The Blarg

I just beat the first dungeon in the new Zelda. Woot! I’m 7.5 hours into the game now. Only another 30-50 to go.

I’ve been told I need to make it known what my Christmas present desires are. If I have to make a list I’m sure I can come up with stuff, but there’s very little that I "need." Between my Wii and TV my entertainment needs are covered. Then I’ve got the dog to play with. I’m only on book 4 of 7 in the Dark Tower series, but then I’ve got a 6 book series by Robin Hobb to read. If you do the math that’s 10 books to read. I guess I need to do some serious thinking.

Thirteen more days of school until Christmas break.

Last night we got our Wii on. Here are some pictures.

My Wii makes me insane-o.

I want to eat the Wii.

Junior High Emo Myspace Pic

My Wii Will Kill Your Wii!

Swing the Wii

Even the dog likes to watch the Wii.

Denise goes for the gusto.

Boxing = Nothing but arm flailing.

We’re having a last minute Wii party tonight! Come by around 5:30 pm for some wii, a light snack, and stuff to drink. If you want dinner I recommend bringing some leftover turkey or hitting up your favorite fast food restaurant on the way over. I will have the Wii ready to go for tennis whacking and bowling ball throwing goodness. See ya then.

A small break from the Wii to do a little giving thanks. Michelle Malkin has a great article up detailing why we live in the greatest country in the world! Technically it’s more about giving thanks that we don’t live in the worst countries in the world, but the effect is similar. It is great to live in a country where you can say most anything you want and not get killed for it, something we all take for granted.

It all started Saturday night as the launch of the Wii drew near. At 9:30 pm we drove by Best Buy and Target, both of which revealed a precarious situation. People were camping out for the precious Wii (which I failed to pre-order) and my hopes for a Wii were endangered!

After failing to convince Stacie that camping out might be necessary to get a Wii, we decided that an early morning would be all that we needed. We woke up today at 5 am sharp and made it to the local Target by 6 am. I hopped into the line (which had grown since the night before) and Stacie made a Starbucks run.

Someone one the internet got their hands on how many Wiis each Target would be receiving on launch day, and according to that data, this Target would get 81. The guys in front of me were saying they’d counted about 70 people in front of us, and I wasn’t too worried because there were some adults with young children. The plan was for them to pass out tickets at 7 am, and if you received one, you could buy a Wii when they started selling them at 8 am. Well 7 am rolled around and they began to pass out tickets. As the moment of truth drew near, I started to get worried. The guys in front of me were already into the late 70s. Would I get a ticket?!

Turns out I did get a ticket, and it wasn’t just any ticket…it was the LAST ticket! Number 81 baby! I would take a picture for you, but they took it back and destroyed it after I bought a system. There was a guy taking pictures of the line and my very exciting #81…you just have to find his website. They let us in at 8 am, but being the last in line, we didn’t get to the counter to purchase until almost 9:30 am. I picked up the system, an extra remote and nunchuck, Zelda, and Monkey Ball.

I should post pictures, but I’m currently too tired. Most of the afternoon has been spent playing Wii Sports, which is really awesome. It’s much better than I expected, and some of the sports are really spot on. I put an hour and a half into Monkey Ball, and I gave it a chance…but it’s pretty terrible. In fact I’m putting it on Ebay to try and cut my losses. I haven’t even had a chance to try Zelda, but I have very high hopes for that one.

Overall I am a Wii Believer, but Monkey Ball has shown me that developers will certainly have a learning curve. They need to master the programming of the motion technology first so that it behaves properly, and then they need to find unique gameplay experiences where it works well.

We went to Gamestop in Cerritos last night to play the Wii. We walked in to find an empty store with a Wii in all it’s glory. When the gentleman behind the counter asks if we need any help, I motion to the Wii and ask "Can we try it?" The man responds that unfortunately people can’t play it until the next day, and we were out of luck. I try to be understanding and begin browsing the DS games. A few minutes later he says "If you preorder a Wii, then I could probably let you try it." WHAT?! You just confirmed that the darned thing is working and you’re able to let people try it, but you’re choosing not to. I no like you very much.

In case you are curious about where to find Wii info, here are a few good sites:

IGN Wii
Nintendo Wii Fanboy
Go Nintendo
Gamespot Wii

From the time I was a young boy the release of a new Nintendo system has been a milestone in my life. First there was the original NES. I wasn’t quite old enough to be excited about it’s release, but I still got one! I have fond memories of guilting my parents into buying one and getting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. After years of good memories with my trusty Game Genie, it was time for the SNES. Still a young boy with no purchasing power, and with a price tag of $200, I was yet again unable to enjoy the splendor of a new videogame system at its release. Eventually though my NES and all that went with it was off in the mail to Funco, which would be the first of many videogame sales.

The sale of my NES led to the purchase of the SNES, and of course, Street Fighter II, Mario Kart, and Star Fox to name a few. As the N64 approached I was finally in High School. Still not a member of the labor force, I was again resigned to selling my beloved Nintendo system for its successor. My memory of this occassion is quite clear…we brought the system home from Toys R Us with the brand new Super Mario 64. It seemed as though videogames had been turned on their head forever. Nights of Mario Kart, GoldenEye, and NHL ensued during the High School years.

By the time GameCube arrived I was a proud employee at the library, saving my money for months before the launch. For the first time in my life I didn’t have to sell my old console. The GameCube and I had a great time, but it also saw my life change from a teen to an "adult." With that transition came a change in my videogame habits. Gone are the 2 a.m. gaming sessions that marked High School and College. Videogames have always been a part of my life, so I’m almost glad to see that excitement come around again with the pending launch of the Wii.

If I was in High School or College I would probably be running to Gamespot to try the Wii, but instead I have quietly been reading every article I can find on the web. I’ve cashed in my credit card reward points (that makes me old!) to finance this new purchase. I’ve once again leveraged my previous Nintendo console (though for different reasons than in previous sales). I’ve even bought Nintendo stock!  When exactly a Wii will be at Toys R Us and available to me, I don’t know. I sit here and patiently await the release of an exciting new Nintendo console…maybe I’m finally growing up?

Hmmm…no, not really….

There are yard sales and garage sales, but it seems the "ebay sale" has not become a part of our lingo yet. If it does, it will come to mean what a yard sale or garage sale does, except all done on ebay. I’m not one of those people that is constantly selling on ebay, but instead I sell a bunch of stuff all at once very rarely. Since now is one of those times, I thought I’d share my listing with you and the stories attached to each item.

1) 90 Used Tennis Balls in Great Condition

You may wonder why we have this many tennis balls to begin with. Originally we bought them on ebay for Stacie’s classroom to put on her chair legs so they would slide around nice and quietly. Literally a day or two after we got them, someone went through all the classrooms and put sliders on the feet of everyone’s chair. That’s nice of them, but now we had a box of tennis balls and no use for them.

2) Winegard Squareshooter HDTV Antenna SS-2000 Amplified

Originally when we moved into the townhouse I didn’t realize there was an antenna in the attic, so I got this guy and had it put up outside. About 6 months ago though they started to redo the roofs, and our antenna was "illegally" mounted. I knew it would have to come down, but "how" I wasn’t sure. I was hoping the roof guys would just take it off for me. One day though the next door neighbors were having their satellite dish moved, so I paid the guy $20 to just take ours off (because by then I’d put a new antenna in the attic).

3) Nintendo GameCube Console Indigo w/Controller/Component

I know, selling videogames can be quite shocking! The reason I’m selling it though is because I have a ton of AMEX reward points, and one of the best ways to renew them is for giftcards to Toys R Us. I did that today, and plan on using the money to buy a Nintendo Wii. The nice thing about the Wii is that it plays gamecube games, so everything in that listing I will no longer need. The only downside of this plan is that Toys R Us is the only place I can get the system, and who knows when they’ll have them in stock.

4) Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP Classic NES w/Case

What Nathan, two videogame sales in one post? Yup. I decided to sell this system and get Stacie a pink DS Lite. The DS can play old game boy games, so that makes this system unneeded. I’m hoping it fetches a premium for being a "limited edition" version. The DS can also talk to the WIi…for what reason I’m not sure, but it could come in handy.

5) Firefly PC Remote Snapstream Media Beyond TV USB

The least exciting of the listings, but oh well. Part of my HD recording solution was to buy Beyond TV to schedule and record my shows. For whatever reason they had to bundle this remote with it. Because I use the Snazio box downstairs to watch the shows Beyond TV records, I don’t need this remote. Not very exciting, but there it is.

This all reminds me of great ebay buying and selling of the past. Hopefully other people will be motivated to start this new trend of having an Ebay Sale.