Malik
(10/3/05)
My dangerous work
site is without power, so I have the day off. Doesn't mean
much to all of you, except for getting an earlier post, but it sure
makes me feel good!
For those who
noticed, I didn't get around to posting on Friday. Normally,
unless I'm on vacation, I try to avoid this. However, Friday
was just too busy of a day. Between having the wonderful oral
torture of a dentist appointment, doing a product test for Microsoft
(no better way to get a free copy of the $500 Office Pro 2003
suite...BOOYAH!), and then seeing Serenity in the evening, it was
just too busy of a day to do much besides travel and do those
things.
First of all,
however, I feel like making a small mention of Serenity. I
won't spoil anything, since there is a lot in this movie that can be
spoiled. I'll just say the this is one hell of an awesome
movie, and it was nothing short of wonderful (for once) to see a
movie that I wanted to see so badly that was sold out like
mad. Every show at the local theater was sold out, and despite
getting there about half an hour before the show, Velveeta and I
still had to wait behind a couple hundred people in line ahead of
us. I'm happy about seeing a movie in which I have to sit in a
corner seat since it means there's a better chance that someone will
try to get Joss Whedon to make more movies (or...please make it
so...a new TV series of Firefly...please...). The
movie itself was nothing short of amazing. The plot was solid,
the action was like the action of Firefly, but with a major budget
behind it, and the acting was the same wonderful acting us Firefly
fans have come to know and love. I just wish, in hind-sight,
that this had instead been part of the TV series. There was
just too much stuff going on to really feel right in a 2 hour
format. In fact, I think this movie could've easily been the
majority of a full season. At the end, I have only one problem
with the movie...that, if a new series is made (please), either some
things will have to be undone from the movie, or there will have to
be some changes that would not be for the best. I said I won't
spoil anything, so just watch the movie (if you already have,
then...well...you should know what I'm talking about) and you'll
understand. Well,
on game news, tomorrow is a great day for handheld owners. For
once the DS is getting great games, and it's several in just a week
of time! In fact, tomorrow is the first time a game is coming
out for the DS that actually should make me glad I bought the
system. Yes, I'm talking about Castlevania. Also, Trauma
Center is coming out, for those who like the quirky and more unique
of games that are best suited for the DS touch screen. To
make things even better, the more anticipated of games will continue
to pour onto the portables next week with Pheonix Wright: Ace
Attorney. I'm not sure if this is a game I would ever consider
buying, but it would definitely be entertaining for a single night
that is fueled by massive quantities of booze. To
continue my random subject changes, I just feel like saying enough
is enough with the nomenclature (system of naming, for those who
don't have taxonomy knowledge) of DS games. If a game is going
to have a secondary title, and many others in the series have
secondary titles (Castlevania has "Aria of Sorrow",
Symphony of the Night", "Harmony of
Dissonance"...Lunar has "Silver Star" and
"Eternal Blue"), keep it fluid. Don't just make some
lame secondary title that abbreviates to DS. Lunar: Dragon
Song and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow are just poorly named games to
get the DS abbreviation. Seriously. These names don't
fit in with past titles and just make it look more like developers
are trying to be trendy with the "DS" theme. Sorry,
I just had to voice that annoyance...it's been like a mosquito bite
that just won't quit itching, and the way for me to scratch is to
bitch. Speaking
of bitching...just when we all thought the XBox 360 deals could not
get any more silly, Gamestop
has gone insane. The old Omega bundle was stupid
enough, but when you add on a 42" Plasma TV from Dell...well,
while some would view this as the ultimate bundle for a truly
"hardcore" gamer, it's actually about the worst gamer
setup I've ever seen. Not only is this out of the budget of an
average hardcore geek, and not only is it pointless to get HD just
for a system (which is what bundling an HD-TV with a game system
implies), it is the worst type of TV to go with a new game
system. For those who don't follow technology (you disgust
me...joking...or am I?), a plasma TV (like the one in this retarded
bundle) should only be used for about 1-2 hours a day for the first
year. To go beyond that level of usage is risking damage to
the TV, and also on some plasma screens it will void the warrantee.
However, if you go with the 1-2 hours/day rule, it means it will
give you only about 42 minutes per week, on average, per week to
play each of your 20 games. Yeah...ummm...I don't think
so. While some people may actually be dumb enough to give in
for a brand new plasma screen for their 360, I'll be happy with my
good old-fashioned CRT (LCD is also nice) and play until my eyes
bleed with no fear of my TV dying before my eyes do. Malik
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Malik
(10/4/05)
Bioware has
announced an new game for the PC and 360 that looks pretty
interesting. I'm talking about their new Mass
Effect property. I also mean it when I say it
"looks" pretty interesting, since a few screen shots are
all we really have to go off of on this thing. This is the
game they licensed the Unreal 3 engine for. So, beyond the
fact that it's most likely some hybrid FPS/RPG, and that it takes
place in a futuristic looking world that involves some heavy looking
fire power, there is nothing to go off of. I wish there was
something else to really go off of, since a few pictures are not
actually worth a few thousand words in this case.
Beyond the little
blurb about Mass Effect, so far there's been no really exciting news
coming out of X'05. There's been a few updates on the games
we'll see in the next couple of months, and there's been some
announcements of games that make me shudder in fear (like a new
Superman title...now if any superhero needs to be banned from games,
this is the one). It's been pretty lackluster, especially in
comparison to how we've been getting some hardcore announcements at
previous game conventions this year (like the 360 at E3 and the
Revolution controller at TGS).
At least there's
some extra news that's not Microsoft related that sounds really
sweet. I'm talking about the news of GTA:
Liberty City Stories going multiplayer. While only three
of the supposed six play modes have been revealed, it sounds pretty
interesting. The modes basically come down to death-match,
capture the flag (with flags being vehicles), and a
pseudo-counter-strike mode in which one side defends four limos from
the other team (and then you swap sides to see which team can
destroy the cars quickest). All of this sounds pretty
interesting, assuming that the addition of these modes don't take
away from development time that could be used for the single player
story mode.
My only concerns
about the multiplayer GTA comes down to a few minor details.
First off is that the controls, which still sound sketchy with the
PSP having two fewer buttons and one fewer analogue-like stick than
the PS2, which did GTA so well. If the controls are solid,
than these modes can be fun. The other issue is that the game
only allows six players at a time...which can be pretty weak for
team games. I don't think I'm alone in saying that four on
four is about the smallest team size for a GOOD team death-match or
capture the flag style of game.
The final issue I
have is more of a curiosity. When the final modes are
revealed, will these include the one mode I have been wanting since
GTA3. Will you be able to play with more than one person in
the standard game. Imagine how sweet that would be.
Maybe six people would be a bit ridiculous, but two player co-op
would be nothing short of awesome. Rockstar could make the
game where the difficulty gets slightly boosted with a second
player, and thus the players can start to use some tactics that have
never before been possible in a GTA game. You can use one
person to draw out the enemies while the second player gets into a
sniping position, the first player can start an assault and once he
gets hurt the second takes over, you can have someone watching your
back...there are so many possibilities. Of course this will
probably not be included in the final PSP game, but I still think it
would be nothing short of awesome...
Ok, I'm incredibly
sick, and am nearing the point of hallucinating. So, this is
where I'll log off.
Malik
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Malik
(10/5/05)
Well, like I said
at the end of my post yesterday, I am sick. It's pretty
interesting since I rarely get a chance to be sick enough to zone
out while playing one of my favorite games. I was playing Lufia
2, and I found a few times that I kept staring at the exact same
block of text for over 10 minutes at a time...and then I would
wonder what was even going on in the game.
Maybe it's because
of how I'm sick and easily distracted, but I think I've seen the
best commercial of the year while zoning out to daytime TV. I
don't mean soap opera daytime TV...rather I mean the crap that
passes for entertainment on G4 during the day (shows like Judgment
Day). It was an ad for "Dungeons and Dragons For
Dummies". I actually spent about 2 hours last night
trying to find a link for this ad online (sadly, no one has it, but
many people desire to see it and have a saved copy of it).
This is one of those ads that is so bad that one would think that
you'd have to travel back to the 1980's to see it. I wish I
could describe it, but I'll just say that it involves a couple
saying how they wished they could be cool enough to play D&D,
but they were too confused by d20s and books. Then a crazy
lady on a backdrop of poorly drawn D&D inspired sketches
explains how D&D for Dummies could help them. Maybe it was
being sick that did it, but I am completely enthralled by this ad
(and I haven't even hit the hardcore cold and flu meds, like Dayquil,
yet).
On other news
(well, "actual news" may be a better description), Square
has finally shown off some details
of FF3 (as in the Japanese FF3 that never came to the
US...despite being one hell of an awesome game) for the DS. Apparently,
Square is doing more than just making a standard port. They
are even going beyond the slight visual upgrade that FF1 and 2 got
in Final Fantasy: Origins (PSX) that made those previously 8-bit
games look more 16-bit. FF3 is going 3D. While I have
yet to see some real visuals, it does mean that FF3 will probably
actually be worthy of being a DS title (since we've seen with game
like Mario 64 DS that 3D is easily done on the DS). Also,
despite how we had previously heard nothing about this game for
almost a year, FF3 DS is obviously no longer worthy of being called
vaporware. Now, if only we could get a release date (or a
general idea of when it will come out), that would be sweet.
On the DS side of
things, there's also a
video available for Xenosaga 1&2 (DS). As many may be
familiar with, I am a Xenogears fanboy (about the only thing I've
ever been a fanboy of, as opposed to being just a fan). Well,
things started to change when Xenosaga 2
showed me how a great game can inspire true crap. Actually,
more than anything, XS2 showed that good visuals (and it had some
pretty visuals) can be used too easily to over-compensate for a lack
of game play. Well, I have to say that the DS version of the
Xenosaga franchise has me intrigued...why? Well, if Xenosaga 2
was so bad, maybe with having a lack of quality visuals to fall back
on, the game play might have to be improved. Well, that's my
hopeful theory, anyway. It'll probably just turn out to be
more crappy battles with a self-indulgent plot...or at least it'll
have good game play (the self-indulgent story seems to be the chosen
method of storytelling that Monolith has chosen...bastards).
Last of all (I'm
still sick, so I can look at the computer screen too much more),
Castlevania DS is out. Well, I should say it shipped
yesterday, and my local EB should have it today. I think this
will be, for me, the first must have game of the DS. It's
about time that I stop feeling like my DS was a giant money
drain. If I could get into the concept of playing Internet
puzzle games and paying $30-$40 for them, I'd be in heaven with the
DS...but I have some sense of self-respect and conservation of
money. However, while I am not one to fully get into the
Advance Wars craze (which is a good game...just not my type of
thing), Castlevania DS should be a sufficient time killer and well
worth the money. I'll post tomorrow about how the game really
is, but I think I'll have some good things to say about it.
Malik
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Malik
(10/6/05)
Nintendo is once
again thinking
ahead on things. It's good to know that no matter how poorly
conceived some concepts are with Nintendo, they still go on with the
full intention of making things work as easily as possible. Case in
point, Nintendo is making a USB device that attaches to a PC to
allow WiFi DS connections, even if a user only has a wired Internet
connection. Too bad that the European price (no American price yet)
is in the neighborhood of $50...which is enough to find a wireless
router if you have a Fry's or a Best Buy in your neighborhood (or
have Internet access to reach Amazon or Best Buy online). Once
again, Nintendo has a good idea, but seems to be failing in the
execution...
...and some of my
friends wonder how I can be so pessimistic about the Revolution
controller. It's simple to be pessimistic. While great potential
exists, you still have the fact that the execution will be faulty
(like how the DS WiFi adapter is the price of a wireless router, or
how there will be too few games that properly use the Revolution
controller to do anything beyond mini-games). You could just say
that it's the curse of Nintendo. It's, as I like to look at it, the
same curse that George Lucas knows too well...Nintendo and Lucas are
both great at thinking of great and amazing things, but they both
can't achieve their visions alone (and with no third party for
Nintendo and no outside director for the original SW trilogy...well,
they just never go beyond being great concepts).
Since I've been
quite sick, I was able to get in more time with Castlevania DS than
I should normally be able to. So far, I'd have to say I'm almost
very impressed. The controls are solid, the use of the top screen is
amazing (switching between map and stats on the fly is great when
you want to either know how soon you'll level or where you are), the
plot is interesting, the visuals are nice (a little unpolished,
still...but nice none-the-less), the audio is great...in fact, you
could say that this game is perfect for being a must have DS
game...if not for two features.
The first feature
is "freeing souls". The instructions don't go into this
ability of Yoko (one of the shop keepers...the one who upgrades your
current weapons by infusing them with your extra souls you've
captured), and the explanation in the game was vague, at best. I
have no idea what this does, and I cannot find out online or in the
game's instructions. I guess it's probably not a required feature,
so I'll let it slide, for now.
The second feature
is the required "force the player to use the touch screen"
feature. When you defeat a monster, you will have to immediately
draw a symbol on the screen. You will have one chance to draw it
correctly (and since you will have just fought a boss, you will not
have time to pull out a stylus, so you better be good with drawing
on the touch screen with your fingers). If you fail, the boss will
come back with less than full (but still enough to hurt you) HP.
This is about as lame of a touch screen use as I have ever seen, and
it really doesn't belong in this type of game.
The worst part of
this symbol drawing is that you had just fought a boss. This means,
if the boss was difficult, your hands will probably be sweaty and
your hands may even be shaking (this game can get your adrenaline
pumping like few other portables games can). This means you will
often times fail and have to fight the boss some more, but with a
horrible smear of sweat now running across the screen. I haven't
actually failed a boss fight because of this, but I have wasted
excessive potions, leading to me having to waste time collecting
more money after a fight to replenish my potion stocks.
At least the
second use of the touch screen is pretty fun. The second use lets
you break crystal blocks that hinder your progress by simply
touching them. This is pretty fun, and it makes you think a little
bit since it's rare that the solution to a crystal block room will
be as simple as "destroy them all". Usually you will have
to keep some as platforms to jump on to, but others will need to be
removed to give you a path to take. Plus, since this type of puzzle
will not be during a boss fight, you usually don't have to worry
about too much sweat blurring your screen.
I should have a
full review of this game sometime early next week (unfortunately, it
will have to be sans images, since there's no way to hook my video
capture device up to my DS...yet...). I can already give a hint that
this game does live up to what I said before; one of the (if not
THE) first must have DS games. Simply speaking, this game is better
than any of the GBA Castlevania games, and just barely lower down
than SotN.
Malik
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Malik
(10/7/05)
It's amazing how
something as simple as a mod chip can lead to a
four year long lawsuit. However, that's just what happened in
Australia. Sony decided to take Eddy Stevens to court over how he
was Australia's premier mod chip supplier.
While it's nothing
new to see Sony trying to take down someone for something like
modifying a Sony console, it is nice to see the judges decision in
this case. It's also especially nice to see when you consider how
some games just don't come to certain markets until far later than
they should (like the European launch of the PSP coming about 9
months after Japan and six months after the US launch), and
sometimes they arrive for ridiculous prices compared to other
markets. Well, I think this MSNBC article says it as well as I
can;
The High Court
ruled that while making a pirated copy of a game is illegal, playing
a game using a mod chip is not.
A lawyer for
Stevens, Nathan Mattock, said the ruling would allow Australian
consumers to buy lower price versions of games overseas and play
them on their Australian-bought PlayStation consoles, provided they
have a mod chip installed.
Sounds about right
to me. Now if only the same logic could be applied to the US, or
better yet, if the ultimate logic of Sony knocking out region coding
would kick in. Personally, I don't have a mod chip (only because I
know of other pass-throughs for my imports), but I know I probably
would if they were legal and thus I could find a store to install
them for me at a non-black-market price. Or better, I wouldn't even
need them if only I could get my Japanese titles to work without
going through the hassle of attaching
random bits of plastic to my PS2 (not that I endorse this
company in particular, but they have the best image of what is on
the market and a somewhat competitive price).
Beyond all of
that, I just have to say it's nice to see that random image of the
PS3 that's included at the top of the MSNBC article. We've seen it
before, but it's been a while so I forgot what a potentially
$500-$1000 George Foreman grill would look like. If only it could
grill me up a steak...yeah...
All silliness
aside (well...that type of silliness...), I went ahead and got We
Love Katamari last night. This time I mean I got the American
version. It was fun playing the Japanese import, but I needed to
know what words of advice the King of All Cosmos had to tell me.
Well, I am not disappointed. It's just as good as the Japanese
version, sans the co-op helping feature of showing your analogue
sticks, but with a language that doesn't leave me running to an FAQ
to know what the hell I'm supposed to do in each level.
I'm still playing
Castlevania DS, but I did need some WLK action (it's like a drug
with no consequences). I should probably be done with Castlevania
pretty soon. In fact, that's my only major complaint about this game
(except the drawing of symbols that I mentioned yesterday)...it's
pretty short. Unlike SotN, which gave an extra castle after you
finished the original castle, DS is a little more on the short side.
I'm running at about maybe 2 hours before I'm finished with this
game. Also, it doesn't help that this one is so much more linear
than it needs to be. I won't knock down my impression of the game
over that, but I still think Konami needs to look back at the glory
days of SotN before they make anymore Castlevania games.
When a company
makes a game as amazing as SotN, and when they decide to duplicate
it's style for so many other games in the series (like all the
portable Castlevania games found on the GBA and DS), they should go
head on and not just half-ass it. In other words, give us more
hidden rooms, more special weapon combos, more chances to explore,
more fun powers (remember how SotN had a couple pages of
artifacts...DS has something like 7, and the collecting of monster
souls doesn't make up for that), and more variety in the themes of
different sections of the castle.
In fact, if Konami
wants to make one hell of an awesome game for the next portable
Castlevania, I have a nice suggestion; make a new game dealing with
what happened to Alucard since SotN. Make it a lot like SotN (not a
clone, but with the options and features that that game gave us).
Then, to make it as hella sweet as possible, make it on the PSP (for
better visuals and the wide-screen approach). I would drop $50 on
that type of game in an instant.
Don't get me
wrong; Castlevania DS is a great game, I just always have my mind on
the future and the future could be so damned amazing. Anyway, it's
time for a geek-filled weekend, but expect a Castlevania DS review
sometime early next week.
Malik
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