Revealed! New Game Room

Okay, the room is hardly finished - you may notice some nasty looking wires slithering about and my surround speakers have yet to be mounted - but completing the final portions of the work will probably take forever because they are tricky to accomplish and my body is still aching from all the work I have done over the past several weeks. So, I have decided to share with you how things are looking so far.

This time around, I want to really expand the space inside the game room while keeping a simplistic, minimalistic tone to the atmosphere. I am satistfied with the result that I have achieved so far.

Welcome.


The futon creates a pathway towards the tower of Nintendo GameCube games.
The dresser contains my Game Boy Advance and my Nintendo DS games.
There is also another door to the left of this picture that can't be seen at this angle.


My PlayStation 3 is now sitting on top of the entertainment center.
The Nintendo Wii is laying down on its side because I want it out in the open.
My other consoles are hidden inside the entertainment center.


Charging station area. No more game boxes next to windows.


A lot of changes were made in regards to the placements of games by consoles.


Less posters on the walls.
I plan to install shelves on these walls in the future.


Had these bookmarks for a while.
I finally have a use for them which is to hide speaker wires.
That, and the fact that I am loving World of Warcraft at the moment.


The door I mentioned earlier.


No bogeyman inside. Only nice things.


It's not a closet. It's a game library.


Not done with that space on the left.
It's supposed to be filled with my favorite movie DVDs.


A lot of storage space on top.


Big and spacious. Perfect for the Loner Gamer.


A constructed collage of video game boxes.


No shortage of storage area here.


Yes, that Wii Fit should really be stuffed inside a freshly used toilet bowl.

Not pictured here is the space underneath my futon. I am able to stuff a number of game boxes down there as well as a container that I am using to store peripherals and controllers so that they can be out of the way, keeping the room constantly organized and clutter-free. If you are interested to look at my previous game room, please click here and/or here. Enjoy and yes, I am a very thankful for what I have and I am a very, very happy gamer.

The Casualties of Inter-Spatial Transition

I was very careful while packing and moving my video game items to my new place. Even with all the precautionary efforts, I still managed to get a small number of them hurt during the process. The amount of casualties to report is very small but there shouldn't be any in the first place. I do take full responsibility for all of these damages because if I was just a little bit more careful, they wouldn't have happened.

Damage #1 - The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
If you look closely, there is a long, ugly scratch from the letter D downwards.
Cause: A small but sharp protruding screw inside a disassembled drawer.


Damage #2 - Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
The top right hand side of the box is slightly crumpled.
Cause: Careless placement of heavy objects on top of the victim.


Damage #3 - Abandoned NBA Jam Cartridge
Not really a damage but I cannot believe that I left the cartridge in there all by itself while the cabinet was being transported by movers.
Cause: Rushing to get the cabinet cleared out for the movers.


Damage #4 - Sega Dreamcast Keyboard
Deep dent on the top left corner.
Cause: Bad placement of objects inside a crowded container.


Damage #5: Karaoke Revolution Boxes
Sun damage on the top and side sections of the boxes.
Cause: Well, these were being damaged throughout that whole time I was living in the apartment, undiscovered until now. I place the game discs in a CD organizer so I hardly ever had to check these boxes. If you look at pictures of my old game room, you will notice that these boxes where placed right in front of a bright sun-lit window. What was I thinking?

Review: Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity (2009)
Genre: Horror
Format: Theatrical Release
Director: Oren Peli

It's nice to see that Paranormal Activity is finally able to find a path of movie theater distribution and is showing in limited releases across the country via the eventful.com demand feature. Though the scope of release is currently limited, it looks like Paramount Pictures will have this movie opened officially nationwide if the demand hits the count of 1 million - with the recent buzz that it's been getting, I can see it happening for sure. The movie arrived in a town about 2 hours away from where I live and I would have travelled that distance to watch it if not for the fact that I was still in the middle of moving at that time. I have only been waiting for it to come out for 2 years... So, I demanded the movie alongside about 3,000 other people in the area and last week, it finally arrived in town with 3 sold out midnight shows.

To describe to you how low budget this movie really is, Paranormal Activity is a film that could have been easily made by anyone with a nice video camera. Basically, you follow the daily lives of a young couple who are recording snippets of their casual activities and nightly slumbers in hopes of capturing whatever it is that seems to be haunting the girlfriend in their house. The actors are convincing and the way that the whole thing is presented is quite brilliant - even though we all know that this is just a mockumentary, the lack of the typical "framing" you see from any other motion pictures out there is not only refreshing but it also a testament to the Oren Peli's high integrity and adherence to his own art. The movie is sometimes humorous, sometimes intense, sometimes spooky, but it is never really flat out scary. There are not many special effects to be found here, which is also quite welcomed the fact that we see fake CG with each turn in almost every other movie these days, but some of the supernatural phenomenons that do show up on screen are clever and effective. The film uses natural sound to invoke dread - there is no room for bad horror soundtracks here - and there is just something unsettling about a still camera capturing what happens around the couple while they are sleeping even when everything seems so peaceful.

The only sad thing about this movie is that its hype will overwhelm its reality. Thus, its true impact will be undermined. Paranormal Activity takes a very creative spin on the haunted house ghost story. Its attempts at presenting realism first and fantasy second make the movie empty in content which may not bode well with the mainstream audience. In the end though, those who get the movie will appreciate Peli's vision and commitment - especially when they are home alone and suddenly find themselves wide awake in the middle of the night.

RATING: 4 out of 5

The Art of Spamming III

Last month, I encountered a new type of spamming that occurs inside World of Warcraft on the PC that is both creative and disgusting at the same time. Well, if you think that the dead body arrangement was pretty disturbing, be prepared for the next evolution of corpse spam courtesy of our friendly and very determined gold sellers:

They added more corpses on top of those that were already there.
Nice work on the stripe illusion from the layering.


This really made the competition mad... As in really, really mad!
The next day, they arranged their corpses below those of their competitors.

The good news is that soon after, they both got wiped off the ground. But yeah, this kind of excitement can only exist in World of the Warcraft for sure.

Games Played 09/28/2009 - 10/04/2009

- 09/28/2009 -
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - NDS
World of Warcraft - PC

- 09/29/2009 -
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - NDS

- 09/30/2009 -
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - NDS

- 10/01/2009 to 10/04/2009 -
Muscle Cramps: Swollen Toes - My Body