This Boy Elroy

Oh, shit!

Reminds me of the end of a porn my friend Heather's mom made us watch, The Devil in Miss Jones.

Good Ad or Bad Ad?

An ad for PlayStation3

Calm down. It's not a penis, it's a thumb.

At first glance I thought this ad was totally disturbing but I totally get it and I think could be a good idea but it'll probably be lost on a lot of people. I love my PS3 but to replace my penis with a thumb for love of the games...I dunno.

What do you think?

Gears of Rarrrr

When Gears of War goes this route I'll buy an Xbox.

When Alter-Egos Collide

Gamer Charity

With the holiday season also comes the various charity drives that are associated with the spirit of giving. I recently learned about a charity through GayGamer that I think is a great idea, it's called Child's Play. Child's Play is an organization that installs game consoles, games, and other media in 40 children's hospitals around the world so kids can have their hospital stays be a little less stressful and daunting.

What I find really great is that instead of a giant pot you can choose the hospital where you want your donation to go. Each hospital has a link to an Amazon wish list and you simply purchase the game on Amazon and it gets sent to the hospital. Additionally, if you have old game hardware or software you can sell it on eBay and elect that all the proceeds from the sale go directly to Child's Play.

Now I know there's a lot of negative press about video games in the media, some even so far as to say it makes children into killers. I disagree completely and believe that their core intention is fun, something that children sitting in hospitals definitely need more of. Hell, if I were stuck in the hospital for an extended period of time (knock on wood) I would certainly want my DS with me to while the hours away. So if you're in the giving mood click on the image below, find a local hospital, or a hospital of your choice, and give the gift of fun to some sick kids.

Wii Beasty Rape

I saw this on Buddhafied who saw it on Kotaku. It's just another caveat that one must face when playing the Wii.

Check Mii Out

There's a new channel on the Wii called Check Mii Out. Basically it's a place where you can show off the Miis you've created on your Wii and I have to say there are some really creative Miis that people have made with the limited facial parts that the Mii channel offers. The one true constant on the Check Mii Out Channel is the ubiquitous Michael Jackson Mii, it seems every owner of a Wii has made him on their console.

The channel also has contests, and the first contest, in sync with the launch of the new Mario game, was to make a Mii of Mario without his cap. If you play the new Mario you see everyone's favorite ruddy Italian plumber without his hat on. However the contest is judged by anyone and everyone and you're urged to choose the Mii that best represents the character, so you don't necessarily have to have the most accurate representation. I got 4th level for my Mario Mii, not too bad. After the competition you can make a postcard as a souvenir for the contest. Here's mine:

You see the real Mario, my mario, and my Mii sitting quite daintily amongst the flowers. That pink blob is Darin after a cocktail.

I love these in-game "snapshots" and the only way to get them onto my Flickr account is by taking a photo of my TV. That's my one big issue with the Wii. You can register an email address to send messages to from the Wii but you cannot send any in-game snapshots you take to email addresses, only to other Wii consoles. I doubt that will change so I'll have to continue photographing my TV like a complete nerd.

Oh, and I'd like better facial hair options as well Nintendo.

Happy Birthday Wii!

It's been one year since the Wii was launched in the US and my life, as I knew it, was sucked into a delicious vortex of white and glowing blue plastic.

I had to add this photo, it's a stack of memories. Such a happy family.

Mario makes it all better.

Wii got it! Well, actually Brad got it but when you're in a relationship gifts for your spouse are often gifts for both of you. A perk as I see it.

I had pre-ordered it on Amazon in September but there's some issue with the shipping and I got an email this morning saying that it wouldn't get to me until Nov. 20. Brad's birthday is the 15th and I figured I could get it at a store sooner than the 20th. Dorothee was going to Toys R Us to get it because they are giving a $25 gift card with every purchase of SMG but TRUs has become the most ghetto store ever in my opinion and she called me while I was still at work to tell me she didn't get the game and she got in a minor car accident. She was fine, her car was fine, the only fatality was the plastic bumper of an old Ford Taurus. I felt so bad for her though, she sounded so upset on the phone.

So, after work I told Brad the situation, I figured he already knew I was getting him the game and he got his touch last night, and we decided to head head to a local GameStop to find SMG. I wasn't optimistic because usually GameStop sells out of stuff and to top it off the employees at GameStop are always creepy as hell. They always seem to take joy out of your disappointment when they've sold out of something. Not at this new location though. I saw three boxes on the shelf for SMG and I knew they were just shells so I approached the counter and said in a somber tone, "I wouldn't suppose you guys have any copies of Super Mario Galaxy for sale." I couldn't believe my ears when I heard, "Yeah we have lots." I was thrilled. I immediately called Dorothee and asked her, "Do you want a copy of SMG?" She squealed.

Brad's happy, Dorothee's happy, Jay's (Dorothee's BF) happy, I'm happy. We're all happy. Now if you'll excuse me, that damn Princess Peach has gotten herself kidnapped by Bowser again.

Heaven, I'm in heaven.

In preparation of next week's release of Super Mario Galaxy, Nintendo has released Super Mario 3 on the virtual console for the Wii! I. Love. Super. Mario. 3! Mario 3 has was re-released for GameBoy Advance some time ago but I've resisted getting it on the cartridge because I knew it would come to the virtual console eventually. My patience has paid off, I'm so happy.

Things I love about the game:

The map with the bite-sized levels.

The cooperative two player mode.

And, of course, the Raccoon suit (aka Tanuki suit).