I'm currently waiting for the demo of Devil May Cry 4 that was released on the Playstation Store a little while ago to download. Normally I HATE demos with a passion, as I feel so jypped out when I get to the point where it boots me from the game because it's not released or finished yet. Urgh.
However. I'm so excited about the release of DMC4 next month that I feel like I can make an exception. Yet...*sigh*...it takes forever to download 640 MBs on my PS3 apparently...eh....Mac Book Pro he is not. (Yes, my PS3 is a guy. His name is Barton...no relation to the AMD chip, or a character from Gundam Wing....)
So because my house is filled with consoles...I hopped on the Wii in the living room to see what was new on the Virtual Console to waste time.
Bubble Bobble for NES? I have enough points? I MUST DOWNLOAD.
There's something about Bubble Bobble that always makes me happy. The music. The cute dinosaurs spitting bubbles at the annoying whales and ghosts and whatever else. The overly bright colors. The huge amount of challenging levels and its replay factor. Pick a feature.
Either way, it's a great way to cure boredom in my case. Like Tetris, it sucks me into its rules, its features, its world, and keeps me there for awhile.
(Now that I've written this post my PS3 download is only....26% done. =_=......)
1.29.2008
Bubble Bobble- Teh Awesome.
1.28.2008
Welcome to the Blog of Games.
Yo, this is M. Almeida's blog, Game Journal thing for Games and Society....welcome.
Any post before this one, was made in a traditional notebook since the beginning of the semester. I decided, for lack of confusion, to put them in individual "Flashback" posts unless I wrote them today or the 28th. The dates are noted otherwise when the post was originally written.
Hope ya get something outta reading it...I'm gonna have fun maintaining a blog of gaming awesomeness. Hopefully they'll be some cool insights that will come up, but it'll also be interesting to have a log of how I function as a gamer.
And I got to make a Blogger template from Phoenix Wright, w00t! (Phoenix Wright=A DS game where you're an attorney...but the story is typical Capcom anime absurdness. Sonja and JP are also fans of this game, perhaps they've told about it.)
Anyways, see ya around. =)
Tetris Timeout.
Oh, yeah...thanks. Your discussion about Tetris on the cell phone...made me remember that I have Tetris on MY cell phone. So I absorbed myself in the mantra of falling blocks and lines for 5 minutes during break in class today. He he.
(I'm silly and typical, I know. I enjoy it often. =P )
Yet again Tony Hawk-ing.
1/28/08
Time: Dunno...dont' wanna look at a clock.
I am such a fan of huge world to explore. I've played through Tony Hawk's Proving Ground one way, getting one set of options and paths to go depending if my character is one of three classes- "Rigger", "Hardcore", or "Career". Or you could be absolutely generic if you try pretty damn hard to keep your stats even- with storylines its hard not to drift into a specific story and uneven your stats.
But yeah. My first character I made was heavily on the "Hardcore" track with some "Career" tossed in.
The next one I have is more a "Rigger" than anything else.
Neversoft did a god job in making your character feel like it's a specific person, type. The best example I can think of this was when I was in "Create-A-Skater" mode, editing my character's info, clothing, board, and appearance.
My Hardcore-slanted characters stood there with his arms crossed. He would subtly motion with his body and arms his approval when things were changed.
My Rigger character, however, bounces about while waiting for me to do something. He smiles his approval and every now and then throws his arms out as if to say "Alright, awesome!" when things are changed.
Mmm. Characterization in games I love. It takes you into the game, the story. Gives you a reason to play, or at least me one. To see what he'll do next. Mmm.
The Lion King
1/28/08
Time: 4 Am ish.
My childhood was happy. It was full of playtime, dreams of working for Disney on movies like what got me inspired to be an animator- The Lion King.
(Yes yes....if we had a dollar for every kid who was "inspired" by The Lion King in some artish way, SOMEBODY out there would be very rich right about now...)
Also, my childhood was of course filled with video games! In particular, thanks to a certain spiny blue hedgehog, I'm proud to say that I was a Sega Kid in the 90's. Long live the Genesis!
(despite yeah, it was inferior to the SNES in graphics and especially sound- I just hink about two things- A) BLAST PROCESSING! *Lol*B) Games like Mortal Kombat I and II that had more fighting awesomness than their SNES counterparts. Street Fighter II need not apply in this situation though- of course that is King. >_> )
I don't have my Genesis here, but through the power of emulation I can play all the games I played as a kid. Like, breaching on where I began. The Lion King the game, for Genesis. Great stuff. It's a fun platformer to play. It even has a degree of difficulty to it= darn you monkeys! If I had an actually game controller, I wouldn't keep on falling off the giraffes into the water!!
(yeah....thus the reason I bought a PSX to USB controller from Radio Shack, to solve my control problems on my computer....but my room swallowed it in it's weird arse mess. Yup. )
Platformers that are still fun to play 13-14 years after the fact= Yay, <3 heart!
Flashback 8: Wolf Quest
Time: Like...3 or 4 am...I think....
Independent, governmental funded games are ALWAYS so much fun. Me and my roomies and friends have found a game called Wolf Quest that was a free download. Essentially, it's a game developed by a zoo and like the national whatever to teach about the life of a wolf.
It's a game still in development that is going to be released in "episodes" that will advance the game further and add more features. Right now in single player mode all you can do is "find a mate".
We were playing multiplayer online this particular night. You get to be a wolf pack with your buddies and hunt Elk! And watch the online mode glitch the hell out!!
Yeah, the general rule for games that have "episodes", are "in development", and aren't developed by a major studio.....more glitches than Second Life (Specifically, the Mac client, blurgh), Tony Hawk (ever played an online game where you specifically tromp about the level finding developer's glitches? I had so much fun back in the day with that on PS2!) put together.
So we spent half the time hunting elk....and the other part trying to hunt elk while the framerates went to hell and the camera made normal movement impossibly hard. LOL LOL LOL H4X0R3D! >P
We had a good time at it though.
Flashback 7: God of War
1/20/08
Time: 4:00 am-5-ish (ISH)
Clearly God of War was designed to be a guy's game. Blood, gore, what woman would play this??
Well, I am. I like an occasional bloodfest, and well, you can't get much better than this, can you?
I just started playing and I've already found one area that I find a bit..well...tasteless. When you well...screw with these women before you go and start another area, and screwing them...produces red orbs (XP).
Man. A game that has a representation of sex in it. (Offscreen, sure, but still.) Oy. BUT GODDAMMIT, THERE'S THE POTENTIAL FOR INFINITE XP IF I'M PATIENT ENOUGH! URGH!
Sooo...I screwed women until I had the chance to upgrade my weapon. Damn. =_=
Yeah, it's no wonder this game got an M Rating. It's no wonder games like this made my homestate (Washington State), implement a law where you have to be 18, not 17 to buy M games and you get ID carded. Simulated porn and R-rated things demand it according to most of sane society. ( and myself.)
Flashback 6: The Eye of Judgement
-Multiple times over the weekend of 1/12 and 1/13
Not only do I play Magic, but I'm starting to learn another CCG. It's called the Eye of Judgement, for the PS3. It's another good reason I bought a PS3 aside from Devil May Cry 4, blah blah blah (>_>)
Anyways...I'm really enjoying this game. At its core the main objection is for one player to control the majority (5 fields) of a 9-grid field. Much like another game you may have heard of and I enjoyed way back when- Triple Triad from Final Fantasy 8.
This game takes it up a notch from that game. The Eye of Judgement has people from Wizards of the Coast working on the card gameplay...there are a lot of Magic-Like elements. There's Mana (Ya know- in Magic= Island, Mountain, Swamp, Forest, Plains?). There's monsters with HP/Attack Power points. There's spells which affect overall gameplay. There's elements which can give bonuses and penalties.
So in order to take control of 5 fields, I've found you have to fight tooth and claw to get there. I'm still pretty new at the game so I'm still pretty horrible at strategy in this game. Working on it.
Oh, and I forgot about the most crazy part of this game! Ya see, you have physical cards (and of course, like all CCGs, there is potential for expansion wit boosters and theme decks) to use. How? Each card is read by the PS3's Eye camera. I like having physical cards to hold and interact with, mixing them with CG effects and a game system that takes all the calculations and numbers for you...yay for the slightly math-rusty. >_>
Sure, there are a couple of glitches (card reading errors, lighting enough for the lo-res Eye camera to see your cards, etc), but what new-ish technology doesn't? It's so far a great idea and game, and I haven't even built a deck or played online. I'll write more later probably.
Flashback 5: Magic the Gathering
1/10/08
Time: Like....2:00am-4:00am. >_>
Ahh, the first Magic the Gathering game of the new year and new semester. Oh, joyful.
It was team magic, as it was with my two roommates (JP and Sonja of course) and Sonja's brother who is visiting from California.
Anyways, it was awesome. Except while I enjoy Magic, I lack the awesome cards to make really powerful decks. I was never rich as a kid so I am not one of those who have thousands of cards. Hundreds, yes, thousands, no.
Not that it's essential, as you could always buy singles on the internet or comic book shop to make your deck and skip the thrill of boosters, but it helps if you want to actually collect the cards. It's fun.
One on One: All my decks have weak points= CREATURES.
Team: So long as I have a partner who has muscle...Blue (Island) and/or Red (Mountain) are fun to play as I can burn them with Mountain spells and control all they do with Blue. But still creatures, especially in my decks...aren't good.
I still have a lot to learn about the game. I enjoy it though. Mainly because of the social aspects of the game. The conversations that occur during gameplay are awesome, trust me on that one!
Flashback 4: Atari 2600 Days.
1/8/08
Time: 10:00 pm to 10:45 pm (ish)
JP is in his room playing Team Fortress 2. Oh, the wonders of Valve.
However...shooters anger me...very much so. up.
Soooooo......
There is something soothing however, about hearing the ancient pings and pongs, beep-boops of Breakout. I've been playing it for eh, 45 minutes or so (somewhat) now on one of those "Atari Flashback" systems (AKA a 2600/7800 on a chip consoles produced within the past 5 years or so-it was a christmas gift).
I swear I'm still not tired of this incredibly simple game. Somehow. o_o
So I guess...long live the simplicity games were on the 2600, I'm gonna keep on watching the orange block break the Technicolor rainbow of Breakout.
(Part of me dares Atari to put ET on one of their future one of these things....I wonder how many would buy it JUST to say they've actually played the so-called "worst video game ever". I would. Playing Atari with a joystick is MUCH more fun than emulation. =P)
Note: It was 11:15 when I finally stopped playing Breakout. But it seemed longer than that. Ya Rly. =P
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So, how about another game? Battlezone? Well, I can kill ONE OF THE TANKS. NOT THE OTHER. Where's the freakin dodge button??? Why does it only take one hit to kill me? That's some pretty weak armor plating...
ARGH. I AM NOT H4RDC0R3 ENOUGH TO BEAT THIS. >_< NEXT!
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So how about Yars' Revenge??? yay!
They managed to make this game hard too, jeez. And all the pulsating colors MAKE MY BRAIN HURT. Obviously in 1981 no one had pinpointed epilepsy (or however you spell it) to videogames. OW. >_<
But I finally beat the first screen today. 2600, simple games, make me appreciate beating levels.
Now. Level 2. Ugh.
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And as a final-ish note concerning the 2600: Warlords= Breakout on castle self-destroying steroid rampages, to put it bluntly. Blue CPU is apparently unbeatable if the players die and he doesn't. 4 games in a row he won. I watched. I can't say blue is a bad color though.
Flashback 3- More Tony Hawk
1/7/08
Time: 1:00am-2:00am
More Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. Playing around with the character creator. There's more pieces of clothing/hair/faces/etc. BUT, what were they thinking by taking out the body edits?? I can't make the guy taller? Or like a dwarf??
Furthermore...the feature to play as a GIRL is NON-EXISTANT. They TOOK IT OUT. That peeves me a little, of course,as a member of that sex. It's a huge game on a Blue-Ray disc. Surely you can find the space to fit in girl pieces and recordings for the storylines, meh. Or release it on an update on the hard drive, I have 60 GBs to spare, dur!
Flashback 2: Super Mario Bros 3
(This is a post taken out of the notebook I was using prior to creating this blog.)
1/8/08
Time: Like...8:15 am to 8:25 ish am.
Super Mario Bros 3....one of the best selling NES games, and popular on the Wii Virtual Console. Whee. it's a great game to play when you're bored and in a pinch.
But of course, there are stupid GOOMBAS. Why is that hole there too? Goddamn lava! I make too many mistakes when I'm not awake. In games, and in life. People need to wake up earlier so I don't have to sit here and wait to walk with them to class. Something like that.
Flashback 1: Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
(This is a post that was taken out of the notebook I've been using prior to making this blog.)
Time: Sometime after class on Mon....6:00-7:00ish.
Time played: During dinner...maybe...for like 20 minutes.
Game: Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (PS3)
Soo.....over break I took the leap (finally) into next gen games with the PS3. The selection of games...eh....it could be better but Metal Gear Solid 4 and Little Big Planet and Devil May Cry 4 on the horizon pushed me slightly to Sony...but maybe later I'll get a 360.
Anyways...so one of the franchises I'll never get tired of is Tony Hawk from Neversoft/Activision. They always have some new interesting feature to explore, and the storylines are pretty good as well.
One of the new features (since the PS2 games that is) that's interesting is "Nail-The-Trick" and "Nail-The-Grab". Pressing R3+L3 enter a mode where using the left and right analog sticks is essentially simulating the left and right hands you would use on a skateboard for tricks and grabs.
It's innovating, yet at the same time...a bit infuriating because it's different from the fast pace of D-Pad action and combos the rest of the game and previous games have. And although I once skateboard....I can't compare twitching analog sticks to actually grabbing a board. Maybe.
The other feature that I still need to get used to is teh open ended way of skill points and storylines. Before the way you got them was fairly linear. Complete A, and you get skill points, then B will happen and the skill points you get will help.
In this newest game...well...it's slightly annoying when you find out despite you've been playing right and all the goals up to now are easy...yet you still need to do X amount of challenges just so you can buy a skill so you can complete a storyline. It's not like they gave me much warning. Oh well.
One of the things about games I don't enjoy as much anymore...is leveling. I don't have time for epic 40+ hour RPGs anymore, really, I lose interest WAY before the end of the game. So when elements similar appear in franchise I like...it makes me want to play an earlier game. Eh. I'll get used to it eventually.
