So if you care in the least, you probably know that all the Smash Bros Brawl info has been leaked over the last 30-ish hours. I really didn't want to know it all, but I figured it would be better to spoil myslef on purpose than have someone else accidentally spoil it for me. So what's my favourite part of it all? Jeff is an Assist Trophy!

Now, we all know that Jeff is in a two-way tie with Paula for lamest Earthbound character, so why am I so happy to see him? In honest truth, I really just love Earthbound. Any and all Mother-related junk I see in Brawl will make me squeal like a fangirl. I hate using Ness, but I was devastated by the idea that he might not return. In any case, it's mostly just another way to tide me over until the day Earthbound hits the Virtual Console. Don't get me wrong, I rented it at least thrice and played through it via emulation a couple times too, but I really want a VC version of Earthbound.

My reasons for such a desire are twofold. Firstly, and most importantly, I want to be able to say I own the game, digital rehash or not. Ever since the day I read the preview article about it in Nintendo Power, I've always felt that my biggest SNES-era loss was Earthbound. And considering the poor slaes numbers, I guess it may be some other people's as well. Secondly, and maybe the truly more important one, is that if waves and waves of people buy the VC Earthbound, Nintendo of America might finally be swayed to give us the prequel (Earthbound Zero) and sequel (Mother 3). You may be aware, but a fully localized copy of Earthbound Zero is floating around out there somewhere; it was just never released. And as for Mother 3, NoA are just being dicks about that one. They know there's a fanbase. How in God's name are all the casual Wii owners supposed to know who Lucas is? Or why exactly New Pork City is awesome? Come the fuck on.

Anyway, that's about it for my spiel. I don't really care if we've seen the entire roster yet or anything. It's good the way it is. I'd like more playable villains, but other than that, I'm perfectly satisifed with what we're getting. ...As long as Pokémon Trainer has a female version as a costume swap.

Oh, right. If you haven't seen it yet, here's the Brawl intro video. Epic win.

I've got a feeling that I won't be able to charm/intimidate my way out of this impossible situation.

Yesterday was pretty cool. Went and saw Cloverfield, which maybe didn't quite live up to the hype, but I still enjoyed it. Also learned the basics of how to drive stick, so I won't be fudged if the time comes where it's do or die and that's the skill that decides my fate. Quite possibly best of all, I ate three double quarter pounders for lunch. Mmmm I loves me some burger. But despite all the good things, I can't help but have an unshakable uneasiness in the pit of my stomach (which is not beef-related). See, yesterday evening I got peer-pressured into applying for a promotion.

The reason I say "peer-pressured" is because I have a dangerously low level of self-confidence, especially when it comes to things like this. If I hadn't been bombarded by co-workers telling me that I had to go for this stupid position from the moment I walked it to the moment I submitted my letter, I really doubt I would have gone through with it. They say you'll never win if you don't try, but I find the popular theory "trying is the first step to failure" is much more applicable to my life.

Yes, it's supposed to be a good thing, and by all means, it should work out. I feel that I'm more than qualified for the position, but in the situation that I don't get it, my very fragile emotional structure will be completely shattered and what little faith I have in myself and my abilities will disappear completely. Oh well. It'll be wicked if I do get it, because the opening is in either one of two areas, and either way I win. If it's in outdoors, that's where I already work and I know pretty much everything there is to know, and I'll be doing essentially the same thing I'm doing now for more money and with a shiny badge. If it's in the boys area, I know the subject matter in there pretty well too, plus some other perks that I'm more inclined to keep to myself. So here's hoping things pan out. If not, well, I suppose I'll just have to go find a new jorb.

I was going to go on about how much longer this has taken than it should have, but I noticed that previous years' entires have been posted even later, so I suppose that my rambling would have been for naught. Anyhow, I decided to revive the reviled Christmas Gift article. You know the one. Fortunately, this one's only one page, and far more concise than any before it. You can find it right here or at the top of the list on the aticles page. Good luck.

As a side-effect, some older articles have been moved over from Angelfire to this webspace. Notably, a couple under the "related" section you'll find on the Navi in the new article.

What I really want to know is why the Japanese release only gets pushed back a week while we here in North America have to wait a whole extra month. Every screenshot Sakurai's posted so far has been in English, so I doubt it's to account for any type of localization. This blows ass. On the upside, I have more time to enjoy No More Heroes, which is my second-most anticipated Wii title for this year, and which has oddly enough received a... what's the opposite of a delay? In any case, it's coming out like a week and a half easly, so I guess it's one of those situations where you've gotta take the good with the bad.

And there's more good news too (I can't believe it either)! After God knows how long of having my ass handed to me, I finally beat "Raining Blood" on Expert today. Given, I took quite a bit of time off from Guitar Hero 3 once Rock Band arrived in my home, but it's still been taunting me for a long time. All that's left is to beat that last dumb boss battle and then I've asserted my dominance over the game, at least to the point of my personal satisfaction. "Through the Fire and Flames"... that's just not going to happen.

For weeks and weeks now, the updates over at the Smash Bros DOJO!! have been marginally interesting at best. Coming up on one month to release (as long as rumors of another delay remain just that), we finally get an update worth talking about!

Personally, I find Captain Olimar to be the most interesting new character reveal since Pokémon Trainer. For the longest time, I've been sure that the Trainer would be the very first character I would use in Brawl, but now I'm starting to wonder. King Dedede is an enticing choice indeed, and now Olimar is another contender for the chance to be the first new brawler I use. What does it matter? It doesn't really, it's just one of those odd things that I'm obsessive about.

In any case, Olimar will certainly be the most unusual character to play as. Having to manually pluck Pikmin to fight with any efficiency will most definitely add another layer of strategy to to game. It could get annoying, but if he's anywhere near as fun to play as I'm hoping he is, I'm sure it'll all balance out in the end.

Whoo. I don't want to jinx it, but 2008 has already been way better than 2007 ever was. It's got a long way to go to keep that title, but considering all the horrible crap I had to suffer through last year, it shouldn't be too hard. Oh, and we finally get Brawl, so 2008 FTW.

Complainey pants aside, it's a new month, and that means it's time for me to blab on shortly about a band that I like. We'll start 2008 off right, with a band that is made up of neither cartoon characters nor 50-plus-year-olds. That band is Rise Against, and honestly, I don't know a whole lot about them so this should be short.

I'd heard of the band a couple years ago when The Tall One started listening to them, but never really caught on myself. It wasn't until late last year when Guitar Hero 3 was released, that I decided to look more into the band. Their song "Prayer of the Refugee" appears as a bonus track in GH3, and it quickly became one of my favourites to play, despite some tricky chords. The next step was obviously to go and check out some of their other music, and that was a realy good idea. I downloaded their most recent CD, The Sufferer and the Witness and I can't think of any other word to describe it than "exemplary". It's truly a great CD; all the songs are great, and there's plenty of distinction between each. The lyrics are inspired and paint vivid pictures, and some of them might even make you think. It's great stuff, and I have since bought a legitimate copy. Because that's what people do when they like things.

I guess one of the things that really drew me into Rise Against is that they remind me of Story of the Year. SotY struck me right away, and they remain one of my favourite bands (anxious for that third album), and I guess that the similar styles and themes between the two bands kind of gives Rise Against an extra push towards my favour. The song "Bricks" actually reminds me a lot of Bad Religion too, and I like to believe that's a pretty high compliment. It's short but it's pretty awesome.

That about all I have to say. It's not the end though! I've taken the liberty of putting an MP3 here for you to download and enjoy. It's called "The Approaching Curve" and it stands out from the rest of the tracks on The Sufferer and the Witness because the "verses" are all spoken. It's a pretty cool song, one of those ones that really encourages you to pay attention to the lyrics. Good stuff.

Official Rise Against website
Wikipedia entry on Rise Against
Buy The Sufferer and the Witness