When we last met the discussion centered around Agent Ford and the brilliance that was The Conduit. To be specific, I honored the game and the game studio by naming it The Spin’s Game of the Year. If you follow ancient Chinese philosophy, and who doesn’t, then you should know that there must be balance. Obi-wan and Yoda knew that, Lao Tzu knew it, and you better believe that I know it. With this knowledge comes the understanding that while the holidays present great opportunity to look back, they also offer just as amazing an opportunity to look ahead. To keep the balance in this thing called life, that’s exactly what is about to happen. So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

I’m going to put it out there that if you have read a single post on this blog, you know that I am borderline obsessed with Travis Touchdown. If I had a literary hero it’d be between Shogo Kawada (Battle Royale), Dean Moriarty (On The Road), or Holden Caulfield (The Catcher In The Rye). Were I to choose a television/movie hero I’d choose Optimus Prime (Transformers G1), John McClane (Die Hard), or Bill (Kill Bill). Now, if the same imaginary person that forced me to compile that list asked me to do the same for the videogame world it’d be CJ (GTA:San Andreas), Soap Mactavish (Modern Warfare), or Travis “Mothereffin” Touchdown (No More Heroes). I admire Mr. Touchdown so much that I have been known to refer to him in the formal sense, like I did just up there. Basically, the dude’s a monster and I’m kinda afraid he may come into my home, punch me in the mouth, pet my dog, and then run off with Mrs. Mike to Bora Bora. Honestly, if there’s one videogame character who is capable of doing that, it’s got to be Travis Touchdown. If I knew of a term that could eclipse BA then I would use it to describe Travis Touchdown, but I don’t, so BA will have to suffice. And Travis Touchdown is so BA as is the series that thrust him into our lives, No More Heroes. Suda 51 has made no secret about “No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle” having the possibility of being The Double T’s last foray onto the Wii, and the man looks to be going out with a bang. (Side note: Is “The Double T’s” a bit much? I can only say Mr. Touchdown so many times you know guys. Seriously, The Spin has a limit on the number of times I can type that before I start getting that annoying beep you get when you press a key that can’t be pressed. Nah, I’m just kidding, that doesn’t happen….) That is why I am officially labeling “No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle” as The Spin’s Most Hyped Game of 2010 Ultimate Extreme To The Max Edition. Congratulations go out to Suda 51 and the whole team at Ubisoft who hope to have the game on store shelves January 28, which is only like a month away and about a week before my birthday. (Side note: That’s my little wink-wink nudge-nudge to Mrs. Mike or any other reader of this fine blog who feels that I probably deserve an epically awesome and totally BA game for my birthday!)

Tomorrow I’ll be putting up a look back at some of the worst games I’ve played/covered for the Wii during my time at The Spin, which sounds like fun to me! I don’t wanna spoil anything, but I’m guessing Daisy Fuentes and/or Jenny McCarthy might just make an appearance. In the meantime, I’ll be giving you two of the latest gameplay videos for Travis Touchdown’s final showing on the Wii, and the game I am most looking forward to getting my hands on in 2010, “No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle.” Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

Alright boys and girls, we are at that time of year. The time when we look back at the year that was. I have to say, 2009 was actually a pretty great year for yours truly. I decided to take control of mind and body. I lost a massive amount of weight, probably like a 10 year old kids worth, I also seem to finally have pegged down what it is I want to do in the future. Yeah, 2009 was a life-changing year if I do say so. Oh, there’s also the little thing of Mrs. Mike and I buying a house this year. You guys have been with me for all the ups and downs that process took us through, and I am thankful for that. I’m also thankful that we made it out and that our house is actually quite amazing. Our Christmas tree is up and it’s beautiful, even if it is completely lacking presents underneath. The purchase of the house was by far the best part of the year for me. So, what was the best part of the year for the Wii?

That’s right folks, I’m giving the first annual WiiSpin Game of the Year Ultimate Supreme Mega Award of The Year to The Conduit. (Side note: That has got to be the most awesomely obnoxious name for an award ever. I’m so proud right now…) The first person shooter to rule all first person shooters was a game changer. High Voltage Software and Agent Ford did something on the Wii that not many people thought was possible: completely destroyed the FPS competition. Not only is it the best shooter on the Wii, but I will argue that it is as good as almost any shooter on any console. When you take the story, which is actually pretty good, add in the epic that is the All Seeing Eye, and then allow the player to customize the controls in ways that the PS3 and 360 can only drool over; and you’ve got a winner any way you look at it. Yes, 2009 belonged to The Conduit. Congratulations High Voltage, you’re a winner and I can’t wait to try the next shooter you bring to the Wii. Stay thirsty my friends.

Okay, we’re going to make this short and sweet. Mainly because I’m about to start making a celebratory dinner. This dinner is to celebrate that I’m done with finals, and that means classes. I have this severe aversion to classes, it’s almost like an allergy, so for them to be done with for a bit is quite the relief. I still haven’t gotten my copy of The Price Is Right, and I do apologize. But, I promised a giveaway, and I’m a man of my word. The winner is….Sally!! I know, I don’t seem like the type to be jealous of a Smurfs drum set, but I am. This is mostly because I actually kinda always hated the Smurfs and I always a drum set. I think if I could have gotten drums that enabled me to beat Papa Smurf a bit my life would have been complete. Don’t sleep, I’m not hating them like Gargamel or anything, they just always annoyed the crap out of me. (Side note: Is it just me or did Gargamel actually eat Smurfs? I’m pretty sure he made them into Smurf Chili or something like that….) So, Sally gets to pick between Spore Hero and SimAnimals:Africa. I’ll email you in a bit and will post your choice for all to envy here at The Spin. I still plan on getting TPIR (The Price Is Right), so expect another giveaway when that happens. (Side note: You like how I completely negated the short-hand I used right up there by explaining what it was I was abbreviating. That’s me getting my Rachel Ray on. Yeah, I can do that.)

Lego’s are huge. Not like physically huge, even though I’m sure somewhere there’s a giant Lego, but like a major world-wide toy. Everyone had Lego’s, or their friend, or their neighbor did. I never got the massive box that had like every Lego ever in it, must’ve been expensive, but I still had my share. Which is weird because I don’t think I was ever very good at building anything recognizable… Another thing that’s huge, and I mean HUGE is Harry Potter. The boy who lived is probably the most well known fictional character of all time. Ms. Rowling struck gold with her tale of wizards, and the world is hooked. So, it makes sense to have a Lego Harry Potter game, right? No, it really doesn’t. I don’t get this whole craze of retelling movies using the magic of Lego’s. It must just be me because people eat that crap up. Eat…man, I’m hungry. So, I’ll leave you with the trailer for Lego Harry Potter and the knowledge that I’m about to dominate some Fettucine Alfredo. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

Edit: Sally didn’t leave an email address so, if you don’t mind please email me so we can work out you getting your game. There’s a contact button up top!

You know that feeling you have when you’re in the pre-flu stages? Where you feel like there’s this mist inside your brain and it’s slowly leaking out? Yeah, I’ve got that like really bad right now. The worst part is the sneezing. I have these fits where I rattle off 7 or 8 massive sneezes in a row and it makes me feel like I probably just died. These are then followed by that “I’ve got to sneeze so bad right now and I can’t wait because it’s going to feel amazing” feeling, only the sneeze never comes. I’m pretty sure the receptionist at my office thought I was about to have a seizure or something all day because I had that weird about to sneeze face pretty much constantly. If I didn’t feel like an ice cold sloth was inside my brain I may have been embarrassed…

Speaking of embarrassing, and I hope this is just the holidays causing slow mail, but I’ve yet to receive my copies of The Price Is Right for the Lou Ferrigno giveaway. So, I’m going to give it another day and then pick a winner. If I’ve not gotten the game by then I will substitute with another game, probably Spore Hero, but I was looking to save that for another day. I need your help though. I basically want input on what you want to get out of The Spin, and what you think of it. (Side note: This is me being sick and wanting reassurance, but since I’m sick and probably extra pathetic looking right now, I can get away with it.) Should we have more contests? Maybe a guest writer once or twice a month? Is there anything you don’t get from here that you wish you did? Let me know, you have a voice and I will listen. At the very least I’ll definitely make it look like I’m paying attention. This is a small site so I’m not saying I can afford to be giving away games like it’s going out of style, but I’m sure I could manage to gift some WiiWare and/or VC games once or so a month. I can also give the gift of the latest No More Heroes trailer featuring the aforementioned Travis Touchdown. By now I feel like Suda 51’s sure to be masterpiece doesn’t need to have anything else said about it. We’ll let the video do the talking. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

That’s right folks, it’s about to get all editorial up in this beast! Yours truly is in quite a good mood this Friday evening, and it’s a bit refreshing. I’ve got this much left in school work left for the semester, which is outfreakingstanding. (Side note: When I said “this much left” I was physically holding up my hands and fingers in that way we all do when we’re “this close” or we “missed it by this much”. Just so you know.) It’s also been predicted that snow is going to fall on Atlanta tomorrow, and being from The Sunshine State, snow is always amazing to see. That’s all topped off by the fact that not only did The Stars & Bars get placed in a magical group for next June’s World Cup, but Manny Pacquiao aka The G.O.A.T is pretty much completely set to fight Floyd Money Mayweather on March 13. Man, I love Fridays. Before I get into the ranting, just wanna say I’m gonna leave the Lou Ferrigno Giveaway open until Tuesday, maybe Wednesday. The responses so far have been great, and I’m definitely jealous, which makes me sad and mad…. Anyway, I could end it now, but I’m vain and want to get more readers. There, I said it, now tell your friends to read the site for a chance to win Lou Ferrigno!!!

So, I just saw this special on ABC about old ladies who feel self-conscious about themselves to the point that they order pharmaceutical grade Botox & Chemical Peels for home use. The news show, Dateline or some other crap, was trying to make it seem the ladies were the victims here. Yes, the company that sold the drugs should be prosecuted, but the women are morons. They are the victims of stupidity, and that’s it. If they’d stop reading Marie Claire or Elle or Cosmopolitan or watching E! News all the time, they’d be able to get away from the very thing that makes them feel self-conscious. Those magazines should be prosecuted for having a skinny young woman on the cover (who is airbrused to be even MORE attractive than they are), while having articles like “Best Jeans for ANY body”, that translates to “Best Jeans for You, Fatty”. It’s infuriating in the same way people blaming videogames and the internet for kids being violent or acting out is. (Side note: You gotta love how I am just now incorporating videogames, 400 words into the article…) Yes, if a kid plays GTA or MadWorld or The Conduit 8-10 hours a day, they’re probably going to be messed up. The same thing would happen if they played ANY game 8-10 hours a day instead of going outside. I don’t know about you guys, but when I was younger we managed to do both. Swim team and Nintendo. Little League and Blades of Steel. Instead of worrying if little Timmy is going to be a psychopath, maybe you should worry about him becoming Fat Timmy. I could do all sorts of research here and come with factual information, but you guys know that’s not how I roll…I’d imagine that since say, like 1990 when videogames really started becoming household items, the percentage of obesity in the country on a whole has risen 61%. (Side note: I actually did research that, the next part may be a little fishy though…) With that statistic, one could gather that obesity in kids has reached epidemic status with over 57% of American children considered obese. The fatty scale has been turned up to 11. So, let’s stop blaming the internet, television, and videogames for people being lazy and stupid. Take the controller out of your child’s hand, cancel your wife’s subscription to US Weekly, and enjoy time together outside, or inside but do something together. You may find out that you actually like each other. Okay, that’s what I have, so I’m going to leave you with a video preview of what may be the bloodiest game of all time, Super Meat Boy, because a bit of the ultra-violence never hurt anyone. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

You know, after looking back on yesterday’s post I feel kinda Scroogey. I need you guys to know that I’m really not. I love Christmas, and the holidays in general. It’s good food and good times (even if they stress the hell out of me) shared with good friends and good family. I mean, who doesn’t love the season of giving and getting? I know for sure I love getting, and I’ve got my sights set on a Kindle this year. I’m about 90% sure I won’t be getting one, but a man can hope, can’t he? There’s not really too much else I could ask for except some quality time with Mrs. Mike. Which should come after next week and X-mas week since I’m taking it off work. Can’t wait to not have to wake up at like 6am, even if it’s just a week. So, I want to make up my Grinchiness from yesterday…

Now, my title may have lead you to think that I’m giving away Lou Ferrigno, I wish! No, somehow The Spin hasn’t reached the status where I can actually give away the Hulk. But, I can give away The Price Is Right, at least the new Wii version of the game. I haven’t played the game at all yet, so I can’t say too much about it. I can however remind you all of how much of an awesome comfort The Price Is Right is on a rainy Tuesday morning when you’re home sick from school and/or work. I don’t think there’s an American alive who hasn’t felt that joy. Hell, I’ll take it one step further and say it’s actually un-American to have not. So, if you haven’t yet, call in sick for work tomorrow and watch the show! Although, you’ll have to deal with Drew Carey (he does still host it, right?) and not get the Epic that is Bob Barker. I digress, The Spin’s newest friend, Francesca Torre who represents PR with Edelman Digital, is going to set me up with a copy of the game to give away to you. So, it’s contest time!!! (Side note: For the full effect imagine confetti flying and like trumpets playing and re-read that last line. Yeah, it’s nice, right?) Here’s how you can win your very own copy of The Price Is Right: just post a comment on this thread telling me your best Christmas gift ever. The person whose gift makes me the most jealous, wins. That’s it, fairly simple I think. If you’re thinking to yourself, “why do I want to play The Price Is Right??”, the answer is simple: free stuff rocks. That and the fact that they made a ridiculously awesome promo for the game starring the Hulk himself, Mr. Lou Ferrigno. That trailer is below and I look forward to being jealous of gifts that I asked and hoped for and never got, so get to posting. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the older you get, the more stressful things are near the holidays? Oh yes, we are deep into the holidays now, and things are getting real. Let’s imagine that one could toss the fact that finals are next week out the window, maybe it’s even possible to forget about the refrigerator that gets closer to dying each day, there’s still way too much going on. There’s office parties, family parties, family Christmas’, more family xmas’, and even more family Christmas’. That’s right, being a child of baby-boomers means that more than likely you fall into the ever-growing statistic of having divorced parents. Which means that you get multiple Christmas’. Well, I’m sure not all of you do, but there are plenty of people who are cursed with that. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my family and I’m excited to see them in a few weeks, but I know that it’s going to be a lot to deal with, especially when I just want a nice holiday. (Side note: I really can’t believe X-mas is a few weeks away and by holiday a second ago I meant holiday like vacation. I was getting my British on. Yeah, I can do that.) I’ll give you the Clifs Notes version: I drive down with my little sis & Mrs. Mike on the 23rd. On the 24th we do Christmas with her family @ midnight, not really sure why but that’s how they roll. X-mas morning we’ll go to my mom’s and do the damned thing there, then that afternoon it’s on to my dad’s. This is all on basically zero sleep the night before. Then on the 26th I need to squeeze in time with the extended family and I’d really love to see some friends while we’re in town. The 27th we drive back because I have to work the next day. Seriously, I think I got older just typing that. It’s ridiculous and makes the holidays stressful and I’m pretty sure my blood pressure is through the roof right now….

It’s okay though because next week Silent Hill: Shattered Memories comes out. As you all know this game has been on my radar since it was announced. The fact that the game is very blunt about being a total mind trip, and even claims to play you, all add up to something that I’ve GOT to get my hands on. It’s almost stupid how hyped I am on this game, even though I’m pretty sure it’s not going to live up to my so called hype. (Side note: Angela Chase in the house, what?!!) I’m not exactly sure when I became convinced that Shattered Memories will very likely be disappointing, but it may have been about 30 seconds into the latest trailer for the game. That’s when I realized that this was more a music video using gameplay than a trailer. That realization was immediately followed by the realization that it’s a music video for a very, very, very horrible song. I’m not going to lie, I muted it about a minute in because after the two previous realizations I came to yet another realization: that this wasn’t a regular song, but is probably the theme song for the game. So, I muted it to ensure that my ears wouldn’t start to bleed. You don’t have to worry though because you now know what I know and can mute it from the get go, leaving nothing but some beautiful gameplay for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

This week is Thanksgiving week. It’s the week of turkey, potatoes, pecan (that’s can like can of beer not khan like the dude who had a wrath…) pie, overwhelming relatives, Detroit Lions football, ridiculous shopping and all things that make America the greatness that it is. As for me and Mrs. Mike, we won’t be going home this holiday, it’s just too much. The timing is not good, mainly because we’re pretty sure our fridge is about to die. It may have something to do with all the water that came out of it the past two days. It’s cold now, and seems to be working, but still, it can’t be good that that happened. The worst part is that it’d cost like $100+ to get some guy out here to look at it and maybe fix what happened, we might as well just buy a new one. Yeah, that’s what happens when you buy a house, you get to buy refrigerators. Who the eff wants to buy a refrigerator?? Not me, that’s for sure…

Right about now you may be asking yourself, “New Wiimote, what’s he on about?” Well, I’ll tell you. About a week or so ago I got an email from a lovely gentleman named Cake. (Side note: Swear to God that’s the dudes name. Unless it’s one of those nicknames that stuck so good that he’s officially Cake now. Kinda like OchoCinco. My dad has one of those, his name is George but his familly calls him Billy. Don’t ask, just know that I was almost George IV, so I could be Billy Jr. Wow…) Anyway, Cake is with a company called UltraSaves and they make some custom Wiimotes and asked if I’d like to test ‘em out and talk about the joys they were sure to bring. Who am I to refuse an offer from a guy named Cake? (Side note: That could be a follow-up to A Boy Named Sue) So, a few days later the custom wiimotes arrived at my doorstep. UltraSaves makes a red and a blue ‘mote, and both of them are very nicely done. Cake & Co. use the same guts that Ninty uses and the bodies are exactly the same as well. The only difference really is the color. They’ve kitted the red model with a red backlight underneath the A button (the blue one is blue, duh!), as well as red lights for the controller number indicators. The backlight for the A button is a bit dim, but it’s nothing that takes away from the look or feel of them. They play exactly the same as the official Ninty model, the one drawback is that the red seems to have one little loose piece or something as you hear it rattling around when you really get your waggel going. This is probably something that happened during shipping, as the packaging is a bit lacking. UltraSaves told me that the packaging is just where they are now financially speaking, but they hope to get all official once these units start flying out their doors. Again, Mrs. Mike didn’t even really notice the sound so it’s not that bad. The one flaw that I find in the whole wiimote is the strap. It’s the exact same strap, but it doesn’t have the locking bit that Ninty’s do. With all the drama that came with faulty straps during the Wii’s formative years, I hope that UltraSaves will right this wrong. Other than that, I love new controllers, and they really compliment each other as well as the white standards. So, if you’re feeling like adding some flair to your Wii look up UltraSaves and order up one of their Custom Wiimotes, which are available now for $36.99. You’ll find some pics of them just below. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.