Xbox freebies keep me happy

(tags game, Xbox 360)

I just found out that the Top Spin 3 demo was available so I tried it out. Totally hard to get into, but it seems pretty meaty. I can't even pass the advanced training session. I really like the exhibition gallery where they show you the moves in detail. I can't wait to get this game, well actually I can. The Asia region comes out 2008-07-11, but I'll probably pick this up in 6 months.

And I was perusing the Dashboard for stuff to try out. Free (or has it always been?) DLC for Bullet Witch. Ace Combat 6's movie always gets me right there (I saw that Naussica version via Kotaku recently, I think). Call of Duty 4 video looks pretty killer. I finally watched one of the finished Devil May Cry 4 video. It makes me want to play it, ha.

I also looked at the recent JPRG demo videos from Namco and Square. They sure do make good videos. Also Dragonball Z: Burst Limit and Mobile Suits Gundam demo was out. I tried the latter but its a online only affair so I quit it.

Then I tried out Soul Calibur XBLA version. OMG, all that fighting goodness! I wanna buy it now! Mitsurugi FTW. My fingers just know what to press. I feel so guilty because I got other fighting games I need to finish, though. I'll have to let this one go for now.

Just a reminder to blog about gaming: Space Invaders Extreme, etc

(tags failure, game, Xbox 360, Dual Screen, Wii)

Just a reminder to myself:

Write about finding a pink paddle controller for playing Space Invaders Extreme, and explain how SIE rocks as soon as I get used to the paddle.

Write about Happy Dance Collection for the Wii and how I finally have a reason to buy it. Oh wait, I collected my third Wii game, Elebits, for el cheapo yesterday.

Write about my giving up on Monster Hunter 2nd when I couldn't complete a training mission.

Write about my Shin Sangoku Musou level up-ing with just the female character and giving that up when it doesn't unlock the other hidden female characters.

Yellow fading Rubik's Cube

(tags Rubik's Cube, failure)
(Originally written 2008-06-24 23:40)

Speaking of my (main) Rubik's Cube, the yellow stickers are finally losing their color and are turning white. This is after 10 months of use. Well all of the stickers look grimy and ugly. However, the critical yellow-blue facelet though looks like white-blue, which is impossible. Still it annoys me how dependant I am on looking at the colors of the cube when moving pieces.

So I tore off the yellow sticker. 8 yellow fading stickers remain, and a disconcerting black spot. This is annoying as well.

So why don't I just replace those stickers? Um... yeah. I'm just lazy. I can't get the sticker grime off satisfactorily.

I am annoyed. I'm annoyed with the fade, now I'm annoyed with the black, I'm annoyed with my lack of volition, lack of skills, I'm annoyed enough to write a post. What will it take to resticker my cube?!?! ;-o

I can always start using my second cube. But I have to lube it first. I am annoyed. Huh.

Update to the present: I broke down and restickered my cube. Well only three faces because it takes so long. (WTF only 10 minutes per face) And the stickers don't line up so good. I am annoyed. Yet, the stickers feel pretty good and clean. I would snap a picture but ...

Put two and two together: Chrono Cross

(tags game, PlayStation 1, RPG)

I realized something recently.

I have Chrono Cross for the PlayStation 1, U.S. region. I think I bought it 5 or 6 years ago from a Toys 'R Us.

I also have a PlayStation 2 Slim US region I bought last year around this time.

I could play Chrono Cross on this U.S. region while waiting for Chrono Trigger DS.

Stupid me. :-/

All about control: Princess Maker 4 DS

(tags game, Princess Maker, Naoto Tenhiro, Dual Screen)

Princess Maker 4 is being ported to the Nintendo DS after two years of inactivity. The original game was on the PS2 in 2005. I only went through it one time. Then it came out for the PSP and the Windows PC in 2006, and of course I picked up those as well. The DS version will be in my hot little hands 2008-09-11, at which time I will promptly shelve it, because the main reason is to collect the omake telephone cards, ha ha.

According to the official web site, some more content will be added. However, voices for the characters other than the "daughter" will be left out. Nana Mizuki, the main voice actress, was interviewed for this port. She supplied more dialogue for the DS's new feature, which is touch screen "Touch Communication". You can touch your daughter's body (cheeks or shoulders, please) or something and get some dialogue. Hm, what game mechanic is this? However, Mizuki pleads, "please don't touch strange places". LOL. I suspect it won't have the "physics engine" of the Doki Doki Majo Shinpan series.

BTW, Princess Maker 5 was released last year for the PC and later for the PS2. I saw that the main series character designer, Takami Akai, returned. He's had a hand throughout the whole series (which starts from 1991!?). Unfortunately his character design just doesn't do it for me. Illustrator Naoto Tenhiro FTW.

Thanks to Famitsu (I almost didn't see little 1/4 page article), DS Fanboy, and Game Watch Impress.

Beyond excited: Chrono Trigger DS

(tags game, Dual Screen, RPG)

Chrono Trigger. I would probably claim that this was the best (J)RPG for me up until Final Fantasy XII. I, along with many people, have been waiting for a remake on a recent console. Now its coming to the Nintendo DS. Yes! YES! (thanks DS Fanboy, DS Fanboy)

Um, I could have always played the PlayStation version, which seems to reward you for replaying the game.

Waiting for my wheel to come... around... again

(tags game, Dual Screen, music)

I just wanna say that I bought Space Invaders Extreme for the DS last week, but I won't open it until I find the paddle controller. Of course, both were available before, and I let them slip out of my grasp then.

Nurburgring drive

(tags game, driving, Burnout, Xbox 360)
(originally written 2008-06-24 23:42)

Burnout Paradise was pretty fantastic with all the car action. Then again, I played most of the game with the camera on the bumper so I didn't care about how the car looked. So I started looking at racing games again. One integral part of my revival is that Nurburgring track, the 20 km course. I mentioned to a friend that the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue game has a video of the producer Kazunori Yamauchi riding a Nissan GT-R on the track competently. Nice.

I spotted the Viva Pinata and Forza Motorsport 2 combo pack for 1680 yen used, so I nabbed it after a night's sleep. Wow. Stats galore. Paint your car ala PhotoShop layers. The visible racing line. No music during racing. Crispy crispy graphics. I spent about an hour on career mode. I got the perfect racing Achievements on my first try, har har. I hate playing this with an analog pad. I wonder if I could reuse my GT Force. I doubt it.

I then backed out into Arcade mode because I wanted to try out Nurburgring. In my initial crappy car, an asia "soap-shaped" one. Of course I turned down the realism and turned on the visible racing line. I would turn on the training wheels if they had it. So I didn't crash but I clocked about 11 minutes. Is that slow or fast or what? Obviously its slow, because I don't really know the track. I totally forgot my record on the GT4 on PS2, I should fire that up.
I also tried out the online racing spectator mode. It's pretty interesting with all the cars. I would like to loop this mode and just watch it.

So I was in Nipponbashi recently looking for figure stand parts when I spotted Joshin's front display for Toy Land. They were advertising a Nissan GT-R model kit. The 40 inch widescreen TV showed someone driving the Nurburgring in the Nissan GT-R, with the stopwatch clock in big numbers and various stats in the lower right hand Picture-in-Picture. I stood in front of the store blocking foot traffic watching this video. So it took the car about 7 minutes (close to 8?) to complete a circuit. Is that slow or fast or what? Obviously its fast. 150+ kmh average.
I also picked up some other racing games while in the area, TOCT Racing 06, PGR 3, Fatal Inertia. Again the price point was 1200 yen or less. I don't when I'll start these, yeah.

Stick worth as much as a console: Otomedius

(tags game, Xbox 360, Otomedius, shmup)

Okay, I still haven't played this Otomedius shmup game, but did find it at the dingy arcade that had the Time Crisis 3 I used to play. And now it will get a proper port to the Xbox 360 with touch pad-enabled joystick. But the Hori-made joystick will cost 27000 yen! I think I should try it in the arcade first before I even consider getting another joystick. (Thanks Game Life).

We don't go there anymore, except for achievements: Half-Life 2

(tags game, Half-Life 2, Xbox 360)
(originally written 2008-06-24 22:41)

Dread is what I feel whenever I go to "Ravenholm", Half-Life 2's night-time level. I don't like the dark tunnels.

Oh did I mention I finally finished Half-Life 2? Geez, what a disappointing ending. Then again, I didn't finish Half-Life, so this is "fool me once".

So I started HL2: Episode 1. And already I dread the early stage. "Shine your light on that thing." Aaah! WTF is my trusty, unlimited ammo crobar?! Well I'm not exactly piss-my-pants scared, but I rather play something else. Perhaps I need to change my perspective and force myself to think that it's interesting. Discover a range of emotions.

Still I'm in it to complete the achievements. I think.

Shinren Adventuring and other fantasies

(tags game, Dual Screen, PlayStation Portable)
(originally written: 2008-06-24 22:24)

I commented on Sub's Shinren's Mysterious Dungeon win. SMD is an Rogue-alike that puts forces you to consider gambling, as in gambling your life. Anyways his post made me want to get the English version of this DS game. Okay, the Japanese version is 2500 yen now bargain binned, but I rather play these inventory-heavy games in English. Play Asia sells the one I want for 3500 yen. Hm, no buy. I checked A-Too in Nipponbashi, and there was nothing. They are surprisingly strong with import console games, but not portable games. So anyways, I got the PC Japanese "Internet-enabled" version from 2003, just to get a feel. It was only 500 yen unopened. But I don't really like gaming on my PC anymore. Watch me track down the DS english version again.

Which reminds me, on Saturday I picked up Monster Hunter 2nd and Jeanne D'Arc for 880 yen and 1280 yen respectively. I gave the first MH a shot months ago but the first hour didn't hook me. The recent news about MH2G uplifting PSP hardware sales made me give the series a second chance. So I started evaluating MH2 but it feels so slow. "Now Loading". Everything is slow in this game. I'm sure PSP Lite won't fix all the loading screens. I feel my concentration ebbing, my brain becoming lethargic.

My Rubik's Cube hobby has poisoned my expectations by giving me feeling of completion, every minute.

7 layers of cube and others

(tags Rubik's Cube)

Rubik Cube Diary reports from the Omocha Show 2008 about new Rubik's Cube related toys coming down the pike.

There will be a 6 set (2 cubes per set) celebration for the Weekly Shonen Sunday Magazine's 50th anniversary, coming 2008-07, 2008-09, and 2008-11. Each set is 5250 yen. It makes me wonder what kind of design it is. No thanks.

On Baseball Day, which is 2008-08-09 , there will be 4 baseball themed cubes. Big woop. It says though that two of the set's plastic will be white. Hm. No thanks.

Also there seems to be a new Rubik's puzzle called Rubik's Mirror Blocks. 2008-10. Okay, maybe.

Finally, a company called Verdes Innovations has has 5, 6, and 7 layered cubes for sale under the brand name "V-Cube". This is the first time I've seen 6 and 7 layered cubes, other than virtual ones. It must be an engineering feat. 6 layer will cost 39 Euro, while 7 is 48 Euro. Expensive, but seemly rare. Want.

Levelling up shin-sangoku musou 5

(tags game, Xbox 360)

I am totally surprised at how much I want to keep playing this Shin Sangoku Musou 5 for the Xbox 360. (I believe this is called Dynasty Warriors). I've been watching for this game to come down in price, and in a fluke sale pricing bin I got a copy for 2280 yen. I played it till 2 am last night, and I couldn't stop thinking about playing it during work. Uh. So before I lose myself to this game tonight, uh yeah, here's a blog post.