Australian Target Wii Bundle

[Yegolev]

[Azazel]

Those voucher booklets are always $10-20 off of specific games and items, most of which you'd have never bought anyway. At Target's slightly-higher-than-average retail. So, basically, they're shit. Also, it's Australian $ at retail. New games tend to retail for about au$100, and the 360
s games are au$110-120.

You'd probably pay the same or less by shopping smart and taking advantage of EB sales and price-matching of cheap items.

Also, TRU has a "free game with pre-order and $50 deposit" thing running. I believe EB is matching it.

[Yegolev]

Said it before... will say it again... I'm glad I don't live in Australia.

[UnSub]

Free public healthcare and lack of gun crime tend to somewhat offset that our exchange rate sucks against the US$.

[NiX]

Free public healthcare and lack of gun crime tend to somewhat offset that our exchange rate sucks against the US$.

Don't bother. If us Canucks can't get away with that, why should you?

[Signe]

If they were to sort out a proper time zone, I wouldn't mind living in Australia for a year or so.  Not so easy to get a job or move there, though.  I've had several friends who tried, one even had a brother living there, and they all failed miserably.  Most of them MIGHT have been criminals, though.  Shouldn't think that would bother them much there, but it does seem to. 

I'd go in a flash to New Zealand, however, even though their time zone is one of the sucky ones.  There's not much to do, but I'm a HUGE All Blacks fan!

[Yegolev]

Free public healthcare

That argument only works on poor people.  When there is a Mr. Bean episode mocking the UK "deli counter" medical system, you know you would rather pay for it.  I'm not saying that the US medical system is great, just that it works for me.  Because I'm not poor.

If I were in the Star Wars movies, I'd totally work for the Empire.  I admit it.  Well, up until it looked like they were losing.

lack of gun crime

This argument only works on people who do not carry their own gun.  A recent change in Georgia law allows me to shoot people in my yard if I believe they are threatening me; no more dragging the body into the house after you perforate them!  Anyway, I've seen plenty of Aussie movies where people are using guns.  It's entirely possible the gun crime is so low because there isn't anyone else around to shoot.

Now, I'd love to visit Australia and I am mostly just being funny in the above remarks, the kernels of truth aside.  I love everyone.  Australia seems like an awesome place.  The only reason I do not want to live there is because of the censorship.

[UnSub]

I'm still boggling over Signe's "if they were to sort out a proper timezone" comment...

And censorship? Tell you what - attractive woman shows her boobs at our major sporting event on TV, people would go, "Hey, that's great! More please!" Janet Jackson pops a breast out and the US seemed to lose its mind

Yeah, you can't get uncensored materials here when shopping locally. Pretty much everything else is available. And if you don't mind importing from NZ, you can get the stuff that's banned too.

As for guns - we have them, but the Port Arthur Massacre really kicked anti-gun laws up to an appropriate standard.

On topic: Wii = penis lolololol

[Yegolev]

I really just mean censorship related to videogames.

Wii = penis, sure... when waving the Wiimote around I bet lots of people imagine it's a dildo and giggle.  With the right software and accessories, it would be Schild's forseen teledildonics.

[Azazel]

Most of them MIGHT have been criminals, though.  Shouldn't think that would bother them much there, but it does seem to. 

See, this is the problem. You think you're being funny, but you just come across as completely ignorant. If it was also funny, noone would mind.

I'd go in a flash to New Zealand, however, even though their time zone is one of the sucky ones.

*free clue* It's not sucky when you live there. You don't even make sense here.

Now, I'd love to visit Australia and I am mostly just being funny in the above remarks, the kernels of truth aside.  I love everyone.  Australia seems like an awesome place.  The only reason I do not want to live there is because of the censorship.

Videogame censorship isn't anything that's ever made a difference. Not to anything worth playing, anyway.

[Tale]

It surprises me that US time zones are only a day behind real time. Americans always seem much further behind than that.

[Cyrrex]

Most of them MIGHT have been criminals, though.  Shouldn't think that would bother them much there, but it does seem to. 

See, this is the problem. You think you're being funny, but you just come across as completely ignorant. If it was also funny, noone would mind.

I'd go in a flash to New Zealand, however, even though their time zone is one of the sucky ones.

*free clue* It's not sucky when you live there. You don't even make sense here.

C'mon man, you're not seriously having another go at her for this?  It WAS funny.  Are you choosing to take offense because of what was said or because of who said it? 

[Azazel]

No, it's nothing to do with her. Each thread is it's own thing.

It's just an idiot joke that's only funny to ignorant people and has nothing to do with how Australians percieve themselves and nothing to do with a massive chunk of the population's ancestry anyway. It's like.. how can I explain it. It's like there are four things that most Americans (think) they know about Australia.

1) We're all descended from convicts. (A very small percentage of the population is descended from convicts, maybe comparable to the US' puritans)
2) We all like to eat shrimp from the barbie and do it all the time. (They're called Prawns. And while they're nice, they're far from a staple of BBQs.)
3) We all drink Fosters. All the time. (No-one here drinks that piss. That's why we export it.)

Oh yes, and we have Steve Erwin who was the update to Paul Hogan.

So you get the same tired jokes over and over based on those 3 false premises, over and over and it just gets very old and it wasn't funny to begin with.

Or perhaps, getting asked if we all ride Kangaroos to work. Yes, it's very clever. No we haven't heard that one before. You must have been very clever to think of that one all by yourself. 

I'm all up for a bit of self-depreciating humour, as long as it's funny. Kind of like we were all excited for, then horribly disappointed by that shit Simpsons episode. ;)

[Cyrrex]

Okay, I understand where you are coming from - as an American in Europe, I get similar shit based on pre-conceived notions about how Americans and America are supposed to be.  As if I am in any way responsible for the likes of George Bush, for example.

That said, I would be willing to bet that Signe is well in tune with this sort of thing, and isn't speaking out of any kind of ignorance.  Perhaps it's the feined ignorance that rubs you the wrong way...people have different senses of humor, after all.

And I probably shouldn't say it, but I really enjoyed that Simpsons episode (well aware of how ridiculous it was, mind you).  "I'll have a glass of water."  "Beer?"

"No, waa-terr."

"Be-er?"

Classic.

[Tale]

My favourite cultural confusion is when an American in my MMOG group said "Dang Skippy" and I took offence.

Skippy was a 1970s Australian kids' TV drama about a national park ranger's son and a kangaroo (called Skippy, or just Skip). It became such an Australian cliche that later, when immigrants were looking for an answer to racial insults like "wog" (offensive slang for an Italian or Greek Australian), they started calling white Australians "skips".

So "Damn Skippy" effectively means "I don't like that white Aussie" :)

(edit: lol http://youtube.com/watch?v=_hezTwiFYL4)

[UnSub]

My favourite cultural confusion is when an American in my MMOG group said "Dang Skippy" and I took offence.

Skippy was a 1970s Australian kids' TV drama about a national park ranger's son and a kangaroo (called Skippy, or just Skip). It became such an Australian cliche that later, when immigrants were looking for an answer to racial insults like "wog" (offensive slang for an Italian or Greek Australian), they started calling white Australians "skips".

So "Damn Skippy" effectively means "I don't like that white Aussie" :)

(edit: lol http://youtube.com/watch?v=_hezTwiFYL4)

I'm yet to understand how being called a skip is meant to insult me. It just doesn't work.

And (back to censorship) the only games to be denied classification (effect: they can't be legally sold within Australia) have been Manhunt, GTA: SA (after the Hot Coffee Mod become known) and Getting Up: That Graffiti Game. So, it's hardly like we can't play what we want.

And as I said before, you want any of those games, you can buy them from NZ.

[Yegolev]

I do admit to being rather fascinated by the idea of being drenched in sweat at Christmastime.