Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I Need Opinions Here

While browsing one of my favorite websites, I found this article. The article states that two Swiss Human Rights Groups ran a study that "attempted to determine if the acts gamers engage in while they play violent titles would "lead to violations of rules of international law, in particular International Humanitarian Law (IHL), basic norms of International Human Rights Law (IHRL), or International Criminal Law (ICL)."" Yes, I know that might sound confusing to most people, so I reccomend reading the article.

Basically, these groups had people play through several action games while lawyers watched them to "try to find actions in games that in real life would violate rules and regulations that govern armed conflict". Sound stupid to you? If not, then read it again. These people are trying to enforce real-life rules into the fictional worlds of video games.

Wait, is that a burning building in the background? How dare they!

I found a sentence from the article that I find hilarious, simply because it is so contradictory. "The organizations said the study is not intended to "prohibit the games, to make them less violent or to turn them into IHL or IHRL training tools." Instead, the groups want to work with developers to ensure that in the future, their games observe real-life human-rights laws." Does anyone else find that funny? They're not trying to prohibit the games, but want them to adhere to a set of rules that are only applicable in real life. To me, that sounds exactly like prohibiting, especially when you find out that they want game developers to take out things that make certain games enjoyable. To quote the groups: "civilians or protected objects such as churches or mosques can be attacked with impunity, in scenes portraying interrogations it is possible to torture, degrade or treat the prisoner inhumanely without being sanctioned for it and extrajudicial executions are simulated".



To me, this is all some of the most ridiculous hogwash I've read in a long time. Video games, and the worlds they encompass (however similar to this one), are works of fiction and must remain as such. There is no reason that a work of fiction should be following any set rules of the real life world. If video game developers want to make it possible to blow up a church in a video game, then they have every right to make it possible.



The thing about this article that irks me the most? The fact that they are trying to enforce human rights on video games. Last time I checked, the characters in a video game were nothing more than a complex set of 1s and 0s, not actual humans, and therefor, lie outside the rules of the real world.



But, what about the rest of you? Do you think we've reached a point in the world where works of fiction have to be governed by the laws of real life? If we're going to do it to video games, why not do it to books? What about movies? Share what you think in the comments.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

I Think We Need An Update Here

My posting on this blog has been missing, as of late. I'll try to be better at it, I swear.

Today's post is just going to be a few of my first impressions of games I've played recently.

First off is Phantasy Star 0 (zero). Phantasy Star 0, which is for the Nintendo DS, is very similar to some of the other games in the series, but isn't exactly like any of them. The gameplay is like a mesh of Phantasy Star Portable, Phantasy Star Universe and Phantasy Star Online, all of which were great games. I personally think the game is closer in similarities to Phantasy Star Online rather than the others. First off, the race and class selection is taken almost straight from Phantasy Star Online (PSO). Unlike Phantasy Star Portable (PSP) and Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) you're limited to 3 races and 3 classes; Humans, Newmans, and Casts for races, and Hunters, Rangers, and Forces for classes. Just as in PSO, each race is limited in what class it can be, such as Casts not being able to be Forces. Character customization is severely limited when compared with PSP and PSU, both of which let you change outfits, hair, parts (for Casts) and accesories. With Phantasy Star 0 (PSZ), you're limited right from the start. Just as with PSO, you can only change a few things about your appearance, such as your color (for Casts), your hair style and the one set of clothes you wear. (Rememeber, this is a first impression of the game. I haven't finished it yet, so the ability to change clothing and such might still come later.)



I am excited, however, at the reappearance of the Mag. (In PSO, a Mag was a small robot that followed you around and boosted stats and such. Feeding your Mag would make it "evolve" and boost you even more. PSU and PSP had Mags, but they didn't do as much as in PSO.) I'm not sure if the Mags are going to be as awesome as they were in PSO, but I can sure as heck hope they will be.

Graphics-wise, the game is nowhere near the quality of PSP (which, ironically, was on the PSP, which has always been the superior to the Nintendo DS as far as graphics capabilities.) But, the game is still decent to look at.

My only problem so far with playing is the lack of an ability to control the camera. With all the others (PSP, PSU, PSO) there was a button to swing the camera around behind you. So far with PSZ, I have been unable to find that button. Maybe I should read through the little guide that came with it, it might tell me how to do that. But, if there is no button for camera swings, I'm going to be extremely disappointed.

All in all, I'm liking the game so far. (But, I might be biased. I have liked all of the Phantasy Star games so far.) Although, I have now taken a break from PSZ so I can go back and complete PSP. I guess that's normal though. I didn't want to get too far into a new Phantasy Star game before I finished all I could on a previous one.

My first impression score (which I'm no longer calculating on a 1 to 5 basis, but on a level of how much I want to keep playing it): Interested & Wanting More.

Basically, there's too much left to play in the game for me to say "Yea" or "Nay" to it. I'm pretty sure that I'll like it, simply because it's a Phantasy Star game, but I'll try to keep my mind open and give an unbiased opinion when I finish it.

Next on my list of new game first impressions is Little Big Planet for the PSP. Little Big Planet made it's first appearance on the PS3 and was met with huge success. It was a very smart, logical step for Sony to take by porting the game to the PSP.

Little Big Planet for the PSP (LBPP) plays very much like its predecessor. The graphics are, of course, nowhere near the caliber of the PS3, but they are still quite amazing. In my opinion, it looks just fine on the small screen. The controls are almost exactly the same, minus the ability to tilt the controller to make your Sackboy move, which wasn't really a neccesity.

Gameplay-wise, you're not going to notice anything really different about LBPP from LBP. You still sidescroll across the screen and grab things. Grabbing things can help you move and can also activate certain things in the game. It's a very simple game to play that is still extremely fun.

Character Customization in LBPP is just as amazing as LBP. You can change pretty much anything on your Sackboy, and you can also save the outfits you create so you can jump between them. There are moustaches, hats, hair, clothes, accesories that you can choose from, as well as different "skin" colors to choose from.

All in all, LBPP is a great port from a great game. I definitely will be playing more of it.

First impression score: Entertained & Wanting More (You may notice that my new way of ranking something based on a first impression is not really set by anything. It's probably going to be different for each game.)

Unlike Phantasy Star 0, I know enough about this game to be able to say "Yea" to it. I know I loved the PS3 version and with how similar the PSP version is, it's safe to say I'll love it.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days - review

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, a game for the Nintendo DS, is the fourth story installment for the Kingdom Hearts series. It follows the story of Roxas, which (if you had played Kingdom Hearts II all the way through) is Sora's Nobody, or basically a form of Sora that doesn't have a heart. Event-wise, it takes place during the year in-between Kingdom Hearts I and II, Starting at nearly the same time as Chain of Memories.

Although the story is about Roxas, it focuses on three individuals in particular: Axel, Roxas, and Xion, all members of Organization XIII, which is a group consisting of the most powerful nobodies amongst all the known worlds. The focus particularly is about their friendship and their attempt to maintain it, regardless of the other forces at hand.

The story itself is one similar to any of the other Kingdom Hearts games: it starts off simple, mostly just figuring out how to play; but it becomes very long, especially if you want to do all the side missions and stories.

From left to right: Axel, Roxas and Xion.


Gameplay follows the pattern similar to other Kingdom Hearts games, too. 3D environment, lock-on, use magic and different keyblades to defeat foes.

Differences from the other games in the title series make this a new animal to tackle, too. You don't just level up. It is in the game, yes, but it is treated differently. You are alloted slots, and everything that you would use in the game will take up at least one slot, depending on the power of the item. The items are called panels, and there is a panel for everything. You want to level up? Gain enough experience from defeating enemies, then put the level panel you obtain into a slot, as an example.

A big difference in game mechanics that I liked was the Keyblades themselves. Different keyblades not only looked different (obviously), but they were used differently. Some blades would have a small amount of hits per round but deal typically a great deal of damage, while others had long chains of hits per round, but deal little to moderate damage. Additionally, those chains would be assigned to use on ground only or in air only. You could attack either on ground or in the air regardless, but you could only do the chain on one of them.

And another difference, which I think was the biggest and best, was the introduction of multiplayer. Up to four people can play together on a mission, each person initially being able to play any member of the organization. Then, when you get to certain parts of the game or unlock specific parts of the game, other characters become available to play in multiplayer, from Donald or Goofy to King Mickey to even Sora himself.

A screenshot of the multiplayer system on the game.

Score: 4 out of 5

The game was good. Very good. I had no real complaint with the control scheme or even the panel system. Rotating the camera was semi-difficult at first, but I quickly adapted to that.

The story was also good. It answered most of the questions I had that had arisen when going through both Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II. Some other questions arose, but will most likely be answered by the next installment in the Kingdom Hearts series, known as Birth by Sleep.

The main issue I had was the amount of time it took to beat the game. I know, it had to complete a whole year within the game, but some of the missions were difficult, and if you wanted to do all of the side quests and unlock as much as you could, you would need to put in nearly triple the amount of hours. I am aware that Kingdom Hearts games take a while to beat, but I put a lot more time into this game than I originally intended.

Still, it is a good game. It is a must-have for anyone who is a fan of Kingdom Hearts, and will answer most of the questions you had about the series.


~Koubo

Friday, October 9, 2009

Gurren Lagann - Review

For me, an anime has to have a good blend of action, drama, and even romance for me to really get into it. There are only a couple animes that I rank as my favorites. Martian Succesor Nadesico is one of those, and now, so is Gurren Lagann.

Gurren Lagann starts out fast and stays fast throughout the entirety of the series. I have to admit, when one of my friends first introduced me to the show, I felt trepidation about whether or not I could get into it; I'm not usually one for giant robot animes. Nadesico and Evangelion were about the only two I could ever really get in to. So, when I first started watching Gurren Lagann, I had all but decided that I wouldn't like it. But, after I watched the first few episodes, I became hooked. I wanted to watch more of it, but didn't want to spend the large amounts of money that it would cost to buy the DVDs. So, I started looking around for a deal on it. That deal came from the iTunes Store. I found the entire series on sale for only $26.00, so I immediately downloaded it and started watching.



While the series does dwell quite a bit on the giant robot (Gunmen, as they're called) parts, that's not what it's all about. The Gunmen fight sequences are spectacularly animated and pleasing to the eye (the final battle of the whole series blew my mind). But, the thing that really drew me in was the relationships between the characters (all of which were also extremely well animated. I'm just going to say this now; Gurren Lagann was one of the most visually pleasing animes I have watched.) What starts out as a love triangle between what seem to be the 3 main characters, Simone, Kamina & Yoko (I say "seem to be" because, in my opinion, most of the characters could be considered "main") draws you in and makes you feel for each of them. And it's not just the relationships that are well thought out. Each character in the series has their own quirks and personality that endears you to each of them.



Probably one of my favorite things about this anime is what they did with it about 7 episodes in. I'm not going to say what it is, but I will say that when if first happened, I felt betrayed by an anime that I was growing to like more and more, but then, later in the series, I knew that the story wouldn't have been nearly as good if they hadn't done it. It really did make the series enjoyable.

Gurren Lagann is divided into 2 different story arcs, each lasting about 13 episodes. The first deals with the rebels from the underground cities seeking out and destroying the Spiral King. At first there are only 3 of them with only 2 Gunmen (Gurren and Lagann, which can combine to create the powerful Gurren Lagann), but as the story progresses, more and more rebels join the cause and each ends up with a Gunmen of their own, eventually making a formidable army, known as Team Dai Gurren. I thought I had seen big robots before, but some of the Gunmen in Gurren Lagann are ridiculousyl huge. Just when you think you've seen the biggest of them, they throw an even bigger one into the story. But, instead of being silly, the bigger and bigger robots made the story. The first arc of the story ends with Simone destroying the Spiral King and the rebels all celebrating. But, as the Spiral King is dying, he utters what sounds like a prophecy of the future which basically says when the population of humans on the earth reaches 1 million bad stuff will happen.

Start the second arc, which takes place years after the end of the first. The rebels have built a city of their own and have advanced greatly in the few years that have passed. Simone is the ruler of the city and the members of Team Dai Gurren are all high up in the New Government. The action, once again, starts right off when a tear in the sky releases a strange looking Gunmen just as the 1 millionth person is born on the surface. Simone gets in Gurren Lagann and heads out to fight the new Gunmen, eventually beating it by using his signature drill attack. The Gunmen explodes and the fragments of it fall to the ground... and explode on impact. Much of the city is destroyed. Simone is overthrown as ruler and placed in prison, but is later released when they realize that only he and Gurren Lagann can defeat the new enemies. As I said earlier, the giant robots keep getting bigger in this series, and in the second story arc, this is just as true. The moon eventually becomes a Gunmen that can combine with Gurren Lagann to make a huge fortress. Soon, they find out that the attacks are from the Anti Spiral race and set off into space to fight them. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but as the story draws to a close, the battles between Gunmen become more and more epic. Eventually, the heroes triumph over the villains and live out their lives in peace.


Easily the most epic Giant Robot I've ever seen.



There is so much more to the story than what I've written here, but I don't want to give too much away. I'd rather you watch the series yourself to find out just how amazing this anime really is.

My final score: 5 out of 5.

This anime has one of the most gripping stories I've seen in an anime and leaves you wanting more after each episode. I know for sure that I'm going to be watching this over and over; it's just that good. With excellent character development and stunning animation, this is easily my second favorite anime. I highly recommend going out and watching all of it, you won't be disappointed.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Retro Downloadable Content Part 2

Well, hopefully you all read my wishlist of retro downloads I'd like to see available on my PSP via the Playstation Network. If not, the link is here.

This post though, is my wishlist for retro games I'd like to see made available on the DSi. Just as a note, this whole list is not likely to come to pass unless Nintendo decides to make a Virtual Console for the DSi that will play GameBoy games. So, before the list, I'd just like to say that I, and many, many other people are all hoping for that Virtual Console.10 Retro Games (Or Series Of Games) I'd Like To Be Able To Download Onto My DSi:

-First on my list is Zelda games. There were only a few released on the GameBoy, but the few that were are some of the best. Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages would be the three that I'd most like to see on the DSiWare store.

-Next is the Super Mario Land games, all three of them. They took what was great on the Super Mario games on the NES, tweaked it, and made three awesome games. If I had to choose just one of them, I'd probably go with Super Mario Land 2, with 1 close behind.

-I know I may be mocked for this, but I do enjoy the Pokemon series of games; they're just good RPGs. With the release of the DS versions of Pokemon (Pearl, Diamond, Platinum and soon Heart Gold and Soul Silver) making downloadable versions of the earlier games would seem like a good idea. Especially if they came up with a way to transfer Pokemon between the downloads and the DS cartridge games, which I'm sure they'd be able to do.

-In recent times, it seems that Sega and Nintendo have joined forces just slightly, we've seen Sonic in several Nintendo games, from Olympic games to the Super Smash Bros. series, so I hope it's not too much to ask that those wonderful Sonic the Hedgehog games from the Sega Genesis make an appearance on the DSi.

-If I can ask for Genesis style Sonic games, I'd like to also ask for a couple other Genesis games; Earthworm Jim would be one of those, as well as Altered Beast. Both are classics that would be more than welcome on my DSi.

-If we're going to do more than just wish for GameBoy games, I'd like to also see Donkey Kong Country make it's way to the DSi store and, in line with that, the Donkey Kong Land games that were released on the GameBoy. I think Donkey Kong Land 2 was the first video game I ever owned. It came with my GameBoy Pocket and I've never gotten sick of playing it. Porting it over to the DSi would be a grand trip down the road of nostalgia.

-I would be remiss to not mention two of the greatest Disney video games ever in this list. Both Aladdin and The Lion King were great games and would make a great addition to my DSi. After all the years they've been out, I still think these two are the best foray into video games Disney has made. (Besides Kingdom Hearts, of course.)

-I love puzzle games so I think it goes without saying that Tetris should have been made available on the DSi Store a long time ago. I want the original Tetris that started it all.

-I know I already wished for Super Mario Land games, but I think I should also ask for the Super Mario Bros. games that were released on the NES and SNES. (Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, & 3 as well as Super Mario World.) Yes, yes, I know that they aleady reincarnated those as GameBoy Advance games, but that doesn't mean they should stop there. Besides, the DSi doesn't even have a GBA slot, so I can't very well play them on it anyway.

-For my last wish, I'm going to wish for something that would be incredibly easy to port to the DSi: Mario Paint. Think about it; when it came out for the SNES you had to have a mouse to play it, think about how much easier it would be with a touch screen/stylus setup. I would really love to mess around with the music creator again which, again, would be much easier with a stylus.

So there's my wishlist for Nintendo DSiWare. Are my hopes set too high? Are most of these unlikely to ever be ported over? Or do you think Nintendo might just fulfil my dreams?

What about you? Do you have any retro games you'd love to be able to download and play on your new gen systems? Let us know what they are in the comments.

Retro Downloadable Content Part 1

With downloadable content becoming more and more popular, and with the ability to download it onto pretty much any system, I thought I might take a minute to list off some of the retro games I'd like to see available for download, hopefully in the near future. As a portable gaming enthusiast, I'm going to make two lists. One for retro games I'd like to be able to download onto my PSP. The second list will be for the DSi and its DSi Ware store. The DSi list will technically be pointless simply because Nintendo will need to release a Virtual Console for GameBoy, GameBoy Color and possibly GameBoy Advance games for the DSi before any of my wishlist for it can come to be.10 Retro Games (Or Series Of Games) I'd Like To See On The Playstation Network (PSP List):

-The first games that come to mind are the Quake series. They may not be as retro as games like the original Mario, but they still take me back. If I had to settle for only one game in the series, it would have to be Quake 1. There was just something about that game that made me play it over and over. I'd love to be able to have a portable version to take with me. (They made Quake for the Pocket PC, why not for the PSP?)


-Another series I'd like to be able to download is the Hexen series. I know most of you have no idea what those games are, so I'll sum up. Hexen and Hexen 2 were basically Quake-like games, but with swords and axes instead of shotguns and nailguns. The gameplay was extremely similar to Quake, but with a medieval twist to it that I loved.


-With the rumors of Sega Dreamcast games coming to the Playstation Network, I thought I'd include a couple of them in this list. (Yes, I'm counting the Dreamcast games as a "series".) The orignal Soul Caliber would be an excellent game to download, though unlikely with an actual PSP version of the game coming out. Phantasy Star Online Episodes 1 & 2 were awesome on the Dreamcast and could only be better as PSP downloads. Sonic Adventure, while straying from the original side scroller versions of the game, was still amazing; I'd definitely like to play that on my PSP.


-Two PSOne games that I'd like to be able to download are Megaman Legends 1 & 2. They took the world of Megaman and made it into an RPG that was different than pretty much any other RPG. I really want both to become available on my PSP.


-With the release of Final Fantasy 7 as a download and the recent release of Final Fantasy 8 in Japan, I'd just like to say: "Keep it up!" I want to play some good old Final Fantasy 9 on my PSP, so just keep releasing them.


-Although this choice seems unlikely to happen, it would be cool if Lucas Arts' Grim Fandango became available. I loved the game for many reasons and still do, but it's becoming hard to find anywhere.


-Speaking of Lucas Arts, there are a couple other games from their lineup that would make excellent downloads. Obviously the Monkey Island games would be great, but I especially want to be able to play Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantas again. The game was similar to the original Monkey Island, but was based in the world of Indy. Nothing like a game where you get to outsmart Nazis to lighten your mood.


-While we're on the topic of Nazis, I know that Wolfenstein 3d, that classic Nazi hunter FPS, was released on the Playstation Network (PSN), so that won't be on my list, but what about some other classic FPSs? Doom or Duke Nukem, anyone? I know I'd like that.


-Does anyone remember the Descent games? If not, I feel sorry for you. I'm pretty sure there were only 3 of them. These truly great spaceship/FPS games were some of my favorites. At the time they came out, they had high end, 3d graphics, but now, they seem like they would run perfectly on a PSPs screen. These 3 games are probably the least likely to be released, but a guy can hope, right?


-For the last on my wishlist, I'm casting my fishing pole of hopes into the sea of retro gaming downloadable content and hoping to pull out a very obscure title: MDK. MDK was one of the strangest 3rd person shooters I've ever played, but one of the most addicting. With an odd assortment of weapons and items, which included a hand mounted gattling gun, mini-nukes, and a built in, retractable, reusable parachute, MDK changed how I think about shooters. This game also seems unlikely to ever be released, due to how obscure a title it is, but I'm going to keep my eyes out for any sign of it.


Well, that's my wishlist for the Playstation Network. Some seem more likely than others, but I really hope I'll get to see all of them available one of these days.


Watch for my DSi list to come in the next little while.

Monday, September 28, 2009

PSP Go... Again

Okay, I'm not trying to beat a dead horse with a stick here, but I've found out some interesting things about the PSP Go that I thought I might share with you. Yes, I know that I've already done 2 articles about it, but I just thought these few articles were interesting.

First off, I found this article on one of my favorite gadget sites. It's a pretty detailed review of the PSP Go. In the article they give a pretty informed opinion on the upsides and downsides of the Go. I highly recommend checking out the review. The review is a bit lengthy, but I think it's worth the read if you're as interested in the Go as I am.

The second article is from the same website. Basically, the article explains that, while they did try, Sony will not be releasing a converter to transfer your old UMD games to digital format... yet. A lot of people are still hoping for some way to get their old UMD games onto the PSP Go, but apparently there are a lot of legal issues in the way that are preventing Sony from releasing one. I can understand that. While Sony owns the rights to the UMD format, it's the game and movie companies themselves that own the rights to what is contained on said UMD. There would need to be universal allowance from the developers of the games before a UMD converter could be realized. But I, along with several others apparently, are still keeping our hopes up for something to come in the future.
Although the converter is a no-go, Sony is going to try to placate customers and boost sales of the PSP Go by expanding the selection on the PlayStation Network. On October 1st of this year (the same day the PSP Go is released) Sony will be increasing the amount of titles in the store to include more than 225 games, 2,300 movies, and 13,300 TV episodes, which, to me, sounds nice, but I'll hold judgement until I see what titles will be added. Who knows? They could just be adding a bunch of dumb games. Also, while the Playstation Network does sell normal, full length, large games, they will be introducing smaller, cheaper games called PSP Minis. The PSP Minis are Sony's attempt to combat the casual gamers who turn to the Apple iPod Touch for cheaper, easier titles. This sounds pretty cool, but again, I'll hold off judgement until I've tried a few of them.

The hardware has been changed slightly as well. Other than the obvious changes such as a smaller screen, the slide out controls, and no UMD drive; the analog stick has been moved to what people are calling "an awkward place for people who are used to the PSP 3000". Also, instead of the usual USB mini port, the PSP Go has been given a proprietary USB port, which means that none of the old PSP accesories are going to work with the Go.
All in all, I'm still really tempted to go pick up a PSP Go when they come out, but a voice is telling me to wait for a couple of reasons, which are: With a new sell price of $250.00, my wallet wants me to either wait for a price drop, or until I see a used system in a Game Stop. Or, wait and see if a better system comes out, such as the rumored/hoped for PSP2. Second, I do want to wait and see if, somehow, Sony is able to devise a way to digitize all my old UMDs. I just have too much money invested in those little discs to set them aside.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Finally, a super hero video game that actually is not so bad. And by not so bad, I mean good.

And by good, I mean fantastic. And that still doesn't begin to cover it.

Having played the game the day it came out and beat it within a few days, I can say that it is a very well-made game. Only a handful of games have made me want to play it non-stop until it has been completed before this game came out. This game is now added to that list.

PS3 Box Art for the game.

For what I expected from a game where I can play Batman, the game delivers. It has stealth. It has fighting. And if you get good enough at it, you can take down large groups while doing both. Which I did, a lot.

The game even has a story, too. And is voiced by very recognizeable actors. Mark Hamill voiced the Joker; and Kevin Conroy as Batman. All the voices were done particularly well. The story itself is somewhat a stereotypical one; Batman had just captured the Joker and was taking him back to Arkham Asylum. When they get there and deep into the asylum, Joker breaks free and unleashes a plan that had been in the works for a very long time.

"I set a trap, and you sprung it gloriously!" taunts the Joker as Batman attemts to catch the Joker for the first time.

It is not just the Joker that you face in the game. You run across several villains from the series, and come across even more momentos from other villains that did not get to make a major appearance. Still, the ones who did appear were very interesting, such as Bane, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and Scarecrow. The Joker unleashes them all on Batman as a distraction so his evil plan can be completed in time and have no real interruptions from Batman.

Killer Croc looking at Batman.

At Your disposal is some typical Batman tools and gadgets. He was never really a hero with true super powers, and this makes no exception. He has batarangs, a grappling hook, and various high-tech gadgets that allow him to disable security doors or blow things up. He also has an X-ray vision of sorts (called "Detective Mode")that allows him to see through walls and tell whether an enemy is armed or not.

As stated earlier, the fighting system is rather impressive. It includes both fisticuff fighting, and stealthily taking down opponents. When Opponents are armed with guns, Stealth is typically the best option to go with. But there are several moments when the straight brawling was the best way to go. I will admit that the fighting portion is basically button-mashing with making sure you have the joystick pointing in the right direction, but even with that in mind the button-mashing aspect is made up for by how awesome the fighting ended up looking every single time. However, being a fan of stealth games like Splinter Cell, I preferred doing the stealthy takedowns as often as the game would allow me. I would even repeat a scene several times so that I could do the stealth and not be seen once.

Batman, using his super-vision to see through a wall (that can be destroyed) and looking at an escaped convict that is armed.

To make it even more awesome, the game featured an incredible variety of upgrades and hidden treasures for Batman to find. The largest collection is The Riddler's challenges. He left 240 clues and objects around all of Arkham Asylum for Batman to find. And while it feels like the upgrades are in general not required, they make the game a lot more fun and easier. One upgrade is being able to throw three batarangs instead of one, for example.

Koubo's score of the game: 4.5 out of 5.

Even with all of this awesomeness, there are still a couple of flaws that keep it from getting a perfect score.

As Bryson pointed out when I was playing the game, I was in detective mode a lot. And it was true. I was aiming to get all of the hidden objects, which required me to be in Detective mode for probably 70-85% of the game. And it was very helpful to be in that mode while doing stealth, since with it you could get a feel on where all of the bad guys were wandering in the room.

Another thing, and this is something I will dock every game that doesn't include it for, is the lack of the final boss having more than one form. You face the Joker in the end. But you don't face him as he is. You just watch him transform into a monster, then defeat his monster form. Then the game ends. No second form. Boo.

Other than those two things, it is an incredible game with very high replay value. That is a rare statement for a video game using a superhero. Too rare.

~Koubo

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

This Must Be A Joke

While browsing through the various news websites I'm allowed to visit while at work I stubled across this very funny article. To sum up the article, there was a study done back in 2006 about diversity in video games. Basically, a group of scientists had some serious gamers play the top 150 games at the time for 30 minutes each and then studied the diversity that was represented in the games. They found that whites, males, and adults are grossly over-represented in today's video games and that blacks, females, children and the elderly are under-represented.Hey, Look! A Woman In One Of The Most Popular Video Games Ever! (And She's Not The Only Woman In That Game.)


In the article they state that the video game industry is going to struggle if they don't start to diversify in their games, which to me, is just needless doomsaying. As important as diversity is, I'm pretty sure that most people, like me, don't choose what video games they play based on what race the main character or NPCs are, they choose the games they play based on gameplay, graphics, storyline, and the ever important "fun factor".



In my opinion, the study wasn't done properly, if they're really going to study the diversity level in the virtual world, they need to base the results off more than just the top 150 games. Women under-represented? I hardly think so. How many Barbie video games have been released? And, just so I'm not basing that statement off lame video games, what about Lara Croft? Or any Final Fantasy game? I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of women in video games throughout time, but if they are just going to go off the top 150 games of February 2006, then they probably won't be represented all that well. The same goes for children and elderly people in video games. Just because there aren't children in the top 150 games, doesn't mean that there are no children in other games. Think of all the Dora the Explorer games that have come out. Or any educational video game targeted at that age group. There's nothing but children in those games, but they're not likely to be games in the top 150.



I guess what I'm getting at is; if you're going to do a study about the entire video game world, then actually study the entire world, and not just a small sampling from one time period.



On a side note; I wonder if there were any Grand Theft Auto games played in this study, because they have more diversity in those games than any other game I've seen.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Note: This Is Not A Review

Read the title. This is not a review of the game Scribblenauts. Instead, this is just some of the crazy things I've done in the game so far. If you are unfamiliar with the game and are wondering how I've done these things in a game, I'll breifly explain how Scribblenauts works. In the game, you play as Maxwell. Maxwell has a magical notepad that makes whatever he writes on it appear in the game. Using this notepad, Maxwell has to accomplish goals in the game to earn Starites. The game has over 10,000 nouns in its system that you can summon with the notepad. I've been messing around with the game just to see what I could create with it. Here's some of the more interesting things.- I found out who would win in a battle between God and Satan by summoning both of them and letting them duke it out. (Also, I found out who would win between God and a Velociraptor, God and a T-rex, God and Death, and God and a Giant Squid. The results are quite funny.)
-I knocked over a stack of bottles by throwing a tentacle at them.
-I suddenly sprouted wings so that I could retrieve a flower from a cliff.
-I stopped a bee from charging me by dropping a huge boulder on it, which doesn't sound too crazy, but when everybody else was trying to kill it with pistols and flamethrowers, dropping a boulder on it made me laugh.
-I killed a pirhana by dropping a shark in with it. I also killed it with an alligator, a crocodile, and another giang squid. (I really like that giant squid.)
-I rescued a kitten off a roof by luring it with catnip.
-I created a battle royale by summoning Death, God, Satan, a T-Rex, and a Cuttlefish. Then, just for fun, I ended the battle by dropping a Nuke on the map.
-I cleaned up a park by burning all the trees and trash, then proceeded to kill a fly with a chainsaw.
-I personally killed God with a bazooka.
-I blew up a polar bear with land mines.
-I had a witch turn God into a frog and eat him.
-I shrank a tornado with a shrink ray.
These are just a few of the things I've done in the game. There are still words that I'd like to try out and see what they do. If you've played the game, share some of the crazy things you've done or some of the solutions you've come up with for the puzzles.
Watch for a full review on the game from either myself or from Koubo sometime in the near future.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Clannad ~After Story~

After Story is the continuation of the story of Clannad, practically right where it left off. It is not as long of a story as the bulk of Clannad, as that it focuses on the story between Furukawa Nagisa and Okazaki Tomoya. There is, in the game, two small paths that delve into the stories of Nagisa's parents, but the anime doesn't touch on those.

The game and the anime have only minor differences as to the presentation of the story, but the plot and the overall ending remain the same. It still, even throughout the other stories during the first few episodes, focuses on the growing relationship between Nagisa and Tomoya.



The differences, which will be briefly explained in a moment, are some character stories that were different paths in the first part of the game. Due to the length of the first half of Clannad, the stories were placed at the front of After Story before the real story could truly commence.

The first story is about Sunohara Youhei, Who is Tomoya's best friend. He takes a call as a prank for Youhei, and ends up forgetting to tell him that his sister Mei is coming to town to check up on him because she is worried about him. Tomoya and Nagisa don't want her to worry, so they want to have her believe that he is fine because he "has a girlfriend", which they hope will convince her that he actually devoted his life to something ever since he losthis place on the soccer team, which was due to him not wanting to deal with the demeaning authority figures in charge.

The only problem with their plan was that no girl really cared for Sunohara, and were repulsed at the idea of any sort of romantic relations with him. Tomoya and Nagisa asked some of their friends if they would pretend to be so until Mei went home, but met with no luck. They ended up with Nagisa's mother playing the role, and it unfortunately worked too well on Sunohara himself, who was unaware of who she was, and fell in love with her.

Mei doesn't leave right away, and tries to validate the relationship. Sunohara thrusts himself into the relationship, and ends up practically ignoring Mei, which ends up making her incredibly sad. She go to great lengths to try to get him to get back on a good path, one she feels a brother should be on, starting with claiming she has an "older boyfriend" (which Okazaki attempts to portray to help her out) to asking the Soccer team to take him back in. After the Soccer Team starts picking on her, Sunohara jumps in to rescue her, leading to a large brawl. Okazaki and Sunohara get into a fight afterwards, and it ends with things going back to normal, including finding out that Sunohara's "girlfriend" was in fact Nagisa's mother.


Sunohara Mei and Sagara Misae, as portrayed in the game.

The second story follows the history of Sagara Misae, the dorm mother of the men's dorm Sunohara lives in. One note that has been a focus for her is that she has an orange cat, whom is portrayed illicitly as the reincarnation of Misae's high school sweetheart, Shima Katsuki. The character is not around, not even in the past, but is in a similar situation to Michiru from the anime Air. Katsuki had passed away due to a childhood disease, but his projection lives on to find Misae so he can thank her for being so kind to him when he was in the hospital. He feels that he has to grant her a wish with the orb of light he had obtained from "a close friend", although the persons' name is never mentioned. She originally has eyes for someone else and refuses to accept the wish, but finds out the person she likes is seeing someone else, and gets depressed. She sees how kind and caring Katsuki is when he constantly tries to comfort her, and ends up doing activities with him and coming to love him.

Katsuki has, however been coming to realize that he is not as people think he is. Misae's friends also befriend Katsuki. One day while they are hanging out, it gets late and they tell Katsuki that they would be happy to walk him home. He then realizes that he doesn't remember where he lives, and after a search they find his home, only to see that he had actually passed away some time ago. the friends decide to keep the condition a secret.

The relationship between the two continue, and Katsuki had forgotten about the wish until the night of a school festival. But when he reaches for the pouch that he had the orb stored in and opens it, he finds that it is empty. He gets frustrated, and Misae tells him that she has a wish anyway and that the orb is not necessary. Right after she tells him the wish, he vanishes. He shows up again a short time later, but as a reincarnation of a cat.

After the main bulk of the story has ended, another one-episode alternate timeline - like after the first half of this anime - is shown, and it follows the story of Fujibayashi Kyou. The episode, being only 22 minutes long, covers the last half of her story. the first half is hinted at, but regrettably can only be truly grasped if one has played the game.

It starts off with Tomoya and Kyou's twin sister, Ryou, beginning their relationship as a couple. Ryou is of course very happy, but Tomoya feels that something is not quite right. As he thinks about it and talks with both of the twins, he realizes that he should have actually been with Kyou. Kyou obviously has a lot of romantic feeling for Tomoya, but wants her sister to be happy and tries repeatedly to push Tomoya away when he tries to talk about it. So he tries to break up with Ryou, who can tell what is going to happen, but tries hard to shrug it off. After a couple of attempts, he tells her to meet him in their classroom (in the game it is the school courtyard). He gets there and sees her, and Says that he cannot be with Ryou because he loves Kyou. Then it is revealed that the girl in the room with her is actually Kyou, who cut her hair to Ryou's length and came in her place so she could hear those words herself. It ends with them starting the relationship that was meant to be for that story.


The ending scene of Kyou's arc from the game.

The real story then takes place after the festival regarding Misae. Nagisa comes down with another case of what took her out of school the year before, which ended with her being held back a year. As time passes and Nagisa doesn't get any better, it becomes painfully evident that Nagisa will once again have to repeat the senior year of high school. Tomoya decides that he wants to fail purposely so he can be with Nagisa through the schoolyear repeat, but after a long conversation with her parents, he decides it is best that he graduate and get a job so he could support Nagisa when the time comes.

So Tomoya graduates, moves into a small apartment, and starts working as an electrician with Yoshino Yusuke, whom he had met at the beginning of the school year and helped out of a small problem. Nagisa had finally recovered and is repeating the third year. A difference of some note between the game and the anime for during this time is that in the game Nagisa had moved into the apartment with Tomoya, whereas in the anime she still lives at home with her parents.

As Tomoya progresses in the job and in the relationship he has with Nagisa, a much more grand management position becomes available to him through his current manager. right as it draws near for Tomoya to accept the job, though, his father gets arrested. The job offer falls through because of it, and Tomoya becomes infuriated. He visits his father in prison, and as he storms out frustrated, he tries to injure himself. Nagisa stops him, and Tomoya realizes that without Nagisa he would have given up on things long ago. He proposes, and she accepts.

Tomoya and Nagisa tell Nagisa's mother, Sanae, who is thrilled. The father, Akio, whom can obviously tell, does not listen. Tomoya tries several times to talk to him, and challenges him to a baseball match. The rules were simple. If Tomoya could hit one ball thrown at him, then Akio would listen and accept what Tomoya would say unconditionally. There were two problems with it: one, Tomoya has a bad right shoulder, and has a hard time swinging, much less doing anything requiring a shoulder; and two, Akio loves and is really good at baseball. Match after match Tomoya fails and Akio just laughs. Tomoya practices constantly to beat him, but to no avail. Eventually Akio becomes tired of this and forces a final round. Tomoya fails to hit it once again. Akio laughs and walks off, but then is convinced by his wife that he should have just one more go, to which Tomoya finally has a successful hit. He unconditionally accepts Tomoya's engagement to Nagisa.

As the school year progresses, Nagisa once again falls ill to the same condition that held her back the last two years. But unlike the last two years, the school has said that she has enough days in to graduate. so although she is still sick on graduation, she does indeed graduate, just at home. Shortly after she gets better, Tomoya invites all of the people she knew to the school and they all throw her a small graduation ceremony. After the ceremony, Tomoya and Nagisa finally get married.


Nagisa at her own little graduation ceremony.

Nagisa now lives at the apartment as well, and some of the stereotypical newlywed scenarios appear, but only briefly. As time goes on, Nagisa becomes pregnant. Friends from their school life show up for a party and how each of their lives had turned out after school is the primary topic.

The main focus for most of the story arc dealing with the pregnancy begins when Nagisa once again falls ill due to her weak body. A doctor comes and initially informs them all that as long as Nagisa is taken care of, the baby should still be able to be delivered fine.

But, Further complications occur when the condition worsens. Tensions build between Nagisa and Tomoya when the doctor initially recommends an abortion after the news comes that Nagisa may not make it out of the pregnancy alive; Nagisa wants to have the baby and Tomoya wants to make sure Nagisa does not die. Tomoya goes to live in Nagisa's old house and Sanae lives with Nagisa for a couple of days. Tomoya realizes over the time apart that he wants the baby just as much as Nagisa does, and the tension subsides between them, even though Tomoya considers keeping Nagisa alive as a top priority. As they discuss the baby, they decide on the name Ushio, for whether it is a boy or a girl.

The day finally comes, and the baby girl Ushio is about to be born. They were wanting to have the birth performed in a hospital, but the snow piled up incredibly fast in the city and the roads were dangerous to be on, so the baby was going to arrive in their apartment. Nagisa's condition also coincidentally worsens as the whole event is happening. Then Ushio finally arrives, and Nagisa and Tomoya joy over it. Then Nagisa passes away.

Five years pass, and Tomoya is at an all-time low. He feels he has no reason to live since Nagisa is gone, so he just works and blows most of the money on alcohol and gambling. After Ushio was born, Tomoya had Sanae and Akio take care of her. Sanae tries to visit often with Ushio during those five years, but Tomoya only barely acknowleges their existence. Sanae has had enough of that, and convinces Tomoya that he needs to take a couple of days off of work and come on a family trip with her, Akio, and Ushio. Tomoya reluctantly agrees. When he arrives at their house, however, the only person there is Ushio, with a note from Sanae saying that herself and Akio needed to go somewhere urgently and will be back as soon as they can.


Ushio, slightly scared of Tomoya after he seriously acknowledges her existence.

Tomoya is not thrilled that he has to be alone with Ushio, especially since not only does Ushio remind him of Nagisa, but that she also looks a lot like her, too. He spends time with her and does things with her as to what he feels he is required to. After an entire day passes and Akio and Sanae have not come back, Tomoya asks Ushio if she still wants to go on the trip that Sanae had planned. Ushio wants to, so they leave.

There were, conveniently, the tickets of where they were going to go immediately available, as well as where the destination was. Tomoya recognizes the destination only vaguely, but does not dwell on it. They get on the train, and Ushio keeps asking about Nagisa, to which Tomoya just shrugs it off saying that he will not talk about it and so she should just keep asking Sanae. As they sit there, there is a kid behind him that is making a lot of noise, to which Tomoya raises his voice to both the parent and the kid, asking them to keep it down. When he returns to his seat, he sees Ushio is not there. He goes looking for her, and finds her in the bathroom crying. He asks her if she was crying, to which she says that Sanae says she can only cry if she is in the bathroom. Calms her down and they return to their seats.

After a couple of stops they go to a store and Tomoya buys Ushio a present before they turn in to a hotel. When the morning comes they get back on the train and arrive at the destination that Sanae had set out for them, which is a large field of flowers, which Tomoya realizes as a place his father took him as a child. Ushio plays in the field until she comes back and says that the toy Tomoya bought for her is lost. Tomoya looks for it with her, but continues to have recollections of his past, to the point that he tells Ushio he will be gone for a moment, and leaves as Ushio continues to look for the toy.

He arrives at a coast, where an elderly woman is waiting. She is Tomoya's grandmother, and she tells Tomoya the story of his father, and how he vowed to raise Tomoya on his own with all of his heart when Tomoya's mother had died. She then also tells him what sacrifices the father made for Tomoya, and the depths of despair he went into to keep Tomoya happy. Tomoya has the startling revelation that he is no different than his father, and vows to raise and love Ushio similar to how his father raised him. He takes his grandmother to the field he left Ushio in, and sees her still looking for the toy. He goes out to her and says he can buy another, but Ushio says she wants to find the one she has been looking for, since it was the first thing Tomoya gave to her. When she realizes she can't find it anywhere, she asks if it is okay to cry, and she says that Sanae would only allow her to cry in the bathroom or in her father's arms. Tomoya, who is now deeply regretting how he had treated her for the last five years and how much he realizes he loves her, allows it. They both talk to Tomoya's grandmother one last time, and go home. Tomoya then asks Ushio if she would like to know more about Nagisa, and as he tells their story, he breaks down and cries, realizing all of the joys they had and all the joys he could have had with Ushio. He asks Ushio if she would like to live with him from now on, to which Ushio becomes very happy and agrees.


Ushio, smiling after she knows she will finally live with her father.

Upon arrival, they see Sanae and Akio, and Tomoya informs them that he will be taking care of Ushio from now on. Tomoya decides to grab all of the things that were once Nagisa's, and he and Ushio begin living together. Tomoya moves his work schedule around so he can take Ushio to school, and finds out that Fujibayashi Kyou is Ushio's teacher.

Time goes on, and their bonds develop. Tomoya runs into Yusuke's wife, Kouko, and sees Fuko. Fuko and Tomoya, although they do not remember each other due to the way their situation from the first part of the had worked out, end up going through the same teasing that had frequently gone on. But Fuko sees Ushio, and instantly falls in love with her and declares herself Ushio's sister. Ushio doesn't seem to really care, and befriends Fuko.

As a kindergarten parent's game arrives, Akio and Tomoya sign themselves up to participate, but Tomoya drops out when Ushio falls under the same weakening condition that befell Nagisa. A doctor merely says that it is the same as Nagisa's and only time will tell if she gets better. Tomoya feels that he has to take care of Ushio full-time, and so he quits work and lives off the money he has been saving since Ushio moved in, doing something quite similar to what Akio and Sanae did when Nagisa had initially came down with the same condition.

Ushio's condition deteriorates as the seasons change from summer to fall to winter. Ushio frequently asks if she and Tomoya can go on a trip like the one they had previously, and Tomoya keeps replying that they will most definitely go when she gets better. But Ushio does not get better, even to the point that she can no longer do basic things right. Finally, with the realization that she won't get better, Tomoya decides to take her on a trip when Ushio asks again.

As they walk down the snow-laden path, Tomoya keeps helping the rapidly deteriorating Ushio up and helps her walk. She finally just collapses, and asks if they are at their destination yet. Tomoya replies, and Ushio tells him she loves him. Tomoya returns the sentiment, and Ushio passes away in his arms. Tomoya yells out, and everything fades away.

The Hidden World's final story arc transitions in, and it shows the machine and the girl walking through the heavy snow. The girl collapses, and the machine tries with no luck to get her to keep moving. The girl informs the machine that she was having a dream, a dream of the two of them in the world that he has been trying to get them to. She tells him that he was the only thing that was connected to this world and the other world, and that although she cannot leave the world they are both in, he must go back to that world. She tells him that she wants him to be happy in the other world, ending with one simple phrase, "Goodbye, daddy." The Hidden World then vanishes.

Things return to Tomoya, who seems to be stuck in a nightmare. He has the recurring thought that he hates the city he is in, because it holds all of the memories he wants to forget. He feels that if he never met Nagisa, if he never gave her that push up the slope to the school, then he wouldn't have had to deal with the pain he went through over the past six years, and that Nagisa and Ushio would both not have had to go through what they went through. As the nightmare comes to the climax, he is arriving at the point where Nagisa and he first met. The thoughts of the pain still racing in his mind, he hears Nagisa say the same things she did that radiated the signs of lack of courage and emotional struggle. But instead of saying what he did to give her the courage, he remains silent, thinking to himself that it would be for the better.

Nagisa then turns around and begins walking back down the slope. Suddnenly, Tomoya then begins thinking of all the happy times he had with both Nagisa and Ushio alike, and realizes that they still greatly outweigh the sad times, and that they all became better stronger people because of it. He yells out her name and chases after her down the slope. He catches up to her and apologizes for doubting and trying to forget their memories. Nagisa replies that she is glad he stopped her from thinking all the sad thoughts, saying that without him she would not be as strong as she was while they were together. The nightmare Tomoya was experiencing then fades out.

Coming out of the nightmare, Tomoya is awoken by the sound of a crying baby. He realizes he is back to the time of Ushio's birth. He holds Ushio and shows her to Nagisa, exclaiming all of the things he and she will do with Ushio, and all the joy they will have. This time, Nagisa regains strength and lives through the ordeal. They spend their first few days with all of the family, and as the story ends, it shows Ushio growing up with both Tomoya and Nagisa present to see it all.

And the story ends, as the story's true ending.




~Koubo

The Clannad article List
Part one: Clannad
Part two: The Hidden World
Part three: Clannad ~After Story~

Friday, September 4, 2009

Quick! Use A Monomate!

Does my title confuse you? If so, then you've obviously never played the game I'm reviewing today. (Or any of the game's predecessors.) If you know exactly what my title is referring to, then kudos to you for playing a great game.

Phantasy Star games have been around for ages, the first of which was released on the Sega Master System. The orignal Phantasy Star games were regular RPGs, but recently the Phantasy Star world has been extended into the MMORPG realm; first with Phantasy Star Online, which was released for the original X-Box and the Game Cube, although, most people just played the games in offline mode because there wasn't a whole lot to do in online mode. Next came Phantasy Star Universe which played much like Phantasy Star Online (PSO), but utilized the online aspect of the game more. Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) was released on the PC and the X-Box 360 and, while it wasn't/isn't as popular as other MMORPGs (such as World of Warcraft) it's still a great game.
But, the Phantasy Star game I'm going to be reviewing today is: Phantasy Star Portable which was released for the PSP. Phantasy Star Portable took what was best about PSU and made it better. The game plays much the same as PSU and even looks quite a bit the same. (Obviously the graphics aren't going to be as amazing, but on the PSP's smaller screen, they still look awesome.)

The story (which I'm not going to go into very much so I don't spoil anything) for Phantasy Star Portable is set after the second game of PSU. You start out as a new recruit in the Guardians. The Guardians are a group of warriors who protect the Universe. There are 4 races to choose from when you start: Humans, Newmans (similar to elves, Casts (robots) and Beasts. Each race has something special about them, as is normal for an RPG. Every player will start out the game as a Hunter (sword user), but you are able to change your race throughout the game whenever you choose to. The types of armor and weapons you can use aer determined by your class, as are your physical stats. The basic classes are Hunter, Ranger (gun user) and Force (magic user). As your class level increases, you can upgrade to higher versions of the base classes as well as a few classes that are more of a mix between two or three classes. No matter what class you choose, your weapon and armor selection are going to be different.
In case you can't tell by my previous posts, I'm kind of a World of Warcraft nut. But, I can't seem to pull myself away from Phantasy Star Portable (or PSU or PSO) when I start playing it. The gameplay is simple, and complex at the same time. Basically, you attack bad guys with whatever you have available be it a sword, an axe, a grenade launcher, a wand, or a Sega Genesis that floats behind you and shoots them. I think one of the things that draws me to Phantasy Star Portable (and PSO and PSU) is that it's one of the few Sci-fi RPGs that is as fun to play as the fantasy RPGs that are so popular.

The one downside I can think of with accordance to the games is that the world isn't nearly as large as the world in a game like World of Warcraft. Yes, Phantasy Star Portable, PSU and PSO have large worlds to play in, but they aren't an open world like WoW. Instead, you have tons of mini maps and levels to explore that are reached by flying to other planets. (No, it's not a free fly. The flying is more of a loading screen.) But, honestly, it's not really a huge problem for me.

With Phantasy Star Portable, there isn't any online play. Instead, there is the option for Ad-Hoc play with your friends, which is not as nice as playing with people all over the world, but is still a nice feature if, like me, you still just play with your friends when you're online. Unlike PSU, where your online character and your offline character were two different toons, Phantasy Star Portable allows you to play the same character in both multiplayer and single player mode, which is a nice step up. If you have the game already, but haven't ever tried multi-mode, I highly recommend it. There are certain items you can only get in online mode which make the game more entertaining.
All in all, Phantasy Star Portable probably ranks up as one of my favorite PSP games, which is really saying something. If you're into RPGs and want one that plays like an MMORPG without actually being one, then Phantasy Star Portable is a great game to try.

My score: 9 out of 10 (That's right, I'm doing it out of 10 now.)
It would honestly be a perfect 10 out of 10 if the game had a more open world, but, as I said, that's not really a huge problem, so I'm only taking one point away.



Update!

I've heard that because of the success of the first game, there is a sequel to Phantasy Star Portable coming to Japan on Dec. 3rd. No word on whether it will ever be released in the U.S.

Monday, August 31, 2009

$4 billion potentially catastrophic dissapointments

(This article has been edited by Koubo.)

This makes all of us at TCO disappointed.

If you don't want to believe this information if it comes from just one location, believe three more sites, as that this is definitely not small news.

In a press conference on August 28, 2009, the aquisition was announced. The news is not small. Put a search into google and countless links pop up informing of the news. And if you read user comments on articles that are allowed to be posted on the appropriate sites, people end up either stating they hate it or fear that it will make marvel turn quite sour.

Regardless, the process should be done by the end of this year. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to see all of my beloved comic book characters become fodder for the monsters at Disney. I can just see the monstrosities now: "Hannah Montana meets Spider-man" or "The Jonas Brothers join the X-men".

While that seems very unlikely, it will now be a possibility.

While it may not be well-known, it is not hidden that Warner Bros. Entertainment bought out DC Comics in 1969. No noticeable effects have hit the media yet. and it is 40 years later. Disney is different than WB, that is for sure, but only time will tell if they will take the path that most people are fearing.

I can think of at least 20 other movie companies I'd rather see Marvel bought by. [At least]
the article(s) (do) state that all the current movie deals are going to stay the same. Spider-man 4 will still be done by Sony Pictures, X-men Origins: Magneto and X-men Origins Wolverine 2 will still be done by 20th Century Fox, etc. So, at least we still have that. But, for any future Marvel Comic movie adaptations, expect to see them sailing under the Jolly Roger of Disney.
What does everyone else think of this? Am I the only one who is dreading it?

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm

The newest expansion for World of Warcraft was announced at Blizzcon. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. In this expansion the land of Azeroth has been decimated by a confrontation between two of the Dragon Aspects. The result is a completely changed map for the game.
There will be two new playable races introduced into the game. The Goblins and the Worgen. From what I've read, it seems that both races will be playable on either faction (Alliance and Horde). There will not be any new classes, but there will be races able to play classes that they couldn't previously. The level cap for players will be raised to 85. (I think it's 85, that's what I last heard.) There will be a new profession available: Archaeology.
Word is, even if you don't buy the expansion, the game will be changed anyway, which is to say, the map will still be altered, among other things. (Although, you will need to buy the expansion to play any of the new features. And you know you'll want to.)

What have the rest of you heard about the new expansion? Share what you know with us.

(Oh, and sorry for 2 posts today.)

Electroplankton

Today I'd like to take a minute to talk about a game that is one of the rare gems in my collection. It's called: Electroplankton.
This Nintendo DS title is not just rare in the sense that it is hard to find (which it is) but has a rare style of gameplay. This is one of the few games I've played that doesn't have a main goal. There is no beginning, middle, or end to the game and there's no way to beat the game. The game is just meant to be played for fun and not to unlock things or get a high score. In fact, there is no scoring system in the game at all and everything is unlocked when you first start playing.
Developed by Toshio Iwai, the whole purpose of the game is to create sounds and music. In the game, there are ten different types of plankton. Each type of plankton does different things when they are interacted with. All of them will make some kind of sound and will create beautiful designs on the screen. You can interact with them through both the touch screen and the microphone on the DS. One type of plankton will create designs on the screen when you make different sound into the microphone. Others will move about on a grid of arrows that point in the direction you choose, and will make different sounds depending on which arrows they land on. Another will record about 10 seconds of audio and will play it back, allowing you to alter it depending on what shape the plankton is.
Honestly, the game is meant to be fun, and it is. The different combinations of sound you can make with it are extremely entertaining. The replay value for the game is quite high. I've spent hours playing with it and still find myself pulling it out to play. If you can manage to find a copy of this game, I recommend picking it up. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

My score: Another 5 out of 5.
I've yet to find another game that is so simple, and yet so intruiging.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Archos: Competition For Apple?

Time for another technology blog. I haven't done one since the PSP Go post I did back in July. Today it's going to be about media players.
So, my iPod Touch is slowly but surely heading towards death. I've only had it for about a year, but apparently the 2nd Gen iPod Touch batteries don't last as long as the 1st Gen ones. I'm mostly to blame for it dying. I use it all the time and as such, I have to charge it almost every other night. But, now the battery doesn't want to hold a charge for more than a few hours. So, I'm thinking it's time for a replacement right about now. I thought about just buying another Touch, but I don't really want to have to keep replacing it every year, so I've been looking around at what my options are.
I want to stay with something that has a touch screen simply because they are usually easier to navigate through music and such than other players. I know that the Zune HD is coming out in the next month or so, and I really considered buying one. But, I'm a Mac user and I'm not sure how well a Microsoft player would work with a Mac. So, I tossed that idea out the window. There aren't a whole lot of huge media player brands out there. Microsoft and Apple have pretty much cornered the market on those.
So, I started looking around at what my other options are. After wading through the various smaller brands of media players, most of which did not have touch screens and had smaller hard drives than I was looking for, I came across the Archos 5 which met pretty much all of my requirements. It had a touch screen (bigger than the iPod Touch's), a large hard drive (250 gigs at it's biggest) and it supported more video and audio files than most other media players. It's also got an internet browser built in that allows viewing of Flash pages (Something the iPod Touch cannot do). There's even a built in PDF viewer. Granted, to be able to access the full range of the Archos 5's capabilities you have to download a few plugins, some of which cost some money (the ones that allow for more media types), which isn't really a problem to me. In the end, I decided to go with an Archos.

Now, the downside to buying something other than the iPod Touch is that I can't use all of those great apps that I downloaded during the course of owning a Touch. I mulled this over in my head and decided that I wasn't too worried about that. I have some great apps on my Touch, but it's gotten to the point that I don't use any of them anymore. Mostly, I use it for music, movies, and pictures, and with the Archos' huge hard drive, I shouldn't have any want for space for those.


My final say: I've owned an Archos before and was mightily pleased with it, but sold it for an iPod with a larger hard drive. I've been pleased with what I've seen about the Archos 5 (My friend has one that he let me fiddle around with for a while) and I'm very excited to buy one.


If you're looking for a large capacity media player and want to stick it to Apple and Microsoft, I definitely recommend the Archos line.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Feel The Magic XY-XX

Feel The Magic is one of the games that came out right around the same time that the original Nintendo DS came out all those years ago. (It really does seem like it's been a while since the DS first came out.) You've probably seen the game sitting in the used game section of your local video game store and never thought of buying it. But, I'm here to tell you, BUY IT! It's one of the most creative games I've seen for any system. It's a "mini-game" type of game and I know what you're thinking. "But, there are so many mini-game games for the DS and none of them are that fun, why should this one be any different?" Well, this article will tell you why it's different.
I was like you, I didn't think much of the game when I first saw it. But, at the time, there weren't many games out for the DS, so I ended up buying it just so I could have something to play other than Mario 64. After only a few minutes of playing I was hooked.


The story for Feel The Magic is classic. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, boy does crazy things to impress her, boy and girl get stranded on a desert island, girl gets kidnapped by different boy, and boy has to rescue girl. Ok, so maybe that's not a classic story, but it's still a good one.
The story is progressed by completing various mini games all of which are simple, yet complex at the same time. The games utilize all the features of the Original DS and the DS Lite. Sometimes you'll be blowing into the microphone to put out giant candles that are attacking, sometimes you'll be rubbing madly back and forth on the touch pad to fan a fire into life, while other times, you'll be using a more precise touch on the touch pad to guide yourself across a narrow beam between two buildings. All of the mini games are, in my opinion, addicting. You'll be graded on all of them and depending on how well you do, you can unlock things in the game. Mostly you'll be unlocking new outfits and hairstyles for the girl to wear (which sounds lame, but trust me, it's pretty fun), but you can also unlock things like a sound and music menu.
I won't give away the ending of the game, but I'll say this: It's one of the craziest boss fights I've ever been in. Seriously.

If what I've said doesn't strike your fancy, then try the game out just to see the unique art style used in it. It reminds me of iPod commercials. Also, the game is really quite funny. I laughed quite a bit while playing it.

This is honestly one of the Rare Gems in my video game collection. I highly recommend everyone picks it up and gives it a try.

My score: 5 out of 5.

This game is fun, inventive, and addicting and has great replay value. Even after all these years I still find myself pulling it out and playing it over and over again.