Juggling Mike

Not too long ago, Microsoft started releasing some old Xbox (the original Xbox, not the 360) games as purchasable downloads from Microsoft Live. One of these games was Psychonauts. Considering that this game was THE game fans had been clamoring to get backwards-compatibility on the 360, it was surprising to see it available for download. I had purchased the game when it came out and played it on my original Xbox. I got to the end, but never beat the last boss. The game’s difficulty escalates to crazy amounts of insanity near the end. Nonetheless, it was great fun and it remains one of my favourite games of all time.

Since the game was released as a download, Microsoft also released free themes and gamerpics for it. I decorated my Xbox dashboard with the Psychonauts theme and I got a warm fuzzy feeling everytime I opened the console. Over time that fuzzy feeling grew into an intense urge to play the game again, and without me actively knowing it, the Psychonauts disc was inserted in the 360 and I was playing the game once more.

I had forgotten how beautiful the game looked, how funny it was, and just how great in general it is. The game just oozes personality and you will not want to put the controller down. You may have trouble finding it in the used discount bin, but you can download it from Xbox LIve, you can get it from Steam, and I believe GameTap has it as well. If you have never played this game before, you have no excuse to not play it now. It is pure awesomeness.

I’ve embedded below a video review down by Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, as he really gives a good idea of how the game is. It also doesn’t hurt that his video is hilarious.

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The year is almost at an end!
Only a couple more days before we enter the era of 2008.

How have your holidays been so far?
Been relaxing, enjoying yourself, partying, or boozing it off?
I’ve been mostly relaxing.. well, bored is more like it.

One thing I have been enjoying is my new toy, or my new LED pois.
I got them from flowtoys and I have been very happy with them.
If you visit their site, you will see all the various modes the LEDs can be used.
Some are quite trippy!

Now since I am new to the poi world, I decided I should make my own practice pois, but use the same leash that came with the flowlights. Looking around my apartment I came upon two items which would create a perfect practice poi.

The items:
1) a cheap rubber ball
2) an old Wii remote strap which Nintendo had me replace

When you slip one through the other, you have your very own DIY pois!
The best part is that I’m not wasting material!
Shame on all of you who threw away your old Wii straps!

Note that I use the wrist strap, not the flimsy cord at the end.

I love playing with light…

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I just finished playing this small flash adventure game called Anika’s Odyssey. It reminded me a lot of the old PC game Gobliiins (and its sequels). I miss games like this in which you just click and have to try to figure out the various puzzles to get to where you want to go. The artwork in AO is great and the music is very relaxing. Check it out and if you enjoyed it, try to find the old Goblins games.

Play here

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It is 3:30am and I am barely tired at all.
Why must caffeine only kick in when you do not want it?
Argh!
DO NOT WANT!

Oh, and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and Happy [insert holiday here] to the rest of you!

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Wow.. so in the same day that I finish Bioshock, I also manage to finish Super Mario Galaxy. Well, maybe not finish finish, but I got the 60 required stars and beat up Bowser. Regardless of the fact that I saw the ending, the game will stay in my Wii for quite some time more as I have fun trying to get the other 60 stars.

This game really felt like Super Mario 64². While it feels like the proper sequel to an old game, it plays like like a new generation platformer. Heck, this is probably the best platformer I have played ever, control-wise. If you have a Wii, you have no excuse to not own this game. It should stay inside your Wii machine for quite some time.. at least until Smash Brothers comes out.

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I was going through some old cds of mine and I came upon an old gem. Super Mario Compact Disco! This is a mix from the 90’s done by MC Mario and the Ambassadors of Funk. If it weren’t for the huge amount of cheese (think go ninja go, just x 5) in the lyrics and the DJ segments, it would not be as memorable. Hearing the dj (whom I think is supposed to be a sort of British Mario) talk with Yoshi is just, well, breathtaking (since I was laughing so hard). Yoshi is composed of three sound clips that he makes in Super Mario World, and even though they are repeated, it is as if he is saying different things! CRAZY!

Here’s the canter between the DJ and Yoshi:

Here’s today’s special guest on Radio Compact Disco. He’s a popular guy, a V.I.P. dinosaur, and he eats apples. Yo, it’s Yoshi.
[Yoshi sound effect from SMW]
Come again, bad boy?
[Same sound effect]
You say you’re surprised to be on the show?
[Same sound effect]
[Different Yoshi sound effect from SMW]
Well hey, you’re a hero, man!
[Same sound effect]
OK then, you wanna play your own game? The one with the eggs? Let’s do it man. Hit the switch.

Anyways, I included some clips that people have made online which mix one song with various Mario related video.

Enjoy the cheese!

More after the break!
Continue Reading »

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I finally finished Bioshock. The game took me quite a while to go through, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I’m really not a big fan of first person shooters, but this one had me hooked from beginning to end. The graphics were superb, and the whole 30’s art was a joy to look at. By the time the game is over and you understand what is going on, you just can’t deny this game to be just another shooter. If you have an Xbox 360, I highly reccomend you go out and buy this game. The only thing that would make it better would be multiplayer, but even without, it fully justifies the purchase price.

Oh, and since I was a tad “evil” in the game, I got the “bad” ending… I checked out the good ending online, and it is much better. Oh well…

Now, I have to go finish Assasin’s Creed.

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Have you ever seen the Angry Beavers? Two idiotic beavers to which even more idiotic adventures happen daily. The show was rather stupid, but it did have its moments. There was one episode in which I really enjoyed, mostly because it touched my patriotic essence. Ok, I’m not super patriotic, but it is always fun to see shows include Canadia where we speak Canuckian. Anyways, I had been looking for this episode for a while and I finally got it. If you are Canadian, you will definately get a kick out of this.

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I went to bed last night knowing that I would wake up in a real winter. The type in which you have to trod through over a foot high of powdered snow just to get around. Ahh yes, a true Canadian winter. When I used to work at my old job, I would dread these days for I had to drive to work. Massive snowfalls and cars do not equal good. They equal accidents, traffic, slow and stupid drivers, stress, and an overall sense of unpleasantness. Now with my new occupation, I simply had to take a bus to work. Of course, a bus has wheels as well and has the same limitations as an automobile in the snow. So while I did not have the stress of getting to work with my life intact, I got to stay in the bus in traffic as we crawled to our destination. After taking over three times the normal time to get there, the bus driver was told through his radio that he could drop off people on the sidewalk if they wanted to. Since walking would be faster than sitting in an unmoving bus, I got out on Notre-Dame street and walked all the way up Peel street. It was quite a walk; especially when none of the sidewalks had been cleaned yet. My calf muscles got one heck of a workout! I finally got to work, albeit two hours after I had left my place.

As I spent the day at work, the snow never stopped falling. In fact, it just descended in a fury uncompared to the morning when I woke up. (ok, I exagerrate a little bit) Naturally, when it was time to leave, I was wondering how long it would take me to get home. Hopefully it would not be as long as in the morning. I managed to score a free taxi ride with some others down the street, and I got off earlier to stop at a store. Since I got out of the car in the middle of the street, I decided to jump the snow bank on the side to get onto the sidewalk. It was 2 feet high, which would be easy enough to jump over. I never expected it to be 4 feet wide though. My legs went all the way through and I fell flat on my face. Normally, I would have been slightly annoyed at this, since I was completely covered with snow, but something special happened.

At that moment, an explosion of joyous exhuberence engulfed me. I started laughing, and I laughed like I hadn’t laughed in a while. It was not funny or sad, it had simply been fun. I saw some bystanders looking at me strangely, and I just walked away laughing quite loudly. I felt like when I was just a wee lad and I was playing in the snow in the backyard. Memories flooded back and the feeling of the joy spread through me. I started skipping and jumping around instead of walking straight. I could see I was not the only one in this mood, several other people were laughing the same way I was. Some were wearing business suits or fancy dresses. It felt surreal, and it felt great. The bus ride home was packed and took a while, yet it didn’t matter anymore. I was happy.

Winter, welcome back…

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For the last couple of weeks, I have been contact juggling every Tuesday night with other cjers in the area. Most of these people are way better than I am, and really inpire me to keep on practicing. If you know how to contact juggle properly, your act will look amazing. To prove it, here is a video of Colin, whom I met through the group. I can guarentee you that if you like the video, seeing it live is even more impressive!

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