• 11Jul 09

  Tearin' up the Racetrack!

  In the past two weeks, I've been playing Mario Kart DS for the Nintendo DS. So far, I've already wona ll of the different cups on the different Engine Classes. An interesting feature is the online-multiplayer mode, using the Nintendo WFC, which allows you to play against people from all over the world. One of the most common opponents I fac online are people from Japan, which is evident by how popular the Mario series is in that country, despite Nintendo losing two consecutive console wars from 1996-2006. This is definately a video game you don't want to sell after completing it millions of times.

  Hyrule's Winter is Holodrum's Summer

  Along with the recent activity on the go-kart racing track, I've been playing The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons for the Gameboy Color. With my prior experience with the other half of the GBC Zelda spectrum, which is Oracle of Ages, I'm having a real good time. It's really interesting how you can use a rod to change the season from Fall to Spring with just two taps of a button. One particular note with the Oracle games of the series is that you have exclusive features that can only be accessed by playing the games on a GBA instead of it's native GBC.

  Cartography--The Wave of the Future

  THis month, I upgraded my GameTap account (http://www.gametap.com), so I could finally play some Might & Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum. Interestingly enough, due to how large the game is, which would even make the likes of Oblivion and Fallout 3 jealous, one has to draw up his/her own maps of the areas he/she will be going to, by means of using a ball-point pen and some graphing paper. So far, I got most of the Sorpigal ground level map charted out. From there, I can look to see where to go for future reference.

  A Boy Named Sue, as made famous by Johnny Cash, 1961

  The Backloggery live stream (http://www.backloggery.com) went stir-crazy lastSunday night, as staff member Drumble was playing the obscure NES game Battle of Olympus, which gives you the option of naming both the Hero and the Herorine of the game. After a vote for names of the female character, "Xavean", which is the name of another Backloggery staff member and is male, was picked. I'll bet you guys who hadn't watched the stream that the real Xavean was somewhat upset by this, but as a well-known Greek philosopher once said, What won't kill you will only make you stronger.

  • Posted Jul 11, 2009 2:48 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 23Jun 09

  Whose Final Fantasy is it Anyway?

  The last few days, I've been playing Final Fantasy VIII for the PSOne, where I'm currently in the middle of Disc 2 out of 4 discs total. Interestingly enough, this game, along with Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X, seems to be in a love-hate relationship with it's devoted fanbase, Some people praise the game like it is the second coming of Nazz from the old cartoon Ed, Edd 'n Eddy, while others lambast it with the fury of 1,000 suns, because of it's level-scaling, a rarely-used RPG feature that makes the game more challenging and prevent dedicated level-grinders from breezing through the final boss of the game. To me, the game is just plain fun!

  Earning a 12-dan Black Belt in Complete, Utter Failure

  This past weekend, I broke down and decided to sign up for a GameTap account (http://www.gametap.com). Although the number of games with a free acount are severely limited (The next plan up, costs $5 per month), the game that are available are decent. I've been mostly playing Karate Champ, an old arcade fighting game that predates the Street Fighter series by only 3 years. At first, I kept getting my ass whooped by the A.I.-controlled, red uniform-wearing kung-fu master. But after a while, I learned how to defend myself and counter-attack to get to at least the Intermediate level matches.

  Announcement of the Belmont-Aran wedding ceremony

  This past Sunday night was stream night on The Backloggery (http://www.backloggery.com), where Drumble finally completed his 15% normal run on Metroid: Zero Mission for the GBA, then proceeded to start up a Hard Mode run of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, also for the GBA. Along with the usual Try4ce and Xavean co-piloting the stream, there were also two special guests--Female Backloggery users Lyndis and Ashen. A word of advice to those wondering--Asehn really is a woman, it's that her voice sounds like a man. I learned that lesson the hard way.

  • Posted Jun 23, 2009 8:05 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 19Jun 09

  Welcome to Outer Space.

  For the last few days, I've been playing Phantasy Star II on the Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2. With my previous experience with the GBA version of the game and learning a lot from playing the Dark Spire for the DS, I figure to ultilize each PC's strengths and weaknesses to their full use. For example, I have Hugh in my party, who is the weakest PC in the game according to most players, can ultilize Techs that will damage all Bio-monsters in battle. There's even one that has a chance to kill a group of them. The way I figure is to get all 8 PCs in the game to at least experience level 30.

  YouTube--The Place for Longplays, Speed Runs and Disturbing Video Game Content

  For most of the day today, I watched various video game-related videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) First off, I watched a longplay of Super Castlevania IV for the SNES. Next was a longplay of the Commodore 64 version of the first Castlevania title (Such things do exist in this world). Later was short clips of various arcade games. Finally, it was three videos of video games so controversial that it even make Jack Thompson President of the United States--The arcade games Death Race and Chiller and the Atari 2600 game Custer's Revenge. Those three games alone are enough to make even Bill Rizer and Lance Bean of Contra fame blush.

  • Posted Jun 19, 2009 6:03 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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