Meant to post this two days ago, but my computer crashed and killed the post and I didn't bother. But I will now. :)
I got a SNES two days ago... it was in the local indepentant game store for $40 and I couldn't resist. :) Also got a second controller ($5) and five games... Mario World and Mario Kart for $13 each and Super Street Fighter II, Hyper Zone, and Super R-Type for $5 each. Yup... there are a few other games there I also want (Tetris Attack, Stunt Race FX, Super Return of the Jedi, and Mario Allstars...)... not nearly everything though, so I guess I'll have to eventually use ebay or something (and overpay)... oh well. But yeah, it's cool... (sure, I played many of these games as recently as last year before I got rid of my roms, but it's always better with the real thing...)
Um, Mario World is easy as remembered, while Mario Kart is frusteratingly hard. But probably better than Mario Kart 64... though I would rather have F-Zero. :)
It is, in my own humble opinion, one of the best fantasy series of all time. To be more precise you might say that Discworld is a comedy/fantasy, but not because it has a lot of jokes in it or because it TRIES to be funny, but rather because Discworld is simply a funny place full of people who are, by their actions, very funny. It would not be accurate to say that Discworld is a parody of legitimate fantasy, rather Discworld IS legitimate fantasy that just happens to satirize a great number of things, other legitimate fantasy books/series included.
In the Discworld series there are several story arcs or groups of people who regularly have books about them. There's Rincewind [the innept magician who simply wants to be left alone, the Night Watch [a group of policemen], and the head wizards of the Unseen University [who generally don't do anything worthwhile]. There's also a large cast of characters who appear from time to time.
There are roughly 20 books in the series released from 1983 to present. All of them are consistantly good, though some ARE better than others. One thing that I find to be very unique about Terry Pratchett's book are that, although they are humorous and satirical, the characters and story do not suffer because of it. All the major characters and many of the minor characters are well fleshed out and get ample space in the book, despite the cast being quite large at times. And the stories are never boring and in many cases rival the stories of regular fantasy books, both in terms of how good they are and in how unique they are.
In short, if you haven't read any of the Discworld books yet, you probably should really soon.
Quote:Eiji Aonuma, Nintendo's main man for the Zelda series has confirmed to the South American official Nintendo magazine that a next-gen title in the series is on the way. "[Nintendo president] Satoru Iwata has assigned to me the task of doing a Zelda game for the upcoming platform," he stated.
While it was pretty much certain that one of Nintendo's most popular franchises would be appearing at some point upon their next console, its reassuring news to know that work has already started, despite the game's launch still being a while off.
In the meantime, Nintendo fans can look forward to The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, which debuts across the world this November.
<!-- END HEADLINE --> <!-- BEGIN STORY BODY --> By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago
Inspired by the documentary "Super Size Me," Merab Morgan decided to give a fast-food-only diet a try. The construction worker and mother of two ate only at McDonald's for 90 days — and dropped 37 pounds in the process.
It was a vastly different outcome than what happened in the documentary to filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who put on 30 pounds and saw his health deteriorate after 5,000 calories a day of nothing but McDonald's food.
Morgan, from Raleigh, thought the documentary had unfairly targeted the world's largest restaurant company, implying that the obese were victims of a careless corporate giant. People are responsible for what they eat, she said, not restaurants. The problem with a McDonald's-only diet isn't what's on the menu, but the choices made from it, she said.
"I thought it's two birds with one stone — to lose weight and to prove a point for the little fat people," Morgan said. "Just because they accidentally put an apple pie in my bag instead of my apple dippers doesn't mean I'm going to say, 'Oh, I can eat the apple pie.'"
Spurlock, who turned his surprise-hit movie into a TV show on the FX network, isn't talking about Morgan or the many other McDieters who have criticized his film and found success losing weight by eating healthy foods off the McDonald's menu, said his agent, David Magdael.
One person went so far as to make her own independent film about dieting at McDonald's. "Me and Mickey D" follows Soso Whaley, of Kensington, N.H., as she spends three 30-day periods on the diet. She dropped from 175 to 139 pounds, eating 2,000 calories-a-day at McDonald's.
"I had to think about what I was eating," Whaley said. "I couldn't just walk in there and say 'I'll take a cinnamon bun and a Diet Coke.' ... I know a lot of people are really turned off by the whole thought of monitoring what they are eating, but that's part of the problem."
As might be expected, McDonald's also objected to the impressions left by Spurlock's film. Walt Riker, the company's vice president of corporate communications, said Oak Brook, Ill.-based company is pleased — but not surprised — that some customers have lost weight eating only at the fast-food giant.
Spurlock's film "really spurred a backlash based on common sense," Riker said.
Morgan used nutritional information downloaded from McDonald's Web site to create meal plans of no more than 1,400 calories a day. She only ate french fries twice, usually choosing burgers and salads. Those choices are a stark contrast with those made by Spurlock, who ate every menu item at least once.
At the end of the 90 days, she had dropped from 227 to 190 pounds.
"It feels great," she said. "Because, the truth of the matter is that beauty is power, and if you're fat, or your overweight, then people don't really take you seriously."
Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, agreed that a low-calorie, McDonald's-only diet can help people lose weight but said it may not offer enough long-term variety. Whatever an individual does to lose weight, they need to do for the rest of their life, she said.
Morgan said she hasn't decided if she will stick with the McDonald's-only plan to reach her goal of 150 pounds. But she does have one complaint about McDonald's.
"If I could suggest anything to McDonald's, I would suggest the McMargarita," Morgan said. "Dine-in only, of course."
It's about time someone finally injected some common sense into the equation.
If you participate in the test, you'll get a neat little bonus from Nintendo.
Nintendo has been pretty quiet about how their upcoming Nintendo Wi-fi Connection service will work. Aside from reports about a special PC USB adaptor to make the transition to wireless, not much else is known about it. While Nintendo hasn't announced anything new about the service, they are asking for the public's help to make sure it hits the airwaves in tip-top shape.
The Nintendo of America website has a new page up that asks registered My Nintendo members to participate in a Internet connection survey and test. The test requires that participants download and run a small program, answer a few questions about the type of Internet access and router setup the user has, and then wait for about 10 minutes as the application runs some tests in the background. Once completed, the program displays the data collected and asks you to submit the info, which appears to go directly to Nintendo in Japan.
The program isn't just for analyzing a computer's setup, though. As a special present for participating in the test, you'll score a sweet Animal Crossing desktop clock. It looks just like the clock and calendar combo always displayed on the screen while playing Animal Crossing!
If you want to help Nintendo make sure their wireless DS network is ready to go, make sure you're registered at Nintendo.com, then hit this page and score your nifty Animal Crossing clock.
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