (as opposed to “story play”). Nothing is more fun then waging war and nearly bankrupting your colony just to take over some diamond mines and a some corn fields. Seriously, it is fun. This game was originally a stop-set for “Settlers” (which blew a big one) and is made by, strangley enough, Touchstone (a division of Disney) but it ended up being better than most RTS’s that I’ve ever played not just on the DS but on the PC as well. I really can’t say enough for this game. Go down to your local Gamestop and buy it. If you don’t like Gamestop for whatever reason, import it on the Britian’s ebay (www.ebay.co.uk) it’ll cost about the same $30 and you’ll get a cool European DS case (it’s see-thru and wider).

2. Animal Crossing: Wild World: Animal Crossing snuck up on me and it has had me hooked ever since. Like it’s GameCube installment, this game offers a life sim that is like no other. In other words, it isn’t complete crap (i.e. The Sims series, Harvest Moon, and MySims). You can pretty much do anything you want. I made fruit orchards and pretend that I own…well…an orchard. The game is awesome. If ou have a DS and you don’t have it, buy it. If you don’t have a DS, buy a DS and then buy this game. You will not regret the $150 investment.

3. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker: Think 3-D Pokemon, without random battles in the Dragon Quest universe. It’s a beautiful DS game with a story line that allows you to pander away from it and level up your monsters. You can also breed your monsters to make new ones and battle via wi-fi with your friends or random players. The more I play this game the harder it gets to put it down.

4. Super Dodgeball Brawlers: This game will be out in a week or so and let me tell you something, it is a great reincarnation of the NES original with a graphics update and some added features. If you haven’t played a Super Dodgeball game before it’s a dodgeball match with one ball and 7 players per team. You can pass the ball around on your side, build up a special throw and unleash it on your opponents. And new to this game, you can punch and kick the other team when they get close to your side of the court (hence the “brawlers” in the title). If you can’t wait for this one to come out, Super Dodgeball Advance on the GBA has been out for a while.

5. Jump Ultimate Stars: Imagine a Super Smash Bros. game on the DS with characters from 28 popular animes and mangas. That game exsists…in Japan. Due to licensing issues this game will most likely never make its way out of Asia, but this game is worth importing. You can customize fighting teams with characters from series such as Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh. You then can train your team and take them online to fight other players. If you want to spend less on this game looks for Jump Super Stars, the first game in this series (it doesn’t support wi-fi though). Even being an Asia exclusive game, Jump Ultimate Stars is the fourth best Nintendo DS game according to Metacritic.com (Metacritic averages all of the major game review scores from magazines, websites, and tv shows to get one score). If you live in the Seattle area, Pink Godzilla in Chinatown carries both games and sells them for around $50. If you don’t live in Seattle check out pink godzilla or play-asia.

6. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl: Ever since I first played Pokemon Blue in 8th grade, I am a Pokemon fan. No, not of the the anime or any of the other crap. But that games are perfect. And the DS installment didn’t change the formula, but they did add some touch screen controls and, more importantly, online trading and battling. This game is so good, that I bought and played through both versions.

7. Yoshi’s Island DS: Remember this game on the SNES? It’s like that only WAY better. Two screens, sharper graphics (still hand drawn), and four babies! If you haven’t played the original (you should, it was redone on the Game Boy Advance), this series was a spin-off/prequel of Super Mario World (the oringal’s title was “Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island”) and takes place a beautiful hand drawn world where you, Yoshi, have to get Baby Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Donkey Kong to end of each level and to the next Yoshi. This game is leaps and bounds better than the already stellar, The New Super Mario Bros; and Yoshi’s Island DS really is one of the best Mario side-scrollers of all-time. If I haven’t praised this game enough yet, when I start playing it, it’s one of those games where you beat a level and then tell yourself, ‘just one more level’ and continue to do so for hours. There is seriously not a single complaint about this game.

8. Mario Kart DS: In case you were wondering, this is the highest ranked Nintendo DS game at “critic-conglomerizer,” Metacritic.com, with a score of 91 out of 100. It’s kinda like Mario Kart 64 with better graphics, more characters and karts (yes, you get to pick your kart), better controls (even with the D-pad), and online. It also showcases tracks from all of the old Mario Kart games as well some great new ones. You can also play battle modes multi-player which is perfect because no one can screen-cheat.

9. Picross DS: This is the best puzzle game ever (maybe second to Dr. Mario, maybe). You can take your time and work through a puzzle all day, whenever you get a chance. It’s kinda like Sudoku only without the headache and you get a cute, little picture at the end!

10. Sonic Rush: To be honest, I have not played Sonic Rush Adventure (The sequel to this game) and it may be better than Sonic Rush, but in its own right, Sonic Rush is a side-scrolling Sonic game with better graphics and a lot faster. Yes, faster. It’s not that difficult of a game, but it’s a blast. Once I get a chance to play Sonic Rush Adventure, I’ll let you know how it is compared to this.

Honorable Mentions

The first is SimCity DS. The DS is the best system for RTS’s (Sid Meier’s Civilization is coming to it soon!) and sims like the SimCity franchise because the touch screen gives you better-than-a-mouse control of the game, because of that SimCity DS makes this list. The only downside is the small screen, but you get used to it quickly and won’t complain about it. As for the graphics, they are somewhere in between the SNES version and Sim City 2000. The game is also online which is kind of hard to figure out but once you do , you can check out other people’s cities and trade some landmarks. The New Super Mario Bros. is a great 2-D Mario game, with phenomenal graphics and it may be up higher on other people’s list, but the game got too boring and repetitive for me by about the third world. But I have no doubt that if you buy this game, you will like it just because it is a great Mario platformer. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a unique RPG and a wildly addicting one. It’s a mix between a ‘hunt-and-gather RPG’ and shooting the heck out of each other’s tanks. Just buy it and you’ll see what I mean. In Trauma Center: Under the Knife you are a young surgeon who has to operate on many patients via the touchscreen and endure a storyline that could be straight out of a daytime drama. There are also two installments of this game on the Wii (but I’d say that the DS version is best). Electroplankton is a crazy little music game that is like no other, in fact, I can’t even explain it. But if you want to pick this game up, try to find the Japanese version because it will actually be cheaper (there was barely any U.S. version made) and it comes with exclusive headphones (you are making music!). Trace Memory is puzzle/mystery/text-based game that is as fun as it is challenging. It’s also very cheap at $10 at most places (and even cheaper if you can find it used! I saw it for $7 at some places). Trace Memory has a spiritual sequel called Hotel Dusk: Room 215; I didn’t like it as much as Trace Memory, but it was definitly a great game on its own. Starfox Command is like Star Fox 64 with better graphics, touch screen controls (don’t worry, they work well), and an RTS between level map which is simple but it adds a nice dynamic to the franchise that I wouldn’t mind seeing in future Starfox games (hopefully on the Wii!). Lastly, I am picking Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Like other sports series, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour Series is largely over looked on the DS mainly because sports games don’t fare well on handhelds; but if you are a golfing fan, the Tiger Woods games are great because the graphics are great and you control the swing with your stylus wchih is very intuitive. Just a warning about this game: my original DS is permantly scratched from swinging the club too much (or maybe too hard) on this game, but the screen protector on my current DS has stopped that problem. In fact, invest in a screen protector no matter what. Just be sure to find the static cling ones, because other ones leave a residue on your screen (I used to manage a game store and I wouldn’t take a DS in on trade if they had that residue from the bad screen protectors).

So that’s it, my top ten (more like 22-ish) games. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are there to stay, or at least until next month.

And, by the way, feel free to comment and let me know how “wrong” I am. Seriously though, if you know other games that are not on the list tell me and everyone else about them, the more the merrier!

*Note: If you want to see past month’s lists, click on the category entitled :”The Best DS Games…That I’ve Played”.

The Best Game of All-Time: Round 5

Half-Life 2 (PC)

Super Mario Bros. (NES)

Earthbound (SNES)

Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

The Legend of Zelda: Ocrania of Time (N64)

Hillary Clinton and Richard Nixon are eriely alike

Hillary Clinton is taking a lot of heat lately for her stretching and fabrication of the truth and for being too secretive. Former Preseident Richard Nixon had the exact same issues when he was running for president forty years ago in the election of 1968.

The similarities don’t stop there. Richard Nixon, a republican, ran on the platform that the nation needed to ditch the democrats that have been in office (Lyndon Johnson and before that John F. Kennedy) and stop their war in Vietnam; but ironically, Nixon supported the Vietnam War from the get go. Sound familiar? Hillary Clinton, a democrat, is running on the platform that the nation needs the ditch the republicans that have been in office (George W. Bush and company) and stop their war in Iraq; but ironically, Clinton voted for the Iraq War (that’s called supporting the war) from the get go.

On the brightside, Nixon and Hillary have both been called extremely intellegent and amazing politicians. But drawing more similarities isn’t good for Hillary because the presidents that she is compared to don’t have a good track record when it comes to telling the truth. Her husband, Bill Clinton, underwent impeachment hearings after lying about “you know what” and Nixon resigned under the threat of an impeachment after he lied about his ordered break-in of the Democratic National HQ at the Watergate Hotel.

Also Nixon promised to end the war in Vietnam during his campaign and after he was president, he secretly bombed Laos and Cambodia (those are other Asian countries neighboring Vietnam) and further escalated the number of troops in the region. I would be willing to bet that if Hillary becomes president, she would take the same path.

Secretive, non-transparent, lying presidents are never a good thing, but I didn’t need to tell you that did I? Be wary voters. That is, those of you who haven’t voted in a primary yet.

We need more holidays

Holidays are interesting things. They are driven by tradition and sometimes enforced by government. As of now there are only ten federal holidays and although they are celebrated for great reasons, they are not enough. I propose that nine more holidays be made federal holidays, giving most people the day off work so they can partake in celebrating or remembering that day in whatever wya they do. The following is a list of what the federal holidays should be (the ones italicized are the original ten).

New Years Day – January 1st
Martin Luther King Day – 3rd Monday of January
Superbowl Sunday – First Monday of February (The Superbowl should be moved to Monday so we can have a day off of work)
Presidents Day – 3rd Monday of February
St. Patrick’s Day – March 17
Earth Day – April 22
Cinco de Mayo – May 5
Memorial Day – Last Monday of May
Independence Day – July 4th
Labor Day – 1st Monday of September
9/11 Day – September 11
Columbus Day – October 13
Halloween – October 31st
Election Day – 1st Tuesday of November
Veterans Day – November 11
Thanksgiving – 4th Thursday of November
Black Friday – 4th Friday of November
Pearl Harbor Day – December 7
Christmas – December 25
New Year’s Eve – December 31

The Best Game of All-Time: Round 4

Doom (PC)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
World of Warcraft (PC)

Super Mario Bros. (NES)

Pokemon Blue & Red (GB)

Earthbound (SNES)

Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

The Legend of Zelda: Ocrania of Time (N64)

Halo (XBOX)

City of Seattle won’t buy bottled water

To cut down on trash and help the environment, the city of Seattle will stop buying bottled water, Mayor Greg Nickels announced Thursday.

Read more, click here.

Five Northwest Teams Make March Madness

Being a Washington State University alumni, I am obviously excited that the Cougars have made it into the NCAA Tourney for the second year straight and even more excited that the Cougs are looking to have a better shot at breaking into the sweet sixteen this year. But I am most excited that five Pacific Northwest teams have made their way into the tourney. The highest ranked, Washington State (Pullman, Washington) I’ve already mentioned. The next highest ranked is Gonzaga (Spokane, Washington), then Oregon (Eugene, Oregon), and respectfully ranked 14th and 16th in their divisions, Boise State (Boise, Idaho) and Portland State (Portland, Oregon).

The Best Nintendo DS Games…That I’ve Played (March 2008 Update)

********READ THE NEWEST LIST (May 2008) CLICK HERE********

First off, this article is biased. These are MY favorite games, if you don’t like them, tough. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve played a lot of Nintendo DS games, a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones, so I feel like i have some authority here; either way, here’s the best games that I have played:

1. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl: Ever since I first played Pokemon Blue in 8th grade, I am a Pokemon fan. No, not of the the anime or any of the other crap. But that games are perfect. And the DS installment didn’t change the formula, but they did add some touch screen controls and, more importantly, online trading and battling. This game is so good, that I bought and played through both versions.

2. Animal Crossing: Wild World: Animal Crossing snuck up on me and it has had me hooked ever since. Like it’s GameCube installment, this game offers a life sim that is like no other. In other words, it isn’t complete crap (i.e. The Sims series, Harvest Moon, and MySims). You can pretty much do anything you want. I made fruit orchards and pretend that I own…well…an orchard. The game is awesome. If ou have a DS and you don’t have it, buy it. If you don’t have a DS, buy a DS and then buy this game. You will not regret the $150 investment.

3. Anno 1701: This was a Europe only release, but now it is a Gamestop/EB Games exclusive in the U.S. It blends Sim City with a RTS and it’s set in colonial America. You can defend your colony from pirates, other colonies, and wi-fi invaders. I have put many hours into this game, especially into it’s “continuous play” mode (as opposed to “story play”). Nothing is more fun then waging war and nearly bankrupting your colony just to take over some diamond mines and a some corn fields. Seriously, it is fun.

4. Picross DS: This is the best puzzle game ever. You can take your time and work through a puzzle all day whenever you get a chance. It’s kinda like Sudoku only without the headache and you get a picture at the end!

5. Yoshi’s Island DS: Remember this game on the SNES? It’s like that only WAY better. Two screens, better graphics (still hand drawn), and four babies!

6. Mario Kart DS: It’s Mario Kart 64 with better graphics, more characters and karts, and online. It also showcases tracks from all of the old Mario Kart games as well some great new ones.

7. Jump Ultimate Stars: Imagine a Super Smash Bros. game on the DS with characters from 28 popular animes and mangas. That game exsists…in Japan. Due to licensing issues this game will most likely never make its way out of Asia, but this game is worth importing. You can customize fighting teams with characters from series such as Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh. You then can train your team and take them online to fight other players. If you want to spend less on this game looks for Jump Super Stars, the first game in this series (it doesn’t support wi-fi though).

8. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker: Think 3-D Pokemon, without random battles in the Dragon Quest universe. It’s great and the level grinding doesn’t seem so repetitive, but I don’t know why.

9. Sim City DS: The DS is the best system for RTS’s and Sims like Sim City because the touch screen gives you better-than-a-mouse control of the game. The only downside is the small screen, but you get used to it quickly. As for the graphics, they are somewhere in between the SNES version and Sim City 2000. The game is also online.

10. Sonic Rush: To be honest, I have not played Sonic Rush Adventure (The sequel to this game) and it may be better than Sonic Rush, but in its own right, Sonic Rush is a side-scrolling Sonic game with better graphics and a lot faster. Yes, faster. It’s not that difficult of a game, but it’s a blast.

Honorable Mentions: The New Super Mario Bros. is a great 2-D Mario game, with phenomenal graphics and it may be up higher on other people’s list, but the game was too boring and repetitive for me. But I have no doubt that if you buy this game, you will like it. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a unique RPG but a wildly addicting one. It’s a mix between a ‘hunt-and-gather RPG’ and shooting the heck out of each other’s tanks. Just buy it and you’ll see what I mean. In Trauma Center: Under the Knife you are a young surgeon that has to operate on many patients via the touchscreen and endure a storyline that could be straight out of a daytime drama. There are also two installments of this game on the Wii (but I’d say that the DS version is best Electroplankton is a crazy little music game that is like no other, in fact, I can’t even explain it. But if you want to pick this game up, try to find the Japanese version because it will actually be cheaper (there was barely any U.S. version made) and it comes with exclusive headphones (you are making music!). Trace Memory is puzzle/mystery/text-based game that is a fun as it is challenging. It’s also very cheap at $10 at most places. Starfox Command is like Star Fox 64 with better graphics, touch screen controls (they work pretty well), and an RTS between level map. Like other sports series Tiger Woods PGA Tour Series is largely over looked on the DS mainly because sports games don’t fare well on handhelds; but if you are a golfing fan, the Tiger Woods games are great because the graphics are good enough and you control the swing with your stylus. Just a warning about this game: my original DS is permantly scratched from swinging the club too much on this game, but the screen protector on my current DS has stopped that problem.

So that’s it, my top ten (and then some) games. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are there to stay, or at least until next month.

Best Game of All-Time: Round 3

Doom (PC)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Starcraft (PC)
World of Warcraft (PC)

Final Fantasy (NES)
The Legend of Zelda (NES)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

Pokemon Blue & Red (GB)

Earthbound (SNES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES)

Gran Turismo 2 (PS1)
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

Goldeneye 007 (N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocrania of Time (N64)

Soul Calibur (DC)

God of War (PS2)
Resident Evil 4 (PS2)

Halo (XBOX)

Bioshock (X360)

The Orange Box (X360, PS3, PC)

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Best Game of All-Time: Round 2

Command & Conquer (PC)
Diablo (PC)
Doom (PC)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Quake (PC)
Starcraft (PC)
World of Warcraft (PC)

Final Fantasy (NES)
The Legend of Zelda (NES)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (GB)
Pokemon Blue & Red (GB)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Gen)

ChronoTrigger (SNES)
Earthbound (SNES)
Super Mario RPG (SNES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES)

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
Gran Turismo 2 (PS1)
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Final Fantasy XI (PS1)
Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

Goldeneye 007 (N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocrania of Time (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Super Mario 64 (N64)

Sonic Adventure 2 (DC)
Soul Calibur (DC)

God of War (PS2)
Gran Turismo 3 (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Resident Evil 4 (PS2)
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

Animal Crossing (GC)
The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker (GC)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)

Fable (XBOX)
Halo (XBOX)

Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)
Mario Kart DS (DS)

Bioshock (X360)
Mass Effect (X360)

Call of Duty 4 (X360, PS3, PC)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (X360, PS3, PC)
The Orange Box (X360, PS3, PC)

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Best Game of All-Time: Round 1

We are on the hunt for the best game ever made. It may be impossible but we are going to try anyways. The following is the first list of games (100 of them). With each new article, a half of the games will be knocked off based on all around stats about the game such as sales numbers, ratings, popularity, etc. The games are arranged by system and then alphabetically.

Civilzation II (PC)
Command & Conquer (PC)
Diablo (PC)
Doom (PC)
Half-Life (PC)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Quake (PC)
SimCity 2000 (PC)
Starcraft (PC)
Team Fortress (PC)
Wolfenstien (PC)
World of Warcraft (PC)

Dr. Mario (NES)
Dragon Warrior (NES)
Final Fantasy (NES)
The Legend of Zelda (NES)
Metroid (NES)
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (GB)
Pokemon Blue & Red (GB)
Tetris (GB)

Ecco the Dolphin (Gen)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Gen)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Gen)

ChronoTrigger (SNES)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Earthbound (SNES)
Secret of Mana (SNES)
Super Mario RPG (SNES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Metroid (SNES)
Super Smash TV (SNES)
Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES)

Nights (Saturn)

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
Chrono Cross (PS1)
Gran Turismo (PS1)
Gran Turismo 2 (PS1)
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)
Final Fantasy XI (PS1)
Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
Tekken 3 (PS1)
Tomb Raider (PS1)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (PS1)

Goldeneye 007 (N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocrania of Time (N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Paper Mario (N64)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Super Smash Bros. (N64)

Jet Grind Radio (DC)
Phantasy Star Online (DC)
Shenmue (DC)
Sonic Adventure (DC)
Sonic Adventure 2 (DC)
Soul Calibur (DC)

God of War (PS2)
God of War 2 (PS2)
Gran Turismo 3 (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Guitar Hero (PS2)
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Resident Evil 4 (PS2)
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
Virtua Fighter 4 (PS2)

Animal Crossing (GC)
The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker (GC)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)

Fable (XBOX)
Halo (XBOX)
Halo 2 (XBOX)

Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
Mario Kart DS (DS)
The New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Picross (DS)
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (DS)

Bioshock (X360)
Gears of War (X360)
Halo 3 (X360)
Mass Effect (X360)

Call of Duty 4 (X360, PS3, PC)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (X360, PS3, PC)
The Orange Box (X360, PS3, PC)
Rock Band (X360, PS3, PS2)

Ratchet & Clank: Future (PS3)
Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
Wii Sports (Wii)

Education Revolution

The following are ways to improve American public schools in order to be able to compete with the rising of China and India in academics.

Minimum Driving Age
The United States needs to raise the minimum driving age to 18 years of age and all drivers must be required to have a high school diploma or an equivelant. Driving is not a huge distraction from students, but what driving allows students to do with their free time is. The ability to drive where they want sllows students to use more time and use more excuses to not study.

Child Labor Laws
The minimum working age needs to be raised to 18 years of age without a special circumstance. Working is great experience for students and earngin money is a great way to teach students how to manage finaces, but working takes away from studying and other school activities that students will not get another chance to learn or partake in.

Cut athletics in all schools
No sports in middle schools
There are plenty of athletic opportunites outside of schools for students to partake in if they choose. And currently, most middle school students who play sports at school play the same sport outside of school. This kind of overlap not only makes schools spend unneeded money, but puts too much stress on students.

No sports “play-offs”
Play-offs and championships in public schools are unneeded and add extra stress to students as well as extra time demands. A regular season is more than enough for a student to enjoy and learn from a particular sport.

No missed school time from athletics
This should be obivious, the main reason students attend school is for academics. Nothing else should be allowed to be more important than school.

No required “pep rallies”
Pep rallies that require students to miss a class fall under the category of ‘no missed school time from athletics”

Mandatory Study Hall
Mandatory, supervisied study hall in secondary schools will help students obtain better study habits and ensure that homework and studying is taking place.

Physical Education
Madatory 12 hours physical education five days per week will help students stay in better shape. Students in athletics cannot participate in physical education the days the practice or have games/meets.

Closed Campuses
A closed campus does not allow students to leave campus during school hours, including lunch and free periods unless there is a special circumstance.

K-14 (two paid years of college)
Part of everyone’s public education will include mandatory vouchers for must be used towards at least two years college.

“Running Start”
As it is called in some states, Running Start gives students to opportunity to attend two years of college instead of their last two years of high school. This cuts two years of education from students and should not exsist.

Clubs
Membership to at least two clubs at school or an apporved out of school club should be mandatory. One class out of day for students to attend club activities. To make room for this time “niche” classes like art, music, and speech classes. These subjects will become clubs. With one hour everyday of the week put aside for clubs students would have the ability to join up to five clubs. If they only want the minimum of two clubs, then any extra time they have will be more mandatory, supervised study hall.

Teacher Salaries
Since we will need to attract high quality teachers, we will need higher pay. Something like: median income + 70% minimum starting salary for teachers should do the trick.

Post High School Recruiting
Schools must have “recuiting affirmative action”. Meaning, athletic and military recruiters in high schools cannot excede academic recruiters from companies, unions, universities, and colleges.

School Events
There should be mandatory attendance of a variety of events (orchrastra, plays, book readings, athletics, etc.). This will allow students to see different aspects of their school that they may not have seen before.

Tutoring
Students who excel in certain subjects should be able to have access to advanced tutoring clubs for top students that may be at their own school, a specialized school, or a local college or university.

Tutoring for any student in any subject should always be available.

School Hours
School should not start no earlier than 9:00am. Psychology has shown that teenagers have a different sleeping pattern than adults and young children. Teens require a later bedtime as well as a later time to get up in the morning.

Teacher Office Hours
Secondary teachers should “office hours” (as professors do in universities) for secondary teachers. This extra hour is not the teacher’s prep period, but is in the morning.

Dances/Socials
Dances and Socials are an important part of learning how to socialize for students and should always exsist, but there should not be an emphasis on prom or homecoming royality as it is a distraction.

Top 40 Songs of My Generation: Rock of the 1990s

40. The Way – Fastball, 1998
39. I’ll Be – Edwin McCain, 1998
38. If You Could Only See – Tonic, 1997
37. How It’s Going to Be – Third Eye Blind, 1999
36. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Deep Blue Something, 1996
35. Save Tonight – Eagle Eye Cherry, 1997
34. Black Balloon – Goo Goo Dolls, 1999
33. Slide – Goo Goo Dolls, 1999
32. Welcome to Paradise – Green Day, 1993
31. Jumper – Third Eye Blind, 1999
30. The Kids Aren’t Alright – The Offspring, 1999
29. Say It Ain’t So – Weezer, 1993
28. Adam’s Song – Blink-182, 1999
27. Chump – Green Day, 1993
26. Rape Me – Nirvana, 1994
25. Tonight, Tonight – Smashing Pumpkins, 1996
24. Wrong Way – Sublime, 1996
23. Smells Like Teenage Spirit – Nirvana, 1991
22. Learn to Fly – Foo Fighters, 1999
21. Jeremy – Pearl Jam, 1993
20. All Apologies – Nirvana, 1993
19. Bullet With Butterfly Wings – Smashing Pumpkins, 1995
18. Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden, 1994
17. My Name is Jonas – Weezer, 1994
16. The Freshman – The Verve Pipe, 1997
15. Monkey Wrench – Foo Fighters, 1997
14. Santeria – Sublime, 1996
13. Come As You Are – Nirvana, 1992
12. Lithium – Nirvana, 1992
11. Longview – Green Day, 1993
10. Drive – Incubus, 1999
9. I’ll Stick Around – Foo Fighters, 1995
8. Californication – Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1999
7. Iris – Goo Goo Dolls, 1998
6. In Bloom – Nirvana, 1991
5. Glycerine – Bush, 1995
4. 1979 – Smashing Pumpkins, 1996
3. Otherside – Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1999
2. Creep – Radiohead, 1993
1. Scar Tissue – Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1999

Where’s Barack?

Check this article out, it’s hilarious: November 4th 1999 – Where was Barack?

The Fat Lady is Singing

The fat lady is singing, but Hillary Clinton doesn’t hear her (she probably thinks it’s Monica Lewinsky). Over the past month, Hillary is losing as hard as Mike Huckabee is on the republican side and both of them need to drop out, for different reasons.

Hillary has lost and Texas and Ohio are going to further prove that next week. If she were true to her party and to the American people, she would drop out now and allow Barack Obama to start his campaign against John McCain. She also is losing badly to McCain in national head-to-head polls (Obama is beating McCain badly in the same polls) so if she wanted a democrat to be the next president, she should let it be Obama. Unfortunately, all signs point to her staying in until the bitter end because, as she has shown, she doesn’t have the mental maturity to admit when she’s licked. Remember her middle school-like mocking of Obama? Remember “Shame on you, Barack Obama”? Remember her tears after she lost Iowa? Looking back, she doesn’t have the maturity to be the President of the United States. The thought that I used to support her makes me sick.

Huckabee should be praised for sticking in the race as long as he has because even though it has been imposible for him to win for a long time now, he spent a lot of money just to allow the later states to have a choice in their primary or caucus. But McCain nearly has all of the degates that he needs to cement in his nomination, so it’s finally time for Huckabee to drop out and let McCain go after the democrats.

2004: Nader was funded by high-dollar Republican donors

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader — still not on the ballot in a single state — has received a recent windfall of contributions from deep-pocketed Republicans with a history of big contributions to the party, an analysis of federal records show.

Nearly one in 10 of Nader’s major donors — those writing checks of $1, 000 or more — have given in recent months to the Bush-Cheney campaign, the latest documents show. GOP fund-raisers also have “bundled” contributions — gathering hefty donations for maximum effect to help Nader, who has criticized the practice in the past.

The donations from wealthy Republicans — combined with increasingly vocal Democratic charges that they represent a stealth GOP effort to wound Democrat John Kerry — prompted Nader’s vice presidential running mate, Green Party member Peter Camejo, to suggest the consumer advocate reject the money that doesn’t come from loyal Nader voters.

“If there has been a wave of these (donations), then that’s something Ralph and I will have to talk about — and about returning their money,” he said Thursday in an interview with The Chronicle. “If you oppose the war, if you’re against the Patriot Act, your money is welcome.

“But if your purpose is because you think this is going to have an electoral effect, we don’t want that money. I take no money from people who disagree with us,” Camejo said. “We’re not interested in that.”

But Camejo’s views differ with Nader’s recent defense of the contributions.

“We have no indication that the Republicans are trying to maneuver support for us,” he said at a recent press conference. “There are three or four major Republican donors who have contributed to my campaign. But that’s because I worked with them on a number of issues. … It’s all very small, relatively small, contributions. And we like it that way.”

But the financial records show that $23,000 in checks of $1,000 or more have come from loyal Republicans. Among those who have given recently to Nader are Houston businessman Nijad Fares, who donated $200,000 to President Bush’s 2000 inaugural committee; Richard J. Egan, the former ambassador to Ireland, and his wife, Pamela, who have raised more than $300,000 for Bush; Michigan developer Ghassan Saab, who has given $30,000 to the RNC since 2001; and frozen food magnate Jeno Paulucci, and his wife, Lois, who have donated $150, 000 to GOP causes since 2000 alone.

All have donated the maximum $2,000 to Nader’s campaign since April, records show.

Asked about the money from GOP backers, Nader campaign spokesman Kevin Zeese countered that many of Kerry’s donors also had given to Republicans, including Bush in the past.

“(Kerry) should renounce those donations and give them all back,” he said. Pressed if Nader would do the same, Zeese said that wouldn’t even be discussed “until (the parties) start to change the rules.”

With just under four months left to the election, Nader has yet to qualify for a single state ballot.

A statewide poll by the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San Jose State University released Wednesday indicates that if Nader qualifies as a presidential candidate on the California ballot, the former consumer advocate would steal support from the Democratic ticket almost exclusively.

“He would drain about 4 percent of Kerry’s support, almost all of it from Democrats, while having a negligible impact on Bush’s vote or his support among Republicans,” according to Institute director Phil Trounstine.

Democrats are worried about Nader’s influence because they believe as a Green Party candidate in 2000, he pulled votes that would have gone to Democratic Vice President Al Gore in key states, thus helping Bush win the election.

Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist who was a spokesman for Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, said the check-writing was not “a merely serendipitous confluence of events,” adding that “folks supporting Bush because they want fewer environmental protections and less corporate regulations don’t have a lot in common with the Ralph Nader agenda. The only thing they have in common with Nader is they want to take votes from Kerry.”

But Christine Iverson, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, calls such charges ridiculous, adding: “It’s unfortunate that Democrats seem determined to disenfranchise voters who want an opportunity to cast votes for Ralph Nader.”

Still, other Republicans acknowledge that many in the party have mentioned that a donation to Nader may boost Bush, particularly in states where the vote is expected to be close.

“Republicans have no problem with it, if the goal is to keep President Bush in office,” said Hoover Institution research fellow Bill Whalen, a veteran GOP strategist. “It’s not pretty. But putting a guy (in the White House) you don’t like is not pretty either.”

Whalen said the Republican National Committee or the Bush-Cheney campaign can’t technically condone such donations, but “you absolutely want your activists to get out there and help Ralph run” because of the effects he had on the 2000 election.

“Do the math,” Whalen said.

Nader, who has decried the influence of corporations in the political arena, also has received more than $20,000 in “bundled” contributions since March from GOP fund-raisers, according to the Federal Elections Commission documents that tally donations through May 31.

Bundling is the practice of gathering contributions together for maximum influence.

Records show Nader raised just more than $1 million for his presidential effort through May 31. Most of the money came from small, individual donors.

read more | digg story

McCain Breaks Law…That He Wrote

Tomorrow morning the Democratic National Committee will file a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against John McCain. Why? In the words of DNC Chair Howard Dean: “We want John McCain to obey the law with his own name on it.”

read more | digg story

Ralph Nader is an Environment Killing, Republican

Ralph Nader announced that he is running for President again in 2008 and once again proves that although he is of the Green Party (a party known for it’s anti-establishment, pro-environment beliefs), he is actually an anti-environment, pro-big business, republican. It’s true, he started this roll towards the right when he knowingly stole the election from the greenest president that could have been, Al Gore (that guy who made “An Inconvenient Truth” and won a Nobel Prize for his work with the environment) in the 2000 election, allowing for George W. Bush (He didn’t believe in global warming for the longest time) to walk into the White House. Nader also did this in the 2004 election when he, once again, knowingly stole the election from John Kerry, allowing Bush (his current approval rating is 19%) to extend his stay to eight years.

How did Nader accomplish his secret desire to see the environment destroyed and republicans in office? The platform of the Green Party attracts the most liberal of the left, those who would have voted democrat, to waste their vote on Nader. Both, 2000 and 2004 elections, were decided by less than one percent of the vote and Nader absorbed over 2% of what could have been votes for the democratic candidate. Now in 2008, Nader has given John McCain (the all but confirmed republican candidate) at least a 2% hadicap in a race that will most likely be split evenly between the two main parties.

Smart democrats are pissed, to say the least. The democratic candidates will try to derail Nader well before the election in November. Barack Obama (democrat front runner) was asked about Ralph Nader and he responded, “He (Nader) thought that there was no difference between Al Gore and George Bush and eight years later I think people realize that Ralph did not know what he was talking about.” Hillary Clinton said, “He (Nader) may have been on the Green Party ticket, and he basically deprived America of the greenest president (Gore) we could’ve had. He truly is helping the Republicans because clearly, that’s what his candidacy would mean and I think it’s regrettable.” She also has taken up the strategy of making Nader look like he is on some sort of ego trip by saying, “I don’t know what he’s (Nader) up to other than seeking attention or some other personal motivation.”

On the other hand, Republicans are happy to welcome Nader the the race. Mike Huckabee said about Nader entering the race, “I think it always would probably pull votes away from the Democrats, not the Republicans, so naturally Republicans would welcome his entry into the race and hope that maybe a few more will join in.”

In order to have a fair election in November, Nader needs to come forward and admit that he is an anti-environment, republican and stop stealing elections from the democrats because I’m sure that the democrats would love to rear-end Nader while he is in a seatbeltless Chevy Corvair (if you don’t get that google “Nader 1960-63 Corvair”).

Castro at the Oscars

Micheal Moore claimed that he is going to try to take former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, to the Oscars this weekend as Moore’s guest. Moore said that if he wins for his film, “Sicko,” he may let Castro give the acceptance speech. On the topic of Castro giving an acceptance speech, Moore was quoted saying, “As long as he keeps it under five hours. I’m telling you, that’s got to be a ratings grabber. Can you imagine him? Showing up? If I could talk to (Oscar producer) Gil Cates and maybe get Castro in a dance number at the beginning of the show? Great.”

Sometimes I wonder why Moore says and does teh things he does.

Gamers = Underacheivers?

I was browsing Digg.com and I found this fairly popular article entitled, “Obama Sees Gamers as Underacheivers” Surprised, I read the article. The writer obviously has no idea how to analyze a speech (I’m pretty sure a twelve year-old can do that) because Obama said this:

“I know how hard it will be to alleviate poverty that has built up over centuries, how hard it will be to fix schools, because changing our schools will require not just money, but a change in attitudes. We’re going to have to parent better, and turn off the television set, and put the video games away, and instill a sense of excellence in our children, and that’s going to take some time.”

What Barrack Obama is saying is that it is time for parents to better moniter their kids’ time in front of the television and to take a more active role in their children’s life. By doing that, Obama believes, it hill help to slow poverty in the U.S.

Being a gamer myself, I do not support politicians who propose any sort of video game ban (Obama is NOT suggusting a ban of any sort), and Obama is actually saying the opposite. In a subtle way, Obama is saying that it should be the parents who moniter kids and their games, not the government or even the industry itself. I agree, I managed a major chain game store and I got sick of parents allowing their underage children to buy games like the Grand Theft Auto series, Gears of War, God of War, and just about any other game rated “mature.” What it comes down to is if parents have children who play games, then the parents need to look into games that their kids want to play and make their decision appropriately, not the government and that’s what Obama supports.

EGM’s New Report Card

Electronic Gaming Monthly and it’s website, 1up.com, are ditching their current rating system of 1-10 and adopting a grading system like you remember from school, A-F. Their reasoning is that readers are confused by the current system; for example, when EGM gives a rating of a 5 out of 10, they mean the game is average, but readers tend to to think that 5 out of 10 means 50% or a failing grade. Now a rating of a C is an average grade.

I wonder how metacritic and other websites of the like are going to convert EGM’s new grades to numbers for their averaging…

Oh, Lindsey…

Lindsey Lohan cut off the paparazzi by posing completly nude for New York Magazine. That’s right, naked. As in not wearing any clothes. Not much news here, just some good pictures.

Here’s the site: http://media.nymag.com/fashion/08/spring/44247/

Click on the “Slideshow” button.

Guitar Hero and the Like

As of late, there have been some official and unofficial Guitar Hero announcements from Activision. The first is that there will be four GH games being released this year. They did not mention if one was Guitar Hero IV, but they did say that the first will be called “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” and will put players in an Aerosmith cover band and will play Aerosmith songs from bars to arenas. The game will be on the PS3, PS2, Wii, and XBOX 360.

The next announcement…or leak…is that one of those four games will be Guitar Hero IV and it will be out in late 2008 (probably during the the holiday season, more exactly in late November since GH2 and GH3 were released in late November). This news was leaked by the Irish band, The Answer, who apparently gave their left testical to get their song, “Never Too Late,” on the track list in which 200 bands were competing to get 20 spots.

The last announcement is that Activision has copyrighted the video game title, “DJ Hero,” obiviously a spin-off of the Guitar Hero franchise. No news of game development but the copyright said that they product will consist of a game disc packaged with a unique controller.

Some exciting news for all of us faux rockers out there.

The Best Nintendo DS Games…That I’ve Played

********READ THE NEWEST LIST (May 2008) CLICK HERE********

First off, this article is biased. These are MY favorite games, if you don’t like them, tough. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I’ve played a lot of Nintendo DS games, a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones, so I feel like i have some authority here; either way, here’s the best games that I have played:

1. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl: Ever since I first played Pokemon Blue in 8th grade, I am a Pokemon fan. No, not of the the anime or any of the other crap. But that games are perfect. And the DS installment didn’t change the formula, but they did add some touch screen controls and, more importantly, online trading and battling. This game is so good, that I bought and played through both versions.

2. Animal Crossing: Wild World: Animal Crossing snuck up on me and it has had me hooked ever since. Like it’s GameCube installment, this game offers a life sim that is like no other. In other words, it isn’t complete crap (i.e. The Sims series, Harvest Moon, and MySims). You can pretty much do anything you want. I made fruit orchards and pretend that I own…well…an orchard. The game is awesome. If ou have a DS and you don’t have it, buy it. If you don’t have a DS, buy a DS and then buy this game. You will not regret the $150 investment.

3. Picross DS: This is the best puzzle game ever. You can take your time and work through a puzzle all day whenever you get a chance. It’s kinda like Sudoku only without the headache and you get a picture at the end!

4. Yoshi’s Island DS: Remember this game on the SNES? It’s like that only WAY better. Two screens, better graphics (still hand drawn), and four babies!

5. Mario Kart DS: It’s Mario Kart 64 with better graphics, more characters and karts, and online. It also showcases tracks from all of the old Mario Kart games as well some great new ones.

6. Sim City DS: The DS is the best system for RTS’s and Sims like Sim City because the touch screen gives you better-than-a-mouse control of the game. The only downside is the small screen, but you get used to it quickly. As for the graphics, they are somewhere in between the SNES version and Sim City 2000. The game is also online.

7. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker: Think 3-D Pokemon, without random battles in the Dragon Quest universe. It’s great and the level grinding doesn’t seem so repetitive, but I don’t know why.

8. Anno 1701: This was a Europe only release. It blends Sim City with a RTS and it’s set in colonial America. You can defend your colony from pirates, other colonies, and wi-fi invaders.

9. Sonic Rush: To be honest, I have not played Sonic Rush Adventure (The sequel to this game) and it may be better than Sonic Rush, but in its own right, Sonic Rush is a side-scrolling Sonic game with better graphics and a lot faster. Yes, faster. It’s not that difficult of a game, but it’s a blast.

10. The New Super Mario Bros.: This is a great 2-D Mario game, with phenomenal graphics and it may be up higher on other people’s list, but the game was too boring and repetitive for me. But I have no doubt that if you buy this game, you will like it.

So that’s it, my top ten games. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are there to stay, or at least until Super Dodge Ball Brawlers comes out.

Note: Like what you see in this list? Check for updates! Click on the link called “The Best Nintendo DS Games…That I’ve Played” under “categories” on the right. I try to update the current best games monthly. Thanks for reading!

Ann Coulter Likes Hillary

Conservativism’s first lady, Ann Coulter (author of ‘Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism’ and ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton’) said on Fox News’ ‘Hannity and Colmes’ that if McCain earns the republican nomination, she would not only vote for Hillary Clinton, she would campaign for her. Her reasoning is that McCain is more liberal than Hillary Clinton in the aspects of the War on Terrorism and Illegal Immigration. She also claimed that other republicans will realize this too, except for those that would “vote for Joseph Stalin if he had an “R” after his name, that would look like this: Joesph Stalin (R-Soviet Union).




Don’t believe me? Watch this:

And Then There Was Four (I Guess Five, If You Count Paul, I Don’t)

Mitt Romney dropped out of the republican bid for the President of the United States, leaving Huck and Chuck (Mike Huckabee) to try to stop John McCain on the rebulican side (I guess that there is also Ron Paul, but I don’t count him).

Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton are still in a virtual tie for the democratic nomination, but Hillary has a slight lead. This may the first time that us here in Washington State get to actually help pick a candidate with our late primary of Feburary 19th.

My Fellow Democrats…

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the Democratic ticket in November is going to either be Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama. And if you are like me, you could care less which way it is becxuase with those two, the same policies will be passed either way.

More importantly, we need that ticket to win in November and to do that, we need them to go up against a weak Republican, therefore you may want to consider voting Republican in the primary, that is for one of the weakest Republicans. Out of the four left, Ron Paul is in 4th place and Mike Huckabee is in 3rd. I would suggest voting for Paul because Huckabee isn’t that far behind Mitt Romney and John McCain and therefore still has a shot. Ron Paul has no shot whatsoever mainly because he isn’t a serious candidate, but that is a different story.

What this will do is lower the margins between the Republican winner and the the loser, keeping the Republican party divided. In a perfect situation, it would cause the nomination of the weakest Republican, allowing the democrats to walk into office.

All you really need to do is declare Republican when you vote later this month in the primary and don’t waste your vote on the democrats who are already decided!

Then we can all vote for the Clinton/Obama or the Obama/Clinton ticket in November!

Pass this on to anyone else that hasn’t voted in a primary/caucus yet!

Cheaters Never Win

Call it kharma, God’s will, or even the ‘Curse of the Babe’, but the New England Patriots lost Superbowl XLII and no one can say that they didn’t deserve it. So called ’spygate’ was shown to get worse when, on the day before the Superbowl, it was reveiled that the New England coaching staff had not only spied on the New York Jets for the first game of the 2007 season, but they had also done it in the 2001 Superbowl against the St. Louis Rams when they pulled the upset win. I wonder how many more spying ventures Bill Belichick has taken up throughout the years. I hope that the NFL does a full investigation on the team to make sure that they not only have been playing fair, but will be playing fair in the future.

Gaming in ‘08

2006 was a great year for gamers, in fact, Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) claimed that it was the best year ever. That is until 2007, the new best year ever for gaming with releases such as God of War 2, Halo 3, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, Super Mario Galaxy, Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, and Call of Duty 4 just to name a few. Surprisingly, 2008 looks like it may beat out both years and it may do it fairly easily.

SHOOTERS

In the past two years, shooters have become the most popular genre in gaming, and 2008 is proving that shooters are not going anywhere. The XBOX 360 and the Playstation 3 are going to be grinding their skulls with amazing shooters being released as exclusive titles and as multi-platform games. The following are the mullti-platform (360 and PS3) games coming out in 2008:

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Fallout 3
Boarderlands
Project Origin (F.E.A.R. 2)
Unreal Tournament III (already out on the PS3, but it is coming out on the 360)
Quake Wars
Legendary
Fracture
Condemned 2

Here are the PS3 exclusive titles:

Metal Gear Solid IV (this may still go multi-platform)
Resistance 2
Killzone 2

And the 360 exclusives:

Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead
Turok

STAR WARS

Since the 1978 release of The Empire Strikes Back on the Atari 2600, Star Wars has always been huge in gaming. And 2008 isn’t any different. First off, Lego Star Wars has been huge for two years now and even though the Lego series is looking to other franchises (I’ll get into that later), Lego Star Wars is still going to sell like crazy because it is on every system, it is a cheap game, and most of all it’s a blast for all gamers and all fans of Star Wars.

Moving on, the biggest Star Wars game to come out in 2008 is going to be Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. You play as Darth Vader’s apprentice between Episodes 3 and 4. You are killing off Jedi not only with your lightsaber but with the force. The force is going to be used in ways never before shown in movies or games, like throwing TIE Fighters and even planets at enemies!

AND, OMG! Darth Vader and Yoda have been announced as characters in the upcoming game, Soul Caliber IV!

LEGO

As I already said, Lego Star Wars (LSW) was huge because of its allure to just about everybody. And after three LSW games, that franchise is used up, but two more Lego games are announced (Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones) and they look to be just as big as the LSW games.

RPG’s

RPG’s may never be the best selling games, but they will always have a loyal following and for a system riddled with shooters, sports, and racing games, the 360 is surprisingly getting more RPG’s to add to its already solid list (Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Mass Effect):

Fable 2: It’s the original Fable with more choices, better story, longer and you have a dog that is pretty much real. It fights with you, it walks with you, and it is loyal to you. If you don’t want the dog, ditch it, but this game will test the tightness of your heart strings because the dog is going to try to find you and when it finds you again, it is going to be battered and in dire need of your attention. Asshole.

Lost Odyssey: Made by the father of Final Fantasy (Hironobu Sakaguchi, he made Final Fantasy’s 1-9) this game is going to feel like FFVII with random battles, deep character development and story (maybe the deepest ever, it is co-written by Japanese novelist, Kiyoshi Shigematsu), and four discs (yes, four. This game is huge!). Also it is going to have phenomenal voice acting in five languages (English, Japanese, German, Italian, and French). This game may be able to compete with FFXIII and will definitly be a game for all RPG fans.

Too Human: It’s not really an RPG but it has RPG elements like weapon and character building, leveling up, and a fantasy-based story.

Playstation has always had a lot of amazing RPG’s, butthe PS3 hasn’t seen much yet. But one game may change all of that:

Final Fantasy XIII: Not much is known about this game. So little that I can’t say much more. It is a Final Fantasty, expect quality.

And the Wii? It gets an Okami port. It’ll be good, but it’s 4 years old.

God of War-alikes

God of War 3 (PS3): Duh. It’s going to be great and a great stimulus for the PS3.

Devil May Cry 4 (PS3, 360): The Devil May Cry series isn’t really a God of War-like game, because it came out first. But it plays similarly. It’ll be a good to great game (7-9 out of 10).

Ninja Gaiden II (360, PS3?): Blood-fest. A fast paced, stealth, blood-fest. Also, it may come out on the PS3 a few months after it comes out on the 360.

Too Human (360): This game has been in development for years. And years. And more years. It started as a mulit-disc PS1 game. Yes, PS1 game. What is it exactly? Think God of War without the puzzles, but add complete character and weapon (guns and blades) customization, four player co-op, simplistic yet deep controls, and it’s set in a futuristic, cyberpunk, norse mythology based world. It’s going to be badass.

Real Time Strategies

Civilization: Revolution (DS, 360, PS3): This game may be the best on the DS! Seriously. That little touch screen is great for RTS’s!

Halo Wars (360): It has the word “Halo” in the title. It is going to sell extremely well. Hopefully it’s a good game though.

Advance Wars DS 2: It’s already out and it’s fabulous.

Fighters

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii): It’s online, and it’s gonna be huge. Like Halo huge.

Street Fighter IV (X360, PS3): It’s still a 2-D fighter, but it has 3-D graphics.

Tekken 6 (PS3): It’s already out in arcades in Japan and it looks better than ever.

Soul Calibur IV (360, PS3): as I already discussed, Darth Vader and Yoda are the exclusive characters. Need I say more?

Handhelds

NINTENDO DS
So many amazing games are coming out this year, it’s unbelieveable. I won’t even start to name all of them, but I will go through the best RPG’s and couple of other games games that will be standing out. Here are the RPG standouts:

Ends With You (Square Enix)
Sonic RPG (BioWare made, hand drawn backgrounds, and still a sense of speed!)
Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix)
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (Square Enix)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Square Enix)
Final Fantasy IV (Square Enix)
Blue Dragon DS (seriously, it’s coming out)

Two other great games coming out this year:

Advance Wars DS 2
Jump Ultimate Stars (Japan only)

PLAYSTAION PORTABLE
Even with it’s new slim design, sales are flailing. There are a couple of good games still coming out (God of War: Chains of Olympus and Patapon), but it’s high price tag and it’s delicate design have seemed to start the PSP on a walk towards it’s grave.

GAME BOY ADVANCE
This great little system that was full of Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis ports as well amazing RPG’s, platformers, and RTS’s is now dead in the water. So sad, I wish more SNES games could have been ported (Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Sunset Riders, Killer Instinct, Batman Returns, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana, Super Metroid, the list goes on…), but I do appreciate all the great games that were.

OTHER HUGE GAMES

Grand Theft Auto III (360, PS3): This game is huge, not just in hype but in size. The map is literally all of Manhatten. Rockstar may have outdone itself with this game, I can’t wait to play it.

Gran Turismo 5 (PS3): The Gran Turismo (GT) franchise is the best selling Sony Franchise and GT1 was the best selling game on the original Playstation and GT 3 was the best selling game on the Playstation 2. GT 5 may be the game that pushes the PS3 up to the level of the XBOX 360 when it comes to sales.

Mario Kart Wii (Wii): Mario Kart always ends up being one of the biggest games on each of Nintendo’s systems. Metacritic claims that MarioKart DS is the highest ranked DS game, which is impresive because that means that it is better than several Nintendo franchises (games like The New Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl). It also looks like this Mario Kart, like it DS predecesor, will be online.

Ghostbusters (360, PS3, Wii, PS2): Before you laugh, this game looks pretty cool. It is the spirtual end of the trilogy that starts with the two movies from the late 80’s and early 90’s. The game will take place in the early 90’s and will be scary. Resident Evil scary. That sounds like it might work. The 360 and PS3 versions look amazing and the Wii-mote will (hopefully) be a great ecto-gun. Sound like it might be pretty okay? Here’s the cherry on top: the script is being written by the writers of the original movies, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis and the original four ghostbusters (Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Harold Ramis) are lending their voices for the each of their virtual characters.

No More Heroes (Wii): This game already came out, but it is fast becoming one of the coolest games onthe Wii, its fast action, artful graphics, and strange humor make it a very unique play and definitly something that mature Wii owners should check out.

A lot of good games. Nay, a lot of amazing games. hopefully my wallet can handle this year in gaming.

Economic Stimulus Package is a Horrible Idea, But Money Talks

Any Economic Stimulus Package that entrusts the American people to spend the economy back into shape probably won’t work and it looks like the U.S. government is going to continue, if not stimulate, a downward spiral of international borrowing that is becoming increasingly difficult to repay. I hate to say it but, Ron Paul is correct in saying that the United States needs to have a gold standard. I could go on and on about how the American government is hurting the ailing economy further; but on the other hand, if the government wants to give me $1500, I’ll take it and I’ll shut up because that’s a High-Def TV.

DS Mania

It is no secret, the Nintendo DS has earned its place as not only one of the best handhelds ever, but one of the best systems ever. Between its assortment of quality games its diversity in its controls the DS offers something for everyone. I’ve tried out just about every DS title (there’s a lot of down time when you work at a video game store) and between my wife and I we own a fair amount, so I thought that I am a legit source when it comes to compiling some lists of DS games that everyone should own. Check it out:

Platform
The New Super Mario Bros.
Yoshi’s Island DS
Sonic Rush
Sonic Rush Adventure
Super Mario 64 DS
Super Princess Peach
Kirby: Canvas Curse
Kirby Squeak Squad
Yoshi’s Touch and Go
Drawn to Life

RPG
Pokemon: Diamond/Pearl
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
Contact
Lunar Knights
Pokemon Ranger
Etrian Odyssey

Action/Adventure
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Contra 4
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Megaman ZX & Megaman ZX Advent

Puzzle
Picross
Tetris DS
Planet Puzzle League
Bust-A-Move DS
Brain Age 1 & 2
Puyo Pop Fever

RTS’s
Advance Wars: Duel Strike
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery (Europe only)
Sim City DS

Sports/Racing
MarioKart DS
Diddy Kong Racing DS
Super Swing Golf
Mario Hoops 3-on-3

Music/Rythm
Ouendan 1 & 2 (Japan only)
Ontamarama
Electoplankton
Elite Beat Agents

Fighting
Jump Super Stars & Jump Ultimate Stars (Japan only)
Bleach: Blade of Fate
Guilty Gears Dust Strikers

Life Simulation
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Cooking Mama 1 & 2
Trace Memory
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
The Phoenix Wright Series

Minigame/Party
Brain Age 1 & 2
WarioWare Touched
Mario Party DS

With all of these great games, there are still so many more coming out, here’s my list of the best upcoming games:

Dragon Quest IX
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Blue Dragon DS
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fate
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Viva Pinata DS
Super Dodgeball Brawlers
Sid Meir’s Civilization Revolution
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

State of the Union 2008

I started to watch part of the State of Union address and ole’ George was saying something about how No Child Left Behind is working wonderfully. I changed it back to basketball. Let me know if I missed anything important, but I doubt that I did.