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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.