I stopped buying the weekly Famitsu

(tags magazine, Famitsu)

I stopped buying the weekly Famitsu game magazine.

This is my third week going without.

I don't even try to tachiyomi.

Pokemon: the first 60 hours

(tags Pokemon, Pikachu, Dual Screen)

Well my tryst with Ikaruga ended. Haha.

I got my Pikachu. I named the female Pikachu as Pika, and though she's become my tank and highest level soldier, she's pretty weak at defense. I can't assign most Hidden Moves to her either, which means I have to keep the ugly Bibarel for moving around the map. I do find the Pikachu's warm up before battling to be oh so cute. She waves towards the trainer, too bad she doesn't say "pika".

I also got a male Pichu through Global Trading System (GTS) the wireless world trading forum, making matching pair. At least I can raise and rename the Pichus, Pikachus and Raichus I want.

60 hours (almost). I think I'm almost done with the story.

I'm finding that this RPG is pretty boring at times. It really doesn't matter what Pokemon I raise, just as long as I land a hit that doesn't give the enemy a chance to retaliate. But if I invest time in the wrong Pokemon, I get hit hard at the trainer sessions. I also get frustrated with not having a clue sizing up the boss attacks. Finally the game tosses me a bone and gives me a hint application that tells what kinda attacks give the best counters, but it requires some homework.

I want to catch them all, but I get the feeling that it will take 200 hours to capture all the off-line ones. I do play this during the commute but it just feel like Kawaii Progress Quest infused with slot machines. I hate slot machines and anything that reminds me of money gambling.

Pokemon, it's an RPG that will suck the vitality out of me. So repetitive.

Star Trek: Action-packed baton pass

(tags Star Trek, movie)

As a self-professed Star Trek fan, I admit to not watching the later iterations of canon. For example I haven't seen Enterprise the TV series or the last couple of movies with the Next Generation cast. But it's hard to get excited about all the logical inconsistencies. I completely watched Star Trek Voyager on DVD and the ending was the last straw.

So I didn't have much enthusiasm for seeing this latest movie, Star Trek (2009). I mean come on, they did a reboot on TV and it fizzled. I didn't bother watching trailers. I did skip the discussions on Slashdot, just in case. Then the reviews come in. Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes show a better-than-expected favorable reception. It makes headlines pulling in money. Friends and virtual aquaintances that I know who aren't as nerdy as I am about Star Trek give it a thumbs up. Oh, okay let's check this out.

Star Trek opened the last week of May in Japan, after being out 3 weeks in most English speaking countries. I watched it today, on the 3rd day, to an early morning half-filled theatre. The couples around me were elderly, with one of the doods smelling of urine while the others smelled of fresh smokes. At least in Japanese theatres people don't heckle, but I really hate those old people who have breathing problems.

Then the movie began. I was surprised. I didn't expect [spoiler] to be there. I was floored. I laughed at the in-jokes. I was totally elated. Tears in my eyes (but usually I get emotional with any movie, bah). I wanted to see this movie a second time in the theatre. This was the Trek movie that I wanted to see.

At least on the surface.

I cannot and do not want to remove the years of watching The Original Series, Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager. I've been to Trek conventions, bought some goods, even own complete DVD series sets (oh no Blu-Ray is out). I am a fan, I want to believe in its universe. But this is not the old, familiar Trek. This is a new Trek. I remember the baton passing from Captain to Captain in the Star Trek Generations movie. All I felt was "yeah, enough of Kirk".

The new trajectory doesn't have anything to do with science fiction or philisophical grunting ("There are four lights!"). It's pure action. Don't get me wrong, I love action. Well, it's like going to Chuck E Cheeze's expecting pizzas and arcade games, but getting hamburgers and bumper carts. Well if this is the new Trek, I like it. But I do I miss the old taste.

My post-movie review started with vague reflection, followed by stale Slashdot-hosted discussions. There they opened all the plot holes and other dissatisfying things that had been gnawing at my skeptical brain. I considered giving ST a break, that because this is a new Trek, some of those nitpicks about 24th century technology usage should be jettisoned. Or that this is a character development and motivation movie, not a "human condition" movie. In the end though, ST is the new city built on the ruins of the old one. We must raize it to save it. You can see that people lived here before, but they have nothing to do with the way we live now.

Oh well, at least the computer graphics were stellar. Let me loose inside that eye candy store. And the next movie is already in development. I'd like to see that one in the theatre, too. But I rather put the money that was on a copy for home into some SF magazines and novels. I wouldn't go so far as to say ST killed movie SF, but I won't label this new Trek as my kind of SF.

What. Oh, yeah go see it, it's a summer blockbuster movie.

I think I can I think I can... Ikaruga

(tags game, Xbox 360, Ikaruga, shmup)

I'm just playing Ikaruga just to see if I still have patience. Any patience whatsoever. Or stick control. I can pass Stage 1 most of the time. It's those times where I try to be Chain Acolyte that kill me.

So I was surprised I was able to beat Stage 2, finally, on one credit, normal settings. Well after 5 hours of Ikaruga on Xbox. Half the time I was just trying to make sure I didn't die. Chains? Forget it, at least in the later half. Also I got the A rank at the same time, w00t. Epic scrub w00t.

On the Gamecube, I think I was able to beat Stage 3. But that was years ago. This time I'm just trying to go analog controller and of course no continuing and no practice rounds.

Kinda happy, right now. Well, kinda sad actually. But let's think positive. Positivity Ikaruga Blog!

I choose you... Pokemon Platinum

(tags game, Dual Screen, Pokemon, Pikachu)

I finally bought a canonical Pokemon game, Pokemon Platinum. Well actually I had Pokemon Pikachu but I don't want to play black and white games anymore. I bought this version because I believed that this second iteration on the DS would be refined and fixed. Also I opted for the English version because I'm tired of reading katakana.

My first impressions were that this was going to be a grind... and a slow grind because of all the Pokemon creatures I can readily swap out. OMG, this is gamer lock-in, isn't it. Plus it's the kind of menu fighting that I wanted to quit. Finally, there's nothing to test my reflexes in this game. Luckily I'm still playing my Xbox and Rubik's Cube.

My goals are to:

• Get a Pikachu, a Pichu and other cute characters.
• Finish the story mode.
• Fill out my off-line game roster.

I've already spent 10 hours but the slow leveling up and the slow screen animations still irritates me. I am overwhelmed with all the things you can level up. I did take a peek at a GameFAQ but I will stop looking at it until after I finish the story mode. Also the GameSpot Guide was informative and spoiler-free.

I'm impressed with the promise of the online component. I don't know if I'll have anything valuable to trade, though.

The main thing that made me reconsider getting a canonical Pokemon game now was the limited chance to catch Shaymin from a Download Station in retail stores this last Golden Week. Unfortunately, it requires unlocking the "global roster" and probably the Japanese version of this game. Shaymin is one of the cuter characters that had a movie promotion last year, I think. I want one of those, too, but I doubt I can clear all of the required conditions before this promotion is over.