Why you should be playing games

(tags game, criticism)

Why you should be playing games. It's to train your brain to recognize good experiences, or perhaps learn how your standard of tolerance is different from others. Not so recently, I played the Pokemon series, but I gave up on it before getting the "complete index" item, because the battle screens are so slow. Still there are millions of people playing this game.

Or more recently, it's to make yourself a noisy nuisance on the bus or train. (Games: DJ Max Portable 2, Rubik's Cube).

Or it's to inhibit (or develop!) your lust for collecting collectibles. 100% completion makes gaming like work, but I don't want to feel like I miss out.

Sometimes gaming is just for relaxation. I recently discovered Spider Solitaire, one of those Windows built-in games. It's been my guilty pleasure for the last week. I play with one deck (beginner level). I really like the bling in the Windows 7 edition of this game, because I find that the Windows XP just serviceable, not unlike the feeling of playing a Windows 3.1 game.

Why shouldn't you be playing games. Surely you need your sleep time? ;)

wins the ketchup painting mini-game

(tags game, Xbox 360, gal game)

w1nnar!

w1nnar?

Nanoha cross-media uppercut

(tags game, movie, なのは)

I thought my Nanoha fandom died out after ignoring the third TV series, but I got swept into this weekend's one two otaku-targeted cross-media punch: Nanoha the theatrical movie and Nanoha the PSP game. Below is the instant when my fandom re-ignited, mostly raw and unedited. I want to expand on certain facets of it in separate posts, but give me a night to polish (and collect pictures eh heh).

Written around 2010-01-22 Friday evening:

Nanoha the Movie 1 starts tomorrow. Wanna watch it. Then again its 1500 yen and no special goodie with ticket because I was too slow to pre-order. The movie is showing at Cine Libre Kobe (シネ・リーブル神戸) which is this artsy almost-independent place that sometimes shows anime. Also starting tomorrow is the Fate/Stay Night movie but I'm not into that. Well, that's two "Fate"s in one day (the other is Fate Tessterosa from Nanoha, ha ha).

Yesterday, there were many limited edition copies of the Nanoha PSP game to be had, but the regular edition was either sold out or just not in yet (or stores are forcing the sale of the expensive version first).

A Xbox 360 Holiday full of deals

(tags game, Xbox 360)

I spent the Xmas and New Years holidays playing the daily deals trickling off Xbox Live. It was called the Xbox Live Holiday Deal. I watched the daily unveiling through the Cheap Ass Gamer post. The Japan region had different deals from the US region, so I watched it through ホリデーカウントダウン.

I picked up all the free stuff. I also picked up Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Castle Crashers, Battlefield 1943. Only Castle Crashers held my attention longer than a day. Actually the first day I played it, I logged into a game and some high level total strangers helped boost me. I then played the game with some closer aquaintances and got a complete Achievement from it. That was fun.

Acutally the Deal of the Week was Shadow Complex, which I played to completion on Hardcore the first time. That was pretty fun but I don't feel like playing that game a third time through.

Finally I picked up A Kingdom for Keflings, which was the following Deal of the Week. I like this game a lot because of the building and resource collecting. I even purchased one of the DLC packs which is just two extra maps. I'm feeling the tinge of boredom with it now, but the first time I played it was a 5 hour straight session.

Xbox 360 don't fail me now.

Get a grip (grapple?): Umihara Kawase

(tags game, Dual Screen, Umihara Kawase, PlayStation Portable)

My right thumb hurts from pressing buttons too hard. It's a death grip on my grapple button, since one miscalculated release will have my avatar plummeting to a watery doom.

Umihara Kawase (海腹川背). I've only recently discovered this old gaming franchise. The demo game station showing the PS1 version at a retro game store captured me for about 20 minutes. I saw the PSP version at my price threshold of 2000 yens and decided to jump in.

UK is a Bionic Commando with no forgiveness. Basically a fantasy platform game, UK asks me to traverse ledges with nothing more than my fine-tuned swinging control. Yes, abilities are not unlocked. It all depends on my skill. The heroine, Umihara Kawase, has this strong yet elastic grappling hook made of red-white twine and fish hook. It is a source of constant frustration and delight. It feels so... analog. It feels like there's a physics engine in there.

The fishing cuisine theme pervades the levels and the enemies. The title of the game is a play on a Japanese cuisine preparatory phrase, "Ocean fish are fatty in stomach while river fish are fatty (tallow) in the back." (海の魚は腹に、川の魚は背に脂がのっている) Or so the manual claims. My well-read Japanese tutor never heard of that phrase though.

Enemies are these strange walking fish. Most of them are one touch, one kill. But the worst ones aren't the ones that kill me right away. They will hit me into an uncontrollable stun for a few seconds. This game plays with my mind. Will I fall off the ledge or not?

But the best enemy is the environment itself. UK doesn't give me any help or hold my hand. There is a technique to swing up to a higher ledge. At first I thought it was impossible. But after dropping the broken PSP version and coming to terms with the game physics on the higher quality DS port, I am executing the technique with a high success rate. When I can hit this technique on the first try, in a fluid motion, I feel like I'm in control. However, when I mistime the release, I have to wait and re-fine-tune my swinging motion to propel me in the right direction.

This reminds me about the difference in forgiveness. I was playing Bionic Commando on my Xbox 360 and one of the regular techniques to propel myself forward is to jump off a platform from behind and grapple. It's a sweet maneuver full of kick-ass, right? BC makes this feel totally safe and dependable. I try this move in UK and I sweat bullets. I never seem to get it to work. Despite the millisecond-timed reflexes this game requires, I feel like it is fair. Well at least the early levels.

Which brings me to my pained thumb. Some of the stunts sequences require me to reenact Tarzan with no safety net. I am deathly afraid of falling, or even more so of repeating the same ground over and over again. I hope my DS can take the strain.

The DS version (海腹川背・旬 セカンドエディション 完全版) was released at the end of last month, which might explain why that game shop was demoing the older versions. Though I picked up the PSP version and tried to deal with the pain, I heard through the Internet that it was a broken port. I wasn't convinced until I played the DS version though. Another reason I picked up the DS version was that it came with a telephone card (at Sofmap Saurus). Silly me. Still this latest release sacrifices none of the difficulty, while at the same time modernizes the rewards with illustration gallery and soundtrack unlocks. The demo recording feature is also intact but not UI enhanced like the PSP version. The game comes with a port of the original Super Famicom version, the PlayStation 1 version, and a new DS path mode based on the PS1 version. The PS1 ports have the 3d like scrolling effects and more environmental art (like giant soy sauce bottles?!), but the SF ports's grappling hook physics feel crispier. Also the PS1 based modes seemed to have all the minor enhancements like practice mode with success/miss counts and continues (!?) while the SF port doesn't even let me assign diagonal grappling to the top buttons. None of the gameplay seems itself seems to be affected or cheapened, but I don't really know since I haven't played the 90s versions.

I really want to keep playing this game despite the difficulty. I do wish though there was more easy levels. The difficulty just ramps up too fast.

Let me put my two cents about the heroine, Umihara Kawase. She appears in gameplay as some school aged girl (because her backpack looks like a randoseru) with no fear of heights (no fall damage). However the insert graphics make her out to be some 20 year old with sex-sells breast size and anime girly eyes. There's basically no story and no dialogue so I don't really understand why she has to become Indiana Jones/Pitfall Harry/The Last Starfighter/Ikaruga. Finally at the game over screen I see her in pajamas watching TV relaxing after a hot shower or something. Well?

Finally, the music is soothing and relaxing. I mistimed my grapple and fell in the water but the music just keeps me calm. It's all my fault.

Games like this remind me that the DS still has credible action games.

More Heart: ToHeart2, and other game pickups

(tags ToHeart, game, PlayStation Portable, Wipeout, Xbox 360, XBLA, Kimi no Yuusha, Dual Screen, PlayStation 3)

Just wanna say that I'm starting ToHeart 2 now, PSP version. I'm kinda annoyed it has the same music (but remixed) from ToHeart 1. 40 minutes.

Also I finished ToHeart 1, completely. Every picture unlocked, music mode, massage mode (Hocchan giving massages! well at least verbally). I think the best part was the unlocking of the shooting game. The last hidden scenario was not very interesting at all. Probably 25 hours.

I picked up Wipeout Pulse (asia version!) at Sofmap Nipponbashi South, after waiting for A-Too to drop the game's price (playing chicken with a shop just doesn't work). I felt like it was impossible for the first level, then I passed it and now I'm just sailing. 2 hours.

I even tried to get into my DS. I still have Kimi no Yuusha stuck in there. The last extra boss is really hard though. I cannot beat him, so I give up. 55+ hours.

I want to start playing Final Fantasy Tactics A for DS that I picked up a couple of weeks back during that Play-Asia and Visa card sale. 0 hours.

Man, this is starting to be a potpourri post.

Yeah, I also got some Xbox games like Ace Combat 6 and Bionic Commando for under 2500 yen, each. Nice (but used). I was playing the latter and I really like it the swing thing. It feels like Crackdown and you know I love games like Crackdown. It's the open environment jump-to-collect-them-all feeling. 7 hours.

Did I mention I picked up my first PS3 game? Motor Storm for like 1000 yen. I also saw the Atelier no Rorona limited edition (with laser etched crystal "objet") dropping in used priced down to 7500 yen, but that's still steep. The well-regarded Demon's Souls (US English edition) almost made it into my virtual shopping cart but well, I don't have a PS3 yet.

Um what else. I am not playing any PC games. Still waiting for StarCraft II to come out then I will make my last ever game PC. Oh I bought a ton of DRM free PC games from GoG's first anniversary sale including Duke Nukem 3d, but get this, I have not downloaded the bulk of them yet. WTF. I am still hoping they pick up Sinistar: Unleashed.

Uh, I am still scoping the Xbox Live Deal of the Week, and I recently bought yet another clear-3-colors game and the Sudoku clone. Hey, only 400 XBL points, each. You say the next deal is a cartoony golf game? 400 points? I'm there dood.

Check Bayonetta out

(tags game, Bayonetta, Xbox 360)

I don't check out many demos on Xbox 360 because they are mainly disappointing. The recently released demo for Bayonetta is one true exception. I'm not talking about how the main character is woman (which is how I like my avatars anyway). And I'm not talking about how over-sexualized she is. Who stands like this?!

Yes I will check, thank you.

I like how this game reminds me of the fun I had with Devil May Cry 4. It's slick, 60 frames per second, timing dependent button pressing reaction gaming with plenty of action and reaction. The tutorial shows the combo list directly, encouraging me to try it out. The loading screen also shows this combo list tutorial, which is a step forward. The evade system rewards me with the bullet-time slow down. I like using this in my offline Unreal Tournament III sparring practice, because it makes me feel super human.

Other than that, it feels like a DMC. It's the same old same old. Enemies are strange, there are gory death effects, invisible walls impede my exploration, weird floating and glowing things to collect, completion ranks. The combo system and weapons systems are different, but I'm still mashing the X, Y and B buttons. Oh wait I like that part. Will they ever fix the polygon collisions? Also the leaves on the trees are faked using the old Doom like sprite rotating trick. I didn't notice it until my second walk through, though, so its no biggy.

Wanna get this when it comes out.

Can't win against Ayaka-ojousama (ToHeart 1 PSP)

(tags game, ToHeart, PlayStation Portable)

Instead of playing new galge, I'm still hacking on ToHeart on the PSP. It's just so convenient to relive my old PS1 memories through this portable machine.

I thought the Iincho/Hoshina scenario was my favorite, but it turns out the Ayaka Kurusugawa scenario is the more interesting story. It's too bad I have to finish the Aoi and Serika scenarios first to unlock it. Also, Serika and Ayaka are voiced by the same seiyuu, not just because they are sisters, but because Serika has so few voiced lines. It would be a shame to have another seiyuu for this essentially mute heroine. It's even worst because the seiyuu, Junko Iwao (岩男潤子 of Tomoyo from Card Captor Sakura fame), has such a lively, attractive voice. To hide this voice behind an unlock is a crime. However the Ayaka scenario does make up for it by being so positive and uplifting.

I've finished Hoshina, Akari, Kotone, Remi, Multi, Serika, Aoi, Ayaka. Now I only have Shiho and that ahoge musume. I think the Shino scenario is another tear jerker but I like her outgoing personality, so I'm looking forward to it.

It's missing something: Halo 3 ODST

(tags game, Halo ODST, Xbox 360)

Halo 3 ODST. As one of the few rare games that have I pre-ordered, bought, and played on the first day of release, you would think I can be called one of those Halo fanboiz. I disagree. My fascination with the products is the single player FPS mode. Although it's not the arcade-style FPS that I like with Unreal Tournament, it's forgiving casual entertainment with headshot satisfaction.

I think the sticker on the plastic wrapped game case starts this new product experience on the wrong foot. The sticker reads, "Halo: each [sic] multiplayer beta access". Microsoft Japan has trouble with their "R"s. Hahahaah. lololololol

Okay, I said the requisite joke. You can headshot me now. \(>_<)/

There are more comments I want to make on this but I want to commit ritual dark-map hikikomori with the Rookie before the end of this weekend so I will follow up in a later post. I am sad though, the weather outside is glorious and sunny.

MacBugs GETS HYPE (no emu)

(tags game, Macintosh, nostalgia)

I was deprived as a child. No Sega, no PC, and certainly no Mac. So Apple Macintoshes held a special place in my nostalgia, because they were intertwined with my school computer room antics. I once left a college computer room's Mac running multiple anime videos ... AT THE SAME TIME. Ranma 1/2 OVA? Macs were power, at least back in 1994 and a college Internet connection.

But this particular post is provoked by nostalgia for Mac Bugs!. This is a game with name that makes it virtually unsearchable, and it is not so notable enough to have a Wikipedia page. So I could not recall this game. I do remember trying to start up one of the high school's Macs to get a quick session in, but being interrupted by some tough boy, who was acting as teacher's deputy/pet.

I swiped this animated picture from the Japan based The Vintage Mac Museum. Thanks!

The object of the game is to get a high score, like most 80s games ask you to do. You will be assaulted by Apple Macintosh icons (or is it Lisa icons?) from all directions, but attacking will be your trusty mouse, aiming in the direction of your movement. Don't hit the spiky bombs! In modern parlance, this is an Arena Shooter with a Centipede wave like motif.

I could try playing this again, with an abandonware copy of the software and a free PC based emulator, but I fear the pain of installing weird software outweighs the 15 seconds of fun. NO thanks. Play Echoes instead.

I learned that the author of this game was Sunnyvale, California-based Michael Ouye. Given the 3 or 4 years, I'm sure it was easy to propagate to my neck of California. According to Mac Garden, it was enticement for a 150 USD C programming package back in 1985 but I suppose I got to experience it through someone's else sneakernet warezin'.

Collective level up: GoW2 Horde Mode

(tags game, Gears of War, Halo ODST)

That Halo 3: ODST Live Action Trailer "We are ODST" was riveting (Joystiq, IGN). Yes I know it doesn't have anything to do with the actual game play. But it had me thinking about the upcoming Halo 3: ODST game. As far as I know, it's a single-player campaign and an online co-op "us vs lots of AI enemies" expansion to the old Halo 3, called "Firefight". I was previously only interested in the single-player.

Then I remembered how much fun I had leveling up in an unofficial Unreal Tournament mod that was similar to "horde" gaming, back when I played it some years ago. I am currently finishing up the single player part of Gears of War 2, and its Horde mode was convenient so I gave it a whirl this weekend. Wow, it's pretty fun. I don't hear any audio, and people start to quit after level 30 but it is pretty easy to play. I didn't feel lagged.

This makes me reconsider buying ODST near opening day. I wonder if I am locked to the Japanese version though.

Wanting Raystorm HD

(tags game, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, RayStorm, shmup)

Raystorm. I feel all nostalgic about this shmup because I used to play in the Japanese arcades back during my exchange program. Now it's in HD and on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Wanting.

Well, I could buy it for the PSP but I really don't want to buy Sony points.

I could also play my PS1 version. It's around here somewhere. I'm pretty sure I don't have the PC version.

Bubble Bobble Neo!

(tags game, Xbox 360, Bubble Bobble)

I bought Bubble Bobble Neo only after an online friend did, just so I can beat him over the head with a better score. It was 800 XBLP (== 1000 JPY) which is kinda pricey. It's the Xbox Live Arcade version which is currently JP region only. The Wii also has it. I should have just busted out the NES ROM and played that until the desire waned.

I barely remember playing this game years ago. Like back on the NES console, using a real cartridge. I loved last boss stage. Lighting bolts to kill off the boss? Kewl. There are subtleties to the game play that I did not pick up back when I first played it. I still don't use the backside popping thing for full effect. It requires very precise joystick control. Ugh these characters are so slow to control.

So yeah I beat his score, but evidently it's because he used a Continue. On my first day with the game, I made it to level 42 with Continues until boredom set in (how many continues are you gonna give me? endless?). Then I tried setting my high score, no Continues and I could only achieve level 14. Too sad.

I'm disappointed in the lack of online multiplayer. I guess I need to get my local Xbox fiends to invite me over for some Vs.

Every Extend Extra

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, Every Extend Extra)

Almost done with Hatsune Miku Project Diva PSP but I tried out Every Extend Extra on the PSP recently. Oh yeah I like this game. Before playing, I thought it was a music game. It turns out its kinda shmupity in that I need to be able to dodge bullets and inert crates while bomb-chaining for power-ups and score.

I was really frustrated with it in the beginning, but after an hour or two I began to see the patterns and the boss movements. Now I can get to the fourth stage. I really like the abstract patterns and how the stage skins change.

The action is few and far between, so its not very good for commute gaming. Gonna keep the UMD at home.

Work load, visualized?

(tags game)

What if I list all the games I own? And then schedule them out as if it was work?

Will that stop me from buying more games?

Ugh, sounds like work.

Dream C Club sold out in the Osaka and Kobe

(tags game, gal-ge, sexy, Xbox 360, Dream C Club, ECsite)

By Sunday afternoon, all the stores I visited in the Osaka and Kobe areas (7) were sold out of Dream C Club (ドリームクラブ). Either the shipment was small, or there was a real demand for this gal-ge cabaret sim. The Famitsu 4 reviewer rating wasn't so high though, at 24 out of 40.

No I don't want to buy it, yet.

Update: Senaka Otaroad blog confirms it in ドリームクラブ完売店が続出 「思った以上に売れまくった」.

All thumbs

(tags game, Playstation Portable, Hatsune Miku)

I am still plugging away at Hatsune Miku Project Diva (初音ミク プロジェクトディーヴァ), unlocking costumes. I finally finished the swimsuit costume unlock for Ruka Megurine (巡音ルカ), which requires beating all 32 songs at Normal difficulty/Great rating, or higher, using the regular Ruka costume. There is also another costume unlock which requires the same at Hard/Great. I tried to kill two birds with one stone, by attempting all 32 at Hard difficulty and getting Great ratings, but two songs are infuriatingly out of my grasp at the moment. I also jumped around the song order, so I was somewhat when the game didn't award me the unlock costume. After I re-did a song at Normal/Great, it unlocked. Yeah.

To unlock the other swimsuit costumes for the other four characters, I have to do the same 32 song thing using their regular costumes, respectively. Ah ha ha. I must not do them in Normal difficulty because that only exercises two buttons. Thumb, don't fail me now.

Hatsune Miku Project Diva: miku miku miku miku

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, music, Hatsune Miku)

Oh jeez, I wrote this two weeks back:

I've been playing Hatsune Miku Project Diva (初音ミク プロジェクトディーヴァ) for the PSP on and off, mostly on the bus and train. It's a great little music game with an easy/casual difficulty, reminding me of Pop-N-Tunes/DDR/DJ Max Portable rhythm games but only for my right thumb. I sure wish they used the D-pad too, because the rest of my fingers feel underutilized.

Basically you bask in the glory of Hatsune Miku doujin scene with pre-contributed graphics and music. Sega added a 3d model with some motion-captured dancing and PV frolicking. Very moé-kawaii. There's a lot to unlock, such as costumes (named Modules), and room items, which is for the dollhouse-like mode called Miku's Room. The background loading pictures unlock with time, also the songs need to be unlocked but seem to be a combination of time and level clears. The game gives you hints on how to unlock items, also these hints are unlocked with time, probably.

There are two songs in the middle I have not yet unlocked though. I am wondering what I need to do.

The actual gameplay is pretty rewarding, with simplistic rhythm patterns that match with Miku's voice. The game only asks you to press one button at a time, but the detection is pretty strict. Most music has easy to understand rhythm so even neophytes like me can get high combos, OMG 220+ achieved. The unlockables are easy to uncover, like clear a level 5 times and get a Great score. The placement of the buttons on the screen lead your eyes around, so it's not static like a DDR falling note/rising arrow display. However on Hard difficulty, where they ask you to use all four face buttons (circle, x, square, triangle), sometimes its hard to anticipate which button to press. Only then does the game ask you to start memorizing. One can probably get through Normal difficulty with a couple of plays on reflex alone.

As this is my first time to listen to some Miku music outside of accidental Youtube wandering, I am surprised at the quality of the arrangements. They are so Jpop catchy. I already bought the OST for this game, and I'm now interested in getting other official CDs.

I do have some gripes. Sometimes the screen is so active that there is framerate slowdown. The timing doesn't seem to be affected but its annoying to jump from 30? FPS down to 18? (I don't know the actual numbers). I also mentioned that this seems to be a right thumb only game. My thumb gets tired. I use my cellphone with my left thumb, so give me a break. It would be nice if they could use the D-pad. Perhaps it's a licensing issue. When you press a button during gameplay, the sound is a generic tambourine that is mapped to all keys. Each key should be a different sound like snare drum, etc.

(Back to the present)

I've made much more progress and I'm on the last legs of unlocking the costumes. Unforunately I needed a clue on how to unlock items with "yarikomi?" (「やりこみ？」) written on it. More on that later. One of the good sites for info is the 初音ミク -Project DIVA- まとめwiki. There was a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, called the 初音ミクProject-DIVA-チェックシート.xls for checking off progress. I'm currently using that, but imported into Google Docs. Thanks!

Two clear: Gears of War 2, ToHeart 2 and 1 Hoshina scenario

(tags game, Xbox 360, Gears of War, ToHeart, PlayStation Portable, gal-ge)

Woops I wrote this about two weeks ago:

I finally saw the localized version of Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360 on the store shelves recently. Before that, I picked up the Chinese/English version of GoW2 for a nice used price of 2000 yen (yes A-Too rocks). I plodded through Normal difficultly with probably less than 30 continues. Yeh, 30 continues. Still, I couldn't believe how fast the single player went by. Then again I played it for one day straight plus this is a sequel. I like how there is now a partial indicator for Achievements. The "Seriously 2.0" Achievement requires killing 100,000 enemies. Going through the normal campaign was about 1000 enemies, and I completed it in a day, so it will take about 100 or more days. Without that partial indicator I would not even consider it. Of course, I rejected it.

And I picked up ToHeart 2 for the PlayStation Portable. I didn't pre-order, so I missed the special first edition. I got the regular edition after bugging the store clerk and holding up the purchase line. It includes ToHeart 1 (finally ported to the PSP) because it was the "W pack". Only after realizing the difference between the SKUs, I came to accept that I didn't need 2 small figurines and a bigger box. Well they weren't cute enough. I was satisfied with getting at least the Gamers tokuten: telephone card, paper fan, and PSP sticker set.

Yes! ToHeart 1! I put that in my PSP and smoked it. I put the ToHeart2 away. I cleared the iincho or 保科智子 Tomoko Hoshina scenario immediately because she's one of my favorite tsundere characters. And Aya Hisakawa is always alright with me. Even though this is the PSP version, it's full voice. Visuals are switchable from original 4:3 ratio and PSP 16:9 pan-and-scan mode. Both look passable. Unfortunately I was feeling nostalgia remorse for some reason. I didn't remember this scenario being so short, just 5 hours from the start. Plus I forgot that the scenario climaxed in bed, literally. (No sex scene of course CERO C but first kiss?!?). I was expecting a less vigorous ending, lol. It's that feeling of reading one's favorite book again and feeling the diminishing returns.

There is no force skip for unread sections, but thankfully I found the fast skip. Also Multi's seiyuu Yui Horie is as recognizable as ever. If I get back to this game, I will probably want to finish the other scenarios in this order: Multi, Remi, Kotone, Shiho, Akari, Kurusugawa-senpai, etc. Running this visual novel game on the PSP-2000 was pretty fast.

Now that I think about it, this is my fourth copy of the game. PS1, PS2, Windows (all ages), and now PSP. Geez.

I put Hatsune Miku Project Diva back in the PSP though because I want to finish that.

Kimi no Yuusha: polished 90s-like JRPG

(tags Dual Screen, Kimi no Yuusha, RPG, game)

I finally finished the story mode of Kimi no Yuusha (キミの勇者, lit. "your hero") after about 50 hours of play. This 2008 single-player CERO A-rated game was train ride entertainment, 30 minutes at a time JRPG. The main reasons I stuck through it were the forgiving, casual difficulty, the easy controls, and the moé-like character graphics (by the same artist as Doki-Majo).

As a JRPG, my basic comparisons always start with my Final Fantasy experiences. Immediately, KnY can be compared to early FF 1-6 with the battle field showing enemies on the left and my 4 characters on the right. KnY does follow the pattern of young blood up and coming, but the story is much more immediate and slice of life. The main story is epic, but only because there only seems to be one hero party doing great things for the world. That's just fine for me. The side quests remind me of after-school cartoon episodes with bite sized moral lessons, with a bit of otaku-ism added.

Ryunette reserves 6 book copies for 2 people, the typical otaku argument, while Tio looks on. From side quest 39.

I really like how easy it is to get into the game. Starting the cart up is a breeze with no company logos in the way. The familiar DS feature of closing the lid works well and saving works at the over world map and before major points. The chapters are organized in 30 minute anime-like segments. Dialogue can be forcefully skipped with the B button. Chapter summaries can be reviewed in the Diary mode complete with unlocked graphics.

There are up to 10 controllable characters, but I only bothered with the female avatars. Ha. Actually the ratio is 4 guys and 6 girls. My party consisted of the hot-headed blonde hair "Magic Driver" magic user named Tio, the male hero named "Wanda" that carries an oversized key as a sword weapon (no I have not played Kingdom Hearts), a sexy onee-chan cat girl named Aroma, and a battle tough sexy mermaid named Silk. Sexy yeah because that's the way they are drawn. CERO A, though. I was hoping Tio and Wanda would get it on, but they don't even ... oh spoilers, sorry. Time to write a fan-fic.

Wanda. Hahah. Why is this male lead lacking so much masculinity? Tights, a one-piece cloth which is more dress than smock, and wears a cap with cat-like ears. I guess you could input your own personality into him? Tio is cute but too hot-headed for her own good. Still she smiles a lot and doesn't stop trying. Aroma is accompanied by her sarcastic younger sister, Sera (girl #7), who speaks through her acid-tougue puppet, Tom. Tom and Tio get into verbal sparring while other characters question Tio's sanity. Silk is supposed to be a princess of the merfolk but she just like to battle like girls do. But this girl speaks in old-man Japanese, moé me up.

The other characters are supposed to be charming, right? There's this tough guy that doesn't say a thing but he doesn't look tough. He's a rotund cat that always thumbs up with a smile. He's accompanied by his dainty wife (girl #8) who communicates for him. Huh. Then there's this elven archer type that is the closest to the recent fan-homage stereotype, the shut-in otaku. How about the wind magic user that just happens to be a petite girl even though she says "boku" ("I" but usually reserved for males and tomboys) all the time?

Though this is a casual game, there was an attempt to complicate the game system. For example, there's an additional menu-based (not reaction based) combo system that one can uncover, which gives bonus attack damage. This advanced level game play is not necessary and merely serves as another checklist to uncover.

I can't believe I played another menu fighter, but at least there was an auto battle mode. Just press Select and they always "Fight". Sometimes my 4-person party will tag-team, and the baddies go flying across the screen. Perhaps there's a tag-team attack bonus but it was hard to discern and I can't control when they tag-team. The previously mentioned menu-based combo system was hard to uncover and also required me to dig through and equip spell books. The pay off is something like 5 to 10% attack damage, which probably adds up but unfortunately it depends on the tag-team system, which isn't dependable. So why bother.

At least I didn't have to grind for levels so much. I was just doing side quests all the time. I think I was over-leveled for the last boss.

The music is totally forgettable, owing to the limitations of DS presentation but also because there's no comparison between listening to music on my iPod or listening to these bleeps and bloops. The same battle music hits me over and over again. The per-town music always cuts off because the store music cuts in. And there are voice samples but only for attacks and battle wrap up and they become pretty repetitive.

Unfortunately, I don't feel motivated to go through it again even though there is stuff I haven't yet unlocked. There's no "New Game+" and it is necessary to restart from the beginning with no carryover. Infuriating. It's not going to take another 50 hours but I will probably have to gamefaq it to keep myself from doing things over again. The premiere gamefaq for this game is the unofficial Kimi no Yuusha kouyraku wiki (キミの勇者　攻略wiki).

There is one after-story dungeon. Although the final boss was somewhat nerve-wracking perhaps this will make me notch my game up.

Well this wasn't a totally unique gaming experience, but for 2200 yen at used it was a pretty fun ride.

New Xbox Firmware update means smaller HDD installs

(tags Xbox 360, game)

I'm still living the Xbox 360 life with the old 20GB HDD, so I always feel the HDD install game pinch. The recent Xbox 360 Dashboard update promises slimmer HDD install game sizes. I have yet to find any listing on the new sizes, so I decided to try my own stuff. Let's see:

Death Smiles: 2.0 GB

Shikigami no Shiro 3: 1.4 GB

Otomedius G: 3.3 GB

Raiden IV: 0.377 GB

Dodonpachi Daijouou Black Label Extra: 2.3 GB

Unreal Tournament 3: 5.6GB (according to the quick check, not actual install size)

as reported by the Memory menu.

Too bad I can't copy these game images to my Datel MAX memory Adaptor. Sad.

I was not playing Dragon Quest IX

(tags game, Dual Screen, RPG, Kimi no Yuusha)

I did a rare thing today and played my DS during my lunch break at work. My immediate boss came up behind me to look at the game. I go "Huh?" because he never checks out my gaming during the other rare times.

Then today I finally catch up on my feeds and see the Dragon Quest IX release fury, including this whimsical tale. Huh, did not know.

Just now I put the two and two together. He probably thinks that I am playing DQ IX. I am going to tell him tomorrow that I ain't that Japanese.

How could I miss a Dragon Quest launch? Easy, I was meeting real gamers traveling thousands of kilometers just to meet me in person (ya right), and (more likely) to enjoy the Kansai area, especially Osaka Nipponbashi Den-Den Town. At least I learned something about PC Engines and the rarity of Bomberman '94. It was fun to share the passion of crusin' the area to track down old games, even stopping into Retro Gaming Revival multiple times. Greetz and howdy, gentlemen, thanks for stopping by.

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.

This is supposed to be a game diary blog

(tags game)

This is supposed to be a game diary blog... I've been playing games but not reporting it.

Let's start with Izuna: The Unemployed Ninja for the Nintendo DS. I found this game for cheep and in English. This is an easy Rogue-like that shackled me for a week or two. Rogue-like games generally penalize you hard if you die, but I really like the fact that I keep my experience points in this game. I often lost my phat lootz but I did not get mad because I felt that it was my greed taking me down. I beat all but the last dungeon, which is really hard because it's long. Also, experience points in this last dungeon start from scratch and it is not retained when I die. I got to floor 20-ish before my greed killed me, yet again. I think I know what to do but it's too much work and not enough fun to play this last part.

I personally like the cute girl ninja (kunoichi?) and the anime flavor, but the story is lackluster and unrewarding. The translation into English doesn't seem too bad, though it is helpful to know the Japanese. Some of it is left without translation, such as sticking a talisman onto your weapon/armor, it is shown as kanji with no contextual help in English after you have decided.

I am down for the sequel though.

I got Death Smiles, the regular version for Xbox 360. I'm just playing Arrange mode, rank 1, but the difficulty on the last stage is making me gasp in anger. I still don't understand the game system.

Also, for some reason I wanted to play Ikaruga, so I did some of that recently. Got an A rank on stage 1, which unlocked an Achievement. I hate the D-pad on this controller. Also I watched the replay data from fellow Xbox members, and the replay data from the top 2 player normal version is amazing. I'm pretty sure that it is not a doubleplay (one person, two controllers), but a real-deal 2 person play.

Oh yeah, I was playing Killzone 2 at the shop, which put me into a FPS mode. Consequently, I am picking up where I left off on Half-Life 2: Episode 1. Now I'm onto Episode 2, but it's barely keeping my attention.

I still not have finished with Chrono Trigger or Trusty Bell. I need to play those again arrgh.

The price of cross compatibility

(tags game, hardware, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

I really want to play my Xbox 360 with a decent D-pad controller. Here's something that looks nice, reported by Engadget, called the Cross Fire Adapter for Xbox 360. I don't regularly buy stuff from overseas, so the shipping rates are always a bummer for me.

Eeek.

Youtube Will Not Die! IWBTG and Mega Man 2

(tags video, game)

I spent the morning accepting comments on my year-old video about Bangai-O Spirits, "Homing don't play that: Bangai-o Spirits (video)" and "Calmin' Napalmin': Bangai-o Spirits (video)". Sorry I didn't know people commented on them. One of the commenters pointed out there are blue clouds blocking the missles, so the air wall block is not a bug but a feature. Yeah right.

I then started looking at the regular things on Youtube, "Man walks on water", "Ikaruga 1 person 2 player", yeah regular things. Which lead me to I Wanna Be That Guy, which is a masocistic side scrolling platform game that pilfers music and graphics from games from the 80s and 90s. And even Ikaruga. Oh. I'm not even going to download it, though. But there was one level which had excellent music which brought me me to...

Mega Man 2. OMG, I don't even remember if I played it before, but it looked familiar. But the music is so great! "Dr. Wily Stage 1 & 2", "Air Man", "Wood Man". It makes me want to break out the emulator, because if I did own it 20 years ago, it's long gone now. I suppose I could go try to buy the sound track, but I bet it's really expensive. Perhaps doujin remix CDs are still available. OMG remixes: "Mega Man 2 Dr. Wily´s Castle Theme on the guitar." which led to "Air Man Will Not Die"... which lead to "Eroge ga owaranai"... Better quit now before my weekend ends.

Youtube Will Not Die! :-)

Shot across the bow: Steam vs GoG

(tags online, game, Windows)

Obviously Steam and GoG, who both sell games for download, are in competition with each other, but it has never been more clear than this weekend's deals.

GoG offers for the first time Prince of Persia Sands of Time, Beyond Good and Evil, IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 this weekend, at USD 9.99 each. I got the mail directly from GoG.

Then I learn later through Kotaku that Steam is offering BG&E, IL-2 Sturmovik and Farcry for USD 9.99 combined. (The other game, Dark Messiah Might and Magic is not available in my region!) It's just for the weekend though, but that's enough.

Which one do I like better? Obviously the Steam deal is compelling, since I want to play BG&E and IL-2 Sturmovik (probably with my Xbox controller just for the latter.) But GoG is totally DRM-free, and I can download again anytime I want, working on multiple computers.

Except games for me now are a play-once affair. I rarely get nostalgic about games. I'm currently thinking of going with Steam since it's the same level of convenience and cheaper. I'll think it over one more day though.

However, does this mean that whenever GoG gets a deal just to publish, Steam will try to cover the deal in response? This will be interesting.

Musings on Geometry Wars 2 Deadline

(tags Geometry Wars, game, Xbox 360)

In order to understand my own performance, I started recording my scores vs how many geoms I collect, in Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 Deadline (GWRE2). Here's a graph of geoms (x-axis) vs score (y-axis in millions), in nice black background. (Generated using OO.org Calc 3.x)

This is a collection of 133 games (5hr) over a period of two days, with no pruning (quitting mid-game). Unfortunately I didn't record the geom count on my current personal best score... :-( Higher is better. Since my geom count is increasing at a linear rate, I expect my score to be exponentially increasing, and it sure looks like it.

The points on the far right are probably the rare occasions that I don't die even once. Although I do recall dying at least once on my current personal best score of 32 million. There has to be some trick to boost my score that involves Gravity Wells. Actually, I've become more cognizant of Gravity Wells spawning in. I hear their sound and I think it's a gift from God, at least the Score God. Huh.

Also my fear of moving around the whole arena, instead of sticking to the area down at the bottom, in the latter half of the game has diminished. I credit this as well for my improved scores. Basically I either run along the walls looking for the Gravity Well, and approach it with caution. At the last possible second I activate it and destroy it, hopefully wiping out the posse giving me a hard chase. I try to approach it at a tangent with my direction of fire swiping it sideways. This should land me lots of geoms and score, because at that point my firepower alone cannot overcome the chasers. I also head towards the middle and bottom as fast as possible after the encounter, since things are probably still chasing me.

I am dancing more with the Spinners (purple homing enemies), which gives me a breather. Shmup dodging skills have seem to improved somewhere. The Weavers (green fancy dodgers) seem to be a managable group now, because I seem to be able to read their movements now. Those Gates are a risky proposition as always, but they also seem to be key to unlocking high scores.

In the beginning, of course I try to grab as many geoms as possible, but I have noticed that aiming for the Rockets yields better cost/performance, because they drop high concentration Geoms (+5?) and they have predictable movement. I notice the first Gravity Well then appears at T-2:3x. I bet that directly correlates to my Geom capture count, grab 80 then the first one appears. I then notice that around T-2:00 my score should be passing the 1 million mark. Around T-1:00 the score should be around 10 million. I try to limit my movement to the middle third, near the bottom wall, since I should be vacuuming up more and more Geoms and not just trying to shoot down stuff.

I really do hate those Snakes, though. They block my score-accumulating shots. Ugh. Sometimes when I die, I try to stick to the wall to kill the closest spawning enemy with my shield. If it is a Rocket, I quickly move away and kill it for the Geoms, but anything else, especially a Snake, is dangerous.

My reflexes as of late feel like they're on the fast side (like a biorhythm). I think its because of all the Rubik's Cubing I'm doing, 30 minutes a day every day. But more on that later. For now, more GWRE2. Can't stop. :-]

Tradeoff

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars, telephone card)

I can either play Geometry Wars 2 or I can go out and get this month's Gamers point card. I chose to stay inside. Luckily I made progress with Deadline:

(extracted 2009-03-21T05:34Z)

Improved: Deadline 32,205,140 @ Rank 717
Improved: Waves 10,800,885 @ Rank 935

Live version again:

Actually I surpassed my high score of 25.7 million about two times in the three hour gaming session. Surprising. The improved score on Waves was from a session back in February or January, but I forgot where I put the score picture so I didn't report it.

I came to my senses and set out for Gamers at 1920. Unfortunately, since the Point card release day was a weekend (a holiday weekend at that), it sold out even on the same day. Drat.

I returned home and promptly bought it (Buy-It-Now) through an auction. Why am I even collecting these points if I don't use it?

I wanna watch Spider-Man 2

(tags game, UMD, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Dual Screen)

Just another random "I got more content" post.

I decided to skip getting Hitsuji-kun nara Kiss shite ageru (羊くんならキスしてあげる) the PC turned PSP game which has an outrageous price of 7000 yen plus. The main draw for me was the illustrator Naoto Tenhiro's work. As always, the drawings are cute and kawaii. I'm hoping to get the telephone cards through the auction.

I went out today to Yodobashi Camera. I was in the mood to get the MadCatz Xbox 360 controller, but of course they don't have it. The alternative was the Hori one, but it only comes in Blue. I decided to get a small portable foldable game controller for the PC called the Buffalo BBT-GC01. I decided on that because I wanted a one-handed PC controller, like for viewing web pages and playing visual novels. Using the freeware JoyToKey for Windows, it should be a snap to remap Space, Enter, Page Up, Page Down, Control, etc. The D-Pad isn't so bad. I gave it a whirl on Parsec47 and it was very fun.

I then went down to A-Too Nipponbashi. No Xbox Mad Catz Street Fighter IV controller pads, not even the PS3 ones. So I looked around in the bins for things cheep and picked up Too Human and Alone in the Dark for the Xbox 360, each for about 1500 yen. I wanna play Too Human because I liked the demo, but balked at the price. Alone in the Dark was just a whim, I'm actually scared to play it. (Wussy!) I also picked up the PSP-UMD versions of Spider-Man 2 and 3 and Pirates of the Carribean (2003). There's no PSP firmware restriction on the movies, which is nice. I haven't watched these movies yet, but they were more desirable than the Aliens vs Predator laying alongside.

Last thing I want to mention is that I went to Sofmap Zaurus and the Treasure Box floor is a shadow of its former self. Still there was this one box where I picked up other PSP-UMD movie Hitch, Crazy Taxi for the PSP, Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360, and NanoStray for the DS. The prices were below my cutoff for purchasing, so...

I forgot to mention that I purchased a lot of telephone cards, but no pictures so it didn't happen.

Too much stuff to do.

Plans foiled again by blogging and the Internet

(tags game, book, Xbox 360, Trusty Bell, windows, English, failure)

I was going to relax by:

1. Playing some Trusty Bell (Eternal Sonata) on my Xbox 360
2. Finish up Shukufuku no Canpanella on my PC
3. Read some English fiction book, The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks

but, no, I had to blog and read up on my RSS feeds and auctions and the like.

BTW, Trusty Bell looks really beautiful. Vibrant colors and cell shading. I can't yet evaluate the game mechanics but at least it's not a menu fighter. And Aya Hirano (平野綾) as the main voice actress, ugh. Wait, no ugh, I need to just listen to her acting, not her.

I should have went... Street Fighter IV controller pad

(tags game, English, controller, Xbox 360)

First off, I got called on my misuse of English on a forum: "I should have went to the store...", which elicited a "I hope you're not teaching English (in Japan)". :-/ Ouch. I lack confidence in my Japanese, and now I just learned that my English is shot up in ways I haven't even noticed. It's like those people who don't know they are incompetent and grade themselves highly. I feel reluctant even to continue typing English right now. :-/ :-) haha, I turned off comments (I never had them anyway!) so... :-/

In any case, I should have gone to the Nipponbashi game import store with the quickness to pick up the Street Fighter IV third-party controller. It has the comforting D-pad (like a Sega Saturn controller) but the buttons are slightly different. I tried playing Shooting Love and Ikaruga and other shmup games recently and I am back to hating on the Xbox 360 standard controller again. Why can't Hori make a mainly D-pad based controller for the Xbox 360? They make enough joysticks already.

BTW, I got age "23" for my "shmup age" in Shooting Love. Is it sad that I feel good about this? :-)

Just as pricey: Idolm@ster SP DLC

(tags game, Idolm@ster, PlayStation Portable, DLC)

One more day until Idolm@ster hits the PSP scene. I'm only excited for the store-based telephone card extras. Yeah, that's crazy.

I did not exclude the possibility of DLC, but to finally see an official page full of "horse armor" was shocking. (Thanks Gaijin Gamers) WTF, I didn't call it "horse armor" when I bought the similar things before. Anyways, 1000 yen for one dress, which is similar to the prices on the Xbox DLC. I haven't accepted the DRM on the PSP, so I doubt that I will use this DLC any time soon.

Will I see PSP toting McDonalds refugees playing Idolm@ster? I doubt it.

Flowery

(tags game, PlayStation 3)

Would I buy a PlayStation 3 for a 800 yen game? No. Still I really want to check out Flower (called Flowery in Japan). The review from Gaijin Gamers lingers away from spoilers, but I at least understand that this isn't a traditional game, and it's more than interactive art. I even asked a PS3 owning friend to try it out, but I haven't received a response back.

Oh and the introduction page at us.playstation.com has some developer interviews. Pink hair on that woman. Whoa. If you're a business owner you can write your own ... dress code?

Rubik's Touch Cube

(tags Rubik's Cube, game)

I first learned of the fabulous Rubik's Touch Cube from Rubik's Cube Nikki. But after seeing the Engadget initial report, I am not so thrilled. Basically you can only move one side at a time, which makes it not very applicable to speedy Cubing. Those who are into the Cube will see this as a trophy piece to show off to friends, but probably not much more. Plus the price tag of USD 150.00 relegates this toy to the executive room.

There's also the Rubik's 360 thing which is more action oriented. Huh, wut.

I'm starting to think that the Rubik's Cube is a timeless game/toy that won't be surpassed in my lifetime.

You almost me had me there, Hello Kitty Online

(tags game, MMORPG, Hello Kitty, Windows)

Just two days ago I bought some Hello Kitty postcards at the post office. On the same day I learned that Hello Kitty Online was opening up their system for free, in time for Valentine's Day. (Thanks Kotaku) It's for stress testing the servers. 

I was going to give it a try for some reason. I don't know, my safety overrides were disabled or something. But I luckily balked at the client install size. 1.3 GB. If that's all graphics, nice, but there's no free space on my netbook anymore arrgh! ;-) Actually the shock had me thinking that I wouldn't play this game for long... It's like The Sims, and I don't actively play a game like that, now or in this lifetime.

Whew, I was almost snared. Let me not forget the plans I have coming up.

Let's do this: Street Fighter IV

(tags game, Street Fighter, nostalgia)

You know how in Japanese, people say "Let's ___" to start an activity? Sometimes it's comedy gold, other times it's startlingly appropriate (Let's Tap). I don't know, I was hoping for some funnies, but this poster for the Street Fighter IV launch event in Los Angeles is more inspirational:

Really though, what does "Let's Do This!" add to the announcement? Probably the abstract feeling of motivation. I mean, "Do" and "This" are pretty vague. And as far as I know, it isn't part of the SF lexicon like "Sheng Long". I bet other phrases like "Let's get it started" was dismissed as too long.

Just in case I'm not clear, I like that phrase "Let's Do This!". I'm just playing with English, that is all.

As for me, I'm not Doing This. Today I saw the game and the accompanying PS3 and Xbox 360 joysticks for sale, but passed on the purchase. I guess the magic of SF died for me. I wonder why. Back in the day, I demanded a Super Nintendo just to play SF2. (Cringe, selfish memories surfacing) I played Soul Calibur IV recently, why can't I motivate myself to play this? Recently I've been thinking of buying a PlayStation 3 just to play Flower. A USD 10.00 game, but one that I expect to feel new and fresh (OMG I've fallen for hype again). Having not played SF4, perhaps I'm not giving it a fair chance.

(edit: spell check)

Starting Prince of Persia

(tags game, Prince of Persia, Xbox 360)

One hour into Prince of Persia and I am now committed to reaching the conclusion. This is so wonderful, no fear of death, just exploration into colorful lands. It feels like a Jak game. And I like the dialogue. I'm glad this is in English.

I can't wait to get back into it.

I forgot about 2-19: many game pre-orders

(tags game, pre-order, Idolm@ster, Shining Wind, Dodonpachi, Shooting Love, Star Ocean, Halo, Prince of Persia)

I forgot about February 19th, which is a Thursday. I mean, the Thursday when a bunch of swell gaming stuff comes out, stuff I thought was so killer I needed to pre-order it. Um, that's why I forgot that date. So this is what is waiting for me at Sofmap Kobe.

• Idolm@ster for PSP all 3 versions
• Shining Wind Fan Festa PC disc
• DoDonPachi for the Xbox 360
• Shooting Love for the Xbox 360

I am so SOL on the PSP front. Gotta buy me a PSP-2000 somehow, because I still refuse to update my legal firmware PSPs.

I wanted to get Star Ocean 4 for the Xbox 360 (which comes out on the same day as well) for some reason. Perhaps it's because the director said he wanted to make ecchi games (but of course was refused). I downloaded the demo movies so I can be frightened.

Plus I figured that I might wanna get Halo Wars, luckily that will come out only one week after. Gotta pre-order that, in Japanese, huh. And yet I still haven't played the demo. Do it.

Oh yeah, I picked up Prince of Persia today at A-Too Nipponbashi. It was 3500 yen used, and it seems to be the English version even though the region NTSC-JP. Hopefully this will make me feel good about non-difficult gaming. Except I was supposed to start playing this now but I got caught up on bragging on my blog and ripping the CDs I bought today. And tomorrow I'm still going out, since it's another telephone card day at Gamers. Wee.

While I'm on the subject of A-Too... I still check the price of Halo 3. It's slowly dropping, now at 4980 yen. Yes I have the Japanese version. Yes I wanna hear the Chief's clipped dialogue in English. Also I saw the English version of DJ Max Portable, want want (but! have have). Gears of War 2 is still 4000 yen+, not a must buy just yet. Top Spin 3 is also.

Um, I have 65 games for my Xbox 360 (including Arcade ones). I really gotta do something about the unopened ones. (Like Naruto: Rise of a Ninja) Aaarrrrgggh!!!

One expensive CD single: Mirror's Edge PC

(tags Mirror's Edge, game, Windows, music)

I failed to get the "Still Alive - Remixes" CD back in November. As for the PC version, since I was hyping it up to my PhysEngine-hugging pal, he actually broke down and purchased it (after throwing the controller when playing the Xbox 360 demo version). I think he's just starved to get some game that works with his fairly new graphics/physics card. Ha ha.

I also took a look at it in the shop, and was taken away by the words "特典 ミュージックCD" (Bonus Music CD). Of course.

The CD single must be the same thing that I wanted, and is now being sold for 4000 yen domestically or cheaper overseas. Aah. I'm still alive.

Delays are welcome: Mirror's Edge DLC in February

(tags game, Xbox 360, DLC, Mirror's Edge, Final Fantasy)

Too many game blogs to read, and I keep on reading the same content over and over.

Anyway, Mirror's Edge DLC for the Xbox 360 is delayed to February. Yea. I did not clear many of the speed trial maps yet, despite my "OMG GOTY" exclaimation.

And Idolm@ster for the PSP is delayed till February, though I already knew about that.

Oh and yeah I saw the Final Fantasy XIII trailer. Animation looks great but the voice actresses sound a bit off. The guy's voice was pretty good. Gameplay? Menus again? Please. Is this coming in 2010 or 2009? Actually watching this video makes me want to play FF XII again.

Can you beat my score? Oh you did: Geometry Wars 2

(tags game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars)

Continuing the Geometry Wars 2 boom (whoa it's been like 4 months), I kept on trying out "Waves". And lookie I get a decent score, yea me. I really like this mode, no sissy bombs, no lives, just constant dying.

(extracted 2009-01-25T09:16Z)

Live version again:

The conservation of bullets is the golden rule here. And the wall is your friend. I want to get 10 million, but things move too fast at even 3 million.

Oh, and I recently allowed an invite into my friends list and this newcomer bested one of my GW2 scores after the invite. It was the King mode, a mode I never play. Don't worry, once my hand gets its feeling back I'll be on top of King... at least on my friends list. :-/

It's not Final Fight, and it's not deep: Tokyo Beat Down

(tags game, Dual Screen, side scroll, beat-em-up)

Just because there was some coverage about the localization for Tokyo Beat Down (originally 野獣刑事) for the DS (and plus I was in the mood for fighting because of Final Fight One and Double Dragon Advance), I purchased the game and gave it a whirl. This was about two weeks ago.

Its a "my first" Final Fight. I am disappointed.

The first 30 minutes did not draw me in, since the fighting combos are so weak. There is a promise of longer combos if you progress in the game. The best thing is hitting the X button (punch) for 8 times, and you can interrupt that with the Y button (kick) and vice versa. There are three characters, but it's hard to discern the difference between them, when talking about combos.

The whole atmosphere is juvenile. The story is not compelling and the actual action is just not fun. I'm on the second day now, and it has taken me 1.5 hours of interrupted playing just to get there. Today is probably the last time I'll play it. Hopefully I'll get a power up to extend my combo and finally get something that feels new.

Why play Geometry Wars 2 for four hours?

(tags game, Xbox 360, Geometry Wars)

Why indeed, especially when those four hours are from 23:30 to 03:30... (>_<;)

I'm feeling the resurgence of Geometry Wars 2. This is what they call a "my boom" in Japanese. During the last week I bested my own score on Deadline, but still it is less than 26 million. I saved the GamerNetCard score card, but I'll post it later.

Then I found some new fun in the old game type Waves. Still my score is a meager 4 million. I cannot even get the song to loop at all, brr.

Since I'm re-feeling the GW2 love, I wondered if it was a port of this game to a different console, hopefully Windows. No such luck. :-/

Geometry Wars music

(tags free, music, game, Xbox 360, shmup, Geometry Wars)

Yes I saw on Xbox 360 Fanboy that there was a Geometry Wars related free download, so I grabbed the Geometry Wars 2 music remix, called "46860 Choices". It starts off slow, and the remix doesn't really sound too different.

Oh yeah, I recently played some GeoWars2, but unfortunately I can't beat my own Deadline score. I did get close at 22 million, so the fight is still in me.

Big Kudo fan(s)

(tags game, goods, Little Busters, Windows, Kudo-tan)

Today was my first day of 2009 to visit Nipponbashi Den Den Town. It was pretty crowded with the people walking around holding tree branches with gold coins hanging from them. According to my fruitful web searches, the local Imamiya Ebisu Jinjya holds the "Tokaebisu" (festival?) from January 9 through 11.

But anyway, I checked up on lots of Comic Market goods, just like I did last year. Except this time I'm not so enthusiastic (crazy) with opening the wallet. Yeah, right, this blog post is proof of the weak will. I will save CM related stuff for another post.

So, yeah, Noumi Kudryavka from Little Busters (リテルバスタース！). I enthusiastically grabbed the Sofmap exclusive telephone card months back. Since then I've been slowly accumulating goods. Just recently I found the Gee Store in Nipponbashi/Den Den Town. Funny that a branch of this store used to be at Gamers Sannomiya (Kobe) but it closed probably because Kobe isn't so profitable. They have a lot of nice goods. Nice:

These are regular Japanese style fans with (our?) my favorite mascot, Kudo-tan. It no longer seems to be available at Amazon, so it must be selling well. Except at the Gee-Store, where there are tons. As shown, I have already pinned to my kitchen wall. 

Kudo-tan saying "Wahoo" just gives me enough pep to keep on practicing cooking. Actually these two fans take the place of my years-old De Ji Charat fan.

But that's not all. Gee-Store has a bunch of other stuff not available at my regular proving grounds such as Gamers and Tora no Ana. That's probably because they make the goods themselves, and don't bother to send it to other stores.

Okay, I wasn't planning on buying the sports towel (shown on the right). But after spending more than 5000 yen on a bunch of (Little Busters) stuff, I received this free A4 sized clear holder (shown in the middle). I did want to get the cheaper shirt design but all they have left was XL size. I'm an M, really.

Truly though, this is a losing battle. The same couple of illustrations are posted onto mug cups, sports towels, shirts, hug pillows, trading cards, mouse pads, hankerchiefs, bath posters, frisbees (!), etc etc. I am sure to be bored. Then again, I haven't swapped out my 2003 Salvador Dali calendar. Perhaps newness is not important to me?

So yes, I actually bought the Little Busters! game (the EX version) but I am not making much progress in this voice-over fighter. I fear that hearing Kudo-tan's seiyuu voice will destroy the infatuation. And there is some infatuation left, see my other Kudo-tan posts (one more coming up).

Kumatan drama with complete sentences

(tags game, Dual Screen, Kumatanchi, Comic Market 75)

One of the first auctions I won this year was for the Kumatanchi (くまたんち) goods set sold at Comic Market 75.

The drama CD has a new story called "Kumatan no Sagashimono" (くまたんの探し物). It's cliched and a little dirty (will the monkey's panty fetish ever end?) but I like the voices all the same. Ryoki Ryuou (留桜良姫) voices the cute Kumatan, the lively Neko-kun, and the Kansai-accent Tora no Oneesan, all at the same time. They all sound different, which is good. The DS game doesn't have any voiced dialogue other than simple words, so I was surprised at hearing full sentences. Of course, if it was just "kuma, kuma, kuma" for dialogue I would be pissed. (However it worked for Yumeria.)

Also the CD comes with the exclusive drama I missed from the CM74 goods set. I had the pleasure of hearing more dialogue from the zoo shop idoru, Sumomo. Except again the story was totally forgetable. Except that zookeeper's laugh. Haha ha.

Finally, the CD had a data track which included all the wallpapers that were exclusively timed downloads. I missed most of these wallpapers and I was kicking myself for that. Finally I got them in my hot little wallpaper rotation. As an aside, I was not able to read the data track on my computer which had some DVD ripping software like DVD43. On another pristine Windows computer, I had no trouble.

As for the book, it is a revision of the book that was originally released with the game. It has some nice glossy illustrations of concept art and some tips on how to reveal all the events. Having not read the original version (to keep from spoiling the game), I can't say if its improved, but I like the quality of the paper and the colorful layout. It's a keeper.

Final Fantasy XIII promo web site

(tags game, Final Fantasy)

Now that the official Final Fantasy XIII promotional website is open, I can grab multiple pictures of Vanille, without any watermarks. Ha ha. Nice soothing music.

I read somewhere that the game system is not Gambit system, but the tired old menu fighting. Ugh. Instantly I am not interested.

Diadra Empty music

(tags game, Windows, shmup, Diadra Empty)

The Diadra Empty music is pretty wicked sick. And no, it's not like RayStorm, but more like Psyvariar. Sweet sweet.

I beat the game on normal. The Credits roll show who did the music.

It turns out that the stage music comes from Baby You Can Tell On Me and sentive.net. The latter had some free music to give out. The former has the music in MIDI form. Uh, right.

The others are http://pianodauge.org , http://iconoclasm.info , and something fermate but I'm kinda sleepy now.

Diadra Empty... what is going on?

(tags game, Windows, doujin, shmup)

Just today at Tora no Ana I bought this doujin shmup game called Diadra Empty (ディアドラエンプティ). It's made by a circle called frozenorb (ふろーずんおーぶ) and released back in 2008-06 in time for Comic Market 74. The package had some nice colorful graphics like this cover art. (this is not in game)

The back also showed some really cool danmaku bullets. Check out the sample game play video. There's an easy to read web page at doujinshop.com. For 1800 yen I gave it a spin. 

My old Sega Saturn style USB pad was ready from the get go. First off, this game plays like a modern style Defender, complete with a radar sub view and push button to lock shooting direction. Except there seems to be millions of bullets on the field. I don't understand what will kill my avatar though, because I seem to be able to bump through the whole danmaku barrage without a scratch. This has very lenient shields, which even regenerate automatically.

The background gradients are very pretty, but the foreground sprites don't make much sense. The enemy bullets are really colorful though. Lock on slow lasers chasing you around the screen, millions of dumb bullets flying around. The background scrolls independent from your avatar's movement, so I get confused easily. Frames per second isn't rock solid, at first with 60 FPS, but when the storm comes in, I barely get 15 FPS.

There is an RPG element to it, where you have to power up. Sadly the actually power up only occurs between stages. You have to collect coins, which means getting in close to the enemies to suck up their death release. I was able to collect 4 Gradius chase style Options.

I got up to level 8 which seems to be the last level because it was crazy long with crazy bosses. I couldn't beat the "emerald orb" which shot out some screen covering homing lasers. Crazy.

The music is really good though. It kinda reminds me of RayStorm.

Unfortunately it's really buggy. The game freezes without saving my progress. I am irate, because part of the game's powerups are unlocked as I proceed, supposedly. I checked out the web page and it seems I have to apply a patch. It's not very clear. Plus the patch adds two more EXE files, also unclear. The patch was password protected, wut.

I'll give it another try, because the patch finally allows me to go to the config screen without crashing (!). Perhaps it will unlock some more of the game's powerups. Heck I want to lend it to a friend so that I can compare experiences.

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel freeware game

(tags bishoujo, game, freeware)

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel, a gambling slot-machine created back in 2006 by the Trivy Corporation and Sammy Corporation, now makes it onto the Windows PC. Sammy ran with this bishojo concept and besides having currently serialized manga, enlisted major seiyuu like Yukari Tamura (田村ゆかり), Mamiko Noto (能登麻美子) and Masumi Asano (浅野真澄) for the 2008 OVA.

Now they enlisted Kogado Studios Koneko-san Team of bishojo all-ages game fame for this free 2009 New Year's present: Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel: Illusion Girl (快盗天使ツインエンジェル 幻の少女). (Thanks to Zepy for the tip).

Free. I can't believe this is free. \(>_<)/ 1.33 GigaByte download. 3 scenario writers. FREE.

This freeware game plays like an extended Flash game, but with unheard of 1280 pixel wide visuals. And though they call it a Visual Novel, almost every line is voiced. It's more like an anime with subtitles.

I want to figure out who did the character design for this particular work, because it's really kawaii. But it's either the OVA animator Makoto Koga (古賀誠) or it's someone that calls themselves "Sakana" (魚). A hard to find psuedonym? Oh wait, there is an illustrator called Sakana and the illustrator's web page confirms the connection.

Is this nagomi-inducing moe? At least the visuals are, yes. I captured these screens in Windowed mode using the Print Screen key, and the water-marking logo on the left hand side automatically imprints.

Sadly the story is maho-shojo cliche to the point of irritation. Normal teenage girls (15/F/Japan) transform into super powered heroines (CERO 12 transformation scene) to battle the evil-bent but mostly incompetent Black Auction Corporation. Their senpai backs them up without revealing his identity, using an eye mask (is this a Sailor Moon motif?). Other maho-shojo cliches abound, though thankfully there is no upskirt fan-service.

I am annoyed with the ditzy character Yukarin voices. Noto has the humble know-it-all role. Masumin voices the overly competative rival. I applaud her energy but the dialogue is so predictable.

The first battle plays out with fighting game life bars, but the actual game mechanic is a my-first slot machine with easy to hit targets. I suspect that the rest of the battles to be the same. The story progresses with a choose your own adventure style branching, with episodes like playing vollyball or cooking food in class.

Free. On one hand I can see this kind of work selling for 7000 yen or more (typical PC game prices). It doesn't have the advertisement atmosphere, so it makes me wonder if this was intended to be a retail package. However this is a sugar-coated, heavenly-sounding, girly eyed junk. I "play" this game by putting it on auto and waiting for the next battle or reading my web browser. I haven't finished the game, but I bet there's at least 4 hours worth of stuff in here. Hm. Continue.

Punch this: Side scrolling fighting games

(tags game, Dual Screen, PlayStation Portable, side scroll, fighting, Final Fight, Double Dragon, The Warriors)

I found my purple GBA Micro under a mound of dust. Along side it was Final Fight One and Double Dragon, so I took both for a spin again, but this time, on my DS.

Final Fight One is pretty good. I practiced the "3 punch, rest, 3 punch, rest" move with Guy. Turbo attack is fun. I beat the game on Super Hard with minimal effort. 

I turned my attention to Double Dragon. That was pretty hard, until I remembered how to stick and move. Oh, and kicking enemies into the water or spikes is just refreshing. I can't do survival mode though. It takes all my effort to get to 18.

I then remembered I had The Warriors on the PSP so I took that out. Hm, I find it hard to stay interested in this one. It's dark, visibly and morally. I mean I gotta mug NPCs for money so I buy spray to tag up the walls.

Kicking virtual 3D people while they're down is so abhorrent, but I can't stop doing it! If it's 2D, I don't have any qualms. Is there some kind of uncanny valley for fighting?

PSP wants and Hitsuji-kun nara Kisu Shite Ageru

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, hardware, Naoto Tenhiro, illustrator, DLC)

Now I want to spend some time with the PSP. Never mind that I own two firmware-crackable PSP-1000 series, I am searching for a new/used PSP-2000. I missed my chance because I thought they would still be available. The currently available PSP-3000 seems to have a wierd screen, though I haven't seen it in person.

I was checking out the available used hardwares. There wasn't anything available in Osaka Nipponbashi for PSP-2000. Well it was a pretty good week for the PSP, because Square Enix brought out a Final Fantasy product and it seems to have sold half a million in just a couple of days, w00t. I wonder if it's Monster Hunter "Square Enix" version or something. Ahem, yeah. Okay, today I spotted a bunch of PSP-2000 used. None of them are my desired pastel colors so I am still waiting.

Macross Ace Frontier is waiting for me. Also I will be picking up that Idolm@ster PSP series that will be appearing next February (it seems to be delayed). I do want WipeOut Pulse, and my copy is just pulling at my heart strings every time I go to the store.

Finally, I just learned today from reading Gamaga Magazine that a "heartful", Naoto Tenhiro (天広直人) illustrated game will be coming soon for the PSP. It's called Hitsuji-kun nara Kisu Shite Ageru (羊くんならキスしてあげる). The original work has been serialized for some time now in that glossy gal-ge magazine, E2 (Media Works/Softbank).

Also, it seems to have a PC browser only game, available from an online game distributor Playing Drama, since 2007/04 (appearing in serialized form). Looking at this page, I bet the PSP version is only a port of this web/PC game. Ah hahah.... I just realized that I won't touch this web/PC game version, because it requires an online connection. To make matters worse, this online service will end 2009/03/31 and there's nothing written about purchased DLC. This means it will evaporate into nothingness!!! Hahaha DLC Death strikes again! Time to salvage the free background graphics and other stuffs, since that's what I care about.

Actually, the seiyuu seem to be a good lineup, including Saeko Chiba (千葉紗子) and Ryoko Shintani (新谷良子). The PSP version will have the same seiyuu, so I look forward to hearing them. Also it seems to use a vertical screen orientation, which is pretty novel. Finally, there will be a telephone card omake for different shops. I hate this kinda of exclusivity, but I'm used to jumping through (expensive) hoops for Tenhiro stuff. Hahah.