My thumb hurts. Coming from me, that’s pretty high praise for Spider-Man: The Movie 2 (hereafter referred to as Spider-Man 2 for brevity’s sake) for Xbox. After picking up the game yesterday, I ended up playing for about four hours, losing all track of time. Now here I am the next day, with my thumb still throbbing. Console games rarely have that effect on me anymore, especially when they’re not of the RPG variety.

Personally and professionally, I’ve always felt it’s important to use the right tool for the job at hand. I’m of the opinion that nothing beats a mouse and a keyboard (except possibly a trackball and a keyboard) for games which require precise or nuanced controls (e.g. first-person shooters and real-time strategy games). I also strongly prefer the mouse/keyboard combination for games which require a lot of interactivity and communication (e.g. MMORPGs, open-ended single player RPGs). And, let’s face it, while there’s no question that the Xbox has the best price-to-graphics performance ratio of any gaming platform, a fast computer with a lot of RAM equipped with a top-of-the-line monitor and video card is a visual wonder to behold. Doom 3 may be coming out for Xbox, but I don’t think anyone would argue that a well-equipped PC is going to be the preferred way to play. Finally, being fortunate enough to have a wife who is not only an avid gamer, but also is an avid gamer with good taste, I tend to play a lot of cooperative multiplayer games. With two networked computers, this is effortless and highly entertaining, but without multiple consoles and televisions, this is either impossible or impractical (trying to play a game like Batman: The Rise of Sin Tzu, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, or even The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures where both people have to stay on the same screen at all times is irritating at best after playing through, for example, Diablo and all its expansion packs/sequels).

That pretty much relegates the consoles in my house to the realm of Japanese-style linear RPGs, action/fighting/sports games, and the ocassional party game (DDR, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers Melee, etc.). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it just means that a console game doesn’t usually hold my attention for extended gaming sessions.

This is where we come back to Spider-Man 2. (Fear not, I do actually have a point to all of this.) I grabbed the game because it seemed like it’d be a nice action title to add to the library from some of the previews and other pre-release material. When I popped it in, I quickly came to think of it as Grand Theft Auto: do it and Spider-Man will kick your sorry butt. The structures of the two games are remarkably similar - you can go anywhere you want and make up your own fun by performing tasks for various people, and then when the mood strikes you, there’s always a mission or goal that will advance the plot of the game. The big difference is that in GTA, you’re cutting people up with chainsaws, hiring prostitutes, and stealing cars, while in Spider-Man 2, you’re beating up thugs and supervillians, rescuing New Yorkers, and returning stolen cars. I also found that the missions are easier in Spider-Man 2 than in GTA, which helps keep the novice engaged and the experienced player focused on whatever they’d like to be doing.

With a few action-packed hours under my belt, I’ve decided that the Console Gold review is the one that best matches my feelings about the game. Yes, the textures are a little simple, but it’s worth it for the incredible draw distance. Yes, the random missions get a little repetitive, but they were obviously engaging enough to keep me occupied. What the review fails to communicate, though - even though it’s clear that they like the game - is just how damn fun it is. Swinging around a fully-realized, accurately depicted Manhattan as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is just something you have to experience for yourself. If it turned a hard-core PC gamer (yet casual console gamer) like me into a true believer, then imagine what it’ll do for people who prefer the console platform! (And don’t forget to take a swan-dive off of the Empire State Building for me.)

A special P.S. to the gaming industry: Even though my thumb is sore now, a Batman game using the open-ended, “GTA-style” format to solve crimes and dispense vigilante justice would have reduced it to a bloody stump. This game proves that superhero video games, as a genre, can be elevated from the level of horrific garbage (as seen in Batman: Dark Tomorrow and Superman 64) by giving us huge virtual Gothams and Metropolises to patrol.

Found at Gravity Lens - the existence of a mutant with super-strength in Germany, and the genetic/biological basis for his “superpower”, which the article claims could provide a lot of insight into fighting muscle-wasting diseases like muscular dystrophy.

Although Desiree says she’d like to see a photo of the child, he’s well on his way to starting his superhero career by keeping his identity a secret. Plus, as any reader of the various X-Men comics knows, there are many intolerant people who fear and hate mutants, so it’s probably best for him to try to blend in and remain anonymous. [end of bad superhero jokes]

Slate has posted a very thorough rebuke of Michael Moore’s documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, in which Christopher Hitchens exposes the film for what it is - morally and intellectually bankrupt.

If you don’t share Moore’s beliefs, then you bristle at the thought of the contradiction and hypocrisy involved in Moore’s exploitation of the death of a woman’s son within minutes of accusing the President of exploiting the death of those who were lost in the events of 9/11.

If you agree with his sentiments, then you are exasperated by his self-serving, systematic destruction of the credibility of your beliefs by associating them with his incoherent, paranoid, and intellectually lazy “arguments”.

Either way, Moore is detestable. Give him and his film what they deserve - a big “who cares”. Spend the money that you would have spent on a ticket to his film on a history book or a political contribution. Spend the time you would have spent in a theater being bombarded by his baseless sense of self-righteousness by having an intelligent conversation with someone with whom you disagree politically. These are the things that make America healthier, not rewarding an attention-craving imbecile for whom juxtaposing incongruous images passes for exposing the truth and taking words and events out of context to ridicule people constitutes political satire.

While I am personally inspired by the first private space flight and would love to travel in space someday, my pragmatism makes me a bit wary of the things that could go wrong in a commerical setting.

In lieu of providing a long-winded description of what’s been going on with Desiree and I that has prevented us from posting, I instead defer to this picture, which captures the essence of what our lives are like at the moment.

I don’t play Lineage II, but anyone who has played a MMORPG or has enough of an understanding of the technical challenges involved can appreciate the Adrenaline Vault’s spectacular pics of a castle seige involving an incredible number of player characters (make sure to look at all 5 screenshots).

Well, Comic Book Resources, Dark Horizons, and Superman-V.com are all reporting that the field of actors to play Superman has been narrowed to six, almost all of whom reportedly screen-tested for the part over the past few days.

Here are the candidates:

Henry Cavill	Jason Behr	Jared Padalecki
Brandon Routh	Mike Vogel	Hayden Christensen

Rumor has it that Christensen, now famous for playing Darth Vader, has dropped out. Personally I like the look of Cavill and Routh, but I guess it remains to be seen if they can act…

This article was recently brought to my attention.

It’s an exposure piece of how Narconon (*cough cough* Scientology *cough*) is spreading Scientology lessons and ideals to children under the guise of drug prevention programs.

Hey, I think it’s great that people are out there trying to convince kids to avoid drugs. However, this group is “backed” by Scientology and though they claim they strictly keep religion and education separate, it’s fairly obvious they manage to still get their messages across.

Those of you not familiar with the insane cult of Scientology, I would recommend you take a look here but, more importantly, check out Operation Clambake.

Anyway, Narconon claims that they are not promoting Scientology but evidence like the following clearly disputes that. Let’s not forget that most of their claims are disputed my medical science:

Example 1 (a quote from a former “church” member) -
“Communication drills are one of the basic tools taught by Scientology,” said Christman, the ex-church member. “It’s the first course that anyone who enters Scientology gets — or Narconon rehab. It’s sitting across from someone and looking at them for as long as it takes to ‘be there comfortably,’ in Hubbard’s words. No movement, no speaking, no facial tics — nothing.”

Example 2 (from a lecturer at the end of a class) -
As his lecture ended, Bylsma turned to the students and said, “I want to say thank you to a man named William Benitez who started the program, and thank you to L. Ron Hubbard! Thanks to them, we have the program in 37 countries! Let’s give them a hand!” And the students clapped.

Example 3 (an email from a Scientologist referring to an upcoming talk by the above instructor) -
“Tony will go over how to do seminars but the information is SO basic that it’ll show you how to handle kids, parents, teachers as groups OR ONE-ON- ONE on what drugs do to both the mind and body. … He gives examples of how drugs scramble the pictures in the mind, how it stores in the body and how it takes one down the tone scale lower and lower — ALL IN NON-SCIENTOLOGY TERMS. … All the Scientology and Dianetics Handbook basics but in simple descriptions!”

There are plenty of other examples. My favorite is the Scientology insistance that drugs are stored in fat indefinitely, unless you “clear” them.
Right.

What I don’t understand are the superintendents of these schools who fail to look at the evidence before them. They are allowing these maniacs into their schools and access to their children. That irresponsibility is deplorable.

I really enjoyed Cartoon Network’s Clone Wars microseries of twenty 3-minute episodes, and while it may be cliched or too easy to say that it was much better than Lucas’ recent efforts in the Star Wars universe, sadly it doesn’t make it any less true.

Naturally, I was very happy to learn (from Gravity Lens, natch) that Tartakovsky is making a five-hour Clone Wars miniseries. Should be great!

EDIT (11 June 04): Looks like Jeff’s correction in his comment below has been confirmed by Variety by way of Sci-Fi Wire. There will be five 12-minute episodes totalling one hour, not five 1-hour epidsodes.

Ack! No! Where the hell is Hagrid’s hut? What the hell did they do to Flitwick?
Ahhh…I can’t stop thinking about Hagrid’s hut! It’s a good thing I grew to care about these characters in the last two movies because this one ain’t doing the trick. Hagrid’s hut!

That’s right folks: me…no…likey.