Welp, I finally bought some things that were long overdue.

Halo Original Soundtrack
Halo 2 Original Soundtrack, Volume 2
Halo: The Fall of Reach (novel)

I've already got the other books and soundtrack. Actually, I found the other two Halo books at a huge bookstore a bunch of us visited in Toronto during Mysterium 2004. The perfect souvenirs!

...and I also bought New Super Mario Brothers for Nintendo DS!

Just one of those things where I've been needing them for a while (as far as Halo goes, since New Mario is a new release) and I just haven't gotten around to buying them for... some reason. No longer! Bwahaha.

Note: Not really "amused"... just testing Moods for a moment.

People are finally beginning to see what I've been saying all along...

Sony's main reason for releasing the PS3 has always been to give Blu-Ray a push. Unfortunately, this is making the console extremely expensive. It's so expensive that many, many people are not going to buy it when it first hits the market (if they'll ever buy it at all).

It seems the only people saying the PS3 is cheap... is Sony... and that's like... duh. Sony's not going to say their product is too expensive. Ever. They keep saying that "it's cheap for a Blu-Ray player" and people keep saying "we're not buying it for Blu-Ray!"

The jump from VHS to DVD was an enormous improvement. People argue that, side-by-side, HD-DVD/Blu-Ray vs DVD is also an enourmous improvement... but only for people with the capability of watching HD content. How many of your friends or family own an HDTV? My cousins might have one. It's widescreen, and they were watching ESPN. So I know of one person with an HDTV. The rest of us probably won't consider upgrading unless our current TVs explode.

But even then, HDTVs are still far, far more expensive than regular TVs. It's not at all like saying "oh, rats, my CD drive melted... ooh! DVD drives cost the same! I'll get one of those!" Granted DVDs have been around for a long time already, but that's my point.

HDTV hasn't been around that long, yet. It's still too expensive for most people to justify, especially when they think DVDs are good enough. Which, in my opinion, they are. If you get a long movie, you'll start to see some odd compression, especially on a computer, but, for the most part, it's a far beyond VHS quality.

I think this new-fangled High-Definition movement is moving too fast. People aren't ready and they're simply not going to buy it, and as a Slashdot commenter said, Sony is trying to create demand for a new format with a product whose price can only be justified if you already have demand for that format.

There's no demand for HD media, yet. Not by the majority of regular folk who can't see any sense in shelling out almost several thousand dollars (PS3 + HDTV) just to be able to SEE the HD content. What's the point in buying Blu-Ray without HDTV? There is none. Just forget it. It won't look any different. Sure Blu-Ray holds a lot more data for games, but why? I don't think games will get bigger, just prettier with larger textures (that you'll only see a difference on HDTV).

See what I'm getting at?

Microsoft is pushing HD media, too, but their success isn't tied to if HD-DVD succeeds. Sony wagered their entire gaming division on the success of Blu-Ray... if Blu-Ray fails, the PS3 will remain extremely expensive in an attempt to glean some profits off developing an entirely new format.

I pretty much just went over what everyone else is saying... but I still enjoy watching these developments. Now if only Sony could understand that people started becoming distrustful of them when they released that horrible rootkit in their music CDs... They probably won't. But it would be very pleasing to me, at least, if Sony as a console manufacturer dissolved much like Sega and someone new took their place and added something awesome to the market.

Maybe give Nintendo a little competition again.

Best (paraphrased) eBay excuse ever:

"Hi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to win this auction for 61 dollars. You see, I had this page up on my screen and my son bid on this. He's only 2 years old and is learning how the mouse works. Thank you for your understanding."

Right... somehow, by pure chance, your 2 year old kid mysteriously, without you capable of stopping him, scrolled down to the very bottom of the page, manually typed in a value greater than 60, after clicking on the input field, and then clicked SUBMIT. Forget the fact that you're usually asked to provide your username and password on the next screen... and then asked to review your bid on the screen after that.

I'm sorry... but do you expect me to believe that?

As some of you know, one of my goals in life is to write something... preferrably a novel... that sells... at like, bookstores and stuff. I don't know why... I just do. I've always had a fascination with writing and creating stories since I was old enough to know how to use a typewriter. (Which was, by the way, somewhere around age 6, I believe. I should look up those ancient little stories I wrote and see if I dated them.)

Anyway, as some of you also know, I have a hard time focusing on what I want to write. I have really big storylines formed in my head that I'm constantly thinking about, and have, as a result, been constantly fine-tuning and adding and changing. (Several times I have major "eureka!" moments where I've been thinking and thinking about how I could tie two elements together and just, suddenly... Bang! It's formed! ...and halfway decently, too, in my opinion. (Which is saying alot, seeing as how I usually think my stories are pretty lame. (But then I think about how Tolkien kept thinking LotR was pretty lame, heh.))) (Wow, major parenthesis nesting.)

So I finally just make myself unplug my laptop from the network and sit on my bed and try to belt out at least a few pages... or sentences... or words... something... anything! I then open up my stories folder and see a subfolder called "Pillar of Autumn". I stare at it for a minute thinking what on Earth is the name of a Halo spacecraft doing in my stories folder. So I open it up and see a small assortment of snippets I'd written for whatever it was that... I'd written...

So I open one of the files up and read for about half an hour the things I'd written I don't know when about an idea I've had for years. (...and also didn't at all remember writing it.) After a while, I said to myself... "wow... this is good stuff! ...but then I remembered that, uhh... I wrote it, and that kind of creeped me out, since I was critiquing my own work without knowing it. (Well, I did know it was mine, since it was in my story folder... but then I sorta forgot again while I was reading.)

...but anyway, yeah. I love doing that. Rediscovering something I'd written long, long ago and reading it as if it were something completely new to me. (Even though I still have the ideas floating around in my head.) I dunno... I thought it was cool anyway. Don't know about you, but I was bored and my blog needed updating so this is what you get!

Oh, and I actually did write some stuff lastnight too, because I fell asleep at the laptop and then decided it was time to go to bed for real... I think I got maybe... two paragraphs... of nothing, really. Mostly boring backstory that I don't know if I want to keep, even... or even start out like that. They say the first sentences have to hook your readers or they'll think you're boring and have more of a chance to stop reading. So yeah... I'm going to try that again tonight, instead of playing Halo and wasting time doing nothing important online.

...and speaking of Halo, I've been playing a whole lot of Halo 2 lately. I decided to play Legendard mode, since I first played it through with the really easy mode, and I was disappointed. (But then I thought "dummy! of course it was boring... you played it on easy!") Now I'm having a really, really great time playing it!! YEY! I finally got past the second boarding party and all the way to the bomb on the space station, but I'm low on ammo and the room is crawling with Elites so I've stuck there for a few hours. (Nothing like being stuck on the second boarding party though, geez... that was maddening.)

But yes! Halo 2 is awesome now. I've already learned how to utilize dual wielding properly, learned that dual SMGs is worthless, learned how to use the Battle Rifle effectively in combination with Plasma Pistols and have learned how to aim grenades pretty darn accurately! (I've also come to realize that human grenades are pretty much pointless, since they don't stick to enemies, heheh.)

Anyway, time for supper... so... have fun... with whatever it was you were doing before you decided to read this... or... stuff. Yeah. Bye.

It just hit me as I was (and still currently am) looking at various Lost-related stuff... People give me a whole bunch of reasons why they don't like it. Because it's not realistic... or because there's too much character flashback... or some other who knows what.

...and the reason I can't fathom why nobody in the Myst community watches Lost, is because Lost is a huge puzzle. ...and I guess I'm just rather stunned that fans of the best puzzle game in existence are just "ladeda, Lost isn't my type"... and I can't figure out how.

Even in flashbacks, you get weird AHA! moments and sometimes even see random encounters they have with the other passengers. Just in passing. Like opening a car door and hitting someone with it.

Lost is an amazing series. Incontinuities are most likely ever so subtle hints at a larger scheme... it is NOT predictable like I've heard people say. You think you have something figured out and WHAM, something comes along and so totally destroys your theories.

The writers and producers have what? 6 seasons already planned? As in... right now. 6 seasons. 6 seasons before we start to see the final larger picture about the Hanso Foundation and their Dharma Initiative and why they have little bases all over the island. What the "security system" is... and why there's a bunch of insane people kidnapping the survivors, and what the heck that Button does.

I don't know... I'm just frusterated, I guess. I cannot figure out why you guys won't watch Lost... I can't get enough of it, and it drives me crazy waiting for the next episode... and it drives me crazy when I mention it to some of you and it's just "yeah, that's nice".

Arrrrrrgh! Anyway... To those few of you I've spoken to that haven't seen it, or have only watched a couple... pssh. You stopped too early and I think you kind of know it. It's a puzzle! It's fun to try to figure it out! ...and don't you go telling me it's not realistic, because you fell for Myst and it's no where NEAR realistic.

So there you are! Visit some webboards... you'll see how much raw information has already been presented to us in various episodes, but aren't really able to make anything out of it besides random theories. Isn't this what we all did with realMyst and "Mudpie"?

Okay... the Nintendo Conference.

There wasn't many new hardware-esque announcements in this conference, either. It was mostly game previews and showing off the controller, of course. Which was, naturally, the highlight of the event! They demo'ed a racing game called Excite Truck (remember Excite Bike?) that uses the Wii Remote held long-ways with both hands... acting as a steering wheel. When the truck flies through the air, you can tilt the Wii Remote forward or backwards to balance your truck in an attempt to land square on all four tires.

Then, of course, there was Wii Sports, which is a quantity-over-quality sports assortment game. Baseball... tennis... all by swinging with the Wii Remote. Metroid Prime? Aim with the Wii Remote, move with the "nunchuck" attachment. Red Steel? Same thing. The first time FPSes may be better on consoles than they are on PCs, thanks to Nintendo! They also showcased other games coming soon, including Super Mario Galaxy and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Mario looked super-fun as always. I'm getting Zelda, of course, because of Link's turning into a Wolf, bwahaha. Sega is making Sonic the Hedgehog games that are exclusive to the Wii, now, too.

They announced that Zelda will be dual-released simultaneously on Wii release day for both the Wii and the Gamecube. Which everyone seems to be happy about. (As if any real Nintendo fan would buy Zelda on GCN if there's a Wii version?!)

Reggie (Nintendo of America's Public Relations, I believe) that history is littered with companies who died because they didn't advance and change. (You hear that Microsoft? You hear that Sony?) Later on, they announced the presense of a speaker on the Wii Remote that would, say... allow you to hear a bow being drawn and the arrow leaving, and then depth of sound would make you hear the arrow travel to the TV and hit your target. (Round of applause at this.) Then they also announced that the "nunchuck" attachment is ALSO motion-sensitive independent of the Wii Remote.

They brought out general numbers that proves people like change by talking about how fast and numerous the Nintendo DS is selling... and now the next wave, the DS Lite, is selling like hotcakes. They also said they're releasing Yoshi's Island 2 (sequel to Super Mario World 2) for DS! Bwahaha. Ooh, and Starfox DS, too... and, to a lesser excitement level for me, Diddy Kong Racing. Satoru Iwata also commented on load speed... teehee. (I couldn't find the original video, but this one is funnier even, so I'll link you to that instead! Seven... minute... PSP... loading time. They compare it to another game, which, even still, takes 30 entire seconds to load the main menu. The DS loads to main menu in a little under 5 seconds... at least with Tetris DS.)

Wii will also not power off completely when you press the Power button. Apparently, it will stay powered up enough to keep access to the internet for things like software addon delivery and, like in the Animal Crossing example, stay connected so friends can still visit your city and drop things off for you. Of course, I can hear all the security maniacs getting all up in arms about how it doesn't shut off when you want it to... but, actually, I haven't heard any, yet. I think it's awesome, personally. I mean... you have never, in the history of Nintendo games, ever had to give personal information to a game. How could it be a security risk?

Then! After they showed everything off... they announced the winner of a sweepstakes I'd never heard about, and the winner was allowed to get on stage with Reggie, Satoru and Shigeru to play a 2 vs 2 tennis game... at E3... with the 3 coolest people in the world. Oh maaan. They even played TWO rounds, because the first went really quick. I think it was a tie, in the end.

Before this, I forgot to mention, Shigeru showed off single-player Tennis. It was hilarious! He didn't speak English very well, so while he was playing, he had a translator up on stage with him. He'd say a few words in Japanese, and then translate... blah blah blah. Anyway, every now and then, you'd hear him go "aaah!" in between Japanese explanations whenever he'd miss the tennis ball... he was running all over the stage just like a real tennis match, hehe. It was sooo awesome!!!

So anyway, that was the conference. I've seen it a few times now, hehe. ...and now, here are some very Nintendo-positive E3 news snippets for you to chew on:

TG Daily reports that, by 10am on the first day, lines to play the 27 games (on more than 27 Wii stations) reached up to a 6 hour wait for 5 to 15 minutes of playtime. 6 hours. Sony and Microsoft's lines were only a 5 MINUTE WAIT.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl had it's trailer premiere today. Looks like everything we ever hoped for, folks. It's amazing... with confirmed online multiplayer capability.

Slashdot polls put Nintendo popularity at 47%, with Sony at 16% and Microsoft at 9%... the third poll option was a stupid buffer option carrying 26%.

Microsoft, for whatever their reasons, has essentially said "Nintendo is awesome".

I love Nintendo.

Oh man, tonight's Lost was so sad...