5 Reasons Why NES Was The Best Console Ever

Image via Wikipedia

Back in the days before game consoles used huge graphics cards as a crutch, game programmers had to actually put effort into making games fun. Such was the case with the original NES game system. Thus, without further ado, here are five reasons why I think NES was the best game console ever.

1. They had Super Mario Brothers 3: Whether it was warp whistles or the tanooki suit, this video game was one of the best video games ever made. It just had a fun, easy, laid back style of play that you just don't see in most of the games today (except for the latter games in the Mario series on the Wii).

2. It was the only show in town: Today, people have all kinds of options available to them for entertainment. Back when the NES was in full swing, the options for entertainment were a lot more limited. Sure, the NES can't compete with the X-Box, but imagine how fun the console was when your only other options were local TV (cable if you were lucky) and -- the horror -- going outside. That alone was enough to propel the NES into the realm of instant nostalgia.

3. The games were more diverse/creative: The trend in video games over the past 10 years or so has been to make releases increasingly like a Hollywood production: big budget, lots of special effects, and a formula that producers more or less know will work. With the NES games back in the day, you had games all over the place: questing games with Zelda, fighting games with Mike Tyson Boxing and Double Dragon, and running and jumping games with The Simpsons vs. The Aliens and the Mario series. It was kind of like the Sundance festival of gaming.

4. The NES was a pioneer: Arguably Atari and the game Space Invaders deserve this honor. But, at the same time, Atari really didn't forge the whole home video gaming industry in the same way that NES did. Prior to NES, having a game console was something like having a ham radio or a bug collection -- cool but still rare. After NES, having a video game console became a lot more like having a TV.

5. Because I said so: Look, it's my article, and I can declare it the best game console of all time if I want. If you disagree, leave me a comment telling me why.

Related articles

• Email: old school gaming (seanmalstrom.wordpress.com)
• 16 Vintage Video Game Console Commercials [VIDEOS] (mashable.com)
• Email: Purpose of 3DS: Kill 2d Mario (seanmalstrom.wordpress.com)
• Free : NES Ringtone Pack (udj042.wordpress.com)
• NES Game Preview (nitromeuniverse.wordpress.com)

5 Fast Food Meals for under 3$

Image by brtsergio via Flickr

5 Fast Food Meals for under 3$

If you’re anything like me (a poor college student), then you are probably always on the lookout for a cheap edible dinner from a fast food restaurant. Here, I give you five ideas for five decent fast food dinners you can eat for under three bucks each – a good deal by any definition. To be enjoyed as an occasional treat only.

I have ranked them in order from best to worst.

1.       KFC: Buffalo Sandwich, potato wedges and a drink combo: In my opinion, this really is the king among super cheap fast food meal deals. The sandwich is an excellent value, both size and taste wise, for the money, and the potato wedges are very filling. Best yet, it only comes in at about 750 calories – enough to fill you up without making you fat in the long run.

2.       Wendy’s:  Baked potato, small chili, and value drink: This is another good meal that I buy almost as much as the KFC deal. The baked potato makes a great quick meal, especially when topped with delicious chili. Better yet, the whole combo has only about 550 calories (if you hold the butter on the potato) and is probably slightly healthier for you than most fast food.

3.       Taco Bell: Three dollar gordita combo:  This is another solid option for a cheap but edible fast food meal. The Doritos add a nice kick to this meal, letting it beat out the number four entry.

4.       Wendy: Value size double stack combo: This is another nice and cheap option for someone looking for a value meal. Obviously, you could do this in several places, including Burger King and McDonalds. However, what pushes Wendy’s over the top here is their fries, which are just plain better than the competition’s fries.

5.       Del Taco: Six tacos and water: This is a decent option for anyone who really wants as much food for as low of a price as possible. In fact, it’s so much food that I can only eat about ½ of the tacos during a single trip, making it possible for me to turn this into a 1.50$  meal.

These meals, while cheap and edible are best only eaten about once or twice per week, and only if you’re eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables in between. Still, in a pinch, they can be used to fill a stomach without depleting a pocket book.

Related articles

• a call to die - day 32: fasting (follow2serve.wordpress.com)
• You Deserve a Break Today (mohighlibrary.wordpress.com)
• Paris Hilton "Not Eating Fast Food Anymore" - Are You? (fitsugar.com)
• Hot Trend in the House: Fasting Lawmakers (newser.com)

5 Best Starcraft 2 Commentators

Image by Eric Damon Walters via Flickr

If you're like a Starcraft 2 fan like me, then you probably enjoy watching game commentaries on Youtube almost as much as you enjoy playing SC2. However, with so many choices out there, how do you know which commentators are worth watching and which to pass? Here, I give you my list of the 5 best Starcraft 2 commentators.

1 and 2. HDstarcraft / HuskyStarcraft : I put these two commentators together in the top spot because they are clearly the current "gold standard" when it comes to SC2 commentary. Both of them have around 100 million (not a typo) views on their uploads, and both are famous enough to be frequently mentioned by other commentators.

3. BlizShouter: This commentator is a bit less well known (only 15 million or so upload views), but he is still one of my favorites. I personally like the passion that he displays when he casts. Another plus is that he's married (wife and daughter), which I think is cool.


4. AskJoshy: Josh is another relatively less well known commentator (only about 5 million upload views), but I think his popularity will increase as people watch him more. He has a very crisp commentating style and has recently added a cool "picture-in-picture" feature to his videos, which allows him to keep track of two battles simultaneously.

5. PsyStarcraft: If you've ever wanted to know how to play zerg, you should really check out some of the commentaries by this guy. His style tends to focus a lot more on strategy and less on entertainment than the other 4 commentators. 

Update: I also checked out a couple of videos from Day 9 -- another Starcraft 2 commentator. Although I agree that the strategy that he discusses in his video is very helpful and interesting, his commentating style is just too annoying for him to make it onto the top 5 list.

Related articles

• Justin Bieber Starcraft 2 Parody: Loving the Work Husky! (crenk.com)
• Starcraft 2 Developers Initiate Ban Rush [PC] (kotaku.com)
• Starcraft 2, Meet Tetris, Tetris, Starcraft 2 [Clips] (kotaku.com)
• Starcraft 2 Gives Players One Free Name Change (devicemag.com)

Kerrigan ghost

How To Get The Best Value Out Of A Cheap Walmart Bike

Walmart sells some cheap, terrible bicycles. However, the cheapness and terribleness of Walmart bikes can be mitigated somewhat if you follow five simple steps when you buy a bike from Walmart.

1. Ride the bike around the store before you buy it: To me, if the bike doesn't even ride correctly when I'm in the store, there is no way that I'm paying money to take it out of the store. Specifically, before you buy a bike from Walmart or any of the other big box stores, check to see if a) both the front and rear brake work correctly and b) the bike shifts through all of the gears on both the front and the back. By far the easiest way to check this on a bicycle is to get on the bike and ride it down a couple of aisles. If it doesn't pass muster, look at another bike.

2. Take the bike to a shop and get everything checked and tightened: Before you ride the bike any further, I would take it to a local bike shop to get everything tightened and checked. The employees who assemble bikes for Walmart are usually the same people who assemble the patio furniture, meaning that they don't understand how a bicycle works mechanically or how tight they should tighten the bolts. The adjustments will likely only cost around 20 dollars or so, and it will save you from having dragging brakes, misaligned gears, etc. later.

3. Get the tires upgraded to road/hybrid tires: If you don't take your bike off-road at all and you want to spend about 30 or so dollars more, you can get the tires upgraded to road/hybrid tires. This will literally save you probably about 10-20% off your total trip time if you're riding on the highway or sidewalk. In fact, this is the easiest upgrade of which I am aware that you can make to a cheap bike that will make a significant, immediate impact on your commute time for a novice or average rider.

Well, I hope that this gives you some starting points for buying and making the most out of cheap bikes from a place like Walmart. Good luck riding!

Related articles

• REI Announces its Exclusive 2011 Novara Bicycle Line -- New Mainline Collection Covers a Continuum of Distances (prweb.com)
• Women's Road Bikes Under $1,000 (metaefficient.com)
• Smiles for Miles (eon.businesswire.com)
• How do I winterize my bike in a rainy city? (ask.metafilter.com)
• Carbon fiber bike weighs only six pounds! (slashgear.com)