Yesterday, we joined the ranks of Xbox 360 owners. Even more exclusively, we are a proud owner of an Xbox 360 Elite console. We received it as a joint birthday gift yesterday from my mother (Lindsey’s birthday is tomorrow, mine is in October). As an added gift, Chris & Kelly purchased The Orange Box for Lindsey’s birthday. To complete our day, we rounded up all of the games we no longer cared about and traded them in for a brand new second controller from GameStop!
We already had Halo 3, as I purchased the Legendary Edition last year, forseeing a time when I would have a 360. We had Crackdown, but it was one of the games we traded in for the new controller. We have Fable II, as it came with the Elite.
This puts our game list, so far, at:
Halo 3, Fable II, and The Orange Box (which includes Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal).
Once we had it set up, Lindsey started trying to find a new gamer tag. After about half an hour of attempts, she finally found one she was happy with. She went through her setup process, and relinquished the controls to me. I spent about 5 minutes searching for a gamer tag before I found one that worked for me, then I finished my setup process. Afterwards, we set up Netflix to stream movies to the 360, and got started!
It’s been a blast so far. We’ve spent the whole day playing Halo 3, Portal, and various Live Arcade games and demos. Our Xbox Live Gamertag pages are in our links section to the right of the page. See you guys on Xbox Live!
Lindsey’s birthday is tomorrow (Monday, June 29th), but I threw her birthday party yesterday (Saturday, June 27th). The party was a surprise, and went off fairly well. I took Lindsey out to run some errands, and left her copy of the house key under the mat for one of my friends. They came by, let everyone in, put the cake in the freezer, and waited for our return, where they yelled “Surprise!”. Unfortunately, only three people were ON TIME, so it was a rather disappointing yell, but it was a surprise nonetheless! Lindsey’s reaction was, “How the hell did you guys get in my apartment!?”
We had pizza, an amazing cake from Cold Stone Creamery, and, eventually, some of our friends! We ate the pizza. We ate the cake. Then we opened the presents.
I got her a Mario bobblehead and a Yoshi bobblehead to go with her Bowser bobblehead.
Chris and Kelly (leftybrown & mrsleftybrown) got Lindsey a game, The Orange Box, for the Xbox 360. But wait! We don’t own a 360!
Except for the one my mother got us for her birthday and mine (mine isn’t until October, so it’s an early gift). Unfortunately, the Xbox 360 Elite only comes with one controller. This is where Chris & Kelly really saved the day. They suggested we head in to GameStop with some games we didn’t want, and do a trade-in. We grabbed eight or nine games, and were on our way. They offered to pick up the balance, but luckily, it wasn’t necessary! Our trade-in value was over $53, which was just a dollar and change short of a brand new Xbox 360 Elite controller!
Some of you might remember my post from 6 days ago about the kid freaking out that his Mom cancelled his World of Warcraft account. Apparently it wasn’t, but that just means we are given the opportunity to laugh some more at this sad kid and his addiction to WoW.
This morning I get up, get on AIM, and Chris sends me a link to this wonderful gem on Youtube….
I will say that my favorite line was where he yells at some guy on how he was going to find him, kill him, and then eat his first born child. Dude needs some serious help, but I hope this isn’t the last we see of his freak outs. They are just too golden!
btw, here is a link to wafflepwn’s (the brother who records all of the antics) Youtube channel. If you have an account, I highly suggest you subscribe like I just did because I have a feeling there will be more legendary moments to come.
The MehCast was missed for a couple of weeks because of life issues, but we came back last night and had a blast! We unfortunately had to talk about the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. We discussed our brand new kitten, Moogle, the Iran protests, Lindsey’s birthday (coming up on Monday! don’t forget to say Happy Birthday!), iPhone 3.0 software, and a bunch of movie and video game news!
Our weekly picks:
Song of the Week (Chris): Michael Jackson – P.Y.T.
Song of the Week (Lindsey): Michael Jackson – Rock With You
TV Show of the Week (Chris): America’s Got Talent
TV Show of the Week (Lindsey): The Tudors
Movie of the Week (Chris): Airplane!
Movie fo the Week (Lindsey): Moonwalker (Michael Jackson)
Holy crap, we forgot a recap for Episode 22! Episode 22 saw heavy E3 coverage, as well as the death of David Carradine. There was a lot of movie news, a bit of tv/music news, and the announcement of a new game from Midway, MORAL KOMBAT!
Our weekly picks:
Song of the Week (Chris): The Beatles – Helter Skelter
Song of the Week (Lindsey): Sir Mix-A-Lot – Put ‘Em On The Glass
TV Show of the Week (Chris): Merlin
TV Show of the Week (Lindsey): The Soup
Movie of the Week (Chris): Star Trek!
Movie fo the Week (Lindsey): Equilibrium
iPhone App of the Week (Chris): Fandango
iPhone App of the Week (Lindsey): Yellow Pages Mobile
Holy crap, we skipped two weeks of shows! We tried, but just weren’t able to get it right the last two weeks. Third time’s the charm, though, and we WILL be broadcasting tonight at 7:00pm PST (10:00pm EST). Check us out at http://www.justin.tv/worldofmeh/. We’ve really missed doing the show for the last two weeks, and we’re really looking forward to getting back on the air tonight! We’ve had a very eventful, stressful, and time consuming few months, and unfortunately, not only had it affected our MehCast schedule, but our blog output as well. We’ve gotten ourselves back on track with our blog output, and now we’re getting back on track with the MehCast, so be sure to be there, TONIGHT!
If you’re not there, we’ll know, and it will make us quite sad. Have you ever seen a 6’1″, 220 pound Middle Eastern man with a big, manly, super manly, awesome beard cry? It’s pretty weird. I wouldn’t recommend it. SO MAKE SURE IT DOESN’T HAPPEN!
There are very few people in the world who do not recognize the name “Michael Jackson”. He has made a monumental mark on our cultural landscape; one that will not soon be forgotten. In a career spanning 49 years, starting with his brothers in the Jackson 5 and on to his inimitable solo career, Michael Jackson has received 13 Grammy Awards, spawned 13 number one singles (more than any other male artist in the history of Billboard’s Hot 100), and has sold over 750 million albums around the world. He earned the title “King of Pop”, was one of only a few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, and has been acknowledged by the Guinness World Records committee for multiple world records, including “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time”. He was known as an incredible innovator in music, and is responsible for many musical trends that have become commonplace today.
Michael Jackson, one of the most famous men in the world, has died, at the age of 50, by way of cardiac arrest. We humbly extend our condolences to the Jackson family, and hope that his children will be well looked after.
Good bye, Michael. Thank you for years of entertainment.
Today I was bored and felt like playing something fun. I remembered some people on Twitter telling me about Steam and how you can download free demos. You guys have probably figured out by now that I love free stuff, so if I could entertain myself and pass the time for free… you bet your sweet ass I was going to.
So I went to the Steam website and came across a demo I found interesting. After I downloaded the necessary stuff, I tried to play that demo and I thought it was crap. I was actually pretty bummed but then I came across a little jewel – Yosumin!
I love puzzle games. When I had a 360, I used to play the hell out of Hexic and loved it. I have Bejewled for my iPhone, I proudly own Super Puzzle Fighter II: Turbo for my PSX, and I cracked out on the Puzzle Kombat mini game for Mortal Kombat: Deception.
Yosumin! is a fantastic puzzle game by Square Enix. I did have my reservations about it since almost everything released by Square, since they merged with Enix, has been subpar. Yosumin! was like a breath of fresh air.
The controls were easy since you just use your mouse, and it wasn’t complicated. The number one thing I hate about PC games is that you use a keyboard instead of a controller or mouse. Yosumin! made sure that I didn’t have to screw around with that mess.
The demo was unfortunately limited to 60 minutes, and I knew that this was the type of game where time just flies. I was given the option to play Yosumin! Adventure or Endless Yosumin!, so I chose Adventure since I was curious as to what the story line would be for this game.
The story was actually pretty cute. Here is the actual description for it:
Once upon a time, deep in the Forest of the Yosumin!, which lies somewhere far away, but not too far from here, there was a shrine decorated with beautiful stained glass.
One night, someone came and took the stained glass, then smashed it into pieces and spread it far and wide over the world.
Work your way through the world of the yosumin in search of the lost pieces of their treasured stained-glass window!
Use the special Treats you earn along the way to help you make your way through the myriad of multifarious levels!
Image Courtesy of Steam and Square Enix
Pretty simple, right? Yes and no actually. The initial stages gave you tips, told you what to do, and I liked that. I didn’t want to have to play a guessing game regarding what I was supposed to do and what not. I wanted instant gratification. Yosumin! gave that to me. Within a matter of seconds I was playing the game like I was an expert at it, but that’s not to say that I didn’t fail a few stages because I did. Two of them actually. I was given the option to continue though, and to start right back at the same stage so that I didn’t have to plow through it all again. I liked that, a lot.
Image Courtesy of Steam and Square Enix
I also liked how each level was different. Since I started at the beginning, each level became more difficult and I loved it. Each level contained at least 5 stages and it didn’t seem like it was too much. Some of the easier stuff just required me to get a certain amount of red, orange, and green yosumin in order to complete that stage. You also had a meter and were timed. If you made large sets, the meter would go back up again.
The sounds were great too. It never became annoying, or too cheesy, nor was it to kiddie for me. I even found myself humming along after a few stages. The songs and sounds would change too when your meter was low which was nice because I hate when you get no warnings in games. It makes them frustrating.
Image Courtesy of Steam and Square Enix
As I progressed, there were more and more things to do in the stages. In some I was required to get a certain amount of glass shards in order to complete it, and in others I had to get a certain color shard in order for the shard to go away.
In the image below, you will see in the lower right hand corner of the board that there is a blue shard. To the left of the board you will see where it tells you how many yosumin and shards you need to get in order to pass the stage. With that particular shard, you had to get yosumin of the same color around it and make either the square or rectangle for it to disappear. If you used a different color the shard would stay and you wouldn’t get credit for it.
Image Courtesy of Steam and Square Enix
Once you completed all of the stages, you were done with that level. I believe I made it through 6 of the 10 levels that were in the demo. After each level was done, you watched a little clip of the glass you saved be put back into the shrine. Some of the pieces I earned started to connect with each other, but it wasn’t enough for me to make anything out. I did see some yosumin in the glass but there wasn’t anything else I could see.
Image Courtesy of Steam and Square Enix
There were a couple times in the game where I was able to make the entire board into a move. When that happened, the board would start to shake a little and then I would hear “YOSUMIN!!!” That move got me mega points so I tried to do it as often as possible.
Image Courtesy of Steam and Square Enix
When my 60 minutes was up, I was completely bummed. I really became enthralled with the game and really wanted to continue playing it. I was surprised to see that you could download the full version of the game for only $9.99 because I consider that a steal. The full version has so many levels and so much more content that I could honestly be here for a long time, boring you all to death with the details.
Out of all of the puzzle games I have played recently, Yosumin! has to be one of the best by far. If we had some sort of a rating system on our blog, I’d give it a 5 out of 5 or whatever. The colors were great, the sounds were great, the gameplay was great… literally my only complaint was that my demo ended. It’s rare for me to come across a game and be able to say that.
So, if you like puzzle games give Yosumin! a try. It’s fantastic and it’s cheap! What more could you want?
I did manage to record some video using the Qik app on my iPhone. It’s not the best in the world, but you can see the gameplay, hear the sounds (and even me humming), and get a feel for it. Enjoy!!
Normally I don’t look at links that are posted on Twitter, but when I saw a recent post from Ashton Kutcher about a kid having a love for World of Warcraft… my curiosity was intrigued. At first I thought that it was going to be just another video of some poor kid sitting in front of his computer, getting his jollies off to a female WoW character. What I got was far better than I could’ve ever imagined.
The video starts off where a younger brother is speaking into a camera, telling the viewer that his mother just cancelled his older brothers WoW subscription. Before the other brother can go into his bedroom, the kid leaves the camera on a piece of furniture so that his fit can be recorded… and what a fit it was.
Today is Fathers Day, and instead of writing something detailing how Fathers play an important role in a childs life, I decided to let these funny videos do the talking.
Everyone grows up; this is how the world works. Just because we grow decrepit and old, however, does not mean we have to forsake the things that make us happy, childish though they may seem. This is the core concept of Marooners’ Rock; we geek out on the things of our past, present, and future. Society and cultural norms be damned!
