Capcom released Mega Man 9.

A stroll down memory lane -- via pure 8-bit Mega Man goodness. Jumpy blocks, cleverly placed pits -- and who can forget those pesky instant-death spikes?

WHO WILL SAVE DR. LIGHT FROM BEING FRAMED BY THE INFAMOUS DR. WILY? WHO??

This can't be good for my Ph.D. research. :)

... now that I have managed to vanquish Dark Sol in the upper lairs of the Labyrinth!

To the 99.5% of people who don't get that at first, my apologies. However, those who DO recognize the sheer awesomeness of the original Shining in the Darkness can appreciate the accomplishment.

It's too bad that the game came out seventeen years ago. It makes me feel old knowing that I was horrifically addicted to it back then, just as I was now. This time, though, I had more detailed maps -- if only because I made them myself. (It's too bad today's games don't make you do that. I thought it was always a fun challenge.)

My girlfriend's next-door neighbor was preparing to move out of his apartment and kindly offered Kristen a chance to scavenge stuff he was going to throw away before the rest of Madison did. I indirectly benefitted from this, as the fool was throwing away a NES!

Fortunately, Kristen just took the thing, along with games like Contra, and gave them to me!

Despite having the words "STILL WORKS!!" scrawled on it with a Sharpie, it does not in fact work -- the dreaded grey screen of death, or the blinking grey screens abound. I've experienced this phenomenon with my older NES system, and was able to have it corrected by some guys in the local used game store. This time, I'll do the repair myself, with help from The Nintendo Repair Shop. A $3.95 part, and I'm set to hack away! (Although still not as much as this guy did.)