Performance Seats? How About Relaxation Engineering Devices!

Really buddy? Guitar performance seats? They're folding chairs! You could have called them virtually anything...if you're going to exaggerate like that, why not make them super magical as well?

Temporary Outage

We're switching servers, and as such there may be a temporary outage of Pacitto.com. If we're unreachable for a few days don't worry, we will be back up and running as soon as it permeates the interwebs correctly!

Home Depot's Gone To The Dogs

So apparently there was a big hub-ub a few weeks ago about a Home Depot greeter being bitten by a dog...never really seen a Home Depot greeter myself before, at least not as frequently as Wal-Mart greeters, but anyway, I thought I'd post these two pictures from January 17th 2010.  There is clearly a dog in the store, and Home Depot staff seem to have no problem with it, and yer on their door it clearly shows NO PETS ALLWOED.  So what's the big deal in the news that this is a "new" ban on animals in the store?  According to this, they've always been banned!

 

Bungee Jump Oh No!

Thanks to MTV Live for bringing this little clip to my attention!

680 "TMI" News

680 News apparently forgot to edit down this article before they dropped it into their feeds, and subsequently their website.  As you can see from the tag at the bottom, they left editorial notes on the page.  Instructions for whomever at 680 News to get the correct image for the article.  Just thought it was neat to see the internal goings-on of a news network like that.

Lego Otherstuff!

Ok so like a few years ago I tried Lego Star Wars on the PC. I had a demo. Fast Forward a couple of years and now I have a Wii. So Christa was awesome enough to buy me Lego Star Wars Complete Saga for the Wii. Anyway as I remembered it was awesome! She followed this up with Lego Indiana Jones which was equally awesome and Lego Batman which I haven't played yet.

The reason I like the Lego games is because they have a lot or replayability and they take like the best bits of things you like and Lego them up. The trick to Lego games is that each game has like 4-5 different character types and each of these types can get into specific places that other characters can't. For example girls in the Lego Indiana Jones games can jump higher while shorties (kids/yoda/ewoks) can crawl through special trapdoors and into new arenas. So as you play through the games and unlock new character types you can go back to levels you "passed" and re-do them with these new character and hence gain access to new areas! Unlock new things, get new bonuses etc. So anyway, lots of replay and fun crap to unlock.

We're planning on getting the new Lego Harry Potter game and I hope to get my mitts on Lego Indy 2 sometime soon. But I was thinking about what other franchises would make awesome Lego Games. The criteria being lead characters with different abilities, lots of varied but familiar levels/settings, and a general appropriateness in the Lego-verse. Oh one thing I forgot to mention about Lego Star Wars is that in the decades I've been playing Star Wars games I can easily say that Lego Star Wars has some of the best depictions from the movies including the Battle of Endor and escaping from within an exploding Death Star 2. You can come over and I'll happily show you. But as usually I went off on a tangent. I was meaning to say, here's my short list of things that would make awesome Lego Games:

1. Star Trek

This first one's a quasi-no-brainer. I'm not a huge Star Trek fan by any stretch of the imagination especially of the original series but I did like some of the movies and The Next Generation. I always feel kinda sad for Star Trek in that it's pretty much got a lot of crappy games in its catalogue. I think a Lego game could capture the essence of the series and help introduce young vievers to this pretty cool sci-fi world. I'd start things right and not goof it up from the get go. Start things off with the original series. You get Kirk, Bones, Spock, Uhura etc. each with their own ability and talents. Both Lego SW & IJ had areas restricted to certain character types (ie: Bounty Hunters, Thugee etc) so you could have ares reserved for medics, red shirts, captains.

This game would jump around the first series and wouldn't touch the movies at all. The second game could be The Next Generation to shut everyone up that would've wanted it first just like the Star Wars games. New trilogy first, original trilogy second. Follow up with a movies based third one and see what the fans demand. Maybe squish DS9 and Voyager together? Or maybe get opinions of someone who knows a bit more about Star Trek. Anyway, you get the idea.

2. Ghostbusters

Ok sure so we alrady had a pretty good Ghostbusters game from what I hear (haven't played it yet) but with its four lead characters Ghostbusters would be a really awesome game. Peter could con/chat his way into certain areas, Egon could have the scientific know-how, Winston could have the common sense to get past certain objects and Ray could...well Ray smokes so I guess he could do something. Oh I know he could trap. And there could be ghosts to unlock. Anyway, then you get other characters and I think it would have to include both movies to be really good. Not that the first movie is lacking in levels but there'd be a slim chance of trying to push a game on a much disliked sequel so let's not put it to chance and send 'em out together!

3. G.I. Joe

I know it's a toy and toy cross-over but what better way to exploit multiple characters and abilities? Also have kick-ass vehicle battles like in Lego Star Wars? It could incorporate everything so well. I am, of course, speaking strictly of the cartoon/toy version from the 80's not the old school one from the 60's or 70's or whatever and definitely not of the movie version. Anyway it's a real stretch to get this one made but one can dream.

4. Back to The Future

There's a new adventure game coming out of Back to the Future but I think combining multiple layable characters, multiple sequels and throw in the ability to goof around with time (like do something in the 50's and affect the 80's) could be a neat twist on the whole game. Break saplings in the past and get past them in the future cuz there's no giant tree blocking your way anymore. Wouldn't that be neat?

5. Wizard of Oz

If you haven't read Wizard of Oz and are thinking of only the movie than you probably think I'm a loser BUT if you HAVE read the book you'll know that the book follows the basic premise of any Lego game. It's like the classic unlock characters with new abilities game. Tin Woodsman can chop crap, scarecrow floats, and is pretty much invincible except to fire, lion can roar and jump and stuff, even Toto can fit through small spaces. You'd get to travel through the lands of Oz and it would be awesome to have a female protagonist for a change. What would be neat is if they followed the book really closely and avoided the movie altogether.

6. TMNT

Again, I realize I'm picking things with multiple incarnations and abilites but this one would be somewhat tricky, because which incarnation would you follow? I honestly think an amalgamation of many aspects would be best. Not a heck of a lot of various levels and such so you'd have to borrow different story lines. Maybe you could unlock different style of turtles from old school comic to crappy 3rd movie animatronic ones. Maybe the episodes could be split into, Comic, Movie, Cartoon or something... and you'd get to play levels from each of those. And it would have that look. The comic could be black and white and the tone could shift. You get grittier characters and abilities and the cartoon would have like the colour scheme. The movie could look realistic. A lot of opportunities for the developers to try some new things.

7. Terminator

I had Gremlins here before but I really don't see the fit. There's not a lot of characters other than the Gremlins themselves I suppose so I picked another WB Franchise in The Terminator. I thought it was Fox...anyway. Yeah so Again, lots to choose from. Which movie(s)? What characters. Tough to do in some sense because nothing's come close to being as awesome as the first two flicks but then if you do those then try to do a sequel no one will buy a game based on terminator 3 and salvation. But again, it would be neat because you'd start as Kyle, and then get Sarah who is useless in this mode except for like jumping or running really fast. Then you get the bad t-800 which you get to use after beating the game but it only makes sense because you start as a t-800 in Terminator 2!! Awesome that works perfectly!

The only issues would be what powers would you give the t-1000? What could he get away with? He could disguise and get past certain points. He could chip chop through places and that would probably be enough for him.

8. Looney Tunes

There's a Warner Bros hookup with Telltale Games (Batman/Harry Potter) so this seemed a natural choice with its plethora of characters and settings. Not a heck of lot obvious in the way of abilities for these characters but I'm sure a Looney tunes games with the cartoony physics could be fun. A narrative tying all the different characters where you break the 4th wall as the cartoons loved to do. I guess the invincibility of the characters would make for some interesting challenges. I don't know. I'm not so sure about this one. Honestly it's the one I'm least excited about.

9. X-Men / Avengers

Sooooo easy to pop this sucker out. The only problem would be what teams? I think as far as story lines are concerned. Actually nevermind I figured it out. You start with the 60's, move into the 70's and 80's and 90's and each decade would be its own episode with characters to unlock and storylines taken from those decades. Cyclops was there from the beginning so you'd start as him and unlock his new costumes and unlock new characters in new decades. After all it's done you can take like Deadpool and take him to the sixties for some carnage! Same rules would apply to the Avengers though you have a lot less characters to choose from.

10. Lord of The Rings

Last but certainly not least Lord of the Rings. Split into four episodes to include The Hobbit or just the three books only. Start in Hobbiton as Bilbo and then add new characters with abilities as you go along. Probably an easy adaptation for the Lego games. Lots of neat levels and characters. It would translate beautifully that I don't really have much to say about it.

So there you have it. I'm sure in the very near future I'll think of some other things that'll feel obvious and then I'll feel like a moron for not having it here in the first place but I'll just have to add them in later. This is just a nerd's wish list of games that I kinda wish existed. There's a few things that crossed my mind but I'm actually saving them for a whole other wish-list. Let me know what you think of my Lego Games wish-list in the comments here or on Facebook. Either way I'm sure I've come up with some stuff that you might think is dumb but hey at least I didn't come up with Lego Rock Band. WTF was that all about?!

2011 Twenty Years Ago

Time for the twenty year olds! I find the twenties a little from shocking sometimes probably because I don't really remember thirty years ago but I do remember twenty years ago. So let's take a gander at movies celebrating their twentieth anniversaries!

Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Silence of the Lambs
Hook
The Addams Family
Cape Fear
Beauty & The Beast
Thelma & Louise
Backdraft
Delicatessen
JFK
Point Break
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Boyz n The Hood
The Fisher King
Rocketeer
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Hudson Hawk
Oscar
Cool As Ice
Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man
Not Without My Daughter
Grand Canyon

Movie folk we lost in '91 include; Micheal Landon, Klaus Kinski, David Lean, Frank Capra, Redd Foxx, Gene Roddenberry, Anton Furst. In all honesty I don't really recognize any of the people born twenty years ago. Not yet anyway. Good luck to them!

The most significant music-wise event that took place twenty years ago as far as I'm concerned is that we lost Freddie Mercury. I was/am a huge Queen fan I will admit that their music played a large part in shaping who I am.While celebrating their twentieth anniversary twenty years ago they sadly would not get to celebrate for long. Now before I break down let's get into bands that were formed twenty years ago;

Excessive Force
Mesh
Rage Against The Machine
Utah Saints
Rancid
Incubus
The Wiggles!
Green Jelly
Chemical Brothers
Cradle of Filth
Dave Matthew's Band

Notable albums that you probably love that are now twenty years old include;
Queen - Innuendo
Fishbone - The Reality of My Surroundings
Guns 'n Roses - Use Your Illusion
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
U2 - Achtung Baby
Michael Jackson - Dangerous
Pear Jam - Ten
Metallica - (The Black Album)
Simpsons - Sing The Blues
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic
Nirvana - Nevermind

Wow! Some huge albums!

On the bleep bloop bleep side of things, the following video games came out;

Civilization
Street Fighter 2
Neverwinter Nights
Duke Nukem
Monkey Island 2
Lemmings
Battletoads
Also twenty years ago the SNES came out which means that the likes of Super Mario World, F-Zero etc. are twenty years old.
To compete with these bad boys Sega came out with Sonic who is also celebrating his twentieth birthday!

In the ways of das writtens vords Douglas Coupland's Generation X is now a twenty year old book as is Ellis' American Psycho, Pratchett's Reaper Man & Witches Abroad, and Timothy Zahn's re-launch of Star Wars entitled Heir to the Empire. We sadly lost Dr. Seuss and were given Bone, Sin City, The Mask and X-Force in return. A crappy deal methinks.

Twenty years ago is largely considered the end of the Cold War but the start of the Gulf War. And on that note I'm gonna go on to the Ten's.


2011 Thirty Years Ago

This list is only about two months late but I wanted to get it out there anyway. Last year it was the thirtieth anniversaries of Empire Strikes Back, Pac-Man and the death of John Lennon. What does 2011 bring back around? You mean besides the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Di, the launch of the first space shuttle, and the release of the IBM PC?

Well in the realm of the motion picturey type thingies 2011 is the thirtieth anniversary of:

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Cannonball Run
American Werewolf in London
Clash of the Titans
Das Boot
Dragonslayer
Evil Dead
Escape From New York
Excalibur
For Your Eyes Only
Heavy Metal
Outland
Thief
Time Bandits

It'll also be the thirtieth birthdays of Natalie Portman, Chris Evans, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jessica Alba, Frodo, Justin Tenderflake, Beyonce
1981 is also the thirtieth anniversary of The Razzies which brings to mind that it's the thirtieth birthday of Heaven's Gate. Also on the topic of crappy movie news it's the thirtieth anniversary of the passing of Natalie Wood & William Holden.



On the music front the following bands got started up;
Front 242
Anthrax
The Bangles
Big Country
Butthole Surfers
Kajagoogoo
Slayer
Sonic Youth
Suicidal Tendencies
Culture Club
Tears For Fears
Metallica
Ministry
Motley Crue
Napalm Death
54-40
Pet Shop Boys
Pantera
Wham!
Yazoo

Notable albums released in 1981 include U2 - Boy & Duran Duran's self-titled first album.
Sadly 1981 took Bob Marley from the world of music.

Back to video gamey fun times. 1981 is the thirtieth birthdays of;
Ms PacMan
Frogger
Galaga
Donkey Kong
Wizardry
Castle Wolfenstein
Ultima

So be sure to tune in to Google everyday for a doodle of at least one of those. I say Donkey Kong....

One thing I didn't do before is books and stuff on these lists so this time I will. Thirty year old books include;
Cujo
Strata
Gorky Park
and it was the birth of Rogue Trooper and Dazzler.


Alright, see you soon the   at the 20th birthdays!



Stupid E-mails

Looks like another idiot is sending out e-mails.  He has the contact name in the e-mail subject, on the e-mail address, and everything else, but his message content isn't parsing info correctly, as you can see with dear "first name"!

Starwars Pre-Make

Enjoy this clip I was made aware of through @wilw on twitter.