After calling every rental place in Kirkland I finally hit the jackpot when I called the Woodinville Blockbuster. The lady there said they had one left and before she could finish I was in the car and half way to Woodinville. A $100.00 deposit, a $14.95 rental fee and a $10.83 late fee (stupid fucking Maximo!) and I had myself a GC until Monday. That means that this evening Tycho, Kara, Monkey and I will all be sitting down to enjoy some survival horror. They were all so mad when I told them about the GC I was honestly a little scared for my life. In fact had I not been able to rent one, my plan was just to drive east until I ran out of gas.

Like many of you, we've been eager in our discussion of the new (i.e., the old) Resident Evil for the GameCube. Gabe's latest free EGM gives it a clean bill of health, and the Gamespot guy ran low on adjectives in an effort to evoke its visual and aural splendor. It comes out today. Did I mention that we have no GameCube? Because I'm getting to that.

Wasn't he in "Too Stupid To Make A Title For His Post"? That was bad ass.

Have any of you guys seen that new movie staring Assy McShutup? I hear it’s pretty good.

But I was busy before, and couldn't wait. I'm waiting now, though.

Well, get to it. I don't have all Goddamn night.

I got this in my inbox today:

I've never actually been to a con. Whenever I say that, people always mention E3, but I think there's room to make strong distinctions between Trade Shows and Fan Conventions. I wouldn't know what those were, of course. I've never actually been to a con.

• Speaking of Munchkins: With all my talk about card games lately, people have been writing in with their favorites. One such people mentioned this "Munchkin," which looks to be a humorous take on hack and slash Dungeon Diving illustrated by Dork Tower's John Kovalik. He also illustrates Chez Geek, come to think of it, which is also great.

• Way Of The Stick: If you recall those impossibly good kung-fu stickmen movies, and you had damn well better, try your hand as the protagonist.

• Am I Game: Maybe not a game per se, but you do have to click on things, which is at least game-esque. I like it mainly as a nostalgia trip.

• Is Your Family Prepared?: I think the record will show that I loathe the undead. Take a moment to read these chilling facts, and don't be afraid to ask tough questions about your safety from ravening legions of mindless zombies.

People have been telling us they wanted a strip on GameSpot moving to a pay service. Be careful what you wish for, I suppose.

Everyone liked weekend news so much last time I decided to bring it back again.

Just finished up my overview of Sabertooth's Warhammer 40k card game - if you're into CCG's, I invite you to look over my piece. I think there's a lot to like. In the game, I mean. The article's only okay.

I just uploaded my impressions on the import copy of Kingdom Hearts. I hope it helps anyone who is thinking about importing it.

Between Tycho and the Lawyer of Doom I honestly don't have much to add in regards to this latest ruling. There is one thing that wasn't mentioned that probably bothers me more than anything though. This is a huge slap in the face to every artist who works in the video game industry. This ruling says that the work of an artist whose medium is videogames is not a valid form of expression. Who the fuck is this man? Could this same judge stand up and declare that artists who work in clay or oils are equally incapable of conveying ideas through their work? This is the same government that recognizes a crucifix in a jar of piss as not just art but protected free speech. Not only that, the artist Andres Serrano actually received $15,000 for his work from the National Endowment for the Arts. "Piss Christ" as he calls it was a fucking federally funded endeavor. This is the kind of shit our government considers speech but a masterpiece like Shenmue is incapable of conveying an idea? I keep expecting Rod Serling to appear and tell us all that we've just entered the middle ground between light and shadow.

• Collapse: Is this the Bejeweled killer?

• Team Fortress: Neverwinter Nights: No, that's not a typo. I hadn't imagined NWN technology leveraged in this way, but if the tools are as holistic as they claim, this could be a hell of a lot of fun.

• Alt.Cyberpunk.Chatsubo: One of the contributors to this anthology mailed me about it, and I have no problem letting everyone know. Neuromancer was the second game I bought with my own money, back in the day, which meant I was introduced to "cyberpunk" at a highly suggestible period of my young life. It's never really left me. The newsgroup I mentioned published a book of their contributions to the genre, if you (like many red-blooded geeks) had a Gibson or a Stephenson phase, it's something you might want to look into.

• Game Over: Nintendo Metal: You might have seen a track or two of theirs over at Remix, these guys are great. I'm listening to their take on Punch Out now, complete with lyrics and harmonies that relate Little Mac's dramatic tale, and I know that their work is authorized by God.

• Boxman: I just like it when people fall down.

• First 2 Zero: Internet Multiplayer darts. That should about do it for a description.

• Action Markers: The guy who contacted me from here was really nice, he was looking into maybe advertising or some shit, but I told him I didn't think we attracted a lot of people who went outside. To be fair, I don't actually know that. So, if you are into paintball, by all means, go check them out.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the elephant in this one - we're primarily just executing the "political cartoon" form, which has that element of ridiculous bombast coupled with intimations toward vast political conspiracy. The Lawyer of Doom has been kind enough to look at the case legally, and by "case" I mean this one, and we know as well as he does that this isn't a right/left thing. This is more of a stupid thing, more of an antique sensibilities thing, and more of a disconnect between an arbiter of the law and the modern world thing.