Darksome Warrior

Gamemand: Ico - 20091217

2009-12-18T16:46:00.000-06:00

ICO left me with the same unnerving, pondering feeling that I got from the end of Shadow of the Colossus. The ending was far from tidy, and it left me wondering what really happened at the end. I liked it. Of course, this victory was marred by the frustration of the first hour.

You would think that with all the escape-the-room games I've played, I would be prepared for using off-kilter thinking, and I was. The one thing that I have finally learned is that I don't try solutions multiple times. When I finally cleared the roadstop, it was a solution that I had already tried. But instead of blaming the game like I usually do, I've just come to believe that sometimes there's an "exactly right" way to do things in some games, and it might take more precision to get the job done.

One week to play the first hour. A day to finish the rest.

Gamemand: Ico - 20091212

2009-12-13T12:07:00.001-06:00

New name. New style. Let's see how it goes.

Ico

Ico (イコ, Iko, pronounced /ˈiːko/) is a 2001 action-adventure video game published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released for the...

Initial release date: 2001

Genre: Action-adventure, Puzzle

Release Date: Mar 18, 2002

Get one for any topic!

Fucking windmill.

I am not in the mood tonight. I've fought spirits. I've traversed ledges. I've deduced. I've inferred. And I will not, will not be undone by you, windmill. I don't know what leap of logic you expect me to take, but I will have none of it. Not tonight.

I can see what you want. I see the lever and the bridge it will extend, across the fathomless gap. I see the path, leading from a staircase, to an overpass, to a platform right above that fucking windmill. But no amount of climbing, no amount of pushing, nay, no about of hitting will help me conquer this ascent.

I'm not wrong, not after all the searching I've done. I've been across every inch of this accursed garden, tried ever action I can think of and came up short, but I'm not the one who has failed. No. You are failing me, and I'm at the end of my rope. I'm…I'm…

God. I'm stupid. What am I missing? What am I not seeing? I'm only an hour into my adventure, and already I've spent twice that time at this in-pass. God oh god oh god. Why can't I figure this out? Up until now it's been so straightforward, and now, now, when I'm meant with genuine challenge and adversity, I can't prevail.

This is emasculating. An emasculating link in a abasing chain of gaming endeavors. First, I fail to match the act to the skill point in Ratchet & Clank and end up consulting a guide for the last ten. Ten! Then, I gnash and snarl as I force my way through the final challenges of The Mark of Kri and Rise of The Kasai. And now I'm stymied at the very onset of my newest endeavor. I am, at least for this moment, not the kind of gamer I thought I was. Am I having fun? I honestly can't tell.

…And now it's 2:00 A.M. I'm going to bed.

TEAL: Chaos Legions - We Are Many

2009-07-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

I've jumped from one Capcom title to another. After finishing off the Maximo series, which included the short, but highly entertaining Army of Zin, I've moved on to the lesser known Chaos Legion (in-between sessions of Frequency). Like a lot of the games I've been playing recently, I'm constantly intrigued by what it does well or different while constantly frustrated by its difficulty.

Side, Story

For better or worse, the story seems very, very disjoined from the actual game. Based on a Tow Ubukata novel, the narrative talks of a classic friends-turn-enemies rivalry that leads to the possible destruction of humanity. I'm not sure how much of the original story is present in the game, but I doubt that the amount of fighting in the game is proportionate to the amount in the book. It's for the better, more action in a action game is a good thing, but when the game does get to the story, it seems segregated.

Save for the main character, the cutscenes have little connection with the levels. So far, the cutscenes seem like they can be strung together without a loss of cohesion, with little of the plot coming through in the actual stages. Unfortunate because it seems like a waste of source material, but ultimately a lesser concern compared to gameplay.

Summoning, Sickness

Starting off, Sieg Warheit seems pretty weak. Even with the most powerful summon on my side (which is lost at the end of the first level), It took a couple of retries to clear just the first level. This is mostly due to the sorry state Sieg starts off in. There's little more to start off with than a single combo and some basic dodges. Save for that single crest, you have a pretty paltry number of choices in dispatching enemies.

As a result, the Legionnaires become, probably by design, my primary mode of attack. Being faster , stronger, and more resilient than Sieg, I find myself sitting back while I send them to do the dirty work. In a way, each Legion makes Sieg more versatile, granting him the abilities that his own move-set sorely lacks. This makes it all the more devastating when you allow a crest to "break", temporarily robbing you of those attacks. The game feels like more of an exploration of commanding power rather than personal power.

Growing, Pains

Being as weak as you are, the beginning of the game was a bit of a hurdle. Two or three untimely assault from the enemy will easily result in a game over, another reason to rely on the Legionnaires rather than yourself. But this initial difficulty is only made worse by the lack of play direction.

The game is a bit of a complicated one, and its mechanics are only presented through various help screens that pop up from time to time. Most of the important stuff is covered in that first stage, but even then basic controls and combat are things that you pretty much have to grep from the manual. Working from the scattered hints means that I've been restarting from experimentation as much as sloppy playing.

The piecemeal tutorial does work when it's presented after activating new crests, which provide, thankfully, new player abilities. With each level comes another crest and another chance to equip a new move that lessens your reliance on your many minions. It's a pattern of growth that I should recognize from many games, namely your Castlevanias and Metroids. Maybe it's the different presentation, the Level-Boss setup as oppose to freeform exploration, or maybe it's the comparably low level that Sieg starts off at, but I found the power-in-parts formula disorienting and different in this context.

German, Gothic

The overall structure, waves of enemies punctuated by end bosses, recalls another overlooked Capcom game that I personally enjoyed, P.N.03. Similarities don't stop there, as the start-up is also a slow climb from the bottom of the power ladder. The difference is in how your character grows. In Chaos Legion, your growth increases the number of moves in your repertoire, changing your character from a one-combo wonder to a versatile fighter. The new moves are definitely welcomed, but it definitely changes how you play from level to level.

As Vanessa Z. Schneider, your power may increase, but your abilities pretty much stay static. Save for the variations on your Energy Drive (super shot), you can move and shoot the same from beginning to end. The only changes come in how upgrades that improve your shot and your shield. This doesn't really change how you proceed through each level, though, just how long it takes you. The shots may be more potent and the damage less debilitating, but the strategy doesn't change. This leads to refinement of play rather than evolution.

Both are fun in their own way. I enjoyed P.N.03 because I felt like I was improving. The game gave you most of the move-set up front, giving me the whole game to become acquainted with it. By the end, I knew the advantages and limitations of Vanessa and felt secure in my abilities. In Chaos Legion, the joy comes from the reward. Ever new ability is a new chance to expand. It's much like a gift, a new toy to play with once you've gotten bored with the older attacks.

Part of each game's enjoyment comes from how each game is constructed. I need to be familiar with the moves of P.N.03, because each level is constructed in a particular way. Without that practice, it would be (and was, in the beginning) a frustrating exercise in unfamiliarity. In Chaos Legion, each wave of enemies is a erratic assault of relentless enemies, an assault that only requires a quick button press and quicker reflexes. Strategy and practice can help, but it's mostly an X-Button affair.

Chaos Legion definitely offers more than I expected. Each death is met with an immediate retry, regardless of how cheap I find the death, just because I need to see what crest I get next or what ability I can buy. The game might be missing a bit, but I imagine that the blanks will be filled in the farther I go.

TEAL: Maximo - Ghosts (and Glory) of Gaming Past

2009-06-28T15:16:00.002-05:00

I've been unintentionally "old school" in my game selection, whether that be in terms of gameplay or style. Nthing has made that more apparent though than my current stint with Maximo: Ghost to Glory. Difficulty-wise, I wouldn't say that it's anywhere near the unforgiving challenge of some of the Ghosts 'n' Goblins games, but it's definitely a lot harder and intriguing than some of the more recent platformers I've played, for a few of reasons:

Temporary power-ups: One of the things I hated then loved about Maximo is the fleeting nature of the skills and pick-ups you come across. Elemental swords lose their charge after twenty hits (less if you fire off Magic Bolts or Doomstrikes), and abilities vanish when you die if you haven't "locked" them in. It was hard to get over losing my fiery sword and breaking my shield in the middle of a heated battle, but it did forced me to rework my play-style to take a more strategic route, as oppose to the beat-'em-up style I'd been employing.
Limiting continues: The escalating price of continues seemed like a raw deal, and it definitely raised the stakes of the game once I got later in the story. Granted, this limitation is neglect-able with a recent save, but it can be a consideration if you only save after bosses (instead of spending coin). Playing through a world is usually less fun the second time around.
Guess-and-check bosses: It's been a while since I've had to find the right technique to use in order to defeat a boss. These encounters aren't the power-through-and-you-can-eventually-win affair, but the hit-this-here-at-this-time-or-die type. The thing is, after a few one-sided shouting matches with the TV, I started enjoying engaging in the simple choreography of the battle. It kind of makes me want to go back and play Zelda.

Despite its short length (I completed it in a week) and some frustrating deaths ("I can't believe that hit me!"), I've had a fun play-through, especially when I found a workable set of skills to lock in. I'm intrigued to see how Army of Zin expands/improves/ruins what Maximo had going for it.

TEAL: Bit.Trip Beat - A Bit of a Beating

2009-06-24T18:13:00.000-05:00

If I enjoy a challenge so much, why am I constantly on the verge of putting a Wii remote through a wall while I play Bit.Trip Beat?

Playing through is a lot of fun until you come to the tricky parts, specifically the tricky parts halfway through the stage. Passing some of these bit sequences takes more than a few tries. The problem is that each of these tries is going to be proceeded by retreading through the first half of the level, repeatedly. It tends to work the nerve a bit.

I've been able to trough through these parts and master the unique rhythms that the three stages have been throwing at me, but I can't say I wasn't tempting to pull up a replay video for a while.

Now, if only I could beat pong…

TEAL: Odin Sphere

2009-06-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

It was hard to pin down exactly why I enjoyed Odin Sphere. The art's great, the leveling system is engaging, and the battle can be challenging, even when I'm now simply under-powered. Ultimately, I think that what upped my enjoyment of the game is that I felt cheated in so many battles.

I'm willing to concede that this is due to my own choices: I refused to level grind for the first five books. Quite often this led to one-hit deaths and countless retries. Surprisingly, I was able to forgo the RPG route of defeat and instead approached it for Odin Sphere's action side: I memorized. In classic action fashion, most of the bosses could be taken down through finding their pattern and attacking accordingly.

And after trial through irking trial, taken down they were, which is why I was able to get so much fun out of the game. It's just like me with programming. The fun for me comes from finally breaking through an error or bug after trying and cursing and trying again for ages.

Besides that, the whimsical (I mean, when it isn't dealing Armageddon) style and setting gives me the same warm feeling I got from playing GRiMgRiMoiRe. It kind of makes me wonder if Muramasa will give me the same fantasy high. Regardless, I think I'll get the same difficulty high while I play (and scream at) The Demon Blade.

…and now I have to find and listen to Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Palm pre

2009-01-09T04:17:00.000-06:00

So I was expecting that Palm's keynote at CES would be the final nail in the coffin. No more vague promises of a new direction. No more limping along behind other smartphones. There would be closure now, one last uninteresting new product to seal their fate and shatter my hope in a Palm revival.

I didn't expect the Palm pre.

Sanvein

2009-01-03T05:03:00.007-06:00

Sometimes I think that the wrong games get sequels. I understand the rationale. You've got a successful game with lots of sales. Why not give the public more of what they like? Why not take the chance to improve on the formula? Don't get me wrong: I don't have anything against these sure-fire sequels. It's just that sometimes I feel a bit of pity for the sequels that should have been. There are so many games I've played that had fun and interesting ideas but for whatever reason were relegated to one-shots. Whether it be due to some gameplay flaws, lacking presentation, poor marketing, or just bad luck, some games don't get what they really deserved: a second chance.

Shooter Starfighter Sanvein already had a few strikes against it. It was released under a budget label. Its package, though an accurate depiction of some of the games elements, is a bit bland. On top of that, the localization was obviously rushed. Flipping through the instruction manual reveals not only a paltry page count, but a lax editing job, as well. Paragraphs are copies of the previous section, unrelated to the heading they fall under (a particularly grievous error, as I'll cover later), and the control instructions seem to be taken from a racing game. It's easy to see why most people would give up on this game based on first impressions. Too bad for them.

The game is pretty easy to figure out from a pick-up-and-play standpoint. Each level (or floor, as the game calls them) is an arena that consists of a number of enemies that must be destroyed to advance. A clock counts down as you blast away opponents. Take a hit and lose ninety units (Pips? Intervals? They count down too fast to be seconds) of time. Run the clock to zero, and the game is over. On a larger scale, the hexagonal floors make up the composition of each of the five stages, with each floor (save the first) only being accessible if one of its six sides has a cleared floor touching. Here's where the play gets interesting.

You don't pick up items to increase your firepower in Sanvein. Your secondary weapon recharges on its own and does a constant amount of damage. Your primary weapon, on the other hand, changes attack power based on the number of cleared floors touching the current one. That means if a floor is surrounded by three completed floors, you play through it with an attack power of level 3. This is hard to pick up without observation, since the section on attack power in the instruction manual is actually a copy of the ship control section preceding it, leaving the player with only a picture to illustrate what I consider to be one of the best parts of the game. The time limit and the power-up mechanic combine to force the player into a balancing act. Is it worth the lost seconds to make myself strong for this next floor? Should I risk taking a hit and losing even more time? This constant need to prepare causes me to do what rarely comes to mind when I play shooters: think ahead. After a number of playthroughs, I do find myself using the same old shoot-em-up skills, i.e. pattern memorization and twitch reacting, but it's in addition to strategizing and not instead of it. The constant flux between these two play styles (fast action during the floor execution and slower planning during the floor selection) is part of the appeal for me.

I would have loved to see a sequel to Sanvein and the improvements it would have brought: refinement of the gameplay and new stages to compliment the meager number of stages in the original. It says a lot when a budget game doesn't make enough to warrant a sequel, but its really our lose. In the end, I can live without the sequel, given the amount of fun I've gotten from the game. I just think it deserves more attention than it has.

Other Things I Like:

Time limits on choosing floors. You would think that being rushed to choose your next stage would be annoying, but it works in the confines of the games. You have three free seconds to choose the next floor before it starts eating into your main timer. This doesn't rush your choice, as you can pause the game at anytime, but it does put a penalty on traversing the board and encourages you to proceed on a path rather than jumping from board edge to board edge.
Ship variety. Each ship has a different velocity, turn speed, and weapon. These difference force a different strategy for each ship, changing the game in a way that, at least for me, justifies multiple playthroughs.
Soundtrack. There's no denying the electronic themes went well with the cyberspace setting, and it was more varied than you'd expect.

Things I Didn't Like:

Weird timer units. I wish they would have used seconds and milliseconds. It's hard to get a grasp on how boned you are from the timer, and the fast-paced nature doesn't lend itself to doing the conversions on-the-fly.
Cluttered. I like the style, but sometimes the background would cause me to take a hit that I couldn't see coming. The metal bullets look cool, but there's a reason most shooters have neon projectiles: visibility. Maybe they could have used some brighter accents.
No independent aiming. This is a bit forgiving, since it's more of a design choice, and the game was made around it, but I can't count the number of times I wished I was able to shoot with one thumbstick and move with the other. The symptoms of a post-Geometry Wars world, I suppose.

If Sanvein has caught your interest, it's not that hard to find in a secondhand store. Hell, it's on Amazon sealed for as little as $4.

Wii Love Nostalgia

2008-12-29T13:46:00.000-06:00

I didn't pick up Namco Museum Remix for its copious roster of classic arcade titles. Nor did I buy it to play the "remixed" versions of Galaga, Pac 'n' Roll, Rally-X or Motos. I bought it for one reason and one reason only: Gator Panic.

Back when there was still a arcade in every mall, I can remember one of my favorite redemption games, this tropic take on Whack-a-Mole. It was one of though staples of my early arcade memories. In my mind, all arcades had Skee-Ball, all arcades had Cyclone, and all arcades had Gator Panic. So lo and behold, I get a bit maudlin when I read the previews for the Namco Museum Remix collection and see that it includes a virtual rendition of my favorite means of alligator abuse. It was a bigger thrill than realizing that Cosmo Gang was a franchise.

Was the whole museum package a bit lackluster? Yes. Did the controls leave a bit to be desired? Yes. Was Gator Panic Remix a bit of a disappointment? Sigh. Unfortunately…

Still, I'm glad I bought it. At around $15, I get a few cherished classics (Mappy? Cutie Q? Hell's yeah.) and a short trip back to the arcades of old. Besides, this is the only way I'll get to relive those 'gator whacking days.

…Unless, of course, you know where I can buy a Gator Panic machine…

Come All Ye Playful

2008-12-28T05:01:00.000-06:00

As far as video games go, I think I like getting cash for Christmas. Why settle for a couple of games when I know where to get ten for the same price?

While I've been expanding my collection, I've also been discovering it. After complete Dark Cloud 2, I decided to forego Rogue Galaxy, for something a bit less engrossing. three RPGs in a row seemed a bit much. I started off with Gotcha Force, which was a surprising amount of fun. Of course, it's collection-based gameplay goes a long way in endearing itself to me. Unfortunately, I had to limited myself to merely beating the game. If the internet is to be believed, there are over 200 borgs to collect, plus rare, crystal, silver, gold and shadow versions of each one. A bet more time than I'd like to devote.

After that, I turned my attention to another little known title, Sanvein. Again, pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had. I'll definitely speak at length about what I like and don't like about the game, since most of the reviews I've seen have missed a few of the key points.

Now to find my next conquest. I still have Star Fox Assault at the top of my to-fully-complete list (getting gold medals is hard), but I still need a new game to actually try.

Lairs Upon Layers

2008-11-21T06:21:00.000-06:00

This is why Samurai Jack is so great:

Scissorsmith: At the fork in the road, follow the rocky path. It will take you to the dragon's lair.
Jack: Where will the other one take me?
Scissorsmith: Space Ace!

- From Samurai Jack: Episode XXI

Gaming Update

2008-10-21T17:10:00.002-05:00

The release of Tetris Party was a welcome event this Monday, given the amount of TGM I've been playing. All the new modes seemed like fun, and the prospect of online play was exciting.

Was exciting.

Turns out I suck at competitive play. My rating has been on a steady decline since I've picked up the game. Maybe I don't have the right mindset for versus, or maybe I wasn't ever that good, but my last few rounds of online Tetris action have left me a bit shy of pursuing any more matches, for awhile at least.

What I'm not shy of, though, is Art Style: CUBELLO. It's close relation to the bit Generations series was enough to merit attention, but the price point was a bit of a clincher. Simple gameplay, a clean interface and a soothing soundtrack make for an addictive little outing. It's enough to make me consider giving ORBIENT a try.

Oh, and Dark Cloud 2 is great. It's taken a backseat to newer offers the past couple of days, but it still remains as engaging as it ever was. Should I go looking for invention ideas or rebuild this town? Will I make this weapon into a Drill Wrench or a True Battle Wrench? Should I fight with the Ridepod or transform into a monster? So many aspects of the game are fun and rewarding that I've had trouble deciding how to proceed. I can only see it getting more engaging from here.

Who Needs Sleep?

2008-10-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

I don't like sleep.

It's a surprising statement to hear, I know, considering how often I'm found with my eyes close. I've even had a fair share of enjoyable dreams, even dreams that I don't regret waking up from. That doesn't mean I appreciate the way drowsiness seems to sneak up on me at the most inopportune times.

I can't remember the last time I've meant to go to sleep. It's always a class-time nap or a doze in front of the TV. Quite frankly, I've just stopped planning for sleep. I have so much that I want done that, if I could help it, I would put off the whole sleep thing for a few years, you know, until I can devote the proper time to it.

Ah, how I long for insomnia.

8-bit Fidelity

2008-09-28T06:27:00.001-05:00

I have an interesting relationship with Mega Man 9. The deaths are cheap, the checkpoints few and the patterns unforgiving. Yet, there have been several occasion where I've actually smiled after a die. I thinks it's because I understand that the old-school mechanics and difficulty were a design choice. This is the way the game was meant to be, and it's a welcome change of pace from the admittedly challenge-deprived Dark Cloud.

Still, with my rapidly growing list of games and even more rapidily growing list of responsibilities, I don't know if I'll be able to allocate the time that Mega Man 9 deserves. Maybe once October 6 or 20 rolls around, though…

Full Albums You Should Listen to On last.fm

2008-09-18T23:51:00.000-05:00

Gun Hill Road - The Infesticons
Beauty Party - The Majesticons (read up on these two first)
Chained to the Chariot - Rotary Downs
Music from the Adventures of Pete & Pete - Polaris
3rd Eye Vision - Hieroglyphics

Warrior-Architect

2008-09-13T00:15:00.004-05:00

Dark Cloud was hard to get into at first. Explore a dungeon level. Leave the dungeon. Restock my supplies. Go to the next level. Repeat. On occasion something more interesting would happen. I might break a weapon. Maybe I'd lose a character and half my money to foolishness. Regardless, the game was becoming less and less rewarding. Then, I started getting into the Georama mode.

In Dark Cloud, each area has a village area and a dungeon area. The village is mostly empty when you first arrive. To fill that village, you have to find Alta, which contain houses, shops, people, everything you need to rebuild.

For one, this appeals to my affinity for collection. Each level becomes a chance to expand by acquisitions rather than an aimless search for the exit. Each piece collected in turn fuels the next appeal aspect of Georama. But, rebuilding the town isn't merely about collecting all the pieces. Each resident you rescue has certain aspirations for the placement of their homes. The game essentially becomes a puzzle, making sure this home is close enough to the shop while keeping enough tree around that home, all in a limited space. For me, the end of the area comes when I've completed the town at 100%, not when I beat the dungeon boss.

It all comes full circle, though, as the more you build up the village, the more items you get for the dungeon crawl, some necessary for the progression of the story, some merely to ease the difficulty. Suddenly, I'm no longer trapped in a level-by-level grind to the end boss, but an entertaining cycle of battle and building. Now if I could just make it through a dungeon without breaking my best weapon, I might start to fully enjoy myself.

Keeping the Beat

2008-02-25T09:36:00.003-06:00

A good run in Gungrave is all about pacing. Shooting is such an afterthought that it's a trivial affair finishing off a screen full of enemies. Of course, the real challenge comes from trying to string those screens together into a nice Beat count. This means killing them slowly, hitting the shot button deliberately instead of hammering away, keeping the last thug alive until the next one appears. This also means juggling the risk of closing in, exposing yourself to more gunfire, with the reward of keeping the combo going.

Pair this depth with my meager performance (I only got the fourth Demolition Shot at the very end of the game), and I've got more than enough reason for a second play-through before I take on Gungrave: Overdose. Luckily, it's a pretty short ride once you know what you're doing.

No More Assassins

2008-02-22T18:02:00.002-06:00

No More Heroes is done, Gungrave is progressing, and The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is awesome. Now, to ruminate over picking up Mass Effect again…

Back from for the Grave

2008-02-18T10:10:00.004-06:00

Maybe I'm on an assassin kick right now, because I decided to start playing Gungrave. I intended to start playing it right after I finished watching the series, but unsurprisingly I was sidetracked by obligations and other distractions. Now I'm a month off of the final episode, mind still fresh with the enjoyment I derived from watching, and I hoping to relive some of that same enjoyment. I had played Gungrave briefly before, but this was without a real understanding of the game system, without a real drive or focus and without the appreciation for the extended, though divergent, anime.

It's fun. It's fun to keep the shot button held down, scanning from enemy to destructible object to enemy again in an effort to keep the Beat Count up and the combo going. It's fun to dive forward, to fade away, guns ablaze as they switch to fully automatic. It's fun to slowly approach my opponents, never letting up on the gunfire, only to swat them aside with my coffin (yes, my coffin). It's fun, and it looks good.

In fact, it might be the implied sense of style that's got me the most enthralled. It's a fairly simple game, but the way you can take bullets without flinching, the way you can cut through thugs with ease, the way you do most of it at the same slow, methodically stride, it all implies that you're not only good enough to kill, you're good enough to put on a show at the same time.

Gungrave and No More Heroes are a little alike in that regard, but whereas No More Heroes shows its personality through flashy swordplay and over-the-top suplexes, Gungrave does it through precision (for the most part) gunplay. If your facing anything susceptible to gunfire, you'll hit it, not because of auto-homing, but auto-targeting. Grave was one of the best assassins, and his death has done nothing to deteriorate his skills. He'll hit whatever he aims at, and his undead condition means he can do it without worrying about return fire.

Travis Touchdown, a brass, cocky sonofabitch who kills to prove whose the best. Beyond the Grave, a ghost with a purpose and a taste for revenge. Both kill with élan. Travis, with speed and brutality. Grave, with thought and thoroughness. Different edges of the same fatally beautiful blade.

No More Complaints

2008-02-18T07:37:00.005-06:00

After a bit of hesitance from a tedious start, I'm approaching the last ranking match of No More Heroes with eager anticipation. Each new UAA member, each Assassination Gig, each new piece of clothing has led to a new reason to pick up the controller everyday. Even after the game falls into routine, each time through is, for the most part, new in some way. New enough, at least, to keep me slashing away with no regard for how close I am to making my next payment.

Of course, I can't deny that the major appeal is still the unending torrent of style the game teems down. If I'm not getting giddy over the plethora of T-shirts to be bought and found (Sniper and Pimpin' among my favorites), I'm plowing through nameless thugs with move bravado than finesse. As fun as the gameplay has gotten (with it's hidden tactics like parrying), the eye candy (more aesthetic then technical) has gotten just as appealing.

If there's anything troubling me about the game (aside from the slowdown; think how glorious the game would look if it always ran at 60 fps), it's the prospect of playing through again on Bitter difficulty. I loved many of the more unique missions (the beginning of Bad Girl's stage, running down bad guys on the Schpel Tiger was exceptional), but doing the story all over again just to unlock everything else makes it unlikely I'll do so in the near future. I'd love to play through it again, eventually, but my irrationally need to complete will make saving the rest of No More Heroes for a later time a struggle.

Still, I'm going to enjoy upgrading my Tsubaki Mk-III, buying the last of the available T-shirts (I hope there's another one in the Bearded Sun series) and saving up for my final battle. Oh, and I hope I get to take on that punk Henry.

No More Tactics

2008-02-13T23:41:00.004-06:00

Losing my DS was a slight downer, but I haven't given much thought to it. It's a bit of an inconvenience, but I've been meaning to upgrade to a Lite anyway. I'm more worried about losing my copy of Tactics Ogre, right when I was getting into the game. It's a shame so many Atlus games have low production numbers, as replacing the cart was a bit of a hassle. Two weeks and one bootleg later, I've got a replacement coming to me.

It'll be awhile 'til I get back to playing it, though. No More Heroes will see to that.

TEAL: Propeller Arena - Earn Those Wings

2008-01-20T14:51:00.000-06:00

Admittedly, there's not a lot to Propeller Arena. The closure of SegaNet, paired with the game's "non-release" status leaves the network option woefully impotent. Without it, the game is left with three game modes: Championship, Quick Battle and Training Arena. Since this was my first serious play-through of the game, I decided to test the waters with a little training.

Training Arena is divided into three parts, each part with a specific stage for each different character.

Propeller Stunt

The airborne firefights are quite the draw, but it's the trick system that really fascinated me on my first run of the game. Various turns and maneuvers can be executed by way of Street Fighter-like command inputs. A quarter circle here, a half circle there, all punctuated with the designated trick button (X by default). Being able to quickly pull a 180, then slide effortlessly to the left firmly places Propeller Arena in the "arcade" sub-genre, discarding realism for fast-paced action.

The Propeller Stunt portion presents you with a list of commands you must complete within a fixed time. Complete the list for a time bonus. Fail to do so, and you earn yourself a miss. Fail in completing three lists or crash, and the game is over. String together stunts one after the other nets you a combo bonus, multiplying the points earned on a trick by the number of tricks in the chain.

In addition to a combo multiplier, you can increase the value of each trick by flying through each green ring. Do a trick with no rings under your belt and you've got the base value of 50 points, but grab a ring, and you're doing x2. It's an easy task getting through each string of commands, but, in case you can't tell, the real fun comes from going for the high score.

Propeller Stunt is probably the easiest of the Training Arena modes. Each stage can be cleared easily, even after missing some of the more difficult tricks, but it doesn't make it any less fun. What does subtract from the enjoyment is the reliability of the command inputs. I often find myself turning 180° (↓➘→➚↑ + X) when I mean to go ninety (↓➘→ + X), or decelerating (L button by default) when I mean to Air Brake (hitting the brake button quickly twice). This becomes more of a problem when you need to rely on these tricks to effectively clear some of the other training levels. Other than that, though, there's much enjoyment to be had.

Propeller Challenge

A medley of skill-based missions, Propeller Challenge can ask you to do anything from collecting icons to blowing stuff up. Some challenges asks you to participate under a different set of circumstances like flying with reversed controls or in plane-freezing weather. Suffice to say, the range of difficulty is as varied as the missions, from the pedestrian (and enjoyable) 8-bit Beat level, where you attempt to blow up a meteor, to the nerve-racking Hex Candy mission, where you have to struggle against the previously mentioned reverse controls.

I think I took a couple of tries at least for each mission, sometimes on the verge of hemorrhaging over the difficulty. Of course, that made completing the mission all the more enjoyable. If there's one thing I'm painfully aware of, it's my affinity for punishing difficulty.

Propeller Agility

The penultimate test of control mastery, Propeller Agility asks you to fly through all the rings on a given course. Missing a ring incurs a time penalty, and if your time to complete exceeds the time limit (including time penalty), you get a nice F. It takes a knowledge of some of the basic stunts and a little luck (due to the aforementioned control problems) to clear all of these. Towards the last levels, you really have to have a hold on the Lightning Dash and Air Brake stunts if you want any chance of clearing the levels. It goes a long way towards your satisfaction of clearing Level 8 knowing that it took a bit of dexerity and competence to get you there.

Three modes, twenty-four levels total, and a growing sense of intrigue. This Propeller Arena primer has left me anticipating what Championship has to offer, but for now, I'm turning the game off. I've had enough challenge for one day.

TEAL: Propeller Arena - Prologue

2008-01-20T12:38:00.000-06:00

Butt rock.

Back in the beginning of the Sixth Generation, back when we still compared consoles by the "bitpower" of their processors, back when journalist integrity wasn't the concern of the many internet-faring gamers, I was less discriminating of where I got my industry news from. All I needed were the previews; tidbits of information on the exciting features of imminent releases and the screenshots to corroborate them. In those days, I trekked no further than IGN.

At the time, Sony and Sega were the only factions to show up to this season of the console wars, and I had sided squarely with the Dreamcast. Two years had passed since Sonic Adventure won me over, and I was eagerly awaiting all the news I could get on every new release. Of course, there were the obvious blockbusters, but one of the things that I appreciate now in the Dreamcast is the number of unconventional games to be found on it, the same unconventionality Propeller Arena could be accused of.

Propeller Arena is an action-oriented, flight game, focusing on dogfighting and aerial tricks played out by the usual cast of diverse, over-the-top characters. I'd like to think that the reason Propeller Arena sticks in my mind was more, logically. Perhaps the prospect of online dogfighting seemed fun. Or maybe it was the amusing cast of characters and wide array of environments. Then again, I am an arcade fan. The chance at some old-fashioned arcade action could have been enough to pique my interest. Strangely, though, that's not what pops to the forefront when I recall my early excitement for the game.

The first few previews I read classified the soundtrack as belonging to a genre I hadn't come across before. 80s-esque power chords, cheese-filled lyrics, and generic riffs. The name of the game was butt rock. I don't know why the term seems to hold such fascination for me. Well, that's not true. Where others might see "butt rock" as a derogatory term, I find myself thinking, hey, I could kind of get into that. As such, the chance to partake in this game, a vessel for an unseen frontier in music, seemed to be what placed it on my wishlist. What makes it so hard to wrap my head around now is that, in reality, "butt rock" has the least to do with Propeller Arena as it presently exists. The "final" US version features more of a punk vibe than anything, licensing bands from Fat Wreck Chords. Even the AM2-produced music doesn't spring to mind visions of spandex and big hair.

I say "final" because, though Propeller Arena was pretty much gold-master, it never saw an official release. September 11 put it on the shelf for sensitivity concerns, and the death of the Dreamcast saw the game buried alongside Sega's last console. Of course, that's not gonna stop me from playing it. Like many of the other nearly-released versions of forgotten games, Propeller Arena has found a venue on the internet. It's a trivial matter to find a torrent of the US version, and the resulting disk image can be burned and played in the Dreamcast without hassle.

It might never see the limelight, but the least I can do is give it a thorough play-through. I've dabbled in the game before, usually quick bouts or training missions mostly, but I've never given it the attention this gaming anomaly deserves. I intend to rectify that, and intend for you to follow me.

Time Enough at Last

2008-01-20T11:07:00.000-06:00

In an effort to affect more blogging and perhaps elicit more gaming in my schedule, I've decided to start a new "feature". I've had the idea for a game-centric series for quite awhile, but until recently I've had a relative full queue of game and little time to partake in them. Thanks to winter break, though, I've finished Kingdom Hearts II, gotten through Nanostray on Expert and completed Harmony of Dissonance to my current satisfaction. With those games off the table and any others too far out of my mindset to revisit (It will probably take me a week alone to relearn the patterns of Gradius V), I can start fresh on a new game, regaling anyone who will read of my virtual ventures. Funny how I timed it perfectly with the start of the spring semester, though. Perhaps this is exercise is en route to failure, but I'll try to make it an interesting ride.

It took me awhile to figure out how I'd write about these games. I knew I didn't want to really review the games the way many gaming news outlets do. I have no illusions about my own preferences. I know my tastes are eclectic and at times rather eccentric. Writing a review would seem like an arrogant endeavor; trying to convince you the merits I see in P.N.03 should be the ones you value doesn't appeal to me. Really though, at the end of the day, I'm just one of the few who can't see themselves assigning ratings, finding a place for each game on a 10-point scale. I just want to play the game, enjoy the game, and write the game.

Hopefully, Time Enough at Last will be just that; a retelling of my travels through the many digital landscapes of my DVD binder. At the very least, I might convince someone to try out Boogie Wings, which is all I can really ask for.

code/book 1.5: Out in the Open

2008-01-19T22:44:00.000-06:00

For the most part, Dashwar has been released. I made a post on the Weewar forums announcing my widget earlier this week, hoping to get some input from someone other than myself. I had planned on giving it a broader release, submitting it to various download sites and widget repositories, but there are a few bugs I need to squash and features I need to tweak before I feel it's ready. For now, I'll consider it in beta.

Not that it isn't useful as is. Case in point, I found myself dropping in to Dashboard this week to check the progress on a few games, and lo and behold, my account type had changed from Basic to Pro. Turns out that, Alex, one of the guys at Weewar liked the widget enough to deem it fit for compensation, to the tune of three free months of Pro status. Very nice gesture, if not a bit counterproductive. How does he expect me to work on Weewar when I only have three months to squeeze all the usefulness out of my Pro account?

Here's the website and the release for interested parties. Enjoy.

code/book 1.4: Do Notice

2008-01-07T10:00:00.000-06:00

Growl support has been added to Dashwar, and with that, the last of my feature list has been implemented. It took a bit of work , getting the framework to load from the plugin, but it was a trivial affair afterwards.

The only thing left now is a little cleanup and some error checking and, dare I say, I'll have a version 1.0.

code/book 1.3: Fire and (Don't) Forget

2008-01-01T06:47:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! Time for an update.

Dashwar can now displays a status item in the menu bar whenever you have a waiting game. The title changes to the number of waiting games you have. When no games need your attention, the status item goes away.

Getting the icon to display took awhile. Widgets aren't self-contained applications. As such, when you try to get the resource path programmatically, it ends up looking inside DashboardClient, the program that runs widgets. The widget plugin, which contains all the Cocoa stuff I'm doing for the status item (different from the Javascript of the rest of the widget), is its own bundle. This means it has its own folder that contains its own resources, mainly the image I wanted to use for the menu icon. Luckily, finding the bundle for the plugin, and subsequently the resource folder for that bundle in code wasn't too hard.

Another problem arose when sending data from Javascript to Objective-C. Conversion from basic Javascript types to Cocoa types should happen automatically, and for the most part, it is. Strings change to instances of NSString and numbers to NSNumber, but arrays, which should become NSArray objects remain WebScriptObject instances, the type for not-so-basic objects passed from Javascript. Of course, instead of trying to figure out why they weren't passing correctly, I decided to just send it one object at a time. I've wasted enough time trying to fix this kind of problem in other projects to know when to let go.

I had to provide a preference for displaying the status item, but that was only a minor headache. I'm quickly closing in on the end of my feature list, and I can't remember the last time that's happened.

code/book 1.2: Expanding On It

2007-12-27T17:11:00.000-06:00

Update time.

You can now hit a button to reveal a list of players for each game. The current player is marked in bold, and defeated players are marked in gray. Plus, the expanding is nice and animated, thanks to Dashcode's AppleAnimator.

This part took longer than I expected, as most of my work on the widget this week has been towards this feature, mostly, due to rewriting.

Also, I had to redo my handling of updates to prevent the widget from resetting the view. I guess it was about half and half between this and including more game info, work-wise.

Anyway, here's a new pic.

Let It Snow

2007-12-23T01:20:00.000-06:00

Three hours on the road, including fifteen minutes in a ditch.

And I didn't even get to Topeka.

So let the damn thing snow.

code/book 1.1: Great For the Confidence

2007-12-22T08:07:00.000-06:00

It's nice to finish working on a project, to put it away for the day with a sense of accomplishment instead of one of frustration. These past three days, I've come away from working on Dashwar content in the notion that I had implemented all I desired. It's such a contrast from working on my other, bigger projects, where most days are ended due to a general feeling of fatigue, a hope that a good night's sleep and a bit of distance will present a bit of clarity or insight into the unyielding, ever-growing issues of the day.

It's strange, though. Regardless of how I leave, whether in victory or defeat, I still feel the same yearning to get back to work. Instead of a thirst for revenge, a need to prove my domination over all that is code, I come back to Dashwar with an eagerness birthed from a sense of exploration. I've done this much so far, what else am I capable of?

Anyway, here's what great, new heights I've reached. Pretty modest, but I'm still pretty happy with my first efforts in JavaScript:

Get User Info - The first thing I did was display the username, account type and score for the user. Once I muddled my way through relearning how the DOM works (remember: firstChild), implementing the display was cake. Even displaying the profile image was easy.
Display Games - Using the Headquarters XML file, I was able to get a list of all current games. I was able to make a scrollable list of games quickly, save for a view display problems. It seems that with all these elements with dynamically calculated dimensions, trying to refresh the scroll area when it isn't displayed isn't of much use (read: refresh when you show the front of the widget). Finding out why the thumb for the scrollbar wasn't showing up was most of my yesterday.
Show Waiting Games - With a hit of F12 and a quick glance, I can see where my next turns need to be taken. Waiting games are highlighted in yellow and display the handy message icon that Weewar.com uses.

There are a few other, minor details (clicking a game name takes you to it, clicking your username brings up your profile, etc.), but the main points are there. Like I've said, I'm eager to get back to work on Dashwar, so I'll wrap this up with a little visual preview of the fruits of my labors.

code/book 1.0: Dashwar

2007-12-21T01:42:00.000-06:00

In an effort to fill the void that my blog has become, I've decided to actively seek out topics for exposition, not so much to express my opinions, but to sort of cogitate by exposure, exploring my thoughts by revealing them to the public. Since I do little else in my free time than code and game, I guess it follows that I'd want to ruminate on one of those two subjects.

As such, I've decided to take a stab at chronicling my attempts at programming. Maybe articulating my experiences will help reveal solutions to persisting problems. Perhaps reader comments on my endeavors will help to motivate me in completing my projects. I don't know; I just want to put this Blogger account to use for a change.

So here it is.

code/book 1.0: Dashwar

Whenever I get the chance (and whenever my turn is up), I like to get in a few rounds of Weewar with friends. The problem is, I've yet to find a way to efficiently keep me informed of my martial obligations. pyWeeStatus freezes up on occasion, and I've yet to get WeeHQ to work for me. Now, I'm sure a quick email correspondence between me and one of the developers of these utilities would fix the problem, but that's just too easy.

With the release of Dashcode, I've been meaning to try my hand at making a widget. I've done web development before, but very little of it involved JavaScript. Learning a new language seemed a bit daunting, but somewhat necessary, what will the advent of AJAX and all.

Taking my need for a notification system for Weewar and my desire for a little JavaScript education, I've decided to make Dashwar, a Weewar Dashboard widget. As it stands, I have a few expectation for the final product.

Show Games Needing Your Attention - This is, of course, my main goal. At the very least, I have to see which games are waiting on me.

Show Game Details - If a games is not wanting on me, it would be nice to see who the game is waiting on (so I can yell at them), as well as who's playing and who's been knocked out in my absence.

Growl Notifications - I've been meaning to learn about using Growl, and this seems like a good project to test the waters with. After all, activating Dashboard takes some forethought. I'd like the computer to tell me to play without being asked.

Hopefully this is the start of something interesting. At the very least, I'll get a few posts out of it.

2007-12-19T19:59:00.000-06:00

Post, post, post.

Let's see how long this lasts.

Now that the semester is over, I'm getting around to doing all the non-school related stuff that's been bogging down my to do list. In addition to plugging my webcam back in, I will also be making a conscious effort to post more, especially now that I have a few ideas for recurring topics. Some of them are gaming related (and not only of the video variety. Gasp!) and some will be regarding programming. Hopefully I have the time now to actually play video games, code and write intelligently about the experience.

For now, you can catch me twittering ever so often. It's occasionally interesting.

Rock Band

2007-11-22T12:20:00.000-06:00

We are Little Endian.

I was in a curious place when Rock Band rolled in to our house Monday night. Though the rest of my roommates have been talking about it all semester (especially Travis) I hadn't really gotten excited about the prospect of Guitar Hero+. Was it a general lack of interest in rocking out? Guitar Hero is a fun game with fun music, but my skills had kind of hit a plateau, and with it, I felt my enjoyment kind of peter out, as well. At the most, Rock Band would be a nice little diversion to engage in every once in a while, but not a serious gaming commitment.

Then again, it could have simply been that I didn't think I had the time for it. I've become one of those people who can spare no time for video games, and it sickens me. Whether through lack of effort (I can't be bothered to find the time) or lack of resources (there is no time), I've been left with a schedule consisting primarily of eat, sleep and school. Sure, Rock Band is fairly pick-up-and-play, but to tour with Little Endian (the Bunker's band name), you have to be committed. Maybe I thought I didn't have the time to rock.

Well, Monday night rolls around, and I wake up at midnight to the sounds of Rock Band being set up. They need a fourth member to fully enjoy the experience. I'm already up, and I can't say I'm not a little interested in how it plays/sounds, so I decide to play.

Guitar Hero's aesthetics aren't bad, but I definitely prefer Rock Band's slightly cleaner look. Still, that's all ancillary to the gameplay. Four players, all rocking out, all playing off each other are bound to have fun, especially when the multiplayer is so geared towards cooperation with Unison Bonuses, Jam Sessions, and saving fellow band members with Overdrive. You can't help but take a little pride in contributing to the performance.

So it was a nice surprise, waking up to a great game like Rock Band. Maybe I should try to forget more release dates…

Chapter 1

2007-10-25T21:24:00.000-05:00

This is a very, very rough draft. I haven't really proofread it at all, and there are a few section I want to flesh out. I just wanted to get it out and on paper so to speak, and since no one really reads this (except you, Dad), I figured this would make a good scratchpad. I'll probably spend the week cleaning this up.

Another visitor had come, and Nai'Bezot was listless. One more intrepid individual was approaching, and all the interest he could muster was counting the footsteps reverberating in the hall. The motives, whatever brings these lost ones treading down the caverns, they use to occupy the idle time between the arrival and the introduction. Now, these thoughts merely grazed the forefront of his mind. You see, over the centuries, there's really only been two types of people to find there way to his home. There were thought who weighed the possibility of power against the price Nai'Bezot would ask. Then there were those for who the power was a bonus, a perk of throwing away a great burden. For them, the benefit was twofold, and servitude was of little cost.

Nai'Bezot is, in one sense of the word, a demon. Whenever you hear of those that give there souls to evil, creating dark covenants with beast of fire, chances are that story is a bastardization of a real encounter, a tall tale spun from threads of truth. Beings like Nai'Bezot have been in the human perspective since man has been able to sign a metaphorical contract, granting them many worldly rewards, usually asking only one thing in return…

…obedience.

It seems foolish, gaining such rewards only to lose the freedom to use them. But the compendium of literature is litters with these stories. Desperate souls, grasping as their last, fleeting chance at hope, shake hands with the fiery figures, hands searing with devious intent. Like that, their lost, free in life to enough their compensation, but bound in death to serve. Is it any surprise most end up dead so soon after these pacts? Fortunately, Nai'Bezot and his kin aren't like those demons of fantasy. For starters, humans aren't any good to them dead. If life beyond death were within their grasp, they wouldn't have to rely on us, building an army of meat shields.

No, demons (and I other refer to them as such for lack of a better term) aren't as mystic and wily as those stories would portrait them. There's really only one thing that they understand better than we do, and it's why these contracts are so lucrative.

Nai'Bezot's contract was a relatively simple one. It was the same promise of power, same bonds of servitude, but he didn't sell it that way. His invocation was enough to see that:

Without fear, without regret, without sorrow
Know no pain of mortal coil
Strike the root of all human despair
And gain much more in sacrifice

Come to me, in humble tone
Of conviction or distress
No matter the reason, only the cost
A symbol of your forfeit love

The problem is that so many that read the invocation take it at face value. There isn't much real substance in the spell; it's merely for show. Most of the truth of the agreement comes in the before and after; the fine print, so to speak. Practicality begs that the letter of the law be separated for a quick and painless summoning, but few seem to give much thought to this, and this was Nai'Bezot's problem.

He'd seen so many centuries and comparable number of adventurers come down his hall, and no matter what the reason, no matter what the walk of life, they all make the same, simple, stupid mistake.

A symbol of your forfeit love

In Nai'Bezot's eyes, it could be seen as a added bonus or the most minor of setbacks. There was something of an untapped market in this matter of business. He'd seen enough of our ways, to know that for some, love was more than an affliction; it was an infection. Or better yet, an appendix; some sort of obsolete appendage that's been outgrown and on some occasions, have caused great annoyance and pain. So it's no wonder that so many, either through a weighed decision or a case of lovesickness, have come to offer up themselves, and the prospect of love, for something of true value.

No matter the reason, only the cost

Everyone comes in prepared to give of themselves. In the context of invocations, that's what sacrifice means. As with the invocation, there's little more to the sacrifice than show, but in the end, it's kept anyone from Nai'Bezot's employ.

The sacrifice is more of a tradition that a necessity, a relic from the times when humans had little more than to offer themselves. The power is the prize, the subjugation the cost, but the sacrifice is a vote of confidence, a declaration of devotion. Little ill can be said of the commitment of a man that would give a valued part of himself, but it says nothing of there intelligence.

It's more of a cultural misunderstanding, if anything. Human society has assigned an unfortunate connotation to the heart. For so long, when we think of our emotions, especially love, we speak of how it affects the heart. So ingrained is the notion of this muscle producing our emotion, that we can physically feel our mood swings in our chest. So of course, when we're asked to pledge a token, casting a part of us away as we cast away are chances of love, it's no surprise that we reach deep within ourselves and pull out a bloody, pulsing mass.

At for, the metaphor was no more than an irksome quirk, an irony joke that resulted in dead prospect after dead prospect. Nai'Bezot could grant power, but not life. So when a deal seeker comes to stand with a knife in one hand and their heart in the other, they never stand for long.

The first few seekers were a slight amusement at best, ripping their hearts out in all matters of gravitas, only to collapse in all matter of death. It was a silly detraction at a time when hopes were still high, a few amusing diversions before a real customer arrives. But when century after century went by, and heart after heart piled up at his feet, he began to see this as more than a misunderstanding. It was problem; an unfair, irreparable problem.

This one would be no different; he could feel it. As the next would-be corpse appeared in the archway, he could just imagine the tired exchange. There would be the formal exchange of greetings, the harrowing story of the personal journal that brought the seeker here and then the unwitting suicide. Nothing new, nothing changed. Another disappointment.

"I'm here to make your deal." He wasn't fully in the room yet, still obscured in the shade of the passageway. "I've read the invocation, and I'm ready to pledge. Now."

Just as well. The less time the better. "Very well. I assume you have something to give me?" He turned away, not out of disrespect or malice, but boredom. Who cares what this one looked like. He was no different than the others in the end; just a little more terse.

"I suppose I should get you my heart now." Nai'Bezot's eyes rolled. Make it quick, he hoped, and relatively clean. Back still turned, he motioned to the knife.

In the middle of the room, laid a simple dagger. No circle of candles. No pentagrams. Again, this is not like those stories of old. Nai'Bezot was a businessman, and you want to be professional. It wasn't just the table that was unassuming. The cave was lit, brighter than you'd expect a demon's home to be. There were no bones, no rocks. There wasn't much of anything in the room besides Nai'Bezot, the knife, the table and the seeker.

It wouldn't be that way for long. He had been unstirred before by this new arrival, but now, he couldn't contain his anticipation. He couldn't wait for the familiar sound of steel piercing flesh, of arteries tearing, of bodies collapsing.

And just like that, it had begun. He closed his eyes and absorbed it. There it is, the tearing, the silent scream of skin giving way, bit by bit. He could almost feel the cool steel himself. It was almost enjoyable. Not enjoyable; comforting. It was a familiarity, a tradition now, something to count on. The only bit of this ritual he could enjoy was the predictability of it all. Ah. A vein ruptured. And another. and another. And then…

"I mean, metaphorically, of course."

Nai'Bezot opened his eyes, turning quickly to see a puddle of blood and body. Only the body wasn't slumped over, gasping in surprise and angry. It was standing. It was alive. And it was offering something.

He approached the seeker, still not sure how this could be. Of course he could see what was missing, what his visitor had torn from his body, but the truth wouldn't hit him until the seeker dropped it into his hand. It wasn't his heart.

It's not his heart.

Nai'Bezot looks back at his visitor, his pledge. He raises his occupied hand to his head and turns it over slowly, letting the sacrifice roll from his palm, careening from the edge of his hand. And there it hung, dangling from the end of the optic nerve, between Bez's fingers. He met its gaze straight on, and, for the first time in a long while, a smirk found it's way across his face.

"Well," he said, his arm advancing towards the seeker, palm opened and waiting, "shall we begin?"

Staying Alive

2007-10-20T11:54:00.000-05:00

So my computer isn't at bad off as I thought it was.

For a couple of days last week, my computer would freeze or slow to an unbearable pace. System Profiler revealed that on occasion, the computer would startup believing it only had 128MB of memory (the built-in memory). The problem seems to have subsided for now, but I'm not sure if that's because of the tinkering I did or just a string of lucky restarts.

For now, though, it's working as expect, which is good. I wouldn't want to be left out in the cold come next week.

The Walking Dead

2007-10-15T19:57:00.000-05:00

My computer is dying. Expect even fewer posts.

Weewar

2007-09-11T11:00:00.001-05:00

I don't know how behind the times I am, but I just discovered Weewar, an AJAX-driven, turn-based strategy game. It's a slightly slower pace of play, leaning closer to chess-by-mail than other, quicker competitive games, and the turn-based natural makes it easy to play on my own time, begging only a piddling 5 minutes per turn. But I guess the main thing that attracted me was the simple, pixel-based aesthetic of the game world. Either through my affinity for sprite art or my fondness of Advance Wars, the art style helps to keep my attention for longer than most web games.

If you're in on the Advance Wars/Fire Emblem style of play, I suggest going there and checking me out. And use these links, too. I want my Pro account.

BioShock Demo

2007-08-25T18:12:00.000-05:00

I'm glad I played this while home alone…

Gamercard

2007-08-25T17:59:00.000-05:00

360 in the household means a gamercard in the sidebar. Check it out:

drakecaiman

Now if only I had the time to boost that score…

The Worst Feeling

2007-08-09T10:40:00.000-05:00

Get up…

It's cool here.

That's the first thing that came to his mind as the wind past faintly, barely blowing the hairs on his forearm. The air was so brisk, just cold enough to still feel nice, like autumn. His favorite season. Eagerly, he opened his eyes, anxious to take in the rest of his environment. Funny, you'd think he'd fine a peculiarity in this keenness to survey the what, without the why or how. Nevertheless, the thought never formed and he remained content, absorbing all that surrounded him.

He was in a field, perhaps on a hill in a far-off countryside. It must have been, because all he could see is grass and sky for miles ahead. And leaves, gently floating to the ground slowly, hazily. Of course leaves do tend to float slowly, but for him, it felt even slower than usual, as if they would soon decelerate, perhaps even change course, drifting upward unto the far reaches of this pale, cloudless blue. Such strange leaves, and to come from nowhere like this. He turned his head upward to find they indeed had an origin. The limbs of a giant tree obscured his skyward view. It was the only tree there, this tree he had been leaning against this whole time. Of course. Had he not been upright this whole time? Perhaps it was the softness of its bark, the absence of its pressure that surprised him the most. No itch from its texture, not even the faintest scratch he felt. It was just, just "there" enough to support his weight.

…no patience for this. You best…

It was all he could do to marvel at this place, not for these little glitches of physics, no. These things only grazed his mind, passing without discomfort or unease. What did unease his mind was the feeling it gave him. It was so … so serene. It was unusual for him to feel this pleasant, at least that's what it seem like. He had no place in his heart for this warmth, but he was more than willing to find the room and welcome it unconditionally as a permanent member of his person. Yes, he could get use to they, just lying here with the wind, the leaves, the tree and her.

She had been lying so quietly in his arms, he had not realized her presence until now. But there she was, breathing softly, his arm just above her stomach. She was so light, he barely felt her weight. Not until he had noticed her did her force register and his hand feel the expansion and contraction of her chest, punctuated with the beats of her heart. Yet here she had been the whole time. How strange.

Strange like the silence. Not a deafening one. That would ring his ears. That would be unpleasant, and that's not what this place is about. No, not this place, where time moves only as fast as it needs to and things hide from perception, only showing themselves when absolutely necessary, appearing piecemeal, first in sight, then in touch, then…

Hm. No smell. He was already aware of the still of it all, but this lack of olfactory sensation was new to him. He took in one big breath, finding this absence so hard to believe, only to find there was an odor. Pine. And lemon. And ocean breeze. All here. All out of place. But it was smell, enough to satisfy his curiosity. Had this smell always been there? Or had the world seen fit to correct its oversight? He didn't care.

…think that playing possum will aid you, well, I suppose you forget my love of desecra…

Perfection. It was a wonder that he found no need to probe this place further. Why wouldn't this utopia unsettle his nerve, pique his senses? Maybe it's the joy of discovery, the sheer excitement of finding yet another detail to revel in. Maybe it's just part of the package. You marvel at the softness, the stillness, the purity of it all, then, you let your newfound knowledge go, tiny feathers set free in the wind, only to have them return and fill you with the same joy you had when you first plucked them from the sky. How could he resist staying here for days, shucking all that he needed to do…

Was there something he was to be doing right now? He couldn't remember, but in the back of his heart, where all he had felt before this place had been pushed to, he could hear something ting, the only thing that fazed him, chilling the warmth that had now become him. That and the taste. It was familiar, but as with everything he had experienced recently, that doesn't count for much. It wasn't altogether unpalatable, perhaps because he felt he should know what it is, that he should be accustom to it, but the sheer fact that its identity was quite literally on the tip of his tongue struck at his resolve all the more. Well, I guess nothing is completely perfect, he thought as he closed his eyes and hugged her tightly.

He was right. Nothing is perfect, not even perfection. If he had not been so content he might have stopped to think. He might have remembered why. It never lasts. Sooner or later the restful are thrown in upheaval, and the unease, the natural state, retakes its place in the forefront of your mind. And you best not ignore. For the longer the disregard, the more violent the upheaval.

"Fine. You want a rude awakening. I'm more than happy to oblige."

He heard it clearly. He looked down. It hadn't come from her: it was a masculine voice. But it was so close, words still ringing. It had cut through the silence, showing how truly quiet it had really been. Here was no sound — not the rustling of leaves, not the sound of her breath, not even a soft howl from the wind — suddenly cleaved, pierced by this sudden blade of speech. Now, where there was hush, the voice of malevolence reigned.

Everything was unsettled now. No more silence. No more wind. And the leaves that had bordered on suspension were now, in fact, traveling upward in a quick, unyielding motion.

A sharp pain struck the small of his back. He didn't call out in pain. He had wanted to, but now, in his only moment of exclamatory need, he found his facilities failed him. It pained him to move his jaw. In fact, it hurt to move his arm, to bend his leg, to do anything at all. Had it been this way the whole time?

This world faded quickly after that. Before he could realize, before he could regret, all that had been was no more. No more sky. No more leaves. No more blue. No more green. No more girl. Just the spotted darkness behind the back of his eyelids.

---

It's the taste that comes back to him first. Blood. Fresh and still flowing from the cuts and abrasions that populate his face. As he goes to wipe the blood from his mouth, he struggles. His right arm lies pinned under his stomach. Already exhausted, he wearily turns his head to his left, beginning the arduous task of moving his left arm. It still hurt to move, but at least now he knows why. There was nothing unsettling about this pain. The mystery is gone.

His hand runs across his lips. He goes to examine the blood, opening his eye. Singular. The left one is swollen shut, no doubt red and tender. He decides against exploration. No sense in rewarding the pain from move his arm to his eye with the sting of touching a still swollen bruise.

"I wish I could say I'm not enjoying this, but what's the point. You'd know I'm lying. I'd know I'm lying. We shouldn't complicate things with false regrets and empty exchanges."

He can hear his assailant's approach, slow enough to have time to dread the arrival, but with an undeniable air of urgency. His opponent can only savor this bout for so long. He can't deny himself the end of the fight forever. Sooner or later he'll have to let go of the fun of torture and embrace the inevitable conclusion of this conflict, but for now he can enjoy it while it lasted.

His weight on his left arm, the beaten one rises, first to his elbows, then his knees. It was still a burden, sure, but what choice was there? He has to defend himself. Rale would not relent his assault…

It was the first time he had realized that he knew his attacker's name. In fact, he knew so much more. The haze that had clouded his memories has passed so quickly, and now he can recall. He recalls Rale. He recalls the fight. He recalls the dream.

That's all it had been, of course. A brief vacation for consciousness, miles away from the ever-present battle, yet still very much here. Undeniable in it's peculiarities now, the obviousness of its true nature baffles him. He should have known. Nothing in his life is that good.

Rale sighs. "Another go? I have to tell you Birn, I can't find the same joy in fighting you as I used to. What's wrong with you? Nary a snide remark or sappy riposte? Come now. Don't rob me of my fun."

Birn was up to his feet now, still not facing Rale. He could hear him from his right, but his mind is on something, somewhere else. He is still thinking. Thinking of the wind. The leaves. Her.

His eye changes rather quickly then, opening wider now. The blue and green is no longer confined to his head. They course through him, clinching his fist, hardening his stance, dulling the pain.

Rale still waits in vain for a reply. Alas, Birn is no longer in the talking mood. He sighs again. "Well, can't say I'll mourn you."

It's one swift motion At first he thinks Birn was finally turning to respond. He is, just not with his mouth. The hand approaches his neck without hesitation. A second later, Rale's back is to the closest wall, suspended above the floor, throat collapsing under Birn's unyielding grasp. He can't breath. Can't talk. Good.

Now you would think, mistakenly so, that anger and frustration is what sparked this. Here he was, fresh from paradise, thrown to confrontation. On the losing side, at that. I'm sure you've been a victim of such. Eyes wide, lying in bed, wondering where all that money went, why the fans are gone. It's jarring for some, annoying for most.

Not Birn. Some of us are just wired right. Some people know, subconsciously perhaps, what a dream is suppose to do. So when they awake each morning from a world so very much unlike theirs, a place they so very much want to return to, they don't bemoan the lose of what never was. It's a task, a challenge to set out and make it what will be. No, frustration is not what drives his hand and stays the pain. Ambition is.

"This is no debate." He finally says, pausing to meet Rale's gaze. "No more words."

As quickly as he had grabbed him, he throws Rale behind his back, without effort, without pause. It was now Rale lying still on the ground, not from defeat, but amazement. So close had victory seemed. Had he been bluffing before? He must have. Surprise. Deception. Those are the gambits of a cornered man. It wouldn't be much longer now, once he shatters this last, desperate tactic, there…

But as Birn turns to meet his eyes once more. He knows it was no gambit that brought this to bare. No, not with that look, overflowing with forceful sincerity. No tricks, no half-truths are present here. Here is something he didn't bring into this fight. Here truly is the result of a dream deferred.

I Know What I Like

2007-08-04T19:07:00.000-05:00

So I thought I was gonna write a long rant on Ebert's "games as art, not high art" comments, but the fervor I felt over the article has cooled over the past couple of weeks.

When the article was first posted, I could find so many things to rail against; his definition of art, his opposition to narrative manipulation in art, his totally disregard of the well-written, linear narratives found in some games. In that first irksome reading, all I could think was, "How could his opinion be so wrong?"

And that's just it. I had forgotten that "art" is like "love" or "morality". I can compare my views on the matter with his, but try as I might, I won't be able to see who wins in this game. He's got his own view on what can and can't be art, and I have mine. Granted without hearing which games he's played recently, I can't really take his opinions on the medium seriously, but I can at least learn something useful from another person's perspective (in theory: It's really hard to find merit in his prose while he tries to belittle Clive Barker's views}.

If Ebert had just prepended "my idea of" to each occurrence of the word "art" in his essay, perhaps fewer people would be up in arms. Then again, this is the internet.

Condemned to Censorship

2007-07-30T16:45:00.000-05:00

So the senior producer of Condemned 2 has revealed a cautious approach to game content brought on by Manhunt 2's AO rating. I suppose it's kind of sad to think that game makers are beginning to feel the need to tone down their productions in order to ensure wide release, but I guess it's nothing new. Hollywood's been walking the fine line between R and NC-17, and I'm sure that has led to the same kind of content considerations.

I suppose the disconcerting thing is that the content in Manhunt 2 didn't seem any different from a lot of the splatter films being released today. Of course since I haven't played Manhunt 2, I can't say for sure how the violence in Manhunt 2 compares to that of these movies, but without that firsthand experience, my mind is left to wonder. Are the rating boards treating the violent content of games more harshly because of the interactive nature of the medium? Is that fair? Furthermore, does the more immersive control scheme offered by the Wii skew judgement? Is this fair? Perhaps making the player the perpetrator of these brutal attacks as oppose to the victim somehow gives off an air of consent or encouragement in the minds of the reviewers. Maybe the majority still sees video games as a childhood pastime with no room for adult content. Still, it could be simpler than that. Manhunt 2 might very well be worst than GTA or God of War, gorier than Hostel or Saw, if we can fairly make that comparison.

Ultimately, the argument should not matter to me. I'm old enough to buy my own games and make my own decisions. The rating system should be a great tool for restricting the intake of minors and informing parents. The problem is that the AO rating makes it something more. If the rating system is merely for parents, than the inclusion of a M rating (for 17+) and an AO rating (for 18+) seems pretty redundant. The truth is that the AO rating does more, essentially barring a game from widespread, console release.

At my age and position in life, I should be able to ignore the ratings. If I'm buying the games for myself, than the only barriers I should have to procurement are my own reservations (luckily, I have none). I'm not saying that no topic is taboo and that there's never a reason to ban a game, but an AO rating shouldn't effectively be a ban.

More troubling is that this isn't really different from the home video market right now. Major retail like Wal-Mart don't stock NC-17 movies, leaving other specialty shops to provide an outlet. It's not the best solution, but retailers have a right, I guess, to choose what they stock, although that itself could lead to another murky topic if taken to the extreme. It's more or less a question of what's morally accepted in the mainstream, a view that will always be contested by someone. As long as there's more money in morality, that's just how it's gonna be.

In the end, the truth is both simpler and more complex than this whole meandering rant I've been on. If the integrity of the story and content absolutely mattered more than money to Rockstar and Monolith, they'd take the AO rating and stick their games on the computer. Of course there's more to this than income and integrity. It's a balancing act between what they want to sell, and what they're allowed to sell in the market they chosen. Rockstar will go back and retool the content, Monolith with watch what the code, both will benefit from a larger profit and audience than if they had an AO rating and, hopefully, all of this will be done without sacrificing what's most important in my mind, the gameplay. The censorship is a shame, and it is an important topic to muse on, but as someone who enjoys digging up fossils as much as saw-blading heads off, I won't lose much sleep over it.

Regret and the Sleeping Mind

2007-06-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

I've said it before; there's no time I abhor more than the first minutes after waking from a pleasant dream. I always enjoy waking from and looking back on a nightmare, partly from relief, but mostly from excitement. On the other hand, opening my eyes only to realize I can't really fly or that I haven't obtained a PlayStation 3 always leaves me a bit crestfallen. Funnily enough, I'm more likely to attempt to go back to sleep if I had a nightmare than if I had a otherwise enjoyable dream, lest I awake with more regret.

One of my latest dreams (a pleasant one, unfortunately) has left me in a writing mood. I just don't know how it will come together yet, but I do know I want to write a something. I'll probably post something in a day or so.

Coin-Opining 4: Cool Crest

2007-03-25T10:58:00.000-05:00

It's been kind of hard to think of what to write about the final arcade on our tour. It's probably due to the short amount of time we spent there. Ah, well. Next time, we do this, I'm gonna have a schedule all worked out for the whole week. You know how structure makes everything fun.

Detour Down E(Z) Street
I guess the most memorable part of the trip to Cool Crest was, well, the trip to Cool Crest. I momentarily forgot how badly Google Maps for Treo can screw directions up. Because of the applications weird way of finding directions, Google Maps managed to get the address for Cool Crest on East US Highway 40 (E US Highway 40), mistake it for E Street and lead us from Ameristar to a trailer park.

Oldies But Happies
Regardless of the detour, we still got to Cool Crest and put in some time on some of the machines. We were cutting it pretty close, but I got in a game of House of the Dead III, OutRun 2 and (of course) SuperNOVA. Like Northern Lights Arcade, it even had a Star Wars Arcade cabinet, which I'm sure Brent would have beaten if they didn't cut the power halfway through the last level.

It's kind of hard to pin down exactly how much I enjoyed Cool Crest. On the one hand, it's cheap, I like the atmosphere (couldn't tell you why) and it's the only place in town that I know of with OutRun. Unfortunately, it's kind of out of the way. Still it was pretty fun, and a definite return for the next Arcade Tour.

Coin-Opining 3: Ameristar's Hi-Vi Arcade

2007-03-25T05:50:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've been to Ameristar and it's Namco-based video hall. Even though it seemed to have the newest machines out of all the arcades, I still felt a bit ripped off at first.

Four-For-All
Almost every game I played at the Hi-Vi was a whopping four tokens. Granted, it was a bit of my own fault. The only attractions I partook of were the big ones like Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA and Mario Kart Arcade GP. Still it was no excuse, as it seemed you only get one race out of all the driving games there, regardless of how you place.

I guess Dave and Buster's is a bit smart, perhaps even nefarious in its way. Their proprietary credit system obscures the true cost of each game behind decimal points and Gold Status. You know I don't have time for math when all I wanna do is hurt someone.

No End to NOVA
I have this weird problem with DDR. It's weird in the sense that I'm totally aware of the situation, yet I'm powerless to do anything about it. You see, I tend to only play 8 or 9 foot songs throughout, and after the standard three songs, I'm usually quite tired. I say the standard three songs because the number of songs per round can be configured to more. Such is the case with the Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA machine at Ameristar. The slightly higher (four token) cost should have tipped me off, but I just assumed that they had overpriced the game along with all the others.

Three songs is the sweet spot for me, so you can imagine my enervation after the four stages of SuperNOVA. The extra stage I got afterwards didn't help matters either.

The Soul Ignites
Brent was playing the arcade version of Soul Calibur III when a girl with a PSP walks up. She couldn't have been out of elementary school since her stature put her eye level with the controls. The amusing part was her play-style. A fevered procession of joystick-twirling and button-mashing from the girl and Brent's generosity and lax play took him down to a fifth of his life. However, a few lucky hits brought him down to nearly the end of his health. It would have been funny to see him lose, but it was just as entertaining watching him win from his near-death situation. Truly that girl is a tournament player in the making.

The new games were a pleasant surprise for our third outing. It would be nice to hit the arcade after a film in the adjacent theater, or before hitting the $11 lunch buffet. Like Dave & Buster's Midway, Hi-Vi Arcade is another nice complement to an overall outing, just not the big show.

Coin-Opining 2: Great Wolf Lodge's Northern Lights Arcade

2007-03-22T15:54:00.000-05:00

I guess I should be thankful that The Midway didn't have a DDR machine. With the amount of credits I had and the fatigue I felt after Great Wolf Lodge, I would imagine I'd be dead right now.

The Frozen Desert
It's kind of hard to compare to Dave & Buster's sprawling display of lights and sound, even if half of it's redemption games. Still, Northern Lights just felt like a arcade, more so than D & B. Justin and Brent say that the ratio of video-to-redemption games was higher, which I guess I could believe. The comparison is blurred by the mixture of each type throughout the arcade as opposed to The Midway's half-and-half approach.

Slot-Loaded Samurai
One game that I tried for the first time was Mazan, a motion-sensing sword game. It's an interesting experience, but a bit hard to control. Subtle movements seem to be the key, as quick swipes caused my in-game sword to disappear from the screen. Once I got that down though, it was pretty fun. Parrying incoming attacks and countering really made the game. Still, there were times when wiggling the katana from side to side got me through.

It kind of makes me wonder how the swordplay in Red Steel pans out. It would be nice to see a game that plays like Mazan on the Wii. I know Dragon Quest Swords is coming out, but it doesn't look like it will have that parrying ability. Maybe No More Heroes will present some of the same swordplay elements.

Makes me think about trying Blade of Honor out and seeing how it compares.

"The rhythm's hard to ignore…"
Of course I spent most of my time on the dance stage, regardless of the health risks it presented to me. I think that I have an addiction. I just forgot how much fun DDR is with a crowd, and how out of practice I am. It's an interesting situation when you have to stretch before playing a game.

I remember when Dance Dance Revolution used to be the main attraction of every arcade around here. Now, it just doesn't seem to draw the same numbers anymore. It's a shame, since I use to think that if anything was gonna keep arcades going, it would be DDR.

It was another fun outing, but not something to do on a weekly basis.

Coin-Opining 1: Dave & Buster's Midway

2007-03-20T07:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday started our week-long plan for this spring break. It's not been since high school that my friends and I have made arcades a regular part of our routine, which shouldn't be a surprise. The consensus of the video game community states that the arcade is a dying breed, something I sorely wish wasn't the case.

It's not that I'm a fan of the ticket-dispensing redemption games or the MAME-based Ultracade cabinets. The best arcade games are the ones that present an experience that's difficult to reproduce at home. The Virtual Ons. The After Burners. The Out Runs. And even gun games like House of the Dead and Time Crisis could theoretically be played on a home console, it's just so much more enjoyable with a widescreen display ahead or a pedal underfoot. It's not just gun games, either. Dance games like DDR, which can be played enjoyably at home with a good dance pad, are much better in a public area because of the crowds they draw.

That's another aspect of the arcade; the people. While online services like Xbox Live are making it easier to connect to strangers for a quick game of Uno, it just feels better when the stranger's there at your side. Plus, the absence of anonymity seems to prevent the onslaught of jackass comments that are coupled with most online affairs. One of my most memorable arcade experiences happened when I was around 10. It was a game of The Simpsons with three teens unacquainted to me, and that sticks in my mind more than most other video game memories.

It's for those reasons and more that we are setting out to explore what's become of arcades in the immediate area. I've decided it would be fun to write about each experience. At the very least, it would finally give me something interesting to put in this blog.

Dave & Buster's: The Future of the Arcade?
Brent coined an interesting term; barcade. At least, I heard it from him first. It's the perfect word to describe Dave & Buster's.

I hate to admit it, but I fear that the time of stand-alone arcades like Aladdin's Castle has passed. It would be nice to go to a place where only gamers dwell, but I fear that relying on that audience of the hardcore is killing the arcade today. I just don't see many people trekking to the mall just to get in a game of Tekken.

It looks like "family fun" centers, where the kids vid-out and the adults enjoy a beer while watching the ballgame, are the best bet. It makes sense, though. You want to make sure that everybody in the group is having fun, and that includes the ones doing the driving. You go in, put your name down for a table and kill the hour-long wait with a few games of Daytona USA or Virtua Tennis 3. So how does The Midway, Dave & Buster's arcade, wear the mantle of Video Arcade Savior?

Power Up
Gone are the tokens of old. In their stead stands the future of arcade operation; the Power Card. You charge your Power Card with money to get a number of "chips", which in turn are deducted in varying amounts each time you add a credit to a game. The ones I played cost anywhere from 3 to 10 chips, but I am sure the range is greater than that. The economy of the affair didn't affect us too much, since I had a bunch of free cards given as reparations for the less-than-optimal experience my family had during Dave & Buster's opening months.

Now this seems like a cool idea, as long as you have a Power Card. If you have a Power Combo Card, your experience won't be as enjoyable. Power Combo Cards are non-transferable and non-rechargeable, so if you get stuck with a fraction of a chip, you're out of luck. You can't help but feel a little cheated, but I guess it's more incentive to purchase a Power Card.

House of the Sega
I never realized how big Sega was in the arcade. The Midway features a number of SEGA offerings, from the more recent House of the Dead 4 and Ghost Squad to the relative classics like The Lost World. With their massive screens and custom light guns, it's hard to imagine getting the same enjoyment out of home conversions of these games. Ghost Squad was an interesting change of pace with its submachine armaments, and though House of the Dead 4 was more of the same, I'm a sucker for a machine gun and grenades. Now if they'd only release a new Virtual On, I'd claim Sega the Kings of the Cabinet.

Joy Without the Joystick
One thing that Ben and Brent pointed out is that Dave & Buster's has a scarcity of a certain gaming icon; the joystick. Out of all the machines there, I counted only six with joysticks. Four of them were classic game compilations, one was Virtua Tennis 3 and the last was, a kid you not, a conversion of Madden for the arcade. This was a bit of a disappointment when I first realized it, but I think it's for the best.

Now when I make my arcade, a floor is going to be devoted to classic cabinets from the golden age, but new arcade games should be varied in their control schemes; different light guns, full enclosures and motion-capture cameras. These machines need to give me a reason not to try and play the same game at home. If they're going to spend the money on dedicated machines, they should be dedicated for a reason.

Eat, Drink, Play
Our romp through The Midway wasn't the most thrilling of affairs. I'm not in any hurry to return, though I did have fun. I think the problem is that no one part of Dave & Busters should be taken by itself. My own personal dilemma stems from who the arcade is truly meant for. It's there for restaurant patrons. It's there for kids. It's there for drinking buddies. It isn't there for gamers. They might have a wealth of new arcade offerings, but where are the classics? The vintage game selection left me wanting, and there wasn't a single fighting game in the joint. It's a great place to go if you want something to do while you wait for your table, but it's no main event. Where can a gamer go to face down a hover tank à la Cyber Sled, or join forces with five other mutants in X-Men. I want to Finish Him. I want to Shoot the Food.

It's a great idea and a great attempt, but it's probably not what those who would call themselves gamers want. I know I was left needing something more.

One thing's still true about the arcade, though; the redemption counter sucks.

Habit Building

2007-03-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

Yea for free time.

Next week is spring break, so I consider the sudden relief in workload a pleasant preview. Maybe I'll take the extra time to post more. Then again, I'd need something to happen that's worth writing about.

300 was a pretty good movie. Even though I knew how it would ultimately resolve, I still enjoyed the film, especially the ending. I'm just glad I didn't (or ever) listen to David Edelstein

The Centre of the Heart

2007-02-14T09:48:00.000-06:00

Well, it's Valentine's Day, and there's not a more unoriginal time to make a post on songs about love. Here's what I've been singing to myself for the past week:

Being Alone on Valentine's Day by Lemon Demon

Victim of Love by The Eagles

Thin Line by Jurassic 5 & Nelly Furtado

Nothing To Do With Love by Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band

Hm. That's, um, pretty depressing. Maybe I should try balancing it out a bit. Here's a few songs on the positive side of love:

Practice Makes Perfect by Michael Franks

I Found Love (When I Found You) by Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band

The Ballad of Bobby and June by Mitch & Mickey

L-L-Love by Blondfire

Ah, that's better. I suggest listening to all the songs, alternating between the first and second list to leave yourself completely indifferent about today.

Don't Believe the Hype

2007-02-12T22:53:00.000-06:00

I went to see Chuck D speak tonight, which was pretty entertaining, if not a little longwinded. Plus, I didn't really hear anything I didn't already know. Mainly:

America is the least global, global nation.

I'm lucky to be in college.

Everything happening now is the previous generation's fault.

Seriously though, I'm glad I went. He had a lot to say about the current state of America. It wasn't just another public figure talking about how stupid America is, but the why and where of stupidity. Of course, it's been a while since I've been to a lecture like this, so for all I know, this could be the norm.

Also, I got to expand my vocabulary with some great, new phrases. Specifically, dumbassification, son of a Bush and negativ… sorry, niggativity.

With that, I leave you with a related track from what I'm beginning to suspect is my favorite album, The Wired CD. Here's No Meaning No by Chuck D with Fine Arts Militia.

2007-01-26T14:58:00.000-06:00

I haven't seen the need to update in awhile. Nothing spectacular or even entertaining is happening. I'll try to keep my life more interesting, but unfortunately my semester is shaping up to be the same school-work-homework-sleep routine it was last year. Ah well.

i've been thinking about The Lost Room lately, probably because of recent news that the prospects of a full series are looking low. I was really hoping to see a continuation so it's kind of a shame to hear that. I don't think hope is totally "lost" though, since it looks like it'll be out on DVD. Maybe with enough DVD sales, SciFi will be persuaded to give the series a go-ahead. I encourage you to watch it by any means necessary, and if you like it, considering picking up the DVD. Hey, if you won't do it for yourself, please, do it for me.

You know what else would be a big help? Finding the name of the song used in the title theme of this podcast. I know I've heard it before, but I can't place the name, and searching for the few lyrics I can make out from it on Google is unsurprisingly frustrating.

Speaking of music, I'll round out this post with a suggestion. I'm sure most of you have already heard Jonathan Coulton but if you haven't, take the time to grab the podcast and maybe even throw a little money his way. For now, just listen to one of my current favorites Brand New Sucker.

On the iPhone

2007-01-13T08:29:00.000-06:00

Now that I've had some time to let the news of Apple's new product set in, I can write about it rationally.

Well, at least I can do it without drooling over myself.

Before the Keynote: Wasn't interested. Everything I'd heard about the rumored iPhone led me to believe that this would not be a device I'd be interested in.

During the Keynote: Wow. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.

After the Keynote: It's a wonder what a few days away from the Distortion Field can do to your outlook. I still think it's an awesome device, but it isn't as great as it could be. I would love to get one, but I don't think I'll be buying it right off the bat for a couple of reasons:

8 GB of Memory - If the iPhone is going to replace my iPod as well as my phone, I need at least 30GB. The reason I enjoy the iPod so much is because it has enough storage space to carry my complete music collection. 8GB is a lot of space for such a small device, but it's just not enough, especially if my songs have to share real estate with my contact and calendar information. Hopefully the iPod will still see a widescreen update.

Or maybe the iPhone's memory will quadruple within the year.

No Third-Party Applications - It looks like the absence of third-party programs is all but confirmed, which is a shame. The iPhone's closed nature makes it hard for me to see this phone replacing my Treo. As of right now, my Treo acts as a checkbook, a dictionary (kanji and otherwise), an assignment planner and an IM client, as well as a phone and web broswer. It can be pretty buggy, especially when using the Opera browser, but it's definitely a versatile machine. Apple can't hope to make a program for each function that every person wants, and until I can start tinkering with the iPhone to suit my needs, my pocket device count will hold steady at two.

Then again, the iPod was closed…

I can see the memory expanding in new revisions, but I'm a bit afraid that the closed architecture of the iPhone will be a persistent characteristic of the device. I was really hoping this would be the One Device. As it stands, I'm still hoping for a widescreen iPod and Palm OS 6.

Once More, From the Top

2007-01-07T22:49:00.000-06:00

I'm going to try moving my blog from Blogsome to Blogger.

Maybe this time I won't let a year pass inbetween posts.

Maybe.