Today was a glorious day!

It has been nearly a month since my initial e-mails of acceptance arrived, but my University of Waterloo acceptance package is finally here. Wrapped in plastic and glistening in a glossy white portfolio covering, the package consisted of a total of 6 letters from various heads of various departments, a form insisting I complete my Admission Information Form, a Residence Application Form, and a Residence Information Booklet.

I must admit, the package came with less information than I had initially expected, but it does provide a convenient checklist of every important task that lies ahead of me between today and the move in date.

Hurrah! Waterloo!

Considering all the adventures Binks and I have had in the realm of Gamecube emulation, this seemed to be a most wonderous discovery. While searching through DIGG.com for an outdated article about the PS3 delay, I stumbled upon this tutorial for using an Action Replay product and blank mini discs to rip and backup a copy of any Gamecube game. This would be extremely useful for when I depart for university and am hesitant to leave behind my brother’s copy of Resident Evil 4. I merely duplicate it, and I’m on my way.

Brilliant.

Perhaps, in the not-to-distant future, I could take a shot at getting this to work. Binkle and I can unify once again to spend hours labouring over what is likely a flawwed system. On the plus side, it doesn’t require PSO and the ethernet adapter. :)

Tutorial

Apparently, Ain’t It Cool News has confirmed it. However, I find their source, or lack thereof, to make the idea of a PSP re-release slightly suspect. Regardless, here is the quote:

Seems Sony’s current internal plans call for a release of a refitted PSP around Christmas this year. The device will, indeed, be streamlined (thinner), lighter, boast 4 gigs of memory and a camera. Proteus indicated Sony is having a hell of a time with Playstation 3 on several fronts (between PS3’s Cell processor and its built-in Blu-ray DVD, cost effectiveness has pretty much gone out the window). Seems the ever-phantasmic PS3 may well be delayed until next year, with Sony’s reworked PSP being positioned as a lead-in to its release (in the same way Nintendo’s release of the oh-so-sexy DS Lite heralds the coming of Revolution).

Please, someone call ”Bullshit.”

Source

During chunks of free time over this weekend, I’ve been editing Binks’ legal studies essay for university. It was easy enough the first day with the first few paragraphs, because Binkle himself was online to provide guidance during the editing process. After all, I have not taken a Legal Studies course, and I am hesitant to edit out anything if its importance is paramount to the meaning of the essay.

So, I’ve been struggling for the last little while with the edits because Binkle has not been online to bounce potential edits off of. Hopefully, the edits I make will be sufficient for his purposes. I’m looking at finishing them off by 4:00. I feel that will be enough time to perform all necessary edits that remain.

Unfortunately, the fact that he isn’t online (and likely wont be online until later at night) presents a problem. What if the edits I send back to him are not suitable, and he doesn’t have a chance to review them? Well, I suppose that is wholly out of my hands.

Saturday, March 11th, 2006…

5:45ish…

Jordan walked up to the cold glass counter…

The clerk - taking over during Jordan’s lunch break - glared at him with an arrogance that would later earn him a well deserved punch in the face.

The keys to the cabinet dangled loosely on the clerks lanyard. The jingle-jangle of their movement was tempting, like chasing seagulls in the parking lot of a theme park.

Inside Jordan’s wallet, the debit card was whispering its modest request, “Let me free!”

Without hesitation, Jordan stole the keys and unlocked the Game Boy Advance case and released the beast!

Yeah, so, I purchased Tales of Phantasia. I’m going to play it with the religious zeal that 10 years of vintage RPG gaming has earned it. When I complete it, I will present my full review in what will become the new review section of this blog.

I’m also planning a “Tribute” section, where I highlight some of my favourite games/characters/etc of all time.

Peace out yo. And check out the freakin’ podcasts.

The ten day countdown begins to Nintendo’s triple-wammy DS release.

On March 20, 2006, Nintendo will open up their loving arms and release to the world three gems of portable gaming: Metroid Prime Hunters, Worms: Open Warfare, and Tetris DS.

I’ve discussed in previous entries how strange this release strategy is to me, but I’ve decided to overlook that now as I endeavour to scrape together more money for these amazing games. Not only do these titles represent a general feast for the starved portable gamer, two of the titles are also Wi-Fi capable, and are thus forcing me into purchasing a Nintendo WiFi USB Adapter (or a new router) to get access to the online multiplayer.

All of these stellar releases, combined with my much desired Tales of Phantasia on the Game Boy Advance, are going to run up quite an unfriendly total. Let’s take a look, shall we:

Tales of Phantasia - $39.97

Metroid Prime Hunters - $44.97

Worms: Open Warfare - $44.97

Tetris DS - $44.97

Wifi Connector - $44.97

Total: $220 + all applicable taxes

Unfortunately, this means that I may have to eliminate certain products from my wishlist. Tetris DS will be the first to go, and Tales of Phantasia - to my deep regret - may have to bite the dust as well. In time, I may budget enough that I will be able to purchase these items, but until then, I’ll have to cry myself to sleep at night for missing some of the best RPG from the past decade, and the greatest revitalizer of a puzzle game…

Cry with me…or send me your copies.