I checked my E-mail inbox on Monday evening only to find myself shouting with ecstasy over a message I had received (4 days pror, I don't check my inbox that often). It was a note from Starmen.net that was sent to inform me that after what seems like ages of waiting, they had finally completed their translation patch for the doubtlessly stellar Mother 3.

Now, I've mentioned many many times before that I'm an Earthbound junkie, so you'd assume that I've already tracked down the ROM, applied the patch, and blazed through the game, right? Actually, I don't even have the ROM yet. But I'm downloading it as we speak (but seriously kids, ROMs are bad. Don't pirate video games!), and fully intend to start playing Mother 3 in glorious English... as soon as I finish some other games. Dragon Quest IV would be the obvious one, but I'm still working on Tales of Vesperia. Just goes to show you how little time I have for video games these days. So what the hell am I doing blogging? So long, losers!

Oh, and also I've been in a serious relationship for 6 months today. That deserves a cake. go me!

The days are getting shorter, the weather colder, and the job annoying...er. What does this mean? Vacation time! Well, not really, but I am heading out to Grand Forks this weekend to enjoy one last moment of happiness before the Christmas season explodes and turns my life into a retail nightmare. For the third time. Why am I still at this stupid job?

Anyway, Secret of Mana is finally on the Virtual Console, which is fantastic. It wasn't exaclty at the top of my wish list, but it's a step in the right direction. As far as I can tell, most people consider it to be one of the greatest games on the SNES, though a recent playthrough with the guys has left me asking if it was really that great. Of course, I still love it and will now play it over and over and over ad infinitum, but it just seems like it could benefit from a few tweaks. A less broken battle system would be nice (maybe nerf magic a little bit so cheesing over bosses isn't as viable a strategy), and some improved hit detection would make a world of difference too. Oh, also a new translation. Square-Enix has gotten so much better at that lately, and Mana is one of those oldies that would most definitely benefit from a rewrite. Still, it's plenty of fun, and I'm pretty sure that it's the only game where you get to beat the snot out of Santa Claus.

SNES games be damned though! I haven't shared my opinion of it yet, but the DSi does deserve a couple words here. All in all, I think it's cool, but I'm still technically undecided about it. I mean, I know once it launches I'll be one of the first in line to get one, but for now I'm taking the relaxingly uncommitted "on the fence" stance. I suppose that if the whole DS Ware thing means I can download Game Boy classics, it's a must-have, but the camera and media player don't really do much for me. I'm in love with the idea of a built-in internet browser though; as long as it's more functional than the PSP's that is. And if it has the ability to search for a word on a page, I'll pay double for the damn thing. If there is one thing the Wii internet browser could benefit from, it's a ctrl+F function.

Well, I have both victories and losses under my belt today, and neither is overly surprising, but I figure I might as well share. And before I start, it was Magma Man, not Volcano Man. Oops.

As I was mentioning in the last post, Mega Man 9 is friggin' hard. The day after I made my little blog post there, I went back to the game with a stronger resolve and a good feeling. It got me pretty far, through five more bosses in fact, but Tornado Man and Hornet Man had still eluded my iron grip. But yester day I went back and made my play for total dominance. Tornado Man's level was a bitch, and that's all that was holding me back from the green-plated robot master. After dying over and over at his stupid revolving lifts (see video below), I decided I'd just cheese my way through wiht the Rush Jet. It worked wonders, but things only got worse from there on. Somehow I was able to scrape through to the end on my last life, and I slaughtered tornado Man with little trouble. Hornet Man was much less offensive, as his level wasn't too bad, but there's a mini boss that will take you the fuck out many many times before you're able to stomp it into robo-dust. But this time, I had the Tornado Blow on my side, and it wrecked him pretty bad. Hornet Man never saw it coming after that.

Of course, I got my ass handed to me on the first Wily level, and I felt that that was enough beatings for one day. But then I went and shelled out the necessary Wii Points for the extra DLc, and I'm pretty happy with what I got. The Challenge mode is pretty cool, and I think it'll quickly evolve into an obsession. Proto Man more is the star that really shines though. Not only can Blues slide, charge his buster, and block shots, but the Proto Whistle plays at the beginning of each level! It's amazing! Really, it's not a lot easier than Mega's game, but it is the first real Mega Man game that allows you to play as Proto Man (for $2).

And now for something completely different: would you be surprised if I told you I didn't own Rock Band 2? Probably pretty shocked, right? But actually it's a lie. I went out to Wal-Mart to buy candy last night, and meandered casually into the electronics department, and guess what was sitting there, ready to break my will into tiny little bits. Yeah, I think the only reason I hadn't picked it up is because I hadn't seen a copy available to be purchsed until then, not because I had a strong sense of not needing it. But I broke, and it's great. The best part? That you can make standby band memers and assign them to empty spots on your roster so you don't have the totally lame stock characters messing up your band's image. Also, paying $60 for 100 tracks is a sweet deal after shelling out $1-$2 each for single tracks over the last 9 months.