I don’t want to talk about the game’s quality here, though. I just wanted to make it perfectly clear that what I want to talk about isn’t a condemnation of Assassin’s Creed II – merely a strange phenomenon I’ve been experiencing.

Similar to when I blew through Modern Warfare 2 and Arkham Asylum, I feel thoroughly “vegged” out. I also feel a pang of guilt. Guilt that I played through a good game too fast and didn’t properly enjoy it. Guilt that, while I was totally enthralled and entertained, I may have just wasted precious time that could have been better spent. Guilt that I’m not having as much fun as I should.

I’m sure sometime around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, when I’m back at work after a two week break, I’ll be begging for a six hour chunk of time to game non-stop. I’ll be daydreaming of one more Modern Warfare 2 match or a long, arduous play of a Left 4 Dead 2 campaign. But for now, I’m left wondering if any game in recent memory has made me smile throughout. I seem to recall being irritated by little issues in games more than entertained by the good parts.

For a while, I had chalked up my displeasure with gaming to unemployment. It’s hard to enjoy anything when, in the back of your mind, you’re always thinking about how you’re going to make it to the next rent payment. But a month and a half into employment (at a job I find 100 times better to boot), I’m still not hitting up that gaming magic. What happened to joyously playing through Crackdown and laughing all the way?

I need to find that again. Even when playing Forza Motorsport 3, I’m not giddy like I want to be. And I’m probably going to pin that game as my favorite of the year.

I suppose I’ll leave these musings to my blog and keep them off the podcast. But if you’re wondering why my opinions seem depressing even when I think highly of a game, you’ll know why. Nothing seems to be sparking the way I want it to.

Wouldn’t hold my breath for this crossover…

Artie, the strongest man…in the world! I’m not sure that the red masking tape did him justice, and I’m short one action land canoe, but I’m so glad I didn’t go with spandex pants. Nobody wanted to see that. Oh, and next to me in the above photo is special ladyfriend Caitlin, dressed up as Joan from Mad Men, a show that you should all be watching!

You should also still be paying attention to the DSi Store, even if Nintendo is doing its best effort to hide it from everyone. Last week, I took the PSP to task, but Loco Roco Midnight Carnival has captivated me long enough to turn my frustrations towards the DSi. Remember how we spent endless months begging for Nintendo to allow streaming from our SD cards? And remember how the DSi would use the exact same memory format and a similar interface? Well, you may not have noticed this yet since the DSiWare is hidden away so thoroughly, but if you download all of the Art Style games and a handful of decent titles, you’ll discover that the system’s on-board memory is pretty low. And in order to store all of your unused games, you have to use the Kohler-patented fridge emptying technique. For anyone who has had to copy and delete a single Virtual Console game, you already know what a big pain in the tuchus this is.

I could go on about how none of the games in the store have online descriptions, so it’s often up to you to decide whether a game is worth purchasing based solely on the title screen. I could also go on about the terrible cataloging (only two games per page? Really?) and the terrible points division between Nintendo’s two platforms. The latter alone has pissed off quite a few gamers. But a more in depth screed will have to wait for another night. For now, I need to head to bed. Tomorrow is Election Day, and I’ll be passing out flyers for my man all day long. Regardless of your political affiliation, do make sure you vote tomorrow!

I may be penniless and slightly hungry (as always), but you can’t say that I’m not keeping busy. Between an internship at The Book Report Network and a canvassing job for the guy above, I’m suddenly feeling productive again. No longer the lump on the bed scouring Media Bistro for work, I’m actually heading into Manhattan in the morning and patrolling the streets of Park Slope at night.

That’s right, I’m a canvasser. And I’m promising right now that I’ll never slam a door or dismiss a pamphleteer ever again. (Unless I have little-to-no interest in what they’re hawking.) But then again, even though reception can be discouraging, the job has provided many opportunities to get to know my new borough and the local political scene better.

Socially, the past 2.5 months in New York – specifically BedStuy right now – have been quite splendid. I’ve done so much more in this time than I ever did back in Urbana. Some of the highlights include:

• Seeing dozens of movies that would have never come to our Monroe theater. If you’re also outside of the NYC/L.A. markets, I suggest you add A Serious Man, In the Loop and Big Fan to your Netflix queue.
• Eating chicken and waffles. You wouldn’t think gravy and syrup go together, but somehow it works. The food variety in this city still blows my mind. I’m from a town where all we have is pizza shops, so I’m still not used to having so many different types of cuisine nearby. Now if only I could figure how to cook any of it.
• Visiting the trendiest bowling alley ever.
• Listening to a 200-electric-guitar symphony. It doesn’t matter that it was a cacophonous mess.
• Attending Eugene Mirman’s comedy festival. Unfortunately, comedian H. Jon Benjamin (Coach McGuirk!) bombed. And heckled audience members with accents.
• Walking along the High Line, a former above-ground Subway line turned park. This one is ripe for encroaching businesses in the future, but it’s pretty peaceful at the moment.
• Participating in weekly trivia nights every Tuesday at Gael Pub. If you’re in the area, we could always use more team members.

And without delving too deeply into my personal life, I must admit that all of these adventures wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable without a certain special ladyfriend. The hunt for a full-time job continues, but until then, I’m definitely having a good time.

*Don’t worry, I’m not a fan of these personal update blog posts either. I’ll keep it about the games in the future.

Looming deadlines, exhaustive reading assignments, and late night study sessions – it’s all rushing back to me now. Though I’m completely overwhelmed by the size of the Champaign Urbana campus and back to square one on the social front, it feels good to be a student again. I’m sure this sentiment will change in a few short weeks when I’m downing (heavily caffeinated) Dews and stalling out on my lead paragraphs, but right now the “professional journalist” title seems within my grasp. I’m just one “intensive” year away.

The bad news is that this fast track comes at a price. If I learned one thing from last week’s orientation, it’s that I’m going to have very little time for recreation. Couple that with the discovery that my dormitory internet connection is tenuous at best (though this probably will change as the semester progresses), and it should come as little surprise that I will need to drastically decrease my involvement in The Rumble Pack Podcast. Believe me, this is a hard sacrifice to make, but my perpetual loafing had to come to an end at some point. That doesn’t mean I’ll be leaving the show completely. Right now, we’re considering pre-recorded addresses or rants to tag to the end of our shows (think Andy Rooney of “60 Minutes,” except maybe even more crotchety), and you can check back here for weekly blog posts every Monday and reviews every Tuesday Saturday.

Again, I’m sorry to disappoint my co-hosts and our listeners, but the academics always need to come first. Maybe if I’m lucky, the workload won’t be as bad as advertised, but I’m not leaving anything open to chance. Stay patient…I will be back in full capacity soon enough.

Just know that 1) this week’s shirt features a huge spoiler! 2) the statute of limitations is up when mine arrives in the mail.

On an unrelated note, the third season of “The Venture Bros.” was incredible. I know some fans have been displeased with the mythology-heavy episodes, but I think they brought the show that much closer to the parody/homage nirvana that Edgar Wright and crew reached with “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead.” Though we saw shades of this last year, I think the Monarch’s arc and the exploration of O.S.I./Guild origins demonstrate that Venture creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer have truly embraced adventure cartoon conventions. We’re now getting real stories instead of just the occasional nods to Johnny Quest saddled between endless Star War references and bodily-fluid humor of the first season. The action in season 3 was truly riveting.

Plus, even if you’re not an animation nerd, how can you not love Sergeant Hatred leading Hank’s “Christmas presents” into battle?

3 out of 4 nights have involved overtime and I haven’t taken lunch in about 3 days. I was so exhausted tonight, that I missed a monthly night out with my fraternity brothers. I also haven’t played a game in days. If it were any other week, I think I’d be at the end of my rope.

But not this week. Oh no, not this week.

You see, I’m currently trying to complete a project at work – one that should have been finished weeks ago, but thanks to certain circumstances (you’ll have to private message me for them), it’s getting crammed into this week. I’ve seriously been working like a dog trying to get it finished by friday. Because Monday, I’m not showing up for work.

Monday is all mine.

That’s right, I’m making my own mini-vacation, and it officially starts at 5:00 tomorrow.

Of course, the main event is Saturday at midnight.

So you’ll have to excuse me for the short blog entry this week – every ounce of energy I have that’s not being consumed by work is being stored for this weekend. And trust me – I’m going to need it.

Remember to send me your friend codes.

I’ll see ya on the other side.

But then I thought, “eh…I’d kind of like to write something a little more meaningful.” So here’s what I’ve been thinking about this past week: My role.

We all have one. At our jobs, with our friends, in our families. Regardless of whether or not there’s a purpose to us being there, we all take on some kind of role within the groups and environments we encounter. It’s human nature.

Some people kind of fall into the roles they’re in – they’ve got no choice but to play their part for whatever reason. They go with what they’re given; either thrive at what they do, or are miserable. Either way, their roles sort of seem kind of random at first. Whether or not they’re meant to take on those roles is determined by too many things to list.

Other people actively seek out and take on their roles. They identify what they need to be doing, and figure out how they can play their part effectively. They seem to be in control of what we call “destiny.”

I think I’ve done a pretty good job of identifying what my role is or has been throughout the different environments I’ve found myself in during my life. I always try to be that second type of person – the one that actively seeks out and creates his own role. I try to identify how I can contribute, and work as hard as I can to make the scene I’m involved in more “complete.”

So what role can I play here at the Rumble Pack? How can I contribute something unique to the group that in some way makes us more complete? I think the answer has to do with my favorite language of all time: Japanese.

The threads that link my interests, Japan and the video game industry together are so intertwined that it could take 3 years worth of blog entries to sort everything out. Games have helped to spur my love for the language, and my love for the language translates back into more love for the games. Throughout the past five years I’ve given thousands upon thousands of hours of my life to unlock the secrets to the language and culture that have so generously contributed to the medium I love. It’s been tough at points, but the rewards have been incredible.

I have Japanese family and friends that I cherish more than I can describe.

I have access to a culture that speaks to my soul.

I have a deeper understanding of what makes my hobby so special.

And I have the ability to share these things now with people who haven’t had the opportunity to experience them.

I’ve always thought of my language abilities to be somewhat of a gift; at first a gift to myself, but now a gift that I’m free to give to those around me.

I want to share what I know, my passion for this language and this culture, and give this podcast an informed perspective about why things are the way they are – at least on the Japanese end of things.

And that…

is my role.

*Note: Although there isn’t too much to really “spoil”, I will refrain from going into detail about any plot or character details that would be considered such.

As the Good Sir Tony will agree with me, the experience was not a bad one. In case you are unfamiliar with the concept of Cloverfield, I’ve included this handy and highly scientific equation for your benefit. Excuse the large size and my poor skill with image editing…

I’d say this accurately sums up the concept. Godzilla (giant monster currrently destroying city) plus The Blair Witch Project (film presented as “real” amateur footage) minus Godzuki (I wanted to put a pile of crap as the picture here to symbolize the overall awfulness of The Blair Witch Project, but Godzuki seemed so much more poignant) equals Cloverfield.

Your enjoyment of the film will depend on a few factors. First of all, I don’t think this is a movie that will translate so well from the theater to the home-viewing experience. Despite being shot in the style of a home video, the largeness of the screen combined with the crowd aspect of a theater really sells the concept. Second, your mileage will vary based on how much you are willing to buy into the experience as a whole. If you go into this movie ready to critique every line of dialogue and camera angle, your opinion of the movie will not be too high. However, if you go in willing to accept the concept that what you are watching is in fact real footage, or at least willing to project yourself as an audience member into the situation of the on-screen characters, you will find yourself swept up in a very intense experience.

Whereas The Blair Witch Project was fatally flawed with unlikable characters who made unrealistic decisions, Cloverfield doesn’t stretch the boundaries between real person and movie character too much. The dialogue and actions of the characters feel very natural, and it seems like much of the film was ad-libbed or improvised by the actors as they went along – reacting to situations as they themselves most likely would. Any kind of extraneous explanations of what is going on are avoided – the film doesn’t talk down to the audience in that the characters don’t feel the need to explain exactly what they are doing at all times because, due to the chaos of the situation, most of them have no idea what they are doing. Additionally, almost every action and decision made by the characters doesn’t fall under the thematic ‘veil of retardation’ that seems to plague most characters of horror and sci-fi films – these characters want to stay alive as much as anyone would in their situation, and act accordingly. In designing the monster and plot, the writers were careful to eliminate any easy escapes or solutions the audience may think of. I won’t spoil anything, but let’s just say that hiding out in a safe spot isn’t an option for anyone unfortunate enough to be in the city during the attack for numerous reasons.

The “home video”aspect of the filming works well. In the same way that first-person video games can be engrossing, Cloverfield draws you in. However, the lack of control of where the camera is pointing will likely divide viewers. Either you will get frustrated of the constant shaking camera and inability to see all of the action at once, or your frustration will become part of the experience – the fact that you can only see through the eyes of a character helps put you in the scenario and every obscured or blurry shot leaves you hanging, wanting just a little bit more to be visible (which, more often than not, is soon revealed). Concept aside, this is a big budget feature film, so the limitations of a home video camera are buffered with great crowd scenes, settings, and effects. The first time you see an entire building collapse is almost unnerving – there is no big wind up for the destruction that movies like Independence Day have trained us to wait for, rather it is sudden, violent, and has immediate consequences for the characters.

A final observation: anyone expecting a full explanation of the monsters sudden appearance, motivation for destroying the city, and exact mechanics will be disappointed. These are aspects of any film like this, but in this case the director realizes that the core of the film he is making remains unchanged regardless of these details. Besides, has there ever been a fully rewarding explanation for monsters like this in past films? Cite any number of explanations: radiation, nature punishing mankind for abusing it, an experiment gone wrong due to disaster or hubris. The end result is always the same. A giant pissed-off monster smashing a city. The important difference is that unlike the cardboard cut-outs and hollow buildings of Godzilla, the city in Cloverfield is no different than the one you live in. Full of life, friends, and people just trying to get by, real people who are excited about getting new jobs, meeting new people, or just having something to do on a Saturday night.

But not for long.

Just wanted to drop a quick note letting you all know that I didn’t forget about updating my blog! It’s been a pretty busy week (I spent the weekend in DC visiting Megan) but now that I’m back I’ll definitely have something to say on Thursday. I’m thinking it might be Smash related. Who knows.

Anyway, I’ll catch you all on Friday! Listen to the show!

-Nick

What was once exotic and exciting has now become mundane. That’s right folks, after five months as a Shijiazhuangian, I’m officially in a rut. I’m not miserable, but I’m definitely bored, and the dense smog isn’t exactly raising my spirits. Chinese lessons have been going splendidly to the point where I can pick up bits and pieces from eavesdropped conversations, but with public schools shutting down for the winter and my grad school applications virtually done, there’s little else to do to fight off my restlessness. Outside of a ski trip next week (hopefully Alpine Racer 2 has trained me well), there will be little for me to do besides counting the days until my Spring Festival nerd-fest in Tokyo. On a more positive note, at least I’ll be fighting off the tedium in a cushy new apartment. It doesn’t exactly feel like “home,” but it’s a far cry from the horror show that I left behind on the other side of town. See for yourself:

Look for more substantial posts here in the very near future (again, the trip to Tokyo). I just wanted to give people a brief update, and also to remind folks to check out our new reviews page. It’s still a work in progress, and our content may not always be timely, but you can rest assured that it will be thoughtful and thorough (because Metroid Prime 3 deserves nothing less than 1500 words!).

1. Games 

I’m not going to spend too much time discussing the big titles of this past year. We’ve already gone over and praised them many times, and they deserve every ounce of that. 2007 saw a lot of big franchise titles including Call of Duty 4, the two Guitar Hero releases, Metroid Prime 3, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, and Halo 3 just to name a few. However, this year was also marked by a lot of new properties as well: Assassin’s Creed, Bioshock, Rock Band, Zack & Wiki, and Portal immediately come to mind. While I don’t necessarily hope for sequels to all of these newcomers, it definitely kept the gaming world fresh not to just rotate around a few big name releases. I’m glad to see how much coverage these new games got – obviously games like Rock Band don’t need a huge campaign, but it was great to see IGN advertising and supporting Zack & Wiki so much to keep people from overlooking it.

At no point during the year did I not have a portable game to work on. The DS has so much momentum at this point that I’m finding it very difficult to keep up with all the games currently released, and there are a few games such as Etrian Odyssey and both Sonic Rush games that I’m still missing the boat on. I had a grand old time with Lunar Knights, Contra4, and of course, Phantom Hourglass. Of special note for being almost permanently jammed into my DS since July is Picross. This unassuming little $20 grid game ate up so many spare ten minute chunks of my life, and I still find myself going back for more.

Finally, the PS2 proved it still had some lingering sputters left in it at (at least for the first half of 2007) with the release of Odin Sphere and The Red Star in the summer. I was hoping no one else would mention The Red Star so I could be the first, but I keep seeing it pop up on the message boards. It’s the perfect mix of the challenge you would expect from a traditional SHMUP like Ikaruga but without the frustration (mostly) and also without being a typical top-down shooting game where you play as a ship. I can’t say if they did justice to the comic book source, but the gameplay is rock solid. I wish I had more to say about Odin Sphere, but regrettably did not have the perseverance to make it through the game. It does get major props for the gorgeous 2-D sprites, great animations, and entertaining voice acting.
2. Movies

I don’t think I can remember another year that I spent so much time and money at the movie theater. I don’t have quite as much to say about the rest of the categories other than games, but here’s a quick rundown of the most entertaining (not necessarily “best”) movies I saw this year.

300 – the manliest film of the year, full of more yelling and kicking than you could ever hope for. Special points for featuring a guitar playing goatman, a brief cameo appearance by Voldo himself, and a trip to Caketown. By no means an enduring American classic, but I’ll be damned if seeing this with a large group of friends wasn’t the most fun I’ve had in a movie theatre. Ratatouille – refer to Justin’s post from the summer about how magical this movie is. If he liked it that much, you know it has to be something special. Transformers and Harry P. were the obligatory popcorn blockbuster movies of the summer, and certainly did not fail to disappoint in terms of sheer entertainment. TMNT – “not a complete turd” according to a succinct over-the-phone review from Justin, and he turned out to be right. Good for him. Hot Fuzz – part of the whole reason I wrote this entire post. There are still people who haven’t seen this, and shame on them. What I originally thought would be a mildly entertaining movie good for a few laughs before the inevitable after-movie Denny’s run turned out to be the best movie of 2007, and I couldn’t have been happier to be so surprised.

Shoot ‘em Up – I originally didn’t see this, but was later told that it was basically tailor- made for me personally to enjoy. As a dollar theater aficionado of retarded movies, I did my duty and saw it on the big screen. Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti hamming it up to the tune of a thousand gunshots and explosions, and oh the one-liners… it was like some sort of glorious spiritual successor to Commando. Which is a good thing. I promise.

In the non-explosion littered side of films… I know Nick and I mentioned it earlier in the year, but The King of Kong is also definitely worth seeing. Combining an unorthodox movie subject (the world of top score competition in classic arcade games) with a surprisingly interesting story and a few truly bizarre characters, it’s a movie that draws you in more and more once you realize that these people are serious – it’s not a fictional story. No Country for Old Men (aka Metal Gear Solid 4) also impressed me quite a bit. Even if it sounds like the plot synopsis isn’t up your alley, see it anyway. There’s more to it than you think.
3. Television

Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. You’ve heard the news. Heroes was pretty awful this year. I’m sorry. Obviously I’m drawn in enough at this point to keep watching next season, but…

HERE IS THE PROBLEM AREA. Right in this general area here. However, using a complex algorithm, I have come up with two replacements for these characters that I feel will drastically improve the show. Close your eyes, make a wish, and… presto-change-o!

Who doesn’t love Cousin Skeeter?!

Ahhhhh. That’s much better. Bobby’s ability is that he can appear in any number of short lived Nickelodeon sitcoms and/or the movie House of Wax. The aforementioned Cousin Skeeter’s ability is to be a puppet made of soft felt. This is much more intellectual than anything offered by the Micah storyline in Heroes.

In the realm of good television, Nick and I finally got on The Office bandwagon and couldn’t be happier. This is the best show since Arrested Development, and I think I may even like it more.

4. Music

I am woefully out of the current music scene, but a big recommendation for anyone who likes electronic or dance music – the album “Cross” by the group Justice released in June tops my chart for album of the year. This is what you wish the last two Daft Punk albums were, and may even be as good as the first Daft Punk album Discovery.

And, just for laughs, check out the fan album 8-bit Bullshit available for free download at http://www.scrubclubrecords.com/music/8bit.html – not all of the songs are quality, but I’ve never heard a better rap about the NES game Wild Gunman. The Zelda, Punch-Out!!, and Metal Gear songs are worth a quick listen as well.

“I got bullets ‘n buckshot loaded in the barrel

I’m lookin’ damn fine in my baby blue apparel

Ten gallon hat – you got a problem with that?

My dual revolvers make your head go splat“

5. Books/Comics

Oops, didn’t read anything except Harry Potter this year because I am an uncultured prick. However, as far as new comic series go, the first collection of The Dark Tower is certainly promising.

Edit: Still the Master of Unlocking after six months of not posting. My apologies. Look forward to this space becoming a bustling spaceport of rambling bullshit and/or a dumpster full of empty away messages. Thank you.