Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The World Ends With You prices?!



SquareEnix hasn't put out a rare game since... Well, forever. Every single Final Fantasy that's been released in the last 10 years is as easy to find as a zit on a teenage geeks cheek. As you can see, on the GameStop website the game is listed as $39.99 and IN STOCK. Seems normal right?






Well if that's true, then will somebody please tell me why it's going for $60.00 on Amazon.com?
Is it really worth that? I've been playing the game lately, and it's pretty good, but $60 good? I don't know about that. Is it rare or something? What I want to know, is how many copies of the game Squeenix released in the first place, and if there really is a shortage.
Keep this in mind if you find it at the store, somewhere, or if you have it and were thinking of selling it or getting rid of it.



In other news, YouTube WILL NOT re-instate my videos, so I will be re-uploading them tonight.
The new video will be released sometime tomorrow morning! Please look for it on YouTube!

Also, I want anyone's opinion.. What do you all think about me uploading my videos to a website such as gamevideos or gametrailers. Do you think this would be a good idea? Of course, I'll still upload them to YouTube. Just considering broadening my horizons!

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Runza


Does anybody reading this have a Runza near them? I miss it. When I return to my homeland (Nebraska) I'm going to eat a ton of Runza.

Played To Death..

messed up my article!! I'm going to look like a total idiot now!! I wrote 1997 and they CHANGED IT to 1979!!! I mean, wtf?! The N64 wasn't even a passing thought in 1979! Graphical capabilities weren't anything in 1979!! I even TOLD them about it, and he said he was going to change it.. But didn't!!

Also, will they pay me? Who knows..

Friday, May 30, 2008

Atlus????

I'm signed up with Atlus's newsletter (which I suggest you all sign up for too, if you're cool) and received this today:

Thursday, May 22, 2008

New part-time job and the Starmen.net contest

As many of you may know, I entered in the Starmen.net PK Tube'n contest recently. I'm really having a lot of fun showing everyone how awesome EarthBound is, since it is my favorite game! I hope a lot of people that didn't know about EarthBound to begin with are now inspired to play the game and visit starmen.net.

Also, I turned in my first review for "Played To Death" Magazine. Their website is http://www.ptdmagazine.com, so check it out. The first review is over Mischief Makers on the N64. If I can get permission, I might post it on here.

New video up soon!!

Love,

SAMTRON

Monday, April 28, 2008

Proletariat

I'm working late today, by 1 and a half hours, to finish up some extra projects and get some more over-time.

I ate Subway for lunch, and banana peppers give me heartburn... BAD.

Hit over 600 subscribers today, thank you everyone! You guys are great!

Happy Greek Easter. New video soon, for the Starmen.net YouTube contest. Post it everywhere so I win, k? :) Please spread the word.

I'll update later with new pictures of some games I bought recently. It's gonna be a doozy.

Love,

samtron.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

So...

As I said before, I'm sorry for not writing in this more often. It seems like there are thousands of blogs all over the internets that have posts just like this on them.

I just haven't had that much to write about lately, pertaining to video games. I've been working a lot, but I haven't had much money lately. I just bought a new car, so that's taking a lot of my money now. Hopefully soon, "If I'm a good girl," I'll get a promotion at work, and then I'll have more money to spend on video games.

I've been spending a lot of time with someone really special. Don't want to mention any names as I don't think they would like to be mentioned on the internet, but I'm sure they'll read this. I'm definitely enjoying this time I have to spend with them!

I've also become friends with someone really cool. I talk to her pretty often, she's really funny, smart, cool and understanding. I'm very happy that I could make such a good friend! Again, I don't want to mention any names. Not sure how they would feel about that.

The other night I was trying to film a new video about how to replace the battery in a NES cart. Things were going just fine until... Well, I was using my mom's soldering tool to do the job, and right in the middle of soldering the battery back onto the clip, the tip broke. Just.. Snapped in half. It's a "Cold Heat" brand soldering tool. At first I thought it was my fault, but after more research it turns out the thing is just a piece of junk. All of this happened on camera. I might as well use the same footage when I do finish the video and the job, just to show what a piece of shit this thing really is. Whatever you do, DON'T BUY IT!! I've soldered many things over the years, I consider myself experienced with the process, so when I say that TRUST ME!

I'm not going to make another video game review video until I get some better equipment. I'm tired of pointing my camera at the TV. I need a Video Capture Device. The only problem is that I can't find a decent one for .. well, cheap. I'm going to get one soon though, I promise. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop making videos, it just means I won't be making any video game reviews. I will however finish the NES Cart video and make a few others that are video game related, but more on the history side. Something that doesn't require me to show the actual game, and if it does, it will be stock footage or *gasp* borrowed footage. We'll see how it goes.

I don't know how many people read this, if at all, but if you are, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this, and feel free to comment if you like. I really do appreciate it.

Thanks to everyone so far for all of your support! I'm going to go now, so I'll update again sooner than later.

Friday, April 4, 2008

I apologize.

I apologize for neglecting this blog. I'm going to make a point to write here on a regular basis, starting right after I get off work. See ya!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Mother 3

I've been playing Mother 3 again, I don't know why. I've already played through it twice, but this time I decided to use the English translation by spookychee on GameFAQ's. Actually, the first two playthroughs were with no translation at all, just a rough idea of the storyline with a little imagination added. This way is much better, to play it with the translation. Even though it's not the translation patch, it's OK. I guess I'm just getting impatient with waiting for the English translation patch that Tomato and others from Starmen.net are working on. Of course, I'll definitely play it once, twice, three times, well jeez, probably 50 times with the English translation patch, but I just felt like playing it again recently.
I'm on chapter 7 already, about 20 hours into the game. God, it still amazes me. It still makes me so happy, sad, melancholy I guess... to play the game. Playing it with the translation is so awesome. Knowing what someone is saying makes it a completely different game. It's hard to believe that I had actually played it completely in Japanese, not knowing a lick of what they were saying before.
I love Mother3. I love Shigesato Itoi. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

If you haven't played it, you should. Just try to. When the patch comes out, play it.. That is, if you're an English speaker.
On the other hand, if you're Japanese, play it in Japanese. You won't regret it. It's not that long of a game. It's not that hard to get through, even on low levels. If you're experienced at RPGs you'll fly through it, but even if you're not, you'll still make it through with little to no trouble at all.

Just play it!! For me??? It's like, a greatest hits game now in Japan. Not sure of the term they use there, but you can buy it on Play-Asia.com now for $14.90 USD. That's super cheap. You should just play it.

If you don't wanna buy it, just download the rom at least. In fact, play EarthBound first. If you haven't played EarthBound... well then I don't know what. But, if you want to understand me at all, you have to play EarthBound. That game influenced every aspect about my personality to this day. Everything that I'm interested in, everything I say, my sense of humor ... Just play it. It's an amazing game. If you think games like Final Fantasy 7 and Chrono Trigger are amazing, try EarthBound if you haven't. It's better, WAY better than those games... In my opinion. But, even if you don't think it's the best game ever after playing it, you will rank it up there with those games, I promise.

And if not, I'm sorry but you have no taste in games. Sad, but true.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Another Update!

I haven't had enough time to update lately, but I got a free moment before bed tonight to write a little something.

First I'll start off with some personal things, if you care. If not, skip over this next paragraph.

I've been really busy with work lately. I'm trying to organize an event for my store to create hype about it. I was thinking about doing an anime focused event, with a video game tournament. Probably Super Smash Bros. Melee since everyone is so excited about Brawl and everyone loves SSBM anyway. I broke my car. I ran it out of gas one day while on my lunch break, and ever since then it just dies whenever I try to drive it. I had it towed to a shop and it should be fixed by tomorrow. It's costing me $338! Well, I can't be too mad, since it's my own fault. I feel like an idiot.

I filmed a new video about the video game Rainbow Islands: The Story Of Bubble Bobble 2. I was editing it on iMovie, and we had a thunderstorm. All of my progress was erased. I had it down to 11 minutes from the 2 hour long raw video. I'm really sore about that. Really. To be honest with you though, I'm not even so sure I want to finish it. I might just save it for another time. I really don't like the video. I want to make another one really soon though. Maybe I'll make one tomorrow after work if I have time. There are lots of things I want to talk about. It might not be a game review/preview. It might be about something else video game related like the current gen war. I have my own opinions about that.

Because of my current self-inflicted financial situation I don't have any money to buy video games right now. That's the worst part, because there are a lot of video games I want. This guy named John that trades games and talks about rare/import games with me traded in Ultraman on the PS2 today. It's an import game, and it looks really fun. He also showed me his copy of Fist of the North Star for PS2, that looks like a ton of fun too. I wish I had an import PS2 or modified PS2. I have a modified XBOX... Hey!! I know! Maybe I can find some import XBOX games! But... Most of the import games I want to play are on the PS2..

This is nothing new, but really important to me. The latest Soul Calibur IV news, Yoda and Darth Vader being in the game. I guess they are going to be console specific, but I'm not sure who will be on which console. Not that I care too much though, because I don't want to play with either of them. I will still play with Xianghua provided she's still in the game. I don't see why she wouldn't be. I'm so ready for that game to come out though. I'm going to be playing it online so much, so I'll be posting my gamertags and stuff all over the place looking for opponents. If you think you're something, give me a shot and we'll see where we stand. I've been pretty serious about Soul Calibur for a long time so I consider myself pretty OK at it.
Actually, I have a goal for that game. I want to be in the top 20 ranking on that game online. I know it's shooting pretty high, but I think with the right amount of effort and time it's possible for me. I know this is a lot of big talk, but I'm confident in my skills at that game, especially when you get me playing lots of different players. It's different when you just play the same person over and over again, because you get so used to playing them. Lots of double KO's and stuff. I'm really excited for this game to finally be online, it's going to open up a completely different world to me when it comes to that game.
I think it's coming out in Japan first, so I'll probably import it so I can get a head start. I'm wondering if I'll be able to play Japanese people on the game. That would make things really interesting.

Well, hopefully I'll make a new video soon. I've got 60 subscribers now! That's a lot!! haha! Not really but I didn't think I would get that many to begin with :P So that's 60 people that expect me to make videos for. Now I have someone else to make videos for besides my own personal entertainment and laughs.

I guess I'm going to bed now. It's 2:30am, and I'm tired. Thanks for listening! See you guys later!! :)

Saturday, December 29, 2007

New Games!

Today was my first day back from work after being gone all week for Christmas. Not only did I get a little Christmas money (which I spent on clothes and a new camcorder) but I also got paid today, so I bought some games I was meaning to buy.



I bought Guardian Legend on the NES because LufiaSelan and I were talking about how awesome that game is this morning and I realized I didn't have it.



I was given Ninja Gaiden by my co-worker/friend Andy as a late Christmas Gift. Pretty cool, huh? :)



Raiden 3. This game was at Wal-Mart for about a month at $19.99 but I never bought it! Ugh!!!~ I finally got it at my store, and had to pay more. What bullshit.



Hmmmms what could this be...?? :)



You can't tell me that's awesome!

Anyway, that's what I bought. It's good to be home!

I also found this older picture of me... Well, it's not that old, maybe a few months old. Check it out!



Mario!!! So cute~

Like I said before, I bought a new camcorder with my Christmas money, so on my next day off (Tuesday) I'll be making my newest video. I'll be talking about Rainbow Islands for the NES this time. It should be interesting! I'll also be adding a new feature to my videos.. Picture in Picture! That is, if I can get it figured out. I'll be filming it on Tuesday, but it might not be up until a week later, because it takes me that long to edit it, and my translator has to translate it, then I have to input the subtitles. Please be patient!

I guess that's it for this update! I hope everyone has a great New Year!!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Christmas

I'm at my Dad's house for Christmas. I'm way out in the middle of nowhere in the state of Missouri.
It's really nice out here, and his house is really cool!!! I took lots of video on the way here, and I'll be taking plenty more as I'm out here, so you guys can see my trip. It should be really cool.
His internet out here is really really slow, and I have almost no mobile phone service. The bedroom I'm sleeping in has no TV, so I'm going to see if I can load up some videos for me to watch while I'm going to bed. I'm actually not used to NOT watching TV before bed.... So... Yeah :P
I brought my XBOX, DS Lite and NeoGeo Pocket Color to play while I'm out here too, so I guess I can do that aswell.
I really wish there was some sort of wireless internet here, but I guess out in the country, there's no chance of that.
They are using satellite internet. Fun!!!!!!

I'll try to update later with some pictures or something.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Friday, December 21, 2007

One of those stupid quizzes..

• A
Are you available?: Not for you!!!~
What is your age?: 21
Astrological sign?: Virgo

• B
Do you know anyone named Brian?: A few people..
When is your Birthday? September 10
Ever been stung by a bee? Yes

• C
Whats your favorite candy? Three Musketeers
What color is your computer? White.

• D
Do you daydream?: Sometimes
Whats your favorite kind of dog?: The kind that doesn't bark

• E
Have you ever been in the emergency room? yezzir
Ever pet an elephant? I can't say.
Ever swam with sharks?:There's not a chance of that

•F
Do you use fly swatters? Umm... What? I guess..
Is there a fan in your room? A portable one
Do you like Fall Out Boy? No

• G
Do you chew gum? Orbit Cinnimon
Do you like gory movies? I don't seek them out for that alone.

• H
How are you?: Normal
What's your height?: 5'2"
What color is your hair? Brown/Black/White

• J
Favorite Jelly bean flavor? Strawberry, I guess
Do you wear jewelery?: Yes!

• K
Who do you want to kill? Nobody!
Have you ever flown a kite?: I love kites
Do you think kangaroos are cute? Yeah, sure

• L
Are you laid back?: Pretty laid back
Lions or tigers?: Tigers
Do you like black licorice? No!!

• M
Favorite store at the Mall?: Game Stop/Lucca/Sephora
Favorite movie?: My Sassy Girl

• N
Do you have a nickname? tons. Which would you like to hear first?
Do you prefer night or day?: both have their perks

• O
Are you an only child?: No, I have one younger sister.
Do you like the color orange?: No, not really.

• P
Do you know anyone named Penelope? My Mom's dog is named Penelope!
Favorite flavor of popcorn?: Good old fashioned butter flavor.

• R
Do you think you're always right?: No, but I try to pretend.
Do you watch reality TV?: Not really

• S
Do you prefer sun or rain?: I like the rain better, except when it FREEZES!!!!
Do you like snow?: ABSOLUTELY NOT!

• T
Time to go to sleep?: Way past time..
Tomatoes?: Are amazing!

• U
Can you ride a unicycle?: I don't think so, no.
Do you know anyone with a unibrow?: Yes.

•V
Did you ever watch Veggie Tales?: Hell no

• W
What's your worst habit: Smoking
What do you want right now?: Sleep!!

• X
Have you ever had an x-ray?: Just once, on my arm.

• Y
Do you like the color yellow?: Not really
Do you yell when you're angry?: I try not to

• Z
Do you believe in zodiac?: No, it's vauge and general.


What a lame quiz. Hope you enjoyed it more than me! Post your own version in the comments if you want!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

More Weather & More Games!!

Well, it's been an exciting past few days out here in my neck of the woods!
We just had a major ice storm move through my state. Lots of crazy stuff has been happening since then. Because the ice got so thickly coated on the trees and power lines, they started coming down down down. More than half the city I live in is without electricity right now. I for one do have electricity at my house currently, but no telephone, cable or internet. I am really bored there without the internet, so I decided to come to work after debating whether or not that was a good idea.
I tried to go to other places before coming here, but they were all either closed or without internet as well, so yeah, sucks!
I have been playing Grim Grimoire a lot lately, but my little sister is borrowing my PS2 right now to play Digital Devil Saga (She's a chip off the 'ol block!)

I took a video of some damage from the ice storm in my neighborhood. I also took some photos.









So aside from the weather, I stopped by a pawn shop that I've been meaning to go to ever since I moved here (SEVEN YEARS AGO) but never have. They always have some mentally disabled guy standing outside in front of the store with an "80% OFF" sign.

They had a pretty decent selection of NES games (by pawn shop standards, that is) but their prices were lame. $9.99 was pretty much the standard there. Anyway, I did get 3, and they hooked me up with 1 for free.






So those are the three games I bought today, Disney's Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, Maniac Mansion and Master Chu & The Drunkard Hu (craptastic).

Sunday, December 9, 2007

How to repair your NES

I made a tutorial video on how to repair your NES! Now go fix it and stop paying $50 for a different one!

Winter and New Games

Winter is cold, and winter is depressing. The only thing I really like about winter is that I get to wear sweaters, but that can also be done during the fall, which technically, we are still in, but it doesn't feel like it.
Right now, the weather is disgusting. Last night, while at a friends house for a party, there was a thunderstorm, complete with lightning, thunder, rain and wind. Soon afterwards, the temperature falls to 20-something fahrenheit, and freezes every last drop that fell to the ground earlier.
This morning when I woke up to go home from my friend Angel's house, my car door was completely frozen shut. After I got my car de-iced, and was on my way home, the roads weren't so bad. They were wet, and slick in some spots, but not bad.
That's going to change later tonight, surely.
The electricity at my house keeps going out, making it very difficult to do anything except use my laptop and play hand-held games. It is really frustrating!!!!

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
This is a picture of the tree in front of my house. It's covered in ice :(

Anyway, this post wouldn't be complete with some updates in my current gaming life, now would it?

First off, my coworker, Josh, gave me a Hanukah gift! It's really cool, something I've been wanting for a long time now, but always put off buying.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

A NeoGeo Pocket Color!!!! Cool! Awesome!!!

Wow, Josh is really cool!!! Thanks so much for that Josh!!!

I only have one game right now for it, and that's Gal's Fighter. I think the NeoGeo Pocket Color is going to help me in my game reviews, since there are some decent games on it, but not many people own one, or even know it exists anymore. I remember hearing about it a lot when I was a little bit younger, but never knew where to find one. It's actually a very superior system for it's time!! It's not expensive either, you can pick one up for about $25-30 used, which is about the same price as a GameBoy Advance these days. If you see one you should pick it up!!

Also!!!! I've been playing a different game lately, on the PlayStation 2. It's called GrimGrimoire.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

It is soooo badass! You know, to be completely honest with you, I'm not the type of person that likes Magic, or Wizards, Warlocks, Sorcery, Dragons, Elves, Fairies, (Do I really need to go on? I think you get the point..) BUT! I Do like this game a lot! Why? Well, aside from all of that stuff, if you can overlook it (Unless you are really into that kinda thing) it makes for a really great game! It's an RTS(Real-Time Strategy) style game, where you learn different types of Magic and use them in battle. All of the gameplay is done through battles, not unlike almost every RTS game ever made. The difference is, that rather than an over-head view or 3/4 view of the battlefield, it uses a sidescrolling 2D battlefield. The art style is exactly like Odin Sphere (Probably because they are both designed by the same company, VanillaWare. The story is hilarious (Probably because of the NIS localization) but also pretty dramatic. I'm only about 9 hours into the game and on the third "Day 1". If you play the game, you'll know what I'm talking about (THAT MEANS GO BUY IT!!), OH YEAH! And one more thing! If you're living in America, and you are interested in this game at all, liked Odin Sphere, love RTS games, collect rare games, are a fan of NIS, or just want something fun to play, you really need to go and buy it. But don't buy it from GameStop or EB Games! BUY IT AT WAL-MART! When I bought mine, it was only $20, but on eBay and other places it's still $40-$50 and will rise! I can't guarantee that it will be at your Wal-Mart, or that it will still be $20, but seriously, if you see it there, don't hesitate to pick it up, because you won't be disappointed!

Well, I suppose that's about it for now! I'll write more if I think of anything else.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

New blog.

Hi everyone, I decided to create a blog centering around video games. I'm not sure if anyone is going to read this, but if anyone does decide to, that's what it's here for. I also might make some personal posts, but for the most part, it's going to be about games, my videos, and similar things.
I've been buying a lot of NES games lately, even though I have pretty much every NES title on my modified XBOX. I still like to have the collection, and I'm not going to review any video game that I don't own. So even though I have many, many games on my XBOX, I'll only be using that to try stuff out, and if I decide to review a game I haven't bought yet, I'll go out and buy it.
It's really not that hard for me to get... pretty much any game (US release) that my heart desires. I mean, at the company I work for, we carry just about anything you can think of, and there are more than 10 stores, so the chances of at least one of those stores having that game are pretty high.

Well, I guess I'm going to make a back posts to fill this thing up. I'll post some videos and old text reviews I've done. I'm tired of having some stuff here, some stuff there, some stuff on another site. It sucks. I need one central place for all the reviews and blogs concerning games.

Can I change the date for blog posts?

Don't worry, I'll figure it out.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Work Christmas Party - HeyDay!



Heyday. It sucks.
Drink more beer to improve results!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Games You Don't Play: Game.com blog & Yoshi!

Games You Don't Play #5: FireFighter F.D. 18 PS2


I really love to play video games that aren't like the rest. When I saw Firefighter F.D. 18 come through the store, I had to pick it up. I've always thought firefighters were really cool, ever since I was a child. The reason is probably because my father was a firefighter (Retired/Disabled).
To me, this game is pretty cool. I guess the only reason I think it's cool is because it's a Firefighter game and it's not something you see or play everyday.
In Firefighter F.D. 18, you play as Dean McGregor, a firefighter who is determined to save anyone in trouble. The reason he's so determined, and I mean more determined than any other firefighter in the world, is because he lost a loved one to a fire. That seems like a pretty good reason!!!
You're trying to save people caught in fires set by an arsonist who has some some sort of vendetta against Dean. Along the way you'll also meet a woman named Emily, a news reporter who seems like she's in the way but ends up helping you as the story progresses.
The controls in this game are manageable but sometimes clumsy and you have no camera control unless you're standing still. It's not such a big deal though, because the camera usually stays in a pretty good spot.
Everything that happens in this game is scripted, so after a few times of dying (if you die at all) you will have the entire map memorized.
There are a few items you can pick up along the way to heal yourself like first aid kits, which help a lot because sometimes fire embers or explosions happen and catch you on fire, depleting your health quickly. You can also get rid of the fire burning you by running around (Whatever happened to "Stop Drop and Roll"?).
You are on a time limit in this game, dictated by your survivors health bar. The more damage they take, the less time you have, so save them before they die, because if you don't, your mission will end and you'll have to start over again.
This game has most things any action-adventure game would include, action, adventure, boss battles, you name it. The boss battles to me are the most interesting part, because it's more like fighting a monster than an actual fire. The AI is good but still somewhat predictable and easy to memorize. You can usually defeat the fire by calling backup and blasting it, resulting in a somewhat hilarious scream.

Other things of note are the dialogue and music. Both are very dramatic.

I give this game a 6.5 out of 10.

Pick it up if you're a collector (it's quite rare) or a fan of firefighters!!

Monday, August 27, 2007

Games You Don't Play #4: Mad Maestro PS2


Hi friends, yes it's that time again! Time to review another game!
While I am still working on beating Odin Sphere (yeah yeah, I know. It's taking me a little too long..!!) I still have some extra time somewhere to play other games.
This time I'm going to be reviewing the game "Mad Maestro!" for the Playstation 2. This is yet another Japanese music/rhythm game that no one has ever heard of or played. It was released under the "Fresh" line by Edios Games who's sole purpose is to bring you games that you've never heard of before. I have a few other games under this "Fresh" title; "Mister Mosquito", "R-Type Final", etc.
In the game you play as a character named Tackt, a young conductor. A small fairy named Symphony pursues your help to bring music back into the hearts of the townspeople before they tear down the symphony music hall! Of course, this building is also the fairy's home, so her wanting you to save it is not surprising.
This game is very "quirky" which is used by many in the game industry; but I wouldn't say it's the best kind of quirky. The story is quite strange but not engaging or engrossing and definitely not funny. There are all sorts of things happening in the background as there usually are in most rhythm games but of course you cannot pay attention to these things as you are trying to play the game, which brings me to:

The in-game play.
There are a lot of different factors involved with this. Some things you might want to note are timing, tempo change and volume. Yes, volume. Not something I, personally am used to in a rhythm game. I sometimes forget that the Playstation 2 controller has pressure sensitive buttons as not many games use this function. Circles which you must watch to time your action also show a color to tell you what volume to use. If it's blue, you press lightly. If it's green, you press medium. If it's red, of course you press hard. Light and Red are easy, but Green? For some reason I always mess this up. I was playing the game on a Logitec Wireless Controller and thought this might have something to do with it, and yes, it did. I switched to a normal controller and it made the game quite a bit easier but I still sometimes messed it up.
Then you have your "life gauge" to the left of the screen, which will pretty much make or break you. There are two ends to this gauge, "Angel Mode" and "Devil Mode". You must have "Angel Mode" by the end of the song or you will lose the game. If you get "Angel Mode" before the song is over you must keep it at "Angel Mode", because if you mess up, you will get "Devil Mode" and that can sometimes be very difficult to come back from. If you do not have "Angel" or "Devil" mode by the end of the song, you will lose the level. If your life gauge drops to the bottom, of course you will be "Booo'ed" off the stage.

The Graphics for this game are cute but... Not very great. I guess given the year it was released (2001 JP) it's not too terrible. Bright colors, big eyes, but blocky. No big deal though, you don't spend too much time looking at the graphics as you are mostly focusing on timing and pressure.

All of the music on this game is classical music, and I do believe it is the first music/rhythm game to feature classical music exclusively. Unfortunately, most don't enjoy classical music too much, so if you don't, I don't think you will appreciate this game. It's not good enough/moving enough to sway your opinion about it.

Overall: I give this game a 6.0 out of 10.
Pros: Quirky Japanese music/rhythm game, classical music.
Cons: Monotonous controls, less than impressive graphics

Monday, June 18, 2007

Games You Don't Play #3: Odin Sphere PS2


Hay guys, here I am again to shove my video game opinions down your throat! I've got a lot to talk about so I hope you've got the time.

This review is going to cover a more recent game release titled Odin Sphere for the
Playstation 2. I went through a lot of traveling just to get this game on release day and was even late for work because of it, only to find that I could walk into any Best Buy and pick it up. But, nonetheless, I have it and finally got around to playing it once I finished up some old business I had with another game (Mister Mosquito).
This title is a very visually stunning side-scrolling action RPG title that was amazingly picked up by the ever so wonderful Atlus company from VanillaWare. It does have a predecessor, Princess Crown for the Sega Saturn (JP Only) which was recently ported to the PSP. (JP Only as well, HELLO ATLUS LICENSE THIS!!!) It takes place in some sort of war-torn fairy world filled with sorcery, dragons and furries. I know what you're thinking... "Why the hell are YOU playing it then?" Well, it's a damn good game. That's why.
So let me enlighten you:

Graphics: Definitely not lacking here. Absolutely beautiful. It's very anime-inspired, yet it has it's own style. All of the environments are too good to be true, all of them having their own small details that catch your eye every so often, from butterflies in the background to shooting stars. All of the character design is fantastic. Each character is attractive in their own way (Except for Cornelius.. He's the ugliest bunny rabbit I think I've ever seen!) and I feel like I'd like to have all of their outfits. There are not many other games out there that have such well designed characters and backgrounds, especially in the 2D side-scrolling genre.

Controls: Everything seems almost flawless here. Not much I would change except for the lagging when battling the biggest bosses. Only lags at the most crucial points of the battle which can make things difficult, but somehow brings back some nostalgia from the SNES-era. Battling is very simple and straight forward yet takes some tactical planning as most RPG's do. At first I thought this might be your typical hack-and-slash your way through side-scroller but it's really not. Every enemy you fight (especially bosses) have their own things to avoid and sometimes you run out of food or healing tonic.

Story: Actually, it's quite engrossing. I didn't think it would be, but it is. Somehow, this game has me sucked in. It's really well written once you give it a chance. The story builds slow and doesn't give much back story in the beginning but if you stick with it, makes up for it later on. There is some great character development here and many intertwining relationships that somehow resemble a fairy-tale/soap opera hybrid. There are lots of dramatic twists and turns and plenty of surprises to be found. The give a great nod to a novel series, and the story plays out that way. Every cut scene is awesome, as some cut scenes in RPGs can get a little over the top or pointless, in this game, they are short but sweet and totally necessary to story development.

Music: Well, not much to say here. You're typical RPG music, for the most part. It's pretty, but not moving. Not annoying, but it does get repetitive at times. Just the same 30-second track looping over and over until you make it to the next scene.

Side Quests: Well, not really much here either. I could say that Alchemy and recipes are side-quests of some sort but not really. It is a cool mechanic in the game though!

Voice Acting: At first, it seemed a bit boring, but became very interesting later on. The voice actors are great in both Japanese and English, which is rare, as I find most voice actors in games to be pretty horrendous and bottom of the barrel actors in the first place. Also, the speech bubbles, while not absolutely necessary, are a great little add-on. I like them.

So, overall, this game is pretty good. I'm sucked in at the moment, as I played it from 8pm-4am last night. I really just can't get off it. I could honestly stare at the game for hours and not get bored. I wouldn't say it's the best game ever, nor the game of the year, but as stated in EGM, definitely the game of the month. Nothing quite like this has been released state-side so it's nice to see something original get released.

I give the game a 3 1/2 out of 5.

Recommended for: Hardcore RPG fans, quirky gamers, collectors, side-scrolling fans.

Sure to be a guaranteed rare game in years to come. Pick this one up while you can, because 5 years from now it won't be easy to find.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Games You Don't Play #2: Out Of This World SNES

Hey everybody! It's my second game review here on MySpace! Yay!! Aren't you all excited?!
Probably not. I doubt anyone is reading this, but if you are, thanks!! It really means a ton to me!

This time I'm reviewing one of my personal favorite games, Out of this World. The game was released in 1991 for many systems including: 3DO, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Apple Macintosh, Atari ST, DOS, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD, and SNES by Delphie and Interplay but was developed by a man named Chahi.

You start the game off as a character named Lester, a physicist who is testing an experiment in his laboratory for particle acceleration. Lighting strikes, and you find yourself in what seems to be another dimension or, "Another World." It's a world of prehistoric looking surroundings and creatures with some caveman-like humanoids armed with laser guns and other advanced technology.
After escaping a large saber-tooth tiger like creature, barely being killed by tiny toothed worms and not falling to your death, you are captured by a guard of sorts. He takes you to a prison, where you meet your one and only friend in the game. He is nameless, and you can't understand him, but you know, and he knows, that you only have each other and that you have to find a way out.
Difficult doesn't even begin to describe this game. It's a constant puzzle, and has no life bar or power gauge. You only get one weapon by swinging your holding cell until it falls onto a guard. You take his gun, and it's the only one you have for the rest of the game, and you better conserve it, because the recharging chambers are few and far between.
As you figure your way through the giant maze of a prison you'll come across many obstacles, Most of which will require you to die at least 20 or so times before you figure it out. If you can think of a way to die, it's in this game. You fall off a cliff, and you are impaled on stalagmites. You don't watch where you're going and a boulder will fall on your head and crush you. You don't run fast enough and rushing water might catch up and drown you. Strange creatures in the ground will catch your leg with their teeth and chew your leg off. Not to mention the many shoot-outs you will have with various guards looking for you, because they ARE looking for you. There is nothing in this game that can't or won't kill you, so you have to figure out a way around it. At no point in the game does it ever give you any clue whatsoever as to what it is you're supposed to do. You just try something, and if it doesn't work out, you try something else. You continue this until you figure it out.
Like most of the games from this time, there is no save point. You can only restart your game from a password given to you when you die. You know you made it to the next level when you get a new password after dying. Sometimes, you will finish part of a puzzle, and think all of your hard work paid off and you made it to the next level, but you didn't, so you have to start all over again and remember what the heck it is that you did and what not to do.
I like everything about this game, from the difficulty, to the music, to the cinematics, to the controls, everything about it. It is the ultimate side scrolling action/adventure. The graphics, for the time, in my opinion, are top-notch. Very visually pleasing and it really adds to the atmosphere to the game. They are cell-shaded for lack of better words. The music is very ambient, but gets suspenseful at just the right times to add to the gameplay.. And it does, trust me. When the music starts to get louder and more dramatic, just like in Jaws, it gets your heart pounding. There are all kinds of cinematics to watch throughout the game, and they are very well directed. The story is very heartwarming as it is about two friends in the fight for their lives.
It is left with an open ending and has a sequel called Out Of This World Part 2, which can be played on the Sega CD where the two games were packaged together under the name "Heart Of The Alien."
Don't worry, I won't spoil the ending for you! Even though I'm pretty sure you'll never make it there. And if you do, or have, kudos to you, because this game is quite a feat to complete.

I give Out Of This World a 4 out of 5 and recommend it to only the most hardcore gamers that think they can take on the most difficult of games. You really need a lot of patience for this game, and if you don't smoke, you will once you commit to this game! I know I chain smoked like a mad-man the whole time!!!

Here's a video of some silly ways to die in the game:

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Games You Don't Play #1: Chulip PS2

Hey guys! This is my first game review! I hope you like it!

People that know me and know the kind of games I like to play would probably say that I like weird games, quirky games and cute games. It's true. I'm addicted to the oddities of the gaming world.
So, I'm at EB Games in Penn Square Mall (My corporate store of choice) and I'm scanning the PS2 wall. I see a game that I haven't seen or heard anything about, called "Chulip." I pick it up, look at the cover, see "Natsume" written in the bottom right corner, scan the back of it and decide to buy it. I really didn't know anything about this game when I bought it, I just thought "Oh this must be a little like 'Harvest Moon.'"
When I got home that night, I popped it into the PS2 and started playing.
My first impression? WTF.
Chulip starts off with your main character walking up to a tree. The tree suddenly has a very odd looking face erupt from a hole and then asks you your name. Then, a girl walks up to the same tree and stands next to you. It asks her name. It then proceeds to ask if you love each other, you say "Yes" and then it tells you to kiss.
You then wake up in the bed of a pickup truck, pulling up to a rickety old house. You're poor, moving into a new town with your father. The whole tree-girl thing was just a dream, but what a dream! You love this girl already!
Your father tells you to wander the town and one of the first people you meet is -- you guessed it! Your dream girl! But she hates you. You have a bad reputation and you've never kissed anyone before. You can try to tell her that you have, but she can see right through your lies. And this brings us to one of the main goals in the game -- Kissing!
I know what you're thinking... "Kissing?" Yeah, I know. How did this game make it to the U.S. shores?
So, you spend your time exploring the town you live in, talking to your neighbors and learning about them and their daily problems. Everyone here has something interesting to say, as Chulip doesn't skimp out on hilarious dialogue.
There's an older alcoholic woman that spends her time wandering the town sweeping, cleaning and gossiping; An unemployed musician that lives in a trailer; A metal Lion that works in the bath house and private tearoom (who knows what goes on in there at night?); And all sorts of other very interesting characters, above ground!
But then, there are the people who live underground as well. They are the ones that no one appreciates, they are depressed, lonely and they do all of the real work around the town. What purpose do they serve? Well, to make them happy, you kiss them of course! And when you kiss them, your heart becomes stronger. How do you know it becomes stronger?? When you go to sleep at night, your father reviews your day, how many people you've kissed, and then the same tree from your dream makes your heart grow.
You earn your reputation by helping various characters in the game and kissing. This is how you win the girl of your dream's heart.
The controls of the game are a bit wobbly, but tolerable. The gameplay, story, graphics, music and theme of the game make up for it big time. The clock is a bit irritating, but it only gives the game some challenge.
I'm really happy that a game like this got licensed in the United States. It's not very often that something this "out-there" is released here!! I'm definitely in love with this game. Everything about it. It just makes me.... Happy!
The character design is great. Fantastic even. It's been a good long while since I've seen such interesting and original character design.
The music, sound effects and voices used by the characters are also very interesting, entertaining and original. The NPC's speak a language that "kind of" sounds like Japanese, but it's not. It reminds me of Simlish(The Sims) or Animalese(Animal Crossing).
You sometimes have to dig through garbage cans to get items to sell to the local pawn shop, but sometimes you get an item called "Poopie" which takes your life away. You can sell it for 1Z (1 dollar).
You can buy cigarettes and smoke but it's illegal.
At some point you will appear naked in public, also illegal.
It even gives you the opportunity to commit suicide, sort-of. Play the game and see for yourself!
All in all, this game is awesome.

Thank you Natsume!

I give this game 3 1/2 out of 5, and I recommend it if you're a collector, japanophile or are into the very very strange.


Here's a video of some kissing on Chulip:

Friday, April 20, 2007

MOTHER3 impressions... 1 year later

I knew that I would love Mother 3 from the time it was announced .
The first screenshots only proved that fact even more..

I did not download the rom or look at anything I shouldn't have before I got the game. I'm pretty positive I got it next day shipping, my bill was pretty high, but it was worth it. I didn't want to wait any longer.
I loaded up Mother 3 into my GameBoy Player, plugged in my trusty Hori controller and pressed the power button. To be honest with you, when I finally saw "MOTHER 3" come on the TV screen, I started to cry. I didn't ever think this day would come. I was completely over-whelmed when the naming character screen came up, because it reminded me so much of EarthBound. I noticed everything about it. When I named my first character and I heard "OK desu-ka" I pretty much freaked out.
When they do an overview of the world, showing you the town, the houses, etc. I felt it was very familiar, but not too familiar. It felt new, yet nostalgic. I was amazed. I literally had tears running down my cheek.
I felt the graphics were amazing. I had heard a few other people say that the graphics weren't that great, that they looked the same as EB on SNES, etc. But I felt it was much more detailed while still keeping the minimalism that Mother is famous for.
The movements of the characters were much more fluid and I could actually see body parts moving. It's definitely not 16-bit grade.
The music was amazing. I was humming the tunes for months, making everyone listen to the tracks that were ripped from the game.
I wasn't so sure about the theme at first, I almost thought it was going to be a country-western themed game, and I was really afraid of that, but I stayed open minded and reminded myself that "This is Mother 3!!!!" and I definitely wasn't disappointed as I progressed through the game.
There were parts that made me laugh, parts that made me cry, and parts that made me think, all in a language I can't read or understand.
I felt that Mother 3 trancended all language barriers and could touch anyone if they just gave it a chance.
I truly felt that, "Strange, Funny and Heartrendering" was the best slogan for it because it was so true. Much better than "This game stinks!" like it's predecesor.
Mother's audience/fans have grown up and matured a lot since Mother 2's release, and the series as a whole has aswell. The story is much more mature.
I honestly think that if Mother 3 would have been released on N64, I might not have enjoyed it as much, if it were to have this story. I might have been too young to fully comprehend the story, even if it were completely in English.
I was very happy about this game, more than happy, ecstatic even.
I was proud of Itoi. He proved to the world again how much of an amazing storyteller he is, how deep he is and the genius he is.
This game proves it.
I couldn't have been, and still couldn't be happier with the game.. Well, if it were in English that would be nice, but hey! People are working on it!! And I can experience it all over again when that happens.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Mother 3 thoughts

Well, I've read the reviews, I've played through the first chapter and a bit of the second chapter and all I can say is "Wow". While I'm taking it slow and waiting for an English release (I don't understand Japanese) the game is already sucking me in. I feel like Mother 3 is a true sequel. Some people in Japan seem to dislike Flint and the other characters, and at first, I too was very skeptical, but I have definitely fallen in love with every aspect of the game. Even not understanding the language of the game, it's very easy to follow what's going on with the story.
Like I said above, it's a true sequel. It's not Mother 2.5 or EarthBound 1.5... It's truely it's very own game. I agree with the 1up review that the game has become more sophisticated. I feel like the series has matured with it's own gaming audience. Most of us EB players were aprox. 9-11 years old when the game was released, and now we are all 19-22. More mature, more sophisticated, more intelligent.
I'm becomming more and more optimistic about the US release of Mother 3, and possibly Mother 1+2 (Hopefully to be sold under the title "Mother 1+2=3 - EarthBound" in a box set :P) because of the reviews, many people are saying that if Nintendo of America passes this game up it'd be a big mistake. I fully agree with this, and say that if Nintendo doesn't release these games in America, they may as well pack up and leave now, because their company will dissapoint thousands of gamers and fans.
So I ordered Mother 3 and the T-shirt aswell, from Shigesato Itoi's website. The red one of course, but I wanted the Franklin Badge one too. I just couldn't see myself spending $60 on two shirts, even for my favorite game series of all time (and quite possibly my favorite "THINGS" ever).. And I seriously doubt I'll be able to find the shirt in my size on eBay.
I'll definitely be posting pictures of me - playing Mother 3, on my GB Player with my GB Player Hori controller that looks just like a SNES controller, in my Mother 3 t-shirt. Ohhh don't doubt me. I have to save this for posterity. This is a landmark in my life and I realize that it's only a game and it's a little sad that I'm so obcessed with it but anyone that has been waiting patiently for 11 years would be the same exact way.

It's kind of annoying that the people around me don't understand the meaningfulness of this game for me. The only people that can understand are my boyfriend, my sister, my father and of course all the other SM.net people out there.

I haven't even actually told my dad about the game yet. I'm almost considering sending him a GameBoy Advance and Mother 2 and Mother 3 in the mail so he can play them. You see.... the series is so meaningful for me mainly because of one reason. I'll tell you why!

Well, when I was about 9 years old I was with my dad at the local Blockbuster looking for games to rent just like we did every week (My dad had a broken foot and was disabled and I was very sick) We spent a lot of time together back then. My dad was my very best friend. I loved him so much back then. He was my idol! We did everything together (before my stepmother came into the picture) Yes yes... I was daddy's little girl. Well, anyhow, I saw the ginormous EarthBound box at the top of the shelves and said "Daddy I wanna rent that one!!!!!" So we rented that one. What was cool was that they even rented out the Strat guide with it. The perfect addition to the perfect game. We took it home, played it, and became instantly obcessed. Well, we were very poor at that time.
Soon after that, I nearly lost my dad to another woman (years later I would lose that battle) and she wouldn't let us buy the game, even though we had been saving. (yes, saving, like i said, POOR) So the lady made me work outside in our lot all summer long with her, pulling weeds, tilling the soil, planting plants, even trees, placing landscape perfectly. I worked my ass off.... for one thing and one thing alone. The last chance to connect with my father before I lost him forever. To buy EarthBound.
Now the game was still $59.99 at Wal-Mart at the time, so one day in mid-August she took me to the store and finally bought the game, totally suprised me with it. I cried I was so happy. That night, my dad and I began to play the game. He nearly lived in my room for those 2 weeks it took us to beat the game the first time... Many nights sleeping in the same bed, with the game still on. It's my favorite memory of my father, just before he went off the deep end. He loved the game as much as I did, and even shed a tear during the end of the game.
That was the last video game I ever played with my father again. That was 10 years ago.

I now live in a different state than my dad, with a different parent. I see him maybe once a year if that, and barely talk to him. We are completely different people. But we still hold one strong bond together... EarthBound.

This is why I vow to send him the games and a GameBoy Advance. Even if there isn't an OFFICIAL English release, I will download the ROMs and transfer them to flash carts. I will make my very own boxes for the games with my own artwork drawn over them (another bond we shared, art) and hopefully we can bond again over the games, even miles and miles away. I'm hoping that Mother 3 will ressurect my relationship with my father. That would be the greatest gift that Shigesato Itoi could give to me, and if it's possible I'd like to thank him if this game can bring my father and I back together.

Well, that's all for now! Thanks for reading. :)

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

EB sucks!!!!

So every once in a while the boyfriend and I go up to EB despite the fact that we work at competetor stores. We know or KNEW the guys that worked up there, and they were cool with us as always.
We go up there today and two new guys were there, well maybe not new, but we had never seen them before...
The guys were pretty much dicks to me the entire time I was there. Treating me like I was a nobody, that I knew nothing of games, that I was nothing compared to them because they work at the almighty EB now merged with GameStop which gives them a whopping 4k stores. Big woop. Who cares. Since when did that mean anything.
I ask them if they are taking reserves for the Messiah. They ask me what system. HA. HA I SAY! I laugh. It's not for any system because it IS a system. Then they tell me that EB doesn't sell classic games. No, they don't, not in their stores. On their website they do. They wouldn't know that though. I worked for their company for a short short amount of time and hated it there. I know what they do there.
I try to be nice to the guys but they just keep on being dickheads to me. I asked them if I could have the cover art to a game.. Silpheed ... which isn't a popular game, which isn't even a game that they know anything about, it's just a game that I particularly like and happen to have, but don't have the original box art for it. Just some crappy Hollywood Video cover. Nope they won't do it. In fact they threaten to call mall security on me! What nerve! I am sure they feel very secure with their MALL SECURITY backing them up. Wonder what they'd do if they ever were robbed or actually threatened by a customer. Yeah it happens. It's happened to me, I don't need security guards. Fucking rent-a-pigs. Who cares.

So, in conclusion. My opinion of EB games has completely gone down the drain and I will never buy annything from their store again. I don't care if they have a new fucking copy of Rez or something. Fuck them. I better not ever see them in Game Crazy or I might have to call my own security. It's called "My foot in their ass". fuck them. pricks.