Ah, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, plebians. My picks of stuff and nonsense.
10) Diary of the Dead: Romero has returned to us with more zombie joy. Despite a main character that would have made more sense being written into a 15 y/o fanfiction rather than a major movie release, the film stuck to it’s roots. Zombies, survivors, zombies and survivors being maimed in creative ways, and a little bit of light social commentary to go along with it. While I’m apparently still the one who enjoyed Land of the Dead, I appreciate Romero getting back to the original, cannibalistic undead roots of his stories.
9) iPhone 3G: It has single-handedly revolutionized crapper activities, as well as becoming to closest iteration of a handheld, works-anywhere laptop computer I’ve ever seen. The new iPhone as well as the App store support it has received has redefined the superphone and probably become the single most absurdly useful device I have ever owned. So, why does it not rank higher? Apple rigidly locking down functionality that should have been part of the thing from day one and the sheer obnoxiousness of having to wait in line to sign multi-year agreement for the device both annoy me. So down to #9 you go phone.
I still love you.
8 ) Good Old Games (Gog.com): It’s a site that has been built for the sole purpose of repackaging our PC nostalgia and selling it to us, at a fair price, with no DRM, and working on modern machines. Black Isle Studios titles? Check. SCUMM adventure games? check (and two are free with the last update). Phneri awash in a cheap gaming paradise? Check.
7) NXE: No, it isn’t bigger than Jesus, but the Netflix thing is pretty badass, and even now I’m plotting to acquire a bigger hard drive to avoid the whine of the 360′s DVD drive.
Oh, and my Avatar goes into the night and violates your avatar while you sleep. In every way imaginable. So I’ve got that going.
My initial reaction to the NXE was an overwhelming ‘meh,’ but after giving it some time I’ve gotten to like the extra features, and managed to save a fair amount of change by dropping cable in lieu of watching things instantly through the 360. So yeah, it’s not bad. And Grindhouse is on it.
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