I recently sold some of my crochet creations. Mostly it was two commissions. So I had a minute amount of money on hand. I got a classic controller and a Wii points card. So, for the past few days, I've been enjoying the virtual console version of Mario64. It's pretty fun, but I kind of wish I'd had a tiny bit more money so I could have gotten Mario Galaxy.
Playing Mario64 reminds me a good deal of Galaxy, and so does the other game I've been playing recently, which is Mario Sunshine. They're both fun games, and I'm happy to be able to play them, but they remind me of how much better the other game is. It's like when I rented Mario Party 8 for the Wii. Playing it, I felt that it was what all the other Mario Party games were supposed to be. The controls were so superior, so intuitive, and so fitting for the game.
It's the same way with these two. Sunshine and Mario64 are good games, but I think the concepts of them are realized so much better in Galaxy. I rented Galaxy shortly after it came out, and I got a fair way into the game. I don't think it was easier than these other two, but I was able to get through it a lot better. I made smoother progress and didn't hit any levels I was unable to pass, even for a short time. Because of that, I had more fun with it. So I'm looking forward to owning it. And I think I will still play these two. They are, as I have mentioned, both good games.
The other game I got for the virtual console is Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It's as much fun as any of the other Sonic games I've had the chance to try. I haven't beaten the boss by the waterfall yet, though. But I've only played it for about 20 minutes total. I hope I can beat it. It would kind of stink to have to get a youngster to beat it for me so I can go on. ;)

I have completed the Cave of Ordeals in Twilight Princess.
That was a pain in the neck.
I did the run through the cave because it was where the last Poe was hiding. In the chambers near the end, the game designers just tried to annoy the player. All the most vicious and difficult enemies are there, and there are three separate rooms with those master swordsmen who require the hidden skills to beat (or the mace and more life than you're likely to have).
At the end of this, you get one (at a time) jar of great fairy tears, and she doesn't even give you a new bottle.
This is one of many things in this game that is a little out of proportion to the amount of garbage you have to go through to get it. The minigames with the baloons you have to break around Lake Hylia and Zora's river are pretty well balanced, and the star game is not so bad once you get the pattern down (or turn on the cursor for that minigame), but the Poe souls and the Cave of Ordeals are a little out of scale with what you get, particularly when they only reward you with one-at-a-time goodies.
And I'm a little disappointed that you have to wait so long (from spending money, bringing a few bugs, spending, bringing a few bugs) or waste so much to get the huge wallet from Agitha. And I'd like the rupee armor a lot better if it didn't drain rupees when you're not getting hit.
After the Jovani quest (and you don't in the end get to help the guy, after all) his cat will only give you one reward of 200 rupees at a time, and only when you're low on rupees, so that makes it a poor companion to the rupee armor, which would be cool if you got your wallet filled.
Yeah, I know that if the player got more bottles, had better rupee armor, and had a larger wallet or truly unlimited rupees after completing the Jovani quest, the game would be a lot easier near the end, but rupees as rewards are a little bit trivialized by how easy it is to get them or even just farm them through simple repetitive actions. The hardcore gamers are going to try to beat the game without any rewards or extra hearts, but it would be nice if the harder side quests got you something more worth all the trouble.
So, yeah.
I feel a little bit good about my 'accomplishment' even though it's only a game, but I'm also a little disappointed that it doesn't even bring much of a value in-game.
I've now done just about everything in this game. I got all the golden bugs last time through. I got the Cave of Ordeals and the Poe souls this time through. I got almost all the heart pieces last time before I got bored with that and just beat the end boss. I probably ought to put it aside and consider giving it to someone else. It's still a fun game, but I may be pretty much done with it.

Speaking of games, I've been thinking a lot lately about World of Warcraft. I know that a tiny bit of this is that I've seen other people talking about it, but even when I haven't for a while, I've been thinking about it, thinking about tips and tricks I picked up back when I had an active account.
I'm not really interested in going back to it, because I don't have time to play a game that immersive (I end up playing too long with simutrans, and that doesn't really get you anything hugely significant. It's a cool game, but in the end, you just play until you have a transport network you love and/or get tired of playing, then you start a new one)... and I think that might be why I ought to mention it here.
World of Warcraft is a game with many bad facets, mostly having to do with the way people play it, but also with the philosophy and backstory of the game. But it's also a game that designers should study. It's an immersive world with plenty of places to explore; you could enjoy the game for hours just wandering the countryside exploring the different locations. It has excellent gameplay; the fighting system is the best I've ever seen (You have 10 or so action keys for different attacks or other actions, so you can actually engage in combat. You don't just select an enemy and let the auto-swing pound on it (unless you're a pally, hehe), like you do in some other games I could mention, which have only one or two fighting keys, or worse, menu-based attacks). Blizzard works very hard at making the game balanced, and I think they did a very good job of it. It's a good model for gameplay, and I wish there were more games like it in underlying structure and gameplay. As I said, I want a better storyline than WoW has. But I'd really like to play a game that plays like WoW.

So, I guess today I'm kind of comparing Zelda with WoW. I wonder if anyone has ever done that before. hehe.

I also would love to have a CD of the music from the game, because they did an excellent job with it.

I won't ask for a response to this entry, which in my experience means it's likely I'll get a firestorm of comments on it, hehe. Anyway,

I didn't want to talk about this in my last entry, but I thought I would share something neat.
Tonight when I got home, I found waiting for me in the mail a package from Nintendo(tm). They sent me two free remote jackets (soft thingies that go around the Wii remote and make accidental contact with objects or people a little less damaging and, I imagine, improve the grip and reduce the likelihood of losing contact with the remote while playing). They posted a note in the message space on the console telling users about the offer. I went to their site and ordered a pair for my remotes, and they arrived tonight.
This is just another awesome thing about this game console and the company that makes it.

Also waiting for me was a box from a friend of mine (whose name I am not mentioning for her privacy; she can tell you who she is if she wants) with Christmas presents. This was very nice, and she totally did not have to do this. All the gifts inside were thoughtful and unexpected. My only regret is that the candy "kisses" were not real ones from my future wife. ;) Thanks, my friend. :)

My brother sent me some Whoppers(tm) candy. I'm going into a sugar coma soon from all the candy people gave me. Either that, or I'll blow up like a balloon from all the extra calories. ;)

My family had a quiet Christmas with friends and relatives. Although I didn't get extra sleep, I enjoyed the trip and hardly thought of how selfish I've been feeling or how little I've been doing for others. It was a nice bit of time to just relax and be with loved ones. I am hopeful that next year, I will be celebrating with my wellbeloved.
I'll try to move forward into the new year with purpose, not think about not getting what I really wanted (see earlier entry), and enjoying all the thoughtful things people got me when I said I didn't need any gifts this year. From now on, I need to laugh and cry more freely, think of others more and myself less, and spread my business cards around so people will be able to call me and ask me to build their Web sites.

I hope you had a safe and very merry Christmas, and I hope you have a safe and happy new year. Remember, the wise men sought Jesus for over a year before they found him. Wise men seek him still.

Just in time for the beginning of classes tomorrow, I have completed the game. I beat Ganon, saved Hyrule from his clutches, and freed Midna from her curse. i have completed Twilight Princess
The total game time on my save file is 59 hours, 14 minutes. Unlike some other Legend of Zelda games, this one does not offer you a chance to save after you beat it, nor a master quest version. So, my time does not include the time it took for me to run from the entrance to the castle (I saved right before the boss door) to the boss door, the time it took for me to defeat Ganon in all his forms, or the time it took for the credits to roll and all the loose ends to wrap up (though not completely, and I'll talk about that under the cut). All of that together took 1 hour, 11 minutes, according to the menu records.
( Cut to conceal spoilers and hide geekery from those who don't care )
Would I recommend the game? Yes, very much so. There are a few parts where it gets a little maddening, like when you have to veer away and then back to get a strike while riding Epona, and when Midna tells you to do one attack but what you need is another one, but those moments are few and far between. By the way, it's the spin attack, not the charge-up-the-blade one that dissipates the dark fogs.
Have fun!

  I didn't want my new game console to be just an expensive plaything for myself. I wanted my mom to be able to enjoy it, too. So, we've started the search for games she'll enjoy playing on it. Needless to say, her interests in games are quite different from mine.
( Read more... )
  Do any of you have suggestions of Wii or GameCube titles my mom and I might like?

  There has been a spring in my step this past week. That isn't actually true, but there have been a lot of moments during the past week when I have caught myself walking with a light and joyful step.
  I wouldn't say this is uncharacteristic. I'm not normally a guy who is down in the dumps. I have a bouyant personality. I'm the guy who's rarely down but almost never perky. I have never been the type of guy who is so cheerful it annoys other people. I sit like a bobber on a fishing line, never pulled under the surface for long, but rarely seen in the air above the surface. I don't notice the general cycle of ups and downs in my life that are common in the lives of most people.
  I'm different.
  I'm rarely far from the baseline. But I didn't start out to write about myself and my tendency to be of flatter moods than is normal. I started out to write that I've been catching myself, and noting with pleasure, my generally upbeat mood in recent days. I lost some weight in Poland and got a good walk almost every day I was gone. But I don't think those things had as much effect on me as simply being in the mission field. I love helping others. But maybe that's not it, either. I don't really understand it, because at the same time as I was on the mission trip, I was feeling the weight of some concerns. I think Christ's churches are not doing enough in missions. I think too many people are ignoring the commission of Jesus to go into the world. I think I ought to be doing more to remind people that missions is for everyone, not just those called to live in Africa or other countries for their careers. And I think a lot of missions is poorly done.
  So, really, my joy surpasses understanding. Maybe God has simply blessed me this past week with a light heart.
  Proverbs says that hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. I had a desire fulfilled today. I know this is a silly desire, and it wasn't a profound one for me, and it is nothing compared to my heart desire to know my future wife's name, but it did make me very happy to finally see it arrive. Let me make absolutely clear that this is not something I consider important but merely long-awaited.
  You see, in the spring semester, I worked on the campus newspaper as a copy editor. Early in the semester, I also took on the position of Web editor. These positions, on top of a full load of courses, made the semester more complicated and difficult than what I should have taken on at one time. I'm at fault for overscheduling myself, but I enjoyed the experience. But at the end of the semester, I felt like death warmed over, because I really did overextend myself. Anyway, because of a paperwork mix-up, I only got paid for the Web position. At the end of the semester, I finally discovered that the paperwork mix-up had not been resolved. Eventually, I got it straightened out and left a note with the person who could do the final steps to make sure I got paid.
  On Saturday, my check arrived.
  I had decided at the end of the semester what I would do with the check. After God's part and a part for my IRA, I dfigured I would have just enough left over for a Wii game console, an extra controller set, two GameCube controllers (because I have a GameCube game), and the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii.
  So on Saturday, I called around to the local Wal-Marts and EB Games stores. Nobody had the console. EB Games said to try back on Monday.
  On Monday, I called EB Games, but they hadn't gotten any in. So, I decided to visit Wal-Mart every day. I had some pictures that I needed to get reprinted, since I'd given the original prints to another member of the team, or to the pastor in Poland. So, this is what I did. No consoles on Monday. No consoles on Tuesday. Went in this morning, and they didn't have any. I asked one of the associates if they were being bought up by people selling them on the Web or if there were just that many people who wanted one. He said there were that many people.
  So, I ran some other errands while waiting for the developer to finish the pictures. By now, I had reached the point where I was willing to wait a little bit, but I was beginning to wonder if it would be Christmas before I got to the store while they had one in. On my return, I checked electronics first, and they had the consoles! The associate said they'd arrived about five minutes earlier. So, I bought one, along with the accessories I'd planned for. I had $2.00 left from my check. Hehe.
  So, I now own one of those awesome consoles with the really stupid name. And I'm a very happy man. I know I could have spent the money on more lofty things, but I really did want this game console. It's not like I regularly buy console games as they come out. The last console I bought new before May of this year (when I got half a PS/2 for an early birthday present (I asked for a Wii, but I also had games for the PS/2, so we got that instead)) was a Super Nintendo Entertainment System. And I only have three games for that system. I'm not what you'd call a serious console gamer. I like Nintendo's new console because it's truly different. It does things none of the others do. It promotes movement rather than couch potato sitting. It plays GameCube games, of which I have one or two. And the games for Nintendo's console are for everyone, not just the hardcore gamers, so they're game I have fun playing.
  And this next semester is going to be tough, so I'm glad to have something like this for relaxation and energy catharsis. I think I have made a good choice in this console.
  But I forgot to pick up my photos from processing. Oops.
  When I got home, I set up the console and played a game of bowling with my mother. Neither of us did a stellar job. I won the game, but she got a higher skill rating than I did. I messed around a bit with the fitness section and the training section. Then I loaded the game that was a large part of my desire to get this console. I played that for a while, and I got almost all the way through parts I had seen other people play. I'm a bit of a fan of the Zelda series, and Twilight Princess has lived up to my expectations, for the most part. I'm pleased with this game, and with the whole purchase.
  I have to admit, as low-key as I normally am, that I've been excited about this since Saturday, when my check arrived. It's not often that I get excited.
  I hope that your day has been wonderful. I hope that you have been blessed. Now I'm going to think about writing some things about missions. Catch you later. :)

I've been doing some research for class, and here are some of the gems I've encountered.
It's about time I saw someone else saying these things. Most of the points in Nintendo's Wii Is the Best Product Ever are things I've been saying ever since I heard about the features of the Wii, and PS3, and the Xbox360.
That article had links to some others which I couldn't resist reading.
Yeah, I think I was right to avoid MySpace all these years... and for many of the same reasons mentioned here: MySpace, Second Life, and Twitter Are Doomed. I did not, however, predict what is predicted in the article. I just complained about it and stayed away.
Even though I could not care less if you paid me not to care, this article, iPhone to Flop...Then Fly is a pretty good read, and I think he's mostly right in his analysis. I disagree about the keypad issue, though. That will hold them back. Anyway, I don't really care if iPhone does well or poorly, because I'm not into multi-function phones. I want my phone to be a telephone and nothing or very little else. Text messaging is sort of useful, now that we have predictive entry.
Another news item is this one about Blockbuster video choosing Blu-Ray for its high definition rentals. As A Slipped Disc? explains, the war is not over, and since HD-DVD is more closely aligned with the computer world (while Blu-Ray has a good corner of Hollywood), HD-DVD may be the winner in the end. That's where I'd put a wager, if I had to. Computing and recording are more important than Hollywood releases.
Finally, Google is doing things that annoy me. Their maps service is the one thing I do use on their site (except when individual sites use Google for the backend of their site search page, but that doesn't really count. Anyway, this article suggests that Google Is Watching Us! An interesting read.
Well, i should probably get back to my assignment. I have more research to do.

I finally got to play some games on the Wii last night (Thursday), aside from the virtual console, which isn't really the same thing. One of my buddies brought his in and let me play a couple of bouts of boxing on Wii Sports, and after that, we played Excite Truck for a few courses.
This evening (Friday), I found that my arms and back were sore, and it took me a while to figure out why. Playing those games, particularly the boxing, was quite a workout. I was sweating and breathing heavily by the end of it.

Someone is selling a USB Hamster Wheel. Amazingly, this is not the most useless USB device I've ever seen. The faster you type, the faster it spins; send a message to your boss of how you feel about the usefulness of your job.

After class tonight, I went to the game room, and someone else had brought in a Wii. They were playing Wii Sports, which is pretty cool. It includes Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, and Golf, among other things. The positioning was a little odd on some of the players, but that might have had something to do with the profiles, because it only did it on some players.

I ran across a walkthrough this morning for Twilight Princess. I knew it wouldn't take long, but I was a little surprised by how far the walkthrough went. I didn't read as far into it as I watched the guys yesterday playing, but it seemed to go further than I had expected. I am excited about this game. :)

Some people here at the university got their Wii consoles last night, and they were playing them in the game room.
The Wii is very cool. Some people have commented that the graphics are not hugely superior to those on the GameCube, but I don't think that's very important, especially considering the strides Nintendo has taken with control and gameplay.
The motion sensing controller is pretty much all that it's cracked up to be, although it is a little bit quirky. I expect that might be addressed more completely in the second shipment. New systems often make revisions shortly after launch.
I saw them playing a number of games.
Some Dragonball Z game: I don't play fighters, but I enjoyed watching them play. The Wii's controls make fighting games make sense. And they require a bit more athleticism than most console games.
Red Steel: This was a pretty interesting game, though not really the type I would play, and the reviews don't make me anxious to play it.
Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess: This game caught my interest the most, since it's one I would like to play. The controls are very good, and the Z-targetted long jumps are a great help. I would love to play this one. The graphics are on par with some older PC MMOs, which has been something some people have noted, but I think they are very pretty. After all, the gameplay outweighs the graphics any day.
( spoiler warning )I want to get a Wii so I can play this game.

The Wii has several other abilities: It plays GameCube games (with disc and controllers), reads flash cards (but not USB keys), displays photos and movies from flash cards, and plays a library of legacy games.
PS3 and Xbox360 are "Ooo, shiney," but for most gamers, the Wii is, in my opinion, a better choice. It doesn't have elite features most gamers won't get to use, and it doesn't have a lot of advertising dollar built into the cost, so it's a lot cheaper. And since it is made for standard definition TV screens, it uses what most people have and focuses on gameplay instead of chrome.