Ultimate Gambit

Eurovision this year has been scarred by the sharp edge of Finnish Metal!

Finnish ‘hard rockers’ Lordi have won the Eurovision Song Contest by a massive margin, leading the contest into a new realm! For me, Eurovision has always been about cheesy pop and generally crappy songs, and I have never bothered to watch it. However, for some reason, this year i felt compelled to watch, and I have the feeling that reason was Lordi.

In the scheme of Metal, these guys are incredibly cheesy, however, their song, ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ is actually pretty good (albeit incredibly tongue-in-cheek), and obviously the whole of Europe agreed (even the UK who voted them 12 points – the highest possible – which I never would have expected!)

For me, this is great news, as it is once again bring Rock and Metal to the forefront of culture, something that can only be good for the genre as a whole! As record labels realise that rock is here to stay, and still popular (if not increasing in popularity), they will sign more new rock and metal acts than the otherwise would have done! Vive la revolution!
Well done Lordi!!

Some of you who are reading my blog on Internet Explorer may be wondering why suddenly today they have had a splash screen telling them to install the Firefox web browser. The reason for this is that i truly believe that Firefox is a much better browser and that everybody should be using it! If you want to know why – click the image to the right – it links to Kill Bill’s Browser, which has some pretty good reasons as to why Firefox is better! If you use Firefox for just one week, I promise that you’ll find it better too…

If you really dont want to change, and I cant even convince you to try it, then don’t worry, you’ll only get reminded to try it by my splash screen every 15 days! Thanks to Explorer Destroyer for the script

If you have changed your mind, and think you want to try it, download Firefox below!

After just posting my views on E3 overall, I have now decided that it’s time for me to post about the games I’m looking forwards to. Quite simply, this is going to be a list…

(Oh, and something that i forgot to mention in my last post – thanks Microsoft! Let’s bring down Sony together!!)

So, the games i can’t wait for:

Wii
Super Mario Galaxy – it’s mario, need i say more!?
Super Smash Bros. Brawl – great fun with the mates – i’ll be interested to see how they use the new controller…
Metroid Prime 3 – still havent played the first two (although have the second), but i will eventually!
WarioWare Smooth Moves – great fun on the GBA, even more fun with a few beers and mates on the cube – bring it
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz – more fun with Monkey’s in balls
Donkey Kong Bongo Blast – actually for Gamecube, but gives me another reason to have those Bongo’s lying about!!

PC
Pirates of the Caribbean Onile – except for the fact that it’s a subscription based MMO, so i probably wont play it
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic – looks really gory with great AI – hope the fun matches!

Another year, another E3, and i’ll be honest, it looks like Nintendo have stolen the show… Can’t say I’m disappointed either.

It’s no secret to those of you who know me that i’m a bit of a Nintendo fanboy, having bought a Gamecube on release day, and sticking by it to this day. And now, with a more detailed look at the Rev…sorry, Wii, i cannot wait! Ok, so I cant support the decision to go with the name Wii, i really dont see what was wrong with Revolution, but it is starting to settle. I still think whatever clever clogs over in Japan thought it up needs to be given a slap, and the bods in Nintendo Europe which didnt put their foot down because of all the potential innuendo when the name was suggested, well, they need one too!

Anyway, that’s all by the by, the name’s staying, and looking on the bright side, it certainly gave Nintendo alot of publicity in the run up to E3! That, along with the excellence of the press conference at the start of the week have led to the queues being the longest seen at E3 for a number of years!

At Nintendo’s press conference, we learned more about the controller; the fact that it’s now going to have a built in speaker (which i initially doubted, but now think is a great idea), we saw previews of some great games (Mario Galaxy and Zelda Twilight Princess were the highlights for me) and found out that we’ll have it by Christmas (although no definate date). I just cant wait!

Outside of the press conference, the main highlight for me is the announcement of Super Smash Bros Brawl. SSB:Melee was one of my favorite games on the Gamecube, and it looks like its going to be amazing on the Wii, with loads of new characters. There were also some other great looking games for the Wii being previewed (Sadness comes to mind, and the new WarioWare but i’m there were definately others).

Looking further afield than Nintendo, I’ll be honest, i was less than impressed by the other companies. Sony have STOLEN Nintendo’s 3D movement idea last minute (developers only found out about it 3 weeks ago apparently), and this just puts them further down in my estimations. I’ve always disliked Sony, but that has just taken the biscuit in my mind. Oh, and the $500-$600 price tag – idiots.

Microsoft were always a second choice for me, but to be honest, apart from Halo 3 (which i have never played the first 2 of, so no big deal to me) didnt really have a great deal to show. Their live features all look good, but again, have never really interested me.

As was the case with me and my Gamecube, every game i want to play (minus the odd few, which i think i can live without) is either going to be available on the Wii, or on my PC, so i have absolutely no need for any other console! Even the games on Xbox 360 which i want to play (the new Indiana Jones developed by Lucasarts looks amazing with the advanced AI and links into the new film) will very likely come out on the PC given a bit of wait.

So for me, come Christmas, i intend to have a Wii in my stocking, and a copy of Twilight Princess. Don’t expect to see me for a few weeks!!

All in all, a great showing at E3, mainly from Nintendo, and I really like the way things are going. For me, the charm of Nintendo is that anyone will be able to pick up and play, which means that when my mates come over we can have alot of fun. Add to that the fact that their system is bringing a whole new dimension to gaming, and i dont doubt that it is one that will stay due to the advanced immersion possibilities, and I am just bursting for a Wii (sorry, i couldnt resist!)