Skull cheating: Halo 3 campaign, again

(tags game, FPS, Xbox 360)

I spend most of today finding "skulls" in the Halo 3 campaign mode. I set the difficulty to normal, and I proceeded to try to find some skulls without a guide. After spending a morning doing fruitless searches, I succumbed to a Google search for "Halo 3 Skull", which took me to Halo 3 Planet's "Halo 3 Skull Locations". Thus I spent the rest of my day following a guide. By far the hardest or most irriating one to obtain is the Cowbell Skull, which is about 30 minutes into the "The Ark" map.

So I collected all but one of the skulls and I finished another secret. So my Gamerscore is now up to 680 points. Hey its going up, woopie.

Most of the skulls make the game unbearably difficult (Enemies have 2x health, etc). The one I like is the "birthday" one. Hooray!

Campaign is fun. Campaign with scoring is fun, though I'm not close to clearing it to win Gamer Points. Battle rifle I like it. Carbine I am liking less now. Melee, I press B button in your face FTW.

I'm a n00b all over again: Xbox Live and Halo 3 online

(tags game, online, Xbox 360, FPS)

Last night I used the Ethernet cable to hook up the ol' Xbox 360. I made a new account in the Japan region, because I want Idolm@ster stuff. Unfortunately I won't be able to get the TMNT Arcade game without an US account. So how to beat the system? I asked my Xbox 360 expert and he said, google the words "US account" (「北米アカウント」). I'll try this later, not now.

I spend most of the first two hours online download stuff for the Xbox Dashboard. There are a lot of demos to try, but I deleted some pre-installed demos and videos already. I'm just not interested in those things. I expected the Xbox Live Marketplace to demand you to pay stuff for frivolous things, but seeing it for the little icons for your profile (game pics) is still shocking. I will get some Xbox Live points but not now.

And yes, I tried Halo 3 multiplayer. I played Deathmatch mode, which is called "Slayer" in Halo. I also played Big Team Matches which include Assault/Defense (like UT Domination but less dynamic), Team Slayer, VIP, and CTF. It's not fun for me. :-( I'm lagging and I need voice chat to understand team movements. I did win a Slayer game but it was a fluke because the top guy left. Some people say that the additive part of Halo is the online multiplayer. However, after years of playing UT online, I don't think this is my kind of game.

My Halo Campaign finished

(tags game, Xbox 360, FPS)

I don't know exacly how long it took me, but after two days of owning the Xbox 360 I finished the Halo 3 Campaign mode on Heroic difficulty. Legendary will probably make me cry. :-p

I got 530 gamer points for finishing. This gamer score is a new thing to me, but I like its simplicity. How do I unlock the rest?

The action is great, the weapons are killer, the vehicles, sweet. I like sci-fi action, not killing nazis or zombies (uh the Flood?). At least the map-backtracking is kept to a minimum here. As far as the story goes, all in all I was disappointed, but how else can you end it? Also I wished I heard this game in English because I like the voice actors, but I'm not going to spend more money on it right now.

I'll write my spoiler thoughts below before taking a new challenge: Xbox Live (online), with no mic because I use headphones for my primary audio.

SPOILERS in ROT13

Znfgre Puvrs'f anzr vf zragvbarq. V unys rkcrpgrq vg gb or zl tnzre cebsvyr anzr, ohg vgf npghnyyl ibvprq. Ol nqqvat n anzr, vg znxrf uvz zber uhzna ohg ng gur fnzr gvzr vg fcrpvsvrf enpr. Ohatvr fubhyq unir xrcg vg nabalzbhf fb gung crbcyr nyy bire gur jbeyq pbhyq svyy va jungrire gurve cerpbaprcgvbaf gnxr gurz.

Gur ynggre yriryf ner svyyrq jvgu gur Sybbq. V ungr gur Sybbq. V jnaan fubbg ng zber Pbiranag. Gur jnl gurve oyhr be benatr oybbq cnvagf gur jnyyf naq ebpxf vf... jryy vgf tebgrfdhr. :-) Sybbq orpbzrf crn terra juvpu whfg qvfthfgvat. Qba'g trg zr fgnegrq ba gur betnavp ybbx ynlre "Pbegnan" znc. Lhpx.

V rkcrpgrq gur ynfg npgvba frdhrapr bs gur tnzr gb or gvzrq, whfg yvxr Unyb 1. V nyfb rkcrpgrq gb pbageby gur Nevovgre ng fbzr cbvagf. Univat gur Neovgre jvgu zr erzvaqrq zr bs gur pb-bc pnzcnvta cynl, juvpu vf fjrrg pbaprcg. V qba'g rkcrpg gb cnegvpvcngr va bar tnzr gubhtu.

SPOILERS END

Chief ga shinda! The Xbox 360 plunge

(tags Xbox 360, FPS, game, purchase)

It's already 1 in the morning on a work day Friday so I better make this quick. Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition. Halo 3 Limited Edition game. Wireless game adapter for PC. I've taken the plunge. ;-)

It was heavy. 7 Kilograms. Personal photo unboxing, who cares about that. I can't wait to play!

I plugged it in with no problems, audio passes through one of those source selector boxes I have for my consoles. Turn it on, VGA cable is good to go, I have the 1280x1024 selected. Halo 3 runs, Heroic because I'm a bad-ass. OMG its in Japanese with English subtitles. I skipped the intro by mistake, looking for the voice language selection. There is none. I make another profile to view the intro again.

I don't care what people say about Halo 3 being graphically mediocre. It looks incredible to me. Then again this is my first current-gen console. I need that "progress bar" on my computer, very nice. Jungle fever, everything is brighter and colorful. Gosh darn it, gotta unlearn "green thumb" and stop hitting X to reload. I keep losing that fancy bubble shield with that. Sweet, a Covenant Carbine. Ok an hour to get through the first level. Did the Arbiter die then just reappear at the end? I have unlocked my first achievement uh huh.

I played some Lost Planet single player demo. W00t, no problems and just as fun as I expected. Then plugged in my Halo 2 for Xbox 1 disc. It runs without a problem. I suppose this console is preloaded with a lot of goodies. 10.4 GB free. Gotta delete some crud.

I am very satisified right now with the Xbox 360, with only 2 hours into it. Wee! Now how do I charge this controller and "turn off" my console?

Tomorrow I might connect this console to the Internet, if I get too frustrated with Halo 3. And what the hey, let's play in Japanese voices. They don't sound that bad.

XBox 360 I can't wait

(tags game, Xbox 360, purchase, FPS)

I have been going to Sofmap every day. Well, make that Tuesday and today (Wednesday). I was hoping that the Xbox 360 Halo Edition would be "street-broken" but no. All that launch party and blog hubbub over in the States and even New Zeland, but we don't get it until tomorrow, ho hum. I am trying not to read the user reviews of the campaign, since that's the main reason why I'm getting it.

Two weekends ago I considered the Xbox 360 a done deal so I bought the Lost Planet game. Only 2980 yen new, its a typical Sofmap bargain bin. I had to go to the Osaka Tennoji store though, which is not well trafficked, because my Kobe store actually sold out. Whoa. And I picked up the Trusty Bell faceplate, which would probably look like crap on a Halo Edition Xbox 360. Heck, all my faceplates will look like crap.

Finally yesterday after conferring with my Xbox friend over audio possibilites, I decided to get the video cable just in case. I went with the VGA cable which has a mini-DIN converter with it. Yes I will be again playing with 2.0 headphones on my 5:4 1280x1024 LCD monitor.

I'm kinda worried about the 20 GB thing again. Now I hear that the Halo 3 will save videos of your campaign automatically. How much space will that take?

Tomorrow I should have the Xbox in hand. W00t. My homework is not done though: sell off some unused stuff for store credit, xbox 1 compatible games, etc.

Team DM, 32 inhuman bots, Shock Arena, DM-Pah

(tags game, FPS, Unreal Tournament)

I must also mention I'm passing the time playing Team Deathmatch in Unreal Tournament (1999). I really can't wait for Halo 3. The Halo series has that reload sequence and rifle butting that I just can't get enough of, and as an alterative, there is Half-Life 2, which I still haven't finished. But the Touhou this weekend reminded me that I wanted quick "arcade" action that makes me feel good about myself.

So there it is: Team Deathmatch, 32 inhuman bots, with mutator Shock Rifle, and starting off with map DM-Pah by David Münnich.

The rest of my Team DM map list:

• DM-Deck16][
• DM-Distinctive
• DM-Morbias][
• DM-Malevolence
• DM-Nitro

My team almost always wins, and sometimes I even get the most frags. Yea me.

I notice that on some of the maps, the bots congregate in specific areas and don't move around. This is sad from an action perspective but barrel-o-monkeys fun. (Ducks in a barrel, doofus). Come on, shock rifle makes lots of gibs. I like it. I also love the first spawning on some maps. 32 bots == telefragging and missed First Blood opportunities.

A slice of life, Birth of Venus

(tags blog, book, news)

There is one feed on my blogroll that I let accumulate. It's as if I dread reading it. Dread is more appropriately associated with my finance and/or productivity feeds: You should be saving more, stop procastinating! Ugh.

This feed though gives me the most perspective. It's the Christian Science Monitor All Stories feed. Some stories don't appeal to me, but there are always some gems, like language learning through girlfriends or first name basis criticisms. Plus I like the slice of life stories, like dad dealing with the three-second rule or middle-aged volunteers.

I can't stop thinking about getting an Xbox 360 and Halo 3, but I must wait until this Friday, so I am also passing the time with a book: The Birth of Venus by Susan Dunant. I read it in bed and it puts me to sleep. Historical novels? About or related to striking women depicted paintings? It must be historical literature moe.

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

(tags book, English, French)

I just finished reading The Virgin Blue, a novel by Tracy Chevalier. I don't exactly remember when I got this book, but it must have been during a trip to Spain. I was enthralled by Chevalier's break out novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring, some years ago so I decided to get some more by this author. I finished this book within a day.

If you had an opportunity to find out more about your ancestors would you do it? This book seems to match some aspects of Chevalier's life: American living in Europe, infatuated with ancestors and/or history. It seems typical for a first novel. I was pleasantly suprised with the distant connection (as opposed to close) between the painting on the cover of the book and the actual story.

I drew some parallels to the 20th century's main character's plight of living in a foreign country and sticking out like a sore thumb, to my own experience. Are there some things that I do that label me as "foreigner" that I am not aware of? Well, I don't paint my shutters any ghastly colors, though. Still I can related to people insisting on speaking English to me when I try my best to speak their language.

Also, this book uses some French phrases that are beyond the reach of my high-school French, with no directly explanation in English as to what they mean. I felt dissatisfied with that, and with myself for forgetting the French. I did look up some place names that the book mentions. Ah France, shaped like a cow's head.

I want to scream at the irrationality of the people in the 16th century. Are we that close to animals? Maybe we are.

I am searching the reading guide questions now. It brings a little clarity to my "review". For example, I never considered the psoriasis as more of a coincidence between the 16th century heroine and her 20th century counterpart. Maybe she should just go back to the States because she never had the outbreak there. Haha, my attempts to keep this entry spoiler free make it irriatingly vague.

Some "new" games: Touhou and The Warriors

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, Windows, shmup, beat-em-up)

I was bored going home Friday night so I made a quick stop into Tora no Ana. Hey I was in the neighborhood to pick up the Koge Donbo telephone card for 30 Gamers in-store points. I saw that Team Shanghai Alice's return to regular vertical shmups, Touhou Fuujinroku Mountain of Faith (東方風神録　～ Mountain of Faith) finally hit the stores, and though I wasn't planning on buying it, here I am already wanting to end this post to play it again.

(BTW, Melon Books had a meter-tall swiveled, stacked tower of the Touhou game cases. Store displays FTW.)

But unfortunately I was restless so when I retired from the computer last night, I started to play The Warriors for the PSP in bed. Wow I am impressed, even though I have to suppress the comparison to a GTA game. I must say I am uncomfortable when the NPCs tell me to steal this or beat this up or mug that, but when actually seeing it (in game) and doing it myself, I have no qualms. Its crazy. Perhaps breaking polygonal glass and ganking floating items or joint-locking a mark or kicking downed bodies to see the blood squirt out just doesn't seem real to me. I am visually desensitized.

Season 2007/10 animes and the seiyuus that drive them

(tags anime, season 2007/10, seiyuu)

Yes I'm watching anime, but no I'm not up to date. But j1mOne is: Autumn 2007 Anime Preview. She concentrates more on the seiyuu (pictures included) and not the stories, which is the way I like it. She does link to other general previews (1, 2), but the format of the page is way easier to read that the others.

I wanna check out Kimi Kiss (キミキス), Kodomo no Jikan (こどものじかん), Kawaii Jenny, and probably the other schoolgirl, bishoujo animes. But I actually don't watch a lot, only 4 or 5 a week.

(picture thanks: アキバブログ)

BTW, I still haven't watched that DVD that comes with that Kodomo no Jikan manga. ^_^;

Touch it again and again: Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 (Duo)

(tags game, gal-ge, Dual Screen, 2008)

Yea, Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 Duo (どきどき魔女神判2（DUO）) announced! (Thanks dengeki, famitsu, via zepy.) Thankfully it will be next year and not this year. I can't say I like the designs of this one time around, though. You really can't top "Maho", I think.

Pink and lavender left-overs: PlayStation Portable "slim"

(tags PlayStation Portable, ECsite, purchase)

Today was the general release of the PlayStation Portable PSP-2000, the one I like to call "slim". Though I wanted to get one, I didn't bother. To tell you the truth, money is tight, because its Xbox 360 time! All colors except rose pink and lavender purple were sold out at my favorite shop. The tuner was also available.

Halo 2 fun but Kasumi Xbox 1 "dies"

(tags Xbox 1, hardware, failure, FPS)

I've been playing Halo 2's Campaign mode over the weekend, trying to find the levels that I like. So far I like the bridge one not because of the Scorpion but because I can go through it with a Warthog. I try to give my shotgun-riding support my rocket launcher or a rifle. Also I really like the Covenant Carbine and the SMG, they are cool. Again I'm doing the levels on Heroic not Legendary because I wanna have fun.

But on Monday, my "Kasumi" Xbox 1 refused to read my Halo 2 disc. Then I tried an audio CD, which confirmed it was a problem with the drive. My Xbox is effectively "dead". Now I'm faced with the prospect of "hacking" my Xbox 1 though I resolved not to modify it. I'm glad that somebody wrote up this Xbox drive failure problem, but disappointed that its frequent enough to occur. I'll give the "DVD drive cleaning kit" option before looking at adjusting the laser's potentiometers (!), replacing the laser (!) or replacing the drive unit (.).

With any hardware failure I am despondent. I even fleetingly reconsidered not buying a Xbox 360. Ha, yeah sure.

Mamoru-kun is orz: Rubik's Cube measured times

(tags anime, Rubik's Cube, season 2006/10, times)

I was watching some Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! (護くんに女神の祝福を！) but its pretty bad. Seiyuu Mikako Takahashi (高橋美佳子) voices the main gal Ayako here, but the only role I liked her in was Ayumi in Hachimitsu to Clover.

Anyways on the cubing front, I did better than last time by not trying to Cube while watching.

----- JNetCube Best Average for Mon Sep 17 21:15:07 GMT+09:00 2007 -----

Average: 2:11.50 (2:47.16 -35.66 last week)

Fastest Time: 1:29.59 (2:14.03 -44.44)
Slowest Time: 3:44.43 (3:46.20 -1.77)
Standard Deviation: 19.48 (11.78)

Individual Times:
2:15.34 R2 B2 L F2 D2 L F2 U L2 D F2 L' B2 U' D B' U R U2 F R2 B2 U' F L
2:08.18 D' U2 L' R' U' F U2 L D R' U2 R B U F U2 D B U2 F' U D2 R U2 R2
1:29.59 U' R B' L2 D R' D' F' L B' U D2 L R2 B L2 B' F U' L R2 U' D2 F2 L
2:29.57 L' D' B2 F2 D F B' U B L2 U2 R' D U' L' U' F L' R B R' U' B' F' U2
2:35.00 B2 U' B2 L' B' F2 U' F U L' B' D2 B' L' B R' L F' L2 D' R U2 D' F U
1:50.28 D' B' D2 B2 F R B2 D L B' U' F B2 L' R2 B L B2 F2 D' U B' D' B2 F2
1:54.25 B2 U D' B' D R2 F B' L' U2 L' B' F' R' B' D' L U2 L2 U' F2 B2 L' D F
2:40.38 B U F' U2 D F R2 B' D U' F' L' R2 B2 F R L F' L F L2 B2 D' L2 B2
3:44.43 B' D R2 D R2 L U2 D2 F2 U2 F' R' D' R D2 B L B L' F' U2 L2 R B' D'
1:59.25 B F' U' B L' F' L2 U2 R F2 L2 B2 F' L2 D' L' F B2 U2 L U' R L2 B F2
2:18.31 F' U2 B2 L2 D' B F D2 F2 L2 F2 U L2 F2 R2 L D' U' B2 U' R U2 L2 B D
1:44.45 D L' R' B2 U2 B2 L' U2 R2 D2 L D L2 F2 U2 D R2 F2 B2 L2 D' L D B2 R2

Another improvement of about 30 seconds this week. I didn't "prune". I just did a straight run without rejecting or rolling over. I didn't even warm up, after resting 2 days from daily practice. I must say my hands don't feel very dexterous, and I "pop" my cube a lot. Over the course of the week I have somewhat mastered those last two Fridrich moves, but I forgot them on some these of the runs, which explains those 3 minute + results.

One thing I allow myself is to look at the cube for as much time as I want. Usually I get impatient but sometimes I try to think about how to move to the cross. I also try to shortcut some moves if I can look in advance. Cubing improvement is all about looking ahead, so if I can "see" the colors, I can get rid of redundant movement.

Winamp, my old friend

(tags music, player, Windows)

I can't recall the first time I used Winamp but I have some memories of discovering the joy of MP3s with it. After MusicMatch and iTunes though, I rarely installed it. Recently I found out it could read my iPod docked to my work computer without iTunes, so I gave it a go again. Wow its good, fast and stable. The playlist and song info is really detailed too. This feature is due to a software module called pmp_ipod, which is built-in. It is a fork of the optional ml_ipod, and for my use pmp_ipod is better, but compare it for yourself.

Too bad I can't rate songs or have it count my usage. Plus the internationalization on the main window part is still deficient. :-(

Perhaps this type of utility will be gone for the newer iPods, since "Apple kills Linux compatibility with new iPods" (thanks Download Squad).

File backups and second thoughts on Mozy

(tags backup, online)

After my brush with file loss woe despite using a RAID 1 last month, you'd think I'd learn my lesson. Well "shame on me", but making a system for backing up my files is irritating and complex, and thus I never get a backup done. I am just courting disaster, aren't I? :-/

I thought I'd try Mozy, an online backup system. Though it got rave reviews over the years, I suspected that my backups weren't stored after 30 days. After reading the article "Everybody likes Mozy--except me" (parts 1 and 2), I saw some more valid criticisms that make me reconsider my current "backup solution", such as the relative newest of the company and the clarity of the backup period. I know that my relatively slow upload speed is no fault of Mozy, but it another minus to this backup solution. It is however, unobtrusive and convenient during backup. And I did test the restore function to my satisfaction, unlike those rave reviews that seem to gloss over that. I wouldn't say its totally useless. Since restore works rather painlessly, I'm keeping it.

One thing I added recently to my computer recently is a internal 5 inch removable bay for SATA 3.5 inch HDDs. Before with PATA, you needed to put a frame on your HDD before placing in a removable bay. So the cost would be something like 3000 yen for the bay, 3000 for the frame. However with SATA you don't need to add a frame, just slide in the HDD to use it. The removable bay I bought was around 3000 yen. Since I have some HDDs laying around from the old RAID, I'll add full local backups to my backup solution using some sort of home-grown rsync based script. Too bad my current motherboard doesn't support hot-swapping SATA drives. One thing I also learned is that SATA I drives don't produce a "read/write signal" that this bay can use to flash a activity LED. You need a SATA II drive.

Other than that, I should look into a local network backup solution like Bacula, as introduced through user comments at Lifehacker's article "Are you Prepared for a Hard Drive Crash?". That would entail making another computer. Ugh.

Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free or Die Hard)

(tags movie, theater)

I watched Die Hard 4.0 yesterday in a movie theater. I liked it because it felt fresh and yet so familiar. BTW, the movie theater I went to had a sit-down cabinet of Mr. Driller G, a 2001 game. Still 100 yen though.

SPOILERS

This latest movie takes the Die Hard cliches and rachets it another notch. Its always about people wanting money, and John Mclaine (Bruce Willis) getting bloody and injured. He's mainly an "analog guy" that depends on help from bystanders and/or people in communication, and of course guns. Sometimes he wins the fist fights too, and he never hesitates to kill when needed.

Some of the action sequences were over the top but I didn't feel that way when watching them. Violence against women was noticably toned down. It's another computer/network technology empowering bad guys. I just ignore those technology parts.

You never know with this series if it is going to continue. I suppose if Bruce Willis is up to doing the action sequences, it will.

END SPOILERS

Can't wait, playing Halo 2 again

(tags game, Xbox 1, FPS)

I went out and got some Xbox 360 related stuff, which made me impatient for the hardware. So, I started playing Halo 2, again. Not on legendary but heroic. I can't believe how much easier it is that way. And now it's almost 3 in the morning. :)

Tales from a Xbox 360 owner

(tags Xbox 360, game, hardware, Idolmaster)

I actively pursued some personal hands-on Xbox 360 knowledge by asking a co-worker about his setup. He's an FPS-on-PC and action/adventure game guy, and not at all a typical Japanese gamer. So here are my questions in italic, and his answers:

• Is 20GB enough? Sure, I delete demos quickly and Japan doesn't have a video service like in the U.S. so its enough.
• Are game saves big? No, just a couple hundred KB per game.
• How about downloading items? Yeah, I bought some map packs, in the tens of megabyte range. The Idolm@ster stuff is which is "8 catalogs" is a total of about 2GB (see wikipedia).

(photo from 「ビビッドなチャイナ服が登場！ 「アイマスカタログ」第8号配信」 2007-08-29)

• Can I use a VGA LCD monitor? Sure, you can use the VGA cable, no fuss. But why do 4:3 when 16:9 is so much better?
• Will it output "1080p" onto a widescreen LCD monitor? No games support it so why would you need that? Make sure to get a 20 inch or bigger display if you wanna go widescreen.
• Is it good to have HDMI on a monitor? Yeah if you want to use the DVD upscaling function. PS3 has the same requirement, no DVD upscaling on non-HDMI connections.
• Wireless (controller)? Batteries go pretty fast so buy rechargables like "enerloop" or you can try out the "Charge and Play Kit". I've lost power to my controller a number of times.
• Did you service your Xbox and if so how many times? I sent it in just one time a couple of months ago. (I think he has an early Xbox 360.)
• 65 nm process Xbox? I haven't heard any confirmation about this yet, and though the heat sink configuration might have changed in new Xboxes doesn't mean its a 65 nm.

Then he recommended some games. He imports foreign games so he's just like me, but only when he confirms (through official announcment) that they work on the console (ie region-free). For example he bought BioShock the U.S. version and complains that the English subtitles don't follow the dialogue exactly. He plays it in English, and but he doesn't talk to me in English, huh. He gives a thumbs down on Lost Planet. "Play it at your own risk." Huh, but that's not stopping me. "Avoid Trusty Bell, it has a bad (weak) story." Gears of War is good. "Did you know if you change your language they speak English?" Ooh thanks for that info. What about Project Sylpheed? "Um, well its okay :-/" Viva Pinata? "Not bad." "I don't completely finish games, I just keep on moving on to the next ones. :-)"

Upcoming games? Ace Combat 6 (ACE COMBAT 6 解放への戦火), his thumb's up. Beautiful Katamari (ビューティフル塊魂). I asked why?!? Because "its fun and I played it on the PS2". Halo 3? No, I'm not getting that (?!?! why not!). Lost Oddessy? "Hm, maybe." Assassin's Creed (アサシン クリード) Yes. How about those newly announced Xbox Live Arcade games (shmups)? "Hm, well." I think he was feigning interest there just to humor me.

Now I have about two weeks before the Xbox 360 comes to my home. OMG it seems like I can't wait. I need to check if my Xbox 1 games are compatible. I need to make sure I can secure a Halo-edition Xbox at my local store. I need to really make sure I don't want the Elite edition. Will I buy a JP Halo 3 or wait till more info about English-capable version? Aaah!

Missing lines

(tags PlayStation Portable, ECsite, game)

Instead of trying to buy that Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Limited Edition PSP "lite" pack, I went to work (ha ha). So I missed The Lines (thanks Geemaga Blog).

My time is limited

(tags anime, manga)

Well I was going to relax with an anime episode of Zero no Tsukaima and the new manga Kodomo no Jikan book 4 (with DVD, which I pre-ordered back in 2007-07-01), but all this exciting game news and posting just got in the way. No time to watch and read now, gotta sleep!

The countdown to a Treasure'd DS: Bangai-O

(tags Dual Screen, game)

Is this for real? Treasure's web site is in a countdown since last week but now DS Fanboy (via NeoGAF) reports the whammy: a new Treasure game for the DS called Bangai-O Spirits (バンガイオー魂). Shooting on your DS!

This game originally came out for the Nintendo 64 and the Dreamcast. Actually, it's one of the rare games on the Dreamcast that does NOT support the VGA adapter, so I still haven't tried my copies. Uh.

Well if it really comes out on the DS then it will be in my hands. I haven't wanted a DS game recently, so this is refreshing.

Other than that, how do those NeoGAF-ers get scans of a Famitsu magazine that will be on the stands officially in less than two days? "Believe", indeed.

The scenario's too long: Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku (PSP)

(tags PlayStation Portable, game, seiyuu)

One picture maybe worth a thousand words, but in the case of the PlayStation Portable game Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku (涼宮ハルヒの約束), it could be mean a thousand pages. In a picture that I'm not going to swipe this time, the scenario booklet for the game was revealed (thanks Akiba Blog). And it's massive, probably 1000 pieces of A4 sized paper. Even Kyon's seiyuu (and one of the guy voices I melt on), Tomokazu Sugita, says "yare yare".

The laugh's on me, though, I'm going to read and listen to it, come 2008-01.

3rd in the world!?!? Idolm@ster leads Xbox live item downloads

(tags Xbox 360, Japan, online, kawaii)

According to the same Microsoft press event at Tokyo Game Show, The IdolM@ster's Xbox Live Item download count is the third largest in the world. (Thanks Geemaga Blog)

This game is Japan only, and coupled with the fact that there are 400,000 consoles in Japan while the US and Europe have like 11 million, does this mean Japanese otaku are picking up the Xbox slack or other territories don't buy into (or pay money for) Xbox Live Arcade online goods? How is this even possible?

Wanting a Xbox more and more: Ikaruga announced

(tags Xbox 360, Japan, online, Ikaruga)

Well it was rumored that Ikaruga (斑鳩) was coming out for the Xbox. I even wrote a me-too post on it back in 2007-02-15. Now it's officially announced, at the Microsoft Press Event at the Tokyo Game Show 2007.

(photo from Game Watch Impress)

There's no question now that I'll get a Xbox 360. I wonder what will this do for the used Ikaruga game market? Still this game fetches 8000 yen or more at auctions, and 10000 yen at used game stores.

The other game I wanna try is Rez HD, but you know what, I need to play it first on my PS2 with the "Trance Vibrator". I don't have a HDTV and VGA won't cut it, I bet.

No line for you: PSP "Lite" Crisis Core Pack

(tags hardware, PlayStation Portable, store, pre-order, failure)

Glad I went to the Sofmap Kobe one day early. The Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII (クライシス コア -ファイナルファンタジー VII-) 10th anniversary limited edition pack is totally sold out, even by pre-order.

Even if I line up (like last time), there won't any left. I didn't pre-order because I thought I wasn't interested in the game. I suppose I'm more interested in getting a PSP "lite" one week early. I was thinking of heading off to Osaka's Yodobashi Camera and/or Den-Den Town's Sofmap to line up, but I don't really want to.

Oh and I finally saw some plastic mockups of the PSP "lite" color variations. I change my mind, the Lavender Purple is the one I want.

My jokes, let me show you them: Manabi Straight DVD 6

(tags anime, Manabi Straight, DVD region 2)

I was surprised that the main story ended on this disc. Exactly what am I buying on the last (seventh!) DVD disc?

I really like this picture, not just because Mei is in it, but because Mei and Momo are in it. Before this series started I thought I would be all moe for Momo (pictured in the middle) but her character barely shows through. This scene depicts some typical anime stylings, namely the perplexed "devil" finger gestures which I recall most Rumiko Takahashi manga and anime, and the zaibatsu princess (Momo).

One can try to repurpose this picture with a manzai gag. (I can hear Mei exclaim Nande ya nen!?! Oi!), but it's a stretch. Unfortunately, Mei's hand is at the wrong angle for it. This angle indicates she's explaning something.

Now with the series over, I can play the PS2 game.

Just get the last part of this simple Fridrich down

(tags Rubik's Cube, algorithm)

Things to learn this week:

Simple Fridrich PLL 1 (簡単PLL① ６面リーチ):

R U' R D2 R' U R D2 R2
(3-cycle corner swap)

Simple Fridrich PLL 2 (簡単PLL② ６面完成):

R2 U R U R' U' R' U' R' U R'
(3-cycle edge swap)

I need to do this during my practice sessions.

Doujin Work is orz: Rubik's Cube measured times

(tags Rubik's Cube, times, anime, season 2007/04)

I was watching some Doujin Work, a season 2007/04 anime, and even though my favorite seiyuu Masumin (浅野真澄) is voicing the main character, the whole story just bites hard. Thumbs down. So I busted out my Rubik's Cube while glancing at the episodes. To tell you the truth though, I couldn't concentrate on doing both, so I repeated a set of 12 solves after it was done. The scores for this week:

----- JNetCube Best Average for Sun Sep 09 22:27:20 GMT+09:00 2007 -----

Average: 2:47.16 (3:16.43 -29.27 last week)

Fastest Time: 2:14.03 (2:17.57 -3.54)
Slowest Time: 3:46.20 (5:51.78 -125.58)
Standard Deviation: 11.78 (28.76)

Individual Times:
1) 2:45.73 U' L2 D' F D B2 L' B2 L U2 R2 D2 R B U2 B D2 U2 L' U B F R B' L2
2) 3:08.45 U' F2 L B U D2 F' B D F D R D2 R2 U' F' U L2 D' U' B' L2 R D' F
3) 2:53.28 U2 B2 L2 F L F2 R2 D F R2 D' F2 R2 B' U2 F D F' U D' B U2 D' F2 L
4) 2:38.46 D' U' F2 U F' U D2 F R' D2 B L2 R' B2 L2 B2 U2 F' U F2 R2 U' L2 D2 F
5) (3:46.20) D F2 B L R B D L2 U D2 R' B2 D2 B F' U' D B R' U2 R' F D F D
6) 2:50.26 D F' L R' B' L' U2 F B L2 R B' U2 F B' D' R2 D R D' L D B2 F2 R'
7) 2:52.29 D2 L R U B' F2 U L' D2 U F' D' L' D' F' B' L2 D2 U B' L2 R D F D'
8) 2:48.46 U' B2 D L F R2 U' R B F D2 F' U' L F B' U R' L F U F2 L B2 F'
9) 2:21.84 R' B' L U' F D2 U' F U' B2 R B F2 R' F2 D2 B F' R' U' R L' B' F' U
10) 2:47.28 U B2 D2 F2 D2 U R2 B' D' B U D2 L R U2 F R L' D U2 B2 U R' F R
11) (2:14.03) R2 D' F2 B2 U L R2 D' U2 B L B L2 F' D2 F U2 R2 L' B' F L B F' D
12) 2:45.53 B L F2 U2 R' L' B D R2 U R' F2 L B2 L' F D2 U R B2 F' U R F2 R2

Well an improvement about 30 seconds, but last week I didn't "prune" like I did this week. I'm still using the same method, but I think my hands are getting used to spinning the cube.

I have come to the conclusion that the Heise Method is for advanced Cubists, so I have given up on it. I still need the crutch of matching colors to absolute positions. I have switched to doing Blue side first, in a method similar to Fridrich but only 3 of the edges at a time. Still I haven't learned how to do the simple version of Friditch PLL corners and edges, even though I've practiced them a number of times.

Let's get this schedule straight: Xbox 360 hardware

(tags Xbox 360, hardware, purchase)

Over the last week, for some unknown reason, my motivation to get an Xbox 360 has jumped from "eventually" to "want to play it now". Maybe its because I can name 5 games I want to play on it consistently (unlike a Wii or a PS3), or maybe its because of Halo 3 fever. No its not because of BioShock fever, though I wanna play that eventually. It troubles me though that I haven't remembered the release dates of the newer Xbox models, Halo and Elite edition.

At first, I used Yodobashi Camera again to check the release dates, but Wikipedia has more information.

Xbox 360 Halo Special Edition : 2007-09-27 Thursday (open price but 44800 yen at Yodobashi Camera) 20GB HDD, essentially a regular ("Premium") system but with Halo colors and HDMI output.

Xbox 360 Elite Edition: 2007-10-11 Thursday (47800 yen) 120GB HDD and of course HDMI output.

One thing that is not certain is when Microsoft will hardware refresh it. I don't want my Xbox to fail and I don't want to deal with shipping it back for service. According to Engadget, 65 nm CPU have been in production since 2007-08-01, so I hope that it will be in the September refresh.

I think I'll get the Xbox 360 Halo Special Edition, though 20 GB (14 GB usable) doesn't seem like much storage.

Cold shower on iPod lust: iPod Classic 160GB and iPod touch

(tags music, hardware, iPod)

Its been almost a year since I got my second iPod (5.5gen, 80GB). Today Apple announced the new iPod line up and it's hard not to ignore.

The iPod Classic (Engadget) has two improvements for me, the 160GB size and the Cover Flow. Not much, eh, since my library is only 52 GB.

The iPod Touch (Engadget) seems pretty cool. I would use the WiFi and Internet browser. 16GB is a disappointment however. The screen is only 89 mm but has a higher resolution than the PSP (480x320@160dpi vs 480x273). This is the one I want to buy, but unfortunately, I saw at Sofmap that it will be 48000 yens. Ouchie.

The overriding reason for me to pass on this refresh is that I still haven't my money's worth out of my current one. 43000 + 8000 yen over about 350 days, thats about 140 yen per day for the privilege to own and use an iPod. Besides I'm not using it to the fullest with about 15 GB free on it and no recent video conversions. The battery still works.

See you in a year iPod Touch!

edit: changed title

Its hard enough as it is with the right colors: Rubik's Cube Revenge

(tags Rubik's Cube, failure)

This is my Rubik's Cube Revenge, which is a 4x4x4 cube. I've only kept it around for decoration since I have no idea how to solve it. I can't remember when I bought it, but its been sitting near my window for years.

Now that I'm feeling the Rubik's Cube fever again, I tried solving it. Unfortunately the green-orange(?)-red corner had a peeling sticker that fully separated last weekend. The other stickers are pristine though. What a waste. I guess I'll order some stickers some time. This store seems to be promising, but perhaps there is some local (Japan) store.

edit: Um, its a Revenge, not a Professor (5x5x5). Oh yeah, the official Rubik's Cube licensee, Mega House, provides support with services such as official sticker replacement.

Behind you

(tags anime, season 2007/04, Lovely Complex, Manabi Straight)

Today I bought Manabi Straight DVD 6 and watched episode 11. Well it was okay.

Then I watched episode 18 of Lovely Complex for a second time.

It's grand.

Rubik's Cube Mania at Toys 'R Us Japan 2007

(tags Rubik's Cube, contest)

According to the Rubik's Cube Diary in Japanese (ルービックキューブ日記), there was a Rubik's Cube 6-side contest at Toys 'R Us two weekend ago. The winner received a Toys 'R Us exclusive 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube. There were some sub-20s times, but these bloggers hit around 25 seconds, which was good enough for a win at a "backwater" Tokyo store.

You just wanna appreciate the figures: "Haruhi" and "Yuki" Limited edition "White"

(tags figure, sexy, anime, purchase)

Its been a couple of months in the making, but my "Mikuru" doesn't have to go it alone any more:

Yes! I recently won the auction for third figure in this series,"Yuki Nagato [Bunny Girl]" (～涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱～ＰＶＣ製塗装済完成品 『1/6長門有希 バニーガール』), Chara-Ani limited edition White (no stockings, rawr). I did try to get it officially through Chara-Ani a couple of months back, but I was robbed. This time I used Yahoo Auction Japan, and it was only 8000 yen + shipping. The price is only slightly higher than retail, only because there is now a better Haruhi Bunny Suit series (FREEing(フリーイング)「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 涼宮ハルヒ バニーVer.」 "Mikuru", "Haruhi", "Tsuruya-san", "Kyon's Sister"). Ah, such is life.

Since this was an auction buy, I kinda doubted that this was a unopened box. Granted the tape looked new and everything was in place with protective plastic, but the figure itself seemed dirty with some lint. I spent some time trying to clean it off, with little success. Some of the lint is on the bunny ears (right side in photo), and on the front side of the bunny suit. Since its white it irritatingly stands out. Also "Yuki" cannot stand by itself so I placed the support arm. Still I am very satisfied with the face, very kawaii. You can change the hands, but I think the combination of glasses and star wand is moe.

I'm not into Haruhi herself, but I kept my eye out for the second figure, "Haruhi Suzumiya [Bunny Girl]" (～涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱～ＰＶＣ製塗装済完成品 『1/6涼宮ハルヒ バニーガール』), Chara-Ani limited edition White (no stockings, rawr). I got this one used at Mandarake Osaka for about 7000 yen, which isn't a bad price for what appears to be another unopened box. Face is very clean, with some niggling scratches on the hair in the back. The rest of the figure is cleaner than "Yuki", so is it a manufacturing defect or auction deception? In any case, the pose is made for the guitar. There's also a mic hand set, but that just doesn't make any sense.

So now they're out of the box, let's pose them. Okay an obligatory story:

Yuki: "Mikuru-chan, you haven't seen my guitar around have you?"
Mikuru: "I think Haruhi has it."

Haruhi: "Let's play something interesting!" (starts to swing arm in giant windmills)
Yuki: "Are you sure you know how to play?"
Haruhi: "Sure!" (bad riff sound)
Mikuru: "Do I have to watch you practice?"

Haruhi: "Let's get a band going together in time for the culture festival." (bad riff sound and wild swinging continues)
Mikuru: "Ganbatte ne" (slowly inches away)
Yuki: "Hm, how good are at timed air guitar?" (ponders)

The "Mikuru" figure is the obvious win since she is so kawaii. "Yuki" isn't bad, but really does she belong in a bunny suit? And "Haruhi" is just fronting again, but I am surprisingly satisfied with it. The long legs are very non-Japanese, though. I placed these figures on top of my refrigerator, so I see them when I walk in. I want to put them next to the computer but there is no space.

I want to keep these figures out on display, but I've got so many others that I should work on. So perhaps in a month these "ladies" will hit the boxes again.

No more Mraz

(tags music, artist, failure)

I am in danger of overdosing on the melodic Mraz, so I am going to de-sync the regular albums from my iPod. That will teach me to place a song 28 times or more in just under a week.

The Minh Thai beginner method imprinted into my brain

(tags Rubik's Cube, algorithm, book)

I remember when I was a kid, I went down to the San Diego Downtown Public Library to check out published solutions or guides to solving the Rubik's Cube. I probably picked up The Winning Solution book by Minh Thai, who was the first placed winner at the Rubik's Cube World Championship in Budapest (1982).

Searching the net and clicking on lists of dead sites, I finally found the explanation of the method I know. Let's call it the "Minh Thai beginner method", even though I cannot confirm the attribution. I can confirm that it is the same as the Tsukuda method, however. Unfortunately that page does not use the now de facto cube ("Singmaster") notation. Let me attempt to describe it (incompletely) here without pictures:

1. Solve one layer (omitted)

2. Work on the opposite layer, not the middle layer! :

2a. Rotate the cube so that the solved layer is D (Down face). The opposite layer will be on U (Up face).

2b. Correctly position the remaining (top) four corners.
The only move I remember for this involves multiple applications of swapping the UR (Up-Right) and BR (Back-Right) corners:

(R U R') (U' F' U' F)
(2-cycle corner swap with side effects)

2c. Correctly orient the remaining (top) four corners.
I only know the one move and its mirror which also requires multiple applications. It operates on three corners which all change orientation in the same way, while the last cubie does not change orientation. Assuming this last cubie is at the BL corner, it is:

R U2 R' U' R U' R'
(3-cycle corner rotate with side effects)

The mirror move is when the last cubie is at the BR corner:

L' U2 L U L' U L
(3-cycle corner rotate with side effects)

You might be required to apply this 3 times.

3 Correctly place and orient the edge pieces on the top layer. The middle layer might be filled with edge pieces that belong on U (Up face). Select a middle layer edge cubie that matches the color of U. Make a note of the color of the partner facelet on that cubie. Do either 3a or 3a-mirror:

3a1. Rotate the cube on the Y axis so that this cubie's U color is on R.

3a2. Rotate face U so that partner facelet color is on F, then do this move:

B (L R') U2 (L' R) B
(3-cycle edge swap)

3a-mirror1. Rotate the cube on the Y axis so that this cubie's U color is on L.

3a-mirror2. Rotate face U so that partner facelet color is on F, then do this move:

B' (L R') U2 (L' R) B'
(3-cycle edge swap)

If a U edge piece is in top layer but is oriented incorrectly or in the wrong place, you can push it out using the above moves. You might probably have to apply this up to 8 (?) times in the worse case.

4. Correctly position the middle layer edge pieces.

4a Find a middle layer edge piece that is already in the correctly position and place it at FL-edge, then do this move:

R2 (U' D) B2 (U D')
(3-cycle edge swap)

If no piece is in the correct place, run this move randomly once, then reevaluate.

5. Correctly orient the middle layer edge pieces.

5a Either 0, 2 or 4 of the edge pieces will have incorrect orientation. Select 1 pair and rotate the cube so that the pare ar at UF-edge and UB-edge, then run this manuever:

((L' R) B (L' R) D (L' R) F (L' R)) U'
((L' R) B' (L' R) D' (L' R) F' (L' R)) U
(2-cycle edge rotate)

Repeat this again if there is another pair.

6. Correctly rotate the center face cubes. (optional)

6a. Only 4 of the 6 centers will have orientation problems. The other two do not contribute. Let us assume that the non-contributors are on the Z axis, in other words, U and D. The following move will work on two centers at the same time. Rotate the cube along the Z axis until two centers are at F and R. Make a note of the face rotation needed to fix center R. Call it rotate1. It will be necessary to do a "undo" move called rotate2. The move is as follows:

(U' D) (F B') rotate1 (F' B) (U D') (L R') rotate2 (L' R)
(center rotate)

where:

if rotate1 == R then rotate2 == F' or
if rotate1 == R2 then rotate2 == F2 or
if rotate1 == R' then rotate2 == F

The effect of this move is to rotate the center at F automatically in the opposite direction. It may be necessary to combine this move multiple times to fix the other centers. Furthermore, it may be necessary to rotate the cube so that one of the non-contributors is at F at the start of the move.

7. Finished! ;-)

I can't believe that's all I know about solving the Cube. Faster algorithms require learning a lot more moves.

Next time I'll write up on how I hold the cube and how that changes the moves I explained above.

Overdosing on Mraz

(tags music, artist, English)

As I said I recently got that Jason Mraz Mr. A-Z CD. I've already played this album many many times, so many times that I wonder if I will get sick of it.

Today I had some time to check out more Mraz videos ("YouTube surfing"). I found more live concerts, some of them in San Diego, my hometown. I caught up with some of the songs I haven't heard yet. Also there was different type of clip that I did enjoyed: the Investigative Report - Invisible Mic News "Golden Record" video where he "unboxes" his Golden Record he received for selling 500,000 records.

I really like his image, positive and optimistic. Well also melancholy and crazy. I also wish he was more popular.

I only have three of his CDs, all mainstream releases. I found that he had some other albums available, through shops like iTunes Store. I do have an aversion to buying DRM digital music, so I didn't go overboard.

Maybe in another couple of months I'll get his other older releases, but not now. Moderation, yes, moderation.

Positively Glacial: Rubiks's Cube first measured times

(tags Rubik's Cube, times)

Well I found the PC app that people use to measure themselves with solving the Rubik's Cube. It's called JNetCube because its written in Java, and supports networked speed racing. You use the program like shown in this video called "Harris Chan 10.46 seconds avg of 12 of Rubik's Cube".

So here I measure myself after 2 weeks of informal playing:

----- JNetCube Best Average for Sat Sep 01 19:23:53 GMT+09:00 2007 -----
Average: 3:16.43
Fastest Time: 2:17.57
Slowest Time: 5:51.78
Standard Deviation: 28.76
Individual Times:
1) 3:27.45 F2 R F2 U' D2 L' F B U' B' D2 U2 B R U R2 B' F2 R' U R' D' B U' F
2) 3:51.68 R2 L D L D' F U' D2 F2 D' L D L2 F L' B' L' D B D' R B' F D2 U2
3) 3:45.49 F D F2 L2 U B2 D2 F' B U2 F' B L2 D2 U2 F' D2 R2 L' D2 B U' R F2 L
4) (5:51.78) R U2 D' F' B R' F2 R U2 D2 R2 U' B' L2 U' D L2 F' R' U D' L' D' B D2
5) 3:28.46 R' D2 B' L F D L' F' R' D2 L' D B2 U R U R' F' U2 F R D L2 D U
6) 3:41.71 U B' D2 L' R U2 F' D' B U L D' U2 F' D' F' U2 D2 L2 U D2 F2 U2 F L2
7) 3:28.88 D' F2 D2 U F' R' D2 U2 L D2 F2 U R2 F' R2 F' B U2 B' F L2 R' D' B2 D2
8) 2:39.24 R' D L U' D2 L2 D F B U' D' F L B2 R' U2 R2 B U L2 F' D F2 L B'
9) (2:17.57) F' U2 D' L' F' D2 R U' R' B U L F' D' B' U F2 L2 F' B2 L2 D L F' R
10) 3:01.51 D2 B' L F U' B2 F2 L2 B' R2 U' F D' R' D2 R D R2 B' D2 B2 L' R D2 R
11) 2:36.04 U2 R' L2 D2 F U B2 D' L' B U' F2 B R2 L' F U' B' U' B2 D U' R L2 F2
12) 2:43.87 U R' U' F D2 L U' D' R' D F2 U' D' F2 L' D R2 D2 L U L' F2 D2 U' R

Oh boy am I slow. I am even slow at scrambling the cube using the above maneuvers.

I want to improve so that my average is ... say 2 minutes. That would probably entail changing my algorithm at the very least. My algorithm is the first part of the Heise method, and finish it off with the Tsukuda method. I am having trouble understanding the Heise method Conjugates and Commutators, though. Perhaps this page called "Writing a Basic 3 Piece Shuffle" will help.