The Rolling Stones had A LOT of Songs
February 16, 2008
Bought a new PC the other day I plan to turn into a kickass everything in one Media Center PC to hook into my TV… which isn’t currently working but that’s a whole other story. It’s still ridiculously hard to get everything to play nicely how I want it, current annoyance is getting Media Center to display album art that I tell it to instead of expanded 200×200 art that looks like ass. Also need to go through and clean up a ton of mp3’s I don’t even listen to or would be ashamed if anyone saw them… Britney Spears - Toxic anyone?
That’s been taking up a huge chunk of my free time which is good as it’s kept me from realizing that I am still single and it is Valentine’s Day yet again. Freaking worst holiday when your single, just takes your face and rubs it in it. But what can you do? I’m doing pretty good on not caring about flying solo at the moment as like I said just keeping myself extremely busy. Hope I can keep this up!
New Years Resolution was to do something to better myself each month, I just passed one of two Microsoft exams I need to do in order to update my certification that is about to expire. So I’ll count that as my January 
I should have the 2nd one done within this month… next month I haven’t figured out my goal. Maybe eat all my veggies every night or something along those lines.
I have so much stuff I have to go through and ebay… barely started on it and not looking forward to doing the rest. I just have way too much crap I never use anymore and so it should probably go. Just like I said about cleaning up my MP3’s earlier I’m in that mode with everything. Anything I don’t use anymore or is wasted needs to go!
I wish I had something more entertaining or thought/flame provoking to talk about but I don’t.
Topics: Bloggings | No Comments »
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
September 10, 2007
I remember when Final Fantasy Tactics came out, and how I had never played a game like it before. My friend Brad had rented it and didn’t get it or like it at all so he brought it over for me to play as I was interested. Myself like many others had been playing the Final Fantasy series for years, and suddenly with the release of VII and the OMGWTFBBQ! CG Cutscene graphics anything branded with “Final Fantasy” would at least be rented by all of us graphic whores looking for our next fix from Squaresoft. Tactics was case in point, my friend had expected another VII and was sorely disappointed despite the game having a pretty nice opening CG movie for the time. Me I really didn’t know what to expect but was not disappointed at all. Fun Fact- I had bought my first Playstation from a guy online, and it actually had been modded though he didn’t do it himself and had no idea it was. The only two games I ever pirated for it were Alundra, and Final Fantasy Tactics. Alundra sucked so I never bought it but I did make good and buy Tactics years later when it wasn’t ridiculously expensive on Ebay and became a $20 Greatest Hits. Also purchased the guidebook which is or was worth a pretty penny but I have worn it out from flipping through it so much adoring the character artwork.
Why bring up Tactics? Because I enjoyed it so much that now any game I see resembling it I feel like I must have so I can relive the warm fuzzies I got the first and second times I played it. Disgaea looks a hell of a lot like Tactics, and plays like it to various degrees which is good. But it does differ in some good and some not so good ways.
Now before I get into the review let me say I have not finished Disgaea, and maybe never will. I’ve put about 25 hours into it and feel like I have a pretty good idea how the rest of the game will play out. I realized awhile back I don’t have to beat a game to enjoy it or to say it’s a “Good” or “Bad’ game in my opinion. Games usually don’t change much gameplay wise after the initial 10 or so hours I’d say, only the plots will. Whether a plot is important or not to a game is up to the player. In Disgaea’s case I would hope it isn’t as the plot is pretty stupid, and god does the spoken dialogue make me want to cry. Also after every chapter your forced to listen to ridiculously stupid and not funny “Next Episode” skits usually involving Etna and apparently “Japanese Humor” or whatever the crap that means. I say Japanese Humor because I don’t understand it… and I guess they tried to translate it to make it humorous but it’s simply not in my opinion. I hate these scenes, and when they’re playing I hope nobody rings my doorbell to come in and witness them as I’m sure they’ll think I’m an idiot for enjoying something with them in it. Though to be fair the game is intentionally this way and never claims or even tries to be a classic epic story that generations will be endeared by and considered along with “Catcher in the Rye” and “To Kill a Mockingbird”. It tries to be silly and childish and is, though the childishness and adult themes that are mixed within come off as rather creepy in a not so good way sometimes… though some Japanese game/anime creators are kinda known for having that “Gift”.
While they’d be right if I enjoyed Disgaea for those reasons like a good little English Otaku, they’d be wrong if they thought the gameplay was retarded. While it doesn’t take after Tactics in having a pretty good plot, it does take the battle system and class system in a different and good directions, notice I didn’t say better or worse. There are unlocked secret classes as well as ranks within classes with statistical bonuses depending on which rank you can start or “Transmigrate” your party characters into. While it’s really not necessary to worry about ranks in order to beat the game it will make your life easier in doing so and is probably required for truly mastering the game.
The battle system is pretty much the same grid based gameplay as Tactics and other games in the same genre. Cool differences though are that you can create any monster you’ve killed on your team, as well as dispatch and undispatch characters from the battle field at any time by using the blue panels you start from on every map. You are naturally limited to how many characters you can have on the map however in order to keep the challenge of the game balanced. The game is pretty challenging too, but not out of reach challenging which is a good thing. I’m sure there are ways to totally abuse some aspect of the complicated system in order to became ungodly powerful early in the game but I didn’t figure it out and outside of doing a few Item World missions just for the hell of it I didn’t really sit around and level my characters in order to progress. The levels are all laid out like a puzzle, and some you’ll be thinking there is no way I can win this with the characters I have, but then if you sit and think it out, you’ll probably be able to. I love this, Tactics had it as well but I don’t know if it had it quite like this with the Geo Panels which can either make or break you. Basically there are colored grid spaces on same maps known as Geo Panels, and little jewels that may or may not be scattered on the colors. These jewels have say an attribute like “Def -50%” or “Invincibility” which can be used by you or the enemies to your advantage/disadvantage. This is what makes the level design shine so much, and give your Level 20 characters the ability to compete against Level 40 bad guys if you play your cards right. Playing the levels is the meat of the game and the reason I enjoy it so much. Forget the plot, I just want the challenging levels that leave me feeling quiet accomplished when I manage to tackle them. The game is unforgiving as hell if you mess up, and you really have to usually be quite aggressive in order to win and not lose too many characters. Though it’s not a big deal if you have a character die as you can revive them for a fee at the Netherworld Hospital.
Outside of the main levels which progress the game and plot and get you new characters, there are two other main aspects that can probably be pretty much ignored in order to beat the game but shouldn’t be. They are the Item World, and the Dark Council. Both I can be seen as more annoying than fun if approached from the wrong perspective but once you take the time to figure out how they work they only add to the game. The Item World basically allow you to “Enter” your items you acquire throughout the game as random generated dungeons containing monsters as well as special characters called “Residents”. Residents when killed by the player (And not the CPU) will become bonded with the item and alter an attribute. Residents can also be moved from item to item so you can customize them. Normal items don’t have a whole lot of levels to them, rare items have more, and Legend Items have the most with special bosses within them. The deeper you go within the item from a level based perspective the more powerful the item becomes. So in theory if you were insane you could take the “Common Sword” weapon at the beginning of the game and make it a pretty badass weapon… you would also probably like burning and cutting yourself too. But hey it’s there!
Lastly the Dark Council aspect is probably the most confusing but rather rewarding part of the game. Basically there is a Senate of monsters that will vote on various issues you can bring up from allowing you to access a certain level, to letting you buy more expensive or cheaper weapons and items. A lot of the time the jerks will vote against you, but much like our current democracy we have in America they can be bribed with items to your side And if all else fails, you do have the option of fighting them and forcing them to vote for you if your vote fails. However this is not recommended as usually the senators are a lot more powerful than you, and they will hate your guts if you do manage to pull off the coup in future sessions. I loved the cleverness of this aspect and it fits and works surprisingly well within the games tone and gameplay Despite being the Netherworld’s overlord, you will find that basically no citizens respect you without you earning it. If only we could apply this thinking to our current day government 
In the end you have a game with an shamelessly goofy plot, very clever and well polished systems, and as much deepness to the game as you want or don’t want. You can raise your characters to Level 9999 with your sword skill maxed out at 255 if you like. Or you can play through it and probably beat it at a much lower level. There’s plenty of secrets and side quests to reward you as well if your into that sort of thing. It’s a strategy RPG for everyone that is a fan of the genre, you just need to figure out how you want to approach it first.
Topics: Game Reviews | 1 Comment »
Bring it on Next Gen!
August 27, 2007
Well I sold out (sorta…) Friday i went and spent way too much money on a PS3 ($500!) and a dinky memory card adapter which was $15. Lately my PS2 has been giving me fits playing most of my games for some reason. I’m going to tinker with it a bit but when it got to the point that it wouldn’t play Vagrant Story, Top Shop, or Disgaea I decided I had enough. Why Sony couldn’t build PS2’s worth a crap I’ll never know. This is the second PS2 that has decided to crap out on me. The PS3’s better not be the same story for what they cost.
I have to admit though, the PS3 is really nice. Worth $500 though? Not yet… as I haven’t bought any games for it yet because in my opinion there is nothing worth owning. I think the first title I might pick up is Dynasty Warriors - Gundam because I love that friggin’ series (Dynasty Warriors, not Gundam!). First off it is huge and kinda ugly… but you get used to it and it has a bit of a sleekness factor going for it. The power and eject buttons are touch sensitive, so you just brush over them with your fingers and it starts clicking and whirring. Sure it’s not necessary, but it’s kinda neat. Also found out the 60 gigs will be the last PS3’s with the “Emotion Engine” chip which is basically the brain for the PS2 emulation. The 80 gigs don’t have it, and supposedly that will drop PS1/PS2 compatibility from 90% to 70%. Sony says they will release BIOS updates that will include update Software Emulation for the 80 gig model to get compatibility up but… who knows how reliable that will really be. So if you plan to play your old games on a PS3, now might be the time to bite the bullet.
It found my wireless network no problem and hooked right up, man why did the 360 not have wireless put in? I love not having to run network cable for my Wii or PS3. Also the PS3 found my windows pc and media center shares no problem and hooked right up to them, even easier and cleaner the the 360 did. One thing that sucks though is even though it pulls down pictures and music with ease, it wouldn’t play any of my xvid or divx stuff… though I guess if I *REALLY* wanted to I could just load Ubuntu on it and play them from there. The potential for this to be the ultimate all in one media device for your home theatre is really great and exciting. I’m hoping some people get together and make maybe a Linux Distribution similar to what was done with the launchers for hacked XBox’s. This thing can display 1080p, has USB ports that work with most keyboards, mice, and digital cameras (and who knows what else). Create some emulators for it, and get a nice media center frontend and this thing will rock like no other.
The wireless Six Axis controller uses bluetooth and responds very well and quickly, and like the 360 can turn your system on or off. It’s actually not terribly bad to use for typing in stuff with the on screen keyboard or as a mouse with the analog joysticks. It doesn’t take batteries and you recharge it by plugging it in with an included USB cable to your PS3. Seems to hold a charge for about 30 hours, and though I’m not sure how many charges it will take before it goes dead, it keeps me from going through pack after pack like I have to with my 360 on Duracell batteries which aren’t cheap . Not to mention the waste from all the batteries created by going that route.
The thing is actually quite quiet! Only if it’s been running for awhile will the fan run for a little bit and even then it’s not too loud. Probably could avoid that if I put it out in the open instead of in a cramped compartment space. Has a memory card reader which is a neat little touch, though I’m not sure how neccessary it is if you can already network to your home pc for pictures. Hard drive is supposedly easily upgradeable if you need more than 60 gigs. It seems Sony has made this system a lot more open than their past systems, and it will benefit them in the long run when “hackers” make it to where we can do really neat things with this bugger.
My favorite feature is probably how well this thing upscales DVD’s and PS1/2 games to 1080i/p. They look better on this than they did even when hooked up by component cables on my PS2. And the DVD’s upscale just as well as my old upscaling DVD player which I have now put in my bedroom. Running only a single HDMI cable for both audio and video is nice too. Last thing I can brag on is the Playstation Network is pretty cool and just as good if not better than the 360’s. I downloaded free videos of Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resident Evil 5. I can’t believe how amazing they look especially Metal Gear Solid 4. Watching the videos on the net does not do them justice, gotta watch em in 1080p with a nice sound setup if at all possible. Might actually purchase a game or two from this, they don’t have much PS1 wise up yet though, but a couple of the games created by outside groups look slick. I don’t have any blu-ray dvd’s yet to test on it but I get 5 free ones by mail so i’ll finally be able to see if there’s honestly a dramatic difference or not.
So all in all the PS3 is a very nice system… but the biggest problem is still the cost! $500 is more than fair for what you’re getting hardware wise but it’s just out of reach for most, especially an impulse buy. We saw what the recent $100 decrease in price did for it on Amazon. Just imagine what another $50-$100 would do?
Topics: Games | 2 Comments »
Anotheronebitesthedustin.com
August 22, 2007
Oh happy day, Grant has revived the extremely popular internet meme anotheronebitesthedustin.com!
Click here and bask in the glory. If you have a digital camera handy and run into me, bite me and have someone snap a photo and it will be added.
Topics: Links | No Comments »
Irrelevance
August 21, 2007
Mike and I discuss all sorts of topics on gaming at least a few times a week. Today we talked about how dangerous it is that the industry is beginning to really just pander to non-gamers. This is causing the market to grow yes, and more money is being made, but it’s starting to stifle innovation and evolution of the medium.
In the beginning, you had burnt out engineers and all sorts of people from different backgrounds getting into the whole “video games” thing. They had no prior influences, the market wasn’t broken down into easy to read numbers and demographics yet. You just had people with ideas, some that really sucked, and some that were really good. They’d sit down and make a game with these ideas. You had great games that sold well, great games that didn’t sell so well, bad games that sold in great numbers, and bad games that didn’t sell squat. The same thing happens today, except now the old guard has for the most part died off or moved on from creating games. Those of us that have grown up for the past 20 or so years have taken the helm in creating games now for a new generation. We look at creating games differently naturally. We have a wealth of influences and prior works to use for ideas and models of what works and what doesn’t. This is fine, and there’s nothing wrong with our way or the old way. What is wrong is the fact that Mike and I are seeing as I said earlier a pandering to the non-gamer. As he kept putting it to me, it’s like ditching calculus and just doing addition and subtraction so everyone can understand it easier.
I am not trying to sound elitist or that cloning is a bad thing. There needs to be some pandering to the non gamers. Nothing wrong with liking something simple like Sudoku or Tetris or what have you. And there’s nothing wrong with liking complicated games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX. What is wrong is that it seems the industry is trying to play it safe and nobody is wanting to take risks and innovate with original and innovative ideas. The industry won’t evolve or grow like this, and we’ll continue to have the rampant sequels and copied gameplay ideas. They want to continue to make games socially acceptable and “cool” to the average joe. This is needed because hell game devs need to eat too… but completely giving into this will only hurt the industry in the long run. Eventually even non-gamers will become bored with the same stuff being fed to them over and over again… Well I say that but look at the movie industry. I take that one back.
Will we ever see games appearing out of the blue as fresh and new as say Sim City, M.U.L.E., Civilization, and countless others were? From time to time yes… but they won’t be popular and will likely be free or very close to it. Kinda like Cave Story was which is probably one of the most well known “underground” independent games. The whole “underground scene” just like in other things like movies and music is detrimental and annoying as well. You don’t see it outside of the most hardcore gamer nerds like you do with music and movies but it exists. The whole liking and bragging eltisim that you know about a game that nobody else does and it’s awesome and all that popular stuff is garbage and doesn’t have any heart maaaaannnn. Whatever… I can’t stand this. I see it more in music than anything but I have caught more than my fair share of it on message boards on some well known but supposedly “underground” gaming blogs and news sites. Me? I love games, and I want you to love them too. I think everyone should try Cave Story. If you hate it, that’s cool. I loved it. Neither of us suck, we’re humans with different opinions. Let’s not start a flame war over it shall we?
Kinda got off topic there… in the end, the non-gamers aren’t responsible for this it is the industry. The industry is concerned with making money which is understandable and necessary to a point. The part that is trying to just make something widespread and cool, and making games more socially acceptable is silly and stupid, that part will take care of itself in time. I mean that by if the gaming medium matures eventually it will be looked at with the same views as we have today for movies and music and television. But it’s not going to evolve and mature if we don’t take a damn risk every so often and lose a lot of money. I wouldn’t look at it as a loss though, I’d see it as more as an investment. I’m going to shut up now… part of me feels like I’ve said a lot and then nothing at all at the same time.
Topics: Games | No Comments »