Luigi's Mansion

So I decided to surprise you guys with a Halloween "Themed" blog post, about the Nintendo GameCube launch title Luigi's Mansion. For me, the history with this game was an ebay purchase over a year ago in order to play the title for the first time ever. Being a Nintendo fanboy at heart, I purchased the GameCube on launch but for some reason never got the launch title that was Luigi's Mansion, so it took 9 years for me to finally do it.

At a first glance, the game was very strange and didn't feel at all like a Mario Title, but that was the point.... it was Luigi and not Mario. This is the problem that forced a lot of gamers away from this game early on, they were more familiar with what they had in Super Mario 64 and wanted more of that, and they had to wait until Super Mario Sunshine was released until they were able to get their fix.

The game begins with Luigi approaching a large dark mansion on the outskirts of a forest that is later discovered to be haunted by various ghosts, most notably Boos which are a staple of the Mario Franchise. These ghosts are all being investigated by Professor E. Gadd who lives in a small shack close to the mansion, and utilizes Luigi to test out his new invention the Poltergust 3000, which allows him to catch ghosts Bill Murray style.

Luigi had apparently won the mansion in a contest despite not having entered any contest to begin with, and while attempting to meet up with Mario at said mansion, Mario disappears in an apparent ghost kidnapping and it is up to Luigi to find his brother and free him of the ghosts and ghouls inside.

Professor E. Gadd with the Poltergust 3000

Giving this game a 2nd playthrough a year later, the game is just as fun as before. The game is faily linear and straight forward, not giving too many routes to get lost in, however some exploration is needed since the game won't straight up tell you what to do and where to go, which is a great feature since many games now hold your hand the entire way through. I loved the fact that there were really no "boss" battles, sure you will run into larger ghosts that have certain mortal ties to the rooms they are in, but the game doesn't actually stop the action to introduce a boss much like that in games of the Zelda series.

The controls were a little funky, but it didn't take long to get used to them. The Nintendo GameCube's controller was the first controller to utilize dual analog sticks by removing their typical "C" buttons and replacing it with a yellow stick to represent the different buttons. This stick is what controlled your Poltergust 3000, and it was often awkward to attempt to use it along with the buttons above it.

What I really enjoyed about this game was the fact that it really opened up Luigi as a character, and allowed the Mario universe to span outside of Mario himself. Growing up in the late 80's and early 90's, Mario was everywhere and everyone always knew of Mario AND Luigi; who was never really given any spotlight other than being a secondary character in the series.

Go ahead and bring out your GameCube, dust off Luigi's Mansion and give this game a 2nd playthrough! The new Luigi's Mansion 2 will be released on the Nintendo 3DS in Quarter 1 of 2012.

Frys Electronics Purchase - Mercenaries 2: World In Flames

Now it’s been a little while since I did a video game review, but I’ve had this one sitting on my shelf for a few months now and it’s been relatively untouched since its purchase. The reason I own this game isn’t because it was something that I exactly wanted, but taking a trip through Frys Electronics can get you to buy stuff you don’t exactly need. My trip through Frys consisted of the desire to purchase Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune for the PS3, and bundled with it at the same retail price was Mercenaries 2 and Tomb Raider: Underworld, so 3 games for the price of 1 was definitely up my alley.

A few weeks ago, I attempted to play this game, but after putting the disc in and letting the PS3 load it all up, the game decided to freeze on me and I had no desire to restart my PS3, and I went onto playing something else. Although I have heard from many people that this game is beyond awful, I just can't help but check it out and see for myself, I often appreciate aspects of games that others find irritating or just plain bad, but poor words spoken from others won't hinder my playthrough of it. I believe that it may be time to give this game another go because I believe that all games require justice.

If you have played Mercenaries 2, go ahead and post some comments on what you think of the game, I'd love to hear the opinions of my readers prior to my own playthrough.

Ghostbusters Theatrical Re-Release

So as some of you guys may know, Ghostbusters has come back to theaters for select viewing in the United States. For those of you who don't know a thing about Ghostbusters (if you don't, please get off my lawn), it is about 3 comedic scientists played by Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray. The scientists were basically kicked out of their university and were forced to go into the private sector, creating their own Ghost Hunting service in which they'd catch ghosts which were then taken back to their station for storage. Ghostbusters is a classic movie, and I'd recommend that everyone goes out and sees it!

Growing up in the late 80's and early 90's, Ghostbusters was a huge part of my childhood; we had so much Ghostbusters shit around, it was ridiculous. I remember back in the day, every kid on the block had their own toy Proton Packs, toy Ecto-1s, and figures for all of the characters. Not only was there a movie, there was the one sequel along with the animated television show, so if you grew up in the early 90's you know what I'm talking about. I even remember drinking this green shit that used to have Slimer on the label, I'm sure it wasn't even that good, but just because it was Ghostbusters it was a must have.

Be sure to check your local theaters, in my city it is only showing on Thursdays for the remainder of October.

GET SHOWTIMES HERE

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

It's been a while since I bought an album, but while I was driving around with my friend Joe he was playing one of his random playlists and a Gorillaz song came on from the new album Plastic Beach. I've always been a Gorillaz fan, but I never really gave the new album a chance due to the fact that I never looked into it.

So a few days later at school, I was getting in my car and whipped out my phone and headed over to the Zune Marketplace and looked up the song "On Melancholy Hill", so the album had 16 tracks and were $1.29 individually or I could spend $9.99 on the entire album, so I just went for it. And holy fuck......

Track Listing recommend in bold
1. "Orchestral Intro"
2. "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach"
3. "White Flag"
4. "Rhinestone Eyes"
5. "Stylo"
6. "Superfast Jellyfish"
7. "Empire Ants"
8. "Glitter Freeze"
9. "Some Kind of Nature"
10. "On Melancholy Hill"
11. "Broken"
12. "Sweepstakes"
13. "Plastic Beach"
14. "To Binge"
15. "Cloud of Unknowing"
16. "Pirate Jet"
Total length:
56:46


My Thoughts
The album, I personally think is a great album. Just like normal albums, there are a ton of forgettable songs, but the more you listen to it you learn to appreciate. If I had to pick one song out of the bunch that I could listen to on repeat all day, it would have to be "Superfast Jellyfish", that song is just simply amazing and it has a ton of energy in it. The albums only drawback is that there are so many forgettable songs, or at least songs that aren't catchy enough to get my attention in order for them to grow on me.

Album Score
76%

New Era Cap Repair - Broken Seam

I recently received a message asking how to repair a busted seam on a New Era cap, and luckily for the person who asked I had a cap that also needed this repair. With the convenience of having the same problem with one of my caps, it was a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and repair my cap along with teaching him how to repair his.

What you will need:
1. New Era Cap with a broken seam.
2. Amazing GOOP glue.
3. Clamp

My Kansas City Royals "Diamond Collection" cap

Step 1
With the busted New Era cap, you will want to pull apart the busted seem to expose the silk lining underneath, should the busted seem look like this, my tutorial will be able to help you fix the issue.

Step 2
With the busted seam, what you will need to do is pick up a glue called "Amazing GOOP", this glue is a silicone based glue that will fuse perfectly with fabric and will be flexible enough for daily wear. This glue can be purchased at any Wal-Mart or Hardware Store located near any paint section, if you have any trouble looking for the glue, you can purchase from my link located below the picture from amazon.com.

Step 3
Now what you need to do, is pull back the fabric and lay the glue on the underside of the wool/polyester along with the black silk piping, the glue should ONLY be applied to the underside of the material, so that none will be seen on the outside of the cap when it is completely dried.

Step 4
When you have laid the glue down, just simply fold the fabric on top of it again. When it is laid flush just simply use a clamp, magnets, or any heavy object to keep the fabric pinched. Be sure to leave the glue drying for at least 24 hours, I would recommend 2-3 days just to be on the safe side.

Step 5
After a few days have passed, you will be ready to unclamp the cap to see the completed repairs. After the repairs are completed, I wouldn't recommend trying to stretch the cap or do anything to put stress on the seam again, but GOOP is some strong stuff and will be pretty mighty when used on a fabric.

I hope that my tutorial will help in any repair to your caps that have suffered damage.


Any advice that you take from me does not hold me responsible for any further damage that is done to your cap, for that you are doing all of the steps yourself and if one followed my steps correctly as seen above, the final result should be the same leaving the hat with no added damage.

Marlins Rebranding

A few weeks ago, the Florida Marlins announced that their new logo will make a "huge splash" in the city of Miami, and would completely rebrand their team with the move to downtown Miami into their new stadium, Marlins Ballpark. The Marlins are a baseball team that have won two World Series titles, but have never won a division title, this is all thanks to them taking full advantage of the Wild Card in the baseball playoffs. For the past 18 seasons, they had to suffer in the Orange Bowl/Sun Life Stadium, a football stadium that was slightly modified to be able to fit a baseball field, and this stadium has proven to be disastrous for the team due to the stadium's age and inadequate location.

Sun Life Stadium

New Marlins Ballpark

Now that's just the ballpark, the Marlins rebranding is not only going to be a move to a new ballpark, but will be a complete change on all levels. Say goodbye to the Florida Marlins, and say hello to the Miami Marlins.

Florida Marlins

Miami Marlins

Over the past few seasons in the MLB, a few teams have made huge changes in their uniform and colour scheme, most notably the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Rays. And I'm willing to let the changes go, all because the Marlins really needed to do something to bring their fan base back..... but this gets better. This is a sculpture that was designed to be fired up every time a Marlins player hits a Home Run, video located below.

Should that .gif not work, feel free to indulge yourself the video located on the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs personal facebook:
The Video

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts about the new logo, stadium, and "The Sculpture" that the team has introduced.