Merry Christmas, guys.  I know this is late but I think you'll like what I got 'ya.

Well, I'm off to spend the new year with Dick Clark!

(Yes, this is my update.  You'd make it short too if you spent the last few weeks writing reviews...)

Since my opinion of Mega Man X6 apparently isn't valid until I've beaten it three times with each of the characters, I decided to at least be open minded enough to play Mega Man X2 for the Super NES, just to see if the series has merit that I somehow overlooked (for the near decade it's existed).  My opinion of X6 for the Playstation did improve after this, but only because X2 demonstrated that it could have been a whole lot more sadistic.  It's like the difference between being tied up and whipped by a bondage babe and having your limbs chopped off by an executioner who reeks of blood, sweat, and ale... they're both painful, but some people might actually enjoy the company of the dominatrix.  If you get turned on by the executioner, however, you're sick and beyond help.

In "just thought you'd like to know" news, I found what could be the coolest gambling device ever made shortly after I left work today.  Remember Aruze, the pachinko company that bought SNK?  Wait, wait, put down the torches!  They actually created a terrific product, rather than pulling existing ones off store shelves.  It's a slot machine named Duel Dragon, and it's got a lot of great extras, including a joystick-like arm and an LCD screen that looks suspiciously like the one in the Neo-Geo Pocket.  The best part, however, is that the slot machine stars Mr. Do!, who runs around both playfields from his old game and brand new vibrant backgrounds in the attract mode.  You can even play two kinds of slots simultaneously, one with the windows near the top of the machine and another, with EXTRA letters and other Mr. Do! prizes, on the display.  I wish I could have afforded this... it was obviously a quality product, but even with the pawn shop owner insisting that it was worth much more, three hundred dollars is just too rich for my blood.  If there are other collectors in the mid-Michigan area that DO have the money for this, you'd better get to Greenville fast... the guy who's got it now is thinking of giving it to someone for Christmas!

Anyways... just so you know, here's what I've got planned for The Gameroom Blitz:

NOW: ALGEBRA FINALS (NO UPDATES)
IN A WEEK:  JOHN ROCHE REVIEWS, PROFILE
AFTER THAT:  GAME BOY ADVANCE PAGE
IN A MONTH OR TWO:  MANDI/JESS DUAL REVIEW, REVISION 2
(REVISION 1 CRASHED, UNRECOVERABLE)

END OF LINE, DILLENGER.

The stay at Jeremy's was really cool, though.  We spent the day screaming at the freshly released US version of Mega Man X6... and the next day screaming at Capcom vs. SNK 2.  The difference, however, is that Capcom vs. SNK 2 was worth risking the laryngitis.  I was very happy with the Playstation 2 conversion of this game.  It's just like the Dreamcast version, which is to say, the best fighting game you can buy on the system.  Playing Capcom vs. SNK 2 on a Dual Shock controller is a little uncomfortable, and it does make performing super moves more difficult than I would have liked, but you'll adapt eventually... heck, I was able to reach Ultimate Rugal after a couple of games.

Ultimate Rugal, of course, is Capcom vs. SNK 2's absurdly overpowered boss, that annoying fighting game staple that was first brought to us by Midway in the Mortal Kombat series, then found its way into SNK's fighters and eventually, Capcom's.  I'm convinced that EVERY company is doing this now because it's doubled their revenue in the last few years.  Bastards like Rugal, Gill, and Onslaught keep players dumping quarters into arcade games because their foolish male ego can't handle losing, even though their more rational side knows that these jerks are impossible to beat.  Ultimate Rugal isn't quite as brutal as his counterparts in other fighters... but he WILL keep you busy for a while.  I used three of my best characters against Ultimate Rugal, but Ken, Cammy, and Eagle fell over a dozen times to his powerful Genocide Cutters.  Each time I fought him, however, Jeremy noticed that Rugal's life bar got shorter and shorter at the end of the match.  Sensing a trend, he urged me to continue, and eventually, I was able to drive a stake (or more accurately, Eagle's twin staffs) into the fiend's heart.  You can bet that this will be a moment that I'll take pride in, and brag about, for many years to come... or at least until Pat hands me my heiny in the next Game Hits tournament. :D

Now Mega Man X6, on the other hand, is something that I hope Capcom will consider an embarassment.  I never cared for the X series, but this one piles on even more flaws, including an illogical, badly translated plot and frustrating levels that each take a single, almost clever idea and beat it to death.  The graphics, sound, and gameplay are (just barely) good enough, but they certainly don't demonstrate everything Capcom learned about the Playstation after they realized gamers demanded better from them than the weak PSX conversions of Darkstalkers and the original Street Fighter Alpha.  There are a lot of dithered, badly rendered backgrounds in many of the stages, and the bosses have so little color you'd swear you saw them before in Mega Man Xtreme for the Game Boy Color.  The music is generic, Japanese flavored heavy metal, just like in the other X games... but Filmation fans will be happy to hear the boss theme, which sounds just like it came from a Fat Albert cartoon.  Oops, there goes the consistent design, right out the window!  Finally, although the control is fairly responsive, you'll die dozens of times anyway thanks to the obnoxiously powerful bosses (High-Max sounds like a redundant name, but trust me, there's a reason for it) and those sadistic, repetitive levels.  Is it fun to be squashed dozens of times by a compactor the size of Kentucky?  No.  Should you spend your money on this abortion of a game?  No.  Should you save it and buy a ton of clearance priced Dreamcast games at Electronics Boutique instead?  Yep, that's a big 10-4, good buddy.  Capcom, your first few Mega Man games were classics, but these new ones under the X banner just feel so forced.  It's time to reveal all the secrets in this spin-off (if anyone even cares) and just move on, to good Mega Man games like Legends and Battle Network.

* No overweight kitties were harmed in the making of this post.

12/07/01
(written but not posted at this date)

Well, here we go again.  Another video game has killed an innocent child, or so says the media, who's apparently gotten tired of kicking around Osama bin Ladin and have returned to their favorite target.  At least they've made a feeble attempt to make their latest attack on this hobby sound original... this time, they're not pointing fingers at Doom or Mortal Kombat but rather a stealth action game that, until now, hid itself a little TOO well.  Really, those kids must have been the only ones who bought Winback: Covert Ops instead of Metal Gear Solid 2... I can't even remember what system this was designed for or who released it!

It's going to get a lot more recognition now, that's for sure.  It's not going to outsell Metal Gear Solid 2, or even the original game on the NES, but I imagine that everyone who did buy it are ready to capitalize on the purchase faster than you can say, "Do not pass Ebay... DO collect two hundred dollars."  Sometimes I wonder if the companies who produce these games are just trying to prod their sales along with a little negative publicity.  I can still remember when Midway was picketed by a religious organization who complained, as always, about Mortal Kombat.  What makes me suspicious is that this was a couple of years ago, after the slapped together Mortal Kombat Gold and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, which I'm convinced hit the bargain bins BEFORE it was put on store shelves.  After those two games, Midway was probably willing to do anything to get this once profitable series noticed.

You don't need to come here to read about this scandal, but here's one that you probably won't read anywhere else.  Several months ago, in the nearby town of Lakeview, a humble arcade opened against the wishes of the rather starchy town committee.  They hated the place from day one and did their absolute best to run it out of business, putting pressure on the owners and sending police cars downtown constantly in an attempt to make the clientel nervous.  Sure enough, the arcade eventually shut down, but not without dire consequences to several members of the committee and the chief of police.  Their bullying went TOO far when one of the officers had pulled over and searched the car of an important Lakeview family.  It didn't take nearly as long for the family to remove everyone responsible for office as it did for this newly created unemployment line to purge Lakeview of the "evils" of public gaming.  Better yet, the arcade owners and suppliers are suing the town for loss of revenue, so they WILL make money from it one way or another.

I just have to wonder... was this the kind of harassment that led to the closing of Lakeview's previous arcade, the dearly missed Castle Pizzaria?  More importantly, does this happen often in other small cities, and if so, what's got the people of these towns so worried?  If you've got stories similar to this, please either E-mail me or post them on the forum.  It's time to find out if this country's already threatening videophobia is getting even worse.

(Special thanks to Brian Deuel for the news, who personally faught the bigots in Lakeview's town council, and, on a side note, wrote a killer Sinistar driver for MAME several years back)

I heard the news today... oh boy.

I wasn't a rabid Beatles fan, but I did enjoy the music they produced after they outgrew their boy band phase, and George Harrison's I Got My Mind Set On You was pretty catchy.  I guess the best way to pay tribute to this late but great artist is to listen to his last single, released earlier this year.  If it's as good as his work from the 80's, I'll be satisfied with it.

However, out of the four Beatles, Ringo Starr is still my favorite.  I know, I know, he was basically the band's paperweight, but he's just so likable, unlike the reclusive George or the painfully whiny John.  He appreciates his fans more than the other Beatles (maybe because he has a lot fewer of them?), and like William Shatner, he's got a kitsch factor that he's not afraid to exploit.  Ringo was happy to star on The Simpsons, and even be drawn with an enormous nose, well before the other Beatles considered it.  He was even the host of a popular children's show and had a Beanie Baby (the toys that look like plush roadkill) named after him... the man's got charisma that even kids can't resist!

Anyway, that Game Boy Advance section that I've been promising for so long is almost complete... I just need to write a few more reviews, create a "wanted" table (for games that should be translated to the system), and shake an opinion of Advance Wars out of one of my new contributors.  It's also worth mentioning that the review of Rockman and Forte for the Wonderswan is half finished.  I just need to hand it over to Mandi Paugh so she can add her opinions.  I've split an article before, when I interviewed Chris Bieniek in my old print fanzine, and that went pretty well... it read like a real conversation even though I've never actually met Mr. Bieniek.  I'm hoping that this review will have that same feel.

Speaking of reviews, I've got to get around to writing a synopsis of the Harry Potter film.  Yes, I saw it, and no, I'm not ashamed of myself for doing it.  The movie was great, I've heard the books are great, and amazingly, even the GAMES are well done.  Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone on the Game Boy Color has been getting perfect ratings on video game  sites like GameFAQs and the Euro-Asian GameBoy page.  If you're taking notes, that's PERFECT ratings, on the Game Boy COLOR.  It's pretty obvious that J.K. Rowling demands top quality products from the Harry Potter franchise, and there's no reason to be embarassed by that.