The things we leave behind

I'll freely admit it, I am a video game collector as well as a video game player, as my huge piles of game cases in various parts of the house will attest to. But I enjoy looking at all the various games I have collected over the years, admiring the box art paging through the game manuals (even if I am not going to play that game at the time.) I love the physicality of it, to hold in my hands a work that someone (often many, many someones) has put a lot of time, imagination and work into. Something that, save for some factors (taking care of the disk or cartidge, having a working machine to run it on), will last for a long time. something I own and can show to others.
Having physical media is something that it is rapidly changing, and someday soon will cease to exist entirely. That will be a very sad day for me.
Progress can not be stopped, like an unrelenting tank. And like like a tank, it does not care who it grinds under it's treads. Digital media does have its good points...and its bad. Games are more and more becoming piecemeal affairs, as downloadable content allows companies to sell characters, quests and clothing(!) even after the game player has bought his/her 60 dollar game. Do you have buy the DLC? Of course not. More and more though, it seems important parts of the games has been stripped out to sell later to gamers, something companies wave over the grasping hands of the masses, just out of reach. Already payed 60 dollars for your game? Too bad, you have to pony up an addition 20 dollars to REALLY enjoy the game.
Aside from DLC, and which saddens old time gamers like me, is that soon there will only games on a consoles' hard drive. No case to admire, no manual to page through, nothing. Only....air, really. In the future, all gamers will own basically air. Or a series of ones and zeroes. Whatever the hell downloaded stuff is. Yes, it's a game that can be played on the console of your choice...but you don't really have it, do you?
This has a lot to do with my age, of course. For over twenty-five years I have bought and rented (and returned) video games. I enjoy looking through cases, putting disks or inserting cartidges in consoles or handhelds. Eventually going fully digital is a HUGE and difficult thing for me to do, which is patially the reason I am stuck at last generation games/consoles. Sure, many games are still made into physical format, but the whole DLC format is putting me off.
While I am still negative toward digital media, I think independent game studios who would have a snowballs chance in hell of ever getting their unique work published have enbraced the much cheaper digital route to great success. This in my mind is a very, very good thing. While the big studious rehash the same old thing because they cannot afford to take risks, independent studious take risks all the time to great success. Independent games are the reason video games should be labeled art:they are imaginitive, thoughful and emotional. Not just yet another first person game where you shoot the bad guys in the head.
So, while I still have my psychical games, I want to game for years to come, but the future of the media itself disheartens me. In order to continue my hobby I love so much I may have to embrace digital media; but I will yearn for what I have left behind.

Keeping it simple

When did games get so complicated?
Honestly, I don't know, that's why I'm asking. It's not been a recent thing, that's for sure...but over the last several years it's gotten worse. It's not just playing the games themselves that has gotten complicated, though they certainly have. Even before one can start a new game, there is the matter of installation, of patches, of DLC, whether or not multiplayer is good or not. Once a game is installed to the hard drive, has been patched to fix numerous glitches, you make sure you have the latest DLC, and you have good connection with no lag in multiplayer, THEN you can enjoy your new game. Once you get used to the control scheme on the gamepad after re-reading the instruction manual twice (if the game even comes with one.)
This is why am very leery of jumping into the very deep waters of this current console generation and enjoy splashing around in the shallows of the last console generation, to take the beach metaphor a little too far. Plus there are sharks (teenagers very adept at head shots and swearing) in those deep multiplayer waters. (Ok, definately too far.)
Video games, in the beginning, were simple in nature and content. They had to be, of course, the tech was just not there. Yet since they were simple, pretty much anyone could play and enjoy them, as long as their reflexes were not shot to hell. I believe gaming in the beginning was pretty much all casual, pretty much pick and play:simple. Unfortunately this simplicity made video games seeming only for kids, a misconception that has dogged the industry to this day with the government trying to keep mature rated games out of the hands of the young and impressionable while also trying keep them out of hands of those old enough to play them! But that is a rant for another day.
Anyway, I was thinking about how video games have gotten complicated in that I often have to restart a game, and usually read the manual again, if I want to go back to a game I have not played in a while. Granted, I think my memory is already getting spotty in my early forties, and I often jump from one game to the next willy-nilly, so that when I come back to an older game, I wonder 'why am I standing here? What should I be doing? Who is that guy and how do I shoot him in the head'?(come to think of it, I often do that at home, minus the shooting part of course.)
Ever wonder why ipad, iphone and independent games are so popular now? Because they take simple, back-to-basic approaches to gameplay. Easy and fun. Granted, these games cost in the 5 to 10 dollar range, while a new console game is 60 dollars new. One would want a lot gaming for that much money...but does it have to be so complicated?
Maybe it does. Gaming has been around for about 30 years, and in those years, the technology that enables one to interact with the television (or computer, or phone, or handheld, or pad) screen has evolved incredibly. Maybe the technology has surpassed me, and I should just stop gaming.
Nahhh. I love my hobby too much.
I know I will jump into the deep waters one day. I will either sink, or I will swim.
It's as simple as that.

Knees and JRPGs

Sorry I have not blogged in while, my wife just had major knee replacement surgery, which she has been wanting to get for a while. We wanted to make sure insurance paid for it, which it seems it will. Two accidents severly damaged her right knee, and arthritus destroyed what was left. The knee has been caused her considerable pain for years; so the operation is a very good thing. The flip side is that it may take a while for her to walk on her own, and she will need some rehabilatation. The knees are the most important joints in the body after all!
After this I am going to get myself checked out, as I have pain in the left side of my back, shoulder, and hip. I think it may be crushed spinal nerves, kinda afraid to find out. Getting old sucks!!
In the meantime, I have been playing Atelier Iris:The Azoth of Destiny on the PS2. I love this game so much I want to give it a hug! Great sprite graphics, wonderful combat, good story...the kind of JRPGs they don't really make anymore. Plus it's fun finding recipes and making stuff using alchemy. This game is both fun AND funny, and better yet I also have the sequel, AI 3:Grand Phantasm. Now if I can just find the first game...
Anyone else enjoying a sweet JRPG?

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Well, I'm trying not to get any more games for awhile...but while I was out and about with my wife we came by a Blockbuster Video that was closing, so everything had to go. Kinda sucks that,as that was the last Blockbuster within a 15 mile radius of where we live. Got a lot of cheap games and movies from that rental chain. Anyway, I did get two used PS2 games from this Blockbuster for only 3 bucks each:Rogue Trooper, a game based on a UK comic, and Tomb Raider Anniversity Edition, a PS2 remake of the first Tomb Raider.
I haven't played them yet, hope they work, although that is moot, since for obvious reasons they can't be returned.
Also got stategy guides for Kingdom Hearts II and Golden Sun Dark Dawn for 6 bucks each at a closing Borders bookstore. That's nice, but does make me sad as although there will still be Blockbuster Videos that will remain open across the counrty (except anywhere near me). All Borders are closing, victim of the Kindle, internet and the lousy ecomomy. Yeah, and the irony of the internet being a cause is not lost on me, this being a blog post and all.

Disgaea:The tiny version

Been playing Disgaea DS (aka Disgaea:Hour of Darkness) recently on the DS (duh!) I got this game for the Playstation 2 a while ago, but did not get that far as I was overwhelmed by how many things you can do in this strategy RPG. What I played was great though, and as I do with far too many games in my collection, promised myself I would play this game again. Still haven't gotten back to that version....
I liked the game enough that when I heard there was a DS version out that was a port of the PSP version with the new Etna mode, I wanted to get it. I somehow managed to get a copy sans booklet and case at Gamestop (I was lucky to find even that; I don't think I have seen that game used since.) I had the booklet from the PS2 version for reference if I needed it. I figured since I could play the game anywhere, I could get into it more readily.
I'm still ttrying to figure out a lot of Disgaeas' nuances, but damn if it isn't fun:quirky, imaginitive, and often hilarious. The only problem I have is that you can't save mid-battle, only at the castle.(At least as far as I can tell.) Not good for a portable version of the game.
At this point, I'm pretty much grinding a few maps to power up some of my characters, as I was soundly defeated by a mid boss (who is called, appopriatly, Mid Boss.) Plus I need to level up some created characters because as of right now, they fall over in stiff breeze.
Oh, and I do plan to go back to the PS2 version. There is so much to do in the game that I'm sure I would have a totally different experience from the DS version. Now, if I could just find that illusive Disgaea 2....or maybe I'm getting way ahead of myself there.

Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me

I have long been a fan of video games coming from the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. Ever since I played the the original Final Fantasy, when it first came out well over 20 years ago, on my NES, I have been hooked on the crazy, quirky, and most of all fun games made by these crazy, quirky and most of all fun people. My favorite game genre is the RPG, and nobody, but nobody, can make great RPGs like the game companies in Japan can. The Japanese excelled at most every other genre, too.

But times change, as they must, although I certainly do not have to like it. Fewer and fewer Japanese games are making it across to America; for just one example, look at Project Rainfall, a well-meaning failure. The boon of Japanese games that came out for the PS and PS2, for which I shall be forever grateful, has slowed down to a trickle. There are many reasons for this, some of which have been discussed on 1UP, and I won't get into them here. I'll say it has to do with money and Japan still being a closed-off nation, and leave it at that.

I am not saying that the quality of Japanese video games has gone down, far from it from what I can tell. It's the quantity. American tastes have also changed, favoring home grown games, which have pushed back the amount of Japanese games coming here. But I'll be perfectly honest here:all I see is a vast wasteland of FPSs. Now I like FPSs, don't get the wrong idea. It's just that there is a glut of brown- and grey-colored shooters that all blend into one another. I miss the bright colors of Japanese games. And the polish, which still exists. When is the last time a Japanese game had to be patched? Has there EVER been a need? So many American made games, high profile and expensive, have been put out as if no one actually play tested the damn games. Does anyone do QC anymore?

It may sound like I am knocking American games, well, maybe I am. A little. With the domination of Western games and the seeming fall of Japanese games in America, it is the end of an era for me, and I may not be alone in this. And if I come off as bitter and sad, well, then that's because I am.

As for RPGs, I still vastly prefer JRPGs. Despite what detractors may say, to me JRPGs are fun, imaginitive and exciting experiences. Games like Dragon Age, Fallout, Mass Effect and Elder Scrolls just flat out bore me. Like American FPSs, they all seem like the same damn games. Have I played these games? Truthfully, no, so you could say that I am talking out of my ass, and you probably would have a valid point. Still, from what I have seen and heard of these games through the magic of the interwebs, I have zero interest in ever playing these games. They just don't look FUN to me. Except Bioshock, which seems like a FPS/RPG hybrid. THAT game I would like to play one day.

A lot of you younng uns' were not around before the Great Video Game Crash and the NES coming to the rescue, creating a Japanese video game dominance that has existed until a few years ago. There was great American innovation then; there had to be when you were making games for the Atari 2600. Where is that frontier spirit now? It seems that Japan has paved the way and America has simply followed along behind, until Japan was no longer needed. Now Call of Duty tops the charts, and the world is poorer for it.

I did mean for this blog to be a diatribe against Western video games (ok,perhaps a little.) I am saddened at the thought that there will be many less Japanese games coming here. Oh, we'll have our Mario and Final Fantasy games and the occasional wonderfully Japanese game that by some miracle came here, but that will be it. The sun is setting, and in the gathering darkness I wish I could see a bright light as the colors fade to grey and brown.

I'll miss the sun shining on my face. I'll miss it a lot.

Transforming Vampires

Hello there, not been doing much gaming lately. I'm broke so I haven't been buying any games, and I haven't been gaming much because I've been depressed since I'm broke. Eh, what ya gonna do?


Have been playing Castlevania:Dawn of Sorrow on the DS. I was reluctant to get the game in the first place since it seemed too much like it's prequel, Aria of Sorrow, on the GBA. (Although that is a damn fine game.) Of course DoS is just as good as AoS, plus with better graphics and a very handy castle map on screen at all times. Plus, does collecting demon souls for powers and abilities ever get tiring? No, it does not.

Another game I've playing is Transformers:War for Cybertron Decepticon version. Got this for 10 bucks on the way back from Maine. Got off an exit to get something to drink (air conditioner can really dry you out.), and I was very excited to see a Blockbuster Video! I'm not sure there are any left in Massachusetts. My wife let me run in see if there were any used games for sale, and there were some DS ones. I'm a big Transformers fan and would get the console T:WFC if I had a PS3 or 360. Which I do not. This seemed like the next best thing, and the game seems pretty cool so far. It's mostly run and gun with some platforming, which is fine by me, with about 15 Decepticons to unlock (I think), and the ability to transform on the fly. Works for me; might even get the Autobots version when I'm 1) not broke and 2)It's relatively cheap, say 10 bucks.

On a final note, what does everyone think about the 3DS attachment? Is it a bad idea, and why did they not include the second stick right out of the gate? Nintendo is really flailing right now with the 3DS, IMHO....

Finish it!

I read on the internets somewhere that only 10% of game players actually finish the games they play. I am definatey NOT one of those 10%. My so-called 'pile of shame' is more like a 'mountain of shame.' I did finish the excellent Darkwatch on the XBox a few weeks ago, and yes, that game is over 6 years old. Before that, I cannot remember when I have beaten a game. (Except for FFVII. See below.)


It's never the game itself; I usually either get stuck at a certain point where I keep dying and give up. I then fire up another game which I hopefully won't suck at (those are very rare.) This is often a game I just bought at a cheap price. (I enjoy buying cheap video games for the PS2, XBox, Gamecube, and DS just as much as as I enjoy playing them...to a point, obviously.)

Although knowing that close to 90% of gamers don't finish the games they buy, I still feel like a loser. I sure as hell will never finsh current gen games if/when I get a 360 or PS3, as I would never take the time or effort to get all the trophies or achievments, which seems to be the mark at which the game is finished. Not that I have anything against trophies or achievements, I'm certain they add to the gameplay.

Also, in my case, I love JRPGs, but most of them take 40-60 hours to complete. That's a lot of time for me to get bored, stuck, or distracted by another shiny disk. In fact, last JRPG I finished was FFVII...no joke...and I have at least 50 excellent JRPGS that I have barely gotten into. Sounds screwed up...and it is...but damn I like JRPGs. (And since fewer and fewer are being made, never mind being ported to North America...well, at least I have a stockpile that I can enjoy in the meantime. Gotta think positive.)

Then there is the ongoing debate of whether games, especially open world ones, just take too long to finish, and many people can't because of time restraints. That seems like a good topic for another blog, though.

So are you able to finish most games you have? If not, why do you think that is? I could chaulk it up to Adult ADD, or the fact that as I've gotten older my reflexes have gotten slower, or I have less time to play....



.....



Yeah, I just suck at video games.

Duel Masters:The Red-Headed Stepchild

Has anyone heard of the card game Duel Masters? Not as cloyingly cute and childish as Pokemon, nor as mind-boggingly confusing as Yu-Gi-Oh, Duel Masters is a fun game which shares a lot with Magic:The Gathering, which is a good thing IMO. Actually, I have never played the physical card game, but I do have three very fun video game versions of the game:Duel Masters Sempai Legends Limited Edition and Duel Masters Kaijudo Showdown for the GameBoy Advance, and Duel Masters Limited Edition for the Playstation 2.

Very recently I stole...ummm bought Duel Masters Sempai Legends for 50 cents at FYE. Yes, 50 cents brand new. I could not remember if I already had the game (it was Kaijudo Showdown I had), but figured at 50 cents I'd get it anyway. That's less than a candy bar, for cryin out loud.

Anyway, I got all three games for very cheap, and if you have a GBA, DS Lite and/or Playstation 2, you can get a all three of these games for less than 5 bucks, I'm sure. And if you like card games like Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic:The Gathering, you will probably like Duel Masters. I know I do.

As I mentioned, Duel Masters plays out a lot like Magic:TG. You have a deck of 40 cards consisting of spells and creatures from 5 alignments:nature (green), light (yellow), water (blue), darkness (grey), and red (fire). Each alignments has it's own strenghs and weaknesses. When you duel someone, you sacrifice cards in your hand to build up mana of each of the five colors. This mana is permenent, and when you have enough, you can tap the mana to summon creatures to battle for you and spells to cast. Creatures have defensive and offensive stats which are compared when two creatures battle. Sounds a lot like M:TG so far, right? Well, instead of hit points, your duelist has five shields for protection which need to be broken. Once that is done, your duelist only needs to be hit once and it's lights out. Also, like M:TG, there are creatures that block attacks and ones that attack only. Duel Masters also has creatures called slayers which win the fight no matter the stats of the creatures.

In the games you play this spikey-haired kid who basically goes around towns and challenges random passerby to duels. You can also enter tournaments and buy or trade new cards. There are 'stories', but I don't pay much attention to them. I'm here to duel.

The creatures are extremely imaginative; light years better than the teletubby like Pokemon and at least on par with the creatures populating the Yu-Gi-Oh world. You get to see them battle it out on the field with different attacks, although obviously the PS2 version has much better graphics for monsters and spells.

It is unfortunate that Duel Masters never became more popular than it did. The game was created by Wizards of the Coast, and the games were put out by Atari. Still, for anyone who likes stratagic card games in video form, starring creatures with strange but also awesome sounding names, I highly recommend Duel Masters. The price is certainly right.

No $100 PSP for you!!

I was very excited to read recently about a new version of the Sony PSP at a $100.  I believe this was revealed at Gamescom. The only major difference between this one and the current PSP versions was there would be no Wi-Fi. This doesn't matter to me, as I would just use it to play games....I still don't care for online shenanigans.

I was later disappointed to learn that the new PSP would only be released in the European market, and not in North America. Apparentely, Americans love their Wi-Fi too much to part with it. Phooey. Does anyone know if this version of the PSP is real, that it really isn't going to be sold here, and if so, agree with me that this is a damn shame?

Good stuff:Atelier Iris

Me and the missus are at the vacation house in Maine. So beautiful, so relaxing, so quiet. Nice thing about it is that we only spend money on gas, tolls and food....so even though we don't have much cash, it's a pretty cheap "vacation."

Anyway, I started playing Atelier Iris:The Azoth of Destiny, the second in the Atelier Iris series, and I LOVE it. It's part turn based RPG/part alchemy game. Fight monsters, gather materials, and make all kinds of cool stuff. The sprite graphics are absolutely gorgeous, and fighting and alchemy is fun. I also have the third game in the series, Atelier Iris:Grand Phantasm, and if it's as good as Azoth of Destiny, I've got a lot of alchemy to do when we get back.



Ah, Playstation 2, do you ever stop giving?

So you want to be a doctor...

Got this game:Trauma Center Under the Knife 2 at Sears for the sweet, sweet price of 6 bucks. I've been interested in trying one of the Trauma Center games and no way could I pass this up at that cheap price. Haven't played it yet but have looked through the instruction manual (I love that new game manual smell!) and operating using the stylus looks really cool. Good thing I have a steady hand...must be from all the video games I play.

Good portable shmups (for cheap!)

I love me some shoot 'em ups, or shmups for short. Used to be called shooters, but 1st person shooters took that monicker away. Used to be during the 80's and early 90's that the still thriving arcade environs had several shmups. Soon Street Fighter clones became more popular, and soon after THAT most arcade machines were racers or Dance Dance Revolution. But I still remember guiding that one spaceship (or two, if you were playing with a friend) against an enemy armada tossing millions of bullets at you. And the explosions. The wonderful, wonderful explosions.



Nowadays shmups are few and far between except on XBox Live Arcade. Since I don't own a XBox 360 yet (and am still leery about downloadable content, something for another blog), I have found barely any relatively new shmups. For those interested, I have found 4 really good shmups, and they are also very cheap if you can find them...I also got them sans box or instruction manuals, but since they are shmups, it's pretty easy to figure out what to do:shoot everything and don't get hit!



For the Gameboy Advance, are Iridion 3D and Iridion II. Iriidion 3D is pretty good; the graphics give the impression that you are moving into the screen and the enemy is coming at you. Again, good game, but it relies a lot on it's 3D 'gimmick' and is somewhat bland as a result. Iridion II is a huge step up though, with simply amazing graphics, incredible sound (I was surprised to hear such great music coming from the GBA speakers) and great gameplay. This top down shooter is a gem if you can find it



For the DS (of course, you can play the Iridion games on it if you have the DS Lite) are Nanostray and Nanostray 2, both great, great shmups. The first game is a top down shooter; you have four seperate weapons you can change on the fly using the touch screen. Each weapon also has a powered-up version which uses up energy, although this can be recharged by picking up blue coins. The game has eight levels each with a tough boss at the end. The visuals are excellent, some of the best on the handheld,and the music gets your heart pumping.



Nanostray 2 is just as good as the first, with a few differences. Now there is a sub boss in each of the eight stages as well as an end boss. You also have a standard shot that cannot be powered up, but you do have a secondary weapon that you pick before you start a level (out of seven different weapons). These use energy, but are more powerful than you standard shot. The screen scrolls from left to right and the action occurs on the bottom screen, so you can use the stylus to move your fighter. This works much better than you would think and is the way I play the game, but you can use the buttons if you want.



These are all highly recommended for shmup fans, but as I mentioned, are pretty hard to find. I did find all four at local Gamestops, although you may have better luck finding them online. Happy shooting!

Is that a zombie at my door? Plants vs Zombies

I'd been wondering why the game Plants vs Zombies had been so popular for years now (since supplanted by Angry Birds, which I honestly don't think is that great a game.) Starting on the PC and then ported to virtually every other game system, I recently got the game for the DS, and now I realize why this Popcap-created game is still popular...it's very. very fun.


An organic version of the tower defense formula, you use dozens of imaginatively created plants to defend your house against waves of many different types of zombies who want to snack on your brains. By gathering sunlight beamed from the sun or generated by sunflowers, you can plant peashooters and walnuts to fire upon or block the zombies advance on your house. However, you can only have a certain number of plants on which to call upon in each level, although you can buy more spaces to hold plants (or 'seed packets') as the game progresses.

As I said before, this game is a hell of a lot of fun, not to mention very funny. There is an in-game encyclopedia that describes all of the plants and zombies in the game, and it is well written and hilarious. The game can be nerve wracking, as you frantically gather sunlight and plant plants to stop the zombie hordes. Although it seems limited, with the playfield only being around your house, there are different scenarios that keep gameplay fresh, such as zombies attacking at night (in which you use deadly fungi and mushrooms, since they don't require sunlight, although they need to 'recharge' before another one can be planted). Or the zombies try to attack from the backyard, where you have a pool and need to put down a lily pad before you can set another plant on it.

The game uses the stylus for everything,and this works very well, in my opinion. There are also minigames that can be unlocked as you progress, and even a mode where you can create your own custom made zombie, or 'zombatar'. If you still have not played this game yet, I highly recommend this version. Now if you excuse me, I hear some zombies coming, and I've got some planting to do.