HELLO INTERNET!!!!  =D

So...  yeah...  'Been a while, hasn't it?  ;)  I've been sitting here trying to come up with a funny reason why i haven't posted anything in 4 billion years, ..but then i figured that's exactly what you'd all expect.  As if coming here with kitties wasn't predictable enough  =P 

Here's something you may not be expecting, though:  i have uploaded 2 RARE pencil tests from the Iron Giant.  You'll want to check those out before WB tells me to take 'em down.

Soon there will be entries....sooooon....

November 19; Nintendo Wii Launch Day: 'That late night/early morning, we had discovered quite a multitude of enthusiastic Nintendo fans clustered around various stores in Glendale and Burbank.  At 3am, prior to opening, most spots were ALREADY filled; i'm talking HUNDREDS of people in line... all Wii systems called for at 2 Targets and 1 Best Buy.  After a bit of driving, we decided to scope out the Toys R Us on Victory Blvd...  It was an eerie pitch black dark parking lot; no working street lamps; no nearby lit businesses..and the line was only visible once we were mere feet from the store's front door.  As we drove by, several members from the line approached the car and welcomed us....and we were ( somewhat ) grateful they weren't undead rotting hillbilly corpses. 

Rob and I decided to join the party; Howie teleported over shortly after :D

Then, at 8:30am, the TRU store employees started handing out tickets... (( we were nerds #16 and #17 ))  Then, just one hour later, our group was escorted into the store, and very orderly might i add. 

No or , so yay! 

Everyone in our campout got a Wii; no one left unhappy  :)  Rob got me the System + Zelda + Monkey Ball + Classic Controller + extra Wii-mote.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz>  The main game is GREAT!!!.... 'Wii controls are superior to the analog, imo! Oh-so-clever progression of levels, too: ya got the Jungle, then Desert, then..you guessed it... the snow level, and so on. /:) Unfortunately, 90% of the multiplayer party-games have clunky controls and seem very uninspired / half-assed thrown on there.  I picked this as our 2-player wii game, but i honestly can't recommend it for that.  It's all about the 1-player mode.
(( <3 YanYan  ^_^ ))

Twilight Princess> 'Controls are top-notch; gameplay is near-perfect. The way I understand it,  this game was pulled from the GC line-up, and thrown onto the wii without very much ( if any ) graphical adjustments.  The colors are desaturated and muddy and there is some bizarre lighting and glowing filters around the characters.  A more streamlined style with a simpler pallet would be better suited for the wii's capabilities.  'Going the photo-realistic route does not impress like it would on the 360 or the PS3; component cables or not.  I'm really missing the Windwaker / Minish Cap look... but the majority demands "mature Link" ...aka Hyrulian Tiger Beat Centerfold Link.  Hahaha, OMG BADASS GROWN MAN IN AN ELF COSTUME!!!  Despite all my frustrations with the art direction, it's an absolute MUST HAVE game.  If you own a Wii, you really need Zelda.
(( I went ahead and "Windwaker-ised" all the characters from TP, but haven't had time to color them yet.  I'll post that nerdy bonanza on the drawing board soon... ))

Excite Truck>  ( rented ) ...more like not-exciting-enough-to-play-for-more-than-15-minutes-truck. And it has some of the worst music ever.

Red Steel>  ( rented ) ...'Not as bad as everyone's saying, but not good enough to shell out $50 for. 

Virtual Console> 'Playing stuff like Contra and Toe Jam and Earl with some non-local pals MAY have been worth me re-buying some games i already own...but alas; there's no online multiplayer.  TG16 BomberMan ’93 provides a good amount of local multiplayer entertainment @ $6.  And it's got "pause screen" soundFX's almost as good as Battletoads  :P   Nintendo has been consistently adding 4-5 new games to the VC every Monday.  For now, I’m patiently waiting for some more obscure releases... 'maybe even some unreleased stuff!  'The ultimate, of course, would be Goonies ( famicom ).

 

**I've updated my flickr account : more photos from the Wii launch, and some of my nintendo toys on display**

 

I'm bringing the Wii when i fly home for Christmas tomorrow. 'Curious how the family will like it....  They're usually about as interested in video games as i'm interested in a jar of mayonnaise.  ;) 'VERY much looking forward to Christmas with my family :D  My flight's in mere hours....*giddy giddy giddy*

Enjoy your holidays, everyone!  I'll be back soon with the holiday report + TONS of new drawings.
♥♥♥♥♥ Sue

Yeah, yeah, lets just ignore the fact that we haven't updated this thing in like a year. FORGET THAT. MOVE PAST IT. Ok, done. Good. Forgotten.

Ok! I just wanted to get these out of the way because we took these pictures a while ago:


This Mickey is made by Medicom, a kickass Japanese toy company. I picked this up on my trip to Japan, but he can now be found on KidRobot...at least he was there, i dunno...I'm too lazy to go check. He's part of the whole "Modern Pets" theme that Disney in Japan has. Yeah, yeah, "why can't we have this crap in America?!" I know. SO FRUSTRATING. This Mickey's pretty big too, probably like 6-7 inches, and vinyl. Gotta love his blue hat, which gives a nice contrast to the typical Mickey colors. Even the box is cool, complete with a great simple/easy to read design. Which makes me wonder: what the hell happened to good box art?!  It died with good toy design, of course! The graphic Mickey drawing and a white background is all you need:


 Holy smokes, who is that miniature beauty next to the box?! That Minnie was given me to me by a friend who got her from a capsule machine in Japan. (Do I have to keep mentioning all this stuff comes from Japan? It should be obvious by now!) Here's a better pic:


Look at how the design is pushed. Her graceful pose, chin up, and her giant exaggerated bow. Nice! I have the paper it came with but I, uh, lost it. It lists the other toys in the series. When I find it, I'll post it.

I think this just about does it for Disney for now. Unless ya want more...??

-howie

The day started out kinda rough...  traffic was a bitch and it took about 40 mins just to park the car  o.0  'Though any frustrations i had were completely alleviated upon arrival when the nicest man in the universe offered us his two extra admission tickets!  (( I'd say that was... more than fair. ))  I couldn't thank him enough; that's $30 we didn't have to pay.... which we instead spent on deliciously lethal fair food!  :D   Deep-fried avocados?  Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwiches?  Are you kidding me?  XD

Geez, i can't even remember the last time i had a funnel cake... uffghnnmm, 'sooo good; so classic.  'Also i just had to do it: i HAD to get one of those enormous BBQ-ed turkey legs.  I can't say why this is, but i feel sooo incredibly badass holding onto one of those...and tearing the meat off of that thing. 'Though, perhaps not badass enough... 

While we were eating, we saw this gigantic woman toss a hefty bag of trash towards the garbage can,..but she totally missed, and the trash fell all over the ground.  'Didnt get her fat ass up off the bench and walk the three feet over to fix the situation either.  There were no less than 50 smartass comments in my mind at the moment, but i couldn't bring myself to start shit.  I never do...'cause i wouldn't stand a chance if she wanted to kick my ass.  Maybe it's time to do something about this.  I hear Barney's Brass Knuckle Boutique is having their annual sale next week.  :P

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In other news: the Sketchbook Session was a rad time, as usual.  I finally got to meet the famous Kristen ; 'catch up a bit with the elusive duo: Mark and Nahrin, and tell some embarrassing stories to Jen, Corbett, Rick and whoever else was standing there...while drinking some tiny Coronas. 
Also: WELCOME TO LOS ANGELES, CLARKE!!!!!!!!!!!  :D

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In nerd news: Bubble Bobble 'Revolution' apparently sucks tons of ass.  I had high hopes when i heard the microphone feature would be used in the game, but after reading the IGN review, it's a sloppily-designed, buggy monstrosity. Ohhhhh welllll.  'SO, i went and bought the Lemmings-esc Mario VS. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis .  I'm stocking up on DS games; there are travel plans in my near future  ^_^

♥Sue