You're Fired!

In honor of the 12 people that were layed off at my place of work today, I'm linking to a rather timely Gawker entry (posted today!) about why (besides the current economic depression, duh) so many people are getting the axe these days. Did you know that 533,000 Americans lost their jobs last month? That is staggering. I'm completely staggered.

The Cold Timing of Layoffs

I'm one of the lucky ones (today) and I'm thankful for that. Condolences to all of those less fortunate.

Django, this is Mario. Mario, Django.

This is nothing short of fantastic. I'd forgotten what a great little ditty (from the city) the Super Mario Bros. 2 theme is. Furthermore, I'll be listening to Django Reinhardt on Pandora at work all morning, of that you can be assured. (And if you're not yet aware of Pandora...what's wrong with you?)

I can only hope to be as awesome at anything someday as this guy (whose name is Adrian Holovaty) is at playing guitar. Bravo.

Thanks to Kotaku.

Mario Kart IRL

MARIO KART (REMI GAILLARD)
by nqtv

Genius.

Check Kotaku for more.

The Quotable NES

The boys at SydLexia are back at it.

I'm a huge fan of their lists and their oh-so-wrong-yet-oh-so-right brand of humor. Their newest creation (besides the recent rash of Lessons Learned from entries...seriously, what's the deal with that show? It was like Are You Afraid of the Dark?Goosebumps for TV...wait...Goosebumps had its own show too. Whatever. I'm not a fan.) is 50 NES Quotes Every Gamer Should Know. Seems self-explanatory enough. There are some pretty humorous ones as well that stand out from your typical Japanese/Engrish translations. Lots from the original Legend of Zelda too.

Enjoy. I know I did.

SHAME!

COCKS!

If you were one of the unfortunate souls who watched the Carolina-Clemson (non) rivalry game this past weekend, you know that the bad guys won...again (and yes, they are the bad guys and they know it. Ask any Clemson fan. They know that we are good and they are evil. They eat that shit up.). This year was a little different though in that the Gamecocks...never really took the field. And no, I'm not in denial.

Saturday's game was an absolutely piss poor showing by Steve Spurrier and the Cocks. Only a handful of Gamecocks played like they gave two shits about the outcome of the game. The only reason Spurrier appeared frustrated was because he couldn't give the quarterback carousel a spin due to Stephen Garcia's illness (flu...not stupidity) and Tommy Beecher's ineptness (no joke necessary...Beecher's spot on the team is humorous enough). Not that Chris Smelley isn't inept as well. Clemson should have given Smelley the game ball. His four (4!) interceptions led to 21 points for the Tigers.

David Cloninger of Rivals.com's Gamecock Central wrote an excellent piece on Saturday's debacle entitled Re-Start the Rivalry. Cloninger makes some excellent points about the nature of the beast that is Gamecock football. Here are some of my favorite quotes from his blog:

• What struck me most about Saturday’s 31-14 USC loss at Clemson was the aftermath. Not one player I saw leaving the field had tears in his eyes or was down on the ground frustratedly ripping up turf. A few were smiling and shaking hands, handing out gloves and wristbands to all the kids – some of the recipients wearing Clemson clothing.
• “They’re a better team,” Spurrier said. “Better coach, better team.”
  That one really stuck.
  Simply, no. I refuse to believe an interim-soon-to-be-permanent head coach with six games of experience is better than a national championship winner.
• It’s fine if the Gamecocks want to concentrate on winning the SEC first and foremost. I said last week that beating Clemson every year and losing all the rest of the games would not be a good approach – some fans would be pleased, sure, but the coach would probably be checking the want ads. But if the SEC championship is a wish and not a realistic goal, as it is this year and most every other year USC has been in the league, then the goal must turn to beating Clemson.
• Here’s a suggestion. Make four giant signs, two with the phrase “31-14” and two with the phrase “65-37-4.” Hang them at each end of the Bluff Road practice fields and at each end of Williams-Brice Stadium. They can come down when the Gamecocks prove they are worthy of having them taken down. If not, then the first sign gets updated with the score of the latest Clemson win and the first part of the second becomes “66.”

Well said, sir. This is essential reading if you're a Gamecock fan. Let's not forget the 2008 Clemson game. The Head Ball Coach better not forget it either. That's not a threat (You don't fire Steve Spurrier...he fires you), it just means that we are as frustrated with him as he is with us.

The '08 Gamecocks have one last chance in this year's Outback Bowl. Redemption is at hand.

Go. Fucking. Cocks.

I Never Hit A Woman...

...I just shake the shit out of her.

Kidding. Promise. BUT if you've ever wanted to hit a woman...here's your chance. It's called Rose & Camellia and its brought to you by NIGORO (only the Japanese).

This might be the greatest game ever made. As Kotaku puts it, its a game about "Victorian- themed woman slapping." If that doesn't get your juices flowing, I don't know what will. I actually cried "Bitch!" out loud when I finally defeated the older sister. Now that's what I call interactive media. Watch out for the matriarch though. She's a tough ol' broad...and she hits HARD.

Give it a go. Hooray Shockwave!

Thanks to Kotaku's PC Gamer Gift Guide for the heads up.

All I Want For Christmas

Stop the presses. Seriously.

Someone tell the gaming industry to hold off on the good stuff for a while. I, for one, can't keep up with the never-ending stream of quality titles hitting the shelves these days. It's like it's raining fucking Skittles out there and there's too much of the rainbow to taste.

Not that I'm complaining. If you've ever felt that there was a veritable drought of good games coming out in a given period (which I certainly have), this holiday season is the epitome of the old cliche "When it rains (Skittles), it pours." The release of Fable II and Fallout 3 in consecutive weeks is enough to put a strain on my wallet and my watch (Fable II, by the way, is awesome). After this Christmas, there should be no reason to grouse about a lack of games to play for several months following the holiday boom.

My list this year is massive. I do have four systems to support, after all, and there's at least one must-buy for each of them. I'm also still playing catch up. There are some oldies out there that I still need to pick up. All in all, this is several thousand dollars worth of software (and peripherals, in Guitar Hero: World Tour's case). Sacrifices will have to be made.

Here's the (semi)complete rundown:

XBOX 360

Guitar Hero: World Tour (apparently, the GH:WT instruments work with Rock Band 2 and from what I've read, GH:WT has the better drum set), Fallout 3, Prince of Persia, Pure, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Edition (I know, I know), Mirror's Edge, NHL 09, Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (or FIFA 09, haven't made up my mind yet), Soulcaliber IV, MLB Front Office Manager 2008, BioShock (I know! I know!), The Orange Box, Left 4 Dead

Wii

Boom Blox!, Resident Evil 4 (I KNOW!), Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, World of Goo, MLB Power Pros 2008, Lego Batman

DS

KORG DS-10 Synthesizer, Final Fantasy IV, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Dragon Ball: Origins, Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff, Metal Slug 7, Moon, Age of Empires: Mythologies, Chrono Trigger DS

PC

Spore