Robot Claw – Page 836 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Really Bad 90’s Music Videos

August 22, 2006

One of the best shows on VH1 Classic is called ‘The Vault’, and we love it because it shows very obscure videos from obscure bands. Including, apparently Alphaville. So the other night I got to see, for the first time in my life, the video for The Jet Set

The third photo shows the line ‘Lets go to the moon’, which is a lyric from the song. Only those of you familiar with the song probably have never heard it, and I only know it from a live version. However, it turns out the single version of The Jet Set (or at least the version in the video) is significantly different from the album version, even to the point of containing new lyrics. I have seven different versions of the song on CD and yet I don’t own this one 🙁

Later in the same show we saw perhaps the worst music video in history:

All I know of Zebra I know from this video. For instance, the lead singer is a cheeseball:

The lead guitarist is fat and prone to doing a sort of weird, shuffling chicken dance:

And the band, no doubt in an attempt to stop viewers from turning off their TV and throwing it out the window in kneejerk reaction to the mind-boggling awesomeness of the song, sung entirely as it is in a falsetto that prompted KLS to comment that the lead must have had a ‘Helium supply built into his microphone’, has no compunction about inserting into their video (and I mean insert, since these sequences are completely separate from the shots of the band) some abso-frigging-lutely classic scenes of 80’s ultra-objectified video vixens:

And yes, she’s topless.

Seriously, this was capital-A Awful. Not just the video, but the song as well. Bad music, bad lyrics and bad delivery. And yet I feel strangely bad bagging on the band given the love people have for them based on the album reviews on amazon. Truly bad song/video, or just a snapshot of how times have changed since 1983? You be the judge…

A New Man

August 17, 2006

There are a total of four updates today, so be sure to read them all and not just this one.

I got new glasses! My prescription changed only very slightly, so I questioned the need for new glasses. To make a long story short, I wish the optometrist that was at the store when I went to pick them up was the one that had been there when I ordered them.

But I am used to them now, and like them. They do make me see a little better as well, especially at a distance. Our new TV looks even more impossibly sharp 🙂

Here’s me wearing them, taken just a minute or so ago:

< Bespectacled Don't I look handsome? (And yes, if your wondering, they are extremely similar to my old frames!)

Gaming Age

August 17, 2006

A quick update as to what I’ve been gaming recently.

First and foremost, I’ve hung up my World Of Warcraft hat for another semester. I will play again in late December or early January, especially if the expansion has been released by then.

Given that I have an awesome amount of other, mostly unplayed, games waiting for me, I can now turn my attention to them!

As usual I prefer handhelds to console games, although I do have a few PS2 RPGs I will start soon (and I am eagerly awaiting Final Fantasy XII in October). Right now I am enjoying Gradius Collection and Monster Hunter for PSP.

Gradius Collection is a port of the first five Gradius games to the PSP. This includes Gradius I, II, III, IX and Gaiden. It is an excellent port, and one of the very best compilations I have seen for any system. It does help though that the Gradius games are not as reliant on diagonal movement as other games, and the analogue nub implementation is excellent (in other words, the limitations of the PSP controls are not as evident in this game):

The shots above were taken in ‘zoom mode’, but I play exclusively in pixel-pixel mode, which means the game image is less than the PSP dimensions (but not by much). Gradius III, IV and Gaiden are magnificent shooters, featuring enhancements like the ability to edit the upgrade menu.

All things considered I find this to be one of the very best PSP games, with some of the inclusions almost up to par with the ultimate gradius version, Gradius Galaxies (for the Gameboy Advance).

Monster Hunter is more a lifestyle than a game, and I am returning to it after a few month absence (it fills the void Warcraft occupied). It is essentially an offline MMRPG, where the gameplay consists of hunting dinosaurs/dragons to remove their ‘parts’ and use them to upgrade your equipment, allowing you to down larger and more fearsome foes. Hundreds upon hundreds of hours are assured if you wish to accomplish everything (Capcom claims 700 hours). My save is well over a hundred hours and I estimate I have seen perhaps 15% of the game:

I’m also concurrently playing a slew of DS games, including Deep Labyrinth, Oenden (featured in a previous entry), Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and I’ve just started on Bleach DS:

Bleach is a 2D fighter developed by Treasure (a name synonomous with quality). The graphics are top-notch, and the gameplay is frenetic and full of combos, counters, guard reversals and all other elements expected in a high-end fighting game. In addition, points are earned like currency and used to purchase powerups that affect gameplay (see the card-like things on the lower screen). I’m only scratching the surface of this obviously very deep game, but it already has me hooked!

In addition, I have a few Gameboy Advance games I am working on. I just beat Summon Night (which was great) and have just started Super Robot Wars. I fear it may be pushed aside for a while in favour of Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2006 edition, which is about as hardcore as a game gets these days. If you are new to Yu-Gi-Oh this game will be too much for you. But if you’ve played the CCG, or are curious as to why/how it ever toppped MTG as the ‘technique’ CCG, then this GBA game (which is the official engine for real-world tournaments) is a must-play!