Writes and Wrongs

First, let me get this out of the way. I'm a writer by trade... it's what I love, and I've spent many years refining that talent with practice and college classes. Perhaps the biggest slap to the face you can give to a writer like myself is to take a carefully researched article and shrug it off as "fake news" because it didn't confirm your personal biases. It's intellectually lazy, and proves that you don't know a damned thing about writing when you elevate paranoid conspiracy theories and half-baked lies over the inconvenient truths of credible journalism.

No, modern news sources aren't perfect, and yes, it doesn't hurt to be skeptical when you come across an article that doesn't pass the sniff test. At the same time, maybe you'd better save some of that skepticism for the claims that the politicians you don't like reek of fire and brimstone, or the strangely glowing coverage of the politicians you do like. Use your head, and try to keep it out of your ass if at all possible.

Okay, rant over. I don't have much to report on the gaming side of things, but I can tell you that the GameCube I modded a couple of weeks ago seems to be working properly. By the way, there's a much easier way to diagnose a modded Cube than hunting for tiny LEDs buried inside the system. Just pop in a disc, close the lid, and hold the start button on your controller while powering on the machine. You'll get a copyright message from the Xeno chip... or not, if it isn't properly installed. Don't worry if it's fuzzy; the message is displayed in the European PAL format, and your television has no idea how to deal with that. Your games will display properly, though.

So why did I go to the trouble of installing a mod chip on a system that's over fifteen years old? Well, you remember the Game Boy Player, right? It's an accessory that snaps onto the bottom of the GameCube, giving you access to the entire Game Boy library. Thing is, the startup disc that comes with the GBP is lacking, offering a dim, slightly blurry picture which doesn't do the Game Boy Advance library justice. 

Frustrated by its shortcomings, a hobbyist programmer whipped up his own startup disc called the Game Boy Interface, which brings out the vivid color in Game Boy Advance titles. Just check out this comparison video... you'll notice an obvious difference in quality. Unfortunately, this homemade startup disc won't start up at all on a GameCube... unless you've got a mod chip like the Xeno installed. 

People also have a nasty habit of losing the official disc that comes with the Game Boy Player. Replacement discs cost a mint on eBay, so why not get something that works better for the price of a mod chip and a handful of mini DVD-Rs? It's a smarter, more cost effective way of doing business.