Somewhat Manly Nerd

I can think of no good reason to actually pay for stuff at Borders. I joined “Borders Rewards” when I actually purchased a book at Borders months ago. I can’t even remember what it was – I think it was a Sudoku book. I haven’t really gotten any “rewards” because I don’t even buy stuff at Borders. Once in a while I go and sit down and skim through some books, but I almost never hand over any cash. One can get almost every book available at Borders (and more) on Amazon.com for usually two-thirds the price. I guess if you don’t like shopping online, than Borders is as good a place as any to buy books, though.

It’s a completely different story when it comes to music and movies.

I checked my email the other day and saw a coupon for ONE DAY ONLY (yesterday, Dec 8th) for 40% off the list price of any DVD set. Now, I knew Borders was pretty expensive, but I figured with 40% off I could get a decent deal. I walked into the store and immediately turned toward the electronics section and saw “24% off seasons of 24!” and then saw $69.99 on the 24 box. Even with my 40% off coupon, that still comes out to 42 bucks. They go for about 45 bucks at Best Buy and online. That’s just pathetic. I thought maybe that was a ridiculous exception, but as I scoured through the section, I was blown away by the prices. There’s no way people actually do their DVD and CD shopping there (yea, the CD pricing is just as horrendous). I just won’t believe people are that stupid, right? But then how does Borders even have that whole section? AHHHHH.

After failing to find a DVD set at a somewhat rational price, I walked out of the store and tore up my coupon in the parking lot. What a waste of 15 minutes.

Every self-respecting baseball fan should. I don’t want to hear these arguments about now all of a sudden jumping on steroid users even though a few years back no one said a thing. I was younger then – and naive. And I frankly don’t truly remember what I thought back then. I don’t believe I was ever that entranced by the whole “Home Run Chase”. McGwire and Sosa both made a mockery of the record that Maris held for 40 years. They obliterated it, and it was due to them being steroid-fueled monsters. Now Bonds is making his assault on the all-time home run record.

I didn’t want to see him signed this year. For a little while there, I actually had the stupid hope of Bonds not being signed for the 2007 season. Unfortunately, the Giants are just that desperate. They gave the hobbling Bonds a $16 million contract for next year so he can look like a 60-year-old man with rheumatoid arthritis in the outfield. Hopefully one of his knees explodes.

I cringe at the thought of Bonds hitting home run number 756. Not only is he a rabid roid-head, he’s a pretty horrible human being by most accounts. He had a mistress that he intimidated into silence for a long while. His teammates hate his ass. He also has a persecution complex in which he blames everyone else for his problems. Remember that interview in which he stated, “Well, you’ve done it. You’ve brought me down. You’ve finally done it,” and then he hobbled away with his son in tow. I couldn’t contain my laughter. This is not a man worthy of breaking Hank Aaron’s record.

I can only hope that if he breaks the record, he does it to a resounding chorus of boos not seen this side of Yankee Stadium after A-Rod strikes out. Of course, if he does it in San Francisco, they’ll all eat it up. Argh.

300 Trailer at Yahoo

480p Direct Link

720p Direct Link

1080p Direct Link

This movie based on the comic book “300″ by Frank Miller looks like it will be the definition of badass when it hits theaters next year on March 9th. The Battle of Thermopylae pitted 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers against the whole of the estimated 240,000 Persian soldiers. They would all fight to their deaths to hold the Persian army long enough for the rest of the Greek army to retreat. As I said before – the definition of badass. The movie looks to bring the testosterone in massive doses and the style of the movie is just as cool as Sin City’s, if not cooler. The trailer just looks fucking gorgeous. Every Frank Miller comic should be made a movie. As I understand it, Batman Begins was heavily based on his comic “The Dark Knight” and we all know how great that movie was, and Sin City was arguably even better. 300 looks to continue the trend of awesomeness. “MADNESS??? THHHIISSS ISSSS SPPARRTTTAAAAA!!!”

Maybe it’s me getting older and more jaded, maybe it’s the law of diminishing returns in action, maybe it’s the fact that I don’t actually own any of them…but the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii all seem massively underwhelming. There’s no Halo, no Soul Calibur, no Super Mario 64… I really thought 360 had its killer app with Gears of War – then I played it. It sure was pretty, but the gameplay just didn’t grab me. FPS, or games that basically have the same mechanics, belong on the PC. Interestingly, I’ve had more fun lately exploring indie titles and mobile games, especially those crafted by top app development companies Sydney has to offer. Anyhow, before I get too into this discussion, I’m going to move on to the Wii, since it’s barely next-gen anyhow.

Wii

For $250, you get one Wiimote and nunchuck, Wii Sports, and an online service (Wiiconnect) that at this point only allows you to buy overpriced old games with no upgrades at all. Wii’s killer app is a Zelda game that should have been released months ago on its predecessor. From what I’ve read and heard, the game is great, but it’s still just a last-gen game with some added-on Wiimote functionality. I’ll admit from the demo that I played that at least fishing was fun – I did not get used to the controls in actual gameplay though. Then there’s Excite Truck, which looks and plays like a generic racer from last gen, but you tilt the controller. It’s pretty fun, I’ll admit, but the Burnout series murders it. The other exclusive games on the system range from a DS port (Trauma Center) to a mini-game compliation (Rayman: Raving Rabbids) to a game that looks like Goldeneye, and plays worse (Red Steel). Metal Slug Anthology will be a must-buy for any true gamer though (whenever it fucking comes out) – but you can also get it on PS2 and PSP. Maybe the added Wiimote controls are pretty cool though. Madden 07 on the Wii provides a little different take on the franchise that might be somewhat cool. I don’t know of any other games even worth mentioning at this point. The Wii is all about potential at this point, because many of the games don’t make great use of the Wiimote. Wii Sports is the one game that provides a showcase for the untapped potential for the new control scheme Nintendo has conjured up. I’ll admit that so far the gamble Nintendo has taken with the Wii has paid off in positive hype and sales.

Xbox 360

Ah, the system that has already been on the market for a year – and it shows. It has by far the best library, but it’s still not that diverse or impressive. There’s a handful of great shooters – such as Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six: Vegas, and Gears of War – but controllers for FPSs just get to me nowadays. Other critically acclaimed games include Oblivion and Viva Pinata. So at $399 (the $299 core system is a joke), you can get the best gaming next-gen has to offer right now. But be ready to shell out another $49 a year for Xbox Live, a necessity for any avid gamer. With it you get access to demos and the Xbox Live Marketplace, which has games like Uno, Geometry Wars, and Street Fighter 2 Turbo available to buy – all with online capabilties. The Xbox 360 is without a doubt a great system, and Halo 3 is still looming on the horizon, so Microsoft has done good.

PS3

Oh Sony, what have you done? I’ll never understand the massive lines for the PS3 nor the massive amounts of money PS3s were getting on eBay. What the fuck is wrong with people? What games do they want to play so badly? Or do they just want a cheap Blu-ray player? I’ll admit that in terms of hardware and features, the $599 premium version of the PS3 provides the most bang for your buck (with Blu-ray, Wifi, and 60 GB HD), but in terms of games, it’s easily the worst. The only arguably great game is Resistance, and even that looks like a generic PC FPS – and for the prices some PS3s are going for, one can buy a decent PC where you can play superior FPSs with a mouse and keyboard. And remember how I said Excite Truck didn’t exactly live up to its name? Motorstorm is even worse. It feels like the game is running at 15 fps while the vehicles are driving through mud. But I don’t like realistic racing games all too much, so what do I know? Sony has been taking a beating in the press, and they deserve it. The PS3 is really not that much more powerful than Xbox 360, so if it manages to lose the few exclusive series it has left – Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, Virtua Fighter – Sony is in big trouble. It has already lost GTA4.

To wrap this up, I don’t see any of the new consoles truly being worth a purchase this holiday season. I’m probably going to pick up a Wii only because I just recieved a bunch of money from my awesome grandparents, and because I’m going to have to get one when Super Smash Bros. Brawl comes out anyway. I might pick up Xbox 360 once it has a price drop (hopefully coinciding with the release of Halo 3). But right now, I’m truly happy with my PS2 and DS. The amount of quality titles on DS is mindblowing, and I only recently bought a PStwo, so I have dozens of great games to catch up on. And if I couldn’t get a Wii, I’d be fine with Zelda on GC.

Now here’s a comparison pic of all the consoles for fun: