Back on Top

Somewhere last night Portland State head coach Ken Bone clinched his fist and gave a powerful, Tiger Woods-like pump. Well, at least he should have.
With Weber State's slip up against Montana State Friday night, losing 75-70 to the Bobcats at home, Bone and the Vikings return to their rightful place atop the Big Sky Conference standings.

As most Portland State fanatics, and yes there are some now, know, Weber State handed the Vikings their only conference loss a couple weeks ago. So this is certainly some indirect revenge.

This is definitely good news for Portland State, who is headed into the Big Sky Game of the Week versus Northern Colorado on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. The top-seeded Vikings are 4-1 in conference play thus far, however, they have yet to face off against the Bears, who are 7-11 overall and 3-2 versus conference foes.

Sunday's matchup features the two highest scoring teams in the Big Sky, so offense will be at premium. It is defense that will determine the outcome, as the Vikings allow the fourth least points of any Big Sky team while the Bears give up close to 76 points per game, the worst mark in the conference.

Another important statistic will be three-point shooting, as the Vikings jack up the most three-pointers in the conference but the Bears actually own the highest shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

But forget about all these numbers, figures and percentages, because there is one thing above all else that will decide the winner: the mask.

If Portland State sophomore forward Phil Nelson straps up the protective mask he wore in a 23-point performance in a victory over Idaho State last Saturday, the verdict is already in and done: Vikings victory.

Sheer beauty

Benheck's PC Mod of the Day yesterday was absolutely stunning. Usually PC mods just don't do it for me beyond the initial "wow look at what someone else far more talented at making shit than I will ever be just made" reaction. They (usually) are awesome, yes, but my second thoughts are usually "damn that has to be a bitch to dust" or "yes but how do you feed the gold fish in there?

But this one..? My God. Wolfenstein 3-D was my first FPS ever as a kid. This case mod is magic. Pure, Nazi-gutting, magic.

Cheap Fan Service

You know, for a development team comprised mostly of men, you'd think the team behind Fable 2 would get tired of hearing "we're through already?"

And yet, once again, Lionhead Studios has produced Fable content that is disappointingly short and sparse. To illustrate just how short the "extended" (really it should be called simply "additional" or maybe more appropriately "Haiku-esque in length") content that was released on the 13th is:

Yesterday afternoon, I logged in to Xbox live, forked over $12.50 to buy enough points to download the content, and waited 30 minutes on PSU's internet connection for my download to complete. Another hour after that, I was done with 2 out of the 3 new quests the expansion comes with, and I'd purchased all the new items in the (admittedly neat) surprise shop.

If I had known, after that hour that I was nearly done with the $10's worth of game I'd just purchased, I might have dallied a little longer. Stood on a cliff, maybe, and taken in the scenery with my trusty dog, Mr. Grrr.

As it is, it took me a few minutes to realize I'd already beaten it this afternoon, after merely one more hour of play, which included a stop back in Bloodstone to look after my family and get distracted at the gambling table.

It was only after I'd made one last, pitiful, hopeful round of Knothole Island that it sank in: I had finished all available quests and essentially paid $10 so that my character could wear sunglasses and a top hat. Really, Lionhead? That's all you had in you? Really?

Come on fellas. You built us one of the most beautiful sandbox worlds to play in, now please, put a little more effort in to the content before I leave you for good for a game that can go all night.

FFXIII in North America? Not before 2010, says Square

Now that 2008 is officially over, Square-Enix is ringing in the new year with a major, and completely expected, delay. The victim? Final Fantasy XIII, at least in North America.

Don't say I didn't predict this.

Hot off his announcement that the next proper installment of Square's trademark series is expected to be out in Japan this year, company president Yoichi Wada is now saying that if you're expecting to see FFXIII this year in North America, you're out of luck. Wada confirmed as much in an interview with Reuters, saying the game won't see it's North American debut until at least April 2010.

But hey, FFXII took 5 years to come out right? Don't be surprised to see this pushed back until Summer 2010...at the earliest.

Welcome to the Tender Loving Empire

Tender Loving Empire has to be the cuddliest imperial organization on the planet. World's Greatest Ghosts? Huggable! Jared Mees and the Grown Children? Childlike! Finn Riggins? Sleepover worthy!

Tonight Mees (cofounder of the Tender Loving Empire label/printing press/screen printer's/just about everything else) headlines an excellent trio of TLE's best and brightest. Check it out, by the end of the show you'll probably be involved with TLE in some capacity and adding to their vast colonial territory of creative 20-somethings.



Jared Mees & The Grown Children - "Tallest Building In Hell" Live from Erik Stanfill on Vimeo.

WAVVES of mutilation

And to think, as recently as two weeks ago I would have insisted that nothing beneficial to the human race would ever come out of San Diego. Now, low and behold, Nathan Daniel Williams comes slinking out of the suburban jungle to prove me wrong.

Williams (more commonly referred to as WAVVES) has one hell of a talent for hooks washed out to the "so lo-fi it's almost dial up noise" apex. Don't believe me? Observe (this shitty video that actually captures the band's sound pretty well):

Bodies of Water

This band has been growing on me all week. I first saw this video premier several days ago and though I still find it somewhat hoaky the song backing it up is solid gold.

Check em out.