Amusemental: The Toy and Candy Weblog

High Heat Baseball

I recently purchased High Heat Baseball 2004 for my Playstation 2, because I love playing baseball on video game consoles, and I haven't played one for a while. But more specifically: I just bought a used, year-old baseball game for my Playstation 2, not necessarily because I'm cheap, but because I'm too stupid not to realize that it was a year old (I can't really be blamed, though, for not remembering that sports game designers date their games forward a year, just like car manufacturers).

All the same, despite the fact that it doesn't have the newest rosters, it shouldn't really matter how old it is, because I play video games for really stupid reasons. And perhaps lamest of all is the reason that I play baseball video games: because I like to hit home runs.

No, let me be more specific: I like to hit home runs, then watch the arc of the ball as it travels out of the park, finally to land out in McCovey Cove or on Sheffield Avenue (outside of Wrigley Field, for you non-Chicagoans).

And you know what? High Heat Baseball doesn't let me do that. It just shows the ball zooming out of the stadium from the batter's perspective, meaning that I can't see where it lands.

As I said: stupid reasons. If you play video games for more normal reasons, you might like it. Or, you might like to try MLB 2005.

Darth Vader Voice Changer

From Hasbro comes the Darth Vader Voice Changer (coming to stores in Fall 2004).

Just put on the gear, and the change will be complete when you hear your own voice converted to sound like that of the evil Lord Vader!  Two additional modes are included:  the first plays the ominous breathing sound, and the final mode plays five of his most popular phrases from the Star Wars movies, including “The Force is with you,” “You don’t know the power of the dark side,” “Don’t make me destroy you,” “Your powers are weak,” and “There is no escape.”  Your voice can be adjusted through three different pitch levels.

And once you get bored with Lord Vader's catch phrases, enjoy amusing your friends by belting out "This is CNN" to anyone who'll listen.

Restaurant Empire

Okay, so once you've tired of the fast pace business of running your own Yoshinoya, you can go for the more cerebral Restaurant Empire.

Review of Restaurant Empire.
Official Restaurant Empire site.
View screenshots from the game

Link via kottke.org

Playboy: The Mansion Video Game

We heard abbout Playboy: The Mansion game back in May.

In the game, players don the pajamas of Playboy impresario Hugh Hefner and are given the task of building the Playboy empire by developing contacts, keeping the bunnies happy, selling magazines and, of course, throwing lavish parties.

And now we have the answer to the question on all our minds: Yes, the illusionist David Copperfield does indeed makes an appearance in the game.

The Toy Museum

The Toy Museum is an incredibly cool site that documents "over 700 advertising icons spanning more than a century of American history." The museum itself is "located in Miami, Florida in the offices of the award-winning advertising, PR, interactive agency named CreatAbility."

You can browse the online museum as you would the actual exhibit and with each click on brand mascot, you receive more information about the figure and the company it represents.

I'm particularly partial to the Big Boy.

American Girl Dolls TV Movie

American Girl dolls headed to U.S. TV "Julia Roberts' production company has developed a U.S. TV movie based on the popular American Girl dolls, it was reported Wednesday."

Related:
Official American Girl site

Mattel 2nd-quarter profit up 12 percent"Due to solid growth at its Fisher-Price and American Girl divsions

American Girl dolls boosting Mattel as Barbie slumps

Barbie and Blaine

From the "kind of creepy of Mattel for thinking so much about Barbie's relationships department" comes news that Barbie has finally found a new boyfriend after her breakup with Ken in February. (I wasn't aware that they were even fighting).

The Seattle Times: Living: Single Barbie finds new boy toy

The article ends on another particularly odd note:

Voelker-Ferrier theorizes that Mattel never had Ken and Barbie marry because of perceptions about his latent sexual preference. "What if Ken is gay and coming out?" she says, pointing out the 1993 "Earring Magic Ken" doll, which gave him a pierced left ear and had him clad in a lavender mesh vest. That Ken doll became extremely popular in the gay community.

It's not like "Blaine" seems particularly straight.

Go wild in the Barbie Amazon store.

Pop Rocks Kill

Inventor of Pop Rocks candy dies in Stockton at 92

Mitchell's most famous invention was Pop Rocks - the exploding candy that became a cultural phenomenon after it hit the market in 1975. He made the discovery accidentally, while trying to design an instant soft drink, when he put some sugar flavoring mixed with carbon dioxide in his mouth

Candy is cyclical. Every generation thinks they discover the secret gem of sugary bliss. My class discovered Pop Rocks when we were in fourth grade. Enterprising students bought in bulk and sold at recess. The same enterprising students also sold lanyard strings, stickers and slap-on bracelets.

See also:
Did Mikey really die by mixing Pop Rocks with soda?
Buy your Pop Rocks in bulk! Because it's all about moderation.
How do Pop Rocks work?
Gassified Candy patent

Transformers Movie

Spielberg Turns 'Transformers' to Film

Steven Spielberg, who has turned sharks into blockbusters and aliens into lovable movie characters, is now taking on shape-shifting toy robots for a "Transformers" film.

The live-action version of the 1980s toys is planned by DreamWorks for a summer 2006 release.

The good news: We're finally going to see a live-action Optimus Prime on the big screen.

The bad news: He's going to be played by Tom Hanks.

See also:
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime
Transformers: The Ultimate Guide
Transformers - First Season Collector's Edition
I have a preference for his brother, Rodimus Prime
Official Transformers site from Hasbro
Transformers fan fiction

Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp puts the focus back on Charlie and plans to stay truer to the book. US release date scheduled for July 15, 2005.

the new Oompa Loompas should prove to be fascinating to see. While in the movie they were uniformed little men with orange skin and green hair, in the book they were even tinier, with rosy-white skin, luscious manes of golden-brown hair, and tribal-looking deerskins slung over their shoulders. One commonality that they do bear to their filmic cousins is a love for singing.

For those who aren't creeped out enough by the original oompas, these seem determined to provide sleepless nights.

Somewhat related: Bit Players, a short film in which Verne Troyer monologues as an actor who just wants to be taken seriously -- the problem is that he's relegated to playing an Oompa Loompa.

See also:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory pre-release news
The Candy Home of Willy Wonka
The official Roald Dahl site