• 4Aug 11

  Dear Nintendo: Give me my money back!

  Okay, so I might be acting a little melodramatic, but I can't help but feel that Nintendo owes me more than this "Ambassador" program they've been trying to use as collateral for my forgiveness. Nintendo is smart enough to know that early adopters are probably their more loyal, long-time fans. In that case, why offer me free games that I, as one of these loyal fans, naturally already own. I don't need another copy of Super Mario Advance 4 ... why not just load-up my account with some money to spend on whatever I want on the eShop? You know, like those new games you're trying so desperately to promote.

  I'm starting to think it would be wise to start marketing a special brand of the Swiffer for the 3DS - you know, to wipe off the dust that has been collecting on my system for the past six months. I'm not going to pretend I don't secretly love the 3DS and get excited at the prospect of playing a real (and not rehashed) Zelda game or Mario game, but I don't have the excitement level that I had when I bought the system.

  I continue to hear the phrase "games are on the way," but as it turns out, my shelf is still looking pretty empty. The closest "big release" is another remake of a game I already own, and is also a month out from release. And what exactly is filling that two-month gap between Star Fox 64 3D and Super Mario 3DS Land? (Terrible titles, I might add.) Nintendo's most solid third party games have been delayed until next year, and they're starting to imply to the public that games like Animal Crossing and Luigi's Mansion 2 won't be seeing releases this year after all, despite their claims that so many of their first party titles would be released this year.

  I will forever admire Nintendo as a company; they did have the common sense and courtesy to cut the salaries of their executives after this fiasco. However, they have a lot of work to do to catch up to where they were two or three years ago. The laziness on their end has been all but unprecedented ... what in the world have Nintendo's development teams been doing for the past two years? A console with a user base as large as Wii's should never have this long of a lull in its release schedule. And to top it all off, we still don't have a release date for Skyward Sword, a game that should have been on store shelves a year ago.

  This sheep is ready to shed its wool and trade it for a Playstation, folks.

  • Posted Aug 4, 2011 3:06 pm GMT
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• 11Sep 10

  A cloudy day of remembrance

  Today we all remember that dreadful day in which life changed for thousands of Americans. Fortunately, I was not one of those people directly impacted by the atrocities that occured in New York City, but nevertheless I keep the events of that day forever embedded in my mind. Every last detail of the day, every last image displayed on television, and every last tear from the grief-stricken New York Citycommunity that mourned as the world watched. And despite my inability to grasp the scope of what had happened as a blinded fourth grader, I still look back on that day as one of the most momentous in my life.

  It is unfortunate, then, that so many today must taint such a sacred day with "islamophobic" discussion. Regardless of whether the Quran-burning planned for this evening was canceled or not, it still stands as a disgrace that those muslims also devastated by the horrors of 9/11, must watch as their religion is shamed and demonized by the ignorants that perpetuate a hateful idea, as well as the mass media that allows such a thing to be publicized.

  I often find myself utterly confused when it comes to the topic of Islam … I've done very little studying on the religion, but I do know that if taken literally, the Quran can in factbe taken as a very hateful and violent book. Yet what seems to be misconstrued, is how *typical* muslims (especially in America) interpret and practice their religion. If taken literally, The Bible also can be viewed as a discriminatory, backwards book … but the fact remains, that a majority of Christians today do not take the words of The Bible literally. If we did, our society would take on a very different shape, and we probably wouldn't be much more tolerant than those spiteful Islamic extremists.

  As someone who has spent much of the past two years focusing on acceptance and open-mindedness, I take great offense to the idea of a community center spitting on the graves of those that died on 9/11. This same breed of people seem to be the same ones spewing homophobic messages and racist, unfoundedaccusations of President Obama "not being an American citizen". As a future member of the media, I find great disappointment in the inability of newspeople to understand how their glowing portrayals of these abominable cells of people so negatively affect ordinary people. I refuse to acknowledge the "Tea Party" or the contemptible anti-Islamic protesters as groups any more legitimate than the Westboro Baptist nutjobs that continue to wreak havoc across the country. Or at the very least, I will not do so until the messages of these groups are altered to be more socially acceptable and tolerant.

  So as we go about our business on this day, think not just about those that lost their lives, or the murderers that took it upon themselves to take those lives, but the lessons that can be learned from the end result. These tragedies are an unfortunate test of how truly accepting we are as a society, and it's sad to see that so many are still so naive as to think that one group of people can be labeledunderan umbrella as "evil".Remember not just those that experienced sorrow and devastation on that fateful day, but those that face it now as xenophobia begins its resurgence in America. Let us not forget the harsh lessons of history.

  • Posted Sep 11, 2010 4:21 pm GMT
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• 3Sep 09

  Mommy, where do humans come from?

  

  When I arrived home this afternoon from school and checked the text messages on my cell phone (new annoying cell phone policy at school, had to wait all day just to whip out my phone), I found one from my brother, saying that two hardcore Christians came to our door today preaching about Jesus. The reason it's funny, obviously, is because I'm not religious, nor is the rest of my family. In fact, if anything, my brother is the antithesis of the women that showed up at our door. He's essentially a hardcore atheist that cracks up in laughter at the mention of any religion.

  Personally, I'm inclined to agree with my brother on that one. Religion, especially Christianity, is much too fable-tastic to be taken seriously. People once believed in a God named Zeus that lived above the clouds.... also fable-tastic. I don't doubt that someday Christianity will also be taught in our English cla sses for purely academic purposes. Really, not even kidding.

  But, that's not to say I don't have some spiritual side to me. After all, when I hit my low of lows,I still turn to God. Why? How the heck should I know. But I do. Maybe it's just habit from when I was little and was God-fearing. Or maybe there is a part of me that still believes in a higher power? For such reasons, I do at least consider myself agnostic. Like every other religious individual, I get solace in the idea of there being a higher power that can save us all and give us our own perfect vacation spot for all of eternity. For everyone's sake, I hope there is such a thing. I'd hate to spend eternity in an empty dark abyss of nothingness....

  Despite my lack of real spirituality, I do seem to believe in a lot of supernatural theories. Karma really is a b***. I don't need scientific proof to understand that. And ghosts? Keep me the hell away from Gettysburg!Who knows, vampires could exist too, for all I know. Can't say I'd be terribly frightened by them... not if they looked like Edward Cullen, anyway. Or even werewolves?A few Jacob Blacks in the world wouldn't hurt either!

  For now, however, I'll keep on searching for what I truly believe about where we came from. Big Bang Theory, Adam and Eve, big magic stick that flashed and created a universe.... whatever. The point is, I'm here, and I'm going to live my life to the fullest regardless of where I came from.

  • Posted Sep 3, 2009 3:04 pm GMT
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