Undercover For Employment
December 26, 2005
If NibCrom's disguise seems lame, just remember that it worked for the Ninja Turtles.
I did get one video game for Christmas, Mario Kart DS. As far as impressions go, I can't give you much, but setting up my router to be compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi was easy enough.
- Nils
Local Culture
December 19, 2005
It's about that time where NibCrom starts fitting in with the locals.
Forza Motorsport, Microsoft's answer to Gran Turismo, has captured my attention with it's long list of cars and the real world tracks. Burnout 3 was a definite treat, but the arcade style only made me want officially licensed vehicles and real race courses more. Not to mention a more pure racing experience without the heavy pile-ups.
- Nils
I'm Sorry, So Sorry
December 12, 2005
What can you say when it hurts so much?
At this time of year, I know many of you are tempted to move out of your small but comfortable apartments and move into a condominium. If you happen to live in a place where it snows, either do the job by yourself or forget about it. Any of your friends that help you will never speak to you again.
In all seriousness, The Misses and I are very grateful we had friends willing to help us on the worst possible day to move.
- Nils
Rebirth, Part 5
December 5, 2005
John's opinion of NibCrom begins to change.
I'm not the first one to say this, but you never realize how much stuff you have until you try to pack it into thousands of boxes and move it somewhere else. I don't have any noteworthy things to say about new video games or action figures, but I've playing Resident Evil Zero and I like that game.
- Nils
Rebirth, Part 4
November 28, 2005
NibCrom has fixed himself up and given himself a bit of a makeover.
If you need still need to purchase Christmas gifts, might I suggest getting something from the NibCrom Central Store? If you end up spending more than $50 there, you can get free shipping using the promotional code FREESHIP. I'm just saying, that's all.
- Nils
Rebirth, Part 3
November 21, 2005
Even beings from outer space know that the garage is the place to fix things up.
Rather than give you more tidbits regarding Battlefront II, I have decided that in honor of my exact three and a half month anniversary today I would give to you the speech given at my wedding, presented by my cousin and best man, John Febel.
"If you have ever referred to yourself as a Supreme Allied Commander after beating a Star Wars video game, you might be Nils' best man.
If you know that the true name of the master of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is Hamato Yoshi, you might be Nils' best man.
If you know that when Jabba the Hutt says, "Cheesa, peesha wonkie Chewbacca, ho ho ho", he is really saying, "At last we have the mighty Chewbacca, ho ho ho", you might be Nils' best man.
I do satisfy all three criteria, so naturally Nils chose me to be his best man.
We both are filled with cartoon and action figure trivia from the 80's and 90's. We've gone through it all, from He-Man and Transformers to the Ninja Turtles and Star Wars. There were lots of happy times, like when we pretended to fire lasers at other cars on our annual trip to our grandparent's house in Wisconsin. Or when we used to make huge explosion effects with our mouths, with our own spit flying everywhere.
Those were were happy times, but I've noticed that the past two years have been even happier times for Nils because he met Annie. She doesn't make the huge explosion sounds like Nils and I used to, but she does do a great R2-D2 impression, and more importantly, she lets Nils keep his Star Wars toys.
Nils and Annie truly make each other happy."
- John Febel, August 6, 2005
Rebirth, Part 2
November 17, 2005
Let's talk about Battlefront II. I've beaten the campaign mode, played online and gotten more than a taste of the open ended mode. At times it feels more like Battlefront I.5 than a full fledge sequel, but upon closer inspection, there are many finer details to appreciate.
Space battles and Jedi heroes are supposedly the two big selling points for Battlefront II, and they both lived up to my expectations, which were admittedly not all that high. If you've played any of the Rogue Squadron games, you'll have an idea of what the space battles feel like. Pandemic has implemented some welcome game play mechanics into the mix. What could be called "helpful tracking red dots", are just that. It can be difficult to find gray starfighters in the black of space, so these "helpful tracking red dots" come in handy.
I've already said a lot and I haven't even gotten into hero characters. I guess you'll have to keep tuning in at a regular basis.
Just as a side note, the comic was on time and this post was late. I'm sorry.
- Nils
Rebirth, Part 1
November 7, 2005
Without extensive play of Battlefront II, I am unable to give a final verdict, but I am most certainly having fun with it. New objectives help flesh out the story mode, which is available for co-op play. Plus, two players can go online on the same Xbox. I'm sorry to say headset support is not available for both. I'll keep playing the game until I know how good it is. Boy, the sacrifices I make.
- Nils
NibCrom Resurrection
October 31, 2005
I declare online gaming to be perfectly delectable. Not only have I been overthrowing the Empire with my cousin, I've been having my rear end handed to me by the computer set on easy in WarCraft III. Yes, I lost even with the help of Pete. And mere hours from now I'll be playing Battlefront's sequel while dreaming of the Episode III DVD. Unfortunately, Tuesdays are my long days at work, taking anywhere from 12 - 15 hours of my life into the wee hours of the night. Perhaps I'll call in "sick" tomorrow. Or even better, I'll watch Revenge of the Sith on my computer at work. Doesn't that sound like a dream job?
- Nils
Almost There...
October 24, 2005
The title of NibCrom Central's comic is NibCrom lives, and next week you'll find our exactly why. For now, you'll just have to see how close John and Pete are.
Peter S. brought over his PS2 and the Battlefront II demo on Saturday. We were both pretty impressed with the space level and playing as a Jedi is pretty cool. It seems Pandemic limited the amount of time you can play as a Jedi, which is good because they are pretty tough to kill. I heard at the beginning of development they were working hard on bringing up the level of AI and bringing down the level of lag, but even if they don't deliver quite as I might hope, I'm sure I'll be playing this game for a good twelve months.
- Nils
A Neural-Net Processor
October 17, 2005
Pete gets a chance to show off his hacking skills.
So far I'm pretty happy with Xbox Live. I've only played Star Wars: Battlefront and a little bit of TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. The coolest thing about playing Battlefront online is that you can have private gaming sessions and invite only your friends (i.e. your cousin or your friend who forgets to bring his account information to the games lab :) ).
- Nils
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral or Robot?
October 10, 2005
Defining replicants, androids and the like can be a difficult task.
I broke down and bought Xbox Live. Just over a year ago I refused to buy an Xbox. But they just kept on coming out with more Star Wars games until I couldn't resist it anymore. Then I refused to buy Live because I didn't want to pay to play online. You might think Microsoft has full control over my life. Then again, I do own a Mac.
- Nils
Visitor Revealed
October 3, 2005
Today, the contents of the pod are revealed. Sort of. John's description isn't entirely accurate.
Xbox live both excites and worries me. On the one hand, I might be able to have fun playing online games with my friends. On the other hand I may get stuck paying $50 a year to play against spoiled 12-year olds. I really wish game reviewers would go into more detail regarding LAN and online play of games. I'd really prefer only to play against people I know, but it's hard to gather from game descriptions.
My November "fun budget" has already been reserved entirely for the first of the month. Both Revenge of the Sith and Battlefront II should hold my attention until December rolls around.
- Nils
The Saga Begins, Part 5
September 26, 2005
The comic is here. Not late, but definitely not punctual.
I'm ready to declare Advance Wars the best portable series ever. It's too bad it won't be playable online like Mario Kart DS. Still, the ability to stop and start and save at any time makes it ideal for portable play. Do I smell a NibCrom Central Award?
- Nils
The Saga Begins, Part 4
September 19, 2005
Advance Wars: Dual Strike is another triumph for the series. It is rare to find a series with this much mileage in each of the games.
The saga continues next week! Be there!
- Nils
The Saga Begins, Part 3
September 12, 2005
Now that the third comic is up, I hope you can begin to see where the story is going. Each comic will not always be this dependent on the previous one, but this is the intro, and the story must be set up.
Burnout: Revenge, the fourth installment in the series was released last Tuesday and I didn't even realize it. I suppose it's because Burnout 3 was released less than a year ago and I had not fully completed the game until just a few months ago. I'll pick it up when it's down to $20. There's more important games coming soon anyways.
- Nils
The Saga Continues
September 5, 2005
As promised, the new comic is up. From now on, I'll upload the comic early Monday morning instead of late Monday night. Stay tuned!
- Nils
NibCrom Lives!
August 29, 2005
NibCrom Central's official comic NibCrom Lives! has begun. There will a new comic every Monday, meaning NibCrom Central will be updated at least once a week. So check back often and see where the crazy adventure will go!
Oh, and if you want to receive the NibCrom Newsletter, send me an e-mail.
- Nils
More Old Stuff, No New Stuff!
July 31, 2005
More old features are back.