Wednesday, May 27, 2009

A Punch Out! Update

In my frustration with Piston Hondo, I decided to try something totally different when I played Punch Out! last night. I had been using the Wii Balance Board to dodge left, right and duck. I decided to abandon this last night and just use the nunchuck's thumb control.
My decision was rewarded! I got through Piston, Bear Hugger, and Don Flamenco!
I am now on Aran Ryan. He is tough one, and many have issues with him. You have to be precise in your timing in order to get in multiple punches, but this goal will be much easier to reach now that the Balance Board sits unused.

Monday, May 25, 2009

PunchOut Returns!

On release day, I got Punch Out! for the Wii. I never pick up a game when it is new. My theory is any game I find for $10 is as more fun for the money than one I pay full retail, which is usually $40-$60. There are two reasons I did this, the first being that many Wii games do not drop in price. Mario Galaxy is still around $35. The main reason is this game has a long history with me. First, let me say that I am not a very good player. I am still stuck on the newly renamed Piston Hondo. However I do enjoy this game.
I first saw Punch Out! back when it was an actual arcade game. You could hear it from anywhere inside the arcade. "Body Blow, Jab, Jab", it would call out and many would come to watch. The first time I saw this, the guy playing was really good, and he got very far. I decided to try after waiting my turn and I was quickly knocked out by Glass Joe.
A few years past, and I had the NES. I found out there was a "Punch Out! featuring Mike Tyson". I must have went to every store in town looking for this title to no avail. I called Nintendo and asked if the game was still in production. They were very helpful, and told me there was one in my state, Texas, but they did not realize it was in a town 800 miles away.
No problem, as I knew some people living there, and the Nintendo representative gave me the number of the store, which was a K-mart.
It is amazing the level of customer service, I received back in what must have been 1989. I dare say that I would not get any service like that today.
Also remember that in 1989 long distance cost and cost big. I called the K-mart and quickly explained I was calling long distance and Nintendo said they had Punch Out. I was transferred to the electronics department where I reiterated the story. The lady there pulled the game for 48 hours so I could have someone pick it up.
Now I called my friends, again long distance, and they agreed to go pick it up the next day, and they would bring it to me on their next trip to town. It took about several months before I got this Punch Out, and shortly afterward licensing changed and it was no longer Mike Tyson, but Mr Dream who was featured in the game.
I was glad to have the Tyson version. This is the only game I ever beat on the NES. I studied whatever stragedy guides I could find in the time before the internet existed and such things were not just a google search away.
Years went by, and I abandoned my NES. I only recently found out there was a Super Punch Out! video game in the arcade and for the Super NES, which I never owned.
One day on Amazon, I saw a recommendation for Punch Out! for the Wii. I own a Wii so there was no need to find what was a one time the must difficult system to find. I quickly pre-ordered the game, and impaitently waited until the release date in May.
I could hardly contain myself when it arrived. I was giddy with delight. I quickly took of the celophane wrapper and ran to play. I setup the Wii balance board, and played it with the motion controllers instead of the keypad, which is an option.
I got through Glass Joe, Von Kaiser, but the Disco Kid wore me out. It was a few days later when I tired King Hippo and after about 20 tries, I eventually won. Now I am stuck on Piston Hondo.
I find that the motion controllers and balance board slow me down a bit as I try to throw punches, but I am having so much fun with this game I don't mind.
If you are a fan of Punch Out! I would definitely suggest getting this game. I am thinking of hitting ebay and finding an old SNES and Super Punch Out just so I can say I played it.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Benjamin Buttons Analysis

I usually always like Brad Pitt. In "Interview With The Vampire" he nailed down the character of Louis. This character has been borrowed from in almost all modern vampire stories. From Angel, to Twilight, and Forever Knight all are minor variations on the Louis theme. For that matter Spike is Lestat until the last two seasons, but that is a different story.

The movie was slow and honestly quite boring for about the first hour or so. Way too much time was spent on him as an old man/child. Way too much time on the tug boat, and so forth. The effects were awesome, but the movie was totally boring to me until one point.

From the time Cate Blanchett 's character hurts her leg until the end, the movie quite good. Some parts are a little slow, but I enjoyed it when they had 'caught up' with each other aging until the end. Before that, I think quick cuts with narration would have been better.

This part should have been what the time was spent on, instead it was rushed. I like the way he left her because she couldn't raise both of them and she admitted he was right at that one point.This would have tied it more to the daughter, and made the story flow better.