Ebay

So now my N64 is listed on ebay. Hopefully it will all sell. If it all goes for list price then I will have enough to cover the Wii and hopefully a game. If it goes for more, then I can look at other controllers and extra games.

To all you Wii owners out there, any suggestions. I am particular to Mario and Zelda games, but I would also like to get a Mario Party and Mario Kart. Any other really cool ones out there?

N64

So then...I have the N64 from when I was a kid. I don't play it, and have decided that I will sell it and use the moneys to get a Wii. Currently I have:

-Nintendo 64 system w/ wires and expansion pack

-4 controllers ( Gray, Green, Blue and see through Green)

-3 Controller memory cards

-1 gameboy transfer thing

-1 gameshark

-20 games:

The World is Not Enough

Perfect Dark

Super Mario 64

Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Mario Golf

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

Golden Nugget

Bio Freaks

Mario Tennis

Track and Field 2000

Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer

Dr Mario 64

NHL 99

Rampage 2

Turok: Rage Wars

1080 Snowboarding

Kirby 64: Crystal Shards

Goldeneye

NFL Blitz 2001

Most of them still have their instruction books with them. I also seem to have some of the game guides too.

Time for Super Mario Facts

1. Mario was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and appeared in the game designer's first ever title, the 1981 arcade platformer, Donkey Kong. Miyamoto was hired as a graphic artist by Nintendo in 1977, and was given the task of designing a game after several of the company's early coin-ops had failed to make an impression on the lucrative arcade market. Donkey Kong was created using the hardware behind an older arcade title named Radar Scope, which sunk without a trace in the US. Miyamoto ditched the shooting theme and added an ape and rolling barrels. Success naturally followed.

2. Mario was originally known as Jumpman. However, when Nintendo's US office were trying to think of a better name in time for the American release of the game, they were interrupted by their landlord Mario Segale, after whom they christened the character.

3. Mario was originally a carpenter, not a plumber. He's also appeared as a doctor in the 1990 puzzle title Dr Mario and its sequels.

4. The look of Mario is all about the graphical limitations of the hardware at the time. He has a hat, because realistic hair was difficult to portray, a moustache to accentuate his nose, and dungarees to make his arm movements more noticeable. In Super Mario Bros, he wears a brown shirt below his overalls – a look that was swiftly abandoned.

5. Donkey Kong Jr, the 1982 sequel to Donkey Kong, is the only game in which Mario officially stars as the antagonist. He has trapped poor Donkey Kong in a cage and the ape's son must rescue him. In the game's promotional material, Mario even gets a specially twirled moustache, highlighting his evil nature.

6. In contrast, Bowser, the key antagonist of the Super Mario Bros series, has also appeared as a good guy. He helps Mario in the 1996 title Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

7. Super Mario Bros was preceded by the 1983 arcade platformer, Mario Bros. Designed by Miyamoto and Game Boy-creator Gunpei Yokoi, it's set in the New York sewer system and introduces Mario's brother Luigi.

8. Bowser was originally sketched as an ox by Miyamoto, but his drawings were misinterpreted by animator Yoichi Kotabe as a turtle. The duo worked together on the latter idea and the Bowser we know today was born. He's definitely a turtle, though, and not a dragon as some assume. (More here.)

9. The naughty version of Mario – Wario – first appeared as a nemesis in the Game Boy title, Super Mario Land 2. He was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake, who also created Samus Aran, the heroine of the Metroid series. Wario's name blends Mario with the Japanese adjective 'warui' meaning evil.

10. The first Super Mario Bros game has sold 40.24 million copies, although that figure is skewed by the fact that it was bundled with the Nintendo Entertainment System console. It was until recently, however, considered the best-selling game of all time. It has been pushed into second place by Wii Sports on 41.65 million units.

11. Super Mario Bros was the first game to be set in Mushroom World, Miyamoto's long-running and ever-evolving fantasy kingdom. When Mario 'eats' a super mushroom he grows in size and ability. Miyamoto denies that he was influenced by Alice in Wonderland, and instead claims the idea came from enchanted foodstuffs in myths and folklore.

12. In the 1984 Nintendo Entertainment System game Golf, Mario made his first appearance in a sports sim. Kind of. The original character merely resembled Mario, while the later NES Open Tournament Golf specifically featured Mario as a golfer. He appears on the cover in red and white striped overalls, with a blue starry shirt. An awesome outfit.

13. Nintendo composer Koji Kondo provided the iconic soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. The main theme, known as 'Ground Theme', is one of the most recognisable pieces of game music ever recorded. The tune remained in the Billboard ringtone charts for 125 weeks and has been performed in concert by live orchestras. (More here.)

14. The original Super Mario Bros 2 was designed as a tougher version of the first game and released to support the Famicom Disk System, a new add-on for the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was considered too difficult for Western release, though, so the US and Europe got a tweaked version of the 1987 title Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic instead. The game was hastily refitted with Mario characters in a sort of digital cut-and-shut job. In 1993, the genuine SMB2 was finally released in the West as Super Mario Bros: the Lost Levels, part of the Super Mario All-Stars collection.

15. A Q Score survey in the early nineties revealed that Mario was more recognisable to American children than Mickey Mouse.

16. Footage from Super Mario Bros 3 appears in the climatic scene of appalling 1989 movie, The Wizard, about an emotionally withdrawn gaming champion. As this was the first chance that US Nintendo fanatics would get to see the game, the movie effectively acted as an advert for the release.

17. The new Chain Chomp enemies in Super Mario Bros 3 look like steel black balls with razor sharp teeth. They were inspired by an incident in Miyamoto's childhood when a neighbour's dog chased the terrified genius, before it was yanked back by its chain.

18. Elsewhere, the Whomp characters from Super Mario 64 were inspired by a mythological being known as the nurikabe, a 'wall ghost' that misdirects or impedes travellers at night.

19. ...and the versions of the ghostly Boo enemies found in Super Mario 64, are based on the wife of the game's co-designer Takashi Tezuka. As Miyamoto explained in an interview with Nintendo Power magazine: "Mr. Tezuka got an idea about putting his wife in the game. His wife is very quiet normally, but one day she exploded, maddened by all the time he spent at work. In the game, there is now a character who shrinks when Mario looks at it, but when Mario turns away, it will grow large and menacing."

20. Released in 1989, the Game Boy title Super Mario Land was the first major Mario game to be developed without Miyamoto. Producer Gunpei Yokoi didn't do too badly however: the game shifted over 18 million copies. The game also introduces a new female character, Princess Daisy, replacing Mario's usual love interest, Princess Peach.

21. The 1993 movie, Super Mario Bros, was Hollywood's first attempt to create a video game tie-in. Starring Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper it was a critical and commercial failure, which conspired to give the game a darker, more adult veneer. Apparently, Dustin Hoffman was interested in the role of Mario as his children were fans of the game.

22. Since 1995, the voice of Mario has been provided by American voice actor Charles Martinet. He also voices Wario and Luigi.

23. The Wii hit Super Mario Galaxy was inspired by a tech demo known as Super Mario 128 shown at the Nintendo Space World event in 2000. The demo showed dozens of teeny Marios walking around on a slightly curved surface. During the Gamecube era Galaxy designer Yoshiaki Koizumi thought that entirely spherical levels would make an interesting environment for Mario, but Miyamoto was apparently unconvinced at first. Finally, Koizumi showed off several test levels and the project was greenlit for Wii.

24. The Super Mario bros series is in the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful gaming franchise of all time. It now boasts global sales of over 240 million units.

25. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games

Video Games

So I was listening to some podcasts about video game history. Of course now I must get back to reading my video game history book. Some brief highlights, first home console came out in 1972 (yeah...thats right). Video games had about 10 really good years. Then CRASH!!! (by the by...ET games are buried in a landfill in Alamogordo, of course they drove over them with a steam roller and then covered it in cement) Of course there were a whole mess of consoles, they went through about 3 generations of systems in that time, so about every 3 years you had to buy a new system (think about the PS2, it is still selling new systems). And when you adjust for inflation the game systems were as expensive or more so than the current systems.

But...in addition to the mass of consoles and replacing them every few years, 3rd party companies were permitted to write any game they wanted to make and sell, so there was a whole flood of poorly designed and programmed games. So in 1983 the home game market went under. It wouldn't be till 1985 that Nintendo would lead the market back from the dead.

Yeah...I'm a nerd.

Summer Movie Season

Well, the summer movie season is upon us.  

This week was Wolverine.  Was pretty good, I'm not that into the X-men stuffs.  I have seen the movies, but never really followed the comics.  But I did enjoy the movie.

Next week is Star Trek

I have been getting more and more into Star Trek and so I have been looking foward to this.  Its a little disturbing that they are very much pushing "Forget everything you know" and "Not your father's Star Trek".  So hopefully they don't muck up things too much.

Week after Angels & Demons

Looks to be interesting.  DaVinci code was good.  

Following week: Termination Salvation

More Terminator, recently we watched the 3 movies that are out last weekend.  Plus while on TDY I watched season 1 of the Sarah Connor Chronicals.  So I am looking foward to this one.

Also that week: Night at the Museum 2

Looks funny, should be a good one to catch.

And the last week of May: UP

Gonna go see this one with the Troop, so it will be a different set up then the other movies for this summer.

Then the next June: Transformers 2

Not that I am really into Transformers.  However a good chunk of it was filmed out here.  So it should be interesting to watch for that.

Onto July: Public Enemies

Mob Movie about Dillinger.  Johnny Depth and Christian Bale.  Haven't heard much about it, but could be interesting.

That week is Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Part 3 of the Ice Age movies, been a while since the last one, but looks to be a fun one.

The following week: Hurt Locker

Limited release, its about a bomb squad in Baghdad.  Looking into more, since this is the first I've heard it I may have to do research.

And the next week: Harry Potter

I've seen the others, so I suppose I will go to see this one too.

And into August: GI JOE

Real American Hero!  And now you know... and knowing is half the battle.

Skip a week: Inglorious Basterds

Waiting till it comes out on DVD.  But could be interesting.  

And that should just about finish out the Summer Movie season.

Terminator and Time Travel

So in the first Terminator movie a Terminator and a human travel from 2029 to 1984, one to protect Sarah Connor and one to kill her.  At this point Judgement Day (nuclear holocaust that wipes out most of human life) is set for August 29, 1997. Now, since Sarah lives and John is born this still is the case. Now it would get tricky if the terminator had killed Sarah.  At that point John would never be born and then wouldn't lead the resistance, but then the terminator wouldn't jump back through time, meaning Sarah would be alive and so would John.... Oh then you have the thought that Kyle (from the future) is John's dad.  He doesn't know that, John will learn of it, but still, might be why John sends Kyle back when John gets to that point in life. Also the terminator's remains are found by Cyberdyne to first make the terminator. No problems here, so we will move on.

Terminator 2.  Judgement Day is still set for 1997.  But more terminators come back from 2029.  Here is the first problem.  Only living tissue can travel back in time, so the terminators can travel since they are living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.  But the new terminator is mimetic polyalloy; which is liquid metal, which by the established laws for time travel we know can not work.   Now then, they manage to destroy Cyberdyne's research and in doing so they can stop Judgement day.  Now here is where we run into problems. Upon destruction of the research if Judgement Day had been stopped the terminators should have immediately disappeared.  Now if Judgement Day had not been stopped an only moved back, the Terminator should know immediately.  We don't find out until the next movie....

Terminator 3.  Again, terminators from the future, this time they follow the rules for time travel, things are good.  We learn that Judgement Day has only been pushed  back, now until July 25, 2004.  Sarah Connor has finally died, and John is on his own.  We learn John dies in 2032, by a Terminator and his wife sent it back to guard him.  At the end of the movie we find out that Judgement Day happens, though John and his future wife are safe in a bunker.

Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Now we go back to 1999 and a terminator comes to protect John  and Sarah and jumps them to 2007.  We have clearly left the 3 movie and changed random things. I've read some things that say this is an alternate reality or perhaps and alternate timeline.  Now with all of the time traveling anyone who has seen Back to the Future will know that many alternate timelines exist.  So we can let this go.

The big problems come from T2.  How can a liquid metal that can take the shape and appearance of things pass back in time when we have been told that only living tissue can pass through time?  Shouldn't the T-101 have mentioned, by the way you didn't stop judgement day?  And then why did it have to destroy itself, since by the fact that it still existed clearly the technology is made and it could have stuck around to protect John. 

Ain't time travel fun?

Digital Transition

Are you confused about the Digital Transition?  Probably not.  Or you weren't but thanks to the Government we have taken care of that.

In 2005 Congress decided to switch from analog broadcast to digital, not cause it has better picture, but cause we wanna use the spectrum for other things.  It turns out, despite the beliefs of at least 1 person I know, we can not actually just make more frequencies.  So in 2005 there was a date set, 17 Feb 09.  On that date TV stations would have to switch to digital broadcast.  

You probably new it was happening.  There have been commericals on for quite some time now.  If you didn't know, you probably don't watch TV in which case you will be unaffected.  In early 2008 the government started this whole coupon thing so they would help you pay for a converter box.  Of course, being a government program it got backed up and bogged down.  So apparently there are some people that didn't get their coupon. Some people are just putting it off.  

But back to this switch business, full power stations are switching, so if you watch a full power station you need to do something to ensure you can get the digital signal.  If you watch a low power station or a community station or a booster station they will still broadcast.  If you have cable or satellite, you probably don't have to do anything.  If you have a new tv, you don't have to do anything.

Here is where the government steps in to save us from.... the government.  In order to let the last few people who haven't gotten around to getting ready yet the government came up with a plan to push back the date.  The senate ok-ed it, the house voted it down, then later changed their mind and ok-ed it as well.  So the president will sign it and it will become law.

Stay with me here....   The orginal date was 17 Feb 09.  All the commericals currently on TV say its coming 17 Feb 09.  The countdown clocks in stores are counting down to 17 Feb 09.  Now the date will be sometime between 14 Mar and 12 Jun.  Though some stations may switch on 17 Feb, or earlier.  So the government can just choose a new date, and then when people aren't ready they can push that one back too.

I say stick the 17 Feb 09 date.  If people aren't ready or haven't gotten the equipment as soon as they release they don't get tv on 18 Feb they will run out and buy new TVs and pay extra to have them installed for prime time viewing on 18 Feb.