Three Things I Found Strange On My Trip

It's been over a week since I got back from my annual trip down south for hockey and its taken me all that time to just get everything unpacked and put away. There wasn't too much to report about the trip (you'll be hearing my cold hearted thoughts about the Sharks real soon) since nothing too interesting happened. Went to see some sights, did a bit of work while visiting one of the other locations, as well as hit a few restaurants on the way. I did, however, find a few strange things while I was on my six day excursion.

1. Winter Weather - California is known for having some crazy winter weather, especially when it's El Nino. A few years ago, the rain and snow was so bad that the entire town that I live in was shut off from the outside world for about two weeks. There was no food in the grocery stores, all the fast food joints were closed, and everyone was trapped inside the town. It felt like something out of a Stephen King novel. It almost felt like deja vu while I was down there. A ton of rain and snow covered the area, an area that was supposed to only have light showers that week. Luckily, it didn't pose too much of a problem while I was down there, just a bit of an inconvenience considering I didn't have any waterproof shoes.

2. 7-Eleven's Merchandise - Not the first place that comes to mind when I'm thinking about reserving a game. A slurpie, yes . . . some snacks and groceries, yes . . . but not video games. So, I was kind of surprised when they started advertising a special pre-order bonus for Modern Warfare 2, but I thought "hey, I guess they want a piece of the pie too." Then, while I was down south, I noticed something else kind of odd, something I didn't expect to find there - Anime and Domo-kun. And I'm not talking about the really old Anime or the badly produced stuff that you can find almost anywhere, I'm talking some fairly new titles by some big names. I think it's seriously strange to go to a convenience store and find these things . . . soon I'll be going to the grocery store to pick up the next Ratchet & Clank game.

3. Wii Fit - Now, you may have been wondering what was up with my header picture. No, I don't have a Wii and no I did not catch onto this Wii Fitness craze like so many other (supposedly) female gamers have. Actually, the Today Show made it sound like 95% of female gamers are in their 40s and only do Yoga on the Wii . . . and you wonder why I don't like the Wii. It's not because it's a bad console, Nintendo has done a great job with it. I don't like it because of how the general population looks at the Wii as being the Apex of the video game industry and that everyone, and I mean everyone just plays bowling and tennis. Have I lost you? Okay, maybe I should back up a bit. I had some time to kill while down south so I popped into this really big sporting goods store. You know, the kind with camping gear, snowboards, weights, and Wii kiosks . . . wait, did I say Wii kiosks? Yes, can you believe that an actual sporting goods store had Wiis lined up like some Target store, all advertising the very diverse line of fitness games - and it was placed right next to such personal gyms as the BowFlex and others. This is why I hate the Wii, this weird plague that has spread through the non-gaming populous, warping their views of video games and gamers alike. Turning it into the next fad, like Pokemon or the Pet Rock, where everyone and their grandmother must have one. Soon we'll only being seeing casual games hit the shelves and some fitness game getting the GotY award instead of a game that truly deserves it. If this plague continues to spread, we might even see some of the big video companies like Ubisoft completely shift their focus to casual, tween, and fitness games . . . oh wait, that already happened at E3. Will someone please stop this insanity before I'm forced to strike some praying mantis pose in my living room!