I forgot to buy Castle Crashers yesterday. Sure, I got home late the night before, had sort of a long day at work, zoned out when I got home, and had to head out in the evening to catch a local show, but still... I forgot to buy Castle Crashers!!! What the hell!? I've been more excited about that game than just about any other current-generation release, and I just plain forgot about it!
Well, I'll take care of that when I get home this evening, but until then, I'd like to reminisce about Gex. Remember Gex? He's that smart-assed gecko (voiced by The Simpsons writer and voice actor Dana Gould) who seemed poised to be the 3D0's mascot... Kinda like how Rayman seemed poised to be the Jaguar's mascot. Anyway, during my recent tours of independent game stores and flea markets, I stumbled across copies of Gex for 3D0 and PlayStation (but sadly not Saturn, else I'd have probably picked it up) and remembered always wanting to play it but never having the right system. Rather than buy the PlayStation version (or a 3D0 and the 3D0 version) on an impulse, I opted to do some research... And found out that there was a Windows port! Thinking back now, I'm sure I've seen the Windows version on discount racks before, but I guess it didn't have the same impact of seeing the old console version boxes. So I managed to hunt down a copy of the Windows version (runs great on XP SP3; no so much on Vista), and while it's not as pretty as I recall, it seems like a really solid platformer so far!
Up next on my list of old games that I always wanted to play but never got around to tracking down: Pandemonium! I'm also still considering copies of Loaded and Space Hulk 2 that I saw for Saturn...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Dirt Malls 'n Stuff
Dark Sector review still forthcoming.
I decided to check out some of the flea markets in the area after having neglected to go anywhere near them for years, and came away with Iron Soldier, Rayman, Tempest 2000, and Zool 2 for Jaguar, Baku Baku for Game Gear, and an Atari Lynx II. Unfortunately, the "A" buttons on the Lynx II weren't working, so I brought it back and swapped it for an original Lynx... On which one of the "B" buttons was stuck :\ I also saw a SEGA Genesis 3 and a Vectrex, but neither was for sale. Oh, and a model 1 SEGA CD... Tempting, but entirely unnecessary.
Anyway. while I was riding the subway last week, this guy got on carrying a Game Gear and played it with the volume turned way up (without headphones). The guy beside him looked like he was gonna snap from the annoying sound... It was awesome :)
I bought Braid and Bionic Commando: Rearmed on XBOX Live Arcade. Both are wonderful.
Finished Call Of Duty 4. It's a really solid game, and the chapters "Shock And Awe", "All Ghillied Up", and "One Shot, One Kill" are simply amazing experiences that absolutely everyone should check out. I'm just about done Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles on PSP, with just a few more secrets to locate. That UMD alone is reason enough to buy a PSP. Not only is it a gorgeous remake of the last great Castlevania game, it also includes the previously-unavailable-outside-of-Japan original version as well as the equally-great-but-just-a-Metroid-clone follow-up, Symphony Of The Night! Speaking of Metroid, I'm steadily progressing through Metroid Prime and constantly in awe of how well the game was transposed to a first-person perspective; Konami should be taking notes for Castlevania ;) I also played through the first episode of American McGee's Grimm (it's free, so I haven't given GameTap any money yet). It's very, very simplistic, but it's a whole lot of fun; really charming and a great way to sit down and kill some time. I'm sold on the concept, so I'll likely be getting a year-long subscription... But not until I plough through a few more titles on my "to play" list.
Finally, after picking up DOOM for the Jaguar, I got sucked back in and dug out all of my copies. On the PC, that includes The Ultimate DOOM, DOOM II, Master Levels For DOOM II, and Final DOOM. I also fired up the 32X and Nintendo 64 versions. It's really amazing how good they all still are, especially on PC with new source modifications like ZDOOM.
I decided to check out some of the flea markets in the area after having neglected to go anywhere near them for years, and came away with Iron Soldier, Rayman, Tempest 2000, and Zool 2 for Jaguar, Baku Baku for Game Gear, and an Atari Lynx II. Unfortunately, the "A" buttons on the Lynx II weren't working, so I brought it back and swapped it for an original Lynx... On which one of the "B" buttons was stuck :\ I also saw a SEGA Genesis 3 and a Vectrex, but neither was for sale. Oh, and a model 1 SEGA CD... Tempting, but entirely unnecessary.
Anyway. while I was riding the subway last week, this guy got on carrying a Game Gear and played it with the volume turned way up (without headphones). The guy beside him looked like he was gonna snap from the annoying sound... It was awesome :)
I bought Braid and Bionic Commando: Rearmed on XBOX Live Arcade. Both are wonderful.
Finished Call Of Duty 4. It's a really solid game, and the chapters "Shock And Awe", "All Ghillied Up", and "One Shot, One Kill" are simply amazing experiences that absolutely everyone should check out. I'm just about done Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles on PSP, with just a few more secrets to locate. That UMD alone is reason enough to buy a PSP. Not only is it a gorgeous remake of the last great Castlevania game, it also includes the previously-unavailable-outside-of-Japan original version as well as the equally-great-but-just-a-Metroid-clone follow-up, Symphony Of The Night! Speaking of Metroid, I'm steadily progressing through Metroid Prime and constantly in awe of how well the game was transposed to a first-person perspective; Konami should be taking notes for Castlevania ;) I also played through the first episode of American McGee's Grimm (it's free, so I haven't given GameTap any money yet). It's very, very simplistic, but it's a whole lot of fun; really charming and a great way to sit down and kill some time. I'm sold on the concept, so I'll likely be getting a year-long subscription... But not until I plough through a few more titles on my "to play" list.
Finally, after picking up DOOM for the Jaguar, I got sucked back in and dug out all of my copies. On the PC, that includes The Ultimate DOOM, DOOM II, Master Levels For DOOM II, and Final DOOM. I also fired up the 32X and Nintendo 64 versions. It's really amazing how good they all still are, especially on PC with new source modifications like ZDOOM.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Nostalgia
I stopped by the shop where I picked up the Jaguar to see if they'd brought in anything new (they had gotten Tempest 2000 in, but someone beat me to it), and I saw a sealed copy of World Series Baseball '96 for Genesis for $10! I loved the first World Series Baseball game when it first came out in 1994, and I didn't even know they'd made a third one for Genesis. I've never actually owned any of them, so it was an easy sell. Anyway, it was just a strange experience to unwrap the cellophane from a sealed Genesis game box... Since then, however, I've (re?)discovered that there was a 32X version (that I'd love to find a copy of) and a fourth Genesis version ('98). Rats... Here I thought I'd gotten the final iteration of one of the Genesis' better games... I knew '98 had come out on the Saturn, but had no idea there was a Genesis release as well.
Anyway, I also picked up DooM and Trevor McFur for Jaguar, as they agreed to drop the prices and gave me a decent trade-in value on some old stuff I had (Ghost Recon for XBOX, Mind Quiz for PSP, King Of Fighters EX for GBA, TrickStyle and Royal Rumble for Dreamcast), and added myself to their waiting list for Tempest 2000, Wolfenstien 3D (higher-resolution sprites than the original, but they're always facing you), and Alien Vs. Predator.
I've recently finished Dark Sector and plan on writing something a little more in-depth in the near future, I'm almost done Call Of Duty 4 (three scenes stand out as being absolutely phenomenal so far), and Metroid Prime is quickly shaping up to be one of my favourite games ever... Seriously, I wish I'd bought a GameCube when this came out, and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to play it!
Anyway, I also picked up DooM and Trevor McFur for Jaguar, as they agreed to drop the prices and gave me a decent trade-in value on some old stuff I had (Ghost Recon for XBOX, Mind Quiz for PSP, King Of Fighters EX for GBA, TrickStyle and Royal Rumble for Dreamcast), and added myself to their waiting list for Tempest 2000, Wolfenstien 3D (higher-resolution sprites than the original, but they're always facing you), and Alien Vs. Predator.
I've recently finished Dark Sector and plan on writing something a little more in-depth in the near future, I'm almost done Call Of Duty 4 (three scenes stand out as being absolutely phenomenal so far), and Metroid Prime is quickly shaping up to be one of my favourite games ever... Seriously, I wish I'd bought a GameCube when this came out, and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to play it!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Digital Distribution
I'm not at all against digital distribution. XBOX Live Arcade (XBLA) and Steam are amazing. I do, however, prefer to own physical media and have the ability to play my games without being connected to the Internet. I'll still bite the bullet and submit to these licenses and downloads, but I'm cringing just a little when I do it. What really upsets me is when none of the choices I'm given are ideal. I understand that this is still a fledgling industry finding its way, but strange price differences and an overwhelming number of accounts to manage make me want to avoid the whole thing altogether.
I generally go with the PC platform over the consoles when I have the choice, but that rule has failed to make my life any easier. I made anew account and bought Penny Arcade's first game through their Greenhouse service instead of XBLA , only to see it released on Steam (where I already had an account) shortly thereafter; I really want to play Braid, but I have no idea when it'll be released on PC; Bionic Commando: Rearmed is more expensive on the PC and will not be available via Steam; American McGee's Grimm looks like the kind of game I'd love, but I can only play it with a GameTap subscription (which I assume means I can't go back and play the game once my subscription runs out). I kinda wish Steam was ubiquitous or that Microsoft had just gotten out of the gate first with a Game For Windows Live Arcade and done it properly from the beginning.
*sigh*
I'm not saying that I want platform exclusivity or a clearly superior platform; just some consistency across the board, especially on the PC side of things.
I generally go with the PC platform over the consoles when I have the choice, but that rule has failed to make my life any easier. I made anew account and bought Penny Arcade's first game through their Greenhouse service instead of XBLA , only to see it released on Steam (where I already had an account) shortly thereafter; I really want to play Braid, but I have no idea when it'll be released on PC; Bionic Commando: Rearmed is more expensive on the PC and will not be available via Steam; American McGee's Grimm looks like the kind of game I'd love, but I can only play it with a GameTap subscription (which I assume means I can't go back and play the game once my subscription runs out). I kinda wish Steam was ubiquitous or that Microsoft had just gotten out of the gate first with a Game For Windows Live Arcade and done it properly from the beginning.
*sigh*
I'm not saying that I want platform exclusivity or a clearly superior platform; just some consistency across the board, especially on the PC side of things.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
"64-bit"
New acquisitions: Sonic Advance 3 (GBA, can't remember if I ever finished the second one, so I'm starting the whole series over), The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (XBOX, surprisingly hard to find! I only ever came across two PS2 copies and this one for XBOX), an Atari Jaguar and Cybermorph (they also had Checkered Flag, but that was awful, and Trevor McFur and DooM were just too expensive), and a SEGA CDX (that actually had the CDX power adapter, and they threw in a European 6-button Mega Drive controller).
I'm hoping to pick up Sonic Blast for Game Gear and a second AES joystick for my Neo Geo (I'll be trading-in my Neo Geo CD stick) later today. Oh, and I almost picked up copies of Shinobi II and Tails Adventure for Game Gear, but they were a touch too pricey.
So Dark Sector has really sucked me in. It's not a great game, and there are some really glaring issues, but it's pretty decent as a whole package. I'm already on the second-last chapter, and intend to write more once I'm finished. I've also taken the time to sit down and get somewhere with Call Of Duty 4. I've probably said this before, but it's slick, and I like it. I also finished Crush. Wonderfully unique game with plenty of replay value, that everyone should try. I needed help with three or four of the 40 levels, but it's not as hair-pullingly frustrating as I heard it was. The ending is a little weak, but then it's not exactly a game one plays for the plot.
I'm hoping to pick up Sonic Blast for Game Gear and a second AES joystick for my Neo Geo (I'll be trading-in my Neo Geo CD stick) later today. Oh, and I almost picked up copies of Shinobi II and Tails Adventure for Game Gear, but they were a touch too pricey.
So Dark Sector has really sucked me in. It's not a great game, and there are some really glaring issues, but it's pretty decent as a whole package. I'm already on the second-last chapter, and intend to write more once I'm finished. I've also taken the time to sit down and get somewhere with Call Of Duty 4. I've probably said this before, but it's slick, and I like it. I also finished Crush. Wonderfully unique game with plenty of replay value, that everyone should try. I needed help with three or four of the 40 levels, but it's not as hair-pullingly frustrating as I heard it was. The ending is a little weak, but then it's not exactly a game one plays for the plot.
Friday, August 08, 2008
New Old Stuff
Picked up Dark Sector (360, only $15!), Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (GBC), and Sonic: Triple Trouble (GG, which means I now have every Game Gear Sonic game worth playing) on the way home from work today. I also considered a SEGA CDX for $150 and an apparently mint condition Turbo Express in its original box for $250, but thought better of both in the end.
Handkerchiefs!?
I completed Sonic And The Secret Rings last night. Underneath all of the convoluted menus, cheesy plot, and questionable voice acting, there's a really good Sonic game! Sonic just runs all the time; the player steers, slides, jumps, attacks, and brakes as he or she sees fit; it's a logical evolution of the classic Sonic gameplay into a 3D world. The problems are mostly cosmetic, but they sure do make things trying; like how the designers had the good sense to separate the party games from the main game, but they didn't seem to think it was important to separate races and challenges (finish with no rings, defeat 20 enemies, don't die) from the story missions (à la Sonic Adventure) and it makes things feel... Disjointed? Confusing? Overwhelming? Take your pick.
Next up are the skill rings. They're an interesting idea, but I found them awfully annoying as I played. Sonic starts out with some basic skills, and earns more as players progress though the game. Skills like speed-ups, better acceleration and manoeuverablility, ring bonuses, and fire-enhanced attacks are split into three sections (essentially speed, attack, and rings), and players are given four skill rings to which any combination of these skills can be attached. Each skill has a point value, and each ring can accommodate only a certain number of points (which increases as Sonic levels-up). I made a balanced ring, a speed ring, an attack ring, and a rings ring, but before too long I was using the speed ring almost exclusively. It all feels just a little overcomplicated for the subject matter. I mean, it's a game about running really fast, based around a character who's known for running really fast... And the fact that they don't seem to really explain a lot of these skill mechanics doesn't help matters. If they were really set on the skill development aspect of the game, that's okay, but was the micromanagement really necessary?
Finally, there's the finale. The real final battle is only available once all seven world rings have been collected, and, well, maybe I should've just left that last ring be... The second last battle is actually pretty cool, but the last battle just gets silly. Characters transform (Sonic gets racing stripes and a really horrible new voice), gameplay mechanics change with minimal explanation, and the final scene involves "a mountain of handkerchiefs". Yes, I'm quoting that from the game.
Despite all of this, there's still a lot of fun to be had with Sonic And The Secret Rings, and it can be picked up pretty cheap these days. Some of the levels are absolutely breathtaking, and the sense of speed can be exhilarating. I was hoping that this game was a big step in the right direction for the Sonic franchise (the portables have been carrying the torch since Sonic Adventure), but Sonic Unleashed's werehog sections and Sonic And The Black Knight's swordplay have me pretty worried...
Next up are the skill rings. They're an interesting idea, but I found them awfully annoying as I played. Sonic starts out with some basic skills, and earns more as players progress though the game. Skills like speed-ups, better acceleration and manoeuverablility, ring bonuses, and fire-enhanced attacks are split into three sections (essentially speed, attack, and rings), and players are given four skill rings to which any combination of these skills can be attached. Each skill has a point value, and each ring can accommodate only a certain number of points (which increases as Sonic levels-up). I made a balanced ring, a speed ring, an attack ring, and a rings ring, but before too long I was using the speed ring almost exclusively. It all feels just a little overcomplicated for the subject matter. I mean, it's a game about running really fast, based around a character who's known for running really fast... And the fact that they don't seem to really explain a lot of these skill mechanics doesn't help matters. If they were really set on the skill development aspect of the game, that's okay, but was the micromanagement really necessary?
Finally, there's the finale. The real final battle is only available once all seven world rings have been collected, and, well, maybe I should've just left that last ring be... The second last battle is actually pretty cool, but the last battle just gets silly. Characters transform (Sonic gets racing stripes and a really horrible new voice), gameplay mechanics change with minimal explanation, and the final scene involves "a mountain of handkerchiefs". Yes, I'm quoting that from the game.
Despite all of this, there's still a lot of fun to be had with Sonic And The Secret Rings, and it can be picked up pretty cheap these days. Some of the levels are absolutely breathtaking, and the sense of speed can be exhilarating. I was hoping that this game was a big step in the right direction for the Sonic franchise (the portables have been carrying the torch since Sonic Adventure), but Sonic Unleashed's werehog sections and Sonic And The Black Knight's swordplay have me pretty worried...
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Finally got that beast out the door...
Even at 1066MHz, 9-9-9-20-2T, RAM@1.7V and SPP@1.4V, the NVIDIA RAID controller seemed to be reporting (false?) SMART errors on the RAID drives. After hearing back from one of the RAM's manufacturer's tech guys with some suggestions, I was able to start narrowing down the possible issues. At 1333MHz and 9-9-9-20-2T at 1.7V, I was finally able to get one stick from the second kit to fail relatively consistently; it gave me two garbled "Unexpected Interrupt" lockups on its own and one black/green/purple screen of junk when paired with another stick, both in memtest86+. The retailer was nice enough to swap it for another kit though, and all seems to be working well at the advertised settings.
The annoying part is that the bad RAM caused errors with the NVIDIA RAID controller, and they affected the two 500GB drives, which then recorded those errors to their SMART logs. So even though the drives test fine and the problem has been remedied, they've exceeded the SMART thresholds and report as "failing" devices. Grrr.
The system's running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2, and it's pretty slick. I did have to get creative with the drivers for the Linksys WMP300N though; Linksys and D-Link don't seem to like XP x64, but the Linksys card is based on a Broadcom chipset that is supported in XP x64. A custom .inf over the Broadcom drivers, and all is well.
In other news, my nose is broken, so I haven't been playing much Virtual Boy. I did, however, finally finish Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters on PSP. Not a bad game on the whole, very pretty, lots to do, definitely challenging, but just not quite my thing.
The annoying part is that the bad RAM caused errors with the NVIDIA RAID controller, and they affected the two 500GB drives, which then recorded those errors to their SMART logs. So even though the drives test fine and the problem has been remedied, they've exceeded the SMART thresholds and report as "failing" devices. Grrr.
The system's running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2, and it's pretty slick. I did have to get creative with the drivers for the Linksys WMP300N though; Linksys and D-Link don't seem to like XP x64, but the Linksys card is based on a Broadcom chipset that is supported in XP x64. A custom .inf over the Broadcom drivers, and all is well.
In other news, my nose is broken, so I haven't been playing much Virtual Boy. I did, however, finally finish Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters on PSP. Not a bad game on the whole, very pretty, lots to do, definitely challenging, but just not quite my thing.
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