Nintendo Rant

WARNING: This is not a ‘Console Wars' rant. If you’re going to comment telling me to buy a ‘PS3 or Xbox 360’, then close the tab. If you’re going to tell me something along the lines of ‘Real gamers don’t play Nintendo’, close the tab.

Today I went to the (somewhat) local mall since I didn’t go yesterday, and I was hoping there would still be good sales (There weren’t any, but oh well). I went to the Gamestop, even though I hate the company, just in case there was anything worth getting. I went to the Nintendo Wii section, since that’s the console I have, and I was annoyed at the game selection.

No, I don’t care that everything is rated E. In fact, I prefer seeing rated E stuff than video games which make soccer moms think video games are killing teens.

It’s the quality of the games which bug me. A lot.

Most of these games have good cover art. Not necessarily the best, but it gets the job done. And then they show screenshots on the back, and it’s horrible in comparison to the front.

For example, Wipe Out: The Game. The cover is nice, with realistic-ish drawings of people, and nice text. Then, the screen shot looks horrible. The water is mostly one shade, and the people aren’t detailed well. This wouldn’t be so bad if Nintendo just said they were Miis (Which are supposed to be simplistic), but for copyright reasons, they can’t, and the players look like botched up stick figures.

Some games don’t even try to have good covers, like Wheel of Fortune.

Seriously? Again, it looks like they’re trying to copy Miis without copyright infringement. And while the front cover is bad, at least Pat’s and Vanna’s features are recognizable. It looks like two out of the three contestants don’t have noses!

(All pictures from Gamestop.com)

I get that Nintendo has a budget, and there’s a recession going on, but these games were relatively expensive for bad graphics. If they’re going to charge so much, can’t they at least get better graphic artists? Especially if Microsoft and Sony are having games with better graphics?

I’m not going to get a new console because of this, and I don’t want to hear “LOL you’re not a real gamer because you play Nintendo”. I guess I’m just saying that I’m going to stick to Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii.

P.S. Are the bad graphics just game company stuff? Like are Activision and THQ (The developers for the two examples) bad at graphics, or is it with other companies, too? And was The Sims 3 for the Wii any good?

Homework- Done!

I finished my homework for the weekend. :D This includes busywork given to my class by my AP USH teacher, who decided to take charge of the class Monday. I still have to study for a quiz for that class, but I’ll do that later, so I could actually remember the stuff.

I could finally play The Sims 3 when it’s not past 11, which has become impossible thanks to school. I’ve been able to play The Sims 3 on weekends, but by the time I play, I get so tired I just turn it off and go to sleep. And this means I’ve been on the ninth generation for… a while. It doesn’t help that there are too many elders in the current eight slots, so the game has become boring.

And I watched The Fran Drescher Tawk Show. It was good, because she was endearing yet funny, and she still was herself. Plus, she actually has enough of a personality to own a talk show. Other talk show hosts rely on celebrities promoting their latest thing or dysfunctional people fighting with each other, but she didn’t solely rely on her guests. The episode was about nutrition/weight, and while she had Kirstie Alley on via Skype, it wasn’t like Kirstie was promoting a new book or anything. Plus, she had her adorable dog, Esther Drescher, on the show, and she parodied The View’s table discussions with a panel… of five year olds. There were two references to The Nanny- aunt Frieda’s actress came by, and Fran showed some wardrobe from the show and compared it to what she wears now.

Edit: I wanted to find a quote from an interview Fran had about her show, and she said this:

Fran Drescher: Yeah, I don't care about your movie, you're welcome to hock it, but you've got to have a point of view, you've got to be doing something for the greater good. But you know, the biggest stars actually do a lot for the greater good: George Clooney, Sting, Brad Pitt, Bono, Angelina [Jolie]. Angelina, myself, Brad Pitt, Bono, and George Clooney are the five most successful celebrity lobbyists in Washington D.C. and that's according to the Washingtonian. I was really impressed that I made their list [laughs].

Source: Laist.com

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Photo from Google.

This year, I’m thankful for my family, my friends, my health, and having a home.

I’m watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade today, and were there always this much musical numbers? It feels like this year there aren’t any floats, and it’s all just songs. I began watching this year’s at 10:30 because I overslept, but did they really have all the floats from 9 to 10:30?

And for the Pokemon float- why couldn’t they just stop at Pikachu? I used to be a Pokemon fan (And that’s where this username came from), but I stopped paying attention last year-ish. The new Pokemon look bad, in my opinion. But that’s nostalgia talking.

Long Weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to you! I hope you all have a good weekend.

I’m happy Jennifer Grey won DWTS, because now Bristol Palin’s irrelevant. They could all just stay on Sarah Palin’s Alaska and nobody will mind.

And the other day in my game, I noticed this (Censored because of spoilers in the legacy):

Babcock? Does that sound familiar?

To those of you lost on the reference, CC from The Nanny also had Babcock as a last name.

And Fran Drescher’s tawk show begins Friday. Luckily, I have no school, so I could watch it. I’m a bit worried the ratings will be lower because of Black Friday stuff, but whatever. And Charles Shaughnessy allegedly was filming with Fran for the tawk show! Maybe there’s a reunion coming up?

And Renee Taylor guest starred on Shake it Up! as a cranky senior citizen in a retirement center. Sadly, no references to The Nanny.

And in other news, I watched a somewhat famous episode of Roseanne the other night. It was the home ec field trip episode, which made me laugh a lot.

iAm Disappointed

 A few days ago, I was excited for the umpteenth iCarly special. This one was going to answer the shipping question. Or so I thought. Most of it sucked.

Somewhere on Tumblr, I saw a ‘5 reasons to watch this special’, and it included these 5 reasons:

I was already worried when I saw Jack Black guest starring, and Spencer singing wasn’t much better. Spencer’s already my least favorite character of the show, so I was annoyed. And Guppy returning wasn’t exactly some I was looking forward to.

And Carly’s crush has already been revealed. She liked that one guy from the beginning of the show who wanted to sing but couldn’t- Jake or something? She also liked Shane in iSaw him first, and she had a semi-crush on Freddie in iSaved your life. And there have been lots of shipping fan war episodes already, so… why did we watch? And on another note, why are all of Carly’s love interests satellite characters?

At first, when this episode was getting promoted a couple weeks back, it was a “Which ship will last?” ish episode, and it looked like it would be serious about the topic, and leave fans and shippers satisfied. However, as Nickelodeon was getting closer and closer to yesterday, it was getting promoted as a “Jack Black special omgomgomg!!!1”

I remember for iSam’s Mom, I got annoyed with how they put Jane Lynch, an actual actress outside of kidcoms, aside for a Freddie subplot. However, for this, they got an actual actor outside of kidcoms (Jack Black), and they put him in a subplot, but that subplot became the main plot. Nickelodeon executives, relax, I don’t think this will be Jack Black’s only iCarly guest star appearance.

The episode had not so subtle references to characters on other Schneider shows, like the two nerds (Craig and Eric) and the mullet guy (Gavin) from Drake and Josh, and the lisp girl (Staci) from Zoey 101. It was funny at first, but then the D&J guys got ovations from the studio audience/sound effects people. Last time I checked, didn’t only legitimate celebrities get applauded (Like ones not on kidcoms)?

Then Carly had a not at all subtle speech about how “iCarly is about the comedy and not the relationships, and how we’re supposed to just laugh at it.” And then average shippers became compared to nerds with no lives, who just religiously ship people for a living. Yeah, they’re totally the same, right?

The problem with that is that the show’s not that funny for the stuff Dan wants us to laugh for. Like the stuff which the ‘studio audience’/sound effect people laugh for is a bunch of bad puns, and all the innuendos with no laugh track are the better jokes in the series. And in show, the webshow’s not really that funny.

And how does Dan expect fans of iCarly not to ship? He’s had a bunch of shippy episodes, like iTwins, iSaved your Life, iKiss, iThink they kiss, iSpeed Date, and iReunite with Missy. With episodes like that, what does he expect us to do? And on fellow Schneider show Victorious, it’s practically all about shipping!

But hey, they didn’t spoil everything this time, so that’s a start.

And Disney aired the Hannah Montana movie at the same time-ish. Ratings duel much?

Total Drama World Tour: The Finale

Yesterday, Total Drama World Tour ended. As much as I like the cartoon, it’s been a little annoying the past few episodes. Specifically, “Rapa-phooey!” and onwards. It’s literally just been Sierra, Alejandro, Heather and Cody. I needed some differences!

Heather won the million… until zombie!Ezekiel stole it all from her and then fell into a volcano. Alejandro got burnt and trampled by everyone, Heather was trying to avoid a flaming boulder, and then… the show ended.

Oh, and there were Star Wars and Lord of the Rings references. Too bad the safety of some characters had to be compromised for these references. Oh, and chances are, no kid in the target audience from this cartoon even knew the references!

I’m glad Heather won, because she was one of the only contestants who was in it to win it, unlike those trying to get out on purpose (DJ), or those who tried to use the show as a matchmaker (Harold, Gwen, Duncan, Courtney… the list goes on). She made a full circle from villain to anti-hero.

And today’s “I have too much time on my hands!” theory is:  Heather is two letters away from Hester, as in Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter. At first people hated Hester, but then she won them over with her sewing skills, or something like that. She had to wear a letter A, which stood for Adulteress, but later stood for Able. Heather used to be an Adulteress for kissing Trent, but then she became Able enough to win the competition. So, is Heather Hester? Probably not, but still.

Courtney talked a bit too much, which annoyed me, and Sadie, a near mute character, finally got lines.

There will also be a new season coming up next year, so we’ll have to stay tuned.

Disney Alumni going to College?

No, it’s not Miley Cyrus.

Tonight, on TBS, a new show will premiere called Glory Daze. This is a show set in the past, I’m guessing like How I Met Your Mother, The Wonder Years, or Everybody Hates Chris is. It’s about people going to college, and there’s… two (sorta) Disney ‘graduates’: Kelly Blatz (of Aaron Stone and Sonny with a Chance psuedo-fame) and Drew Seeley (The guy whose sung lots of songs for the Mouse House, but never gets credited).

I’m not planning on watching it, but I found it interesting how Disney more or less threw Kelly to the curb after cancelling Aaron Stone. Knowing the Mouse House, I’d expect him to be tossed from series to series, making random guest appearances. But yeah, looks like he’s going to the real world. I’m also shocked that Drew Seeley finally left Disney after recording lots of music for them. But he’s 28, he kinda has to begin finding non-Disney related jobs.

And another iCarly special concerning Creddie versus Seddie will air Friday, I think. I’m excited, but Jack Black will guest star, and he’s probably going to hog the whole hour. And Disney’s premiering The Hannah Montana Movie that night to. Ratings scheme, much?

And in other news, I haven’t seen a True Jackson VP special new episode  rerun commercial anything in the past few months. Yikes. But apparently there are some episodes that have yet to be aired, so the show’s still safe.

And Good Luck Charlie confronted the issue of cheating somewhat seriously in Sunday’s episode. Apparently Teddy’s boyfriend was cheating on her with some other girl, and he told said girl Teddy was his cousin. The episode had a reference to Charlie bit my finger, and it had a cute but sad ending.

Carrie: The Review

I had to read Carrie by Stephen King for school. I enjoyed the book, but sadly, I can’t talk about what I liked about the book for my English class. I have to talk about the writing style and stuff like that. Since that’s no fun, I decided to write about what I thought of the book here.

Margaret White: She was such a creep. And a jerk. Ugh. Everything she did in the book was worth a facepalm. She didn’t even have a justifiable back story. She took “Lifetime movie woman” to a new extreme.

Chris: In my mind, I was yelling profanities at her whenever King was writing about her. Her boyfriend and her dad both knew about her ways, but didn’t really try to stop her? Really? By the end of the book, I just shrugged that she died.

Carrie: I’m not sure if she was supposed to be parodying angsty teenage girls for thinking of herself as ugly, yet at the prom she was pretty, but that’s what she came off as. She was the most sympathetic character in the book. I don’t get why at the end, she didn’t just kill Chris and the other bullies. She didn’t have to kill the entire population of Chamberlain. Especially if she could mind read and stuff. Why didn’t she just do that to know who was laughing at her? That was kind of a crappy move.

And on a semi-random note, I remembered this from the IJBM from TV tropes for Sabrina the Teenage Witch while reading Carrie going psycho on everyone:

"I know The Libby comes from this show and I was certainly tortured by enough girls like her in high-school, but I could never feel any satisfaction whenever Sabrina defeated her with magic. To me, bullying comes from an imbalance of power and since Sabrina is a pretty much an omnipotent goddess, it was her that came off as the bully when she used this advantage against a mortal high-school girl. On The Secret World Of Alex Mack, Alex, too, had magical powers but she refused on principle to use them for petty revenge against her Libby (The decent thing to do.) You know, in general, it just bugs me that on this show (following Bewitched) witches have god-like powers like time travel and without the need for spells or potions or anything like that. Not only is it not like that in folklore, it's really boring dramatically.”

That kinda describes the Carrie VS Chris Conflict. I mean, bullying for years, versus killing someone? But still, Chris was annoying so Carrie using her powers gets justified.

It bugged me how the main moral seemed to be “Don’t bully people, because they might go psycho on the whole school and they might hurt you,” not “Don’t bully people, because they have feelings, too.” Then again, I don’t think Stephen King writes for morals.

And Carrie reminds me of Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Or the other way around, seeing as the latter was written in like 2007. Basically:

Book	Carrie	Nineteen Minutes
Setting	Maine	New Hampshire
People nice to bullied victim, who later unknowingly caused bullied victim to get revenge.	Sue/ Tommy	Josie
Things that should and probably count as sexual harassment.	The shower scene.	Peter getting pantsed at lunch.
The story telling style.	Newspaper article scrapbook with science articles on telekinesis.	Flashbacks and flashforwards with psychological assesments.
Jerk boyfriend dying.	Billy.	Matt.
Bullied Victim dying.	Carrie getting fatigue from overusing powers.	Peter suffocating himself at the prison.

 

The only different stuff were Carrie had a religious mom, while Peter didn’t.

Thank You, Ilovethesims7!

 

Thanks, Ilovethesims7!

I was in a bad mood today, so when I saw this, it pretty much made my day. :) And my male Sims needed more hairs, too.

My AP USH Class gives me a Headache….

WARNING: This is a kinda long IRL rant. If you don’t like these, then skip it.

…… And I’m not talking about the workload.

The class is filled with suck-ups and arrogant narcissists. The suck-ups aren’t that bad. Seeing as this is everyone’s first AP class, I’m kinda okay with that, and I’m just hoping that people are nervous and don’t know how to act. And besides, I kinda suck-up too, and the teacher’s okay with it, so I guess it’s okay.

However, the narcissism is annoying. In that class of more than 25 people, I could only stand like 7 or 8 people. Everyone thinks too much of themselves. People interrupt the teacher, interrupt others speaking, and the class is generally loud. Most people have the maturity of middle schoolers in that class, and it’s filled with more ‘nerds’ than popular people, so… yeah.

My friend who took that class last year said it was more serious last year, and once she said she was just walking by when we had it, and she noticed “People were all just talking to each other and walking around the room.” And she said “Last year, we were quiet when we entered. Your class made it a joke.”

And my teacher is constantly threatening us, saying “This class will be the first AP USH class to get busy work". Yes, he said it from a “If this continues” kind of way, and not a definite way, but still. Most students actually were determined to get us busy work.

Today, we had to do a mock-continental convention, and luckily, a sane person became the moderator/judge. Students were still talking out of line. The grade president always interrupted EVERYONE, saying his point of view (Btw, he wasn’t the moderator, so he was supposed to just sit there and raise his hand.), and didn’t let the class agree on something he opposed. So, whatever the class agreed on something, he had to agree on it, too. And he wasn’t the judge person.

Let’s face it, in life, even if you don’t agree on stuff, you’re not supposed to complain until you get your way.

Things got worse when someone (Another non-judge person) was debating with the president, and saying what the quiet people were thinking. Neither the president nor this person were picked on to speak. Guess who got in trouble and (albeit, voluntarily) left the class?

Yup, not the president. And nobody called the president out.

The judge person kept on telling everyone to be quiet, but no luck.

I left the class with a headache.

So basically, the teacher has little control over the class, the grade president thinks he has more rights than others, and everyone in that class thinks to highly of themselves.

Happy Birthday, AE!

Okay, so it’s belated, but I hope you enjoyed your birthday. :) Good luck with your surgery and enjoy Late Night and the Console game, and relax and stuff.

And in other news, I finished reading Carrie. I liked it, and I’ll probably write about it later.

And it’s getting really cold here, and winter doesn’t start till December-ish here. :\

I don’t Know if I should be Happy or Sad..

I was channel surfing today, and I saw Family Ties on a channel. I thought, “Wait, wasn’t that show, like from the eighties? What’s it doing on television?*"” So I looked at what channel it was on, and it was a channel called “The Hub”. Since my family recently switched Cable providers, I just shrugged, and thought it was a new channel. Later, though, I channel surfed again, and saw The Wonder Years, a show from the nineties, on that same channel. I got slightly suspicious. What channel syndicates two old shows on the elusive side? I decided to Wikipedia it, and turns out…

… The Hub is the new Discovery Kids.

Apparently, Hasbro (The toy company) owned half of Discovery Kids and somehow manipulated FCC’s E/I regulations and crap, and now there’s a channel devoted to some stuff from the eighties and nineties, and some stuff from the old Discovery Kids.

I have mixed reactions. I used to occasionally sometimes (Redundancy intended) that channel, and I kinda liked Trading Spaces: Boys VS Girls and Endurance. But then they just got more gross out shows and I tuned out. And a toy company running a channel seems screwed up. Marketing at its worst?

But then again, if fans of retro shows are happy, and kids could also watch those shows, then I guess it’s a win-win-ish deal. Sadly, I don’t think I have time for more shows to watch. :(

And ugh, this post reminds me of my old posts. Like, my 2009 ones. :\

 

 

* I’m not saying it’s unworthy for television. I was just shocked that something from the eighties would be on TV and not on nick@nite or TV Land.

New Banner!

I changed the top banner today. The blue on the old text was kinda giving me a headache. :P
What do you think of it?

And there's a new blog for custom content sharing purposes ran by Vidkid and LE! Check it out over here.

And why have my last few posts have been so short? -_-

And I reorganized the 'Currently Reading' navigation bar thing, so now it's in alphabetical order instead of most recently updated.
I changed it back.

Thank you, Vidkid!

A bit late, sorry, I had school work. But thanks for helping ArmenianTwin95 and I fix our game successfully! You helped us way more than any EA worker would.

And speaking of the patch, why are twins different (astrological)signs? o.O