Boxing Week 2008... slightly better

So maybe I succumed to Boxing Day sales after all.


I did go back to Toys R' Us & picked up Raving Rabbids TV Party for $29.99. On Boxing Day I wasn't sure if it was on for that price as the sign still said $49.99, and the only way to ask a clerk was to get in line. When I got home, I checked the website, and confirmed, I trekked back down there the next day.

I found that lot of Boxing Day/Week sales are unmarked, as if the store clerks were too lazy/didn't know what the sale items were. So you have to know what the sale price is before you go there.


Today I went to Rogers Video Rogers Plus & picked up Super Mario Galaxy for $29.99..... sigh... I don't want to pay that much for games, especially 2, but unlike Microsoft or Sony games, Nintendo is *SUPER STINGY* with their game prices. First-party Nintendo games rarely go on sale, nor do they go down in price very much-- Mario Kart DS, which came out years ago, is still MSRP about $40.00-$45.00.... I think it's dropped a WHOPPING $5.00 since it was first released. Jerks.

Raving Rabbids TV Party is a game that I do think will drop in price, hell in a year it'll probably be $20.00, I find that a lot of UbiSoft games (& EA Games) get big price cuts, both companies are so big & put out so much product I guess they can afford it. I was hesitant to pay $30.00 for it, but I know my nephew is a big fan.... so I shelled out for it.


Also at Rogers Plus were some good Nintendo DS games on 2 for $20.00. I bought Sonic Rush DS and Custom Robo DS. $10.00 a game is not bad, but I hope I don't regret buying another Sonic game.....

And at HMV I bought Counter Force (Wii) for $9.99. This is a shovelware game, and I feel guilty for buying it, but it's a mech game and as bad as it sounds, I think there might be some good dumb fun to be had in it.



later
don

Boxing Day 2008 sucked

Wow. How awful was this year's Boxing Day? PRETTY DAMN AWFUL.

There weren't many great deals to begin with. I sort of suspected there wouldn't be... I went out hoping for the "privilege" of buying Raving Rabbids TV Party for "only" $29.99. And WarioLand Shake It! for $34.97. Oh boy.

The only other thing I was somewhat interested in was a 16GB flash drive for $23.00.


All a whole load of meh. And I didn't manage to get ANY of the stuff I was looking for. I got out there in the afternoon... a lot later than I usually go (if I go out to sales on Boxing Day) and it was INSANE. The entire city was in gridlock, mobs of people EVERYWHERE on the street-- I couldn't believe it. I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS TOWN SO CROWDED. Seriously, even when The Queen comes to town, there aren't this many people out. It was stupid. After missing out on *everything* I was looking for, I just gave up & tried to get out of town ASAP.

Shitty deals compared to what I got earlier in the year... hell, a week ago I paid $20.00 for Jeanne D'Arc (PSP) , which isn't an awesome deal, but it's not bad. At the same time I also bought Wipeout Pure (PSP) for $5.00... yes, *$5.00* ( I used that one for a gift) Both from The Source @ Circuit City... I just scoured their clearance lists, and made sure that a local store had any in stock.

Nothing compares to the EB Games Days sale they had, I think it was last Spring... where I got Star Trek: Conquest (Wii), Trauma Center: New Blood (Wii), Metroid Prime 3 (Wii), Chibi Robo: Park Patrol (DS), Socom: Fireteam Bravo (PSP)... all for $10.00 each! Now *THAT* is a sale. And there weren't lineups out the door for it (because nobody knew about it) and it wasn't on Boxing Day.

People lined up for shit that wasn't even on sale.... EB had crap deals, and it was still a mob in there.


This... this was just a whole lot of AWFUL. Add to it the huge mobs of people, which I didn't have to contend with during those other, actual sales, and I may have to swear off of Boxing Day from now on. Sucked so bad.

I've been meaning to cut back on just buying crap, so that's the one good thing about it... I didn't add to my CC bill. I'm hoping that in the spring we'll see another killer EB "Games Days" sale.


later
don

PSP calendar 2009

I was looking at my PSP calendar the other day, when I realized-- I hadn't created one for 2009!

Back in 2006 when I first got a PSP, I came across an FHM PSP calendar.... basically, it was 12 (.jpg) image files of hot girls with each month's calendar stamped on them. It was a handy app, you load it onto your PSP, and you have a nice calendar when you need it.

When the PSP first came out in 2005 (in North America) everybody was excited about it... third parties of all types were looking to get in on the "craze"... not just video game makers, but companies like Maxim & FHM, hence the FHM calendar, with nice PSP-formatted images (480 x 272) .

But Sony rested on its laurels, totally squandering all the momentum it had initially built up during the first 2 years of the PSP launch. By mid-late 2006, seeing Sony's apathy for their own product, third parties gradually jumped *OFF* the PSP bandwagon. Among many other tragedies, this meant that there was no 2007 FHM PSP calendar.

So I had to make my own. It's not quite as nice as having an FHM pre-formatted one, but it still turned out pretty good. Then after the 2007 PSP calendar, I made a 2008 PSP calendar....

And now that the history lesson is done, we're caught up. I searched my archives for some suitable images to make into calendar pages, and came across a nice calendar grid that I could cut & paste via Photoshop into my 2009 PSP calendar. What's weird is that afterward, I noticed the date I started my 2008 one is the EXACT SAME DAY-- 12/23-- that I started my 2009 one! Kinda funny.... guess that's going to be my annual tradition for 12/23?

So far I've got up to August done.

(Jan 2009 model is Tiffany Toth BTW)



later
don

Lisa Kudrow on DS

Got this weird Nintendo email recently, advertising one of their latest DS apps, Personal Trainer: Cooking. It's what it sounds like; a cooking guide for the DS. I guess there are recipes, but apparently it also tells you how to prepare the meals, it's largely hands-free (because they'll be busy cooking, 'natch) and it's also voice operated(?) Sounds pretty ambitious.

There's a site with ads for it, and a couple have Lisa Kudrow, one of them is the ad for the "game"(that's her niece with her in the ad) and this one is her talking about her history with Nintendo handhelds, specifically the Nintendo Game Boy. She said she's had one for about "15 years", then asks when they came out, implying that she's had one since around that time.

Kinda strange to hear one of the Friends talking about a DS, and the games for it. I dunno. So that's where she's been since they stopped making Friends... playing her DS.....


later
don

weird idea

Last night I had the weirdest dream.... I dreamt I was watching a trailer for a video game. You know HAL-9000, from the movie 2001?

And you know the movie Tron?

The trailer was for Hal vs Tron.

I have no idea how this works. I even asked that in my dream, after I watched the trailer. It was more like a teaser trailer than a full-blown trailer. It had something about HAL-9000... then we pan out through the Tron logo. It was like, what is HAL after 2001, or more approriately, the sequel, 2010? At the end of 2010, HAL is part of the spaceship Discovery, and the Discovery was consumed when Jupiter went nova. But I always got the feeling that HAL was saved & somehow fused with the alien intelligence that was behind all that 2001/2010 shennanigans.

(The last Tron game I played was Tron 2.0: Killer App for Xbox, I got it a couple xmas ago. I played the first few levels, it was ok, but I put it away for some reason. Been meaning to pick it up again. It seemed like an average FPS style platform game...)

So imagine an alien hybrid HAL, and now imagine somehow going into him, Tron-style. I'm still not sure how this all works. Hey, it was a dream after all.




It also got me thinking about other, more appropriate Tron crossovers. Like what about Tron vs Skynet, from the Terminator franchise? The Tron characters could be trying to stop Skynet from the inside, and it could be a completely different battle than the Terminators vs human stuff we've seen.

It's such a bizarre idea, and I think there are a lot of possibilities. Maybe not for a kickass game, but for a movie? A total fanboy-fanservice movie..... but you can't deny what a DAMN cool idea it is.


later
don

Socom: Fireteam Bravo

I've been playing Socom: Fireteam Bravo for PSP over the last week or so, anything to try to wash the bad taste of Patapon out of my gaming mind.... actually I kept trying to go back to Patapon, and just getting frustrated over & over again, so I had to break the cycle I was locked into.

I bought Socom: Fireteam Bravo spring(?) 2008, "new" at EB games for something like $9.69! It was during their killer sales, where I picked up a bunch of Wii & PSP games for under $10.00... for that price, I can afford to take a chance on a game I'm iffy about.

Oddly enough, uploading the boxart for this post is the first time I've really taken a good look at the box cover for this game. I know I've looked at it, but I never really looked at it closely, because I didn't realise what a CHEESY image it was! Wow. What is that?? It's like he's going, "Lookee lookee thassa big missell!! Let's go git it!! YOOOOO JOOOOOOOOE!!!!" Seriously, that is some bad game box art.

But delve into the actual game, I have to say Socom: Fireteam Bravo is not bad. It's alright. I'm not a huge fan of military shooters; I prefer sci-fi shooters rather than just army guys. But if a game is a good game, it's a good game. A really good game can surpass its genre & reach out to me even if I'm not a big fan of that genre. The Syphon Filter games are great examples of that; also military shooters, but they are great games.

Unfortunately, because of the high quality standard set by Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror/Logan's Shadow, Socom: Fireteam Bravo pales in comparison. Like I said, it's not a bad game at all. But there's more to the SF games that are in this similar genre & it's hard to help but compare the 2 game franchises when Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror kinda stomps on it in terms of gameplay and graphics.

Socom: Fireteam Bravo is a 3rd person shooter, you have a AI controlled buddy who "helps" you with missions. The missions usually consist of eliminating terrorist, securing intel, and/or rescuing/escorting hostages. This game came out the first year that the PSP was released (in North America), 2005. There are a few PSP launch titles that still stand the test of time, even today their graphics & gameplay are so good-- like Wipeout Pure & Ridge Racer. Unfortunately, while Socom: Fireteam Bravo must've been impressive back in 2005, is less so today. It doesn't look awful, but it also doesn't look that great. I have a demo for Socom: Fireteam Bravo 2 on my PSP, I loaded that up to play and it looks a LOT better than the first game. If one had a choice between Socom: Fireteam Bravo 1 or Socom: Fireteam Bravo 2, they were the same price, I'd totally recommend getting 2. I haven't played it beyond the demo, but it looks like a vast improvement in the overall polish while staying with the same core gameplay.

Beyond the graphics, it's a fairly standard shooter. Because there's no 2nd analogue nub on the PSP, moving & aiming can be cumbersome. The default control is the same as Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron: analogue nub = move, R button for strafe, L button to lock on target. I prefer putting it into freelook mode where the analogue nub controls the camera, hold down R button to move. But with that you can't really look and move at the same time. So it's a bit clunky.

Socom: Fireteam Bravo "crosstalks" with Socom 3 for the PS2. What this is is you can collect bonus info, like pick up plans for side missions that can be unlocked in Socom 3 when you hook your PSP up to your PS2, and vice-versa. This is one of the rare games that has PSP/PS2 interactivity, and it sounds pretty cool. Obviously I don't own a PS2 or Socom 3, but when you complete this crosstalk stuff, you'll get more info for upcoming missions. I noticed there were missions in Socom: Fireteam Bravo where I didn't have any map intel, and I'm guessing that if I had completed some crosstalk bonuses in Socom 3, I'd have had that extra intel for the PSP game. But it isn't necessary, and it doesn't make you feel like the game is less complete for not having the other game. It seems like a good feature that I wish more game series employed.

But then again, the only way such a feature would be useful to me is if it allowed my PSP to crosstalk with my Wii or Xbox. Like that's ever gonna happen. :::sad:::

Yeah, Socom: Fireteam Bravo is not bad. Totally worth the under $10.00 I paid. Though if I had a choice, I would've gone with Socom: Fireteam Bravo 2. If you're a core or casual military shooter fan with a PSP, it's worth picking up.

Gamespot gameplay video:






later
don

Patapon sucks

Looking over games that were sitting on my shelf, I noticed Patapon up there. It had been a long time since I played it, so I thought I would try to get back into it. But now I know why it was sitting on my shelf for so long.

Patapon is a really brilliant looking/sounding game, with an innovative gameplay mechanic-- it's both a rhythm and a real-time-strategy game. All that gets RUINED by the demand of the game for absolute machine-like precision in tapping out the drum beats.

You control these little black eyeball soldiers called Patapons, by beating drum commands in a series of 4 drum beats. To command the army to move, you beat the pata drum, [] button, and the pon drum, o button. So move is [], [], [], o. Attack is o, [], [], o. Unlike most rhythm games, there's no symbols flying down the screen telling you what to press & when to press them; you issue whatever commands you have unlocked, and it's up to you to stay on the beat.






The RTS factor comes in when you're fighting enemies, you have to plan what set of beats you're going to follow up with depending on what they're doing. If they're about to attack, you want to be sure to tap out a defend command to anticipate it. This gametrailers footage shows how your drum beats show up on screen after you tap them:



Where the game falls apart is that it's REALLY, REALLY hard to "stay on the beat", according to the games strict parameters. You could be tapping along, counting time, and suddenly it decides you messed up. You often need to tap a certain number of combos to get a FEVER mode, but it's nearly impossible to keep that up. So what happens is you fail missions over & over, until you can master the machine-like precision needed to have a chance to pass it. But then add to that you need to have planned your battle carefully, attacking & defending at the right places. One missed command can cost the entire mission, and you'll have wasted the last 10 minutes of your life. Those last 10 minutes where you had to get EVERY set of 4 beats right. Sounds like fun, doesn't it.

Patapon should be one of the shining jewels of the PSP library, it's one of the most innovative games to have come out in 2008. Instead, I feel ashamed of it, even though I had nothing to do with its creation. I feel ashamed because it's such a beautiful looking and sounding game, and the core mechanics are sound. But because it's so rigidly anal, it sucks all the fun right out of it. People who are interested in the top games of the PSP library will be told to look at Patapon, but it's so flawed it's an embarrassment. I feel like they're getting suckered if they're told it's a "must buy".



later
don