Despite the fact I’ve been good and have held off on buying a full price game since Mario Galaxy 2, I’ve somehow gotten myself buried in a bunch of games over the last few weeks. I’m at various points in several different titles, like Final Fantasy XIII, Shadow Complex, and Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker (I’d include Gears of War on the list, but I’m officially done with that game and series for like, ever).

So with all these high profile games waiting to be played, I find it odd that Patchwork Heroes for PSP, which I downloaded simply because it was on sale a week ago, is the one that managed to grab my attention the most. I’m not sure if it’s the combination of it being the perfect pick up and play game, or because it’s all I have time for between feeding and cleaning up new born babies (I’m almost frightened of trying to get into FF13), but it ended up being the one I’ve spent the most time with.

I’m not sure exactly how to peg Patchwork. The only game I can think of that comes close to playing similar to it is Taito’s classic Qix. If you haven’t played Qix, the object of the game is to fence off the playing field from the “invader” or whatever the heck it is. Eventually when you claim most of the play field, you win. Patchwork is similar in that the object is to claim the playing field, but in this case you’re sawing it off. While you’re not trying to trap an invader as in Qix, you’re still whittling down the playfield. So in it’s most basic form, the game is like a new age Qix, but that would be selling the game short.

The Last Song – a rebellious young girl (Miley Cyrus) is sent to spend the summer with her estranged father (Greg Kinnear) who left the family in the past. While there she meets a young man (Liam Hemsworth) and falls in love but also has to deal with the father she never had. Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook).

Furry Vengeance – Brendan Fraser plays a real estate developer who is looking to level a huge forest to make room for tons of new homes. He doesn’t expect the wildlife creatures in that very forest to fight back and stop him by any means possible.

Also on DVD and Blu-Ray: The Red Riding Trilogy, Black Orpheus, The City of Your Final Destination, The Good The Bad The Weird, Dead Man Running, Cemetery Junction, Skelling: The Owl Man and Dexter Season 4.
On DVD Only: L’enfance Nue, Friday Night Lights Season 4, One Tree Hill Season 7, Ugly Betty Season 4, Cougar Town Season 1, The Assassin Next Door, Batman: The Brave and the Bold Season 1 Part 1, Big Money Rustlas, Keeping Up With the Kardashians Season 3, Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends Season 4 and Temple Grandin.
On Blu-Ray Only: DOA: Dead or Alive.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a musician who falls for the new girl in town, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but soon after they start seeing each other he finds out he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Also starring Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, Anna Kendrick and others. Directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz).

The Expendables – Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) leads a team of mercenaries on a mission to South America where they must overthrow a ruthless dictator. Also starring Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, and more. Written and Directed by Stallone himself.

Date Night – Steve Carell and Tiny Fey play a bored married couple who decide to be spontaneous and pretend to be another couple who didn’t show up at a swanky restaurant. But they find out the couple they are pretending to be are caught up in some serious business with dangerous people. So now they are on the run while trying to clear their name. Directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum).

Death at a Funeral – Chris Rock plays a man who is attending his father’s funeral. This reunites him with family members he hasn’t seen in a while (Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Danny Glover, and others). Dark secrets are revealed and blackmail plots all while he tries making the funeral as painless as possible. Remake of the 2007 British film of the same name.

Also on DVD and Blu-Ray: The Joneses, Triage, Crumb, La Mission, Helen and Multiple Sarcasms.
On DVD Only: Louie Bluie, Max Headroom entire series, Numbers Season 6 & entire series, Trauma Season 1, Adam-12 Season 5, Killer Weekend, Letters to God, Minder Season 3, Penguins of Madagascar: Happy Julien Day and UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans.
On Blu-Ray Only: Vacation, European Vacation, In the Shadow of the Moon, What’s Up Doc, An Empress & the Warriors, Forces of Nature and The Killing Room.

I haven’t had a chance to update the site in over a week because the wife and I had our twins last Thursday. Needless to say, I’ve been super busy and whenever I had some down time I spent it relaxing or sleeping. Anyway, things are still a little crazy, but I haven’t forgotten about the site.

We haven’t had a new episode of Shamoozal Radio since June, and we were close to putting together a rather impromptu podcast last Saturday, but with all the baby stuff happening only two days before that we had to cancel it. I really do want to get a podcast up though, I almost thought about just doing one myself with some updates but I figured this blog post would be enough. I can’t tell you exactly when we’ll do another SRP, but we’ll get one to you sooner than later (or so I hope).

Then there is ROM. Hopefully I’ll be able to find the time to put together the compilation episode by the end of the month. My plan here is to string together the first four ROM shorts and spread it around to more sites other than just hosting it on YouTube. For me it’s sort of a “moment of truth” type thing. I’m very curious to see how people outside of GoNintendo and Shamoozal react to these shorts, and at the same time I wonder if bundling them together will hurt them or help them in the long run. I’m hoping my Mr. Show inspired idea to blend the shorts together pays off. I made some boards the other day to plan out how I’m going to bridge them together, and I’m hoping it works out well. I did think about putting Pizza Links up on Newgrounds, but ultimately decided to wait for the compilation.

Speaking of which, Pizza Links has gone on to become the most popular ROM video yet. On YouTube, it’s our second most watched video behind How to Hook Up the NES. Though that isn’t saying a heck of a lot as Pizza Links only has 5,000 views compared to NES’s 87K. But I’m looking at our trends and each month I’m seeing a steady increase in viewers across the board with our videos, so things are looking up. It’s a different beast to tackle when trying to build awareness outside of the normal sites I frequent like Newgrounds.

The Other Guys – Detectives Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) might not be New York City’s finest, but when they discover a path that leads directly to one the city’s biggest criminals, they seize the opportunity to become supercops. Directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers).

Step Up 3D – the kids from the Maryland School of the Arts head to Paris for an international dance competition, but when Moose (Adam Sevani) misses the flight home, he is inducted into the city’s underground dance scene, which is about to have its own contest. Brought to you in 3D!!!!

Kick-Ass – a teenage comic book fanboy (Aaron Johnson) decides that even though he has no superpowers, he wants to reinvent himself as a superhero. He finds out he might have underestimated what it takes to fight crime when he’s almost killed by drug dealers. He’s saved by real deal superheroes (Nicolas Cage & Chloe Moretz) who are looking to take down a drug lord (Mark Strong).

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Zachary Gordon plays a nerdy middle school student who is having a rough time surviving days at his school. He decides to plot his survival ideas in the journal his mother forces him to write in. Based on a best selling series of kids’ books by Jeff Kinney.

Also on DVD and Blu-Ray: After.Life, The Ghost Writer, A Prophet, James & The Giant Peach SE, Elvis 75th Anniversary Collection and Heroes Season 4.
On DVD Only: Eclipse Series 23, Mercy Season 1, Hawaii Five-O complete series, The Real Ghostbusters Volume 3 and SNL: The Best of Will Ferrell Volume 3.
On Blu-Ray Only: Road to Perdition, Escape from New York, The Breakfast Club, Blood Simple, Piranha, Bull Durham, Charlie’s Angels and Kalifornia.

Dinner For Schmucks – Paul Rudd plays a guy trying to get a big promotion. His boss tells him he must find a random idiot to bring to dinner, and if he finds the biggest idiot then the promotion is his. He runs into Steve Carell who plays an IRS agent who collects dead mice to dress up in famous scenarios. But he may feel bad embarrassing such a nice guy. Directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers trilogy).

Charlie St. Cloud – After his younger brother passes away, Charlie (Zac Efron) finds a way to deal with his grief by working as a caretaker at the cemetery where his brother is buried. He starts seeing visions of his dead brother and having conversations with him. But when a love interest comes into his life, he must find a way to let go.

I recently sat down with Justin from the Radio Free Gamer podcast to talk about Read Only Memory. I’ve included a portion of the interview that goes into how the series came about, what old video game cartoons inspired me from the past and why I sort of still like the Zelda cartoon. If you click on over to the rest of the show, we dive more into how the NES era has affected an entire generation. My interview takes place around the 42 minute mark, but be sure to enjoy all the sweet game music that helps make Radio Free Gamer the show that it is!

Enjoy the interview and be sure to check out the show. I’m in the latest episode titled World 2 Level 20.

Clash of the Titans – Perseus (Sam Worthington) was born a god, son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), but raised as a man. In order to seize power from his father he must combat Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and stop the spread of evil on Earth and in the Heavens. Directed by Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk). Remake of the 1981 fantasy epic.

Repo Men – In the future, artificial organs are readily available for purchase at a steep price. When those with these organs can’t make their payments, Jude Law and Forest Whitaker are sent out to repossess. Everything is going fine until Law needs an artificial organ of his own and falls on hard financial times.

Also on DVD and Blu-Ray: Ip Man, The Secret of the Grain, GI Joe: A Real American Hero – The Movie, Operation: Endgame, Accidents Happen, Neil Young Archives Volume 1, Batman – Under the Red Hood, Stargate Universe SG-U 1.5, Life After People Season 2, Death Kappa, Don’t Look Up and Puppet Master.
On DVD Only: The Art of the Steal, Dragon Ball Season 5, 21 Jump Street complete series, Sabrina the Teenage Witch complete series, Hunter complete series, Paranormal State Season 2 and Dog The Bounty Hunter: Crime is on the Run.
On Blu-Ray Only: Rambo SE, Rambo: The Complete Collector’s Set, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Prowler, The Crimson Mask and Fanboys.