Since we have visitors (Eve and Kae) arriving in 5 minutes, I’ll be doing our wishes a bit earlier since I’ll be too drunk later on to say a decent word. So from us all, to you all, a happy 2006!. May all you wish for come true, be it money, love, friendship, pron… you name it! Have a hell of a new year!

I’ll now go open the door and enjoy some good food and lots of booze! sicu out for 2005! ^^

2005 was a pretty good game year. With World of Warcraft hogging up all my time, I did miss a couple of titles. Here’s my top “maybe play this next year” list:

5. Meteos (DS)

Loving Rez and having drooled over Lumines, this game entered our house the day of release. Sadly enough, we only own one DS and women do still come first… right? When we get a second DS next year, this will be first on the list.

4. Lumines (PSP)

Even though there aren’t that many games on the PSP, all my time went to Wipeout and Ridge Racer leaving none for this one. When I did get around to booting it, Lumines would end up in Elke’s hands. I guess Meteos and Lumines have even more in common than just its makers (and it being puzzle games… with music.. ah forget it).

3. Burnout Revenge (PS2)

I fell in love with the second in the series, got addicted to the third but didn’t find the time to enjoy the Revenge. I’ll be blowing the dust of this one next year though!

2. Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube)

Nothing beats a good survival horror, but with a complete new take on controls and some amazing visuals this might be the first Resident Evil I will actually enjoy playing more than watching from behind the couch while Kae is playing.

1. Killer 7 (PS2)

I’m already at level… one. But there are good reasons why it received the Edge’s visual and sound awards. The way it screws with your mind is some nice work too. Once I finish/get bored of The Minish Cap and Battlefield 2, this is the first thing I put in my PS2 in 2006.

Even though I own all of these games, 2005 was a little too short to enjoy them. I blame World of Warcraft though ^^. Anyway, I guess my number 1 console still is the PS2 this year and with games like Final Fantasy XII and Okami being developed for this same console, it’ll be one of the big winners again in 2006.

Every site is doing it lately, so here’s my own little top five. First up, my five personal favorites which I’ve played this year…

5. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)

16bit gaming is hip again since the arrival of the Gameboy Micro. This must be the first portable game in years to have me hooked for hours non-stop until the battery died. An excellent addition to the Zelda series.

4. Wipeout Pure (PSP)

It feels like the PSP was created with this game in mind and no PSP should exist without it. Futuristic tracks and techno music, downloadable content and uber-speedy death rides make it my favorite racing game… on the go! (try it during traffic jams ^^)

3. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

The creators of Ico made another beautiful world, with the Colossi being the most breath-taking enemies ever to appear in a game. Even though the PS2 chokes on the framerate from time to time, it remains an amazing technological achievement.

2. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (PS2)

Although I’d never play an FPS on console, the online part of this game got me instantly hooked. Driving around in my little tank with Kurisu as co-pilote, shooting fellow Europeans to hell and rushing out in panic when hearing C4 stuck to our vehicle, has never been so much fun.

1. World of Warcraft (mac/PC)

I’m fed up with the game, I’ve had it. It’s not even a very good game, but it had me in its grips for 7 months. That has to count for something. Anyway, WoW is sooo 2005. Time for something new!

There you have it, the 5 games on which I’ve wasted most of my time in 2005. Next up, great games I wish I could have wasted more time on!

Alright, time to share with us what you got for Christmas! I know Nynaeve got Animal Crossing (still waiting for your friend code!), Eve got a new computer (for WoW :D) and Kae got a car! But what about the rest of you?

A couple of my favorite presents are in the picture above, Mario Kart for DS (Karsten, get your ass online) and this anime art collection thing book Robot, quite stylish ^^. Elke got a bunch of stuff from Santa: Animal Crossing DS, a new cell phone, the dvd of Howl’s Moving Castle, a Chocobo,… So yeh, stuff…

Anyhoo, it’s over again. We’re all broke and still recovering from Xmas diner. Next up, New Year! We’re eating in with Eve and Kae, keeping Jules company when the fireworks start blasting away. I’ll be getting pretty drunk, hope you guys are too! Lots of peace, love, sex and money for all of you! (official wish post later)

The 5 Dollar Shake team, being Elke, Jules, Fluffy, Teddy and myself, wishes you a merry Christmas! May your turkeys be tasty and presents be high-tech! And may the desserts be plenty!

And for the lonely souls among us (or the ones lucky enough with a wifi connection during Xmas diner), a fun little addictive game.

Enjoy the holidays everyone!1!!11

I do realise I’ve posted about this movie before, but this time it’s not at the movie theatre, it’s in our own living room! Yes, Elke got her Christmas present a little earlier.

It’s still an incredible movie, another master piece by Studio Ghibli. If you want to get your hands on it, you will have to import it though. And sadly enough it isn’t cheap. If you bring your own popcorn you’re more than welcome though…

Belgium is again very late with this Sony commercial and its new Bravia televisions, but better late than never. Kurt showed me this ad when we were browsing for an HDTV and for some reason we ended up buying one. Stop abusing my lack of resistance to sexy hardware, you damn Sony bastards!

The music is by José Gonzalez, called Heartbeats, but it’s actually a cover of an electro song by The Knife. The ad itself is completely CGI-free, so except some color enhancements, every single ball you see is real. For more information, I advice you to check out Behind the scenes on the Bravia ad site.

To those who couldn’t wait until end of March 2006, just as we couldn’t, please add our friend code to your Animal Crossing list and visit our town. Or let us visit yours! Maybe we can exchange some stuff even! (We got pear and cherry trees!)

EDIT: Due to recent security issues with Animal Crossing, I have removed the friend codes. Mail us if you need them

If this doesn’t mean anything to you, you’re missing out on the portable sequal to the most addictive game ever: Animal Crossing: Wild World. Out in USA, so go import it now!

Edit: Let us know when you add us. We need your info too!

Elke had some fun taking pictures of our pets. Whether Teddy and Fluffy liked the idea, I don’t know.

After quitting World of Warcraft, I’m fully focused on console gaming again. Apart from the PSP which gets abused during lunch break for some GTA WiFi multiplayer mayhem, the PS2 is getting some real loving again too. Gamecube will be next, since my component cables arrived in the mail today!

Xbox360 has been out for a week now. And nope, still don’t see any reason to get it. It doesn’t even have backwards-compatibility for Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volley, the only reason to get an Xbox!

So kurisu got me addicted to Battlefield 2: Modern Combat on PS2. We’ve been playing every night online, killing American infidels trying to invade our turf. Offline the game is supposed to be crap, but don’t ask me because I haven’t tried. The game looks very nice on PS2, with amazing surround sound (which the neighbours can certainly confirm), making you really feel in the middle of war. It plays smooth, no lag and no glitches, really weird! And I’m finally getting used to FPS with joypads, although I still suck at it. Mouse and keyboard would make it easier, but where’s the challenge in that right?

As for offline gaming, I have finally found the time for Killer 7. Which is… a fucked up game. Really. You play that thing before going to bed and you won’t be dreaming of fluffy clouds, that’s for sure. It’s not horrible on the eyes or anything (heads in dryers that talk etc are cartoony and funny) which it thanks to its special cell-shaded looks, but the laughs of the Heaven Smiles freaking you out whenever an enemy jogs towards you so they can grab and suicide bomb you, makes it a really stressful experience. Certainly if you’re as good as me in aiming with joypads. Every character you meet is in some way a psychopath and it’s really confusing at this stage to understand anything. You play a bunch of assassins who are actually the multiple personalities of this one Smith guy, but they are different people. Although they are not. Get it? The game just knows how to screw with your head, making you go a little crazy as the main character itself. I’m still not completely myself again!

Elke started Black & White 2 on PC. Although after that one Monday evening of playing, I haven’t seen her boot it up even once. So I guess it must suck after all…

I also just noticed Gamespot’s ratings suck a little. Black & White 2 is way overrated and Edge magazine loves DOAX, so they must be wrong ;)