Archive for 5th May 2008

More Video Game Stuff

Minor annoyances with two great games:

1) There’s a fatal flaw in Mario Kart Wii’s online play, and that’s wheelies. The introduction of bikes allows you to get a speed increase by doing a wheelie on straightaways - increases speed while drastically sacrificing steering. You can, of course, pop out at any time, so it’s not that much of a sacrifice - twice now, I’ve played people who jump out to half track leads by the midpoint of the match simply by doing wheelies all the time. I mean, I suppose it’s kudos to them for exploiting an otherwise reasonable speed alternative, but as more people become used to the concept, it’s really going to remove the whole kart element, and that could be rough. Then again, maybe it won’t, but there’s my annoyance.

2) Grand Theft Auto IV is great. In terms of sheer scope and everything, the reviews are spot on, and the small things that people seem to be complaining about (minus the car complaints, which make sense since the cars handle like cars and not Mario Karts) are very enjoyable for me. With that said, the fact that I can get a girlfriend and get her to invite me up to her place after running over two pedestrians and knocking off the fire hydrant outside her apartment seems a little bit off. Then again, she was pissed that we left the magic act early, so what does she know?

Monday links

* Way to go Vermont for incentivising organ donation. A good start.

* A small piece on GraniteGrok about one of my favorite Senators, John Sununu. He’s currently trailing behind Shaheen by uncomfortable amounts, and his campaign seems incredibly slow to get rolling, considering that it’s May now and no one’s heard as much as a peep, but here goes nothing…

* Also, Sununu’s name coming up in the VP talks for McCain. He’d be a great choice if we didn’t need Sununu in the Senate.

* From Urgent Agenda, Jeff Greenfield’s piece on Orwell and elitism. Provides a nifty contrast to the current race.

* I love this concept.

* More problems for Obama: people aren’t buying is comments about Wright. This is at least more plausible than the “closet Muslim” smear that went out there, which is why Obama can’t ignore this. Although, it appears, he just might anyway.

* Remember, these are being touted as improvements to Canada’s health care. No thanks…

* Is the media really taking it easy on McCain? Power Line puts another notch in the no column, thanks to the New York Times.

That’s all for now…