my choice in console colors has nothing to do with my lack of a girlfriend

July 23, 2001, 02:34 pm

This weekend I started playing Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64. I played it back in '98 when it first came out; my roommate, Chris, had it preordered and got one of the gold carts. I played maybe one fifth of the game, but was probably too into killing people in Quake 2. I was hesitant to play it because when I first saw it, I remembered being impressed by the graphics and music, and I just knew that when I went to play it that everything would look incredibly crappy (especially since I'm used to the Dreamcast's beautiful graphics). Surprisingly, I was amazed at how good the graphics looked. The cutscenes are impressive and the tasteful use of voices is... uh... tasteful.

I also started playing Paper Mario (also for N64); this game (which is extremely derivative of Mario RPG) has incredibly cool and fun graphics. It's also the only true RPG that I've ever had fun playing. While playing, I keep thinking, If I were six years old, this game would be the coolest thing in the world!!!

Speaking of Zelda 64 and Paper Mario, the L.A. Times had the honor of interviewing the Godfather of Videogames, Shigeru Miyamoto. As usual, Miyamoto-sensei has many wise things to say, including his opinions on mobile phones, beepers, and his confession of owning a Dreamcast. :) He sounds like a good father.

I have decided that from now on, I will always refer to the Nintendo GameCube as “the first game console with a carying handle EVER”.

After work today, I plan on heading out to an Electronics Boutique to pick up Gran Turismo 2 for the Playstation and a GT2 bleemcast! disc. Part of me wants to get GT2 because it seems fun and part of me wants to get it for the coolness factor (playing a Playstation game on a Dreamcast). At any rate, I'm going to get it, damnit.

I find this incredibly funny: here is a list of the Dreamcast games that I own:

The funny part is that I don't even own a Dreamcast! But I will...

I really want one of these Hello Kitty Dreamcasts; I'd prefer pink but would settle for blue. They even come with VMU, controller, and keyboard of matching, translucent colors. Alas, I fear I shall never have one. :( Every import place I find that lists them are sold out and there's nothing on ebay. Oh, well...

My Akira - Limited Special “Happy Fun” Edition is in the mail!!! I'm very excited. I've been hitting the U.S. Postal Service webpage multiple times per hour to track my package. Right at this very moment it's waiting, un-watched and un-enjoyed in Campbellsville, KY (those jerks!).

When amazon spammed me this morning letting me know about my Akira DVD, I went to their website to get more information and was shocked. You know how they have this “recommendation” system where they make recommendations on what products you might like based on your previous purchases and clickings? Well, they were right on when they recommended some anime for the DVD recommendations and the book recommendation (some Arthur C. Clark thing) was pretty good too. The music recommendation, Tool, can be forgiven because since I haven't actually purchased any music from them, they might've looked at my age, determined that I am a male between 16 and 24 and thought that I might like some Tool. That's okay.

Then there's the “Toys & Games Recommendations”. You'd think they might recommend some videogames (I certainly click on enough of them while browsing their site) or maybe some Akira figures or something like that. Nope. Instead they recommend... The Cher Doll. Allow me to quote:

Wearing a re-creation of an original Bob Mackie gown designed especially for Cher, this collectible captures the essence of what this one-name diva is known for: boldness, beauty, and extravagance. Et cetera

What the hell did I do to deserve that? Maybe they recommended that dumb Cher Doll because I bought all of the PowerPuff Girl's DVDs...