1Up has an interesting feature - as usual - on their main page regarding the Top 10 Videogame Deaths That Didn’t Stick. In short, it just covers people who died (or should have died) but came back for another round of being good or bad in the next game.

Check it out. As usual, it is pretty humorous.

If you are feeling a little peckish, and are looking for something to warm your innards, it might be worth trying the Soup of the Day: a hearty beef stu, teeming with savoury legumes and a zesty broth of comedy.

Now that I have disturbed the masses with the thought of cannibalizing Andrew’s younger brother, it seems fitting to actually point out that Stu has taken my suggestion and become one of us.

Welcome Stu to the blogsphere.

His posts are quite humorous, and he seems to post fairly regularly. Henceforth, the zesty broth of the Soup of the Day will provide us with comedic insight into the day-to-day happenings of Stu, and his life as a high school student.

The most recent post - as of writing this - is an epic tale about our Starcraft marathon on Saturday night. There were many heated battles. My strategy that I believed would undo Andrew ultimately failed. We desperately tried to mind control the probe that he dispatched; unfortunately, the dark archon was killed before that happened. Too much blood was spilled. And we could take no more of capture the flag after that. In fact, I think we should never play it again.

However, I’ve thought about engineering my own ‘Use Map Settings’ game involving a ‘Commander-in-Chief’ style of play. To elaborate, each player would have their own leader (of their playable species) who would need to be protected (similar to the flag). If your leader is assassinated, then you immediately lose. The leader would have enough health that killing it would be difficult, but not impossible. Also, it would be necessary for the unit to be able to heal somehow. For terran and zerg, this is not really an issue. The protoss pose the only true threat.

The leader would also need to be an infantry style unit. So far, I’m thinking Kerrigan (Terran), Kerrigan (Zerg), and maybe Infested Duran (Protoss)…that way, he still heals. This has not been made definitive yet. I’m going to work on the map when I have a chance.

In the meantime, hop over to Soup of the Day to see Stu’s description of our fierce battle.

By the end of the game, I only had four buildings left (Factory, two Machine Shops, and a Supply Depot) and four units (three Vultures and an SCV). I was surprised that I survived. Andrew tried to kill me at the end, but he was unable to destroy me before Binkle destroyed everything.

We have seen screenshots.

Looks like entirely new shots of Rebecca and - specifically - current generation images of Jill Valentine wearing her Resident Evil 3: Nemesis slutty outfit. This is certainly a signs of good things to come: both for the love-starved 14-year-olds who want to gawk at Jill’s rack, as well as those of us Resident Evil fans who are craving something new (as well as a good look at Jill’s rack).

I’m wondering why most of the shots are showing Chris and Jill together, or Billy and Rebecca together. Is the game going to have a co-operative mode? If it is, then I may just have to recruit Stu to be my wingman. No offense to anyone else, but I know Stu has played Resident Evil. Not only that, but any man who can track down a copy of Nemesis for the PS1 is the kind of person I want fighting with me in a zombie-infested Raccoon City.

There were truly some epic moments in this film. I do not want to spoil a second of it. But, I have to insist that you all watch it.

As Stu pointed out in the comments, the websites for Resident Evil 4 Wii and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles are up. To be honest, I am not at all interested in Resident Evil 4. I have played through the game countless times, blown off the heads of countless Ganados, and found a lot of resources to sell to strange merchants. So, as far as Resident Evil 4 goes, I have been there and done that (although I will get it for Seperate Ways) .

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles looks to be far more interesting. Why? Wesker and Rebecca. Two of my favourite characters appear to be in the game. And I stress appear. The reason I say this is because most of the shots from the game appear to take place in the Spencer Estate and the Training Facility, both of which have exploded at some point in the series. Unfortunately, that means we will not be exposed to anything terribly new.

One shot has puzzled me though. There is a picture of Rebecca standing in front of some sort of pulsating orifice. Since that does not appear to be from anywhere in Resident Evil Zero, it appears that we will be exposed so something reasonably new.

I am worried for Rebecca’s safety. She has yet to appear in a game since the original Resident Evil, and she was only mentionned as having survived the first game in a letter through Resident Evil 2. What happens if they kill her off? It would be devestating. Devestating to my hopes and dreams for the future, and it would seriously reduce the number of female characters in the series to Jill, the annoying Claire, and the foxy killer Ada (who has never been playable to date).

Well, hopefully we will see more from this title.

[UPDATE: I edited the post so that I was not painting all the writers at Gamestooge with the same brush. All of my comments are directed towards the writer of the piece, jonahfalcon.]

Can you believe this?

To me, that sounds ridiculous. Perhaps Binkle can weigh in on this with a bit more legal input than us peons, but it is the most ludicrous accusation I have ever heard. The points that he provides are meaningless fluff pulled out of the air. Those situations are not analogous to progressing through a game.

I can only imagine what [jonahfalcon does whenever he is] watching a TV show, reading a book or enjoying a movie.

“What do you mean I have to watch the 21 episodes before they air the fuckin’ season finale? This is bullshit man. What you’re doing is criminal!”

“I can’t believe you want me to read this entire book. I just want to know how it fuckin’ ends. What a rip off!”

“Why can’t they just get to the climax of this damn movie? FUCK!”

But, then again, maybe they have a point. Think of dating fellas. We work up the courage to ask a girl out. We go out on a few dates. We buy her drinks, her meals, her movie tickets, her cab ride home. And what happens if the relationship goes nowhere? What happens if she doesn’t put out?

This is illegal. I was under the impression that - in some sort of relationship setting - there is sex. I put forth the effort and the coin. So why can’t I just have sex with the woman? I’d say it is a done deal. And the logic of [jonahfalcon] completely validates my claim. Women are constantly engaging in criminal behaviour. Buy a woman dinner. Sleep with her. Such is the law of the universe now.

You buy games to complete them. And it isn’t that the songs are ‘unavailable’. You can get them easily by beating medium, which is not a challenge if you have ten fingers and have played a video game.

[As for jonahfalcon], it sounds like someone bought a game that he sucks balls at and he is disappointed. Well, it is not the fault of Harmonix, Red Octane, or Activision that you are some sort of autistic pile of flesh simmering unpleasantly in your own sweaty juices, desperately trying to grasp your axe and shred.

You have to admit, the notion is kind of funny.

In case Binkle (or anyone else) has a legal reason why this would actually make sense. In which case, we might have a debate on our hands. Unless that legal reason is completely irrefutable, in which case…shit.

EDIT: I commented under his editorial. It has yet to appear, so I will quote it here:

First of all, if there is indeed someone who purchases Guitar Hero II for a single song, then they are being absolutely foolish. Who would pay $100 to hear (and play) a mediocre cover of one song that they enjoy? If they are willing to throw money around like that, then they are the victims of foolish spending in general, and not some illegal action on the part of Harmonix or Red Octane.

As for your opinion jonahfalcon, perhaps the most appropriate analogy is this.

Mr. Smith, deciding that watching television was no longer for him given its strict limitations, walks into his local music shop to purchase an acoustic guitar. He also signs up for lessons.

Mr. Smith shows up for lessons and is told by his instructor that they are going to begin with theory, instead of actually playing the guitar. It is - after all - important to understand the fundamentals before you dive right in.

“This is ludicrous,” says Mr. Smith, “My favourite song is Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. I want to start off playing that.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Smith. With your experience, I doubt you would be able to handle that kind of song,” says the instructor.

“Well, damn. This is so illegal. I bought this guitar and signed up for these lessons under the impression that I would be able to play Jimi Hendrix, and now you’re telling me that I can’t? I will see you in court.”

Now there is a good analogy. The reason you have to “unlock” songs in medium in Guitar Hero II is because the game is teaching you how to play. Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd is extremely difficult compared to Surrender by Cheap Trick. It is a learning curve. And after playing through medium, you are easily able to unlock all of the songs.

_It is hardly illegal. It is logical. Welcome to real life. _