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Dec. 24th, 2009 @ 10:24 am
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My mom's joined 1997 and has some internet going on now. That means I can be on the internet to tell you about my latest and greatest Top Ten List. I've been thinking about pitching a Top Ten Types of Top Ten Lists.
Digg, whatever. Also ignore the comment at the beginning about the Lifetime Achievement Award: That went to Uwe Boll for EVERYTHING EVER but it looks like it got cut. |
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Dec. 23rd, 2009 @ 08:16 am
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I am going back to Arizona for a few days. I am hoping to spend them working on a personal project and avoid my family as much as possible. Wish me luck! |
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There is a fabulous article on WIRED right now looking deeper into Duke Nukem Forever's development quagmire. I think when people complain about the state of games journalism, what they're really bemoaning is the severe lack of pieces like these in our media. Lord knows that I would absolutely love to write something akin to this.
Unrelated: Since I'm taking advantage of Alex's hospitality during my stay in Lyon, I asked him if he wanted me to bring anything over from the States. He actually wanted a Real Arcade Pro SE, which are on sale at Amazon and apparently stupid expensive in Europe, so I had him order and ship one to me to bring over there. Of course, I also had permission to give to some test runs, which I did with Mushihimesama Futari.
I hadn't used a RAP much in anything beyond brief play sessions here and there, and after sitting down and really spending some time with it, all I can think of to describe the experience of using it to play Futari are metaphors that are probably better left unsaid for the sake of professionalism. Yeah, I think I might try to find a Deathsmiles or Futari model secondhand whenever I wind up in Japan next.
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So I'm about to go to bed and I change the channel on my TV to local channel 66, right? And there's a TV show where local musicians play stuff. An accordeon / Mexican music band is there, and they play a song. I'm preparing to shut down the computer when the band starts talking to the host, and all of a sudden, one of the musicians starts to play the Super Mario Bros. main theme on his accordion.
Cue me going "What the hell?" He played it for like twenty seconds before stopping.
I did not expect that.
ETA: One of the musicians has the nickname "Pokemon". Yeaaaaaaaaaah these guys are geeks.
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Dec. 20th, 2009 @ 09:12 pm
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Y'know, I don't think people understand how AS folk define themselves and their lifestyles by the things they take an interest in.
I've mentioned before to some of my friends that I don't think I'd be able to live if I didn't have videogames. That might seem shocking or even laughably pathetic to some, but for someone like me, games aren't just a hobby, they're a means of income, a source of comfort, an area of study, a jumping-off point of conversation when meeting and relating to new people, a way of understanding the tastes and thought processes of others (by seeing what games they like and why they like them)...
So if I woke up tomorrow and video games suddenly vanished from the face of the planet, I don't know how I'd continue to exist. I'd probably have a total nervous breakdown at least.
People with AS tend to make their silly interests and obsessions a huge part of their life, and I'm no different. I wish it were a bit easier to explain that to people, I've heard "So are videogames, like, your entire life?" said to me in a shocked manner far too many times this month...
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Phew, this has been a very busy week! I'm feeling quite accomplished after wrapping up everything I needed to play/submit, but I still have a few other things to turn in before the holidays, so I can't get too comfortable. Still, I think I'm gonna relax and play a lot of Mushihimesama Futari this weekend. Bug blasting ahoy~!
Another bit of news: Several of you have heard, but I'm visiting Europe for the first time next month! I'll be spending the bulk of my time with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fishie_flop_oog at his place in Belgium, but I will also be heading over to France and Germany to visit some pals (the UK looks rather unlikely at this point, I'm afraid). Looking forward to AWESOME HANG-OUT TIMES, PAL format, and delicious cheeses :3
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Haven't been feeling much up to writing for reasons obvious to those who know me. But I have to at least make an attempt, so here's what I know.
- Mega Man 10 is happening, and that's pretty cool.
- Went to a Rifftrax Christmas show on Wednesday, which was pretty funny.
- Just bought Machinarium, and until the 25th both Machinarium and Samorost 2 will be available together for 10$. Pretty good deal there.
- Started playing Donkey Kong Jungle Beat again. Don't know why.
- Getting sick of this Tiger Woods news. Did Michael Jackson's death have nearly of much coverage?
- I tried beginning Brutal Legend again, only to discover the DLC item I wanted to use doesn't activate until AFTER you beat the game! What the hell, guys!
- Actually started playing Popful Mail again. Jeez, the voice acting in that is MUCH campier than I remember it. Man, how we've come along in 15 years!
- On a more serious note, I had a change in medication. It's causing me to think clearer than I have in the past 2-3 weeks, but with that clarification has also come the focus on the negative things. As a result, I've been feeling really guilty and depressed lately. Well, more than usual, natch. My holidays have been feeling...somewhat emptier than in previous years, and it's hard for me to look past that right now.
- I received 60$ for Hanukkah, which I promptly used on a copy of Uncharted 2. I'm sure I'll get back to playing that eventually.
- There are other things I'd like to say, but frankly it gets even deeper into the emo category. I think I'll stop writing until I know I can make a post without sounding like I've lost my best friend.
Or two of them anyways YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT HAPPY HOLIDAYS! |
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The new issue of GamePro will be hitting newsstands soon! This is the first issue in the "new" format, and I've got two things in there: A Super Street Fighter IV preview (it's rad!) and a Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers review (it's mediocre!). I'm actually more excited about the issue after next, though, which is being wrapped up this week...
Looks like an acquaintance of mine is hitting Fuyu Comic Market. Time to make a shoppping list for him... which reminds me that I never did post images of my Natsu-Comi haul. Maybe I should do that.
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It's slow, but I think I'm starting to rediscover my love for the videogame.
It's felt like a herculean task, yet I think I know. What I needed was not one huge game to re-ignite my gaming passion, but a series of smaller ones. As amazing as Assassin's Creed 2 and Batman: Arkham Asylum seem, I don't need such titles weighing on me at this time.
The biggest I'll probably get is Uncharted, for even with its production values, it's a linear game with straightforward gameplay. I don't think I've ever been one to see anything bad about a 'sandbox' game, but for once, I think I have to side with Jess: the open words have somehow started to become too complex for my frail brain to take. As much as I wanted to enjoy Crackdown, giving me a car and throwing me into an open world only serves to frustrate me, not entertain.
No, when you find yourself gaining joy out of something as simple as Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp, it's time to scale back. The realization didn't occur to me as I was playing the christmas-themed sequel on Xbox Live Indie Games this morning, but it hit me like a time-traveling DeLorean as I played Pixeljunk Shooter this evening.
For awhile, I've said that I've felt like getting lost in an arcade room, and perhaps this was the evidence I needed that it wasn't just a passing fancy. Instead of wide-open worlds with you're-on-your-own concepts, I've started to find more joy in having a simple concept and unlocking bonuses and extras around that. Maybe that's why I fell in love with the GORF GBA port. You have your typical arcade experience, but it's the Mission Matrix mode that extends the game's life to the point where it becomes very satisfying when I've finished playing it. I can still go back to Mega Man because it's just long enough that I can still feel I've accomplished something when I beat it.
RPGs are too long, Sandbox games too wide, and titles like New Super Mario Bros. Wii have become too difficult. I need to scale back...Not so far back that I'm playing Bejeweled and Tetris for the rest of my life, but this is something where I feel I need to start simple again.
Pixeljunk Shooter is perfect. It's given me the ability to play an arcade-style game without the fear that the difficulty will jump out of a dark alley and rape me blind. The controls are simple to pick up, the maps - from what I've played thus far - haven't gotten intensely complex, and it looks beautiful. This is the game I need to start me over. For once in a very long time, I don't feel overwhelmed playing a game.
*sigh* I somehow also feel better talking about this. It's been awhile since I've had the want to just....write. Granted, it's still writing about videogames, but shut up!
Switching gears, I want to talk about Sunsoft. Yes, that Sunsoft, with the awesome Batman NES game. Well, it turns out they're returning to the US, and bringing Blaster Master to the Virtual Console as well. And who's going to be publishing these Sunsoft titles in the US? Why, none other than Gaijinworks, Vic Ireland's post-Working Designs HQ. In their last statement, Vic mentioned another special announcement Sunsoft was going to make that he was excited for. Now, what could that possibly be...?
Well, it turns out that Sunsoft has just acquired Telenet. Now, that may mean nothing to you, but longtime WD fans know that one Telenet game Vic did many years ago was Cosmic Fantasy 2 for the Turbografx CD. Does that mean we'll be seeing this game coming to the Virtual Console soon?
Personally, I'd still like to see Popful Mail appear on Nintendo's digital download service, but until Sega CD support is officially added to the Virtual Console, it doesn't seem like we'll be getting that. Oh well, Maybe Exile instead? |
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Just managed to unlock Zero in Tatsunoko versus Capcom today over at the Gamepro offices. I think I've found my favorite characters out of the bunch - Morrigan and Yatterman-1 - but I haven't really played around with Zero much yet. Still need to unlock Joe the Condor on the Tatsunoko side, as well.
I think it's safe to say that I enjoy TvC more than Street Fighter IV. SFIV's a fine game and all, but it's just not the sort of fighter I personally enjoy getting together with people and playing on a regular basis (though SSFIV could well change that). It's fun to watch, but actually playing it doesn't do all that much for me. TvC, on the other hand, is something I'd love to play with a group of buddies on weekends and possibly get pretty good at.
I really hope the game manages to develop a scene. I'm kind of worried that it will continue to be overshadowed by Marvel versus Capcom 2 - TvC plays like the older versus games (i.e. two-person instead of three-person teams), has a simpler control scheme (3 attack buttons), has a whole mess of unfamiliar characters on both sides of the roster, and is on a console most fighting game fans generally disregard. But god, the matches in this game are so much more fun to play than MvC2! Even watching them is more entertaining - MvC2 tournaments usually just come down to seeing the same four X-Men get tossed around in various team formations since 75% of the selectable characters are near useless. It's nice to play a versus game where every character feels unique and offers good reasons to play as them again.
Beyond that, there are also other fanservice-y things in the game that haven't been publicized, but what's the fun in seeing them if they aren't a surprise? Just a quick PROTIP: Try pressing A during the credits roll.
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