Wayne Phinney

If you want to keep this pretty face, you will listen to my demands!!!

January 3, 2006

Ok, the first thing I want is a cup of Swiss Miss. No marshmallows! I want regular milk chocolate Swiss Miss. Best cocoa on the planet. I also want a nice cushy bean bag chair in a somewhat dark corner of the Snackbar Corporate Headquarters. I also request a Pillsbury Doughboy shrine. Oh, and I want somebody to dress up as Mario and jump around my office grabbing money out of the air while stomping on Goombas.

Oh… and a private restroom… with a hot tub! Oh… and my own private jet for when I make my public appearances in the San Antonio region. Oh… and diplomatic immunity so I can freely promote Snackbar globally without repercussion.

And I want a peanut… lightly salted… still in the shell.

And lots of fresh purified drinking water!

Now meet my demands, or I walk!

That’s right… Snackbar was in shambles before I decided to step up as the rescue crew. You know you don’t want to go back to the way things were with that ruthless dictator of chunky flavored ice around here. After all, we all know shaved ice is better than any snowcone out there.

So meet my demands, or else!

These boots are made for walkin…..

I like pizza Steve.

Iwata confirmed what we already knew

December 30, 2005

News / by Wayne Phinney /

It looks like it has been confirmed by Satoru Iwata that the Revolution will be released for less than $299. We all assumed as much anyhow, so this really isn’t shocking news. Still, after Christmas, there’s little news even worth reporting, and given how much of a Nintendo fan that I am, it’s only appropriate that I spread this wealth of information to the masses.

I still think that the rumored $99 launch price is highly unlikely. My personal guess is $199, which is still a great deal for what the system will be capable of doing. Of course, they could charge $499.99 for it and I’d still buy it at launch. Don’t tell Nintendo that though. 😉

Source: [url=http://www.joystiq.com/2005/12/30/the-revolution-will-cost-less-than-299/]Joystiq[/url]

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy

December 27, 2005

Reviews / Xbox / by Wayne Phinney /

I do want to say from the beginning that [i]Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy[/i] (henceforth, known as [i]Sphinx[/i]) was not a bad game. It wasn’t a great game either, and I think that was the problem.

From a technical standpoint, [i]Sphinx[/i] was solid. Graphically, it was acceptable for a 3D platformer (again, not great, but not bad). The controls were good, and did exactly what the game needed to do. The story was adequate for a platforming title, but that’s about it. Sphinx is quite likely the king of mediocrity in the gaming world. Not great, and not bad.

As mentioned, I could only tolerate two hours or so of this game, and it’s not because it was bad. The problem, once again, is just that it’s not great. I’ve played some excellent platformers like [i]Sly Cooper[/i], [i]Ratchet and Clank[/i], [i]Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,[/i] and even [i]Mario Sunshine[/i] prior to this game. These games are excellent platforming titles, and having played them first was likely the primary reason I just couldn’t get into [i]Sphinx[/i].

The swordplay in the game could have been a bit more fluid. It was rather button-mashy, and after [i]Sands of Time[/i], having a swordfight with a little finesse is almost expected by me. Even if the swordplay was great though, enemies were few and far between, and for a while, you just throw rocks at them that you found on the ground.

Another problem the game had was with the voice acting. No, it wasn’t bad. It was non-existent. The characters’ lips moved with text on the screen, but that was it. All these other platformers (barring [i]Mario Sunshine[/i]) had some excellent voice acting that was very appropriate for the games. [i]Sphinx[/i] however was following the expression “It’s better to be silent and thought an idiot than to speak and remove all doubt.” The trouble is, I would have taken bad voice acting over nothing in this game.

I really wanted to like this game. It looked like it would be really fun. The puzzles were well thought out and required the use of your brain, but they were not frustrating. Overall the game could have been great, but it just feels like it wasn’t polished enough. Had it been a launch title this generation, it would have gone over much better. The trouble though is that there have been many far superior platforming titles on all the major consoles and Sphinx just couldn’t compete.

The only saving grace to [i]Sphinx[/i] was that I found it for $10 in the bargain bin. For $10, could I really go wrong? Well, yes, in retrospect, I think I did. Still, if you have never played any of the other great platformers of this generation, then perhaps the mediocrity of [i]Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy[/i] will not bother you. If you, however, have played [i]Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time[/i] or [i]Sly Cooper[/i], you will be severely disappointed in just how average this game is.

Most games I can force myself to suffer through to the end, but nothing was going to change even if I put ten hours into this game. There wasn’t going to magically be any voice acting. The swordplay wasn’t going to magically rival [i]Prince of Persia’s[/i], and the graphics weren’t going to magically be the best out there halfway through the game. This title truly is the king of mediocrity. It’s really not a bad game, but it’s not great either. After having been spoiled by greatness, mediocrity is now below me. I’m better than that.

RedOctane Ignition 3.0 Dancepad

December 23, 2005

Hardware / Reviews / by Wayne Phinney /

Let me start this piece by saying that I am a large man. I’m about six feet tall and weigh just under 300 pounds. Because of this, I’m sure I look like Star Wars Kid when I’m dancing around on the pad. But hey, that’s why I have [i]Dance Dance Revolution[/i] to play in the privacy of my own home.

With my vital statistics being mentioned, I am amazed with this pad. It has held up pretty well, even with my weight. At one point I did think that I had worn the pad out, but in all actuality, it was because of my play style. I only wear size 12’s, but in beginner mode of DDR Extreme, I danced very flat footed. Once you kick it up to light mode, you’ll be dancing on your toes instead. The reason that was a problem? I was hitting buttons when I thought I was standing in the middle, and I was mad at the dancepad. Turned out that it was merely the way I was playing.

So, onto the point of all of this. This is a pretty solid dancepad (from a performance standpoint, not a literal one). It’s nice and cushy and about an inch or so thick, which keeps the knees and feet from getting sore when dancing. It’s quite responsive, and quite sensitive. It’s also quite affordable. While you can pay $99 for it at Gamestop and other outlets, you can find it on ebay for $30-40, which is quite a deal, especially when you want two pads for head to head dancing.

Another plus to this pad is that for the most part, it doesn’t move around on the floor. I don’t think I’d recommend it for [i]DDR[/i] experts, but for beginners like myself, it more than serves its purpose. On top of that, the price was just too good to complain about. The one minor problem I had was operator error, and once I figured that out, I was quite pleased with the Ignition 3.0 dancepads.

If you’re thinking about getting into [i]DDR[/i], whether it be for fun or for exercise, this is a good dancepad to start with. It’s affordable, performs well, and there’s no sense in spending $300 on a super heavy duty solid dance pad if you’re not sure that you’re going to really get into DDR or not.

For the money, the Red Octane Ignition 3.0 dancepad is a great buy, and I would only recommend against it if you are a [i]DDR[/i] freak who can get good grades on the harder difficulties in the game. At that point, you might need a solid dancepad that won’t move on the floor at all.

Mario Kart DS

December 22, 2005

DS / Reviews / by Wayne Phinney /

[heading]Waynephinney[/heading]

I am going to have a difficult time not saying everything there is to say about this game, thus robbing Vyolynce of his part of the review. Because of that, I will try to be as brief as possible and hit all the major points.

[i]Mario Kart DS[/i] is the best [i]Mario Kart[/i] game I have played to date. Hopping has returned, some classic tracks have returned, and the new tracks are also great. The blue shell has returned, as well as some other new items.

The most popular part about [i]MKDS[/i] is the online playability. If you have a Wi-Fi connection, you can play [i]MKDS[/i] with up to three other people online. If you don’t, you need to buy a little USB receiver for your PC so you can play online.

As much as I loved this game, though, it’s still not a perfect game. As much as I love Nintendo, I will be the first to say that [i]MKDS[/i] still isn’t what I want in a [i]MK [/i] game … at least not entirely. My biggest complaint about this game is related to the same thing Nintendo has done to us since the N64 version of [i]MK[/i]. You can’t play a game with more than four human players at a time! This is a great aggravation to me. I still long for the opportunity to have eight-man kart races instead of a measly four. Sure, it could be done with a GameCube and an extra TV, but most people don’t have two GameCubes, and most wouldn’t buy them just so you could play [i]Mario Kart: Double Dash[/i] on them.

I suppose that’s really my biggest complaint. Everything else is very well roundedA

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