Wow ... okay, okay. So it's been a while. There's been a lot of wild and wacky stuff going on. First off was E3. Lots of stuff there. If you look below this at the two previous posts, they're actually reposted entries I did over at MySpace. From the second day on though, things went crazy, leaving me barely enough time to collect myself. So here's a quick rundown ... though in no particular order.
First, I've "officially" started as Managing Editor from a new magazine coming out later this year from the guys responsible for Play Magazine. As a result, I've been making plans to hit a number of different shows, including the Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC and (naturally) Comic-Con in San Diego. I've also been working on doing some extra writing for GameSpy and for GamesRadar, as well as Play, on the video game side of world.
Due to some other crazy situations, I've also moved ... twice ... with a third move pending soon. For those of you keeping track on the hadny dandy WldCard Radar, I'm still in Jacksonville ... just been bouncing around. And the office info (address, phone, etc) is still the same and always will be.
I'm working on a blueprint for doing a regular podcast, which will most likely be distributed here on my main blog, or through the Visionary Ink website. I'm still trying to find time to get some stuff done to get the site up and running, but the forums are at least functional over there. I'll try to post a link shortly.
Continuing on ... I've managed to pick up (by sheer luck), not one, but TWO Sega Nomad devices. In case you need a refresher course, the Sega Nomad was released back in 1995 and was Sega's second major handheld game console after the Game Gear. The whole thing started as something called the Mega Jet in Japan. It was a portable Genesis system that was renter out to passengers on Japan Airlines. The device lacked its own screen, but could connect to a small armrest monitor to play any of the Mega Drive games on the market. Sega took the Mega Jet, added a few features, most notable of which is of course the backlit 3.25 inch color screen, and voila ... the Sega Nomad was born. One of the coolest things about the Nomad was its ability to plug into a television and add a second, standard Genesis controller to become, in essence, a replacement for the home version of the Genesis console. Although it was the size of a brick and went through batteries faster than sushi through a sumo, it was a great system that simply seemed ahead of its time. And now, I've ended up with TWO of 'em. WOO HOO!!
While we're on the subject of recently aquired systems, I got myself a Game Boy Micro again. I saw a deal I couldn't pass up at a used game store and managed to get the $80-$90 device for $30 out of pocket. Ahh ... the Micro. It's such a sexy little beast of a machine. The funny thing is, the person who traded in the system traded in the faceplates of one version with the actual system from the other. So, I've got a slick little GBM in solid silver. I also went ahead and ordered the GBM Wireless Adapter and the Famicom faceplate from Nintendo's online store, so I could get a little more out of the device.
I also decided to bite the bullet and pick up a DS Lite. I managed to supress the urge to spend the extra $70 to import a color other than white and just get the US release of the handheld. I'll admit that I was wondering if the DS Lite could really be different enough to warrant abandoning my DS Phat. In the end though, I'm glad I did. The Lite is slicker, more stylish, and the screen is bright enough to make a blind man see. The system has four brightness settings: "Bright", "Brighter", "Brightest", and "GOOD LORD!! MY CORNEA IS BURNING!!". Hell, if nothing else, you can cut out a piece of paper, tape it to the screen, and taunt planes flying overhead with your own private Bat Signal.
Some people have bitched slightly about the Lite's GBA port leaving GBA carts sticking out of the system somewhat. Actually, this isn't a big deal at all, and in fact is a HUGE advantage over the DS Phat. "Why's that?", you ask? .... Go on ... ask ... I'll TELL ya why. It's a little guilty pleasure known as the e-Card Reader. Remember that oddball peripheral for the GBA? Well, the due to the pass through port for the GBA link cable, the e-Card Reader couldn't fit into a GB Micro or DS Phat without some major modifications. And the pass through port ALMOST made the device impossible to use on the GBA SP ... though it did just barely manage to fit there. Since the carts stick out of the DS Lite, I decided to see if there was enough room to allow for the pass through port ... and there IS!! So now I get to swipe my cards and go old school with Excitebike, Clu Clu Land, and Donkey Kong on my new DS Lite. The only down side is hat since the DS system has no port for a GBA link cable, there's no way to use the Lite to transfer items to the NGC version of Animal Crossing with the e-Card Reader. Ah well ...
Oh, and since I admittedly FORGOT that I could transfer my wireless info from one DS to another, I need anyone out there who passed along their Nintendo WiFi Friend Codes to me to do so again. And when you do, I'll shoot you over my updated info as well.
I still plan on adding a few extras to the blog here, including a semi-regular "Hot Deals" posting for the gamer on a budget. Also, I'll probably be adding some extra content involving the comic book industry, keeping things in line with my work. Oh, and for those of you out there on MySpace, you can catch me there at http://www.myspace.com/wldcard. And if you're into the oddball collectibles like those in the infamous Swag Bag, I've started up a group over there for people to show off and swap out their own swag from the game on comic industry. It's over at http://groups.myspace.com/swagbag. Join up if you want.
Okay, I guess that's good enough for an initial update. I'll do more later.
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