Father of the Year

My 4-year-old son Collin bowls the game of his life, a 219, and I crack him over the head with a 300 game. Man I'm such an awesome dad.



At least I didn't get up and ride the bull. I reserve that for when I beat my buddy Matt by 2 pins.

Wii Bowling: 2nd Perfect Game in Two Nights

I found my pocket. I found that sweet spot where I can do no wrong. I am the greatest Wii Bowler on the face of the planet. It's just a game and I don't care. Don't steal my glory, punk.

Me and My Son: Our Seesmic Debut

Signed up for an alpha testing account on Seesmic.com and this is the first video I captured on the service.

Seesmic is best described as a video version of Twitter. Don't know what Twitter is? It's a platform for shouting to the world what you are doing at that very moment... 140 characters at a time.



For the record, Collin's favorite website is the free flash game website friv.com, and I have no advertisement agreement with them. (To friv.com: My son just plugged you, and he's pretty cute, so if you want to drop some dough this way, I won't say no.)

Also, as my boy just admitted, he's pretty hooked on Super Mario Brothers 3, which gets the kid in me pretty pumped as it was a favorite of mine in my pre-pubescent years.

I'll keep you posted on what I think about Seesmic.com as I get to use the service more.

Guitar Hero III for Wii: "Bulls on Parade" and in Mono

Photo courtesy of Flickr user danoxster

I already knew that Guitar Hero III lacked Dolby Pro Logic II support, although it was advertised as having it. But now to find out from a Joystiq article today that the music is in monophonic? That's ridiculous.

My sister and brother-in-law have the original Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II and play it pretty regularly on their PlayStation 3. When I heard that Guitar Hero III was coming out for the Nintendo Wii, I was pretty pumped.

I have not bought a game on release day since Super Mario Brothers 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1990. Usually I try to rent the games first, read reviews, or wait until friends buy the game first before I invest the money. In the case of Guitar Hero III for the Wii it appears to have paid off.

I don't have a surround system hooked up, but I have stereo on my television (who doesn't) and listen to digital music in stereo through Comcast quite often. If I popped this game in my Wii and started playing with monophonic sound I would notice the difference right away and I would not be pleased at all.

Activision is aware of the problem with the monophonic sound and say that a fix is in the works, but no timetable has been set.

I wouldn't be complaining about this if Activision had not advertised Dolby Pro Logic II support for the Wii version of Guitar Hero III. But to go from no Dolby Pro Logic II support to no stereo support at all? Unacceptable.

People paid for the product, got lied to, and now it appears they got hosed even more. Activision owes it to these customers to fix this problem quickly, and let consumers know when they can expect a fix. In the meantime, I'll be spending my money on Super Mario Galaxy.

Reliving my childhood: Super Mario Brothers 3 released for the Wii Virtual Console

Finally it's here on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console. The game I loved to death as a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) fanatic, and still my favorite installment of the Super Mario Brothers series: Super Mario Brothers 3. Nintendo released the title for the Wii Virtual Console today.

I remember when the game came out there was such anticipation for it in the metro Detroit area that you could literally call every major retailer in a 20 mile radius and nobody would have it in stock.

All I wanted for my 12th birthday was Super Mario Brothers 3. I'd been reading up on it in Nintendo Power, and seeing previews and commercials on TV. Forget Reebok Pumps, I had to have Mario!

My mom gave me the phone book and let me call every store I could think of. I dialed the phone for two hours straight and I was striking out all over the place. Then I decided to take a shot in the dark and call Kohl's Department Store. I didn't think they even sold video games, let alone have Super Mario Brothers 3. To my surprise they did, and they just received 20 copies in stock. I asked them to place one on hold but because they were so hot, they refused. The race was on.

Mom, little brother Randy and little sister Wendy hopped in the Beckmobile and shot off down M-59 at 60 miles per hour. Would they have any left when I got there? What do I do if they don't? My mind was racing faster than my mom was driving.

We pulled up to the front of Summit Place Mall and the Kohl's entrance. My mom let me out of the car to race inside and get my hands on a copy while she parked and got the little ones out.

Adrenaline kicked in and I felt like the Flash running to the door, complete with blurred tunnel vision. I ran past the registers and began to scout out the electronics or toy department. Where in the world is my game?

And there, to my left, in a glass counter display case was that unmistakeable yellow box with a giant raccoon Mario on the front. They still had Super Mario Brothers 3 in stock. I trotted up to the counter and waited until the clerk helped someone else complete their purchase of the same glorious game I was about to get my hands on.

"Can I help you, son?" asked the clerk.
"Yeah, can I get a copy of Mario 3?" I replied in the same manner as Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" telling Santa he wanted an "Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!"
"No problem," said the clerk as he unlocked the case with his key-on-a-coil and took a copy out.

By then my mother came walking in with little kids in tow and we bought the game.

Once out in the car I pulled the game out of the plastic Kohl's bag and sat there in a moment of silence as I ran my fingers along the shrink wrapped seam, taking in the newness and crispness of this bold yellow box. Then I ripped off the plastic and started thumbing through the illustrated instruction manual, imagining myself bashing bricks and shooting fireballs once again.

After enduring 12 miles of anticipation and "you know you have to wait until your birthday on Friday to play that" jokes, we were finally home.

I don't remember if my feet ever touched grass or carpet on my way to the television and the Nintendo. All I remember is pushing the cartridge in, having it turn on without having to blow into the cartridge for once and then the curtain lifted to one of my favorite games of all time.

Super Mario Brothers 3 shaped the way I looked at video games to come. It seemed like no matter how many times you beat the game, you always came back for another round since there were so many paths you could take. It was a challenge to find all of the secrets, and to see how many different suits and special items you could collect.

Now that Super Mario Brothers 3 has come out for the Wii Virtual Console I'm sure I'll be investing many more hours rediscovering why I thought this game was so great. Ever since I first got my hands on a Nintendo Wii there are 4 games I have been waiting for on Virtual Console: Super Mario Brothers 3, Baseball All-Stars, Guerilla War, and Super Mario Kart.

One down, three to go.