"Virtual Reality"

In my spare time, I like messing about with official video game artwork and trying to do something different with it. Yes, I'm sad. Sue me.

So I've decided to do a set of pics called "Virtual Reality: Video Game Characters In Real-Life Settings". This is my first attempt:

Sesame Street = Awesomeness

It's been years and years since I last watched an episode of Sesame Street... though I suppose that's the point of it.

That said, I decided to search for it on a whim on YouTube the other night and found myself watching Sesame Street clips all night, constantly entertained at both the funny sketches and the surprising celebrity cameos.

Robert De Niro pretending he's a cabbage? James Blunt singing a parody of his one-hit wonder single (and therefore no longer being a moron in my eyes)? Cookie monster eating a book? Awesome.

Observe:

Cable Mice

I've just come to an amazing conclusion that could be considered a scientific breakthrough.

Right... my "entertainment centre" (couldn't think of a better name) consists of my HD-TV, my Wii, my 360, my PS3, my PS2, my Dreamcast, my N64, a DVD player (for American discs), my 360 HD-DVD player and my Hi-Fi. As you'd expect, that means there are a lot of plugs round the back, and a lot of wires.

So when I first set it all up, I did so with extreme care and precision, laying the wires out in such a way that if I ever need to take out a plug I would be able to do so with relative ease.

The other week my 360 died, and I got an Elite to replace it. When I went to remove the plug though the wires were a completely tangled mess of spaghetti. This has always happened to me throughout my life, and it doesn't make sense to me. When I leave my Guitar Hero guitar lying againt my wall for a few days, when I next pick it up to play the strap has twisted round a couple of times and I need to readjust it. I don't understand it.

Well, I didn't understand it... until now.

There are clearly a group of mice that wait until I leave for work, then run into my room, grab the wires with their mousey little teeth, and dance about as if they were round some sort of electronic maypole.

Meanwhile, a stripper mouse (who has been hired by the mouse government to provide entertainment during the maypole dancing) climbs on top of my Guitar Hero controller and does some sexy dancing, using the guitar strap as a makeshift stripper pole. So when she turns round it the strap is twisted.

This is the only explanation I can give for my wires being tangled.

A Request...

If you play Mario Kart Wii online, when it comes to voting for a track PLEASE don't vote for Rainbow Road.

Nobody likes Rainbow Road. It's always rubbish because it has no edges and is really annoying.

The only people who pick Rainbow Road are just smart alecs who are trying to show off: they think people will say "wow, they've unlocked Rainbow ROad, they must be pretty awesome".

Guess what - they don't say that. Unlocking Rainbow Road isn't a big deal. You can unlock Rainbow Road in 50cc mode. Certain species of hamster can complete 50cc mode.

So next time you're playing Mario Kart Wii online and you want to act smart and choose Rainbow Road, please don't bother. Show you have good gaming taste by choosing Maple Treeway or something instead. :-D

Subscribe!

If you take a wee glance at the bottom of this blog you'll see the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed. This means if you have some sort of crazy RSS reader thingy (I don't bother with them myself, personally) then every time I post something new on here you'll know about it almost right away. None too shabby eh?

That's much better than checking every day to see if I've updated only to find that I haven't bothered because I'm too busy playing Sam & Max on the PC.

McLibel

I just watched a documentary called McLibel. Basically, it's a true story about a couple of activists in London who were sued by McDonalds for distributing leaflets that claimed their food was unhealthy, they manipulated children through advertising, they were inhumane to animals, they paid low wages, they denied trade unions and were generally prats. Here's the trailer:



In all, it's a pretty interesting documentary, as are the extras provided with the DVD. One such extra is a secret recording the woman took when a big McDonalds exec flew over from America to try to reach a settlement, where the guy comes across as a right scumbag.

Here's the first ten minutes of the film: if you want to see the rest I recommend you buy it. You can get it really cheap now from some online shops.



Here's the thing though. Generally, I don't like activists. I don't know why: obviously they're trying to make the world a better place, and obviously they're effective at times. But there's something about people trying to force their opinion on you that I don't like, no matter how right they may be. It's a strange thing: I have no reason to dislike these people, and they're well within their rights to hand out leaflets. Yet when I see such people in the street I still try my best to avoid them. I don't understand it, it's like a mental block.

Anyway, if you're one of the 10 people who have seemingly accessed this blog since it went online, let me know what you think.

It Starts (Again)

Alright troops?

This is my personal blog: it's about as random as it gets but what the hell, that's the point of these things I suppose.

For those of you who saw this blog before I wiped it (that's both of you), the problem was this: I attended a course on Intellectual Property and Copyright law, which pretty much told me that since I'm a video game journalist working for a publisher, any personal blogs I write are the property of the publisher and I could get into trouble for writing them. Naturally, I didn't fancy losing my job for the sake of posting the odd YouTube clip of a monkey walking some dogs.

Luckily, my lovely company recently sent an email to every staff member telling them that as long as the blog didn't compromise the company's interests then we could do whatever we wanted. So, since I work for a Nintendo magazine, my blog's fine as long as I don't write about stuff that could (and should) appear in the magazine. That means no Wii/DS/Virtual Console reviews, no Nintendo news, no press releases and no commentaries on the condition of Nintendo in the gaming market.

But hey, why would you want that from me anyway? There's already a great site online that covers all that already (www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk) and it's got loads of articles written by me. [/cheap plug]

"So then Chris", I hear you probably ask, "what's the point of this blog?"

Well, it's to talk about everything else. Films I've seen, DVDs I've bought, retro games I've been playing, funny stuff I've found online, just general musings on life... basically, if it's nothing to do with current Nintendo stuff and I want to talk about it, you'll find it here.

This also means that, yes, I can link to a YouTube clip of a monkey walking some dogs.